#he's basically invulnerable right

[pocketramblr]

No i am not joking, according to Endeavor Dabi being near death allowed him to awaken a whole new ability and he now has ice coming out of his chest.

[shoechoe]

After thinking about Purple Haze Feedback a little more, I think the story's main overarching theme is the idea of self-destruction. One of Fugo's main senses of inner turmoil comes from his guilt and regret over not joining Bruno on the boat, a decision that came entirely from his own (perceived) mental weaknesses; because of that, his comrades went and died without him, and he feels as though he has set himself back in a way that he can never fully recover from. Throughout the story, he struggles with the idea that he's not strong enough to overcome his own flaws, and that it'll lead to his inevitable failure- his blinding anger being the most obvious representation of this.

It's frequently brought up that Purple Haze is a double-edged sword of an ability. It can instantly eviscerate any enemy, but it's volatile and nobody is safe from it- including Fugo himself. He has to walk a fine line between getting Purple Haze within range of his enemy while avoiding the virus himself so he doesn't get brutally killed by his own stand. It's pointed out that most people with an ability like Fugo's likely would've died as soon as they first used it. His Stand literally represents what Fugo feels about himself; similar to him senselessly beating his professor with a dictionary and getting himself expelled, his violent rage hurts himself just as much as it does the people around him.

The narcotics team that Fugo is assigned to defeat also follow this theme of self-destruction. Two of them have self-destructive tendencies themselves; Angelica is slowly dying due to her severe drug addiction and Vittorio is a chronic self-harmer that ends up dying from his own Stand by stabbing himself until it was too much for his body to take. The other two enable self-destruction; Kocaqi has the ability to utilize his enemy's own mental weaknesses against them by freezing their emotions and fleeting thoughts in place, and the main enemy Volpe creates the narcotics that Angelica and other addicts in Italy were sold the whole time.

As pointed out in Purple Haze Feedback, drugs not only harm the person using them, but also affects the people around them. The effects of drug addiction spread to the victim's family, their friends, and anybody in their vicinity. In other words, self-destruction doesn't only take yourself out, but it has the potential to harm others around you as well, just like Fugo's rage rendering him unsafe to be around in normal society, like how he hurts his comrades in his violent episodes even when he knows he doesn't want to hurt them, and how his perceived lack of courage ended with him being the only one not joining the others to betray the Boss and having his comrades die without him there.

In this way, Fugo being sent on a mission to defeat the narcotics team wasn't just a test of loyalty to Passione, but was a test to overcome his own weaknesses. He gained the courage and ability to fight for what he believes in that he didn't have before. Once he defeats Volpe and grows as a person, his Stand ends up changing as well; instead of devouring everything in sight, now it relies on Fugo using less brute force to defeat his opponent. When Fugo bites into one of his own virus capsules and survives, that was him overcoming his own potential for self-destruction.

Ultimately, though there were enemy Stand users trying to kill him, the real main conflict throughout the novel was if Fugo would end up destroying himself or not- I think that was kind of neat.

[sunshine-and-moonshine]

Cod Men With a Reader who has powers

Requested: No

Warnings: Angst, blood mention

Ghost - Mediumship

The first time Ghost saw you talking to a corner of a wall he just sighed, already making a mental note to report you for a psych eval as he went on his way. It wasn’t until you approached him later that day, quiet and hesitant, that he started to get very confused. And then you leaned in, whispered in his ear, “Tommy says to look in the right hand pocket of his leather jacket.” And he was shell shocked, frozen in place as you went on your merry way, like you hadn’t just shaken the foundation of his sanity.

And he did check that jacket, dug it out of a dusty box in the long neglected storage unit he rented under a fake name. What was in it? A picture of him holding Tommy’s newborn, eyes soft as the little one clenched one of his big fingers in both of his tiny hands. On the back, Tommy's chicken scratch handwriting in faded blue ink read “Happiest day of my life. We all love you, Uncle Simon.”

Soap - Invulnerability

The first time Soap ever learned of this he wasn’t even phased, just immediately asked you if he could launch a bazooka at you and see what happens. And you, being the mad bastard that you are, fucking let him, the sheer force of the explosion sending you flying back and crashing through several trees. He attributes it as one of the funniest moments in his life, and he was laughing even as Price made him do laps until he dropped.

While you’re in a relationship with him, it’s really not that much different. He maybe gets a tad more squeamish about recklessness with your power. Okay, maybe a tad is a bit of an understatement. In truth, he’s fucking terrified. He’s scared that you might get hurt, that maybe, even if it was just once, you were left vulnerable and you would be unable to recover. Or worse, that you’d die. The thought plagued him everytime you rush in, uncaring of your own safety until he basically starts bubble wrapping you before every mission.

Alejandro - Super Strength

Alejandro was never a huge fan of the superhuman program. It was nothing against the actual people in the program and more to do with the people who ran it. How they made the people under them miserable, treated them as less than human. It annoys him, makes him angry. Especially when he meets someone as nice as you, always eager to lend a hand around base. Whether it be lifting up a particularly heavy crate of food or tilting a whole automobile to the side when the carjack broke.

But there are moments when he’s reminded of how utterly different he is from you. When he gets to see your not to kind side, as you rip heads from bodies, sharp teeth bared and bloodied like some kind of beast among the corpses of its prey, a snarl on your face and a growl emitting low from within your chest. It….it probably should not have given him such a big hard on. It was even worse when Rudy saw and teased him about being a monster fucker.

König - Size Shifting

König is so utterly confused when he watches you disappear right before his eyes one day. A blink and you’re gone. At first he thinks that maybe you’re a teleporter but then he catches a glimpse of you scampering around on the kitchen floor, clearly looking for something in your tiny form. He thinks he scares you when he kneels down to ask you if you need help, finding it adorable when you jump but quietly accept his offer.

Ever since then you two slowly became inseparable. His favorite modes of yours are either teeny tiny or absolutely fucking gigantic. If you go tiny then he loves to have you inside his mask, cuddling up to his face. Or have you on his shoulder during lunch time, feeding your little crumbs of his food until you feel like you’re gonna pop. But he so loves it when you’re big too, picking him up like a baby and cradling him against your chest, or swinging him above your head while laughing. And oh the cuddles are so nice when you’re wrapped around him so fully. He can’t remember the last time he ever felt so safe.

[quirkle2]

something i've noticed in my obsession with ritsu kageyama is that he underestimates people a lot

i think the first example of this is in episode 8, and it's absolutely littered throughout the rest of season 1. it starts with koyama, and the way ritsu says, "that guy is finished—it's over," when shigeo reaches 100%. while he Does have good reason to believe this, and so does the audience, koyama still manages to "win" by pulling a trump card that completely negates anything shigeo would be able to throw at him

when he's locked up with the awakening lab kids, his first idea is to act like he and the others don't have powers at all, which Wildly underestimates claw's communication between members. ritsu was literally noted to be an above-average esper, and "special treatment" was suggested for him. the fact that he even thought that would work at all suggests he either thinks they're incompetent (which, since all he's seen from claw is koyama so far and koyama can pack a fucking punch, is a little silly) or he's panicking and clinging to desperate, sloppy plans. it also kinda reminds you he's Literally Thirteen. god . he'sso small

also, the fact that ritsu doesn't even remember the awakening lab's kids names is another example of this—he deemed them "unimportant" during his arc, and continued to think this for a good while (i'd say he even holds onto some of those views well past the show's runtime, if his little comments about the twin's telepathy in the transmission arc is anything to go by) (also also, that <- deserves a post all on its own bc the fact that he meets another pair of siblings with esper abilities and sees that it's brought them closer instead of torn them apart . wow that makes me ill)

reminder that he listens to one of the kids "get killed" in another room and then watches a claw member drag the kid back out and throw his bloody, lifeless form to the floor. This Happens To Him. he watches this go down, and then he Continues to misjudge them. his little comment about the claw lackies "underestimating them because we're kids" is a bit funny to me now, given this entire post

he does it to shou immediately. he doesn't see a scar on him, so he immediately assumes he's lower tier and about as strong as the lackies. even after shou stomps and cracks the fucking hallway in half, ritsu walks right up to him and doesn't seem threatened. i doubt he's trivializing this situation just bc shou is a kid—that just wouldn't make sense from ritsu's perspective on things

he's already seen the biggest baddest esper in town—he lives with the guy. he knows the strongest esper is his own brother, so his view on other people's powers are very skewed. ritsu is so caught up in his trauma that he thinks shigeo is unbeatable, and i think part of that is because he was so young when The Incident occurred. anything scary that happens to you at that age is going to seem insurmountable to you, if you've never tried to overcome that fear. ritsu fully believes ???% is completely invulnerable (and yes, that's largely true) but he seems to carry that idea over to shigeo as a whole

maybe dimple's comment about ritsu being able to reach shigeo's level got more into his head than i originally thought it did—he "knows" he's at least close enough to shigeo to eventually surpass him, and since he puts shigeo's powers on a pedestal built with shaking hands, he thinks, hey, i must be pretty close to that. i must be pretty invincible too

he tends to mentally call fights finished before he's seen everything his opponent can do. ritsu straight up responds "i don't believe that," to shou's little you can't defeat me, and he's seen basically nothing in shou's arsenal

to his credit, once all the scars show up, he shuts his mouth and admits he's no match. and i think after the 7th division arc, he stops brushing people's abilities aside so much

this is why the shimazaki fight is so important for his character.

he fights him even though he Knows he'll lose. the shimazaki fight is Not ritsu underestimating him—previously, he's lost battle after battle because he truly and fully thought he'd win. he does not think he'll win this, and he's doing it purely to distract shimazaki from shou's position

ritsu kageyama is 1000% ride or die, especially when it comes to his own beliefs and trauma. i think if shou's situation wasn't as similar to ritsu's as it rly was, ritsu wouldn't have tried so hard to help him. ritsu risks his life to give this kid just a few extra minutes to deal with his father, and the way he enters the fight speaks pretty highly of how much he Wasn't underestimating him

he enters the fight by blinding shimazaki, by pulling a trick from his pocket underhandedly, and even though it obviously doesn't work, it shows that ritsu believes he'll need to do more than just use his powers like he normally does. i believe this is the first time he fights this way as well, with this covert trickery that uses his environment to his advantage—he keeps doing it throughout the fight; throwing cars, dislodging rocks to collapse ceilings. he's truly trying to think outside of the box because he entered this fight with the knowledge that he'll likely lose, and he needs more than just Himself to stay alive

but enough about ritsu underestimating claw, or awakening lab kids. i think the person he underestimates most of all is his own brother.

maybe i'm stretching the definition of "underestimate"—maybe there's a better word for it that i can't think of right now—but the way ritsu seems to think that shigeo will snap at the slightest issue in his life is... well. it's a little,,, patronizing, isn't it? he doesn't seem to have faith in shigeo's ability to keep a cool head, and even though he knows for sure that shigeo is Powerful (and even, sometimes overestimates that aspect of him) i think he tends to undermine his control over that power, tends to believe he'll blow up and scarcely doubting that assumption. he grew up like that, constantly in fear of his brother unleashing that "monster" again, and that in and of itself is an example of ritsu not having enough faith in his brother

when he sees onigawara talking to shigeo loudly in the hallway, ritsu sees how nervous shigeo is and narrows his eyes, like he senses something building in him. when reigen gets slashed during the 7th division arc, the fear in ritsu's gaze is not directed to reigen's "killer," it is directed to his brother, in fear of an oncoming explosion. and i Would say he gets better at this, but even at the tail end of s3, at the beginning of confession arc, ritsu fully believes (until he sees the car that hit shigeo, i think) that ???% came around because tsubomi rejected him. he thinks his brother would react so negatively to that, that other side of him would come out to wreak havoc.

when mob Does actually ask tsubomi out, he just cries when he's rejected. he reacts like every other teenage boy reacts, by quietly crying to himself. it's a very normal thing—after the absurdity and the sheer vastness of power and destruction the audience was just put through, mob walking away and crying quietly about being rejecting by a love interest is the first taste of normalcy we've had in like three episodes. what ritsu thought would spark this is actually the thing that calls the story and the audience back to a place that is solid and grounded

i'm not saying ritsu is a bad brother—that is so so SO far from my point—i'm saying that he's young and he's full of multitudes, and that includes mistakes. and that is Refreshing

this little guy is So full of faults, and it's one of the many things i love about him. he's a character that's practically built upon flaws with "good traits" as an afterthought, instead of the other way around, and the fact that he's been written like that, but introduced to be the polite, honor student, supportive, younger brother type is So Fuckin Cool!

it compliments his arc perfectly, because the reason big cleanup arc starts is because he's tired of being all that. he's tired. i never stop thinking about his maybe i wanted to find out what it would feel like to be a fool, it's Such a good line, and even if his reasonings for big cleanup arc seem nonsensical to some, i think it makes perfect sense in this odd, fucked up way. he literally Says it, right there. he explains everything in those few lines during that rooftop scI'M GETTING OFF-TOPIC

ritsu is a good character and his numerous flaws are what make him interesting to me. if he stayed that polite, honor student, supportive, younger brother type, i probably wouldn't give a shit about him. he is interesting Because he's made some pretty bad choices, Because he's made some pretty disgusting assumptions. he's a kid, fumbling along, with trauma dragging him by the wrists. i could talk about him for hours

[tobiasdrake]

Fun Fact: There is actually a reason for why Turles looks like Goku. And it's hysterical. I talk shit about Toei a lot but they understood the assignment on this one.

Lord Slug is my #1 Z film but Tree of Might is also conceptually a lot of fun. Even if they did call him "Turles" for some reason, rather than going with "Tullece" which everyone agrees does a better job of conveying the veggie pun.

This is the film's explanation for why Turles looks like an evil Goku. Low-class Saiyans like Goku and Turles all have a mass-produced factory-line uniformity to them. Vegeta is a $10,000 custom-made designer doll with carefully handwoven stitching, and Goku and Turles are $5 Barbies sitting on a shelf in Walmart.

I love this. I love that as a thematic piece of worldbuilding for Saiyans. Tragically, due to the movies being non-canon and having little involvement from Toriyama, this is not an official piece of Saiyan lore.

But I wish it was. Because I love that idea.

What the dub calls the Tree of Might is Shinseiju, made up of the components Shin (Godly) Sei (Sacred or Spiritual) Ju (Tree). It's a sacred bit of fauna meant only for consumption by gods. It's never explained how exactly Turles stole into heaven and made off with this; It's probably a reference to the Peaches of Immortality that Sun Wukong stole in Journey to the West.

(Funnily, to avoid mentioning Kami's divinity, the dub claims the fruit is meant for Shenron.)

This is some Galactus shit. The tree's fruit sustains gods by feeding on worlds. Once planted, the tree begins to cultivate its fruit by absorbing nutrients and water, as well as the genki of the living things on the planet.

You might recognize that word as a component of "Genki-Dama" or the Spirit Bomb. Genki is one of several components of ki. It's basically a person's physical wellness. There are other components like yuuki (bravery) or shouki (being in the right mind) that influence your ki as well.

This is how the film sets up Turles as Goku's evil counterpart. Goku is a heavenly martial artist, who has studied under gods and learned heavenly arts legitimately. Turles is a thief who somehow stole into the heavens and made off with Shinseiju.

The Genki-Dama is a mass of accumulated genki collected from all across the world, which Goku then uses to attack. Shinseiju does something similar, draining genki from across the planet to create a its special fruit.

Goku was born a low-class nobody but has improved himself through personal development physically, mentally, and spiritually. Turles, too, was born a low-class nobody, but he improves himself by looting the heavens and sacrificing worlds on the altar of himself.

Kaio warns Goku early on that the Earth is doomed. There is nothing he can do. Shinseiju cannot be destroyed. The coming apocalypse cannot be thwarted. All things will die and nothing can be done. The end is inevitable.

The rest of the film is an act of seemingly pointless defiance from Goku, who refuses to accept "Your world is doomed, it can't be stopped, there are no options, there is no hope," as an answer. The problem here isn't really Turles. He's the villain, but even if Goku could beat him, Shinseiju would still destroy the Earth.

The problem here is the invulnerable God Tree from a realm far beyond mortal life, that has laid down roots across the entire planet and shrugs off any and all forms of damage.

The movie pits Goku's heavenly arts against Turles's heavenly stolen loot. And Goku comes up short. Turles has Shinseiju's fruit.

And Goku has Kaio's signature art.

And when the two come to blows....

Fruit wins. In a straight arm-wrestling match, Turles's stolen goods have made him too strong for Goku's practiced arts and disciplined study. Even the Genki-Dama fails, because there's so little genki left for Goku to borrow from the Earth.

Get the hell out of here with this amateur hour horseshit. Kaio's greatest arts simply can't win against Turles and Shinseiju. In the battle of heavenly warriors, it genuinely seems as if Turles is superior.

But then Counter-Fighter Goku has an epiphany. The Earth is dying because Shinseiju is draining it of all of its genki, right? And the Genki-Dama works by drawing genki out of things, right? So. Like. Hear me out. What if I....

I genuinely love this moment. The movies have a serious problem with overuse of the Genki-Dama for conflict resolution, and I'll admit that. But. Like.

It's just like how Lord Slug's Solar Genki-Dama made use of a super-obscure piece of Dragon Ball lore for great thematic effect. Goku unmaking Shinseiju by letting the Genki-Dama's genki-accumulation effect drink the whole goddamn tree is a brilliantly clever application of a component of the technique we don't really think much about.

Goku can't draw genki from the Earth because Shinseiju took it all. So Goku uses the Genki-Dama to take it back.

Like. It's far from perfect. None of these movies really rise to the level of "good". But there's a lot of interesting or fun ideas that they have. And I think, in the broad strokes, the ideas put forth by Turles and Shinseiju, as well as Goku's conflict with them, are really interesting.

They needed a lot more polish to really tell a good and compelling story. But there's some diamonds to be found in this rough.

[lilislegacy]

One of the reasons I hate that Percy lost the curse of Achilles is that some of the tragedy that is lost is so subtle, like yeah he’ll never have a normal life, but people don’t talk about how he basically willingly took on narcolepsy? Depending how bad it is it could really effects his life. Sally and Annabeth would be super helpful, but imagine Percy needing 16 hours or more a day?

That being said, I do like the head canons. Percy sleeping in the same bed as Annabeth way earlier just so they don’t miss time, Percy getting a slacker reputation but is still the most dangerous in any room. Big spoon Annabeth.

i’ve never really thought about it much, but now that i do, i agree 100%. it was all way too glossed over.

like i know there was a lot going on when percy lost it, but rick could have dived a little bit more into percy adjusting to not being invulnerable. it all happened so fast, and he was so confused, that he could have completely forgotten about it. imagine if he was fighting monsters/campers in SoN as if he couldn’t get hurt, and then got sliced up and was all shocked and confused until he remembered why? premium angst right there.

and also yeah, it would have been super interesting to read more about him struggling with being super sleepy like achilles. i really dislike how it was this super big and impressive deal when he got the mark of achilles but then barely mentioned when he lost it and never really touched on again. i get that he didn’t want percy to be too overpowered, but i still would have liked to see more of him with it, and for it to be a bigger deal when he lost it.

i’m totally with you.

[suzukiblu]

Day two NaNoWriMo; obligatory sugar daddy Tim/sugar baby Kon AU.

"Well, you are the plan guy," Kon says, grinning again and pushing his sunglasses up into his hair. "Supreme?" 

"Works for me," Tim says. It's meat and dairy and bread and vegetables and Kon is probably invulnerable to heart disease, so he figures that's basically health food to him, right? Especially if he needs more calories than the average guy. 

Pizza's sure as shit gonna be more satisfying than a protein bar, if nothing else. 

Tim's definitely ordering like, breadsticks or wings or something too. And maybe a two-liter or two. Cinnamon bread. Something. Hell, he'll buy all that and then some if he has to. He's got the money. 

Who the hell decided it was okay to let this happen? Really. Is there literally no responsible adult in Kon's life to intervene in this situation? Dubbilex was made by Cadmus too and has his own issues with managing to have an out-of-lab life, Rex Leech is apparently out of the picture, which might be a blessing anyway, Tana Moon is equally MIA, and Superman has apparently lost his entire damn mind, so . . .

There's literally no responsible adult in Kon's life to intervene in this situation, is there. There's no irresponsible adult in Kon's life to intervene in this situation. As far as Tim knows, every single other one Kon knows is either Cadmus-employed or a supervillain or just completely uninvested in his existence. 

Maybe Tim should be talking to Red Tornado about this. Is this something he should be talking to Red Tornado about?

. . . sure, that'd help. Red Tornado is about five minutes back into being a person and has Traya and Kathy and the whole team to worry about, and absolutely could handle something like this while also trying to figure out his own shit and keep an eye on all the rest of them too. Sure. That'd work. 

This is a problem, Tim thinks. 

This is a definite problem, in fact. 

He has no idea what to do about this problem, though, so he just orders a truly inadvisable amount of pizza and wings and double-iced cinnamon bread for pickup. They've done weirder than get takeout in the Super-Cycle and they'll do weirder again. Besides, it could use the . . . exercise, or whatever that counts as. Not like the Super-Cycle has muscles, but it does get tired sometimes and seem to appreciate getting out and–well, whatever. That's just something to figure out later, probably. 

Tim really should figure that out, though. And also if the Super-Cycle is gonna be down for going supervillain, because yeah, that's obviously a thing to keep in mind. 

He flies it to the pizza joint, and spends the flight casually grilling Kon about his coworkers and employee benefits and the Cadmus security systems. The answers are: a lot of lab-born clones and too many grown-ass adults who have no excuse not to know better, work-related health care and nothing else, and Kon and Guardian, mostly. And also some random weird death traps and a couple of cameras here and there, apparently, but it all sounds incredibly dated to Tim's ears and it really seems like Kon and Guardian are taking on the lion's share of everything more complicated than watching a feed or flipping on an alarm system. Like, it really does. 

So that's not great. 

"Jesus, man, how much did you order?" Kon snorts with a laugh while Tim's paying the girl at the drive-up window in cash. He doesn't really want to explain this particular expense on the Bat credit card. Generally he doesn't want to explain takeout and junk food on there at all, in fact, though obviously he makes a point of going to Batburger with Steph once a month, just to hear Bruce sigh about it later. Appropriate teenage nonsense and all. He gets the kids' meal and the terrifyingly purple Spoiler shake every time. It tastes like acidic cotton candy. Yes, literally. "Like just the whole menu or what?" 

"Of course I did. I've got a Kryptonian to carry it all for me, don't I?" Tim replies with a smirk he doesn't really feel after everything he's learned today. Everything Kon just told him, because he doesn't see what's wrong with any of it. 

It reminds him of the abused kids he meets on the job who insist they're fine, and they don't need Batman and Robin to save them. 

He wonders if Jason was like that, when Bruce first met him. 

He also wonders if he maybe did over-order a little on the pizza, but worst case scenario the leftovers should fit in the fridge. 

. . . maybe, anyway. Probably. 

Mostly? 

Kon immediately cracks into the cinnamon bread on the flight back because he has absolutely no manners whatsoever, and Tim rolls his eyes at him and tries not to visibly brood over the five-alarm fire burning down his brain right now. 

He just . . . doesn't understand how Superman is apparently just fine with this situation. He doesn't even understand how Kon is fine with this situation, but is increasingly certain that the answer to that might just be that Kon doesn't think he has another option. 

He doesn't have another option, as far as Tim can tell. What would he do, crash at the base and just mooch off everyone else for food and gear and whatever else he needs day-to-day? 

Yeah, not exactly a sustainable lifestyle, that. 

Not even a little bit of one. 

Technically, Tim could just pay for whatever Kon needed, between his allowance and his trust fund and without even taking his Bat-stipend into account, but there is no possible way Kon would ever actually go for that. He's way too proud, and even someone with no pride at all would probably find "please let me pay you to quit your horrible job" a hard pill to swallow from a teammate, much less the leader they only barely recognize the authority of.

[weebsinstash]

Alright bestie I’m on that shit again

So yandere Superman, right? Like obviously your fucked. The only other yandere in existence that might just be able to keep you from him is Batman, but even then he’d probably sooner work together just to ensure your safety- but that’s a prompt for another day.

Back to yan Superman, imagine you’re his darling and he is “keeping you safe”. But one day, you get snatched up by some organization that wants to use you as leverage or some shit, but you are just sobbing in relief at maybe being free- only to have Superman show up and do some not so super things to everyone who “stole” you

There are just so many casually horrifying things about Superman that people don't realize until you start like digging into his lore. "Oh he's super strong and a super fast flyer" actually he can do basically anything at those super speeds to the point he can literally even PROCESS THOUGHTS at near light-speed which means he has Absolutely Terrifying reaction times and can make plans and schemes on a dime, which, you know, can be even better utilized by him being intelligent. He has natural invulnerability so if you throw a punch at him too hard you could literally shatter the bones in your hand and he can't even control that, like you could literally hurt yourself with him on accident! He can see across INSANE DISTANCES and his x-ray vision doesn't have like a set range so he could do anything from, peep inside buildings to spy on you, to looking under your clothing for any bruises or injuries or even self harm marks, to peeking behind your hero disguise to learn your true identity, to seeing if there's anything inside your stomach and seeing if you're eating properly. Like jesus christ he literally found out Lois was pregnant from waking up one morning and suddenly hearing the heartbeat of the FETUS, there's literally nothing from him pulling that stereotypical "I know you're nervous or lying or afraid because I can literally hear your heartbeat increase" scary bullshit

And let's talk about Lois for a sec because my god her death was literally what kicked off the Injustice timeline? And there are other forms of Superman media where she just straight up dies naturally of cancer! Sure we could take the easy way and say "in this au Lois never existed or was just Clark's friend and he loved YOU" (which is my preferred default tbh bc, no competition for Reader lol) but I mean if you're going for that angst, that real whump, a yandere Clark Kent that just lost his wife/unborn child to either the Injustice incident or cancer, now overcome with grief? And in those cancer timelines they usually already have a son, Jonathan, and sometimes Jordan, and here's Clark thinking, well, his boy needs a mother, and he's got these weird feelings for you, and lil Jonny clearly has affection for you, maybe bring a bit of a platonic yan himself who sees you as either a big sister or even a secondary mom, so... be his wife maybe?

Like my god if Reader somehow helped him through the grief of losing Lois and managed to avoid "fully activating" Superman's anime villain arc, like he's going full fascist in the Injustice 2 Bad Ending, then some shit DEFINITELY goes down when Reader gets taken away. It just reactivates all his trauma. No! He can't lose anyone else! Jonathan can't lose anyone else! You're not just someone he loves, you're his FRIEND!

You're just huddled in whatever cell you've been kept in with your black eyes and bruises and knuckles bloodied from trying to fight back when you hear Clark's voice and you look up with excitement that just falls immediately off your face because holy shit did he just unlock that thumbprint scanner with a severed arm, and suddenly you're realizing there are other shades of red on his costume and dripping from his fingers

I can only imagine like, ngl I considered a sequel to my fic Doubt where Reader escapes the manor and runs into Supernan as the only other person who can protect you, so here we would have the inverse: you're the only one who knows about Clark's increasing instability and, while you still have your own freedom and autonomy, try to speak to Bruce about it, and now you have Batman Vs Superman: Competing For Your Heart Edition. I can only imagine what sort of unhinged reactions there would be if you think you've got Batman alone and you're beginning to cry all "Bruce I'm really worried about Clark, he isn't acting like himself, there's something wrong with him" and. Clark is like literally using his x-ray vision to read lips through the walls if he can't use his super hearing to outright eavesdrop.

Of course as you suggested, I'm always a slut for ideas with"oh shit I ran to this guy to help me and he's ALSO crazy, now they're teaming up and I'm in some weird shared/poly situation with TWO nutjobs". Lmao you go to Bruce concerned about Kal and Bruce goes to confront him and Clark just drops "did you know Y/N has been hiding self harm cuts under their hero suit also wow they smoke HELLA weed and im worried about their lungs and all the stuff they do when they're alone that no one else knows about 🥺" and suddenly here's Bruce " thanks i hate this actually :)" and there's a scheme concted to spy on you or move you elsewhere.

I've even thought of "Reader oh nooOoooOo, that, giant monster or villain attack or whatever also coincidentally destroyed your shitty little apartment complex? You mean Clark 'accidently' got sent flying into your building or smacked some giant creature into it and now you don't have a place to live? And you're broke too? Oh no 🥺 Well, BATMAN has this nice big house with lots of room in for you to stay toooootally 'temporarily', we PROMISE uwu"

Batman is the one who can put a tracking chip injected into your skin or even disguised as a filling in one of your teeth, and Superman is the one who can zoom off to rescue you/retrieve you "faster than a speeding bullet". I think one of the only people who could bring them down together at that point would be like. Fucking DARKSEID and, Jesus no, you definitely don't want HIM treating you as a pet 😭 the evil Batman that was brainwashed by him in the Apokolips War movie was scary enough (and scary HOT, lmao, let him keep me as some sort of prize and the only luxury Darkseid will allow him as a reward for his obedience. Lord Batman goes from having a meeting talking about like enslaving people to returning to his quarters and railing tf outta you because he's still holding onto some slim vestiges of humanity where he cares about you but also using you as his personal anti stress fuck toy)

[bestworstcase]

Something I've been chewing on that I do wonder if you have any thoughts on. What is the intended characterization/symbolism of Yang's semblance. Jaune is a healer/support. Ren learned to control his emotions and then grew empathetic. Qrow has his bad luck which is probably a defense mechanism with consequences from the bandits that raised him and Raven. Taiyang's description of Yang's semblance is the closest to an analysis the audience has gotten and that is - "basically a Temper Tantrum". Very interestingly the narrative has so far let that description stand uncontested. And I believe you were the one that did the analysis that Yang's problem was overly depending upon her semblance as a finisher. Also fun to consider how one of the ways that Yang has her parallel with Cinder is with the fire association... which for Yang is just actually her preferred ammunition and the go to imagery for her songs that I can recall off the top of my head except for temper metaphors.

that was me yeah

a core theme of yang’s character is that she’s made of contradictions and cannot be easily defined or fit into a single box. this is true of every character in rwby—there’s always more than meets the eye, complexity beneath the surface—but yang as a character is subject to other characters’ struggle to parse who she is. tai sees a temper tantrum, ruby sees invulnerability, blake has been on an emotional journey spanning six volumes of just learning to see and love yang’s whole, complete self. yang is raven’s daughter, after all—but she’s also summer’s daughter so much that the resemblance screams itself out of the screen.

so. her semblance.

in the story, it’s been described three different times by three different characters:

ruby: “every hit makes her stronger, and she uses that to fight back. that’s what makes her special”

tai: “basically a temper tantrum, great in a bind, but it won’t always save you”

blake: “his semblance is like yours, he absorbs energy through his sword, stores it up and sends it back when he’s ready” (+ yang feeling it’s “cheap” that he “gets to dish out damage without feeling it”)

<- three bears.

in goldilocks terms, yang’s semblance is “too strong” (ruby sees her as invulnerable), “too weak” (tai sees the power it grants her as essentially hollow, false) and “just right” (yang is neither invulnerable nor fragile and her semblance is just a part of her). i also think that what yang says of adam’s semblance is more revealing of her own self-perception than necessarily being meant as an objective critique of adam—it’s not “cheap” to parry/riposte and in fact yang’s growth as a combatant post-beacon looks like learning to fight more defensively and evasively, less reliant on soaking up damage/power for explosive finishers.

insofar as there’s a meaningful difference between adam needing to block hits vs yang not it’s that yang’s semblance gives her a bit of a cushion—she can still riposte even if she misses the parry—and in all honesty i think probably comes down to their kit. yang is a hand-to-hand fighter. she’s blocking hits with her forearms and, gauntlets or not, she’s going to feel that. the specific damage-absorption mechanics of their semblances cater to their fighting styles.

but, yang feels that it’s “cheap” for adam to absorb energy through his sword rather than his own body, because yang takes a certain pride in being able to get back up after being knocked down. her idea that she must take damage before she can deal it back twice as hard is probably not a real, immutable characteristic of her semblance but something that developed in response to how yang herself copes with trauma—it’s a way of, i think, regaining a sense of control and security by telling herself that it’s okay if bad things happen because it will just make her stronger in the end.

the narrative challenges this way of thinking post-beacon—losing her arm and being left behind did not make yang stronger, receiving support from trusted adults like oobleck and port and reuniting with her friends/family is what made her stronger. learning to accept help and treat herself with more compassion is making her stronger. exploring who she is apart from ruby is making her stronger. this is the direction she’s growing in emotionally—that being hurt doesn’t make her strong, healing makes her strong—and her use of her semblance is shifting in tandem with that (still pops it as a finisher quite often but it is pretty rare since v6 that yang uses it to gain the upper hand in fights she’s at risk of losing, bc these days she’s more focused on evasion/outmaneuvering opponents to create openings for her semblance to end the fight)

and then it’s connected to yang’s anger (and fear, as when she gets between neo and ruby) because both the feelings and the semblance are in essence a self-protective response—yang gets angry when she or someone she cares about is hurt and uses that anger to protect herself and/or the person she loves. her semblance is about taking painful things that happen to her and transmuting that into the power to defend herself. same thing.

i don’t actually think that her semblance is hooked into her anger in the, like, mechanical sense (we’ve definitely seen her pop the semblance in context where she’s having a GREAT time, for one)—the correlation arises from yang’s anger being motivated by protectiveness and a desire to not be hurt, which is also what manifests in her semblance.

i would argue that “basically a temper tantrum” is meant to be read in context with ruby’s “that’s what makes her special” and then both those extremes are brought to a resolution by blake’s neutral description of what burn is, mechanically; in that sense i don’t think that tai’s analysis has been left uncontested except insofar as yang didn’t argue with him—but conversely, tai more or less tells her to think of her semblance as a risky weapon of last resort and yang went “k” and started using her semblance more, so i think it’s less that yang takes his advice at face value than it is yang recognizing that tai raises a generally good point [being creative and flexible is valuable] and thinking okay, i can probably get more out of my semblance if i try new things.

her position is that burn is normal (“how is me using my semblance different from someone else using theirs?”), and the way she takes this advice on board reflects that—if someone else relied on their semblance for just one specific tactic and nothing else, what advice would they be getting from their instructors? push yourself further, test the limits of what you think you can do, get out of your comfort zone. that’s what winter tells weiss when she’s struggling! that’s how RNJR are taught in v5! tai views burn as fundamentally different from other semblances, and his advice really comes down to “don’t rely on it, you don’t need it.” but yang disregards that part of what he tells her entirely. she quietly sorts through what tai tells her and only keeps what she thinks will actually help her improve—which is, in itself, of a piece with her semblance. she takes the ‘hit’—the harsh and rather unfair criticism—and then filters/converts it into something more constructive.

(there is also some interesting subtext here with the protective/self-protective drive behind both yang’s anger and her semblance and tai’s perception that the semblance is a “temper tantrum”—which aside from framing burn itself as abnormal also casts yang’s anger as irrational, childish, out-of-control. given the dynamic of yang’s childhood situation, the parentification and leaving yang and ruby alone at home for extended periods of time and over-identification of yang with raven plus favoritism toward ruby… and factoring in tai referring to yang’s anxiety and post-traumatic depression as “moping” well. across the board he seems either unwilling or unable to seriously/genuinely engage with yang’s feelings so how much of his perception that yang has “temper tantrums” follows from outbursts she had when overwhelmed as a child or young teen that tai didn’t take seriously or chose to ignore rather than deal with the root cause of neglect/trauma?)

[madametamma]

I have this idea: pregnant Lois

Basically when maws Lois is pregnant the whole daily planet is made aware and Clark is both excited and freaking out internally. When it's time for the baby to be born the whole planet is like "battle stations" people just running out of the way or jumping over desks or (to take it even further) Perry announcing Lois is going into labor to the whole planet. Clark is freaking out and it takes a cartoon slap from almost everyone in the planet to snap him out of it (and I'm talking almost everyone Jimmy, Kara, Steve, cat, Lonnie hell even Parry). When that baby is born both Clark and Lois and then show the baby to the planet which everyone finds over.

I've had this idea for how I would write a Lois gives birth story for a while. It's a fan fic I'd like to get around to for a while (But also if anyone else wants to use it for their own work go right ahead.)

Lois goes into Labor several weeks early. It's really bad. Clark and Lois have been worried this whole time over whether or not a human and Kryptonian could make a healthy baby together and it looks like the answer is going to be no. The doctor tells them that their child will likely only live for a few more hours after it's birth. They are devastated.

THEN the sun begins to rise. (They haven't slept all night) and they get an idea. At this point they know that the sun makes Clark near invulnerable and heal quickly. With nothing to loose Clark takes the baby in his arms and flies them up in the sky where they can absorb the most sunlight.

He waits for what seems like eternity as he begs his child to live when suddenly, the baby's struggled breathing turns to healthy wails. and it comes life. Clark takes the baby back to Lois and the doctors are shocked as they declare that this is the healthiest premature baby they've ever seen.

[laiqualaurelote]

Hello, dearest author,

Please write more of that cracky superhero au as an actual fic? It's really good, and made me smile and laugh.

Thank you,

Azadale, Independent

Dear Azadale! I am so sorry I missed this ask, which has been languishing in my inbox for ages. I am afraid I do not have any more of the cracky superhero AU written but I am happy to share what would have been the general plot, which I once brainstormed with @leupagus.

The superpowers of the AFC Richmond team are, respectively: - Isaac: can chop things in half with his hands - Zoreaux: elasticity - Jamie: invulnerability - Sam: healing - Dani: blazes light - Colin: chameleon, basically invisible - Bumbercatch: X-ray vision - Richard: incredibly sensitive palate - Jan Maas: is always right, or so he says

All the players manifest some kind of superpower, although it takes some time to figure out who has what, since some of them, like Richard's, are not immediately obvious. The sole exception is Zava, who brushes this off by saying that "Zava needs no superpowers for he is already God". It clearly bothers him, however, and he eventually quits the team.

None of the coaches, nor any of the other staff, manifests any powers. Trent, by elimination, speculates that the superpowers may have to do with the showers, since Zava does not shower with the rest of the team. Ted finds Trent standing in the showers, investigating, and their ensuing banter so flusters Trent that he turns on the shower while standing under it, fully-dressed, and is soaked through.

The team debate if it is ethical to use their powers to win the Premier League. They decide it is not and make a pact to refrain from using their powers on the pitch, or for that matter anywhere in public, to keep the whole thing a secret. The one person who does break this rule is Colin, who uses his powers of invisibility to become a vigilante after hours. He hangs around LGBTQ clubs, makes sure young queer folks get home safely, and beats up homophobes who harass them.

Trent's investigations lead him to discover there is an alien spaceship buried in the sewer under Nelson Road, from whence the shower powers spread. He attempts to warn the team during the home match with West Ham, only for the aliens to invade the surface and wreak destruction, forcing the team to use their powers to protect the crowd. Nate is almost exploded by an alien but saved by Jamie shielding him.

Though AFC Richmond save the day, they are subsequently disqualified from the Premier League because their powers are deemed an unfair advantage. As Nelson Road has now been taken over as a government black ops site, Rebecca rebrands AFC Richmond as a crimefighting superhero league and has Keeley handle their PR push. The team thrive at first in their new roles, but find that they miss football. Meanwhile, Ted's depression is worsening, as he feels he has no purpose in London any more and is spiralling more than ever.

Trent eventually works out that Jan Maas' power of always being right, which nobody took seriously even though he described it accurately from day one, means that he can in fact rewrite reality. They decide to have Jan erase everything that happened, so that they can go back to being normal footballers. Only Jan - and, mysteriously, Trent - retains any memory of the alternate reality.

At the end, it is finally revealed that this entire story is a novel written by Trent. The last scene of the fic is his book launch, which the players attend. Jan confronts Trent about whether he has a superpower of his own, since he was also in the showers. Jan suggests that Trent's superpower is metadiegesis - he can move between narrative layers and break the fourth wall. At this point, Trent addresses the reader directly to state: "Reader, I can neither confirm nor deny."

I hope this made you smile!

[otherswap]

Have you decided how the Cyan and Orange Soul modes are going to work? Because from the look of it, they’re going to be used in Burgerpants and Maddaton EX’s fights, respectively. Also, do you have any designs for Burgerpants?

At first I was confused as to where you got those specific soul modes from until I remembered the weapon/armor list on our website haha. I did think about this sometime in February and even made a chart to try to make sense of it but hadn't considered the soul modes could switch around too. If they change according to the new soul order, it would be like this:

Interestingly Undyne and Papyrus keep their original combat styles... leon also came up with some ideas for cyan and orange:

Cyan could give you a set number of invulnerability frames when you're not moving. Straycat probably throws a lot of garbage and junk all over the place, so he could have some attacks that'd otherwise be impossible to dodge as trash fills the battle box and you have to go higher and higher up and have less time to anticipate attacks Orange is easy: You can't stop moving but go faster. Maddaton is super high energy and it's the only way to outrun her attacks. Think about a fight that's styled like Sans' attack where he puts you in a loooooooong battle box, but for basically the whole fight. Maybe it's styled after a music bar? I'm sure there's other creative applications for the idea too that I just can't think of right now

Even if you're not making an actual fangame it's still fun to think about this kind of thing!

Burgerpants/Straycat was designed by @sunfloraas so it's up to her if she wants to post her drawings on here. There is that little doodle up there and I suppose I can post these overworld sprites too; it's still missing Gerson and Q.C. but at least there's other guys!

(Shh I know I posted Grillby before)

[tealvenetianmask]

About Stolas's mortality:

Stolas is confident enough in his invulnerability that he doesn't take assassination attempts seriously (see Loo Loo Land and the beginning of Western Energy). But at the same time he's fixated enough on his mortality that as a young dad (early twenties?) he sings to his daughter about a time when he'll be gone and later, in the present, worries about dying alone. So what gives?

I think there are a few possibilities.

He's seen a prophesy about his own death. I've seen this theory floating around a bunch, and it's compelling. Stolas's job is to study the stars and find prophesies. Maybe when he was young he saw something about when and/or how he'll meet his end. Maybe he knows a lot, or maybe he just knows a little. Maybe he saw something else too- something about Blitz and/or something that makes it impossible for him to blindly follow what his family expects of him. If this is the case, I still don't think we have to worry about Stolas dying any time soon. If he dies in the series, it will be at or near the very the end. I'm confident about this because he's the main love interest, and a huge facet of Blitz's character development is overcoming issues so that they can be in a relationship. If Stolas were to die, that arc would be halted. I'm NOT WORRYING, guys.

When things get bad, he fears that he's going to unalive himself. While it's not strictly canon, there's that "Do it for egg" moment on Blitz's sinstagram that suggests that there were times when Stolas had to push himself to keep going just for Via. This could also account for the worry about dying alone. Does he see his life as only continuing for as long as he can stand it? I think this theory is a solid one too and could explain the inconsistency without any prophesies. It fits Stolas's character development- he spent thirty-five(ish) years of his life functionally living for others- his family's expectations, his daughter's wellbeing . . . and now he has to learn to live for himself. This could be very moving to explore.

There's no impending doom. He's really just aware that he's both powerful and mortal and working to reconcile that like anyone else. If Blitz has a shorter natural lifespan than him (which . . . he has to, right?) then "die alone" isn't about literally expecting to have Blitz with him when he dies if they get together- it's about getting to experience the kind of relationship he wants in order to give his life meaning. I think this train of thought would be pretty amped up after his brush with death in Western Energy. I think it fits, and I like it.

Anyway, what do you think? This is basically just me trying to sort out my opinion (and procrastinate on my actual work/fill time until Full Moon with HB discussion!), and I arrived at . . . idk, I like all of them. I like the prophesy theory least, probably just because I like Stolas and want him to live and be happy. 😩

[bonefall]

The recent post really made me realize just how much I love your version of Clearsky.

Dude was super religious while at the same time basically being in a pissing contest with it.

They gave him the most on the nose lesson on humility possible, and he doubles down on everything in an act of stubbornness that's almost admirable in how awful and stupid it is.

And out of all the BB villains bar Mapleshade, he wins. He is such a fucking menace that he forces his own religion to bribe him and then becomes a patron deity of said religion, and irreversibly changes his entire society for the worse through sheer force of will.

He believes that the world revolves around him and only him, and to be honest, I kinda see why he thinks that

Thistleclaw and Tigerstar wish they were half as successful as Clearsky, and he didn't do it through plotting or magic, but by refusing to learn his god damn lesson no matter how many times it came back to bite him.

I feel like, especially in the Current Day with the Events That Occur around us irl, it's a shame that we never get villains who win through SHEER force of will. It's so, so rare in fiction.

BB!Skystar isn't scheming, he doesn't have a master plan, he doesn't even really have an end goal at the height of his power. He just lives in his own head and does whatever the hell he wants.

That's it! So simple! No self-reflection, absolutely incapable of taking criticism, refuses to grow and change. He has a beautifully simple mind. And it is that very lack of conscious that leads to his strength. You can't shame the shameless. You can't convince him to amend his ways.

There's one way to overcome him; to defeat him, physically. To remove his power. Nothing else will work; he will keep coming back until he is stripped of it. In BB he is the first leader to die, because of that.

Even after Thunderstar refuses to kill a helpless opponent, Skystar took his last chance and went right back to war with it.

And he'll deliver a speech about everyone having one life to give, and about the goodness and righteousness of dying for a cause, but that's all just his rationalization. He can't confront the truth, so he never will. If he did think about it for more than a second... he would be the bad guy.

But he can't. He can't be the bad guy. Because then he would be wrong. So he will simply never think about it.

In the end, what does him in is the fact he got out-bullied by a bigger tyrant. He realized that his power would be threatened by there being less warfare, and he flinched first. His invulnerability was compromised, in that last moment, because it was the ONLY moment where he entertained self-doubt.

I just think he's neat

[grailfinders]

Grailfinders #343: Charlemagne

today on Grailfinders we’ve got a king so nice we made him twice, it’s Charlemagne, back at it again! this time he’s in D&D, so he’s a Devotion Paladin to be upstanding and noble but in a distinctly different way than the knights of the round, as well as a Hexblade Warlock to gain more power the cooler you are. we also dabble in Fighter just a bit so you can fight just as well one-handed as you can two, and also for a more joyeusse ordre, but we’ll get into that later.

check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

next up: GOOD GRIEF HE’S NAKED

Ancestry & Background

Charlie is obviously a Human, but he also has a riding skill so let’s give him a Mark of Passage, why not. that gives him +2 Charisma, +1 Strength, Courier’s Speed for an extra five feet of movement, and Intuitive Motion for a bonus d4 on all dexterity and land vehicle checks. on the magical side of things, you can cast misty step once a day for free for some Magical Passage, and you gain Spells of the Mark, adding a few extra spells to your paladin spell list- check those out in the character sheet for more info.

you are, of course, a Noble, giving you proficiency in History and Animal Handling bc we’re taking persuasion from your class. boom, riding skill complete and we’re not even one level in.

Ability Scores

first up, make your Charisma as high as you can- they go on and on about Chuck’s charisma in his bio, and it’ll take care of just about everything in this build eventually. after that is your Dexterity. if you’re going to do cool stuff, you need to not fall flat on your face afterwards. third is Strength, partly for multiclassing, partly so you can be a good knight even without your paladins backing you up. that means your Constitution is a bit lower than I’d like, but that’s why you have a targetable invuln. your Intelligence is neutral- I didn’t really have a lot to go on there, but your Wisdom is definitely in the negatives. you based your power on something as open-ended as “doing cool stuff”, and hanging out with astolfo and roland long enough would warp anyone’s common sense.

Class Levels

1. Paladin 1: you don’t have to be a paladin to be the king of them, but it certainly helps, especially since it gives you proficiency in Persuasion and Religion, as well as Wisdom and Charisma saves! demons love using those, so make sure to stock up!

you also get a divine sense, so you’ll see any demons coming, as long as you spend a resource every two turns to check. its not good, but you’re not using those resources for anything else, so why not? throw out a ping erry once in a while.

you can also lay on hands to help a pal(adin) out, providing a bit of healing when you slap someone! remember: if they’re about to take a dirt nap, give ‘em a bap. that’s the furioso way!

2. paladin 2: at second level you get great weapon fighting, letting you re-roll 1s and 2s on damage dice from two-handed weapons. you’re gonna see a lotta them real soon whenever you use your divine smite to add a bunch of radiant damage to your sword. of course those don’t come free! you gotta use your spell slots, and those only recharge on long rests! you also prepare spells each day, so you don’t have to worry about picking the exact right ones- we recommend gishy spells like expeditious retreat and jump from your mark spells, or smite-y spells like searing smite or divine favor! outside of his “do cool stuff to charge up” thing, chuckie’s a pr basic dnd paladin.

3. paladin 3: at third level your devotion to devotion makes you a devotion paladin! you add protection from evil & good and sanctuary to your spell list- neither of them are quite invulnerabilities, but they’re nice shields you can plop onto your allies or yourself if u want. you can also channel divinity, doing one cool thing a short rest, either making a sacred weapon or turning the unholy. the first turns your sword into a cool glowy sword for a minute, adding your charisma to its damage, shining light, and making it magical. the latter forces fiends and undead to run away for a minute if they fail a wisdom save! paladins are already pretty good at dealing with devils and zombies, but sometimes you get stuck in a crowd, yknow?

4. paladin 4: we wont need strength forever, but we do need it now, so bump up that with your first ability score improvement! now you hit things harder! yep… yeah that’s the whole level. you can keep reading on now.

5. Paladin 5: at fifth level paladins get an Extra Attack each action, as well as second level spells! your freebies are Lesser Restoration and Zone of Truth, though I also like your mark spell Misty Step. move so fast it’s like you’re teleporting! just be sure you let them know it’s nothin’ personnel, kid.

6. Paladin 6: sixth level paladins get an Aura of Protection, so everyone within 10’ of you gets to add your charisma bonus to every save they make! you’re so cool you make jumping out of the way of a fireball look easy!

7. Paladin 7: seventh level devotion paladins have an Aura of Devotion, so now nobody near you can get charmed either. so whatever’s going on with Astolfo and roland isn’t magic, I guess.

8. Warlock 1: speaking of those two, we need to make a deal with them to power up your sword, making you a Hexblade Warlock. when you strike this bargain, you can put a Hexblade’s Curse on someone nearby that lasts a minute, giving you bonus action on all damage rolls, all attacks crit on 19s and 20s, and when they die you regain HP. all for the cost of one bonus action once per short rest! if you know somebody’s tough you just have to put more effort into being cool, and suddenly you’re a lot stronger. you’re also a Hex Warrior now, so you can turn a one-handed or versatile weapon into your chosen weapon, letting you attack using your charisma instead of your strength.

finally, you get another round of Spells, with weird warlock slots to boot. you can cast paladin spells with these or vice-versa, but they don’t mix in terms of figuring out what levels you can cast at. Eldritch Blast is our noble phantasm, but we also get Sword Burst to do a cool trick like spinning, Expeditious Retreat to free up some paladin prep slots, and Comprehend Languages because I couldn’t really think of any other first level spells we need, and that’s a jesus-y sort of thing to have available.

9. Warlock 2: second level warlocks can use Eldritch Invocations to customize their class, so now you can Distort Value to make your armor shiny and gold, but you can also turn your eldritch blasts into Agonizing Blasts, adding your charisma bonus to each hit. (technically you get two invocations but we’re swapping one next level so don’t get too attached.)

as for why we made a cantrip our NP, it’s simple- thanks to agonizing blast, your hexblade’s curse, and a third thing we’re getting later, your NP will wildly change in damage potential depending on how hard you’re trying to fight something. right now you get a total of two lasers each turn, with each blast’s damage either dealing 1d10+3 or 1d10+7 damage, which is a pretty big swing.

10. Warlock 3: third level warlocks can pick their pact boon, and the Pact of the Blade is perfect for an up-and-coming paladin, letting you summon an extraplanar weapon as an action and make it any kind you like. thanks to the invocation Improved Pact Weapon, it’ll do extra damage each hit, and you can cast your spells through it! most DMs don’t really care about stuff like that, but if they do, it’s a godsend.

if you want even more swords to blast people with, you can summon a Cloud of Daggers now! …it’s bad! but it is thematic.

11. Paladin 8: eighth level paladins get another ASI, and it’s time we got holy. as a Scion of the Outer Planes (specifically the good ones) you get resistance to radiant damage and the ability to cast Sacred Flame using your charisma. we had good offense against the unholy, but now you have defense against the holy! why would being faithful give you that? there’s a couple theological implications there I’m not 100% comfortable dealing with, so let’s move on.

12. Paladin 9: ninth level paladins get third level spells so you’re now a Beacon of Hope, giving everyone you want within 30’ of you advantage on wisdom and death saves, plus maximized healing. you can also Dispel Magic for free, or remove curses! those aren’t in character, but you get one for free and the other’s practically a synonym. Crusader’s Mantle can turn the whole party in to paladins if you want tho

13. Paladin 10: tenth level paladins have an Aura of Courage, so now nobody near you gets scared. how can they be if you’re doing a sick kickflip ten feet away?

14. Paladin 11: eleventh level paladins get an Improved Divine Smite, so now it’s like every attack you make is at least a little bit smitey.

15. Paladin 12: our last level of paladin gets you the Righteous Heritor feat, rounding up your Charisma and the ability to protect your allies. when somebody nearby takes damage, you can react to reduce that damage proficiency times a day. there technically isn’t a debuff if you use it to protect yourself, but that’s not the knightly thing to do, y’know?

16. Fighter 1: it’s time for that secret third thing! well, almost. right now you get the Dueling fighting style so your sword is equally powerful one- or two-handed, and a Second Wind so you can heal yourself as a bonus action. again you could use your lay on hands, but that can be used for someone else too. you have to be greedy with this one.

17. Fighter 2: ok now you’ve got that secret third thing, and that’s Action Surge! now you can action on the same turn you’ve already actioned once a short rest! now you can shoot out 4-8 beams that deal 1d10+4 to 1d10+10 damage each! ultra swingy now

18. Warlock 4: fourth level warlocks get their own ASI, so max out that Charisma for the strongest… everything. just about everything we have uses charisma, and now yours is as high as it can go without literal divine intervention. good job!

also you can cast True Strike now if you feel like wasting a turn, or Suggestion to use your position of power for good. or evil. your own purposes, in any case.

19. Warlock 5: fifth level warlocks get third level spells, like Spirit Shroud, letting you add even more damage to every attack you make on someone within 10’ of you. is using a ranged attack on someone within 10’ smart? god no! but it gives you a chance for dramatic banter, which is cool!

also you can use your Sign of Ill Omen to bestow a curse on someone once a day using a warlock spell slot. curses are really versatile, but the reason we’re picking this up is to give someone disadvantage to hit you or an ally, which is one of the pre-given options for the spell.

20. Warlock 6: the sixth level of hexblade isn’t something we get to often, but since we’re already summoning swords we might as well summon the hands wielding them too. with your Accursed Specter, you can summon the spirit of a hero of the past (bc you just killed them) and they’re forced to help you out for the rest of the day. they get an extra 6 temporary HP, as well as a +5 bonus on all their attack rolls! so if you kill a level 20 fighter and combine this with your eldritch blasts, you can summon all 12 paladins in a single round! kinda!

also you can cast Tongues now, so you can talk to anyone you want! it's what god would want. if he hadn't knocked over that tower.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

having literally everything based off your Charisma is great, it let us pick up a bunch of cool feats without sacrificing any kind of power, and unlike most paladins you don’t have to choose between your magic being strong or your swordplay.

speaking of, thanks to that mono-stat stuff you’re super versatile in a fight, being able to dish out damage in melee or at range, or provide support and protection to other party members. being able to do a little bit of everything is never a bad thing.

speaking of support, just being around you is a huge bonus for squishier party members, and thanks to your mobility options you’re never that far away.

Cons:

and it’s a good thing you can move around easily, because your auras are tiny. when you combine that with you moving around the place all the time, odds are most of your party won’t be getting any aura buffs for most of the fight.

having warlock slots might give you more chances to smite, but it completely blocks you from upcasting spells, leaving you stuck with third level spells slots for the entire build. a lot of your damage comes from other sources, but a good smite crit is super cathartic, you know?

your ultimate attack has some major damage variance, and it’s only at its best once per short rest. you can call your shots, but you’re only going to get one chance per fight at best, so make it count. otherwise you can go from 8d10+8d8+88 damage to 4d10+20, which is a major missed opportunity.

[according2thelore]

rereading "my teeth will only cut your lips, my dear" and like... it's so mommycore. especially since dean in that world ages and sam never will. oh my

(for those interested, the link to the fic is here!)

omg you're so right...my first mommyfic...

and honestly? i stand by that. dean would be full-tilt mothering. mommycore. mommymaxing (is that what the youth are yapping about now?)

cut for mommy mild nsft lol

do i think sam "whatever-the-magic-pill-is-i'll-take-it-too" winchester would turn dean no matter what (against his will if he has to) so they can be together forever? yes. do i still LOVE imagining forever young vampire sam and human dean? why yes.

not only can he provide for one of sam's most basic needs, he kind of HAS to, to keep sam safe and alive. sam needs him to live, and dean's body has become suddenly something more worthy and worth respect to himself. he kind of jokes if sam has any requests, and sam awkwardly asks if dean'll drink a different kind of beer because miller makes his blood taste weird and dean actually fucking does it.

and dare i say...there comes a point when dean is old enough to physically look like sam's father and god it makes him so happy and proud when they're sitting at a diner and dean gets complimented that he raised his son right and he's such a good kid.

like yes!!! that is his kid!!! that is his baby!!! thank you for noticing!!! sammy is such a good boy!!!

that is dean's ideal world: a sam that is pretty much invulnerable, who can't get sick or get hurt or die except in a very specific circumstance. i am positive they find a work-around for the sun-avoidance, so dean just gets sammy full-time who never gets old and needs him to provide his basic needs.

not to mention the way that vampirism kind of mimics breastfeeding in a way? hear me out! sam gets squirmy and agitated, and keeps looking at the thump of dean's pulse at his throat. sam doesn't have to breathe anymore, but automatically syncs his breathing to dean's. dean knows he's hungry because sam's broken their shared breathing rhythm as he inhales deeply, taking dean in. dean pulls the car off at the nearest exit and pulls them into the far corner of an abandoned gas station parking lot and pulls his shirt off, tilting his head back and pulling sam's head down in close, and sam is huffing loud breaths, quiet whimpers half-cut off as he sinks his teeth into the familiar notch of dean's neck, latching on. dean pets through sam's hair a low there ya go sammy there ya go, and sam hand's hands ball into fists against dean's skin, mind going fuzzy and hazy and mouth filled with deandeandean.

as dean gets older, he takes such satisfaction in seeing his callused, scarred hands next to sam's smooth, soft ones. he takes such pride in how well he's taken care of him, in how his body is a home for sam.

sam will nose in close, mewling and quiet when he gets hungry, gentle and apologetic as he crawls into dean's lap to feed from his neck. he'll get snarly and possessive if dean tries to pull him off, because this is as much sam's body as it is dean's, and dean shudders and presses sam closer because he loves being owned.

sam sometimes get aggravated and rough, and dean loves that just as much. sam's demanding hands kneading at the back of his neck to make the blood rush closer to the skin, growls and rumbling as he bites down on dean harder than usual and humps up into the cradle of dean's thighs, giving him everything, taking everything like it's owed to him.

and while dean kind of loves the way their appearances make their dynamic immediately respectable to others, dean feels weird about how he has pounds he can't pack away anymore while sam has an eternal six-pack and biceps as big as his head. dean kind of shrugs sam off when sam wants to take him apart nice and slow like c'mon you don't have to do that and sam is fucking baffled because this body has literally made him in all ways but genetic.

it raised him and sheltered him from nightmares and blocked stray knives and bullets and claws and is pumping sam's blood through his veins, the blood that keeps him alive and the blood they share.

dean has five favourite scars: two on the apex of his thighs, two on his wrists, and one at the base of his throat, the left side, above his heart. these are the scars that give sam life, that barely have time to heal over before sam is pawing gently at dean's knee, big eyes and unlined face and teeth already peeking over his lip because he knows dean will give in, dean will always give him what he needs when he needs it and will pet through his hair and coo as he does.

like that is MOMMY!!!! that is sam's MOMMY!!!!!!!

((also vampire demon blood sam would be INSANE because not only is it so much easier for him to get the blood, it's also kind of proving that he IS the monster he feared AND he's telling dean that his sustenance isn't enough anymore, that he CAN and WILL find satisfaction in another's body and YIKES!))

anyway, this ask was such a lovely little surprise, anon!!! thank you so much!! mwah! <3

-lizzy