#technically sort of true. so)

[kizzer55555]

DP x DC: The Most Dangerous Card Game

Ok so Danny has essentially claimed earth as his. And he is fully aware that there are constant threats to the planet. Now he can’t stop a threat that originates on earth (that’s something he’ll leave to the Justice league) but he can do something about outside threats. Doing some research on ancient spells, rituals, and artifacts, he cast a world wide barrier on the planet to protect it from hostile threats so they cannot enter. This will prevent another Pariah Dark incident. However, barriers like this come at a price. You see, there are two ways to make a barrier. Either make one powered up by your own energy and power (which would be constantly draining) or set up a barrier with rules. The way magic works is that nothing can be absolutely indestructible. It must have a weakness. The most powerful barriers weren’t the ones reinforced with layer after layer of protective charms and buffed up with power. Those could eventually be destroyed either by being overpowered, wearing them down, or by cutting off the original power source. No, the most powerful barriers were the ones with a deliberate weakness. A barrier indestructible except for one spot. A cage that can only be opened from the outside. Or that can only be passed with a key or by solving a riddle. So Danny chooses this type of barrier and does the necessary ritual and pours in enough power to make it. And he adds his condition for anyone to enter. 

Now the Justice league? Find out about the barrier when Trigon attempts to attack, they were preparing after he threatened what he would do once he got to earth. How he would destroy them. The Justice league tried to take the fight to him first but were utterly destroyed, so they retreated home to tend to their injuries, and fortify earth for one. Last. Stand. Only when Trigon makes his big entrance…he’s stopped.

The Justice league watch in awe as this thin see-through barrier with beautiful green swirls and speckled white lights like stars apears blocking Trigon and his army’s advance. The barrier looks so thin and fragile yet no matter how hard the warlord hits, none of his attacks can get through and neither can he damage said barrier. That’s when Constantine and Zatanna recognizes what this barrier is. Something only a powerful entity could create. For a moment, the league is filled with hope that Trigon can’t get through yet Constantine also explains that it’s not impenetrable. And clearly Trigon knows this too for he calls out a challenge. 

And that’s when, in a flash of light, a tiny glowing teenager appears. He looked absolutly minuscule compared to Trigon and yet practically glowed with power (this isn’t a King Danny AU though).

And that is when the conditions for passing the barrier are revealed. And the Justice realize that the only thing stopping Trigon and his army from decimating earth. The only way he can get through….is by beating this glowing teenager in a card game. 

Not just any card game though. The most convoluted game Sam, Danny, and Tucker invented themselves. It’s like the infinite realms version of magic the gathering, combined with Pokémon, and chess. And Danny is the master. So sit down Trigon and let’s play.

(The most intense card game of the Justice league’s life).

After Danny wins, this happens a few more times with outer word beings and possibly even demons attempting to invade earth, yet none have been able to beat the mysterious teenager in a card game. Constantine might even take a crack at it and try to figure out how to play. He’s really bad though. Every time this happens, the Justice league worry that this might be the time the teenager looses. Yet every time, he wins (even if only barely). 

Meanwhile, Danny, Sam, and Tucker have gotten addicted to the game and play it almost daily. Some teachers might seem them playing the game are are like ‘awww how cute’ not realizing this game is literally saving the world. Jazz is just happy they aren’t spending as much time on their screens playing Doomed.

[e-rated-beardo]

Oh guys, oh guys oh guys ohguysohguys

I found out a thing yesterday that's making me so very very very excited

And just in case you're the type who'd get excited too and like me two days ago you also don't know this important fact:

The Organization for @transformativeworks (OTW; the parent org of AO3) publishes a peer-reviewed academic journal, completely open-access, i.e. free for you to read

Cancel all my appointments forever this is where I'm going to be for the foreseeable lifetime gfasdafdhfgadgd

This post brought to you by "beardo needs to write a literature review about a certain number of a certain type of peer-reviewed paper, on otherwise whatever topics he likes, vaguely contained inside the concept of of 'library or information services', and yesterday he Found His Topic"

I'm so happy everyone, I'm going to write so many academic papers about fanfiction my lecturers are going to get sick of me 🥹🤩

I am Aziraphale rn

Relatedly, I've also just learnt that Dr Lyn Robinson, co-author of a book that's mandatory reading for like 80% of the courses in the academic programme I'm enrolled in, has published research about AO3. Not only does she seem to be into the same sort of information science stuff that I am, she's also researched fanfiction. She's my new idol

[neodiekido]

this interaction drives me absolutely bonkers. thinking about utdp/danganronpa s maki gets me so fucked uppppppp

[babybells123]

I’m obsessed with them already

[lonelysa1lor]

no one talk to me im thinking about Hannibal and Will meeting as kids again

[houndsofcorduff]

Teaser Trailer - True Colors

Authors Note: Stay with me, this one is a little different, trust the process.

Summary: You watch a commercial for a TV show premiering Fall of 1999

@flashfictionfridayofficial prompt FFF311

Word Count: 504

It's the summer of 1999. You sit, bored, on the couch, channel surfing while you wait for dinner to be ready. You happen to catch the next channel at just the right moment as a commercial for a new show begins.

The screen is black with a static hum.

A teenage boy's voice, off-screen, says, "Most people don't see the world for what it really is."

The plain black image is interrupted by a flickering street lamp, just briefly illuminating a cobblestone street and smooth sidewalk. A shadow passes by, almost too quickly to catch.

The boy's voice continues. "They have no idea what's hiding in plain sight."

The image cuts to thick, dark trees, and a pair of glowing eyes peers out at you from between the branches. In the distance, someone screams faintly. The image changes again, this time more dramatically, to a worn building with warm bricks. The mahogany brown door slowly opens with a creak.

"We call them Waystations. Homes for the lost, the hunted, and the just plain weird."

A montage of images flashes across the screen, showing different creatures. A person with bark for skin. A normal human head, except for the antlers sticking out of their hair. A girl cuts her eyes at you and then turns into mist. A teenage werewolf grins at you, fangs bared.

"Shapeshifters. Banshees. Werewolves. You name it, we've probably patched them up and given them a bed."

The images begin to take on an ominous tone again. Someone screaming, appearing to be trapped behind a foggy mirror. A book pulses with the light of a foreign glowing sigil. A raven flies across the full moon.

"Most people walk through life never seeing what's right in front of them."

The soft, haunting melody you barely noticed playing over the background begins to swell.

"But not me."

You finally see Devon, the boy who has been speaking, sitting on the roof of the Waystation. It's night, the wind sweeps through his dark hair, and his sharp eyes watch the town spread out around him.

"When you grow up surrounded by the things that aren't supposed to exist, you get used to seeing through to people's true colors."

The image cuts again, this time to a moss-covered archway in the forest. Inside the archway, the image begins to warble and distort, showing not the forest, but a glimpse into an entirely different world of rolling hills and lavender skies. It vanishes.

"Some of them are beautiful. Some of them would burn the world down."

Back in the forest, a flashlight cuts across the screen, then illuminates the title "Avalon". The background fades until only the title is showing on a black background. Smaller words swipe across the bottom of the title in a ghostly font.

The first set reads "Not everything that's hidden wants to stay that way."

The words are swept away and replaced by the second set, simply "Coming this fall."

Devon speaks one last time as the commercial closes. "Sleep tight."

Tagging my production team as well (aka the taglist): @kingragnarok-writes @aalinaaaaaa @annetilney @ark-inkweaving

Let me know if you want to join the production team ;)

[natsumiikan]

I just finished the natlan archon quest after putting it off forever and it was mind-blowingly mid but I think I realized what the problem is. There's no Yuri 💔

[skogsdotter-draws]

Ok but, regarding TMAGP 27, I can't stop thinking about Jonah writing, after sending Archibald to a certain death, "It is done, and I am surprised to find how little remorse I feel." It reminds me of his statement in MAG 160:

"The discovery, not simply of the dark and horrible reality of the world in which you live, but that you would quite willingly doom that world and confine the billions in it to an eternity of terror and suffering, all to ensure your own happiness, to place yourself beyond pain and death and fear. (...) It is an awful thing to know about yourself."

I will never get tired of little details about his life being revealed (regardless of the timeline/dimension) because the parallel between his discovery of the supernatural world and the discovery of his own true self and the things he's capable of is so interesting and compelling to me.

Along with the knowledge of the horrors that exist in his world comes the horror of the realization that he might be capable of anything to stop feeling scared and vulnerable, to put himself over everybody else if necessary. Every time curiosity leads him into a new experiment, a new sacrifice in the name of knowledge, he lets go a little bit of himself and his morality. And then, as it happened with Archibald, and as it happened with Barnabas in another world, he feels surprised of how easy it was. Of how he doesn't feel regret or grief, how at most he finds himself thinking that it was all a pity. So it becomes even easier each time, he finds freedom in it, as he also mentions in MAG 160— and one sacrifice after another, it all becomes incredibly simple. There is no fear of losing himself, only the fear of death and pain remains, and only after that process of two hundreds years can one condemn the world for his own sake.

The progressive descent into evil of Jonah Magnus, slowly exposed through statements and letters, will never stop being one of the more interesting parts of this podcast imo.

[sysig]

I’m just saying I think he has a type (Patreon)

[knackeredforever]

Been looking at some ac6 discussion on tumblr and

Spoilers:

Iguaza is reverse sans is the funniest thing I’ve ever heard and why is it technically true

[edwinisms]

joshua colley (monty) is younger than me oh fuck ohh god

[maelstrom007]

Malcontent

A look into Mal's origin story, my oc from @ghouljams cod Fae!au.

Warnings: Child in distress, and risk of drowning. The child doesn't actually drown, and the situation is resolved by the end.

In the moment, it didn’t occur to Maeve how sad it was that she was the only person struck with a sense of urgency at the noise coming from the well. No, it took her several days before the anguish, anger, and despair properly took her body and froze it stone cold. But we’re not there yet. We’re here in the now. And right now, there is a haunting, bone chilling wailing emanating from the well. 

Maeve nearly falls in herself with how quickly she runs, pail forgotten as she peers over the edge. The desperate sound of a child’s scream echoes off of the stone walls and pierces her ears. But it’s the sight of the small child, face contorted in fear and confusion as it tries to find purchase on the wet stone that truly breaks her. 

“Shhh, sweetheart. Ye’re alright, I’ll get you out don’t ye worry,” Maeve called down, calm and steady. 

Unfortunately the communal bucket and rope were down the well with the child, who most likely pulled the free end of the rope out of its temporary mooring in an attempt to climb out. There would never be a time where Maeve was happiest to be a crafter, pulling a long length of cordage from her rucksack and tying a large loop on one end of it. When she was done she tossed it down, keeping a firm grip on the free end. 

Over the continued panicking cries of the child she yelled, “Put your legs through and rest the loop under your bum sweet thing. Now grab the rope and hold tight.” 

Fear and determination fuelled Maeve as she heaved, struggling against the weight of a sopping wet child as she slowly pulled them out of the well. There was a brief moment of terror where her hands slipped on the second half of the cordage that had become wet when it landed in the water. Despite the burning feeling of rough and woody fiber pulling through her palms she held fast, regaining her grip and pulling with all her strength. Bright red hair peaked over the edge of the well, and Maeve desperately held the tension in the cord with one hand  as she reached out with the other, scooping up the child into her arms. They latched onto her like a leech, nearly squeezing the life out of her as they cried into her neck. 

“There there, I’ve got ye now. Don’ worry a thing lovely,” she murmured, wrapping the child in her cloak, the bright yellow accompanying the mop of fiery red hair nicely. 

By the time they walked home, the child had settled down somewhat in her arms, no longer crying the blood curdling scream from earlier, but still shouting and bawling something fierce. Out from the front door rushed her daughter, long flaxen hair streaming behind her as she came to investigate. 

“Ma, who’s this?”, she said, poking at the bundle in her arms.

“I haven’t a clue darling, But first, let's get them warmed up. Feed the fire will you Niamh.”

Maeve sat in front of the fire, cradling the bundle in her arms as Niamh set it blazing hot. She cooed, humming under her breath and rocking gently. Niamh sat down next to her, watching intently as the child continued to cry, but said nothing. They sat there so long that her daughter fell asleep on her shoulder, snoring gently. And still they cried, and still Maeve soothed, all the way until the morning dawn. Only then, did the cries turn to sniffles, until finally they stopped completely. 

“There we are,” she murmured, “feeling better darling?”

Pulling away from Maeve's shoulder, the child finally turned to face her for the first time, face still scrunched tight and wet with tears. 

“Come now, relax,” she gently brushed her fingers over the child’s face, soothing worry lines and wrinkles until their face was lax and still in her hands. 

“Open your eyes wee thing.” 

Now, there were plenty of things Maeve was expecting, such as brown or maybe even blue eyes to peer back at her with the whites bloodshot and red from the river of tears. 

What she was not expecting was the set of four large, perfectly circular black eyes staring back at her. To her credit, she did not flinch or otherwise spook at the sight, peculiar though it was. At that point in time, all she was concerned about was making sure the poor thing was alright. 

The next thing that happened though, she did startle at. The child began to squirm, turning their head this way and that desperately in search of something. It wasn’t until they spotted Niamh did they stop their search, going stock still as they looked upon her daughter. Almost imperceptibly, the child pivoted their head at multiple angles, as if they were studying her. Then, their outline began to blur into the surrounding air, as if looking at a mirage on a hot day. Suddenly, they came back into crystal clear focus, except now in the shape of her sleeping daughter. 

Maeve’s eyes widened in shock, arms squeezing slightly at the new development. Had she had too much to drink? Was this some elaborate nightmare? But the more she looked, the more she saw the differences. For a start their hair was still shockingly red as ever, but there were other things too. The mole was on the wrong side, and the scar across the brow Niamh had gotten as a toddler was missing, and a multitude of other small discrepancies revealed the poor attempt at what Maeve assumed was blending in. 

She’d heard about creatures like this. Faeries swapping a human child with their own, tormenting their new family until it drove them into destitution and ruin. The child's eyes were still large and black, although seemingly reduced from four to two in the mimicking attempt. How could anyone believe that those eyes wished them harm? Staring up trustingly at her, completely at her mercy. She could have let them drown, or tossed them into the hot fire, and yet it trusted her not to. 

“Do you have a name?” She wondered aloud. Just as she wondered if they knew how to talk, the child spoke. 

“My name is Malcontent,” they whispered, thankfully not in Niamh’s voice. Maeve didn’t know if she could keep it together if they did. 

Pity crossed her features, “What a terrible name for a child. We should change it to something more pleasant.”

“NO!” Malcontent screamed, face contorted in anger, “My name is Malcontent!” 

The irony of the situation did not escape her, “Why would your parents give you such a name?” 

Like a switch, anger was replaced with sadness, “My parents didn’t give me that name. The ones they left me with gave it to me. Kept saying how I couldn’t be their child cause their angel was never as unhappy and angry as I was. I just wanted to go home. But I don’t know how.”

Maeve listened intently, tears poking at the corners of her eyes, “You sure have a lot of words for a child so small.” To that, Malcontent had no response, so she continued, “It was unfair of them to give you such a burdening name. Names have power, and what else could you do but be upset and angry and sad being called something like Malcontent all day?”

“But I was sad and angry and upset before them. And I always will be,” they mutter determinedly. 

Maeve made one last attempt, “I think you should consider trying another name for a while. See how it feels?”

“Fine. But I don’t know many names.” they scowled, as if inconvenienced by the fact that Maeve was trying to save them from the most upsetting name she had ever heard. 

She paused, thinking of the options. There were a multitude of names to choose from, many of which could be a fitting and pleasant name to bear. However, it also felt wrong to completely wash over and erase a part of this child's history and experiences. 

“How about Mal?”

[jgnico]

the 'lost fight = bum" thing with powerscalers is SOOOO ANNOYING. Rn with Kashimo, and I saw similar w gojo when 236 dropped where dudebros saying shit like "he got low diff'd trash character" in the comments of stuff not even about powerscaling. Powerscalers act like it's illegal to enjoy a character after they lose a fight. The way they switch up on characters over exclusively loss/wins is such a painfully shallow and bland way to approach the story (and kind of ironic considering how strength is treated in the narrative...)💀

The thing that annoys me the most is that they refuse to think of anything happening in the story that leads to a character losing. Like even ignoring the elephant in the room of Kashimo because Gege practically gave us nothing when it comes to scaling his released form (I would have liked something, but I can also accept that him losing the way he did speaks more toward Sukuna's ability than it does Kashimo's), you have characters like Jogo that they'll call weak, when in reality he's incredibly powerful but had the misfortune of fighting the two strongest characters in the verse as his only showing. Does that mean he couldn't have mopped the floor with most of the characters in the series at the time? Absolutely not, but you'd never get that from the vacuum that most powerscalers seem to operate in.

As someone who enjoys deep diving into fights and the details of the power system, I find it incredibly boring and annoying to not consider any external factors when talking about a fight. There's so many seemingly little things that can lead to a character winning a fight that they shouldn't have from a purely ability-based perspective. Did they prep beforehand? How does their ability interact with their opponents? Are they getting help from another character or a tool? Are they being buffed or nerfed by anything prior to the fight? Are they injured? Were they caught by surprise? Etc, etc.

Take Toji, for example, who powerscalers love to hold up as a powerhouse probably more than he deserves. (Which isn't me saying he's weak, he isn't, but I feel like some people do overestimate him in terms of ability, despite how much the power ceiling has been raised since Shibuya.) Toji planned so much for his mission to kill Riko and his fight against Gojo. He used other sorcerers to wear Gojo out for three days straight before he felt comfortable to step in and still used cursed tools and curses on top of it. Does that mean he couldn't have done anything if Gojo was fresh at the time of their fight? No, but it certainly made it easier. Toji doesn't blow through Gojo as easy as he does without prep, but people will look at their fight without any additional info and use that as a definitive scale of where Toji is compared to everyone else in the verse.

I don't know, I have a lot (and I mean, a LOT) of issues with how a majority of the fandom talks about JJK that isn't just the issue of powerscaling, but at a point it becomes me beating my head against a wall with nothing to show for it but a headache. Like, if anyone wanted to read me rant for a couple thousand words, bring up the fandoms general perception of Sukuna being a bum despite the heaps of info that we have to the contrary. Even the most recent chapter highlighted how ridiculous he is in terms of strength and understanding of cursed energy and sheer ability, but people are still saying he only won because of Mahoraga.

At what point is it not worth it to argue with that? Cause there's always gonna be someone that's wrong and loud about it, but when that becomes the majority of fans about multiple aspects of the series, it starts to kill the enjoyment of the series for me. I don't like being in a state of seeing bullshit takes every time I try to engage with the fandom. It's tiring.

[inkats]

i think. this song is fun.

[lighthouseborn]

to balance the extremely odd energy i just put out here though i really do think. and i maybe think about this a lot but- i really do think. the movie is wrong because carina definitely kissed him first. send post.

[beesarthur]

Where in the world were Mulder and Scully?

I'm sure someone else has already made this list, but I've decided to keep track of how many U.S. states (and DC) (and Puerto Rico) Mulder and Scully investigate an incident in. Not counting other locations where part of the incident happens but Mulder and Scully never go to (like England in 1:12). (edited 3/27/24 after watching 2:19) This started as a list of US states and I continue to be interested in counting US states and territories, but the time has come to set up the list for other locations as well. This list includes places that Mulder and/or Scully go to during the episode to investigate a case. Action in DC that is not related to a case in DC does not count. If the action is in DC and spills over to Maryland and/or Virginia, I just count DC, but if the thing starts in VA and then things also happen in DC, I count both. I don't know, it's not an exact science, and the DC area is fluid to me. So far we have...

US States & Territories:

Oregon (1:1, 7:22)

Idaho (1:2, 2:18, 7:10)

Maryland (1:3, 1:15, 1:21, 1:24, 2:16, 2:17, 3:7, 3:16, 3:23, 4:8, 4:9, 4:16, 4:21, 5:3, FtF, 6:6, 6:12, 7:4)

Iowa (1:4)

New Jersey (1:5, 2:2)

Pennsylvania (1:6, 2:3, 2:16, 3:9, 4:2, 4:3, 4:12, 4:13, 4:14, 5:13, 5:14, 5:18, 7:15)

Virginia (1:7, 2:5, 2:6, 2:21, 2:22, 2:23, 3:7, 3:17, 3:24, 4:8, 4:10, 4:16, 4:21, 4:24, 5:1, 5:11, 5:13, 5:17, FtF, 6:7, 6:11, 6:18, 7:4, 7:5, 7:15)

Alaska (1:8, 2:17)

Texas (1:9, 5:12, FtF)

Wisconsin (1:10, 2:10)

Connecticut (1:11, 2:4)

California (1:11, 2:7, 3:15, 3:19, 4:11, 5:6, 5:7, 6:2, 6:15, 6:16, 7:3, 7:8, 7:10, 7:11, 7:12, 7:13, 7:14, 7:19)

Massachusetts (1:12, 1:14, 2:11, 2:16, 3:12, 3:18, 4:10, 4:19)

North Carolina (1:13, 2:15, 6:21, 7:18)

Washington, DC (1:16, 2:8, 2:21, 3:14, 3:16, 3:21, 4:16, 4:22, 4:24, 5:1, 5:2, 5:11, 5:18, 6:9, 6:14, 6:22, 7:1, 7:2, 7:7, 7:17, 7:19)

Tennessee (1:17, 1:18, 4:5, 7:9)

Washington State (1:17, 1:20, 1:23, 2:9, 3:8, 3:20)

Montana (1:19)

New York (1:22, 2:4, 2:16, 3:16, 4:3, 4:8, 4:9, 4:15, 4:17, 4:18, 6:10)

Puerto Rico (2:1)

Missouri (2:12, 7:21)

Nebraska (2:12)

Minnesota (2:13, 3:4)

New Hampshire (2:14, 3:13)

Florida (2:20, 3:5, 4:9, 5:4, 6:13, 7:4)

Arkansas (2:24)

New Mexico (2:25, 3:1, 6:22)

West Virginia (3:2, 3:9, 3:10, 4:20)

Oklahoma (3:3)

Ohio (3:6, 3:11, 5:18)

North Dakota (3:16)

Georgia (3:22)

Rhode Island (3:24, 4:1, 4:23)

Michigan (4:4, 5:9)

Illinois (4:6, 4:19, 7:6, 7:7)

South Carolina (only Skinner 4:21)

Indiana (5:5)

Maine (5:10)

Delaware (5:16, 5:18)

Arizona (6:1)

Nevada (6:2, 6:4, 6:5, 6:20)

Kansas (6:8, 7:20)

Mississippi (6:17)

Vermont (7:16)

Places Outside the US:

Norway (2:19)

Hong Kong (3:15)

Canada (Alberta - 4:1, 4:9; Yukon - 4:24)

Russia (4:8; 4:9)

Antarctica (FtF)

Sargasso Sea (6:3)

Côte d'Ivoire (6:22, 7:1)