#which would also have been incredible news in other ways too––being in any show has been a long-term goal and I would be like okay I've hit

[butt0nzz66]

okay I got some sleep my thoughts have changed slightly.

So after a little spiral of sadness yesterday and grieving the incredible love and softness we got in first 6 episodes. I got some sleep and watched it again with the bf who in respect to my obsession has watched all the seasons with me to understanding what I’m yapping about.

I actually am beginning to like it more and can’t lie I really enjoy episode 7 I love the angst, Mr fingerton of worldwide and the wedding. I think this did a great job of demonstrating Colin’s internal struggle between loving and wanting pen but not been able to reconcile both sides of her and the wedding was a happy one until big QC rocked up. I even didn’t mind the entrapment comment because as one other poster pointed out he’s lashing out in anger because he knows he basically ran to the carriage and didn’t give her a min to breath after lol.

However I am still struggling with a few points and I have laid out what I think they could have done to improve it with a few short scenes.

The ending of episode 7 e.g. lack of a wedding night. I personally think the queen thing could have happened after, so we get a sweet wedding night where things aren’t perfect but they are moving towards understanding eachother, this gives us as the viewers a min to breath and then next episode is the queen/cressida drama and then this new wave of struggles for him(yes even with the couch sleeping) or them against the world kind of approach.

Another thing I found is while I do think they actually portrayed quite well him talking to various people to reconcile his feelings in the last episode e.g. Cressida, Eloise, there was a lack of communication of his growth to Penelope and while yes he’s a sulker that isn’t a heathly representation of marriage like you need to talk. I think this could have been improved with a very simple “I’m trying to get to that, but it’s just going to take me time” kind of line in the study love confession.

I also would have LOVED to have seen the conversation between Colin and Violet following the letter Penelope sent, to see her go from shocked to impressed and to see Colin realise maybe I am a lil jealous and dragging it out a bit. She was so insightful with him in episode 4 I think we could have all benefitted from her wisdom and maybe pointing out that while LW didn’t always do things in the right way she has always tried to save the Bridgertons because she loves them more than anyone.

Finally if we could have added a short scene of them after the ball going home and her being like “no more on the couch?” or them running to the bedroom laughing not even sex just fluff then that last sex scene wouldn’t feel quite so plonked in. Like don’t get me wrong I’ll take any crumb I can get but would have been nice to have an intro to it.

I think if we sacrificed a few sub plot scenes for that then it would be a 10/10 despite the angst being dragged on a bit. But maybe that’s just me having too much drama in my own life I don’t want it in my escapism show.

Also the end of season 1&2 was pretty similar in a lot of miscommunication and drama right up until the last second so it was silly of me to hope for something more.

So big shout out to the BF who watched it and gave his perspective of colins feelings which I think helped me get out of my own way.

And I’ve seen a few posts saying why is everyone so critical and quite frankly um because that’s how I feel? Like overall I loved the season definitely my favourite of the 3 and all the actors did a brilliant job however I will point out where I think things could be better. Which is why I’ve tried to word things in a more cohesive way now I’ve had time to reflect. Forums like this are built from discussion if you don’t like what someone is saying scroll on past, to be honest reading your positive analysis gave me a new perspective and improved my thoughts of it so that’s great and thank you, but if you don’t like what I have to say please let me know your thoughts, mute me or scroll on by and stay in your happy bubble because honestly it was a great show overall.

sorry for my rambling but the comedown is worse than any drug and I miss them already 😢

[prudencepaccard]

didn't get cast in ensemble. they did cast a girl at callbacks I literally taught the harmony to though. fucked up

[sweet-as-an-angel]

Hello there! I've been a fan of your work for a while now and let me just say, your original works and characters have me absolutely captivated! (Your yandere outlaw is one of my top favorite fictional characters! And your yandere cult leader is rapidly rising in the ranks 👀) You put so much detail into all your writing and you really delve deep into the psychology and personality of every one of them so beautifully, not to mention how diverse they all are from one another. Each and every one has such dimension and they're so believable in their actions and reactions! (And can I just say I think it's very clever that your yandere!Milf/Dilf's names start with the acronym's initial)

And your MCs are also quite vibrant and while they remain easily relatable they still have distinct traits that the characters get attached to. Thank you for making and sharing these amazing stories and characters with us, it really makes my day whenever I see you've posted something new.

Now, I know this ask is getting pretty lengthy (sorry about that ^^" I tend to ramble) but I was going through your Yan!Dilf works again and I wanted to ask, how would Dominic react if his darling was someone who's maybe dealt with manipulative people in the past or is highly emotionally intelligent and observant who could tell he wasn't being entirely genuine? But instead of pulling away from him they try to understand what he wants from them and was open about it? Would he ever even become obsessed with someone like that or allow that kind of situation to happen or is he too cautious for it to be possible?

I know you've had a lot of asks so please don't feel obligated to answer this! But in any case thank you again for sharing your works and I hope you have a wonderful wonderful day! 💖💫

My Lovely, you have positively touched my soul with your endearing sentiments ! Truly, you have made my day and I cannot thank you enough for being such a loyal enthusiast of my work, your time is valued more than I can ever hope to express <3.

Your question is an incredibly fascinating one, my Dear; thank you for sharing it with us ! I wish you the happiest and most prosperous of days, Sweetie ^^

TW: Manipulation, Dominic Being Dominic, Vulnerability, No Pronouns Used For Reader Except 'You'.

♡ Dominic is, as you suggested, initially extremely cautious around you. However, he knows he can't just drop you like a sack of potatoes; it would be far too obvious to the people around him, which would surely cause others to find him out as the serpent he is if they ever went digging around his character.

♡ But, when you show him, gradually, like a keeper feeding a feral animal, that your endeavour is not to oust him as an un-human but rather to understand what made him like this in the first place (and all the lace and frills that come with such a monumental task), he regards you...differently than he did before.

♡ Sure, he thought you were very attractive and that you could offer him something other than the resplendence his life is steeped in, but now...

♡ He feels exposed. Seen. Vulnerable.

♡ All things he tries to push back against. Things he tries to bury beneath a grandiose tale of a childhood spent in the most accommodating of educational establishments, lavish mansions and the lap of luxury.

♡ He tries to lead you a merry dance down a version of his life that he wants you to see, rebuttaling your attempts at making him crack.

♡ You tell him you can see past that. He, feeling his eye twitch, believes you.

♡ It will take a long, long time to get Dominic even close to admitting a scintilla of how his psyche works. Or, rather, doesn't work.

♡ And it's only if you manage to grind away at his need to hide his most precious secret - the parasite that wears his skin and controls his mind - that he'll open up.

♡ Fractionally. Piecemeal. But he opens up, nonetheless.

♡ He'll grow to love you in ways unfathomable even to him.

♡ If you thought he was bad without having a background in combatting the manipulation of others, he is insidious now.

♡ You become to him what he could never be for himself; a safe haven. The only person from which he does not hide.

♡ Sure, he keeps the more...dangerous aspects of his personality hidden for a lot longer than others, but you can topple these columns, can shake Dominic from his perch forged from the ivory of a devil's horns.

♡ You can tame him in ways unimaginable. You have only to see him for who - what - he truly is.

Reblog for more content like this! It helps creators like myself tremendously and it is greatly appreciated :-)

Masterlist Yandere AI Masterlist Masterpost

AO3 Wattpad Tumblr Backup Account

[ohnoitstbskyen]

Are there any champions from Piltover/Zaun or beyond, who didn't show up in s1 of Arcane, who you'd like to see in s2? Both from a “this character would work really well with the story” perspective, and a “I just really like this champion” perspective.

Mm... I'm really wary about introducing more characters, honestly. Arcane's first season was already absolutely crammed to the gills with characters and one of my criticisms of Season 1 is that while everything that was in it was very very good, it was also so incredibly dense that the audience barely has time to breathe.

It's the kind of delicate balance where it feels like they just barely had the time and space to tell the stories of the main ensemble, and introducing more champions into that mix might make it all tip over.

That said, they do have the advantage that all the introductions and worldbuilding have basically been done now, and there's probably room to introduce one or two more characters to shake things up.

Instinctively I want to say Camille, except it makes no bloody sense why she'd only turn up in Season 2 and have been a complete non-presence in Season 1. Like, there was some shit happening that she should have been involved with in the first season.

Renata Glasc is an option. Zaun is going to have a big power vacuum and she would slot in very nicely as the new major power in the undercity. On the other hand, she's also perhaps a little bit too much like Silco 2.0, being partly based on him in the first place, and I think there's a solid argument for bringing the chembarons from season 1 back to fight with each other instead. Especially since one of them has a literal death vendetta against Jayce now.

Then there's Orianna, who in this canon seems to be Singed's... daughter? Some kind of family member? If all of Singed's research in the first season was about trying to find a way to save her life or bring her back to life, then she'd be a natural character to use to expand on Singed as a character in season 2. I think she'd have to be substantially redesigned, though - "music box ballerina" would be a weird thing for Singed to want to build her into.

Seraphine and Zeri are non-starters, I think, primarily because they are both mages, which would make absolutely no sense in the Arcane universe. Like, it is kind of important to the plot of Arcane that mages are essentially as rare as cryptids in this world. Same reason I don't think they'd introduce something like Janna either. She's a literal demigod, it would raise too many unanswerable questions.

There's no reason to bring in Ezreal, Zac, or Dr. Mundo, but Urgot is... not out of the question. He's the kind of relentlessly dogmatic, bloodthirsty cult leader that would make sense as a figure in the chaos and violence of the war that's likely to erupt. Twitch could also cameo, I suppose, but only as a cameo, I don't think it makes sense to make him a central character.

Outside of Piltover and Zaun, I'd say the main champions we are likely to encounter would be Swain or Darius (Darius specifically was most likely teased by Ambessa), and if Darius shows up there's a greater than average chance he'll have Draven with him. It's not impossible that Samira could show up for a bit of a cameo, as some kind of Noxian bounty hunter getting in the way of things. Katarina and Talon are... not impossible, I suppose, Noxus is probably going to want to assassinate someone, but I also doubt they'd introduce a champion character to fill that role in the narrative. It'd be wasteful.

If Noxus is making moves, of course, there's a non-zero chance that there'll be like a Demacian diplomat at some meeting, which... makes it possible that Xin Zhao or Garen might cameo, and if Noxus wants Piltover's technology to prosecute their war in Ionia, hey, maybe there will be Ionian diplomat characters showing up to plead their case, which opens the distant possibility of someone like Irelia or Shen showing up.

I very, very much doubt it though.

tl;dr in my opinion:

Most likely new champions: Darius, Swain, Orianna, and Warwick (Warwick being Vander)

Not impossible: Twitch, Urgot, Renata Glasc, Draven, Camille

Extremely small Easter Egg cameos at best: Xin Zhao/Garen/Jarvan, Irelia/Shen/Karma, Azir (Shurima is Piltover's southern neighbor), Miss Fortune/Gangplank (Piltover controls the sea gate and trade between two oceans), Ziggs (Heimerdinger's best friend), Ryze (the science boys are starting to fuck with World Rune-level magic hazards), Vel'koz (might show up in a Void vision inside the Hexcore or something).

[moongothic]

The more I think about it, the more fucking sus the exclusion of Crocodile in the "Luffy is Dragon's son" scene becomes in my mind

Because like. No look at it, look a the double-page spread again

(Chapter 558)

Now keep in mind, this is the entire scene, these are all the reactions we get to the revelation. Next page we're moving on to the next scene, and we don't come back to this subject aside from Akainu being like "grrrr Dragon's son >(" (but he already knew appearently)

And like, really, look at whose reactions to the news we get to see

There's Koby, Helmeppo and Garp reacting to the news being revealed to the whole world (makes sense; these are familiar characters to us and their reaction to this huge revelation going public is fair to show)

Smoker (makes sense; he must've been confused about what happened at Loguetown, so his reaction is interesting)

Random ass marines and Sabaody's news reporters (makes sense for plot reasons)

Random ass Whitebeard pirates ?????????

Buggy The Fucking Clown (arguably makes sense; Buggy has """hanged out""" with Luffy, so it is an interesting, shocking revelation to him too)

All of the original Shichibukai except Crocodile

And even with the Shichibukai, there's like. Levels of interest here. Like Kuma is interesting because we already knew that he knew Luffy was Dragon's son, and after what he did at Thriller Bark and Sabaody, and for the incoming "Kuma is Dead"-revelation, showing his non-reaction is interesting. Doflamingo has the most thoughtful reaction as he's putting things together out loud, Jinbei may not be adding much but he's taking the news in anyways, and Hancock's reaction is a wonderful reflection of her character. Moria and Mihawk have nothing to really add here, but they sure are there, reacting anyways.

But indeed. Considdering Oda went out of his fucking way to include all the other six of the OG Shichibukai, so the fact that he left Crocodile out and instead gave those Marines, Coby and Helmeppo such massive panels, AND preferred to include Buggy and Random Whitebeard Pirates over Sir Fucking Crocodile feels incredibly suspicious man

And just to re-iterate, although we have nothing to confirm Crocodile would personally have known/met Dragon at any point in his life, again, between: 1) Dragon being The Most Famous Criminal In The Whole World That Every Fucking One Knows About, and 2) Crocodile having Beef with one of the Revolutionary Army's Founding Members (in other words; if he knew one high ranking Rev Army Member, it is entirely plausible he could know more). Yeah, Crocodile should at least fucking KNOW who Dragon is, like that name should ring a fucking bell. And surely, finding out the little brat who beat his ass turned out to be that Dragon's son would be an interesting revelation, even to Sir "I don't give a fuck" Crocodile

And yet we don't get to see his reaction

And yeah, to be fair, we don't get to see the reactions from any of Whitebeard's other crew members either. But also, those crew members don't really know or care about Luffy, and neither do we the readers particularly care about them at this point in the story. Like sure seeing Marco's reaction over the smaller pirates would've been more interesting, but again, the relationship between us readers and Marco, as well as Marco and Luffy would not be much different if switched out for the random pirates. If anything, the random pirates are more probably there to counter balance the random marines

But then there's also the fact that we don't get to see Whitebeard's reaction either. Which also feels a tiny bit sus considdering how he just had a big ol' conversation with Luffy just moments before. And considdering how important of a character he would become in this arc, not including Whitebeard's reaction does feel a little odd.

But then I have to remind us all; Crocodile came to Marineford because he wanted to fight Whitebeard. With Luffy out of the way, he could be at this point trying to resume his attack on Whitebeard if he wanted to. And he does seem to do that at some point (after getting pushed off Moby Dick off-screen). But what is he doing, at this moment, when the revelation is happening? 'Cause, as you might notice, the Big Reveal Panel is cut off perfectly so even Whitebeard's partially cut off, and last we saw Croc he was behind Whitebeard Like for all we know Crocodile could've been in the middle of flinging himself at Whitebeard again, or in the middle of a spar with some of Whitebeard's commanders, or in a yelling match with Whitebeard

We're not allowed to see either of the two men, not what they were in the middle of doing, and not what they thought about the news. Despite how important the characters would become, despite how arguably either's opinion on the news could have been more insightful than like. What Moria had to say with his "!!!"

IDK man this shit is so sus

[evilwickedme]

hey it’s me from the Batman posts! (the one that left the tags abt wanting to get into Batman but having no clue where to start)

If its not too much trouble, I’d love any advice on where to start with Batman or Batfam(?) stuff, I saw someone suggest reading the Batman: Wayne Family Adventures thing on webtoon as an intro to the characters so I’ve been doing that, but I’ve got no clue about any of the official comics or shows/movies/etc. I’ve never read a comic series before so everything is super new to me.

I know different series(?)/versions(?) can be wildly different bc of different writers and stuff, I definitely trust your taste on what would be good / enjoyable bc the posts you’ve been reblogging are like 90% of whats gotten me interested in the first place

Thank you, and absolutely no rush!!

Hey I am legit SO happy that you sent me this ask this is literally my favorite thing to do!!!!

So to start with I do actually agree that wfa is a good starting point but for a different reason than I feel most people would recommend it. The thing about wfa is that it has a consistent design for every character, is humorous, touches not only on the main batfamily members but also many extended members, other noteworthy people in Gotham, and the batfamily's cast of friends and teammates as well. This means that while its approach to characterization is incredibly fanon-y, it's a good basis for how to continue. You read wfa, and you know that Dick is the first robin, wears ridiculous costumes, was batman for a bit, is nightwing, part of the teen titans... this isn't a lot, but it's just enough to orient yourself before jumping into some of the most convoluted art ever created, aka the comic world.

Another tip I'm gonna give you is to let yourself be confused. I think the people who end up sticking with comics are people who are aware that if they pick up a comic it's very likely the writers and artists have read and worked on comics that you haven't read yet or even heard of, so you're always going to be missing something. That's fine. If something is really important to the plot, it gets explained; if it's not, it's windowdressing. Often there'll be little boxes saying what comic and issue they're referencing, so if you find it interesting you can just go read it - otherwise, if it's not there, you can google it, or go to any comic fan and ask "hey do you know what this is about?" and if they know, they will answer. There is nothing a comic fan wants more than to explain how to get into their favorite character/s, trust me.

Anyway this has been a very wordy intro but here are some potential starting points for the batfamily!

Bruce Wayne

You know who he is. Pick up an issue of Batman or Detective Comics and he's there. Pick up an issue of any other DC comic and there's like a 30% chance he's there too.

Batman: The Long Halloween

Noir style, investigative, early in batman's career, two face's origin story

It has a sequel-ish story called Batman: Dark Victory that's almost as good

Batman: Hush

Batman: Year One

Frankly there's not going to be much information in this comic you don't already know, but also, it's a classic, so might as well

Batman: A Death in the Family & Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying (crossover with the new teen titans)

First story is Jason's death, second is Tim's introduction and arguably the start of the batfamily being a family

Tim drags Dick back into the fray in ALPOD. It's just sort of the kind of thing he does

Do NOT confuse A Death in the Family with Death OF the Family, which is a much newer story, and Not Good

Batman: Under the Red Hood

Jason's villain arc! More details below

Batman himself isn't actually my favorite but you know he's got some decent stuff since he's, uh, the main character. DC doesn't have a multiverse the way Marvel does - and getting into that would be a whole separate ask - but their elseworlds are stories about the characters in different situations. Some ones I've heard good things about include Gotham by Gaslight, Dark Knights of Steel, Batman: Last Knight on Earth, and I keep meaning to get into Batman: White Knight, which is a whole other universe on its own. I've been trying to get into more modern batman stuff and unfortunately I just haven't clicked with anything.

Dick Grayson

Guy has been in a lot of things. If you read a random Batman comics from before 1980, there's a good chance he'll be there.

Teen Titans and The New Teen Titans and Titans (1980s-2000s)

I haven't read enough of these to say much of anything, but he's a founding member of the TT

Nightwing

His post-Robin superhero identity. At first only present in NTT and occasional Batman comics, but eventually he gets his own miniseries in the early 90s, followed by an ongoing. Recently-ish started reading them and they're angsty and very 90s in a lot of ways but I'm enjoying it

Modern Nightwing titles also exist. For sure.

Batman & Robin by Morrison

In one of DC's ten million crises, Bruce "dies", and after a short story called Battle for the Cowl, Dick ends up becoming Batman. Damian is his Robin. It's an interesting time for batman comics, although not necessarily the best writing that Dick has ever gotten.

Batman: The Dark Mirror

Also a great story for the Gordons. Bruce is back from the dead, but Dick is still Batman in Gotham. This was my first even Batman comic and it's really good.

Obviously there's other stories, such as Grayson, where he becomes a super spy for a bit. There's a million and a half reading lists for Dick out there as he's a massively popular character and he's one of the characters DC is pushing the most right now. As with all the rest of these, these are good entry points; from there I trust you to find your way

Barbara Gordon

The original Batgirl, sort of (nobody really brings up bette kane unless they're pointing out that babs wasn't the original Batgirl, she's just not important). She appears sporadically in silver and bronze age batman comics and detective comics, but she quits being Batgirl shortly before being raped and shot in the spine by the joker in Batman: the Killing Joke, which I purposefully did not put on my rec list.

Birds of Prey

Babs-as-Oracle at her best.

Batman: The Dark Mirror

Babs' long lost brother comes back to town. It's fucked up.

I've been reliably told to stay away from her Batgirl runs - most people who are a fan of the character don't like that they retconned Oracle away and it's mostly not very well written. There's a comic called batgirls that lasted about a year that included her, and it's okay.

Jason Todd (my beloved)

MY MAN

Batman: Second Chances

Collected edition of Jason as Robin, so much fun. Extremely silly at times since it's the 80s.

Batman: A Death in the Family

For obvious reasons.

Then he's just sort of dead for 17 years. He shows up in heaven in a Green Arrow issue and is occasionally brought up or shown as a hallucination, but that's about it.

Batman: Under the Red Hood

There's a new crime lord in town and he's so smart and talented and hot omg I wonder who he is!!!!

The collected edition also comes with the annual that reveals how he came back to life

Task Force Z

This shouldn't be as good as it is.

Jason gets recruited to work with a team of undead villains

Jason gets called a hot a bunch of times, and is shirtless a lot. This doesn't matter but you know, like, yeah it does.

For Robin!Jason there's also Batman: The Cult - which I finally got my hands on recently but haven't read yet. For Red Hood!Jason there's lots of stuff, but most of it isn't very good or is actively bad. Most people will tell you to stay away from Red Hood and the Outlaws, and they're right, although the 2016 run is better. Most people will tell you to read Batman & Red Hood: Cheer, and they're wrong, it's ass.

Tim Drake

Frankly this boy has no flops. Or very close to it.

Batman: A Lonely Place of Dying

Tim figured out who Batman and Robin are at AGE NINE. Respect.

After this he appears in various Batman and detective comics issues, I haven't read any of these.

Robin

The first Robin to get his own ongoing! Like with Nightwing, it started with a miniseries (a few of them, actually) and got turned into a long running series from there. Lasted like 200 issues, too.

Tim FUCKS.

Not Steph's first appearance, but most of her appearances pre-2009 are in this series.

Young Justice 1998

It's insane in all the best ways. Cars have sex on panel. They play baseball to save the world on an alien planet. A power of friendship speech prevents the end of the world. In the first issue, a woman develops breasts so big she falls on her face.

This team eventually breaks apart and Tim along with 3 other teen heroes nicknamed the core four (Superboy, Impulse, & Wonder Girl II) become part of Teen Titans 2003, which I haven't read and is also a bit of a flop era fashion wise for everyone anyway. I do have the volume of TT03 where they meet the versions of themselves from the future and I plan on reading that soon-ish.

In the mid 2000s basically everyone Tim loves dies. Steph died in 2004 ish after a very short stint as Robin. Tim's mom dies, then his dad is murdered, and it's unclear what happened to his step mom, but she was in Bludhaven, which had an atomic bomb dropped on it. Impulse becomes kid flash becomes the flash becomes murdered, and superboy gets killed while saving the world. Steph does turn out to not be dead after all and Impulse and Superboy come back from the dead eventually but by God he's having a tough year BEFORE Bruce "dies".

Red Robin 2009

After Bruce "dies" and Dick becomes Batman, Dick makes Damian his Robin and nobody believes Tim that Bruce is still alive, so he steals the Red Robin costume and goes on a mission to save his dad!

Not a comic to read first because it's so uncharacteristic of Tim as a person, but definitely something to read as soon as possible, because it's ridiculously good.

After flashpoint/n52 Tim doesn't have his own ongoing for a while, but he does come out as bisexual in an early issue of Batman Urban Legends (2021) and he got his own ongoing called Tim Drake: Robin in 2022 which was ugly AF and yet cancelled far too soon. There's a Young Justice run from 2019 I haven't read yet.

Stephanie Brown

For her I would go to Google, bc I haven't gone down the rabbithole enough for her yet. I know her first appearance was in a batman comic where she became spoiler to spoil her dad's plans - her dad being a third rate villain called the cluemaster - and she almost kills him, so good for her. Afterwards she appears every once in a while in various comics, most notably in Robin, where she and Tim as Robin start dating despite him knowing her identity but not the other way around.

Robin 60s (I don't remember the exact issues)

Steph gives birth and gives her baby up for adoption

Robin 126-128

Steph becomes Robin when Tim quits for his still-alive-but-not-for-long dad.

War Games

Steph does a fucky wucky and accidentally starts a gang war which gets her killed

There's another Robin arc where she comes back and it turns out she was never dead, Leslie (the family doctor) simply faked her death and sent her to Africa to recover

Batgirl 2009

Her first and only solo ongoing, but it's really good

She also appears a lot in Cass's Batgirl ongoings, and occasionally shows up in yj98. Her most recent series in Batgirls, which isn't very good but her interactions with Cass are very gay, and we've all been shipping it for 20 years at this point, so frankly it's long overdue. Unlikely to become canon tho, unfortunately.

Cassandra Cain

She doesn't use a lot of words, so neither will I. Probably.

No Man's Land

Frankly I am terrified to read this, it's so many goddamn issues, but this is her first appearance. I have one "volume" and it's as big as the fucking Bible.

Batgirl 2000

She's the first Batgirl to get an ongoing. The one from 2008 I've been reliably told isn't very good. She's absolutely terrifying in the 2000 one, I approve.

Outsiders 2016

Supposed to also be good for Duke content. I think at this point she's going by Orphan? Idk she's had a lot of names.

Idk I prefer Black Bat

Spirit World

Mini series that recently ended. Soooooo good. Alyssa Wong is a top contender for favorite modern writer.

She's mostly a background character. Bc DC is both sexist AND racist. She was also in batgirls.

Damian Wayne

Frankly he's my least favorite of the batkids, but that's not his fault, he's been a victim of a lot of really racist writing.

Batman: Son of the Demon

Somehow both his origin AND an elseworlds that doesn't count. Not required reading, but Bruce and Talia are madly in love in this.

Batman by Grant Morrison

After UTRH and before Dick was forced to become Batman Morrison reintroduced Talia's son, who in this version was a rape baby bc apparently brutalia weren't in love and Talia drugged Bruce. Fucking fine, I guess.

His character growth during his time as robin is sweet tho.

Robin 2021

His only solo ongoing, pretty good

Super Sons

He had two team up comics with then fellow child Jon Kent, son of superman, and it was fucking adorable. Then they aged up Jon to 17, so they're still friends, but Jon has his own shit going on.

Duke Thomas

He's REALLY new, and I haven't read any of it, I'm sorry.

Robin War

Batman and the Signal - I finally got my hands on the first issue of this last week!

The Outsiders 2016

Frankly they should capitalize on the Duke & Cass friendship/siblingship more often.

Alfred Pennyworth

I haven't read it, but there's a series called Pennyworth about his days as a spy for the crown. Supposed to be pretty good.

Kate Kane

The Jewish lesbian batwoman of our dreams

Batwoman: Elegy

Her introduction

Also, it's written by Greg Rucka, and if he can do one thing, it's write sapphic women. I'm not even joking.

Get the newer edition that has both of her original Rucka stories

Batwoman ongoings

She's had a couple, they're both supposed to be pretty solid, I've only read a few issues here and there

Batman in other media

Animated: I'm currently watching Batman the Animated Series for the first time and it seems to really get Bruce as a character, even if Robin will be there one episode and his existence will be a plot hole in the next. The Justice League animated series has also been fun so far. Teen Titans have gotten a number of animated adaptations all of which have pretty strong followings. There's an animated show called "Young Justice" which is a Teen Titans show and I refuse to watch it (it has a very devout following, but all that means is that the Young Justice - All Media Types tag on ao3 is just the same as Young Justice Cartoon and I have to filter heavily when looking for yj98 fics). Lego Batman is a REALLY fun film, and I think it turned into a whole franchise.

Live action TV: I have watched the first season of both Titans and Gotham, but both of those were before I was into the batfamily as a concept. My impression of Titans is overall negative and my impression of Gotham is overall positive.

Live action movies: There are so many Goddamn Batman movies. I like the Dark Knight Trilogy, but even calling it "based on" the Dark Knight comic trilogy is giving it a lil more credit than it deserves. The Batman 2022 is massively popular with the comic fandom for a reason - I'm not a big fan of it, but I did enjoy laughing at the movie so at least there's that. Batfleck sucks. I haven't seen anything else, up to and including the Joker movie. Oh, and Birds of Prey was really good, but that's not Cass.

Video games: The Arkham trilogy is well loved and I have indeed just bought it, but I haven't gotten to it because I'm currently working on Gotham Knights and uh. Okay so listen. This game is a lot of fun and I will be finishing it. But it's like. Got a massively antisemitic plot point. I can't even say I don't recommend it, I'm genuinely enjoying the game a lot. But I've never seen anybody bring this up, and it's bugging me.

ANYWAY I'm sure I've missed a LOT but this is introductory so you know I'm giving myself grace. There's characters I completely skipped and I'm sure mega fans of characters I haven't read much of will be offended that I said such and such about them but you know it's only been about a year and a half since I started reading dc comics and I'm still figuring it all out. And I probably will still be figuring it out for the next decade. To me that's actually part of the fun of it.

[quirkless-accident]

Danny secretly reforming LoV

(aka there are benefits of having 2 forms and being an underground hero/ spy other than flushing out human trafficking rings)

Danny is a secret powerhouse.

Sure, he's got the powers and personality for his daytime endeavors, but that's always been Phantom.

Fenton, however, is a different story.

He's got a few useful powers, and he's been asked on several occasions to work with some underground heroes that he just ended up being some sort of a double agent. Phantom is daylight, Fenton is nighttime, and neither are getting any kind of sleep.

Tonight, he gets a tip from about a bar.

----------

Meeting the League of Villains like this was not something he had mentally prepared himself for, but due to his general experiences he's able to school his expressions pretty well.

He's advertised his quirk to his contact as a general enhancer. His senses and strength are different enough from his more physical ghost powers for this to be a solid play, and keeping these particular cards close to his chest has gotten out of more than a couple scrapes. So when he walks into the bar owned by the League, he stands a bit taller, quirks his head a bit more, sniffs the air, and narrows his eyes at everybody.

He's a big guy. He got his father's genetics when it came to height, and he comes up to a respectable 6'7", and with his many years of training and hero work, he's bulked out quite a bit. All this to say is, even Fenton is a formidable foe. In the lion's den, he's gotta show that he's not one to be messed with.

"Name's Yokai," Danny tells them. "I heard you might be looking for new members?"

-----------

It goes well enough. Danny proves he can bring his own natural talents to the table, and lies through his teeth enough to convince them he's fully on their side. And though he didn't lie about hating the government and the Commission, it's still a pretty solid performance.

There's a weird energy around Kurogiri that sends a cold shiver down his spine. It's enough to clock that there isn't something completely human going on, but not enough to actually activate his ghost sense, which in and of itself is a relief. He has no idea how he would explain that when it's not a part of his known quirks.

Instead, he talks with Spinner first.

He's a stoic kinda guy who seems to be higher up in the ranks due to his ability to keep up with Shigaraki in various video games. He doesn't say much, but when he does speak it's practiced, calculated, as if one wrong word will get him thrown out. Danny knows it's something he's probably had to deal with his entire life. Not everybody is so accepting of mutation quirks that are as drastic as Spinner's.

He's also one of Stain's followers, which will either make things incredibly complicated, or a little easier on him.

Toga is, too, and it looks like Dabi has his own plans. The League for him just seems to be a way to enact them without much getting in his way.

He shares hobby with Spinner and gossips with Toga while they do each other's hair. While he can't let her feed on him for obvious reasons, every time he visits them he makes sure to bring a bag with him that he steals from a random hospital.

With Magne they talk about different parenting tactics, because while neither of them technically are, they're close enough. Danny's got Elle and Magne has this colorful crew to look after. They also talk about sexuality and gender, and Danny has had no discomfort in showing her the twin scars on his chest.

If they hug it out after that particularly emotional conversation, well, everybody is smart enough to keep their mouths shut.

With Mr. Compress, he's more of a theatrical kind of guy. Danny brushes up on his Shakespeare, giving a million thanks to Mr. Lancer as he does so, so he can converse with the man. Danny shows him a few complicated card tricks that make Compress chuckle at him as if he's a child, but Danny doesn't find himself minding one bit.

He goes through the whole League like that, more or less. He doesn't know when this became less of an information-gathering mission and more of a gentle-reformation one instead, but he can't say the results aren't there. They all look a bit more relaxed and at ease. Danny finds himself wanting to take care of them.

He of all people understands what it's like being different. Growing up quirkless and then struggling after his accident, he's never quite fit in. Unfit for regular society, not human enough or ghost enough to properly be in either world. He finds that most of the League have the mindset they'd of because of how society has treated them. And while their actions haven't been okay, he can't say he doesn't understand. If he had had a worse support system he probably would have ended up just like them.

Kurogiri is the one he doesn't hang out with much. Not because of any particular reason. He's usually busy cleaning, or breaking up fights, or setting up meetings or off doing who knows what. Because of his fast travel ability he's constantly running errands for everybody.

But when he does take a moment and slow down, he and Danny share some tea together. Or rather, Danny drinks tea in Kurogiri's quiet comfort. His motivations seem more protective than they are malicious, and that's something that Danny understands all too well. Even if the one he's protecting is a mislead murderer.

Because of their naturally ghostly nature, the two can communicate seamlessly without words. There's this underlying current of emotions that only they're aware of, and Danny's not sure if Kurogiri really even notices. Having not been around ectoplasm or ghosts in general, it can be hard to put a name to what this weird emotional feedback loop is. But Danny's got plenty of experience under his belt to realize that it's ghost related.

With this feedback loop and Kurogiri's general vibe, he eventually figures it out. It takes him a long time, but once he learned it was possible, the answer seemed obvious.

Two souls forcibly inhabiting one body, and neither one of them are in true control. He's not really sure how it was done, and he's not sure how to fix it without completely blowing his cover. Going in and separating the parasite from the host wouldn't be too much trouble with his overshadowing ability, but it's not something he can just do in the presence of the League.

He sips his tea instead.

---------

There's something familiar about the name Shigaraki but Danny can't for the life of him place it. Maybe it's because he raided the USJ during a training exercise in a desperate attempt to kill All Might. Maybe it's because he's the leader and figurehead of the League. But it's more than that, isn't it?

He just can't figure it out.

-----------

Months go by like this. Danny brings them things like medical supplies, gloves for Shigaraki, books for Compress, some high end burn cream for Dabi to prolong the effects of his quirk. He takes care of them, and in turn they trust him with information. Not enough to really do anything with it, but sometimes they tell him about a drop that happened, or a supply run they're hitting. A man named Sensei is mentioned more often than not, and he has to wonder if they've told this guy about Danny as much as they've told Danny about Sensei.

He's more than a little intrigued by this mysterious boogieman, and more concerned by the second about the mental toll he's taken on Shigaraki.

It's obvious the kid-because that's what he is to an immortal like Danny-didn't have a nice childhood. With a quirk like his, he probably had a rough awakening. His parents either didn't accept it or they were killed, or maybe they abandoned him. Either way, the clear malicious intent Sensei has with Shigaraki rubs Danny the wrong way, but he's not sure how to broach the subject without setting him off, and tipping everybody off that he's not really who he says he is.

It all comes to a head when Danny is invited to meet this Sensei character. He goes through Kurogiri's portal somewhere in the middle of the pack, with Shigaraki leading the charge. They enter into this large, cavernous room with giant Nomu test tubes lining the walls. In the very back, sitting on a high chair above the reason of them, was a man that just had an overwhelming sense of wrong. Hooked up to dozens of machines, Danny could tell that this man was more powerful than most of the S-Tier villains and ghosts he's fought. And judging from the weird energy that's similar to Kurogiri's, with an underlying current of maliciousness, it's not a surprising realization to Danny that this person should be dead.

"Ah, the famous Yokai," the villain drawls. Danny narrows his eyes as he feels a prodding sensation in the back of his mind, and firmly puts up all of his mental defenses. He's been mind controlled enough to know what it feels like, and he's not about to let some boogieman get the advantage on him.

"Ah, it seems like your heightened senses are good for more than just surveillance," the man says.

"It's a fun little party trick," Danny replies, trying his best to keep the edge out of his voice. Judging from the side eye that Dabi gives him, it's obvious he doesn't do a very good job of it.

The League up to this point has always been pretty laid back. Dabi especially usually has this aloof vibe he puts off, but all of them seem to be on high alert now. Backs are straight and their attention is forcibly stolen by the man in the chair.

"It's not very often that my young pupil finds someone worth his interest."

The nagging feeling in the back of his head is back, a more forceful prodding this time, and Danny closes his eyes to focus on blocking the intruder out. When he opens them again, there's a distinct chill in the air, and everyone has taken a step back from him.

He doesn't need to look in a mirror to know that his eyes are a ghostly green.

Fuck.

"You should be dead," Danny tells Sensei. His voice has this unearthly echo too it, laired in a way that tells everybody he's got just as much power as the man sitting in front of them. There's a sense of danger coming from from him, but it's directed at Sensei. His protective aura washes over the League, wanting to keep them from this battle for their own safety.

He takes a deep breath in, and lets his transformation take place. As he does so, it's like a little piece to the puzzle has unlocked itself.

Years ago-nearly a hundred years ago now-Clockwork had told Danny about a man named Shigaraki. About how he's cheated death time and time again, and how he will continue to do so. Danny had asked if he needed to go and stop him, and Clockwork had said it wasn't the right time.

With the man right in front of him, Danny can't think of a better opportunity.

The League steps back and braces for battle, and as much as Danny understands, it doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.

"I'm sorry for lying to you all," he tells them. "But for what it's worth, I truly do consider you to be friends."

Without anymore fanfare, Danny launches himself at All for One.

-----------

It's a long battle that takes down most of this mysterious warehouse they're in, as well as several of the nomus.

Danny pulls himself out of the rubble, stumbling as he does so. he's heavily injured, and ectoplasm is leaking out of him at an alarming rate, but dying is quite possibly the least of his worries.

During the fight, the League had tried to help, but it seems as though All for One wanted Danny to himself. He had protected them from AfO for as long as he could, but in the end Kurogiri was forced to take everyone away.

They would never trust him again. They would never want to be around him again. Danny should be okay with that because they're villains and he's a hero but he knows deep down that it's far more complicated than the black and white world most people want to believe in. Just because they're villains doesn't mean they're inherently bad people.

All for One is gone. Died and ended, with no hopes of ever coming back as a ghost, but in doing so he pushed away his friends. This little family he's found himself in.

There are helicopters and news anchors and paramedics and whatnot, and it's all too loud, too much, and it nearly overwhelms him.

So he disappears.

-----------

He doesn't want to go home to his lonely apartment so he doesn't. He can't call anybody or tell anybody because this is off the record and confidential to the nth level. So he goes to the one safe place he can think of.

Floating into the bar, he's not surprised to see it abandoned. Everything is still there, left behind by the previous owners, but nobody's there to greet him like usual.

It's fine. Danny expected this.

He didn't expect the ache in his core to come with it though.

He goes through the motions of hunting down a half decent first aid kit and gets to work, dumping alcohol on his wounds and sewing them up with practiced precision.

He's about halfway through with a particularly nasty gash on his arm when Kurogiri's portal opens in the middle of the bar, and the League steps out.

They look pissed, and Danny can't blame them. If he were them, he'd be pissed too. But now that his secret is out, he can finally do something he's been itching to do for months.

He ties off the stitches and wipes it down with a relatively clean rag before stepping up to Kurogiri. Everybody tenses, but with a nod from Kurogiri, they don't attack.

Danny transforms once more, and places his hands inside of Kurogiri's chest.

With his experience, it only takes a couple of minutes to separate the two. He pulls this purple, pulsing blob out of the host, and without anything to feed on, it dissipates.

Who's left is a man with clouds for hair and a bandage over his nose.

"i-I'm me again," he says, almost in awe.

"Took me a while to figure it out since I was undercover, but I figured that might help you out. Having a parasite forcibly put into your body like that can't exactly be good for your health."

"Thank you. Name's Oboro Shirakumo. Legally dead, I guess."

"Well, that makes two of us, I suppose."

"What do you mean? You're a daylight hero at the top of the charts, there's no way you're dead!"

Danny gives Toga a small, sad smile.

"Phantom is a daylight hero. Fenton, though...He's been legally dead for nearly a hundred years."

It takes a while to explain the accident and his growing up quirkless, but in the end, the League doesn't kill him. Maybe because they know it won't do them much good. But by the time he's done, he gives them an opportunity.

"Listen, I know things are complicated now, but...I've got a big house with more than enough rooms for everybody if you need a place to stay."

Wordlessly, the League looks to Shigaraki, who mulls over it for quite some time before shrugging.

"As long as it's better than this dump."

Danny can't help but give a relieved grin.

"Let's go home, then."

[donnerpartyofone]

This has been a really hard one to talk about. I'm always very ambivalent about mourning celebrities. I try to remember that I don't know these people, that what is really mourned by most of us is the person's ongoing work, which in the best cases has helped us understand ourselves and the world in which we live. Unavoidably, though, you can start to develop the sense that you know these people personally, which isn't true or even appropriate necessarily, I mean you have no idea whether you would even like someone you've only seen on a screen or received an autograph from; but at the same time, I don't know if you can really force yourself not to feel like the deceased celebrity is a dear friend you will never get to talk to again (the last time I tried and failed was the passing of Lux Interior). Maybe this is more forgivable, and also more inevitable, if you feel like you grew up with the person.

Of course this is all about ME now, but my mother (who also died from cancer) was an extremely hip, brilliant, funny individual who for whatever reason refused to form a relationship with me. This was pretty strange, because we liked a lot of the same things--B movies, old comics, all types of camp and kitsch--but when I liked those things, it was in poor taste and punishable by exile, whereas when she liked those things, it was evidence of her cultural genius. Before I make anybody too mad I should say that I'm being a little bit unfairly reductive just so I can get to the point, which is that one of the few things we could share was Pee-Wee's Playhouse. I didn't know anything about the show's more adult origins or the fact that Paul Reubens was sort of a performance artist, but I didn't have to. Pee-Wee's Playhouse was a feast for any child's senses: stylish, hilarious, and on some subliminal level, really sophisticated. I was clued into some of what was going on just because I watched it with my mom, who always laughed at Pee-Wee's winks and nudges to the hep parents in the audience. The show might have been my first encounter with the kind of anthropological humor favored by people like David Byrne and Laurie Anderson, artists who engage subversively with cliches, stereotypes, and other memetic parts of popular culture. In Pee-Wee's Playhouse, with its sharp, edgy cast and crew, kids like me were getting into fine art without even knowing it--which is possibly the best way to learn about art anyway.

In fact, on the other side of our house, I became obsessed with Gary Panter's incredible punk opus Jimbo In Paradise, a Dantesque comic book about an innocent young guy living in a dystopian future, where he is occasionally joined by guest stars such as Nancy and Hedorah. I was about 7 when I started reading Jimbo over and over again even though I could barely understand it, and I had no idea that Gary had pretty much designed Pee-Wee's Playhouse. I'm speaking about him so familiarly because I got to know him a little bit as a grownup. I remember Gary talking about how private Paul Reubens could be. He used to do this thing where he would accept a dinner invitation from anybody who asked, as sort of a stunt, but he had to stop doing it because people became so intrusive and entitled with him. Gary said that they'd be walking around in New York and when they saw an obvious Pee-Wee fan gearing up for an offensive, Paul Reubens would sort of transform into this totally different person, putting out an aura that let you know not to fuck with him. It's crazy-making to think that someone who was so protective of the boundary between his private and public selves had to suffer that ridiculous arrest, but it's heartening that most of society eventually grew the fuck up and forgot about it. It's also helpful to remember when he turned up later on the MTV Music Video Awards and started off by asking the audience, "HEARD ANY GOOD JOKES LATELY??"

I'm glad we got one more Pee-Wee special in the past several years, but I always wished that we would see Paul Reubens in more movies. He was such a cool actor, funny, convincing, and naturally charismatic. While people are cycling through their favorite roles of his, I want to point out that he had a great role on a recent HBO miniseries called Mosaic, an intense, engrossing crime drama that I definitely recommend if you have access. Maybe I'll rewatch it, too. In closing, here's a great story that I grabbed from Facebook that should warm everybody's heart, along with the heartbreaking statement (inappropriately cropped by Instagram of course) released upon the death of the very private Pee-Wee Herman. It makes you wish you could thank him in person, for everything. The best we can do is just remember him.

[penny-anna]

ok some actual thoughts on The Giggle now i've had a few days to digest it:

STUFF I LIKED:

'spice up your life' dance sequence absolutely mesmerising. could not look away from the screen. incredible.

melanie bush!! ahhh this was so sweet. the reunion scene was pitch perfect. after Power of the Doctor (which was also pitch perfect just in a different way) really nice to see an old companion w a more upbeat relationship w the Doctor. also liked that they explained how she got back to earth that was fun.

into all the creepy puppet stuff. esp into the guy who straight up got turned into a puppet that was fucked.

liked the new persona for the Toymaker!! was a little :S at the german accent in the trailers but in context it was like OH he's doing this on purpose. okay. should've given RTD more credit that was a smart move.

DELIGHTED to see so much Ncuti Gatwa. honestly that was where the episode really picked up for me. loved seeing him run around his his underwear. love that he's got a jukebox in his TARDIS.

in isolation loved the idea of the incoming & outgoing doctors getting to meet face to face and hug it out i thought that was a really nice new spin on a regen scene <3

also in isolation, have long been of the opionion that Tennant's exit was needlessly bleak so i was looking forward to seeing him get a more upbeat regen and it did deliver on that for sure ljdlkghfdlskg

STUFF I LIKED LESS:

i already talked about & reblogged various posts about the bigen so i will not belabour the point too much dfjkghdflk. mixed feelings suffice to say.

i THINK this regen was like. kind of Sensitive as there was always going to be a demographic of people who'd be consciously or unconsciously unwilling to accept Gatwa as the new Doctor and as a result i think in this specific instance that ending was a. bad way to go. it leaves wriggle room for people who don't want to accept Gatwa for racist reasons. I'm 100% down for Gatwa and as i was watching it i could feel myself struggling to connect w him bcos Tennant was still there. iunno reserving full judgement on this for now bcos hopefully the christmas special will smooth things over a bit.

much as i loved seeing her not sure why Mel was there? like this is barely a complaint bcos im down to just have classic companions show up but. why was Mel there

other people have already said this but honestly it did not fully deliver on the Toymaker. feel like he's a character w a HUGE amount of potential and he didn't uh. do all that much.

also this is VERY PETTY but given that the Toymaker has appeared a bunch in the EU it would have been nice to like leave it more ambiguous how many times they've met previously? if that makes sense? i wouldn't expect the show to canonise any EU content but they didn't have to go out of their way to say that the Doctor and the Toymaker have only met once previously.

as i have implied previously not a fan of how UNIT is being portrayed. would like to see them treated more ambivalently tbph.

in conclusion:

had a good time!!

all in all think this was the weakest of the 3 specials but it did have a hard job to do wrapping everything up. however did provide a lot of fun stuff to Chew on. ah well.

[a-court-of-moonlight-and-ire]

Ive been thinking about how Rhysand being highlord is incredibly pointless and pretty much only serves to make him more dislikable because this series keeps going on and on about how much Tamlin sucks as a ruler, meanwhile Rhysand is over there neglecting two thirds of his (known) court with the thinnest justifications imaginable, not to mention how much worse it makes feysand (atleast conceptually) because really most of Feyres issues with Tamlin that didnt come down to both of them being too traumatized to function together came down to Tamlin being a monarch and her being his fiance, and the only reason shes not having those same issues with Rhys is that he simply absolves her of any actual Lady/High Lady responsibilities, but im getting off-topic. I genuinely think the main reason Rhys is a high lord instead of just like, a powerful general which would make way more sense for his character, is that SJM finds power really hot and I guess if Rhysand was more magically powerful than Tamlin but had less state power and authority that would make him feel like a downgrade, so we get Rhysand being The Most Powerful Highlord In The History of PrythianTM. But then that make me think. hey, why isnt Rhys just in Keirs position. Like, hes not the Highlord of the night court hes just lackey whos in charge of the hewn city and illyria, those less savory parts of the NC that the HL uses as big meatshield factories for the sake of protecting his precious city of starlight, so he still has all this state power and authority but hes also actually an underdog and has an actual reason for putting on a mask. Yknow, the Hewn City is mostly just a normal city with people having the best lives they can without ever seeing the sky because Rhys is actually good at running it, but then everytime the HL comes along they put on a big show of evil for him to feel superior to, or maybe its just Rhys and other high ranking officials putting on a show idk

OH this would actually go really well with that idea I had a few months ago of Rhys having a full-fae halfbrother from his dad's previous non-mate marriage. Like, Rhys is the less favored son so they make him do all this dirty work while his dad and halfbrother luxuriate in Velaris, maybe theres a whole thing where they think Rhys cant inherit the HL powers because hes half-illyrian and then at the end of the trilogy they kill his dad and the powers go to him and its a big triumphant moment because Rhys triumphed over his shitty blood-family's weird biological essentialism. OR if you wanted to girlboss it, maybe having received that drop of the HL's power makes Feyre inherit it instead idk and now you have a brand-new ruler who can properly unite Velaris, the Hewn City and Illyria into one court (i mean, i would prefer Illyria be independant from the NC, but I doubt SJM would ever even think of writing that, so unification with the illyrians getting equal rights is the best i could hope for)

[bronx-bomber87]

Happy Monday wonderful fandom :) I can’t believe we’ve reached the finale I’m in shock we're here. This has been my side hobby for 9 plus months. I started these to get through the extended hiatus. I wasn’t even sure anyone would even read them. The response I got was so lovely. I adore this fandom. So welcoming to any new Chenford content.

So thank you to everyone who’s read these especially those who've been with me since the very beginning. I can’t explain how much it has meant to me. Whether it was likes, reblogs or comments. Special shout out to my tumblr bestie @makeitastrength and @northern-neighbor You both commented on every single one of these. Thank you so much for your insight and sticking with me this entire time. Means more than you'll ever know.

I’m planning to do mini reviews during this new season. Then this same kind of thing during our hiatus hopefully we’ll have S7 locked in by then. *fingers crossed* I finished this before S6 which was my goal. We are only 8 days away which is unreal. Eeeee. Let us get started.

5x22 Under Siege

This episode starts off with all kinds of anxiety. Aaron and Celina kill me with not calling the noise in WHY.... Why didn’t you call it in? Ugh. Celina lying on top of Aaron protecting him till they arrive. Rip my damn heart out right off the bat why don't ya? I’m going to cry. I love Tim and Lucy showing up to the scene together. They’re clearly off shift and showing up to the scene with each other. I love these little details they make my heart so happy.

They’re a packaged deal now and I couldn’t be happier about it. Also like to note looks like Lucy is wearing one of his jackets. Maybe they were at his place when they got the call? The sleeves look long on her and I adore it. Basically living together at this point. I can’t get over it. Just casually showing up to scenes now. Ain’t no thang. This thought is where I live till S6 LOL

Anyways Tim says he heard it was Aaron. Grey confirms this is true. GSW to the back. Looks like the same spot Jackson was shot. Eerily so. Three masked men and they were ambushed. The painful parallels to Jackson’s death in this one getting me in the feels. Grey has them start to work the scene. Lucy looks incredibly upset but is trying to keep it in check. Probably feeling the Jackson vibes too.

Our couple arrives at the hospital with an update. Once again arriving together. I love the quick looks we get as they approach. That silent communication of their's ever present. Also she is wearing the necklace I must comment. It’s popping against that shirt she is wearing. Like to also point out how look at each other while the other speaks. It’s the little things I love so very much. Getting massive 4x01 vibes from this scene too. Reminding me of the scene is Wes's living room night after the hug. The height difference, the way Lucy is looking at Tim as he speaks. United front power couple vibes.

So much can change and things like this stay the same I love it. They’re reporting back their CI’s have nothing. No one has heard back about a gang targeting cops. Lucy has also hit a dead end with the masks. Their next idea was Elijah but Tim says nothing out of prison confirming that. Angela and Wes are working on the riddle. Grey tells them to head home they’re not getting anywhere tonight. Once they've all left Grey turning to Luna saying he can lose another. Ugh getting me in the feels so early in this episode. More Jackson feels.

Lucy and Tim get home late. The minute they’re back Lucy’s walls are down. Tim can see how upset she is. Another great callback to 4x01. To that hug. Only this time Lucy doesn’t have to ask for it. Tim seeks her out. See’s how now that they're home her work walls are down. She is visibly wrecked and can't hold back the tears any longer. I love how he pulls her right into his arms. Being the exact comfort she needs in this moment. He can't stand to see her upset. Wanting to make it better.

Tim grabbing her instantly is so lovely. Lucy crashes into him and falls apart. He gets to comfort as much as she needs now. How very far we’ve come. It’s been a beautiful journey to this point. Lucy is ready to fall apart in her safe place. Knowing Tim will be there pick up the pieces. Shield her from the PTSD this must be bringing up for her. I love how he encases her fully. One hand around her back the other gently cradling her head to his chest.

Tim closing his eyes wanting to absorb her sadness. The swaying and his chin on top of her head. *squee* I love her being fully enclosed in his arms. Also never be over the fact Eric improvised the kiss to her head. Forever squeeing about that fact. Our ship King is the best. Oh captain my captain. How damn intimate and sweet it is as he does as such. Then resting his head back on hers. Telling her ‘It’s ok.’ His hand in her hair rubbing her back soothingly. I cannot. Lucy was alone last time. Grieved alone and dealt with everything solo.

Now she never has to be alone again and I wanna cry at that thought. Getting emotional at how beautiful this hug is. Lovely ray of sunshine in a rather dark finale. I love this scene so much it made my chest hurt. You want to see outstanding chemistry in a short amount of time? Watch this scene. Melissa and Eric are glorious together. We truly are so lucky to have them as our ship. This is such a soft and gentle moment.

Tim pulling her in and wanting to comfort her has me all in my feels. Lucy has this wonderful man to catch her when she falls now. To be able to absolutely come apart in his arms. Knowing he’ll be there to comfort and keep her together when she does. Gah I love them so much. Also A + to whoever does the music. The song in this moment is adding to the emotional depth of the scene. Amazingly good. It’s been so on point in this season. They need a raise whoever does this.

They finally have some suspects to track down. Violent felons that have connection to the station and to them as a group. Lucy offers to check on one by herself. Grey says no and Tim offers to go with her. Because he loves her and wants to keep her in his sights. They’ve all been attacked at this point. Except for him and Lucy. No way he’s letting her go solo. It’s not cause he didn’t trust her to handle herself. He can’t handle her going alone. His instincts on high alert.

Lucy telling Tim he should be out knocking down doors with Metro. Tim tells her 'He’s good'. As good as he can be without letting her out of his sights during this. Only they could so effortlessly flirt while on duty. In the middle of an intense OP. Lucy letting him know she doesn’t need him to protect her. Tim is very aware of this. Says he knows. Lucy turning this moment into some very cute light banter. Saying he is telling her he needs the protecting. Tim being sassy right back with his reply above. God I love them.

Their teasing and banter is iconic. Lucy’s next line is fantastic. I know we haven’t had an official ILY you yet. But they’ve said it so many different ways this season. In moments such as this. When we do officially get it not gonna be a shock to either of them. Tim telling her 'Back at you.' Making me all emotional. They are such a power couple and the next portion of this episode proves that. I’ve always said watching them in the field is poetry in motion. This next battle scene is literal proof of such.

It’s a good thing Tim came with her. I don’t want to think what would’ve happened if she’d been alone. The creepy crowd coming at them. My stomach dropped. First Tim willing to sacrifice himself for her so she could get away. *heart clutch* Man would die for her and not even blink in the decision making process. Lucy of course will not allow this whatsoever. Valiant or not he’s not falling on his sword for her.

We get a nice call back to 1x18. Not only with Lucy saying they need to go to higher ground. Like he taught her in that ep but to show no mercy. Tim instructing they hurt as many as they can and then retreat upstairs. Lucy getting exactly what he’s saying because they’re simpatico. This entire scene shows that. Also LOVE Lucy saying they only stand a chance TOGETHER. Theme of this season right here. They're better together. Damn right.

What a bad ass battle couple we have. Look at this scene. Lucy calling the audibles in this moment and Tim following her play. Repeating it back and saying 'Copy that.' Gah I love this so very much. Tim trusts her gut without question. Not a doubt in his mind to go with it. The amount of respect he has for her in the field is immense. He was going to stay behind she said no. Then Tim instantly followed her lead after that.

Damnit I love them so much. Tim’s instinct is to always protect Lucy. Where her's is to protect them both in this moment. It’s never because he thinks she can’t handle it. Tim just can’t handle the idea of losing her if he doesn’t. Started from the bottom now we're here and I’m emotional. Also the song once again killer during this epic scene.

Love her touching his arm before they engage in battle in that first one. Look at them in the final two above. I know Eric said they had a blast filming this. They are so damn in-sync. It's such an amazing thing to watch them take these people on. Like I've sad many times before poetry in motion when they're in the field. I love getting to watch the well oiled machine that is them. This was that on steroids ha

Eric was so excited for us to watch this scene and I can see why. It so fun to watch. Taking these guys apart together one at a time. I LOVE Lucy taking that guy out and then grabbing his riot shield. Tim is starting to get overwhelmed and she makes work of what's around her. Running towards Tim getting that guy off her man. With a very impressive shove might I add. Sends him flying down the stairs with the others. They have to start retreating up the stairs after this. They are slowly running out of ammo as well. Backup has yet to arrive and they're battling the best they can to stay alive till it does.

Harper and Nolan finally arrive on scene. Nyla tells John to get to them. She is going to get her sniper rifle even the odds a bit. Unfortunately even with higher ground they’re getting ambushed from all sides now. It's now all melee combat at this point without ammo. Tim takes a guy out with pepper spray and gets a guy off his girl.

Who is literally choking the life out of her. Tim dispatches this guy with any remaining rage he has left. Smashing this guy's face into the wall. Making sure he can't get up to get back to her. All the while Harper being a bad ass snipping people left and right for Tim. This scene is epic af. I love it so much. One of my all time field scenes for sure. They did a damn good job with this holy cow.

Then we get an other beautiful parallel from 1x01 to now. When Lucy pulled Tim to safety mid battle. We get to see Tim do the same for her. The way Tim scoops Lucy up and carries her to safety. I’m not crying you are.... Power couple since day one they just didn’t know it yet. The way he picks her up and then shields her with his body. Gah it’s so good.

When the door opens Tim is worried it’s another bad guy. He shields Lucy with his body. Ready to take a hit to keep her protected. Not willing to let them get at her again. I’m sobbing everyone. The instinct to always protect one another. I’m drowning in feels over here in the best way. Nolan ushers them to safety. Never been happier to see John Nolan in my life LOL

They make it to the stairway battered and bruised. Gasping for air as they try to recover from what just happened. Let’s look at the no space between them when they land on the stairs. Tim reaching out for her instantly. Placing his hand on her thigh checking on her. TWICE might I add. He touches her twice there. While checking around to make sure they’re truly safe. Lucy reaches out for his hand on the first touch. Also their heads touching as well in that first gif. Gah this mini moment has so much to it.

Tim is grounding himself in this moment through those touches. Making sure Lucy is breathing and he can stand down to catch his own breath. Such an intimate moment after an incredibly intense battle. He almost lost her so he is reaching out and making sure she’s ok. He also needs to touch her to settle himself. It was to tell her we’re ok now’s and to confirm to himself she was as well. Damnit it's so good. Don't tell me one of Tim’s biggest love languages isn’t physical touch. It for sure is.

Our last shot of the season for them. Just a BAMF couple post battle. Height difference that I love so much. The check in’s they do walking away knowing this could've been so much worse. Battle worn and bruised. These shots always hit harder knowing they’re together. I would like to think they would fuss over each other's wounds at the hospital. Or at home. We shall see what S6 brings for that if anything regarding it. If not sure someone will write a fic. LOL

The lack of personal space as they walk from the scene always floors me. As close they can possibly be at the moment. Sure Tim is thanking his lucky stars he came with her. I don’t wanna imagine what would’ve happened had he not. Or what Tim would’ve done had something happened. They looks so exhausted they’ve earned a good snuggle and some alone time. Sadly they're still in the middle of case so that's a no go.

Look at our power couple everyone. They're ours. We get to have them. And have a season to look forward to. I was so nervous about the season ending. Knowing this strike could last a long time and it did. Luckily we are coming out of it. Light is at the end of the tunnel. Looking forward to S6 and all the squeeing to come with it.

~~~~

Side notes non-Chenford

This episode one giant stress. One of them being when they try and take Harper’s daughter. The panic in my soul for her. My goodness this finale was great.

All of Celina's scene with Aaron pulling at my feels as well.

Thank you everyone once again who supported these reviews. They started out as a way to fill time between S5 and S6. Became a truly fun hobby for me. Kinda sad the ride is over but like I said at the beginning I’ll do mini reviews each week for s6 won’t be rid of that easily ❤️❤️ Can’t wait to delve in S6 with you all :)

[im-a-hoping-beetch]

In all honesty, idk what happened with the fandom recently for it to suddenly shit out a ton of crappy takes in ATLA most especially for Zutara. I often find myself defending Zutara because a lot of its antis say the most racist and sexist stuff against it. I'm not even a Zutara fan! I'm a rareshipper.

Can't just antis simply say they don't like Zutara and move on to enjoying their own ships instead? No more stupid holier art thou morality takes that just backfire on their faces.

If they want discourse, then use canon material NOT HEADCANONS, FANONS, OR FANFICS as "evidence" to back up their takes. Antis that do that makes my head spin in exasperation. Then you point that out they start whining how you hurt their feelibgs and get all offended as a "minority".

Actually, let's focus on that last bit. It's pretty rancid too how sometimes they pretend to be part of the "minority" so they can use it as a shield for themselves when their bad behavior gets called out. In fact, this tactic hurts the actual minorities who have valid concerns about Zutara. They get drowned out by all the insanity toxic shippers say and get lumped in with them.

Well, with the new live-action coming, there has obviously, been a revival, making the fandom way much more active. Which leads to people having more time to pay attention to the show and all its intricacies.

This is where ship wars come into play. And in all honesty, atla’s ship wars have definitely left a legacy in a way I don’t think we’ll have to ever witness. With the creators perpetuous jabs at zutara solidifying antis need to hate on it and the fans, fuelling the whole thing to another level. To this day whenever something avatar related gets announced or released you start to see a revival of a not so dead ship war. And while they (probably, not sure) aren’t as brutal as they used to be, they have took another turn, with this faux-progressivism being used to fear monger zutara shippers as well as casual listeners about the ship’s legitimacy. I recommend @i-d-e-g-a-f ‘s post about it to get more insight.

On my part, if I were to pin point the moment where this faux- progressivism started taking space in a lot of anti-zutara takes, I’d say that the atla renaissance isn’t innocent for this phenomenon happening. You need to understand the context in which atla’s release on Netflix took place in. One where the blm movement took the entire world by storm. Resulting in people not having the reservations they’ve probably had in the past when it came to talking about racial issues. This was followed by the emergence of numerous movements involving similar cases (not identical, tho). As well as media and the people consuming said media being ready to offer commentary on and call out harmful depictions of racial minorities as well as the rethorics they carried.

Suddenly, anyone and everyone could offer their piece of mind on harm being caused to racial minorities. And while good, it also came with its downside.

When you take into account this context, I think it exacerbated the already existing phenomenon of people saying things in order to put on this front of being good and virtuous, yet failing or simply not wanting to realize how these things are perpetuating the very harm they claim they want to undo. You know, people perceiving and claiming zutara to be a colonized-colonizer ship. As well as comparing katara to Pocahontas, when talking about these two. Which, if these people actually cared about progress, they would know how incredibly racist and sexist it is to make that comparison.

When it comes to antis obsession with hating on zutara, I think it stems from a certain insecurity. You gotta understand that unlike any other non-canon ship, zutara could’ve legitimately been canon. It was constantly talked about in the writers room, many of the team members seriously considering it (head writers, voice actors etc..) Hence why, the creators felt the need to throw numerous jabs (ie. the ember island play, (2008) comic-con) at the ship and more specifically, its fans. Since they themselves were insecure. @burst-of-iridescent perfectly explains it in this post.

[shuttershocky]

Do you have a dislike for media universes that "rewards" people for watching/reading all of it in general?

Or do you think there is one that executes that idea well?

I'm answering this 5 months late, but I'm pretty sure I still remember this ask being prompted by a post making fun of the MCU.

Do I dislike story universes that reward people for reading all of it? Not at all. I mean, I'm a fan of both Middle Earth and Star Wars, I fucking love big, big universes with plenty of stories in them. When they intersect in some small way it's a delight to me, I love those little personal winks from the author for having read their other works or recognizing the most obscure names only a nerd would know.

However, there's a difference between a little reference in a story meant for people who can connect the dots, and making something almost required reading for your enjoyment. It's the difference between an acknowledgement from the creators that you liked the setting enough to come back for a new yet familiar ride, and a company realizing they've found their cash cow and can't wait to milk it for all its got until it's dead.

And dead the cash cow will be, eventually. It's been said before that the reason why the Big Two of western comics have ceded more and more ground to manga over the years is that Spider-Man has 10 different starting points while Naruto starts with Volume#1. That's not just a funny joke. Onboarding new readers has genuinely been Marvel and DC's problem for decades, which is why it was both incredibly predictable yet shocking all the same that this is what the MCU turned itself into.

Sure, early on you could ask the audience to watch a couple movies before the big Avengers crossover, but now they've got all these TV shows on top of the movies that you have to watch in order to "catch up", and it's not even about the cool characters anymore. More and more of their fanbase is going to stop caring once the barrier of entry gets too high, and it's ridiculous to me that Marvel went this road with their movies when they know this is what happened to their comics first.

I mean, are you serious, their next big bad is Kang? I am not watching several TV shows and an Ant-Man movie that's somehow worse than the second one all to see how the currently left Avengers meet goddamn Kang the Conqueror. He's in both the TV shows and the movies, which means they're somehow giving Kang more buildup screentime than Thanos. Why? Either I've been extremely out of touch with Marvel comics or the MCU picked a wild choice to headline their next billion dollar franchise when Doctor Doom is actually available to them now and barely needs an introduction.

Sorry, got lost for a bit. Back on topic, yeah I know I know, all art right now exists under capitalism which means every setting that becomes a wider story universe is an author trying to milk their existing fanbase. Whenever a creator makes a thing that I like, and then announces they have a new thing set in the same setting as their first thing but isn't a direct sequel so they can keep gaining a new audience while keeping their existing one, I know I'm being suckered in.

Just, don't make it so blatant. And don't make it so hard. I am the exact target audience for these shenanigans and even I'm starting to feel like it's homework because it's all fucking required now.

If I, a lifelong Star Wars fan, want to watch the newest Star Wars thing, I have to see a hundred hours of other Star Wars media first. If I want to watch The Mandalorian Season 3, I can't just have seen Season 1 and 2, oh no, I have to also see The Book of Boba Fett too, because halfway through that show became The Mandalorian Season 2.5. Well I did see Boba Fett, and the combination of my dislike for turning it into required homework AND the show itself just being kinda dogshit meant I never touched season 3 of the Mandalorian. That show used to be so great because it wasn't tied down to any existing story arcs or characters, so it stood on its own and made for an amazing watch no matter how much Star Wars you've actually seen. And then it succeeded and so had to become the new spine for the entirety of Disney Star Wars afterward. Fuck. Now if I want to watch their latest show Ahsoka, I have to have seen the Clone Wars animated series AND Rebels, because the Rebels cast are in it too! I mean I did see Clone Wars and Rebels, but that still sucks!

That makes me worried now! Andor was also really fucking good and it stood on its own so hard you didn't even need to see Rogue One, the movie that introduced Cassian Andor in the first place. But now that season 1 was a success and everyone sang its praises, it certainly means season 2 is suddenly going to get real cramped with Ahsoka and Luke Skywalker and whatever guys are currently alive in its timeframe. Shit, they're probably gonna add Cal Kestis in season 2 of Andor. The Respawn Star Wars games are still doing their own thing which means it's time to connect to something else.

I hate what all this has become. It was fun to read the Silmarillion and see what kind of fuckery one family of elves got up to that eventually turned Sauron from minion to big evil eye parked next to evil mountain, but you didn't need to read all that before The Lord of the Rings. LOTR didn't assume you knew anything at all (and oh boy did Tolkien never miss an opportunity to explain shit).

Let me repeat. I am the target audience. I live for the ridiculously nerdy habit of reading things set in the same universe as other things and connecting all the dots. If /I/ feel like it's become homework, I can't imagine what the average person thinks of all this. Make it stop. Stop running everything I once loved into the ground in the name of endless profit. Star Wars was already doing this to itself before the Disney acquisition and yet it didn't feel this bad.

[oneatlatime]

Any predictions for season 3, or are you planning to dive straight in?

You're not the first person who's mentioned s3 predictions, so I'll give it a shot, but I'm really not sure if I have anything to use to make predictions. S2 ended in a very final, end of arc kind of way. Lots of things have been tied up. I don't even know where they're all flying off to. Back to the Southern Water Tribe, since the Earth Kingdom's a bit of a bust? The Fire Nation's out of the question, the Northern Water Tribe probably has mixed feelings about seeing them again, maybe the Eastern Air Temple? Although even that might not be safe, since Aang's travel plans to said temple to meet the Guru were known by various Earth Kingdom generals. And that stupid King.

I think the Fire Nation contingent are going back to the Fire Nation, and I am looking forward to a Zuko with eyes at least somewhat open interacting with FN citizens/nobles/military etc. who are still completely drinking the kool aid. I think it's going to suck for Zuko. Should make for good TV though. Lots of conversations where both people are saying entirely different things while thinking they're talking about the same thing.

I said it before, but I'm worried for Iroh. He's for sure arrested, but is he going to be executed? Obviously I don't want that, but unless Iroh still has enormous popular support, and the Firelord's grasp on power is incredibly shaky, I don't see how permanently eliminating a traitor (from a FN perspective) can be avoided. Then again. Kids' show.

As for the Gaang? In broad strokes, Aang still needs to learn firebending to fully Avatar himself, then he needs to defeat the Fire Lord (who is quite the homebody apparently - seriously, where is this guy?). So next season Aang will shake off his lightning hangover, find a firebending teacher, defeat the firelord. He'll probably have to commute to the Fire Nation to find the Fire Lord first. No idea what he'll do in between those things. Perhaps inadvisable shenanigans? That would be in character. His biggest story arc all series has been learning to accept his status as Avatar, but between his talks with the Guru and opening his last Chakra in the finale, I think he's done it. So all that's left is the main plot and goofiness.

Katara has the same problem she had going into S2 - she's mastered waterbending, so she needs a new conflict/arc. S2 answered this demand by... having her hang around? What did Katara do this season? Bend a bunch, set up camps, tear down camps, wreck Jet, support Aang, be nice to Toph that one time, yell at people. I hope she gets something meatier in S3. I still think she should meet some good FN citizens that challenge her morals.

Sokka was also kind of just there this season, although if I'm being mean I'll say that he was also kind of just there for S1 too, which is why it doesn't feel as odd as Katara's lack of purpose. I loved his stuff with Suki. Suki is officially the glow up of the season. I loved their interactions together, and I love the growth she poked him into doing. I'd like to see more of that. So less a prediction and more of a hope: S3 Sokka develops the ability to rely on/trust others (or maybe realises others can be relied upon/trusted is more accurate), hopefully with Suki somehow involved. And I loved his dad too. I want to see more of that guy, but since a cardinal rule of kids' stories is getting rid of the authority figures asap, it won't happen.

Toph. Honestly I'm stumped. She already broke the universe. Where can she go from there? Unless she's going to devolve into an antagonist, which I absolutely don't want, I don't see how she can top her S2 plot. And Aang's got earthbending down, so I guess she'll be like Katara was this season: tagging along. Not that I'm complaining; I love me some Toph in any form. We have seen that she wants to make peace with her parents, sort of, probably? Or at least give them another shot? But I kind of don't want her within 100 miles of her parents. So I don't know.

Appa & Momo will hopefully be tagalongs in S3 too. I learned my lesson this season about wanting the animals to have character arcs.

I guess the antagonist in S3 will be the Fire Lord, finally. Who else is left? Zhao tried, he died. Azula tried, she won. Unless S3 has an Azula rematch. But would she want that? She's already proven that she won. She can go home and enjoy the spoils of her victory (which may or may not include Zuko - I'm kind of unclear on exactly how much agency Zuko is going to have in the FN, especially since I'm not actually sure that he has permission to be there as a free man - didn't the arrest warrant Azula was executing in episode 1 list both Zuko and Iroh?)

There's nothing left for the Gaang in Ba Sing Se, so I doubt they'll go back there. Frankly it's the FN characters who have roots there. I wonder what will happen to Iroh's tea shop? I wonder if his investors will find out who he is? I wonder if money talks louder than national loyalty? (It's the Earth Kingdom - the answer is yes) Wouldn't it be funny if Iroh busted out of imprisonment and went right back to serving tea? And everyone sent to find him would be thinking "this is the famed tactician the Dragon of the West - he's probably travelling the FN plotting a coup as we speak. That devilish mind of his must have safe houses set up all over the nation." When actually he's right back where he got caught, doing exactly what he was doing when he got caught, to great and not-very-quiet acclaim?

I think S3 might have an overall darker tone too, within the bounds of a kids' show. I don't know what place Ba Sing Se occupied in the mind of the average person in the Avatar universe (although refugees seemed to revere it), but the city's fall to the FN represents a very big FN victory. The Gaang will probably be the most underdoglike in S3. S1 was mostly stalemate, then a big FN defeat. S2 was opened with the FN taking Omashu and closed with them taking Ba Sing Se. The FN have never been in a better position, and I bet the NWT is safe from further invasion only until the FN have built their fleet back up. So even the few free areas could have an expiry date on their freedom.

This is rapidly devolving into rambles, so I'll conclude by saying I have no clue what's going to happen next season, and that's exciting.

[sun4kiss]

You can ignore if you want <3

So basically I have this story in my head since a long time now but I can't choose which scenarios I like more so if maybe I could have your opinion on it ?? :) and sorry if it's too much (you can say no ofc!) but I would love to see how you'll extend those stories in your own way <3

Jake had been in love with you since a long time but never had the courage to tell you anything about it. To the point where he won't even try to show hints of a possible attachment. You both weren't best friends but still more than unknows.

You and him are in university and you started talking to each other when he got to sit next to you in class.

Jake has a best friend, which by time decided to go on a collocation with him and are now roomates. They know each other like no one else does, they talk about everything and knows everything about the other, true best friends. Jake's best friend is called Sunghoon. As much as you never said it, you can't deny Jake's beauty, inside and out. He has always been funny, nice to you and showed the greatest personality while he would also show to school with the most handsome face and fit every day.

Still, when he invited you to come to his house and that you accepted, meeting his friend was a whole new feeling. Kind of love at first sight ?

1 - You could see in his eyes that he also felt something, as big as you did. Jake introduce you both and you see a discreet smirk on his lips as he greets you. You then visit the house quickly before going to Jake's room. You both talk, play, laugh, and then you felt hungry so you went to the kitchen to eat. Jake stayed in his room, waiting for you.

Once you enter the kitchen, you see a tall figure, a handsome figure. It was Sunghoon. He was simply drinking water but gosh, the sight was incredible. How could someone look so handsome doing something so basic ? You were in your own thoughts when you finally meet sunghoon's gaze. You quickly look away and go towards the fridge. If you avoid eye contact, he'll not catch anything, right ? You got it wrong.

As your looking through the fridge, you feel hands around your waist. You turn around only to be kissed suddenly by Sunghoon. Nothing to crazy, it lasted maybe 4 seconds, but that was enough for you to want more. You dive in and kiss him back.

This time the kiss was more passionate, his hands on your waist tighten as one of his hands goes towards you neck, while your hands are on his chest and hair. You wanted this moment to last forever but...

"What are you doing?" You both stop in your tracks as you hear a voice coming from the door. You both stop the kiss and look at it, only to find Jake. He's looking at you only, not minding Sunghoon at all. "So? I asked you a question" he says as his gaze never leaves you. "I..."

You can't formulate any sentence right now, the scene is absurd. You look at Sunghoon for a bit only to find him chuckle. Does he thinks this is funny? It's so embarrassing, you thought. Sunghoon looks at you and peck your lips. Before you could say anything he stops you. "He saw us already, why not continuing. I'm sure he'll like having his crush being all over another man". Crush? Jake likes me? And what does he means by continuing? There's to much to process but he doesn't mind. He's gonna prove Jake that he is the one, not him.

2 - As pretty as he is to you, he doesn't seem to be as impressed by you. "So this is Y/N. She's gonna stay this night" . His best friend dosen't question it and just bows at you before going to his room. What was that ? "Sorry, he's a bit cold with people he doesn't know, I promise he's kind". You understand more, he might be shy or introvert. Still, you wish you could have talked to him "I understand don't worry" you say. "He's name is Sunghoon by the way". Sunghoon. Sunghoon. The name resonates in your head. Sunghoon, what a pretty name. And he's pretty too.

After some time, you and Jake are in his room. You both played some video games and are now laying in his bed. You promised him you could sleep on the couch but he insisted so you stayed with him, after all one night can't be that bad right, plus with a man like Jake...who wouldn't want to sleep with him.

You won't say you are in love but still enough to get shy when he's getting to close or jealous when he's friendly with other girls classmates. You both talk about nothing and everything until one sentence catches your mind.

"Do you...by any chances have any crush?" How was I supposed to answer this. Should I lie? I should probably lie. "I don't, what about you". You can see Jake's gaze being everywhere but towards you. He keeps quiet a bit before talking again. "I do...since a year maybe". Well that hurts, you can't really explain the feeling but imaginating somebody you like liking someone else, what could you have done to make him love you ?

"Who is it?" You ask. Jake dosen't answer, he simply looks at you and smile before looking at his phone. "It's getting late, should we eat before sleeping?" Oh boy, you won't change the subject like this. Before he can get up, you take his hand in yours and pull him towards you slightly "Tell me, I want to know" you both look at each other for a moment and without any other word said, he kisses you.

The kiss is starting gently, before getting more and more sensual. Hands going up and down on your bodies as you start to feel pretty hot by the scene you're living at the moment. "Jake, can I borrow your charge-"

Sunghoon's stops as he sees his best friend and you. Exact same as you do, Jake stops the kiss as he looks at his best friend. You can't hear them but you see Jake mouthing words to Sunghoon. "What are you doing? Get out!" , "But I need your charger" , "Bro..." , "Sorry, sorry. You can enjoy".

Sunghoon says teasing his friend as he leaves the room (without his charger). After this weird and kind of cute (?) interaction between the two boys, Jake looks at you. "Sorry, that's so embarrassing" he says but you promise him everything is fine, it wasn't his fault after all. Still, Sunghoon appearance surprised you, you loved Jake indeed but seing Sunghoon...you don't know what to think anymore.

You and Jake passed the whole night cuddling and kissing each other, you both started chatting about when you guys fell in love and stuff, not knowing that Sunghoon was behind the door the whole time. Firstly waiting for his charger, but mostly because even without showing it, he did felt something for you too when you entered the house. But he guesses your heart is all to Jake now, isn't it ? Or maybe would he try to make you his ?

SORRY THIS IS SUCH A LONG MESSAGE OMG

I'm sorry if it's bad too, I'm absolutely not a writer. I just had this story in my mind and didn't know what to do with it. Anyways love you and love your work too ❤️

- 🧋

OMG I LOVED THIS

To be honest, I liked the second scenario better because I confess that I'm a big fan of clichés. I felt more involved in the second idea because Jake has liked the reader for a while, so I think it would be more satisfying for the two of them to end up together.

However, the story idea with Sunghoon is not bad either. It would be good wrote this idea in a separate story, like one with Sunghoon x reader.

Jake's attraction to the reader is greater than Sunghoon's. And about what Sunghoon feels, I think it's more of an attraction, while Jake is already in love, you know? (that's what I understood 😁😁). Therefore, Sunghoon would get over it faster than Jake, who would suffer a lot from a broken heart.

Also, in the first idea, since Sunghoon knows about Jake's crush, he would come across as a backstabber, girl stealer, douchebag, whatever you want to call it, which is a little funny. But still, Sunghoon would be a very bad friend 😭😭

And then there's... the third option, which would be a threesome 🤒🤒. The character is a little confused about what she feels towards the two, and they are both attracted to her, so nothing better than combining the useful with the pleasant and making it Jake x reader x Sunghoon 🫦🫦

Jake had been in love with you for a long time but never had the courage to tell you. You two weren't best friends but were definitely more than strangers. You started talking when he got to sit next to you in class, and since then, there was an unspoken bond. One day, Jake invited you to his house, and you accepted. Meeting his best friend, Sunghoon, was a whole new experience. The moment you saw him, you felt a strong attraction. You could see in Sunghoon's eyes that he felt something too. Jake introduced you both, and you noticed a discreet smirk on Sunghoon's lips as he greeted you. You all spent some time together, and later, you and Jake went to his room. After some time talking, playing games, and laughing, you got hungry and went to the kitchen. Jake stayed in his room, waiting for you. As you entered the kitchen, you saw Sunghoon standing there, drinking water. The sight of him doing something so basic was unexpectedly mesmerizing. Lost in your thoughts, you met Sunghoon's gaze. You quickly looked away and headed towards the fridge, hoping to avoid eye contact. As you rummaged through the fridge, you felt hands around your waist. You turned around only to be kissed suddenly by Sunghoon. The kiss was brief but enough to leave you wanting more. You responded by diving in and kissing him back, this time more passionately. His hands tightened around your waist, and one of them moved to your neck, while your hands were on his chest and hair. The moment felt like it could last forever, but then...

"What are you doing?" The voice startled both of you. You broke the kiss and looked towards the door to see Jake standing there, his eyes fixed on you. "So? I asked you a question," he said, his gaze never leaving you. "I..." You couldn't formulate a sentence. The scene was absurd. You looked at Sunghoon, who chuckled. Did he think this was funny? It was so embarrassing. Sunghoon looked at you and pecked your lips again. "He saw us already. Why not continue? I'm sure he'll like having his crush being all over another man," he said. Crush? Jake likes me? And what does he mean by continuing? There was too much to process, but Sunghoon didn't mind. He was going to prove to Jake that he was the one for you. Jake stepped into the kitchen, his expression unreadable. "Sunghoon, stop it," he said, his voice firm but controlled. "You know how I feel about her."

Sunghoon's smirk faded a bit, but he didn't back down. "I know, Jake. But maybe she feels something for both of us." You stood there, torn between the two of them. The intensity of the moment was overwhelming. Jake walked up to you and took your hand. "Hm... is it true? Do you have feelings for both of us?" he asked, his eyes searching yours for answers. You hesitated, but the truth was undeniable. "I... I don't know. I feel something for both of you," you admitted.

Jake sighed, looking at Sunghoon, then back at you. "What do we do now?" he asked softly. Sunghoon stepped closer, his confidence unwavering. "We could share her," he suggested. "If she's willing, we can make this work. We both care about her, and maybe she cares about us too." You felt a rush of emotions-excitement, confusion, fear. The idea was unconventional, but the thought of being with both of them was strangely appealing. "Are you both okay with that?" you asked, looking from Jake to Sunghoon. Jake took a deep breath and nodded. "If it's what you want, I'll try." Sunghoon grinned. "I'm in," he said, pulling you into another kiss. This time, Jake didn't stop him. Instead, he stepped closer, his hand resting on your shoulder as he leaned in to kiss your cheek. The night was full of exploration and discovery as the three of you navigated this new and unconventional relationship, the two friends' hands ran over your body, adoring you, as you felt the trails of their wet kisses and licks drying down your body. There were moments of jealousy, where Jake wanted to have more of you than Sunghoon, marking his hickeys over sunghoon's, making your moans and cheeky laughs from the younger one. That night and beyond, the three of you learned how to balance the relationship, making sure all parties were satisfied.

Sorry if it didn't meet your expectations :(

And I think you should really start writing! You have talent and I would read all your stories.

I also have more experience beta reading stories than writing them, and I really enjoyed giving my opinion on this idea of yours. 🫶🏻🫶🏻🤍🤍

[pastanest]

Danny x gn!reader

Dating Danny Atlas Would Include

- first of all, you’re either his assistant or his assistant is viewed as a piece of furniture bc he has no interest in them if they aren’t you, period

- he’s the PINNACLE of asshole-to-everyone-except-you, but he’s still cocky as hell and we love him for it next question

- has a soft spot for you that he’ll only acknowledge in front of others in the form of soft smiles in response to things you say that he’d usually quip at someone else for

- this man will not hesitate to wake you at 3am to show you a new trick

- like a kid on Christmas morning except neurodivergent

- is very affectionate in private, but in front of others he restricts himself to gestures of affection that solely show you’re his (hand on the small of your back, your thigh, holding yours, etc)

- possessive with a capital P

- prone to jealousy but not in a fragile way, more like “oh this guy really thinks he can take you from me? watch me make him disappear” bc as soon as Danny gets a deck of cards out, you’re basically on all fours sorry, too much?

- LOVES showing off to you more than anyone else

- bc you’re his but also bc you give him the best reactions of pure glee every time

- has to learn how to show interest in your favorite things that aren’t already his, like shows he wouldn’t usually watch

- it’s funny actually bc if any of the Horsemen are like “hey Danny do you wanna watch-“ he’ll just look at them like 🤨 but if YOU ask?? he’s got a list of questions and he’s already agreed. what actors do you know are in it. why do you want to watch it. what about it appeals to you. where can we stream it. what’s the runtime. how soon can we watch it.

- you are his exception to every occasion on which he’d usually prioritize himself over anything else

- LOVES surprising you

- oh something new is coming out and you can’t wait to buy it?? preordered.

- oh a new movie is- he’s already bought two tickets.

- and your birthday??? omg. extravagant is actually his middle name so if you think Danny wont pull out EVERY mf trick in the book for you, you’re sorely mistaken

- it’d be perfectly tailored to your tastes too - if you don’t like parties, there won’t be one bc he’ll find another elaborate means of celebrating you like a super fancy restaurant or being serenaded by a band on a riverboat or some bs, but if you do like parties you can expect the biggest one and it only gets bigger every year

- LOVES trying to teach you card tricks and finds it so endearing when you just can’t hack it and get frustrated with yourself, he’s so patient when it comes to you, all like “not quite, baby, try it like this”

- which reminds me, he talks you through it

- sorry

- obviously knows your body like the back of his hand I mean have you seen him?? man THRIVES on mastering things but he’ll only objectify you if you want him to iykyk

- to the surprise of many, he’s an old-school gentleman with incredible manners in actual romance

- opening doors for you, standing up whenever you enter a room, asks for consent half a million times until you eventually tell him he doesn’t need to ask every time he wants to kiss you and he’s like thank god bc if these fools heard me-

- worships the ground you walk on

- adores everything you say and do

- will just look at you and give this sighing smile or smirk sometimes and you’re like “???” and he just says some cheesy bs that only his arrogant ass could pull off like “I think you just might be the magic I’ve been searching for”