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starry-bi-sky · 1 month

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i need to get this out of my head before i continue clone^2 but danny being the first batkid. Like, standard procedure stuff: his parents and sister die, danny ends up with Vlad Masters. He drags him along to stereotypical galas and stuff; Danny is not having a good time.

He ends up going to one of the Wayne Galas being hosted ever since elusive Bruce Wayne has returned to Gotham. Vlad is crowing about having this opportunity as he's been wanting to sink his claws into the company for a long while now. Danny is too busy grieving to care what he wants.

And like most Galas, once Vlad is done showing him off to the other socialites and the like, he disappears. Off to a dark corner, or to one of the many balconies; doesn't matter. There he runs into said star of the show, Bruce who is still young, has been Batman for at least a year at this point, but still getting used to all these damn people and socializing. He's stepped off to hide for a few minutes before stepping back into the shark tank.

And he runs into a kid with circles under his eyes and a dull gleam in them. Familiar, like looking into a mirror.

Danny tries to excuse himself, he hasn't stopped crying since his parents died and it's been months. He rubs his eyes and stands up, and stumbles over a half-hearted apology to Mister Wayne. Some of Vlad's etiquette lessons kicking in.

Bruce is awkward, but he softens. "That's alright, lad," he says, pulling up some of that Brucie Wayne confidence, "I was just coming out here to get some fresh air."

There's a little pressing; Bruce asks who he's here with, Danny says, voice quiet and grief-stricken, that he's with his godfather Vlad Masters. Bruce asks him if he knows where he is, and Danny tells him he does. Bruce offers to leave, Danny tells him to do whatever he wants.

It ends with Bruce staying, standing off to the side with Danny in silence. Neither of them say a word, and Danny eventually leaves first in that same silence.

Bruce looks into Vlad Masters after everything is over, his interest piqued. He finds news about him taking in Danny Fenton: he looks into Danny Fenton. He finds news articles about his parents' deaths, their occupations, everything he can get his hands on.

At the next gala, he sees Danny again. And he looks the same as ever: quiet like a ghost, just as pale, and full of grief. Bruce sits in silence with him again for nearly ten minutes before he strikes a conversation.

"Do you like to do anything?"

Nothing. Just silence.

Bruce isn't quite sure what to do: comfort is not his forte, and Danny doesn't know him. He's smart enough to know that. So he starts talking about other things; anything he can think of that Brucie Wayne might say, that also wasn't inappropriate for a kid to hear.

Danny says nothing the entire time, and is again the first to leave.

Bruce watches from a distance as he intercts with Vlad Masters; how Vlad Masters interacts with him. He doesn't like what he sees: Vlad Masters keeps a hand on Danny's shoulder like one would hold onto the collar of a dog. He parades him around like a trophy he won.

And there are moments, when someone gets too close or when someone tries to shake Danny's hand, of deep possessiveness that flints over Vlad Masters' eyes. Like a dragon guarding a horde.

He plays the act of doting godfather well: but Bruce knows a liar when he sees one. Like recognizes like.

Danny is dull-eyed and blank faced the entire time; he looks miserable.

So Bruce tries to host more parties; if only so that he can talk to Danny alone. Vlad seems all too happy to attend, toting Danny along like a ribbon, and on the dot every hour, Danny slips away to somewhere to hide. Bruce appears twenty minutes later.

"I was looking into your godfather's company," he says one night, trying to think of more things to say. Some nights all they do is sit in silence. "Some of my shareholders were thinking of partnering up--"

"Don't."

He stops. Danny hardly says a word to him, he doesn't even look at him -- he's sitting on the ground, his head in his knees. Like he's trying to hide from the world. But he's looking, blue eyes piercing up at Bruce.

Bruce tilts his head, practiced puppy-like. "Pardon?"

"Don't." Danny says, strongly. "Don't make any deals with Vlad."

It's the most words Danny's spoken to him, and there's a look in his eyes like a candle finding its spark. Something hard. Bruce presses further, "And why is that?"

The spark flutters, and flushes out. Danny blinks like he's coming out of a trance, and slumps back into himself. "Just don't."

Bruce stares at him, thoughtful, before looking away. "Alright. I won't."

And they fall back into silence.

Danny, when he leaves, turns to look at Bruce, "I mean it." He says; soft like he's telling a secret, "Don't make any deals with him. Don't be alone with him. Don't work with him."

He's scampered away before Bruce can question him further.

(He never planned on working with Vlad Masters and his company; he's done his research. He's seen the misfortune. But nothing ever leads back to him. There's no evidence of anything. But Danny knows something.)

At their next meeting, Danny starts the conversation. It's new, and it's welcomed. He says, cutting through their five minute quiet, that he likes stars. And he doesn't like that he can't see them in Gotham.

Bruce hums in interest, and Danny continues talking. It's as if floodgates had been opened, and as Bruce takes a sip of his wine, it tastes like victory.

("Tucker told me once--") ("Tucker?") ("Oh-- uh, one of my best friends. He's a tech geek. We haven't talked in a while.")

(Danny shut down in his grief -- his friends are worried, but can't reach him. When he goes back to the manor with Vlad, he fishes out his phone and sends them a message.)

(They are ecstatic to hear from him.)

It all culminates until one day, when Danny is leaving to go back inside, that Bruce speaks up. "You know," He says, leaning against the railing. "The manor has many rooms; plenty of space for a guest."

The implication there, hidden between the lines. And Danny is smart, he looks at Bruce with a sharp glean in his eyes, and he nods. "Good to know."

The next time they see each other, Danny has something in his hands. "Can you hold onto something for me?" He asks.

When Bruce agrees, Danny places a pearl into his palm. or, at least, it's something that looks like a pearl. Because it's cold to the touch; sinking into Bruce's white silk gloves with ease and shimmering like an opal. It moves a little as it settles into his hand, and the moves like its full of liquid.

Bruce has never seen anything like it before, but he does know this; it's not human. "What is it?" He asks, and Danny looks uncomfortable.

"I can't tell you that." He says, shifting on his foot like he's scared of someone seeing it. "But please be careful with it. Treat it like it's extremely fragile."

When Bruce gets home, he puts it in an empty ring box and hides the box in the cave. He tries researching into what it is. he can't find anything concrete.

Everything comes to a head one day when Danny appears at the manor's doorstep one evening, soaking wet in the rain, and bleeding from the side.

#dpxdc #dp x dc #danny fenton is not the ghost king #dpxdc crossover #dpdc #dp x dc crossover #dpxdc prompt #man i just really need more dpdc stuff where danny and bruce have a good relationship. like man i NEED it. like i need to see these two #bonding together. and not in a cracky 'oh danny is a distant friend/cousin/etc' stuff but like. active participants in each other's lives #or as active as can be in this case. i neeeeed these two getting along and caring about one another #this idea came to me like last night and hasn't left since nd it was driving me up the wall to think about both positively and negatively b #i neeeded someone to hear about this or i was gonna implode #danny is the first son #tried to just get the general gist of the idea down but i definitely thought of the idea that bruce lowkey suspects vlad for having a hand #Vlad allows Danny to sneak off because he thinks Danny is alone. if he knew Bruce was there he'd be piiisssed and would put a stop to it #Sam and Tucker are alive they just got ghosted for a bit by danny bc he was in Major Grief and didn't wanna socialize. He couldn't go to #them because he didn't wanna put them in danger via Vlad.#oh that thing he handed Bruce? Yeah that's his ghost core. I have a headcanon (that isnt always applied) that ghosts can take their cores #out of their bodies at will and painlessly and without issue. and its common practice actually to do so bc they can be a not insignificant #distance away from said core before problems start to act up. and its common for ghosts to leave their physical cores at their lairs for #safekeeping because as long as the physical core is fine: so is the ghost. they can reform if their body gets destroyed. it also acts as a #fast travel sometimes. where they can reform at their core in an instant. its not inspired in the slightest by SU but i do see the overlap #most cores are pretty small for safety sake: its harder to hit if its small. and they're pr resilient too but its better to be safe than #sorry. so yeah. danny essentially gave bruce the physical embodiment of his soul and indirectly said #'if anything happens to me at least i'll be safe with you'#danny doesn't know he's batman btw #starry rambles.#was gonna go into danny becoming a vigilante beside bruce but im sleeeepy so i'll do that in a reblog. he's gonna go by nightingale if #anyone is interested. stereotypical but to be frank it is a *good* name imo. has a good amount of syllables and consonants to it #and the bird theme. and since its part of an ancestral name it has even more backing for it being bird-y without being meta

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sysig · 4 months

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Recently had a silly Handplates dream where Papyrus was trying to snoop around Gaster and Alphys’ lab, but didn’t know who Alphys was and so was trying to pass it off as his own lab lol (Patreon)

#Doodles #Dream log #UT #Handplates #Papyrus #Gaster #Sans #Alphys #And also he was Big Brother Papyrus to a babybones Sans lol #I doodled them as close to the dream as possible so if it's silly or doesn't make sense take it up with my subconscious lol #I remember Gaster had a reputation for being very charming and charismatic which ?? Sure okay lol #He was also quite smiley - personally I read that as him putting on a face to the public but even that seems out of character for him lol #Everyone else was pretty much as usual - Alphys small and nervous and Papyrus loud and bombastic #I don't remember what exactly he was looking for - doubly weird 'cause I hadn't reread him and Sans exploring yet! :0 #Just of them moving into their house - though I did read a bunch just before sleeping so safe to say I can attribute that lol #This was the only really clear part of the dream - the rest was just scrolling scrolling scrolling pages and pages of comic panels #Can't imagine why lol #Also intercut with some of the poses I ended up doodling before - surprise! They were dream doodles lol #Also in case it's not clear - Alphys was Very Much Present while Papyrus was trying to pass himself off as the name on the door lol #Oh yeah I'm pretty sure he was also speaking in WingDings thus why Alphys didn't immediately call him out lol #The room was quite cute actually - not at all the sterile grey of the True Lab #Warm and wooden with high windows nearly covered in clutter and paperwork with a desk in the middle lit by yellow light #Cozy #Barely evil-looking at all

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the-holy-ghosted · 7 months

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congrats 2 henry peglar for being the only bitch confirmed as to be Fucking That Old Man

#the heron giveth #the terror #alright here come the funny tags #bridglar #briglar #people spell it both ways i think. ill do both hujst to be safe #henry peglar #john bridgens #uh um um. uh #peglar x bridgens #THIS FEELS WEIRD. TO TYPE #bridgens x peglar #alright im done good GRIEF #this isnt even that extreme compared to the shit people are putting on ao3 about these two. god.#anyways hi ive watched this show maybe 7 or 8 times? only just recently have i gotten hooked on them #the scripts make me go nuts too. ''they were lovers in their pasts'' shut the fuck up dont say that to me ill start crying #this is the most risque thing i have ever posted on here #getting out of the fandom game for a while rewired my brain i have to get weird again. and boy do they make me feel weird !#i have a number of terror mutuals who r gonna go nuts over this. fuck yes a little bowl of seeds for me style #this looks blurry posting it hopefully tumblr doesnt crunch the shit out of the quality anyways im done typing goodbye

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thisismisogynoir · 1 month

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I love it when women hate men. I love it when women are allowed to vent to each other about how horrible and creepy men are. I love it when women form friendships with and prioritize each other over relationships with men(whether they're attracted to them or not). I love it when women put men dni in their bios and on their nude photos and on posts on their blogs. I love it when women refuse to mollycoddle and accommodate entitled male feelings with "but this doesn't mean I hate all men, I know a few men who are great, I love my father/sons/brothers/uncles/male cousins/guy friends" I love it when women complain about men WITHOUT "not all men" being a disclaimer. I love it when women avoid socializing with/refuse to be around/befriend/get close to men because they know men can't be trusted. I love it when women make "kill all men" jokes. I love it when women offer absolutely no concern or care for men's feelings and if their misandry offends men whatsoever because why should we, men are the oppressor class who have raped and killed and abused us and kept us as subjugated as second-class citizens for millennia, they regularly mistreat us and the women in their own marginalized communities still every single day and make this world so much harder and more awful for us to be in, and if we choose to hate them and not spare them any sympathy then so be it, and I don't just mean "men as a class" either, you can be a woman who doesn't want to have anything to do with any man on an individual basis and completely cuts off men from her personal life too and ykw I will love and fucking support you in that because men deserve absolutely NOTHING from us. If they're so tough and strong then they can handle it just like they can handle being lonely. If you are a woman who hates men, ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A LESBIAN AND/OR A TRANS WOMAN, then just know that I love you. I love you, I support you, and you are safe here.

#was going to make a post about how much i hate that women aren't allowed to hate their oppressors but i decided to spin it into something #positive instead #this is supposed to be the feminist site that makes reddit mgtow piss their baby diapers so let's go back to despising men and not coddling #their feelings and let's dye our hair blue while we're at it #i am so tired of this new wave of guilt-tripping and gaslighting women who hate men and don't trust or want to be around them #i hate how we're made into villainesses or the problematic ones for not valuing them in our lives or for wanting to guard ourselves or be #safe from our oppressors #and i'm tired of people who don't know the first thing about feminism being like 'BUT THAT'S TERF RHETORIC WHAT ABOUT X MINORITY MEN'#guess what women can also be x minority that you're trying to protect the men of and we get to hate men too #trans women are included when i say women btw and trans men are included when i say men #if anyone has the right to hate men more than anybody else it's trans women esp trans lesbians because they put up with so much shit #from men that even cis women do not and they especially know how vile men are behind closed doors #so #terfs fuck off #radfems fuck off #and if anybody tries to make this post more appeasing to men or 'not all men's this post you are getting blocked and hit with a hammer #feminism #misogyny #sexism #patriarchy #tw men #tw rape #tw abuse #misandry #terfs dni #radfems dni #feminists need to go back to being scary and unpalatable for men none of this 'but some of them are good!' bullshit #men are entitled to nothing from us #and if you try to prove me wrong then you are just proving my point if you have nothing good to say then simply keep scrolling #ok? ok.

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siren-of-agony · 4 months

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Answers to "please stop"

No.

I can't.

I won't.

I don't want to.

I don't know how.

I will soon.

But then how will you learn?

We're almost done.

It's almost over.

Ask me again!

Oh well, if you're asking that politely…

Fine. For now.

Only once I've come up with something more fun.

Only once you've come up with something more fun.

Or what?

I know you can go a little bit longer.

You know I won't.

I love it when you beg.

I hate it when you beg.

I'm so bored by your begging.

Not until you're too weak to ask me to.

But I don't have anything better to do.

I wish I could.

Alright! See? All you had to do was ask nicely.

I'm not doing anything.

What, exactly?

Just once more, I promise!

Just once more, I promise! (🤞)

You're doing this to yourself.

You wanted this.

You want this.

You know you made me do this.

Are you ready to give me what I want, then?

I will once you give in.

What will you give me in return?

Why should I?

You know there is only one way to end this.

You know there is only one way this will end.

(Answers to "it hurts")

#whump #whump dialogue prompt #whump dialogue #whump prompt #whumblr #i had 2 ppl request a part two to the it hurts one #and i couldnt come up w enough stuff i liked #so here #have this instead #I wrote this all down yesterday when i was trying to fall asleep and i kept coming up w new things so i just kept unlocking my phone and #writing stuff down #i thought i had way less than last time but it's actually much more #granted i rly leaned into the differences just slight wording changes make #also i feel like half of these would do so much better with some sort of term of endearment stapled onto theme #them #so when reading them just imagine some of them with a darling or a sweetheart or a honey tacked onto them bc that's how i imgined them #also if these writing prompts end up on kinblr again and someone accuses me of forgetting safe words just know i'm gonna break into your #house and put mustard in your shoes

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kimodraw · 1 year

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black sheep who can't get the rotting carcass off || well tamed german sheperd who's mask is falling off

#supernatural #sam winchester #dean winchester #sam and dean #spn #supernatural fanart #love insane fanart where you cant even tell who the guys r bc i put masks on them :))#WINCESTERS..........................ITS ON SIGHT #sacrificial lamb + black sheep of the family sam ITS OBVIOUS #and german sheperd dean bc : well trained dog by his dad. tasked with keeping sam safe + keeping him caged #idk how to integrate cas to this concept he's a cat but just in a fun furry way. like theres no symbolism its just that cats r autistics #this is just a sam and dean concept i think..#anyway. yea i gave sam stigmata. its 2023. grow up

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apopcornkernel · 17 days

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this is so funny you dont understand

#jason was giggling and kicking his feet when bludhaven blew up with dick still inside it he was literally taunting bruce about dick possibly #being dead & you expect me to think he's going to 'catch dick when he falls' PLSS LMFAO HE'S THE ONE WHO KICKED DICK OFF IN THE FIRST PLACE #'but but but' if you're going to cite rhato or some other shitty comic at me... maybe dont ♥️ i don't have a lot of respect for many red #hood jason writers. so many of them are just straight up wrong #dcposting #dc #is it safe to put my organizational tags now will it still show up bc i just want to organize this lmfao i dont want it to spread too far #well whatever fuck it i will gladly defend this i have canon on my side #batman #nightwing 2016 #dick grayson #jason todd

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piningprecussionist · 24 days

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Oh! Fucking. Duh. Obvious Roxie post I can make today: here's an emote I made for the sp:te server! (With variants of different degrees of completion...)

I was gonna go back and shade the comic colors Roxie but. Just ended up going w the colors picked off the screenshot. This screenshot, specifically!

#mind the quality i ripped it from Somewhere but i dont remember where #i still havent gone and continued my Unhinged Screenshot Taking yet. but oh buddy when I do....#spto #sp comic #spvtw #fanart #art #roxie richter #emotes #discord emotes #blue sparks one there was just testing where i wanted to put some before i decided Overkill was The Way #like w the other ones. please do reblog this if you decide to use them in a server somewhere! i would like to know if they end up other +#+places #ooc #spto fanart #scott pilgrim fanart #spvtw fanart #spto roxie #scott pilgrim roxie #spvtw roxie #roxanne richter #roxy richter #actually. best day for it really. if anyone has any roxie screenshots or panels they want emotes from I'd generally consider them to begin +#+with but For Sure today. (generally if anyone wants a given shot/panel as an emote im happy to at least Try. i just need specifics)#(so far kim ones are my only Successful emote attempts Without panel/shot basis. i do need to try a ramona that was requested again...)#uhhh just to be safe i guess #potential eyestrain #i did try a version w the sparks more like they are in the show but it Didn't Look Good #feel free to try your own hand at it if you want #this post is scheduled btw :3c im still trying to work on another roxie piece... panel redraw....

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finntheehumaneater · 4 months

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“It’s all YOUR fault!”

For the ask game 🙏

Hallo, love!!!

this isn’t necessarily Steddie, but I hope you enjoy!!!

angst prompt list | hurt/comfort prompt list | nice scenarios list (more about the asks in my pinned post)

CW: mention of drugs, guns, weed, alcoholism, animal abuse (but it’s more like neglect than abuse), and smoking, implied sexual activity

Max was nearly over the neighbor’s fence—the chair she had brought outside was tipping out from underneath her, but maybe she could just climb back over the fence afterwards—when the chair finally gave out and she fell backwards onto the cold grass, feeling the wind knocked out of her. “Shit—“

She gasped, turning over onto her stomach and pushing herself up, trying to breathe, but her lungs wouldn’t take in air. There was the sound of a car door opening and closing, silence, and then muffled cursing, followed by the sound of crunching on gravel. She ignored it, bending over and coughing out another gasp, her hair falling into her eyes. “Fucking shit—“

“Jesus, kid,” a voice muttered, and she saw someone kneel next to her, an orange flannel and a corduroy jacket flashing out of the corner of her eyes, and she felt a hand press against her back, rubbing against the fabric of her shirt. “You tryin’ to get yourself killed?”

Max finally sucked in a breath and coughed, folding over again. The hand stayed on her back, pressed against it gently, until she whipped around and glared at the person. It was Wayne. She didn’t really know Wayne, but his nephew had brought over food, once, and ate with her in her front yard. He made her hair smell like cigarettes from how much he had been smoking, but he seemed nice enough.

“I’m fine,” she snapped, waving Wayne’s hands off when he went to help her up. She could stand on her own, she wasn’t a fucking kid. Wayne looked at her, then to the chair, and then to the small white dog on the other side of the fence.

He raised an eyebrow, looking her over as she dusted the dirt off of her hands “You tryna steal the neighbor’s dog?”

“No—“ she said quickly. “I mean—whatever, why do you care?”

“Because I know the person who lives here, and I don’t think he’ll take kindly to havin’ his dog stolen,” Wayne said quietly, crossing his arms and leaning back slightly. He looked tired.

“What, is he going to fucking shoot me or something?” She bit back, but her eyes widened slightly when Wayne nodded. She sighed and looked back over at the dog. She didn’t know his name, so she had just been calling him Jamie. “He doesn’t…he doesn’t feed him, I know it. I have to do it. And I don’t think he gives him much water, either. He’s out here all the time.”

“Hm. Well, how about we go talk to him before we try and take his dog away, hm?”

“He deserves to have his dog—“ Max cut herself off when Wayne narrowed his eyes slightly. She looked down and glared at the grass beneath her sneakers. It was cold out here.

“You go put the chair back, and I’ll get my nephew. He knows Briar better than I do. Might be able to talk some sense into him.” Wayne muttered, sighing. Max watched as he walked off, before dragging the chair back towards the back door of her trailer. She managed to get it back through the door without making too much noise, putting it back at the table.

She went back into the living room quickly, just to make sure her mom was still there—and she was, passed out on the couch with a couple empty beer bottles scattered on the floor, her red hair plastered to her forehead with sweat. Max left her there, half-falling off of the couch. She still had her high-heels on.

Max grabbed her jacket and then ran back outside, across the street to the Munson’s trailer. The air around the place smelled like weed. She knocked on the door and waited. No one answered. Fuck it, she thought, pushing the door open and stepping inside.

Wayne was sitting on the couch, his feet up on the coffee table, drinking from a mug that looked like Garfield’s head. She always knew the old man was weird, but now she just thought he was fucking crazy. “Where’s Eddie?”

“Getting dressed. He’s in his room if you want to go knock. See if he’s done.”

Max huffed and looked around. Wayne’s trailer had the same set up as hers—and it looked the same as hers, too, mostly. Cluttered. Messy. But with a lot more mugs and mechanic magazines. She walked down the hallway to where her room was and knocked. There was faint music coming from inside, and it smelled like cigarette smoke. It was the kind of music Billy had listened to. Fuck, no, she wasn’t going to think about that asshole anymore. It wouldn’t bring him back—not like she wanted him back. He had nearly killed her ex-boyfriend…well…she wasn’t actually sure what they were to each other, right now.

Sometimes she would go and see Lucas when she went over to Dustin’s, and they would laugh and everything would be fine—and then other times she didn’t want anything to do with him, resenting the idea of even being in the same school building as him. She missed Lucas.

“Yeah, yeah, hold on,” She heard Eddie mutter, and there was another voice in there, too, but she couldn’t hear it over the music.

“I know, sweetheart, hold on,” Eddie said, and Max narrowed his eyes. “Gotta do something for Wayne, then I’ll be back.”

Was he with a girl or something? Gross. The door opened and there Eddie was, looking annoyed and a bit disheveled, his Iron Maiden t-shirt half tucked into his black jeans, his hair messed up and kind of sweaty looking. “Can I help you?”

“Wayne said you’d talk to Briar for me,” Max said, glaring at him, feeling a bit awkward with the way he was looking at her. Eddie sighed, looking back when a voice asked, “Eds? Who’s that?”

Max’s eyes widened slightly and she pushed past Eddie, who made a noise of protest, trying to grab her arm and tug her back. She hit his hand away, and her eyes widened slightly when she saw Steve, shirtless in Eddie’s bed, his hair pushed back, blinking sleep out of his eyes. “What the fuck?”

She looked back at Eddie, whose face was flushed bright red as he looked away. Steve noticed Max and made a quiet ‘oh’ sound, before giving her an apologetic smile. “Hey.”

“You know what—Steve, you and I can talk about this later. Eddie, let’s go.”

She grabbed Eddie’s wrist and pulled him outside, her heart nearly beating out of her chest. Not because of the fact that Eddie was sleeping with a guy who was practically her babysitter, but because she was afraid of what Briar was going to say.

“Why are we talking to Mr. Jones, anyways?” Eddie muttered, rubbing his eyes and sighing as Max led him to the front door of Briar’s trailer.

“His dog.”

“What about?”

She knocked on the door and then turned back to Eddie. “He doesn’t take care of him. He leaves him outside everyday, and I’ve been feeding him so that he doesn’t starve.”

Eddie’s eyes widened slightly as he looked concerned. “Shit, Mayfield, I don’t think we should—“

The door opened, and there was Briar. He was tall, with whisky brown hair and a scowl across his face. “The fuck you kids want?”

Eddie cleared his throat and pushed Max behind him a bit. Max kicked at his leg, and Eddie winced, glaring at her, but he moved his hand. He turned back to face Briar and sighed, giving him a small, strained smile. “Hey, Mr. Jones. How’s it going?”

“Munson? I didn’t ask to buy anything—“

“I know, I know, I’m not here with weed. We, um…it’s about your dog?”

“Benny?”

Eddie nodded, and Max stepped back out from behind him, ignoring him as he tried to pull her back. “How often do you feed him?”

“What?”

“How often do you feed Jami—Benny?”

Briar turned around, glancing in the direction of the backyard. “Dunno. Every few days, I guess.”

“Well, he needs more food than that,” Max snapped, because I’ve been feeding him every night for the past few months.”

“Mayfield,” Eddie hissed, trying to tug her back, but she ignored him, taking a step closer to Briar.

“You know, I don’t think you should even have your dog, at this point.”

Briar’s eyes narrowed, and he looked down at Max. She stayed where she was. Eddie tugged her back, and she tried to get him to let go, but he just held onto her arm even tighter—tight enough to hurt. “I’m sorry we bothered you, sir. I hope you have a good rest of your evening.”

Briar nodded and closed the door, and Max whirled on Eddie, her eyes watering. “What the fuck?”

“Mayfield—“

“No, shut up! This—this is all your fault! He’s not going to listen if you don’t let me talk to him!” She screamed, and she knew she was being too loud, because someone in one of the trailers across from him opened their door to look out at what was going on, a cigarette pinched between their lips.

Eddie grabbed her shoulder and his expression softened, but his voice was still stern. “Look—I’ve been here a lot longer than you have. And I know Mr. Jones. He’s not going to listen to you, no matter how much you scream at him. I’ll talk to him for you. Tell him all about the dog. Okay?”

Max nodded, willing her tears not to fall. “Whatever.”

“You going back to your place, or do you need to stay at mine?”

Max’s cheeks flushed. She had only stayed over once, when Eddie was out somewhere and it was just Wayne, but she had been too tired to remember it. She felt angry that Wayne had told Eddie about that, but she didn’t say anything about that. “Not after what you and Steve did in there. You’re going to need to burn your bed.”

“Oh, fuck off.” Eddie muttered, rolling his eyes, and Steve stepped back, pushing his hands off of her.

“You’re such a child.”

“Says the literal child.”

“I am not—“ She cut herself off and sucked in a deep breath, sighing. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Eddie. Tell Wayne…and Steve…I said goodnight.”

Eddie looked a bit surprised, like he expected Max to snap at him again the second he let his guard down. He nodded, turning and going back to her trailer.

Max went back to hers. She hauled her mom back up onto the couch, turning the light off in the living room and picking up the boor bottles to put in the recycling. She took her pills, praying that she wouldn’t wake up with another headache—or have another nightmare—and didn’t bother changing for bed.

The next morning, coming home from school, she saw Briar walking Benny down the street.

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yardsards · 2 years

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queen of never retouching her gotdam hair dye

#eliot posts #toh #toh spoilers #the owl house #amity blight #also it appears to have gotten lighter in addition to the roots. not even witches are safe from the peril of semi permanent hair dye.#though tbh i've kinda grown to enjoy seeing my dye fade and the colours shift. adds some variety to my appearance.#and getting to re-dye is actually kinda fun #re-bleaching the roots is Terrible though #sometimes i just put new dye over brown roots and it doesn't match the rest of the hair but it's Close Enough to not be that noticeable #season 2 episode 2 in which amity decides to dye her own hair and stains camila's sink ourple #and the rest of the episode is her trying to clean it #im assuming her not touching up her dye is like she misses her siblings and doesn't wanna do that without them there. for Emotional Reasons #just like not wanting her hair to be all green so putting that off #but i can still poke fun #she is like a little sister to me. i love her but sometimes i gotta dunk on her.

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demigod-of-the-agni · 2 months

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Spider-Man India, but... where from India?

A SUPER long post featuring talks of: cultural identity, characterisation, the caste system, and what makes Spider-Man Spider-Man.

I’m prefacing this by saying that I am a second-generation immigrant. I was born in Australia, but my cultural background is from South India. My experiences with what it means to be “Indian” is going to be very different from the experiences of those who are born and brought up in India.

If you, reader, want to add anything, please reblog and add your thoughts. This is meant to be a post open for discussion — the more interaction we get, the better we become aware of these nuances.

So I made this poll asking folks to pick a region of India where I would draw Pavitr Prabhakar in their cultural wear. This idea had been on my mind for a long while now, as I had been inspired by Annie Hazarika’s Northeastern Spidey artwork in the wake of ATSV’s release, but never got the time to actually do it until now. I wanted to get a little interactive and made the poll so I could have people choose which of the different regions — North, Northeast, Central, East, West, South — to do first.

The outcome was not what I expected. As you can see, out of 83 votes:

THE RESULTS

South India takes up almost half of all votes (44.6%), followed by Northeast and Central (both 14.5%) and then East (13.3%). In all my life growing up, support towards or even just the awareness of South India was pretty low. Despite this being a very contained poll, why would nearly half of all voters pick South India in favour of other popular choices like Central or North India?

Then I thought about the layout of the poll: Title, Options, Context.

Title: "Tell us who you want to see…"

Options: North, Northeast, Central, East, West, South

Context: I want to make art of the boy again

At first I thought: ah geez. this is my fault. I didn't make the poll clear enough. do they think I want them to figure out where Pavitr came from? That's not what I wanted, maybe I should have added the context before the options.

Then I thought: ah geez. is it my fault for people not reading the entire damn thing before clicking a button? That's pretty stupid.

But regardless, the thought did prompt a line of thinking I know many of us desi folk have been considering since Spider-Man India was first conceived — or, at least, since the announcement that he was going to appear in ATSV. Hell, even I thought of it:

Where did Spider-Man India come from?

FROM A CULTURALLY DIVERSE INDIA

As we know, India is so culturally diverse, and no doubt ATSV creators had to take that into account. Because the ORIGINAL Spider-Man India came from Mumbai — most likely because Mumbai and Manhattan both started with the same letter.

But going beyond that, it’s also because Mumbai is one of the most recognisable cities in India - it’s also known as Bombay. It’s where Bollywood films are shot. It’s where superstar Hindi actors and actresses show up. Mumbai is synonymous with India in that regard, because the easiest way Western countries can interact with Indian culture is through BOLLYWOOD, through HINDI FILMS, through MUMBAI. Suddenly, India is Mumbai, India is a Hindi-only country, India is just this isolated thing we see through an infinitely narrow lens.

We’ve gotten a little better in recent years, but boy I will tell you how uncomfortable I’ve gotten when people (yes, even desi people) come up to me and tell me, Oh, you’re Indian right? Can you speak Hindi? Why don’t you speak Hindi? You’re not Indian if you don’t speak Hindi, that’s India’s national language!

I have been — still am — so afraid of telling people that I don’t speak Hindi, that I’m Tamil, that I don’t care that Hindi is India’s “national” language (it’s an administrative language, Kavin, get your fucking facts right). It’s weird, it’s isolating, and it has made me feel like I wasn’t “Indian” enough to be accepted into the group of “Indian” people.

So I am thankful that ATSV went out of their way to integrate as much variety of Indian culture into the Mumbattan sequence. Maybe that way, the younger generation of desi folk won’t feel so isolated, and that younger Western people will be more open to learning about all these cultural differences within such a vast country.

BUT WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH SPIDER-MAN INDIA?

Everything, actually. There’s a thing called supremacy. You might have heard of it. We all engaged with it at some point, and if you are Indian, no matter where you live, it is inescapable.

It happens the moment you are born — who your family is, where you are born, the language you speak, the colour of your skin; these will be bound to you for life, and it is nigh impossible to break down the stereotypes associated with them.

Certain ethnic groups will be more favourable than others (Centrals, and thus their cultures, will always be favoured over than Souths, as an example) and the same can be said for social groups (Brahmins are more likely to secure influential roles in politics or other areas like priesthood, while the lowers castes, especially Dalits, aren’t even given the decency of respect). Don’t even get me started on colourism, where obviously those of fairer skin will win the lottery while those of darker skin aren’t given the time of day. It’s even worse when morality ties into it — “lighter skinned Indians, like Brahmins, embody good qualities like justice and wisdom”, “dark skinned Indians are cunning and poor, they are untrustworthy”. It’s fucking nuts.

This means, of course, you have a billion people trying to make themselves heard in a system that tries to crush everyone who is not privileged. It only makes sense that people want to elevate themselves and break free from a society that refuses to acknowledge them. These frustrations manifest outwardly, like in protests, but other times — most times — it goes unheard, quietly shaping your way of life, your way of thinking. It becomes a fundamental part of you, and it can go unacknowledged for generations.

So when you have a character like Pavitr Prabhakar enter the scene, people immediately latch onto him and start asking questions many Western audiences don’t even consider. Who is he? What food does he eat? What does he do on Fridays? What’s his family like, his community? All these questions pop up, because, amidst all this turmoil going on in the background, you want a mainstream popular character to be like you, who knows your way of life so intimately, that he may as well be a part of your community.

BUT THAT'S THE THING — HE'S FICTIONAL

I am guilty of this. In fact, I’ve flaunted in numerous posts how I think he’s the perfect Tamil boy, how he dances bharatanatyam, how he does all these Tamil things that no one will understand except myself. All these niche things that only I, and maybe a few others, will understand.

I’ve seen other people do it, too. I’ve seen people geek out over his dark brown skin, his kalari dhoti, how he fights so effortlessly in the kalaripayattu martial arts style. I’ve seen people write him as Malayali, as Hindi, as every kind of Indian person imaginable.

I’ve also seen him be written where he’s subjected to typical Indian and broader Asian stereotypes. You know the ones I’m so fond of calling out. The thing is, I’ve seen so much of Pavitr being presented in so many different ways, and I worry how the rest of the desi folk will take it.

You finally have a character who could be you, but now he’s someone else’s plaything. Your entire life is shaped by what you can and can’t do simply because you were born to an Indian family, and here’s the one person who could represent you now at the mercy of someone else’s whims. He’s off living a life that is so distant from yours, you can hardly recognise him.

It shouldn’t hurt as much as it does, yeah? But, again, you’re looking at it from that infinitely narrow lens Westerners use to look at India from Bollywood.

AND PAVITR PRABHAKAR DOESN'T LIVE IN INDIA

He lives in Mumbattan. He lives in a made-up, fictional world that doesn’t follow the way of life of our world. He lives in a city where Mumbai and Manhattan got fucking squashed together. There are so many memes about colonialism right there. Mumbattan isn’t real! Spider-Man India isn’t real!! He’s just a dude!! The logic of our world doesn’t apply to him!!!

“But his surname originates from ______” okay but does that matter?

“But he’s wearing a kalari dhoti so surely he’s ______” okay but does that matter?

“But his skin colour is darker so he must be ______” okay but does that matter?

“But he lives in Mumbai so he must be ______” okay but does that matter?

I sound insensitive and brash and annoying and it looks like I’m yapping just for the sake of riling you up, so direct that little burst of anger you got there at me, and keep reading.

Listen. I’m going to ask you a question that I’ve asked myself a million times over. I want you to answer honestly. I want you to ask this question to yourself and answer honestly:

Are you trying to convince me on who Pavitr Prabhakar should be?

... but why shouldn't i?

I’ll tell you this again — I did the same thing. You’re not at fault for this, but I want you to just...have a little think over. Just a little moment of self-reflection, to think about why you are so intent on boxing this guy.

It took me a while to reorganise my thinking and how to best approach a character like Pavitr, so I will give you all the time you need as well as a little springboard to focus your thoughts on.

SPIDER-MAN (INDIA) IS JUST A MASK

“What I like about the costume is that anybody reading Spider-Man in any part of the world can imagine that they themselves are under the costume. And that’s a good thing.”

Stan Lee said that. Remember how he was so intent on making sure that everybody got the idea that Spider-Man as an entity is fundamentally broken without Peter Parker there to put on the suit and save the day? That ultimately it was the person beneath the mask, no matter who they were, that mattered most?

Spider-Man India is no less different. You can argue with me that Peter Parker!Spidey is supposed to represent working class struggles in the face of leering corporate entities who endanger the regular folk like us, and so Pavitr Prabhakar should also function the same way. Pavitr should also be a working class guy of this specific social standing fighting people of this other social standing.

But that takes away the authenticity of Spider-Man India. Looking at him through the Peter Parker lens forces you to look at him through the Western lens, and it significantly lessens what you can do with the character — suddenly, it’s a fight to be heard, to be seen, to be recognised. It’s yelling over each other that Pavitr Prabhakar is this ethnicity, is that caste, this or that, this or that, this or that.

There’s a reason why he’s called Spider-Man India, infuriatingly vague as it is. And that’s the point — the vagueness of his identity fulfils Lee’s purpose for a character that could theoretically be embodied by anyone. If he had been called “Spider-Man Mumbai”, you cut out a majority of the population (and in capitalist terms, you cut out a good chunk of the market).

And in the case of Spider-Man India? Whew — you’ve got about a billion people imagining a billion different versions of him.

Whoever you are, whatever you see in Pavitr, that is what is personal to you, and there is nothing wrong with that, and I will not fault you for it. I will not fault you for saying Pavitr is from Central due to the origins of his last name. I also will not fault you for saying Pavitr is from South due to him practising kalaripayattu. I also will not fault you for saying he is not Hindu. I also will not fault you for saying he is a particular ethnicity without any proof.

What I will fault you for is trying to convince me and the others around you that Pavitr Prabhakar should be this particular ethnicity/have this cultural background because of some specific reason. I literally don’t care and it is fundamentally going against his character, going against the “anyone can wear the mask” sentiment of Spider-Man. By doing this, you are strengthening the walls that first divided us. You’re feeding the stratification and segmentation of our cultures — something that is actually not present in the fictional world of Mumbattan.

Like I said before: Mumbattan isn’t real, so the divides between ethnicities and cultural backgrounds are practically nonexistent. The best thing is that it is visually there for all to see. My favourite piece of evidence is this:

It’s a marquee for a cinema in the Mumbattan sequence, in the “Quick tour: this is where the traffic is” section. It has four titles; the first three are written in Hindi. The fourth title is written in Tamil. You go to Mumbai and you won’t see a single shred of Tamil there, much less any other South Indian language. Seeing this for the first time, you know what went through my head?

Wow, the numerous cultures of India are so intermingled here in Mumbattan! Everyone and everything is welcome!

I was happy, not just because of Tamil representation, but because of the fact that the plethora of Indian cultures are showcased coexisting in such a short sequence. This is India embracing all the little parts that make up its grander identity. This scene literally opened my eyes seeing such beauty in all the diverse cultures thriving together. In a place where language and cultural backgrounds blend so easily, each one complementing one another.

It is so easy to believe that, from this colourful palette of a setting, Pavitr Prabhakar truly is Spider-Man India, no matter where he comes from.

It’s easy to believe that Pavitr can come from any part of India, and I won’t call you out if the origin you have for him is different from the origin I have. You don’t need to stake out territory and stand your ground — you’re entitled to that opinion, and I respect it. In fact, I encourage it!!!

Because there’s only so much you can show in a ten minute segment of a film about a country that has such a vast history and even greater number of cultures. I want to see all of it — I want him to be a Malayali boy, a Hindi boy, a Bengali boy, a Telugu boy, an Urdu boy, whatever!! I want you to write him or draw him immersed in your culture, so that I can see the beauty of your background, the wonderful little things that make your culture unique and different from mine!

And, as many friends have said, it’s so common for Indian folks to be migrating around within our own country. A person with a Maharashtrian surname might end up living in Punjab, and no one really minds that. I’m actually from Karnataka, my family speaks Kannada, but somewhere down the line my ancestors moved to Tamil Nadu and settled down and lived very fulfilling lives. So I don’t actually have the “pure Tamil” upbringing, contrary to popular belief; I’ve gotten a mix of both Kannada and Tamil lifestyles, and it’s made my life that much richer.

So it’s common for people to “not” look like their surname, if that’s what you’re really afraid about. In fact, it just adds to that layer of nuance, that even despite these rigid identities between ethnicities we as Indian people still intermingle with one another, bringing slivers of our cultures to share with others. Pavitr could just as well have been born in one state and moved around the country, and he happens to live in Mumbattan now. It’s entirely possible and there’s nothing to disprove that.

We don’t need to clamber over one another declaring that only one ethnicity is the “right” ethnicity, because, again, you will be looking at Pavitr and the rest of India in that narrow Western lens — a country with such rich cultural variety reduced to a homogenous restrictive way of life.

THE POLL: REINTERPRETED

This whole thing started because I was wondering why my little poll was so skewed — I thought people assumed I was asking them where he came from, then paired his physical appearance with the most logical options available. I thought it was my fault, that I had somehow influenced this outcome without knowing.

Truth is, I will never really know. But I will be thankful for it, because it gave me the opportunity to finally broach this topic, something that many of us desi folk are hesitant to talk about. I hope you have learned something from this, whether you are desi or a casual Spider-Man fan or someone who just so happened to stumble upon this.

So just…be a little more open. Recognise that India, like many many countries and nations, is made up of a plethora of smaller cultures. And remember, if you’re trying to convince Pavitr that he’s a particular ethnicity, he’s going to wave his hand at you and say, “Ha, me? No, I’m one of the people that live here in the best Indian city! I’m Spider-Man India, dost!”

(Regardless, he still considers you a friend, because to him, the people matter more to him than you trying to box him into something he’s not.)

#long post + more tags that kinda spiral away BUT expand on the points above AND kinda puts everything together concisely #BROS THIS IS AN HONEST TO GOD ESSAY #THAT HAS BEEN COOKING IN MY HEART FOR A WHILE NOW. SIMMERING FOR MONTHS BEFORE FINALLY BOILING OVER IN THE LAST WEEK #genuinely hope you read MOST of it because yes it has Quite A Lot Of Exposition but it all matters nonetheless #put in a lot of thought into this so i expect you to do your part and challenge your thoughts as well #you see how i'm not asking for you to listen to me. but to actually Think. i want you to cook your thoughts and add some spice and flavour #and give it a good mix so you can come out of this a little more wiser than before #because!!! yeah!!!! spider man india is just that!! he's indian!!!!! we don't need to collectively agree on where he comes from #bc it gets rid of that relatability factor of spider man. at the most basic level #think of it as a schrodinger's. he is every single culture and none of them at the same time. therefore none of us are wrong!! sick!!!!#pavitr's first priority is making sure HIS PEOPLE are safe. that's probably as far as we can go that relates him back to peter parker spide #he loves his people and working in the name of justice to FIGHT for HIS PEOPLE is just the duty/responsibility he takes up #it makes sense that he loves everyone and every culture he engages with bc that's the nature of spider man i suppose #if peter parker spidey acts as the guardian for the regular folk.. then in my mind pavitr spidey stands as the bridge uniting the people #because society as its core is very fragmented. and having pavitr act as a connection to other folks.... mmmmm beautiful #that's what i'm talking abouttttt !!!#anyways guys this is literally 3001 words on my document EXCLUDING THE TITLE. THAT'S 7 PAGES AT 11pt FONT. i'm literally cryingggg wtf #pavitr prabhakar #spider man #spider man india #desi #desiblr #atsv #across the spiderverse #atsv pavitr #indian culture #india #desi tumblr #what the fuck do i tag this as #agnirambles

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