#ITS ALL NECESSARY

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Into the Unknown, Part 55

First

Previous

Damian pressed up against the glass, staring up at the fossils with wide eyes.

“Wonder what he’ll be when he grows up,” Marinette joked quietly, adjusting the tiny box of cupcakes she had prepared for their unofficial party at the science museum. “Maybe a weatherman.”

Tim snickered, his chin coming to rest on her shoulder. He was wearing a dorky little party hat, and Marinette rolled her eyes when he purposefully twisted his head to poke her with the point.

“He’s going to be the cutest little biologist the world has ever known,” Tim said proudly.

Marinette hummed her agreement.

~

You know, Hanukkah isn’t actually a huge deal in Jewish culture. There has been a rise in people talking about it in recent years, as to combat Christmas being thought of as a completely secular holiday, but it’s not really meant to be a Big Thing.

Why did Tim care about it so much, then?

Tim wasn’t a particularly pious man. He did some things, and forwent others.

But Hanukkah… was the only thing his parents cared enough to come home for every year. They would get criticism for leaving Tim alone during ‘such an important time of year’, everyone was asking about what their plans were and they couldn’t risk people wondering why Tim never seemed to be involved.

Hanukkah — for him, at least — meant family. Which was why he was so grateful that Marinette was willing to celebrate the holiday despite not being ethnically or religiously Jewish in any way.

And it was also why he was currently pissed off at Jack and Janet Drake.

Not his parents, they were long dead, but instead an alternate version of them. Which, apparently, couldn’t be assed to visit this year.

Part of him wanted to use Kaalki to teleport to wherever they were and punch them both in the face.

He wanted to punch them for what they’d done to this alternate version of him. This version that was curled up on his couch, wrapped up in his boyfriend’s arms, sobbing and wondering what he’d done wrong.

He wanted to punch them for what their counterparts had done to him. He’d never really gotten the chance to tear them a new one in his reality. He’d not realized the extent of their harm when they were alive, and there was nothing but a grave to scream at by the time he’d fully processed it.

It would have been easy.

He still might do it later.

But there was something far more pressing. Tim stared at the alternate version of him.

That could have been him.

It was him, technically.

A version of him that, despite the mental nickname for him saying that he was a worse version of Tim, had done everything right. It was just that doing your best, sometimes, just isn’t enough for some people. And sometimes the best thing you can do is take that first step, confront those terrible feelings you want nothing more than to push down and smother in hopes that one day, maybe, they will love you (if only you can meet their impossible standards)… and decide to simply move on.

Not run away.

Move on.

“You’re never going to be able to get their love,” Tim said, quietly. “No matter what you do. It’s not your fault. Sometimes people just aren’t meant to be parents, and the kids have to suffer for it.”

Worse!Tim… no, Other!Tim… looked up at him with wide eyes.

“You’ve done everything you can, okay? It’s unfortunate that you ended up giving your love to people that will never really be able to return it.”

Other!Tim started crying harder. Whether that was a good sign or a bad one, Tim wasn’t sure, but he did know that this was what he had needed to hear all those years ago, and if this version of him was anything like him at all, then this information might be good for him.

“But… the thing about family is that blood, ultimately, means nothing. You can choose someone else, if that’s what you want.” He sighed. “It hurts a lot at first, trust me… it still hurts a little now, from time to time… but you can’t really heal until you take that first step.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets, trying for a smile.

“It just so happens that I know a family that might just be a perfect fit for you, if you’d like to try.”

Other!Tim was quiet for a moment, other than the sobs that were steadily petering off.

And then he nodded, a steely look in his eyes.

Tim got the feeling that Other!Tim may be doing this with spite in mind, with emotions as raw as they were… but just because someone didn’t have the best intentions in mind didn’t mean that they couldn’t accidentally stumble onto something good for them. Tim’s motivation back when he had become Robin wasn’t entirely pure, either, after all, even if he hadn’t admitted it to himself until much later — he’d wanted a family, people that would be there for him and would have his back through thick and thin — but he’d gotten better, both at understanding his role and responsibilities as Robin and at learning to truly care for the family he had suddenly found himself a part of.

He wanted to give this version of Tim the same chance.

(A similar chance that didn’t involve all the almost dying, at least.)

And… well, he could feel something coming. He could tell Marinette could feel it, too. A change in the air, a whisper that something will happen soon…

He wasn’t sure what would happen, but he did have one thing he was sure of:

He didn’t want to have any unfinished business.

For now, though, he smiled and poked the other version of him’s nose. Right where Kaalki’s glasses sat on his own face.

“Are you feeling better now? Because I want to go back to calling you Worse!Tim in my head and it feels weird to do that when you’re crying.”

“You call me what in your head?”

~

Listen, when you’re a kid, you think odd things. Like parties thrown in your name are actually about you, rather than excuses for your parents to bring over their friends with kids and have them distract each other for a few hours.

Why was this relevant?

Because that was exactly what Paige, Ava, and Marinette were doing with their kids (Floyd, Jasmine, and Damian respectively).

And also this:

“I’m older than you!” Floyd huffed. “So, I’m in charge!”

“No, I’m older than you,” Damian said.

Floyd turned to his mother, who paused in painting Jasmine’s nails. “Tell him I’m older!”

“You’re not, though,” Paige said, gently, patting him on the head.

Floyd blinked. “But… I’m taller, so I’m older.”

“No,” Ava said, her lips twitching. “That’s not how that works.”

“Though, seriously, Paige, what are you feeding that kid?” Marinette joked lightly, fanning Damian’s glittery green nail polish to get it to dry faster, since Floyd was insisting on them two playing with their action figures together. Damian wasn’t actually against it, he just wanted to wait for his nails to dry, which was where the original argument had come from.

“No clue,” Paige sighed. “The doctor said he might end up over seven feet.”

“… I just realized all our kids are probably going to be taller than me,” Marinette said, her eyes widening in horror. “I don't think my old, frail heart will be able to take that.”

Ava made a face at that. “Don’t say that. Jasmine, honey, you’re not going to be taller than me, will you? You’re going to stay my baby forever, right?”

“I’m going to be taller than everyone, momma,” Jasmine said.

Ava groaned.

~

Steph crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, so you invite your long lost twin brother to your weird psuedo-family Hanukkah gathering but not me?”

“Uh…” Tim was torn between pointing out that inviting a supposed family member to a family gathering made sense (he was trying to keep the lying to a minimum), admitting that he had mostly only done it because Worse!Tim was sad (not his story to tell), or just staying quiet and hoping for the best (likely to end in Steph being more annoyed with him). “Yeah?”

She huffed, wiping a fake tear from her eye. “Really makes a fake sister feel neglected, you know.”

“Well, if you want to go…”

“Of course I want to go, Tim!” She swatted at his arm. “I’m a college student do you really think I’m going to pass up a chance at free food?!”

~

“Marinette,” Steph said, pointing at two of the different pictures she had printed out. “There’s a difference between these types of cells. Don’t you see? This one has more of a round shape.”

Marinette who had finals coming up and was very much tired of staring at these things looked at Steph with dead eyes.

“Don’t play with me, Stephanie, they’re both round.”

“But this one is more round, see?”

Marinette did not.

“Man, I’m so going to fail.”

~~~~~

Next

@unoriginalmess @hammalammadamdam @astrynyx @laurcad123 @927roses-and-stuff @toodaloo-kangaroo @queenz-z @imarivers8 @jeminiikrystal @adrestar @twsssmlmaa @literaryhiraeth @trippingovermyfeet @ev-cupcake @its-maemain

[oneluckygoose]

Look look, I’m at 20k now. I’m three chapters in. These are so long. Much too long. All the information is incredibly important though. You have to understand everything that happens is necessary. Should this chapter be 10k? Probably not, but It’s actually going to be longer because I’m not done yet. Help me. I want to post this by hopefully Wednesday. I just churned out like 6k. AHHHHH.

[beastlyidiocy]

my sweet old man who is genuinely too kind for the world he lives in :(

[venomgaia]

gal who calls you girliepop and collects bugs

[bunnieswithknives]

Gore, Violence and Blood under the cut

What a mess

[sw33t-oubliette]

"this wont make your blog look ugly/bad i dont care if it doesnt fit with your blog theme REBLOG THIS NOW" "how could you not reblog this you horrible person" "if you dont reblog this youre a *insert bad thing*/a bad person" "no *insert group/person* will reblog this" what if i killed you violently and painfully

[skunkes]

[copia]

endless ghifs 6/? ⛧ source — "So if you meet me, have some courtesy; have some sympathy, and some taste!"

[byjovewhataspend]

Kacchan Bias

the left wouldnt be REMOTELY interesting to me if it werent for the right

[literaphobe]

miraculous movie very funny to me bc of how many adrichat things are just unexplained. why is he at school now? no clue. how’d he meet nino? you tell me. why did plagg choose him? yeah he just uh. he just saw a window ran in and knew. no adrien didn’t save the lives of any old men. yeah he’s just a hero now. also plagg will not stop farting

[mangfotingar]

in daniel matthews' case, it takes a village

[surreal-duck]

master artist and his number one fan

guy who is being so normal about the new additions to their profiles. i think abt midoris initial infatuation with his art slowly developing into appreciating yuzuru himself as a person and idol to the point he worries about how he sees him (ex: a bit of home party and in workplace survival rules) sometimes thats a lie i think about it a lot. and yuzuru learning to enjoy art just for the sake of drawing!! seeing the lets try diy story where he doesnt even refute drawing on midoris desk and was only worried that his doodles might cover up the mascot design compared to how discouraged he usually would be in earlier ! stories. everything to me i adore their dynamic if that wasnt obvious by *gestures to basically everything*

and happy pride month 🏳‍🌈

[puppyboycy]

Puppy boys deserve cock in their face and balls in their mouth!! Its so enriching for them i promise theyll moan and suck them

[elftwink]

to preface this post i am anti-advertising i think we should explode the entire industry but it's sooo funny when you people make posts like "and they don't even work!!" like. sorry to be the bearer of bad news but yes they do. that's why we have to put up with so many despite everyone hating them and thinking its annoying. because they actually work really well and make a shit load of money

[slavhew]

you win. try again?

[hiemaldesirae]

train ride