#I get Tim’s in a bad headspace

[zadien]

Timothy Bradford, what are you doing?!

NGL I’m want Lucy to be super professional with him going forward if they’re forced to work together. Literally just no personal talk in the shop, clipped responses - draw that line because that was a choice he made and I don’t think it was a good one. I mean maybe for him, but she didn’t get to be involved in this decision. And all the talk about worth the risk? She was the one scared of ruining things and then he torpedoed them so he’s gonna have to prove he’s worth the risk and that she’s worth everything. These are just wants and needs I have, I don’t expect the show to follow them.

Also can she have a friend, please? A person who’s in her corner? I know Tamara is but that’s not the same. Tim was that person.

[hana-no-seiiki]

HAIII!!

ignore this if u want cause idk if this is in the yandare category and this is so embarrassing to say without asking anonymously anyway butt

animal shapeshifter!reader!

(( now do you know that thing animals (usually any tyoe of dog or cat, im thinking dog though) get where they have a sudden blast of energy and run and zoom all around until they get too tired to even walk? yeah, they call it zoomies!!)

i kinda imagine the (if you could even call it) yandare to be damian tbh cause..idk i just like damian

NOWWww imqgine the reader running away from *character* so they decide to shapeshift to an animal in order to run faster, but THEN they get tge zoomies due to the situation making them hyper :3 but oh! reader uses it to their advantage and go all in running >:( but poor reader, they forgot it would just take all their energy away! so now reader is just poorly running limping away while *character* is just mere few feet behind from them, teasing and mocking them for even TRYINg to run away!! so now *cgaracter* just carries reader back while theyre still in their little animal form :(

ok im so sorry i feel so embarrased this is so bad and weird and oh god

😭☹

NAUR THIS ISNT BAD AT ALL NON!!!

I love shapeshifter reader with Batfam (but Damian specifically since he owns so many pets and is an absolute softie for animals) !!! I’ve written around 3 here from what I can remember

Here are some headcannons cause I’m not in the headspace to write a full fic rn and I want to get this out for you as soon as possible

If you aren’t a flexible shifter/can only shift into a dog, I feel like they’ll use not just your zoomies but many of your dog characteristics as an advantage.

Bruce and Damian specifically would abuse it and force you to become a dog once they learn the secret behind your powers

Tim might as a way to make it easier to handle you, but prefers you as a human. He does like to observe and take notes of your preferences as doggo tho and definitely keeps a large stash of treats for you to enjoy.

Jason and Dick will use it as a last ditch resort

But all in all, especially Dick, Jason and Damian will definitely make fun of you or tease you whenever you try to run away in your dog form. Your pathetic attempts are just too cute for them to handle at times.

Bruce would prefer you caged, and would probably double the security measures of your stay.

Jason likes to take you out on rides sometimes, and blackmails you with how you look out from the car window, tongue out, drool everywhere.

You’re gonna have to cling unto Tim, maybe Damian, for dear life if you ever want to be treated normally by those people.

Together? Whew.

Often they might act like you’re their pet or do something degrading out of habit.

Tim’s the only one that’s hyper cognizant of your humaness. Like I only see him ever cooing at you if you were a cat and cradling the scratches you give him.

Non, you don’t know how much I’ve imagined cat shifter reader with the batboys im hard brainrotting now and AAAAA

In short, if you think being able to shift is convenient. You would be very wrong.

[camillomea]

Red bond 2:

here 2. episode

Tim was silently doing homework and listening to the voice behind him reading a book. He felt very safe with his back against Jason's back. He was quite short compared to him. But he was never afraid of him. On the contrary, he was one of the two people he trusted with his life. He knew that he would be safe and well with him. As Jason said, he had 0 instincts about protecting himself. That's why Jason was much more careful when taking care of him. Because Tim was very incompetent in taking care of himself. His gaze shifted to his arm in the sling fixed to his body, his body tensed up slightly. He would probably never be the same for the rest of his life. This was a very difficult and shocking thing for him to accept. He had been trying to get used to this for 9 months, but he could never get used to it. His gaze started to dull, his body started to tremble. His eyes were filled with tears. Before his mind could slip further into his headspace, Nora had meowed and landed on his lap and started rubbing against his hands. Then he felt her body separate Jason's back from his back. Tim whimpered silently with loss of sensation, but two muscular arms wrapped around him and sat him on his lap. Tim let out a quiet purr as his arms wrapped around him. He could hear Jason saying, “It’s okay, baby bird, it’s okay,” as he slid into his own headspace.

---

When Jason felt Tim’s body tense up while he was reading a book. His body went into high alert. He could feel Tim start to shake. Nora sensed the situation immediately and moved into his arms to comfort him. Jason quickly pulled his back away from hers and turned. The whimpering sound Tim made when he broke contact with her broke her heart. She pulled him into her arms immediately and hugged him. The purring sound Tim made in response to the hug comforted her. He kissed the top of her head, the dullness in her eyes was heartbreaking. “It’s okay, baby bird. It’s okay, you’re okay. You’re okay. I’ll take care of you, everything’s okay, you’re okay, you’re safe,” he whispered to her, slowly rocking his body back and forth. Tim’s body was shaking, not responding to anything. Jason did nothing but try to calm her down, to comfort her. He turned him towards him, his legs around his waist, and he sat her ear on his chest, Nora had moved back to his shoulders. He continued to rock and hug Tim until his shaking stopped. When he finally stopped shaking and felt her slowly stop, he let out a sigh of relief. “Thank God,” he said in a low voice. I could tell Tim was still wide-eyed and not himself. But at least he had calmed down, and that was better than nothing.

He reached for his phone, sighing. Tim definitely wasn’t going to the mansion like this. And Jason was never going to go without him. He would either set foot in that place with her or not at all. He dialed a number he knew by heart. The call was picked up in no time. “Hey Jay, have you made up your mind?” Bruce said, sounding hopeful.

Jason suppressed the urge to groan. “Well, B,” he said.

“Oh, so the answer is no,” Bruce said. The depression in his tone could be heard a mile away.

Jason groaned. “It’s not like that. Look Tim is having a bad day" he said.

Bruce said panicked "what! What happened? Is he okay".

Jason "he's not hurt. He's healthy. The thing had a small panic attack. It's over now. But after the attacks it doesn't respond to anything for a while and needs care. That's why we need to stay home" he explained patiently.

Bruce was silent for a while "so is he okay" he asked finally.

Jason said "physically yes his condition is not getting worse. He just needs rest and careful care".

Bruce said "can I come" his voice sounded worried.

Jason said "I'm sorry but not right now. I know you're trying to fix it. But Tim needs space right now. He panics more when there's someone else around in these situations" he said.

Bruce sighed "can you at least keep me informed" he asked.

Jason said "yeah sure why not".

Bruce sighed "thanks Jay. Don't forget to take care of yourself too okay? Do you have food?" he said.

Jason said "yes, there is, please take care of yourself."

Bruce said "I'll see you soon then, don't forget to take care of yourself." Then he hung up.

After Jason hung up the phone, he put it on the coffee table. He looked at Tim. Tim's eyes were half-closed, his gaze was blank. His body was relaxed, the right cheek of his face was pressed against Jason's chest. His heartbeat seemed to calm him down. He continued to shake Tim gently. Jason's one hand was stroking his back while the other held Tim's left hand. This was the easiest way to understand whether Tim had come to his senses. When he was more conscious, he would shake Jason's hand.

***

Bruce sighed and entered the kitchen. Alfred said "I think they answered."

Bruce said "They can't come. It's something to do with Timmy's health. Jason is taking care of him right now and they won't be available for a while. Tim needs space because of his condition. That's why they can't come."

Alfred's eyebrows furrowed. "What exactly is wrong with the young master?" he asked with concern.

"I don't know about that. Jason didn't say anything, he just said he wasn't getting any worse physically," Bruce said. Alfred looked on with concern.

[ghost-bxrd]

Ah, okay, so I misunderstood the assignment and went too dark. I'll just do a quick course correction. (I don't think anything's going to top my idea of Dick mistaking Jason for a member of the Court of Owls so most of these will probably be pre-Jason's return.)

Got it.

Dick has basically been unresponsive since he killed the Joker. And about a month(?) after, a snowstorm hits Gotham. Bruce absolutely covers the nest with Dick in it with heated blankets, but unfortunately Mr. Freeze is taking the opportunity for a bit of crime (or maybe he's responsible and Bruce NEEDS THERE NOT TO BE A SNOWSTORM STRESSING OUT HIS SON) so Batman has to go and stop him. Alfred is monitoring the comms because, yes, Bruce has been too aggressive and reckless with his own life.

Dick's eyes are listless on the window with snow falling. The nest is empty. He's alone... Wait.

The nest is empty.

The nest is empty.

His owlet is gone but where is the hatchling?!

Because of all things to jolt Dick out of his catatonic state... I think it's a snowstorm... and a distinct lack of a baby bird... a baby bird that you established sometimes doesn't have heating in his manor.

So here we have the ingredients: a talon racing out into a snowstorm (established we only have 30 mins on the clock tops for him to get next door), a baby bird going through his contingencies because he wasn't set up for a Freeze induced blizzard (and even if he could make it to Wayne Manor he wouldn't want to be a bother in the middle of this with everything happening), and a father and grandfather about to find an empty nest with zero sign of their catatonic kiddo. (Also, once Tim realizes Dick is really there, he is freaking out because it's not warm enough in his manor for Dick and he immediately enters the same "I have to protect him headspace" that Dick is in.)

I have more thoughts on what to do with this one (and more ideas in general), but I'm on a time crunch and I didn't want to leave you with two dark ideas. Hopefully this one's right in the middle for you!

Oh sheesh, Bruce would be losing his shit if he came back to his last remaining son missing from the warm nest he left him in.

He’d be right back out in the streets, beating criminals into a coma in his desperation to find out who took his son. It’s a bad night. Even Gordon can’t rein the Bat back in and ends up radioing a warning to all active personnel not to get in the Bat’s way. He’s lowkey convinced Batman finally snapped.

Meanwhile Tim would have to be crafty and compromise with Dick if he wants both of them to make it through the night without losing a limb or two to frostbite.

(Also, Dick’s mournful calls for Jason are just twisting the knife in further. But at least he manages to distract Talon long enough to add the electrical blanket to the hastily thrown together nest)

[intimidating-fettuccine]

Do you think toby still show signs of PTSD from his dad or sometimes has episodes? (How does masky deal with him?)

(Not a request but if it seems like one you can delete srry 😓)

[If anyone finds anything I mention triggering please let me know and I’ll tag this]

Absolutely. I talked about this a bit in my Toby character analysis, but my Toby went through EXTREME torture and psychological damage at the hands of his father, and is definitely not mentally healed. Toby has trauma deeply ingrained in him and his behaviors, and they show up presently.

Toby avoids Masky personally at all costs. Masky likes to trigger him intentionally because he thinks it’s funny (which Masky gets HEAVILY punished for), so Toby just avoids him. Tim, on the flip side, works incredibly hard to try and help Toby. He works very hard to remind Toby that mistakes do not equal punishments, that it’s okay to fuck up, and that if he DOES get in trouble, the punishment will be nothing in the world like what his father would do to him.

There are times where Toby will hide in his room for days to weeks on end, unable to be around people because a trauma flare up is so bad. There are times where Toby has a manic break in the company of others due to a trigger, which will then cause him to hide away again because he feels he’s done wrong. Toby often doesn’t think he deserves good things, and will reject kind behavior. Toby has severe insomnia due to nightmares that he can’t get away from. Toby gets nervous if people are behind him, and when he hears people walking down the hall or towards his room, he memorizes their step pattern so he knows who it is instinctually. Toby has struggled with harming himself, although most of the time these days he’s gotten better.

When he first joined the mansion, Toby acted a lot as if he was a soldier obeying authority figures, as that was what his father had trained into him, and while 90% of the time now he doesn’t do that, sometimes he slips into a bad headspace and he goes back to those behaviors, and nobody can really get him to stop until it passes. Toby isn’t really happy-go-lucky a lot of the time. Most days he’s actually very very mellow, if not outright depressed in his behaviors. Toby never experienced a normal upbringing, so he doesn’t fully still understand how to behave in healthy settings, especially with such a large group like in the mansion, so he finds it hard to connect with others, especially because of his tics from his Tourette’s syndrome, which are his main source of insecurity. Toby tries his best to fit in and make progress with his healing, but even after all these years he still finds it very difficult a lot of the time, even though he’s made very good progress considering his starting position.

[crushedsweets]

ninakate or any wlw nina ship w/ good luck babe by chappell roan,,,,

oh god. ok youre so right that this works with any wlw nina ship, but im gonna go through the lyrics and describe some toxic ass ninakate scenario that comes to mind LMFAOOOO SORRY I LIKE TOXIC YURI

ok so in an AU of my AU where ninakate happens, it all starts after nina is stabbed by jeff. they make her heal in the proxy cabin cuz theyre worried jeff will break into ninas apartment and finish the job(he has no interest in doing that tho). tim/brian/toby/jack are busy with zalgoid issues, SO kate sorta...keeps watch on nina while she heals. cuz of that, nina starts latching onto kate. between kate cleaning the stab wound, bringing her water, wrapping her up in gauze, nina crying into kates arms unprompted, asking kate to sleep in the same bed with her cuz she cant sleep, nina asking kate quiet questions for hours while the radio hums and rain pours outside... they share an awkward, "meaningless" kiss. nina blamed it on emotions running high. kate didnt know what to blame

(this section is HEAVILY inspired by still a friend by the back seat lovers, the entire song is very my-au ninakate)

SOOOOO i wanna go from THAT SONG into good luck babe by chappell roan...

"you can say that we are nothing" after the kiss, nina would probably be like 'we should go to sleep' and the next morning laugh about it and tease kate and be like "thats so funny, i never kissed a girl like that before. was that your first kiss? oh my god kate are you serious?! we should probably keep that between us, huh? its okay, it wont happen again!" and kates just nodding along while her brain is going 100mph. but kates perceptive as hell and she'd easily see all the little changes that happen afterwards. nina's gaze falling, her hands lingering, little comments she makes. and it'd make kate feel kinda stupid. "guess im the fool, with her arms out like an angel through the car sunroof" toby ends up 'inheriting' an old rusty red pickup truck from tim. i doubt it would have a sun roof, but i could see toby and nat up front, while nina and kate are in the back (like, the BACK bed of the truck). nina would be giggling, tilting her head back and her hair is flying like crazy and her arms are out and kate cannoooot get that damn kiss out of her head, especially when nina looks like that.

im thinking maybe it happens again. the group was hanging out, but nat and toby went off somewhere else, leaving nina and kate together. and kate offers to walk nina home, but ninas like 'what if i spend the night instead?' and kates immediately like Oh jesus christ okay. and they talk . and chat. and banter. and nina would bring up that stupid kiss and say something about 'i wouldnt mind doing that again. i mean, as friends.' and kates head is spinning.

and despite all of this, nina is still in a bad headspace. before, during, and after her relationship with jeff, she has HORRIBLY low self esteem and a need for attention/validation, and she will seek it out anywhere. she'd blame it on a million and one things "oh its just for fun, oh i was just drunk, oh its not that serious, he was cute, i got his number!". especially when trying to heal her bruised ego after the whole jeff thing (alongside a few huge arguments with toby calling her out on her BS). and kate listens, and even though she's really blunt and straightforward, she doesnt feel mean. not like toby or nat or jack. so even when kates like "that doesnt make sense" "that seems stupid though" "why would you do that" ninas just laughing and being like "it just felt right in the moment! im having fun, kate!". she thinks kate just doesnt get it, on account of never being in a relationship, but kate knows whats going on. she knows why nina is the way that she is, but all she has to say is . GOODLUCK LMFAO. shes not here to control or convince or plead with anybody, and def not nina. and i think that would kinda irk nina a little. she'd kiss kate, then a couple nights later talk about a guy she met at a bar, and kate just side eyes her and is like 'have fun' and nina wishes there was more

ok whether their kisses turn into anything else, i think theyd both continually agree to keep it a secret from everyone else. it would just be a huge mess that neither of them want to address, especially kate dealing with toby. but i think once kate starts getting a little affection and whatnot that she's never received (she's been in the chaser mode for over half her life, mind you), it would feel incredibly suffocating but also incredibly freeing. like she feels like something new has opened up to her, something that she got locked out of years ago. and nina has the key, unfortunately

ok this is where the song and story falls apart a little cuz ninas not getting married to anyone. i guess this could be a hypothetical where she goes back to jeff for a moment in time, but.. ehh.... dunno how i feel about that. and i dont think the 'i told you so' fits kate cuz she just kinda lets nina do whatever. asks questions and is like ??? and maybe has a bit of an attitude when saying 'good luck with that', but she never tells her what to do

i know "the feeling" is more about being into girls and how you cant hide from it, but i dont think the whole lesbianism thing would be their issue. in a ninakate interpretation of the song, i think 'the feeling' is either ninas issues with romance and self worth, kates ache to be with someone despite thinking she has no right to it, ninas guilt for leading kate on, and of course their literal romantic feelings...

anyway. anyway. um. cries. i just i really. i really im just. im fond of lesbians alright.

[unsaidace]

Do other Buddie shippers understand Ryan was given the opportunity to let Eddie be queer just like Lou? It's interesting how one of those people is canonically queer and another cast member from our ship that wasn't offered originally is now also queer. So they'll attack people who wanted representation, but are defending someone/something they think was wronged in all of this? Lou and Oliver are not the bad guys. Ryan is not the bad guy either. If that's not what he wanted at the moment, then nobody can force him. Even though Tim has stated he doesn't want Eddie/Marisol a thing, he couldn't afford to lose a third actress. Oh well! Things change. Maybe just maybe after 6-7 years realize, the boys can have some actual growth and be happy and in healthy relationships? Eddie is finally understanding of how his traumas intertwines. Buck is expecting himself. And Tommy is being sunshine. If it's meant to happen, it will. People don't own each other. That's a weird mentality to have.

I just think we should be happy that we’ve got the representation right now, since it’s so rare for a TV show to pull the trigger on something like this so many seasons into a show. We’ll get Buddie when everyone is ready. If Ryan isn’t ready for a queer Eddie storyline right now, then we as a fandom need to respect that and allow him time to get to the right headspace for an arc of that magnitude. We also need to respect his decision if, and this is the important bit, he’s never ready for that. We cannot and should not force an actor into a role or arc that makes them uncomfortable while doing their job, that’s how we end up with actors who leave projects and end up resenting them.

I feel like people are just so desperate for Buddie to go canon that (and I know I’ve said this a lot over the past few days but it applies here too) their critical thinking skills are kinda lacking. Personally, as much as I love Buddie, rushing into it would ruin it for me. Where we currently are in the season, Eddie seems happy with Marisol, and Buck is emotionally invested in Tommy. The best thing we as fans can do right now is let the writers know that we’re willing to wait however long it takes. Keep hyping Buddie up, absolutely, but also appreciate what we’ve been given in BuckTommy.

[william-m-lucipher]

What is this EAS-Y vessel?? Who are they exactly? Give us all of their darkest secrets!

WHERE DO I BEGIN ABOUT MY OLD PAL HERE? THEY SUMMONED ME SHORTLY AFTER THE REDDIT AMA TO MAKE A DEAL. WHAT WE AGREED IS THAT I'D HELP THEM BOTH WITH SOCIALIZATION AND, IN THE FUTURE, MAKING THEIR OWN FICTIONAL SERIES, AND THEY'D HELP ME HOWEVER I SEE FIT. I HAD BIG REASONS WHY I COULDN'T PASS THIS UP! THERE'S ONLY ONE PROBLEM: THEIR HEAD IS A SEVERAL-FOR-ONE DEAL. THEIR HEAPS OF CHILDHOOD TERRORS GAVE THEM OSDD, SEE? E.A.S. STANDS FOR "EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM," A NAME FOR THEIR COLLECTIVE THAT A FORMER HOST CHOSE AS A PUN. SO IMAGINE YANKING OUT ONE GUY, AND THERE'S STILL ANOTHER IN THERE DRIVING! AND ANOTHER, AND ANOTHER, AND ANOTHER, LIKE A HANDKERCHEIF TRICK! POINT IS, UNLESS I PULL ALL OF THEM OUT, WHICH IS TOO MUCH WORK, I GOTTA SHARE THE VESSEL WITH THE REST OF EM! YOU WANT JUICY SECRETS ABOUT THIS BUNCH? I'VE GOT PLENTY!!! ESPECIALLY ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO'VE HOSTED THIS MEAT SACK OVER TIME, INCLUDING MY FAVORITE ONE! ZILLARA, MY FAVORITE, VOLUNTARILY PUT THE BODY THROUGH HEAPS OF PAIN, ALL FOR A STUPID PLAN TO TRY AND FIT IN BETTER WITH CONVENTIONAL BEAUTY STANDARDS! ZILL, BUDDY, PAL, IT'S FINE! I'M SURE YOU KNOW THAT NOW THOUGH! LOVERBOY JAY'S SECRETLY MOSTLY GIVEN UP ON THE THOUGHT OF A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR THE COLLECTIVE. HEY, CHIN UP, BUDDY, I'LL MAKE SURE TO GET YOU ALL SOMEWHERE! LOVELETTER'S SANCTUARY IS SO CLOSE YET SO FAR, JUST GOTTA WAIT INDEFINITELY, AAAHAHAHA!!! CORVID'S GOT QUITE THE SHAMEFUL SECRET SIDEBLOG, OHOHO! DEEP DOWN THAT GUY'S PREFERENCES ARE MORE DISTURBING TO THE AVERAGE PERSON THAN PINE TREE'S SEARCH HISTORY! DON'T GET THE WRONG IDEA, THOUGH, NOT NEARLY AS DISTURBING AS THE AVERAGE MINECRAFT YOUTUBER'S! DON'T FEEL TOO BAD, BIRDY, PEOPLE WHO'D SHUN YOU FOR IT ARE WEAK! RAPID FIRE WITH NON-HOSTS: MOTHSY ALMOST DOOMED EVERYONE, MALICE BIT A CHILD (IN THE HEADSPACE), DANA'S WANTED TO GO ON A DRUNK BENDER FOR YEARS, THE BUTTERFLY IS THE NEW FORM OF SIMON'S FORMER LOVER, HABIT IS A CRYBABY WHEN HE DOESN'T GET ATTENTION, JEFF DID DATING ROLEPLAYS ON ROBLOX BACK IN 2014, TIM HAS HAD DISTURBING THOUGHTS ABOUT HIS COWORKERS... I COULD GO ON AND ON AND ON ABOUT THESE GUYS!!!!

[fancyfade]

one would figure this could be a natural place where Tim and Damian's conflict ended, if they were in good headspaces.

B/c like. Damian tried to kill Tim (largely b/c that's just what you're supposed to do how he was raised). Then he saves his life in Battle for the Cowl. It could be like a "okay so it's over" thing.

But it's not, which I don't think is actually a huge problem, narratively, b/c both characters were in bad places at this time and they later have some resolution pre-boot (Gates of Gotham we can see them getting along a lot better). But it's weird when fandom ignores it.

(another thing fandom likes to ignore is that in both stories of Damian becoming Robin that I've read in canon, it's Alfred's idea. In BtfC Damian is about to leave while super injured after being shot by Jason and about to hit alfred over the head w/ a wrench and alfred is like 'wait if you're going to leave anyway make yourself useful' and gives him the robin suit. IN secret origins 4, Damian is super angsty about Bruce's death and beating up all the bad guys w/ excessive force and alfred is like 'wait surprise i found this note your dad wrote for you (that was actually just alfred faking bruce's handwriting, pretending bruce wanted him to be robin)'.

But in no comic IIRC is the fandom 'dick cruelly took Robin from Tim and gave it to Damian' true.

[theoceantot]

Chapter 2

Batman picked up Perse still wrapped in his cape while he called the batmobile. When it arrived the loud noise of the car scared her making Perse bury her face in his chest. Batman gently shushed her and carefully put her in one of the two seats in the back. Perse not wanting to be alone reached her arms out to him whining.

"Don't worry little one I'm taking you someplace safe"

That seemed to calm her down a bit. At least enough for her not to ball her eyes out while he was driving. The ride there was relatively peaceful. The screams of the unfortunate crew seemed to scare everyone into hiding. For now. By the time they reached the batcave Perse was so tired she didn't have the strength to even get out of the seat so Batman picked her up and cradled her into his big arms. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep. Batman carried her upstairs and layed her in his king sized bed and covered her up with the covers making sure she was nice and warm.

After making sure she was asleep for 20 minutes he went to the clock tower in Gotham to see Barbra. When she saw him she was quick to start asking questions.

"Bruce there you are I was beginning to worry? How's the girl is she okay? You didn't hurt her did you? Was she actually a little? How-"

"Shes okay and yes you were right she is acting like she's not in the right headspace. I'd say she acts more like an infant now"

"Awwwww that's so cute. I'm guessing since you're here in one piece she trusts you now?"

"It seems like it. You were right though Barbara. She's scared. But the question is of what or who?" He said who with a distaste in his mouth. Who would hurt such an innocent girl? Monsters that's who. Before the two could discuss the topic anymore Alfred was calling them on the screen.

Before Batman or Oracle could ask what was wrong they heard your loud cries in the background. Batman was so shocked that you were even up. Who knows the last time you even gotten a good night sleep or slept at all.

"Im sorry to bother you master Bruce but it seems the little one is up"

"Wow how did you know" Batman replied with a matter of fact tone.

"We'll be there as soon as we can Alfred but until then you should probably call Dick or Tim just incase she gets too out of control" Barbara said

"Of course"

Alfred hung up the call and called Dick immediately after. Perses eyes were going from her normal green color to blue. Alfred wasn't for sure what that meant but he knew it couldn't be good. After five minutes Dick let's himself in to see the manor soaked in water and hears loud cried coming from upstairs. Dick rushes upstairs to see Perse crying in the middle of Bruce's floor water radiatiing off of her body spraying everywhere. Dick then saw Alfred coming out of the bathroom wiping all the water off of him with a towel. He sighed. Not that he was annoyed with Perse but just for the fact he didn't know how to cheer her up and make her stop crying. It hurt him.

Dick entered the room slowly dodging all the water that was coming at him.

"Princess, can you look at me for a minute"

Perse finally looked up and saw a new face. He had a caring and soft look in his eyes and was approaching her like Batman did and he didn't hurt her. She calmed down enough to stop radiating water and soaking everything. The eye contact didn't last too long as she looked down at her lap fairly quickly.

"You're like our own personal sprinkler you know that?" Dick laughed.

'He doesn't seem mad'

"Why all the tears princess? Did something happen that we don't know about? Maybe a bad dream or are you not feeling that well?" Dick asked.

Perse tried telling him but it all came out in babbles and more tears. The only thing he understood was "cape"

Alfred knew what she was talking about instantly and went to retrieve it. Alfred quickly handed Dick the cape. He held it out for Perse to see her eyes lighting up instantly

"Is this what you wanted princess"

Perse squealed and wrapped the cape around her smiling brightly. She missed it so much. Being wrapped in the cape was the happiest she ever was so whenever she had it she felt that same happiness over again.

Batman and Barbra rushed into the mansion. He quickly ran up the stairs while Oracle used her mechanical chair that connected to the banister.

When Perse saw Batman she ran to him and hugged him close. All the water around the manor soon disappeared and things were even dry again including Alfred to his relief.

"Have you been causing problems young lady?"

Batman asked with a small smile.

"I sowwy"

"Honey it's alright we know how scared you must've been we understand" Barbra said looking at everyone and nodded.

"Its quite alright Ms" Alfred said

"What is your name princess?" Dick asked

"Perse"

All of them froze at this.

[prospectivehero]

VICTOR AND NORA, A GOTHAM LOVE STORY- Written by Lauren Myracle, Illustrated by Isaac Goodhart

Confession time: I'm terrible with names (real life and fictional). Even with my associate's degree in Batmanology, my poor name recognition missed the significance of Victor Fries, a resident of the city of Gotham. When the part of my brain that doesn't require caffeine to function decided to look up some familiar names when I was halfway through the novel, I was heartbroken. Would it have been better for me to be surprised by the ending, I wasn't sure, but I didn't think I could expect a happy ending from "a gotham love story."

This is a rough read. Much like Constantine and Miracle Man, it's not something to read when you're in a bad headspace. I'll talk more about it in the trigger warnings, but this story focuses on death and dying. Victor is burdened by a loved one's death in his past, which he feels at fault for. He has become cold to the people around him and feels safe studying cryogenics in solitude. Nora only sees death in her future due to an incurable progressive disease that will slowly deteriorate her functionality, personality, and treasured memories before it kills her. But she refuses to let this illness take anything valuable from her, so she has decided to plan her suicide and leave this world as herself. But she's given herself time to make more memories with a boy she met in a cemetery.

I was not in a good headspace reading this comic. I won't go into full detail, just know that I was having several identity crises overlapping one another. I'm in a better headspace now that I've figured some stuff out, but during that experience, these very well-developed characters hit especially hard. Nora's relationship to her illness and battle with its ever-increasing presence felt relatable since I battle a progressive disability. The two are not the same, but I understood her desire not to tell any of her friends so they wouldn't have to watch her suffer and degrade. When she tells Victor, I relate to his desperation to keep her with him since she makes him feel alive and loved.

If you recognized the names you probably could figure out where the story is going but it's worth the read. The story feels very personal. The illustrations, by Jason Goodhart, consistently match the feeling of Lauren Myracle's story and none of the beautiful character designs distract from the weight of everything that happens. There were breaks in the story that reference other artists or stories like Tim Burton or Titanic (1997) to serve the story. I think these breaks flowed well, but I could understand if it's not everyone's cup of Mountain Dew. This is my new second favorite graphic novel, despite how I reacted to it while reading it. I highly recommend picking it up.

TRIGGER WARNINGS (with potential spoilers) -

1) Death - Victor frequently remembers the fire that he accidentally started as a child that destroyed the family house and took the life of his older brother, Otto Freeze.

2) Planned and Attempted Suicide - Nora reasons that this is the only way she can die as herself, so she sets a date and a means and writes a letter to her father. She is stopped before she can complete her plan. Her note is read at the end of the novel.

3) Secondary Mourning - This comic gives time and space to mourn with the characters as they mourn their past and future. We see how Nora views her illness and how Victor views himself. It was a unique experience, being given an opening to grieve in moments that may feel very familiar to many of us, but it can be painful if you're not ready to feel those feelings.

4) Sex (Consentual) - It is as PG-13 and fade-to-black as a sex scene could possibly get, but it doesn't hide the fact that it happened.

5) Language - Much like Constantine, I tuned it out, which means I had to skim through the novel. I saw rare uses of language to the tune of "s***".

[zahri-melitor]

(gosh I’ve been reading a lot this long weekend) Officer Down! Oooof.

There’s the good (Babs and Dick essentially run the vigilante side of this storyline in tandem, because Bruce is busy pretending he’s the primary victim and only he is allowed to have emotions. Nightwing #53 especially has some great character moments for both Babs and Dick) There’s the bad (I get you sometimes get shafted in your own book during crossover events, but giving Tim two whole lines in Robin #86 was a lowpoint even for ‘we’re using this title to advance the plotline’)

And then there is the ugly (it is without doubt a copaganda storyline containing a lot of bad policing and justifications for why the bad policing occurred, and that bad policing led to the conclusion) Overall it’s a good shakeup of the status quo of the story, setting up things that will come into play in a year during Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive. Gordon retires! Alfred quits (again)! Everyone is once again back in the Bruce (you asshole) headspace! The ending is messy and liable to cause continued issues down the line! Harvey Bullock is one of my problematic fave characters. He’s very specifically not a good cop, but he’s a fascinating foil for Renee Montoya over many many years. There’s a reason they didn’t let him conduct the interview in this. And there’s also a reason he’s the one to talk Renee down. Also Bruce you need to get over yourself and your habit of centring all events as a personal tragedy to YOU (Bruce will never stop doing this).

[redflagshipwriter]

Chapter 2

Danny made a face when Jason handed him a coat.

"You don't have to," Jason said, a little offended. "I just thought you seem underdressed for the weather." He'd found his smallest coat, even, which was in great shape because he couldn't fit any armor underneath it and therefore didn't wear it often. That was his sexy coat. That was the going out coat. He was wearing a work coat now.

Masterpost

Danny looked at his brown coat like it might bite him. "... I'd look pretty strange outside in a t- shirt, right?" He confirmed. "It's cold here?"

"Very."

Danny put on the coat and folded the sleeves up so that it fit better. "Okay, I'm ready to go." He wiggled. "Where are we going?"

"Nuh uh uh, it's a surprise," said Jason, because he didn't know yet. He ushered his guest out the door and locked up in a practiced movement. "So, where have you been that's not cold?"

Danny snorted. "It's not that it isn't cold," he admitted carelessly. He put his hands in his pockets and followed Jason. The attention made him stand even straighter than usual. "People just expect me to be weird now, I think."

"So you've got a civilian ID," Jason nodded.

"....civilian." When Jason looked back over his shoulder, Danny looked like he was having some kind of realization. "Yeah. You could say that."

"You know who I am, right?" Jason confirmed. He resisted the urge to fidget, not least because the Red Hood had a pretty low rate of public approval. He'd done the ritual with the hood on and off. He'd always had at least the mask on, but Danny had recognized him instantly in his civvies. So. That was one more person who had his identity.

"...Are we in Gotham?" Danny asked meekly.

Fuck. Jason forced his lips to stay pressed together even when they trembled. Don't laugh. You can't laugh at your date. "Yepp."

Danny nodded sagely. He gripped the back of Jason's sleeve and pulled in close. That forced them both to stop walking down the apartment hallway. He must have gone up on his tippy toes to get his mouth near Jason's ear. "You're Red Robin," he whispered. The feeling of his breath on Jason's ear made his heart skip a beat.

It took a moment to process the words. Jason let out an offended huff.

His date laughed. "The other Red one," he said. His tone was faux apologetic at best. "It's easy to get them mixed up." He patted Jason's shoulder.

"Red Robin is a twig," Jason grumbled. He shook Danny off. He was playing up his scowl, but there was some genuine frustration and insecurity there. He didn't like being compared to Tim. It sent him to a bad headspace. But- "You should tell him that you mixed us up, it would make his year."

"He looks up to you?" Danny asked, openly curious. He jogged after Jason, down the stairs.

Jason snorted. "Not sure if that's true anymore, but he copies everything I do."

"...Little sibling energy," Danny decided. "I bet you like that he thinks you're cool."

"Let's change the subject." Ugh. No. Probably? Jason made a face.

Danny laughed. "What do you wanna talk about?"

Well. Jason stole a sideways glance as they crossed a landing and tried not to fidget. "Why'd you pick me?"

"...huh?"

It was hard not to hunch his shoulders up. "We were all, uh, throwing ourselves at you." That was still hilarious. "Why'd you pick me?"

They walked in silence for a while. They reached the bottom step and Jason held the door open for Danny. They stepped out into the brisk Autumn air.

"Well," he started slowly. "That's not quite… how I saw it." A wrinkle formed on his forehead when he frowned. "It's not like I was picking the best one out of the group of suitors or anything? Because obviously, that's not a way that I look to meet people. Romantically or otherwise."

His stomach fluttered. "So you're saying-"

"Think of it more like if I saw you in a coffee shop and asked for your number." Danny rubbed at the back of his neck. "I'd have thought you were… I mean, if we met elsewhere, I'd have…"

"I'm your type," Jason said, pleasantly surprised by it. He knew that big and muscular was a type, but it was just hard to think of himself as being particularly appealing.

Danny was bright pink. "... Why'd you accept?" He shoved his hands into the pockets of his borrowed coat.

"Curiosity," he admitted freely. "Didn't know anything about you. Wondered what you're like. Thought it might be fun."

"Huh." Danny seemed to consider this. "So far, am I what you expected?"

Jason held out an arm to stop Danny from walking into the street. He huffed a laugh. "I had no expectations," he said dryly. "But you're my type, if that's what you're asking." Apparently, playfulness worked for him. The teasing made him a little nervous, but in a good way.

"... Mysterious and cool?" Danny suggested.

He laughed. The pedestrian light turned green and he started walking.

Danny let out a huge, put upon sigh, but he was grinning lopsided as he trotted to catch up. "Laugh it up," he said cheerfully. "I'm cool and I can't be convinced otherwise."

Jason cleared his throat. "I guess I can't argue with that. D'you want to eat in a restaurant, or get it to go and sit up somewhere real high?"

"To go," Danny said instantly. "I don't like sitting, I get so antsy." He jogged in place to make a point, which had him fall behind Jason's regular walking pace. He caught back up easily.

Huh. Danny was pretty athletic, actually, so far as Jason could tell so far. He hadn't stopped moving since they'd met.

'Probably burns a ton of calories.'

Danny picked Mexican food, so Jason navigated them to a hole in the wall restaurant and got a few things to go. He was a goddamn gentleman, so he carried both bags and held them up high when Danny argued and tried to take one. "You can get drinks, okay?" He compromised.

They stopped at a convenience store

Jason waited outside while Danny flew in and out. He emerged with a bag that he wouldn't let Jason look at. "So, you said you want to go eat this somewhere up high?" Danny prompted.

Right. "Gotham's got good views," Jason explained. "You up for a climb?"

Danny's brow furrowed. "We both have full hands."

Jason grinned down at him. Aww, that was cute. "If that's too much for you, I can carry you up too."

He went beet red. "That will not be necessary."

"You sure?" Jason prodded, teasing.

"I'm very-"

"Hands up."

Both of them turned their heads to focus their attention on the man who was trying to mug them. Jason stared in disbelief. "Come on, man," he said, shaking the takeout bag pointedly. "Can't you see we're kind of busy here?"

Who did that? Who tried to mug two people on a date? Granted- Jason noted- the safety was on the gun. This guy hadn't exactly come ready to catch a murder charge.

The mugger had his face covered with a gray winter mask, but they could kinda see his brows furrow through the eyeholes. "I don't- you know you're being mugged, right?"

"It's up for debate," Danny said philosophically. He cocked his head to the side. Someone edged around them on the sidewalk, because this was fucking Gotham. "I'm not sure you're having the effect that you're going for, my guy. You should consider getting a gimmick or theme."

That was fucking terrible advice, actually. In Gotham, anyway. Maybe it helped villains to have a performance arts background where Danny lived.

"Just give me your wallets!" He shook the gun, as if hoping they just hadn't noticed it yet.

Jason sighed. He transferred both bags to his left hand. The mugger focused on him. He darted his now free right hand out and pulled the gun out of the mugger's grip.

The wannabe thief and Danny stared at him. Jason shrugged and started disassembling the firearm.

"Oh, shit," said the mugger. He sounded very young. "Fuck."

"Your Dad gonna be mad?" Jason asked sympathetically. "I know this isn't your fuckin gun."

"...My grandpa."

He hummed his acknowledgement. "Hands out." When the kid obeyed, he deposited the pieces of the gun into his hands. Jason put his now empty hand over the kid's skull and shook veeeery lightly. "Bad," he enunciated. "You're lucky. Try this shit again and you're eventually gonna get unlucky, you got that? The big bad bat is gonna give you medical debt you can't ever recover from."

"....Thanks. Have a good day, man."

"Have a good one," Jason returned, and put an arm around Danny's shoulder to steer him on his way. Danny craned his neck to watch their attempted thief cram the disassembled gun in his pockets.

"We aren't gonna fight him?" Danny sounded halfway confused about that. "That's what it's like to fight humans? He gave up just like that?"

Jason snickered and reeled Danny in that little bit closer so that his shoulder bumped against Jason's chest. "We should compare stories. On our way up the old city hall tower."

Check Yes (to go on a date with a dead guy)

Chapter 1

The expectant smiles froze on his siblings’ faces.

Jason blinked, still shaking off the disorientation of the green twisting blur that always came when he took his turn with tHe RitUaL. “What?” he said. It came out defensive. Usually they were all laughing by this point.

Dick reached out and took the post-it off his forehead. “We may have misunderstood this sacrificial thing.” He frowned at the note.

Jason tore it away and flipped it around to read it.

“...Please stop the bridal sacrifices,” he read, voice instantly trembling with the need to laugh. Holy shit. “Proposal is kinda forward. But if you really want, I’d totally go on a date with you. Check yes or no. Danny.” There were two smiley faces after the name and a scribbled drawing of a human looking guy with tall hair.

The batcave was in total, mortified silence. The ritual that had become their pre-patrol goof-off activity of choice had maybe… maybe been a mistake?

“I’m kinda hurt,” Dick broke the silence. “I’m marriageable. I’m a catch, even.” He was joking, but Jason was pretty sure that it wasn’t totally baseless. Who would look at Dick and then choose Jason, of all the people?

Stephanie snorted. “It’s probably your reputation as Ritchie Rich,” she soothed. “I’m sure if this… is it the same guy every time?” She blinked, clearly distracted from her original thought. “Have we all been proposing to Danny day after day?” She wondered. She started counting on her fingers.

“Twice last week,” Tim said thoughtfully. “I proposed to him twice last week.” A line formed between his brows. “I should probably tell Bernard, huh?”

“We must communicate with whoever this Danny is,” Damian said immediately. “If this realm possesses both animal life that resembles our fauna and sentient beings capable of the bad judgment necessary to select Todd as a suitor over Richard, we must know more.”

Jason made a face at Damian and flipped him off, but didn’t disagree. “How is this supposed to work?” He waved the post-it. That did imply some modernity, at least. They were communicating with someone who had stationary. “If I was going to check it, would he know what I picked? Or would I have to– should be bride sacrifice a notebook back and forth?”

“A notebook,” Tim said scathingly. “We can do better than that. A communicator, a phone.”

“Who says Danny has signal, dingbat,” Jason shot back. “He’s probably out of the service area.”

Cass took the paper out of his hand and peered at it. “Yes or no,” she asked, cutting off the disagreement before it could get heated.

He didn’t have to think about it. “Yes,” Jason said, mischief in every line of his body. “I gotta see where this is going. We should at least meet the guy.”

“He said you were tempting!” Dick gasped. He grabbed Jason by the arm and clung on. “Remember? The first time? You’re his type!”

Damian made a ‘gross’ face, features scrunched up like an unhappy cat. Stephanie ‘ooooed’ like she was watching a wrestling match. Cass merely looked thoughtful.

Jason shook his annoying brother off and kept him at a distance with a palm on Dick’s forehead.

“Oooh, the void boy has a crush on you,” Stephanie teased. “You’d be such a beautiful bride, Jason.” She didn’t react to Cass reaching into her hip pouch and withdrawing a sparkly purple pen. Jason loftily ignored Stephanie and watched Cass carefully check YES.

The note disappeared. Cass looked at her empty hand. She flicked the pen between her fingers. Her brow scrunched up.

“Shit!” Jason cursed. “Did-”

The group broke out into an explosion of excited sound.

A throat cleared from the stairs. “Kids?”

Batman stood there, wearing wary suspicion and most of his patrol outfit. He was under the impression that they had agreed to stop sacrificing each other to the green void.

“She took my pen,” Stephanie wailed, instantly switching tracks. Cass backflipped away three times and then leapt directly upwards into the rafters, waiving the purple pen tauntingly. Stephanie chased after her.

“What-”

“Jason won’t let me hug him,” Dick tattletailed. He lunged to grab at Jason. Jason dodged on reflex and threw himself into the scuffle.

“I need to call Bernard.” Tim turned and outright left the Batcave. “I’ll be about five minutes late for patrol, B.”

Bruce watched this chaos with bewildered eyes. “...We leave in ten,” he said, and visibly gave up.

…

The date, when it came, was a fuckin surprise to Jason. He was minding his own business compiling a report on everything the Two-Facers had done last week. (There was a surprising amount of bureaucratic process involved in making yourself the judge, jury, and executioner of people who sucked.)

And then there was a violently green hole in his wall. “Huh,” Jason said, leaning back in his chair. He pulled the handgun out of his desk drawer and cocked it at the portal. “Not sure I care for that.”

“Thanks, wolf,” came a warbled and nonsensical reply. Jason turned off the safety.

His brow furrowed. “What?”

The portal flashed white and it closed. He was lifting his gun to point at the man now standing in his apartment before he’d actually processed that someone had come through. This guy moved fast.

“This is where you live?” The other man was peering around Jason’s apartment. He seemed politely interested at best, and, Jason felt, much less concerned by the gun than he should have been. “I heard bats before. I thought there would be more bats.” His tone was disappointed. He looked at Jason and then flinched his palms out and up, as if he thought he might have come off rude. “Not that you need bats! Or that I’m disappointed by the lack of bats in your decor. In fact you have wonderful, uh, curtains.” He very obviously named the first thing that he saw. He pretended to be fascinated by them. “The red sure is a choice.”

Jason snorted.

“A great choice! I’m not criticizing your home. It’s great.”

Jason realized that if he didn’t say anything to save him, Danny was going to ramble himself into a verbal corner and slink out of the dimension to escape his obvious embarrassment.

“...You hair looks just like in the picture you drew,” Jason said. He put the safety back on. “Hello, Danny.” The name tasted odd in his mouth. It twas just a little pedestrian for the other man– no, teenager, the other teenager.

Danny looked young. No wonder he’d thrown Dic back like the wrong fish.

Jason felt a little less smug about having been the one chosen. Maybe he was just the most age appropriate candidate, not Danny’s type. Timmers was only two years younger, sure, but he was petite enough that it was a little ambiguous.

Danny turned away from Jason’s window and beamed up at him like that was the greated compliment he could have ever received. “I don’t actually have your name! Which is funny, since you kept manifesting in my house.”

God help him, Danny was cute. Jason reached out a hand. “Jason.”

Danny looked at his outstretched hand and then back to his eyes. He blinked. “Are- oh!” He flushed green and his hand shot out to meet Jason’s in what was very clearly the first handshake of his life.

It was a struggle not to laugh. He didn’t wanna make Danny feel bad so he held it in. There was a helpful distraction in that Danny was fascinating to the touch. It didn’t feel like he was touching a human hand. First off, the hand was about the temperature of butter straight from the fridge. Secondly, somehow the physical contact made Jason taste mint in his mouth.

But really, it just… it didn’t feel like human skin. It was too smooth. There was a raised line from a scar, but the texture was as if all the wrinkles and pores of human skin had been polished off. Like if you held the hand of a marble statue and it was somehow also soft.

Jason pulled his hand away before he could wonder too much if that supernatural smoothness extended elsewhere. Ah. Too late. He flushed a little red, even though the only exposed skin was Danny’s hands and face. “So you’re here to uh, set up a date?” he offered.

Danny blinked at him. “Are you busy now? I was thinking now.”

…He was sort of busy. Jason closed his notebooks, only now concerned that Danny might have seen extremely sensitive information. “Nope,” he lied, attention catching on Danny’s freckles. Something about them was pinging as relevant. Was there a pattern? They weren’t symmetrical or anything. Were they fake?

Danny beamed and - he floated up a few inches in his excitement. Holy hell that was cute. “Great!” he enthused. “Should we go to your place or to mine?”

Uh.

Jason turned violently red. “We are already in my place.” His voice came out tight. He- he hadn’t meant that. That was not a first date activity for him.

It took a few seconds for the penny to drop. “Go out in your city or go to the Ghost Zone!” Danny waved his hands frantically. “I’m not being a creep I swear! I mean, we are kind of spiritually engaged but I’m also engaged to– are those people your friends and family?” He was outright horrified. “Oh my GOD, I’m-”

“I would love to take you out around town, but you’ll stand out,” Jason interrupted. He couldn’t hold back the smile. “We can make it work, though. Thoughts on hats and glowing less?”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Danny twitched his hands outward in a motion he probably didn’t even know he was doing. There was another flash of white light that crawled up and down his body.

And Danny one was gone. Danny two stood in Jason’s apartment with dark hair, patched jeans, and a loose t-shirt that hid the musculature his jumpsuit had displayed. He had a full palette switch of his eyes and skin tone as well.

He was obviously the same guy. He just felt more down to earth now.

“Useful,” Jason said, and tugged at his snow-white forelock. “Think you could teach me to change my hair like that?” He was only half joking. It was the bane of his existence when he needed to go undercover. It was too distinctive.

“No, but Doctor Frostbite might be able to sort that out for you,” Danny replied absently.

Jason grimaced instinctively. He knew way too many gimmicky villains to want to do to someone called Doctor Frostbite. “That sounds like the name of a B-tier villain with blue hair.”

Danny paused and clearly contemplated it. “That’s Ember, actually,” which made no branding sense because the word ember evoked warm colors. “Lead the way!” He bounced on his heels, which Jason guessed was his human form equivalent to floating up.

Jason cleared his throat. “I, uh, am gonna want to change.”

For the first time, Danny really looked him up and down and realized that he was wearing a white sleeveless undershirt and black boxers. Jason waited patiently as Danny went through all the stages of grief and social mortification. That didn’t stop Danny’s eyes from followed Jason’s bare arms when he casually lifted one and flexed a little, rubbing at the back of his head. Ha. Eat that, Dick.

“I’m going to go drown myself,” Danny said, now violently pink. Huh, even blushing for a color change. “Can I use your restroom?”

“Stay alive enough to pick between Korean or Mexican,” Jason advised. “I’ll be right back. Should I find you a coat?” He didn’t wait for an answer, frowning at Danny’s bare arms. “I’m gonna find you a coat.” He was already on the way to his bedroom. “It’s freezing out.”

…

[intimidating-fettuccine]

Proxies relax day? What do they do together? Like fishing or camping?

(Scenario also Hi! I'm new!)

Hello! Welcome to the blog :) I know you specified scenario but I just haven't been in a scenario headspace, although I tried to spice this up for you. I hope you enjoy it regardless :)

Fishing, of course! Fishing is Tim's favorite pastime, and it's something he does on a weekly basis. He goes out on his boat, floats into the water, and fishes the day away. It's a way to destress for him, and it just calms him and makes him relaxed after a very long week. It's an honor, quite honestly, for Tim to invite someone to go fishing with him. Everyone knows not to mess with him, as he takes fishing very seriously, and it'll make him very upset and down if you get too rowdy and scare all the fish away, so when it became a tradition every few weeks for him to invite Brian and Toby, the two of them felt quite special.

Brian is the most easygoing with the whole thing. He sits there quietly and patiently, although he doesn't fish all that much as he just doesn't have the talent for it, he always brings them plenty of snacks and drinks, and he's very encouraging with them. He also takes a bunch of pictures of them while they're out there, whether it be group photos, or candid shots of the other two while they're fishing, he likes to have a bunch of photos to remember these times together. Toby on the other hand originally struggled quite a bit with the fishing trips. He gets antsy when he's in the same place for too long, so there would be lots of "Let's move the boat over there!", "Let's go swimmin' Tim!", "Can't we just go for a little walk?", "Is there anything else to do?" And all of them would be shut down by Tim pretty fast. Did it agitate the shit out of Tim? Yes. But he loves Toby and is understanding of him, so he would let it go. It wasn't until Toby had a bad episode out on the water, and he started rocking the boat and almost fell in that things came to a head, with Tim yelling at him in fear and concern to knock it the fuck off. Was that the best way to handle it? No. Were there lots of hugs and tears and apologies afterward? Yes. 

After that point, something sort of clicked in Toby, and he became much more relaxed on the fishing trips. It was the fear in Tim's voice and in his eyes as he almost fell into the deep water that chilled him out a lot on the water, and things became easier after that. Tim started paying him a lot more attention too, to make him feel more occupied. He got him a new fishing rod and a bunch of equipment, and it became a bonding thing for them. Giving him tips and advice, to cast your line over there, to reel it in like this, to use these sorts of baits, and these kinds of lures, and Toby paid attention to every single piece of advice Tim gave him, even bringing a little notebook and writing it all down. Toby started to enjoy fishing a lot more after that, and thus, the tradition was born. Every other Sunday, the three of them go out on the water and fish for most of the day, starting early around the time the sun rises. If they catch anything good, Tim will grill it up when they get home, but if not, at least they still got to spend a day out in the water. Brian's lock screen for the last few months has been his favorite picture of the two, sitting shoulder to shoulder with the sunrise in front of them, with Toby's head sleepily resting on Tim as they fish. Toby might not always be the best in situations like these, but he tries for Tim, and Tim tries for him too. At the end of the day though, they also always have Mama Brian there to smooth over any rough bumps between the two.

[buddiebeginz]

100% agree. I think the reason some people might have clued in to this more in the last couple of eps is because T*mmy was originally supposed only be in four episodes (Lou himself said as much). I think that changed though when they decided to pause on Buddie until s8. And since T*mmy's purpose in the storyline was done all we were left with were these scenes that only further served to highlight how him and Buck didn't fit well together.

If they had brought him back because they wanted to develop their relationship more (as B/T shippers have said) then we would have seen that. Except we didn't. At the medal ceremony we got a deliberate shot of the camera panning to Eddie and Chris when Buck gets his award. Then they have T*mmy telling Buck to "enjoy it while it lasts". Which tbh I always felt was an underhanded comment from Tim saying if you like this ship enjoy now it's not going to be around much longer.

There was the scene in the locker room with Bobby which B/T shippers took as a win that Bobby was giving his blessing on their ship but Bobby was not in a great headspace in the last couple of episodes. That convo with Buck happens when he's planning on quitting and was even suicidal. Buck is basically his son and he wanted to know if he wasn't there that Buck was happy. Bobby also likely hasn't seen Buck and T*mmy together much given how that convo went and so he doesn't know how good or bad their relationship might be.

B/T shippers speculated that Buck was going to T*mmy's after the locker room because Bobby asks him if he is and we see him carrying a bag. But Buck isn't the one who brings up T*mmy and he never says whether or not he's going to see him. In fact the only time we see T*mmy in that ep is at the medal ceremony and after the locker room we get an important intimate scene with Buddie in Eddie's kitchen.

The final ep of the season was the biggest example to me that Tim isn't interested in developing this ship long term. I know they were short on time but they literally could have had one scene with T*mmy at the hospital supporting Buck and they didn't. They could have used that dinner scene to cement their relationship more have Buck call T*mmy his boyfriend. They could have shown some kind of physical affection between them like have T*mmy put his hand on Buck's when Buck talked about almost losing Bobby but they didn't. Instead they chose to have T*mmy make a sex joke at an importune time. And considering this was the last image they were leaving the audience with of these two all that was saying is this relationship isn't serious.

This was further solidified in that deleted scene as well. T*mmy didn't take one second of that convo with Henren seriously. You'd think he would have given that this is Buck's first time dating a guy not to mention the kind of history between him and Hen but nope. He made a comment that was vaguely sexual again and gave off an attitude that really just said he didn't care one way or another what happens with him and Buck. This is not the kind of message you send to your audience right before the new season if you're trying to get them excited over a ship.

very curious to know if they did rewrites so people would dislike tommy instead of liking him in the last few episodes lmfao.

Nah, I think they always wrote him like that. Right from the beginning. Day one. The way he practically wooed Eddie, but didn't see it necessary to do the same for Buck? The way he left Buck standing on the curb? The way he was dismissive of Buck organising the party?

Nah... I'm pretty sure we were always supposed to see that Tommy wasn't a good match for Buck.

They just didn't count on Lou and his headcanon cameos to swoop in and try to spin Tommy as a good guy and a great match for Buck. 0_°

[vanityloves]

the lil finger thingy