#also don't mind me fucking around with all the dead kids of past titans

[figsandphiltatos]

wip whenever

i was tagged by the incredible @johaerys-writes

tagging all the folks i usually do, no pressure! @dearestaeneas @deadchannelradio @sarcasticbeanie

listen y'all if we're lucky emily wilson will knock some sense into me and i'll start writing actual shit again soon, but for now have new dc comics oc lmao

"What you're doing is dangerous. You understand the risks, right?" 

Silas gave the strange man-beast in front of him a withering glare. He was a living dead abomination—he wasn't worried about a little danger. The threat Elijah posed to him should he be found out was not nearly as abstract as this creature might have thought. Silas had fought Elijah on several occasions. The outcome had never been better than a quick-to-heal black eye and tepid congratulations on his progress. He knew that if he was found out, he would not win.

"I do." He spoke through bared teeth. Working with these children did not feel right. One of them, positioned near the back and wearing a mostly blue suit, was a Bat. Silas had seen them swinging through Gotham. He had caught them snooping through the Court's old headquarters. They were the enemy. 

And yet, Elijah was growing more erratic by the day. Silas didn't want to put his brother at risk, but he needed help. Silas had read about transformations like these in old logs and journals of Grandmasters and Judges; Worsening Electrum dependency, mercurial moods, a lack of obedience even to the Court, all these things had been observed in Talons before. Electrum slowly ate away at their humanity while the grueling cycle of hibernation and rebirth wore on their sanity until they were nothing but a violent shell. Perhaps an alliance with the Bats—With the Wayne Family—would save Elijah from the same fate. He would understand, when it came time to tell him. And if he didn't, it wasn't as if he could do worse than he'd already threatened. But Silas was doing this for him. 

"Good," The strange beast with whom he was brokering a deal nodded its head. Despite its immense size, its odd proportions and scratchy voice gave the distinct impression that Silas was speaking with another adolescent. The rest of the team were children, too. Bluejay, who Silas had been first to meet, was only a few years older than him.

The beast held out something for Silas to take. His hands—much to Silas' relief—were not hoof-like in shape or texture, though they were rough and ashen gray. The object was only the size of the creature's relatively large palm, and Silas squinted down at it. What exactly it was was hard to say. It appeared, at first glance, to be an impossibly smooth, rectangular black stone. It seemed to him to be a strange offering, but perhaps this was custom in the future to which he still felt so ill-adjusted. Or perhaps it was a common tradition of horsemen—of whom Silas had only ever met this one. Either way, it felt rude not to accept. 

It was cool to the touch, and no thicker than a quarter inch. Its surface was a sleek black on both sides, but was clearly constructed from metal on one side and not the other. So, not a stone. Still Silas couldn't piece together what it might have been. The metallic half was the only stretch of black interrupted, with a square piece of glass covering some small piece of metal, or something too alike it to be told apart when it was so small. 

"If you find something, or need our help, contact us." The horseman spoke with an earnestness that washed over Silas. He looked up from his examination, awkwardly holding the gift—just slightly too large for him to comfortably wrap his fist around—by his side. "I'm Taurinus, by the way, but you can call me Polk." 

A nervous ripple passed over his teammates. Some shifted from foot to foot, one clad in black and red with intersecting lightning bolts on his chest made a motion with his hands so quickly they blurred in Silas' vision. A girl with long black hair stepped forward, as if to interrupt, but seemed to think better of it.

"I am Talon." Silas said, words slow and deliberate. 

"You’ve gotta have an actual, real name." Bluejay blurted out from where they were standing next to a redheaded girl whose suit was also ornamented with lightning bolts. 

"My name is Talon." Silas would not be called by another name. He had not quite earned the title yet, but he would soon. He would accept no other form of address from these strangers. "How am I meant to contact you? Any correspondence would almost certainly be intercepted." And he had been given no place where he could send information, besides. 

"With the phone," Polk's explanation felt more like a question than an answer, and it did not serve to clear anything up for Silas, either. 

"I don't have a telephone." He insisted, feeling the heavy weight of eyes on him and the distinct sensation that he was making a fool of himself. It was his turn now to shift uncomfortably from foot to foot. He had vague memories of the telephone that used to hang in the first floor of his childhood tenement building, the pleasant voice of the operator and the eternally-long line of others waiting their turn. He now had access to no such thing. 

Silence stretched on for a beat too long. Silas watched as eyes slid from him to the smooth object in his hand. 

"That’s a–well, uh, it’s a cell phone.” Polk pointed with his large hand towards the odd gift Silas was still holding by his side. 

A cell phone. Silas was already well aware that the world he now lived in was nothing like the one in which he’d grown up, but he couldn’t begin to anticipate the technology he’d encounter. Gotham itself had changed with the years, all glass and steel now. He had taken comfort in finding places he could recognize–the clocktower, Gotham Cathedral, even Wayne Manor which he remembered lording over the city from its perch in Bristol an entire century ago. Looking at Gotham for the first time again felt much like staring down at the reflective surface of this small black rectangle. There was the strange sensation that he was an alien on an altogether unfamiliar world. How was this meant to be a telephone? There was no receiver, no dial, no cords. 

“Oh shit, right.” Bluejay spoke now, taking a step forward. “I think the Talons are from the past, sometimes.” 

“Weren’t you supposed to be doing research on these guys?” The girl who had almost interrupted Polk spoke up, voice dry and unimpressed. 

“I did! They hibernate or something!”

“For how long? This poor kid doesn’t even know what he’s looking at!” 

Their squabbling faded into background noise as Polk stepped forward. “Here, let me show you how to use it.”

[nerdish-simp]

statues (hunter x gn!reader) part 1

Summary: The Golden Guard is an asshole. But so is Y/n.

A/n: I caved. I'm doing a short series with angst. You're welcome. (also ignore any typos, I'm posting this from not my phone and not my laptop) it's been a while since I've written so I'm a little rusty lmao. I also have no idea how stitches work, I had to google it, so it's probably inaccurate. Rip me ig.

__________

"Watch it, Scout!" An annoying voice commanded harshly as you felt someone shove past you, making you stumble.

"You watch it!" You elbowed whoever passed you, assuming it was just another scout.

You were surprised to see the motherfucking Golden Guard turn around.

_

That was your first interaction with the Golden Guard. And he got on your nerves very quickly.

Unluckily for you, he got annoyed with you pretty quickly too.

You would make sarcastic comments at each other's performance, argue, and insult each other. And each of you thought the other was the most annoying witch on the Boiling Isles.

The other coven scouts started dreading any mission that had you two on the team. You were constantly at each other's throats, and it only got worse as you moved up ranks.

_

"Scout! Bring me this book from the library."

"Actually, it's Captian now."

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me."

_

You had your own team of scouts now, and you were a crucial member of the Emperor's Coven. You attended meetings, lead missions, and served the emperor. The scouts loved you. You weren't nearly as rude or commanding as the other captains and coven officials. Even if you were just a teenager, you knew how things worked and how to help people.

You were only ever blatantly rude to the Golden Guard, but he deserved it. He was a brat.

Your fighting went on for months. That was until one evening...

You stepped into the massive library in the Emperor's castle. Just back from a mission, you had taken off your uniform and mask, still carrying your badge with you, just in case. You had a few books in your arms and you dumped them into the book return bin before heading to find some new ones.

Wandering up and down the shelves, you grabbed a few books for some studying and some to read just for fun. You passed some blonde haired dude as you walked down the shelves, but didn't pay him any mind.

You saw him again as you went to check out your books, he was in line, also checking out a stack of old leather books. As he reached the desk, the librarian asked him for his library card and he said "Just put it under the Golden Guard."

You knew that voice. That really annoying voice.

"Golden Brat?!" You accidentally exclaimed, shocked. This scrawny blonde kid was the Golden Guard you've been fighting for the past several months??

He whirled around to look at you.

"Captain Asshole?!"

You stood there for a moment in stunned silence.

"You look way different than I thought you did." You muttered. "Titan, do you even sleep?" He had massive bags and dark circles under his unusual magenta eyes. He scowled at you.

"I don't need sleep. Unlike some pathetic witches." He looked at you.

"Holy fuck, man. Go to bed. You look like you're dead."

"SHUT UP." He grabbed his books from the counter and left the library.

"Damn." You muttered, placing your books in front of the librarian. "Sorry about that." _

You made his life a living hell after that. You bugged him about his sleep schedule and made fun of him for it. Even though you hated him, there was a slight bit of concern under all the light bullying.

He started avoiding you more and more as time went on. You weren't exactly sure why though. It was weird not making fun of him or having him insult you.

There was a whole week where you didn't even see him. Until one evening after you'd gotten back from a mission, badly injured.

Your forearm had been sliced open. The deep cut spanning from the crease of your elbow to mid-forearm. Your uniform was soaked in scarlet blood and you were trying to put pressure on it while struggling to perform a healing spell, and it just wasn't working.

You didn't know who to seek help from.

Despite the fact that the scouts really liked you, you didn't actually know people. You didn't have any friends. The only person who kept coming to your mind is the person you least wanted to see in this state.

The Golden Guard.

You knew he would be able to help you somehow, but swallowing your pride and going to him kept you away. But at this point, it was either go to him and hurt your ego a little bit, or fainting from blood loss and embarrassing yourself.

Gritting your teeth, you made your way to find the Golden Brat's room. _

After several minutes, you finally found it, you were feeling a little light headed as you pounded on the door.

"Open up, Golden Guard." You shouted. You could hear rustling through the door and he opened it, looking annoyed.

"What do you want?" He spat.

"Just let me in." You huffed. You just wanted to make your arm feel better.

"Why?"

"I... need help." You muttered, obviously not happy about coming to him for help.

"You need what now?" He smirked at you. You could tell that he was enjoying this.

"I SAID I NEED HELP." I said angrily. "Now stop being a dickhead and let me in."

He smirked as he stepped aside to let you in, but as soon as he saw your bloodstained sleeve, he stopped. "Titan, what happened to your arm?"

"I broke it." You said sarcastically. He just looked at you, unamused.

He sighed and got the first aid kit. "You're gonna need stitches."

You looked at him, genuinely shocked.

"If you think I'm gonna let you sew my arm up, you're fucking insane." You said, still clutching your arm in an attempt to make it stop bleeding.

"Do you want my help or not?!" He looked irritated.

"OKAY, fine fine." You relented.

He got the stuff ready and went to work. You watched for a moment before feeling a little queasy at the sight of your skin being sewn together. You looked at his face to distract yourself. His dark eyebrows turned downwards in concentration. He had a scar on his cheek that went down to his jaw, and there was a little bit of his ear missing.

He certainly looked a lot different from what you expected. But somehow it fit him.

It took a while before he had finished your arm, but he did a decent job. He cleaned the wound and wrapped your arm tightly with some bandages.

"Alright. I'm done." He started his first aid box away.

"Thanks...Golden Brat." You stuck to the nickname you usually called him, but in a more appreciative tone. It felt too formal to say Golden Guard anyways.

He looked at you momentarily, still putting the supplies away. ".....Hunter. my name is Hunter."

You didn't expect him to actually tell you his name. You covered your surprise by making a joke.

"Hunter, huh? I was expecting something cooler." I raised my eyebrows and he rolled his eyes.

There was a beat of silence.

"I'm Y/n."

He glanced up at you, "That's a weird name."

"Shut up."

"You shut up."

[chocolatemilksmoothie]

Hollow Mind

Holy shit hooooly shit holyshit oh damn. Let's do this. god this will be long

This episode is proof that just because something was fairly predictable, it doesn't mean it'll be bad. It means the story did its job. Execution is what matters and boy was this intense

I was worried how much time we'd spend in setting up this crazy situation but it literally starts with it lmao nice

love how they went *RECORD SCRATCH* you're probably wondering how I got in this mess

Gotta say however I'm surprised they didn't just show that the 3 hooded figures were Darius, Raine and Eberwolf. Like, it's pretty obvious ahaha I expected them to just show their faces at the very end but oh well

Imagine if they'd actually gone inside his mind with no interruptions tho, would they have gathered information or also attempt to destroy something?

I hope we manage to fix Luz's cape btw

the use of cute bunny walkie talkies to keep a connection to them was fun, I was wondering how they were gonna get out

interesting contrast between people gasping like "don't let the titan hear you" vs in the past when they were like "wdym he talks to the titan, the titan is dead?"

and she cares so much about how people treat Eda. I love her

wise words from King, and as soon as I heard them I was like ah I know a certain blonde kid who matches that description

also fits how affected he was back in Echoes of the Past. it's not easy to have your whole perspective change in an instant

hearing the whole propaganda of Belos is keeping us safe from ourselves :) and the contrast of him lying and controlling is so so creepy ahh

"I'm the youngest scout to become Golgen Guard" "I never found out what happened to the previous one" "why does Darius look so sad here?" triple hit combo of pure FEAR

knowing what we know, Darius was close to the previous GG, and called him his mentor and a powerful witch. since we were told all the grimwalkers look the same, while not identical, I assume Darius knows what Hunter is and is horrified at Belos

were some of the grimwalkers able to do magic I wonder?

Every. Single. One of them. has betrayed him. the previous one did too and told Darius. and the very first one also did

I had a hunch the brother was much more like Luz (and the Hunter we know now), someone curious and caring who loves magic, who wants to learn about it and isn't ok with hurting people. Someone who trusts maybe a little too much, but someone who will eventually decide to fight against his own family for what's right

goddd I haven't even reached the pictures yet

OBSESSED with Belos characterization. he has this fake, cold hallway with epic paintings of his "success" even inside his own fucking mind. he has this little kid guide them around to lure them into a trap, to toy with them and to scare and confuse them, and to help himself get rid of a problem

I love how they introduce the possibility that there is some guilt, some regret, some innocence? within him? only to say no, Belos is just a frighteningly good manipulator. always has been

his hand is shaking Imma kick Belos into the Boiling Sea myself

splat

Addressing all the paintings with the brother in one go:

it looks like he was older. I bet he was protective

I feel we 100% must get another flashback later on we NEED it

I thought there was the smallest, tiiiiiniest chance the first brother had been killed in an accident. I don't anymore

from Yesterday's Lie we know the two were taken to the isles by a witch, and I wonder if while the brother loved it, wanted to belong, maybe learned to carve a palisman from a Clawthorne ancestor who knows wink wink Philip hated it, hated how much more powerful witches were compared to him, he felt threatened

there's one painting where the brother's body looks like it's posed similar to the Titan and I DO NOT LIKE IT

Hunter loves Flapjack so so so much and I am still scared Belos will hurt that little bird just to hurt the kid

Hunter: "I love you over and out"

Eda, King, me, everyone: AWWWWW

as soon as I saw that Eda and the rest were preparing the spell in the Owl House I was like oh good this means both of them will appear there! and then after I sec I was like.... hopefully

Hooty is iconic. best bird owl tube house him!

Darius turns around and decides to help the SECOND he realizes Hunter is in there too. He knows he might get trapped there for good but he also knows what he might see...

Belos has always treated the Golden Guards like dirt, seems like he's so bitter towards the original yet he keeps creating more. the fact the brother was older and now the guards are always younger and younger as he keeps aging, always working under him...

this expression perfectly encapsulates my feelings for that whole scene as well

there's a painting for Lily and Luz meeting Philip!!! wild

I ADORE the Collector's design and wild personality, not what I expected. super curious about their motives and why are they seemingly trapped in that state. What even are they. Maybe an accidental curse. or maybe cursed by someone else, not so accidentally

either, way, seems we might meet them at the Day of Unity. hooray??

god, this poor kid having to find out in such a way... the way Belos talks about him as an object, as replaceable. brutal

this is absolutely horrifying. a hallway full of all the "failed attempts" before you

those poor consumed palismen, fused together into a grotesque monster stuck inside a real monster's mind. yikes

"out of all the grimwalkers, you looked the most like him" old man I will end you

the Witch Hunter thing. is so so cruel. A witch hunter pretending to be a witch savior, creates the grimwalkers and names them Hunter while convincing them they're helping the witches! that is some twisted joke

I wonder if the brother's name was Hunter or something else

LUZ IS SO BRAVE SO COOL SO KIND SO BADASS SO SMART

I wanna point out Luz had no reason to connect Belos to Philip. before or after she found out he was a jerk, he was still a human. a human who lived in the Isles, built the door and for all she knows left back to Earth and died centuries ago

of course the only way through Hooty is romantic drama

they used all the titan blood. all of it

gotta point out that Luz keeping the jacket and it actually being relevant to saving Hunter makes me emotional

HE USED GLYPHS

I noticed since they've first met, Hunter calls Luz "human" but at last he shouts "LUZ!" I'm not crying you're crying

kid was freaking out and ran away... at least his palisman is with him!

and now Luz has learned A LOT but it is concerning how Belos just. let them. I guess he did assume they wouldn't escape but he was still pretty calm. scary stuff

Ok like I said this was A LOT of info so this is long and I didn't even talk about everything but I wanna speculate a lil bit about next week's episode under the cut ;)

Ok, next week we get King focus and I feel it'll be a big one as well! from the promos there aren't a lot of shots left that could be from that one but there is this one I assume will be from it

seems like Luz and Hooty will be accompanying King but not Eda

So I am wondering where will Hunter go? I think there's a chance we don't find out til later, he could be by himself with Flapjack, or Darius could've seen him run out and went after him. But I would be totally down for a B plot of Eda looking for him. It's not super likely but she did seem concerned so I thought I'd mention it! see ya next week