#technically i should be excited

[kettlefire]

Prepare for the unexpected. (DPxDC)

Everyone knew about the reign of Pariah Dark. Even those who did not dabble in those realms have heard the tale of the tyrant. A power-hungry man who ruled over the dead with an iron fist.

Following the rise of Pariah Dark, his realm had been effectively cut off from communication. Many mystics and magic users knew better than to open the door of nightmares that could arise if Pariah Dark's reach went further than his own realm.

Except, the universe had plans to bring the realm of the dead back into the cards.

A new opponent, one that had all of Earth's heroes scrambling for options. A being with powers of a god over weather, destruction was on the horizon. A world ending threat.

It's the only reason the Justice League was doing this. In a deep bunker, far from close civilization as a precaution, the heroes looked on with grim expressions.

The world was already being threatened. It would be destroyed regardless of what the league did. So it only made sense to make the last ditch effort. To summon someone strong enough to defeat the threat.

No one wanted to do it. No one wanted to be the one to pull the realm of the dead back to the living. The consequences were untold if this succeeded. If Pariah Dark was freed and defeated the threat, whose to say he won't want control?

That was a problem for later. For the aftermath. For now, the league could only watch on with bated breath as Constantine completely the summon ritual.

They watched on as the shadows in the room seemed to darken and grow. As the sigil sputtered to life with a glow that was growing increasingly brighter. A sudden gust of wind rushed through the room, the temperature began to drop with eaching ticking second.

And then it was all gone.

The room stood perfectly still. Just as it had been moments before. Nothing changed. No giant king standing before them, no sign that the ritual worked.

The room stood deadly still for another beat before the murmurs started. The team trying to make sense of the situation, figure out what went wrong.

Constantine swore up and down that this was the correct ritual, taking offense that they would even think the problem was on his end. It only made it better when it finally happened.

A loud sound ripped through the room, pulling everyone's attention back to the summoning circle. Just in time to see a tear appear in the space above the circle.

A thin tear that ran the length of eight feet. The fabric of the dimension seems to curl at the edges, pulling back to reveal a deep glowing swirl of greens. A dark gloved hand reached through, fingers curling around the edge of the tear, stretching it even further.

A portal. The ritual had worked, but there had been a delay. A delay that had every hero nerves on edge. Each team member tensed, weapons at the ready as they watched the being stretch the portal to the right size.

Then, a foot stepped out with a heavy thud. A dark boot that looked otherworldly despite its similarity to mortal clothing. A deep black that seemed never-ending. A second foot quickly followed before a full body emerged from the portal.

Not many people in the room have ever seen Pariah Dark, let alone know what to expect. Based on what Constantine and Zatara had said, this wasn't Pariah Dark.

A man had stepped out of the portal, standing at almost seven feet tall, and built like a brick house. One glance at the glowing white hair, deadly red eyes, and shard teeth was enough to know this being was not to be messed with.

But there was no giant show of armor or royal garbs. There is no large crown at the top of his head or jewelry from the infinite realms laced around his neck.

Instead, the man stood before them in combat boots, worn-in ripped jeans, a graphic t-shirt, and a spiked leather jacket. Despite his almost normal clothing choice, the man's jacket seemed to be a never-ending depth of the dark night sky. If one was to look closely enough, the cosmos could almost be made out in the sea of darkness.

None of that would have prepared them for when the man spoke. His tone sounded more bored than anything as he took a step forward.

"Oh, so now you need the help of the dead." The man had spoken, running a hand through his hair. When Batman took a step forward to speak, the man raised a hand. Immediately commanding silence in the single gesture. "I'm on babysitting duty and have yet to have a cup of coffee. I'll be right back."

Just like that, both the man and portal vanished into thin air. Leaving behind a group of stunned heroes. Not only was the man not Pariah Dark, but he was also supposedly babysitting.

"Did that just-"

The Flash had been the first voice to speak up, his eyes trained on where the man had once stood. Except he had barely made it through the first few words before the man was suddenly back.

The man that now had a child hanging off his shoulders and another teen being held up by his scruff. Unlike the man, these kids looked human.

Too human for Bruce's liking. The dark black hair and bright blue eyes had every heroes eyes flickering to Batman for just the briefest moment.

"This isn't fair! I'm not even the king. Why do I have to be here!" The teenager had been complaining the moment the man had reappeared. Arms crossed tight over his chest and seemingly used to being held dangling. "Besides, who brings kids to a show down! Wait til I tell mom about this."

"Aw, come on, Danny. This is gonna be fun!!" The younger girl seemed in much better spirits than the teen, Danny. She had climbed up the large man, sitting on his shoulders and resting her arms on the mess of glowing hair. "It's like take your kids to work day! Ooo, Dan! Can we fight too!?"

Unlike the two kids, the man looked purely exhausted and annoyed. The man, Dan, dropped Danny like a sack of potatoes as he took a long drink from the travel cup in his hand.

It didn't take a genius to recognize the look of an exhausted parent in Dan's expression. A look many of the league members were well acquainted to. A look that even had Batman grimacing with sympathy.

"Can it, little shits. You two were grounded, remember." Dan had growled at the kids before shifting his focus back on the team of heroes before them. His glowing eyes set in a deadly glare. "Pariah Dark isn't coming, and he never will. He's been dethroned and banished. We're the best you've got."

A summoning that started with a group of on edge and scared heroes looking for the ghost king, ended in a way no one expected.

No one was even sure if it made any sense. They weren't sure if they should feel hopeful or in despair.

Because truly, what was a ghostly man with two seemingly human children against a godlike foe with the control over the weather?

The unspoken question of power and ability seemed to vanish following Dan downing the metal travel cup of coffee, and crushing it in his fist.

He tossed it to the side, straighting up his posture as he looked over the heroes. Dan might not be a hero, but he's been playing family for too long.

An almost feral, bloodhungry grin spread across the man's face, sharp fangs on full display. The look made the man suddenly look even less human. He looked closer to a demon from the pits of hell rather than the exhausted parent he looked just a few seconds ago.

"Point me in the direction of this bastard. It's been too long since I let loose and had some fun."

[bigcats-birds-and-books]

Books of 2024: WELCOME TO YOUR WORLD: How the Built Environment Shapes Our Lives by Sarah Williams Goldhagen.

[demetriandelibinaryboyfriends]

Absolutely underrated aspect of Season 6 is Demetri's bile fascination with Axel. Like I hate this guy so much that I'm going to re-create his exact likeness, down to every tiny detail, in a VR for the express purpose of teaching my friend how to best beat the shit out of him. I'm also going to pay obscenely close attention to every modicum of how he fights and ALSO put that in the VR--for tactical purposes, you understand, not because I enjoy studying the male body. Fuck this guy for real. He reminds me of a Marvel character famous for being scary and gay-coded and also of a literary character where people have been debating for 2 centuries whether or not he is a gay allegory. That's not wishful thinking, no, it's just an observation. You literally can't beat him. He's unstoppable. Why even try. He's practically superhuman. He's a minor god, even. Look at that height and those muscles and that roaring. Peak performance. I swear I'm not staring at his stupid invincible biceps that could snap me like a twig. I am horrified yet impressed at his ability to adapt to new fighting moves and adopt novel stances. Disgusting. I'm intrigued. Show me more. No, I don't have a tendency to get fixated on evil violent dudes who I've developed intense and personal beef with. I have no idea what you're talking about.

Demetri watches Axel much like one would watch Cats 2019. He's not enjoying anything he's seeing. In fact, it's actively causing him distress and misery. But by god, some sick, twisted part of his brain is thoroughly enraptured. And by god, he can't look away.

[dol-dogboy]

Did anyone ask for a bishie butch anime nerd that’s obsessed with larping as a certain butler from a certain butler anime? No? Well you get her anyways so-rry!!!

Ramblings under the cut!!!!!!!

Polite and kind, Celes’ biggest goal in life is to make the world a better place. And how does she do that that?……… Elaborate butler and master/mistress roleplay, obviously. What else would it be in this insane fuckin town? It’s not exclusively a sex thing at least!!! It’s just…. Mostly. A sex thing. Especially with her favorite clients.

It’s easy to contract her, and very useful as well— depending on how much she likes you she could give you services free of charge (and even when she does charge it’s not a lot… and if you don’t have money she could also give a freebie…… yeah there’s, uh, there’s a reason why her main gig is bartending). By hiring Celes you get someone to pamper you, protect you, and watch your back; and in return she gets the satisfaction of knowing she’s helped make someone’s day a little brighter. The only stipulations she has is:

One: Men are not allowed the full extent of her services, in particular anything to do with sexual favors. She’s still cordial but there’s a level of expectation she has there for men to be able to pull their own weight (internalized misogyny moment)

And

Two: Don’t get attached. She’s quite upfront about this. She is not your partner. She is not your lover. She’s just your butler. Don’t get it twisted! (The butler herself is not immune to hypocrisy—)

To finish this post off, she is in fact a cis woman ! She just so happens to dress in a masculine manner and everyone started assuming she was some anime boy bishie yaoi twink when she is, in fact, an anime girl ikemen joshi yuri twink. Important distinction! If you ask her then she’ll tell you she’s a woman, otherwise she’ll just let people assume since she’s just grown really tired having to constantly correct people…

Oh also bell :)

[1-800-i-ship-it]

omg i just finished orv im going insane im im i can finally look at that doc of things i saved for after i finished orv and can look at spoilers...i can finally unblock that orv spoiler tag...im so normal about orv

[solazu1]

[quirinah]

log

[luminousstardust]

fearne and ashton both carrying shards of the titans… matt saying that in the moment they retrieved the shard from the pit of lava that they were both destined to be there…… these two are connected by fate forever now and you CANNOT convince me otherwise

[datbugboi7]

I also drew the fnc kiss from ep 21 👉👈

Guys I spent like 20 minutes cutting out that PNG of fish and chips. This is an important addition to this post.

[waitineedaname]

Came here because of your FMA Post-Canon GreedLing series and now I want to read/watch/idfk what this is SVSSS now. You've infected me and now I need to do research

YESSS READ MY SICKOS NOVEL!!

my very basic pitch: SVSSS is Scum Villain's Self-Saving System, a Chinese transmigration novel! the premise is that Shen Yuan is the #1 anti-fan of a trashy stallion novel -- he likes the monsters and the little crumbs of plot and loves the protagonist, but fucking hates literally everything else about it. when he finishes it, he's so overcome with rage about the ending that it literally kills him, and his dying thoughts are "dumbfuck author, dumbfuck novel." much to his surprise, he wakes up as the central villain of that novel with a transmigration system essentially telling him "you think you can do better? just fucking try it buddy"

it's a hilarious series, and a very quick read! the characters are really fun, the two main characters are completely deranged (a classic example of "I can fix him" *makes him worse*), and the balance between ridiculous humor and genuine emotion is excellent. also, as a loving satire of stallion novels/BL novels/webnovels in general, it has a lot of interesting things to say about the tropes embedded in those stories, as well as interesting things to say about being a writer and being a reader!

there are official print translations in English, so I recommend checking out your local library/bookstores, but if that doesn't work for you, it's also available on the Internet Archive and Anna's Archive! it's fairly short, only four books (three for the main plot + fourth book of plot-relevant extras)

enjoy!!

[jakeluppin]

so i had a bunch of new pens to test out so i thought i’d just write a few lines of this new divorced!rabbot fic idea i have so i started that and then uh ended up writing nine pages instead of just a few lines. whoops.

[paperconsumption]

i have an arc of the new ve schwab book

[lurking-loaf]

The board I drew on during this weekend's @daycarefriendpickup Magma had some frog themed art already in-progress, so I continued the trend with Sun holding a Froggy Chair.

Bonus rough sketch from Saturday (technically Sunday) when I stopped drawing for the night.

[pwurrz]

ooooh i hope we’re gonna get to see sooley in a cute circus themed outfit!!!

[angustully]

i love when i get the adhd Do Chores Now buff when i come home from work bc i just spent the last 3 hours cleaning the kitchen and now i dont have to do ANY of that tomorrow!!!!! yippee!!!!

[marclef]

about to finally start work on the first part of the comic! but i made some nice-looking character sheets for them. (finally happy with how a couple of these guys look heh)

(if you have no idea who the heck eyhm is i've got a post on here here.)