#carrying on the legacy of Cain

[assumptionprime]

I need to rant about the Fallout show

Because this is the person I am. Full spoilers, so I’m putting it behind a Keep Reading:

I’m a huge sucker for Fallout (yes even 3&4). And I went into the Fallout show with some… trepidation. Amazon has been a mixed bag on adaptations, we could have been blessed with a Good Omens, or cursed by a Rings of Power. But early buzz and reviews seemed positive, so I slammed the whole thing in one night with my spouse (we were staying at my in-laws house and they have Prime. Time was a factor.)

And y’know? I was really enjoying it! The characters were fun, the plot was engaging enough, and the costumes and visual design were extremely on point. There were some minor lore quibbles to be had: Ghouls needing some kind of medicine to not go feral. Really, more Enclave holdouts? Timeline and date whoopsies. Wait are they in California? Where the hell is the NCR?

I made a face at Shady Sands being bombed and the NCR collapsing. But I wasn’t completely out of the story. Based on what I had seen so far, I thought it was building to a reveal that the Brotherhood had done it. That the more zealous turn they took in Fallout 4, which has clearly carried to how they are portrayed in the show, lead them to bombing the NCR. War never changes, as they say. Maximus even says when asked what happened to Shady Sands: “The same thing that always happens.” Yeah, it leans into Bethesda’s weird desire to keep the Fallout world in a state of perpetual wastelands full of raiders and no civilization, but it wasn’t so terrible that I couldn’t still enjoy the show.

But then.

BUT THEN.

Episode 8, and the reveal of Vault-Tec apparently being the ones who dropped the first bomb in the Great War.

I was surprised to hear that some fans have apparently been debating over who fired first? Some even asked Tim Cain about it?

That’s really odd to me because, in the games, there is already a pretty definitive answer to which side sparked the Great War:

Who fucking cares?

The world ended. What does it matter who shot first?

There is no China, no United States, no communists or capitalists left to fight about it. 

It's a powerful little bit of lore.

For all the posturing, all the promises from each nation that their way is the true way, all the nationalism, the militarism, and blind loyalty to flags over humanity, they both lost. Everyone lost. All that remains of the ideologies and nations that were so important to the people of 2077 is faint echoes over vast expanses of radioactive ash.

Who started the end?

No one knows. No one cares.

It only matters that their conflict was so bitter, so all-consuming, that one of them dropped their bombs, and the other dropped theirs in return.

The truest legacy of the old world is the devastation left by their final, most horrific war.

Can we do better?

Then the show says "Nah, Vault-Tec did it. It's not a commentary on human nature and the futility of self-destructive conflict, it was actually these guys, these mustache twirling villains huddled in a darkened room literally plotting to end the whole world so they can rule what's left."

And I can see the attempt to make this a critique of capitalism. I actually paused the show to praise a bit of writing when Coop is talking with Charlie before the war, when Charlie tells him that the “cattle ranchers are in charge” to illustrate how capitalism and corporations hold too much sway over the government, it felt very in line with how in New Vegas one of the recurring critiques of the NCR is that all the real power is in the hands of the “brahmin barons.” Nice parallel, spot on!

But “we’ll set off total thermonuclear war so we can rule the ashes and have a True Monopoly” isn’t capitalism. It’s just dumb “we’re the baddies” writing.

And then Shady Sands was also Vault-Tec?! Forget any meaning in the NCR falling to the same corruption and/or factional fighting that consumed the old world, they were literally just bombed by the evil shadow conspiracy that apparently also killed the old world. Hank gives this speech about factions fighting and the futility of it all while we see the Brotherhood fighting Moldaver’s NCR remnant, and like, no! You can’t say that when you’ve made it so neither the old world or the NCR fell to war with another faction! It was you! You and your band of cryogenic supervillains!

I don't care that they changed it. Timelines and dates and little retcons don’t bother me all that much. I care that they changed it to something so much worse.

[justvora]

Cassandra Cain should be BATMAN.

Art credits: Karahuset

Honestly, I am not going to expand much on this, even though I could do an essay.

Cassandra Cain should be Batman and take his place and role. Not a "she should be in an alternate future?" No. She should be him in the current continuity, and there's nothing that annoys me more than seeing how in hundreds of elseworlds they've made Damian Batman, but Cass has been left stuck in his legacy.

Why? Simply sexism.

Helena Wayne already said it at the time: the bat is a symbol, an indistinct mantle depending on gender or whatever. Batman is a symbolic figure, not a person, but a legionary entity that exists thanks to its myths, thanks to urban legends.

"She could be Batgirl, or Batwoman", no, darling, no. Those are completely unrelated legacies no matter how much they stick to the Batman nexus. They serve a completely different book in which their own story is told, ceasing to be the pages of someone else's book. And Cass is the only one capable of taking the Bat's book to capture her story there and continue that legacy, not being an extension of it, but a central part of it.

Kate Kane (taking into account the post-crisis continuity) was a self-destructive woman who was expelled from the army for having relations with her roommate and who saw in Batman the inspiration to become a vigilante herself, so she took her military knowledge to create her own "symbol", wearing a completely different mantle that, even so, was based on and inspired by the Bat's icon.

Likewise, the Batgirl title was born in a completely different form and, in the future, she would become an assistant to the Bat-family. Barbara Gordon started in a casual, spontaneous and independent way, wanting to "annoy" her father at a party, but everything would take a turn when she would end up acting more like a heroine in a given moment to stop Killer Moth.

Those are mantles that were born detached from that of Batman himself but that, in the end, have intertwined and crossed. The point is that they do not have the same meaning, nor do they represent the same thing within the fight against crime. In the end it's digging into unnecessary technicalities, but the point is that if Cassandra should inherit a mantle it would be the core one, that of the Bat itself to become "The Bat".

Cassandra Cain is the one who has taken the symbol more seriously than anyone else. The one who most adheres to the no-kill rule. The most apt and who has the best attitude for it.

With this I do not detract from characters like Dick, Jason or Tim, as they are building their own legacy and history away from what has been the history of the Bat.

In the past it was said that she lacked other skills to take up the mantle, yet Batman himself claimed that she was best suited to take up his mantle when needed. She could very well team up with her siblings to do the job, or co-exist with another Batman to complement their skills and increase the fear of criminals given the possibility that "Batman is everywhere".

But I actually consider Cassandra to have very good detective skills. Perhaps not as refined, but her past and the fact that she has been a murderer (even if she canonically only took someone's life) gives her the knowledge of how to prevent murders, both by her hand and by the hand of others; that is, she knows what to do not to kill and still reduce those who have done evil; and, likewise, she knows how a murderer will act, which helps her when it comes to solving criminal cases.

The fact that she has stained her hands only once makes her carry a great weight on her. Among so many things, she became Batgirl to redeem herself and give meaning to an empty life, absent of identity (something that did her a lot of psychological damage, which is why Babs wanted her to develop on a social level so that Cass wouldn't be so isolated); and that's why, more than anyone else, she doesn't want a single person to die. She doesn't want to shed blood in vain, and from the beginning she always put herself before bullets by sacrificing herself (although this was something she did in a "death wish" kind of way, something I personally don't buy into because of how stale it comes across, being a trope of the time, but it still demonstrates her calling and sacrifice for heroism).

She takes the rule of killing more seriously than absolutely anyone else.

"Nobody dies tonight."

"Okay, but... She does not have the deductive reasoning. She is not a skilled tactician. She has no skill at mind games on either side of them."

#1 Bruce Wayne: Fugitive storyline. When everyone figured Bruce was a murderer, Cass was one of the few who didn't write Bruce off. She looked at the victim's body and saw the first clue to Bruce's innocence.

#2 Skilled tactician. She studied tapes of the Brotherhood of Evil in action after her prior loss to them. She studied them so much the next time they fought she owned the three members that attacked her.

No mind games you say? Tell it to Deathstroke who she played mind games with owning him twice.

All this not to mention her body language skills, something that not only makes her a superior fighter to anyone, being the first person who could beat Lady Shiva in a completely fair one-on-one, but also a human lie detector as she is able to recognize the truths and secrets that people hide deep inside. This makes her a completely empathetic girl by understanding people's emotions better than anyone else, making her a more tactful girl.

Anyway those are characteristics to fulfill the bare minimum of being Batman, and she goes above and beyond. It's not just that they meet the necessary skills, or that she has the necessary attitude, determination and self-sacrifice, but that she is the best fit. Cassandra is an equal for Bruce, a reflection of his very person in a good way, though there is one thing Cass can still do unlike Bruce at the expense of all the years he carries on his back: Cassandra can change and be a full person. It is her ability to grow, mature and understand life under a full perception, because thanks to an upbringing next to a real family she can understand the world around her to be a self-made person.

She is not driven by revenge, but by justice. She is not hate, but love and hope.

Cassandra is a woman who believes in giving people a second chance, because she believes in redemption, in change.

Likewise, and to conclude, in the current continuity it is confirmed that Cass is not only Bruce Wayne's daughter (this is indirectly implied in her dialogue with Dinah), but that she is "everyone's favorite Batman".

“ Everyone experiences tragedy. Tim. Bruce. You and me. It's not about the city. It's about how you choose to see the world. Everything else is just an excuse. ”

[green-skulls-with-lavender-eyes]

Batfam Headcanons: Jason Lives and Tim Still Joins Edition

Jason survives Ethiopia but gets seriously injured and benched. Bruce is in a dark place, and Tim tries to convince Dick to come back as Robin. Dick says no, so naturally, Tim offers himself up as a “temporary” Robin while Jason recovers

Jason and Tim do not get along. With only two years between them, they see each other as equals, not as “cute little brother, reliable big brother” at least not yet

They fight over everything

• Dick’s attention: Jason’s mad that Dick spends time with Tim. Tim is desperate for Dick’s approval.

• Who’s the better Robin: Jason’s the rough-and-tumble street kid; Tim’s the intellectual strategist. They constantly compete to prove who’s the superior Robin.

• Alfred’s food: Jason always tries to snag extra servings, and Tim’s quick to call him out. Alfred just shakes his head, dealing with them like they’re toddlers.

• After Jason’s injury, Dick gets super protective. He starts treating Jason like he’s fragile and pushes Tim way too hard. Jason hates being babied, and Tim resents how much care Jason gets. Both think the other is Dick’s favorite.

• During No Man’s Land, Tim takes a more active role since Jason’s still out of commission. Tim feels completely overwhelmed, while Jason’s stuck on the sidelines, watching Tim do what he should be doing.

• When Jason recovers, they have to share the Robin mantle, and neither is happy about it. Jason becomes known as “The Gotham Robin” since he rarely leaves Batman’s side or Gotham. Tim, meanwhile, gets called “The Flying Robin” because he’s constantly seen with Young Justice and outside Gotham. They hate these nicknames.

• Then Damian arrives. Jason and Tim, bitter rivals, suddenly form a truce because this kid needs to be taken down a peg. Damian, being Damian, immediately targets Jason, seeing him as the one closest to Batman. Tim is slightly relieved Damian isn’t gunning for him (for now).

• When Bruce disappears, Tim is convinced Bruce is alive but decides to stay in Gotham to help hold things down. Meanwhile, Jason goes rogue, launching his own mission to find Bruce. He takes up the mantle of Red Robin and gets involved with the League of Assassins.

• Tim, realizing he’s outgrown Robin, takes on the identity of Red Wing in homage to his hero, Dick Grayson. Since Nightwing’s mantle is unavailable, he figures this is his chance to carry on a piece of Dick’s legacy.

• Barbara is the one keeping everything together, as usual. She doesn’t get caught up in the Jason/Tim drama, but she’s the glue that holds the Batfamily from completely falling apart.

• Cassandra Cain watches the rivalry unfold but rarely steps in. Her silent presence is enough to get both boys to stop fighting when necessary, and they both secretly fear her disapproval more than they’ll admit.

• Stephanie Brown enjoys watching the chaos. She’s Tim’s friend but finds Jason’s unpredictable energy entertaining. She’s always around with a witty comment to lighten the mood.

• Duke Thomas gets pulled into the madness when he joins the family, and he’s not sure why these two are always at each other’s throats. He’s just trying to survive the day without getting caught in their rivalry.

• When Bruce finally returns, the family is a little less tense. Jason and Tim have matured, and while their rivalry still exists, it’s more playful than hostile. The Batfamily isn’t perfect, but they’re starting to settle into a slightly less chaotic dynamic.

[earlgodwin]

thinking about rodrigo favoring his sons differently, choosing juan as the son whom he relives his youth into, the heir he could live vicariously through - women, wine, etc. while choosing cesare as the son to whom he planned as heir and passed down the borgia family's papal bloodline, destined to carry the family by becoming a pope. both brothers played crucial, intertwined parts in rodrigo's grand design. cesare represented the future, while juan represented the past, and the future cannot exist without the foundations of the past (as in cesare wouldn't have become the papal army leader without killing juan, sealing the mark of cain). as much as rodrigo loved his sons, he did deliberately create discord and envy. at times, praising one while threatening the other. in one moment, he hugs cesare and laments the fact that his course in the church has kept his son from achieving his goals. but later he pokes him with the fact that prince djem has become juan's "brother in arms." with juan, rodrigo boasts about cesare's hypercompetence and threatens him to give his position to cesare. rodrigo sure did love his sons, but ultimately, his own ambitions overruled any concern he might have had for them and the positions he trapped them into. the flavorsome part is that rodrigo, expressing what has been clear from the very beginning, that cesare is his confidant, the one he could count on in a world full of enemies, always by his side advising him. unconsciously, he was the one rodrigo valued the most, and his way of manipulation and ruthless machiavellian approach to serve his own ambitions and legacy has also passed down to his older son. did rodrigo love juan? yes he did! he was heartbroken after his death and his guilt has been eating him up as he blamed himself for setting juan in opposition to his brother. he did love all his children, but he loved the idea of juan more than the person, while cesare was the one whose love for him was genuine without being untainted by wishful thinking and guilt.

[vitentia]

KILL YOUR DARLINGS .lıllıl.

pairings ━━ abby anderson x seraphite!fem!reader (no race mentioned or described), platonic!lev + reader, platonic!yara + reader

warnings ━━ violence, cursing, religious trauma, Owen (TRIGGER WARNING⚠️)

synopsis ━━ being the descendent of a religious cults “prophet” wasn’t as fun as it sounded, if it sounded fun at all. constant worship alongside constant punishment meant you were far beyond saving, far beyond any hope for a real, normal life. or, at least, that’s what you thought. before Abby, there was nothing left for you. now? everything has changed.

playlist ━━ ptolemaea by ethel cain, family tree by ethel cain

“Please don’t do this.” You begged desperately, your plead falling on purposefully deaf ears as the larger woman dragging you in front of the burning car and forced you on your hands and knees.

“I granted you leeway for this one,” she pointed above you to the hanging dead man on the tree, “but not this one. It is your duty to fulfill the prophets legacy, you will not fail her because you are weak minded.” She hissed in your ear.

Just then, two men dragged in the body of an unconscious girl, carelessly dropping her on the overgrown cement. She groaned and lifted her head, making eye contact with you before looking up to see the bodies of those she once knew.

“I’m not weak and I do follow her teachings. Just not the ones you made up.” Those words earned you a slap to the face, unwillingly causing your head to turn sideways.

The woman bent down to your fallen position and ruthlessly gripped your cheeks in her hands, likely trying to form a bruise. “You will do this, whether you want to or not.”

She grabbed your forearm and pulled you up to your feet, she stood behind you and forced you to grip the knife tightly in your fist as she pushed you forward. The hung woman with the blonde braid attempted to move away from the blade, her breaths coming out shallow for fear of her life and your own.

The struggle between you and Emily only came to a halt when the tip of the blade was rested against the hanging girls abs, you feared you’d only make her suffer more if you continued struggling.

You lifted your eyes to meet her pleading one’s. “I’m sorry.” You whispered.

Emily whispered the final prayer message from behind you, pushing your hand closer until a series of whistles paused her movements. She gestured towards the men beside you to go deal with the problem and took the knife out of your hands, pushing you against a nearby tree.

“Don’t run, you know what’ll happen.” She threatened you and turned her attention onto the men carrying in another body.

Except this body wasn’t one of the WLF, it was Yara. The Yara you turned yourself in to buy more time for Lev.

You could only watch in paralyzing horror as they held Yara down and attempted to question her about her brother. When they didn’t get the answer they wanted, Emily demanded they “clip her wings.” Your ears buzzed at the trigger word and sent you straight to your feet, nearing Emily’s back when she abruptly lifted her hand and struck you down with one blow.

She looked down at you triumphantly, “You may be good at killings demons, but don’t think you could ever strike me down, child.”

Cornered and alone with weapons available, you could only try to hold on to what little breaths you had left as you were forced to listen to Yara’s screams that echoed along the trees. A witness to the atrocities committed by your ancestors followers.

Helpless, your eyes lifted up to the hanging girl, wondering what her fate would be after the seraphites were done with you and Yara. Yet another life you couldn’t save. Despite the darkness, she looked back at you, a conflict within them.

Right as one of the men lifted his hand to break the girls other arm, a smooth arrow cut through the air and straight through his cheek, the other going into his chest and sending him down. Everyone looked towards the direction of the shot and missing the subtle way Yara’s free hand slipped into the hammer and shoved it into the other man’s neck with a cry.

Once your initial shock had worn off, you threw your entire body into Emily’s frame after she raised her gun in Yara’s direction. A shot rang off and Emily threw you off of her, both of you pulling into a guarded standing position as her gun lay only a few feet away.

She scoffed, “You will never be her.”

Instead of your eyes flickering towards the distant weapon, they looked up at the hanging girl. Together, you both knew what to do.

You took one deep breath before directly running into Emily’s body, shoving your elbow into the softest part of her body and knocking her backwards only a few feet. The hanging girl wrapped her thighs around Emily’s neck and held her there as you took the hammer from Yara’s hand and stood in front of the woman that had tormented and pushed you for years now.

You raised the hammer above your head, “I never wanted to be.” And pierced the sharp end through her skull.

The hanging girl pushed Emily’s body out from under her and accidentally dropped the bucket from under herself. Just as you raised your hand to help, Yara’s bloody hand wrapped around your shoulder in a desperate attempt to stand up.

You wrapped your arm around her waist right when Lev came out of the shadows and confirming who you thought it was.

“Lev, cut her down!” You ordered, carrying Yara over to an area where she could sit comfortably.

“But she’s one of them-“

“Now, Lev!”

The boy used the knife in his pocket and cut the rope, dropping the hanging girl. You and Lev switched places, your attention being driven away from Yara and onto the blonde girl who was still trying to catch her breath.

You pulled the rope up over her neck and quickly checked for any major injuries. “Are you okay? Can you breathe?”

“I’m breathing so yeah, I’m great.” She coughed, her eyes angrily looking over at Emily’s dead body and ripping the axe from her head.

You tried not looking at her arms and instead focused your ears on nearby infected, or demons, as you called them. Together, you all stood facing the woods and preparing for the bloodshed of demons coming at you.

“Watch your backs.”

☾

While silence consumed the four of you in the old trailer, your eyes slowly lingered around Abby. First, they landed on her muscles, bit of personal indulgence on your part but still, it added to her beauty. Then, they followed the one strand of blonde hair out of place, wisping past her forehead and occasionally being tucked behind her ear when she got sick of it. Lastly, your eyes trained on her face, her eyes specifically.

Her eyes were special, they were not like yours. Color nor size didn’t matter because Abby held an internal conflict you knew low of. Here she was, a wolf, helping her supposed “enemy” who somehow also helped her. She faced the struggle of going back to her people, ratting on you three and possibly getting a pat on the back ir promotion, or staying here and making sure you were all safe.

She chose neither.

“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay?” You questioned her, walking her towards the trailer door.

She chuckled, amused. “Shouldn’t I be saying that to you?”

“I mean, are you going to be okay alone? I won’t be there to protect you from any more demons, you know?” You joked, bringing a smile to her tense face.

“How did you get so good at killing those things anyway? Thought Scars were too busy killing us to focus on them.”

“Seraphites. My ancestor, the prophet, she was skilled in killing demons. I guess it kinda passed on-“

“Wait, you- you’re the…daughter of the prophet the Scars worship?” Abby interrupted, flabbergasted.

“Seraphites and yes- no, not her daughter, i-it’s complicated.” You stumbled your words, and crossed your hands front of you. “But if you stay I can tell you all about it…?” You tried.

She smiled sadly, taking a deep breath of consideration before ultimately shaking her head. “I’m sorry, I really should be going.”

You let out a sad sigh but nodded understandingly and opened the door for her. “You won’t be reporting us to your leaders, right?”

She looked back at you in surprise, almost offended. “No, of course not. But hey-“ she leaned in closer to you, “this area gets a lot of traffic so whatever condition she’s in, you have to leave by tomorrow.”

Looking back at Yara, you nodded. “I understand. Thank you, Abby.”

With one last longing look behind her, Abby kept moving.

However, even when Owen occupied her makeshift bed, her mind was occupied by you. You both hanging from the tree with your insides on the outside and your gentle hands helping her fix a superficial wound in her arm. It was all very confusing, this new feeling. Because it wasn’t new at all. In fact, this is the exact feeling she had been trying to replicate when she pushed her lips against Owens the night before, a feeling she once had for him, a feeling now stolen by another.

So, she went back.

Back to you. A goddamn Seraphite.

Upon overhearing another Scar talk about the “descendent” and the “apostle”, she made sure to swiftly handle them and rush herself in the direction of the trailer she left you in. A sense of pride came over her as she noticed the dead body hanging out of the front door, proof you all fought back, but it was quickly replaced with fear when Lev rung out a shot in her direction.

“Wait, Lev! It’s Abby.” You pushed his arms down from their outstretched position on the bow and rushed toward Abby, stopping directly in front of her when her hands held your forearms. “You’re back!”

“I wanted to hear the rest of that story, doll.” She joked lightly, before moving into Yara’s curled position and speaking to her gently.

You held Lev’s shoulders into your side before he could pounce on Abby for moving his sister and were moved into a nearby aquarium. Although a rocky beginning, your heart ached for Yara and all you could do was send out a quick prayer before tuning back into the conversation at hand.

The pregnant woman, Mel, made no complaints when Abby offered to go pick up supplies, much to the protest of the man, Owen.

“We can take you in two hours.” You spoke up, ripping your teary eyes away from Yara.

“What? How?”

“The seraphites built bridges up in the sky, between building, away from floods, and from you…your people.” You and Lev shared a look, determination.

“Woah, hang on. These bridges are used by scars.” Owen argued Abby.

“They only send in small groups at a time.” Lev chimed in.

“See? Small groups at a time.” Her eyes connected with yours. “And our second coming of Jesus will shine our path.”

You pinched your eyebrows together, looking at Lev for a second before looking back at Abby. “Who’s Jesus?”

The wolves looked at each other in shock for a quick second before getting back on track. Mel handing Abby the list and Owen, once again, wording his complaints.

You paid no mind to their bickering and placed a gentle kiss on Yara’s head. “I have already sent out a prayer. She will protect you as long as she can, so will I.” The girl gave you a grateful smile, her eyes warning you to be careful.

Moving aside for Lev, you stood closer to Abby who put her hand on your shoulder and brought you in closer.

“I’ll do anything I can to help, okay?” She whispered.

Your eyes flickered between her eyes and her lips from the close proximity but a positive smile still graced your face. “You already have, Abby. I don’t know how else to thank you.”

She shook her head, “Thank me by telling me all about you later, ‘kay?” 

“Kay?” You mumbled the word to yourself before nodding and saying it with more enthusiasm. “Kay!”

Abby gave you a dimpled smile and lead you and Lev out to the back doors, keys in hand and ears shut off from the man’s calls.

Once you made it to the door, it was clear him and Abby had some…unresolved business that left you and Lev as awkward bystanders.

“Look, she just showed up. I don’t think she knows about last night-“

“I don’t care about last night!” Abby huffed out, looking over at you from over her shoulder before stepping up to Owen, face full of anger.

“Well, I do.” The man said with a face full of hurt at her words.

You bit your lip and looked down at your hands, noticing Lev side eyeing them from beside you.

Reluctantly, the man opened the door. You let Lev go in front of you as Abby placed her hand on your lower back when she walked out behind you, trying to ignore Owen’s remarks. You looked back at him in the building, he made eye contact with you, a question lingering in his eyes before he stated.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” And shut the door.

[gffa]

THIS SERIES HAS BEEN RATTLING AROUND IN MY BRAIN FOR LIKE A WEEK SINCE I READ IT and I'm going to write a post that's just for me, but y'all're welcome to read it, too, if you want, because I'm gonna spoil everything, since I feel like that's the only way to talk about why it's been whizzing around my head like a pinball game. So, the above is the true core narrative of Batman and Robin Eternal and ultimately why I really loved this whole story. It's not perfect, I would have shifted around a lot of emphasis and would have given stronger narrative presence to Jason and Tim (this story is really ultimately about Bruce, Dick, Cass, and Harper, even if the others get some hilarious banter moments), I would have focused more on showing rather than telling that Dick was choosing his own path, but at the end of the day, the pieces of this story came together for me. It's a little too long to summarize, but the basic structure of the story is that it goes back and forth between the Present and the Past. The Present has Dick, Jason, and Tim running around the world to find out who this mysterious "Mother" is and put a stop to her, a new face (Cassandra Cain) shows up to give Dick a flashdrive of information on and she's somehow tied into this, and meanwhile, Bruce is in his amnesiac era. In the past, Batman and Robin are hunting down Crane and whoever he's working with, and Bruce is keeping most of this case away from Dick, which the narrative treats it like we're supposed to believe that Bruce is falling for what Mother is doing--she's a human trafficker who is making "designer humans", because as someone who went through mind-breaking levels of trauma when she was a child, she believes that when you break a child's mind through the loss of their parents/their world around them, you can shape them into "perfect" people, unstoppable machines who can do anything. Because that's what happened to her and she knows that Bruce wants a "perfect" protege, one who doesn't make human mistakes or have human feelings, like Dick Grayson is having throughout the series. The story falls a little flat in these scenes, because the sheer idea that Bruce would be willing to let a child's parents be killed in front of them just so that he can have a perfect partner is the absolute opposite of what the character stands for, and it works as him attempting to trick Mother, but it doesn't work when attempting to trick the audience, because Bruce Wayne would fucking never. But he walks right up to the edge of it, so that he can get close to Mother and figure her operation out, and she knows what he's doing and says, well, what happens next is on you, because you thought you could play games with me, but as soon as you agreed, you know what you set in motion. Eventually, it's revealed that the child who would have their parents murdered in front of them to traumatize them to become Batman's perfect partner was Harper Row and she had sent David Cain's daughter Cassandra to do it. Cass can only kill Harper's mother before she breaks down and Harper's father manages to get away. Harper has no idea of any of this until it switches back to the present storyline and eventually Mother tells her the whole story.

Each of the kids that have joined Bruce in this fight are ones that have made their own choices, he doesn't define them, he doesn't actually make child soldiers, this entire series is a refuting of that idea. The children who are manipulated into this life either wind up as empty cannon fodder or have a high rate of walking away or falling away from the methods that trained them. Not a single one of them (Harper, Cass, Jean-Paul most centrally) is still standing with the same beliefs that were meant to shape them into "perfect" people, every one of them turned away from that manipulation. Because they weren't more valuable, they died in droves, not a single one was able or wanting to carry on the legacy--meanwhile, all four Robins are alive and kicking by the end, still standing strong. But it's not just about that, it's about Bruce's guilt, because he knows himself and his relationships, he knows his personality is an extremely heavy one, and he's not wrong to worry that he could shape these kids into something they wouldn't have been by themselves. He's not wrong that their desperate need to live up to his expectations can strike at the core of these kids--when Dick is dosed with fear toxin, that's his biggest fear, that he's not good enough for Batman. Bruce isn't wrong to worry about how that affects Dick and the others long term!

He has a room made up for a young Harper and Cullen who have just lost their mother, but eventually backs off because he can't face the idea that he might be forcing her into molding herself after him, because the force of his personality is just too strong. He worries about how he's done the same to Dick, given Dick's greatest fear under Crane's toxin is that he's not good enough for Batman--Bruce isn't just being paranoid about this, it is a legit concern from his point of view. But it drives him to keep secrets from Dick, who is shown to be incredibly intelligent (he gets that Crane seems to want them to find him, etc.) and also senses that Bruce is withholding things from him:

Which, once I reached the end and was secure in the knowledge that, no, this wasn't the most batshit comic I'd ever read where it expected me to buy the idea that Bruce would actually try to replace Dick with a "perfect" version from Mother, it recontextualized these scenes for me. Bruce has no intentions of replacing Dick but instead is worried that he's destroying this kid's life, because Dick is pushing himself so hard. To the point that he worries that Dick still has fear toxin running through his veins, because he's been over-training himself obsessively.

This isn't a story about Bruce thinking Dick isn't good enough, but instead a story about Bruce worrying that he overrode this kid's path in life, that maybe Dick wouldn't have wanted this. Which circles back to Harper again and I think that's kind of the point. She was a necessary addition to this particular story to show that, when Bruce backed off, she didn't pursue this life. We don't know the exact specific details of Dick becoming Robin in this story (though, if they used the one from the Secret Files for Nu52, this still holds true), but in pretty much every story of the last three decades of telling it, it is always Dick Grayson is mad as hell and nothing is going to stop him. Bruce didn't drag him into this life, he saw a kid willing to sneak out at night to go confront Tony Zucco to bring him to justice because there was a fire in that kid that wasn't going to be stopped. But Bruce himself loves that kid so much that he's not really objective about him, he's so afraid that he's messing this kid up--because he's still in denial that he's a father to this child, just as Dick's still lashing out that Bruce isn't his father, they're feeding into those words hurled at each other, meanwhile the narrative is setting Bruce up as a contrast against "Mother", to show, yes, he is acting as this kid's father. It's a central core of the story, that contrast, how Mother treats those who are loyal to her, who would do anything for her:

She slices David Cain open and kicks him down to his death. Her endless hoards of children are nothing more than cannon fodder. Jean-Paul is loyal to Mother because she shaped him as part of the Order of St. Dumas as well, but she discards him just as easily, and it takes a knock down drag out fight with Dick to break him out of that:

It's not just being on Mother's side or against her, it's about living by her rules and her philosophy and her worldview. Dick has to be the one to break Jean-Paul out of this because Dick is the one who did the same thing for himself when he was Batman's first protege--he chose for himself. Whether or not he ultimately agreed with Batman's philosophy, it wasn't because Bruce's force of personality was so great that he forced Dick into this, no, Dick Grayson was always going to be on this path, it was that Bruce made sure he didn't kill himself along the way--because he genuinely loved Dick and wanted him to live the life that satisfied him. And that applies to how each of the Robins is valued and wanted. This is how Bruce speaks of them:

Every single one of them is wanted. Every single one of them is valued. Every single one of them is loved by Bruce. He parallels Damian's attempts to learn to them, because that is the parallel--they're all Bruce Wayne's sons. The big emotional climax of the story is narratively set on this moment, that Dick and Jason and Tim and Damian are all different from each other, and that's why they're the ones still standing at the end. David Cain dies, Mother's children are all dead or set free from her influence, Jean-Paul Valley turns away from the path she set him on, Cassandra Cain chooses to no longer kill but instead chooses to be a hero, Harper Row chooses to walk away. And the Robins, especially Dick Grayson, the one who created the role of Robin and chose this path for himself, basically kick everyone's ass along the way. Dick defeats David Cain in combat, he defeats Jean-Paul in combat, he gathers together Tim and Jason and Harper with him to actually defeat Mother in a way Bruce couldn't. Bruce isn't always great at what he sets out to do. He's secretive and lies to Dick about what he's doing, he worries that he created Robin when Dick might have lived another life if Bruce hadn't interfered, but in the important ways, he is the inverse of Mother. Which is why Mother, as a character, worked so well for me. Her whole backstory is the inverse image of Bruce Wayne--when she was a child, her parents (and entire village) were killed in front of her and she was so destroyed by this trauma that she was entirely transformed by it and chose to wield her trauma as a weapon, she chose to transform others around her as well. In the most flattened out of terms, Bruce Wayne does the same thing. His parents are murdered in front of him and he is so destroyed by his trauma that he's entirely transformed by it and chose to wield that trauma as a weapon (Batman), he chose to help transform others around him as well. Seeing two "parental" figures be each others' foils in the narrative, how they're set up as parallels to each other, meanwhile are entirely perpendicular in what they're actually doing, the way it shows why the idea of "Batman is creating child soldiers" doesn't really hold up, because you're not looking at what these kids' circumstances actually are, why they were driven to this life. It's not a perfect story, I think the balance is off, I think trying to trick the audience weakened the story, when spending more time on the various Robins' reasons for becoming Robin and the determination in each of them, would have made this a knock-out story, nor am I beholden to this as the current backstory for the characters.

Instead, I chose to enjoy this as a version of how the characters might have come together and enjoyed that it showed these kids are indeed capable of walking away, because that's a pretty important point when it comes to comic book storytelling and Robins in particular. Not a version I'm married to, but one I can pluck a fascinating story about Bruce's role as a father to these Robins, even as he fights it and says otherwise, what the story shows is a much different story.

He cared so much about the children that came to him that he went whole-assedly over the line in the other direction, that he tried to push them away because he was so afraid of being the kind of person who supersedes others' wills. Because he does toe that line a lot of the time, he's not wrong to worry about it.

But if he truly had made Dick Grayson into his own image instead of what Dick wanted, Dick would never have been able to stand up and wipe the floor with Mothers' minions or crack open her hold over Jean-Paul. Yeah, Dick worried about not being good enough for Bruce and that probably drove a lot of him.

But he also mocked Bruce right to his face while they were fighting, that's not a "perfect" little soldier, that's a kid who regularly goes toe to toe with Batman and doesn't back down.

That's not a child soldier, that's a father's son who has the same sheer stubborn force of will that his dad did and a father who desperately wanted the best life he could give his son. And that's what this story really was about for me.

[thekingofwinterblog]

Was Gangle a Teenager when she was trapped in the Circus?

So just like it struck me when doing an overview of Amazing Digital Circus that Ragatha seemed to be extremely motherly, the thing that struck me about Gangle is how much younger than all the rest of the cast does.

She acts younger, she spunds younger, and when her comedy mask(Which allows her to express all of her happy emotions) isnt broken she has a kind of childish, but honest energy about her that all the rest of the cast has lost.

She is the only member of the group that seemed genuinely impressed about everything about Caine's most recent creation of the candy kingdom(Everyone that liked it focused on one or two specific elements), at least before her mask broke.

However, just like all the rest of the cast, she is an adult, more speciffically she is 25.

So with that age in mind, she comes across like someone who never really grew up. And that is probably the case, but mayhaps not in the sense that she refused adulthood, but rather that she was denied getting to experience it.

Namely it seems very likely to me that Gangle was trapped in the circus sometime within her teenage years. But to explain the strongest piece of evidence for that, a quick history lesson about Gangle's favorite anime.

Azumanga Daioh is a classic Highschool girls slice of life anime/manga that came out at the turn of the millenium, who's most notable legacy is that it showcased that manga's about highschool girls doing highschool things withouth some grander adventure or meta plot was more than enough to carry a show financially and critically.

So if you love/hate the popularity of such series in the modern day, you can thank Azumanga for that.

It's not a bad series by any means, but it's also... Kinda outdated? Like how Dragonball laid the foundations Shonen series would use ever after and improve on and learn from, so Azumanga Daioh is very much a show that seems... Completely left behind by time, as it's successors did everything it did, just way better.

Hell, unlike Dragonball, who's popularity and mark on pop culture remains strong and alive today, Azumanga is mostly a cult classic. Popular certainly, but left behind by anime as a whole, even within it's very specific subgenre.

However, there was a point in time when the series was still regarded as an absolute classic within the anime fandom.

And Gangle's teenage years very much fit into that point in time.

Uaing her current age, and assuming that the show is set in 2023, the year it came out, we see Gangle was born in 1998.

Meaning that Gangle was 13-18 from 2011-2016.

These year-numbers lines up with when Azumanga Daioh still had it's strong pressence in the Anime Culture, especially in the west, the earlier on that scale, the stronger.

With that in mind, it seems likely that like many western teenage girls during this period, one of Gangle's first real introductions to Anime was Azumanga Daioh.

And either it left a massive impression on her that atuck hard, or she simply didn't get to experience enough other Anime to find another favorite.

Further suggesting this young age, is her favorite one piece character, Tony Tony Chopper.

Im just going to be blunt. Most people who's favorite One Piece character is Chopper, has him as such because he's very cute, not because of his compelling backstory or character development(the latter of which, like a lot of the strawhats were shafted post time-skip).

Like for example; a teenage girl who just got introduced to One Piece for the first time, maybe her first big shonen series.

Her art is also relatively good, but also relatively underdeveloped, lacking things such as complex shading or tones.

In other words she's likely untrained in the sense she didn't reach this point by learning by seeing how others do it.

And finally, her door marker(Which presumably shows her as she was when first coming here) showcases her as genuinely happy and cheerfull, something the rest don't really have, but something a teenage girl who might innitially have seen the circus as some sort of Isekai story(Before reality set in) to live out, rather than immediatly recognize it as a priaon as the rest of the cast did.

All in all, a lot of what we know about her suggests she never really got to properly go through puberty and mature into an adult.

If so, it also adds A LOT of extra, horrible baggage to the already rather dark and abusive relationship she has with Jax.

Like when he calls her Submissive and agreeable to browbeat her into doing what he says, it's a sentence that hits extremely closely to home, as the actual meaning(It's basically a self-cencored version of the original: Submissive and Breedable) is one that unlike the rest of the cast, she never really got the chance to really come to terms with before being trapped here in this digital Hell.

Simillarily, him blackmailing her about her personal figurines to Ragatha, and her response of both laughing insanely and doing what he says, screams of a rather blunt sexual implications, with it being something she is very, very ashamed off.

If this theory is true, then Gangle has been stuck in the Circus for upwarda to 13 years, over a decade where she never got to grow through the final transformation into an adult, and yet is treated like, and expected to act as one by everyone around her.

[askprotoroll]

What is the “Roll Z” outfit about?

Oh-ho-ho! I have been waiting for someone to ask about that.

See, about a month ago, a friend of mine showed me this video by man on the internet.

Listening to it, I couldn't help but picture Roll in place of Zero, and thus, I drew up this:

Now, I don't have a solid nor canon X timeline just yet because there's several ways it could go.

Please also keep in mind that I have never played the X games, so if I get anything wrong, I'm sorry!

All the timeline ideas start at the end of the golden age of robotics. Robot masters have been made illegal because of all of Wily's attacks, and so they're ordered by the government to (unfortunately) be deactivated. Including the light children. Light and Wily both end up going into hiding.

Roll, of course, did not agree with this and ran. But, she somehow gets damaged in the process. (The scenario I imagine the most is a building collapsing on top of her.)

This is where the timeline splits.

Timeline idea one:

The first idea I had has Wily finding Roll after she's damaged and decides to use her to get the final one up on Light.

He upgrades her to be the Z look, and much like with Zero, he implants the maverick virus into the gem on her helmet and seals her away, making her an unwitting pawn in his final plan.

Wily did not do anything to make her loyal to him because he knew it wouldn't work. He also knows the virus will likely not affect her either because of her sentience. (which is probably dumb in hindsight because she was affected by roboenza. Maybe the cure made her immune? Idk)

Light, in the meantime, is working on creating X (the timeline also splits here, but I'll get to that later) and passes away while X is in containment doing the final checks, as per the normal x timeline.

Now... Whether or not X is found before Roll is up for debate (as i said, i never played the X games), all I know is Dr Cain still finds X, and Sigma finds Roll.

Roll is initially hesitant to trust Sigma, even fighting him at first, but she is convinced to stop, and she does end up joining and becoming one of the top maverick hunters.

That'd be where Roll meets X...

The timeline will most likely go on like the games from there.

Timeline idea two:

Much like timeline one, Wily finds and upgrades Roll. But unlike timeline one, Wily has a change of heart, not wanting his legacy to only be destructive.

In this timeline, Zero DOES exist, but he is unfinished, and the maverick virus is in him instead of Roll.

Everything else is like timeline one, except Roll may end up finding Zero at some point.

Dunno what she'd do. Maybe if she had a dream sequence like Zero did in one of the games of Wily telling her to "fix his mistakes," she'd destroy him or something.

Timeline Idea three:

This timeline can be a variation of one or two interchangeably because the change here is involving Light, and is actually somewhat based on an AU my friend has.

In this timeline, Light ends up taking Rock with him into hiding and upgrades him instead of building X.

Everything else carries on like timelines one or two up until "Rock X" ends up meeting "Roll Z"...

After that, everything would carry on the same.

Timeline idea four:

This last idea is something I got from this video of a protoman rom hack for Mega Man X 1

This time, instead of Wily finding Roll, It's light who finds her and upgrades her, which would include fixing her core because ley me just sat this now,

Because Dr Light is the one who made Roll's experimental core, only HE can fix it since he's the only one who knows how it works. That doesn't mean it can't be maintained by others, though.

This means that in the other timelines, Roll likely still has that issue with her core.

This also means that Zero exists, too, but this time is fully completed. Although honestly, I imagine that Zero is built to be a girl in these timelines because I read somewhere that Zero was based on Protoman, and since he'd technically be based on Roll in this timeline...

I'm not sure what the dynamic between Roll and Zero would be to be perfectly honest. Neither of them would know about Zero being built by wily unless Zero tells Roll about that dream sequence.

Then again, he apparently asked light about it, and Light claimed he didn't know so... that's up in the air I guess.

There are several more possibilities I haven't covered here, like if Blues was taken to be upgraded by Light or if Roll wasn't found by anyone. But the four I talked about are the ones I think about most.

As I said, I don't know which one is the "canon" timeline for the AU. Buuut I think I should mention this-

When the robot masters are deactivated, I personally think that they were all preserved in a museum somewhere. It'd be such a shame otherwise. Plus, it means that, one day, Roll would be able to see Rock and Blues in some form.

Despite the rough patches in their history, Roll loves her brothers and would very much miss them.

I'll probably end up drawing more of Proto!Roll Z eventually.

For now, enjoy this little bit of dialogue I imagine being shared between X and Roll

X: "So, you were the first of the Robot masters?"

Roll: "I was the prototype, yes."

X: "You were made by Dr Light too?"

Roll: "Mhmm.."

X: "That would make you my sister, right?"

Roll: "...huh. yeah, I guess it would."

- Melody

[fallenangelblade]

sam mentioning john’s journal to mia in 13x04 got me thinking. it’s sort of odd that neither of the brothers started keeping their own hunting journal after john’s death.

on one hand, you have sam - the academic, the scholar, the archivist, the legacy. it’s practical to keep a record of things, especially once they started encountering phenomena not already touched upon by john, sigils and spells and lore he spent hours of research on. wouldn’t he want that all in one place? (i’m sure he had a very robust cataloging system once he’d settled into the MoL bunker, and probably kept a lot of things digitally prior to that, but you get what i mean)

and then there’s dean, who’s always leaned more towards the sentimental, especially when it comes to his dad, his family. journaling was part of the job for john, and you’re telling me dean wouldn’t pick up the practice in an attempt to carry on his father’s work? to feel close to his dad after he was gone? out of a sense of obligation, at least?

i can just picture the way it would start off impersonal, stilted. just dates, locations, bare bones, basic info about their hunts. he’d grumble about not knowing what else to say, feeling stupid talking to himself. but over time, he’d start adding little doodles in the margins. photographs. recipes. personal notes — bits and pieces of backstory for his LARP character that charlie helped him create. claire’s favorite snacks so he remembers what to add to the shopping list when she’s coming to visit. sam’s go-to order at that vegan place in omaha for when they’re coming home from jody’s. a list of movies to watch with cas, crossing them out as they go.

and maybe eventually he'd start writing about more personal things. it might start with the mark of cain, when he stops drinking and starts eating healthier and sleeping 8 hours a night. he turns to the journal as an outlet to process the things that are still too dangerous to say to anyone else. maybe he writes about his complicated feelings for amara. the gaping wound of his mother's absence and the painful guardedness that came with having her back. maybe he'd write about losing cas.

Drove west today until I found a nice field. Everything's flowering right now so it was real pretty. Spread Cas' ashes there, right near this old windmill. Don't really know why I chose that spot, but it felt right. I guess it just seemed like the kind of place he'd like. It was quiet there. Peaceful. It's not heaven, but hopefully it's close enough.

[winged-bat]

Still thinking about your tangled au lol it’s such a good idea and with cass’s suit being her tiara, I was thinking maybe give it medieval vibes and have it as a suit of armour? Perhaps it could be one Babs had made when she first adopted (or gave birth to I’m not sure which you’re going with) Cass to match her old one. I think it would be so fun to make corona a warrior kingdom in the au (obvi it’s up to you tho) and have babs as the warrior queen who lost use of her legs and now rules the kingdom in peace or something??? Anyways I would love to hear more of your thoughts abt the au I’m fascinatedddd

KFJSDNS I JUST REWATCHED THE MOVIE AND WAS THINKING ABOUT THEM!!!

When I first thought about the au it was more a half-baked idea so I didn’t think out all the logistics of everything (or anything really). So this is really just more put together thoughts on what I had previously shared. I do think I want it to have a more found family theme so leaning toward the adoption route. Cass was still born out of the Cain and Shiva exchange only this time once she was born Shiva saw her sister in her and decided to take her and run. She keeps her hidden away to prevent her befalling her sisters fate but since she’s already had the realization that she was being held back decides to teach Cass her ways to replicate the bond she had shared but also so she could be molded to her levels without the need to hold back as the trainings would start from birth (does that make sense I feel like I’m not explaining it coherently enough). She takes trips throughout Cass’s life to hone in her martial arts skills and pass them along to Cass. Their proximity to Corona would be to deter others from finding them, specifically Cain. Since it would have been a Warrior kingdom (that is such a concept I’m actually in love with it and will be rotating it round the brain) turned Peace kingdom it still holds a strong reputation and turns other kingdoms off from attacking it.

Babs after the lose of use in her legs still wants to pass along her warrior(batgirl) legacy and have it bring purpose to someone. While she has turned to peace she still helps neighboring kingdoms and builds an extensive network that she wouldn’t have had had she still been a warrior. In the hopes of finding someone to carry the legacy she builds the armor (it having medieval qualities and being armor is so genius!!!) that would later be stolen. Babs holds a yearly mentorship type of event to find her mentee, only no one ever feels right. I’m thinking in the au Shiva would record those at this event to better develop Cass’s skills and have her test her prediction of moves as she would be studying these people rather extensively.

Enter Stephanie Brown though she’s only known as Spolier so far (Stephanie is to her what Eugene is to Flynn) in the moves of stoping her Father from forming a mass alliance to bring down the Corona Kingdom and take the power it holds for himself. I think in a way Arthur would be playing the role of the Stabbington brothers in this au. She steals the armor herself in hopes of donning it and scaring the alliance apart. But much like Flynn is chased down. She finds the tower and finally meets Cass. The exchange goes much the same as in the movie with Steph being tied up and Cass having the dream of going to this yearly event (I just realized this but that really fits so well with their first meeting where Cass demands Steph read her that ransom note). I think in this au in terms of Steph realizing Cass is her dream, it’s her not having a goal past stopping her father (she takes a more destructive route in which it doesn’t matter if this is the end of her as long as her father is stopped) and coming to the journey of wanting to have a life for herself and a future with Cass.

Also I very vividly see the campfire scene mirroring their dads talk from batgirl (2000) and it hasn’t left my head all afternoon.

The whole faked betrayal element would be followers of Arthur kidnapping Steph and turning her in for treason (they’re pinning the alliance on her with the reasoning of her taking the armor to undermine the kingdom and prove their power could be taken). In place of the ‘I’m the lost princess’ realization it’s Cass instead wanting to build onto the warrior legacy and help surrounding kingdoms instead of living as a reflection of Shiva (I do think in this au Shiva would had the goal of making Cass better than her so that she herself could always shrive for more and have that challenge (if someone with more Shiva knowledge thinks this is ooc pls feel free to weigh in) as well as serving a reminder of her sister).

[mysteriousbp]

I LOVE THE NEW BOSS DESIGNS! There really need to be more boss OCs in the TADC fandom akin to the Gloink Queen, as I have a feeling there are more like her in canon that we haven’t seen yet. Also the idea to base them off of other bosses in Pikmin 2 is a genius idea. I hope whatever you make based off of the WaterWraith is as terrifying as the legacy it has.

Well thank you. I was never really that good at drawing big enemy type of characters but I'm doing me best. And yeah we need more bosses OCs in the fandom because Gloink Queen can't just carry everything on her own.

Anyway here's some more bosses oc's.

I was looking up sea slugs to see what I should based the Ranging Bloyster based boss and then I found sea bunnies. So... yeah.

This is based on Beady but also from the Scuttlebug from Mario 64.(It was always the better design.)

Claw machine based boss... I like claws... they cool.

Reasons why Gloink King is a grave:

1-

2-

Ok... I spent many hours trying to create a Waterwraith based boss. But I later realized that what makes the Waterwraith the Waterwraith isn't his design or mechanic, It's the experience that he gives that makes him the legend that he is. And I can't recreate his legacy. So I did my best. By creating a boss that is unstable because it got it's code defected because of the unstable mess that is the digital world. (A potted plant clip through the ground and Caine goes blue screen of a few seconds in the pilot, The Amazing Digital Circus is a unfinished game that has bugs and glitches.)

I choose a chef because rolling pin and I made it a gummy bear because Waterwraith name in Japanese is Candy/Rain Bouzu so candy based boss. (Yes I'm a Pikmin nerd.)

Just 4 more to go.

[annabelvallie]

The Regime of Gluttony and Starvation.

a dystopian short story by Annabel Vallie.

I wonder if they know. Do they sip the golden bubbled concoction and think of every throat that spit cannot even comfort? If they pull seared flesh from polished forks do they imagine the gnashing, desperate teeth of children who claw desperately at what they call “dog food,”?

They call this city Eden. In school, we’re taught that we are safe from disease, agony, and sadness. Something everyone at this grotesquely over-decorated table knows nothing of. How can the pleasured know they are joyous when they have never been pained? How can the glutted know themselves satisfied if they have never been hungry? Eden was built on gluttony. We are told the outside world is sick. A type of illness that doesn't forgive but punishes. I wouldn’t call it sick—morbid maybe. I had learned that word from one of the novels we read in Lyceum education; the book ‘A Dark Hour’ was written some 500 years ago in a place called Vietnam. The author called the country hell on earth, a place where filth and evil are magnified. Our city’s teachers reference beyond the walls as desolate nothingness, birthed from a war that was far worse than Vietnam. 

Rusted oranges and browns made the outside world. Kicked-up dirt filtered the air with a thick haze; irritating eyes that would never know tears; water was too precious to be wasted on emotion. The heavy sound of moans and comfortless cries carried with no destination, as did the smell of waste, constantly assaulting the hairs in your nose. Hot air thickened my throat, making it hard to breathe. Bodies discarded like statues haunted the breathing, similar to those on paper that piled into sunken earth. Every movement was strained as if they had to fight for the ability to take a step. Through the swarm of people, there was no end.

Barbed wire snatched a handful of skin from my thigh, making me wince. Before the sultry air could oxidise the gash, flies were frenzying on the crimson. 

I had never known suffocation until the day of Matia.

“Joseph, pass the grapes please.” A short man whose jaw seemed to rest slack held out his hand, motioning to the silver bowl that harboured bulbs of green and purple. Passing it to him, I watched as he pierced the skin of a grape with pearly teeth. All I could think of was the people beyond the wall who would fight one another for a cluster of what he would consume in a short moment, not out of hunger but boredom before the main course arrived.

Praefectus Cain, the man sitting at the head of the table with a Navy Blue suit, held up his glass, motioning for silence. “Welcome, Abigail Dupont, Elijah Fournier, and Joseph Martin.” He hovered his glass in the direction of the girl on my left and the boy on my right. “We thank you for taking your position in the Imperium. We trust that after Matia today your eyes have been opened and you will continue Eden’s legacy and keep our people safe and at peace.” 

The values of Eden surround love, whether that means the effort and care of a pastry or the simple act of clearing a guest’s plate. Gratitude is more important than the act itself. The way your fork and knife lie after a meal is communication and appreciation on its own. The meal was delicious if the handles were south with their blade and prongs pointed east. Lust, the overwhelming desire of another, is praised almost as highly as a perfectly smooth-shelled macaroon. Devotion is embroidered into liquor that makes your brain twist as if it were inside a dough mixer. 

Here, to love is to feed, eat, indulge, and blur gluttony and greed into the same idea. Seared beef, vanilla sponge cake, caramel, strawberries that dribble at the corners of your mouth, thick shakes with colour dye, the peel of a mandarin, wishbones, salted butter, sherbert, pineapple that burns your tongue, appetisers, and hors d’oeuvres. The table shrank as plates piled from the kitchen, what used to be a pristine cotton table cloth now plates of every meal imaginable. It is a special day of course. As people began to feast I felt as though my body had conformed to a jelly-like substance, unable to move on its own, only able to react to the drunken movement surrounding it. 

The next day I found myself focused on every passing person on my way to work. Specifically, I stared at how their mouths curled into smiles and eyes creased with joy. Stupidity and negligence are bliss. If they knew what was outside they too would be burdened and distraught. 

A woman with blonde hair that moved like ripples around her head caught my attention. Her cheeks and lips looked to be stained with cherry juice, and she took her time letting her heels click on and drag with every step she took. At that moment I thought of how she laughed—if it was quiet and withdrawn or louder. How did she prefer her eggs—scrambled, poached, fried, or boiled? I thought about a lifetime in a minute, and during that time, I forgot about what was beyond the walls. Possibly, I could remain this way. If I mocked what everyone around me did, I might find the joy that they experienced. If I married and partied and ate would that sickening feeling I have held with me since Matia dissipate? 

The Imperium was stationed north of Eden just past a row of oak trees that signified the end of the orchid plantation. I would park in the furthest spot from the entrance, press through a swing door that moves awfully slowly to accommodate those who wobble more than walk, and make my way through the hallway that runs through the city wall. Even though I pass through five days out of seven I cannot help but stare out the wall’s windows every chance I could. The small slits in the hallway that allowed tainted auburn light to flow through and the large painting-like glass in the central office reminded everyone of what we shield from our citizens. At lunch for an hour we sit at a stretched table overlooking Eden’s farmland and feast on whatever specials the chef had plotted, yesterday was a honeyed duck. “I don’t know what is wrong with you Joseph, this is one of the best ducks I’ve had this year and you refuse to eat more than an appetiser,” Abigaile exclaimed after finishing off the meat. 

I replied softly, knowing more than one ear was listening. “My appetite isn’t as strong as it used to be. Thank you for your consideration” It was an uncommon phenomenon, a refusal of food. Not eating is the equivalent of vetoing oxygen. “I’m just going to use the bathroom, excuse me.” I stand, placing the folded unstained napkin on the cushioned chair. Taking a last glance at the quantity of people and the view of my city I continue down one of the hallways. Even though my stomach growled the idea of eating repulsed me. During the day my mouth would salivate in the hope of relief, by night when all I wanted was to binge I would finally make myself something.  Tonight I may have the oysters my father brought round this morning. He works at a lease and every time I crack salt over my plate I think of him, how his skin smelt like the unfiltered water and his hands that were callus and corse from cutting open their shells. 

Taking each step I find myself mimicking the women I see most days on my way here. Click, drag. Click, drag… and just as I do with every window, discarding the bathroom where I was headed, my eyes wander to the clear surface overlooking the apocalyptic world a mere twenty meters away from our utopia. Instead of continuing further, my body lurches to a frozen halt. Apparently, on the other side, they can’t see through the glass. To them, it looks like the stone pattern remains unbroken. I don’t believe that. Staring through the glass, I am met with another man mirroring myself. His eyes are tired but focused and unwavering from mine. His nose has a crease at the bridge as if it were broken, and his teeth are jagged with gums receding so highly that they could have been finger bones. What scared me the most was how hollow his cheeks were. As if scooped with a soup spoon. His face resembles somewhat of Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’. 

Instead of taking a step forward in concern or back in retreat, I simply stared. When I felt someone lock their knees next to me, my gaze remained on the window in a competition-like fashion.

Praefectus Cain’s firm voice began, “Joseph, is something upsetting you? Are you hungry?” 

Pulling my head back, feeling the muscles tense around every vertebra in a rehearsed sequence like piano keys in a glissando. I looked at him—at his round stomach, at his creased forehead, at his thin blond hair, at his tie bar with the words ‘Ab ovo usque ad mala’ engraved into the silver—before staring back at the window like a child and a cartoon film. I felt nauseated like I had just drunk vomitorium, a tiny ounce glass filled with yellow liquid that made you sick so you could go on eating. They usually have them at balls and galas. “I’m fine, thank you… Do…” My voice crackled as if a teaspoon of honey sat on my windpipe. “Do you ever think of helping them, the people out there?”

He thought, not about the answer but how to word it. “Yes, when I was your age.”

“I can’t think of how to describe it. I feel bad, sorry.

“Guilt.” The word was spoken as if he had been waiting to use it. 

The word was alien: “I’m sorry, sir, I don’t know what that means.”

We remain facing forward, “It means you have morals, something only a few here hold. Knowledge is the heaviest of all burdens, even if it carries no weight.  

“We have food to spare.” By then the man on the other side of the wall had walked off, his feet kicking up more loose orange powder-like dirt.

“How could you choose who receives a bounty? Every living thing is bound by fate. The people of Eden are safe from hunger because they are lucky. If we were to open our resources, what would happen? They are animals, Joseph. Unlike us, their world does not have a drop of civilisation.” Through the window, two boys ran towards a bird that had fallen to the ground. With desperate efforts, the taller one had proved victorious in the feathered corpse, and the shorter one crouched over the ground, echoing the fallen animal. “Tell me, Joseph, would they eat, or would they devour? The flesh of our loved ones would be torn from their bones and they would drink like we do red wine. These animals do not know amity, love, or kindness; we are survivors, that is what separates us.”

With a sigh, I could feel the pads of my fingers tingle with anticipation of cold sweat and unease. “Then, if being inhumane constitutes our difference, are we not the same?”

[branches-and-thorns]

Would the Millia revolutionaries sacrifice the revolution to save themselves?

(Inspired by the Thunder Saga because this was where my thoughts went on my 22nd listen of Thunder Bringer) Just gonna do Christine and the main four because they’re the ones I think about most.

Christine: even after leaving, no. To Christine it would just be one life or many and Christine would choose many lives over Christine’s own.

Kai: no. Would not destroy everything he and Lucius and August had worked for just for his own sake.

Thorn: everyone would expect her too but he would not. They’d see it as atoning for what he did when they were still with Vivienne. She’s not actively self-sacrificial but put them in a hopeless situation and they will be the first to offer herself.

August: NO. Nonono NEVER. It would hurt everyone and it would be an emotional mess but they would never sacrifice their family. Not for power not for goals not even for their own life. It is just not happening.

Lucius: no. He would trust August and Kai to carry on their legacy and would go with their head held high.

(and as a bonus: in that one route where Cain takes the crown and Vivienne is working with the revolution, she would take the deal. She’d take it and go back to Kore.)

But looking at my association playlist…Lucius tends to get Odysseus’s parts (Monster, My Goodbye, and so on), and I have Thunder Bringer noted as ‘Cain vibes’…

Hey @dandelion-fuzz-fixations should I make an Epic!Millia AU?

[acediscowlng]

CHAPTER 2

His Pain Be Ours to Bear (17519 words) by Mayarenerose Chapters: 3/5 Fandom: DCU, Batman (Comics) Rating: Mature Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain & Dick Grayson Characters: Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Off-screen death, VERY Grudging Allies to Friends, Cassandra Cain is Batgirl, Jason Todd is Nightwing, Unreliable Narrator, Dick isn't here but he's haunting the narrative Summary:

“Batgirl, I assume.” Jason waits for the slight shrug he assumes is as close to a yes he’s gonna get. “Why are you following me?”

“You’re not subtle,” she says. A pause. And then, “Bad at… your job.”

He almost bristles. Definitely part of the new brood then. She clearly went to the Bruce Wayne school of criticism and lack of tact. Not that Jason was really any better. If it were any other situation, it might almost be endearing. Now, he’s resisting the urge to pull his fist back and punch her in the face.

“Lady I don’t know you and you don’t know me,” Jason says. “So fuck off. I don’t need a Bat in my business.”

“I’ve been watching you,” she says. “You fight like you’re pretending to be Robin.”

 Or one year ago, Nightwing beat the Joker to death and died thirty-five days later. Now, Jason Todd is in Bludhaven with a debt that can’t be repaid and a legacy he can’t bear to abandon. Little does he know there’s already a vigilante in the city trying to carry on Nightwing’s good work.

[dirthara-dalen]

He had been tasked with retrieving Revans mask which he was successfully in doing so. After handing it over to the orders historian he was able to move onto the final to his final 'trial'. Vette questioned why they were still doing this. Cain admitted it was better than actually doing what Baras wanted.

They went a round, speaking to the various Revanites in order to prove themselves. Upon arriving at the final location, Cain was shocked to discover who the final Revantite was...it was his father.

Cain immediately demanded to know why his father hadn't told him about being a Revanite. Ky'relea admitted he should have told Cain and will be telling Solaris when he next saw him. Ky'relea decided to reveal to a bit of their family history to Cain. Their ancestor, Jeeta Kallig, was one of the first Revanites. The former Jedi had followed Revan to war during the Mandalorian Wars thus becoming a Revanite.

Cain was rather shocked to learn all of this. If his father thought it would deter him from becoming a full Revantie, he was wrong. He wanted to carry the Revanite legacy onward. Ky'relea agreed to support him and passed on word that Cain had successfully passed the trial.

[superghfan]

Billy Miller: Permanent Scholarship Endowment Set Up In Memory Of Late Actor At The University Of Texas

Two months since the passing of Billy Miller (“All My Children,” “General Hospital” and “The Young and the Restless”), the late actor’s family and friends have set up a permanent scholarship endowment at the University of Texas at Austin to help radio/television and film undergraduate students with financial need.

Born William John Miller II, Billy was an avid movie buff, earning his bachelor’s degree in radio and television in 2002 at the University of Texas at Austin. He passed away in September, surrendering his life to bipolar depression, which he struggled with his whole life. The three-time Daytime Emmy Award-winning actor was just 43 years old.

“I hope BJ is remembered for the kind-hearted, silly, funny, goofy, generous, beautiful soul that he was,” said Miller’s sister, Megan Hubbell. “His megawatt smile, deep belly laugh and gorgeous mug were gifts on screen, but his true self was a bright light that will be carried with us forever.”

The William John Miller II “Billy Miller” Memorial Scholarship raises funds in the late actor’s honor while paying tribute to his legacy of life and love of acting. He is said to have had a secret passion for acting after beginning a love affair with movies starting in the 1980s, specifically after seeing his first film in theaters, “E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial.”

Miller joined “General Hospital” in late 2014, first as Jason Morgan and then sometime later as Drew Cain when it was revealed that Drew was actually Jason’s twin brother.

“We want something positive to be held in his name in perpetuity through the University he loved,” Hubbell said. “He would be honored to know that even in death, he can help someone else realize their dreams.”

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and raised in Grand Prairie, Texas, Miller was one of just 20 students accepted into the University of Texas at Austin’s prestigious production sequence program in radio/television and film. He originally joined the school in the zoology program before switching. UT was reportedly Miller’s first choice, even though he had several options presented to him post-high school.

Read more here..