#if dc can resurrect their characters like 10 times each I can too

[rainbow-flavoured-skittles]

what if I made a ninjago x dc au where the ninja are vigilantes that protect ninjago city. and ninjago city is this really weird place known for being supernatural and magical in nature. and they are metas. and Wu is the weird uncle who trains them. and all the Big Bads of different seasons are their rogue galleries, with Garmadon being their nemesis. and they actually have secret identities

[stxleslyds]

Who do you think should be a love interest for Red Hood/Jason Todd?

Oh, Anon, you sent me a very difficult question. I have been wanting to talk about my thoughts on love interests or ships when it comes to Jason but I always end up getting scared and don’t do it. But because you sent me this ask and I want to give you an answer, I will actually speak (write) my mind.

I like ships, I enjoy romances within stories, the name of my blog is based on one of my favourite ships from a tv show that I liked. I have also reblogged content that is about another ship that I like from an animated show but when it comes to the DC comics characters that I like (Dick Grayson and Jason Todd) I actually dislike romances and the idea of love interests, a lot. In Jason’s case, I actually hate the idea of him having love interests.

And that’s because of several reasons, but I believe they can all be enclosed into one thing, Jason doesn’t seem to be into romantic relationships or established romantic relationships. Every time they put him in one of those things start to make less sense, I will explain it more in detail because I will be going through every single relationship that was, hinted at, teased or official for Jason in the last eleven years. (Yup, I have found every single relationship that Jason has had forced and/or out of place).

This is, of course, what I think, you are allowed to think otherwise.

JASON TODD AND LOVE INTERESTS.

New 52.

Essence, Jason’s first kiss and some other things.

Essence was, as per New 52 onwards, the first person that Jason had a relationship with. (RHatO vol.1 #7). They met back in the All-Castle and with her, he said that he felt, for the first time after being resurrected “alive”. Yeah, it is a little bit weird, let’s suppose that Jason was 17 when he first met her, and when I say “other things” I do mean it, the panels are never explicit but there is enough information given and shown that tells us that Jason shared a lot of firsts with her.

But here is my first complaint, Lobdell didn’t need to tell us all that, in fact, he could just have told us that they were friends back in the All-Castle because when Essence is introduced in the story, Jason already thinks that she betrayed him and the All-Castle and he repeats several times that he either: wants to kill her or should have killed her in the past already. (RHatO vol.1 #7)

So, the first person that Jason had a love and/or sexual relationship with is now an enemy through betrayal, or so he thinks. After some back and forth and some other truths getting revealed, everything gets solved, Jason and Essence suddenly don’t interact much with each other.

We get another peek at their current relationship when she shows up in Roy’s hospital bed to help him recover from his injuries. There Jason says that she was his first kiss and that even though they have chosen different paths and they have tried to kill each other a few times they are still there for each other.

Wow, what a lovely message Lobdell, two people who have tried to kill each other and have an overall nasty/manipulative relationship, are still there for each other, which is what truly matters. Give me a break Lobdell, what is this? I understand this book is old by now but this narrative is not cute or special. They barely trust each other and they have been more than willing to kill each other but they are still on good terms, yay! Shut up.

Isabel, the flight attendant that may be a little too pushy at times.

Us and Jason met Isabel, the flight attendant when Jason is travelling along with Roy (RHatO vol.1 #2). Her introduction is very sexualised and Jason and her flirt a lot, he “checks her out” but he is also thinking that Isabel is better off not crossing paths with him anymore, but apparently that isn’t what she thinks because she leaves her number along with Jason’s drink. He is very surprised about that fact.

Jason had been struggling with the idea of calling Isabel because he didn’t want to mix his vigilante life with his normal life, that’s why when he calls her, he hangs up as soon as she answers the call. (RHatO vol.1 #7).

But that insecurity is thrown out of the window (apparently) because he does go on a date with Isabel even though he is doing everything possible to hide his double life (RHatO vol.1 #10). Isabel seems to be having an amazing time and as they reach Jason’s hotel, he offers to call her a cab, which means “date is over I want to go home”, but Isabel has other ideas she starts pushing him and saying maybe I don’t want to leave just yet and Jason is a little uncomfortable but Isabel just kisses him. Yeah, non-consensual kissing happens and this is the first (but not last) time it happens. The kiss is interrupted by someone else and the whole thing ends up with that someone (Orc), Kory, Roy and Jason talking.

Jason was so ready to make Isabel go at the end of their date earlier that he barely notices her when Kory and the others show up. She is literally on the floor asking what is going on and Jason doesn’t notice her until after they are teleported to a spaceship. Jason was so out of it that he didn’t notice her up until Roy pointed her out. How insane is that? What are you trying to say, Lobdell, Jason is an asshole? Or was Jason so uncomfortable on that date that he forgot that the date was still going on?

After they all realise that they are all stuck in space in the middle of an intergalactic war Isabel and Jason talk. Isabel lets Jason know that she thought that their date was boring and bad because Jason was trying to hide his real life, she also asks Jason why a vigilante asked a flight attendant on a date and he deflects that question like a pro. (RHatO vol.1 #11-12). You see, I think that Jason decided to go on a date with her because he thought that’s what he wanted or to prove himself that he could have something “normal”.

When they finally go back to earth Jason kinda acts like a jerk towards Isabel at the beginning but at the end of the issue, we see that Isabel invited Jason to stay the night at her apartment in Gotham, happy times happen and while Jason is in the shower Isabel gets attacked by Joker. The Joker made it seem like Isabel overdosed while Jason was in the other room which destabilised Jason a lot. He calls the cops and she is taken to the hospital after Jason leaves the apartment. (RHatO vol.1 #14-15) The last time we see her she is in the hospital recovering.

A long time passes by and we only see Isabel again when RHatO changes writers for a few issues, the author of Isabel’s comeback is Tynion. We see Isabel entering her home after a date, when she goes inside, she notices some weird robots and those things were put there by Jason who wanted to invite her to a private resort as a date. (RHatO vol.1 #28). Isabel decides to go and when Jason gets too wound up and is ready to kiss her, she tells him that he needs to slow down because a long time has passed since they last saw each other and she is quite mad that because they went on one date and she ended up on space for days and then got attacked in her own home. Jason is a bit taken aback by what she says but he doesn’t get to say much because a fight breaks out. Talk about signs… maybe they shouldn’t get together at all, you know what I mean?

After the fight was over, Isabel told Jason that she can’t do this (their “relationship”) any more, but that if the fight ever ended that he could go back looking for her. So, she “breaks up” with him but still kisses him before leaving. If you are leaving someone because you don’t feel like things are going right why on earth will you kiss them goodbye? It’s not like they were on a five-year-long relationship, they only went on two dates! Maybe this is not that big of a deal but come on…

Kory, this one wasn’t a “real” relationship but the idea of it was forced.

Although Kory appears in the first issue of RHatO we didn’t know then how Jason and Kory had met. That story is told later on and it begins with Jason appearing on the shores of an island where Kory’s ship was stuck. He is in and out of consciousness but we do see Kory taking care of him as he recovers, we also see that Kory has a little bit of heart eyes for the mysterious man, but that was because Jason looks like Dick Grayson (someone who she had dated and actually remembered even though she said she didn’t).

After Jason finally wakes up, he goes to her and she gives him clothing that used to belong to Dick, Jason knows those clothes are Dick’s but when he asks Kory who they are from she says that she doesn’t know (she was lying). After Jason gets dressed, he decides to tell Kory who he is and his story, so he tells Kory “Hey, there is something you need to know about me” and Kory kisses him. Ah yes, more non-consensual kissing, how wonderful! Jason is taken aback and Kory tells him that her people assimilate the knowledge that way, Jason doesn’t make a big deal out of it but I will. Lobdell, you knew that Kory didn’t have amnesia, and you know that Kory has been on earth for quite a long time, there was no need for that kiss. As the reader, I know that that’s how Tamareans learn stuff but I also think that Kory shouldn’t kiss people just to know new stuff! It baffles me that they are still doing this, it was silly then and it's silly now, stop the non-consensual kissing and then excusing it because of fictional alien traditions or whatever, just stop.

But I didn’t put Kory on this list for the kissing, I put her here because even though it was never explicitly shown that Jason and Kory had any type of interaction, there were some hints about it, like that time that Roy asked Jason if he was mad because he had slept with “his girl” to chich Jason answered something along the lines of “she is not my girl and she can sleep with whoever she wants”. (RHatO vol.1 #2)

But that’s not all because Lobdell gave us yet another moment in which Kory kisses Jason without his consent and Jason is written once again alarmed, this time even Roy is present and he is a little bit mad because his girlfriend is kissing someone else in front of him. At that point, Jason and Roy both knew that Kory wasn’t new to this planet and that she had been in a relationship with Dick Grayson previously. Because of all that, Lobdell passing yet another non-consensual kiss as Kory trying to tell Jason that he wasn’t alone in his fight doesn’t sit right with me, it’s even worse when you reach the end of the issue and Kory leaves both Jason and Roy on their own. (RHatO vol.1 #32) Yikes, Lobdell, yikes. (This is no hate to Kory or the other women on this run, this is pure hate towards Lobdell, please don’t get me wrong, he is the one being nasty).

Rose just appeared so Lobdell could tell us that she and Jason slept together.

Poor Rose, so many female characters being dragged into this mess by Lobdell, she really didn’t deserve this. She appeared in the last two issues of this run, two! Only for Lobdell to set up the idea that she and Jason had some fun nights in the past, honestly, who let this man write women?

Their interaction went like this: “Hey Rose, love that mask” “Yeah, I’d considered a heart tattoo that said ‘Jason’ with an axe hacking it in two” “I’m flattered, but I think you made the right choice” after Jason said that last part, he continued with this, “You want to explain what you’re doing here trying to kill us? I remember the last time I saw you; you had a big, satisfied smile on your face”. (RHatO vol.1 #39)

Really, Lobdell? She appears in the last two issues; you have them have that conversation and then in the last issue they are the only ones left (after the outlaws disband, RHatO vol.1 #40) but we never see her again, Rose isn’t mentioned in Red Hood/Arsenal or RHatO Rebirth, she isn’t mentioned any other time. Lobdell just thought that Jason didn’t look like he had fucked enough in the past so he decided to let the reader know that he had had some action. I hate him.

Barbara, this pains me, poor Babs, she didn’t deserve that.

No, Lobdell wasn’t the one who wrote this mess, it was everyone who wrote Batman Eternal. I mean, what was this group of men thinking? Where they playing darts and they had all the batboys’ pictures up on the wall and in whichever the dart got stuck, Barbara will get stuck too? Is that what happened? How often do they play this game, can they stop?

I don’t remember having read Batman Eternal and quite honestly, I didn’t want to put myself through that after I made myself read New 52 RHatO twice because I had forgotten to take notes of what had happened in each issue (I hate myself). So, I will only talk about the absurdity that was Batman Eternal #19 and #28.

All of the “relationships” that Lobdell came up with, were forced or out of place or both but this one takes the cake. It’s so simple and short, but oh, so annoying!

The phrase “You will never be Dick Grayson” coming out from Barbara’s mouth and it being directed at Jason should tell you just how many levels of wrong we are working herewith. Their whole interaction in this book seems to come from that phrase, how on earth do you build up a romance from that? Am I going crazy? Am I missing something? Come on, be honest with me.

Jason being the one who makes Barbara shake off mind control because he told her that he “only remembers what’s important, like the day he met Batgirl”, I am sorry but what? I really don’t have the words, he had even said before that he thought Babs liked him because she looked nervous, what is this writing? Since when does Jason care about Barbara? They met once when Jason was Robin and she was significantly older, what are these writers on, crack? (Batman Eternal #19)

But that’s not the worst thing, later in the book, they switch roles and Jason is apparently no longer interested in Barbara but she is all like “maybe you should stay this time, Jason. Help the family. Save Gotham” and Jason says “Gotham’s never been enough for me Barb” and I am not kidding, she tells him “What if there was more…?” That was hilarious, my gods, they must have been high when they wrote that because that is just too wild for me.

And Jason, the absolute beast that he is, says, “No. Because Barb, it’s like you said… I’ll never be Dick Grayson” (Batman Eternal #28). Jason, you dramatic little shit, what is going on? Why did the writers put us through all that just to end up being like “Babs is thirsty for Jason but he has already moved on”, what was the point of these interactions?

Yeah, that’s all I can say about that, let’s just move on to the mess that was Rebirth.

Rebirth.

Artemis, a new player enters the game.

While we did meet her in the first issue Jason isn’t seen being flirty with her up until they are in a bar and Jason is really drunk, he tells her that she has beautiful green eyes and Artemis is like, “if you are hitting on me, I will punch you in the head” (RHatO vol.2 #8), Lobdell back at it again with that mix between flirting and violence that I hate so much, lovely. But I guess this meant that Artemis was setting boundaries.

Boundaries and kinda thrown out of the window when later in the book we have something like looked like the start of a kiss that didn’t really happen because they were interrupted (RHatO vol.2 #11). Jason also acts a little too cheeky in two instances in another issue, one of them was a bit funny the other one no so much because Artemis was talking about how she had let only three people into her heart and one of them was now dead and she might have been losing another one, at that moment all Jason has to offer is “about that third person… does his name rhyme with Rason Rodd?”, which was a bit out of tune of him. (RHatO vol.2 #13).

The big surprise though is that out of the blue we have an issue called ‘Date Night’ where Jason and Artemis seem to go out on a date! What? We are moving on so fast! (Spoiler Alert: Jason thought it was a date, Artemis only wanted to talk about how weird Bizarro was acting at the time). One of the things that really caught my attention was how differently she was characterized in the issue and that within the story Jason hadn’t realised that Artemis wasn’t really acting like herself either. It could have been a cute date if not for the fact that Artemis wasn’t acting like herself because she wasn’t “really” on a date with Jason. Also, Lobdell does love to hint at Jason’s sex life, before they went on the date Bizarro said “use it (the teleporting door) all night if you need” and Jason responded, “I don’t think we will be needing it all night. I mean, if we do that’s okay, but I’m not, like, expecting anything”, it was kinda funny but yeah, come on! (RHatO vol.2 #19).

From that issue, we jump to the great finale (or not) of this “epic” “love” “story”, the so awaited kiss between Jason and Artemis, oh yeah baby! A couple of issues with flirting, a date that wasn’t a date but maybe if Bizarro wasn’t going insane at the time (who knows?). This kiss obviously comes with the separation of this team of outlaws, Jason is left alone on earth while Artemis and Bizarro are swallowed by a portal of sorts. Jason finally gets the kiss that he so desired, but at what cost? (RHatO vol.2 #25). Brutal issue for Jason, it was also like a special edition because it was bigger and that makes me laugh because all Jason did in that issue was suffer, how unlucky can this guy get?

We don’t see Artemis for a while but when she does come back, she is being controlled by something and it’s making her want to kill Jason, so to shake whatever was controlling her, Jason kissed her and hoped for the best (it worked). See, Lobdell can change! Before it was women forcing Jason into a kiss, now it’s the other way around! Yay! (RHatO vol.2 #41).

After all that we see Jason and Artemis spending some time together, it looks very friendly, they even have a very nice moment when Artemis hugs Jason as he lets himself grieve the loss of Roy. Jason also seems aware (this time) that Artemis is acting a little off and he gets her to talk about how much she missed her axe. It feels like they are taking it slow, they are figuring themselves out after so long, they probably won't kiss and make things complicated, right? Yeah, no, they do kiss, but they each pretend that it was like kissing a sibling. In the end, Jason does say that he lied and that he knows that she lied to him and that was okay with him, my only critique with this is: Why did they have to kiss? They could have waited instead of kissing and then lying about their feelings, what is this, Wattpad? (RHatO vol.2 #42)

Their relationship comes to a halt and we end up seeing them together (in a messy bed, twice) at the end of Lobdell’s run. But even though those two had their fun and Jason almost told Artemis that he loved her, things weren’t really meant to end with them as a couple because at the very end of the issue Artemis says her final goodbye to Jason. She says, “This is it. The end of us. I’m not being mean. I’m genuinely happy for you Jason. You have grown so much since you started the outlaws. But you don’t need us anymore. You don’t need me. Tell me I’m wrong” to which Jason responds, “I can’t. But if I ever needed anyone, it would have been you, Princess”. (RHatO vol.2 #50).

All in all, this was the best-developed relationship that Jason had, but so much about this, one could have easily been transformed into a friendship between the two. You will see better what I mean after I talk about Isabel’s presence in this run. Maybe it is just me, but a solid friendship between these two could have been spectacular, mostly because of what had happened in that one annual that had Dick as a guest.

In that issue Jason was very jealous of Artemis having the most obvious heart eyes for Dick, she was very flirty with him and he was a real gentleman with her. When she offered to take him back to his trailer at the circus he said yes and there, as they were walking towards his trailer, Lobdell wrote the best piece of dialogue in his ten years writing Jason. Dick asked, “So, are you and Jason… together?” to which Artemis responded, “Me? And Jason? Anyone and Jason?”. How is Lobdell so blind to his actual interesting takes on Jason Todd. Aromantic Jason was right there Lobdell, but you had to push your shitty version of “romance” every step of the way! (I am fine with Jason having a fantastic sexual life but listen, Jason being aromantic was still possible).

Essence, first Jason accused her of betraying him but now *Uno reverse card*

Do you guys remember that Essence and Jason’s last interaction in New 52? Jason said that even though they were always fighting or willing to kill each other they also will always be there for one another? Well, when Essence comes back in Rebirth she plans on killing Jason because apparently this time around he was going to betray her. Their very first interaction in this run (RHatO vol.2 #35), consists of Essence saying, “I don’t know if I should kiss you or kill you” to which Jason responds, “why do you have to choose?”. Lovely, Lobdell is back at it again with his shitty version of quirky “romance”, if he is trying to write them as sarcastic, he needs to do a better job at it because it’s not a good look, and not everyone has read his New 52 run so introducing these two in this book this way is kinda not good. But then again, maybe that’s just me.

As a fight ensues after they said those things, we are shown panels of Jason and Essence when they were together in the All-Castle, they would be cute panels if not for the fact that they are currently fighting to the death. It is an insane contrast, and Lobdell also has Jason think “I was the first human trained by the All-Castle. She was the only heir to a throne she never wanted. It was never going to work out between us.” But the thing is that it did work out between each other until Jason left the All-Castle, when they met each other again they had both been fed lies about the other and neither of them seems to want to look for clues to make sure that those rumours of betrayal were true. One will think that now, one of you might not feel so confident when they think the other will betray them again, you went through this already losers! But I don’t blame Jason or Essence for their stupidity, I blame Lobdell.

The fight lasts a few pages but it will end with Essence stabbing Jason with her ‘Blood Blade’ (not to be confused with the All-Blades, those are Jason’s), but here is the thing the Blood Blade comes with a curse if you draw blood from someone innocent your soul will be trapped inside the blade. This is what happened to Essence because Jason was innocent of what she was accusing him, just like she was innocent in New 52 when Jason accused her of betraying him and the All-Castle. Boring.

Now here is the thing, Essence might be dumb or she didn’t know how the Blood Blade worked because later on in the book, the blood blade is teleported by Essence (she was still inside of the blade) to the front door of Isabel’s home. The very next time that we see Isabel she is unconsciously sharing a body with Essence after touching the blade. She possessed her because at that time she still believed that Jason wanted to “destroy the world” (RHatO vol.2 #45). It wasn’t long until she realised that she was wrong and then teamed up with Jason once again. (RHatO vol.2 #46).

Lobdell, why must you recycle stories all the time and make women look stupid? Why would she still believe that Jason was up to no good after she got trapped in the blade? But my point here is that this is supposed to be Jason’s first love and their relationship consists of, flirting, remembering the good times, and almost killing each other every time they see each other because *betrayal*, it’s so tiring and annoying. Do better.

Isabel, aw, shit, here we go again!

Lobdell really had ladies ready to appear in Jason’s life when another had just left. This is one of my major problems with the way Lobdell writes all of Jason’s relationships. It would be lovely if DC and Lobdell just outright said that Jason is only interested in having sexual relationships that aren’t meant to last a long time. Because the way they had him involving himself with women seemed a little sketchy, in #25 Artemis finally kissed him and he seemed pretty happy about it, but then she was gone and now that Isabel appears in Jason’s life again, he acts as if Artemis didn’t exist.

Isabel shows up at the Iceberg Lounge after Jason made public his comeback and his management of the place. One would think that given how things ended up in New 52, Isabel would like to take things slow, after all, she had told him that he could go back to her if he stopped living his double life, but no, she talked to him for a few seconds and then proceeded to kiss him out of the blue. Lobdell’s favourite type of kissing makes a comeback, how nice, I didn’t miss it at all!

I want to be honest with you, maybe I am being too harsh, maybe these are all “surprise” kisses but in a way, it still doesn’t feel right, this is not the first time that someone kisses Jason when he doesn’t expect it (Isabel has done it multiple times already), but he is written as if he didn’t care, and that is not good. Men can feel pressured into kissing someone or can feel like they are being harassed. Lobdell and everyone on this creative team seem to think that being kissed by someone you haven’t seen in very long out of the blue is romantic or cute or sexy or whatever but it has repeated itself so much that I only find it uncomfortable and annoying to read and see. (RHatO vol.2 #33). Maybe it was just me because in that issue where Isabel goes to the Lounge they get attacked and she is not at all bothered by it, this time around, Jason even tells her that her safety is his first priority which is quite funny because the first time they were in a date Jason forgot she was present and only realised that she had been teleported alongside the outlaws to a space ship when Roy pointed it out, but I guess Jason is a different man now. I guess he wants to cultivate a relationship with her now.

And he might because your boy asked Isabel on a date in Paris. They just happened to both be around Paris at that time but here is where Jason says something that makes me speculate as to why he is actually dating, he thinks this, “Isabel Ardila. A flight attendant. Maybe the only normal person I’ve ever allowed in my life. Don’t ask me why.”

Well, Chonky, I won’t be asking you anything, I will actually give you the answers as to why you are letting Isabel into your life. You do it because you equate dating to normalcy, but I am here to tell you that it's fine if you don’t want to date and form romantic bonds, it's not something normal, it's just something some people do. If you like going out with her because of the sex or whatever then that’s fine too, but if you have to question why you are doing something, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it at all.

Jason looks a bit uncomfortable, and we also see that he is feeling sad and lonely because he misses Roy. He even thinks, “sometimes, she even makes me feel normal”. All of this normal talk really speaks to me about Jason trying to have friends outside the job but he doesn’t know how to approach that so he dates women because it makes him feel normal. I can relate to that feeling in a way, and I just think that Jason is confusing friendly love with romantic love, I don’t even know if he knows of the existence of platonic love. A reader that understands those feelings can see that maybe Jason is struggling to feel normal when he realises that he doesn’t love the same way as others. The thing is, I don’t really think that is what Lobdell intended to do, he just wanted to push two of his agendas, Jason has an active sexual/love life and Roy Harper was Jason Todd’s best friend and the only one who is allowed to suffer his death is Jason. In fact, back at the time, Jason was actually one of the few people (or maybe the only person) allowed to mourn Roy.

When the date is over and Jason’s walking Isabel to her hotel, they have a chat where it’s revealed that Isabel thinks that Jason isn’t still living that double life, she actually thinks that Jason is only working as the owner of the Casino, Jason doesn’t correct her. And then there is this very weird line that Isabel says, “The airline picks up my tab. This way you know I don’t love you for your money”, Jason is very taken aback when he heats Isabel say that she loves him so he manages to say “did you just…?” but Isabel stops him with a kiss and a simple “nope”. Jason moves on and goes to work because he is still doing the vigilante gig, the double life, that Isabel thinks doesn’t exist anymore. (RHatO vol.2 #34).

Isabel and Jason’s relationship has always looked forced to me, in rebirth, it was even weirder because Jason had just kissed Artemis and when she was gone, Jason kind of acted as if it didn’t matter that much to him and moved on easily with Isabel, but now Jason is acting kind of sketchy too because he is hiding his double life and the last time he did that Isabel ended up in a lot of trouble. I really don’t know if Lobdell remembers his own shitty writing but he should remember this stuff.

We move on too, and now Isabel has come to visit Jason at one of the events that the Iceberg Lounge has got going on, once again Jason is acting a bit strange because he was having trouble at the time with the idea of his biological father actually trying to contact him before he was killed and he was also having trouble because he was in Gotham after his adoptive father beat the living shit out of him and “banned” him from stepping foot in Gotham again. Jason seems to open up a little to Isabel but just as he starts doing so, she tells him she has to leave. Jason looks hurt for just one panel and then he moves on with his (double) life. (RHatO vol.2 #35). This is the issue where Jason also comes across Essence and traps her in her own blade.

Because everything falls apart in what was one of the best arcs written by Lobdell, Jason sends Dog (Jason’s dog) to Isabel, so Dog can be safe. (RHatO vol.2 #36).

We see Isabel after some very long time, and she is described as “The on-again/off-again girlfriend of Jason Todd. Currently off-again”, at this point in time Artemis was back to being herself and Jason had kissed her and all that. I am just saying, Jason obviously isn’t comfortable in a established romantic relationship. Lobdell dances around that idea a lot, every time with all these women.

This is the issue where Isabel finds the Blood Blade outside her home. (RHatO vol.2 #43).

As you can see, I have problems with Lobdell not handling the relationships very well, there is no concrete information being told to the reader or the characters within the story about how Jason wants to date, we never know if the women in the story know that Jason has been dating/flirting with other women. I am not saying that is bad but it would have been nice if Lobdell just used his words to tell us what he is doing.

I feel like saying that Jason is the kind of man that looks for sexual relationships without commitment isn’t something that will break the world in two. All the “romance” is incredibly forced, just say that he isn’t into romantic relationships my dude… unless Lobdell really thinks that the “romances” that he came up with are actually well written.

Anyway, Jason didn’t know that Essence who he has been fighting against and then alongside was actually Isabel, so, when Isabel and Essence get separated for a moment Jason is surprised. After Isabel tells him that they are in the middle of a battle so she is going to let Essence control her body again, Jason tells her that he “loves her”. (RHatO vol.2 #49). Does he love her for doing that or does he love her because he likes her? Hmm, that’s a good question, it is never actually answered in comics because we don’t really get to see Isabel or Essence after that happens and in the following issue (Lobdell’s last) Jason and Artemis seem to have been having a very fun night and they also kiss, Jason had even kissed with Artemis before he told Isabel that he loved her.

As you can see, its all very messy, Lobdell really said “Jason can’t be directly or indirectly single but I won’t really explain what is going on to the readers or to the characters within the story”, and that speaks volumes about how bad Lobdell’s writing is. This man simply cannot remember the things that he writes, he literally had Artemis say that she didn’t think she could see Jason dating anyone and then she wants to date him and Jason had already been dating people before that statement was made! It was all so messy! It makes all these side-romantic plots pointless; Jason was lonely because he constantly lost his friends, then give him friends! Friends are nice DC, stop making it about romances when you can just give your characters solid friendships.

Barbara, this time the pain is brought to us by Geoff Johns

I put Three Jokers as part of rebirth because I still don’t know if that garbage of a book is supposed to function within actual canon or not but it came out while Rebirth was going on so that’s why it’s here.

Now, the whole book was bad, we can all agree on that but Johns’ handling of Jason and Barbra’s “relationship” made me sick. This is another thing that writers love to do to Jason, write him as the kind of man that cannot take rejection and continues to be pushy about his feelings. Please, DC, don’t ever let Johns write another comic for you, it’s embarrassing at this point.

But in this book Jason wasn’t the only one acting weird, Barbara also did some weird stuff. In this run, Barbara thought of Jason as an unhinged criminal that needs to be locked up but Jason had heart eyes for Barbara every time they saw each other, their whole dynamic was wonky and weird. They even fought before and after Jason killed one of the Jokers.

But that’s not the real problem, the problem was that Johns decided to make Jason get tortured by the remaining Jokers while naked, this man was found naked, injured and mentally unwell by Batman and Batgirl after Jason and Batman had a fight, Barbara decided to take Jason to her home so he could recover.

Jason has just come out of the shower, he was clearly mentally and physically exhausted, and also very vulnerable. When Barbara came into the room Johns had them have a conversation while Barbara was fully clothed and Jason was just in a towel, and he was talking about how lonely and not cared for he felt, he was opening himself up to Barbara and apparently, Barbara (Johns) thought that the best she could do was kiss him, you know, to offer support.

Honestly, what the hell do male comic writers smoke when they write? You don’t show support to someone that has clear feelings for you with a kiss, to then pull away and say that “we committed a mistake”, we? Girl, come on, you made a mistake and a huge one! But one will think that Jason realised that Barbara did make a mistake when she kissed him and he also accepted the fact that she didn’t feel the same way as he did… well, not really, Jason is actually written as the kinda guy that doesn’t take well rejection and the kind of guy that keeps pushing for something between him and the other person to happen.

This man asked Barbara three times if she could give him an opportunity after the first rejection and he kept getting rejected! But that is not all because we all know that at the end of the book Jason left a letter (that thankfully Barbara will never see) in Barbara’s door when he asked again to give him a chance and that he would change who he was for her, he would actually stop being the Red Hood for her! Was Johns on crack? He had to be! The levels of wrong that are being messed around with here are out of the charts! Jason Todd, who has different values and morals than Barbara Gordon would stop being Red Hood just to get a date? Boy, don’t be dumb! Do male writers think that we are going to swoon over this kind of writing, do they expect me to applaud? I won’t!

This “relationship” was forced and incredibly out of place and out of character for everyone and it pissed me off even if it doesn’t affect canon because the writing is bad and the narrative is worse! If you love someone you shouldn’t change everything about yourself to be with them AND if someone says no or rejects your advances then the only thing you should do is back down!

This shouldn’t have to be said!

Future State

Rose, if you know me then you know that this is just a big no for me.

In the Future State: Red Hood story we are shown in the first panel of the first page that Jason is sharing a bed with someone else. We get to know pretty early that someone is Rose. The setting for their relationship is awful, both of them are working for the magistrate, they hunt “masks” otherwise known as heroes or vigilantes.

Jason hates his job and is known for bringing his “masks” alive, Rose on the other hand seems to have adapted easily while working with the magistrate and she is known for bringing the “masks” dead.

First red flag, why are two people who have such different ideals in a relationship together? Let me remind you that the Magistrate is not a good corporation or idea for Gotham, they are basically domestic terrorists and Jason is bringing them people that are like him (he is there undercover). Jason is going against everything that he is in order to infiltrate the Magistrate, Rose seems to be having fun. She brings the subject between them without care and seems to not really understand that Jason doesn’t like the work that they are both doing and that he doesn’t want to talk about it as if it were a normal thing that every couple does.

The second red flag in just a couple of pages is Williamson having Rose say “This is why we make sense. Daddy issues”, wow, are we really doing that, Williamson sat there and said Rose and Jason can make a good couple because both of them have unresolved problems with their parental figures, how wonderful. To me shared trauma isn’t a deal-breaker but sure, if you want to make one of your characters revolve her relationship with her partner around trauma, then that’s on you.

Jason also had a big problem with Rose attacking people who are hiding from the Magistrate because they are actually giving food to the “masks” and to people who don’t have to eat. Rose doesn’t seem to care and that makes the relationship a bit tense. So far, there are not many positives for this couple.

Things only get tenser, people are going around wearing those red pill looking helmets that Jason used to wear in Batman and Robin (2009), the funny looking ones, and those people are just normal people that are stealing food so they can eat or take them somewhere else. Jason is following one of those people and telling them that he doesn’t want to hurt them, just talk but Rose shows up and kills them. Jason is angry and Rose goes on a rant about how being a “mask” is against the law so she had a right to kill him.

Together they figure out that those people were being controlled so they go looking for whoever was behind those helmets.

They are tense and Jason is very cold with her even when she tries to lighten up the mood, but shit gets worse when they both receive an alert to go hunt another mask: Jason Todd.

Rose wants the money. Aw, nothing says healthy relationship more than murder.

The apparent reason why the Magistrate put a target on Jason was that he had the helmet that he took from that boy, when he realises this he puts it on and hopes that Rose finds him through that, so she can help him if he gets in trouble.

Jason gets mind-controlled through the helmet and is forced to fight rose, they fight for a while and then Rose breaks the helmet. Jason says “knew you would find me” and Rose responds “you are lucky I have a crush on you”, ok, is Jason okay with Rose wanting to kill him a few minutes ago when the alert on him came out? That’s not a big deal for them? Ok.

Jason seems to be in love with Rose even though they think differently and they are written with as much chemistry as a history book, he cares for her and does everything to save her when they get attacked by the Magistrate.

When they escape the initial attack, Rose grabs Jason and tells the Magistrate’s drones that he will take the bounty for Jason but that she will deliver him alive. Jason is surprised and angry but then the drones just leave. And we are left with Jason and Rose on a rooftop alone after Rose seemingly tried to betray Jason.

Do you know what Jason does next? He tells Rose that they should go on a holiday. He cares and keeps wanting to protect her from the Magistrate. Are you kidding me? This is so messed up; I want to remind you that these were the only two issues for this story. This is all the information we had for a long while and it is disgusting. DC really let this thing be published!

Rose betrays him twice; he is willing to harm him on some level and he still wants to be with her? Am I understanding that correctly? Later on, he keeps wanting to protect her from the Magistrate after he has evidence that they are hyper corrupt.

The point I want to make is that Jason and Rose shouldn’t have been introduced to us in this book as a couple or as people who have been sleeping with each other for a long time. I don’t know why this needs to be said but having a couple where one of them can think of killing their partner is absolutely awful. And then they make it worse by having the “victim” act like it doesn’t matter and that they should work on protecting the person that wanted to betray them.

I understand that there is a Future State: Gotham run going on with a Jason story in it written by Williamson but I don’t want to go near it. Future State: Red Hood made me uncomfortable and it made me cry out of frustration. How did this story get a pass by the editor? It’s disgusting, and it’s that because of this absolutely forced “relationship” that Williamson wanted to put in.

-

My point with all of these “couples/love interests reviews” is that writers need to be more conscious about what they write and about how some readers might perceive some messages.

Non-consensual kissing, harassment and all those things shouldn’t be part of the dynamic of two people that you are trying to put together. If there is some non-consensual kissing you can simply put a panel where the person apologises for their actions, but not even that is shown in these cases.

Comic writers need to be more aware of the way they write relationships. Yes, these are fictional worlds, people and situations but you are still playing with real-life interactions. Making some things appear in comics as normal things that you do to your crush/partner or whatever has an impact on people and writers need to become aware of this.

Lobdell was dying to let us know that Jason had a very active love/sexual life, great, but you need to show healthy relationships or make things clear about the relationships that Jason had. So many interactions that Jason had with women were overlapped with each other and the reader doesn’t know how to take it, is Jason a player or is he into open relationships, to me, it didn’t look like that but hey, maybe the writer would let us know? No, he won’t, because all he wanted to do was make Jason “date” more women.

Here is the thing, I have always felt like Jason was Aromantic, he likes having sex and having fun, but established romantic relationships aren’t his thing. It is what feels right (to me) with this character. And that’s (in part) because of all these messed up relationships that he was forced into. The two times that Jason seems to “be in love” are in Three Jokers and Future State: Red Hood, those two books are horrendous when it comes to Jason and love interests, in one of them Jason acts like the kind of man that cannot and will not take well a rejection and in in the other Jason acts as if he were blind to the abusive actions his partner does to him.

None of those two concepts are healthy or nice. Writers need to do better about that, they just have to.

So, to answer your question, I don’t think Jason Todd needs a love interest. Not as the main plot or subplot, maybe as a vague mention but nothing else, because comic writers suck at writing healthy and well-developed relationships. And because I really see Jason as the kind of person that wouldn’t involve himself in a romantic relationship with anyone.

I know this answer is more a rant than an answer but this subject is one that I have thought about a lot and it really made me nervous to bring it up. To everyone who thinks differently about these relationships, I understand and keep doing you, these are all just my thoughts and they are not worth more than yours.

Anon, thank you for the ask, sorry for making you wait so long and I hope that you have a wonderful rest of the week!

[starrybouquet]

On Seasons 9 and 10 of Stargate SG1

A note: I wrote a series of essays several weeks ago, when I was feeling particularly crappy. I'm not particularly proud of them--they're pretty dramatic--but they do explain several of my more personal fandom feelings. I know I don't always tend to be the best at explaining things on the spot, so I'm posting these with the hope that I can refer people to them the next time that happens.

Um, I mentioned they're a little dramatic. I'm really, really sorry about that. But hey, if I can't be dramatic on Tumblr, in fandom, where else is that gonna go?

But still - if you're feeling a little sensitive today, maybe you wanna skip this. Or not. Just a light warning. :)

This piece is on seasons 9 and 10 of Stargate SG1, but they aren't all Stargate-related. I'll be posting them in the next few days, hopefully.

To those of you who like s9-10: I have nothing against you. Some of you I know better, some less well. In general, though, I like you, you seem like fine people. This is not about you, I hold nothing against you for liking those seasons. In fact, I envy you. This is more a personal post about why I'm an idiot. If you want, feel free to scroll down past this. I won't be offended. I'd put it under the cut but I'm on mobile.

Okay. Why, hello, those of you willing to read this rant...

No matter how much I denounce and ignore it, I cannot get past the pain of seasons 9 and 10 of Stargate SG-1. I've never watched them in full. Seen a few episodes here and there.

I cannot, repeat, CANNOT stand the thought today. It hurts.

It's an old pain, and it's not just SG1. SG1 is just one of the highlights in a long line of books and shows that have repeatedly broken my heart by being SO GOOD and then taking an, uh, precipitous right turn, shall we say. Because a hard right seems too kind, and a precipitous drop too harsh.

I love SG1. I love love love it. I like the plots and I love the science, but what I really fell in love with was the characters.

I loved all of them. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: if Sam, Daniel, or Teal'c had been on any other show, I guarantee you they would have been my favorite by far. Jack is just so...Jack that he has to be my favorite. That's SG1 for you.

I've never had super close friends. I have good RL friends, don't get me wrong. They're nice people. But we don't have much in common.

That's okay. That's been my experience forever--really nice folks who maybe didn't always get me or have anything to say to me, but were good, decent people.

And this is good. Really, it is. It's just that SG-1, for me, has always represented the promise that there *are* people out there that are your true friends, and you will do brave and brilliant things with them. It will happen.

It's naive, I know. But I haven't been able to let it go. Maybe someday. But not right now.

Which brings me to s9-10 of SG1. It hurts.

It hurts that SG1 scattered to the wind.

It hurts that they sent Jack away from a place where he was happy, where he'd found friends and meaning in life again, away to fucking DC. To be...what? A politician? I could write a whole post just about this. Actually, I have. I could still write more posts about it!

It hurts that Sam went to Area 51, and nobody seemed to mind, the 'Gate didn't spontaneously combust as we were always led to believe it would.

It hurts that Daniel's personality supposedly changed that much, in the absence of his friends. Though some of his lines are funny, they aren't the earnest, idealistic, thoughtful Daniel I fell in love with. I get the idea that new-look Daniel would roll his eyes at s3-8 Daniel, and beat up floppy hair Daniel. And floppy hair Daniel is my baby and anyone who doesn't appreciate his brilliance can face my wrath. That includes you, buff s9-10 Daniel, and also whoever decided/approved that change in characterization.

Really, the only one who doesn't hurt is Teal'c. Because it feels like he's moving forward, toward happiness.

So...here we are. Season 9. Mitchell, Landry.

I often say I hate Mitchell. Do I resent him for replacing Jack? Yes. I do. We can talk about plot reasons and all that, but at the end of the day, I was going to hate anyone who tried to be Jack.

This is true in real life, too. You can't try to be anyone else. You've gotta walk your own path.

Now, people say that I didn't give Mitchell a chance. I say that the way he was portrayed, in the few episodes I've seen, tells me enough.

I can think of lots of ways Mitchell could have been interesting. How would Daniel and Teal'c react to an old, actually bad tempered (not Jack bad tempered, actually bad tempered) hardass after eight years of their best friends leading them? Or--start with his actual character. Mitchell, he hasn't been at the SGC. Wouldn't he get some flack from the longtime team leaders of SGs 2-5ish? They'd be insulted, right?

Or we could've gotten a nice Daniel Teal'c episode arc and then we could've had one Samantha Carter as team leader, though we won't get into that.

Bringing me to my next point. Co-leads?? Seriously?? You're trying too hard, folks. Telling me Sam used to know Mitchell does not actually make me like him.

Same thing with Landry. Unlike Mitchell, I guess I don't really have an opinion on Landry. He's just....there? No character development for this man.

Anyway, back to the team.

One of the things I love about SG1 is how the humor and friendship was so damn natural. Other than a few episodes (Urgo comes to mind), the plots weren't intentionally humorous. They were campy sci-fi plots sometimes, sure. They were funny because Jack was funny, yeah. They were lower budget than some other sci-fi. But they were as serious as sci-fi gets. It was how the characters reacted that made it funny.

Similarly, we were never told SG1 were found family. We just Knew. Because of the way they acted with each other. Because of the way Jack would "order" them to do things.

And hey, by the way, they weren't always family. Sam used to be less willing to ignore Jack. Daniel used to be less willing to trust Teal'c. Jack used to be a little more stern.

So...they meshed together. Like all found families do.

Every time I see a photo of new-look SG1 in seasons 9 and 10, I can't help but feel that they're trying too hard. I don't get the family feel because they aren't a family, damn it. It doesn't matter how many times you *tell* me they're super close. One of the reasons the original team got so close is because they all needed each other. Jack was depressed, Daniel was grieving, Sam was alone and had lost her mom and wasn't speaking with her dad and had never opened up to anyone in her life, Teal'c was an alien fighting for freedom after spending 100 years essentially as a slave.

And partly because of that, by season 9? Daniel and Teal'c (and Sam, when she comes back) don't need a family the way they used to. They have each other. They have Jack, or at least they *should*. *Glares in angry at Jack in DC vibes*

So...they simply don't have the relationship with Mitchell they do with each other.

It'd be different if Mitchell needed a family. It's not that SG1 hasn't added people before--I think Jonas is a perfect example of this. He wasn't Daniel, and that always hurt. But he was young, and naive, and innocent, and he needed SG1 because he'd left everything he'd ever known.

And that worked.

Without needing family, Mitchell is just a coworker. He can be a friendly coworker. A friend. But if he wanted to become better friends, family, he needed to show depth and vulnerability. He needed to need SG1.

And he never does, from what I've seen and heard about and read about. Or if he does need SG1, he doesn't need them badly enough to show more than an occasional bout of thoughtfulness before returning to his normal pale-Jack-imitation ways.

Now, I don't know why that is. I lean toward bad writing. I haven't watched Farscape (it's on my to watch list) but it seems like Ben Browder is a fine actor.

So, seasons 9 and 10 are probably fine TV. I'm never going to watch them through, so don't ask. I've tried and failed and every time it just tears my heart a little more and I'm won't be doing it again.

Those seasons...they just lost everything I watch SG-1 for, and so...yeah. I feel the hate strongly. Not because they're bad--I think they're different, not necessarily bad. My hate is only because in creating those seasons, they tore down the parts of SG1 that I loved most.

So s9-10 show me a few nice hugs and laughs? That's nice. I like comedies, I do. However...that's not my Stargate. Not the one I love. I liked the sarcastic one, the one full of wonder, the one where they had to scrape and claw their way through the galaxy with naivety and courage and brilliance. The one where they ate together, fought together, died together, were resurrected together.

It hurts, man. It hurts when the things I love turn into something that's lukewarm. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

That's why we have fanfic. And, with any luck, I'll actually start that AU I've been talking about.

It's fanfic, and so it'll be my Stargate. The ending I wanted--which really wasn't an ending at all, more of a closure of one chapter of the story.

Damn, did that turn dramatic. Um, sorry about that, and also sorry for spilling my feelings all over you guys. Thanks for reading, if you got to the end of this.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #120: Nitocris

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re making Chaldea’s most historically dubious pharaoh, Neitiqe- I mean, Nitocris! Make ghosts, praise Horus (no not that one), and I guess you can drown your brother’s killers while we’re here.

Check out her build breakdown below the cut, or her character sheet over here!

Next: So that’s why the English don’t like the French...

Race and Background

Much like your Senpai (who’s... actually younger than you?) Ozymandias, you’re an Aasimar. However, thanks to H.P. Lovecraft and Lumley you’ve been forever associated with the underworld, making you a Fallen Aasimar. That doesn’t actually change anything at level one thanks to Tasha, so you get +1 Wisdom and +2 Constitution. You also get Darkvision, Celestial Resistance to necrotic and radiant damage, Healing Hands to literally slap people back to life, and the Light cantrip, because you can’t have shadows without a light source.

Like Ozzy, you’re a Noble, giving you proficiency with History and Persuasion. “Come to my new basement, it won’t kill you!” is a notoriously hard sell to people who aren’t winos.

Ability Scores

 Make your Wisdom as high as possible to be the best pharaoh you can be. After that is Dexterity, you’re clearly not wearing heavy armor here. Your Intelligence should be relatively high to help you figure out whodunit. You’re nice enough, but your timidity gets in the way of talking to people, so your Charisma is a little low. After that is Constitution, and then Strength. Casters are not known for hitting the gym.

Class Levels

1. Cleric 1: Again we’re kind of cheating here since you are a god, but hey, holy power is holy power. Holding on to the gate of the underworld puts you in solid running to become a Grave cleric, despite Horus’ general inclinations. This gives you a Circle of Mortality: healing creatures at 0 hp causes them to always get the maximum amount of healing, and you learn Spare the Dying as well. For you, it has a range of 30 feet and can be cast as a bonus action.

You also get the first of your eyes of Horus, the Eyes of the Grave. As an action you can detect undead within 60′ of you. You can use this a number of times per long rest equal to your Wisdom modifier.

Speaking of Wisdom, that’s what you use to cast and prepare spells. I’ve said this before, but casters have way more flexibility with their spell lists than most other servants, and as a Cleric you can change spells daily to fit the party. Take any spells mentioned here as a suggestion, not a mandatory part of the build.

For cantrips, Guidance gives you a pep talk from Ozymandias, Thaumaturgy allows you to announce your presence like a true pharaoh, and Toll the Dead is the first of many Necrotic damage dealers you’ll get. 

For first level spells, you get Bane and False Life for free, creating small spirits that hamper your foes and give you a bit of protection. You can also use Ceremony to perform some funeral rites, protecting new souls as the leave for the underworld, or Sanctuary. Creatures that fail their wisdom save (with a DC of 8 plus your proficiency plus your wisdom modifier) have to attack someone other than the target for up to a minute, or until they attack. Look, I’m just trying to make the whole “no armor” thing you’ve got going on not a terrible decision. Please put on some leather at least.

You also get proficiency in Wisdom and Charisma saves, as well as Religion and Insight. You’re literally a god, it should come naturally to you.

2. Cleric 2: Second level clerics can Channel Divinity once per short rest. You can either Turn Undead, forcing those who fail a wisdom save to run away from you until they take damage, or show an enemy a Path to the Grave. As an action, you curse a creature. The next time they get hit by an attack from you or one of your allies, they have vulnerability to all damage taken by that attack. Fans of our older content may remember this as That Thing That Made Sanson Terrifying from ages ago. It’ll definitely send some souls underground if your party has any rogues or paladins.

3. Cleric 3: Third level clerics don’t get new features, but third level Aasimar do! Your Necrotic Shroud lets you transform as an action, frightening creatures nearby if they fail a charisma save (DC based on your charisma, not wisdom). It lasts for 1 minute, during which you can deal extra necrotic damage equal to your level whenever you hit something with a spell or attack. You can use this once per long rest. Turns out ghost tornados are spooky, who knew?

That being said, you also get second level spells, like Gentle Repose and Ray of Enfeeblement from your domain. I’m not sure how well embalming plays with resurrection, but it’s probably fine, right? You also get some blessings from Horus, like Protection from Poison and Lesser Restoration. 

4. Druid 1: You didn’t think that bit in Ozymandias’ breakdown was just a joke, did you? As a druid, you can speak Druidic. You can also cast and prepare more spells, also using Wisdom. Since we’re mixing two full casters, just use your total level to find out how many slots you’ve got.

Shape Water and Create or Destroy Water will make drowning your enemies a bit easier. Infestation will make them suffer before they go. Fog Cloud can act like a bunch of ghosts in a pinch, obscuring you from your foes, and Cure Wounds is just a good spell to have. You probably should’ve been using it as a cleric, but being a druid opens up a lot of preparation slots.

5. Druid 2: At second level, druids get their circle. The Circle of Spores will let you use your Wild Shape in ways that are slightly less lore breaking, though again Egyptian gods did have that human/beast duality thing going, so using your action to transform into a beast of CR 1/2 or lower with no swimming or flying speed wouldn’t be the end of the world.

You get Chill Touch as a free cantrip for a ghostly hand that deals necrotic damage, prevents healing, and slows down other undead, giving them disadvantage to attack you. You also get a Halo of Spores, using your reaction to deal more necrotic damage to a creature that gets near you if it fails a constitution save. Mushrooms are kind of like ghosts, when you think about it. They’re the remains of the dead, they hang out in dark places, they can kill you without touching you... Finally, you can use your Symbiotic Entity instead of your wild shape, gaining temporary hp based on your druid level, doubling your halo of spores dice, and dealing extra necrotic damage with your weapon attacks. This lasts for ten minutes, until you lose those temporary hp, or you use wild shape again. Much like the circle of wildfire, you gotta turn into a bear before summoning ghosts if you want both effects.

6. Druid 3: Third level druids get second level spells, including the freebies Blindness/Deafness and Gentle Repose from your circle. Better get used to it, there’s a bit of overlap between the two subclasses. You can also cast Barkskin to make your armor situation less precarious, or Earthbind and Skywrite to show your mastery of the sky, grounding anyone who dares raise a wing against you.

7. Druid 4: At fourth level, druid can swim in their wild shape, and the beasts they can transform into include anything CR 1 or lower. You also (finally) get your first Ability Score Improvement, bumping up your Wisdom for better spellcasting and hitting things. That’s right, you can hit things with wisdom now, thanks to Shillelagh! It makes your staff extra powerful, lets you use wisdom instead of strength, and makes your attacks magic! All for the low low price of one cantrip.

8. Cleric 4: To make up for how long it took you to get your first ASI, you get two in a row now. Grab the Eldritch Adept feat to finally grab Armor of Shadows, letting you cast Mage Armor at will on yourself for free. You also get the cantrip Resistance for even more defense.

9. Cleric 5: At fifth level, your Turn Undead becomes Destroy Undead. Now any zombie of CR 1/2 or lower that fails its wisdom save is instantly destroyed!

You also get third level spells, like Vampiric Touch and Revivify for when you vampiric touch the wrong person. You can also Bestow Curses on the unworthy, Speak with Dead, or cover yourself in a Spirit Shroud to do even more necrotic damage with your attacks. It also slows down enemies that start their turn near you, and prevents them from healing when they take that necrotic damage.

10. Cleric 6: Sixth level grave clerics get a second channel divinity each short rest and become a Sentinel at Death’s Door. When a friendly creature would get hit by a critical hit, you can use your reaction to turn it into a normal hit instead, a number of times per long rest equal to your wisdom modifier. Only you get to abuse critical hits, that’s the pharaoh way.

11. Druid 5: Your druid spells catch up to your cleric spells now, also reaching the third level. For circle spells, Animate Dead gives you the start of your zombie army (just say they’re possessed, like they’ll be able to tell the difference) and Gaseous Form lets you get a little bit ghostly too. You can also Feign Death to prevent your party members from getting eaten by your army if you forget to keep them under control, or make a Tidal Wave. We’re definitely coming back for that spell for your summer form.

12. Druid 6: Sixth level spore druids can summon a mushroomy ghost to possess a corpse thanks to their Fungal Infestation. As a reaction, you can reanimate the corpse of a beast or humanoid that died within 10′ of you as a zombie with 1 hp. This one only lasts for an hour, but you can use the feature a number of times per long rest equal to your wisdom modifier.

13. Druid 7: Seventh level druids get fourth level spells, like Blight and Confusion. Normally you’d kill people with an excess of water rather than a lack of it, but hey, it’s more necrotic damage. You can also cast Conjure Minor Elementals to summon some freeform “ghosts”. I’d recommend either eight Steam Mephits for the aesthetics or four Summoner Dust Mephits for their flavor. You could also use Summon Elemental to get one big ghost air elemental spirit.

14. Druid 8: Eighth level druids lose all movement restrictions and can turn into beasts of CR 2 or lower, meaning you can finally take to the skies as an incarnation of Horus. You also get another ASI to max out your Wisdom. 

15. Druid 9: Ninth level druids get fifth level spells. You get Cloudkill and Contagion to spread the pharaoh’s curse to any who would disturb your resting place, whether that’s your tomb or your bedroom. People gotta knock first.

You can also Control Winds to ground other fliers, Reincarnate to continue your lineage (it won’t actually work on you specifically since you have to be alive to cast it, but just team up with Ozymandias and it’ll all work out.), and Conjure Elemental for more powerful ghosts. You can either cast it at fifth level for an Air Elemental, or upcast it to a sixth level slot for an Invisible Stalker. 

16. Cleric 7: You know the drill by now; you can now cast fourth level spells! Your domain spells are Blight (again) and Death Ward for a way to cast guts on a creature. You can also cast Control Water to drown your enemies even more, and prevent your party from joining them.

17. Cleric 8: Use your last ASI to bump up your Dexterity for some more AC. You also get another boost to your Destroy Undead, and it now destroys anything of CR 1 or lower. Be careful about using this around your zombie army.

You also get Potent Spellcasting, adding your wisdom modifier to your cleric cantrips’ damage.

18. Cleric 9: Your cleric spells catch up to your druid spells now, giving you Antilife Shell to protect you from anything other than your own army, and Raise Dead to bring the dead back the “right” way. You can also Hallow ground if you want, protecting an area from Celestials, Elementals, Fey, Fiends, and Undead. You uh... you might want to exclude some of those creature types if you want your ghosts to work right.

19. Cleric 10: Our last cleric level nets you the amazing Divine Intervention. Talk to your god for a free pass on whatever nonsense your party got you into this time. You have to get 10 or less on a d100, but it’s better than nothing. You can use this once per long rest, or after a week if you succeed. You can also cast Word of Radiance to mix things up. Not everything’s gotta be all doom and gloom you know.

20. Druid 10: Our capstone level gives you some Spreading Spores. As a bonus action while using Symbiotic Entity, you can send your ghosts away to guard a 10 foot cube for up to a minute. Creatures that move into the area takes halo damage if they fail a constitution save. You also can’t use the halo of spores reaction while they’re out and about, for obvious reasons.

If that wasn’t enough, you also unlock the awesome power of Druidcraft, the most powerful prognostication cantrip in the game. As long as you want to know the weather, druidcraft will never let you down.

Pros

Thanks to your split casting classes, you have a bunch of high level spell slots that you can’t do much with. That’s a good thing though, because it means you don’t miss out on much if you spend them building up your Undead Army. Assuming you save a sixth level slot for an invisible stalker, that still gives you 64 zombies or skeletons, plus five temporary zombies from Fungal Infestations. Nice. They aren’t tough, but you can cover a ton of ground with them, and that’s all before calling in any elementals.

Druids are tough, and spore druids especially so. Your HP isn’t amazing, but bolstering it with your own healing, plenty of temporary hp from your Symbiotic Entity, and destroying crits with Sentinel at Death’s Door means you can stay in the fight much longer than your health total would let on.

You also come packing with plenty of abilities to help damage dealing teammates. Like I said at the start, Path to the Grave can be terrifying if you can hand it off to a rogue or paladin, and you also have multiple options to prevent enemies from healing that damage back, making your dps’s job a lot easier.

Cons

Your Concentration isn’t that good, which wouldn’t be the end of the world if not for your tendency to get up close and personal to use spores. It’s especially bad if you’ve got an elemental out, because those don’t go away if you lose concentration, they’ll just try to kill you for an hour.

You use your reactions to stop crits, deal damage, and make zombies, and you won’t always know which one should you focus on at any given time. You only get one per round, but who knows when the next crit’s going to befall your squishy wizard?

Clerics and Spore druids both get powerful 20th level abilities. You get neither of those abilities, because you split the difference. You’re also stuck with fifth level spells. A massive zombie army is nice and intimidating, but it doesn’t make up for missing out on immortality.

[duketectivecomics]

You might've answered this already and I just didn't find it, but one thing that always perplexed me about Duke was how old he was in comparison to the other Batkids. It's obvious he's younger than Dick and Babs, and I pretty sure he's younger than Jason and Cass, and older than Damian, but I cannot tell if he's meant to be Tim and Steph's ages, younger, or older. Could you help me?

You’re all kinds of good here, anon!!! I answered a similar ask abt the Order of Adoption but didn’t dive into specific ages on that post BECAUSE well they didn’t ask lmaooo but ALSO:

Comic ages are very fluid usually! While Years™️ might pass in the canon proper, or while time seems to slow to a crawl, having a character’s age outright stated is something that occurs very rarely for most characters, if at all!

Because it’s always much easier to have a floating age range to work and play around in! It’s easier to keep a character Perpetually 12 or 16 or 25 or mid-40s or- you get the idea. SO, with that in mind. Let’s do our Best to Break Down What Age Duke Might Be Currently A N D how it might interact with the Other Batkids!

(Warning for a Very Long Post, lots of issue citations, and a LOT of comics terminology regarding specific runs/events/continunity. I’m gonna try to keep it as clear/concise as possible ofc but plz keep these things in mind! If you’re not at least marginally familiar with Bat-Comics, you might find yourself feeling a little lost here!)

So from the Zero Year arc we see a common Trend that plays out pretty consistently with Batfam comics: a Life-Changing Event Occuring while the protag is Young™️.

(Batman (2011) #30)

With how Duke is drawn in these particular issues, and given the trends of the past, I’d place him in the 8-12 range. The historic precedent being ofc that that is the same range that canon usually places both Bruce and Dick at for their Tragedies™; the more benign reason being that he... just very much Looks to be drawn in that Range. He’s very clearly an Older/Prepubescent child here.

Fast Forward to his Next Appearance in the Endgame arc and-

(Batman (2011) #37)

He’s definitely older! He’s wiser! And he’s giving Batman a fistbump lmao. Again, no strict age given here BUT, since they condensed each Robin to a Year or Two tops with Bruce (its n52 and its fucked up is what it is), we can assume it’s been at least 4-5 since Zero Year (which would mean if we go off the age range I proposed for that year, then theoretically he could be anywhere from 12-16 here, and I think that tracks pretty well. Not Perfectly and Certainly Not so well with Pre52 continuity ofc, but I’ll talk about that later!)

In We Are Robin, while its not stated Directly In The Text, it IS given as an Informational Tidbit that Duke is 16 (specifically this can be found at the end of issue #4)! (Sweet sweet canon confirmation FINALLY)

We know that WAR takes place Fairly Soon after Endgame (almost immediately, give or take a month or two given that Duke’s been placed in a few foster homes at this point and has racked up Quite A File) now, again id like to remind y’all that while this is a NICE starting point to have, keep in mind that comics are fluid and this may be retconned slightly/ignored in later stories bc Keeping Duke 16-ish is in DC’s Best Interest at the moment. (Having Relatable Teen Characters afterall is a Good Marketing strategy™️. And the longer they can Keep them Young, the Better)

With that in mind let’s take a moment to Highlight the fact that Duke and Damian have crossed paths at this point AND the storylines that have occurred during this year that were meant to be in conjunction with one another!

Because Prior to Endgame, Damian had Died! And just a year (in real, meat-space time) before We Are Robin, he was resurrected and had begun his “Year of Atonement” in the Robin: Son of Batman maxiseries. Midway through both this series and WAR (and, we can assume, midway thru this “Year” for Damian) the Robin War begins/ends and we see at least one major Moment between these two boys who will soon call one another brothers:

(Robin War #2)

Given that R:SoB is followed up VERY quickly by Teen Titans Rebirth (in which Damian celebrates his 13th birthday), we can conclude that Damian would be 12 during this time (well, 12 and 1/2 to play it safe lmao). That being said, this Confirms about a 4yr gap between Duke and Damian! (One Batkid down at least! but he’s the key to the others so put a pin in him!)

As We Are Robin draws to its conclusion, DC was releasing another arc that would eventually flow into the Rebirth Era, by the end of which, Bruce would approach Duke with an Idea (which involves Bruce becoming Dukes temporary guardian & as he states Many Times “Trying Something New” with Duke).

And thus the Rebirth Era begins, and Duke began his Year of training (most directly encapsulated by the Cursed Wheel arc in the All-Star Batman run:

(All-Star Batman #1 (back-up story))

Bruce introduces Duke to a training regimen that Alfred has named “the Cursed Wheel”. It encompasses all the training Bruce and the other bats have undergone and condenses it down into color-coordinated segments that will take Duke a Year to Complete.

It can be assumed that by the End of this Year Duke will somehow miraculously still be 16, despite, again, an entire ass year passing.

There’s one story that takes place mid-year in All-Star Batman, and the Cursed Wheel is meant to be capped off by Duke’s first Official Day as the Signal (in the titular Batman & the Signal ofc) BUT, near as I can tell after this story, Dukes age is not brought up again. So until they DO bring it up either in Batman & the Outsiders or whatever future run Duke becomes involved in, we can assume DC will be working with the idea that he’s meant to be in that 16-18 range from here on out (ie still a minor).

But, dear anon, you might be saying “okay, that’s cool, but how does that relate to my question abt how he falls in with the other Bats?” You’ll have to be a little patient with me here, but I think I may have cracked the code!

Keep in mind I’m gonna be addressing both the Post-Crisis to Flashpoint Continuity (ie mid-80s to 2010 in comics history) and the N52-slash-Rebirth Era (2010-Today). Its generally agreed by fandom and DC alike that these points of rebooting &/or Major Events constitute the era of “Modern” comics, and that everything from the 80s-on might more or less be canon on some level, even if not All of it is.

(Plus, most of fandom usually likes to borrow elements from both eras and much more rarely from stories before it, SO-)

Lets do a quick rundown of how everyone who’s Closer to Duke’s Age, Relates to each other first, age-wise:

Given that Jason was 15 when he died, in A Lonely Place of Dying its established that Bruce had become increasingly reckless since his death, and by the end of the story, Tim has stepped in to fill Robin’s shoes (he states that he’s 13 during this story btw). Pretty soon after, Stephanie Brown is introduced & established to be about a year older than Tim (wish I could pin-point a specific issue BUT, i unfortunately haven’t read any Tim OR Steph-involved comics that predate No Man’s Land... Besides the aforementioned Lonely Place and Young Justice technically, but im working on remedying that soon!)

NOW, during the No Man’s Land event, Cassandra is introduced, and pretty soon into her Batgirl run, its revealed that she’s around the same age as Jason (or at least how old he Would Have Been, had he not died.) Now, given that Jay has an August bday and Cass has a January one, fandom sometimes likes to play around with the idea of one being older than the other (OR even speculating/placing them in an AU as twins/siblings, given that Lady Shiva (Cass’ mom) was a Possible Candidate to be Jason’s biological mother but that’s a Whole Other Thing i wont get into here.)

The point being, Cass, in this era of comics, IS slightly older than Tim and Steph. At Tim’s start as Robin, their ages could either line up like: Tim-13, Steph-14, Cass-15 (being a few months ‘behind’ Jay), then Jason at 15/16 (depending on how soon Tim filled the role after Jay died in April) OR Jason-15/16, Cass-16/17 (in this case she’d be a few months ‘ahead’ now instead)

So brief detour to talk New 52, however! Because Tim, Steph & Cass all got switched around from where DC originally left them prior to the reboot! Now I haven’t read much of them in this era, other than Batman & Robin: Eternal, so my Understanding of their current ages is Spotty at Best. The general consensus seems to be that while before N52, Stephanie had been attending her first year of College (& doing VERY WELL i might add), with the reboot she was set back a few years alongside Tim to a vague Late-Teen state (so 16-18-ish, instead of a Very Clearly Established 18/19). Cass is probably the worst off for this reboot, given that B&R:E basically constitutes her new origin for the new continuity, and does nothing to confirm her age (all I really know is that she’s a Vague Late-Teen too... Probably? Maybe?), given how much they infantilize her, and subsequently how fandom in turn has taken to infantilizing her too, theres a semi-popular fanon that places her Younger that Tim and Steph. And I, for one, propose that we ignore that bc its Weak Sauce my dudes.

Some fans chose to ignore N52 continuity due to this vagueness, and will stick to the ages established before the N52/Rebirth reboots. But its something to keep in mind regardless bc we’re all obviously going to pull from what’s most familiar to us!

But WHERE could we place Duke with regards to them, then? Because them being “Late Teens” is certainly much too vague to work with!

This is Where Damian is the key!

Because Damian is one of those rare exceptions to the Reboot Rule. His story flowed almost seamlessly over from before to after. While he was made a Robin at the age of 10, he continued to grow and learn even after the universe was being rewritten to suit the whims of DC editorial. 

If we choose to ignore how everyone else’s ages and origins were swapped around, and stick with the growth that was presented before the reboot, then we can draw some interesting conclusions!

Firstly, though Stephanie also had Died and subsequently Returned, she hadn’t lost much, if any time, from the Ordeal. At the start of her Batgirl run, she is enrolled at a Gotham university and making headway with a more firm foot in the Batfamily (even to the point that she and Damian spend a few issues bonding. At this point in time, Damian is definitely 11, and again, Steph can be assumed to be 18/19 during the course of her run. We’ll assume 18 for clarity’s sake.)

So, then when Damian is 11, now our line up is as Follows:

Dami - 11, Steph - 18, Tim - 17, Cass 19-21 (the range depending again, if you subscribe to Cass being either older/younger than Jason).

WHICH MEANS, If during Robin War Damian is 12 (and a half) THEN We’ve got an age line-up that Potentially looks Like This:

Dami -12(and 1/2), Duke - 16, Tim - 18, Steph - 19, Cass - 20-22 (And Obvsly Jason, Babs & Dick at their varying Older Ages than everyone here)

and im just now realizing i Didnt include Harper in this line-up, but thats bc she’d also throw a big wrench in all this.  I’d personally throw her in with being Steph’s age, but I’m pretty sure she was supposed to be either that, or between Steph and Cass (again, since its N52, i believe Cass was/is assumed to be Younger than Steph, but that contradicts the assumed following of pre52 canon that we have for the above line-up, obvsly, and so we ignore that lmao) 

All this to say, however, that canon and fandom is what you make of it, and if you want to wiggle these ages around a little, you’re more than allowed! God Knows i usually like to skew the Tim-Steph-Cass age group to be a tad older than this in my own fic writing, and I like to have Duke start as a Robin at 14/15 instead of 16, but that’s just bc I like the dynamic potential it could bring with them being Definitively Older that him, and thus in a more secure place to be Mentoring him right alongside Bruce & the others.

But you might see these age ranges and want to do something Different (say, making Tim, Steph, Cass, & Duke all the Same Age at 17 instead! And that very well tracks with how current comics kinda looks right now!) and you’re absolutely valid to do so! Because again, comic character’s ages are meant to be fluid, not fixed!

And at the end of the day, its all about wanting to see these teen heroes kick serious ass haha

[twdmusicboxmystery]

Left and Right Back Pockets, Red and Green, Black and White

Most of the credit for these observations goes to @wdway, but I have some @frangipanilove in here, too. We’ve had detailed discussions about these things.  😉 And I think you all will find some interest here. It’s a great example of how these symbols all intertwine.

@wdway:

I'm going to share a rabbit hole I went down almost two weeks ago. I've been spending a little time each day looking at a few episodes and this may be hard to believe but what I thought would be straightforward and fairly quick turned out to have several side tunnels. Who would have guessed? 

Daryl a year from when we first saw him at his river camp. He just passed the two iron steaks in the tree and is taking drinks from his green water bottle when Dog runs up to him. My eyes went to the red rag in his back pocket. I got to thinking about the fact that we have not seen the rag in a long time. Or at least, I didn't think we had, but here, in Daryl's memory of the past, he has this red rag which to me screams RED FLAG. 

That rag was part of his costume from the beginning of the series. It was always hanging out of his right back pocket. I believe tptb decided to feature it in s4 and to use it as a half of a symbol representing Daryl & Beth. Daryl's red rag & Beth's green journal.

(Ignore the bit about Aaron. This is from a different theory and I was too lazy to take another one.  😉 )

The shots of Daryl on the path in FM reminded me of another similar shot from Alone. I'm going to do a comparison of the two shots 1) will be from FM. 2) will be from Alone.

1) Daryl carrying a Green backpack. 

2) Daryl carrying Beth Greene. 

1) Daryl with a Green water bottle. 

2) Beth Greene = water. 

1) Red rag in Daryl's right back pocket. 

2) Red rag in Daryl's right back pocket. 

1) Daryl's left back pocket holds a map (paper) of his journey for the last year(s). 

2) Beth's left back pocket that above Daryl's holds her journal (paper) of her last year(s). 

1) Dog=Beth. 

2) Beth.

I asked myself, how long has it been since we've seen Daryl with the red rag in his back pocket? I did an episode search to find out. We last saw it in what I think of as a two-episode storyline that ended season 6, Last Day On Earth and began season 7, The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be.

The first shot is from s6e16. We barely see the red rag in Daryl's pocket as he's taking a swing at Negan which leads to Glenn's death. The second shot is from s7e1. 

Again, we barely see the red rag in his pocket as Dwight is loading Daryl into the van to go to the Sanctuary. We never see the red rag in Daryl's pocket again. Until the flashbacks in FM.

We have seen Daryl with something in his right back pocket starting in s6 through the present: a black and white bandana. 

The funny thing is, that too, or one just like it, was featured in S4. We saw Daryl wear it as a mask when he was digging graves. 

We then saw him give it to Beth in Inmates. She put grapes in it and wore it tied to the left side of her belt. Which ties both the red rag and the black and white bandana to both Beth and Daryl.

Thinking of the red rag as a half symbol representing Daryl & Beth, there was another symbol of Beth that Daryl wore on his left side that we first saw in s4, Beth's knife. She wore it on her right side in Still and then in Alone, they found a gun for her and she switched it to her left side. In s5e10, Them, Daryl started wearing her knife on his left side, his knife on his right. The last time we saw him wear the knife was in s6e11, Knots Untie, just a few episodes before the red rag disappeared from his costume.

Like I mentioned before, I've been searching through episodes. I did not search every episode from S4 through the present, but I searched quite a few and I didn’t see the red rag again. At least, not Daryl wearing it, and that really bothered me because it seemed like I had seen it recently.

The other day, I watched s10e10, Stalker. This was an episode that we had high hopes for because of the 10/10 paper clock in Beth's room at Grady. There was hope of seeing Beth, or at least having some major clues about her, and yet there didn't seem to be anything major. We saw symbolism of her, of course. Especially in the garage scene, there is a white T-Bird with an open trunk, red fire extinguishers, an open roof. Then, when I watched the episode the other day, it clicked and things just fell into place. Things I had seen so many times in my re-watches suddenly had new meaning and new symbolism.

Daryl hiding behind a tool chest. On the other side is the open trunk car. Look what's hanging from the cabinet door next to him, or more importantly, to the right side of him. It's a RED RAG, just like what he wore in his right back pocket until a few episodes after Beth's knife disappeared. 

Speaking of back pockets as in seen from the back. If you had any doubts of tptb's meaning this one was the major hints we were looking for but just didn't see.

Ever so convenient that there happened to have been a piece of the cabinet cut out and we can see Daryl eyes peeking over from the back with the RED RAG on his right side. Also in this shot is a yellow mop bucket, similar to the ones that we saw both with Beth at Grady and with Daryl at the Sanctuary.

It's pretty obvious that tptb wanted us to see the damn knife in Daryl's left leg along with the red rag just behind his right side. I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but I'm going to point it out, anyway. It was Beth's left leg that was hurt in Alone and she switched her knife from her right side to her left, which is also the side on which Daryl wore her knife.

Another thing I want to point out is that starting in s9, Daryl wore 2 knives, one on each side. We saw him after the time jump in e7, Stradivarius wearing the 2 knives along with the black & white bandana in his back right-side pocket. If you go to s9e14, Scars in both the present time and the flashback set 9 months after Rick's body went missing, Daryl is wearing 2 knives and the black & white bandana.

In FM, Daryl is only wearing one knife on his right side, no knife on his left. A red rag in his right back pocket that he hadn't worn since s7e1, in his left back pocket a paper Journal I meant map haha. One more note, he's holding his Greene water bottle in his right hand. What does all of this mean?

My theory is that the red rag represents Daryl and the time when he was part of a couple with Beth. He was the red to her green. Even more importantly than that, I believe the writers are using the red rag as a red flag that what Daryl remembers is not correct. What we're seeing in his telling of his story to Carol is intensely colored both figuratively and literally by his PTSD, his self-inflicted loneliness and desire to belong to someone. His wounded plea for someone to find him. I'm not crying, you're crying. Who am I kidding? We're all crying for Daryl.

This is from e1 of this season, Lines We Cross. It is the scene where Carol has just got off the boat and is talking to Ezekiel and in the background, we see Daryl and Connie talking. The camera focuses on Daryl and Connie, so it's obvious that tptb wanted us to focused and on his back pockets. (I certainly do not have a problem with them focusing on his sweet behind haha.)

The writers’ goal would be for the general audience to realize that Daryl has a book on sign language in his back pocket. This makes a very sweet statement about Daryl taking the extra step to find a book so he could communicate with Connie.

For me, this is showing a lot of other things. First, it is drawing attention to his back pockets which will be a theme through this season, especially at the end of e21 when tptb somewhat more subtly focuses on Daryl's back pockets, where he has the black and white bandana that I believe represents Beth. That part I've already talked about before, so let me just make a couple of statements about this scene, this particular shot.

Yes, there is a sign language book in the left back pocket, the back pocket that Beth carried her diary and where she put the Washington DC spoon. This is a very significant, symbolic, purposeful decision the writers made. Anything that Daryl carries in his left back pocket symbolically ties to Beth.

The way I interpret what I am seeing is that the book is obviously a representation of Connie. It means that there is a tie or will be a tie between her (remember this is the first episode) and Beth in the season. In hindsight, Connie was in the cave and possibly dead. Then she was just gone/missing, and there has been a search for her. 

The other thing I want to point out is you can see a little bit of the black and white bandana in Daryl's right pocket in this shot. He originally carried his red rag, and now he has carried this black and white bandana. The most important thing that comes away from this is that the writers made the decision at the beginning of the season about his bandana and which pockets were used to tie Daryl to a particular character.

@frangipanilove:

I want to thank you for tracing the red rag, because that was something I wanted to do, but never got around to. I share your opinion on how it stood out when it appeared again in his flashback. And I do agree that it’s a red flag.

There are other red flags as well. I think they all point to resurrection. I believe the red plastic bag hanging from an antenna of a car in Coda is a RED FLAG. I feel like red flag = red flag, like the ones you get when you get signals that something not quite right.

So, you say it’s showing that Daryl’s not remembering right, I’d probably choose different words to explain it but essentially, I interpret it in a similar way. Backpack and back pocket = “come back”, return, resurrection, Sirius symbolism.

Map is synonymous with Beth’s DC spoon, which she put in her back pocket and later in her backpack. We also see a representation of this symbolism when Daryl shows up in 10x1 with an ASL book in his back pocket. It’s a reference to Beth’s green notebook she kept in her back pocket but also a reference to Daryl’s “the signs are all there, you just gotta know how to read them.”

The backpack symbolism is something we saw when Daryl carried Beth piggyback style across the cemetery, a parallel to Carol throwing the backpack across the river in FM. The wings on Daryl’s BACK are also a part of this symbolism. We saw how the vest was laying in the ground on the episode where Denise died. He also drank the Danville bridge whiskey, which is a reference to the bridge symbolism about crossing over the river/crossing over to the dead side.

About the red rag in 10x10, we did discuss it, and it stood out, but to me I didn’t know where to place it in the greater scope of the symbolism back then, and honestly I’d kind of forgotten it since, so thanks for bringing it back around again. Again, I believe it stands for resurrection, and we saw it in relation to the t-bird(BIRD) with open trunk. Bird = helicopter, trunk = resurrection. Helicopter + resurrection is a reference to how Rick survived (remember, he fell of the BRIDGE between the realms of the living and the dead, he was washed up on the bank of the river, rejected by the death realm)

@twdmusicboxmystery:

The only thing I want to add to this has to do with an edit I made quite a long time ago. As @frangi already said, this left/right theme extends to Daryl’s wings. So it was significant and purposeful that when Beth hugged him in still, she laid her cheek against his left wing. That’s the one that represents her, so it’s only fitting.

In thinking about this, I got to thinking about how Daryl lost one of the wings on his vest. We’ve always assumed that represented Beth because, clearly, he lost her. But I’m rethinking that a bit, now. Especially given that at the beginning of FM, when he sits by the river, his wing is still present on his vest.

Judith made him a new wing in Morningstar and sort of “gave him back” his lost wing, right?

And I’m not saying this ISN’T a foreshadow of Beth. It very well may be. But we also find, again and again, that these symbols have multiple meanings. Based on this left/right evidence, I simply want to put another interpretation forth.

Based on what’s been pointed out above, which I think is 100% accurate, Daryl’s right wing is more likely to represent…Daryl. His left wing represents Beth and he never lost that.

So I’m wondering if the message is that he never lost Beth, even if he doesn’t know it (“I’m not gonna leave you.”). But in his grief and PTSD, he lost himself. That’s why the wing is still present at the beginning of FM, but has disappeared by the end, and we don’t see how.

It was taking care of Judith, after the time jump, that really brought Daryl back to himself, his family, and civilization at large. Her making him a new wing represents her helping him find himself. And only after he finds himself again will he find Beth.

Thoughts?

[kamiondir]

NCIS Fic Rec List

I’ve always enjoyed finding new stories from other people’s rec lists and since I have managed to accumulate my own list, thought I’d make my own! I watched NCIS through to S12-13. Tony was by far my favourite character, so most of my recs center around him in some way. I also have a number of crossover recs - mostly with Stargate. A lot of the recs are from FFN as lots of these stories are from 10-15 years ago. All recs complete unless otherwise indicated.

* - really like   ** - love  ♥ - favourite

Case Fic

Title: One Less Author: joykatleen Season: 6 Relationship: Gen Rating/Year: PG-13; 2010 Word Count: 100-200k Content/Warnings: Character Death (Minor), Disability, Rape/Sexual Assault, Torture

Author's Summary: 'The murder of a sailor in a DC warehouse reveals a conspiracy that's been silently destroying lives on a Navy carrier for years. Someone high is covering it up. Can Gibbs and company get to the root of it before more lives are lost?'

Review:  Well-written story about a series of cases too much of a coincidence to not be connected. Gibbs goes after it with his usually stubborness, and his own brand of compassion - and his team is there to prop him up. Not the type of fic I usually read, but well-done, and probably the best NCIS Case-fic I've found. ♥

Character Study

Title: Slices of a Life Worth Living Author: Angelus1 Season: 1,2 Relationship: Gen, but meant to be pre-Tony/Kate Rating: PG-13; 2006 Word Count: 10-20k Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: 'Kate is surprised at how easily they fall into a routine.'

Review: An awesome, well-written look at Tony and Kate's relationship. Pre-Kate/Tony. ♥

Title: Truth is in the Sodium Thiopental Author: Mahiri Chuma Season: 7x01 Truth or Consequences Relationship: Gen Rating: PG-13; 2009 Word Count: 3-5k Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: 'Ten hours was an awfully long time to be stuck on a plane with a concerned Gibbs while under the influence of truth serum. Tony/Gibbs non-slash - Hints of TIVA, S7x01-Tag.'

Review: Great fic, set on the plane ride home. Tony's feeling guilty, and Gibbs notices. Very well done and an excellent Tony POV.**

Family of Choice

Title: Lessons Learned Author: jumpfall Season: 1-5 Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2010 Word Count: 1-3k Content/Warnings: Allusions to child abuse

Author's Summary: 'Gibbs' rules vary from the investigator-savvy to the cyncial to the life-saving. For every rule there is a reason. Behind every reason is a lesson learned.'

Review: A look at five different episodes where Gibbs rules come into effect. Very well done. ♥

Title: A Sense of Duty Author: GraveDigger Resurrection Season: 7x12 Flesh and Blood Relationship: Gen Rating: PG-13; 2010 Word Count: 3-5k Content/Warnings: Allusions to child abuse

Author's Summary: "You have children, Gibbs?" And in the silence of that moment, Gibbs realizes the answer is not as simple as he thought. Set mid-'Flesh and Blood'. Allusions to child abuse. Gibbs/Tony, father/son.'

Review: Well-written. More parental!Gibbs than canon, but totally in character. Has a sequel, A Sense of Family. ♥

Title: T.L.C. Gibbs’ Style Author: Obsessed Pam Season: 5 Relationship: Gen Rating: PG-13; 2008 Word Count: 10-20k Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: 'Tony has done it again - got himself into trouble and he is now having to face the unpleasant results of his own actions. Gibbs decides to intervene.'

Review: Tony covers for an agent who made a mistake, exposing himself to the elements and getting sick in the meantime. Gibbs is soooo not impressed. Especially when Tony seems to lose all common sense afterwards. Very well done - definitely get a harder side of Gibbs than you normally see, and a Tony who you can tell is more than just a bit broken.**

Crossovers

Title: Blood and Water Author: Commodore Norrington Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Pre-Jack O’Neill/Sam Carter Rating: PG-13; 2005 Word Count: 10-20k Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: ‘When the leader of SG3 is murdered, Jack is forced to bring investigators to the SGC...investigators from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.’

Review: There’s an OOC fact about Kate and Jack that’s kind of odd but doesn’t detract from the story.

Title: Conference Call Author: Moonbeam Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2009 Word Count: Drabble Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: ['Special Agent Tony DiNozzo makes a call to the Pentagon for a case.'

Review: Jack is willing to help when it's one of his men in trouble, and Tony thinks he could like this particular Air Force General.

Title: Detached Duty Author: zathara001 Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2017 Word Count: Verse Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: ‘When Gibbs, DiNozzo, and McGee are sent on TAD to investigate a death at Cheyenne Mountain, they find more than they expected.’

Review: As above! One of the more recent in this genre.*

Title: Echoes Author: Gadfly (no link available) Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Gen Rating: PG-13; 2006 Word Count: 10-20k Content/Warnings: Torture

Author's Summary: ‘ Sometimes the past is echoed in the present.’

Review: Gibbs and another Marine were detained along with Jack in Iraq. When the other Marine goes missing, and Jack suspects the NID, he calls in Gibbs for assistance. With Gibbs undercover, they are able to get back the missing man, and then Jack has fun torturing Gibbs team in training scenarios. Realistic and interesting fic.* 

Title: A Fed, a General, and a Linguist Walk Into A Bar... Author: Trinket2018 Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2018 Word Count: 20-40k Content/Warnings: Kidnapping

Author's Summary: ‘Tony is hunting a serial killer in Alexandria, with competition and no back-up.’

Review: I love Tony’s interactions with SG-1 as well as the story, but the NCIS bashing is a bit more than I usually like. Overall interesting! Love the use of Tony’s undercover skills.*

Title: In Need of Shelter Author: etrangerici Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2009 Word Count: 1-3k Content/Warnings: Character Death (Canon), PTSD

Author's Summary: 'Jack was prone to collecting strays.'

Review: Where Jack runs into a distressed Tony at the grocery store after the events of 2x23 and knows what to do. Short and sweet - always wished we got more of this verse.* 

Title: Kindred Spirits Author: alcimines Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2013 Word Count: 3-5k Content/Warnings: None.

Author's Summary: 'Stargate Command and Gibbs' team from NCIS get crosswise with each other.'

Review: Jack is a 'person of interest' in a Captains murder. This doesn't go down well with anyone. Quite well done, with a hilarious tone throughout. ♥  

Title: NCIStargate Author: Keith_company Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Gen Rating: PG-13; 2005 Word Count: 10-20k Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: 'NCIS investigates an abnormal number of Marine deaths at an Air Force facility.'

Review: An excellent crossover, set during S8 of SG-1, and between seasons 1-2 of NCIS. The NCIS gang goes to Cheyenne, where they learn of the Stargate program, and discover that Tony's had a silent visitor for most of his life.** 

Title: Open Mouth, Insert Foot Author: Willow Fireheart Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate SG-1 Relationship: Jack O’Neill/Sam Carter Rating: G/PG; 2007 Word Count: Drabble Content/Warnings: None

Author's Summary: 'Tony just can't seem to keep his mouth shut, especially when it concerns attractive blonde women.'

Review: Concerning Sam, when she and Jack are married. Tony is afterwards concerned for his life. Cute! ♥

Title: A Coin is a Coin Author: ancientmaverick Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate Atlantis Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2008 Word Count: 1-3k Content/Warnings: None.

Author's Summary: 'Tony meets a new friend and reflects on life over the past few years. Crossover with Stargate Atlantis.'

Review: S6 NCIS, S5 (or after) for SGA. Tony goes drinking with off-duty navy-men, and they're playing a 'who's met who' game at a bar, when they're challenged by an Air Force man, who uses John as the highest challenger. Tony & John get into a (very drunken, but good) conversation. Well written &a in character X-over.*

Title: Cross Jurisdiction Author: casus17 Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate Atlantis Relationship: Gen Rating: G/PG; 2008 Word Count: 40-60k Content/Warnings: None.

Author's Summary: ‘When a marine turns up dead, you call NCIS. When a marine turns up dead, with Iratus bug DNA... well then you need SGA-1. Head butting will ensue. NCIS crossover.’

Review: Good, but not great fic of the genre.

Title: Highly Classified and Very Hush Hush Author: rageprufrock Fandoms: NCIS x Stargate Atlantis Relationship: Gen Rating: PG-13; 2010 Word Count: 1-3k Content/Warnings: None.

Author's Summary: 'Gibbs sometimes wonders what he did to deserve these morons, but then he looks through the one-way window at three naked and extremely uncomfortable-looking Marines and figures it could be worse.'

Review: Hilarious, with wonderful characterizations of both fandoms by a truly excellent and well-known author. I especially love John. Also has a sequel. ♥ 

[aion-rsa]

Mortal Kombat: 15 Most Powerful Characters

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At the end of the day, Mortal Kombat is about a bunch of characters beating the crap out of each other for supremacy. Sure, they toss in stories about tournaments to protect Earth and wars against invading realms, but it all boils down to martial artists brutally punching the hell out of each other until one explodes into a pile of viscera and five ribcages.

Being a fighting game, you expect all the fighters to be on the same level. Even forgettable losers like Hsu Hao and Kai should stand a chance against gods and otherworldly overlords. A nigh-invincible megalomaniac villain can lose to one of their bumbling underlings just as easily as they can lose to the game’s main hero. At least, that’s ideally how fighting games should be balanced.

Storywise, it’s different. Certain characters are straight-up in their own leagues compared to others. Does Jarek really stand a chance against Shinnok? Would Li Mei last five seconds against Blaze? Does Kobra have what it takes to take down Raiden? Not on paper, no.

So here’s a list of the top 15 most powerful characters in the Mortal Kombat series. With this list, there are two main rules:

1) I’m going with the characters at their most powerful, not how powerful they are most of the time.

2) I’m going with the canon storyline. Otherwise, the list would just be made up of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon endings. No DC Universe crossover stuff and no guest characters in general. Sorry, Spawn.

Now let’s see who has the most juice in all the realms.

15. GERAS

This guy is so frightening that his power is more of a curse than a blessing. Geras has near endless experience, having lived through countless timelines over and over again, and is skilled enough to fight off Liu Kang and Kung Lao at the same time. He is also be completely unkillable, as his mastery over time reversal will undo whatever wounds befall him. Granted, Shao Kahn beat him into a blob of red pulp and Geras hasn’t been heard from since, but I’m sure he’ll be back to his old self soon enough.

The rough truth regarding Geras is that being unkillable doesn’t mean he’s unstoppable. In the initial Mortal Kombat 11 timeline, Raiden knocked Geras into an endless ocean of blood in which where Geras was doomed to sink for eternity. Yeah, I’ll be fine over here with my mortality.

14. SINDEL

In the early days, Sindel didn’t seem so tough. She was just a plot device in desperate need of pants. Then Mortal Kombat 9 happened and we got that scene where Shao Kahn empowered her with Shang Tsung’s soul and set her loose. Suddenly, Sindel turned into an Edenian John Cena and cut through most of the heroes like a hot knife through butter. Sub-Zero, Jax, Smoke, Kabal, Stryker, Jade, and Kitana all died by her hand in mere moments while Nightwolf had to sacrifice himself to take her off the board.

This is why Shang Tsung aimed to resurrect her in Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath. Who else was going to help him get past Cetrion? And while Sindel did win one-on-one against Cetrion, the scene itself looked more like she stunned Cetrion enough for Fujin and Shang Tsung to capitalize and put her on the shelf. Had they not been there, I feel like Sindel would have eventually been overwhelmed. At least, that’s my interpretation.

13. CETRION

Cetrion is Mother Nature. That alone tells you what you need to know. Shinnok’s virtuous (yet still kind of evil) sister would be considered his equal if only she had a final form like him. Regardless, Cetrion is such a threat that Jax and Jacqui Briggs can only stand up to her for a limited time by wearing Kronika’s crown at a detriment to their own health. She also wiped out the rest of the Elder Gods, although that happened completely off-screen.

12. SHINNOK

Here we have Mortal Kombat’s version of Satan. Shao Kahn would later talk shit about Shinnok’s fighting skills, but he’s an Elder God and rules this reality’s version of Hell. He’s an absolute heavy hitter.

He also looks like a total dork when he’s in his base form, but thankfully his Corrupted Shinnok form makes up for that. Corrupted Shinnok is no joke, especially in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, where you’re better off cheesing it back to Earthrealm than fighting him head-on.

11. RAIDEN

Raiden was the guy so jacked up that they had to make up a reason for why he couldn’t take part in the first couple games’ tournaments. He was just there to give advice and moral support. What else would you expect from a god among men? He also thwarted Shinnok back in the day to save Earthrealm, meaning he was already a major piece of work by the start of the first game.

Raiden’s apex form is triggered whenever he wields Shinnok’s amulet. It doesn’t make him unbeatable, but it does put an extra pep in his step. The drawback is that it turns his eyes red and he becomes a total dick. Still a step up from him constantly tripping over his own feet on his way to consult the Elder Gods.

10. CASSIE CAGE

Cassie’s is one of the most powerful Mortal Kombat characters but there’s an asterisk. Seemingly more competent and driven than her father, Cassie is so skilled at using her green glow to the point that she was able to defeat Corrupted Shinnok. That’s because the Cage bloodline was bred and trained for the sole purpose of creating mortals who could slay gods. Her DNA is like kryptonite to the likes of Shinnok.

She does have some other impressive wins, like taking down revenant versions of Sindel and Liu Kang. Her Mortal Kombat X ending (which isn’t explicitly canon, but I have no reason to think it isn’t) has her kill Shujinko. Many fans consider that to be a bit on the bullshit side, but this Shujinko would have been 20 years older than the one from the previous continuity and wouldn’t have been powered up by the events of Mortal Kombat: Deception, so it’s not a big stretch (or a big enough deal) that Cassie could take out a martial artist Mr. Burns.

9. QUAN CHI

This sorcerer doesn’t have the raw power of the other main villains, and he gets completely clowned in Mortal Kombat X, but he is smart and sneaky enough to get what he wants most of the time. While overshadowed by Onaga, you also can’t forget that in the conclusion of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Quan Chi and Shang Tsung took down a handful of Earthrealm’s strongest warriors, defeated Raiden, then turned on each other with Quan claiming ultimate victory.

Various endings show that while he is working under Shinnok, he has the means to overthrow him if need be. This is especially apparent in Mortal Kombat 9, where Quan Chi has the rights to use necromancy on all of those slain during Shao Kahn’s invasion. He has a whole army of revenants at his disposal, and there are some serious heavy hitters mixed in there.

8. ONAGA

The Dragon King’s introduction came with so much hype that you could almost hear the other characters soil themselves in unison when he stomped onto the scene. On his own, Onaga was a wrecking machine, but in Mortal Kombat: Deception, he had the Kamidogu pieces, which made him completely unstoppable. Unstoppable enough that he shrugged off attacks from the united forces of Raiden, Shang Tsung, and Quan Chi. Add to that his ability to resurrect the dead and mind-control them and you had the ultimate threat.

EXCEPT…those Kamidogu pieces weren’t exactly unbreakable. I don’t know how hard those things are supposed to be, but in-game they would shatter just by walking into them. Either way, Shujinko was able to shatter them all himself and that depleted Onaga’s power enough to to end him. Being a reptilian juggernaut means only so much when you have such an overt off switch.

7. SHUJINKO

The most gullible hero of the Mortal Kombat franchise spent his entire life questing and fighting for what ended up being Onaga’s resurrection. In return, Onaga blessed him with Taskmaster powers. Shujinko can copy fighting styles from other warriors and has been doing so for decades.

That ended up being Onaga’s undoing, as Shujinko absorbed the abilities and fighting skills of just about every playable character in Mortal Kombat: Deception. After shattering the Kamidogu artifacts and removing Onaga’s invulnerability, Shujinko had no problem thrashing him. While experience was his ultimate weapon, the only thing really weighing him down was his aging and human mortality.

6. BLAZE

Blaze, by design, is a top tier beast. He’s the final boss in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, a game that brings back every Mortal Kombat character in one massive roster. When guys like Onaga and Goro are playable and they’re working their way up to take on Blaze, it really says something about what this guy’s about. Not to mention he’s the catalyst for ultimate power, turning whoever can slay him into an enhanced, godly version of his or herself.

Read more

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While it seemed at first that new hero character Taven would be the one to end Blaze, Taven was instead slayed and the real winner was Shao Kahn. Unfortunately, this is where things get a little hairy because we don’t know if Kahn would have truly been able to defeat Blaze one-on-one or if, say, Taven wounded Blaze and Kahn took advantage. Either way, it looks like Blaze straight-up took the L and wasn’t the be-all/end-all after all.

5. SHAO KAHN

Shao Kahn has always been the go-to villain of Mortal Kombat, and as the recurring villain, he’s taken his lumps. He’s suffered defeats at the hands of Liu Kang, Raiden, and Kitana. When he took over Outworld, he killed Onaga by poisoning him because battle was too risky. So yes, Base Shao Kahn may be tougher than most, but he’s not invincible.

But then you have Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, which was Kahn’s real showcase. After dominating the free-for-all, Kahn was grabbed and taken away by Onaga. As foreboding as that would seem for Kahn, he not only bounded back from that, but he also ended up being the last man standing after slaying Blaze. That enhanced Shao Kahn’s strength even more and turned him into a multiversal threat, thwarted only because of Raiden’s desperate use of time travel.

4. KRONIKA

After years of telling us that Elder Gods were the ultimate beings, NetherRealm decided to reveal another tier of beings called Titans who rank even higher. So far we only know Kronika, the Keeper of Time, who is so overpowered that nearly everyone on the roster should have absolutely zero shot against her. She controls time like it’s nothing. Overcoming that isn’t like dodging a fireball.

Thankfully, Kronika has one major weakness: while she can rewrite history, she can’t omit the gods. She can’t create a world without Raiden. Raiden still can’t beat her one-on-one, but it’s through that loophole that Kronika ultimately meets her downfall.

2. LIU KANG (TIE)

The series’ initial protagonist was always fighting above his weight class. He spent the first four games taking down Goro, Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, and Shinnok. His canon deaths came in the form of an ambush perpetrated by Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, and later an accidental frying from Raiden’s hand. In fact, he spent multiple continuities clashing with Raiden.

That was nothing compared to what he became at the end of Mortal Kombat 11. Two Liu Kangs from different parts of history merged together into one being, with Raiden handing over his godly power, giving us an incarnation of Liu Kang that was not only a god but had control over both electricity and fire. This was the upgrade needed to destroy Kronika and put Liu Kang in control of time itself.

2. SHANG TSUNG (TIE)

As it turned out, Fire God Liu Kang wasn’t equipped to wield Kronika’s magical hourglass for long without her crown, or else time would eventually collapse. Shang Tsung popped in to explain all this, making it clear that he was reality’s only choice. Liu Kang and Fujin realized that they had to give into Shang’s obvious trickery to save everyone.

By the end of his adventure, Shang Tsung had re-killed Kronika and wore her crown while empowered by the souls of Kronika, Raiden, Fujin, Shao Kahn, and Sindel.

Then Fire God Liu Kang popped in to take over. The two rivals faced off and the player was given the choice of which character they wanted to play as. As it is right now, we don’t know who won the epic battle in official canon, so consider Liu Kang and Shang Tsung to be tied until further notice.

1. THE ONE BEING

The most powerful being in Mortal Kombat is not playable in any of the games, nor has it appeared as a boss. In fact, the One Being is presumably too powerful to be portrayed in humanoid form at all. It’s the Galactus of the Mortal Kombat universe, though honestly even more threatening.

The One Being existed at the beginning of time, along with the Elder Gods, and initially fed off of them. The Elder Gods struck back and were able to break the One Being apart into the various realms. If the realms were to be merged back together, it would awaken the One Being once more and destroy all of existence. Despite their desire to be top dog, guys like Shao Kahn, Onaga, Shinnok, and Shang Tsung are unknowingly being influenced by this ominous force.

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[dcubang]

2020 DCU Bang Summaries

2020 DCU Bang Claiming Instructions | Claiming Form Claims are now open!

Summaries after the Read More

2020 Summaries

1 Title: Green (may be renamed) Word Count: 9961 Genre: Fandom/Universe: Batman - All Media Types Characters/Pairings: Damian Wayne, Tim Drake, Jason Todd - Tim Drake/Jason Todd/Damian Wayne, Tim Drake/Damian Wayne, Tim Drake/Jason Todd, Jason Todd/Damian Wayne, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent (background), Jonathan Kent/Damian Wayne (background) Warnings: Dubcon, non-consensual drug use Rating: Explicit Summary: Jason and Tim agree to coach Damian through trying weed for the first time. All is going well, until they realise they’ve been dealt Ivy-brand weed and inadvertently been dosed with sex pollen. Obviously, a threesome ensues.

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2 Title: Love and Other Four-Letter Words Word Count: 10.4k Genre: Angsty Romance Fandom/Universe: Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Birds of Prey Characters/Pairings: Hal Jordan / Dinah Lance / Oliver Queen Warnings: Angst (happy ending), violence, gun violence, drinking, threesome, polyamory, open marriage, emotional infidelity, swearing, depression, self-loathing, nasty past breakup Rating: E Summary: After yet another breakup with Carol, Hal and Ollie find themselves on a road trip across America. Along the way, Hal starts to realize he’s feeling a bit more than friendship for his best friend. The days pass, and the two grow closer, but all too soon the trip must come to an end. On Ollie’s insistence, Hal agrees to stay with him and Dinah in their Star City home. He easily falls into routine with them, but living under the same roof has caused his feelings to multiply tenfold. After a rejected kiss in the middle of the night, Hal has to finally figure out what it is he wants. Dinah, caught in the middle of the two, is forced to confront her own feelings on the situation, eventually making her thoughts known. After a mission turned sour and a near-miss, the three grow closer still, eventually developing a relationship with each other. The story is entirely in Hal’s POV and there is quite a fair bit of self-hatred.

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3 Title: The sky's gonna hurt when it falls Word Count: 12k Genre: Drama, Angst, "Romance" Fandom/Universe: Nightwing (comics), Batman (All Media Types), Heathers (All Media Types) Characters/Pairings: Jason Todd/Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson & Barbara Gordon, Dick Grayson & Catalina Flores. Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Catalina Flores, Harley Quinn, Crystal Frost, Barbara Gordon, Roman Sionis, Jack Napier. Warnings: graphic violence, suicide, bullying, violence in schools, underage drinking, parental neglect, homophobia, drug use, major character death, threats of non-con, underage sex Rating: M Summary: All Dick Grayson ever wanted to make Gotham High School a better place. So when queen bee Catalina invites him to be part of the most powerful and ruthless clique in school, he jumps at the chance to accept her invitation---after all, it's easy to change the system when you're the one making the rules. Things get complicated after the arrival of the dangerous new kid, JT, who urges Dick to bite the bullet and abandon high school politics before it's too late. But Dick can't help but feel that JT has another plan for the bullet... AKA the Heathers/Jaydick crossover no one asked for. This work is set in 1989 and contains excessive use of 80s slang. Like the movie and musical, themes of violence, suicide, homophobia, and bullying are present throughout. Situations of dubious consent and threats of non-con are mentioned but not in detail.

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4 Title: The Ghosts of Robins Past Word Count: 9,399 Genre: Action, casefic, drama, canon divergence Fandom/Universe: Batman Characters/Pairings: Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake, Alfred Pennyworth, Jack Drake, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd. Jason Todd/Dick Grayson Warnings: Kidnapping, mentions of torture Rating: PG-13 Summary: Bruce never planned or wanted to take on a third Robin. Dick seemingly vanished off the face of the earth at fourteen and Jason was murdered at fifteen. Thirteen-year-old Tim Drake came into his life while he grieved for Jason, insisting Bruce needed a Robin to keep him balanced. Against his better judgment, he accepted and began training Tim. Now, at fourteen, Tim’s more than earned the mantle of Robin and his place at Bruce’s side. But did Bruce make a terrible mistake in accepting him? If something should happen to Tim, could he handle another loss? Bruce hopes he won’t have to answer that question. Soon he has a new case on his hands. People are being killed with gold tipped knives with owl symbols on their hilts. Bruce believes the killer is mimicking the Court of Owls to scare Gothamites while Tim believes a Talon is responsible. Dismissing the claim, Bruce continues to fight Gotham’s crime while doing his best to keep Tim safe. Even the best intentions fail. After a wrist injury prompts Bruce to send Tim home early, Bruce is horrified to receive a call from Jack the next morning saying Tim is missing. Try as they might neither man can find Tim. And Tim at last discovers what happens to the long lost Dick Grayson: he was abducted by the Court of Owls and trained to be a Talon along with the resurrected Jason Todd. Now, they have their eyes set on him.

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5 Title: Cats and Devil Bats Word Count: ~5,900 Genre: Romance, Supernatural, Action Fandom/Universe: Batman (comics) Characters/Pairings: Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne Warnings: Noncon, graphic violence Rating: NC-17 Summary: Batman is a violent vigilante who stalks and kills criminals. When Catwoman finally runs into him, she fully expects to die. But she doesn’t. In fact, he seems to want something else entirely from her. Meanwhile, Selina Kyle meets the enigmatic and very wealthy Bruce Wayne and the two begin a relationship. What happens when their two lives finally cross? And what’s all this about a Bat demon anyway? Everything takes place in Gotham: on rooftops, Bruce Wayne’s penthouse, Selina Kyle’s apartment, Wayne Manor, and the caves beneath it. The noncon is Batman/Catwoman and occurs throughout. It’s not 100% handled well by either of them. Relatively graphic violence in the later chapters, but nothing permanent.

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6 Title: What I Know Now (subject to change) Word Count: 9k written, maybe 12k total Genre: Angst, fluff, adventure Fandom/Universe: DC Comics or Young Justice Characters/Pairings: Jason Todd/Dick Grayson, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne Warnings: None Rating: PG, T Summary: Set in a YJ timeline where Jason and Dick are only two years apart, Dick falls in love with Jason when they're younger only to be devastated when he dies. And although Jason comes back to life as normal, he instead stays with the League and becomes a brother figure to Damian. Eventually Damian is sent to live with his father, and as his new family begins to grow on him, he begins to tell them more and more of "Akhi," who sounds achingly familiar to Dick. This story is set mostly in Gotham, with a few scenes in Nanda Parbat in the middle when Jason and Damian are with the League. No major warnings besides the Jason/Dick relationship if that bothers you. Some swearing and descriptions of Jason's death and resurrection, but it is not in explicit detail.

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7 Title: To the Fairest Word Count: 18,000 written Genre: Mystery Fandom/Universe: Batman (comics) Characters/Pairings: Bruce Wayne/Zatanna, Bruce Wayne, Zatanna Zatara, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Kara Zor-El Warnings: canon level violence Rating: Teen Summary: The Queen of Fables has another tale to tell… In this thrilling mystery Zatanna, the Mistress of Magic, wow’s audiences while solving crimes with the help of her new sidekick: Batman. Co starring in this mystical mystery are the youngest world's finest trio: Robin, Robin, and Supergirl. Will they be able to return a Talon to his nest or will birds fly? Join us in Gotham city, Metropolis, a witch's sales outlet, and a creepy shake filled with sentient vines. No warnings need apply.

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8 Title: we could put some roots down Word Count: 14378 Genre: Fluff, Romance, Drama Fandom/Universe: DCU (pre-New-52), Nightwing, Deathstroke Characters/Pairings: Slade Wilson/Dick Grayson, Batam Warnings: family drama, Bruce Wayne’s A+ Parenting, mention of Catalina Flores Rating: PG-13/Teen Summary: A set of multiple vignettes that center on Dick and Slade as they interact with the other members of the Batfam as Tim and Bruce come home to act as a catalyst of change. Dick grapples with what Bruce’s return means for his time as Batman while Jason teases that his relationship with Slade might be moving to the next stage. Dick and Tim finally get closure and the ability to clear the air between them while engaging in a bit of brotherly bonding and teasing. As always, Alfred holds all the answers. The story takes place mainly on the grounds of Wayne Manor, in the Bat Cave, or inside the Manor itself. The timeframe of the story takes place over the course of a few weeks to a month.

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9 Title: Scarlet Tears Word Count: 12,857 Genre: Action/Adventure Fandom/Universe: The Flash Characters/Pairings: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart Warnings: mpreg Rating: Explicit Summary: Leonard Snart decided to take a break from the Legends, with Mick in tow. They head back to Central City, only to find Team Flash in a bit of trouble…well not the team just Barry. A young Meta causes trouble with her power exactly what is her deal?

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10 Title: The Date (or The Bargain, haven’t decided yet) Word Count: 6,040 Genre: drama, hurt/comfort Fandom/Universe: Batman, Red Robin, Ra’s al Ghul/League of Assassins Characters/Pairings: Tim Drake, Slade Wilson, Ra’s al Ghul, Kon-El/Conner Kent, Bruce Wayne. Ra’s/Tim pairing Warnings: Kidnapping Rating: PG Summary: After a long and exhausting week all Tim looks forward to is catching up on his sleep. Much to his surprise he wakes up not in his comfortable bed but handcuffed to a seat aboard Slade Wilson’s private jet. He soon discovers that Ra’s al Ghul paid Slade to kidnap him and deliver him into Ra’s’ care. Angry, Tim’s thinking of his escape when Ra’s presents him with a deal: if a member of his family contacts him in one week, Ra’s will leave Tim alone for six months. Tim accepts the deal. As days pass with radio silence from the Bats, Tim has to face the truth about how all of them have grown apart and they’ve done little to draw him back in. Is he better off staying with Ra’s despite their vastly different morals? Or does Bruce deserve a chance to prove himself?

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11 Title: When You Move, I Move Word Count: 9150 Genre: Fantasy, Action/Adventure Fandom/Universe: Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood and the Outlaws Characters/Pairings: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Dick Grayson/Catalina Flores, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Jason Todd & Damian Wayne Warnings: Non-Con/Dub-Con (non-graphic) Rating: R Summary: Despite having been in love with one another since they were children, Crown Prince Richard and Dragon Slayer Jason are faced with the fact that they are bound by duty and law to never marry. King Bruce manages to come up with a plan that would allow the pair to remain close and for Richard to fulfill his duty as the future king. He proposes a marriage of convenience to a woman, Catalina of House Flores, who is on the brink of permanent maidenhood after having been passed over by too many men in the past. And though she was aware that the future king would never love her, Catalina grows bitter and jealous over the love between the two men and the love her and Richard’s son shares with that man. So she calls upon the help of a crone to curse both men to live this life and all future lives close to one another but never allowing them to be together. And though the crone grants the curse she places a contingency: if one of them were to die before their 18th birthday then the curse would be lifted and they would be reunited to share the love they have been denied. When Dick and Jason come into contact with the god Fate in their current life, the pair are made aware of what had been stolen from them decades in the past and shown that because of Jason’s untimely death at the age of 15, the curse has been lifted. And Jason is finally given the answer as to why he was awoken in his grave all those years prior. With the truth laid out before them, the pair must figure out what it means for them in this lifetime and all future ones.

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12 Title: The Sorrows Of Healing Word Count: 18k of 20-22k written Genre: Slice Of Life, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Character-centric Fandom/Universe: Batman - All Media Types, Batman (Comics), AU from Battle of the Cowl Characters/Pairings: Dick Grayson & Tim Drake, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson & Alfred Pennyworth - Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Tim Drake Warnings: Off-Screen Character Death, Depression, Suicidal Thoughts and Intentions, Racism, Past/Referenced Child Abuse, Hospitals and Therapy Rating: M Summary: It was Dick who had taken up the Cowl after Bruce had died. It was Dick who had become Batman, taking Damian, Tim, and Alfred with him to the penthouse for a fresh start. But things could never be that easy. All of them were haunted by sorrow: Tim not capable of believing that his second father was gone as well, Dick almost breaking under the pressure of standing tall in the face of a crisis, Damian uncomfortable and lost in these unfamiliar waters he was forced to navigate, and Alfred mourning yet another child. In a world in which Bruce actually died, becoming a family again is harder than some might think. In the midst of fights, the racist white Gotham High Society, and Tim, who fled the nest in a last attempt to resurrect something that no longer exists, it is hard to find hope, and yet all of them somehow manage to do so anyways. The story mostly takes place in their Gotham City penthouse, a ballroom, a Baghdad hospital room, and the graveyard. This is a story of healing - but also about the growing pains along the way - so be aware that Tim and Dick deal with depression (Tim with suicidal thoughts and intentions as well), that Damian and Dick face racism, that Damian's childhood will be referenced as the unpretty mess that is was, and that Bruce will not return. His children will have to learn how to fly on their own.

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13 Title: since you’ve been gone (I can breathe for the first time) Word Count: 9,134 Genre: whump, hurt/comfort Fandom/Universe: Batfamily comics (mostly preboot canon with occasional elements of New 52 & Reboot canons) Characters/Pairings: Tim Drake, Batfamily, implied one-sided Tim Drake/Ra’s al-Ghul Warnings: Body horror, depression, child abuse, body modification (consensual and non-consensual), terminal illness, child death, substance abuse (harmful self-medication). Rating: Mature Summary: A study of Tim Drake and his experiences with Hanahaki (specifically, familial Hanahaki), mostly following comics canon with a few changes. Starts when Tim is a child (pre-Robin). He befriends the Gotham Sirens after seeking out Poison Ivy to obtain a growth stopper for his Hanahaki, and later befriends Jason-as-Robin. After Jason’s death and Tim’s parents find out about his Hanahaki, Tim seeks out Batman and becomes Robin. Eventually, after he starts spending time with Bruce, his Hanahaki fades. Years later, following the events of Red Robin and Tim’s distancing from the family, it returns with a vengeance. This story is primarily set in Gotham (at Wayne and Drake manors and the Batcave in particular), with scenes in Iceland (including a glacier) and other locations around the world. Being a Hanahaki fic, the story does contain quite a bit of body horror and terminal illness. The depression occurs throughout due to the Hanahaki & events of Red Robin, as does the body modification (in reference to forced surgery and growth-stopping drugs Tim takes (also the substance abuse tag).). Child abuse is neglect on the part of Tim’s parents, and correlates to the non-consensual body modification tag. Child death is Jason Todd’s canon death.

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14 Title: Forging Friendship Word Count: 4k Genre: Action/Adventure Fandom/Universe: Young Justice Characters/Pairings: Roy Harper, Kaldur’ahm, Black Manta Warnings: None Rating: PG-13 Summary: Green Arrow takes Speedy on a mission at the Star City Wharf with Aquaman and the new to the surface Aqualad. When the mentors give them a solo task, Speedy is very unsure about working with the new hero and tries to only focus on his mission. However, the mission goes wrong, forcing Speedy to risk his life, and face his fears, to save Aqualad. This story takes place primarily at night at a warehouse near the ocean. However actions scenes take place inside the warehouse with lots of crates that create a maze effect, and at the end of the story they’re all on fire.

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15 Title: (Better Things to do than) Chasing White Rabbits Word Count: 4k of what will likely be 6k Genre: Romcom and action/adventure Fandom/Universe: DC, Pacific Rim Characters/Pairings: Slade Wilson/Dick Grayson Warnings: violence, swearing, slurs (Gipsy Danger is the canon name of a jaeger), overprotective parent Bruce Wayne, sexual innuendo, secret identities, Slade's canonical bad parenting (but at least he's trying to work on that), accidental relationship, family drama, frenemies to lovers Rating: Explicit just in case, though I don't think sex will happen until the next installment in the series Summary: Rumor has it that Dick Grayson can drift with anyone. Slade Wilson has the opposite problem, and kids. Killing kaiju may be easier than parenting, and that's with Grayson playing mediator when he inevitably messes up. Dick, meanwhile, is tired of Bruce overstepping boundaries, and Slade just offered him a chance to help a villain redeem himself while also rubbing B's nose in the fact that clinging so tightly is more likely to drive all his kids away than make anyone want to stay. Even Nightwing has a rep for cheerful spite. Stacker Pentecost is too tired for this; he's got a daughter pushing to join the program, said program to run, and the Becket brothers are enough of a headache. That said, if an internationally wanted mercenary is truly willing to join the program, he'll welcome Deathstroke. He just doesn't want to lose Grayson in the process, or the Wayne family funding for the program. Jason, meanwhile, wins Best Brother accolades, and not just for donning Nightwing while Dick pilots giant robots.

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16 Title: in reverse, tragedy Word Count: ~12k Genre: Drama, Action Fandom/Universe: Batman, no specific canon Characters/Pairings: No Pairings, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Talia al Ghul Warnings: Dehumanization of Talons, Canon-Typical Violence, Decapitation Rating: PG Summary: Around two years after Batman fires Robin and Jason Todd (AKA Batboy) returns from an interstellar mission to find his sort of little brother missing, Talia al Ghul's jet touches down in Gotham. Her objective? Take revenge on the Court of Owls, the secret society hidden under Gotham that ordered Ra's al Ghul's death at the hands of a Talon, one of their personal assassins. During her mission, Talia is once again confronted by the Talon she fought when defending her father. After an intense battle in the Court's underground labyrinth, Talia defeats the Talon. As she unmasks him, she realizes that this Talon is the key to answering a question that has plagued even the Batman: what happened to Dick Grayson? (Sort of a Reverse Robins story, but more accurately a Mix-'Em-Up Robins story.)

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17 Title: bury the dead where they're found Word Count: 8K-ish Genre: Action Fandom/Universe: Batman (Comics) Characters/Pairings: Dick/Koriand'r, Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Slade Wilson, Gotham Rogues Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Murder Rating: PG-13 Summary: After returning to Earth and discovering his little brother is dead, Dick Grayson finds himself questioning how heroic Batman's "No Kill" rule truly is. Faced with Bruce's temper and the disrespectful ways Bruce has chosen to honor Jason, Dick decides it's time to take matters into his own hands, and makes a plan to remove the threat of the Gotham Rogues once and for all. Jason Todd, freshly back from the dead, doesn't understand what happened when he looks at the news in Gotham and sees that the Joker is dead. Determined to figure it out, he leaves Talia and makes his way back to the city that led to his death, only to learn from a strange source the truth of what went on while he was away. This story takes place in various locations, including the batcave, an apartment, Arkham Asylum, and the streets of Gotham.

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18 Title: Coffee Shop Love Word Count: 7,494 Genre: Fluff, Romance, Crossover, Alternate Canon Fandom/Universe: DC Comics/MCU Characters/Pairings: Dick Grayson/Tim Drake/James "Bucky" Barnes, Owens/Pru/Z, Conner, Cassie, Bruce/Diana, Bart, Cassie/Cass, Jason/Roy/Kory Warnings: None Rating: PG-13 Summary: Five years ago, Tim Drake saved Bruce and walked away from his so-called family and with Owens, Z, Pru and Bucky Barnes the Winter Solider and started up a small coffee shop with only Conner, Cass, Bart, Cassie and Alfred knowing where he is. Tim was happy until the day the Bats and the Avengers found him. Dick has never forgiven himself for driving away Tim, he longs to make things right with him, even if they never become anything but brothers but those plans are derailed when it comes clear to him that James "Bucky" Barnes has more than friendly feelings for Tim. Soon it becomes Dick vs. Bucky for Tim's heart. Tim just wishes that they would have asked him first.

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19 Title: Against His Heart Word Count: 6,566 Genre: Angst, PWP, rape recovery, happy/hopeful ending Fandom/Universe: DCU, no particular canon Characters/Pairings: Dick Grayson/Roy Harper Warnings: Past rape/noncon, slut-shaming, consensual nonconsent Rating: NC-17 Summary: The morning after Dick Grayson learns that Tarantula has died in prison, he gets on a train. Somehow he ends up at Roy's place. Nobody knows about everything that happened with Tarantula; even Dick forgets parts of it. He wishes he could erase everyone who'd ever touched him, even if that would erase Roy, so that Roy could touch him anew. They decide to pretend, and play out a situation where Dick is a virgin. A few awkward hiccups and a whole lot of feelings come out. It makes Dick realize something he wants--something he needs, maybe. He wants to pretend to struggle and say no and for Roy to keep going. They pick a safeword, Dick promises to use it, and so he does. Most of the scenes will take place in Roy's apartment which is somewhere in south New Jersey. It's not an AU (i.e. they are superheros), but they're out of uniform for the story. This is definitely a PWP, with a focus on sexual trauma, beginning to heal from trauma, and hints of a burgeoning DickRoy romance. There are no flashbacks to rape, but there are mentions of it throughout, including Dick's feelings towards his own body and his thoughts during sex with Roy. For a majority of the fic, Roy believes that Dick's relationship with Tarantula was fully consensual, before Dick ends up telling him that it wasn't. Dick is a trans man, and Roy is a cis man.

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20 Title: Stay Awake With Me Word Count: 10,738 of 40k Genre: Mystery, Case-fic Fandom/Universe: Court of Owls (comics) Characters/Pairings: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne Warnings: Major Character Death, Violence Rating: NC-17 Summary: When Dick goes missing, the family works together to try and find him. When Bruce goes missing, the mystery only begins to show itself. In an investigation which will span decades, Clark must work together with the remaining members of the Batfamily to unravel the secrets of Gotham's underbelly, and not only stop the Court of Owls in their bid for power, but to also catch Talon!Bruce and Talon!Dick. The fic will explore two timelines: the 'present' timeline which deals with the court of owls plot and a 'past' timeline that explores Clark's role in the batfamily.

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21 Title: The Maiden in the Tower Word Count: 6k complete so far, looking to be around 10-11k total. Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romantic Comedy, light Drama Fandom/Universe: primarily the pre-Flashpoint DC canon, though that’s more of a guideline than a hard rule. Characters/Pairings: Everyone Loves Tim Drake, ultimately Dick/Tim; Klarion the Witch Boy, Bruce, Barbara, Cass, Cassie, Kon and Bart all have prominent roles. Featuring cameos from as much of the DCU as I can fit in before the deadline, primarily Titans and Young Justice. Warnings: Low-key canon-typical violence and a ‘happily ever after’ kiss for two (full-grown) adopted brothers. Swearing. A few people get made the butt of jokes but it’s nothing too mean-spirited. Rating: PG-13 (technically R for swearing but content-wise it’s strictly PG-13) Summary: Klarion’s idea of the perfect birthday present is to trap Tim in the highest room (Bruce’s office) of the tallest tower in Gotham (Wayne Enterprises) and flood the rest of the building with a mix of living vines and fairy tale obstacles that can only be overcome by Tim’s true love. Shenanigans ensue as half the superhero community competes for the hand of the fair maid Red Robin. Pay-off is Dick/Tim but the lion's share of the page time is spent watching people fight fairytale tropes while Tim and Klarion snark with popcorn. Light-hearted comedy in which some characters get made to look the fool, ultimately gets no sexier than a True Love’s Ending Kiss. Set entirely within a vine-infested, magically-warped Wayne Tower with everyone from the Bats to the Titans to Tim’s civilian friends dealing with fairytale nonsense: glass mountains, living office supplies, pixies swarms, catching the cat who has the key to the next floor, etc. Meanwhile Tim hangs out in the penthouse with Klarion and a pint of ice cream watching the event like a reality show and getting dunked on for being an archetypal Disney Princess. Fun times for all with a light sprinkling of angst for flavor.

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22 Title: The Antecedents to Reunion Word Count: 13,500 (out of approx. 20k) Genre: Steampunk AU, slice of life, case fic Fandom/Universe: Batman comics, drawing heavily from the Court of Owls storyline and Cass's Batgirl run Characters/Pairings: Cassandra Cain/Stephanie Brown (preslash), Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson Warnings: non-canonical limb loss, temporary character death, fake character death, grief/mourning, implied brainwashing, past child abuse, drug use in an interrogation by a minor character Rating: PG-13/Teen Summary: In a verison of Gotham that never existed, a version of Gotham where clockwork and steam bring the city through the night, Dick Grayson is believed to be dead, and Cassandra Wayne has just returned from Hong Kong. But as Cass settles back into the city, she quickly discovers that something-- or someone-- is trying to get her attention, and that the clock is ticking on how much time she has to figure it out. This is very much a "slice-of-life" fic, except it's set in a Steampunk AU. This story is set mostly in Gotham, with there being one flashback scene to Cass’s apartment in Hong Kong. In Gotham, characters go to the manor, a gala, an ice cream parlor, and the Iceberg Lounge. There is also a fight scene in Robinson Park against Poison Ivy, in a villain’s apartment against droids, and a brief chase scene across rooftops. The plot with the Court of Owls is fairly in the background of this fic, as the real focus is Cass, her relationships with the other bats, and the intricacies of mourning. This story has a hopeful ending, in that it ends with Cass discovering that Dick is alive, but the actual reunion is left to the reader’s imagination.

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23 Title: With Blood and Rage of Crimson Red Word Count: 6,968 Genre: Angst, Action/Adventure Fandom/Universe: DCU, Batfam, Lantern Corps Characters/Pairings: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Hal Jordan, Guy Gardener, John Stewart, Bleez, Rankorr, no pairings (however, I might include hints of Batlantern (HalxBruce) later) Warnings: Canon-Typical Violence, mentions of past underage attempted rape, mentions of past drug use, mentions of past child abuse Rating: PG-13 Summary: Jason was only 11 when his life was irreversibly changed. Now the newest member of the Red Lantern Corps, he is immediately thrust into a dangerous game where losing could mean death. With practically half the villains in the universe after him and the rest of the Lantern Corps, Jason must watch his step at every corner. To overcome this threat and find a way to save himself and the people he cares for, Jason must first overcome his own inner demons and learn to trust himself and the people around him. This story is set on multiple planets throughout the DC Universe. On Earth, we see Gotham City, the Batcave, and the Watchtower, in space, they travel to Ysmault and other planets that I made up for the purpose fo the fic (so you will have mostly free reign with the design of those planets if you choose to draw scenes involving them). This story involves canon-typical violence throughout. At the start, there are mentions of child abuse, and there is camera footage shown of attempted rape of a minor, but nothing explicit. At the start of the story, Catherine Todd is found by Jason post-OD and that is mentioned a few times throughout the story. The abuse and attempted rape are mentioned a little throughout the story, but not much, as it is not the focus, rather a back story for Jason. Other than that, there is no smut, or even pairings (unless I decide to do the Batlantern, but that will be a minor background pairing). There might be some language, but it is kept to a minimum.

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24 Title: You Have Their Eyes (But You'll Never Have Their Smile) Word Count: 6,679 Genre: Action/Adventure, Mystery, Angst Fandom/Universe: DCU, Justice League Characters/Pairings: Jason Todd, Kyle Rayner, Donna Troy, Chris Kent, Lorena Marquez, Connor Hawke, possibly Jaykyle Warnings: Canon Typical Violence, Mentions of Past Character Death, might have some minor language Rating: PG-13 Summary: Eight years ago, the Justice League vanished into thin air. Since then, their proteges have been left behind to pick up the pieces of a broken world. Struggling to fill shoes that don't quite fit, the next generation of the Justice League is faced with their pasts as an old case makes a reappearance, eight years after the original Justice League closed it. This is set on Earth, in various locations like Wayne Enterprises, the Watchtower, the Whitehouse, Los Angeles, Malaysia, and Atlantis. As stated before, violence is a part of this fic, but nothing more than you would normally see in canon. Past character deaths are mentioned, including Jason's temporary death, and the supposed deaths of the original Justice League. There is cussing, but only like two or three words in the entire fic. There are also mentions of a court stripping away Donna's parental rights to Terry.

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25 Title: Heavy the Head Word Count: 4k~ Genre: Greek Gods AU Fandom/Universe: No specific canon Characters/Pairings: Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson, assorted batfamily characters Warnings: No real warnings; there's some smut at one point in the fic Rating: NC-17 (overall it's rather tame, but some smut) Summary: Slade is an old nature god, one rather bored with the politics of Olympus. He is, however, rather fascinated by the reserved god of the dead Richard, remembering how different the boy was back when he truly was just a boy. He's always like oddities and figuring out puzzles, and Richard certainly is one at that. Dick would really prefer that everyone leave him alone to do the job he was assigned a millenia ago. Visiting Olympus brings him no peace, not when he knows he'll have to leave again soon, not to see his family for another century or so. Of course, there's always Slade, who's happy to give more than Dick is usually comfortable accepting. Not that that ends up being a bad thing. This story takes place in Mount Olympus, at a waterfall, and in the Underworld.

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26 Title: Hearts Beating Side by Side Word Count: 3,600 Genre: Romance, Drama Fandom/Universe: Young Justice Verse Characters/Pairings: Garth - Tempest/Kaldur'ahm/Dick Grayson Warnings: Threesome, misunderstanding, pining, dirty talk Rating: Summary: On the precipice of changes in their lives, Garth and Kaldur find a momentary reunion and the repressed childhood love that they have both harbored for the other is reignited. But the weekend won't be an easy fall into long awaited love. Nightwing has reappeared after months of silence in the guise of his civilian persona, Dickie Wayne-Grayson. And even though he's playing the part of full-time playboy, Garth can see the spark that Dick lights within Kaldur. And it's not a one-sided feeling. A weekend of diplomacy is consumed by Garth and Dick's competing jealousy; each believing Kaldur has eyes for the other. Garth thinks Dick is leading Kaldur on, and Dick thinks Garth has won Kaldur's heart before the weekend even began. They bicker, and banter, until they Bang It Out. When Kaldur catches them, there's guilt, and confessions and polyamorous negotiations.

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27 Title: hold onto the fire even if you have to burn Word Count: ~7k Genre: Angst with a happy ending Fandom/Universe: DCU (specifically Batfam) and post-Underworld Unleashed Characters: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Zatanna Zatara, John Constantine, Donna Troy Pairings: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd (endgame), Dick Grayson/John Constantine/Zatanna (temporary) Warnings: Threesome, rape/non-con mentioned, self-harm (through magic), depression, lack of self-worth, explicit content, graphic violence, temporary major character deaths. Rating: NC-17 Summary: Dick Grayson is no Batman. After Bruce Wayne refuses to resurrect the late Jason Todd, Dick takes matters into his own hands. Armed with the knowledge of a deal that didn't go through, Dick allies himself with Zatanna and Constantine in a bid to right the wrong that Bruce ignores -- even though souls come at a cost. Dick knows he's strong enough to take the pain to save Jason. But can he stop at Jason? Can he let his fallen friends and family stay dead? Dick is determined to save everyone he can, even if it means losing his soul. The story takes place in multiple locations, primarily in Gotham and Neron's throne room in Hell, with occasional switches to Bludhaven. Rape/non-con refers to past instances (Dick/Mirage, Dick/Catalina) that are discussed at length. Threesome takes place as part of a magic ritual. Self-harm is heavily implied through self-sacrificial actions and reckless behavior (as well as the literal deals with a devil). Graphic violence will be canon-typical. Deaths are canonical deaths and happen offscreen (with the exception of Donna Troy and Damian Wayne who die in front of Dick and are described vividly). There's an alternative ending that includes Dick Grayson dying, but that's only one of two endings that will both be written.

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28 Title: The Deepest Secret Nobody Knows Word Count: ~6500 written (~15000 total) Genre: Romance Fandom/Universe: General DCU, Batman, Green Lantern Characters/Pairings: Bruce Wayne/Hal Jordan Warnings: Unintentional Exhibitionalism, characters/relationship being outed without their consent Rating: Explicit/NC-17 Summary: Hal and Bruce have been fucking for a full year, but have only been in an acknowledged relationship for six months. A jealous co-worker, who will stop at nothing to destroy Bruce Wayne, has a private romantic encounter between Bruce and Hal taped, then releases photos of the encounter to the press. Hal now finds himself thrust into a part of Bruce's life that he'd only had a vague impression of previously. While he believes that his and Bruce's relationship is solid, he's still left wondering if this will prove to be too much trouble to bother with, for himself, for Bruce, and for Bruce's family. Takes place primarily in Gotham (WEI offices, the Batcave, and the manor), with minor placement on the Watchtower, in Hal's apartment in Coast City, and varying Bruce boltholes around Earth. No serious warnings, other than semi-graphic/graphic sex.

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29 Title: In the Shadow of the Empire Word Count: About 12 or 13k, just under 9k written Genre: SciFi, Action/Adventure Fandom/Universe: Batman (though no particular canon), Star Wars AU Characters/Pairings: JayDick, JayTim, implied DickTim, pre-DickTimJay, Cass, Steph Warnings: Graphic descriptions of violence, dub con Rating: NC-17 Summary: For most of the galaxy, life under the Empire's thumb was difficult, stressful, and painfully short. Dick and Jason knew this all too well, trying to keep their rustbucket of a ship in one piece while living job to job on the fringes of the Empire's control. It was a hard life, but as an ex-Jedi and a so-called 'troublemaker' wanted in multiple Empire systems, they didn't have much choice. But when a job goes wrong, they and their crew find themselves on the run from the Hand of the Emperor; a masked dark side user who is as feared as his origins are mysterious... and who is much more involved in Dick and Jason's past than either of them could guess. This story exists within a Star Wars setting, roughly around the time of the Original Trilogy. Scenes take place aboard Jason's ship, on a derelict Republic cruiser (i.e. no lights and without atmosphere or gravity), and on a small, heavily forested moon where the showdown happens between the ship's crew (Dick, Jason, Cass, and Steph) and Dark Side!Tim. The graphic violence is to the tune of blaster and lightsaber wounds. The dub-con occurs when Jason drunkenly sleeps with a stranger at a bar, who later is implied to be Dark Side!Tim undercover. This counts as dub-con because Tim is actively concealing his identity to get information out of Jason and because Jason would likely not have slept with him if he knew who he was and what he was doing.

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30 Title: There Be Dragons Word Count: 6425 words Genre: Urban Fantasy, Dragons Fandom/Universe: Batman Characters/Pairings: JayDick Warnings: Descriptions of burning buildings, violence, some gore Rating: M Summary: In Gotham, there be dragons. A pureblood dragon, Bruce revolved his vigilante persona around his ancestry, to become, Dragonman. Dick’s dragonhood was a direct result of Bruce’s ingenious DNA bonding–a gift he now refuses to use. For a moment in his life, however, he tolerated it, for Jason. Then Jason died. For six months, as far as Dick and Bludhaven was concerned, there were no goddamn dragons. Then one night, fire licked the sky. No matter how fast Dick ran, swung and flew, it was too damn late. A casino was razed to the ground. Human bodies stacked in piles. The shadow of a red dragon’s wings flapped in a distance. There was no question, however impossible, who did it. Dick couldn’t believe it. Dick wouldn’t believe it. This dragon flew around in Dick’s city on a raging warpath, knowing more than he was letting on. Dick intended to find it, and stop it.

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31 Title: When the Winds are Howling Strong Word Count: 3040 Genre: Found family, omegaverse, no capes AU Fandom/Universe: Batfam, Red Hood and the Outlaws Characters/Pairings: Jason Todd, Dick Grayson Warnings: Implied non graphic rape, intersex omegas, severe misogyny against omegas. Dick is a cop but he’s on leave through 90% of the fic Rating: PG-13/Teen. Nothing is graphic, but the topics are heavy Summary: Dick signed up to be a foster alpha, but never expected that he would actually be given an omega. Then Gorden’s men find an gang’s omega in heat and in bad shape. Since most foster alphas are searching for a mate, Dick is given custody over the omega. Jason was pulled off the streets by Joker’s gang when he was fifteen and life’s only gotten worse from there. As a gang omega, Jason served mostly as a form of recreation for the other gang members. After four years in hell, Jason’s given up all hope of escape. He’s got a new alpha who seems decent, but past experience has taught him those are the worst ones. Found family is the core of this fic. Dick helps Jason with his reintroduction into society/introduction to Gotham’s high society and both are forced to confront their internalized prejudices against other castes. It’s set in Gotham and explores both the slums and the glitzier districts. Jason and other male omegas will be depicted as wearing more feminine styles, including dresses and skirts. Key scenes: Dick taking custody of Jason, Dick and Jason growing used to each other, Tim and Damian meeting Jason by accident, Jason dumping out all of Dick’s liquor cabinet, Dick taking Jason shopping, Jason meeting Bruce and Alfred, Dick takes Jason to a gala and they work through a meltdown, Jason shows Dick where he used to live before Penguin and Joker, Dick and Jason fight after finding out everything Jason did in the gangs, Sheila makes an appearance, Jason is induced into an artificial heat, Dick and Bruce find Jason who is already making progress to rescue himself, End by Jason cutting the ribbon to an omega shelter.

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32 Title: Midnight Rendezvous Word Count: 4000+ Genre: PWP, Drama Fandom/Universe: Batman, Nightwing/Grayson Characters/Pairings: Midnighter/Dick Grayson, Bruce/Dick Grayson Warnings: Explicit sex, References to violence, Maybe unsafe sex Rating: NC-17 Summary: Dick is tired of the Golden Boy act. Tired of waiting for Bruce’s approval. And he’s beyond tired of not being noticed... So tonight, he’s going to find someone one who will.

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33 Title: crowns of violets and roses Word Count: 3009 Genre: Romance, Alternate Universe - Greek Mythology Fandom/Universe: Batman - All Media Types Characters/Pairings: Bruce Wayne/Jason Todd Warnings: Attempted non con, swearing, descriptions of violence Rating: Explicit (NC-17) Summary: Modern Hades & Persephone AU. After Bruce Wayne’s parents die, he becomes lord of the underworld, leaving the seasons and harvest unattended. Replacing him are the two Robins, Dick and Jason, spirits of spring and growth, but neither is able to fully step into the Waynes’ empty mantle. Things are further complicated when Dick wants to move on to a new role and Jason’s propositioned by another god. Bruce pulls Jason into the underworld, offering him sanctuary from the threats above. In the shadows, Jason finds both his strength and love. But without the work of both Robins, the land crumbles, threatening the lives of mortals and the power of the gods. The only solution is for Jason to return, unless Bruce is able to out think their enemies. The setting for this story is largely modern with stylized elements from different periods (gothic, art deco). The Underworld, which is the primary setting, is heavily influenced by Wayne Manor and the Cave from comics and the animated series. Other places can have a more Gotham art deco influence.

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34 Title: Bruce Wayne, the Court of… Word Count: 4035 Genre: AU, humor, fluff, angst Fandom/Universe: Batman comics, Nightwing comics, Red Hood and the Outlaws comics, Batman: Under the Red Hood Characters/Pairings: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne Warnings: rape, death, beating, abuse, violence, spoilers for: Forever Evil arc, Court of Owls arc, recent Nightwing comic arc, recent Batman comic arc, Red Hood and the Outlaws #25, Batman and Red Hood #20 Rating: T/Teen And Up Audiences /PG14+ Summary: Bruce had made many mistakes in his life. The most horrifying and disastrous were the ones involving his family. The way he treated them, deceived, hurt and used finally blew in his face and he had to face the consequences. There was no forgiveness for him now, not from any of them. But maybe there was a way to avoid it all. This story is meant as a fix-it to all the mess the canon turned into. While the story focuses on talking about canonical events there are a lot of headcanon/fanon/tropes put into it as well ie. romantic relationship between adopted brothers. And although the topics discussed are serious matters the fic itself is slightly crackish. The story takes place in Gotham during the Batman: Under the Red Hood events. At first the action is placed all over the city: rooftops, docks, parking lot, train station; for it to narrow down to an abandoned hotel room.

~ ~ ~

35 Title: Do You Love The Summer Like I Do? Word Count: 6116 words Genre: Romance, Action Fandom/Universe: Batman, Red Hood and the Outlaws Characters/Pairings: JayRoy Warnings: Descriptions of physical trauma, healing from injuries, violence, some gore Rating: M Summary: Those hazy nights spent blinking in and out of consciousness, events of Bruce cracking his hood open like an egg replaying like a neverending nightmare. Waking up to a stuffy bed, IV drips and the simmering heat. Roy’s dumb, handsome face hovering worriedly beside him. For those months of grueling physical therapy, Jason could depend on one thing to keep him going--Roy’ love. Jason would have put any grand plans of his to a screeching halt, if Roy asked him to stay on that island forever. But he had therapy to go to. Jason could respect that. Then, Roy died. And Jason missed the funeral. But unlike every other piece of shit who dared to call themselves Roy’s friends, Jason wasn’t about to let him lie. And he had a way of bringing him back.

~ ~ ~

If you have any questions, concerns, here is the the Page-A-Mod Post You can also contact the mods via, dcubang@gmail.com, or by sending a PM on DreamWidth/LiveJournal to , or sending a DM on Discord to LuciferxDamien.

Twitter and Tumblr are NOT the quickest way to get in touch with me, as those accounts are not checked as frequently. If your matter is urgent, Discord or email are the quickest way to receive a response!

[thegeekerynj]

Short Reviews, when the Big Mouth doesn’t have much to say… Or is trying to get caught up from COVID / Election Overload

An Occasional Attempt to Read, Discuss and Review the Wonders of Comics

By: John Rafferty, cranky old man, and Fan of All Things Comics

Short Takes 

Short Reviews, when the Big Mouth doesn’t have much to say… Or is trying to get caught up from COVID / Election Overload

Legion of Super Heroes 6-10  (DC Comics)

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis    Pencils: Ryan Sook (#6 - 7, 10) Various (8 - 9)   Inker: Wade Von Grawbadger (#6 - 7, 10) Various (8 - 9)

‘You want to be called Bouncing Boy?

Looking at the Memexes, we were considering “The Bullet”.

Bullet?

It’s a projectile that——

No, with me, it’s all about the BOUNCE.

———————————————————————————————————

Can Brian Bendis write everything?

Between story, and downright FUN, this is a great book.  Team books are hard to do well, if for no other reason, because of the characterizations. 

Multiple characters mean multiple personalities, and some of those will always get underdeveloped in relationship to the team, as the writer invariably has favorites  Unless…

What we are seeing with LSH is development of characters from across the spectrum. Every book has development of some of the characters, even if they’re not directly involved in the story. This is a far cry from what you see in other books.

Add to this Ryan Sook’s breakdowns, and Wade von Grawbadger’s inks, and you get a pretty package, all tied up in a big bow. More importantly, this is a story with a legacy reaching back 60 years, and is being truly refreshed for a new audience.

This isn’t the Legion I read in 1967, but it’s damned good! 

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶.5

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Suicide Squad #9 - 10  (DC Comics)

Writer: Tom Taylor  Artist: Bruno Redondo

I have Kord’s location.

Okay. Do you also have the Senator?

Oh, did you want him back for some reason? That spineless mouth-breather championed a law to dump more waste into the sea. Delusional, greedy @#$% thinks he owns the world.

I have some friends reminding him he does not.

———————————————————————————————————

Floyd Lawton, first appearance, Batman #59, June 1950, as the man who never misses.

Floyd Lawton, a man who feels no rereason to continue living, but has no wish to die: who puts his life on the line to save his teammates time and time again, to save his daughter and her mother, all with the wish of dying in a truly spectacular fashion.

Floyd Lawton, who finally finds a reason to live, in the eyes of his daughter, Zoe.

Floyd Lawton. Deadshot. Perennial member of Task Force X, finally earned his pardon.

Game Over.

By all that’s Unholy, Tom Taylor is a hateful SOB! But the man writes a great story!

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

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Marvel Zombies Resurrection # 1 - 4  (Marvel Comics)

Writer: Phillip Kennedy Johnson   Artist: Leonard Kirk

‘Fine. I guess we came all this way. 

Might as well do something really stupid.

———————————————————————————————————

This sums up exploring the World, any world, during a Zombie Apocalypse. Especially when those with Super Powers have been turned into Super Zombies.

So, we pick up with Peter Parker, Forge, Karla Sofen (Moonstone), Valeria and Franklin Richards, a Flerkin named Chewie, and the reprogrammed Sentinel lovingly called ‘Nana’, moving from defendable place to defensible area, seeking a ‘safe place’. Somewhere they can rest for more than one night… if that is possible.

Always realizing the next tree could be hiding a zombified Avenger, or Defender, or Loved one…

Johnson’s Miniseries is another version of the Marvel Zombiepocalypse, which begs the question, what happens when Zombie Galactus infects your world? Or, more importantly, when it CARRIES the infection to your world?

Leonard Kirk’s art style is perfect for this story, a very dark, visceral style which is a little hard on the eyes, making the reader work for every panel. Yes, it hurts to read, but IT SHOULD! It’s Zombies!

This is worth the read if you can get all 4 issues (the first issue came out in July).

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶

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Rorschach #1  (DC Black Label)

Writer: Tom King   Artist: Jorge Fornes

‘They won’t talk to me. Treating me like I’m a  damn Kindergarten kid. I got twins in Kindergarten. Duane and Dwight. I’m not a Kindergarten kid. 

Jesus Christ. What’d they say to you?

That you’re dying.

Shit.

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In 1985, Walter Kovacs died. 

It went unnoticed, but for the few in attendance, for Kovacs died following the Alien Invasion of New York, which, in effect saved the world.

Yet, unnoticed, but for the few, Walter Kovacs became a red splash on the Antarctic permafrost.

And Rorschach, the Crime Hunter, died with him.

Or. did he?

In a world existing somewhere between Watchmen 1985 and Current Multiverses, Tom King and begun a noir-ish tale… Did Rorschsch come back, to foil an assassination attempt, and die in the process?

Did he come back, and fail at an attempt at assassination?

Or, Gentle Readers, is there a whole slew of balls in the air we just haven’t seen yet, that we are going to be expected to juggle deftly, as they drop just into sight?

I can’t wait for the answer!

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶.5

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Justice League #54 - 57  (Death Metal Tie-In) (DC Comics)

Writer: Joshua Williamson    Artists: Xermanico (54, 57), Pencils: Robson Rocha (55 - 56), Inks: Daniel Henriquez (55 - 56)

“Don’t you get it Cyborg? We’re not the Justice League!

We’re the Suicide Squad!

———————————————————————————————————

I have said before I am not a fan of Joshua Williamson’s writing.

Maybe I just don’t like him on the Flash. 

Four issues, each of them a very good story, each building, with some action and humor, to a smash mouth endpoint, that brings us to Death Metal #5.

I have to say, I’m enjoying this run of Justice League, even with the switch of artist teams mid - tale Xermanico’s work os beautiful, right into the valley of the Starros (that gave me giggle fits!) Rocha and Henriquez’s work is very pretty, and a little darker than Xermanico’s, giving a more atmospheric touch to the Antenna of LOD.

I have to admit, they do a mean Kori, as well! Really FIERCE, with a Full Length mohawk!

Well worth the cost of admission, and a strong addition to the Metal storyline.

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶.5

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Nightwing #75 - 76 (DC Comics)

Writer: Dan Jurgens   Artists: Travis Moore and Ronan Cliquet (75), Ronan Cliquet (76)

‘We have to talk.’

———————————————————————————————————

Four words. 

Four words that have ended more relationships than violence.

Dan Jurgens has done a masterful job of tying up the Ric Grayson / Amnesias storyline that seems to have run for nigh on ever… by bringing it full circle to Anatoli Knyazev, the KGBeast.

The artwork in these two issues was pretty, with obvious switches between that of Travis Moore (the Titans / Batgirl pages) and Ronan Cliquet’s Batman / KGBeast pages.

Nicely tied up, completing multiple storylines in two issues. Ready to move forward/

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶.5

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Young Justice  #19 - 20 (DC Comics)

Writers: Brian Michael Bendis and David  Walker   Artist: Scott Godlewski

Red Tomato?

I think he said Tornado, and you know it.

Honestly, he talks so fast, I can’t understand him most of the time.

———————————————————————————————————

Damian Wayne, Robin.  Cassie Sandmark, Wonder Girl. Bart Allen, Impulse. Conner Kent, Superboy. Stephanie Brown, Spoiler. Keli Quintela, Teen Lantern. Zan and Jayna. the Wonder Twins. Jinny Hex, Naomi, Amethyst,

Twenty issues in, and the book is cancelled… or is planned to end. Either way, this is a suck way to do things, DC.

This is a great group of characters. Much better than the roster in the Young Justice cartoon, simply for the diversity. Some heroes just coming into their own, some who have existed for years,  (the Wonder Twins have been around in MULTIPLE iterations since the 1970’s), all helping each other… This was a great jumping in book for pre-teens who weren’t up for all the violence / hyperkinetic action / storytelling of a true adult book.

And, it was FUN!

Bendis, Walker and Godlewski produced a fantastic product every month.

One which is ending too soon. Unless, of course, it is going to come back in a new package… 

Hint, hint, hint…

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶.5

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Amazing Spider-Man 50 - 53  ‘Last Remains’  (Marvel Comics (duh!))

Writer: Nick Spencer   Artist: Patrick Gleason

‘You’re going to love it, Pete. There’s no better feeling in this life — Than being surrounded by those you love.

———————————————————————————————————

So, what are the rules around DEAD Characters returning?

Do they have to be relevant after so many years? Shouldn’t they be, well, driven to do something? Not take more than 50 issues to finally get around to saying…”Bazinga!’, or it’s equivalent?

I must admit, issue 50 is the first issue of a Spider-Man book I picked up, and started to enjoy, until I realized I needed to pick up the LR issues also in order to get the whole story. Didn’t’t we get enough of this in the Shooter Years? 

What about a year and a half ago, when Marvel vowed they would never pull this crap again?? 

I guess they forgot… (Insert comparison to jackass in office here).

Too much work, don’t really care.

Especially when the reveal of who Kindred is happens in issue 50, and Peter finds out in #53… Puh-Leez!

At least it’s not Professor Warren and his Gwen Stacy clone. **BRRRRR** Freakin’ Creepy Old Perv!

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶

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Batman 101 - 102 (DC Comics (bigger DUH!))

Writer: James Tynion IV   Artist: Guillen March (101)  Pencils: Carlo Pagulayan   Inks: Danny Miki   Artist: Carlos D’Anda (Pages 13 - 16)

‘DOUBLE RENT! And you don’t talk to the other tenants! They are good people.

Little Santa Prisca is a community. We live through BANE. We live through JOKER. Don’t blow it up with all your nonsense!

You got it Charlie, No Nonsense. Not Here.

Hey! What’s your policy on Hyenas?

———————————————————————————————————

So, Lucius Fox is one of the richest men in the world. 

Selina Kyle has put the Bat on a One Year Clock to get his stuff together, or she walks.

Clownkiller might be the Bernard Goetz of Superhero Vigilantism (look up the reference, I can’t do everything!), but he goes about proving you can’t keep a good vigilante killer down if he has Google.

Ghost Maker is more than we thought, and knows who Bruce Wayne keeps in the closet (or cave).

Is there anyone in Gotham who doesn’t know who Bruce Wayne is?

Tynion continues to pump out some great product, the stories and characters do not disappoint. Including Grifter as Fox’s ‘bodyguard’ was a nice touch, having him get the drop on Batman, a nicer one.

The art in both books, while vastly different, is simply gorgeous. I want to see more od the team of Pagulayan and Miki, I’m hoping to see their work grow with the storylines.

Next issue, BATTLE Sequences! Should be fun, not that it hasn’t been so far.

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶.5

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Shang Chi  #1 - 2 (Marvel Comics)

‘I have to save my Little Sister!

I have to kill my Big Brother!’

———————————————————————————————————

Only meetings should have agendas.

-Me, just now

Once upon a time, Sax Rohmer wrote stories about the machinations of one Fu Manchu, and his oft overturned attempts to take over the world.

In 1973, Steve Engelhart and Jim Starlin brought Shang Chi, son of Fu Manchu into the Marvel Universe, where he and his MI-6 partners Clive Reston and Black Jack Tarr were responsible for being the monkey wrenches in the machinery of Fu Manchu’s Plans.

It seems that Shang Chi is back, without his prior father. He is still proficient in all forms of martial arts, but now, he is ‘Champion of House of the Deadly Hand’ (like that name isn’t going to come to but him in the butt like a Karmic werewolf), and since the passing of his ‘Father”, now the Commander of the Five Weapons Society.

The artwork is pretty, and the story, steeped in Asian Mysticism, is a little draggy so far. Is the story good? Yeah, it’s a nice reminder of a character I exjyed a long tome ago.

Will it get better? Time will tell.

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶.5

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The Rise of Ultraman #1 - 3 (Marvel Comics, by way of Tsuburaya Productions)

Writers: Kyle Higgins and Matt Groom    Artist: Francesco Manna

Oh. You’re here to fight because you think we’re one of the species that can’t evolve.

No. I know you cannot evolve.

Fifty-Four of your years ago, my brother came to assist you. And you killed him.

———————————————————————————————————

In the late 60’s, on certain New York television stations, the Saturday Afternoon hours were filled with Japanese imports, Kaiju - United Science Patrol, and of course the story of the death of Moroboshi, and the coming of Ultraman.

Ultraman, a human - alien symbiosis, who fought the Kaiju menace coming to take over the Earth.

Forward to 2020, a new Ultraman, with a new team of USP helpers / friends, and what looks at this point to be a corrupt system surrounding them.

This creative team has done a marvelous job with the material thus far, reviving this character for a modern reader.

It’s just a shame it’s only 5 issues…

It is definitely worth the read.

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶🌶

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American Vampire 1976 #1 - 2 (DC Comics)

Writer: Scott Snyder   Artist: Artist: Rafael Albuquerque

‘DAMMIT! Before what happened with Gus, you were the best vampire tracker and killer around. I’m asking you to help me take down whoever this PEELING MAN is.

But if this shitty music and LASERS is your life now, then just say so, and I’ll leave you to it.

It’s not a laser, you goddamned idiot.

It’s a SOLAR LAMP. **klik**

———————————————————————————————————

Ten years ago, Scott Snyder, Rafael Albuquerque and Stephen King started a journey which has spanned 10 Years in real time, but 200 years, and 12 separate cycles in series time.

The current iteration has our favorite group of vamps and exterminators running around 1976, wrecking discos, trains, and graveyards, all in the name of bringing back Stoker’s primary villain.

Snyder proves again he is up to the task of creating a world of whimsy and horror, providing mayhem, madness, and the occasional snorting giggle. His droll wit, and ability to write a phenomenal action piece makes this cycle of the American Vampire story a must read.

Out of 5🌶        🌶🌶🌶🌶

[bravadoseries]

I'm a little confused about what the movies/tv shows timeline would look like for the series, could you clarify?

So, pre-Avengers I think Audrey makes a variety of cameo roles.  She’s in the Iron Man films briefly, she’s featured in an epilogue of Captain America: The First Avenger, I know this technically isn’t first but she plays a minor role in Captain Marvel.  Generally, she’s just kind of present in a lot of the movies before she becomes a lead.  

The way I structured this list is so that each movie that’s canon is just listed with its corresponding fic, but all the ones I’m making up have a little summary too lol.  Spoilers below so beware of that.  I hope this helps!

2012

The Avengers (May 2012) – covered by Monachopsis

Cross-Country (July 2012) – this one would look like the oneshots/shorts that Marvel used to make about its side characters, but it covers Steve’s birthday and the road trip that Steve and Audrey take cross-country

Lady Liberty: Legacy (September 2012) – this covers the arc of Nodus Tollens that I just finished, which is about Audrey’s mission in Europe, DIVUS, Delphine, etc.

The Tower – Season 1 (October-December 2012) – This show focuses on the found family aspect of the Avengers and is like a dramedy.  In my head, I picture it as being filmed as a mockumentary with little talking heads because I like those and I think it suits the format well.  Content wise, I feel like it airs on ABC.  Takes place from October 2012-December 2012, runs for 8 episodes.  

2013

Black Widow: Opus (January 2013) – Covers the Siege of Chicago, another arc I write about in Nodus Tollens.  Explores Natasha’s backstory with ballet and kind of has Black Swan meets Atomic Blonde vibes.  Set in January 2013

The Tower – Season 2 (June-August 2013) – Picks up where its predecessor left off and runs for another 8 episodes.  It also corresponds to Nodus Tollens and builds/develops Audrey’s relationship with Bruce as well as Steve’s relationship with Darcy

Thor: The Dark World (2013) – Set November 2013, also corresponds to Nodus Tollens lol (this book is long)

2014

Agent 13 (February 2014) – Marvel oneshot about Sharon Carter, Audrey, and the transfer to DC, as well as Peggy’s legacy with SHIELD

Captain America: The Winter Soldier(April 2014) – corresponds to 

Hawkeye(s) – (May-August 2014) – Kate Bishop and Clint Barton work cases in Los Angeles, where they meet America Chavez and other members of the Young Avengers.  I’m not totally sure if I’m gonna write this or not, but basically it corresponds to Matt Fraction’s Hawkeye comics. This one is an action-comedy, like if Community met Veronica Mars

The Falcon – Season 1 (October-December 2014) – Okay I’m just a little Sam Wilson stannie but I feel like they should have done more with him, so this series focuses on him primarily, but features Steve, Audrey, and Natasha as side characters. They’re looking for Bucky, but it’s also about him living in the tower and falling in love with Olivia Perales. This corresponds to a spinoff oneshot (probably 10-15k words long) called Fear of Flying.  It airs on Netflix and receives rave reviews for its bingeability.  The tone is comparable to Scandal or other Shonda Rhimes dramas.  

2015

Agent Carter – Season 1 (January-March 2015)– this is what it is and it corresponds to Midsummer, which is just a series of oneshots about Audrey growing upu

Avengers: Age of Ultron (May 2015) – Corresponds to Aurora

Quicksilver & the Scarlet Witch (released June 2015) – set throughout 2015; about Pietro and Wanda’s adjustments to their new lives as Avengers.  They’re both like 19? 20? This is written like a sitcom, kind of like what they’re doing with WandaVisionbut without Paul Bettany bc I hate that little man….anyway this technically takes place at the same time as Elysian but tonally they’re very different because Elysian is about Audrey going crazy and grieving Bruce’s “death” but the show is about the twins and their relationships with each other and an assortment of other employees from the base, who aren’t superheroes but are like medics, etc.  I think the tone is like Scrubs 

2016

Agent Carter – Season 2 (January-March 2016) – same as the above; about Peggy’s life in LA kicking ass and her romance with Sousa

Captain America: Civil War (April 2016) – this corresponds to Allegiance, while also unpacking unfinished business from Lady Liberty: Legacy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The Falcon – Season 2 (September 2016) – this is about Sam, Bucky, Steve, Nat, Pietro, and Wanda’s life on the run, but it especially focuses on Sam and his own missions/the villains targeting him.  Tonally, still Shonda Rhimes.  

2017

Lady Liberty and the Angels of Mercy (February 2016) – Marvel’s second R-rated film, but the MCU’s first.   Think about it like Birds of Prey in terms of general vibes.  Set immediately after Civil War and features an epilogue that connects Audrey to Thor: Ragnarok.  The story is set in Los Vegas.  Corresponds to Eternity, which is even longer than Nodus Tollens 

Defenders – Season 1 – features overlap with some of the characters from Angels of Mercy as well as Annie Esposito, a mob princess of New York.  Corresponds to Pernox

Thor: Ragnarok (November 2017) – Happens as it does, except for the part where Audrey has a short-lived romance with Loki and the part where Audrey and Thor realize that they are connected in their powers.  Considering including Lindsey Dubois in this just so I can have a romance play out between her and Valkyrie (Janelle and Tessa 4ever…) but also, I might not. Corresponds to Eternity

2018

Avengers: Infinity War (April 2018) – So yeah they fight Thanos, etc.  I’m changing the way Thanos is portrayed though bc I could not get over how he looks like a thumb long enough to actually feel afraid of him so this time he’s played by John Hamm and he’s a lot more well-connected than we all thought he was.  Also, the children of Thanos are actually all children because um I think that ups the creep factor some more.  Corresponds to Eternity as well

The Real Hawkeye (October 2018) – Kate Bishop and America Chavez fighting crime.  After the snap, there’s a spike in crime against vulnerable people who have lost their caretakers.  Might be set in a cult that actually worships Thanos?  And promises that it’s all a very good thing, what’s happened?  Very much a noir, might even be in black and white a la The Lighthouse.  

2019

Lady Liberty: Resurrection (January 2019) – Audrey wakes up on the other side of the universe after being kidnapped and decides to make her way home.  Featuring Carol Danvers, Loki, Nebula, and Valkyrie. Corresponds to Eternity and kind of feels like Star Wars/GotG 

Avengers: Endgame (April 2019) – Does not happen as it was written, because it was written like trash, but the same stuff needs to happen.  They fight, they win, etc.  Corresponds to Eternity.  

2020

Black Widow: The Long Thread (whenever covid ends 2020) - just the existing Black Widow movie lol

2021

Avengers Academy – Set 20 years in the future, Avengers Academy is a TV show that follows the next generation of heroes.  Kind of soapy, kind of witty.  Like if Riverdale was good.  Driven by an ensemble cast: Margo Banner (Bruce & Audrey’s daughter), Anastasia Barton-Romanoff (Natasha and Clint’s daughter), Morgan and Leo (Tony and Pepper’s kids), and some others I have not invented yet.  

[monstersdownthepath]

Spiritual Spotlight: Ydajisk, the Mother of Tongues

Chaotic Neutral Protean Cantor of Language Evolution, Lost Words, and Slang

Domains: Chaos, Knowledge, Rune, Trickery Subdomains*: Protean, Thought, Language, Innuendo

Concordance of Rivals, pg. 21

Obedience: Recite, copy, or graffiti a text in a dead or self-created language in a public place, regardless of whether any others understand the meaning, and provide no translation. Benefit: Gain a +4 sacred bonus on saving throws against language-based effects.

(*IMPORTANT NOTE: The Subdomains are my best guess; Subdomains are not listed in Concordance of Rivals)

A step above Ssila’s Obedience in that, while it requires your act to be seen publicly, you can still stealth it by simply using graffiti in a public place so you’re not as likely to be arrested or seen as a menace.

Canon dead languages in Pathfinder include Ancient Osirion, Azlanti, and the ever-popular Thassilonian (the language of the Runelords), by the way, and studying any of those three languages is an automatic +1 to your character’s Cool Points if you manage to work it into their character concept. A DM may make it a little more difficult for you to acquire them, as dead languages are difficult to resurrect with mere points in Linguistics, but you can just cheat and have it be part of your character’s backstory. Anything can happen in your backstory!

You can also go the route of just making up a language. It has to be consistent, but you don’t have to go all out and present your DM with a journal filled with runes that help them decipher what you’ve written; you can just say it’s being consistent! And it’s yet another way to get Cool Points for your character, having them write journals or a diary in their own unbreakable code. Ydajisk requires their followers to deliberately not provide a translation for anything they create, leaving others to puzzle over the strange sounds coming out of this person’s mouth or wonder if the new paint all over city hall is an occult symbol or harmless vandalism. It’s also a pretty easy Obedience to hide, if you don’t want people knowing who you work for, since you can get away with translating an existing document into another language. It’ll make you look eccentric, but in a charming way.

The benefit is, sadly, rather poor. Many of the most dangerous spells in existence don’t rely on language, and this spell really only protects you from the seldom-seen Litany spells. It DOES work on Suggestion, though, which is commonly used and devastating if used right, but all in all this benefit is too narrow to matter in 99% of cases.

Boons are gained slowly, gained at levels 12, 16, and 20. Servants of the Monitors, though, can enter the Proctor Prestige Class as early as level 8. If entered as early as possible, you can earn your Boons at levels 10, 14, and 16. You MUST take the Monitor Obedience feat, NOT Deific Obedience. Monitors grant only a single set of Boons. 

Boon 1: Sibilant. Gain Aphasia 3/day, Sonic Scream 2/day, or Tongues 1/day.

Nice! Tongues has almost unrivaled utility if you’re trying the diplomatic route in unknown territory, allowing you to speak and understand any spoken language. You can slap it on the party face if you’re not already the Diplomancer, and it can last for hours at a time at higher levels! Since you’re in the business of learning languages, though, you may end up the party polyglot in due time anyway, reducing its usefulness as you put more and more ranks into Linguistics. If you don’t plan on following through on that, though, it can be useful to carry Tongues around with you... Unless you plan on going into combat.

Sonic Scream’s damage is way too low to consider once you advance past level 4, coming in at 4d4 and halving each time it’s used (up to three times per cast). If it didn’t eat your standard actions to use it might have been worth picking, but as it is, using your standard action to deal 2d4 or 1d4 damage is abysmal. Plus, there’s the fact that Sonic Scream prevents you from casting any other spell with verbal components until you use all three of its charges, so casting it just to deal with a swarm of tiny foes will see you creamed by any of the survivors as your ability to fight back is severely limited.

Aphasia is a spell very few people look at, understandably so. It’s a compulsion and mind-affecting spell and is only level 1, meaning its DC is 11+Cha, pathetically low unless boosted via feats or other spells. However, it’s also basically a Save-Or-Suck if used on an enemy spellcaster because, among other things, it keeps the victim from using any spells with verbal components. It also prevents them from communicating with their own allies and ruins their coordination, so there’s rare moments when hitting someone who’s not a caster also works, such as versus enemies with some form of rallying ability, or the power to inspire themselves or their allies with words alone. Slapping it on a dimwitted creature that relies on orders from another entity to function also works.

It’s a hilarious spell to have, is what I’m saying, but it requires some pretty heavy investment if you want to keep it useful at higher levels.

Boon 2: Burning Tongue. 3/day as a standard action, you can transform your mouth into a serpentine maw with a tongue of roiling energy. This grants you a ranged touch attack that targets a single creature within 30 feet. The attack deals 8d6 points of Sonic damage and renders the target confused for 1d4 rounds. In addition, a creature hit by this attack must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your Hit Dice + your Cha mod) or it is unable to communicate through any spoken or written language for a number of hours equal to your Wisdom modifier. 

Oooooohhhhh, now this is a REAL nice power. A beefy 8d6 Sonic damage--one of the least-resisted elements in the game!--on a ranged touch attack, so not even a mountain of armor can protect against it! And, you will likely realize, a confusion effect stapled onto it that hits automatically. No saving throw to avoid or shrug off the effect early, it’s an automatic confusion for 1d4 rounds and only immunity to mind-affecting effects will protect you from it! It really doesn’t matter who you slap with this, because it’s ALL equally hilarious. People under the effects of Confusion have a 1/4 chance of acting normally, wasting their turn doing nothing, hitting themselves, or hitting the closest available target.

That’s a four-sided coin flip each turn and, with only 1d4 rounds to its effect, there’s a chance they won’t be inconvenienced by the confusion at all... But that’s still 8d6 damage you knocked their nose in with, and since you can do it 3/day you can just hit them again next round! The only unfortunate limiter to this power is its 30ft range, requiring you to get within slapping distance of about 84% of all Pathfinder’s nasties, a dangerous place to be if you’re not a melee character.

I do like the touch that you get a snake mouth while using the power, though. I wonder if you can perform the transformation even when you’ve got no more uses of this ability for extra Intimidation points.

Boon 3: Screams of the Deep. As a standard action a number of times per day equal to your Charisma modifier (min 1), you can cast either Power Word Blind, Power Word Kill, Power Word Stun, or Word of Chaos as a spell-like ability, treating your character level as your caster level. You cannot use the same spell-like twice in a row. The saving throw DC, when applicable, is equal to 10 + 1/2 your Hit Dice + your Cha modifier.

hold on let me

Why, Ydajisk, if you wanted my hand in marriage you needed only to ask. You didn’t need to do this for me!

Some deities are content with giving you a level 9 spell as their final Boon, while most of the Monitors are often too busy to provide you with such power. The Mother of Tongues, however, says “No, MY flock deserves the best” and hands you two level 7 spells, a level 8 spell, AND a level 9 spell on a silver platter. Not only that, but they’re GOOD level 7/8/9 spells! Really hope you didn’t dump Charisma, buddy, because if you did you’re really missing out.

Barbatos may finally have some competition in the Best Boons Ever bracket, though I’ll admit that an obedient Pit Fiend is still more flexible than the Power Word spells. They can only affect one creature at a time, are mind-affecting and compulsion effects (Death is also a death effect, obviously), and require the victim to be below certain HP thresholds, but they offer no saving throw and their effects can often end a battle as soon as they’re cast. Word of Chaos is the unique one here, affecting everyone within a 40ft burst of you and blasting non-Chaotic entities in the radius with pure chaos energy, potentially killing anything too low on the totem pole for you to deal with while crippling everyone who’s more on your level.

Unfortunately, Word of Chaos has zero effect on creatures with more hit dice than you have caster levels, so using it to crunch the boss of a given adventure is a no-go. Extremely effective for wiping out their low-level backup, though... unless, of course, they’re Chaotic. And watch out for non-Chaotic allies you may have, because Word of Chaos doesn’t differentiate between friend and foe.

The only real “weakness” of this Boon is that you can’t use the same word twice in a row, but this isn’t a huge impediment. Its Cha-per-day restriction isn’t much of a restriction when you consider that other deities who hand you the Power Word spells (such as Orcus, off the top of my head) limit you to 3 or 1 a day, whereas a Charisma-based caster can rattle off lethal words up to ten times a day if they have a bunch of Cha-boosting magic items. The power of this Boon lays in the fact that it specifically doesn’t fall into the “save this for later” trap by giving you the option to use it on smaller mobs with how many times per day you can throw it out, potentially saving you way more resources later.

A real good Boon! 11/10! And Ydajisk is a pretty good god to serve, because they’re just a weird book collector! 12/10!

You can read more about them here.

[why-this-kolaveri-machi]

Grand Titans Rewatch: 1.02

Grand Titans Rewatch: 1.02

it’s been literal months since i started this project and neither this nor the fic series that’s supposed to go alongside it has garnered much attention, if any, but damn it, i made a commitment and this time, i’m going to follow through.

for reference, episode 1’s recap here, and its corresponding fic tag is here.

SPOILERS ahead for pretty much the entire series.

1. the recap portion of the episode leans very heavily on the type of horror genre that rachel’s character brings to the show, and honestly, i love it. the superhero genre can feel very… sterile at times, with bright, clean colours and costumes and standard team-ups ending in a climactic punch-fest. the insidious horror of rachel discovering something huge and dangerous inside of her and trying—and largely failing—to control it bleeds into the rest of the show; each of the team has an inner demon to battle, but the lesson isn’t triumph over the beast as much as it is acceptance. it’s unfortunate that the dc live action universe in general has developed a reputation for being gratuitously grimdark; i love the thematic consistency that the tone brings to the show, and it is honestly the freshest take on these characters that i’ve seen so far.

1.5. there’s something to be said, too, about this muddy-window perspective we get into these established superheroes’ lives—the intriguing, sometimes downright opaque scenes of them trying to re-build from wreckage. i love that this is how they choose to distinguish themselves in a very, very crowded arena: the origin story here is not for the superheroes or even the team themselves, but the bonds they form and the family that they become.

2. i kinda love the clash between the goofy costume and the grimdark torture scene. it’s never immediately obvious, but this show is remarkably committed to its comic book roots—so much so that it’s kind of jarring. usually in the journey from the comic to the screen there is an ironing-out of genre and tone, but this show will show you its spandex clad hero with the plastic-feather cape being threatened with torture and castration because that’s how it goes in the comics, goddammit!

2.25. it’s pretty impressive that they’re able to afford such a big place in washington dc

2.5. hank and dawn’s easy intimacy is lovely to watch. i remember not being fond of this long detour to introduce these two relatively obscure characters right after all that juicy set-up in the first episode the first time i watched this, but now i can enjoy the languid way their story unravels, the little glimpses we get into the life they’ve led and the marks that it has left behind.

2.8. a delightfully cheesy moment with the giant bird cage immediately followed by a quietly devastating depiction of sexual impotence and a possible addiction to multiple painkillers! see what i mean?

oh! and before i forget:

MIRRORS, MIRRORS, EVERYWHERE: 9

3. flashback time! can’t say that i’m terribly impressed with the fight choreography; there appears to be hardly any contact between the heroes’ kicks and lunges and the thugs they’re supposed to be fighting, and a lot of slow-motion and editing trickery needs to be employed to make this look kinetic. i don’t really blame them much, though—those capes look awfully cumbersome to be just walking around in, leave alone fight. and i’m glad that the show is making a point of showing that robin’s style of fighting in flippier and more acrobatic than the others’.

3.65. aaaand we get our first hint of History between dick and dawn. to be honest, given what i remember of the rest of s1 and what we know of s2, it does seem like they’re making it so that the original titans did exist, swapping out roy and wally for hank and dawn. i’m not super-enthusiastic about this decision, but we’ll see how it plays out.

4. dick and rachel!

I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS INTERACTION:

a) rachel desperately trying to hide how scared and vulnerable she feels behind brittle defiance

b) dick bemused and concerned and casting around for ways to connect with her but giving up too easily

c) “for the lady” – oh, dick. i love you.

d) rachel warily checking her reflection

e) dick making false promises of safety to rachel in order to get her to come with him to washington—a manipulative little ploy that i’m sure was par-for-the-course during his time with batman

f) “but sometimes there’s no time to be scared” is that what kid!dick told himself when he was starting out as robin oh my heart hurts

g) dick just dropping out of his job for an indefinite time without notice because why in the world would bruce wayne’s ward ever have to worry about keeping down a steady job? he’s utterly unconscious of this, which makes it hilarious

MIRRORS, MIRRORS EVERYWHERE: 10

5. i’m already really fond of rohrbach and charlie the m.e. i know s2’s slate is already really crowded, but i wouldn’t mind seeing a resurrected rohrbach make an appearance, and for bit more of a spotlight on dick’s day job.

6. OH MAN i honestly didn’t remember that dick phoned alfred this episode! and that he considered—for a second—calling bruce! poor guy’s genuinely scared. for all his ‘fuck batman’s, dick’s anger and fear is more internally directed than he realises. this boy needs therapy.

6.5. dick going “… obviously” at rachel telling him not to get pineapple on their pizza makes me think he was definitely setting out to get pineapple on their pizza at that moment.

6.75. oh fuck. i knew it was coming, but that dead guy screaming at rachel through the photo was still terrifying. man i wish they’d stuck a little longer with the horror/mystery vibe they’ve got going here.

MIRRORS, MIRRORS EVERYWHERE: 11

6.8. dick immediately reaching out to hold rachel and comfort her as she sobs, terrified, in the bathtub shouldn’t feel particularly special or heartwarming—it’s a very natural, human instinct, after all—but for this particular version of dick grayson to automatically show this compassion when he’s half convinced himself that his lifetime as a vigilante has left him an amoral husk of his previous self… is significant.

7. it’s an interesting choice to go with the nuclear family as the first major villains featured on this show, but fits totally with the tone so far—the dark, despairing and dank things that hide underneath a cracking veneer of cheery suburban normality. pretty standard horror genre stuff—with an added twist that these people aren’t actually androids, but regular people horrifically tortured and brainwashed to act as murder machines.

7.5. aside from that, it’s a neat contrast to the found family that’s actually starting to evolve, with all of its rough edges and imperfect but raw displays of love.

8. i really like that, for all that rachel and dick have in common, their interaction is weird, start-stop in nature, each dancing around answering the others’ questions with any kind of honesty. rachel has clearly picked up on dick’s caginess around her and dick, for all that he’s been trained in subterfuge and basically been living a lie to most of his friends and co-workers, is unable to keep acting like he knows what he’s doing. he hasn’t had to really live a double life in a while—and he’s rusty when it comes to doing anything that’s not detective or vigilante work.

8.5. dick’s interactions in general through the series contrast with the easy and intimate ways the others talk with each other; he’s just so isolated and so friggin rusty at this.

9. you’d think rachel would’ve figured out by now not to shake random people’s hands.

9.25. i’m so happy about this show’s commitment to showing just how much of a hot mess dick is.

9.35. i’ve certainly warmed up to the icy, washed-out way this show looks, and the general sense of… space, both in terms of physical space as well as the way each scene is allowed to unfold and just breathe. you don’t get that a lot in superhero media these days.

9.45. an update to the dick grayson timeline! dawn says she hasn’t seen dick in four years and seems genuinely surprised to learn that he’s working with the police now. so how do you go from zero to detective in just four years? is that even possible? the timeframe becomes even shorter if you assume that he only decided to join law enforcement after leaving batman. maybe that’s just another thing that dick kept hidden from his friends, even when they were, you know, friends.

anyway, dick continues to be a hot mess, and i am glad that is consistent over every on-screen iteration.

9.5. i am genuinely unsure why this dick/dawn history exists other than to create some weird conflict between hank and dick. i’d much rather that conflict come from dick being an asshole generally and dropping all contact with his friends when it all became just Too Much To Deal With.

10. OH MAN so him contacting alfred was to arrange a big sum of money to pay off hank and dawn?? yep, dick is 100 percent bruce wayne’s protégé. i’m sure he also thinks of this as a way to help hank recover and for hank and dawn to rebuild their post-vigilantism life. this is a terrible way to deal with your guilt, my friend.

and i love that all of this—the mistakes he’s making with rachel despite his genuine concern for and desire to help her, the way he’s unable to really talk to her instead of at her, his false platitudes when he thinks he has nothing to say—is a plausible reflection of the ways bruce floundered with him when he first took dick in. dick has spent so, so long as bruce’s sole heir; though i’m sure they learned to communicate better, the core dysfunction of his relationship with bruce is embedded in his bones.

but the show is clearly setting up the dick-rachel relationship to evolve—and in doing so, have dick come to terms with his own relationship with bruce, instead of spinning increasingly bitter and dark memories of it in his head.

all said, tho: what a dick move. in every sense of the word.

11. aaand here’s why i never understand criticism of this show that says dick is too dark: it’s just so typical of him to hold himself to insane standards and just cut loose and run whenever he feels he’s failed those standards. it’s why he’s always among the first choices to lead a team but his leadership almost never sustains very long. it’s why he’s everybody’s friend but so desperately, desperately alone, especially when it’s his turn to spiral and need help. it’s why when he is spiralling, he adopts spectacularly self-destructive methods to do so. standing aside while zucco died is essentially his (infamous) blockbuster moment, when he so egregiously compromised his moral code that he was forced to re-evaluate the very core of what he’d identified as for decades. he hates himself, but he splits the blame, recognising the very real damage being robin did to him but pinning everything that’s wrong with him on it.

this tracks with every version of dick grayson that i can think of, bar the golden age/silver age comics, more contemporary nightwing runs—especially after his stint as batman with damian as robin—where he’s matured a bit and more level-headed, and, of course, fanon.

11.5. but while dick is wrestling with himself, actual people do get hurt and lost on the wayside. i’m glad that this show is not shying away from showing that.

12. maaan you really, really didn’t have to do this to anyone, leave alone someone as prominent in nightwing’s history as amy rohrbach. still holding out hope that she’ll return somehow next season.

13. rachel using dick’s own words to get him to help hank and dawn… oh fuck yes.

13.5. to be perfectly honest, i quite enjoyed robin as this menace in the shadows, taking thugs down brutally when they can’t even see him. you never see hyper-competent robin on-screen anymore.

13.75. also? hank and dawn’s genuine horror at his brutality is another giant indicator that this is not a dick grayson who’s functioning optimally, by any standard. he needs a place to start growing from, and this is it.

14. dick getting called out on his bullshit is pretty satisfying to watch, no lie.

14.5. i’d forgotten just how brutally the nuclear family defeat hank, dawn, and dick. yikes.

14.8. that last shot of dick desperately trying to save dawn’s life while having flashbacks to his own parents falling to their deaths is so fucking haunting, holy shit.

15. that was… honestly so good, you guys! i remember seeing this episode for the first time and feeling a little irritated with the languid pacing and the way it seemed sort of like filler. but there’s so much great stuff that stands out to me on re-watch—this show genuinely rewards multiple viewings, even when you know what’s coming next.

[redjaybathood]

Favourite and least favourite writers/stories for Jason?

So kind of you to ask.

Favorite authors:

1) Mikimoo - they write awesome jaydick fics. The plot! The drama!

Hands down one of the best action writers in DC fandom, I think. Romance, too, as far as I can judge. Between the Bars is easily the best case fic I ever read in the fandom. And Who By Fire is a character-driven drama that gave me so many feels. And all the others, of course - you literally can read anything they’ve written and won’t be disappointed.

2) redtruthed - that’s quality gen fics right there!

3) See how deep the bullet lies - it’s Arkham based series, which, usually not my cup of tea, seeing how I didn’t play it, but I will gladly recommend to read it even if you didn’t, too. Bruce and Jason reconciliation in this universe, man.

4) Verdant by Cerusee - I absolutely love Talia&Jason, here. Everything else is good, too, but this is the fic that made me care about Talia, to be honest.

5) A Bird in Morning by audreycritter - it’s fic where Bruce finds out about Jason being in the hospital after he dug himself up from the grave, before Talia can kidnap him off the streets. I’m always excited when I notice a new chapter. Their Inbox is very good, too.

6) Stargazer by LemondeGarden. I literally cried reading this fic. It’s the seal of approval of mine, right here.

7) The View From Jade by lowflyinhgfruit. Jason-centric time-travel fic, superbly written.

8) Common People by AmariT - OH MY GOD WHAT IF JASON WAS BRUCE’S BIOLOGICAL CHILD. ♥♥♥

Also, Red Blood, Blue Blood by Telperien a good one on the same theme.

9) Nest and Cages series by LanternWisp - also, anything by this author, but this series esp., because here, Jason is bio son of Lady Shiva, so he’s also Cass’s brother, and he’s bio father is not Willis Todd and alive, but his real dad is, you know, Bruce.

10) Druthers by d_aia - this fic has a very satisfying career path for Jason Todd, while dealing with the absolute black&white morality of Bruce’s. (though I’m forever sad there’s no sequel with clex in it; also, I think this author could have pulled Lex/Jason off e a s y and forever sad they probably won’t).

11) Little Absences by MoonySideDown - one of a few short fics I read and enjoyed, and it hits me just with it’s summary every time in the solar plexus:

There’s an empty seat straight across from him. A seat where a little boy used to perch each morning, wolfing down his breakfast like someone was about to take it from him. He would poke at his food with his fork and tell Bruce about whatever he was studying in school, or what book he was reading.

    A gaping hole sits in front of his face. A bleeding wound in his life where his second son used to be.

    Good morning, B.

I mean. Try not to cry after this one.

12) Quarter past midnight by Aaren - Jason digs himself up, but he’s in a better shape in this AU than in the canon: he doesn’t remember anything but all other brain functions are alright. Love this story.

Also, I tried to find another similar story, where Jason too, doesn’t have any memory of what happened before the resurrection, and hangs out in Bludhaven, and is found by Dick and literally dragged back to batfam. He doesn’t know any of those crazy people, what do they want from him? Very hilarious and also sad but mostly hilarious story but! I can’t remember neither name nor author. If anyone knows what I’m talking about, hit me up with the link pls! I will add it to the post.

13) Retrograde by agent37 (kaivevo) - deals with amnesiac Tim who was whisked away from Gotham by Dick. It’s absolutely thrilling to discover what happened, to get characters where they are now. (it’s jaytim story with jaydick mention, if it is important to you)

14) If You Don’t Grow by Generator Cat - Dick pulls a Bruce, meaning parenting/big brothering Tim and adopting Jason. Tim was a Robin in this fic, and Jason wasn’t. Jaytim also. Very sweet.

15) The Till-Then From the Ever-Since by Kieron_ODuibhir. It is a time-travel fic of sorts, where past or future versions of batfam appear in the present, and no one knows why. Character-driven time-travel drama, what’s not to love.

16) The Bat’s Crest by livirambles - it’s universe hopping fic where batfam swap places with their counterparts in another universe where Bruce is actually an evil dick and also a wanted criminal who will be executed by Justice League… if Jason and Co don’t do anything about it (and of course they will).

17) Say Something by Skalidra - it’s jayroy young justice-adjacent fic, multichaptered and plot-heavy. One of the best jayroy fics outwhere, I think. (And, as I old jayroy very dear for me, I’m very hard to satisfy with jayroy stories. I’ve yet to find any to my liking that are written in RHATO universe… oh well).

For right now, I’m head over hills for scandalsavage‘s fic Therapy - but I need to say, it’s brujay, which I appreciate because I appreciate unhealthy family dynamics, they make me cry like no others. Now, this writer likes to write dark stuff, so be advised, but this fic hits me right in the heart. I can’t not rec it. It’s post-RHATO #25, Bruce drags Jason to the Batcave. I love how the author deals with their relationships in the current canon, and their outlook on the Jason’s character. Even if brujay is not your cup of tea - which I would totes understand - it doesn’t have any explicitly brujay bits yet, and it is worth the read for all Jason fans (though not necessarily for Bruce fans).

That’s not all, of course, just what I remembered and actually found. Enjoy reading! I will be glad to talk about any of those - or other - fics some more.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #62: Tamamo-no-Mae

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making the Fox Priestess of Peerless Beauty, Tamamo-no-Mae! Tamamo’s a Theurgist (cleric-wizard) with a knack for being able to do a bit of everything. Fireballs, curses, magic support, splitting into multiple copies of herself.... she’s got a lot of abilities, is what I’m trying to say.

Check out the detailed breakdown below the cut, or the build summary over here!

Race and Background

We just made Tamamo Cat and we know her race, so it isn’t too surprising that you’re also a Tabaxi, giving you +2 Dexterity and +1 Charisma. You also get a bit of Darkvision. Fox’s Agility lets you double your movement speed for a turn, and recharges after spending a turn not moving. Fox’s Claws gives you a modest melee attack that you can use without weapons, and Fox’s Talent gives you bonus proficiencies in Perception and Stealth.

“Evil spirit that possesses kings” isn’t a background, but your side gig is. The Courtier background gives you Insight and Persuasion proficiencies, and helps you find your way around courtly politics.

Stats

Your highest stat is your Intelligence. That’s your casting ability, and hey look at that, you’re pretty good with magic. Second is your Charisma- that “Peerless Beauty” in your title isn’t just for show, and it will help you deal with people while saving your spells for bigger issues. Third is your Wisdom- you’re still a priestess, and most clerics are pretty wise. Your Dexterity isn’t bad, you definitely prefer getting out of the way of attacks. Your Constitution’s pretty low, but we’re not going to dump that if we can help it. What we are dumping is Strength. Let Cat handle the punching, you’ll take care of the rest.

Class Levels

1. Like I said in the opening, you’re going to be a Wizard. A lot of casters could qualify here, especially since your magic is more innate than learned, but wizards get the most variety, and we’ll need all of it. First level wizards have proficiency in Intelligence and Wisdom saving throws, as well as two wizard skills. Arcana will make you more magical than the average fox, and Religion will help with the “being a priestess” thing.

Wizards also start out with two features. You can prepare and cast Spells in your spellbook using Intelligence as your casting ability. You also have an Arcane Recovery, letting you regain a number of spell slots with a total level of half your level (rounded up) on a short rest

Wizards get a lot of spells, and you’re a caster, so you have some freedom when it comes to spells you should know. To save everyone some time, I’m just going to list off the spells I picked at each level, and note the ones that are needed for the build, either mechanically or to be in character. At this level, you get Fire Bolt, Gust, Prestidigitation, Burning Hands, Disguise Self(needed for a reason we’ll get to next level), Mage Armor, Protection from Good and Evil, Jump, and Magic Missile.

2. Second level wizards get to pick their school of magic, and the school of Theurgy from an unearthed arcana lets you blend your magical skills with the fact that you’re somewhat a minor god. When you pick this school, you also pick a Divine Inspiration, a cleric domain that will affect the rest of the build. You’re a Kitsune, so you fit nicely into the Trickery Domain. You also become an Arcane Initiate, letting you learn spells from the trickery domain spell list, and after that is exhausted, other cleric spells as well. 

Similar to the cleric, you learn how to Channel Arcana. Once per short rest, you can choose one of two options to channel your magical energy. Divine Arcana uses your bonus action to add 2 to your next spell’s attack roll or save DC, especially useful for spells that require a save every turn. You also learn the trickery domain’s Invoke Duplicity, letting you create an illusion of yourself for up to a minute with your concentration. You can use your bonus action to move the illusion around, and can cast spells from the illusion’s perspective, as long as the real you can still see the target. You can get advantage on attacks if you and your copy are within 5′ of the same creature, but that won’t come up too much. Technically these are exact copies, but if you want to make the other Tamamos I won’t tell anyone.

For spells, grab Charm Person to fill up that domain spell list, and Feather Fall.

3. Third level wizards get second level spells. Mirror Image lets you make even more copies of yourself without using concentration, and Pass without Trace is another gift you can give to members of your party. Both are also needed to fill up your domain spell list.

4. Use your first ASI to round up your Intelligence for stronger and more spells, and your Charisma for better social skills without using magic. Grab Shape Water for special water features, Magic Weapon for another neat wedding gift (we’re getting there), and Suggestion.

5. Fifth level wizards get third level spells. Yours are Blink and Dispel Magic to tick another two marks off your domain spell list. Also, nobody’s allowed to have fancier enchantments than you, or so help you Tamamo you will destroy them.

6. At sixth level, you become an Arcane Acolyte, giving you the first level benefits of being a trickster cleric (bar armor or weapon proficiencies). You can now bestow the Blessing of the Trickster as an action, giving one creature advantage of stealth checks for up to an hour. For spells, Fireball gives you some extra (literal) fire power, and Remove Curse lets you slap a talisman on a party member and stop their bad voodoo.

You can also Channel Arcana twice per short rest now.

7. Seventh level wizards get fourth level spells, and you get two more domain spells: Dimension Door and Polymorph. You’re not that into shapeshifting any more, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it.

8. Use this ASI to bump up your Intelligence for more prepared spells with stronger DCs.

9. Ninth level wizards get fifth level spells. Dominate Person and Modify Memory are the last domain spells you need to grab; you’re now free to pick any spells you want from both cleric and wizard spell lists.

10. Tenth level theurgists become Arcane Priests, giving them the sixth level features of being a cleric of their domain. You learn a new Channel Arcana feature, the Cloak of Shadows. You can use your action to become Invisible until the end of your next turn, or until you cast a spell or attack.

For your new cantrip, grab Poison Spray because I learned Tamamo spent the last couple years of her life as a poisonous rock and I wanted an excuse to share that with you. You also get two new spells. Raise Dead and Ceremony, so you can marry people. Yes, I chose this subclass so I could get this without wasting a feat on it. No, I’m not sorry.

11. Eleventh level wizards get sixth level spells. True Seeing will keep you from being fooled by others the way you’re fooling them, and Heroes’ Feast will help you set a proper banquet for your wedding night.

12. Bump up your Constitution with this ASI for better concentration and more health. For spells, grab Mislead for another way to copy yourself and Mass Cure Wounds.

13. Thirteenth level wizards get seventh level spells, and I’ve got to say, there’s not really much here that screams Tamamo to me. Grab Mordenkainen’s Magnificent Mansion for some privacy and then go back to get Immolation.

14. You become an Arcane High Priestess, giving yourself the seventeenth level feature of your cleric domain. Improved Duplicity improves your Invoke Duplicity, letting you make up to four copies instead of one. You can control all four with a single bonus action, but their base speed and range are unchanged.

For spells, we’re going way back to grab Enhance Ability for people we like and Bestow Curse for people we don’t.

15. When you get eighth level spells, Clone is a given- how else is Tamamo Cat going to happen? Also grab Incendiary Cloud for your biggest fireball yet.

16. Max out your Intelligence for super strong spells. Grab Aura of Purity and Heal to protect the party from status effects.

17. Seventeenth level wizards learn ninth level spells. Shapechange makes your polymorph game even stronger, and Astral Projection is also a spell.

18. At this level you have Spell Mastery over a first and second level spell, letting you cast them without using spell slots. Pick Disguise Self for some free shape changing and Mirror Image for free copies of yourself. You can also channel your arcana three times per short rest now. For your spells, True Resurrection and Mass Heal should keep your party on their feet.

19. Use you last ASI to bump up your Dexterity for a better AC and sneakiness. For some extra party favors, grab Purify Food and Drink and Create Food and Water.

20. With your final level, you get two Signature Spells, third level magic that you can cast once per day without using a spell slot. A free Bestow Curse and Fireball should make you one scary fox.

For your final spells, grab Control Winds and Control Weather to set the perfect wedding day.

Pros

With a maxed out casting modifier, two spell lists to choose from, and the ability to pump up a spell when you need it, your magical abilities are massive.

You can create four copies of yourself with Invoke Duplicity, and have an extra three with Mirror Image. (This probably defeats the purpose of ID, but whatever.) This means the odds of you getting hit by an attack aimed at you is about 1 in 8. You’re hard to hit, is the point I’m making. This also means if you have TamaCat on the same team, you can have the entire Tamamo Nine running around at once.

You have plenty of illusions and charms to take control of any social situation, and your charisma isn’t half bad either, so you might not even need them.

Cons

You don’t have much HP, barely scratching past the 100 mark at level 20. Power Word Kill is going to be your worst enemy-if they can hit you.

A lot of your spells and Duplicity require your concentration, and you’re not good at that. You’re probably not going to get hit, but if it happens, it’s going to keep happening.

Despite having so many spells, you don’t have that many attacks, and even fewer damage types. Thankfully Magic Missile is a pretty good standard to fall back on if you’re forced to deal with fire elementals.

Just don’t get hit and you’ll be fine.

Next up: What’s a sling to a god?

[thatboomerkid]

Twist of Deadly Wishes

Twist of Deadly Wishes -- Pathfinder Feat

... Glancing away, the mage visibly struggled with his emotions. “Any wish, then. Is mine.”

“Yes.”

“Mine to make as I see fit.”

The demon smiled. “Oh, indeed. Most certainly and truly, master.”

“Any ... any wish at all?”

Shadibriri shrugged. “Within ... ah, limited guidelines. Barring a wish for more wishes, there is little of which I am not capable. As I have said before, to other men in other places: I can call forth any spell, I can resurrect the dead, I can rewrite time and space. I can create from nothing, and make you wealthy beyond your wildest dreams; I can open doors to other worlds, and cast you across the infinite pleasures of the planes as you desire. I can turn lead to gold, pig-farmers to pigs, and day to night. With but a word, I can unmake mountains, reshape flesh and topple kings ...”            

“Very well.”            

The demon smirked. “I was not done, master, and am still bound to speak the truth. The whole truth. I can also rewire your brain so that you think you’re a hummingbird, or set your bones on fire, or turn you into a pillar of salt and throw you into the ocean to dissolve, as a certain nameless sorceress once discovered. My abilities are not much limited; you drink from the very waterfall of creation’s torrent when you unleash my gifts. Be careful, I suppose they say, what you wish for.”            

“It is to you, then, to interpret the meaning of my wish?”

The demon shrugged again. “My powers are great, and call on majesties older that your species can fathom; even I do not truly comprehend the full scope of what I do, any more than you understand the mysteries of digesting a glass of warm milk and turning it into blood and flesh, nor how it is that you fall to sleep, and dream, and then wake again. I would be careful, were I you, to know exactly what you want, and to make it clear to me what you want, and to phrase what you want as precisely as possible. Barring that, you should also hope that I’m in a good mood, and that my values coincide rather perfectly with your own.”

The mage swallowed, hard. He then allowed himself a thin smile, but it was wry, and without much humor. “Heh. Yes.”

-- from Twisting Amongst Mages

You command the very waterfall of creation’s torrent.

Brought to you absolutely free to enjoy, to test & to share – as always – by the fine folks of my Patreon.

original image from here

Prerequisite: Ability to use spells, spell-like abilities or supernatural abilities of any kind; non-good alignment; see Special, below

Benefit: When you gain this feat, roll three ten-sided dice and arrange them in order from highest to lowest; you will generate a three-digit or four-digit number from your result (somewhere between 111 and 1099). If your highest score is a ten, it represents 1,000; otherwise, tens always represent zero.

For Example: Mike rolls a 3, a 9 and a 10. His final result is 1093. Amber rolls two 3s and a 7. Her final result is 733. Kelsey rolls two 10s and a 1. Her final result is 1,001.

This is the total Twist Score you much reach to Cash-Out your wish. Each time you Cash-Out, you re-roll this 1d100 and once again begin the long climb to your new target score.

If any magical attack you make – or supernatural ability you use – would ever kill a living intelligent creature outright, you may choose to reduce your damage by any amount and thus leave the creature alive; if you choose to do so, you may demand that your victim make a wish.

If your target hears and understands you, and freely chooses to make this wish, you gain the ability to grant this wish (caster level 21st), much like an efreeti or glabrezu.

A wish made in this way must be a statement that can be uttered, in full, in six seconds or less.

Demanding that your target make a wish in this way ends your turn. On your opponent’s next turn, she may speak her wish as a free action. On your next turn, you may then grant this wish as a full-round action.

You may not grant more than three wishes per day. If you are a PC, you may not grant the wish of a fellow PC. Whether you are a PC or NPC, you may not grant a wish to an ally of any kind; if you attempt to do so, your attack’s damage is not reduced in any way and your ally is instead slain.

You may always freely choose to fulfill a wish of this type in a destructive or even deadly manner, although you must TECHNICALLY fulfill a mortal’s stated desires by use of this magic: if a target states that she wishes she could see in black-&-white, rather than in color, you could not, for example, just summon a horde of baboons to beat her to death and then say “your wish is granted.”

If your target says “I wish for limitless riches,” however, you are 100% percent within your rights to crush them beneath a tide of gold coins Plutokinesis-style or banish them to a section of the Elemental Plane of Earth composed entirely of diamonds ... but without a breathable atmosphere.

Your GM is the final arbiter of what are and are not legal responses to the granting of a wish; strong, open and above-all honest communication with your GM is not simply encouraged for this feat but is instead required.

If your GM cannot decide what a specific character would wish for, she may choose to roll 3d6 on the chart below (ignoring any result and rounding down if that option has already been used too many times) to determine the character’s wish; possible responses from you are also listed after each choice:

I wish I wasn’t here! / I wish I was somewhere else! [You may plane shift your target to the Abyss, to the City of Brass or to another location of your choice]

I wish I could escape / I wish there was something I could do to get away safely! [You may baleful polymorph your target into a rabbit or a frog]

I wish you weren’t here! / I wish you would just go away! [You may use greater teleport, moving to any location that is outside of your target’s immediate visual field]

I wish I was home! / back home! / at home! [You may teleport your target back to their home, bringing along yourself and your party or other combatants if you desire]

I wish this hadn’t happened! [Your target is teleported, unharmed and healed of all conditions & wounds, back to where they last awoke or to wherever they were 12 hours ago, whichever is greater]

I wish you would just let me go! [You and your target are both teleported 100 feet into the air, with you grappling your target. At the end of your action, you are teleported back to your previous location]

I wish you were on fire! [You gain the benefits of fire shield]

I wish you would leave me alone! [Your target is subject to a maze effect]

I wish I could kill you! [Your target is given one round to kill you. All other creatures in the area benefit from a sanctuary spell. If you are not dead at the end of the round, your target dies]

I wish you couldn’t see me! [Your target gains permanent natural invisibility, as per an invisible stalker. She also gains a permanent overwhelming scent of rot, death and the grave (or some other scent, as you choose); all opponents within 30 feet may freely detect her purely by sense of smell. If she is upwind, the range increases to 60 feet; if downwind, it drops to 15 feet. Her exact location is not revealed, only her presence within range and the general direction toward her. When she is within 5 feet of any creature with a sense of smell, that creature automatically pinpoints her location even if otherwise blinded to her. She may also be tracked by her smell: any creature may attempt to follow from where she has been by making a Wisdom (or Survival) check to trace her movements and current whereabouts, even if she possesses the trackless step ability. The typical DC for smelling her out is 10; this DC increases by 2 for each hour since she departed the area. This otherwise follows the rules for the Survival skill.

I wish I was immortal! / I wish I was undefeatable! [Your target gains the benefits of the Immortal Creature template and is subject to a baleful polymorph effect]

I wish I was invincible! [Your target is transformed to adamantine, as per a special flesh to stone spell]

I wish your magic would fail! [You may gain the benefits of transformation]

I wish there was another way we could settle this! [You and your target are both teleported to another location, as per a maze spell. You may challenge your opponent to any test of skill -- that is NOT combat! -- that you desire; if you opponent fails against you, she dies]

I wish you would face me alone! [You and your target are both teleported to a location of your choice]

I wish you were dead! [You instantly split yourself into a pair of creatures: your spectral true self and your corporeal false self. Your true self becomes both invisible and incorporeal, and must remain directly adjacent to your false self until this effect ends. You may take no actions while you are so disjointed, nor interact with your environment in any way except to observe. Your false self dies for one hour per character level you possess or until you choose to end the effect. At any time while this effect is active, you may choose to end the effect as a free action: thereby collapsing yourself back into a single creature under your full control. All reversible effects related to your death are undone instantly at this time, just as though you had not died; this includes any damage and/or all secondary effects that would have been avoided if your false self had not died. You are the beneficiary of a true resurrection effect.

I wish ... I wish ... uh ... (stuttering) [your target is forced to answer the following round]

I refuse! [you may not force the creature to make a wish]

You are not required to grant a wish made of you in this way. For example, if a victim says “I wish your bones were all broken,” you could offer to your GM the option “Very well ... I gain all the benefits of an elemental body (or fluid form) spell, and all of my ‘bones’ are ‘broken’”; if your GM doesn’t like that, however, you are within your rights to simply say “I will not grant such a wish.”

If you choose not to grant a wish, you lose one Twist Point from your current Twist Score. This does not count against the total number of wishes you can grant each day.

Each time that you grant a wish by use of this feat, you add a number of Twist Points to your Twist Score equal to your target’s Hit Dice. Once you have reached your goal, you may Cash-Out all of your Twist Points as a full-round action and immediately gain the benefits of a wish spell.

Special: This feat assumes that your GM will establish additional specific, in-universe backgrounds and requirements for gaining this ability; the prerequisites (above) for this feat are thus left intentionally vague, entirely up to the storyteller. In a traditional fantasy game, this power might be limited only to elves or to other creatures with ties to the First World, only to demons and their mortal kin, only to wishcrafters or witches with specific Patrons, only to members of a certain lineage or arcane tradition, only to mad chaos-gods and their spawn, to the seventh son of a seventh son, or to certain “chosen ones” who are born to fulfill a dark destiny.

—

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