'Love has no kiln on Apokolips. Greed bears no seeds in The End. and Hope? Hope is the rallying cry of beings who cower behind those stronger, deadlier, more absolute than themselves... Hope is a flimsy shield, and a tattered cloak to bury oneself in. It has no foundation in this universe.'

/ hang the fuck on, i just deeped: darkseid reduced the emotional spectrum in the absolute verse to 'Death', 'Rage', 'Fear' and 'Willpower'.

What a fucking... ASSHOLE.

crashes back to the ground with a loud thud . . . and suddenly her hand 𝙖𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨, like she'd been jabbing concrete.

Trying (!!) to meditate. Diana loves talking about how transformative and freeing it is, but spending time with only the voices in her head is . . . not bringing her freedom.

It's only running up her -

𝕊𝕆𝕁𝕆𝕌ℝℕ𝔼ℝ 𝕄𝕌𝕃𝕃𝔼𝕀ℕ. 𝔹𝔼 𝕎𝕀𝕋ℍ𝕆𝕌𝕋 𝔽𝔼𝔸ℝ

❝ Fuck-! ❞ The room around her, once floating in green pods

➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵
𝓒𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝓗𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐞.
➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵ ➵

“𝘐𝘧 𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦... 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥... 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦...

𝘐’𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺... 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘺.”

Looking around. Looking back at the water bo - okay, that's gone, too.

This is - fine.

. . .

[ just - just leaving out a burger and half a bottle of water. ]

Oh, shit... I gotta find a babysitter for Hal.

❝ Huh. ❞

Handwritten invitation. Hadn't seen one of these since grade school. But a 'sleepover with a bunch in custom PJs' necessitated a level of childishness.

❝ I'll be there, Di. ❞ Here. She'd already been staying, why leave now?

❝ Think this'll get messy? Lotta troublemakers under one roof. ❞

Hasn't had a GOOD burger in - weeks? Coast City burgers are all 'GMO Free' or 'Impossible' or whatever craze was on top at the moment.

She was aching for an honest to goodness, grease-dripped, sesame seed bun BURGER.

'Welcome, safe, clothed and fed'.

In any other circumstance, she'd be worried about a sweeping generosity like that. Coming from her, though, it's like each word is a hug.

❝ Thanks... I'm no freeloader, though, ma'am. You got anything you need done around here, you turn to me without hesitation. ❞

/ you've always been cool to me 🥺

we do send up for Hal Jordan having a terrible time over here, you're 100% right.

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ

/ DEE, HOLY SHIT!?

All she has to offer is a 'nod'. That's the symbol. That's the thing that... changed all their lives for the worst.

The same one that comes to life on her chest whenever she threads her thoughts into her own ring.

❝ Abin Sur called it a 'Green Lantern'. Told us we were going to be judged by it. ❞

❝ See, that's where I think our disconnect is. You're referring to it as... as if it were a person.

The thing I'm talking about? The thing that gave me this ring? It was a giant... symbol, or letter, or something. It fell from the sky and, literally, crushed Evergreen beneath it. ❞

But somehow, every single time, she knows it's listening.

She's up early. Hard to 'sleep in' with a cosmic battery on her hand, sure, but she'd have been up anyway.

City's quieter this early. It's easier for her to run through & marshal her thoughts.

❝ You and me, we're gonna gain some common ground today... ❞

The ring doesn't speak back. It never does.

That's what happened to Todd. He was with fear...