HELLO!!!!! New chapter out!!!!

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There was a slight miscommunication.

Danny says "Get souped!" or variations of it when he soups a rogue.

In a different dimension, the few recordings that the Justice League was able to get their hands on of the High King of the Infinite Realms didn't really have a lot of sound coming through, just static.

They need to summon him to wrangle a threat from his home dimension, but they can't hear what he wants.

But Batman can read lips.

Clearly, the best offering to summon the Ghost King is soup.

"I'll have Agent A make soup," he says, completely neutrally.

"I think we'll need the best soup, though. How about I go get my Ma to make some?" Says Superman, side eyeing Batman.

"I believe my mother knows of a fantastic recipe only found in Themyscira," says Wonder Woman, checking her nails.

"My dad left me a recipe for the best fish stew I've ever had," says Aquaman, already halfway out the door to get groceries.

"My pop makes a real good chicken noodle; you can't beat the classics," says Static, already texting his father.

"I have managed to make the most accurate approximation that I can to a very widely enjoyed Martian stew," says Martian Manhunter, staring Superman down.

All of the Heroes assembled glare at each other.

"...How about we let the King decide?" Asks Constantine, shrinking in on himself when the attention gets turned on him.

The High King get's summoned to a row of Superheroes glaring at him, with different soups laid before him.

They're all encouraging him to eat the best one, but he knows a trap when he sees it. He's a Midwesterner, and they fight their social battles with recipes.

Daniel Fenton forces himself to eat it all.

When asked which was the best?

"Oh, they were all so good I just can't bring myself to choose one over the other."

@simplestoryteller

[WangXian] Stargazers

can i not even be a part of a whatsapp group about our local nature conservancy without that jumped up wannabe estate group in our area punting their shit

In the old commonplace version of rjk events where rk never broke up and Jamie later joins the relationship (so rk still remain publicly facing whilst rjk is kept secret, at least in the beginning) I love to imagine Jamie sets his phone background to a picture like that brett-juno hand holding one after some event rk attended, because he can't get over how good they both look and how sexy they are, and then in the locker room the next day the boys all see it and are like "??? damn bro you really ship them, huh." And Jamie is just like 🥰😘 Yeah I do 😍☺️

unfinished business

had a really funny idea for an ask blog ft. Vanny and another plex employee oc,,

the laws of the universe say that the man i love is lost to me. i say, watch me save him. ❜❜

･.° 𝙙𝙩: @despexco - @michaelmilligan - @avalonsilver - @nalivaa - @adammilligans - @existentialvoidofexistence - @tuometarr - @majesticenbypancake.

Bruce Yamada post revival!

Here’s the sweet and lovable baseball player!!! He enjoys baseball, and soft jazz!

I tried to make it seem like he’s thinking of spaced out because like canon Bruce has the most memory issues post revival, he has trouble remembering numbers, dates, faces, and sometimes names. It frustrates him, so to keep his mind busy he pops rubber bands on his wrist, and he writes in a memory book!

He’s still very sweet but I think dying put a damper on his personality, he’s spacey, aloof, and calm on most days and sometimes he’s cold, bitter, and mean on worse ones. Those are the days where he can barely remember he’s alive.

I tried to keep it similar to canon with him having his memory and own sense of self being altered because like all the others I think dying left a serious impact on his mental health and psyche.

One thing didn’t change though!! He’s a major nerd for baseball and is an absolute natural at it!

mixing is in progress...

watching shuro get redeemed in the eyes of the fandom like HA... vindication

But look at us Luke, we're the ones left alone, holding some rich monster's pain. All of existence, built on his violence. All of space-time, humming to life with a single inviolate rule. Give the hero something to punch.

Does anyone else feel like almost all of the conflicts that had to do with the various character dynamics in Chain of Thorns didn’t actually get resolved, they just unexplainably ceased to exist after two books of building them up because CC didn’t feel like writing them anymore and she didn’t know how to resolve it naturally after how she’d built the issues up so much?

Like how none of the characters but Cordelia and Thomas had any clue about the Alastair and Charles situation and then suddenly in CoT it was like who doesn’t know? Of course Matthew knew and didn’t say anything before and then randomly brought it up to Cordelia in Paris while assuming she knew too

Or how Alastair and Thomas went from how things were at the end of CoI with Alastair thinking it could never work because Thomas’s friends hate him to oh look everyone suddenly is friends with Alastair with no grudge with no development of that in this book at all, just an abrupt shift

Especially the Alastair and Matthew dynamic where Matthew hated Alastair and wanted him to have nothing to do with any of their friends and he spent CoI ranting about him to Cordelia. And then suddenly in CoT it’s like of course Matthew is supportive of Thomas and Alastair and oh look Matthew and Alastair are suddenly not just tolerating each other for Thomas’s sake but friends despite barely interacting and no development actually showing and never getting any mention of the other in their own POVs, just having Cordelia be like Alastair stop being dumb, you’re literally friends with him now

Or like everyone other than Christopher and Grace where it was like oh we don’t like her for how she’s treated us and her friends straight to anyway she’s one of us. Like yes Grace was useful and yes Tatiana manipulated her whole life, but none of that was why anyone changed their minds or opinions? It was just suddenly the flip of a switch when it was convenient for CC

Or Anna and Ariadne where it didn’t so much develop as Anna just acted mean to Ariadne on and off throughout the series and at the end of CoI she wanted nothing to do with a relationship and then in CoT she was just suddenly like sure I guess I do. Also, slightly different note, but I did not like that Anna barely interacted with anyone else for the entire book and she was just off in the corner being an irrelevant romantic subplot for almost all of the book except when she showed up to barely even be shown in the background being sad about her brother being dead

(Although Anna still got more of a reaction than everyone else and his death was poorly executed all around in the sense of how did you write this so predictably and poorly that no one even knows when he died and it’s so background and 99% of the characters don’t care at all and we don’t see his parents finding out or much of Thomas’s reaction or anything and it’s just as if he wasn’t a character anymore 2 seconds later which is a different genre of issue with CoT but similar problem in the sense that both issues made the book feel a lot more emotionless to read)

And how the issues of Thomas and Alastair being together as two men and Anna and Ariadne being together as two women in this time and the issues of what would happen if the fact that Charles and Alastair were gay got out to the entire Clave just disappeared and never got addressed at all. We know how the ClVe reacted to Alec Lightwood YEARS later. We know society was homophobic at the time TLH is set and that it seems like shadowhunter society was a lot less open-minded than mundanes a century later

I understand that Charles being blackmailed and making shitty decisions was annoying but it was like suddenly everyone finding out wouldn’t have consequences and all the other queer men characters were like how could you possibly be worried about this :/ as if they haven’t spent the whole series knowing they have to be careful about who they tell. And then suddenly it was just of course it’s totally fine and safe to have everyone find out and why wouldn’t you be fine with that. And it was really written in a way that had other queer characters like oh Charles is such a coward for not being ready to publicly tell a bunch of homophobic people his sexuality and it just wasn’t it??? And super weird after Thomas was terrified of telling even Anna and Matthew for years. And also, I did not care for the fact that when Charles did go risk getting outed to finally do the right thing, we didn’t even get to see it through any character’s perspective or how that important meeting went, we just got one line of dialogue from somebody else saying that it happened with no details at all. And I can’t think of other examples right now but there were quite a few moments like that where we got one line saying that something had happened that was important to the plot and to characters’ development that seemed like it would have been more interesting than some of what we did get to see where it was just totally breezed over and way too easy and totally background to less important stuff

And then there was the whole no one reacting to Ariadne and Anna dancing together publicly thing was like yeah that’s nice I guess but not realistic and it doesn’t go with the way things have been presented up to that point, it also just feels like a situation where CC was like well this would be easier for me so there just won’t be consequences and then they can easily end up happily together

And then there was the whole Thomas and Alastair thinking they couldn’t realistically be together thing and knowing they couldn’t get married or be known to be together by anyone they’re not close to and then at the end it’s still not really addressed how they’re going to be together? Like there was the laziest write off of the family tree being wrong and then we still are just left to assume that eventually they move in together and suddenly it’s not a problem and everyone’s fine with it? And then I also feel like we don’t actually know if everyone found out about Alastair and Charles’ sexualities after the blackmail or if people are going to assume about Thomas and Alastair or if that’ll cause issues or if no one knows outside of who they’ve told and they have to be careful or what. Which like wouldn’t necessarily need to be addressed if it wasn’t for the logistics of being together as two men in that time being part of the obstacle that they were struggling with being in their way and then it felt like it was totally forgotten to even be one at the end by CC

Idk like I’d love to think they just lived in a world where homophobia didn’t exist but it felt like homophobia was a plot point when CC wanted it to be an inconvenience and then suddenly disappeared just to make her writing easier the moment she didn’t want it there anymore instead of actually addressing the plots she raised with it if that makes sense?

And sorry, I really did not mean to go on a rant this long. And maybe everyone else had a very different reading experience than I did and other people don’t agree with some or all of this. I personally am just very confused about how the book was almost 800 pages long and it felt like so much of the development in it was us abruptly being told that development had happened rather than actually getting to see it and how so many of the issues were abruptly solved in an I don’t want to write this issue anymore kind of way rather than anything actually needing to be worked at outside of the Belial situation

Edit: You know what, I mentioned it in my tags but I feel like it’s annoying enough to put in the body of the post and make it even longer. What the fuck was with everyone outing or potentially outing everyone else just so that characters could openly talk about the queer characters and tell them to do what they want them to? Why did Matthew out his brother multiple times? Like yes, the people he said it to coincidentally already knew, but he didn’t know that. And why was Thomas outing Alastair? The straights got to keep their secrets as long as they wanted and fix their problems more naturally. Why did I have to sit through queer characters constantly having their sexualities and romantic histories to everyone else when they clearly had not okayed it? Why were the queer characters doing so much of the outing? Why were people who cared about them and knew what it felt like to be afraid of the wrong person finding out just broadcasting their sexualities to make it easier for CC to breeze past development to have their things get resolved fast? Why did no character have an issue with it at all?

(he's your best friend)

sorry, but i can't stop thinking about how enzo said "right, she saves your life because of friendship 🙄😏" to hop regarding joyce in the season that they're going through the same plot that mike went through in season one (where he's going to extremes to find will and stopping at nothing to save him, knowing all the while it could have killed him and his friends) and as lucas + max are going through the literal exact same plot as mike and will did in season two (where will is cursed/possessed by vecna and mike is at his side the entire way through, unwilling to let him go through this alone).

mike and will came out on the other side both times. mike didn't HAVE to go out, endanger himself, his friends, and his family to find will. he didn't HAVE to spend his every waking moment of that week desperately doing whatever it took to find will, even when others had given up hope. but he did it anyway. why? because of friendship? lucas and dustin are will's best friends, too. they joined the fight, they devoted themselves, too, but not like mike did. not even jonathan, who loves will more than anything, had that much unwavering hope and dedication. why?

in season two, mike didn't HAVE to glue himself to will's side and treat him in such an attentive and fiercely protective manner. he didn't HAVE to trail after will, attune himself to his each and every tell, or comfort him as much as he did. he didn't HAVE to go to will's house when he failed to go to school and strong-arm his way in when joyce tried to send him away. he didn't HAVE to stick by his side as it became clear that will was no longer just will, that there was an indescribable and otherworldly evil sitting within him, too. he didn't HAVE to stay at his bedside, both at home and at the laboratory, rousing from his sleep and immediately tending to will whenever he woke up. he didn't HAVE to follow them into the shed, where it was only them and this will that isn't will. he didn't HAVE to pour his heart out in front of everyone and set it in will's lap, pleading with him to please, please, please come back. no one forced him or prompted him to do this, as we've seen them do in seasons three and four, but he did it anyway; without hesitation and entirely earnest. lucas, dustin, and max all wanted to save will, too. they cared, of course they did, but not to the extent that mike did. mike was there from beginning to end and refused to be away from him until it was absolutely necessary. even then, he devised a plan to help, because of course he did. again, it was dangerous, risky, and there was no guarantee it would work. still, he did it anyway. why?

furthermore, when it comes to lucas and max going through the same plot that mike and will did, theirs failed to turn out the same way. mike is the only character on this show who has been able to pull someone out of a curse with just his voice. mike is the one that snapped will out of it whenever he used true sight. mike is the one that always finds him whenever he runs off, because he knows will better than anyone. it's after mike tells will that asking him to be his friend is the best thing he's ever done that will is seen communicating in morse code, having found his way to fight back and show that he's still there. mike has always seen will and understood him in a way that others don't. mike is the one that has repeatedly found vecna's weaknesses and devised plans to exploit them and hurt him, and had those plans actually work.

the show itself has painstakingly shown us from the very beginning that mike and will's relationship is different. it isn't like any other friendship or romantic relationship they have within the party. they show us the endless, unconditional, and unwavering devotion that mike has for will by putting them on these journeys that last entire seasons. they set the tone for the show and propel the plot forward.

those same journeys are then given to other characters that are in explicitly romantic relationships. many of the pivotal scenes for those relationships "coincidentally" happen to be frame-by-frame or direct dialogue parallels to previous byler scenes. yet... for whatever reason... the general audience seems to find the idea of byler to be impossible and nonsensical?

why is it that when joyce endangers her and her friend's lives and risks the very real possibility of not being able to go back home to her family to find hopper, it's seen as romantic, but when mike does it for will it's just friendship?

why is it that when hopper tells joyce that he just wants her to feel safe and does everything in his power to ensure that, it's considered romantic, but when mike tells will over and over that he won't let him get hurt and does the very same thing it's just friendship?

why is it that when hopper sleeps outside of joyce's house just in case she needs him and to not let her sit in this sorrow alone, it's considered romantic, but when mike sleeps on the floor beside will's bed after he learns of his possession and sleeps at his bedside at the lab after it's just friendship?

why is it that when nancy says she and jonathan are just friends that everyone understands they aren't, but when mike reiterates that he and will are friends, despite their conversation not being about romance at all, it's seen as something purely platonic, true, and not at all suspicious?

why would other romantic relationships on the show have frame-by-frame parallels in their undoubtedly romantic and pivotal scenes to previous mike and will scenes if byler isn't romantic?

why would they show us that mike is in a relationship where he is not understood or comfortable expressing his true self, and then have him tell will how it is that he needs to be loved and seen, only to then have will express that he does understand, see, and love mike in precisely the way that he needs and feels he does not deserve, if they are not romantic? why would they then have will reveal that mike's love for him is exactly what he needs, too, if not to show us that the love is there and it is real and that they're each other's true match?

why would they make mike himself finally state that his relationship with will is different from all of his others, that will is what makes home feel like home (and thus, by extension, is mike's home), that it's what makes life feel normal and right and easier, and that he wants it back, if it's all just friendship and nothing more? why is their relationship the one that he just can't lose? why is will the one person that he needs more than anyone?

why does he fight to keep this relationship in his life time and time and time again, each and every single season, but he is able to let eleven go every time? why does he abandon all respect for authority and whatever warnings people throw his way when it comes to saving will, but he is able to sit at home when it comes to eleven, his girlfriend? why does he intuitively understand what will needs from him and unashamedly provide it without will ever having to ask, but he cannot do the same for his other friends or his girlfriend? why does he allow himself to truly open up, talk, and be vulnerable and true with will, but not anyone else, not even his own family or his girlfriend? why is it always, always, always will... if it's just friendship?

why do we correctly assign romantic love and intention to the other heterosexual couples on the show, but when it's one boy loving another boy with everything he has and in every possible way that he can... suddenly that's just friendship?

i know that an overwhelming amount of people refuse to see their relationship as romantic because of homophobia and heteronormativity, but after a certain point... it just becomes ridiculous. inexplicable; an offensive bastardization and gross perversion of the original text.

byler is the blueprint. byler is the heart and light of the show. they're the original copy, the first to love and be loved. at this point, post-season four, if you fail to see that then that is a choice all of your own making. i'm tired of pretending like byler is built on subtext. it isn't. not anymore. not when m/f couples are doing the exact same thing that byler did first in precisely the same way. not when everything has been set up to show us what love and light can do, and which characters represent that love and light. not when the narrative is shoving it in your face for hours, reminding you with these characters' each and every action and inaction which other character it is that they love and choose. i'm over it.

byler is endgame. byler has been endgame. the love that they have for each other has never once lost; it has beaten the overwhelming odds each and every single time, a record which not all relationships can claim, and it will be what puts vecna in the ground for good and rids hawkins of all evil in season five. there is no other narrative but the one we've been given and to assume anything else is to purposely delude yourself tbh.

sometimes looking at like Self Help Strategies lists for the symptoms I'm having is always just like:

thing that I already do

thing I have tried 10 times

thing I already do

thing that I don't have the money to do

thing I already do

thing I've been doing since I was 10yrs old to no avail

thing that is impossible given my situation

thing that doesn't apply to me

thing that I already do

thing I have already tried

hrmm, oh wait, maybe finally- OH, yeah.. okay. thing that I already do but it was just phrased slightly differently

thing I have already done