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#I need Jon to be tormented by this so bad
babybells123 · 26 days
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Can you imagine Jon and Sansa reuniting (which actually feels more like meeting for the first time) and absolutely chaotic angsty tenderness unfolding.
Jon’s perception on Sansa…..initially mistaking Sansa as Ygritte and having to pinch himself several times as to how he cannottt be comparing his lover to his sister for gods sake!! What would Ned think ???? But omg when the light from the fire catches in Sansa’s hair….and when she sings in that soft voice of hers and tends him with gentle hands, brushes the hair from his brow (perhaps her lips ghost over it), holds her legs to her chest and just smiles at him with that easy Tully smile, and when she kneels next to Ghost and buries her face in his fur and Jon can’t help but think what a lovely sight it is but Lady is dead and Jon feels immense grief for Sansa because he knows what it feels like to not be able to sense your wolf and Sansa is kind and soothes him when he wakes from nightmares in the middle of the night and sometimes her face will get real close (and she’ll be all flustered) because she’s worried for him and Jon just thinks oh she smells so sweet.. like flowers and lemons , a warm summers day, ahhh the bliss of youth , and sometimes his eyes will flicker to her lips and just linger on her face but then he’ll start blushing like some green boy yet how does he lament this all to his half sister when he can’t even process his own feelings and they all just appear through this conundrum of fleeting moments? So then he visits the godswood and prays prays prays for reprieve oh father forgive me I have sinful wanton lust-filled thoughts I’m going to kms what is duty what is love , duty is death to desire, I have no nefarious intentions I just want to love her and be loved by her am I truly this depraved, and did I mention I want to love her? Spare me from this treachery 😔😔😔(I want to love her so bad)
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soggedboytroutanti · 4 months
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About The Summoning…
I know *why* they couldnt, but when it comes to the summoning I wish so hard theyd made jon be pokey. Just imagine if each vessel they took was the person they tormented. Nibbly being Linda. Blinky being Bill. Wiggly being… hm. He could be Wilbur or Howard? (As to not repeat Linda, though he didnt really torment her). Tinky would be Ted of course (which, can you imagine Petes reaction when a god shows up as his brother?). Pokey as Paul obviously. God its not plausible but I need it so bad. To *me* this is canon. This is my hc. They all have the same outfits by the way. I cant stop thinking about this Ive been thinking about it since NPMD came out. Please see my vision
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see-arcane · 1 year
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I see there's multiple people named Jon that need protection from bad takes
My poor English Jonathans already have to put up with so much (the Horrors, my sadistic interest in their torments, agonies, et cetera). They shouldn't have to put up with nonsense beyond that, it just isn't fair :c
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pcr-alice · 5 months
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I vaguely remember seeing a prompt that was vivisection but not Danny (please point me to it if you know what I'm talking about). Anyway, something dark came over me and I decided to torment little Superboy Jon.
Check it out on AO3.
cw: vivisection, medical torture
1666 words below cut
Jon could feel that something was wrong. He couldn’t quite place what that something was. His head was fuzzy. He couldn’t focus. He didn’t know where he was, couldn’t remember what happened. Kidnapped? Okay, don’t panic. Damian had taught him what to do in these situations. Stay calm, pay attention, don’t make a scene until it’s beneficial.
First, relax. Clear your head. A sharp mind is crucial. Next, focus on your senses. Don’t open your eyes! Let the kidnappers think you’re still unconscious. Instead...the air smelt strong. Metallic and sharp. Sharp as in sterile. A hospital? That’s bad, vulnerable people are in hospitals. A hostage situation here could really hurt someone.
Now, what could he hear? Some humming and whirring, probably hospital equipment, and...is that sobbing? That means at least one civilian is also here. He’ll have to protect them. Last thing to check (yes Damian, it should have been the first thing to check), was he tied up in any way?
His whole body was slightly numb. Drugged? Maybe. Definitely gagged. And something was tickling his chest. He seemed to be lying on his back on a cold, hard surface. His wrists were bound, but not together? One to each side? Wait, his ankles too? What kind of kidnapping –
Then the pain hit him.
His eyes burst open and he tried to scream, but it died against whatever was tied around his mouth. He lurched up, yanking on his restraints, but his entire chest howled in agony, and he fell back down as his head clouded over and darkness invaded his vision. He panted short, heavy breaths, each one igniting a new inferno in his lungs, barely managing to stay conscious.
After some number of breaths he didn’t have the stability of mind to count, the harsh edge of his pain dulled, and he was left with an agonizing ache and dull haze in his head. Eventually he realized he could still hear the sobbing, but this time there were words between them. One word, specifically. Sorry.
Jon tilted his head as much as he could toward the voice and sluggishly tried to focus his eyes, squinting at the light. There was another boy, about his age. His eyes were wide with panic and tears, long black hair messily cut away from his face. For some reason he seemed to be wearing scrubs. Right, hospital. The pain. Injured somehow. But why was this kid here? Jon tried to speak, but all that came out was a muffled moan.
“Ah!” The boy flinched. “Okay, okay. I can take it off, but you have to promise to keep quiet. I’m not supposed to be here.”
Jon blinked at him dully and tried to nod as best he could. Thankfully the kid understood and reached around his head to unhook the gag. He pulled it away and dropped it to the floor with a clatter.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you were awake, I forgot about the morphine ‘cuz it doesn’t work on me,” the kid stammered out.
“Wha –” was all Jon could get out.
The kid scampered around him and began undoing his other restraints, sniffling the whole time. Jon blearily looked around the room. It was the strangest hospital he’d ever seen. There was equipment that looked like it belonged in a junkyard and glowing green liquids and Kryptonite can’t be liquid right?
The last of the restraints was undone, and Jon began to sit up, but the kid stopped him.
“Careful, go slowly, it’s going to hurt a lot I’m sorry, I’ll help you, okay?”
Jon squeezed his eyes shut and had to focus to decode the kid’s words through his constant sobbing.
“I...what?”
“You...you’re really hurt. I patched you up, but you’re gonna need time to heal. I’m...I’m really sorry.” He nearly lost himself to the sobs with the apology.
“Wha – why,” Jon was so confused, “what happened?”
“I’m sorry,” he choked out, “they didn’t get what they wanted from me, so they – they thought –”
The kid snapped his head to look somewhere else and his eyes went wide again.
“No no no it’s too soon I can’t –”
He looked back down at Jon, breathing hard, clearly panicking.
“Okay okay it’s okay…”
He took a deep breath and visibly steadied.
“I’ll be right back I promise.”
And he was gone. Jon groaned, half in complaint, half in panic. He heard a crash from where he thought the kid ran off to, then a few seconds later some clattering from his other side. He struggled to sit up again, but the pain stopped him. After a few hazy blinks, the boy was back.
“Okay I’m gonna help you up it’s gonna hurt I’m sorry but we gotta go.”
Jon closed his eyes. The black was encroaching on his vision again, and he couldn’t decipher whatever the kid just said. He gave a small nod anyway. Then he felt hands on him, rolling him to his side. He was pretty sure his chest was screaming at him again, but his mind was too foggy to recognize pain. And suddenly he was sitting, solid blue eyes staring at him, anchoring him to the moment.
“Ready?”
Oh, he missed something. Ready for what? He couldn’t figure it out. His eyes drooped and head tilted forward. Then there was a pinch on his thigh.
And he was wide awake.
He sucked in a quick, full breath, and his chest went tight. His eyes shot open and looked around everywhere in sudden awareness. This couldn’t be a hospital room. He didn’t recognize any medical equipment, and those definitely looked like guns of some sort. The floor was angled down toward a single large drain, and his “bed” was a metal table, smudged with red – blood – and who knows what else. He could barely make out the corner of a single steel door hidden behind a huge cabinet, tilted over and resting on a workbench, contents spilled out on the floor.
The kid was holding his shoulder with one hand, the other wrapped around a small green cylinder and pressed into his leg. His own hands were squeezing the boy’s arms with a force that should have shattered his bones. He gently released his grip. The kid’s scrubs were old and tattered, clearly several sizes too big, and stained dark in so many places that the original green barely peeked through. The top fell around him like a dress, and he was barefoot and probably bottomless. The oversized collar fell wide enough around his neck to reveal scars from his sternum to his shoulders, still raw and poorly stitched together.
“...boy! Superboy!”
What? The kid was talking. Yelling. At him? But why? Oh. Oh no. Red sleeves. Jon was in costume. He looked back into the boys eyes, the deep blue cooling his panic just enough to be coherent.
“Where am I?”
“You were captured. I’m sorry. We’re underground in an abandoned town. But I’m gonna get you out.”
The kid was much more coherent now, but Jon could tell he was barely holding it together.
“You’re badly injured and need medical attention. I gave you a shot of epinephrine to get you up. We have to hurry, it won’t last long.”
“Injured how?”
The kid dropped the injector he had been holding to Jon’s knee and pulled him away to the back of the room, opposite the door. Jon was too stunned to resist, too shocked to question how the injection pierced his skin.
“They tried to do...an operation on you. One you didn’t need.”
“What does that mean!?”
Jon made the mistake of looking down at his torso, where he saw his costume unzipped and a thick, red line of blood and flesh trailing down to his waistband. He stumbled and fought back a gag. Something told him that would be a bad idea right now.
“Hey, hey!” The kid grabbed his shoulders and forced him to make eye contact, “It’s okay. Don’t look. You’re gonna be okay.”
He zipped up Jon’s costume while reassuring him and pulled him over to a large cabinet like the one obstructing the door behind them. He then shifted his weight against the side of it and slid it over with a hideous screech. There was a sheet of metal, maybe three feet across, leaning against the painted cinder block wall. He tipped the sheet to the ground to reveal a messily-carved hole in the wall, then grabbed Jon and pulled him down.
A loud thunk sounded from the door behind them.
“Crawl through here. Stay on your side. You’ll come out in an old sewer tunnel. Keep to the right hand wall and follow it all the way to the end. There will be a manhole cover above you. I haven’t assembled the ladder yet, so you’ll have to fly. Here.”
He shoved another injector into Jon’s hand.
“Use this when you get there. Fly up and through the manhole. You can do it.”
“What – Why – How?”
“Once you’re on the surface, call for Superman. You’ve been here for a few hours, so they have to be looking for you by now. Got it?”
“I – What – You’re staying here!?”
Another thunk sounded from the door.
“You’ll be fine on your own. I believe in you. Go!”
He pushed Jon toward the hole.
“Wait! What – I don’t understand.”
Thunk.
He shoved Jon harder into the hole.
“Hurry!”
Jon felt himself instinctively crawl further into the hole in response to the kid’s increasing panic.
“Are you in danger!?”
Thunk.
“Now!!”
The kid gave one final push, and Jon slid fully into the hole, scratching his leg on the jagged concrete floor and barely catching himself on his elbow.
“Wait! Who are you? What’s wrong?”
The kid gave Jon one final look before tipping the metal hole cover back up.
“I’m Danny.”
The light disappeared with a slam. The screech of the cabinet sliding back into place followed.
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13phantom13angel13 · 8 months
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Wayne Woes Pt 2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: I am extremely late with putting this out. Too much shit has been going on in my personal life so I haven’t had the time. So, without further ado, here is the long awaited part 2! Enjoy!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Clark had noticed the past couple of times that he and Jonathan went to Wayne manor that Damian was a bit mopey. And maybe a little jumpy. He avoided being too close to Jon at all costs. He noticed the little flinch he gave if Jon moved too suddenly; noticed his heart rate increase with anticipation.
Jonathan, out of respect for his friend, tried to keep his distance to not spook the baby bat. Sure, it was fun to tickle the hell out of him, but he wasn’t so cruel as to continuously do it every time they visited.
So, they’re current visit had the boys hanging out in the cave again as their dads worked on another case. This time they just sat around playing on their phones several feet apart. Clark watched them intently with a slight frown. He knew Damian was a little upset still. He wanted to cheer him up and let him know it was ok to be ticklish. It didn’t make him weak.
His gaze fell on Bruce as he worked on the bat computer. A wicked smile started to form on his lips. He glanced back at the boys.
“Hey Damian. Come here for a second.”
Damian glanced up at Superman and stood from his spot, walking over to him. Clark grinned, leaning down slightly to whisper to him.
“Wanna know a fun secret about your dad?”
The mischievous glint in the Kryptonian’s eyes intrigued him. He tilted his head slightly in curiosity. Miraculously, Bruce hadn’t heard them; too focused on his current task.
“Watch and be amazed.” Clark stated as he zipped up behind Bruce with the speed only a superhuman can have, latching on to his sides before Bruce even had a chance to react.
The squeal that ripped out of Bruce’s throat was loud, high pitched, and hilarious. But Clark didn’t stop there. He started wiggling his fingers up and down from the tops of his hips up to his armpits. Bruce’s back arched away as frantic laughter escaped him with no hope of stopping it.
Bruce squirmed around in his chair in hysterics trying to grab ahold of Clark’s hands.
“DAHAHAMMIT CLAHAHAHARK!!! STAHAHAHAHAP!!!”
Clark laughed along with him, continuing the torment as Damian and Jon watched on. Both of them wore highly amused smirks with just a hint of surprise. Who knew Batman would be so ticklish?
“CLAHAHAHARK PLEAHAHAHAHASE!! I’M BEHEHEHEHEGGING YOU!!!” Bruce sank down slowly in his chair as his cheeks flushed pink, tears of mirth beginning to form in his eyes. That was new.
“Aw…come on, Bruce. Damian needs to see that even big bad Batman is ticklish too.”
“OHOHOHOK!!! YOU MAHAHAHADE YOHOHOHOUR POINT!!! I GIHIHIHIVE!!! CUHUHUHUT IT OHOHOHOHOUT!!!”
Clark chuckled, retracting his hands. Bruce slumped forward against the computer system gasping for breath.
“Alright alright. I’m done,” he stated turning back to Damian. “See? Even your dad is ticklish. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone is ticklish somewhere.”
Damian’s eyebrow raised with a slight smirk.
“Everyone? Including you?”
Clark paused, his eyes going wide. Jonathan laughed on the other side of the room.
“Yes he is! Don’t let him lie to you!”
“Jonathan!” Clark squeaked out in embarrassment. Damian chuckled softly.
“Thank you for the demonstration of father’s weakness. Jon already informed me of it. However, I’ll keep that information safe for a time when I need it.” He turned to face Jonathan and motioned for him to follow. “Come, Kent. Let’s go play a video game.”
As soon as both boys were out of the cave, Bruce growled out in a menacing voice.
“So, about my revenge…”
Clark swallowed hard. Oh he just screwed up.
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go-to-the-mirror · 1 year
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ATTENTION ATTENTION
IF YOU GET NOTHING ELSE OUT OF THIS POST AND SCROLL AWAY WITHOUT READING THE READ MORE OR APPRECIATING MY WINNING HUMOUR PLEASE JUST. PLEASE JUST LISTEN TO THE SECOND OUTLIERS TRAILER. ITS SO FUCKING LIKE- "HE GRIPS MY ARM WITH A STRENGTH I SHOULD NOT HAVE THOUGHT POSSIBLE AND BEGINS TO TELL ME ABOUT THE STARS" WHO LET JONNY BE THIS GOOD AT VOICE ACTING HHH
That out the way, welcome to 154, aka the episode in which jon and martin say fuck! And jonny does a great job with the voice acting here bc of course he does he's like a fantastic actor and writer or SOMETHING. gosh.
i swear the rest of this is gonna be really tma related, but i heard that trailer today and cant stop thinking about it.
without further ado, @a-mag-a-day, it's TIME for the episode that LEFT US ALL IN SHAMBLES!!
(this is all rambling, my words are not the grand words of episode 152)
Shout out to patreon "Jess?", their name gave me a sensible chuckle.
(sigh) Hm. (sharp inhale) I’ve, uh, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking after what happened with Daisy last week. About- what I can do. What I am. What feels right.
Immediately puts me in mind of
MARTIN I’m sorry. That sounds… (small sigh) That sounds horrible. ARCHIVIST I wish it was, Martin. I really wish it was. But it feels… right.
(MAG 160.11)
Hm.
There was one, this one, that my hand…. pulled back from. I dropped it, twice, when I went to pick it up. Even now, I’m… (slight quaver to his voice) struggling to hit play.
Ok, like, his voice puts me in mind of this line
I don’t like this. I don’t like not being sure what’s going to be in my mind, what thoughts are mine and what are from… elsewhere, why I just know some statements are what I should be reading.
(MAG 129)
And how like, yeah, if you think about it, that must be really like... there's something else in your head, pushing unwanted "awful knowledge" in it, altering your perceptions, your wants and needs, yourself in a fundamental and unchangeable way, like. UHM. THAT'S TERRIFYING.
God, why's Jonny such a good voice actor? The way he does Jon's... sort of about to laugh in a very bad way voice? That's just fantastic.
I am the avatar of awful knowledge and revealed secrets, so what does it not want me to know?
EATING YOUR PROSTHETIC MEET YOUR ANESTHETIC-
No, but there's this fantastic edit by instagram user archxvist that I listened to before I got to MAG 154, and it's that line, and I/Me/Myself and it's so coool you want to follow her and listen to it (it's pinned on her profile) don't youuuuu
(also it puts me in mind of this line)
ARCHIVIST Healthy? I am an Avatar of voyeuristic terror, who unquestioned craving for knowledge has condemned the entire world to an eternity of torment; healthy i-isn’t- i,it’s not
(MAG 161)
Which 1. HHHHH JON D: ANJSDFDHVD HHHHNHRHHNRNHNHR and 2. is a line that gets stuck in my head all the time and as you can see from point 1... it's not a great time. :( im so sad about him
"When he opened his eyes, he saw nothing, but he heard her breathing, slow and steady and focused, and he immediately knew that she was finally going to- (slight stumble) -kill him. When the garden shears plunged into his chest, he was surprised by how little actual pain there was- just the sudden feeling of moisture on his chest and the realization that his body was growing weak, fading away. He wished she would say she was sorry she was doing this, that she loved him, that she would miss him. But he knew better, and his final thought was a gentle sadness at how little he was surprised."
Lots of things! First of all, Getrude's little stumble is just like :(. She may have been less of a care about people person, and more of a care about the fate of the world person - and doesn't that ache, to know that all those deaths were for nothing - but she was still upset to know that he died. She was still upset when she read his page. And I'm upset about that in turn.
Secondly, why are their deaths so sad, Gerry and Eric's. Like, I just, was this necessary? Yes, yes it was, I'm glad it's like this, it doesn't make me any less sad at that... poor guy, poor Eric. Fuck you, Mary Keay.
GERTRUDE Yes. Well. I’m sorry. ERIC Wasn’t even hard for her, was it? Handing me over? No sign of regret. GERTRUDE (Still a bit shaky) No. ERIC No. GERTRUDE I’m sorry, Eric; I know this must be hard- I just read your death. I didn’t realize it had been quite so…
:(, poor guy.
ERIC God, I was a mess. I mean, part of me kind of suspected she’d killed before, but clearly she hadn’t done it enough to be a decent hand at chopping up and dumping bodies. She was having a real bad time of it. My legs were all over the shop. (Long inhale) Would probably have been funny, if it hadn’t been me.
I like him, he's funny, also jesus christ, mary why the fuck? Just to be evil? Fuck her.
ERIC I don’t know how to describe it. Never was great with words. Bad. It feels bad. All the time. I know that I’m not really Eric. I’m just a memory someone wrote down. It hurts, most of the time. I don’t like it.
"It feels bad."
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's sort of funny. Also interesting, I never really... paid attention to the statement/Gertrude part of this episode, and I mean it's interesting, I didn't know they weren't them. Makes sense, I suppose.
ERIC You too. (beat) You got old. GERTRUDE Better than being dead. ERIC (Short sigh of a laugh) Fair enough.
I love their little dynamic, they're friends your honour :3
ERIC S’pose that makes sense. And Gerry? Have you seen my son?
HIS DAD USED TO CALL HIM GERRY!! (starts sobbing)
ERIC Oh, just thinking. Five years as her husband, god knows how many as her possession, and she just couldn’t stand being bound in the same book as me. GERTRUDE Hm. I’m sorry. ERIC Yeah, it doesn’t feel great.
:(
^ that's going to be like half of my reactions
GERTRUDE James? He died about twelve years ago. Elias is Head of the Institute now. ERIC Elias? Elias Bouchard, seriously? GERTRUDE Hm, he’s changed a lot. ERIC Must have!
HAHAHA! THE WAY THEY TALK ABOUT HIM, IT'S SO FUNNY
also uh. huh. you know i still don't get how the people who got elias was jonah magnus before the 158 reveal did it, but this does make it obvious in hindsight.
ERIC Well, that’s it, isn’t it? I suppose that’s why she gave me to you. One final screw you to the Eye. GERTRUDE Eric. How did you quit? (Eric holds back.) GERTRUDE (warning) Eric. ERIC (short laugh) Sorry. I just- (laugh) I don’t mean to be a dick, but- well, it’s been a long time since I’ve had any sort of- leverage, I guess? Just a- little bit of power. It’s kind of nice.
Hm, both :( and I really like him. he's funny.
GERTRUDE I suppose he might be useful.
...
hhhhhhhh
ERIC I don’t want to disappear on her terms. Or yours. I want to speak my piece, have it recorded.
fuck yea dude!
but the mystery, the promise of secret knowledge, of seeing something that no one else was privy to. A secret world that gripped my imagination.
ok, eye guy. fairly eye.
So when I finished my Masters in library science and saw a vacancy at the Magnus Institute, of all places, I jumped at the chance. The chance to pursue my passion and my career at the same time seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up!
THE ONLY GUY THERE WITH A DEGREE IN LIBRARY SCIENCE IS THE ONE THAT QUIT, LOVE HIM FOR THAT, HE ACTUALLY KNEW WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DOING
(Amused, wistful hm) I knew she didn’t have an uncle. I knew the man was dead.
Good lord. That's... good lord.
She never promised anything, not even in her vows. She never betrayed me. Not like you. She never played dumb when I was stalked by bloated, blood sucking things, or told me I was imagining it when your friend Adelard dropped a screaming box into the Thames. She didn’t try to keep me in the dark just so I wouldn’t stop being useful; she never made me complicit in a thousand nightmares, and lives ruined for the sick joy of some otherworldly voyeur.
Really shitty boss. Really a shitty boss. God, poor guy, poor everyone who worked for her.
And I just... she really had the audacity to kill Emma, with all that blood on her hands?
...
And that’s when you turned nasty, isn’t it? When all your resources, they no longer want to serve your purpose. I suppose you didn’t know there was a way out, a way to escape. But if you had, would you have told me?
Hm
It was fitting, I suppose. Even after everything, she made me taste blood one last time.
headinhands :(
ERIC Then if you don’t mind? I think I’d like to go away now.
hmhnrhr that's just... the way that line is delivered
(The Archivist sighs heavily.) ARCHIVIST Fuck.
INDEED!
MARTIN Look, Peter, I- [The door is thrown open. The Archivist bursts in.] ARCHIVIST Martin! MARTIN (Overlapping) Oh- (quieter) Jon! God, don’t do that!
MAKING A SOUND LIKE A CAT COUGHING UP A HAIRBALL RN NHNHRNHNRR
MARTIN No, it’s fine! I j- you just surprised me, that’s- (surprised) Jesus, you alright? You- You look like hell.
His only description is looking like shit. I love him so much.
ARCHIVIST Oh! Uh, Ri, Right, I um, God, I get weak. Hungry, I guess, sort of. I, I’ve been trying to avoid, being, um- sticking to old statements? Thank you for your little intervention, by the way. MARTIN Look, I wouldn’t have to if you’d hadn’t been- ARCHIVIST (Overlapping) Yes no, I know, I know; I’m sorry; that didn’t come out right; honestly, thank you. It’s been hell, but- I, I did need to hear it.
He stutters so much when he's talking to Martin, dude, get a grip. But also, well, I'm glad, yay! Good for them and stuff. Maybe with the power of heartfelt gratitude and love and stuff they'll gouge their eyes out and elope together? PLEASE!
ARCHIVIST Yeah. But it’s- (heavy inhale) It’s pretty drastic. MARTIN What, you gotta gouge your eyes out, or something? (Beat.) MARTIN (CONT’D) Fuck off.
AHHAHHAAHAHAHHAHHAH THATS JUST SO FUNNY, JUST THE SILENCE LIKE "UH WELL" QAHJDFSHAJDFSHJFJJSF IM SURE IT'LL ALL TURN OUT FINE
right?
ARCHIVIST I, I, I don’t know; I suppose. I, If your vision comes back, the Beholding probably does as well- probably. But i-it’s not like it’s easy to only blind yourself temporarily anyway I-
First thing that popped into my head was that in a nuclear explosion you can go temporarily blind for a couple of hours from the light. Enjoy that factoid, I guess.
ARCHIVIST No, you’re the first. MARTIN Why? ARCHIVIST Uh, because… because, because I trust you. I, I’m trying to think about what to do, and I… (exhale) If I did try this, I- I don’t want to do it alone. But we could leave here, you and me. Escape.
ITS FINE THIS TIME ITS GOING TO TURN OUT FINE, FUCK ITS GONNA BE FINE ITS GONNA BE SO FINE
"because I trust you" "we could leave here, you and me" HHHH
MARTIN I mean, (mirthless laugh) Could you even survive at this stage? Is there anything else keeping you alive? ARCHIVIST Uh, I,I don’t know. I don’t- know. But… maybe it’s worth it? The risk- y,you and me, together, getting out of here- (Martin sniffs.) ARCHIVIST (CONT’D) -one way or another.
ONE WAY OR ANOTHER
one way or another
ARCHIVIST Cut the tether. Send them away. Maybe we both die. Probably. But maybe not. (Emotional) Maybe, maybe everything works out, and we end up somewhere else. MARTIN Together? ARCHIVIST (Emotional) One way or another. Together.
(MAG 200, but you already knew that, didn't you)
it's fine. i'm fine. it's fine
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[ID: Drawing of a person sitting at a computer, crying. /End ID]
ARCHIVIST But what if you don’t? (Small exhale) We could just leave. I mean, whatever their plan is for me, I am damn sure that doing that isn’t it. I’d derail everything- we could derail everything, and then just- leave!
THEY COULD HAVE! ALEXA PLAY ROLLING IN THE DEEP!
why... why... why...
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[ID: CC!GoodTimesWithScar with his head in his hands. /End ID]
MARTIN Who are you kidding, Jon? You’re not going to do any of that. ARCHIVIST I, I, I could. MARTIN (Still brimming with false laughter) But you won’t. That’s why you came to me, isn’t it? (The Archivist exhales.) MARTIN (CONT’D) You know I can’t do it, not now; you don’t want to blind yourself; you don’t want to die; what you want is a reason to not do those things, so- you come to me. Well, you’re welcome. B,Because I can’t follow you on this one.
im literally, literally, in real life, crying. podded cast. why? why?
ARCHIVIST The Lonely’s really got you, hasn’t it? MARTIN You know, I think it always did.
no words, just sadness.
ARCHIVIST (Quiet) Maybe. (beat) Well, I’ll be here, if you ever need me. MARTIN (Also quieter, softer) I hope so. ARCHIVIST (Faster) Just-don’t-wait-too-long, okay? [He moves towards the door, sighs.] ARCHIVIST (CONT’D) If you haven’t already.
"I hope so" wh yherrghweherfv wdaj "just dont wait too long okay" hnhrfthrjhfsdehhhh hhrhnnhhh hhh h but he just they just htey they thyfruscdafsfidvjjfhvdxnj "if you havent already" AAAA just KILL ME it would HURT LESS
Now, let's see what past me had to say, while current me is sad. very sad /ref
It's so funny how despite me thinking it had 200 episodes the magnus archives ended on episode 154 with Jon and [Martin] running away and getting married wow what a plot twist
(Instagram Story. 2 September, 2022)
Jon and Martin are so lovely together and they are together and they all left in episode 154 and they are all happy did you know that? Also no kayaking or.. freaky tables happened and everyone is ok did you know that wow it's so weird how episode 155 is just nothing for 24 minutes ahaha i love the magnus archives what a satisfying and happy ending
(Instagram Story. 2 September, 2022)
Everyone go home the magnus archives is over and martin said yes to what was essentially a weird marriage proposal and they all left. True & real
(Instagram Story. 2 September, 2022)
Obsessed with how this is the happiest ending for them /neg
(Instagram Story. 2 September, 2022)
I'm going to elaborate on this - I'm really upset that this is the happiest plausible ending. There's no escaping, no preventing Tim and Sasha's deaths, and all they had to go through. Their happiest ending is after so much has already happened. After Jon's gone through the wringer, 13 out of 14/15 (yes, 15) marks. After Martin's gone through the wringer, what with Jane Prentiss, and the lonely, and tim and jon dying, and everything. After Tim and Sasha are already dead. This is their happiest ending.
Not okay!!!
DIVERSITY WIN! LOVE WINS HHH
(Instagram Story. 2 September, 2022)
[(about the edit mentioned previously)] Love that this is from the episode where [Jon] proposed to martin (real not fake)
(Instagram Story. 2 September, 2022)
AND ALSO I FOUND THIS IN OLD MESSAGES TO MY LOVELY BOYFRIEND SLASH PLATONIC (follow !!!)
My brain is so rude fr fr I was having a lovely tiem Well no i wa thinking about season 4 jon I was having a wretched time and my brain said "we can make em worse" [...] So the au would go like this: - canon compliant until post-ep 154 - jon think "well if i gouge my eyes out, then martin will know im serious about this" - eye gouging commences - oh lawd he dying (episode 181 fades in ig?) - either becomes one of those archivist things as the eye tries to stop him [or] dies - times get even worse
Messages to @/asideofsalt (@scarandjoelenthusiast). 22 September, 2022.
Also there were some other things said:
Jon said "is anyone going to be self destuctive" and didn't wait for an answer
He had No Friends, he believed he was a monster, he repeatedly said that he can't die because "they need me". No other reason provided. He... thinks he's responsible for everything that went wrong in the world and has to fix everything and is the only one [who] can. He thinks he's the most important worst person in the world. Which is uh.
ok so jon and martin's love language is martin makes tea for jon and jon comes back from his recent kidnapping and worries about martin's well being
Uhm, well, hope you enjoyed that little ramble, god im so abnormal about this podcast. I wish they'd be okay, but actually I don't because I... I'm listening because I wanted to listen to a horror podcast, that is why i am here. so, rip to them. part of me wants them to be okay, part of me is eating popcorn as they... you know, have this whole tragic thing going on :(
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lycanlovingvampyre · 1 year
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MAG 168 Relisten
Activity on my first listen: cutting the Kolkwitzia amabilis in my garden.
Ah yes, another ambiguous... thing. Roots, routes.
I feel like Martin dancing around at the beginning here, asking Jon if he‘ll gonna be okay on his own is already because he‘s jealous and he wants to bring this situation in a certain direction. It sounds like they have already talked about crossing Oliver‘s domain cause Martin knew it’s his.
MARTIN: "So, are you gonna smite him, then?" Hehe, Martin showing his petty side xD The topic is serious, but it's still funny to hear that conversation xD
MARTIN: "I know what I said, and I don’t – (sigh) I don’t know, Martin. I just – I don’t think he’s – (sigh) I don’t know; I don’t think he’s evil." Yeah, that’s also what I thought. He seems neutral? I mean he even tried to save people at first. It was a bit more unfortunate for that boat crew that they were caught up in his little breakdown… Actually how does Oliver feed the End? Is it just those little gestures like looking all sad at Jane or asking the statement giver of MAG 42 what she‘s listening?
MARTIN: (really?) "Oh, yeah, sure; he’s probably a really kind, benevolent ruler of a hellish fear prison." Martin still couldn't wrap his head around the concept of watcher and watched. He is just as much a watcher as Oliver is. Jon is a watcher, that at least he knows, I think, and he doesn't see him as evil.
Ahhh, this scene is so perfect! It's well written and funny and the acting is on point!
That little laugh when Martin is finally out of earshot xD Like „I can’t believe we actually had that conversation r.ight now”
"I have no power to stop it, and even if I did, I would not do so. For to rob a soul of death is as torturous as its inevitable coming." There’s a reason the trope of not being able to die/a fate worse than death is called And I Must Scream.
Is this statement a comment on the rise of self-diagnosing because of the Internet? There have been Hypochondriacs have been around pre-internet, so I'm not so sure about this.
"She may see Maria lying in her hospital bed, monitors crowding her as the doctors struggle to get an IV into her wildly convulsing arm. She might have a flash of Bobby, fingers tightening around the rungs of the ladder as the rusted nails give way. She often sees Dennis’s face as the knife slips eagerly between his ribs, even though he doesn’t die for hours afterwards." Jon‘s mum (surgery complication), Jon‘s dad (fell of a ladder) and Jon himself. This says that Dennis didn’t die for hours, so there’s still a chance for Jon to be saved when they‘ll arrive somewhere else!
"a) When Danika Gelsthorpe reaches the end of her Corpse Route, she will die. This new world of fear reviles death as a release, but the Coming End cannot exist without its reality. It is not a being of dangled promises and shifting torments. The certainty of death waits for all who travel the Corpse Routes, and that certainty will be delivered on, without hesitation or consideration of any other factors." That does very much make sense, otherwise it would lose the one thing the End is about.
"b) This place is a limit on the fear that can be generated from them, as their pool is necessarily finite and ultimately, however slowly, it will be exhausted. To be offset, this consideration will require the acquisition of victims from other domains as replacements, potentially inciting… bad feeling between those domains." When they run out of people, they will get them from somewhere else. Wonder what that "bad feeling between those domains" was meant to be telling us. That watchers would start wars against the End?
"c) A metaphysical quirk of this new reality’s divorce from the traditional concept of time, and – one for which I have no further explanation, means that I do not believe new humans are being created or born." This does make sense in the way of their bodies stopping metabolism. They don't need to eat, they don't need to drink, they don't need to sleep. They are frozen in time. Probably also won't age. And without aging no new life can come into being. (I also headcanon hair stopping to grow, fingernails etc.) But what about domains that feed on the fear of pregnancy or childbirth, bringing up a child? Well, we learn in MAG 178 that the Fears can create artificial people, decoys, NPCs for the sole purpose of making the real ones more afraid. I guess it would be like that.
"d) When this happens, the Great Powers themselves will also fade and die, withering away into nothingness and releasing this reality from their grip." If they need to feed on fear to survive, they will starve. Absolutely makes sense. That's also very similar to the stop-feeling-fear strategy because of which we heard a bunch of people escape their situation. There's just nothing that keeps them going.
"I… do not know how I feel about this." I love Oliver Banks. He's my favourite Avatar side-character!
"Perhaps once it might have horrified me, or given me some sense of pursuing the ultimate release of the world that you have damned." Okay, not cool, Oliver. It was Jonah Magnus who did this.
JON: "The Avatar of Death shall live. (heavy inhale) Martin’s going to be thrilled." It's so poetic, I can't imagine why Martin dislike this.
@a-mag-a-day
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chaoticpinetree · 1 year
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Ajhgfgjh Martin's domain is... Kinda nice? I mean to him. Obviously not to the people trapped there, although you know, it's probably nicer than some other domains are to other people. Not that it matters because you know, I've been thinking.
Like the domain from the previous episode, where people are imprisoned wrongfully, I was thinking 'well compared to some others it's not so bad' and, well... I assume this means I wouldn't end up there. I would end up somewhere else. Because people don't end up in the domains that make them go 'huh I could survive that', they end up in domains that truly and constantly torment them. But that's, well, obvious, it's just something I wanted to get out of my head.
Anyway back to Martin's domain lmao the fact that he pretty much just had another version of himself there to talk to, sort out his thoughts and have some peace because even though he loves Jon, he need some quiet and he can't get that out there in the apocalypse, it's a bit funny but it does make a lot of sense honestly
And, ouf, the moment when he had to consider that no, no I don't think I could ever kill Jon, but any other price I will pay.... Bestie... Uh...
Anyway! Off I go, cleaning to be done and more episodes to listen to
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cherrywoodmaeg · 2 years
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Shortcut, Pt. 1
Note: I never set out to write this stuff down, but, y'know, sometimes daydreams stick around, and the people in them become actual characters. That's what's happened to me with Jon and Niphka. This is the obligatory disclaimer that I'm not a native speaker, so please excuse any weird phrasing. I'm really not a fiction writer, but these characters have become important to me so I feel like I owe them.
A traitor's prologue
“Jonathan P. Williams, I hereby convict you for mutiny against your captain and your king. Your punishment will be enacted shortly.”
Everything had started so smoothly. Jon’s first few days as a rigger on the HMS Triumph had been a dream come true. Not in every way, of course. His work required physical strain and, furthermore, an indifference to heights. While the tall, lanky man had received snarky comments along the line of “How’s the weather up there?”, he generally wasn’t one to seek out the thrill of the edge. And no one would have ever suspected that he would voluntarily set foot on a ship. Or crave the rough life of a sailor.
Following the captain’s damning words, Gregson and Doyle each gripped one of his arms and pulled him down to the prison quarter. Jon tried to go easy on his injured leg, but the two men dragged with along without regard. They pushed him into the dark room, making no attempt to hide their glee.
“Sorry, no last meal for mutineers,” Doyle snarled.
“You might have time for another beauty nap, though. Get your chances up for the angels to take you with’em!”
Gregson slammed the door shut. The laughter still echoed in Jon’s ears after there was nothing more to hear.
Sighing, he pulled himself onto the narrow plank bed. He fumbled a candle stump and matches from his ragged, wet coat, his fingers trembling. It took a few attempts, but the small cone of yellow light cut through the dark and illuminated his haggard face.
How had things turned so sour so soon? Despite the rough conditions, he had enjoyed every second on board. The smell of the open sea was unmatched and satisfied a longing he had chased after for his whole life. Not even Doyle and Gregson could take this from him. The two had picked him out from the very beginning; two brutish men inflating their egos by tormenting the inexperienced loner. He could have arranged with the comments about his neatly combed, mid-length hair and neat appearance. He wasn’t that great with people anyway.
But then he accidentally stumbled upon the true mission of the HMS Triumph. Not to patrol the Southwest Sea, but to travel upwards to the north on the continent and invade Millersby, A small, peaceful port city. And his hometown.
This would have upset anybody, but Jon didn’t have the time to draft a plan. Gregson and Doyle had caught him and made it very clear that he would not get out of this. No words were needed. The kicks and hits said enough. Jon’s final hopes of blowing up this conspiracy had vanished into air when he realized that the ship’s captain was the head of the invasion. And here he was.
“Six days,”. He examined his lower leg. The stench of sweat, saltwater and blood made his eyes tear up.
“Six goddamn days!” he yelled. “That’s how long I’ve made it as a sailor. Amazing. Wonderful. Perfect.”
His chest was tight, the pain of his sobs a distraction from what he could see in the flickering light. His ankle looked bad, really bad. Well, he wouldn’t have long to suffer from it.
Jon grit his teeth and forcefully swallowed his sobs. A way out. I need a way out.
Or maybe he should pray? A hysteric wheeze escaped his mouth. This was it, might as well try.
Please, just- If anyone is listening, please get me out.
But which God would listen to him? He had nothing to offer. His eyes locked onto the flame, the warmth emanating to his face. He took a shaky breath.
“Jonathan P. Williams,” he quietly recited. “Son of James and Catherine Williams, brother of two. Learned carpenter, recently rigger on His Majesty’s Ship Triumph. I promise to the Gods that I have been a good man, that I have done no harm to others, man or animal. I seek in my dying hour the grace of those who lay their eyes on me to judge my life’s deeds.”
Jon had never really believed in higher powers, but his parents would be appalled if they knew he had skipped on these final words. And at least the verses had slowed his breaths and steadied him.
Gregson and Doyle would lead a calm, collected man to his death.
Part 1 > Part 2
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And Eat it, Too: Chapter Fourteen: Lonely
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In which Jon gets closer to monsterdom, destroys the dark sun, and is nearly poached by Peter Lukas....
>>> NOW ON AO3!
Lonely-typical content. LOADS of psychological torment in this one.
The Lonely always felt like depression to me, and Jon lands in it head-first.
(Masterpost including playlist)
*
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Of course, if no one is here at this time of year, it’s unlikely he’ll find a working phone.
There is a sort of docking area. Maybe he can find a ship. Or flag one, or… something.
“So many other avatars get some sort of flight, or... fast travel ability, but do I get some?” he grouses to Book Michael. “No. I get to talk to people.” He pats the book in his shirt. “Still think I’m powerful?”
The book does not answer.
There are no lights in the research facility, unsurprisingly; Jon doubts they even left any of the bulbs intact—
Though he can hear generators, creating power. Even the People's Church of the Divine Host need heat.
But that means they’re here.
He pauses.
And hears the cock of a gun. “Nice and easy, there, pal. Raise your hands.”
American. Jon doesn’t know this voice, but knows this is Christopher Lorne’s younger brother, Ennis.
Jon raises his hands. The Beholding thrums through him, because Ennis has a story to tell.
Ennis also has a gun. Jon isn’t eager to be shot.
His captor speaks into a walkie-talkie. “You were right. He’s here.”
Manuela’s voice comes through, all static and bitterness. “Bring him. If he tries to talk to you, knock him out.”Jon preemptively winces. He’s not sure how long he can avoid asking questions.
Especially since he’s still feeling weirdly giddy, which definitely makes him unwise.
What the hell are you doing to me? He thinks at the Eye, and gets no answer.
And then they’re marching, faster than Jon likes, through landscape he can sense more than see, while Lorne is clearly utterly comfortable in the dark, and seems relieved when they step inside, away from the aurora, and into complete and artificial night.
#
But it’s not the Dark. Jon doesn’t give a fuck, after what he’s been through today.
He knows where they are, like heat vision, in the room—four utterly miserable humans, laced through with the Dark’s power, but ragged—not as ragged as he, but not that far off, either.
He wants to ask what happened so badly.
Needs to.
Isn’t going to be able to hold it back much longer.
Manuela is the one to approach him; he feels her, knows she is in a bad, bad place—a place beyond hope, which makes her completely without boundaries or reason. “So you’re the one who replaced Gertrude.”
“How did you—” He stops himself, and it hurts, like all his insides just jammed themselves in his throat.
“I was visited,” Manuela whispers with a sort of sour desperation. “We waited here, for so long, waiting for his word that never came… and finally, he speaks to us… just because of you.” Her bitterness is terrible, as if she blames Jon for her god’s apparent silence. “Mister Pitch wants you back, Jonathan Sims, and we’re going to give you to him.”
He should be afraid of that.
For some reason, he’s not.
“Maybe it’ll be enough,” someone whispers (Arnold McKirby, Jon’s brain supplies, English, a member of the Church for seven years, father to—)
“It won’t,” says Manuela. “It’ll be three hundred years until we can pull that much power again—but it’ll make me feel better.”
Lorne handcuffs Jon’s wrists behind his back—which seems very silly; his hands don’t do much—and, patting him down, finds the book.
“Don’t touch it,” says Manuela. “There’s weird power.”
“Then shouldn’t we… take it?” says another (John Ascot, English, formerly nightwatch at the museum of—)
“No,” says Manuela. “Could be a trap.”
They know better than to mess with potential Leitners, too.
She grabs his arm, presses her gun to his side, and begins walking him down the hall.
He wonders at his own calm. It wouldn’t be the first time he thought he’d run out of fear, but that isn’t it.
The stories here. The Eye wants what they know, through Jon’s eyes.
That need, that hunger, is eclipsing (see what he did there) everything else.
He tries, he struggles, he really doesn’t want to do this, but the question slips through, pops out, no more his choice than the beating of his heart. “Where are you taking me?”
Oh.
It came out… different.
He’s never compelled like this—smooth and natural, like exhaling, easy and gentle like a stream, power but so sweet and clear that for the very first time ever, no one in the room seems to realize what he’s done.
Manuela has gone still.
No one moves.
“I’m throwing you into the pits,” she says. “Into the brackish water, blessed with Its stillness.”
And now that it’s happening, he has to keep going, like he has to keep breathing (does he?). “What happened when your ritual failed?”
And suddenly, they’re all talking at once.
“We had hundreds of sacrifices prepared and ready, plunged into darkness and terror for days on end—”
“Maxwell was here, ready for our moment of triumph, to begin our seven-day feast—”
“Plunged its claws into his chest, freeing the darkness within him—”
Jon sways and gasps, inundated, trembling, drinking their memories like wine from their minds, and their words are clear and even and almost unfeeling, and their fear is new and old and laced with pain.
He drinks it, drinks it in, the tiny part of him that is horrified at himself unable to make a fuss.
And that’s how he learns how the ritual failed, about Hither Green’s congregation blowing up, about their arrogance in believing that Darkness is the only real thing, about their heartless sacrifices of innocents they’d gathered to fuel this rite.
He grows angry as he hears what McKirby did to his children, because the ritual was failing and they didn’t know why, because they’d tasted the incarnation of their god (and all admitted to the deep, draining fear that gripped them, even as they celebrated) and then panicked as Mister Pitch pulled away.
He is riveted to learn the dark sun is definitely still here, in another room. Waiting.
He needs to see it.
That’s mad. It is dangerous. It is something that should not exist. It could do such damage to him.
He has to see it.
And then they’re done, all four of them are done, and panting, and realizing what he did to them.
Jon feels dizzy with power, buzzing, strong. “Take me to your dark sun.” That tiny, horrified part of him demands, What are you DOING?
Manuela laughs, still gasping. “It’ll destroy you. Only Maxwell and I could ever even come near it.”
“What happened?” whispers McKirby. “How did he—”
“Fuck this guy,” says Lorne, and moves.
“No! He’s for the Dark!” snaps Manuela, and there is a tussle.
Jon can’t look. He feels the dark sun. He begins walking.
McKirby gets in his way.
It is a bad idea to get in Jon’s way.
“You fuck,” says McKirby. “How dare you bring that back to me, how dare you make me feel our worst failure—”
“That wasn’t your worst failure, though, was it?” says Jon in a voice he hardly knows, smooth and low and without a single imperfection. “Your children. You heard them scream, and you threw them in anyway. Maybe you should feel what they felt instead, staring at your face, believing to the last second that you would save them, and then you… did… not.”
And McKirby is screaming, McKirby is on the floor, and Jon sways on his feet, that little voice telling him he is doing something monstrous, that he needs to stop, that there’s no going back on this path.
“Stop it!” Ascot shouts. “We have to do this! Mister Pitch will feed!”
“I’m not going through that again!” shouts Lorne, and the gun goes off.
Jon is walking.
Vaguely, he’s aware he shattered what little stability they had left, aware he dragged them through the worst night of their lives and turned them on each other, but he doesn’t know how he did it, and it doesn’t matter.
He has to see the dark sun.
It is eager for him.
He arrives at the door he knows it’s behind, and pauses, because it’s sealed with a wheel lock like something on a submarine, and his hands are cuffed.
A childlike frustration rises in him; he needs to get in there. He needs to see.
So very verbal, he whines at the door.
Another gunshot goes off behind his back, then silence, and he feels Manuela approaching.
She is gasping. Laughing softly at nothing, dragging her foot. “Destroy everything, don’t you?” she breathes, shoving him aside and turning the lock. “Gertrude, now you. You’re worse than the Desolation.”
Jon isn’t in control of his tongue right now. “How does Mister Pitch talk to you?”
“Dreams. There’s no other way now, with Maxwell gone.”
The door is opening, creaky and terrible as if not opened for years. Something… pushes through, like radiation, warping the air, ringing in his ears.
“Have fun,” she says. “I hope it hurts.” And she limps away, and Jon knows she is thinking terrible things.
He needs to care about this. He needs to stop her. He—
Needs to see the dark sun.
His steps are unsteady as he walks inside, fighting himself, twitching with a war of desires, but then he sees it, and nothing else matters.
It’s like harmonics in the wind, mournful like old metal left to rust on a hill, and static is building, a frying in the air, and it is piercing and terrible and strong.
“It’s beautiful,” Jon whispers, nearly crying with it, overwhelmed, seeing a thing that cannot be seen and would not be seen if he were not who he was.
He feels it trying to unmake him, reaching for his eyes, his power.
Yet he sees.
“So beautiful,” he whispers, and the impossible sun of darkness and void begins to flake away.
Somewhere behind him, Manuela screams. He cannot turn.
Faster, it’s dying, this connection to darkness and fear turning to ash, and still, it tries to unmake him, and still, it fails, weakening power sliding along his skin and falling away.
Too soon, it is gone. Too soon, it is not there to see any more.
And suddenly, Jon is released.
He staggers, horror filling the emptiness in his gut, and feels she’s going to—
Jon turns and runs down the hall as fast as he can, trying to find that place inside him with power, trying to find that smooth and beautiful pull. “Stop! Stop!” It won’t be enough. Frantic, he tries something else. “Tell me about your parents!”
And Manuela, her gun pointed at one who was once her friend, stops—shaking with grief and resignation, she has to start talking.
She’s still talking as Jon slams into her, trying to knock her down, to stop her doing this, to do… something of any good at all.
His hands are bound, and he doesn’t land well.
Someone tries to stomp on his head, and he rolls.
There is another gunshot.
Jon curls around himself, crying out, suddenly aware how loud it is, how painful, unsure how the hell he didn’t even notice before—
Something punches into his side so hard that it winds him, and then whoever did that gets pulled away, and he tries to roll under a table for cover.
Half of him knows what’s happening (Lorne kicked him) and the other is in confusion, half-blind and dazed with overstimulation.
There is a horrible thump, a whistling exhale, and silence.
Only one person is still alive now—Manuela herself. She pants, holding the knife, and Jon knows she is not surprised that she had to murder her former catechists, her fellow failures of the Dark. It had to be. He isn’t sure why she put it off. She isn’t, either—but she is not surprised.
Manuela sinks to the floor, hands over her face, and sobs.
Jon tries to sit up. Without one’s hands, it’s quite difficult. “Are you… right, no, of course you’re not okay.” He hesitates. “After all the lives you ruined, you shouldn’t be, either. But I… I know it’s not that simple.”
The horror of what he’s done here today is still growing, and he has nowhere to put it, no boxes large enough. He tries to pretend it is not there. “Manuela?”
“Just go. I don’t care anymore. I don’t think it’d even… matter if I fed you to him. He’s abandoned us. He’s abandoned us. He’s abandoned us.” And she sobs.
Compassion wars with disgust.
Common sense raises a point. “Please let me go, Manuela.”
And he didn’t compel her, didn’t do anything but ask—yet she does, fishing out the key and undoing his handcuffs.
He rubs his wrists. Memory of that smooth and perfect power has already faded; he has no idea how he accessed it, where it is, what it cost. The Beholding, giving him a little treat because it wanted to see the sun. “What are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know.” She is small, seated, holding her legs.
“You don’t… you could turn it around. You don’t… have to stay here, to—”
“Don’t.” She’s disgusted. “Why would I want to do that? You think I have regrets about anything I’ve done?”
Well, there goes Jon’s empathy.
“No,” she says. “My only regret is we failed. Get out of here. Go. Before I change my mind and just shoot you in those stupid glowing eyes.”
Glowing eyes?
Jon blinks, looks down, tries to see if they’re lighting his cheeks, or something.
Not as far as he can tell. Maybe she’s seeing something that isn’t… literal.
Is it safe to leave her here? (He has no idea what he’d do if it isn’t.)
What he sees when he tries to know is a frightening thing: her faith in the Dark is shattered, and it doesn’t want her anymore.
He can see it, see the tendrils of lightless fear coming from nowhere and reaching in her direction but stopping just short—as if they find her distasteful.
She may cause some trouble down the road, but it won’t be through apocalypse.
Jon tries to think of something to say, anything—some wise thing, or comfort, or condemnation.
“Good luck,” is all he can think to do, and—feeling like an idiot—he makes his way back out.
#
He’s not sure where he’s going. The People's Church of the Divine Host took over this island, cut it off from communication. He’s not even sure how Manuela is going to leave.
If she leaves.
The docks make sense. There might be a way to communicate, or at least somewhere he can wait to be rescued.
Though it would be far too late to stop the Stranger.
The docks, he tells himself, trying to ignore the rising certainty that he just doomed the world to save a monster.
A monster he can’t even be sure is there.
“I’m an idiot,” he tells Book Michael.
There is no reply.
It is cold. He isn’t as protected as he was an hour ago, and he doesn’t know why.
Every step takes effort, breaking through the icy crust, into increasingly uncomfortable snow. His shoes and socks are soaked.
He swallows, fearing blackened frostbite, fearing scarred, healed feet without any toes left, because that’s how the damned Beholding would do it.
Things don’t grow back. They just scar.
He tries to hurry.
What’s the point? he thinks, and stops. There isn’t a ship there. There may not even be a way to call home.
And even if there were, what of it? Elias can’t travel instantly, like Michael. Salesa could have another toy, but he’s also in hiding.
Jon could try the book—but if he messes it up, he could destroy Michael, or doubly trap himself.
“And I don’t even know if you’d help me, do I?” he says, trying to be fair, trying to be honest with himself, because they had not parted on good terms and Michael is a monster.
The Distortion still wants revenge. Jon knows that. Well, leaving Jon here would do that, wouldn’t it?
Of course he’d leave you here. Everyone leaves.
Jon is puffing, trying to breathe around the enormous fist of pain in his chest.
Nobody NEEDS you.
No, they… they don’t, do they? They have the explosives, and…
All Jon does is show up on fire and expect everyone to put him out.
He wipes at his face, is a little frightened to discover his tears are freezing.
A very tiny, reasonable part of him points out that he just got out of the Dark, and he’s fragile, and his emotions are not trustworthy right now.
The rest of him grieves.
I bet they’d be relieved if you don’t show up again. If you just quietly went away—not even a body to dispose of.
He tries to take a step. Goes to his knees instead.
Safer without you there. All of them. Couldn’t even properly help Basira and Melanie and Daisy, and they asked.
Jon looks up. The dock is barely visible through the blinding snow, the wind having picked up—he hadn’t noticed.
He shakes his head. Something isn’t right.
The something not right is YOU.
No, he’s… not arguing that.
He thinks there might be a ship there. Possibly. There is a dark shape, and—
Mist, fog, something, is obscuring his vision. It’s wrapping the world, wrapping him in cotton, keeping him away from all the things he might break.
And what if there is a ship? You’ll go on board, make everyone there relive their worst trauma, then dream it all night long?
Oh.
That hurts.
His chest is heavy, physically heavy, despair winding its way through his fingers and into his mouth with sour realization.
Let them go.
Let them move on.
You can give them that much, can’t you?
“The Unknowing,” he breathes, and takes out the book to stare at it. “Don’t they need me for… for… something?”
The book doesn’t answer.
Why would they? They have Elias. Anything you can do, he can do far better.
That isn’t… is that right?
No one needs you.
Oh…
No one wants you.
Oh.
Let them all go and do the first unselfish thing in your whole waste of a life.
Jon curls down around himself, dropping the book, too heavy to rise.
He’s gripped. Cannot think. Ringing with this broad, empty pain.
It’s true. Even his grandmother—after his parents died, she… did her best, but… even as a child, he knew he was a burden.
It’s true.
“I should give you to Elias, but I don’t think I will,” says a familiar voice, and Jon remembers the man in Elias’ office (Peter Lukas, he’s a Lukas, that means the Lonely, that means…)
Means what? What does it matter? You can’t hurt anyone here.
That’s true.
Jon stays down.
“The way I see it,” murmurs Peter Lukas, who has not bothered to come closer because he does not hit with fists, “it doesn’t matter who you do the ritual for, if you’re marked deeply enough. You see what I mean?”
Tears, falling and freezing. Every beat of his heart hits him with pain, like some crazy gong. Alone is better for everyone.
“True enough. Don’t worry, Archivist… I’ll keep you plenty fed. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some preparations to make.”
And suddenly the prospect of being truly alone and isolated shocks Jon, and he gasps, and barely manages a whisper: “Don’t go.”
Lukas is gone.
Jon makes a high, drawn-out sound—
And then a man comes stumbling out of the fog as if he’s been thrown, and he has trauma, he has a story, and Jon is reaching for him without any plan to do so, and without any way to stop.
#
He is sick, afterward.
There is a pinch of clarity, granted by this thievery of fear from this poor man, Brian, who went to the Institute to talk about spiders and ended up being swallowed by the Lonely.
Which is where Jon is now. He knows.
Peter Lukas had been tracking him, though he does not know why, nor does he understand what the man was talking about.
Preparations? What ritual? Marked deeply enough? What?
It’s hidden from him, hidden by some massive, unassailable thing, blocking him from knowing what the hell is going on.
He feels awful for eating Brian’s fear. He didn’t try to. He was wounded, and it just happened.
And now Brian will be in his dreams every night, trapped in the Lonely when awake and stared at in silence when asleep.
I’m dangerous, he thinks, not fighting it now, because it’s true and he should say it. I can’t be trusted around anyone. No one is safe near me.
If he goes back, what will he take next? Whom will he assault?
Tim?
Daisy?
Martin?
So it’s better to be alone.
Jon cries, wishing he’d never gotten close to them at all.
The cold penetrates him gently, almost tenderly; it isn’t like the Dark, isn’t cruel and punishing, but it is deeper, a weight of numb sorrow that threatens to drag him down.
If he goes down, he won’t feel things anymore.
He knows this. That’s what it wants—a dubious blessing, but maybe the only one he deserves for what he’s done and will do.
How am I any better than any of them? he thinks, and knows he’s not.
The Lonely feels like depression, comes next. And it’s related to the Dark, after that.
And that is important, because… because…
Something. Just out of reach.
His mind goes silent for a while.
Breeze picks up, cold and stone-scented; this is a place that feels like it’s never known warm blood apart from his.
Vaguely, he is aware that there is no snow beneath him now. It’s dead grass, old soil, and nothing. Nothing. This is the Lonely—its own separate reality. No one can find him now.
And that’s good.
Isn’t it?
Jon exhales, rubs his face. Tries to think.
Fog fills the world, inside and out. Everything is vague, but he understands one thing. All those… horrible, hurtful things… maybe they are true. They landed because on some level, Jon believes them. And it hurts.
But if he stays here, Lukas is going to do some sort of ritual with him.
Jon can’t imagine what; Lukas’ last one failed.
Spectacularly.
Thanks to Gertrude.
Really, who could’ve imagined a well-placed tip to a newspaper would undo Lukas’ incredible, stuffed-full apartment block of lonely, isolated people, unwillingly worshiping Lukas’s god?
And then Gertrude’s tip engendered all kinds of attention, and community outreach, and Lukas’ ritual died in newsprint and pity.
It’s funny, if Jon lets himself feel it.
So Lukas wants to do some new ritual, and Jon is part of it.
He frowns.
It is true that no one may miss him; it is true that he may have been nothing but a burden to everyone, all his life. (His grandmother’s weary face slides past, but he tries not to think about that. Tries.)
That doesn’t mean he actually wants to hurt anyone.
Jon feels alone, unworthy of love, isolated for the best, horrifyingly unhappy.
But he still cares.
“So I’m selfish,” Jon says, agreeing with the wicked little thoughts. “At least I know I am.”
It’s so odd, how just… facing these thoughts takes away some of their power. He still feels awful, numb, but no longer paralyzed.
He will not stay here and be used. If he’s going to become a weird Eye Hermit, he’s going to do it on his own damn terms.
He exhales slowly, and looks.
The Lonely is powerful; small, creepy shapes from the graves the Lukases have dug here for generations are visible, and not much else.
Jon looks harder.
And sees a way out.
Jon takes the book and walks, clinging to it like a teddy bear.
Every step costs him. Every single one is a new choice to push against the desire to just lie down, stay here, be forever alone.
“It’s funny,” Jon tells Book Michael. “If he hadn’t said something about a ritual, he’d have had me. He mostly still does, to be honest. But I… wouldn’t see any reason to fight. Funny, right?”
Book Michael does not reply.
And suddenly, Jon is in snow again, and he’s free.
It’s so anticlimactic. He’s just out.
And… exhausted.
Even with all the statements he’s taken today (literally taken and that feels so horrid), it took all his strength to walk out of the Lonely’s domain.
Jon is gasping. He falls to his knees.
Soaked.
And very, very, cold.
Breathing hurts. How much power does it take to disintegrate a fake sun and then walk out of the Lonely? he thinks, hysterical. More than I have!
He tries to rise, cannot. Falls onto his knees in the snow.
Too cold.
Too… stiff.
Weak.
He’s not going to make it to the dock or anywhere else.
Panic makes him try, scramble, stumble—
And somehow, he trips on Michael’s book.
He’d dropped it, somehow, and now he’s torn it, the cover half off, pages ripped, and he falls beside it onto his knees and sobs, because it’s for sure over now, because he’s destroyed Michael now, because he damns everything and everyone he touches, and if he had gone to Wales with a cat and some cows, they’d all be dead because of him—
“Oh, Archivist,” comes softly in his ear, and long arms lift him from the snow, fingers sharp and irritating, and long, spiraling hair falls into his face, ticklish and annoying, and Michael holds him close, real and living, and Jon cannot parse this fact in his current mental state.
The Distortion shudders, because it would, because whatever is happening in Jon’s head, true or false, it is twisted. “Delicious,” it whispers, “but I think that will do. You need a door—even if you don’t think you deserve it.”
And it carries him through, and the rush of reality and warmth and people so many people in the WORLD and the wildness of the Corridors and surreality of up and down is too much, and Jon gratefully, eagerly, passes right the fuck out.
part fifteen
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smokeybrandreviews · 2 years
Text
Die Another Day
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I don’t like Respawn. I think the newest Wilson sibling is f*cking ridiculous as a concept and poorly executed as a character. I liked the idea of, say, a Slade clone, and there was potential for that in the first arc of the current Robin book, but then it’s revealed that kid is the long lost half-brother to Damian through his mother? What? Why? Like, Ra’s made Respawn by combining Talia’s egg with Slade's sperm. That ties Damian to Deathstroke tighter than anything Dick ever had with The Terminator but why, though? I like Ravager. She’s dope. Ma has earned her place in the pantheon of DC heroes and villains. Respawn has not. He’s a try-hard edgelord with misdirected anger toward Damian for reasons that are not clear. That’s dumb. Sure, the torture is a thing but that was Ra’s not Damian. This is the same sh*t with Broly and Goku. Interestingly enough, i don’t like Z Broly either, for a lot of the same reasons i don’t like Respawn. Beyond that, why does he look IDENTICAL to the Wayne heir? Damian looks like his dad. That’s canon. Bruce is not Respawn’s father, Slade Wilson is. Shouldn’t this nothing of a character look like Deathstroke or, at the very least, Jericho? This the sh*t that frustrates the f*ck out of me about the modern US comic industry.
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The Respawn problem isn’t an isolated event. In the past few years, i had to deal with The Batman Who Laughs, all of those stupid Dark Night events, and f*cking Punchline. Holy sh*t, i forgot about Punchline! She was Respawn before Respawn. Imagine a fifteen year old’s wet dream given life and you have Punchline.I’ve written at length about how cheap the busty Asian goth chick is and don’t want to rehash that entire essay but, suffice it to say, Punchline is trash. DC has a very rough go of it as of late but it’s not like Marvel is free from this bullsh*t. They killed Hickman’s X-Men run and that sh*t was actually decent. It was positioned to be a new status quo, for a time anyway, and i was looking forward to the future of that brand. The X-Men haven’t been interesting in a decade and Hickman made them relevant again... Until Marvel f*cked that up and they didn’t stop there. Spencer came through, fixed the damage Queseda and OMD did to Spider-Man, only for for Zeb Wells to f*ck it up in one issue. And don’t get me started on whatever the f*ck they’re doing to Ben Reilly now. Chasm? Really? Like, being Pete Parker, and his clones, is torment. That Parker Luck is mad strong but Chasm? I’m not a fan of Ben, not even way back in the Nineties during this dude’s prime, but come on? The Beyond arc was mediocre at best and absolutely unnecessary, especially as an origin story for whatever the next depressing ass phase is in the Punished Ben’s life. Spider-Man doesn’t need another edgelord clone. Kaine is a thing already.
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It’s nuts to me that comics are so pedestrian nowadays considering how much creative potential lies on the page. Like, not all of these things suck ass, you know? I really enjoyed The Wicked + The Divine. Most of the White Knight stuff is really good. I mentioned Spencer’s run on Spider-Man and Hickman’s initial start on X-Men already. Something is Killing the Children continues to keep me enthralled. The IDW Transformer stuff is actually excellent and so is The Last Ronin. There is a lot of good out there to be had but the market is absolutely saturated by straight trash, man. For every IDW Sonic comic, there’s fifty or so Jon Kent Superman variants and i hate it. The US comic industry is f*cking dying and I don't think it's coming back. Everything is so f*cking bad nowadays. No one knows what the f*ck to do with Tim Draker. Respawn is a bad character. Chasm is even worse. US comics are full of mediocre characters and even worse writing. Like, have you actually read Crossed? Or The Boys? Occasionally, I'm surprised by something but that is getting more and more rare as time goes on. Thank god for manga, man. At least those things are still allowed to be as unique and creative as they want. I do like Flatline, though. She’s adorable!
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I posted 21,210 times in 2022
That's 687 more posts than 2021!
766 posts created (4%)
20,444 posts reblogged (96%)
Blogs I reblogged the most:
@batshit-birds
@thecyndimistuff
@frankierohugejorts
@voluntaryvictim
@awkwardalphajay
I tagged 20,815 of my posts in 2022
Only 2% of my posts had no tags
#spn - 1,291 posts
#damian wayne - 778 posts
#dick grayson - 754 posts
#bruce wayne - 699 posts
#danny phantom - 604 posts
#å - 553 posts
#alex turner - 524 posts
#mcr - 507 posts
#succession - 492 posts
#gerard way - 476 posts
Longest Tag: 131 characters
#‘​‘jon & i are basically brothers’’ ‘‘because you’re such close friends?’’ ‘‘no because our dads are dating. but that too i guess’’
My Top Posts in 2022:
#5
At clubs and private events -
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Bruce: I’m so bad at seduction :( Anton is so good at it tho… Women keep throwing their drinks in my face :(
Later on a mission to retrieve a journal -
See the full post
291 notes - Posted August 8, 2022
#4
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He’s losing his mind and being tormented by a literal Demon <3
298 notes - Posted August 15, 2022
#3
THIS is the Supernatural finale
410 notes - Posted January 6, 2022
#2
Khoa tracking down Bruce all around the world every few months before disappearing again just to spar with him. The rituals were intricate.
567 notes - Posted July 24, 2022
My #1 post of 2022
They should do a mini series where Bruce gets de-aged but “Gotham needs a Batman” so the batfam takes turns with cowl while forcing Bruce to be Robin
756 notes - Posted June 6, 2022
Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →
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gascon-en-exil · 2 years
Note
I could see something between Rheas breaking point and setting Fhirdiad aflame solely on CF and Dany setting Kings Landing on fire due to them both being pushed mentally by another woman who constantly torments them with acts that are unbelievable tone deaf or petty, but that’s where the similarities end as the older woman Dany was against was evil and stupid while Dany is young and stupid and would completely hit different if we had the Targ(M) vs Targ(F) storyline the book was setting up.
I suppose Jon killing Daenerys was meant to be the male vs. female Targaryen story all along, although it's handled so poorly that absolutely no one liked it. At least I thought it was funny for the show to reveal to the audience that Daeneyrs and Jon are aunt and nephew while the two of them are having sex...but that's about the only positive for me on that point.
It's very hard for me to see Rhea in either Daenerys or Cersei, even at that moment - and not just because in GoT it's the conquering invader who does the firebombing. Three Hopes reinforced that the writers of both games treat Rhea less as a character than as a plot device, in that she's used for very specific purposes - mystery plot red herring, exposition-dumping damsel in distress, or final boss - and almost never appears onscreen when she's not needed to be one of those. She never really feels like a single cohesive character unless you fill in the gaps with headcanons (which I don't care enough to do) or are satisfied by the exposition dumps and her S rank mostly explaining her on a basic comprehension level.
Daeneyrs even at her most sloppily-written has a lot more screetime and more diverse interactions with other characters to pull from to give her some coherence, even when she goes Mad Queen. There's foreshadowing to that all the way back in S1 - the woman just loves to solve her problems by setting people on fire. Cersei meanwhile is a more straightforward villain than either Edelgard or Rhea (or Daenerys), albeit with enough sympathetic moments and a degree of psychological realism to make her failures and her occasional triumphs deeply enjoyable, at least for me.
I just find it amusing that we're now seeing fandom history getting revised; as I understand it, prior to the final season there were a bunch of GoT fans who wanted Daenerys to pull off a Targaryen restoration, and they couldn't stand it when S8 slapped them in the face (with terrible, rushed pacing) with the reality that Daeneyrs was always a conqueror and that her whole "breaking the wheel" spiel was only obscuring her trying to reclaim the throne that her family had (literally) made and held for centuries via conquest. But now, the Targaryens are bad...because the prequel show is all about Daenerys's ancestors being autocrats embroiled in a civil war where none of them even try to sound progressive beyond positing that women can (maybe) be in positions in leadership? If you want to talk about hereditary autocracies, Edelgard's the one to compare to Daenerys, even down to her seeking retribution for her father being stripped of his power by a group of nobles.
The political ideology of ASoIaF and its adaptations has always seemed to me to be a very grim and cynical one, suggesting that nothing ever really changes because people are terrible - which isn't so far off from FE's bittersweet central thesis. It's strange to me that there are fans of both properties who have difficulty engaging with them on those terms, and instead expect canon to give them something that it's just not interested in realizing.
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lickoutyourbrains · 3 months
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Oooh, that's true...
Honestly, I've been trying so hard bot to ascribe morality to these fears because fears are amoral(I think that's the word I'm looking for). Like, fear isn't good or bad, it's simply just fear. Depending on the person depends on how deep the fear is.
I think the trickiest thing about trying not to put morality to fear in this podcast, is that the characters understandably do? Like, of course it's not great for a person to relive the same nightmare over and over again with someone watching. That sounds like hell.
But it's also Jon's duty, and at this point he needs those statements?
And it really begs the questions: is it justifiable to feed into the fears? And if so, at what point does it become justifiable to do that?
Which is just really interesting to think on.
There are obviously some avatars who take joy from their tormenting of others, Jude Perry being the prime example. And some who have simply accepted it as "they way things are now" and simply feed as necessary without bucking under ethics or morals, like Oliver Banks.
Basira in particular does have some double standards. She is FAR more harsh on Jon than she is of Daisy, even though of the two of them, Daisy had murdered people to feed the Hunt.
It's all a massive mixed bag, there are no wrong or right answers. That's what makes it such an interesting story.
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smokeybrand · 2 years
Text
Die Another Day
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I don’t like Respawn. I think the newest Wilson sibling is f*cking ridiculous as a concept and poorly executed as a character. I liked the idea of, say, a Slade clone, and there was potential for that in the first arc of the current Robin book, but then it’s revealed that kid is the long lost half-brother to Damian through his mother? What? Why? Like, Ra’s made Respawn by combining Talia’s egg with Slade's sperm. That ties Damian to Deathstroke tighter than anything Dick ever had with The Terminator but why, though? I like Ravager. She’s dope. Ma has earned her place in the pantheon of DC heroes and villains. Respawn has not. He’s a try-hard edgelord with misdirected anger toward Damian for reasons that are not clear. That’s dumb. Sure, the torture is a thing but that was Ra’s not Damian. This is the same sh*t with Broly and Goku. Interestingly enough, i don’t like Z Broly either, for a lot of the same reasons i don’t like Respawn. Beyond that, why does he look IDENTICAL to the Wayne heir? Damian looks like his dad. That’s canon. Bruce is not Respawn’s father, Slade Wilson is. Shouldn’t this nothing of a character look like Deathstroke or, at the very least, Jericho? This the sh*t that frustrates the f*ck out of me about the modern US comic industry.
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The Respawn problem isn’t an isolated event. In the past few years, i had to deal with The Batman Who Laughs, all of those stupid Dark Night events, and f*cking Punchline. Holy sh*t, i forgot about Punchline! She was Respawn before Respawn. Imagine a fifteen year old’s wet dream given life and you have Punchline.I’ve written at length about how cheap the busty Asian goth chick is and don’t want to rehash that entire essay but, suffice it to say, Punchline is trash. DC has a very rough go of it as of late but it’s not like Marvel is free from this bullsh*t. They killed Hickman’s X-Men run and that sh*t was actually decent. It was positioned to be a new status quo, for a time anyway, and i was looking forward to the future of that brand. The X-Men haven’t been interesting in a decade and Hickman made them relevant again... Until Marvel f*cked that up and they didn’t stop there. Spencer came through, fixed the damage Queseda and OMD did to Spider-Man, only for for Zeb Wells to f*ck it up in one issue. And don’t get me started on whatever the f*ck they’re doing to Ben Reilly now. Chasm? Really? Like, being Pete Parker, and his clones, is torment. That Parker Luck is mad strong but Chasm? I’m not a fan of Ben, not even way back in the Nineties during this dude’s prime, but come on? The Beyond arc was mediocre at best and absolutely unnecessary, especially as an origin story for whatever the next depressing ass phase is in the Punished Ben’s life. Spider-Man doesn’t need another edgelord clone. Kaine is a thing already.
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It’s nuts to me that comics are so pedestrian nowadays considering how much creative potential lies on the page. Like, not all of these things suck ass, you know? I really enjoyed The Wicked + The Divine. Most of the White Knight stuff is really good. I mentioned Spencer’s run on Spider-Man and Hickman’s initial start on X-Men already. Something is Killing the Children continues to keep me enthralled. The IDW Transformer stuff is actually excellent and so is The Last Ronin. There is a lot of good out there to be had but the market is absolutely saturated by straight trash, man. For every IDW Sonic comic, there’s fifty or so Jon Kent Superman variants and i hate it. The US comic industry is f*cking dying and I don't think it's coming back. Everything is so f*cking bad nowadays. No one knows what the f*ck to do with Tim Draker. Respawn is a bad character. Chasm is even worse. US comics are full of mediocre characters and even worse writing. Like, have you actually read Crossed? Or The Boys? Occasionally, I'm surprised by something but that is getting more and more rare as time goes on. Thank god for manga, man. At least those things are still allowed to be as unique and creative as they want. I do like Flatline, though. She’s adorable!
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elsakey · 7 years
Text
Drabble:: Duke and Courtesan
Fandom: Game of Thrones/ASOIAF Characters/Pairing: Jon Snow/Daenerys Targaryen Genre: AU/Canon-Divergent
Author’s Note: All I can offer about this AU is this: Daenerys is a courtesan of Braavos, the Targaryen Dynasty never happened in Westeros, but the Doom of Valyria still casts its shadow over all. This is a rough draft that may or may not be a fic one day, we’ll see.
Also, please rip this apart. Tear into it.  Tell me why this AU doesn’t exactly work. Do it.
Overall, the party was not disappointing.
Being on the arm of the Sealord’s son was never a dull affair, if she was to be honest. So many fascinating people approached him for a word, and she always lent an ear for the latest gossip of happenings in the Free Cities, the Slaver’s Bay, and even the uncultured land of Westeros across the Narrow Sea.
Tonight, a particular guest from that continent had inserted himself into more than a few of the whispers that reached her that night.
“The Duke of Black is planning on another trip throughout Essos, it seems,” a lord muttered in their midst. “I hear he petitioned the Iron Bank just this morning. Gambling debts, perhaps? It is easy for a foreign lord to lose his coin in these lands…”
“That sword of his has been kept nice and sharp since its last journey, I’ve heard,” chattered a wine merchant. “I’ve heard he’s hoping to meet up with the Golden Company.” The merchant paused and nodded deferentially towards her. “Forgive me my impropriety in mentioning those vagabonds, O Moon.”
She had merely smiled, dipping her head in conciliation. “No offense is taken, Alu Kazok. Though I am curious as to why a foreign prince would take up with mercenaries on our shores. Surely Westeros has its own fill of them.”
The merchant’s expression wizened in speculation. “A bastard prince, O Moon. Perhaps he means to overthrow his trueborn cousins and seat himself as King of Winter? And the trade routes were already unbearable with those cursed ironborn...”
“It is clear from the amount of gold dragons he requested that the country of Winter is facing some serious trouble,” a banker offered to them over a cup of golden wine. “I heard from the banker he met with that he intends to buy a fleet of ships. Does he mean to follow the ways of the ironborn and take up some reaving himself? If so, I hope it is not done on Braavosi shores…”
The Sealord’s son had laughed at that. “No need to worry, honorable banker. It would take more than a newborn fleet to overcome the might of my father and I on Braavosi ships.”
She placed her hand to interlock with the other near his elbow. “A strength that all of Braavos is grateful for, now ensconced in my arms.” The banker and Sealord’s son had both chortled in good humor.
But all accounts had paled to what fell from the lips of the foreign duke himself.
“We have been hearing so much about you tonight,” the Sealord’s son exclaimed as they approached the man. The duke had just been relieved from conversing with another lord, and had paused the glass of wine making its way towards his lips as he beheld them. Or rather, as he beheld her.
It never failed to both amuse and satisfy her when she saw the effect of her beauty on unsuspecting men. This duke was no different. His eyes roved over her hair, eyes, and lips in utter fascination and awe before he looked at her face proper. The growing touch of familiarity in his gaze made it evident that he had seen her before, perhaps in the marketplace or on one of her nightly trips to a welcoming patron.
“My lord,” he bowed towards the Sealord’s son. “My lady,” he deferred next. The sword tied to his waist slightly rippled as he bowed, its brown scabbard a not unwelcome contrast to the ebony silks and boiled leather he wore.
“Is that the famous Longclaw?” she asked, nodding towards his sword. “There are stories that it possesses the mad power of cleaving ironborn in one stroke.”
His hand moved towards the sword in an unconscious motion. “I have yet to hear that story myself, my lady.” His smile was quick and fleeting, a snort of humor. “The only power I know of is its ability to convey the gratitude of a great house.”
“House Mormont of Bear Island, correct?” She smirked at his astonishment at her knowledge. “Is it true that the women of this house are fierce as bears?”
“Fiercer,” he replied, his smile easier.
“Duke of Black, you must indulge us. What is the reason for a prince of Winter to hail Bravosi shores?” The curiosity of the Sealord’s son was not one to sit idle.
Neither was this duke’s wariness, it seemed. “The country of Winter has need of ships. As my king’s newest Sea Master, it falls on me to acquire them.”
This sparked both their intrigue, though the Sealord’s son was the first to voice it. “Sea Master? The wolves of Westeros will now hunt prey on the seas?”
“‘Tis better to hunt than be hunted,” was the cryptic answer. The duke’s grey eyes were implacable slates of stone.
“Then Braavos is the wise choice. Only the Summer Islands can do better at the trade. And as son of the Sealord, I have much wisdom to share.”
The duke nodded. “I would be honored to lend an ear. When would be most appropriate?”
“An eager student.” She could tell the pride of the Sealord’s son was well and truly stoked. “Tomorrow, at my residence. Around noon.” He looked to her. “I have no doubt that you would also wish to attend, Beautiful Moon.”
“I would be delighted, my lord.” Her smile was calm and true. The story she encountered tonight had just taken an intriguing turn, and she would hate to miss the next chapter.
“It is settled then.”
The duke bowed towards them both. “You have my gratitude. If you would excuse me.” He then moved away, his steps brisk. Her eyes tracked him as he made polite conversation with one or two more people, then continued towards the exit of the room.
“That one is solemn for his young age. You would think he was unused to such parties.”
“Who could say, my lord?” she offered. “There is little to be told of the halls of Westeros nobility. Fewer have been heard of the cold halls of Winter.”
“His trip is a boon, then. Now he can finally walk among true nobility.”
A boon, she knew, that this serious duke would give little thought to. “As you say, my lord.”
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