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kunikuma · 1 year

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this ain’t build-a-b♡tch—! pt. 1

...but it is build-a-bear workshop with kunikuzushi

relationship | college student!kunikuzushi x gn!reader

synopsis | build-a-bear workshop has a limited time only collab with sanrio! and kuni’s clown ass sent you the ad, so guess which lovestruck man is keepin’ you company? content | fluff cw | swearing a/n | if u follow me, u know i said this was supposed to be a double feature with both kuni and xiao oop. but i was taking too long, so i finished made this kuni one longer and decided i’d post separately. xiao’s is still in a messy notion page. check out kuromi and my melody if you don’t know what they look like. also, i remembered my first build a bear being hello kitty when i was 7. if kuromi ever gets released there, u WILL find me ass there and i WILL name her something scara related.

p2 | p3🔞 | build a bear masterlist

“why is it so ugly?”

a big ole pout found a home on your face as your excited finger drooped; it was originally pointed at a weird pink and blue monstrosity on the shelves. kunikuzushi pinched the bridge of his nose as you laughed, waving around the…pelt?

the… unstuffed… husk of the ugliest mf plushie he has ever seen.

“…you already have too many at your apartment,” he grumbles, fiddling with the black earring hanging from his earlobe. was he nervous? the fidgeting would say so.

that's what he said, but you knew deep down he didn’t mind them all that much. the way he would neatly rearrange them on your couch… keeping a bear propped up against the right arm of the couch while a deep purple cat laid on the left arm spoke for itself. don’t even bother mentioning the way he would tidy up your bed after a study session and lay three of them sweetly against your pillows. if you called him out, he’d only scowl and cease that entirely.

the build-a-bear was basically empty, but that wasn’t a surprise since it was a random wednesday evening during the school year. so, you unapologetically stuck your tongue out at him, “listen, i was kiddin’. you know im here for my sanrio pals,” you gestured to the few colorful characters cutely arranged on the shelves. “‘sides, even if i wasn’t here for them,” you muttered, lacing your hand with his, “you really think your opinion of my plushies is gonna stop me? we don’t live together.”

the indigo-haired man jumped at your feather light touch yet forced an unperturbed mask on as he cocked one of his brows up, “oh? so my opinion doesn’t matter to you? for shame, y/n,” he tsks, ignoring your swat at his shoulder and the hammering of his heart as the two of you strolled closer to that section of the store. the two of you occasionally held hands if one of you needed to guide the other.

that was it. nothing more.

he wanted it to be more.

“…and i thought you were kind.” he ignored the thought that flashed in his mind about how the two of you could totally live together.

you rolled your eyes as the two of you finally stood directly in front of the… pelts? kunikuzushi had zero ideas of what you call an unstuffed stuffed animal. pelt wasn’t entirely wrong. but it was a little grotesque, but again, not entirely false.

there was a limited-time collaboration between sanrio and build-a-bear and he saw the ad on social media earlier today. he debated on sending it to you for a short bit, weighing his options.

hang out with you vs get his homework done early.

after biting the bullet and sending you a screenshot because he knew you’d be delighted by even the mere idea of the collab, you sent him a ‘come pick me up >:p’.

kunikuzushi would be lying if he said he wasn’t already fixing his hair in the mirror by the time you sent that.

“cinnamoroll is so cute! but so is chococat-“

your chipper voice filled his ears as he half-listened to your jabbering. your free arm pointed at each character you were gushing over, but eventually, your voice faded into a light hum. your other arm wiggled in his grasp due to your motions, but he held strong, absentmindedly rubbing his thumb back and forth over the hand he did have access to. his eyes were fixated on your lips whenever you turned in his direction.

despite his earlier display of displeasure of being dragged out of the house (reminder: he was already fixing his hair), coerced to drive your ass to the mall (he texted his offer as he walked to his car), and forced to watch you squeal (he thought it was cute), you could tell he was starting to relax a little. at least the unwrinkled area between his brows and slouched shoulders hinted at this.

“-earth to kunikuzushi? my guy, are you there?” you pressed, your free fist propped against your hip as you looked at him with an unimpressed stare, “i can see you’re not home up there,” you whined, flicking his forehead.

he grunted and smacked your grimy finger away from his face, “i was listening. you were going on about each one of them. im not dumb-“

“wrong! i was asking you which one you think i am,” you interjected, huffing as you wrangled yourself out of his hold. he let out a tiny sound of protest but quickly cleared his throat to cover it up. he shoved his hands deep into his hoodie’s pockets. one hand was pleasantly warm while the other was unfortunately at its usually cool temp.

“hah? how am i supposed to know their personalities?”

you sigh deeply, “well, maybe pay attention next time. i said you’re definitely kuromi. potentially batz-maru. both of them give stink eyes and like to stick their tongues out.”

your finger raised as you pointed to a white plush with a bat-like… hood? she had her tiny pink tongue out and her eyes looked a little mischievous and devious. the corners of kunikuzushi’s lips curled up a teensy bit at the comparison.

“…from what little information i’ve gathered, i’d say you’re right,” he admits, walking over to the said plush and giving it a closer look as he leaned forward onto the table. he grabbed the stuffed animal from the shelf and flipped it over, “an imp tail? yeah, i’d agree with your choice,” he murmured, turning to you. he idly fidgeted with the soft black tail in his hands.

your eyes brightened at the more obvious sight of kunikuzushi loosening up in the store. he was against being here, muttering during the whole car ride. before you could comment on his relaxing demeanor, he ripped you from your thoughts.

“is… your plan to have matching plushies?” he inquired, gently placing the kuromi store display back on her pedestal. the gentleness of his actions was not all that surprising, especially since you’ve secretly admired the way he treated yours at home. the way his hands made sure she was securely set on her shelf was heartwarming; when he saw she slumped over a smidge, he quickly fixed her position.

you hummed, “well, yes. that’s why i asked who i reminded you of, but you weren’t listening, remember?”

his mouth opened slightly to let out a silent ‘ah’ as his eyes examines the various sanrio characters on the wall. a yellow dog, a blue penguin, a green frog… after a beat, he turns his body to you.

“…does kuromi have a popular character she’s paired with? we could just go with that.”

you pointed at the white and rosey pink one to the one he carefully placed, “my melody. they’re more like polar opposites, but you can be kuromi and i’ll be my melody. then we can swap so we can have a little version of each other when we’re not hanging out.”

wordlessly, kuni grabs two husks, one kuromi, and one my melody. he didn’t outwardly respond to your idea, but the faint redness at the tips of his ears was damning enough.

damning if you were paying attention.

damning if he didn’t have his hair covering his ears.

you grin to yourself as you gingerly slide my melody out of his hand.

kunikuzushi… admittedly really liked the idea. but he would never ever fuckin’ actually admit that to you, at least for now while the two of you weren’t together.

if you two started dating, maybe he’d come clean about how much the paired plushies really meant to him.

if you grabbed his face and forced him to look at you, he’d reel back and shout at you, demanding to know why you were trying so hard to be annoying to fluster him.

but the way he felt warm inside as unsightly butterflies rammed against the walls of his tummy reminded him that he wouldn’t entirely mind if you grabbed his face to make him look at you.

the two of you walked over to the stuffing station and the employee chatted with you both. well, more like he just chatted with you because kunikuzushi was just standing there with his arms crossed as he stared out of the shop.

it was sort of embarrassing for him to be a young adult yet inside a build-a-bear… especially embarrassing to be partaking in the activity. the worker’s question shook him from his thoughts.

“would you like to add a scent?”

his mouth opened but before he could answer ‘no, i would not want a migraine’, you chimed in.

“lavender would be nice. maybe he could chill out with the aromatherapy.

he glared and you smirked.

the employee just chuckled as he tossed in scented bear-shaped discs into the filled plushies. after placing both on his lap, he grinned as he held out a basket full of thinly stuffed hearts, “you guys know the drill. pick a heart, whisper some love into it, and pop ‘em into the little dudes.”

“what? whisper love into it?”

“we can do that, but i was thinking about opting into the voice recording as well,” you explained, peering into the basket and picking out a red gingham patterned heart.

fuck, what? what??

“y/n, you’ve got to be kidding me. you know that’s cringe and a scam to milk more money from us,” he tried to reason as he also glared into the basket of hearts. the audacity to call out the huge shit-eating grin on the employee’s face as he started setting up two small recording devices.

you laughed as you clutched the patterned heart tightly in your hand, patting kunikuzushi on the back. he shivered a little and any further bite died in the back of his throat.

“not a scam. people love hearing those messages, even if it’s a little cringe.”

“wasn’t talkin’ to you.”

“just trying to be helpful,” the nosey employee snickered as he handed the both of you small plastic boxes, “hit this button and go crazy. but not too crazy because it only records 20 seconds.”

you hummed as you thumbed the bright casing, “is it fine if i go outside to record? i want it to be a surprise.” the guy nods and you swiftly turned around and abandoned the two young men at the stuffing station. kunikuzushi sputtered when he saw your darting figure turn the corner and disappear further into the mall.

“gotta be fuckin’… ugh,” he disdains, giving the seated employee one last icy stare as he swiftly turns to slink over to the dark corner of the store, back where the two of you were discussing which sanrio pelts to stuff. he shuffled back and forth in the corner, muttering under his breath as he mulled over what he was going to say.

a loving insult? decent contender.

a grossly lewd moan? funny, but he’d rather die than do that in public.

weird breathing so he could creep you out at night? okay, hilarious. very strong contender.

a confession?

mm.

he flicked his middle finger up when he saw the employee knowingly smirk at him as he leaned back into the bright yellow bear chair.

kunikuzushi stared at the employee, held the box near his mouth, and hit the big red button.

after a few minutes, the two of you returned to the station. you gleefully plopped the plastic box into the back my melody and gave an obnoxiously loud kiss to the little heart. as the guy stitched up her back, kunikuzushi was nervously thumbing his own recorder with a glazed look in his eyes. but he remained silent with a dusting of pink sprinkled on his cheeks.

“your turn bud. give that heart a big ole kiss and drop both of those things in,” the aggravating employee nodded in his direction as he finished your my melody. he hands the plush to you and you immediately hug the soft thing, quietly commenting about how soft she felt in your arms.

hesitantly, kunikuzushi’s hand that held the recorder hovered over the opened gash back of kuromi, wondering if he was really going to go through with this. as soon as he drops that thing into her back, his future was sealed. his friendship with you could either ideally advance or crumble into nothing.

he drops the plastic box in. along with the heart—

“that’s not how we do it here. kiss the heart,” you interrupted, holding your plush into your arms.

grumbling, he quickly snatches the red heart and pecks it, grimacing at the idea of the germs on his lips from the numerous grimy kid hands that might’ve touched it. “this is so degrading,” he huffs as he wipes his mouth on the back of his sleeve.

the employee’s shoulders merely shake with silent laughter as he stitched up kuromi.

“by the way, you activate the recording by hugging it.”

the two of you nod in understanding.

kunikuzushi’s, a slight and curt bob. your’s, an excited jerk.

as soon as the employee started to hold out the rabbit with bat ears, kunikuzushi snatched both kuromi and your hand to the clothing station to pick out outfits for your new additions to both apartments.

the two of you ended up picking up mall pretzels on the way out and you chatted away in his car as he drove you home. the entire time, you were excitedly gushing about the whole experience as you teased him, popping pieces of your pretzel into your mouth. eventually, you stole his pretzel too.

meanwhile, the nervous young man had a tightening grasp on the steering wheel, his rings digging into his fingers every time he glanced down at the soft item in his lap. at red lights, he fiddled endlessly with the tail, twirling and untwirling the faux velvet around his fingers as he quietly listened to you ramble. at green lights, his hands dart back to the wheel to grip hard.

once he parked on your street, the two of you swapped plushies; you buckled my melody into the shotgun seat. he barely heard your chants of ‘thank you’ and ‘this was so much fun!!!’ as he gave one last look at that archon forsakened plush in your arms.

that thing held the fate of his relationship.

he squeezed his eyes shut for a second and exhaled shakily before giving you a hardened stare with his amethyst eyes. if you looked a little more carefully, you might have noticed how little he looked in the driver’s seat with the way he sunk into the cushions, the weight of his decision sitting heavily on his mind.

“…don’t listen to it until you’re in your apartment, alright?”

you waved him off, “yeah, yeah, i remember, kuni! you do the same. i’ll text you after.”

you shut the car door and wave at him one last time before walking away.

he sighs and rests his hand on the pink plush in his passenger seat.

after you entered your apartment, you let out a loud shaky sigh you had been holding in, biting your lip as you finally dropped the nonchalant mask you were keeping up. the frantic pulsing of your heart finally stabilizing now that you were home alone. after toeing off your shoes, you quietly padded into your room and collapsed on the bed, enjoying the lavender scent while hugging kuromi really tightly.

suddenly, the sound of kunikuzushi’s disgruntled, frantic, and hushed voice startles you.

“—a-ah, is this thing fuckin’ workin'- oh fuck it is— okay, uh. i absolutely despise the fact you’re making me do this because i feel extremely humiliated right now and — archons, the guy is still staring at me — you’re lucky i really like you. you make me feel butterflies every time you grab my hand o-or when you fuckin’ look at me and i really love yo-”

the recording cuts out and you lunge for your phone.

#wanderer #scaramouche #kunikuzushi #wanderer x reader #scaramouche x reader #kunikuzushi x reader #wanderer x y/n #scaramouche x y/n #kunikuzushi x y/n #genshin impact x reader #BaB - kuni #kunikuma’s fics

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breadvidence · 5 months

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Please mind the #wineposting tag. Regardless: are you asking, "Should I watch this adaptation of Les Misérables?" I'll give you advice, though I suspect if you are reading this blog post you have watched all of these anyway (and quite possibly a few more, besides!).

'25 (Fescourt): Probably! If you are a Brick fan none of the adaptation choices will startle you, but having visuals to go with key scenes is a treat. This is a loyal piece. Toulout as Javert, Gabrio as Valjean, Milovanoff as Fantine, and Nivette as Éponine all give excellent performances. Be prepared for a lukewarm Cosette. You might struggle with silent film conventions, length, and French intertitles.

'34 (Bernard): Probably! This is a fairly loyal adaptation of the Brick that makes internally consistent choices where it deviates from its source (sometimes it has goofy continuity errors—politely ignore). Baur as Valjean and Gaël as Cosette give fabulous performances. Moments of silliness do not detract from the quality. Another long haul.

'35 (Boleslawski): Probably not. As an adaptation of Les Misérables this film is bad. That being said, Charles Laughton is a lauded actor, and you can't say he didn't put his whole laughussy into his performance. Because it is accessible and prominent, a lot of LM fans will have seen this film, and you might benefit from shared context if you're in fandom. Speaking personally, I'm glad I saw it, but I'm not sure you will be.

'52 (Milestone): No. Most likely based on '35 rather than on the book, this film is also a bad adaptation of Les Misérables. There are no notable performances. Because it is accessible, this is another adaptation many fans are familiar with, but understanding jokes about Valjean's boyfriend Robert and Javert's sentient hat probably don't justify sitting through the movie.

'58 (Le Chanois): No. Not the English dub, at least. "Bland" is the word of the day. Contemporary French audiences wildly disagree with me per Wikipedia.

'72 (Bluwal): Strong maybe. If you are an intense fan of the Brick, yes. Its use of a narrator to draw from the novel directly and its focus on the Amis makes this adaptation unique on this list. You might not end up liking it but you will have had an experience. If you have zero investment in Les Misérables but are still reading this post for some reason: no, do not watch this.

'78 (Jordan): At some point I will talk about this film and not make a gay joke but today is not that day. If you are not queer, get off my blog, you cis straight, begone. Everyone else: yes, watch this movie, c'mon. Perkins. That performance. At some point I need to make a serious post about queerness and '78 but right now all I've got is Javert's literal on-screen boner. Jesus Christ. Not a great adaptation of the novel but a virtuoso example of unintentional homoeroticism.

'82 (Hossein): No. This is an odd little adaptation without the charisma of a '35 or '78, somehow not as bad as either of those but not as good either. The GIF of the Amis walking in heavy wind is the best this film has to offer.

'98 (August): No—but I stared into my wine glass for a long, long time before typing those two letters. If we are judging adaptations by how they handle the source material, this is a disaster. As a film? I'm sure entertained. I call it bitchslap Les Mis. I should note here I am also a huge fan of Uma Thurman. Possibly I should recuse myself. I don't know, pal. IDK.

2012 (Hooper): I dwell bitterly on the fact that this is our film version of the musical. Brick fans are restless, musical fans are restless. People who first encountered Les Mis via this version are making feral noises. I'm afraid. I'm moving on.

2018 (Davies): It's really unfortunate that I am at my most drunk while commenting on this adaptation. Sure, watch it, it's one of those BBC series that has watchability sheerly because of production value and proximity to contemporary narrative/film expectations/standards. Personally I hate it. My partner is so tired of the tone in which I utter the syllables "Oyelowo".

The Musical: yes c'mon. Bootleg that good bitch.

#les mis #les misérables #wineposting

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lovibitchez · 9 months

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I'd like to thank @nocturnalchaos for their kind review of this story. It actually made me go back and fix a few things I disliked about this and they helped me find my will to write again. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You really did help me through some hard times. Also, I have yet to edit it, so I do apologize for any errors. I wrote this at work on my phone.

2 years ago…

"What do you want from me, Rae!" Jason yelled from outside the door of Raven's room in the tower. Even if he wasn't technically on the hero side, Dick trusted his brother enough to be in the tower.

"The truth!" Raven yelled, leaning against the door to prevent Jason from trying to pry his way in. She would use her powers, but she couldn’t quiet trust them at the moment. Jason and Raven had been…. somewhat dating for the past few months. Well, not dating. Sleeping together. They were good friends at first, but after Raven came banging on the door to his apartment with tears in her eyes and a broken heart, they had been a little closer than usual.

"You want the truth! Yes! I slept with Rose! But it was before we started our little escapade!" He was frustrated. It all started with a stupid tabloid about Jason, son of Bruce Wayne, being seen with a blonde beauty with one eye at a bar. "Last week, that was business! She had intel on a drug ring I've been looking for. I don't know why you're so pissed. We aren't even dating!"

Raven opened her door a small crack just to see the frustration on Jason's face. His hair was a mess from constantly running his hands through it to keep calm and his eyes were almost overflowing with the pit. "How would you feel if you saw me with someone else?"

Jason froze, "Why would I care? It's your life."

Wrong answer. Raven gave him a bone-chilling look before taking a deep breath, "Goodbye, Jason Todd." She shut her door before teleporting out of the tower. That was the last time Jason saw Raven.

Four months later, the Titans were no more. Budget cuts in Jump City and the Justice League taking over, it made it impossible for the Titans to stay around. The Titans were all given identities, and some were given Halo-Rings to look more human.

Dick moved to Blüdhaven where he continued to be Nightwing and Detective Richard "Dick" Grayson with his new wife Kori as she continued her freelance modeling career. Victor mainly worked at the watchtower, being a member of the Justice League, but when he was back on Earth, he worked at an auto body shop dating Karen, otherwise known as Bumble Bee. Garfield was in college working on his veterinary license. And Raven? She disappeared. Not having a life on Earth before the Titans, she only had her fake identity and a GED she established before the team disbanded.

No one knows where she went, or if she was even on Earth still.

Until today…

Red Hood was notorious for keeping companies ensured. Some were small local businesses that paid him in food and a safe place to hide out while others were large clubs that paid him well to keep the ruffians and cops out. Tonight was one of those nights.

“Mama’s House” was a strip club that also worked as an underground Hen House. The girls were instructed to keep a sense of anonymity while in the club while servicing clients.

Jason was always impressed by the look and size of the club. Red velvet walls adorned with White silk curtains as decorations. The three stages separated by two rounded bars in between. For an illegal business, the place had some class. All but the owner. Oscar Danny. A large bearded man who required his girls to call him “Big Daddy”. It wouldn’t surprise Jason if he often sampled his girls, but that was Oscar’s business.

Or, it was. Jason sat at the bar, waiting for Oscar to get out of his “meeting” with one of his girls and decided to have a drink and a look around. After grabbing his old fashion, he walked over to the main stage where his heart almost stopped.

She looked different. Long jet-black hair, pale pink skin, and bright blue eyes. But he could recognize her anywhere. The way her body rolled against the pole, how she teased her hair when she was dancing like no one was watching. He watched her drop to her knees with her legs spread.

She rolled her hips to the rhythm of the music, stirring something deeply hidden within Jason. Yes, last but something more. It was like seeing an oasis after being stranded in the desert for weeks without water. She was a refreshing sight for his dark world. She always was. But he fucked it up.

He felt the pit surface as he watched. Her hips faltered for a moment so brief, Jason thought he blinked. But he couldn’t look away. Watching her do the things they used to do in private, put on display for dozens of men. The pit was bubbling in his eyes and he feared what he might do if she didn’t stop.

As if some deity heard his prayers, the music ended and she quickly sauntered off the stage. Jason’s feet moved before his brain could tell them to. His vision was blurred, all but her.

______________________________________________________________________________

Raven felt his presence the second those heavily tinted doors opened. She had hopped he wouldn’t recognized her. She looked different. She looked normal.

Raven stood on stage, the spotlight almost blinding. Her soul self snuck into the shadows, following Jason around the club until he was up close to the stage.

She probably didn’t need to use her powers. It’s kind of hard to miss a tall man in a red hood. But she needed to know why he was here. Was Jason looking for her? How did he find her? Why is he in his hero gear if he wanted to talk to her? Does he know? Raven’s blood ran cold at the thought.

Soon, the song ended and she quickly left the stage. Unfortunately, she wasn’t allowed into the back. Not yet. She had to walk the floor and accept request.

She left the stage only to run into Jason.

“Act natural” she thought to herself. Raven lifted her head to speak but no words came out. She stood there, looking up at him, desperately trying to stay calm. But it was hard for a multitude of reasons. His emotions swirled around like a storm. His anger was palpable. Like a dish coated in pepper. Yet, there was something sweet under it all. Something not like lust but it left the same taste in her mouth all the same.

“Excuse me,” She squeaked, her voice betraying her confident demeanor.

“Raven.” He breathed her name out like it was a prayer. As if seeing her was the only thing that has ever mattered to him. And maybe it was. Maybe he regrets what he said. Or maybe he was here for another reason.

“I-“ Raven took a deep breath, desperately trying to keep up her façade around him. “Who?” she asked fainting innocence.

Jason let a deep breath out through his nose before speaking, “Raven, I-“

“Mr. Hood!” a thick Boston accent broke his gaze, “good to see you again! It’s been months!”

“Oscar.” Jason quite honestly couldn’t stand the man. The only reason he was willing to insure this place was for the girls.

“Did I finally get a girl you’d like?” he laughed, “how ‘bout you two go upstairs. Free of charge, of course.”

“But-“ Raven chimed in.

“I don’t want to hear it. Mr. Hoods been good to us! He deserves to let off some steam.”

“You know what?” Jason said, never taking his eyes off the small woman, “I think I’ll take you up on that offer.”

Oscar smiled brightly, “she’s a hot one isn’t she.”

“She’s something alright.” Jason turned from Raven and followed Oscar up the spiraling staircase.

Raven took in a sharp breath and followed behind at a distance. Oscar had led them to the farthest room from the stairs. Raven took a deep breath as she stepped into the velvet covered room. Raven always hated the design in these rooms. Red velvet lined the walls and coated the floor. The round silk covered bed sat in the center of the room. Everything was littered with hearts. Neon hearts hung on the wall, heart shaped lamps and even a heart shaped chair sat in a small corner next to a heart shaped corner table. This room cost more than her apartment yet it looked so cheap.

Jason stood at the foot of the bed, watching Raven’s every move. She stood by the door with her head held high. She was here physically but her eyes were clouded with thoughts of being anywhere else.

“You treat him good, girlie.” Oscar huffed, “If I get one more complaint about you, you’re out of here. I don’t care about your little “situation”.” Raven only nodded at him, not trusting her voice. Oscar turned to Jason, “Just bring her back in one piece,” he winked before leaving and shutting the door.

Jason watched Raven, unsure of what to say. Raven was on the verge of a panic attack. Her chest rose with every deep breath and her legs faltered as she stepped closer to Jason. Jason took a step closer, reaching an arm out to grab the shaking woman.

“Raven,” he sighed. His arm wrapped around her stomach as he brought her in for a deep hug. Jason leaned his head on Ravens, taking in her scent. Even through the hood he can smell the lilacs in her hair and the old parchment she was often fond of reading. It was her and there was no doubt about that. “Fuck I’ve missed you.”

A part of her wanted to sink into his arms like she had before. But the part of her that he hurt wanted to push him away. To tell him to get out of her life and to never come near her again. Raven stood shocked for a moment before carefully prying out of his grip.

“I-I’m sorry.” She whispered, “I don’t know who you’re talking about.” The lie rolled off her tongue so easily. As if she had practiced for the moment for months.

“Cut the shit, Sunshine,” Jason growled out. He took off his hood and placed it on the bed. “You may be in disguise but I can always tell if its you.” He took a step closer and she moved back. “What are you doing in a place like this?”

Raven’s eyes never left Jason’s. His eyes had turned a dark shade of green as the pit spilled out. He was on the verge of chaos and Raven knew she had to calm him down. But something inside her seemed to snap.

“I could be asking you the same thing,” she growled back. “I thought you were done being the bad guy.”

Jason crossed his arms, thankful she finally dropped the act, “I collect insurance from those who need it. That’s all.”

She scoffed, “like a common thug.”

“Hey, I’m helping people. Not shaking my ass for every Tom, Dick, and Harry that pays me to!”

Raven was taken aback by his comment. The hurt she felt all those years ago bubbled up and fueled her rage, “Well I’m sorry I don’t have daddy’s bank account to fall back on!”

Jason growled, pushing Raven against the wall, “And this was the only option? Honestly, Raven, I thought you were better than this.”

“And I thought you were more understanding.” She glared at him. “Wasn’t your mother a stripper?”

“And now she’s dead.” Jason breathed out. Jason felt like Raven had just driven a knife into his chest and twisted it. Bringing Bruce into this was one thing, but his mother? She knew damn well that was a sore spot for him. “She was desperate!”

“And I’m not?” She scowled, “You honestly think I would work here if I had a choice!”

Jason took a deep breath, trying to calm the raging pit inside him, “You could have asked for help.”

“From whom, Jason? The Titans? They’re long gone! And the Justice League would never-“

“You could have asked me!”

Raven couldn’t help it. The laugh that came out of her was cold and humorless, but a laugh, nonetheless. “Right, let me just call up the asshole that-“ She stopped herself before she could continue the thought.

“That what? Left you? Hurt you?” He ran his hand through his hair, taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, “Shit, Sunshine. I’m sorry, okay. I shouldn’t have said what I said. I just didn’t know what was going on.”

“Bullshit!” She hissed, “You knew damn well how I felt about you and acted like it was no big deal!”

“I know, okay! I fucked up but please, just talk to me! Let me make it up to you!”

“No,” She shook her head, “This isn’t something you could just make up for Jason. We can’t just go back.”

“Then we shouldn’t.” He stepped closer, watching to see if Raven would move away. He sighed with relief when she didn’t. “Let’s go forward. Let me help you. I can-“

“It’s not that simple, Jason.” Raven held herself as she looked at her feet, “There’s something I need to tell you. Something I should have told you that day.” Jason stood still as Raven searched for the right words to say, “I was…” she paused, finding it almost impossible to speak. “I have, you have,”

“If you can’t say it, then don’t. Just, don’t disappear again.” Jason reached out to Raven, carefully bringing her into another hug. “Shit, Little Bird, I looked everywhere for you.”

“You did?” She squeaked, sinking into his arms.

“I fucked up the second I said that to you. I am so sorry.” He held her tight. For the first time since that day, Jason felt at ease. He always did when Raven was in his arms.

“Jason, we-“

There was a knock at the door and Raven could hear crying. She quickly pulled herself out of his grip and rushed to the door. When she opened it, a large woman carrying a crying baby stood there with a look of irritation.

“Finally. She hasn’t stopped crying for the last twenty minutes and it’s starting to piss me off.”

“She must have missed a feeding,” Raven’s voice was soft as she picked up the child, “Shh, I’ve got you,” She cooed.

Jason stood where Raven had left him. A thousand things were running through his head. Whose kid was that? Raven’s? Who’s the father? Was it his? Was it a clients? Jason saw red for a moment. The thought of Raven being in that situation, being used and tossed to the side, being alone with someone’s child. Had she been doing this alone?

The woman took a quick peak into the room and scoffed, “Didn’t know you were with someone.”

“I can take her from here. Thanks Sister Anna.” The woman scoffed and walked off, leaving Raven with her daughter.

“I-“ She held her daughter close in her arms, “This is Lillian.”

“Is she?”

“Yes.” Raven answered, hushing the frail child in her arms. “Um, do you mind if I?” She gestures to the bed. Jason said nothing. He moved slightly to the side and gestured for her to sit.

Raven took cautious steps towards the bed to sit and removing her bikini top. Lillian wasted no time latching onto Ravens nipple.

“How old is she?” Jason asked, watching the baby drink from her mother.

“Fifteen months, I think.” Raven sighed, “Jason, this is your daughter. She’s why I was so desperate.” She looked up at Jason, tears threatening to spill out. “I shouldn’t have kept her from you. I’m so sorry.”

Jason examined the child. She was almost a carbon copy of Raven. She had Raven’s nose, pale skin, and jet-black hair. If it wasn’t for her teal eyes, Jason wouldn’t have believed her.

“I have a daughter.” He whispered. “She’s,” Jason couldn’t find the words to say. His vision started to blur and he could feel his nose drip. Was he crying? Jason never cried. “She’s perfect.” He choked out. Raven turned away from him, bringing her attention back to the baby in her arms. Lillian had slowly stopped suckling on Raven’s breast, her eyelids heavy.

Jason bent down to Raven’s level, holding out his hands, “Can I?” he asked, gesturing to the half-asleep child. Raven hesitated for a moment before carefully handing Lillian over to her father. Jason carefully held her in his arms. Lillian was staring up at him with groggy eyes. There was a small smile on the baby’s lips. Jason let out a weak sob as he held her close, “Hi,” he whispered, “I’m a dad.” Jason wasn’t sure how to feel. He was a dad. He never thought it was possible.

“I didn’t think you could have kids.”

“I didn’t think I could either.” She admitted, “I’m a half demon and demons already struggle with fertility. But when we go into heat, it becomes possible for full blooded demons.”

Jason thought back to their time together. Throughout their time together, Raven had been in heat once. Jason remembers that week fondly. The way Raven had begged for him. The way she couldn’t hold back her moans when he was inside her. If Jason could, he would go back to those days. He would do things right. He would have told her how he felt the day she came to his door in tears.

“Let me be in her life.” He begged.

“Jason,” She placed a hand on his shoulder, “I didn’t mean to hide her from you for song long. I was hurt and scared. Everything just fell apart so fast.”

“I know. I can’t fix what I said, but please, just let me have a chance. I can’t lose you again.”

Raven wiped the tears from her face and nodded, “I can’t keep you away from her.”

Jason chuckled and nodded, “Can’t keep me away from either of you.”

Raven looked at the time, “Shit,” She mumbled, “I have to get back out there.”

“Wait,” Jason grabbed her arm, “Come home with me. Both of you.”

Raven thought for a moment than shook her head, “I don’t know if I can trust you yet.”

“Raven, please. I can’t let you keep working here.”

“Why would you care? It’s my life.” She stated coldly, repeating the words he told her that day.

“Raven,”

“I need to take Lily back to the daycare and I need to pay rent.” She carefully to Lillian from her father. “Come find me after my shift. We need to talk logistics.” Jason said nothing, he only nodded and stood up. He put his hood back on and followed her out the door.

It was two in the morning when Jason stood in the alley, chain smoking his second pack in the last hour.

“Dude, you gotta quit it with the smoking.” Roy chastised him, “She’ll be coming out soon. I hope.” Roy rubbed his hands together for warmth. It was freezing outside. The snow fell heavily on the streets just like it always did during the winter in Gotham. Roy was never one for the cold but Jason never seemed to care.

“I’ll stop when I see her.” Jason bit back, his nerves frayed from the earlier interaction. He was a father. No matter how many times he said it to himself, it still didn’t feel real. But she felt real. She was so small and so soft. Jason wanted to see her again. To hold Lillian in his arms just to remind himself that she’s real. That he has a child.

The back door to the club squeaked open and Raven came out holding Lillian bundled in a thick jacket and a blanket. Raven on the other hand, was in a pair of pants and a coat that looked like it had been worn one too many times.

“Sorry, it took me longer to get out than expected.” She held Lily close and walked over to Jason. There was a slight limp to her walk, one that Jason hadn’t noticed before.

“You okay, Sunshine?” He asked. Raven cursed herself under her breath. Of course Jason would notice a limp. After all, the world’s greatest detective trained him.

“Yeah,” She said a little too quickly, “I tripped earlier.”

“Another lie,” he thought, but chose to let it go.

“Raven!” Roy jumped out, giving the young woman a bear hug. “It’s been way to long!”

“Roy,” Raven gave her old friend a soft smile, one that made Jason’s heart drop. “It’s good to see you again.”

“And this must be Lillian,” Roy looked down at the baby asleep in her mother’s arms, “She’s adorable! Looks just like her mama.” He smiled brightly at her and Raven couldn’t help but return his smile in kind.

Jason walked over to the pair and held out his arms, “I’ll carry her.” Raven reluctantly handed her daughter to Jason who happily took her and wrapped her in his arms. Jason smiled down at the little girl, moving a strand of hair from her forehead. “We’ll take you home. That way we can talk in private.”

“I live just up the street.” She responded, walking ahead of them. They walked in silence, no one knowing what to say. Jason kept on peeking down at the baby in his arms, still unable to believe she was real.

“She’s a quiet baby.” Raven stated.

“She’s so small,” he whispered.

“I do what I can to keep her fed,” Raven snapped, not looking back at her ex-lover.

Jason winced, “That’s not what I meant.”

“So,” Roy cut in “How long have you been working for Oscar?”

“Just a few months. The diner I used to work at went out of business.”

“Such is the life of a Gothamite.” Roy chuckled. Jason couldn’t be more thankful that Roy was there. He kept the conversation lively and prevented any lingering hostilities between the two. That is until they reached the apartment complex Raven was living in.

Raven didn’t have to use her powers to feel their shock. Raven knew damn well how shitty her apartment was. The gray paint was chipping off the side of the building and there was a hole in the center of the roof. Luckily, Raven’s apartment was on the opposite side of the building to where the hole was. But that didn’t make the place anymore drafty.

She took out her key and unlocked the door. She entered her apartment and turned on the lights. Jason’s heart sank. The carpet had stains that must have been set years ago and the walls were covered in cracks. What relived Jason was the furniture. Ravens small living room had a small old gray couch and a tv. The floor was littered with toys and there was a large baby blanket. Her kitchen had an old stove and a small fried. The microwave had a dial instead of buttons and her coffee machine had seen better days.

“It’s no tower, but it’s better than the street,” Raven chimed in. She walked over to Jason and held out her hands. “Let me put her down then we can talk.”

“Let me,” Roy walked over, carefully taking Lillian from her father, “I’ll keep an eye on her while you talk.” Raven was about to protest when Roy spoke again, “I’ll call if she needs anything.” Roy held the sleeping baby in his and softly cooed, “hey, Lily. I’m your uncle Roy.”

Raven let out a soft sigh and waved Jason to follow her into a small room. Jason looked around her small room. The bed laid on the floor covered in blankets with a crib sitting next to it. There was a small dresser by the window and the closet was missing its door.

Jason looked back to the bed then up at Raven, “guessing the heater’s broke?”

Raven tugged her jacket closer to her chest and glared, “we’re serving, Jason. Lily gets fed and I’m making rent.”

“I’m not judging you, Raven,” he huffed, “I know you’re doing what you can I just wish you would have told me.”

“And what would you have done if I did?”

“I would have stayed.”

“Bullshit.” Raven hissed.

“Why are you so pissed at me? I’m not the one who hid our child from me!”

“I didn’t hide her!”

“Right, sorry. You didn’t hide her, you just never got around to telling me!” Jason took a step forward and Raven stepped back, wincing. “Your hurt.”

“I’m fi-“

“Don’t-“ Jason took a deep breath, trying to calm the storm that’s been brewing for hours, “don’t lie to me. Not anymore tonight.”

His voice came out so soft Raven could have sworn he was begging her. She looked away, trying to find any distraction from her own swirling emotions. “I can heal myself.”

“Then why haven’t you done it yet?”

Raven couldn’t hide from him anymore. The last two years have been hell. Hoping from job to job just to keep food on the table and debt collectors away. Her eyes burned with unscheduled tears and her legs felt ready to give out. She leaned against the wall, trying her damndest to keep the tears from flowing.

“I’ve gotten weaker,” she admitted. Jason took a cautious step closer, ready to grab Raven. They spent too much time together for Jason to not recognize when she was ready to collapse.

“Do you know what caused it?”

She shook her head, “my minds been a mess since I left the tower. And having a baby doesn’t really give me room to meditate or take care of myself.”

“Well I’m here now.” Jason took another cautious step towards Raven l, wrapping his arms around her and letting her fall into him. Jason missed her soft touch more than he realized. Having her in his arms again was a constant dream to him. “Let me help. If not for you, than for Lillian.” Raven let out a weak sob and wrapped her arms around his waist.

Her legs shook too much to keep her up, she slid to the floor with Jason still clinging to her for dear life. Her whole body shook with the force of her unshed tears.

After a few minutes of muffled sobs, Raven had regained enough composure to continue. “What happened, Sunshine?” The softness in his voice had almost brought her back to tears, but she managed to push them down.

“Oscar,” she whispered, “he got upset that Lily interrupted us and he thought you left mad about it.”

“So he hurt you?”

“I could have been worse than just a twisted ankle.” She mumbled

Jason saw red. How could he not? The woman he’s been searching for and the mother of his child was in a dangerous situation. He held Raven tight and carefully lifted the ankle of her pants. Her alkies heel was purple and had started to swell.

“I tripped.” She repeated her statement from earlier, “I technically didn’t lie.”

“But how did you trip?” He gently grabbed Ravens chin, inspecting her face and neck for any markings.

“You won’t find anything. My powers may have weakened, but I can still heal small bruises.”

“so he hit you.” He didn’t state it as a question. Son of the world’s greatest detective, he could figure it out from just the little information she gave him. Oscar got mad, hit her and she tripped in her heels. “Raven,”

“I know,” she cut him off, removing her but I needed the money.”

“I know.” He sighed. There was an awkward pause before either spoke. “Listen, I know I can’t convince you to quit or rely on me until you can get a different job, but please. Let me help.”

“Okay,” Raven conceded, “for Lily.”

“For Lily,” He repeated, “and a bit for you.”

She chuckled, “if it helps you sleep at night, sure.” Jason felt his heart skip a beat. The sound of her laugh was a rare treat to hear. He missed it probably more than he thought was rational. But he missed everything about her.

“I should put Lily to bed, I have to work tomorrow.” Raven carefully stood, Jason helping her.

“With that ankle?”

“I have to pay rent somehow.”

“But-“ Jason cut himself off. He knew damn well telling Raven what to do was a pointless fight. “okay. I’ll be picking Lily up tomorrow before you head out.”

Raven froze for a moment, unsure of what to say, “is your place baby proof?”

“yeah. We still have a bunch of Lians old baby stuff. I’ll put it together before I pick her up.”

She nodded, “okay.”

“I’ll be here around noon?” she nodded, opening the door to Roy holding a sleeping Lillian.

“She was an angel,” Roy smiled, handing the sleeping baby back to her mother.

“Thank you, Roy,” she held Lilian close and looked up at Jason, “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” he looked down at his daughter, “I’ll see you tomorrow, Lily” he whispered, gently patting her head.

Raven watched the men leave. She let out a shaky breath when she was finally alone with her daughter. “Well, I guess you will have your dad in your life.” The baby cooed in her sleep, cuddling into her mother’s chest. “Let’s get you to bed.” Raven carried her to bed carefully putting her in the old crib. She carefully put a blanket over the top of the crib, giver her daughter enough space to breath.

Raven quickly got ready for bed, wrapping her ankle before crawling into her bed and passing out. By tomorrow, her ankle should be healed, but Raven still remained cautious.

_______________________________

Jason walked down the sidewalk, Roy following close behind with a smile on his face. "So..." Roy said, elbowing his friend, "How does it feel to be a dad?"

"I'm not sure," Jason hummed, his face scrunched in a look of thought, "I'm angry Rae hid it, but I guess I'm... happy?" He sighed, "I'm not sure. I'm probably going to fuck it up like my folks did. Or worse, like Bruce."

Roy scoffed, "Please! You should learn from it! Plus, I think Raven is a good mom. Did you see how she held her! Man, if Jade acted like that towards Lian, I'd-" There was a swift kick to Roys' ribs, making him fall to his knees, "Noted," he groaned.

"You should know not to say shit like that."

"why?" The archer huffed, getting off the ground, "you've never cared when I've talked like that before? Is it because of-" There was another kick. But not to his ribs, Roy cupped his groin as he fell to the floor, trying to breathe, "Noted." He squeaked, voice higher than normal.

"Say one more word, and I'll make sure you can't have another kid." Jason snarled, the pit almost overflowing, which seemed like the running theme tonight. Roy shut up as they walked the rest of the way home in silence.

#jayrae #jason todd #teentitans #raven teen titans #batfam #dc comics #roy harper

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frozenangelcosplay · 4 months

Text

The Case for Jimmywing

You can skip to “Let’s start at the beginning” for the actual content of what I’m analyzing.

So about a year and a half ago, I happened upon a trade paperback of “Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen: who killed Jimmy Olsen” at a comic book store we regularly drive an hour just to go to. I found the coat tail riding title self deprecating and hilarious and it instantly became a favorite of mine. And it fucking ruined my life.

For a split second I mistook Jimmy Olsen for being part of Nightwing’s “Ginger Harem” as they call it. I thought “he had to be, right? Like statistically?” He’s part of the young adult demographic, or ‘gen 2’ as I call them, he and Dick are both huge parts of Clark’s life to the extent where they gotta at least be friends, and no one would be shocked if he was one of the redhead’s Dick’s “collected” as they say. So why the hell was there nothing on the internet falling for this obvious set up?

(For context the human geography of fandom behavior is of high interest to me)

This was quite a bit of an anomaly, so I set out for some research. I brushed over results from the silver age initially and saw there was just one panel coming up with both of them in present art style (a twenty years in the future thing). It was more of a Jimmy Olsen cameo than anything where all I learned is they’re not familiar these days. I still liked the idea though and if I left my digging there I probably would’ve let it go a while ago. But then I looked INTO the silver age stuff and OH BOY IS THERE A LOT TO UNPACK HERE.

Long story short, they were written as close friends for years and I feel like DC is trying to gaslight me personally into pretending it didn’t happen. There’s a lot of potential to pick up where they left off with everything that’s happened in their stories since but there’s little to no sign of taking advantage of that anytime soon.

Let’s start at the beginning…

In 1940 both Batman and Superman separately acquired child sidekicks. A pair of eyes in the story the same age of the target audience’s to see themselves in and relate to. Robin would make his debut in the comics as Batman’s sidekick, would be Bruce Wayne’s legal ward, and also dawn combat training, gadgets, and a costumed vigilante identity. Jimmy Olsen would be a cub reporter at the daily planet where Clark Kent worked (a position specified beyond it’s dictionary definition as a teen internship position in “Superman Smashes the Klan”, which is set in the radio show cannon) and help at Superman’s side as himself.

Later, particularly with the classic comic run “World’s Finest”, in a world much less saturated with superheroes, let alone sidekicks, than we have today, the sidekicks of the stars of these comics easily became close friends. Most notable adventure by today’s standard would be World’s finest # 195, probably due to it’s shock and meme value cover of Batman and Superman making their sidekicks dig their own graves.

A personal favorite of mine would be World’s Finest #141 where the sidekicks run away to an island and fake their deaths, making it the first of at least twice they do that together (another being near the end of #195). Here they establish a secret hideout in the mountains in an abandoned observatory to keep souvenirs from their respective mentor’s adventures, and some of their own. (Notably two dummies of themselves Batman and Superman had just used to get back at them for pulling this stunt).

In Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, Jimmy has also filled in for Robin twice. First time was to get Jimmy into the Mystery analysts (#111), second was to settle a bet after Robin beat him in a “Young Man of the Year” pageant (#130). In #111 this is where Robin trained Jimmy in combat, and some gadget use so he’s got that under his belt now enough to do it all again at least.

Also quick fun fact before I move on, Jimmy knew Robin and Batman’s secret identities LONG before he knew Superman’s. In World’s Finest #144, due to the fact that Jimmy was radiating kryptonite, he and Robin switched mentors and Batman pretty much immediately told him that he was Bruce Wayne, and Dick Grayson was Robin (told with Robin’s approval). A bit of an anomaly, but it carried forth in continuity.

Anyway, if you try to look up any shared adventure’s in recent comics, you’ll unceremoniously get nothing. I mentioned earlier Jimmy’s cameo in “Nightwing the New Order”, and there’s also like two crossed paths in the current World’s Finest run (a flashback continuity) and it just seemed like their dynamic then was just that Robin was relatively annoyed with Jimmy for being the one to debunk Mr. Mxyzptlk and Batmite’s disguises. (Rude?!)

I can’t find ANYTHING that explains this drift. My estimate would be that their dynamic died out some time between Dick joining the Titans and becoming Nightwing. But still remains a glaring connection.

Nightwing and Flamebird

So the first time that the Nightwing mantle debuted it was Superman as Nightwing with Jimmy as Flamebird. They went as these heroes into the bottle city of Kandor on multiple occasions. At the time they modeled these personas off of two kinds of birds found in Kandor, taking inspiration from Batman and Robin. The people of Kandor were convinced that Superman was actively refusing to grow the city again, and deemed him an enemy, which justified the disguises.

You still see this referenced every now and then, usually in museums and stuff, in fact, remember that observatory hideout? Statues and/or costumes of Superman’s and Jimmy’s Nightwing and Flamebird are on prominent display. In fact, Robin and Jimmy landed on naming the place itself “The Eyrie”, because as Robin said:

“In a way, we’re both birds. You’ve been Flamebird, and I’m Robin. So let’s call it the Eyrie!”

They revisit it now and then, but it seems to have been forgotten at this point.

Now since then there have been multiple pairs of Nightwings and Flamebirds. Obviously we know Dick Grayson is THE Nightwing and has been for a long time. The most consistent Flamebird however would be Bette Kane, and here’s where this gets interesting.

So there’s a full Krytonian legend surrounding Nightwing and Flamebird, from what I can tell, different versions, from heroes to gods etc. The most complete version I can only find on the wiki, so if you know where it’s from please let me know!

Here’s the link: https://superman.fandom.com/wiki/Nightwing_and_Flamebird

Here’s the quote:

“The true Flamebird is a massive, flaming dragon-like creature from deep in Krypton's past. The bird's partner is Nightwing, who is also its mate and opposite.

Among the early Kryptonian Gods, Flamebird was charged by almighty Rao with constantly refreshing the world by burning down the new creations of her brother, Vohc-The-Builder. She did so, but there was no hostility between the two; Vohc was grateful that Flamebird constantly pushed him to reimagine his works.

However, to help his friend, Nightwing, Vohc made it possible for him to meet flamebird. As such those two fell in love. Vohc's next creation was a monument representing all of his love for Flamebird. While Flamebird truly admired and appreciated the work, she fulfilled her duty to Rao by burning it down. This time Vohc actually begged for this work to be saved, but Flamebird ignored him. This destroyed much of Vohc and changed him into Vohc-The-Breaker. (Comic Series: Action Comics)

In each cycle, the Nightwing and the Flamebird are reborn, and must find each other. Also in each cycle, they are betrayed by a friend and killed.”

It cites action comics but I can’t narrow it down. My guess is that it came up when Thara Ak-Var and Chris Kent held the mantles.

So Bette Kane initially took up the Flamebird mantle to get Dick’s attention (while he was still Robin). He rejected her and it didn’t really work out which in the grand scheme of all things considered, makes sense thematically in a “pushing fate” kind of way. She was Flamebird for a while after that, even seen fighting beside Dick Grayson’s Nightwing every now and then, but hasn’t been Flamebird since before rebirth so currently no one seems to hold the mantle at present (technically).

So where does that leave Flamebird now?

Well this year, two interesting things have come up. One, in the new cartoon “My Adventures with Superman”, Jimmy is Flamebird again in the form of a username for his conspiracy blog. As of now, he just seemed to come up with it cause it sounds cool, so unless they pull out a “what a coincidence” or back story of how he found the name, that’s probably the extent of Flamebird’s roll there.

The second is in Action Comics #1058 where Kara reveals that Nightwing and Flamebird is actually the fable of the House of El. Each Krytonian house had a fable and this one is spesific to Superman and his family.

Now from here on out this is all just my thinking. “Theory” would even be a strong word implying that I legitimately think this is what is going on. Call this “if I were in charge of this story this is how this would go”

So what now?

Dick as a fated Nightwing makes so much sense for him. Pretty much all of his best qualities as a person can be seen in Superman and in it’s been said time and time again that he got the title from him. There’s that connection. That has my thinking that Nightwing and Flamebird would have a strong connection to the House of El, i.e., Superman. We know Nightwing is Dick, we know Dick looks up to Superman like, frankly most of the time, a better dad than Bruce. Low bar, but still.

And with this connection in mind, and all the history stated earlier with not just Jimmy’s long history with not just Dick, but Superman as well, he seems like the obvious choice to me. They state over and over again how Jimmy proves his loyalty, he’ll charge into danger like it’s nothing (a trait I personally think he picked up from Lois) and he is always such a fun narrator when handed the mic. He’s earned it.

As far as the ship goes, aside from it potentially being a huge payoff for a sixty year old saga of legends of love, heroism, and fate, the dynamics of their modern personalities would be unparalleled.

Over all its fricken WEIRD that their dynamic was just randomly forgotten like that, especially with everything built around them that you’d think would have them at least cross paths. I don’t hold not having a romantic relationship between them against DC, nor do I ever expect them to ever take that route any times soon, but come on man why aren’t they at least friends anymore?

#nightwing #flamebird #dick grayson #Jimmy Olsen #dc comics #comics #superman #krypton #worlds finest

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soldiersam · 1 month

Text

The Tragic Accountant

It was a seemingly normal Slornday morning just like any other, and it was a few minutes before service was to start at the Glornch. Attendees were filing into the sanctuary and finding their seats in the pews.

Thomas was usually the last of the acolytes to arrive, and always chose to sit near the back. That morning, he was filled with more dread than usual. The past few weeks for him had been a rollercoaster of emotions, between gaining a new friend with Clay, a new hope in Gropism, a renewed fear of Glornism, and a possible enemy with Theodore, of all people. One thing was for sure, and it was that he'd rather be anywhere else but there. And yet, there he was.

Thomas’ dread was further compounded when he saw the fellow acolyte and wretched bully Sam sitting next to his usual seat. Thomas worriedly looked around for any other open spot, which was now trickier since the spectacle of Bishop Percival’s horrifying win against Commander Peepers drew more attention to Slornday services. Thomas spotted an empty seat next to some random watchdog, but before he could sit down, he felt the hood of his robe get tugged back.

“Hey c’mon Thomas pal, sit next to me!” Of course it was Sam.

Thomas shuddered but put on a nervous smile. “O-okay!” He complied and sat down with Sam to prevent being tugged around more.

“Uhm, why aren’t you sitting next to Amy? L-like usual?,” Thomas asked as he pointed toward the front.

Sam shrugged. "She’s mad at me. So I figured I’d sit next to my second bff, Thomas.”

“Second bff?,” Thomas repeated curiously. “Heh, but, y-you’re always saying how much you hate me, always making fun of me for being a friendless loser, always explaining in graphic detail all the ways you could kill me and—”

He was cut off when Sam put one arm around Thomas’ shoulders and pulled him close to give the top of his head a noogie.

“Are ya stupid? How long have you been a Glornist and still don’t know that’s just the way we speak ‘round here? ‘I hate you’ practically means ‘I love you!’ I give ya a tough time to harden you up! It’s what we’re supposed to do.”

Thomas squirmed out of Sam’s grip and readjusted his red hood. “O-oh, well, it’s just-”

He was again interrupted when Sam slapped a hand to Thomas’ mouth. “Shh! It’s starting!”

🗲

The Most Reverend Bishop Percival ascended the pulpit and tapped the microphone on the podium within. He seemed a bit stern and lacked his usual playful energy. He’d been this way since losing his mitre.

“Salutations everyone, it’s my displeasure to welcome you all here this wretched Slornday morning into our mighty Church of Glorn. Today we’ll be holding our usual worshiper confessions, followed by my sermon titled “How You Can Harness Glorn’s Righteous Cruelty.” Following that is the historical discourse delivered by Reverend Mike titled,” Percy sighed as if he was bored from the mere title, “The Rise of the Intergalactic Mazka Empire Under Glornism and its Fall Under Gropism.”

“We will now begin with our commencement bows and claps. For you new faces among us, feel free to join in or simply observe.”

The Bishop led the congregation through the customary bowing and clapping, then wrapped up commencement with a prayer. Once he said ‘amen’ he sprang his head up and clasped his hands together.

“Alrighty, let’s begin our worshiper confessions, shall we? Any volunteers to start us off?”

Almost every Slornday, Sam was the first to shoot her hand up and go. But this morning, she stayed quiet and put. Thomas definitely noticed this unfamiliar behavior. Did Sam not do anything too evil this week and was reluctant to go? That didn’t seem like Sam…

So Thomas sat wondering what could be going on as each appointed member of the congregation took turns proudly confessing their sins. Bishop Percival even let a few non-initiated congregants who had been regularly visiting give it a go. While the non-initiated were technically allowed to partake in confession, they weren’t required to like the initiated were. Percival usually ignored them as he thought they were often boring.

Finally, the Bishop recognized the morning’s confession session was winding down, but he felt like he was forgetting some members. “Now who hasn’t gone yet?”

He squinted and scanned the audience before spotting his answer, sitting together. Ah, right, Thomas and Sam. Well the Bishop knew he’d pick Sam to confess over Thomas any day, so he excitedly pointed at him.

“Ah, Slimy Sam! Where’ve you been all morning? Get on up here and indulge your slimy sins to Glorn and us!”

Sam slowly rose from the pew and gave a bow. He spoke with eloquence unbecoming of him. “Respected Bishop, I must forewarn that my confession this morning is going to be quite unconventional. You see, instead of confessing my own sins, I wish to tell you about a grievous misdeed a fellow acolyte committed on his behalf.”

“Huh? What’re you talking about?,” Percy replied.

“I wish to report the crimes of Thomas.”

Thomas’ eye widened with alarm. “O-on my behalf? But I’m right here! A-and I haven’t really done anything outside of my usual stuff…”

Sam looked at him. She bent down and retrieved a small business suitcase from under the pew. She then grabbed Thomas’ arm and pulled him to stand up.

“Whatever. May we come up to the pulpit, Bishop Percival?”

Percy figured it’d be fine to hit two birds with one stone to finally wrap up the confessions. “I’m annoyed, confused, and a little intrigued. Sure, get on up here you two,” he granted.

Thomas stumbled behind the confidant acolyte as they dragged him down the aisle. “S-Sam, what’re you doing? I really don’t have anything interesting, you can take your own turn..,” he whispered as he futilely tried to tug his arm out of Sam’s grip.

Sam didn’t reply to Thomas, but just smiled and continued forward. Thomas tried to run through positive scenarios in his head to give this situation yet another pathetic, flimsy benefit of a doubt. Maybe it was just another prank that was hopefully harmless in the end. Or maybe… What if Sam was trying to glamorize Thomas’ sins to help up his approval with Bishop Percival? If that was the case, maybe Sam… Did consider him a friend?

But upon catching a glimpse of Theodore on his way up to the pulpit, all wishful thoughts immediately flushed from Thomas’ head as he remembered their encounter at lunch a few days ago.

Thomas was too nice. Too weak. Too naive. And the most likely to be sacrificed. Who was he kidding? Sam wasn’t dragging Thomas up there to help him, nor were they his friend. He knew full well he was being brought before the congregation to be exposed as a miserable Gropist. Just one slip up in front of Theodore really had led to this so quickly, huh?

It was hard to focus on thinking about ways to escape this situation when Thomas was so panicked. And before he knew it, he was up in the pulpit, Sam on his right still holding his arm in a vice grip, Bishop Percival on his left, and the entire congregation staring at him.

Sam set the suitcase on the lectern and tapped the microphone.

“Wicked freaks of the congregation, Thomas here has been holding out on us. He has been deceitful. The unfortunate thing is, however, his crime has not been Glorn-honoring. In fact it’s us who’ve been deceived!”

A smile creeped across the Bishop’s face as he tilted his head. “Oh? How so?”

Thomas was shaking and sweating. The entire time Sam was talking, he was praying to Grop. Silently, of course, as Theodore suggested. But… It just didn’t feel right. Being silent felt hopeless. Thomas then remembered something he read from the Gospel of Grop (or the Grospel, if you will.) It was an account of a disciple who, when surrounded and persecuted by adversaries, loudly proclaimed their faith in Grop. In turn, Grop granted them a miracle and allowed the disciple to escape safe and sound. It gave Thomas a sliver of hope. It was his last resort.

So when Percival asked ‘how so,’ before Sam could sling her accusation that she’d been looking forward to for weeks, Thomas shouted at the top of his lungs,

“Grop, allow me to survive these demons unscathed and you will gain a devout disciple!”

He then immediately sucker punched Sam in the face. While Thomas was by no means a strong watchdog, the surprise of it all made Sam let go while they recoiled. Freed, Thomas clambered on top of the lectern, over the railing to jump down from the pulpit, and made a beeline for the door. The audience, and surprisingly Bishop Percival, did nothing as they watched the heretic flee in shock.

And Thomas actually made it out of the Glornch! Uncontested! It was a miracle! But it wasn’t over just yet. He still had to flee far, far away from the Skullship.

“Thank you, Grop! Thank you!,” he shouted as he continued running for the ship’s hangar.

🗲

Back in the Glornch, while the audience was abuzz about what just happened, Bishop Percival looked to Reverend Miriam sitting at the organ. She felt his gaze and looked back at him. He silently gestured his head toward the door. The priestess knew what that meant; she had a target to hunt down. She quietly got up and slipped through the main vestry door to take a back way out of the Glornch.

The Bishop then turned to Sam. “Ya alright there?”

Sam finished rubbing his eye. “Pff, yeah. Like being punched by a butterfly or something.”

He then angrily gripped his fists onto the lectern, losing his previous eloquence. “Damn it! I was so excited to grill and expose that dumbass myself!” He gestured at the suitcase. “I even got like, criminalizing evidence on his laptop I stole. And Deacon Cyrus helped me get audio of him shit-talking the Glornch! All of that just for him to admit it himself and run away…”

Percival gave a reassuring smile. “Haha, ah, well rest assured Big Top Thomas will be held accountable for his heresy. We will not let Glorn be insulted like this!” He then placed a hand on Sam’s shoulder. “Regardless, thank you for bringing it to our attention, Slimy. And I would still like to hear that audio. Later, though. This situation is the perfect segue into my sermon!”

The Bishop nudged Sam’s shoulder toward the pulpit stairs. They dejectedly sighed and grabbed the suitcase before slinking back to their seat.

“Well! What an interesting start to our morning, huh folks? The rest of today’s mass will explain precisely why fools like Thomas who try to defy Glorn bring nothing but shame and suffering to themselves.”

The Bishop placed a Glorble on the lectern and opened it up to commence his lecture. And Slornday mass continued on.

🗲

Just as service wrapped up and attendees were filing out of the Glornch, Reverend Miriam returned to it. She entered through the secret back way which she had left from, out of sight from the leaving crowds. In her arms was an unconscious Thomas.

When Thomas had gotten to the hangar, workers and guards barred him from taking any hovercycles or saucers since he didn’t have the proper clearance or authorization to do so. And unfortunately, “I’m wanted dead by the Glornitsts!” wasn’t valid enough.

Miriam had tracked Thomas to the hanger with her scrying. When she made it there herself, she found him patiently filling out a saucer request form in a quiet corner. Needless to say, it wasn’t a hard feat to knock him out by surprise and take him back.

The priestess made her way into the depths of the Glornch, winding her way through dark twisting halls and stairwells to arrive at their very own secret dungeon. She gently laid Thomas on the floor of a cell and cuffed his hands. She stood over him and gave a small prayer to Mother’s Eye, asking her to forgive not Thomas, but Miriam herself, for aiding in the likely-death of yet another watchdog.

“...But I’m sure you understand by now that it’s necessary,” the priestess concluded her prayer with. After that, she stepped out of the cell, closed and locked the metal bar door, and took one last look at the unconscious Thomas.

“...Dumbass,” Miriam muttered as she turned and made her way to Bishop Percival’s office to let him know their prey was caught.

#thomas #claythewatchdog #stuckinuniformdevelopment #long post #fic #the tragic accountant

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heaven-s-black-box · 11 days

Text

When I Woke Up- Nahida & fem!Reader

Return to File

Recovery date: April 16th, 2024

Description: Hello I'm sorry if I'm bothering you but I wanted to request an idea I just got that's based on the Sumeru archon quest, okay so what if the reader, who posses a vision, has dreams with Nahida ever since she was a child until she became a teenager, they'd play and do all kinds of things together in a beautiful flower field and the reader even started to view Nahida as a younger sister despite Nahida being hundreds of years older, but one day when the reader just became a teenager Nahida tells the reader what was happening with the sages and how she was basically imprisoned on the Sanctuary of Surasthana, just as the traveler and Paimon arrive in Sumeru, which infuriates the reader especially since she couldn't stand the sage's arrogance especially since she was friends with a lot of people in Sumeru including Nilou and it would take almost everything in her power to not lose her temper.

Notes: This work was recovered in conjunction with an anonymous researcher, we thank them for their contributions. Reader's like, 19 here, and I image people get their akasha terminals at 8. Anyways, Reader isn't really hot headed like the request kind of implied, she's more just impulsive. Also this ended up being super long. Finally, it starts in first person but 90% of this is third person.

Word count: 2 333

Back to directory

When I woke up, I was riding in a flower carriage. There was a girl my age with white hair and skin as pale as moonlight. Her eyes were so green they looked like they were glowing. She told me her name was Nahida, I told her my name was Y/n. We talked for hours, and hours until I woke up.

When I woke up, I was riding in a flower carriage. Nahida looked the same, but I was taller now. She cupped my face and said she had to look up at me now. I braided her hair as we talked, and talked, until I woke up.

When I woke up, I was… Nahida was crying. She looked the same as ever, but I could barely lay down in the flower carriage now. I cupped her face in my hands and brushed the tears off her cheeks.

“Why are you crying?”

“I-I want to meet you,” Nahida sobbed, holding onto my hands. “I want to meet you before…”

When I woke up, I was in my room, with a hydro vision clutched in my hand and tears soaking my pillow.

---

“Good morning Nilou,” Y/n beamed as she set a box down backstage.

“Good morning,” Nilou laughed.

The dancer was busy stretching while everyone else set up for the Sabzeruz Festival. Y/n sat down across from Nilou and began to join in on her stretches.

“You seem to be in a good mood today.”

“Ya well, I have a feeling I’ll get to meet a friend of mine soon,” Y/n hummed. Nilou finished stretching and helped her up. The two made their way to the edge of the stage and looked out over the Grand Bazaar.

“Your pen pal? Is she planning on visiting Sumeru soon?”

“Something like that…”

Nilou turned to Y/n, brows furrowed in confusion, when she finally saw it.

“You have a vision!” Nilou squealed, causing Y/n to break out into a wide grin.

“I know, isn’t it cool? And it’s hydro, like yours!”

The sound of the Bazaar doors opening caught both of their attention, and they turned to see Dunyarzad waving from the far end. Both girls waved back, and Y/n jumped down from the stage earning herself a scolding from some of the other stage hands while Nilou rushed down the stairs. Dunyarzad and Dehya introduced the two to Lumine and Paimon, travelers who were hoping to meet Lesser Lord Kusanali.

Y/n’s fingers tightened around her sleeve at the mention of the archon.

Meanwhile the mention of the Lesser Lord sent Nilou on an explanation about the Sabzeruz Festival. Nilou somehow ended up on a lament about the Padisarahs being different from the ones found in the time of the Goddess of Flowers.

“She dreams of being able to dance among ‘real’,” Y/n put air quotes around the word real, “Pardisarahs.”

“Don’t tell me you don’t wonder what they look like in comparison,” Nilou huffed.

I’ve seen them.

“Well, take a look around,” Nilou urges, “and be sure to come check out the Festival!”

“We will!” Paimon assures her before she and the Traveler wander off.

“Hey, Nilou?”

“Yes?”

“I’m gonna take off for the day, if that’s okay. I promise I’ll come by extra early tomorrow to help with last minute setup, there’s just something I want to handle before tomorrow.”

Nilou frowned, and Y/n found herself silently praying for the girl’s unwavering trust to extend to this one request. The dancer knew how much the festival meant to Y/n, so for her to dip out of set up it must have been important.

“Alright,” Nilou sighed, clearly reluctant. “I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

“Absolutely.”

Y/n pulled her friend into a tight hug.

“See you!”

“Bye!”

Y/n quickly ascended the streets that wrapped around the massive tree. She kept an eye out for some kind of hidden path that led higher into the tree where she could barely see a building, the Sanctuary of Surasthana, but she ended up on the path to the Academia. As naturally as possible, she tried to look around the building to see if there was another path off to the side but found nothing.

Seeing as she wasn’t a scholar, she couldn’t very well waltz into the building so see if there was a door that let out closer to the building she was aiming for. She’d climb this damn tree if she had too, but even then she needed to get closer to the Sanctuary.

She watched a student enter the building with someone else, the student was explaining something about an old language and her companion was interjecting with information from a recent excavation-

Y/n runs back down the path towards Puspa cafe. It was around lunch time so hopefully he would be there.

Upon her arrival, she made a B-line for Enteka.

“Enteka, hey,” she greeted the acting manager.

“Oh, Y/n, want the usual?”

“Actually I’ll just take some candied Ajilenakh nuts to go please, I’m on a mission.”

“Of course,” she passed on the order. “So, what can I do for you?”

“Have you seen Cyno today?”

The woman frowned and looked pensive for a moment.

“No, it’s actually been a few days since I last saw him.”

“Damn,” Y/n sighed. “Thanks.”

Y/n headed up to the counter to grab her bag of candied nuts and pay before leaving. Munching on the nuts, she headed to the corps of thirty to ask around some more about the General Mahamatra.

The corps of thirty didn’t know anything, but they suggested checking in with Cyrus to see if he’d heard from him, so that’s where she went next. Of course no visit with Cyrus could be short as the man offered her some coffee and insisted she looked stressed.

“Thank you Master Cyrus,” Y/n smiled as she stepped out of his house.

“Next time you come by, bring Cyno with you!”

“I will!”

Y/n sighed as soon as the door closed and looked out at the horizon. The sun was setting and she was no closer to finding Cyno to get into the Academia. A part of her hoped she could free Nahida and bring her to the festival tomorrow, it would only be right after all, but it seemed like that wouldn’t be happening.

She stopped walking suddenly, watching the ground carefully. A moment after her, the person behind her stopped walking; their shadow was almost completely melded with the growing darkness, and she’d only caught sight of them thanks to the street lights.

Taking a deep breath, she started walking a little faster. Her pursuer kept pace, staying at a slight distance.

Instead of heading to her home, Y/n redirected herself to Nilou’s– something her pursuer must have known, somehow, because suddenly she was pulled back and a hand was clamped over her mouth. Y/n thrashed about, trying to scream. In the back of her mind she recognized the sleeves of her captor, but before she could make a get away she felt a sharp pinch in her neck. After a few moments, her body felt heavy and everything went dark.

For the first time in her life, Y/n entered a dreamless sleep.

When she came to, she was restrained to a bed in what she guessed was the Academia. She opened her mouth to speak, but quickly bit her tongue as she considered the consequences of being awake. Not that anything would change, as a voice spoke up addressing her.

“One result, can ruin an entire experiment worth of data. Somehow, your dreams were never uploaded to the Akasha.”

A man with blue hair and a pointy black mask sat beside her. Y/n felt like he was watching her, but she could see his eyes. He was holding a clipboard with a page folded over like he was in the middle of looking it over.

“Eleven years… and those fools couldn’t tell they were completely missing someone. So tell me, how did you do it?”

He was definitely staring at her now.

“Who are you?”

“Answer the question.”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

The corners of the man’s mouth turned down before he let out an exhausted sigh and got up.

“What business do you have with the General Mahamatra?”

“Why do you want to know?”

She could see the man flex his empty hand in annoyance as he looked over something on a nearby table. Y/n tried to wiggle her hands out of the restraints, to no avail.

“I don’t have time for this,” the man snapped, storming out of the room.

The sudden outburst startled her, causing her to yank a little too hard on her restraints and hurt herself. As she whined in pain, two eremites came in, cautiously releasing her from her restraints to escort her away.

They started with her wrists. In the moment between her right wrist being freed and the erimite taking hold of her again, she jabbed the heel of her palm into his face. She hit his nose, stunning him, giving herself a chance to grab his scabbard which she swung at the other erimite.

Unfortunately, in the time it took her to turn back to the first erimite, the man had recovered and began wrestling her for his scabbard. He managed to take it back, and the other man stopped Y/n from hitting either of them.

It took a while, but they wrestled her into the confinement room in the Academia and left.

Night after dreamless night passed her by as she wandered around the cell. There was no obvious way to escape and her vision, which she hadn’t even used yet, had been confiscated upon her initial capture. Y/n had taken to meditating to try and make contact with Nahida since they must have been close to each other, but she had no luck.

Anxiety started to creep up in her mind. How long would she be kept here? Where had Cyno gone? Was Nilou worried about her? How long had she been here?

A sudden commotion outside cut through her spiral.

“Let us go!” A familiar high pitched voice whined, accompanied by the sound of heels on the stone floor.

Y/n scrambled to her feet and stood in front of the door as it opened, and the blonde traveler and her floating companion were tossed it. They seemed surprised to see here, but the floating companion quickly turned around and started banging on the door.

“ Aargh, don’t lock us up! Let us out! Waah!”

“They’re probably gone by now,” Y/n sighed.

“Oh yeah, hehe… Paimon got a bit carried away there.” She floated up to the traveler. “How was Paimon’s acting just now? Great, huh?”

“Acting?”

Lumine nodded. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself and seemed to consider her words for a moment.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’ve been here for ages. I was looking for a friend and then I got kidnapped, I’ve been here ever since. Apparently there was something about the Academia not collecting my dreams?”

Paimon and Lumine shared a conspiratory glance before filling Y/n in everything that had happened since her disappearance.

“I want to help.”

“But-”

“Please, Nahida, she’s my friend. That’s… that’s what I was doing when I got captured. I mean it sounds stupid now, I woke up with a vision after she told me that the Sage’s had her trapped here, and my first thought was to break her out so she could see the Sabzeruz Festival.”

“Maybe that’s why the Akasha couldn’t collect your dreams,” Lumine mumbled. She seemed hesitant, but she agreed to let Y/n help. “We need to find the place with the best signal in the room to talk to Nahida. Any suggestions?”

“Um,” Y/n looked at the sky and turned around a few times as she tried to picture where she was, “over here is probably the closest to the Sanctuary,” she said as she walked over toa corner.

“Thanks.”

“Eh, is this the right spot? Are you getting anything?”

“It’s faint, but… I have a signal.”

“Aah, please work.”

Paimona dn Y/n went silent as Lumine entered the realm of consciousness through the akasha. Once they were sure she was through, Paimon turned to Y/n.

“So, what was your plan?”

“I uh… I was looking for a friend to help me get into the Academia so I could try to find a way to get to the Sanctuary. Then I was sort of just going too… walk in.”

“No offense, but I think our plan is better,” Paimon said.

It was a better plan, and before Y/n knew it they were out of the confinement room. Once Dehya left, Y/n led Paimon and Lumine up to the Sanctuary of Surasthana. The three stopped at the door.

“I think you should go in first,” Lumine said, hand hovering just in front of the door.

“Wha-huh? But, this is your plan, you’re the ones saving her.”

“Paimon thinks Lumine is right. You’re her friend, you should be the first one she sees.”

Hesitantly, Y/n pushed open the door and led the three inside. She’d hoped to make it here on her own merit, but that didn’t matter. Not now, as she watched the glowing ball that served as Nahida’s cage disperse. Not as she watched her friend, her sister, float down to the ground.

“Nahida…” Paimon whispered, and Lumine nudged Y/n forward.

Y/n’s steps were slow as she approached the archon.

“Hello,” Nahida smiled, looking up at Y/n. “Should I say ‘it’s nice to meet you’?”

Y/n crouched down to the archon’s level, returning her sweet smile.

“I would say, it’s good to see you again,” Y/n laughed before pulling Nahida into a hug.

#researcher s's recovery #genshin impact #genshin impact nahida #nahida #nahida & reader #reader insert #female reader #oneshot #genshin impact oneshot #rating unavailable

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monstersdownthepath · 1 year

Text

Duke of Avernus: Furcas, Knight of the Laurels

CR 27

Lawful Evil Huge Outsider

Hell Unleashed, pg. 38~39

Since ol’ Asmodeus was such a stinker and I hate leaving End of the World months on sour notes, how about one last one just before the curtain is called for good? Before we close the book on Hell for the time being, we’ll take a look at one of the most mysterious and confusing beings in all of Pathfinder! Not because of his motives, or his character, or his statblock and abilities. No no, Furcas represents a mystery so baffling I can’t for the life of me solve it: His stat block does not exist anywhere on the internet. It’s not on Archives of Nethys--which has his cool weapon, and a bunch of stuff from Hell Unleashed, but not him--it’s not on d20PFSRD, and my scouring of Google, Reddit, and Paizo’s own forums come up blank! It’s a mystery! Anyone who primarily uses AoN and PFSRD may not even know this guy exists! But that’s exactly why I’m putting my foot down today and doing what I must to bring the Knight of the Laurels into the spotlight.

A strange soldier in every respect, Furcas holds a divine portfolio of Duty, Flames, and Herbalism, and aids in both the defense of Avernus and the transport of souls to and from Hell’s first layer. Equal parts guardian and gardener, Furcas was around before the current Lord of the First, Barbatos (who he surpasses in CR by exactly 1, amusingly enough), took up his position, his previous boss being the now-dead Typhon, who was slain for engaging in forbidden dalliances with Lamashtu, the Demon Queen. Big oopsie there, pal, but good thing Furcas is here to pick up your slack! While he doesn’t have his current boss’ omniscience, he has something that Barbatos sorely lacks: the ability to engage multiple powerful enemies in combat.

As one of Avernus’ guardians and wardens, he must me prepared to face a surprise combat at any time, prepared to defend the borders against any and all incursions... and boy is he prepared. Once he’s engaged an enemy, there’s little hope for them to escape.

Furcas is equal parts unstoppable force and immovable object, to the most ridiculously literal extreme possible. He’s affected by a constant Freedom of Movement and, besides that, has a unique (and ironic) ability: Immovable. So long as he’s conscious, nothing can move Furcas unless he wants to be moved. He cannot be teleported, tripped, knocked prone, or so much as budged an inch in any direction by anything less than another demigod or an Artifact. On the opposite side of this coin, his monstrous strength makes his every movement an Irresistible Force, DOUBLING the distance he moves any creature via any method he has in his repertoire, such as Awesome Blow, bull rushing, or by using his at-will Telekinesis.

His position cannot be controlled, but he can freely control everyone else’s movement, especially since he has battlefield shapers like Thorny Entanglement and Wall of Stone at will, neither of which impede him. If the fight isn’t going in his favor, he can also flip the table with a spell we rarely see: Reverse Gravity, 3/day. Immune to the floor becoming the ceiling thanks to his constant Air Walk, the whole party will need some way to either undo his spell (three times) or navigate their flipped perspective before he can close in, because melee with Furcas hurts now and later.

Unless he just coup de grace’d the whole party at the start, because for WHATEVER reason, Paizo saw fit to give this horseman Overwhelming Presence 3/day, too, as if a single casting of it isn’t enough to negate an entire battle. Granted, it’s useful as a power move when he deigns to grace the city of Dis with his presence, forcing the proles and dregs to bow to him whether they want to or not on his way in and out. Terrifying when it gets pulled on the party and one or two people fail their saves, though, because it’s basically a Maze spell at that point; no way out unless someone dispels the effect or they finally succeed... and become staggered for several rounds. Even success causes a stagger, preventing Full-Attacks against him for at least one round.

His Armor of Thorns makes attacking him in melee unwise, lashing out against any creature who strikes him with a non-reach weapon and dealing 1d8+7 damage each time. In addition, however, the thorns carry a poison with a DC 40 save to resist it. The poison deals no damage to ability damage, but carries something arguably just as punishing: Failing the save once fatigues the victim, but failing twice causes them to be exhausted instead, and the poison pings every round for ten rounds and is only successfully shrugged off if the victim succeeds three saves in a row. This same poison can be thrown via a stinging barb as a ranged attack once every 1d4 rounds, the Barb dealing 1d4+15 damage in addition to the poison... UNLESS he feels like spicing it up with a different poison, as this master of poisonous herbs can use any injury poison from the RPG Core Rulebook for his Barb. Unfortunately, he has little reason to do this, as none of those poisons have as high a save DC as his own, nor are any of them as punishing as leeching 6 Str and Dex immediately from his victims.

I do like that his Armor of Thorns has a secondary benefit, restoring 4d6 HP to Furcas if he’s poisoned or if someone gets the idea to try and control his lashing vines, which honestly isn’t a bad one. He can even poison himself to gain these benefits, as he’s immune to the negative effects of every poison in his repertoire, though it’s more reliable just to use his Regeneration 15, typically only suppressed by Epic/Mythic and Good, or by a deific damage source. It’s amusing to note that his statblock says he can heal himself with his Barb, but this has two problems: 4d6 often doesn’t undo the 1d4+15 damage he’d take from the thorn... and his thorn can’t even bypass his DR 20/Good, Epic, and Silver. The more I look at his statblock, the more I begin to quietly realize just how many errors are in it. Maybe that’s why it was never printed online...

Anyway, you want to stay out of his melee for more than just his armor. Furcas’ Full-Attack is as scary as any Archdevil’s, not only because of his natural attacks, but because of his signature weapon: Typhon’s own trident, the Avernus Claw. This +4 Axiomatic Flaming Burst Unholy Trident can be used to attack up to four times a round, each blow dealing 2d6+19 damage (+2d6 versus Chaotic enemies, and a further +2d6 versus Good ones) and 1d6 Hellfire damage. Yes, this big old burning fork is infused with Hellfire, turning half its damage into irresistible unholy burns that double their effectiveness against victims with the Good subtype. It’s also a reach weapon sized for a Huge wielder, extending Furcas’ threat radius from 10ft to a significantly scarier 25ft, though his follow-up natural attacks still only hit targets within 10ft.

His two big wooden hooves deal 1d8+15 damage each and spread a noxiously powerful version of the Devil’s Chills disease, one with an onset of immediate for an instant 1d3 Strength damage. Worse, the DC to resist the disease’s effects is bolstered to 40 and it requires three consecutive saves to beat. Remember when I said a fight with Furcas sucks now and later? This is what I meant. But we’re still in the now, and we’re still talking about his melee attacks: the last is a single punch with a fist the size of a human torso, which deals 1d8+15 as well, but rather than carrying a disease, it Swats its victims backwards. Furcas can use his Awesome Blow feat as a free action with his slam rather than giving up his Full-Attack to do so, and if successful, the victim is blown 20ft backwards (thanks to Irresistible Force). Depending on how close they were to begin with, it might just knock them back far enough to where they’re still within the reach of his trident, but not within reach of their own melee attacks.

Speaking of that trident, by the way, it has another function: Once per day as a standard action, Furcas can slam it into the ground and trap everyone within 30ft of him. Each creature within this distance (including himself) is automatically affected by a special version of Dimensional Anchor, one that causes any affected creature to have their attempts to teleport or travel to another plane redirected. No matter how they do it, even by using a portal or Gate or even the Hellmouth portal in Furcas’ own realm, all attempts to leave the plane fail... and teleport the victim directly adjacent to the Duke himself, open for his Full-Attack. The way this ability worded implies that even brief teleportation or planar travel effects like Blink cause this, and it also has the more amusing side-effect of meaning that attempts to trap him in a Maze or Plane Shift him away cause him to reappear next to himself (provided you have some way to bypass his Immovable).

Side note: While a great many CR 25+ entities have Time Stop as a spell-like, not many of them have a reason to use it as anything but a method to escape due to a lack of useful spells or abilities. Not Furcas. Not only can Furcas shape the battlefield with his spells or set up Reverse Gravity and Overwhelming Presence, he has an adorably silly little trick he can use 3/day: Quickened Fire Seeds, a spell only seen on Druid and Shaman lists. The spell lets him throw a handful of acorns as ranged touch attacks that imitate miniature Fireballs (20d4+20 damage to whatever they directly hit, but each 1d4+1 is divided as the caster chooses between four acorns)... or it lets him charge up to eight holly berries with explosive power, turning them into time bombs he can scatter around during Time Stop. Each of the eight berries deals 1d8+27 damage to everything within a 5ft explosive burst when they go off, for a grand total of 8d8+216 Fire damage. And since he can use this spell three times a day and it’s Quickened, even with the lowest number of stopped rounds--just two--he can use all three castings and drop 24 berries into a target’s space from 10ft away thanks to his reach, then take a 5ft step back. The instant time restarts, he can speak the word of command to blow all of them up at once.

The total potential damage? 24d8+648. But hey, even just 20 Fire Resist cuts that down to just ~230, thanks to each berry pinging individually. You can even cut it further by succeeding 24 Reflex saves! I’m amused by Furcas being a Duke of Flames, yet only has two Fire-based spell on his list (Fire Seeds and a 1/day Meteor Swarm). I suppose, given that its potential damage is in the 400+ club, that it’s good enough. Even if they escape the pile before he can say the command word, it’s almost trivial to force them back in with his superior Bull Rushing technique, as well as simply Swatting them back into the proper space.

While normally I’d end this on a high note of such big damage, it’d be rude of me not to mention Furcas’ little devil deal of his own: his Crown of Laurels, from which he draws his name. This special little wreath of incredibly toxic plants can be granted as a move action to any creature adjacent to him, 1/day. The poisons within the plant cause the recipient to gain the powers of Greater Heroism and Unholy Aura for a full 24 hours, which is a fantastic deal! Except that once the spells expire, the victim is instantly and unavoidably infected with a tenacious version of Devil Chills that’s impossible to magically cure unless the caster attempting it is Lawful Evil, and it requires SIX consecutive saves to resist rather than three. I’d love to see anyone try and succeed six consecutive DC 40 Fortitude saves in a row.

While granting his laurel to his own allies and generals is his typical go-to (though as most devils aren’t immune to disease, they’ll need to get fixed up after), he can also lend it out to mortal patsies and then coerce them to seek out his agents in the Material in order to get them to cure it, grant its blessing to himself for the Greater Heroism effect (as he’s immune to ability score damage anyway), or even give it to his enemies to drive them to desperation in seeking a fix... perhaps, again, even into the hands of his own clerics and minions.

While Furcas’ statblock isn’t available online, just wait! This will link to something soon.

#Nine Tyrants Month #Monster Spotlight #CR 26 and up #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

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doublegoblin · 3 months

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A year and some change in retrospective

Okay so technically It’s like a year and 2 months and like a day. While I made the account and started posting things in November of 2022 I made my intro post on the 23rd of Jan last year so that’s when I’m going to count myself as having officially joined lol. I got thinking about this on my way into work today and I got a little reflective. I’m going to be kind of rambling (what else is new lol) but it dawned on me that, damn dude, a whole year is still like 300+ days and life can go wild directions. I also figured this may be nice for the newer people who have started to follow me (hello and thank you btw). Things won’t necessarily be in chronological order, I mean they might, but, I’m also liable to jump around.

So let’s start with some backstory, all good stories start with backstory yeah?

Me and my -at the time- bf(we’re still together lol just fiance now) were on our way to my aunt's wedding…running late actually because I had the day wrong and blah blah blah. To kill time on the 3hr car ride I started to spit ball this idea for a story I had brewing, that would then become Rituals and Red Tape. I was writing it for myself for a while as a way to deal with being let go from my last job. Well I then had the silly idea to maybe share this with people, so then we get to November and I make a profile and start posting.

That’s right, I started my path on here to be someone putting out original works of writing. I mean, if you go to my profile and check out the pinned post you’d know this but let’s be real, nobody really does that lol. And as those of you putting out original stuff also know, it can be pretty quiet at first. I had in my mind that I was just going to have my stuff on my blog, maybe reblog writing stuff only; that uh…didn’t last long. I’ve met some pretty cool people on here, even if we never really talk I’m happy to see your stuff cross my dash. It was the whole song and dance of you follow me and I follow you, support network stuff. Took part in tag games, an OC fighting tourney thing, and just some other fun things. All the while I’m posting little one-offs, a new WIP here and there…that I eventually just kinda stop working on in favor of my first child.

I make a Wattpad and start posting what could be considered the 1.5 draft of the story. Things are fun, quiet, but fun

I start to engage in more fandom related things, because why not?

Then something happens, something that I didn’t think would take me in the direction I am going now.

I buy a $30 mic.

Voice acting and acting in general were always a passion of mine as a kid, and with a new stable job and comfy living I thought it was time to revisit some old joy. What was even better is that an artist I was following had a “casting call” for an animation she was working on. So with my little microphone and audacity(the program lol) I do the thing that changed my blog, I tried out…and I got a little part! I’ve never really been one to yearn for the spotlight but I took a chance and it worked out, and I was hooked after that.

So I started to use that mic more and more. First recording a short story of my own, recording a short story by a pal, then…well I guess you can call it doing some dub work.

Now in the past I had people follow me just out of the blue, but, with the first Five Pebbles recording it started to happen more and more. And those posts, well, they were getting some attention. Not a lot mind you, but like, more than the original works. Now I don’t say this with anger or bitterness, it’s just how stuff like this works out. So with what I thought was going to be a one-off thing, I knew I wanted to keep doing it. Yes the notoriety was fun, but more so, I was making something that was bringing people joy. So I recorded more, and more people saw it and liked it, reblogged it too.

Then I had that funny little idea. Something new to me that scratches a few itches at once. If you’ve followed me for THIS you know, the Kel Logs. Not only was I playing a game that I really enjoy(btw if you haven’t you should go play the game it is fun and but I won’t bog this down with info dumping), but I was doing some original writing and voice acting. It was the perfect storm.

Now I know I’m not the most well known person out there and this little fan fiction project isn’t like super famous, which I’m very okay with lol, but like the comments and stuff show I was having an impact on people in a small way. And it was having an effect on me, I was becoming more comfortable with my voice. Not going to sour the mood too much but I’ve struggled with voice dysphoria for a while and the joy I am able to bring people is so important to me, which I know sounds selfish.

So now here we are in the present, I know I’ve missed some stuff and simplified others, with people following me for fandom things and all that jazz. I thank every single one of you. Whenever my stuff get reblogged I do try my best to say something in the comments to those who say things in tags lol, sometimes tumblr won’t let me @ you but know I try. You all have no idea how much it means that I can bring joy to you and I don’t feel I can pay you all back other than to keep doing what I’m doing.

I haven’t worked on my original stuff in a while but I don’t think I’ll be tossing it to the side. In fact I know I won’t. I have a story I want to tell and it will be. So if you have any interest, please check it out and let me know what you all think. I want to always improve but I can’t know where to patch things up if I don’t hear about a leak lol. I’m getting super rambly so I’m gonna stop this here.

1 year later and I’ve gone from solely original writing to a strange hybrid of that and fandom stuff, and I couldn’t be happier with where I am.

So once again, thank you all so much for liking what I do and I hope to keep bringing you things to make you feel emotions.

#writeblr #voice acting #thank you all so much #rambling thoughts #some mushy words

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