#I know the content of the comic isn’t everyone’s cup of tea so here’s this small isolated panel since I enjoyed how it came out haha

[nightglider124]

titans fans think they own the dickkory tag but seem to forget that in no way did they invent it. Dickkory has been the ship name for decades for the two characters for the comics. It so happens that other versions of the ship (like titans) have tacked onto dickkory tag to make it easier to enjoy content. Robstar is used solely for the 03 cartoon. I don’t mean to hate, i like titans as well but it comes off as belittling other media forms to prop up others. Ie putting down the cartoon for the show even though they are completely different but still star our favourite dc characters and the reverse as well. I dont get why fans fee the need to be negative like cartoon fans hating on titans - they are completely different but they are both still valid. Just cos you don’t like one of the versions, doesn’t mean they need to be dicks about it. Sorry to vent, night but I see the bullshit on twitter and now here too. Its so stupid.

Sigh. In a way, I feel this, anon. I get what you mean with the end part of that - it is stupid. Titans, 03 show, ttg, dcau, comics… at the end of the day, i stay out of that bs drama with what is better or whatever cos that is childish af.

I very clearly have a favourite version which has always been the cartoon. Its what got me into DC and i grew up with it when fics and fanart were going strong and it was back in the early 2000’s, you know. The good ol’ days. 😂 But, despite that being my favourite, I also really enjoy Titans cos its a gritty version that is aimed at an older audience. I think that is what a lot of fans who prefer comics or the cartoon etc struggle with. I think they lean towards flat out disliking it bc it isn’t what they know and it’s different. There’s nothing wrong with not liking Titans. It isn’t everyone’s cup of tea; hell, i dropped it for s3 bc i was so uninterested in what they were doing by the end of s2. I also did not care for all the side characters taking spotlight over the main ones but I digress. But, keep it out of the fan’s faces, you know?

Its rude and really annoying when you have fans shitting on your good time. Titans has had a good time so far with dickkory and so fans are allowed to enjoy that. The fact that other dickkory fans who dont like Titans are being dicks about it is weird, in my opinion.

Same as, i think fans who try and shit on fans who love the cartoon are lame af. Like so what if its old? So what if it was aimed at younger audiences? So what if you dont like it? Point is, other people do so leave them to enjoy it. My biggest gripe with the cartoon is people saying it was childish considering it actually tackled some deeper topics, despite being a kids show.

Main point here is, people who gatekeep tags and shit are losers. Like, no one owns anything and anyone acting like that is sus, imo.

I get so sick of seeing people fight over different versions of a ship considering at the end of the day, its all the same?? Like dickkory for example. You may not like them in one format but you do in another. Personally, i am so fucking starved for dickkory content, i will take it from anything. Any version is allowed to be in the tag, old or new like jeez.

They are all valid formats if it means i get to see my two idiots in love.

A lot of people hate the DCAU but i really enjoyed those animated movies cos of, you guessed it, dickkory. They showed their relationship so nicely in that. It was wholesome as fuck but was also a little flirty so it was aimed at the adults more so. I think some people see animated stuff and immediately think its shit and childish which literally isn’t the case at all.

The comics are the og sources for these characters and I’ve seen a lot of ‘comic gatekeepers’ moan about other forms of the characters as well through the years. Now, i’ve got knowledge of the comics but im not some purist who has read every single one, more so bc fuck, I can’t keep up and comics contradict all the time cos of dumbass writers (looking at you T*m T*aylor 👀) but, i still appreciate the comics being the thing that started it all off. Without the comics, I wouldn’t have my baby Koriand’r 🥰 so anytime something remotely to do with dickkory comes out in comics, im rooting for it, purely cos i like seeing some form of life for my ship.

TTG is also valid; its silly and fun and that’s okay too. The titans are like a chiller version of the justice league and they are a team that notoriously is a bit less serious in all formats; they still have very serious storylines but they are the younger team ya know? Again, i think thats why a lot of people don’t like TTG either which is FINE but dont be going into ttg tags and mouthing off about how shit you think it is. Like its bad fandom decorum. Personally, I don’t care much for ttg; i did at first. I liked it and watched it regularly but now i just dont. But again, im not out here bitching about how it isnt the og cartoon so its crap or it isnt titans so its stupid.

I didn’t mean to rant like this but I just find it so fucking ridiculous that we’re still at this point in fandom where people can’t just let others enjoy shit. It is pathetic especially when shit like this comes from people who are literally adults like come on ffs. Get a grip.

I will continue to stay in my dickkory bubble, enjoying it in all forms which I advise fans to do lmao, it’s much less annoying and bitter when you just let yourself enjoy your ship In whatever formats there are.

Need I remind people that dickkory, despite being hella popular and loved, hasn’t had anything substantially canon in a long time so if shows like Titans are feeding fans, don’t be a dick and rain on parades. It’s not fair when people just wanna enjoy it and it just makes you an ass.

Sorry, this got hella long lmao. Also, anon, i would avoid twitter. It’s too toxic there, i have found in the past. Though Tumblr has had its moments too and by the sounds of it, people be just as bad here. 🙄

I could literally write a book on this, that’s how many thoughts I have. I’ve been around the DC fandom and dickkory tags for a long time and I can’t believe people still can’t help themselves. Just let people enjoy things all round, ugh! 🤦🏻‍♀️

[last-in-line-for-hell]

Happy Together

[stxleslyds]

Since I'm not satisfied with many of DC's Red Hood storylines, I am looking into fanfiction. Got any good fic recs?

I don't care if he makes up with Bruce, it's a trope AU, has a tragic ending, or even if it's (tasteful) smut. Just something that keeps him and everyone in character.

Hi! Thank you for the ask!

Fic recs for Jason and the others hmm, I have to be honest it has been a while since I have read much fanfiction regarding these characters. But I have some fics that come to mind that you might enjoy.

Just a heads up, these fics are heavy on Dick Grayson content, when I used to read these fics I really looked for Dick Grayson centric stuff or, fics focused on Dick and Jason because they are the characters in the Bat-Clan that I actually like.

All the fics I will put on the list have Jason as a main character, don’t get me wrong, but Dick is also there. So, if Dick isn’t a character that you like then these ones might not be your cup of tea.

(Also, what I look for in fics isn’t what I look for in comics, so, some of these fics might have ‘concepts’ that I would never want to see written in canon.)

Anyway, that’s all I had to say! Here are the very few fics that I have read in the past!

It’s the Place to Be Tonight by @hood-ex

“Dick's been getting along with Jason lately, but Cass? Yeah, no, she still doesn't like him. It makes things just a little bit awkward when Dick and Cass run into Jason at the bar.”

Thanks by HoodEx

“You good?” Dick asks, already kneeling by Jason’s side.

“Oh, totally,” Jason says. He tries to adjust his position without hurting himself more. “Sometimes I just come up here by myself to stare at the smog. Just contemplating the rampant amount of pollution in the city—ow fuck. I don’t know if B told you, but I’m an environmentalist first and Robin second. I’ve always been that way. Since the womb.”

Manus by ShariDeschain

“He knows his family; he knows which people are important to them. And Dick’s been at war with Bruce for the first place in every Robins’ heart for a long time now. Winning, for the most part.”

the past doesn’t die by Phidippus

“Their lives have never been simple, but Dick and Jason come to find that some bonds last through death.”

his empire of dirt by streetlight_skeletons

“Dick has been missing for a month when Jason lands himself with a young protégé of his own. These two events should be completely unrelated - but they aren’t.

But they will help Jason learn the meaning of family, and, perhaps, help him regain his own.”

*trigger warning for mentions of suicidal thoughts.

I just realised that most of these are with Robin!Jason and that these are very few fic recs but as i said before, Bat-Clan related fics aren't what I read the most of nowadays.

("his empire of dirt" and "Manus" are my absolute favourite! I have read them time and time again)

Maybe someone else has some fic recs, if you have please write them here!

Sorry for so little fic recs, I hope you have a wonderful week!

[cheri-translates]

[CN] Gavin’s Weekly Text - Prank

🍒 Warning: This post contains detailed spoilers for content not yet released in EN 🍒

Released in CN: 1 November 2021

[ Scenario 1 ]

Gavin: What’s wrong? Did something happen?

MC: Today, I saw a gift box on the office desk. I opened the cover since my guard was down, and there was a fake frog inside...

Gavin: ...Minor did it, didn’t he.

Gavin: Aside from him, nobody else is that silly.

Gavin: Did he scare you?

MC: I feel a little angry... I think everyone was laughing at me!

Gavin: No way, no one will make a joke out of you.

Gavin: If it were me, I’d only find you really cute.

MC: Come to think of it, it’s been a really long time since I saw a real frog... When I was young, I even learnt several nursery rhymes related to them.

Gavin: Mm. Nowadays, it’s rare to see such creatures in the city.

Gavin: But I know of a pond with lots of dragonflies flying around after the rain. When I was young, I caught them quite a number of times.

Gavin: I’ll take you there over the weekend.

[ Scenario 2 ]

Gavin: What’s wrong? Did something happen?

MC: Didn’t Minor flaunt it to you? Today, he hid a frog in a box and gave it to me. Opening it gave me a huge fright...

Gavin: It’s only a fake frog.

Gavin: I was there when Minor bought it. At the time, I didn’t know that he’d be using it to play a prank on you.

Gavin: Otherwise, I wouldn’t have given him a chance to take action.

MC: It might be difficult to imagine since you haven’t been pranked before, but I was so embarrassed that I wanted to disappear on the spot...

Gavin: I was pranked during a previous April Fools’ Day.

Gavin: A colleague pretended to break the tea cup you gave me. Afterwards...

Gavin: Cough. Nobody played pranks on me after that.

MC: Come to think of it, has Officer Gavin ever played pranks on others?

Gavin: Nope.

Gavin: I wouldn’t do such things to people I care about.

Gavin: As for other people, there’s no need to waste such time.

[ Scenario 3 ]

Gavin: What’s wrong? Did something happen?

MC: Minor bought a fake frog and put it in a box today. He placed it on my desk when no one was watching!

Gavin: ...Minor did that before in school.

Gavin: I didn’t expect him to be just as childish now.

Gavin: Were you given a fright?

MC: Just thinking about it makes me feel annoyed. I usually don’t fall for such pranks! But I couldn’t react in time...

Gavin: Mm, I understand.

Gavin: Nowadays, model props are made very exquisitely, and it’s easy to mistake them for the real thing.

Gavin: The problem isn’t with you.

MC: No way, I need to return the prank! Are there fake cockroach props online?

Gavin: Minor isn’t afraid of cockroaches. He’s afraid of mice.

Gavin: Since you were recently pranked by him, he’d be on his guard around you.

Gavin: Leave it to me. I’ll make him learn from this experience.

Translated comic based on this: here

[my-unmanageable-mischief]

Book Club

For the anon who requested : can you do a professor remus one?

Remus Lupin x Reader

After complaints from parents about their kiddies not learning anything, Professor Binns was finally (politely) forced into retirement. That meant for the first time in centuries there was an opening for a History of Magic professor. You jumped on the opportunity immediately, never expecting to actually get the job. You were young, relatively inexperienced, but you were a wiz at history of magic, you had always been, even in your time at Hogwarts not too long ago. 

That’s why Dumbledore gave you the job. That and he was hoping that having someone young and relatable would inspire the students. And you hoped he was right, all you wanted to do was teach, from the time you were a young child. You sat nervously in your seat at the faculty table and looked around at all the young faces in front of you. You remembered being that young. 

“I would like to introduce two new professors this year that we are very lucky to have. Teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts will be Remus Lupin,” There was some scattered applause as a man a few seats down from you stood up, waving slightly. He was a handsome man, definitely older than yourself, but his eyes were even older than that. He had light scars on his face that were illuminated in the candlelight. “And replacing Professor Binns this year will be the lovely Y/N Y/L/N,” You took your turn to stand, there was a wolf whistle from somewhere in the gaggle of students. You flushed slightly and Dumbledore hushed them, “She’s recently been in your shoes, so I hope you will all take her knowledge to heart. Now, enjoy the feast!” 

You took your seat again, watching as the plates in front of you filled with delicious foods and your goblet filled itself to the brim with pumpkin juice. Merlin, you had missed Hogwarts. 

The first week of classes flew by in a whirl. You felt like you were slightly out of your league and you were beginning to panic. The kids were not much younger than yourself, and you felt like they didn’t quite respect you yet, and you had no idea how to gain it. You didn’t want to hand out detentions, that wasn’t your style. You didn’t want them to hate you or fear you via punishment. You wanted them to like you and to understand you were there to help them. 

One day between classes you were wandering the hallway, trying to clear your head when you heard a roar of laughter. You stopped, peaking into the cracked doorway. Professor Lupin was at the head of the class, and the students in front of him were laughing, grinning ear to ear. 

“Okay okay!” He raised his hand and the laughter died down, “Next up, remember,” He flicked his wand and spoke, “Riddikulus!” The next student stepped up and Lupin opened the chest at the front of the room, and a Bogart popped out, taking on the form of a giant snake. You watched from the hallway, smiling to yourself. 

“Remember, remember the spell! He called and the young girl looked at him worriedly before flourishing her wand and yelling out the spell. The snake morphed and changed and suddenly it was a giant clown, the students roared with laughter again. You remained watching, student after student went. They were learning, they were having fun. It was everything you wanted for your own class. Finally, a student stepped up, Harry Potter, you noticed. When his Bogart turned into a Dementor Lupin lept in front of him, and it changed into a full moon. You frowned. “Riddikulus,” He spoke, and suddenly it was gone, a balloon with the air let out from it. Everyone cackled but you continued to frown. Why would his biggest fear be the moon? “Alright, alright,” He announced, laughing, “That’s enough fun for today, I will see you all next class!” There were groans of protest from kids who didn’t go yet, but they all turned to shuffle out past you. 

“Ms. Y/L/N, I didn’t see you there,” Lupin greeted you, gesturing for you to come into the classroom, you stepped forward. 

“Sorry to impose, I heard laughter, I had to check it out,” You smiled politely at him, he smiled back. 

“I hope we weren’t too loud, Ms. Y/L/N.” 

“Absolutely not.” You assured him, “And please, call me Y/N.” He nodded his head, shifting around slightly. 

“Of course, Y/N. You’re welcome to call me Remus, if it pleases you.” He was so polite it was almost comical. You took a deep breath getting ready to ask the question on the tip of your tongue, but Remus spoke first. 

“How are you finding teaching so far?” He asked and you shrugged slightly, smiling sheepishly. 

“Alright, I actually wanted to ask you.. For advice.”

“Me? I’m sure there are much more qualified people to be giving out advice.” 

“Maybe, but none of them are new to being a professor. And your students seem to love you so much already. I want to know how you did it. Maybe over a cup of tea? I don’t feel like my students are connecting to me yet.” You explained and he nodded knowingly. 

“It’s a hard gig, especially so young.” 

“I feel like they think I’m just babysitting them,” You both chuckled. 

“How about Friday after lessons? My office, I can give you all the advice I have, even if it isn’t much.” You nodded and smiled. 

“Sounds lovely,” You checked the watch on your arm and nodded towards the door, “I have to go, it was good to finally meet you properly, Remus.” 

“You as well, Ms.- I mean, Y/N.” You laughed, offering him a small wave before turning to leave the classroom, looking forward to Friday. 

Friday rolled around faster than you thought it would, and you were grateful. You felt like your students were warming up to you, but there was still a disconnect. You walked to Remus’s office and knocked. A moment later the door opened and the man stood in front of you smiling softly. 

“Hello, Y/N.” 

“Hello Remus, how was your week?” You asked, stepping into the office. It was nicely decorated, and the bookshelves were brimming with literature, so much so that there were several boxes around the room with even more books in them still. 

“Sorry for the mess,” you waved him off.

“It’s lovely, have you read all of these?” You asked curiously as you followed the man to his desk, sitting in one of the plush seats on the opposite side while he settled behind it. 

“Most of them yes, there are some I haven’t gotten around to yet,” He admitted. You smiled, watching him conjure a teapot and two mugs over. He poured you each a glass. “How do you take your tea?” He asked, and you smiled sitting back in the comfortable chair.

“Just some sugar please,” He added a few cubes of sugar before setting the mug in front of you. “Did you go to Hogwarts?” 

“A few lifetimes ago, yes,” He chuckled, taking a sip of his own drink, you stirred yours with your spoon waiting for the sugar to dissolve. 

“Oh come on, hardly.” You laughed, “Is it as odd for you as it is for me? To be here and not be a student?” Remus nodded his head. 

“Yes, it’s odd. Being here, being in charge, not being...” He paused, and eyed you slightly, “Not being a troublemaker.” That made you laugh harder. 

“You were a troublemaker?” You pressed and he shrugged before nodding, his eyes glistening slightly. 

“A bit, well my mates were, but they dragged me into everything,” 

“Brilliant,” You snickered. 

“What about you? All I’ve heard from other professors is how brilliant you were.” You flushed slightly, glancing away. 

“I’m not that brilliant, I only ever really excelled in history of magic. And that wasn’t hard considering most kids didn’t even want to be there. But I love it, I love to read. And I would love for my students to find it even half as interesting as I do.”

“So make it more interesting,” He prompted, and you sighed,

“It’s not like defense, I can’t very well let a Bogart loose in the classroom,” You teased and it was his turn to flush slightly. 

“I’m sure you could think of something more appropriate to the subject, you seem rather resourceful.” You sipped on your tea and hid your smile behind the mug. 

“I will try,” You assured, “I think it’s hard for them to respect me, they look at me and they see their siblings, or older kids they attended school with. They don’t think of me as a professor.” Remus put his mug down and looked at your thoughtfully. 

“I’m sure they respect you more than you give them credit for.” You shrugged, “Dumbledore would not have given you this position if he didn’t think you were more than qualified, just remember that.” You smiled and nodded your head. 

“Thank you, I think I needed to hear that,” 

“Of course,” You made small talk as you drank your tea, and you eventually put the empty mug down with a content sigh. 

“You know, we should start a book club.” The man across from you chuckled, raising an eyebrow. 

“A book club?”

“That was my polite way of asking to raid your little library you have yourself here,” You grinned and he chuckled again waving a hand towards the shelves. 

“By all means, anytime you’d like you’re welcome to borrow. Or else they just collect more dust.” That was all the invitation you needed, Remus watched amused as you excitedly got out of your seat, going to the closest bookshelf, running your finger over the spines. You stopped randomly on one and pulled it off the shelf, looking at the title. 

“One of my favorites,” Remus informed you, leaning back in his own chair as he watched you. “I highly recommend it.” You opened the book and read over the inside cover, smiling to yourself. Remus thought you had a wonderful smile, but he shook the thought from his head. You were way too young, too pretty for him. Besides, he had way too much baggage to be dating. 

“I’ll take it then,” You decided, coming back to his desk, “Want to meet next friday for tea and we can talk about it?” You offered, unsure if you were overstepping. 

“That sounds lovely,” You smiled and nodded your head, brushing your hair over your shoulder. 

“Brilliant, I will see you around then, Remus.” 

“Have a good day, Y/N,” With that you left his office, going back to your own to start on a new lesson plan. Something fun. 

This week went by better, things were getting easier. The students were engaged, and seemed to be enjoying your class more and more by the day, something you were elated about. They were asking questions, participating, and doing their assignments as instructed. In your free time you read the book you had borrowed from Remus, and he was right, it was a wonderful book. Written by a muggle about magic, and it was fun and interesting to see how they believed your world would be. Somethings were almost accurate but most of it was.. What was the word? Fantasy. 

Friday arrived again, and at the end of classes you made your way to Remus’s office, excited to see the man and to talk about the book. When you got there, Professor Snape was leaving and you nodded politely at the man. You never cared for him while you were a student, and now that you were a teacher your feelings hadn’t changed much. 

“Y/L/N.” He greeted in a draw before brushing past you, leaving the door ajar. You knocked on the doorframe, popping your head in. 

“Remus?” You called, and he looked up from where he had been rubbing his face with his hands. 

“Hello, Y/N, come on in,” You entered the office, shutting the door behind you. 

“Cheating on me with Snape?” You teased and he flushed.

“W-What?” 

“I’m just joking,” You assured, coming to sit in the lovely plush armchair. You would need to get yourself one of these. 

“Oh no, I know, I am sorry. He just stopped in to ask a question.” You nodded your head, tucking you feet up under your legs as you sat. 

“I don’t think he likes me,” You admitted, “Not even when I was a student,” 

“He doesn’t like anyone,” Remus assured you chuckling, “Not even when we were students.” He gestured with his wand and the teapot came over to his desk landing between the two of you were two mugs already sat. 

“You went to school with him?” You asked, surprised. 

“Yes, I unfortunately did.” You snickered at that, watching Remus pour you each a cup of tea, before placing sugar in yours and handing it over. You thanked him and took it, holding it in your hands, letting it warm you up. 

“How was that?” 

“He was mostly the same, we, he and my friends, never got on.” He admitted, “But don’t let my petty squabbles influence you.” You smirked, taking a sip of tea.

“Don’t worry, they don’t. I’ve never been fond of the man.” Remus smirked in return, nodding his head. 

“How did you like A Wizard of Earthsea?” He asked, and you produced the book from your robes, setting it on his desk.

“Oh I loved it,” You gushed, and he smiled. He wouldn’t tell you, but he truly enjoyed having someone around who enjoyed literature the way he did. You talked yourself through three mugs of tea about the book, conversation flowing nicely. When it got dark you finally checked your watch.

“Dinner is soon, we should go to the hall,” He checked his own watch, disappointed that your time together was over. 

“Pick another book before we go, if you’d like.” 

“I’d love to,” You grinned, taking the previous book and returning it to it’s spot on his shelf. You looked around before settling on another one, holding it up to him. “Good?”

“Ah, you’ve got brilliant taste,” He grinned and you returned the sentiment. Months passed like that, fall turned to winter, but the tea and talking about books with Remus every friday remained a constant in your life. You loved having something to look forward to every week, and it was nice to have a friend. 

You were on your way to your weekly meeting when you were intercepted by Severous Snape a few corridors away from his office. 

“Ms. Y/L/N.” He greeted and you smiled meekly at the man.

“Hello, Mr. Snape?” You greeted, unsure what you were supposed to call him. His face darkened slightly, you guessed that was wrong. 

“May I offer you some advice,” It wasn’t a question, you nodded, shifting from foot to foot. “I wouldn’t go around spending all your time with Remus Lupin, not if you like your job.” You blinked a few times. 

“Excuse me, sir?” 

“There are many things you don’t know about that man, dangerous things.” He continued ominously. You scoffed, that cardigan wearing man? Dangerous? “You’re a bright girl, I’m sure you’ve worked out his... furry little problem.” You frowned. You hadn’t. 

“I don’t think it’s your business to be sharing his business, do you sir?” Snape glared down at you, and you did your best to hold his gaze. 

“Just execute... caution.” He finished and with a flourish he was gone down the corridor and you were left alone with your thoughts. You went directly to Remus’s office, not knocking before you entered, face still screwed up in a glare. 

“Y/N,” He greeted, “What’s wrong?” His face fell slightly. You shrugged, coming to sit in your chair across from him. 

“Just ran into Snape in the hall,” You admitted. Remus didn’t say anything, but you could see he was nervous, “He told me to be careful around you, that you were dangerous.”

“Y/N..” 

“Said you had a furry little problem.” You continued, glancing up at the man, who was pale as a ghost. 

“D-did he?” 

“Your Bogart...” The pieces were all there, right in front of you, “You’re always ill, once a month...”

“Y/N...” He stood up, eyes widening, “Please,” 

“You’re a werewolf?” You whispered, meeting his eyes, and he immediately looked away from you. The question hung in the air for an uncomfortable amount of time. You took your wand out, Remus still refusing to look at you, and you conjured the teapot over, pouring yourselves each a mug. “How do you take your tea?”

“What?” He spun around, like he was surprised you were even still there. 

“Tea, Remus, how do you take it?” You placed a few sugar cubes in your own mug then looked at him expectantly. 

“Oh, uhm, milk, no sugar.” You nodded, pouring a bit of milk into his mug before pushing it towards his chair. 

“I can’t believe I’ve never read this before,” You continued, placing the book on his desk and Remus slowly returned to his seat, hesitantly taking the mug. “Lord of the Rings, you said there were more of them?” You prodded, and he took a small sip of his tea. 

“Several,”

“Brilliant,” You smiled, tucking your feet up under your legs in your usual position. 

“Listen, Y/N...”

“Remus,” You spoke firmly, “It’s alright,” He waved his hand.

“No no, it’s not alright, Snape is right... I am dangerous.” You looked him up and down before smirking.

“I think I could take you in a duel,” He frowned at you.

“I’m being serious,” 

“You’re not dangerous Remus,” You argued. 

“I am, and ... and you shouldn’t be around me,”

“Too bad.” You shrugged, stirring your tea and taking a sip, “I rather like being around you.” He flushed, running a hand through his hair. 

“Snape is-”

“A git, I agree,” You took another sip, eyeing the man over your mug, daring him to argue with you, he chuckled.

“Well yes, but he has a point.” 

“He’s an arse, Remus, a fear mongering arse, He had no right to tell me that,” Remus shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t feel like he deserved this- you being so blase about this all. You should be running from him, screaming to everyone who would listen that he was a monster. But here you were, drinking tea with him, and discussing books. 

One the last day of school you went to your dear friend’s office, having heard the rumors by now. You knocked on the door before letting yourself in. The bookshelves were empty, and nothing but one last box sat on his desk. You frowned. 

“So it’s true,” 

“Parents don’t exactly want their kids being taught by a monster, Y/N.” You frowned deeper. 

“You’re not a monster, Remus, you’re a good man with a rotten condition.” He laughed bitterly. “You’re a good man Remus.” You repeated. 

“Whatever you say, arguing with you is pointless,” He teased slightly and you smirked coming to him, putting your hands on the back of the armchair you had grown to love.

“It’s yours.”

“Sorry?”

“The chair,” You looked down, surprised. “Put it in your office, these are yours too,” He gestured to the box of books on his desk, “I think you’ll like them.” You gazed into the box before coming around the desk to throw your arms around the man in a hug. 

“Promise me you’ll see me over the summer,”

“Y/N...”

“No excuses, take me out for tea, invite me over, talk to me about these lovely books of yours. We already agreed there is no point in arguing with me.” You chidded him. He hugged you back for a moment, letting himself breath you in before he pulled back. 

“I will,” He assured you, and you nodded. 

“Thank you Remus, for everything.”

“No thank you,” You smiled up at him before leaning up on your tippy toes to place a kiss on the man’s cheek. 

“I expect an owl as soon as you’re home safely,”

“Yes ma’am,” You both chuckled, “and I will see you Friday, alright?” 

“Alright.” 

“Promise me,” You demanded and he held out a pinky finger, which you took with your own. 

“Promise.”

[kirain]

Hazbin Hotel and VivziePop Drama

I've been hearing/seeing a lot of drama concerning Hazbin Hotel and it's creator VivziePop, and while I don't know her personally or really care what people think, I do hate slander and the spread of misinformation. Truly nothing in this world upsets me more than when people believe rumours while making no effort to fact check, and that's exactly what's happening right now. That said, I wanted to try and clear up some of the rumours going around about Vivzie and the show, because I think some of them are absolutely outrageous and need to be addressed.

1. Vivzie hired an abuser onto the show.

Now, I’m not here to burn anyone at the stake, especially since I don’t know anything about Chris Niosi (the alleged abuser), who I believe openly admitted to the allegations? Regardless, this is a moot point. He’s not credited anywhere at the end of the episode. So either he was booted before production wrapped up or he had nothing to do with the show in the first place.

2. Vivzie supports bestiality.

Admittedly I thought this one might be true, since she draws so many anthropomorphic animals. In the very least, I figured she was probably a furry, but I haven't seen any evidence supporting this accusation either. Near as I can tell, this rumour started for two reasons. One, because of her famous Zoophobia comic, which revolves around a therapist named Cameron who gets assigned to work with human-like animals. Ironically, poor Cameron suffers from crippling zoophobia, which makes for some pretty decent comedy. I didn't read the whole comic because, quite frankly, it’s not my cup of tea and I just don’t have the time. But from what I saw there are no examples of bestiality anywhere in its contents.

Two, this message, which blew up all over social media:

To me, this just proves that people are more interested in virtue signalling than checking to see if their claims are actually true. Everything about this message is 100% false, which I’ll touch on in my next point.

3. Vivzie is a pedophile and she’s drawn child porn.

This is hands down the worst allegation and holy shit, I really wish people would stop using it to defame someone when they don't have any proof. This is a life-ruining accusation and you're disgusting if you believe it based solely on hearsay. This rumour began to spread when Vivzie allegedly shipped the two underage characters in the above photo and drew them NSFW-style. At the time, one character was 19 while the other was 14, and the relationship was a very illegal student-teacher relationship.

This is WRONG! The characters were not 14 and 19, they were actually 18 and 19, the legal age of consent! Additionally, the relationship wasn't student-teacher. One character is a student and the other is Alumni (a student teacher). This one pisses me off the most because it’s obvious the person who sent that message didn’t even bother to conduct any research. They said, “He’s a teacher, she’s a child.” Both characters are MALE!

Since then, Vivzie has apologised for any NSFW art she drew in the past and stated that it's not a reflection of her art today, and I'm inclined to believe her. Almost every artist has drawn NSFW content at some point in their career, and hers wasn't even distasteful. Other than this one example, there is no evidence anywhere that suggests she’s drawn “child porn”. In fact, she’s never even drawn explicit NSFW.

Please stop spreading this rumour. It’s dangerous and completely incorrect.

4. Vivzie said the "N" word!

No, she didn’t. It was a fabricated tweet. That is all.

5. Vivzie is copyright striking every video that criticises her!

No she isn't. YouTube’s DMCA is automatically striking people who are using full clips without permission. Vivzie has gone public several times, telling people exactly how to avoid getting a copy strike from the algorithm, which is something she absolutely does not have to do. At this point, she doesn't owe you anything. In my opinion, she should just sit back and watch these channels burn.

6. Vivzie copies and traces other artists’ work.

This is another one I’ve seen going around, but I looked into it as thoroughly as I could and failed to find any concrete evidence to support the allegations. As of right now, there are only two examples of Vivzie “copying” or “tracing” other artists’ work, and both of them can be explained. The first is a gif she made with a character from her Zoophobia comic, which looked a lot like the girl from ME!ME!ME!:

Damn, that’s pretty incriminating. She obviously stole-- oh, wait. This gif was part of a ME!ME!ME! MEP (multi editor’s project) and Vivzie didn’t take full credit, despite the fact that it’s not even a direct trace. It’s supposed to look like the original, which she fully cited. The second example comes from a short dance sequence from her Timber video, which seems to have been inspired by several Disney movies. As Vivzie herself stated, that was an homage to the original animations. Lots of artists and shows do this, including the beloved Stephen Universe series.

Regardless, this doesn’t count as stealing character designs or plagiarising someone’s work. It’s meant to be respectful, an admiration of other projects. Other than these two instances, however, there is no evidence of her tracing or stealing other people’s art. From what I’ve discovered, all other designs she’s been accused of “stealing” are characters she bought and paid for. They’re quite literally HER characters.

7. Vivzie supports problematic creators.

I’m getting really tired of guilt by association. Vivzie follows and enjoys some controversial figures, but who cares? We can argue all day about whether or not the accusations against them are true, but it ultimately has nothing to do with the show or Vivzie as a person. I do the exact same thing, to be honest-- follow and listen to people on all sides so I can learn, understand, and form my own opinions. The fact that some people think this is bad, to me, is absolutely mesmerising. Vivzie doesn’t control what the people she follows post, and if they do something overly questionable she publicly criticises and denounces it.

From Vivzie:

Now that that’s been dealt with, I’d like to address some complaints/claims about the actual show.

8. Vaggie is an angry Latina stereotype and a lesbian stereotype. Vivzie is appropriating Hispanic culture and misrepresenting the gay for profit.

First off, I see a lot of people passing around yet more misinformation regarding Vivzie's race. So many people seem to think she's white? Well, I'm here to tell you they're wrong. Very incorrect. Vivzie is in fact Latina, and Vaggie is meant to mirror some of her own personality traits.

Second, who is Vaggie mad at? Context matters, and if we take a look at the episode, we see that Vaggie is literally only mad at two specific people: Angel Dust and Alastor. Why? Well, for starters, it's her girlfriend's dream to run a rehab hotel for sinners, and Angel Dust nearly demolishes that dream single-handedly. Vaggie has every right to be over-the-top vitriolic. Then there's Alastor, a known sadist, narcissist, and murderer who loves trapping people in his nefarious schemes. He invites himself in, effectively takes over the hotel, and pushes both her and Charlie aside. At one point he even sexually assaults her by slapping her butt during his musical number. So yeah, I think her seething ire is totally justified. Keep in mind, however, that when she's around Charlie she's calm, collected, and happy. I wouldn't call that a stereotype.

Thirdly, the lesbian stereotypes. I keep hearing this argument but I really don't see it. Both Vaggie and Charlie have so much personality and trust for each other. Maybe I'm wrong, but the stereotype I know always totes a more butch, tomboyish woman with a ditsy, innocent, naive woman. Charlie is optimistic, but she isn't stupid. She refuses to shake Alastor’s hand because she knows he’s likely trying to screw her over. She’s also not entirely innocent herself and uses words like “fuck” and “shit”. I also wouldn’t call Vaggie butch or tomboyish. She has a cute, girly presentation, complete with a pink ribbon in her hair, lace stockings, and a dress. She's protective of her girlfriend, as I think we all are with our partners, and there's nothing wrong with that. They're flawed characters, as every character is meant to be. This isn't a problem.

9. The show is racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, blah, blah, blah.

I’m amazed this is even an argument. The show is supposed to be a dark comedy that takes place in HELL. You know, the place the worst of the worst end up after they die? What were you expecting? Everyone gets a shot or two fired at them, but that doesn't make them bad characters nor does it make the show itself horrible. Take, for example, Katie Killjoy, the news reporter so many people are up in arms about. She says she doesn’t “touch the gays” because she has “standards”. Well, here’s a newsflash of my own: we’re not supposed to like her! She’s an antagonist. Not to mention ten seconds later Charlie insults her and isn’t the least bit slighted by her pretentious attitude. The characters are strong and don’t take shit from anyone, because to some degree they’re all terrible people who can throw down when it’s called for.

Obviously if you don’t like the show or think it’s offensive, I’m probably not going to change your mind. That’s perfectly fine. You’re entitled to your opinions and you don’t have to watch the show. Just stop lying and stop trying to take it away from everybody else. Stop attacking Vivzie and spreading misinformation without checking the facts. I realise a lot of people probably aren’t trying to be vindictive and only want to do something good, but just remember this: the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

[sunnysviolin]

God I love your blog I spent all day just looking at it and I’m like yes more Omori brain worms

Also, what do you think the Omori gang’s jobs would be when they’re adults? I kinda meta’d and thought Sunny would be a little comic book artist with the character Omoriboy but I’m curious on your thoughts

Awww thank you! Also you have given me the perfect excuse to show off my happiest AU aka the ‘everyone stays in town together, and lowkey they all live at Hero’s house’  I have a lot of different ideas for what they could end up being, so if this isn’t your cup of tea it’s not my firm canon haha! I actually do have an artist sunny series which would probably be up your alley if you were interested in hearing about that too! Alsooooo this got long again it’s under a read more. I’m calling it Come Home series and I really like it if you guys are interested in hearing more 0-0 I only talk about Basil Sunny and Kel here haha because it got long long, but there’s defintiely another part coming to this if you guys want it! 

Basil starts going back to school post-canon, and he ends up doing pretty good for his last two years, but it’s still a struggle considering he missed so much school over the last four years. The idea of going to college is particularly stressful to him, so Polly doesn’t push it on him. She didn’t end up finishing college, and she turned out alright. 

Polly does want Basil to be thinking about his future though, and so she encourages him to find something related to what he’s passionate about. Which leads to Basil working part time at Fix-It in the gardening section. 

He quickly branches out of just gardening, although that is still his favorite. There’s something deeply gratifying about seeing what he’s created with his own two hands, and having people ask for his help only with simple things he can fix for them. 

Basil starts up a deep mentoring relationship with the couple who owns  Fix-It. They like to hear his passionate rambles about the flowers, and they like the ideas he has. Basil starts to lead flower arrangement classes, and they end up being a big hit. 

When he’s in the spring of his senior year, they ask him about his plans. When they find out he isn’t really all that interested in college, they ask if he could come on full time, and maybe even apprentice. They have a son of their own, but he is a lawyer and has no interest in the shop. Basil is excited by this, and he almost immediately agrees. 

There’s a lot more to running the shop then he thought, but he loves it. He’s content just to be the manager for now, but the couple has assured him that within the next five years they plan to retire and the shop will be his for good.

Kel does end up getting a scholarship for basketball. It’s to a good school (not quite Hero’s level, but better than his parents expected). It’s a big state school compared to Hero’s tiny private, but his parents are happy and they have a winning basketball team. The problem is that Kel has no idea what he would want to do. 

He had some ideas, but I think that learning the truth really affected him. He had thought he wanted to be a basketball star, or something to do with the sports industry, but that all feels so juvenile now. Now Kel wants to do something real and good. He wants to work with people, but he isn’t sure what that might mean. 

Kel goes to school as an undecided major, and they stick him in a bunch of different types of classes. Most of them are painfully boring, hard, and he just isn’t interested. He briefly considers dropping out, but he knows how disappointed his mom and dad would be. They didn’t get the opportunity to get a college degree, so it kind of feels like slapping them in the face if he gave back all the money he got just because he didn’t have any passion. 

There is one class that Kel really enjoys. The class is called Child’s Play and it’s a psychology course. Specifically a class on the influence of play children’s lives. It’s still hard for him, and he struggles to fully comprehend the material, but it’s something he’s passionate about. 

He talks with his advisor about it, and the man suggests combining all of the things he’s been passionate about so far. He wants to do good for other people, he is interested in sports, and he liked learning about how children work. His advisor puts him in an education couse and a few physical health courses, and Kel enters his sophomore year with a physical education major. 

Kel doesn’t graduate with honors like Hero, but he does graduate with a plan. He does his student teaching at Faraway High, his connections with his coach and the school helping to grease the wheels. (It doesn’t hurt that he’s living with Sunny by this point, and Sunny got a job offer in Faraway that he’s going to accept...but more on that later)

They offer him a tentative position at the end of the year, and he accepts it. He also takes on the basketball team, and they win the playoffs for the first time since he graduated, which cinches his job in tight.

Sunny also doesn’t end up going to college. Not only did he not have the grades, it just wasn’t something he thought he would be very good at. He doesn’t really have a plan, just that he wants to still be by his friends. Hero is far from them now, and Aubrey is planning on going away too, but Basil and Kel are staying close by

He ends up talking to Kel about it late one night, and Kel proposes a great idea. They’ll get an apartment together off campus instead of him living in the dorms, and Sunny can figure his life out while Kel gets a friend and study partner. 

Sunny’s mother is very happy with this idea, and Kel’s parents are satisfied that he won’t be off partying every night if he has Sunny with him, so they agree as well. What Sunny’s mother isn’t excited about is the idea of her baby not getting any degree or anything. So she makes a compromise. She and Sunny will find a good trade school near Kel’s college, and Sunny will take classes in something he enjoys

She assumes he will pick art classes or something that she knows he likes, but Sunny surprisingly picks veterinary certification. It feels out of left field, but if it makes Sunny happy and he’s going to go to his internships and his classes then so be it. 

Sunny is never top of the class, but he is serious about doing well. There are aspects of the job that he does not do well with, but he manages. He gets his vet tech certification and finds a starting position near where he lives with Kel

Living with Kel is a breath of fresh air. It feels good to have a partner in life who doesn’t expect him to talk or to act like everyone else. Kel is a master at reading Sunny, and it’s a bone deep relaxation to not have to try and express himself. Most of the time Sunny can just listen and let Kel talk to him. They work well with chores and food and generally everything. Every day feels like a sleepover honestly, and Sunny starts to smile a bit more and reach just a little father out of his comfort zone. 

Kel loves living with Sunny. Every night they get to just spend time together and enjoy each others presence, and sometimes Basil will come up and they all get to eat dinner together in their little shoebox apartment. One of their windowsills is full of plants that Basil has brought them. 

At the end of their four years Kel knows that he wants to go back to Faraway to work. He has been commuting there for student teaching, and while it’s only an hour, it’s still pretty far. The problem is that he can’t imagine leaving Sunny alone. Not after four years of them being together every single day. Then Sunny reveals that he found a job in the town next to Faraway that he wants to take. He doesn’t want to leave Kel though, and he’s not sure what to do. 

They have a long conversation that night, and they both agree that they want to stay together. It’s been an unspoken thing, but neither of them ended up having any long term partner in the last four years. They don’t have romantic feelings for one another, but they want to continue what they have. It’s safe, it’s lovely, and they feel secure in their bond. Whatever happens they want to decide as a team, as a partnership. 

With Kel and Sunny both coming back to Faraway they assume that they’re going to have to try and find a place to live closer. They’re going to stay with Kel’s parents until they do, but Basil has a better idea. 

Polly loves Basil a lot. She has adored getting to raise him and helping him and guiding him the last six years. But now her quiet sweet boy is a grown man, and his parents stopped paying her for caring for him over a year ago. She knows that the best thing to do would be to detach herself and to let him continue to grow without her constant presence. 

Basil isn’t sure he’s ready to be all by himself, and when he finds out Kel and Sunny are coming back to Faraway, he offers to let them stay at his house. It might be a bit cramped all three of them, and they don’t have to, but it could be nice. They say yes before he can even begin to second guess himself

So as bright and bushy 21/22 year olds, Kel, Basil, and Sunny all have Come Home. 

[htmlerror]

☕ + wfa

i do not like wfa with ham, i do not like it, sam i am.

I have a lot of problems with Wayne Family Adventures. The idea for it is solid enough, but the execution is. bad. I've put my thoughts below the cut because this got long, so I hope you don't mind me going in depth on my feelings.

Duke Thomas as a POV character - I'm plagerizing heavily from my convo with @phamtai about this. Def check them out for more info and better insights than mine into the character. Duke is extremely well established in canon despite only having been around for a decade or so. Remarkably, it's taken until WFA to butcher his character. Duke in this series is too polite. He's too clueless. He's been presented as the Relatable Kid archetype that he doesn't fit. In canon, Duke has never not been self-assured. He's a relatable character, yes, but not because he doesn't know what's going on. He has experience as a hero long before the batfam became involved. And since then, he's bonded with them. WFA doesn't show his connection with Cass, his dynamic with Bruce or Jason, and completely ignores his conflicts with the family. In a supposedly family-focused product, those are damn near cardinal sins. He may as well be a totally new character. Duke has been watered down so much for the sake of this series. WFA could be a vessel to explore so many things about him that we don't see a lot of on the regular page. We could see a dive into the parallels between him and Bruce, the full psychological impact of losing his parents, epecially in contrast to Jason, how his world view and morals differ from Batman's, the daily consequences of his powers, or the fallout of his mourning independently for the friends he's lost. But those would be interesting angles WFA doesn't seem eager to explore. If you can't imagine a version Duke punching a cop just because they're a fucking cop, you're doing it wrong. Another issue is, unfortunately, Duke's role as the only Black batman member. I shouldn't need to explain why it's problematic to be showing his as constantly less knowledgeable and presumably skilled as the other bats. (No, it doesn't matter that Dick and Damian are drawn with dark skin. Dick has been written as a white man for nearly his entire existence. The person who retconned that is notoriously racist and has spent years defending her inclusion of sexual assault in her writing. I have no issue with Dick being Romani, but just changing the color of his skin is not the way to do it.) DC has recently had a push towards inclusion, on the page an behind the scenes. This is good, of course. Though if they really are committed to representation and inclusion, it needs to be an effort seen across the board. Faux pas like this paint a pretty obvious picture.

The Webtoon format is shit - Webtoon is a great platform for indie writers and artists. It's not my style of content, but I get the appeal. IMO, it's ridiculous to accept a professional comic publisher shitting out 12 page fluff pieces. Yes, the weekly comic format has been phased out for a reason. Yes, halving the workload is a possible way around that restriction. But there just isn't a good enough reason to do it. It's a pretty obvious ploy to seem "hip" and "get in with kids these days." It's lazy and frankly kind of embarrassing. For anyone who doesn't know, a standard comic book is usually 24-28 pages. This isn't an arbitrary number, it's part of the format for the art form. That length allows for necessary plot developments in a serial story line while also giving the characters, themes, and artwork time to breathe. Furthermore, it's what most comic readers have come to expect over the decades. Halving that wouldn't necessarily be a problem, there are plenty of examples of well made shorts out there, but coupling that WFA's love affair with single panels and splash pages is a major issue. Say you make a 12 page comic with 4-6 panels per page. You have 48-72 panels to work with. You can sit a compelling story into that, with or without heavy dialogue. But bring that down to 12-24 panels, and you have one of two options: either 1) ultra-compress your narrative or 2) reduce the plot to compensate. Ignoring the formatting choices, WFA is a convenient reason for DC to keep the worst of the status quo in the bat titles. There's no need to acknowledge criticism of Bruce's treatment of his family when they can simply point and say "Jason's throat hasn't been sliced open here! And look, Damian hasn't been left with the crushing guilt of his grandfather's death! We even let Tim exist as his own character!" WFA doesn't change anything, it shows that DC is aware of its problems but would rather outsource them than put in the work to fix it. There's a special kind of rejected feeling that comes with being told "I hear you, I just don't care.

Fandom isn't bad, but - Everyone is familiar with the incorrect quotes format by now. Sometimes they're funny, most of the time they tend to over-saturate. WFA is like if a incorrect batfam quotes blog was a comic. It's a steady supply of one-liners and references, sure, but it lacks any real substance. If that's what you like, I can't fault you for it, but it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea. The way the batfandom has piled onto the "this is the best thing ever" bandwagon is concerning to me. There has been good batfam content in canon, you just need to know where to look for it. The lack of critical analysis of the project and dismissal of critiques is always an alarming pattern, but the way WFA has come to be the odd face of the fandom is just bizarre. It's everywhere, as you know if you've ever tried avoiding it. Thinking about WFA being the default interpretation of these characters makes me nervous. They lack the depth their canon counterparts. I don't care if you enjoy WFA, I do understand the appeal of it, but for the love of the gods, take it down from it's pedestal.

WFA is... fine. It's yet to commit any sins too egregious, but, like all DC properties, it's a ticking timebomb. I won't be surprised when it goes off, and I can't say I'll be sad to see it go. Ao3 has better content, anyway

[gloreify]

                                            PINNED POST.

I  am  highly  selective  and  private.  one  of  the  quickest  ways  to  get  unfollowed  by  me  is  to  disregard  my  guidelines.  this  isn’t  in  any  way  meant  to  be  harsh  or  strict  about  what  anyone  is  "allowed”  to  do.  these  guidelines  are  in  place  for  my  comfort  and  to  let  my  mutuals  know  what  to  expect  from  me.  I  have  other  responsibilities  outside  of  writing  on  this  blog  and  some  days  I  simply  don’t  feel  like  hopping  on  the  dash.  if  anything  you  read  here  doesn’t  sound  like  your  cup  of  tea,  it’s  better  we  get  that  out  of  the  way  now  to  avoid  any  awkwardness.  don’t  be  afraid  to  ask  questions  politely  if  you  have  them. 

an introduction.

hi!  my  name  is  luc,  twenty-nine,  she/they  pronouns.  i   do   have   discord.  if  we’re  not  friends  already,  mutuals  are  welcome  to  ask  for  my  user. 

my version.

my  loki  is  mcu  based  with  a  lot,  a  lot  of  liberties  taken.  I   don’t   write   within  the  comics  or  norse  mythology.  any  other  influences  will  come  from  personal  headcanon  that  I  build  during  in-character  interactions  and  how  I  want  to  develop  the  character.  everyone  is  going  to  have  an  idea  of  what  and  who  loki  is,  so  if  you  see  anything  on  my  blog  you  don’t  agree  with,  that’s  fine.  I  won’t  take  it  personally  if  you  decide  to  move  on  from  my  blog.  any  mean-spirited  commentary  sent  in  the  form  of  anon  messages  or  put  in  vague  posts  will  result  in  a  hard  block.  keep  in  mind,  this  is  only  for  extreme  cases.  typically,  I  will  break  unfollow  and/or  delete  the  messages  and  leave  it  at  that.  

duplicates.

I  am  open  writing  with  duplicates  of  loki  including  the  many  other  representations.  as  with  all  my  mutual  followers,  I  will  be  selective.  it  doesn’t  necessarily  mean  I  disagree  with  any  one  else’s  version.  my  goal  is  to  manage  how  many  other  loki’s  I  can  keep  up  with  because  every  one  is  so  unique.  I  don’t  want  to  get  confused  or  overwhelmed.

following.

I  won’t  follow  for  follow.  I  won’t  necessarily  follow  every  canon  back  because  I  want  to  be  confident  we  click  between  our  interpretations  and  as  writing  partners.  I  don’t  want  to  clutter  the  dash  with  a  bunch of  blogs  I  don’t  write  with.  if  I  follow  you,  I  want  to  write  with  you. 

I  adore  ocs.  the  only  way  I  wouldn’t  be  mutuals  with  an  oc  is  if  I  can’t  see  our  muses  interacting. 

I  hesitate  to  say  no  family  related  ocs/comic or myth origin  ever,  but  let’s  call  it  a  trial  by  trial  basis.  we  would  have  to  plot  about  it  a  fair  amount  first.  if  your  muse  has  loki  as  a  relative  in  their  bio,  I’ll  be  selective  about  following.  generally  going  to  be  selective  of  other  canon  children  too.  not  that  I’m  against  the  idea,  but  I’d  like  to  be  comfortable  with  the  dynamic  and  writer. 

discourse

no  tolerance  for  ooc  drama,  anon  hate,  or  gross  behavior.  none.  do  not  involve  me.  if  I  see  it  on  the  dash,  I  will  unfollow. 

activity.

I  will  disappear  from  time  to  time.  I’m  not  going  to  sugarcoat  it.  I  have  a  lot  going  on  offline  and  sometimes  I  get  burned  out  online.  either  way,  messages  are  a  great  way  to  chat  and  keep  up  to  date.  I  will  make  update  posts  if  I  feel  like  I’m  anticipating  a  longer  absence  than  a  few  days.  check  back  on  my  blog  if  you  like  because  I  don’t  like  to  spam  the  dash  too  much  with  the  same  post.

other  than  that,  I’m  fairly  active  when  outside  factors  aren’t  a  concern.  I  typically  post  a  few  things  every  day,  and  I  am  known  to  spam  replies  when  I’m  really  on  top  of  everything. 

there’s  absolutely  no  rush  on  replies.  take  as  much  time  as  you  need. 

fyi,  there  will  be  serious  threads,  there  will  be  random  dash  commentary,  and  there  will  be  crack.  a  spectrum  of  content  if  you  will.  if  you  don't  like  to  get  too  silly,  this  probably  isn't  the  blog  for  you.

mains/exclusives.

for  the  time  being,  I  will  not  be  practicing  exclusives.  there  may  be  some  mutuals  I  consider  mains.  if  we  plot  frequently  and  our  muses  generally  have  great  chemistry  as  well  as  between  the  muns,  I’ll  give  their  threads  priority  simply  because  my  muse  is  highest  in  those  interactions. 

plotting.

I  like  to  plot  lightly.  let’s  get  comfortable,  chat,  and  see  what  each  other  likes  to  do  for  interactions.  after  that,  I  like  to  see  what  happens  organically  between  the  muses. 

when  it  comes  to  aus,  canon  divergence,  and  crossovers,  I  want  all  of  it!  if  you  have  an  idea,  bring  it  to  me.  I’m  very  excited  to  throw  loki  in  new,  wild  universes  and  see  what  happens. 

memes. 

I  want  to  instate  a  three  (3)  meme  limit  per  muse.  usually,  I  don’t  mind  being  spammed,  but  lately  I’ve  been  busier  than  usual.  I  want  to  keep  things  manageable.  I’m  more  likely  to  answer  everything  in  my  inbox  this  way.  as  soon  as  I’ve  answered,  you’re  free  to  send  more. 

if  you’d  like  to  continue  a  meme  as  a  thread,  please  do. 

maturity.

being  over  twenty-one,  I  won’t  follow  anyone  who  is  under  eighteen.  if  I  can’t  find  your  information  stating  your  age  or  realize  you’ve  lied  about  it...  you  get  the  idea.  I’m  tired. 

there  will  be  canon  typical  action/violence,  some  language,  dark  situations  and  thoughts  (we  all  know  loki  is  emo).  I  won’t  write  taboo  subjects,  and  any  sexy  situations  will  remain  in  flirting  territory.  if  it  progresses,  I  prefer  to  fade  to  black.  I’m  not  anti-smut,  but  I’d  rather  not  write  it  on  the  dash. 

loki  will  flirt  to  save  his  ass  or  if  he’s  bored  etc.  I’m  not  trying  to  force  ship.  please  do  not  force  ship.  you  will  be  *unfollowed*.

I  don’t  really  have  any  triggers  to  mention.  I  will  tag  those  requested  with  trigger  tw.  

verses. 

to  reiterate,  there  will  be  multiple  verses,  aus,  and  all  the  crossovers  I  can  keep  up  with.  I  will  attempt  to  organize  these  verses  with  tags,  but  we’ll  see  how  that  goes. 

format.

I  use  small  text,  double  spaced.  I  make  my  own  icons  with  templates  and  psds  made  by  other  creators.   credit   to   apocalypseresources   for   current   coloring/borders.  I  don’t  mind  how  mutuals  format  as  long  as  I  can  read  it  without  trouble.  if  you  have  vision  impairment  and  need  regular  size  text,  I’m  willing  to  adapt  my  style. 

basic rp rules.

they  apply.  no  godmodding  (writing  loki’s  thoughts,  actions,  history  yourself  in  a  reply),  forcing  ship,   i   don’t   ship   loki   romantically   with   thor,   sylvie   or   other   relations,  harassing  for  replies,  forcing  plots  I  have  declined,  and  all  that  good  stuff.  let’s  be  kind  to  one  another. 

if  loki  is  involved  with  your  characters  background,  canon  or  oc,  we  should  talk  about  it  before  interacting  to  avoid  confusion  or  unnecessary  awkwardness.  I  would  prefer  not  to  assume  relationships  even  if  they  are  canon.  everyone’s  version  of  canon  will  be  different.  mine  is  for  sure,  so  let’s  get  on  the  same  page  first. 

[andsmile]

okay here are my two cents, not everyone’s cup of tea but here we go

the article is real. yes, it’s not well written. yes, everything sounds like a fever dream. but this show has been a clusterfuck for years and now they managed to touch the one good thing they had going on (their solid core four ships) that are about to become a clusterfuck too.

however, the reviewer who wrote that seems to be VERY b*rchie biased and literally gushed over the ship happening all over the recap, not stopping to actually talk about what it means for bughead and varchie, or veronica and jughead. they ignored the glances that we know from the stills the core four shares (bughead and varchie), and only said “veronica looks at archie” / “jughead looks at betty” and enhanced b*rchie glances again. whoever wrote it likes the idea of b*rchie so we can’t trust it completely.

cheating SUCKS. sucks, sucks, sucks. however, it’s not the first time it’s used as a plot device to shake things up in a teen show. it won’t be the last. riverdale thrived on the stability of their core ships but they probably wanted to shake things up while simultaneously catering to another part of the fandom, so there you go.

i understand if you’re a thrown off by cheating but (and that might be controversial) i don’t think this invalidates bughead’s or varchie’s journey. the writers have failed to show us why b*rchie would be “confused” to a point that they’d cheat on their significant others (and that’s where the story diverts from other triangles/quadrangles from other better written shows) but this is just another storyline they’re pulling out of their asses too quickly. either way, it doesn’t change what happened so far for varchie and bughead. it’s “the darkest storyline” that you can and should ignore.

this is not real life so if you feel like “forgiving” archie or betty for doing this, it’s okay, it doesn’t mean that you’d be a cheater on real life or that you’d condone this attitude. also, when in doubt, go with the characters reaction: if jug and veronica do forgive them, and you still like the ship, why wouldn’t you?

it’s also okay if you want to jump ships or to leave the fandom. do what’s best for you!

what matters more to me right now is: how will they follow this up? what will happen afterwards? are b*rchie going to honest? are they engaging on an affair (sounds crack but)? are they honestly just going to choose jug and veronica and that’s it? does it mean anything for real, or is it just a thing that happens in the musical, a “showmance”?

we can only expect bad writing, so i don’t think we can expect archie or betty to tell their secret to jughead and veronica. with the tapes thing going on, i feel like they will go back to their relationships and ignore this ever happened, when someone leaks a tape that blows up the core four. and we initiate season 5 with the core four all split up. with a time jump, many things can be forgiven and it’s a set up for angst.

it’s a weird thing that this episode is using ALL of the b*rchie cards and trumphs wrapped into one. flashbacks for kiddie stuff? pilot reminiscing with a song about mistakes and goodbyes? window scenes? “longing”? er... if i was a b*rchie shipper i’d be wary. it’s a huge b*rchie sandwich and it could literally be giving all possible content so they never visit that again. also, i, for one, am glad that these flashbacks are happening now and not in episode 18. maybe they want us to believe b*rchie have been waiting for each other but we just won’t believe it and the writers are on crack but they know their audience, don’t think they don’t.

let’s not blame the cast, reviewers, or even the characters that have existed for 78 years on this bullshit story line.

maybe i am too detached from canon, or maybe i have seen enough shit (that always, inevitably, hits the fan on the fourth season) with my other ships to feel really upset. thing is, i have always been on the loser side of the cw shows before, but that was always the smallest fanbase (with brucas, stelena, dair, etc) and i’ve always watched the big fanbase win over the small fanbase regardless of the writing or continuity. this time we, the bughead and varchies, are the big fanbase. we can boycott, be heard, let them know we hate it, that we won’t watch, and they will listen. the cw has fired producers for that before, and riverdale is the cw’s cash cow. let them know that you hate and don’t watch, especially if you live in the USA.

i know it’s hard to even think about your ship in a good way right now but remember that the archie comics characters have been around for decades and that this isn’t their only universe. which means, you can still love your ship and ship them in the comics or, especially if you want the riverdale timeline, content fans create for you. it’s really the time to support your fanfic writers, fanartists, gif makers, video makers, etc. this is the time we come together as a big community and support each other until this is over.

the fanfics you read, keep reading them. they don’t have any relation to the source material. the arts and gifsets you reblog, keep reblogging them. keep stanning your version of your ship, this is what’s going to matter in a few years from now when the show is over and there’s nothing more to “feed” from.

be respectful to your fellow bughead and varchie shippers now. i guess this is crucial. we can win this war TOGETHER, but not apart. it doesn’t matter that you think archie is the fuckboy that should die - don’t say it to a varchie shipper. it doesn’t matter if it pisses you off that betty always gets excused - don’t say it to a bughead shipper. let’s be friends, let’s stick together, this is the writers fault, and archie and betty as characters also deserve better.

[jujymikey]

Gifts

Ever since Bruce came back from being lost in the time stream, he hasn’t been able to get close to his third son. He’s been able to connect with his other kids, even more so then before he got lost in the stream, but for some reason he and Tim haven’t been able to. Before he got lost, Bruce and Tim were the closest he has ever been with any of his sons. They talked all the time and they even hung out when they weren’t working on a case.

So when Christmas time starts approaching, Bruce is surprised when he has no idea what to get Tim. He’s only shared one Christmas with Tim back when Tim was Robin and his parents were away on some trip. He got Tim a camera that Tim used all the time, but Bruce doesn’t think he can give Tim the same gift twice. So Bruce decides to ask for some help.

“What’s up B?” Dick asks as he walks into Bruce’s study.

“Thank you for coming. I need your help with something about Tim.” Bruce gestures to the chair in front of his desk, “Please take a seat.”

“What’s wrong? Is Timmy ok?” Dick asks, worry spreads over his face.

“He’s fine. I just need help figuring out what to get him for Christmas.”

“Oh, I don’t know if I can help with that.” Dick frowns, “I haven’t gotten him anything yet...”

“You are the closet in the family to Tim, surly you have some sort of idea of what he’d like.”

“We aren’t close anymore... not since...” Dick trails off. There’s so much that they’ve all left out about what happened while he was gone.

“Since what?”

“Since I gave Robin to Damian. He didn’t take it well... he hasn’t really talked to me about anything besides cases.” Dick shakes his head, then immediately perks up, “We should work together to figure out what to get Tim!”

“Do you still have contact with the members of the teen titans? They know Tim pretty well.”

“Yeah, I’ll text Gar about it.” Dick pulls out his phone and stands up, “I do have to go now, but I’ll let you know what I find out.”

This time of year, stores send out magazines with gift suggestions. Usually the only one that cares about these magazines are Dick, but this year Bruce is the one reading through them. There’s a week until Christmas and Bruce hasn’t gotten any gifts for his kids yet. That’s why he’s sitting kitchen isle surrounded by magazines.

“Looks nice.” Cass sneaks up on him and looks at the magazine of men shoes.

“You want some men’s dress shoes?” Bruce smiles at her.

“They’re shiny.” Cass smiles and sits down in the chair next to him, “Whatcha doing?”

“Looking for Christmas gifts.” Bruce says flipping through the page, “I have an idea for most of you guys, but I’m having a hard time figuring out a gift for Tim.”

“I got Timmy a gift.” Cass flips through the magazines then points to a basketball, “I got basketball, because Tim is my basketball.”

“I don’t know what that means, but I’m glad you found a good gift.” Bruce flips to the page of men’s graphic t-shirts, “Do you think Tim would like one of these? He likes anime, this shirt has an anime girl and says ‘oppai’.”

“Tim wears suits and sweaters.”

“He used to wear t-shirts.” Bruce frowns, when he was Robin, Tim would wear all kinds of cartoon t-shirts. It’s been only a year since then, has Tim really changed that much?

On the 23rd the Christmas tree is surrounded by presents wrapped in colorful paper. Four of those gifts are from Bruce, but he still can’t figure out what to get for his fifth kid. The problem is that a Bruce doesn’t know what Tim is into anymore. Does he still like video games? Or comics? Or action movies?

Damian is the easiest one to buy for, Bruce got him some fancy paints. Dick is also really easy, Bruce just ordered the lucky charms but only marshmallows. Cass is a little more difficult, but it only requires a bit of thinking. He gets her an elementary school level English learning book. Jason is very difficult, he likes book, but Bruce isn’t sure which books he has and which he’d want. So Bruce got him a new armor set that Lucious created that has a built in chest taser. It seemed like something Jason would enjoy.

Bruce has spent two hours at the mall looking for the perfect gift for Tim. After looking through each store twice, Bruce finally gives up and calls Dick, “Did you talk to your titan friend about Tim?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t that helpful though. Gar just said that Tim likes to boss people around and paperwork.” Dick says over the phone, he can hear the others talking in the background, “I ended up getting him a new clipboard.”

“I don’t want to get him office supplies. I don’t want him to think of our relationship as only work.” Bruce pinches the bridge of his nose, he can’t spend two more hours walking cluelessly through the mall.

“Why don’t you try asking Jason? They’ve gotten pretty close since Jason stopped trying to kill Tim.” Dick suggests.

“At this point I’ll try anything, put him on the phone.”

“Old man, what do you want?” Jason huffs over the phone.

“Do you know what Tim likes?” Bruce asks bluntly.

“What? Is this a joke?”

“No, Dick says you and Tim have gotten close and I don’t know what to get him for Christmas.” Bruce explains quickly, he doesn’t want to tell Jason about this, but he hopes that Jason will be mature about this.

“Pffffttt, really B? You can’t figure out what to get your perfect little solider?” Jason laughs, “I almost killed Tim twice and I know more about him than you, thats so sad.”

“Jay, I don’t have time for this. I really need your help.”

“It’s really nice to hear you this desperate. This is so great.” Jason sighs contently, “Alright, I’ll help you.”

“Thank you.” Bruce breathes out in relief.

“I got Tim an action figure of some game of thrones character. Just get him something nerdy and he’ll like it.”

“Tim doesn’t have any action figures in his room.” Bruce frowns, Tim’s room has nothing but the essentials in it. The walls are completely blank, no posters or anything like that. If there wasn’t a bunch of case files spread across the room, it wouldn’t look like anyone even lived in there.

“Yeah, but he’s a nerd. He has to love action figures.”

“I don’t think that’s true.” Bruce shakes his head, “Does Tim even watch game of thrones?”

“Of course he does! Everyone watches game of thrones!” He can practically hear Jason rolling his eyes, “You’re a hopeless case.”

Then Jason hangs up the phone, leaving Bruce to wander the mall for another three hours.

Bruce is starting to panic, it Christmas Eve and he still doesn’t have a gift for Tim. He’s resorted to snooping through Tim’s stuff. Tim is away on having a Christmas party with the teen titans, so he doesn’t have to worry about Tim catching him.

Most of the room is completely impersonal, so Bruce starts really digging through all of Tim’s stuff. His closet, drawers, Tim’s laptop. He can’t find anything even a little personal, if she didn’t know that Tim lived in here he’d never have known that was Tim’s room.

After searching through all of Tim’s stuff, Bruce sits down on Tim’s bed and tries to figure out what to do now.

“Father, what are you doing in Drake’s room?” Damian stands in the doorway of Tim’s room, he’s holding Alfred the cat.

“I’m trying to figure out what to get Tim for Christmas, it’s harder than I thought.” Bruce sighs.

“Come on, Father. Even I’ve gotten Drake a gift.” Damian says, setting the cat down on the floor and she runs underneath Tim’s bed.

“The gift better not be a knife to the stomach, because I will not allow any stabbing on Christmas.”

“Please, I wouldn’t ruin a perfectly good knife with Drake’s blood.” Damian rolls his eyes, “I got him a membership at the Metropolis museum so that he’ll be at home less.”

“That’s actually a nice gift.” Bruce sighs, his two sons that have tried to kill Tim are getting Tim a better gift than he is.

“You’re a detective father, it’s not that hard to figure out Drake.” Damian pats Bruce’s head, “Drake is a very simple man.”

“I’m sure I’ll figure something out in the next few hours.”

Christmas Day comes way sooner that Bruce expects. It’s 5 am and Bruce is just now getting home from the store, finally finding a gift for Tim. He didn’t have time to wrap it, so he bought a gift bag to put it in. Placing the bag under the tree, Bruce sinks down into the couch.

“Long night, sir?” Alfred asks handing Bruce a cup of coffee.

“Thanks Alfred.” Bruce down half of the cup in one go, “I’ve been out all night.”

“With a lady friend I presume.” Alfred sits down on the couch with a cup of tea in his hand.

“Actually, I was out shopping for a gift for Tim.”

“Waiting to the very last minute I see.” Alfred shakes his head in disappointment, “I ordered master Timothy’s gift months ago. A tea of the month set. I’ll get that boy to like tea eventually.”

“I just don’t know like I used to.” Bruce sighs into his cup, “I guess I’ve just realized that we aren’t close anymore.”

“Master Timothy has been distant from the family for awhile now.” Alfred stares down into his tea, “I’m afraid the boy doesn’t feel like he’s wanted here.”

“I didn’t realize it was that bad. I thought it was just me that’s fallen out of touch with Tim.”

“The only reason Timothy moved back into the manor was because you’ve come back.” Alfred says and gives Bruce a small smile, “He really cares about you.”

“I care about him too, I just can’t figure out how to show him how much I care about him.” Bruce drinks the rest of his coffee, “I couldn’t even figure what to get him, I just got him something random and I don’t even know if he’ll like it or not.”

“I’m sure he’ll love whatever you got him. It’s the thought that counts. You just need to tell him that you love him.” Alfred pats his shoulder and stands up, “I will go make breakfast now and I’ll get you another cup of coffee.”

Christmas breakfast goes way better than most meals in this family goes. No one fights and no one gets stabbed. Then it’s time for presents.

Dick is like a little kid, dressed in his Superman pjs separating his gifts from the others. Jason is sitting on the couch eating cookies. Cass is next to Jason sharing the cookies. Damian is sitting on the floor with Titus and Alfred the cat. Tim is sitting on the couch drinking his third cup of coffee. Bruce stand behind the couch nervously waiting for his kids to open the presents.

“You don’t need to be so nervous.” Alfred smiles and gently pats Bruce’s back.

“I’m not nervous.” Bruce grumbles into his sixth cup of coffee.

Dick, Damian, Jason and Cass all open their gifts and love each one of them, even the ones that Bruce got for them. The only presents left are Tim’s. They look over at Tim and find him on his phone.

“Timmy! The only gifts left are yours.” Dick says in a sing song voice.

“Oh, were we taking turns?” Tim looks up from his phone.

“Here my gift.” Cass hands him her gift.

“Thanks, Cass.” Tim smiles and opens the poorly wrapped gift, “Oh wow a basketball. I love it.”

“You basketball.” Cass bops Tim’s nose.

“Here’s my gift replacement.” Jason throws his gift at Tim.

Tim opens the gift and tilts his head, “Who’s this?”

“It’s John Snow from Game of Thrones!”

“I don’t watch game of thrones, I don’t really have time for tv.” Tim sets the gift down, “But thank you.”

“You suck.” Jason throws a cookie at Tim.

“Now my gift!” Dick hands Tim his gift.

“Oh wow... a clipboard... I love it.” Tim smiles at Dick and Dick lights up. Bruce knows Tim enough that it’s a fake smile, but Dick doesn’t seem to notice.

“I guess it’s mine turn.” Damian huffs and hands Tim a card.

“Wow this is a really nice gift.” Tim says after opening the card, “You’re not going to stab me as payment for this gift right?”

“Keep it up and I might.” Damian growls.

“Here’s my gift, Timothy.” Alfred hands him his gift.

“Tea.” Tim smiles soft at the box, “I love it.”

“Here’s a gift from me.” Bruce grumbles and hands Tim the bag.

Tim opens the bag and pulls out the anime t-shirt that says ‘oppai’ on it. Tim burst out laughing, “You don’t know what that means do you?”

“....it has an anime character on it... and you like anime...” Bruce says dumbly.

“I do, thank you.” Tim smiles at him.

After presents are done, everyone spreads out and goes on their own, giving Bruce time to talk to Tim alone. He finds Tim curled up in a chair in the library watches videos on his phone.

“Tim, can I talk to you?” Bruce asks sitting in a chair near Tim.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Tim asks setting down his phone. It’s weird his other kids call him B and Damian calls him Father, but Tim does his best not to address him.

“I want to spend more time with you.”

“...is this a joke?” Tim asks with confused look on his face.

“A joke?” Bruce frowns.

“Or is something wrong?” Tim sits ups, “Or is this about a case?”

“This isn’t about a case or anything like that. I want to spend more time with you not doing work or cases or anything like that.” Bruce hates that he has to explain this. If he asked Dick or Damian to hang out, neither would ask if it was a joke, “Ever since I came back from the time stream, you and I haven’t had any personal time together. I’ve missed a whole year of your life and I want catch up on what I’ve missed.”

“Oh....” Tim blinks at him, then blinks a couple more times trying to stop the tears from forming in his eyes, “I-if you want...?”

“Of course I want to.” Bruce smiles, “You’re my son and I love spending time with you.”

Instead of replying, Tim pounces on him. Bruce holds Tim close to him, it’s been so long since he’s held Tim. He feels smaller than the last time he’s held Tim, which concerns Bruce, but he decides to bring that up later.

“So do you actually like the shirt?”

Tim wipes his tears off his cheeks and lays his head on Bruce’s shoulder, “Bruce, ‘Oppai’ means boobs.”

Bruce stares in shock as Tim just laughs at him.

[absolxguardian]

I see some posts on here about people being worried that Disney is going to oversaturate Star Wars with all these new shows. I am also worried about them being rushed or bad, but if you think there's too much Star Wars or some of the shows aren't to your taste, you can just not consume them. And you know how I know you can? Because you've been doing that the whole time. I get it. Not everyone is gonna hyperfixate on Star Wars and consume every piece of content. But it's being made. Some are shitty, some are great, and some of them aren't for every kind of fan.

One of the weird things about quarantine for me were that comic publishing delays meant there were a few weeks between the end of TCW Season 7 and Marvel publishing finding their footing where no new Star Wars content was released. I'd say that since the turn of the millennium at the latest, at least one piece of officially licensed star wars content came out a week. And due to a more hands-off continuity aproach, Legends works were probably turned out more quickly than they are now. If you look at star wars as a multimedia storytelling franchise, you can't just disregard mediums you don't normally consume. Star Wars cannot be oversaturated, 40+ years of storytelling has proved that. So if one of the new Disney+ shows isn't your cup of tea, then ignore it.

Finally, to put things in perspective by what I mean by a constant supply of Star Wars content, here are some of the upcoming releases:

Next Wednesday (December 16th): Darth Vader (2020) #6 will be released.

Next Friday (December 19th): The final episode of the Mandalorian season 2 will drop. But Star Wars as a whole as no off season. Because-

The Wednesday after that (December 23rd): Is when Bounty Hunters #8 will drop. Pre quarantine throwing off work schedules, it wasn't unusual for there to be two or three new issues from different series in the same week.

And in January things really heat up with the launch of the High Republic project. On the 5th there will be two new books (Light of the Jedi and Test of Courage), one a full novel and the other middle grades. On the 6th, the first High Republic comic will drop, as will the 10th issue of Star Wars (2020).

[stxleslyds]

so sorry if i'm wrong but it seems that nothing of Jason content since UtRH is ever right for you. that seems tiring

Hi Anon! Please don’t be sorry, I do complain a lot about the Jason content that we have had along the years and I have talked about my frustration on the matter too.

But in reality, even though I don’t find most Jason content appealing or well done, I am still happy for people that are able to enjoy the new content, oftentimes I find myself even feeling a little jealous of those who can accept other versions of Jason so easily.

My first contact with Jason was through the animated movie Batman: Under the Red Hood, I absolutely loved it and I was also really excited that Jensen Ackles was in the movie because I have always been a fan of his, but that was all I knew for a while about Jason Todd/Red Hood, if I wanted to read DC comics, I always picked up something with Dick Grayson in it.

Then a long time passed by and I came across Red Hood/Arsenal and because I saw that it had Roy in it, I decided to check it out. I was so horrified; Roy wasn’t really Roy and Red Hood didn’t seem to be the same as the Red Hood that I had seen in that movie years ago.

So, I went looking for information and Red Hood’s origin, and that’s when I read Batman: Under the Red Hood. Best comic book that I have ever read, it made me want to read more and more from DC, I had finally found a character in DC that I loved as much as Dick Grayson/Nightwing. But after reading that masterpiece I jumped directly into New 52 Red Hood and the Outlaws, my heart was broken and I hated every page that I read from it, Rebirth hadn’t started yet but I was able to find Red Hood: The Lost Days and I fell in love once more (only one thing bothered me and when I looked into it, I saw that Winick said that it had happened to make the reader feel bothered).

My love for that version of Jason was something that I could only find in two books, and I grew massively attached to it for some reason. But at the time Red Hood/Arsenal was coming to an end and I had already read New 52 RHatO too, so I knew that the Jason Todd that I had attached myself to didn’t really exist anymore.

The Jason that I want back so desperately sometimes appears here and there, I have been able to enjoy certain arcs and certain takes in different runs because of it but I am just attached to something that deep down, I know doesn’t exist anymore in the DC universe.

Sometimes it isn’t about Jason and how he is written but the situations and events they drag him towards, Jason is one of those characters that I feel DC doesn’t know what to do with, Lobdell’s characterization was messy for ten years and now he is in permanent limbo.

My greatest frustration with DC and their “treatment” of Jason is that they had many chances of making him be like he used to be, but they have not done that in favour of giving us a concept that will never work in comics’ canon.

I always try to keep my mind positive, I did it when Future State: Red Hood and Urban Legends: Cheer were announced. FS was a story that I could have enjoyed plot wise but because I don’t like “romances” or comics’ take on romance I wasn’t able to enjoy it as much as I wanted. Cheer’s first two parts were issues that I actually liked overall, and then… well, you can see it for yourself, my reviews grew more and more frustrated as the book seemed to lean more towards a Batman story and then a fanon Jason Todd/Red Hood story.

And now I am thrilled about Matthew Rosenberg’s Task Force Z, I cannot wait for that ongoing to begin, what I have already seen of Rosenberg’s Jason in Detective Comics has been amazing and I am really enjoying it so far.

So, it is tiring for me to sometimes get on the hype train and then realise that we are headed towards a cliff but I will still put myself on that train for some Red Hood content.

I just hope that everyone understands that my thoughts on Jason’s current characterization or path aren’t the absolute truth, I will never gatekeep Jason or Red Hood, I just come here to share my thoughts, I would love it if they were more positive and happier but the Jason that we have been getting just isn’t my cup of tea.

Anyway Anon, thank you for the ask and I hope you have a wonderful week!

[barnesandco]

Nikah: April

Story Masterlist

Nikah: noun, Arabic, meaning the contract of marriage.

Bucky marries Peter’s former tutor because her student visa’s about to expire and the government isn’t granting her a green card. Can she find a way to permanent residence by marriage, and if so, will it be at the cost of their hearts?

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Warnings: Slight angst, sick Bucky.

A/N: Written under the Arranged/Accidental Marriage trope for @mermaidxatxheart ‘s writing challenge.

Torrential April showers hammer at the proverbial ceiling of their marriage, slip into the cracks between the walls of their home, begin to loosen the foundation they are standing on, one brick at a time.The gray sky is a gloomy canvas framed by their kitchen window, a painting appropriately matching their murky moods.

Bucky’s leaning against the counter, marble top digging into his steel-rod spine, arms crossed like a shield across his chest. Across his heart. She glances up at him through damp eyelashes before turning back to her laptop, pretending to focus on her presentation. The dinner table is a mess, a sea of papers and textbooks broken by a lighthouse of a tea cup.

“You have a cold,” She tells him as his iron stare is interrupted by a wheezing cough.

“This even is important,” He says, ignoring her apparent concern for his well-being.

“So is your health, Bucky.”

“My health or your work?” He retorts sharply, anger rebuilding after a lull in the storm. There’s a fundraiser for providing state-of-the-art prostheses and frames for disabled children, and he and Colonel Rhodes have been invited as special guests for the attention they’ll bring to the cause. This is his first public engagement after his marriage, and people will want to see his wife on his arm. Only, she’s refusing to go.

“Look, I don’t want to fight about this, especially with the condition you’re in, but-” 

“Then don’t,” Bucky urges, the plea followed by another sneeze that rattles his lungs in his rib cage. Her eyes soften, letting the evident concern for her sick husband show. With a sigh, she pushes back from the table and puts the cup in the sink before turning to him. 

“My PhD defense is two days after the gala,” She argues, and he scoffs, internally regretting the action as it aggravates the scratch in his throat.

“You can’t spare two hours?”

“Why does it matter if I’m not there? It’s your work event, not a personal thing.”

“You’re invited and expected to be there with me as my wife, my partner,” Bucky growls as well as he can, voice hoarse and straining.

“Bucky, this is my future, my life. The conclusion to ten years of studying. I want to go, trust me, I want to be there- but my work…” She tries to explain, tears forming in the corners of her sleep deprived eyes and Bucky wants to answer. Tell her he doesn’t believe her, that she doesn’t care, that he knows he’s just a tool to be used and put away when the job is done. But he still cares, dammit. These kids matter, and unfortunately for them, so does the press coverage. If she isn’t there, the media won’t approve, spinning lies like cotton candy and feeding it to everyone who enjoys that circus, and that could mean disaster for her chances at a green card, and his standing as a “reformed” traitor.

The past two hours of back and forth, the headache-inducing argument, it all swims in his vision and the nausea finally catches up to him and he runs into the bathroom and throws up. Hears running water and looks up to see her holding out a glass of water that he gulps down quickly. She kneels on the pristine tiles beside him and presses a hand to his flaming forehead. Her own wrinkles at the feel of his fever, but he relaxes, as if the tornado hellscape of illness is leaving his body through that point of contact. 

“I told you take it easy,” She grumbles, helping him to his feet. Their quarrel is a tangible presence between them, but all fight seems to have left him along with the contents of his stomach. She helps him settle down in bed and is about to go to retrieve some medicine when Bucky’s hand shoots out to grab hers. Looking down, she squeezes it briefly before leaving.

Bucky counts the seconds to her return with bated breath, and she arrives - guardian angel with Advil and water - to sit next to him on the edge of her bed. Supports him with a hand on his back while he takes the medicine, and once he’s finished, looks at him nervously with hands clasped in her lap.

“Is there anything else I can do? Do you need-”

“You can go to the ball with me,” He answers through teeth grit against the fever that isn’t subsiding yet. She looks up.

“We’ll talk about that later,” She says, resolute. 

“We will talk about it now, and we’ll keep talkin’ till-” He begins to get up, leaning on his elbows but she gently pushes him down onto the pillow with a soft hand on his chest. Leaning over him, so close he’s sure he can recreate the color of her irises from memory, she answers.

“Get some rest. Please,” She asks, pressing a kiss to his burning forehead. Her plans to let him recover on his own are postponed by the feel of his flaming skin and she pulls back to look at him, worried again. Her temper shifts like the tides, pushing and pulling, water slowly eroding his heart made of stone.

“You’re still burning hot.” Bucky bites back a flirtatious remark, which still pops up in his mind, despite the situation. “I should call a doctor,” She says, and Bucky shakes his head.

“ ‘S okay.”

“It’s not okay. You’re at 102 degrees, at least,” She argues, reaching for her phone and he covers her hand with his. 

“It’s a cold, doll. I’ll be fine, trust me,” He reassures, in spite of the shivers racking his body.

“What should I do, then?” Instead of his response, she receives a coughing fit of alarming proportions, the sound grating and scraping at the walls of their room. “I’ll be right back,” She says, leaving before he can stop her, and he can only hope she won’t call anyone.

Five minutes later, she comes back holding a bowl of… honey? 

“It’s a remedy my mom would make when I was a kid. Desi cough syrup. Ginger and honey with a bit of cinnamon.” She gauges his response, but Bucky only opens his mouth, allowing her to feed it to him. It doesn’t taste bad, warms and soothes his throat, and he lays back again.

“Better?” She wants to know as she puts the bowl on the bedside table.

“A little. Still cold.”

“Oh.” Her face falls, but she gets up to turn on the thermostat, and lays an extra blanket on him. Bucky doesn’t want her to leave, upset as he is, so he asks her:

“Does this mean you’ll come?” He gets a glare for his efforts from the doorway. She comes back and pulls the blanket tighter around him and sighs heavily, as if to expel the weight of the world from her lungs.

“Not now, Bucky. Rest-”

“Stay. Fine, we won’t talk now, but don’t go. You’re exhausted. You need sleep,” He insists, reaching for her hand as she’s about to leave again, and she mulls it over. Crumpling the neat arrangement of duvet-comforter-blanket, he makes room, and she gets in beside him.

The back of her hand, her knuckles, reach out to run a line across his forehead and then drag down his cheek. “You’re shaking,” She comments, and Bucky no longer knows if it’s due to the fever or the effect she has that makes his heart tremble like a leaf in a hurricane. “Come here,” She says, and to his astonishment, comes closer, wrapping her arms around his shoulders to pull him to her. Her chin rests on the crown of his head while his nose is pressed to her collarbone. Slowly, cautiously, his arms envelope her waist, belting around the base of her spine.

“Is this okay?” He murmurs against her soft skin, feeling her pulse thrum against his lips where they meet. Her barely-there yes is accompanied by her hand on the nape of his neck, running her fingers through the hair there.

Bucky falls asleep in the cloud of his wife’s jasmine perfume, her touch still distant and tense, but he only dreams of a better wedding. A second chance. The kind that she is deserving of, instead of the frail one she received, even if it was at her own insistence.

“You’re eloping?” Sam asks, voice rising to a comical pitch that Bucky didn’t know was possible. He shrugs at his teammate, who stands above him in front of the couch Bucky is lounging on, having burst into his room. Normally, he’d have chewed Sam out for not knocking, but he’s in Peter’s room, hiding from Sam, so he hardly has any right to. Looks like it isn’t much of a hiding place, but then - if Bucky had wanted to actually hide instead of procrastinate this conversation, Sam would have never found him.

Bucky nods, straightening up slightly, and Sam sits down beside him.

“Why, man?” He asks, the line between concerned captain and caring friend blurring. 

“She didn’t want to make a big deal about it. Said there wasn’t much point in spendin’ all that money for somethin’ like this, especially because she knows I’d be spendin’ the money,” Bucky answers. It’s true. Peter had almost thrown a tantrum when she had announced that she wouldn’t wear a lehenga, or a wedding outfit of any other sort for that matter. Weddings are a huge deal anywhere, but especially in Pakistan, and she’s her parents’  eldest, the pride and joy of the family. Her marriage would have been celebrated with so much enthusiasm. It would have been an event to remember. But it won’t be.

He knows it’s reasonable, the proper thing to do, but part of him - the 20-year-old Brooklyn romantic - longs for a wedding. A party. A celebration. However, he has come to terms with the fact that there is nothing to celebrate here. Just a temporary arrangement. A favor.  They had agreed on a courthouse marriage. Elopement. Simple as that.

Bucky’s eyes open with a great modicum of difficulty to find that he is burning. Everything is on fire, his bed a furnace baking him alive, so much so that it takes torturous moments before he realizes his wife is in his arms. The urge to throw off the blankets and dunk himself in an ice bath is suppressed just long enough for him to look over her head at the alarm clock on the bedside table that reads eleven. They appear to have slept through yesterday afternoon, the whole night, and late into the next morning, and the clouds have parted to reveal sunshine like gold. 

The temperature becomes unbearable, and regrettably, he has to move out of her grasp around him, her hand tightening where it’s gripping his bicep. 

“Sweetheart,” He says, not wanting to wake her, but having no choice. She shifts, burrows her face into his chest and Bucky’s heart cries. He sighs, running a thumb firmly over her shoulder, leaning down to whisper in her ear.

“Sweetheart.” She hums, the vibrations reverberating through her lips and his sweat-drenched shirt. “Baby, wake up. I gotta go.” She frowns, whimpers, nuzzling into him, and Bucky hates himself for waking her, resting a hand on the side of her neck. “Darlin’ please. I have to go,” He says urgently, and it’s true. He needs the toilet. She jerks back with a gasp, and he smiles at her, trying not to race to the bathroom.

“I’m sorry- I-” “It’s okay, give me a sec,” He says, leaving. When he returns, she’s sitting back against the headboard, and she straightens up to talk to him, adjusting her shirt.

“I- uh, I thought about it, and... well. I’ve been studying for years and years. This is my work, my research, and if I’m not ready now, I don’t think I’ll ever be. What I’m trying to say is- I guess I’ll go to the gala.” She says, getting up and moving to peck his cheek on her way out, still demure and a little stiff, but Bucky thinks: he’s the luckiest damn fool on this side of the galaxy.

Taglist: @suz-123​ @mermaidxatxheart​ @buckyreaderrecs @shield-agent78 @corneliabarnes @readerandcinephileingeneral​ @stevieboyharrington @notsomellowmushroom @veganfangirl5 @mood-pancakes @lbuck121 @starnight-charmer

[thirddoctor]

do you have good book recommendations for classic masters? (preferably delgado's)

Sure!

Harvest of Time. Can’t recommend this one enough! It’s UNIT era, features Delgado, very fun. If you read nothing else, read this one.

The Face of the Enemy. This one has Delgado working with UNIT in the Doctor’s role (it’s set while the Doctor and Jo are on Peladon). Ian and Barbara are there too. I had a lot of fun with it! (It might help to read The Dark Path first, which I didn’t enjoy as much, but is still worth a look.)

Last of the Gaderene. It’s nothing amazing (I mean it’s a Mark Gatiss story) but I remember the Master’s scenes being very enjoyable.

The novelisations of Colony in Space, The Daemons, The Sea Devils, and Frontier in Space. Novelisations aren’t everyone���s cup of tea, but these ones are actually pretty good, because they add extra scenes/layers to the TV stories. Some of the new dialogue is extremely funny. Also Frontier in Space has a much nicer ending than the original and I wish it were the canon ending.

Prime Time. This one features Ainley and Seven but I really like it. They have some great scenes together, and honestly there isn’t much good EU content out there for Ainley so that makes me appreciate this book all the more.

If you want to see what other novels (and comics, short stories, audios, etc.) are available, you can check my spreadsheet here. For Delgado, I would particularly recommend The Switching, Christmas Truce, The Man in the Ion Mask, The Heralds of Destruction, and The Same Face.

If you need help finding any of the items on this list, let me know!

[salamanderskin]

Detail Study (Critical Role, Caduceus)

Caduceus isn’t feeling well. Jester takes advantage to explore an interest of hers and help out a friend.  (aka Salamander projecting onto characters who are sweet, somewhat innocent and not bothered by what other people think is weird.)

Detail Study 

Jester loves to draw and she loves to draw her friends most of all. Since moving into their shared house it has been easier than ever, so her sketchbook is filled with sketches of each of them. Some comic, some serious, all done with love and attention to detail.

Increasingly, she has been turning her attention to the newest member of the party. All her friends are beautiful in her eyes, but they are all approximately humanoid in their features, more (the actual humans) or less (Nott). Caduceus Clay is another matter entirely. She has never known a firbolg well enough to sit and stare and sketch. She longs to sit and let her pencil understand his long, silken ears, the broad, animal planes of his face and his neat little nose. It is pinkish and rough with slit nostrils and a fine line from philtrum to lip- almost like Frumpkin the cat's but not quite. She is yet to sketch it to her satisfaction but when they are not out on adventures Caduceus seems to value his time alone, and she hasn't plucked up the courage to ask him to sit for her.

Opportunity knocks unexpectedly on a rainy day.

Jester sits in the kitchen, dipping a pastry in her milk and watching the others of the Mighty Nein emerge from their rooms to join her at the table. There were battles yesterday and drinking last night, so today there are stiff limbs and hangovers. No hangover for herself, which always makes her a little smug, and Caduceus doesn't drink either so why hasn't he come for breakfast yet?

When he does make it downstairs, he looks as worse for wear as any of them. He used every drop of his magic yesterday and judging from the slump of his shoulders he hasn't recovered yet. His lanky frame is draped with a thick shawl while his cow-like ears droop down sadly. Even his beautiful pink hair seems less vibrant than usual. He announces himself with a fit of husky, ticklish coughing that makes everyone turn their heads.

“'Duceus sounds like shit.” Beau observes to the group at large.

When Caduceus folds himself into a chair but neither speaks nor even reaches for a cup of tea, Fjord leans over to put a hand on his arm. “Hey, are you, uh, doing okay?”

Caduceus clears his throat and sighs. “Oh hey. No, I'm afraid not feeling too well.”

“Do you need some healing? Or I have probably have a  potion.” Jester suggests.

“That'd be-- - chsch’ue!

He hesitates and turns his head suddenly to sneeze over his shoulder. He recovers with a soft little sound that makes Jester's heart hurt and finishes, “that's really kind but it's just a sniffle. I don't find magic works too well for those.”

“Actually that's true.” She agrees solemnly. “If it gets really really bad and you get a high fever or you have a lot of pain then I can try, but otherwise it's a waste of a spell. Sorry.”

“Don't be sorry. I think I'll just rest today and wait for it to pass.”

With that in mind. when the rest of them decide to head out into town, there is a (rare) unanimous decision to leave Caduceus at home in the warm.

Fjord pats him kindly on the shoulder on the way out of the door and then reaches a hand to smooth Caduceus' hair from his brow, eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “Well I don't think you have a temperature. I'd suggest that you drink lots of tea but I know you will.” 

Jester is packing her things into her magical backpack, but looks up for this little exchange. This opportunity is too good to miss.

“I'm going to stay home and take care of Caduceus!” She announces.

“Does Caduceus get a say in the matter?” Caleb asks wryly.

“Nope.”

“That's nice.” Caduceus agrees. “I'm going to make some tea to help me shake this, but you're welcome to have some, Jester.”

“See, it's all settled. Have fun you guys.” She ushers them out of the door and into the rainy street with a smile.

When they have the house to themselves, Caduceus disappears up to his rooftop garden and returns with a handful of herbs to make himself one of his healing teas. Jester herself settles into her favourite spot on the sofa and tucks her legs under herself to watch him. He can't seem to keep his hands from his nose as he potters around the kitchen- sniffling and rubbing, blowing his nose or pinching it roughly. As the water boils, his breath gets quick and chaotic for another sneeze.

“hk—chsch’ue!”

“Bless you.”

“-chsch’ue!”

There is something very endearing about the big, earnest firbolg and his surprisingly soft sneezes. There is very little sound but they make his shoulders shrug and his head bob fiercely, like a cat shaking off water.

And here comes another- his brows arch in hesitation and he manages to mutter a “S'cuse me-” before tipping forward into the handkerchief again.

“Aww, bless you,” she croons fondly. “You know, because you're so tall I expected you to have a really loud sneeze, like Fjord. Or Yasha. But it's just little and soft.”

“Doesn't feel little.” He groans.

“Well it's very cute.”

“Good?” He shrugs, perplexed but pleased, and returns to worrying under his nose with another handkerchief.

 Now seems as good a time as any to ask the question, so- 

“Caduceus, can I draw you?”

“Don't you draw me all the time, and everyone else?”

“No, I mean, since you're not doing anything and I really, really want to draw you, could you sit somewhere in the light and sit really still for me to draw you? Please?”

He considers this and nods. “Of course I can. So long as I can take my tea with me. I'm very good at sitting still.” Well, that was easy.

Happiness bubbles in Jester's stomach as she directs the tall firbolg into the windowseat where he can rest his cup on the sill. The grey light from outside is still enough to illuminate his hair from behind, bringing out the rich rose tone of it. It also brings out the shadows under his eyes and the raw hue of his poor nose, which he rubs at ruefully as she guides him into place. She spots him shivering and adds a throw blanket over his knees.

 “That's perfect. Just stay like that, okay?” She gives him a kiss to the crown of his head and sits in front of him with her sketchbook open.

Caduceus sits still, almost slipping into meditation to the gentle sound of pencil on paper. She has fixed him to gaze towards the window, but he can make her out as a blue blur at the corner of his vision. She seems so happy. That's nice. He would be perfectly content if it wasn’t for the irritation of his throat and nose. He sneaks a hand up to rub it and manages a few passes before his artist objects- 

“Hey, you have to hold still so I can draw your properly.” “I'm sorry, Jester. Bit of an itch in my nose.”

“Well don't scratch it.” She says.

Caduceus duly tries. His philosophy is to help people however he can and if that was what Jester wants he will comply. It is easy at first but grows rapidly more difficult as his nose starts to drip. He can feel the moisture tracking into the soft, velvet fur under his nostrils. It is desperately ticklish.

“Can I move now?” He pleads, his voice breathy and helpless.

“Wait for-” his companion begins, but before she could finish, Caduceus tips forward with a whippish sneeze.

“heh--- MPShh!”

He manages to direct it over his shoulder and recovers with a quick, wet sniffle.

“Bless you, bless you.” Jester tuts and reaches to rearrange him back into his former position. She begins sketching again, tilting her head at different angles and humming with satisfaction as she works.

He dutifully holds the pose for a long as he can before his cold catches up with him again in another, “MPSH-shue!” The sound is soft but emphatic.

“Bless you.”

“S'cuse m-eh-” His bass voice topples into a wordless, needy sound and he cups his hands hastily over his mouth and nose for another. 

“Bless you!”

His sniffling is becoming increasingly damp, threatening to spill over his upper lip, and he presses the back of a hand there as he rummages in his pockets for a handkerchief. He gives a series of short blows but his sinuses immediately flood again, whilst the pressure makes his forehead spike with pain.

“That didn't feel good.” He says aloud, half to himself.

His teifling companion has been watching him, spellbound, but at this she makes a concerned noise and puts down her sketchpad. Jester crosses the room in a few light steps and alights on the side of his armchair to give him a hug.

“Poor 'Duceus. I thought you were okay earlier but now you sound really crappy.”

He sniffles in response, which turned into a little cough that makes him push his fingers under his eyes against the ache. When he opens them, her expression is so worried and sad that he laughs in spite of it all.

“It's really nothing. It's what you get when you live in a magically heated cemetery your whole life and then you mingle with lots of new people, I suppose. It's not so bad apart from my head, when I move too fast.”

She nodded understanding and snuggled in tighter, wrapping her arms around his torso as high up as she can reach.

“Do you want me to rub your head? That's what my momma would do for me when I had a headache.”

 “I-” images of his own family gathered around flash in front of him and leave him feeling sad and strange. “Yes please. That would be nice.”

It takes a few moments for them to find a way to settle. The sofa is only just long enough for his to lay out on, so it takes some comedic shunting to him comfortable with Jester sitting upright and his head in her lap on a pillow, angled to help him breathe. Once there he lies quietly, sniffling and looking up at her with his eyes glowing like pink sapphires.

She has not known any of his species apart from Nila and Pumat(s) Sol, and she can't imagine either of them letting her indulge her curiosity this way. She starts tamely enough- smoothing her fingers through his hair and rubbing circles into the shaved sides his head. When he does not object, her fingers migrate to his large ears. They are rounded like a cow's but more delicate by far. She has never pet a deer but this is how she imagines it might be. When she digs into the hollows in front, where she assumes his sinuses must meet his ear canal, he groans with pleasure, sniffles a little and seems to breathe more easily.

This also gives her an excellent view of his fascinating nose. His nostrils are thin and tear shaped, and she can see them flaring ticklishly when he sniffles. They are always a delicate rose pink, but right now they look irritated and chapped. Poor thing. First she runs her fingers down the sides of his nose, feeling the short fur on the bridge of it get finer across his cheeks.

Emboldened by his lack of protest, she smooths up the bridge itself as though petting a large cat. Finally, fascinated, her fingers drift to his nostrils and trace the hairline crack that divides his upper lip.

That, at last, is too much. His whole nose twitches in irritation and a large hand reaches up to grip her wrist.

“Maybe not there, Miss Jester.”

“Oh, I'm sorry. Was that too personal?”

“It’s not that.” He sits up out of her lap and blinks at the ceiling with round, wet eyes. She can see tears gathered on his long lashes. “I thought I was gonna sneeze. Maybe...hhhh...”

He turns away from her abruptly, draws a mammoth breath in and... nothing.

“Ugh, it's gone. That's really frustrating.” 

“I'm sorry.”

“Not your fault I think.” He mumbles, distracted.

The soothing spell of the moment before is truly broken as Caduceus raises himself to a sitting position and sniffles woefully. His broad hands are cupped against his face but nothing happens.

Jester feel something as she watches him squint and shiver ticklishly. It is novel to see him so helpless against something so small, to watch him when he too distracted by his own body to watch her, that gives her a feeling of guilty power.

“Caduceus?” She asks slyly. “Do you honestly, really really want to sneeze?” 

“Yes. Honestly.”

“And that wasn't too personal, what I was doing before?”

“No.”

An idea is forming. “Okay, you sit there for oooooone second.”

She darts back to her journal and the set of paint beside them, and returns moments later with a slim, fine-tipped paintbrush. She tests the edge against her fingertip and feels the firm, soft edge. That should do nicely.

“What- sniff- what are you-?” Caduceus manages. He hushes when she sits cross legged in his lap and takes his jaw in both her hands, tilting her head to him. She has a truly excellent view of his nose now. His lovely hair is swept back and can admire the animal line of the bridge of his contrasted with his strong human jaw.

“Shhhh. Just trust me, Okay. I’m going to make you feel so much better,”she promises, and touches underneath his nose with the end of the brush. 

The firbolg flinches away reflexively and then leans back in when he realises what she is doing and that it isn’t painful, just a little weird and impossibly tickly.

“Is that working?” Jester inquires, half to hear him to try to speak.

“No— wait, yes—“ his breathing becomes rapid and shallow. But he still hovers, as sniffling and itchy and miserable, just with tears tracking down through his fur and a blush rising to match his hair. 

In a moment of boldness, Jester slips the brush just inside one of his nostrils and traces a tiny circle. This time the reaction is immediate. Caduceus pushes her off his lap in his haste to turn away and tuck a handkerchief over his face

“-uh-CHSch-ue! CHSch-ue!”

There. Still not loud but it’s emphatic enough that when he raises his head he doesn’t look so irritated anymore, just tired and kind of hazy. The wet sheen in his eyes makes Jester’s always-soft heart melt at once.  Now that the moment has passed she feels a little guilty for putting him through it. 

“Does that feel better at least?”

He considers and nods. “Yeah. Yeah, it does actually. It was just- sniff- it was a lot.” 

She comes to sit by his side and settles her arms around him in an embrace. He is tall enough that his relaxed response settles his head on top of hers. She can feel his breath ruffle her hair as he sighs heavily.

“Do you think that was maybe a bit weird?” She wonders aloud.

“I’m not the best judge.” “That’s true. Just a little bit of weirdness between friends.”

He nods, his mind clearly somewhere else, then adds, “I don’t think I want to try it again just yet. I feel like I need a lie down- you’ve worn me out!”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” She gets up and offers her hands as if her tiny form could actually help haul seven feet of firbolg up standing. He takes them anyway and then gathers the blanket around himself like a shawl. “Yes. You should go rest.” “Can you finish your sketch?”

“Yes, I can add in the rest of the details later probably, and if I don’t like them I’ll make them up. It might make you look better than in real life.”

“That’s not hard at the moment.” He agrees, coughing softly against his fist. “See you later.”

“See you later.” She echoes, and watches him disappear up the stairs to his room.

The living room feels very empty without so much pink firbolg but Jester doesn’t mind. She lies on her belly on the rug to add the rest of the details to her interrupted sketch. With care she adds the delicate line down the centre of his nose and the exact slit shape of his nostrils, then begins shading in the delicate fur there. She even hums to herself as she works, perfectly content.

She knows herself too well to say that her curiosity is ever fully satisfied, but this morning certainly came close. And when Caduceus will wake up, she will see if she can make good on her offer to take care of him. That’s what the Mighty Nein do, after all.

END.