#and so if she feels even a hint of someone attacking her individually or a group shes a part of

[kawaiianimeredhead]

On the one hand I really enjoy having someone like my coworker Miranda in my life right now because she is very different from others in my life currently and before and I think it's great

On the other hand I am so glad I did not meet her sooner because she can be exhausting 5o be around sometimes

[starriri]

Danganronpa Despair Time is a artistic masterpiece.

When I first stumbled upon DRDT, I didn’t see it as anything else but another danganronpa fangame, a simple derivative of the mainline series created by a admiring fan like all the other Fanganronpas invented (not to put shadow on other fangans, as they are all unique and also level to despair time. the skill and work put into them can’t be overlooked. take a look at Heartless Deceit and Brave Danganronpa for example!!! holy fuck!!!!!!!!!!!!). However, it did not take me long to realise that, in fact, Despair Time, is much more than that.

Danganronpa Despair Time is an amazing creation, a hidden gem with quite an alluring charm to it. What else is there to say? (there is a lot more to say.)

Ever since the prologue, the prelude, the start, the calm before the storm, released, Danganronpa Despair Time has never failed to deliver a beautiful and extremely compelling narrative. It doesn’t take a genius to tell that there has been an enormous amount of effort put into it.

The art, for one, is absolutely stunning. It’s level to the likes of famous games like, for example, Fortnite Battle Royale and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare IV. Both games have multiple artists, unlike Danganronpa Despair Time. The fact that it’s just one singular individual working on such is almost unbelievable.

The sprites mimic the Danganronpa style to a verisimilitude, looking extremely realistic. The cutscenes seem to also be similar, yet subtle hints of DTDev’s personal style are shown (eg. The lineweight), creating something that cannot be described as anything but perfection. It’s amazing how it works so nicely.

Let’s not forget the scriptwriting. The characters are extremely realistic, their struggles, goals and motivations hitting quite close to home for many individuals, including me.

For example, let’s take our protagonist, Teruko Tawaki. She is first introduced as someone who has no sense of belonging, not knowing who her parents are and being separated from her only (known) sibling at a young age. This, coupled with her amazing design, displays how Teruko is much more than the Ultimate Lucky Student, much more than simply the main character of Despair Time.

During chapter one, Teruko begins to feel more comfortable around the people around her, enjoying more of her time and even making friends. She builds trust with them, and forges bonds, just like we do.

However, when she meets up with Xander, things start going immediately downhill when he stabs Teruko, causing her to become unconscious and indirectly causing his own death in the process.

Once Teruko wakes up, she’s in the middle of a crime scene: Xander’s now a bloodied corpse, and she’s the main suspect for his murder. Because of this, everyone around her (who, mind you, got along with her extremely well before) began to move away from her.

This is exemplified even more during the first trial, where the spotlight ends up on Teruko, everyone seeming to believe that she was the one that killed Xander even though *he* was the one that attacked her first. Because of this, Teruko ends up flipping out in the middle of the trial, daring the others to vote for her, breaking down in anger and frustration for being betrayed by everyone in such a manner.

In the end, when Min is revealed to be the culprit and promptly executed, Teruko states that she hates everyone and says that she’s never going to trust anyone ever again, moving away.

A lot of people have said that they dislike Teruko for this, but I don’t share the same sentiment. In fact, I think it’s extremely realistic for her to have such a change in nature and breakdown. After all, consider:

- Someone she trusted immensely (Xander) tried to murder her and broke her trust through doing so. Infact, Xander was the first person Teruko met, so his bond with Teruko may have been stronger than the others.

- Min may have technically prevented Teruko’s death, but she also caused Xander’s and framed Teruko for it, making everyone think that Teruko was the one that killed him.

- Even though Teruko was clearly injured and frightened after being stabbed, the others kept seeing her as nothing but a potential murderer who’s proof of guilt would save their own lives, throwing heartless accusations at her without even letting her defend herself. Teruko had grown to like and trust most of them, so what do you think she’d feel if those people began to avoid her and think of her as a bad person who’d murdered someone out of cold blood?

How would *you* react if this happened to you?

Personally, I’d also react the same way as Teruko, throwing a fit and breaking down, perhaps even in tears. I don’t quite see why there’s any reason to hate her for such if you’re going to do the same thing in her position.

Then again, I’m not implying that Teruko is in the right, either. Especially since what she does in the Daily Life segment of Chapter 2, forcing Charles to take his clothes off and holding J at knifepoint among other things. However, there was a reason these occurred, that being the others’ betrayal of trust. Everyone’s technically in the wrong, and that’s the best part.

To elaborate on my last point in the previous paragraph- humans are not perfect. Pardon me for getting into a bit of philosophy and ethics, but there can never be a truly ‘good’ person as there is no true definition of morality, either. For example, someone stealing your copy of Persona 5 Clash Royale Silver isn’t nice, but so is yourself getting angry at them and burying them seven feet underground. Let’s all be honest here: We’ve all done something morally questionable in life at least once.

It’s also the same for the opposite end of the spectrum. In evil, there is still a hint of good. Your teacher in middle school may have been painfully strict, but he still had a soft spot for kittens. Criminals of all sorts have harmless hobbies, like gardening or cooking michelin star meals, that do not harm any humans in the process.

Danganronpa Despair Time understands that concept and utilises it with all the characters, not just Teruko. For example, Arei may seem quite rude, but in chapter two, when Arturo threatens Eden, she immediately jumps in to brutally roast Arturo to make him leave, but offers Eden to become her friend. She, like Teruko, is a extremely well-written character with many dimensions.

However, I digress. The point I’m trying to justify is that all of the individuals that make up the cast of Danganronpa Despair Time are beautiful characters that have clearly been well thought out.

Additionally, the story of Danganronpa Despair Time manages to sprinkle in the perfect mix of humour, drama and realism in its plotline and characters. Even if only two chapters have been released, you can tell that the future chapters will also be beautiful works of art. It’s just that sophisticated and fantastic. I’m surprised that Spike Chunsoft hasn’t contacted DTDev to make DRDT a real installment to the canon Danganronpa series.

Ultimately, to summarise, I’d like to reinstate that Danganronpa Despair Time is a gracious, absolutely splendid work of art this clearly has a lot of thought put into it. It’s characters, plot, story- everything, works together piece-by-piece to form an exquisite piece of media.

I’d like to thank everyone that has worked on DRDT- DTDev, Gen, Hydrator, Haru-Suwan, the voice actors, and the translators- for working to create such a sophisticated and sensational video series.

If anyone that I’ve mentioned above is reading this, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for creating such a wonderful masterpiece. I cannot reiterate it enough. Thank you so much.

[garbagepile]

The depersonalisation/dehumanisation of mystreet Garroth. A character analysis.

I am not sure if that’s the right term, depersonalisation is about lack of own identity, dehumanisation is stripping someone away from their positive human traits. But I don’t mean either of that, I mean just treating someone as not human?  Garroth is often either extremely over idealised in pdh or seen as a moron in mystreet.

This is pretty long so I'm putting a read more here.

First off his father over glorified him, him being the golden child and all. Being the golden child actually sucks. You have all the pressures, and the feeling of being a fraud as he was praised for stuff he didn’t do. We see Garte canonically praising him for stuff he hasn’t done. And this causes feelings of being a fraud and a fear of being exposed.

Then we have all his fangirls in highschool, obsessing over him and over glorifying him yet again. He isn’t recognised for him as a whole with his flaws, he isn’t recognised as just a human.

I noticed a pattern; very often, it's as if the better people know Garroth, the less they like him. The more he is just an idiot. This probably increases the feelings of being a fraud. 

He is the comedic relief now, to the point some fans don’t recognise him of having any serious sad feelings at all because he is the comedic relief. Now everyone just sees Garroth as an idiot, too dumb to be seen as a person.

And you have the fact he was experimented on, a very dehumanising experience probably. They also refer to them in code names during it I think[A1, A3, A3, A4 and A5]  making it more dehumanising, in a scene in starlight you see a photo of Garroth as a toddler with A1 under it, katelyn being A2 and Travis A3. This hints he was the first to get a forever potion expiremented on him. This would also mirror season 4 and 6. As then the order would be Garroth, Katelyn, and Travis. Just how in season 4 the possession order is Zane, Lucinda, and Aphmau. Those people being the ones to set them free out of their possession in season 6 and that being the order in which they get depossessed in season 6. that's irrelevant really but I just wanted to mention it because it makes Garte look even worse.

Not to mention his possession being one of the most depersonalising and dehumanising ones of all. As unlike all the others, he doesn’t say anything except a few words during it and doesn’t show off much if any emotion at all. The screen also goes over to Garroth when Michael says “And your little toys are mine” basically referring to Garroth as a toy. Garroth during the possession is also almost like a robot, or a puppet, he attacks Nana being in the way but doesn’t continue because he directly switches targets when ordered to. Seeing yourself act like that and someone in your friend’s body boss you around like that is sure to mess you up you know. And then you have him becoming a werewolf, making him “less human” too.

Despite being basic he isn't really like his peers in a way. Oh also his basicness in itself is also kinda depersonalising, ‘Golden children’ often end up having to perform to please their parent. Due to this act to keep their status they often lack individuality and creativity. Perfectly in line with Garroth’s basicness and lack of an interesting taste and so forth. A lack of an personal identity. this is soo interesting with it being implied Elizabeth made the Ro'meave's forget about Garte in the mystreet season 6 finale. That's an identity crisis waiting to happened.

He also turns his own feelings into jokes in a way.

Like his fear of Ivy. She blackmails him to be with her in pdh season 2 aswell as constantly making him uncomfortable and just making it all about her getting his name wrong. As if he doesn't recognise his own feelings so he searches for a superficial reason to explain the feelings he is feeling. And how he after that he kinda forces himself to get over it without a real apology for it from Ivy. I only remember her apologising to Aphmau and explaining her lisp to Garroth. So since everyone is okay with Ivy and it's all about the lisp it's good now. But during their relationship Ivy consistently crossed boundaries and she blackmailed him. He was visually afraid of her in pdh for reasons outside of the lisp.

And we have in the good cop bad cop sidestory thing where in a conversation it was revealed his bad cop joke was actually backed up by him actually distrusting Gene. But after a conversation with Laurance he gets Gene a house a few episodes later.

He doesn't care about his own feelings,in a way. Like how Garte doesn’t care about Garroth's reluctance to inheret the company and still makes him do so.

[capricorn-the-goat]

Some more Wild angst (because this fan base loves it)

(Partially based on an idea I heard in @minty-mumbles story)

—————————————————————————

Wild grimaced as he stepped foot inside the shop with the rest of the chain. He always hated these scent shops. He enjoyed the individual smells, but when combined it was far less appealing. That and bad experiences deterred him from these places. He knew this one was from a different Hyrule, but it still reminded him of the one from his own.

Twilight seemed to notice the champion’s shifting and nervousness, and silently hinted at the rest of the group to get moving. Wild appreciated this; being in these types of environments were still painful for him.

Zelda had taken Wild to one of these shops that she had found a couple months after they defeated the calamity. It was an old shop in hateno, one from even before the calamity. They specialized in medicinal and recreational scents and candles. She had wanted Wild to try using a specific one, one that supposedly helped with memory loss. He didn’t expect it to work. He still wasn’t sure if he could say it worked, because while it did bring back memories, it didn’t have the desired outcome.

First, the shop worker placed Wild in a small pool of water a few inches high, enough to cover his ears but not his face. The shop owner then put a mask over Wild’s eyes so he couldn’t see, and they lit the candles. It took a second, but soon Wild fell asleep.

The thing about the shrine of resurrection is that it only repairs and replaces parts of your body that were damaged or destroyed. For someone who got an arrow or stab to the heart and was brought in quickly, they might lose their recent memory. For someone who had been dead for several hours, they might lose some memories but they would be fine overall. For someone like Wild, who apparently suffered severe brain damage and severe injuries during the calamity and had been on the verge of death for hours, his complete memory loss wasn’t unexpected. Most of his memories were gone; they could never be replaced or brought back like his body could. So the only memories to be resurfaced by these candles would be ones after he recovered from his injuries.

Wild had always wondered if he was conscious during his recovery, but now he knew. The memories that resurfaced were ones of him kicking and screaming, clawing and tearing at the walls of the shrine until his fingers bled. He wondered if that had prolonged his stay in the shrine. He remembered crying, screaming, literally going insane from the solitude. He could feel his memories of his loved ones being ripped away one by one- first his friends, then the champions, then his family, and then Zelda. He kicked and screamed and cried because he felt alone. Eventually he stopped feeling, his mind finally broken, but he still cried and sobbed. He was alone. And then his memories were buried, and he didn’t remember anything when he exited the machine. A trauma response or a gift from the shrine? He had no idea.

As soon as Wild woke up he was kicking and screaming, shrieking and panicking. He had ripped off the eye mask, torn away the locks and bolts that were supposed to hold him down with sheer force of panic. Zelda had run over to him. He had heard the running as she went to calm him down. It sounded so much like that of an enemy. So, instinctively, Wild reacted like she was. He threw her over his shoulder, sending her flying into the wall, which broke from the force. Wild had drawn a sword from its sheath and was holding it dangerously close to her throat when he regained his senses.

“Link?”

He suddenly saw it was Zelda, and stumbled back, falling and as uttering away as his breath was sharp. He was having a panic attack. He looked around, and saw the villagers staring at him in shock. Luckily, Wild had been wearing the sheikah mask to hide his own identity, which thankfully worked. Wild didn’t know what to do. He was frozen in time, and movement seemed impossible. He couldn’t explain nor argue or defend himself. He was a random person who had just thrown the Princess through a wall.

Wild could only run. He didn’t even think or feel or process, he could only panic. His breathing was panicked, erratic, but he was able to keep running. He kept running into the night, crossed hyrule field, climbed the walls of the great plateau in the moonlight, and ran to the shrine of resurrection, where he sat and cried.

It took Zelda a few hours to find him. He later learned that she had placed a tracker in his Slate, hoping it would come in handy. Carefully, she set him against some pillows and bedding, and simply sat with him, holding him and hugging him as he tried (and failed) to forget all of it all over again. He had tried to apologize, but couldn’t get the words out. Somehow he knew that Zelda didn’t care or understood or something that made her forgive him when he didn’t deserve it.

“I’m sorry” was the only thing Zelda would say. She sounded guilty. It wasn’t her fault.

yet Wild hadn’t had the energy to try.

Twilight (in his wolf form) had found them a few hours later. Even after his journey, the hero of Twilight still assisted him. And he simply sat guard and watched the door. That simple gesture, that simple understanding and protection awarded Twilight lifelong trust that wouldn’t go away even if twilight himself stabbed Wid. And when Wild woke up, he didn’t immediately remember his torture.

So, needless to say, Wild didn’t like the scent shops.

[garnettfox]

Miracubots: Miraculous Holders (Humans)

Since this has gotten a little attention and seems to have gotten people curious I'll continue inflicting this AU on you XD

For a while Beetletron and Felidae Fatale are the only heros running around Griffin Rock doing what they can to obfuscate their identities. It helps that due to Cody in his hero form looking like a miniature Rescuebot, has people believing he's a smaller more advanced model of bot with an AI controlling him and Felidae acting as his handler.

And has the Bot's thinking he's a Minicon running around with a human friend. Cody is absolutely having a blast dropping hints that he and the bots are related and Plagg is pouting that Tikki got the holder who's causing the most Chaos.

As the fights start escalating Master Fu starts trying to teach Cody about the Miraculous and being a guardian....Only for Cody to insist either Frankie be there in the lessons to, or he'd just teach her behind Fu's back. Yup, no one person being Guardian over the other, Cody and Frankie are equals.

As part of the training Fu allows them to take the Turtle Miraculous to find someone that would be a good temporary hero. Unfortunately, during an Akuma attack the Turtle ends up being lost...And Priscilla Pync is the one to find it.

Priscilla at first mostly uses the Turtle as somewhat an escape from her life under her mothers thumb and while Terraprincess isn't much of a fighter and rarely turns up for Akuma attacks, she's been finding her footing acting to evacuate people from fights and acting to help with the more natural disasters of the island.

(We very much want Priscilla to be somewhat of a fusion of Adrien with the villain as their parent, and the redemption Chole deserved learning how to be a hero through Wayzz)

Fu is not happy with the pair for losing one of the Miraculous, even if it found it's way to a heroic individual and intended on preventing them from using any of the others for a while to teach them a lesson.

This is till an Akuma fight where as Cody's rushing to the scene...He's stopped by Plagg holding the ring, explaining that...The Akuma's Frankie, and she ordered him to take the ring and run when she realized what was happening.

Ya, being a Miraculous holder isn't a get out of jail free card in regards to Akumas. Though we've gone with the interpretation that 'A Holder if they have the mental fortitude CAN keep secrets from Swallowtail' to explain why they get given their Miraculous again.

And Cody, finding out his best friend, his platonic other half and his partner in crime fighting is the one Akumatized...Has a bit of a panic attack, freaking out at the thought of not only fighting his best friend, but having to fight her alone. It's to the point, Plagg has to get him to transform back so Tikki can help calm him. And she has a plan.

Give someone else a Miraculous to help.

And she even knows the perfect person to give it to.

Thus Chief Charlie Burns, becomes the first offical Miraculous Hero after Beetletron and Felidae Fatale, using the Horse Miraculous to become the cowboy inspired hero Ranger. With Rangers Help their able to beat Haywire and Deakumatize her back into Frankie, she feels guilty about the whole thing and resolves to work even harder as a Hero to make up for it.

The second Burns family member to be entrusted with a Miraculous is surprisingly Graham. as when this universes version of Evilistrator is created, Cody and Frankie considering their options realize, if the Akuma can create ink creatures out of nothing, why not fight fire with fire?

Thus Graham is picked to become Capricorn the holder of the Goat Miraculous and is able to create objects to counter each creature Evilistrator creates till the Akuma runs out of pages in his sketch book and can be then taken out.

Hot on his heels Dani is tapped to become the Bee Hero Hornet to help deal with a super fast Akuma wreaking havoc all across the island. Dani absolutely loves her Hornet get up, it even comes with bee wings that she can use to actually fly!

Kade is the last of the Burns family chosen to be a hero but that doesn't make him any more or less valued then the other. Just that the Ox needed a real challenge that called for it's power. And when an Akuma is able to cause a time dilation effect around it. well. Bullocks ability to utterly no sell any magic that tries to effect him is really your only sane choice now isn't it?

Keep an eye out for a part 2 of this post where talk about the Rescuebot's much more dramatic reveal (Spoiler, The BOTS can be Akumatized to) and the Miraculous they are eventually entrusted with.

[trashcanfills]

I SAW A SET OF OBLIVIOUS ALPHA!LUMINE POSTS AND I RAISE YOU

OBLIVIOUS OMEGA!AETHER

Who’s somehow strong on his own yet whose helpful and sweet nature attracts all the alphas around.

Doesn’t get why people compliment on his scent. Is it the shampoo he uses?? What is it abt his smell that people keep sniffing and going oh wow u smell really nice. He keeps getting mildly flustered over it, and some hint that there’s a bit more to it than what they say but he isn’t sure and chooses not to overthink it and accept the praises when they come by.

People are weirdly affectionate with him but he doesn’t mind or likes it! It’s very comforting and nice to hug with friends. Except Aether does NOT realise that the point of physical contact is marking him with their scent to warn others away and poor aether keeps getting glomped everytime he meets with someone else

like after meeting with childe who was all to eager to get into an impromptu spar and tussle with him, he meets Ningguang who is absolutely irritated that the smell of that battle-crazed Fatui harbinger is all over him and aether is frantically apologising for looking messed up since Childe is childe. Ningguang has him cleaned up and get some new clothes (scented with some verrry light perfume she uses herself ha) and drags him to a fancy dinner in Liuli Pavilion.

Yae Miko is not happy to see the Head of the Yashiro Commission strolling around with Aether in the Grand Narakumi shrine, sticking a bit too close to the traveller to her liking. Ayato and Yae Miko of course exchange some snark commentary the moment they meet and hidden barbs that Aether tries his best to mediate. Unfortunately something happens that requires Ayato to leave earlier to handle, and Yae is all too smug to smirk at him while placing herself at Aether’s side just where Ayato himself was and accompanying him instead. Ayato gives her a blank polite smile with no friendliness in his eyes.

Every Alpha wants to keep him but can’t do much for now as he’s focused on looking for his sister, and they want him to be successful on that. In the meantime whenever aether comes by to hangout they show off and present themselves in a myriad of ways to signal Aether that they could be potential mates for him.

I know a lot of people like Lumine and I do too, but I like Aether equally as well. Both are pretty neat as individual characters and I like to think Aether is the more soft-spoken gentle-mannered twin compared to Lumine who’s more outspoken and headstrong. If im not wrong when you see their attack animations, Aether is more defensive while Lumine is more aggressive hence why i headcanon aether as the more passive twin and Lumine as the active twin. So essentially soft boi Aether and boss ass bitch Lumine hehe

Don’t know if it’s just me but Aether doesn’t get as much attention or appreciation because he appears to be the typical uninteresting isekai’d protagonist to most people. Also hoyoverse keeps defaulting to him in promotional materials for genshin even tho they are like either twin being Traveller are equally canon, which makes everyone feel like Lumine is neglected and focus more on her. That’s fine but i still think Aether’s cool. I actually like his design way more than Lumine’s but that’s because I greatly dislike Hoyoverse female character designs for being more fanservice than anything.

ALSO If you cant tell I really dig mixed gender harems because ANYONE can be in it. More options, more the merrier and more fun :^)

[got-into-worm-by-mistake]

Insinuation 2.2 Live Reactions

(This is me, writing reactions as I read, because why the fuck not. They're not complete, mature thoughts taken after I sit back and evaluate what I've read. Consider them as such)

While I wouldn't say any of the word count is wasted, per se, I do think that for all that 1.6 million words is impressive... did it really need to be 1.6 million words? 2.1 felt like 75% space filler tbh.

The go-to place for news and discussion on capes was Parahumans Online.  The front page had constant updates on recent, international news featuring capes.  From there, I could go to the wiki, where there was information on individual capes, groups and events, or to the message boards, which broke down into nearly a hundred sub-boards, for specific cities and capes.  I opened the wiki in one tab, then found and opened the message board for Brockton Bay in another.

There are many advantages to letting your characters properly use the internet.

I had the sense that either Tattletale or Grue were the leader of the group I had run into.

Tattletale, really, seems like.

“This article is a stub.  Be a hero and help us expand it.” 

*snort* Jesus christ, that feels too real.

The only new information for me was that her costume was lavender.  A search of the message boards turned up absolutely nothing.  There wasn’t even a hint as to what her power was

And yet sometimes even the internet fails in the face of people just not being worth noticing yet.

 Rachel Lindt had never made any real attempt to hide her identity.  She had apparently been homeless through most of her criminal career, just living on the streets and moving on whenever police or a cape came after her. 

I am somehow both shocked and not at all surprised she's managed to pull this off.

Monsters the size of a car, all muscle, bone, fang and claw. 

Half the time fanfics seem to almost imply the end up with Scales and shit too?

At the very bottom of the page was a list of links that were related to her:  two fansites 

Bitch has Fansites? Why am I actually surprised?

He was estimated to have forty or fifty thugs working for him across Brockton Bay,

I feel like this is an issue of Wildbow not having enough sense of the scale. The Bay has three main gangs, E88, ABB and the Merchants, and 40-50 seems way too small to be a player.

but Lung had made it a mission to conquer and absorb every gang with Asian members and many without.  Once he had the manpower he needed, the non-Asian gangs were cannibalized for assets, their members discarded.  Even though there were no more major gangs in the east end of town to absorb, he was still recruiting zealously.

And yet... he still only has 40-50?

He could teleport, but when he did so, he didn’t disappear.  As he teleported, his original self, for lack of a better term, would stay where it was and remain active for five to ten seconds before disintegrating into a cloud of carbon ash.  Essentially, he could create another version of himself anywhere nearby, while the old version could stick around long enough to distract or attack you.

One thing I love about Worm is that even when someone has a 'normal' power, like teleporting, they can't actually have a normal power. it's always some extra level of bullshit. :rofl:

 By all rights, I should have been angry that Armsmaster took the credit for the fight that could have cost me my life.

I mean, you did tell him he could. And really, it's more complicated than that.

Buuut, on the other hand... yeah, I get it. She's still just 15, and 15 y/os are allowed to bounce their perspectives around.

I was given pause by one post that asked whether Bakuda could or would use a large scale bomb and the threat of potentially thousands or hundreds of thousands dead, to ransom Lung back.

That, I think, is called Foreshadowing

If it happened, it would be the responsibility of heroes better and more experienced than I.

Who are you and what have you done with Taylor "I'll take over the city and run it RIGHT" Herbert? :P :rofl:

It was meaningful, though.  I couldn’t interpret it any other way; Tattletale had found a way to get in contact with me.

Probably because her power suggested it was likely you'd check PHO

[hmshermitcraft]

For the theme False was moderately sure that the town she had moved in was cursed in some way or maybe the townsfolk were really paranoid. False would routinely see them walking quickly, not looking at each other, keeping hushed voices, wearing weird cloaks, and more. But False didn't really get any hint to what was actually happening until her crush, Gem, got deathly sick and wanting to help her (and maybe win her heart) False began to search for cures in the town for Gem. False didn't really make much progress until someone told her that there was something that can help Gem but False could only find it in the abandoned part of the town False was well equipped to search the ruins and defend herself when she went but nothing would've prepared her to see this eldritch looking monster with an incorporeal form wearing a hood wandering the ruins. The monster had seen her and seemingly started to toy with False before attacking False. After a long fight False had won, when she had plunged her blade into the monster the blade phased through the monster and the metal immediately rusted and broken off When False looked up from her confusion she now saw a (very beautiful looking) young woman standing in front of her with a curious look on her face. False would've thought that she was going crazy and would've told the cute girl to run and hide if she didn't notice that the girl was wearing the same cloak that the monster wore Pearl was this 'girl's' name and when False asked how and why did she do that Pearl merely responded that "Magic exists". False was really confused (and a bit flustered) when Pearl had started to poke and touch her curiously, as if Pearl hadn't seen a person like False before she asked if humans didn't have magic before. False shook off her feelings and asked Pearl if she could heal Gem which Pearl said yes and agreed to so yay! The bad news is that False now had a crush on Gem, a regular human, and Pearl, who can apparently turn into a mini eldritch horror on a whim and has heavily implied herself to be one of many manifestations or omens of death or is just a really deranged and powerful witch

Much to False's... Exasperation, let's say, Pearl for some reason decided now was the time to stick around. She's not been around humans for a while (False points out attacking them doesn't give the best impression. Pearl giggles.) She thinks it'll be interesting to see how much they've changed!

False sits by Gem's side, uncomfortable with Pearl being there alone. She... Kinda lies to Gem a bit, saying that Pearl is a healer from outside the town. Within a few days, she starts seeing Gem's condition improve. She goes from being unable to even sit up by herself, to changing clothes.

False relaxes more around Pearl at that point. Despite their first meeting, if Pearl intended to harm either of them, she'd probably have done it whilst Gem was weakest. She decides to indulge Pearl, showing her the aspects of human life she's been interested in.

People eye them warily, crossing the road or refusing to look at them at all. False learns to ignore it. Sure, Pearl isn't human, and she's kind of... Eerie. But she's pretty friendly! Just unfamiliar with human customs.

Once Gem is well enough, she starts to join them on their outings. She uses a wheelchair as her strength grows, excitedly showing Pearl around her favourite places.

False is... Surprised when she doesn't feel jealous. No, watching Pearl and Gem interact, she realises she feels fond. Watching them interact gives her the same butterflies thinking about them individually does!

So, now she needs to confess to her crush and an eldritch being. Who might not even know what dating is. She's really done it this time.

[star--nymph]

What are your favorite Cullen and Eury HCs GO!

This is weeks late sure but like I needed TIME to thinking about my dumb, sweet, beautiful babies and I hope you're ready for me just BABBLING.

LET'S DIVE IN

Whenever Eurydice asks to hold Cullen's hand, she refuses to take it unless his glove is off because she didn't ask to hold his glove, she asked to hold his hand.

Because eye contact is hard and hurts her, when Eurydice looks at Cullen, she's always looking at his mouth. His mouth and his scar were, in fact, the first things she found attractive about him because of this.

She loves his big scarred hands so much, she loves tracing them, playing with the fingers, pressing her mouth to his palm.

It took Cullen forever to realize that when Eurydice's ears would flicker up, it meant that she was happy or excited. Honestly, he would have never known if Varric hadn't hinted that Fenris' ears did the same around Hawke. Mayhaps a connection?

Verbal constant is important for the two of them, even after they've been in a relationship for several years. “Can I touch you?” is just another way of them saying they love each other, regardless if the answer is ‘yes’ or ‘no’ cause the point is, the choice is there and the choice, for once, is okay.

Cullen is fascinated with Eurydice's hair sometimes, both in the way it feels and that it seems to have a life of its own. He likes to twirl the ends around his fingers and curl tighter--and then he kisses the strands.

Eurydice loves Cullen's curls--when he lets her, she likes to run her fingers through his hair until it's fluffed up. She plays with it often in bed or when she's stimming.

Before they started their sexual relationship, Cullen had a habit of playing with Eury's ears absentmindly without realizing it was of her most sensitive spots and so he didn't really get or notice that when he did that, she would clam up and the tips of her ears would turn red.

The first real present (that wasn't just herbs in an nameless envelope) that Eurydice got Cullen was a book on chess she found in Val Royeaux that she just slammed on his desk, said 'this is for you', and walked away. He didn't realize it was supposed to be a birthday present for four years.

Sometimes when Cullen has nightmares or an anxiety attack, Eurydice uses illusionary magic to create images that move around him. She asks him to tell her a story so she can make things from it for him.

I think the reason why they started talking to each other early on, before they really were friends, is because they didn't owe each other anything, including kindness. They just spoke the truth, even if the truth was harsh and often uncomfortable. You have respect someone who doesn't bullshit you with nicities for the sake of feelings. And they gave each other as good as they got.

So much about Eurydice and Cullen's love is about healing and growth and individual acceptance. They are just two hurt people that have been outcasted and the fact that can find a haven with each other, they're allowed to be vulnerable even at that their worst moments means so much to them.

They take such long walks with each other. In silence. All across the battlements and back. They're like two old people. Ugh, I bet they even stop to staring at the clouds. What LOSERS.

Cullen waiting out Eurydice's meltdowns on his knees in front of her, watching her curl in on herself and repeated slurred elven to calm down--and then when she's ready, offering his hand so she has something to ground herself.

Cullen's got the world's shittest elven accent and Eurydice tells him so, but she still loves how he sounds. Grabs his cheeks and tries to help him because she says he has a 'lazy tongue'.

Cullen usually calling Eurydice 'my love' and 'my darling' and that's enough to make Eury happy because it's so simple, she's just his love. But then he calls her 'Moonlight' and she can barely hold it together, she can do anything but cover her eyes with her hands.

I don't think Cullen realizes how much Eurydice loves watching him from afar.

Eurydice loves Cullen's big tummy. She loves him big. Big happy fat Cullen is Eury's favorite Cullen.

Eurydice may be bony and have no titties but Cullen loves that about her.

Eurydice clings to Cullen like an octopus sometimes. He can not escape the LIMBS. AND THE HAIR.

How many bracelets has Eurydice made for Cullen. He's lots count and he loves EVERY SINGLE ONE.

Eurydice can't sing for shit but she tries so hard when Cullen asks. It sounds terrible, but Cullen loves it.

Eurydice loves when Cullen sings to her.

After her hair, Eurydice's favorite thing to stim with is Cullen's coin. She bites it, she plays with it, she presses it against her mouth and feels it out with her lips. It's important to him and thus now it's important to her.

Cullen doesn't GET her funky weird experiments but does he support is weird witch wife? Absolutely.

Sometimes they don't hold hands, they get so overwhelmed that they just hold each other's fingers.

INFODUMPS AT EACH OTHER INFODUMPS AT EACH OTHER.

The first time they met, Cullen got noticed on his ass during the Battle at the Conclave and Eurydice literally stepped over him to whip a demon in the face. She didn't even acknowledge his existence.

The second time they almost got into an actual fight because Eurydice wanted to leave Haven while she was still under imprisonment. Leliana had strike the ground with an arrow between them to stop them.

I'm not sure when Cullen fell in love but he sure felt something the first time he saw Eurydice ever smile and laugh while speaking to one of her mounts.

Their relationship took two years before either one admitted to themselves that they might have feelings, much less say it to each other.

When Eurydice realized Cullen made her feel something in her chest, she got so scared that she would repeatedly run away from him and Skyhold. Once time she jumped off the bridge when she got too overwhelmed rather than admit she liked the way he sounded.

I want to remind everyone this is the woman who tells people straight to their face that they suck and she couldn't deal with maybe having a crush on this random sad shemlen. So much that when she finally admitted she liked him, she had to do it BEHIND A DOOR. WHILE HOLDING HIS HAND THROUGH THE CRACK HE WOULDN'T LEAVE.

EURYDICE IS BAD AT FEELINGS WHICH IS SAYING SOMETHING BECAUSE CULLEN.

Anyway Jim did almost die because he interrupted them almost kissing after like a year of wanting to do so. Honestly surprised Cullen didn't stab him but he was too busy making sure Eurydice did run for it again.

Mean Elf Lady and Sad Lion Man are bad at feelings even though they're both like. Thirty. More News At 11.

In conclusion, I'm crying over them no one touch me.

[themostleastuseful]

A Review of a Thing

Greetings denizens of the incomprehensible abyss known as the internet, I am a random nobody who criticizes the art of people far more talented than I will ever be. This is the first time I have done anything remotely like this, so do not be surprised if you find it lacking. I know I sure do. Anyhoo, today I will be talking about a horror movie that wants to be a poem so badly that it forgot to have a point.

How do I describe I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House? Boring is too simple a word for how little I cared about anything that happened in this movie. Maybe colorless, or would that be too obvious? When the most interesting thing in a multimillion dollar film is a mold stain, money has not been spent well. It is styled as a gothic horror in the tradition of The Fall of the House of Usher and other Edgar Allen Poe works, but Poe it is not. His stories had themes more interesting than “death is kind of scary, right?”

The movie is about a woman named Lily who is hired to work as a live-in nurse for an old horror novelist (named Iris Blum) with dementia. A simple setup with potential for interesting payoffs. Are there going to be nightmarish creatures spawned from the mind of a creative individual slowly losing their grip on reality? Is the nurse on the run from a past she can never truly escape? Will the main character ever go outside? All of these questions, and more, will be immediately answered no because there isn’t enough time between all the shots of walls.

The plot goes thusly: The nurse shows up, Iris mistakes her for the ghost she’d been talking to for inspiration, Lily reads the book based on Polly (the ghost)’s story and figures out that it had actually happened in the house, then sees Polly in person and dies of a heart attack. Iris dies too because there was nobody left to care for her, then the last ten minutes are Lily monologuing about how dead she is. 

Lily is one of the main problems I have with the movie. For starters, she talks like a grandma with an odd cadence reminiscent of someone telling a bedtime story. It kind of works for her monologues (though the language is so flowery it makes me want to sneeze) but she even does it when talking to her friend, who she calls a slut the way you might call a puppy silly. I am aware that the actress is British, but then why make her do an American accent? 

 Lily is a mix of childish and extremely odd that might make sense if she were supposed to be mentally handicapped in some way, but there is absolutely no indication that she is. Not to say it would be a bad thing, I’m autistic myself. It’s just that, if you’re going to make such a character, you’re going to need to establish or at least hint at it at some point.

 There is a ghost, but we never really find out much about her or her motives. It seems like she wants to show the world what her ultimate fate was, but then she goes and makes Lily hallucinate that there’s mold growing on her arms (the only remotely interesting scene in the movie, by the way.) What’s that for? If she just wants vengeance on the living, why does she tolerate the writer living in her house for decades? Why was she murdered anyway? What’s the significance of her walking around with her upper half on backwards? 

While I complain, the movie does manage to set an atmosphere of doom. The house feels empty and dark even during the day, and the music sets you on edge when it’s supposed to. The problem is, though, that the movie barely does anything with it. building tension without adequate release leaves viewers feeling stressed. A movie that has you feeling worse than when you started is not one you want to see again. Anyway, more complaining.

Like I said before, there is a foundation for something good buried within the snores. The movie has themes of aging and decay, with Iris being shown to have once been quite attractive, but time has taken her mind and body.  Very gothic horror, but none of it feels like it was used to its proper potential. It should have focused more on the author and her futile struggle against time, with the house visibly deteriorating as a reflection of it. Maybe the ghost could change too, slowly becoming more corpselike until it disappears and the actual body busts out of its hole to do some spooking. As it is, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House bats the idea of beauty being transient around like a cat with a toy but never goes in for the kill. (The two central characters are named after flowers ooo so deep)

[missingn000]

I love chapter 42 so much!✨️✨️✨️

It's so nice to see Suguru and Yuuji bonding even though the reason for it is so tragic... like, I am glad Suguru finally sees Yuuji as a person and that Yuuji can feel safe around someone, but I wish the reason wasn't Sukuna ruining everyone's lives because he's a drama queen.

Nobara getting ready to attack Sugur in Higurama's name is so sweet of her. Like, you really captured the essence of her character in that one scene!💖

Well, they're finally putting together the pieces of the puzzle and it doesn't look nice at all... At least now they're all kind of on the same page about Mahito, Hajime and Kenjaku.

Toji is right about blaming Sukuna. Like, I understand why Yuuji feels guilty (he is a precious bean and also 10), but I hope his family can convince him that getting possessed by an asshole doesn't mean you're guilty for his actions.

The conversation between Nanami and Sukuna was so interesting! I love how Sukuna overshares and monologues, I am certain spending however many years he spent all by himself did not help his social skills. Like, he is dropping so many hints about his tragic backstory: the psychological torture comments, the whole "sucks to be the strongest", the no longer having a soul, there is nothing good in this world anymore, the Yuu-Ji thing as well. Once I finish my final exam I will try to put together a theory because all I can do right now is rotate everything in my mind.

Sukuna's opinion on humanity is very interesting. I like how you gave him complex thoughts on human nature and a philosophy of his own. It's really great how you gave both him and Kenjaku ideologies that tie into the themes of the story instead of the classic "I am evil, always have been, always will be". Like, even though Kenjaku is irredeemable at least he is motivated by something. And if Sukuna is going to get forcefully added to the found family he needs some toxic beliefs to let go of.

Yuuji and Megumi make me so sad, but at least the bullying Sukuna club is there to make it better.

✨️Sukuna got called a weird individual!✨️

✨️Sukuna learned how to pronounce Yuuji's name!✨️

"There's nothing good left in the world!" This is Uraume slander. Like, I can't believe Sukuna is saying this while his bestie is still out there... smh. Uraume was there by his side during his entire flop era and this is how he repays them? I get that he needs to drop hints about his tragic backstory in the most dramatic fashion, but he could be more considerate.😔

Satoru and Suguru will finally talk!✨️✨️✨️Took them long enough.

Yuuji called Nanami his papa, told Shoko she is his mother!✨️ (I am so glad he disowned Kenjaku✨️✨️✨️)

Nanashoko is the only couple that has rights smh... I am glad they got together and proved that talking to each other like normal people has benefits. Good for them!🎉💖🎉

Nanami's second conversation with Sukuna was also interesting... Sukuna really says a lot of concerning stuff out of nowhere that makes zero sense without context and he seems less than willing to provide context. The one policy that he's no longer interested in is such and interesting thing and I am glad Nanami doesn't let him avoid the subject. Like, he managed to back the King of Curses into a corner! Good for him!

Also, congratulations on graduating!✨️

✨️💖✨️

i'm glad you enjoyed chapter 42!! yeah getou and yuuji bonding was sooo sweet, even if the origin of their cute dynamic was getou beating the shit out of the demon in yuuji's body, which was technically still yuuji himself. ouch. well at least getou made some serious progress seeing him as a person rather than, well, yknow

WAHH NOBARA AND HIGURUMA...they're making progress too, even if they're less open about it.

yeah, you could really see the puzzle pieces fitting together in that first scene huh? the poor fam realizing with mounting horror that this has all been planned for years...at least they figured out it isn't really getou's fault, and now they, for the most part, know who they're up against. though they definitely do not see who "yuuji's mother" is coming. toji's so right, sukuna's at fault here too

BRO THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN NANAMI AND SUKUNA WAS SO FUN TO WRITE. plus it was really fun to explore sukuna's potential thoughts on humanity in a compelling way since we know so little about his canon psyche. he deserves a philosophy of his own and weird, offputting takes on human nature!! plus i personally think evil because it's fun isnt quite as intriguing as evil because it's satisfying

regarding uraume...stay tuned, because THAT is gonna be crazy. i promise he didn't forget about them. he couldn't even if he tried. i'll leave it at that for now

PLEASE nanashoko rights!! stsg get your shit together, these two are outdoing you at communication and theyve been together for a few hours. nanami rlly managed to back sukuna into a corner RIGHT after that. this dude gets it.

tysm for reading <333

[ma-lemons]

OKAY I HAVE THOUGHTS

RWBY VOLUME 9 EP 6 SPOILERS

LONG POST AHEAD

OKAY THE BEES KISSED ?? THANK CRWBY THANK YOU SO MUCH?? Casey Williams, the song was so perfect I cannot wait to download it and it was just beautiful! Barbara and Arryn are always delivering. I always had a feeling Blake was more reassured in her feelings towards Yang and Yang was aware of her feelings for Blake, but was kind of afraid of either rejection or abandonment. At the bridge, Blake was fully aware of Yang’s feelings for her. She just wanted her to say it. And they did, together. I love the animation team, the way they blushed, the way Yang’s eyes shined when Blake spoke. They’re in love, and I’m glad they’re both growing as individuals and now, together.

Back to everyone else… I’m so confused!

So we know that Jaune fell last, but because he picked up the clock fruit, it was in reverse order? Jaune fell, then Alyx and Luis, then Neo, Weiss, Ruby, Blake, Yang? I’m still a little confused on the aging and storyline here, but it will all be revealed soon enough I’m sure.

My question is: how did the siblings even get to Ever After? Did they fall in that same space the main characters did or is there another way to fall? I might need to rewatch the episode again in case I missed something.

I also think this episode made me question both Jaune and the cat. I’m not saying they should distrust Jaune, but clearly he has his own story and the Cat has their own as well. I never thought the Cat as “bad”, they’re curious, and while they may have their own agenda, it doesn’t seem like they run on pure malice. Alyx seems to have duped the cat, her brother and Jaune. But like I said, we don’t know the full story, at least, not yet.

But I also don’t want to assume Alyx is “bad” too. She was a kid and she wanted to go home, and maybe there’s more to that, maybe there’s not. I’m hoping that Alyx is still in Ever After and that the gang gets to meet her and see what happened to Luis.

Speaking of Luis, I wonder really how Ascension works, and if anyone in that world knows the whole story. I’ve seen people suspect that Luis was sacrificed to the tree and a person has to be given to the tree for someone else to leave. Maybe Luis did ascend and he returned to Ever After as something else, and was given a role. Maybe Alyx was given a role as well. I don’t want to rule anything out but y’all are geniuses w/ theories and I’m excited to read them.

Two characters I really really want to dive into are Ruby and Neo.

So we know Neo is hellbent on getting Ruby. She was recently betrayed by Cinder and has developed her semblance. What is Neo going to do now? Find Ruby and leave? She seemed to have attacked the Jabberwock and had replicated herself when attacking the gang in the previous episode. I’m just excited to see what happens next and understand WHY Neo, why did she fall? Our heroes all have regrets with what happened in Remnant. Is this the place for them to reevaluate their priorities? For them to redirect themselves?

And Ruby, my poor girl. Part of me was getting worried, seeing how everyone glosses over Ruby’s frustration, but it’s serving its purpose well. Ruby and Crescent Rose have been practically inseparable since she created it. She loves weapons and Crescent Rose is a reminder of her family and her purpose—or at least what she thought her purpose was.

What is to Ruby Rose? When in Jaune’s village, she still doesn’t know. She hesitates to pick up her own weapon. She’s perplexed by it and herself and something is going on in her mind that refuses to let her touch her own weapon. She’s about to go through some intense feelings and it feels like she’s going to lash out soon. With the way Summer Rose keeps appearing in reflections, I wonder if that’s a hint towards her mother being around here or it’s about Ruby separating her dream from the idea of her mother. Either way it’s going to get bad.

Extra Questions/Thoughts

- That mouse, Little. There’s no way you’re just a mouse. Right? RIGHT?

- i wonder how that weird place Neo fell will come into place. It has that strange bridge and that has to play a role somehow.

- I want to recircle back to the teapot lady and the blacksmith. Ruby gave her little emblem to the teapot lady and said it carries a mother’s promise. Why did she choose those words? And why did that sway the teapot lady? And who is that blacksmith??

- Jaune and Ruby are such good examples of leaders. Both of them have such heavy expectations of themselves and it’s not like they think they’re alone with carrying this burden, but when something goes wrong, they’re first to blame themselves. If they’re supposed to be the good guys, how did everything get so wrong? Why can’t they stop the bad things from happening? How can they stop them from happening?

[riahlynn101]

"Just Breathe" (2).

This is my second attempt at writing the second chapter. The other one included All for One not being beaten up, Izuku not in pain, and the tasing of a certain, annoying vestige.

Be forewarned, Izuku does not have a good time here.

Trigger warning: Extreme violence, major character death, possessive behavior, and implied child abuse.

Chapter 2

--

“You aren’t Yoichi,” All for One says.

“An astute observation.” First kicks at the ground. “Actually it’s a lot more nuanced than that. I guess I’m as similar to your brother as you are to the All for One quirk. So, I suppose it all depends on how you look at it.”

“You aren’t Yoichi,” All for One repeats. “He would have stopped this. Izu- Deku wouldn’t have ended up like this.” It doesn’t escape his notice how Yoichi’s brother cringes slightly at Ninth’s hero name. 

“I’m not, though, as you have bluntly pointed out.”

“This is between me and you.”

Nana stalks forward, hackles raised. 

“Tell that to my husband!” She yells. Banjo and Third hold her back from attacking. “Tell that to my son!” She continues to shout, tears streaming down her face. 

All for One watches her display with a hint of amusement in his blood red eyes. Even bargaining for his son’s life, he can't help himself. 

First sighs, tired.

Once a bastard, always a bastard.

“My family!” Nana sobs, sliding to the ground. Banjo pats her on the back. 

First steps in front of Nana, blocking All for One’s view. “Enough,” he starts, succeeding in getting the man’s attention back on him, “we’ve waited a long time. Passing this power down in hopes of destroying your- you….in hopes of destroying you .”

“I see,” All for One drawls out. “Took quite a long time.”

First shakes off Yoichi’s brother’s comment. A dig at their individual and combined abilities, as well as a subtle way to burrow under his skin. 

“As fun as that sounds, I have other obligations,” All for One says. 

“What?” Second asks, and First sends a glare his way that he pointedly ignores, “to retrieve your son that you abandoned ?” 

All for One flinches back as if burned. A hurt expression takes over his face. He clenches his teeth, eyes burning craters into them. “Do. Not.”

“But that’s what happened isn’t it?” First pushes further. Nothing like this-in all their shared memories-has ever happened before. 

Sometimes he watches the others' memories - nothing super personal or gross. They act as long movies, offering little tidbits of information about his fam- co workers. Like, through watching her memories, he learned that Nana originally had a fear of the dark. So, he makes sure that there’s a light source always on when she’s around. 

Or when he learned that Banjo feels proud of ‘Black Whip’ and loves sharing it with other people (though a little less literal when he was alive). And-since his own passing-is always the first to greet a new arrival, so First may have, potentially allowed him to speak with Ninth first. Of course there’s the matter of Izu- Ninth manifesting Black Whip before any others, so really it’s smart to have Banjo greet him first. 

But you should have seen the fight that that decision caused…..he nearly smiles at the memory, but stops himself. 

That, he reminds himself, wasn’t real. None of it was real. 

He swallows, the action unnecessary, and smirks at All for One. A near perfect mirror to the one the man had been wearing not three seconds prior. 

“Truth hurts, doesn’t it?”

“Truth? What truth?” All for One scoffs. “I didn’t leave them, because I wanted to. I left them because someone, not going to name names, punched my face off!”

“And?” Second asks. “Based on the kid’s feelings and tendency to attach himself to any and all adults that show the tiniest bit of care towards him, you never made an effort to keep in contact with him.”

“I…I thought he was better off not hearing from me. I wrote to my wife often, and she gave me little updates here and there about his well-being.” His voice sounds strained, like he’s doing everything in his power to not show how much this situation is affecting him.

First’s nonexistent heart clenches painfully. He pushes it down. “Regardless,” he starts, “of how we got here, it all ends today.”

As Second turns back around to face their collective nemesis, First reaches down to where little Ninth lay. He kneels next to the boy. His face looks so peaceful, and not for the first time he is reminded of how young the latest One for All successor is. He comforts himself with the thought that, after all is said and done, they can see the boy again in the vestige realm. Yes, he thinks to himself, stroking the boy’s face, they’ll comfort and soothe little Ninth. They’ll care for him better than the boy’s own parents. 

(Not that that’s necessarily hard, considering their competition is a supervillain and a woman who isn’t here right now. Unfair, a voice whispers in the deeper part of his consciousness, of course she isn’t here. She’s a civilian! ) 

These thoughts comfort First enough to proceed with the plan. He daydreams of holding the ninth, cradling the boy - younger than he appears right now - in his arms. He’s always wanted a child, and he’s not averse to taking Yoichi’s brother’s. Besides, he reasons, after Ninth passes away he’ll need a lot of extra comfort. 

“I do apologize for this, Ninth.” 

He clamps a hand over the boy’s forehead. 

In the second between tightening his hold and the next, Ninth is writhing in agony. A scream escapes from his mouth. First murmurs another apology, loosening his hold, and carding a deceptively gentle hand through Ninth’s curls. 

A bright light radiates from the boy. It draws everyone’s attention, including All for One. 

“Izuku!” The fiend yells out, forgetting their current situation. “My son!” 

Something deep, deep down within First reacts to his tone of voice. A small voice in his head whispers that this isn’t right. That the price to be rid of such a terrible person shouldn’t include the blood and sacrifice of someone they all hold so close to their hearts. 

He smirks, but the smug feeling is only surface level. Again, he runs a hand through the boy’s hair. Ninth winces away, face scrunching up. A whimper escapes him.

First ignores this, powering through. Already he can feel Ninth’s life force giving him his physical form back. Judging by the pleasantly surprised faces on the others, it’s safe to say they’re feeling similar effects.

“Leave him be!” All for One holds out a hand, threatening them. “Get away from him!” 

“No,” First says, starting to hum a lullaby under his breath to Ninth. Just because this is necessary to beat Yoichi’s brother, doesn’t mean that little Ninth has to suffer alone. He remembers, from Yoichi’s memories, a time where he himself longed for the times where his (read: Yoichi’s) older brother would comfort him. Singing lullabies and reading stories to distract him (again read: Yoichi - because he isn’t Yoichi; he can’t be. He refuses to be. Being Yoichi means he’s willing to hurt his nephew; his only family member that isn’t dead or batshit insane.) from the pain of being chronically ill. 

“Must hurt, huh?” First taunts, secure in the knowledge that he’s finally getting under All for One’s skin. “Finally being on the other side of all the pain you’ve caused. Because be rest assured, this all could have been avoided. All of this pain and suffering that Ninth is going through is simply a testament to your legacy of blood.”

-x-x-x-

Izuku cuddles up to Tenko. The two boys sit up against a wall, trying to keep each other somewhat warm. 

Izuku has almost fallen into a second dream state, head lolling onto Tenko’s shoulder, when a sudden spike of pain hits him like a freight train. Now, he’s no stranger to pain. Breaking his bones is practically a hobby to him. But this is different, it’s somehow worse in every single way. 

A terrible white hot sensation fills his entire being, deeper than his skin and bones and blood. It burns and burns and-

A scream is ripped from his throat.

Tenko jumps back, an alarmed expression on his face. “I-Izuku?”

“Make it stop! Make it stop!” He shouts, writhing around in agony. The cool floor of the vault is just barely enough to ease the heat consuming his very soul. 

“Make what stop?” Tenko asks, hands hovering above Izuku’s body. “What’s happening?”

Another stab of pain leaves Izuku breathless and fighting to speak. “Mommy! Daddy! Help me! It hurts! It hurts!” His body wracks with sobs.

Tenko takes one of his hands, and then places his other hand on Izuku’s forehead. He hums a song he’s pretty sure his momma used to sing to him before…..

“It’s going to be alright,” he murmurs. 

Izuku whimpers, the noise subdued in comparison to the ear-piercing screech he gave. “Mommy…..daddy…..help….” his voice is hoarse and very weak. 

“Shhhh….rest.” 

When the noise has finally petered out, Tenko lays down next to his former-nemesis-turned-friend. He stays awake, watching for any more signs of discomfort. 

In the dark of the vault, someone else watches the exchange. Their teeth gritted and nails digging into the palms of their hands. “Izuku,” they whisper. 

-x-x-x-

Hisashi isn’t a man of many regrets, but as he watches his only child slowly die in front of him, he has at least one. 

Izuku screams again, head rolling from side-to-side. His eyes are closed, which probably means he’s asleep. A good thing considering the circumstances. Hisashi hopes his son is having a pleasant dream, and is not just trapped within the vestige realm. 

Yo- First should have enough empathy not to do that.

He watches with mute horror as they all begin to become more tangible. Heroes, still not moving a muscle to arrest him or save Izuku, chatter amongst themselves. 

First stands up, joining the brother-stealing-pest at his side. A smug smile on his face. He taunts Hisashi once again, but all he can focus on is his son’s prone body. 

Izuku’s breath is coming out in ragged pants. His skin has a bluish tint, like someone is actively strangling him. 

He moves forward. The second One for All user blocks him, but Hisashi is ready and uses air cannon to shoot the pest(s) out of his way - at a slight angle of course, they’re all going to die but not right now. 

He’s nearly there, just another couple of steps. He reaches his hands out, ready to pull his son into his arms. They can all go to hell. Hisashi needs to get Izuku somewhere safe. 

If they need energy so badly, they can find a way to take it from the Shimura brat. 

He’s just about to kneel down when he’s being pulled back. An appendage-looking like a cross between a tentacle and whip-wraps around his middle. He’s flung back, closer to the useless heroes. 

They scatter upon him landing. 

He scrambles to stand up; his thoughts focus on one thing and one thing only: save Izuku. 

If he can just-

Hisashi locks eyes with Yoichi-and he’s only known two people with those eyes, one being his son and the other being his brother-he’s hit with a sudden understanding. 

His son would not be leaving this battle alive. 

What remains of Hisashi’s soul dies with this knowledge. 

-x-x-x-

Tenko wakes up with his arms empty. He shivers, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes. It doesn’t make much sense to him why they can fall asleep when they’re already asleep, but he supposes it gives them an escape from their current predicament. He looks around for his friend. 

“Izuku,” he calls out. 

A soft shushing gets his attention. Tenko looks towards the furthest corner. He can’t see much as it’s bathed in darkness. 

“Izuku?” He asks, an odd feeling welling up in his chest. 

A figure emerges from the corner, imposing and familiar. Izuku lays limply in his arms. “Shush, I said.”

“Sensei?” Tenko gets to his feet. His hatred for the man in front of him is temporarily overshadowed by the fact that his new friend is at Sensei’s mercy. Diplomacy has never been Tenko’s forte, but for Izuku, he’ll try. 

“Hello, Tomura.” He continues to rock Izuku back and forth, shushing him when he makes a pained noise. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“My name’s not Tomura,” he protests, all the years of bottled resentment coming to the surface. “I’m Tenko.”

“That you are,” Sensei retorts, a condescending edge in his tone. “Well, Tenko, how about you fill me in on how you two got here. Usually I can sneak a peek or convince one of the vestiges to fill me in, but it’s been radio silent for the last year or so.”

Tenko grits his teeth. Why does every action have to be like playing chess? He hates this! He hates being near Sensei! He hates him! He hates him so much!

Izuku cries out, bringing him back to his senses. 

Tenko takes a deep breath. “It all started when I tried to beat up Gigantomachia…”

-x-x-x-

Izuku screams out. First spares him a glance. Soon, he tells himself, it will all be over soon. 

All for One stares him down, positively seething in rage. He lunges for him, making his way from across the battlefield with several different quirks. First side steps his pathetic attempt. 

Banjo uses black whip again to fling the resident supervillain around. At Third’s signal, he allows black whip to dissipate. All for One lands on his stomach, hitting his chin on broken concrete. 

Third pulls back his arm, using Fa Jin he punches All for One six times in row. Each hit is harder than the last. 

First makes his way back over to Ninth. The light is slowly dimming. They don’t have much time left - Ninth doesn’t have much time left. He watches his found family finally get a smidge of the revenge they deserve, petting his son’s hair. 

Second uses his ability on a piece of broken ply-wood, sending the shards deep into All for One’s skin. He looks to First; his eyes flicker to Ninth. His expression softens. “Ours now?” He mouths. 

First nods. 

The light dims further. Some of the attacks don’t land as they should. It won’t be long now. 

Nana picks up All for One. Using float she carries him up and up and up until they’re high in the sky, and then lets him go.

-x-x-x-

The All for One locked away in the vestige realm, cringes back. For some reason he feels oddly disappointed. He shrugs it off as the weirdness of the day. 

He regards the small boy in front of him. “And then, you beat up the leader of the Meta Liberation Army?” 

Tenko gives a hesitant nod. 

He can feel the pure, unadulterated hatred coming off the boy. Some people can be so ungrateful. It’s not like he had to take the Shimura brat in. He did it out of the kindness of his heart (and to spite All Might, but that hardly matters in the grand scheme of things). 

“You know, back in my day, Destro was a real pain in my-”

Izuku shifts in his arms. He shushes him. 

“Sensei? Why are you holding Izuku?” Tenko asks, anxiously looking between Izuku and All for One. 

“You don’t know?” 

Tenko shakes his head. 

All for One chuckles, slinking back into the darkness. The boy could follow him into the corner, but he knows Tenko won’t. 

Finding his place against the furthest wall, he sits down with Izuku. He ignores Tenko’s calls for him to come back, instead focusing on his son (is this his son? Technically speaking, he’s only an impression of All for One’s personality from hundreds of years ago. They aren’t the same person. But yet, yet he feels a need to hold and protect and hide-)

A hand slaps him upside the head. “Give him back!” Tenko demands, tugging on Izuku’s arms. 

The smack leaves him stunned. He never expected little Tenko to have the gall. When he finally gets his bearings back in order, a large grin takes over his face. “How about, no.” Using a small percentage of his power he pushes Tenko back. 

He listens intently for the groan of pain or heavy thud but it never comes. Curious, he peeks out from the darkness. 

No one is there. 

“Huh, that’s-”

A kick to the side of his head makes him drop Izuku. Tenko pulls Izuku into the furthest corner before he turns around to face All for One. A feral grin has taken up much of his face. “I told you,” he starts, charging forward, fist pulled back, “to give him back.” 

-x-x-x-

As the light dims even more, their attacks get weaker. Some even pass right through the super villain. 

All for One has long since passed out - En’s smoke screen finally did him in. Nowhere near dead but definitely out for the count. 

Izuku screams once more and then goes very, very still. 

“It’s time,” First announces. 

The others gather around. 

“We’ve fought for centuries for this moment. I hope you all feel just the tiniest avenged.”

“But All for One isn’t dead,” En pipes up. “What if he breaks out of containment again?” 

First motions to Tenko’s motionless body. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

[horizon-verizon]

And if they're trying to force Helaena/Aemond in the show, what the use of such ship for the plot and for the characterization and the development of the characters?

I am not even 100% sure if they are doing it. If they are, the writers are hinting at Aemond being in love with Helaena, but I feel very sure it would be that the feeling isn;t mutual. If that makes sense.

I explain why I think other people ship Helaena and Aemond briefly HERE.

But to answer the original question, more reasons why people ship these two and why the show writers would want such a thing is that their hypothetical relationship would:

create a basis for Aemond losing it and killing all the Strongs -> grief over his probable son with her l, or just Helaena's pain and his own outrage at the blacks

they can easier introduce and set Alys Rivers up as an exploiter or just as someone that Aemond seeks comfort and a sense of control from, mitigating the whole "war prize" deal into a more palatable "love" match OR making it a relationship where he, looking for comfort and control, finds it in the "wrong place" in the exploitative Alys Rivers, further making him and Helaena the "real" healthy relationship

this being their way of giving him and Helaena more nuance and character other than what we see in canon -> it's common for writers to show character development through portrayals of them in love or sexually involved (the problem here is that Helaena and Aemond would never, ever get together and didn't seem to really care about her enough to put aside his own pride to try to save her by collaborating better with Criston or going to King's Landing as he wanted)

Helaena canonically does have show some free-spokeness, self-will, individuality, and/or show dissatisfaction with Aegon her husband, which others might think opens up the possibility of both Aemond being attracted to her AND her looking outward for comfort (AemondxHelaena could have worked as a "true love" story if not for Aemond's uber disagreeableness)

This is the longer, more contextualized Verizon of the second quote I gave about Aemond and Criston and King's Landing:

At Harrenhal, Aemond Targaryen and Criston Cole debated how best to answer the queen’s attacks. Though Black Harren’s seat was too strong to be taken by storm, and the riverlords dared not lay siege for fear of Vhagar, the king’s men were running short of food and fodder, and losing men and horses to hunger and sickness. Only blackened fields and burned villages remained within sight of the castle’s massive walls, and those foraging parties that ventured farther did not return. Ser Criston urged a withdrawal to the south, where Aegon’s support was strongest, but the prince refused, saying “Only a craven runs from traitors.” The loss of King’s Landing and the Iron Throne had enraged him, and when word of the Fishfeed reached Harrenhal, the Lord Protector had almost strangled the squire who delivered the news. Only the intercession of his bedmate Alys Rivers had saved the boy’s life. Prince Aemond favored an immediate attack upon King’s Landing. None of the queen’s dragons were a match for Vhagar, he insisted.

Ser Criston called that folly. “One against six is a fight for fools, My Prince,” he declared. Let them march south, he urged once more, and join their strength to Lord Hightower’s. Prince Aemond could reunite with his brother Daeron and his dragon. King Aegon had escaped Rhaenyra’s grasp, this they knew, surely he would reclaim Sunfyre and join his brothers. And perhaps their friends inside the city might find a way to free Queen Helaena as well, so she could bring Dreamfyre to the battle. Four dragons could perhaps prevail against six, if one was Vhagar.

Prince Aemond refused to consider this “craven course.” As regent for his brother, he might have commanded the Hand’s obedience, yet he did not. Munkun says that this was because of his respect for the older man, whilst Mushroom suggests that the two men had become rivals for the affections of the wet nurse Alys Rivers, who had used love potions and philtres to inflame their passions. Septon Eustace echoes the dwarf in part, but says it was Aemond alone who had become besotted with the Rivers woman, to such an extent that he could not bear the thought of leaving her.

Whatever the reason, Ser Criston and Prince Aemond decided to part ways. Cole would take command of their host and lead them south to join Ormund Hightower and Prince Daeron, but the Prince Regent would not accompany them. Instead he meant to fight his own war, raining fire on the traitors from the air. Soon or late, “the bitch queen” would send a dragon or two out to stop him, and Vhagar would destroy them. “She dare not send all her dragons,” Aemond insisted. “That would leave King’s Landing naked and vulnerable. Nor will she risk Syrax, or that last sweet son of hers. Rhaenyra may call herself a queen, but she has a woman’s parts, a woman’s faint heart, and a mother’s fears.”

("Rhaenyra Triumphant")

AND later...

In the riverlands, Ser Criston Cole abandoned Harrenhal, striking south along the western shore of the Gods Eye, with thirty-sixhundred men behind him (death, disease, and desertion had thinned the ranks that had ridden forth from King’s Landing). Prince Aemond had already departed, flying Vhagar.

The castle stood empty no more than three days before Lady Sabitha Frey swooped down to seize it. Inside she found only Alys Rivers, the wet nurse and purported witch who had warmed Prince Aemond’s bed during his days at Harrenhal, and now claimed to be carrying his child. “I have the dragon’s bastard in me,” the woman said, as she stood naked in the godswood with one hand upon her swollen belly. “I can feel his fires licking at my womb.”

Nor was her babe the only fire kindled by Aemond Targaryen. No longer tied to castle or host, the one-eyed prince was free to fly where he would. It was war as Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters had once waged it, fought with dragonflame, as Vhagar descended from the autumn sky again and again to lay waste to the lands and villages and castles of the riverlords. House Darry was the first to know the prince’s wroth. The men bringing in the harvest burned or fled as the crops went up in flame, and Castle Darry was consumed in a firestorm. Lady Darry and her younger children survived by taking shelter in vaults under the keep, but her lord husband and his heir died on their battlements, together with twoscore of his sworn swords and bowmen. Three days later, it was Lord Harroway’s Town left smoking. Lord’s Mill, Blackbuckle, Buckle, Claypool, Swynford, Spiderwood…Vhagar’s fury fell on each in turn, until half the riverlands seemed ablaze.

("Rhaenyra Triumphant")

[watchtowerindistress]

we are not our demons (20/24) - bruce wayne x batmom

Gif source: janepetras

Author’s note: This chapter had to be split because over 7k is a bit overkill, especially with two big scenes in one chapter - with the Arkham scene before and what happens here.

Now finally the chapter that I've been hyping up to for a long time. It's the one I've been anticipating the most. Shit's gonna get real, guys! We're finally here. This chapter is going to tell you that this book is more about Ellie and Babs while Bruce is more of a supporting player.

Some recurring guest appearances and new characters are happening.

Beta-read by Heidi.

Words: 4.5k

Warning: violence (it's bloody, I'm absolutely serious), anxiety attack, language

Please reblog/leave a comment.

Series Masterlist | Want to be tagged? | Read on AO3

Dull knives Twisting my spine They're taking their time, time Till I lose my mind

- Dull Knives by Imagines Dragons -

This fog creeping around them in broad daylight was really starting to invoke a spooky feeling deep in her stomach. Ellie exhaled heavily and dropped her framed glasses on the dashboard, knowing that she didn’t want any cracks when she’d inevitably face some clowns. Trying to give Harley some privacy in changing into something more comfortable for their battle ahead, Ellie ventured outside and passed the rear of the vehicle.

“Thanks, doll,” Harley’s dull voice echoed from inside.

Popping the hood of the car, Ellie’s gaze met the inside she had stashed for safekeeping. Feeling the heat slowly getting to her, she disrobed her coat and placed it neatly right next to the coveted rucksack in the trunk. Harley’s two-handed weapon—the mallet—was safely stashed by Ivy after they got out of the institution.

Just to be on the safe side while she was waiting a few blocks around the corner of the asylum, Ellie had placed her possession in the back. She couldn’t be blamed for not trusting Harley or even Ivy enough though.

The back-seat doors closing pulled her out of her temporary doubts when Harley’s sparkly voice tingled into Ellie’s ears, “Anyone ever tell you you’re a peach?”

The blonde woman was now sporting a blindingly yellow overall that covered a neon-pink crop top underneath.

Ellie tilted her head at the woman’s choice of vibrant colors. “Did someone ever tell you that you have the subtlety of a literal mallet?”

A flattered smile drew on the corners of her mouth. “Oh, thank you, dearie.”

The roar of a motorcycle advancing from the other side of the harbor, prompted everyone to lift their head at the first sign of danger. Out of reflex, Harley pulled out the mallet out of the trunk and let the head almost dangle on the ground. As the bike got closer, two people were slowly distinguished, one had a metal rod clasped to their back while the other had some sort of weapon bound to the front of the motorcycle.

Their appearance begged the question if they were friend or foe.

Ellie’s own caution was lifted slightly from the tension in Harley’s shoulders easing.

Finally, the tires skid to a halt a few feet away from them. The driver at the front pulled off her helmet, but the revealed face didn’t ring any bells in her head. The woman with the shoulder-long dark hair somewhat looked familiar to Ellie, but she couldn’t for the life of her tell where she had seen that person before. Up close that weapon attached to the front of the bike appeared to be a nifty crossbow.

The second individual detached her covering and disclosed a furious Dinah Lance.

“Are you fucking insane, Rhodes?”

Ellie’s blushing face hinted at the embarrassment she was feeling at finally being discovered. She actually expected the unintended exposure by one of the boys and not when she was so close to the outcome.

Dinah’s outfit should have instantly told her who she was dealing with. Black leather jacket cuffed at her lower arms which layered over a black-and-gold corset top, a long bo-stick clenched in one hand and those fishnet stockings leading down from her hips. The vigilante looked like a dream come true just standing so close to her. Dinah wore punk ankle boots with a flat surface in a black color, fingerless leather gloves and form-fitting tactical pants that were see-through at the sides.

“Of course you’re the Black Canary,” Ellie muttered under her breath. “How did you find us?”

Dinah advanced towards her in all her mad glory. “How about you start talking that you’re suddenly working with the loony bin and being so hell-bent on revenge that you can’t see logic in front of you.”

“Oh, I thought we were friends, little bird,” Harley admonished with an offended tone.

Ellie frowned deeply at their familiarity and turned back towards Dinah.

“You could get hurt,” her somewhat-friend implored her.

Ellie’s hand waved back to her companions. “That’s why I brought reinforcements in the form of a metahuman and that scrappy mercenary behind me.” A movement from the side mirror assured her that, yes, Harley was waving a hand in introduction.

“See, she joined the dark side,” Ivy spoke with a purring quality.

The botanist’s seductive words made Ellie turn her head and send her a dark glare before she shifted back towards Dinah again. Her hand was hovering in a so-and-so motion. “Not really,” she mouthed.

Dinah crossed her arms over her chest, rising to the challenge. “Believe it or not, Babs is my friend, and I’m gonna give it my everything to keep you safe. Even from them.” She tipped her head towards her partners at her back.

Harley took offense again. “Hey!”

Despite her friend’s hurt attitude, Ivy waved her hand away. “None taken.”

“Not to mention that Babs doesn’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Wait, she knows?”

Furrowing her eyebrows in befuddlement again, Ellie received Dinah’s hint when she glanced at something behind her. Gazing over her shoulder and—low and behold—there was a camera atop the embroidered entrance.

“Oracle has been tracking you ever since you visited Arkham this morning. You covered your tracks well, but she got suspicious from that interference in facial recognition. Her eyes are everywhere. We’re coming with you and that’s not up for negotiation.”

Ellie pursed her lips and got the feeling that in the end this would be the best outcome she could hope for. Her eyes swerved to the left and studied the familiar-not familiar? woman next to her. A dark-purple vest shielded her chest, and a variety of weapons such as a gun and a knife were holstered on her right thigh. Her other leg was adorned with bolts, and yep.

Tactical pants.

Maybe Ellie should have thought about fashion choices before coming to her very first extraction mission. She was merely wearing ripped black jeans and a snug vest over her white long-armed shirt.

“And you are?” Ellie gazed into the woman’s emotionless brown eyes when several voices answered for her.

“That’s Helena—”

“Crossbow Killer.”

Ellie’s head turned from one side to another due to the overlapping all-around confusion Harley’s and Dinah’s answer just gave her.

The tall woman rolled her eyes, like this was some sort of recurring vexation she was dealing with.

“That’s not…” she grumbled before her expression turned neutral again. “Huntress. Call me Huntress.”

Ellie waved her hand towards her chest. “Aether.”

“Okay,” came Dinah’s and Helena’s reply after a pause.

“Judging by your vehemence lately,” Ivy purred while leaning with her hip against the open trunk and crossed her arms over the bodysuit made of ivy covering her chest. “you’re not afraid of shying away from a fight.” A curious and assessing expression cast over her face. Ivy’s head was tipped to the side until fiery locks shielded the side of her face. “You think you can keep up with us? Get ready for a fight?”

With everything finally going down, Ellie truly felt the impending fatalism when something was supposed to end. “I can defend myself,” she appraised her own abilities in a humble way.

“Maybe you should stay at the back then,” Helena said with a low timbre. As soon as she saw everyone’s expressions, she backtracked, “As long as there’s always someone covering you, I mean.”

Ellie shrugged her shoulders. “Sounds good to me.”

“You need a weapon?” Harley inquired and clutched her mallet on the back of her neck with her upper arms.

“I have a weapon,” Ellie assured her and walked back to the trunk and loosened the knots of her knapsack.

Harley smirked. “I bet you do. What is your preference? Escrima sticks? Baton?”

“Not really.” At long last, Ellie pulled out the crowbar that displayed she meant business.

She could sense Ivy’s warm breath over her shoulder. “Oh, wow. Someone didn’t come out to play.”

Murmurs of agreement shared that sentiment. When Ellie looked up, she was astonished to meet Harley’s significant stare that was heavy with meaning.

“You’re not intending to make prisoners, huh?”

There was something in her tone of voice that stunned Ellie, and unlike Ivy’s words of appraisal.

“This is for Babs. So, what’s the plan?”

“Ladies, I’ll be your command center for this mission. Listen to my voice and you might survive today,” Oracle’s voice said through the comm link which Dinah had distributed in the form of audio devices.

“Like the vote of confidence, Oracle,” Helena offered when she operated as the lead in the front while almost all of them walked through the winding tunnels of the Funhouse.

Just as discussed, Poison Ivy was chosen to take care of the back and lock the exit with her reinforced vines.

Strange, distorted carnival music echoed from the inside the closer they got to the descending corridor.

“Gotta admit, it’s really strange hearing you as Oracle like this,” Ellie spoke over the connection.

“We’ll talk about this later,” their tech support replied tersely. “Just make sure to watch your head. Joker’s cameras are in a loop, so you should be safe. Move quickly through the Funhouse and follow the path ahead.”

The situation was starting to get to her as Ellie’s heart started to beat vigorously in her chest from the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

Harley was quickly advancing until she was treading next to Helena. Inciting Dinah’s reaction as she looked back at Ellie, she asked quietly, “What is Harley doing?”

Ellie didn’t like where this was going. Her eyes constricted with mounting suspicion.

“Do we trust the Sirens?” Dinah questioned and seemed to share her inner thoughts.

“No, we don’t,” Ellie admitted darkly before her eyes widened.

Harley jumped like a ballerina over the stairs. Her figure was no longer visible when she hollered, “Hello, boys!”

“What the hell?” Helena exclaimed before she swiftly followed behind her.

“Damn it, Harley,” Dinah called out next to her and ran into a sprint. Her long staff swinging side-to-side with every rushed step only exhilarated her own thumping heart while she tried to keep up with her.

The colorful walls felt like a strange illusion, caving in from all sides the closer they got to the commotion taking place. Dinah already leaped over the threshold when Ellie found herself dumbstruck by the wild mess she was encountering. Her eyes widened upon seeing Harley smash her hammer through a guy’s leg and cackle gleefully at the man’s torment as he held his knee to his chest.

“Oh, man up, I didn’t hit you that hard.”

Harley’s arm swung over her shoulder in anticipation like a pro baseball player—bent knees and everything. “Tell me if this stings,” she muttered darkly. A thumping sound was heard right before her clown victim fell to the floor, with a shot to the head.

Harley shrugged mindlessly after receiving no reply. “Guess it doesn’t,” she chortled lightly.

Warmth was spreading on the inside of Ellie’s palms. Her fingers clenched around the metal weapon. The blinding lights were slowly caving in on her. She could only gulp and breathe calmly to get rid of the budding migraine and nausea building in her throat.

Please, not now.

Closing her eyes, the brunette woman gripped the metal tighter in her hand to ground herself. She would not let Strange get to her now. Absent-mindedly, she twirled the rigid weapon with her fingers before she leapt into action. A crouching masked figure pulling out a gun from behind them was when Ellie drew the line.

Ellie sprinted forward. Just as he noticed her flourishing attack and pointed his weapon on her, the woman’s sharp side of her hand thrust against his windpipe. Barely reacting to the clown’s wheezing breath, Ellie used his hunkered posture to jump on his shoulders and forced him to fall to his knees as the inside of her legs choked him out. Instantly, she rolled him forward to clamp her upper thighs around his arm.

Breathing heavily now through her nose, Ellie’s mind quieted down and calmly zeroed on one thing.

Am I really doing this?

Hesitation warred on her features before she remembered something. It’s us or them.

The man shrieked in agony as soon as she looked underneath after she heard the bones in his arm snapping.

Dinah’s heavy boots advanced closer. Her stormy gaze was the last thing she saw before she slammed her boot against his face, rendering him unconscious.

Ellie’s legs relaxed at her sides from the budding adrenaline. Ellie didn't give the offered hand much thought when she accepted her support in lifting her up.

“Solid,” Dinah told her with a curt nod in appreciation.

Ellie exhaled. Her stamina wasn’t the best there was. “Ditto,” she replied with just as much conviction.

Something caught her out of the corner of her eye. Ellie turned her head towards Helena and felt her heart speed up at the danger the short-haired vigilante was in.

“Huntress, behind you!” Ellie shouted in warning and watched in rapt fascination. Without a beat, Helena shot behind her with a turned wrist before proceeding like nothing worthy of note just happened.

Oracle’s voice in her ear captured the situation perfectly, “Great work, guys. I forgot how fun it was to work with you, girls.”

“Let’s keep moving, guys,” Dinah commanded with an authoritative tone, shifting her staff to her other gloved hand.

Caught off guard by the decision, Harley halted her repeated actions of bashing a person’s leg. He was already knocked out when Harley turned her head in surprise. Her widened blue eyes completed the picture of a crazed maniac.

“Oh, alright.” The handle of her mallet was braced against her shoulders. “But can’t we just break some people’s faces?”

“Harley, focus,” Dinah reminded her and walked ahead through the passageway. Helena and Ellie followed behind her while Harley nearly pressed her fingers together.

“Just a teensy bit then?”

Dinah gazed back at her and repeated the gesture. “Maybe a teensy tiny bit.”

“Yes,” Harley exclaimed in delight and thrust her elbows to her stomach.

Utter carnage followed in their wake when the women jumped from a gargantuan plastic clown head sitting idly on the ground. Exerted grunts and the Canary cry ahead of her path rang in her ears as their enemies flew against the walls with the concussive force of her meta-ability. Bodies littered the hallway that was covered with flimsy see-through wooden walls when Ellie passed them in her quest to catch up to the girls.

The hint that something was utterly wrong only came far too late when she heard something rustle behind her. Ellie felt the cold steel against her neck before she was yanked into the hard chest of someone.

“Would you look at th—?”

The unfamiliar male voice forced Helena and Dinah to twist their bodies around. Huntress’s bow already pointed towards them. Dinah’s knees were bent in attack and the fingers of her left hand were shaped into claws at her sides while she brandished her weapon in the other.

Not interested at all in that bad guy monologue, Ellie sent her new-found friends a meaningful glance before she motioned with barely a nod. The brunette clutched the hand which held the knife to her throat and threw her head back with enough force to elicit a satisfying crunch.

Thankfully, all that training Nyssa put her through felt like second nature now.

Using that imbalance to her advantage, Ellie shoved the sharp metal into his upper thigh and heard his pained whining noise echo in her eardrums. Not wanting to waste any more time, Ellie thrust the crowbar into his shoulder to push his already wounded face into her kneecap. Using every ounce of fury inside her into hurting him.

With a grunt, she flung him behind her towards the girls with a roll backwards. Without gazing back to ensure they got the job done, Ellie laid on her back and only heard a sonic scream before Helena’s arrow fired through the air to shield her from any other attacks.

She was kneeling on the floor when she turned her upper body around and just in time to watch the clown’s body crumple to the floor. The sensation of razor blades jostling behind her eyelids, made her squeeze her eyes shut to quell this blinding headache. Those blinding lights felt like stings on her temple before a pained wince finally left her lips.

The two vigilantes must have noticed something was utterly wrong with Ellie when she was still kneeling on the floor with her fingertips pinching on her temples.

“You okay, Rhodes?”

Ellie was breathing heavily while she tried to pull herself out of those flashbacks of facing Strange. It felt like she was still in Arkham, losing her ability to breathe again.

“I—I—I don’t—”

“I’ll take care of her,” Helena promised darkly.

Ellie didn’t see how Dinah reacted due to having her eyes tightly squeezed shut and only heard heavy boots stomping towards her—Helena’s, she presumed.

“Are you having an anxiety attack?” She heard her utter carefully.

Ellie breathed through her nose as she tried to calm herself down. “PTSD,” she decided to reveal which was the closest thing to explain her current condition.

She could feel Helena’s warmth in front of her when the tall woman consoled her with a serene voice, “Breathe calmly. Tell me where you are.”

“Funhouse,” Ellie muttered quietly after a few seconds.

“Breathe in through your nose and tell me three things you see, hear and feel with your senses.”

Ellie blinked rapidly and felt her heart still hammering in her chest. Giving it her everything to get back to the present. “Walls—colorful. I hear … Harley’s laughter down the hall and … feel this even texture under my fingertips.”

Her headache was only a dull sensation once her eyes no longer suffered under that brightness. Only tears remained in the corners. Helena’s brown eyes were the first thing she looked into as soon as her heart was thudding at a more neutral pace.

“Better now?”

Ellie shook her head since it didn’t matter at the moment. “We need to move.”

Helena’s eyes were wide in astonishment. “As soon as you paused for air. We may be a lot of things, but we’re not reckless.”

Nodding to herself, Ellie assured her, “I can breathe again, trust me.” Every time she had one of those migraines that would shock her to the core, flashbacks to her time with Strange would resurface. Making it hard for her to breathe.

Helena furrowed her brows at her choice of words. “If you’re sure.” Her eyes were constricted in some remnant of doubt and willingly let Ellie touch her arm to lift her up from her crouching position. Slowly starting to sense the tiredness in her bones, Ellie realized that the following morning was going to be a bitch.

Agitation darkened in Ellie’s eyes while she shook her head at herself. “I’m fine.”

Dinah’s concerned face which was seen through the gaps in the walls was directed at them.

“Guys, what’s taking so long? Am I supposed to kill all the bad guys on my own?” Harley’s childish voice sounded from around the corner.

There was something throbbing on her cheek. Ellie must have gotten hurt in the altercation just now. “Please don’t tell me we’re letting her have all of the fun by herself,” she teasingly offered.

Helena snorted with a smirk—a rare occurrence on that face with a usual blank expression.

Dinah tipped her head towards the badly renovated corridor. “No way. And we’re no killers here, Harley!”

“How boring.”

As soon as they caught up to Harley who was fighting an armada of bad guys surrounding her, Ellie noticed the open mouth of another clown contraption. She was getting the impression that they were getting close.

A manic man with the mask of a jester wildly ran towards the mouth entrance and entered the tongue when he nervously croaked, “No, no, no. Gotta warn Mr. J—”

Harley thought none of that when she threw her hammer head-first at him. Her head tilted to the side while she observed him with deep fascination while his body fell between the teeth of the entrance. Harley’s weapon slid on the even surface until the painted reddish smile on the head gazed back at them with a stop.

A few strays didn’t see themselves defeated yet, especially as a clown silently approached Harley from behind.

Sighing quietly, Ellie rushed forward and glided on her knees effortlessly until she swung her body around and with the twist of her hand, thrust her crowbar into his back. Like a sack of flour, the man fell head forward on the left of Harley.

Surprised by the rude interruption, the blue-eyed woman exclaimed, “Hey!” and put her hands on her hips in mock outrage. Ellie was still on her knees behind Harley when she turned her head in astonishment and gazed back at her.

“You know, you and me, I could imagine us being friends. Do you feel that too?”

Ellie smiled back disarmingly. “You know, maybe ask me later when your face is not covered in blood, huh?”

Harley carelessly shrugged and turned around, like it was no big deal. “It’s part of my charm, doll.”

In the meantime, Helena brought it upon herself to grab Harley’s weapon and threw it right back to her.

“Let’s get this over with, shall we?”

~ Barbara POV ~

Barbara licked her lips. Only the glare of her computer display lit up the lair she had built for herself. She took another sip from her to-go cup to fill her stomach.

Usually, for operations she didn’t mind eating any fast food she could get her hands into, but this time her legs were spasming from this tension in her body that only soft drinks helped.

Who’d have thought that the day came when Barbara Gordon would feel the effects of suspense getting to her?

And she absolutely hated it.

Her hands settled on the armrest of her wheelchair when she leaned back. A bout of apathy blossomed inside her when the grainy black and white footage from the inside of the Funhouse revealed the vigilantes pushing through the maze.

Joker’s last line of defense was located on the ground below when Barbara spoke into the comms, “Almost there. Jump down the pipe and move straight up the stairs.” Her eyes lingered on Joker’s green eyes overseeing his henchmen. ��Joker’s waiting for you,” she mumbled tersely.

“Copy, Oracle,” Huntress replied and moved ahead as they fought against their opponents. Canary jumped ahead and twirled her staff through the air. She got three enemies in one go with her successive attacks before her sonic scream finished the job.

Barbara watched everything with something akin to lethargy as Joker shoved an underling in front of him to shield his body and escape.

“I do hope you didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye first,” Ivy teased darkly after she hovered above the stairs from the other side with the help of her vines to ward off his escape. Her voice turned into a different cadence. “Forgive me, Oracle, for not divulging my process as soon as I was done.”

“You’re here now,” Barbara replied, so no harm was done in her eyes.

“Oracle?” Joker inquired with the tilt of his head. “Who the hell is Oracle?”

“She’s our friend,” Harley spoke resolutely and stomped towards him.

His manic eyes settled with slow and startling realization on the tainted weapon Aether was carrying in her hand. His head cocked to the side at that bloodied piece of metal. The question, ‘And who are you?’ emanated from his fascinated eyes. Joker giggled crazily. Either at seeing Harley freed or just the idea of her hurting him. “Harley? What are you do—?”

“And good night!” With one swing fixated on his head, the green-dyed lunatic fell to his knees before he shook his head. Green locks danced in the air.

“Huh, thought that’d do it,” Harley muttered under her breath.

“Let’s finish this,” Dinah replied. Her fingers clenched into fists when she stood knees apart. Her sonic cry came in soft waves towards him. It sounded more like an unbearable peeping sound close to the frequency of a dog whistle. Droplets of blood streamed relentlessly from his nostrils before his ears turned bloody as well.

Joker giggled once his fingers touched the dark liquid. “Is there more where that came from?”

Ellie frowned. Before she could say something, Ivy called forth her vines and tightened around his body, rendering him almost immobile.

“This is for my friend,” Helena muttered.

Harley followed her example by smashing her hammer against his body. But Joker only giggled maniacally. Like there was nothing funnier than taking a beating.

“Wait!” Ellie finally regained her voice after seeing the mayhem they wanted to unleash. His laughter only intensified, making it impossible for the others to hear her. “This isn’t doing anything.”

Maybe there was a point to Bruce’s refusal for this kind of vengeance.

“Disagree,” Harley muttered under heaving breaths. “This is the best part of the catharsis.”

“Joker is psychotic. Pain is different for people like him. You’re hurting yourself more than you’re hurting him.” Ellie’s pleading eyes glanced around until they landed on the corner of the ceiling. “Oracle, please. It doesn’t have to be like this. This won’t end. We can find ways to make him suffer without losing ourselves in the process.” Tears pooled in her eyes at the idea of her friends getting lost in this vicious cycle of revenge. “Please.”

Silence echoed on the other end of the comm link until Barbara’s voice muttered without emotion, “Ivy. Your veins – choke him out until he loses consciousness.”

Ellie breathed out and felt relieved when the green roots tightened around his neck until the Joker’s body fell limp to the floor.

Barbara leaned back while her eyes focused on nothing. She was breathing heavily through her nose since she couldn’t grasp the consequences yet. Or maybe she just felt too tired to truly appreciate it.

A/N: First appearance of Huntress. The characters of Helena and Dinah are merely inspired by trailers and clips I've seen, but I still hope you'll be satisfied by the depiction. I actually re-did the fancast version I previously wrote about Dinah (long platinum hair), just in case the fandom really loves Jurnee's portrayal.

Harley tilting her head was like a nod to Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight. Just imagine those two together.

Writing from Babs' POV felt necessary and was an interesting change of pace since I didn't know how to write the end scene, hope you're not mad that I showed her in this chapter already.

I hope you're not disappointed that I didn't resolve this with Batman taking care of business. I felt it was more important that this was about Babs, and no one else (well, maybe the Birds of Prey). The ending was slightly changed - in a previous draft Harley merely thwacks his head. I felt like all of them needed that confrontation while Ellie needed that realization of not needing it the most.

Tagging: @mellowstatesmanhandsempath​ @ravenmoore14​ @alwayshave-faith​ @ikranfuad​ @daydreaming-gemini​ @bluegalaxyprime​ @liadamerondjarin​ @steph21369 @andrewswifes-blog​  @yanna-banana​  @blackmagicwoman

[acourtofthought]

Dude u are too defensive w/Elain. Thinking she could have a story where she fucks up isn’t an attack. Nesta & prob Azriel can show us that. Let people be. Right now there is more evidence that Elain is hiding something over Gwyn that’s just how it is in SF. There is no reason to think Gwyn is being manipulated by Meril they don’t get along. That all doesn’t make Gwyn better just means Elain’s story is bigger. U say u like Gwyn but make everything a competition btwn her and Elain

I am defensive of Elains character, just as other readers are defensive of their own personal favorites. At the end of the day, I am a Pro Elain and Pro Lucien fan first and foremost. And while both do have their individual faults (they are too hesitant to speak up in certain situations and have avoidant personalities) I think they are intelligent enough that when making decisions for themselves, they wouldn't end up unknowingly manipulated by someone. Because when pushed, they do speak up for themselves and what they feel is wrong. And neither seems swayed by fake people or false promises. Could I be wrong? Of course but it's how I see the characters as they've been written so far.

And as I've stated in a previous post, there are EQUAL hints that Elain and Gwyn COULD BOTH have a secret side to them. Just because you haven't picked up on them for Gwyn doesn't mean they don't exist. I just personally think there are other explanations for those hints that don't suggest either is "Evil" or being manipulated which is different than a casual mistake. When people are talking about evil Elain, they're talking about her being selfish to the point that it would result in her betraying her family and friends, even if that wasn't her intention. Her being naive and thinking she can prove to them all how capable she is so she ends up doing something stupid. Needing others to save her from a major fuck up. That's not a "mistake". That's a pretty big issue with huge repercussions. And yes, at times it absolutely is an attack because I've seen those same people make comments about how they can't stand Elain or don't really like her.

And it's not the same as the "mistakes" other characters like Az have made. It's the kind where everyone would further doubt a character who they already doubt and infantilize her even more. Which is already enough of an issue for Elain as is.

And Gwyn doesn't need to be best buds with Merrill to be manipulated by her. Canonically, Gwyn is nervous around Merrill and worried about making mistakes around her. Which could lead to negative consequences in her efforts to not disappoint her. You see Elains behavior as sus based on your interpretation but I can see how the same could be said of Gwyn. I just don't think that's the direction SJM would go with her.

I do like Gwyn's character however there are times, based on arguments I've seen, that pointing out the similarities between the two is important for my own post.

You say competition but the difference is, I'm not trying to prove why one is better but why they actually have a lot of similarities and why (in my opinion) some of the Pro Gwyn statements being made can also be used for Elain versus the people who try to build up Gwyn while simultaneously tearing Elain down. It's a trend I've noticed across the fandom and it's something I felt like addressing. I'm sorry it bothers you but, maybe you can understand why I in turn might be bothered by the things I've read.

I have to say, you're obviously not a fan of the fact that I'm defensive over Elain but this feels like a pot calling the kettle black situation because you seem very defensive of Gwyn when it's suggested there are hints that she could end up being manipulated.

Which is the point I was making in my post. That the suggestion that a character we like being manipulated and unintentionally doing harm to the other characters is not something we like to imagine as a possibility. Claiming Elain is a more likely suspect based on canon is not something I agree with because I've seen enough "motive" and "textual hints" for every remaining character to go this route. They've all been wronged and lost something, they all have moments that we can't quite explain yet or that suggest there's more to the story than we're getting.

I just don't think when we finally get the full story it's going to be that they inadvertently screwed everyone else over in a way that's really hard to come back from and puts the others in harms way.