#even though it's not even usually that small the way that it's animated. justice for tiny joltik

[front-facing-pokemon]

[audreyscribes]

Ω PJO DEMIGOD HEADCANONS: ⚖ NEMESIS: Goddess of Balance, Retribution, and Vengeance wheel ♎

Author's note: Hello everyone! In lieu of posting the major gods demigod headcanons, here is the minor gods version! As usual these headcanons will contain what it's like being claimed and what it's like for the respective god and cabin, followed by a small story between you, the reader, and the respective demigod of that god. Thank you for reading and please like and reblog! [PJO MINOR GODS DEMIGOD HEADCANONS MASTERLIST] Disclaimer: To new fans or strictly TV watchers of the PJO series, future spoilers for the entire PJO series books will be referenced. Read at your own risk.

When you get claimed, it’s usually after one of the following: when you help exact revenge, serve justice, or rage vengeance. Of course when you hear those words, you’re going to think you have to do one of those large, epic moments but in reality, it’s pretty simple. That can be catching something unfair, doing what is right, getting back at your opponent, or simply saying No to something when it is unjust. When you get claimed, something feels balanced within you.

If you have some reservations about being a child of Nemesis, one of your half-siblings tells you it is an honour to be a child of Nemesis. Not just because Nemesis and what she stands for is important, if not sometimes harsh, but because Ethan Nakamura. You’re told about the tale of Ethan and who he was, how he was one of the inspirations for Percy to make the gods vow to claim their children and why the Minor gods have a cabin. You’re even shown the portrait of Ethan at his own altar in the cabin, as a reminder of his sacrifice and his life. If you’re lucky enough, Percy Jackson introduces himself and welcomes you himself to the Nemesis Cabin, just saying something “it was just right”. 

However, following that, they also warn you ‘an eye for an eye’ is more than what the eye can see. 

If you weren’t ambidextrous before, you are now. 

You’re always perfectly balanced and symmetry is important to you. Being fair is also an important factor in your life and one way or another, it will be done. 

Because of the domain Nemesis presides over, your cabin becomes a place that acts like a court. You and your siblings often get asked to preside or become mediators in arguments, and be the verdict who is the wrong and who is right. But the deciding factor is always fair. This also means you can pick out lies, though probably not to the extent of a child of Apollo.

You become a believer in working hard for your efforts, and you reap the rewards. If you’re not paid or treated fairly, everyone looks out. 

You know other people’s hubris by nature of Nemesis’s domain, so you know to be careful of ignorance and being modest. Just because you know other’s hubris, doesn’t mean you don’t have one. 

Given Nemesis is also known to be a distributor of fortune, neither good nor bad, the Nemesis Cabin has a connection with the Tyche Cabin, the goddess of Fortune and Luck. 

This isn’t a common fact, but Nemesis’ chariot is pulled by Griffins and you have a certain connection with them. If you manage to get your hands on a gryphon, and tame it, fairly, you’re allowed to ride them in camp. Just, don’t let them go near the Pegasus. Otherwise you’re going to get a long, stern lecture from Butch Walker. He’s still mad that one of the Nemesis children’s gryphons hurt Rainbow Dash. 

Speaking of pets and animals, you all have a goose or geese as its Nemesis’ animal. If you have encountered geese before or played the goose game, you know it’s a perfect fit. There has been one time, the Golden Goose, that lays the golden egg; however, it comes and goes as it pleases. Some of your siblings think it is Nemesis herself but who knows? Just don’t give any of the geese a knife or sword or weapon of any kind. Please, no one has recovered from that catastrophic event yet. The Apollo cabin doesn’t want a repeat of reattaching limbs by goose related causes any time soon, even if Paulo said he was okay.

When you get claimed, the feeling of being claimed is being merged with the sweet feeling of catharsis. You got back at one of the campers who has been mercilessly bullying you and trying to establish themselves as bigger than you. Everything came to a head when the two of you were put in a spar and all the time you’ve been honing your weapon skills and observing your opponent, you’ve finally had a perfect opportunity to exact your revenge. 

When you were given the moment to go, you readied your weapon, kept your grip firm, and attacked back. You pushed forward with anger and retribution as you swung and moved. You pushed your opponent further and further into a corner, and you kept knocking them onto their back, knees, and hands. You purposefully showed yourself drawing it out, showing them what it was like to be bullied and what it was like to be on the other end of their act; making them feel helpless, fearful, and shamed.

You decided to finish drawing out their punishment as you were declared the winner. People cheered for you, some louder who were once at your position, and as you raised your weapon in the air in victory, everyone gasped out and cheered harder as they saw the claim of Nemesis floating upon your head. 

You stared up wide-eyed at the claim as the announcement of your claim was yelled out for everyone to hear. You felt your mouth sour slightly as you remembered faintly from your mythology lessons about who Nemesis was. You weren’t entirely sure if you followed Nemesis’ reputation and domain. 

You see a boy come towards you as he looks you up and down before nodding in approval. “You’re definitely showed that you are a child of Nemesis. You delivered their punishment fairly and didn’t take it too far” he complimented. 

“Thanks…but I’m not sure if being a child of Nemesis can be entirely a good thing” you said truthfully, shrugging as you did. 

The guy rolled his eyes as he put his hands on his hips. “Nemesis isn’t an evil god and she’s just as important, like Ares either. The same goes for being her child. In fact it’s an honour” he said. 

“How?” you asked confused.

Damien smirked before he gestured for you to follow. “Because I’m also a child of Nemesis too. My name is Damien White, and I’m also the cabin leader for the Nemesis Cabin” he introduced before taking you to the cabin. You didn’t get a chance to look at the building before he opened it and guided you to a portrait inside. You saw a japanese looking boy who seemed a bit cold, especially with an eyepatch but clearly he was important with the amount of flowers and offerings that laid on the table below his portrait. 

“This was Ethan Nakamura, a child of Nemesis. He was the one who made a deal with our mother that brought back balance and helped inspire the hero Percy Jackson of the 2nd Titan War, where he used his divine wish to the gods to recognize the minor gods and their children in camp. His sacrifice is why the Nemesis cabin, and the other cabins are here” told Damien as he looked at the portrait of Ethan. He then turned to you, “Being a child of Nemesis is just as the same as the other demigods, but it’s more of an honour because our former brother.” 

You felt better as you nodded. “It might take a while to wrap my head around it but... I’m glad we’re related to such a demigod.”

Damien grinned and nodded, before he guided you out of the cabin, “Come on, I’ll help you grab your stuff from the Hermes cabin and get you settled in your new place.”

You nodded and when you had packed your stuff up, Damien grabbed your stuff for you to let you and another recently claimed demigod say goodbye to the Hermes cabin members, who was just claimed as a child of Tyche. They left first, since they came a bit earlier and their cabin leader was waiting for them outside. By the time you finished saying goodbyes, you came out to see your cabin leader arguing with a girl, who was also with the new child of Tyche. 

You saw Damien and the girl yelling at each other, almost getting into their faces and you thought of stepping forward to intervene, lest a cabin war breaks out. You don't know if it's a thing but you're not going to wait and find out. Before you could though, you're interrupted by a voice, 

“Oh don't worry about it, those two always argue with each other but they don't ever take it too far” you heard. 

You turned and saw a boy, with brown hair and blue eyes. He seemed familiar but you weren't sure where though. 

“Are you sure?” you said, looking at the two arguing people. 

The boy nodded as he took out his ukelele, plucking a few strings. Something to shift in the air, as you thought “Oh he's a child of Apollo maybe”. As if he heard your thoughts, you jumped when he turned to you with a smirk.

“The girl you see Damien arguing with is Chiara Benevnuti, daughter and cabin leader of Tyche, the goddess of Fortune and Luck. Nemesis and Tyche are sort of connected, so seeing their two children get along isn't unusual.”

“You call that getting along?” you replied skeptically. 

“Oh, you would be surprised. One time when the two of them were stuck in the medical tent, I saw Damien move to the cot next to Chiara and the two only argued with each other when people were around” snickered Lester. “If I were ever more poetic, I would say this is a perfect haters to lovers haiku right now.”

“Wait, how do you know this? Who are you?” you asked.

The boy smiled at you and you saw his blue eyes almost seemed like the sky for a moment. The sun glowed behind his head, highlighting his brown hair into what looked like gold. A shiver ran through you and you had an inkling of who this guy was. “My name is Lester Papadopoulous, nice to meet you.” 

[buunicosplaytips]

5 Easy ways to get into cosplaying

Welcome to my first official post! To start off this blog let's explore how to even get started in cosplaying.

Things you should know off the bat about the world of cosplay:

~ Anyone can cosplay no matter their race, gender, or disability, everyone should be able to get into cosplay

~ Under no circumstance should you change your race for a cosplay

~You should not feel pressured to be the "ideal" weight or body type of a character, unless you're cosplaying a monster or an alien you shouldn't feel like you need to drastically change yourself to be "perfect" in fact every cosplay is perfect! ^^

Now that we have established rules, let's learn how to cosplay!

Pick a character

Now this is easier said than done, believe me, but the best way to pick a character is to find a show, movie, or game that you completely love and find a character that you like or resonate with a lot, also dont feel like you can't cosplay a character because you feel like you can't do them justice or you dont look like them, were all here to have fun! for example when I first cosplayed Loki, I felt like i couldn't do them justice because I was short, chubby, and just didn't look like them at all, but when I did cosplay them, everyone loved it and I felt so confident in myself, so lesson of the day, cosplay whoever you want if it makes you happy.

2. Buy or Make

so you picked your character, awesome! Now you need to know whether to buy or make your cosplay, now there's kind of a debate on whether you should buy or make your cosplay and I'm here to say:

it doesn't matter! unless you are going into the masquerade or cosplay contest, buying is not the worst thing you can do, believe me, buying or making your cosplay is completely up to you, whether you don't know how to sew or you need a cosplay ASAP, buying is fine, or if you like the challenge or your character is niche sewing is the way to go.

3. Improve your makeup skills

If you want to cosplay for fun or your cosplays don't need makeup you can skip this part. Still, suppose you want a professional look or want to cosplay a character that doesn't have a normal skin tone you should listen, now depending on your character and where they're from. In that case, your makeup should make sense for them, for example, if your character is girly do a girly makeup look with soft features and pastels for the eyes and lips, if your character is edgy do. Edgy look with dark colors for the lips and eyes, you can even add accessories that you think your character would like, with makeup you can even transform your face, for example, I usually cosplay men. Still, I'm afab and have a naturally soft face, to fix this I do hard contour on my cheeks, I can do a more in-depth post about cosplay makeup if anyone requests it.

4. Prop making

Most characters whether theyre from an anime or game, most likely have a prop with them, whether its something small like a Tesseract for Loki or something huge like a Keyblade for Sora, now like with buying or making your cosplay this applies to your props too, if you want to buy a prop that's fine and if you want to make it that's fine too, it all depends on your character and your skill level, I will say personally that you should have some skills in prop making because depending on how niche your character is a prop for them will most likely be hard to come by, this also applies to the whole cosplay as well.

5. Having fun!

Now this is the most important thing you can do as a cosplayer, having fun and being a good sport, when you first cosplay you'll see people whose cosplay looks great, but it might make you feel small, but the thing is that they most likely started out like you, ill be honest, your first cosplay will not be your greatest one, but having a great cosplay doesn't equal to happiness, what does though is the fact that your cosplaying your favorite character and making friends who also are cosplaying their favorite character, with cosplay comes community and making friends and just connecting over the things we all love is the most important thing you can do

Well I hope you learned a lot from this or at least the basics, if you have any questions or just want to add more on to it my ask box is open all the time so feel free to pop in

I hope we start the new year strong with fun and amazing cosplays! ^^

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

1: Besides the duo, who else is in relationships?

2: Besides Chris, who is honorable family for the Grayson-Anders?

3: Besides the obvious older Jon Kent, what's one story you could rewrite, reboot, or get rid of?

4: How did Jon get his powers? Same as the comics or is it different? (Forget if I asked this question already)

5: What's the worst nightmare the duo had? Like waking up frightened can't breathe nightmare?

6: Was there a time the duo killed someone?

Sorry it took long to get to this @pin-crusher2000 but Ill try answering it as thoroughly as I could ;-)

1) If we talk about the StarKnights, as of this writing, Jasper Logan has a small budding crush in Mar’i that’s been there ever since the two were little though she doesn’t notice it even after all this time. Jai (like he does canonically at this moment) has a small innocent crush on Maxine Baker, the daughter of Animal Man and the Avatar of the Red. Cerdian might not have a full blown crush on anyone just yet but there’s a tight platonic bond he has with Robert Long. If it does develop in romantic feelings, they’ll kick in sometime when the two are starting high school.

2) As per usual since he’s often close to Chris, Jon Kent is also considered akin to an honorary Grayson of sorts. While not formally taking complete training from Dick, Jon often accompanies Chris when the latter attends another superheroics lesson. In addition, he has a good friendship with Mar’i and is considered an honorary Tomorrow Titan with all his interactions with them and the amount of times he’s step in to help out.

3) Maybe the whole Agent 37 stuff for Dick….yeah for one thing even if he did get captured by an alternate evil version of the Justice League (in this case the Earth 3 Crime Syndicate), for one thing he’s not getting his secret identity revealed to the world and even if he’s force fed a heart paralyzer pill by Lex Luthor to get him off a universe destroying device, he’ll let everyone in the hero community know he’s perfectly a okay and he can resume his Nightwing duties without any issues.

Basically undo that whole silly nonsense of needing to go into hiding as a super duper secret agent and leaving everyone else in the dark about where’s he at until they have to find out themselves cause seriously he didn’t need any of that.

4) Very similar to the comics basically of his powers starting to kick in when he’s around 9-10, starting with enhanced hearing and durability followed up with his heat vision (though he would not accidentally fry the family pet Cat, Goldie cause I admit the way they handled that little plot element in the course of the Rebirth was a bit tacky) then comes in super strength and ability to leap great distances. Afterwards he’d sneeze out his freeze breath before being able to control it. Finally he’ll gain the ability of full flight. Of course these are developments that even in a scenario with Chris Kent present, Lois and Clark were still not entirely prepared for since while Clark and Chris had their powers from basically the onset or at least at a very early age, Jon was a relatively late bloomer. Nonetheless they were able to adjust and help him control said powers.

5) Chris: Easily returning to his life under his broth Father and helping him ruthlessly conquer the Earth, betraying everyone he lives and cares about, culminating with seeing himself as Lor Zod incinerate Dad Clark, his brothers, Jake and finally impaling Thara which gets him snapping awake and screaming in utter terror and tears.

Jake: Similarly simple yet still as haunting, rather than possible scenarios, it’s a full blown flashback to his fateful duel with Victor Zsasz and reliving all those pounding brutal hits with that crowbar and all those painful slashes and stabs with that rusty butcher knife, all over his pinned down self as his family and the kids still alive in their cages all watch. He snaps awake at the vital moment Zsasz lunges his blade right into the appendix region, causing to Jake gasp fully awake while instinctively clutching onto his side where his appendix used to be. Even if it doesn’t actually hurt…he can vividly remember when it did.

6) Despite the numerous close calls and even Jake confronting Zsasz after that particular incident with his emotions rising an all time high, nope the Duo haven’t taken another’s life and they have strong desires to not do so.

[beezonia]

wanted to ramble about the trix for a bit since I haven’t shared anything to do with my rewrite atm

——-

The Trix aren’t biological siblings, they have extremely close bonds with each other though

It helps amplify their magic since the three of them are part of their own coven (coven of albasté - Albasté is the little village in Domino the ancestral witches came from)

So if one is weak or has lost their strength, then the others become slightly weaker since their magic is connected

——-

Icy - 18 (when we first meet the trix in the rewrite they are in their second year at cloud tower) she’s also a December baby

Full Name - Irida Chione Staltican

Witch of Winter (a walking snowstorm basically)

Dyamond in my rewrite is technically a small planet near Zenith hence why it’s always so cold and blizzard like there

She is the only surviving member of the royal family (much like bloom, foils anyone? But unfortunately much like musa she suffers the fate of not being able to see them again)

She can be pretty standoffish, a bit of a bitch and Icy will probably seem like an asshole to those who aren’t close to her or just don’t know her

There’s a reason for this (she’s cursed to not form emotional attachments because of her role as head witch of the coven she’s only bonded with her sisters)

but to her sisters she’s fiercely protective, always teasing then in her usual Icy way

Icy is loyal to a fault even if she shows it by barking orders and scolding her sisters

But she’s fighting for them so they can get their happy ending, so that their dreams of becoming the most powerful witches the magic dimension has ever seen come true

Biggest Lesbian on earth (sorry not sorry tritanus)

—-

Darcy - 19

(Darcy is a February baby she’s the eldest but the role of head witch went to Icy because the ancestral witches saw more potential in her then the other two)

Full name - Darcy Eris Belinaro 

Witch of illusions (Lady of Darkness is a moniker she goes by on Solaria)

Yeah she’s technically a Selenite, born in the small town of Nox. Darcy showed immense strength and potential at the young age of 12 when her magic of illusion was awakened

And so her Mother, Lillith taught Darcy every she needed to know, prepping her for when she’d fulfil her destiny as the ancestral witch’s successor

Darcy is a natural liar, a well known manipulator too.

Literally has most of the witches at cloud tower under her thumb because either she’s manipulating them or their afraid of her

Oh yeah she’s aroace btw (it’s an important part of her story when she discovers a lot more about herself when she returns to Nox)

She is fun to be around once you get to know her, a literal mother hen towards her sisters

——

Stormy - 18 (Stormy my lovely October baby)

Full name - Seraphine “Stormy” Opheric

Witch of storms

Born in the small coastal town of Tiderius, north of the Andros capital city Azul

Stormy was always a wild child, she never cared about consequences, never cared about punishment

until her older brother (Draco) got arrested for a crime he didn’t commit

Stormy became obsessed with each planets law and rules wanting justice for her brother and a way to find loopholes in every little rule they could come up with

(She got so angry one day looking at how unfair some governments were that she caused her towns power to go out for a good day or two)

Stormy is an absolute blast to be around, sure she can be pushy and convince you to do bad things that could potentially get you in prison for life

But she’s party animal at heart, she drinks and gets so rowdy that Darcy swears she’s started half of the fights that have broken out in cloud tower

Stormy denies the accusation each and every time (she gets so drunk she can’t really remember)

Just be careful around her, you don’t wanna become her drinking buddy or her lapdog

———

That’s the main overview of the trix, I’ll gladly answer any questions you have about them!

[narzissenkreuz-ordo]

prerelationship 6, general 3, love 5 and 13? :3

dont not perceive me-

6. If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?

neuvi would simply deny it, not because he's embarrassed but in the moment he literally doesn't think it would be possible for him to have a soulmate. This leads to another internal debate about the meaning of his existence like: He is a dragon so if he did have a soulmate to would have to be another dragon right? but there are very few dragons left in teyvat so statistically he would not have a soulmate. but also he WAS born in human form so he's not quite a dragon but not quiet human either so would that mean if he were to have a soulmate it would be more likely for them to be human? he thinks about this for the next 3 days and comes to the conclusion that "i am the chief justice of fontaine and have to remain impartial, but would consider timekeeper silvanus to be 'small and cute'" silvanus simply says 'impossible. i dont have time for that' and immediately starts ranting about all the things that need to be done today

3. What was their first kiss like?

oh my god. oh my od you cant do this to me im gonna die ive had two ideas abt this that are both equally as embarrassing the first idea being one of the many times neuvi is there to look after silvanus after she gets sick and during these visits they both start getting hit by their subconscious feelings, trying so hard to shove those thoughts back down while acting Normal. but it makes them both so fucking nervously awkward but one too many fleeting touches breaks them both down and theyre staring at each other like panicked creatures unable to break eye contact until silvie goes 'fuck it' and goes for it without realizing she just grabbed her wet and pathetic looking boss by his face and kissed him LMAO the second idea one follows the first one but instead of silvie kissing him in that moment theyre both like 'oh i like you and you also like me' and they talk abt their confused thoughts and feelings and neuvi decides he needs some time to understand his own emotions now knowing that silvanus also thinking of him this way but also if pursuing any of this would hinder his duties or silvanus' job so for the last week or two of silvanus' recovery he doesnt show up but the day before she's supposed to return to work her, he sends a note saying to meet him outside of the city and shes like 'ah man he wants to meet me where no one can see and turn me down' but SIKE he spent most of the time away reading books on human courtship and its a fucking DATE. he brought her out to a secluded area with pretty flowers and woodland creatures because he knows she likes gardening and cute animals and nervously kisses her there i have the funniest mental image of him being like 'i spent time reading about proper courtship and was recommended literature insightful literature about physical intimacy since i have little experience on that matter' and silvanus is like 'oh my god did the hydro archon recommend smutty literature to him??'

5. Who initiates kisses?

they had a strict 'no PDA' rule (that silvanus broke during the last part of the archon quest lmao) but silvanus probably, tho neuvi initiates physical affection more often. i imagine he can get very affectionate if given the chance to fumble awkwardly until it becomes more natural to him

13. Who remembers the little things?

i think both of them are intuitive in picking up seemingly small things about each other. after they get together, neuvillette is very aware of any possible trigger that could cause silvanus' illness to flare up (he will NOT have a repeat of the Last Incident). he is instinctively aware when sivlie hasn't eaten or more tired than usual and has like a 6th sense when silvanus tries to sneak in an extra cup of coffee or lie about not resting properly. while silvanus is able to read neuvillette's emotional state fairly well even though his behavior and body language stays relatively the same (to most people)

[megamanrecut]

Season 3, and some Worldbuildy thoughts

I had wanted to make a small post about influences going into season 3, but to avoid slight spoilers, waited until after A Mega Star is Born was finished (though now that comes to it, I’m not sure exactly what to write haha so ramble incoming)

So part of what I used to make Mega Man Recut ‘recut’ are mixing the canon elements of the show with other popular 90s influences—most notably for season 1 and 2 Futurama (for comedy genre) and Bat Man/Spider-Man/Other action cartoons (comic book shows with continuous plots). 

Season 3 is introducing a new influence, anime (which was just beginning to get very popular in 90s U.S.), specifically Sailor Moon* for Kali’s arc but also for how evil energy operates. 

Essentially, when a robot becomes ‘host’ to evil energy, evil energy feeds off their inner darkness, giving them phenomenal powers while corrupting them (this lines up with canon Evil Energy from Mega Man 8…aside from the mechanical mutations and bonus paranormal powers).

For Recut, this was influenced by the spin on the ‘monster of the week’ trope in Sailor Moon (also Miraculous Ladybug for a more contemporary influence hee) where a regular person having a bad day gets corrupted by evil forces, turns into a monster by the overarching villain, and it’s up to the hero to stop them, often times also helping the regular person with their problem (sometimes making the whole misadventure cathartic). It’s a cute spin on the trope!

As stated by Sunstar in the last chapter, justice energy has the ability to neutralize Evil Energy, ‘healing’ their host by reversing brainwashing/mechanical mutations, similar to Sailor Moon’s Crescent Moon Wand and Ladybug’s lucky charm. However, as these things usually go, what starts out as simple and cute may not always remain that way…

*And when I say Sailor Moon, I’m really just referring to the 90s DiC dub and not Cloverway, VIZ, Crystal, or even the subs, which is essentially a professionally done abridged series with amazing music lol please don’t judge me and you cannot find this on streaming

Also! Because I will forget. Again. Though hopefully someday remember to make a separate post. Kalinka’s outfits in this season have been based off of outfits from Sailor Moon. Trendy 90s teenager fashion at its finest. :)

[transhitman]

Honestly I'm sort of obsessed with how the Deltora anime is a case study into how even small details in adaptations can utterly obliterate how a character reads. Jasmine specifically is such a huuuge victim of this and it makes me a bit insane. Like somehow her anime version ends up reading absurdly misogynist despite most of her dialogue and most of the stuff she does being the same as in the book. Forgive me for writing essays about children's media but hear me out for a second.

Ok so to start, Book Jasmine is almost cartoonishly badass. Like she would 100% be a stereotypical Mary Sue, animal companions and all, if it weren't for the fact that she's wildly abrasive and unlikable to a lot of the other characters. And even being hypercompetent in many areas, Jasmine is definitely not overpowered. She is stated and shown to be the smallest and physically weakest of the group. Making the token Girl of the group the weakest would usually end up reading as sexist, however Jasmine does not. She is never truly excluded from any combat or major events because she's weak. As shown during the Rithmere games, she's screwed in a direct contest of strength, but has developed a unique fighting style that evens the playing field against bigger opponents. She always read as a ranger/rogue type to me -- somewhat frail, but very precise, and most useful outside of combat. Which, in combination with the rest of the writing + strong women in the series, is just sort of realistic for someone in her position. She's a really good character imo even if we don't get to see all that much interpersonal stuff between the cast. But what we do get works really well.

But then we have Anime Jasmine, who just like... Is bad lol. Even though she makes most of the same decisions and accomplishes most of the same tasks, she comes off as irrational, annoying, and generally incompetent lmfao. I think part of this is that her anger issues and difficulty expressing herself in the books gets turned into cattiness instead of like a genuine character flaw that causes issues. Part of it is also that for some reason Barda isn't allowed to be sarcastic since he got flanderized into the stoic adult (telling jokes isn't masc enough I guess???), so Jasmine got designated the group funnyman. Which honestly wouldn't even be a big problem if she told actual jokes? A sarcastic, dry wit would totally work for her. But she's just sort of catty for no reason instead of being funny. I do understand that the general tone of the show is a lot lighter than the books as well, so having a really angsty character would go against the more child-friendly direction they went. But there are also others ways they could have changed her while still keeping her general concept and vibe the same.

But the majority of it, I think, is due to the line delivery/visual design. In the anime she's very whiny and like. Cheerful? Which... I guess isn't technically an incorrect interpretation, but it's certainly a weird one considering how much she mutters and hisses her dialogue. Her visual design is, however, completely contradictory to how she's supposed to look. In the books, she dresses in worn-out military-esque clothing, is unkempt, and is -- to some degree -- androgynous. And this physical appearance doesn't really call to mind a huffy kid. In the show they made her dress a lot more brightly, and she's like weirdly sexualized imo? Which is a pattern with the women in the anime. But that's a whole other rant I could go on. Basically, my point is, because of the tone in which she reads her lines and the way she is disallowed from being Actually Disheveled, her decisions are tainted by the misogyny of the writers. You know? Like you can tell that the in-character intent behind her actions is different because the writers themselves view her a certain way. She objects to the monarchy not because she has a strong sense of justice while being somewhat vindictive, but because she's an irrational, emotional Woman. She gets sidelined in fights not because she's trying to find a way out that doesn't involve getting pummeled by a creature 10 times her size, but because she's a weak little girl. Her hating Neridah gets turned into some kind of cat fight instead of the party rightfully being distrustful of her. The whole thing with Doom goes from being about Jasmine's trauma and loneliness, to being about her finding a big strong father figure to... Idk fill some kind of emotional void only a man can fill? Some of the differences are very subtle, but they really do change the entire vibe of the character from "jaded, violent survivalist" to "quirky girl with an attitude" even though the actual events in the anime -- up to book 8 at least -- are pretty 1-to-1 with the books. The weird characterization somehow retroactively makes things that happen in the books kinda misogynist!!! Maybe I'm insane for thinking all this but really do believe it. It's such an odd feature of the writing and it's honestly so fascinating to me. Anyway this is what I think Lindal would look like in the anime

[areadersquoteslibrary]

" A man's virtues are called good depending on their probable consequences not for him but for us and society: the praise of virtues has always been far from "selfless," far from "unegoistic." Otherwise one would have had to notice that virtues (like industriousness, obedience, chastity, filial piety, and justice) are usually harmful for those who possess them, being instincts that dominate them too violently and covetously and resist the efforts of reason to keep them in balance with their other instincts. When you have a virtue, a real, whole virtue (and not merely a mini-instinct for some virtue), you are its victim. But your neighbor praises your virtue precisely on that account. One praises the industrious even though they harm their eyesight or the spontaneity and freshness of their spirit. One honors and feels sorry for the youth who has worked himself into the ground because one thinks: For society as a whole the loss of even the best individual is merely a small sacrifice. Too bad that such sacrifices are needed! But it would be far worse if the individual would think otherwise and considered his preservation and development more important than his work in the service of society! Thus one feels sorry for the youth not for his own sake but because a devoted instrument, ruthless against itself —a so-called good man— has been lost to society by his death.

Perhaps one gives some thought to the question whether it would have been more useful for society if he had been less ruthless against himself and had preserved himself longer. One admits that there would have been some advantage in that, but one considers the other advantage —that a sacrifice has been made and that the attitude of the sacrificial animal has once again been confirmed for all to see— greater and of more lasting significance.

Thus what is really praised when virtues are praised is, first, their instrumental nature and, secondly, the instinct in every virtue that refuses to be held in check by the overall advantage for the individual himself —in sum, the unreason in virtue that leads the individual to allow himself to be transformed into a mere function of the whole. The praise of virtue is the praise of something that is privately harmful— the praise of instincts that deprive a human being of his noblest selfishness and the strength for the highest autonomy.

To be sure, for educational purposes and to lead men to incorporate virtuous habits one emphasizes effects of virtue that make it appear as if virtue and private advantage were sisters; and some such relationship actually exists. Blindly raging industriousness, for example —this typical virtue of an instrument —is represented as the way to wealth and honor and as the poison that best cures boredom and the passions. But one keeps silent about its dangers, its extreme dangerousness. That is how education always proceeds: one tries to condition an individual by various attractions and advantages to adopt a way of thinking and behaving that, once it has become a habit, instinct, and passion, will dominate him to his own ultimate disadvantage but for the general good."

How often I see that blindly raging industriousness does create wealth and reap honors while at the same time depriving the organs of their subtlety, which alone would make possible the· enjoyment of wealth and honors; also that this chief antidote to boredom and the passions at the same time blunts the senses and leads the spirit to resist new attractions. (The most industrious of all ages —ours— does not know how to make anything of all its industriousness and money, except always still more money and still more industriousness; for it requires more genius to spend than to acquire. —Well, we shall have our "grandchildren''!)

If this education succeeds, then every virtue of an individual is a public utility and a private disadvantage, measured against the supreme private goal —probably some impoverishment of the spirit and the senses or even a premature decline. Consider from this point of view, one by one, the virtues of obedience, chastity, filial piety, and justice.

The praise of the selfless, the self-sacrificial, the virtuous— that is, of those who do not apply their whole strength and reason to their own preservation, development, elevation, promotion, and the expansion of their power, but rather live, in relation to themselves, modestly and thoughtlessly, perhaps even with indifference or irony —this praise certainly was not horn from the spirit of selflessness. The "neighbor" praises selflessness because it brings him advantages. If the neighbor himself were "selfless" in his thinking, he would repudiate this diminution of strength, this mutilation for his benefit; he would work against the development of such inclinations, and above all he would manifest his selflessness by not calling it good.

This indicates the fundamental contradiction in the morality that is very prestigious nowadays: the motives of this morality stand opposed to its principle. What this morality considers it a proof is refuted by its criterion of what is moral. In order not to contravene its own morality, the demand "You shall renounce yourself and sacrifice yourself" could be laid down only by those who thus renounced their own advantage and perhaps brought about their own destruction through the demanded sacrifice of individuals. But as soon as the neighbor (or society) recommends altruism for the sake of its utility, it applies the contradictory principle. "You shall seek your advantage even at the expense of everything else"—and thus one preaches, in the same breath, a "Thou shalt" and Thou shalt not."

-Friedrich Nietzsche, 'The Gay Science' (1882)

Chapter One - Section 21 -

'To the teachers of selfishness'

[n30nwrites]

Summertime's Sadness (Alea Iacta Aest.)

Chapter Warnings: T-slur is used (I am trans, characters using it are not) Slight mention of loss of child due to stabbing, attempted murder

Think I'll miss you forever Like the stars miss the sun in the morning sky

September 13th, 2009

Small towns remembered people. Remembered the worst of their actions and never the good before. The Wilsons were a tight knit family up until Mateo's third birthday, where Imelda, his mother, was dragged off to a psych ward for trying to stab her husband, Gabriel. The case became known throughout Virginia, as the woman had attempted to kill a well known preacher and his son, before eventually stabbing herself in the stomach, killing the 37 week baby and almost herself.

His father had whispered in his ear that the devil got to her, Mateo would've rather believed it was the demons that surrounded her, following her and awaiting for her chaos.

The creatures were shadowy and see through. You could see the outline of teeth and claws, but never truly the demon. Monstrous creatures that he's come to learn over the years. They yearn the smell of death, chasing after it just to get a sniff. They surround people who are about to die, usually just one or two of them. He used to just ignore them, figured they were the imaginary friends everyone talked about, except his were terrifying. But they got worse slowly, craved more chaos and death. His first time he witnessed the truth of how far they could go though, was because he found someone just like him.

"You can see them too?" Mateo and the stranger had only ever had small interactions before. They've run into each other, or their friends were friends with his friends, and they shared a couple of classes together. But they didn't know each other. Both are just bystanders in the other's life. But here they were, two of the same coins. Both reincarnations for some bigger plan.

"They ghosts, they just come out of nowhere, and once they realize I can see them-"

"They never leave, right?" Mateo had cut him off, the two letting out a sort of laugh, finally finding someone that they could relate to. "And the demons, when they just keep surrounding people-"

"Like when they surrounded Mr. Henson, wouldn't leave him alone." Mr. Henson died just last weekend, no one was sure how as the coronary report hadn't been released yet. It wasn't until Mateo saw his ghost did he learn of the cause, Mr. Henson was beaten to death. Bruises were aligned on him, with blood and broken bones. Something that was terrifying to see when your substitute was teaching the class he used too. No more demons were in that class that day. Instead was just a ghost, pining for someone to realize he was there.

"And Mr. Henson, god who would do that?" A lot of people would've. Mr. Henson found out something and had to be silenced.

"Does he not talk to you?"

"Mr. Henson can talk? I've seen him his and growl and mouth shit but no real words." Even finding others similar to him he was still an outcast. "But the demons are the scariest shit, I've seen them rip open these people with the black auras-"

"Wait, do they know you've seen them?"

"Well yeah, one was sniffing around the other day, told it to Fuck off." The high schooler laughed it off, Mateo's face was serious.

"I've just been ignoring them, it seems like they're looking for someone who can see them."

"Well, I'm still alive!"

A week and a half later, his body was found torn to shreds, all over his house. His mother had begged for justice, no way it could be an animal attack when all the doors were locked, as were the windows. Officially it was a mountain lion, unofficially it was a vampire.

And to Mateo, it was the demons who hated being perceived by the living.

No one else could see them, and he made a point to not look at them. When he was younger he had once seen thousands of demons swarming one man, they craved his bloodlust and the death he was surrounded in. When Mateo followed him, he watched as the stranger who is later named Mikael, get desiccated by the Bennett mother, Abby. She later left, and he never spoke a word to the Bennett family about, but Mateo felt guilty every time he had babysat Bonnie and Beau. Sheila needed the help and he needed the free food that the elder witch cooked, along with the pay, so despite only being 6 years older, he would take care of the two Bennetts up until he was 16.

Mateo was known as a good babysitter throughout Mystic Falls. He had raised his own siblings, so practice was already perfected. Hell, he was still raising 6 kids even at the ripe age of 23. The youngest was 8, eldest was 20. All lived in the same house, and the only reason Mateo stayed was because their father wouldn't.

Gabriel Wilson was a priest at Fell's Church. Gabriel and Tobias Fell worked closely together, and it used to be that every Sunday the Wilson's would go to church, until Mateo had caused a scene when blood burst through his eardrums and fell down his eyes. Sometimes Mateo would consider going back to church, but then he would remember how Charlotte had attempted to kill him and church felt like a burden when all you could think about was the woman screaming about sin and the demons.

Church, God, Sinner and Saint, What made a difference when you only appeared on the other side, or on the veil?

Waking up at 5 a.m. Mateo wished he had actually slept last night, but his conquest was currently laying upstairs and she was much better than any nightmares he would have. The first thing he did was clean, the kitchen still had dirty dishes, last nights dinner was spaghetti with chicken, which meant that all the dishes were read with sauce and the plastic container would be dyed red.

He had started laundry, wiped the kitchen clean, organized the dishes, then went into the living room, putting on the news for background before grabbing the couch cushions and looking for money. Multiple coins were found, all adding up to $3.47 which was then put into a hidden jar that kept all their extra money in it.

It wasn't long before Mateo was yelling for the kids to get up. Roughly opening the doors to the bedrooms and yelling, earning groans of hatred as none of the Wilson's were a morning person.

Gabriel wasn't there, the only reason he still had a bedroom was because even though he never slept there, he would pick up a fuss about it.

Mateo rushed downstairs to pack lunch for everyone. The youngest; Carl, Krystal, and Alison, all got a BLT sandwich that Mateo brought home from his job the night before, along with a bag of chips. The Middle Children; Derek and Nicholas, would be getting a leftover pot roast sandwich, the pot roast had come from a cook out a few days ago, and there was so much leftovers that he was able to take them home, and there was left over sourdough (god he loved rich white people) so that was turned into a sandwich. Then the eldest; Mateo and Amelia, were getting spaghetti. Each bag also got a fruit, some way to convince himself he was taking care of them. Then filling their water bottles with each drink they liked before putting them in the fridge.

The first one down was Nicholas, the junior in high school always got there early so he could hang out with his 'friend' Tara, who was an all around bitch but considering Mateo was pretty sure Nic was in love with her, he kept neutral grounds. (He called her Tree a lot just to aggravate her).

"Breakfast is toast and there's a little bit of eggs left if you want."

"Nah, I gotta go and tutor the Gilbert kid-"

"Jeremy? How is he?"

"High as shit, I don't really care but Elena certainly does and the school gave him to me cause he's failing Tanner's class." Nic grabbed his school supplies that the previous night, were strayed everywhere, but now in a neat stack just waiting to be put in his backpack, "But it gives me credits, and Jenna's paying me so I'll be bringing home some cash."

"I'm seeing Jenna later," Mateo hands Nic his lunch, "Drinks in the fridge, be careful walking, I won't be able to pick you up from school I'm working late." Nic grabbed his items before turning towards his older brother.

"How was last night?"

"You were asleep when I got home."

"Yeah I woke up and saw her, she's hot. Thought you were in love with Jenna though."

"Grown up shit."

"I'm Seventeen."

"Fine then it's my shit, not yours, stop sniffing it."

"Hope you wore a condom."

"boy if you don't get your ass out of here-"

"I'm just saying I'm too young to be an uncle."

"Go to school!" Nic was quick to grab his jacket and walk out the door, his backpack not even fully zipped before he left. Mateo continued to go upstairs and quickly get dressed, wearing nice ripped black jeans with a long-sleeve plain shirt. Mateo worked at a diner, he was a manager there. He worked strange hours, with no health care and no decent workers, well besides Jenna.

"Kids! I'm leaving in 8 minutes! If you're not down here you're walking!" Most people would tell Mateo he babied his siblings, making them their own food and cleaning up after them. It was the only thing that made him feel wanted though, it was all he had known for so long, and they didn't even want to clean up after themselves.

Jennifer booked it down the stairs, telling Mateo that Bonnie and Elena would be coming to pick her up. The girls drove up to the house, and Mateo would've had no interaction with them had Jennifer not forgotten her lunch. Mateo rushed out of the house quickly to give it to her, giving the girls a warm welcome as he reached through the window. Mateo left quickly.

"Every time I see your brother he just gets hotter and hotter." The Bennett turns to teasingly smile at the tall girl, "such a shame he's with Jenna's aunt."

"Even if he wasn't, you're 16 Bonnie." Elena reminded them.

"Let's not talk about my brother please, It's already enough that Caroline gets a huge boner over him, she hates my house yet she'll always come over during the summer."

"Cause he's shirtless, plus you can't argue that Mateo isn't attractive to literally every girl in Mystic Falls. He's hardworking and good with kids. That's hot."

"Not to mention he's kind." Elena butted in.

"So he's the bare minimum and that's attractive?"

"Yes." Both girls said, causing Jennifer to roll her eyes. Elena didn't fawn over her brother like the other girls did, but she's seen her eyes. Most people liked Mateo, he just didn't date.

The girls drove off laughing, and Mateo quickly walked out to put the rest of the kids in his car. Derek sat in the front next to Mateo, whilst Alison, Carl, and Krystal sat in the back. The car was small, and an ugly orange color. Mateo dropped them off quickly, and then drove to his job.

Mateo walked into the diner and saw Jenna sitting at the counter, Jenna still had another hour before she had to work. There were a few people in the diner, only one cook in the back and 2 waitresses.

"How'd your meeting go?"

"He was an ass, kept going on using a bunch of words I didn't understand. Says my writing was subpar." Jenna huffed out the last word, sipping at her coffee angrily.

"Told you, just argue that the character's a latent homosexual, he'll either agree cause he's gay himself or agree because he doesn't want to seem homophobic."

"It just seems homophobic to use being gay against straight people."

"Jenna, Sweetie, you're bisexual. Plus straights use their straightness against us all the time. It's why we don't have gay marriage yet. Say it's unnatural, but so are weddings!" Mateo shouted with sarcastic joy.

"By the way, kids still think we're dating. Despite the fact that I literally brought home a girl last night."

"Was she good?"

"She was not single, her boyfriend was calling her all morning." Mateo hissed at his mistake, "We hanging out after?"

"Yeah! We can go to that new club just outside of town."

"Major lack of male real estate. Look at the shower curtain on Kelly Beech. She looks like a hot— can I still say "tranny mess"?"

"No that's over." Elena shuts it down.

"It is the only way to describe her though." Jennifer sneered at Kelly, who was just minding her own business.

"Aah. Find a man, coin a phrase. It's a busy year." The three girls walked in to see Matt. Elena's ex boyfriend who she dumped after her parents passed away, she couldn't handle a relationship on top of the death of her parents. She had become a recluse from everyone up until a few months ago. Elena waved towards Matt, trying to keep some sort of friendship between them, but he ignored her.

"He hates me."

"That's not hate. That's "you dumped me, but I'm too cool to show it, but secretly I'm listening to Air Supply's greatest hits."

"No that's "I'm a brooding teenage boy who can't focus on anything but himself so I'm going to make you feel regret over something that isn't you're fault."" Jennifer always hated Matt, he was too bland, too annoying, too self righteous. Caroline walks up to the group.

"Elena. Oh. my. god." The blonde pushes the Gilbert into a hug, squeezing her tightly. "How are you?" She doesn't wait for an answer, "Oh, it's so good to see you." Caroline looks over her shoulder to talk to the two girls behind her. "How is she? Is she good?"

"Caroline, I'm right here. And I'm fine. Thank you."

"Yeah we were just talking about how much a tranny mess Kelly Beech is." Caroline glanced over at the named woman, a smile coming to her face at the insult.

"Jenn!" Elena disapproved of her insulted the teen.

"What? If she didn't want people to talk about how awful she looks then she should've looked different."

"You are such a bitch." Caroline spoke, a coy smile on her lips.

"And you love it."

It was always obvious to Jennifer that Bonnie and Elena just tolerated the two. Elena and Bonnie always had secret meetings, glances towards the two where they were judging. It was always Caroline and Jennifer vs, Elena and Bonnie. Each girl secretly felt they were better than the other, and maybe in some way that was true. Caroline was better with people, an extrovert who could keep a conversation going with anyone, people knew Caroline, she was determined and assertive. Bonnie was smart, she was trust worthy. Elena was brave, and Kind. Jennifer was selfless and truthful. None were loyal though, not to themselves and not to each other. Just thin strings connected by chance rather than fate. Caroline's eyes catch something else.

"Jenn, I have something to tell you! Come with me!" Caroline grabs her hand and pulls her somewhere

"Don't take more than two in a six-hour window." Jeremy holds out the pills and Vicki Donovan takes them. On his shoulder, resting his head was Derek Wilson. Derek was shorter than Jeremy by a few inches, and he was also his best friend. Derek and Jeremy were the same age, unlike Vicki who should keep her hands to herself considering she was 18 whilst Jeremy was just 14, the girl would do anything for drugs. Jeremy was young and convinced he was in love, Vicki should've known better.

"Hey, Vicki. I knew I'd find you here with the crackheads." Tyler Lockwood was an all around dick with no redeemable qualities. He had made the Wilson family his enemy target for a while, the only reason Jeremy got included in his enemy list was because of Vicki's relationship with him. Tyler knew Vicki was cheating, she would sleep with anyone for drugs, which it's fine to sleep with people, but not whilst she's in a supposed monogamous relationship. Vicki gives Tyler a 'Hi' her shoulders tensing as he came around.

"Hey. Pete Wentz called. He wants his nail polish back." Tyler looks to Jeremy before turning to the male resting on his shoulder, Derek was glaring heavily at him.

"Pete Wentz, huh? How old school T.R.L. of you. Carson Daly fan?"

"Oh, Ty, be nice. That's Elena's little brother."

"I know who he is. I'll still kick his ass." Tyler and Vicki kiss, causing Derek to let out a loud yacking sound, letting out the word 'gross' in between his fake puking up.

"Shut up dickwad, you can't even throw a punch properly." Tyler took a step forward and Derek sat up. "You wanna fight, daddy's boy?"

"Derek." Jeremy put his hand on him, "Let's just go." The two started walking towards the school.

"Pussies!" Tyler yelled after them, Vicki hitting him on the chest because of it.

"You are what you eat! That's why you're a dick!" The two ran inside as they saw the anger on Tyler's face. Quick to escape his wrath, the two laughed gleefully before heading somewhere to smoke a joint before class.

Mateo was tired, work was tiring, he was always tired. The kids were home from school, the only ones not in the house were Nic and Jenn and that was because they were with their friends. Derek was sitting in the living room watching tv, dinner had been made early so Mateo and Jenna could go to the club. Jenna had brought her dress over to change into, along with her makeup. The two were currently in Mateo room, the bed was messy but the rest was relatively clean. Music was playing softly on the background, the radio was in great care. It was one of the few items Mateo loved.

"The bathroom is locked." Jenna comes in with her dress over her arm.

"Kids must be in there, just change in here." Mateo turns away to grab clothes from his closet. He wanted something nicer than what he usually wore. Jenna was turned away from him, taking off her clothes to put on her dress. Mateo buttoned up the black shirt, leaving 3 buttons left alone so there was a show of the white tank top underneath. "How is this-" Mateo cut himself off as he saw Jenna, clad in her underwear.

Okay, so maybe Mateo was in love with Jenna. Not that he would ever admit it, mainly because it wasn't that loved he dreamed about, nor the type of love he saw in his visions. She mad him softer, she made him care about taking his time during the little things. But he would never admit it.

"Turn around!"

"Shit sorry!" Mateo quickly hurried back and faced his small dresser, grabbing a few necklaces and rings, along with a bracelet. 

"Okay zip me up." Mateo turned and helped Jenna, she wore a small black dress that looked great on her. "Shit I look hot."

"I'm not complaining."

"Shut up."

The club was nice, not the nicest one Mateo had been too but it wasn't the worst either. It was crowded and playing 'Good Girls go bad' by Cobra Starships, Jenna had immediately joined the dance floor, Mateo grabbed a drink first before joining her. The twos hips collided as they laughed and danced.

And in these moments, Mateo forgets the striking blue eyes of his killer and instead only thinks about Jenna. They danced and drank (free ones from strangers), the songs became a blur, and it wasn't long before the two were stumbling and called a cab. Getting driven home in a wasted mess.

When Mateo woke that next morning, Jenna was sleeping next to him.

-------

3385 words and that's why it took so long for this chapter to come out. If it needs anymore chapter warning please tell me. 

[marsgod]

Hello! Can I have a matchup for bnha and genshin? Those are the only two i know in that list

My sexuality: i dunno?

⚔️ ; APPEARANCE — Imagine as if a bunny got turned into a human being, yeah that's quite literally me. I got the chubby rosy cheeks, small nose that has a pinkish tone to it, i also have the bunny teeth and big round eyes. People often compare me to one and i just kinda accepted it. I also have glasses, and am a completely blind shit without them. I have red circles under my eyes (they're just there I'm fine) and i have curly jet black hair that's really fluffy. I am about like 198 cm tall

⚔️ ; PERSONALITY — My personality is basically just Arataki Itto if he was more of a crackhead, I'm very loud and chaotic. I'm also very oblivious and blunt, you'll have to explain something to me at least 10 times again, if i don't understand; i also like make jokes a lot, and puns sometimes! In general i just adore making jokes and getting a good laugh. Speaking of laugh my humor is extremely broken, I'll laugh at anything ranging from the most chaotic thing (examples: a goddamn picture of an m&m, a horse with high heels, a piece of bread falling, the word balls, someone flying, literally an image of a tree with music) honestly anything ranging from just that will make me wheeze like my lungs just exploded, or I'll laugh like a crazed fox. I am seen as pretty chill, I'm honestly a happy-go-lucky person and I can socialize with everyone! i have a habit of cursing and invent the most absurd sounding curse words my favorite ones are “you blithering feculent shithole” “What in the name of sweet dong tickling horse fuck?!” “bunch of putrid douchesquatting cretins” “you bullshitting shitbagging fuckass” and finally “how can you be such a fucksquatting pain in the waste chute” i also act like a knight despite my use of constant profanity. 'Tis but the truest way of the knight! Any chance i get to act like a knight, I'll take it. I probably pay more attention to animals then humans, if I'm in the presence of an animal and you're talking to me? I'll pay more attention to the animal. I usually miss major signs due to me being an oblivious asswhiffer and usually misunderstand situations a lot. I’m also really vengeful, my way of thinking is similar to that of Garou from OPM or even The Hero Killer Stain Himself. (how the hero demographic gets ALL the benefits and praise. Even in play fighting. I believe a villain is a living being and could become so much more if they weren’t labelled so bad though obviously there's real bad people, it's just not the villains they have their own motives and it's usually pretty innocent. I overly detest the over-egotistical nature of the heroes and just how easy life can be for them. I label it as injustice. The inequality is crystal clear, If i could i would bring justice to the villains. MHA Heroes are kinda on thin ice with me, i see them as the same with all heroes.)

⚔️ ; HOBBIES — drawing,reading, writing, dancing, i have a habit of cracking my bones- like how people crack their fists, i do that except with every bone in my body. Acting like a knight, or just whatever randomness my dumb fuckass of a brain can come up with

★ What i look for in a date: A date that's basically just us going to see a movie, somewhere in winter or just in a generally cold area (i hate the heat 💀) eating delicious food like: lasagna though i honestly prefer it to be cold as well (don't judge me) and we come back home and cuddle, i of course, am the little spoon despite being tall. I'm not the type of person to give orders i prefer my friendfriend [QPP] to do it for me, I'd love it if the person gave me headpats, i would literally hold them up and hug them tightly.

★ What i would avoid in a date: Overly romantic dates, If they don't respect my boundaries, genuinely shitty behavior, doesn't respect my opinions. It's in an extremely hot area, and we eat hot food.

★ Perfect date : like i mentioned in what i looked for in a date, just that. :)

— 🗡️ anon or knight anon

╰┈➤ I’d match you with… Iida Tenya!

╰i┈➤ I’d match you with… Noelle!

Noelle practices being knightly on a regular, day-to-day basis, so she can give you tips and notes to be a genuine knight<;33

Also any stories of knights? Kids books or adult? Given to you immediately given to you cause she collects them, and she’s super excited to share

She doesn’t believe it’s knightly, or generally just polite, to disrespect boundaries

Can barely stand cold weather so going into dragonspine, she’s gonna be cuddled up in blankets and jackets

Loves to bake and cook, Noelle learns quickly so she can definitely learn some cold dishes!

“Ah?! Are you sure you have enough layers? I have some extra blankets and jackets!”

Iida will definitely try to show off his knightly skills, and generally ‘knightly’ family in front of you to impress<33

Listens to you if you rant about inequality of heroes and the injustice within the system, even if he has trouble agreeing, there’s somethings that he agrees and disagrees with

He kinda shifts when admitted you say you think Stain was “right” but doesn’t blame you (just please down do attempted murder..)

but he does see your point and respects it

He’ll take your hand and spin you around randomly<33

Iida flinches when you pop your knuckles and has this look of horror if his bones crack<3

“[Name]! I can not possibly see how you’re okay with doing that to your poor knuckles!”

[thebubblesareevil]

Life on the farm pt 4 copy cat

It takes QUITE a bit of explaining for about how exactly Danny is apparently dead for Clark to be even mildly okay with it. Up until Pa tells him how he save his life at which point Clark was close to tears. Lois had to pull him off Danny before he was crushed to death. All in all they had a very interesting Christmas.

Fast forward a month and Clark mentions to Bruce how he has a new little brother and how apparently his parents have a habit of attracting the paranormal. This tips Bruce off and he suggests that Clark bring Danny by mount justice to see what he can do. Danny is pretty iffy about it and intends to say no when Ma tells him he should go. It might be nice for him to meet kids his age that he doesn’t have to worry about scaring. So Danny reluctantly agrees.

When they arrive via zeta tube Danny immediately takes off in search of a trash can before he vomits all over the entrance, cujo not far behind him. He ends up getting lost in the halls and walking into a training session with black canary. Danny watches, fairly impressed with the teen sparring with the blond, he had a bit of a temper but he wasn’t doing too bad. When she slammed him on the ground Danny gave a sympathetic groan, the teen twisted around glaring at him “Who the hell are you?!?” He stood up revealing the Superman symbol on his chest.

Danny immediately held his hands up to show he meant no harm. Canary tells him to calm down before addressing Danny “you must be the young meta Superman told us was coming. I’m black Canary, it’s nice to meet you.” The other boy scowled, much to Danny’s confusion.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a meta but sure, I’m here with Superman” he turns to address the teen. “you were doing real great in that fight. I’m impressed, but y’know…”

“I need to reign in my temper. I know!” Danny looks at him surprised, “actually I was gonna say that if you went in for a jab before she flipped you it would have thrown off her balance. Sometimes the most efficient attacks are the ones that don’t hit.” He looked at Danny confused, and a little bit relieved. Danny grinned “you didn’t lose the spar because of your temper, you lost because she’s more experienced. I used to get my ass kicked all the time. It just takes practice.”

“You fight? Would you care to try your luck?” Canary asked. Danny hesitated “uhm I’m not sure about that, I don’t usually fight the living…” canary looked at him confused “what do you mean..” before canary finishes her question they are interrupted by wolf charging into the room chased by… a small green dog?

Danny shouts “Cujo!” The dog stops and races to Danny, wolf hides behind Conner.

“What’s wrong buddy, he’s just a little guy?”

Danny laughs and says “I wouldn’t go that far, but he’s probably more concerned by the fact that hes a ghost. Animals tend to get pretty antsy near ghosts, working on a farm was an… interesting experience to say the least.” Danny laughs “we should probably go find Supes” the three make they’re way toward the living area where they find Superman with the rest of the team. He surveys the team guessing who’s who. He’s not sure about the magician, Obviously the red head works with the speedster, he’s not sure who the kid in the cape works with, Danny’s not sure if there are any archers in the league so he’s a little confused by the blond girl. The cute teen with gills probably works with aquaman. The moment he sees M’gann though, Danny stares with undisguised confusion. Conner notices the look and immediately gets defensive “you got a problem with martians?!” Danny swiftly turns to Conner “She’s from MARS!?!??” Danny is no longer next to Conner.

The whole team gets whiplash from the change as Danny bombards their resident Martian with questions about Mars and space. Superman laughs, “how come you weren’t this enthusiastic when you found out I was kryptonian” Danny gives Clark an unimpressed look. “You were raised on earth by Ma and Pa, she was raised on MARS you are not the same.” The whole team freezes, not that Danny notices much as he continues to ask M’gann about space.

Conner breaks out of his surprise “you’re related to Superman?” Clark goes to interrupt but Danny answers before he can.

“Yep, Ma and Pa took me in so now I’ve got a kryptonian big brother.” Conner clenches his jaw as Danny continues “but don’t worry I won’t be stealing your mentor, I’m pretty strictly a solo act, closest thing I had to a mentor was… an old friend.” Danny may be obsessed with space but he’s not a complete idiot so it’s pretty obvious at this point that Conner is trying to reign in his temper. “Is there something wrong?”

“He’s not my mentor!” Danny looks between the two “sorry my mistake the shirt threw me off. Just a fan then.” They all start to look at him weird before Clark jumps in

“He’s uhh, well he’s my clone” Danny freezes with a gasp he covers his mouth in shock and places a hand over his chest. “I can’t believe this. To think… I’ve finally assessed to the rank of middle child!!!” Danny throws his hands in the air in triumph. With a laugh he turns back to Clark “Why didn’t you tell me I had a little brother?! This is awesome!” Conner looks at Danny confused

Clark interrupted Danny’s excitement “he’s, well you don’t, he’s not my brother he’s my clone.” Danny brushes him off

“So what! He’s perfect little brother material. I’m assuming Ma and Pa don’t know, they’re gonna be so excited.”

“Danny! Calm down, no I haven’t told Ma and Pa, I didn’t want to worry them.”

Danny is confused “worry them, why would this make them worried?” Clark sighs

“Conner was made by lex Luthor, my arch enemy, with the intent to replace me.” Danny takes a step back, Conner looks away dejected even as his friends gather close around him.

The room goes cold

“Dude I think you need to chill” Danny says with an sharp grin. “I mean a clone I understand out of your control? A clone made by your arch enemy to replace you? I mean seriously, has he even tried to shoot you in the back yet?”

“He didn’t ask to be made, so stop treating him like it’s HIS fault.” Danny’s eyes have started to glow as the room seems to close in on them before all at once everything goes back to normal. Superman takes a gasp of air. Danny laughs “gonna be honest though, it kinda feels like you’re copying me at this point.” He says moving over to Conner, throwing an arm over his shoulder. “But let’s make one thing straight, and I mean absolutely no offense, but my clone is clearly superior.” Conner and Clark look at Danny shocked. “Your WHAT?!?” Danny laughs

“Yeah man, when I was 14 my arch nemesis cloned me in a attempt to replace me, didn’t work, only one was stable and she wants nothing to do with him at this point.” Clark looks at Danny pleadingly “that…that doesnt explain anything, why did you have an arch enemy.”

“Well I mean, originally he asked me to join him, but I’m wasn’t really a fan of him killing my dad and marrying my mom. He was obsessed with making me his son, major fruitloop man he’s crazy.” Danny shrugs.” Kid flash laughs

“I’m calling bullshit there’s no way.”

Danny laughs “think what you like but don’t come crying to me when Ellie haunts your nightmares”

Danny claps his hands “So what exactly are we doing today?”

——————

Meanwhile in the arctic in another dimension

a small girl is chasing after a group of penguins when a portal appears in front of her and she crashes face first into the large blue bearded figure that exits.

“CLOCKWORK!!” She laughs “wanna chase penguins with me?” The elderly ghost grins

“Perhaps another time, for now how would you like to visit your cousin for a little while. There’s some people that are DYING to meet you.”

The girl gives him an impossibly wide Sharp grin before letting out maniacal laugh

“Lead the way clocks!”

[akumatizedpuns]

Anti-Arguments and Rebuttals for them

Things to remember:

Antis usually want an easy target. Freelance artists/writers, small businesses, etc.

But it's easier to get angry with a smaller entity than one you know you'll never be able to do anything with/about.

A lot of antis just deeply enjoy the thrill of witch hunting. If you pay attention, you'll notice a lot of them engage in cancel culture and make memes about the topics they call themselves taking a stand for or against.

Antis will almost always use a strawman argument. Most things on this list will consist of these sorts of arguments.

1. Fiction affects reality.

The funniest and most ridiculous thing about this argument to me is that it always comes out of nowhere. No one ever says anything that implies this isn't the case, yet antis seem to think everyone except themselves are woefully unaware of this fact.

If fiction didn't affect reality, then people wouldn't use fiction to work through trauma. Obviously, fiction does affect reality.

But I somehow doubt you'll ever come across an anti who wants to ban all violence and/or disturbing content in media. No one wants Fortnite, GTA, Mortal Kombat or Call of Duty to be taken off the shelves forever. No one wants Tokyo Ghoul, Attack on Titan, Death Note or Dragon Ball to never be available to watch again. Yet all contain negative content. Negative content that is consumed by kids daily.

If an anti was really concerned about fiction and the fact that it can affect reality, they would be tackling these bigger problems. Some of these games and a lot of violent or disturbing media in general have been linked to real life attacks. There are so many more.

But I'm not gonna end my argument there and just say, 'Since antis are okay with this wrong thing, then they should be okay with that wrong thing.'

No. At the end of the day, it comes down to the person. Educate children on safe ways to consume media. If someone shipping two cousins together somehow influences a person in the real world to do something terrible, then there's something wrong with that person.

If an SA victim is dressed a certain way and get's SA'd would you blame the SA victim for how they were dressed or the perpetrator? You also have to realise that by placing the blame on fiction, you're enabling similar behavior.

Because too many times throughout history we've seen a murderer get the 'benefit of the doubt' because they were inspired by some form of media. That's no excuse.

2. If you read/write something you must condone it.

Okay, lets say I'm writing a story wherein the protagonist is assassinating a Hitler-like character or entity. The character describes their murder as though they are completely happy about it. Everyone in the story continue on with incredible lives, something that would not have been possible if not for the murder.

Let me first ask, what do you think about this? Do you hate or at the very least disagree with the way the murder was glorified/romanticized because you think that murder is reprehensible no matter what? Or do you think some form or semblance justice was served?

Neither is wrong or right. Not in fiction. Objectivity would come more into play if this were a real situation, though.

But just because I, the author, decided to write it from the character's prespective doesn't mean I condone murder. That didn't mean that I didn't get to acquire any insight on the possible prespective of the character. But even if I did, I could flat-footedly disagree regardless.

I don't feel as though I can explain this. It's something you have to understand. But I'll post this link and hope you can put at least some of the pieces together, https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoralityTropes

3. It's okay to harass someone because shipping something that problematic is just wrong.

The point is, no one in fiction is sentinent, except for in our minds. Morality is much more flexible.

It throws me that animals are sentinent, yet we'll know this and eat them regardless. We're hard-pressed to value animals above people, let alone put them on remotely similar levels.

But somehow their is a group of people out there who are condone harassing or threatening people because a completely non-sentinent being is being hurt from their prespective. Really??

Humans go by a general consensus. That we won't put animals above humans. Yet, we're willing to put invisible, fictional entities above humans? This sounds eerily similar to radical cult/religous groups. The only difference is that antis (hopefully) know for sure that a fictional characters aren't real. Most religious people at least have an excuse, even if it's a terrible one.

4. Aging up Characters is wrong

The most unbelieveable argument, but I'll bite. It's not. It's not pedophilia. By Google definitions, pedophilia is a sexual attraction toward children. A pedophile is someone who is sexually attracted to children.

This is not pedophilia. Characters have been aged up in media ever since media has existed. You are not sexualizing a child by aging them up, even if said drawing is suggestive.

When you incorrectly use this term, you make it harder for real victims to be believed, you trivialize the struggles that actual victims have/are going through. If it's weird and suspicious to you, then fine.

5. All proshippers are pedophiles/condone pedophilia.

Firstly, please stop saying this as a lot of proshippers are minors. You are further spewing misinfo on what a pedophile is toward someone who is still developing and may meet an actual pedophile but aren't able to properly identify them because some stranger in line kept insisting an artist who aged up a character is one. Minors are very easily influeneced by the internet. Being harassed does more damage than shipping something they will likely grow out of.

And those who are not minors usually are survivors of CSA/SA and cope with their trauma through drawing or writing certain content. They get to rewrite or redraw what happened to them and give themselves a better ending.

You don't have the right to tell them how to cope. Fiction is supposed to be a safe space, thus, why it is a medium recommended by therapists and has been for centuries. This shit has literally been researched.

Secondly, adult proshippers usually have something along the lines of 'Minors DNI' on their pages. I notice that even antis who post explicit/NSFW content don't, though. Which is ironic.

And the 'not all victims cope this way so they don't have to cope this way' argument is valid.

6. Well, I wouldn't attack them if they weren't public with it.

That's no excuse. You have entirely too much time on your hands, first off. Be hateful towards a person who actually deserves that hate.

Secondly, as long as they have proper warnings on their page, it's their shit. You can't tell them what to do with it.

Lastly, I've never met a proshipper that forced an anti to interact with them or their content. I've never met a proshipper who can somehow resist being blocked by the complete stranger who happened to stumble across their page.

Generally speaking, I don't believe in the 'don't like, don't interact' thing. Not with video games. Or TV. Or social media. You have the right. But when it's another human being, I highly doubt that's something that can't be accomplished.

This also sounds weirdly familiar to the, "Well, if gay people weren't throwing it in my face, I wouldn't have anything to say about them!" Antis are oddly authoritarian.

In Conclusion:

There's no excuse to harass anyone over fiction. And if someone has a very difficult time seperating fiction from reality, I highly recommend therapy in all brutal honesty.

Nothing will ever make telling a suicidal person to kill or hurt themselves okay.

Nothing will ever make falsely telling a survivor that they are their abuser or like their abuser okay.

If I tell Charlie Brown to kill himself right now it won't matter.

If I tell a real person to kill themselves, my words can and just might have real, lasting, effects.

If I tell Percy Jackson to kill himself he'll be okay and we know this without question.

If I tell a real person to kill themselves because they told me they ship Percy with Hera or whoever the fuck, theirs no way of knowing. And if you're fine with that - if you even so much as defend that - then maybe you should engage in something less hateful.

How about worshipping a flying spaghetti monster (since you may as well be)?

[writingwithcolor]

Gingerbread man as golem

@yaronata asked:

I would like to write a character who is Jewish and uses a Golem. She's based on the D&D class of the artificer which looks magic but isn't, because they produce all their effects with inventions, like the "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" quote. Her story is that her very Jewish town was under attack from a terrible monster when she was little. Her Rabbis made a Golem to protect the town, and it succeeded but was torn to pieces in the process. She was fascinated by the Golem and as a kid didn't see a big difference between it's sentience and person's so was really thankful for its sacrifice like you would a person's sacrificing their life for you. They thought all the pieces had been devoured by the monster before it died, but she went looking and found the piece used to animate the Golem, which she, kinda misunderstanding called its "heart". She kept the piece and grew up to be an incredibly skilled cook, specialising as a baker in the town. I imagine she would make a lot of really good food for the Jewish holidays, or to break fasts on ones like Yom Kippur or Tish'abav. But she also made a town specific holiday to honour the Golem's sacrifice and the town still being alive, because I feel "we are not dead woo" is a big theme for Jewish holidays from my research, so it could fit, for which she invented ginger bread men to be the golem, and gave them little "hearts" of fruit or honey, and you're meant to eat them limb by limb like the beast did before eating the heart. This would be the inspiration for using the "heart" piece later to make her own giant gingerbread Golem to help her save the world.

These are my questions 1) would it be considered bad or disrespectful for someone who isn't a Rabbi to make a Golem, or is this method of taking an animating piece someone else made disrespectful? 2) Her journey will take her far from her town and her Jewish family and friends and she will likely travel with gentiles. Would it be disrespectful for a Golem to be used to protect a lot of gentiles and one Jew in the course of saving the world? I don't want to fall into the stereotype of someone putting all their effort into valuing and protecting very specifically the group that in real life is oppressive to them. 3) While she is not using magic and is actually mimicking its effects with technology she invents, is this drawing too close to the line of "magical Jew"? 4) I like to "play test" my characters in ttrpgs to really get a feel for them before I write. Would it be disrespectful to play a Jewish character when I am a gentile, and would it be disrespectful to play a Jewish character in a setting where there are demonstrably real gods other than the one of Judaism?

I really like this character idea and I think it's cute and fun and rooted in Jewish culture but I really want to make sure it's respectful and as good as I, a gentile researching on the internet, thinks it is. Thanks so much! Have a nice day!

My answer to this is very complicated because there are things I both like and do not like about this premise. First of all, I love the idea of a cookie golem, and I'm even imagining the magic word that brings him to life (EMET/truth) would be written in icing. And I'm okay with the part about how she found a piece of the old golem and used it to build a new golem, because that makes sense for a golem made from a baked good when you think about how people use sourdough starter to make a new batch of sourdough.

However, here are the thing that make me cock my head to the side like my little sister's German shepherd:

1. re: "magical Jew" - that's not a trope I've ever heard of. Remember, marginalized groups don't receive identical disrespect across the board. It is indeed a trope to use Black people or disabled people as supernatural plot devices who exist only to further the stories of white main characters or able-bodied main characters. But I can't say as I've ever seen anyone using Jewishness that way. Usually if we are someone's one-dimensional plot device it's as someone's lawyer, fixer, "money guy", etc, not a supernatural force. So this isn't something you have to worry about.

2. I have a certain level of discomfort with you playing as a Jewish character just because playacting as a marginalized culture you're not part of strikes me as off, but I understand that that's how you gain insight into a character you're about to write so it's more of a writing exercise than anything else. (I wonder if D&D regulars from marginalized groups have written about this -- I've only played a few times casually with family so if I did run into this type of discussion in my social justice reading I wouldn't have absorbed it. If anyone is curious I played first as Captain Werewolf, and then switched to playing as Cinnamon Blade because lawful good was too hard. :P )

3. I would prefer you omit the detail about eating the cookies piece by piece symbolically, for two reasons: a. it unintentionally evokes Communion by having appreciative people consume a baked good symbolic of an entity who sacrificed his life for theirs, and b. focusing on the details of flesh consumption reminds me too much of Blood Libel (yes, a gingerbread man is in the shape of a person but how many of us actually think about it literally, the way this act would cause?)

As to your first question: I'm fine with her making a golem even though she's just a rando. Second question: I see what you're saying and maybe it could be more okay if it's really clear how well these gentile folks are treating her? And questions three and four are answered above.

I really do love the idea of a giant gingerbread man golem. Cookie golem T_T <3

--Shira

I would like to second Shira’s point about not ripping apart the gingerbread cookies. I honestly would prefer they were used as decoration, and other cookies eaten instead, since that part just feels so not-Jewish to me, but I don’t have golem-specific issues other than that. It seems like you have already been doing a lot of research, which is appreciated.

As far as the ttrpg/DnD aspect… I bounce back and forth on the topic of playing characters that are so very different from our experiences, other than in fantasy-related ways. However, I am aware that a lot of people will play with, and experiment with gender in game, and learn something about themselves in the process (the number of trans players of ttrpgs who tried out their gender in game before they were out is high). It’s different with Judaism, and even more significantly different when it comes to things you can’t convert into, like various actual, real-world races. But because people do sometimes experience growth from experiences like this, I’m hesitant to dissuade players completely. I do urge you to, at a minimum, bring the same care, research, and willingness to learn, that you brought to this question.

--Dierdra

This sounds like a creative storyline that you could have lots of fun with 😊

At first I was confused by this part:

She also made a town specific holiday to honour the Golem's sacrifice

But then you really got me thinking about different types of Jewish holidays and how they come about, so thank you for that!

Because it’s often the little details that either make a story super powerful or kind of nonsensical, I think it would be a good idea to decide what type of holiday is being created here:

A full-blown chag with restrictions on labour and halachic obligations? These are commanded in Torah and new ones can’t be added.

A minor yom tov with halachic obligations but no restrictions? These were instituted by the rabbis prior to the destruction of the Temple, so again new ones can’t be added.

A public holiday or equivalent? This would usually be declared by the Knesset in Israel, and filter to the rest of the Jewish world from there.

A community-based yom tov with specific customs only for people in the know, such as certain Chasidic groups celebrating the birthdays of their deceased leaders? I asked around, but no one can really tell me how these holidays get started, which is probably a good indication that they arise quite organically from a group of people who all just feel that it should be celebrated. Probably not created by a single person, as such.

Something she runs from her bakery, not religion-based, but more like a day of doing special products and deals the way many small businesses do on their anniversary?

Now, if the people of a modern-day town were actually saved by a real live Golem, that would arguably be the most overt miracle for many generations, so there would be a decent chance of options 3 and/or 4 happening. It’s entirely plausible that there could be special foods for this day that become a tradition, including Golem cookies. People who directly benefited might also return to the site where the Golem fought the monster and recite the prayer, ‘Blessed is Hashem, Master of the Universe, Who performed a miracle for me in this place.’

Alternatively, if it’s important that your MC created the holiday, something like option 5 might be the best. Hopefully this will still fulfil what you need: you describe her as incredibly skilled, so I can imagine the day when she goes all out on the Golem cookies being one of the most exciting events of the year for the townspeople, just because her baking is that good. Plus, they already have a personal stake in the Golem’s sacrifice, so I definitely think it could be a thing without being an official holiday. Also, if she is outside of an all-Jewish environment, don’t forget that she would have to decide whether to commemorate the anniversary in the Hebrew calendar or the local one.

Coming back to the cookies, sorry if we’re getting a little repetitive on this point! But I don’t see the cookies being torn limb from limb as part of a celebration. First of all, this doesn’t sound like a very celebratory thing to do, to say the least. Can you imagine explaining that to a three-year-old on their first Yom HaGolem? They would be terrified! (I don’t read this suggestion as accidental anti-Semitism so much as getting carried away with a metaphor, which I’m sure as writers we have all done!)

But also, it’s worth pointing out that our commemorative foods aren’t usually that literal. If you think about hamantaschen, maror, or apple in honey, they’re all symbols. That’s not to say that having Golem-shaped cookies is a problem, as this sounds like just a bit of fun that the MC is having and not something that is directly at odds with Judaism or Jewish culture. But it’s worth bearing in mind that the more literal you go from there in terms of tying the cookies to the event they commemorate, the less culturally aligned your holiday food becomes.

Finally, about the Golem protecting non-Jewish people: I like this idea! There’s a stereotype that we only use whatever is at our disposal to help ourselves and other Jewish people, so a Golem being created by Jews but helping others as well is a big plus for me. Of course, as has already been pointed out, this would be an odd choice if her Saving The World team were anti-Semitic or otherwise disrespectful to her/her community, but I don’t think you were headed that way!

-Shoshi

I have to come back in here just to squee over the phrase “Yom HaGolem.” Well done :D

--Shira

[the-atlas-sister]

The First Date (Damian Wayne X Reader)

So in this, you are the daughter of Green Arrow, Oliver Queen (NOT THE ARROW VERSION!! THE ANIMATED AND COMIC VERSION), and Black Canary, Dinah Lance. Also in this Dinah is dead and you have taken on the role of Black Canary

"Done!" Abby (moi!!!) exclaimed, tying the hair tie in my hair. "Aw, you look so good!" She backed up, admiring her work.

I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror, smiling slightly. "I mean, I usually look beautiful but now I look even more beautiful," I joked.

"I know," Abby said, making me chuckle.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. "What time is it?" I asked.

"Six on the dot," Abby said, looking impressed. "Wow."

"It is Damian," I shrugged before my eyes widened. "I'm going on a date with Damian Wayne."

"Chill," y/b/f said, noticing my panic. "You asked him out, remember?"

"But-"

"Hey Damian," y/b/f said from the living room.

I looked at Abby, a panicked expression on my face. "You're okay," she whispered before leading me out of the bathroom.

Damian looked at me before mumbling something in Arabic. I was rusty when it came to other languages but I thought I caught "Beautiful..." which was enough to make my entire face turn red.

"Hey," I said, putting on a confident face. "You look good." My eyes scanned him. He wore a pair of nice black jeans and a matching skin-tight turtle-neck.

"You look..." His eyes scanned me.

"Gorgeous? Beautiful? Sexy?" I guessed, smirking at Damian blushed.

"Yes," Damian said, making me blush.

"Okay... well," Abby said, pushing me forward. "You two have fun," she said as I slipped on my shoes. "But not too much fun." She eyeballed Damian in a very best friend way. "And have her back by 10."

"And be safe!" Myloh added.

"Bye guys," I said, quickly ushering Damian out the door before closing it. "Sorry."

"I had a similar conversation with my brothers before I left," Damian said before cringing slightly. "Although it was a bit more-"

"I don't want to know," I said, shaking my head. "So, what do you have planned, Mr. Wayne?" I asked, walking down the apartment hallway.

"That's a surprise," Damian said with a stoic face.

"Not a huge fan of surprises," I said as we reached the elevator.

"You'll like this one," Damian stated matter-of-factly, pressing the button to the last level.

"Is that a fact?" I challenged as the elevator lowered.

"Yes," Damian stated, making me tilt my head. "I did some research and I'm sure you'll enjoy this."

"I don't know if that was meant to be sweet but it came off as creepy," I chuckled, leaning on the elevator wall.

"I just meant- I asked Abby what you're interested in," Damian explained, slowly going pink.

"What'd she say?" I asked, both worried and curious.

"She explained your love of movies, books, the stars, and food," Damian stated as the doors slid open.

"So, which did you choose?" I questioned, walking backward out of the elevator.

"Still a surprise," Damian smirked, following me.

"Mhm, game on Mr. Wayne," I said, turning around and walking out the apartment building's front doors. My eyes widened a bit as I saw Damian's motorcycle parked in front of the building. "Seriously?" I asked, looking at him as he stood next to me.

"Complaining?" he asked, looking at me sideways.

"Not as long as I get to drive," I chuckled, approaching the motorcycle.

"No," Damian said, standing next to me. He grabbed one of the helmets before handing me the second one.

"I know how," I frowned.

"No," Damian repeated before blinking. "Strange, that felt familiar." He then shook his head before getting on the bike. "Come on," he said looking at me. I rolled my eyes but climbed on the bike behind him. "Hold on," he said before putting on his helmet.

"You sure you don't want to drive as a way to get me to hold on to you?" I teased, resting my head on Damian's shoulder. Damian tensed up, making me chuckle. "I was kidding," I reassured him, putting on the helmet and grabbing his shoulders.

Damian cleared his throat. "I-I respect you, but for your own safety, I suggest you put your arms around my waist."

I blushed, wrapping my arms around his waist. Damian started the bike and drove out of his parking spot. My grip tightened as Damian sped up and we reached the highway. I grinned under the helmet as the adrenaline rushed through me due to the speed.

***

"You have to take me on your motorcycle more often," I said, letting out a breathy laugh and taking off my helmet.

"It's not really mine," Damian corrected, taking off his helmet and getting off the bike.

"But with Promythous-" I furrowed my brows, placing the helmet on the bike's seat.

"That was Robin's bike," Damian explained, leading me to the secret destination. He had parked a block away from the surprise place, just to keep the secrecy. "Damian Wayne does not have a motorcycle."

"Who's-" I continued, getting into pace next to Damian.

"My brother's," he shrugged with a small smug smile.

"You stole your brother's motorcycle?" I asked, laughing slightly.

"He told me, women love men with motorcycles," Damian said. "So I took that as an invitation for me to 'borrow' his." He smirked to himself at the thought. "Also, my other brother said I should. I'm not one to listen to him but, I did enjoy the idea of stealing Jason's bike." I smiled at his mini-rant. He seemed to notice. "I'm sorry for oversharing," he said, his face returning to it's neutral state.

"No, it's fine," I reassured him as we turned a corner. "It's nice hearing you talk more."

Damian blinked, obviously surprised by my answer. "What... would you like to talk about?" he asked slowly.

"You," I said. "I don't know much about you."

"O-oh," Damian stuttered, which was a rare sound. "I grew up with the League of Assassins."

"The group your father trained with?" I asked, interested to learn more. "Lead by Ra AlGugl?"

"My grandfather," Damian confirmed. "When my father was training, he met my mother. She- she tricked him into having... intercourse with her. That's how I was created. My father left before I was born and I was raised by my grandfather and mother. I was trained from birth to be the master assassin. I was supposed to be the best. There was no room for error."

"That doesn't sound like a fun childhood," I said.

"I suppose not," Damian hummed. "I loved my grandfather very much, or more admired him. He told me we would destroy the world and rebuild it in our own image." He scanned our surroundings, almost as if he was imagining how he could make each detail superior.

"That's still partly your mindset isn't it?" I asked, making Damian's gaze turn to me. "You see the world and people and just imagine how you can make them better." Damian blinked. "You even yourself believe you're better than everyone. You think you'll be a better Batman, a better hero."

"I don't-"

"I'm not critiquing, just observing," I stated. I blushed under Damian's intense stare. "I-I interrupted, I'm sorry. What about your mother?"

"She's dead," Damian said.

"Oh," I said.

"She wasn't a mother anyway," Damian continued. "Last I saw her she tried to create an adult 'perfect' clone of me and killed him."

"And I thought my dad was hardcore," I mumbled. "How did she...?"

"Helicopter crashed after trying to kill me, my father, and Grayson," Damian said almost casually.

My eyes widened. "You didn't deserve it," I said as we turned yet another corner. Damian turned to me. "You deserved a loving childhood. Not one with a group of assassins and Batman."

Damian's eyes softened. "I did get, what you call, a loving childhood with my father," he said. "He would set up movie nights. And my brothers are... overly loving, at least Grayson."

"He's Nightwing, right?" I asked, grinning a bit. Damian nodded. "I've met him. He has a bit of an older brother feel. And I'm sure he understands how hard it is to grow up with someone like Bruce."

"He has made it very clear he does," Damian scoffed. "As had Todd." I gave him a questioning look. "Red Hood."

"Oh, never met him," I mumbled.

We walked in comfortable silence for a minute.

"Here," Damian said, stopping in front of a small and quaint ice cream shop.

"Ice cream?" I asked, giving him a lopsided grin. "On Friday."

"You said you and your mother used to always had ice cream on Fridays," Damian said shyly.

I let out a small laugh. "You- this is really sweet," I said, a bit surprised. I remembered when I told him that detail about my childhood.

***Flashback***

"Tell me more about your mother," Damian said after a while of silence. "I assume she's where you got your power?"

"Yeah," I said quietly, looking up at the ceiling. "She was- awesome. She was the first Black Canary. Trained in thousands of martial art styles."

"You're telling me things I already know," Damian stated, making me look at him.

"She was a pretty cool mom," I chuckled, crossing my legs on the bed. "She couldn't cook though. That was something she wasn't taught. She'd always make time for us to have an ice cream night. Every Friday." I smiled at the memory. "Sometimes she'd come back from patrol at midnight then wake me up, just so we could still eat ice cream."

"Do you still do it?" Damian questioned, turning to face me fully. "With your father?"

"Not usually," I stated, trying not to sound bitter. "He's usually busy with the Justice League and his company."

"How did she die?" Damian asked softly, making me go stiff.

"I was thirteen," I recited. "She and my dad went to face Prometheus. It was just in the early stages of my training-at least for the Canary cry, so I wasn't allowed to go. I- I remember my dad calling the house. He told me he'd be home soon, but something happened to Mom. Apparently, Prometheus slit her throat. She didn't want anyone to find out her identity so she insisted that only Martian Manhunter or Batman operated on her."

"But it was too late," Damian assumed. I nodded.

"Dad and I hardly even spoke after that," I sighed. "It hit us both- hard, but after a year, we got through it. He's still protective though."

"What about your powers?"

"I don't use them," I stated. "My mom died before we got far in training."

"Why don't you continue?" Damian asked. "I assume the league would be open to help or your friends."

"I can't," I sighed. "My vocal cords are too old."

"That sounds like an excuse," Damian stated. "I was unaware you were a quitter, Queen."

***End of flashback***

"I just figured you'd enjoy it," Damian shrugged, turning his head to the side to hide his smile.

"I do," I chuckled. "Although this is very cliche."

"I have seen as such in many of the movies Grayson forced me to watch," Damian admitted.

"Thank you, Damian," I smiled before rushing towards the outside counter, Damian following. "Hello!" I said to the person at the counter.

"Hello," the person said. She was a pretty girl, seemingly teen age with flawless makeup. She looked like she belonged at Dutch Brothers.

"I would like two scoops of y/f/i.c (your favirote ice cream) in a cup, please," I said before turning to Damian.

"Awesome," the girl said. "And you?"

Damian glanced at me. "None for me," he answered.

"You're not going to get anything?" I asked.

"I've never had ice cream," Damian admitted.

"Never?" I asked in shock.

"No," Damian said, his face showing me he didn't understand the problem. I scanned his face before turning to the girl.

"He'll have one scoop of almond in a cup," I stated.

"Alright," the girl smiled. "Be right with you."

"I said I didn't want any," Damian said, looking at me.

"You've never had it and you can't just sit there watching me eat," I protested. "Plus, I think you'll like it."

"Why is that?" Damian challenged.

"I'm an observer of people and you seem like an almond guy," I summarized.

"Explain your thinking Miss Queen," Damian said.

"Well, almond is more of a traditional Arabic ice cream flavor (please correct me if I'm wrong, I got this off the internet), and knowing you, you prefer salty and savory over sweet," I explained before leaning back and spreading my hands like I was presenting an amazing discovery.

"We shall see," Damian just said.

"Here," the girl chimed in, interrupting our discussion. She handed us our ice cream.

"Thank you," I said. I placed my ice cream on the counter before pulling out my wallet, but Damian had already paid. "I was going to pay," I said as he handed me my ice cream.

"It's proper etiquette for the man to pay," Damian said, leading me away from the ice cream shop.

"But it's not required," I chuckled. "Besides, we're both the children of billionaires." Damian didn't answer as he led me to a small park beside the shop. "I'll just pay next time."

"Next time?" Damian asked, stopping in front of a blanket with a projector on it.

"Yeah," I smirked. "If I haven't scared you away."

"Not at all," Damian said, sitting on the blanket. He motioned for me to sit down and I obliged.

"Try the ice cream," I said excitedly. Damian glanced at the tan-colored ice cream before taking a scoop and eating it. I stared at him, waiting for some type of reaction. His eyes widened before he took another scoop. "I told you!" I smirked.

"Coincidence," Damian scoffed but took more bites.

"Mhm," I hummed, leaning back on my free hand. I looked around, noticing a screen across from the projector. "You set this up?"

"Pennyworth did," Damian corrected. "Although I choose the film."

"Oh really?" I asked. "What'd you choose?"

"y/f/a/m (your favirote animated movie)," Damian stated. My face lit up. "Abby told me it was your favorite. Although I don't understand how or why a film made for children would be your favorite."

"You've never seen it have you?" I asked. Damian shook his head. "Then you'll figure out that it's not really a children's film. And you'll discover the superior soundtrack."

[fluffynexu]

ART BY @plushchimera !!!

pls give the artist all the love!

small snippit under the cut if anyone’s interested... >>;

Scourge heard the news that morning. Darth Sundar, Roshana, had died.

Her death was broadcasted on nearly all of the major Imperial news channels. The usual talking heads spoke of her life, her great contributions, and paid tribute to “one of the greatest Sith of our time”. 

He recalled an offhand remark she made to him years ago, the context of the broader conversation no longer important. Her words: You can cry for me when I’m dead. But now that it had actually happened, he found he had no tears for her. Even though he once had longing, passion, and love burning in the depths of his heart, there was nothing now except for a small flicker that threatened to extinguish at any moment. 

Scourge turned off the broadcasting device within his small, private sanctum in the Citadel as the skies over Kaas City rumbled with rolling clouds that promised another thunderstorm.

He brought forth the memories of Rosha. Her smile, her laughter, her eyes, the sound of her voice as she sang, or the way she moved and danced to music… And while it was useless to dwell upon them, he stubbornly held onto each memory as if they were fleeting dreams. 

Shaking off his dreams of another life, Scourge made his way around the room when a knock caught his attention. The door opened to reveal one of the Imperial Guards holding a large, slim tube.

The guard handed off the tube to Scourge. “This was addressed to you.” 

One of Scourge’s brow stalks rose, but he nodded and accepted the package.

“Is that all, or does the Emperor need someone killed?”

“Not until Felsday,” the Guard replied.

“Very well then.”

The Guard bowed as he left.  

With the door closed, Scourge was left in the silence of his dim room as rain began to fall outside. He eyed the tube, slowly turning it in his hands a couple of times before opening one end of it. Inside was a rolled canvas and a sheet of flimsi that fell to the floor. 

He unfurled the canvas to reveal a painting he had done many years ago. 

It must’ve been decades by now and while his eyes no longer saw the vibrant shades he used to, he could still see the painting’s colors in his mind’s eye. 

He recalled how, once Rosha had discovered his hobby of oil painting, she’d goaded him at random moments to do a painting of her. Scourge would always decline, too insecure of his abilities to adequately capture her likeness that’d do any sort of justice. Besides, he stuck to still life paintings and Rosha is—or was—a very animated individual. 

After what seemed like half an eternity he finally gave into her request. She was so happy and rather smug, until he told her to stay still for more than a minute. Then it was nothing but complaints from her. He didn’t mind, he had found it amusing then. 

Scourge managed in the end… after she convinced him to use a holopicture as a reference so she could sit beside him and watch. While it was unnerving to paint with an audience, his enjoyment of her company, of her warm body pressing against his, outweighed any reservations he had. When he finally finished he was rewarded with a smile from her that made the very stars dim in shame. 

Yes, it was a happier moment in his life. One he’d treasure even if it did not stir the same old emotions. For now Scourge pushed the memories and the painting aside as he picked up the flimsi that fell.

The words on the sheet were in Kittât and written in a familiar handwriting. Scourge stared down at the letter, reading and rereading it. Every word and their meanings became etched into his mind. But one part stood out in particular. 

…our daughter…

He had a daughter…

A soft sigh escaped from his lips as a drop of water stained the letter. Then another drop followed. 

Scourge tilted his head up to see if there were any leaks in the ceiling, but of course there weren't. His room was nowhere close to the top of the Citadel. Then where?... 

He looked back down at the letter and a third drop fell. 

There could be… one other possible explanation. 

Slowly he brought a hand up and thoroughly wiped his eyes. He looked upon his hand to realize it was slightly wet. Was he… crying? A small smile slowly grew on his face at the realization. 

Even though the Emperor had stripped him of his senses, his emotions, and most of his humanity… there was still a part of him, no matter how deeply buried, that felt. And it seemed that this part of him wept for the love he lost and the life he could've had.