#and had to learn a whole new moral code

[deadsetobsessions]

Damian’s hands were once meant to create. He remembered the early days at mother’s side, impressing whirls of wild colors on quality pieces of paper and delighting in their beauty. He was just Damian, then. Sometimes, he was his mother’s beloved son and sometimes he was that and just Damian. He loved being just Damian, when the colors were bright and each spread of color brought life and love and tenderness. His mother tucked away those drawings in a secret compartment, to be enjoyed by herself in private. To love him, in private.

Then he became Damian al Ghul and colors were leeched out of his life. Not so much as leeched out. If anything, they got more intense. But where variety and brightness once claimed his attention, only red and black and gold held it now. So had his grandfather decreed, so he must obey. He unraveled skin, to get that nauseating shade of red. He was taught to be of worth, for without it, without the skills he mastered, Damian al Ghul was just Damian, and Damian was nothing. Damian al Ghul’s hands were not meant to create. They were meant for destruction. To spill only red, to wear only black intertwined with gold. To obey the greens of his grandfather’s robes. To see that green reflected in his own eyes and to know that grandfather was mad. Mad, but powerful. Insane with bloodlust and power hungry. Still, mother had gone cold. She no longer showed the easy affection with just Damian. So he obeyed, because that was all he knew how to do, how to love.

Then he became Damian al Ghul-Wayne. He spilt the blood of those who were proclaimed his brothers without a shred of proof they were his betters. Because they had to be his betters to be his brothers and he attacked them over and over and they would not put him down to prove themselves. And father perplexed him, because he asked Damian al Ghul-Wayne to hurt but not end, to partially break but not fully destroy. So he learns to gentle himself. But as time went on and his brothers refused to hurt him in any meaningful way, to assert their place in the hierarchy despite his challenges, Damian al Ghul-Wayne learns to love them. He learns to be, if not kind, then not harmful. To nurture, through his love of animals.

He apologizes to his brothers, in the only way he was taught, with sharp words and a reliable presence at their back. He gave them his back, turned and allowed them to walk behind, because that expression of trust was the only way he could tell them they’re welcome to stab him in the back for his transgressions. He thinks they get it, considering their support in bullying his father into getting his various pets. And, once he learned how to say it with words because it meant more to them, they forgave him with words. And guilt tripped him, but Damian allowed it for a period of time. A bit of guilt tripping for attempted murder is… an unfair trade for them.

And when he became Damian Wayne, it was an easel and an extensive paint set placed beside it that settled the name fully on his shoulders. A weight he willingly bears because the colors are back in his life again. Damian Wayne stalled at the door to the converted sunroom. A studio.

“It’s yours, Master Damian.” Alfred Pennyworth placed his hand on Damian Wayne’s shoulder. A welcome home. A sign of acceptance.

Numb, numb lips parted to ask, “Mine..?”

“We had thought this would be an appropriate gift for your birthday. Your siblings put quite a bit of work into remodeling it, with our help.”

Damian knew exactly where they got the idea. His gaze had lingered too long at the paintings in a gala they were forced to go to, and Timothy was by his side, eyes always sharp and knowing and kind.

He could see Richard’s influence in the awnings, high places painted with bright colors and little blobs of things. He could see father’s influence, in the way the furniture was optimally placed. Barbara’s touch in the high tech music center, and remote monitoring system. Jason’s in the hidden weapons around the room, league trained and knowing that it would help Damian feel secure in this new area of his life. Timothy’s influence that all of this happened to begin with, without Damian’s knowledge nor suspicion. Alfred’s influence in the accessible doors and food bowls and conveniently placed bed for Titus.

And later, the rest of his family will swing by and leave impressions of themselves (to Damian’s disgruntlement, literal impressions) in his room. But for now?

Right now, it feels like acceptance. It feels like love. It feels like he could be Just Damian again.

“It is acceptable.” He said, running over gentle fingers over the selection of brushes and tubes of paints. His gentleness belies the cold words, and Alfred Pennyworth knows that this is high praise coming from Damian.

“Very good, Master Damian.” Alfred Pennyworth replied.

And then Damian al Ghul-Wayne isn’t sure-

“I… am allowed?”

Alfred Pennyworth’s eyes darken with sadness, but his face remains impeccably unaffected. Damian thinks that’s why he understood Damian’s learned coldness the best.

“Yes. This is, after all, your birthday gift to be enjoyed whenever you see fit.”

Just like that, Damian knows he isn’t just Damian anymore. He’s Damian Wayne because just Damian did not have this, did not have them. Damian nodded decisively and picked up his brush. He squeezed out paint and, as Richard might say, “went to town.”

With every stroke of the brush, every color smeared onto blank canvas, a smile steadily grew in his face. Damian looses himself once more in the colors and swirls and shapes and does not see his family gathered at the door marveling at the pure unfiltered joy, the first they’ve ever truly witnessed, on his face.

He does not notice when they leave, filtering away and feeling proud at themselves, because Damian Wanyne found his colors again. His hands were no longer just meant for creating or destruction. His hands learned to do both, to express what he himself could not. His canvases were proudly displayed around his home.

Damian Wayne thinks he’s found family. He think he’s found a bit of himself.

[dejabooooo]

Ok I’m doing it. Idk if anyone will read this but here’s a compilation of all the stancest crumbs from bill’s book along with a stancest endgame theory:

I say theory because I can’t think of a better word atm. I know this is obviously not the intention of the text. I am merely taking the information we were given and twisting it to fit my sick agenda. It’s what bill would have wanted (Well maybe not quite like this but lol fuck him anyway).

So! Obviously billford was the star of the show here, but as I learned a little bit more about the codes I didn’t just learn what they say. I learned that all the stancest ship fuel is contained within them, and even tho it’s not much in comparison, what we did get is pretty profound!

There was a brand new code alphabet introduced in this book that we’ve never seen before. This cute little bros code that Stan and Ford invented when they were kids. Besides this image, this code is used only three times in the entire book.

The first (and insanely subtle) instance is on this page where ford concludes that Stan is the only person he can turn to after bill drives him to his breaking point:

It’s very small and hard to make out. On the window amid the equations.

It says: “miss you”

Pertaining the contents of this page, my first thought was that this is probably meant to be interpreted as a message directed at Fiddleford. But that wouldn’t really make sense given how it’s presented. This wasn’t written in after the fact. It couldn’t be directed at Fiddleford, they’re standing together arm in arm. It’s a code only Ford and Stan know, and this pic wasn’t taken long after they separated. This message must be about Stanley.

Ford uses the code on the next page, the last lost journal page where he’s talking about reaching out to Stan. It translates to: “have I been too harsh all along?”

This is so gut wrenching to me because he’s never written in this code literally anywhere else in the entire journal. And he says this vulnerable little line about Stanley in this code he probably hasn’t used in years but still remembers, in this code that only Stan would be able to understand besides himself.

The last usage is by Stan. Because the rest of the family is watching him write this, to the rest of them it just looks like he’s censoring his cussing for the kids’ sakes. But to ford, stan’s slyly writing him a little message that only he can see…

And what does it say?

“Love ya bro”

Ford’s arc in this book is realizing he should put his attention and concern in the ones that love him rather than fueling his obsessive hatred toward the one who hurt him. He comes to understand that he’ll be happier if he’s open about his past and rely on his family whose affection isn’t conditional like bill’s was. He moves past his shame, and comes out of the paranoid isolation that bill had encouraged him into.

And of course he receives this comfort from his whole family. But I think it’s very interesting how bill is framed as this toxic ex, Fiddleford is framed as the one he should have put his trust in during that pivotal time in 80s where ford ultimately blew his chance, and then there’s Stan.

Stan is hardly brought up at all but his presence lingers in more than few of Ford’s vulnerable journal entries. Stan is the one who put Bill in his place. Stan is the one who made Ford realize where his priorities should be. Stan is the one who’s accepted him all along and is the one remaining by his side in the end.

Bill even blames Stan for stealing ford from him like a jealous ex who can’t stand the fact that ford has moved on with someone else. (This is directed at the reader but it mirrors his frustration with the stans when they worked together to defeat him)

In conclusion: incest somehow ended up being the healthiest partnership option all along. Who knew?

BONUS CODE THAT CAN BE MISCONSTRUED IN A MORALLY REPREHENSIBLE WAY:

At the bottom of the first lost journal page where he’s talking about his loneliness and yearning for human connection, he mentions Stan in a code again. After embarrassing himself in front of the waitress he says: “Stanley could have made her laugh” 💔

[darkfoxkirin]

But what if Bruce DID join The Pact?

Honestly, I thought their whole gang chemistry was cute as hell (plus I have a thing for heros going bad because they care about their villain boo), and they kind of had a moral code, for each other at least. Bane cared about loyalty and truthfulness, Freeze cared about curing his wife, Bruce wants the least amount of casualties possible, John cares about Bruce and Harley, and Harley is a bit of a wild card, but she had a soft spot for John and even a bit for Bruce. They worked well together, and I can totally see an alternate route of Bruce betraying Waller and legitimately joining The Pact because he cares about them and maybe with him on board, he can keep them from harming people too much. He'd have to learn to accept that some people have to die, but I REALLY want to see someone write a fic about this, if they haven't already! (If they have, pleeeaaase link it in the comments!)

I just love it when villains team up and legitimately care about each other, even better with the hero joins them and has to turn a little dark because of it. We love corruption because of love and friendship! Oh, and of course this would be a Bruce/John fic, I love them so much! Harley can go bring Pamela (Ivy) into The Pact and she can be with her instead, but they're all besties and are there for each other! Yes, Bruce still wants to help people, but his new friends (and green haired lover) matter to him more. (Sadly, I can't see Alfred or Tiffany staying with Bruce for this, but maybe Bruce can at least talk Tiffany into joining since she was so ready to make Batman guns? Alfred won't stand for it though, so he'd probably leave him, turning a blind eye as a last stroke of goodwill towards his son figure.) Anyhow, someone, anyone, please, please, PLEASE write this fic or send me fics that have this in it, thanks!

[chaos-and-ink]

Do you see the moon boys as autistic? And if so do you have any autistic headcanons for them? :)

YES. Okay, so a system cannot have a disorder the body doesn't. As ASD is a neurodevelopmental condition it affects how the brain is wired which means each alter would be autistic, they may just present differently. So this is how I think each of them present their autism.

STEVEN: Steven is the most obviously autistic alter. Because he didn't front often, his masking skills aren't very developed which means he displays a lot of classic symptoms and features such as:

Unusual body language, often holds his arms in odd ways, walks on his toes, keeps his elbows bent, doesn't make eye contact, displays 'raptor hands', etc.

Special Interest in Ancient Egypt. I mean he literally is learning Hieroglyphics and owns a literal library of books and knows everything about it. Infodumping brings him lots of joy.

Need for routine. Calling his mum every morning, feeding Gus, checking the tape, restraint, sand, etc. He wants things to be very particular and hates when anything changes.

Lack of social skills. Doesn't connect with others very well. Especially seen when he continues to talk to his coworkers when they don't want to talk to him. He doesn't recognize or respond to their tone or body language. He's also very hesitant and anxious in social settings. The only real friend he has until later into the series is Crawley and it's likely because the performer can't talk back or react to Steven. It's often easier to 'talk at people' instead of with them.

Strong moral code and very loyal to his beliefs and the need to be correct. Steven is very straight forward about his beliefs and wants to be on the right side of things. Hence him being vegan and the whole 'killing babies, you guys are just cool with that, yeah???' scene along with when he tells Donna the posters are incorrect and when he tells Dylan they should be selling figs not candy.

Stimming like flapping his hands, rocking, pacing, fidgeting and playing with things like Rubiks cubes.

MARC: Marc learned to mask very quickly in his house hold so he doesn't outwardly display many traits. Instead he experiences a lot of burn out, depression and anxiety due to trying to cover up his ASD symptoms. But he does still have a few that can't be masked like:

Flat tone and lack of facial expressions. Rarely smiles or shows emotions other than anger.

Blunt, often tactless or rude, and thinks very logical. he has a hard time understanding other peoples emotions and accommodating for them.

Special Interest in Tomb Busters, it was the main thing that brought him comfort. he'd watch it so often that he had the entire script memorized and would often forget to eat, sleep, or drink because he was busy fixating on it.

Doesn't connect with new people and doesn't show an interest in them. He doesn't feel a need to socialize.

Gets overwhelmed quickly which leads to melt downs, shut downs, and anger out bursts which caused him to be labeled with 'temper problems'

JAKE: We really don't know too much about Jake so I only noticed one thing really which was:

No interest in other people or social settings. He prefers to be by himself doing his own thing rather than in a group or socializing.

[op-sys-chaos]

Inspired by a post by @snakeredbirdbatkatana

Tim couldn’t believe it. He’d been left behind. AGAIN.

His siblings really should’ve learned their lesson at this point. But no, they were too busy paying attention to themselves to think about Tim.

Dick had been exposed to the Morality Virus first. It removed your morality, leaving nothing but emptiness behind. He wouldn’t be held back anymore - now, he could do things like kill the Joker and avenge his brother without guilt. (It also gave you a general disdain for human life, which was a problem, but Dick could manage it. It would be fine. Right?) He was quick to infect Jason, thinking he’d enjoy the freedom. He infected Damian after, knowing Damian would enjoy being able to give into his more feral instincts.

Dick didn’t go after Cass, Duke, or Steph. Cass chose not to kill because she couldn’t stand watching people die, not with her ability. It had nothing to do with morals for her, so there was no point. Duke was too new for the family to know how he’d react to something like this. And Steph had actively chosen to reject her villain father and become a vigilante, partially because of a grudge and partially because of the adrenaline rush of vigilantism. She’s probably just pick being a hero anyway.

So obviously, Dick would go for Tim next, right?

No!

No, he started branching out to heroes outside of Gotham!

Unbelievable.

Tim hacked Dick’s computer, only to see his analysis:

Tim looks up to Bruce too much and would keep following him. Besides, he has a strong sense of morality, and would likely keep operating under it out of habit.

Did Dick really not know Tim that well? How little did his brother care about him to not notice?

Tim followed Bruce’s moral code because he didn’t have one of his own originally. He was very detached from normalcy and therefore morality as a kid. He took up Bruce’s code, following his example (not his words, mind you) down to the last detail, including being willing to leave bad people for dead if needed. But it wasn’t because he looked up to Bruce. It was because Bruce had a strong moral code and therefore was a good person to model his own after. It was convenient and reliable. Not some stupid hero worship bullshit.

Tim was so incredibly offended that his brothers cared so little that they couldn’t even tell this basic thing.

Cass noticed, of course. She read Dick’s note over Tim’s shoulder and gave him a hug.

“He doesn’t get it,” she said. “He can’t imagine why you would do be like this otherwise. He won’t consider other options.”

“He’s just… excluding me. Because he doesn’t understand me. How stupid. Everyone else had thought out reasons for exclusion, and he only wants to turn people who will kill because the virus is driving him to turn as many people as possible to create lots of killers, so those exclusions had valid reasonings. But me? Hero worship?”

“Honestly, I feel like this is a good thing to be excluded from,” Steph commented as she walked in.

“You don’t get it, Steph. It’s not that I want to be dosed-“

“You want to be seen. I get it, Tim. And I see you, but I know you want your whole family to be able to see you.”

Tim nodded.

“So how do you get them to see you, and how do you save them?” she prompted.

“…I get myself infected,” he whispered. “Act like I’m on his side. And deliver the antidote when I’m close.”

“Exactly. Can you do it?”

“Of course,” he replied.

“He will,” Cass chimed in confidently.

And that’s how, a week later, Tim ended up breaking into Dick’s apartment, alone and unarmed.

“Dick.”

“Tim? What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to prove a fucking point.”

“And that is?” Dick asked with a frown.

“That you don’t know me half as well as you think,” Tim replied, grabbing a syringe of the virus and jabbing himself with it before Dick could stop him.

“What?” Dick asked in a whisper.

It felt strange, being hit with the virus. All it really did was make him feel cold for a moment, and give him the slight nagging sense that he should start killing people. But he easily shook the feeling off by reminding himself of the code.

“Pay better attention to your siblings, asshole.”

“I… Tim, I don’t understand.”

“I don’t have hero worship for Bruce. And I certainly don’t have a strong sense of morality. I never had morals, Dick. You think I would’ve stalked Batman if I did?”

“Well well well,” Jason said, walking into the room. “Pay up, Dick. Told you you were wrong about him.”

Tim almost jumped in surprise. Of his brothers he was definitely closest with Jason, but he hadn’t realized Jason would know him well enough to bet on this.

“But he…”

“Was raised without morals. It’s obvious. He doesn’t think about moral implications until he’s already 50 clones into trying to bring his clone bestie back.”

Dick choked out a cough. “What?”

“Yeah, not my finest moment,” Tim admitted. “I was not thinking about the ethical implications of cloning, I just missed my friend. Bruce’s code is a strong and simple road map. That’s all.”

“Amazingly, I actually respect you more for that,” Damian told Tim as he entered the room. “It takes a lot of willpower to follow a code that’s not your own.”

Perfect. All of them were here.

“Thanks, Damian.”

“You are welcome. I assume your presence here means you are on our side? We have planned our first escapade.”

“What’s the plan?”

“Lure all of the currently free rogues into one spot, then blow up the building. Immediately after, blow up Arkham. Civilian casualties will be a factor, of course, but a necessary one to rid the city of evil.”

Huh. Even with no morals, they were still heroic. Interesting.

“I can help with that,” Tim said, pulling a device out of his pocket.

“What’s that?” Jason asked.

All three came closer, and Tim pushed the small red button on top. Gas instantly exploded outwards, enveloping the room.

The sounds of coughing surrounded him, and he felt the curse of the virus wash off. He didn’t suddenly gain morals, of course, but his drive to kill was gone, which was a relief.

As the smoke cleared, Tim saw his brothers sitting on the floor.

“What the…” Dick started, before clapping a hand over his mouth in horror. “Oh god, was I really planning to…”

“Yeah,” Tim replied, standing up and leaving the apartment. “Next time, pay better attention to your siblings, asshat. You would’ve known that because I don’t have morality to follow, I would stick to saving you all and saving the city. I thought we were brothers, Dick. But you proved today that I’m just another face in the crowd to you.”

With those words, Tim left. Cass, who had been waiting outside in case it went wrong, gave him a quick hug, and the pair grappled off together.

“That was AWESOME,” Steph said over comms. “You kicked so much ass, Tim. They’ll think twice before dismissing you again.”

“I hope so,” Tim whispered. “I was honestly surprised that Jason at least partially knew that I would act that way.”

“Yeah, well, Dick will think twice about underestimating you again.”

And he did. When Dick came back to the cave that night, he sat down and had a conversation with Tim, telling him about his impressions of Tim and asking him to correct anything he got wrong. To Tim’s surprise, Dick actually saw a lot more than he expected. He even picked up on the fact that Tim’s first male crush had been Kon, even if Tim hadn’t admitted it even to himself. And Dick was the only person who’d ever told Tim that they had figured out that Tim had originally modeled his personality after a book character. Dick wasn’t wrong; Tim had no idea how to act normal as a kid, and modeled himself after his favorite character. His actions changed over time, becoming more natural and more his own, but they’d still originally been based on someone else. Dick had picked up on that, to Tim’s amazement.

It turned out, Dick actually knew Tim better than he ever realized his brother did. Dick just missed the morality piece because Tim had never wavered from the code and had always been so devoted to following Bruce’s code that Dick assumed it was hero worship of the first hero Tim knew.

They vowed to be more open about things in the future and to work on knowing each other better. And Dick vowed never to exclude Tim again unless someone else gave him a very, very good reason to do so (such as the “it’ll make him want to get involved if he knows and his involvement will make this worse” type of stuff typical in their line of duty).

[typosandtea]

Tango fits quite nicely in recon squad gladius despite hating the bos as a whole, and I think its because They have similarities to all three!

Like Rhys, Tango is very distrustful of outsiders, though their definition of 'outsider' differs. Rhys would define outsiders as anyone not bos and to a lesser extent anyone not in his squad, where as Tango would define it as anyone they don't trust (so nearly everyone).

Rhys and Tango are both also assholes by nature and no amount of time in the minutemen will fix either of them of this.. Part of why Tango and Rhys are so prickly is that they are so very protective of those in their (very small) circles.

They're also both violence as a first solution to many problems kinda people. [I would kill for you, please let me kill for you]. (Them 🤝 X6)

They also argue frequently and for the sake of it, it often ends with [Tango liked that][Rhys liked that] much to the annoyance or confusion of the others.. Both are also incredibly stubborn.

Rhys also rejects Haylen because he is so dedicated to the bos (how they say it anyway) so possibly Rhys 🤝 Tango aspec!

Haylen and Tango are both willing to break the rules for what they believe when it comes down to it, like in Blind Betrayal and its aftermath, though their beliefs differ wildly with Haylen having far stronger morals than Tango, though I think even she is somewhat biased by her years in the bos, you can't willingly live among them and remain unscathed by their ideals.

And like Haylen, Tango joins the bos somewhat blind to what they really are, and they later help each other escape together. While Haylen concludes that the bos are misguided, violent and not in line with their ideals (as presented to her) after years. Tango comes to the conclusion of 'raiders and with more firepower and brainwashing' after 1 (one) conversation with Tegan that gets them a misdemeanor within minutes of boarding the prydwen, to be clear Tango was making a observation that they probably would have kept to themselves if they had more than 2 charisma, they don't hate raiders, they've run with some in the past after all.

Danse and Tango both basically live in their armour, feeling extremely exposed out of it. both are skilled mechanically, though I picture Danse as more of a 'by the book' mechanic compared to Tangos 'its not stupid if it works', and 'learn the rules so you know how to break them safely'

Both Danse and Tango have a terrible time trying to talk about feelings, and they (headcanon) find it easier if they are doing something while they talk, for example traveling, repairing something, or in Tango's case, cooking.

Both have identity crises about not / no longer being human, just on opposite sides of the revelation. Danse feels like his whole identity has been torn from him in that moment, where as Tango abandons their old identity, embracing their new robotic status with relief..

They've both built up so many emotional walls to protect themselves after the traumatic deaths of close friends by their hands. Danse killed Cutler because it was right, he was suffering, it didn't matter how he felt about it; where as Tango kills Bones out of selfish false perceived self-preservation born of their deeply rooted expectation to be betrayed. Both are irreparably changed by these events, and often wonder what could have been different..

intentional or not Danse is so relatable autism coded to me so Tango 🤝 Danse

[sunsetmountainlion]

Hello just wanted to know, in the Eve's Garden AU. What does Eve think of the other Overlords?

Almost all of her information about them comes from Cain, who’s the most involved in the overlord scene of the family, the news which she doesn’t watch often, and the newer residents of the Garden. But it’s enough she does have opinions on them all. (I’m only including overlords we actually know stuff about.)

Zestial: He’s the only living overlord she’s met in person. Upon learning of the Garden he began making a habit of sending any children, sinner or Hellborn, that wandered into his territory over to her. After a pattern emerged she asked to meet up and they had a lovely chat over some tea. Shes not a fan of everything he does but he has a moral code, including not hurting or terrorizing children, and they have a mutual respect for each other.

Carmilla: She holds respect for Carmilla despite having never met her. Cain told her about what he observed of Carmilla, Odette, and Clara and how he definitely gets strong motherly vibes off of Carmilla, and Eve is quick to respect another mom trying to protect her kids from the dangers of Hell. She’s even purchased some Carmine weapons to arm the Garden’s guards.

Valentino: If he shows his face within two hundred feet of the farmland’s borders he’s getting a blessed bullet through the skull.

Velvette: To someone as old as Eve, Velvette comes off as a bratty, obnoxious child trying to make herself seem bigger and stronger than she actually is. Eve watched one video of her and declared, “she has a mountain of insecurities she’s hiding behind that act.”

Vox: Eve is mainly aware of him because of the threat of him getting into the Garden’s servers, but she has a lot of tech savvy sinners working to keep their stuff safe from his influence. Other than that she just sees him as kinda sad after the whole Vox VS Alastor thing. He’s obviously got some weird one sided crush on him and can’t move on.

Rosie: Cannibal Town and the Garden are actually remarkably similar in many ways. While Cannibal Town is much more violent it also has its own code of morals and is one of the better places to live as long as you abide by its rules. While Eve doesn’t like the whole cannibalism thing she thinks that if she and Rosie ever met they could get along.

Alastor: When he first began making a name for himself she was prepared to fight him should he attempt to target her or her sons, but she’s never actually seen him as a true threat. A lot of his attitude comes off as showboating to her, a dog barking its head off to hide its filed teeth and tucked tail. She wonders if his bite can really back up his bark.

[liliallowed]

dusttale papyrus if he locked the fuck in:

brother as much as I appreciate you finally doing something productive with you time *smacks his gaster blaster and it yelps cancelling the beam* killing everyone just to beat a lonely sad gamer in a lobby wipe out is not the type of behavior I expected from my brother. HAVE SOME STANDARDS SANS!

sans: huh.

papyrus: look morals aside, objectively speaking. COMPLETELY unbiased regarding the wrongness of taking someone else's life, sans. you do realize they're invested in this as a competition now right. you realize you made everything worse.

sans: literally tried everything.

papyrus: I mean... fair! I don't expect you to tell me the same explanation. up until now that could be a valid excuse but *deflects his fatal attack* IM NOT GOING TO JUST SIT HERE AND TAKE IT!

sans: welp there goes my chance...

papyrus: sans I know you've probably had this conversation with me and how painful it is to say things you've already probably explained. I understand. but have you ever listened TO ME!? like... present me. question. is this the first time I'm asking you this question.

sans: actually yeah.

papyrus: that'll be our deal! if I saw something new you'll have to agree to my terms! no killing the entire undergrounds to get the human to ragequit. you're a horrible influence sans. you're enabling them.

sans: I... you're actually... you...

papyrus: yes I'm caught up. don't worry about the traumatic experience of getting betrayed. we'll cry about it later! right now though I want to show you something BRILLIANT! I'VE DECIDED TO CHALLENGE THE HUMAN INTO FINDING ALL THE EASTER EGHS IN A TIMELINE PUZZLE MAZE! if they kill anyone they won't find the secret messages and passagesssss!!!!

sans: you're... what...

papyrus: you see I couldn't help but notice that they treat this world as a game. what if they're doing this because it's not... fun? what if I helped them explore new things? what if they're alone and just want attention sans. what if killing everyone is their way of seeking attention. and they feel like everyone always forgets them no matter what they do so they invent a whole villainous persona to be infamous and be popular and be on everyones minds and maybe it'll full the empty lonely hole they have in their heart!?

sans: ...

papyrus: I'm going to be their friend no matter what.

sans: bro they're literally a world ending demon thingy what are you-

papyrus: IF THERE'S ONE THING I KNOW ABOUT SOULLESS BEINGS OBSESSED WITH MALADAPTIVE COPING MECHANISMS AND HAVING POWERS THEY DON'T QUITE UNDERSTAND... IT'S THAT CURIOSITY AND CREATING A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT FOR THEM TO DO HARMLESS EXPERIMENTS US KEY TO YOU GODLIKE CHILD'S DEVELOPMENT!

sans: papyrus what the actual fuck are you talking about.

papyrus: I had my depression arc with a flower person sans. I KNOW HOW TO DO THIS JUST LET ME SHOW YOU. if it doesn't work I'll agree. you can kill me and everything else IM BETTING EVERYTHING ON THIS PLAN! IT WILL WORK! AND NO ONE INCLUDING THE DEMON HAS TO DIE! WE CAN ALL GET ALONG! EVEN IF WE'RE EVIL SOULLESS UNFEELING PSYCHOPATHS:D not... -the literally definition of psychopathy of course they're otherized and discrimted often because of something that's beyond control. and there's always nuance to every person and we shouldn't use name calling as a way to present certain groups as evil-

ANYWAYS. WHAT IM SAYING IS LET ME COOK SANS. YOU'VE BURNT THE KITCHEN. NOW IT'S MY TURN.

sans: you're not going to aknowledge the war crimes.

papyrus: I am but now is not the time! HURRY SANS WE HAVE TO PLANT THIS CIPHER AND USE MORSE CODE HERE! THE HUMAN WILL LOVE IT! TRUST ME!

sans: ... dejavu.

papyrus: listen you might be good at threatening toddlers in restaurants and brutally kicking their ass later but... this? this is what I've learned in my loop okay? and I'm sure you've changed and you probably think you've turned evil but I've changed too. I want to... I want to show you that I can be enough too. that you don't have to just face it all alone. and that despite everything some things will never change. you know? this is important to me sans. I know it's hard to look me in the eyes. you don't have to. just be there okay?

sans: *nods*

papyrus: *picks him up* ALRIGHT OFF WE GO!

sans: bro you forgot your notes.

papyrus: OH! wait so you were actually listening? I'm so used to your looped version dozing off at my brilliant plans...

sans: you're so cool bro.

papyrus: that... sans please don't say that to me again okay? like you I've also changed a lot. I'll always be cool but hearing that is a little triggering okay?

sans: oh... that's gotta get annoying to hear over and over huh.

papyrus: no! it's not about that it's just that I think the great papyrus... wasn't really all that great you know? I'd like to just be papyrus? I'd like to... you know? I want to just be myself. and define what being great actually means instead of chasing after empty dreams like being the hero.

sans: ...

papyrus: that reminds me do you have a specific trigger in your... loop adventure?

sans: ... don't die.

papyrus: will do. I'll have you know I have outlasted you in many resets. rest assured you aren't going to watch me die again.

sans: *nods*

papyrus: WHERE THE FUCK ARE MY NOTES!?

[princesspastel8]

Chapter 72

Third POV

It's now the end of Feburary. A lot of things have taken place. The first is Slenderman's punishment on Nina. It was brutal, to say the least, but much deserved. Yes, she was put into the white room, but under went intense shock therapy. Slenderman needed to destroy her obsession with Jeff or something like before would happen again.

With Nina out of the way, Eboni spent more time in the livingroom- trying to get accustomed to other proxies. This is her new home, after all, and she can't spend it locked away in Jeff's room - much to his dismay. Oddly enough, Eboni was given a chance to apologize to Helen. He just so happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

The two talked about many things, and a few proxies found it odd how talkative Helen would suddenly become when in Eboni's presence. Most thought he had fallen for the girl, but in reality, she was just his new muse. He has been lacking in inspiration, wanting to draw but having no motivation to do so. So when he first laid eyes on Eboni & Jeff, inspiration struck.

He enjoys observing their relationship, catching the way they'd look at one another within his art pieces. Of course, he would draw them without their knowledge until he randomly decided to give Eboni a beautiful pencil drawing of herself on the day before Valentine's Day and before the Valentine's Day party.

Jeff was pissed, seriously pissed. His anger only grew when Eboni tried to step in between the two before a fight broke out. He couldn't understand that the only thing the Bloody Panther felt towards Eboni was admiration. He felt comfortable around her. He could open up to her a bit and even ask for advice about certain things.

In fact, Eboni found out that the poor neutral faced painter is hopelessly in love with another proxy who has been gone on a year-long mission. This proxy is known as 'Judge Angel'. She went through his sketch book, noticing so many drawings of this one girl. She found it cute.

So, what are the odds that she randomly shows up right before the Valentine's Day party? Eboni had spent the first week and a half of February trying to play matchmaker. Jeff had no idea and just assumed she was losing interest in him. Long story short, Eboni learned not to test his patience once again - not that she didn't enjoy every minute of that fuck.

They did indeed have a party of their own all night long.

But Eboni's work did pay off. The next day, she witnessed Judge Angel showering Helen with kisses. The sight of his blushing yet blank face was memorable. Another match making attempt took place with Eyeless Jack & Ani the Wight. The poor ghost girl had an obvious crush on EJ. It became so painfully obvious that most proxies would shit on him for not noticing it.

But he did. He noticed. EJ isn't that stupid like BEN. He has strong feelings for the girl, but his moral code to only love one is keeping him from moving forward. But once again, thanks to Eboni, she's able to knock some sense into him. Leave his past in the past and finally live his new life to the fullest until his very last breath. Those words were enough to snap EJ out of it and make a bold move on the girl.

Now, currently, the group is in the livingroom- snacking on junk food while watching the boys shout and argue over if BEN cheated or not. Jeff is glaring daggers at the link demon, close to shanking him.

"Look you fucker, just admit you cheated and I won't rip your fucking eyes out!" Jeff shouts.

BEN quickly floats up, flipping Jeff off. "I didn't cheat! You just suck ass!"

"No...no BEN, I'm with Jeff here. You rigged this whole fucking game." EJ grumbles, tossing the controller to the side.

"Or maybe you all are just sore losers." Judge Angel, also known as Dina, said - snickering a bit.

"Not true....I never got a hit in against him." Helen said, voice flat but eyes showing frustration.

Eboni giggles, leaning forward to try and calm Jeff down. "I told you, no one wins against BEN in street fighters."

"But I can kick his ass at wii bowling! This shit is obviously rigged!" Jeff exclaims, pulling out his knife and stands to try and reach up to BEN.

"You're just a sore loser you dickhead!" BEN shouts, sticking his tongue out and flips him off again.

EJ at this point stands, moving up on the couch for a better chance to catch him. "I'll start at his ankles."

"And I'll go for his fucking throat!"

Ani watches, just a bundle of nerves. "Uh...you guys it's not that serious. You could get in trouble."

"Oh, don't ruin the fun. I doubt slenderman would punish them too badly for rough housing." Eboni shrugs, pulling out her phone to record it.

But before she can, Kate steps down the stairs, arms crossed over her chest. Everyone freezes, staring at the girl. She looks at Eboni & Jeff before speaking, "Slenderman is requesting you two in his office."

The couple share a look of annoyance, rolling their eyes as they follow Kate to the elevator. Once on the top floor, Kate leads them to his office - knocking on his door. The woman waits for an answer, opening the door once it's given. Kate steps out of the way, allowing the two to enter.

But once inside, the two share a look - shaking their heads and bolting out of the room. At this, Slenderman sends two tendrils out - dragging the two back into his office. He sends Kate away, keeping the two caged within his tendrils.

"Stop this foolish behavior."

"I'm not working with a blonde bimbo!"

"And a dude with a male superiority complex." Eboni huffs, rolling her eyes.

The faceless creature sighs, shaking his head. "I made myself clear, to you specifically Eboni, that the both of you will learn teamwork - even if it's with the ones you hate most."

Taylor and Masky haven't spoken a word, nor did they flinch at seeing Eboni & Jeff - both wearing their own porcelain mask. They both roll their eyes, scoffing. Two worthless people trying to seek fatherly validation from a manipulative faceless ceature.

"This is bullsh- ugh! Alright, alright, I get it! Just loosen your squid arm!" Jeff shouts.

Slender lowers them down, calling his tendrils back. He points to the files laid out on his desk, motioning for them to get and look over. Eboni goes first, opening her file - Jeff following suit. Both of them frown, looking at the faceless creature.

".....more gang members? Seriously?" Jeff grumbles, staring at the picture of his targets. A group of three.

Eboni sighs, also given three different gang members. She can only assume Taylor and Masky have similar targets. The girl raises a brow at Slenderman after reading more details within the flies. "And you want this finished... before midnight?"

Slenderman nods his head. "They're easy targets. It's been brought to my attention by the blue haired witch that Zalgo is controlling this gang from the inside out, forming his own army to try and take me down. The quicker we lower his numbers, our chances of winning increases. Understand?"

Eboni is the only one who now takes this more seriously. Anything involving Zalgo is enough to change her mood. Jeff, on the other hand, feels anxious. Just his name, Zalgo, sends his nerves into overdrive. He glances at Eboni, grabbing her hand.

"Alright, octopus." Jeff states flatly, roughly tugging Eboni out of the room - Masky & Taylor following behind.

Eboni frowns, noticing his shift in mood. "Jeff, what's the issue?"

"Just want to get this shit over with as soon as possible." He says, his voice giving away how on edge he is.

Eboni doesn't question him, at least not when her two most hated people are standing right behind her. Jeff presses the down button to the elevator, stepping inside and keeping Eboni close. Masky presses the lobby button, grabbing Taylor's hand into his own. The blonde flinches at first but relaxes either way.

Once the doors open, loud shouts can be heard right away. Masky drags Taylor to the front door, slamming it behind themselves. Eboni scoffs, rolling her eyes- everyone watching them walk to the front door.

"What's going on?" EJ asks, looking away from the TV - giving BEN the chance to beat him again.

"The faceless bitch thought it'll be a great idea to teach us 'team work'." Jeff said mockingly.

"....he's making you work...with them?" BEN asks before EJ smacks him upside his head for cheating again.

"Yeah... but we all have three separate targets. I don't see how this is teamwork when we'll have to focus on our kills.", Eboni shrugs. "Its a closer step to taking down Zalgo, so I'll put up with them for one night."

The room grows tense, everyone aware of Jeff's uneasiness from the mention of Zalgo. The smiling killer has indeed grown paranoid. He didn't want to risk putting Eboni's life in danger. He couldn't. Everyone has tried to push Eboni's curse within the back of their heads, yet it still lingers whenever the demon lord is mentioned. Everyone has grown attached to Eboni. She somehow makes the mansion for lively. Without her presence, bright smile, and daring attitude- the mansion would return to its dullness.

"Anyways, I'll cook up something once I'm ba-"

"No, you're not. We're gonna shower and go straight to bed." Jeff corrects.

Eboni rolls her eyes, mumbling under her breath.

Jeff opens the door, turning around to raise a brow. "Say that again, princess, a bit louder for me." He dares.

Eboni pouts, shaking her head. "....nothing, Daddy."

He grins, leaning down to steal a quick kiss while closing the door behind themselves. He leans down to whisper in her ear, "Good girl. Now let's get this night over with."

The four of them walk through the woods in silence, Jeff still keeping Eboni close. Eboni looks at Jeff, gripping his hand. He raises a brow, tilting his head. "I'm gonna be okay..." she whispers.

Jeff smiles, about to say something, but Taylor beats her to it. "Yeah fuckin' righ'."

"Masky, you better -"

Masky grips the back of Taylor's hair, whispering something in her ear that makes her lower her head in shame. This sparks Eboni curiosity. "I won't be okay? Says the one who didn't even have the guts to kill her abusive junkie mother."

Taylor whips her head around, glaring daggers at Eboni but doesn't say a word. "Cat, got your tongue?" She giggles, shaking her head.

"Look. How about we all shut the fuck up- yeah? The sooner we end this shit the quicker we'll be out of each other's sight." Masky tries to reason, growing annoyed.

"Still trying to work your way back into being Slenderman's favorite? Tch, pathetic." Jeff snickers.

It's Masky's turn to snap, but Taylor yanks his ear, pulling him along. It didn't take long for the four to reach the skate park where all of their victims are. Masky made an odd hand motion that Eboni didn't understand, but Jeff does. The smiling killer guides Eboni to the other side of the woods, picking up a small rock and throwing it ahead of them.

The girls look towards their direction, a bit shaken. Most of the girls egg on two other girls to go look, calling them names to add to the pressure. Surprisingly, both girls go to investigate, both girls also being one of Eboni & Jeff's target. The two share a look, their smiles turning wicked.

This would be Eboni's first victim besides her family. Her first victim she has zero attachment to. This is going to be fun. So the two hide behind a tree, waiting for the girls to get closer. Once close, each reach out to their respective victims, placing their hands over their mouths.

The girls are pretty weak, so its easy to overpower them. Eboni pins her first target to the ground, placing her custom blade to her throat and slits it - watching the girl choke on her own blood, life quickly fading from her eyes. Eboni's smile grows, having no idea how much she would enjoy this.

Jeff, on the other hand, takes his time, stabbing his victim repeatedly until she stops fighting back. Two down, four more left to go. Masky goes for a different tactic, making Taylor scream. Two of his targets and one of Taylor's rush towards the other side of the woods, thinking their friend is in danger.

Masky easily takes down his targets with a quick blow to their heads with his crowbar, but Taylor is...struggling. Eboni & Jeff aren't close enough to see, but a scream is enough to alert them on what could be happening. As that scream is heard, their targets begin to scatter. Jeff sighs heavily, jumping out of the woods and stabbing the first girl he gets his hands on, slitting her throat.

"That useless bitch- princess! There's two coming towards your right!"

Eboni already takes down the first one, thanks to her staying hidden- but she has to chase after the other. Once she catches her, Eboni jumps onto the girl- beating her to the ground. She raises her knife, stabbing the girl straight in her heart - twisting the blade.

Masky ends up taking out Taylor's target but is out numbered by four other girls. He looks over at Taylor, shouting at her to snap out of it - but she doesn't, standing their trembling. Eboni rushes over, as did Jeff, tackling two girls to the ground. Both of them stab them to death, giving Masky a chance to knock two other girls to the ground- smashing their skulls in.

Ten down. Two more to go, but they're nowhere to be seen.

Jeff stands, glaring at Taylor. "What the fuck!?"

Eboni stands, frowning at Taylor. Masky walks over, shaking Taylor out of her trance. "And I thought you were ready for this."

"I...I-I.."

"Don't bother. Get your shit together, blondie. We got two more to kill."

"I saw the other two run east towards the mansion." Eboni explains.

Jeff nods, walking towards the direction of the mansion. "Then let's go. I swear if that faceless fucker chews up my ass over that bimbo's mistake- imma lose it."

Eboni giggles, following behind Jeff while Masky drags Taylor along - mumbling curses. Jeff & Eboni keep an eye out, hearing for anything out of the ordinary. Then they hear a twig snap. Jeff grins, slowly approaching where the sound came from. He notices the second girl trembling behind a short yet wide tree.

The smiling killer laughs, quickly snatching the girl before she can run off again. "Well, you made this too easy." Jeff said as he repeatedly stabs the girl to death....not noticing the second girl up in the tree.

But Eboni does. Her eyes widen, rushing over to Jeff after hearing the sound of a gun clocking. Masky too rushes forward, realizing this was a trap. How could they have miscalculated this so poorly?

Masky doesn't make it in time, but Eboni did.

"Jeff!" She shouts, quickly pushing Jeff out of shooting range.

The smiling killer stumbles back, looking at Eboni questioningly - but when he figures out why she pushed him, it's far too late.

"I'm sor-"

BANG!

[anthony-crowleys]

Ok but I can't stop mulling over this exchange in ep. 6 between Mae-Posing-As-Osha and Sol, "I had to lose a lot of myself in order to become a Jedi. [...]" And him responding "I'm sorry if it felt that way."

Like.

Number one, did he not felt this way too, even just a little?

I think that abiding to that strict moral code, trying to rein in strong emotions and finding balance would take a toll on almost everyone, more or less (some people are clearly more inclined to a lifestyle like that and are very proficient at it, like Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Yoda etc., but clearly it's not for everyone, see Luke and Anakin and now Osha).

Is this an indicator that no, he was perfectly fine within the set rules of the Jedi lifestyle and what transpired on Brendok was just a natural slip up that could have happened to every other well-meaning Jedi.

Or… That he didn't felt like he had to change at all and never really did?

He grew up and remained an emotional man, prone to be led by his gut feelings, and nobody had a problem with that because he is a gentle and warm person that doesn't create problems and kinda decided to let it slide until it blew up in their faces but they don't know that yet?

(But the council acknowledged that he was still not mature enough to have a padawan, at least that is what I gathered in that conversation with Indara in ep. 7. They knew he wasn't ready. I also wonder how the whole "We don't think you are ready but oh look you now have a child you say you feel a strong connection with sooo ok you can be her master let's see how it goes!" thing went down.)

And then after Brendok he didn't felt that he needed to change that much, just "lesson learned now I'll be more careful" and that was it? And maybe being responsible for Osha is what helped him become more wise and controlled?

That line makes it seem like it's a foreign concept to him, having to shed and set aside things about your character in order to fit in a somewhat thight mold like the one the Jedi code requires. He was quick to confide that he left home when he was younger than her and that he felt different from his family, so I guess that if he also shared this sentiment, he would have said so.

And number two, worded that way it seems like this is news for him? Did he not notice that Osha struggled too much?

I mean, we don't know how/why she left the Jedi order yet, and that fact alone must have been a strong indicator that she was not in the right place, but still, how is Sol taking in these words?

As a further confirmation that she was unhappy there or as a surprise, because he thinks he failed her by not being a good master and that it's solely his fault that she didn't thrive in the Jedi order? This could tie in neatly with that "Perhaps I wasn't a very good teacher." line from episode two, that there is an underlying sense that he thinks he was not good enough and failed at the one thing that he cared about more than anything that defines this character.

And, at least to me, it's still unclear whether or not Sol knew at this point if this was Mae or he thought he was talking to Osha, because if he knew, this was just a "Let's give a vague but somewhat fitting answer even though I know this is not true" kinda thing and my time thinking about this whole exchange is being wasted ig.

[cookiekitkat8484]

Do you have a top 5 Barbara Gordon comics you’ve read? Apologies for any inconvenience.

no inconvenience at all !! I will take any excuse to talk about her lol. 

I'll put the list here and my full thoughts bellow because some of them are long (cough cough birds of prey)

1 oracle: year one 

2 birds of prey (1999)

3 suicide squad (1987)

4 no man's land/batgirl (2000) (I can group them I do what I want)

5 hacker files

if anyone reading is new to the character I highly highly recommend the collection linked in this post that gives a full introduction of her character and includes oracle year one + the suicide squad issues I've mentioned (and took an ungodly amount of time to edit)(not by me for copyright reasons)(if you're at all interested please read it)

1. first has to be oracle year one hands down. it sums up the things I love about truly early oracle and I cry reading it. kim yale and john ostrander are incredible writers and the heart and soul yale put in with the context of her own health struggles is incredibly moving, rest in peace. 

2. birds of prey (1999) was my first comic series ever and to this day is my favourite by dc (tied 1st overall). I KNOW we hate dixon I KNOW but the fact that he is so bad at writing women it wrapped back around to lesbianism is beautiful and should be studied. NO ONE is doing it like babs and dinah. it is important to me that everyone knows dinah had no idea who oracle was and still decided 'yep, I'm gonna trust this rando who flies me to nice hotels wholeheartedly and do everything she wants forever' to the point everyone around her is like girl wtf. 

the best arc is definitely the hunt for oracle crossover with nightwing, (#21?? bop/late #46?? nw, I'll double check exacts) which includes dinah finding out who oracle is and is just so so lesbian. #8 should be mandatory reading to all dickbabs shippers and my guilty pleasure is the arc where dinah almost marrys rahs al gul. it's art. (I cant remember the issues off the top of my head, I'll add it when I find it). there are multiple one shots/minis that feature them before the serial in 99 but they're ultimately unnecessary (and predominantly jerk off bait)

I adore the espionage angle early bop has and how global it felt, having such high stakes forced babs to make hard choices which showcased her strong though sometimes questionable moral code seen in her work with the suicide squad. 

I will mention you can feel it was written in a different political climate and in some ways has aged poorly, but I think often that's an inevitability when writers try to stay current with these topics and with most older media in general you gotta enjoy it for what it is. 

3. after that essay suicide squad (1987) is next ! written by ostrander and yale, this series created the character oracle after she  was fridged in killing joke. she's technically first introduced in #23 (I think) and revealed as babs in #38, but her full intro and the part I recommend reading the most is #48-49. the arc explores babs struggle with identity and the inner conflict she faces trying to cope with the complete upheaval of her life. she continues to appear in the comics working with the squad anonymously on and off, but it ultimately isn't needed to understand her character. that being said the writing is phenomenal so I recommend reading it anyway. she's a great mission control and a respected figure who in that role frequently made life or death decisions for the people she comanded. there's currently a fan omnibus on the way that collects her appearances that will hopefully be complete soon :)

4. no man's land/batgirl (2000) are being grouped together because this is my list and I can, they feel like parts of a whole to me. babs having the accessibility nightmare and second big upheaval from the earthquake gives an interesting perspective on how she's grown since she first became oracle and the ways she learns to adapt again in this new new world. I think at her best barbara is a person who takes charge (as you've probably gathered) and she really shines in this comic. I will not lie to you I read this on multiple long midnight horror flights so it's a bit hazy, if I've forgotten anything big feel free to add it !

her relationship with cassandra cain is messy in the best way, with the complexity that comes with two people who are so different and love eachother but don't know how. they make me absolutely feral. read it. 

5. my underrated fav is her appearance in hacker files #5-6. a really overlooked part of her character is her personal life and what it means to be someone who spends so much time online (often illegally) the way she does. one of the big things that turns her life around in oracle year one is the community and voice she finds on the web and I think this arc is a good demonstration of that. the only other major time I can think of this aspect of her being utilised is her relationship with ted kord at the beginning of bop but since then it's hard to find. I've decided to blame this on dixon because I can. 

anyway I might have forgotten something so if I think of more later I'll reblog with it but yeah here is my overly in depth response :)

[coldbrewghoul]

The Price of Playing God - P.RichtofenxReader

Chapter 1: Introduction: Luminiferous Aether

After an experiment gone awry you've shifted realities, lost in a place where even the fundamental rules of physics you've devoted your entire life to may no longer apply. Four men find you injured when you arrive in this new plane of existence and you tag along with them in the hopes you can survive for long enough to search for a way home. However, as they fight to save the multiverse you become increasingly invested in their success -- and enamored with a certain morally grey Doctor. On top of it all you can't shake the feeling that you've seen some of this before. The more you experience with them the more the events start to become familiar... As Richtofen and you fight to change the course of time, will you learn that there's a price to playing God?

Map: Origins

Notes: Isekai and Transmigration, Slow Burn, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Eventual Alternate Timelines/Universe - Canon Divergence

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel through time? To see the fabric of the universe laid out before you and pick up the scissors of fate. To slip in between the quantum folds of reality, becoming nothing and something repeatedly. To contract and expand, connected to everything, vibrating and being vibrated by every action in every universe in a constant ebb and flow of beginnings and endings.

You wondered about what it would be like your whole life, to not just study and attempt to record the quantum realm, but to experience it as it experiences itself. As you hit enter on the last line of code and instantly saw the explosion of blue light, you knew you’d flown too close to the sun. What is the price of a man playing God?

~

You were dying. It was kind of funny, when you thought about it, that today was supposed to be the highlight of your life – your biggest scientific adventure – and instead you were going to experience the wild ride of feeling your brain synapses misfiring as you died. Truly, the universe had a sense of humor.

You were fading fast , probably at some rate that correlated to your blood loss, but medicine had never been your strong suit. It was excruciating, but somehow distant, like you were watching this happen to you in a little control center inside your brain. There were so many things you wished you could process - or better yet record to add to the paper you would never get to write - about what had happened to you, but instead you watched your blood drain into the mud. The mud in the historical war trenches you lay in. You wished how you got here, where you were, mattered, but it didn’t. There was no one to help you and you wouldn’t be here for much longer anyway. Not in any sense that you would get to experience, at least. Dead bodies don’t get to experience things.

But… were those footsteps? Voices? Gosh they sounded angry. If this was some war, what side did you come from and what side were they on? If you called out to them for help, would they? Mathematically, your odds were better if you tried, even if those odds were so very small. “Help…” Oof, that was your voice? It was so quiet despite the effort it took. “Please… help…”

“Wait, there’s someone alive who has not turned!” Mmm, German, yummy accent , you thought weakly, the lack of blood heightening your propensity for silly thoughts.

“We don’t have time for this, doc!” Stupid No Accent Man , you decided to call him, stupid because he was convincing the…did he say doctor? ...to not help you. Come on, I’m a fellow American here!

“We can spare a moment.”

There was blood in your eyes, stinging, making it even harder to see than the tunnel vision already did, but you made out four male figures. One bent down next to you and with all your remaining strength you grabbed onto him. “Please… I don’t want… to die…”

“Hold on, fräulein. I’ve got you.”

~

“How much longer are we going to try to hold them off before you get it in your thick skull that saving this chick ain’t worth our time? She was more dead than alive.”

“Don’t be so callous, Dempsey. I, too, am eager to continue our quest, to save Maxis, but she can be saved. Her wounds are not that bad. Give her a moment for the cola to work und we can start moving.”

Not that bad? I was dying! Wasn’t I….?

“I know your heart is in the right place, but the American speaks the truth. We will die if we stay here.” A heavy Asian accent. Japanese?

Wow, some real hero types we got here…

“Takeo, my interest in saving her goes beyond empathy. She is here, wearing a lab coat yet… I do not recognize her as one of Group 935 und she may know something about what is happening.”

Gosh, they really knew how to make a girl feel special. You opened your eyes and surprised yourself by sitting up. Had it really not been that bad after all? You felt weird: cold and fuzzy. “Where am I?”

You watched the men narrow their eyes at you and then look at each other, a not so hidden conversation happening between them. We don’t trust her. Finally, the one wearing a white button up and tan vest spoke to you. “We found you injured.” Ah, the yummy German voice. (You'd always had a thing for accents.)

But he did not give you an answer to your question, you noted. One of the men moved his finger to the trigger of his weapon and you swallowed. They wouldn’t save you just to kill you, would they? They probably had questions you didn’t have answers to, but maybe telling them what you knew would keep them from deciding you were more worth a bullet than their time. “I don’t know how I got here. I think the shrapnel was from the explosion of the particle accelerator? I didn’t get a good look at it, but it was in me when I woke up in the mud.”

It was just… impossible… that you were standing right now. Truly, there was no way with that bad a stomach injury that you should be up and about. They were exchanging more looks. Finally, the German – he must be the leader or something – spoke:

“You are at a dig site, in northern France. I am Doctor Edward Richtofen.” Like… the pilot? The Red Baron? Interesting.

“(y/n). So you are who I owe my thanks.” You examined the room around you. It was half destroyed and filled with rubble, but there were old radios and equipment on the tables. “Would it be strange if I asked what year it is?”

The doctor narrowed his eyes, his jaw working as he mulled something over. “It is 1918. From what year did you arrive?”

You couldn’t answer him because everything was suddenly reeling. You reached out to grab the table you’d been lying on for support, but your hand missed, and the ground was coming up fast. Strong hands grabbed you, helping you lower to the ground safely. You were going to vomit. Was there even anything in your stomach to vomit? Apparently, the answer to that was yes as you leaned over the arm holding you and spewed bile on the dirt. “This feels so real…”

“I’m afraid it is very real. It appears you may have crossed here by one of the localized energy fields.”

“We got incoming, Richtofen!” No Accent yelled.

“Help me with windows!” That fourth man you hadn’t heard speak yet yelled. Russian? The Japanese man came to help him with some boards.

“I don’t want to be here,” you moaned, looking up at the doctor through watery eyes.

“I do not blame you for that, but you are here and that cannot be changed now. If you wish to see any type of tomorrow, even if it is not the one you would have had, you need to find in you the will to persevere. It is dangerous here, und while we will try to get you to somewhere safer, I cannot jeopardize my mission for you. We need to move so you need to decide now whether you will stay here und pray you survive or come with us und fight.” He pulled a pistol from his holster and held the handle to you. “I hope you are a fast learner.”

Shaking, you took the pistol from his hand and got your feet under you to stand, nodding that you understood. He nodded back at you before searching a body you now saw resting against the nearby wall. Something terrible must have happened to it. It looked burnt, decayed, and you now noticed how horrible everything smelled. Richtofen stood up with a new pistol, checked the bullet count, and then moved to help the others at the windows.

There was a horrible sound, a cacophony of pained grunting, moaning and screaming. You looked out the window to see the source and… “Are those… zombies?” You asked incredulously. Out of all the impossible things that had happened to you, this was the most ridiculous.

“Yep,” No Accent said, shooting through the window with a shotgun as one lunged to get through. “Welcome to the shitshow, sweetheart!”

[wolfgiselle]

Character Reaction Fanfictions (watching the show/movie or reading the books) -Recs -

One of my favorite tropes in fanfiction is characters being forced to watch/read/react to their own stories. Unfortunately, a good majority of these are crap. Readers looking for these stories often have to dig through a lot of coal to find just one diamond in the rough. Here's a list of the ones I’ve managed to find. Ones that aren’t just a written recreation of their source material.

Is This The Way It Ends Now? by Seastar98 (Death Note) (Finished) This is one of my favorite Death Note fanfictions for a reason. It doesn’t make us watch or read the dialogue or action of the show along with the characters; It assumes we’ve already seen it and focuses on the character’s reactions (what we’re actually here for) and gives more character development to some of its minor characters (Mello, Near, and Matt being clear examples. I was happy about this in particular since my favorite characters in Death Note are Matt and Matsuda). L and Light end up together, but romance is not the focus.

Hunter x Hunter / Assassination Classroom by EternalQuestForGoodFics (Finished) Basically, Killua ends up in the Assassination Classroom world. To go home, he must eventually allow his classmates to watch the HunterxHunter series to learn more about him and where he came from. These two fandoms are a great matchup, and Killua is one of the best characters to end up in the AssClass world. Seeing Killua bond and make a new friend out of Nagisa made it worth reading alone. Their reactions are part 2 of the series. 

MHA X Hunter by makifinity (My Hero Academia / Hunter x Hunter) (In progress) This is a good fanfiction where the My Hero Academia characters watch the HunterXHunter anime together instead of their own show. What makes ‘this’ great is how different the two worlds are and the morals that hold them together. I love that the villains are also involved in this viewing room since, in most My Hero reaction fics, the villains are left out of the experience and don’t get to have their own voices and opinions about what is happening on screen.

The Journey of the Unholy Trinity by Arremi (Code Geass) (In progress) If you’ve been in the Code Geass fandom long enough, you’ve probably seen a few of these stories. This one is the longest, most well-written, and most complete I’ve found.

Code Geass: The Blame Game: by AllHailThe99th (Code Geass) (In progress) One thing I like about this Code Geass reaction fic is the author’s obvious and stated hate of the character Suzaku. Suzaku is on my list of most hated characters; I like reading people judging and calling him out constantly on his shit. It’s a very therapeutic read. I recommend it to anyone who felt a similar rage when watching the show.

Appearances by McKinney_Wylis (Marvel / Avengers) (Finished) This story has the Avengers going to Asgard to check on Loki when they find a weird video clip online that scares them into believing Loki may have broken free. It turns out the video clip was from a different universe (our universe), and they suddenly had access to the Marvel movies that were available at that time. They watch the Thor movie and learn things about Loki, unknown before. The watching of Thor actually doesn’t take up the whole fic, but this story still counts. It takes place during the Thor: The Dark World storyline.

In terms of pairings…well, I’ll read any pairing if it’s written well enough. Even a story with Loki and Steve shacking up. I don’t like Steve, but I like how he was written in this fic. The way he and Loki interact is cute enough that I can look past it.

Part of the Journey is the end by hunkahulkaaburningfudge (Marvel / Avengers) This series starts with the characters watching Infinity War and has been going through the continuing movies and TV shows; with great writing and lots of material, this is definitely one of the best. I loved the Wanda and Loki reactions. And the ‘What if?” storylines were hilarious.

Avengers Watch Snippets by Ifihadatardis (Marvel / Avengers) As advertised, the characters watch little snippets of scenes of each other’s lives. Sometimes, these fics are preferable because the characters can learn about each other without going through their entire movies.

All the Days of Our Lives Series by ElrondScribe (Marvel / Avengers) This series has the characters react to Captain America, Iron Man 1, and Iron Man 2. It takes place after Civil War and has them watching the movies in Wakanda. I like the Tony Stark and Pepper focus in these fics, and I thought the writer did well with the other character voices, even for the ones I didn’t like.

School Watches Assassination Classroom by TheSteinsGateFormula (Assassination Classroom) (Finished) This is not just one of the best reaction fanfictions of all time but one of the best, period. The author not only had the original class and teachers watching the show but the entire school (baring the Principal, thank god) yet still managed to keep everyone in character and give everyone a distinctive voice when trying to keep up with so many people.

Attention is given to situations that were mostly glossed over without consequence in the actual show, like the students who came from abusive households. My favorite characters, Nagisa and the younger Asano, get a good amount of attention.

The only negative of this fic is how long it is. Over 700,000 words. It takes some serious reading time, but it’s worth it. Trust me. But once you start, you might not want to stop. Make sure you have the time to dedicate to it.

Lucifer Reacts to Supernatural by SilverWolf7 (Lucifer/Supernatural) As much as I love Supernatural and wish I had more good recs for it, this is one of the best options I can offer in this category. I haven’t seen the show Lucifer yet (I’ve been meaning to), but it didn’t take away from my enjoyment of this fic. Seeing Lucifer’s love of Sam’s character and hearing him rage about many of the things in the show that frustrated me or he thought were inaccurate were giant highlights of this story. Warning: If you’re a Dean fan, you might get defensive about how much Lucifer bashes him (I live for it, but that’s me). One of the other characters that he’s watching it with even rage-quits on him for how much he was dissing her favorite character. If that doesn’t bother you, this might be the fic for you.

Watching You, Watching Me, Watching You by trippedandfellintopurgatory (Supernatural) This is one of the only good Supernatural watching-the-show fics I’ve found. So, of course, it only has 19 chapters, sits at 30,000 words, and has a slow updating schedule.

Blank Disc by TheFallenArchangel (Supernatural) Another of the few good Supernatural watch-the-show fics. This one hasn’t been updated since 2014 and has only seven chapters. Dean and Sam are teenagers, and their father and Bobby watch with them.

The Void by iAnneart (Yugioh: Duel Monster/ Yugioh Abridged) This fanfiction was one that I used to love, and I hate that it still hasn’t been updated and doesn’t look like it ever will be. The characters of Yugioh react to their own abridged series to hilarious effect. This fic was the entire reason I watched the Abridged Series by LittleKuribo - still one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, and admittedly much better than the actual show. Another fanfiction is more popular and has them watch more episodes. But this fic was much better written with only ten chapters.

Under a Watchful Eye by my secret thoughts (Harry Potter) A story where the Harry Potter characters read the books. It focuses on Harry and Sirius. There is no actual recitation of the books (thank god), but it’s written well enough to tell what they’re reacting to. So far, this is the only reaction fic like this in the Harry Potter fandom I’ve liked. It takes place during their 5th-year, and the other characters are mostly Order of the Phoenix members.

Truth Revealed by Lucifer swift (Full Metal Alchemist) One of the first reaction fanfictions I ever read. It's been reuploaded on fanfiction.net. In this reaction series, the characters are forced to relive the pain they witness themselves having on screen. Any of you who have seen Full Metal Alchemist know that is leading to an agonizing time.

No such thing as a painless lesson by RoseJennison (My Hero Academia) The best My Hero Academia fanfiction that’s actually still going and might eventually catch up with the episodes…maybe. The characters in this are also forced to suffer the pain they see themselves experiencing onscreen. Think about all the times Midoriya breaks himself and imagine him having to feel all that again continuously.

In the Grasp of Schadenfreude by ThoughtSpinner (My Hero Academia) The parents and teachers/heroes watch the show and find out what's been going on with their children and at school. Needless to say, these parents have a lot of thoughts. 

Reaction Ritual by PreshByPyre (Naruto) This is only six chapters, but I hope the author returns to it. It’s a good idea, and well-written Naruto reaction fics are rare.

A number of fragments by eliscool (Naruto) Exactly what the title suggests. Instead of watching Naruto episode by episode, the characters are watching random fragments of the show and have to try and put together what’s happening. This occurs when Naruto and the kids are still in the Academy - but before Itachi commits the massacre.

Old stories, new discoveries by Daniablazin (Discontinued) (Miraculous Ladybug) This is my favorite Miraculous Ladybug reaction fiction. Unfortunately, it doesn’t go past the first season. It’s been discontinued because the author said they didn’t like where the show was going. A real shame. The writing on this was amazing, and it had serious potential.

What are our children up to? by o0Lithium0o (Teen Wolf) The parents of Teen Wolf from earlier in the timeline get to see what their children are up to and their future. The kids aren't actually in the room with them. Probably for the best. They are so grounded for the foreseeable future once they all get back.

As Above is Below by kswriter (Shadowhunter Series)The characters of the Shadowhunter series (pretty much all of them) sit down to read the books. This goes by the book canon, not the show canon. I mainly love this series for the Mangus and Alec content. This is the only reaction fic I've seen with these characters. 

Reaction: Six of Crows by error_404_gender_not_found (Six of Crows) Characters from Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone reading the Six of Crows books. This ignores the TV show canon.

Honorable Mentions: 1.Watching Hunter x Hunter by catnip_riceball 2.HxH watches Hunter x Hunter by bb_bubblepopb33 3.I Have Regrets, but this Just Might be the Worst of Them Series by by IzuochaRay (My Hero Academia) 4.Cheat code central by orphan_account (My Hero Academia)(Villains react to the show) 5. Mansion Of Time: Watching Season 1 by Perez_K (My Hero Academia) 6. Watching as Hope is Lost by GeorgeFredSlytherin (Code Geass) 7. The Trials and Tribulations of Spider-Man, the People's Hero by ironfidus (Marvel/Spiderman) 8. Glee meets Glee By: babeitscoldoutside (Glee) 9. when the teacup shatters by SolusMormont (Hannibal)

[fear-of-mirr0rs-and-reflections]

y'know what?

before i continue drawing my refs for what Dolly looks like, some fun facts about The Guy:

full name is Cecil Peters Asterwood. Dolly is a nickname that. Technically comes from their deadname, but it's what he's been called his whole life, so he doesn't mind (honestly likes the nickname).

i've said it before, but: he/they/it for this guy <3

they're transmasc nonbinary. not that he necessarily would describe himself using those words. all they know is that they're "vaguely a guy."

it started using it/its after escaping the mirror.

very incredibly aromantic. i'd say probably romance indifferent leaning towards romance repulsed. they probably wouldn't use microlabels, but. i'd say if you wanted to get Really Specific, bellusromantic would probably be the closest to what's going on with them.

personality wise? very stubborn and hard-headed. blunt. has a good heart, but just. not great with emotions. they stick to their morals rather strongly, and if they must deviate from those morals, they do so begrudgingly. he's only kind to those that 1) he is close to (see: Damien) and/or 2) that are kind to him back. overall, he has a very Tough Love/"Suck it up and deal with it" approach to most people's personal problems (which is. Gonna Come Back To Bite It In The Ass When It Comes To Actor, I'll Say That). also pretty snarky and sarcastic. it's kind of a dick, tbh, but not a horrible person, either.

they have their own quote about life: "Life ain't always fair, but that's a gamble you've just gotta take."

very dog-coded. i'm not gonna elaborate.

have balance issues (as well as an unknown knee problem), and used to use a cane to get around (they didn't bring their cane with them to the Poker Night, though; thought they wouldn't need it). they get a new one post-ADWM, though.

got out of the mirror and gained Amnesia. Basically No One Was Helping. Actor Was Doing The Exact Opposite Of Helping, In Fact.

they grew up in a rather rural, mountainous area in NC, and left for California after they figured out they were...Not Cis, Let's Put It That Way. the only members of his family he keeps in touch with are his older sister and his aunt. both of whom moved to California after Dolly was declared missing.

kinda has a Ghost Sense, but i'm sure That's unimportant.

due to growing up in a lower class family, they don't. Understand a lot of stuff with the upper class...which is an issue, since 1) now he's a Part of that upper class, and 2) has to Deal With Them More Often, Too. they mostly look to Damien for help on that.

autistic (listen, it's My character, and I get to decide how much to project onto them).

it is, Unfortunately, the person that the House Entity (i call it "Reflection") decided to torment for fun. Those 90 Years In The Mirror Were Rough. and that shit didn't stop after they got out of the Mirror. they do Not get good sleep often.

has pretty severe nyctophobia and spectrophobia. absolutely hates anything to do with guns. also has World's Worst Abandonment Issues. and they didn't figure out why for like. Years. (yeah it. Took Them A Bit to get their memories back)

they still have a ring Damien got them.

he and Damien used to live together, up until Damien got more into politics and, similarly, Dolly got elected as District Attorney, which is when it decided to move into an apartment more permanently until they weren't...as big public figures, and their reputations weren't at risk. Dolly had already rented an apartment to use as extra office space, so they moved in there.

such a shame they didn't get to live together again...

there's like. A LOT more i could mention. but Those require a Fuck Ton of context for General Mark Ego Headcanons. which would take a while.

anyway. My Guy <3 they're a bit of an asshole (and not. the Greatest person), but he honestly didn't deserve to get roped into this bullshit. (or lose his queerplatonic partner, either)

@that-darn-clown if you wanna learn a bit about the guy :D

[macchiatosdumptruck]

As horny as I am for silver and larusso (and them together obvs.), I just want to state for the record that if ck still had S1 quality (which still had real characters), the show would be building up to Daniel forgiving Silver, (and for Johnny to ask Robbie for forgiveness, etc, though ofc Johnny never did anything wrong ever), because the only way to defeat him for real and to truly honor Miyagi's legacy would be actually to choose the path of forgiveness. Because while the movies have nonsensical karate tournaments, it took the characters seriously. Johnny told Daniel "you're alright", Sato repented and realized he was wrong when Chozen challanged Daniel to death, and Daniel turned away from Silver and Miyagi took him back without hesitation--and Miyagi and Daniel won every time. Idk if I'm making any sense and I'm sorry for ranting, but I guess the summary of this is: Cobra Kai has become a caricature of itself, and it sucks, because there are things still to be resolved and they won't be. Not on the same level as S1.

No, I think I get what you're saying. The movies for sure had a sort of formula that they went by. And that's not a bad thing. The very basic concept of the movies is pacifism, reaching out to people, trying to find common ground. That toxic masculinity is dangerous, and that force should be a last resort. That fighting was for honor, to protect themselves or others, when they were given no other choice.

The fight scenes in s1 and s2 seem more plausible. (School wide smack down excludes) They make more sense in the story.

But I think what happened was that when the show got bigger, and the budget got bigger, and the scope got bigger, and the new fans were wanting something exciting, and johnjoshhayden wanted to revel in badassery.

But amongst the spectacle and the Netflix money they lost the point of the story they were trying to tell, which was about the personal relationships affected by CK. It was a very small, private story.

It was Daniel and Johnny. Dealing with the legacies of their mentors. How their teaching shaped them in various ways.

And with the shift in s3 things became more about this sort of theoretical war between good and bad. And it seems obvious given the original media who the "bad" would be. And they started with that, and then dropped it. They never actually say who is good or bad. And moral ambiguity is not a bad thing for the story, and could have been done in a smart, empathetic way.

But johnjoshhayden have always related to Johnny and thought he was badass. And Johnny was CK. Which meant that CK was bad ass. And so they didn't want to commit to the whole "good/bad" dichotomy.

And so the show went from a character study to an action/comedy show. But also it started getting progressively more mean spirited towards Daniel and miyagi-do, for the sake of "shades of grey."

The problem is that's not the story of the TKK movies. That's not their message.

Like, johnjoshhayden can make whatever show they want to, but that's not just their show. it's connected to a franchise that already has a set universe, a set ethical code.

They already answered the question "is CK bad?" And the answer was yes.

And so, in a way it's sort of revisionism. Like. That feels like a big word for a silly karate show but that's the best I can think of.

Specifically I am thinking of how they brought Ali back in s3 and had her very vocally say "you were both equally bad. And also some of it was my fault."

When in the movie it could not be more clear that it was unprompted aggression.

They don't seem to be interested in redemption anymore because they think he did nothing wrong in the first place.

They have created a world where violence is in fact the answer, and they're writing around it to try to make it work within the logic of a famously pacifistic franchise.

I'm not sure about what alternate universe Daniel and Terry would do. If Daniel would work to forgive him if Terry learned from his wrong doings and repented. But I doubt it would involve dog cages. (I actually like that part because I'm a twisted fucking cycle path babey)

[sepublic]

In response to some claims that Noxus is the true hero of Prime Hunters -and indeed, I did play with this belief a couple times in the past- I have to reconsider his character and how the writers actually intended for him to come across. Between being called a zealot, the Vhozon being described as a monastic race with a fanatical view of morality, and a 'Vhozon codex'. And I feel like this dude is meant to be more of a Holy Crusader, Knight Templar type character.

In other words, he's bad news; He seems more noble at a glance, but it becomes apparent from extended interaction that Noxus holds very dangerous views. It's worth noting that the specific sources describing his motives to seize the Ultimate Power, whilst not working with Samus, are "to prevent it from falling into the hands of lawbreakers or the unworthy."

Nothing is said about not using the Ultimate Power; They do have a criteria for those who can have it, and apparently the Federation isn't one of them. Another source also says, more condemningly:

"The Vhozon race makes its home in the icy outer rim of the galaxy, where it wages constant war on the forces of chaos and evil. Noxus follows his race's strict moral and spiritual code, and has become a bounty hunter to administer justice to felons and sinners throughout the galaxy. Though the Vhozon and the Galactic Federation share a strong belief in justice, they define the word very differently. The Vhozon are absolutely merciless to those who violate their strict rules of morality, and their methods have left them at odds with the galaxy's other civilized societies. When Noxus heard the telepathic communiqué, he did not hesitate to set a course for the Alimbic Cluster. He is determined not to allow the ultimate power to fall into the hands of a heretic."

So yeah, these guys actually sound like assholes. The "Tough on crime" sort, not much different than Evangelicals who like to push their beliefs on morality onto others and insist on making them law. I bet Noxus is a loser who hates pre-marital sex.

This reminds me of how in the Zero Mission manga, we actually had a brief sub-plot of the Federation being comprised of more reasonable politicians and views (represented by Keaton's tenure as Chairman), while others were much more fanatical and fascist about things (hence Vogl's term). Given Sakamoto's insistence on attributing the corruption in Other M and Fusion to a rogue faction of the Federation, and not the Feds as a whole, I think this makes sense; Plenty of governments aren't monoliths who all agree on the same thing.

My point being, I wonder if the Vhozon would've supported Vogl, if they share similar views. Or if they're too extremist for even that side of the Federation, which is representative of how a lot of right-wing groups can disagree with one another, and even accuse of others of not going far enough.

I bet the Vhozon believe suffering is purifying because they evolved on a freezing planet they had to fight to survive on; They kept warm by generating friction from spinning, hence their gyroscopic abilities. They had to fight to keep themselves alive, and this translates to a disciplined lifestyle due to resources being scarce.

The Judicator carries ice from Vho, a bit of home on its wielder at all times, that unleashes Vho onto the immoral galaxy; They believe Vho’s frozen crucible forged a just society out of the Vhozon, and spiritually believe the Judicator as a vessel to bring this deliverance off-world. The Judicator can apprehend and lead to a sentence to learn from; Or it can destroy. It is the wrath of Vho, which the Vhozon worship almost like a god in and of itself. You either adapt and survive, or be wiped out.

This leads to an idea I had for a story where Samus meets Noxus, on his own, for the first time prior to Hunters; Like in a Metroid TV series that adapts all of the major arcs, while having plenty of episodic adventures between and even during said arcs.

Based on what we know of the Vhozon, I can absolutely see them participating in the war against the Space Pirates (since Weavel is also a rival to Noxus) when they first used Metroids against the galaxy. Following Mother Brain's defeat, the Metroids could no longer be controlled and turned against their Space Pirate commanders; With no choice, many Space Pirates destroyed and/or abandoned the Metroids on the planets they occupied, knowing the Federation would be obligated to perform clean-up for them; It was a way to save their own skin and also take some Feds down in the process of aborting their Metroid program.

The task of exterminating Metroids from former Space Pirate bases was often commissioned to bounty hunters like Samus, the greatest Metroid slayer in the galaxy, as well as other ice-wielding mercenaries like Rundas. Noxus wasn't hired by the Federation, but he chose to lead his own crusade against the Metroids regardless, because from a Doylist and Watsonian standpoint, his freezing Judicator is exactly the kind of specific weapon needed to kill the Ultimate Warriors.

Samus and Noxus encounter one another, team up; He seems like someone with the same ideas and views, the same goals, just like Rundas before. Noxus has some antiquated and eccentric beliefs, but whatever… But then they come across some stray Space Pirates. Noxus' Judicator can be used to encase victims in ice, not freezing them solid, but still leaving them confined for Federation police or anyone else to arrest them later.

But due to his ranking within the Vhozon codex, Noxus has the authority to take liberties as he deems fit, to judge on an individual basis (hence his crowning weapon’s name, the “Judicator” that places heretics at such deciding mercy to begin with). And even though the Space Pirates are neutralized as a threat and even pleading for mercy, Noxus decides to just execute them right here and there, instead of waiting for the Federation to arrest them.

Cue a moral dilemma for Samus, who objects to this, begrudgingly. Noxus asks what's the difference between this and her massacre of an entire base on Zebes; That's different, Samus insists, she was in their territory and had to fight to survive and succeed. They gave her no choice, they had no intention of backing down or surrendering. Maybe this could be a moment of growth and reflection for Samus; Remember how you can find a Space Pirate hiding from you in Zero Mission, and kill them anyway? Yeah. It seems Samus has a tendency in canon to reconsider her actions, such as the Metroid genocide of SR388 later on…

Coldly, Noxus brings up rumors that Space Pirates murdered Samus' family on K-2L. Samus retorts that she decides how she feels about that incident, and especially how she chooses to live afterwards. And last she checked, all pirates involved in that massacre are dead, except one, but he's not here.

Yet as far as Noxus is concerned, it's proof of Space Pirate policy towards innocents; These pirates would do the same if given the same opportunity. Is that not proof of guilt, the dark intentions in their hearts?

But they haven't, we don't know that yet, Samus argues. There's a reason why the sentence is lesser for an attempted crime, VS one pulled off. Noxus scoffs and insists this is why the Federation is weak, and Keaton a disgrace for reversing Vogl's policies.

Noxus finally brings up this point; Even if she personally disagrees, he's not asking Samus to do it. She can still look the other way. At the very least, she's not going to fight Noxus for them, is she? He's an ally to her, she knows that; He just helped her exterminate all Metroids on this planet! Samus needs Noxus more than these Space Pirates, he is of more contribution to the galaxy than this scum; It's a simple choice, a calculus between a greater and lesser evil (not that Noxus considers himself evil, but this is Samus' semi-reasonable perspective).

Samus fights Noxus anyway, and beats him because it's Samus. She ends up freezing/trapping Noxus, in an ironic mimicry of how he apprehends 'sinners' with the Judicator, and lets the Federation arrive to arrest the Space Pirates, and deal with Noxus themselves. Noxus is left pissed off as hell when Samus leaves, hence their... disagreements over the Ultimate Power.

Makes it appropriate that Noxus is seen fighting Trace, who also hails from a fanatical race bent on imposing their will; Although the Kriken seem way less concerned about moral superiority, and much more upfront about wanting to rule through Might makes Right. Unlike the Vhozon, they just want to take over the galaxy, rather than "bringing about moral influence" which is just a roundabout means of conquest if you think about it.

Given Vho is on the outer rim, I wonder if that puts them close to Kriken territory; Given mentions of waging constant war, I bet the Vhozon have a tendency to agitate open conflict with the Kriken, unlike the Federation which prefers diplomacy and is desperately trying to keep it because you do not want a full-scale war against an empire that makes the Space Pirates look like chumps. So again, the Trace-Noxus rivalry is perfect.