#spoilers for a show that ended 4 years ago

[murderbirds]

Something that I think a lot of people forget is that Edward/Riddler never told Oswald that he wasn't interested in him because he was a man. They even have an entire scene where Riddler tells Oswald exactly why he could never love him, and it's not "I don't like guys and you are a jerk," but rather, "you are an uncaring, selfish person who can't truly ever love anyone other than yourself." Is it homophobia that compels Edward to react how he does to the knowledge that Oswald loves him? Possibly, but I think it is a gross simplification of his character, and it still wouldn't mean that Edward is heterosexual. People can be lgbtq+ and homophobic. Still, I personally believe that the main reason why Edward refused to accept Oswald's feelings and why he refused to consider loving him were his feelings towards himself.

There is no denying that Edward is a divided man. A part of him wants a "normal" life with a caring partner like Kristen or Lee, while the other part wants to be powerful and feared, like someone like Oswald. It's the dichotomy of Edward Nygma and the Riddler, and his entire arc in the show is about essentially which side will win, who he will become. Isabella was a path to a normal life, and by killing her, Oswald reminds him of himself, of what he did with Kristen and what he thinks of himself: that he is unlovable, cruel, childish and selfish and that is the reason why no one could ever love him. This applies to both Edward and Oswald, and I very much believe it was intentional. Edward wants to be the Riddler, but to be the Riddler, he has to give up being loved, but then Oswald comes in again and shows Edward that, no matter how cruel and selfish he can be, he can still be loved by someone. It is because of this that Oswald ultimately defeats Ed, even if Os does get shot. Yes, Oswald is cruel. Yes, he is selfish, but that doesn't make his love for Ed any real, which is something Edward simply refuses to accept, in part because he hates being wrong abd in part because, if someone as evil as them can love someone and be loved, then why was Edward never loved until Oswald? Of course, to know it for sure, we would need to know that we would need to know more about Edward's childhood, but I think that the fact we know nothing about Ed as a child is very telling. Maybe the reason why the audience doesn't know is because Edward doesn't want people to know because he doesn't want to remember. It is certainly strange considering that we get at least some information regarding the upbring of most other main characters, even something as simple as mentioning their parents at some point. Edward gets nothing. Now, we could go more in-depth and try to figure out why Edward chose to use Oswald's father instead of his mother, who the ex mayor clearly had a much closer connection with and even the way that Edward treats Elijah's ashes (by throwing them away in a dumpster), but again it would be mostly speculation and assumption of a type of nuance I am not 100% sure this show has. When Gotham is a good show, it is an excellent show, but I am still not sure how much of its excellence was purposeful and how much was accidental.

One thing is for certain, however: Despite everything, season five of Gotham is when Edward is at his most complete, despite what the mind control subplot might have you believe. This is the season where Edward appears to be at peace with himself, either because both of his sides have found what they wanted by managing to being powerful and loved through his partnership with Oswald or because, by the end of season 4, when Lee stabbed Edward, she quite literally killed the love seeking side of him, leaving just the Riddler to take control. It really only depends on how hopeful you wish to be, really.

In short, the reason why Edward could never love Oswald in season 3 was because Oswald was a reflection of what Edward believed to be the most unlovable thing in the world: Himself.

#gotham #batman #dc comics #dc #penguin #nygmoblepot #riddlebird #riddler #tw mentions of homophobia #spoilers for a show that ended 4 years ago

[saddleseatollie]

***spoilers for the end of the good place despite this being a bg3 post***

i've seen a few people mention and have myself been thinking about the way astarion describes how very long the 200 years he was a spawn felt. i always thought it was a bit odd the way he talks about the time despite ~250 years (including the 40-something years prior to turning) not even being a full third of an elf's life span (~900 years). but then i remembered the finale of the good place.

in the finale of the good place, the main characters finally make their way to the actual good place, where they discover that everyone there is practically catatonic because they've been given everything they could ever want and experienced everything they ever wished to experience and now have nothing to look forward to. it's not until they're given the ability to end their afterlives that afterlife becomes worth afterliving (?) again.

hear me out because i promise it connects.

as a vampire spawn, astarion has "eternal life". he won't age or get sick or die from any natural causes. if he stays out of trouble, he could live literally forever. eternal life, even if he were free, would be a daunting reality. forever is an unfathomable amount of time. those 200 years probably felt like a small eternity not just because he lived them in complete an utter torment, but because it's only the tiniest fraction of the life he would have to continue to live. so even to someone with an elf's perspective of time, someone who had from the beginning of his life expected to live far longer than just 2 centuries, 200 years would feel like forever because there would be nothing more to look forward to. there's obviously a lot more to it than that, but these are just (some) of my thoughts on the matter.

to put it in the words of the incredible eleanor shellstrop herself:

"every human is a little bit sad all the time because you know you're going to die. but that knowledge is what gives life meaning"

#do i still need to tag spoilers for a show that ended nearly 4 years ago? #bg3 #astarion bg3 #bg3 astarion #astarion #astarion ancunin #bg3 origins character

[luviestarz]

park jisung fic recs!

✰ drunk jisung is clingy… and kiss-driven - @asteroidsung (you didn’t take bestfriend!jisung to be an affectionate drunk, thinking he would be the type to be sleepy and quiet. clearly, you’re mistaken. and oh how good it feels to be wrong.)

✰ Heart Band-Aids - @tynct (you and jisung separate from the others at an amusement, and he buys you heart band-aids)

✰ HAUNT ME, BABY! — PJS - @ukiyoexo (when you see a ghost, you’re supposed to be scared right? yeah, that’s what jisung thought too until he met you. a night spent in boredom leads you to lighting random candles and attempting to summon a ghost. you never expected it to work — or for the spirit to be so cute.)

✰ 8 letters | park jisung - @xiaodejunletsact (4 years ago, you and jisung’s long term friendship came to an abrupt end. now in senior year, the two of you find yourselves being forced together again by your mothers. suddenly, jisung begins to ask himself what is more important: his reputation or you.)

✰ sweeter than honey. - @luvdsc (you and jisung are too busy being the biggest simps for each other that neither one realizes that, well, both of you are the biggest simps for each other. or alternatively, diamonds (and park jisung) are a girl’s best friend.)

✰ fwb!park jisung x reader - @jenosbigtoe (fwb!jisung but he desperately wants to make you his so he goes the extra mile to show u how much he really wants you)

✰ perv!jisung x reader, braces - @neocentral

✰ Too Young - @loudstan (You thought avoiding Jisung after what happened during his first rut would make the problem go away (SPOILER ALERT: it didn't.)

✰ at midnight with you - @hyuckbeam (your boyfriend just recently got his driver's license, and boy, was he adamant to take you for a ride (with you being just as eager as him).

✰ DO IT AGAIN - @taexoxosgf (your brother’s best friend can never get you alone. that’s why he won’t miss an opportunity— even if your brother’s on the other side of the walls.)

✰ dance practice ; 박지성 - @martiniblues (with you and jisung’s time running thin due to his schedules, you decide to go visit him at practice. when the two of you finally have some time alone, jisung thinks this is the perfect time to mess with you.)

✰ texts w/ bf!jisung! - @haespoir

✰ flirty bf texts. - @ohmygs-blog

✰ FULL MOON — PARK JISUNG - @moonjella (your boyfriend, jisung has his rut and has been avoiding you all day. for the first time his rut has aligned with a full moon making it much more powerful than usual. he's afraid of hurting you, but you show him just how strong you can be and how much of him you can take.)

✰ SCORE THAT GOAL! — smau - @lqfiles (after your college had announced that all the students were required to join a club and attend it twice a week, you were planning on either a) dropping out, or b) join the art club and pretend to be sick most of the times. that was before you discovered that park jisung is a long time member of the football team. change in plans: you LOVE football.)

✰ Teach Me || P.JS - @ihaechans (It's been about ten months since you and Jisung started dating, and not once has he fucked you properly. Yes, he's fucked you multiple times, but you're always on top riding him, or simply using him as you please, leaving him no room to fuck you how he wants to. Finally, he musters the courage to talk to you about it, and the outcome makes him wish he'd done it sooner.)

✰ jealousy | pjs - @heyjwi (your boyfriend loved watching you perform but today something was different. that angered expression and glaring eyes, what’s wrong with him?)

#nct #nct dream #park jisung #jisung #park jisung smut #jisung x reader #nct jisung #jisung smut #park jisung x reader #park jisung x y/n #park jisung x you #park jisung fic #park jisung nct #nct smut #nct drabbles #nct x reader #nct imagines #nct hard thoughts #nct hard hours #nct dream smut #nct dream drabbles #nct dream x reader #nct dream hard hours #nct dream hard thoughts #nct dream jisung #nct dream x y/n #nct dream fic #kpop #jisung park #nct jisung smut

[pollyanna-nana]

Louie isn’t evil.

Or: what Pikmin 4 tells us about his character.

BIG WARNING FOR PIKMIN 4 SPOILERS! (and the rest of the series)

———

I want to preface this by saying that I am in no way trying to be the end-all, be-all of character interpretations, but Pikmin 4 to me, at least, confirms the suspicions I’ve had since playing Pikmin 2 and 3 all those years ago that Louie ISN’T secretly evil, or possessed, or whatever else. He’s just… Louie. And I think that’s interesting in and of itself.

1. Olimar himself vouches for him, and clearly doesn’t think he’s a bad person.

Say what you will, but I’m inclined to think Olimar is a decent judge of character. Clearly he’s worked with Louie for enough time to see that while he’s not very good at his job, he’s not intentionally so— at least not in a malevolent way (will get more into this later). He also wants you to forgive him for Olimar’s sake, which can be read as self-sacrificing (as Olimar is known to be) but I also think hints at the soft spot he has for Louie.

It's also worth noting that he states during a end-of-day conversation that he told Louie that, since he's a new employee, he should do everything Olimar does... including throw castaways into the onion. Interesting that Louie took this so literally, but it does provide an explanation for why he kidnapped the Koppaites beyond "he's evil and crazy".

2. He really, REALLY loves his grandma.

Like, wow. He talks about her SO MUCH both in his Piklopedia entries and also elsewhere in the game. It's interesting. Worth noting is that he never mentions any other family members- unlike Olimar, who talks about his wife and each of his children independently. I've said this before, but the content of a lot of these entries implies to me that Louie was mainly raised by his grandma, likely since birth. And given some of her emails in Pikmin 2, assuming they're also canon to Pikmin 4's timeline... Well, Louie certainly had an interesting upbringing. But he clearly loves her all the same.

3. He has a mischievous streak and tends to do things on impulse.

This was already fairly obvious from the previous games, but I think it's worth noting that this game confirms that he's... would immature be the right word? In any regard, he doesn't seem to see himself as a "grown-up"- when in all likelihood he is. Personally, as a 22-year-old, I find that pretty relatable as I often think of myself as younger when in reality I am by all definitions an adult. This, along with his grandma still being around, makes it pretty much certain that Louie is a lot younger than Olimar and the president, likely in his early to mid twenties. Being a bit of a goofball isn't really out of the ordinary, all things considered.

THAT BEING SAID, he's clearly capable of practicing self-restraint when he wants to. What he says here about the red Pikmin is pretty significant, since we know he's willing to eat just about anything- but clearly he has some reservations about creatures that are friendly and helpful. Which leads to...

4. He loves dogs and fluffy things.

Same. But he doesn't even consider eating Moss, Oatchi or the Ancient Sirehound, showing that his creature-eating habits stop at things he recognizes as useful. He clearly also holds affection for things that are soft and fuzzy, and says as much.

5. He is so autism.

He plays with fidget toys. He loves certain textures and sounds. This guy is stimming all over PNF-404!!! I think this also lends some explanation for why his behavior is what it is- things like taking Olimar's suggestion to do as he does super literally even after crashing on an alien planet, his hyperfixation on cooking and tendency not to communicate and incorrectly interpret situations (thinking the Koppaites are kidnappers in 3, running away from you in 4). He could even be low or no empathy as well, explaining why it takes a hot minute to get him to understand why people are upset with him about something.

Interestingly this game also makes it clear that Louie wants to live on the planet, or at least thought he did while you were chasing him down, which makes a lot of sense when you consider that he doesn't really seem to fit in back on Hocotate. I, too, wish to run away to an alien world with all of the things that I like and no other people, so I get you, Louie.

6. He hates his boss and his job, and the golden pikpik carrot incident was likely premeditated.

This probably looks bad, but honestly? As a fellow work-hating anti-capitalist schmuck I get it. The president is for all intents and purposes a huge asshole, from sending Olimar straight back to the planet after selling his ship to not caring that Louie got left behind, just wanting to find the rest of the treasures. I doubt he is very kind to his employees, and doesn't seem very good at running the business. Definitely a funny character, but if he were my boss I would absolutely want to punt him into the sun.

From some other entries he clearly wants to sell certain things to accrue money, but it's for things like getting better kitchen tools and following his dream to have his own cooking show. Clearly being a freight driver isn't what Louie actually wants to do with his life, and he could not give less of a shit about what happens to the company. Very short-sighted on his part, but also again, yeah I get you Louie.

7. He... doesn't like the color red for some reason.

Honestly, I'm not even really sure what to make of this. Is it because it reminds him of the Hocotate ship? Or does he just not like the color? Would be very interesting considering that it's Olimar's signature color. Perhaps that's at least part of why he attacks you in Pikmin 2- though that's speculation for another day.

Also funny to me is his comments on the black-colored treasures. We know blue is his favorite color, but I guess he's also a bit of a goth at heart. Lol.

In conclusion.

I think Louie isn't written or intended to be evil, and Pikmin 4's portrayal of him was intentionally written to confirm this. He's just, as some have said, an agent of chaos, but that doesn't make him a bad person. Just an autistic 20-something working a shitty job he doesn't care about, who loves his grandma and has a mischievous streak and a hyperfixation on food. At least from what I can interpret, ymmv!

#polly speaks #pikmin #pikmin 4 spoilers #pikmin spoilers #pikmin 4 #pikmin 2 #pikmin 3 #louie pikmin #olimar pikmin #character analysis #I guess #I dunno I mostly just wanted to put all this shit together in my brain but I guess other people can see it too haha #This is a non exhaustive list btw I just had a limit to how many images I wanted to wrangle but maybe I'll add on to this in the future #for now uh. Enjoy my weird rambling about the pikmin gremlin

[lamentationsofalonelypotato]

You Call It Madness But I Call It Love

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Pairing: Soldier Boy x f!reader, Reader POV

Summary: When the reader left Payback 40 years ago after a falling out with her childhood best friend she never looked back, but when two men show up to her apartment and start asking her questions about the past, the reader begins to think those things can’t stay hidden and starts to question what’s real and what’s fantasy.  This is a re-telling of The Boys Season 3, where the reader is a supe who's known Soldier Boy since 1927. The chapters fluctuate between past and present, beginning in 1934. SPOILERS FOR THE BOYS S3

Chapter 1: You Shouldn't Have Answered the Door

Chapter 2: Late Night Visitor

Chapter 3: Summer Has to End Someday

Chapter 4: It's My Party and I'll Eat Cake If I Want To

Chapter 5: The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Chapter 6: Batter Up

Chapter 7: Are We Old Friends Or Old Enemies?

Chapter 8: Jealousy Doesn't Look Good On Anybody Except...

Chapter 9: Wedding Bells or Gong of Destruction?

Chapter 10: How Did It End Up Like This?

Chapter 11: I Can't Think With You Yelling At Me!

Chapter 12: My Heart Is Beating For You Constantly

Chapter 13: You Made A Plaything Out of Romance

Chapter 14: You're All I'm Dreaming Of

Chapter 15: What Do You Know About Love?

Chapter 16: Please Come Back To Me

Chapter 17: How Could I Ever Forget?

CHAPTER 18: COMING SOON!

Last Updated: 05/18/2024

***************************************

If you'd like to be added to the taglist for this series let me know :)

Taglist: @roseblue373 @anundyingfidelity @cheynovak @cassiecasluciluce @muhahaha303 @deans-spinster-witch @kayleighmeister @demodemo909 @fruitfacess @bobbobbobinogs @bughill126 @simplyfixated @sleepjam @tiredstrangerr @freefallthoughts @onlyangel-444 @lov3vivian @mxltifxnd0m @mayafatimakhan @marvel-mistress @my-obsession-spn @lifeonawhim @soldirboy @liuope @brynanna @carpenterswife @xxannyxx @babyinatrench-coat1 @the-gentle-spirit @valryomen @cassieriddle713 @shaggzthatsnottheworm @lil-soup @ej13928 @topstory21 @boywivlove @mrsjenniferwinchester @vivre-dans-la-nuit @megara0224 @daisy-the-quake

(Photos on mood board from Pinterest)

#jensen ackles soldier boy #soldier boy x reader #soldier boy x you #soldier boy x female reader #the boys fanfic #the boys series #soldier boy #soldier boy fanfiction #the boys amazon #jensen ackles #soldier boy/ben #soldier boy fic #the boys season 3 #jackles #billy butcher #homelander #hughie campbell #the boys #You Call It Madness But I Call It Love

[earlgreytea68]

LOOK AWAY IF YOU DON'T WANT SO MUCH FOR (TOUR) DUST SPOILERS, OKAY?

~~~

~~~

~~~

Set list:

(1) That Pink Seashell spoken word thing actually opens the show

(2) Love from the Other Side: I assumed they'd play this first, and they did, and they looked very happy with the reception that it got

(3) The Phoenix

(4) Sugar, We're Goin Down: I overheard two guys when I was leaving saying, "I only came to this show for that Sugar song, and it was the third song they played," whatever to those two guys lol

(5) Uma Thurman

(6) A Litttle Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me

(7) Chicago Is So Two Years Ago: I know they always play this song when they play Chicago but the way the show is set up, there's this spoken intro that references a light being left on in Chicago, and then they launch into this song, and so I feel like maybe it's permanently in the set list for this tour, we'll see.

(8) Grand Theft Autumn: Patrick told the story again of how he wrote the lyrics while jogging with Pete. Here is exactly what he said, because I recorded it, hahaha: "I wrote this song out here, jogging, trying to figure out the words. This was back when I wrote a lot of the words. And Pete was jogging with me and he was like, 'Eh, maybe change this, maybe change this.' Before we knew it he was writing all the lyrics." And then Pete said, "Imagine us jogging" lolololol

(9) Calm Before the Storm

(10) This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race: They added a little Peterick-y moment in here? I don't remember them playing at each other during this song in previous performances? It was cute, it was during the instrumental part before Patrick leads the singalong, maybe I've just always missed it? They played it each other and kind of did some kind of kick thing with their legs??

(11) Disloyal Order of Water Buffaloes: Honestly, always a delight to hear this song, this is one of my favorites <3

(12) Heaven, Iowa: THIS SONG LIVE, I SWEAR

(13) "The Take Over, the Breaks Over": OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS SONG AND I TOTALLY DIDN'T EXPECT THEM TO PLAY IT, I WAS SO HAPPY

(14) Headfirst Slide into Cooperstown on a Bad Bet: <3 Guess they got over being scared of playing this one lol

(15) Fake Out: I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW EXCITED I WAS THAT THEY PLAYED THIS ONE OMGGGGGGG. Also, there was some plan I wasn't aware of to, like, hold up cell phones with pink paper over the lights so the crowd lit up pink???? I have no idea who engineered that but it was CHARMING and at the end of the song Pete said, "Thanks for that, guys, that was beautiful," and the stage was on darkness so it seemed absolutely spontaneous on his part and I think they really did like the effect, so, Idk, future shows, keep doing it????

(16) Patrick did some kind of piano interlude where he played "Don't Stop Believin'"????? It was random but he was super charming, I think the rest of the band used it as a break, it was just SO GREAT. Part of his intro was: "Pete was putting together this show and he said to me, 'Hey, you should play piano.' And I was like, 'I kinda only play songs I wrote. I don't really play piano. I don't know how to play piano.' And he's like, 'Eh, you'll figure it out.'" And then Patrick sat down and played gorgeous piano ugh THANKS, PETE.

(17) Last of the Real Ones: I am glad Mania got some love.

(18) Save Rock and Roll

(19) PETE RECITED BABY ANNIHILATION WHAT. I SWEAR TO GOD. I SO DID NOT EXPECT THIS AND I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE THAT IT HAPPENED. If you're going to the show, pay attention, because I looked away and apparently there's, like, a magic trick at the end of the monologue where he disappears behind a piece of black silk?????

(20) Crazy Train cover: I...don't know what to say about this randomness hahaha but it happened??

(21) Dance Dance

(22) Hold Me Like a Grudge: I think Patrick adores singing this song, I really do.

(23) G.I.N.A.S.F.S.: I KNOW. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT, EITHER.

(24) My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)

(25) Thnks fr th Mmrs

(26) Centuries

(27) Saturday <3

The show ends with a little piano version of So Much (for) Stardust played over the sound system, so pay attention for that.

The set is super Alice in Wonderland-y and I adored it, it's playful and fantastical and has all these whimsical touches and interludes and I just thought it was delightful and at one point there were bubbles, and I heard some people complaining after the concert that the fantasy thing didn't suit their style of music and really, I was surrounded by downers after the concert, I thought they were perfect hahaha. Like, ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. They looked so, so, so tangibly happy, all of them. Patrick sounded fantastic and he looked like he was having a blast, he smiled the whole time.

I have a lot of videos but they seem like they're all pretty terrible, but I'll see how I feel in the morning lol

#fall out boy #fob #bandom

[brucewaynehater101]

I'm so glad you like it! Honestly, I'm pretty jealous as well. Though, I don't doubt he has the white noise generator and uses it on more than just those trips. Could you imagine Bruce and the other Bats going to the Supers, Clark, Kon, Kara, and Jon (who if I remember correctly has the best ears out of all of them) and when asked to track him down by sound, all of them are just like, "Red Robin? Oh no we can't do that." and when asked why, Clark gets nervous and says, "well. None of us have ever been able to hear his heart beat. We don't know what tech or magic he uses but *none* of us have ever been able to hear his heart. Not since he was 15. I asked you one time why I couldn't hear him and you just hummed at me!"

Meanwhile panic is rising in not just the hero community, but also the villain one. Red Robin has a *lot* of connections and if someone took or heaven forbid killed him? The Gothem Rouges remember what happened when the second Robin died, they know how bad Batman got. Now the Robin who saved them from him is gone? And now Nightwing and Red Hood and Spoiler and all the rest are on a Hunt, getting more violent like Batman did? Oh no, they are all going into hiding until this blows over.

Then there's also the villains connected to members of Young Justice. The Flash's Rouges Gallery hears that one of the Mini Speedsters is in a grief spiral and could end up seriously hurting them because one of his best friends has gone missing and is presumed dead? Fuck No. They are keeping their noses clean until it's done. So are the people who tend to antagonize Metropolis because Kon is *not* holding back. He grabbed Matallo and used his TTK to make him fall into thousands of pieces and then just stared down at him with a cold look of anger before leaving. Dr Light when to the ER when he tried to mess with the Teen Titans while both Dick and Damian were still on call and Tim was missing.

On day four of Tim being missing, Damian's head suddenly snaps up and he says, "I need to check a tracker." and the rest of the Bats follow him to the bat computer. When asked what he is doing, Damian admits, "a few years ago when I still hated Timothy, I put a tracker inside of his favorite camera, which he just so happened to bring with him on his trip. It may still be there and if he has his camera-" a few moments later, there is a ping on the screen showing the tracker is o the move, currently crossing the boarder from Kentucky into West Virginia. Tim has no idea what hell is coming for him, mostly because he figured that the Bats knew he did this every other month to unwind and relax. Traveling on a train for 4 to 6 days is his version of a vacation.

Glad for the add on. However, I think the angst reason for Tim "not having a heartbeat" would be because Kon died.

After Kon died, Tim created the machine to make sure no one else could hear his heartbeat (especially because Kon wasn't around for that anymore). When Kon came back, it was still a rough time for Tim. He was practically a feral and distrustful raccoon. Since he's still working on trusting people again, his heartbeat is still hidden (plus Kon hasn't brought it up, so Tim kind of forgot).

The stuff about the rogues is so true! That's why a few fanworks call Tim the "heart" of the batfam. I think all members play important roles and will similarly be missed. The heart comment is a cute nod to his role as a bridge and leash (he helped B obtain a larger support group and prevented him from killing people).

I like that this has Damian being the one to find out. Though Tim is grateful there's was a way for his family to find him while they were freaked out (he thought they knew about it), he's also exasperated at the tracker's existence. He probably pulls a prank on Damian for it.

Also, Tim 100% brings this incident back up with Bruce whenever the man complains about Tim's habit of overworking. He looks his father in the eyes and says, "The last time I took a vacation, you freaked out and mobilized the entire hero community to find me." They both know that's not what happened, but Tim is also not wrong.

#dc comics #tim drake #dc universe #thank you for the ask!!!! #dc au #damian wayne #bruce wayne #kon el superboy

[mj1343]

The Fallout Show, The NCR, Vegas, and Taking a Chill Pill

Fallout Show spoilers hi

i knew when i saw they were going to touch Shady Sands people would get angry regardless of what they did and i totally 100% understand being upset with the treatment of that location and the choices of writing that it took to get there but i genuinely do not understand the sentiment that Vegas is noncanon all of a sudden

Shady Sands is where the NCR formed and the first capital but they do not exclusively exist there. We know by New Vegas the NCR holds a lot of territory, and has territories they want to claim in the future:

'Hayes: "Sure can. The NCR was founded from the survivors of one of the great Vaults. We started as a small settlement called Shady Sands. We now consist of 5 states, that make up the greatest nation since the Great War."'

'NCR history holodisk: "Founded eighty years ago, the NCR is now comprised of the states of Shady, Los Angeles, Maxson, Hub, and Dayglow. Approximately 700,000 citizens are pleased to call NCR home."

In fact, we SEE a small sect of NCR remnants IN THE SHOW. I know a small group of people does not equate an entire nation but just the fact people are still fighting under the flag means they are not magically game ended forever and it is VERY overzealous to assume the ENTIRE NCR was housed in Shady Sands as late as 2277 when we know they were incorporating new territories before AND AFTER 2277

On the 'Vegas is a desolate nuked wasteland' front, i also genuinely do not understand it because, shockingly, locations IRL are larger than they are in the game!!!! The Strip in New Vegas is what, two cells? and one road with 4 casinos on it? The irl Strip is a 4 mile stretch of road that can have anywhere from 30 to 50+ casinos depending who you ask and over 100 casinos in all of Vegas easily. I understand they flash the Lucky 38 and the New Vegas sign to get excitement built but we have to look at scale a lot differently in the show than in the games. There are many scenes (which i have criticized) that are completely empty deserts for miles to see. Hell, the scale of the Vaults is different because they need to actually function as a building and not a location in a video game.

Yes. We see a few dead securitrons in the ending. You know where else you can find dead securitron? Littered about in the hit 2010 role playing game Fallout New Vegas. This is not a sign of desolation. This is a sign of some wasteland asshole killed a few. There are no people on the strip because this is supposed to drum up intrigue and tease a second season. We Do Not Know what has happened in Vegas. There could be hundreds of people on the strip and we just dont see them because they wanted a moody shot with no one in it. We have no idea. But you want to know what i can reasonably assume? it WASNT NUKED. because SHADY SANDS WAS NUKED AND ITS A CRATER AND YOU CAN STILL SEE EVERYTHING IN VEGAS STANDING. This is a post apocalypse franchise that, for better or worse (mostly worse) prides itself on Not Fixing Things from 200 years ago. A broken building or sign in New Vegas at the end of the show Does Not Mean New Vegas is completely removed from canon.

I know. I know you guys cannot be happy with anything Bethesda touches. I know you refuse to just take a breather for a moment. And i understand and entirely agree nuking a notable location from the original games is dirty. i am not giving Bethesda credit. There was some good in the show and some bad. I Understand. But this show has not decanonized New Vegas in any way and i truely do not understand the outrage from this point of view specifically. You can be angry about anything else. i know i cannot stop you if i wanted to. You will always find something to be mad about. But PLEASE think critically about this for a moment

#fallout #fallout new vegas #fallout 2 #fallout show #fallout amazon prime #shady sands #the NCR #fallout show spoilers

[armed-with-a-waffle-iron]

The Bat Family Timeline and Ages (Post-Crisis and New Earth) with Sources

Evidence

In Batman: Year One, Bruce is said to be 25 in the January he returns to Gotham. The 1976 DC Calendar puts Bruce's birthday on the 19th of February so Bruce is 26 during his first outing as Batman in April.

Marv Wolfman's Batman: Year Three (Batman vol. 1 #436) tells us that Dick Grayson's parents die in Bruce's third year. In Batman vol. 1 #441 (also by Wolfman) Tim says that Robin started appearing around 6 months after the death of the Flying Graysons. For Dick's age when he becomes Robin, see below.

Bruce joins the Justice League before Dick forms the Teen Titans. Both these teams form before Barbara Gordon becomes Batgirl at 16 (Batgirl: Year One).

Barbara and Dick are each other's dates to their high school prom and so are less than 2 years apart in age (Detective Comics vol. 1 #871).

I suspect Dick, who was an emancipated minor, graduated high school and started college a year early, which allows Dick and Barbara to have some time as the new Dynamic Duo, as we see in Batman Family.

Dick Grayson is 18 when he forms the New Teen Titans, all of whom are also teenagers (Nightwing vol. 2 #137 by Wolfman, who also created the New Teen Titans).

Dick Grayson is 19 when he becomes Nightwing (Batman vol. 1 # 416).

21 year-old Helena becomes Huntress (Huntress: Year One #1), and interacts with Batgirl, meaning that Barbara is not yet Oracle.

Jason dies at 15, 4 months before his 16th birthday (Batman Files). This is before the New Teen Titans' third year anniversary (New Titans #71), before any of the Titans turn 22 (Deathstroke vol. 1 Annual 1), 2 years after Dick becomes Nightwing and almost 10 years before Dick's parents are killed (Batman vol. 1 #436). Dick is hence 21 during these events and 11 when he became Robin.

I also kinda like Dick being 17 years younger than Bruce because that's also the age difference between Adam West and Burt Ward from the 60s TV series.

After these events, Tim Drake becomes Robin and is 13-14 (Batman vol. 1 #441 and Robin II #1)

Soon after, Stephanie Brown is 15 when she becomes Spoiler (Secret Origins 80-Page Giant).

Stephanie is still 15 when she realises that she is pregnant (Robin vol. 2 #59) and Tim is almost 15 during this time (Secret Origins 80-Page Giant).

Cassandra Cain is 17 when she comes to Gotham during this time (Batgirl vol. 1 #1), during No Man's Land which lasts one year.

Helena’s family were killed when she was 8 and during Batman/Huntress: Cry For Blood, Tim says the murders happened roughly 15 years ago, making her roughly 23 during this storyline.

Cass turns 18 in January (Batgirl vol. 1 #39), Tim Drake turns 16 (Robin vol. 2 #116), Jason would have turned 18 in August (Detective Comics vol. 1 #790), and Stephanie is 16 when she "dies" (Batman Allies Secret Files & Origin).

Personally I'd re-arrange Tim's 16th birthday to be the last of these events four events to accommodate him still being 17 late into the Batman: Reborn, see below.

Jason soon returns to Gotham as Red Hood, not long before Infinite Crisis, 52 and One Year Later.

Following the one year time skip, Dick says it's been almost 10 years since his misadventures with Metal Eddie and Liu as a 16-17 year old (Nightwing vol. 2 #133 by Wolfman), which makes sense because he would be 25 by my math.

Stephanie returns from her time as a medical volunteer in East Africa, finishes high school and begins university during Batman: Reborn. She'd turn 19 by the end of this year by my math, which is a typical age to be begin attending university (Gotham Underground and Batgirl vol. 3 #1).

Dick calls Damian Wayne a "10 year-old" before Stephanie attends university (Batman and Robin vol. 1 #2) and Steph still calls Damian a "10 year-old" while she's in her second semester (Batgirl vol. 3 #13 and Batgirl vol. 3 #17). He might have turned 11 before the reboot.

Batwoman: Elegy (Detective Comics #858), during the Batman: Reborn year, shows that Kate was 12 when she was kidnapped and saw her mother and sister killed. This incident is also said to happen "20 years ago”, making her 32 and hence 30-31 during her first appearance in 52/One Year Later.

Tim Drake is still 17 while Steph is in her second semester of her first year at university, and it's stated that he is meant to be in his senior year at high school (Batgirl vol. 3 #13, Red Robin #17 and Red Robin #25). It's possible he turns 18 before the reboot.

Mistakes I Made

Cassandra Cain is 21 in Year Eighteen.

The "Titans disbands" in Year Thirteen was definitely a year early but it's done.

#batman #batman and robin #robin #batgirl #nightwing #spoiler #batwoman #red robin #red hood #black bat #batfam #bat family #timeline #bruce wayne #dick grayson #barbara gordon #tim drake #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #helena bertinelli #kate kane #damian wayne #jason todd #dc comics

[raynetheinsane]

Batfam (and friends) as Henry Danger quotes

(Because im a nerd and love this show)

Damian: Tt, my parties arent that bad

Jon: Christmas. 3 years ago. 15 kids ended up in the hospital!

Damian: FATHER!!!

Tim: Damian! Were trying to study here *indicates to Duke and Steph, both clearly not studying*

Damian: I’m talking to my Father.

Robin!Jason: Dangit! All these jobs say i gotta have skills..

Dick: You have skills!

Jason: Name one.

Dick: You’re a great dancer!

Jason: No I’m not?

Dick: You could take lessons.

(More under the cut i just dont want this to be super duper long)

Bruce: How old are you?

Tim, trying to become robin: Im 13, I’ll be 14. On my next birthday

Dick: Ah so youre aging sequentially

Tim, extremely tired: Do you ever dream about sleeping?

Steph, extremely confused:…no??

Tim: good. If you did youd be dead.

Bruce: Lets ride.

Robin!Jason who is very new to this: Wha- Ride where?

Bruce: We’ve got people in the Jandy River that need saving.

Bruce: Come on.

Jason: You mean we’re going there? Together? Like right now?

Tim, extremely dirty and has a cut on his face walking into Drake Manor:

Jack, not paying attention: Hey Tim, did you get the job?

Tim: Yeah, just finished my first day.

Jack: So hows work?

Tim: Uh it was pretty… interesting.

Bernard: Hey, you never told us what you do at your new job

Tim: *just stares wide eyed silently*

Bruce: While we were patrolling, Poison Ivy stole packs of baby bottles, can you guess why?

Robin!Dick: Uhhh

Bruce: To flood the bottles with radioactive plant matter.

Dick: I would not have guessed that.

Jason: I see youre in your pajama pants.

Tim: Yeah its almost midnight, I was studying for this test i have tomorrow

Jason: What subject?

Tim: Puerto Rican history

Jason: Ah Puerto Rico… land of…

Tim: Puerto Ricans?

Jason: yeah..

Red Hood: Strike three.

Spoiler: That was only 2

Hood: Okay, don’t correct me in front of the criminals

Duke: Whats in the mug?

Tim, who just poured himself and entire pot of coffee despite hating it: Coffee.

Tim: To keep me alive.

Duke: no, no, no, no, you cannot drink this much coffee after work. This mug is comedically large!

Steph: I have the same dream all the time. It satrts with me getting a horse for my birthday. Then my dad shows up. Then the horse kicks my dad in the face!

Jason, helping Tim study: You want a good grade on your puerto rican math test?

Tim: history

Jason, who died before he finished highschool: Same thing

Non-Bat who needs the antidote for Joker gas or something: Will this hurt?

Black Bat: Yes, very much.

Bernard, talking about a criminal the Bats cant catch: Its not Batmans fault, he just needs a better sidekick

Tim: One more time.

Bernard, who knows: Just saying, I’d be way better at catching criminals than the current Robin

Dick: I’m gonna die..

Jason: Not in the house. If you’re gonna die, do it outside

Tim: I’m Robin.

Bernard: I know. I figured that out.

Damian: Todd, I wish to speak to you about something.

Jason: BABIES COME FROM THE BABY STORE

Oracle: Steph, come to Gotham Park right now!

Steph: noo, I’m not in the mood for trees

Oracle: did i ask you what youre in the mood for?

Vikki Vale: So, Spoiler, how did you catch Two Face?

Spoiler: I’d love to take all the credit, but it was really all thanks to my partner, Black Bat.

Vikki: Interesting. Black Bat, can you tell us more?

Black Bat: No.

It really bothers me the lack of Babs, Cass, and Duke worthy quotes there are 😔😔 also my personal favs show a lot and im sorry for that, but there will be more as i think of them, these are just eps 1-4, the rest will be posted like in a queue or something and as single quotes cus im eepy

#batfam #batman #robin #dc robin #dick grayson #nightwing #damian wayne #tim drake #red robin #jason todd #red hood #batfamily headcanons #incorrect quotes #henry danger #stephanie brown #cassandra wayne #barbara gordon #source: henry danger

[libbys-braincell-loss]

Im bored as hell so heres a short SMG4 x SMG3 oneshot (idk what to name it)

(Kinda angst? Not exactly, it also mostly includes some wholesome fluff too; takes place after the events of the Puzzlevision movie and references IGBP, so spoilers for that ig lol)

(Also its really short)

---

SMG4 was out for a walk, late in the evening outside of the castle. He was lost in thought - a lot of things were eating him up inside his mind since the day Mr. Puzzles took him and his friends and forced them to perform in his dumbass shows.

Just one thing was going through his mind.

When Mr. Puzzles showed him his corrupted behavior when he was going through the phase where he absolutely had to make the perfect video ever.

"Who knew that you could make such a great villain?" Mr. Puzzles had said.

He really did become a villain, didn't he..?

That was an entire year ago, and he still regretted his choices and still beats himself up over moments like that.

SMG4 stands in places and observes the pebbles on the ground.

"SMG4?"

The familiar voice surprised him. He turned around, and not too far away from where he stood was SMG3, holding his beloved Eggdog.

"What are you doing out and about at this hour?" SMG3 asked.

"I could ask the same to you?" SMG4 said in return.

"I always let Eggdog roam around at this hour," SMG3 said, putting Eggdog on the ground, as he hops off. "It's quiet out. No one, specifically Mario, is up at this hour to disturb our peace. It's real nice. ...Why are you out here? You're rarely out and about this late."

SMG4 sighs. "I've had things on my mind, and I thought touching grass would clear my head, y'know?" He chuckles.

SMG3 begins expressing concern, but is very quick to hide it. "What's up?"

SMG4 observes the ground. "Do you realize that I went through that... 'absolute perfection' phase over a year ago? Can you believe it's been that long?"

"Oh, shit," SMG3's eyes widen. "Time really flew by, huh?"

"...Yeah."

SMG4 stares sadly at his castle, not too far away.

"To think that something so impressive and monumental... wouldn't be here if I didn't do something so dumb."

SMG3 worriedly steps closer to him, realizing what's up.

"Is Mr. Puzzles' comment bothering you?"

SMG4 looks at 3. He nods.

"I just... hate the fact I was so selfish that I ended up hurting the people I cared for most," SMG4 says, blinking back tears creeping through his tearducts. "I didn't want to be a villain, I never wanted to..."

SMG4 buries his face in his hands. SMG3 inches closer, holding out his arms, but ultimately deciding against putting hands on the person considered his rival, so he lowered his arms.

"I never considered you a villain, SMG4."

4 looks up at 3.

"You were blindsighted, but the stupid keyboard corrupting you up was out of your control," says SMG3. "You are a dumbass, not a villain. You never had malicious intent. Mr. Puzzles is wrong and we are all thankful he's dead. He was such a sicko-"

SMG3 gets cut off, as SMG4 hugs him. SMG3 feels 4 silently sobbing into his shoulder. He is in a stun lock for a second, before coming to terms that 4 was hugging him. He wraps his own arms around his crying "nemesis". He gently rubs his back reassuringly.

"4, I promise you, you are no villain. You could never be a villain like me." SMG3 says, chuckling.

He feels SMG4 chuckle a teensy bit while buried in his shoulder, reassuring 3 that he would be okay, thus bringing him back at ease.

"Says the person who saved my life and called me a friend," SMG4 says, face still up against SMG3.

"Not like you said anything different when you saved my life," SMG3 chuckled.

SMG4 slowly lifts his face away from SMG3's shoulder.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you cared about me," SMG4 said half jokingly.

SMG3 smiles sadly.

"I'll be honest, I'm tired of pretending I don't."

SMG4 and SMG3 look into each others eyes. 4 smiles slyly.

"I knew it. I knew you were a tsundere."

SMG3 gently pushes SMG4 away from him, smiling and pretending to be mad. "Don't make me actually hate you."

4 chuckles.

SMG3 looks at him again. "Are you sure you're okay now?"

SMG4 smiles.

"Much better, thanks to you."

SMG3 smiles, looking to the ground.

"Don't mention it. ..Seriously, don't mention it. If Meggy hears about this, I will not hear the end of it."

SMG4 grins, and begins walking back toward his castle, as Eggdog walks up to his owner, ready to head inside.

"I heart you too, SMG3," SMG4 says before walking to the castle entrance.

SMG3 rolls his eyes, smiling, as he picks up Eggdog and the two head back into the cafe.

#smg4 #smg4 fanfic #smg43 #smg34 #smg4 smg3 #smg4 x smg3 #smg4 eggdog #smg4 puzzlevision #puzzlevision arc #puzzlevision movie #smg4 its gotta be perfect #smg4 igbp #its gotta be perfect

[yuri-is-online]

... so what do we know about the Clash? (pt. 2)

moving right along from part 1

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SPOILERS THROUGH EPISODE 5: HOTARUBI. PLEASE INTERACT WITH DUE CAUTION.

The Laurel Crown is first referenced by Ritsu in Episode 4. It is an award given to the best performing house of the year at an event called the Darkwick Gala. Kaito says it is held one week before graduation, Ritsu says there are a lot of rewards given out to graduating winners. He also very specifically says that it is "the shortest path to success and independence from Darkwick for us ghouls." That word independence strikes me as important, though it is not followed up on here or elsewhere unless you count the discussion surrounding Article 78 in Episode 5. Ritsu thinks that Taiga was interested in it once upon a time due to his impressive mission completion record in his first year. We know Zenji wanted to win the crown to obtain recognition as an author, while most of the other ghouls we've met show a degree of disinterest or lack of knowledge of it. Ren mentions at the end of this conversation that he didn't know about the Gala, and Ritsu points out that despite being canceled it was never removed from last years schedule. It is not not this year's though, and he implies that Cornelius is covering something up. Which really does seem to be the case...

The Crown system was discontinued as a direct result of the Clash... we think. It is never explicitly stated "yeah the Clash happened so we aren't doing this anymore" it's instead alluded to as something they can't do because there are too many ghouls to control. We know it had to be this as Haku tells Zenji that it was discontinued after he died, and Zenji died during the Clash. According to Haku, he was killed by a rogue anomaly. He adamantly discourages MC from looking into the Clash gee why would you do that HAKU and this seems to be a similar stance to what Cornelius would take if he knew you were curious. Cornelius and Moby are reluctant to let Lyca free because "what if we have another case of a ghoul-" We can assume he is going to say "killing" or something along those lines based off the concerns listed about Lyca, but that's not confirmed.

Ritsu finds documents about the Clash in the school's archives. he finds them alongside disciplinary documents, he says he either overlooked them or someone had them checked out as he has not read them before. The file is thick and is specifically titled "The Clash: An Overview of Civil Affairs Instigated by Darkwick Students." The term "civil affairs" is interesting. As best I can tell it is a military term that refers to small scale missions undertaken by small teams that focus on civil action? Like diplomacy stuff? Or organizing humanitarian aid? And in more sinister scenarios to assist in psychological warfare to condition a population to not fight against your military but I don't know if that's what the translation team was going for here exactly. I think it's just meant to imply things got really bad and really violent.

Lastly, this is less easy to prove than some of the other things as fact but I still think it is one: there are hints of a split in the student body over who is pro-anomaly and anti-anomaly. Subaru is obviously very pro-anomaly and thinks that capturing them is cruel, Taiga seems to be pro eating anomalies while Romeo is very comfortable with catching them and collecting bounties. A lot of this seems to be tied to how they view the school, the Institute that runs it, and their place in that hierarchy. The one thing everyone seems to agree on is that they are trapped at Darkwick and don't want to be. At least not forever.

So to re cap all of the things we know to be fact: the Clash happened sometime last year, half a year ago at the absolute latest. The fight is thought to have been started by the ghouls, we do not know over what. The Laurel Crown system and the Darkwick Gala were both canceled after the fallout of the Clash, in which at least two named people are thought to have died: Zenji Kotodama who would have been a second year Hotarubi student and Dante whose former role is unknown. Zenji still resides in the school as a ghost, though this is unknown to Darkwick staff, and Dante has been brought on as a Professor. Also, all of the Inspectors seem to have quit at the end of the previous year due to the ghouls abusing mesmer matches on them. Three dormitories were disbanded at some point and one new one was created. We do not know if this was connected to the Clash or if it was an inciting incident for it, but at some point Clementia, one of those dormitories, was the scene of some sort of fight. Some of the students of Dionysia dorm went missing, presumably the ghouls. We know nothing about what happened to Ultio aside from the prison they were tasked with running now being run "by Darkwick." All general students from these dorms were re-assigned elsewhere, as were the general students previously assigned to Jabberwock who had general admissions halted. There is a spy amongst these ghouls who Taiga believes is intending to make them look bad; Alan and Tohma are attempting to isolate this spy. We do not know who this spy is spying for, or what Alan and Tohma want out of him exactly, nor do I really expect to find out anytime soon.

So. Now onto the Questions and Theories. As in things we can assume but cannot exactly prove:

Questions and Theories

Jiro and Zenji look extremely similar with a few noticeable differences, namely the piercings Jiro has and the glasses Zenji wears. My first thought was that maybe Jiro was made out of Zenji's corpse, but his birthday is listed as October 13th, which is not the middle of the year by any stretch. They also have different blood types; I think the most practical explanation comes from Zenji himself. When describing why he's so attached to the haunted doll you've found, he says it looks just like his brother did when he was a baby. I have some screenshots of Zenji following Jiro around in a campus event because he wants to help him find something he's looking for, so it does make a bit of sense. And make me even more sad.

The Institute that runs Darkwick seems to be deeply suspicious of ghouls and feel a need to keep them on a short leash. There is a great deal of distrust and resentment between the ghouls and the Institute, and the Clash seems to have been the result of that distrust. The thickness of the records Ritsu finds suggests to me that whatever the Clash was exactly, it took up most of the previous year and that it had something to do with Darkwick's treatment of anomalies.

On that point, I think that Clementia was likely destroyed by a rogue anomaly. The destruction MC sees is described as something going on a rampage, and not as a fight. The fight angle is still possible of course, and if that's the case I wonder if it has something to do with how Ultio was running the prison. I mentioned in the previous post that the goddesses these dorms are named after are meant to sort of balance each other out, so if there was going to be a clash of ideals between anyone on campus it'd probably be these guys.

I feel like Obscuary was set up as a result of the Clash? Or at the very least some time before it specifically so there would be some place for Rui and Ed to go. I think the dorm members will all be crossed with an anomaly in some way, Ed with a vampire, Rui with a reaper, and Lyca with a werewolf. Also, Ed is rumored to have done something. What? No fucking clue, don't even know if it's related to the Clash but still he has done something to get added into the rumor mill.

We don't know what Haku's stigma is as he didn't tell us. He also makes a point of saying that he thinks it's a good thing to get through a mission without using your stigma, if anything he seems to discourage the MC from using or relying on the ring to help the ghouls. You could see this as him trying to encourage her to value herself more, or maybe he thinks that there is a cost for using stigmas we don't know about just yet and they're not the blessings the ghouls think they are. Also he asks Cornelius if he has ever lied to him at the end of the chapter and if you think I didn't find that sus as all hell-

I need to sleep, but remind me to make a post about Haku sometime. Because I don't think he's evil exactly, but I do still think he's the spy.

#tokyo debunker #tdb #tdb theory #tokyo debunker theory

[markantonys]

My Mom Reacts To: wheel of time season 2 episodes 5-8 (episodes 1-4) (season 1)

the episode 1-4 post did not contain book spoilers, but this one does, so beware!

first, some dinnertable questions that arose in the past few days:

mom: 3000 years ago, when the first dragon was around, was ishamael--wait. was ishamael the dragon? me: no mom: but he was around back then? me: yes, he was the first dragon's best friend, but then he betrayed him mom: just like how liandrin is betraying everyone

(also, she keeps trying to call him "ishmael" like the moby dick character)

mom: at the end of 14 books, does good triumph over evil? me: i'm not gonna tell you that mom: well this show won't go for 14 seasons, or if it does, i'll be in a dementia ward by then

mom: how long is someone the amyrlin? me: for life, unless they get removed mom: is it an elected position or would they have like a coup? me: [sweating] it's an elected position

she wanted to know where everything was, so i pulled out the handy randland map mug she gave me for christmas to show her! haha

she also asked if we see more of the other colors (ajahs) in the books, and i said if anything we see less because liandrin and alanna have much less screentime in the books, and she was very surprised to hear that

dad: [setting up a dad joke voice] what's it called when lan dies? me: what? dad: lan's end

(okay that might be an americans-only joke lmao there's a big clothing chain called lands' end, not sure how widespread it is. but it cracked ME up, at least!)

mom: does lan die?!?!?!? me: you read his wikipedia article like 2 months ago mom: well i don't remember any of it, that was a long time ago!

she also assumed that no one who is together now (lanaeve + randgwene) will end up together. i'd straight up told her a while ago that rand and egwene don't end up together but she wasn't totally sure of that now, so i think it's actually okay if i tell her spoilers because she'll forget them immediately djkfjgh

episode 5

"she should be glad to get those ridiculous nails cut"

she was horrified by the horse slaughter!

my dad laughed at the guy getting his head exploded, maybe it's not just rand maybe he just likes to see Anyone have a bad time

elyas: your friends from the two rivers aren't your pack mom: ohhhh 😔😠 elyas: neither was your wife mom: [GASP]

she loves hopper so much and i'm not ready for her to see ep8!!

brown sister trio introduced, we pause as i am tasked with writing down every ajah and what they do lmao

my mom repeatedly asked if suroth was a forsaken. probably because she has The Audacity to talk to an actual forsaken Like That!

not much reaction to aviendha at all this episode! i think my mom was a bit overwhelmed by all the new info being learned in this episode, so she was more concerned with trying to figure out who the aiel and the seanchan are than with paying attention to aviendha specifically (partially my fault bc i first explained the aiel as "those warrior people" and she thought i meant the seanchan lmao). she mourned that we hadn't started our character/terminology list on a bigger piece of paper!

i had to fight to keep it together rather than shout with joy during the gawyn namedrop djkjfgh

mom: did the red one free nynaeve so they could try to escape?? me: yes mom: she is just too complicated for me

in this same vein, my dad later referred to liandrin as a "double double agent"

moiraine: [big sigh] dad: she's always a drama queen

he's not wrong jkdjfg

ishy tenderly stroking rand's face also got no reaction, much to my surprise haha i meanwhile was silently losing it

when the seanchan were bringing out egwene and saying how powerful she is, my dad was like "but she's the wrong one, it's the other one who's powerful" oh my god let poor egwene LIVE djkfg even he is pulling a "did you hear that nynaeve is the most powerful channeler we've seen in 1000 years" on her!

my mom cracked up at moiraine saying "it's your choice rand, i mean it this time" and was like "yeah i was gonna say, is she ACTUALLY going to let him choose here?"

episode 6

my mom literally THE SECOND renna's bracelet linked with the a'dam: "so she can channel too? i thought these people punished everyone who can channel" not her INSTANTLY clocking The Sul'dam Secret when in-world it apparently took hundreds of years for anyone to notice hahaha this certainly lends weight to the "this information Is Known but routinely suppressed, as fascist governments are wont to do" interpretation over the "literally not a single person had any idea until the wondergirls" interpretation

lanfear: why do you think you can't trust me? mom: because you have a silly hat

911 lanfear's just been murdered. i guess some people (straight women) ARE immune to her dominatrix outfit djkfg

my mom also voiced her displeasure with rand's haircut again in this scene. my mom 🤝 me 🤝 mat

BOTH my parents thought lanfear's condition was going to be that rand had to kill moiraine himself! the second he opened his eyes they both said it! they're already thinking so dark!

on that note, i'd predicted my mom would be annoyed at moiraine for refusing barthanes's sandwiches, but that was not the case: instead, she and my dad both went "oh i bet the sandwiches are poisoned" they're so suspicious of everything now! and rightfully so

"i can hear you bickering from the fruit market" got a good laugh

my mom also gave a hearty, appreciative chuckle at mat shitting on rand's hair. he spoke for all of us!

mat: i'll meet you in an hour mom: they don't have watches, how will they know when it's been an hour?

mom when moiraine apologizes to barthanes: why is she being nice? me: because she feels bad mom, as if it never occurred to her moiraine might have a conscience: oh..............

mom when siuan arrives in cairhien: now someone can tell her about liandrin! me: but no one here knows that mom: UGH!!!

haha welcome to wheel of time! the necessary information is always stuck in the wrong plotlines and unable to be passed along to the relevant people!

elayne to nynaeve: if we help ryma, we can't help egwene mom: oh this poor woman, now she's faced with another hard choice just like in the arches! me: [sits there stunned because i never made that connection]

episode 7

my mom loved lan telling rand to tuck in his shirt, naturally

lan: heron dips over the wing [or whatever the name was] mom: what? me: it's a sword form, they all have weird names mom: oh, that would explain why it didn't make any sense

lan: your duty is to protect everyone in the world, not just the ones you love mom: that's a big responsibility :(

she laughed and said "she doesn't like not being the boss!" at nynaeve's face when elayne told her to do what she said

she is SO PRESSED about other characters needing to find out about liandrin. she was so excited when anvaere eavesdropped and then so mad when moiraine left before anvaere could tell her the news (but i reassured her by saying that moiraine is about to go to the same place as nynaeve & co who will be able to tell her)

moiraine: [is Mean to lan] mom: TUH! dad: he should just slay her

mom: so what does this tea do? me: allegedly it will show mat his past lives mom: but it might be a trick me: ishamael DOES call himself "father of lies"

my dad was like "that was cool!" after mat's bad trip, which is among his biggest reactions to anything, other than "[chuckles] that was a good one!" when egwene said "renna i will kill you"

ishy: i just want to close my eyes and never have to open them again mom: so kill yourself then 🙄

911 ishamael's also been found murdered. i think she could put the forsaken in line honestly, "you have a silly hat" "kill yourself" she's just not having any of their shit. i hate to compare her to cadsuane, but it's kinda giving cadsuane.

lanfear's dominatrix outfit did get more appreciation this time though when the silly hat was not present ("they had fun with her costumes")

rand: i need your help lanfear mom: ??????? doesn't he know she's evil???????

"she could at least say something nice to lan 🙄" when moiraine fails to say something nice to lan after getting unshielded thanks to him

lanfear: [broken amyrlin line] mom: is she broken??? me: i think she just meant metaphorically, not physically mom: oh. but their love is broken :(

episode 8

my dad actually put his laptop away to watch this episode with his full attention. this is high praise! he never does that!

mom: who's that? [dain] me: the whitecloak perrin spared when he escaped with aviendha mom: i don't remember that me: we watched that YESTERDAY mom: 🤷

she did remember after another moment though haha but that supports my impression that ep5 was A Bit Too Much New Info for her to take in all at once

lanfear: rand i'm the only one who truly cares about you mom: i don't think THAT'S true!

when perrin tells hopper to stay there: "he's just going to leave his dog out in the desert with no water???"

mom when lanfear calls ishy sweetheart and strokes his hair: wait was he the one she was in love with????? me: no it was rand's past life, that's why she's obsessed with rand mom: rand's past WIFE???? me: LIFE

babe wake up new polycule just dropped (lanfear/ishy/lews/ilyena)

she GASPED when renna cut off egwene's braid! as she should!

she said "too bad min isn't here" during the episode (she thought it would be helpful if min could tell mat what would happen if he were to touch the dagger; i was like "i think he knows it would be bad mom" lmao) and after the episode she anxiously asked if we would ever see min again, dammit mom don't you dare become a min stan on me jdkfgh (although, the fact that she thought we might not see her again indicates it's 0% on her radar that min might be anyone's love interest, which is interesting! a number of show-onlys were at least expecting her to be mat's i think)

nynaeve: i'll make you regret the first kiss your mother ever gave your father mom: [delighted] that's a creative one! dad: there are a lot of nasty women on this show and only one nasty man [ishy] me and mom: TUH!

although he is not wrong to say that s2 was the season of Female Villains and Women Being Mean (and i loved every moment of it!). don't you worry dad, rand's gonna be stepping up to fill the Nasty Man Quota soon enough. and i can't wait!

dad when rand is watching egwene from a distance: he's not doing a good job of hiding me: at least his cloak is the same color as the wall dad: well his dumb face isn't

why is he SUCH a hater when it comes to poor rand jkdjfg please, that's your future son-in-law!

they both were repeatedly pressed about everyone carrying the horn box (or rather "the briefcase" as my dad called it) out in the open

mom: they need to just put it in a sack! me: they don't have any sacks on hand! mom: there's plenty of sacks lying around!!!

she keeps thinking that rand got the heron-marked sword from his mom, and when she saw that turak had one she was like "but i thought those were the swords of the aiel?" and i cracked up imagining how offended aiel would be to hear her say that

she missed rand killing all the seanchan because she was too busy asking me the above question, but when she looked back at the screen she went 1) "oh, this is so gory" 2) "did RAND do all that????"

she was sad about ingtar, she was like "ohhhh, i liked him :(" imagine caring about ingtar, could not be me jdkfg

me: so lanfear is talking about the seals of the other forsaken, she wants this guy to throw them all in the ocean because she doesn't want them to be released mom: why doesn't she just do it herself? me: me: me: i don't know, actually..................

(maybe she just wanted them gone stat but didn't want to leave falme for even a moment while shit was going down with rand and ishy? or maybe she was like, I'm Too Hot And Iconic To Get My Hands Dirty Doing Things Myself)

mom as soon as renna's shown to be alive, after egwene's picked up the collar: she should go put the collar on her!

she been knew again!

mom at the mat-perrin reunion: put the spear down before you hug him, you'll stab someone by accident!!!!

she was glad to see egwene get her vengeance, but added "but now i bet she'll feel guilty for killing someone because she's a good person :("

ishy: [talking about what rand did in his past life] mom: rand doesn't even remember that! rand right on cue: i'm not lews therin!

i warned her "you might not want to look" just before hopper's death, but she did look, and she was very sad. as was i!

she thought that one of the heroes of the horn was stepin and i told her it wasn't (it was just some random guy with similar hair) but maybe i should've let her keep on believing it because it's a nice idea!

mom when the spear goes through ishy and hits rand: OH NO!!!! just like min said!!! me: [vibrating with glee over The Great Cauthor Stabbening]

when ishy said "i'm sorry old friend" to rand here my dad said "that sounds familiar" and i was like what's he talking about? but then realized that's what LTT said to ishy in the cold open!!! my heart!!! thank you dad for catching that parallel, i gotta go make a gifset now

"how is one guy holding off all these soldiers by himself?" mom i cannot believe you of all people would doubt lan!

she laughed at rand being like "[half-dead] who are you???" but made no comment on the subsequent romantic shot of elayne. however, after the episode she was like "'who are you?' rand said................is something going to happen with him and elayne??" and i was like 🤷😁😁😁😁 and then she said "but they both have red hair, are they from the same place?" and i told her that elayne is not aiel and not ALL redheads are aiel lmao and maybe i should've just said "you'll see" but. i don't think it's a spoiler to confirm that elayne is not aiel.

she does not believe that ishy is really dead, and she kept asking me if he was really dead and if he shows up again later in the books and i swear, the three oaths possessed me in that moment and made me incapable of saying "yes he's really dead, no we don't see him again in the books". so i just kept shrugging which probably made it obvious that indeed, this is not the last we see of him haha

mom when moiraine starts weaving fire in the direction of the tower: what's she doing?! everyone's up on that tower!!! me: she's not trying to BLOW UP RAND mom: oh

at some point during all the battles she was like "now what's lanfear up to during all this? 🤨" a good thought to have always!

at the end of the episode: "now we have to wait a whole year or two for the next season!!!!!" she's hooked!!

favorite character roundup: my mom said lan is #1 and egwene is #2, and she also loves loial, and she said that she didn't care for perrin last season but likes him a lot now. my dad said his favorites are "the tree guy" (loial) and "the new woman at the end who's more powerful than anyone we've seen so far" (moghedien! that one was a surprise to me. tumblr 🤝 my dad. i hope he'll enjoy The Season Of Moghedien next season! tho it could also be that he just said her because she was the last character we saw and he'd already forgotten all the other ones lmao)

#wot #wot on prime #the wheel of time #wot show spoilers #wot book spoilers

[callsigndragon]

Seeing Red | Ch. 5: Used to it ✍️

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x ex-wife!Reader (Call sign: Red Queen)

Word count: 2.4k

Warnings: sassy red, jake being an ass, more mav and jake being father and son, mentions of dead, some ex-wife/ex-husband unresolved tension, and... Liam's reveal.

A/N: I literally wrote this in 4 hours i was REAALLY obsessed with this idea and here it is. Comments are welcomed and THERE'S AN AUTHOR NOTE AT THE END THAT EXPLAINS A BIT SOME PARTS OF THIS BUT IT'S IN THE END TO AVOID SPOILERS.

(Whoever wants to be tagged, comment down below!)

Masterlist on pinned

When you walk out of the base towards the tarmac, you see Jake talking with someone. He seems older. Both of them turn toward you, Jake attempting to flee as soon as he recognizes your presence, but the other one stops him, both of them approaching you. Once they’re close, you remember who the other man is.

"Captain Mitchell?" you ponder, covering your eyes with your hand because the sun is shining brighter than usual. 

“Red Queen! It’s been a while. Last time we worked together, you weren’t even married.” He says, Jake groaning beside him. 

“If you told me that I would get married and divorced in the span of three years, I would have said that was bullshit.” 

“How many times are you gonna mention it?” Jake protests, taking off his glasses. 

“The same amount of times I tried to call you and text you after you left the fucking divorce papers on the kitchen counter.” You challenge him, waiting for his reaction. 

“I guess they were a lot.” Maverick adds, making Jake cover his face in disbelief. “Anyway, Cyclone told me that you were doing a dogfighting exercise, so I thought I could join." 

“Mav, did he give you the green light, or are you trying to make me break some rules on my first day?” 

“Well, maybe he didn’t agree 100%. But I want to help you!” 

You’re about to protest when you feel your phone ring in your pocket. “I’m gonna take this call and go ask Cyclone. Wait for me to come back, and I’ll let you know if you can fly or not, Mav.” 

You turn around and get inside the building, answering the call. You don’t even need to check the screen to know who it is. 

“Hey pretty boy.” 

“So… you fucked up real good, buddy.” 

“Oh yeah? I didn’t notice.” He is tempted to walk away, but then he hears Red talking. 

"Hey pretty boy" 

"Pretty boy?" Jake mumbles, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Looks like she has moved on." Mav whispers, patting Jake's back. 

"No, Liam, we can't have a cat. We have a dog, and that's a lot of work already." 

Red enters the building, and Jake stays there, completely astonished. "Who the fuck is Liam?" 

"Your replacement?" He shrugs. 

"Fuck off, Mav"

And just like he did hours ago, Mav smacks Jake's head again. "I'm not the bad guy here, son. And I don't know if you're allowed to be mad. You asked for a divorce." 

"You know why I did it." 

Mav sighs, taking off his glasses. "Yeah, I know. And I told you there may have been other ways to solve the problem." 

"I couldn't find any other one. Look, I can tolerate being around her at work. But she's gonna be friends with all the team because that's how she is, just the purest human being to ever walk on earth. I'm telling you now, if I have to see her walk in the Hard Deck hand in hand with an asshole that doesn’t deserve her, I'm asking for a relocation."

"And you think you deserve her? Jake, I know better than anyone how you feel. I let Penny slip away from me many times, and I came back many more. I just—" he looks around, as if trying to find the right words. "I just want you to remember that you vowed to be together for better and for worse. And when the worst came, you didn't tell her and made a decision by yourself." 

"You think I don't know that?" He takes out his phone, showing the lock screen to Mav. "I never changed it. I couldn’t. It's a reminder of what I had and what I lost. A fleeting glimpse of the only happiness I've ever known, and an endless torment of what I lost." 

Mav scoffs. "You sound like that guy from Pride and Privilege." 

"...you mean Pride and Prejudice?" 

"THAT ONE!" 

"Really, Mav? One of the greatest books to ever be written, and you don't even know the title?" 

"Have you even read it?" The older man mocks. 

"Yes, I did." 

"Bullshit." 

"It's true, I bought it for him," Red says, walking past them. "Get in your plane, pops. We're going for a ride." 

Jake watches Red jogging towards her plane, new letters added to the side, her name and call sign. And his last name. Seresin, in big black letters. 

“Why did she keep my name?” Jake ponders.

“What?” 

“Look." He points at Red's aircraft. "Seresin. Why is she using it?” 

“I don’t think I have a good answer for that, son. Come on, I have to fly.”

It's all good until Jake's turn comes. All of them are amazing pilots, of course, they're the best of the best. You didn't expect anything different. Rooster is the fastest to take you out. Mav explains to you how, until a few years ago, he was afraid of his own potential. You can hear how proud Mav is now, as if Rooster were his own son. In a way, you know he is. 

"Hey, Red. Can I ask you a question?" Bob mutters through the comms. 

"You just did, Bob." You laugh. "Of course you can." 

"Why Red Queen as a call sign? You don't seem like the kind of girl that chops off heads."

You laugh again, turning to be closer to Phoenix's plane. You wave at Bob and he waves back with a chuckle. "It has some resemblance to the Red Queen, but not entirely. Have you heard of the Red Queen hypothesis?"

"Not really."

"According to the Red Queen hypothesis, a species needs to evolve and adapt in order to survive because its competitors are doing the same."

"Did you evolve and adapt?"

"Yep. Being an aviator wasn't in my plans." You confess, remembering the old times. 

"And what were your plans?"

"She wanted to be a lawyer." 

"I don't think they were asking you, Seresin." You retort, moving your plane to an inverted position, and flying above Jake's plane. "If I want you to talk, I'll let you know." 

"I think you're abusing your power, Commander," he mutters, looking straight into your eyes. 

"I'm just giving you as many chances to talk as you gave me, Lieutenant."

You move your plane away, the radio has become silent. "But yeah, I wanted to be a lawyer."

"What changed?" 

"My dad died in Iraq when I was a teenager. His plane crashed. He wanted to defend his country so much that he died doing it. And I took his place."

"Adapt in order to survive." Bob mutters. 

"That's it." 

“It says a lot about you, Red. Your father will be proud.” Mav comments, moving to your right. “Anyway, are we gonna play or what?” 

“Yeah, we’re in the right place already. Okay, Phoenix, Jake, you have thirty seconds to fly away from us. After that, fight’s on.” 

“Aye aye, Red”

“Yes, Commander.” 

A tiny part of you almost feels bad that Jake has to address you by rank. 

Almost. 

You wait thirty seconds. Mav immediately goes after Phoenix, and you know he’s giving you the chance to see how Jake reacts. Instead of going after Mav to ‘free’ Phoenix, he leaves his wingman alone. What the fuck does he think he’s doing? 

“Phoenix, Mav, stop right now.” 

You see both aircrafts slowing down. “Did something happen, Red?” Phoenix asks, flying back to you. 

“Lieutenant Seresin, I want you to fly back to the base right this instant and wait on the tarmac until I finish all the exercises of the day.” 

“Can I ask why, Commander?” 

“You’re not leaving your wingman alone, not under my command. If I have to be paired with you on a mission because Cyclone ordered me to carry your ass everywhere I go, you’re not gonna fucking leave me alone so you can make some maneuvers and take the glory.” 

“Red, I work better like that.” 

“First of all, it’s Commander for you. Second, you’re gonna work as I say, cause I’m in charge here, not you. Not anymore. Is that clear?” 

“Yes, ma’am.” 

You whisper. “I should be used to it by now.” 

“Used to what?” he asks. 

“To you, leaving people behind. Everyone back to the base. We’re done for the day.” 

It takes all your power not to cry. The idea of being on a mission and having Jake leave you behind, just because he has the biggest ego ever known in human history, makes you shiver. Being abandoned is a feeling you don’t want to experience again. 

You spend the rest of the day in your office, working on the report Cyclone asked you to write. You don’t want to be that type of ex, but you have to write a bad review of Jake’s work. He only needed ten seconds to abandon his wingman. How has he been working here for so long? It’s a complete mystery to you. 

You’re printing it up when you hear a soft knock on your door. “Come in.” 

“Commander” 

You should look up from your work the next time someone knocks on the door. “Do you need something, Seresin?” 

“Actually, yes. I have questions.” He says, while closing the door. He takes a seat in one of the chairs in front of your desk. 

“And what makes you think you have the right to ask anything?” You question, collecting all the sheets of paper from the printer. 

“Why are you still using my name?” 

“It became mine too when you married me. Just never thought about changing it.” 

“That’s not it, Red. We both know it” 

“Whatever my reasons are, I don’t have to explain them to you.” You argue, getting up from your chair and collecting your things before exiting the office. Jake follows you, seems like he doesn’t want to end the conversation there. 

“I think I deserve an explanation. It’s my name, after all.” 

You stop in your tracks, turning around so fast that your body collides against Jake’s. You look up, all the hurt, pain, and fury accumulated over the last three years lighting a fire in your soul that must be visible to him, because he moves a step back. “Jake, it’s just a name; don’t be such a dick about it. It’s not because I still love you or whatever stupid idea you have running around in your head. It was a lot of paperwork that I didn't want to deal with. Happy? Now wait here, or do you want to enter Cyclone’s office? I heard it’s like your second home” 

You enter Cyclone's office. He told you before that he had to leave to attend to some important matters, but you could leave the report on his desk without problem. You take a moment to breathe deeply, your hands shaking with the many unsaid words that you have kept in your chest for far too long. But you know you can’t tell him what you want to. Not now. 

When you walk out of the room, he’s still there. “You’re really annoying, you know?” 

“I want my answer.” He insists. 

“Why do you care so much, Jake? You left me, you literally abandoned me and never looked back, and now you are demanding that I answer your questions? Fuck off.” 

You hurry out of the building, looking for your car keys in your bag, when you see a familiar blue car parked in front of you, a woman in her sixties helping a small kid get out of the backseat. 

No. No. No. 

“What are they doing here?” you whisper under your breath. 

“Red, wai- Charlotte?” Jake recognizes your mom in an instant. The woman in question turns around and waves at Jake with a gleeful smile. 

This has to be a fucking nightmare. You stay there, completely frozen, knowing that there’s no way in hell you’re getting out of this. You see your kid walking towards you, making grabby hands and giggling. You haven't seen him in two days, having to leave him with your mother to prepare everything in this new base, this new home... You couldn’t bring him yet. 

“Liam wait!” Your mom yells, but he doesn’t stop. He has seen someone he knows very well, but has never met in real life. Someone he has seen a lot of photos of. The man that appears in the photo frame placed on his bedside table. It’s a photo of your wedding. 

“Dada?” 

“What did he say?” Jake whispers, standing at your side as frozen as you are. 

“He called you dada.” You declare, already giving in. If this is happening, you're gonna do it right.

Liam stands in front of him, tears in his eyes, as he watches Jake. “Dada is you?” 

“I—I don’t know.” He turns at you, fear in his eyes. Oh Lord, what have you done? “Am I his dada?” 

You kneel down, taking Jake’s hand and dragging him down with you, both now at the same height as the little kid, who looks at you with a confused expression and wet cheeks. “You want to know why I never got rid of your last name? Well, Jake. Let me introduce you to Liam Alexander Seresin.” 

“Oh my god, y-you were pregnant; that’s why you-” He starts to hyperventilate. “Y-you signed the papers to protect him?”

You can’t believe this is happening. This isn’t how you planned to tell him. “Jake, calm down. I didn’t know I was pregnant, I swear, but I need you to calm down.” You don’t want him to have one of his panic attacks in front of Liam, it would scare him.

"Dada, don’t cry.” Liam pouts, his chubby hands rising to touch his father’s cheeks. 

“C-can I hug you, buddy?” 

Liam throws himself in Jake’s body, the pilot starts crying when he realizes what he had done. He didn’t just leave his wife. 

He left his wife and his unborn child. She had to raise him all alone. 

“I’m sorry,” he repeats over and over again, his head buried in his son’s hair. Liam smells like her; he’s a miniature version of her with his eyes and nose. It’s everything he once hoped to have. 

And he had missed his first steps, his first words, and his first laugh. 

Just because he thought that by divorcing her, he could save her. 

How wrong he was.

A/N: THERE HE ISSSSSSS. Yes you guessed it, Liam is Jake and Red's son. And here is the explanation you need.

Jake asked for a divorce three years ago. Like actually, is going to be almost three years in a few days (fic time). Liam is a Valentine baby. Jake asked for a divorce on May, Red didn't know she was pregnant until a few days later, when she started to feel sick. She signed the paper's almost immediately after Jake left them in their house, and gave them to her lawyer. They never saw each other again. The reasons why Red didn't tell Jake about the baby, are part of the fic so, I won't tell.

But as it has been hinted, Liam knows who his father is, Red has a picture of him placed in Liam's room, and she tells him about him whenever he wants to know about his dad. Red having Jake as her lockscreen pic? So Liam could see a pic of him every time he wanted.

Liam is now two years and a half. He has Jake's eyes and nose, but is as sassy as his mom.

More details about him will be revealed in next chapters. This is only the beginning of the journey the seresin family will be going through.

And that's all. Have a good night/day!

-Jinx.

Tag list: @purplevortexx @shrimping-for-all @caitsymichelle13 @callmemana @abaker74 @starkleila @topgunmenbefinebruh @blue-aconite @tayrae515 @alexxavicry @xoxabs88xox @mercurio23 @smells-like-perfect-senses @dempy @djs8891 @indynerdgirl @countryclubswifey @lauenderhaze @avaleineandafryingpan @poppyalice2001 @emorychase @wildxwidow @agentwayne17 @shanimallina87

#top gun x reader #jake hangman x reader #jake hangman seresin #jake hangman x fem!reader #top gun fanfiction #top gun maverick #hangman x reader #top gun maverick fanfic #jake seresin x reader #hangman seresin #hangman imagine #jake hangman fic #top gun imagine #jake hangman x you #jake hangman imagine #hangman x you #jake seresin #hangman top gun #tgm #hangman fluff #hangman angst #jake seresin imagine

[jkl-fff]

Obsession in a Good Cause

Since I finally watched Season 4 of "Lego Monkie Kid" today (MAGNIFICENT!), I feel the need to extol and ramble a bit about something deeper I noticed. A profound, recurring theme that really elevates the series in yet another way I wasn't expecting from silly lego people having magic, kung fu adventures with monkeys and such (gods damn, this show really has no business being this good).

And it's how characters with noble intentions and even kind hearts repeatedly fall to an obsession to make things *better* in some way. They can never leave well enough alone, they can never settle for good. And then ... in pursuit of making things *better*, they end up succumbing to a mentality of "The Ends Justify The Means" that winds up making things so much worse AND costing them everything they held dear.

Spoilers below.

Season 1 starts off with Demon Bull King, an archetypal bad guy, especially for a cartoon; he's big and strong, he wants to rule the world, he wants revenge for being trapped under a mountain, he's even cruel to his son. But a funny thing happens after his Season 1 finale butt-kicking: He spends some time bonding with his son (who he now sees grew up without him yet still only wants his love and approval) and worrying about his absent wife (while also being pretty sure his kickass wife can kick the ass of anyone who comes after her). Then, after being saved by people he ought to consider his enemies, he just ... goes home and mellows, watches some cooking shows, and spends more time with his family. Just being happy with them.

Everything we learn about DBK after that is practically a flashback to his pre-imprisonment days at minimum more than 500 years ago. And it makes one thing clear: he loved his family with a fierceness that would face down armies. Literally. He fought the Celestial Realm with his sworn brothers ... and I'm pretty sure he tried to conquer the Mortal Realm originally to build what he would consider a fitting kingdom for his wife and son. (Before he became obsessed with conquest itself, thanks in part to Lady Bone Demon's influence--obsessed enough even to lash out at the two people he was doing it for). That last one, I admit, is speculation, but I think it fits with how tenderly he was shown to love his family in the past and how mellow and domestic he becomes after letting go of conquest and just deciding to live in the moment. It was principally for them, like a father who spends too much time at work to provide for his family. Arguably a noble cause, but he became so obsessed with it that he lost 500 years of his life (and nearly the rest of his life) with them.

(Princess Iron Fan and Red Son both demonstrate it to a lesser degree, I reckon. Their relationship was not really loving at the start of the series, probably having suffered as a result of their obsessive drive to free DBK at any cost. Then to please him after his return. At least until he crossed a line--under LBD's influence--and lashed out physically at them, prompting them to leave him ... until he came back to them.)

Next there's Lady Bone Demon ... She's as terrifying and seemingly inevitable as death itself (fittingly, even Sun Wukong is scared of her), and her goal isn't to conquer the universe, but to destroy it.

Why, though? To make a better, perfect world free of the pain that plagues this one. Because she sees this world as fundamentally imperfect, and that imperfection at its very heart is the reason for all the pain in the world. From a certain perspective, she champions a very noble cause ... It's simply unfortunate that the world and everyone in it needs to be mercy-killed for her plan to work. But what's a little pain now to prevent greater pain later, right? It'll be over quickly, and then everything will be better for everyone ... somehow. Never mind the pleasure and happiness and joy people find in their lives despite (or even because of) the world's imperfect nature; she knows better so she will make things better, even if she must make everything worse first.

(Likewise for Spider Queen. She's so obsessed with reclaiming power she once held, that she loses the good thing she has left with her three loyal subjects. Instead of moving on and starting over and living a good if humbler life ... she dies.)

Then we come to Azure Lion and Yellowtusk (not so much Peng, as he seems to have always been more self-serving, but whatever). Two former warriors of the Celestial Realm who rebelled after seeing its corruption and indifference to mortal suffering. Where LBD was cold and nihilistic, they are warm and reformative. Their ideological position is that the flaw isn't with the world itself, but with those in power who care more about their own wealth, position, glory, and appetites than the needs of the common people. Replace the current leaders with ones who actually care about good governance--who have compassion for mortals--and they believe things *must* get better.

And GODS DAMN that's a sympathetic cause. How do you argue against it, given everything that's shown of the Celestial Realm's inactivity and isolationism? How do you argue against it when that's the story of real world politics? How do you not admire their courage and perseverance to try a second time after getting beaten down?

But it isn't enough for Azure Lion to reunite with Yellowtusk and Peng, just like it wasn't enough to form his own utopic kingdom where he could make a real difference (Note: A region they seemingly drained of life to form?). He could've had a good thing and walked away, but it wasn't enough. He was obsessed with casting down the Jade Emperor and replacing him to make *everything* better, so it was worth every dishonorable act he had to commit along the way. Lie to MK and Mei, let the others suffer through the scroll, imprison a sworn brother (and his family) when he chooses not to join yoir fight, slay a celestial army (and it seems a good deal of the palace staff), and risk the cosmos tearing itself apart? Strike preemptively at a potential threat even to the point of levelling mountains and slaying innocent mortals? All justified to keep his power, because he's the only one who will use that power responsibly and honorably. Ironic and tragic.

Finally ... Sun Wukong himself. What I love about Season 4 is how we see him before and druing that pivotal Journey to the West. And we get the perspective of several people who were very close to him before it--his sworn brothers. Azure and Yellowtusk admired how deeply SWK cared for his monkey subjects enough to be inspired to rebellion against the Celestial Realm, and even enough to choose SWK as their original replacement for the Jade Emperor. Macaque arguably loved him as more than a brother (if you interpret their interactions that way) and was prepared to follow along despite believing SWK should just stay on Flower Fruit Mountain and live happily ever after.

But Macaque gives us a fascinating insight into SWK's character before even that--insight into why SWK went to train with Madter Bodhi and raided the peaches and pills of immortality and so on. He feared death, he feared the good times ending, he never felt secure enough. He always needed more immortality, more power, more of a guarantee that things would stay wonderful for himself and those he cared about. Which eventually saw him imprisoned under a mountain, alone; which eventually saw him indentured to Tang Sanzang and forced to combat his sworn brothers; which eventually put him right back on Flower Fruit Mountain without any of his old or new friends. He was obsessed with things being *better* than they were ... and that inevitably cost him in the past, and threatens what happiness he does have in the present.

Thankfully, like DBK, he is capable of learning to move on. Hopefully, he'll be able to do so (and can help MK learn to do the same) before it's too late.

#lego monkie kid #monkie kid #sun wukong #monkie king #demon bull king #lady bone demon #azure lion #yellow tusk elephant #obsession

[littlejuicebox]

Midwinter Carol 3 / The Carriage

Pairing: Ascended Astarion x Female Elf Sorceress OC

Word Count: 2.9K

Story navigation: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Summary/Setting: Based on the prologue/premise from my OneShot "A Midwinter Carol."

Astarion and the OC broke up after his ascension. She left Baldur's Gate for fifteen years, only to return just recently. Following the events of "A Midwinter Carol," Ascended Astarion has been convinced to pursue a new beginning. Will he be able to change who he has become, with the help of his ex-lover? Or will he ultimately fall victim to his pride and desire for power?

Preview:

“Astarion… why did you reach out, after all this time?” She asks, dropping her gaze to her hands, which have been neatly folded in her lap. “What do you mean?” The Vampire Lord responds, feigning ignorance as he steals a moment to prepare himself for the conversation he knows they are about to have. He turns his head to stare out the window, hoping to give himself the illusion of further distance from Eirianwen. Her close proximity was unnerving.  “You know what I mean, Astarion. I tried to contact you via the sending stones. For years. You never responded.” Her tone is tight as she tries to contain the indignation and hurt. Fifteen years apart, and the fact that he hadn’t communicated with her once, despite her efforts, still stung. It had been a gaping wound in her heart that had never fully healed.  Eirianwen had asked to meet with the Ascendant at the Elfsong, a few weeks after their relationship ended. He had been under the impression it was to reconcile, and that she had changed her mind about his offer. Instead, she had given him the sending stone and expressed her desire to remain friends. The suggestion of being merely Eirianwen’s friend had nearly made Astarion retch on the spot. 

Warnings: This will be 18+ / in game spoilers / OOC Ascended Astarion because it follows my epilogue / Eventual Smut and maybe Gore / Angst, trauma, fluff

A/N: IDK guys I'm on a role with the fics this weekend and obsessed with this concept so... here's another one! If you want to be added to the taglist for this series, please leave a comment clearly stating that so I can keep track!

It had been a strange week. Returning to Baldur’s Gate proved more emotionally exhausting than Eirianwen had anticipated. 

Perhaps she should have said no to Astarion’s invitation; part of her worries accompanying him may be a mistake. She felt as if sprites were flying around in her stomach.

In retrospect, the sorceress should have been more hesitant and asked more questions, but his sudden, unexpected appearance had completely disarmed her. Did he consider this a date? Or was it simply an invitation between two old friends? She truly couldn’t be certain.

But, perhaps she was needlessly concerned, and everything would turn out fine. Anyway, the elven woman had to find a way to talk to Astarion about some delicate matters; it had been the main reason she’d returned to Baldur’s Gate after all this time. 

A single dance at the Midwinter Gala would not have been the appropriate setting for the conversation. At the time, Eirianwen feared Astarion would scorch everything and everyone around them in a rage if she’d done anything but allow him the dance. The barely concealed fury in his eyes as he cut in between her and Wyll on the ballroom floor had caused her stomach to churn with anxiety. 

Perhaps the sprites had made a home in her stomach after that interaction. The feeling returned every time she laid eyes on the Vampire Lord.

Since the gala, the sorceress had been fixated on speaking to Astarion again. She spent several hours a day desperately trying to form a plan; more than one letter had been drafted, ripped to shreds, and tossed. Eirianwen was embarrassed to admit that she, the elusive hero of Baldur’s Gate, had been too much of a coward to show up and face him at his own palace, where she had ended their relationship fifteen years ago.

But then the Vampire Lord did the hardest part and called upon her, to her astonishment.

Accepting the invitation seemed, at the very least, a good opportunity to extend an olive branch to the Ascendant. She hoped to mend their friendship before delivering any shocking news, mostly to avoid the worst of his rage. 

The way he spoke to her when they broke up still caused a pang in her heart. She shakes away the memory, instead choosing to reflect on the events of this week.

When Eirianwen met Wyll for lunch the same day as Astarion’s unplanned visit, she’d informed the Duke about the Vampire Ascendant’s invitation. The conversation had not gone well. Thinking about it now, as she waits beside the Duke for the Ascendant’s carriage to arrive, makes the woman’s palms sweat. There are those sprites again. 

“Wyll… why didn’t you tell me about the benefit auction this weekend?”

“I meant to bring it up at lunch today, Eirianwen. Actually, I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me?”

“Oh… I’m sorry, Wyll. Astarion came to call on me just earlier today and–” 

Wyll stiffened, and his face evolved from its typical relaxed, amiable manner into a hardened visage she hardly recognized. She had been quick to try and soothe the Duke, unwilling to cause a rift between them. He had been an exceedingly gracious host, and she was more thankful for his warm welcome than words could express.

“He didn’t access the grounds! Your guards are most excellent, they didn’t allow him entry!” She hastily explained, conveniently leaving out her attempts at convincing them otherwise, and Astarion’s attempt to sneak in through the rear of the property, “But I happened to be outside and, well, he invited me. And I’ve already said yes. It’s for a good cause, after all, and I didn’t know you were planning on attending since you hadn’t mentioned it.”

His face dropped into a look she did not quite understand. He sighed and shook his head before murmuring, “Are you sure that’s wise? Ani, I–”

She bristled at the nickname, which only one person had ever been allowed to call her. Her tone was clipped when she quickly interjected, “Please don’t call me that, Wyll.”

The Duke snapped his mouth shut and sighed again before returning his attention to his meal. His jaw stayed clenched between bites of food.

The rest of lunch passed in uncomfortable silence. 

Umber meows beside Eirianwen and she shoos away her thoughts, bending down to place a gentle pat on the cat’s head.

Wyll glances at his pocket watch and then turns to the elven woman, “Eirianwen, he’s late. Are you certain he’s coming? I would be more than happy to–”

Speak of the devil. The Duke and the sorceress simultaneously spot Astarion’s carriage coming around the corner. Wyll’s mouth seals into a thin line as the offer he was about to make dies upon his lips. 

Two obsidian draft horses come to a halt in front of Eirianwen; the footman quickly drops down and opens the chariot door. Astarion emerges from the confines of the vehicle with an arrogant eyebrow raised and a small, self-satisfied smirk on his lips. He’s wearing another one of his ostentatious, heavily embroidered jackets; this one is black velvet with golden dragons breathing fire along the lapel. 

He knows he looks good. 

As the Vampire Lord descends from the carriage, his eyes gloss over Wyll with apathy and then settle on Eirianwen. 

“You look wonderful, Ani.” Astarion murmurs as his scarlet eyes take in the deep navy blue of her trumpet-silhouette evening gown.

Wyll’s head snaps to the sorceress as he notices, with displeasure, that she does not admonish the Vampire Lord for calling her the very nickname he’d been forbidden to use. A muscle twitches in the Duke’s jaw as he observes this reunion.

“Good to see you again, Astarion.” Eirianwen greets with a nod as she brings an anxious hand up to play with her necklace. The tension between the two men was so overwhelmingly thick that it could have been cut with her old sussur dagger; her stomach is fluttering again.

The Vampire Lord is distracted by the action, and his eyes immediately flit to her neck, where he cannot help but to notice the small pin prick scars that remain from… before. He instinctively shifts his eyes away.

“That’s a beautiful necklace, it goes well with the dress.” The pale elf compliments mechanically, looking past the woman’s shoulder as he quickly tries to smooth over his brief moment of awkwardness. He’s certain both Eirianwen and Wyll noticed as he faltered, distracted by those little fang scars. Astarion is painfully aware that his carefully crafted, cool, and collected persona slips further and further from reach every time he interacts with the sorceress. 

It is at moments like this, when his mask fumbles and his charisma wanes, where he still feels like the tragic, weak spawn version of himself.

Astarion had immediately recognized Eirianwen’s necklace to be the work of her family, the Ar’Tel’Tavas jewelers based in Silverymoon. Over the years, the Ascendant commissioned more than one piece from the family, under a pseudonym. It had been the only piece of Ani with him all this time.

The Lord was quite aware the family’s funds supported their daughter on her little adventures. Eirianwen may not have been a noble, but she had been a child of privilege. She was allowed to do as she pleased and flit around all of Faerun because her parents ensured she would be provided for. He was not ignorant of that fact. 

Astarion had reasoned long ago that if he could not have her, then he would at least make sure she was provided for. His purchases ensured she had access to more than enough funds for her savior act. He’d owed her at least that… after everything.

The Vampire Lord, despite his pride, had always been aware it was Ani’s planning and command of their group that ultimately put him where he now was. In another lifetime, he would still be under Cazador or dead without her interference. He was loath to admit he certainly wouldn’t be the Ascendant without her help.

Some days he hated her for it; most days, he accepted the gift for the double-edged sword it was.

The Vampire Lord’s left hand fiddles restlessly with the gold ring on his right pinky; it was one of a few dozen commissions designed by Ani’s parents, and the only one he wore on a daily basis. The signet is a snowflake, backed by a cool blue enamel. 

The pad of Astarion’s index finger rubs against the lifted texture of the ring as he forces himself to acknowledge Wyll. The Ascendant nods tersely but does not perform the customary bow. He would never submit to Wyll, even as the best version of himself. 

The pale elf simply greets the human man with a cold, “Duke Ravengard.” 

Wyll nods back, but no other pleasantries are exchanged between the two men.

“We should head out; we are going to be late.” Wyll murmurs in general, though he has his eyes trained on the sorceress. 

Eirianwen glances at Wyll and nods before she makes her way toward Astarion’s carriage. Before the Vampire Lord can offer to help his ex-lover inside, Wyll extends his hand to Eirianwen and ushers her into the other man’s caravan. The pale elf bristles at the slight, fist clenching into a ball as he locks hardened eyes with the Duke. 

Umber hops in the carriage after the sorceress, and at first Astarion thinks to protest, but quickly censors himself, knowing better than to press Eirianwen about her pets. He briefly recalls she hadn’t allowed him to touch her for a week when he’d refused to let Scratch sleep in the bed with them. 

The familiar sprawls itself out on the seat opposite Eirianwen and then turns its head expectantly to Astarion, as if waiting for him to enter the carriage.

“We’ll see you there, Wyll.” The elf hisses cooly, his arrogant eyebrow raised in a silent challenge.

Wyll brushes past the Vampire Lord with no acknowledgement.

-----

Two ghosts sit side by side, both staring at the cat lounged on the other side of the vehicle. Several moments of silence pass. The ex-lovers shared a carriage for only one event prior to this, when they had attended Wyll’s coronation as a couple all those years ago. 

The sorceress had cast an arcane lock on the door to prevent the footman from opening it, and Astarion had barked an order at the driver to simply leave the carriage in the driveway. By the time the caravan had been parked in front of the palace, Eirianwen had already fallen apart twice under the Ascendant’s expert ministrations. 

It had been the first time he’d been able to be inside her without the usual feelings of disgust and the desire to pull back. They’d broken up not more than a few months after.

Once again, it is the elven woman that breaks the heavy silence.

“Astarion… why did you reach out, after all this time?” She asks, dropping her gaze to her hands, which have been neatly folded in her lap.

“What do you mean?” The Vampire Lord responds, feigning ignorance as he steals a moment to prepare himself for the conversation. He turns his head to stare out the window, hoping to give himself the illusion of further distance from Eirianwen. Her close proximity was unnerving. 

“You know what I mean, Astarion. I tried to contact you via the sending stones. For years. You never responded.” Her tone is tight as she tries to contain the indignation and hurt. Fifteen years apart, and the fact that he hadn’t communicated with her once, despite her efforts, still stung. It had been a gaping wound in her heart that had never fully healed. 

Eirianwen had asked to meet with the Ascendant at the Elfsong, a few weeks after their relationship ended. He had been under the impression it was to reconcile, and that she had changed her mind about his offer. Instead, she had given him the sending stone and expressed her desire to remain friends. The suggestion of being merely Eirianwen’s friend had nearly made Astarion retch on the spot. 

So it was true, the Vampire Lord never responded; in his pride and delusions of grandeur, he could never bring himself to reply to the woman that had abandoned him. She had broken his heart and destroyed his ego when she refused his offers and then ran from the city, far away from him. Could she really blame him? 

Every message reminded Astarion of the pain she’d inflicted on his heart, which he’d tried so desperately to forget. He’d refused to admit that a simple sorceress had caused the most powerful vampire in Faerun nearly two decades of hurt and anguish.

He never responded, but he had every message, and the sound of her voice, committed to memory. Astarion’s eyes glaze over as the recollections flood him.

The first message arrived a few weeks after she left the city.

“Hi Star. Made it to Halsin’s. The Shadowlands look different. It’s beautiful. Come see what we did, your imagination won’t do it justice.”

That had felt like a stake to the heart. At the time, he was certain Eirianwen had been intentionally trying to goad him, since the first person she ran to after their relationship ended had been her other lover. 

Then, three months later, another message.

“Hi Star. We are building a school for the kids. We could use your vampiric strength, if you’re willing to lend a hand.”

No. Absolutely not. He refused to show up and watch Halsin and Eirianwen as the picture of happiness and domesticity. If she wanted to move on, so be it; he did not have to witness it or pretend to be happy for her. 

Followed by another message, about six months later.

“Hi Star. Shadowheart and Lae’zel are getting married at the end of this month. They asked me to invite you.”

Again, absolutely not, he knew that Shadowheart was Eirianwen’s best friend, and suspected the cleric loathed him deeply. Better he spares them both from the charade.

Another message, approximately one year later.

“Hi Astarion. I’m off to explore the wilds again. Let me know if you’re interested in pursuing another adventure, for old times' sake.”

The offer had been tempting, but he’d been on the brink of gaining monopoly over the shipping industry. Stepping away would have been disastrous to all his efforts, and he had spent several years here building a life without her. The fact that she expected him to drop everything for her after all this time was ridiculous. 

Then, her final message, roughly one year after the last.

“Scratch died today. I know you loved him, even though you pretended you didn’t. This will be my last message, Astarion. Hope you’re well.”

Shortly after that, the magical glow from the sending stone disappeared. Ani had smashed her half of the set. That had been the only time the Vampire Ascendant had allowed himself to shed any tears over the broken bond between them. After that, his heart had callused over entirely, and he vowed to never let anyone else in again.

A rough bump in the road causes the wagon to jolt, knocking the sorceress into the Ascendant. Eirianwen instinctively grips onto his arm to steady herself, forcing Astarion from his daydream. He flinches in surprise at the sudden contact, and she whispers an apology before shifting away.

Umber is staring at Astarion. He’s convinced the cat is judging him.

“What do you want me to say?” The pale elf murmurs, his tone dejected. 

“The truth.” She responds quietly, reaching forward to pet Umber, in an effort to distract herself. The cat purrs in delight and closes its green eyes. 

“Ani, surely you must know that when you left…” The Vampire Lord starts, looking down at his hands where he’s fidgeting with the signet ring once more.

‘I was heartbroken.’

“It wasn’t easy for me.” He finishes, forcing the words out in another tight tone. The effort to spit out the truth hurt his jaw; that was the most vulnerability he could allow himself.

Eirianwen sighs. Umber’s purrs fill the silence, and both the elves sit in the fog of their thoughts and the uncomfortable air of unspoken conversations. The woman sits back up and turns to face the Vampire Lord, furrowing her brow slightly. 

Astarion forces himself to meet her eyes. He suddenly realizes how close the sorceress is in the confines of the carriage, and the proximity causes his heart to pound within his chest. He cannot bring himself to speak, so he simply focuses on her eyes. They are soft and round with something akin to concern, and the final flares of sunlight are captured in the iris. 

Her eyes look like home. 

The elves are staring at one another. The air inside the carriage has grown so thick with tension. Astarion can hardly bring himself to breathe, and Eirianwin feels the metaphorical sprites fluttering in her stomach. Neither of them realize the carriage has stopped.

“Astarion I–” The sorceress begins, but she startles and the words die on her lips as the door to the caravan rips open, revealing an irritated Wyll standing at the foot of the stairs with an exuberant Jaheira. 

The druid is beaming, muscular arms folded across her chest. Her eyebrow is raised in entertainment. When Jaheira speaks, her tone is warm and filled to the brim with delight, “I never thought I would live to see the day when you two chose to grace the Remembrance Society with your presence. Welcome, oh holy saviors of Baldur’s Gate!” 

Eirianwen practically flies out of the carriage, squealing ecstatically as she envelops the older woman in a crushing hug. Umber is quick to follow the sorceress. A flurried exchange of greetings ensues, and then the two women walk off without more than a glance back at the Duke and the Ascendant.

Jaheira guides the sorceress up the steps of the venue as they begin updating one another about their lives.

Wyll and Astarion are all but forgotten, left side by side. The two men barely glance at one another before following after the women without a word.

-----

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