#its like oh so you just wanted to include the titans tower event because it's free tim whump

[mikakuna]

i am once again begging for jason fic recs but this time i'm gonna be more specific. pls plsss share any fics you guys have read that doesn't include pit madness, jason apologizing to tim, jason feeling bad about what he did to tim, or anything to do with tim. if it has to do with tim, i hope it's someone acknowledging tim's role in badmouthing robin jason (literally impossible i think) or them only having a relationship if it's not built on jason feeling guilty and tim being a baby twink

[delu-jean]

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞

(Jean x fem!/reader) -> (Angst...) -> 3.5k

Notes: some of the events placed might be a little rushed...but regaredless, enjoy :’D 

Ⅳ > Ⅵ

Time had passed after you and Jean confessed. These past couple of days had been peaceful, and enjoyable. Your friends around you chose to give you both space every once in a while. Not knowing when duty would call you (yet again), you both chose to spend your time wisely. 

For example, one time, he brought you to the top of one of the hills. You both star gazed with each other till the horizon rose. Both of you in awe of such a beautiful sky. Though enveloped in darkness, each star had its own light, brightening the shadows the galaxies held. 

Another being that you both rode for a while. It was great being able to bring out your horses to roam around fields (without the worries of titans). You were also able to make and give Jean a flower crown. Though made of weeds (dandelions), he loved it regardless. He also tried to make one for you, but it didn’t go as planned. 

Lastly, although this involved everyone else, you made pancakes. Sasha, Jean, and Connie had helped you out. They weren’t fluffy, but that had to do with the lack of ingredients (imagine crepes). You gave them out and made a jam with the strawberries Sasha and Connie had picked. Reiner and Berthold also helped the two in their spare time. Although not many were there (in both berries and people), the six of you enjoyed two pancakes each.

“THANK YOU Y/N, I LOVE YOU!” Sasha exclaimed and almost took Reiner’s plate, but he shoved her away before she could.

“I haven’t had these for 5 years...I won’t let you take them now-”

“Five years? This is my first time…” Jean pouted and then looked at you. You instead gave him another strawberry to see everyone shocked.

“WHAT, NO FAIR!!” Connie yelled.

“FAVOURITISM AT IT’S FINEST!” Said Sasha, Jean winked and you rolled your eyes.

“Y/n...what about me?” Berthold frowned as you sighed and gave him one of your crepes. He then remarked he was joking, but you insisted. This was one of the treats you loved making for him growing up, and since it had been a while, you wanted to give it to him while you could. Jean looked somewhat shocked, as the other two snickered. 

“Hehe, that’s what you get Jean,” they both said in unison.

“Oh shut up.”

You shook your head and got up. Since you had finished, you then whispered in Jean’s ear:

“Come and help me with the dishes,” he immediately got up and followed you as the others watched.

“I can wash them,” you looked at him uncertain.

“I’ll help you regardless,” from there, a water fight broke loose, along with a little teasing here and there. You both laughed, enjoyed your time for Bertholdt to then come over.

“Hey I just wanted to ask...but you do know that all of us are going to be on standby, starting tomorrow, right?” you glanced at Jean and then turned towards Bertholdt.

“Yes, I do,” Jean wasn’t coming with you guys. You weren’t exactly sure as to why, but regardless, he seemed a little sad. You then watched as Berthold put a hand on his shoulder.

“Hey, be careful out there...okay? Don’t worry about Y/n, we’ve got her.” “Yeah! We all do!” Connie blurts from the other side.

Jean then smiled and nodded: “Yeah...I know you do.”

--- The day came where you now had to perform your duties. You were grateful for the days given, but now, it was time to go and commence your obligations. As you went to your horse, Jean came over and gave you a very tight hug. You knew he didn’t want you to leave (and you didn’t either), but duty called. He sighed and then kissed your forehead. You then looked up at him as he held you close.

“Be safe...I’ll see you soon...Y/n,” you then slid out of his grasp, and sat on your horse.

“You too love,” you watched as his eyes trailed. It seemed as if he wanted to say more, but kept it to himself. You bit the side of your cheek, wondering about what he would say, but decided to let it go as you followed Bertholdt, and Reiner. You guys rode at the back of the group.

“It’s not like you’ll never see him again,” Reiner teased as you smacked his arm.

“Shut up,” you both laughed to then hear Berthold say:

“But Jean?...ah, I guess he’s better than Eren.”

“What?” Although Bertholdt was timid in front of others (including you), he had his moments where he spoke his mind. This being one of them. “I mean, he’s nice and all, but I thought you would get with someone like Armin, you know? Someone a little quieter, and intelligent,” Reiner than responded:

“I mean, you do you, but don’t get too attached,” he joked. You decided to ignore what he said, and because of that, his tone of voice changed from being goofy, to serious.

“I mean it, L/n. You can do whatever makes you happy, that’s fine, but know that type of stuff comes with a price. Especially on the battlefield. Remember, here on Paradis, you might be a scout, but when you go back to Marely, you are a soldier.”

“Nothing about our operation has changed, there was just some delay. Now that we have a clear objective of where the founder is, we have a sense of direction. If your little affair is going to get the best of our mission, drop it. Remember what we came here for, Y/n,” you froze as he said that. Even though you weren’t from here, it felt like you grew up and lived your entire life with the people of Paradis. You did for about five, maybe six years of your life, but even then, such a foreign place felt like home. That being the case, there were times where you had forgotten about your mission. Especially during the training course. However, when Eren arose out of that carcass, that was when an upsetting wake up call hit you, one you tried to snooze for as long as possible. Secretly, you knew that you wouldn’t be able to live out such a dream with your comrades here...but you wanted to push that thought to the side. That way, you would never have to wake into the horrendous nightmare Marely had waiting for you. You sat there in silence for the rest of the ride. For once, you actually needed to listen to what Reiner’s “warrior'' had to say. Though you hated that emotion, it was one who spoke the truth at times. Plus, even if you didn’t want to accept his words, they would revolve around you eventually. You all then halted at the buildings, and made your way.

--- “If you want to sneak out, I will too.”

“But why?” Connie asked as he lazily moved his finger.

“Don’t you think it’s suspicious? We have none of our gear on yet our superiors are geared to the bear of their bones.”

“Maybe it’s bears?”

“For bears, all you need are guns.”

“Guys...let’s settle down, we won’t be here for too long,” you said.

“Um, guy!? I hear footsteps-”

“Sasha, that would only happen if wall rose had fallen,”

“TITANS ARE COMING! WE NEED TO GO, NOW!”

You all got up immediately. Not having time to put on gear, you all got on your horses, ready to help scope/save civilians. Connie and Reiner decided to go south...near the direction titans were running to. Though you were a little scared, you decided to follow anyway. You were concerned about both Connie and Reiner. Plus, three mutuals were better than two. -> You all made it to his village. You looked around the area with Reiner, wondering where everyone had gone. Titans seemed to have imprinted the buildings, but there was no blood shed. It was a mysterious scene alright, but what spooked you even more was Connie’s statement.

“Guys...I think...I think that’s my mom.”

“What?” both Reiner and you asked in unison. Impossible?...how?... Was that even possible? It could only be if... As you kept on thinking, Reiner then said:

“Connie, I think you’re reading too much into this.”

“I...maybe...it’s just a hunch though,” you sat there worried. Maybe it really was. The look on Reiner’s eyes however, made you think the opposite. You chose to leave it alone as your superior said:

“Come on, we need to regroup with the others. No one is here, so let’s go.”

--- It was now dark outside. Your superior held a torch as he guided the rest of you along the wall, making sure nothing was out of the ordinary. Problem was, things were. You weren’t exactly sure as to why, but a feeling got the best of you. Knowing that, you approached Reiner with a worried tone in your voice.

“Something feels off...why is that,” you whispered.

“I’m not sure...but keep your guard up,” he responded with.

You then met with another group who had come from the west. You sat there in fear after hearing that they had encountered nothing over there. It should have been a good thing...but no sight of any titans? Whatsoever? Something bad was going to happen, and you could tell as you all grouped, and rode off elsewhere.

“You, rookies. Go and sit in the tower, we’ll patrol from above.”

“Right,” everyone then climbed up the stairs and sat beside one another.

You sat beside Bertholdt as Ymir and Reiner headed elsewhere. You weren’t in the best mood and he could tell as he scooched in a tad. He scrunched both of his legs which were held by his arms. He then looked at you with a sorry look, and then started conversation.

“You okay? What’s up?”

“Bertholdt...what if...what if we, no...I die here?”

“You think you’re going to die before me?” he chuckled and then saw his joke didn’t lighten the mood. He decided to tuck his playfulness away, and instead seemed more sincere.  

“Y/n, you will make it back home...we all will. So don’t worry too much, okay? Overthinking is my thing after all,” you nodded and then asked:

“Hey Bertholdt...could you do something for me?”

“Sure, what is it?”

“I will, but you’ll have to do the same for me as well.”

“Of course, I promise,” he smiled and then patted you head, just like old times. Although you have grown up, he’s always seen you as his little sister, and always will. He admired you and would try to protect you, no matter the cost. To your surprise, you then were told that titans started approaching. You all rose immediately, chasing for the exit as Reiner led.

“REINER, WAIT FOR US!!”

“WHY IS HE ALWAYS FIRST!?” Connie yelled in frustration.

“GUYS, THE TITANS ARE IN! COME AND HELP ME!”

Before you could get there, Bertholdt ran faster than you. While he aided Reiner, you helped the girls who had found a canon.

“REINER, MOVE!” You yelled and he did so.

“That should hold them off,” Christa said.

“Yes, now let’s go back up,” your body motioned upwards as everyone followed.

You watched as Christa helped fix up Reiner. Although not obvious to some, you and Berthold could tell Reiner was very much enjoying that interaction. And he told you not to get attached to Jean, that hypocrite. You and Berdtholt watched from afar as you whispered:

“Not like he’ll need it anyways,” you meant that both literally (since he was a titan and could heal) and jokingly. Thankfully, Berthold got the joke and chuckled.

“No but...has Reiner always been the self-sacrificial type?” Connie asked as you both froze.

“No...he used to be...more of a warrior.”

“A warrior?...I don’t get it,” Reiner replied.

‘Well I do…’ you thought to yourself.

Though Reiner did have his moments where he was a “warrior” and what not, deep down, you knew he was also a coward. That was another reason why you took her words lightly. Because whenever he would spur, you knew it was out of either fear, the truth, or both to cover up his worries. Like you said, every smile had it’s frowns. Reiner was no different from that, and neither were you.

Your little moment was then interrupted as the sound (and feeling) of collision occurred. You all went up the stairs to the outdoors of that building. Two bodies were laid down and titans were coming up the tower as you spoke. You were told by your superior that someone was toying with your situation, but who? First, no blood shed at the village, second, no titans appeared until now, and third...the coordination that took place...was too odd to call it chance. But what exactly were you guys fighting against? 

They then ordered for you to stay back as they both flung. You watched as they fought endlessly. After one titan fell, another appeared. Why was...why was that happening? Berthold stood in front of you as the blades of the two dull. You knew what was yet to come and looked away. The yells of their screams, though you’ve heard them before, still sickened you to this day. Though, you weren’t sure as to why…since you were trained at both here, and Marely to think otherwise. 

Ymir then grasped Christa. You weren’t exactly sure as to what would happen, but you then saw her grab a knife from Connie. You were confused as to why she would do such a thing.

‘How is that?...’

“Okay...what’s your plan exactly?” Reiner asked as she touched the tip. “Not sure, but I guess we’ll figure it out together.”

“Ymir, wait. We should plan things out before you go head first into something-”

“Y/n...don’t worry about me. Instead, Christa. Remember the promise we made on the snowy mountain...I have no say as to how you live your life, but...live for yourself,” you saw as the girl sprinted off the building, knife in hand.

All of you watched from afar, shocked. Just what was she doing? Connie grabbed Christa and once you saw that damn spark, you understood what was going on. Ymir had Marcel’s titan...the Jaw. The boys behind you stared terrified, if only Marcel didn’t get eaten by Ymir...would this all have happened? 

You gazed as Ymir took out titan by titan. Christa was ready to jump off the roof, while those below kept on fighting back. You weren’t sure what to do exactly, and instead clung onto the brick. Terrified for what was yet to come. Christa then yelled:

“TEAR THIS TOWER TO BITS! LIVE FOR YOURSELF!”

Although you wished Ymir could’ve done differently, it was probably the best option for the six of you. So she did. She ripped each tile to pieces, knocking down titan by titan. She then jumped back, telling you all to hold on. You gripped onto her hair (along with the others) and watched the castle collide with the monsters below.

“YMIR!” Christa screamed as Ymir ran towards the titans arising.

“Hey ugly!! You still have a job to finish!” Connie added.

You couldn’t believe that the jaw was under your nose the entire time. She was just as good when it came to hiding (like the four of you). You watched as titan, after titan beat her exterior to a plump, and the next thing you knew...a titan was right behind you. You knew too damn well the armoured was too important, so you did what any soldier would have done.

“REINER, MOVE!” You pushed him to the side.

“Y/N!” They all screamed as it grasped you.

“DAMNIT!” Reiner yelled as it held you captive. You struggled your way out of that mess, why here, why now? What would Jean think?

‘Jean…’ you froze in terror as the mouth opened, only to hear Bertholdt screaming at the top of his lungs.

“WHY!? WHY Y/N!? LET HER GO!!” You heard him cry as you then slipped into its mouth...watching the place go dark, along with your conscience.

---

“Hey,” it was the morning of the day you were headed towards the standby zone. Jean still embraced you and you could smell the scent of the breeze that lay on him. You sobbed on his shirt knowing this would be the last time you would get to see him. 

There was no going back. This was it. The warmth Jean had given you, would now be gone...“With no type of heat, your body started to ice. Instead of struggling, you accepted it...something you wish you didn’t end up doing.”

--- “Heyo kiddo, you can get up now,” your eyes fluttered and then sprung open. Your body was drenched and your muscles sore. Soon enough, you recognized that voice. It sounded way too familiar for you to ignore.

“Zeke…” you coughed as he replied:

“Yes, Zeke Jaeger. The one and only-'' you immediately stood up, put your hand to your heart, and the other behind. But you then quickly changed as you shot your right to your side, and the left with your palm faced towards him. You were terrified to say the least.

“Relax...it’s just us, so no need for formalities. Anyways, tea?” you did as told and sat across from him. Now things were starting to make sense. If Zeke was here, he was probably the cause of all of the commotion, coordination, and suspicion. 

You had always known Zeke as the playful kind of guy. Though you weren’t a warrior, since Bertholdt and Annie were, you often got to interact with Zeke. He seemed like a nice person with good intentions, but seeing him from this perspective, had you thinking otherwise. You took the cup he gave to you as he started to go on yet again.

“Honestly, I was expecting one of the warriors...but I guess having you here isn’t a loss. At Least they actually brought me someone who’s from Marely,” he sighed as the titan who devoured you, then went on it’s way.   “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, well isn’t it obvious? To take you home silly, along with the founder.”

“Eren Jaeger?”

“Yes, the man himself. Which if you don’t mind me asking, what exactly does he look like?”

“Well...he’s a brunette boy. 5’9 I would assume, and he also has deep blue, yet greenish eyes.”

“I see, also, what is this gear exactly? I comprehended the idea behind it, but could use more information.”

You and Zeke spent the next hour talking. You explained the way things worked here, along with the ODM gear, and what you knew based on what the warriors had told you. You also explained how this happened in the first place, how their titans were revealed (but not their identities), and how you saved Reiner by pushing him to the side.

“Excellent reaction. We can’t afford to lose the armoured at this rate.”

“I guess so…”

“Also Zeke...why come now?...after all of this time?...” he sighed and then looked at you.

“Well, time is running out, and I already gave enough time for the 4 of you to settle things. I’m surprised but glad you’re still alive.”

“Which reminds me, Y/n, I’m dismissing you from this mission?-”

“What!?” you immediately shot up after hearing him.

“Is there something wrong? Your family is back in Marely, waiting for you. Plus, if you do, the military might acknowledge you. Saying you protected the titans and served marely during the mission to paradis.”

“Though, I can’t guarantee anything.”

‘But...Jean...the others…’ you weren’t given the time to think as he then called out:

“Pieck, come here.”

“Pieck?”

“Why hello Y/n,” she said as you flinched a bit.

“Since she’s armoured, ride at her top if anything. You remember how to shoot, right?” you nodded and he then continued.

“Okay then. I won’t see you for a couple days, but until then, you’ll ride home in the boat at the doc,” right before you climbed up Pieck, Zeke stopped you:

“Ah wait, you’ll need this,” he grabbed you an armband and placed it in your hands.

“I’ll see you soon.”

--- Pieck sent you to the doc. Your eyes dimmed as you both stepped closer to the boat. You were glad the people there were Eldians, because that meant you could let go of your composure (to an extent of course).

“Tell the general that we’ll be on our way soon enough,” they all saluted and agreed. You were now on the boat, and felt as it started to move.

You stood there and watched as the Island drift further from you. If only you could have stayed longer, used your time wiser, and gotten to spend more of it with Jean...you would probably never see him again. The difference between this scenario, versus the one before (the incident that led to your “death”), was that now you were leaving Jean...but alive…. You thought it would’ve been better if you had left him dead. That way, you could have a peace of mind. 

Now this guilt would live with you for gosh knows how long. Not only that, but the lingering feeling for him...would always trail behind. You didn’t know how you would cope with this...and honestly, you hoped you wouldn’t. Because it would be the only thing that would make your departure bitter yet sweet...

Ⅳ > Ⅵ

[reachexceedinggrasp]

So the majority of the shows I’ve seen lately can be charitably described as ‘light entertainment’, including the ones with dark elements or more weighty, ponderous plots. They might be entertaining or interesting, they just... don’t stand up to scrutiny. Turn your brain off because this isn’t that carefully or skilfully made and you’ll only be annoyed if you start thinking about it as a whole. Including the last couple 'tragic’ historical dramas I’ve watched, which were not effective tragedy for that very reason. If you’re going to kill off the main cast, you have to earn it, and overwhelmingly writers don’t. Anyway, I’ve been getting despondent about whether stories which actually hang together and form a coherent narrative unit with consistent themes are the exception rather than the rule.

(And I feel like that should be a pretty low standard to meet, it’s sort of Step 1 of ‘being a story’: be about something! Communicate something, no matter how basic it is. Dead simple stories with rock basic messages can be revelatory! Just do it well!)

I’ve seen very little genuinely focussed or meaningful storytelling in my ventures for what feels like a long time. Basically, I can kind of count on one hand the number of films or dramas or whathaveyou I’ve seen from the last few years where it felt like the filmmakers were in complete control of their story and everything in it was purposeful and intentional. Most things have felt slapdash or shallow or fleeting. Story elements and character choices come out of nowhere just to derail already concluded arcs and fill screen time with empty repetitious drama, not to serve a meaningful narrative purpose. I would be watching with zero confidence anything in particular was going anywhere or that the writers knew where that should be. It’s just throwing shit at the wall, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type writing all the time and it fucking shows.

But then I watched Money Flower.

Money Flower is different. Money Flower is towering head and shoulders above every modern drama I’ve ever seen. Titanically good writing which rises above its genre and makes conventions seem radically new and fresh not by reinventing them or deconstructing them, but by playing them straight, taking them seriously, and committing 1000%. This is all your familiar rich family tropes but with masterpiece execution, infused with consequence and meaning because they’re all driven by the psychology of complex three-dimensional characters. So many moving pieces and none of them are random or unmotivated. Just... GOOD WRITING. And I want to make the point that it is this wherein art lives. The difference between a rank Lifetime movie and Romeo and Juliet is not novelty or tropes or plot twists- it’s execution.

This show is such a perfect example that it is not ‘mere events’ (aka plot) or novelty or shock value or cool ideas which separates something brilliant and timeless from forgettable schlock; it is solely and entirely execution. It’s writing itself, if you know what I mean. You can describe many of Shakespeare’s tragedies and history plays as soap opera plots. What makes Macbeth a deathless masterwork and Death Wish Hollywood wank isn’t a fundamental difference in subject or genre. It’s Shakespeare’s characterisation and purposeful storytelling. It’s the poetry of the dialogue. It’s the craft of writing. Most of Shakespeare’s plots are based on existing stories or on historical events and that has never mattered because novelty is not an inherent good or of any inherent artistic value.

Like, this is the problem with storytelling right now blah blah GOT, shitty endings everywhere etc. because power over the audience (can’t let anyone guess the plot, looking ‘clever’ with meaningless callbacks) and novelty are valued over narrative structure or things making sense or emotional verisimilitude. We have so many writers thinking being ‘shocking’ is all it takes to be a genius. It’s easy to be shocking if your story makes no goddamn sense because things that don’t make sense are literally unpredictable. Not in a good way, though. A great twist or sudden swerve needs to be unexpected but inevitable in hindsight or it does not work. I should be able to rewatch your thing and think ‘oh, of course! you can see it was [x] all along!’

We have so many popular writers now who are so shallow they don’t think anything needs to make sense on a character or emotional level. They don’t think their story has to be about anything. Substance is irrelevant as long as the surface is flashy enough. That has no staying power, you can only watch it once and you will forget about it quickly.

However, if you have ever wanted to experience the constant heightened stakes and High Drama of a soap opera without being annoyed at how ridiculous it all is and while actually giving a shit about the characters because they feel like real human beings, if you’ve wanted to feel repercussions when characters make choices, and get the emotional payoff that is the entire point of drama- now you can. Watch Money Flower. And let me tell you, it is fucking riveting. This show is mostly made up of people sitting in rooms talking and yet it is heart-pounding excitement nearly every episode. It is profoundly traditional and by the book while being totally fresh. It’s the most engrossing and satisfying artistic experience I’ve had in a long time.

Like, THE TENSION, THE DRAMA, THE REVEALS!!! You can, in fact, spend most of 24+ hours on the edge of your seat about family problems and business mergers. It seems unlikely, but that is the power of this series, it creates insanely high stakes and mesmerising suspense out of the most commonplace ingredients. Familiar plot elements become brand new and surprising under the deftness and tightness of this narrative. The plot itself is certainly 100% melodrama but it never feels like a soap opera and is never ever soapy in in a pejorative sense because it handles its classic tropes with such maturity and nuance that it's like you've never seen them before. The writing is incredible.

It is on an entirely different level than the vast majority of dramas, with a total self-assurance that keeps the pacing relentless yet unhurried- taking its time to let the impact of events be felt, the narrative always knowing exactly where it’s going and how to get there. The characters are all multi-faceted and unpredictable without ever being incoherent, their motives and goals always being gradually uncovered in more detail that only makes the storytelling and characterisation even tighter, even richer. The twists and cliffhangers are always mind-blowing but always earned, never cheap or nonsensical, and I can't remember ever thinking that about another show. (There’s literally one exception towards the very end where something a bit random happens for reasons of pure symbolism- it’s a misstep imo but it’s minor in the scheme of things)

Every time I started to doubt the writing, started to think ‘oh no, they’re going off the rails’, they showed me I was wrong and they were in total control. The only 'problem' with the show is that the drama is also profoundly painful to watch unfold, particularly in the beginning, because it's a story where everyone makes terrible life choices and moral corruption is everywhere. It's hypnotic though, like a car crash. If you can handle something dark, insidious, cerebral, and character-driven there is nothing I've seen in the same vein that can approach its brilliance. It’s like The Magnificent Ambersons as a slick modern revenge drama. There is also (PRECIOUSLY!!) a core of stunning romanticism around which all the horrors revolve and that saves it from becoming hideous or cynical. There is a chance for redemption and a new beginning after all, in spite of all appearances.

The ending has apparently been controversial, and it is definitely not quite as climatic as you would have expected given how powerfully climatic almost every regular episode is, but it's a good ending. There isn't full closure, they don't provide final resolution in a bow, but to me it's an ending about hope. It suggests optimism for our characters and I was satisfied with that. It's extremely rare for a 'revenge story’ to allow this kind of room for healing and it can do that because, imo, we discover in the end that it wasn't ultimately vengeance in Pil Joo’s heart. He has not become a tragic hero who will be consumed by the cannibalistic darkness of revenge, his quest was for justice. He teeters on the edge of the abyss but he avoided falling in; he didn't sell his soul, at least not irrevocably.

He is nonetheless a very tragic figure and an anti-hero, but despite having dedicated his life to bringing down the Jang cabal, it’s not that he’ll stop at nothing. He will make any personal sacrifice no matter how desolate, he lives as a mere husk of a man, and he facilitates enormous emotional harm to others in service of his goals, but he has ethical hard lines he never considers crossing. His sense of decency and compassion is never extinguished; he does care about the collateral damage he is causing even when making justifications for it. It’s important to him to give people as much agency as possible in their choices, to mitigate the damage done by his schemes as much as he can. To try to prevent harm coming to undeserving bystanders. Not that this makes it okay that he uses people, which he does, but the point is he never completely surrenders his moral compass to avarice. He’s never okay with burning down the world or ruining innocent lives just to get to his target.

Pil Joo is less a vigilante and more an avenging angel, he wants justice more than retribution. He wants fairness and a better, safer world where what has happened to his family won’t happen again. The reason this story never becomes Sweeney Todd (aka: a full on tragedy where we see the inevitable outcome of lust for revenge) and the reason he can survive twenty years spent pursuing someone’s downfall is exactly that principle. Searching for retribution would have destroyed him, he would have become the very thing he hated, but instead he goes as far as necessary to publicly expose the Jangs for what they are and then willingly submits to penance for his complicity in their crimes and tries to atone with the people he hurt along the way. Purged, he’s symbolically reborn and takes back his real name to maybe finally have a chance at the life he should have had. He moves on, content, a positive force. He’s capable of healing from the ordeal because he realises he doesn’t need retaliation, just seeing them stopped and facing consequences for their actions is enough.

The love story is a superbly poignant part of this. Their love is the ‘victim’ of his revenge and it will forever be impacted by it, but it’s not something that can be killed, so there’s still hope. Mo Hyeon’s bookending rescues of Pil Joo from death mean first that he has a purpose he must fulfil and then the second time that he has freedom to finally live as himself, for himself. There’s a future. And maybe they can be together there. I’m emo about it.

Anyway, if there was the slightest doubt about me becoming a long-term Jang Hyuk fangirl, it’s been put to rest. This performance is easily one of the best I’ve ever seen, period. No contest it’s the best I’ve seen in a tv drama. It’s also the most subtle and masterful turn he's delivered in his whole career. He's so restrained, but he is giving absolutely everything; he has total control over every microexpression, every gesture, every molecule in his body. There is so much simmering under his surface, so much going on in his eyes; the layers and depths are endless. The intensity and sharp intellectual focus he brings to the character is breathtaking. Everyone else is doing amazing work too, but he is almost constantly on screen and has this spectacular command of such a sprawling story, such a complex character, and he makes it look effortless. All artifice has melted away. The fact that being so tightly contained is in stark contrast to the bombastic element in many of his other roles renders its delicate precision even more startlingly impressive. I thought he was a great actor before, but I didn’t fully appreciate what he was capable of until Pil Joo.

[nalufever]

do you have any more nalu fic recs?

Sorry, not sorry - you’ve unleashed more than you could’ve guessed. ^^ Always happy to Recommend a List of Fics ~ And thank you for asking! Admittedly there’s a few Recs that aren’t Nalu - I got excited to share my favs. ;)

A Girl Worth Fighting For: Natsu navigates unspeakable horrors to win Lucy’s love or Natsu goes shopping, looking for the perfect white day gift. 

A Lesson: Natsu and Lucy can’t keep themselves from expressing their passions - and the results are bed breaking. Short but smutty - smexy in fact. ;P 

A Solidly Constructed Kiss: Erza strong-arms Lucy and Natsu into working the Kissing Booth to raise funds for a school trip. Lucy’s never been kissed and Natsu acts like he’s never entertained even the idea of kissing another person. Things naturally come to a head when Lucy and Natsu are given the task to build the actual booth; will they fight over construction or build themselves some kind of relationship? 

Fairy Tail Week: A collection of drabbles from tumblr prompts to celebrate Fairy Tail. Fairy, Ladies, Lads, Magic, Guild, Ultimate Team, Stronger, Mashima, Tail. Only rated teen to err on the side of caution, family friendly content featuring most of the Fairy Tail Guild! 

Feathers and Scales: Angel/Demon AU. Devils are more than they seem and Angels no less. Pitted against each other in a never-ending battle for souls, a single Angel and Devil trade mercies and fall in love. Warning: major character death(s). 

Full Moon Secret: Natsu had wanted to tell Lucy his secrets, to share his family history with the fey…it had just never been the right time. Tonight the truth was going to be revealed, one way or another. 

Okay, I could just keep hyping all of my own fics individually - but I won’t - other than to just put in a link to ALL OF THEM. ;) Fair warning, I have a few other fandoms works in all the Fairy Tail stories - from Brooklyn 99 to The Flash, Snow White with the Red Hair, RWBY, Blue Exorcist, Teen Titans and some Hakuouki. Yes, I’m a shameless self-promoter. Speaking of that - one more I need to rec!  Natsu’s Stars in Lucy’s Sky. I swear Imma finish this. 

I also have more than a few favourite authors who write for Fairy Tail (and other fandoms) ~ some have not contributed lately to Fairy Tail or chosen to concentrate on other fandoms - but I like them and their excellent writing. 

ObsessedwithNalu: One of my first fandom friends and pretty much any of her FT stories is gold. @obsessedwithnalu  

Christmas Treats: Admittedly a gift to me and very cherished for that fact - and - it’s frigging awesome. Lucy does a little holiday baking at home before Fairy Tail’s Christmas party. Natsu, as always, is there. One thing leads to another… 

Thanks, Krov: When Krov decided to relax at his favorite bar after work, he never imagined that he’d be seeing some of his old guild members, especially since he thought they had died long ago. Nalu fluff. 

Edo-Nalu love fest: Submissions for the Nalu love fest week of 2014. But instead of regular Nalu, these ones feature Edo-Nalu. Smut-tastic and delightfully mature. 

ImpracticalDemon: Another early fandom friend who’s still writing this, that and the other thing - and she’s just GREAT. Again, a link to all her works and a few that are special to me follow. XOXOX @impracticaldemon  

May the Best Man Survive: “Gray would never have in a million years thought he’d host Natsu’s bachelor party (Nalu pairing). Why is it his job to herd the bunch of rowdy mages from bar to bar, ending up at the guild where the real surprise party is? Oh yeah, the idiot had asked him to be the best man at his wedding. Hijinks, chaos and hilarity ensue.” ^^ A prompt supplied by me and I’m smirking so wide because the fic Imp came up with delivered more awesomeness than I could have hoped for! 

A Star At His Side: “Accidentally Fall Asleep Together” for Endragoneel on tumblr. Natsu and Lucy spend the day together at a festival in Magnolia. Natsu ends up watching more than just the stars when the festival is over… 

Christmas Gifts: When Erza walks Wendy home from the Guild’s Christmas Party, Wendy realizes how alone her friend and mentor is feeling. She sets out to recruit Lucy, Natsu and the rest to break Jellal out of prison for just one night, as a Christmas gift for Erza. Meanwhile, Natsu has accidentally burned some of Lucy’s writing. Will she forgive him? 

Dark Shining Light: One of the best and most welcoming writers I have ever interacted with! I’m still gobsmacked she’s a friend! She’s a legend and I don’t know what else I could add to any discourse about her writing - but the classics are classic for a reason, yeah? Here’s a few of my personal favourites of her works and just know there’s too many to list them all! AKA @ff-darkshininglight 

Mischievous Cat: Let’s just say there have been a few incidents where Happy has come in at a bad time. 

What Belongs to a Demon: Everyone knew she belonged to the great demon lord and she would prove that she deserved to stand by his side. 

The Truth Revealing Cards: Lucy should have known if there was a card that would reveal her secrets, Natsu would want it. 

Eliz1369: Got introduced to her for her Hakuoki fics but she’d dipped her toes into FT as well ~ and this is a great fic. ^^ @eliz1369 

The Light of Fairy Tail: The members of Fairy Tail may be their own brand of crazy, but their hearts are always in the right place. 

rougescribe: Shame on me for not reading more of this author’s works! @rougescribe  

Fire Sprite No 5: For him, Heaven wasn’t a place or a single moment in time. It was a feeling built on memories upon memories, past and present and a hope for future ones all tied down together. All sharing one common denominator: Her. Nalu. Tumblr Valentine’s Event. 

Fallen Ark Angel: Admittedly I only have interacted from afar with this writer. I mainly read Nalu fics but I love her take on Mira and Laxus and her next gen offspring characters. She’s got a lot to offer and it’s all superb. @fallen029

Loving Satan: Loving Satan is never easy. But when she loves you back, its twice as bad. 

Madartiste: Another one-sided love affair with someone else’s writing. And her stories are all wonderful and prolly appear on hundreds of Fic Rec Lists - but here’s one of my Favs! @madartiste  

Hoarding: Getting interrupted gets old fast. 

UranoMetria: I added her to my stable of fav authors 05-03-2014. Wow. Eons ago and even if I’m not sure she’s still active in the fandom, I salute her. Kudos. 

The Goddess Gate: With six years of partnership, Natsu and Lucy are torn apart by a mysterious visit from a secret magic council. Lucy is kidnapped and her memories suppressed. She fights her way back home to regain her life - with a startling secret revealed as she begins to remember. The lives of all Earthland hang in the balance. **Okay, this is a wicked old fic - but amazingly written and fuelled my own desires for writing. Last updated in 2018 but who knows? Some current attention may slay any demons on her back in regards to writing - and even if not - the hours of enjoyment reading this is worth giving a comment just to say, ‘thank you for writing.‘ 

Wild Rhov: Do I even need to say anything about this author? Famous, famous, famous. Excellent. Writes a lot of pairings and fleshes every relationship into something REAL. I Can’t Even. @wildrhov  

Beastly Possession: Something is murdering people in Magnolia. When Lucy is attacked, Natsu goes on a rampage to find the culprit, and everyone in Fairy Tail wants revenge. But could this bloodthirsty attacker be someone they know? Warning: High octane nightmare fuel! Do not read while eating, and beware of red eyes in the dark! 

Shell1331: Introduced via Imp. This writer is in a few fandoms and is worth reading. @shell-senji  

Juicy: Impulsivity and poorly chosen words get Natsu into more trouble than he’d expected, which is saying something for him. 

AbsentAngel: Everyone should know this writer. Been stalking her since 2014 so that says something. Tho, it’s prolly just that I’m creepy. ;) My suggested fic here is being re-written/has been? into something original and worth being purchased when it becomes available and re-read over and over. No, I am not being paid to shill but I am open to having senpai notice me. @absent-angel  

To the Flame: She stares, transfixed, as the blood runs down his fingers and begins to pool in his palm. He holds his hand up to her lips in offering, and she tears her eyes away from the blood to study his face. He is smiling softly. “Go on Luce, I didn’t cut them for nothing.” [Vamp AU] 

HawkofNavarre: Loved for awesome and delightful Gruvia content. Looks like there’s a tumblr but I can’t manage to link it. :(

You Stole the Rain: He just wanted to be friends; fine, she just needed to change his mind. Gray x Juvia 

Ricardian Scholar Clark-Weasley: Not sure I spelled that right even after checking three times! I usually short hand that to RS-CW in my head. And she’s prolific - has a tonne of fandoms and is a tower of talent. Is anyone reading all my fangirl gushing? 'Cause she follows one of my fics and comments (sorry I haven’t updated that fic in a while) and it’s a source of happiness that someone who writes so well happens to enjoy some of my content. Okay, bragging over - back to the Recs! 

Tales of Fairies: A collection of oneshots exploring different friendships, ideas, sad themes, comical scenarios, and lots and lots of pairings…but mainly Nalu. 

snogfairy: Another giant in the FT fandom. Impressive talent. @lineffability  

naughty nalus: smutty nalu oneshots B) ***Mature content!*** 

Rivendell101: Another giant in FT and other fandoms. This author would be considered required reading if I ran a fandom course in a University setting. Just sayin’ @rivendell101  

Crave: /krāv/ Verb. To feel a powerful desire for (something). They crave each other. And satiation doesn’t come easily. He growls against her again. “Beg for it,” he demands, lips ghosting against her. 

Lakerae aka @hidetheremote : Did you think I’d forgotten you? Ha! Gotcha good! You’re an inspiration to me because you’re working so hard to publish your children’s books. Kudos to you li'l sis! You’re busy but still make it a point to talk to me and I love you for that and everything.

The Gift of the Magi: A Gajevy Twist: A retelling of the classic Christmas story “The Gift of the Magi,” with your favorite Fairy Tail couple Gajeel and Levy! It’s Christmas time and Gajeel and Levy exchange gifts. They both are surprised what they receive and learn a lesson of the true meaning of Christmas. 

I could add more and more as I search my saved favs on FF.net ~ and I’m sorry to not include all of them - but this is crazy long as it is. If you read and like any of the recommended fics, please be sure to let the author know. To the authors of these and all fanfics, Thanks for everything.

[bigskydreaming]

But that conversation between Bruce and Dick is pre-Crisis. (It's Donna's wedding, a mess of BLAMs which may or may not have happened post-Crisis. And I note the absence of the "bad guys crash the wedding" cliché.)

Things aren’t as clearly separated into pre-Crisis and post-Crisis as people like to claim, though. Like, at the time, there was a lot of crossover-acknowledgment from storylines both pre-and post Crisis, and there was never like, a clear definitive line where nothing from before Crisis mattered any longer after it. That was never what that event was, or how it was utilized. Rather, Crisis was used as a convenient way to INTRODUCE a sizable number of retcons, but it didn’t mean that everything outside of those retcons that came before was like, no longer valid.

In terms of this specifically......tons of things to do with Dick, Jason and Bruce pre-Crisis still remained in continuity and relevant all the way up to the New 52. When Jason fought Tim at Titans Tower when he came back, he specifically referenced having been a Titan for a couple missions - that definitely straddled the line of pre and post Crisis and didn’t fall cleanly into either camp. As well as being references to stories that happened BEFORE his post-Crisis origin retcon was canonized, thus further muddying the waters - but regardless, the point is, all of that is still in continuity by the time he returned as the Red Hood. It still mattered, not just in terms of oh technically that happened, but in terms of it and the events within it still being relevant to STORIES post-Crisis. Similarly, when Dick went to the Batcave to see Bruce after he returned from space and found out Jason was dead, that was all definitively post-Crisis, but in that scene, they referenced pre-Crisis events and conversations. 

In fact, the whole reason I brought up Dick not hating Jason in the thread with that conversation between Bruce and Dick pre-Crisis.....is because the only time Bruce and Dick actually talk about Dick’s feelings about Jason is POST-Crisis, in NTT #55, when Bruce accuses Dick of never even liking Jason, of resenting him for being adopted when Dick wasn’t......

In response to which, Dick says no, he DIDN’T resent Bruce adopting Jason and not him, he’d never said that, he’d only asked WHY Bruce hadn’t adopted him as well....

Aka....that literal conversation I cited from Donna’s wedding. That was the conversation they were both referencing, post-Crisis. It just happened to have happened pre-Crisis. Its just...it had never actually been invalidated or contradicted or included in a retcon at any point in between.

Like, I’m trying not to be all defensive here, but this is the kinda thing that bugs me a lot. I say a thing, usually while pointing to a thing from canon that establishes that no, the takes a lot of people are going with are a fanon invention here, which begs the question...WHY such a strong preference for the fanon over the canon in specific instances, especially if the fanon happens to enable more of the very same KIND of unnecessary family conflict they claim to hold against canon in the first place.....

And then someone tries to ‘disprove’ this, WITH canon, or by citing why canon apparently is irrelevant here, and so its like....well, which is it? Am I too fixated on canon and that’s why my take doesn’t have that much merit, or am I wrong about canon and that’s why my take doesn’t have merit?

People seem to want to have it both ways when it comes to a lot of my posts, with the only real consistency seeming to be a determination to make it seem like there’s no validity to what I’m saying whatsoever.

That bugs, dude.

My point is just....the literal whole reason I made that post and thread was because I was trying to express that the fanon take that like, the only reason Bruce delayed so long in adopting Dick was that he didn’t want to come between Dick and his memory of his parents and he wasn’t sure this is something Dick would even want, is like....fanon.

I made that post - as I clearly established within the post itself - because the problem I have with this take is it was WELL established, at MULTIPLE points in the past that Dick actively wanted to be adopted by Bruce. He expressed this at Donna’s wedding, which as you said, is pre-Crisis. He then further affirmed this in their conflict after Jason’s death, which was post-Crisis. And then, as my post pointed out, it was STILL almost fifteen years AFTER that point when Bruce finally made the move to adopt Dick, with a rather anticlimactic speech about it not really changing anything and being just a mere formality.....

Even though it had been a very definite source of angst and internal turmoil and doubt about where he stood in Bruce’s eyes, at various points looooooong before then.

Points that were never at any time erased from continuity, as they existed and were referenced on either side of the retcon-period you’re referring to.

And then, I just happened to also tack on the PS that btw, further reminder that the fanon about Dick hating and resenting Jason was just fanon too with no real basis beyond that......by pointing to this convo pre-Crisis where Dick explicitly said as much....with it again being ratified post-Crisis when Dick references this very conversation and expresses the exact same idea he’d had all along.

So, the thing is. I’m fairly certain my point stands. There’s a clear continuance of thought in all the points I mention, no matter where they stand in the timeline.

And the thing that gets under my skin so much about asks or reblogs of this nature is like.....I don’t really understand what the aim here is? Is it just to discredit my citing of canon by raising issues that.....don’t actually change what I cited from canon? 

And also, can you understand why it would be frustrating to see it so often being made an issue of semantics, when personally, I’ve always expressed that my fixation on canon vs fanon stems from one thing only: I don’t pretend like people don’t have every right to do whatever they want with fanfic or headcanons, I’m simply raising the question of WHY.

Why certain takes.

Why are so many people SO invested into adhering to takes that put the burden on Dick to be responsible for his own delayed adoption - something he’s angsted about significantly - and thus make him really, the only person truly responsible for his own angst there.

My issue has never been with popular fanon takes existing. Its that I think people should be able to back them up with why these takes are so important to them, that they’re so invested in defending them, from any criticism. There literally is not a single fanon I dislike, where there isn’t a very clear and definite REASON I dislike that fanon, that has nothing to do with it just not being canon.

Like, my criticism of this particular fanon isn’t that oh its fanon, it doesn’t count, its not real. My criticism is oh, I think its a problem that fandom’s focus is primarily trained on coming up with reasons for a son to be responsible for his own doubts and insecurities as to his place in a family/his father’s eyes.....when canon has repeatedly established that he’s EXPRESSED these doubts and insecurities, they’re NOT an unknown quantity to his father, and thus....the ball was in his father’s court all along. And its only fanon that has insisted otherwise....which to be begs the very relevant question: WHY. Why is it so often argued that this should be more the responsibility and fault of a child with abandonment issues and decades of insecurities and self-esteem issues here....in order to gloss over the fact that the power always lay with the father to address all of these issues.....just by....actually addressing them?

That’s the issue with this particular storyline for me at least, its always been the issue, and thus all the canon vs fanon is incidental to it, and the more its made about that, the more frustrating it is, because like....my point and my question has always remained the same, and all that ever results is a lot of people dancing around distracting from those two things rather than ever just engaging with them.

[mrs-dragneel-stark-solo]

Unforseen Chasm(part34)

part 34 of Unforseen Chasm

Prompt: Two sisters fall for men that are absolute enemies. The love they have could tear all of them apart, or it could bring them together. Word Count: 5106 Warnings: angst, slight fluff, heartbreak, arguing, fighting, unconscious reader, hints to smut. song for this part: Heart wants what it wants-Selena Gomez Note: This is by far the longest thing I’ve ever written (including my other fic series). first major Collab with my best friend @thorne93 what was first a simple “what if” moment turned into a two year writing session and I’ve never been more prouder of myself than when i started my first series. goes through most of the MCU plots there are some changes to accommodate for what we wanted and there is a bit of a crossover between the MCU and other characters. I hope you guys enjoy reading this just as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Everyone got back to the tower on the same day. Just as Nat and Clint had finished settling in, Steve and Bruce had walked in with their luggage, when Tony and Shannon were in tow. 

“Wow, you two are in a good mood,” Nat noted as she looked at the happy couple when she walked into the common area.

“Well,” Shannon started, holding Tony’s hand and looking at him, “actually we have some news.”

“Oh?” Natasha inquired with a perked, curious brow.

“We’re engaged!” she squealed, holding up her left hand, showing off the dazzling diamond.

“Wow, Stark! Way to pick ‘em!” Nat complimented as Steve shook Tony’s hand and congratulated him. Clint high fived Tony. Bruce pulled her into a hug before smiling to Tony.

“I know. Isn’t it amazing?” she asked, staring up at Tony with adoration in her eyes. “We have so much to do and plan!”

“I call dibs on maid of honor!” Natasha said quickly, which suddenly made Shannon realize she needed to share the news with you.

Shannon went silent for a moment, her face falling. This was it, wasn’t it? This was another huge milestone you wouldn’t be there for…

“Oh… I…” Natasha tried, but even a trained spy couldn’t correct this situation.

It dawned on Shannon that she didn’t share the news with you first, and now she felt extremely guilty. Was she somehow forgetting you?

“If you guys would excuse me for a moment, there’s something I need to do.” She hurried off to one of the elevators. Tony wanted to follow after her but knew where she was headed feeling slightly worried about how she was feeling.

“JARVIS, keep an eye on Shannon’s vitals for me,” he said, going to the couch to sit and think.

“Yes, sir.”

On the ride down she tried to think of a way to tell you the news. “How could I have forgotten to tell Y/N first?” she asked herself. “How do I tell my best friend I’m getting married and she won't be there to see me walk down the aisle?” Realizing this, her shoulders sagged as she finally arrived to the floor you were in.

Hearing the room doors open, you walked to the front of the cell to see Shannon walking over to the cell. Getting to see her again was something you had been looking forward to as you didnt get to at all the past month.

“Oh, hey, Shannon. You’re just in time to watch Loki make lunch. Well, attempt to,” you teased, glancing back to your beloved. “He has many great qualities, but cooking is not one of them.”

Loki glanced up at you and slightly narrowed his eyes into a glare. “Excuse me for being raised as royalty and never needing to make anything. I would think you’d be applauding my efforts,” he remarked.

You laughed and smiled, rolling your eyes as you turned back to Shannon, staring at her through the glass. “You want to come in? Well, why am I asking you? Not like I can exactly open the cell up,” you said with a laugh.

Nervously, she laughed too. “That's funny, Y/N/N. I’d love to see what his royal highness has in store for lunch today.” Trying to calm herself, she scanned her hand and was able to enter the cell.  “It's good to see you, Y/N. I’ve missed our video chats.” She hugged you tightly.

You held onto her, soaking up the feeling. “I missed you too. How was the vacation? I hope Tony spoiled you.”

She stopped for a moment glimpsing at her hand and seeing the ring while you weren't looking. “You won’t believe where Tony took me. I didn’t even know he had a little place there,” she said, stepping back a bit to look you in the eyes. “I’ll have to bring down my camera to show you the pictures and upload them to the holograms so you could see its beauty.” She had an unreadable face which bothered you a bit.

“Sounds good. Is everything okay? Did you and Tony fight or something?” you asked, concerned as you touched her arm slightly.

She looked back at the ring like it was burning a hole on her finger. “Yeah everything’s fine, we didn’t fight… it’s just--” She stopped not knowing how to say it. “It’s just a few days before leaving he… he asked me to marry him.” She twisted the ring on her finger, showing you the simple diamond on the band.

“Oh my god! Wow! This is utterly amazing!” you gushed, nearly yanking her hand towards you. “That Tony has some good taste. Why did you not want to tell me this?” you asked, realizing she was being hesitant.

She looked up at you with tears in her eyes. “Because I know I won’t be able to have you help me pick my dress and do all the things we’d planned if I ever got married.” She sobbed, collapsing a bit. You caught her and let her cry for a moment holding her close and realizing what that meant.

“Oh… Well… I might not be able to go out but I can... “ you wanted to offer something but you couldn’t. There was no internet down here, nothing to get online with, no way to look anything up, book any vendors, order anything. You were literally useless in this cell as Shannon’s best friend. Eventually, you sighed, just holding her close.

Thoughts sparked in your head on how your life had ever come to this. Shannon getting married was going to be one of the biggest days in her life, and you had always planned on being there. It was almost like a felony to not be there. And now… now you’d given that up, given up everything… for one man. Your eyes flashed to Loki who was pretending to still work on lunch, but you noticed he wasn’t really moving. His eyes were glued to the counter as he just stood there. More than likely, he was listening, realizing the same thing you just did:

The only reason you were here in the first place was because of him.

Before you could address that, though, you needed to comfort Shannon. “Shan, hun, it’s okay,” you tried as she slowly lifted herself back up, wiping her tears. “You can still send me pictures, we can video chat when you go try on dresses, you can bring down bridal magazines. I can still do my part. I can do whatever you need me to do.”

Tears still slipped down her cheeks. “It won't be the same, Y/N/N.” She hiccuped. “When did our lives become this complicated?” She seemed to ask herself rather than you.

JARVIS sent an alert to Tony that her heart rate had increased a bit.

“Show me where she is, Jarvis,” Tony requested immediately, the Al responded with showing what had caused her heart rate to increase and his heart broke for Shannon, hearing what was happening, he wanted to help but had no clue how.

“How am I supposed to plan my wedding when my maid of honor isn't out there?” she asked you, hearing the pain in her voice. “I wish I could take you out of here so we could do all those things but Tony would never agree to it.” She knew it was true he still distrusted you.

“He has every reason not to,” you agreed, the anger slightly sparking under your skin. “Look I know it’s not ideal, sweetie, but please don’t let my… life decisions hold you back from marrying the man of your dreams.”

She looked at you like a sad little puppy not knowing how she would do the planning without you. “We could try to plan this together?” She sounded unsure, you could see the gears working in her mind as to how you would still be able to help her. “We could probably look at things that could be brought down here for us to pick out.”

You nodded, eyeing her with concern. “Yeah, absolutely. I can do whatever you need. You can bring magazines or swatches or pictures. Whatever. I’ll be here, patiently waiting,” you assured.

She smiled up at you, a few tears still falling. “Thanks, Y/N/N. That means a lot.”

You wanted to ask her who was going to be her maid of honor instead. You felt it would probably be Nat, but who knew? Shannon knew a lot of people, and was loved by dozens. People were probably lining up to be by her side on her wedding day, meanwhile you were still here, shackled to the confines of this glass box.

You wanted to ask her all kinds of questions about an event that you couldn’t even witness in the flesh. But, that would only upset the both of you, so you didn’t mention any of it.

The two of you said your goodbyes for now, wishing her congratulations before she left. She said she had to unpack and check in with Fury about anything the team missed while they were gone.

You watched her disappear behind the huge metal doors, your back to Loki who remained quiet for a long time before finally quietly saying, “I’m sorry that you won’t be able to attend their wedding.”

You closed your eyes and slightly clenched your fist. “Are you?”

Loki frowned at your words as you spun to face him. “What?” he questioned, confused.

“Are you actually sorry, or are you just saying that? Is that just another one of your lies, your manipulations?”

“Y/N, what’s wrong with you?” he asked, his eyes narrowed on you.

“Wrong with me? I can’t be with my best friend on the best day of her life because of you.” You pointed at him. “Because you had fucking family issues.”

He took a step towards you, a frown etched in his features. “I didn’t ask you to jump into that portal after me, that was your doing.”

“We could’ve ran from Sanctuary when we got there. But you refused to fight, like a coward. Instead of telling Thanos to eat shit, you bowed down to him.”

“He’s a titan, Y/N,” Loki stressed, using both hands. “He isn’t exactly someone that can be reasoned with. I chose our lives over everything else. Or would you rather me pretend to be some hero and get us killed?”

“I would’ve rather had you use your magic or something, anything to get us out of that situation. Do you have any idea how much I’ve lost? Maybe you wanted to let go. Maybe you hated Odin and Thor and Frigga and the whole lot of Asgard. Maybe you felt you didn’t want to go on, but I had a family, a life, a career. Now what do I have? I have a lying bastard as a cell mate for the rest of my life.”

“You’re honestly angry with me? I never wanted you to jump in after me! That was your own moronic decision, do not put that burden on me! She can hardly be called your friend.”

You reeled back from his words. “How can you even say that? It’s because of her we aren’t in the worst prison in the nation, and we aren’t separated.”

“What exactly has she done for us? She knows we were threatened and brainwashed, and yet, she still has done nothing to get us out or plead our case. So she put some pretty pictures on the wall and broke you out for therapy, I don’t hold that as equivalent for stabbing me in the back and nearly killing you. She pushed you out of a window, remember?”

You clenched your fist. “She was only reacting to the monster I’d become. The monster you made me when you refused to get help. We could’ve gone to Thor. We could’ve told him the truth! But instead you had to make Earth your crown jewel. You had to own something! You were so desperate to prove yourself to a man who never thought you worthy in the first place. Why would anything you do now matter?” you challenged.

“You might want to watch your tongue.”

“Why? You going to stab me? You going to turn me over to Thanos?”

“As I recall, I took a good portion of torture onto myself, instead of letting them hurt you. So do not accuse me of not caring for your wellbeing. It was your doing that got you into this mess. Not mine.”

“I jumped after you because I loved you. I didn’t want to see you be alone,” you quietly reminded.

“And that’s exactly why sentiment and love will ruin people. At the end of the day, they’ll die for someone,” Loki remarked coldly.

“So that’s it then, I shouldn’t have jumped in after you? That this is all my fault?”

“This is all your fault!” Loki snapped, his voice raising. “You jumped after me. You failed to properly get Banner from Shannon. If you had just succeeded in your mission, we would’ve never been captured, and we might’ve stood a chance against Thanos. But as it stands now, all we had was your lack of conviction and pathetic excuse for power.”

“You wanna see power? I’ll show you power!” you responded, your fingertips sparking with purple energy.

“Oh, please. I would love to see you even try to--”

You threw your hand out, the purple energy shooting at him like a forcefield. It knocked into him, and threw him back into the counter. Loki quickly recovered from the blow, returning to an upright position quickly and gracefully. His eyes widened on you.

“I tell you the truth and this is how you respond? You violently attack me?” he asked darkly. “You claim to love me and yet you’re purposely trying to hurt me.”

“It’s not the truth. The truth is you were too afraid to actually be a man, and it’s because of that, that I lost everything I loved.”

A look of hurt and betrayal shadowed across Loki’s face. “Everything you loved?” he echoed. “So what was I then? Something to experiment on? Something that your curiosity got the better of? Now that you had to pay the price just for pretending to give a damn, you’re angry with me? You’re just like everyone else in my life. Using me for your own purpose. I was Thor’s doormat to walk all over, to look good in front of his friends and Odin. I was a relic for Odin to use when he felt the time would come. I was just a chess piece for Thanos. And to you I am nothing more than exotic creature you could pretend to care about for a while.”

“I nearly died for you,” you reminded, your breathing still labored from the attack.

“And I for you, but clearly that escapes your memory, so let me remind you,” he said, before stalking over to you and putting his cold hand on your head. His thumb hit your forehead and you gasped, not from the temperature, but from the memories.

The memories were yours. Of the worst time Loki was tortured in front of you. He was nearly completely on the ground, blood pouring from his ears, nose, and mouth as he looked at you. You begged Thanos to stop the horror, but all he said was, “Agree to be my winning token and I’ll spare his life… for now.”

You had finally agreed.

When Loki finally ripped his hand away from you, he was glaring at you with cold eyes. “Most of my torture could’ve been avoided if you’d just agreed to do his bidding. My pain came at your hands and your hands alone.”

“Me? You’re blaming me? I never asked you to take on the torturing.”

“And I never asked you to jump in after me, so it looks like we’re even. You gave up your life for me, and I gave up my health and sanity,” he retorted, dark mocking in his tone. “Quite the pair, aren’t we?”

You glared back at him, his words cutting into you, getting under your skin. “You don’t even realize how badly you’ve ruined my life do you? You might be fine with living your days out in this cell, but I’m not.”

“Well maybe I should’ve just let Thanos and The Other have at you then! Maybe then you’d have put more effort into trying to succeed at the mission.”

As he said his last word, you picked up a lamp, charged it with your energy, and hurled it at him, before he deflected it with his own magic easily, causing it to shatter against the glass wall.

“Did you ever think that it’s your fault my mother died? Hmm?” he asked, anger and patronizing in his voice. “If you had actually succeeded in your mission, we could be back on Asgard where I could’ve protected her!” His anger caused the glasses on the counter to fly off and hit the walls, making you dodge one of them.

“Maybe if you didn’t let go in the first place, and fall into an abyss, you could’ve been there yourself!” you retorted, charging another piece of furniture before ejecting it at him. Again, his reflexes were unparalleled and it simply crashed into tiny pieces on the glass wall..

Upstairs, the alarms for your cell were going off, tipping Tony off that there was an attempted breach at the cell wall.

“What the--?” he asked, glancing to the monitors. It stated that multiple objects had been thrown at the wall. He rolled his eyes and stopped what he was doing. “What the hell are they doing down there?” he muttered to himself before walking to the elevator. He reached your floor, stepped into the security hallway, then through the large metal doors. “Hey! What the hell is going on in here?” he asked, shouting over you two.

You turned to face him, ready to explain your side. “I’m just… upset. That’s all, Tony.”

“I’ve got all kinds of alarms going off upstairs. Are you two trying to bust out?” Tony asked, a little playfully.

You sighed and ran your hand through your hair. “No. I’m just… Our fight got out of hand, that’s all.”

“And what was this little lovers quarrel about?”

“I’m just… mad I can’t be there for Shannon, that’s all,” you answered.

“I want to feel sorry for you, Y/N/N, I really do. But see, you wouldn’t be in this mess if you had just come back to Earth and worked for me. You wouldn’t be in this cell, locked up with the poor child king who didn’t get enough hugs from his daddy. You could be upstairs with Shannon, helping to plan our wedding, be the maid of honor…”

Loki glared at Tony from far back in the cell.

At this, your anger and powers were triggered. One bad word about Loki, that’s all it took.

“Take it back,” you ordered, your demeanor changing, as you took another step toward the glass to get closer to him.

“Why? You know I’m right. It’s his fault you’re in this mess. And it pains me to see it. Do you know why? Because I have to watch the woman I love suffer, because you had to chase after some spoiled prince who wanted his dad’s job so bad he killed for it.”

“Tony, stop. Leave him out of this,” you tried, feeling the animal inside you grow. “This is between the two of us, not you.”

“Oh, but it is. Especially when you’re trashing the cell I built you, and breaking Shannon’s heart. So I have every right to make you feel as miserable about this as she is.” Tony broke eye contact with you and looked over to Loki. “Let me ask you something, do you feel good about this?”

“About what?” Loki snapped evenly, motionless as Tony got a better view of him.

“About all of this. Killing, destroying people’s lives. I mean, I think Shannon would kill me if I did half the shit you’ve pulled. And yet, you somehow manipulated Y/N here enough to love you. Now, you gotta tell me how you swung that.”

At that, you lunged at the glass, slamming into it. Your face fierce as you tried to get to Tony, pounding on the glass.

At that moment, Shannon was downstairs. JARVIS had informed her of the commotion going on and she made haste to get down to you. She walked in, seeing you like a wild animal, clawing to get out of the cell as Tony seemed to be taunting it on.

“Does it feel good to fuck with peoples lives? Tell me, do you do it for fun or is it just something that just happens to you?” Tony inquired, but Loki remained quiet.

You however, were going mad not being able to get to him. Your fists were slamming the glass, your lip curled up in disgust as you yelled incoherently at him.

Loki watched on in stunned horror. Of course, his face didn’t show that though. He was stoic as he watched you change. As he watched you turn into a ravenous bloodlusting goddess. He had done this to you. It was because of him that you were… entirely reprogrammed. You were no longer the innocent, sweet, and compassionate woman he’d met on Earth.

Loki had seen the way you moved before you fell into the portal and after the capture of New York. Before the fall you were pensive, quiet, but a sort of tamed whimsical to you. You mildly obsessed with your work and became animated over things you loved. You smiled constantly, but ever since you’d been in this cell… You’d been broken. Smiles, laughter, were few and far between. And that went for him and Shannon. It didn’t seem to matter who you were around, you were timid, on edge. You acted like an animal that had been beaten, mistreated, and abused. You didn’t even carry yourself with confidence.

He had noticed it. Sure, he’d seen the signs of you retreating into yourself. But that comes with isolation and loss of freedom… But it wasn’t until this moment where he really saw the true toll his affect had taken on you.

And now… this. You had never even raised your voice in your time on Asgard. And now, short of foaming mouth, you were a rabid animal.

“Y/N/N, back away from the glass before I do something to hurt you,” Tony warned in a tired voice.

But you didn’t hear anything. All you could hear was what Thanos had programmed in you -- your trigger, and now Tony was your target. So you were fighting with all your might to get to him.

“Don’t wanna listen? Alright.” He flipped up his watch before Shannon could stop him.

“Tony, no!” she begged, but she wasn’t quick enough. A powerful charge of voltage shocked through you, enough to send you flying into the wall, causing a dent in the drywall.

Loki feared for your life in that moment seeing as you hadn’t moved from where you landed in the wall. He rushed to your side at the same time that Shannon ran and quickly scanned her hand to enter the cell. Getting to your body faster than him, she began assessing your vitals and did an internal scan with her powers.

“There’s no internal damage but she will be unconscious for a good hour or two,” she told Loki without looking at him. She lifted your body up shocking both men because at 5’4 and curvy they didn’t believe her to be able to carry a person. That was one thing neither man knew about until that moment.

Loki followed Shannon all the way to the bedroom and saw how she held you with one arm while moving the covers to lay you down. He could see that he had made the mistake of believing that she was some mere mortal who only cared about herself, he could see how much you meant to her and that she was willing to jump in to make sure you were okay. He watched how carefully you were laid down and covered up making sure the strand of hair was moved from your eye.

“Thank you for making sure that she’s okay,” was all he could say.

“I didn’t do it for you, I did it for her because she’s my family and I would never let anything happen to her.” Loki could see she was worried for you but there was also anger in her eyes she left the room, and he curiously followed after her.

“What the fuck, Tony?” she said as she walked out of the cell. “Why did you turn on the shock system in the cell?” She was mad at him and Loki could see it in the way she walked up to him.

His face faltered seeing the anger in her eyes “Babe… she was acting irrational. She could have broken the glass and gotten out,” he tried to defend himself.

“It’s reinforced glass with a very thick plastic in between the layers of glass. It was built for Hulk. You and I both know she wouldn’t have gotten out,” she grounded out trying not to let the anger get to her. “So, what? The rational thing was to render her unconscious?” she asked, furious.

“Well… probably not but she was going to get herself hurt.” He knew that was no excuse.

“You do realize that she was acting that way because of the trigger, right?”

“What the hell triggered her?”

“You! Talking that way about Loki… Thanos did it to her, to keep her angry during the fight in New York. If he could keep people angry with Loki, and people negative about him, he could keep her insane… and dangerous.”

“Well how was I supposed to know?” he asked incredulously.

“Tony stop, you had no right to do any of this. Whether you knew or not, you just knocked my best friend unconscious.” She looked tired. He could tell she was trying hard not to let the anger get to her. “I really wasn’t expecting you to do something like this.” She sounded disappointed she walked away from the room not letting Tony say anything more. The day had gone from nearly perfect to horrible in a matter of a few hours.

It was hours later that Loki came in the bedroom. He contemplated not coming in at all. He was going to sleep on the couch, to give you space. But he had been pacing for hours since you’d been knocked out. He was incredibly worried about you. Shannon said you’d be fine, but you hadn’t moved for over seven hours, which had him concerned.

He quietly stepped into the bedroom and gently sat down on the edge of the bed. Silence flowed throughout the cell, as it often did, thanks to no access to music. A war was waging inside him on whether or not he should talk. On one hand, he didn’t want to wake you, but on the other, the words inside him were eating him alive.

He wrung his hands before diving in.

“I know it’s my fault we’re here… you don’t think I’m eaten alive with guilt every day?” He peered down at you, you were facing away from him, your eyes closed, your breathing even. He marveled at your soft hair. He smiled down at you. “I wish every day you never followed me into that portal. That this was mine alone to bear…”

Some more silence filled the space.

“As much as I love you, and cherish your love, if it meant your freedom and happiness I wish you had never even met me.”

A tear rolled down your cheek. You realized he didn’t think you were awake, and you didn’t often see a side of him so vulnerable, so you stayed quiet. Not to mention, you weren’t sure you were in a headspace to talk to Loki. All those things you said to him… did you even really feel that way? Were you just tired of being cooped up? Were you just throwing your anger in his face when really you were just mad at the situation?

“It was never Thor’s fault, or Odin’s… It was me. I was the failure. I couldn’t accept that, so I took it out on my family… The truth is, I never felt good enough, and I knew that… but I drug you down with me, and for that I am truly sorry. I never intended for you to be some sort of recompense for my shortcomings.”

Another tear rolled down your cheek before he spoke again.

“I just wanted you to know that, even if you didn’t hear it. I needed to admit that, at some point. You were right… It is my fault that we’re here, and I’m sorry for being the reason your life is ruined. The reason you can’t be with your friends and loved ones. If I could get you out of here without me, I would do whatever I could… I am so sorry, my love. I wish I could make this right.”

He leaned down and kissed the side of your head.

“I love you so much… And I don’t deserve you…”

You felt the bed shift and he stood up to leave.

“Don’t go,” was all you said.

He stilled for a moment before returning to the bed, where you rolled over and faced him, putting your arm around him.

“I’m sorry,” you quietly said, stroking his cheek.

He shook his head. “You don’t need to apologize.”

“I do. I shouldn’t take my frustrations out on you. It was my choice and mine alone to follow you into that portal. And even though I’ve lost everything… I would do it all over again for you.”

Loki half smiled. “As lovely as that is to hear, I’m not sure if I want to be the reason you hurt your loved ones.”

You shook your head. “You aren’t… That giant space grape was,” you assured. “That wasn’t you. We’re moving forward, all of us,” you said gently.

“I’m glad to hear that.”

You smiled sweetly at him before pulling him closer to you, and kissing him earnestly, a suggestion behind your kiss.

Unforseen Chasm Tag list- @reigningqueenofwords @oldfreakything @weclassygirl @adefectivedetective @dontbetooobvious

Tag list- @cas-you-assbutt-dean-needs-you @winchester-writes @winchesterenthusiast @georgialouisea @deansdirtylittlesecretsblog   @sammysbuttcheek @misz-adrii @sandlee44 @womanxofletters @natsuccs @childishhoebinoo @expecteddifferent @girl-next-door-writes @fanaticfanfiction @dakotapaigelove @sassy-spn-knight-of-hell

[fancoloredglasses]

Crisis issue 12 “Final Crisis” (23 years early...) ...and beyond

(Once again, thanks to DC Database)

[NOTE: I know I’ve been doing issues of Crisis every other week, but I realized as I was writing the next review that there are events at the end of Crisis that I should cover beforehand, so...

I’ve enjoyed re-reading this landmark series, and I thank you for taking this journey with me. I hope you’ve enjoyed this format. I have at least two other projects waiting in the wings that this sort of format would work best with, so please let me know if you’d like to see more reviews like this.]

To Recap: The final 5 universes have been merged into a single reality, but only those who battled at the Dawn of Time remember the multiverse. What’s more, all the heroes who did so have appeared in this new reality, even if they shouldn’t exist (mainly those heroes from Earth-2 and their descendants who have doppelgangers on Earth-1...though not Power Girl for some reason...) Oh, and the Anti-Monitor has pulled this new Earth into the Anti-Matter universe.

We switch to Brainiac’s ship, where the assembled group realizes that (a) the Earth has vanished and (b) the ship is intertwined with Brainiac’s consciousness, and if the ship still functions...uh oh...

Brainiac is about to pull a Psimon on the heroes when they mention that he worked with them recently. Brainiac has no knowledge of these events (since he wasn’t at the Dawn of Time with the heroes), so the heroes recap the last 11 issues to him. He says he doesn’t have the power to combat the Anti-Monitor, but will take them to someone who could

Why do I get a sense of foreboding?

Back on Earth, the Anti-Monitor brags about killing Supergirl and the Flash (actually, the Flash killed himself. Get your facts straight), then declares he will destroy the Earth (what is it about would-be conquerors/destroyers that makes them want to monologue?) by sending his forces to wipe out all life (you’d think someone who has stupidly high power levels that he can wipe out universes and yank planets from their universe could deal with a puny planet on his own...) as the Earth is enveloped in darkness.

During the panic, Harbinger assembles a force to take the fight directly to the Anti-Monitor (because that woirked so well every other time that’s been tried). That force is Superman, Kal-L, and Dr. Light.

So...the combined might of five universes’ assembled heroes (including these three) couldn’t defeat the Anti-Monitor. How the hell are you gonna do it with just the four of you?!

Not that it matters, as it turns out that the darkness is a horde ofthe Anti-Monitor’s shadow demons, (remember those from issue...*flip flip*...2?) intent on destroying all life with their touch!

And what of Brainiac? Well, he has brought the assembled heroes to none other than Apokalips for an audience with none other than its ruler, Darkseid (Nice knowing you, guys!)

On Earth, the shadow demons are falling prey to the might of its heroes (what about the villains? Surely they wanna survive too?), but not without cost, including Kole and Dove of the Teen Titans, Lori Lemaris of Atlantis, and the Golden Age Robin and Huntress (tho to be honest, those lest two were most likely housecleaning by the writers, since they were written out of continuity...)

And what about the Spectre, unconscious for all of issue 11? It seems like the world’s mystics (and the Golden Age Green Lantern, whose ring is mystical in nature) have gathered in Dr. Fate’s tower in an attempt to deal with the demons...or revive the Spectre...I’m not entirely sure even they know what they’re trying to do.

In the Anti-Matter universe beyond Earth, Harbinger (who apparently thought better and recruited a dozen more heroes. Still not enough, by the way) leads her force to the remains of the Anti-Monitor’s base on Quard, where they encounter Kid Flash (who somehow managed to get to Quard without anyone knowing, despite the fact that flight is not in his power set), who wanted visual proof that the Flash is dead. He then sees an image of the Flash (much like Batman did) and rushes toward it, only to see Psycho Pirate (wait, the Anti-Monitor didn’t kill him?!) pleading with the Flash’s empty costume to get up. (Well, you wanted proof Kid Flash...) As the heroes stop Kid Flash from beating the shit out of Psycho Pirate, the Anti-Monitor finally makes his appearance.

And on Earth, the Mystics have managed to gather up the remaining shadow demons and banish them from the planet. Great. Now can you figure out how to put the Earth back into its proper universe?

Meanwhile, the heroes are hitting the Anti-Monitor with everything they’ve got, but doing little more that distract and annoy him. Fortunately, that was Harbinger’s plan as she instructs Dr. Light to absorb the energy of the star that’s fueling the Anti-Monitor’s power. (so the Anti-Monitor is like a reverse Superman? Wait, he’s Bizarro?!) Then Alexander cranks things to eleven by using his powers to absorb the Anti-Matter directly from the Anti-Monitor. The Anti-Monitor takes this time to monologue, and that’s when everyone opens fire of him. It’s enough to destroy his outer shell! At that point, Dr. Light channels the energy of the star into the Anti-Monitor, putting him down! (Now why couldn’t they do this in the first place?)

At that moment, the banished shadow demons (remember them?) are drawn to Quard and are absorbed by the corpse of the Anti-Monitor, reviving him. He then says he cares little about the universe...or Earth. (so...we’re saved, right?) He just wants to kill the heroes who have plagued him, starting with Wonder Woman, (what the hell did she do?!) vaporizing her! He was about to do the same to Psycho Pirate (so?) and Kid Flash, but only got a glancing blow as Firestorm got them away. Somehow during all of this, Alexander managed to draw the Earth back into its proper universe (they really didn’t explain how)

Superman and Lady Quark are about to make a suicide strike against the Anti-Monitor to destroy him once and for all (or at least give everyone time to escape), but are sucker-punched by Kal-L, who says he should be the one to do it, as he no longer has a universe and therefore has nothing to lose (so why knock out Lady Quark? Her universe is gone too!) and tells Superboy-Prime to get them out (isn’t he without a universe too?)

Kal-L and the Anti-Monitor trade taunts as the Anti-Monitor gathers power, only to be wracked by pain and, not coincidentally, a green light. It turns out the sorcerers infused the shadow demons with energy designed to attack the Anti-Monitor from within (again, why the hell did they wait so long to do this? This series could have ended five issues ago!)

But the Anti-Monitor is still too powerful for the Golden Age Man of Steel, so Superboy-Prime throws Superman and Lady Quark through the rift being held open by Alexander, telling him to close it (unfortunately, Alexander must do so from the Anti-Matter universe and is therefore trapped as well)

As Superboy-Prime turns to join the battle, Kal-L throws a moon at the Anti-Monitor. His efforts are weakening the Anti-Monitor, as the blast that should have killed Superboy-Prime only hurt him severely, so Kal-L turns up the pressure with a couple of asteroids to the face, putting down the Anti-Monitor for good!

...wait, he’s still alive?! The Anti-Monitor absorbs all the energy of his universe (pretty much destroying it) to destroy Kal-L and Superboy-Prime. And he might likely succeed if Darkseid (remember him?) wasn’t watching through Alexander’s eyes (He can do that?! Well, I guess he is a New God...) and decided it was time to act, sending his Omega Beams through Alexander’s eyes, vaporizing the Anti-Monitor and destroying him utterly!

Wait...

(Thanks to CBR)

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!

...apparently Kal-L was thinking the same thing, as he obliterated the head, destroying him once and for all!

Wait...

...

...

...OK, I guess it stuck this time.

But Kal-L, Superboy-Prime, and Alexander are trapped in the Anti-Matter universe...and Kal-L has lost his universe (and his Lois) forever.

...or has he? Alexander reveals he created a pocket universe and sequestered Lois within (what would have happened if Kal-L died...or didn’t stay behind?). Superboy, Kal-L, and Lois follow Alexander to this pocket universe to live out their days.

On Earth, life goes on for most. However, the Anti-Monitor’s final blasts have consequences...

...For Wonder Woman...Princess Diana...the Anti-Monitor’s blast didn’t so much kill her and de-age her until she returned to the clay that created her, sent back in time...we’ll say 18 years to return two years from the moment she disappeared (too bad everyone forgot her in the intervening time)

(Thanks to Amazon)

for Wally West...Kid Flash...the blast somehow...well, we’ll let him explain

(Thanks to Pinterest)

From here, the writers were free to redefine the surviving heroes (Superman’s powers were scaled back to the point that he wasn’t god-like...and artist John Byrne made his cape not indestructible because the loved ripping it to shreds!) and Batman became more grim (aided by Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns series), for example), but otherwise things stayed as they were (with the influx of heroes and villains from Earths 4, S, and X)

Unfortunately, things never stay static in life, or in comics. Eventually, elements removed due to events in Crisis started creeping back in, times change and characters need updating, until another reboot was needed...and another...and another...until DC said screw it and did a full reboot called “The New 52″. Unfortunately, it was not well-received (or thought out) causing everything to reboot again (well, more hitting the reset “button” to pre-New 52) called “DC Rebirth”

(Thanks again to Amazon)

How long until the next reboot? Time will tell...

[thuashdore]

a super rough timeline that is here up until i write the detailed, nicer-looking timeline: warcraft edition

...because five expansions have passed since i wrote my original biography for beau, and people need to know what is going on.

my about section currently covers Vanilla WoW and The Burning Crusade. that’s the easy part out of the way. the following are events that have occurred that Beau has actively been involved in, in one way or another. brief descriptions only; the actual timeline (which is coming) will be a lot more detailed - mostly for those folks who are not in the Warcraft universe... but hey.

this is going to be a long read. you’ll probably see why it’s taking me a while to do the full version. the descriptions are, rightly so, memey. you’ve been warned.

there are also a few things in here that are purely explanation. again, for those who are NOT familiar with the Warcraft universe: i got you babe. <3

oh and for all of those who know Warcraft like the back of their hand: tl;dr the player character story line (paladin edition), but without faction-specific events. you’ll be surprised how many of those exist. <3

WRATH OF THE LICH KING - a.k.a. lets go kill the dead guy who made the undead guys and wants to end the world.

2nd scourge invasion and zombie infestation begins - Beau learns about the Argent Crusade (a happy group who all want to be friends together and forget about the red vs blue fight) and joins their ranks

Alliance + Horde (read: blue and red, respectively) declare war on the Lich King (glorified necromancer with a big sword), and all able-bodied individuals venture to Northrend (read: cold continent).

Naxxramas happens (tl;dr they kill a lot of dead people, including a cat and the Lich King’s best pal).

The Nexus War happens (tl;dr they kill a bunch of blue dragons - including the boss blue dragon) - Beau is involved largely due to her affiliations with the dragonflights; the Bronze in particular, though the Netherwing are involved too. 

The Halls of Stone and Lightning are found and unveiled. Ulduar happens soon after (uh... titan’s constructs think we’re bad. we punch them and they realise the tentacle guy underneath ulduar is the real bad guy. the world nearly ends, but through the power of friendship and good punching we stop that from happening. some red-haired mage gives a speech about it). 

THE CALL OF THE CRUSADE - including the Argent Tournament, the Trial of the Champion and the Trial of the Crusader/Grand Crusader (tl;dr the leader of the Argent Crusade - Tirion - thought it’d be good to decide who gets to go kill the Lich King by having us all fight each other, and whoever survived would go. a big bug was underneath us and we squished it). 

Assault on Icecrown Citadel - including the Forge of Souls (cool music btw), the Pit of Saron (go save Red + Blue people) and the Halls of Reflection (we found his big sword and he got angry at us so we had to run). Beau probably did this with Jaina... though I mean she wouldn’t say no to either her or Sylvanas asking. Jaina makes the most sense to me however. 

Icecrown Citadel (tl;dr it happens not long after the above and we go kill the Lich King and his friends and also his pet dragon... but he nearly kills us all first until Tirion takes our kill and Lich King’s dead dad resurrects us but in the good way).

Ruby Sanctum (tl;dr strange things happen with the dragons so we say we’ll take a look at it, and then...)

CATACLYSM - a.k.a. let’s go kill the angry black dragon who wants to end the world.

The Shattering / Elemental Unrest (the angry black dragon was cooking under the world for a long while and has now come out... so the world is on fire).

Beau spends most of her time with the Dragonflights again (given it directly involves them) and works on bringing peace to the elements... so involves going to the Throne of the Four Winds, Hyjal, Bastion of Twilight (and Blackwing Descent) and, of course, Firelands. One for each element (and also killing the bad dragons’ kids and wife!!).

The Hour of Twilight (read: the End of the World), which includes the End Time instance (basically “if you don’t stop bad dragon he’ll die anyway but so will everyone else so”) the Hour of Twilight (the Archbishop was the bad guy the whole time!!) and Dragon Soul (Green Orc Jesus gets the killing blow this time, but we do kill the bad dragon and a bunch of tentacle things - remember Ulduar? those, but Less).

MISTS OF PANDARIA - a.k.a. lets go meet the pandas who have been hiding for millenia and then kill the Orc who wants to end the world (but only for anyone that isn't an Orc just like him... JUST like him).

Lil Prequel here wow first time but Beau spends her time with the Dragonflights, who are now not immortal. I know I didn’t mention that before, but now it’s irrelevant - they’re not immortal now. Most people don’t get that. Or agree with it. But i’m just saying either way they’re Tired after the fight with their bad brother, immortal or not, so this is what she does for a bit.

Garrosh Hellscream, Big Orc Leader of the Horde, decides to bomb Theramore (cute city that did not deserve it). The first time that something like this has ever happened. Pretty much everyone is shocked except for the people who knew about it... which is a few people. Jaina Proudmoore (read: ruler of Theramore and someone you don’t want to piss off) is pissed off; very hurt and distraught by the destruction of her home. Red and Blue are at each other’s throats because of it.

Pandaria is discovered (read: the land covered in the mist?? yeah that one. it has pandas on it... and other things), and Beau travels there with, surprise, the Bronze Dragonflight.

Pandaria is a lot of Personal Growth for Beau, because of the Sha (read: bad emotions made manifest that feed off of people experiencing said negative emotions). she faces a lot of her innermost demons and is forced to conquer them in order to be able to properly help the people of Azeroth. there’ll be a big post on this someday, but for a good portion of the expansion she assists the Pandaren in dealing with the Sha presence.

Isle of Thunder is discovered, and the Throne of Thunder raid happens (tl;dr Lightning Man wants to rule the world; fails). Beau has limited involvement in the former (its primarily dominated by blood elves/reds and the Kirin Tor Offensive/blues), but is involved in the latter.

Then the Horde (specifically, the trolls - big boy troll leader Vol’jin) begins their revolution against their Warchief, Big Bad Orc Garrosh Hellscream. Beau assists with the rebels, as do the Alliance and most of the current Horde. Garrosh unleashes the Sha of Pride (read: worst one) and destroys the nicest place on Pandaria. Everyone is angry.

Siege of Orgrimmar (read: Horde capital city) happens - we kill Big Bad Garrosh’s friends but he somehow evades our kills, because player characters don’t get killing blows in this game until WoD. Vol’jin becomes the Warchief, and him and Varian (read: king of the blues) end the war! No more Alliance vs. Horde! For like two expansions!!!!

Garrosh is put on Trial... and escapes, with a Bronze Dragon (who’s actually an Infinite dragon... who are Bronze dragons that don’t agree with keeping to the destined timeways so they do what they like). they travel back in time, and we have to follow them.

WARLORDS OF DRAENOR - a.k.a. the expansion no one talks about... that ends with a bunch of guys wanting to end the world.

Prelude!!! Garrosh goes back in time, finds his dad, and they make a New Horde (the Iron Horde), and they make the current Dark Portal (read: big demon portal thing) bigger and more red, and plan to invade Azeroth! again! this has happened before!

Iron Horde invade Azeroth - we stop them, but also decide to go through the Portal to the ALTERNATIVE Draenor (read: it was this place called Outland... which is where we were in The Burning Crusade, but before Outland became Outland, it was Draenor. work with me please). 

Khadgar (uh... powerful mage; little eccentric; looks old but is actually like 10 yrs older than Beau but got made to look old bc of magic; Father of the Institute for Fallout fans - but nicer than Father is) thinks it’s a good idea to free Gul’dan (green warlock; bad; smelly) because he’s the guy powering the portal. We’ll regret that later, but right now it does stop the Iron Horde from invading Azeroth.

Beau, being a Neutral(tm), spends most of her time with Khadgar in his tower. Assists with liberating Shattrath (read: important light city), helps find and kill Garrosh (but Green Jesus Thrall actually kills him) and also participates in Highmaul (kill a bunch of ogres) and Blackrock Foundry (kill the orc making the weapons for the Iron Horde). Khadgar also starts making a ring of immense power, to give us an edge. He also kills us a few times - accidentally.

The Iron Horde crumbles after killing Blackhand (weapon orc we killed in the Foundry) and Gul’dan (here comes the regret) makes the remaining orcs drink the green goop that comes from a big demon (Garrosh wanted to stop this, but we killed him so...). the orcs turn green just like they are in reality, but now we have to fight Demon Orcs... oh, and Gul’dan summons Archimonde (big demon overlord who’s one of Sargeras’ - leader of the demons - best friends).

Surprise surprise, now we go and kill Archimonde and all of the other people who are now a part of the Burning Legion (Sargeras’ army of demons and other races... but mostly demons). We manage, but Gul’dan is transported to Azeroth by Archimonde and he finds Illidan (uh... there’s no easy way to explain Illidan so we’ll just say he’s a big winged elf-demon man, but a kind of okay one???), who’s trapped in a crystal. 

The end of Warlords is that we’re all friends, we have a cool powerful ring, and we’ve killed Archimonde - but... Gul’dan is free, has Illidan, and is going to summon all the demons to Azeroth.

LEGION - a.k.a. the demons, and Sargeras, really really want to end the world.

Prelude: I won’t lie, I honestly forget how we got back to Azeroth after traveling to an alternate timeline. Warlords was a fever dream to most people, but either way we did it... and when we get home there’s green fire everywhere and demons are upon every known orifice of Azeroth.

The whole of Azeroth fight the demons for a bit, because while there’s a lot it’s kind of like “mm, we can handle this actually”

The Battle for Broken Shore happens, and as it turns out we underestimated how many demons were here. Alliance and Horde thought a “small squadron” would suffice... but no. The Literal Entire Legion is here and MORE are coming. Tirion who got the killing blow on Lich King dies. Vol’jin Warchief of the Horde dies. Varian king of the blues dies. It’s a huge mess and everyone has to retreat.

Dalaran (read: a floating magic city) is moved from where it is now (Northrend, and then Karazhan - a tower... we’ll leave it at that) is moved to the Broken Shore and we declare war against the Legion.

Beau is chosen by Tirion to succeed him as Highlord of the Silver Hand (basically, she’s in charge of the paladins and makes sure they eat their vegetables before battle). She gets shiny weapons because of this, that grow in power the more you feed them... not literally, but figuratively. Don’t ask.

We find the Pillars of Creation (read: titan artifacts) to help us fight Sargeras, and along the way we also liberate an ancient city and also push back the Emerald Nightmare (read: uh... corruption of the world? its bad, alright, so we kill it). 

Oh, we also kill Gul’dan (and save Illidan!).

...but he’s already summoned his main hoe: Kil’jaeden (read: Archimonde’s best bro), so now we’ve got to go and defeat him too - preferably before he gets to Azeroth.

We take back the Broken Shore and infiltrate the Tomb of Sargeras (which is where the demons are coming from) and because we’ve got all the Pillars of Creation and the cool weapons we’re able to do it. Huzzah!

We do almost nearly die in space but Illidan uses a stone to teleport us to safety, however he also brings a demon-infested planet along with us.

We hate that at first, but Velen (read: the non-corrupted trio of the once Golden Trio: Archimonde, Kil’jaeden and Velen) decides we should end the Legion while we have the advantage, so makes us a little golden dingy spaceship to travel to the demon planet and... well, defeat and destroy the Legion.

We fight on Argus (read: the demon planet) for a long time and invade Antorus, the Burning Throne - the main operating hub for the Legion. We kill everyone there and fight a literal corrupt titan!! twice!! and then with the power of the non-corrupt titans, they’re able to bind Sargeras to his former seat on the pantheon (read: a literal stage with thrones on it, one for each Titan), which does end the reign of the Legion.

...Sargeras is pissed because he REALLY wanted Azeroth to die, so before he’s bound to his chair forever like a big baby he takes his flame sword and stabs Azeroth with it.

...oh this is also a good time to mention that Azeroth is actually alive and a Titan, but like... a not born one yet. Azeroth the planet is an egg for Azeroth, the titan. anyway.

We go back to Azeroth and the planet is bleeding, and Teams Red and Blue go crazy over whatever gunk is oozing out of the wound Sargeras’ sword has left behind. So they start fighting over it. Which brings us to...

BATTLE FOR AZEROTH - a.k.a. blizzard are telling us it’s a Red vs. Blue expansion when really it’ll end up being something like “the old gods want to end the world”.

this is where we are now. Red and Blue have a new leader on each side... and the whole Azerite (the name given to the gunk oozing out of the wound left by Sargeras’ flame sword) thing is pretty much causing each side to declare war. Beau, being neutral, is... worried, to say the least; she still doesn’t have a home of her own and being neutral during a faction war is... Difficult. she’s hoping her status as Highlord will help. her focus is mainly on providing aid to those who need it, and figuring out a way to mend Azeroth’s wounds and stop Her from getting too damaged.

...and that is all I can say, for now.

[ralphmorgan-blog1]

The name on everyone’s lips: Donald Trump

Washington (CNN)He's everywhere.

In Hollywood, in Silicon Valley boardrooms, in the nation's highest courts, across thousands of lamenting Facebook posts, and even on the sidelines of your kid's soccer game -- there's one name on everybody's lips.

Donald Trump.

In just over two weeks as president, the former billionaire real estate mogul and reality star has seized control of the American zeitgeist. He's permeated almost every area of national life, thriving in a sea of publicity, controversy and conflict.

Plenty of past presidents, including Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy, quickly captured the national conversation after assuming office. But Trump's ubiquity is especially notable since it stems from his gargantuan, antagonistic personality and a governing philosophy that often exacerbates political and cultural fault lines.

Trump's swift capture of the national debate is testimony to the huge cultural power of the presidency and its capacity to shape the spirit of the United States and the world. But his constant in-your-face style also represents a risky experiment. He has yet to prove his constant presence -- for good and bad -- can foster a successful presidency. And he's opening a new front in the cultural backlash coalescing among elites in the coastal entertainment, media and advertising hubs.

At a time when the nation is debating how and whether to provide health insurance for its citizens and is staring down a complicated world, Trump has hammered a "so-called" judge who ruled against his immigration ban. He's taken potshots at celebrity foes Meryl Streep and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

His hold on the media encompasses the deeply consequential -- he claimed Monday that journalists are underreporting the terrorist threat and he's put Iran "on notice." But it also verges on the ridiculous.

After The New York Times reported Trump relaxes in his bathrobe after work, his spokesman, Sean Spicer, triggered a controversy by saying, "I don't think the President wears a bathrobe, and definitely doesn't own one."

Cue an instant torrent of Internet-breaking social media posts showing a younger Trump lounging on a bed in a crisp white bathrobe.

The waves set off by the Trump presidency are now crashing over the business world. He's at odds with more than 100 of the nation's top companies, including Google, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft, which are fighting his immigration executive order.

Intense emotional experience

It's just another way the intense emotional experience of the Trump presidency is careening through business, politics, the arts, and popular culture.

Sometimes the Trump effect is being manifested in unusual ways.

Within days of his taking office, copies of George Orwell's "1984," the legendary story of an authoritarian world of government doublespeak, sold out on Amazon. Readers perhaps wanted to know what happened in a fictitious political project apparently reminiscent of what Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway called "alternative facts."

But in Orwell's dystopian vision, Big Brother was watching you. In Trump's America, everyone is watching him.

For now, Trump seems to be happy just dominating the conversation. His omnipresence is such that even events that have little to do with the new President suddenly seem to take on new significance because of him.

Take the Super Bowl -- one of the few unifying events left in American life.

Going into Sunday's big game, one of the big questions was whether Lady Gaga's half-time show would be an overtly political denunciation of Trump. After all, it's now almost obligatory for Hollywood awards galas to feature anti-Trump screeds and for pop stars like Madonna and Bruce Springsteen to jab the President from onstage.

JUST WATCHED

Melissa McCarthy targets Spicer on 'SNL'

Replay

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MUST WATCH

The President hasn't taken the lampooning well, frequently firing off on Twitter about the show.

But maybe he protests too much.

"Trump takes himself so seriously. Being parodied on SNL is like a right of passage. It's like 'Oh my God' that are writing about me, I am in the Zeitgeist," Judy Gold, an Emmy Award-winning writer and comedienne, told CNN's Brooke Baldwin Monday.

Trump may also be angry like a fox.

His feuds with Hollywood, his refusal to play along with SNL and his jousts with the media and the Silicon Valley tech titans amount to more than a rejection of the pop culture that made him.

He's aligning himself exactly with the views of many of his supporters who disdain what they see as the elite's political correctness and smugness.

Even people who have worked for Trump admit he makes an odd blue collar hero, given his eponymous Manhattan tower dripping with gold leaf and his life once lived in the pages of New York gossip columns and his obsession with one particular spoil of pop culture -- the cover of Time magazine.

"He is the unlikeliest of populist leaders," said one senior administration official who requested anonymity to talk about the President.

This person theorized that Trump already had a common touch before entering politics but that he refined his blue-collar instincts by showing deep curiosity about the lives of his voters on the campaign trail, then thinking about their lives and problems.

"That allows him to see what people are like throughout the rest of the country," the official said.

Perhaps that knowledge is one reason why Trump could not care less that he's now apparently despised by the popular culture he once strove to join.

If everyone is obsessed with him, his work might already be part done.

More From this publisher : HERE

=> *********************************************** Source Here: The name on everyone’s lips: Donald Trump ************************************ =>

The name on everyone’s lips: Donald Trump was originally posted by A 18 MOA Top News from around

[viralhottopics]

The name on everyone’s lips: Donald Trump

Washington (CNN)He’s everywhere.

In Hollywood, in Silicon Valley boardrooms, in the nation’s highest courts, across thousands of lamenting Facebook posts, and even on the sidelines of your kid’s soccer game — there’s one name on everybody’s lips.

Donald Trump.

In just over two weeks as president, the former billionaire real estate mogul and reality star has seized control of the American zeitgeist. He’s permeated almost every area of national life, thriving in a sea of publicity, controversy and conflict.

Plenty of past presidents, including Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy, quickly captured the national conversation after assuming office. But Trump’s ubiquity is especially notable since it stems from his gargantuan, antagonistic personality and a governing philosophy that often exacerbates political and cultural fault lines.

Trump’s swift capture of the national debate is testimony to the huge cultural power of the presidency and its capacity to shape the spirit of the United States and the world. But his constant in-your-face style also represents a risky experiment. He has yet to prove his constant presence — for good and bad — can foster a successful presidency. And he’s opening a new front in the cultural backlash coalescing among elites in the coastal entertainment, media and advertising hubs.

At a time when the nation is debating how and whether to provide health insurance for its citizens and is staring down a complicated world, Trump has hammered a “so-called” judge who ruled against his immigration ban. He’s taken potshots at celebrity foes Meryl Streep and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

His hold on the media encompasses the deeply consequential — he claimed Monday that journalists are underreporting the terrorist threat and he’s put Iran “on notice.” But it also verges on the ridiculous.

After The New York Times reported Trump relaxes in his bathrobe after work, his spokesman, Sean Spicer, triggered a controversy by saying, “I don’t think the President wears a bathrobe, and definitely doesn’t own one.”

Cue an instant torrent of Internet-breaking social media posts showing a younger Trump lounging on a bed in a crisp white bathrobe.

The waves set off by the Trump presidency are now crashing over the business world. He’s at odds with more than 100 of the nation’s top companies, including Google, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft, which are fighting his immigration executive order.

Intense emotional experience

It’s just another way the intense emotional experience of the Trump presidency is careening through business, politics, the arts, and popular culture.

Sometimes the Trump effect is being manifested in unusual ways.

Within days of his taking office, copies of George Orwell’s “1984,” the legendary story of an authoritarian world of government doublespeak, sold out on Amazon. Readers perhaps wanted to know what happened in a fictitious political project apparently reminiscent of what Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway called “alternative facts.”

But in Orwell’s dystopian vision, Big Brother was watching you. In Trump’s America, everyone is watching him.

For now, Trump seems to be happy just dominating the conversation. His omnipresence is such that even events that have little to do with the new President suddenly seem to take on new significance because of him.

Take the Super Bowl — one of the few unifying events left in American life.

Going into Sunday’s big game, one of the big questions was whether Lady Gaga’s half-time show would be an overtly political denunciation of Trump. After all, it’s now almost obligatory for Hollywood awards galas to feature anti-Trump screeds and for pop stars like Madonna and Bruce Springsteen to jab the President from onstage.

JUST WATCHED

Melissa McCarthy targets Spicer on ‘SNL’

Replay

More Videos …

MUST WATCH

The President hasn’t taken the lampooning well, frequently firing off on Twitter about the show.

But maybe he protests too much.

“Trump takes himself so seriously. Being parodied on SNL is like a right of passage. It’s like ‘Oh my God’ that are writing about me, I am in the Zeitgeist,” Judy Gold, an Emmy Award-winning writer and comedienne, told CNN’s Brooke Baldwin Monday.

Trump may also be angry like a fox.

His feuds with Hollywood, his refusal to play along with SNL and his jousts with the media and the Silicon Valley tech titans amount to more than a rejection of the pop culture that made him.

He’s aligning himself exactly with the views of many of his supporters who disdain what they see as the elite’s political correctness and smugness.

Even people who have worked for Trump admit he makes an odd blue collar hero, given his eponymous Manhattan tower dripping with gold leaf and his life once lived in the pages of New York gossip columns and his obsession with one particular spoil of pop culture — the cover of Time magazine.

“He is the unlikeliest of populist leaders,” said one senior administration official who requested anonymity to talk about the President.

This person theorized that Trump already had a common touch before entering politics but that he refined his blue-collar instincts by showing deep curiosity about the lives of his voters on the campaign trail, then thinking about their lives and problems.

“That allows him to see what people are like throughout the rest of the country,” the official said.

Perhaps that knowledge is one reason why Trump could not care less that he’s now apparently despised by the popular culture he once strove to join.

If everyone is obsessed with him, his work might already be part done.

Read more: http://cnn.it/2kNJaGI

from The name on everyone’s lips: Donald Trump

[bigskydreaming]

Hi! I'm new to your blog but found a few posts that were about a JayTom ship, and I was wondering who Tom was? And also you've mentioned in a couple of posts the idea of Jason having a lineup of Titans in his age range and you talked about the Ray and Damage in one. Do you have a whole lineup in mind for them and if so, is there a post on that somewhere?

LOL man, I really need to start pulling all my posts about JayTom and Jay’s lineup of Titans together for some kind of a masterlist, so thanks for the reminder haha. Like, I saw this ask and thought of various posts to point you towards but ugh, I don’t know where any of them are.

Anyway, so. The Tom of JayTom. Aka my ideal ship for Robin!Jason in the series of one-shots about an AU where Jason doesn’t go to Ethiopia in ADITF and thus never dies, that’s kinda grown out of that of a one-shot I started as a writing commission a couple months ago, if anyone else remembers that….the one that was like ‘what if Jason called Dick after the Garzonas incident and Dick sided with Jason’…that one. 

Which then snowballed into ‘well, then I could give Jason his own lineup of Titans who are in the same age range as like a younger gen learning from Dick’s generations of Titans but still older than Tim’s generation of YJ and then eventual Titans.’

Sigh. Oh, me. Right! So! Anyway! Tom in JayTom is Thomas Bronson, the son of JSA member Ted Grant, aka Wildcat. 

Tom and Jason have never ever interacted in canon as far as I know, as I don’t think Tom’s ever appeared outside of JSA and Jason never appeared in that book either before or after his death. BUT by the magic of winging it and Canon Has Not Definitively Contradicted Me, I think the two of them are feasibly in the same age range, so I’m going with them both being fifteen when they meet here.

Tom’s a scrappy, street smart, attitude throwing teenager with daddy issues of his own, lol, thanks to Ted’s general non-existence in his life, for most of it….and he’s also tiny, like, 5′6″ and 135 lbs even at the end of his teenage years. LMAO, I honestly don’t remember, but I think that might be the whole basis of this ship for me, or where it originated. Like, I happened across Tom’s stats as listed on one of the DC wiki sites, and was like, lol oh, he and Robin!Jason could be pint-sized punks together! And then from there, I had the inevitable thought “okay but now make them gay” and then from there I fell into my usual trap of “oh no, it was supposed to be a joke but now I’m taking it seriously and seriously pondering how it could seriously work.”

And then from there it consumed my brain and devoured my life. I swear, it was Dick/Kyle all over again. Ugh, my brain is so problematic.

So anyway, this is Tom:

He’s a werepanther, he can shapeshift into a panther form to fight, which brings up an interesting facet of his character and something I think could be really fun to play off Jason and his own issues…because Tom hates fighting. HATES it. Will run from a fight at any given opportunity rather than engage….but its not because he’s a coward, or doesn’t have heroic instincts of his own, and its not even because he’s not GOOD at fighting.

Its that he’s scared of himself, and scared of hurting whoever he’s fighting…at least more than he means to. Because he has trouble controlling his shift when in fights. His panther form just comes out in response to his own amped up levels of aggression. The fight or flight response for him is actually more like “flight or turn into a raging whirlwind of clawed and fanged fury that can’t stop won’t stop until he’s definitively won his fight….which by extension, usually means his opponent is currently bleeding out on the ground from a few dozen deep claw marks because Panther!Tom’s claws and fangs are SHARP.”

Now pair this fear of his own power with Tom’s natural belligerence and problems with authority at certain points in his life, AND his desire to follow in his hero father’s footsteps as well as his resentment and giving himself grief every time he realizes he even has that desire, because he doesn’t owe his deadbeat dad shit and can’t stand that he nevertheless admires him in a lot of ways and still feels a desire to prove himself to him…

Then pair him up with Jason during his Robin years, going through similar issues and emotions as well as a comparable dynamic with Bruce as him not dying in Ethiopia nevertheless changes nothing about the two of them likely clashing more and more over their views on how to deal with criminals and the appropriate levels of aggression when dealing with them….

And that right there, IMO, is super strong potential for a dynamic couple with a lot in common and yet occasional clashes of their own due to different opinions on which direction to go in so as to address those shared issues…but who likely would never hesitate for a second before backing each other up and presenting a united front against anyone else who tried to give one or the other shit for any reason whatsoever.

Also, I have vastly amused myself with the thought (and the occasional post here and there) of Ted and Bruce continually glowering at each other and blaming each other’s son for being a bad influence on their son, who has never done anything wrong in their life ever, CLEARLY (even if Bruce had actually just grounded Jason the day before. Whatever. Ted doesn’t need to know that).

Anyway, so that’s the JayTom I reference now and then. I’ve always maintained that Jason could really benefit from having a stronger support system of friends distinct to him and not sharing similar dynamics with any of his siblings, so then I was like, well if Jay doesn’t die, and I have him and Dick closer in this AU than they’re usually written as being, plausibly Jason would spend a lot of time at the Tower to get away from Bruce and his own fights with him. 

With Dick being more than able to relate to trouble dealing with Bruce and thus happy to lend a sympathetic ear….and eventually maybe express to Bruce that it might do them both some good for Jason to make more friends his own age and have some normal routines that took him out of the house and Gotham enough that he and Bruce don’t constantly feel like they’re breathing down each other’s necks and keeping tension a constant thing between them. A little space now and then could benefit them both, give them chances to cool off after their fights and actually MISS each other before readdressing the issues.

So then I could see the Titans kinda sending out invitations/recruiting various teen heroes around Jason’s age that they’d all maybe had their eyes on for awhile as kids who could benefit from the same kind of team unity/group support that helped them so much when they were that age just a few years ago themselves.

Which leads me to where I am now which is….I still haven’t settled on a solid lineup, because I came up with too many choices, lol. Basically, my parameters were I wanted characters who could feasibly be said to be in the same age range as Jason and Tom, and didn’t have super strong associations with any other characters that would create any kind of conflict with them being on a Titans team at this point in the timeline instead. And because I’m all about my thematics, I wanted them all to have certain root issues in common that they could all bond over and actually, y’know, support each other with and through. 

(The same way I think Dick’s generation of Titans actually has certain distinct themes and issues that almost all of them share and can relate to in varying ways, which I think has a lot to do with how quickly and fully they all bonded and why they created such lasting friendships and teams between them. But that’s a whole other post, lol.)

So the central shared issues I decided to focus on for Jason’s age group of Titans were: teen/young heroes from abusive homes or runaways, ones with issues and fears stemming from and regarding their own powers or tempers, etc, and misfits who were regarded warily by other or older heroes and considered potentially able to end up on either side of the hero/villain line in the sand.

Which Dick’s generation of Titans, which of course includes Raven, Kory, etc, would not be in agreement with that last part, and thus be all the more likely to recruit these specific teen heroes and be like nyah, nyah, watch how with our help and oh yeah, SUPPORT, they all become the best damn heroes that ever did heroically hero. Suck it, JLA-holes!

(And then Donna would be like, not you Diana, you know we’re cool, its just I gotta do the team solidarity thing and Dick, Garth and Roy are still being Displeased with their mentors/dads at the moment, and also we’re all kinda ticked you guys stole Wally. Btw, we’re stealing the new Green Lantern kid, because Revenge and stuff. He’s ours now, you snooze, you lose).

 So, Jason’s lineup of Titans will consist of some of the following, I’m just not 100% sure which yet, because I have to whittle down the list.

1) Jason (nominally mentored by Dick, but the latter just calls it an excuse for brother bonding time and neither of them make much reference ever to having any kind of actual mentor/protégé relationship like I see the rest of Jay’s lineup having. Plus, Jason unique from the rest already has a mentor in Bruce anyway, so his situation and reasons for being part of this team aren’t quite the same from the others, especially as one of my reasons for this AU was always addressing the issues I have with Bruce’s parenting before the canon event point of Jason’s death, and like…..so like, Bruce does get better once Dick calls out some of his shit with Jason based on his own experiences with Bruce and then later Jason returns the favor by calling out Bruce for taking Dick for granted and no longer putting in the same effort connecting with his eldest and being an actual PARENT to him like he used to).

2) Tom Bronson/Tomcat (who else would act as his personal mentor other than Gar aka Beast Boy aka Changeling, the shapeshifter extraordinaire?)

3) Grant Emerson/Damage (recruited by Roy and his personal protégéand likely BFFs with Jason IMO, as I think their temperaments are complete opposites but Grant’s the kind of kid who would roll his eyes and dolefully follow his troublemaking best friend Jay into likely danger, because his power to blow things up really comes in handy with the kind of scrapes Jason gets himself into and this in turn is a really handy thing to point out in the aftermath of pulling Jason’s butt out of a scrape and then gloating but in the totally mature and “I’m much too nice to actually be gloating, you must be mistaken about what’s happening here” manner in which I see that going down. And in terms of the parameters I mentioned, Grant grew up bounced around abusive foster homes, is watched like a hawk by various groups and heroes because of the huge catastrophic potential of his powers, which he has his own fears about, and also he has no idea who his parents are either, and I imagine him and Jason going on a ‘find out who our real parents are roadtrip’ after graduation or something).

4) Ray Terrill/The Ray (potentially recruited by Kory and her personal protégé. He was briefly a member of Tim’s Young Justice team, but part of the reason he was never that close with the other members was he was a little bit older, just a couple years or so, but enough to put him squarely in Jason’s age range. Also comes from an abusive home, and spent the majority of his childhood living in complete darkness because his asshole uncle told him he had the same powers as his father which meant sunlight would be harmful to him and make him dangerous to be around. When in reality, like his dad, Ray’s powers are fueled by sunlight and he’s like a living solar battery, keeping him afraid to leave the dark was just meant to keep him passive and powerless. Even knowing his uncle lied now, Ray still has long had fears about his own powers, unable to totally shake the fears his uncle instilled in him).

5) Todd Rice/Obsidian (potentially recruited by Raven and her personal protégé. He and his twin sister Jenny-Lynn Hayden are probably a bit older than the rest of this team, but their ages aren’t definitively linked to any points in the DC timeline, so there’s no real conflict between handwaving them as aged down to be right around the same ages as the others. Todd and Jenny-Lynn are the twin children of original Green Lantern Alan Scott aka Sentinel, and the DC villainness Thorn. They grew up in separate foster homes though with Alan unaware of their existence for most of their childhoods. Todd’s childhood was notoriously rough, with him having several abusive foster parents. He’s canonically gay and mentally ill/neurodivergent, which several of his foster homes targeted him for. In addition, his shadow powers are tied to a dark dimension that’s said to prey on his mental state and led to occasional times where he’s been a villain briefly, and at all times his powers are regarded fearfully by most people and with him shunned and avoided because of them. All of which I think makes Raven an ideal mentor for him).

6) Jenny-Lynn Hayden/Jade (Todd’s twin sister, even though they didn’t grow up together for the most part. Honestly, she doesn’t share in a lot of the issues the rest of the team prospects do, and had a relatively good childhood before her powers developed and she found her brother and they started operating as heroes together. But upon learning who her brother and dad are, she’s always been committed to growing closer with them, so I think anywhere Todd goes in this AU, she’d definitely follow, and its not like the team can’t benefit from a heavy hitter like her, let alone more girls. Not totally sure who I picture as most mentoring her in specific, probably because I don’t see her as being recruited per se, so much as just going with Todd when recruited….but I’m thinking maybe Garth, actually. Garth has a lot of range and versatility with his powers and magic, which makes him ideal for mentoring someone who not only has the same powers as a Green Lantern, limited only by her imagination…..but who also might benefit from being mentored by someone who ISN’T a Green Lantern because she doesn’t share their traditional weaknesses and thus she’d be best off training with someone whose own techniques and instincts aren’t geared around weaknesses that are literally irrelevant to her powerset).

7) Courtney Mason/Anima (A metahuman runaway who was almost sacrificed by a cult before her powers kicked in….she’s also right in the same age range as Ray, Grant and Jason, and has briefly been a member of a couple Titans lineups but never for long and usually only for big event stories. But she fits the runaway/rough home environment parameter as well as fear of her own powers….she absorbs life energy from people and animals and can potentially kill them by draining too much. She also has a separate power that’s basically a connection to an other-dimensional spirit called the Animus that she can summon forth and unleash on her enemies. I’m thinking she’d make a good recruit/protégé for Jericho actually, for a number of reasons).

8) Cynthia Reynolds/Fantasia (? Maybe? Not sure yet. Not her actual codename, but her actual codename is a slur, so I’m def gonna make up a new one, I just haven’t 100% settled on what it is yet. Suck it, DC. She’s most known for being a member of Justice League Detroit along with Steel, Vibe and the Ray, but she’s the right age range to end up recruited to be a Titan here instead, like Ray. Also is a runaway from an abusive home, and often deals with mistrust and suspicion due to her illusion powers. Perfect recruit/protégé for Lilith, IMO).

9) Cisco Ramone/Vibe (Also created as a teenage hero to be part of the Justice League Detroit lineup, which makes him the right age range and he’s another runaway. The nature of his powers makes him a good fit to be a recruit/protégéof Mal Duncan/Herald).

10) Amy Allen/Bombshell (Totally self-indulgent on my part given that I basically would ignore the vast majority of her storylines and writing, which I think suck. She was in the Titans stories revolving around Tim’s generation of the team, but she was always stated to be a few years older than the rest, like in her late teens when the majority were probably sixteen, so I think she’s a good fit for this age range. Also had a crappy home life and parents, and her powers are hugely destructive in certain applications…she basically has the same powerset as Captain Atom, though she’s never had any kind of official mentor or sidekick relationship with him. Also, I think Captain Atom is an asshat and a dillhole and he sucks, but I do like his powers, so reinterpreting Amy as a character who doesn’t suck and playing around with her powers instead is solid decision making on my part and renders Captain Atom irrelevant now. I think I shall kill him. Because I can do that. Anyway, I think she doesn’t need him as a mentor but could make a good recruit/protégé for Leonid/Red Star).

11) Carla Moretti/Cinder (Odd choice, given that she’s only ever really been used as a villainous member of Deathstroke’s anti-Titans team and was easily in her twenties at the time. Pyrokinetic who happily makes bonfires out of her enemies but written with zero attempts at nuance, like a total one note villain framed as having long since abandoned her own humanity….which bugged the crap out of me, as she was given a super angsty backstory of childhood sexual abuse and that’s just ‘why she’s like this’ and I have a deep seeded loathing for asshole writers writing survivors as villains and just blaming their casual homicidal ways on their abuse while serving up said villains to just be punching bags or dominoes for the heroes to knock down on their way to the Boss Fight. So I do have inclinations towards making an actual Titan out of her, like with Amy, because surprise surprise, both these characters being written shittily and one note was the work of the same writer, shocking. So I’d just handwave her down to the right age range and have her recruited/mentored by Donna, probably…more due to me thinking Donna would be the best person to help her deal with stuff because she’s mastered the art of avoiding avoidance via having Dick Grayson as a BFF. So with them its not really because Carla needs mentoring with her powers specifically. Idk, Carla anyway you slice it I think has a lot of rage, and Donna knows what to do with that. Written right, Donna’s not a character who judges or shames a victim or survivor for being angry…she gets angry with them, and helps them find options for what to do with that now.) 

12) Hero Cruz (Lesser known Titan, has a device called the Dial H device that lets him turn into a different hero with different powers depending on the setting he puts it on. Basically Ben 10, but Hero came first. Doesn’t really fit most of the parameters, other than being around the right age range, and not even sure who would make a good mentor for him though I wanna say Vic, but not totally decided yet. Mostly I just like him and think he’s underused, so whatever).

There’s also a few other candidates that I have mostly ruled out but not totally. I thought about using the aged up version of Chris Kent, and just introduce him earlier than he showed up in canon. And then Kara/Supergirl could be his mentor because I kinda handwave her into Dick’s generation of Titans anyway, even though it was the alien Matrix version of Linda Danvers that was the only Supergirl ever on the team. Whatever. She should have been a Titan all along anyway. But also Chris would fit the team well as he had an abusive childhood as well, at his dad General Zod’s hands, and again, I just like the character. 

Thought of including Virgil Hawkins/Static too, even though I think he’s closer to Tim’s age range. And again, just another character I’m a fan of and think is underused, but he would definitely be an odd man out in this group because like….he comes from a happy, healthy, loving home and family, and he loves his powers. So he would constantly be just like nodding his head along while his teammates talk and like ugh that sucks, but 10/10 absolutely can not relate, my parents are awesome.  Same with Natasha Irons/Steel, who really would have to be handwaved to even be in the right age range, and again has a happy loving home environment and a superhero uncle of her own so its not like she needs a Titan mentor…..but I kinda wanna see Karen Beecher/Bumblebee take her under her wing anyway, and have them be science nerds together.

Also pretty much the only reason I ruled out Connor Hawke too, as he doesn’t really match the rest of the team in any of the parameters except for feasibly being right at the upper edge of the same age range. But again, I just love the character. 

So I’m probably gonna end up throwing at least one of these other characters in there anyway, lol. I do know myself).

Anyway. So that’s Jason’s lineup of Titans, or at least the candidates as they exist bouncing around in my head now. Also, they’re pretty much Team “Everyone is Gay Except For When They’re Bi.” Which, granted, is basically how I view Dick’s generation of Titans, but with them I have to be like Make It So, in my brain, whereas with this group like….canon’s actually done the work for me for the most part lol. Ray is gay, Todd Rice is gay, Courtney is bi, Hero is gay. And I can’t actually find anything confirmed Tom was stated to be gay somewhere in canon, but I SWEAR he was, like, ugh this is bugging me.

But anyway. That’s that about all of that.