#he’s a very ‘it is what it is’ person in the comics

[soleminisanction]

I think my least favorite internet criticism of Meghan Fitzmartin is the idea that she "just wanted to push her ship," meaning Tim/Bernard. Because honestly? I think that's straight-up bullshit.

Having read the Urban Legends stories, the Pride Special reprint, Tim Drake: Robin and Young Justice Dark Crisis, plus what interviews and social media she's been doing as these comics came out, there is zero evidence to me to back that statement up. If that were true, the Urban Legends stories probably would've been more about bringing Bernard back and re-establishing him as a character. Y'know, building up their relationship.

But it wasn't about their relationship. It was about Tim and his feelings, his internal conflict, what he needed. That's what Fitzmartin even said in the interviews after, that she, "felt like this was something Tim needed." And that's true going into TD:R too -- yeah, Bernard is there and their relationship is a prominent subplot, but he gets about as much page time as Darcy and Detective Williams, and the focus is always on Tim's ongoing story and his developing relationships with all the people around him.

That's why I like that they went with Bernard as his "closet key." Not because I'm super devoted to the pairing or anything -- I truly could take or leave the arrangement -- but because they're tolerably cute together and, more importantly, dating a civilian supporting character comes with far less baggage than establishing a relationship with a fellow hero. By their very nature, superhero stories are more heavily weighted towards the hero characters than their civilian support, that's just a fact, and, with rare exception, civilian love interests tend to act more as sounding boards to develop and reflect the leads. Making Tim's first boyfriend an old civilian friend means the story could be about Tim's personal character growth, internal conflict, and explorations of his sexuality.

I genuinely think that's the only reason Fitzmartin went with Bernard. She only had around 30 pages to tell that Urban Legends story (and I guarantee you, she was assigned that page count before writing), so bringing back a previous civilian friend meant she didn't have to try to establish a whole new relationship on top of introducing a villain faction and telling a superhero-based investigation story. And for whatever reason, Bernard was the most popular of Tim's civilian buddies to rare-pair him with before this all happened. (Just check AO3: Prior to the release of the Urban Legends stories, Tim/Bernard had ~42 fics, Sebastian Ives got 4, and Danny Temple had 1.)

When Meghan Fitzmartin says that she went back, read Tim's old stories, and felt he needed to come out of the closet, I believe her. And I'm happy she felt that way and was allowed to act on those feelings because it's something I felt too, reading those stories. Those feelings that had nothing to do with "ships" or even with characters like Kon or Dick and everything to do with Tim and who he is as a person.

To sweep all that away as "she just wants to push her preferred ship" just feels so... dismissive and rude.

[welcometogrouchland]

I miss them so bad (Dick and Damian)

[jasmineoolongtea]

hii!! i recently just started following you and i don’t wanna overload you with anything so i stress that i urge you to take your time and if you feel like you need to tweak anything then you can since i noticed you barely opened requests :)) i was just wondering if you could write something ( whether it be headcanons or a fic ) about gojo having a jujutsu sorcerer for a girlfriend / partner and his students don’t know so they’re all shocked when they just see this badass person next to gojo and he just casually introduces them as his partner lol. just a thought!! make sure to take care of yourself 💕

a/n: thank you smmmm for the kind words <333 yes omg i love this idea and honestly, i imagine gojo pretending to be chill on the outside but on the inside he's fangirling the same way his students are over his partner cause he's just so whipped and down bad for them jdjsndnsbd

"Shhhh! Quiet down, you two or you're gonna get us all caught." Nobara hisses through her teeth at Megumi and Yuji, trying her best to be quiet. It was quite a comical sight actually, the three students were all stacked on top of each other as they all attempted to crane their necks into the doorway as discretely as they possibly could.

"I still don't understand why we can't just ask like normal people." Megumi sighs, clearly exasperated at his friend's antics.

"You're such a buzzkill, Fushiguro." Nobara scolds him over her shoulder. It was like he didn't even understand the gravity of this situation.

This wasn't a situation where they could just waltz in and chat it up like regular unless they were intent on embarrassing themselves. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet the current rising star of the jujutsu world: the newly minted special-grade sorcerer L/N Y/N who was famed for being highly elusive, never being in one place for too long to be tied down to somewhere.

Rumours and stories were constantly swirling about you ranging from the more serious ones about your incredible feats of jujutsu and how you managed to exorcise a grade 1 curse for one of your very first missions without breaking a single sweat to more silly ones like that you only wash your face with the purest spring water that was imported from the Swiss Alps and that allegedly you and Gojo Satoru were seeing each other. She thought the last one was particularly dumb as she was sure that a person of your calibre would have better taste than to date their man-child of a teacher, even if he was the strongest. Whatever it was, Nobara was not going to let those two ruin her chances of possibly being able to talk with you face to face.

Above her, Yuji groans out in pain as he feels an elbow jam into his stomach.

"Hey! That hurts!" Yuji complains loudly, his grip tightening around the wooden door frame.

"Can't you be in pain more quietly?" Nobara asks and with that, the two of them were sent into a bickering spat as they traded harsh whispers and snappy comments. However, this would prove to be their end as Megumi eventually loses his balance from all of the commotion above him and tumbles onto the floor with the other two following suit as they land in what can only be described as a failed human pretzel.

Unfortunately, their crash was not as quiet as Nobara was hoping for as one of the office's inhabitants stood up from his seat, seemingly made aware of their presence. "Oh? It seems like we have some eavesdroppers in our midst."

You hum to yourself, your back still facing the doorway as you turn to your white-haired companion. "Is that true?"

"Yes, I think I might know who they are as well. If only they would be so brave enough to reveal themselves." Gojo sighs dramatically, even bringing a hand to his chest as if to feign sympathy. You can't help but giggle softly at his behaviour.

The three of them take that as their cue to stand up, dusting themselves off as they slowly make their way into the office in a single file line. When Nobara sees you, she can't even let herself fully fangirl because the amount of embarrassment she has at getting caught trying to eavesdrop is far outweighing it right now.

Gojo makes his way towards his students as they stand lined up, his hands rubbing together and a devious grin on his face as he puts on his best menacing voice. "Now now now, what do we have here?"

"Satoru, take it easy on them. I'm sure they meant no harm by it." You place a hand on his shoulder as you stroll up to his side. His arms immediately fall to his side as he melts under your touch.

An adorable pout graces his features, his bottom lip jutted out in an attempt to put on his best puppy dog look as he whines at you, "Awww, but you're ruining my funnn. I don't get that many opportunities to do this."

"Sensei, they know you by your first name?" Yuji questions, his head tilted slightly to the side as he tries to figure out what relationship you two could possibly have.

A sly snicker is heard from Gojo as he quirks his eyebrows towards you. "They know me in a lot more ways than just that" he quips back, his tone bordering on being an outright innuendo.

You roll your eyes affectionately at him, clearly used to his playful nature by this point, and give him a light shove on the shoulder to which he pretends to exaggeratedly nurse in pain.

"Sorry for not introducing myself properly, my name is L/N Y/N and I'm a special-grade sorcerer here on a visit to Tokyo Jujustu High." You smile warmly at your boyfriend's students, your hands clasped in front of you as you greet them.

Nobara could feel her breath hitch in her throat as a million thoughts ran through her mind. Oh my god, you, her idol, were actually right in front of her and were acknowledging her. She swears she could die happy right this instance but that would mean that she wouldn't get to take full advantage of the chance to talk to you fully. With that, she snaps out of her star-struck daze and politely inquires, "If you don't mind me asking L/N-san, what are you here for?"

"Oh, they're here to visit yours truly, me!" Gojo chimes in, a megawatt grin on his face with a sense of pride radiating off of him as he motions to himself.

A tsk sound escapes Nobara, clearly distrustful of her teacher's statement. "Yeah right, they have way more important things to be doing than that."

"But it's true though! My lovely partner is here to pay a surprise visit to me!"

"There's no way that that's true. You and them?" As if to punctuate her point, she points at you and Gojo standing side by side and firmly shakes her head. "Nuh uh. They wouldn't date the likes of you."

A soft smack is heard as Gojo theatrically clutches his chest, stumbling back from where he stands to drape himself over you. "It wounds me to hear you say that Kugisaki." He claims, his expression twisted into one of faux pain. When he turns to face you, his demeanour suddenly switches as he leans in towards your ear, a roughish smile on his face with a faintly seductive lilt to his voice. "Maybe we should kiss to prove that it's true."

"Don't be crude, Satoru, they're your students and they're right in front of us." You try to brush him off of you in an attempt to spare his students from becoming witnesses to their teacher's love for PDA but he doesn't let go of his grip, instead choosing to nuzzle his face in the crook of your neck as if trying to coax you to stay with him in his embrace. Like always, you relent to his touch with your fingers carding through his snowy locks, a soft sigh of approval leaving his lips.

There's a beat of silence as Nobara and Yuji try to process what they've just learned and the fact that they've just seen a visual confirmation of it before that peace is shattered and they erupt into a thousand questions. You field all of their burning questions ranging from ones about you to about your relationship with Gojo with grace, amused and endeared by their excitement and insatiable curiosity. Secretly, it warms your heart deeply that Gojo and his students are so comfortable with each other and that he can be himself around them without the pressure of the greater Jujutsu world on his back.

You turn to look at the clock and sigh at how fast time has gone by. "Alright, I'll see you at home Satoru and Megumi." You comment, packing up your belongings as you get ready to leave to attend to some business. Gojo leans down to your height as you place a lingering kiss against his cheek and wave him and his students goodbye.

Unblinking, Yuji and Nobara turn to each other and then to Megumi before they exclaim simultaneously. "You all live together!?"

Oh boy, Megumi knows he's going to be in for an earful with that.

[elysianholly]

Why Spuffy

Decided to put this here so I can find it more easily. Originally answered on r/Fanfic: What is your OTP?

Why? There are a lot of assumptions made about Spike/Spuffy fans. Like, we're just whores for good cheekbones. We're blinded by Spike's abs. We're all just abuse victims waiting to fall in love with the wrong person. And honestly, after 2+ decades of this nonsense, it'd be nice to just say: "read this then get back to me."

So. What is your OTP?

Buffy/Spike from BtVS. They've owned my heart for more than 20 years and show no signs of slowing down.

At first, it was the enemies-to-lovers thing. I've always been a sucker for that. Especially for a villain who turns to mush for a hero in the falling process. That is still true, but my love for them has become more nuanced the older I've gotten. I just turned 39; I fell in love with Spuffy when I was 17. What I love most about them today is that their history as enemies means they know each other better than anyone, have seen each other's faults, have done the worst things they could do to each other, and have a very honest, non-rosy view of their relationship. Spike is also the only man in Buffy's life (on the show; I'm not counting comics) who owns the hurt he's caused without making it her fault or imposing his view of things and convincing her he's right. He shows her that loving her doesn't always mean sacrifice or suffering, the way it was with Angel or Riley, but that she can make someone want to be better. And he also knows her well enough to know she will assume the responsibility of the soul he sought for himself (the most effective and tortuous sentence for the demon who hurt her), so he first tries to hide it from her, then encourages her when she starts dating Robin Wood that she owes him nothing, that she doesn't need to consider his feelings. It's the first time someone she's been intimate with has not been petty or jealous at the thought of her moving on. And because he has seen the best and worst in her, when he says he loves her, it's with a view of the whole person Buffy is.

And for Buffy, loving Spike is about loving herself. He was her outlet for her depression, a representation of all the bad things she thought about herself when she was at her lowest, and she punished him for that. She was conditioned to believe her friends' acceptance of her had strings attached. By Season 7, after she has come to peace with the worst thing she went through, she is no longer apologizing for herself or making excuses. She is unapologetically in charge. Loving Spike means loving the parts of her she always thought were ugly or twisted or irredeemable, going all the way back to how she carried the burden of Angel having lost his soul when she was a 17-year-old girl in love and had no idea what was going to happen. Furthermore, how she was made to feel responsible (side-eyeing Xander here; Giles and Willow get a pass but Xander was the most egregious offender). She also assumed the responsibility for her relationship with Riley falling apart even after he negged, gaslit, and cheated on her. Spike showed Buffy that she is not the problem in relationships, and allowing herself to love him meant an acceptance of self she struggled to find throughout the course of the show. In the end, after bringing out the worst in each other when they were at their worst, they learned to bring out the best in each other. It's just beautiful.

And that's why Spuffy, friends.

[mysterycitrus]

This is so stupid but I was wondering if you might have any Dick and Roy meta? I've always loved your meta posts about the relationships between the Fab Five and different characters and lately, I've been seeing a lot of those posts where people splice certain comic pannels with poems/sayings/inspirational quotes and things that match and I've been wanting to have more in-depth ideas of the relationship between Dick and Roy because they're just so interesting but I don't have the brains to come up with anything myself

when i think about dick grayson and roy harper i think about the trope king + lionheart — a burdened hero, and their loyal protector — and how they switch roles with each other. like two standout dickroy books are probably old friends, new enemies and outsiders (2003), and while they’re both initiated with roy reaching out to dick for help, his motivations are very different. i think that dynamic, and how they don’t fit solely into one role, is part of why i enjoy reading about them so much.

in old friends, roy is the king — he’s trying to track down chesire and find lian, and isn’t initially honest about his intentions. he’s struggling with his decisions, and his faith in himself. dick acts as the moral support, his backup, and also calls him out on his actions.

but their relationship is still loving. there’s a solid foundation of trust that makes dick want to support roy and protect his daughter, to the point that he and jade nguyen show a (very) begrudging respect to each other.

in outsiders, dick is the king — donna has just died, bludhaven is going to shit, and roy knows that he’s spiralling. roy is the solid support who convinces dick to lead a new team because he knows dick hurts himself through isolation. they’re both grieving donna and the loss of their team, but roy forces dick to reconnect again. he forces dick to care.

despite being the leader of the outsiders, dick is uncompromising in his loyalty in roy. he tells people to leave if they don’t accept roy’s authority in the team. after roy is shot, dick takes the same action as roy in the first issue — he brute forces his way into getting roy out of the spiral. he holds a gun to roy’s head and tells him to take it.

im a huge sucker for friends to lovers, but what i really love is two competent people with absolute faith in each other. i dislike the idea that bat-characters are like….. absurdly op and everyone is just in awe of them all the time, but dick’s reputation means that trusting someone the way he trusts roy is important. he watched his teammates die, he watched his sister die to save his life, and he still trusts roy to be there. roy historically has a bit of an inferiority complex about working with dick, but dick does not reciprocate. dick knows roy will be there when it counts.

there’s a particular kind of love that comes from mourning the same person during one of the worst times of your life.

the fact that the early tragedies in their lives are so similar, that they lost family and an idea of place at similar ages, were mentored by mortal men who wanted to do good, but still ended up so close but so different is really really interesting to me. u get to outsiders, and they really know each other in a really intense way.

truly like…. i would fall on ur sword because i trust u not to land the killing blow. to finish — something something gay people

[murmurmurena]

I swear, yours is my FAVORITE Charlastor interpretation. You're the reason I even ship it to begin with! Like, I love how much Alastor is in over his head despite the fact that the show always pretends it's the other way around, that CHARLIE should be afraid of this guy who hasn't even been in hell a hundred years -- some people make it more obviously push and pull, but it's so interesting to see him in such a pathetic state! He is LITERALLY just a guy. Maybe more clever than the average fella, sure, but he's not this all powerful monster. He's a folk hero -- powerful because he lived to tell the tale, not because he had any say in the matter.

But then there's CHARLIE! CHARLIE, who in the show is just so bland. This is a Charlie that was never human, never socially groomed for a life outside of the lake of fire where cruelty is as commonplace as death even when it doesn't last forever, but all the same: wants to be good. And she tries! She tries!! But she just doesn't know for CERTAIN. And sometimes it's obvious that she doesn't know what she's doing. Or that niceness to her looks different than niceness to them. But she tries so hard. She tries, so they just HAVE to believe that her intent is good. Because she already tries so hard.

And then you PUT THEM TOGETHER! Insane!!

it’s great to know that people like this type of charlastor more, I’m very happy, thank you!!!

That’s the point, it’s strange to turn an ordinary person into a terrible chthonic demon, and not a princess of hell who probably lives for eternity!

This is very funny, an immortal entity that wants to help people for some reason, it’s a pity that such an opportunity was missed in the show

And also I made bonus sketch to my comic with Angel contract:

[blackkatdraws]

Black and Narry lore! [Narry is owned by @insomniphic and some of the art here were drawn by her too]

[Small Note: None of these are canonical to their stories and were made just FOR FUN.]

As a being of purity and light, Narry was appalled when he first came across Black who appeared to be the very embodiment of darkness and wrongness [at least in Narry's point of view]. Narry sees Black as a waste of potential because of how much power Black ["the bad guy"] has at his disposal.

Black feels indifferent to Narry's existence, as he's already used to similar beings like him. He sees Narry as a waste of power since he's clearly holding it back for the sake of the people he wants to protect.

Because of how much impurity Black's power emits, Narry is incapable of seeing Black normally.

In Narry's perspective, Black is a huge writhing mass of something that's very unpleasant to look at. This appearance is inconsistent and can shift continuously. This effect extends all the way to even photos or depictions of Black.

He physically cannot [refuses to] be in the same room as Black because he can't stand the feeling, the smell, the sight, everything about his power. It sickens him.

There's no context for this comic. This is a What If scenario where Black and Narry are going somewhere together when a group of bad guys come and attack them.

Narry is the type to hold back his true power in order not to hurt the people that are attacking him which annoys Black into stepping in [because he has somewhere else more important to be and Narry is delaying it].

Of course, Narry ends up getting injured and Narry makes Black promise he won't kill the aggressors before passing out.

[Admittedly, this scenario breaks a few canonical lore for both characters but we'll go with it for now.]

As a response to that idea, Insomni drew this.

Narry wakes up after the fight was long over and he sees piles of bloody bodies laying on the floor. He gets upset that Black didn't follow through their promise.

Black does not care. Instead, he laughs at Narry for finally snapping [considering it took a while for Narry to finally loose his cool at Black].

Black did keep his promise. All the aggressors are still alive, but barely.

We talked some more about their dynamic and we both drew these.

In this scenario, Black and Narry are fighting. [Started by Narry, who had the full intent to kill him for (what he perceives as) the greater good.]

He thinks this world would become cleaner without Black around.

Narry is convinced that Black is a monster incapable of feeling or doing anything remotely positive. Even as Black saves Stanley from the attack that Narry himself sent towards Black, he's still in that mentality where he sees everything that Black does as something for negative reasons.

Narry is a good person but his (justified) blind dislike for Black leads him into taking extreme actions at times. Plenty of people dislike Black for what he is, but Narry is the only one with the power to actually do something about it.

[The last drawing is another What If scenario where Black had to take Stanley and flee because he keeps getting in the way of their fight (and Narry is too focused on his task to take other people into account). Black doesn't want Stanley dying because of a stupid scuffle.]

[Note that Narry won't actually hurt anybody EXCEPT Black, he's a good guy who wants to do what's best for other people. Black is just EVILLLLL mwehehehe]

[Then I proposed another What If scenario where Narry won the fight causing Insomni to draw this.]

As Narry was about to strike with a powerful attack to finally end him off, he felt something familiar coming from within Black.

In the ocean of filthy dark energy Black emitted, there was light.

It was small. It flickered weakly in the air as the darkness that kept it safe was falling apart, but it didn't go out. It lit up softly without any signs of extinguishing any time soon.

Narry was in disbelief.

Stanley had done the impossible. His relationship with Black had given birth to a different side of Black's power, tucked away deep inside where only they're allowed to see.

And it was now in full display to Narry.

As a being filled with goodness and empathy, his guilt starts to eat away at him as he finally snaps out of it and sees the extent of what his impulsive actions have done.

[Insomni and I both agree that their fights would probably be settled with a draw or mutual death, so this scenario is not as probable to happen. It's interesting to think about though.]

[Again, breaking a few canonical lores but we like gay people here so it's whatever. I was the one who proposed the idea anyway. (❁´◡`❁)]

-------♦

[Here are fun extra doodles!!]

[brightgoat]

I noticed that Killer Queen is female despite her user being male (probably because she's named Killer Queen), are there any other stands that have different genders from their user?

I've decided to go on a tangent explaining why Queen is the way she is:

Stands are genderless to me but adopt the gender expression of their user, USUALLY.

Artificial stands (like GER and MiH) don't, they can be their own thing. (GER uses any pronouns, MiH uses she/her and is quite fem etc.)

Queen is a unique case cuz her user's gender expression is really an act, a costume of 'average masculinity' that he tries hard to uphold, he is very focused on concealing himself in the crowd.

Queen embodies his desire to hide (she can destroy evidence with no trace after all) but flips it and becomes that which he hides (bloodthirsty nature, sensuality and androgyny). Therefore her personality and expression is different. She is his OTHER self.

In Jungian terms, she might be his 'anima'. Hm, maybe I'll make a comic about this sometime-

Wait what was the question- oh yeah- ahh yeah there are other non-artificial stands that do this probably. Super Fly doesn't have an actual user so it's just an 'it'. The Sun is probably just an 'it' as well. I've imagined some Part 6 stands may be different cuz they're not actually their users' souls (they were given users by Whitesnake).

[turndecassette2]

Is it ok if i can ask you how do you go about studying/drawing Heads and faces? i know this is a very broad questions but lets say you were coming up with a character for a new comic, when you go about creating characters what do you pay attention to the most and spend your time thinking about and make soure you got it right?

i love the way you draw faces, it dosnt feel anime and i love the little lines under the eye tear duck :D

Hope this question make sense!

Cilgia

(sorry re-reading your question this answer might be too rambl-y & off the mark. but am leaving this up in case someone finds it helpful)

I have a terrible tendency to just design characters 'on the page' since when I have a perfect sketch I tend to lose that 'look' once I get to the actual comic. idk the 'drawing academy' in viborg had us do a lot of portraits of each-other (you can prob recruit friends/relatives for this if you have any) & when I have time I like to draw ppl at cafés and such, so I have a mental library of face shapes.

in general: like w everything else I think it's good to hoard reference eg models, sports guys etc that have fun faces. put them in a folder on your computer for when you need a nose, good set of eyebrows etc. I've had various folders like this that inevitably get lost when my computer dies ha ha

also just referencing for vibes:

tiger guy from 'world heist' was conceptualised as part corto maltese, part jason momoa as duncan idaho, or my mental image of what the latter would look like, + a vague memory of rob lucci the cat man from one piece (I can't believe I know the names of so many OP characters. or dune characters for that matter)

but then in the end, he's just some guy, & he mostly looks good in profile

drawing the same person several times is hard. I need to standardise his facial markings but no-one seems to care.

'task' meanwhile is kinda a flatmate I had in college but w hair that I wanted to feel a bit 'rey ayanami' but also whatever I imagine a 'hacker' looks like (the cute kind you get in movies, not irl). just messy (ignore my presence in the below photo)

anyways if there's some trick to what I do it's having a wide range of influences

[scribe-of-hael]

I think with the new Skybound comics and ES2 I am just tired of Starscream just being evil.

"Well he's always been evil!"

Debatable , but even if he was you have NEW universes where different shit happens, different events and butterfly effects. Do, somthing, eles. It is repetitive, it is tiring, you CAN do somthing different. Marvel does it , DC does does it. This is a series built of the concepts of multiverse.

Tfa is arguably one of the more different world considering the Autobots "won" , the Decpeticon forces are scattered and functionalism is VERY present. It was wildly popular! Optimus and Megatron didn't even KNOW each other, hell Megatron never even bothered to remember his name !

Armada acutally tried to give Starscream some sort of conflict, even CARING about the children even if a little.

Skybound is a just a psychopath and its just honestly for shock value and a way to make the squeaky seeker more "menacing" and honestly I roll my eyes. I'm tired of gore p*rn tbh.

Anything to do with a character that be worth wild, to go beyond the constant characterization after so many years is just tossed aside. I'd even argue they tried to tackle it in IDW. But nothing in video media.

It is the most devastating thing to present a character, a FAN favorite and hint at change but then whom ever is calling the shots just doesn't follow through.

Starscream can still stumble and fall , he can still struggle to be a good person. And I honestly WANTED to see that for him in es2. He can fall back into his habits, his unhelpful coping mechanisms. It's apart of untangling the trauma one has to go through to grow as a person and that's NOT a bad thing!

That is a very REAL thing people have to go through. Learning to be better is not an over night thing and I honestly wish we did see him stumble, regret it and try to do the right thing.

Instead they just in a kinda fucked up way JUSTIFIED what Megatron did to him. "He was crazy somtimes so I had to beat him up" like that shit wasn't funny then, and it's not now.

[maintitle]

Gonna put this behind a read more because it may be a massive spoiler, or it may be me clutching at straws, but this will be a very rare speculative piece from me on DA:V:

So I've had the suspicion for a really long time that the betrayer in DA4 is actually Harding. I always felt like Inquisition was very careful with keeping Harding away from Solas, and while I don't think it was intentional I do think it's something they've commited too.

Folks can correct me if there's something in Tevinter Nights that I'm missing, but at the very least in the post-game comics stuff Harding has always been very quiet about him. She's there, she's helping hunt him, but she's always kind of quiet about her own involvement with him.

There's a really telling page from The Missing that I can't get out of my head:

One of Varric's most core character traits is that he knows people, but doesn't ever see the worst in them. He can identify a bomb that's ready to blow, but he's too close to it to see the fuse lit on the other side of it. He saw Anders was a ticking bomb, he recognized Solas was very quiet about himself, but he didn't think much of it because he figured these weren't things that were his business, and that the good traits they had outweighed the bad. He has had a terrible track record of knowing there's a knife coming to stab him in the back but not looking for it to come.

This, to me, is Varric identifying that Harding is sympathetic to Solas. He realizes she doesn't see him as the danger Varric knows she is. Problem is, he knows and likes Harding, so he won't admit to himself that it may be a problem. This is his way of warning Charter without having to admit to himself that she might be a liability, not because she's not talented but because she might buy what Solas is selling.

I'm not necessarily saying Harding is against Varric in The Missing, she is very commited to at the very least finding him there, and she does say at least once that they need to stop him. But she's really distracted throughout the journey, and the journey is one dead end after another.

The info on the characters revealed that Harding now has magic. I find that odd, for both the obvious lore reasons of Dwarves not having magic, but also because of the timing. We basically know what Harding did with her time right before Veilguard, unless they set that time randomly back several years. The only way we know of that a Dwarf could get magic is through the Titans. Maybe that's the excuse she'll use, but I somehow don't think she magically went down there for no reason and ended up with powers that made the only person we know for a fact get them never leave the depths again.

There's also the fact that the side content has heavily implied Charter may well be a mole, but at this point that just seems like way too obvious a hook to take. So if there's a mole in what remains of the Inquisition... I think we may have a winner in an unlikely place.

I don't know, it's just a gut feeling. But it gets stronger and stronger the more we find out.

[eczpcz]

Hey Easy could you do just all the mercs (or just who you would like to pick) with a reader that is almost always happy and go lucky showing actual sadness for once of course if you don’t want to that’s fine

Thanks for reading this even if not :)!

Offense and Defense x Cheerful Reader Showing Sadness

Now I'm not sure if you meant it as "they've been hiding it" or "they just got a little sad", but I'm going with the second one! Also, thanks for being my first ask! Sorry it took so long, Cali is super hot rn!!!!!

CW: None I don't think.

Scout

You and him probably go together like peanut butter and grape jelly. You always have something to say, or you always laugh at his remarks. At the very least, you always give him a smile.

He busts your chops!! Which is, unfortunately, how he finds out you are upset.

"WOW, that match sucked. You gotta stop suckin' out there so much. Practically bringin' down the score by, like, a gazillion points." He chuckles, turns to you, and sees the absolute destroyed expression on your face.

Aweeoohhhh shit.

"Hey man, I didn't mean that. Don't make that face at me! Look, uh, what's wrong? Why're you all down an' crap??" NGL he's not very good at this.

If you decide to tell him what ails you, he immediately starts trying to hype you up.

"Psh, naw. No way. Somebody like you? Gettin' upset over somethin' small like that? Not a chance. You're freakin' awesome. How's somethin' stupid like that got you worked up? Naaahh."

While he might suck at comfort, he is your hype king!!

If you decide to not tell him, he just sighs and slings an arm around your shoulder.

"Ah, well, whateva it was, it's probably stupid anyways. Let's go get a burger or somethin'."

To be honest, He's always gonna end up taking you for food.

Soldier

As much as it doesn't look like it, Soldier loves and needs routine. And while the mercs are chaotic, they're an organized chaos. Somewhat. And that applies to you as well. You're smiley nature is one of the solid vertebrae that makes up the backbone of Soldier's usual day. So when you're NOT that, well...

He gets a little antsy. And by little, I mean majorly. And by ansty, I mean freaked.

He's on like donkey kong! He spares no time trying to figure out why you aren't you! Are you a spy? A commie sent to infiltrate their base that looks just like you?

Of course, his first suspicion was that it was due to the absolute STATE of America.

With a hand on your shoulder, he shakes you, nodding in solidarity.

"I get it, private. I, too, am brought down by the thought of our great nation SUFFERING like this... BUT WE WILL SAVE HER!!! WE WILL TEAR THOSE NON-RED BLOODED NON-AMERICANS A-"

At this point I would assume you get him to stop, or cover his mouth at the very least.

You either explain to him what's wrong, or just tell him that it is DEFINITELY not America related. (although, maybe it is? Who knows.)

It's a coin toss on whether he understands or not. Actually rephrase that. It's a coin toss on whether or not he's in the right mindset to listen, then it's ANOTHER coin toss if he'll understand.

Whatever the case is, he'll still be at least a little sympathetic.

Whether it be bone-crushing hugs, or grabbing you by the hand and rocket-jumping to lift your spirits (ah, ah, ah?)

Pyro

SO. I got stumped on this one ahaaaaa. I had time to think about it though.

I think Pyro doesn't really see in Pyrovision, as shown in the comics. It's just, you know. A way of getting through the day. It probably took him time to figure what to disguise as what. What I mean is, it took work to convince his mind to lie to him. Except for fire. Fire is just pretty to him like that.

So you being a generally already happy person saved him that work! Because of that, there is probably no Pyrovision you.

And when he sees you down in the dumps, BOY does that throw him off. He goes through 20 different emotions in 2 seconds!

Finally, he approaches you after dinner, grabbing at your arm and hands, shaking them. He mumbles at you, which you.. can't understand.

You get what he's trying to say though, and whether you tell him or not, it makes no difference.

He's gonna drag you everywhere! He wants to fix your problem, and he's gonna do it anyway he can. Just be patient though, because his way may include fire, fire, and more fire.

Engineer

Man oh man does he love how you brighten up a room!

You just being around gives him motivation to keep on keeping!

Also you inflate his ego by 100000x

With that being said I don't think he would be surprised if he found you upset at some point.

You are a human, and at some point, you'll get sad!

Doesn't mean he tries any less harder to make you smile again.

He's very subtle with it. Almost annoyingly. Maybe a bit patronizing too.

Although he'll just impatient eventually and out-right ask you what's wrong.

"Now listen here, y'gotta stop all this wallowing! What's got you all bunched like that?"

If you tell him, he'll wrap an arm around your shoulder, and lay on some ol' southern wisdom, before dragging you off to wack somethings with a wrench.

If you don't, he'll try to give you space, but just know he'll study you like a creature.

"Are y'sure yer fine?" "Engineer." "I'm just askin', I'm just askin'!"

Demoman

A shining star in his alcoholic bends, barely lucid days, and murky depressed nights.

You are always there to guide him through dark times with a beaming smile and a shoulder to lean on.

He also finds himself losing words when talking about chemistry, just because you have that soft little smile on your face.

Just like Engineer, he's not surprised when you walk around the place like someone kicked your puppy.

He's not a fool.

With a gentle hand on yours, he'll furrow his brows and ask you if you're alright.

"Ye ken, a'm 'ere tae listen if yer feelin' lik' talking."

He'll offer advice and lots of comfort if you need it.

If you'd rather keep it to yourself, that's fine as well.

He'll still sit by you, keeping you company.

Whether it be a big problem or small, he knows about unhealthy coping mechanisms, and would rather be by your side then leave you to your thoughts.

Heavy

Thinking about your positivity on the battlefield gives him strength and hope. So while he doesn't show it as much, he loves how enthusiastic you can be.

That being said, if you're sad, he's even sadder. Not a lot of people get how emotional this man is.

His first thought is that you might be disappointed by something, so he does what he can to figure it out.

If its not that, then he basically pokes and prods until he finally gets to the point where he thinks it's socially acceptable to ask.

"Vhat ees wrong? you walk aroahnd, all sad. Talk to me."

He will sit down and listen if you decide to tell him, before taking your hand as lightly as possible and telling you it will all be okay.

He mmmmmight argue with you for a bit if you don't want to tell him, but he'll get the message at some point.

He offers to show you something instead, to take your mind off of it.

He'll take you to the rusty tin roof of the base, pointing at the dark sky.

You two will exchange stories about the stars for the rest of the night.

[eldritch-spouse]

https://www.tumblr.com/eldritch-spouse/752304229892358144/minors-dni-hhnrh-ive-always-wanted-to-make-a?source=share

I need more Rudy. Like .. it's a very strong need...please I'm begging you 😭

[HhhhnHHHNN WORD VOMIT INCOMING-]

Following the events of what transpires in the comic "Aliens: Stronghold" (you can find it online), Jeri the synthetic xenomorph is supposedly dead, as is Doctor Nordling. The Mayakovsky prototype records along with whatever modifications Nordling created are lost forever...

But are they?

What if a somewhat less insane crew managed to perhaps gather parts of the wreckage that ensued, studied them just enough to know how to make their own, different yet still entirely functional synthetic xenomorph? A crew that does value the monitoring of xenomorph colonies spread throughout the worlds wherein these hives are placed upon to gestate, and polices the illegal harvesting of eggs or specimen (idk, bare with me okay).

The model they designed, based heavily on Jeri, needed a couple key modifications. First, it needed to be distinct enough from the standard xenomorph drone, such so that people would not get frightened by the sight of it amongst crewmates. These differences in appearance are remedied by even more aggressive pheromone secretions to both fool and calm biological xenomorphs into believing that Rudy belongs. His somewhat less accurate appearance also allows for his maintenance to be cheaper, as well as for the synth to fit into humanoid gear more effectively.

Named after the prototype Norbert, and Jeri, Rudy only seemed fitting.

Quite like his predecessor, and as appears to be a trend recently, Rudy has a very stark and unique personality that shows itself whenever he begins to grow comfortable around someone. He's curious and talkative, having a fondness for oversharing about the xenomorph species and its many casts, as well as his interests in collecting new and exciting pieces of the world he's currently exploring with his mostly human crew and all things nature-related.

Although he's nothing if not helpful and vital to the work that is being done by this team, Rudy is still a synthetic, which creates a natural divide when it comes to forming relationships. Normally, this divide is somewhat softened when a synthetic passes as human and performs actions that make it look even more relatable. Rudy is visibly, unavoidably monstrous, and he makes no real attempt to fit in with acts that are strictly human. He will sit at the table while others eat, but he's very clearly not interested in commenting on the food and tries to pull others into conversation instead. He doesn't wear clothes, he can't facially emote anywhere as intricately as a human can.

He's lonely. And he understands why.

But it's painful for the synthetic xenomorph, because he feels no joy dwelling with other synthetics, and he can't bond with xenomorphs the way he desires. He feels at home around humans, and his own crew keeps him at bay, frustrating Rudy as they consistently deny him a real connection- Sometimes even subconsciously!

That's where you come in.

Following the unfortunate accident of the resident synthetic engineer on the ship, you are assigned his role. Arriving just in time, as Rudy is in dire need of assistance from miscalculating the height of a drop. He doesn't think much of you, at first. You'll be just like the others, finding him interesting for a short while, then resorting to formalities or simply ignoring him when he's not immediately convenient.

But he still tries anyway, because he's painfully desperate for connection.

Imagine his shock as you seem very interested in conversing with him in a consistent manner. Rudy is no idiot, he understood your interest was mainly to understand the circuitry and coding within him that allowed for such an authentic and varied range of emotions, sentiments. He fascinated you beyond merely being a bizarre thing, and that made the synth happy, fulfilled.

Rudy began to latch onto you.

When he had arrived from a routine check on a hive, he'd instantly seek you out without even needing any kind of repair, just to chat about his findings, talking about the specimen xenos the same way you'd talk about zoo mascots. He'd try to drag you down into the field with hum numerous times, formulating rapid-fire arguments as to why the supervisors should allow you to accompany Rudy. You can't lie and say that you weren't a tad curious, especially after hearing the xeno's numerous stories.

Somehow, after perhaps not so friendly methods, he gets granted his wish, and down you go, into the wilderness, with a synthetic.

Rudy seems elated to have alone time with you in the nature of this vast planet, and you note that he touches you a lot more often. Grabs you with his six fingered hands, nuzzles his dome against your head, hugs you from behind and even lifts you a couple of times, he's utterly euphoric, something you've never seen in a synth. Sure, your crewmates had made comments about how close Rudy had gotten to you, how the synthetic "had a puppy crush on you", but those were just jabs you didn't mind taking. And surely, when Rudy replied positively to those jests, he was only trying to get in on the joke, right?

You remember the shock and fear that permeated you as you first entered a colony. Rudy didn't let you get too far into the structure, but you got to observe the entrance, the little resting holes on walls that xenos occupied when drained. You got to see drones marching around, dragging potential hosts with them. And you even got "checked" by a soldier cast. It had been strange then, watching Rudy communicate back and forth with the xenomorph, effectively clearing you of suspicion after a few snort-hisses. Your heart never beat so loudly before, and you remember laughing wildly with the synthetic after the two of you had retreated into safer grounds.

Yet, for as much as you had grown to enjoy having Rudy as a friend, you couldn't ignore the remarks your crewmated had been making about him. How the synth would ravenously defend you from the smallest of accusations, how he collected everything you left behind and would even steal presents you gave to others. He became mouthy and troublesome when they refused to let you go explore with him.

And lately, to make it all even more confusing, you've been finding him "doing maintenance" on himself. Things he won't let you access, that he tries to deviate your attention from. For just the glimmer of a second, you hope you only imagined spotting the digital blueprint for a set of modified synthetic genitalia...

Something's not right with Rudy, you think, catching him staring intensely at you again.

[brujitaadinbo]

I'm back again with my crazy posts about DINBO parallelism and other iconic couples from cinema or any material. I have had a lot of things to do but I have taken the time to watch Batman content, because I love it, it is one of many favorite characters I have. Watching one of the cartoons of this character I saw a beautiful reference to Catwoman---Batman, in that connection that they have always had.

They are both wounded people, trying to move forward, healing on their own and then healing together, but the process is long and good, there is still a lot of development left (plus they are going to want to exploit Batman every time they can with more movies or series, ect)

Selina and Bruce are a magnetic couple and they complement each other, they don't need to be cheesy or be together all the time, because in their intimate moments, they show each other everything. The hero in the making and the antihero who seeks redemption.

Very much in the style of Din djarin and Bo katan; These two are more possessive of their responsibilities and more closed BUT they recognize well when they feel attracted, when they feel good working together and taking care of each other, sharing moments, living in the moment without labels.

It's something I love; in many comics and series such as Batman Rush Selina and Bruce understand each other very well, so much so that Catwoman and Batman also coincide and suddenly even their hidden personalities come to light. So they work as a team, their romantic dates destroy criminals and save the city, kicking ass.

It reminds me a lot of Din and Bo in their adventures with Grogu, solving problems together, traveling, having adventures, destroying imperials.

I love that Batman in his own way is protective of Catwoman but I feel like he can improve that, he is a very dense character and still has things to fix, just like Selina.

Something like Din; He doesn't talk much but he shows with actions that there are people he cares about and will protect them at all costs, just like Bo.

Din and Batman have as much in common, as do Bo and Selina.

And hey, I don't deny that they have a long way to go to become a healthier couple, but hey, with so much that they've been through, who would be completely fine?

Who is not sick in some way in their emotions???

For the same reason, I relate them to DINBO because both couples fight to be better, more balanced, even if they separate for a while or are together at another time.

I love that both Din and Bruce, although they don't talk much or don't express themselves well at all, when they do, they are very tender and know how to melt the heart of the person they are talking to with their words. .

Just like when they talk to Selina or Bo and they almost always leave them speechless, they don't know how to react. As much as to flatter them or to apologize to them and even an I love you like Batman says in the comics to Selina or a "I'll serve you" to Bo Katan.

And now to close this post; I love how Batman and Catwoman have that very particular and acid humor, their own silly jokes and she accepts them. Like when she gets pregnant, they don't know it yet and he offers her a "Bati bucket" for nausea or when they are already checking Selina and she tells him "it's cancer" he with a soft smile tells her "it's not." and she takes it with her typical humor LOL

It reminds me a lot of Din and Bo's humor, their own jokes "the element of surprise" and those knowing laughs. Or that Bo is ironic about the pog soup thing.

That Din tells her "that's what happens for stealing imperial ships" and she responds that way. Very consistent with their personalities.

I love it and I will continue sending DINBO, getting information and parallels as long as I can. And batman and catwoman are my roman empire.

this is the way.

[brucewaynehater101]

I was wondering what Tim's racial traits are? Because I know that Bruce is Jewish, Dick is Romani, Jason is possibly Latino (I don't know if it's canon but his own traits wouldn't change because Latinos are very diverse, some may be white… The Latina who lives in Latam speaks uwu) , Cass is Asian, I think Chinese?, Babs is possibly white, Duke is Afro-American, Alfred is obviously British, Steph is white and Damian is mixed Arab-Jewish.

This is because I have seen him portrayed as white, Jewish or Asian, specifically Chinese, Japanese or Cambodian. I also love the possibility that the Batfam is a target of the Pro American (Damian would be a frequent victim) and Neo Nazis (Here they put everyone in the bag , even Tim if he were a white man the Nazis also persecuted homosexuals) and I feel that it would be something that would unite them as a family because it would be them against the world sjfshsaj and DC is a coward, possibly they put those things. and i lov your work uwu

Hello! I've seen a ton of cool AUs that portray him (and more specifically his mom) from different backgrounds, but I believe he is canonically white.

For Tim, I've seen some posts mentioning that some comic book creator was going to make him Jewish. They never quite added that into canon (his dad is atheist and his mom is implied to be Catholic), but that might be another reason why he's been portrayed as Jewish or other cultural backgrounds in AUs. Personally, it's rad to see how his storyline, characterization, or choices may or may not change or be affected by changing his upbringing, cultural background, or race. I've seen some cool AUs with Red Room or Russian decent Tim Drake.

I'm honestly not positive on Jason. I don't think DC quite confirmed a specific ethnicity for him, but he's implied to be white. I was trying to find anything that mentioned it, and someone talked about how, when he was researching who his bio mom is, he seriously considered Lady Shiva. This could indicate that he's racially ambiguous.

I personally hc him to be a third or fourth generation immigrant on his dad's side. This, in the hc, could be examined for how his dad may face social and structural barriers to obtaining work. Combined with his dad becoming a father at a young age (anywhere from 18 to 23), Willis was forced to find illegal work just to pay his bills for his family. At least, that's my hc if we're going with a good parent Willis.

You are correct that the Waynes, due to their mixed backgrounds, may face hate or be targeted by hate groups. Barbara may also be included with this due to her visible disability (I hc that some of the Waynes have, at the very least, some invisible disabilities). If we're going strictly off of canonically proven backgrounds/traits, Tim would face hate for being openly bisexual.

I am not aware of any hate groups residing within Gotham. I could 100% be wrong about that. There is the possibility of eugenicists, anti-meta groups, and supremacists (especially in positions of power) existing in Gotham. On the other hand, some of the Rogues would probably decimate those groups if they tried to root themselves in Gotham. That city is chaotic, but I love the hc that the Bats and some rogues (like Harley, Riddler, and Ivy) protect Pride events and other such gatherings. I find it more healing to think about the Rogues, despite being mass murders, drawing the line at being a bigot.

I've seen some fics that chat about the Waynes coming to Damian's defense when he's being racially targeted at school or galas. I haven't seen any for the Waynes as a whole being targeted by hate groups, but that is a possibility to explore. At the very least, there may be some awful shit online that Barbara stumbles across (even if the users aren't based in Gotham due to the Waynes being famous).

I'm glad that you enjoy my work! Stay safe, everyone, and fuck the pieces of shits that hate folks for being themselves.

[didderd]

As a neurodivergent person, do you think this fandom (utmv) can be weirdly ableist at times? I'm neurodivergent myself and i couldn't help but notice certain 'portrayls' that are targeted to more obvious neurodivergent-coded characters

tbh, i haven't come across much myself (least not in a while), since i stay in this little corner of the fandom, but. yeah. though not really any more than just about any other fandom would, i feel like. (under the cut bc it got long)

ADHD sans (Duck) is one. i'v seen some good rep for him, but i've heard a lot of the time he's portrayed very stereotypically. i tried doing a comic with him about executive dysfunction (which i never finished bc.. executive dysfunction lmao) n if i remember right, i got a few comments on that abt him not getting good representation usually. (made me happy to be one of the people to give him some.) more commonly, and prob what i shoulda started with: Papyrus often gets infantilized. people baby him really bad. he's very autistic coded. so it sucks to see him treated like a kid. and swap sans (Blue), being similar to Pap, gets the same treatment, if not worse. but i think the fandom has gotten better at that. Blue and Paps seem to be treated better (least than before). likely bc of the spread of awareness and info on neurodivergencies. (and let Papyrus say fuck day.)

similarly, but never talked about. something that i personally don't like, (but take this lightheartedly, this isn't me getting mad at anyone specific): sans is often treated like he's just lazy. which anyone who's suffered with executive dysfunction knows how much that sucks. it's obvious he's depressed, and maybe has some ADHD/ADD. he might play it up like he's just lazy, but he's really good at hiding shit, and probably doesn't wanna worry his brother. but idk, mby this's just my own trauma with that talking kjhbhk.