#Joker thinks the core is a weapon

[nelkcats]

King and Joker

The bats were confused when Joker announced he gained a companion. His partner (or sidekick) is strong and has too many powers but looks sad. They tried to ask him if something was wrong but he remained silent. Joker liked to call him "The King", but he insisted that he was only "Phantom". The clown didn't care and continue with the nickname.

"King Phantom" tends to ignore when civilians are evacuated, feign ignorance when someone tries to escape, and has offered the bats bandages and medicine a couple of times. But when The Joker is present he becomes completely desperate and aggressive, as if he is fighting for something.

On the other hand, Joker got a completely new weapon, it was a green sphere that produced lightning but Phantom winced every time he saw him use it. On one occasion Tim swore he heard him whisper "Ellie".

Danny was scared, Ellie was unstable and anything he did could be fatal. When he arrived in Gotham looking for her missing core he didn't expect to find it in the hands of a clown. The clown realized that he had something to bribe him (although he didn't know how important it was) and began to order him around.

Danny hated it, he held back most of the time because he was fighting humans, not revealing many of his powers. And he would have killed the clown a thousand times if it weren't dangerous for Ellie. Joker would never break away from the core by saying it was "good luck", and would lock it in a ghost-proof cell, which is probably where he found it originally. The halfa just wanted his the girl back.

[phoenixcatch7]

I'd love to see a time travel/ng+ fic where all the phantom thieves plus the royal/strikers thieves PLUS all the confidants travel back to when the game starts. Everyone's utterly bewildered.

The core phantoms and kasumi, being already physically close, figure it out pretty quick and regroup, but the rest are left confused and floundering until joker gets there and starts reaching out. But with so many people and everyone so lost and upset, he starts delegating and introducing people to each other so they have more options to reach out in case of emergency and to solidify his own web of connections, and for the better efficiency collaboration brings.

And yes I want to see all the confidants become friends or at least co-conspirators in a grand scheme sharing knowing smiles. I want to see normal people struggling with the reality of having lost a year or two of their lives, the surge of hope or fear as they realise they get to do it all again, feeling confused and alone and with the other confidants and plenty of soul searching build up an eclectic support network with others who share the same goal. As a group they could be so much more, and so many would benefit from joker putting them in touch with each other.

But I mostly want to see people coming to the dawning realisation that the scope of joker's reach he's built up is absolutely insane.

Just about every single named character in this huge game is a tarot confidant. Outside of palace rulers, the (hilariously but sadly rare) acquaintances of friends, and occasional mission target, EVERYONE is a secret member of joker's web. He's got the wildest, 'how did you guys even meet' people in his pocket too.

He's got a sentient AI. He's got a politician. He's got a yakuza guy who sells fake weapons who once took out 50 gang members. He's got a secretly talking cat. He's got a high class lawyer. He's got an underground doctor with like 5 PhDs she got revoked who does human experimentation. He's got a government agent. He's got a fortune teller. He's got a guy running his website and managing public missions for no pay. He's got an up and coming teen model. He's got the second detective prince. He's got a world famous wanted hacker. He's got a ten year old. He's got the REACH baby.

It's so funny. He's got like literally 30 odd people with maxed bonds who all think they're one of very very few who know the secret of the phantom thieves and who would break literal laws for this kid. I just think if they all worked together they'd rule the world. And they'd have a huge support group.

Fortune teller: yeah so then I managed to escape the cult, but it's just been so hard to discover who I am outside of that, you know? And they still want me back, it terrifies me.

Reporter lady: *drunk* girl that's absolutely awful you deserve like sooooo much better listen if I see them sniffing around I'll let you know. You shouldn't have to deal with those guys alone, I know allllllllll about making those kinds of guys sweat.

/Ex yakuza fake gun seller: you remind me of my son. He's a good kid, you'd like him. I can set you up?

10yo gun arcade player: oooh do these have real mechanisms? They look so realistic!

Ex yakuza: joker said you could both do with someone your own age - PUT THAT DOWN-

/Shoji player and art kid (yusuke) from the same school: *sitting in silence doing their own thing during school break, having a fantastic time*

/Akechi: *having a breakdown*

Sae, having hustled him off to an empty room for privacy: you know I can't believe I ever bought your nice act. Anyway do you think I could make a case for getting custody of you?

Akechi, stunned out of his attack: ????? Your sister would murder me.

Sae: yeah but it'd annoy shido and my boss so bad.

Akechi:.... I'll consider it.

/sojiro: I admit it's nice to have an adult to talk to about this... Sometimes I still can't believe it's the kids I know that go out and change the world like this.

Government agent: YEAH even with my own persona it's an absolute Ride. You should be proud. Also your coffee is delicious.

/Government agents daughter and mishima: *having an absolute BLAST designing merch*

The list goes ON its just so many under utilised possible relationships!!! Post games the meta verse is gone and most problems are solved (or dead) but if we put them all together in joker's biggest melting pot it'd be such a ride. All of them just low key scared of how many high ranking connections he has.

Like he just texts someone 'hi I think I know someone you'd like to know. I'm sending them to meet you.' and you're like okay??? I guess we'll see why?? And you round the corner and there's a politician and a previously famous missing teen detective waiting for you and they're here to help you get a restraining order on your stalker if you help predict a lottery number or two. And it just keeps happening. Sometimes you're the 'I know a guy' sent to meet people. Like how does joker even know this many people???? He's just moved here!!

[rainycat2]

Though I Could Not Stop For Death / Death Kindly Stopped For Me

Chapter Three: Make the Plan

Danny’s list of things to do in Gotham was simple. Truly.

Step one: Get into Gotham without getting Batman on his tail. Easy. He’s not a meta.

Step two: find Red Hood and figure out what in the hell is so wrong with his Vibes that Lady Gotham herself asks for help. Lady Gotham never asks for help.

Step Three: find the Joker, knock his shit out, and drag his soul back for sentencing.

Step four: get the hell out of dodge.

Simple! Quick, easy, something that won’t take more than a week if all goes well, Danny reasoned as he packed a suitcase. And if it takes longer, well, the family had had a conversation a day ago about this situation.

His parents were understanding, if a bit disappointed that Danny had to go off elsewhere, but Jazz quickly turned their moods around by mentioning that she had a college tour at Gotham University for their psychology partnership with Arkham. Her car was therefore packed, pressed suit jackets and slacks hanging up on a rod in the backseat, her suitcase tucked neatly into the trunk, ready for Danny’s to join it.

One more checklist, just to be sure.

Clothes for a week? Check. Cash in his wallet? Check. A backpack full of weapons, ectoplasmic shots, Ecto-Dejecto, bandages, and Fenton fishing line? Check. His sword hilt? Check.

Danny hesitated, looking back at the armor folded carefully in the back of his closet. After a moment’s thought, he transformed into Phantom, shaking the armor out and holding it up to himself in the mirror.

He was taller, now. More filled out in the shoulders, his body put through hell and back. His fighting style had shaped him, shifting from the lean, smaller, quicker physique of his past into a stronger, more muscled brawler type. The armor wouldn’t fit, naturally-- he was fifteen, now, not eight.

Danny examined his jumpsuit in the mirror, looking himself up and down. Pauldrons, wrist braces, shin guards… He could do without the front flare of the tunic, though. Heavier armor on his knuckles, an empty sheath on his hip for a sword he no longer had.

It would do, for his purposes. Besides, Frostbite and Fright Knight had been bugging him to add more armor to his Phantom form, given the amount that he got knocked around. Mainly into buildings. Yeah, it made sense.

A white ring split from his waist, his clothing shifting, new pieces appearing. A crown resting on his brow, his ring on his finger. Danny looked at himself again, at the armor from his past and his present mixed and melded together.

A nod, then Danny shifted back, dropping the few inches back down to the ground-- right in time, too, as Mom stuck her head in the door. “Are you almost ready, sweetheart?” she asked, entering his bedroom with a thermos in hand. “I know you’ve probably packed plenty, but I made you an ectoplasm smoothie.”

Relief flitted across his face as Danny grinned, ducking in close for a quick hug. “You’re a lifesaver, Mom,” he praised, taking pleasure in his core purring. Family-content-safe-family. “I could go for a pick-me-up, I just changed my outfit a little.”

“Ooh!” Maddie laughed, getting on tiptoe to kiss his forehead. “You’re going to keep it from us until you get home? Despicable,” she teased.

Danny flushed, rubbing his neck embarrassedly. “Oh, psh, mom. I’m only changing it for Gotham specifically-- a HAZMAT jumpsuit tends to stand out a little, you know?”

Maddie’s smile softened as she pushed the thermos into Danny’s grip, dancing nimbly away to the duffle bag on the bed. One last checkover- because of course, she’s a mother, she has to make sure he has everything he needs (and if Danny’s core warmed slightly at the gesture, the care she showed, that’s for him to know). “I think you have everything, honey. Just.. be careful, okay?” she asked, zipping up his duffle and clipping it to the handle of his suitcase.

“Mom, I’m going to be fine. At most, this’ll take a week, maybe three,” he brushed off, taking the handle from Maddie as he offered her his arm. “Jazz is going to look at her college, and I’m going to investigate as best I can. If I have a free day or two, I might go with her. Now-- do you want to take the fast way down, or the boring, normal way?”

Mom blinked, then beamed. “Oh! Of course, Danny, just let me get ready,” she fretted, adjusting her suit before linking her elbow in his. She nodded, and Danny let gravity slip away, shifting them both intangible as she gasped in delight.

God, Danny was never going to get used to this. His parents delighting in his powers, letting him show them off, trusting them with his secret. It was a relief and a joy that he wished he could reassure his fourteen-year-old self about. That a year later, things would be looking up again.

Danny let them drop, falling from the second floor to the first by the front door, then let their presence in the world slip back into existence, dropping to the ground with a faint thump. Maddie just beamed at him, reaching up to ruffle his hair. “I’m so proud of you, Danny,” she said softly. “You’ve come such a long way.”

The blush from earlier only flamed up as Danny laughed, deflecting instantly. “Ah, well, the only reason I’ve progressed so much is yours and Dad’s help.”

Maddie just shook her head fondly, opening the front door. “Alrighty, Mr. Humble, let’s get you packed up and on the road. You’ve got about five hours to your first stop in Cincinnati, then another five to Pittsburg. If you push it, you might be able to get to Gotham before nightfall, but don’t drive if you don’t feel like you can-- and Danny, that does not mean you can shift and pick the car up invisibly,” she scolds. “You have your permit, and Jazz can be the licensed driver in the car, so you can get some practice hours in. Lord knows you need it.”

Danny just snickered as he opened the trunk, sliding his suitcase on top of Jazz’s, then closing it, his duffle bag on his shoulder. “Mom, we’re going to be fine,” he assured her. “We can get a hotel if we need, I may or may not have Vlad’s credit card, and have plenty of gas and snacks. I’m not going to do anything stupid on a finite amount of ectoplasm, honestly.”

“You know, I’m going to discard the comment about Vlad right now, just because I’m worried about you,” Maddie sighed as Jazz leaned against the car, Jack double-checking the tires. “There should be enough ambient ectoplasm in Gotham, but we can’t be sure--”

“Lady Gotham has already agreed to host us, Mom,” Jazz snorted. “If there’s enough ectoplasm for a city ghost, let alone one as old as her, Danny’s gonna be just fine. And besides, he can always open a portal into the Realms.”

“Okiedokie, can we stop loudly discussing this in the street?” Danny protested. “Let’s get this show on the road, c’mon.”

“Okay, Danno, okay,” Jack hummed as he got back to his feet before patting Danny on the shoulder. “I know you’re anxious to get this done, so we’ll not drag this out, but…” Swiftly, Jack pulled his son into a hug. “Just be safe, okay, kiddo?”

Danny smiled back, letting his core rumble audibly. “Dad, we’re going to be fine. Jazz has the Peeler, I have weapons aplenty, so I won’t even need to shift to Phantom. We’re gonna be fine. In and out.”

“Just humor me, and text us when you get to your stops,” Jack sighed exasperatedly, ruffling Danny’s hair, proudly ignoring the protests as Danny tried and failed to get his hair back into a somewhat manageable floof.

“We’re going to be fine,” Danny repeated. “Red’s covering my patrols, you guys are helping out, and Vlad’s agreed to keep an eye out and play nice. Sam and Tucker are going to meet us next week for that Gala you got us tickets to. We’ll all head back together, now stop fussing, jeez. Prince of the Infinite Realms, and I’m gonna get fussed to death,” he grumbled, no heat in the action as he climbed into the passenger seat.

---

Okay, so maybe Danny underestimated how goddamn boring this drive was going to be. Logically, okay, he understood that Illinois and Indiana were, like, 90% farmland with the exceptions of Indianapolis and and Chicago.

But man.

Staring out the window listening to Jazz’s pop music playlist for three hours straight was really starting to get to him. Idly, he dug into the duffle bag for a set of Fenton Fones, tucking one into his ear as he set the other one on the center console. “Jazz, I’m going to go insane if I listen to one more goddamn boy band,” he said seriously. “I won’t go far, I’m just gonna fly above you. Is that okay?”

Jazz sighed, then nodded as she tucked the earbud into place. “Stay somewhere you can see me and get to me fast,” she instructed. “And don’t explore! At most, fly a mile ahead and tell me about the traffic.”

“Okay, okay,” Danny snickered, dropping intangible and invisible, shifting to Phantom before he’d even left the car. “Come in, Worst Shot, can you hear me?”

The comm link crackled slightly, then came in clear. “Loud and clear, Inviso-Bill, if we’re doing stupid nicknames.”

“You wound me,” Danny said dramatically, flipping onto his back as he lazily flew above the car, a good two hundred feet up. “I’m around, J. Directly above you, in fact, going sixty-five miles per hour. Really, the exact speed limit?”

“I really, really don’t want to get pulled over with ectoplasmic shots in the car, much less weapons.”

“...You know what, that’s fair, actually. Ooh, there’s a wreck on the road a bit ahead, maybe a mile and a half? If you take the next exit, then get back on the highway, you should be able to circumvent it.”

“Better than satellite GPS,” Jazz teased as Danny watched her take the exit. “I’m gonna stop and stretch. Are you needed at the wreck?”

“I don’t think so,” Danny mused as he watched her pull into a truck stop. “But I’m gonna go look, just in case.”

“I figured, Little Brother. Go, do your thing. I’ll get you a Mountain Dew.”

Danny laughed as he muted his microphone, flipping around and shooting towards the ground, letting himself slow down gradually. A check to ensure he was still invisible and intangible before he looked around the scene of the accident. One car flipped, the other swerved off the road. He winced as he looked at the flipped car, then glanced at the swerved one. The second driver was going to be fine, he could tell, but the first…

The tether between the driver and life was growing thin, Danny could tell from here. Gently, he let himself land, slowly approaching the car before he crouched next to the broken window. “Hey there,” he greeted, looking at the driver.

She couldn’t be more than her mid-twenties, blonde hair sticky and strawberry pink with blood. Bruising across her face and chest, her breathing wheezy and wet. “Who’s there? Please… help me?”

Danny glanced at the other car, ensuring he was out of view of the road and the other driver before he let himself slip into visibility. The girl gasped softly, her eyes unfocused but determined to look at him. “You-- what?”

“Hey, hey. You’re going to be okay,” Danny murmured. “It’s just… I’m sorry, but I can’t help you as you are. But I can help you, in a way. You have a choice, here-- your tether to life is fading, but I can either strengthen it or cut it.”

The girl stared for a moment at him before coughing. “W-why on earth would you make me pick? Aren’t you Death?”

Danny waved his hand. “Ah, not quite, more like her errand boy,” he joked. “As for the choice… it’s yours to make. This accident is serious enough that you will not recover, not fully. From experience, you’ll most likely be in a vegetative state, if you don’t have a DNR. But if you choose to pass, I can escort you to your afterlife, and make sure you won’t feel any more pain,” he says simply.

“Are you an angel, then?”

“Again, not quite,” Danny laughs. “I’m more like… Charon, if you’re familiar with Greek mythos. A ferryman, or an escort to the afterlife.”

“I…” the girl glanced around, looking tiredly at herself, then back to Danny, her head falling backwards. “Okay. Okay, um… can you…?”

Danny just smiled softly, reassuringly, as he reached out to her and gently took her hand. As he stood up, she stood up with him, stepping out of the car with a sigh. Her aura was small, a low silver glow as they stood, looking back at the car. “Is.. is that it?” she asked, examining her body in the car. “That’s everything?”

“That’s it,” Danny confirmed, waving his hand as a door appeared. It was white, gold filigree decorating the otherwise plain door. “Alright, this is your stop. Catholic, right?”

She nodded. “Y-yes. Yes. I’m ready,” she said, stepping slightly towards the door. “Is… is it okay?”

“Go on,” Danny encouraged, squeezing her hand. “You’re going to be great.”

She smiled shyly, her free hand landing on the handle before she twisted, opening the door as golden light spilled out. “It… what’s your… name?”

“Phantom,” Danny answered. “Go on, Emily. You’ve got a lot of family waiting on you.”

Emily paused, then ducked towards Danny, pulling him into a tight hug. Danny tensed briefly, then laughed, hugging her back. “Go on, Emily,” he grinned, ushering her on. “Go rest.”

Emily smiled one more time, then stepped into the doorway, the door shutting behind her.

Phantom smiled back.

---

They made it to Pittsburg before both siblings gave up the ghost (ha) and paid for a hotel, texting their parents and sending a location pin before turning in. The next day, Danny took the wheel for the rest of the drive, but the closer and closer they got to Gotham, New Jersey, the more and more anxious he got. Gotham was… if the rest of the state was quiet (which was a bad description for pretty much everywhere of note in the United States, but especially the East Coast), Gotham was a big old set of discordant church bells all going off at once. Not literally, thank the Ancients, but that was the closest description he could give.

But once they crossed the city border? All of that silenced for a moment as Danny took a breath, let it out. A presence rubbed his shoulder, a motherly laugh in his ear.

“I will await you on the Wayne Hotel roof, young King,” Gotham murmured, then dipped away.

Danny grumbled, shaking it off with a shiver. “Ancients help me from intentionally spooky and vague city spirits,” he huffed, getting a laugh from his sister as she looked up from her phone.

“That bad?”

“She awaits me,” he snorted. “Man. I know she’s been around for kind of forever, but still.”

“Your guardian is literally the God of Time.”

“Well, yes, but-- oh look our hotel!” Danny quickly changed the subject as they turned off the main road. When Vlad had heard that they were visiting Gotham, well. The billionaire practically couldn’t help himself in setting them up in one of the nicest hotels in the city.

It’s not what you can do for nepotism, it’s what nepotism can do for you. And what your godfather’s incessant need to both show off, provide for you, and also upstage another billionaire in his own city.

Danny was out of the car first, tossing the keys to Jazz as he rubbed his face, taking a deep breath before letting it out. Ah, Gotham.

The last time he was here, he was.. What, seven? A year before…

He rubbed his chest, then shook his head as he went to get a luggage cart. Not worth thinking about, that part of his life was long gone. He just had to stay out of the path of the Bat and his Birds, check in with the Red Hood, then get out.

Of course, he wasn’t as oblivious as he pretended he was, once. There was the intrinsic flaw that Red Hood was a former Robin, and had returned to working with the Bat-Clan, albeit on and off. Not to mention dragging that dumb fucking clown back to the Realms to face justice was definitely going to get attention.

At least only attention on Phantom, who the League had no idea about. And even if they did figure out who he was, they assumed he was dead. Nothing they can do about death.

…Shit, right, the Pits. Okay. Later--

Danny grunted, jerked out of his musings as he clipped his toe on a wheel, doing a bit of fancy footwork to fix his balance as he looked at the woman. “Oh, hell, I’m sorry, ma’am,” he said. Shit, wheelchair. Shit, he just kicked her wheelchair.

The woman looked back at him strangely, tucking a piece of red hair behind her ear as she shifted herself back. “No, it’s-- don’t worry about it, you looked like you were thinking pretty hard,” she said, setting her hands in her lap. “Are you new to Gotham?”

“Just visiting,” Danny confirmed. “I don’t plan to stay long, just a week or two.”

“Business or pleasure?”

“Business,” Danny laughed. “Unless you count ‘college tour’ as pleasure, which I don’t.”

She tilted her head. “You don’t look old enough for college-- but pardon me if you’re a child prodigy, or whatever.”

Danny waved his hand idly as he started stacking the luggage. “My sister, she’s a psych student. Said that if she can make it here, she can make it anywhere. I argued she could do that in New Orleans or any other big city, but alas, Arkham or bust,” he snorted, setting his duffle bag on top.

“Ah. Well, just… as a Gothamite, just make sure she’s aware that most of our psychology students either turn into Rogues, get kidnapped by Rogues, or leave after a semester. Sometimes both.”

“Oh, she’s aware. Honestly? Can’t be crazier than home,” Danny hummed, glancing over her shoulder to the front desk. “I’m sorry, she’s calling me over. It was nice to meet you, though, Ms…?”

“Barbara,” she answered, blue eyes glinting in the light, meeting his own. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

“Danny,” he confirmed. “Sorry about tripping on your chair.”

“No worries, kid.” She shook her head fondly as Danny walked off, pulling the cart behind him. With years of stealth and practice, she slipped her phone out, switching to camera mode before taking a picture.

Wayne Family Dumbasses:

Eyeinthesky: damian clone or incoming adoption bait? Place your bets here.

Everyone is typing…

TAGLIST: @mynameisnotlaura @fisticuffsatapplebees @screamingtofillthevoid @lizisipancardo @digitizedworld @dahliasandrosemary

NEXT CHAPTER: ==>

[belle-of-a-time]

Because the rot consumes here’s

Batfam-Soul Eater AU

Bruce is a weapon and he’s a gun. And he fucking hates it like Despises it

Talia turned him into a death scythe but lord death never makes him transform. He’s just a strategist and a teacher now.

Talia is a witch but she hid it until after she made Bruce a death scythe.

Also Bruce’s like honor code is a little different here since “no killing” is kinda silly when the only reason the academy exists is to kill kishins he thinks A: everyone is constantly teetering on the edge of madness all the time. And B: it is a moral failing if you succumb to the madness. Which is why he didn’t go after the joker after Jason, because doing so would have been giving in to the madness.

Dick is a meister

He bounced back and forth between Barbara who is a grappling hook and also a meister and Kori who is some sort of lava cannon or something.

Barbara got Severely hurt during a fight while wielding Jason and had to stop for a while. She’s back at it though, helping Bruce as a strategist and as like “Mission Control” Bruce is guiding her to take over for him someday.

Dick now fights with Wally who is his like electric escrima sticks because speedster=lightning in my mind.

Jason is also a gun but he thinks it’s Very cool. Barbara was with Jason when they were assigned to take down the joker who is a kishin egg. He killed Jason and severely injured Babs.

Jason was revived by Talia because obviously, using the black blood and he was overtaken by the madness for a while before being pulled back towards sanity by his friends.

Hes partnered with Roy now who Does have A daughter Lian. Teen pregnancy stuff. You get it.

Tim is a meister. He can resonate with anyone but he really struggled to find a weapon he really clicked with. So he fought by directing his soul wavelength for a while.

He met Bernard who is a bo staff and they clicked and are now partners.

Steph used to fight by herself using a non person weapon, no one is really sure where she got it. But now she and Cassandra are partners and No One but Steph and maybe Bruce and Barbara know what kind of weapon she is all anyone can tell is that she’s something small, she can also see soul wavelengths.

There’s a good chance though that when you see Steph alone that Cass is actually transformed and concealed somewhere on her person

Duke is a weapon who fights alone (like Justin law) I don’t know what kind of weapon but it’s something weird and COOL he’s got to be really super cool. It definitely glows and he can like “enchant” (not really the word I’m looking for but it works) it with his soul wavelength to like resonate/boost his own attacks.

Duke is the closest to becoming a death scythe of the batfam.

Damian is PISSED that he wasn’t born a weapon. He really really wants to be a death scythe, so it bums him out that he can’t.

I think it’s really funny if he Is actually a weapon but he’s even more repressed than Maka so literally no one knows.

That or Talia tried to ensure he’d be a witch and it backfired somehow and locked away his weapon transformation instead.

He’s partnered with Jon who is a sword

Damian is absolutely determined to make Jon into the youngest death scythe ever

Jon does not particularly care either way he definitely wants to become a death scythe but isn’t super bothered by timeline but if that’s what Damian wants god damnit he’s going to try his best!! Jon is very Tsubaki core to me. They are the tsu/blackstar combo of the batfam.

Back to Jason, Bruce understands Jason’s struggle with the madness and just really really wants his son to talk to him but he never ever gives ANY indication that he’d react well or even Want to talk to Jason about anything. Especially when he keeps reacting so high and mighty and preachy when Jason is Worse at dealing with the madness than anyone else.

Other—non batfam—headcanons

Clark and Lois are a death scythe/ meister combo In that order. They’re off doing shit constantly and Kon ends up basically taking care of Jon most of the time.

J’onn is a teacher (also a weapon) at the academy in my mind the like struggle with madness is split off onto Bruce but the like rest of stein is in J’onn mixed with Sid’s like dad energy.

J’onn is the teacher that Everyone goes to for advice about basically anything.

Also J’onn is a weapon who can change form like Tsubaki can but he’s got A Lot more forms. He can see wavelengths. And attack with his own wavelength. He’s basically super overpowered but he hardly ever has to fight.

Barry is a death scythe nuff said

All of the like magic users in the justice league including aquaman because… fish. Are witches

Zetanna’s witch form/animal form is a lion because she gives me ringmaster vibes? Idk.

Constantine’s animal form is the wettest saddest rat you’ve ever seen. It’s also huge. Also he is Literally trading off pieces of his soul and he looks SUPER freaky to anyone who can see souls

The main villain of the arc is the league of assassins. Run by witches. The academy and the justice league witches team up to take them down. They’re trying to turn the joker into a full blown kishin using the black blood which is a stand in for the Lazarus pits. I’m thinking like full on Pits of the stuff and everyone has to donate blood to the pits every time they walk past. All these assassins are Covered in self inflicted cuts so they can donate their blood.

When people displease Ra’s they get bled out into the black blood. Like draining an animal style. So ominously hanging over the pit by the ankles bleeding out into it are like a lot of bodies. And in the center in like a cage half submerged in the blood is the joker and they bring him all the souls after the people bleed to death.

They do kidnap J’onn at some point, also Tim, and Bernard, and idk Lian for the drama

So rescue mission! Also kill the joker! Is the main finale.

[radiance1]

Some Thoughts

The effect of killing the Joker

Red Hood Killing the Joker in Dc x Dp fics.

Isn’t a good thing.

Here’s why.

He could come back as a powerful ghost able to wreak even more chaos in Gotham than when he was alive. With an obsession over Batman.

So while Batman can find some way to fight against the now ghost Joker. I mean he went to hell after all. But if he isn’t fast enough? The Joker can kill the one feared by death.

Now this is a bad and a good thing.

Bad in the fact that yea, Batman is dead.

Good in the way that, yea Batman is dead, but he can come back as a ghost to fight the Joker.

Batman’s obsession being over Gotham, family and protection.

So now the two would be locked in a(basically) endless battle.

Now with no place to hold the Joker in Gotham. That means that Batman has to stay in battle with the Joker just to keep him occupied.

With that comes a bad thing.

The Justice League

With Batman occupied keeping back the Joker in Gotham. The JL would be down a core member.

Their fighting force would suffer a good bit. But that means they also lose their strategist. This would also mean their information gathering is down by a concerning amount.

So because Batman can’t be out of Gotham because of the Joker. It means that the Justice League:

Lost their leader(because you can’t tell he isn’t at this point guys)

Lost one of their core members

Lost their Strategist.

Lost one of the members most effective at information gathering and piecing together information.

Lost the one funding the entire thing

And lost their friend.

-

Zatanna’s magic

Her magic works on her belief. Meaning that if she can believe she can do something, she can do it.

So this means that if she believes she can fight and her magic can harm ghosts. Then it can.

Hell her magic was strong enough to hold back the Personification of the Void. Who consumed the whole dc universe. And in turn, with the help of swamp thing. 

Regrew reality.

So you can’t tell me her magic won’t work on ghosts. Cause I’m gonna have to call bullshit.

And the only ghost I can see, actually beating her(now hear me out before you come at me) is Fright Knight.

Now what I mean by actually beating her. I’m not talking about overpowering her here.

I mean fully fucking shattering her belief.

Fright Knight’s whole thing is pulling people into their deepest, darkest fears. So he can-in theory-pull Zatanna into her darkest fears, and make her lose belief in herself.

Effectively rendering her powerless and her magic useless.

-

Jason Todd can punch ghosts

Now hear me out here.

Jason Todd is basically half-dead right? He also has Lazarus Water in his body. So I think that this would mean he could physically fight ghosts even though he’s alive(half dead more like it)

Now Jason wouldn’t know this of course, since his fighting style is centred around range.

But if he lost his weapons. Yea he could go ape shit on that ghost,

-

Captain Marvel

Also known as Shazam

Also known as the Champion of Magic

So we all know that, while Shazam is a child, he’s a highly competent fighter.

He was blessed by Shazam with the powers of the elders.

Solomon

Hercules

Atlas

Zeus

Achilles

Mercury

Whenever he speaks Shazam’s name.

So you can’t tell me that with the power of fucking gods, that somewhere in that list of powers he can’t find something that would allow him to fight ghosts.

So I can say that he can fight both Pariah and Danny.

Can he win? I dunno, but I can say he could fight them.

-

Ectoplasm

Ghosts are made out of Ectoplasm correct? And Ectoplasm in turn is made out of energy right?(correct me if I’m wrong)

So what’s stopping people from using energy attacks to harm ghosts?

Like electricity, magic, lasers and all that.

So the Justice League could use the energy attacks that are somewhere in their kit to fight back against ghosts. Maybe not as precisely as the Feton’s weapons. But they could still fight back and suppress them at the very least.

So this means that Superman could-in theory- use the energy attacks in his kit to fight against ghosts without being powerless.

-

Overshadowing and the Justice League

I do not think that ghosts can overshadow anyone in the Justice league easily.

Since I’m pretty sure everyone in the Justice League has to have great will to save the world over and over again. And fight against beings like Darkseid.

No the two members I feel with be the greatest ones to overshadow would be:

Batman

And

Green Lantern

Batman’s mind is literally a fucking fortress, I don’t know what to tell you. So he could easily just kick the ghost that tried to overshadow him out of his body very fucking quickly.

Green Lantern's will is so fucking strong that he:

overpowered the god of fucking willpower

So there is no fucking way that anyone could overshadow either of those two without 

A) Being immediately kicked the fuck out

B)Facing a great deal of difficulty having control over their body.

[blog-of-hubris]

I really liked your analysis on sakurajima I thought it was really good I just wanted to ask you something these are some criticisms I’ve heard on the arc and I would like to know what you make of them these ones are a little different though

What do you make of these objections

Hello Joker, thanks for asking me a question. I usually hate commenting on negative feedback that I disagree with or better yet lack the ability to understand. However, I will give you a thorough answer for your time.

There are a few points I disagree with. I will say, I think OP has a skewed perspective on what Maki represents, and this opinion seems to be lost in the route of Maki being Toji's second coming. I think a common mistake with the fandom right now is seeing the connection to Maki and Toji to be focused on their similarities when really it is their differences (i'll mention this more later).

They mention the Zenin Massacre as a moment of tragedy and loss for Maki and that's only in the aspect of losing Mai. Killing the clan was her beloved sister's final request. Also, Maki is much more separated from everyone else since this happened. She is extremely straightforward (even more than she was before) which I see as an aspect of her experience killing the clan. I think OP is underestimating how much weight came off Maki's shoulder with the clan gone. Also, the weapon that she has is a memento to Mai and connected directly to her soul. I don't think Maki feels like Mai is entirely gone due to having the blade, and also her moment in the culling game was a reflection of that. I think a major focus of her moment was to show that she was still holding onto what happened psychologically.

Maki was the character that hide the aspect of wanting to change the Zenin Clan for Mai's sake, so it surprises me that OP is expecting some super heartbroken traits to be shown by Maki. She's like Toji in the way that she is a brute and would want to handle things physically than psychologically. The big difference with Maki is that she had Mai and only Mai. She felt the need to change the clan for Mai’s sake, while Toji saw escaping the clan and renouncing their existence was the best way to disconnect from them. Losing Megumi's mom sent him down on a spiral, but like I said before — the big thing about Maki and Toji's character is their differences. Yes, maki is the second coming of Toji with the physicality but remember she had a whole twin who held back her potential. She had the support of Gojo to fall back on, and her personality is kind-hearted at its core. I just dislike the idea that Maki's character revolves around Toji so much, it just isn't the case to me. Nobody said she was the return of the Sorcerer Killer, people in the fandom just assumed that.

I just thing this OP has a fundamental misunderstanding of Maki's role in the story. I think they also misunderstand the level of depth behind Mai giving up her life for Maki to achieve the passion she always had. Mai made the conscious decision to give up her life to create the ultimate weapon she could for her sister, ultimately giving her the perfect tool to seek the revenge they both wanted. Yes, the situation is a tragedy, but this is a world of cursed energy. Mai's "Curse" unto Maki was to kill the clan and then find happiness in life thereafter. At the end of the day, Mai the type of passion and drive that Maki had, she did not want to deal with curses or be a sorcerer. She was fine being a servant/stereotypical woman for the clan, but that wasn't what Maki wanted. Yes, Maki may now (more likely than not) see her past selfishness as a mistake, but this adheres to the same theme that has been a core value for JJK since Vol 0: “Love is a Curse”; while also representing Sukuna's perspective on weakness showing through love as well. Maki now is not tied down to Mai, and Mai is not tied down to the confines of the Jujutsu world.

At the end of the day, what both of the twins wanted was to be together forever, but their approach did not align. With Mai's soul being in the blade, it gives her a sense of peace while also being by Maki's side. The moment between the sisters was a moment for Maki to truly recognize the sword as Mai's soul and not just a tool she left with her. I struggle to understand how this isn't seen as a moment of light in the darkness that has followed. Maki has something that literally connects her to her sister's soul, and due to them being twins, who knows how deeply the connection with the soul splitting sword can be for Maki.

I also think that OP confuses Noritoshi Kamo's “screen time for distress” with us just getting more insight on who he is as a character. We see Kamo think about his circumstances and reflect on his life through flashbacks. This isn't Gege taking away from Maki's character but showing us that Kamo is a character of introspection. We knew that from Goodwill arc, but in CG we just get a deeper vision to understand his motives + see how he processes his existence as a person. We have gotten all of this from Maki through Perfect Preparation. Maki isn't a thinker, she moves through action. That's why her over thinking against Noaya was a hindrance to her, and she needed the sumo spars to get her mind back on track. In perfect preparation, we get Maki's past via other people bringing it up because Maki just pushes forward, and only through others does her past come to light. This has been happening since we got introduced to Maki in 0, and in the main series we get a glimpse of Maki's past through Mai's eyes only. We only get a glimpse of Maki's POV of the past, but it was a quick flash of her thinking about Mai right before the massacre starts. This is because she isn't one to look back but to look forward and Gege has stayed consistent to that.

My last point will be that I abhor the idea that a character has to display some overexaggerated or dramatic traits to show they have experienced trauma. I find people who have this view point to ignore the fact that trauma is displayed very differently with each person, and common symptoms are not the end all be all. There are many people who get through trauma by moving forward and letting time be what helps heal as they process what they have been through. For JJK specifically, it is said constantly that being a jujutsu sorcerer is hell. I think Gege has stayed so consistent to this, to the point audience members get confused when the cast members actually understand this, lol. The cast members aren't unaffected by loss, they process it differently. Not everyone needs to have a mental breakdown like Geto.. And even for Geto his situation was a collision of circumstances leading up to a change in his thought process. Even then, Geto's choices were to change the fact that sorcerers were so used to loss. He wanted to end that cycle because he felt he was strong enough to. He felt it was his role in life to pursue this in order to be happy, while Maki's “happiness” lied in destroying what stripped her of her truest form of happiness.

Sorry for the long response, if you have any more questions about what I said please feel free to ask!

[shadesofmauve]

How many people does it take to make the space guns go?

Word brain is dead so I've been beating my head against my Alliance SR2 org chart again. I rediscovered @sheepishwolfy's post suggesting that the SR1 had about 60 crew (down from initial estimate of 150), because of heavy computerization. My org chart had been sitting at 89, (my initial estimate was about 100). But now I'm trying to figure out what some of these people actually do.

First, I'm assuming the Alliance (unlike noted fuck-ups Cerberus), requires human eyes on systems. Not some poor sod watching every screen at every minute, but someone around who's trained on the system and is awake. I also assume three 8-hour watches because even the US Navy has finally had to admit that just works better for most people.

SO. GUNZ.

1: Javelin Disruptor Torpedoes

The Javelin is an experimental close-assault weapon consisting of paired disruptor torpedo tubes bolted or magnetically "slung" onto the ship's exterior armored hull.

and

Resembling old-fashioned submarine torpedo tubes, Javelin torpedoes come packed in individual sealed tubes filled with compressed, inert gas. Opening the front of the tube causes escaping gases to push the torpedo into the vacuum

So the javelin system is externally mounted, like a modern fighter's missiles, not stored-and-loaded from the inside like a sub's torpedoes. Each comes with it's own cold-launch system. Anything the weapons techs do with javelins is digital and at a distance. Targeting, choosing delays, etc.

Sexy sexy spaceship with torpedoes in her armpits.

2: Thanix cannons

[Soveriegn's] massive element zero core powered an electromagnetic field suspending a liquid iron-uranium-tungsten alloy that shaped into armor-piercing projectiles when fired. The jet of molten metal, accelerated to a fraction of the speed of light, destroys targets by impact force and irresistible heat.

and

It uses an electromagnetic field to shape and accelerate a stream of superheated molten metal to relativistic velocities

I'm choosing to say this is still a rail gun — now with increased power, dual 'barrels', and Special Scary molten projectile — because:

"It uses an electromagnetic field... to accelerate..." is exactly how the mass accelerator cannon (rail gun) works

Rail guns are cool

The entry also says they are "a retractable battery of cannons mounted beneath the Normandy's main hull", but this is stupid text and I've elected to ignore it. We see it fire from the nose, and we see Garrus in the main battery. That thing is integral to the ship and runs half it's length at minimum*.

But what do people have to do to run it? Presumably not much! There has to be some kind of maintenance, an eye on whether it overheats, etc, but you aim it by aiming the ship. (For which I thank Bioware daily, because space combat is SO much more fun to write when you dogfight than when you use ship-seeking missiles).

So after thinking through this stuff, I'm scaling my weapons teams drastically down. I think the same hands work with both systems. In combat they're more concerned with the javelins, which can be programmed and have a firing delay, with an eye on Thanix performance in case it needs to be shut down. Joker aims (and often fires) the Thanix.

Physical problems CAN'T be solved in combat: the Thanix will be too hot, and the javelins are outside. More hands don't help that! Tweaks and fixes have to happen outside of combat, and if they need more people they can wake 'em up.

And speaking of 'tweaks':

Garrus is constantly calibrating the Thanix cannon because he's in a petty war with the human gunnery crew. No one argues, they just set it their way. He sees it and sets it back his way. While he's sleeping they change it again.

After determining from the gunnery chief that it makes no practical difference, Shepard allows the incredibly passive aggressive calibrations war to continue, because she's tired of dealing with other people's shit and at least it's keeping Garrus occupied.

*Both the drive core and the central elevator shaft prevent it from taking up the 90% the codex suggests is standard for mass accelerators. It either ends in the battery, at about 45%, or at the elevator, at about 69%.**

**Nice.

[specterthief]

Raido Kuzunoha and Akira Kurusu!

send me the rarest pair you can think of and I'll tell you if I ship it and how I think it can work

(assuming you mean raidou rather than the AU raido because... i don't know how to characterize that guy asdhjfk) i actually did a version of this in a crosscanon rp once and it was a delight, so i can say i ship this one! :D

raidou and joker are really fascinating mirrors of each others as protagonists - they have a ton of really interesting commonalities, from aesthetics to plot beats to small characterization quirks (to raidou and seimei in the unfortunately poorly fan-translated manga i swear i will get back to redoing it someday basically being proto-shuake) and are simultaneously incredibly similar and totally different in where they come from. raidou is, even when chaos-aligned, still functionally serving as an instrument of peace and not a rebel fighting for social upheaval - but could joker's been a pawn in a game beyond his understanding himself, and could certainly have a lot of compassion for someone only a couple years older than him who knows and struggles with being raised to be a weapon. and with raidou defying the expectations for him to be an emotionless tool and using the strength of his bonds with the people he loves being such a core beat of the manga, i think joker's ability to form and draw on those bonds so easily would be really admirable to raidou. and he's even technically a detective to joker's phantom thief! he lives with a guy who's super passionate about coffee and curry! they have not-cats in common! i think they're neat and if the dsrk-typical timeline shenanigans allowed them to coexist in a story they could definitely develop a really interesting relationship.

also they're my two favorite megaten protags so the thought of them interacting just makes me happy

[benbamboozled]

Inspired by a recent discovery regarding Barbara and a sniper rifle (I can send pics if you wanna see) who do you see among bat affiliates as most likely to kill, or if they have, kill again?

PLEASE POST PICS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!

Ahem…

ANYWAY, let’s go ahead and just leave Jason as a free space.

I’m going to break this up into Batfam Who Have Killed (And How Likely They Are To Kill Again), and Batfam Who Haven’t Killed (And How Likely They Are To Do So).

(Also, sticking with the usual “core,” minus Jay for obvious reasons, so—Alfred, Bruce, Barbara, Dick, Cass, Steph, Tim, and Damian.)

(I’m also leaving Duke off because I just don’t know much about his character, I still have so many arcs to catch up on.)

NOW…

Batfam Who Have Killed (And How Likely They Are To Kill Again)

Alfred is number one on the list. He’ll straight up kill people (his weapon of choice is a goddamn SHOTGUN) and pretty much only holds back out of consideration for Bruce.

Next up I’d say Damian, because, as per the recent Robin series, he’s pretty much Krombopulos Mike from Rick and Morty (he just loves killin). Granted, he knows killing is bad and yadda yadda, but…kid wants to cut loose, and he’s good at it. Also, he’s trying to figure out his “thing.”

Third is Dick, in this category because he did, canonically, kill the Joker. Honestly, metatextually, I don’t think Dick is going to kill anyone again (even if Batman can bring them back to life). I think he’s become too “core” to the entire Batman ethos. (Hence why he keeps being chosen to kill Batman in the horror elseworlds, lol.) On a character level, I think Dick would absolutely kill again, BUT I think it would be less of a “I am choosing this” the way I see Alfred (and could see Damian) doing it, and more of an act of desperation or intense stress.

Fourth is Cass. OUTSIDE OF SOME HORRIBLE OOC BITS WE DON’T TALK ABOUT, Cass is the Batfam member who most believes in Batman’s No Killing philosophy. It’s not an optics things for her, or because it’s Batman’s rules, or about a symbol…she genuinely, whole-heartedly believes that killing is wrong. (But she did kill a guy so she goes in this category.)

Okay, now…

Batfam Who Haven’t Killed (And How Likely They Are To Do So)

Okay, possibly controversial, I’m going to put Tim as number one, for two reasons.

One—Captain Boomerang Death Trap.

Two—In the Robins mini he argues for letting the guy died who killed his mom and paralyzed his dad. It turns out to be (*sigh*) someone disguised as him, BUT their deception was based on Tim’s psychological profile, so even Tim’s like “Yeah, no, I probs woulda done the same thing, lol.”

So, yeah, Tim can definitely get pushed too far.

Next is Barbara! She’s actively associated with heroes who kill, her thoughts when Dick killed the Joker were “idk, maybe he shoulda stayed dead…would that’ve been bad…???” She’s the one I can most see choosing to kill someone as part of her philosophy, but she’s never put anyone in a death trap, so she’s second.

Third is Steph. Mostly because she’s one of the least likely Batfam members to completely fucking lose it, and I can’t see her taking up killing as an active philosophy. (Even outside of the fact that she believes in the Bat, I think if she were on the edge, she wouldn’t want to damage her relationship with Cass.)

Finally, there’s Bruce. Okay, this one is tricky because, on the one hand, Bruce is never going to outright kill someone in the actual canon continuity. It’s just not going to happen.

On the OTHER hand, he’s tried to kill people multiple times(!!!)—both in a “I’m making the active choice to kill this person” way AND a “heat of the moment” kind of way—and only been stopped by circumstances/other Batfam members.

So, metatextually, he’s last in this category, because it just won’t happen. On a character level, he’s first, because Bruce Wayne is like…constantly one ill-timed Kick Me sign away from finally going ape shitt.

OKAY WELP WENT AHEAD AND WROTE AN ESSAY! SOOOO there you have it!

Everyone, please feel free to disregard if it doesn’t line up with your thoughts, and apologies if I left out stuff from canon that would have impacted the list—see note above about Duke and being behind on reading.

[bigskydreaming]

The court of owls is a really good villain for Dick because they're directly trying to stripe Dick's agency entirely, something that he has always valued deeply and it's a core part of his character.

But DC doesn't usually like

Use that direct approach with it and idk i feel they could be always a shadow and a threath to Dick, lingering around.

And being such a numerous group, It could be used as an excuse to us unite the family around Dick a little more. Knowing he has been manipulated before, knowing they know their identities, always checking if Dick doesn't appear fearing he was taken... But trusting him to let him live his life

Idk. I just feel is so wasted as a concept...

YES EXACTLY EXACTLY.

I have such a love/hate relationship with the Court of Owls as a concept because it thematically ties PERFECTLY into Dick's core character themes and ongoing struggle to protect his personal autonomy, retain his sense of agency over his own life and actions.

Like their blatant view of him and approach to just exploiting him as a tool is a perfect encapsulation of so many of his most pivotal stories and arcs, as well as a great commentary on the classism that's embedded into EVERY version of his origin story, and has shaped how his life has been jerked around at the whims of rich and powerful people since literally before he was ever born.

The problem is exactly what you describe:

DC never lets any of that MATTER in any of the Court of the Owls stories. They just gloss completely over it all, and like....its part of my grievance with Talon stories in fandom too because like I've gone into my other issues there at length, but another key element of why I'm not a huge fan is the way people act like Dick being brainwashed into being a bad-ass super-assassin its like.....

Okay, I'm sorry, but that's just kinda boring to me? We've READ that story, a million times. Dick gets brainwashed by the enemy and becomes a huge threat has been done like, so many times. Him being a Talon or it being the Court that does it to him is at best a superficial change. Same with using Talonization to 'upgrade' Dick's threat level, like....mmmm, I don't love that because I think it glosses over the fact that Dick's entire concept for eighty years has been that he doesn't NEED superpowers to be one of the most dangerous people in the DC universe?

Hell, personally? I see the Talonization thing as a DOWNGRADE to Dick's danger and threat level, because yeah, it gives him a healing factor and faster reflexes but he's never needed either of those to hold his own even AGAINST superpowered foes.....

Largely because of the one thing Talon stories often REMOVE from Dick....his keen intellect and strategic mind.

THAT'S what makes Dick Grayson so dangerous, the way he thinks rings around his enemies while they're still stuck at the starting block. Making Dick a largely mindless Talon pointed and aimed by 'masters' who don't WANT him to think for himself like....that's the equivalent of putting the safety back ON the weapon that Dick Grayson's spent years honing himself into WITHOUT superpowers - all while keeping pace with rooms full of people who HAVE superpowers and even god-tier powers.

So yeah, I'm one hundred percent with you on Court and Talon stories frustrating me because the potential is there! It absolutely is! I just think its largely WASTED potential, because again....Dick being ACTUALLY brainwashed or controlled or reshaped by the Court? Dick being turned into a Talon, having to break free of their conditioning on his own, or be rescued from it by his friends and family, or learn to readjust to life AFTER being a Talon or used by the Court, recover from that ordeal?

We've literally read ALL of those stories, just with different villains. The Joker. The Church of Blood. Spyral. Etc, etc.

The stories we HAVEN'T read though?

Are the ones where Dick Grayson - AS Dick Grayson, not Talon, as just himself, fully and completely in control of his own faculties and the only one in the driver's seat in his head -

Looks at what the revelations of the Court and their plans for him and his life MEAN for him and his life. How that new information about their view of him, his family history, how all that changes and informs HIS view of himself and his family, and the paths his life has taken.

Give me the Court and Talon stories where Dick gets to reflect upon his realization that Bruce taking him in, everything he did in the spotlight as Dick Grayson, ward of Gotham's Prince, and as Robin and Nightwing.....that's quite literally what SAVED him from being kidnapped and turned into a pawn of the Court. All of that was likely the buffer that kept them at bay, instead of swooping in and claiming him in the aftermath of his parents' murder.

Give me the stories where Dick reconciles his feelings about how proprietarily these rich fucks view him and his family tree, how they think of him as literally THEIRS to do with as they please.....while Dick has to also grapple with the reality that its literally only the wealth, resources and power and privilege of another rich aristocrat that protected Dick all these years and kept him safe from that exploitation. Let Dick confront his feelings about how he thinks Bruce has taken him for granted at times, and compare and contrast it to how Bruce's peers WANTED to exploit him, let Dick voice to Bruce that he can be grateful to Bruce and his role in Dick's life while still needing to confront the specter of entitlement that has informed so many aspects of his life and choices that Dick has both gotten to make for himself, and choices that he DIDN'T get to make for himself, even though they SHOULD have been his choices to make.

Give me the stories where Dick struggles with the new revelation that the Court of Owls is made up of rich Gothamites who have literally brushed elbows with Dick throughout his school years, at various galas, when Dick was working at Wayne Enterprises, etc....and the whole while, many of these people - and Dick doesn't even know for sure WHICH ones, and might NEVER know - many of them were part of this secret society sneering down at him through polite masks while just waiting for the day they'd get to assume control of him and use him as their personal pawn. Give me Bruce being self-conscious and second-guessing how often he took Dick out among the sharks chomping at the bit to get their hooks into Bruce's son, all while Bruce himself didn't even have a clue of the danger surrounding Dick....BECAUSE of who he was mingling with. Give me the ANGST of Dick and Bruce struggling to talk about what it MEANS for both of them, to have to take another look back at YEARS worth of interactions with people Bruce never thought to think twice about, and that Dick likely ALWAYS had bad feelings about because he has good instincts about people and quite possibly KNEW many of these people skeeved him out for some reason, or were being weird towards him or about him....but he didn't feel secure enough of his place among Gotham's upper class that he was comfortable VOICING the fact that something about many of these people and his interactions with them probably always left him very unsettled.

THOSE are the Court of Owls stories I want to read! That's where the meat is, if you ask me. Give me THAT angst. Less Talon being exploited by the Court, more Dick Grayson spending YEARS in constant danger from the Court, with no idea how precarious his situation was all that time....

Until the day the truth about his family history and the Court's plans for him were revealed....and suddenly it all would have been right there in front of his face, impossible to look away from, and casting so much of what he thought he knew about himself, his past interactions and associations, and his own lived experiences among Gotham's elite.....in an ENTIRELY new light.

[geekymeerkat]

Recently I got back into playing Fallout 4 again. Also started watching Harley Quinn, and it got me thinking about how hard it would be to make a Harley Quinn build.

Did a quick search to see if anyone had already done this, and sure enough someone has, but I noticed they gave HQ a 6 in her Intelegence. Don't get me wrong, I get that she is canonically a brilliant person. She graduated valedictorian and was trained in the field of psychoanalysis.

My problem with her being given a 6 in her Intelligence stat, is that the perks you get are more about building Science! gizmos and that just isn't HQ. She's smart but likes to just bash and blow things up. So here is my attempt at making HQ in Fallout 4.

First, her stats will start off as S:4, P:4, E:3, C:1, I:2, A:9, and L:5.

Early on you have access to the baby book that gives you one more stat point, that we'll put in Charisma to bring that up to 2. Likewise, the Perception bobblehead is early enough that we can go ahead and count that as being at 5 instead of 4.

You'll note that Intelegence is only at 2, and the only reason it's that high is that she does have medical training, so we can put perk points into Medic. Nothing else though from that perk line though makes sense for our HQ so no need to have it higher.

But because she is a smart character canonically, we give her the 5 in luck so we can give her Idiot Savant. That skill is specifically described as "You're not stupid! Just... different." and the way she is different is she's fricking bonkers.

Another benefit of having that 5-luck is we get access to Bloody Mess, and you can sure bet however HQ goes about murdering someone she is going to create a bit of a mess.

The 9 in Agility should be obvious as she is an acrobat. We'll want to pick up both Blitz, Moving Target, Action Girl, Sneak, and Ninja from this line. Though keep in mind she is a more in-your-face sort of villain so sneak and ninja are lower priorities.

Endurance is at three because she is chronically immune to toxins and can take a bit of a beating in a fight. So we want things like Toughness, Lead Belly, and Life-Giver. Rad resistance would have been nice but is too far down the Endurance to get early for this build.

Perception is where it's at to give us access to both the Locksmith and the Demolition Expert perks. I see HQ as more the sort to just kick open a door instead of picking the lock, but as the game doesn't give us that option, she needed ways of opening doors that would otherwise get in her way. Likewise, she would not likely spend much time picking the lock of a trunk, and would just smash it open... but again the game doesn't give us that option.

Her Strength of 4 is because her primary weapon of choice is a big old hammer or baseball bat and we want access to both Big Leagues and Blacksmith.

Lastly, that brings us to why we want Charisma to be at two, and that's to give us access to the Black Widow perk. Watch the cartoon, I think you'll agree that she hits men a bit harder with her baseball bat. I'm not even sure I've seen her hit a woman yet with her bat... no wait I can think of one. But only one off the top of my head (mind you I've only just finished watching the first season).

A long-term goal for this character would be to build up her Charisma after getting her core perks so she can access the Intimidate perk. In the cartoon it's actually a plot point early on that people don't really fear her but more fear her association with the Joker. It's only after some time doing her own thing that she builds up her own reputation.

Finally, for equipment, she would go for some sort of blunt melee weapon like a hammer or baseball bat (and with her strength could modify them to be nice and dangerous).

However, in terms of clothes/armor sadly FO4 doesn't give us much in the way of anything that suits a HQ character that well. She wouldn't even likely wear leather armor instead going for some sort of provocative outfit. The only real options that jump out are a Vault Suit or a Baseball uniform.

As for what faction she's going to join? Obviously, she's going to take over Nuka World while siding with the Disciples, but for the main game, she might want to side with the Institute as that is a bit like the Legion of Doom. She would also do the Vault 88 quest line and totally enjoy doing the experiments (perhaps even setting up her own secret base in those caves).

[volucerrubidus]

AU: Reverse Robins, written with @avisxe​

BACKGROUND: Tim Drake was the second Robin Shadow, a partner to the Big, Bad Bat, trained for stealth and speed, following on the heels of Damian Wayne, and, ironically– getting stuck in his shadow, or, at least, that was how it felt. After all, how does one compete with the person who founded such a legacy, who created such big shoes to fill?

The answer, from Tim’s perspective, is that he didn’t. 

Rather than come into his own through safe and healthy means, the universe decided for him that he was to be dragged forcefully into competency. 

Only 15 years old at the time, he was slain by The Joker, and he was laid to rest for four years. Until, for reasons that he still doesn’t know to this day, he woke in his coffin. Unable to think, and very much not himself, he wandered Gotham, where Ra’s Al Ghul happened to be stopping by to torment the Bat, when a very interesting opportunity rather fell right into his clutches. 

21 years old, now, and affected by a Pit dip and all of the emotional turmoil that comes with that and outright dying, Tim has returned to Gotham as Caligo, an ex-project of the League turned murderous anti-hero.

PRESENT: Caligo now works both in Gotham as a tentative part of the family once more, and globally, with the Core Four of Young Justice, who, through their own tragedies, outgrew the shiny, bright team of the past, and moved forward to form The Outlaws.

MORE INFO + VISUAL REFERENCES BELOW:

Tim's hair does have white streaks in it, thin little lines of white, almost as if he were greying prematurely

Tim can't feel anything on his back due to nerve damage

When he experiences strong emotions, his eyes go a sickly neon green

He and the Outlaws are in... a tentative polycule, by default, though if shipping comes up with him, he can easily be on a break from the polycule; they tend to be very on and off anyway!

Tim's primary weapon of choice is the rifle, due to the long-range advantages it can offer. That said, he fights via multiple disciplines, and still keeps up with the bo. One could say that he misses it, even, though they may get a glare for that

Tim mostly avoids the rest of the hero community outside of the bats and the core four, and he tends to be prickly to those he's unfamiliar with

The only times he's ever fully unarmed are when he's with the core four, and even then, it's rare

His method of being killed by the Joker takes after Batman Beyond, but instead of being successfully reprogrammed as a son, he was instead killed for resisting as long as he did. This results in random bursts of laughter when a particular trigger gets him too deeply. This is incredibly rare, and can really only be triggered by Joker-related trauma

Tim uses he/they pronouns in this AU

Tim's usual control and paranoia issues in canon are turned up to an 11 in this AU, so he's got a lot of character development and growth left to do; your muse does not at all have to let him get away with his controlling or distrusting attitudes

That said, on the positive side, he is far less judgmental than his canon persona, and if one does gain his trust, he is remarkably caring, just in his own sort of way/language. He's rather loyal, and he will do anything to keep others safe

As much as he likes to pretend that he's changed, he is still interested in all the things he was when he was a teen: skateboarding, bugs, video games, DnD, puzzles, forensics, etc. He will deny this, though, because god forbid he show humanity

More details can be discovered via threads and interactions, so come say hi if you're interested!

[mortisward]

- RULES.

1. personal / dni

hi there!! thank you for checking out my blog! i know my rules are long but i try to stay as transparent as possible! please read through, i would appreciate it immensely !! a few things about me: steph, they/she, woc (korean, indonesian), queer, cis female, 22, pst timezone, has been rping on tumblr since 2021(ish) but took a hiatus since 2018 - rejoined in 2023, in a queer relationship !! want to know more about here? click HERE!! dni: proshippers, bigots, racists, sexists/misogynistic, transphobic, people who age up characters to write nsfw topics, k/rpc, people who play characters of color while not being poc WITHOUT an explanation on their rules page (or elsewhere), race bending / genderbending, etc. i am extremely selective when it comes to following/interacting with canon-compliant joker blogs. i am uncomfortable seeing the following fandoms (and will filter tags accordingly): c.ritical r.ole, h.arry p.otter, most m.cu content / dc.eu content, and s.tranger t.hings. find a more detailed page of the credit for my page specifics HERE!!

2. important character info

john is poc, queer, agender, uses he/they pronouns, is severely traumatized and has a diagnosed medical history of his mental disorders/illnesses. john has spend about a month in a psychiatric ward during the 80s. canonically, viewers see him in a straight jacket with crosses in his solidarity confinement room. despite facing demons and other paranormal horrors, he describes this part of his life as his personal hell/the worst time of his life. it can only be assumed that he was tested on and borderline tortured into believing what he went through during the first game was fake, as was the intention of the doctors. please be aware of this when traversing this blog - he is extremely mentally fragile and suffers from severe trauma, ptsd, anxiety, panic/anxiety attacks, and at times will completely shut down.

3. dialogue in ic interactions / formatting

i use small text, bold, italics, spacing, and colored text for dialogue. i won't specifically do this if asked or stated in rules page prior to interacting. i will make things more accessible whenever needed!

4. non-canon compliant

there isn't much to john's personality within the Faith games which is why everything about the way he thinks and acts is MY own interpretation. i take basic concepts from his game model but that's pretty much it as he is literally an 8-bit character with hardly any dialogue. please be aware of this!

5. character disclaimer

i am in no way in shape or form the creator of john ward and do not partake in any published articles of media. my views and opinions of him are ever-changing with new material and content coming out but there will be a lot that i write about him that is headcanon heavy. ALL credit and love goes to Airdorf Games.

6. mature / nsfw themes

john has an extensive history of physical and emotional abuse. he was sexually assaulted as a child, abused in a psychiatric ward, and overall tortured by cultists and demonic paranormal activity. there will be further in depth mention of that throughout my blog so please be wary of that! this blog with have other nsfw themes including: blood, gore, weapons, violence, guns, strong or offensive language, substance use, traumatic themes, abuse, etc. if i don’t tag things properly, please let me know and i will.

7. following / selectivity / verses

i love crossing into multiple fandoms and genres (of media and writing) so I will most likely follow back if you follow me! don’t be a bigot or pushy and i’ll love to write with you. i am mutually selective and will do anything & everything when it comes to verses and threads!

i am pretty lenient with soft & hard blocking. if i break mutuals, it's only because of differing values, morals, and political views that i don't want to see on my dash. if my core values are tested, i will hard block with no hesitations.

8. asks / memes

if you’re up to it, please turn asks into threads! i love to see it and will do my best to keep it ongoing! i have no issue with people sending in 100+ asks in regard to memes, prompts, etc. so go wild! i will do the occasional inbox clean out when i feel the need to.

9. romantic shipping / smut

i am more selective with shipping but I am definitely open to it! the closer I am with the other rper/mun, the more likely it’ll happen because I’ll just feel more comfortable with it. john (in his main verse) was once a happily married man, but after his first exorcism, him and his wife separated. anything after this time involving romance will be EXTREMELY difficult for him. expressing romantic feelings, partaking in physical touch, etc. are things that he struggles with. in my canon, he is still a virgin - which all in all, makes things even more awkward for him. however !! i think john is highly romancable and an extremely shippable character so long as the reciprocating mun understands it will take TIME !! there WILL be nsfw content on this blog. it will be under read more and tagged appropriately.

10. please don't interact with my things unless we're mutuals

i understand Faith doesn't have the biggest fandom here on tumblr, but this is an RP ONLY blog. i am not a blog for source material, in fact, much of my canon material is from the Faith Fandom Wiki. everything else, is created by ME. i make sure to put credit where credit is due, but for john's general personalization, it's my headcannon only. please do not like, reblog, or interact in general with my posts (ic interactions, ooc posts, starter calls, pinned posts, promo, etc.) UNLESS we're mutuals !! i will hard block any personals or non-mutuals that break this rule.

[lilmissnatcat24]

Turn Left Ch 36- The Vids Never Got This Far

Shepard and Garrus put two and two together... together

Relationship: Femshep/Garrus Vakarian

Archive Warnings in author's note

Additional tags: enemies to friends to lovers, slow burn, slow build, alternate universe- canon divergence, detective noir, sex club, anonymous sex, canon temporary character death, murder mystery, drug use, dom garrus vakarian, whump, smut, heavy angst, alien sex, dual pov, an overly sexual elcor named candy, earthborn, ruthless, fake/pretend relationship, dead dove: do not eat, identity porn, minor character death

Detective AU mixed with identity porn mixed with so much whump my fingers are bleeding

(or, start from the beginning here)

lil text blurb

“There has to be a way we get out of this. We need to bypass… something … Just shut up and let me think!” she said to no one in particular, seeing as she was the only one speaking. 

“What would happen if we left despite the lock on the Normandy?” Liara asked. “You said it yourself, your pilot is the best of the best. Surely he could find a way to bypass the safeguards the Citadel placed on your ship.” 

“Just because Joker could do something, doesn’t mean he should ,” Kaidan said with a grimace. 

“Citadel AI is too powerful, even for the most advanced ship in the Alliance,” Garrus said. “With their weapon capabilities, hacking out of their control is suicide. We’d be dead before we even had a chance to escape the arms, and that’s figuring in with the mass effect core drive outfitted onboard.” 

“Can’t we just blow our way through Citadel Control?” Wrex asked. “There’s six of us, all armed to the teeth. They won’t be expecting a full frontal assault.” 

“We’d be fighting through not only C-Sec, but elite Citadel forces. It doesn’t matter if we could do it, we’d be far worse for wear. And I don’t want to weaken us unnecessarily on the way to Ilos if we can help it,” said Anderson. 

The rest of them continued their bickering as Shepard was silent. The cogs in her head were spurning, and where they were leading her was not a place that she necessarily wanted to go. But things were starting to make sense, a plan was forming in her head. Since Torfan, since everything that happened in the Alliance and with the investigation into Saren, never once had a straight-on assault ever worked. They gained the upper hand when they thought outside the box, when they played the same tricks that Saren played… 

“I have a plan!” Shepard said so suddenly and with so much conviction it muted everyone around her. She didn’t feel the need to add that she wasn’t entirely confident and that it was most assuredly suicidal, so she just kept that little tidbit inside for now. “We don’t need to bumrush Control all of us together. It only takes one of us to lift the blocks on the Normandy.” 

[fantastic-nonsense]

A lot of people don't seem to understand what Barbara actually did as Oracle, so let me clear up some misconceptions. Oracle is first and foremost an information broker. She's a data nexus, a living hub of information that crimefighters around the world could reach out to for assistance and mission coordination:

"So how'd you become the data nexus for every costumed crimebuster in the world?" "That's gonna have to remain off the table too."

Yes, that role centers her gift with technology, computers and hacking, and that is the area where Babs most often shines. And yes, those tech skills are incredibly formidable and absolutely vital to her work! But the TECHNOLOGY isn't what makes Babs special.

Babs' tech skills positioned her as one of the most prominent fictional women in STEM in the 90s/early 2000s and gave her the ability to do things like build a VR fighting simulation room (eg, a Star Trek-esque holodeck) from scratch:

"Maybe we should move back to Greenie play level." "But you designed this game, Babs. And this incredible virtual reality projection room." -Birds of Prey (1999) #19

However, those skills are all ultimately secondary to her real gifts, which are her eidetic memory and her ability to gather, analyze, synthesize and distribute information to people:

"What I believe happened to Batman is too important to rely on my photographic memory..." /// "Having been blessed with photographic recall, I studied a dozen newspapers, four dozen magazines, and my main haunt: the computer bulletin boards." -Showcase '94 #12 /// "I was nine when I realized I could ace any test without really studying. The photographic memory thing." -BOP (1999) /// "My memory is eidetic (i.e. perfect). It's my greatest asset." -Batgirl (2011) #35

Oracle wasn't just a glorified hacker. She was the crimefighting community's living computer and central information hub:

"There is little she doesn't already know. There is nothing she can't find out. If knowledge is truly power, Oracle is one of the most powerful people on the planet. Despite having her spine shattered by the Joker's bullet, Barbara Gordon refused to give up. Recognizing she could no longer be the kind of superhero she had been, she instead devoted all her time to developing one of the world's most complex and powerful computer systems and set to work accumulating information, renaming herself 'Oracle.' Blessed with a photographic memory, Barbara reads dozens of the world's top newspapers and magazines daily. She's also constantly gathering information from other, less public sources, such as the CIA's mainframe, not to mention the data networks of the FBI, NSA, and Interpol (all without their knowledge or consent)." -Secret Files and Origins (2000)

"Now as Oracle, she uses information as her weapon. With her vast computer network, Oracle is linked up to every hero on the planet and is always ready to help." /// "With a photographic memory, Oracle is considered information central in the superhero community. She's a computer specialist and expert hacker--and she has files on every villain and hero."

"But Barbara invented a new life for herself as Oracle-computer master and undisputed sovereign of data collection and dissemination. There is hardly a crimefighter on the planet that has not come to rely on her skills and dedication."

"I'm keeping the secret identities and home addresses of every superhero in the world from being stolen. Think maybe that's a little bit important?" -Countdown #39 /// "Oracle: The Living Mind of the Justice League. Oracle monitors and records the worldwide flow of information. She Analyzes. She Interprets. She Calculates."

It's part of why "Cop!Babs" is so insidious as a profession DC keeps pushing onto her, because Barbara Gordon is, at her core, a librarian. As Oracle, she gathered information and valuable resources and then coordinated with crimefighters around the world to help them access and utilize it. Her day job became her night job:

"From my days as Gotham's head librarian, I knew how to find out whatever I needed. If I could do that for citizens, I could do it for colleges, non-profit corporations, private investigators...and superheroes." -Showcase '94 #12

She's not "just" a tech geek; librarians are trained to have specific sets of research, information analysis, and communication skills that others don't have. And those are skills she has that the other Batfamily members do not, and they are skills she has regardless of whether or not she can walk:

"I was tired of being a victim. I had skills and abilities long before I was Batgirl. It was time to make them work for me again. It was time to stop being afraid." -Oracle: Year One

This skillset also served her well as the co-founder and leader of the Birds of Prey; contrary to semi-popular perception, she's not just the Birds' 'Guy in the Chair.' She's the Birds' Leader and Mission Control. She tells them where they need to go, what they need to do, and how to achieve their goals. To put it into James Bond terms, she's their "Q", but she's also their "M."

So if you look at Oracle and you only see "hacker and tech specialist," you are seeing a very limited picture of who Barbara is, what her skillset is and how she uses it, and what her role in the crimefighting community was.

[batfamdcposts]

Not to be back on my bullshit again, but I’m back on my bullshit again. SO! Who wants to hear my reasoning as to which Hogwarts House each of the the batkids belongs in?

Dick “I am 9 and will absolutely put myself in the line of fire to find my parents’ killer and make this city better” Grayson is a Gryffindor, hands down. He started it all. He set the precedent for actual children fighting armed adults on the streets. “I was practically born on a trapeze, jumping and flipping off of high places—try and stop me dad, I dare you.” His compassion and kindness are so, so admirable, but they don’t outweigh the insane courage and borderline recklessness that are at the core of his character.

For the LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD, don’t try to tell me that Jason “I read Jane Austen in my spare time and value knowledge for the sake of it” Todd is anything except a Ravenclaw. Thank you. Ravenclaws can be agents of chaos too.

Tim “I stalked Gotham’s vigilantes from a young age, out-stubborned Batman into letting me adorn a name a child recently died in, and double-crossed Ra’s al motherfucking Guhl while simultaneously destroying another criminal organization” Drake is a Slytherin. He doesn’t value knowledge for the sake of knowledge, he values knowledge for potential future utilization. Sorry lads, he’s not a Ravenclaw. He’s a slippery little shit, that’s what he is. (affectionate)

Damian “I was raised to be a merciless killer, but I fight against that conditioning, protect my loved ones, still have enormous amounts of compassion, and try to adopt every animal I see” Wayne is a Hufflepuff, thank you very much. Hufflepuffs can be entitled and cranky too, and general demeanor doesn’t dictate the core of one’s personality.

Duke “my parents were permanently jokerized, but instead of hiding I choose to work hard to protect this city” Thomas is also a Hufflepuff, plus he looks great in yellow.

Cassandra “I couldn’t read or speak because others wanted the most effective living weapon possible, yet I try so hard to do good, save people, and grow” Cain has one of the most giant goddamned hearts I’ve ever seen. She uses her skills to help people even though she only got them by enduring so much pain. She’s unbelievably loyal to those around her and deserves to have that recognized. Congrats, it’s a Hufflepuff!

Stephanie “I didn’t even have a mentor like Dick did; despite that, I became a vigilante in my own right and brought my father down” is a Gryffindor. That takes so much courage I don’t even know what to say. Also, I love her, but my girl is as reckless as it gets. “I may have started a gang war that one time.”

Barbara “badass and clever as hell” Gordon is the information center of the bats, and she figured out a way to continue being a vigilante despite partial paralysis. I don’t think I need to continue explaining why she’s a Ravenclaw.

Thank you and goodnight!