#this is more of a writing issue with supee but also he just never trains with trunks but he will train the twink sayian

[afrophunk]

"Vegeta is so asexual-coded" nah he's just racist and classist

[that1emowitch]

here me out

AU where instead of doing the whole red hood thing, jason just stays with the all caste. he finally meets the batfam when the justice league is facing a threat and need the help of the all caste. could be pretty good angst, since it directly disproves every shitty thing bruce said about jay, and bruce realises that his son was alive like way later than in canon

also it's a crime that jayessence basically doesn't exist, there are 11 fics on ao3. i want jayessence and competent!jason pls

That'll be so interesting, ur right! I'm definitely gonna go read RHATO issues again so I refresh my memory (if there r any other issues with the all-caste story PLEASE lmk cuz i have a very tumultuous love/hate relationship with RHATO lol)

I think Jason would've been happier, with the All-Caste. Talia would've visited him when she could (let's make her a mom not a pedo), Ducra would've trained him in every single war form she knew, putting hum on a path to surpass even her

Essence and Jay would've been her top students (if u don't mind, could u pls give me a lil recap on what Essence's story is? I kinda got confused in that part. Was she banished? She's one of the Untitled, technically, is she not? I don't rmbr 😭)

But basically, Jayessence! I've never read a fic about it or written one, but I've always thought it was an interesting dynamic! It'd be fun to try writing it out. Maybe I'll make a happier AU, where Essence and Jason train together under Ducra, both of them named her heirs. That kinda makes them play-fight with each other which ends up with them kissing. Oh god Jason would be so smitten by her, he'd pretend to be annoyed but he knows she's a goddess, knows she could kill him in a blink, knows his blade could kill her—but they both choose to love. AAHHABSBSHS I'm dying

Then the Untitled attack.

I love Ducra so much, she's their BAMF Granny, so let's not kill her. Maybe instead, she is kidnapped, in hopes of getting Jason and Essence to surrender (They know these two could destroy them). And at the same time, the Untitled are also attacking JLA outposts, for a reason I'll come up with later. Bruce remembers, back when he trained under the League, Ra's mentioning evil beings of this type, immortal and unstoppable by all but the All-Caste. Hence they seek their help.

And with Ducra gone, Jason and Essence are in charge, and they have to meet with the JLA—with Batman, Superman, and WW, specifically.

Jason makes sure to cover himself completely. Puts white nose generators in his mask and chest plate to ward off Supes. Makes sure to double, triple check his voice modulator. He cannot risk them finding out his true identity.

Not when he's finally recovering from his past as Robin.

I'm imaging they work together for a while, with everyone noticing the Red Hood (would he still be called Red Hood, if he never returned to Gotham? Maybe? Maybe he was reclaiming it, as a way to heal himself instead of for getting revenge) basically everyone notices RH being antsy around Batman. The amount of effort he puts into concealing his identity, unlike the other members of All-Caste. His name being Joker’s old name, something deeply meaningful to Gothamites.

Batman thinks RH is a reformed Gotham villain, who he's dealt with before. He thinks that's why RH doesn't ever face him, doesn't look him in the eye. He feels bad for him, but is strangely proud (just feel like mentioning, the thing about Batman is, he cares SO MUCH. About everyone. He feels sorrow when they lose themselves to their insanity, feels guilt over it. And he feels pride when they bounce back, grow better, like Harley Quinn did.) Like, this man, this absolute machine, clearly well honed and trained, who seems more than capable of taking on the entire Justice League by himself. Clearly he has experience.

Essence helps Jason through it. Soothes him at night when he has panic attacks, because his Dad is two rooms away from him. Helps him cope. Helps him calm down.

Then one day in some battle, one of the Untitled fatally injures Jason, and Batman is the only one nearby. Batman takes a hasty decision, rips Jason's mask off to save him.

And freezes.

That... that's his son. He looks older, more scarred, but thats... that's his SON!

(ALSO another addition: when they find Ducra she's like "uncuff me, and I'll show you just who Essence and Jason learnt from" BAMF!DUCRA FOR LIFEE)

Sorry for the rambling I just kept getting ideas and I kept writing lol

I promise I'll write this as a proper story as soon as I can, thanks so much for the ask! As usual, lmk in the comments if you'd like me to tag u in updates, also feel free to share any ideas u have! I'm just writing what yall want to read that makes me happy hehe

[homielander]

ik you said in your tags “don’t get me started on homelander” this season but 😭 def do get started. i’m honestly not sure how i feel about his development this season lmao, like he’s still my fave character, but some of these writing choices had me hm. also think ryan should’ve had way more scene time this season if this was the direction they were heading…

i feel you bestie!! i was thinking about writing a very lengthy post on why i didn't like season 3 sometime soon to get it out of my system once and for all (so that i don't keep annoying my followers and mutuals who liked this season.. sorry lol) but i actually have so many issues with homelander this season that it warrants its own post. so thank you for giving me the opportunity!!

anyway, most of my problems with s3 homelander can really be traced back to one thing

like... it's giving nothing

it doesn't make much sense considering their prior worldbuilding — just in terms of how homelander and supes at large have always been perceived by the public. homelander has been wholly unmarred by scandal up until very recently in the world of the boys (butcher says as much in the first episode). yes, some fringe groups idolize him, but homelander has been carefully crafted to be popular across both sides of the political aisle. and he was literally endorsing a democrat this season! he's never been a trump-like figure, but since the writers were hellbent on him becoming more like trump as the mask slips, let’s consider it for a moment.

the problem is you have to make vought profoundly inept to do it. i don't believe that vought wouldn't utilize every resource and PR trick in the book to restore his reputation. they're extremely image-conscious. so for them to not only reluctantly approve but actually encourage inevitable PR disasters such as homelight stretches the limits of the imagination. and they really didn't have a better CEO backup in place than ashley?? seriously? there were so many obvious plot contrivances that had to first occur in order for the trump-homelander comparisons to fully manifest and that just. irks me deeply. and it's not like they did it for groundbreaking commentary either — while this show has featured meaningful satire in the past, the trumpian homelander stuff offers nothing fresh or insightful and is really boring #tome.

i also feel like, in the last two seasons, they've been able to distinguish homelander as a symbol of american nationalism from homelander the person — so there's the obvious political commentary but running parallel to that is homelander himself with completely separate motivations. homelander as a symbol distributing a weapon of mass destruction (compound v) to terrorist cells around the globe checks the political commentary box. whereas homelander himself just wants to fix a bad situation for madelyn (and it's a similar scenario with stormfront in season 2). this season, those two things merged in a forced and unnatural way and it was extremely damaging to the character. (like, why did he offer supersonic mexican food?? there are exactly two scenarios where he’d care about race — if it could negatively impact vought’s ratings, or to make the distinction between regular humans and supes. we’ve been over this!)

one thing that made homelander feel like a fundamentally different person was how openly aggressive he was all of a sudden? he's always threatened people behind closed doors or operated with just enough subtlety that he has plausible deniability in case he's questioned about it later (unless, of course, he plans to kill the other person). think of the scene with the deep in the seven's conference room in 1.02, or him and stormfront on the film set in 2.06. well that went out the window this season! now he's making vulgar comments totally out of line with his wholesome christian image to a prospective member of the seven, or openly threatening milkshake-drinking a-train in plain view of vought employees, or having a meltdown and considering lasering someone when innocently questioned about EBITDA margins. (edit: this all would have been fine if only they'd built up to it, but we saw this behaviour right away! more on that in the next paragraph)

and you may say, "well that's to show he's losing his grip!" but the reason i didn't like it was because it's not really the direction his character was poised to take at the end of season 2. we saw him in an increasingly tightening leash while his ratings were slipping, which i'd say actually makes it much more likely for him to consistently be on his best behaviour. however, we don't get nearly enough of homelander being forced to cooperate except for one scene with stan where he’s already being pissy, or homelander going out of his way to boost his ratings, perhaps by saving people. (and you know, he does do that. that's why he was so popular once upon a time.) i think kripke said something about how each season, he wants to take something away from homelander until he snaps — this season, it seems like one of the things homelander lost was widespread public support, echoing stormfront's "you can't win the whole country anymore" from the last season. but he hated that idea, remember? he's always chased broad appeal, which is why i was a little confused when ashley expressed that he dropped in ratings in so many demographics and he.... brushed it off ?? i think this whole plot falls flat for me since we don't really get to see homelander trying to win the public back (and fail). we can't feel the extent of his loss (and seemingly, neither does he) or the full force of his relief when some nutjobs cheer him on anyway. it should have been a very straightforward arc but they skipped some key steps (it wouldn’t even have taken much time! all they really needed to do was indicate that there had been prior PR efforts) and it made the whole thing incoherent.

instead of seeing this process, we get #homelight, which we're told is a great PR strategy. i'm not so sure that the optics are favourable here — he's been said to be a mentor figure to her, there's a significant age gap, she visibly cringes when they're standing in close proximity of each other, and worst of all, dating a blonde white girl after his last scandal was due to his involvement with a nazi is..... a choice. i already have a lot of trouble buying it — i think vought would put forth a much safer option for a PR relationship. nevertheless, i suppose this sets up a potentially interesting dynamic... only for it to remain completely unexplored throughout the season.

think about it! the antithesis of a superhero interacting, non-contentiously, with the true superhero of the series!! both raised as products, but ending up wildly different. there's a lot to unpack there from a storytelling pov. i've also always thought that thematically, it would fit best for either hughie or annie (the most likely option based on this season) to take homelander down, so establishing a relationship (i don't mean a romantic one) between them now would have made that future so much more compelling. idk if there's an opportunity anymore given that annie has left the seven. it's incredibly clear that the purpose of that little plot thread was pure shock value to get more conversation going after the first three eps.

[that also highlights larger problems with the season imo. 1. a refusal to give us new, interesting character dynamics (though expanding on the MM/annie dynamic was delightful) 2. a lot of evolution randomly occurring during the time jump so that some characters start s3 super different from how they ended s2 — which is so jarring! 3. annie can have no flaws even though she was learning to embrace the "whatever it takes mentality" during all of s2 and 4. a bunch of scenes existing solely for shock value and nothing more]

in general, s3 homelander was super dumbed down (i wrote a bit more about it here) and imo, lacked the emotional depth of the prior two seasons. apparently antony starr himself asked kripke to tone it down and not write homelander as a bumbling fool, which is when you know the situation is dire😭😭

link to interview

even the one scene i've seen garner a lot of praise (and i liked it a lot too!) — the mirror scene — contributed nothing new to his character (which i really think it should have done if you're going to write something so direct, but that's just me). it only reiterated what we already know: he wants love, is sorely lacking parental figures, can rely on himself and nobody else, and so on. i'll retract this if they plan to do something interesting with mirror!homelander à la black noir in the comics, but that feels too creative for the writers who came up with this season and patted themselves on the back for it. a homelander alter-ego has also not been hinted at prior to that scene, nor after it, so i'm not sure i'd even want them to go there. the point is, if that's the highlight of the character's emotional arc all season then idk... that's not great

there were other opportunities to add some emotional weight, particularly with maeve or noir or soldier boy, but the way those scenes were framed didn't really give the audience any opportunity to feel for him.

when it came to black noir, everyone was obviously far more emotional about his death, and rightfully so. meanwhile there were no allusions to homelander's complicated history with noir, which is a baffling choice considering this is the last we'll see of their onscreen dynamic. based on the last episode of the boys: diabolical (said by show creators to be canon and even dubbed "required viewing" for s3 by kripke), noir was instrumental in turning homelander into one of vought's puppets who kills out of convenience. emphasizing this would have added more depth to their final scene (from homelander's pov) but instead it comes off as him throwing a hissy fit because he was lied to... which we've already seen! at this point it's just played out.

found a screencap of the ep! it was only 20 mins iirc but it was a neat bit of background

then we have homelander's confrontation with soldier boy. one of the core themes of the season has been the downfalls of toxic masculinity, yet we're supposed to cheer for soldier boy calling his son weak and emotional and a pussy (as highlighted by butcher and maeve's satisfied, triumphant smirks in the seconds following). it just made a lot of their prior commentary ring hollow, because there's no reproof of this attitude — it's fine if it's directed towards homelander, apparently. (tw sa i'm not sure this was their intention, but they've been having tonal issues of this nature since season 1. for instance, the creators have expressed amusement at the scene where the deep was sexually assaulted and that episode did not come with appropriate content warnings like 1.01 did — again reinforcing the idea that "this fucked up thing is actually okay if it happens to a fucked up person. you can cheer." and the audience did!)

the one that hurts me the most personally is maeve and homelander, because all of the complexity that made their scenes some of my favourites of the series was sucked away. i talked about it earlier here and here (linking because i don’t want to repeat things). it was most evident during their final fight scene, though, because it was literally just a brawl devoid of feelings on either end. it was supposed to be a moment of epic catharsis for maeve, but she didn't say anything impactful or even express emotions that i could latch on to beyond a couple of smirks. and i didn't get a sense of what homelander felt beyond mild annoyance at the start. the emotional emptiness of their fight sequence is especially glaring when contrasted with their showdown in the season 2 finale, which was so much shorter and yet was packed with soooo many more emotions. 

the only other place they could have added some emotional beats is with ryan. unfortunately their reconciliation felt entirely unearned. ryan in the finale had me scratching my head. i agree with you — we should have had 2 full eps of homelander trying to win ryan back at minimum if that's where they were planning on taking him.

i guess my final complaint is a larger problem with the season, which is that the power-scaling has gone to shit. it was implied in s1 that homelander could take nukes, but maeve punched with enough power to halfway crack the floor or dent a cabinet and that was able to make him bleed. maeve's attacks should have been shown to be a lot more forceful if they were going to write the scene that way. the other problem is that maeve plus one more powerful supe (temp-v butcher, for instance) seems like enough to take homelander on, based on the way that fight was progressing. this destroys the notion they've been parroting all season of homelander being on an entirely different level than everyone else. (further, i feel like it negates the need for soldier boy and paints the main gang’s drastic actions as idiotic and callous.) most importantly, it takes away from the terror of homelander quite significantly, which was such a rich source of tension earlier on in the show.

all in all, i think homelander in s3 was pretty bad, and not in an entertaining way. a lot of people seem to like that he's becoming more batshit, which is cool and all, but that's never been the most captivating part of the character. the largest source of praise i saw for this show going into it was how they managed to revamp comic!homelander into a character that was terrifying in his competence and felt distressingly human despite being the most powerful man alive. at this point, i'm annoyed merely seeing him do progressively crazier things all while most of the elements of the character that drew fans to him in the first place are discarded for the sake of lazy political commentary.

[last-herondale]

Casual Encounters

✨Loki✨ pt. 4

Pairings: Fem!reader x Loki

Material: Angst, Fighting

Word count: 2k

Warnings: Anxiety, implications of child harm, fighting

A/N: Hello! I’ve really been enjoying writing this series! This part is more reader focused, but Loki is present. I plan on more exclusive loki x reader scenes, and even try my hand at an explicit scene at some point! I hope to explain (Y/N)’s powers soon in future parts for anyone that is confused!

💫

Sam landed the Quinjet as softly as possible just outside of the city limits along the Matanza River. Barton had set up camp not long after the Avengers went missing within the national park of Ezeiza in order to keep a low profile from the Argentinian government. With the city under martial law, the flexibility the Avengers had to investigate was brutally diminished. Missing children of a whole city was one enormous issue, but now seven Avengers had also gone missing in the same mysterious manner. The strongest of humanities heroes just gone in a puff of smoke, without a trace. This was going to be the biggest mission of your life.

Your team touched down, successfully evading detection from any government security. You exited the Quinjet and stepped into the bright Argentinian sky, blinking as the sun hit your face. In any other setting you would have loved to stop and admire your surroundings. The green forest was breathtaking in the early morning sun, the araucaria trees standing high above the ground vegetation, their limbs spread out wide as if they were embracing the sun. You could hear the river rushing over rocks somewhere out of sight, and your anxiety eased knowing you were close to water in case anything went wrong. You followed behind Sam as he led the way into the forest, your hands clenched tight at your side.

You had been on missions before, of course. Minor details where you had aided in stopping terrorists attacks, and the occasional suped up villain, but never something so vast as this. Nothing where the people you admired, the people who trained you, had disappeared. “You okay kid?” Sam asked, his tone stern but his face soft with concern. He was a natural leader, and so much like Steve in many ways, and yet he had so much compassion. He was in military mode, Avenger mode, but he was still your friend.

“Just shaken up I guess,” you admitted, “Children disappearing, now this? How could something like this happen?” You looked to Sam for reassurance, a habit you’ve had since you became an Avenger. If it wasn’t Sam, it was Steve or Tony or Natasha. Sam tried to hold his resolve, but there was a dimness in his eyes that made your blood run cold. “I don’t know. After everything I’ve seen in my life so far, I’m still surprised I can be… surprised.”

Sam patted you on the shoulder gently and turned to face Wanda, Scott, and Loki who were right on your tail. Wanda had a grim look on her face as if her mind was far away. Scott looked more confused than anything as he kept his head down chatting with Loki. Loki was staring at you, a small grin of reassurance on his mouth for a moment before he brought his attention to Sam.

“Barton’s camp is somewhere on the other side of the River. I don’t have an exact location, but he will debrief us on the situation in further detail once we find him. Wanda,” Sam addressed her, his voice gentle. She snapped her head up, determination fierce in her eyes. “If you and (Y/N) can run point ahead and find Barton the rest of us will meet you at the river.” Wanda looked to you immediately and nodded her head. You took a deep breath and nodded her head back at her. An aura of red emitted from her hands as she began to hover above the ground and started forward further into the forest. You extended one arm towards one of the towering trees beside you, feeling the water drain out of the plant and encircle around your fingertips. You winced at the sight of the now dead tree, its color now dull and gray. You hated taking life from plants, but in this case it was necessary.

Following Wanda’s movements, you used the water to hover yourself off the forest floor and through the trees. You had practiced this move several times with Wanda and Sam, but doing it under pressure, when your nerves were fried, made your movements shaky and unstable. The two of you sped past the trees, not taking time to watch the beautiful scenery pass you by. Soon the two of you came across the river easily, your body was drawn to it like magnets. You both stopped on the edge of the other side of the river, Wanda deep in concentration.

She was searching for Barton telepathically, her eyes closed and her fingers twitching with red flares. She had been on edge since she got the call from Barton on movie night. Vision had been one of the disappeared, and now she was on a warpath to get him back. You wondered what kind of pain she could be in. You knew what it was like to lose a loved one. Your mother, your father, your sister… But to lose the one you chose to love… that you couldn’t know.

“He’s close,” she said, her Sokovian accent slightly pushing through. It always did when she was stressed, “Just a couple of miles ahead. You ready?” She looked at you and your face felt flushed. “Yes,” you assured her, although your hands were already shaking, the process of flying was more draining than you had thought. Wanda didn’t miss a beat. Her face softened, and she put a hand on your shoulder.

“Don’t push yourself, (Y/N). Just wait here for Sam and the others, help them cross the river. I’ll be back soon.” You wanted to refuse. Sam had given the two of you specific orders, but the look in Wanda’s eyes indicated that she was not making a suggestion. Your shoulders slumped in defeat and you nodded to her. She gave you a weak smile and squeezed your shoulder. In the next moment she was gone, two small orbs of scarlet disappearing into the forest.

You stood there, alone within the forest as the cries of birds echoed in the distance. You examined your surroundings, letting yourself take in the beauty of the trees and the river. You had always been a nature child, preferring sunbathing amongst water lilies to playgrounds in parks. You found a large fallen log on the edge of the river and took a seat, pulling your knees close to your chest. It was hard not to think of home in a place like this.

They were memories hard to bury, but you had done it for so long that it came to you like second nature. You closed your eyes, pressing your head to your knees. You let your mind flash to images of your friends. They flickered across like still photos, all of the memories you had of them passing by, burning into your mind. I will see them again. You repeated this thought over and over again until it felt as solid as the log underneath you.

You would not lose them too.

The sound of rustling made your head snap up, your eyes darted across the trunks of trees and the thick underbrush. You got up slowly, turning your palms upwards, allowing a smooth stream of water to run up your arm. The rustling continued, getting closer and more intense. “Sam?” you called out, your body becoming tense and rigid. Your team would have made themselves known to you by now, and you moved your body into a defensive stance as the rustling continued. You took a step back, submerging one foot into the river entirely, the chill of the rushing water biting your skin.

Then you heard it. The unmistakable sound of a child, laughing. Your eyes widened, as a small brown haired child emerged from the forest. He had to be no older than five, his large brown eyes staring at you with wonder. You immediately felt drawn to the child, your heart feeling a sliver of hope.

“Hello,” you said softly, dropping your defensive stance immediately, “Are you hurt?”

The child was in tattered clothing, barefoot and dirty as if he hadn’t been bathed for days. He stood still against the trunk of a tree, the shade of the trees hiding him from the sun.

“It’s okay, I won’t hurt you,” you said softly, holding up your hands as you stepped out of the river and moved towards the boy. You took another few steps towards him, being careful not to scare the child. He was only a few feet away from you now, his features becoming more pronounced and refined. The child had scrapes on his knees, and twisted twigs and leaves amid his dark curls. He held his hands in front of him, outstretched for you to hold him. Your heart panged for the child as you took another step.

The child pulled back his upper lip, revealing a sharp row of jagged shark teeth. He hissed at you as he lunged for your throat, his small body propelling off of the tree with unnatural speed. Instinctively you held your hands up to shield yourself from the blow, a scream ripping from your lips as the child tried to bite down on your forearm. Water ripped up from the ground beneath you, killing the grass in your immediate area as it wrapped around your arm, freezing just in time to armor your arm. The sting of the cold made you cry out, but the ice kept the child at bay.

The child snarled as its teeth were caught on ice, only inches from your skin. The boy’s eyes had gone dark, his pupils enlarged, blocking out all of the whites of his eyes. His little hands were clawing at you, his fingernails scraping against the hard fabric of your suit. There was a carnal desire in the child’s dark eyes. He wanted to rip you apart piece by piece. You could overpower him, easily, but the idea of striking down the child was horrendous to you.

“(Y/N)!” a familiar voice called from behind you. You turned to look at Loki, the sound of his feet furiously slushing through the river to get to you. The child took advantage of your distracted state, and broke his teeth out of your icey protection. You pushed against the dirt with your combat boots, trying to distance yourself from the child as it dropped down into a crouch, ready to pounce again.

“Please,” you begged the child as you extended your shaking arm towards the river. It snarled again, its back arched animalistically as it bared its teeth. The world seemed to slow down as the child lunged for your throat again. You braced for impact, just as water traced the tips of your fingertips, forming thick icicle daggers on each finger. Tears welled in your eyes as the child grew closer, knowing what you would have to do next.

Before the child made contact, he was suddenly thrown backwards by invisible hands. His head made a sickening crack against the truck of a tree and he slumped on the floor, motionless. Your eyes blinked, shocked, as the ice on your hand melted away.

“(Y/N),” Loki called, his voice breathless as he crouched in front of you. You flinched away from him, your whole body shaking violently with shock. “(Y/N), it's me, you’re safe. Are you hurt? Did that thing hurt you?” His voice was stern. His hands hovered over you cautiously, unsure of where to touch you in case you were hurt.

“Is he dead?” you asked, your voice a cracked whisper, “The child… is he dead?” Loki’s eyes widened, the realization hitting him immediately. He turned in the direction of the child, but he refused to leave your side. He turned back to you, his brow furrowed. “Are you hurt?” he demanded, his voice harsh. You shook your head violently. You tried to stand, your legs wobbled as you did so. Loki made an irritated noise, but held out his arm for you to help steady you.

You pushed past him, eyes searching frantically for the child. Maybe there was still time. Maybe you could heal him… Your brows furrowed in confusion as you searched the forest floor. You had only looked away for a second… how could this be?

“(Y/N)?” Loki asked.

“He’s gone,” you whispered. You turned to Loki, tears falling down your face. “The child is gone.”

[anastasiaskywalker4]

MisterLuu

That is actually the best pairing DC can make out of Trinity aside Lois and Clark. Or Bruce

and Clark for that matter. They both fit Bruce well, though Diana is even more matched with

him. In fact she's the best match romantically for him out there. At least so far. Though

number of fanfiction and arts on the net would suggest that that spot is reserved for

Superman not Wonder Woman :D

Except maybe for Silver and Julie - all Batman's love interest are abusive and downright

toxic. Selina, Talia, Adrea, Jet. Because in terms of comics and not relationships it fits

Gotham mold. People just tend to forget it after rebirth run. Yeah the one that made Batman

impotent and unable to do anything without the Cat around. Exactly that one. And tend to

forget how terrible as human beings his lovers really are.

Going back to the point. Both Talia and Selina tried to kill him multiple times in the past, or

those close to him. Whatever right? Who wouldn't like a lover that tried to end you few times

over. Both assaulted him physically and emotionally. Repeatedly. Both scared his body and

his mind. Repeatedly. Both tried to seduce his wards (adopted sons if u like), just to get to

him. In Talia's case that was basically pedophilia. That's just sick and makes you want to

puke. Both are possessive bitches, Cat threatening his flings while they are in bed while

Talia, well Talia can even go as far as beheading (to her credit she was right with this one).

Both makes him a goddamn hypocrite. Both face no repercussions after a cold blooded

murder while at the same time he berates Diana like a dick when she came to look for his

friendship and support after Max incident. Difference is she had no choice while Selina or

Talia most certainly had. Great move Bats, hypocrite much? And most importantly they both

lie and betray him, and leave him. Over and over again. Again, that's a constant with Cat

and miss Al Ghul. Diana never showed any of those traits with any of her lovers.

Get any counselor or psychiatrist to read actual Bat love history throughout the decades

and they would be writing books on how disfuncional they are. For a love-hate dynamics

they work fine. Or for some adrenaline fueled sex, but that's it. Hell, he even banged Dinah

when they were on adrenaline high. It all has a clinical term. Trauma bonding. As opposed

to authentic bonding. Which he could have with WW, had even one of them tried.

They did not though. Out of fear of ruining their mutual respect and deep bond. In

pre-flashpoint it may have been a thing if Diana acted on it. Again, Diana, not Bruce, so cut

the crap on how he was deflecting her. He was in doubt, yeah, but clearly was ready to give

it a go. She was the one that got scared even though she was clearly had over bat hills in

love with him. Even Martian stated this to Supes. Pre Crisis ? Not really. Some flirting and

kissing, nothing more. Post-flashpoint, New 52 and Rebirth ? Also not, though DC like to

tease those two. Forever Evil gets a hint that Bruce feels more than friendship towards her,

much to Selina's dismay. And that goddamn tension when they got to spends decades

together in another realm. Mostly from Diana side again. But no. The real canon love that Diana had for Bruce was during pre-flashpoint, not counting alternative universes. And it

was so strong that it showed her loving him more than her mother and sisters. And her

lasso forced her to admit it when facing Mera. But Bruce was "dead" at that point. So yeah,

never acted upon this. Pity. You could see she regretted it.

Aside their comics history in canon universe, realistically speaking Diana is way more

similar to Bruce than Selina will ever be (or Talia for that matter). Even though at a the first

glance they are nothing alike. She's the light , he's the darkness. She believes in love and

trust, tries to see the good in everyone. He's cunning, distrustful and downright realistic to

her idealistic approach. She's honest and straight while he will not hesitate to lie or to use

violence to get results. And you know what? It makes for great couple chemistry and

tension. It may be a cliche, yeah, but Yin and Yang dynamics work. That's why Clark ends

up with Lois all the freaking time. Even on elseworlds he and Diana are a thing only after

Lois is out of the picture. But that's not the most important thing. Yin and Yang provides for

a tension yes, but it would never last in the long run. For a relationship you need also

something in common. And Bruce has that in spades with Diana.

They might be on opposite side of the spectrum but than you realize how much alike they

really are. They are both kindred spirits. Both born fighters, warriors at heart. Arguably two

of the best in the world. At least Diana is according to Batman. And judging by Wonder

Woman's choices in man that is a highly important trait to her. Both endlessly fighting for

others. Both have utmost respect and admiration for each other. Both tirelessly train to

make themselves physically and spiritually better. Constantly. And to make the other better.

Their sparring sessions are legendary. And heated. Both with a great heart and

compassion. I would argue that Bruce's compassion is even bigger than Diana's. Even

though their methods might differ they share the same goal, which he has with no other

woman. Both have the heart of a warrior and are pushed by the circumstances of their

upbringing to reach for impossible dreams. They are also two of the most stubborn and

obstinate people in DC universe. Both perfectly capable of operating solo, and yet both

performing the best in a team. And yes, Bats is a great team player. Both natural leaders

that other heroes follow without hesitation. Both selfless and able to sacrifice for those they

value, trust and love. None of the other Bat trollups have any of those traits. Not to mention

they emotionally and physically find the other highly attractive. One being a literal goddess

and the other perfect male specimen. As for Batman, his relationships tend to collapse due

to a lack of trust. He's either unwilling to bring his romantic partner fully into his world or he

can't bring himself to trust completely. While Selina got his trust now, it's recent

development. And a mistake judging by latest issues. Again. One would think he's smarter.

When it comes to Diana, he trusts her. Fully. She's not privy like BatClan is to his world, but

they aren't that close in mainstream DC. She's not a psycho with daddy issues or a violent

narcissist. List can go on. Selina on the other hand doesn't have that much in common with

Bruce than she has. Not even close. He loves her, yes. But I don't see Di leaving him

countless times over the choices he makes. Or lying, or betraying, or trying to sleep with

Dick to spite him or... you get the point. Though there is one thing that gives Kyle an edge.

Immortality. Diana won't die unless killed. It doesn't make for a great long term relationship

prospect. But then again, those are comics, and he's a goddamn Batman. He would find a

way :)

The thing is - there is no other woman that fits his world as much as Diana does. And Bat is

capable to loving deeply and going to great commitments with a special woman. He showed

it with Andrea, he showed it with Silver. Problem is he always got burned. Every time he let

his guard down and opened himself. And he would have to do it when it comes to Wonder

Woman. She deserves that. It's hard to imagine with current Bruce, but it is most definitely

possible. It would be harder than with an ex criminal or an assassin though. Because there

would be much more on the line. The other two would crawl back anyway if he messed it

up, Di wouldn't.

There is also another aspect to this outside comic universe. His partners tend to be minor

characters compared to WW. She has her own series, JL, JL dark and every major

crossover/event happening in DC. They don't. And so does Batman. Both are one of the

most popular DC characters.

Besides changes to Bruce writing that are needed to make this work (cough.. pre flashpoint

Bats... cough), it would require fitting it to their distinctive titles. And frankly Diana can easily

function without any love interest and generate money. It's even easier that way. It fits her

as an independent, strong female character. Arguably most iconic of them all. And It's most

certainly easier for DC with a tease here and there than an actual WonderBat in mainstream.

Maisterluu wrote this is a comment on a YouTube video which is dow in the comments. They make really good points for ww and bats. No hate to other DC ships with ww and bats.

[endlesstalesofwonder]

The Place of Wonder

As the man restocked the shelves, he found himself thinking about the ridiculousness of opening the shop in the first place. It had been left to rot and be broken into by the local homeless people, abandoned by the stores flanking either side as they had taken all the room they had wanted and left the remaining space of a decent walk-in closet. The man, no doubt, had made it work.

With a little magic, of course. (It was bigger on the inside. Sue him.)

It was something of an inside joke-slash-trap. Very little costumers ever realized the shift in dimensional spacing. It was the Others — the Supes, as his best friend had called them once, before becoming one of them — that noticed and called the man out. It made for an easier business transaction. The man would hold nothing back in making the customer whatever they wanted; A potion for remedying hair loss; An ale for faking the stomach flu — it was very popular in the fall season, especially during finals week; Blessed silver chains that helped resist the call of the moon; Chicken bones laced with monkshood to help urges of hunger.

Wednesdays were the most active. It was something in the water or in the air that made the people flock to the business.

Or the fact that he knew a leprechaun that owed him a favor and a focusing charm stuck to the back of his calendar.

The week before the full moon was also the busiest. Wolves ranked as his best customers — including what he deemed as the “cousins”: coyotes, foxes, and hellhounds. Plus the occasional jaguar. Following were the Fae (faeries), incubi, then vampires.

The man made sure to set all of his clocks — an entire wall’s worth of space, each one designated to a certain species and location — to remind him of the coming time of the month.

Which was today.

The clocks began to go off. A chill ran down his spine as a soft bell was swallowed by the sound of different screeching alarms and whistles. The jars went flying. The man went falling. Everything went to shit in a manner of seconds.

But the man didn’t hit the floor. No jars were shattered. The clocks were still ringing.

The man looked up to find another, his stubbled jaw square and dark eyebrow quirked into an odd judgmental curl. The jars were frozen around them, some of their contents also frozen, spilling from their containers. It only took one too many falls to cast a protection against accidents just like this. Especially if they happen more than three times a day.

“Welcome to The Place. Can I help you?”

Square-Jaw dropped him.

He’d never say that he swore in front of a customer. (But he did.)

The other man’s face was still screwed up as though he was carrying a lemon in his mouth and trying to conceal it. His eyes flicked from him to the wall.

Oh. The screaming. The man stood, albeit was a challenge without help, then slammed his fist into the wall. Like a ripple effect, each clock silenced and left the men in complete silence.

“Can I help you,” he repeated with a little more smile and I’m-sorry-you-had-to-see-that-Let’s-forget-it-ever-happened.

Square-Jaw crossed his arms, rose the eyebrow even higher suggesting, I’m-not-forgetting-that-awfully-embarassing-fall-and-damsel-catch-so-long-as-I-have-power-over-you.

Damn, he thought. He busied himself with grabbing the jars left in the air and returning them to their rightful place on their respective shelves. The one clock, with a cartoon cat stretched so its tail became the pendulum, gave him an apologetic smile and shrug.

Thanks. For nothing.

“I need a pair of manacles that could be worn out in public, but still have the restraint and control of a normal set.”

Wolf. The witch turned around, slowly descending from his height on the ladder. The man certainly didn’t look like a new-turn. The wolf under his skin felt old, trained, protective. Born. Alpha.

He hadn’t had an Alpha in the store in a while. He was out of practice in the traditions of deals and trades. To hell with them.

“Male or female?” How was it even possible to hike an eyebrow up higher than it already was condescending him. The witch crossed his arms. “I need to know for the shape of the binding. Bangles look better on women. Cuff bracelets are rather neutral, but I can wrap them in leather strips to personalize them for the wearer.”

Ha. Wearer. Were-r. He thought he was funny.

“Stick with the neutral. I don’t need any backlash for getting the wrong thing for the wrong person.”

The witch shrugged. “Sounds good to me.”

He walked to the main counter in the back of the shop, the wolf close at his heels but not too close. Caging a magician in his own workplace was asking for a curse or misplaced misfortune spell.

The man plucked out a pen from his pocket — he’d enchanted the damn things after losing and buying too many replacements — and his schedule planner appeared, open in front of him. “I can definitely have the pair done before the full moon, possibly in two days — three if you want leather.”

“Why?”

“I buy and prep the material myself. Removing the scents from the leather is best to help with claiming certain objects as theirs, especially within larger packs.”

“No.”

He stopped writing, drawing out an exasperated sigh of What-do-you-mean-no-Do-you-want-the-damn-things-or-not.

“I can bring you the leather. You won’t have to worry about the scenting, except for your own.”

“I have—” special gloves for these kinds of things, I’m not an amateur, he wanted to say. “Don’t worry about it.”

“And I’ll need four pairs.”

Sweet Gods, the witch thought. “You’ll be pushing more towards the moon.”

“That won’t be an issue.”

The witch tapped his pen against the table. Click-ClickClick-Click-Click-ClickClickClick — The wolf caught the pen and his hand. The heat from his grip, and overall excessive body temperature, made him want to push his own fire into the touch. His magic, however, wanted to do nothing. Content.

He gulped. “I’ll need a name. For the order. And a number.” For the order.

“Hale. Derek Hale.,” he barked out, followed by a series of numbers that were atrociously arranged but easy to remember. Forever.

“I’ll call when the order is—” The front door rang. The wolf was gone. “—Ready. Way to go, Stiles.”

*

It took two days to shape the iron into the cuffs and another two to bless them. Stiles sat on his ass and watered the plants in the front window, which started whistling at passing people to get them to come in or at least give them attention, waiting for ‘Hale’ to show up with the leather for his own order. He should have denied the request, but who was he to deny the opportunity to spend less money?

He waited the full work day, inching closer to flipping the sign and getting the hell out of there, when the door chimed. A beautiful woman, almost equally beautiful as Square-Jaw-Hale, stood there with a cardboard Vans box. Everything about her screamed wolf, from her glinting smile to the wicked gleam in her eye. Her wolf did nothing to conceal itself. It pranced around wanting to be noticed, even flashing its eyes at the witch.

“Can I help you?”

She scanned him, all too obviously and stalling in all the wrong-right-places. Particularly, his face. His eyes. “These are for you.”

Stiles took the box from her, expecting a bomb or at the very least an enchanted can-of-worms trick. Instead, there were worn strips of leather in various sizes and lengths. The collective energy of the pieces made him think of a large home, adored, an even larger family, connected. Hale did well.

“Thanks.”

“I should be thanking you…” She leaned forward, squinting at the small badge on his shirt. “Stiles.”

Stiles quirked his eyebrow. Hale was getting to him and he’d only been there for a few minutes.

“Laura,” the woman offered in return, along with a hand. “Hale.”

“Ah. Makes sense.” The wolf did feel familiar, similar in some ways and different in others. She was an Alpha as well, but looser yet firm. There was a hidden strength to her that she wanted to keep that way. “Tell him thanks. Again.”

The woman turned on her heel, giving a half-assed salute on her way out.

Even the plants turned to watch her as she left. The Valley Lilies looked as confused as Stiles did. He flipped the sign on the door to Closed and buried himself in the back room to finish the damn order for the damn Derek Hale.

*

The clocks on the wall liked to taunt him. Some of them liked to rearrange their numbers and make Stiles freak out over missing his lunch break or not closing on time. Others tried bending their numbers to spell out certain messages that customers should not be able to read in public establishments. There was a collectible clock that his grandfather had given to him as a kid with a pair of parrots in the center sitting on a branch. They softly sang every hour and half-hour. They screeched when Stiles needed to clean their glass so they could see the customers better. He was cleaning said glass when they started to sing — nay, scream for their lives — sending Stiles, once again, to the mercy of the floor — And into the hands of another man.

Stiles looked up — “We have to stop meeting like this.”

The man dropped him. Again. This time, there was a little push just to make it hurt more. Not that he’d ever win that argument with the wolf.

Stiles got himself to his elbows, already winded. “I told you to come by tomorrow.”

“I was in the neighborhood.”

The clock chimed overhead: cuckoo, cuckoo. “Liar.” He didn’t need the clock to know that.

Derek stared at the wall as though they had personally offended him. Which, they had. Very personally. He crossed his arms over his chest — How many times can a man do that before popping or ripping something?

He cleared his throat. “Just give me the damn bracelets.”

Stiles jumped to his feet in one swoop. “Why, Derek, we haven’t discussed the matter of payment.”

“Money isn’t an issue.”

“Establishments like this,” he gestured to the room for dramatic effect, but the wolf simply growled, “don’t normally take money.”

“So, what do you want? Blood? My first born?”

“Geez, what kind of witches do you deal with?” The young witch huffed, leading the man to the back counter once again. He reached beneath the tabletop and retrieved the same Vans box that had been delivered to him, opening and showcasing the items like prized jewels.

Derek nodded. “Then what do you want?”

It seemed like anything was on the table with the man, short of murder and dressing up in the cotton-tail-bunny costume from A Christmas Story. “Well, I’ll give you a choice. You can either pay me in 10 happy memories—” The man took a sharp inhale. “—Or you can go on a date with me.”

“Excuse me?”

“A date.” Stiles didn’t want to be the one to assume, but the man must have had one or at the very least heard of the word before. “Two people. Possibly a movie and some snacks, or if dinner if more your style, we could share a plate of spaghetti—”

“Does it have to be 10?”

“Hey.” Stiles frowned. “Is a date so bad?”

Finally, his eyebrows lowered in a not-quite-menacing-but-I’m-trying-to-prove-a-point glare. “I’m not good with… people.”

“I’m a hot mess on two left feet.” Stiles pointed to the damn shelving unit that was the cause of the whole ordeal. “People aren’t my strong suit either. I do make a mean steak.”

Derek did this thing with his mouth, curling and pouting in this contemplative should-I-even-consider-doing-this shape, then picked up the box of cuffs. “So long as it’s not spaghetti.”

“Is that a yes?”

“It’s not a no.” His eyes scanned over his face, stopping at his cheeks, nose, then lips. “Tomorrow. Seven.”

Like an ass in a romance film, he turned on his heel and made for the door. Stiles squawked, climbing over the counter instead of simply walking around it. He wasn’t one for clear thinking. Clearly.

“Tomorrow’s the full moon.” Don’t you need to be with your pack came out as, “Will you need those cuffs?”

The wolf stopped short of the door, hand posed on the glass. “Don’t worry.” The man turned over his shoulder, eyes burning red and grinning feral but very, very much in control. Stiles lost his breath. “I’ve got plenty of control.”

The clocks stopped ticking. The plants stood at tip-top shape. One of the jaws of the channeling dolls dropped wide open.

The wolf smirked. “See you tomorrow, Stiles.”

The store was still when the man left, the door shuddering in his wake. Nothing wanted to move first before Stiles could put himself back together in a decently functioning being. He pounded his fist in the center of his chest, muttered a prayer, and made sure to touch and brush past every talisman of good luck on his way to the back room. He’d need it.

[gothamdetected-a]

an idiot’s guide to ra’s al ghul. 

ok so at this point im really gna say fuck dc canon, and go completely off piste and write my own.

dc really don't know how to write this man a backstory and he literally has one of the least developed and simultaneously confusing origins of any batman rogue. so here, lemme fix that.

ra's al ghul is a moniker, a title that is passed down. anyone who leads the league of assassins/shadows, becomes ra's al ghul (roughly translated to the demon's head). this explains how a White Man, henri ducard was able to become ra's al ghul in batman begins. at the passing of the head of the league, the next in line, by order of physical and mental prowess, becomes the next ra's. bruce himself is, at one point, supposed to pick up the mantle - the current ra's considers him his only worthy successor (a la arkham city & some of the comics from the 80s/90s), the man who will replace him and exceed him. however bruce, due to his unwavering morals and refusal to kill in order to bring "justice" ends up spurning the league, and is disowned by ra's in a very effective way - he tries to kill bruce. ra's still holds some sort of belief that bruce will return to him, despite all of this. he uses talia and then damian as a pawn in this game, to draw bruce back to the league and have him become the next demon's head.

so who is "ra's", or at least the goateed, green pant suited, scimitar wielding ninja who is most commonly seen as THE "ra's"? well, dc couldn't really make up their minds, so i'll do my best to patch it together from the 8 different versions, and compile something that agrees with most of it.

ra's was born approximately 600 years ago, to a man known as the Sensei (an asian martial artist) and an unknown mother of arabic descent, somewhere in the middle east. little is known about his early years, other than he was obsessed with the sciences, and became a physician with a wife named Sora. he made many discoveries ahead of time - understanding microscopic pathogens, how to cure diseases such as cholera and typhoid, although his greatest discovery was the Lazarus Pits - a natural phenomenon containing a mysterious green liquid with immense restorative properties. ( this is not to be confused with the fountain of youth at shangri-la, which his father, the Sensei, used). ra's uses the pit on the son of a local sultan who is dying, but when the boy returns, he is not all there. the empathy is gone, and he gets pretty funky about killing people, including ra's wife, sora. it is important to note, at this point, ra's is not called ra's, but dc have never given him a name so idek what to call him. so we don't know his real name, age, or what his chilhood was like. lets keep it that way, we stan an air of mystery.

the death of his wife and the overpowering grief leads to a fixation with revenge - ra's trains furiously to master martial arts and eventually kills the sultan, his son and razes their city to the ground. at this point he becomes "the demon's head" and founds the league, with the aim of eradicating evil from the world, mostly through assassination and genocide. which, you know. isn't great. this is also the period in which ra's begins to use the lazarus pit on himself, in order to prolong his life. he seeks more pits throughout the world, travelling extensively, and finds three more: one in switzerland, one in what will later become gotham, and one on infinity island, making a grand total of four. dc can go fuck themselves there is literally only four, you can't just keep making more when it's convenient. ra's intends to only use the pits until a worthy successor can be found for the league, but two problems occur; one) he starts going a bit nuts from over using the pits, and it does become like an addiction and two) he never finds someone he considers worthy.

so, skip through a bunch of wars he fought in, the league becoming globally established, and the industrial revolution. ra's doesn't like that. bad machines, destroying the earth, coating the skies with pollution and leading to greater inequality. so ra's decides it's time to purge humanity, and leave only the people he deems worthy behind, in a fresh clean world (in a real james bond villain move.). he builds wonder city, beneath gotham and around the gotham lazarus pit, but the city is never used because ra's does something mad stupid and falls in love. so much for eco terrorism, he's now off having babies with a woman named melisande. or one particular baby - talia. due to ra's having been using the pits for centuries before boning this poor woman, talia comes out with slowed aging abilities. ra's eventually murders melisande when she gets antsy about him training their kid to be a master assassin. he does a very similar thing with a russian lady to produce talia's half sister, nyssa. so by now the 20th century is in full swing, ra's has a cute lil murder family and the league has become a smaller part of a huge underground organisation called The Demon, at which ra's sits at the head. he still hasn't found a successor though, and he's getting Old. the lazarus pits are no longer bringing him back 100% - he loses more and more of his sanity with each ressurection. and then. wow. bruce wayne appears. and ra's sees a huge amount of himself in this kid, the loss, the anger. boom, we got ourself a successor.

we all know how that wound up.

so ra's is now Personally Mad at batman, and we get the Contagion storyline. back to his old, eco-terrorism ways, ra's unleashes the clench, a really nasty virus that's definitely worse than your average cold. batman eventually finds and disperses a cure, but gotham is Mad Fucked. damian wayne is born, trained by his mama and gramps, and then abandoned at 10 on bruce's doorstep. there's a brief interlude where bane also goes to train under ra's in the hopes of being the worthy successor and marrying talia instead, but then everyone realises he's one sandwich short of a picnic and ra's kicks him out in his ass once batman beats him in another fight. there's also some funky moments where ra's

• tries to resurrect thomas and martha wayne. it goes about as well as you'd expect.

• pisses off both of his daughters who start to work against him. talia half teams up with supes. wild.

• lets his guard down and most of the lazarus pits are destroyed, leaving only the one beneath gotham.

• tries to body swap with his grandson (i literally hate dc)

• watches batman accidentally kill his old dad the Sensei, by dragging him into a lazarus pit which destroys the nasty man's corrupted soul and heals bruce tf up which is how dc get away with him looking permenantly 30

• has another, estranged child, who becomes the White Ghost

• helps tim find bruce after he "died" but then becomes a lil bitch over it and tries to do a ninja take over of gotham and destroy anything about wayne. he fist fights tim, and dick, and then lo and behold it was all a test or some shit, which is the dc version of "he woke up and it was all a dream".

• makes superhumans in whale wombs which honestly, when i read the issues, i wanted to Die. literally straight up end me.

there's a bunch more stuff but im not a masochist enough to keep going. the point is, he's an old naughty man, kind of bruce's father in law, definitely insane, and dc will probably drag this mans back at some point. but i like to go with the arkham knight ending, where bruce chooses to cut a half-resurrected ra's off from the last of the lazarus pit, and drops his dying body off at the gcpd to an indeterminate fate, while nyssa becomes the new demon's head. its a good ending. makes sense. works well with everything. gives him a solid out. but honestly they won't leave him alone and he'll be back soon i'm sure, being pesky and owning really freaking cool swords.

so yeah, that's a rough and ready guide to ra's al ghul, because dc really can't manage this themselves and i'm made to pick up the slack.

[dxmedstudent]

Hey dx. F1 here. I feel like quitting. My clinical supervisor has set me a mountain of extra presentations etc which I'm struggling to do at all given how busy the rotation is, with me staying late regularly and I'm so tired. Feeling like quitting. He's threatened to fail me. I want to call in sick and never come back. I probably won't but I feel so stuck.

Hey, friend. I’m  so, so sorry to hear your first rotation sucks this badly. No new FY1 deserves this. It’s a scary enough time as it is without this added drama and pressure. This is not normal, and it’s not OK. That sounds unfair and unreasonable; people shouldn’t be threatening to fail you; failure isn’t supposed to be a threat to beat people with, but a last-ditch tool to point out truly unsafe doctors when all other methods of communicating with that trainee have failed. This isn’t normal, and it’s not OK. I doubt that they’d fail you, not because they are a nice person, but because failing trainees tends to make departments look bad, and if it’s investigated further it’d make their life difficult. However, some people are particularly manipulative and abusive, and I know firsthand that when people look like they can make your life really difficult (or do), it can be really scary. Have you considered speaking to your educational supervisor? Or failing that, your head of training in your hospital? This isn’t normal, and your clin supe isn’t acting normally or appropriately. Asking someone to present cases is OK but threatening to fail you is  a completely inappropriate escalation for whatever issues they perceive with you. If all fails, your training programme director is also someone who could be involved if required; they handle trainees for the area, and they aren’t tied into the local hospital’s office politics, and their aim is to pass as many juniors as possible. Ultimately, the system needs you, needs us, and it’s not in their interest for you to suffer or fail. It’s also possible for clinical supervisors to be changed; your TPD has the power to do this, and that might help remove a lot of the problems. When I was struggling at work, I ended up speaking to them all. And it can really help; the system does have allowances to provide for burnout and mental health, too, but you need to work within the system. Which means that  you absolutely can call in sick; work related stress is a real thing. You don’t have to justify it; mental health is just as real as physical health, and taking time off because you are suffering is valid. I do suggest, however, going to your GP. Not because they can fix things, but because they can help you deal with anxiety and depression if they happen to be an issue (and for many of us, they can start or play up when work becomes hell), but also they can support you in getting sick leave whilst you recover and figure things out. Sometimes occy health and the PSU (professional support unit) also have a role to play in supporting you. Please don’t make any snap decisions about leaving medicine; when I have had jobs/departments that burned me out, I remembered the advice from the Tea and Empathy group that was basically this: never make snap decisions; you never know how big a part of your desire to quit is the toxic environment of your current workplace, and that’s a factor that can be changed by speaking to your deanery, whereas leaving medicine is more permanent. So take some time, and see what your deanery can do to help you.   Please consider taking some time off, and speak to people. That’s what I did when I was struggling at work (and people factors were, I’m not going to lie, partly an issue), and it made a huge difference. So many people I know have struggled with a bad rotation, in a busy or toxic department or with seniors from hell, and many of them took some time off, or sought help for mental health reasons, and it makes such a big difference. It really does. You’re not alone; so many of us go through something similar, and I’m so angry and so sorry that it keeps happening. I really wish I could do more other than be mad on your behalf. Incidentaly, the T&E group on FB that I mentioned is well worth checking out for support and advice! i highly recommend that you do so; you can message the mods to post your message anonymously for you if you’re afraid of people seeingthat you posted it. I recommend you contact them because then it opens up your story to a range of peers, and perhaps they’d come up with answers that I haven’t. But most of all, please, please don’t suffer alone. Talk to people. Particularly if you’re getting thoughts of self-harm or suicide. This really is just a job, and as with any job, nobody ever has the right to threaten you or make you feel miserable. I’m so sorry you’re going through this right now, but you’re not alone. Please write in, whenever things are getting hard.