#some of these are about Gilda. some are about them @ each other and/or life

[do-you-ship-this-comic-ship]

propaganda:

This is for all of my fellow Two-Face and Gilda lovers out there! Personally I think that BruHarvey as a ship is underrated because of how much more popular other Rogues are (especially the Joker and the Riddler), and the prominence of ships between Bruce and various members of the Justice League (and of course the various comp het ships DC keeps trying to force Bruce into).

In comparison Harvey just doesn't really capture the fandom's imagination as much. Therefore BruHarvey isn't super popular because they don't consider it as an option a lot of the time. But that being said, I also find that a lot of people when presented with BruHarvey as a possible ship will be pretty amenable to it! It's just a fantastic ship if you want some old man/toxic/tragic yaoi! The ship has so much going for it! Childhood friends to lovers. Enemies to lovers. Friends in their civilian identities, as they try to pursue justice for Gotham together, and even friends after Harvey becomes a villain too! It's SO juicy and has SO much unexplored potential if DC weren't COWARDS and would just let Brucie kiss men already! Each of their themes of justice, duality, and redemptive love mirror one another in such an exceedingly tantalizing way that I could write a whole college thesis on it! But I'm not just here about them. I'm also here for my girl Gilda too!

Now BruHarvey may be an underrated ship... And Two-Face as a character is just about rated as a character (not underrated. Not overrated. Just rated). But Gilda...? My poor, poor girl Gilda! Writers never know what to do with her and refuse to give her the justice she deserves!!! Gilda is a big part of the reason why Two-Face was able to work so well as a character and concept all the way back in the 40's in the first place! I don't think that Harvey would have been as iconic of a character with as much staying power as he does with just... SO MANY imitators if it weren't for Gilda's presence and ability to help Harvey redeem himself! The whole point of Harvey as a character is that while he might be a villain, he is never too far gone as to not deserve a chance at redemption. He genuinely cannot help himself when it comes to the compulsion of doing crime. And in his original stories, he was able to redeem himself and reach a happy ending with Gilda helping him, supporting him, and loving him through that journey.

The reason that Batman doesn't kill is largely because of Harvey himself! His childhood friend that he deeply cares about, and who, no matter how much society at large, and even Harvey himself tells Bruce that he is beyond saving, that he still cares about nevertheless and will NEVER give up on! And Gilda was the first person to never give up on Harvey and was the one to lead him back to the light! In a time where Batman might still occasionally use a gun and where the punishment most criminals would recieve in the comics was death or a lifetime of jail, never to be seen again, Two-Face stood out because of his redemption! A redemption that the writers of the comics stuck to for decades in spite of a clear demand to have Two-Face back as a threat! (Hence the many, many imitators.) And sure, the helpless damsel who saves the bad guy through the power of love may be a tired trope these days, but it's still one that can work very well, and as a woman first written in the 40's Gilda actually has a surprising amount to her that later writers would forget or just outright ignore! Gilda clearly was a female character who had more going on in her life other than her boyfriend at the time she was first written. She was actually a sculptor!

A woman with her own well-respected career entirely divorced from her DA boyfriend's! And while Harvey was her primary muse, I have doubts that her career just stopped when he turned to crime! After all, she seems to have been a woman who owned a house and lived on her own and had enough wealth to spend her free time going to the movies (and apparently buying herself mysterious cloaks). In the 1940's! We love a woman who can get everything on her own without needing a man (though it is a nice bonus) in this household! And she was doing it as an artist when that stuff was less common! And her other biggest trait is her unshaking love and loyalty for Harvey. I think that it's genuinely interesting how the crime and murder matters very little to Gilda (and similar characters that fill her role in stories). What she doesn't like is how he lies and tries to decieve her specifically. She would die for Harvey. She would kill for Harvey. She will stay with and help him through thick and thin. No matter what.

And very few pieces of media do her character justice! The Long Halloween may ostensibly be about her, but they gave her nothing in her life other than the men she associates with, a desire for children, and murder. Not even a hint that she was a sculptor, barely a hint that she studied law or anything that other iterations offered! She's my girl! And she could honestly offer a number of very interesting story posibilities, if only writers saw her potential! But clearly they don't given that for the last several decades, they've been writing her out of stories, or killing her off in brutal fashion so that they don't have to deal with the question of what she's up to while Harvey is doing his crime stuff. Hell. Gilda was the catalyst for the Long Halloween, so why isn't Dark Victory about nor even include her in person!??? Why not explore her being Duela Dent's mother!? Why not show her standing by Bruce's side while the both of them try to help Harvey recover!??? Why do the writers try to make Harvey NOT a wife guy!? Why can't they let Gilda be around and Harvey's wife that's cooler and more chill than him!? Why must Harvey be single!? By far he has the best romantic chemistry with (out of anyone who isn't Gilda) Bruce and no other major character! But if you stick Harvey and Bruce together for that sweet, sweet tragic yaoi and angst... Well... First of all DC are COWARDS who refuse to let Bruce be into dudes. And second of all, why not just let Bruce, Harvey, and Gilda be together and poly!!!? But I'm no coward! Double the partners means double the chances for tragedy and angst! (Or comedy if you'd like!) And double the possibilities for love, recovery, and redemption! Gilda wouldn't and shouldn't give up on Harvey!

And Bruce and Gilda cheating on Harvey without his blessing!??? BROKE! Them being in a polycule? Excellent! And if you need any proof that Bruce, Harvey, and Gilda could be a functional polycule, you should read the daily newspaper Batman comics as archived on @daily-batman! Because they make a GREAT case for it there, and seeing their relationship develop in that story is just delightful! Harvey watches Batman (that he's half figured out is Bruce) kiss his wife (named Alice but like... She's CLEARLY just Gilda with a different name!) and isn't bothered by it AT ALL other than it giving her hope that he can get better! Kissing his wife? That he understands and is perfectly fine with. But giving her HOPE!!!??? Now THAT'S a line too far! Sounds like something someone poly might do! And also... That series finale!!! Lol. Harvey getting jealous of and trying to kill Bruce for thinking that he's stealing his girl? Nah. Broke. Harvey being a-okay with Bruce smooching his wife because he's already in love with Bruce too...? HELL YEAH! Let's do it! Who needs love triangles when you can have power throuples instead!??? Join the few of us that enjoy the ship! And give Gilda and BruHarvey the love they deserve!!!!

Also just LOOK at the image I sent and tell me that it DOESN'T look like Bruce, Harvey, and Gilda are getting poly-married! BruHarvey is juicy and even more juicy with the added DLC of Gilda in the mix! And Gilda deserves the whole world! Give them the world!

[magpizza]

Mag's Sapphic Book Recs

Hey! @fairymascot sent a few of you my way who are looking for some sapphic book recs! I have compiled a list of 50 or so books, both Adult and YA, across the genres I read. These are just my personal favorites, and I encourage you to look further into any book that piques your interest!

For where I go for books, I go to my local library a lot and can't sing the praises of the Libby app enough for borrowing ebooks and audiobooks. I also always encourage those who can to get their books from independent bookstores or sites like bookshop.org.

ADULT

I wanna feel sad or stressed out! -Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily R. Austin - Gilda is anxious, depressed, and jobless, so she accepts a receptionist job at a catholic church and becomes obsessed with what happened to the woman who had the job before her. A book I felt really deeply as an anxious person myself. -All The Little Moments by G. Benson - Anna's career-focused world is turned upside down when her brother and sister-in-law pass away and she is left to take care of their two young children. This one is a real tearjerker and the romance with the woman Anna meets is very very sweet. I've read almost all of G. Benson's books and found them all to be absolute winners (Purposefully Accidental is excellent, also deals with grief though is more lighthearted and has some of the best dialogue I've ever read). -Landing by Emma Donohue - This is such a lovely, meaty book that explores the complexities of people, as well as the challenges a burgeoning relationship can go through. The MCs face distance, age difference, culture differences, different life goals, etc. The characters around them were also surprisingly deep and interesting. It had me on the edge of my seat as to how it would resolve. -I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself by Marisa Crane - this one is a bit sci fi, but I felt the sad outweighed the sci fi classification. A future world where you are marked by your crimes by being given an extra shadow, a woman has to navigate single motherhood with her daughter having been given an extra shadow from birth. It was somber, it was lovely, I felt so much weight in my heart. -Whisper of Solace by Milena McKay - If you like terrible women doing terrible things to each other in the name of their careers but also obsession and love, this one is for you! One of the most unique Ice Queen POVs I have read!

Okay, I'm sad enough, now I want a happy romance! -Wherever Is Your Heart by Anita Kelly - Even as a lover of romance myself, few books have made me swoon like this one. Two older butch women finding love much later in life and being realistic about their issues and problems, I just absolutely adored the grounded conversations they had. Also a very quick read! -Breaking Character by Lee Winter - This is one of the most enjoyable, fun, heartfelt romances. It's Hollywood, it's fake dating, it's age gap. Both characters go on such a lovely journey together. This is one I would highly encourage you to listen to the audiobook as Angela Dawe is amazing at doing all the character voices and accents. Additionally, there is not a single Lee Winter book I haven't liked, so highly recommend any of hers (The Awkward Truth is my second fave of hers, with a unique and younger ice queen). -The Carlisle Series by Roslyn Sinclair - You honestly can't have a sapphic romance list without this series. It's adapted and updated from Roslyn's Devil Wears Prada fanfic, but this is a story all its own and had me tearing up at the ending. I did the exercise of reading both the books and the fanfic which was very fun to compare! -Something's Different by Quinn Ivins - This is one of the sweetest books, I smiled all the way reading it. A woman has to step in to cover for her twin sister at her job while her sister goes off with her boyfriend, and she ends up falling for her sister's boss. It was a lovely book that also touched on mental health. I also love an academic setting, and it made statistics fun to learn about! -Bright Falls Series by Ashley Herring Blake - This 3 book series is so fun, just true romcom goodness. The characters are fun and interesting, they have complex relationships with each other, and I love how the author sets up these little ways the characters think is truth or reality, only to find how differently they perceived things.

Give me some scary ones! -The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling - cave spelunking in a tricked up space suit, being chased by ghosts, and not sure if you can trust the woman on the radio who's guiding you through it. Has just such a satisfying ending too. -The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean - a vampire-adjacent book, it's a world where these beings eat books, but then sometimes one amongst them instead eats minds. A woman, book eater herself, runs away from her family to protect her son who is a mind eater. I felt this one was gutwrenching at times, with characters making tough and sometimes bad decisions, and it kept a grip on me the whole way. -Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant - this one is more of an ensemble cast as it jumps around to several POVs, but the sapphic romance pair in it is great. It follows a crew aboard a ship to figure out what happened to a previous ship where everyone just disappeared. Every character has a rich internal life of why they're there, what are their goals, etc. -Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield - a woman's wife went on a deep sea expedition and returns not quite the same. The book jumps between the two women, what happened on that expedition and what her wife is having to deal with after she returns. I also enjoyed Julia's book of short stories, Salt Slow.

Wow, that was pretty scary. What about some fun science-y adventures? -The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson - a sci fi, multiverse traveling book. In the future, society can send people to alternate verses, mostly to steal resources, but you can only be sent if the other version of you is already dead in that world. The writing is fast-paced, really fun, and had some great quotes I even wrote down. It had so many little and big twists along the way, I gasped a lot. -The Founders Trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett - kinda fantasy, kinda sci fi, kinda steam-punky, but a whole lotta fun! Fast-paced, it has one of the most interesting magic systems I've ever read. It's low on romance but the sapphic relationship that develops had my heart clenching by the last book. I read this series this year and already want to re-read it. -This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone - this book is a short but challenging read. It may not be for everyone. Treat it less like a novel and more like a riddle. It's feeding you bits and pieces as it goes and all will be revealed by the end. One of the most romantic books I've read.

Sure sure, but how about some escapism into fantasy now? -The Locked Tomb series by Tamsyn Muir - this one could've also gone in the horror or sci fi lists, what with the lesbian necromancers in space tagline. You've probably heard of it, it's dense, complicated at times, and will throw you for a loop when it quotes Linkin Park lyrics at you. Each book has such a different flavor too. A fun series to not only read but also reread! It requires a lot of attention, and I'm not too proud to admit I had to look up several word meanings as I read. The only series I have multiple versions of because I couldn't resist the special editions. -The Burning Kingdoms series by Tasha Suri - love me some fantasy set in a world inspired by the history and epics of India, some morally gray characters, complicated motivations, some betrayal of the ones you love most. This series is so lovely and such a fun and heartwrenching ride and I can't wait for the next book. -Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree - It's cozy, it's sweet, it just made me smile all the way through. The sequel I found just as lovely as well.

Enough with the other worlds! Got anything historical? -The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave - this one could also go on the sad list. It's poetic, lovely. A town of only women since their men all were lost in a storm and how the women manage to move on, deal with their grief, and face a dude who comes in later to try to "set their society right" or whatever. Throw that dude into the sea too. -Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - an absolute rollercoaster of a book. It's a long, great read with deception upon deception upon twists. I also highly recommend the BBC miniseries it was adapted into! -The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite - this one really surprised me. It's honestly really sweet. Two women come together to translate a French astronomy text and fall in love in the process.

Got anything with pictures? -Luisa Now and Then by Carole Maurel - drama, a woman in her 30s encounters her much younger self and they have to come to terms with who they thought they were and what they thought their life would be like. -A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll - heavy on the horror, not really a romance, but it is gorgeous, atmospheric, and didn't go where I thought it was going. -How Do We Relationship by Tamifull - drama, slice of life, one of my favorite series, it goes through some really complex character relationships and interactions. The main couple starts dating pretty quickly, and it only gets more complicated from there. -She Loves to Cook, She Loves to Eat by Sakaomi Yuzaki - slice of life. This one starts out simply enough, with two women who connect over food. Their relationship blooms slowly from there, and the latest volume introduced some additional characters that expand the discussion on how different our relationship to food and eating can be.

YOUNG ADULT

That was a lot. I'm ready to be sad again. -We Are Okay by Nina LaCour - a girl leaves everyone behind to go to college, and won't talk to them about why or what happened that changed her in those few weeks before she left. Her best friend comes to visit her and what follows is a slow, anguishing tale of grief, regret, and love. Honestly, for a sad time, you can always depend on Nina LaCour. -Forget Me Not by Alyson Derrick - this one might not work for everyone if you don't like an amnesia story. It had so much longing, loss, confusion, and a romance strong enough to attempt to get through it. -6 Times We Almost Kissed (and One Time We Did) by Tess Sharpe - Don't let the meme-rific title fool you, this book wrung out my heart. The characters are rich, deep, conflicted, and complicated. Deals with grief, with lost opportunities, with complicated friendships and complicated love. -If Tomorrow Doesn't Come by Jen St. Jude - what happens if you were already suicidal, but then the world is going to end soon anyway? This book deals heavily with depression and the end of the world, in many different meanings. -Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo - this one broke my heart a few times. Two girls who don't know they are related lose their father in a plane crash, and it only gets sadder and more complicated from there as both their words begin to connect.

Wow, all this sadness has made me angry! -Harley Quinn: Reckoning by Rachael Allen - gotta love a female rage revenge book. This book is a really engrossing read, it weaves a lovely mystery, and has one of my all time favorite twists and love interest characters of any book.

I've angered myself out, can we have some happy romance? -She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick - a lovely lovely contemporary romance story. Nothing surprising, just all the good stuff. Also writen by a wife team! -How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow - a very sweet holiday romance that starts when one of the MCs almost runs over her love interest. -Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes - with the topics this one deals with, it could've very easily made the sad list as well. The overall uplifting ending is what kept it more in the happy list for me.

Okay, okay, I'm ready to be scared again! -These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall - this one has it all, creepy house, family trauma, falling for the weird girl in the woods. It all built up to a really great twist too. I recommend the audiobook, it had great production and acting, and even legit scared me and I couldn't listen to it at night.

I like horror, but got anything a little more sci fi? -The Meadows by Stephanie Oaks - along the same lines of A Handmaid's Tale, a dystopian future where the government has a lot to say about what your role is in society and what you are supposed to do/be. At times a little slow, but at all times really heartwrenching.

Anything related to history? -A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar - four girls band together to execute a jewel heist on the titanic! Which sounds very exciting and it is! I also bawled at the end. Honestly I will read any and all Adiba Jaigirda books too.

Okay let's get into that fantastical escapism! -Fractured Fables series by Alix E. Harrow - based on fairytales, these two novelas are very quick reads, very engaging and I especially loved the romance that developed in the second one! -We Set the Dark on Fire series by Tehlor Kay Mejia - Handmaids Tale adjacent as well and the backdrop is Latiné inspired. A really great read, both books had be gripped by the chest. Good twists too! -The Winter Duke by Claire Eliza Bartlett - inspired by sleeping beauty, the prince set to inherit the throne falls asleep and his younger sister has to figure out how the hell she keeps it all together until he (hopefully) wakes up. -Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron - a society built after the very real Cinderella story, where all ladies of age go to the ball to be selected as brides, and then the story of a girl trying to fight against all that. -Forgotten Gods series by Marie Rutkoski - A girl who lives on the poor side of town meets a rich girl who seems ready to take her on adventures. I really enjoyed the main character's journey and how she changed oh so very drastically throughout the story. -Of Fire and Stars by Audrey Coulthurst - I've recced this to friends who did not like it as much as I did but I'm still putting it on this list. Maybe it's just this book has all the things I like and that's fine. A princess betrothed to a prince is hiding her magical abilities and ends up falling for her fiance's sister, oops. -Sofi and the Bone Song by Adrienne Tooley - what drew me to this story was the quiet mystery it weaves. Sofi wants to take her father's place as a Musik (the few musicians in the country allowed to compose music) but then an unexpected, untrained lute player shows up and just absolutely outplays her. Sofi is determined to prove this new girl cheated with magic. Adrienne Tooley overall is an author I always enjoy. -Nampeshiweisit series by Moniquill Blackgoose - only the first book is out so far (To Shape a Dragon's Breath) but boy am I invested! A young girl finds the first dragon egg to appear in her remote island in 15 years, but the colonists of her land have strong opinions of who is allowed to have a dragon, how they need to be trained, and what they should do with dragons.

Phew that was a lot of words. Got anything with pictures again? -Thieves by Lucie Bryon - a really sweet and surprisingly deep story about two girls who steal shit. -Belle of the Ball by Mari Costa - a high school love triangle that worked in all the right ways. I loved the art, and as someone with vision deterioration, one of the easiest reads I've had recently! -Twelfth Grade Night by Molly Horton Booth - the original Shakespeare play Twelfth Night was formative for my lesbian realization, and this cute adaptation was so well done and modernized the story in a really fun and fantastical way. -The Princess and the Grilled Cheese Sandwich by Deya Muniz - continues the running theme of girl pretending to be a boy falls for girl, oops. Has a historical and modern twist to it all, very fun and loved the expressions. Do Not skip the author's notes at the end where she talks about what inspired the story, it was a highlight as well! -Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall - Mean Girls meets werewolves -Cosmoknights series by Hannah Templer - princesses, space travel, giant robot fights, this has got it all and some very lovely art to boot! -Honor Girl: A Graphic Memoir by Maggie Thrash - one of those comics that perfectly captures what it feels like to be a young girl falling in love with another girl for the first time. It's a little bit emotionally devastating at times in how expertly it expresses and pinpoints those specific feelings.

[nerdysleepybunny]

why hello lovely author :D

it’s the person that asked for the Don with a confident, yet oblivious crush kiss hcs a while ago, and i thought they were so fucking cute <33

if you’re not too busy, and as a part two to those headcanons, i now request some wholesome hcs with Don, like cuddling, dates, forms of affection, who would be the big/little spoon, would he be fine as either, when is he down for cuddling, things like that.

i hope you’re taking care of yourself and remembering to get enough sleep, drink enough water, eating enough food, etc. :D

GIRRRRL YOU SENT THIS ASK LITERALLY LAST YEAR I AM SO SO SORRY 😭🫶🏻

🩷☁️N E R D Y S L E E P Y B U N N Y☁️🩷

Fandom(s): The Promised Neverland

Character(s): Don (ft. Ray, Emma, Norman)

Reader: Gender neutral (they/you)

TW: N/A

Style: Hcs

Summary: general dating hcs with Don <3

🩷☁️N E R D Y S L E E P Y B U N N Y☁️🩷

Honeymoon stage? Nah, this is honeymoon LIFE. Especially since you guys are young, I don’t think he’ll ever get over the excitement of dating you until you guys are older 😭

But then again the show isn’t really about maturing, it’s more about just surviving. So I doubt Don would ever grow up 💀

Maybe in the human world!

But let’s keep it in the house for now ^^

As for cuddles, Don is kind of shy at first.

He wants to keep any physical affection in private, saying he doesn’t want anybody (Gilda) to know and that he has a “reputation” (he does indeed have a reputation… just not the kind he wants 😭)

Later on in the relationship is when he begins to show you off! The mix of knowing you’re in it with him for the long one AND gaining confidence in himself with the help of the fullscore trio, he loses a lot of his shame.

Doesn’t lose an ounce of his stupidity, though. He’ll walk around with you with his arm on your shoulder and showing you off, acting like he’s the big man 😭

I see Don as a cuddle switch. But tbh I don't really see him doing spoon cuddles. I feel like you two would cuddle lying on your sides directly next to each other, face to face, legs tangled and arms wrapped around each other.

Also Don tosses and turns in his sleep, sorry I don't make the rules

If you're a light sleeper you'll wake up to him pushing you away in his sleep so he's completely spread out on the bed and you're about to fall off

If you're a deep sleeper and don't get pushed off the bed by him, you'll just wake up to the both of you in completely different positions than how you started out

Yes, you've seen him on the floor once.

(Would Isabella even allow the children to sleep together?)

(Just saying, if Isabella were to be strict about the children each sleeping in their own beds, you and Don absolutely secretly cuddle together. Might make hcs of secret cuddling with different TPN characters :3)

There isn't much you can do for "dates" in the house..

But Don tries anyway!

Picks flowers for you if you like them

Idk Don seems like the type to enjoy arts and crafts

Arts and crafts date!!! :D

Have y'all seen those tiktoks of people making clay stuff with their partner? Those are the vibes I'm getting

Don sucks ass at making literally anything but he has fun anyway! Especially if you praise his work

Bring the fullscore trio into it and it'll be even more fun

(The trio will in fact tryhard but like in the sweetest way possible? Like you and Don will be pissed but how can you stay mad at those sweethearts)

Emma and Norman would proudly present their picture perfect clay creations and then see your bad ones and be like "oh... it's okay, practice makes perfect!"

I love you guys but please stfu

I wanna say that Ray would say something mean but tbh I don't really see him as the bragging type? Maybe as a joke to close friends, but he wouldn't do it to just anyone. Especially around the other children.

If you have little siblings/cousins and you're both doing something that you're good at, you learn to go easy on them so they don't cry 😭

Anyways back to Don

Likes smooches! I see him prefering skin kisses over lip kisses

A quick peck on the lips is fine, and a good way to fluster him

But a whole make out sesh is ehhh

Y'all are kids, you shouldn't be doing that anyway 😭

Loves loves lovesss kisses all over the face though!

Forehead, nose, cheeks

They make him smile :)

They especially feel good when he's still trying to get over the truth of the secret

He'll remember all of his dead siblings and begin spiraling, but your loving kisses keep him grounded

It reminds him that you're there for him, and gives him a reason to keep going; to not lose you as well

🩷☁️N E R D Y S L E E P Y B U N N Y☁️🩷

Apologies again for the wait! I love your Don asks <3

[cloudninetonine]

Warning ahead of time (Post includes mention of death-- cremation and mortality. So proceed if you want to)

You know, I started to think about that death scene from 'The Player and The Dollmaker" post. It was the part where Time described burying the player and returning their stuff to their mother. That scene got me thinking of how I wouldn't want to be buried in Hyrule. Honestly, I know how breathtaking and fairytale like it can be but that wouldn't change my mind of where I want to die. I feel like that can be intertwined with Player as well. Even if they feel excited to be in one of their favorite video games with legendary heroes, it can start to wane on you. Missing aspects of you normal life and wondering about the changes happening at home start to affect you. Even though we might start to describe the Earth as a bad place, that there wasn't light in the darkness. The people we met, the families we have, and the achievements we have accomplished and will still drive us to live. Besides, it is a bit safer than Hyrule, where Player is always vulnerable to monsters, Dark Link, and even the people. As long as the Player can't fight back, they will have more fear and a higher possibility to die. I feel like it would start to seed into the Player's mind and make them think about their own mortality.

I say that they would take a couple of days just thinking. Whether it would be few or a lot, they start to think about their own (possibly eventual) death. The chain might notice that they aren't talkative at all. They shut down and take every moment to think of each scenario. Hyrule, Wind, and Wild might feel more worried about them than everyone else but there will still be that heaviness of what's causing to change. Hyrule might persuade you to talk about it with him or have small conversations about anything but the Player would be worn off and quiet. Gilda might even stay close to them but Player doesn't pay her any attention. They might not be active at all with Wind and might politely decline any activity he wants to do. In the case that he drags them regardless of what they say, Player just stays motionless and out of touch. Wild might notice that Player doesn't eat as much as they used to, considering that they leave behind food in their bowl. Stuff like this starts to get on everyone's radar but they aren't sure how to resolve it. Even if Player was a lot (talkative, cheerful, funny, slightly optimistic, loving, a riot, determined, wild, and annoying), they brought an atmosphere that made things a little better. I'm sure they have their own private meetings while the Player's sleeping to talk about what's going on. Some of them observed on desolate they are while others observed how they constantly write in a journal with strange symbols and constantly rewrite stuff as if editing it. They decide the best way to approach this situation is to wait for them to talk first.

Later, on a certain day, they decide to speak during the occasional meeting around the fire. They decide to speak once everything important is out of the way.

"There is something I'd like to say"

Everyone might be surprised that they spoke but quiet down anyways. This leaves room for the Player to speak but they appear hesitant with concerned eyes moving towards Wind.

"There might be a chance that I might die during this journey and I want to plan out how I want to be 'buried' ,or in the literal way, conserved."

"You can't be serious""Yeah, we can just heal all of your injuries with a potion or fairy"

They raise their hand to stop the interruption.

"I feel like anything can kill me at any point of this journey. I know that's the thing everyone keeps at the back of their head and fully acknowledge but I can't seem to get the thought that I might be sooner to die than all of you."

Their voice wavers and their eyes become watery. Hyrule and Wild gesture to move closer to comfort them and reassure them that they would rather die than let that happen but Player moves away. They fist their hand and breath in and out.

"I'm not immune to any of your diseases, I'm weaker and very uncoordinated to defend myself against anything or anybody, I'm dumb as a brick, and I'm no use to anybody. I'm just lucky I survived these few instances but, with things get more serious and dangerous, I can't ignore the fact that I will die."

A breeze carries by as no one knows what to say. Therefore, Player continues.

"If my body is intact, I want you to burn me and carry my ashes home. I know that might take a few days off from your journey but I refuse to be buried in any of your Hyrules. It isn't an insult to your homes but I want to die in my home. Give me to my mother and also here"

The rustle of paper catches their attention as the Player hands the note to Time. Warriors and Twilight peek over his shoulder as he sees it but they can't seem to make out what it says.

"It's nothing important. It's just my will-- the shit I have has to go somewhere." They chuckle but the atmosphere is too discouraging to save.

"Money (hardly anything) stays with my mother, toys to younger cousins, consoles go to the older cousins, and everything else will get donated."

They slowly turn away from the group and head towards their bedroll. They stop a few inches away.

"if the case I get controlled or possessed, I want someone to kill me. I don't think I can live with myself if I hurt others in anyway."

As they turn their head slightly, they plant onto Legend.

"Preferably Legend. It would take a lot of weight out of him." With their hands thrown around mockingly, "he can finally end the evil witch that posed a threat to the group from the very beginning. The hero finally ending their reign of terror, cheer for his victory."

Dry laughter comes from them as they stare into his conflicted eyes. "You would want that, wouldn't you?"

No one knew how to respond as they settled into their bed and wished everyone a goodnight. The next day, Player went completely back to how they normally were but the chain still held discussion in the back of their mind.

(Man, I seriously went on a rant with this. But I really couldn't get it out of my head--although I'm not good with integrating the characters into this scenario--I just wanted to share my thoughts with you and everyone else.

I just thought of how important going back home is. With the area Player's in, their death rate is higher than anyone else. I just though that if I wanted to die, I would like to go home fully. It would upset my family but having that closure of being home will help them move on, especially our mother.

But I think that idea of having our preserved ashes addressed an item really got to me. You know how whenever you select or hover over an item, it's name appears normal and sometimes playful. They are presented lively and have unique names that distinguish them from the rest of the items. I imagines one of the boys carrying our ash box and just [NAME] appears. No lively or ridiculous name. Just a morbid box of your friend's ashes in your inventory. Can't imagine the weight of seeing that with the rest of your items. Just being reminded of their failure and constantly carrying that reminder like Atlas carrying the Earth (maybe an exasperation but maybe close to a boulder). It might get to some of them, especially Hyrule, considering how he freaked out in that specific post.

But yeah, I just wanted to share that thought, sorry if it was too much. But I really like your content and I just wanted to give my through on a certain scenario. Thanks for viewing it)

Okay so this hurt A LOT

But God I loved this so much too- it's such a good and real idea too. Hyrule is amazing, Hyrule is beautiful and magical but at the end of the day Hyrule is not Earth. Hyrule is not Player's home. Why would they want to be buried in such a place? It only makes sense to want to be returned home after everything was done.

ALSO THE INVENTROY ASH BOX 😭😭😭😭😭 God just imagine the blank look on the Link's face, yet the complete hurt in his eyes having to carry such a thing

[goldiipond]

YOU WERE RECOMMENDED TO ME 🗣️‼️‼️

DON HEADCANONS PLS? THANK YOU SM 💫

OHH HELL YEAH I LOVE THAT I AM SEEN AS A GOOD SOURCE FOR DON HCS. i love him soo much no youdont even UNDERSTAAAAND how many thoughts i have. about don <3

these might be a bit all over the place bc im just typing them as they come to me but thats okay <3 also this got long. to no ones surprise

autism+adhd KING. he can pick a topic he's passionate about and just ramble on for hours. he can't sit still to save his life and is always tapping his feet or fidgeting with his hands in some way. basically he's 'if i stop moving at any point i die' and he's everything. to me

he's got poor volume control too, and often talks really loud without realizing it (projection <3)

definitely has some anxiety, and gets startled pretty easily. this is mostly based off the light novel chapter where he does this, but ray has gotten used to don instinctively clinging to him like a lost puppy

the most physically affectionate person you will ever meet. the gracefield kids unanimously agree that he gives the best hugs

BISEXUAL TBOY SWAG !!!!!!!!!!!!!

emma had the honor of giving don his first haircut after coming out, which was re-cut by isabella very shortly after

post-timeskip he wears a little bunny patch that the younger kids made for him with gillian's help. he always wears it right over his heart <3

speaking of which, he absolutely adores bunnies because they remind him of conny. probably owns several articles of clothing with bunnies on them and an army of bunny plushies. he wears bunny slippers at night <3

before coming out, him and conny both wore their hair in pigtails

i like to think olivia was like a big sister figure to him much like susan was to the trio, the very few bits of olivia characterization we get in light novels just make me think they'd get along <3 ithink michelle had a similar relationship with gilda and maybe anna as well

him and emma are BEST FRIENDS their dynamic is so fun to think about. they spend their time doing wild and sometimes dangerous shit just for fun and also coming up with new creative ways to mess with ray

norman+don friendly rivalry is soo real to me even if don is probably more into it than norman. post-canon he WILL finally beat norman in tag if its the last thing he does

has had a crush on ray for basically forever. him and conny picked a bunch of flowers in the forest for him one time but don was too nervous to ever actually give them to him

his and conny's beds at gracefield were right next to each other and sometimes conny would get up and crawl into his bed when she got scared at night <3

WOLFPACK TRIO BESTEST TRIO EVER ithink they have sleepovers a lot. ayshe's dogs love him more than anyone besides ayshe herself, and they tend to just sort of. dogpile on him. he's completely okay with it

tbh i think he would just really love animals in general. bunnies are of course his favorite but he will befriend any creature he can get close enough to

at like 18/19 him, gilda, ray, norman, and emma all get matching little bunny tattoos. may or may not have stolen this idea from the main kids' flapjack tattoos in toh <3

[fullscoreshenanigans]

Hello!! I'm really sorry, but could you do a summary of the Krone and Isabella light novels? I can't find anywhere to read them. thank you so much!!

No need to apologize, happy to help!

I've talked about the contents of the first light novel here. Almost all of it is available either translated in text or via sound dramas with English subtitles. The exception is the "NER in Bird Cages" story, which is only available in English as a summary.

I've provided a general overview of the second light novel here, as well a link to the masterlist of TPN content for the English-speaking fandom. The first half is dedicated to Isabella, and the second half to Krone, though if you've read chapter 181.2, you'll already be familiar with most of it.

If one of the stories is part of the content of a post, I'll usually tag it as light novels, the title of the light novel in question, and the title of the specific story. (e.g., TPN Light Novels + Moms' Song of Remembrance + The Starry Sky and Leslie's List)

Here's all the light novels laid out with their story tags (with the exception of the fourth one because I've only read the half that's translated):

Light Novel 1: A Letter from Norman

• "The Ghost Incidents at Grace Field House" - Norman reminiscences about his earliest memory with Emma and Ray, when they were about three or four, trying to solve the mystery of the spooky occurrences around the house. • "The Day Emma Cried" - Norman recalls an incident when he was about seven and became terribly ill retrieving Emma’s handkerchief during a rainstorm. Thinking he’s on death’s doorstep, with Isabella’s permission (to both appease Emma and test Ray’s loyalty), Emma and Ray go out to find the miracle cure, a white flower that only blooms at night. • "NER in Bird Cages" - Norman muses how he's never seen Ray cry before he remembers the incident where they rescued an injured bird sometime after Emma's ninth birthday. Ray deals with the grief of not being able to save his beloved older sister, Susan, if he wants to save Emma's and Norman's lives. • "A Gift from the 39th Girl" - The Grace Field kids secretly work on putting together a gift for Norman’s eleventh birthday.

Light Novel 2: Moms' Song of Remembrance

• "The Starry Sky and Leslie's List" - Isabella's story where she remembers helping Leslie with a list of goals he set out to accomplish over the course of two days before he's shipped out. She also reflects on her relationships with Ray and Sarah. • "Searching for the Skies of Freedom" - Krone's story; chapter 181.2 is a retelling of this.

Light Novel 3: Records of Comrades

• "Two Paths" - The story of how Lucas and Yuugo's group acquired the tea set we see Yuugo with in the bunker, interspersed with scenes of Lucas interacting with Emma and Yuugo interacting with Ray during the present timeline. • "Two Wills" - Gillian and Nigel's story of their earlier days at Goldy Pond when they both lost their sisters, Lala and Emilia. • "Two Destinies" - The story of how Mujika and Sonju met and how Leuvis inadvertently ended the farm system and thousand-year promise because he was bored.

Light Novel 4: Films of Memories

• "The Days to Celebrate" • "Operation Stormy Night" - The Grace Field children reminiscence about the night their older siblings helped them feel safe during a particularly bad storm. • "Ray and Conny" - The Grace Field kids are telling Emma about their life at Grace Field house when Conny comes up. Ray recalls to himself how he helped three-year-old Conny adjust to sleeping in the larger shared bedrooms with some indirect help from Susan. It's a story only he and Norman know now. • "The Chess Proverb" - Ray teaches Norman how to play chess, and Emma and Norman join in a match with Ray against Isabella. Serves as a metaphor for how each of them approaches a problem and how they balance each other out when they work together. • "Don and Gilda" • "The Guiding Star" - The story that explains how the trio got on the roof for the chapter 119 cover art and the comfort they each draw from the stars.

Finally, here's my general tag navigation page that's hopefully accessible on mobile as well as desktop.

[juuls]

Juulna’s 2021 Multi-Fandom Fanfiction Rec List - Part Three

(Yes, I realize this is a year late, but this year's been a bit nuts. I still hope you enjoy these fics anyway!)

Based only on what I’ve read with my own eyes this year!

Follow me on my journey into what, at times, was…

…actually rather calming! Perhaps you can find some comfort and entertainment, fluff and angst and romance and friendship, smut and a distinct lack of it, space adventures and fantasy and modern adventures, serial killers and good guys, redemption and reconciliation and learning to become someone completely different — there is so much here I read that stuck with me over the past year, and the 2021 Fanfic Reading Challenge ( @fanfic-reading-challenge ) allowed me a new way to keep track of all of my favourites. So props to that event! Definitely participating again (considering I run the event, yeah, that's probably a given lol, but full disclosure).

Without further ado, here were my 2021 fic favourites!

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six

Fandom: Star Wars

Kylo Ren/Reader:

Love Is Blind by @elmidol

After having been temporarily blinded due to an injury, you learned new skills. These you continued to hone after you had healed, and so you took to wearing blindfolds.

Supreme Leader Snoke deemed these skills useful for the Knights of Ren, which led to your quarters changing to those beside Kylo Ren's. Slowly you came to understand him. And, in his own way, he came to know you as well.

Reylo:

Gambits by bitterbones

In which an attempt is made on the life of galactic senator Ben Organa-Solo, and Rey is assigned to be his personal bodyguard. Their biology makes them fast enemies, and Rey struggles to balance her duty as a Jedi with the rivalry forming between them. Perhaps they even hate one another. Until suddenly they don't.

*Then he was moving through the darkness, and for all the training she had endured, Rey froze when faced with his shadow. He caught her jaw in his hand, and Rey shivered at its breadth. His hands were soft, his grip firm. That confusing scent assaulted her again, stronger this time as its source breathed in her face.

“But understand this, little Jedi, you are a guest in my territory. Any omegas I bring back are mine . I am larger than you, I am stronger than you. You listen to me , are we clear? I am dominant, between the two of us. I am the alpha .”

With a few steadying breaths she managed to dampen her alpha response enough to speak, “Get out of my face.”

The Stormtrooper's Handguide On How To Handle An Insufferable Boss by riffraffes

“We... have a favor to ask,” one of the Stormtroopers says slowly, almost sheepishly. The blank white faces of the masks stare back at her, but Rey can feel waves of embarrassment and fear rolling off of them.

Rey doesn't have all day to pander to them, so she lets out a low growl, daring them to continue.

“Can you please fuck Kylo Ren, already?” comes out desperately, and it's got to be the absolute last thing that she had ever expected to hear.

The Escort by @grlie-girl

Rey, a college student living in Chicago, gets roped into the world of high-end escorting. It’s Thursday night and she is on her way to meet her newest client: a man named Kylo Ren.

Delicious Ambiguity by Juulna

Rey and Kylo Ren repeatedly encounter each other in battle over the years, fighting desperately for the causes that they believe in even as they both grow in strength - and fight off growing curiosity. Yet when Kylo tells Rey that she's pregnant via the Force, will that affect their interactions? And will it change Kylo irrevocably?

“I wanted a perfect ending. Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious Ambiguity.” ― Gilda Radner

They say that only the dead have seen the end of war by Juulna and @cuthian

“He traded his life for mine,” Rey choked, stomping back and forth in front of him so fast he could barely keep track of her. “He died. He died so I didn’t have to—and it’s not—it’s—after everything he’s gone through—it’s not fair.”

Tears were running down her cheeks now, and Poe wanted to do nothing more than hug her, but there was nothing he could say—nothing she would want to hear. Poe remembered all the people he’d lost, all the times he had raged and screamed and cried about the unfairness of it all.

“Leia sacrificed herself to bring him back,” Rey declared suddenly, ceasing her constant pacing around the fire as she looked straight at him. “And he sacrificed himself for me—and now no one’s going to know. All he’ll be remembered as is Kylo Ren, but he was—he was so much more.” She exhaled with a shudder and whispered, “He was a part of me, and I—I don’t feel whole without him.”

A Force Ghost Ben/Rey love story, with a side of rebuilding the galaxy.

The Shadow Knight by six4au

There are worse things than being a ghost. Walking through walls is kind of fun, and eavesdropping on conversations is certainly convenient, but how do you get the attention of someone who can't see you? Ineptly, it turns out.

Fandom: The Witcher

Geraskefer:

A history of dragons in popular culture by @deputychairman

“I wanted a point of comparison,” she said. “Because he looks at me like he really – loves me, or something.”

“Yeah,” said Jaskier, resigned. “He does that sometimes. Isn’t it a bitch?”

They were half way through the second bottle by now, and their shoulders were touching. She could feel the hard line of Jaskier’s thigh against hers. She was very aware of the chest hair visible at the open neck of his shirt, and how he could probably see down her dress from here. She hadn’t moved to put any distance between them and neither had he.

“Why are we still talking about him? I don’t care about Geralt of Rivia any more,” lied Yennefer.

“Nor do I,” Jaskier lied back.

A Twist in Time by didoandis

When Jaskier looks over the witcher has his eyes shut tight, his whole body seeming pained. Jaskier realises he wants to soothe him, and the strength of feeling surprises him. He’s been too long without company.

“What happened?” the witcher says finally.

Jaskier blinks. “That’s quite a big question. I’m afraid you’ll need to be more specific.”

“With Nilfgaard,” the witcher clarifies, growling slightly. “It shouldn’t – it didn’t happen like this.”

In 1240, Jaskier the bard leaves Posada earlier than planned because of a devil in the mountains.

In 1263, three years after Nilfgaard conquers the north, Julian Pankratz, viscount of Lettenhove, hires a witcher and learns about the path his life should have taken.

This is not an AU.

Smother by @funkzpiel

The first time it happened, Geralt was alone. Not alone as he once had been. Not alone because he chose to be alone. Alone, because he drove them away. No one would have a man who used ill-gotten wishes and spewed nothing but poisonous barbs from their mouth when you tried to comfort him. Alone, in a tub of water to scald the ache from his muscles, he wondered why it did little to relieve the pain. Why still he ached. Why it coalesced around his lungs like a thorn bush.

And then the coughing started.

blood on the marble walls by @ghostinthelibrarywrites

After being ambushed during a hunt, Griffin witcher Yennefer wakes up in a cell with two other witchers— a Cat named Jaskier and a wolf named Geralt. Held captive by a mage who wants to use them to create more witchers, there seems to be no chance of escape. But as Yennefer grows closer to her cellmates, she realizes that she’ll do anything to get the three of them out of this alive.

Series: buttercup by bloomerie

Jaskier might run with witchers and witches, but she is, in the end, human.

Constellations by @penny-anna

"I know how soulmarks work. If a person has two names writ upon them by destiny, then one is to guide them to their true love and the other to their worst enemy. Everyone knows that." / "That’s an old wives’ tale."

When Jaskier was fourteen, two names appeared on his skin: 'Geralt' and 'Yennefer'.

Rumor Has It by @cardamomdaydream

The school staff can't help but wonder about Ciri's stupidly hot parents.

The Tale of Jaskier's Grudge Against Historians (and how they gave him his happy ending anyway) by notebooksandlaptops

[Text Sent From Ciri] Is there a reason why a love letter to Yen and Geralt is in the British Museum signed from you?? -C

[Text Sent to Ciri] Because Historians are nosey pricks. Do NOT tell your parents. -J

[Text Sent From Ciri] ;) – C

The winking face of a semicolon and a bracket stared up at him, composed of unforgiving pixels. She wouldn’t, would she? No. No. She couldn’t. She wouldn’t.

She wouldn’t.

-///-

Or, an exploration of the reason (immortal) Jaskier hates historians (hint: it's because they keep stealing his shit and putting it on display)

Geraskier:

The Witcher Soldier by @avoidingaverage

Geralt barely managed to slam the pommel of his sword up in a glancing blow that shattered the metal latch holding the Soldier’s mask in place. The Soldier rolled into the movement with a dancer’s grace and came to his full height just as easily. For a moment, his hands reached up to run over the exposed skin, before he slowly turned to face Geralt once more.

The Witcher froze in a mixture of horror and near-frantic hope.

He stared into the eyes of a dead man and whispered, “Jaskier?”

The Soldi--the bard frowned at him in confusion and spoke with a voice rough with disuse,

“Who the hell is Jaskier?” ___________________________

Or, the Winter Soldier AU.

Series: Meet Death Sitting by @bomberqueen17

"OK this series has been going on for 2 years now and I should summarize it better.

The first part is several decades of, largely, Geralt and Jaskier's interactions, as they both fumble together toward some kind of meaningful understanding. That section largely concludes with a Jaskier/Geralt/Yennefer endgame.

Then there's a time jump, and the series picks up after the events of the Witcher 3 games. I follow Lambert as he copes with grief, and Keira as she learns new things about herself, and the lives they make.

I decided to tell the story of how Ciri became Empress after W3, which intersects with Keira and Lambert's adventures; I read the books somewhere in this and got invested in some of the themes they brought up. And entangled with this, I got interested in the politics of the North, especially the Upper Aedirn Free State and the threads laid down in the Witcher 2 game that didn't exactly get resolved in Witcher 3, and so I have several stories dealing with that thread, which will intersect with the other stories in the same timeline."

Fandom: Hannibal (NBC)

Hannigram:

Philia by @gweezle

Getting into Jack Crawford's Forensic Psychology class was a dream come true for Will Graham, until he learns that his final assignment is to attend twelve interviews with the notorious serial killer, Hannibal the Cannibal, in order to unravel his mysterious past.

Even as he grows closer to the truth, he also grows closer to Dr. Lecter, and the doctor is very eager to get to know this young man who thinks like a murderer.

The Unknown Prince by HissyTheDangerNoodle

Will Graham has days to find an alpha or he's done for. As if his life could be any more like a tragic opera.

Dévorer by @tauuuriel

He's always intense, always focused, but this is different. He's looking at her, and not just at her skin or her dress or hair or face or even the necklace he so lavishly doled out to her - he's looking at her soul, and she knows, just as she knows that yesterday someone died at the hands of an abusive husband, that he sees the way she's opened up like a flower in the sunlight, chasing off the dark shadows and revealing her true self.

A Perfect Set-Up by purplesocrates

Hannibal leans in slightly now, apparently intrigued. 'Well, the killer attacks single omega’s usually after being seen with someone high profile, many of them psychiatrists, as I’m sure you’re aware, Doctor. That’s the MO.' Will feels a sudden, very strong desire to run out of the room, maybe even the building. 'You would like us to be bait,' Hannibal states with a ghost of a smile that Will decides to ignore. 'Yes, quite frankly. You’d both be wearing a wire, and we’d have eyes on you at all times,' Jack explains to Hannibal, who is now actually smiling. ‘I thought this would be a good move and also allows us to keep an eye on you Doctor, after all, he may escalate to hurting alpha’s,’ Jack reasons. ‘At this stage, all we’re asking is that you have dinner.’ 'I’m sure we can manage that,' Hannibal says, looking at Will with a smirk that makes Will blush bright red.

Bright Hair About the Bone by MissDisoriental

Trapped in a system where omegas are little more than trophies to be bought and sold, Will Graham has done the unthinkable by escaping a forced bonding. Already in high demand as a profiler, Will's determined to find freedom on his own terms.

For Hannibal Lecter the outlook is far more straightforward: a slow, systematic seduction of the most uniquely captivating omega he's ever encountered.

As the shadow of a new and terrifying serial killer falls over Baltimore, the stage is set to redefine all accepted meanings of passion, temptation, horror and beauty – and to discover the ecstasy of a genuine love crime.

Mark me not a Savage by @katherinekrawl

When Will opens Hannibal's letter, it wakes something primal locked inside of him. He doesn't understand it, but what he does know is that he has to go to Baltimore hospital for the criminally insane, and he has to go now.

 Dear Will. He could still see the words, written in the curly elegance of Hannibal's hand, burning behind his eyelids. He breathed deeply through his nose to try and calm the unsteady flutter of his heart. A deep breath. One that clawed at his nose, one that penetrated his nostrils like a liquid, a smothering sting he felt intruding behind his eyes.

One. Deep. Breath.

And then it took him.

The Borderland State by @nekosmuse

Three years after Hannibal's arrest, Will Graham stands on the front porch of his Georgian seaside home and watches twin headlights navigate the winding stretch of his lane. There is only one reason Jack Crawford would travel all this way, in the rain: Hannibal Lecter has escaped from prison, and no one knows where he is.

Written for the Hannibal Kink Meme prompt: Will figured out Hannibal was the Chesapeake ripper, resulting Hannibal's imprisonment and a complete breakdown for Will. A few years later, Hannibal escapes from prison. Despite the risk, the first thing he does is go after his Mongoose. Give me obsessive, possessive, creepy as hell Hannibal who still wants Will for his own.

Series: When the Devil Smiles Back by @fancybedelia

Four years after his escape, Hannibal Lecter is once again imprisoned at the hospital in Baltimore. He's the same as ever, except that he refuses to discuss Will Graham, who there hasn't been a trace of in years. When the Buffalo Bill killings start, FBI trainee Clarice Starling is sent to interview him, and Hannibal has his interest piqued. But it’s not for reasons anyone would suspect, and as usual, his motivations are all about Will. A remix of Silence of the Lambs, where Clarice finds herself occupied not only with catching Buffalo Bill, but with unraveling the mystery of what exactly happened to Will Graham. And Hannibal knows more than he’s letting on about both.

Molly & Freddie, background Hannigram:

TKO by @sidnihoudini

Molly deals with the aftermath.

Frowning, Molly turns to retrieve two mugs from the cupboard. As she slides them from the cupboard she asks, “You think they’ll come back?”

“It isn’t likely they’ve left,” Freddie explains, eyes trailing over Molly’s hands as she sets the mugs down and pours their coffee. “Jack Crawford is looking for them in Florence. Hannibal’s ex-psychiatrist turned up a week ago missing a leg. You tell me what continent they’re on.”

The mug Molly is holding clatters against the counter top loudly, and coffee sloshes everywhere.

“Excuse me?” Molly finds herself laughing, sharp voiced and flabbergasted. She turns again, enough to see Freddie, smirking and staring back at her from the kitchen table.

Fandom: Humans Are Weird

Humans are Weird: Shorts by @thewildwaffle

What if when we get to space and we find out that all our movies, stories, etc. where humans are weak and (honestly) pathetic compared to most of the species in the galaxy, were wrong. What if we are actually the strong ones? The crazy ones? The hard-to-kill ones? The dangerous ones? Or maybe even the adorably cute ones? The ones that will out-progress most other species because we take seemingly too big/stupid risks and it pays off? Or we are very good at looking at problems from different perspectives. etc. You get the point.

Humans are my favorite mythical creature by @xandurielx

Short stories about humans on the galactic scene, some from alien points of view and others about these mythical tiny juggernauts. Brought over from tumblr and added to when possible.

Boldly Go by @cheezygoddess

[this was originally written as a fanfiction for Ultimate Spider-Man, however after much consideration and input from readers I believe this reads better as an original work] (dedicated to Audio and WebKat for giving me the idea). --- Sehmal and his fellow 'guards' were hand selected. Mainly for their ability to be surprised or alarmed without going into shock and dying. Secondarily because they had no bonded partners to distress if they died anyways. And only lastly because they studied aliens.

He just wished he'd been told before volunteering for this expedition that it was for the study of humans.

Fandom: Stargate Atlantis/SG-1

McShep:

Decade by canis_lupus

Ten years ago, an expedition left for Atlantis. They were never heard from again.

Decreasing Radii by @cathalins

An alien device forces John and Rodney to do something they wouldn't do otherwise. The aftermath is not easy. But sometimes, not-easy leads to good things.

Happy by crysothemis

"Wait," John said, because this had to be a joke, didn't it? "You know Ronon, but you don't know me? What the hell did that thing do to you?"

Weddings, Plural, and a Yak by @cesperanza

By the eighth time John Sheppard married Rodney McKay, they were old pros at the wedding thing, having weathered not only an Ouishan blood wedding, but also a twelve-hour Avalonian handfasting, a Malanese necklace exchange, and a Thurtu joining ceremony that invoked a fire god and featured seven kinds of cake.

Series: The History of Rome by @indygodusk

From Part One: When the IOA task General O’Neill to find a command staff for Atlantis, he delegates the selection to SG-1. On paper, they’re the best of the best. Unfortunately, the IOA won’t go for it because there’s one big problem: they’re all women.

Dr. R. Meredith Mckay is the leading expert on Ancient technology and a genius. Being a woman is merely incidental, or at least it should be. Major John Sheppard is a disgraced pilot. He doesn’t want any excitement in his life, but alien spaceships and hot scientists are hard to resist, especially when that scientist is Rome.

Written by the Victors by @cesperanza

Caroll, Franklin R. Atlantis Revisited. New York and London, Routledge, 2011. Chapman, Denise. Several Kinds of Genius: The Life of Rodney McKay. NY: Harper Perennial, 2015. Croft, Rosalind. City of Spires: A Memoir. Toronto: The Mercury Press, 2009. Dugan, Paul. A Political History of Atlantis. Oxford: OUP, 2012.

Fandom: Julie & the Phantoms

AlexReggieWillieLuke & Julynn endgame:

Series: An Anchor, a Port in the Storm by @cuthian

"Home should be an anchor, a port in a storm, a refuge, a happy place in which to dwell, a place where we are loved and where we can love." Marvin J. Ashton

From Part One:

“How do you even know you wanna kiss a guy?”

And later, Alex wouldn’t be able to justify, even to himself, what made him say it, but the words that came out of his mouth were, “I don’t know. Just kiss me, see how that feels.”

Reggie’s eyes snapped open.

--Alex/Reggie prequel to Becoming a Memory, Becoming a Treasure OR How Two Himbos Explored Their Sexuality Together

[subjects-of-the-king]

The Historical Value of Geoffrey of Monmouth

An Original Essay of Lucas Del Rio

The year was 1136. Britain in recent centuries had come to be defined by her English, Welsh, and Scottish boundaries. Of the three, England by far exercised the greatest hegemony. Most of the people living there talked in the English tongue, although the Norman leadership spoke French. This was because the population of England consisted mainly of the Anglo-Saxons, with their Norman-French overlords only recently having seized power. There had been a time, however, when the Saxons were the invaders, for they were not the indigenous people of the island. It was the story of Britain and her early history that the Welsh clergyman Geoffrey of Monmouth told in his 1136 work The History of the Kings of Britain.

Other British historians, including those of the present day and his own contemporaries, have tended to be highly critical of Geoffrey. His work, they say, is filled with myth. There is no doubt that there is a great deal of legend contained within its pages, although there are also reasons that the text deserves to be the subject of historical research. Many early history books filled in gaps of knowledge with legend, and the myths the medieval Welshman provides offer insight into the now largely forgotten traditional beliefs of the Celtic Britons. It is also the only surviving source to thoroughly explore the history of Britain prior to Roman occupation. Some of the episodes of British history from the Roman era and early Middle Ages touched on by other writers are discussed in far more detail by Geoffrey. Finally, his account of the life of King Arthur towards the end of the book is among the earliest sources for the Arthurian legend.

Geoffrey was aware that there were other writers of British history, but he felt that he could offer insight that others had not yet been able to do. “It has seemed a remarkable thing to me that, apart from such mention of them as Gildas and Bede had each made in a brilliant book about the subject, I have not been able to discover anything at all on the kings who lived here before the Incarnation of Christ, or indeed about Arthur and all the others who followed on after the Incarnation,” says Geoffrey as he opens his book. In this fragment of his opening statement, he is clearly giving praise to Gildas and the Venerable Bede, two historians who had lived centuries before his own time but whose works were highly respected. The first of these, published by the Romano-British monk Gildas in 540 AD, was On the Ruin and Conquest of Britain. When Gildas wrote, Roman occupation was still a fresh memory, and the withdrawal of Roman garrisons had left the Britons vulnerable to Germanic, Irish, and Pictish invaders. Gildas, in his book, writes a brief history of how the Romans had once subjugated the island and then how they had left. Later, the book consists of Gildas condemning the new kings who had emerged from the former Roman province. From his perspective, they were both sinful and had been unable to effectively respond to the challenges facing a post-Roman Britain.

The other British historian referenced by Geoffrey at the start of his book is the Venerable Bede, who wrote much later than Gildas but still a very long time before he himself wrote The History of the Kings of Britain. His chief work, and probably the one that Geoffrey is calling “a brilliant book,” was the 731 AD book Ecclesiastical History of the English People. As the title suggests, the primary focus of the book is the history of the church in English society. Along the way, Bede also chronicles the wars, cultural changes, and royal dynasties of the era. Ecclesiastical History of the English People is the oldest surviving comprehensive British history book, and one that was the gold standard for other British history books to emulate for much of the rest of the medieval era. Even today, it remains invaluable for the particular time period that it covers. Geoffrey obviously respected both him and the earlier Gildas, yet he saw certain weaknesses in works that did indeed have a great deal of merit. Britain in the era prior to the dawn of Christianity is almost entirely ignored by the two historians. Their chronicles of the early medieval era also are lacking in biographic information of the kings of the Celtic Britons. Gildas offers more criticism of leadership style than any real biographical detail, and Bede neglects the Britons in favor of the lives of Anglo-Saxon kings.

“The deeds of these men were such that they deserve to be praised for all time,” continues Geoffrey, making it clear that he is setting out to write a book that he feels deserves to exist. “These deeds were handed joyfully down in oral tradition,” he asserts, although he also claims to have used as a source “a certain very ancient book written in the British language.” Certainly, any history of the Britons written at this point which covered the span that it did would have had to make use of oral tradition. A trickier question is whether or not the “ancient book written in the British language” really existed. Prior to English becoming the dominant language, the Britons had spoken a language called Brythonic, which eventually branched into the modern Celtic dialects of Breton, Cornish, and Welsh. As someone who was Welsh, especially at a time when Wales was not yet as Anglicized as it would later become, it seems perfectly feasible that Geoffrey would have had knowledge of Brythonic. Modern knowledge of Brythonic is limited, but it may have been written in the Ogham alphabetic script that was at the time used by the Irish and the Picts. Geoffrey could, however, have simply been adding such a detail at the beginning of his book to capture the attention of his audience. Discovering an “ancient book” is more exciting than depending solely on oral tradition.

Geoffrey clearly made use of surviving sources whether or not he really had an “ancient book written in the British language.” Bede, whom Geoffrey highly respected despite perceiving certain shortcomings, was one. Both Ecclesiastical History of the English People and The History of the Kings of Britain start their chronicles by introducing the island of Britain herself, with very similar descriptions of her geography and natural resources. This opening of Bede must have been as influential on medieval British historians as the rest of his book, as it is also closely copied by Henry of Huntington, a contemporary of Geoffrey, in History of the English. Next, Geoffrey makes a statement that very much sets up a great deal of the rest of his book, which largely consists of the epic struggle of the Britons against hostile foreigners such as the Romans, Norwegians, and Irish. “Britain is inhabited by five races of people,” he says. Even though “the Britons once occupied the land from sea to sea,” he declares that “the vengeance of God overtook them because of their arrogance and they submitted to the Picts and the Saxons.”

The first tale told by Geoffrey is the one that is the most blatantly a legend, and also one that ties in closely with Greco-Roman mythology. In fact, Greco-Roman myth is a prominent theme for much of the book, with the early Britons described as worshiping their deities. Multiple explanations can be offered for this. For one, there was plenty of nostalgia in the Middle Ages for classical antiquity, which some medieval Europeans perceived to have been a more civilized time. However, perhaps a better explanation is that Celtic religion was assimilated into that of the Roman Empire when Celtic lands were conquered. Today, many aspects of Celtic religion are lost to history, and this may have been no less true at a time when Britain had already long been Christianized. It seems likely that all Geoffrey knew of the religion of the Celtic Britons was its eventual fusion with Roman elements. All of the references to classical mythology in the book align more closely with the Romans than with the Greeks. Roman names of the gods and goddesses are used, the book incorporates the story found in the Latin poem The Aeneid by Virgil, and the Greeks are portrayed as antagonists while the Trojans are glorified.

The story Geoffrey tells at the beginning of his narrative is also told to an extent in an older work from 833 AD called The History of the Britons. While the authorship of the work is disputed, and it may actually be a compilation of multiple authors over many years, The History of the Britons is commonly ascribed to the monk Nennius. Like The History of the Kings of Britain, the text attempts to chronicle history from the perspective of the Celtic Britons rather than the Anglo-Saxons who were writing the overwhelming majority of the accounts. Both books tell many of the same stories with some differences, although The History of the Britons is significantly shorter than the work penned by Geoffrey. At the start of both books, the reader is introduced to a great-grandson of the Trojan hero Aeneas by the name of Brutus. After accidentally killing his father, he is exiled from Italy and ultimately arrives in Britain. Apparently it was from him that the island took her name. This cannot be true, of course, because the term “Britain” originates with Greek explorers and was not used by native Britons prior to contact with Mediterranean peoples. Nennius, or whomever else may have written The History of the Britons, does not detail how Britain was populated. Nor does the book History of the English by Henry of Huntington, who also tells the story of Brutus. 

For all the reader knows, Britain may already have had inhabitants, and Brutus may merely have become a person of prominence there. Geoffrey, on the other hand, tells a far more fanciful tale. In his book, the island “called Albion” when Brutus arrived “was uninhabited except for a few giants.” Accompanying Brutus to Albion were other descendants of those who had lived in Troy. After the Trojan War, Geoffrey tells his reader, the Greeks had enslaved their vanquished enemies. Brutus can be described as leading a revolutionary Exodus of sorts against an apparent “King of the Greeks.” Some modern readers may view such a term with skepticism, noting that Greece in antiquity was divided into numerous independent city-states. It should also be noted, however, that Greece was organized in this fashion during the archaic, classical, and hellenistic eras of Greek history. Much less is known of Greek society during the Bronze Age, when the Trojan War would have taken place, due to a total absence of literature. The Iliad by the legendary poet Homer describes Greek forces being commanded by an overlord named Agamemnon during the Trojan War.

Regardless of any other details of this section of the narrative, it is almost certainly fantasy. However, it has value in that it shows how the myths of the Britons meshed at some point with their Roman conquerors. As the story is told, albeit in much less detail, in The History of the Britons more than three hundred years earlier, Geoffrey cannot have simply made the whole thing up for entertainment value. Perhaps of greater interest to historical scholarship are the stories that immediately follow, which tell of a Celtic society in Britain prior to Roman subjugation. No written records exist from this era of British history, so a book preserving its oral traditions is invaluable. Some readers may be surprised by the tales of powerful kings, burgeoning towns, and massive wars, possibly meeting them with skepticism. It is nearly impossible to assess the accuracy of the stories, although they should not be dismissed. A common yet ignorant image of pre-Roman Britain is that it was barely emerging from the Stone Age, yet archaeology demonstrates otherwise. Trade goods have been unearthed from as far away as Egypt and Greece, and it should be remembered that the Celtic Britons managed to construct the magnificent monument now known as Stonehenge.

One of the first stories after the kingship of Brutus, and certainly one of interest, follows the partition of the island amongst his three sons. There are no quarrels between them, but they end up having to repel an invasion of the Huns. As the Huns did not invade Europe until the final decades of the Roman Empire, it is impossible that this exact circumstance could have taken place. It is a stretch to suggest the Huns even existed just a few generations after the Trojan War. However, there have been numerous nomadic peoples who have invaded different regions of Europe at various points in history. A horde similar to the one led back Attila could feasibly have built boats and sailed to Britain, and they may simply have been remembered later by a familiar name. On the other hand, the ravages of the Huns in Europe could have created a legend that they had attacked Britain many centuries earlier.

Some of the events that Geoffrey claims to have occurred at this point in British history can be observed in British lore in general, indicating that they were indeed derived from oral tradition. Modern audiences are likely to instantly recognize the story of King Lear, which William Shakespeare would turn into a play hundreds of years after The History of the Kings of Britain was written. A lesser known fact is that other Elizabethan playwrights penned plays concerning Lear and different kings that Geoffrey wrote about. There is another tale, that of the brothers Belinus and Brennus, which may initially seem to be fantasy but possibly has roots in reality. Belinus and Brennus both desire the British kingship and fight multiple civil wars over it, which on one occasion leads to Brennus fleeing to Gaul. While in this foreign land, he befriends Segnius, the Duke of the Allobroges, and eventually becomes duke himself. After the brothers decide to put aside their differences and unite, they fight various leaders in what would one day be France and then go on to invade Italy. They even sack Rome herself.

The idea of the Britons sacking Rome at a time well before the Romans had ever reached Britain may seem preposterous. Geoffrey concludes his biographical information on Brennus by stating that “I have not attempted to describe his other activities there or his eventual death, for the histories of Rome explain these matters.” By “histories of Rome,” Geoffrey is likely referring to a 9 BC work of this name by the ancient Roman historian Livy, who writes of the Celts sacking Rome early in her history. Leading the Celts in this endeavor was a chieftain by the name of Brennus. Much later in Roman history, when Julius Caesar battled the Gauls, these enemies of his often received aid from the Britons, so there easily could have been Britons involved in the events described by Livy. Brennus could actually have been born in Britain, or his acclaim amongst the Celtic tribes may have caused the Britons to claim that he was one of them. As the title of The History of the Kings of Britain suggests, there are descriptions of the lives of many other British kings, including in the pre-Roman era.

A rising action in the narrative of the book is when the Romans arrive on British soil. Geoffrey asserts that Julius Caesar led the earliest Roman expeditions to Britain, as the Roman general himself attested to in his 52 BC memoir Commentaries on the Gallic War. Caesar states in his memoir that he wished to explore Britain due to her people providing support to the tribes in Gaul that he was fighting. However, Geoffrey claims that he launched an invasion after the Britons rejected his demand that they immediately submit to Roman rule. As this is the time that the Romans started to write down information about events occurring in Britain, it is often said to be when the “recorded history” of the island begins. Other medieval accounts of British history concur with this notion, for they mostly ignore the earlier centuries described in The History of the Kings of Britain. Gildas says nothing of Britain before the Romans. In Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede, Chapter 1 is a summary of Britain as an island, while Chapter 2 begins with the words “Britain remained unknown and unvisited by the Romans until the time of Gaius Julius Caesar.” Nennius and Henry of Huntington skip to the arrival of Julius Caesar after their descriptions of Britain being settled.

The account given by Geoffrey of Julius Caesar and his activities in Britain does not contradict Bede, Nennius, or Henry of Huntington in any major way, although he provides far greater detail. Each of the chronicles describe Caesar failing in his first invasion and defeating the united forces of Cassivelaunus in the second. Bede, unlike the others, asserts that the Romans lost control of Britain right after Caesar departed from the island and did not regain it until the reign of Emperor Claudius. Geoffrey tells his reader that Britain was reduced to a tributary state after the campaign led by Caesar, with Claudius invading when the Britons stopped paying the tribute owed to Rome. Between the initial subjugation and the resumption of war, Geoffrey says that the Britons would be ruled successively by Tenvantius, Cymbeline, and Guiderius. Tenvantius and Cymbeline are known to modern historians as descendants of Cassivelaunus who were later leaders of his tribe, and Cymbeline was another figure that Shakespeare penned a play about. Details about the war with Claudius, however, are very fanciful and therefore dubious. 

Sometimes The History of the Kings of Britain downplays the importance of Roman rule at this time in favor of discussion of local affairs of the Britons. Both Bede and Geoffrey mention a certain King Lucius. They agree that, in 156 AD, Lucius was the first British king to convert to Christianity and that many other Britons were soon to follow in his footsteps. Lucius is mentioned in other medieval sources, and scholars today continue to debate whether or not he really existed. Geoffrey later describes the persecution of British Christians by the Emperor Diocletian, a despot whose oppressive actions are also condemned by Gildas and Bede. During their accounts of the Diocletian persecutions, Bede and Geoffrey both tell of the martyrdom of St. Alban. All of the chroniclers write that the Roman Empire struggled more and more with usurpers at this point in time, some of whom came from Britain, and that this weakened imperial resources. In a year that Bede assigns as 409 AD, the Romans were forced to withdraw from the island forever.

Geoffrey writes of a leader coming to power in Britain after the Roman departure named Vortigern. Gildas, Bede, Nennius, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, and Henry of Huntington all also include him. They discuss Vortigern warring with the Picts, whom Geoffrey says that he antagonized after he had some of them executed for assassinating his predecessor. It was what would happen next according to the medieval chroniclers, a tale which many modern historians dispute the accuracy of, that changed Britain forever. In the year said by The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles to have been 449 AD, Vortigern hired the Saxon brothers Hengist and Horsa to help him in the war that he was losing against the Picts. Hengist and Horsa, according to Geoffrey and the other chroniclers, were very successful in fighting the Picts. The History of the Kings of Britain says that this allowed the brothers to convince Vortigern to allow more and more Saxon warriors to come to Britain until they were able to turn on the army of the king.

The History of the Kings of Britain concludes with the victory of the Saxons but a glimmer of future hope for the Britons. Vortigern encountered a young Merlin, who told him of his doom and symbolized the events of the future by showing him a battle between a red and white dragon. This same prophetic vision is also found in the work of Nennius. After the death of Vortigern, the Britons enjoyed some military success against the Saxons and reached their peak of glory, says Geoffrey, under King Arthur. He died of wounds sustained in battle in 542 AD, yet the Britons continued to resist under eleven more kings until the death of King Cadwallader in 689 AD. Arthur is also described by Nennius and Henry of Huntington as having led battles against the Saxons. Historians today tend to dismiss the possibility of the existence of Arthur, just as they dismiss the value of Geoffrey, yet sometimes lore and oral tradition go a long way in outlining the events of history.

[yamuyamswirl]

ᵀʰᵉ ⁿᵘᵐᵇᵉʳᵉᵈ ʰᵉʳᵒ || ᵀʰᵉ ᴾʳᵒᵐⁱˢᵉᵈ ᴺᵉᵛᵉʳˡᵃⁿᵈ ˣ ᴿᵉᵃᵈᵉʳ ˣ ᴮᴺᴴᴬ

Chapter 1: 「121045」

"Hi" - speech

'Hi' - thoughts

Hi - sounds

-------------------------

October 10th 2045

tik...tok...tik...tok

DING! DING! DING!

...

"Everyone, wake up! Or you'll be late for breakfast!"

You let out a displeased sound as you slowly wake up. You open your eye a wink but ultimately roll over to try to escape from the blinding morning light.  Suddenly you hear a giggle and feel a bunch of weight on top of you. You don't even have to open your eyes to know who it is. She does this every morning.

"Come on (Y/N)!! It's morning! Wake up!" Emma tells you as cheerfully as ever

"5 more minutes." You mumble as you try to push your twin sister off of you. You may be twins but you still don't understand how she has this much energy this early in the morning.

A few seconds pass after the redhead gets off you before you hear the familiar sound of bed sheets getting ripped away from you. You get hit with a blast of the cold air that your blankets were sheltering you from and you violently shiver.

"Hey! Give those back! It's really cold y'know!" You shout, now mad, as you leap up from bed to retrieve your sheets. You hear a few snickers coming from the other kids as this whole scene plays out.

Emma just gives you a mischievous smile as she tosses you your bed sheets.

"Why you little-" you growl at Emma but before you could finish telling her off some of the younger kids approach Emma for help.

You sigh knowing that there's no use getting back in bed as you're already up.

From there you get ready like usual, help a few of the younger kids with their buttons and shoelaces, and watch a lot of the other kids run around. You hear Gilda fuss at some other kids for messing around but you ignore them.

'Another day of the same old things' is all you can think as you make your way down the hall into the dining area, telling everyone good morning as you pass them.

You start walking over to the kitchen area as a bunch of hungry and energetic kids run into the dining area. You watch in amusement as Emma runs in with Phil in her arms. You let out a small laugh as Thoma and Lani run right into Emma.

"hehehehe... Watch out... I'm going to eat you!" Is the last thing you hear Emma yell as you turn to peek into the kitchen.

"Good morning, (Y/N)." Both Norman and Ray tell you simultaneously as you step fully into the kitchen.

You grab a few baskets of food after Norman and Ray had exited the kitchen and walk out to set them on the tables. You walk out as Ray is teasing Emma about the amount of energy she has. You weren't really paying much attention, as this happens almost every day. That's when Emma gets your attention by shouting

"Hey (Y/N)! What do you think!? Do I act like a 5 year old?!"

"Sometimes" you reply, holding in a laugh.

"Meanie!" Emma tells back

"See! Even (Y/N) agree with me!" Ray says

Emma just sticks out her tongue as mama laughs at our antics and asks Emma for help.

You hear Emma go and complain to mama but you ignore them and go help set up the table with Norman, who has the food cart.

...

ding-a-ling...ding-a-ling...ding-a-ling...ding-a-ling...ding-a-ling

"Good morning, my dear children. Let's give thanks that all 39 of you siblings are able to live here happily, today, too... Thank you for the food."

"Thank you for the food."

You eat breakfast happily talking with your sister and best friends. Although you were getting tired of your pristine life you'd never get tired of these happy moments you shared with the people you loved.

You look down the table and see Mama feeding Conny who was, like always, holding her stuffed rabbit, little bunny. You smile as you watch the two. Today was Conny's last day at the orphanage we lived at. It was sad knowing I might never see her cute little face ever again but I was glad she was happy on her last day.

'I hope she's this happy in the outside world with her new family' you think as you resume your conversation with Emma, Ray, and Norman.

...

"Age 11, type 1. Answer each question within nine seconds. We will now begin."

bzzzzz....

tik tik tik tik tik tik tik tik tik

BZZZZZZZ...

You let out a deep breath as you look over and see Gilda flop onto her testing machine.

"Well, I think I got at least half!" Thoma loudly and confidently exclaims

"That much? Wow!" Mark replies as he stands up

"I'm jealous. I didn't get most of it." Conny pipes in, still holding little bunny.

"Are you all ready for the results?" Mama asks

We all wait in anticipation for mama to continue

"Norman. Ray. Emma. (Y/N). You four did an amazing job. You got all of them right! Perfect scores!" Mama continues with a huge smile on her face

"Yaaaayy!" Emma yells, pumping her arms up in victory while all of the other kids let out a surprised noise.

I smile, proud of myself for not breaking my perfect score streak. I look over to Ray and Norman to see their reactions but like always they don't have a reaction at all.

"Those four are different, huh?" One kid says aloud. Many other grunt in agreement

"Norman is a genius who has the best brains. And Ray, an intellect who can compete against Norman's genius. Emma has amazing athletic skills, and her learning ability allows her to stay close to the other three. Then there's (Y/N) whos also athletic but (Y/N) is best known for their really quick learning ability and how they can   almost always pick up on any subject just with one lesson." Another kid points out

All the others continue talking but I can only focus on Don who seemingly gets more aggravated with every comment made about us. This goes on for about another 30 seconds before Don snaps and yells "Norman! I challenge you to a game of tag!"

'There he goes again, challenging people to a game of tag.' I think while snickering at Don's sudden outburst.

Don just glares at me and I put up my hands in defense

...

Everybody runs off in different directions towards the woods that surround our home. we were playing tag with Norman being it and we only had about 30 seconds to get into the woods, away from Norman.

"Run, run!" Some kids yell, very cheerfully.

I run off with Emma planning to hide until we're the last ones who haven't been caught.

...

Kids around Emma and I were getting caught left, right, and center. Despite this Emma and I were able to remain hidden and become the last two in the game. That's when Emma and I decide to sprint off to a new location.

It was completely quite other the sounds of the forest and Emma's and my feet thumping against the soft grass as we ran. That's when I heard another pair of footsteps. I look over to the direction from which the noise is coming from and sure enough, it's Norman. I smirk and speed up. It seems Emma had the same idea.

'Great minds think alike' I think with a smirk before going back to concentrating on running.

Now with Emma and I in the lead and Norman trailing us, we were sprinting through the forest with intentions of winning this game.

Through the trees

Jump over the cliff

By the stairs

Over the stream

Up into the giant tree

Yep. Into the giant tree. That's where Emma and I had hid. Norman was below us looking around for any signs of our presence. That's when Norman takes a step forwards and trips over a rock, slamming face first into the ground. Emma and I both make a sound of shock and we quickly jump down from the tree and rush to Norman's side.

"Norman!" Emma and I both call out in concern

That's when Norman looks up at us two and with a smile says

"I was pretending."

I let out a relieved breath I didn't even know I was holding

"No fair! I was worried about you!" Emma yells back with a face of anger, shock, and relief.

"I'm just glad you're okay. You gave me a heart attack. That looked like a pretty rough fall." I say with my hand on my heart feeling my accelerated heartbeat.

Norman gives me an apologetic look before telling Emma

"Emma, your weakness is that you're nice."

After that he tags Emma and turns to me and says

"And (Y/N), you too. You're too nice for your own good sometimes."

I give him a fake pouty face as he tags me and shakes his head smiling at my pathetic attempt to make him feel bad.

...

thump thump thump thump

Emma bangs her fist on the ground as she complains about losing.

"He caught me again! Why? So frustrating!"

Emma gives one final hard punch to the ground before deflating onto the grass.

I'm laying on top of Emma, reading a book Ray lent me, mostly ignoring my sister's whining.

"Question." Ray states blatantly, successfully getting everyone's attention.

"What does Norman have that you don't?" Ray continues

"Hmmmm.... The ability to plan ahead? Calmness? Overwhelming intelligence?" Emma replies, confused.

"Maturity." I pipe in

"Hey!" Emma exclaims while reaching back to flick me.

Heh...

Ray rolls his eyes and Norman just smiles like usual

"Strategy." Ray again blatantly states.

"If it's about simple physical ability, you and (Y/N) have the upper hand."

Ray continues explaining while he closes and puts down his book

"But Norman is strong right here."

Ray points to his head indicating he's talking about the brain.

"Yeah... Like no other." I say, sighing knowing there's nobody as smart as Norman at the house.

Ray keeps talking.

"You're playing tag. It's a game where you compete with stragey."

"A simple game of tag?" Emma asks Ray

"It's like chess, but using your entire body." Ray replies

"Isn't that right, Norman?" Ray turns and ask Norman for confirmation.

"Yeah." Norman agrees

"But your a better tactician than me, Ray."  Norman continues with

"You overestimate me." Ray replies slightly aggravated as he turned back to face Emma.

"Reading the enemy's moves, huh?" Emma and I say at the exact same time.

Emma and I look at each other before bursting out laughing. Ray just sighs and Norman joins in laughing.

"But we're not even close when it comes to Mom." Norman says after we all finish laughing

"That's true! We've never beaten her at chess." Emma points out, giggling at the end.

Norman and I let out a little snicker as Ray maintains his usual emotionless expression.

"NORMAN!" a voice, that I recognize as Don's, shouts

Ray jumps at the sudden noise but looks over at Don who's farther down the hill that the tree were sitting under is located on.

"I want a rematch! Next game, everyone will be "It" except you!" Don yells out loud for everyone to hear

I sit up, getting off of Emma, to look down at Don who is totally serious.

"Whoa!" Emma yells

'This sould be fun' I think putting on a close eyed smile

Norman sits up straighter seemingly ready to take on the challenge.

...

I'm searching for Norman in the woods with Emma, like always. I'm rarely ever not with Emma. Emma doesn't mind my clinginess though in fact, she love it.

Emma and I approach the low fence in the middle of the woods. We both come to a stop simply staring at it for a few seconds. Emma then taps my arm to get my attention. When I look up at her she's looking over at something. I looked past her and see Norman also staring at the fence like we were moments before. Norman looks over at us with a neutral expression and is met with our own neutral expressions. Emma approaches Norman and touches him on the shoulder. During this time not a word was exchanged and both Emma and Norman's faces stay the same. I just watched keeping my same expression seemingly in a trance. There's a few seconds of silence before

"You caught me." Norman says, as he starts to smile.

Norman and Emma turn their attention back to the fence as I ran over to their sides.

"You can't go there, no matter what." Emma says just repeating what mama always tells us

"Yeah, Mom is always telling us that." I say

"The gate and the fence deep in the first are dangerous." Norman adds as Emma approaches the fence with her hand stretched out in front of her

"That's obviously a lie." Ray suddenly butts in

I let out a loud surprised squeak when Ray speaks up.

"Pfffff...." Ray holds back laughing at my reaction.

I turn red from embarrassment and slight anger

I give Ray a glare but I quickly turn my attention to Norman as he speaks up.

"What do you mean?" Norman inquires

"Well just look at it... What part of this is dangerous? The fence is low, and I don't see anything threatening." Ray points out

"But if mom is telling us that" Emma protests back

"You really love mom, after all." Ray says rather quietly, looking away from us

I don't know why but that kind of set me off so I grab Emma's hand defensively and start to tell of Ray

"But everyone-" I shout

That's when another voice cuts in

"Hey! Are you sure you guys are playing tag?" Don says running over towards the four of us

Nat and Phil approach from behind as Gilda, Conny, and little bunny approach from the side.

"Oh, is the game over already?" Gilda asks as she walks over towards everybody else.

"We should call it a day. If we're late, Mom will be worried." Norman suggest

There's a comfortable silence for a few seconds before Don speaks up

"We'll eventually leave this place, huh?" He says looking around at the trees and plants

"This is an orphanage. Of course we'll leave eventually." Nat reminds Don

"Before we turn 12." Nat adds on

"You know what?" Gilda suddenly says, catching everyone's attention so she can continue to speak

"We don't receive letters from anyone." She continues with

"Letters?" Emma asks

"Gilda is right though." I say putting my hand on Emma's shoulder

"Yeah! After they leave the House, no one writes us." Gilda says mostly aimed at Emma

"I'm sure they're being considerate to their foster parents." Norman says trying to provide a reason for the absence of letters

"But we've all been together ever since we were born!" Don shoots back

"Even if we're not related by blood, we're truer siblings than most! Well expect Emma and (Y/N)" Don says, kind of upset. Although he mumbled that last part about Emma and I

"They must be having so much fun everyday that they've forgotten about the House." Gilda says, obviously jealous.

"Then that's fine, right? I'm happy for them." Emma replies

I notice Norman eyes soften as he smile at Emma

"I want to go outside, too!" Gilda yells, throwing a mini temper tantrum

"What would you do outside?" Nat asks Gilda as he leans in, closer to Gilda's face in a mocking type of way

"Isn't it obvious? Get. New. Clothes!" Gilda shouts back, getting closer to Nat's face with every pause

Nat obviously didn't expect her to react like that because he backs away when Gilda gets in his face

"Not again." Don says seemingly tired of hearing Gilda rant about clothes

"I mean, come on!" Gilda shouts at Don getting more aggravated

Don also didn't expect Gilda to react like that as Don takes a step back when Gilda snaps at him.

"We only have this one uniform!" Gilda yells, sticking out her arms to draw attention to everyone's plain uniform

"I read in books that the outside world has so many different types of clothes! I want to wear them all!" Gilda says with fascination and awe.

'What a complete 180 degree turn in her emotions' I think, slightly startled

"I want to eat delicious food." Nat says simply

"I want to go on a date with a cute girl." Don says

"Geez, that was rude." Gilda says fussing at Don

"Oh, that's not what I meant..." Don says slightly apologetically

"I WANT TO SEE A TRAIN" Phil shouts excitedly

"That's a good one!" Don tells Phil, happily

I go over and ruffle Phil's hair

"I agree! Trains are awesome." I tell Phil, my hand still on his head

Phil looks up and gives me a huge smile and my heart practically melts.

I've always loved the little kids. Anybody could tell you that. If im not with Emma I'm always with one of the younger orphans spending time with them.

"What about you, Norman?" Emma asks, turning towards him.

Everybody looks over at Norman curiously.

"I want to go to different places and see things I've never seen before." Norman replies with soft eyes and a kind-hearted smile.

I can't help but smile too. Both Norman and Emma have really contagious smiles. I move back towards Ray to give myself more space

"Good idea! And you, Ray?" Emma says, turning towards Ray now

"Once I get outside, well, I'd have to survive first." Ray says

I give him a suspicious glance but he ignores it. Ray acts all weird anytime one of our siblings gets adopted.

"Such a downer... I want to make a bunch of new friends!" I say excitedly

"Me too! I want to have more friends like little bunny!" Conny says, still clutching her favorite stuffed bunny

"What about you, Emma?" I ask my sister

"Me?" Emma asks caught off guard by the sudden attention put on her

"You want to ride a giraffe, right?" Ray says, recalling the time Emma, Norman, Ray, and I went down to the gate when we were six

"Did I say that?" Emma asks while chuckling

"Well... I don't really want to leave. I want to stay here forever!" Emma says halfway seriously

"Hey, that's kind of unfair." Don says

"But I'm so happy now. Right?" Emma says just as bubbly as always

"Happy, huh?" Ray mumbles

Nobody else seem to hear Ray but me. This time I give him a worried look

"Of course! Aren't you happy, Ray?" I ask him quietly so nobody else can here

"Huh?.. Oh, yeah." Ray says not showing any emotion

I give him one last weird, worried, glance before returning my focus back to the conversation that's taking place.

"...I'll never forget about everyone." Conny says finishing a sentence I didn't hear the first part of

Gilda nods as Conny continues telling everyone about her plans for when she gets outside

"When I leave the House, I want to become a mother like mom." 

"And then, I'll never abandon any children." Conny says proudly

"You love mom very much, don't you?" Emma asks Conny

"Yeah!" Conny replies cheerfully giving everyone a big close eyes smile as a slight breeze comes through, her hair blowing softly with it

...

"I'm slow, and I wasn't as smart as everyone, but even after I leave, I'll do my best." Conny says in her cute outfit.

It was now nighttime and time for Conny to go meet her foster parents. I'm really going to miss Conny. I only knew her for six short years but like all the other young children I had grown quite close to her. She was a bright and wonderful child who always had something nice to say about everyone and always tried her hardest. Don't get me wrong though I'm very happy for her and I hope that she has just as much fun in the outside world.

"I have little bunny so I'll be okay." Conny continues as she hold little bunny close

"Conny..." Don says sadly, looking down at the ground

Conny gives Don a smile but that quickly fades as a bunch of emotions hit Conny and she starts to cry, which in turn makes me start to cry.

"I don't want to leave anymore. I want to stay here!" Conny says suddenly, crying even more

"Conny... Conny!" Don says starting tear up as well as Emma

Distant crying can be heard as the front door closes

..... Silence

...

click click click click

Emma and I are walking into the dining area to clean.

click click click click

"CONNY! You're kidding me!" Emma yells

I violently jump at the sudden loud noise and look over to Emma who is running over to the table closest to the wall on the side where the door to the kitchen is. That's when I notice little bunny sitting on the table.

'oh no! What about Conny? She'll need little bunny!' I think, panicked

"Conny's already gone!" I faintly hear Gilda say

Emma grabs little bunny and looks over at me and silently asks what we should do. I shake my head indicating that I also don't know what to do. Emma then looks over at Gilda and asks her.

"There's still time." Ray cuts in, answering Emma's question.

Everyone looks at Ray expectantly.

"From the window, I saw the lights on the gate were still on." Ray says, explaining himself

"Mom isn't back yet either, so I don't think Conny has left yet." Ray continues, further explaining himself

"Let's hurry, Emma, (Y/N)." Norman says without a seconds hesitation

"Okay." Emma and I both reply

...

Emma, Norman, and I are running to the gate to try and deliver little bunny to Conny before she leaves.

...

We pause right in front of that gate wondering if we should really go inside. It's against the rules after all.

"You can't go near there, no matter what." Emma says, repeating mom once again

"I know. Let's all get scolded together, later." Norman says, looking at us and giving us a reassuring smile.

...

We peak around the corner and see nothing.

"Conny?" Emma calls out cautiously and curiously

We all step inside to further search for the girl.

step step step step

It was odly quiet

drip

It was quite dirty

Step step step step

Every step echoed ominously

drip

Nobody is around

step step step step

Not a word has been spoken

Drip

No signs of Conny

step step step step

Everything was unnaturally still

Drip

Dimly lit

step step step step

Everything is giant

... Quiet

"Is this the truck that will take Conny?" Emma ask out loud finally breaking the silence

I shrug to myself, still looking around

"Actually, I've never seen a vehicle before." Emma continues curiously checking out the truck

Drip

Drip

Drip

Drip

Drip

"No one's here." Norman comments

"Maybe she'll find it if we leave it in the back" Emma say, pointing to the back of the vehicle

Norman and I continue looking around

thump

Norman and I pause and turn towards Emma to see what the noise was.

Emma lets out a scared noise as she backs away from the truck with a purely terrified face.

"Norman... (N/N)..." Emma says breathlessly

You were now extremely worried not only by the look on Emma's face but more by the fact that Emma had called you (N/N). Emma only calls you that when something's wrong or when she's teasing you. Even the dumbest person alive could tell that Emma was not joking meaning something was terribly wrong. So, you follow Norman over to the back of the truck. As you reached the back you were a shaky, sweaty mess. You didn't know what had frightened Emma so bad. Almost every possibly of what could be behind that curtain ran through your mind. Norman gulps and moves the certain to the side to peer into the back of the truck.

Drip

You definitely didn't expect to see what you did. Every possibly but that specific one ran through your head. You didn't want to believe what you were seeing. It was a nightmare. It had to be. Right?

Nope. Not a nightmare. Right there in front of me was Conny. Dead. She had been murdered. There was a fully bloomed Vida flower pierced right through her heart.

"Is someone there?" A deep voice suddenly spoke out.

Everybody jumps and jerks towards the direction of the mysterious voice.

"Hey, did you hear a voice just now?"  The deep voice asked who was probably another person in the room they were in.

The door suddenly creaked open. Norman and I bolted behind the truck. Emma started to but quickly grabbed little bunny, who was still on the floor, and joined us behind the truck.

"Probably your imagination" another, more gruff, mysterious voice says.

We all are breathing heavily but silently out of fear. That's when we were able to hear footsteps coming from the door opposite to the one that just opened. If somebody came out of that door they'd be able to see us behind the truck so Norman, thinking quick on his feet, signaled for us to get under the truck. That's what we did.

"If it was a stray cat, I would have caught it and ate it." The first mysterious voice said.

I normally would have been extremely grossed out but I was too terrified to form any coherent thoughts.

"You eat things like cats?" The gruffer voice asks, not necessarily disgusted, but more curious and probably weirded-out.

Two giant shadows pass by the truck as Emma and I peak out slightly from underneath the truck to look at the people talking. The things the voices were coming from where definitely not human. What we saw were these giant demons that'll haunt me forever. These demons we're tall, bulky, and had masks on. They also wielded spears of some sort. Emma lets out a surprised, muffled, noise as she takes in the creatures in front of us. Norman also lets out a variation of the same noise Emma did. My breathing just quickens. Norman lets out terrified little whines and Emma covers her mouth with her hands, while shaking her head, as one of these creatures grabs Conny's pale, limp, dead, body. I'm violently shaking with tears in the corners of my eyes pushing back the urge to vomit. One of the creature, who I now know has sharp teeth, sticks out its tongue towards Conny like it was trying to eat her. The one with the deep voice lets out a sinister laugh while saying

"It looks so delicious. Human flesh is the best."

Emma looks over at Norman who moves back slightly and just simply says

"No..."

Then one of the creatures set down a giant tank in front of us. It had blue liquid in it that was bubbling. The creature then threw Conny's, now naked, body into the tank.

"Damn! Can't I at least have a fingertip?" The deep voice says teasingly.

"You idiot. It's valuable merchandise." The thing with the gruff voice tells the other.

"It's not something the likes of us can have." The gruffer voice continues

"All of the human flesh produced on this farm are high quality meat intended for the rich." Says the gruff voice continuing to explain why the other demon can't have a taste of Conny.

Emma shakily takes her hand off of her mouth.

"Where's mom?" Emma quietly asks Norman

Norman quickly shushes her.

Norman and I peek from under the truck again as another demon enters the picture and the tank with Conny in it is lifted up to be taken away.

"Is the Gunpa done?" A demon in a robe asks the other two demons

"Mostly done, sir." The creature with the deep voice replies

This is the first time I got a good look at the things. I tune out what the demons are staying to focus on studying the demons. There is one with a robe holding a stack of papers. The thing is extremely tall and has a mask on. The said mask is seemingly made out of bone or a material similar. There are two horns on the top and it has two eye holes one on top of the other. It has extremely skinny arms and long bony fingers with fingernails that could probably pierced through your skin easily. I didn't focus back into what the demons were saying until the robed one said

"Isabella"

"Yes." Mama says

Emma, Norman, and I, all look over, now more than horrified, to where mama is.

"Make the preparations to pluck these four with full scores." The robed demon said.

At that moment I didn't care that I was one of the next ones that was going to be "adopted". All I cared about was mama. Was she really with them? Was she forced to work for them? Did she know what was happening to all "adopted" kids? My mind was going a million different directions but I knew I had to listen to what was being said.

"Understood" mama replied

Judging by the way the robe demon said 'pluck' us with the full scores and Mom still said she understood I'm assuming she knows exactly what goes on. There's also the fact that she prohibited us from coming to the gate. If she didn't know we were being killed and just thought we were getting adopted she most likely wouldn't have a problem with us coming to the gate. Then again she might just not want us to see the demons. What really sold it for me though was the fact that Conny's dead body was still in the tank right in front of Mama and she didn't react. I however, didn't have any more time to think as Norman dragged Emma and I out from the gate. From there we ran. We wanted to get back to the house as soon as possible but about halfway there Emma collapsed and Norman and I stopped to take a breath.

"Emma!" Both Norman and I called out as she collapsed

All of us were breathing heavily but despite that I couldn't seem to get a lot of air into my lungs. I felt like I was suffocating. I fell to the ground on my butt.

'What the hell...

what the hell??

Is this a nightmare?

It... has to be.

This isn't real.

There's no way this can be real.

Mama wouldn't do this.

Everything was normal up until we reached the gate.

That's why I can't believe what my eyes showed me...!'

I, once again, suppress the urge to puke.

'Just yesterday... I told Conny I would always be there for her.

I told her I know what's best, and we'll be together forever

Then why... ?

Why would someone do this...?

How could I be this helpless?

What did I do wrong? 

This is my fault-!'

My swarming thoughts keep telling me everything I could have done to prevent this.

'Screw the House.

Screw mama

I just...lost my dear little sister

Someone who grew up with me

She's gone forever now.

Nothing I can do can bring her back.

This isn't some game where I can reset and try something different.

We only have once chance.

Now I'll carry this feeling with me until I die.

Nothing in my life is worth than hers...

She was only six!

And now...

I can never take it back.

Never.

Never.

Never.

Never.

Never....'

My train of thought is cut short by Emma letting out an emotionally distressed scream that echoed all throughout this cage that I now realize we're living in.

...

"Welcome back. How did it go?" Ray asks us as we return

Norman tenses while Emma and I are silent in the background.

"We didn't make it." Norman says in a flat voice

As we walk up the stairs I look back at Ray. As always, he's not expressing any emotions despite our weird behavior.

...

"Were we raised just to be eaten by something?" Emma asks Norman, still crying.

"Let's escape, Emma. We have to leave this place." Norman says

"Don't worry we. can do it." he continues

"You, (Y/N), me, and Ray. If it's the four of us..." says Norman, already starting to make a plan

"No. We have to bring everyone." I add in

"It might be impossible" Emma starts

"But (Y/N) is right. I can't just leave them here. Otherwise they'll definitely get killed." Emma continues with

"I don't want any more of my family to die." My redhead sister says though sobs

"Emma..." I whine as a hug her from the side, burying my face into her shoulder

"It's not impossible." Norman states confidently while patting Emma on her other shoulder

Norman then slides down from the bed and sits on the ground with Emma and I.

"It'll be okay. Let's run away. Together, with everyone." Norman says, looking at us giving his best smile

"B-But how? How will us kids run away from those monsters?" Emma asks Norman, doubtful we have a chance of escaping

'......tag!' it hits me

"Tag!" I say suddenly

"It'll be like playing tag. We use stragey." I elaborate

Emma looks at me, surprised.

"That's right. We'll find a way for all of us to survive" Norman tells Emma and I

Emma nods and gives a grunt of understandment.

"Sounds like a plan" I mumbled as a faint feeling of hope bubbles up in my stomach

'We can do this'

...

-------------------------

BNHA should come in around chapter 4.

[mirtifero]

May I ask about ur rogues :D ? Like, what's the basic backstory behind each one, and maybe if you have any drawing or just an idea of appearance :P

(HOLY FUCK THIS ENDED HUGE BECAUSE OF THE SCARECROW BIT)

I do have some doodles but I'm very insecure regarding them so I won't rlly show them.

Also putting this under read more because i fear it may get big lol

The rogues that I currently have are Joker, Harley, Ivy, Riddler and Scarecrow. I want to do a Scarface and Ventriloquist (I LOVE him very much) and also a Two Face (I also want to do a Gilda but she's not a rogue) but I don't have many ideas yet.

The only one with a backstory is John, Harley and Ivy have little drafts

Scarecrow

Tw: abuse, bullying, death, animal death, manipulation, unethical medical stuff, eh you get the idea

Jonathan has a similar backstory to Year One, being raised by his great granny in Georgia (not many details here because my brazilian ass doesn't know anything about Georgia). Because of the abuse he suffered from her, he became a bit of an isolated child and overall kinda numb to things around him (since he was constantly anxious and overthinking, he was also kinda unaware of whatever was happening around him). He was also very, very physically weak, which meant the work he did used to make him constantly physically sick and he constantly had to go to school during these times. Overall he was a very easy victim of bullying so that also shaped a lot of his life. His teachers didn't do much because, since it was a very conservative and religious town, the fact that he was a bastard child and "weird", "offputting", "sick" and overall "too fidgety/scared" to things around him, they used to think of him as less or as some sinful thing. Besides that his family didn't have a great reputation either so no reason for them to care, right? He did try to fight back or outsmart his bullies but it never really worked because why would it! He was sick and skinny and no one would ever try to protect him. He spent most of his time reading and mostly trying to understand what was wrong with him, which gave him a lot of medical and psychological knowladge later on.

By reading was when he started to obsess with fear. He knew that he HAD to have some sort of power over people so he made a sort of character for himself. Not really Scarecrow, he used to be very into gothic horror so he made a sort of ghost figure that didn't rely on him appearing to scare people. He would kill rats and other small animals, put them in lockers or doors, write with blood and just enjoy himself watching people freak out. He never made the hauntings talk about treating him better because he knew it would make things worse for him, he just wanted to see people freak out and have that euphoric feeling inside him that it was because of HIM. The town had rumours about being haunted now and it was because of HIM and that made his attitude towards people to shift a lot over time. He went from being shy and insecure to just quiet and egocentrical. John didn't, like, stutter much anymore, he'd just stare quietly at things. Over time that evolved to him being very manipulative and good at playing with people's emotions/playing with his own facade.

I'm not so sure about this part but I do think he manages to make his great granny have a heart attack once and that, like, he had that sudden shift to being happier with himself. According to him, he unfortunately had to pretend to be scared and sad about his great granny's death but he was EUPHORIC about it.

When he grew up he managed to get a scholarship to Gotham University, where he majored in psychology. He stopped his shenanigans for a while there, since he felt somewhat safer. People didn't really care much about the tall lanky man so he didn't care much either. He worked in small magazines and custumer service for a while to pay the bills while he kept studying. He has a master in medicine and a doctorate in psychochemestry. During his post grads is where things get funky again.

He started to research on Arkham, where he did not care whatsoever about the patients well being and overall kinda used that freedom he had to expand his research. He wanted to see how people reacted to fear, seeing its uses and overall how to cause fear in "very small amounts that multiply to a disaster". He basically fucking incentived self destructing and mayhem, "in very small amounts", kinda to see what happened (ps: Batman already existed by then).

His papers started doing numbers(tm) because, since he was very good at twisting things, he made all the unethical and destructive nature of his research go unseen. He managed to become a professor, a job that he really enjoyed! He basically went his days lecturing and doing research at Arkham, having basically two jobs at that point. Like, nice by day evil by night (?,????? AKSJANWH).

Anyways, at some point he wanted to start using his chemestry knowladge and he started working on the fear toxin, which he tested on arkham patients (Riddler was one of them btw but more on that later) which caused enough problems to call authorities attention.

He started getting criticized (rightfully so btw it was terrible stuff happening) on the academia which started to freak him out. He was very angry that he was on the edge of losing his teaching job (which was a great source of pleasure for him, he was even very nice to students!!!) but also horrified of the same thing. He wanted to keep his research at all costs because he was too far gone at that point and thought he was being bullied like when he was a kid, which, uh, yeah.

Because of him associating being rightfully criticized with his past, he decided to go back to his usual bullshittery. Except this time with a Scarecrow, since his research used a lot the idea of a metaphorical scarecrow and shit. He had a curious relationship with birds that I'll mention in a sec and he basically started training them to attack officials, students, started leaving dead stuff around, write shit and also poison people with toxin.

It was, in many ways, not nearly as calculated as his kid shenanigans, because he was in a different context where he tought he was going to lose the only thing he loved.

Anyways.

Batman got his ass. Yaay!!

Okay so other stuff:

He has a very complicated relationship with religion, he is scared of abandoning it but he also hates it with his very being.

Because of the above, his relationship with sex is even more complicated. He doesn't mind sex, people talking about it or even reading it in a book, he is just scared of him in specific being punished for anything sexual. Plus, he has a lot of internalized homophobia and he's gay, so, uh, there's a lot to unpack here.

Although he was scared of crows, when he started to become very fascinated by them. He daydreamed about being this tall being surrounded by crows and shit like he thought it'd be so badass.

During his teaching years he was actually quite nice to his students but tbh only to his students. Other than that he was just a smirking manipulative cunt and very serious looking.

After all the chaos his manipulative nature started to make him look very unnerving since he was constantly looking happy but it was very obvious he was either freaking out or incredibly angry. He is constantly smiling and acting calm but he is, very obviously, not okay.

He gets along with Harley okay. She reminds him of his students so she's, like, somewhat a close friend. She is neutral about him but considers him a friend. She hates what he did to patients tho.

His relationship with Edward is HORRIBLY UNSTABLE. More on that later.

He has such a fucking crush on Batman you don't get it. Part of him WANTED to get caught by Batman SPECIFICALLY during that mess. He denies it to his last breath but he wants to spin Batman on a microwave and dissecate his brain and he has such a crush it's horrible. He watches the news religiously wanting to see the batman bits.

Appearence wise he looks like a mixture of fear state and future state. Also a bit of arkham knight.

Joker

Tw: murder and reference to abuse

Okay so he doesn't have a backstory yet and he's, like, very different from usual Joker because I made him while angry at Joker AKWHNQHQKA

He's basically a manchild, a whiny annoying bitch that is very loud and colorful and laughing at literally everything. His jokes consist of murder and death and always connected to puns, sometimes nonsensical because he's having a moment.

He gets angry easily and screams a lot and is one of the, surprisingly, most deadly rogues (not on the top 3 but def on the top, idk, 10 or maybe 5).

He loves wearing eccentric clothing and acting like the world is a stage and he is very unpredictable when it comes to who is his next pun victim. He can be very manipulative and creepy if he's calmed down, but that's rare, so he's mostly just loud and obnoxious. No one likes him and he's mostly just very dangerous because of his unpredictable brutality.

He was Harley's patient and when she met his "calmer side" she was fascinated and wanted to understand him, which made him manipulate her a lot. More on that later. She left him when he freaked out and screamed at her and shit like he fr never loved her or whatever.

He's obsessed with the batman, believing he is the only one that can bring him some sort of wanted joy that he longs for so much. He never feels properly happy and he just believes Batman is the one who will bring this happiness to him like an angel. When he isn't causing mayhem full of makeup and bright clothing he is overall kinda sad and miserable looking.

That's kinda of it! He is a bit difficult to explain :(

Appearence wise he's like. A clown. His hair is spiky tho. (When he's not with makeup his hair kinda falls and it's very depressing like Kajwkqjsk)

Riddler

Tw: abuse, neglect, stuff like that

He is... oh where do I start.

Edward has a history of being treated like shit by people around him. As a child, he was actually very sweet and excited about everything! But his excitement was looked as something very annoying. People would beat the shit out of him or just treat him as less. That made him start to close with time and become a very quiet child, always playing with math and little puzzles. He was also very neglected so he wanted to constantly find ways of getting attention, by being the greatest, by convincing himself he was the greatest. He needed to survive, somehow.

Things didn't get better with time, his unstable behaviour making him become isolated and sometimes even physically harmed by people around him. That made him befome more aggressive and insecure and an overall mess. During most of his young years he cried a lot alone.

His backstory isn't complete yet, but this develops into him becoming incredibly selfish and egocentrical and to see himself as superior. He thinks people around him are trying to copy him or underestimate his abilities with tend to lead to him being really obnoxious.

I don't know how he snapped yet, but it was definitely him wanting attention and getting it in a very aggressive manner.

He is very obsessed with numbers and puzzles and needs to constantly do them otherwise he may end up self destructive. In the sense of "avoiding a single thought from occuring" yk?

He was one of John's patients and oh boy was that. Complicated.

John is fascinated by Edward, it's kind of a "I can make him so much worse". Jonathan even tested less his experiments on Edward because he wanted to just... dissect his brain in a way.

Edward however never really contributed. He hated John. He believed with all his heart that he was just trying to flatter him and "fix him". He also KNEW something was fucked up about John and did not want to take part in it, since he thought he was far superior to whatever lab rat John wanted Ed to be. The only time John used his toxin on Ed was out of curiosity on what Ed feared, and wanting him to get closer to him (it's kinda fucked up). This whole thing just makes him even more fascinated by Ed and yeah Ed hates his ass (rightfully so).

He's bi and has a complicated relationship with Batman. He is obsessed with wanting to outsmart him and/or also sees him as an equal and/or has a huge fucking crush.

He barely gets along with anyone tbh because he kinda hates everyone around him (even batman in a way).

He is still a draft like there's a lot I can add here!!! So sorry for the lack of stuff

Appearance wise he looks. He wears a silly hat and the suit it's kinda of a weird mix between yz and ak riddler.

Harley

Tw: abuse

Harley was a psychologist with the dream of helping people. She started as a teenage therapist and enjoyed it very much, specially with how she was able to incentive people to be genuine and start being chaotically happy, angry or anything like that.

She got a job at arkham and had to leave her other job for that. Shit with Joker happened blah blah blah and she kinda... okay let me explain

So, her whole thing was about self expressionx wasn't it? She thought by helping Joker to express himself she would also manage to become genuine and free from societal chains but she actually found herself even more trapled. She lost herself. She didn't know who she was anymore.

When she had a pretty bad fight with Joker she realized all of that and left. But she kinda got her ass dragged to arkham in the process. Where she had a lot of time to think.

She spent a lot of time very depressed, her whole goal was to make people genuine and authentic individuals and she found herself being a shadow. Harley wanted a fresh start, so after shaving her head she started trying new things, reading new books and yeah experimenting overall. She enjoyed the idea of being a villain in the eyes of people if it meant being authentic, in a way, but she needed to find herself for that.

Fun fact, while she was Joker's shadow, she was called "The Columbine" after the character from commedia dell'arte, she changed it for "Harley Quinn" after that. Because it was cooler and sounded more like her.

She started to enjoy a lot drawing and skating and breaking shit. Hashtag self expression.

She met Ivy on arkham while she tried gardening, and Ivy went like "you suck at this" and they slowly fell in love and they are girlfrieneddsss!!!! :33

Harley tries to get along with everyone (she's one of the only people who KINDA can KINDA get along with Eddie but it's a very KINDA)

This is also a draft so yeah! She's bi and also ethnically jewish, not veeery religious but still enjoys her culture a lot.

She also knows how to play baseball. And is very good at rollerskating. And both at the same time. She sometimes does insane shit around gotham just because and it's very easy to know she went somewhere since everything is kinda thrown around and painted with graffiti and shit. She looves it!

She looks like future state her because i love that design so much

Ivy

Tw: cannibalism (oopsie!)

Scientist gone mad type of stuff. Straight up ecoterrorist, not a good person whatsoever.

Her backstory is very similar to unburied. Except there's a whole lot of murder and at some specific points cannibalism as a form of establishing dominance. Since all the ideas are kinda thrown around I'm unable to properly explain them in a "story time" way :(

She became a plant like monstrocity and managed to develop photosynthesis too (before that she straight up ate human meat because she refused to eat animals or plants).

She is a very obnoxious individual, but surprisingly quiet. She just looks at other people like she could murder them and they shut up. She is rude, overall mean but also kinda sensitive, specially when it comes to plants. She feels like she just wants to protect herself and others and doesn't see the evil in her actions, and she feels a lot of pain when plants are hurt. So her being mean is kind of a means of self defense, because chances are she cries a lot when she's alone.

She used to feel like she was weak, useless, so she found a way to become powerful and used that against people who hurt her, who hurt her plants.

Her appearence is silly because it's like, kinda similar to sale's version of her hair wise, and body wise it's complicated. She cannot wear clothes since they physically hurt, she is green and like. There's probably a whole ecosystem inside her lol. Her eyes are also kinda funky.

She loves Harley a lot, and her hair even blossoms when she's around her. Harley teaches her to be angry, sad, to be herself and she cares a lot about her. Harley's probably the only human Ivy genuenely cares about.

She's also a lesbian because I'm a lesbian and I said so????

She spends a lot of time quiet and unmoving inside arkham's gardens, maybe humming to herself. She looks like a plant and it's quite creepy. In a good way!

***

Okay so that's kinda all I have aksjaksj sorry for HOW HUGE scarecrow's bit is I'm. Mentally unwell. Very normal about him.

Also the amount of self projection here was insane sorry abt that.

Yay! :D

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 19

Chapter 19: “Doomed”

Again, I’m trying my hardest to avoid rambling about chapter covers and such (otherwise some of these would be so much longer than necessary), but Ray here is just my eternal mood. It’s also a rare moment of Gilda without her large glasses, so that’s cute.

I dunno about them, but I’d be a bit terrified of discussing the plan, or anything related to it, within the walls of this house where Isabella could possibly be listening in at any time. Her room is just down the hall on the same floor too. Well.. the kids already had the big chat in the dinning room, so I guess it doesn’t make that much difference at this point huh?

OH so now you care about Ray’s life. Pfftt, no but seriously thank god Norman realizes Ray’s true intention from the subtle meaning behind his words and is driven to prevent his good friend from literally going out in a blaze of glory.

I am once again giving Isabella praise for knowing the rope they secured was too short due to her own attempt of climbing the wall when she was young. I also hope she knows there’s no way feeble Norman could’ve hurt Ray like that.

Now presenting the first moment this series had me absolutely panicking. Why must you both smile like that?? I know they’re acting as they always wear the same mask around each other but aahh how could either of you not be scared or emotional considering the unfortunate bond between you?

Everyone freaks out over Krone suddenly showing up.. and then there’s Norman being completely chill. I get he’s doing his best to not seem suspicious by acting normal but it’s just comical to me.

Favorite panel/moment:

From Norman coaxing Ray to accept Don & Gilda’s apology (which in turn causes Don to shine brightly like the sun)..

To his own apology and NE looking all proud on the sidelines about it. This whole scene warms my heart.

[thoughtfulfangirling]

With October just about to a close, I feel like talking about the books I read over the month as I didn't have a particularly great time. It wasn't that the books were bad, they just weren't the kind of horror I was looking for, for October reads. If I wasn't reading them for the horror thrill, then I would like them very much and did enjoy quite a bit, but it wasn't hitting the itch hardly at all that I was looking to scratch this month.

Again! This doesn't mean these books are bad! And that's particularly why I want to talk about them, because it's super fascinating to me that I can simultaneously see how they are correctly categorized as horror (well… from my perspective which is not super literate in the horror genre) and yet not invoke that thrill of books like say even The Coldest Girl in Cold Town or something as perfectly horror as A Winter Haunting (none of what I read will be gore heavy if I can help it XD)

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez Okay, this is one that I think should have been just fantasy and not horror at all. It's a book about vampires. They feed on humans, but they don't kill them. Rather, the ones we follow don't. I think the last chapter could work as horror, but it didn't like, build up to the last chapter over time in a way that I think lets the rest of the book qualify as horror when it's just a book about a vampire going through the ages. I very much liked this book! I quite enjoyed a book that was about a vampire that read a lot like just a sort of, domestic going about life story. I mean, it's obviously not just like that, but a lot of it kind of is. Managing relationships, who we let in, how we keep growing, when we trust ourselves and grow in that trust, etc. I very much enjoyed, but I actually think this would make a better Spring book.

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould This worked for me! Not all of them failed to scratch the itch, and this was one of those. It is a young adult, which means that it didn't go as dark as other horror will, but it had a very good build of tension and mystery around scary supernatural stuff that had the protagonists feeling out of their depth and even, on occassion, clawing at each other (not literallly) in their distress at not being able to make sense of what is happening. Very good. Very spoopy.

Haunted Wisconsin by Beth Scott & Michael Norman I wanted to read this in October, and I'm glad I did. I never expect any sort of real thrill from nonfiction. It's a compilation of ghost stories, and as someone who enjoys ghost stories but has never been able to place myself in the feelings of real ghost presence (aka I don't have that sense of belief in ghosts which does NOT mean I do not believe others' experiences. I can't force myself to believe shit.) So there's no regret here, and they were very interesting, but no real horror thrill. If more of my fiction books had managed that aspect, it would be a disappointment to me at all that I spent so much time on this book.

The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris Only the last like, chapter or two felt like I was reading a horror book. I did go in knowing that it would go in that direction, and it did properly build to it by the end where it tracked and felt pretty earned, but if I hadn't known, I could have missed a lot of what makes this book a thriller/horror. There was a lot of anxiety but not so much thrill. I also don't think the ending works well without looking at it through a horror lens, so I do think it's properly placed in the genre, but for about 90% of the book, it didn't Feel horror.

The Ruins by Scott Smith Yeah this one was horror. Thru and thru. Hahaha. It was a summer horror though, which was a little sad to me. In some books that aren't seasonal, I can still sort of picture it taking place during the season in which I'm reading it, but this took place primarily outside in hot, humid heat. No pretending that's taking place in any sort of autumn XD

Fledgling by Octavia Butler This one also falls into a similar situation for me as The Gilda Stories. It read more like a fantasy featuring vampires. It had more horror elements than The Gilda Stories, particularly thru the first two thirds of the book. But the last section was a trial (which was really interesting! And I enjoyed reading very much!) And that just didn't feel horror. I see why it's in the genre, and enough horror-like stuff happens that it seems it deserves it, but it didn't do much to give me that horror thrill. Very good read! Wish I'd have read it a different time of the year.

Vampire Forensics by Mark Collins Jenkins This is in the same category as Haunted Wisconsin almost down to a T. This had a little bit more going for it due to talking at length about decomposition and the way people reacted to corpses when decomposition wasn't thoroughly understood. There's something grotesque but also uncannily relatable about how people would react to the viscera they would see during the decomp process.

The Vampyre; A Tale by John Polidori Victorian novella? Okay this was pretty good with setting a gothic eerie atmosphere… at times. But it was such a short story that only really small sections could be put in those settings. Still, a good October read!

Sorrowland by Rivers Soloman I am 81% through this. This has more horror in it than Fledgling or Gilda Stories, but reads also very similiarly. Things will be mundane, and then they'll be horror! Then things will be mundane (in terms of horror stuff) for a while, and then it's horrorish again! I also fully realize it's required for the story that's being told, but they stripped the mystery away a little too much for it to have that really horror thrill instead of the sort of fantasy quest feeling. The fact that we're only seeing the horror happen to one person and we understand why and how it's happening strips a lot of the thrill away even while it definitely has strong horror elements. I suppose it could go harder from here on out, but it's ramping up to feel much more like a revenge quest from here and while that can be scary, one of the hallmarks imo to horror is the lack of ability to do anything about the horror (until perhaps like the last moment or in a very intangible way) and that just doesn't feel especially present here (unless we're talking like on systemic levels but that kind of circles right around to the fantasy/sci-fi genre WHICH ARE GOOD GENRES but yeah)

The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy Listening to this on the It Will Happen Here podcast with the spouse (he's a huge fan of the Robert Evans podcasts) and that is absolutely hitting the spots. Uliksi is a fantastic monster, and Danielle is so perfectly out of her depth both in terms of what is happening with him and in terms of his history/the community that summoned him. Excited to finish this up.

This is Halloween by James Moore. A++ This is perfect. Chef's Kiss. I'm glad I'll be finishing up the month with this. I am 73% through this one. It's a series of short stories with an emphasis of occurring during October/Autumn and it's just fingerlicking good as that's EXACTLY what I love most to read this time of year. I could read a whole novel(la) about the Beldam Woods creatures. So far he did three stories in that universe or whatever, and they all super hit the spot for me. Those monsters were so neat and yet different and just yeah. Big fan.

Some of these will eventually get added to my spoopy reading list, but definitely not all of them. Not because they're not horror, but because I just don't know that I really recommend them for the season. Ah well.

[finxwrites]

Trees are a lot like people. Each one’s got a life’s tale that matches no other, full of private joys and more private sorrows, borne on the currents of time and change and just trying to keep afloat. Also like people, most of them are common as pixie dust, and it’s a rare specimen indeed that truly stands out from the crowd.

Goldilocks’ sulking tree could claim that distinction. It was a grand old oak as broad as it was tall, with craggy, moss-covered branches that sprawled possessively over the patch of forest it presided over. Gilda led me right up to the base of it, and I felt the damndest urge to tip my hat as we approached.

After a bit of an internal struggle, I gave in. I’ve got my pride, but I’ve got my sense, too, and it pays to be polite when you can. Even to something with no eyes to see it. 

Oak trees are self-sufficient creatures, and they like their space. The forest floor is always dark under the awning of their branches, brown with the tree’s own fallen leaves, with only a few guests sharing its shade and nothing at all growing within arm’s reach of the trunk itself. The paw print Gilda showed me was right up in that no-man’s-land, a deep divot in the soft loam. 

It was definitely large. It was definitely some kind of footprint. It was not so definitely a paw print, but one look at Gilda was enough to tell me it’d be a waste of time pointing that out. 

“You see?” she said, arms folded, an imperious glint in her eye. “It has to be the Bears.”

I hummed, and scribbled down some nonsense in my notebook just to satisfy her. Then I took a turn around the tree, eyes on the ground. “You said your sister comes here a lot?”

Gilda huffed. “Used to be more. Every few days, whenever she got in one of her moods. These days she’s more likely to go crying to that useless lout Jack.”

There were no other obvious disturbances in the leaf litter. I took another turn, this time casting my gaze a little higher. “What makes you so sure she ran off here after your fight, then, and not into his loving arms?”

“I told you, I spoke to Jack. He hadn’t seen her.”

I stopped to peer at a particularly interesting burl on the tree trunk. “And you’re sure he wouldn’t lie to you?”

Gilda was silent a moment. When she spoke, the words came out bitter as a witch’s apples. “He does…care about her. She’s been missing for six days. If he knew anything, he’d have told me by now.”

“Unless Goldina swore him to silence.”

Gilda scoffed. “He doesn’t have the spine for oaths.” She came around to where I was still inspecting the tree burl. “Look, Detective—”

“Is your sister in good with the trees?” I interrupted.

I glanced over in time to see suspicion flash across her face, there and gone as quick as a gingerbread man. She replaced it with polite incomprehension, but I just tipped my head and raised my eyebrows, waiting. 

She kept me waiting a while. Gilda was not the kind of dame to lose a staring contest. But then, neither was I. 

It left us at a bit of an impasse. She finally said, dry as a djinni lamp, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” 

I couldn’t have held back the smirk at that if I’d tried. I do love a dame with the moxie to tell a blatant lie without a scrap of guilt. 

She wasn’t going to budge any further than that, either. And I had a case to crack. “Well,” I said, “I’d appreciate it if you applied some of that same selective ignorance to what you’re about to see.”

She frowned, but before she could ask, I leaned in close to the tree burl and whispered a request.

It doesn’t take a lot to befriend a tree. Most of what it takes is patience. The rest of it—the real trick of it—is in learning how to understand that tree, and make yourself understood in turn. Different people have got different ways. Me, I helped a grove of dryads hunt down an arsonist some years back, and then they went and stiffed me on my pay. I learned an important lesson, and now I always get half my fee upfront, no matter how harsh the sob story. But I learned something else, too. Because instead of gold, the dryads gave me the Blessing of the Leaves.

It’s been far more of a boon to me than the gold would have been, I have to admit. That’s why I only demand half up front—there’s a lot to be said for getting paid in favors, in a place like the Enchanted Wood, so long as I get enough hard cash to keep the lights on.

The Blessing of the Leaves is what let me befriend the trees near my office. Trees love to gossip, it turns out, and if there’s one thing a private detective has in spades, it’s gossip. They tell me all the best rumors, and in exchange, I go track down the truth of them when I can.

Being in good with the trees isn’t any sort of magic power. Not for me, at least. All it means is the trees like me well enough, so they’re apt to do me favors when I ask, long as I do the same for them.

And as luck would have it, this old oak had heard of me, and was in an accommodating sort of mood. So at my whispered query, the gnarled burl cracked along a dozen fault lines, and then it shivered and unfurled like an opening flower.

The space it revealed was almost as wide across as the tree trunk itself. The walls were perfectly smooth and followed the shape of the tree, vanishing off into shadowed recesses where branches forked off the trunk. Diffuse sunlight glowed from a dozen openings high above, no doubt hidden from outside view by careful ridges of bark. It wasn’t a particularly large room, but it was cozy, and someone had installed a battered old armchair with a generous stack of cushions, a reading lamp, a tiny table, and a cramped little bookshelf. There was just barely room for it all. 

Hollow-heart trees are rare things. This was only my second time meeting one. No one knows how they’re formed, or if they do, they’re not telling. The space at the center of one is hidden from all manner of scrying, and there’s no way to get in or out except by the tree’s own leave. 

I watched Gilda out of the corner of my eye as the oak tree opened up. Her eyes went wide, her mouth fell slightly open, her whole face went slack—she was as sincerely gobsmacked as Cinderella's family watching her try on that shoe. 

Something else pinched her face. Hurt, I thought, and maybe anger. “Little sister’s got some secrets, huh?”

She shot me a dirty look for that. “So it would seem.”

I canted a grin at her. “Let’s go find out what they were.”

strange & grimm, which btw sounds like an urban fantasy affectionately parodic hardboiled detective agency. probably queer.

It was a hot, muggy night in the Enchanted Forest. Everyone with a lick of sense was down in the fairy glens, hoping the Winter Court would put in an appearance and bring a breeze on with them. Lucky me, I’m the sucker who fingered the Snow Queen for the missing persons case last winter, so I’m persona non grata in the fairy glens these days.

Just as well. I couldn’t afford to leave the office, not when it’d been so long since my last case. Though on a night like this, I might as well not bother. It was too hot for crime. Even the leaves on the enchanted trees were drooping in the heat. 

I was just about to call it a night when a dame walked in my door. Tall, blonde, legs for days, with an air of tragedy that could put an unloved stepchild to shame. I looked her over suspiciously for any cheery woodland creatures hidden in her golden ringlets. If she was a princess, I’d turf her right back out of the office, case unheard. Princesses paid well, but they were more trouble than they were worth.

No mice poked their adorable little noses out of her pockets as the dame sank into a chair and fixed me with a hard look. “I hear you’re the best in the business,” she said without preamble. “And I need the best.”

I leaned back in my seat. “Baby, I’m the only one in the business. It’s not a good genre for private dicks.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, yes, far too child-friendly for any sort of dicks.” Before I could recover from that little gem, she went on, “It’s a child I’m here about. My sister. She’s…she’s gone missing.” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “Please, Detective, you’re my last hope. The royal courts won’t hear me out, they think she’s gone on the lam!”

I nodded grimly. “One of those Bo Peep situations, huh?” I get a depressing number of those. All it takes is one wolf in sheep’s clothing—you’d think the kids would learn.

The dame glared. There was enough cold iron in her gaze to put a fairy off her ambrosia. “On the lam, Detective. On the run. My sister has…something of a record.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Your sister the child? She some kind of crime prodigy?”

The dame fidgeted, looking away. “She’s…” She sighed explosively. “My sister is Goldilocks.”

I whistled, low and long. Crime prodigy indeed—Goldilocks was wanted in five kingdoms for the most impressive string of burglaries the Enchanted Forest had ever seen. No one could ever prove she’d done it, but the circumstantial evidence had piled up higher than mattresses on a pea. No wonder no royal court would take this case.

The dame’s shoulders hunched defensively, but she bulled on without trying to defend her wayward sister. “She’s gone missing, and I know it’s not another one of her sprees. Something is wrong this time.” She turned back to meet my eyes, her lovely features harsh with poorly-suppressed fear. “It’s her first crime come back to haunt her, I just know it is. They’ve always wanted revenge—especially the baby of the family, and he’s all grown up now. What they’d do if they got hold of her—“ She cut herself off with a watery gasp; her eyes were wet with tears. “Oh, it doesn’t bear thinking about!”

I handed her a handkerchief and gave her a minute to compose herself. It gave me a minute, too, to decide if I was really going to be this stupid. You don’t tangle with the big predators, not if you know what’s good for you, and especially not a whole family of them. Families are a dangerous thing in any genre.

But I was her last hope, and I’m a sucker for lost causes. And if I didn’t get paid soon, this business would become a lost cause itself. I said a silent farewell to my good sense as it packed its bags and left for kinder climes. “Alright,” I told the dame, “Give me the facts. We’ll see what kind of a story they tell.”

[inamindfarfaraway]

If we can’t have Batfamily movies and all Batman movies must be set in the early years before Robin, at least let us have one about the Gotham Justice Triumvirate. With Harvey Dent in the central role. Here’s my pitch:

Badass DA and wonderful person Harvey.

Harvey and Jim Gordon and Batman’s friendship. Jim and Harvey are friends! They’re two normal humans hanging out with a vigilante/living shadow cryptid who has no concept of normal human interaction! Think of the in-jokes they must have! Near the beginning, after Batman pulls his trademark disappearing act on them Harvey asks if Jim thinks he’ll ever say goodbye to them. Jim’s reply is some form of “when hell freezes over”, maybe even “Yeah - when he’s seeing you off to Arkham and me to Blackgate.” They laugh.

Harvey and Bruce Wayne’s friendship.

The fun and dramatic irony of writing Bruce and Batman as completely separate characters.

Depending on the timeline, possibly a cameo of newly fostered little Dick Grayson! To whom Harvey is like an uncle.

Gilda’s character being fleshed out. Exploring her side of the marriage and views on her husband’s career and mental decline and alliance with the Bat.

Harvey and Gilda’s relationship. And her and Two-Face’s relationship! He doesn’t care for Bruce, but he does love her equally while she apparently doesn’t even know he exists prior to him killing people. That’s an interesting dynamic.

Mafia intrigue and drama as the heroic trio finally bring down the previously untouchable Maroni empire.

Judicial, political and police force intrigue and drama as Harvey and to a less examined extent Jim fight to preserve their moral integrity in and reform their deeply corrupt institutions.

“For Gotham” is a key phrase, and may be the title. It’s said by each member of the triumvirate at different points when demonstrating or discussing how far they’re willing to go and how much hope they have for their city and its people.

Accurate, in-depth DID representation with Harvey and his protector alter not yet named Two-Face, who, reasserting himself after years if not decades of repression, resentment and ingratitude by the person he’s only ever wanted to protect slowly grows into a persecutor. Now Harvey’s wary, dismissive treatment of him is very understandable because of how terrifying DID can make life when you don’t understand it/your alter(s), and the need for control and excessive responsibility his childhood of abuse and neglect has cemented in him. But it’s still damaging. Other than lash out sometimes at people making Harvey feel threatened (Pre-)Two-Face hasn’t really done anything wrong before the events of the movie. They’re two sides of the same badly scarred coin each just trying to survive and make sense of their pain, equally sympathetic and valid… at least at the start. An element of the tragedy is that Two-Face could have healed and been a true friend to Harvey, if different choices were made and different chances were given. But the pressure of the Maroni case, a lifetime of unresolved trauma and post-traumatic stress from their father and each other, some plain bad luck and some mistakes lead to him becoming another abuser and a supervillain besides.

Music! Harvey has a theme, Two-Face has a theme. They hit opposite beats and parallel each other a lot yet never quite harmonize well. The coin (and the destruction and despair it represents) has a leitmotif that slowly rises to prominence in both. This motif is also associated with Christopher Dent. Harvey and Gilda have a love theme. Bruce and Batman have distinct themes that complement each other perfectly when played together, and when Bruce’s emotions shine through in Batman or Batman’s grimness peeks out of Bruce elements from the other piece are mixed in. The concept that Gotham’s ‘soul’ can be saved and humanity is worth fighting for has an uplifting theme, the main theme of movie and an antithesis to the coin’s, that has sections and elements woven into each member of the triumvirate’s themes and is repeatedly reprised in different tones.

Harvey’s external plot is making Gotham a better place, specifically via dismantling the Maroni crime family. The structure of most of the movie builds up to the climax of the trial of Salvatore Maroni himself. Maybe there are even recurring shots of Harvey’s calendar with an increasing number of days crossed out, to really drive the countdown home. To the main characters, it’s a beacon of confidence; a chance to prove law, and law for the good of the people, does hold power in Gotham, to send a message to everyone that things can and will get better. Nothing (and no one) is beyond redemption. To the audience, it’s a doomsday for Harvey we’re helpless to stop that taints every victory and happy moment on the path toward it.

His internal plot is grappling with his severe psychological issues rooted in his nightmarish childhood. He goes to therapy, he’s in a good place right before the start. But the first scene is… rough.

He visits his alcoholic father Christopher in the cheap hotel Chris, reduced to a pathetic old man, is staying in. Though he still calls him Dad and wants to try to reconcile, it’s clear he understands his regular, brutal beatings and otherwise generally neglectful parenting style (at least half the time) were wrong and he’s uncomfortable and tense. Chris solemnly presents him with a coin. The coin he would flip every night to ‘decide’ to beat him or not, which always, always came up heads for punishment. He said it was fair and that paradigm - that that his desires and actions don’t matter, he was just always bad inside and always deserves to suffer, in short that Harvey’s fate isn’t in his control - shaped the system’s entire personalities and worldviews, Harvey striving to prove it wrong and over years of bearing trauma and triggering experiences, his much more cynical protector internalizing it. With trembling fingers Harvey picks up the coin and looks at both sides. Two heads. The music cuts out. Dolly zoom on him that makes the room appear to close in around him, as a boy’s pleas, cries and screams of agony echo and he dissociates. Two-Face, who always acknowledged the flip was rigged, switches in. He smiles ruefully and says in a calm, quiet voice, “I understand.” Then he lunges to his feet, punches Christopher to the ground, grabs him by the throat and slams him against the wall, right fist raised to strike. He is now anything but calm. “Why? Why did you do it? Not the beating, that was just because you’re a sick bastard and took your anger out on the person least able to do anything about it. But why use the coin, why make it a game? Why lie? To shift responsibility even more? Just for fun? Tell me! Why would you bother to put a little spark of hope into your son’s eyes only to crush it? Answer me!” Instead of answering, Chris notes he’s bleeding; his right fist is closed so tight his fingernails have punctured his skin and the coin inside it is cutting into his palm. The shock of seeing that damn coin literally, physically hurting him brings tears to Two-Face’s eyes. He looks back up at his father, full of only raw grief and sadness for himself and his alter. His voice breaks. “Why, Dad? Did you really… not feel anything good when you looked at me?” “Did you really believe every time?” is all his father can say. Two-Face’s expression hardens, his fists clench again and he squares his shoulders. “Only half of me did. Goodbye, Christopher,” he says bitterly. The second he slams the door his facade of strength crumbles. He falls to his knees, sobbing and heavily dissociating. Cradling his head in his hands and raking them through his hair smears blood on and in the right half of his face and hair. Cue title card!

So yeah, there are only a couple of months between that day and the Maroni trial. He can’t bring himself to throw away the coin despite knowing he probably should. Gilda can’t understand why and urges him to leave it behind. He says it’s “too important” and “a reminder”, although of what, he can’t verbalize. The coin eventually ends up being habitually fidgeted with and kept on his person like a lucky charm. He’s trying to ‘redeem’ his trauma, turn it into something good, by drawing on it to motivate him to fight for justice, but the coin in practice is just a trigger. His PTSD, guilt complex and self-worth and control issues are dragged to the forefront and he dissociates more frequently. He falls further and further into obsessive workaholism. Loses sleep. Misses therapy sessions. All that matters is giving the absolute most he can to his city. Rest can wait, quality time with his wife and friends can wait, Harvey Dent the person can wait until the case is closed. Until after the trial. Everything will be better after The Trial.

The Trial happens. Everything is not better.

Maroni unscrewing his flask occurs in the background of the shot out of focus. When the acid is thrown, it sprays through the air in slow motion. We see Harvey and the witnesses’ (including Gilda and Bruce) shock transitioning to panic and horror as he flinches away too slowly, the coin in his hand flung into midair revolution and a wayward drop of acid approaching it. With a last close-up on his wide left eye reflecting Maroni’s smirk, cut to black. The most tortured screams you can imagine ring in our ears. No music in any of this.

Harvey and Two-Face’s mental health sinks to rock bottom during their hospital stay. Gilda, Bruce and Jim’s visits comfort Harvey little, especially since Batman duty calls Bruce away at a critical point (remember, nowhere in the script does it say Bruce is Batman). They’re given the coin back and discuss that life isn’t fair, but it should be… if they played their dad’s game now, it would be fair. All that work, all the blood and sweat and tears Harvey put into Gotham and this is how Gotham thanks him. He was never going to change things. Not playing by the rules of a rigged game, at least. It was never up to him. He never had it in him to be good, to be someone not worthy of punishment, let alone to improve other people’s lives. Flipping the coin, Harvey whispers with shattered eyes, “I understand.” Of course, seeing their scars is the last straw. Two-Face switches in, literally locking an anxious Harvey in a dark repressed chamber in their inner world to stop him getting in his way, and escapes hospital. Gilda, on her way to his room, begs him to stop and he hesitates but, genuinely sorrowful, decides his quest for justice takes precedence and runs into the stormy night, the shadows and rain obscuring his trail. She calls him, phone in a death grip. Fade out to its continual ringing.

This might be too weird and artsy but what if from the Fuck My Life I’m Listening To A Coin Now toxic epiphany onward, the shot composition is roughly pretty much symmetrical? Within shots or with shots mirroring each other. Not perfectly, obviously, but like. Rewind looking for it and it’s there.

The penultimate scene is another rooftop rendezvous and this time Harvey isn’t present; we and his friends feel his absence. Batman regretfully tells Jim and shows him footage of a new criminal taking the underworld by storm: the fledgling Two-Face. Jim is first disbelieving, then devastated and turns his back so Batman won’t see him cry. He angrily tells Batman not to comfort him, and to leave now that he’s given him the shitty news, because that’s all he ever does for him. We pull back to show Batman is staying, pained, guilty and truly having no idea how to proceed. Jim assumes he’s already silently vanished. Once he collects himself and goes inside to inform his subordinates, Batman lingers in front of the Batsignal where they took their shared vow. “Goodbye, Harvey,” he says softly.

The epilogue is Two-Face’s confrontation with Maroni. Several months later, the Mafia don’s out of prison already thanks to the, again, incredibly corrupt legal system. Two-Face acts venomously calm and civil while holding him at gunpoint. He remarks how long and hard Harvey worked just to bring Maroni to court, and how now with some broken laws and spilt blood here Maroni is in front of him in a fraction of the time. Helpless, like he was in that courtroom. He explains his “fair” game to kill him or not in a speech clearly quoted from Christopher, shows him both sides of the coin, tosses it and stares at the unseen outcome in his hand. “Lucky,” he announces, making Maroni slightly relax - a little spark of hope put into his eyes, you could say. Suddenly Two-Face shoots him twice in the heart. “For Gotham, not you.” Harvey switches in (implicitly his alter’s guilt is a positive trigger for him as his anger is for Two-Face) to find his alter has committed murder, with a smoking gun in his right hand and flecks of blood on that hand and his suit. He staggers back in horror and drops the gun and coin. A pang of practically physical pain interrupts his calling Jim to turn himself in, because he can’t choose that, can he? He falls to his knees. With trembling fingers he picks up the coin and, pleading under his breath to just have this one chance, flips it. It comes up scarred. Two-Face resumes control. He smashes the phone under his heel and stands. The final shot is him walking purposefully toward the camera so it zooms in on the vertical divide of his suit jacket.

[your-girl-mj]

So it's not a dream? [Ray x f!reader] [contains spoilers] part 3

Summary: ray and reader swapped bodies (soulmate au) ray's timeline is that they're still with mujika and sonju, while reader is with norman at the time he escape

Warning: fluff to angst to fluff. Also, I didn't read the manga, since i can't find a site to read it free so we're following the plot from the anime, sorry abt that

Part 1 part 2 part 3

"Good morning, [name]!"

The said girl was startled at the two familiar voices. She just woke up in the same place where "Ray" live, she doesn't like that he sleeps on the floor, it hurts her back.

How did they know my-

"You're probably wondering why we know your name," the same dark haired boy from the last time replied. "Ray explained us what happened, we understand why you did that - the last time we met." The other continued.

"I'm thoma and this is lani! We're here whenever you switch with Ray!"

~~

"Those two are Don and Gilda," lani whispered, looking at the teenagers, "they're one of the oldest here."

They are now at the corner of the cave, the duo are pointing at people and giving their names. She have a clip on her- um, ray's hair since she can't see well with all the hair on her face. she asked the two if they have any clips or something.

Luckly, Ray already borrowed some from the girls and gave them to the two, just in case she doesn't like his hair blocking the view. The green-eyed boy also asked emma if he can stay in the cave tomorrow. It hurts his pride, but he wants [name] to be comfortable.

Which results a lot of people keep looking at their way to see Ray's whole face, they all know that this is an only one time thing, which is why they are trying their best to look at it as much as possible.

"Okay, but why are you whispering?"

"Ray told us not to tell anyone, since..." thoma paused. "Norman is alive. And probably because mostly everyone is looking at us"

Norman? Who's norman?

"Norman is William Minerva, Ray told us that he introduced himself to your group as William Minerva," the bonde explained

So his real name is Norman, but how did they know him? Are they old friends?

"How did you know... Norman?" The [eye.color] eyed asked, trying to remember the name.

"He was a friend of ours!" Thoma said, "and he's the smartest out of all of us!" Lani continued.

So since he's just a little kid, he's always been this smart? That's our boss.

"He's the reason why we all escape! He's our master mind, Norman planned all of it right before he left us!" Both of them are not that uncomfortable saying the albino's name, since they already knew he was alive and they have nothing to worry about. "He tricked all of us! No one can beat Norman!"

The girl can't help but smile at the children in front of her, they both admire him just as much as she does. She swore that she will do anything to repay him for helping them escape the hell hole.

~~

A certain Raven-haired stir in his sleep, finally waking up in a different location than the last time, and by the looks of it - it's an old city, people are setting their things and getting comfortable with the place

'Guess they finally found a new place to hide.

"Good morning, Ray"

The said boy whipped his head too fast that he expected. "Norman? She told you, huh?"

The albino stood up from his seat across the room - making his way to an old friend, before crouching down to Ray's level. "It's nice to see you again, old friend." Smiling like didn't do anything that would cose his life

Norman's smile irritated him. You actually have the audacity to smile at me like that?

Expecting a greeting, what the blue-eyed receives is a slap. "That's for tricking us that you're dead. I couldn't slap you before because you guys see me as [name], Idiot norman."

Norman laughed, he haven't done that for a long time. "Right, right. Sorry, idiot Ray."

~~

Days turn into weeks, and weeks turn into months. Norman and Ray are catching up with each other. [Name] helping the group when they went to find Mr. Minerva is. Ray helping Norman locate their family's location. [Name] helping Emma with chores and preparing foods.

Ray and [name] will also converse with each other too, they both made a hand-made journal to talk about their days and for also getting to know each other, they both make boundaries on the body. It was mostly the girl asking if he's alright, because the drugs can also hurt him.

They were used to their routine, until it just stops.

"Ray! Good Morning!" The blue haired boy grin at him, only to widen when he successfully wake up the teen.

"Chris? Where am i?" Ray rubbed his eyes, sitting up. he expects that cislo was the one to woke him up like he always do with [Name], the raven-haired didn’t expect chris to be the one to do that.

"Ah! Ray, you're finally up! Let's get ready for breakfast." Emma cheerfully walk by him carrying a still sleepy dominic on her back.

Why is he still here? Isn't he supposed to be with norman right now?

"[Name]! Good morning! You have to see what me and thoma grew! Come on, come on!" Thoma and lanni practically dragging Ray to the garden, both have a very excited expression.

"guys, I'm Ray."

The three of them stared, looking like deers caught with head lights. the duo was about to show [Name] the tomatoes that they grew together. It’s not like they’re disapointed to see Ray, but confuse that it’s not the girl they consider as another older sister.

"You... didn't switch...?" Lani paused, "maybe you'll switch tomorrow, right?"

You guys get attached to her so quickly, is she that lovable?

"Yea, maybe," he answered, though he wasn't sure himself. He got up and look for the journal, he re-read it, the date, the events, her writing, his replies. It doesn't make sense. They're supposed to be switched right now.

He didn't know what got him pissed, is it not seeing his very-much-alive best friend, or not seeing her face in the mirror at this morning.

The green-eyed boy didn't know how much time passed since the last time they switched bodies. It's been months? Years? He was trying his hardest not to think of it as a dream.

Thoma and Lani seem to move on from it after a few weeks, acting like nothing happened, but when he asked them about her, they are back to saying they don’t quite remember, but her name sounds familliar.

Wait... who's her? Her name is [name]. or that's what i think it is... no. [Name], [Name], [Name]. her name is [Name].

Her name is... what's her name again?

~~

Ray doesn’t know why, but he feels like he’s always searching for something. for someone.

He doesn’t know why he’s always expecting someone to show up in his dreams.

He doesn’t know why he kept re-reading an old journal that he can’t remember writing. The only thing that is a reminder of her is this, and he treasure it dearly.

The Green-eyed spends most of his time at the corner of the temple that they’re currently staying, re-reading the journal once again.

-

‘I still don’t trust sonju, I'm okay with mujika but sonju feels off? I know you want me to get along with him but I really can’t, sorry Ray - [Name]’

‘don’t be sorry, I know it’s hard to trust demons because of what you’ve been through, so it’s okay. - Ray’

-

‘i’m suprise you haven’t cut my hair yet, it must be annoying - Ray’

‘I got used to it, your eyes are so fragile to the light, I use it to cover my eyes too - [Name]’

-

‘is your favorite color [fav.color]? - Ray’

‘Yeah, how did you know? I haven’t told anyone about that. - [Name]’

‘it’s not hard to guess since most of your stuff is [fav.color] :p - Ray’

-

'Ray, how dare you >:( - [name]'

'What is it this time? I didn't do anything - Ray emo boy Ray'

'Boss told me he caught you touching my chest yesterday. If i could choke you i would I thought we agreed not to touch private parts, Explain yourself >:( - [name]'

'I didn't mean to do that, i just got curious, forgive me, and also stop changing my name - Ray'

-

‘Ray? has the thought of us not switching anymore, ever cross your mind? - [Name]’

‘not really, what makes you say that, [nickname]? - Ray’

‘its just, I have a dream of you slowly dripping out of my mind, your face is blurry, I saw thoma and lani there too, but I can’t see their faces, i can tell it’s them due to the hair, but what if that happens? what if we don’t switch anymore? what if I forgot about you? - [name]’

‘then, i’ll find you, and tell you that that won’t happen, even if that did happen, then i’ll make sure to find you and  not to forget about you, so don’t forget about me. be careful saving children from farms. - ray’

-

“Ray? are you alright?” he must have drowned in his thoughts that he didn’t hear his friend calling for him.

“I’m alright emma, we’re going to the village right? I’ll go get ready.”

Emma’s bright green eyes follow the teenager’s figure with a worried expression. She notice that he’s been not being himself lately. One day he just became quiet, more quiet than usual. He always had a certain book next to him, he keeps reading it. 

At first she thinks that Ray is just bored and wanting to read all the time. He’s always like that since they were kids. even though they have more than 20 books, Ray just keeps reading it. Maybe it’s his favorite book? if it’s his favorite, why does he have the same depressing look when norman lefted us?

~~

Thoma and Lani insist that they want to go with them to the village full of demons. The two even show them their mask, clothes, and herbs that can push away their human scent.

The older ones know it's risky, but still allow them.

Which result of them trying to outrun the two demons that's chasing them.

Don and Gilda lead the younger ones to safety while Ray and Emma distract the two demons.

The two jump through roofs, sprinting to the opposite directions. The two finally stayed together, trying to take a small break, until they got surrounded by a group of masked strangers.

Ray's eye drifted to a [fav.color] cloaked person infront of him. He felt as if shocked and relieved but don't know why.

Drawing an arrow at them, but stopped when they heard an all so familiar voice.

"Ray, Emma."

[Name] watch the heart warning scene infront of her, she never scene their boss this happy, even though he was slapped.

Taking off their masks, they smiled at the albino. Ray paused, analyzing the very familiar girl at the back. He felt as if the world stopped. The girl also stared back at him, at first her face is full of confusion until she finally realized who's infront of her

You're the one from my dream

Note: im sorry if this looks like a cliffhanger, but i have no ideas left 😭 i tried my best, i hope you still like it

[ziracona]

Actually I have even more to say about this, because I think this is a minority opinion, but I /love/ (most) of the changes they made for the The Long Halloween film, especially Gilda.

It’s so narratively interesting? Not just for her as a character, but the way it changes the whole story? Gilda is seeking justice for something terrible, but in her pursuit, the way she pursues it, she becomes to Harvey the thing that killed her, that she’s trying to destroy. Her partner chose the Roman’s family over hers and his, and threw her to the wolves to protect himself, and leaves her injured and betrayed and broken and completely alone, for what happens to happen. She chooses the Roman’s family over her partner (in her quest to destroy them), over their own family. She abandons Harvey, and throws him to the wolves to protect herself, and lets him fall to save her, and in the end abandons her connection to him (“My husband is dead.” “Ma’am that’s not true.” “Yes. It is…” — “I loved him. But not…all of him…”) and leaves whatever happens to him to happen, alone.

By the time The Long Halloween starts, Gilda is so broken by her trauma she cries and begs Harvey to never leave her alone in her first scene, because interacting with the family even to kill one of them has made it all too fresh. There’s this knowledge in her that he will betray and abandon her. She’s so dead inside she cannot believe anyone would love her enough it means they do not betray her.

Her belief she is alone is what causes the chain of events for most of the story. If she hadn’t killed Vitti, when he was about to go State’s evidence, they probably could have jailed Falcone. Maybe jail wasn’t enough. That would be a fair way to feel. But her belief she’s alone and her actions alongside it force Gordon, Harvey, and Batman to eventually /protect/ Falcone and his people, instead of pursuing them like they were. It /makes/ her alone.

Her relationship to Harvey is real, despite how it began, and they love each other, but she can’t love him in the way she needs to be loved. Or he does. She tries, but she is already so lost to her own trauma, she destroys him as a byproduct of it. Harvey’s face getting burned off in revenge (for an act he didn’t do) is a direct result of her killing Sal’s father, and doing nothing to stop suspicion from falling to him. She creates, unintentionally, a world that turns on Harvey and decides he’s a killer before he’s put anyone in the ground, and pushes him past his breaking point and into Two-Face’s.

And just like her, chasing justice the law won’t deliver, he turns to murder and force to get it. Only, the only life /he/ destroys doing so is his own.

And there’s so much the film says about that, and doesn’t. Does Harvey’s story end differently because of who he is? Because he isn’t alone—has Batman and Gordon, when Gilda didn’t? Is it both? Is it a coin toss, and chance?

Batman spends the last third of the movie telling everyone Harvey is his friend and he has to save him, he let him down, he needs to find him. Gordon tries to do the same. He picks up Grundy immediately. Two-Face takes the acid hit for him. Harvey is /never/, completely, alone.

And Two-Face does get justice, for Harvey and Gilda and everyone else, by force. With some casualties.

Batman doesn’t ask Gordon at the end “Did we do the right thing?” he says “Was it worth it?” Was what they did, taking down the Roman and his empire, was it worth all the casualties it dragged inside itself. Which Harvey translates as “He’s asking if the good guys won.”

Gordon says they did, but they won’t know for a long time, if it was worth it.

That question is not about Falcone being dead. It’s about Sofia, and Harvey, and Gilda, and Gordon, and Selina, and Bruce, and every citizen Joker killed, every barely connected low-level criminal laying dead, every person between the system and the victim and justice.

They won, yes. Justice was served. This isn’t the question. The question lingered on is ‘was it worth it?’

That’s the emotional question for the entire end of the movie.

Gilda has her justice, but at what cost? Doing it, she lost her husband, and she lost herself in what she did to him. Harvey saved his wife, what was left of her, and traded in his future and himself, and all the people he might have helped, and joy he could have had, to do it. Selina got a shred of an answer about her mother, and lost two siblings and her father, all in front of her, choosing to help Bruce. Bruce got rid of a crime family, and in return he lost his first friend, and broke his assurance in his moral code. Gordon got rid of the Roman, and lost a friend and the only DA he’s ever trusted in Gotham. People are dead.

But there is no ‘no, it wasn’t worth it’ message either. There’s a question, but just a question.

Because it’s /not/ the same as it was before. The world. Gilda became what hurt her, but not all of it. She says herself that she has no regrets about anything that happened to anyone connected to the Roman, but Harvey? That, she does regret, and what she did to him. Which Alberto does not. Before his death, he’s angry, he wishes he’d made different choices, but he doesn’t wish he “hadn’t left Gilda to that” or “had saved her” or she was okay. He tells Selina he ‘let his dad scare her away’ and pities himself, not Gilda. He wishes that “he was away from all this and married to Gilda”. He wishes /his/ life was better. His regrets tied to her are his own. /Gilda/ does not regret that she has no husband now; she regrets that she let what was inside hers be ripped out. Like she was. Even as broken as she is, because she is not. Alberto.

And for his part, Harvey is not Alberto, and he is not Gilda, and neither is Two-Face. Two-Face kills the Roman, and takes the fall for everything his wife did, so she can be okay, even knowing she lied and let him be hurt. He does not betray her, even with reasons. He gives everything he has to her. His future. Because he loves her. His last line in the film is “Gilda.” And he turns himself in to face justice for someone else’s crimes, and accepts everything. Because to him, it had to be done.

Batman figures that out, and confronts Gilda, and he lets her go. He lets a serial killer walk, completely unpunished, because he loves Harvey, and literally the only thing that man has left is knowing he was able to save his wife. He compromises his moral code, the center of his entire life, out of loyalty and love to a friend he wasn’t able to save.

Which says nothing together out loud, and deafeningly much in its silence.

It does not answer if everything was worth it, but it draws a very firm line, character after character, about what is. What was.

In the comic, on the roof when he turns himself in, Harvey says “it had to be done.” And Batman says “You will never convince me of that.”

In the film, they change that. And Gordon takes the line.

It’s a massive thematic shift, to have Batman, the pov Justice character, not be the one to argue. You are given two positions: “It had to be done,” and “You will never convince me of that,” both by figures of justice, one inside the law, one outside it entirely. And Batman, right on the line between, doesn’t say it was or wasn’t the right thing. He just asks if it was worth it.

If all that suffering and loss and blood was worth it.

There is no answer.

The last scene has Bruce suggest it’ll be a long time before anything really changes, only to get a Trick-Or-Treater at the manor for the first time in his life, dressed as him—as Batman.

Things have changed. It wasn’t worth nothing. All that loss. But this change is only held by the people alive to get to try to live in it. Was that worth it?

“All we get, is all we take.” Said again and again, isn’t a yes or a no either. It’s a “we get the world we make.” And we have to live in it. We take the best we can.

They only answer to any question ever offered, and offered again and again and again, is that sacrificing of yourself for someone you love and want to protect is not always right or wrong, but is, always, worth it.

Which is a fascinating stance for a Batman film to offer as its only one.

Thinkin abt The Long Halloween film, (& spoilers for it), and remembered someone once complaining they made Gilda’s character bad in the film adaptation of The Long Halloween and a whole ‘she’s just evil because she can’t have kids anymore’ trope and like??? I have to kick in a door and say HUH??? What movie did you see?? Like the character is hella different from the comic yes, but 1, not necessarily in a bad way, a 2, that’s not her motive??? At all?? Like she’s not happy about that, but she’s not ever a ‘im inhuman now I can’t bear kids…’ The woman wants revenge because she experienced an insane trauma, and a betrayal, and the justice system is so broken that even as a lawyer herself, doing everything right, it left her empty and broken and abandoned too.

If anything, she’s just a strong foil for Harvey. She is never like ‘I can’t bear kids so now I must kill’— she’s like ‘I was in love and engaged to the man of my dreams and pregnant with our child, starting my career and family and unbelievably happy, and then his mafia father said ‘no’ to the union and child, and he just…abandoned me. For the family. I fought it, and he didn’t. He didn’t stay, he didn’t protect me, he didn’t love me. He didn’t even try. He let them cut my child out and kill it in front of me while I went kicking and screaming and fighting under the blade 8 months pregnant in a gang nonconsensual abortion, and left me literally hollowed out and alone to ‘recover’ from that, and nothing changed for anyone but me. I died that day, and no one faced ANY consequence. Not even guilt. I lost my ability to do my job, I lost my future, my hope, my ambition, my kid, my plans, my personality, my desire, my emotions, my being. I walked around as a shell. And when the justice system failed me, I found a lawyer who cared and was gunning for that mafia family, and married him, gave him more reason, but even he and Batman and the whole police force weren’t enough to stop them, so I decided to do it myself. I killed them, one holiday at a time, until everyone I wanted dead was fucking dead, and I got my justice.”

That’s an incredibly understandable, well done motive. What she did to Harvey specifically is fucked as hell, but she’s not a badly written lady. I love her comment about Harvey at the end that “We were so similar. Just. What was inside him hadn’t been ripped out yet.” Because she knows (and literally says) how broken and hollow what happened to her made her, and she can tell that what’s happened to him by the end of the story has done the same thing. She’s an incredibly cold and brutal character, but the bitch is well written.

​Like, she’s an excellent tragic film noir parallel for Harvey in the film. They go through almost the same trajectory. She is a hopeful young lawyer who believes in Justice who is betrayed and broken by the Roman’s people, and turns to extreme violence outside the system to get her justice when the ‘right way’ fails her. Harvey is literally the exact same thing, and scarred the exact same way, and changes to violence because of it. They both even say the very iconic ‘It had to be done’ close to the end of the film, in their last major scenes. Not echoing each other—neither hears the other. They just felt the same. The deep tragedy of the narrative is that in her search for justice, Gilda did to Harvey what was done to her—an utter betrayal and abandonment by beloved spouse. And he does not do to her what Alberto did. He takes the fall for her, even after the things she’s done, to him, because he loves her. The narrative repeats, the cycle of pain repeats, with the Roman at the heart of it, but with slight aberration because of the people involved this time. And if that ain’t film noir.