#diggle imagine

[saints-who-never-existed]

Reading the Episode Ten script again, mainly because I had it open the other day to double-check a specific quote, and there are so many wee things that are jumping out at me all over again.

The religious connotations of Goodsir's feet being the only "clean" part of him!

The fact that Crozier manages to signal to Hodgson and Diggle specifically not to eat their own portions of Goodsir while he's eating his!

This little quote: "Circuits are frying in Crozier's head but he continues to do this unthinkable thing with blind belief in a perfectly-named man called 'Goodsir'".

And finally, something that I'm only now realising I've not thought in depth about before - the fact that Tozer is the only one we see being actively betrayed and bonked on the noggin! We don't know how the others ended up in chains, in all fairness. We don't know if they were bonked too, if they fought back, or if they went quietly, albeit likely at gunpoint. The fact that his coercion is the only one shown says something incredible about Tozer's power and about how Hickey views him at that point in time, I think. He's clearly aware, if not outright scared, of what Tozer is capable of, how unpredictable he could be, how rapidly he's coming to his senses and escaping Hickey's control. He's painfully aware of the fact that he can't let that happen, not now. Like, they could've just held a gun to his face! Lord knows they have enough guns and loyal, desperate men to wield them! But the merest idea that even that wouldn't be enough to coerce him is just making me lose my goddamn mind! The idea that you could hold a gun to Solomon Tozer's handsome goddamn face at that point and it still wouldn't be enough to get him to do something he doesn't want to do...!

[jesncin]

Chimera Constantine breakdown, refs & nods mega-post

Welcome to the master post of behind the scenes for the Chimera Constantine comics. In the style of the Sons of Mars ones I made, this post archives our research and process. So here we go! This will be a mix of showing references and personal anecdotes for how we cobbled this project together.

I'll be repeating some things I've mentioned across blog posts because I like having all this info in one place.

So! There's a lot of ways to go about re-interpretation and re-imagining a story, and one of my techniques is to not get overly attached to research. While it's good to be informed about a character, sometimes knowing every little thing about them can make one hesitant to innovate and try something different with them. So I'm purposely mindful about how much material I research.

But how does something like that work when the character in question has only 2-3 total appearances, one arc, and a quick revisit several years later? We play twin telephone.

For this project, Cin read the Hellblazer Golden Boy arc and vaguely retold it to Jes, who would then write a story based on assumptions and half-remembered memories of the story. Letting personal experience, influences and bias fill the blanks. We're inspired by how Naoki Urusawa wrote Pluto based on his mis-remembered memories of reading Astro Boy. Also when I was a kid I used to look at book covers and summaries and make up a story based on the limited information I was given. It's fun for me. Part of why I love obscure characters so much is that the lack of content about them lets the reader fill in the blanks about their lives and try telling new stories about them that aren't constrained by a saturated canon.

The original Golden Boy arc written by Jamie Delano (#39-40) is about John Constantine coming to the realization that he strangled his twin in the womb. After taking some 'shrooms, John...manifests into another reality, it's very surreal. There, John meets his twin from a universe where John had died, and his brother gets to live. The twin (taking on the name John Constantine, we'll call him Golden Mage to keep it simple) is John's opposite in every better way. They decide to merge their souls to restore...the universe. You kind of had to be there.

John's twin returns many issues later (#249) to wrap up a different arc, there he and the story are written by Andy Diggle.

The first panel of our full comic references the tarot cards John gets from his reading with Zed.

This panel is a direct reference to this scene where John sees his own shadow on a curtain after his reading with Zed. I like the imagery of this arc, even when the dialogue describing twins is really cringe. We changed it to a mirror to reinforce the mirror imagery throughout the comic. Speaking of which...!

Through Jes' reworking of the story, mirrors were streamlined to be the main way alternate universes were portrayed in the story. They'd be the main motif that paralleled the twins too. In issue #249 of Hellblazer, John uses the mirror to confront his twin who resides within himself after their soul-merge years ago.

The line "He's so beautiful, he frightens me." is spoken by a doctor witnessing the Golden Boy's birth in his universe. We repurposed it to be John's dialogue for when he's describing the man he sees in the mirror.

John's twin uses a sacrifice involving these candles to summon his sickly twin. Jes repurposed the use of candles to a magic salt circle that contains spirits like the Golden Boy (he's nicknamed "Goldie" in our take).

The Golden Boy! Even though he died in the womb, he's portrayed as a boy. Probably because a floating fetus wasn't what they were going for. We wanted to give him a distinct look that foreshadows how much he would grow his hair out. I like that his mouth isn't visible! We use the shape of his eyes and posing to get across how he's feeling. It gives him a vacant-toddler-stare I find really endearing.

We made some minor adjustments to the Golden Mage's design. Initially, we followed his canonical pulled back long hair. But since he was a challenging character to emote when we had one less arm to work with, we decided to part his hair so that it could carry how he's feeling. I like when I can get it to cover a part of his face for intense moments! If it was animated, it would 100% be expressive Ghibli hair.

Our main goal for Golden Mage's characterization is to make him feel like his own person. In the original arc, he's less of a sibling and more of an au of John Constantine himself. He doesn't get his own name. Despite gloating about having a better and more fulfilling love life than John, he also shared the exact same love interests John does. Being a twin is less about a family story and more a vehicle to talk about self hatred and potential here. Which isn't fair to the individuality of the characters!

(note, this is not how the panels look in the og comic, I've rearranged them so that they display on this post better)

So we characterized the Golden Mage to still have his canon charisma (albeit with the dialogue toned way down from his original appearance), but to have a thinly veiled temper under all that bravado to foil his con-man trickster brother. The Golden Mage was vaguely described as not being particularly attached to the love he receives. Golden Mage is also dismissive of his womb twin's death, saying it's something he shouldn't grieve since he never really knew him. We reinterpreted these lines as him being in denial over his brother's death, thinking himself as above his own feelings of grief.

Also as a tiny note, we kept the Golden Mage's name ambiguous to keep with the vibe of the original comic, but in my mind I headcanon his full name to be Marigold "Goldie" Constantine. The yellow flower is culturally associated with prosperity, but also grief and jealousy. It's perfect for him! So we made references to the flower in the cover and first panels of the comic. I also headcanon that as a kid he called John Constantine's ghost "Johnny".

My influences for how this whole beginning meeting scene is staged and played out is E.M Carroll's When I Arrived At The Castle. The "animated" panels of Golden Mage looking back at John and breaking through the mirror is a direct call back to the keyhole sequence in that comic! The premise of daydreaming about how your life could have been and not realizing that you're staring at an alternate universe is loosely inspired by Junji Ito's Hellstar Remina. I really like the concept of staring into the unknown and then something sentient staring back from that. "What if our day dreams are just other realities we're dreaming of" kind of deal. I don't see that sort of thing in the saturation of multiverse stories these days.

Next reference is the Dead Boy's Heart! While I like that this story's its own thing, I was surprised it wasn't linked to John's dead brother in any way. It felt thematically relevant, so we brought it over as a device to trap Goldie while the brothers merge souls.

Twins can be positioned in a bunch of ways in the womb. I think canonically, John and Golden Mage were positioned like they are in the cover for Hellblazer #39, ideal for strangling I guess! We changed it to echo the motion of yin and yang. I do think the inclusion of yin and yang is a little cringey in the original comic even though I get what it's going for (balance and all that, it's just kind of simplistic to the philosophy). But I do like it as a way to echo card imagery we established in this comic. We combined the imagery of the tarot cards featured in the Golden Boy arc and King/Queen/Joker playing cards. So it felt right to bring back that whole upside down twins in the womb thing. Special fact, this is how my twin and I were vibing in the womb.

The scene where the twins hit Ctrl + E to merge layers! It's a pretty iconic pose! I like how their heads peaked out of the panels so I brought it back for our comic too. In our version, the twins fail to merge their souls entirely. In the revisit to the Golden Boy character in the comics in issue #249, it's revealed that the merging "failed" in some way, trapping the Golden Mage within John's soul.

For John's ghost counterpart from Golden Mage's universe we took Dave McKean's portrayal of him very literally haha. I know he doesn't literally have one eye, but we thought it gave him a really distinct look for us to stylize. We decided to keep the ghost kids consistent with no mouth and vacant pupil-less stares. We gave ghost kid!John a sort of bedsheet ghost form to contrast against Goldie.

Speaking of one eye! That's another motif we decided to emphasize throughout the comic. It's not in the source material at all, but we liked it as a way to both hint at chimerism and visualize how the two brothers serve as incomplete halves of each other. Special fact! Heterochromia can show up in chimera twins. Of course in the case of identical twins like the Constantines, their chimerism isn't as detectable since they have identical sets of DNA. But! It's still fun to stylize in a supernatural way. For our take we show the glowing golden eye as the soul of the Golden Boy manifesting in his brother. I like to think that John takes advantage of how undetectable his chimerism is to have an upper hand in any soul-related deals he makes.

This stylized heterochromia is inspired by @ratblazer 's Constantine design! I made a subtle nod to it with young punk John's make up echoing the scar in her design too.

For John's dynamic with Goldie the Golden Boy, we built the conflict of the story around making him doubt his attachment to his dead brother. There's a line of dialogue in the revisited Golden Boy arc about John needing to "let go", so we repurposed it into the Golden Mage assuring him that his attachments make him weak.

Even though the Golden Boy doesn't show up nearly as much as I think he should in canon, John has been shown to be really sentimental about him. John wants to be the Golden Boy's friend because he's so beautiful John mistook him for Jesus as a kid. Canonically, the Golden Boy ghost rejects John's friendship, likely still not over the whole strangulation in the womb thing. It still breaks John's heart though, he's a sobbing mess about being owned by a dead kid.

We changed this whole dynamic! The twin murder in the womb felt very X-men Xavier vs Cassandra Nova, and it's hard to get behind babies having that much motivation before they're even born. In our version, Goldie is a vanishing twin absorbed by John, the sickly twin. Infants being accidentally strangled by umbilical cords does occur in reality. However, we changed their origin to being that of Vanishing Twin syndrome because it was more specific for the ideas we were going for.

I feel this crucial change is more in tune with the overall themes of Hellblazer. John always cheats death at a cost. People are constantly sacrificed for John's continued survival. But the Golden Boy's case would be special, because he sacrificed himself out of love before he even knew what it means to love. Unlike the other ghosts that haunt John Constantine, Goldie isn't resentful of John. I think it makes more sense for the Golden Boy to be attached to John because he's all the Golden Boy's ever known. As a chimera twin, John is like a horcrux holding his brother's soul in his body. This reaffirms survivor's guilt to be something John experiences since his birth.

Canonically, although the Golden Mage initially feels sorry for the ghost of John that haunts him, he rejects John as well. John's ghost in canon is like a nuisance that keeps bothering Golden Mage. There's an instance mentioned of Golden Mage trying to recreate his murder in the womb? It's cryptically written. But Golden Mage does keep using the phrase "banished" to describe his brother.

We took this and made it so that he performed an exorcism on himself to remove his supernatural chimera-bond to John's ghost. The Golden Boy arc is pretty unique when compared with how saturated multiverse stories are nowadays since it doesn't share the science fiction sensibilities. Grief comes up a lot in multiverse stuff, in these stories characters use parallel universes to save a loved one as they're bargaining with their loss. For our take, we wanted a character to use the alternate universes to hurt and lash out at the loved one they're grieving. I pulled influence from Everything Everywhere All At Once's concept of a self destructive character on a search for the one familial connection who could understand what they're feeling.

References! The first panel is a nod to issue #36 where John is sleeping with Marj. We changed her to Kit. The second panel is a direct callback to issue #67, an iconic visual for his break up angst era.

Trivia; this page was added at the last minute! I needed something to bridge the birthday cupcake page and the final panel of Golden Mage's breakdown, so I linked them through candles! In this weird case, I reference my own work! This is a callback to Birthdays, a short comic we made for John Constantine's canonical birthday. It sets the premise for his relationship with Goldie based on the habits and experiences of survivor twins. The pages referencing this comic are meant to re-establish that John shares meals with his twin.

I wanted this page to feel like John's lighting an incense for his dead brother, and to contrast it with the snuffed out candles from Golden Mage's flashback. The candle has a yellow and blue intertwined spiral pattern that calls back to the color of John and Golden mage's dialogue boxes and speech bubbles, along with how twisted they look when they merged. Implying that in this universe, they're together in some way. I really wish I did this intentionally but it was by complete coincidence of making the cupcake pink and balancing it out with pastel primaries. But I sure can acknowledge how cool it looks symbolically okay???

The dialogue here is a nod to John's monologue in issue #19 where John is comforting Simon Hughes. It's re-contextualized a bit to be about sharing grief together in our comic.

This is a really goofy one but- since Golden Mage is supposed to be the fully realized potential of John, we thought that he would have a successful career as a musician and singer where John didn't. I don't think Golden Mage would be a punk singer though, he probably does something he'd consider more elevated.

BUT-! In the 30th Anniversary edition of Hellblazer, Sting (the guy John's appearance is based on) wrote an introduction for the edition while roleplaying as the Golden Boy. Which is nuts. The Anniversary edition basically canonized Sting as being a Constantine variant in our universe with the soul of Golden Boy. Sting, as Golden Boy, describes himself as a musician and singer too. Absolutely bonkers for Sting to throw me a bone this late in the game since no one's touched this character in ages.

Another E.M Carroll influenced panel sequence. This is from the digital comic Out of Skin.

So that brings us to the end of the comic! We've had the ideas for this comic cooking for some time, and it's people's continued interest in our takes on these characters that gave us the chance to finally bring the story together.

I'm very fascinated by the Golden Boy story, not because it's particularly strong compared to other stories in Hellblazer's run, but because its intriguing premise is bogged down by its surreal take on typical Evil Twin tropes. og Hellblazer's strength was always in its raw humanity. John Constantine's character countered the sensational spectacle of his superhero contemporaries. He may be able to outwit a vampire but he's can't fight back against being brutalized by the police. In one of his most iconic arcs, he finds out he has cancer- not because of any supernatural shenanigans, but because he literally smokes too much. In another arc, John's long time girlfriend breaks up with him, and he lashes out by saying the cruelest things to her. When he hears that his abusive dad is murdered, John still cries about it.

I think the Golden Boy arc and the retcon that followed his brief return actively undermines what makes Hellblazer special. Suddenly John's having X-Men-level evil twin escapades in the womb. Suddenly, merging with his twin will help save the universe. Suddenly, it's not smoking that caused John to have cancer! It was actually because he merged with his twin and his twin became the cancer from inside him! Suddenly it wasn't a moment of lashing out that caused John to say all those cruel things to his ex upon their break up, that was actually the Golden Boy controlling him from within, so you see it's not really his fault! Also what followed the break up was extra devastating because of the Golden Boy, somehow.

Often I hear in fandom that when you change a character too much from their canon counterpart it's basically "just an oc" at that point, but in the case of characters who get to be re-imagined and passed through many creative teams, I think that kind of mindset is deeply limiting for transformative work. The line I draw between "just an oc" and an interpretation is if the changes involved engage with their source material in any way or if they're just superficial. Big changes and 180 flips can work because they still respond to the history of said character. It's why we see that kind of thing in canon a lot. These characters are inherently built to be passed through many hands in meaningful ways to varying degrees of success. So I hope that by showing all this process that goes behind big changes to a canon character, people better understand what can go into transformative creativity.

Our thesis for this re-imagining is to take what makes Hellblazer special and re-examine the arc that we felt undermined that. Despite the grief John has for many characters in his cast, mourning isn't brought up at all in the Golden Boy arc. It's dismissed by the characters in narration, and the Golden Mage himself isn't even recognized as a sibling by the narrative, no matter how many times John calls him "bro".

Survivor twin grief over dead womb twins especially is a real thing that's often dismissed because in the words of canon Golden Mage himself "I couldn't mourn for those I'd never known". This is not true to the experience of twins. They play with and remember each other from spending 9 months growing in a tight space together. So when one of them doesn't make it out with the other, that survivor feels a grief they can't comprehend. It can manifest in unresolved trauma, commitment issues, and survivor's guilt. All things that feel so relevant to the themes of John Constantine's character. I think that by integrating the real lived experiences of survivor twins, the Golden Boy arc could've been one the most human and personal parts of the original Hellblazer run. It's could've been a story that helped a community of people so rarely validated in their grief feel seen.

[jackiequick]

Bravery in Her Blood | April Merlyn♡

-> Face Claim: Grace Phipps

Name: April Roberta Merlyn-Queen

Aliases/Nicknames: Ally, Robbie, Goldie, Sparrow

Age: 8-22 years old (age depending on appearance)

Height: 5'2

Birthday: March 20

Zodiac Sign: Pisces  

Family:

Biological Father: Tommy Merlyn

Biological Mother: Isla Mendes

Uncle/Adoptive Father Figure: Oliver Queen

Aunt/Mother Figure: Dinah Laurel Lance

Aunt: Thea Queen

Uncle: John Diggle

Biological Grandfather: Malcolm Merlyn

Grandmother: Moira Queen

Grandfather: Robert Queen

Background:

April Roberta Merlyn, known affectionately as "Robbie" or "Goldie," was born into a complex family with connections to both the Merlyn and Queen families. Her childhood was marked by the dynamic relationships within her family, including her close bond with her biological father, Tommy Merlyn, and her adoptive father figure, Oliver Queen.

Raised primarily by Tommy, April grew up as a daddy's girl, cherishing her time with him and viewing him as the best father figure in her eyes. Her relationship with her Aunt Laurel also played a significant role in her upbringing, with Laurel serving as a maternal figure and role model for April.

Despite the challenges and turmoil within her family, April developed a protective streak, often finding herself entangled in their struggles and challenges. Her loyalty to her family was unwavering, even as she grappled with her own fears and vulnerabilities.

———————————

Personality:

April Roberta Merlyn is a dynamic and multifaceted individual. She is ambitious and determined, always striving to achieve her goals and make her mark on the world. Her wit and charisma make her a natural at connecting with others, and her courage and compassion shine through in her interactions. 

April is also creative and imaginative, often using her talents in writing and photography to express herself and capture the beauty of the world around her. Her loyalty and kindness are unwavering, making her a reliable and supportive friend.

Despite her positive attributes, April has her struggles. She can sometimes be lazy and unmotivated, preferring the comfort of her own world to facing challenges head-on. Darkened by revenge for what happened to her father and hatred towards her grandfather. Trust issues and feelings of hopelessness occasionally cloud her judgment, leading to moments of jealousy and rash decisions. 

However, her faithfulness and respect for others usually guide her back on track. April's journey is one of growth and self-discovery, as she learns to balance her strengths and weaknesses while navigating the complexities of her family's legacy and her own aspirations.

Skills and Interests:

April is a talented writer and aspiring copywriter/content writer, with a passion for storytelling and creative expression. She enjoys photography, writing, and occasionally playing the guitar in her free time. In her youth, she created videos using her Barbies, showcasing her early creative instincts.

April also has experience playing baseball and possesses basic combat skills, having learned archery and firearm handling from Oliver, Diggle, and Laurel. Despite her initial reluctance to engage in combat, April eventually embraces these skills as a means of self-defense and protection for herself and her loved ones.

Relationships:

While April is single for the most part, she develops occasional crushes on individuals like Dick Grayson, Superboy, and others. Her friendships extend to superheroes like Supergirl, The Flash, Batgirl, The Atom, Starfire, Miss Martian, and Beast Boy, among others, highlighting her ability to form meaningful connections beyond her family.

--------------------------------

Likes:

Writing and storytelling

Photography

Playing the guitar

Making videos using her Barbies (when she was younger)

Baseball

Spending time with her family and friends

Watching comfort movies

Dislikes:

Betrayal and manipulation

Feeling trapped or powerless

Uncertainty and instability

Conflict and violence

Being lied to or deceived

Feeling isolated or alone

Professional Aspirations:

April aspires to become a copywriter or content writer, leveraging her passion for writing and storytelling to pursue a career in creative and strategic communication. She envisions herself using her skills to craft compelling narratives and connect with audiences through impactful and engaging content.

~~~~~~~~~

Strengths:

Ambitious and determined

Charismatic and witty

Courageous and compassionate

Respectful and kind

Creative and imaginative

Faithful and loyal

Weaknesses:

Tendency towards laziness and lack of motivation

Struggles with trust issues and feelings of hopelessness

Prone to bouts of jealousy and rash decision-making

Vulnerable to manipulation and exploitation by others

Difficulty managing intense emotions and conflicts

Can become hateful and switch sides depending on the situation

Challenges & Turmoils:

April has faced numerous challenges and traumas shaped by the tumultuous events surrounding her family's past and their involvement in dangerous conflicts. The custody battle between Oliver and Malcolm placed her in the center of a power struggle, along with issues within the League of Assassins, forcing her to confront her own fears and vulnerabilities.

The death of her father, Tommy Merlyn, in a tragic accident deeply impacted April, leaving her grappling with grief and loss. The traumatic events surrounding her aunt, Thea Queen, further tested April's resilience and fortitude, exposing her to violence and danger that threatened her sense of security and stability.

Despite these challenges, April has demonstrated remarkable strength and resilience, navigating the complexities of her family's legacy and finding her own path amidst the chaos and turmoil. Her journey towards self-discovery and healing promises to be a compelling narrative of growth and redemption.

———————————————————

->Discovery of Oliver's Secret Identity:

One evening, during a lavish party at the Queen mansion, chaos erupted as intruders infiltrated the premises, sending guests fleeing for safety. Amidst the confusion, April found herself separated from her family, lost in the crowd as panic spread throughout the house.

As she sought refuge on an upper floor, April stumbled upon a masked figure clad in green, engaged in a fierce battle with the intruders across the hall. Fear gripped her as she instinctively reached for the nearest objects, hurling them towards the intruder in a desperate attempt to defend herself.

To her surprise, the masked figure approached her with caution, his voice gentle and reassuring as he spoke. April's initial fear gave way to curiosity as the figure revealed himself to be none other than her uncle, Oliver Queen, known to the world as the vigilante Green Arrow.

In disbelief, April questioned Oliver's motives and identity, uncertain of whether to trust him. However, Oliver's gentle demeanor and familiarity with her family's history convinced her of his sincerity.

With a mixture of shock and awe, April watched as Oliver removed his hood, revealing his face beneath the mask. In that moment, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, and April realized the truth about her uncle's secret identity.

Overwhelmed by the revelation, April struggled to comprehend the implications of Oliver's double life as both her beloved uncle and the masked vigilante who fought to protect their city. However, as Oliver extended his hand in reassurance, April made a silent promise to keep his secret, knowing that their bond as family was stronger than any mask or disguise.

With a newfound sense of understanding and connection, April emerged from the encounter with a deeper appreciation for her uncle's heroism and the sacrifices he made to keep their family safe. As she reunited with her loved ones, April carried with her the weight of Oliver's secret, a silent guardian of the truth amidst the chaos of their tumultuous lives.

—————————————————

Archery and Marksmanship:

April possesses a natural talent for archery, honing her skills with dedication and passion. She first discovered her love for the sport under the guidance of her uncle Oliver, who recognized her potential and encouraged her to pursue marksmanship as a means of self-defense.

Though April also knows how to handle firearms, her favorite weapon of choice is a crossbow. She finds comfort and familiarity in the weapon's design and mechanics, favoring its precision and versatility in combat situations.

Whether at home or at the Arrow Cave, April can often be found practicing her marksmanship with her crossbow, fine-tuning her aim and mastering her technique. She approaches each shot with determination and focus, channeling her passion and conviction into every arrow she looses.

As she grows in skill and confidence, April embraces her aunt Thea's words of wisdom, remembering what she's fighting for with every shot she takes. 

The quote, "If you remember what you're fighting for, you'll never miss your target.”, becomes a mantra for April, guiding her in both her marksmanship and her life's journey as a guardian of justice and defender of her family.

With her unwavering determination and her trusty crossbow in hand, April stands ready to face whatever challenges may come her way, knowing that as long as she keeps her eyes on her target and her heart set on her purpose, she will never miss the mark.

--------------------------------------------

—April Roberta Merlyn is a young woman shaped by the legacy of her family and her own personal trials, continuously growing and discovering her path.

As she navigates the challenges ahead, one thing is certain: her story is far from over, and the future holds endless possibilities for this resilient and determined heroine.

~~~~

That's all folks! Pls let me know what you think Remember to like, comment and share

Tags: @gaminggirlsstuff @missstrawbs2001 @daughter-of-melpomene @t-nd-rfoot @yetanotherwells @rickb-chaos @sherloquestea @gcthvile @ohgodnotagainn @topgun-imagines @superspookyjanelle @xgoddessoffandomsx @cherrysft @lazywolfwiccan

[pomodoriyum]

terror worst cook edition

imagine some kind of situation in which: A. you are obliged to go over to someones house and B. they are required to cook you a meal and C. you must eat it. who of the following would you most want to avoid as a chef making food for you?

tag explanations of what kind of food they make, if you want!

[anonymouse5]

porch - olicity - @taylorswiftmicrofic - word count: 311

It was funny. In all the years of playing vigilante with Oliver, she never actually imagined life without him. Even when she'd thought he'd died after his duel with Ra's… well, Dig called it denial, but Felicity just knew he was coming back. After Crisis— that was denial. Felicity ran every search she could because, in their line of work, if there was no body then there was no death. And sometimes even when there was a body, people came back.

His death didn't sink in for her until the funeral. Just months ago, they were sitting on the porch of the safe house John set up for them. The memories became a blur even months later. In another timeline, Felicity sat on the same porch watching Nyssa train Mia. Oliver changed things, Sara told her, when he "rebooted the universe". Felicity didn't really know how that worked, and she didn't really care. She sat in the huge backyard of the Queen mansion, watching Mia and William play.

Moira didn't seem to hate her as much after being revived by Oliver. Felicity had a lot of questions for when she could finally join him wherever he was. Having her to talk about Oliver with both helped and hurt. Everyone moved on, even Diggle. He moved to Metropolis. Felicity didn't know how. The last eight years meant something to her; no, meant everything to her.

She moved on, too, eventually. Not from him, but from their old life. She focused on raising their kids and working as CEO of her own company. Her mom called often to tell her how proud she was of her baby girl. And she pushed through the years it took to get back to her husband.

And finally, twenty years later, she could.

"Hey. I'm glad you could finally make it," Oliver says.

Felicity runs to him.

[sofoulandfairaday]

I actually do tend to put most of the Order we see in the photos around the same years, but my headcanon is that there were other older members but they all died by the time that photo was taken because they were trying to protect the younger kids. I like to imagine that Moody is the only surviving older Order member and he had to watch his peers die one by one and then had to watch as so many of those kids they died trying to protect were killed themselves

Soooo. I can see this working if well justified. There is a line that does justify it in canon, actually- "[...] look, I can’t promise no one’s going to get hurt, nobody can promise that, but we’re much better off than we were last time, you weren’t in the Order then, you don’t understand, last time we were outnumbered twenty to one by the Death Eaters and they were picking us off one by one...”

Voldemort would most likely send his Death Eaters after the best and strongest Order members first, even though they were more likely to take down many of his followers- it's not like he didn't have the numbers. BUT I'm afraid it's a little unrealistic. The weakest fighters in a fight to the death are those who get killed first even with protection.

Just for funsies, though, I'll give you my personal headcanon of the Order members' rough ages. I'm usually flexible if they're changed by a couple of years, but the generations should be kept.

This is the list of confirmed Order of the Phoenix members in the First Wizarding War:

Albus Dumbledore

Aberforth Dumbledore

Alastor Moody

Arabella Figg

Dedalus Diggle

Elphias Doge

Emmeline Vance

Mundungus Fletcher

Rubeus Hagrid

Sturgis Podmore

Severus Snape

Sirius Black

Remus Lupin

Peter Pettigrew (who turns spy for the Death Eaters in 1980)

All these people survive the war. Then we also have:

James Potter

Lily Evans Potter

Fabian Prewett

Gideon Prewett

Frank Longbottom

Alice Longbottom

Edgar Bones

Benji Fenwick

Caradoc Dearborn

Dorcas Meadowes

Marlene McKinnon

Now. The only girl confirmed to be one of Lily's classmates is Mary McDonald and she's not part of the Order (and I choose to believe that she wasn't; she sympathised, maybe, but I like the headcanon that she's so scarred by Mulciber and Avery's bullying - and that the event that Lily references to Severus is not the only time they use Dark Magic on her - that she wants nothing to do with the fight). I am maybe one of the two (2) people with a mild appreciation for BlackKinnon, and I don't mind Marlene as someone in the same age bracket as them (but I can also see her being older). She is murdered along her entire family, though, and it's unclear whether she was a mother, a sister, or a daughter. I will say that some of their Hogwarts years overlapped.

Dorcas I find way less likely. She was killed by Voldemort himself - the man wouldn't have bothered if she wasn't an Amelia Bones-level witch at least, which means she was mighty, which means she most likely wasn't twenty-one. I like to think that she was an Auror, or a Ministry high-ranking employee with sound principles that just would not bend to the infiltration of the DEs in the Ministry or to Barty Crouch Snr's ruthlessness.

Frank and Alice Longbottom are the same, to me. They're older than the Marauders, I would make them (just like Dorcas) around Bellatrix's age, maybe even older. That makes them around 30yrs old in 1981. Which means they would have had a full decade or more to become the most respected Aurors in the Wizarding World, so well known that what happened to them sparked major outrage, the kind that led to a manhunt for their torturers, and the sentencing of a pleading nineteen-year-old boy. (Of course, Barty jr was guilty, but they didn't know that, didn't know just how loyal to Voldemort he truly was. The Lestranges sentencing - an old wizarding family, a Lestrange had even been Minister for Magic - was clearly one sparked by public outrage. People were crying out for their blood.)

The Prewetts were Molly's older brothers, so they were way older than the Marauders. They were also killed by a group of Death Eaters led by Antonin Dolohov after what appears to have been a truly brutal fight, so nope. They weren't the Fred and George types of the Marauders Era (also. the Marauders were that!)

Edgar Bones had a wife and children and was considered to be one of the best of the era, so I doubt he was as young as the Fantastic Four. We really don't know enough about Caradoc Dearborn or Benji Fenwick to say, but I somehow doubt it.

Of those who survived.

We know that Albus, Aberforth, Moody, Elphias Doge, Mundungus, and Arabella Figg are all way older than the Marauders, and I've always pictured Dedalus Diggle as a middle aged man (but we only know he's tiny and excitable, so it could go either way). Sturgis Podmore's description fits someone that could have been in the Marauder's year or maybe slightly older, but still one of their peers.

So, really, the green-faced youths that fought with the Order were: the four Marauders, Lily, maybe Marlene and Emmeline Vance (who isn't even listed as fighting with them in the First War, only the second), and maybe Sturgis Podmore. On the side of the Death Eaters: Avery, Mulciber, Barty Crouch jr (who was two/three years younger than the Marauders!!!), Regulus Black and of course Severus Snape.

And, no. Evan Rosier's age is never disclosed, and since he brutally maims fucking Alastor Moody - possibly the greatest Auror ever - I'm inclined to believe that he was at least Bellatrix's age (so 8-9 years older than the Marauders). In my personal headcanon he's even a tad older - but no less cuntier for it. My boy serves as much cunt at 27 as he did at 17 (<3).

[silver-inked-quill]

✨ Requests are open ✨

Dc Comics

{full list of requests options}

Hey there gentle reader,

I am just a writer who needs inspiration so please do not hesitate and suggest whatever your heart wishes to read!

I can do canon x canon, I love exploring dynamics between characters and oc x canon as well. But what i also enjoy is the setting a fictional universe allows me to describe, including the space and the situation

💥I love writing drama and fight scenes that end up in an easy going cute way and i also write more steamy things💥

✨Please do not hesitate to dm or comment here your prompt or imagine ✨

These Characters and couples give me strong feelings are below but i can't write for others👇🏼

♣️Justice League Unlimited -Young Justice

That's the era I prefer mostly and am most familiar with so any any any thing from those it's perfect🫶🏼

♣️DCCW

🟩The Arrow

John Diggle - Laurel Lance - Sara Lance - Thea Queen - Roy Harper -Tommy Merlyn

Malcolm Merlyn - Nyssa Al Ghoul - John Constantine - Ra's Al Ghoul - Shadon

Helena Bertinelli - Wild Dog - Lyla Michaels

🟥The Flash

Caitlin Snow - Killer Frost - Cisco Ramone - Barry Allen - Jessie Quick - Wally West

Julian Albert - Heatwave - Captain Cold

🟦 Supergirl

Kara Danvers - Mon El - Alex Danvers - Lena Luthor

⬜ Legends of Tomorrow

Sara Lance - Rip Hunter - Leonard Snart - Jackson Jefferson - Nate Heywood

- Zari Tomaz - Amaya Jiwe - Ray Palmer - Mick Rory

♣️ Arkham Series

♣️Titans

Dick Grayson - Donna Troy - Dove Granger - Hank - Aqualad - Jason Todd

Rachel Roth - Barbara Gordon

♣️Comics

i have read too many but i am willing to read new ones and to write something about it 🫶🏼

♣️Dc comics filmography

Only the ones that are animated... 👉🏼👈🏼🥺

♣️TEAMS /🦇Batfam🏹Arrow team⚡Flash Team💎 Superfam

if you are wondering if they are still open check my masterlist and the request list (pinned on my profile) 🫶🏻

[hmstartnell]

for the terror ask game: 5 & 7 (o:

Hell yes!! My favourite ones! Thank you thank you thank you XD

Here’s the ask game post

5. Have you read the book? And if you have, has any character’s portrayal in the book lead to you having a different opinion of them?

I have read the book and there are a few characters that I have different opinions on. I won’t talk about all of them bc there’s a few so I’ll just do the two main ones: Jirving and Des Voeux.

In this sense, they are opposites to me in a couple of ways. Firstly, Jirv is one of my faves in the show but I don’t like him much in the book, and I hate Des Voeux in the show but he’s one of my faves in the book. The other way they’re opposites to me is how my opinion of them changed. For Jirv in the book, I hated him in the beginning but grew to tolerate him and almost like him. And for Des Voeux in the show, I was so close to liking him in the beginning but I hated him by the end.

7. Pick a game show / competition show. Choose however many cold boys you would need to fill every contestant space. Who would win?

The game show I’m choosing is The Traitors. For the sake of argument (and since this is a game based on trust) I’m basing this on their personalities at the beginning of the show / pre most of the unbreakable bonds being formed

The rest of this will be below the cut bc there’s a lot and I’m nice to your dash :)

My 22 contestants: (bare with me here)

1. Fitzdiva

2. Crozier

3. Nedward

4. Jopson

5. Tartnell

6. Hickey

7. Tozer

8. Jirving

10. Stanley

11. Goodsir

12. Diggle (I’m going off his personality in the book)

13. Hodge

14. Dundy

15. Magnus

16. Des Voeux

17. Gore

18. Collins

19. Blanky

20. Sir John

21. Gibson

22. Pilkington

My Traitors:

1. Fitzgirl

2. Stanley

3. Hickey

My final five:

1. Jopson

2. Tartnell

3. Fitzqueen

4. Ned

5. Diggle

My winners:

1. Jopson

2. Tartnell

3. Ned

4. Diggle

I have so many thoughts about who would be banished and when and who would be ‘murdered’ by the Traitors but that would make this ridiculously long so I’ll just explain my reasoning for the winners.

To win this game, you’ve got to fly under everyone’s radar for the majority of it, you’ve got to be likeable and not prone to accidental suspicious behaviour. I don’t think literally any of them would suspect Fitzjames until the pressure really settles in at that final Round Table then the last four would realise that he’s actually been acting a bit off (which he has. The fact that he got so far went to his head a bit and he was getting more and more obvious) and they all just unanimously voted him out. I can just imagine them all looking at each other after that and going “no fucking way are they Traitors” then voting to end the game and so they all win

[kylobith]

Last updated: 12 July 2025

Greetings, traveller!

Since I am planning to write more from now on, having retrieved a bit of creativity over the past few months, I thought it would be handy to create a masterlist to make it easier to find them here.

At the moment, my writing is focused on Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings in general, so brace yourselves for quite a few of those, even if they're just drabbles!

Expect to find fluff and angst, but also some smut from time to time. Everything will be properly tagged.

Note: Some older fanfictions with multiple chapters will only contain the Ao3 link. I don't know yet if I'll really post every single chapter on here.

Anyway, if you take the time to read my stuff, I'm extremely grateful and I hope you will enjoy whatever I put out there! If you wish to be tagged on new releases, don't hesitate to ask and I'll make sure to do so :)

Everything is available on my Ao3 account

Enjoy!

Tolkien/Lord of the Rings

Engraved On My Heart

(Éomer x FemOC) Éomer unexpectedly bonds with Éorhild, a maid in his service. Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Epilogue (Note: Part 1 was published on my sideblog, but the other parts will all be posted on this blog instead) [NSFW] [Brief smut] Completed

The Chase

(Éomer x Lothíriel) Éomer wanders through the forest for a chase. Completed

Liquid Courage

(Éowyn x FemOC) [NSFW] [Smut] When somebody catches the eye of the shy Lady of Rohan, it does take more than a nudge for her to make the first step towards a night of pleasure. Upcoming

Long Live The King!

(Faramir x Éowyn) Faramir supports Éowyn as she mourns Théoden. Completed

By the Blade

(Boromir x FemOC) War prompts Boromir and Nauriel, the daughter of the master-at-arms, to rally under the same banner despite a lifelong rivalry... but swords are not the only things bound to cross. Part 1 In progress

Lord of the Rings Week 2023

Event organised by @lotr20 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Return of the King. One to three prompts per day. Day 1: Home (Poem - Merry, Pippin, Faramir, Éowyn, Sam, Rosie, Éomer, Lothíriel) Day 2: Language | Culture | Beauty (Faramir x Éowyn, Éomer) Day 3: Fear | Courage (Éomer, Merry, Pippin) Day 4: Friendship | Loyalty (Legolas, Gimli, rest of the Fellowship except Boromir) Day 5: Loss | Despair (Boromir, Faramir, Denethor) Day 6: Triumph | Healing | Hope (Sam, Frodo) Day 7: The Return of the King 20th anniversary (The Fellowship, Arwen, Faramir, Éowyn, Elrond, Théoden, Éomer, Théodred) Completed

Lord of the Rings Week 2024

Event organised by @lotrweek. One prompt per day. Day 1: The Road Goes Ever On Day 2: Histories and Legacies Day 3: The Green Earth in the Daylight (art instead of writing) Day 4: Gifts, Burdens and Choices Day 5: Here With Me Day 6: Songs and Tales Completed

Boromir Week 2025

Event organised by @lucifers-legions @boromir-week. One prompt per day. Day 1: First Impressions Day 2: Into Eternity Day 3: The Prodigal Son Day 4: Horsing Around Completed

The Busy Bee

(FemOC x FemOC) A grand celebration is approaching in Bywater. A passionate party planner, Poppy Diggle has been entrusted with the organisation of the feast. But when mishaps occur, her perfectionism threatens to shatter her composure. Throw in an unexpected crush, and her world falls down… or so she thinks. Upcoming

Baldur's Gate 3

The Little Tiefling

(Gale of Waterdeep x Tav) While Tav is resting, Gale seizes the opportunity to bond with his daughter by reading her a story. Completed

The Trick

(Gale of Waterdeep x Tav) In all his life, Gale never imagined undertaking such a difficult task. But he must. Short prequel to The Little Tiefling Completed

Under the Oak Leaves

(Halsin & Gender-neutral drow Tav) After the Tiefling party, Tav feels melancholic and isolates themself from the camp. Halsin finds them and is set on alleviating their pain. Completed

Little Town Tails

(Halsin x Fem!Tav) After saving up for years, Halsin settles and opens his veterinary practice in a quaint little town. Beyond patients, he finds friends and love, but also trouble. When a business mogul agrees with the mayor to buy local shops for the implementation of his coffee chain to make Heawick more touristic, Halsin's practice is threatened. It will take more than a good word to save his lifetime project. Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 - Part 7 In progress

Memory Lane

(Astarion & Gender-neutral Half-Drow Tav) Astarion is submerged by a desire to recover memories from his past. Before Cazador, before his transformation. And Tav is determined to help him. Could it be that there is somebody out there still waiting for him? Completed

The Unwanted Saviour

(Rolan x Fem!Tav) A restless night turns into a tacit confession. Upcoming

Star Wars

The Inner Battle (Ao3 only)

(Kylo Ren/Ben Solo & OC Bounty hunter) One year after the destruction of Starkiller, the First Order still dominates the Galaxy. Kylo Ren ventures in the Mid-Rim territories, tracking a target on Ord Mantell, whom he knows will help him achieve a secret mission he has been planning since the beginning... In progress - Editing Note: Chapters might be eventually posted on Tumblr, but for now it's a bit tricky due to the fic's size (I have about 50 chapters written!)

Star Trek

Whiskey is the Only Spirit I Believe In

(Bones x Fem!OC) After a long day of work, Bones just wants to sit down and relax with a glass of fine whiskey. But being accused of having stolen it was not in his plans. One-shot

Stranger Things

Swords and Hoops

(Steve Harrington x Reader) Steve meets you at the Palace arcade after you come back from your holidays in California. Completed

Steady (Ao3 only)

(Eddie Munson x Steve Harrington) As they recover from the final confrontation with Vecna, Eddie and Steve bond and realise that they bring out the best version of each other. But not only... Completed

Time After Time (Ao3 only)

(Eddie Munson x Steve Harrington) Sequel to Steady. Steve and Eddie start over in Seattle, yet a new obstacle comes to stand in their way: coming to terms with their queerness. In progress

The Holiday Fling (Ao3 only)

(Eddie Munson x Fem!OC) Summer of 1987. Arwen Lewis spends her holidays in Arkansas after moving to the USA from Wales. One night, she meets Eddie Munson, who turns what was supposed to be a camping trip into the best summer of their lives. In progress

Rock You Like A Hurricane

(Billy Hargrove x FemReader) [NSFW] [Smut] Billy pays you an unexpected visit when you're home alone. The night ends quite differently than you thought... Completed

[bbynedtime]

I’m sure you’re doing holiday celebration stuff but imagine a Little Terror Christmas!

Post-rescue Fitzmomma is so excited to give her most special boy Ned a wonderful holiday and plans an elaborate party with all of their friends. Le Vesconte loves any chance to plan a celebration and for weeks leading up to the holiday Crozier finds James and Dundy having planning sessions at the kitchen table while Ned naps in James’s arms and Graham lays on his tummy playing/chewing on his toys. James gets a beautiful new blouse that shows her tits and puts on a hint of lipstick and has Crozier all worked up the first time he sees her outfit.

At the party Ned is extremely shy and spends most of the night curled against his Momma hiding his face and gets sooooo blushy if anyone compliments his holiday sweater (it has a teddy bear on it!) but he finally settles in after he sees his friends playing and wants to join them.

Jopson swore he was going to be big for the party even though Momma and Crozier reassured him he could be small if he wanted to, but Jopson isn’t willing to be small with anyone but them and Ned. Jopson is monitoring the little ones but it’s so hard when he would like to be held and coddled too! He goes to tell Crozier that Baby Ned needs his diaper changed and Crozier calls him a good lad for telling him and Jopson ends up having a little cry on his Daddy’s shoulder before coming back to the party and sticking close to Crozier the rest of the evening.

Hodgson shows up with little musical instruments for all the babies but can’t teach them to play because Johnny needs his constant reassurance. Johnny is dressed so proper in slacks and a festive sweater vest and has a little Christmas story toy set he’s mostly just holding and looking at.

Sol and Graham are the exact opposites, neither of them were willing to dress up and Sol has somehow ripped the knee of his jeans even though Heather swears they weren’t like that when he dressed them. Heather keeps trying to fix Sol’s messy hair while he whines and squirms and jumps up and down because he wants to play so bad! Heather doesn’t feel like he fits in with the other adults who are mostly officers and spends his time chatting with MacDonald or looking after Tommy Armitage, who doesn’t seem to have any fixed caregiver but is a lovely lad. Graham is immediately chewing on everything and Le Vesconte has to keep interrupting his conversation with the other adults to scold him for chewing on his friends toys.

Macdonald somehow makes watching both Goodsir and Collins look easy. Goodsir is a precocious little thing who is charming adults with his medical knowledge and Macdonald watches like a proud parent while he keeps Henry from getting overwhelmed. Henry is an anxious baby to rival even Ned’s sensitive self and Macdonald is constantly talking to him and reminding him he’s safe with hair rubs and butt pats all the while he’s talking to Blanky and Heather and making sure Harry doesn’t get too bossy (or morbid) with the other kids.

Crozier is peak dad energy and is dressed comfortably to move around and monitor the little ones. He keeps embarrassing Ned terribly by slipping a finger in the waistband of his diaper to make sure he’s not too wet and is wiping chocolate off faces and making sure everyone is sharing well. Jopson ends up snuggling up into his side while he chats with Blanky and the other Lieutenants and is an expert at diverting their questions and letting Jopson relax into being small even if he’s the only one who knows (although he’s sure Momma knows because she always knows when he’s starting to feel little).

Maybe Uncle Diggle shows up and leads the little ones in decorating cookies later. Sol is instantly covered in frosting and there’s a suspiciously large amount around his mouth and Graham is caught several times sticking his fingers directly in the frosting tubs. Ned is fascinated by the sprinkles and spills an entire shaker onto one cookie. Johnny is too small to really participate but Jopson comes to help him and enjoys sneaking bites when Diggle isn’t looking. Goodsir designs what he thinks the skeletal structure of a snowman is and then Collins cries because it’s too scary and has to eat a cookie to calm down.

Anyway that’s my thoughts, Merry Christmas!

*staring at the ask and holding it gently*

The best christmas gift (TT__TT)💖💖💖 thank you so much

God im melting this is perfect.

[atlasdoe]

Juliette Wilkes headcannons

ik that a lot of people hc Wilkes to be a guy called Wilhelm but i was unaware of this when coming up with how i wanted to see these characters and i'm too attached to Juliette so here are some hcs for her

She was the middle child of five sisters

The Wilkes sisters HATED each other as they grew up

She was the person who was supposed to marry Sirius before he was disowned

She had a really bubbly personality but was a total bitch and as the years went by grew really heartless

She was an attention whore and she was proud

Bellatrix took her under her wing and would obnoxiously call her "the little sister she always wanted" which made Narcissa hate her

She had a real slow burn relationship with Avery which was mostly Avery being in love with her while she was too oblivious to know that he liked her

Her patronus was a niffler

She had always wanted brothers growing up which was why she attached herself to Severus, Mulciber and Avery once at Hogwarts

Out of everyone in Snapes gang she was closest to Mulciber and Avery and least closer st to Charity

When Charity joined the group Juliette was hostile towards her but very quickly became as protective and in love with her as the others. Think like a tone down version of Jade and Cat from Victorious

She was fearless because she low-key thought she had major plot armour. like she ran into any battle cause she just couldn't imagine herself dying

She was killed by Dedalus Diggle during a dual after she resisted arrest

Please someone talk to me about her!!!

[schrijverr]

Russia, Huh?

s02e06: Keep Your Enemies Closer. After rescuing Lyla from the Gulag, Diggle and Felicity learn that Diggle isn’t the only one who had a connection to Lyla, but that Oliver also knows her already. Combined with Anatoli being in the car as well, some Oliver lore gets dropped on them.

On AO3.

Ships: minor Diggle/Lyla

Warnings: none

~~~

They’re all in the bought police car, driving away from where they have left Deadshot at the side of the road. Diggle’s head is still reeling from the information he’s been given about Andy, so he’s just sitting next to Lyla staring into space.

He gets pulled out of his thoughts when Oliver leans forward, brushing a few strands of Lyla’s hair out of her face to check her black eye. “You okay?”

Lyla smiles at him and for a second Diggle feels a stab of annoyance at the Queen charm that seems to work on everyone. Until Lyla answers: “You know me, Oliver. I’m always good.”

Oliver looks at her critically for a moment, then nods, before he smiles: “Russia, huh?”

That makes Lyla snort, much to Diggle’s dismayed confusion. She agrees: “Yup, Russia.”

“It’s good to see you again.” He puts his hand on her shoulder, turning a more genuine as she pats his hand for a second.

It hits Diggle then that it’s not the Queen charm at all, but that Lyla and Oliver know each other already. “Wait, you two’ve met?” he asks with a frown, unsure why neither of them have ever mentioned that before.

“Yes, we’ve worked together,” Lyla says, sounding as confused as Diggle feels that he doesn’t know that.

With that, Diggle turns his look on Oliver, who just looks at him innocently as if it is totally normal that he hasn’t mentioned he knows Diggle’s ex-wife. He shrugs: “She was my handler after my old one quit.”

“Handler?” Felicity speaks up. “As in being responsible for handling you on missions secret agent style handler?”

Oliver nods, confirming: “I worked for A.R.G.U.S. for a while.”

“When?” Diggle asks, able to make a guess to the period, but needing to know if Oliver worked with Lyla when they were still married. If she kept that from him.

He can understand why she would have, but after witnessing first hand the damage Oliver’s supposed death did to both him and his family these past two years, he can’t imagine her working on this and not showing a singular thing about it at home.

Oliver luckily disregards him of that notion: “It was 2010 that I met Lyla, but I started working with A.R.G.U.S. in 2009. She took over supervising a low contact mission and oversaw my release from service.”

“How did you end up working for A.R.G.U.S. for three years?” Felicity asks. “Aren’t they government? Why didn’t you go home?”

“I only worked for them for two years,” Oliver says.

Diggle can do the math, that means Oliver’s service ended a year before he returned home. He was found on Lian Yu. How did he get there? Did A.R.G.U.S. leave him there? Did Lyla? Did he get into another shipwreck and end up there only that last year?

“Two years?” Felicity is the one that asks the question.

“Da,” Anatoli suddenly mixes himself up in the conversation. “Was in Russia last year. Dropped him back on Lian Yu myself and bribed fishermen.”

“I always wondered how you ended back on Lian Yu after we extracted you from there and why you wanted to go to Russia,” Lyla says. “Can’t say I imagined…” she pauses for a second, looking at Anatoli “…this.”

“It wasn’t the plan, it happened,” Oliver shrugs, giving them as little as possible. Diggle recognizes the attitude from all the other times he was forced to share something from his time away. Sharing is not something that comes easily to Oliver Queen.

Though, it appears that Anatoli has no such inhibitions, happily sharing: “His plan involved ending up tied to chair with bullet nearly in brain.”

“And I am glad you saved me from that,” Oliver sighs fondly. It’s strange to see him interact with Anatoli. There is a camaraderie there that he doesn’t have with Lyla and that he is only just starting to form with Diggle himself. It makes him curious about Oliver’s time in Russia.

Since Anatoli seems to be in the sharing mood, Diggle asks: “Yeah, how’d he end up in that situation?”

“Ah, ah, brothers do not talk,” Anatoli says jovially. “Even to second favorite American.”

“Thank you, Anatoli,” Oliver says with a small grin, obviously feeling comfortable around the man. Then he turns to Diggle and says: “It’s a long story that I might tell… one day.”

“Even if we instate what happens in Russia, stays in Russia?” Felicity asks in a tone that makes Diggle think he missed a conversation.

Anatoli lets out a loud laugh: “Ha! What happens in Russia, stays in Russia. I will remember that.”

Oliver seems less amused by the comment, tersely saying: “No, Felicity, even if we reinstate that, I am keeping it to myself for now.”

“But Lyla mentioned extracting you from Lian Yu, but you were working with A.R.G.U.S. before that, but you’ve mentioned first getting to Lian Yu before, so you must have been there. So, did you complete missions for them there? Or did you get shipwrecked there twice? You know I can’t do mysteries,” Felicity says.

Diggle watches as Oliver sighs, before giving in, because he has never been able to say no to Felicity. Sometimes it is really frustrating to be their friend, but Diggle is too tired to make a comment right now. Oliver says: “They got me off Lian Yu to do a mission, then dropped me back on Lian Yu to do the last mission.”

“Very rudely I might add,” Anatoli says.

Next to Diggle, Lyla cringes and agrees: “Not our finest moment.”

“Okay, kind of worried if the Russian mob boss and the American secret agent are agreeing,” Felicity voices an opinion Diggle shares.

Both Anatoli and Lyla turn to Oliver, neither want to say something without his approval. It is strange to see Oliver interact with those he’s worked with before. Diggle is used to him and Felicity being the two in a room who know the most about Oliver, the ones that are closest to him. It’s a strange thought that Oliver is capable of working together with people other than them.

With everyone’s eyes on him, it seems that even Oliver isn’t entirely immune to peer pressure (or he knows Felicity is going to bug him and he will crack so he’s saving himself the embarrassment), because he says: “Waller cornered me in a bar, spiked my drink and I woke up on a plane over Lian Yu where they forced me to jump out at gun point.”

“What?” Diggle chokes out in shock. He knows best of all what that island has done to Oliver and he can’t imagine A.R.G.U.S. not knowing after a year of employing him, the fact that they drugged and threatened him to force him back there is proof of that.

Instinctively his eyes go to Lyla, again questioning if she was involved in that and where her morals lie. He’s so relieved to see her alive, wanting to keep her close and ensure himself she is okay, but these moments remind him of why they divorced.

“Lyla got involved later on,” Oliver says, as if he can read Diggle’s mind and wants to assure him – a kind of emotional awareness Diggle didn’t realize he was capable off. “She was the one who debriefed me and got me out of there. It was appreciated.”

“I’m glad,” she smiles at him, seeming relieved that he said it.

Diggle immediately feels guilty for doubting her. She’s just been through hell and is now stuck in this car getting judged by him. He pulls her to his side, insides fluttering in a familiar way when she snuggles in closer.

The conversation has come to an end by now. Oliver has already answered more questions than he ever has before – no matter how many new ones have arisen – and neither Anatoli nor Lyla comment more. So Diggle and Felicity drop it as they say their goodbyes to Anatoli and spend their last night in Moscow before flying back, Lyla hiding out so Isabel won’t spot her.

In fact, it doesn’t come up until after their first night back on American soil. The fear of nearly losing the other and being back in fighting conditions, not to mention what led to Lyla being in Russia in the first place, all boiling over together into them falling into bed together.

As they’re lying in the afterglow, Diggle suddenly asks: “Would you’ve ever told me about working with Oliver if he hadn’t acknowledged it first?”

Lyla thinks about it for a second, then apologetically shakes her head. “You know us A.R.G.U.S. agents, we close ranks around our own. And Amanda can be particular about what secrets she wants to be kept. I don’t know what kind of brief Oliver got from her about it. We try not to jeopardize someone’s mission or orders.”

Now it’s Diggle’s turn to consider her words. In a way he can see and understand why she’d do that, has even seen it mirrored in Oliver with how he keeps his secrets.

He now wonders if Oliver wanted to come and help rescue Lyla because A.R.G.U.S. closes ranks around their own, or because he wanted to help Diggle. Then he decides it doesn’t matter. Oliver showed up when he didn’t have to and he opened up about his history with Lyla, when he knew that keeping it to himself was an option with the way A.R.G.U.S. operates.

So, he just tugs Lyla close again and says: “I get that,” reveling in the way she smiles back at him.

~~

A/N:

This started as wouldn’t it be funny if Lyla and Oliver already knew each other and Diggle is going ?? bc neither of them ever mentioned it and then I realized Anatoli is also in the episode where they officially met and it spiraled into Oliver dropping Lian Yu lore, bc I live for that.

[burnwater13]

Din Djarin and Boba Fett in Mos Espa fighting unseen assailants (Pyke Syndicate members out of frame). Image from The Book of Boba Fett, Season 1, Episode 7, In the Name of Honor. Calendar by DateWorks.

Sometimes, when Grogu had too much to eat and too much sleep, he had to find something to do that occupied his mind, but not his body. His body wanted to turn that food into energy and use that energy to rebuild his body bit by bit. As you might well imagine that was actually a lot of work and it wasn’t made easier or better by running around or using the Force to clean your room. He had to sit around and do as close to nothing as he could. 

Normally that nothing might involve sleeping. But not this time, because as he had already noted, he’d had plenty of sleep and even after four gorgs, a pile of dung worms, and a couple of fire stacks, he wasn’t tired enough to just fall asleep. Instead he had to find a way to occupy his mind. 

Again, normally, he might watch some episodes of Diggle and Daggle, the Fish that fish. Not today. The comp was being updated and his dad had told him that there wouldn't be any Diggle and Daggle for a couple of hours. What good was technology if it wasn’t there when you needed it the most, was the question he had asked his dad. The Mandalorian had just laughed and told him that back when he was a boy he had plenty of games to play that didn’t involve a comp. 

Grogu had groused back at his dad that it would require that he had friends who wanted to play games and a time machine, because to play games he needed to skip the fourth gorg, half the dung worms and both of the fire stacks. The Mandalorian had no sympathy for him and recommended that he sit back and consider his life choices. So he did that. For a while.

The life choices of a Jedi youngling weren’t particularly deep or fascinating, at least not to the youngling who had made those choices. First, he hadn’t chosen to be a Jedi youngling. Someone else had made that decision for him. Grogu had no idea who that person(s) was, but he knew it wasn’t him. Second, he hadn’t chosen to leave the Jedi Order or the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Again, that had been other people. He had been glad that one set of those people had been looking out for him, while the other set had been pretty determined to find him and use him. 

Finally or thirdly… thirdly?… finally, he had found himself in the position of making almost all of his choices based on a few simple principles. Would he be able to eat? Would he be able to sleep? Would he be safe? Yup. That was it. Not, did he like it. Not, did it feel good. Not, did it help bring balance to the Force in the big scheme of things. Nope. It had been all about Grogu’s survival. 

If the people he met helped him achieve those modest goals he thanked them and helped them if he could. If they stood in his way, well, he moved, or … he used the Force to move them. He did that as a last resort. It was always dangerous to do that. People just didn’t forget a small green person holding their hand up and moving the eopie you climbed off of right over them. 

So this assignment to consider his choices didn’t take a lot of time or a lot of consideration. Which gave his mind a chance to roam around and pick something else to consider. At that moment, his dad was clearing the dishes from the table and discovered the pile of veggies Grogu had hidden under one of bowls. 

Grogu did not consider veggies to be food and he was pretty sure the Mandalorian had a fair understanding of that, despite watching the taller man pile them up on his plate next to the gorgs. That his dad was surprised to find them under the bowl that had once held them was pretty funny, but Grogu knew he couldn’t laugh about it. First laughing was work and he was trying very hard not to do any work. Second, he knew from his choices in the recent past that Din Djarin didn’t find this sort of thing funny, even when it was pure comedy. 

Instead, he decided to ask his dad a question. It had required fast thinking and a certain amount of risk. The question had to be important enough that the Mandalorian would choose to answer it and it had to be interesting enough that Grogu would want to hear the answer. He’d made mistakes in the past that involved asking the bounty hunter about armor polish (he only made that mistake once), how to properly clean and sight a blaster rifle (don’t ask), and why he had to ‘make’ his bed every morning (if was a hammock… how do you ‘make’ a hammock?).

He asked his question and his dad stopped cleaning up the dishes. That was a good sign. If a question caused Din Djarin to suspend normal operations that meant it was really meaningful to him, like armor polish. Grogu watched the bounty hunter walk across the room and sit down next to him. The Mandalorian hadn’t said a word yet and still Grogu had the sense that answer was going to be long and possibly fairly interesting. He waited quietly. The was the best way to encourage his dad to speak and it actually gave him more time to digest his food, which was a bonus. 

Finally, the Mandalorian replied. 

“Sometimes you have to prepare for the next event while you are completing the current one. If I hadn’t looked to the right, I wouldn’t have seen the fighter who was aiming at the Daimyo. Every fighter learns to do that. They call it situational awareness. I don’t think that really has anything to do with the Force. I can’t do the things you do. You’re special kid.”

Grogu smiled at his dad. This was a good sign. He coo’d at the Mandalorian.

“You want to hear the whole story of what the Daimyo and I did that day? You know, before you and Peli showed up? Sure. What the hell.”

[pomodoriyum]

go for broke, tuunbaaq, sundogs!

go for broke - what role do you think you’d be good in on a polar expedition?

going to be completely honest i think i'd rather blow up into 1 million pieces than ever go somewhere that cold (also im so fucking scared of bears). which is a shame because the poles are some of the most beautiful places on earth and are so fucking cool. i love deserts so much. i guess this aversion means id be more involved with preparing the expedition itself. maybe im the one who buys the goldners tins and inadvertently poisons them all.

tuunbaq - were you frightened by the show? which scene do you find the “scariest”?

hmmmm i would say the billy orren corpse reveal got my heart rate up a bit, and david young's death, but other than that, no. In terms of what I find most horrifying on a personal level, though, I gotta say the punished as a boy rape-by-proxy scene is disturbing to me (hickeys foot curling inwards...the salting....woof) and also des voeux's death in particular are just. ugh. imagine someone disliking you so much they leave you to a slow, horrible death from dehydration + exposure. yikes <- to be clear silna was 100% right about doing that. but ohhhhh my god that particular death hits the horror button for me so so bad

jopsons death wasnt great either tbh :(

fitzjames's death was awesome though. i loved that scene so much.

sundogs - talk about a moment in the show that interests you most

oughhhh, this one is so harddd. there are a *lot* of really poignant ones. and all of them are fairly subjective. and i think i dont want clarification on any of them.....

that being said. i really loved the birthday scene for Mr. Strong i thought it was great and also the tiny bit where they're playing football. i just love the glimpses of their daily lives. oh my god and dont get me started on all of the furniture and rooms and hammocks and diggle's stove..... i think about the items on billy gibson's table frequently.

the scene that absolutely fucking haunts me, though?

that's got to be the bit where tuunbaq brings silna a dead seal to eat.

[saints-who-never-existed]

Rereading The Terror

Chapter Forty-Nine: Crozier

The southward journey continues, or at least tries to...

Whether asleep or awake, Crozier is beset on all sides by nightmares. In the few minutes of sleep he can catch, he has visions of his Memo Moira sending him up to receive the Eucharist from a giant, dripping Tuunbaq-like priest who rises up out of the floor and reeks of blood. "He knows that his life will never be the same after receiving the Papist Eucharist. And he also knows that his life will end if he does not receive it." And in his waking hours, he and the men are subjected to the constant, terrifying feeling that the ice beneath them is breaking up to swallow them whole, as well as the news from Goodsir that their constant ice-slicked, sweat-dampened state is ruining the men's feet, rotting them gangrenously away and necessitating amputations.

Those unimaginably awful conditions are one thing I do feel the book captures better than the show often is able to (for obvious practical reasons, but still...). "The Holland tents were soaked and never dried. The sleeping bags...were soaked and frozen inside and out and never dried. When the men awoke in the morning after a few stolen minutes of fitful sleep - no amount of shivering could make one warmer..." Like, just the mental toll of being that cold for that long alone is bad enough! :(((

They're constantly trying to hunt but are constantly unsuccessful. They've shot at a few seals on the ice floes but the animals have always managed to escape down into the water to die before the men can reach them. ("Sometimes the hunters knelt on the ice to lap at the blood.")

One bright spot in all the darkness is the legendary Mr Diggle, who somehow manages to remain "the same energetic, obscene, efficient, bellowing, and somehow reassuring figure he had been for three years at his post... aboard HMS Terror." "...always the optimist...", Diggle has even cobbled together a crude seal-oil stove so as to be ready in the event that one of the hunting parties finally sees some success.

Still, even that optimism isn't enough and Crozier's thoughts grow darker... He reasons that the only thing that would really help them now would be to finally manage to kill Tuunbaq, who continues to stalk them. He still believes Tuunbaq to be a real animal of flesh and blood (unlike the rest of the men who believe it a wrathful god) and can't help but think not only of the feast Tuunbaq's body would provide but of the morale boost too. "So they would eat well for many week if they did manage to murder their murderer. And with every bite, Crozier knew, even eating the thing-flesh as they were the salt pork while on the march, there would be the pleasure of revenge, even if it had to be a dish best served cold."

The lengths he contemplates going to in order to accomplish this almost don't bear thinking about. First, he considers using himself as bait: "If it would work, Francis Crozier knew he would set himself out onto the ice as bait. If it would work. If it would save and feed even a few of his men."

Then, he thinks about bodies... He remembers Private Wilkes, who was pulled from the water just before the ice closed back over the drowned Marines, but who died from the cold shortly afterwards anyway. He thinks of how they just his left his body out on the ice when they moved on when they could've used it for bait. And he thinks of David Leys now - the man who's lain catatonic and useless since Tuunbaq's attack on Blanky. Not even the likes of Hickey and Aylmore seem to have thought of leaving Leys behind (or worse) but Crozier has... "But everyone must have had the same thought..." "Eat them." "Eat Leys first, then the others when they die." "Francis Crozier was so hungry that he could imagine eating human flesh. He would not kill a man in order to devour him - not yet - but once dead, why should all that meat be left behind to rot in the arctic summer sun?"

Crozier thinks briefly of the whaling ship Essex, the one famously sunk by a sperm whale in 1820, leaving her crew to drift and descend into cannibalism and almost all perish in their tiny whaleboats in the Pacific. Hard to tell whether it comes from Simmons himself, or is more on Crozier's part as a character but there's a bit that strikes me as amusing. Crozier recalls that the Essex's crew made landfall on Henderson Island but quickly found that the animals and plant life there would not be enough to sustain them. Conveniently left out is the fact that there wasn't enough animal and plant life because the crew went absolutely fuckin' hog-wild and burnt through it all, depleting all of the island's natural resources in the space of barely a fuckin' week! Like, God love them the poor bugger's were starving, but even still, they were the reason there wasn't enough food to last on that island!

Back in colder climes, the Expedition's men continue to drift, the ice being too weirdly broken up for them to row/sail/haul with any kind of purpose. Crozier maps their position as best he can and eventually realises just where they are: "We're in the strait. And since we have to be north of the Adelaide Peninsula, we've completed the goal of the Sir John Franklin Expedition. This is the North-West Passage. By God, you've done it." "There was a weak cheer followed by some coughing."

And finally, a short while later, they're able to make landfall again. The men are so exhausted that they don't even put up tents or pull out sleeping bags, just collapsed and sleep in piles on the bare rocks with only their mate's bodies for warmth. Crozier doesn't assign a watch - "If the thing wanted them tonight, it could have them." He checks their position once more, figures out that they're still 900 miles from Great Slave Lake, and throws himself down on the ground to sleep too and dream again of Memo Moira - "Crozier closed his eyes and extended his tongue to receive the Body of Christ."

[todayisafridaynight]

don’t know how to explain this but i love how mine’s little crush on diggle is like so real i don’t think he can take imagining fucking him hes like blushing himself red at the thought of holding his hand or resting his head on his shoulder meanwhile daigo’s like need a sloppy NOW

that was definitely a way to end this ask WOW