going insane over the realisation that the Chinese character for dragon ( lóng 龙 in Simplified; 龍 in Traditional) is the “root”/“base” (own words idk what the linguistics terms would be) word for the Chinese character for cage (lóng 笼/籠).* The only difference is the 竹字头 (heading) which is a Chinese radical that translates to “bamboo.”**

thinking about dragons in chinese myth— creatures of the sea and sky, their cries the thunder that shakes rain loose from from the heavens and sends it crashing to the earth below. all the rivers and seas and lakes are their domain.

and Chinese monarchs associated dragons with power and sovereignty and the mandate of heaven,,, the Emperor is the dragon god emperor on earth who would question his will? what is mightier than a dragon

but take a dragon and put a bamboo crown (grown from the ground) on it and now the dragon is locked up confined,, trapped,, the trappings of power,,, dragons are of the sea and sky but what becomes of them when bound to this earth?

*that the two words are pronounced in exactly the same tone and the same pinyin blows my mind. who did this will the og Chinese writer philosopher please stand up

** edited because i got grass and bamboo radicals mixed Up

For the Viceroy AU, how does Tom figure out Gabriel was the one responsible?

DP x DC: The Most Dangerous Card Game

Ok so Danny has essentially claimed earth as his. And he is fully aware that there are constant threats to the planet. Now he can’t stop a threat that originates on earth (that’s something he’ll leave to the Justice league) but he can do something about outside threats. Doing some research on ancient spells, rituals, and artifacts, he cast a world wide barrier on the planet to protect it from hostile threats so they cannot enter. This will prevent another Pariah Dark incident. However, barriers like this come at a price. You see, there are two ways to make a barrier. Either make one powered up by your own energy and power (which would be constantly draining) or set up a barrier with rules. The way magic works is that nothing can be absolutely indestructible. It must have a weakness. The most powerful barriers weren’t the ones reinforced with layer after layer of protective charms and buffed up with power. Those could eventually be destroyed either by being overpowered, wearing them down, or by cutting off the original power source. No, the most powerful barriers were the ones with a deliberate weakness. A barrier indestructible except for one spot. A cage that can only be opened from the outside. Or that can only be passed with a key or by solving a riddle. So Danny chooses this type of barrier and does the necessary ritual and pours in enough power to make it. And he adds his condition for anyone to enter. 

Now the Justice league? Find out about the barrier when Trigon attempts to attack, they were preparing after he threatened what he would do once he got to earth. How he would destroy them. The Justice league tried to take the fight to him first but were utterly destroyed, so they retreated home to tend to their injuries, and fortify earth for one. Last. Stand. Only when Trigon makes his big entrance…he’s stopped.

The Justice league watch in awe as this thin see-through barrier with beautiful green swirls and speckled white lights like stars apears blocking Trigon and his army’s advance. The barrier looks so thin and fragile yet no matter how hard the warlord hits, none of his attacks can get through and neither can he damage said barrier. That’s when Constantine and Zatanna recognizes what this barrier is. Something only a powerful entity could create. For a moment, the league is filled with hope that Trigon can’t get through yet Constantine also explains that it’s not impenetrable. And clearly Trigon knows this too for he calls out a challenge. 

And that’s when, in a flash of light, a tiny glowing teenager appears. He looked absolutly minuscule compared to Trigon and yet practically glowed with power (this isn’t a King Danny AU though).

And that is when the conditions for passing the barrier are revealed. And the Justice realize that the only thing stopping Trigon and his army from decimating earth. The only way he can get through….is by beating this glowing teenager in a card game. 

Not just any card game though. The most convoluted game Sam, Danny, and Tucker invented themselves. It’s like the infinite realms version of magic the gathering, combined with Pokémon, and chess. And Danny is the master. So sit down Trigon and let’s play.

(The most intense card game of the Justice league’s life).

After Danny wins, this happens a few more times with outer word beings and possibly even demons attempting to invade earth, yet none have been able to beat the mysterious teenager in a card game. Constantine might even take a crack at it and try to figure out how to play. He’s really bad though. Every time this happens, the Justice league worry that this might be the time the teenager looses. Yet every time, he wins (even if only barely). 

Meanwhile, Danny, Sam, and Tucker have gotten addicted to the game and play it almost daily. Some teachers might seem them playing the game are are like ‘awww how cute’ not realizing this game is literally saving the world. Jazz is just happy they aren’t spending as much time on their screens playing Doomed.

local teen copycat killer starts trapping people so john tracks her down but instead of trapping her he has a long conversation with her about the stresses in her life and how to better cope with them

Enki S Ending: God Blocking Gambit

Superboy wakes up in a prison. In the cell, sitting across from him, there's a teen that looks like another offshoot clone of Clark.

He learns in bits and pieces that he's been captures by a shadow government organization hellbent on ridding the world of anyone "ecto-contaminated", or anyone who has ever been dead.

Since he'd died before, even though he came back, he set off their sensors.

He doesn't remember how he got caught, doesn't remember what he was doing prior, but the walls are made of a weird material that glows green and cancels out his powers. It also doesn't hurt him.

Diluted kryptonite? He'll have to steal some and give it to Tim.

According to the kid, they've been forcibly detained to "serve their sentence for illegal immigration from the Realm of the Dead to the Realm of the Living" by way of routinely allowing themselves to be subjected to medical procedures. They are always being watched, they aren't the only ones captive, that apparently his entire high school had been condemned to it as well as some literal ghosts, and if he struggles then they won't give him the mercy of sedation while they do their experiments.

And Kon can't use his power to escape, or free this kid, or free any of the other prisoners. It's the worst case scenario.

Thank fuck he's best friends with a paranoid Bat that might have more contingencies than the Big Bat Himself.

Kon activates the only subdermal tracker he'd allowed Tim to place under his skin, and settles down to wait.

A prison of this design, but more high tech and with less privacy. Apparently the idea behind it was that you couldn't see the guards, but they could see you, and the lights would move at random to make you think they were paying attention all the time.

So psychological torture on top of imprisonment.

trios of assholes are my favorite - especially of the sibling variety

epel makes world famous harveston apple popcorn for entertainment and then jade leech proceeds to annihilate their sorry asses ���🤯💪💪😱😢😢😢

love when you can ask the Narrator why the Princess is a Princess and he's like 'well i uhhhh YOU did that. maybe it's because uh... something something about her being above you... but still approachable... look i don't want to analyze or anthropomorphize your--' my guy. i am a primal being of Order and Eternity and Shaping. You're the one who convinced me I was some dude and were quite willing to take credit for shaping my view on the world through narration five seconds ago. Are you gonna look me in the eye and tell me the desire to interpret something worthy of adoration and more powerful than me as a dommy princess is written in the very nature of the universe or are you going to show me your browser history like a man

Not the son you were looking for

The Fentons were sure that their son was dead. They didn't understand why Phantom pretended to be their little Danny, nor why he made so many illogical excuses like "being a hybrid" and so on. At first they played along, but they were angry, angry that the truth was being kept from them, angry because they were sure that the supposed hero had done something to their son, and he even managed to trick Jazz!

It all made sense when Phantom was declared Ghost King, of course, he surely had Danny captive! It shouldn't be hard for the King of the Dead to manipulate a soul, maybe he was gaining power from that. They were sure, they had seen the King argue with one of his ghost-capturing devices and keep it always guarded, a big secret surely.

Unfortunately for them, the GIW had disbanded, so they had to turn to their second choice: The Justice League. It was an organization of heroes that had only recently formed, but the Fenton's were sure they would help them, so they contacted them and explained the situation. The League was skeptical but when they heard that a child might be in danger they acted immediately.

They didn't confront the King directly, they weren't idiots, but they stole the thermos, willing to give the child trapped in it a break. They could deal with the Ghost King later.

Unfortunately for everyone, as soon as the Fentons hit the "release" button what came out was not their son's soul, no. Dan Phantom watched them with a wide grin, free for the first time in years. The League had a feeling they had made a grave mistake.

I have. No energy. But I’m. SO HAPPY. To have you in my life little bun

You have. No idea. How mutual it is.

FALLOUT: Season 1 Episode 1 "The End"

Love how William got a new identity and the job as a career counselor just so he could get people to work at his shitty security gig of the restaurant he owns

He straight up says and knows, like, "oh yeah everyone quits this, pay is awful, hours are worse" he could at least make it somewhat more appealing, a bit more pay if people are gonna quit anyway, but he seems to enjoy doing it this way I think

Ooooh man this is such a cool addition to the lore btw. Like man. He picks people like Mike, down on their luck, desperate, who can't get a job anywhere else, and can't keep a job when they do. Many who "quit" absolutely got murdered I'm certain of this. He's actively picking out desperate people who others won't be surprised if they left their new Freddy's job surprisingly quickly and that they just... disappeared after

And if he owns that Freddy's location like I've assumed with the rest of this post, then meeting with Steve Raglan is probably the only way to get hired at Freddy's, which helps him keep a good eye on who's there, keep a good eye on his victims

[RHETORIC - Legendary 14]: Convince Kim you are in a timeloop.

(ISAT side of the swap)