#{ I thought it might be easier to force Robin to interact with her if I yeeted him into GBF rather than the other way around }

[be-steddie-myheart]

When you get out of high school, you really realize how much none of it ever mattered. The popularity, how much people wanted to be you, or be with you. Conforming into a small neatly packaged box and never stepping a toe out of line was pretty necessary for a lot of people in high school, especially Steve Harrington. The day he realized his platonic soulmate was a nerdy band lesbian and his psuedo-brother was a curly headed, more nerdy teenager who thought he knew everything was the day Steve also realized he didnt really like himself. He had forced himself into this little box so he could be Steve “The Hair” Harrington, King of Hawkins High and he realized he didnt even like that person. After high school Steve really wanted his physical appearance to reflect how he felt inside. It started small, instead of his light blue boot cut jeans he bought one pair of dark blue skinny jeans with some rips in them. They might have seemed out of place with his colorful polos but he loved the feeling he got when he put them on. So he bought another pair, in black, with more holes this time. Then he bought a couple more pairs. Next to go were his polos, those went easier, the jeans paving the way for him to be more comfortable. Instead of polos, Steve wore regular tee shirts. Some had band logos on them, most were just plain black, even some he got second handed that were ripped and frayed in all the right places. Next he added a chain to his pants and loved the sound it made when he walked. He was enjoying the jingle one day when he was at the thrift store shopping for some more clothes when he noticed a pair of old worn out combat boots with little metal spikes on the backs of them. They were his size and fit perfectly. He almost felt a little like Cinderella trying them on. The next big change he made was the scariest one by far, his hair. His hair was everything to everyone around him and even to himself a little. he took pride in taking care of it and making it look just right. It didnt feel right doing too big of a change to it, so one night he just took an electric razor and shaved the sides off. It was so.. freeing. He was in love. He pierced his lip and his nose, he started wearing a little bit of eyeliner. The King Steve of high school was long gone. This was a new and improved and happier Steve Harrington.

One of the changes that made Steve who he was, was realizing he didnt just have eyes for the ladies. No, he definitely had eyes for more.

Robin and Steve decided to go out to Indianapolis one night to check out this secret little gay bar they’d heard about through the grape vine. They were getting ready in Steves room, Robin hogging the mirror to put her eyeliner on. She was wearing a white tank top with an oversized button up short sleeve shirt, unbuttoned of course, some cute jeans and a pair of red combat boots. Steve had a blank tank top on with a mesh shirt over top, a pair of black skinny jeans with holes in the knees and his trusty pair of combat boots.

“you think we’ll both get lucky tonight?” Robin asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

“I dont know about you but I look AMAZING so I know I will” Steve laughed.

They’ve not been here 20 minutes and Steve has shot down a couple guys. Nothing against them, just not what he was looking for. He didnt even know what he was looking for, he figured he would know it when he found it. Find it, he did. In the form of a guy from his past named Eddie Munson. Maybe not necessarily his past but the past nonetheless. They went to Hawkins High together but never spoke. They had never even interacted. While all the other jocks tried to bully Eddie, Steve just stayed back. He didnt care to make him feel bad for being who he was, he wanted that courage. But here he was standing next to him at the bar, wearing dirty old reeboks, black jeans with holes in the knees, a metallica shirt, a leather jacket and a denim vest with the arms ripped off. Also, a black hanky hanging out of his left pocket. Oh. He looked good, and he smelled good. Half of his long curly hair was pulled into a bun on the top of his head, his bangs plastered to his forehead from the sweat of dancing up against people. He was ordering a drink and flirting with the bartender. Steve felt all wobbly inside, and he was pretty sure thats what he was looking for.

Steve cleared his throat when he realized he’d been staring. Robin, who must have used their telepathic powers to sense him turning into jello, ran up to his side.

“Are you ordering a drink? Dont have too many, you know youre supposed to drive my drunk ass home and hopefully a giiiiiirl.” She sang the last word. The noise alerted Eddie, who turned to see who was making the commotion.

“Robin Buckeley! I havent seen you since last year, how ya been?”

“Oh hey Eddie! Ive been good, just trying to date being a raging homo in a small town isnt the greatest.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. Any luck tonight?” Eddie asked.

“None so far.”

Eddie hadnt even noticed Steve, or if he did he didnt recognize him, which was probably a good thing because his voice has made Steve go a little woozy and he was sure to make a fool of himself if he spoke at all right now. Eddie and Robin were still talking animatedly, so Steve just tried to sink into the background. Until he heard his name.

“Stevie here promised to drive tonight so I could get as drunk as need be to try to pick someone up” Robin was laughing and Eddies gaze landed on Steve. It took a minute, but the realization flashed across his face.

“Steeeeeve Harrington? In a gay bar? Dressed like that? When did hell freeze over?” Eddie asked, amused with himself.

“Har har, everyone grows Munson. Im not that guy anymore.”

“Okay fair, but you do know this is a gay bar, right big boy? Probably no ladies around for you to take home.”

“Who said I wanted to take a lady home?” Steve was finding his confidence again, and he could tell Eddie was intrigued by what he said. “A lot of stuff has changed, Eddie, including my taste in people.” He reached out to tug at a curl sitting on Eddies shoulder.

Eddie gulped. Robin has sensed the growing attraction from Steve and took that as a sign to get outta there.

“Heh, who’d have thought I’d be standing in a gay bar being hit on by Steve Harrington?” Eddie said, trying and failing to sound cool calm and collected.

“Stranger things have happened im sure, but you dont seem too bothered by it,” Steve stepped forward into his space more.

“Nope, not at all” Eddie smirked, letting Steve get closer. He was still clearly flustered but he was not going to back down, if this night ended in him taking Steve home, he could fufill his gay little heart. He was already imagining them buying their first home together. Keep it together, if anything its just a hookup. But then again, the thought of hooking up with Steve was just as beautiful.

“What do you say we get outta here, its a little loud” Steve suggested, cocking an eyebrow. He placed a hand on Eddies waist to lead him out. The area where he touched burned.

“Okay but let me just try something.” Eddie blurted out.

“Wha-“ Steve was cut off by Eddies mouth. Eddie has grabbed both sides of his face and pulled him close, just getting the kiss out of the way. When he pulled back, he was smiling widely at Steve who looked shocked.

“Okay, yeah, yeah lets get out of here” Steve said taking eddies hand.

@bobbierd03

punk! steve harrington <3

bobbie please

[barmeciide]

@causalitylinked​ || Starter Call 

   There’s something oddly familiar about the way the various members of the crew he’s been (mostly forced) dragged into interacts with one another, though he can’t quite place the how or why when he’s aware he’s never met these people prior to a few months ago when they had picked him up after a run-in with a handful of monsters had caused them to cross paths with one another. He finds their conversations and laughter grating--their willingness to assist anyone who asks absurd, and their general passion draining. But, within all of that, it claws at the darkness that looms in the back of his mind. Though he harbors enough awareness to know he’s not from this world, nor does he belong in it, and there’s a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that urges him to rush back to his supposed home despite the fact that he doesn’t remember why he’s so desperate to do so. And he intends to do so--regardless of how he has to make that happen. So, for the time being, he’s chosen to play nice--or rather as nice as he can, there’s nothing that can be done for a sour attitude and sharp tongue--with this ragtag crew in order to obtain more knowledge about this world, and to find a way back to his own. 

     But he most certainly had no interest in playing hero with them, and the thought of doing so was enough to make him click his tongue against the roof of his mouth as he disembarked from the ship that had offered him a roof over his head for the two months since he had found himself in this place. How the other members of the crew chose to act was of no concern to him, but he had no desire to lend them a helping hand in any capacity. What happened to them or the people who resided in this world was of no consequence to him. Yet, here he was, appeasing the Captain’s request to assist a town that was being ravished by monsters. His reasons were selfish, of course--the lives of the people and the wallet of the crew mattered not to him. But, supposedly, the so-called other-worldly beings that plagued this godsforsaken town could provide him with insight for how to return. Or so they better--it’s not against his moral compass to betray the crew should they prove themselves useless.   

      For the time being he’ll, begrudgingly, comply with the request. “According to that obnox-” He clears his throat with a cough, “To that merchant, the monsters suddenly appeared roughly a week ago. They have hired several mercenaries since, but they’ve either succumbed to the beasts or retreated due to the sheer volume of monsters attacking the town. The attacks themselves appear to happen only after nightfall. That’s, largely, the only information we’ve been presented with.” He sounds dreadfully bored as he tilts his head to look at his companion for this mission--a woman by the name of Herja. He’s seen her amongst the crew before, but he’s never made an effort to speak to anyone beyond the Captain, and even that is a stretch. But that hasn’t stopped him from digging up what he can about the individual members. Knowledge is a form of power after all. “Our best course of action is to use this time before nightfall to question the townsfolk, and gather what information we can before pursuing the monsters ourselves.” He makes it sound like a chore. His lack of agency and care is almost palpable.       

[boldlyanxious]

Still Trusting

Jasonette July 17: crime boss

Follow up to Tenuous Trust

My masterlist

Jason saw her not long after he entered. He had been invited as an olive branch after he gave up his plans of vengeance. He didn't know she would be here but the idea of seeing her would have helped him make his decision on whether or not to show up. Probably not the best reasoning for decision making but he wasn't exactly known for his good choices.

He didn't approach her though. To most she would seem carefree and happy but he could see her stance was tense and her eyes constantly checked for ways to escape. Instead he headed towards the drink table to get himself something to make the night easier. He wasn't ready to approach his family yet. It was probably the night he met her that gave his family hope that the Jason they once loved was still in there somewhere.

He wasn't ready to decide if that was true. It had been a long road from his days when he thought becoming Robin was the best day of his life. His thoughts on that varied. He was better off than he would have been on the street but the cost had been paid on his own blood. He was already committing pretty theft and then some before he met Batman but now he had been the man in charge. He spotted Tim first but neither of them were ready for that meeting so Jason turned and walked away while Tim glaced around for anyone else to greet.

Jason hadn't meant to approach Marinette but there she was nervously adjusting the straw in her drink while a man in a suit proved he wasn't as slick as he thought he was. She stepped back away from his hand reaching out for her arm. Jason couldn't hear her words from where he was but her polite rejection was clear as Jason continued approaching.

"Come on Sweetheart. Just one dance." He heard.

Marinette didn't quite step back quick enough to avoid his hand on her forearm. The man stepped between her and the rest of the crowd. Jason sped up when he saw her wild eyes, clearly darting around trying to find a way out of the situation. Jason arrived and addressed Marinette as if they already knew each other. They did in a sense, but she wouldn’t know that and he didn’t want to bring up their meeting. He took her hand and tugged it away from the grip of the other man.

“There you are; wait until you see who is here,” he said loud enough for others to hear before dropping his voice to a volume only loud enough for her. “Which way do you need to go? Is there someone you trust who could help you calm down?”

Marinette looked back up at him in shock. He let go of her hand as soon as she was walking with him and she used it to point in the direction he had seen Tim go. He might be seeing his little brother sooner than either of them had planned. It would be okay in public though. Tim would not want to cause a scene and Jason didn’t want that either. He was accepting the offer of peace but he didn’t know if he was ready to be a part of the family again so soon.

He wasn’t surprised when they arrived at the other side of the room and Dick and Tim were there already trying to talk about the boring things society people were bound to talk about at such events. Jason managed to keep his groan internal but he looked around for the best way to acquire another drink. Dick saw him first.

“Jason! And Marinette!” His eyebrows shot up along with his voice’s inquisitive tone. “Did you guys just get here?”

“I got here a few minutes ago. But I ended up talking to someone over by the drink table before this man offered to help me find you,” Marinette said.

Jason wasn’t sure whether he should mention the other man’s behavior. She seemed to be more worried about causing a scene than her own comfort. But if anyone would understand why she was on edge it would be the people right here and Bruce and Alfred, possibly a few others if she had talked about her experiences.

“He seemed like he was a little too insistent for your boundaries. I was happy to help and removing you from the situation seemed more helpful than hitting him.” Jason said. “I’ll leave you to it.”

“You haven’t even had an actual conversation yet. Don’t run off.” Dick said, then pointed. “Look, there is a drink tray. That is probably what you were leaving for anyway.”

Jason conceded with a nod. Dick turned around and officially introduced Marinette. They spent a few moments talking about her recent work with Wayne Enterprises and their plans for continued work together. Jason had intended most of the night to be him forcing himself to appear interested, but he suddenly found the need to try not to appear overly interested in everything about Marinette.

He couldn’t deny he was very interested in her but he doubted that they could be involved without it getting very complicated. He already knew about a dark period in her life that she likely rarely talked about and he should keep his past hidden from her. He watched her try to cover her blushing face when Dick and Tim continued to sing her praises. There is no way she would be interested in a crime boss or a reformed one after what she had been through..

Jason looked up as Bruce walked up. Dick and Tim had turned back to their earlier conversations and Marinette turned to greet Bruce. Jason really couldn’t get away without the awkward interaction that was about to happen, it felt oddly reminiscent of that night on the rooftop with the 3 of them. He wondered if Bruce felt the same way. Whatever he felt was quickly covered by his public mask. Jason was happy to see that Marinette seemed to have calmed down after her interaction. He shocked himself and everyone else at the next break in conversation by asking her to dance.

He hadn’t danced in many years but he always had some skill. He wouldn’t be able to tell her that his most recent experience was from the League of Assassins as a necessary deception and reconnaissance skill but she still seemed to be enjoying herself. He should be talking but he couldn’t think of what to say. He could feel her pressed against him and moving to the music and he lost all ability to make conversation. She didn’t seem to mind. Her face was completely serene and she didn’t seem to even realize he nor anyone else was there so he just let her have her moment.

After returning her to the group, he excused himself. It had been several years since he had been inside Wayne Manor. He couldn’t bring himself to wander through all the rooms he had known growing up. He might like to see Alfred in the kitchen but he would prefer not to pass by all the memories that haunted him. He chose instead to go to the garden. The air was much cooler out here than the warmth in the ballroom and there was a pleasant breeze. He passed by the benches and found a tree that he used to climb.

It had changed and was taller and wider now, much like him. He found some comfort in that. He sat and leaned against it and sighed as he closed his eyes. It was a few minutes before he heard someone approaching. He had expected someone to follow him out but he was surprised when she spoke after standing silent for a few minutes. He would have guessed Dick or that Bruce would send Alfred. He wondered if she had come to find him or if she had been sent as an emissary.

“It’s a nice night.” she said softly.

“It is. Shame the event is indoors.”

“I’m not sure it would be as nice if everyone was out here. I like the quiet.”

“True. Did you enjoy the party anyway?”

“Mostly. I don’t seem to have as much energy to be social for the whole night.”

“I feel the same. I always like to take a break and go back when everyone has enjoyed the party too much so I can laugh at them.”

He loved her laugh and that she felt relaxed enough to laugh.

“I’ve not seen you at any of the other events. I’ve been to several over the past few months.”

“I missed a few. But I think I might be at more of them in the future.”

“Since you’re not busy being a crime boss anymore.”

He looked up at her and she met his eyes and held his gaze. When he looked down she sat down against a different tree facing him.

“Did someone tell you or were you able to figure it out.”

“No one told me. ‘Jason’ was always talked about in hushed tones and there was always a long story that no one wanted to tell. But I recognized you. It took time for the things to connect. The look you had on your face when you helped me get away from the man earlier. But mostly I recognized your voice.”

“Usually that would be distorted. I wonder if Batman has that problem.”

“He would never admit it. But I wouldn’t do anything to give you or him away. You saved my life and he helped me stay safe after. I saw enough to know that the threats were very real.”

“They are both dead now and not a threat to you.”

She nodded rather than responding and then they sat in silence again for several minutes before she spoke again.

“How did it happen?” she asked. “The story no one wants to tell. Will you tell me?”

He paused before responding. But then he started from the beginning and told her the whole story from his initial meeting with Batman as a child to his death and resurrection and finally his time as a crime boss. She listened mostly in silence except for a few reactions and utterances to help him. He hadn’t even realized she had moved so close to him. She was holding his hand when he finished. He looked back into her eyes and she was looking at him with such understanding. He used his other hand to brush her wisps of hair away from her temple. He was surprised when she responded by leaning forward and kissing him.

He didn’t want to question whether that was the right response or why she had done it. He just leaned into her and enjoyed it when she didn’t stop with the simple brush of their lips. He hoped she wouldn't regret the impulse and wished it could continue longer but they could hear someone approaching so they pulled away. Jason stood and held out his hand to help her to her feet and he was surprised she didn’t immediately pull her hand back. So they walked back into the ballroom with Dick and got their opportunity to laugh at all the people who had dissolved their inhibitions with too much champagne. She was laughing beside him and he was happy that it was with him.

Taglist

@jasonette-july-event | @theymakeupfairies | @emjrabbitwolf | @vixen-uchiha | @trythisagainlove | @trippingovermyfeet | @tbehartoo | @adrestar | @zynna

[phantomchick]

List of wips - aka struggles

Call Me A Jason Todd fic I started two years ago and still go back to poke at longingly, will the second and final chapter ever be posted? Who can know for sure.

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I tell myself that I don't need Anyone (But the truth is no one needs Me) Another Jason Todd fic I haven't completed, posted two years ago for whumptober, it was the only day of whumptober I participated in, intended to be full of Captain Atom and Jason Todd interacting during the fall out of Bludhaven getting chemo'd but he doesn't show up in the first chapter and have you ever tried to read Infinite Crisis? It's a fucking mess. With this wip I have a close to justifiable excuse in that I refuse to write without knowing the canon, and reading through all the canon that's relevant is A Task.

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The Monster in The Man A Merlin fic floating around my drafts, currently at a good bit over 5k wherein Merlin gets POSSESSED by an old enchantment gone mad. Written because a Merlin fic I read ended on a horror style cliffhanger and I couldn't handle it so I charged my way through the first 2k of a sequel and I've been adding to it ever since. Angst with a hopefully happy ending, if I ever frikking finish it.

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The Dragon Lord In the aftermath of his father's death after Merlin inherits his father's dragon lord abilities he notices some minor changes to his interactions with his friends, the thing is that Merlin is a dragon lord and unusually what he hoards is people, things might just turn out the better for it.

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Maelstrom A Naruto time travel fix it fic that wouldn't leave me alone until I got the first chapter out, ironically it has left me entirely alone since I finished the first chapter and I have no idea if inspiration for it will ever return or when that will be.

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You Don't Know Anything Long long ago in a land of asks and a time of legend @paradise-runway sent me a fic request for "one where the other Bat boys find out the circumstances of Jason's death and resurrection and their reaction?" it has been lingering in my drafts haunting me ever since, someday, someday I shall fulfill what has been promised.

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Of Curses and Covenants A longfic exploring the magical underbelly of Gotham's history, focuses on the intertwined relationship of the Wayne Family and the Zatara Family brought about by how often Waynes through the generations have ended up being cursed. I have an index of all the curses ready, the problem with this one is the plot and the story.

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Vicki Finds a Bat (temporary title) Vicki Vale stumbles upon a still alive young adult Jason Todd at a wafflehouse on the way back from snooping into Cobblepot's latest criminal schemes. Convincing the young man to go back home to his loving father might prove more of a challenge than she thinks however. (will have a happy ending if I ever fucking finish it, for now it looms in my drafts like an unhappy gargoyle)

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Hug Deficit A fic about Jason being touch starved and his family fixing it, hurt/comfort all the way, post resurrection.

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Stephanie Brown and The Mansion of Man Pain Robin Era Steph, she and Alfred have pumpkin spice lattes together, it's their thing because I say it is. Includes, Alfred raised 5 boys counting Bruce, he's not sure how to handle a little girl and Bruce trying to dad plus Steph trying her best. Would be a lot easier to write if I was any good at comedy.

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Another Time, Another Place Some twenty years or so after their death, Martha and Thomas Wayne appear in the middle of Wayne Manor's ground floor parlour room, the major problem with this? Not only are Bruce and Dick away, Alfred's on holiday in England! Which is why Jason as the eldest has been unwillingly nominated by his younger siblings to deal with the situation at hand. Martha and Thomas in this are heavily inspired by @unpretty's amazing portrayals in her fics with them.

- Queen Blackfire and the Lazarus Lord An au with Soulmate identifying marks: Jason Todd was having an okay time as de-facto leader of The Outlaws, a band of misfits and rebels with hearts of gold (or at least silver) saving the world the best they could and filling in the gaps the more straightforward heroes tended to miss while they were at it. Then he found out he was soulmates with the Alien Warrior Queen bent on declaring war on planet Earth if the Justice League didn't find her soulmate for her. Things with his friend, team mate and potential future sister in law Kori just got super awkward and the only good thing he can find about this situation is how angry (and protective? But maybe he's just imagining that) Bruce seems over the whole thing.

Side note: Kommand'r freaked out during the years Jason was 'dead' and accidentally brought peace to a huge chunk of space and intergalactic society via building up her empire after throwing herself into work to escape the grief.

- To Grasp The Hand of a Fox Naruto and Kurama travel back in time to save the world but unfortunately they land in the same moment that Kurama's just been put under a genjutsu by Madara Uchiha, Naruto has to make his way to Konoha and wake Kurama up before the villagers seal him away inside Mito. Can he save his friend in time to save them all?

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Those Winter Sundays Mcu fic. Snapshots of Tony working hard for the avengers and no one noticing. Civil War Team Iron Man.

- Salvation Rides a Solar Wind Iron Man fic in a Science fiction / Western style fic where Tony's presence is described through the eyes of the aliens he helps. Au where the war with Thanos goes very differently. The type of fic that needs like 5 multi chapter fics in a single series to truly shine, hence why I will likely never finish it.

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And We Break Away Again Jason goes back to Talia after Damian is brought back from the dead by Bruce. It's not that he begrudges his little brother his resurrection, the opposite, but he can't ignore what Bruce did to him by taking him to the magdala valley and he can't ignore what Bruce doing for Damian what he didn't do for him, (do for Dick, do for any of them besides the blood related one) means. So he decides to go back to the only person who ever seemed to understand why he wanted to avenge himself in the first place, the only person who seemed to agree that he had a right to be angry that he'd died at all, the only person he can trust to hold him together while he feels like he's falling apart that won't judge him against the heroic mold while they're at it. Not sure if this will be a oneshot or a series but we're going good Talia with this one regardless, DC's been ruining her lately but through fanfic all things are possible so fuck them.

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Fan The Flames In the aftermath of a magical fire taking hold of the Daily Planet in Metropolis, Superman is missing, can Batman and the rest of the Justice League find their friend as well as the identity of the evil arsonist before Lex Luther does it first?

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In a Whisper (In a Wish) Ichigo Kurosaki protects people, it's not just who he is, it's what he is, down to the core of his very soul. The only problem is, that a few weeks ago he sacrificed half his soul to protect the world. It aches inside where he knows something important used to be. When everyone he cares for is avoiding him and he's starting to feel more like a shadow than a person, that aches at him too and he can't help but wish, quietly, privately, painfully, to himself if no one else that things were different, that he wasn't so broken or so alone. But if wishes were fishes they'd fill a whole sea (just be careful not to whisper them within the hearing range of the Hōgyoku).

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An Honest Conversation (Is A Bitter Thing To Crave) Jason kidnaps Bruce but things don't go as Bruce expects. First of all the reason Jason was able to kidnap him was because Stephanie of all people was his insider, why would she support someone Batman knows she's only met once. And second of all the reason he's been abducted - So that Jason can drug them both with the same substance. And when Bruce asks what he's doing this for Jason only responds, "We don't trust each other enough to have a truthful conversation otherwise" and refuses to say anything more while they wait for it to kick in. What will be revealed by this forced honest encounter on both sides? -

carrying the world on thin shoulders Midoriya Izuku deserves better from literally all the adults in his life so this is part whump part hurt comfort part fix it fic that sprawls out from time to time but it's pretty bad tbh, at some point I'll probably make it neater and give it something resembling a coherent plot. Hopefully. -

Trust Issues HP fic. Harry gets dosed with a potion that's supposed to reinforce your strongest survival instinct, the person who drugged him might've intended to be helpful but said potion happened to be at extra strength and he was given what would be a normal fix for the regular version but for this one is twice the recommended amount. Great.. The biggest problem about all this - beyond his internationally wanted godfather Sirius endangering himself by hiding out in a cave near Hogsmeade against all rational advice, his best friend Ron hating him, everyone in school besides his other best friend Hermione also hating him or avoiding him and the entire Goblet of Fire problem - is that he can't bring himself to trust anyone enough to tell them what's wrong.

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Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies A post marvel avengers story, thor pov probably, made because I like to dive into a pool of thor & loki sibling feels sometimes: Starts off as Thor regales his new human shield brothers with the story of his banishment and return to Asgard ending with Loki falling into the Void and the Avengers have some questions, questions Thor had not thought of, remarks on things that Thor doesn’t know how to explain away.  After he goes to Loki’s cell and asks him some things he becomes more and more angry despite having no one he can punch > Gets drunk and criticises Sif and The Warriors Three after they try to calm him down > mention of Loki still being underage by Aesir standards during Thor 1 seeing as Thor was being crowned due to being of age in the movie > heavy inspiration drawn from queen regnant by peaceheather. “For while the Treason I detest, the Traitor I love still.” Currently just an outline.

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Separation Split personality disorder Red Hood and Jason Todd, alternatively, Red Hood is a demon/parasite latched on to Jay. A lot of work necessary considering right now it’s currently just an idea inspired by a cool tumblr fanart.

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A Trinity of Head Wounds The dcu trinity in the aftermath of a fight against some alien invaders (or something along those lines), whump, hurt/comfort, starts with them arguing, ends with them bleeding on each other in a friendship way, whole thing should take place in a single room on the watchtower and be a oneshot so it's gotta be a short and sweet one-two gut punch with the feelings which is difficuuult.

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A Stark in The Stars an mcu fic, a really over complicated mcu fic, mostly because of Steve Roger's timeline fuckery, Tony's alive but he's not supposed to be, but so are a lot of people who were dead but aren't now you might say what with the snap and the blip. The thing is that Steve's timeline fuckery is making it so that everyone keeps getting confused between the two different timelines of events, obviously more confused the more that their characters were connected to the films/the events that were altered, the punchline of this particular fic though is that Tony's still alive and he's unaware of the timeline of events where he died. And as he's currently in space he's also unaware that everyone on Earth thinks he's dead (because why wouldn't they? he died in endgame after all). That makes this fic super tough to write because like ultimate unreliable narrator right here and not sure how to tie in the whole 'oh wait actually everyone on Earth thinks I'm dead because of the canon timelines' thing in or at what point of the story to do that at. The fuckery of it all gives me a headache. Plot is hard. Also all of that's basically background to the actual focus of most of the fic thus far which is Tony travelling around space in an Iron Man suit up until the point where it won't be background.

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Magic Chained Merlin au. When you put magic restraining cuffs on Magic himself you don't just bind him you bind all magic the world over. It is therefore, infinitely lucky that Uther Pendragon never became aware of this fact.

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A Child in The Cold bnha Midoriya deserves better also Recovery Girl and Aizawa have shit to answer for as far as I'm concerned.

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[izacore]

The Clowneries - special edition

hi guys, remember when @mayalecomte and I were young and naive and thought skamfr's brand new original seasons could be good? yeah, we embarrassingly do as well but we decided to go back to the past one last time and came up with one last theory for the grand finale. hey, if skam france won't give a closure to their characters at least we'll give it to our clowneries. we started thinking, analyzing the whole writing process of skam france, what would be the stupidest way to have the last episode look like? so fasten your seatbelts cause this is how we think the last week is about to go: 

Friday 

After everything that has happened in the past few days, unfortunately we all know where the story is going… So we’re thinking that Lola will go missing, leaving a note behind saying that she’s sorry but she can’t do it anymore. Daphne finds it and obviously panics. She doesn’t know what to do so the only option is to contact somebody who could know. Because this whole season is forced she goes to elu's flat and asks Eliott if he knows where Lola may be. They figure it out because one of them is benny.taxi which is ridiculous cause 1. if Eliott is benny then it’s creepy again and 2. if Daphne is benny and she finds Lola that way in a real world it would separate them even further and make Lola doubt every single of their interactions, but hey, France is not Disneyland so it definitely won’t be a problem for her huh. Anyway since one of them has to be benny because the plot has been dragged on since the beginning of the season and they have to resolve it (we mean… they don’t have to. But it’s probably easier to reveal who is benny than give any proper resolution to sexual assault storyline isn’t it.) they find the photo Lola sent to benny with the photo of Tour Pleyel, Otteli Urbex King appears and recognizes the place and tada, they know where Lola is. Hey! Eliott/Daphne switched pov clip!!! Everyone say merci papa!!!

Weekend 

After midnight clip with Daphne finding Lola. They share some heart wrenching moment and Lola finally exhales and goes back home with Daphne. They realize that together they’re stronger than ever and since they have each other and their loved ones nothing can happen to them. They go back home and reheat Basile’s leftovers – there’s nothing Italian cuisine can’t fix. Since it looks like they play darts to decide which plots they want to resolve (and we already established that SA won’t be resolved.) and since Lola might not be in good place to go out after what happened, they might want to reconcile her and Thierry. Knowing their writing capacities we think that a good old “I know I always called you by your name but this time I’ll call you ‘dad’ for the first time since years” would be a simple and effective way to end their plot. Not that it’s satisfying in any way, but hey, what do you expect from skam france.

Monday-Thursday aka the 2+2 offer – get 2 days of clips and 2 days of radio silence 

Since The Nurse still hasn’t appeared in the season… she finally has to show up. She will probably be that “““professional help””” Lola will get after leaving her former therapist. Obviously The Nurse has a lot of experience dealing with the troubled teenagers and her professional career was built on the plot of “Patch Adams”, a 1998 American semi-biographical comedy-drama dir. by Tom Shadyac, starring Robin Williams as the main character who finds that using humor, rather than doctor-centered psychotherapy, better helps his fellow patients and provides him with a new purpose in life. Since the season that had so much potential to focus on the importance of therapy and show the process of recovery, chose to send the message that you should change for someone you love and your loved ones will help you feel better and all therapists are awful and don’t really want to help you, it only seems fair for The Nurse to spare a joke or two and fix all of Lola’s problems.

Since the unhealthy forced connection – also sold as “brother/sister bond” – they established throughout the season seems like it just can’t fucking die, Lola will probably ambush Eliott at work again. Eliott will most likely assure her that she hasn’t done anything wrong in her entire life (newsflash: she has and she should be held accountable for that) and he will probably apologize to her for what Lucas has said #letlucasspeakforhimself2020. 

We all know they hate female characters and the way they handled mayla’s relationship in the season was a complete mess but they will probably try to bring them some closure better than the clip from the hippodrome, just so people will remember that there is always hope they will get back together and to bait people to watch the next seasons #yikes 

But well enough is enough and we can’t get clips every day because why would we. Judging by the breaks during the last couple of weeks, we expect two (2) clipless days probably with no or little social media update (but let’s be real, we all know how hard it is to survive the impossibility of scheduling Instagram stories and posts, so let’s not get our hopes up)

Friday 

We will say goodbye to the grew and we don’t know about you but we will also say goodbye to the show and finally be free from this misery porn. There will definitely be a party clip, probably we will also see Eliott’s movie which might be awkward if he kept the kiss with Lola in the final version but who cares, right, then “To Build A Home” will play in the background, we will probably cry because let’s be real, we will, and then adieu. The End. Fucking finally. And remember that sexual assault won’t be resolved because it was only added there so Eliott Raccoon By Day Vigilante By Night Demaury could play a hero. In conclusion, we think skam france will do what they do the best this year aka say a big fuck you to the fans in the last episode 🤭

this is the first time when we hope our theory won’t be true but knowing skam france and its lack of writing skills, better get ready! we still have a tiny bit of hope they will actually deliver the last episode for the grew that they and we deserve.

[oceanera12]

Knight Fall

So... this AU popped into my head because of a Descendants 3 Song. No, I am not joking and no, I will not apologize because I cannot make animatics.

We need to establish a few things: 

First: the world this happens in is going to be very similar to Young Justice with a few changes. Ras and his loyal followers have been kicked out of the League and are keeping a low profile. Just kind of ignore most of the main plot of Season 3 minus Nightwing finding out about their apparent loss of control/banishment.

Second: Jason has been “dead” for about three years. Two and a half of those years have been spent with the League (Resurrection stuff and such has happened and he does suffer from a bit of memory loss).

Third: Damian is seven years old. He’s a brat, he is trained, and he and Hood have the “best” relationship out of the Al Gaul bunch because Hood doesn’t force him to train 24/7 or punish him for failing. So Talia is not a good Mom in this story.

The characters of this story are either on Team Bats or Team Al Ghul (at least at the beginning).

Team Bats consists of Batman/Bruce Wayne, Nightwing/Dick Grayson, Robin/Tim Drake, Agent A/Alfred Pennyworth, Spoiler/Stephanie Brown, and Oracle/Barbara Gordon.

Team Al Gaul consists of Ras Al Ghul, Talia Al Gaul, Ubu, Senseii, Red Hood/Jason Todd, and Damian Wayne-Al Ghul.

With all of that out of the way, let’s begin:

Starts in Gotham with the emergence of the Court of Owls. The Court wants Dick Grayson as their Talon and they are not happy that he’s slipped a bit out of their reach.

They get rumors about the Al Ghul’s falling out of favor/losing control of the League and are interested in recruiting the displaced group.

Yeah, the Al Ghul’s don’t appreciate that very much and send back the head of their messenger as a warning. Of course, the Court isn’t happy about that and find out about Damian.

Their thought process consists of basically “Well, we lost our previous Talon. This one is younger and easier to change. Let’s take him.”

Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem for the Al Ghul’s. But it is only the small group of Assassins vs Undead Army of Talons that get killed, get their bodies picked up, revived, then turned back on the Al Ghul’s.

So very long story short, they flea very reluctantly to the only person who will be able to help: Aka CALLING ON THE BAT.

Red Hood has to wear his mask at all times and is not allowed to speak. Similar situation for Damian, but he’s just in a cute little ninja costume with only his eyes showing. Neither Ras or Talia mentions that Damian is related to Bruce and make an excuse of adopting him as a servant/assassin (which Damian is a bit confused and annoyed about but he is not going to question his Mother or Grandfather). 

Bruce is not happy about the situation but the Court has become frustrated because they are trying to kidnap Dick now so he reluctantly agrees to a team-up with the insane assassins.

Since I do not want to plan out every little plot detail, I’m just gonna hit the highlights

Bruce and Ras argue constantly on how to deal with the Court. Bruce wants to take out the Talons (they are already dead so he’s fine with chopping them to pieces) and arrest the leaders, but Ras want to find the actually living members and kill every last one of them. At the same time, the two of them work together on planning the attack on the Court’s headquarters.

Talia just kind of chills in the background. Sometimes she trains Damian, sometimes she helps her father and Bruce with planning the attack, and sometimes she just sits and watches.

Ubu and Sensi train Damian. They are also sent out every once in a while to spy on the Court. None of the Bats interact with either of them for longer then necessary and vice versa.

Hood does not have all of his memories at this point but he really does not like looking at the “memorial case” for what appears to have been the previous Robin. Most of his days consist of people watching because these people are really familiar and why the heck did he know “Agent A” was someone named Alfie? He also does not like the current Robin for no particular reason. ... The Robin grows on him. Very slowly.

Alfred has also decided he likes the Red Hood for no particular reason. He does not understand why the man does not take off his mask, but Hood is more polite to the butler then the rest of the Assassin’s combined. And he doesn’t even speak! He has also decided the smallest assassin with the Al Ghul’s is trouble, but not evil. He insists on treating the boy’s wounds after his “training” (which all of the Bats have spoken about the cruelty of it but there is not much they can do at the moment). Hood helps him most days patch up the young master.

Damian wants to hate the Bats (Grandfather and Mother both warned him not to grow attached to them as they are their enemies-- respected enemies, but enemies. This situation is an exception). He really does. But there is something about them that he is just drawn to. Grayson is a respectable fighter who had decided to teach him the basics of gymnastics. Drake had excellent skills in deducing and technology, offering to upgrade Damian’s arsenal with a few... non-lethal options (the batarangs were too good to say no to, but Damian made sure to hide them from his Mother and Grandfather). Brown was a bit weak, but what she lacked in skill she made up for in determination. Miss Gordon was one of the best Intelligence officers Damian had seen. Pennyworth is an excellent servant that the others treated with the same respect as everyone else. That was a new concept. And then there was Batman. Something about Batman made Damian feel... safe, was the best word for it.

Tim decides he is going to befriend the tiny assassin. Don’t ask him why, he couldn’t tell you. (It might have had something to do with the well hidden looks the tiny assassin shot at Thalia and Ras. It was a look of wanting praise and wanting to please. The Al Ghul’s either hadn’t noticed or ignored it. Either way, Tim understood that situation more than he would care to admit). So Tim and the tiny assassin are on “friendly terms” is the best way to describe it. He also talks a lot to the Red Hood guy. Hood never responds but he also hasn’t pulled a gun on him so he takes that as a good sign.

Stephanie and Barbra hang together and keep an eye on all the assassin’s to make sure no one dies. They also spy on the Court whenever Ubu and Senseii are not. That’s really about it.

Very, very long story short, everyone goes and attacks the Court. They manage to take down most of the Talon’s and Ras goes to kill the leaders and Bruce tries to stop him.

Fragile alliance falls apart and it’s now a free-for-all with the Bats vs. the Al Ghuls vs. The Court. Cheers.

At some point Jason loses his mask which cause a completely different kind of “falling apart” and Hood is really confused because “Who’s Jason?”

The Court escapes, Al Ghul’s leave (with Jason), and the Bats are ticked/sad/confused/angry. Lots of emotions.

Jason had been getting more of his memories back while with the Bats. He gets more of them back over the course of the next few months and while he is angry that Bruce replaced him, he also knows that Damian was MUCH happier with them.

So when the Court comes for Damian again, Jason snatches the kid up in the confusion and takes him back to Gotham because I NEED PROTECTIVE BIG BROTHER JASON. Damian hesitantly goes with Hood but is not as resistant to the idea as he might have been a few weeks back (his mother is NOT a good mother, kay?)

Ras get’s ticked at the world, kills most of the Court members because he thinks Damian got snatched by them (and maybe Hood?). Later finds out Jason was the one to take Damian and tries to kill him, but Damian won’t have that, no siree.

Damian and Jason end up gaining their freedom through combat and head off to Gotham. They get there just before Batman and Co. launch a full blown rescue mission to get Jason back so there’s some saved resources, I suppose.

Also: “Bruce, meet Damian. He’s Talia and your demon spawn.” “... what?” “My father is Batman???”

[perfeggso]

Noir (yutae)

Week II pt. 1

Tokyo – fall of 1983: Nakamoto Yuta is quickly rising in the ranks of one of Japan’s most notorious yakuza families, and he’s poised to climb even further if he can stop himself from being ruined by the pretty Korean boy who’s shown up out of nowhere.

Chapter 1  |  Chapter 2  |  Chapter 3  |  Chapter 4  |  Chapter 5  |  Chapter 6  |  Chapter 7  |  Chapter 8  | Masterlist 

Glossary of Japanese words

Characters: Yuta x Taeyong + NCT ensemble, Twice J-line (for funsies) 

Genres: Gang!AU, angst, smut, fluff, 1980s!AU

Warnings: graphic violence, swearing, minor character death, alcohol use, mentions of drugs, period-typical homophobia, xenophobia, BDSM

Rating: 18+

Length: 4.5k (will progressively get way longer)

A “foot soldier,” as it turned out, was the smallest of small fry in the syndicate.  They were mostly responsible for manning the many front businesses that Inagawa used for small change, low-level intimidation, and charity work.  Taeyong found that he did get to carry a revolver around with him but was forbidden from using it in non-life-threatening situations because he had only been a yakuza for about a week and had only gotten the opportunity to practice firing the thing twice.  This was both for his own protection and for the protection of the gang; almost nothing could have been more damaging than the misfiring of an illegal gun by a rookie.

All Taeyong had needed to do to leave his mechanic job was to submit a letter of resignation, which in honesty was the most obvious solution.  People were allowed to resign without a specific reason – his boss didn’t own his soul.  And Taeyong wasn’t too sad to leave since he hadn’t been close to anyone working there.

After a week, Taeyong found himself leaning over a yellow plastic desk at the entrance to a miscellaneous electronics shop in Akihabara, bored to death and resigned to people-watching.  Taeyong usually avoided Akihabara because he wasn’t particularly interested in electronics nor in otaku culture.  More than that, he hated how the few times he had come to the neighborhood in the evening he’d been approached by creepy middle-ages men trying to entice him to go “chat” with some “lovely young ladies.”

But now he was here among the neon lights with nothing more to do with himself but try to look inviting to customers.  If he was being honest, part of him wanted to sabotage the whole racket by looking purposefully glum and driving people away.  Despite his sweet face, Taeyong did have an aggressive streak in him but he always considered himself principled about those who got hit by it.  For instance, swindling major corporations out of millions of yen, as he was vaguely aware that Inagawa did, seemed perfectly ethical to him.  Selling faulty electronics to innocent working-class people on the other hand…

“Taeyong!” Mark yelled from behind him, forcing him out of his contemplative rabbit hole of Robin Hood ethics.

Taeyong turned around to see Mark walking up to him, a stack of colorful business cards in one hand and a badminton racket and shuttlecock in the other.  What a fuckin’ weirdo , thought Taeyong, although he couldn’t help but like the guy.

Mark had been the first person Taeyong had spoken to as an unofficial member, he supposed, of the Inagawa-kai, as he was the one responsible for escorting Taeyong back to his apartment and spending the night there to ensure that he did not try to run away or go to the authorities.  Taeyong didn’t sleep that night because his head was full of too many questions, and Mark wasn’t allowed to, so the two instead got to talking – as much as they could given the supreme awkwardness of the situation, anyway.        

“What do you need?” Taeyong asked and in response, Mark passed him the stack of cards as if that were an explanation.  Before he got around to illustrating his intentions with words, he began bouncing the shuttlecock against his racket, twisting the string bed 180 degrees between each contact.

“I need you to stand on the sidewalk and hand these out to people,” he finally said, still focused on his game. “They say we’re having a promotional sale.  It’s supposed to drum up more business which we can handle with the three of us here instead of two.  But for this to work, you need to stop scowling.  Show off that charming smile of yours.”

Mark was sure a cheeky bugger.  If Taeyong did stick around in this gang, he’d eventually use his age advantage to mess with the kid once their gap in experience wasn’t so large.

“Was this your idea?” Taeyong asked.

Mark shook his head no, pausing his game of hand-eye coordination.  “It was our Shategashira ’s.”  

“Nakamoto?”

“Hasn’t he told you to use his title?  Or just Yuta if you want to use his name.”

Taeyong huffed a sigh.  This ‘ Shategashira ’ of his had really become an exasperating figure in his life over the past week.  They’d barely interacted, but the coolness and ease with which Yuta always addressed him made him feel funny; as if he truly had no control over the trajectory of his life anymore simply because he was dumb enough to follow some sounds in an alley.  But who was he kidding?  His life might as well lead him to being in a gang.  Wasn’t that what he’d always wanted?  And anyway, there was a reason the Inagawa-kai had an entire Korean division and some Korean leadership.  Taeyong had just imagined more bombastic motorcycle rides and fewer junk computers.

“Yeah I remember now,” Taeyong said, shuffling the business cards in his hands and making his way out from behind his desk.  “So how do I get people to take these?”

Mark walked with him to the front of the shop, his hand on the older man’s shoulder.  “Just smile and say ‘promotional sale: premium consumer electronics.  This week only,' or some shit and try to get these into the hands of everyone who walks near you.  I think you can handle it.”

“I will try,” said Taeyong.

He found it was easier to get people to take the cards than he had expected, although his success didn’t seem to go further than that, as most people who took a card only regarded Taeyong with a confused scowl once they had it in their hands.  After about an hour, a woman came walking towards Taeyong on his side of the street, and she was truly the first person Taeyong fully noticed his whole shift.  He noticed her because no one could have not: she was slightly taller than average, especially in heels, with long black hair blown out, a green bodycon dress, black heels, and a gold chain necklace.  Taeyong thought she might have the prettiest face he’d ever seen on a woman.  He also noticed her because she was staring right at him as she approached.  Taeyong wasn’t fazed because he was used to nice looking girls coming onto him.  They would inevitably be put off either by his ethnicity or by his lack of interest in them – whichever they perceived first – and then bad things would happen.  However, the intensity in this woman’s gaze felt different as she came to stand just a few feet away.

“Momo-hime??” Taeyong heard Mark yell from somewhere within the store.  Huh?   Soon enough both he and Jungwoo had emerged and were greeting the gorgeous young woman.  Taeyong stayed frozen to his post because he didn’t know what to make of the situation nor of his role in it.  She was a ‘princess’ anyway.  What business did a street rat have introducing himself to her?

Soon, though, Taeyong found he didn’t have to.  She exchanged a few words with his coworkers, and they nodded, pointing her his way.

“Lee Taeyong,” said the woman, bowing once she had finally gotten close enough to greet him.  “I’m Hirai Momo.  It’s good to meet you.  Yuta told me you had been brought on.”

Taeyong was so confused he felt like he was floating, but he bowed back despite himself.  “Nice to meet you too.”  The name Hirai sounded familiar but Taeyong took a moment to place it.  Then, like being slapped in the face, his brain found the missing puzzle piece that allowed him to make an association.  The Hirai family ran the entire operation, didn’t they?  Shit .            

“Why are you here, Neechan ?” asked Jungwoo.

Momo smiled.  “Yuta sent me to retrieve you, Taeyong,” she answered, causing Mark and Jungwoo to raise their eyebrows in unison.

Taeyong could feel the blood rush through his veins, and it felt cold.  “I – did I do something?”

“Don’t worry,” Momo assured.  “Everything’s alright.  Yuta-san just wants to make sure you’re adjusting alright and to have you get some more target practice in with your new piece.  How does that sound?”

Yuta was turning out to be the most involved boss Taeyong had ever had.  He still had no idea what was going on, but at least he wasn’t in trouble and if he was being honest, he liked firing the gun and looked forward to another sanctioned opportunity.  Taeyong chided himself as he noticed a piece of his mind wondering churlishly what this girl was to Yuta.  That doesn’t pertain to you , he told himself.  

“That’s fine,” he said.

“Great,” said Momo, winking like a girl from an animated television show or something.  “So, you’ll go to headquarters and meet him right after your shift, got it?”

Got it.

***

The Inagawa-kai Tokyo headquarters was located in a simple, box-shaped black building on the edge of Aoyama.  It wasn’t a short structure – it had about seven stories – but compared to much of Tokyo’s architecture it remained strategically unassuming.  Once inside the building, a tall man with dark hair and a patchwork of tattoos and scars across his exposed skin approached Taeyong and told him he would escort him to the meeting.  At first Taeyong didn’t recognize him because he hadn’t gotten a good look the first time, but he soon realized that his companion was one of the men who had essentially arrested him a week ago, a fact which made his throat tighten.  Taeyong also cautiously noted that the man had a fresh stump of a pinky finger on his right hand covered in bandages.  Must have gotten in a bad fight.

The man led Taeyong down a series of identical concrete hallways until they reached a sliding door made of oak, at which point he left Taeyong to enter the room by himself.  Taeyong hesitated for a moment but was stunned into action when he heard Yuta’s expressive voice anticipate his presence from inside with the simple utterance of two syllables.

“ Douzo .”

Within, Yuta sat at the same desk where Taeyong had first met him, surrounded by expensive Scandinavian furnishings, walls of glass and concrete, and a pristine bonsai tree on a ledge behind him.  Yuta himself wore black pants, a silk shirt, and a yellow velvet smoking jacket of all things.  Taeyong felt something twist in his gut at the sight of him and his intent gaze but decided to file the feeling away somewhere very deep for the purposes of later contemplation.

“ Shategashira !” Taeyong greeted with a salute, as he was now pretty sure he was expected to.  “Would you like me to sit, sir?”

“At ease,” said Yuta, waving him off and letting Taeyong relax a bit.  “No need.  I’ll accompany you to the range right now, if that’s alright.”

“Of course, Shategashira .”

And with that, Taeyong let himself be led back under the florescent lights of the complex’s maze-like hallways.

“How are you adjusting, Taeyong?” asked Yuta.

Taeyong was constantly surprised that the couple times he had seen Yuta since their initial meeting, he always made sure to check up on him.  He didn’t know what to make of this.  He guessed it was just standard practice – a measure to make him feel protected and ensure his devotion, or something of the sort.

“It’s alright, I guess,” Taeyong responded.  “I like Mark and Jungwoo.  Johnny seems like a good guy too.  In all honesty, I don’t have a lot to do right now.  But I do appreciate having the position at all!”  Taeyong’s tone was absolutely all over the place, not knowing where to stand between familiar and deferent.  Taeyong thought he saw his little speech provoke a smile in Yuta, and suddenly that knot in his stomach was back.  Well, fuck.

Yuta spoke.  “I acknowledge that you don’t have the most exciting posting.  But that’s partially why I wished to speak with you today.  After you.”

Yuta left that tease there.  They had come to the end of a hallway to an orange door with chipping paint and a black symbol indicating that protective equipment for eyes and ears was recommended inside.  Yuta held it open and Taeyong passed through.

Once in the vestibule of the shooting range, Taeyong set himself up where he was supposed to stand and aimed his revolver at the target on the other end of the room as Yuta leaned against an acid-white wall with his arms crossed and his chin raised slightly.

“Relax your shoulders,” Yuta said, and Taeyong cleared his throat, shimmying his shoulders lower on his back in response.  He took a deep breath and focused on the red bull’s eye placed on the heart of a human-shaped target, both hands on the gun.  He had to refrain from grinding his teeth.

“Wait until you’re ready,” Yuta coached, voice low and commanding, “then focus your energy and count down from three before you pull the trigger.  Simple as that.”

“Yes, Shategashira .” Taeyong did as he was told, steadying himself, focusing his eyes on his target, and counting 3…2…1… BANG!

Taeyong felt himself sway backwards for a moment after firing but regained his balance quickly – something he had not done the first time he had shot the thing.  That time, he ended up on his butt, confused and embarrassed as Mark thrashed around on the wall in a fit of performative laughter.  The practice he’d had since then had helped, but so did the pressure of Yuta’s gaze.

After a moment, Taeyong heard clapping coming from next to him and he realized he had been closing his eyes.  When he opened them, he saw that a chunk of the wooden target was missing on its inner thigh.

“We can work with that,” Yuta remarked, finishing his short round of applause.  “Certainly enough to cripple, and that’s important.  However, I get the sense you weren’t aiming there, hm?”

Taeyong’s breathing fumbled when Yuta began to stalk towards him.  “What we need is to teach you some precision and confidence,” he explained. “We’ve got to work on your kill shot.  Do you mind?”

Yuta was asking for the gun, so Taeyong handed it over with an “of course, Shategashira .”        

Yuta took a sideways stance, holding the revolver out with one arm, and proceeded to shoot five times in fast succession, obliterating the plywood head of the target cutout until it was nothing more than splinters.  Taeyong did not care to imagine it as belonging to a real human.  When he had finished, Yuta turned to regard Taeyong, and to Taeyong’s surprise and horror, he broke out into a wide grin.  God , thought Taeyong, I’m alone with a psychopath and a gun .  Although, once that thought had passed, Taeyong couldn’t help admiring the princely charm of the way the smile had spread like a sunrise over Yuta’s face.  What the fuck was going on?  

“You see?” said Yuta, ebullient, “you’ll be doing that soon enough.”

Soon enough .  Right, Taeyong would need to sort out his future, and soon.

“Let’s try again.  Go back to your stance.  We’re going to stay with two hands for now.”

Taeyong took the gun back and repositioned himself in his starting position, holding the weapon with his outstretched arms and lining it up with his sternum.  Yuta came up beside him and held his hands over Taeyong’s shoulders.

“May I?” he asked, and Taeyong nodded, allowing Yuta to press down onto his shoulders and straighten his spine.  Taeyong could feel the other man’s breath and it was sending his nerves into a state he did not need them to be in, heat crawling up his neck.      

“Do the countdown again,” Yuta instructed, “deep breath, and then fire.  Don’t let your eyes close, alright?  And try to stay still as much as possible.  You can if you really engage your core.”

Taeyong nodded at all the advice and tried to follow it – attempting also to avoid noticing the watchful smile blooming on Yuta’s face in his peripheral vision.  He took in a deep breath of the room’s stale air and counted down again, eyes trained on the cutout’s heart and intent not to shut.

A BANG rang out once more throughout the vestibule.            

Taeyong did narrowly refrain from closing his eyes, but they seemed to have gone out of focus.  Once he blinked the fuzziness from them, as if erasing an etch-a-sketch, he could see that he’d succeeded in blowing a hole through his target’s crotch.

Yuta giggled and slapped Taeyong over his right shoulder.  Taeyong’s head spun.  Was he supposed to be scared of this literal mob boss or not?

“I have a hunch you weren’t aiming there either, huh?” Yuta asked, and Taeyong shook his head no.  “That’d definitely be an effective shot though, wouldn’t it?  Might actually be better than aiming for the heart in some situations because you can make them talk while they bleed out.”

Holy shit.   In an instant, Taeyong became painfully aware of his reality.  He was practicing shooting because he might be in a situation where he’d need to – where others would be aiming at him the same way he was aiming at this outline of a man.  What if it was him who got shot in the heart, or worse, shot in the dick and forced to bleed out horrifically?  Taeyong felt lightheaded but managed to squeeze enough air from his lungs to speak.

“Do you mind me asking you a question, if it’s not too forward?”

Yuta raised an eyebrow.  “Shoot,” he said, obviously amused by his own word play.

“Why am I here?” asked Taeyong.  “What am I doing here now?  What am I training for?”  That was three questions, but oh well.  Taeyong didn’t feel like being measured.

Yuta sighed and cocked his head, eyes fluttering to regard the floor.

“I had a feeling this would come up,” he said, smiling wryly this time.  “Keep practicing and I’ll fill you in.”

Taeyong nodded and prepared to shoot again, hitting the target’s left shoulder this time when he pulled the trigger.

“Getting closer to the heart,” Yuta observed, appreciative.  “You see, Taeyong, there are only two favorable outcomes for you now that this ball has gotten rolling.”  Taeyong relaxed his arms and watched Yuta begin to pace, his face steeled by caution.

“The first, which would be preferable to the family, is that you stay on with the Inagawa-kai and devote yourself to our line of work.  However, I understand that what has happened was not your choosing, and you may want to return to your normal life as soon as possible.  Whichever path you choose eventually matters little to what I need you to do for now, so don’t worry about it yet.” Yuta paused, giving Taeyong a moment to recover from the way his emotions had just gone topsy-turvy like his image in a funhouse mirror.  Then Yuta gestured towards the gun Taeyong was now pointing at the rubber floor.  “Please continue,” he said.  Taeyong hit the target in its stomach and caught a hum of approval from Yuta.    

“Either way,” Yuta went on, “you will need to establish trust here.  Even if you want to leave, you will have to stay on long enough and perform well enough to prove that we can trust you to be an ally even in the civilian world.  Does that make sense, Taeyong?”

Bang! Left hip.

“It does,” Taeyong replied, resigned.  This was all his own fault anyway.  He couldn’t help his curiosity though.  “Is this something that happens often?”

Yuta chuckled slightly.  Bang! Sternum.  Taeyong was quickly gaining enough balance and confidence to keep himself still while firing.

“Similar situations have occurred although we obviously try to avoid them.  For instance, the two men who brought you in to me have been duly reprimanded for their carelessness.”  

Taeyong was preparing to fire as Yuta said this and was immediately thrown off when his mind returned to the image of his abductor’s freshly severed finger, putting two and two together.  Is that what a mistake gets you here? Worse, did Yuta purposefully assign that guy to escort Taeyong as some kind of warning? Taeyong was already pressing down on the trigger when this thought came to him and it caused him to misfire wildly, hitting the wall on the other end of the range a few feet from the target.

“Fuck!”

“Do you need me to stop talking?” Yuta asked.

Taeyong held the gun in his left hand while shaking out the wrist of his right, as if the problem had been purely physiological.  “No!  Er – sorry, just give me a moment please, Shategashira .”

“That’s alright,” said Yuta.  “You’re doing pretty well for a beginner.  Take a break for a bit.”

Taeyong nodded, feeling defeated but somewhat relieved.    

“Similar situations,” he mused “Like what?  If you don’t mind telling me.”

“Take Jungwoo, for example.  He worked for a circuitry and computing firm that was under our thumb.  He knew nothing about it – he was simply a technician and didn’t have access to the books – but when the small company had defied our understanding with them one too many times, Jungwoo happened to be unlucky enough to witness the consequences.  We gave him the option to make it up to us by working for us.  It was difficult for him at first, but now his closest friends are in our ranks and he gets to do what he loves while never needing to worry about money.  So, it worked out in the end.”

Jungwoo, huh?   Taeyong had thought the guy seemed a bit too cheery to be a natural gangster.

“I see.  I don’t really have a thing though, that I love doing, you know?”

Yuta shrugged, then smiled in a way that was meant to be reassuring.

“Well, you may not love it, but you know about vehicle mechanics, right?  That will be useful to us.  However, to be honest I do feel for you, Taeyong, I really do.  You caught my attention immediately and have weighed on my conscience.  I want to help you make the best of this, and the best thing you can do now is quickly prove your loyalty both to me and to the people I work for.  That way, you will get the most flexibility in the least time.  That’s why I’m scheming to fast-track you to that point.”

Taeyong was mystified as to why his superior, who had implicitly threatened him into becoming a yakuza in the first place, was being so nice to him; so reasonable.

“What does that mean?” Taeyong asked, eyes going wide in anticipation.

Yuta leaned back against the wall and watched Taeyong from under his bangs.  “I’m in the middle of a project that it would be nice if someone helped me with.  It’s not inherently dangerous and it’ll give you a good idea of how we operate.  If you do a good job you will both understand the world you’re now living in and if you want to stay in it, and hopefully, gain enough trust to be allowed to make that decision when the time comes.”

Taeyong’s thumb skimmed nervously over the textured handle of his revolver, eyes searching the vestibule for some sense of reality.  He felt almost dizzy with exhilaration at the idea of helping Yuta out and spending more time with him - studying him.  “What’s the project?” he asked.

“An investigation.”

“An investigation…” Taeyong repeated.  What did he know about investigations?

“Yes,” said Yuta, “I’m gathering information on a certain executive at one of the nation’s largest companies.  For blackmailing purposes.”

Taeyong almost laughed at how upfront Yuta was about this.

“Okay…”

“Is that a yes?”

“Do I have a choice?” Asked Taeyong.  Yuta smiled, something almost predatory in his expression.  “What would I have to do?”

“Accompany me when I go out following leads, be my lookout and my sounding board for ideas when no one else is free to help.  You can be more involved depending on how well you do with that.  Think you can handle it?”

That didn’t sound too out of the box for things Taeyong could do.  Besides, Yuta had said “lookout” not “bodyguard” or something.  Taeyong was used to fighting, but his dustups were usually with hoodlums from Shin-Ōkubo, not with armed career criminals.

Taeyong nodded.  “Yeah,” he said.  “Yeah I can.”

Yuta pushed himself off the wall.  “Perfect.  Before we finish here though, I’d like to get you to hit your target.”

The way Yuta said it so flatly made it clear to Taeyong that this was a command, not a suggestion.

“Yes, Shategashira .”      

“I think I know how to help,” said Yuta, “it’s something I used to do when practicing.  Do you have someone you want that to be?  Someone you hate so much it makes your toes curl?  Makes you want to smell their blood?”

Taeyong pictured the leader of the Specters – the boy who’d beaten him black and blue until he couldn’t hear or think; the boy who had only refrained from dragging Taeyong from a chain on the back of a car when he heard sirens coming for him, and all because Taeyong had dared to be zainichi .  Sure, Taeyong wouldn’t mind a little payback.  He nodded at Yuta, both men’s eyes going dark and focusing on the target.

“Good,” said Yuta, placing his hands on Taeyong’s shoulders and squeezing.  This time, Taeyong’s mind had gone too cold to let the contact affect him.  “Now, don’t let them get away with anything less than a bullet to the heart.”

With that, Yuta pushed away and Taeyong imagined his victim, ugly smug face and rising sun headband appearing in his mind’s eye with chilling detail.  Relax, breathe out, 3, 2, 1, BANG!

Taeyong was steady as the bullet passed an inch or so from the bullseye and the sight caused a great sense of relief to wash over him, like stepping into a hot tub on a snowy day.

When he turned around, Yuta was watching him with a smirk, arms crossed over his chest.

“When do I start, Shategashira ?” asked Taeyong.

Yuta’s smirk morphed into what Taeyong could only describe as a proud grin.  “You start now.”    

[abundanceofsoph]

SkyFire 3: Chapter 5

Aurora in Vogue & saying goodbye to Robin: May-June 2017    

Word count: 3.2k

SkyFire 3 MASTERLIST

>Instagram posts - vogue + robin

Stepping into the elevator of Avengers tower, Aurora felt all the stress of the past month leave her body. LA was always fun to visit, but it never felt like home the way NYC or London did and knowing she would be with her parents shortly, added to the feeling of comfort. After weeks of anxiety over the album being released, the pressure of performing again and the constant looming threat of Robins health, the thought of getting a hug from Steve was enough to bring tears to her eyes. The moment she stepped out into the penthouse, Steve and Tony were waiting for her and she gladly fell into Steve’s arms, immediately feeling Tony step behind her, his chest pressed against her back and sandwiching her in the middle of a family cuddle. She was grateful to be spending a week back home in the tower and excited for the photo shoot for Vogue in a few days’ time, however she couldn’t seem to avoid the anxious feeling in her gut whenever she thought of Harry.

She knew how deeply affected he was by his stepfather's continued deterioration and she wished that she had just cancelled the photo shoot and gone straight to Manchester with him to offer her support. Not only did she want to be there for her husband, but she also wanted to make the most of the short time she herself had left with Robin. She was desperately searching for a silver lining or really anything positive to hold on to and so far, all she had come up with was that she was grateful that they all had the opportunity to say goodbye to Robin. Her own mother’s passing had been so sudden and tragic, so she hoped that the time they had to spend with him and say farewell would help them process their grief just a little bit easier when the time finally came.

xXx

After spending a few days with her fathers, Aurora met with the photographer, designers and the rest of the team behind her photo shoot for her article in Vogue magazine. She wasn’t going to be on the cover of the magazine, instead only featuring in an article a few pages in and as such the photo shoot was not the grand spectacle you would assume it would be when Vogue was involved. Some of the photos were taken out on the quiet street outside the Queens photography studio, while the rest of the shoot took place inside. Aurora had plenty of fun, changing outfits and having her hair and makeup perfected and she chose to wear her prosthetic hand for some of the outfits, while leaving it off for others. By the end of the day, she was glad to be back in her own clothes and chatted away to Happy about the day as he drove her back across the East River.  

Steve had prepared a nice meal for the evening, and both he and Tony were waiting in the penthouse when she returned.

“It’s been so good to have you home this week kiddo,” Tony said while they ate. “We’ve missed you.”

“Missed you both too,” Aurora replied. “It’s been nice to just stop for a moment and hang out with you both. Everything is so hectic lately and it feels like Harry and I are always rushing to or from something. Get’s a bit much sometimes.”

“You know we’re always here when you need a break,” Steve promised, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder slightly.

“I know,” she smiled. “Means everything to know I can always come here, and it’ll feel like nothing’s changed.”

“Well some things might be a changing a bit,” Tony replied. “Steve and I have started looking into adoption or surrogacy.”

“You’re going to have a baby?” Aurora squealed, her face lighting up in delighted excitement. “Oh, that’s wonderful!”

“It won’t happen for a while,” Tony continued. “It’s not a simple process and there’s a lot of paperwork and the tower would need to be approved by a social worker and either Pops or I will need to take a lot of time off work, so nothing will happen any time soon. We just want you to be involved.”

“And I really want to be involved,” Rori replied. “This is going to be the luckiest kid in the world to have you two for parents.”

“You don’t think it’ll be weird to have a baby sibling when you’re old enough to be having your own kids?” Steve asked.

“Not at all,” she promised. “Besides you’re technically only 34 Pops. That’s not exactly too old to be having a baby you know.”

Tony stood from his seat and quickly pulled his daughter to her feet, wrapping her in a tight hug. “Gonna be such a lucky kid to have the best big sister in the world,” he mumbled in her ear and she simply squeezed him tighter before they were both enveloped by Steve’s arms.  

xXx

The day after Steve and Tony informed their daughter of their plans to expand their family, she packed her things and after a quick farewell, boarded a flight for Manchester. She was anxious the entire flight, pressing her thumb into the palm of her hand repeatedly or tapping her fingers on the tray table in front of her. Harry met her at the airport, his usual happy smile missing in action as he gave her a quick hug and then herded her back towards his car.

Aurora tried to enjoy her week in Holmes Chapel, she really did. She attempted to find the usual peace and comfort she usually felt when helping Anne in the kitchen, or when arguing with Harry over a game of scrabble about whether he was making up words, but all she felt, underlying every moment was looming dread. With every interaction between herself and anyone in the house she was painfully aware of the ticking clock hanging above their heads. Every time Robin coughed a little too hard or winced when he tried to stand up from the recliner in the living room, she was faced with the reality that she and Harry were there to say goodbye. She tried to hide it behind strained smiles and forced laughter, holding her tears off until everyone was asleep, and she could sneak outside to the back garden and let her sobs break free.

Despite knowing that it was very likely the last time she would see him, Aurora was grateful when it was finally time for her and Harry to return to London.  She felt as though she hadn’t taken a deep breathe since the moment she arrived, so as heartbreaking as it was to say goodbye for what she knew was very likely the last time, she was relieved to be also leaving behind the tense and terrifying atmosphere of the house. They both hugged Robin and Anne goodbye, holding on a few moments longer than usual and neither commented on the others tears as they pulled out of the driveway and merged onto the motorway headed south. There was nothing to say as the radio softly played, breaking what would have otherwise been tormenting silence as Harry drove.

xXx

After only a few weeks back in London and another tv performance, Harry received the call from his mother that they had been dreading for months on end. Robin had finally lost his battle against the disease that had been ravishing his body for near on a year. The moment Anne gasped out the terrible words, Harry’s world stopped turning. His breath caught in his chest, his ears rang in the silence that wrapped around him, and his knees buckled beneath him. Aurora was by his side the moment he fell to the floor, taking the phone from his loose grip and quietly taking over the conversation with Anne. They didn’t speak for long and after hanging up, Rori remained on the floor beside her husband, her arms wrapped tightly around him as he shook silently.

“Rori I can’t breathe,” Harry gasped after many long minutes of silence between the pair.

Aurora felt her heart breaking as she held him tightly against her, his face buried in the crook of her neck as he shuddered. “I know, H,” she soothed. “I know, I’ve got you.”

“It hurts,” Harry continued to sob. “I know he wasn’t my dad but…”

“No,” Rori interrupted. “Don’t you try that shit Harry, not with me.” She pulled him away from where his face was buried against her, each of her hands cupping his cheekbones, forcing him to look her in the eyes. “Don’t you dare try to tell me that Robin wasn’t your father. Because if that’s true then Steve isn’t mine and I know losing him would hurt just as much as losing Mum did. He wasn’t your blood, but he was your dad and you’re allowed to feel this. Do you hear me Harry? You get to feel this. All of it. It hurts this much because he mattered, and he loved you. I know that you know that.”

“I can’t. I can’t do this Rors.”

“You can and you will,” Aurora promised. “Tonight, it’s just me here. You can cry or scream or whatever you need and then in the morning you’re going to pull yourself together and we are both going to be there for Anne.”

“Don’t leave me,” he mumbled.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, my love.”

Given the late hour of Anne’s call and the way that Harry had immediately crumbled, Aurora had decided that they would wait until the morning to drive north to Holmes Chapel, a decision that Anne had agreed with. After what seemed like the longest time, Rori finally coaxed Harry to his feet and helped him down the hall and into bed, only letting go of him long enough to strip out of their clothes before she returned to wrapping herself around his broad shoulders. They stayed awake until well after midnight and Aurora ran a soothing hand along Harry’s back as he clung to her. She pushed her own grief to the side, knowing that her husband needed to be able to lean on her without worrying about being a burden. She knew only too well the pain of losing a parent and she wanted nothing more than to shield her husband from that kind of pain, even though she knew that wasn’t possible.

xXx

Both Harry and Aurora were exhausted as they got ready to leave the following morning. They packed enough clothes for a week, knowing that they could just do laundry if they ended up staying longer and Harry carried their cases, and the garment bags holding their funeral outfits, downstairs to the car. Aurora followed behind him a few moments later, her hands full with travel mugs of coffee to keep them awake for the three hour drive up to Anne’s house. One stern look was all it took for Harry to give up arguing that he should drive and instead, he handed the keys to his wife and climbed into the passenger seat, gratefully sipping on the coffee she traded him for the keys. Aurora frowned as she watched him settle into his seat, before turning her attention back to pulling out of the garage and merging into the early morning traffic making its way out of the city. He looked terrible, his hair a mess, his eyes glassy and puffy, and his trademark smile was non-existent. She knew she probably didn’t look much better after staying up worrying about him all night and trying not to slip into her own feelings of grief she felt welling inside her. She would have time to grieve later, for now her entire focus was on her husband, as well as Anne and Gemma. Once she knew they were pulling themselves back together and supporting each other, then she would allow herself to cry and mourn Robin. Just as she had for Louis when his mother passed, now she put those around her first, taking on the caregiver role that she so naturally adopted in times like these. Even the mere thought of putting herself first made her feel sick to her stomach.

The drive was long, and Aurora was thankful when Harry finally fell asleep an hour into the drive as they passed Stokenchurch. She turned down the radio, driving silently for the next hour, following the motorway until she reached Strafford, taking the exit to stop for a coffee break. Harry continued to sleep, clearly exhausted from the lack of sleep the previous night, not even stirring when Aurora returned to the car and started the engine. She merged back onto the M6 and continued north until she finally arrived in Holmes Chapel. She reached out to gently shake Harry’s shoulder as they turned onto Anne’s street. He woke groggily, knuckling his eyes as Rori parked the car behind Gemma’s out the front of house. She laced her fingers through her husbands as they made their way up the path, the front door swinging open as the stepped onto the porch. Gemma didn’t say a word as she pulled her baby brother into a tight hug and then led them both inside to where Anne was sitting in the living room.

In any crisis, Aurora immediately stepped into a care giver role without really thinking about it and Robin’s death was one of the biggest crises she had ever encountered. For the first two days in Anne’s home, she cooked, cleaned and made sure that everyone always had a fresh cup of tea on hand. Between Anne, Gemma and Harry there was always at least one person in tears, but Anne tried her hardest not to let anyone wallow too much and instead insisted that they share their favourite memories of Robin. They had all sat around in the living room, laughing and sharing stories from years passed and while they were all deeply unhappy, this reminiscing did help lift the mood of the house. Rori spent many hours cuddled up on the sofa with Harry carding her fingers through his hair while he grieved or lying in bed next to each other talking late into the night while sleep alluded them both. Aurora manage to hold herself together and be the rock for everyone else in the house until their third night in Holmes Chapel.

It was late. Really late. Harry had finally fallen asleep, and with the rest of the house silent, Rori snuck downstairs and slipped out into the back garden. It was a clear spring night, a chill breeze blowing through the yard causing her to draw her cardigan tightly around herself. She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly until it turned into a deep sob, the kind that felt like it would break a rib. She gasped for breath as she cried in the darkness, finally allowing herself to miss her father in law. Finally allowing herself to feel the loss without worrying about adding to Harry or Anne or Gemma’s grief. Her cries were loud enough that she didn’t hear the door open behind her, or the footsteps across the patio. She jumped a little when a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug. Gemma gripped her tightly as she shook.

“Was wondering when you were finally going to let it all out,” she whispered as Auroras sobs began to soften.

“I’m sorry,” Rori said, pulling back from Gemma’s hold and wiping at the tears running down her cheeks. “I’m ok. How are you?”

“Stop,” Gemma replied. “Stop acting like you’re not allowed to miss him too. It’s not a competition. I get that you’re trying to be strong for H and Mum and me, but you’re not helping anyone by holding it all in and then coming out here in the middle of the night to let it all out.”

“I just,” Aurora muttered, “I just don’t want Harry worrying about me right now. I can hold it together so that he can rely on me while he falls apart.”

“You know he’d be furious if he found out you were hurting and not letting him in,” Gemma said. “We can all lean on each other. That’s the whole point of the four of us staying here together.”

Aurora nodded in understanding, not knowing what to say since her sister in law was clearly hell bent on winning this disagreement. “Let’s go inside and make some tea.”

Both women trudged inside, settling on the kitchen stools as they waited for the kettle to boil. “It just isn’t fair,” Aurora murmured when Gemma handed a mug to her and re-joined her at the counter. “He deserved more time.”

“Can’t argue with that,” Gemma said. “I don’t even know what to say to Mum. After so many crap guys, she finally found her soulmate just to have him taken away. Makes me so angry.”

“Makes me angry too,” Aurora agreed. “Feels like we just keep losing parents. First my mum, then Jay, now Robin.”

“Makes me afraid of who’s next,” Gemma replied, gnawing at her bottom lip.

“What are you both doing up so late?” Harry mumbled from the doorway, startling both women. “It’s nearly 4am.”

“Did we wake you?” Rori asked. “Sorry baby.”

Harry shuffled further into the kitchen, immediately noticing that his wife had been crying as soon as he neared her. He didn’t say anything, instead stepping up to her side and pulling her tightly against his chest. Her arms wrapped around his bare torso, as she buried her face against one of the swallows nestled beneath his collarbones. “Please don’t pull away from me,” he whispered.

“Didn’t want to burden you,” Rori whispered back in reply.

Harry loosened the hug, pulling away enough to look her in the eyes. “You’re never a burden to me,” he promised, his voice serious. “We deal with this the same way we do everything, we do it together.”

Aurora didn’t know what to say so she remained silent and instead buried her face back into his chest and clung tightly to him, as if he would disappear the moment she let go. She never noticed Gemma slipping out of the room, but by the time she pulled herself together enough to lift her head away from Harry, the young couple were alone in the kitchen. Harry silently led her back to their room, pulling the covers over them and hugging her tightly against him, neither able to fall back asleep before the dawn light began peeking through the curtains a few hours later.

NEXT CHAPTER

OR CONTINUE READING ON AO3

[plainjaneoliver]

bad friend / jane + charlie

If Charlie stared at Owen’s house for long enough, then it might just disappear. The very foundations of the building might just sink into the earth out of sight, out of mind. After working to her very first deadline and being very proud of the small interview piece with Rory that she turned in, she was looking for a celebration that didn’t involve this – standing around the back of Owen’s house and wishing to be somewhere else.

Even though it had been a matter of weeks since Matt’s death, it felt too soon for returning to the life she had been living before. Especially when that was a life she was trying to distance herself from. Evenings spent sat in Owen’s house as her, Jane, Owen and JJ did drugs. Or the nights where Charlie assisted Owen with the running of his business, streamlining processes and helping with the finances. She wished she had lied about being done with her article.

Maybe the house would just crumble to the ground.

She lit up another cigarette – the fifth of daily allowance. Fuck it; she’d have six or seven today. Everything in her life resembled her cigarette habit that she could not quit. Owen, this life, the drugs, the undying need for destruction in her otherwise normal life – when would it end? Tomorrow, after another cigarette…?

With her head pressed against the brick wall, exhaling smoke around her head like the opposite of a halo, she didn’t hear the gate opening wide and Jane coming through it.

Charlie was dressed in all black. Shoes, blazer, trousers, top – black, black, black. In contrast, Jane was in a little white dress, a huge white fluffy coat, white boots and a light pink bucket hat.

“Hello, Jane,” Charlie started in her husky tones, causing Jane to release a squeal. Squinting in the poor light, she calmed down when she realised who owned this voice. “Careful, that dress would not survive you shitting yourself.”

Jane laughed once without humour.

“Read the room, Charlie, there’s like, a literal murderer loose on the streets.”

Jane was pretty aware that this murder was most likely a targeted attack, but it felt easier to pretend there was a psycho killer on the loose. Especially since it was only a matter of time before JJ was forced into the spotlight for being a suspect and even though they were trying to help cover things up before there was a shift in focus from Owen to him, there appeared to be more against him than for him at this point.

“That’s a fun idea considering this person probably just wanted to kill Matt and Matt alone.”

So Charlie wasn’t interested in pretending.

Jane rolled her eyes and got her own cigarettes out, because she needed a smoke for this conversation. As she was struggling to light it in the cold air, Charlie took this as an opportunity to continue speaking.

“What’s happening in there anyway? Developing a plot to save JJ’s bacon?”

There was a smirk in her voice that Jane couldn’t shake.

They had been talking about it in there. The Keira Problem, The Rumour Problem (although carefully not telling Owen about Alice, as JJ was still adamant Owen couldn’t know anything about her even though Jane was sure Owen gave less than two shits about him dating stupid Alice and he probably already knew) and yes, how they would save JJ’s bacon.

It annoyed Jane that Charlie seemed to be getting out of anything to do with helping them. Sure, she got Owen out of jail, but that took JJ to convince her. She didn’t even lie in the interview, whereas Jane would give a false alibi to get JJ out of that situation. She wanted to be the one who saved him.

“Have you come to offer your valuable insight?”

It’s not like Jane and Charlie didn’t get on. When Charlie was still in college, she just seemed to care more about this little group. They would sit in parks getting trashed, Charlie or JJ buying the alcohol, trying new drugs, fuck, they had even kissed once. Or twice. Definitely not more than three times anyway.

Since then though Charlie had been drifting. Getting coffees for people at the office being more important than buying her alcohol. She felt replaced by her grown-up alternative – Robin. And now when the four of them should be sticking together, she had to be bribed into fixing things. She was the leak in their boat and she could capsize them all in a matter of minutes.

“You must all have it under control if you’re leaving now.”

There was an ease with which she spoke as if Owen hadn’t just gotten out of prison. As if her insides hadn’t been in bits due to it all. Jane felt the constant fear in her stomach, was Charlie sick all the time too? Did she find it hard to fall asleep, because she could wake up to news that affected them all? Did she spend nights looking behind her shoulder?

It didn’t seem like it.

“I have a wax.” She offered, causing the ease on Charlie’s face to spread, like a warm sun had been hitting her face. Something in Jane snapped. Fuck the leak in the boat. “We were all there that night, you know, you’re part of this too and -,”

“Jane.”

The ease parted like it wasn’t the sun at all. It was just the calm before the storm. And Jane knew then that she was feeling all the same things as her, but not out of a sense of group guilt. She was worried about herself.

“I was there that night. I saw JJ go off, I saw Owen go off, and I saw you get so drunk that you probably don’t remember the end of the night. I’ve saved the person I need to save, if Owen wants to get involved with saving JJ then that’s on him, but I think it’s his responsibility. Not yours, not ours, certainly not mine. I know JJ isn’t as smart as Owen, but really, we shouldn’t be coddling him like this, sweetheart.”

Jane watched Charlie put out her own cigarette in the most casual of manners. She chewed on her bottom lip ferociously, thinking about the leak in the boat.

Charlie felt the dynamite ready to blow and as she was very bored and not wanting to join the boys without a little excitement first, she continued to push at the buttons just a little bit more.

“How are things going with that girl in the petrol station? Owen said that was a major issue for JJ. I’m guessing you’re helping with that, just like you’ll probably end up falsifying an alibi for him. Unless you’ve already lied to the police…”

Charlie was thinking about dynamite.

Jane was thinking about the leak in the boat. Leak, leak, leak.

She exploded and turned to run back through the gate.

“I don’t think you should be told anything else. I’m going to make sure they don’t tell -,”

Charlie grabbed at her arm and despite Jane doing kettlebells class, she felt weak in that moment. She tried to shake her off, but Charlie got her face as close to Jane’s so she could whisper the words that would later come to mean a threat. It was a threat.  

“Jane, honey, I was talking about JJ being stupid and now you think this. Do you think I have a death wish? I’m not going to do anything with what I know. Even if I am pretty sure JJ is a killer. As long as I’m with Owen, that’s what I owe you all. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Charlie smiled sweetly, moving closer ever still to plant a kiss on Jane’s lips. Just a peck.

So maybe now it was four kisses.

“Now don’t you have a wax to be getting off to?”

Jane nodded once as Charlie moved backwards. The ease was on her face again and Jane felt that fear tighten in weird ways.

She threw her forgotten cigarette on the floor and started to walk away, hearing the gate open behind her. Quickly turning around, she threw the last thing she could say to make this interaction any more normal.

“I’m throwing a party on Friday. It’s to look more normal, less –,”

“Suspicious. That is smart, Jane. I’ll be there, of course.” Charlie nodded with a thoughtful smile, as if she actually meant it was smart. The softness in this moment where Charlie had previously been intimidating her caused her to get sweaty and nervous.

There was only one thing left to say.

“Uh… don’t tell Robin anything, as well.”

Charlie could have rolled her eyes at how Jane was really losing her cool so easily. The police hadn’t even started questioning JJ yet, would she actually be having a breakdown then? She felt pity for Jane, standing there with balled fists, looking like a child more than ever, begging her not to tell the adults about what she’d been doing.

She shook her head with a smile that would be given to a child if she ever saw one.

“I don’t like to repeat myself, but I’m not doing anything with what I know.” She saw Jane visibly relax and decided she could throw her another bone. God, she was being helpful. “I would try to be an extra nice sister if I were you though, because I wouldn’t want the best friend of the murdered boy to be suspicious of my boyfriend being the killer.”

And so they went their separate ways. Charlie to go and make JJ feel so uncomfortable that he’d probably leave within the hour and she’d be free to have sex with Owen, Jane to go and get a wax.

[dottie-wan-kenobi]

Been going thru a writing block recently but I FINALLY managed to write something. It’s very stream of consciousness and messy and was written in like an hour so,,, eventually I’m gonna clean it up/add to it and post it on AO3 (it was a prompt for the Bad Things Happen Bingo hhhhh) but for now, enjoy Jason’s reaction to Tim’s torture being broadcast:

---

Jason goes to cave, and the only reason why is because everyone else is out for the night. It's early enough that he doesn't have to worry about anyone coming back, unless they're seriously injured, which like he does not want to deal with at all ever.  Because that would mean INTERACTING with people, and he can only handle so much of that, especially with these specific people. So it's just easier for him to go and get what he needs--which, tonight, are a few old reports, and yeah he could've gone without them but whatever--before it hits, like, one AM. That's like the witching hour of Bat injuries. He would know.

So he goes, and he's thankful that no one's around, and he tells himself that if Alfred happens to come downstairs while Jason's still poking around getting his stuff, it'll be fine and he won't be happy to see him, no way no how.

The Cave is big and empty, the only sounds the bats screeching and flying around. And maybe he should be scared, but he never has been before so he's absolutely not about to start now. He knows his way around still, and if he feels a little like an apparition, numb and distant and totally not dissociating, well. He's just. not gonna acknowledge that. Ever.

But like, he is definitely feeling that way, so he hurries over to the computer, wanting to Stop Feeling Like That Right Now Immediately. Sitting there in Bruce's chair doesn't help the way he thought it might--wait, nevermind, he never thought that. That'd be dumb. Of course it's not going to help sitting in this freaking chair that holds so many of his memories. 

He thinks, whatever, and pretends that Oracle won't know what he's doing and report right back to B. Maybe he should just do his thing and go. But hell, if he's going to be caught out anyway, he reasons, why not fuck stuff up a little bit?

So he detours from his original intentions and opens up a porno or two or ten on the Batcomputer. But that gets old after a few minutes of findign the weirdest shit he can, so he goes to the very complicated organization of files and looks up what he needs. Suddenly the mouse stops clicking. 

"What the fuck," he says, because um. What the fuck??? The Batcomputer doesn't get slow. And he'd know if it was Babs, because she's not shy about putting up her logo and locking people out of their hardware. So by all rights this shouldn't be possible and can basically only mean bad shit.

That's when a video pops up on the screen.

At first, it's just black, and Jason is confused and annoyed. "Babs," he says, because there's no way she's not tapped into whatever bugs she has down here, "stop playing. I'm just here for some files and then I'm gone." When that gets no reaction, he adds, "Won't even take the originals, just need some copies." but. it's Not Babs. it's Worse.

The black of the screen is replaced by a horrible sight: a Frankenstein-esque laboratory that's been splattered in paint. White and green and red paint. There's a huge table in the middle, and there, strapped down on it, is the fucking Replacement.

Jason... does not Like the kid. He really doesn't. They're civil enough and he's apologized for almost killing him, enough that Tim has forgiven him if not forgotten. But they don't interact outside of the occasional missions, and there are still days that Jason thinks about being replaced and sees sickly green and has to forcibly calm himself down. Or like, punch the wall or something. And then remind himself it's not the kid's fault, except for that it totally is--BUT NO. Stop, Jason! Not the point right now!!!

The Joker comes onto the screen, then, and Jesus Christ his smile is still as big and inhuman as it ever was, sickeningly amused by a what, 17 year old kid? being tortured. 

 "Oh, Batsy," he sings, and the sound of his voice sends furious, painful shivers down Jason's spine. Oh fuck no, he thinks, and wants to get up, but he finds himself rooted to the spot. (And this spot, by the way?? It's where Jason's dad sat for years. He would sit here and protect the city, make it better, or so Jason thought. But sitting here, it feels like he's Bruce, it feels like he's that little kid who was murdered, it feels like a lot of really horrible, gut wrenching emotions that he has no desire to poke through or experience to any degree.)

"I've got another of your little birds," Joker says. 

 Part of Jason tunes out. He can't stand this. He doesn't want to hear another word out of that fucking thing's mouth ever again, and it's better to just let the voice pass by over him than to actually listen. 

But another part of Jason, the part that's been fighting this war since he was born, won't let him ignore what's being said. He has to know everything, all the details, can't have only half the picture. 

So Jason pays attention and catalogs everything. Forces himself to listen as the clown talks about how he kidnapped Tim off the street.

Then, moving over to the set up, Joker flicks a giant switch, and Tim, who's been laying on the table, seemingly passed out--Jason could tell he was awake the whole time--he. He gets shocked. With like, what seems like actual freaking lightening and Jason really shouldn't be surprised at this point but what the FUCK?????

Clenching his fists, he watches as Joker goes over to Tim, crooning something the camera doesn't quite pick up. Joker turns the electricity off and says, "I think you need some air, little birdie," and puts a mask on Tim's face. and Jason is hit by a strong wave of alarm bells, but there's nothing he can do. Tim fights it, but he's so weak, and then there's an oxygen mask on his face and he's only got straight up Joker Toxin to breathe with.

A blinking message shows up on the screen, saying an address. Signed 'O'.

Jason watches for another minute as Joker takes the mask off and Tim starts hysterically giggling, the sound a wheezing and crackling and painful thing.

"Fuck this," Jason says, because he doesn't even want to THINK about what comes next, what it's going to do to the kid's body, how badly the kid is going to be hurt. He runs over to the bikes, grabs the keys and high tails it the fuck out of there. 

 He thinks he might throw up, the thought of seeing the Joker in person again too much to bare even on his best nights, but. Whatever. He has to get through it. He's managed it before, with other horrible things, and he can do it now. He can do it for Tim. 

He doesn't like the kid, they aren't friends and certainly aren't brothers, but he's not about to just let the Joker kill another Robin. Absolutely fucking not.

---

please do not tag as incest!!

[sireneia]

tell me ur stahl biases,,, i need 2 know for reasons 👀🍷

ship biases // aaron here’s how stahl met ur second parent—

1. stahl / miriel - i invalidate myself with this because this is 100% first run bias but like. to an EXCESSIVE DEGREE. it’s watching their support chain that convinced me to try fire emblem as a franchise at all actually so i guess you can say i almost feel indebted to them LOL. but i just found their supports lighthearted and charming! i think miriel’s all-too serious fascination with him ( even if one might find the reason to be a little insulting, miriel means no harm ) played off of stahl’s people pleasing attitude is fun to watch and i genuinely think he would love to help her as an assistant and make her life easier. miriel is a smart gal who can do great things, and stahl would absolutely marvel at all her discoveries and advancements! i think his background with his family apothecary business could also be a good compliment in having him familiarize himself with her work, and beyond that, the two iirc are implied to interact with one another when they’re first introduced in-game so there’s basis to believe they are around one another more than just merely in their supports!

2. stahl / tharja - ok this is the one i choose as my fav when you ask me to actually use my head. stahl is always looking out for others, and seeing tharja get pleasantly surprised by how pure his concern is for others is really nice imo! they can have sun and moon symbolism pretty easily which is just the cherry on top of the sundae. i think it’s also fun to see him imply or just straight up say his growing attraction to her, feeling good in being honest especially as a strong contrast to how in his past he held his tongue on his feelings to the previous girl he liked because he thought it was for the better. interacting with tharja, though it wasn’t her intention to do this, teaches stahl to go for his wishes more often and to be free to say things, even if at first he wasn’t a fan of the situation of being forced to be completely honest all the time. stahl is just so wholesome, and i love to see him with tharja. they are literally the meme that’s like “someone will die” “of fun!”

bonus in that i think noire looks really cute with stahl’s hair color and she’s already wearing green like him anyhow. also once again, i think stahl’s family bg as an apothecary can help him spend more time with tharja and helping her with her work!

3. stahl / robin - yet another instance of this depends upon the portrayal but i’m going based solely off of the two canon robins and i think stahl works with either of them! stahl is always looking out for others, so it’s nice to see someone else take notice of stahl and try and pamper him instead. their supports are legitimately sweet and it’s really nice to see this guy who thinks of himself as terribly mediocre end up with someone that basically everyone in the army looks to. and, well, with that much burden on robin’s shoulders, they still will need someone to help look after them too anyway and that’s what stahl likes doing best!

also extra angst but (: in the doomed timeline where robin gets possessed by grima and stahl who was once known for always caring after others and fell for the one person who looked after him is now known as the spouse of the person who wreaked havoc and ruin over everyone he knew and loved and then some! haha! 

4. stahl / maribelle - this isn’t one i came to love until long after i first played awakening, but i’m rather partial to it now! once again i’m pairing stahl with a hardworking woman ( which. i guess tbf is like. most of the women in awakening actually ) since i found it sweet how stahl really did worry over maribelle’s health, but also how maribelle was interested in stahl’s own ambitions and came to understand how his mind worked really drew me in! i love how she realized how much thought stahl put into things even if he’s indecisive and so genuinely believed he would carve himself a good future just like how she was trying to. also, stahl aspires to make everyone happy, and maribelle’s ideals align with his then: her goal to end oppression and corruption is something he would love to lend aid to if she lets him.

5. stahl / lissa - fanart convinced me of this one tbh but i do think there is something really nice here! their supports have them talking honestly to each other and being so comfortable with one another, and i can imagine they’ve known each other for quite some time since lissa’s first love was frederick and i hc that stahl studied underneath frederick as a new recruit so they’d run into each other naturally with that link. their supports just make me feel good idk, and it’s clear lissa cares about stahl with how she’ll get mad for him when she feels like stahl’s kindness is being taken advantage of. 

also stahl is 100% the type of guy who would absolutely indulge in owain’s fantasies as a child haha

[cannotgiveafuck]

Shazam week prompt 3

Hey yall! Guess who couldn't finish the prompts on time last week? Its me! I'm gonna do em anyway!

Prompt 3: Dress Up

---

Billy knew what others thought of him and Captain Marvel. He wasn't as stupid as they thought.

Of the League that knew, and after the shock had worn, majority had settled on viewing him as a child playing dress up. When they interacted with Captain Marvel, they didn't see him as a hero for pantheons of Gods' will, as an avatar that had experience from dozens of previous lives, or even as someone who had already been in the hero business for several years. Even though he stood at over six feet with a physical build to match Superman's, the others still treated him like he was that undernourished kid in a baggy hoodie, like he was less than their teenage sidekicks.

They didn't understand.

When Billy played dress up, it was never with a cape. He never pretended to be a superhero.

[MORE]

-x-

In hindsight, Billy should have been a bit more aware of his situation from the start. Maybe then he would have caught on a bit earlier and gotten out of this on time.

As it were, however, he was good and trapped. 

Not physically, of course. Because he could always get away if he needed to. But socially…

That would either mean alerting his not-quite-kidnapper of his plan when he said his quick goodbyes, thus giving the man the opportunity to plan another course of action, or that meant Billy unceremoniously leaving without any goodbyes. And Billy liked to think he had enough manners to warrant proper departures for his friends.

Were they his friends?

He liked to think so.

Though they did help orchestrate his kidnapping.

"You are supposed to go into the water, Batson. That is how water parks function. Unless you lack the basic skill of swimming, which I should not be surprised at, since you lack a lot of skills."

Thoughts startled, Billy looked up at Damien, arms crossed and face carefully blank except for his glare. Or he was just staring really intently. Billy didn't think the other boy had any other expressions besides varying degrees of annoyance and murderous.

"Says the guy just as dry as I am," Billy said, holding back a pout and going for unbothered. The kid was a freaking ninja.

Damien scoffed, but did not deny that statement. A short silence fell between them, but it was far from the cold or intensely invasive inspection Billy was subjected to when Damien first learned of Captain Marvel's identity.

Billy liked to think they were starting to get along now. 

"Besides," and here was where Billy's hubris shone, he couldn't resist a good teasing. "How am I supposed to relax when I've been kidnapped?"

Damien's glare, if possible, became even more poisonous at Billy's cheeky smile. Good thing Robin couldn't shoot lasers. "This is hardly a kidnapping. You willing joined us."

At that, Billy really did pout. "It's not really willing if I'm shoved into a jet and no one told me where we were going."

The eyebrow raise spoke volumes of how lousy an excuse Damien thought of that. A trait he probably learned from Bruce. And Billy could not help but laugh. Despite his efforts, Damien could be very expressive, and often showed more than he wanted to. 

Or maybe it was just what Billy picked up on. 

He was good at reading people, he knew that. It helped that one of his favorite pastimes was people watching. With a quick glance, Billy noted the locations of everyone else. Their life energies easy to find from the crowd, all of them bright and flaring and something Billy fully memorized, took comfort in.

"I guess there are worse places to be fake kidnapped, though."

Koriand'r was easy to spot, her energy constantly blazing, but invitingly warm, in the corner of his periphery. She was currently enjoying the hot tub with Dick and Roy. Somewhere at the lazy river, Jason was enjoying his giant margarita. Connor was also easy to find, his energy similar to Clark's. Him and Tim were going for their fifth ride down the giant tube slide. Clark had managed to convince Bruce to join him at the bar side pool, both of them saturated, both of them carrying mantles everyone knew and believed in. 

(Belief was a powerful kind of energy, when channeled properly. Though, Billy didn't think either of them really knew about all that. Not when they had their own strengths.)

This was probably the safest place to be on Earth, in the whole Galaxy, and yet…

And yet.

"Okay, well, I'll at least take a look at everything first," he said, finally moving off his beach chair at the poolside. 

Bruce had rented the cabin rooms at the far end, a place specifically for their group, so as to not worry about scrounging for seating. But still, Billy worried. What if someone took their stuff? It seemed highly unlikely, but one could never be too sure. Not that Billy doubted Clark and Bruce to take care of everything, to have been extra prepared with security or whatever. They were keeping aware of everyone even now, but…

Being willingly barefoot on the wet ground was a new thing, but Billy had just been gifted the sandals currently under his chair and they still felt odd on his feet. Unsecure and flimsy. He was never one for sandals anyway, when he had a cheap and sturdy pair of sneakers to last him. The swim trunks, as well, were new and strange feeling, but he couldn't do much about that since he didn't have anything else. Well, nothing that was already his. There were clothes that fit suspiciously well folded in the drawer of the hotel room he was sharing with Damien. The only thing originally his was the white tshirt he was currently wearing.

Since he could not very easily walk around bare chested without raising alarms. People tended to notice large scars on children. Especially when those people were concerned heroes and they hadn't yet been told about it.

"You've patrolled the parameters several times already," and Billy was sort of surprised Damien had followed, had stuck around this long. Though he was less surprised at the other boy's perceptiveness. "Do you doubt my father's preparation for our staying here?" 

That was more an accusation than question, but Billy didn't rise to the bait. "Of course not," his tone edged on lighthearted and exasperated. It was easier to tell others what they wanted than to explain everything, anyway. "Besides, we're in a room full of superheroes. I'm not patrolling, I'm surveying."

That was a lie. 

Damien was right, after all. Billy wasn't looking at the rides or the lounging spots, or seeking out social interactions - he was patrolling. He needed to ensure the area was safe, because yes, Superman could punch a bad guy through the roof, and Batman probably had every protocol prepared on hand, but just in case…

What if someone had violent intentions and hurt a civilian? What if a magical attack was brewing? What if a curse was placed on them all? There were so many things that could happen while they enjoyed their vacation.

So many things could go wrong if Billy let his guard down, if he prioritized himself over his duty as Marvel, over the protection of others.

"You're being ridiculous."

"Huh?" Billy looked back at Damien. The boy looked more grumpy than he had several minutes ago, like he didn't choose to follow Billy around.

There was a shriek in the distance and Billy immediately turned his head.

Damien grumbled in a language Billy did not catch, but knew Captain Marvel would have.

Billy focused back onto him after confirming it was just some kids on the raft slide. 

Maybe it was the harsh smell of chlorine or the absolute relaxation on everyone's faces, maybe it was the shorts that felt unfamiliar or the fact he couldn't see all exits from one spot. It was like an itch he couldn't help but scratch, but it only got worse.

"Come," Damien demanded, walking away and fully expecting Billy to follow. 

He did not.

"You cannot stop yourself from being unnecessary, you might as well do it effectively."

That still did not persuade Billy to follow.

"I'm saying I know where the best place in this room is! You can see majority of the entrances and exits, except for the two closest to Kent and my father."

What did that have to do with-

"Oh," Billy followed.

"The chances of us being attacked are incredibly slim, and of those chances my father and I are rightfully prepared. I admit that even Kent has his uses." This was the most Damien had ever spoken to Billy. And Bruce wasn't even forcing him to. "But there is no such thing as being overly prepared."

With that, Damien stopped talking and Billy realized what was happening. Teasing and snark aside - since that was probably all that the other boy knew about communication with peers - Damien's actions spoke plenty. He had been watching Billy for some time now, to the point where Billy found it incredibly creepy and asked Bruce to tone it down. So, really it should not be a surprise that Damien somewhat knew Billy, or had formed an idea of who Billy was. 

Afterall, with his secret out, Billy had lessened his guard around the others, had stopped pretending to be the naive and innocent child they all believed him to be. The act helped with civilians, but with other heroes it was more of a hindrance. Billy did not need or want them treating him like he was helpless or incapable, like he was playing superhero dress up.

This wasn't some game to him

But still, it didn't seem to change their opinions much. In fact, it made some of them more overly concerned to the point where Billy had to figure out an even ground. 

What version of him fit best around them?

By this point Damien may have seen all the iterations and their nuances. Bruce, too, if Billy were honest. All of it left a sort of dread in his gut. Being realized so deeply.

"This will do. It's the best vantage point without climbing to the very top, which I advise against. My father will get upset and make us climb down," Damien said, experience clear.

The location they finally stopped at was the center point of the large room - a playset tower with the lazy river around it. There were slides and waterfalls and stationary super soakers. Children ran around them in joy, some even their own age. 

Billy couldn't remember being so young. He didn't think Damien could either.

"Choose a station," Damien said as he stood by a posting and pumped the soaker up.

"What for?" Billy asked, though he still picked one nearby and copied the motions. It seemed like Damien had done this before.

"So we can shoot at Todd when he passes by, of course. We are small enough that we can use this structure." 

And just in that moment Jason leisurely floated by, lounging on a tube until a spray of water blasted him in his face and toppled him over.

"Uh. Damien? You sure that was-" 

He was gone.

"Billy!" Jason was making his way over now toward him.

"Oh shoot!" Billy ran.

It wasn't until later, after he had been dunked into the pool and made to play chicken atop of Jason's shoulders against Damien and Dick, that Billy realized the other boy's clever ploy. Billy realized that maybe there really was someone he could be himself around.

[epiphyllous]

What if: Marine!Luffy (technically)

I feel like a lot of people have touched on the AU if Luffy ever became a marine instead of a pirate, and I really like reading about them! I watched a video on YT that goes into it pretty in depth (check it out here), and I do agree that some of it is very plausable! But it takes away a lot of what I believe is integral to Luffy’s story (asides from the fact Luffy wants to be a pirate).

Honestly, this stemmed because I don't want Luffy to lose most of the integral part of his life-- which is meeting Shanks.

As stated in the video, it due to Shanks’ influence and Garp's absencenthat sets Luffy on the path to becoming a pirate, and I do see why Shanks has to be out of the picture for Luffy to even consider being a marine.

But what if Luffy raised to be a marine but still maintains his integrity that not everyone is bad just because of what they are? And thus we would still see OUR Luffy but Marine, which makes me happy :)

(Feel free to interact and share your thoughts too! I'm just trying to have fun fleshing my thoughts out. ‘tis long post)

Luffy doesn't grow up wanting to be a marine hero like Garp, bc I still maintain that he doesn't want to be a hero. He should still be a free spirit for the most part, but I think his main goal in this AU at first would be strong-- whether it's to be strong for the sake of being strong or to protect other people.

Or maybe he hears and listens to marine stories and learns how they travel through the Grand Line-- all romanticized, btw, but I do believe marines out there who do fight justice (not that Luffy is interested in that aspect at the age of 6) and go on "adventures" as they put it, making Luffy star eyed about the world. Regardless, he isn't off-put by the marine thing and that's the big point. Maybe if Garp hadn't just forced him to be a marine and instead instilled the aspect of adventure and camaraderie, Luffy wouldn't be so resistant.

When Luffy meets Shanks, I think most of the interaction remains, except Luffy's fascination is replaced with curiosity. Doesn't change much, but it does let Luffy still be as fearless as ever in the face of pirates and want to know more about Shanks. Maybe as a child he DID have the mindset that all pirates are bad, so he tries to fight them off much to Shanks' amusement and eventually realizes after interacting with them that not all pirates are bad after all.

"Take me to sea with you!"

"No way! You're too weak! Besides, aren't you afraid of sailing with a bunch of pirates?"

"Shanks is not a bad pirate!"

"So there are good and bad pirates now?"

"Yeah. Good pirates party all the time and have fun. Bad pirates do bad things," is what I'm sure Luffy at age 6 would think for the most part.

And they'd laugh and tease Luffy for being weak, Luffy would cut his eye to prove he's not, and at this point Shanks is more of a role model rather than a pirate role model: he shows what a man should do, how he should protect his friends, and when to stand up for yourself.

And in saving and sacrificing his arm for a Luffy who doesn't want to be a pirate but a marine, it solidifies the theme that it doesn't matter what you are, but who you are that counts.

And that teaching follows Luffy everywhere he goes for his entire journey.

As for the straw hat, I stubbornly refuse that Shanks does not give it Luffy. As we know, the hat plays in a much larger role than being the crown for the next king of pirates. It's evident in the large straw hat in Mariejoa and the significance the Gorosei puts on a symbol like that. Anyhow, I'm not going to go into that much but REGARDLESS, Shanks gives Luffy the straw hat and to return it to him once he becomes a great (read: powerful, impactful, influential) man.

I think a large bump in the road with this theory is that Luffy would have an insanely harder time in his childhood. As a big-mouthed child, he wouldn't shut up about being the next Marine Admiral (best position of power little does he know; Luffy just knows they tend to be the strongest Marines), and knowing Ace who would never EVER want to be a marine because of his influence with Sabo and his upbringing of bandits, this does not fly well. I could probably entertain that Ace could have been a marine because people hated his father so much, but I think his goal of being more than just his father's son really paves a path for him to be a pirate, regardless of other influences.

So if you think Ace hated Luffy before at this point in time, oh boy.

I mean, Luffy can't just DIE, so really the meeting between him, Ace, and Sabo go relatively the same except Ace and Sabo are much more suspicious of Luffy, which doesn’t really bode well for him. But I’m pretty sure, marine or not, even Ace and Sabo wouldn’t abandon Luffy if he refused to rat them out-- or they might even feel even more incensed that Luffy didn’t say anything because he wants to be a marine.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“If I said anything, you wouldn’t be my friend!”

“We’re going to be pirates; you’re going to be a marine-- we’re not even on the same side! We shouldn’t even be friends!”

“But why does that matter?”

And everything goes well, they become brothers, and Sabo “dies.”

And above all, I think this moment is a turning point in Luffy’s life (wow he’s having a lot of revelations as a ten-year-old; poor kid) because now he not only recognizes that not all pirates are bad but also know not all marines are good (because how could they be protecting someone who killed his brother?) and their system has a lot of fixing to do.

Ace has a lot of mixed feelings about this, because his baby brother may want to be a marine, but Sabo died from going against the government-- so what does this mean for their future? But in the end, Luffy is still Luffy, and Ace wouldn’t abandon his brother, especially not when after he announced he wasn’t going to die Luffy declares that he was going to be a Marine and destroy the system from within.

Not really sure how small Luffy would put that in words, but the feeling is already there, and that sets his beginning, seven years later.

Some Straw Hats are not going to be with Luffy, and it’s unfortunate but a must. Some will, like Zoro, who Luffy saves at Shell Town-- and honestly, it might just be easier for him to find Mihawk if he’s part of the Marines-- and Nami, whose mother was a marine and the Arlong Pirates never gave her any reason to like pirates anyhow. There is some sticky business considering Nami’s earned treasure was stolen by the marines, but I’m very sure meeting Luffy would definitely convince her that there are good marines out there.

Many of the Straw Hats would have never been pirates if not for Luffy, asides from Usopp and Brook, who were or had aspirations to be a pirate before. As such, Usopp’s village would be saved by Luffy, but he wouldn’t go be a marine because he’s always wanted to be like his father. Brook would probably go back to Laboon after getting back his shadow on Thriller Bark and Luffy wouldn’t have a musician and the One Piece Universe Beyonce would never be born :(

Tbh, there’s a high chance Chopper wouldn’t join either, considering his father-figure waved a pirate flag, but I wouldn’t put it past Luffy to defend that flag anyways because of its significance to Chopper and the bravery that Dr. Hiruluk conveyed through it. But for the sake of this indulgent AU, lets say he does. :))

Robin though... uhhh being a wanted women makes it pretty difficult for her to join Luffy and considering Enies Lobby and the whole Buster Call deal... probably not. I can see her joining the Revolutionary Army pretty early on as a result though, but Luffy’s choice to save her life would not have changed nor would his impact on her change as well. You know, low key, I kinda want her to hide out on Luffy’s ship for a while and his crew being all “wtf captain, she’s a danger to society; isn’t she a bad person?” and Luffy just shrugs and laughs and tells them it’s okay (his original Straw Hat crew that stuck with him as a marine just smh but they know him too well to think he wouldn’t save Robin otherwise) and to have them decide if she’s a bad person or not themselves.

And EVENTUALLY Robin will be recruited into the Revolutionary Army, maybe in like a intense, “You have to go Robin, because even I can’t save you if you stay” sorta deal. (This could also be a chance for Luffy to meet Sabo, but that’s like a whole ‘nother can of worms.)

So Enies Lobby doesn’t happen. Franky doesn’t join either :/ And I don’t see Jimbei becoming a pirate after all the shit that’s happened to him and his bros, and honestly I just ever see him as being a marine, no matter how much he admires Luffy. Maybe they’d be buddies when he’s a Warlord though :))

So Alabasta-- Vivi gets to save her country with actual marine support aka Luffy. He works together with Smoker (heehee!) and Tashigi (god I would die for the interactions between her and Marine!Zoro) and kicks Crocodile’s butt regardless of his title as Warlord. Luffy calls it as he sees it, and violent dictatorship and mistreatment of his friends is a BIG no-no, maybe especially as marine who upholds goodness.

He gets promoted and gets the credit he deserves, though he’s too busy chomping down on food to even notice.

Vivi stays with her people, and they leave.

Meeting Ace during the Alabasta arc would have taken a little more secrecy-- or maybe Ace goes undercover for a brief period of time like Oda drew him a while back; wouldn’t put it past him to meet his little brother while he chases after Blackbeard.

Oh wait, would Sky Island even happen??? Honestly, who knows, but if he fights Bellamy, it would just ruin his redemption arc during Dressrosa bc wouldn’t Luffy just capture him?? or maybe he just punches him and that’s punishment enough who knows I didn’t think about this part in particular

BUT MARINEFORD. oh marineford

You see, I think as a marine, Luffy is completely different from Garp from the fact that he would NEVER put his job over his family. Luffy has already had one brother die, and he isn’t going to let another die if he can help it.

So what does that leave us? Maybe a prison break? Maybe going behind the scenes (as per Nami’s suggestion and implementation bc Luffy can’t be subtle for shit) to rig the execution and fuck up the cannons.

But the real mega problem here, is if Ace dies, I don’t know if Luffy can be a marine anymore, and that’s a big problem. Or maybe in having his brother die in his arms, despite trying to help him escape, will incite him to challenge the system and destroy corruption once and for all. (Demotion be damned.) But when Sabo finds out Luffy let Ace die in front of him, I think the connotations would change with their reunion since Luffy is a marine and thus still, regardless of who Luffy is, “on the other team.”

In fact, the existence of the Marineford Arc makes it extremely difficult for Luffy to continue being a marine, so honestly, at this point, even though it goes against the entire Marine!Luffy AU, I think Luffy could just go rogue, like he was always meant to be in the original One Piece timeline. So maybe it’s a full-circle to Luffy being what he was meant to. Who knowssss but that’s all I’ve got.

Let me know what you think!! If you read this far haha I’m always down to talk about Luffy bc I love him sm.

[latenightcinephile]

#897: ‘Make Way for Tomorrow’, dir. Leo McCarey, 1937.

There is not much point in denying that Make Way for Tomorrow is a powerful and affecting film. Leo McCarey is not a director whose work is discussed often today - despite a stellar career making films like this one, his work has floundered from a lack of contemporary reappraisal, much like other directors from the period. A lack of access to these films means that most students emerging from film programs will not yet have heard of McCarey or King Vidor or even John Ford (outside of an early-production DVD of Stagecoach, most likely). In this pantheon of forgotten cinematic elder gods, Make Way for Tomorrow also has an air of stuffy refinedness about it until you start watching. The DVD cover of the version I accessed was drawn by the indie comics auteur Seth, which already places it in that category of ‘highbrow beyond highbrow’.

Despite this, the film is touching and thoughtful. The descriptions of the performances of the two leads, Victor Moore as Bark and Beulah Bondi as Lucy, often describe them as ‘expansive’, and it’s a strong compliment. Forced into foreclosure, Bark and Lucy Cooper must throw themselves on the mercy of their five adult children, who are sometimes portrayed sympathetically but are more often shown as victims of their own vanity. Separated for months to make it easier on their children, the Cooper couple are reunited one afternoon in New York, where they have an opportunity to spend time together for the first time since their honeymoon some fifty years before.

The plotline of the film made it hard to win audience approval, despite glowing press reviews of McCarey’s direction and the performances of nearly the entire cast, and so like many of McCarey’s films this one sank into obscurity. It’s worth digging out and blowing the dust off, if only to see some of the techniques we see less of in contemporary cinema, and also to identify some things that have not changed in eighty years of film production.

That compliment of ‘expansiveness’ paid to the actors also applies, to some extent, to McCarey’s direction too. These are scenes that are given room to breathe, rather than being mercilessly brushed aside for the next plot point to occur. The tendency is most pronounced in the scenes with Lucy, staying with her eldest son and daughter-in-law in their New York apartment. Much is made of how Lucy cramps her family’s style, and scenes often end on a silent pause to let the discomfort and pathos sink in. One of the most prominent scenes where this happens is in the bridge lesson run by Anita (Fay Bainter), the daughter-in-law. The scene starts off civilly enough, but we can feel Anita’s discomfort the moment the maid brings Lucy’s rocking chair into the room. Anita smooths over the interruption, introducing her mother-in-law, but even the briefest change to circumstances throws Anita off-balance, and she begins to overcompensate, eventually begging her daughter to take Lucy to the movies with her. When Anita explains this to Lucy, under the pretext of acting as a chaperone, Lucy agrees... but in the last few seconds of the scene we see Lucy looking at Anita’s departure with a glimmer of recognition, or maybe something even more nuanced. It’s a sign that Lucy is aware she is being manipulated, and her irritation at this is tempered by a hint of happiness at being acknowledged and made useful. Bertrand Tavernier noted that McCarey “finds the exact distance he must be from his characters” to allow for both sympathy and objectivity, and these moments are where it’s most visible.

Beulah Bondi’s performance is full of these moments, and it’s widely considered by many who write on Make Way that it was her finest performance. Victor Moore receives the same praise, but it also feels like he has less to do in the film; many of the moments of greatest import are on Bondi’s shoulders. It’s also interesting to note that Bondi was 48 at the time she played Lucy, about fifteen years younger than Moore and a full generation away from the age that Lucy is meant to be. It’s common to decry age gaps in film, but it’s by no means a new trend.

The Criterion Collection’s essays on the film make a lot out of the shift in the second half of the film, extrapolating the statement made in the opening titles about the ‘rift between generations’ into a motif that breaks the film into two acts. Robin Wood, for example, states in ‘With this Ending, I Thee Unwed’ that the final ten sequences of the film reject the value of the family in exchange for the Platonic ideal of the couple, and in doing so implies that there is very little in the way of genuine affection for Bark and Lucy’s relationship from their children. The “four characters who treat the old couple with kindness” that Wood identifies seem to be the first instance of genuine appreciation that appears in the film, but I’m not sure that Make Way is as persuasive on this front as Wood claims. Reading into the details of the interactions the Coopers have with the new owner of the hotel they stayed at on their honeymoon, for instance, it’s hard to tell whether Mr. Norton actually feels a rapport with the couple that is different from what they share with their children (especially as the film has already shown us the genuine affection at least George and Anita have for Lucy at times).

There is definitely a rapport there through much of the last half-hour of the film, but as part of McCarey’s distancing techniques we aren’t given enough information from an outside perspective to determine for sure how the people the Coopers interact with actually feel. Genuine kindness is almost indistinguishable from well-performed professional courtesy, after all. Robin Wood’s analysis might say more about Wood’s own romanticism than about the film itself.

And yet, the second half does feel qualitatively different, because it’s the first time Bark and Lucy get to spend time together, alone. And the relationship feels even more real as a result. I’m a sucker for films about old couples - much as the mistreatment of any nice mother character makes me seethe with hurt and rage - but Make Way for Tomorrow feels like it’s on another level altogether. It’s a beautifully-acted film; not gripping, but tender and acutely observed. Very little stands out about it because it’s so uniformly good, and it thoroughly deserves the critical respect it’s managed to attain.

[scaryscarecrows]

Roots and Leaves, Pt. 6

DC did it first. Take your grievances to them.

Jason and Sheila e-mail back and forth for about a week before she says that she has Thursday off so if he has Thursday off does he want to meet for lunch again?

Last time wasn’t bad. Not a lot of staring or people or anything. He can…he can probably do it again. And it’s a few days away still, so he has time to psyche himself up or, worst case scenario, fake his death and move to Canada.

And it’s been a week and she hasn’t pulled out the Pity Card on him yet and maybe…maybe this’ll all work out okay. She might never be Mom, because Catherine’s always gonna be Mom, but…but she could be Mother, maybe. He can see that in the distant (or not-so-distant?) future.

But he’s not going to rush into things, that’s what got him here in the first place. Patience, grasshopper.

Thursday rolls around and he hasn’t faked his death and moved to Canada, so he has no choice but to put on jeans and a hoodie and resign himself to a couple of hours, easy, of no sunglasses and no e-book shield.

Sorry, any small children who might come out of this traumatized.

Okay. He brings his Kindle anyway, and his sunglasses for the journey, and sticks to his normal Civilian Weaponry-couple’a knives, one pair of brass knuckles tucked into a hidden pocket in his hoodie. Last thing he needs is for someone to pick up a bullet, match it to the Red Hood’s, and come knocking on his door. His luck is bad enough that’s exactly what would happen.

Besides, it’s noon on a Thursday, and even in Gotham that’s a slow hour. Bank robbers gotta eat, too.

The monorail ride there is literal Hell (three fighting couples, two crying kids and old man with no personal spaaaaace!) and he’s literally gasping for air when he stumbles out of the car. He likes people. Honest. If he legitimately hated them all, he wouldn’t risk his life to help them. But interacting with them…he could do without that, mostly.

Whatever. Whatever. It’s over, he lived, he’s had worse.

(And no, he doesn’t hear faint cackling in his head, and that’s final.)

It’s windy today, the type of wind that buffets people every which way and is determined to keep his hood off his head. He fidgets with the drawstrings until it’ll stay and buries his hands in his pockets. Wind sucks. He can feel pollen and dust and Gotham Grime being blown onto his skin.

“Jason!”

Is he there already?

Sheila…looks a lot more haggard than she did before. He tries to remember if she’d mentioned being horribly busy, doesn’t think she did, and figures that to be fair, he hasn’t mentioned the bruise that goes halfway up his back.

She smiles, her awkward driver’s license smile, and waves. Yeah, she doesn’t…it must’ve been a long week, or maybe a rough drive or something. She looks tired.

“Hi.” He’s not sure what to call her, still. Miss Haywood is too disconnected, Sheila’s too personal, and it’s way, way too soon for Mother. Names are a pain. “I’m not late, am I?” He knows he’s not. “Monorail was packed.”

“So was the subway. Can I…?”

Her arms are half-out and he figures she’s asking for a hug. He can do a hug, as long as it’s a short hug.

“Yeah. Thanks for the warning.”

Holy crap, she feels frail. But to be fair, barring Dick’s tackle-hug, everyone’s felt frail since…since. So it could just be him. Hugs are weird now.

(“HUG YOUR DADDY!”)

No. Not today. Everything’s fine.

It’s a sort-of short hug, short enough, anyway, and he wonders, abstractedly, if a day will ever come that he’s used to that sort of thing again. If it even matters whether he does or doesn’t.

It does. Of course it does. And the day will come, in time, and he’ll be better, be normal, be what people want him to be.

Little steps.

* * *

They’ve fallen into a companionable silence and for once Jason’s not jumping whenever someone walks by in a purple sweater or anything when Sheila forces her lips out from between her teeth and says, “I know you were Robin.”

Well. That’s, uh, there’s that out of the way.

“Yeah.” There’s clearly no point in denying it. She probably put it together when Batman came knocking. “For a little while, yeah. I was.” He tastes blood, wonders how long he’s been doing that, and wishes he had gum. Or a mint. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right off, I just…old habits die hard, I guess.”

“Oh God, no, no, I didn’t mean-” She takes a drink. Her hands are shaking, she’s shaking and he doesn’t know what’s wrong. “I just. I thought I should probably make it clear that I did know, so you wouldn’t…I know I was absent, but I don’t want…you shouldn’t feel like you have to hide things from me.”

Oh. That’s. He doesn’t know what to say. Bruce, God knows, has the emotional capabilities of a Himalayan Salt Lamp. Thankfully Jason hadn’t been the type to go through crushes every two weeks, or he probably would have been in Hell. He certainly wouldn’t have…it’s not like he would have shut down the conversation, but sharing and caring? That would have been awkward and best not repeated. Alfred was the go-to for that sorta thing.

All right, then. Since they’re dropping sudden bombshells ‘n all…he has to know.

“You worked for Joker.” There. It’s out. He said it.

And now he kinda regrets it-the self-loathing on her face is a pretty good match for his own, and he can’t tell himself it’s anything less than deep, deep wishing to have made better choices.

“I did.” She straightens up, begins tearing apart a piece of bread on her plate. “Briefly. I’m not proud, but he had a line to my mother, knew where she lived, knew her schedule…knew.” She swallows hard. “Knew she had to rubber-band her jam jars because she couldn’t open them otherwise. I panicked. But it was only for a couple of months-pills, he wanted pills, as much as I could get him. And then he just…went away. I don’t know what he did with them.”

Honestly, after everything, he can’t…he doesn’t have the right to say much. And honestly? There was that one guy, who accidentally cut the fucker off in traffic and couldn’t get away from him.

And look at him. The first man he killed, that wasn’t…oh, sure, he probably had it coming, at least a little, but Jason wasn’t thinking about that or considering it like he does now, he just…he wanted to kill Bruce. Because that was right and reason at the time even though he knows it’s insanity now.

No, he can’t say much.

“I’m sorry,” he says softly, and it’s suddenly easier to look at his hands. “I didn’t…that sounds awful.”

“No.” She tips his chin up and it’s an effort not to pull away and to remember that it’s fingers, warm human fingers, and not the pointy end of a crowbar against his skin. “You deserved to know. It’s only fair.”

Truth be told, it’s a relief to know that she hadn’t…yeah, technically she could’ve…maybe done something different, but she hadn’t wanted to work for him. She wasn’t like the ones he’d christened Dumb and Dumber that…they enjoyed that kinda work.

Lunch is finished in relative silence after that, though, and he’s wondering what’s going to happen now when she rifles through her purse and swears.

“Damn…I meant to grab an old photo album I wanted to show you, with some old family pictures and things.”

Pictures of Willis? Yeah, he’s good. Pictures of other people might be interesting, though.

“Next time?”

“My apartment’s a few blocks over.”

Something feels off. He’s paranoid, he knows he’s paranoid, but something…she’s been shaky and weird all afternoon and he doesn’t…

Calm the fuck down, you freak out when someone window-shops for too long!

“Is everything…is everything okay?”

Or maybe something is wrong-she pulls a napkin over and there’s suddenly a pen in her hand.

“I really do want you to see these pictures, Jason,” she says, but her hand is moving and there’s the ever-so-faint skrit-skrit of pen on paper. “I swear you got my mother’s eyes.”

The napkin slides over to him and he glances down. Her handwriting’s spikey and awful-doctor writing to the bone-but his is no better and he can read it well enough.

An old colleague has been hanging around the hospital lately.

Oh.

That explains a bit.

“Sure.”

Her shoulders drop and she crumples the napkin, nails picking it into shreds.

“I’m sorry to do this to you,” she says softly, nearly too soft for him to hear, and he’s quick to shake his head.

“No, no, I don’t mind, I’m glad you…if there’s anything I can do to…”

Shit, she looks like she’s going to start crying and that is indeed PANIC in his throat. Tears are not good.

“You’re a good boy.” Her voice is watery but there are no tears to be seen. Thank Jesus. “I promise next time we have lunch it’ll be normal.”

Oh, good, things haven’t plummeted down to fiery Hell because of all the revelations flying around.

“Everything’s gonna be fine,” he says, and whoops that’s his ‘all will be well, citizen, never fear!’ voice. But it must work, because the about-to-cry look disappears. “Um. Do you wanna…it looks like it’s gonna rain, should we get going?”

And so they do.

* * *

The wind has picked up and it smells like rain. He’s not looking forward to patrol later.

The wind’s not so bad, though, to stop Sheila from lighting up with a self-depreciating, “I know I’m a doctor and should know better, but I honestly don’t care.”

“I can’t really say anything.” He holds up his own pack and rattles it before pulling one out. It’s not as calming as it usually is and he doesn’t know why.

Eh. It’s been a long day, that’s all. He’s not used to interacting with people on a personal level anymore, which is his own fault and probably not necessarily a good thing.

The first few drops have started to fall when they arrive at her building-big, square, and simplistic. She fishes out her keys while they’re in the elevator (which smells like new car, for some reason).

The hallway is deserted. It’s a little creepy, to be honest-his own building might be crap, but there’s always activity. And then, of course, there was Arkham’s hallways, or what he could hear of them. Noisy. Always noisy. But this? Wayne Manor was silent like this. It unsettled him then and it unsettles him now. Call him a city boy, whatever, but he needs noise.

The brass knuckles and knives in his jacket are warm and comforting and he knows he’s not gonna need ‘em, but they make up for this creepy-ass silence.

Sheila opens the door and motions him inside. It’s dark inside-blackout curtains, probably-but he can hear the rain. It smells like new car in here, too, and he wonders, off-handedly, why-

-it’s not empty. He’s walked into one too many ‘empty’ buildings to be very, very attuned to the sound of somebody breathing. Okay. Be calm, back out and shut the door.

He’s about to do exactly that when the light switch clicks and bathes the whole place in stark white. White walls, white floors, white furniture.

Which only makes Harley Quinn stick out like a sore thumb in all that red and black.

“BAY-BEE!” She could never hope to match Joker’s grin, but she gives it a good go, stretching her makeup. Okay. Change of plans. Get Sheila out of here (and preferably out of the building), deal with Quinn. “It’s been a whiiiiile!”

He takes in the mallet leaning against the couch and the shotgun (are those fuzzy dice? Really?) in her hands and comes to the conclusion that great, she’s riding the crazy train.

But maybe she hasn’t seen Sheila yet. Where’s that goddamn light switch?

He moves, only a little, only to feel the unmistakable press of a gun against his lower back.

“Don’t. Move.”

And the world drops out from under him.

No. No, no, no, she said she quit, it was over, she said they’d let her go, she said-

The door shuts. He twists so he can still see Quinn in his peripheral. Sheila’s face is a blank mask-no tears, no joy, no nothing. Just quiet determination and he doesn’t understand, she said…

“Mom?” The word feels thick and wrong in his mouth, but maybe…maybe she’s brainwashed or hypnotized or something, maybe she doesn’t…isn’t…

“Sorry, kid.” The words are harsh but her tone isn’t. Quinn giggles in the background but she sounds so far away and Sheila’s still pressing a gun against him. “It was you or me, and, well…it had to be you.”

What?

“Aww, come to mama, baby!” Quinn giggles again before straightening up and scowling. “Now.”

His feet drag him forward, sneakers scuffing against the white carpet an’ Heaven’s s’posed ta be white, innit, so why does this feel like Hell and what’s going on she said she said-

For once horrible, desperate second, he wants Bruce. Bruce wouldn’t…yeah, he’d thought, at first, that he’d left him but he knows that he didn’t, he really didn’t, he just…

Bruce wouldn’t have pulled a gun on him, he wouldn’t and God, if he’d just fucking talked to him-

“I did what you wanted, Quinn.” Sheila’s voice is so, so flat and is this all she wanted from the beginning? Is it? “Now call your man.”

Quinn doesn’t even look at her. She’s looking at Jason like she always did-like she’s torn between wanting to rip his head off and wanting to wrap him in a blanket and keep him.

This is his own goddamn fault, he just thought…just once, just once-

“Quinn!” Desperation now, and the gun wobbles against his hoodie as she steps out from behind him. “I did what you said! Call your man!”

Okay. Okay.

He forces himself to take a few deep breaths that taste like that last cigarette outside and says, voice as steady as he can make it, “Let her go, Harley. Leave her alone, I’ll. I’ll do what you want, just. Just let her go.”

“Aww, look at you!” Her pigtails sway and he finds himself oddly hypnotized by the movement. “I knew ya had to be Robin for a reason.”

Yeah. Yeah, he was Robin and that’s all he’ll ever be, the one that fucked up.

“Please, Harley.”

“Nyeh…” She adjusts her grip on the gun, finger dancing near the trigger, and looks down at her knuckles. “Eeny, meanie, miny, moe, catch a Batman by the toe. If he hollers, let ‘im go, eeny…meanie…miny…moe!”

He sees it before she does it, but there’s no time-he’s moved maybe half a centimeter before the gun goes off-

-and Sheila.

Falls.

His ears are ringing. They’re ringing and everything’s so white except her, all blonde and blue and so fucking red because Harley didn’t miss and if he’d been quicker, he should have been-

“Aww, don’t be sad!” Harley’s not alone, of course she’s not. He should have known from the start stupidstupidstupid. “Doncha know what happens to people who know too much?”

Her eyes are open. They’re open and they’re looking at him like this is his fault and it is if he hadn’t…

S’like Joker said, once.

“Good boys know how to lay down and DIE.”

“Mistah J had a spot for ya, baby.” Huh? “But you up an’ left us before it was time! So since it’s his birthday-” The fucker has no birthday he just appeared one day too evil for Hell. “-I thought I’d get my puddin’ somethin’-” She winks. “Real nice.”

And they’re on him.

Harley’s goons are dumb, but they’re also big and they manage to drag him down for a minute before he gets a knife out of his sleeve and drives it into the nearest jaw.

“Andre!” Yeah, Andre ain’t comin’ back from that any time soon. “I thought we taught you manners!”

He reclaims his knife and scrambles back up and okay okay maybe he can get outta this-

WHAM!

Lights out.

[scribe-the-write-thing]

So I’m back.

Got tagged by @writtenindust <3 Decided to go with How to Pirate.

I might do another one for Strings, which is another WIP I have, soon. <3

1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch). 

Three people from varying backgrounds attempt to find their way and survive during the golden age of piracy. It’s not as easy as they thought.

2. How long do you plan for your novel to be? (Is it a novella, single book, book series, etc.)

At the moment it’s just episodic -- hopefully a novella at the end of it, I’m still working on everything.

3. What is your novel’s aesthetic? 

The ocean, worn wooden ships, blackened and worn flags, empty bottles, city streets with cobblestones, hidden away taverns, navy vessels, swords and pistols.

4. What other stories inspire your novel? 

Treasure Island, Black Sails, Black Flag (AC),  tales of Robin Hood or Sinbad, The Marvellous Misadventures of Flapjack

5. Share 3+ images that give a feel for your novel ajsdh idk but i made a moodboard for one of the characters

MAIN CHARACTER

6. Who is your protagonist?

There’s three, actually, or is that cheating? Either way, the three POV characters are Jessamine Rodriguez (also known as Jesse Clarke), the captain of the ship and a part-time revolutionary with a grudge and an identity crisis;  Theodor Erkens, her partner and first mate, who proves that the phrase Dutch courage is completely accurate; and Cecil Harlow, the newcomer on board who only ever wanted a new life -- this all isn’t quite what he imagined.

7. Who is their closest ally? 

Other than each other? The rest of the crew -- most of which will have individual goals/personalities as well as their own bonds to the main cast. The crew acts more like a family, despite their nature, about all they have is each other. At the beginning, Jess and Theo are far closer allies, but later bond together more with Cecil.

8. Who is their enemy? 

The central ‘villain’ (from their perspective) is a navy admiral, Beckett Reynolds, who of course pursues them due to well, the whole pirate thing. He mainly has a history with Jess and her former family -- but largely has the desire to bring justice as he sees it. Otherwise, they also combat other pirates, various rivals for business, merchants and slavers.

9. What do they want more than anything? 

Freedom, I suppose, in different ways. Jess desires a steady, stable home where she can be completely free. Theodor wishes for a purpose -- the freedom to go where he likes and do as he likes without being tied down. Cecil wishes for freedom away from a pressure-filled life with a family that only sees him as an asset to work for their benefit.

10. Why can’t they have it? 

Because while they can, it isn’t without sacrificing something. Jess struggles with finding stability without giving up the agency and freedom a life of piracy means for her (being both a woman and of African heritage in the 1700s).  Furthermore, she views settling as giving up her fight for justice and tolerating the way things are. Theodor, meanwhile, deals with the issue that he cannot continually run away from his own responsibilities -- as it will only make it worse when he does have to face them. Cecil also struggles with exiting a life of rigid structure and entering into a system that completely goes against his own morals.

11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

Jess believes that the choices she is somehow required to ‘carry on’ the legacy that her pseudo-father and mentor, Emmerson, left behind, and must do so despite how it may harm her. Theodor believes that he is unable to discover his purpose or ever be satisfied unless he keeps chasing unending ambitions and that, in the long run, he has no purpose outside of the trouble he causes. Cecil believes that he has little use to anyone and severely undervalues himself, and that he is largely unimportant to, well, anyone.

12. Draw your protagonist! 

Hoh I’m not an artist, but some art has been done of them, as I’ve shown off in a previous post. <3

PLOT POINTS

13. What is the internal conflict?

Overall, all three of them deal with their issues of identity and working out their own morality.

Jess struggles with living up to what she believes Emmerson would have wanted her to be, as well as working through an identity crisis involving Jesse Clarke, the disguise she maintains. She debates whether being Jesse is easier -- wondering who she actually is and if the ‘alter ego’ is more similar to her actual personality.

Theodor attempts to find his own purpose in the world and to find a sense of satisfaction -- he rarely feels content with where he is, and constantly hungers for more, never quite feeling complete. He tries to find some way to feel a sense of accomplishment, while avoiding his own issues wherever he can.

Cecil, meanwhile, struggles with his lack of confidence and escaping the black-and-white mentality of the home he grew up with, with the idea of greys and nuance being something strange to him -- morality and the idea of differing ideas of morals becomes his conflict.

14. What is the external conflict?

The external conflict is mainly the forces of the navy and other lawmen who, of course, interfere with the more shady dealings the characters get up to. The external conflict also follows the threat of rival gangs and of the slavers and corrupt officials.

15. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist? 

Separated from each other, most likely -- or one of them being captured and executed.

16. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story? 

Most of the ‘secrets’ only change the characters attitudes and the way they interact with each other. Such as the connection between Jess, Reynolds and Emmerson, Theo’s connection and relationship with Reynolds and other rival characters, Cecil’s internal conflicts, ect.

17. Do you know how it ends? 

Mostly.

BITS AND BOBS

18. What is the theme?

Freedom and finding a place/identity. The greyness of morality and how problematic does not strictly equal ‘bad’. Drama with a comedic spin on things at times.

19. What is a recurring symbol? 

The ocean/waves/the tides. The shore/docks.

20. Where is the story set? (Share a description!) 

Around the 1700s, an alternate history (in that the Republic of Pirates is more of a thing/lasts longer) of sorts with some known anachronisms at points but mostly standard to historical fiction. Set around the Caribbean islands, including; Tortuga, Port Royal, Havana, Matanzas, New Providence, ect.

The story not on land, of course, takes place aboard the Felicite, a stolen privateer-turned-pirate ship.

21. Do you have any images or scenes in your mind already? 

The vast majority of scenes have been imagined and planned out, now it’s just placing them in a timeline and writing them.

22. What excited you about this story?

The exploration of characters and their own personal struggles and how they evolve and grow as they attempt to find themselves and become what they want to be. Exploring the differences in morality and how certain events and situations can allow people to justify, internally, what they do and how they view themselves still afterwards.

23. Tell us about your usual writing method! 

Scenes/snippets all at once which may or may not evolve into chapters as I write, right now they’re very episodic and I tend towards writing scenes I feel most inspired for in the moment.

ahsh for tagging

idk if u wanna but i gonna tag u anyway lemme know if you don’t wanna and ill remove it but

@idunscrewedup