#sO WEAK FOR THE BURNSIDES

[asterlark]

in my current re-listen of taz balance i was so struck by magnus telling carey during lunar interlude III when she suggests he not take all the big hits, "but i don't want to lose merle and taako." the boys up to this point have jokingly referred to each other as bffs and have made a few lighthearted comments about loving each other etc, but this, 40 episodes into the arc, is the first time we hear any of them express real fear over losing the other two.

and it hits so hard that it's magnus! magnus who knows what it's like to lose someone you love even before he remembers the stolen century, magnus who almost never shows fear, whose whole thing is being brave and strong. he opens up not to taako and merle- they would never say this shit to each others' faces, not at this point in the show- but to carey, someone who is a friend but also an outsider to their little trio.

this scene for magnus is important in more ways than one- he's realizing he needs to stop being so reckless if he wants to stick around for a long time. after julia, he always rushed into conflict, brave and reckless to the point of being foolish or even suicidal. he's accepted the fact that he'll die in battle someday, is fine with that.

but now, with merle and taako and the rest of his friends at the bureau, he has people again. he has a reason to stay alive again, loved ones to protect and cherish again. so he has to adapt, to change how he fights, to make sure he can be around for them. to keep himself safe so he can keep them safe.

this is the first time we hear magnus express a fear of loss, but also the first time we hear him express a desire to change & a larger degree of self-awareness. him awkwardly fumbling through the conversation with carey in a way he never has before tells us that he was genuinely nervous to ask for help, to be potentially seen as weak, to be witnessed being bad at something at first while he's being trained.

but the fact that he does it anyway, the fact that he trusts himself enough, trusts carey enough, to ask- that says so much about his character and how much he's grown at this point in the show.

just. characters who at first don't care too much if they live or die as long as they die heroically, learning to value their own lives through their relationships and love with other people. magnus burnsides: characters of all time!!!

[sunnycanwrite]

wanted to talk about Barbara Gordon more as a disabled person. She is the reason I accepted my struggles and got a cane. Without this character I would be we have let myself use mobilty aids, would never have become a wheelchair user.

The storyline which is included in Batgirl of burnside is interesting. As a younger teen I enjoyed it a lot I thought "overcoming" her disability was so badass. Now I just think it's fucked up. Though it does show a bit of reality, going to physical therapy, sometimes using mobilty aids like a cane, and rooming with another disabled woman.

There's also a this issue with abled bodied readers. Who saw her as weak as Oracle, thought it was silly to have her in a wheelchair. That makes you wonder what they think of people irl who are disabled? Do they frown down upon us?

I've been a wheelchair user for a short amount of time, but needed one for much longer. Oracle has been my role model ever since my legs stopped holding me up. I found my independence by using a wheelchair. I'm still a cosplayer, a writer, a active member in my local queer community. Just like Babs was still a hero, a librarian, so strong and powerful.

Don't look down on disabled people, we are stronger than you. Because we understand pain in a way that many never will.

[theadventurezoneoftruth]

the IPRE playing Civ 6

This post started as a teehee joke, but then it became. Well. Far too long.

Anyway, it started with this simple idea: to ME Barry Bluejeans loves the Sid Meier's Civilization series. Do I feel this way because he's a long-time blorbo and I'VE been really into Civ lately? perhaps.

Anyway. He brought a copy of Civ 6 with him onto the Starblaster. He managed to achieve all victory types for all leaders by the end of the stolen century.

On what would have been his 100th birthday (if they were tracking ages normally), he got all of the crew to play a 7 player hotseat multiplayer game with him.

For those unfamiliar with Civ: it's a strategy game where you play as a fictionalized version of real life historical figures, seeking to create an empire which can survive throughout the ages. Each leader and country have certain bonus attributes, which can influence your playstyle.

Barry - Eleanor of Aquataine / England: This is a really weak civ for multiplayer, since her leader bonus only really works against the AI. But I think he purposefully chose that to try and give himself a disadvantage, since he has so much more experience. Plus it gives him Court of Love.

Lup - Hammurabi / Babylon: I think she'd like the really chaotic and off-beat playstyle of Babylon, which allows you to unlock some things crazy early if you focus in on the right tasks.

Taako - Qin Shi Huang (Mandate of Heaven) / China: I think he'd approach Civ as mainly a city building game / teehee wonders go brrr. Along with the bonus's to wonder production, the Great Wall would allow him to play more defensively.

Lucretia - Seondeok / Korea: A leader which allows her to rush a science victory, which feels thematically appropriate for the future creator of a fake moon. Requires a lot of thoughtful planning.

Davenport - Harald Hardrada (Konge) / Norway: powerful naval-focused civ goes brrr. considered giving him Portugal for a more peaceful approach, but tbh I think it'd be funny if Davenport was really cutthroat at the game.

Magnus - Tomyris / Scythia: I had to think on this one for a while, because at first I was tempted to try and pick something thematic for Magnus - a Diplomacy civ for his rustic hospitality, a civ which focuses on builders for his carpentry, etc etc. But ultimately, I think if you give Magnus Burnsides a game like Civ 6, he's mainly just going to want to have some fun making an army and attacking people.

Merle - Theodora / Byzantium: I think Barry told Merle to pick this one because she's one of the strongest civilizations in the game + she has a focus on faith and culture. Merle proceeds to get a Great Prophet, found the religion of Pan, and then mess up at the game in every single way possible.

[zahri-melitor]

Fear State: Joker War was better.

Sitting with it for a bit: I don't think this was a bad event. I think it underdelivered, and that your interest and affection for it is going to revolve around your interest in the three main plot strands and the characterisation in each.

If anything, it reminded me in particular of Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul and of Legacy: the main plot is getting an assist from people's affection for the character dynamics in the B plot. (Hands up if your definition of what happens in Resurrection heavily revolves around the Dick-Tim-Damian beats and then goes 'oh yeah Ra's comes back to life by stealing the White Ghost's body').

There was the Batman, Scarecrow, Simon Saint and Miracle Molly plot. There was the Dick-Babs-Tim-Cass-Steph plot. And there was the Harley-Ivy-Selina plot.

I think the main weakness is that the three plots didn't come together fully enough at the end to tie things off; they had three separate resolutions, that didn't overlap sufficiently in terms of 'we have fixed things, now Bruce you can go have your big emotional confrontation' or 'these three things blend together and we couldn't succeed if any of them had failed'.

Which: fair. I've read worse events. I've read worse Bat events in the golden age of Bat book events (Oh Officer Down, what if you were good).

In terms of the Bruce plot: I don't mind all of Tynion's character creations, I just had the 'well that was nice, do we ever get to see any of them again' feelings about it. Three years down the track with the benefit of hindsight: Ghost-maker looks like he's got potential sticking power. Punchline has some value as a villain option to pull out. The rest are...well, that's nice. Next?

I think Tynion's work was stronger when he was focused more heavily on rebuilding and embroidering existing narratives (though as I said, his opening intro of Ghost-maker was solid). But it's still perfectly enjoyable and readable. He hit some very caring-Bruce beats through this story. (The Scarecrow unfortunately got overshadowed as a threat through this as there was simply too much other stuff going on).

In news surprising to nobody, I enjoyed the Queen Ivy storyline far more when it was in Catwoman than when it was in Harley Quinn. I shall not be continuing to pick up HQ. Sad to see Ram V's Catwoman run wrapping up here, as I feel like he lost a lot of page space to events. Also can see direction for the Poison Ivy launch in the wake of this.

The Batfam storyline mostly to be found in Nightwing (and back ups) was very...yes okay I get why people are infuriated by Tom Taylor because it's so close to great. The elements I wanted to see were there. He blew up the Clock Tower because apparently he wanted to redo that element of War Games as part of the 'reflect but change Devin Grayson's era' push. The characters he had together all have the ability to bounce off each other in interesting ways. Everyone is being a bit too nice to each other. We didn't need round...six? of someone tries to take over Oracle (Various Calculator plotlines, Brainiac virus, Gus Yale as Oracle, the Burnside AI, Oracle Robot...). But there were sparks there I enjoyed and moments I want to draw hearts around and look, there are relationships being re-established here that have been off panel for a WHILE.

[wanderingmind867]

Issue #6: issue six is more of a prequel to the celestial propagandist story i plan to tell later. The story begins by showing us a different howard than the one we all know: Meet Howard Burnside, a horrible ad executive and charity director. He's getting up there in years (the book opens on his 50th birthday), but he's always been a nasty human being.

He's a perfect representation of some of mankind's worse impulses: he willingly uses disabled children, abused animals and sick people as props, so he can steal money from the suckers who donate to his charities. He's also made ads for cigarettes, beer, casinos, payday loan companies, etc. If it's bad for you, Howard Burnside has made Ads promoting it!

In any case, he's beginning to pine for more in life. Experiencing a midlife crisis, he drinks a scotch in private late at night and prays for a sign of his fate. And wouldn't you know it, the celestial propagandist (who is beginning to awaken) hears him, and grants his wish.

So now we skip to a week later, and Howard and Bev are getting back home from a grocery trip. When suddenly, their tv airwaves are overtaken by a commerical for Burnside Miracle Services. Need a cure for cancer? Need to stop drinking? Need to reverse your ageing? Stop right up, and burnside Miracle Services will do their thing!

Howard dismisses it, until he gets a call from Andrew saying he senses something unnatural going on. And so Howard and Bev end up joining Andrew in infiltrating the Burnside Miracles building. And wouldn't you know it, andrew was right: there is something sinister afoot.

Specifically, Mr. Burnside has become a living battery for emotions. Just like how his Ads prayed on humanity's worst impulses and/or on mankind's propensity for believing in sad ads using "pitiful" subjects like abused animals or sick children, he now has the power to increase his own strength by absorbing the emotions of others. The only problem/weakness of his: like all batteries, there's only so much he can absorb before he overheats.

So that begins to happen. Howard, Bev and Andrew find him just as he's beginning to lose his sanity and go mad with power. His skin crackling with heat and electricity, he breaks out of the building and begins feasting on the emotions of everyone in Cleveland. Howard and Bev and Andrew manage to meet back up with Paul and Winda and Lee, and then the six of them try to chase him down.

They find him eventually, but by that point it's too late for him. He's beginning to struggle to move, since his every muscle throbs with pain from heat and overexertion. But he still needs more energy…he breaks into tears, trying to plead that he's not a bad guy. But even while he's pleading, he tries to feed on Bev. And Howard stops him. And seeing such a display of selflessness breaks this corrupt and cynical ad executive. With one last "forgive me", he blows up!

All the emotions he stole are returned to their proper owners, but now there's a giant crater in the ground where Howard Burnside, the literal "energy vampire" once stood. And nobody knows where his powers came from. But they'll soon. The celestial propagandist is slowly waking, after all. But that won't be covered for at least another ten issues.

[zarcsobsession]

Resident evil Omegaverse AU

Remember! im not a English mother language! so if you find some error pls tell me and i correct the error!

Omegaverse is one of my favorite drugs, if you add Mpreg you give me a very big joy! So i have decide to make my personal version of Omegaverse in Re fandom!

Some Info is inspired from @sparkie96 works!

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!!! IMPORTANT NOTE !!!

My omegaverse is slightly different than most works I've gotten my hands on! Omega males DO NOT own a vagina! but the entrance to the reproductive system is located in the rectal area! When they go into pre-heat they will have very strong abdominal cramps because the canal has a muscle that "moves" when they go into heat, to close the digestive tract and open the reproductive canal, these cramps will also be there after the heat which will last about 2/3 days (together with the pre heat and the post heat it will last approximately 6/7 days). The look doesn't differ much! the bicinii is slightly wider than normal! They won't keep them growing when pregnant! his pecs will simply swell and that's it!

<hr>

Omegaverse in RE fandom!

In the world of Resident evil, omegas are really rare (3% of the entire world population), because they have particularly difficult genes to breed!, but they are not seen as weak, needy and that must be protected. Law enforcement agencies such as Police, Special Forces and others seek them out for use in rescue missions, because due to their nature they are able to calm down and help kidnap victims, such as in the case of Ashley's kidnapping. They are trained to resist psychologically to pheromones of any kind, and to bear severe physical and psychological trauma. Betas are the highest percentage of all (about 60% of the world population), they are very normal humans, pheromones do not affect them at all, and they only use them to recognize people. Alphas make up a good percentage, but not as much as betas (about 30%), they are men who are relatively strong and dedicated to protecting the people they love.

Finished all this rant here is the list of all the characters of RE and their secondary genre!

<hr>

Rebecca Chambers: Alpha(I loved his personality in RE Vendetta! and when i scolded the two kids arguing i adored her and my mind decided she was alpha!)

Billy Coen: Beta

Albert Wesker: Alpha(Albert is an "old school" alpha, where the omegas are just slaves and shouldn't exist!)

William Birkin: Beta

Chris Redfield: Alpha

Jill Valentine: Alpha

Barry Burton: Alpha

Brad Vickers: Beta

Leon S. Kennedy: Omega/Alpha/Beta(Its genre depends a lot on the plot! In some stories he is a beta/alpha turned into an Omega, only to have to continue taking "steroids" to return to alpha or appear as a beta!)

Claire Redfield: Beta/alpha( I'm uncertain)

Ada Wong: beta

Sherry Birkin: Beta/Alpha

Hunk: beta(???)

Carlos Oliveira: Omega

Mikhail Viktor: Alpha

Nikolai Zinoviev: Beta

Steve Burnside: Beta/Omega

Ashley Graham: Omega/Beta

Ingrid Hunnigan: Alpha

Jack Krauser:Alpha(When he wasn't a jerk he was a regular alpha, when he wanted his lookout he started thinking old fashioned like Wesker.)

Parker Luciani: Beta

Keith Lumley: Beta

Jessica Sherawat: Beta

Quint Cetcham: Beta

Raymond Vester: Beta

Sheva Alomar: Alpha/Beta

Josh Stone: Beta

Excella Gionne: Beta

Moira Burton: Beta

Natalia Korda: Genderless(Because of the experiments it doesn't have a secondary genre, it's marked as beta, but I don't have it!)

Alex Wesker: Alpha(like Albert)

Jake Muller: Alpha

Helena Harper: Alpha

Piers Nivans: Beta

Carla Radames: Beta

Ethan Winters: Omega

Mia Winters: Alpha

Clancy Jarvis: Beta

Zoe Baker: Alpha

Joe Baker: Alpha

Marguerite Baker: Beta

Lucas Baker: Beta

If I have forgotten someone you are more than justified in kicking me to add it!

<hr>

Forgot to mention, that large family groups or very close friends are referred to as a "Pack", and it is normal for members of this pack to help others in need! but a person can safely decide not to join any of these packs and remain alone!

<hr>

ps, you are more than welcome to take and use these combinations or info! at least remember to give me some credit, thanks!

[adleryoung]

Well, my dears? Have you come to any conclusions? Have you guessed how I solved this problem? Oh, well, I don't blame you for not wanting to commit to any definite theory. I am quite unpredictable. What's that? No, no coffee for me, thanks. I'll sip this refreshing '78 Chateau Winterbough and continue with my story.

I had two days before the trial. Would that be enough time? My goals were clear: Save Oonagh and (if possible) Didelphis, and discredit the rabbits' leader.

"Rebecca," I demanded, "what do you know about Parson?"

"That would be THE Parson," Rebecca explained. "Reverend Horace O'Hoppity is the leader of the First Church of Bunkirk. He's a fiery minister, full of the Spirit of the Cosmic Ram to spread the Word of the Blessed Baby Bunny."

"A priest, eh? Well then, he has an exploitable weakness. We just have to figure out where he keeps his concubine, and once we have her, then we can easily control him."

"Oh no, my Lord," Rebecca shook her head. "Parson O'Hoppity is morally upstanding."

"That complicates things," I admitted. "We'll have to find two concubines, maybe more."

"No, my Lord, no concubines at all."

"WHAT? You just said he was morally upstanding!"

"He is! That means he keeps a tight rein on his, uh, venery. He has to. Everyone in Bunkirk is under constant scrutiny from everyone else in Bunkirk, especially the Parson."

"Reverend O'Hoppity would never make it as a Mephitist," I observed. "No wonder you rebelled against this insane rabbit religion. Fuma wants us all to love one another."

"The Blessed Baby Bunny commands that too," Rebecca elaborated. "Just not in that way."

"I don't like the fact that he doesn't care if Didelphis's story is true and is just exploiting the situation for personal gain," I mused. "Sending someone posing as the old crone would be extremely risky if O'Hoppity is part of the equation. We have to eliminate him, either by destroying his credibility, or …" I trailed off, thinking.

"I could go assassinate him," Burnside offered. "Real quick and quiet-like. Shoot, I can even make it look like an accident."

"That's at least a better suggestion than before," I replied, "but it would look suspicious if the main accuser turns up dead the day before the trial. The mob has been primed to believe in witchcraft, so even if it looks like an accident, they would probably see that as proof of Oonagh's guilt."

"I can just fillet anybody that says so," Burnside insisted.

"No," I refused. "Stand down. I have a better idea, a more subtle idea. Rebecca, you say the Parson is 'morally upstanding' but I say that means he is in the grip of a sickness. Suppressing one's natural urges is bad for you; it causes the sufferer to act out in Unseelie ways. The history of Faerie is littered with heretical sects that proved this theory time and time again. Reverend O'Hoppity has a dark secret. You can be sure of that. We just need to find out what it is. IXIE! I need more information on the rabbit Parson, and I need it fast. Find out exactly what his motive is. What does he stand to gain? And find out what he's hiding. He has to have a weakness."

"I already have Ixies on it, Sire," she replied with a crisp salute.

"Excellent," I grinned. "You are dismissed."

"The Parson is fond of food," Rebecca blurted out suddenly. "He can't resist homemade pies baked by any of the church femmes."

"That could be useful," I nodded thoughtfully. "Now then, it is very brave and noble of you to volunteer for a deep cover mission, but there is a problem: Telling untruths is .. let's say .. unhealthy for an elf."

"Huh?" the other witches interjected. "Are you saying Rebecca's an elf??"

"It's highly probable," I explained. "This was a recent development that we are still investigating, but I feel reasonably sure that Rebecca is a Changeling. This will not interrupt your training, and may even make it easier. For now, let's stay on track. The situation in town may be too volatile to save Didelphis. I'm not sure sending an impostor would work. I think the most effective solution now would be my initial plan of removing Didelphis's transmogrification and restoring her to old cronedom … but it would have to be done at the precisely right moment, and I cannot think of a way to monitor the courtroom from here. Relaying information by Ixie is fast, but not instantaneous."

"If only I had the mate to this," I muttered, pulling Ash's communication device out of my Elfintory. "Then someone could relay information to me about the trial while it was happening."

[crystallizedkingdoms]

Coda

day 7 of @johann-appreciation-week! the final day has come already huh. this one went by so quickly. i cant wait for the next one :3. just as a warning though, this fic discusses magnus' canon wonderland death under the impression hes actually dead, and alludes to johanns canon death. sad ending :(

you can also read this on ao3 <3

There is an end to every song. Even when you wish with all your might that the end won’t come, it will come and take all the music with it. 

There is nothing anyone can do to stop it. Try as you might to stall the ending, to beg for that song to stay playing, forever and ever and ever, the end will catch up. An ending will always come.

Johann thinks about the end when Avi curls up in his bed, sobbing into himself. The two of them are in Avi’s dorm, desperately clutching each other’s hands like they are the only thing keeping each other down. Nothing really feels right when the Bureau loses an employee, of course, but to lose Magnus…  

“They said ‘moving on is what he would have wanted.’ I hate that they’re right. I hate that they’re right because it is so hard to do that right now,” Avi says. His breath has that strong scent of alcohol that Johann hates, but he’s still mostly sober— if only because Johann had to rip the flask away from him. “Out of all of them, I didn’t expect Magnus to be the one to… to be the one…”

Johann wordlessly listens to Avi, a terrible pain of his own clawing at his heart. Nothing has felt quite right these past few days leading up to this year’s Midsummer, and what a way for this feeling to pay off. The death of Magnus Burnsides, of all people, and the downright fucking terrifying scene of the wilting surface that Johann had witnessed a few hours earlier. 

“There’s so much happening, Avi…” Johann whispers. His voice cracks a little. A weak and small sound. Avi doesn’t reply. He just sighs and holds Johann a little tighter. 

A million different thoughts swarm Johann’s head as he sits on the edge of Avi’s bed in silence: Why Magnus out of everyone? Is he really gone? Why is the fucking apocalypse happening down there and only Garfield seems to be the only one doing anything about it? Should I take Avi and leave? Is that more dangerous? What’s going to happen to the Bureau? Oh gods, do we even have time to do Magnus’s Rites of Parting before we figure out the last relic? I have to start writing his composition—

“Hey, you okay, Johann?” Avi asks. He is sniffling and shuddering, but he still looks up at Johann all worried. “You’re holding onto my hand so tightly. Your nails kind of hurt.”

Johann loosens his grips on Avi’s hand he didn’t even know he had tightened. “Sorry, I’m really sorry. I’m just— just overwhelmed. And I’m so scared, Avi. I don’t think I’ve ever been this scared. Nothing feels right,” Johann says through building tears. “Don’t you feel it? Don’t you feel that everything feels wrong? ”

Avi takes a deep breath and sighs with his whole body. He props himself up onto his back, resting on the headboard of his bed. “Yeah, I know. There’s only so much we can take. And his death is… fuck, man, it’s a lot,” he says. Then, he tugs on Johann’s arm, beckoning him closer. “But… gods, Johann, no matter how wrong everything feels, we still have each other, don’t we?”

That’s not the only thing though! It’s not just his death. Everything feels wrong. Everything feels bad and we need to get out of here, Johann wants to yell, but he doesn’t say it. Even when it nags at him, that’s not what he says. Why would he? That’s not what Avi needs to hear. That’s not what anyone needs to hear at this moment. 

“Yeah,” Johann tries to weakly smile, “yeah, we still have each other.” 

Avi attempts to smile back. Johann knows deep in his heart, without having to think, that Avi’s smile looks better and more sincere than the one he’s currently giving. It’s unfair that even in this day of total hell, Avi is still the better comforter between the two of them. “Come closer,” Avi pleads. His voice drips with anguish and longing as he tugs Johann’s arm again. “Lay down with me, please?” 

Johann looks down on the tear-stained sheets of Avi’s bed. How many times have they laid in this bed, talking about each other’s day, planning their next date? Was it right to lay in it when everything seems to be going so wrong? Shouldn’t they be doing something, anything about their situation? 

Johann tries his hardest to ignore that side of him. He smiles more genuinely at Avi this time, then crawls closer to Avi’s side. In an instant Avi is clinging to Johann’s body, and Johann holds him just as tight. They are cuddling into each other, needing one another, both seeking shelter when they feel unsteady in the world around them. One much more than the other.

“We should stay here,” Avi says. “Let’s just stay here? In my room, together. Fuck whatever is happening out there, fuck the Relics, fuck everything. No need to do our jobs, not now. Let’s just… let’s just pretend that nothing is awful.” 

Johann rubs his face into Avi’s chest. He needs to be as close to him as possible to block everything out. “How can we do that?” Johann asks. “How can we just hide from it all? It’s all lingering above us. It’s all coming down. It’s going to crash on me.”

“Very cryptic way of saying it,” Avi laughs awkwardly. “We can do… anything here. In the safety of this room. 

You left your harp here last time, you could play something. I also have some snacks somewhere. We can eat. I have books we can read, too. We can talk about life, talk about anything and everything about our life after the Bureau. That sounds nice, doesn’t it?” His speech gets faster and faster in his rambling, like he’s urgently searching for anything to occupy his mind other than the terrible things around him.

It freaks Johann out a little, so he silently holds Avi tighter, as if to say, I’m here, Avi, I’m here with you. 

That seems to calm Avi down a little. “Or we could… we can just rest. You can sleep in my arms. And everything will be alright,” he says. It sounds more like he’s trying to comfort himself more than he’s trying to comfort Johann. Not that Johann can be mad at that. Avi has always been the one that needs to talk in stressful situations like these. Johann isn’t going to deny him that. 

“Sleeping in your arms does sound nice…” Johann hums and nuzzles into Avi. He feels calm in this embrace, and for a second, Johann does believe that they can lie here forever. That if they fall asleep in each other’s arms, they will wake up and the world will be right again. The mourning of Magnus will wreck the Bureau, of course, but Johann and Avi will make it through together. 

Avi kisses Johann’s lips in a surprise moment of relaxation. Johann is a little shocked at first, but he kisses Avi back. The kiss is sweet, but long. Long enough that Johann raises his hand up to thread through his long, loose hair and keep it there. A comforting gesture for both of them. Johann melts into the kiss even more. He wishes it can last forever. 

But there are things to do. Things to fulfill. They eat up at the corner of Johann’s thoughts, even after he pulls away from the kiss. Even after he tries to hide away in the crook of Avi’s neck and just let himself relax. His thoughts wander farther and farther from Avi, and back to work…

Oh gods, Johann’s work. He had so many pieces down at the Voidfish’s chambers that were laying there, unfinished. One of them was the Voidfish’s first meal it’s had in a while! He couldn’t just delay its feeding again.

“Avi, I…” Johann wriggles away from Avi slightly to sit up. “I haven’t fed the Voidfish. I have to go down there really quickly, I’m sorry.”

Avi stares at Johann with a look of disbelief. His eyes are still red and puffy from the crying, which sends a pained pang in Johann’s heart. “Johann, what? The Voidfish can live without a meal for a day,” he says, and damn it, those eyes he gives Johann are downright painful.

“No, I— I’ve been skipping its meals lately. I haven’t fed it in maybe weeks I think. I need to check on it. It’ll be quick, babe, please.”

Johann’s words seem to be settling into Avi, which he notices by the tension growing in his body. “You’re not serious are you? You’re just teasing me. Come on, you’re not really going to leave me here, are you?” Avi asks.

“I’m not leaving you, don’t say it like that! It will be really quick, I promise. I just need to go there. I’ll be in and out,” Johann tries to reassure.

“You always do this, Johann,” Avi seethes. “I know grief isn’t easy on you. I know you usually bury yourself in your work after someone passes here, but please, not this time. I’m begging you. Please stay with me.”

Johann looks away from Avi. He has to avoid those eyes or he won’t be able to go anywhere. “I’m sorry, I know I do this. Maybe that’s what it is. Maybe that’s where this shitty feeling is coming from, but god, let me go just this one time. Let me go and feed the Voidfish, and I’ll come back as soon as I can. I already have a full composition for it, it won’t need anything more than a few finishing touches, I’ll be quick— ”

“You being quick doesn’t change the fact that I am asking you to stay and you are leaving me for work! We should be supporting each other and all you can think about is your work?” Avi yells. 

Johann freezes. Avi is yelling at him. When was the last time they yelled at each other?

Johann’s pulling himself away from Avi when he seems to realize. “Ah, um, Johann, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said it like that. I’m just really stressed right now, and I…” Avi trails off, trying to catch Johann’s eyes. “I just really need you right now.”

Johann still refuses to look into Avi’s eyes. He’s staring down at the floor that is much cleaner and more inviting than his own mess down in the Voidfish’s quarters. “I need you too, Avi,” Johann says. “I hope you’re not reading this as me trying to avoid you or that I don’t need you to.” 

Avi bites his tongue. “Then why are you going down?” he asks. His words sound strained and distressed.

“I need to feed the Voidfish. I need to… to be with my work. For one last time. We’re almost done with the mission, right?” Johann says. He finally turns back to face Avi, and there are tears streaming down his face. “We won’t be here anymore. I won’t feed the Voidfish anymore. And that’s— that’s equal parts so liberating and also terrifying.

“Once everything terrible out there in the world ends, and the Relics are gone, we’ll have our life together. The one we always talk about: where we move back down to Neverwinter, I play full-time and you look for another job, we meet each other’s parents and we love each other for years to come. There will be other nights I will be able to sleep in your arms.”

Johann takes Avi’s hand into his. He rubs his thumb over the tattoos on Avi’s fingers, wishing that this alone could prove to Avi just how much he really, truly loves him. “Does that make sense?” he asks.

Avi is starting to cry again, too. It was painful to watch Avi cry over Magnus, but knowing that Avi’s now crying over him is somehow even more painful. “I think I do,” he sighs. “I still would rather you didn’t do this. I really wish we could stay here together. I don’t want you to leave, but I guess I can’t stop you, huh?”

Looking into Avi’s eyes, Johann sees it. It is a fraction of the feeling that Johann is feeling, and he’s not sure if Avi can actually pinpoint it, but Johann recognizes that look in his eyes without a doubt: Avi feels everything is wrong, in whatever small way, too. Johann lifts Avi’s hand up to his lips and plants a small, teary kiss right on his ring finger. “I’ll be okay, Avi. I promise. You’ll barely even notice I’m gone, I swear I’ll be quick,” he says, his lips still pressed against Avi’s knuckles. 

“Don’t say that. I always notice when you’re gone. I always will.”

Johann feels a little guilty for feeling really good about that. He feels really guilty for leaving Avi at all. He hates the idea of being alone when the world is going to shit all around them. Yet that alluring and captivating call that his work echoes out to him, the idea of being surrounded with his life’s work before he inevitably has to start packing up…

It pains Johann to admit that he finds it more enticing than sleeping in Avi’s arms.

Johann kisses Avi’s hand once more, then he leans down to kiss Avi on the lips. Avi eagerly kisses back, leaning up into Johann’s lips and trying to keep them as close as possible. They stay there for what feels like hours to Johann and only a fraction of a second to Avi. In reality, the kiss is neither too long nor too short. One thing that is certain about the kiss is just how full of love it is. Their hands tighten and caress each other’s fingers as a further show of support and love. It is here that they are safe. Here their sweet song plays uninterrupted.

But there is an end to every song. That idea hits Johann again and fills him with melancholy.

Avi is the one to end the kiss, surprisingly. He pulls away from Johann’s sweet lips with a sigh, “I… I won’t hold you back any longer this time, but you have to promise that we can discuss this habit when everything is better. Can you promise me that, Johann?” He is asking that with exhaustion so pitiful that makes Johann’s guilt eat up at him even more.

“Yes, Avi, I promise,” Johann says. With pain in his heart, Johann releases Avi’s hand and starts to leave the room.

“Wait,” Avi frantically says as Johann opens the door.

Johann turns around. His heart is pounding loud in his chest. “Yes?

“I love you, Johann.”

Johann thinks these might be the words that will snap him out of his daze. Some part of him hopes and prays that it is. He wants Avi’s love. He’s always wanted Avi’s love. Johan loves Avi, and Avi loves him so much. He should stay here, and let it last forever, right?

“I love you, too, Avi,” Johann chokes out. Then he steps out of Avi’s dorm room and closes the door behind him, following a thread of fate that had been wrapped around his fingers long before this Day of Story and Song.

When Johann goes down the elevator to the Voidfish’s chambers, we know what will happen. A song will end so that it can inspire all of reality to fight. To win. 

There is an ending to every song, and there is nothing you can do to stop it. Though that heartfelt invitation tried to stall it, an ending still came. Avi will spend the rest of his life thinking he could have stopped that ending, but the truth is, there was nothing he could do. Johann would’ve gone down there no matter what. An unalterable string of fate better left untouched. 

Despite it all, it was still important. That invitation was still important. That invitation still made Johann think. It still made Johann feel loved. That will always be enough.

[fancyfade]

Would you actually like the Batgirl New 52 Run, if it was in an AU? So if they didn’t change continuity and Oracle was still with the Birds of Prey, and the New 52 Run was kind of like a “What if…?” Story from Elseworlds or something. Would you then actually enjoy the run, because it didn’t ruin Oracle or still hate it, cause the writing is bad?

Pre Batgirl of Burnside, I think in some ways it could work as a Flashback run. I like when we see Babs get angry and isolated what can I say. I'm sure if I re-read it I'll incorporate some into my flashbacks for babs as Batgirl, because I liked some parts.

That said it still had some of the bad writing that they called out in Oracle: Year One. Babs tells Bruce "Even as Batgirl I was just perceived as a weaker version of you"... and that's how it works even in Babs' solo title written in 2011. When she fights a brainwashed Bruce, they have to clarify that he's not actually brainwashed and he's actually pulling his punches, he's just pretending, b/c IG it's inconceivable for her to be able to beat him even if he doesn't have any gear and she does? That's still weak ass writing.

Furthermore, a lot of the writing is dependent on TKJ and Babs no longer being Oracle, and that is hard to decouple the conflict from it. Like she starts out less sure of herself because she has just recovered from an injury. Her drama with the whole Death in the Family plotline, which took up a few issues, is all about TKJ and having been disabled. Even if it was an elseworlds that didn't affect main canon, that would still be ableist (and sexist).

I also just hate James Gordon Jr sorry he's a terrible addition to Babs' canon. she always seems as if she is weakened to make him a credible threat, even in her own solo title. Best thing they could've done is let her have accidentally killed him and let that mess up her relationship with Jim, that would've been interesting.

NGL I think I might like it more for potential than whats actually on page :P

[liltaz-asatreat]

💐 (throwing you a whole bouquet!)

:D!!!!

Ask game here!!

So I did the minimal amount of research, see: looked at one website for 0.5 seconds, and figured out the standard go to number of flowers in a bouquet is 12!!! So here are twelve sentences from Chapters 3-5 of Julia Burnsides vs Canon Lore lol

(Also, idk if you saw the little snippet I posted earlier, but you can read it here if you didn't :> )

Going under a readmore because it got long because I can't just post a single sentence alskghdslkghsdglh

1. (Restraining myself from posting this whole scene is hard alskghslgkhsdglh): “What the hell?” Taako breathes right next to her, and she turns her head to look at him as he sprints toward the skeleton.

He slows to a stop and stares at the skeleton for a long time before he kneels down beside it. Julia walks up next to him and kneels down too. His ears are flat back against his head and his hands are shaking as he stares at it, but he doesn't move or say anything else.

“Taako?” Julia asks cautiously. “Are you okay?”

2. “Because I want to make sure we get the truth from you this time!” Merle says with his hands on his hips. “You didn't tell us what the hell you were really doing up front. Taako almost died and Magnus also got close to it trying to find you and save your ass. Barry was also nearly dead when we found him. You just admitted that you didn't even think we could do all this not five minutes ago. Tharden and Nundro are dead. Magic Brian and Killian are speaking in static. And no one has given us a straight answer about what the hell is going on since we got hired by you!”

3. “Killian, are you able to speak freely to us at this point?” Taako asks.

“No, but I can try as much as you want me to!” she says desperately. “Look, that thing is called the ####### #### ########, and it's ####### ######## ##### ### ###### #### #### ##### ##### #### ## #### #### #### ## #### ####!”

All five of them stare at her blankly.

“So you can't tell us anything, got it,” Merle says, arms crossed.

“For fucks sake!” Killian exclaims.

“Even if you could stop speaking in maraca sounds, I don't want to hear it,” Gundren says.

4. “Okay!” Merle puts his hands up and backs away a little. “Okay, I won't help you control it, but, listen, Gundren...” He takes a deep breath to steady his voice. “Remember Candlenights at Aunt Blarg's house?”

“Yeah?”

“Remember when we'd sit around and drink mulled wine...”

The intensity of the heat dies down a little bit again. “I do, but... I don't remember you being there. How do you know about that?”

Merle pauses for a second, looking confused and a little hurt before he morphs his face back into something more soothing and sympathetic. “Because I was there too, Gundren. It's okay if you don't remember me right now, but we were both there."

5. Julia is starting to feel weak and nauseous. The boys continue talking, but their voices fade to the background. Her head is swimming, and her vision is zeroing in on the gauntlet.

Heeeeeyyyyy, buddy. Wouldn't you like some dope fire powers? I can protect you and the people you love from any attacks. I can burn your enemies to the ground. I can help you get revenge on the man who murdered your father and your hometown. All you have to do is put me on. Go ahead. Put me on, buddy.

“Julia.”

Someone is shaking her arm, and with a tremendous amount of effort that almost makes her black out, Julia pulls herself back to the present and turns away from the glove. She blinks slowly, and it takes her a solid thirty seconds to register that her three companions are looking at her with concern. Magnus is still holding on to her arm, and he's searching her face for any sign of recognition.

“Yeah. Sorry, um...” Julia swallows hard and shakes her head to try and clear it. It still feels like it's stuffed with cotton balls. “What were... what were you saying?”

6. When Merle steps back from untying the rope, Killian stands up and rubs her wrists. She looks at Merle and says, “Thanks for the healing. I guess it's kind of the least you could do since you four landed on me, and did not heal me immediately.”

“It's a tiny well!” Magnus says, affronted.

“It was your fault!” Merle exclaims.

“Technically it was Gundren's fault for blowing up the town and forcing us to run to the well,” Julia mutters.

“If we're doing that, then technically it was the orc kid's fault for shooting him in the shoulder!” Taako says, crossing his arms.

“No, Julia's right, he did put on the gauntlet in the first place,” Magnus sighs.

“Guys, there'll be time for blame later,” Killian says.

7. The music is really smooth and melodic and melancholy, and the melody seems to swirl around in the air as he plays. As he gets further into the song, his music dips and varies in intensity, and it's almost as if his violin itself is singing. Julia swears she can almost here words woven between notes, like how Zeno used to weave different colored threads into their tapestries.

It takes her breath away, but she's too wrapped up in the music to notice. It's the most beautiful song she's ever heard, and it somehow reminds her of her dad and her home. If only she could share this moment with him.

If only she could share this song with any of them.

8. “Oh! Then let me cast a spe– Magnus, wait!” Merle begins to say, and Julia glances over at her husband and sighs wearily as she watches him drink the vial without another moment's hesitation.

9. At the door, Amkyl and Rozes looked awful. They looked like they had recently been crying, and not even the three visible layers of clothes they were both wearing to protect themselves from the cold winter air seemed to be doing much to prevent them from trembling. As soon as Julia got within range, they both pulled her into a group hug and squeezed her like they were afraid she was going to vanish in a puff of smoke.

“Whoa, guys! Need to breathe!” Julia managed to choke out, and they let up a little bit. “What's going on? Do you want to come inside? I can make you both a cup of hot chocolate–”

They both pulled away from her, and Rozes wiped fresh tears from her eyes. “We can't. We shouldn't even be here, but we had to say goodbye.”

Julia's eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Goodbye? Where are you two going? Finally getting hitched, and you don't want me at the wedding?” she joked weakly.

Rozes buried her face in her hands and fully broke down into renewed tears, and Amkyl swallowed hard as he rubbed her back.

“No, it's Kalen.”

10. The woman chuckles. “No, I'm not going to kill you, That's not how the Bureau operates. And I promise, I have no interest in using the Gauntlet, Magnus.”

Magnus tilts his head a little in confusion. “How did you know my name?”

The woman hesitates.

“Killian told me your names and gave me descriptions of who each of you are.”

11. “Oh,” Julia says quietly, suddenly feeling bad for her mild outburst. Considering how hard it was for her to not take the Gauntlet while she didn't even touch it, she can see how it would take so long for any of them to get destroyed until now.

The Director gives them a small smile as she says, “However, the fact that the thr– that the four of you have managed to overcome the thrall of the Gauntlet is commendable, and–”

“Just to be clear, I overcame the thrall of the Gauntlet. These three idiots didn't touch it.” Taako says with a smirk.

Oh to be able to be slightly irritated at his ego again instead of full on wanting to murder him, it truly is a blessing.

12. They all take their tokens, and Julia looks him over curiously. “Thank you, and I– I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but... why do you keep saying your name?”

Davenport looks down at the floor quietly, and the Director clears her throat again.

“He uh... he can only say his own name, unfortunately.” Julia looks up at her, and the Director's gripping her staff a little tightly now. “He was involved in an accident, and... He still understands a lot, he just has a hard time communicating, so I um... I take care of him now.”

“Oh.” Julia looks back at Davenport and says softly, “I'm sorry to hear that, and I– I didn't mean to make you upset.”

Davenport looks up at her and gives her a small sad smile as he shrugs.

“Um... I'm a cleric, maybe– maybe there's something I can do to help?” Merle asks hesitantly.

“We've already gone to a lot of different clerics and healers, and nothing's worked,” the Director says quietly. “I don't think there's anything you could do.”

Davenport looks over at Merle who's staring at him with an even more distressed look than he had when he saw his cousins' bodies, and Davenport walks over and puts a hand on his shoulder. “Davenport,” he says softly but firmly, and he squeezes his shoulder.

Merle looks at him with a little confusion, but he nods anyway.

Davenport smiles a little more genuinely now, and he turns and walks back into the room he came from.

[trixcuomo]

Tbh that would be a hilarious dracthyr villain

Back at Haris Pilton Entertainment Corp in Shatthrath...

Haris: Did you guys see the Gnome Gnews Gnetwork last night?

Sharpen: Excuse me. One does not simply see the Gnome Gnews Gnetwork; you tend to hear them, too. They are really, very loud on the streets of Stormwind.

Trixany: Well thanks, our resident Alliance expert.

Sharpen: Hey, it's the least I can do--For the Alliance!! *stands, sharp salute*

Trixany: Ow.

Haris: ...Anyway, I heard there's a crazy dracthyr going around starting civil wars so that he can document them and seem knowledgeable about history.

Trixany: Is that what Kennethstrasz Burnside is really doing now? Like repeatedly? That has got to be the lamest Azerothian Supervillain thing I have ever heard of. Like. Oh my gods. He can just pile right into the Black Temple with Illidan, Archimonde humping trees, and Kael'thas playing with his action figures.

Sharpen: All while banjos play in the background. Such a waste of good folk music.

Haris: Trixany. *arches fingers* You seem to know this dracthyr?

Trixany: I... do not. We met in passing, really. Me and Sharpen saw him at our local library.

Sharpen: It was a furbolg convention.

Trixany: Sharpen, be quiet.

Haris: We lost a major news outlet within Haris Pilton Entertainment corp when the Daily Mail Dalaran studio exploded. I have also been wanting to aqcuire GNN for years. Trixany, I want you to take Sharpen and go do something about this.

Haris: Beat them to the story. Kill their ratings. And then, I will offer to buy them out. Got it?

Trixany: How do I beat them to the story about another civil war, though? We can't predict where he'll strike next. And why do I have to take Sharpen?

Haris: Fine. Sharpen, take Trixany. She obviously doesn't seem up for it.

Sharpen: Cool! My first lead assignment.

Trixany: He doesn't know how to start a civil war! That's the real seedy subtext here Haris, I know how you operate. And that's why I didn't want to do it, and no one else should either!

Sharpen: Well, I guess I don't want to be part of anything unethical. Like starting an um, a war?

Haris: Sharpen. The Horde, once again, has shown moral weakness. They cannot be trusted to rule any part of this world. This Horde dracthyr, with his so-called honor--

Sharpen: URAAH! FOR THE ALLIANCE!! *rips his shirt*

[poutpoutlilith]

2,6,11,19 for tickle+random questions

2. If you had 100 dollars to donate to the charity of your choice, what charity would it be? 

Right now, probably Trans Safety Network. Either that or mutual aid in my community.

6. What’s one topic you could talk about endlessly?

Mathematics. Which is very broad. My knowledge of analysis is pretty weak, so I’d probably lean on myself as an algebraist and pick an algebraic topic like group theory. Can start from the basics and work our way up through Lagrange’s Theorem, the First Isomorphism Theorem. Some really fundamental results. Will probably make connections to group actions and perhaps use enumeration problems as an example. This would take us on a journey through the Orbit-Stabilizer and Cauchy-Frobenius-Burnside theorems. Which could, in turn, be a segue into my current work on a combinatorial problem in graph theory. Though, it might be good to hit some more of the basics, talking about exact sequences of homomorphisms and direct products, to generalize that notion to semidirect products so we can use and discuss my results phrased in terms of the action of a certain wreath product of symmetric groups being an isomorphism of Hamming subgraphs. Though by now most everyone has stopped reading 😂

11. Ticklish hug, yes or no?

YES.

19. What puts you in a lee mood? What puts you in a ler mood? 

For lee moods, I’m usually always in one so long as I’m not eating or otherwise having bad sensory. Ler moods are usually triggered by banter with my own lers. Though sometimes they pop up randomly. Then I start scheming 😈

[sagaess]

"i'm sure taako knows what he's doing up there. lup is helping." he's pretending that the fireworks didn't end too close to the earth that last time. or that they're bigger and brighter than the test ones the twins were doing. a kiss to her cheek. then her lips. "happy new year, jules. i love you."

     she laughs at the uncertainty in his words, watching as waves of colorful sparks follow one after another, dipping lower and lower to the ground, threatening to set something ablaze. now that would really be a show ! ❛ yes, i’m sure he does. ❜ is spoken with a chuckle tilted to the sky; after all, that’s most likely the very intention of the twins, to keep them on the edge of their seats, mischievous as it may be. julia swears that she can see lucretia’s deep-set frown of pure exasperation from here, but she makes no move. they all seem to be of like mind, at least for now. let them have their fun.

     a sweet kiss to joy-rounded cheek brings the amusement to turn to something more soft though, more bashful and silly despite their years together ( despite the fact that we’re married, she thinks, and even now the word gives her the giddiness of a young maiden ). then her chin is tilted to better meet warm lips, and she can’t help but sigh into it, turn in his arms so that she may properly gaze upon him, awash in the lights of the twins’ production, but he glows brighter than whatever magical concoction they throw upon their heads. ❛ and i love you, magnus, ❜ my magnus. my heart, my soul, my best friend. a kiss is shared in turn, placed to the underside of his chin, nose scrunching at the scruff that meets her. ❛ happy new year, my love. ❜

@tairngire          //          new year’s kiss

[barry-j-blupjeans]

Magnus nearly tripped up the stairs when someone pounded at his door. He had to reach for the railing to catch himself just in time, his head spinning in an uncomfortable way. He had just been going to bed, but, well, not anymore he supposed. There was second, more aggressive round of knocks.

"Magnus," a voice said from the other side of the door. "I swear to Gods if you don't answer this door I will magic missile it down!"

"Uhm, ma'am, maybe threatening violence isn't the best idea-"

"He deserves it if he's already asleep. Humans are weak. No offense." the voice got louder again. "Count of ten, Mags!" Another thunderous round of knocks. Magnus hurried to open the door and Lup's fist nearly collided with his face.

It was dark outside, which was understandable considering it was... well, Magnus didn't know the exact time, but it was probably pretty deep into the night. The porch lights around the rest of the cul-de-sac were off with the exception of Lup and Taako's weird joint house. Magnus could see that the window into their living room was still lit up.

Magnus supposed that made sense since Lup was right in front of him. She was still fully dressed and, concerningly, fully covered in blood. Cowering behind Lup's body a bit was Angus McDonald, who looked halfway between pissed off and like he'd rather be anywhere else. Two emotions Magnus knew quite well when it came to his family.

"Oh, good, you're awake," Lup said, inviting herself in. Angus trailed behind her, sullen. Magnus waited until they had shuffled further in to close the door. Lup deposited Angus onto the couch.

"I-" she began and then paused. "What're you wearing?"

Magnus looked down at this shirt, with two hands pointing up at his face with the words "THIS GUY IS MAGNUS BURNSIDES' BIGGEST FAN". Notably, he was also only wearing underwear. Underwear with little ducks on it.

"This is what I sleep in," Magnus said defensively.

"We can- I'm gonna circle back to that after," Lup said. "Do you want a kid?"

"Do I... what?"

"See, he doesn't want an almost teenager!" Angus piped up from the couch. Magnus felt like he was missing half of this conversation. Maybe even three-fourths of it. "In fact, I'm pretty sure I don't want a Magnus, either, Miss Lup, so I think I should be going now-"

Angus tried to stand up, but Lup pushed him back onto the couch.

"I will magically restrain you," she said seriously. To Magnus, she continued, "Do you want a kid? 'Cus no offense to like, Taako and Kravitz, but I don't think they know how kids work. I saw Kravitz talk to a baby like he talks to Barry, which is concerning in a several different ways. And considering I just got my body back after like, seven bazillion years of not having one, I am not ready to be a parent. Dav's not around enough for it, Merle's got his own lil' shitheads, and, uh, Lucretia..."

"Director Lucretia is very nice," Agnus said. "But she also offered me wine during my entrance interview. And laughed when I fell down one time."

"So between the guy who through his off a train, the women who decided it would a good idea to hire a ten-year-old without asking about his background, and, y'know, me and Barry, I think you're the most qualified."

"Hang on," Magnus said, rubbing his eyes. "Okay, recap. Angus needs an adult why? Doesn't he have a grandpa?"

"Everyone has a grandpa, sir, biologically," Angus said.

"Magnus," Lup said. "I'm gonna break this down real simple for you because, T-B-H, it's been a fucking stressful night and I don't want Angus to have to go through it all again-"

"I think I can explain it pretty well, ma'am-"

"He doesn't have anyone," Lup stressed. "No grandpa, no parents, no friends or some shit-"

"I have-!"

"Nothing," Lup continued. "And as much it pains me to say this, you are our next best option in terms of giving a child what they need to sort of kind of thrive instead of just, y'know, living on the streets."

"I wasn't on the streets!" Angus defended. "I have an apartment!"

"Your heater doesn't work," Lup said.

"It's summer," Angus said. "I don't need a heater." To Magnus, he said, "sir, please make her reconsider! I was doing perfectly fine and everything. I almost have enough for rent this month too, so it's fine! And I'm a terrible roommate, to be honest, sir. I think it'd be better for everyone if Miss Lup would just take me home and I can shower and then go to bed because I am a very little boy and it's very past my bedtime, sir."

Angus blinked innocently up at him.

"We found him in the middle of a cult, Mags," Lup said. "A cult."

Magnus had never seen Angus's look go from completely innocent to pissed off so quickly. But he kept his mouth shut and glared at Lup from behind her back. Magnus took a moment to take a good look at Angus now that he could. He, too, was pretty bloody. He was cradling his hand in a way that made Magnus think it was hurt somehow. And he was small. So small. Magnus was reminded of a puppy he saw the other day, if only the puppy was full of prepubescent rage and covered in necromancer blood. At least, Magnus hoped it was necromancer blood and not his own.

"You can stay for the night," Magnus said. "I'll give you a pajama shirt and we'll get you to set up in the guest room, okay? The rest of this-" he gestured to Lup and Angus as a whole, "can wait until tomorrow. I am so ready to pass out for seven to eight hours."

"But I'm going back to my apartment tomorrow," Angus said. "Right, sir? Ma'am?"

"That's a convo for tomorrow," Magnus said before Lup could answer. Both Lup and Angus scoffed, but neither objected any further, which Magnus considered a win. "C'mon. I've got like, a hundred of these shirts."

"I'll get you one of Barry's," Lup said quickly. She held out a hand and her scythe appeared. "Don't let him trick you into that, Angus. I'll be right back."

She cut a rift in the middle of Magnus's living room and stepped through. It closed behind her with a loud zipping noise. Angus glanced at Magnus with a critical eye.

"Would it make her more upset if I took one of your shirts?" he asked after a few tense moments of Magnus not knowing how to react to what he liked to call "Angus's Detective Look".

"Definitely," Magnus said. "I'll go get you one." Angus grinned.

Guess he had a kid now.

[dilfdoctordoom]

On Tom Taylor, the Current Nightwing Run & Ableism

I did mention I was gonna do a post about it, so here we are. There are some things I want to make clear before we begin: the issue exploded on Twitter on the very first day of disabled Pride month; disabled people have been discussing the ableism in Taylor’s Nightwing run since it began; nobody has blamed Taylor for what happened to Barbara in 2011. We are, however, blaming him for the way she is written in his series during 2021. 

I am also going to be discussing the ableism in the fandom in this post. The reactions I have seen, from here to Twitter to TikTok, are showing not only a great misunderstanding of the situation, but a purposeful misunderstanding. The very real reasons disabled people are angry right now have been twisted to make us seem ridiculous and overly sensitive and I cannot help but feel that is very intentional.

Another quick addition: disabled people are not a monolith. Barbara Gordon spent over 20 years as a paralyzed wheelchair user. Stating (and I would like to note, never truly showing) that she is a part time cane user now is still erasing her disability. These things are not interchangeable.

So, with that out of the way, let’s begin.

Tom Taylor’s run is ableist. That is a fact of this situation. He made the active choice to include a version of Barbara Gordon that is ableist caricature. Story wise, the role that Barbara plays could have easily been filled by anyone else. There is no real season, within the narrative and outside of it, for Taylor to include this version of Barbara Gordon, who has received a decade of criticism from disabled people. It’s very well known that this iteration is problematic, to put it kindly, and Taylor is aware of that. 

He made the active decision to include her, anyway, showing, at the very least, that he is passively, if not actively, ableist. Passive ableism is still ableism and disabled people are allowed to take issue with that.

That alone is reason enough for disabled people to be angry. But that’s not why things exploded on Twitter.

On July 1st, the very first day of disabled pride month, the new design for Barbara was dropped. After months of teasing Barbara’s return to a wheelchair using Oracle (see: Last Days of The DC Universe, Batgirl (2016), etc), they debuted... a new Batgirl costume that the artist has openly said draws inspiration from the Burnside suit.

There’s a lot of issues to unpack here, so let’s start small: the issue with consciously calling back to Burnside. The Burnside era of Batgirl stories was... beyond awful. The villain of the series’ first arc, was an AI based on Barbara’s brain patterns when she was disabled. It was evil because of all the rage and pain Barbara felt. The actual Barbara, on the other hand, was good -- because she was able bodied. Because her PTSD had been tossed aside. It was a horrifically ableist era that drove the idea that Barbara’s life was terrible when she was disabled; that it was some horrible, twisted secret.

Comics have kept that narrative going. Barbara is seen hiding books on chronic pain; she reacts aggressively to the mere idea that she could be in a wheelchair again, acting like it would be weakness. Whereas Barbara had once been Oracle not because of, but in spite of, her disability, who was fantastic representation for the disabled community, she now acts like it is the most shameful thing in her life.

To call back to Burnside is to call back to that ableism and make no critique of it. If anything, it’s to embrace the ideas of that era.

There is also the design itself to consider. Many people have pointed out the inclusion of a back brace, as if that saves it from ableism -- it does not. Any person who has ever worn a back brace can take one look at this design and know that they did not consult a disabled person. Hell, by how impractical that thing is, I doubt they even Googled a picture of a back brace.

It’s a superficial acknowledgement that Barbara is supposed to be disabled. Something that was apparently thrown in to appease the numerous complaints of Barbara being able bodied; something that no one working on it put any effort into.

When it comes to aids, this is not a new thing for Barbara in Infinite Frontier. She’s said to be using a cane occasionally, that we got a better look at in Batman: Urban Legends, and as any cane user can tell you... that is not a cane that could feasibly be used. It’s another pathetic attempt to acknowledge that Barbara is supposed to be disabled, without actually doing anything of importance.

[IMAGE ID:  A segmented cane with a tri-pointed handle with a wrist strap. There is a stripe across the sections to connection them, labelled “solar battery charger buttons”. The text reads: “telescoping antenna doubles as cane or weapon if needed”. END ID]

Dropping this design (which we have now established to be problematic) on the very first day of disabled pride month is a sickening move. The very first day, and DC has doubled down on their disability erasure, thrown in superficial things like a back brace to act like it’s fine.

Tom Taylor is definitely involved in this, whether you like it not. No, he is not in anyway responsible for the events of the New 52 and what they did to Barbara Gordon, but that does not absolve him of blame for what is currently being done to her in his run.

When the design dropped, it started trending due to disabled fans reactions. To be clear: we were directly calling out the ableism in this design. This was Tom Taylor’s response:

[IMAGE ID: A tweet from TomTaylorMade that says: “Hey, @Bruna_Redono_F I think our new Batgirl suit is getting some attention.” He then adds a winky face emoji and tags @jesswchen and @drinkpinkkink. Attached are a screenshot showing that Batgirl is trending in the United States and a picture of the design itself. END ID]

This is him, bragging about how the disabled community reacted. Perhaps before this tweet, you could’ve made an argument that he was not ableist, but after he flaunted the fact that disabled people were rightly furious over this, like it was something to be proud of? No. If you are defending him, you are a part of the problem.

Taylor has included ableist writing in his Nightwing run, beyond the inherent ableism that comes with the current iteration of Barbara Gordon (whose inclusion, yet again, is his decision).

[IMAGE ID: A panel from Nightwing #79. Barbara and Dick are standing in his apartment. Barbara is saying: “I have some pretty new technology holding my spine together. I’m happy to do most things -- eat pizza in the park, take down low-level thugs -- but leaping from rooftops seems... unwise.” END ID]

What Barbara says in the panel above has bothered a lot of disabled people. The implication that she couldn’t “eat pizza in the park’ and “take down low-level thugs” without a spinal implant that conveniently erases her disability is... fucked up, to put it mildly. Those are both things that Barbara has done in a wheelchair. The first one is something wheelchair users can do and the implication that it’s not is beyond offensive.

But, let’s leave Barbara behind for a moment. I have previously mentioned that disabled people have been discussing the ableism present in this run long before July -- and that ableism is not only centred on Barbara. Dick is also a player in all this.

Dick Grayson was shot in the head. I don’t believe I need to retread the story, but just in case: Dick was shot in the head by KGBeast, developed amnesia from the event, and went by Ric Grayson for a long enough period in comics. If you have been active within the DC fandom for the past year or so, you know all about this controversial storyline and its fallout.

The Ric Grayson arc concluded itself the issue before Taylor became the writer for the series and ever since his tenure has begun, Taylor has completely ignored the reality of Dick being a disabled man. We understand this is comics, that things do not function the way they do in our world, but still -- it is clear that this gunshot wound to the head has affected Dick massively. We had an entire arc dedicated to how he struggled to find himself in the aftermath.

Taylor is choosing to write Dick as an able-bodied man, despite his canonical injuries and how they would impact his life.

This man is choosing to give empty gestures towards Barbara being a disabled woman (as discussed above, the completely dysfunctional back brace, etc) whilst writing her as able-bodied as possible. He writes both Dick and Barbara as able bodied as humanly possible. That is ableist. He is ableist. This is the same man that said he made a dog disabled ‘in honour of Barbara’. I do not think I need to elaborate on why that is bad.

The least he could’ve done, was get a sensitivity reader. We know that Taylor is not beyond getting people from marginalized communities to consult on his work (see: Suicide Squad), so why, when writing two characters that should be disabled, one that the disabled community have been criticising for a decade, does he not reach out to a single disabled person? A mere Google search could’ve improved the situation massively. In both the new design and the current writing, it is beyond clear that this is not just an able-bodied person writing it -- it’s an ableist person.

He could have listened to the numerous disabled fans that spoke out. Instead, he chose not only to refuse to do that, but to describe justifiable anger as ‘raging’. He treated us like we were crazy for daring to speak out about blatant ableism being parading around of us in our pride month.

Tom Taylor has failed to do the bare minimum and in doing so, he is, at very, very least, guilty of complicity. Again: passive ableism is still ableism.

The argument at hand is not just about Barbara Gordon and the continuing ableism that shines out from her current writing. The argument is about the treatment of disabled characters in his run. It has also become about the way he treats physically disabled people.

We also can’t have this conversation without acknowledging the fandom’s role in it all. I waited a day to write this up, to allow all the reactions to flood in... and I am sickened.

We have everything across the board. Able-bodied people that have actually listened to disabled people, who have supported us (which is deeply appreciated). Able-bodied people who may have had good intentions, but a skewed sense of the situation and perpetuating some of the more insidious lies being spread around (IE. that this is only about the new costume).

There are, obviously, the ableist reactions, though, that we will be discussing here. People deeming the current issues as ‘crazy’, calling disabled people ‘overly sensitive’ and ‘delusional’. Many people have completely glossed over the examples given for why Taylor, specifically, is ableist, and instead have resorted to telling disabled people that we are wrong and should be mad at DC instead.

It’s important to note that Tom Taylor is an adult man. He doesn’t need a fandom to attack disabled people for daring to call him out. He is not the victim in this situation; he has, for quite a few disabled people, been the aggressor.

I have seen claims that Infinite Frontier is a ‘slow burn’, implying that disabled people need to patient... as if we have not waited a decade for less ableist writing. There is a complete refusal from able-bodied fans to actually listen to what disabled people are saying. They would much rather rush to the defence of the (honestly rather mediocre) current Nightwing run. 

Disabled fans know that comic book spaces are ableist. We know that both DC and Marvel and many of their writers are ableist. We are still allowed to be pissed as hell about it and acting like the current reaction being had right now is disabled people being ‘overdramatic’ is yet another example of how the able-bodied side of the fandom both refuses to listen to and undermine disabled people when we call out ableism.

We know it when we see it. We always do and we always will and we will always be able to recognize it far faster than an able-bodied person. If this many disabled fans are coming out and talking about an issue, calling it ableism, then it’s time for you shut up and listen.

Stop being a part of the problem and start supporting disabled fans for once.

[rchardgrayson]

🔥 character designs that you don’t like

This took me all day to think abt because my mind has gone literally BLANK but here's a few off the top of my head:

1:

Cassie's n52 wondergirl outfit where she was wearing a sparkly strapless bodysuit with giant tits spilling out at.....age 16?????????? Like at a very surface level the outfit is 'pretty' but it's so wrong for Cassie as a character and also SO oversexualised for a literal child rocafort meet me in the pit

2:

Raven's n52 outfit......what is that covering her face and why does she have a weird cutout bodysuit cupping her tits OVER a full covered costume?? Yet again rocafort war crimes

3:

You guessed it it's rocafort again! This man deserves to pay me financial compensation for making me look at this. Kory baby I'm so sorry this ugly man did this to you (also it's not a coincidence that lobdell + rocafort worked on both rhato and teen titans where all the above outfits are from)

4:

Babsgirl burnside's weak attempt at fake-progressivness by giving Babs a leather jacket and a snap on cape instead of idk just not drawing her regular suit which is no different to Batman's suctioned to her tits. They managed to infantilise her and draw her looking like a 12 yr old whilst claiming they're 'feminist'. Instead they just burnsided too close to the sun

5:

The infamous dildo-helmet, cape-wearing, white-wrinkle-suit-camel-toe moment with the thigh high knock-off Chanel boots and red toy guns. Can't believe Morrison was pushing for a real villainous evil route for Jason and then had him dress like this lmao

There are definitely more but these are all I could think of today

Edit: anyone and anything that rocafort draws is ugly actually