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necronatural · 1 year

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The Reigen Arataka Deranged NormalMan Review

Do you ever think about how Reigen has like. A really strange belief in The System and How Things Should Be. Like REALLY strange. Whatever he's got going on is so much weirder than "scammer with a heart of gold".

I think it all comes together if you read the 10th Season 3 omake like, seriously interrogate this:

This is normal, if comedically thoughtful and realistic for a shounen character. This guy talks like a mandatory reporter. What's strange is what immediately follows:

"AS A SPIRITUAL SPECIALIST" DOING A LOT OF HEAVY LIFTING HERE REIGEN

Not only did he hunt down the families of the children bullying his client (insane. where did he get that info), he also contacted the school as if he were representing his own son in order to get justice, and then hunted down a source of complaints when the school fell through.

This is like a genuinely bizarre level of commitment to the bit, and the bit is "the system works, and if it doesn't work, we will find a system that does work, and if we cannot, hell or high water it is my PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY to make the system stop slouching so it works again".

Long thread on the manga with this reading⬇️

Before I start. Reigen adopting Teru is more IC than you think but I don't think it is IC in the way people think it is. I think about this a lot and I think people who do it because they like Reigen aren't understanding how into his bit he is. Guy who talks to social services

So remember the arc that won people over to Reigen despite the fact he's an asshole who takes advantage of Mob and derides him constantly in order to keep him complacent?

He has Mob's phone on his GPS. This makes sense; he's been taking him out and about since he was 11. Very responsible!

Reigen dismisses the "Boss" mistake thinking well, it's a misunderstanding, but it got me in. Yet as soon as he heard they're committing crimes, he VISIBLY puts on his Boss Pants to chastise them. Again, normal so far. I think any scammer with a heart of gold would do this. (And foreshadowing for why he retried reprimanding the Claw Cadres a second time after getting power.)

Again. He's a scumbag. So he leaves Mob to beat their asses using his previous rhetoric. But then!

Reigen's shady morality is more like "people who can take care of things should take care of things". To him, Mob is the Authority on Espers, and can handle conflict like this. Immediately upon becoming aware he can't, Reigen thinks "oh, okay, so the only person who can take care of things is someone who can deescalate". (Pictured: Deescalation)

Okay. Besides the fact this is insufferable as a general concept - YOU just told him to handle it YOU are the source of his stress - his first step in deescalation is to force Mob to back down. Rather than asking him not to fight, he reestablishes "rules" in order to convince Mob he must back down - the same way he tried using what he said to worm his way out of dealing with this shit - and then sets himself up as the authority figure to which the others must obviously defer in matters of His Boy, like a parent accepting criticism at a PTA meeting. This isn't Reigen claiming Mob so much as "in order for them to not attack Mob, they must view me as a representative for Mob".

And like a good authority figure:

Continuing with his phrasing:

If you think about it, this is like...an objectively very strange and incredibly bold approach to this situation. They're homicidal. Reigen is a DERANGED level of Normal Man. He has this image in his head of normalcy, of the world at standard operating procedures, and reinforces it right through an entire conflict. Carceral beliefs don't even factor into this, simply expressing his principles and expecting them to fold.

And they do lol. I keep wondering how Shou must have felt listening to him talk like that

We see a little more of his good side in work; when he was getting so little work it was affecting his grocery bills, this moneygrubbing scammer still asked for like $200 to clear an entire city of hauntings. (His regular exorcisms are around $30). Fair prices are part of his principles of how the business should be. He operates basically at-cost. He mentions he wanted to come out here because he's bored. He's killing time as a career.

Aside:

Just realized he called Mob in last minute so Mob didn't know he accepted crops instead of money. Shigeo didn't like that

So consider that he never got caught here and there was a call on the news to hunt him down at the end of this bit: for the average viewer of the anime, it's just funny, but this is part of the Mogami pre-arc so we've gotten a hold of him by now; he probably holds an inherent belief that the police will intercept him and not Mob. Why wouldn't they? Why would an adult man want to dress up in a highschool girl's uniform? The System will understand.

Not relevant to my point but I like how he realizes what's wrong with Mob way before the final arc, just not why it's happening. Also he doesn't say anything.

With the way his principles are, you really get the feeling that Reigen does his best to avoid culpability specifically because if something happened that was his fault, he'd have to step up to the plate to compensate for that, which is troublesome to him who is a career time-killer. It does not occur to him that an actual bad person and scammer would not step up to the plate as a matter of course. This is his way

What I find really interesting is that this Militant Insane NormalMan does have a sense of wanting something "special", but rather than whip Mob up the way Dimple did Ritsu, he ended up projecting his own values onto Mob, as if he could recreate a special "self" within him. He's always deriding him and baiting him and lying to him in hopes of creating a superb person that a special individual like Mob finds admirable, as if Mob is the authority on his quality of character. Sad! lol

Anyway, it adds a lot more kick to this famous line. Reigen genuinely believes in Authority

Authority works!

And if Mob (the authority on espers) doesn't work, who's the person who MUST step up to the plate [common sense]? You guessed it.

There are other aspects of Reigen's character that everyone and their dog has already picked up on (his self-loathing is the entire reason the way he talked to Mob in Confession arc hit so hard), but this one's my favourite. He's insane

#mp100 #mp100 meta #i like him a normal amount.

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wearenotjustnumbers2 · 7 months

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If you're a zionist and your first reaction when seeing dead children is "*laughing emoji* and writing essays about how it's actually justified that Israel does this because they're Palestinians and death to all Muslims right? But if somebody calls israel out on their terroristic crimes then they're all antisemitic and want all jews gone"

Then stay away from my blog. Share your hatred and propaganda and celebrate our people's death as much as you want on your own space. Don't come into a video showing the memory of dead Palestinian children and laugh and mock them. I don't want to deal with your racism and cruelty.

I'm not even gonna argue. You look so brainwashed. Israel government has literally created a homicidal death cult. You can't use the victim card anymore because the world has seen your crimes live. You can't get away with your lies and false accusations bc we all know the truth.

So please, stay away from my account. Keep interacting with other zionists and do whatever you want there.

I didn't want to have to make this post. I disabled the ability to receive Anonymous asks and guess what? The Islamophobia chants and racist hateful asks are gone! I also ask everybody if you see someone like that reblog any of my posts just block them you can't argue with someone who can't think for themselves. They are literally brainwashed.

#I'm tired for real #but i will never stop sharing and talking #a reminder that my inbox is open for people who actually want to get informed about the situation #palestine #gaza #israel #important

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radfemfox5 · 10 months

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Hi there - I'm trans and Jewish and I'd like to share my perspective on the "trans genocide" thing. I don't think we're experiencing active genocide in the US; that's definitely an extreme and offensive statement to make regarding what's happening. However, I do think that the increasing legislation attacking trans rights and autonomy as well as an increasingly polarized public view of trans people points to the potential for a worse situation that moves closer to genocide.

Now, personally, I live in a state where no laws limiting trans rights have passed. I was able to legally begin my medical transition when I was 15, I've never experienced transphobic violence, and the majority of people around me are supportive of my transition. My experience is similar to most other trans people in my area, with varying degrees of familial support.

But nation wide, we have seen an increase of trans people being murdered, and a massive increase in anti-trans legislation. This legislation aims to strip trans people of their autonomy and privacy. It seeks to put trans children in danger, remove information about what it is to be trans or queer from children's access, and enforce archaic ideas about what it means to be a man or woman.

Most of this is happening because right wing politicians can capitalize on moral outrage and fear to win votes. They're scapegoating trans people instead of trying to improve the lives of their constituents. This is kind of politician's thing, so it's not surprising in any way. However, when those policies successfully do win these politicians support, they'll have to make them more extreme. They'll want to make it illegal to exist as a trans person in public.

Now I'm not saying that that's genocide. I think we're an awfully long way off from trans people being mass arrested for being trans, and then murdered by the state. But we are in a rising climate of fear, and I don't think the trans people calling this the seventh stage of genocide are doing so out of bad faith. I think they're doing that because they are terrified of having their right to take life-saving medication, or have protection in the workplace, or be able to use a bathroom, or have children, or wear what they want to wear taken away. And they're terrified of those things because the bills on the table in states across the country put those rights in jeopardy. And if calling this a genocide makes people pay attention? I'm not super mad about it.

Hi, thank you for sharing your perspective on this. I appreciate it.

Your fear is primarily based on sensationalist headlines and interpretations of the law that are unfounded. I can assure you, you are not even in the early stages of a genocide.

But nation wide, we have seen an increase of trans people being murdered

In 2021, the Human Rights Campaign recorded 50 deaths of trans, nonbinary and GNC people.

In 2022, the HRC recorded 38 deaths (source). So. If we take these numbers at face value, that's a decrease of nearly 25% in one year, in a growing section of the population.

Taking these numbers and the size of the transgender population in the US (1.6 million), in 2021, trans people had a death rate of 3.1/100k, and in 2022, this dropped to 2.4. Again, the numbers provided by the HRC include nonbinary and GNC people, and accidental deaths.

Some of these aren't even murders or intentional homicides. They just say they were killed. I wouldn't consider these numbers reliable whatsoever, but they're the only estimate we have for now. There are so few trans deaths that they can fit on a single Wikipedia page, along with a little blurb about their life and who they were. It would be impossible to do something similar with victims of femicide, since there are too many to count. This page lists victims of femicide, only in Canada, only in 2022, and it is nearly as long as the Wikipedia page I listed above.

This is a perfect segue to my next point, which is to compare trans genocide to femicide, which is actually real. Women are killed so often that the UN has to categorize female murder victims as either killings (unnatural deaths), intentional homicides or gender-related killings (hate crimes, therefore considered in femicide statistics).

The intentional homicide rate for female victims in the US is 2.9/100k (data from 2021), and it is steadily increasing after having been on the decline since the mid-90s.

That only includes the pink and red circles shown in the UN's chart, not accidental deaths or unknown deaths like the HRC includes in their counts. Some countries have as many as 10.6/100k women die a year.

TL;DR: The murder rate for trans people in the US is not increasing, it is decreasing. This isn't indicative of a trans genocide in the slightest.

But nation wide, we have seen [...] a massive increase in anti-trans legislation.

As I was saying earlier, this idea stems from sensationalist headlines. It's concerning to me how widespread the misinformation about anti trans legislation really is, when house bills are publicly available online. You can literally do a quick Google search and find that most of these bills are nothing burgers.

Unfortunately, it's easier for you to just go on a website like translegislation.com and have them tell you what these bills say. I'll do some of the work for you and go through how these sites lie to you.

Alabama imposing criminal penalties on providers of trans healthcare? Sounds scary. Let's see what the source they linked, the HRC, has to say.

Ah. So it's specifically regarding transgender youth. As in, minors. This is after going through an insanely long title detailing how bad the bill is. The trans legislation tracker essentially lies by omission, implying that all trans healthcare is being criminalized.

Going to the bill in question, AL SB184, we can see that it actually acknowledges the existence of dysphoria in children.

However, they also acknowledge that this feeling may be fleeting, and that making permanent changes to a child's body solely on account of the child's personal sense of identity is unwise.

I won't go through every single bill here, as this post is already very long, but you get the idea. Feel free to send another ask if you would like me to look at specific bills.

Back to your ask: the way you speak of these bills shows that you've never read them for yourself or know how legislation works, since you're acting like it's the beginning of Armageddon.

This legislation aims to strip trans people of their autonomy and privacy. It seeks to put trans children in danger, remove information about what it is to be trans or queer from children's access, and enforce archaic ideas about what it means to be a man or woman.

I'm assuming by autonomy and privacy, you mean the choice to undergo medical transition and the bathroom/locker room/women's sports issue respectively.

Bills limiting "gender-affirming" care are focused on children, since puberty blockers like Lupron are now known to have very negative and permanent effects. The bills don't ban adults from choosing to take HRT. It's extremely profitable for doctors to continue to prescribe HRT and for surgeons to continue to recommend expensive plastic surgeries. Legislation won't go that route unless there's a massive shift in public perception.

The "Save Women's Sports Act" literally just limits participation in women's school sports to females only. That's it. The trans legislation tracker even acknowledges this.

Most of these bills are copy pasted from eachother, which is why they're all dubbed as "Save Women's Sports." Here's a snippet from HB61 in Ohio:

If someone's sex is brought into question, a simple blood test is all that's needed. Contrary to what the media may have led you to believe, there are no forcible genital inspections. No trans person is being forced to undress for this. Only 6 trans "girls" are affected by this in Ohio, out of 400k total athletes in girl's sports. So I'm not sure why this feels like a precursor to genocide to you.

remove information about what it is to be trans or queer from children's access,

Personally, I don't think children should be aware that medical transition is even a remote possibility unless they are in extreme psychological distress related to their sex. Even then, therapy is usually the best solution. I don't think the "Gender Unicorn," a surprisingly complex graphic created in part by an alleged violent rapist and groomer, should be used in classrooms to teach children about gender ideology. Gender ideology should be taught to college students who are better equipped to form their own opinion, not children who barely know how to read.

There are better, more useful things to push in our education curriculum, like compulsory comprehensive sex ed. That way, young men don't learn about sex through violent pornography, and young girls don't accidentally get pregnant without knowing what it means. This would also be a good time to teach them about sexual orientation. Leaving it up to the parents or focusing on abstinence evidently doesn't work.

enforce archaic ideas about what it means to be a man or woman.

The lack of self-awareness here is pretty astounding. The trans movement actively enforces these archaic ideas of gender by telling tomboys that they might actually be a boy. This implies that femininity is what makes womanhood, which is objectively untrue.

By telling masculine women that they are men and feminine men that they are women, you're literally enforcing the gender roles you say you're destroying.

They'll want to make it illegal to exist as a trans person in public.

You can speculate about this all you want, but you can't see laws limiting child transition and keeping sports sex-segregated as writing on the wall. We're not even close to that.

Now I'm not saying that that's genocide. I think we're an awfully long way off from trans people being mass arrested for being trans, and then murdered by the state.

I'm glad to hear you are moderately sane.

But we are in a rising climate of fear,

Your phrasing reminds me of US politics in the wake of 9/11. When people act out of fear, decisions are made in haste, and wars are started over made-up WMDs. Being fearful clouds your judgement.

Look around you. You're safe and accepted. The trans flag is flown almost everywhere in June. A trans woman won the NCAA National Champion title just last year. For International Women's Day, multiple companies featured trans women. Time Magazine featured many trans women as Women of the Year. Language is now inclusive, so women don't actually exist anymore. We're just uterus havers. This is all to cater to trans people.

Yeah. It's getting to be a bit much, isn't it? Don't you expect the least bit of pushback, especially from women? We aren't living in fear of some invisible boogeyman. We are angry at how rapidly our hard work has been undone.

We're pissed that after decades of feminist progress, we've regressed to being considered non-men once again.

and I don't think the trans people calling this the seventh stage of genocide are doing so out of bad faith. I think they're doing that because they are terrified of having their right to take life-saving medication, or have protection in the workplace, or be able to use a bathroom, or have children, or wear what they want to wear taken away.

Puberty blockers and HRT do not save lives. They actually haven't been proven to have a substantial enough effect on mental health to consider them an adequate treatment for gender dysphoria.

2. Trans people have the same basic human rights as any other human being.

3. Many places are adding gender-neutral bathrooms in order to accommodate the growing trans population. No one is checking your genitals at the door of a bathroom, no one cares that much. I care about girls being assaulted at school by boys in skirts and the school boards covering it up in the name of trans acceptance (x).

4. Trans people remove their own ability to have children by going on puberty blockers, HRT and even eventually physically castrating themselves. If you mean the ability to adopt or foster children, I don't know. Gay and lesbian couples still have a hard time adopting to this day, so progress can be made in that department.

To conclude this hodgepodge of various facts, screenshots and links, I'll leave you with this:

I fundamentally disagree with you that crying "genocide" is in any way helpful for your community. It's not. Most of Western society might have forgotten what genocide looks like or doesn't even know what the word means anymore, but you should know better as a Jew.

The attention trans people get from saying that they're going through a genocide is overwhelmingly negative from people on both ends of the political spectrum at this point. People are annoyed at trans people for making shit up, which ruins your movement's credibility.

When you have to lie to get someone's attention, you've already lost.

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givemewallywestorgivemedeath · 1 year

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Can we get a ranking of speedsters most to least likely to kill

This thing is gonna be an upside down pyramid. Jesus, okay.

Tier 1 (Have killed, will kill)

Jay, Max, Dawn, Don

Tier 2 (Have killed, will kill again but is more prone to torture when angry and/or threatened)

Barry, Bart, Wally

Tier 3 (Hasn't killed but will if needed)

Avery, Ace, Jesse, Jenni

Tier 4 (Actual child)

Irey, Jai, Wade

My explanation for this? Simple. Tier 1 is all people who have actively fought in wars. Jay fought Nazis, he killed people in WW2. That's just what happened. He doesn't feel bad about it. Jay avoids killing people now because he isn't at war currently, but he will kill and has killed if he absolutely has to.

Max has also fought in wars and he has had a long and storied past throughout history. The man has seen and done things. Not all of them good. But yeah, Max has killed. Will he kill again? Unlikely. Unless someone is threatening his daughter or Bart, in which case, yes, it's very likely.

Dawn and Don also fought in a war and killed entire platoons of Dominators. They're unlikely to kill again because they're dead. But if they weren't dead? I'm pretty sure they'd still be fine with killing people in wartime situations.

Tier 2 is a little bit more complicated. Barry, Wally and Bart have all killed people. It's a last resort for them but it's still always an option. If they have to kill the bad guy to save the civilian then they'll kill the bad guy no questions asked. Some people have to die for the time stream to function correctly? Sure. Okay. Especially bigger bads like Darksied. They had absolutely no problem killing Darksied. Oh, and you better watch out if you threaten their loved ones because the people they love are worth dying and killing for.

They don't like it. They really don't like it. But they'll do it.

(Honestly though? Bart is unnerving unfazed by it)

Tier 3. So... This may come as a surprise but I actually haven't read all the LoSH comics? So while I'm fairly certain Jenni hasn't killed anyone, I can't say that 100%. Either way, she'd be down for it if it was the only option.

Avery would 100% be down for murder. So would Ace. That's the Iris West influence right there. Those two kids are not afraid to get their hands dirty and, while I'm fairly certain they haven't yet, I have no doubt that they will. These two just inherited Iris' moral code and she's totally fine with homicide.

Jesse surprises me because she's gotta have killed someone. I'm wracking my brain and nothing comes to mind but I don't buy that for a second. She's just got that homicidal energy, you know? She's 100% done it and will again, I just can't remember when it was.

Tier 4 is the children. Now... to be clear. I'm not saying that they haven't killed anyone because they are children. No, I'm actually fairly positive they have killed a significant amount of people. I'm saying that they are children and therefore do not understand the concept of death. They don't really understand that they've killed people and I don't really think they are any more or less likely to kill again. Until they understand it they are just destructive forces of nature. No malice or intent. Just sheer raw power.

#Irey and Jai have killed a truly insane amount of people for how young they are #its inspiring honestly #Bart is wild because he's honestly like 'Oh No! Anyway-' when it comes to killing people #Barry is like 'Dang that sucks... going to jail i guess?' The man is fine with it. not happy but doesn't really regret it either #but also he can and will turn himself in. like... hes aware of the consequences and he's ready to face them when he kills #meanwhile Wally handles it the worst out of all of them #well. sometimes. he did throw Eobard into space one time hoping that he would die #so... it's a case by case basis #dc #dc comics #the flash #kid flash #wally west #impulse #bart allen #barry allen #speedsters #jay garrick #max mercury #jai west #surge #irey west #thunderheart #ace west #wade west #jesse chambers #jesse quick #avery ho #dawn allen #don allen

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carefulfears · 1 year

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Top 5 favourite outfits? (either Mulder or Scully, but I'm curious what your answers would be for both!)

okay i'm gonna do both for you <3 just like general looks, in no particular order

i'll do scully in another post i talk too much

mulder:

1/ season one

this one is in order. this one is on TOP. i see this man with some fluffy hair and a goofy tie and i instantly want to cry and restart the pilot. i want to give up my life to hunt aliens and have babies with him.

i'm very serious about these patterned ties. they are so endearing to me and i love them.

look at him

picture this: your husband has just been killed under mysterious circumstances. your children are destroyed. your livelihood uncertain. this man is at the door, he has questions for you about psychokinesis.

/ lost in the woods

yes sir they're here for their class field trip, what bus do they need to get on?

any time these 2 get on a helicopter and fuck off to a situation that definitely requires more than two lame FBI agents, you know the looks are gonna slay.

sometimes they even go shopping and show up in big coats and matching boots

or a cute lil turtleneck!

additionally: antarctica, recently shot in the head, with a 5'oclock shadow, a fluffy coat, and a dream

/ the leather jacket omen

he abandons disciplinary meetings to look for an alien

he ditches your calls outside porn theaters and calls your religion psycho

he organizes heists of top-secret facilities and goes home to change first

he drills holes in his head and gets arrested for double homicide

what can't he do in this jacket! it's his little black dress. it's his old reliable. he's being psychoanalyzed by a ghost here.

1 more

/ sweaters

the sweaters...the sweaters. i love a man in a sweater. everyone who knows me can tell you that a man in a sweater is my weakness. this man will listen to your stories, look at you lovingly when you fall asleep during his existential crisis, tenderly cover you with a blanket.

he's sooo boyfriend here oh my god

this green one <3 his sea monster hunting fit

/ glasses

AM I SUPPOSED TO BE MAD AT HIM FOR LITERALLY ANYTHING?

baby baby baby

his best accessory

they even help steal evidence!

honorable mention: gray teeshirt

the gray teeshirt collection has done so much for women

including getting them to drive to area 51 on their day off

i think we ALL want to hug him

baby daddy

#asks #also #little green men puerto rico look #and the beard in iwtb #kae meta

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this-world-of-beautiful-monsters · 4 months

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violently smashing my two major fandoms with an F together as a form of procrastination

A question for the ages: WHICH Avatar character matches up with WHICH Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle one and WHY the fuck should anyone (besides me) care? We'll answer at least one of those questions for you tonight, dear viewers!!!!

First up

Neteyam - Leo

Eldest son, blue theme (like I could say this for all the Sullys, but shush), can do no wrong except when one of the siblings stubs a toe and then the Guilt, daddy's favorite solider who's also a huge dork (like we don't see a lot of evidence of this in canon for Neteyam but let me have this), Neteyam's Untimely End vs Leo getting treated as such a punching bag by each TMNT iteration that throwing him through a goddamn window is an established franchise staple by now.

Kiri - Donnie

A case can be made for April-Kiri parallels (particularly for psychic powers re 2012 April, my beloved, and dead mom syndrome) and also Karai-Kiri (for dead mom syndrome, how often I've mixed up their fucking names while writing), but Kiri-Donnie fits the siblings theme, so there. They're tech nerd-nature nerd solidarity, autistic Entities of unparalleled death and destruction, happy to destroy government property, younger siblings pretending to be above the Chaos while very much not, and in desperate need of a nap and a stiff drink.

Lo'ak - Raph

Rage issues. Daddy issues. Big brother issues. Relatively smol and Keenly aware of that fact. Adored by the (smart) fans, cursed by Eywa/God. Makes strong bonds with animal fwends and also collects traumatic experiences like magnets collect nails. 100% either in a fistfight or sobbing into his pillow rn. In a family living at the bottom of a fucking sewer and/or on the run from the government, still manages to feel like an odd one out. Someone needs to introduce Lo'ak to emo music, it would fuck him up so much /pos.

Tuk - Mikey

Youngest and most excitable sibling, heart of gold and jaws of steel. Optimism that remains in the face of innocence slowly being shaved away by Events. Hates being left out or left behind, committed to various Schemes and Plans with historically mixed outcomes. Has definitely either killed a man or will do so as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

Spider - Karai and April

Spider's kind of an unholy amalgamation of April's Token Human We've Shared Traumatic Experiences With journey and Karai's At Odds With Creepy Undead Father Figure And Complex Relationship With Less Creepy Father Figure (see below) arcs. Basically part of my ongoing psyops plans to Feminize That Boy (don't worry Karai-Kiri and April-Kiri parallels, I still love you). Also, Leorai/Apritello and Speteyam/Spiri (mix and match at will) have exciting interspecies and/or vaguely incestous vibes we should all strive for in our weird fanfics.

Jake - Splinter/Hamato Yoshi

Tired dads trying their best and just so happening to raise The Kids as soldiers-warriors along the way. Exciting and confusing relationships with the concept of this thing you call "death." Shameless species hoppers, even though Jake did it on purpose while TMNT writers in various iterations have to come up with increasingly more convoluted ways for it to happen to Yoshi against his will. Is not afraid of violence, especially when it comes to their homoerotically homicidal relationship with

Quaritch - Shredder

Big Bad of the story, or at least the one everybody pays attention to. The Bitch Who Refuses To Die. Unhealthy, possessive, genuinely quite creepy (/pos) obsession with sort-of-kid who ended up in his care through Unfortunate Means. Will destroy everything he remotely cares about and sit in the ashes with surprised Pichaku face before finding someone to blame. Refuses to let go of a fucking grudge, be it with aforementioned homoerotic-homicide buddy or various children.

Neytiri

Technically the best Neytiri parallel in terms of family relationships would be Tang Shen, Splinter's wife and the pseudo/actual (depending on the iteration) mother of his children. However, Tang Shen has an unfortunate history of being Dead Girled and Ghost-Momed in a way that puts her more in common with Grace or Tom Sully (rip). Still, Neytiri has a lot in common with the vengeful demon ghost version of Tang Shen that exists primarily in my head.

BONUS

Payakan - Casey Jones

Outcast from society, defender of the weak, wanted by the authorities. Combines genuinely passionate belief in justice/revenge with an equally genuine talent for wanton violence and destruction. Has an interspecies bromance with Lo'ak/Raph that puts Achilles and Patrocles to shame. Someone definitely needs to introduce Payakan to emo music, too, not to mention death metal--he'd start a band to put those Little Mermaid fuckers to shame.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Arguments? (you're all wrong btw) Only know me from one of these fandoms and have no idea what the hell I'm taking about? Hit me up in the reblogs!

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navree · 1 month

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me @ you calling Lucerys boring! 😆 come on, he's just a kid! cutting out aemond's eye was bad, i agree, but i don't think he was as bland as everyone says. his imposter syndrome in 8 and 10 was interesting to watch at least. he was a brave little boy.

I mean I don't really see anything brave about bringing a knife to a fight he not only had fuck all to do with but where he was clearly at fault (Aemond did nothing wrong, he tamed a free dragon, Baela and Rhaena get a pass because they're grieving but Jace and Luke had no business being involved and certainly no business escalating into 4 v 1 violence against the clear cut victim), trying to literally murder someone because I don't know what the fuck you're trying to do when you stab a knife at someone's face but it's certainly not a warning shot, showing zero remorse for it at all, and at worse acting like a little snot when in the same room with your victim. The fact that Luke got away with this scot free (didn't he literally say "I didn't do anything" you boring little asshole you stabbed out someone's eye that is the opposite of not doing anything!) is an absolute travesty of justice that stains everyone involved (mostly Viserys and Luke but I'm not letting Rhaenyra "pls torture the ten year old stabbing victim until he tells me how he figured out that these white dark haired children aren't the sons of my black platinum blond husband" Targaryen off the hook either). Aemond could have died, not only from the initial wound, but from the myriad of infections or other issues that could have plagued him during the healing process. For God's sake, Viserys nicks himself on the Iron Throne and they have to lop off his arm, his infected injuries and their treatment have already made him pretty firmly decrepit by Driftmark, the fact that Aemond healed without any serious and lifelong and further damaging complication is a goddamn miracle. And even kids know that murder is bad, I'm pretty sure that if I were Lucerys's age and I tried to commit homicide I'd have to deal with some consequences.

And I'm sorry, but I call him boring because he is! They wrote a boring character! That's not on me for picking up on it, that's on the writers and the myriad choices they made that led to them severely underdeveloping several characters, most prominently Lucerys (Jace and Baela and Rhaena at least get another season of life to develop further, Luke gets four episodes and they knew that going in). This is a song I've been singing literally since the show was airing and it's not gonna change, cuz he's dead and therefore stuck with his boring character and complete lack of characterization.

Him being a kid is not a character trait, and it certainly doesn't make him more interesting anymore than, say, his eye color would. The impostor syndrome thing they kinda tried didn't really work because 1) it's not impostor syndrome if it's true, he's not a Velaryon and Vaemond was 99% in the right in that entire thing (I don't like him throwing out misogynistic slurs, you can point out that these aren't Velaryons but Strong bastards without stooping to calling Rhaenyra a whore, I hate men sometimes) 2) in episode 8 it exists for one single line and is not a driving force for him at all for the remainder of the episode to the point that it could be cut out and mean nothing, especially since that scene was only there to introduce adult Aemond and 3) it doesn't even make sense because the person who was set up as having issues with his lack of Velaryon heritage and Harwin being his father was Jace. Jace is the one who hears the rumors and clocks it early on in childhood, Jace is the one who is deeply affected by it to the point of bitterness towards his own mother, Jace is the one who grieves Harwin but also feels angry that he can't express it. All of that was set up as part of Jace's arc, not at all Luke's, who is literally set dressing up until he decides to commit criminal offenses in the middle of the night. And then time skip, and suddenly Jace is A-OK and Luke, who has shown no issue before now (or any personality at all) is slightly concerned about it for one line in episode 8 before going back to being a piece of cardboard until episode 10.

And I'll be honest, the second that scene came out in episode 10, I immediately saw it for what it was, which was a very obvious patch job. The writers were clearly aware that they had not given the viewers any reason at all to care about Luke one way or another, so we weren't going to feel a lot when Vhagar (deservedly, imo) munches on him. So they hastily added in this really heavy-handed scene of poor uwu soft boy Lukey who is so concerned with doing right and needs to blink up tearfully at Mommy and be her sweet boy and get little kisses to assuage his worries, so that we'd feel some emotion and then be said when he becomes the Jonah to Vhagar's whale. It just doesn't work because there was nothing for him before then and therefore I don't care, I just feel bad Rhaenyra.

Luke is a bland and boring character. That's not an attack, that's just what the writers did. They tried to cram too much into a ten episode season, literally twenty years of history, and it caused a lot of characterization problems for a lot of characters, particularly for the Team Black ones. And a consequence of that is that the character with the least amount of time for development got not development and no personality. He's a plank of wood, he's a platonic version of the sexy lamp trope; there's nothing there and he exists only for us to feel bad when the lamp is smashed. Seriously, name me five individual character traits that Lucerys has. He's a momma's boy, even though I'm not really sure that's a character trait but I'll give it to him, and I guess he's devoid of empathy, considering that he doesn't appear to feel literally any remorse for mutilating Aemond (seriously, is it like the Dothraki and "thank you"? does the word "sorry" not exist in Valyrian languages? you can't even send an apology gift basket or a note?). But he's not brave, as there is no scene that shows any bravery or courage, and he's not noble or kind or thoughtful because there's nothing that shows any of that, or anything that shows him being the opposite, cruel or cowardly or weak, because he's a basically a character who could be played by sticking a wig on a mop and waving it around. And any characterization of insecurity exists as something hamfistedly crowbarred in at the last minute in his final episode to try to manipulate the audience's emotions with less sensitivity than D&D trying to tug at our heartstrings by having Drogon try to nudge Dany awake after she's killed.

But there is a character that I do consider to be a brave little boy, though I regret to inform y'all that it is Not a fourteen year old with no depth or personality or written characterization whose main claim to fame is maiming a person without apology and then dying. Nah, the brave little boy title goes to post-Driftmark Aemond. Aemond, at ten, is delivered a life altering injury whose recovery was likely very slow and very painful, involved a lot of worry about whether he'd have to deal with infection or further risk of death, and had to relearn how to do literally everything now that he was half blind, and he did all of it. He survived, and he thrived. He relearned how to walk, how to balance, his spatial awareness. He learned how to fought and even became incredibly good at it, and maintained his bond with Vhagar, as well as trying to keep himself mentally sharp as well. He did all of that, despite the huge setback he was dealt with at age ten. That's brave, go Aemond.

#personal #answered #anonymous #anti lucerys velaryon #the only thing about luke that even gets me remotely passionate is what he did to aemond #but that's because i like aemond and i feel things about aemond #who is a fully realized character #lucery is Not that #and yeah it's a writing issue and a massive writing issue #do baela and rhaena even have ANY character traits at all?#do their adult versions even have more then a dozen lines?#like at least they live through the dance so we can see more characterization develop in upcoming seasons #but honestly the only character more atrociously handled in terms of being made boring than luke are baela and rhaena #who could honestly be completely cut from the story of season 1 entirely and not have it make a lick of difference #like me calling luke boring isn't an attack on the character of luke (because it basically doesn't exist)#it's me taking the WRITERS to task #since it's impossible to set luke's lack of characterization apart from the out of universe creative decisions that led to it #and i've always thought he's boring and that's really not gonna change #there's four episodes of the boy and i've seen all four of them and they're the only four we're ever gonna get #they knew that they knew luke was gonna be set in unchanging stone once he died and they elected to do nothing with him anyway #so he's boring and bland #sucks but it's true

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galaxythreads · 2 years

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Odin be like "f**k you, my children are completely fine" and his children be like *feels exactly half an emotion before they're plotting homicide, genocide or suicide, or all of the above, in that order*

This is literally the entire series described in a runon sentence.

#hela #thor #loki #odinfam #but like legit #it took Thor awhile to get around to everything but he made it #hela is literally bouncing from all of these all at once #and Loki is #we all know how Loki is

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pandapple-dapple · 10 months

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✎ 𝗧𝗶𝗺 𝗗𝗿𝗮𝗸𝗲 - 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗙𝗶𝗰 𝗥𝗲𝗰

Notes: Yes this is the second post in my blog. Am I proud of it? Definitely not. Am I still gonna do it cause I have nothing else to do? Yes. I hope some peeps out there might find it useful though so,,, yeah!

Also, make sure to read the tags beforehand!! Stay Safe!

[ T ] the space between by nephelax

Romantic Pairings: Timkon (Not the main focus right now though)

Description:

Red Robin is a name meant for greatness. It echoes of a kid that had decided to step up as a hero that Batman needed, of a teen that shouldered burden after burden without complaint—of someone that, despite the pain and the grief and the losses, held his head high. A genius, a leader, and one of the best detectives that the world has ever seen. Red Robin is a name with weight. Tim, a high schooler whose last living memories involve a bridge and murky waters, can’t measure up to that. The ghost that lurks rent free in Tim’s head with a familiar looking insignia cracked in half on his chest says otherwise. or, how Tim realizes that he’s trapped in a world that’s supposed to be fictional, discovers that he somehow body-snatched a future Robin, and finds himself caught in the Bats’ orbit despite all his efforts not to (and maybe, just maybe, gets a family along the way too).

[ T ] Banshee In A Well by liverobinreaction (bugbee)

Romantic Pairings: None

Description:

Tim is five years old when he drowns in his parents' pool. He dies quietly, waiting for parents who love him, but will never be there, to realise that something is wrong. They never show up, and he sinks into oblivion. When he wakes up and claws his way out of the water, the sun has set, and the lights of his house are on. He is cold and wet and his lungs burn. But most of all, Tim is alone. (If you die and no-one is there to see it, were you ever alive in the first place?)

[ T ] Happy Families Kill People Too by raven_of_hydecastle

Romantic Pairings: None

Description:

Jack Drake loves his wife and son, even if they're giant, fire breathing reptiles that would rather eat the mailman than pick up a package. That's fine, he can deal. It'd just be nice if they weren't so territorial. Then they could actually be on the same continent without trying to kill each other. Oh well, every family has their challenges. The Drakes' just happen to be more homicidal than most. Feat. Dragon Tim and Janet's loving (but murderous) relationship, Jack's ongoing attempts to be a good dad, and the Waynes getting increasingly concerned about Tim's home life after he becomes Robin.

[ T ] unchanging by birdbat

Romantic Pairings: None

Description:

A lot of people tell Tim that he looks just like his mother. They share the same eye color and shape, often cold and calculating. The same sharp smiles and ghostly pale skin, and the same, lean body frames that could almost be described as delicate. One last thing they have in common is an orange pill bottle. The only difference is the name. (Or how parents pass things on to their children.)

[ T ] so much you don't know by konan_konan

Romantic Pairings: None

Description:

“Enough chatter,” Tim barks. Green Lantern grumbles. “You want to get through this, right? Then settle down. Alright. Workplace injuries.” He pauses, squinting at the slide. “We’ve seen nearly a 3% reduction in injuries this past quarter. Our goal was 5%. Do better.” “Hey,” says Flash, “it’s a dangerous job!” “Do better,” he repeats. or: tim drake is totally a pro at this whole batman thing.

[ G ] Talk To Me by A_Canceled_Stamp 🔒 (only accessible to ao3 users)

Romantic Pairings: None

Description:

Bruce and Tim have a long-overdue heart-to-heart

[ T ] Into the Deep Dark Night by siren_of_the_ocean

Romantic Pairings: None

Description:

Timothy Jackson Drake drowns in Gotham Bay with not a bang, but a whimper. Luckily...or not, Gotham isn't quite ready to give him up yet. “Spirits of children and women drowned, my child. They live in the ponds that glisten like tar. The Rusalka."

[ G ] Half the Size and Twice the Fun by raven_of_hydecastle

Romantic Pairings: None

Description:

Ra’s was a class A manipulator, but luckily Tim was suspicious of strange men in cosplay dictating his life’s purpose. He doubted anyone would make a clone out of their most “formidable opponent” for the sole purpose of being creepy. There had to be an ulterior motive… Although it was creepy. So creepy. AKA Tim is a clone, Young Justice has a new BFF, and Batman's adoption tendency has been sledgehammered with Post-Ethiopia grief, which means the JLA is now in charge of a miniature Batman despite almost none of them being parents. This can't end badly, can it?

[ T ] Under A Parent's Wing by IzzyMRDB

Romantic Pairings: None

Description:

When Tim found out that Dick Grayson was a gymnastics instructor in Bludhaven, he quickly signed up. After all, learning gymnastics from The Nightwing himself is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Dick Grayson is more concerned at the obvious signs of child abuse he sees in one of his students. AKA Dick Grayson, as a childcare worker, is a mandated reporter who knows how to recognize child abuse in his students. Tim Drake, after a lifetime of fear and confusion, learns to trust adults.

[ T ] Newton's Third Law (Actions Have Consequences) by Megaerackles

Romantic Pairings: None

Description:

Tim wasn’t sure just how he had managed to go from having everything completely under control and according to plan to being locked in a holding cell in the motherfucking Batcave while all of his secrets were slowly unspooled around him in a single afternoon. Well, he knew how—happy, protected Jason-who-had-no-clue-who-Tim-was had suddenly gotten all of the memories of angry, overprotective Big-Brother-Red-Hood-Jason and had proceeded to kidnap him, just because he was apparently a ‘hazard to himself and reality’. But it had all happened so quickly that he was having trouble wrapping his mind around this new complication. “You know, I’d finally gotten used to being an only child again."

Welp, that's all for now! Hope you enjoy them, I might make another fic rec in my spare time. < 3

#dc comics #dc universe #tim drake #tim drake centric #fic rec #batfamily

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tic-toc-clock77 · 7 months

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My personal AU Clockwork timeline

Tw: mentioned rape and abuse

1996

-Born on November 6th

2002

-Family moves from Windsor to Denver

-Her father starts to beat her

2004

- Clockwork gets the worst beating of her life and in influences her drawings

2005

-Her brother begins sexually abusing her

-bullies attack her for being abused for 4 years

2009

-She pushes her brother away and he stops abusing her

2010

-She begins high school and starts to make friends

2011

-She meets a boy named Chris and begins dating him

2013

-Clockwork's life starts to crumble, she gets broken up with and her friends start to leave

-She reaches her breaking point and sews a pattern of X's into her cheeks, she is sent to therapy for this.

-After therapy, she is sent to a hospital to administer a new treatment to cool her homicidal and suicidal tendencies

-The treatment backfires, turning her eyes from brown to green. Along with that, her homicidal tendencies increased wildly to the point of insanity

-She kills the doctor with no remorse and breaks out of the hospital, she runs to her home.

-She opens the door and startles her mother who she kills gruesomely seconds after

-She kills her father and brother shortly after

-She also dismantles a pocket watch and shoves it into her eye, making the remains of that eye non-usable mush

-High on the adrenaline of the backfired procedure and the murders she commited, she burnt her house to the ground

-She begins living in alleyways and continues to kill people whenever she can

-She goes to Chris's house to kill him and meets Ticci Toby, who takes her to the main cabin

-She meets the others and begins staying in the main cabin

-Toby becomes her mentor for a short while before their relationship becomes romantic and he drops the authoritative power imbalance

-Clockwork becomes friends with Nina Hopkins/Nina the killer

-Clockwork and Jeff the killer form a sibling like bond

2020

-Clockwork begins questioning her sexuality and tests it out with Nina (With consent from Toby, of course.)

-She decides she's bisexual

-For a short while, she, Toby and Nina begin a polyamorous relationship until Nina confesses to being a lesbian

2021

-Toby and Clockwork go on a dangerous mission which results in what she believed would cause Toby's death

-Toby gets stabbed by Zalgo's proxy while Slenderman's magic is fading

-She reluctantly returns to the main cabin and spends 2 weeks in Toby's room, not speaking to anyone, eating or sleeping.

-Toby eventually returns and they vow to never let something like that happen again

2023

-Clockwork and Toby start to build a cabin in the forest together and move into it by Spring

-Soon after, they get 'married'

2026

-At 30, the couple have their first child; Erin Rogers.

-Erin is a male who was born with heterochromia

2029

-Toby and Clockwork have their second child, Lyra "Ly" Rogers, named after Toby's sister

2031

-The "Forest Breakdown" begins as Slenderman's magic fades and they barrier around the forest fades along with it.

-Cops instantly come into the forest once they're able to pinpoint the locations of all these serial killers

-Clockwork is arrested and separated from her family and friends

-During interrogation, she realizes nobody knows she killed her family and only think she killed that doctor

-She tells the detective about the treatment and her unwell state of mind causing her to panic and kill the doctor which is a lie but they detective doesn't see through it.

-After trial, she is taken to a mental hospital after clearly showing signs of needing help.

-Her children are not given permission to see her or Toby.

2037

-at 41, Clockwork is deemed sane and allowed to leave the mental ward.

-She reunites with Toby and plans on reuniting with her children.

-an 11 year old Erin is less than enthusiastic to be seeing the parents he deemed "awful people" still alive and actively denies their efforts to reconnect with him.

-Meanwhile, 9 year old Lyra was ecstatic to be reunited with her actual parents and encouraged their efforts to be in her life.

-Shortly after, they found they'd need a lawyer to get custody of their children or at least, Lyra. They'd decided to respect Erin's wishes to keep their distance from him.

-They began working up the funds for a lawyer by working minium wage jobs (it's all they could muster) with people like Nina, Jeff, Tim and Brian, the only few who made it out of the "Forest Breakdown"

2042

-After 5 years of trying to gain custody, they eventually decided just to be happy with seeing Lyra and maybe Erin, as much as possible seeing as how they couldn't exactly provide a great environment for their kids to live in.

-They focused their money on paying rent or going out for food with their kids to spend time with them or going places by themselves or with their kids.

2046

-By 50, Toby and Clockwork got legally married and counted it as they had been married since 2023. They only did the paperwork and didn't actually have a wedding.

2049

-Clockwork and Toby were introduced to their first grandchild, Evelyn Rogers, as Ly had become a single mother.

2051

-Sometime in 2051, Toby was killed by a police officer who mistook him helping someone as trying to kill them and shot him to death.

-After this, she retreated to the forest and began living in their old cabin together and fixed it up.

-Ly and Evelyn stayed with her frequently and they planned a nice burial for him.

2058

-Her life was as peaceful as it could've been for the last 7 years of her life

-She eventually decided to turn herself in for every murder she ever commited and when Erin got word of this, he had one final talk with her about their lives.

-She found peace with her son and the rest of her family and was put to lethal injection for her crimes.

-After her death, she was buried next to Toby despite some distant family of Clockwork's trying to put her burial in Windsor with her family which Ly and Erin both dealt with swiftly.

#creepypasta #clockwork #clockwork creepypasta #natalie ouellette #🕷️'s headcaons #🕷️'s au

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alteon77 · 4 months

Text

That Familiar Feeling of Family (or how Hob Gadling ended up as an uncle to his stranger's oftentimes feral children): Chapter 2

It's a pretty universally known thing that families are just strange. As Hob is quickly figuring out, however, this little fact is magnified by AT LEAST a billion when the family in question is Endless.

(A lighthearted story in which Hob Gadling finds out his stranger has married, makes friends with a homicidal maniac/ruler, and manages to become an exemplary uncle to a pack of magically mischievous children. Really, now all he has to do is convince everyone to stop calling his and Dream's weekly meetups "playdates", and then his life will be practically perfect.)

Chapter One here, AO3 here, Masterlist here

In the year 1689, Hob Gadling stumbles into the Tavern of the White Horse dressed in little more than disgusting rags. It doesn't shock him that almost immediately he finds himself having an altercation with the guard they'd placed at the door precisely to keep Hob's type out. But what does shock him is that it's his stranger who intervenes, a passionate fury told on his finely chiseled face that Hob is honestly too tired (and hungry) to overly examine much at the moment.

"This man is my guest," his stranger says, an authority in his voice that Hob, even in his current state of starvation, guesses is nice enough. With the strange reversal of fortune that Hob's spent the past few decades dealing with, it's reassuring to have someone, anyone, stick up for him. Even if that someone is the enigmatic devil who'd both blessed and cursed Hob with eternal life.

When he collapses into a chair across from his host for the evening, Hob digs into the bread, consuming it so quickly that he has to remind himself to chew, to breathe as his stomach cramps with its desire to have food in it. And his stranger, usually a bit… well, prudish, only sits back and listens as Hob speaks of his woes, seemingly uncaring of Hob's lack of manners or the solid finger-breadth thick layer of filth covering him.

Of course, his stranger remains as aloof as he's always been. The cut of his clothing is finely done, making both him and Hob appear as if they're sitting on exact opposite sides of the table in more ways than one given the tattered remnants of Hob's own rags as they hang loose about his body. Though he is also patient this night, speaking pleasantly and pityingly despite that their conversation mainly consists of Hob mumbling things at him around a mouth full of food.

As the meal concludes, Hob is almost… ashamed of the way he doesn't want to leave his stranger's presence. In the years of stormy, utterly bleak upheaval that Hob has known recently, Dream is a bit like a lighthouse on a distant shore, the brightness of him cutting through all the gloom so that Hob is nearly afraid to venture out alone into the gale force winds and darkness of his life now.

But he does so anyway.

This is, after all, their arrangement. They meet once every hundred years. No more. No less.

So Hob stumbles from the tavern, drowsy from his full belly, and finds an alley in which to promptly pass out. For the first time in years, he sleeps deeply. Astoundingly deeply, he'd say. Or he would say, he supposes, were he not practically unconscious and all. In his dreams, he finds himself on a path, its way dotted on each side with large, sprawling trees whose branches hang low with apples, shiny and red and perfect. He plucks one for himself, and despite that he knows he's still full, that he's just gorged himself on a rather large quantity of food during his centennial meeting with his stranger, Hob can't seem to resist taking a bite.

He moans. It's otherworldly in its perfection, juicy and firm, the taste sweet with just the smallest hint of tartness to it. He chews what's in his mouth, savoring every last masticated piece of it before he swallows.

When he wakes, the memory of his dream's warmth is still lingering on his skin, and for a moment, it almost feels as if the bright sunshine of that place has followed him here. It's not to last, though. Hob, as an immortal, knows all too well that that's the nature of living. Nothing is forever.

Well, except for him, apparently. And his stranger.

Still, the next night it rains, and the deluge that soaks him is bitterly cold. Hob finds another alley, tucking himself as far under the small overhang of a butcher's shop door as he can in some futile effort to stay dry and hopefully avoid freezing to death. It won't kill him, but the thawing of icy limbs is bloody painful, which makes him… reticent to experience such a thing if he can avoid it.

Sleep takes him again, and he's somewhat surprised to find himself back on that same path from the night before. This time, though, he's starving, and he has three apples before he ventures out from the canopy of trees into a meadow so that he can feel the sun on his skin, can let it warm him in anticipation of how chilled he's sure to be when he's pulled from his slumber to face the harsh reality of his real life.

A week later, Hob starts thinking that something… odd is going on. His days are still miserable, but his nights are… peaceful, wondrous even, the serene calm he finds in them mending his mind and his body. He aches less. The vicious hunger pains in his belly plague him no longer, as if the apples he consumes in his dreams are sustaining him somehow. But that can't be, can it? How addle-brained has he gone that he's even considering that as a possibility?

Nonetheless, when next he sleeps, he notices the addition of plum and orange trees. After that, there are pomegranates and pears. And then… one night there's an entire table set with a feast fit for a king.

And Hob knows he should question this unexpected good fortune after the dismal dreariness of decades of bad luck, but he decides not to. He instead partakes of the bounties he is given and thanks whatever deity strikes his fancy for these gifts of plenty. Even though he is aware that this strange kindness is only a dream.

PRESENT DAY...

The next night, Hob isn't surprised to find the girl waiting for him.

Aurora is in an embroidered lavender dress made of something like silk or taffeta, the iridescent skirt of it swishing just above the tops of her black boots, boots that Hob's relatively sure are just miniature versions of the ones he'd noticed his stranger wearing the day before. Her pitch black hair is plaited back, though there are a few wayward curls that have worked free and dangle in front of her face. She seems to pay them no mind, however, unbothered by the sure annoyance of them in the way that only children can ever seem to manage.

"Hi, Mr. Hob!" Aurora greets cheerfully, offering him a brilliant smile as she reaches out to take hold of his hand, using her grasp to pull him with her as she walks. "My mommy sent me to get you."

"Your… mommy?" He doesn't quite know if it's nervousness that he's feeling at the prospect of meeting the newly discovered (to him anyway) Mrs. Stranger. Will she be like Dream? Maybe worse? Maybe more haughty and inhuman? Could she end up hating Hob for being as normal as he is? Might she even try and dissuade Dream from seeing him again?

"Yep. She said Dadda needed a playdate."

Then again, with an answer like that, Hob tells himself that he could be possibly worrying over absolutely nothing. If she's brought him here to see Dream, then obviously it's not to stop them from meeting. Or having a playdate. Which… Playdate? Hob fights his wince, because he can unfortunately imagine the scowl on Dream's face when he hears that particular descriptor applied to their every century gatherings.

"Well, we're not really due our next get-together for about 98 years," he tells Aurora, careful to emphasize the words get-together so that she might use those in lieu of the term playdate.

"But why?" she asks, glancing up at him with more than a bit of confusion in her shimmery blue eyes, and Hob doesn't understand why exactly they're so… twinkly. He peers down at her, studying them.

"What do you mean?" is his murmured question, and he thinks that… Wait. Are those stars? Does she have literal stars shining out from her eyes?

She blinks, and it snaps him out of his scrutiny like she's just clapped in front of his face and ordered him to focus. "You and Dadda are friends."

"Yes?" He doesn't quite know where she's going with this, but she seems very determined in whatever she's getting at.

"Daniel is my friend, and I see him every we… every week for a playdate."

Oh, no no no. There's that word again. Playdate. He wonders briefly if he should just firmly instruct her not to use it. Would she heed his advice? Is that even his place?

"Your dadda," Hob begins, still not sure how he feels about that word being used in reference to his stranger. "He decided we should have a meeting every century."

"But you're friends."

"Yes. I believe so."

"Mommy said you were."

Even he's not stupid enough to argue with a child about his or her mother and what they've said. When his Robyn had been a small lad, Eleanor's words had been law to the boy, so powerful that his son often acted like they were the building blocks of reality itself. "Oh. Silly me. Then of course we are."

"I think I need to have a talk with my dadda about how he should behave with his friends, then." She sounds resigned, vaguely exasperated, as if she has to do this often with her father. And somehow, Hob thinks that if she were to have that talk, his stranger might actually… listen? It’s an odd thing to consider, this slip of a girl lecturing the unsociable (to put it mildly) Dream of the Endless on how to properly conduct a friendship. Not that Hob doesn't think his stranger couldn't use a healthy dose of lecturing on the matter, since his abilities regarding it are frankly the worst of any he's ever came across.

"He's very nice," she goes on, and Hob has to forcibly stop himself from laughing at that. Dream? Nice? Hob decides he won't touch that one with a three hundred meter pole. Not in front of Dream's actual child anyway. When Hob gets a chance to properly speak to him, however, he might have a few things to say about his stranger's niceness. Or lack thereof. "And he really tries to always be good, but he… doesn't get it right sometimes."

Sometimes? Pfft. That's an understatement if he's ever heard one, the radioactive icing on a cake made of this poor, naive girl's dross.

Wisely, he doesn't say that either. Instead he asks, "Did your mother tell you that as well?"

"No. But she says that Dadda has as much emotional intell… intell…"

"Intelligence?"

"Yes! She says he has as much of that as the bottoms of my boots do." Aurora frowns like she's thinking over her words very seriously. "Is that something that shoe bottoms have lots of?"

"What? Emotional intelligence?"

"Mmm-hmm."

And Hob really doesn't know how to answer that. He feels like it would be disloyal to Dream were he to confess to this child how… clueless her father is when it comes to interacting with others. Though he wonders why it should strike him as disloyal or why he should have any sense of loyalty at all, since apparently Dream is a repressed git who couldn't even be bothered to tell Hob, his friend by his own admission, that he'd married and had a child. "Er…"

"So… no."

"I dunno, honestly," Hob lies. He refuses to allow himself any guilt about it, either, because sometimes lies are acceptable, especially when they might spare a young child's feelings. "Maybe? Maybe not? I'm not a mum, so I don't even pretend to have any of their mysterious wisdom."

"You might be right, Mr. Hob," Aurora declares after a minute. "My mommy is very smart. And funny. Though Dadda says her sense of humor is horrid."

Ha. Hob bets his stick in the mud personification of a friend understands humor about as well as Hob himself understands how thermodynamic fusion works. And he can imagine that any woman married to Dream would probably benefit from being able to laugh at just what in the hell she'd gotten herself into by wedding and bedding such a standoffish clodpole.

But he's not going to say that either. The truth is that he's… upset with Dream currently, and he'd rather save all of his anger for when they finally get to have their one on one playdate. He shakes his head, like by doing so he can shake that term from his mind. Not playdate. Meeting. Gathering. Encounter. Literally, he needs to refer to it as anything else besides a playdate.

Hob tears his gaze away from Aurora, taking a moment to look around wherever they're at, a luxury he hadn't been afforded the day before since he'd been… well, running for his life and all.

And what he sees there nearly takes his breath away.

He… He knows this place.

Trees line either side of the path they're on, their limbs stretching out over it like a canopy. Amidst the emerald green leaves, apples hang low and heavy, their heft making some of the thinner branches droop, and the scent of the fruit fills up the air, causing his mouth to water with the memory of it.

It hasn’t changed at all in the centuries since Hob used to find refuge here.

"This is the or…orchard," Aurora supplies, reaching up on her tiptoes to snatch one of the perfect red globes in her free hand before rubbing it on her dress and handing it to him. "You can eat it. The trees are happy to have the weight of them off their arms, and I do it all the time while I'm waiting for cookies to finish baking."

The trees don't… mind? Do they speak here? Is there anything about this place or the being who runs it that's even close to ordinary? But of course not. Hob's known for a long time that his stranger isn't anything close to normal, so he supposes it makes sense that Dream's home would likely be just as outlandish as everything else about him.

"Cookies?" he questions, taking the offering from her, his stomach twisting in remembrance. "Does your dadda… make you those?"

Her eyebrows raise high on her forehead, a look of such childish incredulity on her face that Hob automatically assumes the answer to be a giant no, which is… sort of a relief. The mental image of his stranger wearing a bright pink apron and matching oven mitts while waiting impatiently for a timer to go off is one that could likely make his brain explode in sheer absurdity.

"No, Mr. Hob. Minnie does the cookies."

"Minnie?"

She grins, standing on her tiptoes again to snatch an apple for herself. "Minnie is one of my favorites. She cooks alllll day and sometimes she even lets me help!"

Minnie… cooks. All day long, apparently. Why is he not surprised that his stranger seems to have his own chef here? His reluctance to consume any food over the centuries certainly makes more sense now. Why in the world would his stranger have eaten at The White Horse when he got to come home to a chef ready to prepare his meals however he liked.

"Are there… other fruits here?" he questions, unsure as to whether or not he wants the answer given what it might confirm for him, but certain that he has to know regardless.

"Yep," she supplies. "Oranges and plums and some other kinds I don't like very much."

"Pomegranates and pears, I'd imagine."

"How'd you… know that, Mr Hob?"

"A guess is all." His heart is thudding in his chest though, the realization of why he'd likely had that dream so frequently making his stomach twist in emotion.

That awkward, aloof…. tosspot. Hob doesn't have a doubt in his mind that Dream had been aware of his escape to this place. Hell and damnation, there's even the chance that he'd started directing him here in some weird show of affection, despite that the plonker hadn't seemed to know what affection was back in those days. Stunned, he thinks over Aurora's declaration earlier that Dream was nice, that he tried to be good.

And kind of hates that she might possibly have been… Well, right.

Not that Hob is an idiot about it. He knows that his stranger isn't exactly a teddy bear or anything. His impression of Dream has always been that the otherworldly entity doesn't seem to much care about others, that the problems of humans are just… insignificant to him, probably as uninteresting as ants milling about on a picnic blanket while they march towards a basket in hopes of plunder. However, to think Dream might have done something so… considerate for Hob, no matter how clueless his stranger can be, makes him feel heavy and light all at the same time, as if he's both touched and overwhelmed by the sentiment inherent in Dream's actions.

He hasn't the time to think very long on it, however. Aurora, seemingly energetic in a way that Hob has never seen from her father Dream, takes his hand again to lead him further into this odd world. She's quite clearly a tactile child, brushing those fingers of hers not tucked against his palm over blades of grass and flowers along the path while they walk. She hums a tune under her breath like she's talking to the flora they pass, and it's almost as if they're answering, their petals unfurling at her touch, the tightly budded blooms blossoming when she gets near. Still, for as tactile as she surely is, she's also very, very chatty, managing to pepper him with a multitude of questions even as she lavishes attention on the greenery.

"Do you have a cat?" is her first one, given when she glances expectantly up at him. "Dadda likes cats best, I think."

"No."

"A dog? Like Archibald?" A smile lights up her face. "Does yours turn into a dragon too?"

Not bloody likely, Hob wants to say. It's not that he's a coward, per se, but more that he still has enough of a sense of self preservation to make the idea of even getting near another dragon a properly terrifying one. "No dogs either."

She scrunches her face up like she's trying to think of what other nonhuman companion Hob might have. "A… turtle?" she tries, looking dubious at her own suggestion.

"I don't have any pets, lambkin." He freezes suddenly, sorrow fogging up his mind for a moment. Lambkin. That endearment. It's what he had called his son when he was a little lad, and Hob hadn't meant to say it just then. It had been an unthinking term of affection, one that had rolled off his tongue by sheer instinct.

When he chances a glance at Aurora, he's alarmed to see that the stars in her eyes have dimmed slightly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hob."

He can't help his frown. This child doesn't know that the loss of his son still hurts him, that sometimes he remembers Robyn's smiling face and his heart clenches tight in grief. "For what?"

"For making you sad," she offers quietly, and that sense of panic washes over him for only a few seconds before he finds himself feeling… warm and comforted, like someone's given his mind a hug. It's disconcerting but also… pleasant?

Could this girl… be seeing his thoughts? It seems as if she asks far too many questions for that to be a possibility, but… Hob is well aware that Dream is capable of something similar, that he seems to know everyone. And yet he still doesn't hesitate to verbally inquire after the events of Hob's latest century whenever they speak.

Aurora appears crestfallen, like she's worried that she's misstepped or said something she ought not have, and Hob forces himself to focus on that instead of the turbulent what if's banging about in his head.

"You didn't make me sad," he rushes to reassure her. "I made myself sad."

"But… why?" Her expression is one of such confusion that Hob could almost laugh if he didn't fear it might hurt her feelings.

"Well, I didn't mean to. It was an accident."

"I'm still sorry you feel that way." And she seems so… genuine, so sweet in that way of innocent children, that Hob finds himself grinning at her for it.

He wants to say something funny, something charming that'll draw a giggle out of her, but they step out of the orchard then, and the sight before him is too staggering in its wonder for Hob to really concentrate on anything else.

It's… beautiful. Magnificent. So incredibly astounding that he… he feels almost as if he cannot breathe from the sheer splendor of it, like the transcendence of it has bypassed his brain and wormed its way into his body instead.

There's lush grass almost as far as the eye can see, a riotous multitude of fragrant, vibrant flowers dotting it. Their colors, deep crimsons and violets, oranges and yellows, are lovely, almost unreal in how crisp they are, in how heady their scents are. The entirety of the greenery ends just on the banks of a great body of water. A river, maybe? He can make out the blue of it from here, a perfect cerulean that glimmers sporadically with light when the sun's rays hit it just so, making it almost appear like it’s sparkling.

A ship bobs gently in place, rocking to and fro where it floats. And he thinks he spots a… wooly mammoth on its deck? But that would be utterly ridiculous, right? Then again, given what he's came across already in this topsy turvy world of Dream's, Hob tells himself that on further consideration, it very likely is a wooly mammoth there that's strolling the planks, barking out orders at its helm as if it's the vessel's fluffy captain. Which, weird as this is to witness, Hob’s just grateful that it’s not another bloody dragon so near to him.

He continues his perusal, taking his fascinated gaze from the ship and its crew. Stretching over the river is a giant bridge, one of several it seems, but this one is unique in that he's pretty sure he recognizes it. Just like the Golden Bridge in Vietnam, massive sculpted hands seem to cradle the structure itself, the tips of the carved fingers resting near the railings like they're holding it aloft in midair.

But all of this, as lovely as it is, doesn't even begin to compare to the castle, his stranger's castle. And yeah, Hob's never seen such a prideful symbol of status in all his long life, so he knows that it must be where the most prideful bastard he's ever had the pleasure of meeting has to live.

It stands tall across the water's edge, looming imposingly on what appears to be a verdant island, the shimmer in the stone it's built of causing it to look like a glittering diamond nestled atop rich green velvet. When they walk closer, Hob can make out more details in the architecture. The designs of this castle are ornate, meticulously done, and Hob is reminded of Grecian temples and Renaissance cathedrals.

There are huge sculptures, finely wrought despite their size, and Hob takes note of a large Buddha statue flanking a giant portion of the structure's left side. The wider towers are capped with onion domes like the kind seen on Russian churches or Islamic mosques, their metal roofs gleaming in the sun, but the thinner towers have spires atop them. The overall style is Gothic, from the pointed arches to the peek of a flying buttress off to the right. In truth, however, Hob doesn't think he could pin down a main influence if he tried, except to say that opulence seems to be what his stranger had been going for. It makes sense in the grand scheme of things, given that Dream himself had told Hob that he'd existed for longer than humans had. How does a being like that relate to just one time? One place? Instead, this show of status reminds him of nothing so much as a collection, like it's just been made of all the things Dream simply… enjoys, as if he'd wandered through the market of humanity's history, snatching the bits and bobbles he found pleasing to bring them back here and cobble them all together, creating a fantastical marvel in the process.

Then again, Hob has the feeling that he could probably say that about this entire world of Dream's.

"I assume that's yours," he drawls, finally shifting his gaze from the castle to Aurora.

"Indeed it is, Hob Gadling."

Hob feels himself go still at the sound of his stranger speaking, and he turns back to say something, to greet him, to respond with anything more eloquent than the highly embarrassing dadda he'd uttered when last he'd addressed Dream.

Not that he really gets the chance, however, since Aurora chooses that moment to let go of his hand and make a beeline to where her father's standing.

"Dadda!" she yells, excitement like a living thing in her tone as Dream readily sweeps her up into his arms. Aurora settles into his hold, perching on his slim hip while she leans forward to plant a kiss on his angular cheek, and the whole scene kind of…. softens him a bit in Hob's eyes. For centuries, this pale, powerful entity has been so untouchable to Hob, so unrelatable, but watching Aurora giggle and press yet another kiss to his stranger's cheekbone is almost humanizing to see.

Hob would never actually say it aloud, but here Dream is almost like any other bloke, just some simple (albeit gloomily dressed) chap with a family of his own and a child that he obviously adores.

"Hello, my starshine. Why ever are you out here alone? Given that Archibald is confined to the palace and you need not chase him in an effort to keep him from trouble, I assumed you'd be with your mother."

"Mommy said it was okay. She said we're going to have tea today!"

Dream raises an eyebrow, blatantly studying the girl. "I see. And was this to be before or after she sent you to collect Hob Gadling?"

Now, Hob knows that Aurora was, in fact, sent to collect him, but he also knows enough to keep his mouth firmly shut about it, especially since Dream looks like he's sniffing out some plot against him like it's a truffle and he's a prized truffle hog. Furthermore, Hob has yet to meet Mrs. Stranger, and he thinks it would be a poor first introduction to bring tidings that he had been the one to tip her ornery husband off about her plan, even if he doesn't actually understand what said plan is.

"Er… hi?" Hob offers instead, immediately fighting the urge to groan at his apparent inability to speak plainly in Dream's presence these days. He hasn't really been nervous around his stranger since that second meeting in 1489 when he'd been afraid that he'd made a deal with a devil, and he doesn't quite comprehend why he should feel so tongue tied at present. Maybe because he's learning that he didn't know his oldest friend as well as he thought? Maybe because Dream seems so… different now that he's nearly unrecognizable? Maybe even because he's peeled back a layer of the mopey onion that is Dream's personality and found it might actually be… somewhat soft in the middle?

Dream is still a repressed wanker, granted, but Hob considers the possibility that Dream could be a kind, repressed wanker at the end of the day. And the realization of that is more than a bit shocking.

"Greetings, Hob Gadling," his stranger says, taking a moment to spare Hob a glance. "Am I to assume my wife invited you for tea?"

"Um…" Hob trails off, wondering how in the ever loving hell he's supposed to answer that.

"No Dadda," Aurora cuts in, giggling again. Hob lets out a slow breath in relief. Twice over now he owes his savior for her rescue of him. "I invited him for tea. It was my first real invitation."

"And your mother assisted you, no doubt?"

"Nope. I wanted you to have a playdate."

Oof. She used the word, which is exactly what Hob had been fearing since he'd heard her utter it that initial time. To Hob's surprise, though, Dream doesn't correct her. Instead, he appears as if he's attempting to suss out whether or not his daughter is telling the truth. Which… she likely isn't, if Hob had to guess.

"Aurora, are you being dishonest?"

She wilts slightly, her eyes going downcast. "No?"

Hob decides then and there that he's going to have to teach this girl the fine art of dishonesty at some point in the future, because her skills in it are sadly lacking. She is, simply put, abysmal at lying.

"Perhaps it would be best for you to try that anew," is Dream's command, though it's gentle enough that Hob is almost proud of his stranger for it. Has having a child changed Dream that much? Has it allowed him such empathy and love that he is tempering his response to avoid shaming his daughter?

And Hob is certain that it would indeed shame this girl to be caught. It's plain to see that this child loves her father tremendously, and she's a sweet thing, likely not given to untruths. He opens his mouth to intervene, to have the focus turned on him, only to find out rather quickly that he's not going to have to bother with doing that after all.

"I love you, Dadda," Aurora tells Dream sweetly, and by the softening in his stranger's features, Hob can see that it's… working? What? How? Never in a million years would he have thought to witness this pouting, emotionally constipated entity felled so completely by an adorable little girl. Granted, she's an adorable little girl who seems to know how to play her father like a Stradivarius, but Hob thinks it's fair to find himself stunned by it nonetheless.

"As I do you, my starshine." Dream drops a kiss atop her head where she's snuggling against him, her tiny face buried in his neck, and they appear comfortable in this embrace, as if they cuddle like this frequently. Almost in a daze, Hob thinks that if he had his phone with him, he'd take a picture of what he's seeing. They're just so precious together that it puts a lump in his throat, one that he swallows down with great difficulty.

Dream is apparently not as fooled by this cute distraction as Hob had assumed, though, which is evidenced by his next words. "I will, however, have the truth in this matter, daughter mine."

"Dadda, I'm tired," she murmurs. "And you're being rude to your friend. Mommy would call this a bad example."

Hob almost chokes while he tries to smother his laugh at that, especially when his pale stranger merely sighs heavily, his parental exasperation so ordinary and relatable that Hob thinks the mirth threatening to burst out of him on witnessing it is entirely understandable.

"Of course. I should hate if your ability to socialize were jeopardized by any behavior of mine." And… is it Hob's imagination, or is that comment as dry as the Sahara? He doesn't think he's ever heard so much sarcasm laced in a single sentence before. "Hob Gadling, will you join us for tea? I am certain my wife is expecting you."

He doesn't seem angry upon offering this, which surprises Hob. It's quite obvious that this little girl and her mum had absolutely been conspiring together, and despite Aurora's cuteness, Hob had thought there'd be more…. of a temper tantrum? Maybe a bit of storming off into the rain while both Aurora and Hob yelled after him about the virtues of friendship? He can't help but to think that, though. Unbidden, he remembers chasing his stranger when he'd left (i.e. fled) their meeting in 1889, insisting that they were friends, cursing himself the whole while for startling the obstinate, irritable entity by offering him companionship. Which is all to say that Dream assuredly has priors, doesn't he? And who better than Hob knows how ornery his stranger gets when faced with such terrible things as affection and feelings.

"Come on, Mr Hob," Aurora pipes up, sounding mysteriously no longer tired, which is just further proof that she had been pretending in front of her father only minutes earlier. "You're my very first guest, and it would make me sad if you didn't accept my invitation."

Not that Hob had even been considering not going, but that just cinches the deal for him. After all, it's never been in his nature to say no to a child, especially when that child is as kind and seemingly goodhearted as this one.

And if a shudder goes through him at that realization, if he suddenly feels like that portends some kind of hilarious doom for him, then Hob brushes the feeling aside. It's just a spot of tea with a wildly charming, powerful little girl and her dramatically less charming but probably more powerful father. What, Hob wonders, could really go wrong?

It isn't until two hours later that Hob finds out the answer to that question. And it's… not great. Because as it turns out, a whole lot can (and does) go wrong during Hob and Dream's playdate.

#dream of the endless #morpheus #dream of the endless x oc #morpheus x oc #morpheus the sandman #sandman fic #sandman fanfiction #hob gadling as a reluctant life coach to an ornery endless #hob WILL teach dream the meaning of friendship #hob gadling as an uncle #preciousfragilethings

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