#when he dies. the parallels die with him

[cherrymoonvol6]

happy belated bi awareness day to the bi4bi couple ever (lunter)

[arundolyn]

replaying twdg for genuinely the first time since it came out and MANNNNNN. playing this game with a fully cooked brain. theres some good writing in there. some of the foreshadowing and stuff. oof

[ckret2]

So a while ago some friends were talking about fans who claim the Same Coin theory is canon. And I made the mistake of saying:

Do you know who also has tons in common with Bill? Mabel. Yet nobody claims Bill reincarnated as Mabel. …wait now I want a "same coin but it's Mabel" AU. Funniest Bill reincarnation option. The all-seeing arsonist is making macaroni glitter art. The omnipotent tyrant is crying because a unicorn called her a bad person.

And then I overthought it for two months.

So—AU where after death, Bill's soul shoots 13 years into the past and reincarnates as Mabel. I'll call it ✨ Sparkly Coin AU ✨

Don't leave yet. Lemme show you why it works. Behold the eerie amount of parallels in their personalities, dialogue, behavior, mannerisms, tastes...

I could have kept going but my attention span ran out. All right, we all on board now? Convinced we could segue from one personality into the other? Great. Now here's why you should be interested: the juicy post-Weirdmageddon angst potential.

As long as a small fringe of the fandom still thinks Weirdmageddon is Mabel's fault, why not amp that up x100 and have some fun with it?

Is everyone sold now? Great. Let's get into the details. I've got 8 more pieces of art under the read more.

So the AU starts the instant Bill dies. Thanks to invoking his deal with the Axolotl—one way to absolve his crime, a different form, a different time—the Axolotl gives him a new shape and shoots him thirteen years into the past. Apparently, the Axolotl thought it would be very funny to stick Bill in the family that defeated him.

Which probably made for a jarring transition.

(It's fine, she's like 10 minutes old, she probably can't even tell who she's looking at. Not being able to tell who she was looking at is what got her into this situation ayyyy)

When Dipper & Mabel come back from Gravity Falls complaining about this triangular jerk Bill, their parents mention that Dipper's name was nearly Bill. See, after they knew they were going to have a boy, one night their mom dreamed about a visitor—some kind of magic pink salamander??—calling her child "BILL." Then at the next sonogram they found out they were having twins, the girl must've been hidden at a weird angle the first time, and they wanted matching names, so they thought, Bill and Bell. But they didn't really like Bell; but eventually they stumbled on Mabel, so to keep the names matching they switched from Bill to Mason. Isn't that the darnedest thing?

(Of course, Mabel and Dipper assume Bill harassed their parents to try to trick them into naming a kid after him. To be a jerk.)

When Bill meets Mabel, he's unaware that she's his future self—Bill's notably bad at doing things like, say, double-checking to see whether he's going to die anytime soon—but like... he can tell something's up.

Naturally, before visiting Gravity Falls, there were echoes of who Mabel used to be—but nothing anyone would be able to identify without context. All her Bill-ish quirks either smoothed out with time (see: how between second grade and fourth grade Mabel went from being the "freak" to the popular girl in class), or else they were accepted by her family as Mabel-ish quirks.

After they meet (and kill) Bill, they have the context to understand some of Mabel's behaviors... and unfortunately, some of Mabel's latent Bill-ness starts surfacing after she's been directly exposed to her prior incarnation.

The part of the Pines family familiar with Bill thinks the worst case scenario is that maybe Bill's survived and is slowly possessing Mabel; but far more likely, they think this is just some weird way of trying to subconsciously process last summer. Mabel doesn't think she's being weird, you guys are being weird, stop giving her weird looks. They get attacked by one triangle and now she can't wear yellow or pick up macrame as a hobby??

(It's not all red flags and uncomfortable triangle imagery, though. When Stan asks her what she'd like as a gift for some important event, she shyly admits that she thinks she's starting to outgrow her plastic gem jewelry and maybe she's old enough to get her first piece of real gold jewelry, if that's not too expensive? And Stan's never been so proud of her. Thirteen years old and already thinking about buying gold!)

But of course, the real fun starts when Mabel finds out.

That's the face of a girl who's just discovered that she tortured her great uncle. Now imagine running into the brother she possessed.

But I've already spent a million words and thirteen images on this post. If enough folks are interested in the AU maybe I'll expand on it later. Let me know what y'all think.

[sunarryn]

DP X Marvel #8

By day, Danny Fenton was Midtown High’s hottest disaster. He was the Stark STEM Scholar—one of only three in the country—famously discovered after winning some obscure international quantum physics competition at age sixteen and allegedly giving a presentation that made Tony Stark laugh, cry, and threaten to adopt him in the same breath.

The problem was that Danny had no clue he was hot.

Like, he genuinely didn’t know. He thought people stared at him because of his weird vibe or maybe because he once muttered “parallel dimension colonoscopy” during a psych quiz and the rumor never died. He figured the occasional lingering looks were because people thought he was gonna go feral and try to bite someone (which was fair). He wore hoodies three sizes too big, drank energy drinks like water, mumbled through conversations, and ducked away from people like a scared little gremlin.

Meanwhile, the rest of Midtown was losing its mind over him.

In particular Peter Parker was losing his goddamn mind over him.

It started innocent enough. Peter had just been minding his business, doing his whole friendly-neighborhood-academically-overachieving schtick, when in walked him—Danny Fenton, with a bag slung over his shoulder, silver earrings glinting in the light like a warning sign (courtesy of Sam, who declared, “If you’re gonna be mysterious and broody, at least be aesthetically consistent.”) His hoodie looked like it had a body count. His cheekbones could slice vibranium. His eyes were dead, like truly void-of-soul dead, and Peter’s first thought wasn’t even “oh, new kid.” It was “I want him to step on me.”

Peter, poor, unsuspecting Peter, had his first-ever sexual panic as Danny plopped down in the seat next to Peter and promptly fell asleep face-first on the desk with a muttered, “If I die during lecture, bury me in a black hole.”

He was in real time was realizing he was a bisexual disaster. Danny didn’t notice. Because of course he didn’t. He just blinked at Peter like he couldn’t tell if he was real, offered a crooked half-smile, and then walked away like he hadn’t just lit Peter’s soul on fire and then pissed on the ashes.

Every day since had been a goddamn trial.

Peter had spent the first week internally screaming.

The second week, he started writing hate poetry. By the third, he was doodling “P. Parker-Fenton” in the corners of his calculus notes like a 12-year-old girl.

“Dude,” Ned had said, catching him mid-sketch. “You’re literally Spider-Man. Act like it.”

Peter flipped him off with the enthusiasm of someone spiraling.

See, Danny was not just hot. He was dangerously hot. Apocalyptically hot. End-of-days, angels-weeping-in-the-streets hot. But it was more than that—Danny had this vibe, like he could kill you or cry on you or accidentally invent interdimensional travel with a paperclip and a Diet Coke. He muttered equations under his breath, got into passive-aggressive debates with teachers, and once fixed the lab’s particle accelerator by kicking it.

And Peter couldn’t look away. Not that he was the only one.

The kicker, the absolute cherry on top of the chaos sundae? Everyone thought Danny and Black Cat had dated. The way Danny would scowl, rant, and complain like he was personally offended by Black Cat’s existence? Peak scorned lover energy.

“He thinks he’s slick, but he’s just a glorified stripper with daddy issues and too many backflips,” Danny once said in class and the teacher had to excuse herself.

“I swear I’m gonna develop a neurotoxin specifically to neutralize dumbass vigilantes with cat kinks,”

Everyone assumed Black Cat dumped him.

Peter, in his infinite genius, thought: oh my god, Danny’s still not over him.

Peter had almost passed out. Because here was the thing: he was Spider-Man. And Black Cat was his worst problem since midterms. He had arrived like a menace out of hell and a bisexual’s fever dream: black skintight tech suit (developed by who-the-fuck-knows), long white hair, with a domino mask and toxic green eyes, and with an ass so perfect Peter couldn’t even swing straight half the time.

Seriously. There’d be villains throwing grenades, and Peter would be getting motorboated by thighs. There was groping. There was flirting. There was one time Black Cat bit his ear and whispered, “Miss me, pretty boy?” and Peter crashed into a billboard.

He’d tried everything. He webbed Black Cat’s legs. Black Cat purred and called him “kinky.” He yelled. Black Cat called it “foreplay.” He threatened to arrest him. Black Cat licked his cheek and said, “Book me, officer.”

Peter had screamed into his pillow for three hours.

It wasn’t even just the flirting. Black Cat had the most obscene agility Peter had ever seen. He moved like he was born in zero gravity. Feline, fluid, and just a little too dramatic, like he knew exactly how good he looked vaulting off rooftops with his ass perfectly lit by the moonlight.

Peter hated him.

He also maybe wanted to kiss him until his lungs gave out.

Worse yet? Peter was starting to like the bastard. His timing was always perfect. His gadgets were weirdly high-tech. He had a talent for saving people and then disappearing with a little salute and a wink that made Peter’s skin itch.

And then there was that kiss.

One week ago. Midtown Bank. Hostage situation. They cleared the building together, Peter bleeding, dazed, and vibrating with adrenaline.

Black Cat had grabbed his face—grabbed his face—and said, “You’re my favorite arachnid, you know that?” and kissed him full on the mouth, through the mask.

Peter hadn’t spoken a full sentence since.

Meanwhile, Danny was in class the next day, legs crossed, sipping a disgusting Monster-Latte hybrid, and saying, “What kind of vigilante triple flips over a fire hydrant for no reason? Just run, you overdramatic bastard.”

Peter, in a cold sweat, nodded and said “yeah totally” in the voice of someone whose soul had left his body.

And Danny. Danny had no idea.

Because Danny was the goddamn Black Cat.

He hadn’t meant to become a vigilante again. The plan had been normalcy. New town, new school, no more ghost crap. He was gonna do his best, keep his grades up, pretend he was just some regular nerd with caffeine addiction and unresolved trauma.

Then a ghost tried to possess the mayor.

So. Yeah.

Ghosts were still following him. And New York didn’t have a Phantom. It had Spider-Man, sure, but Spider-Man didn’t fight intangible poltergeists or ancient Babylonian curses riding the 6 train.

Danny had no choice.

He did not name himself. He wanted to be called Specter. Or Eclipse. Something cool and ominous.

But no. Someone caught a blurry photo of his suit and labeled it Black Cat, and the media ran with it. Because of course they did.

“What part of me says feline?!” Danny groaned, head in his hands.

“You land on your feet,” Jazz offered.

“You hissed at a reporter once,” Sam added.

“Your thighs jiggle like a cat when you run,��� Tucker said while texting.

“Fuck it,” he muttered, peeling into his skin-tight tech suit. “Let’s lean into the bit.”

He redesigned his suit. Added some claws. Built in some stealth mods. Accidentally made it a little too form-fitting. Like. A lot. And took notes from DC comics’ Selina Kyle’s Catwoman.

Jazz called it pornographic. Sam said it was camp. Tucker just sent a picture of the suit’s ass shot and wrote “God is testing me.”

But it worked. People were scared of him. Or thirsty. Usually both. And if Spider-Man wanted to play, then Danny was gonna play.

He didn’t expect Spider-Man to be this hot, though.

Danny had zero intentions of flirting with him at first. But then Spider-Man showed up with that stupid voice, that stupid righteous attitude, that stupid perfect thighs, and Danny’s brain short-circuited. The sarcasm kicked in. The smirks. The shameless groping.

And then he kissed him. Because why not? No one would know.

Except now he couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Spider-Man’s breath had hitched. His hands had clutched Danny’s suit like he didn’t want to let go. His knees almost gave out. Danny had felt it.

And now he was spiraling.

Because, uh. He was also kind of in love with Peter Parker. Like. A lot. The boy was brilliant, funny, painfully kind, and so pretty it gave Danny a stomach ache. But Danny couldn’t flirt with Peter because he was Black Cat, and he couldn’t flirt with Spider-Man because he was Danny.

His life was a joke.

Because Danny had no clue. About anything.

He didn’t know Peter was Spider-Man. He didn’t know Peter was spiraling into an identity meltdown because the boy he lowkey flirted with in calc was also the boy he highkey flirted with on rooftops. He didn’t know Peter was fantasizing about both of him like some bisexual train wreck with a death wish.

While for Peter? He didn’t know what he wanted more—Danny, or Black Cat.

The nerd with the hoodie and the caffeine addiction, who muttered to himself in code and looked at equations like they personally offended him? Or the cocky, sleek, thigh-baring menace who called him “pretty boy” and kissed him mid-battle just to watch him panic?

Peter was going insane.

Every time Black Cat landed in front of him, Peter had to actively fight the urge to sniff him like a lunatic. Every time Danny leaned over his desk to scribble notes, Peter’s soul left his body.

There was no winning.

“Someday,” Danny said one night, sitting on a rooftop as Black Cat and watching the skyline, “You are gonna figure it out.”

“Figure what out?” Peter as Spider-Man said, trying not to look directly at him.

“That I’m everything you want,” Danny purred, leaning into his space. “Hot, flexible, an emotional disaster.”

“You’re—! You’re insufferable.”

“I’m irresistible.”

Peter didn’t reply. He just screamed into the void later that night, face-planted into his pillow, and prayed for mercy.

The universe, as always, ignored him.

It all started at the Stark Foundation Fall Gala. A black-tie, red-carpet, industry-defining, media-covered event hosted in the glass spire that was Stark Tower, attended by the world’s smartest people and most insufferable billionaires—and two absolute disasters masquerading as teenage geniuses.

Danny Fenton, Stark STEM Scholar and walking espresso machine, was there because Tony Stark had personally invited him (“You’re legally required to be my prodigy now, kid, don’t argue, you signed the scholarship, it’s in the fine print”), and Peter Parker was there because he was Tony’s favorite intern, which meant “emotional support goblin” and “get me coffee, Peter” in the same breath.

Danny walked in like he’d been dragged from his apartment ten minutes before the event by the ghost of Coco Chanel—because he had. Sam had done his hair, shoved him into a black velvet suit that hugged his ass and thighs a little too perfectly, slapped silver rings on all his fingers, smokey eyeliner, and threatened him with a haunted curling iron if he so much as slouched.

Peter, meanwhile, had been hyperventilating in the bathroom for fifteen minutes.

He was wearing Armani. He had been forcibly styled by Pepper Potts herself, who had told him, “If you’re going to be Tony’s emotional support intern, you need to at least look like you’re not feral.” Peter had not emotionally recovered from being spritzed with Tom Ford cologne and told he looked “delicious.”

They spotted each other across the room like the first five minutes of a YA adaptation, except one was drinking something radioactive-green from a champagne flute and the other was clutching a tray of hors d’oeuvres like a weapon.

Danny blinked. Peter blinked.

Then they both looked away so fast they might’ve given themselves whiplash.

Which would’ve been fine if that was the end of it.

But no. God had other plans.

Specifically: Tony Stark’s plans.

“Come here,” Tony hissed, grabbing both of them by the shoulders. “You two teenage disasters are going to schmooze.”

“Tony I can’t schmooze,” Danny said, panicking. “I don’t even know what schmooze means, I thought that was a cheese—”

“And I have shrimp hands!” Peter added wildly, holding up his fingers still greasy from crab rangoons. “I can’t touch people like this! I’ll be arrested!”

Tony shoved them both forward like a mother bird kicking her children out of the nest and said, “Go. Talk. Mingle. Be charming. Or I’ll adopt you both and make you brothers and then who’s crushing on who, huh?”

“WHAT—” both of them said at once, violently red in the face.

“Bye!” Tony sang, disappearing into the crowd like a chaos goblin.

Peter and Danny stood in mortified silence for a full ten seconds.

Then:

“So,” Peter said. “Uh. You look… good.”

“Thanks,” Danny muttered, tugging at his collar. “I feel like a sexy baked potato.”

“You—what.”

“Just… overheated and wrapped in velvet.”

Peter wheezed.

They started talking. Somehow it spiraled into quantum entropy, the ethics of ghost containment, and whether Tony Stark was legally allowed to name a drone “Bitch Lasagna 3.0.”

Peter was sweating. Danny was internally combusting. They were both about five seconds from proposing marriage and didn’t know it yet.

Then came the moment.

A scream. A crash.

Glass shattered. Lights flickered.

“Fucking hell,” Danny muttered, already pulling off his jacket. “Can’t have ONE normal night.”

Peter, across from him, had already vanished.

Two minutes later, Spider-Man somersaulted through the crowd and launched himself at the glowing, oozing, screaming ghost that had torn through the ceiling.

Black Cat flipped down from the opposite direction, landing like a goddamn supermodel in latex.

The crowd screamed.

Peter screamed internally.

Black Cat smirked. “Miss me, pretty boy?”

“I don’t—this is a GALA, can we not?” Spider-Man groaned, dodging ectoplasmic debris.

Black Cat laughed, cartwheeled up a wall, and started firing anti-ghost rounds from his wrist mods. The ghost shrieked. Spider-Man nearly got crushed. Black Cat saved him by grabbing his waist and yeeting them both through a portal that landed them right in—

—the rooftop garden.

Panting. Sweaty. Disheveled.

“What the FUCK was that?!” Spider-Man gasped lifting up his mask slightly from the bottom to breath.

“I didn’t summon it!” Black Cat snapped, wiping green sludge off his face. “Ghosts have no concept of social etiquette!”

Danny after wiping his face realized his domino mask fell off but it was too late to cover up again.

Peter stared at Danny’s very familiar stupidly hot face.

Danny stared at Peter’s very familiar stupidly kissable mouth.

Peter said, in a high-pitched, cracked whisper, “You’re Black Cat?!”

Danny shrieked, “YOU’RE SPIDER-MAN?!”

They both screamed at each other. Like. Loud. Very. Loudly.

Birds flew off the rooftop.

Somewhere inside the gala, a waiter dropped an entire tray of champagne flutes from sheer sympathetic psychic resonance.

“YOU—YOU’VE BEEN FLIRTING WITH ME AS A VILLAIN!” Peter yelled.

“YOU KISSED ME ON A ROOFTOP AND THEN IGNORED ME IN CALC!”

“I THOUGHT YOU WERE TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE!”

“I THOUGHT YOU WERE STRAIGHT!”

“I THOUGHT YOU WERE BLACK CAT’s EX!”

“I AM BLACK CAT!”

Peter made a noise like a microwave about to explode. “OH MY GOD. I’M IN LOVE WITH TWO PEOPLE WHO ARE ACTUALLY THE SAME PERSON.”

Danny staggered back. “I—I’m in love with YOU! But I couldn’t SAY ANYTHING because you were Spider-Man and I was Black Cat and we were ENEMIES WITH BENEFITS—”

“BENEFITS? I GOT TRAUMA.”

“I KISSED YOU! WITH TONGUE!”

“YEAH AND IT WAS AWESOME WHICH MAKES THIS WORSE!”

They both fell silent. Hyperventilating.

Danny doubled over and screamed into the floor.

Peter clutched a potted plant and whispered, “This is a hate crime.”

There was a pause.

“…You like me?” Danny asked.

“You like me?” Peter countered.

They stared.

Then they both shrieked again, because this was TOO MUCH and NEITHER of them was equipped emotionally to handle anything.

And across the rooftop, where no one had noticed, Tony Stark was standing behind a pillar, filming the whole thing.

He grinned.

“I’m gonna play this at your wedding,” he whispered to himself, tearfully, joyfully. “God, I love being me.”

[cosmic-walkers]

The joy of The Rings of Power is that it showed us that Celebrimbor wasn't a fighter. He isn't this big, buff beefy elf that fandom previously portrayed him as. He makes weapons, but he doesn't use them. He has knowledge but he doesn't kill. He chooses long robes and gowns of vibrant colors, rather than armor, sword, or shield.

And despite that all, he is still perhaps the bravest elf to have ever walked the face of Middle Earth. He didn't need to be a macho type of elf to withstand the greatest foe of elven kind. He did so with his kind actions, and words.

He didn't die fighting with steel blades and fists, he died unarmed, yet still his words were enough to render Sauron helpless at the end. To make him rethink everything he'd done, to make him fear his inevitable end.

This is also important because it parallels Celebrimbor to Frodo. Frodo has no weapons, no armor, no sword or shield when he destroys the ring. He is as he is.

I am so glad that TROP gave us this version of Celebrimbor. I always, always felt that he was like that and never saw it reflected in fandom spaces and now we get it canonically. And it such a huge part of his character.

[nectardaddy]

random boyfriend inumaki toge headcanons

wholeheartedly says bruh out loud and no one can tell me different

constantly having his phone out around you so he can text you as a means to genuinely talk to you

he's so sad whenever his phone dies when yall are out together

deadass just sits there all huffy because he has to talk to you in ingredients again and not text you

you often roast the hell out of him and you think you're so funny until he hits you with the 'stop talking'

it's kinda hot though

more on the texting-

is the sweetest but chaotic man you have ever met

literal whiplash: goes from "I love you with all my heart" to "ayo why tf did yuuji just say that with his full chest??"

shamelessly sends you god awful memes just to hear you laugh

even if the worst possible times

like pulls out his phone and starts typing viciously during training just to show you his phone and you die of laughter

loves parallel play - just sitting in silence together and doing your own thing makes him so happy

told you to kiss him out loud before and he felt so bad at first because he thought he was "forcing you" even though you love kissing the man

this man can not and will not keep his hands off of you

he has to touch you in some capacity whether it's holding your hand or touching your thigh

[dclovesdanny]

Something I will never get enough of is Danny killing the Joker. However, something I want to see more of, is Danny killing the Joker for Ellie.

Like, Jason and Danny are neighbors and they’ve been friends for a little while. Jason knows Danny has the 20 something year old mechanic with a six-year-old daughter who is an absolute gremlin. He really likes them both, and he might have a little crush on his neighbor.

Then when they are out at the park or something, the Joker attacks. The joker decides to grab a hostage and who does he grab, but this six year old girl who only seems to have one person who knows her, a scrawny 20 something person. She has dark hair and blue eyes and only person who seems to care about her is her older brother/possible father? Perfect bait for Batman.

He wasn’t counting on Danny being able to fight god for his family. He didn’t realize that Danny will do anything to protect his family, that, in his literal core, he is sworn to protect his people, no matter the cost. the joker did not realize that Danny loves Ellie enough to not only die (again) for her, but to kill for her.

The Joker doesn’t die to Batman, or in some big battle. The Joker dies to a man no one knew because the Joker kidnapped his daughter. The joker dies, because he forgot that not everyone has the same hangups about killing that Batman does. The Joker dies because he pushed a parent too far.

Jason is there during all of this. I think he’s either there as red hood, watching through the cameras, or there is Jason. All three of these have many different pros for various forms of angst.

If Jason is there as red hood, he’s probably with some of the batfamily, and they are holding him back from killing the Joker. They’re trying to figure out how to make it so that the joker won’t kill this little girl, and Jason is going feral because that is his kid. That is the little gremlin who lives next-door, who knocks on his door and treats him like a jungle gym. That’s his kid. When he sees Danny jump at the Joker, he’s going to have a straight up panic attack and he’s gonna get the guns ready, but he doesn’t need to.

If he’s there as Jason, I think the joker would also take him hostage. Jason Wayne, the brat who would get him a lot of money. Especially if the Joker knows that this was the second Robin, because this just means he can get two killed in one swoop. And Jason is trying to protect Ellie with everything in him, cursing himself for not bringing a gun with him and praying that this time Bruce isn’t too late. And he can see the pain in Danny’s eyes and he is so scared to lose this family he has. He praised to a God he doesn’t believe in this time, history won’t repeat itself.

I feel like it would be most painful, if he’s watching through cameras. He’s probably injured or in the middle of doing something for his civilian life . Maybe he’s even out of town, but turned the camera on to look out for the joker, and had a heart attack when he saw the little girl next-door being held by the Joker. This man is trying so hard to get there, breaking every traffic law, praying that he won’t be too late that this won’t be the same as his death. His trauma is excruciating, because this feels like when he was waiting for Bruce and Bruce not getting there until it was too late.

No matter which of these scenarios, he needs to see Danny snap and kill the joker. Maybe, in the camera scenario, it’s just this he arrives that he sees it. Either way, he needs to see the moment, the Joker dies at the head of a single father, and the parallel of Bruce and him and Danny and Ellie need to be very apparent. Because this time the dad wasn’t afraid to kill.

This is the moment I feel, Jason would fully acknowledge that he would do anything for these people. That these two neighbors of his have become his family. The moment he sees the two of them holding each other, and the jokers body at their feet, I guarantee you this man is fighting tooth and nail not to go over his red hood exposed them. if he’s Jason, he can run into hug them no problem, but if he’s red hood, he’s not going to be able to do that.

This man will fight with Batman if he even that should get in trouble for killing the Joker. He will threaten to never ever speak to Bruce ever again, will be ready to bribe the police into letting Danny go, we will race every camera footage out there of the event, will do anything for this family.

Later that day, he won’t have nightmares of the Joker for the first time in a while. He will be able to look at his family and rest easy, knowing that there’s no way that Joker can take them from him.

[cogentranting]

"Looking at him, I can't help thinking that all the little ones seem to end up with me. Louella. Lou Lou. Ampert. I can't keep a one of them safe. Why do they flock to me?"

Hey, don't think about how Haymitch spends the next twenty-five years being given "little ones" to watch over and watching them die because he can't keep a one of them safe.

Don't think about how Haymitch went into the arena as one of 48 tributes and ends up mentoring 48 tributes.

But do maybe think about how Haymitch is the last one standing of those 48 tributes and how Katniss would have been the perfect parallel to him--the kid from 12 whose dad died in the mines so they work in the woods to help provide for the family, whose name wasn't drawn in the reaping but goes into the Games because they're protecting someone else, who brands themself a troublemaker during the lead-up to the Games, who's targeted by the gamemakers in their training score, who befriends a young kid from another district and refuses to just leave the body of a little girl to the hovercrafts when she's killed-- Katniss would have paralleled him by being the last tribute standing when the other 47 are dead. Except that she wasn't. Except that she saved Peeta. Except that her rebellion worked.

[bthemistake]

'Life in the hands of Helio'

Warning for graphic description of gore + injury below

↓

[Image Description:

With his throat slit, blood bubbling up into his mouth and soaking into his white collared shirt, Buddy Dawn struggles in the arms of Kristen Applebee's. His eyes are wide, unseeing, and hands come up to try and grasp onto Kristen as some kind of anchor, mutedly pleading for help.

Kristen's hand hovers above his throat, unable to help him with his death all but promised by his own party leader, Kipperlilly, and her god too far out of reach. She is panicked and resigned to only hold the kid she had hated moments ago. There is no miracle, no burst of light from the crystals in her pocket, when Buddy Dawn dies.

There is a visual parallel, with both Kristen and Buddy being dotted with freckles and something familiar in their eyes. If there had never been 'The Bad Kids', if she'd never asked to be put in detention with the intent to convert people to Helio, would she have ended up the same way?

Buddy had once said "I don't hold on tight, 'cause I'm in someones hand [...] You know Helio is holding onto us tight." but there is no Helio in sight, only Kristen. All that is left is for Buddy to go and meet his so-called-god and ask why he let him die, unaware he will not get an answer.]

[queen-morgana91]

One of my favorite parallels in the series. Kya and Aang’s sacrifice to the fire nation are nearly identically framed here

-the fire nation was looking for the last airbender AND waterbender

-both Aang and Kya sacrificing themselves to protect katara and the southern tribe village

Love how this scene builds how attached Katara and Sokka become to Aang. He was just a stranger they happened upon. And then when he gives himself up just like that, he becomes one of them.

For their whole lives they feared the day when the Fire Nation would return to raid and take their people to never see them again. Then one day it happens, and that’s when they learn they had a no prisoners policy in the worst way possible.

That’s why Sokka was so suspicious and mistrustful towards Aang at the beginning and Katara was so drawn to him for bringing them some simple joy they haven’t know since Kya died.

When the Fire Nation arrives, their worst nightmare comes back to life as they are helpless to wonder who will die or be taken this time. Thanks to Aang, this complete stranger who had no obligations to them, it was no one but himself. Their village was safe and everyone was sound, but realized at that moment that they did lose someone special.

Book 1 is as good as book 2 and 3 :)

[milkfordragons]

Hannibal actually did reverse time.

Somewhere in a parallel world, Will runs away with him. They escape. For a time, it’s everything Hannibal wanted, proximity, intimacy, shared monstrosity. But Will can't sustain it. Maybe he dies (by suicide, by pursuit, by some violent fate). Either way, the dream curdles. Hannibal can’t live in a world where Will is absent.

So he seeks the unthinkable: reversal.

Mizumono is already a second attempt. It’s too dramatic, too perfect, too theatrical, the stage set for an operatic heartbreak. Abigail’s murder isn’t just a final cruelty. It’s a sacrificial act: Hannibal tried to keep her alive by faking her death but it wasn't enough, so again, she dies. She must die.

She’s the symbol of alternate timelines. Hannibal “kills” her multiple times. Perhaps she never really died the first time.

When he kills her, it's not because he wants to. It’s because she is the “error” in the spell, she must be removed for the pattern to hold. “Fate and circumstance have returned us to this moment.” The teacup shatters again.

So Hannibal’s imprisonment is not a punishment, it’s a ritual site. Every act is a rebalancing of the prior attempt.

What we’re watching is not one timeline. It’s a ritual loop, shaped by Hannibal's will, until the variables align and Will finally becomes the version who survives, who ends up with him.

[msmarvelwitch]

spoilers for sunrise on the reaping

Listen, as someone who shamelessly loves fan service I was surprised Suzanne Collins gave us any breadcrumbs at all but I was more than thrilled she got it out of the way in the first few chapters. To me it sent a message that while, yes, a lot of the fan theories were cannon after all, it wasn’t what this story was going to be about. This is very much a story about finding, losing, and regaining hope even when the cards are stacked against you. This is very plainly pointed out by Plutarch being able to spin the narrative and Wyatt constantly remarking on the odds of their situation. I think the direct parallels between Katniss and Haymitch’s life also underline the fact that there was nothing more special about Katniss than the rest of the victors - she just had what they never did, which was good timing.

I think the real tragedy of this story is that the rebellion movement was beginning well before Katniss was even alive. If the timing had been right, it would have been Haymitch that was the Mockingjay twenty five years before our story even begins. However, the victors failed. Whether it was due to Beetee’s obvious emotional investment in the planning. Or perhaps it underestimating the commitment of the Capitol to improve the Arena after Wiress embarrassed them in the prior year’s games. It doesn’t matter what particular thing prevented taking the arena down, at the end of the day they failed. Badly. And each of the victors paid a price for it. These prices sidelined them for years - decades for Haymitch at the very least.

Not only did they have to live with the failure of their plan, they also had to what the Capitol grow stronger and somewhat more competent. What really struck me while reading this was the fact that even by the 50th Hunger Games, the Capitol still seems to not quite have its shit together. The train to the is noted to be a little shabby as if it’s an old subway car and the District 12 tributes even seem less than impressed by their living quarters during training. We know from Katniss and Peeta’s games that the conditions only “improve” for the tributes over the years. All of this is definitely to fatten the pigs before the slaughter, but I can’t imagine how disheartening it must have felt for the victors who could see the incompetence of the Capitol only becoming more efficient and powerful every year as more kids died. Not to mention that they had to guide those kids to their deaths under these conditions as well. No wonder they lost hope over the years and put their aspirations of freeing the Districts from the Capitol because who would know better about the human cost of this fight better than the victors? They all know that the cards are stacked against them and the odds aren’t in their favor, so they more or less fall in line.

Then comes Katniss. She instantly stirs Haymitch awake by reminding him of Louella, not to mention the fact of the emotional connection he has to her father. I think she eventually even reminds him of Maysilee by fighting back against Haymitch on the train after he immediately writes them off as two more kids doomed to die in the arena because he has seen it so many times before. Because Katniss and Peeta are no more different or special than any of the tributes that have come before them. I think the other victors no doubt were reminded of a young Haymitch once they saw Katniss in action during the games. She’s openly rebellious to the leaders before the game but instead of scoring low on their assessment as Haymitch did, she gets the top marks. She is protective of “weaker” contestants like Rue just as Haymitch tried his best to protect Louella, Ampert, and Wellie. I think it’s Rue’s death and Katniss taking the time to honor her before her body is whisked off by the Capitol and wakes everyone back up again. It’s not that Katniss is doing anything new or different than the people who came before her, she just reminded them of all the injustices they have endured for over fifty years. It’s a long list of people who not only died during the Hunger Games, but their loved ones who were killed to crush their hopes and kept them fearful. It just goes to the timing where everyone - the victors and the citizens of the Districts - have had enough and it opens up the door to hope again. Even though the Capitol is stronger than ever and the deck is stacked against them, they decide to screw the odds and fight back anyway.

Also, because of their failures, the victors are able to learn from their mistakes during the Second Quarter Quell. Nobody understands Katniss better than Haymitch and he knows that if she is informed on the rebel plans ahead of the 75th Games, their cover will be blown because she is not a natural liar or actress. As a result, she and Peeta are kept in the dark about the plot to take down the arena and I think this was critical to the success of the plot. I wish Haymitch’s epilogue gave us a bit more into the planning and scheming the victors did ahead of the games to make sure their plan didn’t completely fail again, but it’s safe to assume that Beetee, Wiress, and Mags also had their own learnings from their failed scheme that helped take down the arena and start a revolution twenty five years later.

Now I think the themes of going against the odds even when it’s hopeless are really plainly stated here but I think the similarities in Katniss and Haymitch’s stories aren’t just fan service but essential to the plot. Which I think given today’s political climate - particularly in the U.S. - is exactly the point Suzanne is trying to make. Now, I know there is a whole debate on TikTok on whether books are political…which is a a thing people truly believe these days. However, this series has always been political and I think the timing of both “A Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” and “Sunrise on the Reaping” being released over ten years after this series has been completed is no accident. Similarly to Katniss not being the first person to experience the trauma of the games and being a target of Snow, everything happening today in the U.S. is not the first time or place where something like this has happened. I think this story is meant to encourage people to keep their hope even when it feels futile and naive.

[saturnniines]

i love thinking of faroeverse as more of a role swap au than a ‘genderbend’ au (except for Denise “The BUTCHer” Collins i love you Denise “The BUTCHer” Collins) where it puts focus on existing female characters in malevolent that either don’t really get explored or who kind of just exist as backstory for men (addison larson, samantha holeman, faroe herself) and ive found that through that process it creates REALLY INTERESTING characters because once you break out of the male default for a lot of character archetypes you can start having a lot of fun with their motivations

who is Samantha Holeman in faroeverse? well, if her brother fought in the Great War (and maybe he dies in it in this universe), perhaps she worked in the munition factories, as some women did. maybe the poor conditions led to her developing breathing problems. maybe there’s something to be said here about the betrayal of serving your country dutifully until your lungs are feeble and your skin yellow from the sulfur, only to never truly be recognized for that sacrifice after the war ends and you are once again cast aside, with a parting gift of your brother shipped home in a box, unemployment, and your now irreparably damaged health. maybe the woman faroe meets wears a gas mask, but also her brother’s old clothes, someone still stuck in a time long since past (and faroe really isn’t much different, is she?)

who is Addison Larson? in canon, she’s a sacrificial lamb, a casualty of her father’s lust for power, a parallel to arthur’s loss of faroe, and not much more than that. but in faroeverse maybe she was a little girl who always had a habit of snooping around, spoiled by her rich father, who never thought to question his love for her until she finds a hidden room in their house, and starts discovering a whole other side to his life. she starts to steal books, she eavesdrops on his meetings, until she eventually learns what he has planned for her. maybe in this world where father’s love prevails, he wasn’t even going to go through with it, not his Addy. but addison wouldn’t know that. she sits at a dinner table across from a man she knows is planning to kill her all of those nights, her whole world shattered. maybe that’s when the idea comes to her; it’s him or her, and she’s Not going to die. in the end, it’s her father who is torn apart, crying out at the betrayal of his own daughter doing what he could not. and once she tastes that power, she finally understands.

addison believes that her father’s death, a ‘sacrifice’, in the most literal sense of the word, enriched her own life. faroe has never stopped torturing herself over her own father’s death, a true sacrifice made out of love. she can’t help but just see herself as addison

[continentalblue]

cod men + how they drive! :D

soap

He can't park to save his life so his car is always scratched up.

Rests his hand on your thigh as he drives, squeezing it when someone cuts him off.

He can't stand music while he drives so he usually has nature noises playing in the car.

If you fall asleep, he'll usually lean over and press a kiss to your cheek.

He keeps toilet paper, hand sanitizer, soap, and other associated hygiene items in the backseat because he's paranoid about using a public bathroom and not having any hygiene supplies.

Always stops and gets a drink for the pair of you.

Speeds a little bit.

ghost

He never actually bothered to learn how to drive properly.

His speed is "however fast I can go without hitting someone."

He weaves in and out of traffic.

He likes having you in his lap sometimes, but usually he parks you in the back. He figures, if he's going to rear-end someone, you'll be safer there.

He's a genius at parking and parallel parking.

His car windows are tinted so black that he can't actually see out of them, so they're also usually down.

He's prone to road rage so he usually squeezes your hand really tightly to avoid leaving his vehicle.

Runs red lights and stop signs.

Weaves in and out of traffic.

gaz

Easily the most responsible driver of the lot.

Drives the speed limit to the tee.

Plays soft jazz as he drives.

At every light he'll bring your hand up to his lips, kiss it, and then focus on driving again.

He likes to keep the window open when he drives.

He goes to the car wash daily and thoroughly cleans out his car every weekend.

Decent parker, parallel or otherwise.

price

His car is filled with McDonald's wrappers and empty coffee cups.

His car is pushing twenty years old, but it still works fine so he doesn't bother upgrading.

He plays CDs as he drives.

He taps his hands on the steering wheel at lights.

He speeds, but not enough to cause concern.

He's a whiz at finding parking spaces.

He holds your hand as he drives, occasionally leaning over to press a kiss to your cheek if he's stopped.

makarov

he cut the brakes out of his car.

Keeps you in his lap because if he dies, you die.

[lu-is-not-ok]

So it's been a while huh

Yeah, I'm back. I think it's time to do some catching up.

April Fool's Event

Since so much time has passed since this one, I'll summarize my thoughts as such.

I think this was both full of foreshadowing and full of the VAs showing off their ranges. The subtle battle sprite changes are fucking awesome. Transmasc Rodya. Transfem Hong Lu.

As for more specific Hong Lu thoughts (since that's what you come here for):

I don't think it's a coincidence we're seeing Hong Lu using a lower voice alongside being genuinely angry, even if through Ryoshu being in his body.

The fact that Hong Lu's eye glows when he's angry here seems pretty significant, and I believe matches my theory that his eye is tied to how he views his reality - the more detached, the dimmer, while the more "worldly", the brighter.

Ryoshu, in Hong Lu's body, instinctively covers his jade eye while staggered. This parallels her clutching her chest as if out of breath in her regular sprites, showing she's aware of it being some form of weak spot. She also doesn't do the twirly bullshit he does.

Hong Lu in Ryoshu's body meanwhile continues to be more performative and show-offy. He even holds up his hand in the same manner when staggered.

The comment about Hong Lu "still getting used to this body" as if it's something he's done before... yeah.

Also, it's interesting how Hong Lu is slowly usurping Faust as Dante's translator. How he's Dante's first choice after her. Just something to point out.

Middle Sinclair

I don't have much to say here other than express confusion over how people thought this wasn't a fitting Identity for Sinclair.

His vengeful tendencies we see on display in his own Canto aside, he's a kid with a dead family that he felt detached from before they died. Of course he'd be the type to get caught up with the kinds of people promising to give him a new, more "normal" family.

Indicant's Trial Rodion

A reflection of Rodya's vigilante approach to justice, with her corrosion representing the end result of such acts - care more for the performance of violence than for who is actually getting punished.

R Corp Hong Lu

First of all. Let's make this clear: this is a Daiyu ID. Or rather, this is a Hong Lu/Baoyu being put in Daiyu's shoes ID.

Crippling chronic condition? Check. Stark unwillingness to die despite how easy it would be to just give up? Check. Kurokumo HL similarity through sprites that aren't performing and are actually focused on the Combat? Check. Even the Post-Uptie art makes it a first where Hong Lu's jade eye isn't shown, instead his regular is focused on.

Second of all. We're seeing what Hong Lu is like when the mask of naivete is cracked. A frustrated, tired man who simply wants his suffering to end. I think this is exactly what we'll see more of in his Canto proper.

Third - just like the other IDs that released on the cusp of the new season, I think this is foreshadowing something more specific. Just as Oufi Heathcliff and Zwei West Ishmael foreshadowed the involvement of those factions (or a faked one in the former case), I think R Corp Hong Lu could likewise foreshadow a faction. If not R Corp's direct involvement, then perhaps more focus on the Heishou. There is a point to be made about their "same roots" after all.

[disco-troy]

Bruce’s parents died when he was eight. Dicks parents died when he was eight. Bruce sees a little boy crying and thinks of himself. It is only natural.

But Bruce’s parents die and Gotham give him a manor. Dick gets taken away from the only home he ever knew.

Gotham takes the Wayne and Batman names and elevates them, makes them cornerstones of the city. Gotham takes Dicks names away. Robin is taken as it had never belonged to him. Gotham redefines the Grayson name to a tool to be used.

Bruce falls into a narrative that priorities his grief as Dick's becomes muddled. As Dick's place is defined by a set of keys to a home he will never own, Bruce's has his in a W on a skyscraper.

To Bruce they are the same. He took Dick in because they have the same story. They channel the same grief into their mantles. But there are dimensions that spread far beyond that first fall that Bruce lets himself be blind to.

Sometimes I think about how Bruce needs to parallel Dicks story to his own to understand him, but he can never understand the inherent differences between him and Dick. In some ways Gotham takes from Dick in the same dimensions it gives to Bruce