#And they make me actively dislike Tim sometimes

[goggles-mcgee]

A Little Birdy Told Me 19

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Summary:  Just another day at Gotham Academy, well, Damian wished it was. His acquaintances seem to like to make it anything but.

Damian was not having a good day despite his father’s wishes. For the record, he did try to have a good day, it’s not like he purposefully went into the school with the intent to not, but it seemed like any good luck he had had in the last couple of days (which wasn’t much mind you) ran out. The whispers were what had tipped him off to begin with, usually he could brush them off as nonsensical youth gossip and carry on but the stares coupled with the whispers put him a bit on edge. He hadn’t done anything to his knowledge to warrant the behavior he had observed when he walked in but he didn’t let it show that anything was amiss. He merely strode to his locker and dropped off his afternoon class books before shutting it and locking it swiftly. Damian had tried to be nonchalant about his locker in the beginning, but when it had been broken into in his first week he had been livid, and upgraded the security courtesy of Drake. Apparently some schoolmates just wanted a peek into the newest Wayne’s locker and see if there was anything damning they could use against his Father to sell to some tacky tabloid. Needless to say, he and his father had been less than amused and in Damian’s case, hopeful that he would not have to stay in the ridiculous establishment. 

As he had said, luck was not on his side back then, so why would it be now? 

“Oh our favorite and sometimes benevolent Ice Prince of Gotham Academy.” an annoyingly familiar voice sang out as the body it belonged to slumped against the locker next to Damian’s. “Have you heard the latest gossip, my liege?” 

“Hardy. How many times have I told you I do not listen to drivel?” Damian replied in the most monotone voice he could pull-off. The one that made Drake throw pillows at him because he disliked how robotic it made him sound. 

“Oh, of course, of course Milord. But…this “drivel” as you call it has to do with you.” Claude Hardy, active member of their drama club, well-liked, class clown and as always an avid gossiper told Damian. Damian didn’t talk to him a lot, or well, it was better to say he tried not to. With Hardy came Allegra Vogel: accomplished flutist, ballerina, the queen of gossip and his class’ president, Alan Lopez: writer, soccer player and like his friends Hardy and Vogel, a gossip and Sebastian Allaway: one of the school’s best track members and whose parents own and run The Cottage, the restaurant that replaced Bamonte’s Restaurant after Don Maroni died and The Maroni Family dissolved (assumedly). An odd group of…almost friends, more so associates maybe to him, he wasn’t sure yet if they were friends but Damian would admit they were entertaining at the least.

“Can you never just get to the point, Claude?” The newest addition to the friend group, and Damian’s associate circle asked dramatically. Damian’s gaze shifted to look over at Gotham Academy’s latest transfer Chloé Bourgeois. Nicknamed Queen Bee by the friend group, but Damian noticed she always smiled sadly when she was called that. Perhaps her friends noticed too because Queen Bee quickly shortened to just Queenie. Both nicknames were ridiculous if you asked Damian, he somewhat disliked nicknames. It was fine when Dick did it, because he did it out of affection, Jason did it to be a dick and Tim did it to be annoying. Well that was his theory in any case. 

“You missed it too Queenie!” Hardy helpfully pointed out. 

“Traffic was worse than usual but I’m not that late Drama King. English hasn’t even begun.” Bourgeois snarked back.

“Bourgeois has a point. The school day has barely begun, how have we missed anything vital?” Damian asked with a furrowed brow as he closed his locker and led the group in the direction of their English class. 

“It’s sad how you both don’t get here early enough to socialize like proper socialites,” Hardy sighed dramatically before he perked up and looked at them with a glint in his eye. One Damian was not a fan of as it often painted trouble for him. “That class exchange thing, the one Damian’s father is funding, the class arrived the other day and oh boy was Headmaster Hammer not amused!”

Damian stiffened but kept walking, the news startled him but he was not going to let it show. He could not let anyone know he knew about the class already and especially not about Marinette. “Oh? I thought they were supposed to start next week? That’s what Father said. I would also like to point out that one cannot be late to gossip as I was not here to begin with.”

“Exactly. At least Wayne has brain cells that work.” Bourgeois teased. 

“Are we teasing Claude?” And now another person was walking with them and Damian had to resist the urge to sigh loudly. It was too early to be this social. 

“Don’t we always Allegra?” Bourgeois asked as though the answer was obvious which to be fair it was. The group did tease Claude an absurd amount, but he just made it so easy. 

“Oh yes of course. How silly of me to forget.” The other blonde responded with a teasing laugh.

“Why are you guys so cruel? I’m just here, existing. I’m just a little guy.” Claude pouted. 

“You are taller than us.” Damian pointed out a bit bitterly. He was of average height for his age but it seemed like a lot of his male classmates surpassed average in grade school. 

“ANYWAY. Sir Ice Prince and Queenie, you both weren’t here on Friday-” 

“I had an appointment, I told the group this on Thursday.” Bourgeois interjected.

“I didn’t want to leave Richard alone after what happened at Wayne Tower on Thursday so my father excused me from class.” Damian threw in, in some way it was the truth. Dick had been rather…wound up after the situation at the Tower and the run in with Brat Chat hadn’t helped anything. He may be playing it off but Damian knew his older brother well and he knew that Dick was holding everything in still. So it was no surprise that Dick was sticking around Marinette more than the rest of them. He was worried about the girl, that much was clear and it didn’t take a genius to guess it was because he felt responsible for her being Fear Toxined when he was there and able to do something, but the fact of the matter was there really wasn’t much he could have done. Dick was stubborn though and would continue to blame himself until Dupain-Cheng was safe or until Damian could beat sense into him. He had no problem exercising the second option. Dick was too hard on himself. 

“That’s understandable. How is he doing?” Vogel asked softly. 

“Better.” He replied honestly. 

“I’m glad Dick is doing better, but you and Chloé really did miss one hell of an…interesting day.” Hardy continued. Damian merely hummed in response, he knew it was futile to try and argue that he was not interested because Hardy didn’t care. Or just didn’t believe him; either option was equally annoying. “Like I said, that French class the school is doing the exchange with arrived on Friday. Like the whole class. I can tell you guys now, they did not make a good impression on our dear schoolmates.”

“Oh…yeah…the class exchange. You said they’re French?” Bourgeois asked nonchalantly, though Damian could see her body stiffen as stutter as they walked before she collected herself. 

“Yeah. I thought they’d be nice to speak with. Especially this small group that had been discussing music but…” Vogel scrunched her nose up, it made her distaste well-known. Though, Vogel was not one to hide how she felt to begin with so the expression wasn’t a surprise. Especially to Damian who had knowledge of the class already and he knew he wouldn’t like most, if not all of them. “Instead of telling me about their songs and band and such they only spoke about this girl in their class. I swear, you would think she was newly Sainted or the like with how they looked at her and talked about her. It was like experiencing a cult without actually being in the cult.”

“Oh yeah. It was some real Jim Jones’ shit.” Hardy readily agreed.

“Language.” Damian couldn’t help but quip. He was too used to telling Jason, Tim and Steph that so they would have to add to Alfred’s ‘Swear Jar.’ 

“And the teacher acted like their behavior was normal!” Hardy continued as though he hadn’t heard Damian. Brat. “She acted like they were perfect little angels.”

“It was disturbing.” Vogul shook her head.

“The teacher…” Bourgeois was inspecting her nails, feigning disinterest but Damian could see the subtle shake in her hand. “What was her name?”

“Why? Think it might be your old one Queenie?” Hardy asked with a smile but the twitch of his brows told Damian he was worried about the answer Bourgeois might give. “What are the chances of that?”

“Just- What was her name, Claude?” 

“Uh, something with a ‘B.’”

“You’re beyond help Claude. How do you not remember?” Vogel asked.

“Look. In my defense, I don’t like her and I don’t pay attention to things I don’t like nor care for.”

“You’re horrible. Her name was Caline Bustier. Her class was supposed to be placed in ours but apparently now, that’s not even certain. I think I heard someone say Headmaster Hammer was not at all pleased with how they came in and demanded their schedules. I guess their class president was supposed to be present but she was not there. Word on the street and from the horse’s mouth is that she went missing after the whole Two-Face, Scarecrow situation at The Tower.” Vogel was as connected as ever. Damian was impressed she had all that info already given it had only been a few days since everything went down. Not to mention a weekend passed, which meant some of her sources were not available to talk with, or so Damian assumed. She probably had them all on speed dial for all he knew.

Another thing he observed? All of them looked at him like he had answers. He did, but he wasn’t going to say anything, it was for Marinette’s safety after all. So he sighed like he did best, “Even if I knew something, I wouldn’t tell you.”

They nodded. “Fair.” Hardy said with a shrug, he was used to those kinds of answers. He would have to be since he had been bugging Damian since he started at Gotham Academy. 

Bourgeois had stopped walking and though he wanted to just head into the classroom, it was quite literally fifteen steps away from them and if he went ahead it would be incredibly rude to ignore whatever was bothering the girl. Alfred impressed upon him how a gentleman behaved and leaving Bourgeois in this situation was most definitely against Alfred’s teachings. As though the man himself was watching him, Damian stopped walking and barely held in his complaints. His grandpa was terrifying when he wanted to be, especially when it came to manners. Damian shuddered at the memories of Alfred’s etiquette training but managed to hide it as he turned to face Bourgeois who honestly looked close to passing out right there in the middle of the hallway. “Bustier?” She gasped.

“Chloe?” Vogel asked as she placed a hand on the other blonde’s shoulder. 

“Oh my god, they are your old class.” It was a statement rather than a question from Hardy. The Style Queen Heiress’s reaction was all the answer they needed but she did give a stiff nod. The answer was…interesting to say the least but it also put Damian on edge. If that was her old class then she must have known about Lila Rossi, granted she had been at their school for about a year now but due to the family’s research, Damian knew the Lila situation had been going on for about four years. So Bourgeois had been in that class when it was happening, Damian knew the school sounded familiar, he just couldn’t remember why. He, of course, had done his own research into Chloé Bourgeois when she had been announced as the new transfer student but admittedly he hadn’t dug too far as Dick and Alfred told him that was not the way to make friends. He couldn’t help being cautious, it was a skill he had to learn very early in the League, so anyone new that came into his life he couldn't help but be suspicious of.

Honestly, he did the bare basics of a background research on Bourgeois that the fact he was being surprised by a fact he could have found out if it weren’t for ‘manners’ and ‘courtesy’, he would have found out about Bustier’s class before the exchange program was finalized. He could have prevented so many annoyances by arguing with his father about them. Though that would have meant never meeting Dupain-Cheng… he didn’t know how to feel about that. “We can speak about this after class. The bell is about to ring and I for one would rather not be counted late while I have the ability to be on time in mere steps.” Damian announces as he walked on, he would gather whatever information he could from Bourgeois at lunch, he had time. 

_______________________

[LUNCH]

Chloé took a deep breath in to calm herself for what felt like the millionth time that day. Ever since she found out her former class was the one that won the spot for the Gotham Education Exchange she had felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest all day. She didn’t want to face them, she wasn’t ready to face them, ever since her move to Gotham Chloé had changed and she knew it was for the better. There was no Hawkmoth in Gotham, so no reason to not feel, and well, Jean-Claude made her go to therapy and though she found it ridiculous to begin with, she had to admit it did actually help if you put the work in. It was the end of collège for her when she realized just how absolutely miserable she was. Her parents’ fighting had gotten worse, her classmates were all sheep, she knew that before but she thought they had grown some kind of backbone when Marinette started standing up for herself but then that liar joined the class and things changed. It was terrifying to see just how fast everyone turned on the person they called their ‘Everyday Ladybug’. If they turned on her that fast, what would happen to Chloé? 

What happened was nothing she hadn’t expected. Much like Dupain-Cheng she had been sent to the back, at first she had been there with Sabrina but by 4’eme* the redhead had left her. She had the mercy of not being targeted by some of the classmates “pranks” like Dupain-Cheng had been but no one spoke to her, no one acknowledged her unless they absolutely had to. Chloé had tried to get her dad to do something about it but that was when he and her mother’s fights started getting bad and they paid less attention to her. The only one who seemed to care what was happening to her was Jean-Claude, he tried to help as best he could but there was only so much he could do. She thought Mme Bustier would do something as she had always been on her side but when Chloé tried to complain she was hit with that good old infamous ‘good example’ bullshit. It was like a slap to the face. Usually hearing that would have brought a smug smile to her face because it wasn’t her getting that talk, she was the one who got her way and the others were supposed to be the ‘good examples’. 

It threw her for a fucking loop is what it did and it sent her in a deep depression. She was so used to getting her way by throwing tantrums, throwing money or just in general throwing something someone’s way, then all of a sudden she couldn’t get her way by doing what she used to do and she was lost, utterly lost. Her mother and dad kept fighting, sometimes she expected it to get physical with how close both got to one another while shouting and maybe that was the one saving grace that never happened but she never wanted to see her mother throw her heels at her dad ever again. That was as physical as it had gotten and it scared her because one of those times one of the heels almost hit her when she tried to enter the room and beg them to stop fighting. That was the last time she tried. By her last year, 3’eme, they had at least taken to fighting with each other through their assistants and poor Jean-Claude in a ridiculous imitation of Mlle Sancoeur (she never did like when Chloé called her by her first name despite the fact she has known her since Chloé was in diapers.) But when they got lawyers involved they didn’t fight over one thing, one important thing, her. 

No. She was thrown around like the shared house furniture trying to be divided, except where they argued about who kept what piece of furniture, they argued why the other should keep her. They did it with her in the room. It was then that she realized that neither of her parents’ really loved her, oh she always knew with her mother there was never any love, but when her dad didn’t fight for her? It hurt more than she cared to admit and that was the day of her final akumatization, Folk-Tail. From pictures she had seen her hair had grown down to her feet in its ponytail but it took on the likeness of a scorpion’s tail, her skin had turned gray but it looked like she had cried after just putting on mascara that was definitely not waterproof since she had black streaks starting from her eyes going down her face, she wore what she always imagined Princess Potentilla wore when she was made to live in the small house by her jealous mother and on top of her ponytail sat a crown of forget-me-nots. The tale of Princess Potentilla and Prince Narcissus had always been her favorite fairytale. It was no surprise that her akuma had been fairytale based since at that moment in time all she had wanted was for her life to be like the fairytales Jean-Claude had often read to her. She just wanted a happy ending. 

Apparently her power was to assign roles to people, roles of famous fairy tale characters or creatures that she felt they reflected. Since she herself had been a sad reflection of Potentilla, her father was of course King Cloverleaf and her mother Queen Frivola. Those she did not personally know were given basic roles like a villager or the like. She had gotten to most of her class given they were hanging out at the park that day in celebration of their last year of collège. It was no surprise that she found out Lila had been turned into the Big Bad Wolf, what did surprise her was that she had hit Dupain-Cheng and the girl had become Melinette, the helpful, powerful fairy from her favorite story. It shouldn’t have been so surprising and yet it was. It was after she had been defeated that she reflected on it all, her akuma had been surprisingly truthful with what she herself felt but was too scared to acknowledge. Her father was only interested in what had his attention like the glory of being Mayor and his true love running his hotel much like King Cloverleaf loved being King but only because it gave him the means to hunt to his full pleasure. Her mother was a vain woman who cared too much about her reputation much like Queen Frivola who thought herself the most beautiful woman and threw the most lavish balls but when she saw the beauty of her daughter, she hid her from the kingdom out of jealousy. She had no Prince Narcissus. Yet she had Marinette, determined, helpful, kind Marinette who was very much like Melinette, the fairy who raised the Prince. 

If she had hit Hawkmoth with her ‘tail’ he for sure would have been Grumedan the Evil Enchanter. It was that akumatization and everything else going on around her that made her snap. She didn’t want to be like her mother or her father. Hell, she had spent so many years trying to be like her mother in an attempt to get the woman to just get her name right! Chloé didn’t even know who she really was but she wanted to find out and she knew that wouldn’t happen in Paris. She broke down to Jean-Claude about it all, she cried for the first time in a long time, she didn’t care if she got akumatized again, she wanted to cry, she needed to cry. That was when Jean-Claude took charge, he yelled at her parents, demanded a meeting with them and the lawyers outside of Paris because he knew emotions would be high and he demanded parental rights over Chloé. In some ways it shocked her and at the same time it didn’t because he was always the one taking care of her. He wanted her. He cared for her. Chloé had zoned out after his demand because she was just so overwhelmed, someone actually wanted her; she missed the fight and following negotiations. Since her parents didn’t want to take care of her Jean-Claude would be her parent, they wouldn’t change her name since Jean-Claude fully expected her parents to still provide for her.

Oh she knew they fought that with everything they had but Jean-Claude told her after the fact that he essentially blackmailed them. If they provided for her by sending money to her and Jean-Claude after their move and if they kept her as their heir for their respective businesses until she was old enough to decide if she wanted to take over either business, then he wouldn’t go to the media with some illegal stuff he knew had gone on and absolute neglect the put their child through. They folded quickly since there was nothing more important to Audrey and André Bourgeois than their reputations. Before she knew it, after all the necessary paperwork was completed, she and Jean-Claude moved in with his sister Margot in Gotham, New Jersey. It was quite the move and it was hard to adjust but Jean-Claude was patient with her but firm, they arrived in the summer which was the perfect time for her to start therapy apparently. She thought it would be hard adjusting to Gotham and its unique brand of crime but it really wasn’t. Costumed weirdos running around causing havoc? Old news. No Miraculous Cure? Now that, that was scary and took time getting used to. 

All in all she thought she was getting better and growing. She had friends, actual friends! She liked hanging out with them, listening to them, just in general being with them, she didn’t have to fake anything around them. Sure she had a hard time with Damian but that was just because he was so standoffish and kind of reminded her of Felix which wasn’t great but she was starting to separate the two in her mind. Though both boys were fond of their families, Damian wasn’t as conniving as Felix nor as fake, he was simply blunt and in some way it was refreshing. She liked their little odd group of friends and one acquaintance who was becoming a friend and she didn’t want anything ruining it. Especially not her old class but she was still fragile and they had the power to set her back and she didn’t want that at all. But Chloé Bourgeois was not someone who bowed to anyone and she wouldn’t start now but…she would talk to Jean-Claude about it all and maybe see if her therapist would be available for more sessions or even on speed dial. 

“Chloé?” Allegra’s voice tore through the murky fog that her thoughts had become and she finally realized she had somehow made it to their table. 

“Hey. You okay Chlo?” Sebastian asked. 

“This is about your former class, is it not?” Damian asked but the way he said it made it sound like it wasn’t a question. It made her wince.

“Damian. A little more tact next time please.” Allegra said as she pinched the bridge of her nose. 

“But he’s not wrong is he?” Claude asked next. 

Chloé looked at her friends and tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, her hands clenched and unclenched around her lunch tray that she hadn’t noticed she didn’t set down and she took in another deep breath. “I am…I’m scared. I was not the best person to them as I’ve told you all before, I was a bully. But towards the end of my years with that class things changed. They changed. They didn’t speak to me. At all. Me and Mari-another classmate, we were isolated, basically banished to the back to be all but forgotten. Well…I was. Dupai-the other classmate, she wasn’t as…fortunate?”

“Fortunate?” Allan echoed.

Chloé nodded. “I would take my fate over hers any day. I was forgotten in a way, but they did bad talk me and insult me when they knew I could hear but they never acknowledged my existence. It was like I wasn’t there in the room while they were talking. But Ma-my classmate, they bullied her, worse than I ever did and I admit I bullied her for years. While I did it out of jealousy and to just get her mad or in trouble, they did it to break her. I did nothing to help. I was going through things, yes, but that’s no excuse and I don’t know how I’m going to face any of them.” 

It was quiet. Awkwardly quiet. Chloé was close to just pushing away from the table and just storming out because everything she was feeling was too much but a small yet loud ‘Hm’ stopped her and called her attention. It came from Damian who was staring at her with his calculating eyes that gave her the creeps from time to time. It was like he was trying to pull your secrets out of you with his eyes. She stared back at him as he stared at her and leaned his elbows on the table, interlocking his fingers and resting his face on his hands. “So you know Lila Rossi. Tell me about her and everything she’s done to Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” 

Well that was not what Chloé expected him to say.

________________________

Chloe Bourgeois

@Bee-utifulMe

School is barely halfway over and I’m already ready to call my therapist.

#imdonewithtoday #gothamacademy #itsbarelynoon 

💞MAPS💞

@ImTheMapImTheMap

RE: Chloe Bourgeois

       @Bee-utifulMe

[School is barely halfway over and I’m already ready…]

Mood.

#Iwasnotpreparedforthatenglishtest #TTuTT 

Notes: 

*4'eme (3'eme) are the last two level of schooling in college (French schooling). College typically goes from ages 11-15, 4'eme is for those 13-14, 3'eme is 14-15.

Prince Narcissus and The Princess Potentilla is a fairy tale that you can read here if you would like context -> HERE

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[isabelleadjani]

hi hiiiiii 💗 1, 2, 9, 16, 19, 31, 38, 39, and 42! 🫶🏼

omg hiiiiiiiiiii thank you for so many questionssss 🤭💖 i already answered 1 but the rest are coming riiiight now

what movie do you wish you could unwatch? honestly i wanna say nymphomaniac. there are a lot of films i dislike or even hate and deeply wish to never have to watch again but i think nymphomaniac stands out as the one that if i could only choose a singular film to erase from my memory it would be that one. like it's just so deeply fucking stupid and disgusting on many levels but more than that. it's so unbearably long that it's just an INSANE amount of time wasted on one film (well, one film in two parts or whatever). i neeeeeeeed to fist fight lars von trier so bad.

guilty pleasure movie? i don't believe in guilty pleasures as a concept really but i think maybe the closest i get is reservoir dogs. because i have such a deep disdain for tarantino as a person and as a filmmaker but i just can't ever shake the comfort movie-relationship i have with that film. tim roth as freddy newendyke made me who i am it just is what it is.

favorite book to film adaptation? i'm tempted to say both farewell my concubine and the handmaiden which are both adaptations of novels but since i have yet to read either of those books (they ARE on my tbr 😭) i'm going to say park chan wook's thirst! which is a loose adaptation of émile zola's thérèse raquin... it might be debatable whether it really counts as an adaptation but it counts TO ME.

name a movie so bad it’s good i don't think i'm really the kind of person who has this feeling about films often, mostly i sometimes think that movies can be fun to watch with other people if you can like comment and make jokes while you watch. like recently i watched deVour with jensen ackles and shannyn sossamon with my bestie and that was so fucking messy and horrible but i would still recommend it for a group watch because we had so much fun watching it as a social activity. do you remember the first movie you saw in theaters? well honestly idk if it was actually the first one i saw, but the first film i do remember seeing in the cinema was stuart little 2 jfgbdskjgb which i went to see with my mom and my sisters literally the day after my grandma died when i was 5, which was an unfortunate coincidence but we already had the tickets and my mom didn't wanna waste the money.

in your opinion what is the most overrated movie? oh MANY such cases.... let's go with uhhhhhh. call me by your name because i have to hear about that film SO fucking often and i am TIRED OF ITTTTTTTTT. god i hate that piece of shit film.

in your opinion what is the most underrated movie? once again there are so many one could pick here but i would like to highlight lady vengeance actually. because like, i'm a huge fan of most of park chan wook's work and it's not that i think that people don't appreciate lady vengeance. that's be a bit silly because pcw is such a popular and celebrated filmmaker on the whole. it's just that it does NOT get the attention it deserves within pcw's oeuvre and is always overshadowed by oldboy when people talk about the vengeance trilogy, when in fact it is easily the superior film in that trilogy, and in my opinion in the absolute top tier of his films to date.

show me a pic of your favorite movie poster alright in the interest of talking about a movie i haven't already gone on about in this post, i am going to pick the poster for in the mood for love! i have a lot of posters that i am a bit obsessed with and could choose from, but i definitely don't have one single fave. this is, however, one of them. so butch/femme realness tbh.

movie asks 🎥

[just-an-enby-lemon]

The reason I enjoy comic books soo much is because there's soo many versions of a characther that in the end most fans - if not all - end up nitpicking the characterizations they like and creating a completely unique version of the characthers that is similar to cannon but also unique and thanks to that comic books become a subjetive experience and creating shared perceptions and exploring it becames a fun bonding activity.

That's to say that while sunshine Dick, coffe Tim and waffles Steph are tropes that mostly don't ressonate with me (same for a lot of fannon Jason) I enjoy some versions of it and I'm fine with people using and liking it and genuinally get a bit annoyed with comic purists trying to blame and insult fannon because their versions are not based on cannon reality. That being said I can't say the same for normal Duke. This trope not only has no basis for interpretation in cannon at all to the point it def wasn't created from a place of love (and more likely it's creators never read a comic with Duke in at all) but because for the batfam fannon Duke only exists in function of other characthers. Things that go this way not only completly mischaracterize Duke but do that so instead of the awesome guy he is he can became a tool for help on the narrative of other characthers. Either by being their moral center or by being the punchline as they teach him the batfamily ways or some other bs. This tropes exist to put Duke on the backseat.

The biggest proof of that is that when people started pointing out Normal Duke made no sense people's reaction was to go to "insert characther THINKS Duke is normal" because is never about Duke. Since Duke isn't the plot device by being either the moral center, the punchline or the new guy who needs help he becomes a plot device as his weirdinnes and bravery becomes a thing that other characthers discover and are shocked by. He only exists on others reactions of him. Normal Duke or Secretly Weird Duke take away Duke's autonomy and makes him merely a prop for other Batfam members stories. And the fact that this is still the case and very popular (other similar tropes sometimes happen with other characthers namely puting woman as armchair psychologists, specially Cass, but never with this intencity) and happened mostly with the only proeminent black characther on the Batfam fandom is pretty telling (just as the fact the Fox Family is completly ignored even when Tam, Luke and Lucius are active members and Jace Fox was Batman).

Disclaimer:

I'm not saying you can't dislike tropes like coffe Tim or waffles Steph, you can and should interact with fandom anyway you want as long as it isn't spilling some harmfull rethoric. What I'm saying is that is not cool to feel superior to fans that use and like this tropes or insult them. The Normal Duke or Secretly Weird Duke tropes are a different story on my personal books and hating the users as much as the trope is totaly valid here (also it is valid to fight and get angry with people that get angry when this tropes aren't used).

[chororine]

CUBERT, DWIGHT AND THE KROKER KIDS RAN AN ELABORATE SCAM WE'RE SO FUCKING BACK

actual serious thoughts on The One Amigo under the cut

back when I read the summary for this ep I thought "b*nder AND n*f*t*s? hard pass" but it turns out sometimes two wrongs DO make a right. even if the topic is very two or even three years ago and one I actively dislike, I wasn't inherently opposed to it as long as the show clearly wasn't on the side of the n*f*t bros - and indeed it wasn't, in fact it implied they have as much value as children's scribbles!!! on the other hand I was mildly disappointed they didn't touch on the environmental impact of those digital shitstains - I predicted the energy expenditure of The B*nder Collection would indirectly cause some natural disaster in Mexico that threatened his village, but maybe that would've been TOO realistic and bleak (also "Attack of the Clothes" is apparently gonna touch on environmental issues so I guess they didn't want that ep to be redundant)

and oh! my son and his boyfriend, interacting in a canon setting again for the first time since the movies!!! when the teaser clips and screenshots started appearing I got a bit concerned they were gonna revert back to the "B*nder Should Not Be Allowed On TV" characterisations with Cubert and Dwight having no distinct personalities outside of being "The Kids" and do a storyline about b*nder trying to be hip with the youth of today, which in the year 3024 means doing n*f*ts - but I'm glad I worried for nothing because imo the execution (with them being aware it's a scam they can use to their advantage) was pretty in-character for our boys from Awesome Express, incorporating both their keen business sense for their age and their love of pranks, both of which were established all the way back in "The Route of All Evil". and even if their initial bonding seems to have happened off-screen, them taking Axl and Mandy under their wings was a delight - I've wanted these two to have more friends around their own age since... well, always (we did kinda get that with them befriending Tinny Tim and the orphans but as previously mentioned that episode sucked, and sadly the two friends they introduced solely for B*nder's Game don't seem to have stuck)

because I'm me, I kinda fell asleep during the supposed A-plot, and I'm too gringa to say how well they represented Mexico writing-wise - but I do think it was well-done visually, at least. in a weird bit of timing, this April I also went to Mexico to see a once-in-a-lifetime cosmic sight... my boyfriend @zappsbrannigan (and also the total eclipse but that was more, y'know, a bonus) and the robot village and surrounding jungle, with their nice orange-yellow-green-turquoise sky colour palette, match up pretty well with what I saw there. with enough childlike wonder I could imagine that village existing on the outskirts of the town where I saw the eclipse

the actual *plot* was... ok but not amazing I guess? I saw b*nder stealing the quipu coming but still a clever way to tie the A and B plots back together. speaking of which: the heist subplot wasn't super memorable but it was a fun little diversion that let the Professor use his brains and Zoidberg his weird alien quirks, and kept b*nder from completely overwhelming the episode (he's been so overused in the later seasons that I was pretty endeared to Doblando when it was revealed he was trying to get that spotlight-stealing trashcan killed lol). and another bit of weird timing that Leela was barely in an episode that aired on her bday but at least she got to pull a heist in a custom-made mask as a little treat. go Fujiko Mine it up girl

all in all, a great episode for my personal tastes specifically, which is the polar opposite of what I expected based on the summary. it'll be hard to top, but I hope it's just the first of many pleasant surprises this season

[jellyfishfem]

I appreciate that you’re so willing to be honest about your radfem views. I’m always in fear of being more vocal about my dislike of TIMs and such, blogs like yours make me feel a little better, like I’m not being unreasonable in how I feel. Good luck to you in your med school endeavors 💖

Aw thanks:) honestly I am a little scared of being doxxed and then harassed but I noticed that if I dont involve myself in any drama directly, Ill get left alone. So Im kind of a silent observer who sometimes pops up to say some stuff and then disappears. And I try to do activism thatll get me the least amount of attention. I never post about what I actively do for women but I promise I do a lot of stuff. I just shut up about it. Im glad my blog makes you feel better and this ask made my day. Sending love!!!

[evilwickedme]

Do you ever find yourself slightly resentful of how fanon DC has completely overtaken canon DC? I like fanon most of the time but it is so difficult now to find stories that are based in canon. Batman stories are by far the worst offender.

I'm not 100% sure if you're referring to the fact that a lot of recent stories in the comics are pretty ooc or if you mean fic, but based on the last few days of asks, I'm going to assume you're referring to fandom works specifically. And the answer honestly is yes.

I in general have complicated feelings towards fanon. While certain types of fanon can actually create stories that are more complex - for example most of the Spider-Man fandom has pretty much accepted that Peter is Jewish and has depression and anxiety - or even just make for pretty fun concepts - I just love stalker!Tim okay I don't know what to tell you, or purring!Spider-People!! - the vast majority of fanon is mostly really flat characterization or actively damaging. Going back to Spidey, pretty much every bit of MCU!Spidey fanon is fucking awful. And yeah, a lot of Batfam fanon, especially surrounding Jason - is really fucking awful.

I think it's fine for fanon to exist, but the fact that it so often overwhelms the actual canon stories means that sometimes canon gets actually rewritten in people's minds. Like the people who've been in my inbox recently asking me if pit madness is actually a thing - because if you've had minimal contact with canon, how the fuck are you even supposed to know it isn't? It's so rare to come across a fic that doesn't bring it up, even as a sidenote, and when it doesn't, it's not like it's an active mention that pit madness doesn't exist - it's just there. And it's such a damaging piece of fanon, I know I keep bringing it up but it's because I have to, it's really harmful, especially since it's basically NEVER given a trigger warning. But there's also other annoying fanon - Cass as a perfect angel or Steph being reduced to a waffle fan and Tim to a coffee addict and nothing else and erasing Dick's canonical anger issues entirely, which is maybe my favorite character trait of his (although this one can also be blamed partially on Tom Taylor's terribly ooc writing of the character in the current Nightwing run...).

And the thing is yeah, sometimes we read fic purely for the escaping and the fluff, but I know a lot of us are looking for angst and hurt/comfort and fics that take themes (whether from canon or not) seriously, and it's really frustrating how difficult they are to find. I much prefer a fic that takes Dick's trauma seriously than one that relegates him to supportive older brother only. I much prefer a fic that wrestles with Bruce's inability to love Jason the way Jason wants him to and the physical abuse he's inflicted on his children than one where he's perfect and never done anything wrong. Yeah, I don't mind reading stuff for fun where there's never been anything wrong ever in the batfam. But I'm also low-key upset that my second most kudos'd fic ever is the stupid ooc batfam 5+1 I wrote in an hour. I'd much rather people read hang on which verges on character study and has, you know, themes and stuff. Also parallels, which if you've noticed my tags, are like, my favorite thing.

So yeah, I do dislike the fact that fanon has overwhelming taken over so many fandoms, and especially since batman has become my main fandom over the past few months due to brainrot, I'd love if people took these characters seriously, damnit. But this is what happens when a fandom is so majorly comprised of people who outright admit to have never read a comic in their life.

[roobylavender]

who are your favorite writers of bruce and the dynamics he has w other batfam ? i remember you mentioning some writers you specifically dislike lol but im interested in some genuine recs :)

this is a very late answer and i apologize for that! off the top of my head:

bruce and dick: mike w. barr (early to mid 80s). his stuff for these two is far and few in between like it's a few back pages stories and then the occasional crossover between the titans and outsiders but i really adore how he writes bruce as this concerned parent who can sometimes be overbearing and protective but ultimately wants dick to succeed and so when dick feels suffocated bruce is more than willing to correct himself and back off. like it achieves the two things of holding bruce accountable while not painting him like some emotionally stunted abuser who makes all of dick's choices for him so i appreciate it loads

bruce and jason: mike w. barr (early to mid 80s); max allan collins (post-crisis intro arc). i don't think there is a lot to say here like they're the two writers who are probably the most sympathetic to jason as a human being and hence the way they write bruce's relationship with him is really nice. i'm not a fan of starlin or winick for obv reasons

bruce and tim: alan grant (early to mid 90s). alan grant to me was the perfect person to bring in following dick and jason's exit bc he provided the perfect amount of introspection and self-awareness for bruce to actually be a quite practical mentor to tim. like admittedly yeah a lot of that went down the drain once knightfall happened but i nonetheless think this was bruce at his most active and corrective stage of mentorship bc he was more aware of the consequences of his choices and really wanted to instill in tim that this wasn't a game they were playing at

bruce and stephanie: there's like one issue of gotham knights, #22, written by devin grayson (i know. i know) that i absolutely cling to bc it's really the first (and only) glimmer of hope for steph's relationship with bruce i think. like after multiple issues of tim and bruce being total dickhead misogynists to steph bc this kind of thing is absolutely unavoidable in dixon's writing it's so nice to see a bruce who is awkward but appreciative of steph's effort and unbothered by her tendency to babble bc it fills the quiet. i wanted that explored more between them sooooo badly but unfortunately scott beaty (i think. cmiiw) went on the whole bruce calling steph an inadequate failure shtick and ruined my life forever and i never read a batman comic again

bruce and leslie: mike w. barr (smattering across 80s and 90s). i would say the most heavy handed work to develop leslie as a foil to bruce adamant on pacifism was done by barr. barr in general was probably the most left leaning writer in bat editorial pre-00s so while his politics are not perfect (he tends to believe that violence by both the oppressed and the oppressor is bad) he was able to capitalize on leslie's relationship with bruce the most and i'm very fond of legends of the dark knight #21-23

bruce and selina: bob kane (golden age); mindy newell (late 80s to early 90s). the latter is obv a given if you have been a follower of mine for a while. but i don't think i've spoken on here specifically about how kane truly paints the most distinct picture of selina at her core that miller and newell subsequently capitalized on in their own setting of gotham following the crisis. there's nothing better than catwoman's golden age appearances to convey her thirst for notoriety contrasted with her odd mercies and while it's passed off as a bit of a joke that bruce lets things slide with her bc he thinks she's pretty i also love that it opens the way for him to be sympathetic to her in general, bc he knows she's better than she presents herself to be. bruce should always implicitly trust selina against other people's judgment imo

bruce and talia: mike w. barr (80s into early 90s). i recognize i am developing a pattern here lmao i truly love this man's writing more than that of any other bat writer! but yeah i think there is no one who really understands the complex loyalties and yearning of this dynamic better than barr and more importantly who manages to respect talia's individual agency within that dynamic. he really posits them as equals without any sort of disdain factoring into it and i think it sets him apart from a lot of other writers in the same era

these are the dynamics i can speak to. i've unfortunately never paid close enough attention to writers on issues where bruce's relationships with either gordon feature and then you guys already know i've yet to read up on cass and duke (cries) so i'm no good in that department :/ but i hope these are somewhat useful! the mike w. barr stuff is easy to find if you simply peruse his wikipedia and read all of the batman related stuff and then alan grant is obv the main writer on tec (iirc) for most of the 90s so that's easy enough. mindy newell also has a very small catalogue to her name and the golden age issues with selina you can find through dcu chronology!

[horsechestnut]

I would love details on the Reverse Robin AU idea, I always adore those. (Though I often feel they miss an opportunity by not having Duke be first. Then again I sort of have a "Either its the first four Robins being reversed, or its all of them and thus Duke is first" system. A lot depends on what swerves the story best.) Sorry for the off topic ramble and no pressure to share, but yeah it'd be cool.

One thing I am notably curious about is how you'd handle the pre death relationship between Bruce & Stephanie. Cos so much of their canon one is filtered through his grief over Jason and projection onto her which led to his awful treatment of her, which led to her desperation to please him. Without that death things would probably be a lot more chill.

Still, I could see a similar death happening if Bruce got to up his own ass with trying to play master mind and it all blowing up in his face (Which I insist would have happened with his crime control plan regardless of Stephanie.)

No apology necessary! I love off topic rambles and am prone to doing them myself (see how long this explanation ended up for reference lol).

Here's a link to a sort of fan-fic/sort of explanation I wrote earlier (Though I think you already found it). I would love to flesh it out into a full fic, but I'm not sure that will ever actually happen.

As for Steph and Bruce specifically though, I think there's still tension between them, but it comes from a different place. Spoiler is a rouge agent, a teenager with no training, no oversight, and a personal score to settle, and Bruce isn't really prepared to handle that. Damian came to him pre-trained and if Tim comes second (which I think he should since he's both before and after Steph in canon) he was doing it because he believed it was the right thing to do. Without Jason Bruce has never had to deal with anyone who's completely untrained before, and without Dick he's never had to deal with a personal grudge as motivation (except his own, and he's really not prepared to get into that), so the combination of them in Steph seems far to dangerous to have in the field. Besides, it sets a bad precedent, he can't just let any teenager start running around fighting crime or he'll have a We Are Robin situation on his hands, and he already has a Robin. I don't think it's really personal for him, it just makes logical sense for everyone if she would stop, but for some reason she won't, even after Cluemaster is dead. (She also reminds him a little to much of himself at that age, but he's not going to think about that).

On Steph's end I think things are a little more complicated. I think the indifference would both drive her insane and give her this sort of false hope. No matter what she does it never seems to be enough, but the parts of her Bruce seems to dislike are all related to Spoiler, not Stephanie, which means she can change them! But there are parts of Steph that are baked into Spoiler, which carry over to Robin in turn that she can't get rid of no matter how hard she tries. Plus there are just enough similarities between the way Batman talks to her and the way Arthur did that sometimes it activates her fight instinct when logically she knows she should just listen to him. And unfortunately Bruce doesn't respond well to being snapped at, but he also never seems to hold it against her for more than a day. So Steph just keeps running in this circle and never knows where she stands with Bruce, and in some ways it's better and in some ways it's worse, because at least with her dad she knew where she stood and could stop trying.

I don't like that answer, trust me I wish I could say things between them would be better, but personally I don't think so. Bruce might be nicer about the way he says it, but I think he'd still want Steph to stop and Steph would still think if she tries hard enough he'll realize he was wrong.

Sorry, that got away from me, but anyway, I think the concept of including Duke is interesting! I just don't really know enough about him to know how it would play out or have thoughts on how We Are Robin could happen without Robin.

[deepwithintheabyss]

So what you're saying is something like Hanhaki wouldn't be your thing because of the whole denial of romantic feelings and "despite all logic of the world I live in I hope this goes away!" ?

If so, what about Timship hanhaki but Tim tries to figure a way to pull the flower out by himself because 'he can't afford a crush, he's got things to DO. And it's not going to go away and an actual surgery would be too public...'? And then it's a whole "I might be killing myself or ruining my mental/emotional health but who cares because I'm not touching emotions with a ten foot pole!" Tension thing?

-Timship anon

Oh I dislike Hanahaki (Hanhaki?) in general, the original concept is cool! But I dislike the whole "unrequited love will kill you" unless you are talking about the version that is like "bottling the feelings up to such a degree that flowers start to bloom in your lungs that you cough up because they want to get out somehow" (with no death or death I don't really care)

Okay lemme read the rest of your ask

Okay hmm, like I don't like this. Let me try to figure out why

Okay so Tim to me is a very people focused person, isolating himself and trying to do something alone, esp something huge like that is :/

Also like he totally would have options to let it be done professionally without it being public.

To me it's a very extreme reaction to a situation where he could bite the bullet confess, and then hope that will help, getting a rejection could be what helps him get over it

Like Tim decides he'd rather die or leave a lasting possible traumatic impact than fucking man up and confess? or idk distance himself a bit, go back to Paris hang out with the YJ go into space, meet new people?

Like yeah they make a lot of extreme and overreacting decisions, but I dont think they'd be that careless with their lives (talking about all Bats) especially if repressing it might just be the better option here

Would I read a fic like this? Probably yeah, and I might enjoy it to some extent too! But it's just not Tim to me, or like something I'd actively search for, I'd read it out of curiosity and boredom.

Not to say this idea is bad!!! I'm sure there are many people who like this stuff, I'm just sometimes extremely picky about what I want.

(Believe me it's annoying, like almost nothing is the way I want it and then ugh I have to write it myself)

Post

[whore4batfam]

what are your personal pet peeves when it comes to the characteristization of batfam? (canon and/or fanon)

I don’t know, I haven’t actively participated in “fandom” for a long while (all of my stuff is from an era where I was posting frequently and sometimes I’ll make a new post but it is always just for my own enjoyment). I haven’t had the chance to read many comics because it was so expensive (but now I have the chance with the library, digitized comics on hoopla! Very exciting).

All that to say, I suppose I dislike thoughtless characterization? Like Jason being an alcoholic brawler, Dick being flirt, Bruce being a brute, etc.

Tim being woobified by the fandom and then weirdly sexualized had me refusing to write Tim-centric fics for years (the trix yogurt one was when i returned to him).

I will say I have a slight dislike of stories wherein Alfred is like “the boy is helpless” about Bruce and just so hard on him because it’s like. that’s not nice. You can’t raise someone to have poor coping mechanisms and then judge him for it in front of his children. Would that be realistic? Perhaps, but it’s not the kind of relationship between Bruce and Alfred that I like to read and write about.

I think, honestly, that’s the whole thing about it, what you like to read and write about. There is personal taste to it, and it’s almost sort of silly to demand for a “one true canonical take” when there are multiple writers for comics who will bring their own taste and ideas to the project. I have a friend who has an essay on how comics are an American mythology, and I like that outlook. Thanks for this question! Really made me think

[marmutgembil]

Moving out, and lots of hugs (of goodbye ones and hello ones)

(this was originally written on August 30, but I forgot to post it)

Life currently, more or less, according to plan and one by one, my wishes slowly manifest into life.

I felt it in my guts that I will be (finally) in Bali around August or the most late is September, even though I still write in my daily manifestation about how I will found a new job at Bali in July, but my intuation said it's not that soon, but still not gonna be so later.

And I was right! I got a new job offer on some middle-up tier agency, where I would learn A LOT of new things, which is very exciting and I am giddy just thinking about it. (With better pay too!).

But I am not gonna writing about the new job—yet—but rather, on how I thought that this is gonna be another moving out to new city, since I do move out every year, since I was 19.

It is not the same.

Everything changing.

My home base, Bekasi, won't be my homebase soon. No longer would be the city I would reply everytime someone ask where I come from.

The realization that last weekend, is the last final time I lived in my own home in Bekasi, before my parents move to their retirement house.

I reminded myself that no matter how living in Bali near my partner is the ideal, I should live in the moment and savoring every seconds my own live too, like appreciating Bekasi home while it last.

I love our small garden and the old tree that has been there 10 years ago we moved there, undisturbed, despite it doesn't even grow fruits properly for years.

Or the ghosts of other plants that tried so hard to thrive, but alas, none of us has the warm hands to make them grow.

The memories of my guinea pigs that running around, both in the front or back garden, all of them happily munched on the fresh grass that no on bothered to keep it short, ended up being being feasted on by generations of guinea pig pets we had.

There's no part of the that house I dislike, except maybe the basement. But, even with all the ghost and some paranormal activity that sometime occured, the whole space fit perfectly for our needs. It has the right amount of bathrooms and bedrooms, the air flow and how it always feels cooler than the outside, even without turning on the fan.

And then—My sister asked, is this gonna be the last time my title at home is a mere daughter and sister? Soon, whenever I come home, it would be with my husband. How do you react with such question?

Change is the only constant, the only constant is change.

I said a big amount of goodbyes, hugs a lot and took so many pics, and it only means the people I love and that loves me grow bigger, something I was surprised I have, but definitely not complaining at all!

The promises of visitings, the thoughts of invites and coming to the future weddings, the promises to meet up again in the future whenever it's available, I would say those are the things that keep me wanting to continune this life.

And of course, mandatory coffee with my bestfriend of 13 years now.

We had some falling out, periods of us not speaking, small arguments and disagreement, us not agreeing each other's boyfriends, silent judging but still being supportives.

Honestly, I am worried about her, because she never left our town, and still trying to finish her degree. But at the same time, I also feels assured, because no matter I moved out to different cities and job hopping, she is always there, unmoving and unchanging, like your favourite mole.

I gonna miss her a lot.

But then, I've been only here for like, 4 days, but every morning now I feel so at ease. The weights that was always looming over me everyday, is now gone. I breathe easier, no more suffocated, fall asleep far more easier.

He is now no longer ouf of my reach, I can touch, hug, kiss whenever I want to, and I'd be lying if I am not over the clouds right now. Really. The weights I carry is vanished. Is this how everyone that's not in LDR relationship feels? Damn.

But at the same time, I am afraid that this is a temporary happiness, where I am way too happy, something dark will take turns.

The lack of never ending same ruko buildings also helps me a lot. On God, the live of Squidward in Squidward village really not for me, a nature girlie. The lack of green space that hasn't been commercialized, someone should be in jail for that.

I can't wait to see how much growth I would have later!

I watched a Tiktok, where someone said: You can choose any city, but ultimately, it is the city itself chooses you. You can moving in, but if the city doesn't choose you, sooner or later you'll be moving back anyways.

And that is not wrong at all! I am so grateful of my decision to be brave, moving out to different city each year, because all those experience really shaped me as a person, and have interesting back story to tell.

Can't wait to fullfill this era of more adventures too!

[m00nslippers]

Just a few more of Jason Todd’s feats (Part 2)

Part 1 | Part 2

This is continued from Part 1, where I went through most everything relevant in the Preboot-era for Jason that I’m aware of. The exception to that is the events of Countdown which does feature Jason but also had him fighting extra-dimensional people so there is not much relevance to the main DC universe, and Lost Days where he doesn’t fight anyone who has ever fought anyone else of note. Happily, Jason kept the vast majority of his stories as canon after the reboot, so the only things from Part One that are questionable are things that don’t take place in Batman comics. I totally forgot Nightwing: Brothers in Blood though so I’m adding it, even if it isn’t canon anymore.

As before, I’m listing the major fights where Jason fights against skilled vigilantes or assassins, basically people skilled/important enough that you can use the match to measure his ability, so I’m discounting fights with nobodies and goons and low tier vigilantes/criminals.

To reiterate from Part 1, Jason is often in a position to kill his opponents, so in many matches he could technically win at any point, but he chooses not to. In the New 52 and beyond Jason acts more as a hero/protagonist in many cases so he runs a lot less and fights other Bats less often. But as before in the case that he does run or the fight is inconclusive, I’m just going to call it a ‘tie’. I’m going to rate the outcome of matches as such:

Win - Jason kills, incapacitates, checkmates or otherwise defeats his opponent.

Tie with an advantage - Jason escapes or stops the fight with less damage than his opponent or having achieved more goals.

Tie - More or less an equal amount of damage, or goal achievement on both sides.

Tie with a disadvantage - Jason escapes or stops the fight with more damage than his opponent or not having achieved his goal.

Loss - Jason is captured, incapacitated, checkmated or otherwise defeated.

Let me just preface this by saying that many fights in the New 52/Rebirth, especially any instance where Jason fights alongside other batkids--especially Tim and Damian--Jason is purposefully made to look incompetent and the other superior, contrary to pretty much everything we know about Jason and Damian or Tim’s skills. Not that Tim or Damian are bad fighters, but Part 1 of this series makes it pretty damn clear that Jason is superior to both in skill/ability--which makes sense, he’s bigger and older and been fighting longer, there is no shame in that. So take the fights that involve them with a grain of salt, because most of them paint one or both characters as OOC. I usually try to be quick with the summaries of fights but I’m going to go into why some of these fights don’t make sense.

Nightwing: Brothers in Blood (1996)

Nightwing (Jason Todd) vs Nightwing (Dick Grayson)

Win - Jason actually saves Dick from falling off a building right before this, which Dick doesn’t really appreciate. They roll about fighting on the rooftop a bit with Jason seeming more playful while Dick is furious, ending in Dick hanging off the side of a building Lion-King style and Jason slashing his hand to drop him, effectively winning the fight.

Nightwing (Jason Todd) vs Nightwing (Dick Grayson)

Win - Dick leaps off a catwalk to try to fight Jason in civilian identity, which is silly but whatever. They trade some good blows but in the end, Jason knocks Dick out and escapes.

Batman, Incorporated (2012)

Wingman (Jason Todd), Redbird (Damian Wayne), The Hood and El Gaucho vs Merlyn, Sportsmaster, and thirty of the best League Assassins.

Win - Jason just walks through these guys. Damian shoots Merlyn with an arrow which was helpful but completely unnecessary and Jason electrocutes the guy. El Gaucho and The Hood help out but they struggle throughout. Jason casually takes out anyone who gets close. I only bother mentioning this fight at all because we are explicitly told these guys are THE BEST THIRTY assassins the League has, including named guys like Sportsmaster and it’s a joke. That is the level Jason is at.

Red Hood and The Outlaws (2011)

Red Hood and Starfire vs Lady Shiva, Manbats and Bronze Tiger

Tie with an advantage - Jason starts this fight chained to a pillar, which he gets out of in the blink of an eye. He then proceeds to punch out some manbats, gets in a fight with Lady Shiva, which he wins with a nerve strike, though it’s implied to be cheating by the dialogue, and then trades blows with Bronze Tiger. Granted, he gets in a tight spot with Bronze Tiger, for Star to jump in and assist. I’ll call it a tie, but anytime you take out Lady Godamn Shiva it’s a win.

Red Hood vs Ra’s Al Ghul

Win - This fight has more going on than just the martial arts, there’s magic Well of Sins/All-Caste stuff going on too, but generally speaking it’s a sword fight between Ra’s and Jason, in which Jason has the upper hand throughout and in the end he strike Ra’s down and strips him of the power of the Well of Sins.

Red Hood vs Ravager

Tie - Jason and Ravager are pretty evenly matched but it’s likely neither are trying their hardest because even after they stalemate each other, the fight ends and they go about their business.

Batman And Robin (2011)

Red Hood vs Robin (Damian Wayne)

Tie - By his own admission, Jason isn’t fighting his hardest against Damian. They exchange blows, Damian at one point has Jason at sword point, but Jason pulls an electrified baton like Nightwing’s, only Damian isn’t there, he’s escaped with his objective, which is Jason’s Red Hood helmet. So you may wonder why I classify this match as a tie when Damian seemed to get away with his objective. Well, it’s because Jason’s helmet can be remote detonated. Jason technically has Damian at a checkmate, but he’s not going to blow up his baby brother so I’d call this a tie.

Red Hood vs Batman

Tie - Jason is compromised through this whole fight but despite feeling betrayed and anxious he manages to hold it together pretty well. He and Bruce trade blows that results in a similar amount of damage but neither are really trying to win they just want to hurt each other. In the end, Jason is the one to decide to stop fighting and walk away.

Batman Eternal

Red Hood vs Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)

Loss - Even though Jason really is purposefully not hurting Barbara, because she’s been mind-whammied to think he’s the Joker, it still shows him getting his ass kicked more than it probably should. Basically Jason losses because he’s not trying to win. The win is waking Barb up, which he does, so it’s hard to tell how useful this fight is to gauge his abilities.

Batman & Robin Eternal

Red Hood vs Orphan (Cassandra Cain)

Win - Jason pretty clearly had the upper hand in this fight, though Cass gets some good hits in. Jason checkmates her twice, Cass breaks the first one when Jason is distracted on the phone with Dick, only for Jason to get her in another that could have resulted in real injury if Dick hadn’t stopped him from landing the blow.

Red Hood and Red Robin vs Bane

Tie with a disadvantage - First of all, Tim just gets in the way in this fight but it’s presented as if he is the smarter/superior fighter/strategist somehow. Jason gets a good hit or two on Bane even if he takes some bad hits too. But Tim straight up throws some birdarangs into Jason’s chest like an idiot and then when Bane manages to get Jason down, Tim pulls Jason’s gun and ‘checkmates’ Bane...except who in the hell believes Red Robin would actually pull the trigger to kill Bane? Nobody, so it’s a stalemate at best. This fight is dumb and Tim especially is written stupidly in this fight but I’d be remiss if I didn’t include it.

Red Hood and Red Robin vs Azrael

Tie with a disadvantage - This fight is less out of character but is still stupid. It shows Jason on the ground right at the beginning but doesn’t even show how/why that happened. Red Robin refuses to run when Jason tells him to, as if he’s going to have better luck against the guy, and jumps into the fight with Azrael. He knocks off his helmet somehow but then pretty much gets whooped, at which point Jason gets a good knock on Azrael, steals Tim and escapes.

Deathstroke (2014)

Red Hood vs Deathstroke

Win - Granted, Slade says his healing factor is compromised in this fight, but when it comes down to it, that doesn’t make him fight better, just bypass damage. They trade blows pretty evenly but as soon as Slade seems like he might get a real hit on Jason, our Jay just shoots him and it’s over.

Robin War

Red Hood vs Robin (Damian Wayne)

Loss -  This fight is short and completely stupid. Jason doesn’t land a hit, Damian essentially knocks him out with the ground.

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016)

Red Hood vs Artemis of Bana-Migdall

Tie - Artemis has an overwhelming strength advantage over Jason, shattering his helmet with one punch and deflecting his bullets, but Jason does manage to briefly knock her out with the tazer in his bodyarmor, which some might call a win, but considering he was on the ropes most of the fight seems like a reach. After this they team up, and the fight ends without a clear victor.

Red Hood and Artemis of Bana-Migdall vs Orphan, Azrael, Batwing and Clayface

Loss - Hey, remember those fights with Azrael before in that trash comic that shall not be named? This is a more accurate representation of Jason’s strength. Jason starts off fighting Batwing, Clayface and Azrael, which he seems to easily be able to handle individually and in twos, while Artemis takes on Orphan and gets a hit in on the other opponents when there are openings. The fight seems pretty well in hand until Bizarro is taken out, causing Jason to turn to save him, at which point Batwing tasers him with a shot in the back. Despite technically losing, Jason was clearly superior to any single fighter on the other side who participated.

Red Hood vs Batman

Loss - This is the only time Jason has ever outright lost to Batman, but he was compromised and rushed through the entire battle, having been trying to rescue his friends and then reacting to their presumed death. He made a few defensive maneuvers and counters but it was clear he wasn’t trying to fight, whereas Batman beat at Jason, even when he was checkmated. Despite being rescued by Arsenal at the end of the battle, Jason definitely lost, but it’s difficult to say how invested he was in winning to begin with.

Teen Titans (2018) Annual 1

Red Hood vs Robin (Damian Wayne)

Win -  Jason starts off the fight trying to avoid fighting or hurting Damian. He lets Damian get in a number of hits on him without retaliation, until Damian pulls some kind of box that seems to upset Jason enough to get a real fight going. At this point Jason destroys Damian, the kid really never had a chance. And Damian resorts to trying to stalemate Jason with a suicide bomb, which Jason calls Damian’s bluff on and just leaves the battle with Damian defeated.

Conclusions

Fights from the New 52 and onward involving Jason are inconsistent compared to those before the reboot.

In his own title he fights mostly within a team and has few solo fights with street-level martial artists to really gauge his abilities.

The few times he does though, it upholds the skill that he is shown to have in the preboot era, showing him defeat Lady Shiva, Ra’s Al Ghul and survive in a match against Bronze Tiger, Ravager and Artemis of Bana-Migdall.

Taking into account all of his feats, it’s pretty easy to point out which fights are outliers: every fight with Tim in Batman and Robin Eternal and the fight with Damian in Robin War. Some other fights in Batman Eternal are also suspect.

Before these instances Tim never really had much chance against Jason in past fights. He could get good hits but for the most part he was on the defensive and absolutely nothing has changed to make him suddenly superior enough to perform better in fights or treat Jason the way he does in those comic runs. Jason is just completely written out of character in those runs. He doesn’t even act like himself most of the time.

Similarly Damian beating Jason at all is stupid, especially since it’s later shown Jason is still superior enough to Damian to basically toy with him. Damian being shown easily defeating Tim is also dumb because Tim tends to do better against Jason than Damian so really Tim should be a slightly better fighter than Damian.

A number of other fights also show Jason not dodging big, clearly telegraphed punches or dive kicks that make him look really incompetent, and which he would never be shown getting hit with in his other appearances.

The only fight involving Jason in those comics I’m not dismissing out of hand is Jay vs Cass. Cassandra fans will probably be upset with Jason beating her, but with Jason easily beating Shiva, and Cassandra also shown beating Lady Shiva in Detective Comics, it’s consistent at least. I’m tempted to say she wasn’t really trying, but considering Jason was about to open her up, that would be a pretty dumb decision. Unlike Jason, all of Cassandra’s appearances from the preboot have been completely retconned, so you can’t take any of them into account in this new iteration of her.

Basically just anything involving Jason in Batman Eternal and Batman and Robin Eternal and Robin War is stupid and you shouldn’t base your idea of his character on either of those runs because they’ve proven themselves to be inconsistent with EVERYTHING ELSE EVER WRITTEN ABOUT HIM.

Honestly the only good thing about his appearances in those runs is he consistently has the best one-liners.

[splitt]

May i have some hc of a s/o who dislikes physical touchs? Like, they're afraid of it. female reader pls.

With a character of your choice, a character that you think can deal with this situation the best. You don't have to do it if it bother you tho <3

Also i was the anon who requested the bloody painter sfw hc and it was ✨amazing✨. And I'll be one of your emoji anon so you'll know who I am :)

🕯-anon

EJ, Hoodie, Ben x S/O Who Dislikes Physical Touch Headcanons

A/N: of course sweetheart! I choose few pastas. And i’m so glad that you liked my work you made me very happy and become my dear emoji anon, I hope you enjoy <3

Masterlist.

Eyeless Jack

Jack is absolutely the number one on this list. He wants you to be comfortable and he will give you a look as if he wants a permission before the action.

He knows you are sensitive over it so he would wait until you make the first move.

If you are crying about something he would sit next to you and calm you down with using his sweet words, then he’ll ask if you want a comfort hug.

He figured it when he grabbed your wrist and you freaked out causing you to have a panic attack. He apologized and give you gifts afterwards.

His self control is very strong so even if he need some physical affection he would hold himself.

Jack loves sitting next to you and reading his book. It doesn’t requires any physical activity plus he gets to be close to you and chat with you.

He will ask you why you are so afraid and uncomfortable.

Be careful, this man is not so pure. He can use this agains you he still has a sadistic side after all.

Hoodie

He doesn’t mind not being able to touch you, he only wants to be around you. It doesn’t upset him.

But he can be forgetful sometimes, he can wrap his arm on your shoulder and he would curse and apologize when he realize.

He isn’t very touchy person but if he has a permission to hold your hand he would never let it go.

He would take you to late night drivers. It’s perfect for him because he can be alone with you and he doesn’t have to worry about Toby making you uncomfortable with his physical bullshit.

He will slap Toby and Tim when they try to make you uncomfortable.

Ben

Our precious boy just wants to spend quality time with you. He likes to joke around and sometimes even make dirty jokes about touching.

He doesn’t wants to make you uncomfortable so he never asks but he wonders why you don’t like it. He will hack your phone and try to get the reason.

Ben will play games with you or even if it’s solo game he would allow you to play.

He loves to watch your confused face when you try to figure the game out and sometimes he can’t control himself and give you a kiss. He will apologize with a playful tone after.

He is more of texting person so he is comfortable either way, of course he wants to show his love physically too but you are more important.

Just like E.J he can use it against your will. He is highly manipulative so he can make you feel bad for not wanting any physical affection.

[fantastic-nonsense]

I was wondering how do you think Meghan Fitzmartin feels about Stephanie?

The preface to any thoughts I have on Fitzmartin and Steph is this: I have a policy that every comic creative is allowed to like one (1) objectively awful book, because no one can have universally good taste and sometimes it just scratches an itch you have. But reading an interview with Meghan where she mentioned that one of her favorite Bat comics was War Games absolutely threw me for a loop, and it makes me really nervous about how she might write Steph moving forward (ONE FEAR and everything).

Short explanation of War Games for those unaware of why liking this particular event sends up red flags: Bruce fires Steph as Robin because she refuses to listen to him, so to prove herself she steals info Bruce has gathered on a bunch of gangs and tries to control them all. She miscalculates because she didn't know that Bruce and 'Matches Malone' were the same person, and it ultimately kickstarts a gang war and gets Steph captured, brutally tortured, and killed by Black Mask as a consequence. This event also features Tim's school friend Darla being unceremoniously shot for shock value in front of Tim's school and dying his arms plus Dick NOT dealing with the fallout from Blockbuster's death+his rape by Tarantula because he had to go deal with the gang war instead. It's an incredibly cruel and misogynistic comic to Steph and easily one of the Top 5 worst Batfam events ever written.

..........yeah. You can see why Meghan name-dropping it as a favorite comic is cause for concern among Steph fans. Generally, I appreciate that she seems to have a good grasp on Tim's character and the best of intentions for every character she works with (and what their fans want for them), but I don't have particularly high hopes for her Steph. She's said before that she really loves both Tim and Steph:

I’ve [also] always really liked Tim, I think in part because he was in Batman: The Animated Series. But the more I was getting into Tim even for [Robin Eternal], the more I was like, “This poor child.” I recognized this desire to do good, especially with his relationship with Stephanie. Tim and Stephanie are so interesting to me as a dynamic. Stephanie is so unapologetically herself, and a mess, and living her best life, which is also a mess. Tim is, I think, drawn to that aspect of her and it’s so cool. Even growing up, I was like, this is so cool to see the struggle of these two characters. I think Stephanie was who I wanted to be, and Tim was sort of who I felt that I was. -Fiztmartin in an interview for The Geekiary [x]

So that's technically the answer she's given about how she feels about Steph. But her treatment of Steph thus far hasn't impressed me; between breaking Tim and Steph up off-panel and not addressing it for a full year and her treatment of their relationship in YJ Dark Crisis, she's given Steph little to no agency or voice in this entire mess she's made, and thus far has written Steph as little more than a supportive-but-somewhat pushy background character. So ultimately, I think Fitzmartin likes the idea of Stephanie. I'm not necessarily as sure what she likes about Stephanie in practice.

Of course, I don't really expect Steph's POV to be centered in a Tim-centric story because that's unfair to both of them; Steph should have gotten her own POV story dedicated to dealing with the breakup from her perspective, and it's not Meghan's fault the Batgirls co-writers were uninterested in exploring that and no one else at DC is willing to let a Steph solo story happen right now. But her handling of Steph is still concerning given Dark Crisis and I'm not really sure where we go from here.

Nearly anything is going to be better than Tynion (who kind of actively disliked her), Bendis (who had no clue what to do with her), and Cloonan/Conrad (who write her like she's 14 rather than the 20/21-year-old she's supposed to be)...but Tim's solo is inevitably going to have Steph in it and I'm not super excited about it given Fitzmartin's handling of her so far. I guess we'll see, though. Maybe she'll surprise me.

[nat-20s]

fill of @jonmartinweek day 6 prompt- flirting AND jealousy, though much heavier on the jealousy than the flirting. Set in a classic “season 5 jmart time travel bac to season 1″ au

~*~

“Mr. Blackwood-Sims, if I didn’t know any better, I would assume you’re trying to proposition me.”

“Mr. Sims-Blackwood, I would never. For one, neither of us are inclined towards those sorts of activities, for second, we’re both married men. What would my husband say?”

“I believe your husband would say he never specified exactly what you were propositioning, and he would be more than amenable to kissing, preferably sometime in the next few seconds.”

“Mmm, suppose I’ll have to find him and take him up on that, then. If that’s really how he feels.”

“Trust me, it most certainly is.”

Christ, would those two shut up already? Granted, it’s late enough that they probably think they’re alone in the archives, but, still. This is, technically, a work place, and Jon would’ve preferred not to have accidentally gotten an eyeful as he made his way past the open door in the breakroom. Now, the image of (supposedly) a future version of himself sitting on the couch, with (supposedly) a future version of Martin straddling his legs, using one hand to cup his face, and the other to run his hands through that Jon’s longer hair, was seared into his mind, and he hated it. Look, contrary to what people who don’t know him very well seemed to believe, he’s hardly a prude. He’s more than fine with descriptions of physical intimacy, as well as public displays of affection. If he’s being honest with himself, deep down, he doesn’t even care all that much about professionalism, especially considering it is after hours.

But of course, he’s not being honest with himself, because then he’d have to admit that it bothers him that it’s them. He doesn’t know what to call the acrid burning in the pit of his stomach, the too tight ache in his chest, that’s present whenever the fun house mirror versions of himself and Martin are besotted with each other, but he knows it’s there. It doesn’t help that he’s the only one that seems to be bothered by it, the only one that frowns at the flash of wedding rings or the orbit those two always seem to occupy around each other.

Or, no, he’s not the only one. Occasionally, while witnessing the two of them being...the Two of Them, he can’t help glancing over to Martin. Lo and behold, Martin also doesn’t look thrilled about all of this, usually skewing more towards confusion or, oddly enough, resignation. At least, that’s what Jon thinks he sees there, it’s one of the few times where he can’t fully get a read on Martin.

Still, as much as Martin might share in being somewhat perturbed, as anyone who meets their “future selves” should be, Martin doesn’t seem nearly as upset as Jon is. That brings him back to his current predicament of feeling that level of upset, but not being able to determine the root cause of it.

It is not that he’s jealous. It’s not! He does not feel a pang of envy at seeing someone who looks extremely similar to himself loving openly, and being openly loved in return. He doesn’t find his thoughts drifting to the imagined feeling of lips pressed to his temple or arms around his waist or fingers running through his hair. He certainly hasn’t looked down at his left hand and been disappointed by the fact that its bare. He doesn’t even want those things, as he’s been telling himself for a number of many lonely years. One of these days he might even believe it.

Fine. Fine. Maybe, but only maybe, there’s a part of him that’s jealous. Maybe there’s even a part of him that despairs, because try as he might he can’t connect point A to point B, can’t see the steps he would have to take to be like that other version of himself, and he knows his Martin (well, not his Martin, but..) will never look at him like that, will never see him in that light. And, damn it all, it hurts, so if they could kindly stop ru-

Oh. Wait. He can’t hear them outside his office door anymore. Huh, perhaps they-

“Knock knock.”

Startled out of his...contemplation, Jon looks up to find himself looking back. Sims is leaning against the door-frame, with mussed hair, swollen lips, and pupils blown wide. Jon loathes him and wishes to be him in equal measure. In a move he usually would’ve thought more characteristic of Tim, Sims doesn’t wait for a response, instead sitting himself across from Jon and saying, “Figured you’d still be here.”

Trying not to sound too much like he’s speaking through gritted teeth, Jon asks, “Did you now?”

Sims gives a lackadaisical shrug. “With any luck, you’re not going to become me. I not sure you can become me, at this point, diverging paths and all that. However, we do share the first 28 years of our lives, and I certainly didn’t believe in the concept of a work life balance, so why would you?”

“Is there something you wanted?”

“Yes, actually. I want you to ask out Martin, your moping is getting insufferable, and considering how much of our misery has been entirely outside of our control, you shouldn’t put up with what is in your power to fix.”

Jon blinks. Jon processes. Jon stammers. “I-what?! I am not, you can’t just-. Martin doesn’t even like me, and if you really were the same person as me, you know I’m not all that keen on him either.”

“Uh-huh. Is that why you can’t stop thinking about his hands?”

“I do no-”

Sims puts a hand up in surrender, though the smirk doesn’t entirely drop. “Sorry, sorry, I know that’s rather unhelpful. What I mean is, you’re already loved, right now, as you are. No, that love is not coming from Martin, but it could be,t because he doesn’t dislike you.  He doesn’t know you, because you have done everything in your power to make sure he doesn’t. You also don’t know him, even though you’re interested in him, because you’ve been trying not to be. It’s stupid. Get to know each other. It’ll probably work out.”

“I...is that how you did it? Because this seems like an objectively terrible idea.”

Sims snorts. “God, no. It took a coma before I was able to untangle my own feelings. The whole point is that you won’t have to take the same looping, painful path that I did.”

Jon wants to reject it outright, almost does, and yet. “Fine.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yes, really. Why?’

“Nothing, just. We’re usually a more stubborn on these sorts of things. I was expecting more of a fight.”

“Mm. Normally, I would be, but I’ve been forced to watch two rather obvious proof of concepts waltzing around in front of me, and agreeing will hopefully get you the hell out of my office.”

Sims studies him for a moment, then a surprised smile spreads on his face. “All right then.”

Jon makes a dismissive hand wave, and Sims obliges, and he spends the rest of the night trying not to think about what he’s agreed to.

~*~

The next day, about half an hour before the end of the work day, Jon calls Martin into his office. From his tight shoulders and carefully blank expression, it’s clear Martin very much does not want to be there. Great. This is going to go so well.

Jon gestures for him to sit, Martin does, and he dives in. “As we both now know, I don’t have the ability to fire you. In all reality, even though I am, on paper, your boss, I truly don’t have any power or authority over you.”

Martin leans back in his seat, letting a heavy pause fall between them before saying a stilted, “Okay?”

“So, I want you to know that I am about to ask you a question, and you have complete freedom and choice over your response, without fear of any negative consequences. Alright?”

“Um. Sure.”

Jon takes a breath, slowly lets it out, and bites the bullet. “Would you like to get dinner sometime?”

Martin stares. Then he squints. Then he studies. “Oh. Jon, you...we’re not them, you know that, right?”

“I’m aware.”

“So..why?”

Jon lets out a sigh, and tries to gather his thoughts in a way that makes sense to either of them. “Well, though I myself have some trouble with the concept, they’re not..entirely removed from who we are, and there’s enough foundation there that I have reason to believe we might...get on? Maybe we don’t, maybe we end up being friends, maybe we end up like them. That’s already enough to pique my own curiosity, but, alternate future versions of us aside, I mostly would just like to get to know more about you, and I’m hoping you might like to get to know me better as well.”

Martin’s shoulders relax, and he chews on his bottom lip for a moment before replying, “Okay. Yeah, why not?”

“Oh. Oh! Great! Does this Saturday work for you?”

“Works perfectly. Let’s give a shot.”

The first date is..fine. A Bit of a mess, but fine. The second date, however, is the best Jon’s ever been on. It’s so wonderful, in fact, that he doesn’t even mind when he catches Blackwood passing a fiver to Sims the day he can’t stop smiling at work.

[marauderundercover]

How We Fell: Ch. 25

Day 25: Christmas/Snow

AO3

Prev

Marinette wakes up to a knock on her door, groaning slightly in annoyance until she remembers she wasn’t home. Or in Paris. Resigning herself to the fact that someone needed her, she opens her eyes and rolls over. Blinking tiredly, she glances at her phone. Five am. What the hell? Pushing herself out of bed, she hisses at the coldness of the floor. Shivering slightly, she opens the door and raises an eyebrow. Dick and Jon were standing there, practically vibrating with excitement.

“Do you two have a good reason for waking me up this early in the morning?” She asks, arms crossed.

“It’s Christmas!” Jon cheers. Marinette huffs.

“Is that your entire reason? Because if it is, it’s a really bad reason.” She says. Dick frowns.

“But we can have hot chocolate and pancakes and there are presents and-” He rambles, but Marinette cuts him off with a smile.

“Okay, okay. I’ll accept that as a reason.” She glances at their pajamas. “Does everyone wear pj’s?” They nod. “Okay, then give me like five minutes to put on socks and I’ll be ready.” She says. Jon cheers, stepping back to let her close her door. Grabbing her fluffiest pair of socks, she pulls her hair up into a quick messy bun. Rushing into the bathroom, she brushes her teeth quickly and sighs at her reflection. Luckily, Damian had seen her look like a mess before they’d even started dating. Grabbing a random hoodie and tugging it on, she grabs the presents she’d made last minute for the Clarks (Clark, Lois and Conner, Jon’s was already under the tree) before throwing open her door, and yelping in surprise.

“Sorry! Sorry, I just- I know how crazy big this house is. And how easy it is to get lost.” Jon says, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. Marinette just grins.

“Lead the way. I believe I was promised cocoa and pancakes.” She teases. It may be early, but it was Christmas! She was excited. Smiling, she follows Jon and Dick quietly. The second they step into the dining room, Marinette is taken aback by the flurry of activity. Sure, her parents woke up early and were busy. They were bakers. But they usually worked quietly and smoothly. That was definitely not the case in the manor. It was absolute chaos. And she loved it.

“Merry Christmas, Marinette.” Damian says, giving her a small smile as he moves to stand next to her. She leans against him slightly, smiling up at him.

“Merry Christmas, Damian.” She says softly. She wanted nothing more than to reach up and kiss him, but she also respected his dislike of PDA. A kiss could wait. It was weird to think that a year ago, they were friends. Reluctant friends, at that. (on his side anyway). She catches sight of Titus out of the corner of her eye, grinning immediately at the sight. He was wearing the sweater she’d made him for last Christmas. Honestly, she was impressed that the large dog hadn’t completely destroyed it by this point.

“I see the little shits got you out of bed too.” Jason says gruffly, arms crossed as he glares around the room. Whatever intimidating factor he may have had was ruined by his Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer pajama pants.

“It’s like having the younger siblings that I stopped wanting years ago.” She replies softly. Jason snorts.

“Ya know, you’re alright kid.” He says, reaching out and ruffling her hair, and making her messy bun even messier. She huffs at him, moving to stand on the other side of Damian. Spotting Tim, she quirks an eyebrow. He almost looked the most awake. Which…did not match with what she knew about Tim.

“Why does Tim look so awake?” She whispers to Damian. He huffs, rolling his eyes.

“Drake has not slept, but has instead consumed an unhealthy amount of caffeine. He will likely crash sometime between opening presents and lunch.” He says. Marinette winces. She’d definitely been there before.

“Bet you thirty bucks he crashes before we get through presents.” Jason mutters to Damian. Damian raises an eyebrow.

“Thirty that he makes it through presents, but crashes immediately after.” Damian says. Jason grins.

“Deal.” This would be interesting.

---

Once presents had been opened, (and Jason had won the bet) Marinette sat, watching the snow out the window.

“There you are. I thought you followed Kent to get more hot chocolate.” Damian says, sitting on the window seat next to her. She shakes her head, nodding outside.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much snow before.” She says, then frowns. “I lied. But, the only other time I’ve ever seen this much snow was during a weather akuma attack. I didn’t really have time to build a snowman.” She sighs. Damian frowns.

“What is the appeal to building snowmen? Surely the snow would melt on your gloves and create an unenjoyable experience.” He says. Marinette furrows her eyebrows.

“You’ve never built a snowman either?” She asks. He huffs.

“I have not. Grayson tried, several times. I did agree to have a snowball fight with him and the others before. Those were…not awful.” He relents, his lips twitching up slightly. Jumping up, Marinette grabs Damian’s hand and lightly tugs him along.

“Come on. We’ll need gloves and coats-” She glances down. “And better shoes. We’ll also need a carrot, some coal, maybe an extra scarf and hat.”

“Are we really going to build a snowman?” Damian asks, quirking an eyebrow as he helps direct her towards the hall where their rooms were. She nods. Damian sighs, but follows her.

“Do you think we’ll be able to build it without everyone coming outside to try and mess it up or add to it?” She asks softly. Sure, she loved the chaos in Damian’s house. But she also missed her boyfriend. They hadn’t been able to spend a lot of time together, just the two of them, in awhile. She’d been busy with commissions, several big name Rogues had recently broken out of Arkham (notably, Scarecrow and Joker. Riddler wasn’t out, but that didn’t actually make her feel better) which had made Damian busier than usual. Instead of answering, he leans down and gives her a swift peck on the cheek.

“We could only hope.” He sighs, squeezing her hand and leaving her at her door. Quickly changing and grabbing what they would need, Marinette follows Damian out to the gardens.

“Do you know how we’re supposed to do this?” She asks, staring at the snow. “Like, from a structural standpoint?”

“This is not exactly my forte, Angel.” Damian reminds her, giving her a look. Marinette exhales slowly as ideas run through her head.

“Okay. I might have a plan.” She says, the random thoughts solidifying. Before she can explain, Damian surprises her with a kiss. Marinette melts into the kiss, dropping the carrot and wrapping her arms around his neck. After a few moments, he pulls back and gives her a smile.

“I care deeply about you.” He says, giving her a serious look. Marinette’s eyebrows furrow slightly.

“And I you.” She says. He nods, giving her another quick kiss before moving back.

“Where do we start?” He asks. Marinette decides to file the interaction away as something to think about later, and instead focuses on building her very first snowman.

---

Teeth chattering, Marinette takes a step back to check out their snowman. It was slightly lopsided, the smile crooked, but-

“It’s perfect.” She breathes out, shaking slightly. Damian snorts.

“It is misshapen.” He counters. Marinette shrugs, smiling at him.

“But we made our very first snowman. So it’s perfect.” She insists. He rolls his eyes, but frowns as he looks at her.

“Are you shaking?” He asks. She winces.

“Maybe?” She draws out. Damian huffs.

“We need to get you inside and warm.” He says, grabbing her hand and leading her inside. Marinette doesn’t even try to argue, because the cold was starting to be almost painful. He stops in front of her door, still frowning.

“I’m fine, just cold.” She reassures him, squeezing his hand before turning to open the door. Damian spins her back around and kisses her. But this kiss leaves her breathless. Gasping as he pulls away, Marinette blinks up at him. He just smirks, pushing a piece of hair behind her ear before turning and walking into his own room. Groaning, Marinette whirls around and walks into her room.

“I saw your snowman! Very nice.” Tikki compliments, flying up from the pillows. Marinette blushes slightly.

“Is that, uh, all you saw?” She asks awkwardly. Before Tikki can reply, the akuma alarm goes off. Marinette sighs, but transforms. She was honestly impressed that it took this long for an akuma to show up in Paris. They usually happened earlier in the morning, right after kids opened their presents. She locks her door before rushing into the bathroom and flipping the shower on. Bruce could afford a slightly higher water bill. Creating a portal, Ladybug hops into Paris, immediately taken aback by the sight. Paris was on fire. Nearly the entire city was burning. The smoke burned her lungs, and she almost immediately reached into her yoyo to grab a respirator. Thank goodness for magic.

“Merry Christmas LB. Seems Hawkmoth went a little…overboard with our present this year.” Carapace huffs out, showing up beside her. Ladybug rolls her eyes.

“Every year I send a list, and every year he ignores it.” She jokes. Carapace snorts. “Any sign of the akuma?”

“Chat Noir has them cornered near the Louvre.” He says. Marinette nods firmly.

“Let’s go kick some ass.”

---

Stumbling into her room almost an hour later, Marinette huffs. Although she definitely didn’t smell like smoke anymore (thank you magic) she felt like she did. The smell of burning bodies was stuck in her nose. Honestly, she was ready to go back to sleep. Stepping into the bathroom, she turns the shower off and sucks in a deep breath, trying not to cry. She was so tired. So ready for this never ending fight to just- stop. There was no way she could continue this forever. It was already eating at her, having a secret she couldn’t tell anyone. And the longer she knew Damian’s secret, the worse it got. The more awful she felt. Sinking to the ground, Marinette lets herself cry. And panic. Because if the Bats didn’t have a lead yet for Hawkmoth, what could she do? What good was she if not even the World’s Greatest Detective could find definitive evidence against Hawkmoth.

“Marinette?” Tikki says, floating in. Marinette wipes furiously at her tears, giving Tikki a weak smile.

“I’m okay.” She insists. Tikki frowns.

“I know you’re not, but you have a message on your yoyo from Red Robin.” They say. Marinette’s eyes widen.

“What is it?” She asks. Tikki’s mouth presses into a firm line.

“They have a lead on Hawkmoth.” They say. Marinette’s eyes widen.

“Do they need me?” She asks. Tikki nods.

“Young Justice headquarters, as soon as possible. Carapace has also been informed.” They say. Marinette frowns.

“And Chat Noir?” She asks. Tikki shakes their head.

“Not as of now.” They say. Marinette sighs, but accepts it. For now. If Chat Noir didn’t have access within a week, she would talk to him and Red Robin. Someone was dropping the ball on keeping Chat Noir in the loop. Just like Master Fu used to. And she was not going to stand for it any longer.

“I’ll deal with that later. I’m assuming we’re supposed to Zeta in?” She asks. Tikki nods. Marinette smiles softly.

“Guess Damian’s gonna have to wait a little longer. Let’s go find a Zeta tube.” She says, calling her transformation. Hopefully Damian wouldn’t worry too much. Or maybe he’d- right as she transforms, a text pops up from Damian. Informing her that he had to run somewhere with Tim, but that he would be back as soon as possible. Marinette lets her shoulders slump in relief. Time to see what the Bats had figured out.

Next

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