#wilson is so ruthless here

[thankstothe]

[unadulteratedsoulsweets]

A DC X DP IDEA #29

The Heir

Imagine dis…

You know what, it���s been a while since I added the infamous Al Ghuls to my stories.

…

The Lazarus Pit, a sacred lake in the League of Assassins' fortress, was said to provide immortality and bring back life. However, its underlying nature was considerably more sinister than its therapeutic properties indicated. Ra's al Ghul, the centuries-old leader, stood before the pit, his ancient and knowledgeable gaze fixed on the pool's depths. He sought the ideal successor to take his mantle and lead the League into a new age of domination. 

Ra's al Ghul had governed the League for generations, utilizing its vicious assassins to further his goals. As his death approached, he realized he needed to safeguard the League's future for it to survive. As the Lazarus Pit continued to bubble and churn, Ra's al Ghul considered the gravity of his decision. The selected heir would need strength, talent, wit, and ruthlessness to traverse the League's treacherous internal politics.

Ra's al Ghul's ravenous thirst for power ruined his yearning for the ideal heir, Talia's son Damian. Despite knowing Damian had the detective’s DNA, Ra was concerned that his influence would corrupt his heart and undermine his ruthlessness as leader of the League of Assassins, just as Damian's compassion and sense of justice would jeopardize his legacy.

Ra's al Ghul stood in front of the Lazarus Pit, its menacing glow casting eerie shadows throughout the enormous chamber. Though he was not religious, he couldn't help but feel fascinated by the magical power hidden within. He had achieved immortality here, at the very founding of the League of Assassins, and he was now looking for something even more valuable: a worthy heir to carry on his legacy.

Ra's offered a secret prayer to the Lazarus Pit, pleading for an heir who would transcend all others. And, as if in answer to his intense desire, the pit erupted in a dazzling burst of light, temporarily stunning Ra's and his collected assassins.

When the light faded, they saw a sight that struck them with awe and wonder: a newborn floating serenely amid the Lazarus Pit's shimmering waters, its eyes gleaming with an otherworldly green light. Ra's felt a rush of elation and insane glee pouring through his veins. He saw in this infant the embodiment of his deepest desires, the ideal vessel to carry on his legacy of conquest and immortality.

Ra's al Ghul approached the newborn with almost fanatical reverence, reaching out to hold it in his arms. He felt a force emanating from the child, a potential so huge and untapped that it sent chills down his spine. Here was his heir, the one who would take the League of Assassins to even higher levels of power and dominion.

As his supporters watched in wonder, Ra's al Ghul pronounced the newborn to be his chosen heir, the League's future leader. And in that moment, basking in the light of the Lazarus Pit, he realized that his legacy would last for centuries.

…

Talia stood in the shadows of the League's fortress, her heart full of mixed emotions. She had previously thought her son, Damian, would inherit her father's legacy, but the appearance of Daniel Daan Al Ghul dashed those expectations. The resentment of being passed over for a new male heir wounded her, reflecting the patriarchal norms that had formed her existence.

Nonetheless, as she watched Daniel develop under her care, she couldn't deny the wisdom and power emanating from him. His eerie green eyes appeared to look right through her, penetrating her soul with their ferocity. Despite her initial disdain, she found herself captivated by the youngster, seeing in his brilliance that much above her desires.

When Daniel was just five years old, he shocked her by entrusting her and Slade Wilson with separate sections of the League to lead. It was a gesture of trust and empowerment that left her dumbfounded, as she realized Daniel saw potential in her beyond her role as caretaker or assassin and guardian.

In epochs gone by, when the female hand grasped the scepter of might, she ascended to the echelons of immortality. Why am I precluded from such transcendence with you? I perceive the dormant titan within you, hence I proffer my dominion, both to you and to its awakening, for in you resides the essence of dominion.

He told her when she asked why. At that moment, she realized the extent of Daniel's strength and compassion, and she promised to serve him faithfully.

Talia's allegiance switched dramatically when Daniel personally intervened to save Jason Todd, her beloved’s son, from the lunacy of the Lazarus Pit.

Intervening just as her father, Ra Al Ghul, was about to order Jason Todd's execution because he was no use to him or the league, Daniel silently appeared beside her father and slowly walked down from the throne to the floor where Jason Todd was kneeling, still brain dead, as it was still a mystery to all how he was revived as he dug himself out of his grave.

Guard the tender soul, mend his wounds, for he is but a fledgling, entrusted to my care for solace and salvation.

He proclaimed to her father, who stared at Daniel, perplexed as to why Daniel wanted to keep this teenager, but agreed to utilize the pits for his purposes. When Jaosn emerged, he was already deep in the pit madness; when he raced towards Daniel, all assassins had created a wall around the heir, but Daniel told them to step aside; with a single touch, the madness left Todd and he went out.

Talia took on her job as Daniel's right hand from that day forward, leading him with her knowledge and cunning. Though her heart grieved for Damian, she knew Daniel was the rightful heir, destined to lead the League to greatness. And when she stared into his hypnotic green eyes, she saw not just a leader, but a judge and a god on the rise.

…

Slade Wilson, often known as Deathstroke, had always been a formidable force in the League of Assassins. His skills were unparalleled, and his reputation was legendary. However, as the years went by, a seed of ambition germinated within him, fuelled by a desire to seize League leadership for himself.

The discovery of Daniel Daan Al Ghul's emergence as a new heir fueled Slade's internal strife. On the one hand, he wished to stage a coup, seize authority, and establish himself as the legitimate leader. On the other side, he was captivated to the mysterious power emanating from Daniel, the heir born of the Lazarus Pits.

As Slade trained Daniel and Damian, he couldn't help but be amazed by Daniel's extraordinary abilities. The youngster was a genius in every way, with an intellect and prowess unparalleled by anybody else. And when Daniel, with his penetrating green eyes that appeared to capture the essence of the Lazarus Pits, recognized Slade's worth and appointed him to a position of responsibility within the League, Slade felt a weird mix of awe and reverence.

Untouched by the forge of opportunity, you, a blade honed in both physique and intellect, lay dormant amidst neglect, gathering the patina of obscurity. Yet, now, I bestow upon you the helm of leadership, for only you possess the whetstone to sharpen others to their zenith

Daniel informed him after he sought for an audience.

In that instant, Slade realized his fate was connected with Daniel's. He pledged his unwavering service, promising to serve his new lord until his soul was shattered. Slade saw Daniel as more than just a leader but as a being with incredible power and potential. And as he peered into Daniel's fascinating green eyes, he knew he'd follow him into the depths of hell, for even death couldn't break the link between master and servant.

…

Damian Wayne, raised under the League of Assassins, had always felt he was meant to carry on his grandfather's heritage. But when Daniel emerged from the Lazarus Pits, enveloped in their miraculous waters, Damian's fate changed.

As they grew, Damian was awarded the duty of Daniel's guardian, a position of great distinction in the League. He fully committed to this role, practicing tirelessly to prove himself worthy of defending the League's successor.

Damian was upset when Daniel unexpectedly dismissed him from the League at the age of 10. He couldn't understand why his lord would dismiss him so abruptly. Damian confronted Daniel, desperate for answers about his dismissal.

Youthful spirit, the horizon stretches before you, beckoning freedom's call. Yet, wanderer, when the winds of destiny bring you home, return to me. I relinquish the chains of selfish desire, for I discern your potential for greatness. Embrace the world, then return to my side, where together, we shall forge greatness anew.

Daniel then disclosed his genuine goals, which were to drive Damian to greatness and help him reach his full potential outside of the League. Though initially astonished and offended, Damian realized the underlying message in Daniel's actions and decided to earn his master's trust.

Going to his father's side, Damian sought out Robin's mantle, battling Tim Drake for the title. In doing so, he aimed not only to recover his place by Daniel's side but also to establish himself as a suitable successor to his grandfather's legacy, ready to embark on the path of greatness that Daniel had envisioned for him.

…

Daniel, a young heir to Ra's al Ghul, led the League of Assassins with unrivaled potential and strength. His wisdom and charisma won the respect and allegiance of powerful individuals such as Lady Shiva, Cheshire, and David Cain. Ra's al Ghul trusted Daniel to protect his legacy, knowing that the League would continue to develop and prosper under his leadership, assuring its domination for future generations.

…

Daniel meanwhile at the back of his mind kept screaming as he never thought that it would get him far. 

He was just walking around Amity when his ghost senses pinged something he could not see, one moment he was in his teen self and then he was a baby surrounded by ectoplasm and being carried by someone with major fruitloop vibes. He tried he tried, he tried to become a cryptid like Clockwork since it always makes him grit his teeth at the vague sentences that came out of him, heck even Pandora and Frostbite look at Clockwork and thought of strangling the ghost for his cryptic answers, he is pretty sure he does that for shit and giggles, but it made him look like mature and wise, someone who has infinite wisdom.

Danny thought of laying down low when it came to training but with the combined efforts in training with his mom and the various ghost mentors and fighters in the Infinite realms, he became a formidable fighter before he even reached his double digits. As years passed by each time he tried to deflect or even pass on his so-called political power to others was returned with undying loyalty that he didn't need. 

He just hopes that the Bat Furry brigade can help him out.

…

PS: If someone out there wants to continue or make a fic about this you are free to do so, don’t forget to tag me though.

PPS: As you can see, I posted a bit early, I am busy during May so this is another early post. bye-bye!

[camilledlc]

I think Wade Wilson is way more intelligent than people give him credit for. Or, another character essay no one asked for :

This will be based both on comics and movies. Also, spoilers for Deadpool and Wolverine.

I think it's often said that Wade doesn't know how to read situations, as he often acts inappropriately during them. He doesn't seem to sense the mood of the person he's talking to, angering them more often than not, and he doesn't really care about watching his mouth around children, etc. There are tons of examples of Wade being 'stupid', and 'immature', blah blah blah. But I don't think that's quite true.

Wade has also numerous moments where he perfectly reads a situation. He is extremely aware of how others may perceive his scars, he figured Negasonic Teenage Warhead pretty easily during the first movie (when talking about sarcastic comments or whatever, if I remember correctly). He knows how people act and think, and he definitely knows how to assess a situation. When he got Johnny Storm killed, he knew what he was doing. He was into a dangerous situations, just having been kidnapped and he couldn't fight, not even knowing how strong and what powers Cassandra Nova had. But by turning her against Johnny, not only was he able to assess her, but also prove that he wasn't here to cause her trouble. It was a cruel and ruthless action, but it was smart nonetheless.

Besides, people often forgets very important facts about his skills. Wade is an extremely good fighter, and that's partially due to the fact that he's a master at almost every martial arts. He knows a bunch of them, and he is capable of practicing them with impeccable form. He's also a master at espionage, infiltrations, cover missions, etc. He knows how to handle a lot of different weapons, and he is canonically one of the best fighters in the entire Marvel Universe. All of those skills require a certain level of intelligence. Fighting demands to remember the different styles and techniques, as well as enough practice to switch between them easily. Espionage, infiltration, and cover missions demand someone who is capable of discretion and and ability to judge a situation, notice details that no one else would and invent on the spot creative ways to do things. All in all, he has to be extremely smart to be able to do all of that. That's also without counting the fact that he knows how to speak fluently five different languages.

With all of these proofs, it's impossible to say that Wade is dumb. But why does he acts like it?

There is no official answer as to why Wade is this way. The most you can get is that he is extremely mentally unstable. This is the result of both a bad childhood and very traumatizing experiences as a superhero. It is said he was already mentally unstable during his childhood, so I'm inclined to believe that it also has something to do with his brain in general.

What I personally believe is that Wade is someone who gets bored extremely easily. He has ADHD (not really official in the movies, but canon in the comics), and he always seems to jump from one topic to the other. His mind is often considered a mess, and he himself sometimes has trouble keeping up with it. I think that someone like him has to be stimulated at all times, because boredom is definitely the worst thing that could happen to him. Even in the last movie, he seemed to hate his job because of how boring it was, not hesitating to go back into action and becoming more and more himself again as he just do exciting things. He has always been like this, even before he got his regenerating factor. When he did his job, he wasn't always careful and often loud-mouthed. It didn't interest him to just kill people, he wanted a fight. He wanted a back and forth, a sort of game. He needs to feel in danger, needs the thrill of it.

But then he gets his mutation. Suddenly, he can't die, he can't be seriously hurt, nothing has any real consequences. And so the games became boring. What is the point of putting himself in dangerous situations if he's never really in danger? How boring it is to do a job where you're perfectly safe? The only kind of thrill he can find anymore is by having the back and forth verbally. That's when it has consequences, and people actually able to surprise him, to beat him even. Attacking by talking his is one way to not feel bored. He surprises, he shocks, he annoys, but it's always different. Even during the last movie, when he was with Logan, he clearly said they didn't need to fight, yet he couldn't stop edging him verbally, always finding ways to push his buttons.

Wade is a very bored person, with a great understanding of where the limits are. And because he's so good at finding the limits, he's even better at crossing them willingly, sometimes at the expanse of the people he loves, because he can't be bored.

(I also like the interpretation of him just needing to be at the centre of attention, but I think it's a bit more classical and has already been done and re-done. So, this one is a bit trickier and way funnier for me.)

[eat-limes-bitches]

Hell Hath No Fury Like A Farmer Socrned

PAIRING: Female Rancher! Reader x Mafia Boss!Bucky Barnes

SUMMARY: When his lover is snatched from her ranch, everyone better watch out, and not for the reason they all thought.

WARNINGS: Cannon-level violence, mentions of blood, fighting etc.

Word Count: 1284

A/N: Wow here we are! My first AU! I had this idea while I was a work the other day and thought it was funny. Sorry if it is not that coherent but I tried. If you guys want to see more of this pairing send me some ideas! I'd love to try some more of these two!

Enjoy! <3

Divider by Rookthorne

James Bucky Barnes was known for many things, brilliant, cold, ruthless, fierce ruler of the Brooklyn mafia, amongst many other things. One thing he was not known for was his cool temperament when someone he cared for was in danger which is why his two most trusted men, Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson hesitated outside of their boss's office door, not sure how they would break the news. After sucking a deep breath, the pair walked into the room. Bucky sat at his sturdy redwood desk, feet propped up as he leaned back in his lavish office chair. His gaze snapped from the contract to his men standing in the doorway before returning to the papers in his hand as he spoke.

“How may I help you, gentleman?” His deep voice reverberated across the room.

“They’ve got her, boss,” Sam stated evenly, ice dancing across each word. Bucky was on his feet in an instant, staring down the mean in front of him.

“What?” He hissed, any other person in his company would have shivered at the venom lashing out of his words, but it just caused Steve to sigh looking his boss, his dear friend in the eyes.

“They got Y/n at the farm this morning. They just sent in a live video feed that Stark has pulled up in the conference room no-”

Before the words could finish leaving Steve’s mouth, Bucky was shoving past them and all but running down the hall to the conference room. He burst into the room to see Tony messing with the camera feed while the rest of his most trusted men sat around the table, staring at Bucky waiting for his reaction. Bucky walked over to his chair placing his hands on the back of it as he stared at the screen playing the live video feed of Y/n sitting there, tied to a chair with some plastic-coated twine, no doubt from the truck she was in earlier that morning.

Bucky’s eyes traced over her frame, looking for any injuries. If there was so much a hair out of place he thought as his ringed fingers gripped the plush material even harder, causing his knuckles to turn white. As he continued his assessment he landed on her face and it was then that he sucked in a breath, taking notice of how her once soft lips were now busted up and the small gash across the bridge of her nose. What caused him to let out a breath was the overall look on her face. She was livid. Her jaw clenched tightly, her once sparkling eyes dark with fury, he could practically see the rage pouring off of her. Evidently, the guards standing on either side of her took notice as they began to shift uncomfortably.

She's going to be fine. Bucky thinks to himself as he lets out a small sigh of relief.

Bucky pulled out his chair and sat down calmly, catching everyone in the room, including Steve and Sam who had joined the room just a few moments ago, off guard. He cocked his head sideways,

“Will you let them know that we are all present Stark? That seems to be what they are waiting on.” He spoke, his tone even and calm causing everyone to share looks as Tony patched in the audio.

“Afternoon Barnes.” A voice called out as a figure walked around from behind the camera revealing Brock Rumalow, the leader of the rival mob who had been fighting with the Barnes Corp. For many years.

“Looks like you are starting to slack, she was an easy grab.” Rumalow sneered as he approached Y/n, walking around her chair as he ran his hand up her arm and wrapping a hand around the back of her neck causing an even more crossed look to appear on her face.

“Such a shame, I don’t understand why you would let such a pretty little thing out of your sight.”

The atmosphere in the conference room was tense. Everyone knew about the sweet little cattle rancher Bucky fell in love with many months ago. He had finally brought her around during the Christmas party last month where she was loved by everyone who was able to talk with her. However, she was new to this world, his world and so everyone was worried about her the moment they heard she was taken, but watching her now, she didn’t seem the least bit scared, more annoyed than anything, causing confusion to ripple through the air, but no questions were asked as Rumalow continued speaking,

“I believe she has a few things to say to you, James.” He crowed walking away from Y/n with a pat on her cheek, returning to his position behind the camera while she let out a loud huff.

“Yeah, I got some things to say alright. If you aint here in the next hour, I’m gonna be walking home myself. I got a mare due any day now and these asswipes didn’t bother to close the cattle gate after they got me so now all the cattle are probably running amuck stressing out poor Parker.”

Bucky let out a soft chuckle, only Y/n would be worried about her poor farm hand while she sat tied down to a chair by her boyfriend's rival gang.

“I got the location of the camera Buck,” Tony calls out from behind the computer, “It’s only a few blocks away, in that old warehouse on the junction of 5th Avenue and Bakers Street.”

Bucky brushed invisible dust off his pants and started to speak when there was a large commotion coming from the video feed.

Everyone watched in pure shock as Y/n snapped the twine holding her in place, jumping up and kicking a chair at one guard and wrapping the now wrecked twine around the other's neck yanking him down to the ground, his skull hitting the floor with a sickening crack.

Once the guards were dispatched, Y/n glanced to her left before darting off in that direction, the shock of her escape must have finally worn off of Rumalow because everyone, except for Bucky, jumped to their feet as gunshots began ringing out behind the field of view of the camera. There is a loud metallic “thwang!” before Y/n returned to view, holding an old shovel with a small smattering of blood on it and an even more disgruntled look on her face as she examines her once clean cream and blue plaid shirt that was now ruined by a few small patches of blood.

Bucky smiles as he hears a few curses leave her mouth along with a “I just got the blood out of this shirt”.

Y/n then walks up to the camera, letting out a huff as she picks it up and starts making her way towards the side exit. She glances down at the camera before she starts speaking,

“By the looks of it, you have 45 minutes to get here before I start walking, which believe me you do not want me doing that. ‘Cause I swear to God and all that is holy James Buchannan Barnes if that foal is on the ground by the time I get back I’m whooping your and everyone else in that room's asses.”

Bucky chuckles and stands up looking at Sam and Steve as he motions for them to come with him to the garage to pick up Y/n.

“It looks like she had them after all.” Bucky muses as they enter the elevator. The other men nod in agreement as Sam then says, “Remind me to never piss her off.”

[echoes-of-a-dream]

matthew "matt" murdock | daredevil

back to mcu masterlist

ONE-SHOTS

mini-me

a slice-of-life of mom!reader x dad!matt, in which matt has two new favorite superheros, even if they do attack him, figures out parenting, and can't quite keep his hands off you.

marriage of genuine fradulence

you and matt have been best friends since being raised at st. agnes together, since he beat up a bully for you. now, you work for him at nelson & murdock. but when matt is framed for a crime, and you're the only witness, and there's no way you can give your testimony in a way that both exonerates him and keeps his vigilantism safe... there's one solution anyone can come up with: marital privilege. the only way to keep you from having to testify and matt from prison? marriage.

tatted up, tied down | 18+

you really can't be blamed for what you're doing. if you were in a court of law, you'd plead insanity and win, because really, it's not your fault. it's your husband's, coming home with a new tattoo when he knows what it does to you. but judging by the smirk on his face, he doesn't mind the reaction at all, the smug bastard. which is when you decide to wipe that stupid expression off for good.

ONE-SHOT SERIES

like father, like lover (aka: daddy issues 101) | bruce wayne's daughter reader

if you're being incredibly honest, you have absolutely no idea how you ended up here, in a different world, where the heroes are different and vigilantism is... illegal? and entirely unstructured? the closest this world has to the jla is the avengers, some group that you have a gut feeling is about to go down the toilet, and you've never been so disappointed to be proven right. luckily, there's a brightside, a law firm you've started working with where one of the partners is really cute. and knowing your luck, also a vigilante or something. once again, you've never been so disappointed to be proven right.

BOOKS

for richer or for poorer | wilson fisk's daughter reader

(loosely based on the broadway musical "newsies") in the days of the gilded age, trusts, bosses, and political corruption rule new york city. wilson fisk resides at the top of the pile and doesn't appear that he will come crashing down any time soon. but matt murdock, aka daredevil has had enough of his city being destroyed and the people in it trampled on. so he decides to do something about it. lucky for him, he has an in--someone who is equally as passionate about changing the status quo: wilson fisk's daughter, you.

blind instinct

when you find matt unconscious and bleeding out, your instinct is to take him to the e.r.: good instinct. when they won’t release information on his condition to anyone outside of kin, you lie and say you’re his wife: bad instinct. when matt wakes up from surgery with amnesia, believing when the doctors say you’re married, you play along to keep him safe: you don’t even know how to categorize that one.

the skeletons in my closet, they're resurrecting | wilson fisk's daughter reader

you have been running from your past from as far back as you remember; you want to be something good, something better than how you were raised, want to block out the part of you that's bloodthirsty and ruthless and choke it out of you. but when your father comes knocking, you are unaware of just how much you'll be pulled to the middle of a battle between your closest friends and your closet skeletons.

BOOK SERIES

legally blind ‘verse | mcu!peter parker’s sister reader

(legally blond au, with a sequel and a prequel) reader, the daughter of richard parker and half-sister of peter parker, has always been a little too stubborn for her own good, held on to things a little too tightly. so when her boyfriend tells her he’s done with her, because she isn’t ‘serious’ enough, well… parkers don’t give up. so clearly, the only logical option is to completely deviate from her career plan leading up to this point and go to law school to get him back. and probably fall in love with the cute defense lawyer interning for her professor landman. wait, what?

[zeroducks-2]

I am conflicted. Your SlaDick art makes me go hnngg, but I've never found Slade to be a particularly interesting character. A good 80% of what I see about him on here is just discourse, which usually points towards a character being super intriguing, but most of what I've read in the comics he just seems like 'Generic Assassin Character With Bonus Divorced Dad Elements' What am I missing out on???

(Also, can I have a link to your header image? I need to reblog that asap)

Hey Tiger! How are you doing? Unfortunately I can't give you a tumblr link to my header image because tumblr's puritan ass considers it too much and took the post down LOL (it is literally just a guy in lingerie so idk what they're on about). You can have the Bluesky link instead.

Okay so about Slade. I honestly don't get the whole, uhh... "it's funny cause he's divorced" thing going on in the Slade fanbase. Like yeah he used to be a military man, he got married and had kids, but because he secretly became a mercenary and made lots of enemies, one of his sons very nearly died and his wife (understandably!) divorced him for it. I don't get what's funny about it, I don't get why people go "LOLOL he's a divorced guy!" like where's the punchline exactly? Lots of people get divorced is that a funny thing...?

Well but anyway. He used to be a very complex, very gray character in the 80s, when he was written by Wolfman and Perez. Initially he was not exactly a bad guy despite acting in the role of an antagonist, he was going against the Titans to honor the memory of his dead eldest son. Of course being a mercenary with little qualms about killing people put him in the gray area by default, but he was nice with the kids when the situation allowed it, very loving towards his middle child (Joseph, who also was a Titan), and he and Dick held mutual respect for each other (to the point that Dick convinced Bruce that Slade was actually a good man, and a honorable man who would never break his word. Which tbf was true).

The run Deathstroke The Terminator which ran from 1991 to 1996 is interesting and complex, selling itself like a Macho Man Thing! With Guns! And Explosions!, while it's actually tackling delicate themes such as parental grief, loss, CPTSD, the horrors of war and such. Slade's incrollable friendship and loyalty towards William "Billy" Randolph Wintergreen (former comrade in arms) is a very important and fairly touching aspect of it, and Slade's struggle to just Be A Good Person despite everything (and failing) is imo very compelling.

Over the years (and at this point irremediably), Slade has veered from being a gray, complex and multidimensional character into being only a villain. He stopped being caring towards his family (or he's directly manipulative and abusive especially towards Rose, youngest child born from adultery), he stopped being "fatherly" towards the Titans, and lost complexity overall. What he gained were impeccable Daddy Dom vibes, also thanks to the cartoon (Teen Titans 2003), where a Slade Wilson inspired character (called only "Slade" and voiced by Ron Perlman) is the embodiment of evil and has a fixation on young Robin Dick Grayson.

There are more "modern" moments in which Slade is still an interesting character. Like when he tried to steal the speed force from Wally (and eventually got it from Ace) to go back in time and save his eldest son's life (and failed miserably, but managed to change the fact that Grant, his boy, had died alone, because he held him through his last moments). The Slade you see being shipped with Dick is sort of an amalgam of all that... sometimes he's the sharp, wicked monster of the tt03 cartoon, sometimes he's a more gentle elder man who genuinely grew fond of Dick, sometimes he's a piece of garbage who's toying with a kid, and most of the times he's a ruthless mercenary who will stop for nothing and no one to fulfill his contracts... but he has a soft spot for Dick.

This last bit of characterization comes from the most iconic Nightwing run (1996 by Devin Grayson), and it's where Dick and Slade have some of their most interesting interactions since the New Teen Titans run of the 80s. There Slade acts like a lazy but dangerous big cat, and Dick has his carefully studied methods of dealing with him, which work because Slade is very fond of him basically.

There are more things to say but this post is long enough already! I feel Slade is one of the characters who have been done dirty by DC executives, because they have a hard time dealing with gray characters overall. He's versatile when it comes to fanworks because his characterization is all over the place (except a couple core concepts he's a different character in each media he appears in, basically), and Sladick is ridiculously hot and works imo very well in lots of different circumstances.

[hilsonamore]

SEASON 8 HOUSE MD SPOILERS

Season 8 Hilson in a summary

Wilson; Ugh house… fuck you. Like , you know what? FUCK YOU

House; nah come back please you love me i know you do

Wilson; i think ill be mean and ruthless and hot and dying

Wilson; tell me you love me or else-

House; no

House; *gives the most romantic speeches, has wet puppy eyes, puts wilson’s comfort above his need to relieve his pain, is soft-*

Wilson; okay so turns out i don’t want to follow through with this-

house; Nope. Bye

Wilson; You selfish bastard. All these years- i’ve stood by you day and night, i’ve given my money, my soul, my time, my whole existence has been built around the satisfaction of your desires, and for what? For you not to be here when i need you the most? Oh you goddamn son of a b-

House; *kill’s himself*

Wilson; um- what the fuck? Okay now i���ll talk shit about you in front of everyone attending your funeral because you were nothing more that a nihilistic, misanthropic, selfish bastar-

House; shut up

Wilson; wait, what is happeni-

House; let’s run away together to live out your last five months and make out sloppy-style under the sunset

Wilson; okidoki :D

[longwuzhere]

Some cool Easter eggs I caught watching My Adventures with Superman that I want to show to people so they can be in on it with comic book readers pt2

Episode 1 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 3 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 4 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 5 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 6 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 7 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here and here

Episode 8 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 9 of My Adventure with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Episode 10 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

(SPOILERS obviously):

An obvious one, but a classic, the "up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!" line reference. This one never gets old.

Jimmy next name drops Flamebird. in the comics Nightwing and Flamebird were Kryptonian superheroes adopting their names from a species of Kryptonian birds. This is where Dick Grayson gets his Nightwing identity from. The page here is from Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #17 (1986) drawn by Curt Swan and Karl Kesel.

At the climatic battle of part 2 of Adventures of a Normal Man, we see Leslie Willis become blue and look more like her traditional Livewire look. Her first appearance was in Superman the Animated Series, season 2 episode 5 "Livewire" where she was voiced by Lori Petty, a.k.a. Tank Girl. In the show Leslie was a shock jock radio DJ slinging hot takes live on air knocking down Superman a peg or two

Obviously MAwS took Leslie in a whole different direction, design choice, and occupation change, but I am excited to see what happens next for her.

Before we see Clark battle Leslie we see this guy. White hair, wears orange and black, its Slade Wilson a.k.a. Deathstroke. This fool here in like 20 to 25 years will have his life spiral out of control and get his ass kicked by a bunch of colorfully dressed teenagers.

Deathstroke makes his first appearance in New Teen Titans #2 (1980) (W: Marv Wolfman and George Perez, P: George Perez, I: Romeo Tanghal, C: Adrienne Roy, L: Ben Oda) where he is hired by H.I.V.E. to kill the Teen Titans. In the comics he's a major piece of shit, but a damn good assassin.

After the fight we see Supes clean up and he picks up a billboard that reads Amazotech.

This is a good reference to Professor Anthony Ivo, a mad scientist of the DC Universe who built the Amazo robot who could adapt and replicate any power that the Justice League has and weaknesses. Both Ivo and the Amazo robot make their first appearances here in Brave and the Bold #30 (1960) with the cover art done by Mike Sekowsky and Murphy Anderson.

At the end of the episode Slade name drops Task Force X better known as the Suicide Squad. The name "Suicide Squad" is from the Brave and the Bold #25 where it was the name of Rick Flag's unit in the military. The Suicide Squad pop culture knows first debuted in Legends #3 (1987) as seen below (W: John Ostrander and Len Wein, P: John Byrne, I: Karl Kesel, C: Tom Ziuko, L: Steve Haynie).

The team at this time was composed of Rick Flag, Bronze Tiger, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, Enchantress, and Blockbuster. The team members have changed out with each new Task Force X/Suicide Squad iteration.

Behind Slade, here is Amanda Waller, the most fearsome woman in the DC universe. She's ruthless, politically powerful, and will not hesitate to blow up anyone in the Suicide Squad if they screw up. She makes her first appearance in Legends #1 (1987) same comic series in the previous picture. Very excited to see where My Adventures with Superman goes with this cuz you don't see Superman interact with Deathstroke or Suicide Squad all the often.

Link to Episode 1 of My Adventures of Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

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Link to Episode 4 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Link to Episode 5 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Link to Episode 6 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Link to Episode 7 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here and here

Link to Episode 8 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Link to Episode 9 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

Link to Episode 10 of My Adventures with Superman Easter Eggs and references is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 1 post is here

My Easter eggs and references in My Adventures with Superman comic issue 2 post is here

My Easter eggs and references for My Adventures with Superman comic issue 3 post is here

[all-pacas]

if you’d be willing to write a bit about the characterization, personality, and general natures of the following characters? Cameron, Foreman, Chase, Cuddy, Wilson, House, Thirteen, Kutner, and Taub

LET'S FUCKING GO. I was asked to write up about the characters/personalities/natures of the major 9 house characters — the original and remastered teams, plus the grownup trio (really need better nicknames for these gangs). With the caveats that this is all my opinion, and I definitely click with one trio more than the other two, I am going to do my very best! And start with the easiest group, the OG team of Foreman, Cameron, and Chase (also for reasons I will get into later).

I think they are the best written team — they have the benefit of screen-time, yes, but they were also created to be obvious foils and aspects of House’s personality, so there’s a lot of interesting stuff there; the second team is also remixes of the first, so they’re just an interesting topic to start with.

I find it useful to start with someone’s main flaws, because I find that, in general, in real life and fiction, a lot of your personality is shaped around your weaknesses, either in compensation or in embracing that weakness. Think of it as the dirt in an oyster that turns into a pearl: you can’t separate weakness from personality. For a perfect example, let’s start with…

FOREMAN

Foreman is a deeply insecure person. This is both not obvious and deeply intrinsic to his nature. At his core, he sees himself as a poor, delinquent, Black criminal, and he is convinced everyone else sees him that way, too.

FOREMAN: But then I got another chance. Left home, went to college, entered a whole other world. And yet some part of me I can’t get rid of thinks, “If I’m not the smartest, if I’m not the first, everywhere I go, they’ll figure out I’m not supposed to be here.” They’ll send me back. PATIENT: You know that’s not going to happen. You’re out. FOREMAN: I’ll never be out of there. (house training.)

This imposter syndrome and insecurity is constantly manifesting itself in everything Foreman does: from how he has to be the best, to his arrogance, to his dismissal and dislike of people that remind him of himself or his past, like Lupe in House Training, the homeless woman in Histories, or even Cynthia Nixon’s character in Deception, who he immediately dismisses as a lying alcoholic simply because she happened to get sick in a betting parlor. But we see it in other ways, too. One of the more tragic examples is in S2’s Euphoria, where he stabs Cameron with a used needle: now you have to go back into the patient’s apartment, he tells her, because he truly doesn’t believe she’d want to save him if her own life wasn’t at stake.

Foreman tends to be pretty bad at reading people, actually. We see this in his fundamental misunderstanding of Cameron (both in Euphoria and in Sleeping Dogs Lie), but also, rather hilariously, whenever he talks to Chase: Foreman tends to assume Chase has it out for him, is plotting revenge (he believes Chase’s opportunistic S4 betting pool is a scheme because Chase is jealous Foreman is back on the team, with zero evidence). He generally assumes the worst of people, that he has to be ruthless and cutthroat in order to get ahead, because they will screw him over if they can. It’s cynical… but it’s also heartbreaking. We see, also, he is thin-skinned and easily rattled: House’s comments get to him, quite frequently, where Cameron and Chase tend to shrug off similar insults. Foreman worries how he is perceived. He, several times, asks Chase “how would you describe me?” or “what kind of person do you think I am?”. He wants to be a leader and authority, but repeatedly (DNR, Failure to Communicate) freezes up when he’s put in charge, becoming suddenly unsure of himself and hesitant. He is confident to the point of arrogance… but is always questioning himself. We even see it in how he dresses: he is always perfectly fashionable, perfectly dressed. He does not relax, he does not let loose. Foreman is hyper aware of how he is perceived, hyper aware of how he thinks he is perceived, and always acts in accordance to that audience.

He’s also, however, capable of great self reflection. Foreman trying to change himself is something of a running theme of the show, coming up in S2, 3, and 4, and the thing is: he’s often pretty successful. While he tends to define himself against House for a while, to mixed success, he also… genuinely is capable of change. In S4’s Mirror Mirror, he realizes he’s stuck in Princeton and that despite wanting to hate it, he doesn’t. And instead of fighting this, he decides to embrace it. He doesn’t hate who he is. Maybe it’s okay to be who he is. He’s a deeply reflective person, and while he can absolutely take this too far, he’s consistently able to look at himself and course correct. He knows his flaws and shortcomings. He tries to overcome them. He is able to apologize for being a jerk; he knows he can be manipulative; he doesn’t lie to himself. He’s actually a pretty honest and straightforward person: while Foreman is capable of scheming, he doesn’t, usually. This can be to his detriment: he’s a bit testy and short-tempered and terrible at hiding it, but it’s honestly a plus, too. He approaches people and situations honestly. He doesn’t bullshit or fake a smile. (It is no coincidence that he really can’t stand Chase.) He’s capable of admitting when he was wrong, despite his pride; he’s capable of looking at himself critically (sometimes too critically). He has his faults, but he’s aware of them.

It’s so hard to talk about Foreman without House, because Foreman is a direct parallel to House and both they and the show know it: Foreman is the most intelligent of the fellows, he is set up time and again as a leader and put in charge of the team. He shares House’s inferiority complex and feeling of being an outsider (and it’s interesting that the show pretty clearly equates race with disability in this way); he also shares House’s drive and arrogance and callous nature. But it’s where they’re different that’s telling: Foreman wants to change, and he does change. He pushes himself. He is ambitious. He can admit when he’s wrong, and ask for help when he needs it.

In early seasons, Foreman can be downright reckless, doing what he thinks is correct and breaking the rules as he goes. Interestingly, while characters like Chase become more reckless as the series progresses, Foreman becomes markedly more of a rules-follower: after his early brushes with arrogance and ego-based decision making lead to some noted failures, he becomes much more cautious.

He is a reserved person who does not make friends easily: part of this is that Foreman seems to expect the worst of others and is bad at understanding them (see: his deep distaste for Chase), but a lot of this also seems to be his inferiority complex again: he has to be the best, so anyone who challenges this is sort of a threat. But it’s interesting, and telling, that when he discovers Taub is a former hotshot doctor with high expectations who feels like a failure, Foreman immediately warms to him and they become close friends: Foreman can’t really handle a rival, but with people he doesn’t view as threats (like Cameron, who he is openly dismissive of as a doctor), he is warmer. With Thirteen, who he approaches as someone to help and fix first, he is kinder. He has a noted habit of losing interest in relationships around the six month mark, because he is uninterested in opening up or true intimacy. This does make him come off as cold, but here’s the twist: Foreman is a romantic.

We see him repeatedly in S3 and beyond bond with idealistic young men who have a difficult hand in life and are doing their best: he is prickly around the patient in Fools for Love for a good while, but is also his biggest supporter and the biggest defender of the patient’s (unfortunately incestuous) marriage; he ends the episode skipping a date to sit with the patient and offer him comfort. In Whac-a-Mole, Foreman openly and loudly admires the patient caring for his younger siblings, and hopes loudly that the family will work things out: he has a real idealistic streak. He wants good people to succeed and odds to be overcome. He hates the lazy and cheaters of the world (c h a s e, who was designed in a lab to trigger him). He wants justice and love to prevail, and is a much kinder, and warmer person than he is often given credit for.

EDIT: Asked about Foreman's post-Euphoria arc: One of the themes of the show is people changing/being unable to change/wanting to change. We see Foreman, Wilson (via Amber), and Chase all suffer near-death experiences over the series and try to redefine themselves in reaction to it, but way they go about it is fascinating and very different. Foreman tries to reinvent himself as the person he'd like to be (warm, friendly, optimistic) and ignore who he is; he wants/needs his experience in Euphoria to Mean Something. and it… kind of doesn't: he's trying too hard, he's not really reflecting, he's doing a fantasy 180. It lasts less than a week before he can no longer sustain it. But it also leads directly into his S3 arc, where he keeps latching onto a series of Bright Young Men he blatantly sees himself in, and keeps… failing to help them/change them. Again. The Romani kid picks his family over education. The single dad teenager gives the kids to foster care. The accidental incest guy loses his happy marriage and life. And this in turn leads directly into Foreman's resignation arc, right? He wants to be different, he wants the world to be different, but everyone/House keep telling him, he's not. He's arrogant, he's ruthless, he's cold, he's heartless. (His girlfriend, Wendy, dumps him in the middle of this arc for this exact coldness: his ideals are nowhere near his reality.) We see him do a bit of his post-Euphoria character editing in early S4, in his brief stint at Mercy hospital: on his first case, he is careful to smile, to compliment his staff; you can practically see him thinking I am so much nicer than House. But he's still using House as a marker, so it doesn't stick. House, of course, insists that all this is simply because people can't change, but interestingly, Foreman does start to after this. It's just that he has to accept who he is first. He can't just do an overnight 180, but he does shift in some pretty significant ways. He becomes less reckless. He becomes more content with himself and who he is. he loses a lot (although not all) of his general thin skin.

CAMERON

The thing about Cameron, the foundational cornerstone to her personality, is that she is profoundly damaged. The show is explicit about this, and it’s in fact one of the first things we learn about her, focused on in the Pilot: she is damaged. She is not okay.

Cameron’s dead husband is often reduced to a sort of meme (or excuse to bash her, depending where you look): she married a man who was dying because she’s attracted to people she can fix! She never loved him, she just wanted to fix him! She never really cared, it was just X. Whether or not she really, truly, romantically loved him or not (the show is surprisingly ambivalent about this), what you can’t underestimate is what the show itself tells us: it fucked her up, and: she was already damaged.

Cameron is defined by her fear of loss. She’s afraid of death, she emotionally shuts down and breaks down in the face of it, we see this time and again, but she’s also afraid of it in a more general sense: she is afraid of heartbreak, of failure, of a lack of control. Of losing, in some vague sense. She is someone who always has to be in control. We see this in various ways and manifestations: from the way she struggles to take emotional risks with Chase, repeatedly, to the way she quits her job in S1 when House rejects her, to the way she really struggles to deal with criticism or being wrong, getting aggressive and very angry at the very suggestion. Hunting is a fantastic episode and character study of her, and telling: when asked, repeatedly, if she is happy, the best she can come up with is “I find my life satisfying.” When challenged to be selfish, to do something she wants, she still needs to take meth in order to have the excuse to act. Honestly, a lot of her S2-3 relationship with Chase is pretty telling: see also how she approaches their FWB relationship with a ten page document of rules, then panics and breaks up with him when he asks for more. Although admittedly the show doesn’t portray this well, we are meant to understand that she has feelings for him at this point — she certainly acts like they’re dating this entire period — and that Chase is correct to call her out. But she’s afraid, so she runs, and running is another consistent trait of Cameron’s; I think another way of asserting control: if she leaves a situation, then she is in charge of it. If something is too difficult to face, she can choose to leave it. We know she moved cross country after both of her marriages ended.

Cameron is, of course, intensely compassionate. This is, I think, where she has the most in common with House and is his foil: he is compassionate too, of course, but more than that, they both share a drive to understand people, to pick at them and pick them apart. Cameron pushes at people, is always demanding answers or challenging their beliefs: we see she and House have these sort of discussions quite a lot, but she does it to others as well. Interestingly, Cameron is often prone to over-reading people: she has incredibly empathy and compassion, but kind of has the habit of… putting a bit too much of herself into someone’s head, either by believing somewhat paternalistically that she knows best (drugging the patient in Que Sera Sera and refusing to believe him when he says his weight is not an issue; trying to pick apart the patient in The Itch and fix his agoraphobia), or by inserting a bit too much of her own thoughts into the situation (telling the husband in Fidelity that he should be happy is wife is alive, even if she did have an affair, because Cameron misses her dead husband and isn’t really thinking about how insane that sounds). In a way, I think it’s another form of control: if she understands people, she won’t be hurt by them, although that’s not to suggest her empathy and compassion aren’t sincere.

This drive to understand and difficulty in neutrality also makes Cameron a bit wishy-washy at times, a flaw she is called out on in the show repeatedly; she suffers a certain amount of choice paralysis, being unable to take action when there is no clear right answer, or when the answer is ‘difficult.’ Faced with Chase wanting to propose in Saviors, she ghosts him until he breaks up with her, not because she wanted that but because she wanted to avoid the situation: faced with Dibala, she is torn between wanting him dead and not wanting to kill him personally, something Dibala himself eventually calls her out on!

One of the most telling exchanges about her, to me, is a conversation she has with Wilson in Spin. She reveals that, as her husband was dying, she fell in love with his best friend.

CAMERON: I fell in love with my husband's best friend. Near the end I was at the hospital every day, and Joe would come by after work. We'd go for walks and try to talk each other through it. We kind of clung on to each other. WILSON: (…) What happened to you, how can anyone go through that alone? You can't control your emotions. CAMERON: No. Just your actions. WILSON: You didn't do it, did you? You didn't sleep with him. CAMERON: I couldn't have lived with myself. (spin)

You can’t control your thoughts and feelings, but you can control your actions. This is something we see a lot from Cameron, actually, for all her bleeding heart reputation: she often tries to be pragmatic, and even her appeals to ethics are often framed to House in a “and if we don’t do this, then the practical effects are thus” sort of way. We see it, again, with Chase, and how she tries to hide all her feelings for him behind the rules of a FWB arrangement; there is a cut line in the Occam’s Razor script where she tells Chase she finds him attractive, but can control and resist it because she isn’t an ‘animal.’ In a similar vein, she’s actually surprisingly okay with schemes and manipulation if it’s for the greater good — she has a lot of fun messing with House in S4 (Cameron can be very silly!), but she also shows repeatedly she’ll lie to patients if she thinks it will help: it’s pragmatic, you know?

Cameron can come off as kind of contradictory. This is… sort of on purpose. She isn’t really as good at being rational and pragmatic as she thinks she is (see: FWB arrangement); she is quick to change her mind because she can see all sides of an issue. But at her core, she’s deeply consistent: she tries to remain in control of situations, and protect herself. She loves incredibly deeply and easily (indeed, she has fallen in love more times on the show than any other character, with a grand total of five canon love interests and one crush), but is afraid of vulnerability and loss; she tries to control her actions and avoid hurt — and ends up being incredibly risk adverse — but her heart and emotions win out every time. She’s also prone to making bad jokes, failing badly at playing 5D chess, and can be surprisingly punchy and short tempered: she feuds with every major cast member but Chase in S1-3. She is wonderful and I adore her.

(A final note about her dead husband, truly an essay in itself. A lot of times, Cameron is reduced to someone who only wants to fix people, or she didn’t love DH/House, only fix them, or worse, she doesn’t love, she only pretends to. While her feelings about her DH are ambiguous, it’s also doing her a huge disservice to reduce her to that trait: first of all, she never was trying to fix him, since she knew all along he was dying; if anything, she was trying to… console him? Reward him? In Acceptance, she says that when someone dies, there should be an effect, but we see in that episode and in One Day, One Room she doesn’t enjoy or want to do this; it makes her miserable to watch people die and mourn them, it is a punishment, not a case of loving nursing. Nor does she try to fix people generally: she did get accused of such by House, but she fell for him because he was just as damaged as she was, not to change him; even though that does seem to have been an element of their relationship, the mere existence of Chase — and the cited existence of Joe — also proves it’s not really what she’s after. I hate making ships a part of this little essay, but let’s be real, Cameron is often reduced to a romantic interest both in and out of the show, with fans often erasing this part of her entirely.)

CHASE

If I were to pick one exchange to sum up Chase, I’d naturally run to Cursed. After most of an episode avoiding talking about his father to everyone, House finally corners Chase, and we get this exchange:

HOUSE: I know you hate your dad, but I’m gonna tell you something — CHASE: I don’t hate him. I loved him until I figured out that it hurts a lot less to just not care. You don’t expect him to turn up to your football match? No disappointments. You don’t expect a call on your birthday, don’t expect to see him for months? No disappointments. You want us to go make up? Sink a few beers together, nice family hug? I’ve given him enough hugs. He’s given me enough disappointments. (cursed)

Chase is someone who does not want to care. He grew up with all sorts of abusive and neglect from his parents, without anyone in his life who seemed to care about him. Instead, he was forced to be the caregiver from a young age, both to his alcoholic, dying mother and his baby sister. He spent his teenage and young adult years seeking belonging and, implicitly, caregivers (trying repeatedly with his father, turning to the Catholic Church) and failing.

Chase is a surprisingly independent-minded person. He doesn’t rely on people, he doesn’t open up to people. He has an incredibly telling conversation with Adams in S8, where he calmly explains that if you burden others you should kill yourself; he is talking about how he wishes his mother had done just that. It is an insane take, but it is part of this same stance. People let you down. You can’t really trust them. It’s better not to need anyone, better not to expect anything from anyone. When he is stabbed in S8, he brushes off every attempt at sympathy: when he is divorced in S6, he does exactly the same thing. Chase doesn’t care. No disappointments.

As a result, despite his generally genial, easy-going nature, Chase can be surprisingly standoffish. He doesn’t open up to people; he doesn’t really try to get to know them. He barely talks to the new team until S6; he rebuffs Masters for most of S7, and it takes Park most of S8 and a lot of effort before she wears him down. While Chase is superficially friendly and charming, he keeps things superficial. Foreman complains he’s fake; we see in many episodes Chase is very good at schmoozing and small talk (and kissing ass). (Actually, one of my favorite little exchanges in in S5’s The Social Contract: House needs a surgery done, and correctly surmises that Chase has kissed his new boss’s ass sufficiently that Chase can get it done, confirming that Chase’s asskissing is political and intentional and manipulative, not just pathetic.) But it’s all superficial. He doesn’t care. No disappointments.

The problem: Chase is very bad at this. Despite his stated efforts, we see time and time again that he cares intensely. In Cursed, he goes to his father one last time. He brushes off patients, but bonds with every child he meets. He falls intensely hard for Cameron, and we see in After Hours that at the first hint something is wrong with Thirteen, he falls all over himself to help her. Even if Chase’s goal is to not rely on people and not be let down by them, he’s… bad at it. To cite the cliche, he wants to be loved, he wants to open up to others. But he has been burned a lot.

Chase, unlike Foreman and even Cameron, is pretty blatantly unambitious. Even though the House Fellowship is very prestigious and can launch his career in any way he chooses, he never seems interested in doing so: he doesn’t care about leading a team, or running cases. But he is self serving, which I think ties back to his general self-protection: he can be somewhat cutthroat, he rats to Vogler without a second thought or even regret, he tries to guilt Foreman into covering up Dibala’s murder, and as soon as Cameron leaves him, he reframes the situation as entirely her fault: their divorce is not because he killed a man, but because she never loved him. He’s puts himself first, because no one else will.

Chase is also extremely observant. We see this in part, I think, with his statistically higher-than-anyone-but-House case solve rate; he also makes a habit of calling people out and calling their bluffs. He’s unusually good at seeing through House, but we see him call Foreman out more than once, and he sees right through Cameron’s bullshit as well. He’s a schmoozer and a schemer, and his people skills are used to this end; he is also maybe surprisingly sneaky (House himself calls him a “sneaky bastard” and goes to him for schemes on a few occasions), and able to weaponize his charm to manipulate: he has no problem being underhand, and, while he does have morals and ethical beliefs, he’s very pragmatic: it’s that self-serving nature again. He’s called spineless, although he doesn’t actually seem to have much problem standing up for himself or anything he strongly believes in — Chase’s problem is more than he doesn’t strongly believe in all that much besides protecting himself.

Even a lot of his ass-kissing is often more about him not caring about external drama: there’s several scenes where Foreman and Cameron are objecting to something House does on ethical reasons, and Chase just carries on with the differential, earning House’s mockery. But… is he really trying to suck up to House, or does he just not care that much about the other drama? Chase avoids conflict when he can, doesn’t like to get too involved in what other people are arguing about. He’s also intensely private: one of the fastest ways, consistently, to make Chase angry is to poke into his personal life and business. That apathy again.

This might make Chase seem overly cynical. He isn’t. In fact, this makes his more caring nature all the more striking: despite his outer shell of smarm and apathy, he is really bad at keeping closed off. He likes to joke around, he’s openly desperate for approval, he’s quite confident, has a bit of a teasing/trolling sense of humor, and is an absolute idiot around pretty girls. For all that his apathetic shell is a survival strategy and reflective of his childhood, he’s also the guy who was eagerly planning out his and Cameron’s future three kids and wedding, or the guy who flirts at a wedding by talking John Hughes movies. He’s a dork, and he’s not nearly as cold and aloof as he (badly) tries to be.

[berrywinner]

you should do a hilson angst fic 🙏🙏 not necessarily with romantic aspects but like.. house is going through it

The storm

The storm had been creeping in all day. Outside House’s apartment, rain slapped the windows with ruthless insistence, as if the weather itself had something to say.

House didn’t bother turning on the lights. He sat in the dimness, shoulders curled over, scotch in hand. His leg throbbed, but that wasn’t what really hurt tonight. Not even close.

He heard Wilson’s knock before he saw him. Three quick raps. No hesitation. Like always.

House considered ignoring it, but it was useless. Wilson had keys. He always had keys.

The door creaked open.

“House?”

The concern in Wilson’s voice was a slap in itself. House’s grip on his glass tightened, knuckles whitening around the rim.

"Go away," he barked, not turning to look.

Of course Wilson didn’t listen. He never did.

“You've been dodging me for days,” Wilson said, stepping inside, drenched from the rain. His hair dripped onto the floor, his jacket clinging to him like a second skin. He pushed the door closed behind him with more force than necessary, a quiet thud of frustration. He looked like hell. Good. Misery loved company.

"I was enjoying the peace," House muttered. "You ruined it."

Wilson’s eyes flicked over the mess, empty pill bottles scattered like confetti, the unfinished bottle of scotch, House himself, hunched and pale in the half-light.

"You think this is sustainable?" Wilson’s voice rose, tight with frustration. His hands gestured sharply to the chaos around them, as if the very sight of it offended him. "This...this self-destruction, House? Locking yourself away, drinking until you can’t feel anything?"

"It’s worked so far," House shot back with a smirk that didn’t reach his eyes.

Wilson let out a bitter laugh, short and jagged. He ran a hand down his face, wiping away rain and exhaustion in one motion. "No, it hasn’t!" he snapped. "You’re falling apart, House. And you’re dragging everyone down with you."

House felt the burn in his chest before he realized he was laughing too, a bitter, broken sound that caught in his throat. His shoulders shook, but it wasn’t humor that moved them.

"Everyone?" he echoed. He set the glass down on the table with a deliberate clink. "Oh, right. Can’t forget the people lining up to give a damn about me."

"Don’t do that," Wilson snapped, stepping forward, jabbing a finger toward him. "Don’t pretend no one cares."

"I’m not pretending." House pushed himself upright, wincing as his leg screamed in protest. He forced himself to pace a few stiff steps toward the window, then turned, leaning heavily on his cane. "You’re the only idiot who still shows up, and even you sound like you’re halfway out the door!"

Silence fell like a weight between them.

Wilson’s jaw clenched. His fists balled tight at his sides.

"You think I want to do this?" Wilson’s voice was raw. His chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. "You think it’s easy, watching you destroy yourself every damn day? I am trying, House. God, I’ve tried more than anyone should have to."

"You don’t have to!" House shouted, slamming his cane against the floor for emphasis, the sharp crack echoing through the room. "You never had to. I didn’t ask you to!"

"No, you didn’t," Wilson fired back. "But you need me."

That landed like a punch to the gut.

House scoffed, because that was easier than admitting the truth. He forced a mocking smile and gestured with his cane, dismissive. "No, I don’t."

"You’re lying," Wilson said, his eyes narrowing. He took another step closer, bridging the gap between them until House could see the rain still clinging to his lashes. "You’re lying because you’re scared to death of needing anyone."

"And you," House sneered, jabbing a finger right back at Wilson, "you’re here because you need to fix people. You need to feel like you’re saving someone, or you’ll fall apart."

Wilson’s eyes burned. His chest heaved. "Maybe I do," he admitted, dragging his hand through his hair, water flicking from his fingers. "But at least I’m here. At least I haven’t given up."

"Then why does it feel like you’re about to?" House shot back, his voice breaking, his posture stiff but trembling.

Wilson exhaled harshly, pacing a tight, angry circle across the floor, rainwater dripping from his soaked jacket, leaving dark spots behind him like a trail of frustration. His hands moved restlessly, clenching and unclenching, like he wanted to punch the wall, or maybe House.

"Because I don’t know how much more of this I can take," Wilson admitted, and the crack in his voice nearly broke House’s last defenses.

House swallowed, but the lump in his throat didn’t budge.

"So go," he rasped, gripping the back of the chair so hard his knuckles turned white. "If this is too much for you, leave. Leave like everyone else."

"You think that’s what I want?" Wilson’s voice rose again, brittle with pain. His hands spread wide, as if trying to hold onto something slipping through his fingers. "You think I want to walk away from you?"

House didn’t answer. He couldn’t. He pressed his lips together so tightly they hurt.

Wilson stepped closer, now so near that House could feel the heat radiating off him, could see the frustration carved into every line of his face.

"I don’t," Wilson said, quieter now, but no less intense. "But I can’t keep watching you burn yourself down to ashes."

House’s laugh was hollow. He let go of the chair, limping a step away, back to the table cluttered with pills and empty bottles. "That’s all I am, Wilson. Ashes and painkillers."

"Stop it," Wilson snapped, his voice cutting through the gloom. He grabbed House’s arm, gripping tight, enough to still him. "Stop hiding behind that damn cynicism. For once, just say it. Say you don’t want me to go."

The words were there, trapped behind House’s teeth, clawing to get out.

But fear strangled them.

"I won’t beg," House finally forced out, his voice rough and low. His eyes locked on Wilson’s, bright and aching. "Not even for you."

Wilson’s gaze softened, just a fraction. Enough to show the hurt beneath the anger.

"I never wanted you to beg," he said, his voice rough with emotion. "I just wanted you to let me stay."

Silence, thick and suffocating, filled the space between them.

For a moment, House thought about it, really thought about it. What it would mean to let Wilson in, really in, past the walls. Past the pain.

But the weight of years, of losses and failures, pressed down too hard.

House’s fingers twitched at his side.

"I can’t," House whispered, almost too quietly to hear.

Wilson’s face crumpled, and he let go of House’s arm, the loss of contact sending a chill through him. He stepped back, the movement like a physical blow.

"I know," Wilson said, and there was no anger left in him. Only sorrow. His shoulders sagged, defeated.

He turned toward the door, pausing with his hand on the frame. The rain had lessened outside, but inside, the storm still raged.

"I’ll call you tomorrow," Wilson said, and it wasn’t a promise. It wasn’t even certainty.

But House clung to it like a lifeline.

Wilson hesitated for a heartbeat. His gaze lingered on House, something unspoken passing between them, heavy and fragile.

Then he was gone.

The door clicked shut behind him, and House was alone with the silence once more.

At least it won't last forever

I have no idea if you like it or not but I hope it's what you wanted <3

[thatdarkfanficstuff]

Flutter - Chapter One

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: Mafia AU. Characters may act darker than you are used to. There will be adult content in later chapters. Steve is unhappily married at the start so there is cheating but not on Reader.

18+ Only.

Steve Rogers preferred to have meetings in the comfort of his home. On his own territory where there was no question who was in charge. But Stark’s boy had been causing issues at one of Steve’s clubs and he needed to make certain it wasn’t the beginning of a power play. Tony Stark was one of the few in the city that could cause real problems for Steve if he so chose.

So this meeting was taking place on “neutral” territory. An exclusive restaurant with private rooms and respect for its patrons’ privacy. If it was owned by one of Rogers’ shell companies, well, no one needed to know that.

The glow of the candle on the table flickered as Steve finished his meal and leaned back in his chair. His eyes scanned the faces of his companions as they too finished eating. Bucky Barnes sat to his right as always. His best friend since childhood and the only person he trusted without question. They had always been there for one another and Steve saw no reason that would ever change. Sam Wilson was on Steve’s left. He was a newer addition to the family but had proven himself more than reliable.

Across from him, Tony Stark lounged with an easy grace that belied the tension in the room. He sipped at his drink as his dark eyes studied Steve. It wasn’t often they found themselves at odds and neither man liked it. Stark much preferred drinks in Steve’s office than an awkward meal followed by thinly veiled threats. Bruce Banner sat to Tony’s left. He looked more like an accountant than an enforcer but he was one of the most feared men in the city. He was ruthless when it came to protecting Stark and his family. Clint Barton filled the last chair. As usual the man appeared completely at ease. Steve was fairly certain Barton would have a smile on his face and a quip on his tongue in the middle of a slaughter.

“Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we?” Tony began, his voice smooth and strong like aged whiskey. “I have no intention of going against you. I’m not interested in being king. I just want to run my business as I always have. Let me tinker with my toys, let the cash flow and keep the streets just clean enough that the cops stay out of our hair.”

Steve’s gaze lingered on Tony, assessing the truth of his words. They’d operated in this city side-by-side for years. He didn’t see why it should stop now. He trusted Stark. But Peter, Peter was another matter entirely. Steve knew very little about him beyond the fact Tony had adopted him as a teenager. And he was smart, just like Stark. The boy was getting older, nothing said he couldn’t be getting power hungry as he aged.

Steve leaned forward and tapped his fingers on the table. “I like to think I can trust you, Tony. We’ve worked together for a long time. But you’re not the one causing issues. I need a guarantee that this is over. You can promise me anything you want but we both know you can’t control Peter.”

Tony pursed his lips but nodded in agreement. He could try to rein Peter in but there was no guarantee he’d be cooperative. “What do you need from me, Rogers? I don’t want a war but I’m not going to hand my empire over just because my kid stirred up trouble in one of your clubs.”

Bucky snorted a humorless laugh. “Stirred up some trouble? He put two of our men in the hospital. Nearly killed one of them.”

Steve held up a hand to cut off the rant. He rubbed a hand across his mouth and sighed. “I’m not going to pretend what he did was okay but it’s the fact that he claimed to be putting them in their place when he did it that is the real issue here. I can’t have him running around on a power trip, Tony. We both know what that sort of shit leads to.”

Tony rubbed at his forehead before raking his hand through his hair. “What can we do to get back to where we were? What would make you trust us again?”

“An engagement,” Steve said. The surprise of everyone in the room was obvious though they all tried to hide it. It was an unusual move but it would bring the Starks back under his control and might rid him of the irritation of his stepson at the same time. It would make Roman someone else’s problem.

“I’m flattered, but I’m already married,” Tony finally said.

Steve’s lips twitched. “Your daughter, my stepson Roman.” He leaned back and gave a lazy grin. “Everyone knows family is everything to the Starks. So we become family. Peter won’t want to embarrass his sister, he’ll behave and I won’t question your loyalties.”

Tony’s tongue darted out to lick his lips. “An engagement.”

“Family’s important,” Bucky said. “Imagine what ours could do together.”

Tony nodded slowly as he considered his options.

“Pepper won’t like it,” Bruce muttered.

“Pepper will like us having peace with Rogers,” Tony corrected absently as his mind calculated all the possible outcomes, weighed the pros against the cons. Morgan was young yet. He could push the marriage off until she was twenty. Maybe Roman would get himself killed in the meantime. He had a tendency to piss people off. This could work.

“Alright,” Tony murmured. “I agree.”

Steve’s lips curled up ever so slightly in the mere shadow of a smile. “Then we have an understanding.” He leaned forward slightly, the movement minor but deliberate. He held out his hand waiting for Tony to take it, to seal this agreement in the old way. Now it was all contracts and paperwork, but this family started in a time when a man’s word was law and a handshake was as good as a signature.

When Tony didn’t immediately take it, Steve arched a brow and said his name. “Tony.” There was a question in his tone, wondering if his old friend meant to keep to his word or betray it already.

Tony hesitated a moment more as his dark eyes ran over Steve. He was either questioning whether he should actually enter the arrangement or if Pepper was going to kill him for doing so. Morgan was the princess of the family. Which was why she was the perfect inducement for Peter to behave.

Finally, they clasped hands and Tony gave the ghost of a smile. “You’ve got an agreement, Rogers. Guess this makes us family.”

Bucky huffed a humorless laugh. “Make sure to point that out to your son.”

Tony’s jaw tightened. “I’ll make it clear as crystal.”

Steve leaned back and placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder with more force than necessary. “Tony doesn’t need a lecture, Buck. He knows what’s at stake.”

Their business concluded, they rose to their feet in unison. Chairs scraped across the floor as they headed for the door. They exited out the back and stepped out into the quiet of the night. With one last nod goodbye they separated to their own vehicles to head to their own parts of the city.

***

Steve stepped into his house with a sigh. His gaze immediately found his stepson Roman where he sprawled sideways in a chair, one foot on the floor and the other leg draped over the arm carelessly. He was playing some sort of videogame and ignored Steve’s presence completely.

“Roman.” The name was not a greeting but a summons. A call for attention which Roman ignored as usual. “We need to talk. Now.”

When he still didn’t respond, Steve crossed the room and pushed the power button on the console.

Roman’s head snapped up. “What the fuck are you doing? I was playing that.”

“No shit. I guess you should have paid attention when I told you we needed to talk.” Steve smacked Roman’s foot that was hanging in the air. “Sit up when I talk to you.”

The boy did as instructed, though the resentment was obvious in every movement. Steve resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I had a meeting with Stark tonight. We came to an agreement. You’re now engaged to his daughter. Congratulations.”

Roman shot up from the chair as if it were on fire. “Are you fucking kidding me? I’m not marrying that bitch. You’re out of your damn mind.”

“Watch the tone,” Steve snapped. “Don’t forget who you’re talking to.”

“And I suppose I’m just supposed to give up the club and the women, for what? A ring and a lifetime of catering to daddy’s little princess?”

“If you know what’s good for you, you will. You know Stark won’t stand for any disrespect. You won’t have to marry right away. Get it out of your system now.”

“What’s going on down here?” Sharon’s grating voice drifted down the stairs in front of her.

Steve glanced over and flicked his eyes over the ridiculous robe she was wearing, a pale blue satin number with fake feathers at the neck and cuffs.

“Mommy, Steve engaged me to Stark’s daughter.” The whine had a headache blossoming behind Steve’s eyes. For fuck’s sake. The kid was twenty-two not ten.

Her eyes snapped to her husband. “You can’t just make decisions like this for him. You’re not his father.”

Steve took a step forward. “Can’t I?”

Roman’s backbone was apparently restored with the presence of his mother. “No, you can’t. You don’t own me.”

The corner of Steve’s lips flicked up in amusement. “It’s cute, really, how you think you have a choice.” He brushed imaginary lint from his shoulder then slid his hands into his pockets. “You both live lavishly because I allow it. Your comfort is due solely to my generosity.”

Sharon swallowed and lifted her chin to stare him down. “If you think you can bully us into—”

“You both,” he said, cutting her off, “enjoy a life others can only dream of. My terms are simple. Comply or forfeit everything.”

He paused to give his words a chance to sink in. “Think it over. The clock is ticking and my patience is in short supply.”

Roman’s gaze dropped first, defeat coloring his features. Sharon followed suit, her defiance crumbling in the face of the reality Steve laid bare. Everything they had, they owed to him.

Steve’s gaze flicked between them. “Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to.”

[downfall0fman]

Took a little bit of time, connected thoughts, here are some evaluations on the first two episodes of Daredevil Born Again, spoilers ahead (I apologize for the yap)

~☻~

When I first watched the scene with Wilson Fisk and the commissioner at the end of episode two, I thought Fisk was threatening physical violence on Gallos family. It wasn’t until I was reading someones TikTok comment that I got corrected. Fisk says after Gallo leaves “he thought he could keep that child a secret” to Buck Cashman (new Wesley). Fisk wasn’t physically threatening Commissioner Gallos family, he was blackmailing him over an affair. This detail I feel is very important

This directly ties into something @giveamadeuschohisownmovie says here (go read and like their post, amazing analysis there) Matt and Fisk are so desperately trying to not give into their violent tendencies but its failing terribly. Theyre going through the literal opposite of the original show. Whereas before, them being Daredevil and Kingpin was something people around them disliked (For Matt- Foggy and Karen. And for Fisk- Matt and the general public) And then theres now, the people want Daredevil back, sometimes begging. Venessa is becoming distant with Fisk as she is now engrossed in the criminal world, thriving in it, but Wilson is trying to keep his act straight

They are trying so hard not to take up those mantles again, those personas again (thank you Heather, cant wait for the new book) but as we see its not fully working. You cant will yourself out of such a large part of yourself, not when you don’t truly want it. Fisk has bloodied knuckles at the beginning of episode 2. From what? We don’t know quite yet, but it appears he’s not being a true and pure pacifist as he said he was, he is reverting to Kingpin tactics

Then theres Matt. At the end of episode two, Matt says nothing as dirty cops beat on him. He keeps completely silent. Its only when they talk about shooting him lethally that he pleads with them to stop, begs them not to escalate. He cant just let them shoot him in the head he has to stop them, he has to protect himself, so he does

There are two very important things to note about that fight scene

1- Matt is ruthless, maybe its because the fight has darker/more brutal effects but Matt doesn’t seem to care anymore. He is throwing them to the ground head first. He not only broke that mans arm but then repeatedly pulled on it in different angles continuously snapping it. Of course we have seen him do gnarly shit, but for someone trying not to fall back into that world he sure is fighting hard

2- This is a point I think is more relevant, there is a moment where Matt could’ve stopped fighting. Near the end of the fight when Matt throws Powell (the officer he was stalking) into the refrigerator, both cops are down. They’re not on him anymore, they’re not attacking.

And Matt stands back

Theres only a brief second before goes right back in. He could’ve ended the fight there, and someone who doesn’t miss being Daredevil would’ve. Yet he continues to beat him, slam his head into the fridge repeatedly then throws him to the ground, cracking his neck (or at least a bone cracking sound effect plays, the subtitles dont acknowledges it). The scream at the end was visceral, painful

He let the devil out

Takeaway being: Matt and Fisk are currently on parallel paths, trying to force themselves out of their true nature, and I am excited to see all of this play out (and which path they choose to take to get Foggybear back, are we going protective custody route or Matt storms into literal Hell route)

Tl;dr-

Matt and Fisk are on parallel paths. They both are trying to leave their personas behind, but they are learning the hard way that that is who they are. Its not just a mask you put on or a title you wear, it is fundamentally in the end you. Your actions and reactions. Your way of responding. Its not something you decide to be done with

[jameswilsonsupremacy]

@irenespring commented on my post and said:

“Do you think if House and Wilson were together in canon, would there prank wars get more or less intense? Like they would obviously be closer and probably a bit sappier so less vicious? Or would a blatant domestic life offers a whole new frontier?”

My thoughts were Too Long for a comment so here’s my response for the silly hate crimes md fans!!

I ACTUALLY THINK ABOUT THIS A LOT!!! and it absolutely depends on the situation—aka, if Hilson is established already and have been in a committed relationship for a while, or if it’s new (in terms of romance).

I think that if they got together during the events of the canon episodes, it would be a bit of a transition. As in, I feel like they’d wait a bit before their next prank war as they’re still navigating what it means to be in a relationship. So House might lowkey let his guard down a little and let Wilson win parts of prank wars (though not the overall war, c’mon, he’d just let Wilson get ahead a little bit). He would like seeing Wilson’s silly grin and how excited he gets to tell House how ‘oh I TOTALLY got you, you should’ve seen your face!!’ and House orchestrated the whole thing but doesn’t tell him. (Wilson does the exact same thing and they don’t even realize it.)

If it’s canon but they’re already established & have been together for a long time.. those would be so ruthless. Arguably much more intense than what we see in canon, bc now House/Wilson have been vulnerable with each other where they Genuinely Know each others hard limits & boundaries (aka the Do Not Mess With subjects) and they know how far they could push. One may argue that they pushed each other in canon while knowing boundaries, but if hilson is established, then I think they’d rly have a talk about their boundaries and how to make it all work. And then they could hardcore attack each other in prank wars without even having to consider going too far.

but regardless, I feel the prank wars would stem to the pranks that House plays on his team as well. House tries to use Wilson as an advantage but so do the Ducklings and Wilson basically goes back & forth on who he helps.

I also think that Wilson would make some of the pranks more themed to their relationship because he is a silly romantic and the hospital Knows That. So is House, arguably more, but he pretends he isn’t. So I feel like Wilson would also have pranks where he’d try to embarrass House in front of the team—see what they can get away with before House almost kills a duckling (because they lovingly made fun of him & how he is literally a lost puppy with major heart eyes at Wilson) or until someone gets Cuddy to intervene.

[vhstown]

tag team

— hobie brown x gn!reader

summary: Authoritarian regimes aren't immune to a bit of graffiti; you can't do it without Spider-Punk, though.

content/warnings: fluff, banter (that has the... unintended effect), mentions of politics + discrimination, brief mentions of police brutality + being shot (nobody is hurt dw), london slang is used (im a londoner but still might be a bit ooc lol).

word count: 1.9k

a/n: camden version of hobie. reader is a hopeless loser (rnt we all). ambiguous relationship sort of? criticisms accepted + appreciated ! (i dont write hobie much 💀)

"Go on, then."

Spider-Punk — or Hobie, as you knew him, stood opposite you in the backstreet, arms crossed and with a grin you could practically see under his mask. The metal spray paint can was cool in your hand, which was already clammy with adrenaline as you brought the it to the wall.

This was your idea. It was supposed to be a joke at first, but Hobie thought it was brilliant. He wouldn't let it go: tagging up places in this part of town — the part where people like you and Hobie weren't welcome. Behind the fences and less-than-subtle signs to "keep out", entire neighbourhood reeked of Wilson Fisk: anti-punk, anti-rebellion, autocrat, about class and "serving the man" — whatever the hell that meant. Now, it was going to reek of paint that probably wasn't safe to inhale — at least, the back of some rich white bloke's house was.

Well, "rich white bloke" and "random politician" were interchangeable. You'd be fine; that's what Hobie told you anyway.

The can rattled in your hand as you shut one eye, holding your breath before red paint spurted out onto the wall. Hobie watched in silence, probably in amusement too. You debated threatening him with the can as a joke while you marked out the start of your drawing, feeling the eyes of his mask on your back. The breath you'd taken in before left you, and you haphazardly drew in another shallow one.

You'd been thinking about this for a while: making trouble under the guise of your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Punk, or protest, as Hobie liked to call it. His vigilante persona didn't exactly have the best reputation around here, or anywhere, in fact. Maybe you could change that — or worsen it. Either way, you had to breathe, so you took in another breath.

"Ah, shi—" The tight feeling in your throat exploded into a fit of violent coughing, and you were barely able to feel Hobie's hand on your back as you reeled away from the wall. "What the...?" you managed, before your eyes squeezed shut again, feeling another cough wring through your lungs.

"A'ight, that's definitely not normal." Hobie leaned over with a hand on your shoulder before he took the can out of your hands. You could make out his frown behind the tears stinging at your eyes as you tried to swallow back another cough.

"Yeah?" You furrowed your brows, trying to straighten out your shoulders again. "Didn't know paint could give me TB."

"I haven't got TB," he shrugged, gloved fingers tapping at the can.

"Cause you've got a mask." Hobie suddenly gave you a ruthless thwack between your shoulder-blades, making you flinch. "I'm not coughing anymore, stupid!"

The eyes of his mask narrowed as you shot a look at him; the bastard was probably enjoying this. Maybe you were too.

"You wanna wear it?" he asked instead, thumb already hooked under the bottom of his mask before he pulled it back; his actual was expression more subtle, but still just as taunting.

"Don't you have a secret identity to keep?"

"Think you've got lungs to keep, big man." His knuckles knocked at the centre of your chest before pulling the mask over your face in one quick motion.

The fabric warmed your skin as you adjusted the neck of it a little, feeling the mask blink with you. It was weird; it was kind of like you had nothing on your head at all. But the warmth was definitely from the mask and not the fleeting feeling of his fingers on your chest — and not the devilish look he was giving you right now.

Creak...!

The two of you looked around at what sounded like a door opening. You looked at Hobie, and he just shrugged at you, lips pushed up in his usual unbothered half-frown. His Spider-sense musn't have gone off, but your heart rate did. If you were going do this, you better do it quick.

Though your reference was on your face right now, you knew Spider-Punk well enough to remember the mask. Hobie let out the start of a chuckle when he recognised the giant white eyes you painted over the red. The mask definitely helped. Your arm, already covered in specks of paint, made a popping sound as you reached up to do the spikes, finishing the giant mural of sorts of your lanky, loud-mouthed, anarchist best friend.

The punk in question gave you a slightly curious look as you stepped away, the eyes of the mask on your face narrowing as you scanned over the dripping wet portrait. Pulling it off of your head, your hair was somehow still completely in place as you handed the mask back; no wonder his wicks fit in there.

"Well," you started, watching him look at the mural. "Aren't you gonna sign it?"

"It's your work." He tilted his head down a bit, though mirth was already tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Yeah, and it's of you." It seemed like you didn't have to tell him twice before he zipped the can out of your hands with a flick of his wrist, already spraying an X onto the wall despite the mask hanging by his side. He didn't so much as clear his throat (lucky — you nearly died) as the letters F, N, S and M followed in each section of the X. That was the same symbol on the back of his vest, but you'd never bothered to ask about it.

"What does that stand for?" you questioned, arms folding as you mirrored his stance from before.

"Guess."

"I asked so I wouldn't have to guess." A silent grin you didn't want to entertain started forming on his face. "Fine, uh..."

You wracked your brain; it was probably more simple than you thought, but all your brain could conjure up was: "Fascists need stopping... uh, Monday?"

That got a ruthless snort out of him, making you press your lips together to try and take back your words. "Just Monday?"

"You told me to guess," you shrugged, rolling your eyes before they landed on the painting again. It was still wet; it was warm out, so the dripping wouldn't stop anytime soon. For some reason, it was always sunny in these neighbourhoods, almost like those autocrats had bought the sun too. Whatever, you didn't need the sun — a rebellious 6ft punk did just fine anyway; at least, that would explain why you were so warm around him all the time. "You gonna tell me or no?"

"Facists need stopping..." he mused, in a gratingly posh accent, hand brought up to his chin in a dramatic mockery of pondering. "Nah, I was thinkin' we should just leave it, you know? Let 'em be, innit?"

Hobie Brown — the only person you knew who would joke about their ideologies just to poke fun at you.

"Yeah, yeah, every other day of the week," you added dryly, getting a cackle out of Hobie.

"Thought you were meant to be smart, darling." The remnants of his mock-posh voice bleeding into the "darling". You could just tell he was being unserious — it was something you hated and loved about him. Why would you want him to be serious...?

"Thought you were supposed to be helpful," you spat back, getting another entertained breath out of him. Hobie shook his head before you suddenly snatched the can out of his hand, pointing it at him. The both of his loosely came up in mock-defense, but the grin on his face only grew.

"You threatenin' me now, yeah?" It sounded less like a question and more like another jab at your pride. Things had been a bit too quiet between you two recently, and you felt yourself getting fired up; it was a shame that your heart always raced like crazy whenever the banter started rising.

"Do it, then," he proposed at your silence, taking a step towards you and making you step back. "What's a bit of paint? You gonna cough again?"

"I actually will." You attempted to scrunch up your face in annoyance.

"Cough? I bet." His head tilted down to look at you, wicks shadowing everything but the amused glint in his eyes.

"You've got a serious problem." And you'd got a seriously warm face.

"Got more than just one problem, darlin'." You hated the way it came out of his mouth this time; you'd rather he pretend to speak like Fisk.

"Stop calling me that or I'll actually spray you."

"Didn't know you were a cop."

"Hobie." You let out a sigh, only serving to get another low chuckle out of him; he was so close you could almost feel the vibrations of his laugh. The fact that he was freakishly tall didn't help in the slightest, his silence along with the swirling feeling in your stomach making you unconsciously take a step back.

You winced immediately as you felt your back stick to the wet paint. "Oh, what the hell..."

Hobie's snickering didn't help. "You didn't have to move, you know."

You decided to ignore that, peeling yourself off of the wall and glancing behind you to see your back imprinted on the neck of your Spider-Punk portrait.

"Interesting artistic choice," he mused.

"Shut up, Hobie."

"On it, boss." You felt his hand on your shoulder before he turned you around, making the air catch at your throat as he peeked at your back, which now had a portrait of its own. "Blood of Monday fascists — very rebel. Got your outfit sorted for tonight."

"Your gig's tonight?" you groaned, trying not to look at his face over your shoulder and instead tossing the can back into the bag of other paint cans, still managing to catch how his lips pushed up in indifference, and probably mild entertainment.

"Nah, we're going out, darlin'," he snickered, and you felt him pinch the fabric wet with red paint to peel it off of your back. The rest of you was probably about to turn cartoonishly red too; this man just wouldn't give it a rest.

"Right, and I'm supposed to 'go out' looking like I got shot in the back."

"Like I'd let you," he muttered, removing his fingers from your back before shrugging off his vest, tossing it to you with the light clink of pins and buttons.

You raised an eyebrow, but he wasn't elaborating, so you put it on, trying not to cringe at the feeling of drying paint on your back. The vest was comfortable, though a bit heavy; it was cool, familiar, nice-smelling — like Hobie.

"Lookin' like a little me," he teased.

"I swear, if one more word comes out of your mouth—"

Your threat was cut short by the deafening blare of alarms, the wall in front of you flashing with a red that wasn't paint. Rich white bloke...

"Do all of them have alarms?" you whisper-shouted to Hobie.

"Looks like Willy does."

"Willy..." your brows knitted together as you watched Hobie pull his mask back on. "Fisk?!"

You'd just drawn a giant mural of Spider-Punk at the back of Wilson Fisk's house. A giant signed mural.

Without a chance for you to think, Hobie slung his arm around your back, and you weren't sure whether to be worried about being caught, annoyed about the paint pressing into your skin or absolutely bewildered as you felt your feel lift off the floor, clinging to him for dear life.

The bag of paint cans were zipped into his arm, with you, still wearing his vest, held against him by the other. Another one of his relentless cackles ripped through the air alongside the "thwip!" of his webs. Despite how absurd this was, a laugh of your own escaped too when you made out the fuming face of Wilson Fisk himself, a powerless, shouting little stain on the ground as you zipped away.

The fascists could wait 'til Monday. Right now, you had a gig to go to with Spider-Punk — or a date; he'd figure it out once the police were off of his tail.

🕸️🔭🎸

thank u for reading! i rly had to wrack my brain lmao ... not the best at writing hobie but it's okay im trying lol... again feedback is cool!

just fyi "big man" isn't really used as a gendered term! in my experience at least its used to casually poke fun at people. also if ur curious the FNSM symbol stands for friendly neighbourhood spider-man (i feel like im the only one that didn't know this um lmao)

if u liked this, reblogs r appreciated! catch the rest of my atsv stuff here <3

[docgold13]

Heroes & Villains The DC Animated Universe - Paper Cut-Out Portraits and Profiles

Menaces of Metropolis

One would have to be rather foolish to be a criminal in Metropolis, a city protected by the Man of Steel himself.  Nevertheless, sometimes villains just got to villain and Superman has faced off with many a rogue.  And for every Lex Luthor and Brainiac there has been equal number of lesser caliber menaces who have made Superman an enemy.  Here are several of the more prominent lower tier cads who have made trouble for the Last Son of Krypton.   

Bruno Mannheim

A ruthless gangster, Bruno Mannheim was the leader of the criminal organization known as Intergang, responsible for nearly all organized crime in Metropolis.  Following the arrival of Superman, however, Mannheim’s operations became severely diminished.  The Man of Steel foiled many of Intergang’s schemes and Mannheim became desperate for some means of gaining an upper hand.  As such, he eagerly accepted the aid offered by the mysterious agent of Apokalips known as Kanto.

Even with the aid of these advanced weapons, Superman managed to prevail.  A disappointed Kanto fled back to Apokalips and Mannheim made the fateful decision to go with him.  There the mobster was made to bow down to Darkseid as his new lord and master.  

When Darkseid planned his invasion of Earth, Mannheim was returned to Metropolis so that he could assist in the attack. Mannheim was ordered to set off a meltdown at an off-shore nuclear power plant.   The mobster did as he was told yet Darkseid left him behind to be caught in the explosion.  

Actor Bruce Weitz provided the voice for Bruno Mannheim with the gangster first appearing in the fourth episode of the first season of Superman: The Animated Series, ‘Fun and Games.’   

Joey

A thief and mobster, Joey had the good sense to stop operating in Metropolis following the arrival of Superman.  Although Lex Luthor was able to coerce Joey to pull off a heist in that he had a secret weapon to neutralize the Man of Steel.        

Equipped with jet packs, Joey and two accomplices staged a daring rooftop robbery, stealing engraving plates from the federal treasury.  Superman arrived as expected and Joey led him to a construction site where Luthor had planted a piece of Kryptonite (having discovered the substance’s ability to greatly weaken Superman).  

Joey was ordered to simply do in Superman and be done with it, but his eagerness to show up the hero got the best of him.  Superman was able to draw Joey far enough away from the Kryptonite that his strength returned.  

Joey ended up apprehended and Luthor was ultimately unable to use the Kryptonite to be rid of his nemesis.  

Actor Thomas F. Wilson provided the voice for Joey, with the goon featuring in the fifth episode of the first season of Superman: The Animated Series, ‘A Little Piece of Home.’   

Tina

A young intern at the Daily Planet newspaper, Tina possessed a compulsive affinity for metal.  At some point she met the super villain known as Metallo.  A being composed of metal was overwhelmingly alluring to Tina and she became dedicated to him, willing to do whatever he asked.  

Using Tina, Metallo hatched a scheme to do in his arch foe Superman.  A news story had run identifying Jimmy Olsen and ‘Superman’s Best Pal.’  Tina accepted Jimmy’s invitation to go out on a date resulted in his being abducted by Metallo. With Jimmy as bait, Metallo was able to draw Superman out.  Fortunately, the villain had overestimated his ability to take on the Man of Steel and Superman prevailed, defeating the villain.  Afterward, Tina was arrested for her part in the scheme.

Actress Dina Sherman provided the voice for Tina was the young ne’er-do-wells featuring in the eighth episode of the third season of Superman: The Animated Series,’Superman’s Pal.’  

Luminus

Edward Lytener was a former LexCorp engineer and a gifted inventor. When LexCorp was under investigation, he became an instrumental whistleblower. Lytener’s intentions here were less than noble, as he was primarily interested in impressing Lois Lane whom he was greatly attracted to. 

The whole matter turned out poorly for Lytener.  He was fired from LexCorp and became something of a pariah in the scientific community. Furthermore he failed to  woo Lois, who went on to a win an award for journalistic excellence. In anger, Lytener attempted to assassinate Lois. 

Superman thwarted the effort to kill Lois and Lytener was apprehended.  While incarcerated, Lytener was recruited by Lex Luthor to enact a plan to kill Superman.  With the technologies provided by Luthor, Lytener broke free from prison and took on the super villain alias of ‘Luminus.’  He set forth a diabolical scheme to render Superman vulnerable by utilizing pirated satellites to filter the sunlight over Metropolis.  With the aid of Lois and Jimmy Olsen, Superman was again able to prevail and a defeated Lytener was sent back to prison.  Some time later, the villain took part in a mass break out yet was swiftly defeated and recaptured by the Justice League.  

Actors Robert Hays and Nicholas Guest each provided the voice for Luminus, with the villain first appearing in the seventh episode of the second season of Superman: The Animated Series, ‘Target.’

Amy and Trouble

A pair of juvenile would-be gangsters, Amy and Trouble acted as agents of Intergang after the outfit was taken over by Granny Goodness.  Equipped with advanced weaponry, the two assisted Granny in a scheme that entailed using a gravity ray to cause a comet to strike earth (naturally Amy and Trouble were unaware the plan was to destroy the earth).  

Granny’s scheme was thwarted by Superman with the aid of Supergirl.  Granny fled back to Apokolips while Amy and Trouble were arrested.  

Actress Julia Kato provided the voice for Amy; with Scott Menville voicing trouble.  The two delinquents first appeared in the twenty-seventh episode of the second season of Superman: The Animated Series, ‘Little Girl Lost, Part I.’  

Earl Garver 

A brilliant scientist who worked at S.T.A.R. Labs, Earl Garver's lack of scruples resulted in his being fired.  Desiring wealth and revenge, he stole a radiative isotope which he fashioned into a bomb that could have leveled a sizable portion of the city.  Carver then attempted to hold the city ransom, demanding an exorbitant fee.  

Superman’s initial effort to stop Garver resulted in the scientist sustaining a head injury that left him in a coma.  With Garver comatose, Superman and the authorities had no way of determining the location of his bomb. In a desperate gambit, Superman and Detective Sawyer recruited the aid of the Parasite who was able to absorb Garver’s memories through touch.  

Unfortunately, Garver’s ego was stronger than that of The Parasite and the scientist was able to take over the Parasite’s body making him an even more formidable threat.  Thankfully, the Man of Steel was able to persevere; Carver was defeated and the bomb was dealt with.  When the evil scientist finally woke from his coma, he found himself being transported to Riker’s Island Penitentiary, where he would spend the remainder of his days.  

The terrific Brian Cox provided the voice for Earl Garver with the villain featuring in the thirteenth episode of the first season of Superman: The Animated Series, ‘Two’s A Crowd.’  

Prototype

The LexCorp Police Battle-suit was invented by engineer, John Henry Irons, designed to assist police officers who were facing an increased number of criminals possessing metahuman powers and advanced technology.  The project was green-lit and funded by the Metropolis Police Department and the decorated police sergeant, Corey Mills, was selected to act as the prototype’s pilot.  

At first, Sergeant Mills excelled using the suit.  It’s functions were quite impressive and Mills and Superman even worked in concert with one another in tending to a building fire.  As time went on, however, use of the suit began to negatively effect Sergent Mills’ mind.  John Henry Irons was worried that this might happen and even tried to convince Luthor that the suit was not yet ready, yet Luthor disregarded the concern.  

Mills worsened and after he had savagely beat a group of criminals, he was placed on medical leave and forbidden from using the suit.  

Unhinged and in the throws of withdrawal, Mills stole the suit and went on a rampage.  This led to a tremendous battle with Superman.  The Man of Steel was nearly defeated by the battle suit yet prevailed after using a downed power cable to short circuit the prototype.  

Actor Xander Berkeley provided the voice for Sergeant Mills with the battle-suit appearing in the twenty-first episode of the second season of Superman: The Animated Series, ‘Prototype.’  

Detective Bowman

Kurt Bowman was a corrupt police detective in Metropolis.  Greedy, lazy and completely lacking in morals, Bowman was assigned to investigate an attempted murder of Lois Lane and proceeded to do almost nothing to protect Lane (fortunately, Superman was able to help Lane bring down the responsible party).  

Some time thereafter, Bowman murdered a wealthy woman and framed an innocent man for the crime.  The man he framed was sentenced to be executed and, having realized his innocence, Clark Kent worked desperately against the clock to exonerate him.  Kent succeeded and the innocent man was freed.  Detective Bowman’s guilt in the murder was made evident and he was subsequently charged, prosecuted and sentenced to the death penalty.

In the days leading to his execution, Bowman obsessed over how Clark Kent could have possibly figured it all out.  In the last moments of his life, the answer finally dawned on him.  The only possible explanation was that Clark Kent was actually Superman.  He had discovered Superman’s true identity yet it was too late to tell anybody.  The execution proceeded and the villain took his last breath.  

Actor Eddie Barth provided the voice for Kurt Bowman, with he corrupt detective first appearing in the seventh episode of the second season of Superman: The Animated Series, ‘Target.’  

Lizzie and Big Susan

A pair of ambitious crooks, Lizzie and Big Susan attempted to abduct the celebrated fashion designer, Lana Lang in the hope of demanding a huge ransom. Grabbing Lana at a fashion show, the pair took her from a back room and tried to flee via an elevator.  The plot was foiled when Superman appeared.  Realizing they had no hope of defeating Superman, Susan ripped the jewelry off Lana's dress and kicked her out of the elevator.  The ploy did not stall Superman for long.  He easily caught Lana and then dislodged the elevator off its tracks and left the two criminals to the police.

Actress Lauri Fraser provided the voice for Lizzie while Valri Bromfield voiced Big Susan.  The two hoods featured in the eleventh episode of the first season of Superman: The Animated Series, ‘My Girl.’  

Agent Kurt

The mysterious Agent Kurt ran a secretive program for the United States military called ‘Project Firestorm.’  The program aimed toward cultivating individuals with metahuman powers to act as living weapons to be utilized in covert operations.  Kurt’s prized subject was Claire Selton whom Kurt had codenamed ‘Volcana.’ Kurt actually loathed metahumans and was quite abusive toward Claire.   

Project Firestorm was eventually shuttered and a released Volcana turned to crime to get by.  Kurt sought out Volcana and abducted her.  His plan was to sell her to a foreign military so they could dissect her in their own efforts to weaponize metahuman abilities.  Fortunately, Superman rescued Volcana.  In the ensuing fracas, she caused a fiery explosion that claimed Kurt’s life.  

Actor Peter Gallagher provided the voice for Agent Kurt, with the rogue operative featuring in the first episode of the third season of Superman: The Animated Series, ‘Where There’s Smoke…’.

Reverend Howell

Amos Howell had been a traveling preacher who happened upon an alien spore that infected his mind.  He went on to become the herald of the extraterrestrial parasite known as Unity.  This parasite could infect organic beings through tentacle-like appendages and Reverend Howell traveled the Midwest on a mission to infect as many people as he could, adding each individual to Unity’s collective until the whole world was consumed.  

Reverend Howell presented Unity as a kind of religion that would bring peace and a lock of conflict to one and all.  After coming to Smallville, he infected Jonathan and Martha Kent.  Kara Kent could tell something was different about her aunt and uncle and she Superman investigated the matter.  It led to a tremendous battle between Unity, Superman and Supergirl.  The heroes managed to prevail and the Unity parasite was destroyed.  With his master dead, Reverend Howell was freed from the creature’s spell.

The always fun Stephen Root provided the voice for Howell/Unity with the menace featuring in the tenth episode of the third season of Superman: The Animated Series, ‘Unity.’  

Mantis 

A one time general in Darkseid’s army of Apokolips, Mantis was a fierce warrior with ambitions to rule.  Following Darkseid’s apparent death, Apokolips fell into civil war and Mantis left the planet for Earth, believing he could conquer this world. 

He arrived in Metropolis and quickly faced off against the Man of Steel with the aid of Captain Atom.  After a fierce battle, Superman activated Mantis' Mother Box and Captain Atom blasted him into the resulting boom tube. Superman destroyed his Mother Box, leaving Mantis with no means to return.

Actor J.K. Simmons provided the voice for Mantis with the villain first appearing in the ninth episode of the second season of Justice League Unlimited, ‘Question Authority.’  

Karkull 

The dreaded Karkull was a demonic Lord of the Inner Pit, a creature from another dimension who possessed vast powers and craved utter destruction.  The beast had escaped the Pit into the realm of mankind and was eventually vanquished by the magical hero known as Doctor Fate.  Fate trapped Karkull within the Tablet of Lorta where the creature remained for over a century.  

The beast was accidentally released by a thief who had come across the artifact and read its inscriptions out loud. Freed once again, Karkull ran amok throughout Metropolis and threatened to destroy the world.  A reluctant Dr. Fate aided Superman in battling Karkull and the creature was again defeated and once more trapped within the Tablet of Lorta.

Actor Ted Levine provided the voice for Karkull, with the villainous creature featuring in the twentieth episode of the second season of Superman: The Animated Series, ‘The Hand of Fate.’   

[echoes-of-a-dream]

skeletons in my closet 0.0 | matt murdock

the skeletons in my closet, they're resurrecting masterlist | fisk family masterlist | matt murdock masterlist

synopsis: you have been running from your past from as far back as you remember; you want to be something good, something better than how you were raised, want to block out the part of you that's bloodthirsty and ruthless and choke it out of you. but when your father comes knocking, you are unaware of just how much you'll be pulled to the middle of a battle between your closest friends and your closet skeletons.

double life | miscommunication | slow burn | friend to enemies to friends to lovers | lies and betrayal | arranged relationship | minor james wesley x reader (not endgame) | love triangle | daddy issues | wc 0.4k

FALL 2003 NEW YORK CITY, NY

“Daddy?”

Wilson turns from the meeting he’s having to look at you, his daughter. You know better than to interrupt, so it must be something important. “Yes?”

“Letter came.” You hold up the envelope in question.

Very important, indeed. Wilson told you under no uncertain circumstances to come find him the second you received it, no matter his occupation at the time. “Excuse me, gentlemen,” he apologizes, gently taking your arm and leading you to an adjourning room, Wesley following.

You glance back nervously at the table he left behind. “Are you sure it’s okay to leave your meeting?”

He smiles—or as close to smiles as he gets—at your concern, warmth blooming in his chest. “Of course. Now, let’s see what you’ve got.” He gestures at the paper in your hand.

You glance at Wesley, which is when Wilson knows you’re stalling. Thankfully, the man he considers a son—the person he plans on you marrying—reads his mind and gives you an encouraging smile and nod.

You take a deep breath, slowly opening the letter. You hold it as you scan, speed-reading, and Wilson waits patiently for the verdict. It doesn’t take very long at all.

“...congratulate you on your admission to Columbia University!” Your voice starts out as a mumble and grows to an excited shout. “I got in!”

Wilson chuckles, not having expected any less. “I’m very proud of you.”

“Congratulations,” Wesley chimes in softly. “A predictable outcome, but nonetheless deserving of recognition.”

You blush at the man, three years your senior. “Thank you, James.” Turning, you accept the hug your father offers. “Thanks, Daddy.”

“Of course.” He had wanted to be there for you finding out, knowing Columbia is your dream school, and he hadn’t wanted you to have had to wait and have time for doubt to creep in. Wilson is proud of you—you’re going far further than he ever had the opportunity to go, than his mother was ever able to go. “Now, I need to get back to the meeting, but we will celebrate later this evening. Wesley, do you mind taking her home?”

“No, sir.” Wesley gallantly offers his arm to you, which you roll your eyes at but accept. The two of you talk about your plans for college as Wesley leads you along, and Wilson watches the two of you with fondness.

Yes, he knows the two of you will get married to each other someday.

next chapter ->

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