#Like even in canon he has snippy little comments about everything

[a-cold-case-of-turnabout]

I think Phoenix as a character deserves to be a little bit of a Bastard. So many fics make him just the nicest guy and that’s fine BUT pSSS PSSS PSSS come CLOSER. MAYBE HE DESERVES TO BE A LITTLE MEAN. A little HORRIBLE EVEN.

#just...after everything especially the 7 year gap i think he can be a little mean as a treat #Like even in canon he has snippy little comments about everything #I just think that while being the nicest guy in the room might be accurate for him #we have to also consider that the other guy in the room is Edgeworth #ace attorney #phoenix wright

[falloutjay]

Stan x anxious/compassionate reader (kind of has a little canon divergence)

After giving up on Wendy (around Season 12), Stan and us start dating, we were always worried about him (no we weren't dating him out of pity, we were just a very anxious person). Some people find of clingy, others find us adorable but We've never left his side:

Ex: We were by his side helping with whales (Whale W)

We were the only one who didn't leave him when he got depression (You're Getting Old/Ass Burgers)

Next to Heidi, we became social pariah because we didn't want to dump Stan (this even made Wendy guilty)

But him moving, really gets to us, the coronavirus makes it worse. We get worried about him, then we start getting worried about everyone else as everything falls apart (Kyle, Kenny, Eric, Butters, Tweek, Craig, Scott, etc.) And we pass out of stress. About waking up in the hospital, we find out, everyone was worried about us. And Stan is the most worried of all, he spends the whole day with us. We tal-no vent about all the happened to the both of us. By the end of it, we agree that whatever happens we'll do it together.

Guess whos back! :D

Well, while it's not my best work, in my humble opinion, I sure hope you enjoy and like it. Again sorry for the delay! ಥ_ಥ

And if it's not that clear, because I know I can write a little cryptic, there is a time skip. You can either have all the show events happen when they are children and have the time skip between Covid and the memories or between you getting together as kids and the memories. Choose however you like! ^^

_________________________________________

Stan x anxious!compassionate!Reader

Tiny eyes watched the scene unfold.

Normally, Wendy was the one to break up with Stan, but not this time around. Stan was actually telling Wendy that he had no interest in her anymore.

“What changed Stan?” Wendy asked, obviously confused.

“I think I like someone else… I don’t know yet…”

Wendy gave him a smile.

“I wish you all the luck Stan, say if you need anything!”

“I will.” And with that, Wendy took off to be with her friends, while Stan turned a corner and told Kyle and Kenny how it went.

Cartman was there too, but he only wanted to know if she cried, because “she would deserve it.”.

You closed your locker and felt your heartbeat like crazy. Ever since you changed school a few months ago, Stan captured your little ten-year-old mind.

He was kind and showed you around when you had no idea where to go. It was a little crush you developed, and you never felt as scared and excited as now, since that Stan had broken off with Wendy.

This newfound feeling almost made you dizzy but you quickly snapped back into reality when you heard your name.

“Y/N?” Stan asked and waited patiently for his answer next to you.

“Oh, sorry, I was thinking, what did you want?”

“Would you maybe like to hang out some time?”

Stan almost got a heart attack when you suddenly squealed but was happy when you managed to get a high-pitched “YES!” out.

“Okay, what are you betting Kenny? Some Pennies or a dead rat?” Cartman almost fell from his chair laughing about his shitty joke, while Kyle and Kenny rolled their eyes.

“Don’t you think it’s weird how clingy they are?” Kyle asked his blonde friend, while they kept watching you and Stan, who were seated at a separate table at lunch.

“Honestly, I think it’s pretty cute.” Kenny said with his muffled voice.

You held his arm and hugged him from the side, while he happy kept on eating his lunch.

Eric, who had now calmed down from his laugh attack eyed the couple critically. “I’m giving them a month max.”

He said lazily and looked around. “I say longer than a year.” Kenny said, throwing a crinkled five-dollar note on the table.

“You two are horrible.” Kyle shook his head before he threw 10 dollars on the table.

“Four months.”

Kenny was a happy man after a year, because despite everyone believing you two would eventually break up, you never did.

You were always by his side, no matter what.

His desire to desperately save whales with the help of a braindead ship crew?

You were always right by his in the interviews he gave.

His horrible depression that even drove Kyle away? No chance, you stood strong and helped him through the whole thing and even help reuniting the gang.

Even during the protest against Skanthunt42, you chose to sit this one out, despite you absolutely hating that the troll photoshopped a dick into your mother’s mouth.

At least you and Heidi got close due to you guys both becoming social outcasts. When Wendy heard this, she was impressed by your dedication and felt somewhat guilty for obviously not trying as much in her former relationship.

Everyone admired your patience and endurance. No matter what obstacle came, you managed to get through it.

“You don’t need to be sad, Y/N. I won't be that far away.” Stan said, holding your hand.

“B-But it's outside of town. You need ages by bike to get there and vice versa.” You said, holding back tears.

Randy walked past you and you desperately pleaded to him.

“Please Mister Marsh, please stay in town!” Randy put the box he carried into the car, before turning to you.

“Real sorry, dear Y/N. This town is…How do I put it… Absolute shit and I really want to get away.”

He patted you on the head and went back into the house to get more boxes.

“Told you, you cant talk to him.” Stan said and shrugged.

“But it’s unfair. We won’t see each other as much anymore.” Stan pressed a kiss onto your cheek, which made you blush intensely.

“Don’t. Worry. I will make time for you.”

With that in mind, you didn’t feel as sad, when the car with the Marsh Family in it left for their new home.

“I will make time for you, my ass.” You mumbled while you sat at a bench near Starks Pond. Letting out a deep sigh, you leaned back and just enjoyed the warmth of the setting sun.

Covid was one hell of a bitch and just had to have this big impact on everyone’s life. Stan and you now saw each other less and less.

It was just a horrible feeling that tainted your heart and made you worry a lot.

Maybe he was feeling just as bad as you are, maybe even more?

Maybe he just didn’t want to tell you how he felt?

Were you maybe a bad partner? Your mind began racing and your train of thoughts became unrailed.

So many bad thoughts manifested themselves and it made you almost gasp for air.

“I need to check on him.” You mumbled getting up from the park bench.

You began walking and you kind of hoped that maybe just the walking would get your mind in check, but sadly it didn’t. Involuntarily you had to think about all the other stuff that happened during this horrible time.

The precious Broship was more fragile than ever. You had become such good friends with Kenny, Kyle and Cartman over time that it hurt you a lot too.

You also saw Covid take a toll on your other friends, like Craig and his group, who now took Cartman into their gang after the split up.

However, that came to be…

The girls were also pretty divided, so hanging out with them meant picking sides which wasn’t your thing, you kinda just want them to get along again.

Everything felt like it was falling apart. Your parents had fights ever so often, all your friends had problems and your beloved boyfriend was stuck on that stupid farm.

God how you hated that stupid farm and Randy.

When he gave you one of those plushies that looked like him, you functioned it into a voodoo doll. But sadly, it didn’t seem to affect him, no matter how many needles you rammed into it.

Your heart felt heavy, and it seemed hard to breathe, but you brushed it aside.

You had already reached the busy streets of South Park and mingled between the newly vaccinated people.

Everywhere you looked, the people seemed happy.

Everyone was happy except you and the people around you… Maybe…You were the problem?

You shook your head. No, you didn’t allow those kinds of thoughts.

You much rather think about Stan. How you miss him and how amazing your dates were.

Oh, how much effort he put into all the small things… Well… At least he did.

Now that you thought about it when was your last date?

It feels like it had been ages. It has been ages. Everything had been ages. Going out with him, hanging out with your friends, your family not fighting… How long has this been the new normal? You can’t help but wonder.

Your heart clenched again. “Stop it, stupid heart.” You mumbled under your breath.

An exhausted sigh escaped your lips when you thought about how you maybe had to walk all the way up to the farm… It would take ages, but you really craved being held by the person you adored so much.

So, you continued walking down through the street when an elder lady stopped you.

“Excuse me, but you look rather sickly, are you alright?” Confused you raised an eyebrow. Did the vaccines make them delusional?

“No, I’m fine.” You answered, somewhat snippy, even when you didn’t know why you were so agitated.

“But you look rather pale, maybe you- I am fine.” You interrupted her and continued your path.

Were all people in this shitty town stupid or- The thought could not be completed, due to you suddenly losing consciousness.

When you woke up again, you immediately recognized one of the Hells Pass Hospital rooms, once your eyes had adjusted to the bright lights. Around the bed were your parents and more importantly Stan and his mother.

“Thank God, you’re awake again!” Your mother said when she went for a hug.

Confused you asked why you were here.

“Well, seemingly you were so stressed out, that your body basically shut down.”

Somewhat shocked you looked around. Was it really a surprise to hear that? Not really, but it still felt odd knowing that it happened.

“Well, I’m glad you’re fine, Y/N.” Misses Marsh commented and smiled warmly at you. She had always liked you and you felt the same. She was always nice to you and you felt like she was the only one with a brain in the family…

Feeling a sudden sensation of warmness on your hand, your eyes darted down to it. Stan held you hand while answering something your dad had asked him.

“Well, Sharon, you wanna accompany us to get some hot chocolate for us all?”

Your mother said with an odd wink, which made you and Stan roll your eyes.

The three adults left the room chatting happily. Stan looked at you with a stern expression, which kind of surprised you.

“I swear, whenever I think I couldn’t get more worried about you, your parents call me, to tell me that you’re in the hospital.”

“Worried? About me? I should be worried about you?” You laughed to which Stan shook his head.

“Listen, everyone has been super worried about you since you seemed so down and just exhausted. Like, Kyle already called me earlier to ask if you’re awake again. I don’t know why you worry about me; I am really fine babe. Promise.”

With that said, the door opened, and your parents came back inside.

“Y/N, the doctor said they would like you to stay the night, so they can check that you’re really alright.” Your father informed you and you were immediately annoyed.

Well, you had no choice but to oblige. Your parents left after an hour, wanting to get you some clothes and other things you’d need.

Sharon also bids her goodbye and so you and Stan were left.

And just like you wished, you got to cuddle with him. He held you close, and you vented to him, how worried you were about everything and everyone, while he told you just how worried all of your friends had been since you were acting so out of character.

“Even Cartman?”

“Yup, even when he would never admit it.” Stan laughed. He held your hand tight, and his content smile never left his face.

“I think we should talk more about feelings and being worried and all that. I know I’m not all that good at it, but I don’t ever wanna have to visit you in a hospital again.” Stan said, giving your hand a squeeze.

“That sounds good. But you gotta accept, I worry a lot, because I care a lot about you, okay?” You said sternly and Stan nodded. You two looked fondly at each other and just enjoyed the time you got.

“Together forever?” You asked and he whispered “Forever.”, before he pressed a sweet kiss onto your lips.

#south park x reader #stan x reader #stan marsh x reader

[heathneycanon]

reasons why phobia factor fucking slaps

ok this lowkey just turned into me rambling abt phobia factor while i rewatched it. putting it under a read more bc it’s super long lmao

like, the entire first five minutes are the campers being friendly to each other?? and vulnerable, to a degree??? you know i love that shit

courtney and trent?? talk to each other?? like. okay they’re never in the same frame together unfortunately, but they do have like, two whole back and forth conversations.

also in that campfire scene at the beginning, cody and trent are sitting next to each other and there are some. good screencaps

“exSQUEEZE me?!” like cody. ur such a dork omfg

duncan vulnerability hours

lindsay asks what a standee is and trent explains it and doesn’t mock her/isn’t annoyed with her at all, in contrast to a lot of the other campers interacting with lindsay. i love them as friends SO much u all have no idea

harold’s little scene with the ninjas. i love him sm. why does he have nunchucks with him when he goes to the bathroom??

leshawna is afraid of spiders and she runs away screaming from. chef wearing a spider suit??? like i don’t love spiders but if a man i knew wearing a spider costume was calmly walking toward me i wouldn’t react the same way as i would to a real spider. anyway i think this is hilarious.

season one heather vulnerability hours.....

i mean, i really wish they’d actually shown her talking abt her fear at the campfire, rather than just having it told by gwen in the confessional, but i get why they did that. regardless that one scene right before the sumo wrestler charges at her where she’s literally shaking.... i want to give her a hug

side note i hope the sumo wrestler is okay he hit his head quite a few times

ok so. trent accidentally leaving gwen buried underground because he’s getting chased by a mime isn’t like. a sweet gwent moment. but it is one of their interactions that i remember most vividly from tdi lmfao

what is a cute gwent moment is trent like. kneeling next to her while chris is burying her. and the face he makes at chris when he jokes abt not digging her up..... i love them sm

also gwen sounds so fucking dramatic when they close the box she’s in like. “goodbye cruel world” gwen ur being buried for 5 minutes ur not dying sdfjlafskj i love her

duncan hyping dj up before he picks up the snake is so cute?? like he’s clapping for him and he’s got what i call “adorable duncan face” which is where his eyes are full circles and he’s smiling. i can remember him making this face at courtney, dj, and alejandro throughout the series and it’s just. ugh loving soft duncan hours

“ah! it blinked” “it means she likes you” sadie where are u getting this information

okay so i googled if this was true and the result i got was “snakes can’t blink” so first of all i have no clue where sadie pulled that fact from and i have even less of an idea of where chris got that fucking. blinking snake from. is that even a snake??

when dj picks up the snake and they all hype him up?????? i love the killer bass so much it’s unreal

more cute gwent moments... gwen and trent talking on the walkie talkies.. they’re so cute

when the mime pops up behind trent and he does that little scream.... it’s loving trent hours u guys

trent is so bothered by a mime literally just. being a mime. me too trent. me too.

duncan and the celine dion music store standee.... everything abt that scene

"DUDE SHE’S MADE OF CARDBOARD” tyler i love you

courtney genuinely saying that it’s okay if he can’t do it (when she was being harsh to dj about the snake earlier..... duncney is so good in tdi u guys)

and then theY HOLD HANDS GUYSSSS IM SOFT FOR THEM

and THAT is what gives duncan the encouragement he needs to go for it?? they’re so good.

his “okay, okay” right before going for it... duncan’s voice acting is so good in this episode omfg

THE MUSIC THAT PLAYS WHEN HE HUGS THE STANDEE AND THEN EVERYONE CHEERING ITS SUCH A GOOD SCENE

THE DUNCNEY HUG

“duncan, you’re awesome!” and the look of shock on his face at both the fact that he did it and that courtney’s hugging him...... have i mentioned i love duncney yet?? bc i do

i can’t believe i used to dislike duncney omfg

then when courtney realizes that she’s hugging him and steps back jafksdfjlsa she’s so cute

and then the rest of the bass come over and hype duncan up more like. i love how supportive they all are in this episode!!

trent is so excited when he finally gets the mime to leave him alone fakjldjfl like he didn’t have to ROAST the dude. but he did.

chris somehow owns a remote control hail cloud?

lindsay getting excited about the “baby cloud” and calling it over?? she’s so cute omfg

trent fucking. hates geoff. gwent has geoffphobia in tdi ig

when they dig up gwen and she throws the walkie talkie at his head but he doesn’t stop smiling..... your honor i love them

owen and izzy getting out of the plane and kissing the ground together..... adorable.

cody with a fucking. watermelon on his head and covered in trash scares bridgette out of the woods. that will never not be funny to me

THAT ONE FUCKING SCENE. WHERE SADIE AND LINDSAY HYPE EACH OTHER UP. THAT MAY BE ONE OF MY FAVORITE SCENES IN THE ENTIRE SERIES. I LOVE THEM SM

the only bad thing abt this ep- tyler should have gotten the fucking point. he completed the challenge. i love courtney, but realistically, she should have gone home this ep and tyler should have stayed.

bridgette hyping tyler up...... im soft they should be friends

“quit being such a girl” courtney im sorry but the only reason you’re still in the game rn is because ezekiel made sexist comments in episode one. what are u saying lmfao

tyler and heather’s reactions to their fears rly make me think. bc like. most of the other campers have a more outward, loud reaction, maybe scream and run away. a couple are just a little wigged out. gwen gets a little snippy and is clearly super freaked out as well. but tyler and heather just. completely shut down. like, curled up in a ball, nonverbal, and shaking. makes u think.

why did cody need a calculator to figure out that the score was 7/3....... cody is canon lgbt+ bc he can’t do basic math without a calculator confirmed

also regardless of how little sense that made. at least that screencap gave us commie cody

when gwen starts trying to psych courtney out and heather like. gasps and looks shocked..... i like to think that heather feels a little bad for courtney here. heathney real.

duncan and bridgette hyping courtney up..... i love the killer bass so much omfg

courtney looks so sad when she walks away from the jelly.......

and then in the confessional right after?? she’s like. crying a little bit :( and she’s beating herself up abt it like..... :( courtney no

LITERALLY she’s like “how could i be so weak” “i deserve to go home” “you’re pathetic” (to herself) and then tells herself to show some confidence and then. she just starts crying again. and then slaps herself?? GOD I FUCKING LOVE COURTNEY SHE’S SO HARD ON HERSELF

owen just. hangin out in the tub of jelly. i love u, u wild dude. fuckin sit in that green jelly. loving owen hours

the little look that courtney and tyler give each other when they’re the last two without marshmallows..... half solidarity half “i don’t want to be the one going home”. i love them sm :(

i KNOW i said this earlier but. tyler should NOT have gone home this episode!!!!!! only bad thing abt this ep

all the fuckin chicken puns are a little bit funny tho

“he won’t be flying high tonight” bridgette chickens can’t fly

when courtney goes “okay, that’s enough” like. tyler’s not even there at this point but she’s defending him. maybe it’s because she still feels she should have gone home instead? maybe it’s because of that little bit of solidarity she felt for him when they were the final two without a marshmallow? maybe i’m reading too much into this? but idk. i think it’s sweet

okay no i have another complaint. what the fuck was the whole boat ride for tyler?? like when sadie gets eliminated the surprise she gets is that katie is on the boat. when tyler is on the boat, CRYING, after literally none of his teammates came to see him off, after he LITERALLY COMPLETED THE CHALLENGE BUT DIDN’T GET CREDIT FOR IT. the fucking. CHICKENS POP OUT?????? tyler deserved better

also some of the challenges were a lot easier, or at the very least, harder to fail than others this ep. i love it but come on. lindsay and sadie vs like. gwen vs owen and izzy vs dj. there were very different time limits, actual fright level, ability to back out once they were doing the challenge.... not a fair challenge

also uhm. if we’re being technical tyler and heather had the exact same reaction to their fears, so why did heather get a point and tyler didn’t? if the chicken had run at him, would he have won? smh

i do love this episode so much but. i had a couple complaints

okay finally lindsay’s little confessional to tyler where she blows him a kiss.... they’re so adorable lyler rights!!

#total drama #long post #phobia factor #confessional #duncney #gwent #lyler #courtney #duncan #trent #heather #gwen #tyler #leshawna #geoff #dj #bridgette #sadie #owen #izzy #cody #trody #heathney #harold #god i fucking love this ep

[gffa]

I’ve been thinking about Qui-Gon a lot lately (through various things like creator commentary, some fic that managed to make me really adore him, fandom reactions, my eternally conflicted M&A feelings, etc.) and honestly I keep coming back to how we have so little of the character that almost anything anyone says on him is pretty much pure projection.  You can say some nice things about him in TPM, but you can also say some less than flattering things about him in TPM. Like, the idea that Qui-Gon shows more compassion than Obi-Wan for calling Jar Jar a “pathetic creature”?  This is the same guy who said, “The ability to speak does not make one intelligent.” and was condescending right to Jar Jar’s face.  No, Qui-Gon was not kinder to him than Obi-Wan was.  (And the “pathetic lifeform” thing is clearly not serious, imo.  Especially considering, in The Clone Wars, it’s Obi-Wan who is shown to be the one who does things like making a special effort to avoid the attacking creatures on Ryloth.)

You know who else wasn’t kind to Jar Jar?  Padme makes her disdain for him BLATANTLY clear, right to his face, on Rodia.  But that never seems to comeup, either because it’s TCW or because she’s not a Jedi.  It’s a thing that a lot of characters do, including on TCW. You know who is pretty damn nice to Jar Jar, though?  Mace Windu.  He’s obviously annoyed at some points, but he treats Jar Jar with respect and kindness, far more than Qui-Gon ever did. And Qui-Gon as the most compassionate Jedi?  Again, no, because what he did to Obi-Wan in the Council Chamber wasn’t cruel, but it was really uncaring of how that would affect Obi-Wan.  It was focused entirely on Anakin, like Anakin was the only person who mattered.  His kindness to Anakin was very sweet!  But he was kind of a dick to Obi-Wan, even if I think that Obi-Wan understood why and wasn’t that hurt by it and Qui-Gon trusted that. Then you have M&A where Qui-Gon never really talks to Obi-Wan.  He thinks all these things about Obi-Wan, but never actually says them.  And when Obi-Wan questions him, Qui-Gon gets real defensive and snippy.  And that’s setting aside that he had a chance to actually help shape the Jedi in the ways he thought would be better and then he said no after the Jedi Council specifically asked him to be part of it because he had different opinions.  That’s part of the book, that’s canon. He’s not a bad person!  He cares very much.  I think Obi-Wan understood why Qui-Gon did what he did.  But we really don’t see much of who he is beyond the movie and M&A and neither of them ever show us Qui-Gon being particularly compassionate or caring above and beyond what you can find Obi-Wan or Yoda or Mace or any of the other Jedi doing. And, as much as this was inspired by Dave’s comments, I’m actually really :/ about his whole thing about how Anakin not having a dad was a “failing” as if nuclear families are the only kind of love that are important, as if a supportive, caring community means nothing.  As if we don’t see Jedi taking care with their younglings.  As if children without father figures are incomplete somehow? Like, I usually love Dave, but everything he said about TPM only works on the surface and pretty much everything he says is contradicted by the movie itself or George’s commentary–like George has specifically said if Anakin had been found by the Jedi earlier, he would have been fine, that’s not “only Qui-Gon could have kept him from falling”. I get wanting to defend the prequels and their place in the story and their connection to the themes, but I really disagree with his entire take on that movie, based on the content of the movie (Qui-Gon being a dick to Jar Jar, to Obi-Wan, etc.) and George’s commentary on the movies. Again, Qui-Gon is not a bad character, but he’s a very blank character, you can project pretty much whatever you want onto him, that’s what’s so frustrating, because there’s just not enough either way, and what little we have in canon really contradicts that whole theory. ETA: Okay, I’m going to add some George Lucas quotes to this to better show what I mean, because this was originally meant to be just an informal thing but I think it would help to be a little more serious about it: Qui-Gon Jinn commentary from The Phantom Menace: “So here we’re having Qui-Gon wanting to skip the early training and jump right to taking him on as his Padawan learner, which is controversial, and ultimately, the source of much of the problems that develop later on.”  –George Lucas, The Phantom Menace commentary That… is really not what Dave said about Qui-Gon. “The fact that everything must change and that things come and go through [Anakin’s] life and that he can’t hold onto things, which is a basic Jedi philosophy that he isn’t willing to accept emotionally and the reason that is because he was raised by his mother rather than the Jedi. If he’d have been taken in his first year and started to study to be a Jedi, he wouldn’t have this particular connection as strong as it is and he’d have been trained to love people but not to become attached to them.”  –George Lucas, Attack of the Clones commentary Basically, if Anakin had been found earlier, he would have been fine, he would have been trained to love people, as per George Lucas’ words.  Ie, YES THE JEDI DO LOVE PEOPLE. The only time I’ve seen George talk about Anakin’s fate is when it’s specifically about Anakin’s choice in it, not outside influences making choices for him: “It’s fear of losing somebody he loves, which is the flipside of greed.  Greed, in terms of the Emperor, it’s the greed for power, absolute power, over everything. With Anakin, really it’s the power to save the one he loves, but it’s basically going against the Fates and what is natural.“ –George Lucas, Revenge of the Sith commentary Because Star Wars is about choice just as much as it’s about family.  And that family shouldn’t have to be a nuclear family to have a loving, supportive community.  As if Plo Koon didn’t love and support Ahsoka.  As if we don’t see Obi-Wan reaching out to Anakin over and over again in care, concern, and support, in the movies, in The Clone Wars, in the comics, in the novels, etc.  As if we didn’t see a whole gaggle of Jedi ready to jump up and teach Ahsoka because they cared about her.  As if we didn’t see Jedi after Jedi after Jedi sacrificing themselves in Order 66 to save their Padawans. Dave Filoni, you read Kanan: The Last Padawan where Depa sacrifices her life for Caleb or watch the Order 66 scene in Jedi: Fallen Order where Jaro Tapal sacrifices himself for Cal AND YOU TRY TO TELL ME JEDI DIDN’T LOVE.

#qui gon jinn #meta #davegate

[thejakeformerlyknownasprince]

Any way we could get like a master list of like Tobias + Rachel moments like “first time they talk about their feelings” and “first kiss” etc? And what book it’s in? If that’s not too much. I love you!!

All right, this is going to be less a master list, more a “things I can think of off the top of my head,” but here it is.

The Non-Definitive List of Rachel/Tobias Milestones:

First crush: #1.  It’s hard to say how much is going on in the background of their first mission, because Jake is a clueless duffer who needs Cassie to explain romance to him and because Jake takes forever to wrap his head around the fact that Rachel is capable of having crushes on boys.  But we know that Rachel is looking at Tobias when she agrees to let the boys walk her and Cassie home, and we know that Rachel immediately jumps to Tobias’s defense when he and Marco start arguing.  Rachel is the most worried about Tobias when the others lose sight of him during that first battle, and the fastest to consider Tobias a part of the group.

Unresolved romantic tension: #3.  Tobias knows he has a thing for Rachel as of this book.  He knows, and he’s not ever planning on doing a dang thing about it, because he’s a bird and she’s a human.  They smash up car commercials together, they hunt for yeerk ships together, and they fly all over town together, but he’s pretty sure they’re going nowhere relationship-wise.  And then Rachel, in the middle of half-drowning in the truck ship’s water tank, starts to say what she needs to say before she dies.  She stays in morph longer than any of the others specifically so that she and Tobias can have this last moment alone.  And Tobias’s response to her near-confession is to grab a dracon beam and go take on an entire yeerk fleet alone.

Acknowledging their feelings: #7.  When the Ellimist comes with his offer, Jake and Marco focus on saving their families, Ax and Cassie go full environmentalist... and Rachel and Tobias are pissed.  Tobias figures out instantly that he’s only there as a human because the Ellimist wants to manipulate Rachel’s emotions through dangling the possibility of de-nothliting her honey-pie in front of her face.  Rachel’s pissed on Tobias’s behalf, Tobias on Rachel’s behalf, and the Ellimist is just deeply amused.

Resolving romantic tension: #12.  When Rachel doesn’t know what to do about the crocodile thing, she goes to Tobias.  When Tobias sees Rachel and Jake headed for another fight, he undercuts it so that Rachel wins.  They banter about Superman and Xena having kids together.  They jerk Marco around together.  They’re a couple already, even if they’ve never even held hands.

First couples’ fight: MM2.  They’re both tired and hungry and injured, to give credit where it’s due, and they’re entitled to get snippy with each other.  It’s also worth noting that they resolve their spat in a pretty healthy way — Tobias acknowledges that he underestimated how hard it would be to control the deinonychus morph, Rachel acknowledges that she underestimated how dangerous the deinonychuses would be, they both acknowledge that they’re not at their best and need to drop the subject until they’re in a better mood.  It’s also when Rachel recognizes that Tobias isn’t, fundamentally, a mere human: she doesn’t reach him through the dino instincts until she pivots from descriptions of fingers and toes and instead reminds him of flying.

Healthiest moment: #23.  Yes, a matter of opinion, but I love how supportive Rachel is toward Tobias throughout this whole book.  She’s quick to reassure him that she doesn’t think it’s weird to eat roadkill, and equally quick to drop the subject when he wants to.  Whatever Tobias needs, from a sympathetic ear to a killer grizzly, she’s happy to help him through this difficult time.

Labeling the relationship: #27.  Bless T.T. and his stupid little 1990s So Cal name.  It takes T.T.’s dimples and his smooth-talking and his sheer ordinariness for Rachel to realize that she doesn’t want dimples or smooth-talking or ordinariness.  She wants the kind of guy who is terrified of water but will become a sperm whale to keep her safe.  She wants a “mouse-eating freak,” because she’s a squid-eating freak herself.  She wants someone around whom she can be ugly, can be vulnerable, can be scared, can be herself.  Also, I love that moment with Tobias commenting that T.T. is “pretty cute, and perceptive too” after T.T. says something unrepeatable about Rachel’s violent tendencies and sense of propriety.

First kiss: MM3.  It’s the moment just after Rachel was “killed” by a cannonball aboard the Trafalager and then pops back up in the middle of Princeton University’s campus.  Tobias runs and grabs her, she smooches him, Marco asks if he can have a kiss as well, the racist dude that Cassie was in the middle of intimidating cries on the floor.  It’s all very romantic.

The L Word: #32.  The whole book is about Rachel learning to reconcile the different sides of herself, but a big part of it is her realizing that Tobias has gone through many of the same struggles.  Tobias knows she’s a killer, and he’s a killer too.  Tobias knows she’s a frightened softie at heart, and he is one too.  Tobias’s entire life has been about him trying to stick together disparate pieces of himself, which is why Tobias is the only thing Mean Rachel and Nice Rachel can agree upon, and it’s why Tobias is the only one whom Rachel wants to see after it’s all over.

Best “battle couple” moment: #36.  A matter of opinion, of course, but I love the moment that the yeerk submarine starts to come apart and Rachel bodily wraps herself around Tobias to protect him.  Honestly the whole motif of them pairing up their battle morphs — hawk-Tobias compensating for bear-Rachel’s major weakness through acting as her eyes and ears, bear-Rachel compensating for hawk-Tobias’s relative delicacy through being the tank of the team — does my heart good.  But I have an extra-large soft spot for this moment because when the shit hits the fan, Rachel’s immediate reaction is to throw her entire body between Tobias and danger.

Picking out furniture: #49.  Yes, Rachel is joking when she tells Tobias that they need to get patio furniture for his meadow, but it’s also an affirmation that they both view this as a long-term thing they’ve got going.  She wants them to have a place together, even if it is a random clearing in the woods with a deeply suspicious number of lounge chairs.

First date: ???  Arguably, Rachel and Tobias never go on a single actual date-date, and I think that’s a lot of the beauty of their utterly unique relationship.  Ones that could count:

Destroying a car commercial in #3.  Although there are hints in #2 that Rachel goes flying alone with Tobias sometimes, this is the first time we actually see them doing something for fun together.

Running around as hork-bajir in #13.  It’s the first time they go on a mission as a couple, the first time they really consider the possibility that they could have a relationship now that Tobias can morph, and the first instance of them using “paired” morphs together.

Tobias’s birthday in #23.  If “date” means sharing a meal together, then by gum Rachel baking an entire cake for Tobias and then having the world’s strangest conversation about his family history while they sit on the floor of her room and eat with their hands has got to count.

The school dance in #29.  This is the first time (that we know of) where they go to a public human gathering as a formal couple.

The opening sequence of #33.  This moment canonically makes “Iris” by the Goo Goo Dolls their song, and it involves the first real conversation about their future as a couple.

The ending sequence of #33.  EVERYTHING HURTS AND NOTHING IS OKAY at the end of this book, but it also involves them doing human-stuff like hugging and hanging out on the beach followed by them doing raptor-stuff like flying around together, because everyone but especially Rachel is trying to do whatever Tobias needs right then.  It’s also the most emotionally raw moment between them, but one they get through together.

Watching Felicity together in #35.  I love this moment, not in the least because Rachel and Tobias are both like “how dare you interrupt our soap opera with yeerks, Marco?” and it hints at what they’ve been up to in the background of the books they don’t narrate.  It’s also canon that Rachel doesn’t have a TV in her room, so that suggests that human-Tobias and human-Rachel were sacked out on her couch together, possibly while Naomi glared disapprovingly from the door to the kitchen.

Having burgers in #49.  Rachel bringing Tobias McDonald’s is actually the first time they label one of their own meetups as being a date, for what it’s worth.

Most painful moment: #54, duh.  For me it’s a three-way tie between Tobias guiding Rachel through her last battle after she’s blinded by snake venom, Rachel and Tobias both taking on human morph so that they can say goodbye to each other THROUGH A VIEWSCREEN, and Tobias stealing the urn with Rachel’s ashes because he wants her to have a memorial her way.  Ugggghh why do these children wound me so.

#animorphs #animorphs meta #animorphs spoilers #rachel berenson #tobias fangor #emohawk #romance #hawkward #xena: warrior princess #anonymous #asks

[lonelier-version-of-you]

ok I haven’t been participating in that Autism Acceptance Month Challenge thing because... executive dysfunction lmao.

but yesterday’s theme was autistic representation, and I’ve seen a lot of people use this subject to say they wish there were more complex autistic characters, more autistic characters who get more to do than Being Autistic, more stories addressing ableism, more autistic adult characters, etc.

and it’s made me think about one of my favourite canon autistic characters ever, who is sadly underrated because no one outside of the UK has heard of the show he’s from, but whom I think a lot of people would appreciate.

So. LET ME TELL YOU ALL ABOUT DYLAN KEOGH.

He’s a character from the BBC show Casualty (a medical drama series about the staff of a hospital emergency department), and some of the best canon autistic representation I’ve ever seen.

Dylan’s autism heavily impacts him as a character, but he isn’t just there to be The Autistic Member of the ED team. (In fact, there’s another autistic character on the show, a paramedic named Ruby Spark. No tokenism here, folks! Ruby is awesome too, but her autism is less directly focused on in the series - and confirmed by the actress rather than on-screen - so I’m mostly talking about Dylan in this post because his autism actually gets directly addressed in the series.) [ETA: As of May 2020, Ruby has left the show because the actress wanted to pursue other projects. She was a great character while she lasted though.]

He’s so much more than that. He gets to fall in love with people who aren’t good for him, to mentor younger staff members, to help refugee kids, etc. He gets to do everything the other characters do.

When his autism comes up, it’s handled fantastically. He’s no savant, the show makes that very clear - he’s very talented and intelligent, but he’s not a genius who can figure out what’s wrong with his patients right away or anything like that. Dylan wishes he could be a savant, sure, but he’s not.

Which is where one of my favourite aspects of Dylan’s character comes in. On the surface, he may look like an “asshole genius” stereotype. But! In reality, he’s quite the opposite. He can often be sarcastic and snippy and impatient with people, and very closed off, but this doesn’t come from his autism so much as it comes from rebelling against the way the world has treated him. It’s a “You think I’m weird and rude? Fine then, I’ll be weird and rude!” kind of thing more than anything, but he can still open up and be a lovely man when he wants to.

Part of Dylan’s backstory is that his father physically and emotionally abused him for being autistic, and the show makes NO ATTEMPT to justify this or go “but Brian [Dylan’s father] was under such stress raising an autistic kid!” or anything like that. It’s portrayed as what it is: repulsive, abusive, and just flat-out morally wrong behaviour.

Throughout the show, Dylan has often had to deal with ableism of all kinds. It’s ranged from the past abuse and recurrent ableist comments from his father, to an Autism Mum who assumes he’s ‘not like her child’, to little microaggressions even from well-intentioned people. (In one episode from 2015, Dylan’s best friend at the time, a nurse called Lofty, makes a comment about Dylan not really seeming human and probably being “an alien sent to study us”. It’s all in jest, but Dylan overhears and is hurt by it - and by the end of the episode, Lofty realises what he said was wrong.) They don’t make this into a Very Special Episode or a “zomg please don’t bully the poor autistic angels” kind of thing, either, it’s shown as a legitimate and unfair form of prejudice.

I want to expand on the part about the Autism Mum for a moment: this was Series 26 Episode 10, ‘Sanctuary’, and for the love of god, even if you never watch any other Casualty episodes, please just watch that one. In fact, it’s the one I took the gif earlier in this post from. It calls out ableism and allistic parents who paint themselves as martyrs, and features Dylan (the sort of character they easily could’ve made into a ‘shiny Aspie’) bonding with an autistic woman who has higher support needs and treating her as an equal. The episode shows that even though many would class Dylan as “high-functioning” and the autistic woman, Angela, as “low-functioning”, they have more in common than what divides them. It’s fantastic and incredibly ahead of its time.

There are so many more reasons I love Dylan, but this post is long enough already, so I’ll just stop here and hope I’ve already inspired some interest in his character. Dylan may not be perfect representation (he is, admittedly, another white straight man, and the show plays his touch sensitivity for laughs a little too often for my liking), but IMHO, he’s pretty damn close. And I think he deserves much more recognition and appreciation as autistic rep than he gets.

#actuallyautistic #actually autistic #autism #BBC Casualty #Dylan Keogh #hopefully this version will actually show up in the tags lmao

[alo-piss-trancy]

SD/R2 OMO HEADCANONS (Pt1)

Decided it was probably time for me to post a list of my omo hcs for this game since I did the THH chars! Like with the other list, I'll be excluding a couple I have no interest in thinking of omo content of (in this case, Hiy/oko and Teru/teru). I'm breaking this one into multiple posts throughout the week as I compile my thoughts (I'll add a link to all of them on the fic masterlist page later so you can find them all) because I feel this is gonna be a lot longer than my THH post haha!

Here we go, the first 3 (or 4) chars! Please stop reading now if you don't want spoilers for the game bc there will be several!!!

~~~

Gun/dham:

* I firmly hc him as vegetarian (not vegan. He will consume byproducts like milk/cheese/eggs/etc, but only harvested himself or from small farms/sources that he has personally vetted/researched where he knows 100% that the creatures are treated ethically.)

* That's actually not omo-related besides milk oops but it relates to my next point, which is that for the most part he prefers Natural food/drink. Water, fruit or vegetable juices/smoothies, etc. He's not really used to strange 'Human' confections like soda or coffee, so the caffeine and diuretics hit him hard and fast and make it difficult for him to estimate how much time he has. It also makes him jittery/hyped as hell which Does Not Help.

* As long as he isn't screwed over by caffeine or a ton of drinks, he has a decently strong bladder and can hold for a long time. He has a lot of practice from hiding/waiting to help certain animals, laying trapped under sleeping cats/dogs, etc. And also avoiding public restrooms like the Plagues they are for most of the day...

* He's bladdershy AF and has been since early childhood. I saw he had signs drawn on the doors/curtain in his room during my playthrough (including the bathroom) and that is definitely his safezone. Can't go outside either bc 1. He's paranoid he'll be seen by other ppl and 2. That feels disrespectful to the nature deities despite the logic that animals do it all the time. He knows that's dumb and he hates himself for it.

* Sometimes I do like to ignore the bladdershy hc just for some variety. Even in that case tho he'd still be a bit of a diva about which public bathrooms he uses. If it's gross or weird he's gonna avoid it/complain/refuse to go even if bursting. He's stubborn af

* We all know he canonically goes commando. Therefore he is in extra danger because any leaks will go straight to his pants RIP Since he usually wears black it isn't that visable (as long as it's just a bit and not a full wetting), but if he ever has to wear smth else u know he's screwed c':

* He's not very vocal when desperate at all. Mostly strangled whines or grunts (only when alone or if so urgent he can't hide it), he's just so easily embarrassed that he can choke most sound.

* He can also hide his body language pretty well. He can manage to keep himself to rigid posture and the occasional shudder or fidget if needed. Only when he's beyond caught and about to wet will he resort to obvious grabs or dances in front of others.

* Even if he wet he wouldn't cry (I don't seem him crying much for anything tbh, barring extreme things like death). He's angry at himself and extremely ashamed. He would get red as a tomato, attempt to slink away and avoid any witnesses for several days. Could get snippy or hide in his shell all pitiful, depending on the person.

* When alone or sure he can't be caught, he'll fidget more once things are dire. Mostly his long-ass legs. Jiggling, crossing, bending at the knees or bouncing up and down, shuffling from foot-to-foot, everything. He doesn't really do much with his hands beyond a quick crotch-squeeze.

* He'd def let Haj/ime or So/nia dom tf out of him as far as making him hold/lose control, he's submissive and enjoys the challenging test of limits. However, I could also see him totally having a thing for 'marking' his partners during the times he doms.

So/nia:

* Lowkey has a bladder of steel tbh, tho you'd never expect it by looking at her. It takes a lot to get her desperate and even more for her to crack enough to show her needs to others.

* She had a lot of long lectures/lessons, meetings, social events, formal balls, etc. growing up, so she just got used to waiting a lot between breaks so as not to interrupt or be rude to her guests. This also makes her wicked good at remaining completely calm on the outside and keeping the quiver out of her tone even when she's absolutely dying.

* Even once people know her problem, she would NEVER grab herself or dance. Literally the most you'll get out of her is legs crossed at the ankles. For the most part the only sign of her desperation is the slight fullbody shivering where she has her muscles and posture strained. If you're very lucky she may wince or her voice will start shaking/get breathy (her breathing gets super fast and shallow when at her absolute limit. Like nearly hyperventilating fast).

* While not shy at all about asking/telling others where she's going, she was raised with manners. She refuses to interrupt while others are busy, and will wait until she feels the time is appropriate to but into convos or leave the room, even if that could take a long time. She will not skip out on a group task if she can help it bc she feels very strongly about doing her part and not coming off as a slacker (so group investigations/new island exploring/building for Us/ami in Island Mode are all LONG tasks she will force herself to stick out without complaint, even if she's about to wet herself).

* Despite being a princess, she definitely doesn't view anything as being 'beneath' her. If someone asks her to just go outside/in a sketchy place/strange receptacle, she'll do it without question as soon as they agree to glance away. In fact, sometimes it's actually a little thrilling.

* If she did wet herself she would certainly be embarrassed, maybe even teary-eyed depending on the situation/who was around. However, it certainly isn't the end of the world for her, and she would be able to brush it off fairly easily once she got cleaned up and had a chance to breathe. Could probably start making jokes about it by the next day, or just wait patiently for everyone to forget about it.

* Probably has a big piss kink (for others. She isn't much on doing holds herself, minus an occasional 'Damsel in Distress' type roleplay). And honestly just a big one for domming others (sometimes sweetly, sometimes cold/cruel like True Royalty). She looks cute but She Nasty (tm). Gun/dham and Haji/me (to a lesser extent, bc his smart-ass take-no-shit attitude makes him a bit of a brat sometimes lol) are her bitches.

M/ikan (I have to split hers in two bc I have polar opposite hcs) :

Non-Despair M/ikan -

* Is every bit as shy uwu ohnoooo~ as you'd imagine. Super blushy and fidgety and teary-eyed but never admits what's wrong even once it's obvious, to the point of potty-dancing in place (but she's Totally Fine she can hang in there and doesn't need to stop what she's doing)! You literally have to drag her away to the bathroom if u don't want her to have an accident. Would rather die than inconvenience anyone by telling them she has to go, will berate herself for the inconvenience when that backfires and she's made a mess of herself, 120% convinced everyone hates her and p much refuses any comfort bc she's so trapped in the spiral. Bawls her eyes out.

* If on a rare occasion she does work up the nerve to speak up and is denied, that's it. She will not dare ask again even if the person didn't realize how badly she had to go. Nope. Clearly her only option is to hold it until she can't anymore, or until she's alone and can run off by herself.

*Also she totally would whimper to herself in The Worst omo video star voice lmao "Oh noooo I'm leaking into my panties~, it's cOmIng OuTtttt~ uwu uwu uwu" (i'm not making fun of those istg but u know Exactly what 'sexy baby' voice I mean. That is Mi/kan. Don't be so fake bitch We Know u didn't fall spread eagle naturally)

* Says 'Potty' unironically. It's the only word she uses for the bathroom.

* Surprisingly not bladdershy at all. She's actually the opposite. Will go Anywhere (but will be embarrassed while doing it).

* She's used to holding a lot bc afraid to leave class/stuck helping patients for hours on end. However while she has a wicked high capacity and stays very hydrated, she has pretty shaky control. Leaks A LOT, be it in general or bc she gets startled/nervous. She's like a chihuahua lmao. She wears medical liners when on duty as a nurse or during school, but for general hangouts she forgoes them (totally bc she forgot and Not bc she wanted to show her wet panties off to strangers/peers when she falls again, that would be Slu/tty and Improper).

* Once held for ages and then ended up wetting herself just bc Hiy/oko told her to. It wasn't actually a request, just a one-off snippy comment that H forgot about like 10 min after she said it and walked away. When she found out Mi/kan took it seriously she absolutely lost it laughing for the next few days

*Her potty dances include lots of thighs rubbing together/hunching over, hands wandering dangerously close only to pause and grip her skirt/dress hem, hopping from leg to leg and shaking at the knees. She's pitiful when desperate and very cute. Pants and whimpers near constantly, nibbles at her knuckles to try and muffle it.

* Knows when she's at risk of actual damage from holding, but it's still a 50/50 shot of whether she'll break down and go or keep trying to hold. She knows it's unwise, but due to her complete lack of self worth she doesn't really care if her own body is damaged.

* That said, she monitors everyone else very closely and will harass them firmly to take breaks if they're at risk.

Despair/True Mik/an -

* MASSIVE PISS KI/NK. Loves to be dommed/told to hold until she wets. LOVES to do the same to others and tell them all the mean things for a change. She will borderline Break You.

* Takes great satisfaction in watching others struggle. If given an opportunity to make others desperate/prevent them from getting to a bathroom without revealing herself, she will definitely take it. She has no sympathy.

* The Queen of lacing things with diuretics, but can also often find that boring/too easy. A bit disdainful of that method tbh.

* Tying ppl down to hold or hooking them to IVs and 'misplacing' the call button is more her style.

* Used to hold for Jun/ko a lot to appease her. Would be willing to hold for Na/gito, but tbh he's just as willing to hold for her so it's a bit of a stalemate and they've yet to work out who does what.

* Will piss on her victim/lover while staring them directly in the eyes. Does not flinch. She toes the line between sexy and just plain creepy lol

#omocute #omorashi #fandomo #fictomo #bear txt #drspoilers

[panharmonium]

crime is doomed

@brambleberrycottage, here’s the long long reply to your message!  and i’ll tag @padmerrie too, because she’s asked me for my batman recs before, and now I can just send her this!  

Full disclosure, I actually stopped following comic books sometime in 2011, when DC did their big reboot (or one of many reboots, I guess, is more accurate).  I’d already had a love/hate relationship with comic books for years, and the reboot kind of just made it worse - it essentially was DC saying “we’re starting the whole universe over (ostensibly to make it easier to draw in new readers); the characters you’re used to now have new histories/timelines; everybody’s younger, the stories you read before didn’t necessarily ever happen, characters no longer have the same relationships with each other, etc.”  And it’s whatever, you know, comics are gonna do their thing, but some of my favorite characters got erased from existence, and the others weren’t the same people anymore, and I was just exhausted from trying to care - being a comic book fan felt like being constantly jerked around on a chain swinging around Dan DiDio’s head.  I stopped reading when the reboot started, and to be honest I’ve never looked back.

This isn’t to say there aren’t things to love about comics; it’s just that I think you have to approach them with a certain mindset to stay happy, and said mindset is, for me, the following: read what you like and ignore everything else. Literally. Just pretend it didn’t happen.  Because it didn’t, probably, or it won’t have, eventually, and even if it did, no one is ever going to remember it. Comic book continuity is impossible to keep track of; there are too many writers and too many years of stories out there for us to really have one consistent Story, but for some reason the people in charge of DC think this is a problem?  Editorial teams’ hapless attempts to organize continuity in a way that Makes Sense Across The Board are half of what drives me nuts about comics - they result in reboot after reboot of trying to line up everyone’s storylines and make the universe cohesive, but really what happens is that readers just get completely fatigued by trying to keep up with constant new realities.  Case in point - that reboot universe from 2011?  Already getting re-rebooted by 2016, because - surprise! - the 2011 reboot reality was apparently just Dr. Manhattan from Watchmen messing with the timeline and erasing 10 years from everyone’s lives, and now they have do undo the 2011 universe by rebooting the reboot - it makes me want to kick a telephone pole.

It’s just...so unnecessary.  I don’t care if the timelines don’t add up; I don’t care that there are a million conflicting stories in the canon.  Who cares that Batman hasn’t had a birthday in 30 years?  We don’t need a way to explain characters staying young - it’s a comic book.  Suspension of disbelief is fine. We are all pretending that we can tell infinite stories about these people, and time passes, but doesn’t pass - it’s all make-believe.  I just want to read a good story about good characters.  Keep it simple.

Because of that, I tend to be a very spotty reader, because I pick bits and pieces of stuff I like, and then ignore literally anything else.  It’s the only way to survive comic book hell, for me.

So yeah!  Things I have liked:

I grew up during the Nightwing: Vol. 2 run of Nightwing’s solo series, 1996-2009.  It runs from issue 1-153 and is completely collected into trade paperbacks, starting with A Knight in Bludhaven and ending with The Great Leap.  Quality obviously varies between writers and according to your own tastes, but it’s my go-to for Nightwing material.

I remember liking Batman: Prodigal a lot as well.  Nightwing is filing in as Batman while Bruce is away…doing something, I forget what.  I think it’s after Bruce had his back broken by Bane, which is an older classic Batman story.  At any rate, this book has a great scene at the end between Bruce and Dick, and you get to see a lot of Dick hanging out with Tim (Robin #3) as well.

I like the Robin: Year One trade paperback a lot as well.  I don’t know that it’s exactly a “canon” story, technically (but like I said, canon means nothing in comics; everything is canon if you like it enough) and I liked reading about younger Dick Grayson.  I taught myself to draw by copying pages of this comic in my sketchbook when I was a kid.

My favorite ensemble arc growing up was the Bruce Wayne: Murderer? and Bruce Wayne: Fugitive storyline.  The batfamily (the configuration that I grew up with, at least - Dick, Tim, Barbara, Cassandra, and Alfred) have to work together to prove that Bruce didn’t murder a reporter in his home - and convince Bruce to let them help him.

I also love a bunch of the storylines in the Gotham Knights series - these tended to be more character-driven, which is what I go for.  I especially recommend #18 (Cavernous), #16-17 (Matatoa Parts 1 and 2 - huge character milestone for Bruce and Dick), and #8-11 (Transference).  

I know at some point I also read Batman: Cataclysm and Batman: No Man’s Land, both of which are long ensemble stories dealing with an earthquake that hits Gotham City.  

There are also a lot of animated shows featuring the Batfamily as well: Batman: The Animated Series is the oldest - it’s classic and QUALITY; so well done. Probably the best animated intro to the Batman universe.

I enjoyed Young Justice a lot, though it’s *definitely* not canon and doesn’t comply with the comic book universe - they change a bunch of characters’ ages so young Dick as Robin is on a team with a bunch of people he’s not really contemporaries with in the comics.  I still liked watching it, though.

Damian appears in three animated movies - Son of Batman, Batman vs. Robin, and Bad Blood.  I’ve only watched Bad Blood, and I don’t remember a lot of it, so I can’t comment too much on how good it was.

Now, to respond to your request for Dick and Damian -

I’m not sure how much you already know about them, so just in case - Damian made his big appearance in 2006 with the Batman and Son storyline by Grant Morrison.  Damian is Bruce Wayne’s biological son (though Bruce doesn’t know he exists until this 2006 storyline, when Damian is like…ten years old?  idk). Damian was raised by the League of Assassins, which his mother, Talia al-Ghul, and grandfather, Ra’s al-Ghul, are in charge of.

This is a VERY abbreviated summary, but Damian is basically dropped off by Talia to live with Bruce and join Batman’s fight on crime (to ‘take his place as Batman’s rightful heir,’ technically), but he’s a little shit with no social graces and a horrible attitude and also he wants to murder bad guys, which is not the Batfamily’s modus operandi.  Granted, Damian has not had the best upbringing, so it’s understandable, maybe, but it makes things difficult.

Damian was almost universally reviled as a character when he was introduced. However, things got more interesting when Bruce “died” during the Final Crisis event in 2008.  Dick Grayson (Nightwing, formerly the first Robin) took over the mantle of Batman, and with it, he assumed responsibility for taking care of Damian. (Aaaaand this is where the story becomes a lot like Obi-Wan Kenobi and young Anakin Skywalker, except Dick Grayson is far more cheerful than Obi-Wan and Damian is way more of an asshat than Anakin).  

Being partnered with Dick, whose easy personality, sense of humor, and ability to roll with the punches made him very well suited to dealing with “a ten year-old pain in the ass,” humanized Damian in a way that previous comics hadn’t been able to do.  Under Dick’s guidance, Damian actually started to become much more likable.  He still acts like entitled royalty, but it becomes far more endearing.  I love the way his relationship with Dick develops, and how Damian, for all his snippiness and attitude, really comes to respect Nightwing in a way that he doesn’t respect - or like, even - anybody else.  Bruce, at one point after he returns from being (not)dead, describes Dick’s ways with Damian as “near-miraculous” - Dick is the only person who is really able to get through to him.

So for those two,

Batman: Long Shadows collects stuff from when Dick first takes over as Batman.  I really forget a lot of stuff in this book, but I do remember very clearly the awesome scene with Dick ranting to Alfred about how heavy the cape is and how much he hates wearing it.  

The next 5 trades in the Batman series (Long Shadows, Life After Death, Time and the Batman, Eye of the Beholder, and Gotham Shall Be Judged) - I don’t honestly know that I’ve read every one of them, but they catalogue Dick’s time as Batman, so I assume Damian is in there somewhere.

You can definitely check out Batman and Robin, Volumes 1-4, which ran from 2009-2011 (Batman Reborn, Batman vs. Robin, Batman and Robin Must Die!, and Dark Knight vs. White Knight) for four books whose entire focus is Dick and Damian working together :)

After this, the 2011 reboot happened, and everything got weird for me, and I stopped reading.  Damian ended up dead at some point, which was a big thumbs down in my book, but then he more recently came back to life (comic books, good lord), but my ability to recommend things for you to read about their relationship fails after the 2011 cut-off.

But anyway, that is my list of recs - I am sure I’ve read and enjoyed other things, and there are lots of things out there I haven’t read which I’m sure are good, but this is about as much as my comics brain can handle.  XD  Hope it’s helpful!

#batfam #long post #brambleberrycottage #ahh comics it's been a while #reference

[thevalicemultiverse]

Things You Need To Know About: Cuddlepile

Tag: ~V: Cuddlepile

Premise: College in a new city is hard enough without accidentally screwing up your love life on top of it – but that’s what Victor did when he didn’t realize his two regular dates, Victoria Everglot and Emily Cartwell, each thought they were exclusive with him. Fortunately, interested bystander Alice Liddell stepped in to help him straighten things out. Unfortunately, then he started falling for her as well. And then things got really weird when Victoria and Emily started seeing each other in a new light…and Alice’s friends Christopher White and Richard Hatter got pulled into the mix…

This AU is a direct result of me seeing the “Alice is asexual” headcanon on tumblr, doing some research on that and other “queer” sexualities, and deciding I wanted to make a universe exploring that and polyamory. I’d always quietly OT3ed Victor/Victoria/Emily in their own verse -- this just allowed me to take it to the next level. In this modern-day world, Victor, Victoria, and Emily are all college students in the general London area, having left their hometown of Burtonsville for the first time in pursuit of higher education. Victor and Victoria have the usual pressure on them by their parents to date, while Victor and Emily came together after Victor found her crying in the woods over her bastard ex-boyfriend Barkis. Victor’s only too happy to date both girls -- finding Victoria to be very complementary to him, and Emily an exciting opposite -- and think nothing of it. After all, it’s only been a few dates each -- and it’s all in casual fun, right?

Nope -- thanks to Victor never thinking to mention that he’s officially dating the other girl, both Emily and Victoria think they’re exclusive with him. This bit of silly miscommunication blows up in Victor’s face when Emily catches him on a date with Victoria at a local cafe, and the two let him have it before storming off. Victor’s horrified and heartbroken, and has no idea what to say or do to salvage even a friendship with either. . .

And that’s when a green-eyed young miss sits down across from him and notes, “Well -- I thought you only saw that sort of thing in bad sitcoms. Who’s writing your life?”

Said green-eyed miss introduces herself as Alice Liddell, saying that normally she wouldn’t butt in, but Victor looks pretty lost and she’s got nothing better to do but help. Victor explains the whole sorry mess to her, and she gives him a little advice on how to apologize. They end up talking about other things, and Victor decides he likes her and would like to see her again. Alice feels the same, and they make some plans.

Later on, Victor visits Victoria to apologize. To his surprise, Emily’s there too -- turns out the two girls got to talking after storming off, and discovered they actually enjoy each other’s company. Victor tells them he’s sorry and that he never meant to hurt either of them, and is relieved when they forgive him (having already come to the conclusion his bad behavior was out of thoughtlessness, not malice). They agree that Victor can keep dating both of them more casually (they’re okay with it as long as they know), and Victor immediately tells them of his plans with Alice, emphasizing she’s just a friend.

A few get-togethers later, however, Victor realizes that it’s a lot more than just friendship on his side, at least. He confesses to Emily on their next date, not wanting another “sitcom plot” to start up -- and is astonished when she admits that she and Victoria are starting to develop feelings for each other. Victor calls a meeting with Victoria and Alice to discuss the situation. Alice, who is a bit more worldly than the sheltered Burtonsvillians (the place has very poor Internet access, and while Victor’s family could afford a better line, it came with William and Nell’s parental restrictions) introduces the trio to the idea of alternate sexualities and polyamory. She even offers to get two of her friends, Christopher White and Richard Hatter, to meet with them to explain better (as Christopher is openly bisexual and Richard is openly agender AND was in a brief threesome with two of his best friends). Victor, Victoria, and Emily are only too willing, and the meeting is set up. . .

Only for Victoria to instantly click with Christopher, and Emily to form a bond with Richard. And in the midst of everything getting even more complicated, Alice comes out with a life-altering line: “Oh, for God’s sake -- maybe we should just all date each other!”

Christopher’s response: “. . .I guess that is an option. . .”

Some negotiation and discussion later, and the group comes together into the jokingly-named “cuddlepile.” Things are a bit awkward at first, especially as the Burtonsvillians come to grips with their own developing sexualities (Victor and Victoria being both bi, and Emily realizing she may be biromantic but she’s definitely lesbian sex-wise), but soon they happily settle into their new poly lives. College is graduated, and the six get a house together --

And then Victoria gets pregnant thanks to a condom failure. Everyone’s pretty surprised (and curious as to whether Victor or Christopher is the father), but the decision is quickly made to keep the baby. Nine months later, little Matilda is born (and revealed to be Victor’s biological daughter -- there’s no mistaking that pale skin).

And six years later, she starts school. Which is when the group meets Deborah Winters, from two blocks over, and realize that it wasn’t just their own parents they had to worry about disapproving of their lifestyle. . .

This verse has two distinct time periods/locations threads can be set in:

Girls Love Girls And Boys: This is the actual “college AU” portion of the AU, when the group is still settling in a bit to the cuddlepile and juggling their dating lives with studies and parental nosiness. Victor never thought he’d actually be in an official relationship with more than one person, but -- it’s really quite nice. Doing term papers and binging TV shows is a lot more fun with so many interesting people around. And he’s feeling more loved than he ever has before. Now if only he could figure out why Christopher sometimes makes him blush. . .and how to keep his parents from ever finding out about all this.

Welcome To PTA Hell: As indicated by the name, this is the “PTA AU” portion of the AU, where the six have to deal with disapproving Deborah and all the other joys and dangers of having a kid in elementary school. Victor’s only too happy to help Matilda with her homework and throw himself into making things for the bake sales. . .but if Deborah makes one more snippy comment about his kid not having a real last name, he just might shank her with a pencil.

Common NPCs:

Alice Liddell (throughout)

Victoria Everglot (throughout)

Emily Cartwell (throughout)

Christopher White (throughout)

Richard Hatter (throughout)

Shipping: Welcome to the Ultimate Poly AU -- in this, everyone's together in an OT6! Specifically, this is how everyone links up:

Victor is romantically involved with Victoria, Emily, and Alice; sexually involved with Victoria; and has a developing interest (both romantically and sexually) in Christopher

Victoria is romantically involved with Victor, Emily, Alice, and Christopher; sexually involved with Victor, Emily, and Christopher

Emily is romantically involved with Victor, Victoria, Alice, and Richard; sexually involved with Victoria

Alice is romantically involved with Victor, Victoria, and Emily; sexually involved with no one

Christopher is romantically involved with Victoria; sexually involved with Victoria; would not mind getting to know Victor or Richard better in either sense

Richard is romantically involved with Emily, sexually involved with no one at the moment but would be open to something with Christopher

NPC Ships: None -- all the NPCs are in the main ship

Important Facts:

Ages in the group -- Victor, Victoria, Emily, and Alice all start out at their canonical 19/20ish, while Christopher and Richard are mid to late 20s (I haven’t pinned down exactly what their ages are yet).

Sexualities in the group -- Victoria and Christopher are both “classic” biromantic and bisexual (meaning they have about an equal attraction to boys and girls). Victor is biromantic and bisexual too, but has a female preference -- while he can certainly find men attractive right off the bat, he needs to get to know the man in question better before wanting to do anything more than look. Emily is biromantic and lesbian (much to her own surprise, but she adapts quickly). Alice is demipanromantic and asexual -- she has no gender preference, but really needs to get to know someone before she develops an attraction, and she has no interest in sex at all. Richard is panromantic and pansexual, with no gender preference at all. He’s also agender, though he’ll accept being called “he” (he’s sometimes used “xe” as well). Everyone else is cis (barring any sudden revelations, like the one that revealed Victor is bi to me.)

Much like their Lloyd/Dodgson counterparts over in Secundus, Christopher and Richard are scientists. Christopher’s currently into the field of food science, while Richard is an engineer -- and, thanks to a car accident that cost him and his best friends most of their limbs (he’s missing both legs and his left arm), the inventor of the world’s best prostheses. The money generated from his patent has made him about equal to Victor’s family in wealth. (This is basically the main “fantastical” element in this verse, which is otherwise supposed to be roughly like reality.)

Christopher comes from a military family, and his father is still pushing him to at least join the Army Reserves. Christopher isn’t sure if that’s truly the life for him or not, but he’s leaving the option on the table.

Emily still has a history with Barkis Bittern -- here, he’s a freshman college delinquent who swept her off her feet late in high school, then stole her credit cards and attempted to kill her in a car accident. Emily pulled through, though she lost her left arm and right leg (replaced with some of Richard’s prostheses), and Barkis vanished into the night. She’s still pissed off at the bastard, and would love to bring him to justice once and for all.

Alice’s personal history still includes Bumby stalking and raping her sister, setting the fire, and running from justice while she barely managed to escape the blaze and spent the next ten years in Rutledge. Where it goes from there is still up in the air, though I’m leaving open the possibility of Bumby reappearing as a psychiatrist in disguise. Alice managed to actually get a hold of her inheritance after the asylum in this universe, though she works odd jobs at a local theater to make sure she always has money in the bank for rent, food, and her medications (she takes pills to stop her hallucinations of Wonderland from bugging her during the day).

Relatedly, Alice’s Wonderland is based a bit more on her reality in this verse -- not only are the “White Knight” and “Hatter” real people, so is Cheshire! He’s an African-American man, Chester Felaide. He works at the same theater Alice does, and regularly amuses/annoys her with riddles and puzzles.

Matilda may be joined at some point by an adopted brother -- Charlie from the games! If it happens, expect it to be a minor plot.

This verse is open to everyone!

#~V: Cuddlepile #~T: Girls Love Girls And Boys #~T: Welcome To PTA Hell #~C: Alice Liddell #~C: Victoria Everglot #~C: Emily Cartwell #~C: Christopher White #~C: Richard Hatter #~M: when he was a boy (headcanon) #~M: meanwhile in our reality (OOC)