#he has so many kids he doesn't know what to do

[jedi-hawkins]

Callsign: Omega

post-s3 finale head cannons (spoilers, duh)

Omega, she’s become one of the most famous pilots for the rebellion.

She names her x-wing “Havoc 5” for her brothers

Of course it has their ct numbers written across the back, right behind the cockpit, for they’re always watching her six. She can't see them when she's flying, and frankly doesn't look at the worn numbers there every day, but they're there always.

The belly of her x-wing is covered in tally marks. The blue ones are for each clone she’s helped free, an ohmage to a clone her brother Echo told her about, ARC-5555. The black ones are for every other being she's helped free. And the red ones, those are for the lives that have passed on and become one with the Force.

On part of her landing gear is a blue pawprint.

On her helmet she only has five things painted, a knife, a crosshair, a tooka doll, a handprint, and a pair of goggles.

On the shoulder of her flight suit, she adds another CF 99 patch, just like the one on her jacket.

She goes by callsign “Omega” for she is the last. The end. The final thing her enemies will see, the last thing the Empire will feel as it falls. She is the being that brings an end to the suffering that so many clones have faced as wards of the Empire when she shows up to liberate them. Omega.

Bonus: The first time she returns to Pabu, Hunter immediately notices the nose art she's chosen to paint on her shuttle, the one built from the Marauder's salvage. It's a stark replica of the nose art that once adorned the original ship, back in the Clone Wars. His stomach plummets and he can't even find the words. As his daughter strolls down the ramp, she immediately bursts into laughter at the look on his face.

Her brothers, Crosshair and Wrecker stroll into the courtyard, the larger of the two asking loudly, "What's so funny, 'Meg?"

"I think that is what's so funny." The lankier one replies, gesturing to the nose of the shuttle with his left hand. He's forgone his prosthetic today. Some days he wears it, others he chooses to wear his cap with pride.

Wrecker scratches his beard and both his eyes widen, "WAIT- IS THAT?"

"So, it would seem." Crosshair says, placing a toothpick between his lips. "Breathe, Hunter." He says pointedly at his brother, who still looks like a deer caught in headlights.

"I-uhh. It's good to have you home, Omega." He finally stutters out.

He wraps his arms around her tightly as always, but his eyes are still glued to the hull of her shuttle. "Done some decorating, I see?"

"Yeah." She replies simply, giving Wrecker and Crosshair their own due hugs. "You like it?"

"It certainly is... something." Hunter gets out, stumbling over his words yet again.

"I found the image in some old Republic files we recovered, it reminded me of something I saw as a kid, but I don't remember where." She says, coming to stand beside Hunter again.

"Ehhh... Omega." Her father groans, running a hand through his greying hair. "Do you... Do you remember what the Marauder looked like when we first met?"

She turns to him. "No, why do you ask?"

Hunter finally peels his eyes away from the shuttle to face his daughter. "That picture you found... That was... That was the Marauder, that's where you know it from. You only saw it once. We scrubbed it off as soon as we decided to come back to Kamino for you."

"Really? I had no recollection." Omega tries to stop the grin from spreading across her face, but she can't help it, and Hunter, still perceptive as always scoffs at her.

"Why you little..." He growls at her, stifling his own laughter.

"I think she knows..." Crosshair chimes in, running his hand through his silver locks.

Wrecker's jaw drops, "Wait, you know where that's from?"

Omega shakes her head at her brothers. "Of course I know, I never forgot how awkward you all were when I asked about it. It didn't click exactly why until I found that old picture. Thought I'd bring it back for old time's sake, eh Hunter?"

Hunter's eyes widen as words escape him once again.

"Kidding," Omega teases. "I just wanted to see what your reaction would be."

Crosshair steps closer to the shuttle to examine the paint job. "Though this has been wildly entertaining, it might be best for you to scrub it, 'Mega."

Omega crosses her arms. "Why? You did it first little brother."

His eyes narrow at his sister, he's the only one she ever pulls that with and though he secretly loves it, she can't know that. "I mean it." He says sternly, pointing his toothpick at her. "Otherwise, Hunter is going to have an aneurysm every time you come home."

Omega looks to the clone beside her, just barely an inch shorter than her now. She places a hand on his shoulder, "Of course I'll scrub it. Echo thought the idea was hilarious. Plus, it gave me an opening to show you this."

She gently reaches into her bag and brings out a holoframe, turning it so Hunter can see. It looks just like any other quick photo taken in a Republic shipyard. Troopers are milling around in the back, by the looks of the landscape it might've been Ryloth. The focus of the photo, however, is a black Omicron-class attack shuttle and five clone commandos posed in front of it in red and black armor.

Their helmets are off, their faces young and confident, proud of their most recent mission. Though, the sniper has a rifle held in his right hand, and the one crouched in front doesn't have his goggles on. But it's clear who it is, all five of them. And on the nose of the attack shuttle behind them, is the striking portrait of the last senator of Naboo.

[apalapucian]

in the universe where sirius is the first to find out that lily likes james — properly, seriously, undeniably fancies him — james has already expressed his desire to give up and move on and forget and other things along these lines. honestly sirius can't remember the exact details; he might have zoned out when the speech started to get a bit repetitive (which tends to happen during james's Lily Speeches TM). and, anyway, the relevant thing right now is just that at the end of that particular Lily Speech TM, james was like, no one remind me of her, okay, no one talk to me about her, i'm Moving On, i'm serious, which of course proceeded to derail them all because of course sirius had to go, no, i'm sirius actually. at that point the conversation had already gotten so convoluted and moot remus just opted to walk out, main point having been provided already (see: james is officially Moving On), dragging peter out of the room with him.

and, like, another factor to consider here, if you have a bit more time, is that the whole fucked up prank thing with snape is still kind of fresh-ish around this time. remus and sirius just started talking again. james is no longer looking at sirius with that gut-wrenching Look Of Doubt. (unbeknowst to sirius currently, this will be his brain's reference for vivid nightmares years later, when he's in azkaban and there's nothing else to do but bask in another fuck-up. the biggest one of his life. the Royal Fuck-Up, if you will, so big all his other fuck-ups might as well have not existed at all in their littleness.)

(but that's later.)

right now, post-prank, pre-james and lily dating and everything else that comes with that, the marauders are back to normal at last is what i'm saying. back to normal more or less. lessons were learned and lines were drawn and people are changed for the better, you know? and sirius will be the first to tell you now that what he did was fucked up, that he fucked up, and that at the core of that fuck-up was him being careless about a secret that was not his and had no business running his mouth around about. that is why, now, even though he's dying to, he doesn't tell james. it's not his secret. (and lily clearly doesn't want it shared.)

he doesn't tell james that the girl he's been in love with since forever has been looking at him A Certain Way for a while now, that she keeps ambushing sirius for half-hour interviews with questions like, what was he like as a kid? what's his favorite color? what does he like to eat for breakfast? like sirius gave birth to and raised the guy himself or something. (by the way: loud and rambunctious, gryffindor red, and, most recently, sunny side up eggs and applewood smoked bacon and buttered salt bread if he has time, just a banana yogurt drink if he doesn't. you're welcome.)

he doesn't tell james that lily evans cried for like three hours in that secret alcove on the astronomy tower when james kissed jeanne marchbanks in front of everyone at the slaghorny party (a stupid thing benjy fenwick came up with; supposed to parallel slughorn's party where most of them are not invited to), and the kiss was lasvicious and lasted long enough to be worthy of the stupid party name. horny slags alright. everyone cheered of course. even sirius, actually. just for, like, solidarity. and only for the first three seconds, swear. only until he noticed lily by the door, still dressed formally, just arrived, it seemed, and presumably just snuck out of slughorn's. she was wide-eyed and open-mouthed and ashen at the sight. then she was turning around, heading back out. the portrait door had already swung close after her and james's damn tongue was still down marchbanks' throat. so. you know. great. spectacular.

sirius grabbed as many beers as he could hold from the alcohol stash and gestured to remus that he would be out. remus seemed concerned and curious, but otherwise said nothing. asked no questions. just nodded.

ten minutes later (he had to use the map, because christ that woman could power walk), lily was crying on his shoulder and cursing like a sailor. i like him, what the fuck. what do i do now. this is terrible. what the fuck do i do.

and sirius didn't know. how the fuck was he supposed to know what to do. he could barely handle himself. he just kinda sat there and let her cry. offered her beer. opened the bottles for her. held the bottles for her when she kept doing these impassioned hand gestures as she talked, almost smashing one against the wall by her own head (very james of her, sirius noted). chanted not my secret not my business not my secret not my business in his head like a mantra.

the problem though, is that he's sure this is the girl james is going to marry. and it's not like, some corny gut feeling or some shit. i mean sure there's some of that, maybe. but most of it is proper evidence-based. like james and lily's mutual stupidity about being in love, and lily's easy dynamic with their silly little group, and sirius's unquestionable expertise in all things james potter. he's not gonna write a fucking essay about it, okay, but lily is definitely long-term, sirius is certain. and he doesn't want to just — do nothing.

so that night, on the astronomy tower, just for something to do, he asked lily, "hey, do you like dogs?"

and she's so surprised by the randomness of it she actually laughed, tear-streaked and all. "what?"

"do you like dogs?"

"yes...? who doesn't?"

"dunno. cat people?"

"ah, i do like cats, too. i like both, i guess."

"what if it's, like, a really big dog?"

"i — what are you talking about?"

he thought about it one last time. then, very seriously: "i can turn into a dog."

she blanked for a bit. then, "but that's — "

"illegal, yeah."

"huh." she didn't seem alarmed, or maybe she wasn't yet, then. she just seemed like — she was trying to figure him out. "why are you telling me this right now?"

"i thought it would... cheer you up or something." it suddenly seemed very silly. "never mind."

she laughed again, this time closer to not-gonna-cry-again territory. "you can't just tell someone about illegal shit and be all, never mind. that's crazy."

he shrugged. "i know you won't tell."

"how do you know? i'm a prefect. i could very well tell."

"because you're you. and it's me." and it's james.

"what does that mean."

"just take it as you will."

"i don't know how to take it at all."

sirius felt slightly annoyed then. "then don't take it. just forget it."

she was still looking at him like he's a jigsaw puzzle, and his pieces were all scattered about. but at least now she had officially stopped crying. thank god. "can you do it easily?" she asked. "turn and then turn back? or do you need time and stuff?"

"i can do it both ways pretty much on command now."

"you've been drinking though."

he returned the jigsaw puzzle look. it's — it was just such a lily evans thing to say, is all. it was very distinctly lily evans to consider that. "it's okay," he said. "should be fine."

she was quiet. she still wasn't crying anymore, but she was — she'd gotten contemplative. "padfoot," she said quietly after some time, more to herself than anything.

and he thought, then, that he should've known. that of course she would figure it out that quick. the nicknames become pretty obvious once you're in on one. he wondered if she was thinking about the rest of them, figuring out that it's not just him. wondered what she was making of moony. if she thought of them less. if — god — sirius had fucked up once again and just made her think of james less, which was really what mattered.

"it's just me," he said, scrambling, then instantly feeling stupid. yeah. nice save, dumbass. "i swear."

"okay," was all she said. and — she knew. she knew then, for sure. and sirius started panicking a bit. but then she smiled, and it was a kind, understanding smile, classic lily, and he's not quite sure how she did (slash does) it, but it was suddenly like it's perfectly alright that she did know, that he didn't have to elaborate or worry about anything.

(he knows because it's the exact same feeling, the same brand of magic as james opening his fucking mansion door summer previous, looking at the state of sirius and then saying, you look fucking terrible, come in, not questioning the bag containing his entire sorry life and taking him in, forever, like he's lived there all his life.)

(they both chase sirius's panic out, is the thing. so easily.)

then, she asked, "can you do it now?"

he choked on his drink, mid-swig. "now? like, turn?"

"yeah."

"why? you don't believe me?"

"no. i just thought you were offering. to 'cheer me up or something'."

"um. yeah, okay. sure."

not long after that, after laughing at the absurdity of the giant black dog suddenly in her presence, her chortles started morphing back into sobbing, in the way high emotions shift and blur into each other sometimes. he let her, curling up best he could in that alcove, and she cried, and held on, and — well, that's how the whole padfoot thing started.

as in this thing where james comes to dinner holding hands with jeanne tonight and lily drops her fork and looks at sirius dead in the eye, and just goes, right there at the gryffindor table in the great hall, sirius in the middle of chewing a mouthful of chicken, "padfoot, can i talk to you? now?"

and of course everyone is bewildered. no one calls sirius black that besides the boys. the last non-marauder moron who tried it got the worst of the Signature House Of Black Glares, the one that must be a nonverbal jinx by the way it leaves you jelly-limbed and dry-mouthed and unable to even glance at sirius's general direction for the next ten business days.

and lily evans just. so nonchalantly did it.

but even more bewildering to everyone, for sure: sirius looking right back at her, zero glare, taking his time swallowing and not fazed at all. then, after primly wiping his mouth with a napkin, he smiles, gets to his feet, and says, "alright."

—

for @jilymicrofics' prompt for may 3: map. except it's 1,700+ words lol so it's now for @jilymicro-oops :)

i realized there's also azkaban thrown in there, so it's also an advance entry for may 15. thanks for reading!

writing tag // ao3

[fishermanshook]

ASK: pretty pretty please… fools gold.. smut if you can.. I CANT KEE EDGING TO HIM WHENEVER I MATCH AGAINST HIM 😞💻 I GOTTA TAKE HIS CRYSTAL ROCK COCK

ROCK HARD!

( fools gold sex h/c’s ) + gn!reader

MINOR WRITING SMUT , grammar and spelling warning

INTRO

I suppose it is your fault, you shouldn’t have underestimated your boyfriend's ability to fuck you raw in his bedroom, not caring who hears either of you or if his Survivor counterpart walks in as you do it on his bed. 

His opposite shouldn't be back for a while though, as he's stuck in a match against that Ivy chick. Guess you'll just have to stick it out for a while, huh? Don't worry, he'll make it worth the wait. 

꒰wc꒱ 535

🪨⛏ | Fools Gold who is undoubtedly rough with you in the bedroom. Leaving marks in their wake decorated across your soft and delicate flesh unlike his own. Bruises from your last session have only just started to fade away to make room for more to come.              (He doesn't mean to hurt you, it's just that you're so much tinier than he is and he can't help but toy with you a bit.)

↳ on top of this, jealousy runs through the Hunter's veins. The cuts and bruises and hickeys and whatever else he does to mark you up is an indication of who and what you belong to. He can’t stand watching you interact with the other Survivors and, hell, that pesky Prospector who takes up far too much of your time. Time that could be better spent splitting you in half. 

🪨⛏ | Fools Gold is such a tease too. He'll mess around with your tiny little body and force you to leave for your match all hot and bothered. It's all part of the plan though because it means you'll just come crawling back to him for relief, not realizing what you're getting yourself into. 

🪨⛏ | Fools Gold who loves to get messy in bed and uses his hands and fingers to make you cum 1, 2, 3 too many times, leaving your body overstimulated and all too sensitive to his rough touch. It doesn't matter how many times you beg or whine or claw at the rocks on his back, he doesn't stop. 

🪨⛏ | Fools Gold who is always the one on top. It doesn't matter if you start it or end it, you'll always manage to find him towering over you with that same devilish smirk that adorns his face. 

🪨⛏ | Fools Gold who has the stamina of a 10-time gold place Olympian runner. He can go all night and then morning and then night again if called for. But know that once he starts, he won’t stop. The little sympathy he has goes toward calling it a night after round 5 or after you've passed out in his arms. He gets it, it's hard having a boyfriend who could last longer than he could. (Norton.)

The sound of keys unlocking the door pulls you from your aroused state as both you and Fools Gold turn your head toward the door. 

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me." Norton sighs while turning his head up towards the roof. 

"Speak of the devil, could you leave? We're kind of in the middle of something." Fools Gold says, still halfway inside you as you cover your body in embarrassment. 

"That’s it, both of you, OUT!" 

note: I picked this up b/c I thought it'd be interesting especially because I've never written for him before,,,also annon im going to haunt your dreams now b/c you didn’t read rules (I’m calling you rocky annon now if you ever decide to send in something else)

also you guys help I have 37 (36 after this post) drafts

(2024) ©️fishermanshook — do not steal, translate, plagiarize, or repost my work on any other platform

[pluckyredhead]

I have fallen down a Fourth World rabbit hole (this is @ngoziu's fault) and am now reading everything DC has ever published with these characters, in order, as is my wont, and I have a lot of thoughts and feelings, so I'm going to start dumping them all here. Sorry.

Background if you have no idea what I'm talking about but want to read this post anyway (why?): in 1971, Jack Kirby left Marvel because he couldn't put up with Stan Lee any longer and came to DC, where they were like "Yes you can do anything you want" (this was a lie). He immediately began writing, drawing, and editing an incredibly ambitious epic that stretched over four simultaneously published books: Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen (we can mostly ignore this one), New Gods, Mister Miracle, and The Forever People. These books came to be known as Jack Kirby's Fourth World Tetralogy.

The books all center around the war between the utopian planet New Genesis, ruled by the benevolent Highfather, and the dystopian planet Apokalips, ruled by the evil Darkseid. At the heart of the narrative is "The Pact," aka The Cosmic Baby Swap. To ensure a (temporary) truce, Highfather and Darkseid traded sons when said children were very young - so Orion, Darkseid's son, is raised on New Genesis, and Scott Free, Highfather's son, is raised on Apokalips. Neither knows who their real father is until adulthood.

Orion grows up in a utopia, but tormented by his feelings of rage and otherness that he can't explain. Scott is raised in a torture orphanage, because that's just what happens on Apokalips, but eventually he escapes to Earth and becomes the escape artist Mister Miracle. The Cosmic Baby Swap begs what to me is the central question of the Fourth World, which is: what is the nature of good? Which boy will be a hero? The one born to good and raised by evil, or the one born to evil and raised by good?

TRICK QUESTION THEY'RE BOTH HEROES!!! GOOD IS MORE POWERFUL THAN EVIL! LOVE WINS AND FASCISM LOSES! This is so, so important to me and any version of these characters that doesn't understand the really not very complex symbolism here is invalid and kind of embarrassing for the writer (looking at you, Tom King).

Also Scott falls in love with and eventually marries Big Barda, one of Darkseid's fiercest warriors, who was born on Apokalips and raised on Apokalips and chooses good anyway. LOVE WINS AGAIN! BARDA TOPS HER TINY HUSBAND IN THE NAME OF PEACE AND COMPASSION!

Sadly DC canceled New Gods and Forever People after only 11 issues, which kind of killed Kirby's whole vision. Mister Miracle limped along until #18, but as a really pale shadow of itself. So we never really got the full scope of Kirby's original plans.

ANYWAY. That's the background. Now thoughts on the actual comics:

Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen: I love Jimmy, I love Superman, I love the Newsboy Legion, but this book feels very tangential to the whole Fourth World experiment and I think we can safely set it to the side. However, if you love the 90s Superboy series, I recommend dipping into this because it's the source material for a lot of Kon's worldbuilding (Cadmus, Dubbilex, clone Guardian, etc.).

The Forever People (1971): So I originally read all the Jack Kirby Fourth World stuff like...at least 15 years ago, when I was still relatively new to comics, and I'll be honest: I didn't get it. Kirby is sort of an acquired taste, and I didn't really have any context for what he was doing. I understood the metaphors, but I didn't get why people found the work appealing. And Forever People in particular was the book where I was like "Why. What is the point of this" the most.

Rereading it many years later, I find it to be a lot more moving and profound - like, the Happyland issue alone is a knockout. That said, Kirby is, uhhhh...not great at ensemble characterization without Lee, and the Forever People themselves are unforgivably bland. Default Guy! Big Guy! Black Guy! Girl! Kid! Props to Kirby for making it a not all-white group - and for introducing five out of seven of DC's first Black characters in the space of, like, two years - but it would have been nice if he gave them personalities, too.

New Gods (1971): This is Orion's book and the heart of the Fourth World. At its best, it's the pinnacle of "Makes no sense...compels me, though." Like, "Glory Boat?" I don't understand a single thing that happened in that comic but it's so fucking good. I just want to read thousands of words of comics scholars over the past 50 years going "????" in collective confused admiration.

Mister Miracle (1971): This was the book I was most invested in when I read the Fourth World years ago, because I already loved Scott and Barda from JLI, but now I think it's weaker than New Gods and arguably even than Forever People. Kirby doesn't seem as invested in going all in on Big Concepts here, and Scott escaping endless weird deathtraps is only compelling for so long. The later issues, after the other books were canceled and DC made Kirby pivot away from the Apokalips/New Genesis war, are nothing. But Scott and Barda (and Oberon and Shilo) are everything, so I guess it balances out. Anyway Scott clearly already knows a lot about Earth by the time he meets Oberon and Thaddeus Brown, so DC please feel free to hire me to write a Mister Miracle: Year One miniseries about Scott's arrival on Earth, thank you.

Okay, now for the post-Kirby (or really, intra-Kirby) stuff:

Mister Miracle (1977): This picks up the numbering from the Kirby series, running from #19-25, and was written by Steve Englehart and then Steve Gerber, and it sucks so bad. For three reasons, in escalating importance:

Riddled with continuity holes and factual errors that don't match what Kirby established. Himon is shown on New Genesis - how did he get there? Metron is depicted as subservient to Highfather when Kirby showed him as a neutral, independent agent. Etc.

The treatment of non-Scott characters is largely terrible. Oberon is written really condescendingly (Scott's like "Ride on my shoulders like you used to!" even though they definitely did not ever do that before, because Oberon is not a child). When Scott feels guilty that he's not actively fighting the war, Highfather's like "I don't want you to fight because I feel bad that I traded you to Darkseid, let Orion do it" as if that isn't the root of Orion's severe emotional trauma TOO. And worst of all is Barda, who is knocked out and captured in the first issue and spends pretty much the entire rest of the series unconscious, waiting for Scott to rescue her - except for the brief scene where she wakes up brainwashed, requiring Scott to beat the shit out of her. Lovely.

The series is reeeally fixated on the notion that Scott is a god, and extrapolates that to Scott deciding he's the messiah. Now, I'm not going to say that the Fourth World can't be used to explore Christian themes just because Kirby is Jewish, because Kirby was very definitely exploring biblical themes extensively and frankly I don't know enough about the Bible to say whether he was sticking religiously (ha) to the Old Testament. But I do think taking one of the central characters of a Jewish man's magnum opus and making him the messiah is, uh, pushing it. And there's no way to argue he's not a Christian messiah because, uh, he T-poses a lot in this series and Granny also specifically states that if Scott is the messiah, she'll find an anti-Christ to combat him (which...wouldn't that sort of by default be Orion? which just further proves that the idea of a messiah really doesn't work in the Fourth World framework). Anyway it's gross and I hate it.

New Gods (1977): I'm kind of using this as a catchall to cover all of Gerry Conway's New Gods work, which includes the actual 1977 New Gods series (which picks up the numbering from Kirby, so it's #12-19), the conclusion of the story in Adventure Comics, and the Justice League of America crossover with the Fourth World. (Also there's one issue of Super-Team Family where Lightray and Metron team up with the Flash to save Orion, who has grown really really big, but that doesn't fit with the rest of Conway's continuity so I guess we can ignore it.)

Anyway this stuff is not as infuriating as Mister Miracle, but it's also not...good. The central concept is that Darkseid has discovered that the Anti-Life Equation is contained within the brains of six humans, so Highfather sends six New Gods to protect said humans: Orion, Lightray, Metron (he doesn't work for you, Highfather), Forager (also does not work for you), Lonar, and Sensational Character Find of 1977, Jezebelle of the Fiery Eyes (Original Character Do Not Steal).

Mostly this series is frustrating because all the New Gods are wildly incompetent and fail completely at their tasks. Orion is dumbed down to The World's Most Basic Superhero (he has a big O on his chest now!). I spent the whole time yelling "HE CAN'T FLY, GERRY!" at the comics. Forager is lumped in with no mention of that whole thing where...he's a New God who was raised among the Bugs, who are being persecuted by the New Gods? I feel like that should be explained or at least addressed? (Presumably Kirby would have gotten around to it eventually.) Forager also should not be flying but here he does. I guess. Lonar flies too but mostly on his horse, which bothers me less for some reason, I'll accept a flying horse. (Also Lonar's human he's supposed to protect is Inuit and hoo boy is this comic racist. The poor guy wears a fur diaper the whole time and speaks a completely made up language.)

And then there's Jezebelle of the Fiery Eyes. Who is blue, for reasons that are never explained, and wears a bikini and fishnets because it's 1977, and mentions her fiery eyes (heat vision) every time she speaks. She's from Apokalips, but defected to New Genesis during battle. Which, like...I appreciate that Conway recognized that this team should have a female character, but what with Orion, Scott, Barda, and Inexplicably Present Himon, it feels like we have enough characters who have defected from Apokalips in some way? And it's just super weird that the ONLY female characters we have seen from New Genesis are Beautiful Dreamer of the Forever People (trapped in another dimension indefinitely) and Scott's dead mom. Like, what's the implication here? Heaven doesn't have women? Also, I know Conway was going for biblical names to match New Genesis and Izaya (he also introduces a Lucifar), but, like...Jezebelle? JEZEBELLE. Your only female New God and you named her "whore." Amazing.

And with that, we have covered the New Gods in the 70s (minus some Mister Miracle/Batman teamups). Next time: the 80s, and Kirby tries so so hard to kill Orion but DC won't let him.

[yanderepuck]

Do they get lost easily? What is their sense of direction like?

Napoleon: he's got a great sense of direction, until he gets distracted. Can not multitask. You will get lost. Has gone the wrong direction to the mansion many times because a kid he teaches came up to him and started talking to him. But he also knows the streets of Paris very well so it's easy for him to get back on track

Mozart: decent???? It's not like he's going out anyway to be able to learn what is where. But as long as he can eventually find the Seine he's fine

Leonardo: almost perfect but what else do you expect. Man used to make maps. However he will never admit if he is lost, he'll never ask someone for help and he's going to make you believe he knows where he is going

Vincent: it took him a month to find the kitchen in the mansion. Do not send this boy outside. What were you thinking. He's checking Google maps every block even though he's walking straight for 10 minutes.

Theo: very good. He goes to word places for clients and he knows about dumb little alleys for shortcuts. They look sketchy as hell but when he's in a hurry he doesn't care.

Arthur: not as good as you would think but not bad. Yes he is very aware of his surroundings but he also gets lost in his thoughts a lot. He's also not asking for directions.

Isaac: not a clue. He has to take the same route every time to the university or he will get lost, even if he's just one street over.

Dazai: it's not that he has a great sense of situation it's the fact that he will just climb a building into the roof and look around to get an idea of where he needs to go.

Jean: he also goes the same route every time, but if a street is closed he doesn't panic, but he always ends up taking a very long route. 'i know a short cut' one hour later.

Will: very reliant on landmarks. He takes a carriage just about everywhere so he knows things from looking out the window. He knows the area around the theater but after a certain point he is lost.

Comte: he only has two locations in his head. The mansion and the bakery baguette store. No where else. He relies on a carriage so much.

Sebastian: he's giving you the most detailed directions. He knows the sketchy little alley ways. He may not have been to that specific store but he can get you there no hesitation.

Vlad: oddly yeah. He walks around with his flower cart after all. He might be a little hesitant on something, but he's getting you there eventually.

Faust: as long as he starts from the church he can get you anywhere. Very reliant on landmarks.

Charles: for as dense as he is, he's pretty good with direction. But he gets distracted easily so he ends up going in the opposite direction anyway.

Drake: immaculate. Better than Leonardo maybe. He's a pirate after all. He's got a compass in his head I'm sure.

Galileo: for someone who studies the stars he's not good with left and right. He's not a complete loss but give him a moment and he'll get you there. Is half and half in asking for directions

[i-heart-hxh]

My life will literally never be the same. You might already know this, but tonight I found out that what plays during the "You Are Light" scene is part of the orchestra/instrumental version of "Nagareboshi Kirari" (the ending song during the first half of the Chimera arc) which can be interpreted as Killua's feelings towards Gon. But during "You Are Light" the specific lyrics that are instrumental are:

"Shining, shooting star, you are in my dreams Its guidance of today will lead us to a different tomorrow One instant of light, please convey these feelings, I’ll find things I can do for your sake Carry them far into the distance"

...no one is allowed to ever doubt Killugon again, are you kidding me?

Hello!

This is such a lovely observation, thank you for sending it in! I didn't realize about the timing of the lyrics in the instrumental version used in that scene, and I think people will be happy to read this because it's very sweet.

I've talked about it before in more depth (and I apologize that I'm repeating things from the linked post), but the two members of YUZU are big fans of HxH and I've read that they wrote the ending themes for the anime after reading the whole manga over again, so the lyrics are very directly inspired by HxH. The 2011 anime's production is really filled with people who seem to see Gon and Killua's relationship in a romantic light, and they added all kinds of things like this.

I hesitate to say these added things (including songs and such) make it actually canon because only Togashi himself and what he includes in the manga can determine that, but I think it's very telling that so many people deeply involved with HxH express this kind of sentiment. It doesn't make it canon, but it does support the canon reading of it by showing that quite a few people who know the series so well and had the privilege of working on the anime see this element in their relationship. Also, who knows what Togashi did or did not say to the production crew about adapting his work, not making any assumptions but just saying...

Also, again I have to repeat that Nagareboshi Kirari has wedding bells in it!

Anyway, thank you for the lovely message!

[endlesscolddreams]

Why fruk? All they do is fight!!! That's exhausting and toxic

I know I took a long time to reply to this but I wanted to have time for it.

There are many reasons, from the usual rivals to lovers to the doomed lovers and gravitational forces that keep clashing to the lovely reason of face family (children), but I'll admit, I don't think face family is a thing. While I do love it, I don't think it's realistic at all in nation aus, they're too young and focused on ambitions and other matters; besides, they'd never join to raise the kids because France is not a parent, only when kids are older and interesting; England mellowed to kids with age, but he was a brat himself, America was the one pulling the strings like only a child does, tbh. 

I could give you many reasons, from their personalities to the fact that there's not a single soul that knows them better than the one who witnessed all your failures and victories, but I decided to address the point you make about it being exhausting.

It is, but at the same time, it's invigorating.

As someone who comes from a house of maniacs who always fought, I'll admit I don't understand it that well sometimes, but there's a point to be made here, and that is: love is not enough.

These two are really good to showcase this point because they do love and hate each other like no one else, and that's not enough. I think that's the main appeal of this ship tbh.

Their love is not enough to be together, not enough to be apart, not enough to ignore the other, and not enough to lower their guard and properly try. And isn't that the most humane and real fact? I do gravitate towards them in all the ways they're portrayed because of it. You can make them sweet, you can make them less proud, and you can make them human and fragile, but in the end, they're who they are and will always fight. But while they do fight a lot, they are used to it; they're desensitised to it, even if it looks toxic or abusive. They have a mutual understanding that no one—them included—can understand properly, but it works for them, which is enough to make them crave this push-pull relationship.

They are ancient, they are used to a certain level of cruelty, and their morals are flexible. Besides,  they have thick skin and don't care about certain words or violence. They are and always will be opposites, that's how they operate, their role in the world, and how they feel comfortable acting, because that's what built their identities up and carved their name in history.

(BTW if their hate was really deep and vicious, they would use Canada and America against each other, and the lack of shippers of frus and engcan tells me that maybe people do get that deep down they don't hate each other.)

They're also sadomasochistic in complementary ways. They both enjoy causing each other pain.

As I see it, France is more of an emotional sadomasochist; he finds real pleasure in humiliating people, and tears can be aphrodisiac in beautiful individuals, so it's a treat when he can't wrap someone in his fingers, and England doesn't give him that pleasure. He also enjoys feeling pain; he is that one individual who abides by the rule that the most pleasure can only be obtained with a certain amount of pain, and he does love teasing but can't handle it himself. Who else can fulfil his inner desires? Even those he will never admit he has? England will because he sees who he really is underneath his well-made web. England can make him feel his own poison, and as much as it's infuriating, it makes him addicted to more, and he won't deny himself that pleasure. (No pleasure goes to waste for that guy)

England craves something more physical and cathartic, so he enjoys when the other presses and doesn't give up when he doesn't give them the pleasure of showing his pain (he is too proud, really). He also has a sharp tongue that hurts people without his intent, so he needs someone who loves himself enough to not break with his vitriolic words (France loves himself too much to believe his words). England also enjoys hurting and being hurt; it can be relieving and usually clears his mind, as little does. Besides, it's a win-win situation because France also looks his best trying to contain his tears at his feet and is amazing at teasing England until he breaks down without taking advantage because he prides himself on being a good lover above all, even his own desires sometimes, which can be reassuring to someone as jaded as England.

There's also the fact that he does enjoy playing the game. England enjoys mental games, and this is pretty much an even one; sometimes he breaks, sometimes France breaks, which will never cease to be a motivator to keep it up despite that nasty fact that France enjoys reasons to do things, emotions, and all that crap. France is invested; he finds it fascinating in several ways and longs to be the one to really understand England or make him fall for him, whichever comes first (he lacks self-awareness sometimes for such a self-proclaimed wise nation). And England is, underneath all his bitterness, a little romantic, so he quite enjoys being pursued, so why not? At least the frog is one of the best-looking nations, despite his many flaws. (I will admit I don't really portray England as tsundere as the anime makes him but the fact still is that he will never be open about his desires, will never be dovey and sweet as France wished him to be but France kind of grew to like that part of him too, despite not being cute)

I could also add the fact that they're both dominant. That's another point of contempt but also complimentary; I'm simply in love with the idea that they switch up and France is that annoying dominant bottom who uses England as he wishes, not really realising that England quite likes being used like that (cough, cough, English vices). They never win with each other because they end up unwillingly giving each other reasons to keep up.

France calls it fate, England his curse. Either way, they'll always be connected by history, geography, and even humanity.

I rambled my way around the point, but the thing is, they enjoy this game, and yes, it can be tiresome.

Sometimes they really need to step out and give it a rest, but they're both confident enough to know it's temporary. They'll cool down when things get too bad and then call each other to gossip about something and find each other in the same bed in a single day, not really knowing how but thinking that yes, they actually missed that annoying guy.

Personally, I don't see them fighting all that much, but they do know where to poke to provoke, and France is usually the one poking because he needs drama in his life, and England gets bored easily, so he needs a push to keep lively, but they do know where to stop. (England goes along with it because it suits him and everything is boring; he keeps thinking too much, and this way he's engaged in something that's not self-destructive for once. France just lives for the movie life the drama queen)

So, they don't fight as much as you'd think; it's mostly for show because they need to be the antagonist force, and it's mostly about their differences in handling things and views that usually don't stray all that far, so it's reserved for their nationhood things. The fact that in Canon France demands to fight/argue with Germany also adds to my view, because who will counter him now? (He needs that voice of reason/oposition/ there; it's just unnatural to not have it there.)

So yeah, it can be tiresome, but in a comforting way. Is that a good reason to ship them? Maybe not, but there's no doubt they make a compelling case. Be it hate or love, they're not indifferent to each other, and that's a fact.

Sorry for the long rant but I've received like 3 questions about fruk and I joined most points here.

[beomgyw]

RISE AND SHINE

(IN WHICH GRANDMA PUSHES THE YEONJUN/YOU AGENDA)

welcome your first day of work!! seeing that a lot of you are reading all of the timelines, i'm trying to keep the paths as different as possible, but i'm still sowwy if you have to read through too many similar scenarios apart from the common ones. trying my best !! oh, and sorry for the long wait :( COMMON TIMELINE WARNING: for those of you who are reading through all the paths, you'll get to this scenario more than once. there's no important details added, so you can skip it if you've fount it on another timeline! if you're new here, hi! this is a multi-choice beomjun love triangle au fic !! if you wanna choose your own paths, go back to the beginning!

the morning sun saunters into the room, painting the walls with a soft, golden glow. easy does it, unlike the chaotic wake-up calls of seoul's streets. you had to admit, dragging yourself out of bed felt like a breeze in this beach town, where the sun tiptoes in with a gentle whisper.

you wake up happy, and the promise of working at a bookstore—it just fits right for you. so, after a brief internal fashion showdown (do not refrain from consulting your pinterest for your fic of choice), you are dressed and ready to go. that's when the smell of grandma’s breakfast gets to your room.

“y/n, dear, quick! come down before breakfast gets cold!” grandma's voice chimes through the bottom floor. it's astonishing, the energy this woman has in the mornings.

downstairs, you find yourself face-to-face with a steaming bowl of haejjanguk. a subtle jab, maybe, but grandma doesn't comment on the soju-based-gathering huening kai and you had the night before. instead, she chooses to ask about something else.

“you didn't come back home alone last night, did you?” she pours herself some coffee, cool as if she had just asked about the weather, and settles across from you with her newspaper. "boyfriend, maybe?"

you nearly choke on your stew. “what? oh, uh, yeah– i mean, no. no way. grandma, i just got here.” you have absolutely no idea of how she knows, but somehow, she does.

your grandma raises an eyebrow, not even bothering to look up from the pages. “so what? you knew people before you left.”

“yeah, but i didn't even have time to– i couldn't have gotten a boyfriend in the span of one night, grandma,” you mutter. your grandma's seeming tranquility is what's taking you out of it.

"i don't know, kids are premature these days.” grandma muses, more to herself than to you. "so, who walked you home?"

you shrug, trying to play it cool. “just someone i knew from middle school. choi yeonjun.”

“just someone? you used to have a big crush on him when you were little, didn't you?” she lets the words hang in the air, fishing for a reaction.

“oh, come on, grandma, that was ages ago,” you protest. "and i didn't even like him that much..."

"really? because when we got your room repainted a few years back, you had this corner next to your bed with his name scribbled all over the wall..."

you curse yourself in your head. you really were an absolutely cringe kid. "that's just... children stuff..."

“could be... but, you know, your dad used to have a similar corner, with your mom's name.” she remarks casually. "he liked her since middle school, too. god knows why. his crush corner was worse; he drew little hearts around her name, even."

“why are you telling me all this again, grandma?” you ask, sipping on your stew, trying not to show how creepy her psychic abilities are.

“no particular reason,” she replies, "you're just costing me a fortune in repainting. and also because i don't think yeonjun is not that bad,"

"why would you not like him?" you ask. if you sounded defensive, your grandma ignored it.

"you know, he's a bit too much of a free spirit, but if you like him, i like him too... i'm a modern grandma." she says, and you keep quiet. this feels like a trap. “he might be unorthodox, but he's good looking, and he hangs with your cousin sometimes, which must mean he has a kind heart." she tells you. but then something dawns on her, "speaking of your cousin, why isn’t he up yet?” she questions, springing up from her seat with surprising vigor. she's got the energy of ten yous.

"the sun isn't even fully up yet..." you chime in, relieved for the change of subject. but the peace is short-lived. she's finished her coffee; ergo, she's finished her break. she's done with the interrogation bit. like a drill sergeant, she storms upstairs to wake kai up.

when she returns, she dives into the kitchen for clean-up duty without wasting a second. you attempt to lend a hand but receive a sharp slap on the wrist. "it’s summer, gran, cut him some slack," you say, rubbing the affected area with your other hand.

"slack? it's summer for you too, and you're off to work. unlike him. he works but doesn't get paid. he's a pushover, your cousin." grandma grumbles, her voice slicing through the clatter of dishes.

“what do you mean?” you prod.

“he does volunteer work,” she spits out. "spends more time at the geoje social centre than in his own bed. and it is nice of him, yes. but one must be kind, not stupid.”

curiosity burning, you press for more details. “volunteer work? what's he helping with?”

with a dismissive wave, grandma brushes off your inquiries. “who cares? all i know is he’s not getting paid for it.”

before you get a chance to dig deeper, huening stumbles into the kitchen, still half-asleep, looking like he’s just fought a battle with his bedsheets. “you’re up already?” he groans at you, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“yeah, first day at work,” you reply with a sympathetic grin.

“oh, good luck." he smiles lazily, his words interrupted but a massive yawn. "wanna hang out later? i can come pick you up.”

“sure, hyuka. once you've fully woken up we can hang out,” you chuckle, slinging your bag over your shoulder and starting your way to the door.

you grab you things and leave the house after ruffling huening´s hair in exchange for a dismissive hand gesture, as if he was trying to keep a bee away.

now off to work! or should you get coffee first?

NEXT PART !!

[my--moon]

Hermes Son: Dad, I'm cold!

Hermes Daughter: Dad I'm freezing!

Hermes Son: Dad I'm hungry!

Hermes Daughter: Dad I'm starving!

Hermes Son and Daughter: Dad! Dad! Dad! DAD—!

Hermes: Okay. Can everyone stop saying dad…?

[astrolavas]

he'll figure it out—

[holyviolence]

omg i spent the whole day cleaning my entire apartment because my family was coming to visit and 1) so so so happy my adhd is being medicated now it's literally changing my life and 2) i FINALLLY got through to my dad about how he probably has ADHD too!!!!! he finally said Yeah i think i might have adhd. and my mom was like Me too (we've had this talk privately before, she knows she has adhd too lol) And my brother is literally transferring to a different school because he can't concentrate and isn't disciplined at his current uni. adhd family.

[queen-lance]

Listen... I really enjoy Wally's friendship with the original Titans, but I can't be the only one who thinks he's really OOC in almost every Titans related title, right?

[majimassqueaktoy]

Will never get over Majima going back to the Tojo clan after finally breaking free 20+ years later just because Kiryu asked him to. Like... The loyalty. The love. Majima does have a good heart underneath it all. That doesn't negate that he's done bad things. That he's harsh and cruel and brusque... But he's does love genuinely. Too genuinely I think.

[jacksintention]

At times I can be wrong of course, but often I think it's so obvious that someone's view on a character or story (and most of the time lack of sympathy/understanding) is caused by a lack of personal experience

[rustedleopard]

Whenever I think about how I characterize Porky, I always come back to this quote I read in a short story in the Twelve Kingdoms series regarding the trial of a prisoner named Shudatsu, who (among many other crimes) killed a young child just to steal the small amount of cash he had on him, and held no remorse for his crime. This is the quote:

The bitter realization occurred to Eikou—the man himself possessed no powers of self-analysis. His was an unexamined life. He had no substantive awareness of his crimes and was not about to face up to his actions and gain that awareness. Calling himself “trash” was the tortoise shell he crawled inside, and he was content to stay there forever. No words would persuade him otherwise and no words could wound him. (Prison of Dusk: Chapter 8, Twelve Kingdoms, trans. Eugene Woodbury. Emphasis added by me).

This quote makes me go !!!!!! because that’s exactly how I characterize Porky: someone who is capable of doing so many horrible things because he uses “I’m a terrible person” as his armor to protect himself from doing any sort of self reflection.

My interpretation of his character is why seeing him being characterized as “a terrible person who was always going to end up a monster” or “innocent because his family/Giygas who made him this way” irks me so so much! Saying that Porky was always a terrible person doesn’t really show respect to his character. He’s an abused child. His parents demeaned him and in the Japanese version, his father physically abused him in the beginning of the game. Unconditional love, kindness, and respect were likely commodities in his house (and while Porky’s closeness with Picky is left a bit vague, Picky did wait for Porky on the hill when he ran off. Meanwhile, during Fourside, Picky was abandoned at home while Porky and his father (and mother? My memory is a bit foggy) were living it up, so make of their relationship what you will).

But on the other side of the coin, saying that Porky’s family/Giygas is solely responsible for his behavior is annoying because he’s capable of independent thought. Porky does have at least some idea of what’s right and wrong considering that he begs for Ness’ forgiveness in Happy Happy Village after kidnapping Paula and joining a cult. And while Buzz Buzz admits that Giygas sways people to do evil, my interpretation of how Giygas’ powers work is that he cannot force you to do anything that you aren’t at least somewhat willing to do: he can only make the worse options seem more appealing. If he was capable of outright possession, then what stops him from possessing your sister/mom/dog/every NPC you encounter and making them attack you? There’s still a choice to do the right thing, even if he can make you feel like the wrong choices are more appealing.

To me, Porky is someone who was born in unfortunate circumstances which made him feel powerless and weak and when an opportunity arose to get power (wealth, influence, followers), he jumped on it. And when people grew upset with him because the power he’s accessed is hurting others, instead of doing some self-examination and giving it up, he saw himself as the victim and doubled down. He took the words that people threw at him, “horrible” “terrible” “rotten” “bad,” and decided that if that was how he was going to be seen both as the abused child and as Giygas’ right-hand man, then he may as well live with it and enjoy his power regardless. In the end, being a terrible person was a place of safety for him because he would never have to confront his own actions and see that the only thing he’s truly accumulated is a wealth of shame.

[aroacehanzawa]

The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley would be so good if it was good