#then these are the people that look at the whole deal with the titan and luz in WAD and think 'yeah. that's actually a good ending'

[cherrymoonvol6]

fuck it, tag rant highlight because i managed to put this into words into a song rec vomit of all things

[onmyyan]

Yandere DC Purge Au

A/N: inspired by a bot on janitor ai here's the link reader is this universes wolverine fem reader, yandere themes

Getting home from the Titans Tower, you shrug off your brown leather biker jacket, letting the heavy garment fall to the floor with an audible thump.

Boot clad feet accidentally kick a small black elegantly wrapped package that been slipped through your mail slot. (E/c) Eyes full of curiosity, you bend down to pick up the box, it was a little bigger than your hand, unable to fight the curiosity, you threw your helmet on the couch and used your sharp pointer finger nail to tear a seam into the paper, your mind moved a mile a minute as five neat letters in black envelopes were revealed.

Your heart falls to your stomach, you knew what these letters meant, what they entailed, you'd been chosen, and not by one yandere, but five. You didn't bother to read the letters, setting them down on your coffee table like the paper was going to bite you, sitting on the couch with a groan, your shoulders coiled like a animal ready to pounce. In all your 24 years you'd never had to deal with a yandere, while you were aware of them of course, your particular lifestyle didn't allow for such things, you were a hero after all, you couldn't help but tense, yes you were a formidable fighter, yes you had confidence in your abilities to defend yourself but five separate psycho's? That was a lot to deal with even for you.

You had a day to prepare, that's all the decency the government allowed people like her. A day to prepare for the insanity that was the Purge. All former plans for a quiet week off patrols were gone, replaced by your fierce determination. You wouldn't be caught, you'd been caged enough for your lifetime.

The next morning you make your way into the Titans Tower business as usual, you had no idea who the senders of the letters were so you kept your guard up.

It was a tradition for the team to hang out one last time before the purge, since all crime, including all yandere crime, was legal, the team technically got a week long vacation. So they liked to hangout the day before those infamous sirens would ring out across the city. The whole team was there, doing their usual things when you were approached by Rachel Roth aka Raven.

"Your mind is.. guarded tonight, are you alright?" Her soft monotone voice calls out dragging you from your mind, "Yeah just ..tense about tomorrow ya know?" Your voice gruff yet feminine, you didn't mind the fact that she was peaking into your head, having long since gotten used to her antics, instead you lean back on the counter surveying the room with a calculated gaze. You kept your thoughts clear knowing she had a penchant for reading your mind without permission, you didn't want to tell the team about the letters for a multitude of reasons, the main one being you didn't know if it was one of them who sent it. Of course you trusted your team but you'd learned long ago to trust yourself before anyone else.

And your enhanced animal like senses told you danger was a foot. "Any big plans for the week?" You ask casually still observing your other teammates.

"I rented a cabin in the snow, very tranquil, very secluded.." she paused a moment her dark eyes scanning your features, "You could come with me- if you don't want to spend the purge alone?" The question hung heavy in the air, the intensity in her gaze made you smirk, no way in hell were you taking a trip right now.

"I actually have some plans already." You smiled at the dark haired sorceress, trying to soothe the wound of denial. "Well if you at any point change your mind simply call for me and I'll be there." She says flatly, but her steel gaze was as intense as ever.

"Definitely." You respond before pushing off the counter, "I'm gonna hit the gym, see you later Rav."

'Well that was something' you thought to yourself, she'd always been attached to you, finding comfort in your troubled past, but she'd never looked so..like that before.

Shaking off the encounter you find yourself in the gym toned (s/c) arms stretching across your chest in preparation, a training dummy standing across from you. Just before you throw the first punch Conner aka Superboy walks in the room his arms crossed. "You wanna keep playing with that thing or you want a real fight?" The tall wall of a man asks walking closer to you, this wasn't out of the ordinary as you were one of the only people on the team who could keep up with Conner physically.

"let's go." You say getting into a fighting stance, your feet wide, fists in front of your face.

The spar was intense as usual with him, he didn't hold back, because of your healing factor he didn't need to, and you preferred it that way. You two danced around the mat swiping at each other, trading blows that would send a normal human to the grave. Your adamantium covered skeleton allowed you to land hits on him that actually sent him reeling. Your breath came out in heavy pants as Conner made an expert dodge, he sweeps his leg under you catching you off guard enough to stumble backwards, he grips your tank top stopping you from hitting the mat staring at you for a second too long before bringing you into a head lock, panting in your ear, "You give?" You could hear the smirk on his face, you growl under your breath, "Fuck off.", elbowing him hard enough to make him release you, instead of getting angry he just grins at you looking like an animal about to pounce.

The spar ends in a draw both of you covered in sweat, "you wanna hang out tomorrow?" He asks wiping his forehead, you pause thinking over the fact that tomorrow was the first night of the Purge, sure is didn't start until 7pm but it was risky as hell to go about business as usual on the day of.

"Sorry big guy I'm fully booked." The lie flows off your tongue easily enough, you couldn't risk getting Conner involved in whatever the yanderes had planned for you tomorrow, you also couldn't rule him out as a suspect yet.

The rest of your day is full of similar interactions with your team, Garfield aka Beast Boy had invited you over to his place for a gaming fueled sleepover, pouting when you decline, Kori aka Starfire had offered to straight up stay with you for the duration of the purge, looking absolutely confused as to why you'd said no.

The day ends with you gathering your things as you wouldn't be in the tower for a week. Damian, the current Robin and leader of your team walks over before you can leave. "I assume you've made preparations?" The enigmatic man spoke in that usual Damian tone that you could never quite get a read on. "I'll be fine." Was your simple answer. His green eyes studied you, taking in your response. He simply smirks at you before bidding you goodnight.

You got zero sleep that night the rainy Gotham skies a background to your inner turmoil. Your instincts said to run so you were. A few minutes before the sirens go off, you're in your garage, a duffle bag thrown over your shoulders, when you notice your bike's tires have been slashed, both of them deflated.

Cursing under your breath you steady your nerves before heading back up to your apartment. Navigating the streets of Gotham on the first night of the purge was a bad idea even for a self healing mutant with adamantium claws like yourself. Instead you choose to take the situation as it came, barricading the front door with a bookshelf, you pour yourself a double shot of whiskey and light the cigar you'd been saving for a special occasion.

The shrill terror inducing sound of the annual purge sirens go off on schedule, you remain unflinching as you prepare yourself for the inevitable encounter.

About five minutes after the bell stops ringing there's a loud knock on your door, the handle jingling seconds after, "(Y/n), open the door." The command was given pleadingly. You recognized that voice, the hairs on the back of your neck stand at attention. You were prepared for some nobody to try and claim you. Not him.

"We're getting in there no matter what so you may as well just," a loud bang shook the wood, "Open up." A second voice spoke out, this one just as familiar as the first, your heart fell to your stomach at the realization, the other three didn't need to speak for you to guess they were out there.

Your eyes quickly scan the window of your apartment, you were on the third floor but it was an easy drop for someone with your healing ability.

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be." The third gruff voice speaks before a gunshot is heard, the bastard had shot out your front door lock, a blue eye peaked in the hole locking onto you instantly a predatory look in the gaze. "There you are kitty." He says before glaring at the bookshelf in his way, it doesn't take much for him to start throwing his shoulder into the wood of the door.

"Don't scare her." The fourth voice chimed in but did nothing to stop the man barreling into your apartment. By the time the five entered you had already booked it out the window, your broken ankles healing as you sprint down the dimly lit Gotham streets.

"She's on the move." Bruce finally speaks, his authoritative voice left no room for argument. Damian was the first to act scaling down the apartment so fast he skipped some steps, he was a man on a mission.

Dick was quick to follow flipping out the window and landing gracefully before giving chase. Tim quickly pulled out a tablet tracking your every move.

Jason snarls at the chase, running after you like a beast on the hunt. Bruce follows behind in the batmobile with Tim guiding him to your location in the passenger seat, each man's heart burning for you.

The night had just begun and you were now playing a game you wanted no part in.

[ew-selfish-art]

Dp x Dc AU: That one episode of teen titans where they all dress up as Robin + Tim being a gremlin about his legacy + Danny look alike/twin AU.

So there is that episode of Teen Titans where Starfire, Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven all dress as Robin (Dick) while he's out and it's admitted that the outfit makes them feel cool. Imagine a young Tim hearing that story mentioned in passing by Dick while trying to manage what becomes Young Just-us. And then when Damain becomes Robin?? Gremlin mode activated.

Tim hosts regular 'Robin' Parties, where the idea is that you come in Robin colors, get a mask at the door and everyone gets to basically hang out in civilian clothes without the identity crises for those just getting started. "age appropriate" drinks, games, and good music are all staples. The parties become more frequent once Damian becomes Robin and he pointedly doesn't attend Tim's parties which... Neither of them are really happy about. Family is complicated, but finally, after a few years of cooling off, it's decided that Robin will actually host this years Robin party.

Meaning Tim shows up in casual clothes (MIT sweatshirt) and a mask, and Damian is actually dressed as Robin when the party is starting to get into the swing of things. The point of it is to make sure all the young heroes get to come and start to befriend each other, so there are a few people who show up and have to actually say that they're *insert alias* and this is met with basically "Dope, nice to meet you Robin" etc.

Insert Danny Twin AU (Or just look-alike fuckery) (for either brother but my brain is on Tim Twin au mode).

Danny decides to show up as his human self, grabs a mask at the door before coming in, and is slowly integrating himself into a conversation when someone grabs his arm- "Hey Red your brother is fighting with a newbie about meat products again-"

And Danny doesn't have a brother but my god has he heard this fight too many times with Sam and Tucker- He's going in and he's defusing this situation because he cannot handle the thought of this argument taking over his new friend group. He deals with it enough, okay?

Robin (like, the real one) looks at him curiously while Danny is talking down the other hero Robin (insert here), and the whole room notices when Robin doesn't take the opportunity to dismiss or belittle his older brother (Lmao because its danny). Damian cannot place his unease about Drake (again, Danny, who is not hiding his identity beyond a mask), and simply decides that this isn't worth the effort.

The party moves on but now instead of everyone calling themselves Robin, Danny is distinctly being called Red. It confuses him a bit, he didn't even know Red Robin was going to be at this party (he hasn't met the guy and doesn't know the lore), but he rolls with it because he's made fast friends with Robin (Bart), Robin (Cassie) and Robin (JON). The kid was full little bro energy and it made Danny laugh, he was so surprised when the real Robin joined them and fell into easy conversation with Robin (Jon).

Danny is playing games with a few others when someone goes to grab a broom to clean up- Turns out Red Robin and his boyfriend Kon had been making out in the closet for most of the party- and the whole room looks at Danny like he's tried to trick them. Tim is at first uneasy that so many people mistook him, but once he's in front of his dupe, puzzle pieces start to move around in his head.

"And who are you again, Robin?" Tim asks carefully, though he suspects he has his answer.

"Uh, Phantom, but you know, a lot of people were calling me Red tonight and I didn't get why until just now." Danny laughs nervously.

"Yeah I bet- Find me monday and we can see about a geneology test."

"That leaves us the whole weekend, to do what exactly? Fuck with people by pulling a parent trap style swap?"

"Nature vs. nuture and all but I don't know how you could be anything but my brother with a question like that." Tim grins and they get to scheming.

[transformers-spike]

Consider: StarScream x human who thinks they're not good enough for him because of how different they r physically even if they do love him to death (this can be SFW or NSFW, same amount of drama tbh)

This got pretty damn sad. It has a good deal of angst and a bit of spice, plus a hurt/comfort element to it. Anyway, Starscream is trying his best

You don’t deserve him. Quite frankly, you don’t deserve anyone. You’re meek, untalented and homely. Among others of your kind, you are below average in everything, and the least qualified in your position. It was a stroke of luck, or rather an attempt to self-destruct through entertaining contact with metal titans. Some idiotic part of you thought it would quell the pain in your chest after your disillusionment with the US government. They promised you altruism, said you could accomplish great things for the population, take care of the less fortunate, protect those neglected by the system and take the new generation under your wing while guiding them towards a brighter future. You were a fool for believing their silver lies, but was it so wrong to dream of a world where you mattered in the eyes of the powers that be? To think that, if only for a moment, there was something greater looking out for everyone’s well-being? Evidently, you were wrong.

Starscream was the one who saw potential in you, however small. He noticed your fancy government badge that didn’t mean shit to you anymore and decided you were a good fit for his newest project. With enough classified documents under your belt to qualify as a government risk, you were considered a good fit to aid them in infiltrating and dismantling the very structure providing the Autobots with invaluable aid.

It didn’t take much convincing, you had already given up on a position you’d worked your whole life towards, and after what you witnessed at the top, you would do anything to get back at the very same people leaving others to die just to line their own pockets with money. Maybe that was what brought you close in the first place; a shitty boss pretending to support a cause he didn’t believe in, mistreating his subordinates on a whim, berating others for minor mistakes until they cracked under the pressure. In the beginning, Starscream regarded you with poorly hidden contempt, no different from your human superiors. But little by little, through mutual exhaustion, he’s begun to begrudgingly view you as a competent collaborator. Dedicated to a fault, you’ve worked your ass off providing the requested information to your titans to drown out the fear eating at your brain, warning you of your imminent demise at their hands. But what could you do? Life traded you one anxiety for another, and at least the threat they posed was physical, no hidden motivations to look out for under a veneer of kindness. Simple, but effective. Entertaining a workplace relationship with the likes of a giant metal alien wasn’t expected by any means, but you’ve accepted it quickly under uncertain circumstances. There was no proper time to contemplate your actions, much less take a hard look at your situation and rebuke yourself for taking everything in stride. Survival was talking, and there was no questioning it with your head on the chopping block and someone as elegant as him offering respite. He always seems on edge, stiff and analytical. His sharp optics observing those under his command, taking account of their body language, the subtlest reactions, and adapting his management accordingly. It’s no secret you admire him for it. When you first complimented him to his face, he seemed outright baffled, only to quickly recover and brush it off in his typical self-assured tone. 

He latches onto praise so easily, clinging onto your every word despite his rebuttals. It’s only natural you give him what he deserves. After being terrorized by the tyrant for eons, it’s the best you can offer him, no matter how meagre. “Interfacing” is… complicated to say the least, disregarding the major size difference. Your little trysts are kept a tight-lipped secret, and for that you are grateful; you would rather not tarnish his hard-earned reputation. He’s the one doing most of the touching, careful digits ghosting over flesh, shiny metal mesh pristine next to the moles and stretch marks staining your greasy skin. Occasionally, he presses his intake between your legs and pleasures you until you’re shaking. You don’t deserve it, yet he offers it in spades, stroking his beautiful spike in tandem with his talented glossa. Sometimes you get to do more; to bring your mouth to his anterior node and work his delicate valve until he overloads around your hand, a beautiful cyan turned purple under the red glow of his biolights. 

You’re so lucky to be around him, to see his softer side; optics half-lidded, wings reclined behind his back, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips; completely at ease in your presence. What makes you so special to him? You’ve asked him innumerable times and received little more than an eye roll and an order to stop wasting your energy on such trash. Is it really your fault? Your mind’s pointing out the obvious. He is sleek and elegant while you are little more than vermin in his presence. The thoughts have consumed you to a point y our work has started to suffer; acceptable results have become mediocre or downright terrible.

The seconds are ticking by. He has mentioned intending to “discuss” your recent drop in performance, and the mere notion of it makes you sick to your stomach. You brace yourself for disappointment, for the end of your ambiguous liaison, be it under blaster fire or a simple permanent dismissal from his habsuite. You’re sitting down, twiddling your thumbs, head hanging low awaiting your executioner's method. When he enters the room, your heart clenches in your chest, yet you do not dare meet his gaze. It only seems to enrage him further, he's already beaten down after a long day of dealing with the likes of Megatron. “Human,” he sneers, familiar disdain oozing from his voice. “Cease this needless self-pitying festivity at once!” “Or what?” you say numbly. Your uncharacteristic interruption stops him in his tracks, optics scanning your blank expression. “Are you going to end me now? After you’ve invested so much in this human fuck up?" you thumb at yourself. "Do it. It’s not like I’ve made any real progress anyway.” He furrows his optical ridge, contempt sketched into a sneer. “Alright. I see you are in no state to cooperate,” he responds, deceptively calm. He leans down to your height and offers you his servo. When you don’t climb in he lets out a furious ex-vent and grabs you. Eye to optic, dizzy from the sudden manhandling you should have grown accustomed to by now, you make no effort hiding the misery underlining the dark circles under your eyes. “If you wished to discuss such a trivial subject, then you should have brought it forth after my shift,” he thrusts a razor-sharp digit at your chest. “Trivial, huh?” You tilt your head for sarcastic emphasis. He sucks in a deep in-vent. “You have a single klik to speak your mind.” “Oh? 8.3 minutes? How awfully generous of you, Commander,” you mock, intending to waste every single second digging a grave to lie in. He looks just about ready to punt you out of an airlock when… “Why do you feel so inadequate?” The question feels like having a bowling ball dropped on your head. “What?” “Must I repeat myself?” he hisses.

You pause, struggling to collect the words on your tongue. Each time you think you find the right answer, it dissolves right at the tip of your palette. Eventually, you give up and gesture at yourself in defeat. “Because look at me !” you snarl. “You’re…��everything while I’m nothing compared to you!” He leans back, his anger at your outburst soon eclipsed by an odd (if not somewhat begrudging) sympathy. “You’re a human,” he points out matter-of-factly. “Is that not enough of a value indicator? Out of all the fleshbags scurrying around your planet, you are uniquely easy on the optics, rather tolerable and, might I add, competent in your field.” You swallow the lump in your throat. “But you could have gone for another Cybertronian. If we’re so inferior, why-” “Have you even met any of my subordinates?” he snaps. “If the crew had been different and the circumstances allowed it, maybe I would have entertained the notion. But I would rather tear out my audio receptors than be with the likes of them .” He shudders. He gingerly presses a claw to your cheek. “You’re worthy of my presence. There. Gratified? You should be,” he grumbles. You pull his digit into a hug and proceed to bawl your eyes out.

[mazamba]

Half-Baked Fanfic Idea

So here's a concept. Amity Park, for whatever reason, goes missing.

This is in 2005, the JL hasn't been founded yet and most heroes are still rookies or unknown outside their home cities.

In 2025, the whole city returns just as mysteriously as it left. In its absence, the Justice League has been formed, all Senior JL members are well established and known throughout the galaxy... including a small, unaging hero by the name of Phantom.

Everyone assumes that she's looked like a twelve-year-old the whole time because she's a ghost, and dead people don't age. Her nature as a Halfa is her most closely guarded secret, known only to the very trusted (some Teen Titans, Shazam, and Harley & Ivy), the clinically nosy (Batman, the Question, and Lex Luthor), and the people that HAD to know for medical and magical reasons (Constantine, Zatanna, and Frostbite).

The real reason she hasn't aged is that her time is synchronized to Danny's, due to her nature as a clone. It means that she knows for a fact Danny's still alive and that time magic was somehow involved. It also means that, despite being in her 30's ( or 20's, depending on your definition), Dani doesn't look a day over twelve.

Alternatively, Danny and Amity Park return, and he is immediately tackle/hugged by a tall 32 year old woman. As far as he's concerned, it's been less than twenty minutes.

Anyways, the point is that Dani has been there since the beginning. She was there when they broke Matian Manhunter out, she was there when the Targarians invaded, when Darkside came to make a mess, when Luthor made dealings with Brainiac, and even when they faced off against the Justice Lords. Her evil self was a dick BTW.

To the world at large, Danielle IS Phantom. Not unlike how everyone remembers Carol as Captain Marvel despite her being the second to have the title, Danny Phantom is a relative unknown. A Deep Cut in superhero history.

It's a lot for everyone to get used to.

[utilitycaster]

The thing that gets me abt the framework of downfall and the way Ludinus(and some ppl in the tags who seemingly are trying really hard to roleplay Ludinus) read it is that they're like "look at how the gods meddled and laid low to destroy this bastion of human achievement, they had no right and should have let themselves be systematically exterminated/have the world burn instead" when. Setting aside the revelation that the gods who struck down Aeor made themselves mortal to do it-- as in, they were on the exact playing fields of humans when they made their move and it wasn't some huge peacocking of power against upstart humans to strike them out of the sky-- the Divergence is going to happen. We KNOW the Divergence is going to happen. The gods are going to create the divine gate and remove any chance that they can ever do something like this again. "Blaugh, look at them meddle and plot-" and? Whatever they do, we know that the sun will shine once more. Melora, as brutal as she is as the starved Asha, will plant a tree of hope in the most destroyed wastes of Wildemount. And they will ensure that the suffering they wrought in the calamity, in Aeor, can never ever repeat the same way they had done it. Which is a HELL of a lot more than can be said for Ludinus who is actively reviving every cycle he can

first off "some ppl in the tags who seemingly are trying really hard to roleplay Ludinus" took me OUT so thank you for that.

I just reblogged a post with a quote from Cooldown that I think is really relevant in understanding the whole story of the gods and how we got to this point but like, just to summarize (and debunk a few things, hopefully) from the beginning of the episode to the end re: the life of the gods:

Gods (possibly aspects of the Luxon?) crash-landed on Exandria BECAUSE of what is all but outright said to be Predathos.

As far as I can tell, no deals were made between the gods and the Titans. The only person who has said this from what I can tell is Asmodeus, who I would not consider a reliable source of truth. Or rather: one might have been made but there's no corroboration that I know of.

They created the people of Exandria and sealed away Predathos both prior to the Schism

The Schism occurred when the Titans decided to attack the people (which to be clear - the people had been there for long enough to build that weird ruin on Ruidus with a portal, like, I would love to know what prompted the fight of the Schism since it had pretty clearly been millennia of coexistence).

The Betrayers decided the move was to leave and start over, and the Primes felt that was a dereliction of duty to the people. That's what the quote is about - it's about the fact that Erathis's motivation for being a Prime Deity isn't "mortals are my blorbos!" it's "we have an obligation to our creations" and more generally that the Prime Deities are invested in their domains for the overall good of Exandria but not necessarily the specific good of Aeor. (Taliesin follows it up with (as Melora) "You'd have to tear me from this fucking planet" w/r/t the idea that you cannot, in fact, destroy your bad first draft simply because it would be more convenient to you.)

Betrayers get sealed, unsealed, events of EXU Calamity occur (notably: the titans are all dead. you can fight about whether this was just or right later but they're gone and killing other people won't bring them back; the titans are largely used as a pearl-clutching prop by people with no arguments that are perhaps actually relevant to the current situation), and perhaps 50 or 60 years into the conflict the gods call a truce re: Aeor's Obtenebrator and commit to decades of living as mortals (and therefore limiting themselves considerably)

And so here we are

And I think this really gets to the point. Because ultimately, the argument in favor of leaving Aeor be is "when someone points a gun at you, lay down and die" and the argument in favor of the Betrayers is "when someone tells you to abandon your (living) obligations for them, do so." The former is despairing and nihilistic and the latter selfish and, well, a betrayal.

There is something profoundly nihilistic about Ludinus, for all he talks about freeing people and a better world. He's destroyed a city of innocents. He's indoctrinated hundreds if not thousands of people and many of them have died in his service; he's the architect of an empire and many wars in its name and is actively working with a second one. He's been killing fey and he's even physically given himself over to the cause. There is no crime or sin people attribute to the gods that he has not done himself in measures beyond nearly every other mortal. Like, I really think he's at a point where he just is unwilling to "lose" even though he has a friendless life and a legacy of violence and has destabilized the entire world and the weave of magic itself. I think he has to believe there's something on this Occultus Thalamus for him because if there isn't, he, like the Prime Deities, probably can't just pick up and start over. All he has left is to give in to just letting the world burn in the hopes that at least he gets the satisfaction of what he hates burning with him.

Basically, sounds like a rough time to try to roleplay him in the tags.

Something else you (and others) bring up is that amid all the "history is written by the victors" the story of Aeor and of the gods has actually painted them as far harsher. The story doesn't say that they were first chased to Exandria unwillingly and did not come in conquest; the story, as this post notes, evokes vast divine might striking down a city from the heavens and not like, living in fragile mortal forms during one of the most dangerous times in history and arguing amongst each other over how they can save both themselves and Aeor and if that's even possible. Like, even if you see the gods as the victors of this story rather than simply the survivors, the "unedited" version of the story makes them far more sympathetic.

You also mention the Divine Gate and that's a really interesting thing to me because the existing status quo of Exandria is actually remarkably nascent if you think about it. The Founding had gods, titans, and mortals. Post Schism had the Prime deities and mortals (and it is worth noting this is when the people of Exandria became the most technologically advanced; you want to talk about the Titans and Betrayers, you need to cover that the price of the wonders of the Age of Arcanum was that they were not present). Calamity had all the gods and mortals again, and the current era is the first where the gods are behind the gate. It's kind of a compromise between all the things that have tried to destroy one another - Betrayers and Primes are separated but all are free within their realms and can indirectly contact mortals; technically, so can Predathos. None can directly be on Exandria. Is it ideal? No. It's a compromise, and the sealed can become unsealed (which, consistently, goes very badly) but it's the option that doesn't involve the total annihilation of anyone. Ludinus seeks, by setting off this horrible cycle again, to undo that fragile imperfect compromise with a goal of wholesale slaughter. He provides no option for the gods other than "die by my hand" when even some of the gods were desperately trying to find other options for Aeor as of a day prior to its destruction. He's simply wallowed in his trauma for centuries, becoming colder and more unfeeling and less empathetic and more arrogant than the gods he accuses of the same flaws.

[celaenaeiln]

What are you favorite things about Dickkory?

Please and Thank You☺️

SO. MANY. THINGS!!!

Where do I start?!

Their freedom

Their dedication

Their dynamic

Ok so my favorite thing - well one of three favorite things - about Dick and Kory is that they just let each other be who they are.

What I mean is Dick never tells Kori she has to look a certain way, act a certain way, or talk a certain way. Obviously he's going to stop her from killing people but he loves her for who she is.

Secret Origins (1986) Issue #13

This means the WORLD to me because EVERYONE loves Kori for her body canonically. Like every single guy is just so turned on by her looks but for Dick that doesn't matter. He loves her wholely and purely. I'm tearing up a little by how much respect he gives her.

The New Titans (1988) Issue #71

You have no idea how happy his words make me. He never ever EVER blames Kori for the way she dresses or restricts her in any fashion. He's always extremely supportive of her. If she wants to do modeling? He's all for it. If she wants to go dancing? He's right there with her. She wants to try something new? He's helping her. He is SUCH a supportive boyfriend in everything she does. The killing is still off-limits ofcourse but everything else he loves her so much. He loves her for who she is not how she looks.

The New Titans (1988) Issue #71

He NEVER puts her down. And she never puts him down. They're supportive. And this I can appreciate even more because some of Dick's other love interests have it out for him. They get some type of power play about digging open his insecurities and throwing his faults in his face but not her. He's aware of his own faults, he doesn't need that to be used as a weapon against him like some more modern love interests do. Kori's understanding and loving and in response to that Dick treats her like a queen.

That's the first reason. The second reason is they help each other.

Dick can be difficult to deal with because he locks his emotions away. When he feels stressed he isolates himself because he doesn't want to talk to anyone about how he's feeling. But Kori? She doesn't resent him for that. She actually patiently tries to get him to open up. She's understanding and loving of him and his situation. I love them because when things get hard they don't just abandon each other, move on, and then get back together again after they've solved their own problems alone - no. They work hard to work through it together.

The New Teen Titans (1980) Issue #28

Dick and Kori come from vastly different cultures and have different beliefs so this causes problems. Here Dick's contemplating settling down with Kori because of how she kills people.

The New Teen Titans (1984) Issue #13

But in the face of it all, losing her is imporant to him that their difference in values

The New Teen Titans (1984) Issue #14

The New Teen Titans (1984) Issue #15

The thing about Dick and Kori having problems is that it's inspiring. Like you see all the troubles they faced, all the hardships, differences, and difficulties they went and it's amazing. Because Dick and Kori come from two different world. Literally. But they worked hard on their relationship. They worked through their differences because they loved each other so much that they wanted to stay together.

We could've have Dick and Kory forever if the real life Batman office writers hadn't broken off their wedding because they wanted to take Dick away from the Titans and give him to Batman. Do you realize what this means? If DC writers Dick hadn't been ripped away and Kori hadn't been disparaged by them, we would STILL be reading about Dick and Kory now. They would've been married and had kids by now.

But that brings me to my point - their love is amazing because they worked on the things that were different. It's awe-inspiring to love someone so much that you'll stay with them through anything.

Dickkory is my number one romantic pair for this reason. The problems that Dick has faced in his subsequent relationships is NOTHING compared to what he worked through with Kori. Which is why it frustrates me when a love interest abandons him at first stirrings of trouble because "hello? what you're getting now is cleaned up dick grayson. This is like playing a game on easy mode and still failing. If you can't be there for him when he has his act together, how could you ever be there for him when he's truly struggling?"

Going back to the scene at hand, Dick still stays with Kori but Kori is forced to marry another man at her father's orders and this is what breaks them apart. Because Kori is married to Ryand'r and Dick loves her. But despite this?

The New Teen Titans (1984) Issue #32

For Dick on the other hand it takes a case for him to understand -

The New Teen Titans (1984) Issue #34

But he gets it.

The New Teen Titans (1984) Issue #34

They come back stronger than ever.

Their love is the greatest romance of the ages for this reason. Your partner is your confidant. When the whole world turns against you, YOU need to be there by their side and they need to stand by you through everything. If you suddenly go from being rich to dirt poor, your parents abandon you, your friends betray you - the greatest love is standing with your partner through everything.

And Dick loves Kori for this too

Tales of the Teen Titans Issue #44

And that's what they embody and that's why I respect them.

Their relationship isn't a shattered vase glued together, their relationship is a muscle growth. You exercise, you stress the muscle and tear it. It causes you pain but that tear heals and the result is a stronger muscle and a healtier and fitter body. They're just so great.

So the second reason was their dedication to each other. The third reason is I love their dynamic!!

Kori is aggressive and strong but loving where as Dick is softer and strong but loving. It's like a girlboss and powerful malewife dynamic. Dick is phsycially shorter and smaller than Kori and Kori taller than him. They way she carries him around and touches him and holds him?!

The New Teen Titans (1984) Issue #15

The way that Dick gets so jealous and tries to show off for Kori only for his mount to slip off the cliff is so cute!! To everyone Dick is this cool, sexy, intelligent, perfect figure. The only time he gets childlishly jealous and reckless is when he's with Kori. And then having Kori bridal carry him after his mistake is just priceless.

But Dick doesn't begrudge Kori for this. What I love about Dick loving Kori is that he loves her for her power.

The Flash (1987) Issue #81

Dick thirsting for people who can pick him up and throw him around will always be my favorite part of him.

"I love that in a woman."

Yeah, Dick, we can hear that loud and clear. See it too.

LIKE LOOK AT THIS!!!-

Dark Knights of Steel Issue #7

With Kori there's no hesitation to give Dick affirmation.

Tales of the Teen Titans Issue #50

The New Teen Titans (1980) Issue #2

Tales of the Teen Titans Issue #49

Everyone in the entirety of DC knows that Dick is exceedingly pretty. Even villains regularly call him out on it. But it's SO nice to hear his girlfriend tell him that in such an honest and nice non-sleezy way. And that's my probably most favorite thing about them. This girlboss/malewife dynamic they have going on. They're equals but it's not the usual dynamic where the guy showers the girl with compliments and she's satisfied back. She tells him of her own volition how much she loves him and how beautiful he looks. She carries him around and is aggressive in their love. And I just love that so much.

Their love overall is just off the charts.

The New Teen Titans (1984) Issue #39

The New Teen Titans (1980) Issue #38

Teen Titans Spotlight (1988) Issue #19

The New Teen Titans (1984) Issue #10

[elizabethemerald]

The Infiltration

The Beginning of the New Pantheon

Masterpost

Donna Troy dialed a familiar number as she flew through the air from Mount Olympus. She could feel the weight of her coming responsibilities on her shoulders already. Zeus had chosen her to be Queen of the New Olympians. She would need a whole freak out later, but for now, she had to inform the others. 

“This is Nightwing.” Dick’s voice came through her comm, calm, curt, and ready for any crisis. Just what she needed. 

“Hey Boy Wonder.” Donna said.

“I get the feeling this isn’t a social call.” 

“Unfortunately no. I’m going to send you a list of junior leaguers, can you make sure they are waiting for me at Titans Tower? Along with any of you bats that are free.” 

“Of course, Donna. Does this have anything to do with the emergency meeting Diana just called with the rest of the League?” 

“It sure does.” 

“Got it. What should I tell the others? What should I be ready for?” 

Donna took a moment to think through what she thought would happen and how the others would react. 

“Tell your birds to polish their batarangs and prepare for an uncertain diplomatic situation.”

“Got it. I’ll round up the others and meet you at the Tower.” 

“Thanks.” Donna almost ended the call, but stopped. “And Nightwing?” 

“Yeah?” His voice was half distracted as he sought out where the other bats were currently. 

“I’m going to need your help to keep them all from falling apart.” 

“Don’t worry Donna. I’ve got your back.” 

.

Cassie was baffled by her mission. How was it that there was a group of heroes that had flown completely under the radar of the Justice League, yet had somehow earned the respect of the Olympians? Her list had a bunch of different names on it, but all had the same location. She had looked up the names in the JL systems as she flew from Olympus to the middle of nowhere Illinois. None of the people were in the database. Red Robin would be pissed if he knew. 

Even more concerning was the fact that there wasn’t even a town listed at the coordinates. Batman insisted that the League had the best satellites with the best cameras and there was nothing in the area. There weren’t even any JL calls! If there were a bunch of heroes who had been facing things that had been known to the Olympians, there should have been some calls from civilians for help right? 

She was really hoping this wasn’t some kind of weird murder-cult or unsanctioned government organization. She hated dealing with those, and for now she would be on her own. Young Justice got up to a lot of weird stuff that didn’t make it into the League reports, especially under Red Robin’s leadership, and this might top all the rest. 

Cassie landed just on the outskirts of what appeared to be a regular suburban town. Her eyebrows rose at the sign that welcomed her to Amity Park. Underneath the city’s name had previously been an older town slogan, she could still read the faded letters even though the words themselves had been removed, “The Most Haunted City in the US!” Over those faded marks was a new slogan, “A Place to Live.” Clearly the slogan had changed recently, with a real half-assed effort. 

Over top the new slogan was some graffiti in a neon green spray paint that crossed out the other words and said, “Welcome to Hell.” She supposed it only made sense for someone who would replace Hades as the lord of the Underworld to live in a place like this. She sighed to herself, switched her uniform to her more stealth focused look and crept past the city limits. 

Her feelings of concern grew when she saw what was clearly a government blockade stretching across the road into the rest of the city proper. Multiple all white vans blocked all out going traffic and the in going road was limited to a single lane. She could make out multiple government goons in tacky white suits carrying all manner of glowing green weapons; blasters, rifles, even what looked like a bazooka. 

A fence extended from the blockade and seemed to wrap around the entire city. The fence was topped with barbed wire and had strange sensors every few yards. She pulled a few wires, and connected them to the small palm computer she carried with her equipment. She might not be as techy as Red Robin and Impulse were, but she was better than Superboy, and Red Robin made sure they were all equipped to handle the basics of infiltration and espionage. 

Whatever the sensors were searching for, and it wasn’t movement, heat, radiation or anything else she could figure out on her own, they also didn’t detect her. There didn’t appear to be any cameras that she could see, so the goons were solely dependent on these sensors. This was becoming even more of a mystery, and she hadn’t even found Phantom yet. 

Cassie lifted off, flying easily over the fence to land on the other side. Both the goons at the gate and the sensors were aimed at the sky, so she had to imagine that whatever they were trying to contain was a known flier. Even if the sensors couldn’t detect her, she would have an easier time avoiding problems on the ground even if it would take longer to get around. 

She walked quickly into the mid-sized town from the outskirts and her concerns only grew. There were hardly any cars on the roads, which made perfect sense considering the road was pocked with massive craters like the town had been bombarded by meteors. The few citizens she could see hurried by as if afraid to be caught out on the streets. 

This was a city under siege, but from what? 

Also, why hadn’t the Justice League been called? 

Cassie had a bad feeling that she wouldn’t like the answer to either of those questions. 

She hurried through, her eyes peeled for any threat, as well as on the look out for the mysterious Phantom she was supposed to be making contact with. There were stores boarded up, more sensors along with loud speakers on tall poles, and posters warning the populace about a curfew. 

Cassie ducked into an alley at the sound of squealing tires. Her eyes just about bugged out of her head as a silver tank, with that same neon green detailing barreled around the corner. It took out a stop light, then without stopping carried on down to the other end of the street. The tank had what  she could only describe as a cannon on its roof, that same eerie green glow to it. 

She had fought alongside Superboy often enough that her first thought was Kryptonite, but unless there were somehow an entire city of secret Kryptonians, it didn’t make sense for them to carry weapons specifically against the Supers. She leaned out into the street to see if she could see which way it was going, or if there was any sign of what a tank like that was needed for. 

“Hey! Get out of the streets!” A voice hissed to her from the opposite alley way. 

Cassie whipped her head up. There in the opposite alley were two teenagers, desperately waving her over. She double checked that the tank had turned the corner and wasn’t in sight and she ran across to them. They pulled her away from the street into the back alley behind one of the businesses. 

She looked the two of them over once they were no longer moving. The girl was goth, with dark hair, pale skin, a leather jacket, and backpack with several plants hanging out of it. Cassie thought she might get along very well with Raven. The boy had dark skin, a ratty and stained beanie and the oldest PDA she had ever seen even if it looked modded to Hades and back. He would probably get along entirely too well with Red Robin. She would have to keep the two of them apart. 

The boy was watching back the way they had come, his PDA in his hand as he checked for any followers. The girl was watching with Cassie with the same examining glare she was used to from Batman. 

“What are you doing?” The girl snapped her question out. “We told all teenagers to stay off the streets. It's not safe with the GIW on patrol!” 

Cassie ratcheted up her mental alarm scale quite a bit. This whole town already had so many red flags it looked like a ski slope, and now she was adding even more. She set her feet and squared her shoulders. She was a member of Young Justice. She wasn’t going to let this happen. 

“I need you two to tell me everything you know. I’m called Wonder Girl and I’m with the Justice League and I’m here to help.” Cassie said, using her “Daughter of Zeus” voice that she reserved for during a crisis. Impulse always said he could hear thunder in her voice when she did that. 

“What’s the Justice League?” The boy asked, and Cassie was knocked onto her back foot. She had purposely said the main League because people sometimes looked down on YJ and TT because they were kids, but how could someone not even know about the Justice League? They were in the news almost every day for one reason or another. 

“Uh, the Justice League is a group of heroes that protect Earth? They’ve fought off alien invasions and saved lives and things like that? Because of my strength I usually help fight off meta humans who want to conquer the world or steal stuff.” 

The two teens looked completely baffled and Cassie just gave up trying to catalog the red flags in this town and just marked the whole thing as FUBAR. She would probably need the help of the rest of Young Justice to get this sorted, or maybe even the full League. 

“Well, ‘Wonder Girl’ my name’s Sam and-”

“Wait, Samantha Manson?” Cassie ignored the implied finger quotes around her hero name in her excitement that she may have just found one of the people she was looking for. 

“My name is Sam.” Sam snapped. 

Cassie ignored her clear irritation and unrolled the scroll she had been given, ice and frost cracking and flaking off as she did so. If Sam Manson was here, it made sense that she would know the other heroes the Olympians were looking for. Cassie closely examined the list she had before looking up at the boy. He didn’t look like a Jazz, or Danielle, he might be a Dan or Phantom himself, but considering his collection of tech she could see, she had a good guess of who he could be. 

“And that means, you must be Tucker Foley!” Cassie said triumphantly. 

Both of the teens now looked at her with even more wariness than before. That made sense considering what Cassie had seen, but she now had part of her mission objective in front of her. She dismissed the stealth mode on her costume, flicked her wrist to unfurl her lightning lasso and allowed some of her ‘demi-god aura’ out. 

“I am from the Justice League, and I am a hero, but I am also a daughter of Zeus, and I have been sent here on a mission from Olympus to summon the heroes of this town to come to our aid. It is only right that I assist you in any way I can from the troubles you currently face.” 

“What?” “What?”

[megtrns]

hello! i saw requests were open. :>

i feel like you would write for tf! one sentinel very well. pretty blue bastard, always draped in gold but - he does show the capability to be knocked down a peg.

a human, prized by the quintessons as "incentive".. they end up being a bit too entertaining and bring a fake prime to his knees instead.

a/n : hi robolvrr, thank you for being my first request ! thanks for putting your faith in me , i hope i won't let you down with this <3

shades of blue and shame. sentinel (tf one)/reader. (nsfw!)(mdni!)

as much as you hate to admit it, blue is a nice look on sentinel — electric cobalt accentuated by the streaks of fluorescent gold.

he paints himself like a king, all flashy and bright. which makes him more annoying to you, someone who knows the truth beneath his tower of lies. if the quintessons hadn’t been so kind to you, showering you with riches and keeping you happy, you wouldn’t have agreed to negotiating with him. it speaks volumes on how irritating sentinel was, for the quintessons had passed him on to you, a human initially abducted to better facilitate mediation between them and organic races. and this was the first time you had actually to put in the work, considering that most of the time, the quintessons don’t try to bargain before conquering entire planets.

you had no previous interest in cybertronians. you've seen plenty of impressive alien races in your line of work, the ability to transform and stand sixty feet tall shouldn't warrant even a sliver of special interest from you. but sentinel himself is a whole different conversation: conniving, shrewd, and self-serving to the point of tyranny, those who knew him behind his curated facade feared him. but while you've seen him bask in the sight of soldiers cowering at his pedes, you knew that for sentinel, nothing comes close to the feeling of being adored.

you've seen his optics and how they gleam under the sun as he steps out of his balcony to greet his naive citizens, chassis puffed out and preening as they worship him.

often you wonder how his people would react to seeing him for who he is: this cruel, deceitful pretender full of dirty little secrets. and considering that you've become one of those secrets, it gave you a sense of thrill to know that you could easily expose him: if not for a false saviour, for the mech he becomes when he's under you.

once you've discovered just how pliable the mech is under your touch, what started as a seductive technique to secure more energon for the hive turned into a weapon. you had your suspicions, from how you'd catch him staring at your cleavage (because he thought you were too busy reading the documents in your hand) to the subtle twitch of his fingers every time you furiously curse him.

before you would always have to go the extra mile to chase him down the hallways to yell your threats at him, these days you have the titan mass displaced and writhing beneath you, mouth gagged with the tie you always make an effort to wear for 'work'. with both thighs around his waist, knees pressed against the metal berth so that your cunt remains suspended over his weeping spike, you glide two fingers past the seam of his metal plating to stroke his neck cables: once, twice. he shudders at the contact, optics fluttering shut as his hips impatiently bucked upwards. but you pulled away, dragging a needy cry out of his vocal box.

" we had a deal, sentinel," you warned, ignoring how he jerked at the feel of your fingers gliding down his midsection. " haven't i been nice to you? since you didn't keep up your end of the bargain, maybe i should just leave you like this?"

he let out a sharp whine in protest.

maybe sentinel was also your dirty little secret, because as pathetic as you find the mech, you find your heart racing whenever he eagerly gets on his knees.

sentinel was never meant to rule, he was forged to serve : eager and subservient, all ready for you. his arrogance long forgotten, buried next to his pride.

and truly, there was a certain kind of thrill seeing him like this: eagle-spread with servos chained up to the wall, arms pulled up to either side of his helm, sleek, metal legs quivering against your skin.

you think blue is a nice look on sentinel, but maybe not as nice as desperation.

[thedissonantverses]

The Solas Problem:

A Lesson in Narrative Tension in DATV

This isn’t a Solas critical write-up, nor is it positive. It’s only an essay on how narrative tension works. We take Solas as he is here. Media Literacy 101 is back in session under the cut.

TL;DR: Giving Solas more screen time would have stripped Veilguard of one of its best parts. Solas.

“No real god need prove himself. Anyone who tries is mad or lying.”

We actually have two major problems with Solas right off the bat. The first is power. The power creep on this man is absurd. He’s been around for thousands of years and his magic has affected the fabric of reality in Thedas. He can kill people in their dreams. He can turn people to stone with his mind. The blight. Just…the blight. Altering the course of history is what he does best.

When we first meet him in Inquisition he is a considerable threat but not anything special for Thedas. In his reveal in Tresspasser he sent chills down my spine. In Veilguard he’s had years to accumulate enough power to tear down the Veil. If it had been a real fight with Solas in the beginning Rook would have been obliterated.

Even if Solas was an ally, it wouldn’t work. This is very similar to why Superman had kryptonite because he’s already overpowered without it. If Solas is around the whole game pulling Rook out of every fight, Veilguard would suck. It’d be so boring. There is no good way to deal with his raw power without trapping, severely injuring, or putting him to sleep or on a side quest the whole game. Put a pin in this, we’ll get back to it.

The second large writing problem with Solas is he is ruthless. This man clearly follows his own rules and he’s survived a long time against enemies many more times more powerful than the Veilguard. It’s why Rook and the team seem so “nice” in comparison. None of them would have stabbed their friends for the greater good. None of them could or ever would do what he and Mythal did to the Titans. Whatever his motivations are at any given moment are largely driven by his own sense of right or wrong. He does have one. It’s just not the same as us mortals’. Run afoul of his moral code and you’re dead.

I’m going to go on a bit of an aside but I promise it’s related. The first Alien movie is a good horror move, in part to a technique movies use to great effect. Tease your audience. The reason they don’t show the alien too much is because it would look fucking goofy. No matter how good your effects were back then, a human in a suit moves like a human in a suit. What that movie does really well in its horror is show glimpses of the man in the mask but not the whole thing at once. Let the audience’s minds fill in the gaps.

That’s what Veilguard is doing with Solas throughout the game. We know Solas is powerful. But the first time we see him it’s him failing. Then he’s trapped in time and space. We get echoes of what he can do. We don’t fully realize how powerful until you see him flinging blight back in Minrathous with the same amount of effort a regular character would use to shoot their bow. We get glimpses of his deeper motivations and foibles, but we don’t feel what’s it’s truly like to be in his way until Tearstone Island. We don’t learn about Varric until the wolf has already cornered us.

So why did they trap him?

Trapping Solas in a prison of his own design, where the key is regret, is excellent character work. We know Solas doesn’t see himself as the villain. We know he’s the type of man who thinks of himself as not just Elgar’nan’s equal, but his better. Which, maybe he is, but he is still a self-righteous man with rivers of blood on his hands who was ready to destroy the world Thedas has become in order to restore a past that can never be again. Solas is static. Unyielding. Frozen by regret. He won’t change to suit the world, he will change the world to suit him.

The examples used of how Solas could be dealt with work, but to varying degrees depending on how well they’re executed. Why matters as much as how. What the writers did was look at Solas’ prior character work and pick the best one to suit him. The way they executed this solves multiple problems at once, using the character’s own fatal flaw against him.

It’s a simple solution, really.

[moon-ayyye]

There are a lot of What-ifs when it comes to jason todd. What would've happened if bruce didn't take jason in? what if jason was taken in by selina and became stray? what if jason didn't die?what if jason was found before the lazarus pit? but one that i don't see at all is what if jason didn't come back and just stayed with the All Caste?

The Lost Days arc would go about the same as in canon (without the talia thing because ew), but after the car bomb thing doesn't pan out jason just starts looking into the batfam more. He sees his dad for the first time in years. He forgets everything and considers coming back home.

But then he finds out how his death was handled

Of course he'd still be pissed off about tim becoming robin, but more than that bruce and dick spun it so people though tim was the second robin. Jason's whole identity was usurped, and was prompted by alfred of all people. Add to that the memorial case and the victim blaming, as well as him not having a memorial in titans tower and tim talking shit about him every chance he gets and jason starts to lose hope. But these things could be fixed! These could all be explained away as emotionally incompetent people compartmentaling in order to get over their grief! right?

Then he finds the footage of dick killing the joker for tim. Sure, the joker taunted dick using jason's memory, but it was him thinking tim was dwad that really set him off. The final nail in the coffin would be bruce reviving the joker. Jason now has proof that 1. tim was indeed his replacement, and 2. Bruce's morals and dick's clean hands are worth more than his mangled corpse.

He scraps all of his plans because now he KNOWS that bruce would never kill the joker for him. Disillusioned with bruce and gotham in general, he sneaks into arkham and pits a bullet in the joker's skull, then goes to the all caste for training. If they didn't care about him, why should he care about them?

I think ducra would be less wary about training jason in this au, since his drive for revenge had dissipated, and he wouldn't "bring great evil into this world."

Since ducra wouldn't really show favouritism to jason, since he isn't as much of a flight risk or a time bomb, i think his and essence's relationship would go way better than in canon. Their main points of contention were jason leaving the caste and ducra's favouritism, and without those 2 factors, their relationship could actually flourish.

Due to the all blades being linked to the soul, it would make sense if the caste taught soul magic. This would make jason a way better fighter than any baseline vigilante or assassin. Maybe he could use his abilities to hide his body language to avoid shiva and cass' ability? The all caste doesn't get massacred here, so he learns how to really socialise, talk with people with different experiences, so he could occasionally go back to the alley or the hill to reconnect with his old friends, like dana or numbers, since he wouldn't push people away like in canon.

The untitled wouldn't be as big of a threat as they were in RHatO since there are way more people available, and jason being super trained, so maybe jason would adopt a new vigilante identity to help people on a more personal level. He considers going by Red Hood, as a taunt to the man that killed him, but he doesn't like it. It's a remnant of a past he'd rather forget. Maybe he'd go by cardinal, but he doesn't want to be associated with a bird anymore. I think marauder would be a really good name for him, a man who goes around looking for things to steal and people to fight.

You can have him interact with some justice league dark members, especially Constantine since I really like their dynamic, and he could deal with hellspawns since he wields the allblades now.

JayEssence is a rarepair, which is a shame since i think these 2 could have a really interesting dynamic if written properly, so I'd probably go with that as the endgame ship, but you could work in so many of his ships. JayRose? childhood friends on the titans who reconnected after jason studied under slade for a bit. JayEddie? same thing but they reconnect in hell. Jaytemis? they could run into eachother during a mission and they'd recognise death anywhere. enemies to reluctant allies to lovers. JayDana? classic childhood friends to lovers. The possibilities are endless

[cassafrasscr]

I keep seeing people be like, "Ashton needs to stop acting like he's still a nobody with no power or agency. He's a level 15 Barbarian with a Titan shard and Luxon powers."

And like, yes. Ashton is EXTREMELY powerful. That's objectively true. And they're definitely not a nobody anymore either.

But here's the thing. Ashton’s spent their whole life until relatively recently with various boots on their neck. And the last time Ashton tried to step out of the role of a downtrodden gutter punk - to be a somebody, to be powerful, to be a hero - they got in way over their head. He fully bought into the same hubris that got his parents killed, literally blew himself up, and almost ruined all his friendships. Especially with abandonment being one of Ashton’s biggest issues, of course that would be a setback in his personal development.

Ashton leans so hard into being a nobody because it’s safer than being a somebody. If he’s not powerful or important, his mistakes won't have the same effect as they would otherwise. If you don't matter to anyone, you won’t be able to disappoint them.

Of course, that doesn't change the actual facts - Ashton IS powerful, and he matters a great deal, both to the Hells and to the fate of Exandria. I just think they're not in the right headspace or environment to really reckon with that in the way they need to. Especially since, for the most part, they never really asked for any of it. Ashton got their abilities (Titan and Luxon) because of circumstances outside of their control (his parents messing with powers they didn't understand, and Milo pouring a Potion of Possibility into his brain while he was injured and unconscious).

Plus, having power means having more of an ability to hurt people. We know from episode 40 that he worries about potentially turning on and attacking the Hells (or about one of the others turning, in which case he'd probably have to fight them to protect the rest of the group). They also worry about their body/powers being a ticking time bomb that could go off at any time. Not to mention, almost immediately having a panic attack upon finding out that they’re half Titan.

So, yeah. I'm not really surprised that Ashton would take one look at the idea that he's powerful and important and run the fuck away. Especially after all the fallout from Shardgate. Obviously, burying his head in the sand about it isn't going to help them learn to deal with it, and there are definite parallels with Ludinus in this. It's not a rational response to the situation, and the rest of Bell’s Hells are in a similar boat - especially since they've all spent most of the campaign feeling overwhelmed and utterly inadequate for the monumental task ahead of them.

Hopefully, they all survive this and can really start to unpack the nature of their relationship to power. Preferably with the Exandrian equivalent of a therapist, lol. 😅

[cherry-romper]

Being Friends Would Include

+ Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Marco, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Levi, Erwin, Hange, Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, Porco, Pieck, Zeke

Eren; • Him insisting on carrying anything heavy for you, then that being taken from him by Mikasa. • The two of you sparring a lot. • Always jokingly at each others throats. • You teasing him about Mikasa taking care of him. • Battle of the Wits™ • Him buying you little gifts when you head to the market. • The two of you making fun of Jean and howling about it afterwards.

Mikasa; • Working out together. • Her constantly pushing you to do better in training. • Awkwardly saying goodbye to each other when split up on missions. • You running after her when she chases after Eren. • Her finally opening up to you as you both watch the stars during a night off. • You make her laugh a lot and that makes you smile. • You hold her arm when you're walking together.

Armin; • Rainy book days together. • The two of you playing chess a lot. • Him giving you lessons to help academically, and you training him using ODM gear. • The two of you both getting stronger in your respective areas and balancing each other out. • You reassuring him every time he gets frustrated. • Figuratively batting his self-loathing out of him. • You carved him a little whale out of a piece of wood and he nearly drowned in his tears.

Marco; • He's so sweet all the time. • Would do anything for you, whatever, whenever, wherever. • Buys you gifts any chance he gets. • Tends to be a blushing mess around you.  • Being friends with him means you're friends with Jean by default. • Jean teases Marco all the time about him blushing around you. • Would give the best hugs and is always there to be a shoulder to cry on.  • Is your emotional support. • You're inseparable. • You both laugh a lot. Sometimes for no reason, you just look at each other and start laughing.

Jean; • He's hopeless. You have to physically pull him away from women who has long, black hair. • He makes horrific puns all the time. • You can't help but laugh at how bad they are. • Tends to stare at you without knowing. He gets called out a lot for it in lessons and training. • Draws you all the time. He even asks you to pose sometimes. • He spends a lot of time with Marco and Connie. • Which means he asks advice them on how to be a better friend. Marco tells him to be a nice friend and give you hugs. While Connie insists and the whole "treat 'em mean, keep 'em keen" approach. • So, some days he's really nice and understanding and others he plays the "bad boy" and insists on working out in front of you.

Connie; • Oh golly, oh gosh, the absolute tomfoolery the two of you get up to is astonishing. • None of your superiors have ever had to deal with the amount of havoc you two wreak. • Half the time it's unintentional. You're both just walking messes. • For example, flying into each other during training, continuously messing up the salute and not to mention the amount of gear the two of you have broken. • Neither of you like to admit you're bad at something and end up boosting each other's ego's. • "Y/N, I'm the best here right?" "Yeah, only second to me, of course." • Laughing like baboons at the tiniest things. 

Sasha; • Stealing rations together and/or one of you stealing for the other. • Laughing fits that get the two of you in trouble over. • Neither of you having a clue in lectures and always asking for help from each other. • She takes you hunting and teaches you about her life before the military. • Both of you shitting yourselves every time you see a Titan. • Both of you are as clueless as each other. • Hanging out with Connie, Jean and Marco by a fire. • She's kind of like a cat, she'll go hunting and bring you rabbits and the like as gifts. (So you can cook it together).

Levi; • Who ever gets up first makes the other tea, it's a tradition. • "You look like shit" • Finds it hilarious when you pull faces at people you don't like but would never admit it. • Likes the fact that you have balls and can stick up for yourself but he's always there if you ever need someone's ass kicked. • You often find him slumped in his chair sleeping and always end up putting a blanket over him. • You never really speak about taking care of each other, it just kinda of happens. • Smiles to himself when you leave him little notes on his desk. • Encourages you to tidy but never forces you like he does the others.

Hange; • "Come on, it will be fun" "What part of opening a Titan is fun?" • Throws themselves onto you a lot to express emotions. Both positive and negative ones. • Tells the most outrageous stories while eating. • They're incredibly expressive and tend to hit you accidentally while throwing their hands up in the air. • Is serious when necessary and it never fails to send shivers down your spine when their tone of voice changes. • It's always funny watching them work and, as crazy as they are, you can't help but admire their intelligence. • Got you a little Titan doll for your birthday.

Erwin; • You don't see each other often because he's always working but when you get the chance you work together in the same room. • "Have you eaten today?" • Super caring. • You had a talk with him about him living a little: "you can't deny yourself your own humanity for the sake of others. Live a little. Start a family, buy a house, get drunk for Christ's sake. If you live everyday thinking about others, you lose yourself." • He proceeded sob like a baby. And that's the only time he's ever cried in front of someone. • You admire him for his leadership and he admires you for your determination. • Bought you a horse. The fastest one he could find. Trained it himself to come when called and engraved your initials into the saddle.  

Reiner; • He take being a soldier seriously and often encourages you to do the same. • He spends most of the time with Bertholdt, so the three of you are friends. • You both tease Bert about his crush on Annie. • Drags you to extra training any chance he gets. If you refuse he throws you over his shoulder and takes you there himself. • Takes you on walks to clear his head. He finds fresh air good for his mental health, and has found you have the same effect. • Repairs your gear for you. He refuses to let anyone else do it. • He gets homesick a lot. He's not one to breakdown easily but he cracks sometimes. Almost let his secret slip more than once while you comforted him.

Bertholdt; • A gentle giant. • Comes to you when he needs advice. • One time he asked you on how he could be more assertive and Jean over heard and took it the wrong way. Now Bert gets teased about it. • Distanced himself for a while because of his mission but found that life without you around wasn't worth it. • Vowed to take you with him when he goes back home, but struggled with how he'd tell you. • You are close friends with everyone in the corps, so you wake them up in the morning. Most days you leave Bert till last so you can all admire his sleeping positions. Jean predicts the weather with them. • Has the best laugh. You can't help but smile when you hear it. • He's really warm. Like his body temperature is abnormally warm. So he gives the best hugs.

Annie; • Quiet but opinionated. Never sugarcoats anything. • She's not afraid to tell you if you're not improving or if your stance is weak. • Tends to lean on walls, all cool like, and observe people from afar, but smiles a little to herself when she sees you approaching. • There's a comfortable silence between the two of you. There's normally not a need for words. • You bought some sweets one day and went to offer her one but pulled the bag away last second. "Train me." she said no at first, then you told her you'd buy her as many sweets as she wanted so she agreed. • You spend most of the time sparring with her. • She likes your determination to learn and better yourself.

Porco; • Tends to be an asshole for no reason, so you have to apologies after him: "Please ignore him" • Drags you around after him. • Take you to the markets and buys you things. • Always tries to impress you and succeeds a lot but often takes it overboard. • Secretly enjoys skin-on-skin contact and hugs but would NEVER admit it. • Likes to think he's invincible but you've seen him crack under pressure. • You call him "Porky" to piss him off coz it sounds like his name.

Pieck; • She's very soft spoken around you. • Brings you things before you even get the chance to ask for them. You just know each other that well. • She falls asleep on your shoulder a lot - often by accident tho. • If she walks upright, she hooks her arm in yours for support. • You both defend each other when criticising your superiors and both contribute to Marley. • You find her curled up on the sofa a lot and bring a blanket to keep her warm. • Cares for you and makes sure you always stay healthy. • Scares the living shit out of you when she crawls around on all fours.

Zeke; • Plays catch with you when you both need a break. • Always offers you a cigarette, even if you don't smoke. • Secretive. He's selective with his words, so he doesn't say anything he's not ready to share but he's always there to listen to your problems. • Completely different on the battlefield. Can be cold and ruthless - even a little sadistic at times. Away from the fighting, he tends to be quite warm and inviting. • A Whiskey drinker, but not a heavy drinker. He's almost never been drunk. • Hates that you want to join the fight. He feels as though you shouldn't be brought into it and refuses to let you fight. • Gives rare hugs, normally when he sees you crying, but they're good. • Has spouts of anger. They're scary as hell, he throws things and shouts, only ever in private though, he would NEVER show that kind of emotion around you. You only caught him once and just watched in horror as he destroys things - he apologised right after and still feels guilty.

[constantfragmentation]

It's bugging me...

The inconsistencies and a lack of detail and continuity in S2. S1 was all about the tiniest details.

Don't get me wrong, the animation is gorgeous, BUT --

The underwater scene is where Jinx lets Silco go.

He was RIDDLED with bullets. Yet, not a mark on him?

Why is his damaged eye closed? I thought he didn't have an eyelid. Artistically, I think having his lifeless eyes glazed over would have been more dramatic, considering it's Silco. Nah, he just sinks like Jack to the depths of the Titanic.

How deep IS the Pilt River?? I'm assuming that's where she 'buried' him.

The whole first act is so damn rushed.

No one seems to wonder what happened to Silco? He was only the main person holding the Underground together by the strands of his pomade hair. His death is a BIG deal, yet it's glossed over. No one questioned any of it???

Sevika is just, okay, let's move on like it's another day (granted, Zaunites are probably predisposed to be like that, but that doesn't make for good storytelling if you're not letting the audience in on anything), and chatting it up with Jinx as if they just bonded. I didn't feel that happen. I like that they low-key ripped into him post mortem, because that feels natural but what got them in that room together DOESN'T.

I want to know how these characters FEEL. You got that in spades during S1. But S2 is just expecting you to assume or they would attempt to take the time to use what would be great writing and evolving these characters.

Caitlin is hurting, I get it. But she went full Commando Psycho mode. Girl, everyone has lost parents, siblings, etc... She doesn't even flinch when Vi tells her Enforcers killed BOTH her parents. She's lost a beloved sister... but Cait is affronted when Vi shirks from becoming an Enforcer. Let's just forget what PIltover did to Zaun for generations and to LOADS of people.

Vi? Oh girl. What happened to you?

Jinx is a bit better but not much. I don't buy Silco's death was a zap to the brain to chill her out a bit. She's still my Chaos Queen but unless there is something to explain some shit in the following episodes, I'm going to be really ticked at the lack of care in characterizations with who are the supposed leads in this story.

Jesus Viktor. That's it. That's all I got.

Well, I did LOL when he woke up and gave Jayce the "bye Felicia" in 2.2 seconds.

We don't get to know what Ekko is thinking since all this shit went down? As far as he knows, Jinx is dead and to learn to she bombed Piltover?

The music videos substituting for the plot are REALLY bugging me. It's lazy writing. The music was used well in S1 to ENHANCE the scene (well, except for giving Imagine Dragons an animated cameo). Here, it's used as exposition, but it's not nearly good enough.

Useless characters and side-characters. Poorly executed plot devices. Uninteresting plot devices and trying to use the S1 parallels for characterizations.

S1 took time to introduce and flesh out these characters, even the side-characters.

We only had Vander for 3 episodes but he was a HUGE character. Marcus, Mylo, Claggor, Benzo, Grayson, Finn.... all were interesting and played an important part.

Jayce continues to be blah. So I'm not bothered.

Ambessa looks to be the new villain but it's not hitting with me. Plus, there's zero foreshadowing on some stuff in her arc that would have been useful last season.

I like Mel but I'm waiting to see what happens with her.

Hermydingding going all Mission Impossible. Just stop. Does he not give two furry fucks about what happened to his fellow councilmembers and Piltover?

I feel like RIot is trying to shove way too much into one season and sacrificing good story-telling to do it.

I miss the details.

So far, I'm really underwhelmed with this season.

[aschriles]

Secret identity shenanigans AU where Danny is an intern at LexCorp and has no idea the guy he's been flirting with these past few weeks actually wasn't a fellow intern, but was the son of his boss' boss, and is also Superboy.

(Yeah, that Superboy. From the Titans. The one who kept flirting with him while they were on the field, and sent him a DM on his Phantom account insisting they met during Danny's internship. In his defense, Kon wore flannel. And glasses.)

Danny might not have the best relationship with rich people (see: Vlad), but he had to suck it up if he was going to intern at LexCorp. Anyway, it wasn't like he'd have to personally deliver Luthor his coffee every morning.

Except that's exactly what happens. Somehow, by some sheer cosmic force of the universe, he ends up interning directly under Hope, aka one of Lex Luthor's personal assistant. Which means he's like, Lex Luthor's personal assistant's personal assistant... or something. In theory, it was perfect. In reality, it was stupid.

It was stupid, because Hope sends him out for Luthor's special coffee (an iced Americano from that one coffee shop all the way on the other side of Metropolis) and pastries (a whole-ass apple pie) at nine in the morning every single day when everyone and their mom knew the traffic was literal hell, then expected him to be back at the office five minutes later. Among other things, of course. For the thousandth time since he got stuck in this hell-hole, he made a mental note to burn all of Luthor's robots to the ground the next time Superman called for the JLD to help out with Luthor's stupid invasions. Stupid Luthor. Stupid coffee. Stupid apple pie.

Danny grumbled under his breath as he speed-walked inside the lobby. "Why can't Luthor just take his coffee and shove it—"

"Up his ass? Yeah, that's what I ask myself aaallll the time."

Danny whipped his head around so fast, he almost tripped on his feet. Sitting on one of the comfy couches was a guy around his age. He looked like a weird cross between a country boy (flannel and glasses) and a punk (messy dark hair, piercings, and was that a tattoo?) but like, in a hot way. He also looked—he looked kinda familiar, in an 'I know I saw you from somewhere' kind of way, but Danny couldn't remember where he actually saw him from. He shook his head, figuring he could deal with it later. "You an intern, too?"

Made sense he wasn't the only intern around, but a part of Danny couldn't help but pity the poor guy if he got stuck interning as Mercy's personal assistant. Mercy was scarier than Zatanna and Nightmare Nurse combined.

Flannel shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, I do some odd jobs here and there, so..." His face lit up, like an idea had suddenly occurred to him. "Hey, I could come with you, if you want. As like, moral support or something. You're heading to Hope's office, right?"

Danny paused. Technically, it's not like there was any harm with letting another intern tag along. Plus, he could use some help with the apple pie. "Sure, man. I'm Danny," he added, since it was the polite thing to do, even if he couldn't go for a handshake because Luthor's stupid coffee and apple pie required both hands.

Flannel grinned, all teeth, and maybe he really was famous, like a model? Or someone from TV? Danny was pretty sure he'd seen that smile before. Maybe Flannel was a random civilian he'd rescued? "Nice to meet you, Danny. The name's Conner Kent, but you can call me Kon."

[chasedeys]

Okay all of these guys working together to lie and spread false narratives (to varying degrees of success) is a sight to see. And now I'm just thinking about if Joe and Ja'Marr really were in a secret relationship that somehow got leaked, and the three of them (because of course Tee's included) have to deal with media about it and all of them are trying desperately to stick to the story that Joe and Ja'Marr are just friends! And it obviously does not work at all 😂

the entire bat saga is soooo funny 😭 these dumbasses are really genuinely shamelessly (well joe and ja'marr are while tee is...doing his best) pretending that they've never once in their lives talked about joe buying a batmobile 😭 i mean they did expand on the hell yeah tee is cosplaying as batman in the club (a whole other stupid thing they've somehow managed to drag themselves into) and ja'marr said he isn't driving that car but he'll take a pic and joe said he didn't really expect the batmobile thing to be aired etc so they aren't fully pretending the car doesn't exist so there's that but still! why would they LIE upfront 😭

and it's fascinating to me how joe and ja'marr can lie so well without tripping up when first asked (ja'marr with the extra shit eating grin after every lie like he knows they know he's lying but he's probably got explicit permission from joe to lie this time so he's milking it like crazyy) and then comparing these two master perjurers to tee losing his smile immediately and floundering before looking down and quietly saying he doesn't know what they're talking about save himmmm from those two's weird hangups oml 😭 also him being the one to get called out 'wow, so you're all playing dumb'?? he's not the one you should pin this on!! let him lie terribly in peace!!!!!! 100% believe he's innocent and just getting dragged into Shenanigans. again joe probably asked them to keep their mouths shut and ja'marr was instantly on board 'alright bet.' while tee is still sending multiple lines of '??????' to their little gc.

moving on to the joemarr of it all lmao if they just got together instead of during lsu they would be so shit at hiding it. i mean sure i can see them hiding it ridiculously well too but i can also see them just. being so fucking enamored with each other past the usual lines (that they've outright danced on in the past btw) that people have to take a pause and. idk reevaluate. but also: they're absolutely shameless (see: beat for beat i don't know what you're talking about and he bought a batmobile?) and their ability to gaslight the media climbs a whole new otherworldly level.

just ja'marr! sweet little romantic in his feelings ja'marr who once cried to titanic and any other highly emotional situations and has one hundred and one billion nicknames for his in-game girlfriends (he thinks he's us rpf enjoyers smh) would not be able to keep all that love and romance in his not insignificantly sized body from pouring out of him it's impossible not to clock when things change between them and how ja'marr is loose on the tongue for whatever he calls joe graghhhhhhhh definitely several instances of calling joe 'his boy' but in a completely different way than the way he's been saying lol.

and joe.........his faceeeeeeeeee do you get me. getting asked about ja'marr and his face flips! no he won't be smiling insanely like he does at times but his barely-there smiles people have to squint to see just bloom out wider to actual unmistakable ones often enough that people will do side by side comparisons of 'joe talking about his stats' 'joe talking about ja'marr's stats' or 'joe talking about his career game' 'joe talking about ja'marr's random comment on the weather'.

tee getting asked about these two in any form be it so are they acting weird to you or a completely normal what do you think about their latest touchdown and he trips and starts speaking tongues. i don't think he actually sucks at lying but. when people ask him to hide a particular thing for them he starts sweating 😭 and this is about his bestfriends' relationship that he cares a whole lot about so after every nerve wracking interview he stomps up to them and slugs them in the arm because he deserves to damn it. in their big ages really??

and sorry if I'm making this into crack technically but:

all the things that would be the funniest shit ever that the media notes -> 'Bengals Star QB Joe Burrow Drives Teammate Ja'Marr Chase Home from Practice 9th Week In A Row' or 'Breaking News! Spotted: Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase Feeding Giraffes Together at Cincinnati Zoo!' or 'Ja'Marr Chase Buys Couple Rings from Cartier?! Here's 5 Possible Ring Fingers to Match His!' or 'Bengals Blowout?! Starters Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase Bro-Hugging in the Sidelines in 4th Quarter Show Down!' and the lone 'Historians Would Call Them Close Friends: Why Our Humble Gossip Rag Think These Two are Fucking'

thinking of a reporter asking joe on wearing ja'marr's game day jacket for his post game pressers 'is that ja'marr's?' 'yeah mine got shredded by tigers in the locker room so.' or asking ja'marr about their long huddle all pressed up together during practice for his post practice presser 'what were you talking about?' 'oh, joe's thinking of moving to the arctic to be a penguin farmer so we were just discussing logistics.'

asking tee for whatever reason about the two showing up with matching ice for a game and him visibly freezing before rebooting and saying yeah i think their moms are in on it for some luck idk and boom everyone is calling how their moms are invested in their friendship adorable.

also hence the historians would call them close friends/teammates article going viral. sometimes their teammates quote innocuous stuff from the article leading to everyone on any social media app typing expletives in their little post box calling them baiters. mike gesicki looking straight into the camera saying yeah they're just such close friends you know I've asked them a couple times about getting matching stuff with my wife and chase overhearing this slams into his locker to break down into tears.

if there are any players podcasts like the kelces or deebos or the st. browns or micahs fucking bleacherreport ass podcast actually talking about it that would be the funniest thing out of this entire thing. talking about it on espn.....ocho......ryan clark.......all these sports news anchors who i know nothing about...........