#the specific characters in question that I want to make out with:

[lgvalenzuela]

Now that this is making the rounds again I'm gonna spill something on the Veilguard companions because it's the only game in the series where I've been here since the begining and I've played this game so much I might as well be an expert

-Davrin is incredibly smart, he might say he wasn't a smart kid. But writing a book on your expertise because you have beef with a dead author? Straight up nerd behaviour, I haven't seen someone so mad about books since Dorian threw my library books out the balcony

I love his narrative, I love that he didn't become a Warden because he had to but because he wanted to (which like...I'm pretty sure is a first as far as Warden companions?) He wanted a propuse. But becoming a Warden was so ingrained in his brain when you meet him that he's so convinced he's gonna die young he's preparing for his death actively, he's preparing Assan to be able to take care of himself (also if anyone thinks his whole narrative is about Assan I'm gonna start throwing hands)

His narrative can be taken multiple places due to player choice. But personally I'm really into this self sacrificing hero that just... Finds a reason to live.

-Harding's narrative is literally about toxic positivity, Lucanis literally spells it out on the scene where they have coffee together. She's refusing herself very righteus feelings of anger for what's been done to her people, and to her specifically. She's grieving through the whole game and for multiple reasons and she's on the verge of breaking down the whole time. Both her endings need her to accept this part of herself, the part that's mourning and the part that's angry.

Also the dressing down she gives Solas at the end? Mwa! Poetry. Queen shit.

-I don't know how to explain Bellara without going into personal life? But like a grieving neurodivergent asexual woman, kinda feels like they were just writing me at some points.

Her narrative with Cyrian was the first (and not last) time I cried. I love how her and Davrin represent the past and the future of their people. How you sometimes have to look into the past to see a clearer future, how the sins of the past don't define you but it DOES feel too easy to just say: Oh but it wasn't me, and this is not Who my people are now.

Also in general I love their dynamic, I love when I can actually see relationships grow and chance in game. And I can see Davrin and Bellara forming a strong bond and Davrin being that anchor that Bellara needs. Not like Cyrian! But he cares for her! And she needs someone to care for her, to remind her that its okay, and that not everything is her fault.

-Neve is not an ice queen, she just uses ice magic. But take her with you anywhere and she's full of jokes. Damn she even approves of most of Rook's purple dialogues. She loves It when you're a silly goose.

Her entire character revolves around caring. She's there because she cares, because nobody seemed to care so she had to step up, she's willing to sacrifice so much just because she knows people need her. She's righfuly mad if Minrathous is ravaged by the dragon but it's...honestly not that hard to get on her good side again? She seems a little more mad than Lucanis, Lucanis seems more sad. But she honestly doesn't seem to personally blame Rook. None of them do. Because they're smart enough to know it was an imposible choice from the start. And she can see Rook put in the work (well I mean if you as the player care enough)

-Taash is not fucking immature or stupid. Taash has trouble communicating, I think we would all benefict from knowing the difference oh my God. Did we not learn this lesson with Sera? (Stupid question I know)

Honestly it's a thing I've always loved about this franchise and these characters. They all communicate differently, they do depending on their upbringing and just...some people have trouble communicating! It's fine! Just give them a second! Maybe let them write some things down!

-Emmrich🧡 (that's all, send post. I'm gonna have something else to say when I've already post this I can see it)

-My biggest surprise is Lucanis for sure. Fun fact? Wasn't on my radar when the first or second trailer or whatever else material dropped. But my Rook was born as a joke, he wasn't suppoused to even be Rook on the first place, he was meant as a secondary character and shipping him with Lucanis was also a joke.

I love him dude. I have such a thing for characters that have a kind heart, the more surprising that they have it the more I love it. I'm so glad he wasn't a Zevran type (and I LOVE Zevran, but for that we already have him!) He was just a weird little ace that had no fucking idea what was happening most of the time.

This is only when It comes to romantic love because he's really observant. He so quickly realizes what's wrong with every companion, he only really has THAT type of relationship with Davrin because he's matching his energy and honestly I think both of them think it's kind of funny at some point. He's good with people but in such a weird way where he doesnt know he is? He's just... Happy. I think he's truly happy for the first time because he has people that can rely on him and he can fully take care of. And in turn you can show him that he's worth those things too.

Things I never would have guessed from fandom osmosis before actually playing the Dragon Age games:

-Alistair is actually pretty smart, and has a lot of knoweledge to share about the topics he's interested about.

He's also not that shy, and flirts with a warden pretty smoothly, if a bit innocently for his lack of experience and general humorous persona.

And his primary motivator is revenge which is an interesting way to take a character like him.

-Zevran is the only character who actively searches for consent even in simple flirting like calling someone beautiful. If you tell him to stop he never makes a mention again.

He's also one of the most loyal and sentimental companions you can have. He cares a lot, want to admit it or not.

-Merrill is one of the most educated and smart characters on the series, she takes calculated risks based on her own studies and research, and the only reasons she fails is because nobody trusts her and refuses to treat her like an adult.

Part of it is also the game refusing to frame her as anything but a naive child when she's anything but.

-Isabela has the most emotional intelligence out of all the characters in DA2, she knows exactly what they're feeling and what they need to hear at all times. It's clear that she's wise and worldly, and just needs time to build confidence between her and the others because she's been hurt a lot and her respect is gained.

-Fenris has an amazing sense of humor and you can find him consistently laughing at both Hawke's and companions he likes silly jokes. He's just really deadpan when delivering his own jokes.

He's also considerably patient and doesn't lose his temper unless confronted with people who have actively abused him.

-Anders spent SEVEN YEARS protesting peacfully, and it took the risk of genocide on his people to reach the desperation of act 3.

-Dorian is incredibly reserved. He tries to avoid talking about his life with a veil of humor and sarcasm, but he's specially guarded around his sexuality and love life. He only comes out to the Inquisitor in a moment of fury to piss of his father and he may have not done so if not pressed.

If in a romance with Bull the only reason the others find out is because Bull exposes it in front of everyone (I wish they would have find out a better way to let the player find out than Bull ignoring Dorian's wishes of privacy)

If romanced by the Inquisitor he's in his first real relationship and it shows, he's lost most of the time but tries to hide it by acting cocky. It's really funny.

He's also a huge nerd, I wasn't expecting that but I was pleasantly surprised.

-The Iron Bull it's not just smart, he's so caring, he shows you around so you can meet the people, the ones nobody cares about, he introduces you to them.

-Sera also goes to the pile of characters who are really smart and nobody gives them credit for it. She says it herself, she's just really bad with words, but as long as you try to understand her she makes a lot of sense.

The game just gives you no other option than to treat her horribly, which I sense a pattern of framing the neurodivergent coded characters in a certain light with Merrill and Anders.

-Vivienne is the only one (with Dorian) that asks the Inquisitor if they're okay after Haven, and gives beautiful words of afirmation.

She's really affable if you bother to befriend her.

[dilf-docs]

"Call It What You Want" Series: Drabbles. In today's episode, Y/n L/n goes on a Chicken Shop Date! ft. Amelia Dimoldenberg

Set: Before the first part of the CIWYW series Warnings: None. Just lousy comedy. I'm sorry Word count: 974 words

"So, I heard a rumor"

You pop a fry into your mouth. "Gotta be more specific with that"

"That you like older men" she replies back in an instant. You almost choke on your fry. Almost. You're quick to recover, taken back still.

"Oh, that" you let out a laugh. "I suppose it's true"

You think back about one of your most liked instagram posts, an old one. A graphic t-shirt with the front spelling I Love Dilfs, a red heart in the middle. Pedro had teased you about it, to which you replied: Are you stalking me?

"Why not older women?" she questions, and your eyes go wide at it. You've never been one to label yourself, especially not online.

"You aren't old, Amelia"

Her character falters a bit at your comeback.

"Did you just called me old?" she jabs. "I can poison your nuggets"

"Well" you reply, "it would be a bit weird that I thought about other people while we're on a date, right?"

She contains a laugh.

"I'd say then, that you have good taste" she bites a nugget. You bite yours. "Can I ask one thing, though?"

"Sure" you lean forward, then look at the camera, pleading, "as long as it's not about my dating life-"

Finding out who you were dating was one of the Internet's favorite topics. It went wild every time a new project of yours dropped, since you seemed to have insane chemistry with your co-stars. This time, the victim was Sam Cafflin, who just happened to star in some horror flick called Bagman. You weren't even together in the movie, but the few promotions you did together were enough for fans to place their imput in your relationship. They always did, yet, so far, no one had been able to guess it right.

And you're lucky, because it's been a while now since you and Pedro were together.

"If you could choose any D.I.L.F to take my place and be on a date with you, right now, who would it be?"

"Rude. I see you insist on me cheating on you on our date"

"I'm curious" she says, her accent shinning. "The Internet loves to pair you up with older men as much as you love to pair up yourself. Have you noticed?"

It's no secret. You're as clear as ambiguous. Everyone knows your preference, but none the fact that you're even married.

"Of course. I love my fans too much" you take a sip of your lemonade. "You could say I am a fan of them"

"Alright, but who you'd pick?" Amelia insists.

"Depends on the season" you chuckle. Your mind instantly goes to your husband. Still, you decide to spice things a bit with your answer. Give the Internet something to say. Give him something to say. Shit stirrer, you hear his voice in your mind. "Right now, it's summer, and Hugh Jackman seems the right answer"

The blonde woman raises her eyebrows.

"He was here just last month" Amelia says. "Should I give him your number?"

"You don't have my number" you deadpan. "Nor his"

Her eyes go wide as she suppresses a smile.

"Say I did. Should I ask yours for him?"

You shrug. "I'm a busy woman. If they want me, they better find me"

She chuckles lightly at that. "Well, thank you for making time for me then"

"Oh, for a pretty girl, anytime. Might like you more than my D.I.L.F.S"

Yet, in your heart, there's only a space and Pedro's carved itself inside it.

"Hugh Jackman, huh?" he muses. "What the fuck is he gonna do for you, hmh?"

You wrap your arms around his neck, moving from side to side in a cheeky manner. He's been bugging you with it ever since you stepped inside the house, and you've been trying so hard for him to drop it, but you knew it was lost case ever since he started spamming your phone once the interview dropped last night.

"Pop those claws out"

"You could have a Roman general yet you chose a mutant freak"

"The Roman general dies. Wolverine is immortal" you argue back.

"You're saying that just because he's trending right now... I want to see if you hold to the same answer when Gladiator II comes out"

"Baby, be honest. Are you jealous?" you tease.

He scoffs. "Of a guy with forks for hands? Please"

"Calm down. No need to fight this war, general" you stand on your tiptoes, his lips brushing yours. "You know I'm all yours"

His grip on your waist tightens, then leans into your ear and whispers, possessively so.

"Damn right you fucking are"

You're enjoying this a bit too much. Not even the Internet had gone that crazy over your interview.

"Hugh Jackman can sing though"

"Aw, c'mon!" you laugh as he slips from your embrace. "That's it, you're sleeping on the couch tonight!"

"No, wait" you chase after him, giggling.

His face is flushed when he looks back at you.

"You know, I Iearned to sign Future Days, for Joel. But now? You get nothing, ungrateful deceiving wifey"

You feign hurt, placing a hand on your chest.

"Is it bad to say another man is hot, or have you gone too woke?"

"You're married. Don't bullshit me"

"Secretly married!" you protest.

"So that allows you to thirst out-loud for other men?" you remain silent. God, he's stubborn. "You've been a real bad girl"

You stop on your tracks. So does he. When you smile, wickedly so, he knows he's done for.

"I can be a good girl if you want"

Sultry voice. Dripping in honey, dropping in tone. Batting eyelashes. Parted glossed-up lips. His cock twitches. He feels like a fool.

Pedro just runs a hand through his hair. "Fuck, baby. You're gonna be the death of me"

[betty-fran]

SNW is probably the last thing I want to watch, and there are many reasons for that (but, yes, this is the main one).

Commenting on something you haven't watched isn't the best idea, but even from what I've seen, I have a lot of questions for the creators of the series. And probably the most important one, who are these people and how will they become the people we saw in TOS in just a few years? And why do all the actors look like they've stepped out of either a Netflix relationship show you'll never watch, or a passing cop show where everyone's hot, but you don't remember any of the characters?

Spock. Okay, why does this guy keep calling himself that? Why did he take his shirt off? Why did he kiss that blonde? Oh, he screams, and cries, and hugs. He seems more emotional and tactile than I am, and I usually scare introverts...

Chapel. She's really cute, honestly, the only thing I liked about SNW, even though she still has nothing to do with the original Star Trek. And she reminds me of Kirk, especially AOS Kirk, especially AOS Kirk from so many fanfics where he's more funny than an asshole. Honestly, guys, it's the 21st century, but for S and K, the authors are ready to write any love story, even a homosexual one, but they won't be given a chance to be together.

Jim. Oh, I've seen him somewhere before, and no, it wasn't in TOS. And why is he older than Shatner when he played Kirk, if it's a prequel? And I read that this Kirk has a better relationship with salad, is that true?

A pretty woman with a strange name, a relative of Khan, is having an affair with Kirk. Oh, this is starting to sound like The Rings of Power.

Number One. Finally has a name (and it's actually good) and looks like she just returned from a space flight with Katy Perry. I'd rather not think that she's my favorite female TOS character because it makes me sad.

Pike. Well, he's always been a difficult read - he's not talked about much in TOD, and even less so in AOS, and given his history he has this archetypal hero-from-legend vibe, which makes him a little less personal and more like a tapestry of a knight, which isn't great for a series where he's a lead protagonist. I don't know how SNW handles this story-wise, but visually, it doesn't. I'm actually really old-fashioned, but I'm really sad how the idea of ​​true beauty has changed, and how artificial it seems now.

(just bring them back! it was a real cinema!)

Through Star Trek, it's actually good to follow how the world is changing, because each of the Star Trek series actually reflects the time in which it was filmed. I've read the opinion that SNW captured the spirit of the old Star Trek quite and, well, I can only take their word for it. But watching TOS now, I can say that it's unlikely that anyone today can truly capture its spirit, and when someone can, it will be the day of a utopian future for cinema. From what I've seen, SNW really only conveys well the stagnation in which modern cinema finds itself, which has long been trying to please everyone at the same time and is therefore unable to express any specific self-sufficient thought.

star trek used to be about gays in space

now they just make Spock kiss women

[august-anon]

Brothers Bound in Revenge

Brother's in Arms series: 1 - 2 (you are here)

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

It's finally done!! Definitely wound up longer than I meant it to lol, but I have no regrets. As usual, I have barely edited this. Also, I have still barely read any comics yet (working on it) so these will be very fanon characterizations.

While I already wanted to write a sequel for Brothers Forged in Laughter, ao3 user sweetlikesalt solidified the idea with this comment of theirs, so everyone say thank you lol:

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Fandom: Batfamily (no specific source material/continuity)

Ship(s): Gen!!! Platonic!! Familial!! No batcest here

Characters (lee/ler): Lee!Jason & Lers!Tim and Dick (plus VERY brief ler!Jason, and lees!Tim and Dick)

Word Count: 6106 words (how did this wind up LONGER than the last one sdkjfh)

Summary: Jason's figuring out how to be family again, and learning how to be a big brother. Dick decides he needs to be reminded what it's like to be a little brother, too -- along with letting Tim get a little revenge.

[ao3 link]

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“Are you coming to family dinner this week?”

The Red Hood bit back a sigh – not that the voice modulator in his helmet would have necessarily picked it up – and kept his back to Robin, focusing instead on the gang members loitering beneath his ledge.

“Don’t know about that, Robin,” he said. Then, as an afterthought, “Sorry.”

Aside from his little bonding moment with the new bird, his first (and last) family dinner didn’t go so well. It was tense and awkward, Bruce asking stilted, surface level questions that turned more and more pointed as the night went on. Dick and Tim tried to buffer him, and even Alfred admonished him a couple times, but Bruce always managed to circle back. Dessert ended early with a screaming match and Jason storming back down to the Cave to his motorcycle before anyone could chase after him and convince him to try and patch things up. He’d missed the past two family dinners since, and had avoided the Batcave as much as he possibly could.

It always came down to the same things with Bruce. Jason was reckless, dangerous, out of control and, as always, it was Bruce’s responsibility to curb, calm, and corral him. Bruce’s responsibility to rehabilitate him, as if Jason needed to be rehabilitated at all. He’d dropped the crime lord thing almost as soon as his plan for Bruce to kill the Joker blew up in his face (literally), and it wasn’t like the bodies he’d been dropping since were without merit. No one would miss those scum – abusers, pedophiles, serial murderers. Batman needed to learn that not everyone was capable of being saved.

“Are you sure?” Robin asked, creeping up to crouch beside him on the ledge. “Agent A misses you.”

The we miss you went unsaid. Hood knew he’d dropped the ball with his brothers since that dinner. Avoiding that Batcave (and the Manor) meant avoiding them by extension, since he was too wary of Bruce stalking their lines of communication to give them directions to any of his safehouses. Not to mention the fact that he moved between them so frequently that it would be difficult for them to keep up with where he was staying, anyways. He’d just started becoming family to Tim, and he almost immediately left the kid high and dry. Some big brother he was.

“Tell him I’ll try to come by soon.”

Robin hummed noncommittally, clearly seeing through Hood’s attempt to placate him. This time, Hood did sigh, the helmet translating it into static, and reached over to ruffle Robin’s hair. He resisted the urge to dig his fingers into one of the softer joints of Robin’s armor – his targets would absolutely hear that squeaking laughter.

“Tell you what, kid – I could use some help, here. Wanna help me take this group down?”

Robin perked up, sending a grin in his direction.

“Just make sure to leave one awake – we need to know where their boss is.”

“You got it.”

“On three. One, two–”

*     *     *

Nightwing didn’t even try to be stealthy as he landed behind the Red Hood, practically skipping across the rooftop to plop himself on the edge next to him. Hood didn’t spare him a glance, keeping his gaze firmly locked on the clouds above, as if he could see beyond them to the stars above. Though Gotham was his home, he couldn’t help but feel a bit homesick for the shine of the stars. He’d seen so many when he was with Talia and the LoA, but between Gotham’s constantly shit weather and all the light pollution, he hadn’t seen a single one since he returned.

“If you’re here about dinner,” Hood said, “I already told the little bird ‘no.’”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nightwing shrug. “Figured. I’m not going to try and convince you.”

“Really?” He said flatly.

In his peripheral, he saw Nightwing turn to stare at him. Hood kept his gaze forward. He’d taken his helmet off for a breath of fresh air, and having little more than a domino mask to protect his expressions made him feel far too exposed at the moment. At least the profile view added some sort of barrier to reading him.

“When I was close to your age, I didn’t exactly want to be around B most of the time either. There was a reason I moved out, and there was a reason I always made myself so busy with the Titans.”

Hood let out a long breath. “You’re around a lot more now than you used to be”

Nightwing finally turned away, looking down at his hands clasped between his knees. “It’s one of my biggest regrets, letting my shit relationship with B affect my relationship with you. When I did come by, it was mostly to see you – steal you away, teach you to be Robin, sneak out for train-hopping.”

Hood didn’t know what to say. He pressed his lips into a thin line.

“With Robin, it still took me a while to get over myself, but I didn’t want to make the same mistakes twice. I overcompensated for a while before finding my balance.” He chuckled. “It drove Robin crazy sometimes. I was just so scared to lose another brother, especially without him knowing how much I cared about him. Me and B… we came to an understanding – at least, for the most part – over time, with me being around so often again.”

Guilt churned deep in Hood’s stomach. “Nightwing–”

Nightwing shook his head. “I’m not saying you have to come around. Honestly, stay away for as long as you need. Sometimes I still can’t even stand to be around him, no matter how much we’ve grown or how much I care about him. That’s probably why it hurts so much.” Nightwing turned to stare at him again, and this time Hood couldn’t keep himself from looking in Nightwing’s direction. “But don’t lock us out too just because B can’t get his righteous head out of his ass.”

Don’t make my mistakes, Hood heard underneath.

“Yeah,” was all Hood could manage.

They sat in silence for a bit longer before Hood heard the tell-tale buzz of a distant comm line. Nightwing raised his hand to his ear, likely for Hood’s benefit because Hood knew that’s not how the Bat-comms operated, and said, “I’m on my way.”

“Duty calls?”

Nightwing shot him a strained grin. “When doesn’t it?” His smile became a bit more natural as he scrubbed his hand over Hood’s head, making his helmet-hair even worse. “Don’t be a stranger.”

Red Hood didn’t have a chance to reply as Nightwing dove off the building, shooting out his grapnel line halfway through his fall. He waited until Nightwing disappeared in the smog before shoving his helmet back on. The Bats could handle the rest of the city, but Crime Alley wasn’t going to protect itself.

*     *     *

Jason got himself a phone.

He had plenty of phones, honestly – enough burners to cover all his bases and then some, and he frequently dumped and replaced them. This phone though, it was his first personal phone since he came back. He made sure to pass it off to Barbara first, get it souped up with all the Bat-grade protections it could possibly need, and with her sincere promise that Bruce himself wouldn’t have any way into the device despite that.

When she returned it, she’d done more than just upgrade his security. Where his contacts before had been a blank slate, there was now a neat list of five names. He flipped through them, changing four of the contact names to be much less formal. Opening the final contact, he hovered his thumb over the “Delete” button for several long minutes before letting out a slew of swears and closing out of the contacts app, leaving that final contact untouched.

He shot off quick texts to Dick and Tim, nothing more than a “Hey, it’s Jason.” and got a set of responses back almost immediately. Dick was a spam-texter, it seemed, cheering through his messages and telling Jason it was “about damn time” he got a phone. Tim sent him only two messages in reply. A brief “ew” and a follow-up of “you text with proper grammar??”

From that day on, there was not a single moment where Jason was free of his brothers. Dick started sending him dozens of TikToks a day (where he found the time to scroll TikTok so much in-between his day job and the vigilantism, Jason had no idea), practically forcing Jason to download the app just to keep up, as much as he despised social media. He was loathe to admit it, but every once in a while, some of the videos Dick sent him were actually kind of funny. 

Tim, on the other hand, seemed to get a kick out of sending Jason memes that he either wasn’t alive to see come about, or he was stuck with the League at the time with no knowledge of the current popular culture. He communicated almost exclusively through them, and Jason knew it was intentional to get under his nerves. It felt like he was trying to translate hieroglyphics at times, and whenever he asked Dick or Barbara for help, they just laughed at him.

And then, a few weeks in, the invites started coming through. 

A new coffee shop just opened up in the Bowery, you in? Jason was never getting coffee with Tim again after that, because holy shit, was his order horrific. 

There’s this adult arcade downtown — you in? Jason knew that they were the heirs to a billionaire, but he still couldn’t fathom the amount of money Dick spent on goddamn claw games. And somehow, he won every time. Jason didn’t even know where to put all the plushies Dick forced on him after that trip. 

Bowling?? Steph said this place is actually only marginally sketchy. Jason and his brothers were now banned from the bowling alley.

Okay so bowling was a bust — roller-skating? Jason and Tim were now banned from the skating rink. Dick somehow got off scott-free. Jason blamed the puppy-dog eyes.

*     *     *

Even once he and Bruce were on speaking terms again, the invites didn’t stop – which was how Jason found himself making the drive to Bludhaven one evening. Dick decided that they were due for a movie night, and since Jason was still avoiding the Manor itself, he’d decided that the next best place would be his own apartment.

They ordered some absolute monstrosities from the nearby pizza joint (Dick’s pineapple and andouille pizza was always horrifying, but at least Jason had been prepared for it – Tim’s Canadian bacon pizza with onions and artichoke hearts, Jason never wanted to see again), and Dick left the two of them to pick the movie while he went to pick up the pizza.

Of course, the little snot was nothing if not an absolute nerd, and most of his suggestions were weird sci-fi shit. As if they didn’t get enough of that with their gallery of doctorate-wielding Rogues and their insane fucking inventions. Then again – Jason had the perfect solution to get what he wanted out of the kid.

“I’m gonna kill you!” Tim shrieked in-between frantice giggling, trying to pry Jason’s hands off his sides.

Jason hummed. “Dick would be very disappointed in you when he got back if you did.”

Tim managed to twist out of his grip, throwing himself across the rug to create distance between them. “What’s wrong with Interstellar anyways?”

Jason wrinkled his nose. “Don’t we deal with enough dimension-travel and time-travel shit enough in our night jobs?” He launched himself forward after Tim, ignoring the kid’s squeals as he dragged him close again. “Besides, letting you win the movie pick means I don’t get to do this.”

Jason wasted no time on this second attack, immediately digging his fingers into Tim’s highest ribs. Tim almost choked on his laughter, shrieking out a few curse words, and Jason had little doubt that Dick would have a noise complaint by the end of the night. Whatever – it wasn’t like it was Jason’s problem. No, the only thing Jason needed to worry about right now was what method made Tim laugh the hardest. Fingernails or fingertips? Wiggling or squeezing? Vibrating fingers or fast skittering? He just couldn’t decide.

Tim was practically in tears by the time he finally conceded to Jason’s movie choice, having laughed himself nearly hoarse. Just in time, too, because Dick just texted their group chat (also new – and the incessant spam of notifications that often burst from it annoyed Jason to no end) that he was on the way up.

“Just you wait,” Tim said, chest heaving and face cherry-red. “I’m gonna sic Dick on you, and then you’ll be sorry.”

Jason snorted, making himself comfortable on Dick’s lumpy-ass sofa. “Good luck with that kid. I already told you both – the Pit took care of that. I’m immune.” He gave a playfully malicious grin. “Leaves me with plenty of chances to torture you, though, don’t worry.”

The front door to the apartment banged open. “Hey – does anyone know why my neighbor just cussed me out in the hallway? I swear, he’s never looked that– Timmy? What the hell happened?”

Jason laughed.

*     *     *

Bruce was out of town for a few days – an actual business trip this time, no JL covers – and he took Alfred with him. Which meant that someone needed to cover Gotham for the week. Which meant that Dick was in town for an extended period of time. All of this also meant that Dick and Tim were left in the Manor unsupervised with no Alfred to keep them from burning down the kitchen.

That’s how Jason found himself being guilt-tripped into spending the week at the Manor with them, if only to ensure they didn’t survive solely off of cereal, microwave meals, and caffeine. Dick, of course, was thrilled at their “Brother Sleepover,” and promptly spent the week kicking their ass at Mario Kart. Not even Tim, in all his nerdy, geeky glory could beat him, and death had done Jason no favors with his own virtual racing skills.

Overall, despite the constant skin-crawling feelings Jason had for half the week, his stay at the Manor didn’t go horribly. Plus, it was kind of nice cooking for more than just one person. He might have to establish a more permanent safehouse so he could have his brothers (and Barbie – he’d have to make sure the elevator was actually working in whatever building he chose) over for dinner. Or maybe he’d finally try coming to another family dinner, just for the excuse of helping Alfred cook.

Either way, by the end of the week, Dick was adamant that it was about time for another brothers’ movie night. Jason rolled his eyes and put up the expected complaints (it was a familiar song and dance now – even if he didn’t mean it), but still found himself at the grocery store while Dick picked Tim up from school, picking out ingredients to make them a special dinner for the last night of their “Brother Sleepover.” He was shoving everything into the kitchen when Dick and Tim got home, Tim groaning as he entered the kitchen for a snack.

“Jason – your food is amazing and all, but can we please just get takeout tonight?”

Jason turned around, his eyebrows raised. “Excuse me?”

“We can just order pizza instead – I won’t even get anything weird on it!”

“You’d rather have greasy takeout pizza than a home-cooked meal?” Jason crossed his arms and leaned back against the kitchen island. “You’d give Alfred a heart-attack.”

Tim rolled his eyes. “Like you’ve never begged Alfred for takeout instead of something from home.”

Jason pursed his lips. He couldn’t exactly argue that – they all had at some point. Still, “I already got the shit, we’re eating here.”

Jason pinpointed the exact moment when Tim went from normal vigilante teenager to horribly obnoxious piece of shit. He narrowed his eyes for a moment before his expression turned to an exaggerated pout. He slumped his shoulders and gazed up at Jason with his little wounded-baby-bird eyes. 

“Come on, Jay, please? We can make it another night – can’t we have pizza?”

Jason huffed and pushed himself away from the counter. “Alright you little shit – get over here.”

He made a swipe for Tim, who shrieked and immediately launched himself out of reach when Jason’s fingers grazed his ribs. When he looked up at Jason this time, gone was the faux-pout. Instead, his eyes were wide with surprise and anticipation, the twitch of his mouth almost giddy as he eyed Jason’s hands warily. Jason grinned and took a heavy step forward, drawing out the game. Then, suddenly, Tim’s eyes narrowed and his jaw set. Without warning, he bolted from the kitchen.

“Wha– get back here! Face your sentence like a man, TimTam!”

Jason raced after him, winding through the labyrinthian halls of the Manor. As they got closer to the front side of the mansion, Tim started shouting.

“Dick! Dick, help me!”

Jason’s jaw dropped. “You fucking– running to Dick for help, as if you don’t deserve this!”

“Dick, he’s doing it again!”

As they approached the den, Jason put on a burst of speed. Unfortunately, it seemed as though Tim was holding back as well, breaking into a dead sprint to reach the den first. The two of them crashed through the entryway, knocking down a whole stack of pillows and blankets that someone had piled by the door. Dick stood in the middle of the room, clearly having been rearranging furniture for the “ideal movie night positioning,” looking absolutely flabbergasted.

Tim, still with that young Robin springiness, was able to extricate himself from the avalanche of comfy items easily. He bounced out of the pile and darted behind Dick, using him as a human shield. Jason, while highly trained, was now all bulky muscle instead of flexible springiness, and had a harder time wading out of the mess.

“What on earth is going on, here?” Dick asked, gaze darting between Jason and Tim behind his back.

“He’s trying to kill me!”

Jason scoffed. “Please – you were being a little shit, you can’t tell me you didn’t deserve it.”

Tim peeked around Dick’s torso to stick his tongue out at Jason, before ducking back behind Dick as Jason finally got his foot free of the last blanket and began to approach.

Dick had a look on his face, that constipated one he made when he wanted to laugh but was still trying to take them seriously for the sake of their pride. “And how, exactly, was Jason going to kill you?” Dick tilted slightly to the side to look at Tim, exposing him to Jason’s sight.

The apples of Tim’s cheeks went pink as he scowled at them both. “Tickle me,” he mumbled.

Jason clicked his tongue, advancing on them both. “You heard the kid – he said to tickle him, let’s get to it Goldie.”

Dick broke, laughing as Tim yelped and ducked fully behind him again. He laughed even harder as Jason tried to reach around him and snatch Tim, doing nothing to help.

“You know, Jay – you’ve turned into quite the tickle monster over the past few months.”

Jason grunted, barely paying attention. “Yeah? He’s getting the full little brother experience, I remember what you were like when I was a kid.”

Dick’s eyes narrowed. Before Jason had even fully processed the change in expression, his hackles had raised. He backed out of Dick’s space quickly, eyeing him with suspicion. Tim perked up, picking up on the change in vibes. Jason was no longer the most dominant personality in the room. 

Dick’s mouth twisted into a smirk. One that Jason remembered all too well. “Maybe a little payback is in order, Little Wing. What do you think?

Jason crossed his arms, raising to his full height to try and cut a more intimidating figure. Dick’s eyes twinkled, and he could practically imagine Dick cooing at the posturing inside his own head.

“I’ve already told you both, the Pit got rid of all that.”

Dick looked him up and down. “Really? Why are you all the way over there, then?”

“Muscle memory.”

“Right, right. You know, you never have let us prove that theory of yours.”

Jason widened his stance as subtly as he could, preparing to run. “What would be the point of that?”

Dick bared his teeth, a facsimile of a friendly smile. Jason turned tail to bolt, but a body suddenly latched onto his back. Knocked off balance, Jason found himself tumbling face-first into the mountain of pillows and blankets. Seriously – why had Dick brought so many? He tossed the body off his back, hearing Tim’s laughter filled oof as he got swallowed by the plush pile as well. He barely managed to roll over in time to catch Dick’s hands as he dove towards Jason’s prone form.

“I think someone’s been lying,” Dick sing-songed, trying to twist his hands out of Jason’s grip

“I think you’re full of shit – let me up, Dick.”

Dick pulled out his most innocent expression. “But Little Wing – you’re the one holding onto me.”

“Yeah because you’re going to– be a jerk!”

Dick laughed, his own grip on Jason’s hands flexing. “Yeah? How am I gonna be a jerk?”

“I’m not falling for that.”

Dick shrugged. “Doesn’t change anything.”

Tim popped up from the bedding, hair sticking every which way from being mussed against the fabrics. “You do kinda deserve it.”

“Shut your trap, snotface.”

Tim wrinkled his nose. “Rude.”

Jason pursed his lips, running through every escape plan in his mind. He was trapped in this comfy avalanche, sinking deeper with every struggle – even if Dick wasn’t hovering overtop him, it would take him way too long to crawl his way out. The second he let go of Dick’s hands to try and get away, he was a goner – Dick knew all his worst spots, and exactly how to target them. Dick was like a shark who smelled blood, there was almost no getting out of this now.

Unless he took Dick down first.

Jason tossed Dick’s hands to the sides as hard as he could. He heard Tim yelp and collapse back into the blankets to avoid a flying limb, but he figured the kid was fine – Robins had quick reflexes. Before Dick could recover, Jason dove his own hands toward Dick’s knees and thighs, squeezing away the moment he found muscle. Dick cried out, immediately bursting into cackles. After a few seconds, he wavered and collapsed sideways into the blanket pile next to Jason.

“Fucking jerk!”

Jason grinned. “Don’t forget Dickie – I’m bigger than you now.”

Despite laughing his head off and failing to squirm away from Jason’s hands, Dick still had that devious twinkle in his eyes. He fought to speak through his laughter, “You may be bigger, but we have numbers.”

“We–?”

For the second time in as many minutes, a small body barrelled into Jason’s back. Overbalancing, Jason was forced to take one hand off of Dick and plant it into the blankets to compensate for the new weight.

“I still don’t get why you had to throw me at him like a ragdoll the first time,” Tim piped up from behind him.

Dick twisted and contorted in ways only he could and suddenly Jason found himself swallowed by the blankets and cushions once more. Tim yelped and barely scrambled off in time to avoid getting crushed.

“You threw him?” Jason asked incredulously.

Dick shrugged. “Enrichment for baby birds. They love flying.”

Tim popped back up, his hair even worse than before. “That’s fair.”

While Jason was distracted by the absolute robin’s nest on Tim’s head, Dick lunged again. They entered into a grapple, one that Jason quickly lost at the unexpected flutter of Tim’s fingers in the crook of his neck. He yelped at an embarrassing pitch as one hand darted up to snatch the offending fingers.

“You are still ticklish!” Dick crowed.

“Liar!” Tim shouted at the same time.

Dick took full advantage of the moment of distraction, grabbing onto the wrist of Jason’s raised hand with both of his and pinning it in the pile of fluff. His torso wound up draped diagonally over Jason’s chest to do it, almost knocking the wind out of him.

“Get him!”

Small, precise fingers slipped under Jason’s leather jacket, scribbling against the hoodie underneath. It was thick enough to provide protection from the hesitant touch, but Jason still couldn’t stop the instinctive flinch from fingers just existing that close to his underarms.

“Fuck you!” He yelled, struggling under Dick’s weight. He had Jason’s arm well-pinned, he had far better leverage and the angle was awkward from the shifting of the blankets. Jason reached to pry the fingers away with his free arm, but Dick’s body blocked his arm from being able to reach.

“Harder, Timmy! He’s got layers–”

“I’m not fucking Shrek–”

“Are you sure?” Tim, that little snot.

“You’re such a fucking– No!”

Two hands delivered a series of nibbling pinches up and down Jason’s exposed side and ribs, the sensation cutting through his hoodie like it was nothing. He tossed his head back with laughter, hating how bubbly it sounded. His legs lurched up, bending at the knees.

“Wow,” Tim said over his laughter. “I didn’t know you could laugh and it actually sound happy.”

Dick chuckled. “You should’ve heard him when he was younger – all shrieky and giggly. I’m glad he didn’t grow out of it.”

“I’m right here, assholes!”

Dick clicked his tongue. “That you are, Jay. Are we not paying enough attention to you? Here, I’ll help.”

“Dick, no!”

Obviously, Dick did not listen. With Jason already growing weaker from the laughter and tickling, Dick could easily keep him pinned with just one hand. With his newly freed fingers, he reached down and clawed into Jason’s stomach. Jason shrieked, his legs lurching up again as he instinctively tried to curl around the weak point and was halted by Dick being in the way.

“Wow,” Tim said. “Dick really wasn’t joking, you are freakishly ticklish.”

Jason tried to bare his teeth. With how wide his smile was, he wasn’t sure the threat came across. “Not as ticklish as you.”

Tim only smirked at him. “Well, I’m not the one pinned down, am I?”

Little shit. Jason was absolutely going to get him later. And Dick, too.

“Might as well get revenge while I can, right?” Tim continued. “What’s that thing you like to do to me? Rib counting?”

Dick laughed again, leaning his weight more heavily on Jason’s torso. He took his own tickling fingers away, using that hand to try and shove Jason’s legs down instead.

“Diabolical, Baby Bird. Count away, I’ll try to keep our little pill-bug here from messing you up.”

“Oh, that’s okay.” Tim’s voice was the epitome of innocence. “If he messes me up, it just means I have to start over again. I mean, that’s what you taught me, right, Jay?”

“I’m gonna kill you!”

Tim hummed. “Yeah, it pays to be thorough.”

Jason’s ribs were far from his most ticklish spot, but when Tim’s hands slipped underneath his hoodie, leaving him only with a threadbare t-shirt as his last layer of defense, Jason thought he was going to die. He always knew he was ticklish as all hell, but going without the feeling for so long, every sensation felt electric. He couldn’t even keep track of his own laughter, and he tried his damndest to tune out Tim’s count because he was not about to let his baby brother get the upper hand in teasing, too. 

The most infuriating part? The fact that he couldn’t stop the warm, melty feeling in his chest, hearing Tim giggle along or seeing Dick beaming down at him. He was the goddamned Red Hood. He should not be having this much fun in a one-sided tickle fight with his brothers – especially not on the losing side.

Jason’s legs jumped up again, and this time Jason put a little more control into it. He tried to ram his knees into Dick’s side – jostle him, knock him off Jason’s torso, or hell, even just annoy him. Jason didn’t care, so long as he landed a hit. Unfortunately, Dick’s free hand was still poised to ward off any attacks, shoving his legs away every time they got too close. When he finally slipped a knee past Dick’s defenses, he called out an affronted “hey” and reached out to grab the joint.

The squawking little yip that Jason let out as the joint was squeezed may have been the most embarrassing noise that he’d ever made in his life. Both Dick and Tim tumbled into laughter, pausing their attack.

“Let me go,” Jason demanded as he regained his breath. His voice didn’t quite carry the heat he had been looking for.

Dick turned to give him that creepy stare-down that made it feel like he was tearing Jason’s soul open to look inside. Satisfied with whatever he found, his mouth twisted back into his patented “tickle monster” smirk.

“I don’t think so, Little Wing. I mean, a few rounds of rib counting is hardly revenge.”

Jason started squirming and kicking, making a show out of trying to get away despite knowing he wasn’t going to get anywhere. Dick gave him a few squeezes to the kneecap for the trouble, sending Jason into mortifying titters. 

“Where’s his tickle spot?” Tim asked eagerly, raising up on his knees to scan over Jason’s torso. “That’ll show him.”

Dick pressed his lips together on a smile. Apparently, laughing at Jason was fair game, but laughing at the adorable menace that was Tim Drake was not allowed.

“Dick—“

“I think it’s cheating to tell, Timmy.” Dick cut off Jason’s protest before he could even get started. Jason nearly let out a sigh of relief, but Dick wasn’t done. “I think you’re just gonna have to keep going until you find it.”

“What—“

Tim let out an evil laugh, far more menacing than any 15 year old had the right to be — let alone one that looked so much like a wet cat.

Too quickly for Jason to take advantage of, Dick raised off his body and slid into place behind his head. Jason tried to go for Tim with his newfound reach, but Dick snatched his wrist out of the air and easily pinned it down. After a brief struggle, Jason gave up and just laid there, staring at the ceiling.

“I hate you both.”

“Sure you do, Jay.”

Tim waddled up to Jason, wading through the blankets and pillows surrounding them on his knees. He hovered over Jason for a moment, uncertainty flashing through his eyes.

Aw, hell.

“Well, Timbo? Do your worst. I know you won’t find it.”

Tim narrowed his eyes, the uncertainty vanishing as Tim was confronted with a competition.

“Oh, yeah? And what if I do?”

Jason hummed, pretending to consider. “You might earn yourself a pizza.”

Tim lit up like a Christmas tree. His hands shot out to Jason’s ribs, provoking that bubbly laughter once more.

“Well, we already know it’s not here.”

“So why are you tickling there?!”

Dick laughed at them.

Tim stuck his tongue out at him. “‘Cause it’s funny.”

But he did move his hands, crawling them up into Jason’s armpits like two devious little spiders. Jason jolted, snorts intermingling with his laughter.

“Get out!”

Tim perked up. “Did I find it?”

“Sorry, Baby Bird,” Dick said. “Not just yet.”

Tim frowned and furrowed his brow — his thinking face looked uncannily like Bruce’s — and scanned Jason’s torso. His hands flitted down to Jason’s stomach and sides, his laughter dying down the slightest bit but thankfully not at giggles quite yet. The Red Hood did not giggle.

“Dick got you here, so it’s not here.”

Jason’s legs bounced up as he instinctively tried to curl around the hands. Tim took a page out of Dick’s book, squeezing Jason’s kneecap until it jumped out of his grasp.

“Or here, but you sound ridiculous right now.”

Jason tried to growl through his laughter, but Tim wasn’t exactly wrong. Jumping between the light laughter from his stomach and the high pitched tittering from his knees, Jason was making an absolute fool of himself. His only saving grace was that Bruce wasn’t home to witness it. He’d never live that down.

Tim gave Jason a break, lifting his hands to run them through his messy hair. “Am I completely off track, is it your feet or something?”

“Not. Telling.” 

Tim glared at Jason for a moment before flicking his eyes up to Dick’s, giving him that puppy-gaze. Jason looked up too, trying to burn holes through Dick’s skull with his eyes. Dick smirked, his eyes darting down to Jason’s torso and back up to Tim’s face again. Tim got that constipated look again, his own eyes darting back down to Jason’s abdomen.

“But—?”

Then Tim made The Face. The same face he made when he’d solved a tough case that he’d been working for a while. The wide eyes, the slightly parted lips, as if he was surprised at his own success, the relaxing of his ever-scrunched-up eyebrows. A jolt of giddy panic sparked up Jason’s chest.

“You already lost,” he said quickly. “You asked Dick for help. You cheated.”

Tim met his eyes. “Well then, I guess I have nothing else to lose.”

Giving Jason no time to prepare, Tim started squeezing away at Jason’s hips. It wasn’t as bad as his memories of Bruce or Dick attacking him, but they’d had the benefit of practice. A lot of practice. As it was, it still tickled like hell. Jason’s mind went blank as he practically screamed out cackles. He tried to curl himself into a ball again, and this time, his brothers let him. Dick released his arms and Tim let his legs shoot up, and Jason curled himself into the tightest ball that he could around all the bulky muscle he had now.

That didn’t mean Tim had stopped tickling though. No, even as Jason rolled onto his side in a feeble defense, Tim just targeted both hands on the hip that was still accessible.

“Aw, little pill-bug Jay is alive and well,” Dick cooed.

I’ll kill you here and now, Jason wanted to say. Unfortunately, all his breath was currently being directed to support his laughter. Thankfully, Dick only let Tim go on for a couple more minutes before pulling him back, leaving Jason to heave in breaths as he recovered.

“Next time,” Dick stage-whispered. “I’ll show you how ticklish his back is.”

“Next time,” Jason grumbled. “I’ll cut off your damn hands.”

Tim snorted. Dick patted him on the back. 

“Sure you will, buddy.”

“So,” Tim said, drawing out the word, “since you’re so tired from that and all – maybe you wanna get pizza instead of cooking?”

Jason took a deep breath before heaving himself up to a sitting position, letting out an exaggerated groan. “Nope.”

Tim groaned as well, flopping back into the mess they made of Dick’s pile of bedding.

Shaking off the last of the ghost tickles, Jason gave Dick a heated glare as he pushed himself to his feet. Dick blinked back innocently. His brothers were such goddamned liars.

“I already bought the ingredients,” Jason said. “I’m cooking and you’re going to like it.”

Tim levelled him with a challenging look. “And what if I don’t.”

“Then you’ll suck it up and eat it anyway.”

Jason tromped out of the room, heading back toward the kitchen. Dick and Tim could handle the den setup without him – they were much pickier about blanket nests than he was. Where Jason would just slap together a blanket fort with some kitchen chairs and sheets, Tim preferred to engineer a structurally sound blanket castle when he had the chance. Leaving Tim with free reign of the den furniture and half the Manor’s worth of bedding to accomplish this task gave Jason more than enough time to finish up dinner with the prep he’d done earlier that day.

Seeing Tim’s face light up as Jason personally delivered his monstrosity of a pizza order, made from scratch, almost made the whole meaningless argument that led to his torture worth it. 

Almost.

Dick and Tim weren’t going to escape from his revenge that easily.

[saytrrose]

Question about the infection au:

Where the ancients at in all this? Methinks DC would be the best off in this considering he's already got a giant fuck off wall and all that, and PV's kingdom is on that floating island thing,so he's at least got that level of protection, but idk about the other two

HI HI YES I LOVE QUESTIONS ABOUT IT PLEASE ASK ME QUESTIONS AND ILL PRODUCE MORE ART FOR IT ahem

During this infection, because it becomes so widespread and out of control, the kingdoms actually merge into one base, that is the most secure and practically impossible to even touch sanctuary haven for cookies! A huge powerhouse, if you will.

This post will be sort of long, as the infirmary has a lot of detail and lore to it and I find it very important to explain with Vanilla and how they are coping with the infection, mycosis. Others are brief unless you want something specific touched on!

Heads up before you read more, this is infact a VERY dark au, it is going to obvious have themes of death, lots of trauma for the characters.

Luckily, all the Ancients are in one piece. The beasts however… one of them is not.

Because of the conjoined kingdom as one now, the multiple rulers talk because all final decisions are made, however they do play their own seperate roles.

Pure Vanilla runs the Infirmary. There are very few healer cookies, and due to the infection, the sanctuary needs all of them assigned to the medbay infirmary. If you remember from the stage run downs, only cookies above an epic rarity are able to attempt reversion spells and what is horrible about this is that means only Pure Vanilla cookie can do this.

Vanilla wants to have compassion and care in this time, but it’s hard for him to do so. He’s much more quiet and exhausted, if he didn’t eat much before he certainly doesn’t in this au. He’s stressed and frail and it’s because he is trying to teach the other healers and see if they CAN learn reversion spells with time.

There’s only 10 available healer cookies in the sanctuary. (That is ALL of them besides Mystic Flour!) It it saddening, because for those who have healer capabilities it no longer matters or is of importance if they want to garden, if they want to sing, to open a bar, whatever because they cannot manage that right now. They must become the sanctuary’s doctors which are short staffed and in dire need almost always.

Epic cookies learn amputation surgeries. It’s important to do, as the virus is not airborne or infected through bites but infact simple mold to dough contact, which is why they cover up all of their skin in clothing or bulkier attire/armor. Simple exposure, touch will immediately infect a cookie and becasue it’s so easy to contract when you’re not covered, kids wander out to be rebellious, and these infected sprint at you, desperate to lunge at you- cookies will be infected. Stage one is the only reversible stage so if a cookie is infected and doesn’t reach a infirmary within 24 hours and Stage two arrives, and they are stuck with amputating your arm or leg if you want to even survive.

Upon needing to watch and tend to all infected cookies, and the amputation surgeries and recovery- if a cookie is infected not on a limb or advances past stage two they unfortunately are going to succumb to it. They try to make the cookies last moments aware as best they can, letting family and friends visit and talk but that’s the most they can do. They will usually.. put down, by injection, cookies right before it completely spreads to their whole body- before they lose themselves to stage there and cannot control their body functions any longer.

It’s horrible because our beloved healers are not cut out for this. This isn’t a passion of there’s, and you could see rockstar crying in the break room but wiping their face if you walk in to pretend everything is fine. You can imagine Herb, squeamish with blood trying to assist a surgery and having to leave the room crying and throwing up in a trash can, Sparkling following shortly after to rub his back and hug him. You get the idea.

Cream Unicorn sort of does the best in this situation. They become the head nurse almost, on their own. Vanilla tends to come in to do the lethal injections himself, he does not want to force anyone else to do it but sometimes, rarely another cookie needs to step up and no one wants to do it so Unicorn does.

Unicorn is the most calm under it, they are the best with kids, and you can imagine a very sad and dystopian scene where there is a stage three child, unfortunately strapped down to their table because their body is twitching and trying to occasionally fight the restraints, but their mind is still intact in this scenario. A cookie in stage 3 is still aware, in their mind but not their body but most will consider them gone in this stage and avoid them at all cost. It’s sad, to the victim because in their head they are screaming no, it’s still me! I am still here! Please help me..

Unicorn know that. Unicorn handles it the best, singing soft lullabies to patients to soothe them, petting their hair but in a full suit, face shield and all. They can still see the emotion in the poor cookies eyes, shaking and welling with tears and they jsut want someone to be there in their final moments because Unicorn knows everyone else is too scared, but the victim is so lonely in this stage.

I love ranting SO MUCH I AM OFF TOPIC AHHHH

Custard and Angel are Rare and Common healers, they are also children and do not learn or be subjected to such intense themes. They are still in schooling for more advanced spells and medical care, and more so just help with minor tasks about.

Vanilla often carries Yeti around. Yeti is a baby, but the only one able to help him. Vanilla feels so much guilt, feels horrible that he needs to rely on Yeti cookie even a little bit for these reversion spells because they take a lot out of the caster. He tries to cover it all himself if he can, but occasionally he will need Yetis help.

Yeti is literally, a toddler but yetis power is so strong and important and out of this world during this time, par with Vanilla for this task. Vanilla is practically killing himself with not even properly taking care of himself during this either so it’s definitely quite the nightmare.

Anyway, there’s an infirmary rundown.

Cheese and Hollyberry runs the defense line. They have archers and defense cookies surrounding the kingdom walls constantly.

Dark Cacao monitors the expedition teams. He has charge and ambush cookies stationed in rotating groups to send out past the borders to revisit the other abandoned kingdoms and supplies outposts to bring resources back to the kingdom almost daily.

Lily is in charge the research team. She has a lot of other bomber cookies with her, though not all are mandatory. (healer cookies are screwed, they are sort of forced into a place while other classes are a tiny more flexible with stations) Lily is very adamant about discovering a cure or alternative methods to keeping the infection at bay, or stabilizing it. She has cookies who are handing samples of the molds and studying them. Usually infected are… killed, but Wizard Cookie is around. Wizard is contained, as patient #0 after all, and the original gang is allowed to visit if they want to see him.

Gingerbrave is the only one that does so, and regularly.

[genevievefangirl]

How to AO3 - A Tagging Guide Masterpost

Maybe it is the autism, but I've always found AO3's tagging system to be extremely fascinating and fun. However, I know that many people do not share my love and find it frustrating and difficult.

Now after over a decade of reading fics on there I can say that I have *opinions* on how works should be tagged. I have seen many people lament over not knowing how to tag, and if that's you, here's a guide!

Blanket Disclaimer – Tagging is inherently subjective.  There are very few cases where a fic is truly tagged ‘incorrectly’ since an argument can be made for or against the inclusion of most tags.  Besides the 4 major warnings (and selecting a fandom & language), everything else is optional (and you can even not do those 4 if you choose “Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings”).  So take a breath and relax, you will be fine.

Additionally, since tagging is subjective, this advice is how I think works should be tagged.  You are free to disagree, but these are the guidelines I use and the interpretation that I think makes the most sense.

Alright with that out of the way... here we go!

1. What are tags even for anyway?

Tags are advertisements for your work. Each tag should be considered with care, don’t just throw on a tag for no reason.

There is one main question I want you to take away from this entire post. If you remember nothing else, remember this. When considering to add a tag, ask yourself:

Would a reader looking for this specific tag be happy with this story?

The answer to that for every tag on your work should be an enthusiastic YES. If the answer is no, cut the tag (with a few exceptions – mostly kink/warning related)

2. Ratings

The lines between some of the ratings can get fuzzy, but I generally think about them like I would think about movie ratings.

Not Rated This is the one to use if you either don’t want to rate your fic or are unsure.  When people search, this will be treated like M and E fics (meaning a warning will be shown about possible adult content when people click on it). G - General Audiences Suitable for everyone. You could show this to someone under 13 and it would be totally fine. T - Teen Think PG-13 or the equivalent rating in your country. I would categorize total fade to black sex scenes in here and violence on the level of the original Hunger Games books. M - Mature Adult themes such as sex, violence, etc, but not exceedingly graphic. This is where partial fade to black sex scenes go as well as scenes in which the sex is described but not in detail. For violence, I would put anything in here that doesn't spend a ton of time describing the gore. E - Explicit Porn and graphic violence. This is where smut goes. I do also think that when AO3 readers see an E rating they expect sex so if you are rating something E for violence and there is no sex present, you might want to put that in an additional tag so as not to confuse people.

For ratings - use your judgement. Some topics are inherently dark (suicide, non-con (even off screen), death, etc). It is up to you to pick what you think that appropriate rating is for your story based on what you think.

3. Archive Warnings

When you get to this section you will be confronted with 6 checkboxes: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, and Underage Sex.

The last 4 of those (Graphic Depictions of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, and Underage Sex) I will now call the 4 Major Archive Warnings for the rest of this post.

Now let's walk through each of the 6:

Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings - You pick this one if you do not want to select any of the others. If any of the 4 Major Archive Warnings exist in your story and you don't want to tag them, then you MUST select this option to be in compliance with AO3 Terms of Service.

No Archive Warnings Apply - You select this if none of the 4 Major Archive Warnings exist in your fic.

Graphic Depictions of Violence - Often people get tripped up with what counts as 'graphic' for this warning. I usually think about this one in relation to the source material the fic is from. For example, what might qualify as 'graphic' in one fandom might differ from another. But I tend to use the movie rating scale again (anything that would be too much for PG-13 gets the warning), but again it is up to your judgement.

Rape/Non-Con - Pretty self-explanatory. If your fic has this at all, you should tag it. When I see this tagged the implication to me is that the assault occurs on-screen. However, if you want to tag if for off-screen non-con no one will stop you.

Underage Sex - Again, self-explanatory. If your characters are underage and have sex, tag it. Technically, for AO3, underage is considered under 18 no matter where the fic takes place or where you are writing it, so take that under consideration. (This tag can get complicated with immortal beings, aliens, ghosts, or other supernatural elements, just use your best judgement).

Major Character Death - I have the most to say about this one because I find it the most confusing of the 4. I will attempt to not go on a rant here about how I really dislike this one (but man do I hate it). Here are some questions I often see about this warning and how I would answer them: 1. So... who counts as a major character? AO3's official answer to this is to use your judgement. Which isn't super helpful. I think the warning should apply to major characters in your fic not the source material. For example, if your fic's main character is Leon and Arthur dies at some point, but he wasn't a focus of your fic, then I don't think MCD should be tagged. (This might be my most controversial tagging opinion) 2. How do I determine who the main characters are in my fic? Here is my approach - if your story has main ship X with characters A and B driving most of the plot and character C is also there, but is not the main focus of the story, then killing C does not count as Major Character Death. However, if the story is about a trio of characters A, B, and C and A and B also happen to also be in a relationship, then killing C would be Major Character Death. In the end it is up to your discretion as the author, but I would think about how much the character contributes to make a determination. 3. What about temporary death? Do I have to tag MCD for that? I don't think so. The Temporary Death tag exists for a reason and that should be sufficient. 4. Okay so I don't think the character I killed is a major character, but some people might disagree and I don't want people to be mad that I didn't tag MCD. What should I do? Tag Character Death and leave it at that. In my opinion, that is sufficient warning that someone might die. 5. What if the characters are already dead at the start? Like they are ghosts or something? If your characters are essentially immortal creatures whose natural state is dead then I don't think you need to tag MCD. The spirit of the MCD tag is that a character is going away. If the characters are dead but still around then I don't think that is MCD.

Yeah I have a lot of MCD opinions... but moving on!

3. Categories

These are for the type of romantic relationship is in the fic.

Gen - No romantic or sexual relationships, or relationships are not the main focus of the work. F/F - Female to Female F/M - Female to Male M/M - Male to Male Multi - more than one kind of relationship or relationship with multiple partners (so both Poly relationships and fics with multiple relationships as the focus go here). Other - Relationships not covered by the other categories.

4. Fandom

This one is usually easy. You just tag the fandom for the fic you are writing for. Done! But there is an instance where this can get confusing...

When do you tag multiple fandoms? You tag multiple fandoms when you are using elements from another fandom in a CROSSOVER instance! Do NOT tag it if it is used in an AU instance! The difference is subtle, but for example, I am writing my Dead Boy Detectives Hunger Games AU, but since I am NOT crossing over with Hunger Games characters and am only using the Hunger Games setting, I do NOT tag Hunger Games.  However, if my fic were to use characters from Hunger Games (like if Katniss showed up for a chat), then I would tag it. This is important because: 1. Some people filter out crossovers and you don't want your fic to be considered a crossover when you are just using it as an AU. 2. Tagging other fandoms where you really aren't using the characters floods the other fandom tag with works that aren't really related to that fandom and that isn't a nice thing to do.

5. Relationship Tags

/ vs & - they mean two different things! The / is for romantic relationships. The & is for platonic relationships. There are times when tagging both is acceptable. For example, if your fic is ambiguous about if two characters are together then you can tag both. Also, if the 2 characters haven’t gotten together yet, but they will at some nebulous point in the future beyond the end of the fic, I think it is fine to tag the / tag since it is pre-slash, but that depends on personal preference.

Poly Ships - “But what if I have a poly ship?  Do I tag the poly ship and all the sides of the triangle (or square, or pentagon, you get it)?” It depends on personal preference, but here is how I would do it- Remember , the key for adding any tag is “Would a reader looking for this specific tag be happy with this story?” So, for example, if you are writing a poly fic with characters X/Y/Z and X/Y have scenes together alone and Z/X have scenes alone, then you tag the poly ship and those sides of the triangle. But say Y/Z don’t have much development outside the poly ship, then you don’t tag them. Poly ships can make your relationship tags quite long, but it is better to cover your bases adequately. This way, if people don’t want the poly ship, they can filter that tag out, but if people don’t mind, they will still be able to find your fic while searching for the non-poly tag.

Side Ships - “X couple are the main focus of my fic, but Y couple is there too, should I tag both?” It depends on a couple of factors. If someone clicked on your story just for the secondary Y ship, would they be satisfied? Is there enough content to justify it being a Y ship story or are they just there to support the main X ship? - If they are just in the background and mentioned but get zero onscreen development or scenes DO NOT tag it in the Relationships section! - If they get screen time and development, then DO tag them in the Relationships section. If Y ship does not get enough development to be tagged in the Relationship section, you can tag them in the Additional Tags section. This allows you to highlight couple Y's presence in the fic without clogging up their relationship tag.

6. Characters

Now you might think that if a character is in a relationship tag, then they should be automatically assumed to be in the fic. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. Perhaps a fic includes allusions to X being with Y, but Y isn’t actually present. In that case, only X should be in the Character tags.

On the flip side, if both members of the relationship tag are present in the fic, always tag characters in the Character section too! If someone is just filtering on X and doesn’t put anything into the Relationships section, then they will not find your fic if you don’t tag them individually!

How many characters should I tag? Do I tag everyone? In shorter one shots, you can probably get away with tagging all the characters even if they only have a small role. But in long fics, choices must be made. Tag everyone that you feel gets adequate attention and contributes significantly to the plot. Again, would a reader looking for this specific character be happy with this story?

7. Kinks

I’m not gonna get into the specifics of this because I don't really want to and it isn't my area of expertise, but you know what these are 😂

If you are writing smut, then you should tag the tropes you are using so people can properly filter on what they want and don't want to see.

8. Warnings (outside the Major 4)

There are a lot of warnings you can tag for outside of the Major 4. Here is a list of some of the common ones I have seen:

Suicide

Self-Harm

Incest

Manipulation

Alcoholism

PTSD

Minor Character Death

Gun Violence

Non-consensual touching

Body Horror

Dub-Con

Torture

Psychological Horror

Abuse (Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, Animal Abuse)

Homophobic Language

Grief/Mourning

That is in no way intended to be a comprehensive list, but you get the idea. If there is something in your fic that you feel might upset someone, consider tagging it.

9. Time/Universe

Tell people when/where your story takes place!

Alternate Universe - in which something is changed from the canon universe. I usually sort them into 2 major subcategories: 1. Canon Divergence - The fic changes an aspect from canon, but still is in the same general universe. 2. Other AUs - These fics go wild! It can be anything from the classic Coffee Shop AU to an AU based on another fandom property (Harry Potter AUs, Hunger Games AUs, etc) Get creative with your AU tags! If the tag for your specific AU doesn't exist, make it yourself! Also, you can tag multiple AUs for one story if they all apply (such as tagging both Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse and Alternate Universe - The Last of Us Setting)

Canon Universe - The fic takes place in the fandom universe with no changes. There are also subcategories here! 1. Pre-Canon - takes place before the timeline of the source material. 2. Post-Canon - takes place after the timeline of the source material. 3. Canon Compliant - takes place during the timeline of the source material and doesn't change that timeline (think missing scenes)

Almost every fic should have either an AU tag or one of the canon tags!

10. Gender Swap/Trans Characters

Remember that tags are advertisements! If you are writing about trans characters or gender swapped characters, people want to find that! Let them know and tag it!

11. Genre/Big Tropes

These are the big ones. Every fic you post should have at least one of these tags:

Angst

Hurt/Comfort

Fluff

Smut

Romance

Humor

Crack

Every fic has a feeling you want to evoke or emotion you want to convey and that is what these tags are for. Let the reader know what they are in for!

12. More Specific Tags

This is for everything else. This is where you can have a lot of fun. If there is something in your story you want to highlight, put it in the tags! Here are some examples!

Amnesia

Friends to Lovers

Enemies to Lovers

Slow Burn

Mutual Pining

Fake Dating

Miscommunication

Pregnancy

Mpreg

Jealousy

Abandonment Issues

Codependency

Cuddling

Fake/Pretend Relationship

First Kiss

Love Confessions

Hurt (insert character here)

Protective (insert character here)

Time Travel

Apocalypse

Established Relationship

Or literally anything else your mind can think of! The possibilities are ENDLESS!!!

13. Joke Tags

AO3 is not tumblr, so do not treat the tags like you do on there. The goal of the tags is for readers to find your fic if they want to read it and filter it out if they don’t, so don’t take up a ton of space with joke tags.

However, some joke tags can be fun, and I don’t mind seeing some of them, but keep it limited to a couple at most. They are most useful to clarify something about a tag you used. For example, I tagged “Slow Burn” but right after that tag I put “but also they literally share a bed all the time so… take that as you will”. It is a joke, but it also provides useful information to the reader.

14. How many tags is too many?

AO3 limits you to 75 tags, but you should probably never be approaching that number. I’d say ask yourself that main question (“Would a reader looking for this specific tag be happy with this story?”) for each one of the tags. That should help you narrow it down to the main ones your story represents.

A reasonable goal is that your tag list and summary should just about fit onto a phone screen so a reader can see all of it at once.

I have about 30 tags (including everything) on my current long fic with over 90k words; you don’t need a million tags.

AND THAT'S A WRAP!

My God this too me way too long to make, but I hope this is helpful! Now go tag like an expert!

[hana-bobo-finch]

BUG FABLES HEADCANONS AAAAAAAAA🦅🦅🦅💥💥💥 (a LOT of Team Mothiva because if it wasn’t so painfully obvious by now I think they are very awesome)

• Leif’s always been rather inexpressive, but especially so after the whole. Dying thing. His shell was essentially frozen (so to speak) in place, so expressions are hard now if not downright painful to make

• Kabbu looks so incredibly goofy underneath his helmet. It was a common practice in the North to wear armor and such to make yourself look more Intimidating™️

• ascends from the clouds with the headcanon I can never and will never shut up about zzasp…….is trans. cue the round of applause. cue the screaming fans. People are marveling. People in the stands are pissing and shitting and passing out they’re cheering so hard. Because they know. They know that I’m right and—look alright I talk about this SO often but it’s the perfect storm of a headcanon. character I like? Character I like who is my favorite species of bug? character has the physical characteristics of a woman despite being referred to as a man? tailor made for a transmasc wasp lover

• Mothiva has been in many controversies. Zasp and his 70 alternative mothiva stan accounts on the termanet were always there to back her up

• Speaking of those two’s relationship: Zasp is the definition of “I can fix her” except he actually probably could fix her if he just was a bit more assertive with her. there’s a kind moth in there somewhere. deep down. very deep down.

• Elizant I wasn’t as perfect as everyone remembers!! She wasn’t BAD by any means but she’s definitely looked at with rose tinted glasses. She had no malicious intent but she would be rather careless with her search for the everlasting sapling (oh someone died when looking for it? that’s too bad. anyway)

• Leif was wayyy more weak after waking up in snakemouth than he’d let on. His body was pretty atrophied after being trapped in a web for so long and it took him a long time to regain his strength, even with his magic

• Zasp is either the worst singer imaginable or the best. There will never be an in between. I like both ideas, either he’s outperforming mothiva at her own shows or making a fool of himself

• a lot of our phrases carry over to bugnish that, to them, don’t really make logical sense. “like moths to a flame” “why would we run into a flame kabbu” “I. I actually don’t know, I heard someone say it one time. I don’t actually know what it means”

• Vi is SUCH a bad influence on Tod don’t let her around him. Leif tries to limit their direct interactions because how dare you promote violence to The Child.

• Even with Leif’s attempts to be a good influence, Tod is still absolutely determined to become an explorer and has taken up the not so great habit of throwing his toy ball at people as his own little weapon

• Tod also DESPERATELY wants his own beemerang. ADBP. whatever. He calls it a beemerang. Hawk promised he’d get one for him when he was older and more able to handle one, but who knows if that’s true or not?

• Leif’s family (more specifically grandpa) are aware that Leif isn’t telling the full story but they just go along with it to not cause trouble. Like yeah there’s no way in hell you’re my brother but whatever man go ahead you’re a part of the family now I won’t ask questions

• And even if they did ask questions he would NOT answer because that is a one way ticket to getting quarantined for the rest of his life. At least he thinks that’s what happens. Treatments for cordyceps have been developed while he was in snakemouth, but he doesn’t know that and just assumes the fate is the same as when he was young (aka being shunned from the rest of society forever and ever)

• Zasp was from the north near the deadlands, but escaped to the wasp kingdom pretty early on for a better life. Turns out the wasp kingdom was just as bad, he can’t catch a break

• Queen Vanessa II was not at all respected before the whole wasp king debacle. It was the opposite case of Elizant II, instead of being more aggressive than the previous queen she was much more of a pacifist, which didn’t sit well with the people considering they were in the midst of a ton of wars that she was doing a terrible job at fixing. “Our queen your people are killing the other wasps, you need to do something, this is a full on genocide” “idk what to to do, I told them to stop but they didn’t listen :( “

• Many queens of different species share the same hives. How they decided on the official queen of the greater kingdom? Confidential information, but rumors have gone around saying it was via a game of rock paper scissors. There are also rumors that all of the queens are all secretly dating each other so who knows what’s true and what’s not

• speakin of gay queens. Elizant II is, alas, a lesbian. I say alas because it’s sorta her job as Queen to get knocked up and keep the population going so she doesn’t have much choice in the matter. Not all bad though because she gets to have a Secret Love Affair with Zaryant. The sole reason I have this headcanon is that a few weeks ago I snapped awake with the thought “they might be gay-ants” in my head and if I did not plan a plot around that immediately I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep

• domestic silk moths are rare to the point of near extinction. Turns out that being a species reliant on and bred by the giants to the point of losing all survival instincts isn’t great when the giants disappear. Most of them died out even after the day of awakening due to that lingering lack of survival skills, but a few managed to survive with great difficulty

• Mothiva is one of the few domestic silk moths left, something which sounds depressing (and is) but she’s awfully good at spinning it into something enthralling. Oooh look at me look I’m one of the last of my kind, I’m a limited edition moth, come and get me while I’m still here teehee

• ^ SHE IS SERIOUSLY SO MESSED UP BECAUSE OF IT THOUGH. Since most bugs lost their flight after the day of awakening it no longer really matters that her kind can’t fly, but Oh Boy does centuries of domestication do something to you. She had a lot of trouble walking at first, and even once she managed to get that down it hurt like hell. How does she manage to twirl around on stage? with great difficulty. she would greatly benefit from Any sort of mobility aid but “nooo i can’t be seen as weak nooooo” (MOTHIVA STOOOOP PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF)

• that is also a point of contention when it comes to her and Zasp’s relationship. You’re one of the only ones of your kind left and you’re just gonna run off with some random wasp? Unsurprisingly the public is Extremely parasocial when it comes to her, especially her relationships. and Zasp is just a neat little bundle of everything that the media thinks she should Not Be Dating. You’re dating your bodyguard? Who’s not even your own species? Who’s a wasp of all things? A dangerous creature with a dagger attached to his ass that can stab you at any moment? You sure about that?

• speaking of giving bugs chronic pain! Leif is Constantly in pain because fungi are weak against ice and. well. he is a fungus with ice powers so that goes about as well as one could expect. It does more than just make him in pain all the time but I won’t go into it all here because that is what my evil ao3 account is for

• Muse was a singer alongside being an explorer. Not pop idol singer like Mothiva, just doin it for fun. Although many of her songs became incredibly bleak after the whole. husband killed by spider thing.

• to his absolute horror, Leif is somewhat reminded of himself and Muse in Zasp and Mothiva. Awkward dude infatuated with a feisty moth who kicks things? been there done that. Not that he would ever admit to thinking that because he…maybe doesn’t hate, but certainly does not like Mothiva and is always praying for their breakup (not gonna happen Leif I’m sorry 😞)

• Vi’s repressed Fr*nch accent occasionally slips out. She is mocked relentlessly by Leif every time it happens

• Kina’s adopted. She is the only one unaware of this. I have no reason for this headcanon other than that I like the thought of her being like “ugh I can’t believe my bro took in some stray from the street 😒😒😒😒” girl you Are the stray from the street

that’s all I can remember off the top of my head but there are probably many more i am sooo normal about the bugs

NOPE NOPE NOPE I JUST REMEMBERED ONE MORE. there haven’t been many instances of bees doing the fabled Bee Ball (swarming an intruder and baking them alive) because they aren’t the specific species who do it, but wasp children are often told horror stories of the Bee Ball. it’s colloquially known as Bee Fever because of the whole baking alive thing and has become a bit of a folktale. Most wasps/hornets know they aren’t at much of a risk but many have nightmares of being the victim of a Bee Ball

[creatingblackcharacters]

Hi, I’m writing a fantasy story with a Black lead and I wanted some advice. A lot of what I’ve been reading about writing Black characters has obviously been informed by real world history, but with this being set in a world with a completely different history, I would be interested in if you could point me towards further reading on handling that gap. The real world history will affect my audience’s view of the story, so I don’t just want to ignore it, but I don’t want to make my story’s history similar to reality, even if erasing the gap might make handling things easier. I don’t know how much sense this makes, but any perspective you could offer or anything you could point me towards with regards to Black characters in fantasy would be appreciated!

And for a less vague question, do you have any advice with naming characters? My initial plan with all the characters is to make up names for them rather than using real names, especially since real names are attached to real cultures and the cultures in my story don’t have specific real world analogues, but I’d love to hear other perspectives!

I’m planning to get sensitivity readers once my story is further along in the ‘being a real story’ process, but I did want some input from other people while it’s still in the stage of figuring out characters and worldbuilding and everything, as it’s easiest to make fundamental changes now if there’s something I should be considering. I hope your day’s going well and thank you for everything you’re doing with this blog!

It sounds like you already have your answers, fr 😅 like if you know that real world awareness is gonna affect how the audience perceives your Black characters, then write with that awareness. Maybe I'm not understanding your question, but... Like there's no getting around it lol just write. It doesn't have to be one to one with real world history, for said real world social dynamics to still apply outside of it (it's actually what I'm starting to realize was not quite understood in my poll series). Can you elaborate on your question?

Also, I don't have any advice on naming Black characters in fantasy that I wouldn't have for any other group. Obviously avoid stuff that sounds point blank like real world slurs, but... They're names. You're the inventor of this universe. Tolkien studied other languages and the rules of said languages before investing his own; I'm not sure you're trying to go THAT far but.... You can just come up with names and words and give them meanings!

[atamascolily]

I decided to make a new post rather than derail the conversation on this excellent reblog chain about dramatic irony with niche fandom analysis, but one thing I think a lot about is why SHAFT titled the Rebellion sequel movie "Walpurgis no Kaiten" in the first place. They could have called it something generic like "Rising" or "Revolution," but instead they specifically emphasized they were bringing back the big bad, and they didn't have to do that. They could have made an ambiguous trailer that didn't touch on any of that and surprised us all in theaters, but they wanted us specifically to know that Walpurgisnacht was going to be there when they released the freaking title. And yeah, that was to drum up hype and it worked, and it was a great marketing move for that reason alone, but I don't think they would have done it if it also didn't work on a story level.

The same is true for the duplicate Homura reveal in the first key visual. They really didn't have to give us that, but they did. They deliberately showed us the two of them side by side because they wanted us to know and wonder why. And from that moment on, every time we see Homura, we ask, "Is this the real one or the duplicate?" because we know to ask, and we've been doing this for years before the movie's even been released. Hitchcock would be so proud!

The big plot twist of Walpurgis no Kaiten ISN'T that Walpurgisnacht is back or that there are two Homuras--two bombshells that you'd think could fill a movie in and of themselves-- because they already shouted it to the world. Walpurgis no Kaiten is going to be how and why these circumstances came about and how these two seemingly disparate facts are related, and for maximum suspense, the audience needs to know ahead of time that they're coming. This is not to say there won't be other surprises along the way, but the great thing about dramatic irony is that the story is still suspenseful and exciting precisely because you know what's coming, and it makes the movie effectively "spoiler proof" in this respect.

I would also add that dramatic irony is especially effective in tragedies, such as Oedipus Rex or Hamlet, where we know from the beginning that the main character is heading for a fall. Heck, Romeo and Juliet even opens with a prologue telling us it's all going to end in tears! This combined with the question "is it possible to overcome fate or is everything inevitable?" which is at the core of Homura's conflict with Walpurgisnacht, suggests that Walpurgis no Kaiten is going to lean very hard into the tragic elements. This doesn't necessarily mean a tragic ending--"hope" is also a key theme of the franchise--but Homura will probably have to hit rock bottom first as everything she's worked so hard to build crumbles around her.

For better or worse, Madoka Magica as a franchise is so notorious for plot twists that I think it's fitting that the creators have embraced dramatic irony for this sequel. The original anime had a lot of misleading marketing that it was going to be a conventional magical girl anime, only to pull the rug away, first subtly with framing and foreshadowing, and then dramatically by the end of the third episode. Rebellion starts in media res, forcing the audience to figure out what is going on alongside Homura before blindsiding them at the end. So how can you possibly top that in a follow-up?

Instead of trying to hide or disguise what they're doing with Walpurgis no Kaiten, the answer seems to be "tell the audience what's happening in advance and let them writhe in suspense". It's such a power move and I love it.

[remingtan-wins]

If you ask me what my favorite part about the magnus archives is I would say it’s the characterization. Not a single character is one dimensional. Martin, the lighthearted almost comedic relief character, the guy who had a crush on his boss and brought the guy tea like every day was the most pragmatic character in the end. He escaped prentiss and prepared for her attack, outsmarted Peter Lucas, got HIMSELF out of the lonely, and he always, without fail, knew the harsh reality of every situation. Jonathan sims aka the archivist is shown to be a grumpy, gloomy, and all around skeptical person, but his actions don’t reflect that. He desperately digs for answers, refuses to ask himself questions before running into dangerous situations, and he’s such a hopeless romantic. The man with every fact or hard truth in the book likes to imagine he might be good.

It’s the same in the magnus protocol

Alice is funny and carefree, she jokes and talks without thinking, she likes to tell people they are doomed, likes to joke about the bleakness of life, but it’s so obvious she believes in something brighter. Or she at least believes in loving the people around you to the point where at her lowest she manages to pick herself up by the boot straps and LEARN. Her friends are dead or gone and all she can think about is finding out how to fix it, forward motion. Celia is complex specifically in her feelings. She doesn’t seem to regret throwing Sam to the wolves necessarily, but she’s scared for him, guilty. Her guilt eats her alive even if she would have done the same thing again, for her baby, for her life. Gwen is interesting because through every single one of her arrogant, snobby, “I’m better than you”s, she never ever believes it. She might think she’s better, might reach for power, claw her way to the top, but does she ever actually think she’s better? Would she ever have the confidence in herself to ask for help, she is stuck in a limbo state where she wants to be separate from everyone but can’t help but to seek their company, even when it’s clear she isn’t even welcome.

Thank you for coming to my ted talk, none of this makes any sense, I’m gonna fall asleep now.

[karrashifts]

ANSWERING YOUR SHIFTING QUESTIONS *ೃ༄

i was gonna make these talking videos but i apparently dont feel comfortable enough yet and also am scared of irls finding me so ur getting it as a tumblr post :( these are scattered through and are questions regarding both my dr but also shifting in general! enjoy!!!

・❥・ Can you share details about the 30 day mind reprogramming you did?

yes of course! for those of you who don't know, my first ever intentional shift to a reality i really wanted to go to happened during a 30 day mind reprogram sorta?? i don't know if i can really call it a mind reprogram, it was more of a "restarting ur shifting journey".

i got the inspiration for it from a discord server in which every channel was dedicated to a day 1-30. every day you'd enter a channel and do the tasks within the channel. i ended up leaving the server because i felt it was rather tailored to mcu drs but i made my own little plan inspired by it.

i took a planner and wrote down tasks for everyday for 30 days. it wasn't just tasks such as "meditate" or "try to shift" etc. it was a mapped out plan for my shifting journey including tasks such as "write a letter to your dr self" "educate yourself on this shifting related topic". it kept me insanely motivated and connected me to my dr!

you can always map out your journey like this yourself with tasks you wanna do but if you're interested in my specific plan, i can always make a discord server similar to the one i was inspired by and help/guide you within the server! :) lmk

・❥・ If you don't script a faceclaim will you just look like yourself?

there are infinite realities with infinite possibilities and that includes your looks! i can't specifically tell you what will happen if you don't script anything but it usually aligns with your intentions or beliefs. if you do wanna script precautions and aren't quite set on looking like you do here, here are appearance things i script or how my appearance changed in drs:

- you dont need a faceclaim to shift or change ur appearance in a dr. you could always twist singular features or aspects about your appearance in your script. you don't like your green eyes? script you have brown ones etc.

- the thing i do, is i will pick a faceclaim but look more like a "mix" of the two of us. i know this can seem kinda scary or uncanny idk but features i like about her stay and features i like about myself stay. especially in drs in which i am significantly older than here, this has helped me visualize a lot because i have very teenagy features and seeing myself as a middle aged adult was kinda hard.

- beauty standards arent the same across all realities and you can use that for your advantage. things i am truly insecure about here, i often script to be THE aspired beauty standard in my dr and this has made me more confident here aswell.

in my personal case, whenever i don't script my appearance i end up looking like here, except for some features because my body or looks adjust to my surroundings. example for this is the fact i am way skinnier in my star wars dr due to intense training or my skin is better in my fame dr due to a personalized expensive skincare routine.

・❥・Do you have trouble differentiating between actors in your fame dr and characters they might play in other drs?

it depends on the actor and their roles. a lot of my star wars co stars are just so immensely different from the characters they play that it is hard to see them alike and it feels like they only share a face. additionally i struggle with memories from my dr and often can't carry personal feelings across realities so i sort of forget i know them in a different form aswell.

i do sometimes struggle with grudges and i'll hold them across realities which can be kind of confusing and unfair for the other person but i think i am getting better at ignoring those. i think at the end of the day i don't see differenciating them as a necessity and look at them more as eachothers variants like portrayed in the mcu.

・❥・DR RELATED: How did you and your S/O meet and get together?

this question was targeted at my fame dr so if youre new my s/o is gong yoo and im a hollywood actress in my 30s!

i love this question sm stop anyways so. i didn't really script a "get together" story but i did script the circumstance under which we met. i wrote an action movie about the multiverse here and scripted it into my dr. for lore reasons the movie's cast was split into half south korean actors and half hollywood provided actors. ofc we both got casted and our characters were usually on screen together.

i didn't really meet him on set though but in a language course. the movie was supposed to be appealing to both sides of media so depending on context or scene it was filmed in korean or english. all cast members had to be somewhat stable and confident in both languages and the directors thought, the most productive way to make us learn, would be to have us all take classes together and teach eachother.

i can't say that it was love at first sight HELP. because our characters were so relevant in eachothers lore we usually practiced together to both learn and bond but we are both very frustrated language learners so this wasn't always easy. i remember usually walking out the course and thinking hes kind of an ass whoops.

we ended up meeting again a few weeks later on set, and from then on we became really good friends and we ended up teaching eachother more on set than in the course. our scenes together took about 8 weeks to film and at some point, his character had to k1ll my role. it was a rather gruesome and gorey scene to film and while it didn't affect me much he felt rather bad filming it and so after our day on set was over, he was all "let me take you out" and i was obv all "you don't have to do that" but he insisted because he felt bad for having to pretend to do that so i agreed.

we were filming in LA at that time so i showed him the place we ate at and we walked there to have him see some stuff. throughout the date i randomly got confused about if this is even a date or not help but since i am pretty straightforward i just asked if it was and he very awkwardly said yes so we decided it is one lmao. after this we just kept going on dates every now and then after filming and showing eachother around depending on where we were filming. eventually filming got to an end and we lost contact for a while until the whole cast reunited once in seoul and he told me he wanted to try again and be official and exclusive 🙍🏻‍♀️💕

[raina16]

I'm sorry what? (The anon)To me this shows you pay no attention to Jensen at all.

First Jensen doesn't read a lot because he has ADHD. In his case he mentioned it affected his ability to comprehend written words. So when he reads he needs to be very intentional and focused. This has zero to do with intelligence. Literally nothing. (Seriously there were geniuses in the world even before there was written language, so how quickly you read has nothing to do with how smart you are).

Despite that he reads frequently, he constantly has to read and memorize scripts and including parsing the meaning of the story, character interactions and character psychology and he's damn good at it.

And he does read despite that, we've seen him with books AND when he first went to Hollywood he was worried about falling behind his college going friends, intellectually, so he set himself a course of self education - to try and read the sort of books he'd be reading if he'd gone to college and it turned out when he met up with his friends again he'd read more than they had!!

He clearly puts a high value on learning and personal growth. He may not be the guy to make sudden changes, based on a mood, he makes educated changes based on knowledge. The type of changes that stick.

I remember back in season 1 or so of SPN, Kripke describing Jensen and Jared and he specifically mentioned Jensen's being very quick witted. He has a fast mind.

Jensen clearly has extremely high emotional intelligence and he's empathetic. He's well spoken and quick witted. He clearly thinks deeply about things. He's respectful of other people. We hear this all the time from people who know him, or people who've worked with him. That's why he's so well liked and deeply respected. Frankly the fact that he "match made" two possibly three of his friends into successful marriages actually says a lot about how "people intelligent" he is.

I remember when he went to Japan, way back in like 2008, for SPN, the woman who was assigned to be his guide, mentioned she was impressed with the questions he asked and how genuinely curious he was. Like he really wanted to learn about their culture.

He's also creative - one of things he mentioned about the COVID hiatus was how much he needed a creative outlet. So Jensen and Misha are both creative people - how is writing lyrics lesser than writing poetry? How is playing and writing music lesser? Jensen has also directed and been considered quite good at it.

A lot of actors get into it because they enjoy the comraderie and affection they experience being part of a team "putting on a show". Jensen loves being part of the team, whether it's as the captain of the team or one of the regular players. I remember reading something Karl Urban said about why HE enjoyed acting, he really loved the teamwork etc and I was like "this is something Jensen could have said".

I think you'll find anyone who actually knows Jensen Ackles (I don't but I'm going by what we've seen and heard) would laugh at your idea of him being "basic" based on how very wrong you are, especially Misha.

Okay so I get why Jensen is into Misha and has been crushing on him for years. The evidence is verrrrry obvious lol. But I genuinely don't see Misha being into Jensen the same way. Don't kill me, but Jensen's not really on Misha's level intellectually--not like Jared is. Jensen admitted he doesn't even read ever, whereas Misha's a voracious reader, writes poetry, and is working on a film script. Also Jensen's not really into activism or politics and is just overall kinda basic? Like he's into beer, cars, and country music, which is fine. But I don't see that being very interesting to Misha. Like yeah Jensen's conventionally handsome and great as Dean but that's kinda it? I'd think Misha would need more than just looks. Also there aren't really any moments where Misha's GENUINELY swooning over Jensen if you think about it. He's just as smiley, affectionate, and teasing with Jensen as he is with literally everyone else in the cast. And yeah he kissed him on the cheek that one time cuz Jensen was struggling onstage, but that's just Misha being Misha. If anything, he seems into Rob imo.

I won't kill you, though I don't share your opinion like at all!

They might not share the same interests but it doesn't mean they can't be together. Jensen could totally admire Misha's talent for acting, writing poetry and other stuffs he does. And Misha can totally admire Jensen's talent too, for acting as well and for music for example, by promoting the release of his last album (I don't have the energy to find the panel where he said it) and by looking at him like this:

See, I don't think Misha is that much demonstrative compared to Jensen actually. Misha likes to joke a lot so it doesn't seem like it but he's more private, shows less affection, except usual hugs and kisses to joke, and talks less about what he feels.

And I think he wouldn't like someone calling Jensen basic.

Because he is not.

Also, I find Misha and Rob really cute together.

[lunar-wandering]

"yandere evil cycle Clara" this "yandere evil cycle Clara" that, yes i agree, its drawn very well and is very Aesthetic and im so excited to see where this is going but i have a Question-

why is Iruma blushing through most of this chapter-

either Clara's subtly put a charm spell on him (though wouldn't it affect Azz too in that case?) or, he's somehow kinda into this.

i know the first option is more likely but the idea of Iruma thinking the evil cycles are hot is so fucking funny. could you imagine.

[leonardcohenofficial]

there is something so fascinatingly deeply unsettling (positive) about both the sound and the fury and absalom, absalom! and i’ve been trying to find the words to articulate just what it is about both novels that prompts that particular affective response. faulker is invested in an examination of both the compson family and the south itself as different but interconnected mythos (it’s difficult to not see parallels with ancient tragedy); it often seems that through this myth-making and storytelling and retelling and various streams of consciousness he’s attempting to find the root of what exactly is rotten in the county of yoknapatawpha but also in the compson bloodline; the death of the “southern way of life” and of the compson and supten families are interwoven in such a way that the works require you to consider the broader sociopolitical systemic issues causing a multitude of personal familial and social collapses. quentin’s line from the sound and the fury “theres a curse on us its not our fault is it our fault” is the one i return to most across all of faulkner’s work, and is perhaps the question i find most haunting—if you are doomed by the fact that you are a member of the house of atreus, is it your fault? how do you deal with that knowledge? how do you get out?

[ai-the-broccoli]

enemies to lovers / but you'll never own my heart

@luzon-dove happy birthday, Quinn!! As a present, I decided to draw a piece fanart of your "blood in the walls of the yagami house" AU fic series, since I found it very well-written and full of super interesting ideas and concepts. I hope you like it!

[our-magical-world]

Answering some of the questions myself (based on my script because I've only shifted for one minute, so I can't answer most of them based on experience).

1- First, are you a student or a pro hero / teacher / adult? I'm a student in my main MHA DR (I have another DR where I'm an adult, so I'll answer about that in the last part of the post). I'm in class 1-A at UA.

2- What's your quirk? My quirk is Mirror Skin. It allows me to turn my skin into a mirror-like surface. Some of the things I can do is reflect my enemies' attacks back to them, which makes me a great counter-attack hero. I can also camouflage by reflecting my surroundings like a chameleon, which is great for stealth missions. And I can reflect the light to blind my opponents or send signals, among other things.

3- Are you related to any canon characters? No, no previous relationships, I didn't know anyone before entering UA.

4- Any non-canon characters we haven't seen in the series who are part of your life? I scripted my parents and a grandmother, but that's all. I probably have more family or childhood friends but I haven't scripted anything about them, I just know they exist. I'll remember the details once I'm there.

5- Do you have a crush? Are you in a relationship? I haven't scripted any romantic relationships. I love many characters but I don't really have a specific crush. I want to meet them in person first and see who I get along with, the vibes, the chemistry... If it happens, it happens. But I'm not shifting for love in this DR.

6- Did you make any changes to canon? Not really. I want my experience to be as close to canon as possible. The only change is that I'm the lead singer at the concert in the school festival.

7- Did you script anything or make any changes to canon that didn't turn out as you expected? I can't answer this since I haven't scripted any big changes, and I haven't stayed in my DR long enough to see what happens.

8- Did you meet (or fight) the villains? How was it? Not yet.

9- Is All Might as impressive as they say in person? I haven't met him yet.

For students:

10- Who are your best friends? Same as with relationships, I haven't scripted anything. I want to meet them in person and see who I get close with. To be honest, this is one of the things I'm most excited and curious about: who my closest friends will be, if I'll be part of a friend group or have a best friend... (I don't have many friends in this reality and I really miss it).

11- Did you replace anyone in class 1-A? (or B?) No, I just added myself. I don't want to script anyone out, I want to meet everyone! But if I had to replace someone, it would be Toru (Invisible Girl). First, because she doesn't have a big role in the show and it wouldn't make a big difference, and second, because our quirks are the most similar and can do similar things (stealth, reflect the light...)

12- Did you script Mineta out? I may regret this, but no, I didn't. As I said above, I want my experience to be as close to the original show as possible. If that means I have to deal with people like Mineta or Bakugo, so be it.

13- I've seen way too many shifters say that Momo tends to start drama for no reason in their DRs, was she like that in your DR? I haven't met her yet, but I sure hope not! She's one of my favorite characters and I was hoping to be her friend.

14- What's your daily schedule at UA? Did you script your own schedule/timetable? Any subjects you love or hate? I haven't created my own schedule but I'm using this one as reference, it's the closest to official I could get since it was used at a MHA exhibition in Japan. I can't say I'm not scared, it's intense (too many hours of math, thanks, I hate it), but I'll go with it.

15- Has anyone seen Bakugo's room or Tsuyu's room? Not yet.

For shifters who aren't students anymore:

For this part I'll answer based on my alternate DR where I'm an adult.

16- Are you a pro hero? A teacher? A civilian? A villain? It's complicated. I got a hero license so I could use my healing quirk in emergencies, but I don't work as a pro hero. I have three alternate DRs for this version of me (based on different S/Os), in two of them I work at a hospital and in the third I'm a teacher at UA. I start as Recovery Girl's assistant but I end up teaching First Aid.

17- What's your daily life like? I can't answer that yet.

18- Who do you work with? Do you have your own agency? Sidekicks?Any interesting team-ups with other heroes? I'm not a hero, so I don't have an agency or a team. I just help the local heroes and especially the victims often in emergencies, or after a fight. But in two of my alternate DRs, Ingenium and Hawks end up asking me to join their agencies. I'd mostly do support work and be in charge of healing heroes and victims, plus helping with other random tasks that don't involve fighting (I know martial arts and can defend myself in an emergency, though). In the third alternate DR I'm a teacher at UA, I'm Recovery Girl's assistant but I end up teaming up with Aizawa a lot. Since the kids in class 1-A are so extreme, constantly getting injured and even attacked by villains, I basically end up supervising their training and going with them everywhere (field trips, summer camp, special training sessions etc) while Recovery Girl takes care of the rest of the school.

19- Anything we should know about hero work? I can't answer that yet, but I'll come back after I shift!

20- Any embarrassing moments to confess? Not yet...

21- Free spot I haven't fully shifted yet, but I can share (again) the story of my one-minute mini-shift. I woke up laying on the ground (probably a training field at UA) and saw Iida, in his hero costume, calling my name again and again. I assume I had hurt myself and fallen unconscious during an intense training session. My whole body was numb, I couldn't move, and all I could feel was an intense headache. When Iida noticed I was awake, he said: "Are you alright? Can you move?" I couldn't move AT ALL, I couldn't even shake my head because it hurt terribly. I struggled to speak BUT I finally managed to say: "My head hurts..." "Don't move! Recovery Girl is on her way!" he said. Then I heard another voice calling me (not my name, but a nickname), and Kirishima, also in his hero costume, knelt beside me on my other side. "Are you okay? Don't worry! I'll take you to Recovery Girl!!" "No!" -Iida interrupted him- "Don't move her! If she has some broken bones, it's better not to move her!" "Oh... yeah, you're right. Hang on!" And then I lost consciousness, or more exactly, I felt like my consciousness was pulling me back to my CR (it's hard to explain but it felt exactly like that, like something pulling my brain so strong I couldn't fight back to stay there). I fainted in my DR and woke up in my CR.

More about my UA student DR More about my adult/hero/teacher DRs

Questions for MHA shifters

My Hero Academia is one of my main DRs and I always enjoy reading / listening to MHA shifters talk about their experiences there, it gives me so much motivation and it's usually super interesting.

So I thought about some questions I'd like to ask experienced shifters about their MHA DRs. Just random things I'm curious about. If you've shifted there and would like to answer (just for fun, feel free to skip any questions you're not comfortable with!) please reblog with your answers, or make a new post and tag me so I can read it. (You can also answer if you haven't shifted, based on your script and ideas, just let us know at the beginning).

1- First, are you a student or a pro hero / teacher / adult?

2- Mandatory question: What's your quirk?? Do you have any special moves?

3- Are you related to any canon characters? (as family or previous relationships like childhood friends, rivals...)

4- Any non-canon characters we haven't seen in the series who are part of your life? (like siblings, scripting your CR friends in there, or having children in your DR)

5- Do you have a crush? Are you in a relationship? or even better, love triangles? relationship drama? I want the tea (only if you're comfortable with sharing, of course!)

6- Did you make any changes to canon? (if you changed too many things, you can just mention a few interesting ones that made your experience very different from canon)

7- Did you script anything or make any changes to canon that didn't turn out as you expected? (as in what seemed like a small change turned out to change the story drastically)

8- Did you meet (or fight) the villains? How was it?

9- Is All Might as impressive as they say in person? (if you met him in muscle form)

For students:

10- Who are your best friends?

11- Did you replace anyone in class 1-A? (or B?) I've seen many people do this so the number of students stays even. Who did you script out?

12- Did you script Mineta out? Or change his personality? If you didn't, did you have any problems with him (especially if you're a girl)? Anyone (else) you scripted out or changed drastically?

13- I've seen way too many shifters say that Momo tends to start drama for no reason in their DRs and I'm a little concerned... was she like that in your DR?

14- What's your daily schedule at UA? Did you script your own schedule/timetable? Any subjects you love or hate?

15- Has anyone seen Bakugo's room or Tsuyu's room? They're the only ones that weren't shown in the series (Mineta's was described in the light novel), I'm curious to know how they decorated them!

For shifters who aren't students anymore:

16- Are you a pro hero? A teacher? A civilian? A villain?

17- What's your daily life like?

18- Who do you work with? Do you have your own agency? Sidekicks?Any interesting team-ups with other heroes?

19- Anything we should know about hero work?

Bonus: 20- Any embarrassing moments to confess? (you can do it anonymously if you want!)

21- Free spot: That's all I can think of right now, but feel free to include anything you want to share! You can also submit your own questions for other shifters and I'll add them to the post or create a new one.

THANKS!!