#Jason starts processing trauma and it’s actually starting to do good for him

[ri-afan]

So I learned Jason had an older brother named Danny and had the idea of Danny popping up in Crime Alley to help and gaining enough of a reputation as Phantom (unnamed) that Red Hood checks him out.

Red Hood questions the ghost, finds out he’s a ghost, is vaguely told his life after death, that not all ghosts remember things as living people would, and dos and don’ts of interactions. Phantom just wants to help!

Important, I need him to eventually say “I go by Phantom, but… you can call me Danny” and if it can be delayed into their meeting a bit and Red Hood picks up the previous info over time then all the better. Maybe Danny is a bit jaded after whatever made him move, maybe it’s just been a while since he’s talked to a human regularly, maybe he’s nervous about Red Hood’s relationship with Batman and Batman’s ties with the JL and the government—take your pick.

Now Red Hood doesn’t say too much on it, doesn’t show it a ton in his actions and stuff (he’s a former street kid who was bat-raised to be Robin after all) and definitely doesn’t voice his thoughts about it, but he totally thinks that Danny is the ghost of his dead brother.

He’s not though, he’s still Danny Fenton and in no way related to Jason. At most he’s only heard rumours of the guy, possibly from the dead who like Red Hood for avenging them and Danny’s nervous “because he’s Red Hood and he’s just Phantom”.

How long until this clears up? Eh. That’s up to you, but please let me know 😉

[queenie-ofthe-void]

I've seen a few secret admirer Steddies going around where Steve's the one giving the notes (which I LOVE! I feel like those aren't as common)

But I headcanon Steve as having the worst handwriting. Therefore, I present platonic partners in crime CheerKing (is that right? Idk)

~~~

Under no conditions would Steve ask Carol to write the notes. But he's always liked Chrissy, and she seems trustworthy.

They strike up a deal. Chrissy will dictate Steve's notes and drop them in Eddie's locker herself. In return, Steve has to act as her fake-boyfriend to keep Jason at bay.

Then SHENANIGANS! Eddie gets feelings for Admirer, he sees Chrissy slip a note in his locker after Hellfire one evening. He's never had someone crush on him before, and he's straight (cue internalized homophobia, childhood trauma, big feelings for Steve he can't process) so he tries to convince himself he likes her.

The only problem is she's dating King Steve. Eddie hates the guy, with his stupid shiny hair and his big brown eyes and his moles and his smile... why does he get all the girls? Chrissy's the first girl to ever like him and of course Mr. Dreamy is dating her. They're not even clingy like he was with Wheeler so he probably doesn't even like her that much, just sees her as a rebound.

Eddie actually replies to the notes, leaving them in the library books Admirer tells him to. Steve knows Eddie likes Admirer, the pieces of Steve he shares in the notes, and it's the only way Steve gets to talk to him and he lives for it. But instead of Eddie asking who Admirer is, Steve watches as Eddie starts flirting with Chrissy. Steve gets all hurt and jealous because he thought Eddie was gay but now he's unsure. Still, he can't give up getting Eddie's replies, so he keeps writing.

Does Chrissy play along to keep Steve's secret even though this guy is crushing on her? Chrissy really likes Eddie, but she likes him as a friend. She decides to not tell him he's mistaken, because she wants to keep getting invites to band practice at Gareth's so she can spend more time with their cute friend Jeff.

Let's make it even more complicated! Instead of Tammy Thompson, Robin has a crush on Chrissy and sees her slip a note into Munson's locker on her way out of band practice and decides she's going to tell Steve to take him down a peg and hopefully breaks up with Chrissy. They then have a bathroom scene: she's been watching Steve and Chrissy for months and tells him how it's fucked up that he follows Eddie around, stares at him across the cafeteria, etc (she's saying it's bc Steve's jealous / Steve thinks she's calling him out). So he confesses, and cries. She feels like an asshat so she comes out too. They're just two gay idiots in love with straight people (only one of them is wrong. Sorry Robin!! Idk how to fix that part).

Steve starts coming with Chrissy to Hellfire night. Steve's doing it for protection from Jason, who's getting increasingly angry about Chrissy and Eddie. Eddie thinks Steve's being nice because he's sizing him up, trying to insert himself in between him and Chrissy in some macho way.

It all comes to a head when Jason catches Chrissy hanging with Jeff in the library (she's told Jeff EVERYTHING and is picking up Eddie's last reply). Jason hears them talking about Eddie planning to ask Chrissy out and decides to follow Eddie out to the quarry after school. Robin saw Jason pull out behind him and runs to tell Steve before he starts practice.

Steve rushes out and saves Eddie, then brings him home to patch him up. Eddie's pissy about it, Steve thinks it's adorable but frustrating. Jeff and Chrissy stop by the trailer when Eddie misses practice.

Eddie confesses his feelings to Chrissy, but she's holding hands with Jeff. Steve's forced to admit he's Admirer, sending Eddie head first into a sexuality crisis. But it's happy ever after so it's all good.

We get platonic hellcheer, platonic kingcheer (??), platonic stobin, Jeff x Chrissy (corrodedcheer??), and Steddie.

Idk there's something here but I don't want to write it lol Too many POVs and through lines for a person who already has a million WIPs.

[weirdfishy]

my ko-fi 💛

who is this "canon" you speak of? i don't know of 'em

anyway i'm supposed to be writing two papers but here:

~

Tim never does know why he’s still left unsupervised.

Sure, he’s basically already taking over Wayne Industries and it warrants him a certain level of independence and ‘must be left alone’ time to slog through the inner workings of the massive company (seriously, how anyone really buys that Brucie Wayne thing when Wayne Industries is this good under the supposed playboy, Tim will never know). But when it comes to hero work, and Tim is left alone in the Batcave, well. Tim shouldn’t be left alone in the Batcave.

The second he is, Tim renounces all responsibility. Everyone knows the last time that happened he was halfway through constructing an automated espresso machine (that wouldn’t tell him he couldn’t have more shots), and Fido was moved all the way to the other side of the cave with no video proof as to how it was done and no recollection from Tim.

The time before that, he had started working out how to get a zeta tube to send him to classes, and would have succeeded if exhaustion from the six-day caffeine-fueled work hadn’t zonked him out in a newly-filled ball pit. Because the time before that, Tim had somehow put together a suspended ball pit in the depths of the cave like an acrobat’s safety net (no less than everybody-sans-Alfred had been shoved over the ledge into the ball pit, and yes he means Bruce was ganged up on by his children to get him to flop ungracefully into the plastic balls and Alfred has it on video on an extremely secret USB hidden somewhere in the house) while the rest of the brood were at a gala.

With nothing to say of when he was particularly sleep deprived and went out on patrol one night only to come back having placed a fucking tracker on Joker (which was still operating, by the way).

Because while Tim is a genius, he is also fundamentally unhinged.

Take, for one singular example— how he became Robin. Yes, Tim is aware that one of the ways Bruce deals with his trauma is by trying to save himself in the form of lost kids that look like him at his most vulnerable, but Bruce also is usually the one to take a kid under his wing. Tim just ran at the man with determination, keeping detailed tabs on the billionaire he figured out was Batman (and then Dick, who was logically Robin) and wriggling his way into the operation.

Ergo he shouldn’t be left to his devices when in a non-Wayne Industries headspace.

This one though, this one isn’t his fault. 

Yes, he might have been left alone, working on a mission report (he was actually typing up a new draft for his thesis paper unconsciously in the report’s sections, but Bruce would eventually get the actual report out of him later), and also nursing an americano that would actually work to help him sleep better later, but it Wasn’t His Fault.

After a few minutes of his brain processing what a Lazarus-green apparition in a speedo was shouting at him while Tim came back from refilling his cup, Tim was sure the….ghost was vying for the samples of probable-Lazarus waters he had brought back from his trip to Northeastern Iowa, where a pool of stagnant green liquid had been reported. It was probably related to the pits, if Jason’s growl at just seeing the picture of it was anything to go by, so he’d dropped by to get intel. It hadn’t smell like curdled milk and a half-eaten carcass left out in the sun for too long like the pits in Nanda Parbat, but it was still a little too similar to leave it alone.

He was running tests on a vial already, but he still had a good couple ounces in a sealed case off to the side. The ghost was floating towards it, raving about his pool, how dare he take it away from him. Which didn’t make a lick of sense to Tim, but he still kinda needed those samples, so he stood in front of the case defensively, staff extended. He didn’t know if anything in the cave would do anything against what is probably intangib— yup, his staff passed right through the ghost.

So, Tim did the most logical thing: turned on his heel, snatched up the case, and started running.

He ran around the upper level for a while, hurdling over various things, running up Fido and sliding back down, before he shouted at the Bat computer to video call Constantine. Last time they had a ghost problem, Constantine had fucked off somewhere and then the problem seemed to resolve itself within the hour, but that ghost was hyper-focused on world domination.

“Batsy? Thought you were off-world.” Constantine’s face pops up on the screen, looking disheveled and with eyebags to match Tim’s. Even though he looks like he just woke up, he’s still in his white button down and beige coat.

Tim, currently standing on top of the Batmobile, in distant yet full view of the computer’s camera, shouts, “Not B! How the fuck do you deal with a ghost!??” Tim hops off the car and dashes towards the computer as Constantine just gives a weary sigh, dragging a hand down his face.

“Give him what he wants, bird-kid.” Tim’s can’t do that! has the blonde heaving another put-out sigh. “Gimme a minute, I’ll be over.”

With that, and cutting off Tim’s confused squawk, Constantine hangs up. Tim starts cussing out the now-dark screen like Jason would when he stubs his toe, before a ghostly hand reaches through him (0/10 would not recommend) and he darts off again, this time swan-diving into the middle of the ball pit. With a press to one of his watch’s buttons, there’s a soft sliding sound, and Tim is dropped into a metal slide that twists and turns as he shouts in glee and adrenaline.

The slide was the pièce de résistance of the ball pit he had constructed, the ending opening up to the zeta tubes with a smaller ball pit to catch whatever came down with the person.

Tim sticks the landing right when a tube materializes Constantine, who is looking bemused and is holding up a little gray-and-green cylinder, the glowing green end pointed over Tim’s shoulder. He dashes behind Constantine, turning to face the ghost still shouting at him to hand over the still-intact case of probably-Lazarus water.

Speedo-ghost gets closer, and Constantine says the most bizarre thing.

“Get souped, bitch.”

Then Speedo-ghost disappears, sucked into the little cylinder thing Constantine is holding, the cave going anticlimactically quiet. Tim stands to peer at the cylinder-thing, expecting it to shake and glow like a poké ball trying to contain a pokémon.

Instead of thanking Constantine, with manners befit of a person living with Alfred Pennyworth, Tim blurts, “What the fuck is that and can I have one?” 

He can almost feel the disappointed look he’d get if Alfred heard that, wincing as Constantine snorts.

“Ghost thermos. 2.0. I can ask my nephew, but he probably won’t. Gotham doesn’t get enough ghosts to warrant it outside of calling me or Zatanna.” 

“Zatanna has one too??”

“No, she’s got her own way of dealing with ghosts. Mine is better though. Obviously.” Constantine pulls a cigarette out, putting it between his lips. He doesn’t light it, but given that the last time he did in this household Alfred had scared the rest of his soul out of his body, it makes sense.

“Okaayyy well how does it work?” Tim peers at it closer, and now that it’s got a lid covering the end that sucked up the ghost, it does kinda look like the bat-thermos Dick always takes to work in Blüd.

Constantine smirks, and Tim is well-used to this type of stupid cop-out answer from his siblings to not roll his eyes before the blonde can even say– 

“Magic.”

~

Pau 💚

yeah i didn't know how i wanted to end it but my friend is hounding on me to actually write the papers, so i couldn't stew on this for longer :/

ao3 link (all my fics are archive locked, you have to be signed into an account to read them; title: Tim Drake’s introduction to ✨Ghosts✨ by wiltedplant)

John “oh my nephew gave me this thermos that souped your ghost problem” Constantine

vs

Tim “what the fuck do you MEAN your nephew gave you a ghost-eradicating thermos why have i never heard of this gimme the tech” Drake

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

Stomping Grounds

Father of Mine – Masterlist

warnings: mentions of sex work, homelessness, abused and neglected children

a/n: this takes place a couple weeks after Trauma

Jason woke up to find that he was being straddled by his girlfriend, and she was covering whatever skin she could find with kisses.

He groaned with his eyes closed, pretending to be annoyed. But his smirk was clear.

“Can I help you?” He mumbled sleepily.

“Guess what!” Y/N whispered in his ear.

He squinted one eye open. “What?”

“My shoot got canceled,” she whispered excitedly.

Jason smiled. “Well, in that case…”

In one swift movement, he swiped an arm up and hooked her torso, bringing her off of him and onto the other side of his bed, trapped in his arms, facing him.

Y/N giggled at his antics.

“What do you wanna do today?” She whispered, playing with the white streak in his hair.

Jason’s eyes were closed. “Sleep.”

“OK. Then what?”

“Sex.”

Y/N giggled. “K. Then what?”

“More sex.”

“Mhmm,” she was still on board. “We gonna eat at some point?”

Then Jason’s eyes snapped open. “Actually, there’s some things I gotta do today.”

“OK,” she shrugged. “I’ll come with you.” Her face dropped, “Unless it’s Red Hood business…”

She seemed disappointed by the thought, because she really did want to tag along.

Jason cleared his throat as he thought. “Not exactly…”

“So I can come with?”

He studied her face before answering, “I guess. It’s not exactly going to be fun.”

“That’s OK. I just want to spend time with you.”

Jason smiled at that and nodded, then started moving out of bed.

“Hey!” Y/N whined. “I was promised sex.”

Jason chuckled as he jumped back on the bed and locked Y/N into a kiss.

————

Jason could sense Y/N eyeing her surroundings.

She may not be trained like her father, but she was smart and knew how to be observant. And they were in Crime Alley, Gotham’s most dangerous neighborhood.

This was where Bruce’s parents were murdered.

And anyone, who even had just half a brain, knew that this place should be avoided at all cost.

“You don’t have to worry,” he told her softly.

Her eyes snapped over to Jason’s. “I’m not worried.” She gave him a shy smile. "I’m with you.”

The words caught him by surprise, so much so, that he pressed the brakes on his car just to look at her and process them.

“What?” Y/N asked innocently, truly not knowing the impact of what she said.

Instead of answering, Jason leaned across to kiss her.

“I love you,” he told her.

She giggled, still not fully understanding. “I love you, too.”

Jason threw his car in park and jumped out. Y/N followed suit.

“Come on,” Jason grabbed her hand and pulled her along. “We’re gonna be late.”

“Well, how the hell am I supposed to know that when you haven’t even told me where we’re going or what we’re doing?”

Jason just pulled her behind an old, dingy diner. It was an alley but also led to the back of the restaurant where the food could be unloaded.

“‘Bout time, kid.” An old man huffed when he spotted the two of them. His big gut was covered by a white t-shirt and waist apron that were both covered in grease and other various cooking stains.

“Yeah, yeah, Marty. I already paid you, whattaya really complainin’ about?”

Y/N smirked at Jason’s Gotham accent. Usually he was pretty good at concealing it. But she loved when it came out of hiding.

“Is this your lady?” Marty asked with a grin.

Jason smiled. “Sure is. Marty, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is Marty – he owns the diner.”

“Nice to meet you,” Y/N shook his hand.

“I’ve known this punk since he was a toddler,” Marty teased as he pat Jason roughly on the back. "But I ain’t got a clue what the hell that Bruce Wayne was feedin’ him? Jesus. I’ll never get over it. Before he started coming back 'round here again, the last time I saw him, the kid was skinny as a streetlight.”

Jason sighed. “Yeah, yeah.”

“You know the drill, kid. All the boxes with red exes are yours,” Marty told him. Then his gaze switched to Y/N. “Next time you’re around the neighborhood, stop by for some food. It’s on me,” Marty smiled at her with a wink.

Y/N laughed. “Thank you.”

Marty punched Jason playfully in the arm before turning to go inside. “I’ll see you in a couple weeks, kid.”

Once he was inside, Y/N gave Jason a look that silently asked, ‘You gonna tell me what we’re doing now?'

“He tries to act tough,” Jason explained, “but he’s got a soft spot for the less fortunate, particularly kids.”

“What’s in all these boxes?” She asked.

“Hot meals.” Jason answered as he counted them and started checking the insides.

When he stood straight again, he was greeted with a still-confused girlfriend.

Jason sighed and scratched the back of his neck, suddenly bashful.

“Ummm...yeah. Every couple of weeks, I pay Marty for these and hand them out to people,” he finally explained. “The right people, the people who need it the most,” he clarified harshly.

Y/N was looking at him in a way she never had before. Jason couldn’t quite read it, but it seemed like a good thing.

She nodded. “So, we carrying these to your car?”

Jason seemed surprised as he watched her grab a box before he could even answer.

“Come on,” she teased with a smile.

He laughed and shook his head at her before grabbing three boxes and following after his girlfriend.

"Show off," Y/N mumbled over her shoulder.

15 minutes later, they were back in the car.

Y/N was looking out the window again. “This is where you grew up, right?”

Jason nodded. “Yup.”

It was a shit hole, that was for sure. Buildings were falling apart. And there were literal dumpster fires on the sidewalks to keep the homeless warm or to try and cook something. The gloomy day didn’t help either, only making the neighborhood seem even more depressing.

“I guess I didn’t…” Y/N paused. “I didn’t expect you to ever want to come back here.”

She knew Jason constantly patrolled the area with the rest of the boys. But that was something entirely different. For Jason to return to his neighborhood as himself – no uniform, no weapons – was not something Y/N ever expected from him.

“Well…” Jason sighed. “I never told you, so how would you know?”

He pulled the car onto a surprisingly abandoned road.

Then stopped the car and back it into another alley.

Y/N didn’t miss Jason looking around, making sure the coast was clear.

“Let’s go,” he told her.

Y/N knew this couldn’t be all that dangerous, otherwise her overprotective boyfriend never would’ve let her tag along. But that didn’t stop Y/N from still being cautious and alert.

The alley was covered in trash in the front. And it went so far back that they couldn’t see the other end. Instead, it was covered in darkness.

Jason put two fingers in his mouth and did a specific whistle tune.

Y/N almost laughed, thinking he was messing with her.

But just a few moments later, there was rustling from the end of the alley.

“It’s Jason!” A small voice cheered.

Then the chaos ensued, and a hoard of children came out of nowhere.

Jason chuckled as – what seemed like – 100 children came running towards them. He turned and popped the trunk of his car and started unloading meals.

“Alright, alright,” he told the kids sternly. “You know the drill: there’s plenty for everyone. Form a line. You’re not animals.”

To Y/N’s shock, the kids immediately quieted and did as Jason requested.

Then she snapped out of it and started helping him hand out meals.

“Mr. Jason, is this your girlfriend?” A tiny boy asked Jason, but his eyes were staring up at Y/N.

The boy reminded Y/N of that picture she’d seen of Jason as a kid at the manor, all skin and bones.

“Yep. This is Y/N, my girlfriend.”

There was an eruption of noise as the kids reacted to the news. Clearly, Jason had never brought anyone with him on these little missions.

“She’s really tall,” a girl said.

Y/N laughed.

“Is she an Amazon?!” Another asked excitedly.

Jason smiled, glancing at Y/N. “Hmm...not sure. You should ask her.”

“Miss Y/N, are you an Amazon?” A little girl asked with a mouth full of food.

Y/N gave her an apologetic look. “I’m not. Just a normal, human girl.”

“I think she’s lying," an older boy commented. "Are you a princess like Wonder Woman?”

“She sure is as beautiful as a princess, isn’t she?” Jason chimed in.

It just made Y/N's face heat up from embarrassment.

An hour or so later, all the kids were fed.

Jason and Y/N talked to them and even played for a bit. It was clear Jason had known these kids for awhile. He knew every single one of their names and other personal things about them.

Y/N had never seen Jason interact with children before. The closest thing to it was watching him and Damian, which was obviously an arduous relationship. And Damian was completely unlike other kids his age.

“OK, kiddos. We gotta head off and drop off some more stuff,” Jason told them.

There was a wave of groans and pleas for them to stay longer.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Jason held of his hands. “We’ve been over this before: you know I can’t stay. But before I leave, what do I tell you guys? What are the keys?”

The kids sighed before reciting the following together, “Stay warm. Store food. Keep out of sight. Blend in. Trust no one, but always look out for each other.”

Y/N’s face dropped as she heard the kids code of living on the streets.

Jason nodded, seeming satisfied with their response.

He guided Y/N to the car, as if he knew she wouldn’t be able to do so without it.

Y/N stared in disbelief as she looked forward. “How can we just…leave them like that?”

Jason sighed. “It gets easier. But there’s not much else we can do.”

“Bruce said the foster care system is corrupt. Is that true?”

He just nodded. “Believe it or not, they’re safer with each other out there than they’d ever be in those hell holes.”

“Do you pay for that food every week?” Y/N asked.

Jason nodded. “Don’t worry, it’s what I shake off of the assholes Red Hood busts every night. If for some reason I don’t get enough, I pawn it off Bruce.”

“Pawn?” Y/N quirks an eyebrow.

“OK,” he rolled his eyes. “I steal it from Bruce. But I’m pretty sure he knows – just doesn’t seem to care because he found out what I was doing with it.”

Y/N nodded slowly. “So���where to now?”

Jason smiled. “Going to say hello to a few old sex-worker friends of mine.”

Y/N blinked. “Please think about what you just said to your girlfriend…”

Jason whipped around to looked at her. “Fuckin’ hell…Not like that!”

Y/N actually threw her head back and laughed at him.

“They’re friends,” Jason clarified over her laughter. “Just friends.”

“Got it,” she was still laughing.

The street Jason turned on was brighter than the others, thanks to the dozens of neon signs. The sidewalks and curbs were a bit cleaner. This particular area was most likely taken care of to attract…customers... instead of scaring them away.

“Well, look who it is,” a middle-aged woman called from across the street. “Our little JJ.”

A few other women sauntered over, glancing over their shoulders cautiously.

Y/N wondered if they would get in trouble with their pimps for talking to them. Did sex workers still have pimps? She didn’t even know how it worked anymore.

“I come bearing gifts,” Jason teased before opening his trunk.

Earlier, Y/N hadn’t noticed other supplies shoved in the corner of the trunk: condoms, first aid kits, hand sanitizer, and water bottles.

“You gals got time to eat?” Jason asked, taking in his surroundings.

“Should have about an hour before any of those fucks come checking in on us again,” a redhead told him, as she politely took a box of hot food from Jason’s hands.

“I see you brought a new kind of gift, JJ.” Another girl said as she looked Y/N up and down.

“Ladies, this is my girlfriend, Y/N.”

Y/N did an awkward little wave at them with a polite smile.

Jason named all the women and girls to Y/N, once again seeming to know all of them very well.

“You finally got a girl, JJ?” The redhead teased, who’s name was apparently Barbie. "I was starting to think you swung for the other team…”

Jason just rolled his eyes.

“Nahhh. JJ’s always loved the girls,” another woman named Lucy chimed in with a smile. “He’s just too respectful to bag one.”

Before Jason could come up with a witty counter, a young girl – younger than both Jason and Y/N – came rushing up to Jason and whispered something in his ear.

All amusement was wiped from Jason's face.

He turned to Y/N. “You good for a few minutes? I gotta handle something upstairs real quick,” he pointed to the motel they were standing outside of.

Y/N nodded.

“We’ll look after her, JJ.” One of the women promised.

Jason gave Y/N one final look before following the younger girl into the building.

“Ya know, most gals wouldn’t appreciate their man dropping off food for a bunch of whores,” Barbie muttered to her before inhaling from her cigarette.

Y/N couldn’t help but smile at that. “He said he grew up around most of you. Called you his old friends.”

“Sure did. We looked after him like he was our own little boy. But…” She blew out her cigarette smoke from the side of her mouth. “There’s only so much we could protect him from out here.”

Y/N nodded in understanding.

“When he showed up here all them years later, two feet taller and 3 times wider, most of us didn’t recognize him,” she laughed darkly. “We thought he was just another customer…”

Then she seemed to misread Y/N’s expression. “Don’t worry. He’s never been a…you know…customer.”

Y/N shook her head. “I wasn’t worried.”

Barbie narrowed her eyes. “He treatin’ you right, honey?”

Y/N couldn’t help but laugh. “He is. Better than I’ve ever been treated, actually.”

“Then why do you seem down?”

Y/N shrugged. “Jason never talks about his time living here. I didn’t even know he still saw any of you, until today. Just wish he would talk to me about it more.”

“That boy had it rough. Barely had a home or parents – that’s why he was always hanging ‘round here. Sometimes I think we were the closest thing to a mother he’d ever get.” Barbie took another hit from her cigarette. “But him introducing us to you, I think that might be a sign that he’s ready to open up about it.”

Y/N blinked, realizing she had a point.

Just as Jason promised, he was back at Y/N’s side a few minutes later.

“Everyone get somethin’ to eat?” Jason asked Barbie.

She nodded.

But Jason noticed there was still some containers of food in his trunk.

“Here.” He stacked them and handed them to the same girl who had brought him upstairs. “For the other girls working. If there’s still some left, you know who else needs ‘em.”

“Thanks for bringing your girlfriend,” Barbie told Jason with a wink. “She’s a keeper.”

Jason blushed a bit. “I’ll try to come back again soon.”

“Don’t you worry about us, JJ.” Lucy told him. “We know how to take care of ourselves. You’re one of the few who got outta here, don’t let us drag you back into it.”

Jason nodded, but Y/N knew he would be back anyways.

“Ready?” He asked Y/N.

She nodded and gave the girls a sad wave.

When they started driving back to their apartment, a silence filled the car.

Y/N realized that, in a way, she had just met Jason’s family. There had never been a nervous meet-the-parents moment for them. Because Jason didn’t have any. But the people Y/N had met today, those were the closest thing he’d ever gotten to a family, before Bruce brought him into his home.

Y/N reached over the console and gripped Jason’s thigh. “Thank you for bringing me today.”

He seemed surprised by her sincerity. “You don’t regret coming?”

“Of course not."

They didn’t say much more until they were back home.

Jason decided he wanted to make them spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.

Y/N quietly watched him as she sat at the kitchen counter, with a glass of wine in front of her. Jason enjoyed cooking and almost always refused Y/N’s help. However, he did love having her keep him company while he moved around the kitchen.

“What’s got you so quiet?” Jason said after 30 minutes or so.

The only thing he’d been listening to is the soft music playing throughout the apartment. Y/N had hardly said a word.

Y/N took in a shaky breath. It was now or never.

“You know, you never really talk about any of it…”

Jason paused his chopping. “Any of what?”

“Your childhood. Your past. Anything from before you met me.” She didn’t sound mad or even disappointed, just sad.

Jason sighed and went back to chopping, more aggressively now. “You don’t want to hear about that shit, Y/N.”

He should’ve expected this conversation to come sooner or later, especially after Bruce had given him the heads up a couple weeks ago.

“Yes, I do,” she insisted gently. “I want to know everything about you, Jason.”

He slammed the point of the knife into the cutting board, causing Y/N to jump.

“What do you want to know?” Jason yelled. “That my dad was an asshole who beat me and my mom? That my mom cared more about getting her next fix than she cared about me? Is that the shit you’re dying to hear? Huh?!”

Jason had never raised his voice at Y/N like that.

It made her jump, staring at him in disbelief with wide eyes.

And he instantly regretted it. “Fuck,” he gasped. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean – fuck, Y/N. I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

She just shook her head and whispered, “Those are the things I want to hear, Jason.”

“Why?” He blurted out.

Y/N slowly got up from the kitchen stool and moved around the other side of the counter, where Jason stood.

She hesitated before wrapping him into a tight hug.

“Because even though they’re terrible, they had a hand in who you are today. I don’t just want to know about all the happy, good things in your life. I want to know the bad shit, too. You can’t scare me away, Jason.”

Y/N felt the tension slowly release from his body the longer she held him.

“I’ve never talked about it before,” he admitted weakly.

“Well, that’s more reason to do it with me. 'Cause I'm not gonna judge any of it."

Jason pulled away from Y/N a bit, but still kept her within reach.

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” she tried to assure him.

He nodded. “I know. I didn’t mean to yell at you. I’m so sorry.”

She brushed it off though. “It’s fine. Really.”

Jason took in a deep breath. “How about you sit your pretty butt back in that chair, I get back to cooking, and you can ask me anything you want?” He bit his lip. “But I just…I might need...time to answer some of them. Maybe not tonight, but I’ll get there. K?”

Y/N nodded encouragingly. “That’s all I ask, Jason.”

He tapped her butt playfully. “Go on, beautiful.”

But she fought his command and quickly kissed him before returning to her chair.

The rest of the night entailed Y/N navigating through Jason’s dark childhood.

To her surprise, he seemed to handle answering most of her questions and curiosities. The memories Jason wasn’t ready to talk about and relive were the Joker and his resurrection.

Y/N understood, and assured him with a kiss that he had all the time in the world to tell her.

Jason realized that Bruce had been right: pity and sympathy are two different things. And all Y/N did was love him through all his darkness and trauma.

–––––––––

Let me know if you liked it!!! 💛

Father of Mine – Masterlist

[riofann]

Christopher Rodrigo Chapter 12

TW: Violence, Stalking, Kidnapping

Mr. Rodrigo Chapter 11

“How are you feeling today Y/N?” Your therapist asks 

“I’m actually okay I didn’t have any nightmares this week” Your therapist takes notes “That’s good to hear” 

Weeks after leaving Jason you were able to find a trauma therapist one that specialized in abuse victims. She helped you through the process of leaving Jason. You hadn’t heard from him yet and it had been approximately 4 months since that night with Christopher. You didn’t know if you could do it but you did. Your mind constantly worrying about your family and Christopher, your therapist helped you through that as well. You hadn’t even heard anything about Jason popping up or threatening your family. Christopher had loaned you one of his cars allowing you to move around the city with ease. You returned to your house  one time only. He had trashed it so badly that it took clean up crews and contractors to fix. You were in the process  of renting it out now to a young family, your parents taking over property management at the moment. You actually lived in a condo next to Christopher. He somehow had convinced you to stay there saying, the space was empty and he knew the landlord who was willing to work with you. It made you feel better knowing you would be out of his space but better yet near him.

“Isn’t it weird Jason hasn’t tried to reach out?” “Well you did change numbers, so how could he reach you?” “Through family," your anxiety was still an issue but it was getting better everyday 

“If he has or hasn’t is not what you need to worry about. We have discussed this. What is the real issue?” “I don’t know, sometimes I find myself angry with him for not even trying to get in touch with me, I mean I took his...” you stop yourself remembering no one knew about the box 

“Took his what?” “Nothing I feel like I took his dignity by how Christopher got me out of there” “Why does his dignity concern you?”

“It doesn’t”

“Then what is it?” she asked wanting to get to the bottom of it 

“I was with him for almost year”

“Yes” 

You think for a minute, the box you had taken from the house, how was it that he wasn’t looking for you? That alone should have been reason enough. 

“Y/N?” “Sorry I guess I don't know why” you fib 

“It is possible that you are feeling disturbed that your ex has simply moved on with life.”

“Maybe” you feel like you gave him so much and he is acting like you mean nothing to him “Yea that's it”

“Well that doesn’t reflect on who you are as a person, not everyone reacts the same to breakups. Maybe the fight with Christopher caused him enough shame that he decided to put this behind him and move on”

“Do you think I should press charges?” “What exactly are you hoping to accomplish with that?” “I don’t know I don’t want him hurting anyone else” 

“You have talked about how he had connections. Are you doing it because you don’t want him to hurt another woman? Or are you hoping that will be the catalyst he needs to start looking for you?”

You shake your head realizing you were subconsciously seeking him “I’m so fucked up in the head” 

“I just want you to think about these things. Your safety still is an issue I just want to make sure you are safe”

You nod your head “You're right” 

“My goal is your safety most importantly, but also to get you to a space where you regain normalcy, in your personal life and romantic.” 

You nod.  

Mr. Bernard had to add the rule that anything such as flowers, food, or gifts that came from Jason or was addressed to you from the outside needed to be banned at the door. Jason was trying each and every way to get to you unbeknownst to you. He had sent many bouquets, many gifts all professing his regrets acknowledging his wrong doings. Christopher had instructed the secretary at the lobby and for the company to bring the gifts to him, sometimes receiving them himself. He wouldn’t tell you about the letters or gifts. He wanted Jason to be a thing of the past for you.  It already took a great deal of convincing to get you to move next door. Jason had ‘disappeared’ to you but Christopher knew he had moved back into his apartment. He wouldn’t tell you about the visit he paid Jason in his apartment either. There were no fists thrown this time, just a warning, a finite tone in the warning he was to leave town, never touch a woman, leave your family alone,  and most importantly leave you alone. That infuriated Jason who did Christopher think he was? When he did a background check, it took him a long time to find Christopher but when he did,  all of his files came up redacted, he needed a password from the FBI to open them. It wasn’t only the visit but the box. He needed the box back, the unmarked gun and drugs were owed to a drug lord and you took it from him. If he didn’t find them soon he was sure to be a dead man. 

Jason stood far behind blinking his eyes. He can’t believe he found you! After months of searching he had finally found you! Except your sister was with you. He watched closely as you two walked through the fair, a man accompanying you but it wasn’t Christopher it was Lucas. After months of searching he had finally found you, his life had turned upside down ever since you left, but he had finally found you and he wasn’t going to let you out of his sight. He needed that box back but he wanted you dead.  You had the gall to think you could leave him without his permission. He was sure to make you pay for your transgressions. He trails the 3 of you until you reach your car he types down the license plate on his phone and disappears into the night. The license plate belonged to Lucas. He would set up camp outside Tessa’s home waiting for you. After 2 weeks you finally visited. He tailed you till he pulled up to a building, the building was under an LLC. He couldn’t get in any way, it was like a fortress the lobby was open to all but to get to the condos there were codes that needed to be put in. One day he trailed a construction crew and he realized that after the initial code is typed in,  the stairs were open to all floors. So for the next week he lingered on different floors until he located your condo. His plan was put into action. 

“And Mrs. Cho gave me a star for getting an A+, see!” Marcus said holding the paper up to his dad

“Good job buddy I’m proud of you!”

“Tomorrow she said we are watching a movie and she wants us to take notes”

“Make sure you take good notes there might be a quiz after” Christopher instructed 

“I will!”

They passed your door and it was slightly ajar, this was normal for you when you took out the trash. He had told you to not do that and make sure you always lock the door but he would have to remind you again. He glanced back at your door again before letting Marcus in. He couldn’t shake the feeling no matter how hard he tried to ignore it. He even sent a text asking if you were okay and you responded quickly, that eased his mind for the moment but before he went to sleep he checked one more time, and that is when his stomach knotted up. Your door was still ajar. He slowly walked over, hand on his gun pushing the door open slowly, he noticed a scuff mark at the bottom of the door, the apartment was dark and water was running. 

“Y/N?” Silence when he turns on the light he finally takes what might have happened and he is on the phone immediately putting out an alert to his crew. There’s blood droplets on the floor, the living area looks like a hurricane stopped by, he turns off the water in the kitchen sink, making his way through the condo, the bedroom wasn’t any better, eventually he makes his way back to the front door and sees an indentation on the door. 

When he reviewed the security cameras he sees the beginning of the altercation but watches as Jason exits your apartment and returns with a laundry cart, leaving the building with it. Christopher was livid. How did he slip by? How did he find you? Someone wasn’t doing their job! But the reality is Jason used Christopher’s tactics, leaving his car and phone in one location while being in another pulling his hoodie and hats over his face to hide from cameras. 

It doesn’t take long to find you; he finds the hiding spot that same day. They stake out the rundown warehouse before making their move. They startled Jason but he had you as his contingency plan. Wrapping his arm around your throat. 

“YOU WANT ME?! YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO KILL US BOTH!" he screams into the dark pointing the gun erratically towards no particular target 

Christopher slowly emerges from the dark. 

Quickly the gun is pointed at your temple “YOU KILL ME SHE DIES RIGHT ALONG WITH ME!” 

Christopher steps closer “Jason we discussed this” 

“YOU KILL ME SHE DIES WITH ME!” Christopher shakes his head “That's not gonna happen” 

“STAY BACK!” he orders 

“Alright” Christopher says putting his hands up and behind his back 

“SHE STOLE FROM ME! SO SHE DESERVES TO PAY!” 

You were clawing at his arm struggling to breath, you could hear Christopher’s voice but couldn’t see him

“Let her go Jason”

“NO! YOU WANT HER? YOU’LL HAVE TO GO THROUGH MY DEAD BODY!”

Christopher smirked “That can be arranged” 

“Jason please” you croak out 

“YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP! AND FUCK YOU! WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? I’M A FUCKING COP!” 

“Let her go” 

“TELL YOUR BUDDIES TO LEAVE!” 

Christopher sucked his teeth “I can’t do that” 

“YES YOU CAN! I SAID STAY BACK! OR SHE DIES.” He screamed pointing the gun to space that had no one standing in it. 

Christopher and his men look at each other confused

“Christopher it’s okay let me go” you plead giving up 

“Never that mama, I made a promise I’m going to keep it” 

“I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT, YOU DON’T GET IT!”  Jason says talking to the empty space

“I’m over here  man, who you talking to?”  

“SHUT THE FUCK UP! IT’S TOO MANY OF YOU! STAY BACK!!”

Christopher stepped closer “Jason! We made a deal” 

“DID YOU TELL HER? DID YOU TELL HER ABOUT YOUR RECORD MR. CLEAN RECORD,  HUH?” Jason you scratch 

“I SWEAR TO GOD YOU KEEP TALKING AND I WILL BLOW YOUR BRAINS OUT!”

“Jason!” 

“NO TELL HER! CHRISTOPHER!” 

You hear a chuckle leave Christopher’s lips “I don't know what you’re talking about man” 

He scoffed “YOUR BOYFRIEND HAS A RECORD SWEETHEART, CLASSIFIED BY THE FBI, HE HAS A RECORD! YOU LEFT ME FOR A MAN WITH A RECORD? YOU KNOW HOW PATHE...” 

“Jason this only ends one of 2 ways” Christopher interrupts trying to take his attention off you 

“YEA ALL OF THEM WITH BOTH OF US DEAD!” 

“Why her?” Christopher asked

“WHAT?” “Why her? Why is she so special to you?” 

“SHE STOLE FROM ME!” “What did she steal?” 

“SHE TOOK MY SHIT AND NOW THERE'S A BOUNTY ON MY HEAD” 

He sucked his teeth “Tell me what she stole, I can possibly get it back to you!” 

“NO! WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU” 

“Y/N” 

“Well Mr. Wiseguy why Y/N? Why do you care?” 

He smiles “She’s special, she’s my girl” 

The smile infuriated Jason, but the ‘she’s my girl’ part enraged him “Oh so you were fucking him all along and you lied to me?” he whispers in your ear and you can hear the vitriol in his tone “No Jason I promise I have never slept with him” you start to cry knowing what that tone meant 

“JASON!”

In a calm tone and demeanor Jason turned to Christopher “I’ll get to you when I’m ready” that wasn’t a good sign, Jason being calm during his anger tantrums was never good “You’re going to die today you think you get to fuck me over?” 

“Y/N” Your eyes try searching for him “remember what I told you?

You nod “that you would protect me” you croak out  Jason wrapped his arm tighter around your neck “ARE YOU FUCKING LISTENING TO HIM?” 

“No Jason please” you scratch at his arm 

“I’ll drag you to hell with me if you think you get to fuck me over Y/N you don’t get to leave me if I can’t have you no one else can” 

“Jason please I'm begging baby please I love you I swear” you try to bargain

“YOU'RE ONLY SAYING THAT CUZ YOU HAVE A GUN TO YOUR HEAD!” he pushes the gun against your temple roughly. You scream “YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT ME! YOU WERE BUSY FUCKING THIS GUY!”

“Close your eyes mama” 

Jason turns his attention to Christopher “YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!” 

“Close them”

Time slows down you can hear Jason screaming in your ear his jerking your body back dragging you towards the bathroom.  “NO!” You say scream trying to stop him

“Close your eyes Y/N!” Christopher yells  You do so as you’re trying to stop yourself from being dragged back there's a bang you scream and fall hard on the floor Jason’s body on top of you. You think you're dead, until you hear footsteps rushing towards you, the weight is off you and you find yourself being picked up, your name is being called but you aren’t really paying attention your mind is fading away. 

Taglist:

@bun-dpdbny @beyoutiful9413

[helloilikepurple]

I imagine it'd be right before Damian shows up. Suddenly, Bruce has a feral assassin child and a mystery toddler under his care and is not coping well. This man is stressed. God bless Alfred because he wouldn't be keeping it together without him.

It starts off really rocky. Danny's clearly traumatised from something, severely touch-starved and very clingy. Damian is prone to trying to kill his siblings and so closed off from how he was raised that they're like polar opposites. Not to mention how young they are. Danny's too young to even start self-defence classes, let alone know about their nightly activities.

Jason hates Bruce, but he misses Alfred and wants to look out for Damian and Danny because he's worried Bruce will ruin them. Besides, he may have never met Damian, but Talia spoke of him plenty. He can't help but feel a little protective of the guy.

So he comes to the manor. He tries to time it for when Bruce will be out and avoids Tim like he's contagious. He's brilliant with Danny. Danny feels something's familiar about him but can't place it so he's just extra curious about him. Damian is thankful Jason doesn't treat him like a kid or ridicule him for being a killer, though he'd never admit it.

Tim doesn't feel like he's part of the family. Damian tried to kill him, he's not Robin anymore, and there's two new little kids running about for everyone to focus on. It's like he doesn't exist. So he keeps to himself, running himself ragged working away with basically no supervision.

Dick is just trying to be a good big brother and keep everyone and himself together. It's not his fault he forgets to check up on Tim. He's stressed and exhausted and trying to be everywhere at once.

Cut to, Bruce "dies". Everyone sort of splits up. Tim is alone, naturally, Dick and Damian slot into place at each other's sides, and Jason is busy dealing with a bunch of unresolved trauma and being a crime boss. Alfred tries his best, but it's impossible for him to upkeep the manor and look after a five-year-old kid all at once.

So Danny's alone. Bruce died and everyone left. It wasn't purposeful, obviously, but everyone sort of assumed someone else would look after him and they've never been great at communicating with each other. Danny's confused. He knows ghosts are real, so why is everyone so sad Bruce is dead? He's not gone forever.

He's also so, so lonely. He got used to being actually cared for, and suddenly that care is gone. He becomes very quiet, drawing into himself and wandering the silent manor all alone. Damian and Tim still live with him but they're doing their own things, busy with their lives. They don't have time for him. Danny doesn't try to reach out.

Tim is convinced Bruce is alive. He's exhausting every avenue he can think of, distancing himself from everyone even further in the process. No one notices, because why would they? He's not resentful or anything. Just resigned.

And then Danny and Tim cross paths in the manor. Danny's crying because he's scared and no one's around. Was it something he did? Tim sees little Danny who he's barely interacted with one-on-one crying in a communal space and awkwardly tries to cheer him up. After that Danny attaches himself to Tim's side.

Tim's not sure how to treat him, but he tries to be a good brother. Alfred seems happy they're spending time together (and Tim's realising how overworked the poor man has been) and Danny's soaking up his affection like he's never known love in his life. It's familiar. He sees himself in Danny.

So he can't turn him away.

Danny and Tim become really close. Tim rambles to him about his theories, assuming Danny wouldn't understand because he's so young, and Danny doesn't get all of it but he believes Tim wholeheartedly. His input even helps pull Tim out spirals several times. Having someone, even if it's a five-year-old, believe him does wonders for Tim's psyche.

Tim was ready to kill himself to get Bruce back. That was his job; be Bruce's guardian. But suddenly there's a toddler who follows him around and looks at him like he hung the stars, listening to every word he says with wide, trusting eyes, and Tim can't just leave him alone. So he's less reckless. Just as determined, of course, but no longer downright suicidal.

Tim gets involved with the League. He's absolutely ruthless. You know how it went in the comics (with him blowing up bases)? Yeah, well it's worse now. Tim has to get back home to Danny. He can't trade his life for Bruce's or spend a long time away. He speeds up his plans and leaves an even bigger lasting impression as a result. Who cares about his kill count? Most of the family has one.

Yadda yadda, Bruce is back. Everyone slowly comes together again, and are surprised to see how close Danny and Tim are. They ask about how it happened. Danny says after everyone left when Bruce died Tim still loved him, which leads to realisations all around about how they've taken Tim for granted and sort of abandoned him and Danny.

This leads to them being an even better family. They all put in an effort to be there, especially for Tim and Danny. Tim is unused to people caring about him, and thinks it's temporary. Everyone goes out of their way to prove it's not. (Well, except Jason, who still has to be sort of dragged into family events and such.)

EDIT: it cut off my tags so let me include

Tim gets Danny a really fancy telescope for his birthday and Danny is over the moon. This causes Bruce to realise he doesn't know his kids' interests and stalks them to find out what they like because he can't communicate like a normal person.

Dick gets Danny a star teddy and Danny carries it around everywhere.

Danny is super affectionate. He says "I love you" and initiates hugs and so on. This leads to everyone else saying "I love you" back and it becomes normalised to just say "I love you" to each other whenever.

Tim has a panic attack the first time Bruce says he loves him. He assumes Bruce has been possessed or replaced or something. It takes a lot to talk him out of it. Bruce has a lot of realisations about his shitty parenting as a result.

Basically, Danny makes the family less dysfunctional by just existing.

Danny doesn't want to be a vigilante or hero and cries when he finds out his family are. He wants to be an astronaut so bad. Bruce is so relieved.

Danny still has his powers he's just hiding them because it's what he knows to do.

Cujo shows up and none of the bats can figure out what he is (a ghost) but deem him a non-threat and let Danny keep him as a pet following lots of pleading.

DC X DP - DeAged

The Nasty Burger explosion took a lot from Danny.

Stopping Dan meant nothing when Danny lost everything. His friends, his parents, his sister, his teacher - all gone. Danny, desperate to not become Dan, fled. He would not let Vlad destroy the only thing he had left; himself. He didn't turn human again if he could avoid it. Let Danny Fenton die with his family.

He did what he could, trying to keep it all together. Avoid Vlad. Catch havoc-wreaking ghosts. Try to not have a panic attack every time he saw his reflection. FentonWorks became out-of-bounds. No one was sure how to turn off the portal or any of the house's defence mechanisms so it was taped up instead.

Danny kept the GIW away. They wanted his parents' research, even if they had to bend the law to get it. Danny would not let them have it. Never.

But the GIW was persistent and Danny weak from nearly two months of being Phantom and nothing else. He was so tired. Tired from grieving, from fighting, from wandering around, completely lost and alone.

The GIW got a lucky shot in. Danny went down. He woke up, still ghost, somewhere white. He'd trained himself not to have to turn back. He was grateful he did.

The GIW studied him. Danny did not have the energy to fight back. The will to survive. Curled up in his cell, bloody and becoming less human with every passing day, Clockwork finally intervened.

He could not let the future High King wither away into nothing.

With Nocturn's help, he whisked him away. His world was dying anyway. With no one to maintain the portal, it would soon overload and explode. The radiation would kill all life on Earth, leaving nothing behind, and taking with it the potential for new life. One world among infinite realities meant nothing. But Danny, as High King, is a singularity. A unique existence, only found in one reality. Clockwork, for the sake of everything that lives and dies, could not let Danny fade away.

Danny slept at the Far Frozen, dreaming of his family, his friends, and the stars he would one day rule over. He healed, wounds knitting together into scars and fractured core slowly, ever so slowly, repairing itself. A future Ancient, bound to protect all that is and will be, was bound to be very badly hurt from such a loss.

Clockwork only wished he could have done more, but to remove Danny too early would have spelt disaster worse than the deaths of billions. This boy would someday be someone he'd proudly call his grandson. Seeing that future alone was enough to make his own core ache for the young one.

The Infinite Realms wept for its child, still but a babe yet having suffered so much. It embraced its future King, blessing him with its loyalty and adoration. The ghosts of the realms, spread far and wide over distant realities, timelines and worlds, felt the loss too.

Danny healed, unaware of how loved and precious he was to so many - how far he was from alone. The dead's sudden quiet unsettled many. Enemies froze in the silent mourning, animosity forgotten. Raging wars came to abrupt ends. So many, unable to bear the ever-reaching, unidentifiable pain in the air killed themselves. Good, kind people cried alone.

Magic users, like Constantine and Zatanna, hid, waiting out the Infinite Realm's despair for its child. No one spoke of it, for fear of disrespecting the dimension between dimensions. But they hid, and they waited, and they couldn't help but worry for themselves and everything and everyone else.

Danny got a lot of visitors. Ancients, regular ghosts, crowded around his bed, gifting him blessings and support. Danny slept, he healed, and his world died, taking with it all he'd known. He wouldn't remember or know of any of this when he woke  - even the memories of his pleasant dreams will have left him. He'll awaken and think himself entirely alone.

But he'll know, someday.

Clockwork will make sure of it.

---

Danny doesn't know where he is or who he is.

He has a vague idea. His name. His life and his death. But so much is so distant, like impressions on sand, washed away by the ocean. He knows he should be bigger. He knows this isn't home. He knows there is no home anymore.

He knows there are people he misses, but he doesn't know who they are or where they've gone. He knows so little yet so much. White walls and orange hair, green (toxic, writhing green) and hazmat suits, white and black and orange and blue. Expensive, Packers-branded cologne, burning flesh, the scream of an alarm and laughter and fear and hope and love and pain and loss. Disjointed flashes, snippets of another life.

And this isn't familiar - this city and these people. These crowded, filthy streets aren't home, but there's no home anymore so of course they aren't. And maybe Danny should be afraid. He doesn't know where he is, or how he got here. There are people, so tall, walking around him not sparing him a glance. It's loud and smelly and so much to process all at once.

But Danny doesn't care because he's so tired, and he wants nothing more than to curl up in bed and sleep the day away. But he doesn't have a home, so obviously he doesn't have a bed either. He looks around for somewhere else to sleep, rubbing at his chest subconsciously as he does.

There, a building, on the other side of the road. The windows are tinted, but the doors open and Danny, through the crowds and passing traffic, catches a glimpse of what has to be a couch. Maybe the people that own the building will let him sleep on their couch for a little bit.

So he crosses the street, sticking close to the legs of some lady with skinny heels that go tap-tap-tap so the cars don't go because they can't see him. The lady turns to go a different way after but it's okay because Danny is in front of the building now.

He pushes the door open and slips inside. It's quieter inside, and warmer. Danny wasn't cold outside but in here there's a nice heat that makes him feel even sleepier. He looks around at the fancy chairs and potted plants and lights, and is happy to see there are couches. Long couches, with lots of pillows and space for him to spread out.

He walks up to the desk. He's too short to see over it, and it makes him kind of angry because he's sure he's supposed to be taller. But he figures maybe he remembers wrong because people don't just shrink. Except, he's a halfa so maybe ghosts do?

"Hello?"

There's a lady here too, behind the desk, but unlike the one he followed across the street she has short, curly hair. Danny wonders if she's wearing skinny heels too. Leaning his head back, he can see her look up, glance around, and then look back down.

Danny pouts. Did she not see him?

"Hello?"

He waves an arm this time, reaching as high as he can to catch her attention. She finally sees him, eyes widening in surprise. "Oh, sorry! Hello." She has a nice voice.

"Your voice is pretty."

She smiles, and Danny decides her smile is nice too. "Why thank you. You have a pretty voice too. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Can I please sleep on your couch? Just for a little bit."

"Of course you can. Would you like a blanket? I could fetch one for you from the staff room."

Danny shakes his head. "I'm okay. Thank you."

"Alright. But if you change your mind, do tell me."

"You're very nice."

"Thank you, but it's really no problem. Not much to do today anyway."

"You should sleep too then. Sleep is good."

She giggles. "That is a very good idea. I just might take your advice." Danny nods. He has lots of good ideas. "Okay. I'm gonna' go nap now. Bye-bye."

"Sleep well."

There are a few couches, and for a bit Danny's not sure which one to sleep on. He chooses the one with the most pillows. It's very comfy, and the pillows are nice too. He puts one under his head and hugs another, curling up around it. He falls asleep in seconds.

-

When a toddler with black and blue eyes asked to sleep on one of the couches on in the reception hall of Wayne enterprises, May had assumed he was one of Bruce's boys. He certainly fit the type Gotham's favourite playboy liked to adopt, and it wasn't unusual for his wards to show up out of the blue.

Once she found Tim Drake passed out on the floor under her desk. Apparently, he'd been hiding from Dick who was visiting from Blüdhaven and forgot to bring his coffee with him, consequently falling asleep while he waited for her to arrive so he could ask her to go pick some up for him. That had been an interesting Thursday morning. 

On another memorable occasion, Cass, Bruce's only official daughter, and her girlfriend Steph had shown up, said hi, went upstairs, then came back down after about an hour, giggling as they ran out with a wave goodbye. Not even ten minutes later, Bruce himself stumbled out of the elevator, absolutely covered in purple glitter. May remembers raising an eyebrow and asking if Bruce wanted her to have another suit brought in.

He'd ended up collapsing on one of the couches with an exhausted sigh, and said he'd have Alfred pick him up instead. He left a sparkly trail behind him when he walked, and the couch he sat on had to be replaced because, even after numerous cleaning attempts, no one could get the glitter out. He had glitter in his hair for months afterwards.

So, May hadn't bat an eye when the little boy came in. Well aware Bruce had several meetings scheduled that day, she sent him an email saying one of his kids was taking a nap in the reception hall and resolved to look out for the boy herself. Throughout the day, she made sure to check on him often, making sure no one picked him up ran (this was Gotham after all).

He slept soundly for most of her work day, barely shifting. She ended up putting a blanket on him herself during her lunch break and leaving him a water bottle and little snack for when he woke up. She also made sure security kept an eye on him whenever she left for whatever reason.

It was well into the afternoon when Bruce finally replied to her email and asked if his kid was still sleeping downstairs. She said yes, and not long after he arrived on the ground level. He walked up to her desk and asked if his kid had caused her any trouble. She smiled and assured him no.

Then Bruce asked where Tim was.

"Sorry? Tim isn't here today."

Bruce frowned, looking just as confused as she felt. "My apologies. You said one of my wards was asleep here. I assumed it was Tim."

"Oh! No, no, it's not Tim. Well, I don't actually know his name but the little guy has been here since this morning." She gestured to the toddler in question.

Bruce turned around, saw him, and frowned. "He's not one of mine."

"He's not?"

"No. Are you sure he's not an employee's child?" He kept his eyes on the boy, eyes narrowed in thought.

"Yes, I am. Only three employees brought in their children today, and all of them are ten or above. He can't be older than five." She frowned now too, turning to her computer to double check. "I'll send out a company-wide email to be sure. I should have done this sooner. I'm sorry, I was just so sure he was under your care."

"It's alright, May. I'm not upset. I'm just worried about him. When about in the morning did he get here?"

She glanced up, but Bruce was still looking at the sleeping boy. "A little after nine."

"And he's been sleeping all that time?"

"Yes, as far as I'm aware."

"Alright. Thank you for looking after him. I'll take it from here."

"Of course, sir. I'll reach out to you if anyone identifies him."

He nodded appreciatively and walked over to the boy. She watched, frustrated with herself. She's worked as one of Wayne Enterprise's receptionists for over four years. She should have known better than to just assume some random, black haired blue eyed child was Bruce's kid. She should have at least reached out to make sure that was the case.

She sighed as Bruce knelt down by the couch and gently shook the little boy awake, resting her head in the palm of her hand. This poor child. His poor parents. They must be worried sick.

She has to make this right.

---

[the-ghost-king]

About the cupid scene, Nico was forced to come out, but its also made very clear that Cupid is the bad guy. So is Aphrodite to an extent. They have a twisted and fundamental misunderstanding of love and how it works for mortals. I get that people could be mad about how Nico was forced to come out and putting him through more emotional trauma, but I also think its very realistic in showing how callous and cruel the gods understanding of love is.

I am reminded of the quote by Madeline Miller, "There is no law that gods must be fair..."

I also understand why the scene might be traumatic for other young LGBTQ+ readers, I've seen a lot of people talk about the fear of being outed in regards to them reading that scene as a kid. I completely respect their feelings on that, and I understand that as well. However, as someone who had been forcibly outed once before reading that scene, that scene really helped heal me. I don't think the Cupid scene is inherently homophobic, and I'm often bothered by the lack of nuance regarding around how it's handled.

I recognize it's a very emotional scene, and that people may have a hard time fully separating their emotions from that scene, but at the same time if there's a group of people saying "hey I understand why you disliked this scene but it was really helpful to me as a child because of the different experiences I had" maybe slow the breaks and hear what others also in the community have to say before determining if the scene is homophobic. You don't have to like the scene, and yeah maybe the scene did hurt you but that doesn't make it homophobic.

I want to specify on my word choice there a little closer, because of course outing someone is an act of homophobia, and the scene is homophobic in that sense. However often times the conversation about homophobia in this scene goes to "Rick was homophobic for writing this" where personally I would say this scene toes the line at being too far without ever crossing it. Some people may think this depiction crosses the line into "Rick was homophobic for writing this" which is fine, but just because something depicted homophobia and hurt you doesn't mean it was homophobic. Something doesn't have to out rightly be stated to be bad, in order to be read as bad*, and the Cupid scene does a wonderful job of depicting this.

I talk here about how Nico is shown what love is, and how love is treated by Nico, and how it affects his character. I think it's important to note that Nico's entire storyline can essentially be encompassed in an Orpheus-like or Odyssey-like tale. Nico's undergone this huge emotional and physical labor all in the name of having some form of unconditional love. I think that post is a really important read in the context of this one because I very carefully outline how love shapes Nico and how Nico shape and chooses his own definition of love, but I want to specifically dig into the Cupid scene on this post.

The big criticism often seen is "it's homophobic" which I covered above, and I want to clarify I'm not upset with or mad at or trying to tell anyone they can't dislike it or even say you can't say it's homophobic (my words on my one post are a bit off I'll admit) but the problem I have is when people believe they hold a moral high ground for thinking it's homophobic, or they remove all nuance from the discussion with "it's homophobic". Which is frustrating and annoying because it's a very complex scene, and it really changes Nico's arc and personality and it does help characterize him.

The big reason it shapes him so much is because of the other largest reason the scene is criticized, Cupid's behavior. What often fails to be recognized in those scenes is that Cupid is intentionally painted as the villain, this is very important to the scene.

In the context of this scene Nico makes an unspoken choice, a choice of "what is love to me?". I talk about how Nico claims his narrative in BoTL when he overcomes Minos, and he partially peaks that arc by convincing Gods to join the final battle of TLO. Following that arc however, Nico falls into his second arc, his crush on Percy was important in PJO, but not as important as it is in HoO.

By HoO Nico's entire character revolves around Percy, how to help Percy, how to aid Percy, etc. All of this has to do with Nico's crush on Percy, but also as an act of repayment because Nico hurt Percy- Nico lied to him about knowing him at New Rome in SoN, and he goes to Tartarus shortly after... This mirrors what Percy did after Hades tricked Nico... Percy choked Nico because he was upset with him, so Nico tried to win back Percy's affection by bathing him in the river.

The Cupid Scene is the resolution of Nico's arc, he is essentially given a choice- Cupid or Jason?

For this reason, we do see Nico recognize love for what it has been vs how it could be.

Cupid is there to represent what love is, to Nico love is brutal, and painful, and a lot of hard work... Nico has made himself utilitarian in love simply because it is the only way he can find any affection. Love to Nico is about flaying yourself for the benefit of others, to trample any and all parts of yourself simply to appease those you care for, because you want them to love you so much as you love them. The parallels I could draw between Nico and Orpheus, or Nico and Odysseus... I'd be here a long while...

In that scene Jason represents the alternative form of love which Nico chooses after his interaction with Cupid.

Jason says during the scene that he "preferred Piper's idea of love" which has to do with kindness and caring, etc, and then Jason becomes the embodiment of that idea during the scene- which showcases the alternative of what love can be, thus making Jason a personification of love in the context of that scene.

Jason looks to Nico, he doesn't ask for more, he simply looks to Nico with understanding and acknowledges him for who he is, and he does the exact opposite of what Nico expects:

Jason loves Nico where he is, without conditions, without forcing Nico to become something more. Jason didn’t force Nico to say more than what was necessary for him to understand, Jason looked at Nico and he called Nico brave.

Cupid is a more volatile form of love than Aphrodite, Cupid shoots arrows that makes people animals, that can make a god grow insane, but Aphrodite's form of love is about acceptance and humanity (think to how she picked Ares over Hephaestus even if it was perhaps "wrong")- both are about truth but one is about force and the other about acceptance.

When Nico walks out of there, he makes his choice- he is forced to come out yes, Cupid is wrong for doing this, but Jason again stays a figure of love in Nico's life. Jason basically says, "Good job, I know that was hard, thank you for sharing and let me know if you need anything, people will care about you and understand you," again and again and again to Nico, he doesn't tell Nico he has to come out, and he agrees to keep it between them for now. Jason is love as acceptance, Jason is the first person who unconditionally loves Nico, and that's the choice.

Will Nico accept unconditional love? If the answer is no, then Cupid wins and Nico is denying himself. If the answer is yes, then Jason and Nico win, and Nico no longer needs to make himself utilitarian in love in order to be loved.

The choice is made with Reyna and Hedge, most specifically Reyna.

When he accidentally comes out to them, and they accept him without making a big deal of it, without show, just that acknowledgement and "thank you for sharing" and Nico accepts their words and friendship still- Nico made his choice then to accept the love he was being freely given.

“He carried so much sadness and loneliness, so much heartache. Yet he put his mission first. He persevered. Reyna respected that. She understood that. She'd never been a touchy-feely person, but she had the strangest desire to drape her cloak over Nico's shoulders and tuck him in. She mentally chided herself. He was a comrade, not her little brother. He wouldn't appreciate the gesture.”

This is where we see the slow and steady, and healthy, end to Nico's arc in regards to love really grow into itself, and he begins to heal. He no longer sees such an intense need to make himself utilitarian for love, and he begins to heal from his internalized homophobia too.

(Internalized homophobia discussions with Nico also bother me too often times, people too often assume you can't date while struggling with internalized homophobia or at least very heavy handedly imply that which is just not true... You may have some issues in your relationship, but you can work through the internalized homophobia while building a new relationship and be just fine. Also to assume someone has an unhealthy relationship because of internalized homophobia is weird and lowkey reinforces the idea that "broken" people don't need love, but also does a huge disservice to so many LGBTQ+ people who are happily married/themselves but still struggle with these feelings, and to see a healthy relationship depiction despite someone in that relationship struggling with internalized homophobia is fine and good actually. As long as the individual can recognize what they're dealing with, and work through it in a healthy and constructive manner, then there's nothing wrong there...)

When I started this post to be honest I thought I would have a lot more to say, it's a scene that touched and changed me so deeply as a person, and beyond that in a more objective experience it completely changes Nico's character, by turning his arc around and beginning his healing process. To be honest, there probably is more to be said on it, I just haven't found the words yet... I know parts of this post are clunky and in a year I'm going to read this and see all the places it could be better but for now I'm content with it.

Whether or not someone considers the scene homophobic is a subjective experience, but I think this is a very well written scene purely for the characterization and symbolism, intentional or otherwise. I don't really care that much to debate if it's truly a homophobic scene or not, I can see both why people say it is and why people say it isn't and that can be culminated into "people have different needs" and "minorities aren't a monolith". Personally my much larger complaint is the complete lack of nuance and insight scenes like this are handled with, not the matter of personal opinion an individual reaches on the scene.

*the post uses the word "adult audience" and yes, fair point, children should not be able to decipher symbolism to the extent adults can. But older children and young teens, which the RRverse series are sold for, is when critical thinking skills and media analysis do begin to become parts of classroom curriculum. The scene does an excellent job of not outright stating Cupid is evil, but of depicting that in a very clear cut way.

[marauderundercover]

This Side of Normal Ch. 5: The Battle

Prev

AO3

“Absolutely not.” Jason says, crossing his arms, an offended look on his face. 

“Please!” Marinette begs, doing her best to show her anxiety without having to spell it out in front of Adrien. Although they’d only known Jason for a month, he was really good at reading their facial expressions and body language to see when they were upset. Marinette needed Jason to see that now. She needed him to take a Miraculous. He may work in security and have a bunch of battle training, but they’d still be going up against someone with magic. Someone that wouldn’t hesitate to hurt all of them to get what he wants. 

“Come on Jay, it’s just a bracelet.” Adrien says, his shoulders tense. Marinette takes in a deep breath, frantically shoving her panic deep down where hopefully it’ll stay until after the battle. 

“It’s not that it’s a bracelet, kid. It’s that I don’t need it.” Jason argues, much as he had for the past ten minutes. 

“If not for yourself, do it for them.” Wayzz says, speaking up for the first time. Jason shoots a weary glance at the kwami and quirks an eyebrow. 

“What d’ya mean?” He asks. 

“The Guardian wishes for you to use my Miraculous. I am the kwami of protection. When my wielder says ‘shelter’, they are able to cast a shield around both themselves and anyone nearby that they wish to protect. If you follow Ladybug and Chat Noir into battle with my Miraculous, you will be better equipped to help them in an emergency. That is, you wouldn’t have to choose who to save.” Wayzz explains. Marinette raises an eye at the last part of his rant, but it seems to solidify something with Jason. 

“Fine. Gimme the damn bracelet.” He grumbles, and even though he’s acting annoyed, Marinette can see the hint of relief in his eyes. So he was worried about being able to protect them. Marinette blinks for a moment. Even though he’d only know them for a month, he still seemed to care more than Master Fu did. Nothing against the man, he did the best he could but….it wasn’t enough. And that was painfully obvious the more time they spent training with Jason. 

“Jason- I just realized I don’t know your last name.” Marinette says, pouting slightly before shaking her head. “Whatever, Jason Dupain Cheng, Adrien don’t you start. You and I both know that you hate your last name so it just makes sense that we all take my name. Now shut your damn mouth so I can do this!” 

“Me-ouch.” Adrien mumbles, crossing his arms as he pouts. Jason snickers, but stops immediately when Marinette turns her glare to him. She smiles and nods, clearing her throat before starting her speech again. 

“Jason Dupain Cheng, this is the Miraculous of Protection. I am granting you this Miraculous to use in the battle with Hawkmoth. Once the battle is complete, you will return the Miraculous to me. Can I trust you?” Marinette finishes her speech with a small smile, one that instantly drops when she sees Jason snort. 

“I’m sorry Pix, but it’s weird to see you so serious.” Jason apologizes with a snicker. 

“I’m serious!” Marinette argues, tugging the box back away from Jason. “In fact, I’m so serious that now I’m taking it back. No bracelet of protection for you, ya meanie.” She adds.

“Isn’t that exactly what he wanted to begin with?” Adrien asks, making Marinette pause in her tug of war. Huffing, she shoves the box back at Jason. 

“Just put it on.” She grumbles, pouting when he snorts. 

“Whatever you say, boss.” He says, sliding the bracelet onto his wrist. Wayzz looks between the two, the Kwami’s face almost amused. 

“Hello.” Wayzz says, nodding as he bows at Jason. Jason just awkwardly waves. 

“Hey.” He says, his easy smile falling. Marinette starts to ask him if he’s okay, when she realizes. He’s worried. Of course he is. Now that he has the Miraculous, it’s time. They were going tonight to take Hawkmoth-Gabriel’s- Miraculous. This would all end tonight. One way or another. This was ending. 

---

This was ending. Soon. Gabriel is sure of that. It would not be ending in Ladybug’s favor though. On the contrary. Gabriel was certain that the insignificant bug wouldn’t make it past this final battle. The idea of Chat Noir facing the same fate made him falter slightly, if only for that small amount of time where he thought his own son held the ring. Although he no longer thought that, the idea of killing him was out of the question. Hurting him, though, that was perfectly acceptable. Especially if it meant he hurt that pest in the process. Finding a spell in the small bit of Grimoire he held, a spell powerful enough to penetrate the Miraculous suits, was not easy. The Grimoire wasn’t easy to read and was mostly filled with healing magic. But that wouldn’t help him. Not at all. Not like this would. Grinning down at his cane that now held a wicked glow, Gabriel-Hawkmoth- grinned. This will end soon. 

---

Taking in a deep breath, Marinette tries hard to ignore the dread settling in her stomach. Something is going to go wrong, she can feel it. And yet, it feels like it has to be tonight. That if they wait for another night, another day, they won’t have any chance to win at all. She had told both Adrien and Jason about the feeling, and both had encouraged her to do what she thought was best. They trusted her. And she was terrified that that would end up getting one, or both, of them hurt. Shaking out her hands to try and calm the energy bubbling up inside her, she watches Adrien’s window carefully. She had wanted the three to go in together, but Adrien had pointed out that he lived there. He could just open his window for the other two, allowing their entrance to be almost undetectable. Marinette hated it, hated feeling like she was using Adrien’s situation to their advantage, until Jason pointed out that- in the end- it was helping Adrien. Seeing the flashlight flicker- the sign that the coast was clear- Marinette swings over the fence and smoothly into Adrien’s room with Jason following closely behind. 

“Hey kitty.” She says softly, squeezing Adrien’s hand in an attempt to comfort him. 

“Hey bug.” He says softly, squeezing back. Jason hangs back, keeping an eye on the door while the two take a moment to gather themselves. This could be it. The end of a battle they’d been fighting since they were barely teenagers. Over three years of their lives was dedicated to protecting Paris, and that could be ending soon. Taking in a steadying breath, Marinette lets go of Adrien’s hand. 

“I brought Kaalki, like we discussed. They should be in your father’s office right now, looking for any incriminating evidence. If they find anything, they’re supposed to come get us so that we can go check it out ourselves.” She says their plan going as planned so far. A few minutes pass before Kaalki comes charging in, a disturbed look on the Kwami’s usually cheery face. 

“I found Hawkmoth’s lair.” They say, in lieu of a greeting. 

“Well shit. That’s the confirmation we need.” Jason whistles lowly, filled with a tension that wasn’t there before. 

“I kinda figured. I didn’t really have any hope left that it wasn’t him. So how do we get in there?” Adrien asks, setting his face with a determined look. 

“We use a portal. It’d be the easiest way of making sure Hawkmoth doesn’t hear us coming.” Marinette says, sliding the glasses onto her face and calling for the unified transformation. 

“Are you two sure about this? I could go in alone. I’m sure I could take him by myself.” Jason offers, his jaw obviously clenched. Marinette glances at Adrien, who nods, before turning back to Jason. 

“This is our fight, Jay. And as much as we appreciate your help, we have to be there too.” She says with a grim smile. Jason huffs, but nods. 

“Yeah, I figured you’d say something like that. Let’s get this shit over with. I’m ready to go angrily punch a punching bag without being scared that I’ll wake up holding your Miraculous.” Jason says, making Marinette flinch slightly. She felt awful that Jason, like many Parisians, felt like they weren’t allowed to feel negative emotions. She knew how draining that was, how hard it was at the end of the day. And even past that, because you couldn’t even have negative emotions while you slept. But Jason was right. It’s time to end this, time to end the emotional trauma, time to end having to suppress feelings just to get by. 

“Voyage!” Marinette calls, silently stepping through the portal with Jason and Adrien close behind her. Silently calling off Kaalki’s transformation, she moves the horse Miraculous into her yoyo as she glances around the room. Butterflies, everywhere, an odd glowing and-

“Ah, Ladybug and Chat Noir. How kind of you to make a personal visit to deliver your Miraculous.” Hawkmoth taunts, twirling his cane around. Marinette’s eyes narrow as she looks at the cane and the very obvious blade sticking out of the bottom of it. 

“We’re actually here to ask for your Miraculous, Hawkmoth. Yours and Mayura’s. We know who you are, Gabriel Agreste. Give up now.” Marinette demands, her posture tense as she refrains from standing in a fighting position, instead situating herself so that she’s standing in front of her brothers. 

“I think you’ll find me to be someone unwilling to negotiate, Ladybug.” Hawkmoth sneers before lunging towards her with his cane. Tossing her yoyo at him, she manages to knock his cane out of his hand, causing him to rush after it. He picks it up and whirls around, a wrathful look on his face as he charges towards her once again. Their fight doesn’t last long before Mayura is suddenly there, a sentimonster at her side. Resisting the urge to curse out Nathalie, Marinette pours all of her focus into the battle. Between her own hits aimed at the sentimonster and dodging the neverending attacks aimed at her by Hawkmoth, it’s getting exhausting. But with Mayura and her sentimonster still active, it’s too soon to call any of their powers. Momentarily distracted by Jason taking out the sentimonster, Marinette doesn’t see Hawkmoth’s blade coming at her throat. But Adrien does. Being shoved harshly out of the way, Marinette stumbles slightly before glancing back at her partner. And letting out a horrified scream. A scream that’s drowned out by Adrien’s own agony filled scream. Because Adrien took the hit meant for her. And now Adrien Agreste was lying on the ground, sobbing, his eyes clenched shut. Why was he Adrien? Why was he in his clothes? Why is there so. much. blood. Falling to her knees, Marinette tries desperately to stop the bleeding. Ripping Adrien’s jacket off, she attempts to tie a tourniquet, barely able to hear Tikki’s voice in the back of her head. Cast the cure. Of course, the cure. The cure. Tossing up her yoyo, she attempts to cast the cure, screaming in frustration when the ladybugs only stop the bleeding. Marinette jumps up, glaring furiously at Hawkmoth who had frozen, a stricken look on his face. 

“You!” She screams, attempting to lunge towards him to kill him. Hurt him. Torture him and make him scream like Adrien currently was. Only to be stopped. Turning her head to glare at Jason, she realizes that he’s also frozen in place, cursing up a storm as he seems to fight his own body. 

“You son of a bitch!” He roars, his entire body tense as he fights against invisible binds. 

“Let me go, Tikki! Let me go!” Marinette screams, sobbing as she desperately tries to move, to do something. Kill the man and take his Miraculous. Because that’s what he deserves for hurting her partner. Her best friend. Her brother.

“Drop the transformation, goddamnit! The bastard deserves it! Fuck you, Gabriel Agreste!” Jason screams, obviously unable to remember the words for him to drop the transformation. Marinette has no such qualms. Opening her mouth to say the words, she sobs in frustration when she realizes Tikki has now blocked her from speaking. He deserves it! She thinks furiously, trying to get Tikki to agree to it. Wanting nothing more than to hurt this man, and hurt him good. There is no satisfaction when Gabriel takes both his and Nathalie’s Miraculous and sets them in front of her before backing off and sitting on the ground. There’s only anger as he tries to sit next to Adrien, who has since passed out from the shock, only to be scared off by a hissing Plagg. Staring at Adrien’s tear stricken face, contorted in pain even in sleep, and his- his arm, she realizes with a wave of nausea, that’s his arm lying next to him. She feels every single muscle tense as she continues to fight to break free. To beat the shit out of Gabriel Agreste. Even as her thoughts start to betray her. Even as she realizes….This was all her fault. 

Next

---

Tag List (open): @toodaloo-kangaroo @laurcad123 

[theheroheart]

What ‘Ted Lasso’ gets right about resistance to therapy, according to a therapist

By Erin Qualey Sep. 10, 2021 6 AM PT

The following contains spoilers from Friday’s episode of “Ted Lasso,” “Man City.”    (Originally posted here.)

Wherever you go, there you are.

In my work as a therapist, this is a concept my clients and I often explore. No matter how far or fast you run from your troubles, the one thing you absolutely cannot escape is yourself. Wherever you go? There you are. It’s a saying that Ted Lasso himself would surely love.

In the first season of the Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso,” Ted (Jason Sudeikis) travels across an ocean to coach a professional football team with zero experience. He’s an aw-shucks Kansan with a can-do attitude, and his perpetual positivity proves infectious to almost everyone he meets. Although “Ted Lasso” is a comedy, Ted’s tortured inner life has been hinted at from the start — in the form of conflict with his ex-wife and a panic attack he experienced late in Season 1, triggered by a karaoke version of “Let It Go” from “Frozen.” For Ted, the song served as a crushing yet temporary reminder that he was putting off the inevitable. It’s only in Season 2, the adjustment to a new life and job complete, that Ted has been left to sit with his feelings — and realize he might not be able to outrun himself after all.

Enter Dr. Sharon Fieldstone (Sarah Niles), sports psychologist, whose presence clearly rattled Ted. Niles imbues Dr. Sharon with an even keel and disciplined temperament: Whether she’s engaging with a client or observing the team at practice, her active body language and ever-searching eye movements indicate that Dr. Sharon strives to treat each moment at her job with the utmost care and seriousness. She sets personal boundaries but also knows when to head out for a drink with the team after a particularly needed win.

It’s the addition of the enigmatic Dr. Sharon that catalyzes the central action of Season 2 — which, though it’s received criticism for a lack of dramatic momentum, has been laying a trail of biscuit crumbs to Friday’s game-changing “Man City.”

Ted’s insistence that life has infinite happy endings already bordered on toxic positivity, and it catapults over that line into maladaptive behavior in Season 2. As Ted starts to strain against the weight of the trauma he carries, he shifts into near-manic mode. The pressure to be himself — a man who consistently puts others’ needs above his own — finally becomes too great, and he experiences a debilitating panic attack in the middle of a crucial match. In a striking scene, Dr. Sharon finds Ted curled up in her darkened office, finally asking for help.

Therapy is all about sitting with and processing uncomfortable emotions in a safe space. Unfortunately, much of Ted’s ethos runs completely counter to this idea. His “be a goldfish” saying and his staunch belief in “rom-communism” both center on selective amnesia of the negative and overemphasis on the positive. But Ted has another mantra: “bird by bird.” Originating in the book of the same name by Anne Lamott, the term connotes perseverance and patience: It means to take things one step at a time until a daunting task is completed. So when Ted finally decides to engage in therapy with Dr. Sharon, he’s determined to not give up. And, wouldn’t you know, there’s a bird involved.

When Ted finally sits down for his first session with Dr. Sharon, he is a mess. He spies a bobbing drinking bird and taps it. The bird, much like Ted, can say only “yes.” But in a powerful moment, Ted begins to gently oppose the bird, shaking his head “no” as he watches the toy come to a stop. Shortly after, he pops out of his chair and leaves the session. Something similar happens during the second session, but this time he picks a fight with the good doctor before storming out.

The bird is an important visual illustration of the cognitive dissonance Ted is experiencing. He’s programmed himself to use relentless positivity as a coping mechanism, always saying yes to every experience and aiming to please in every interaction. Therapy is an unknown for him, and his fear of uncovering the truth is far greater than his fear of not being liked. So he bolts.

This scene could well have been lifted from many of my sessions over the years. There’s a bit of Ted in every therapy client I’ve ever worked with, and an instinctual pushback to therapy is understandable, given there are deeply entrenched societal stigmas associated with reaching out for help. Asking for help is an act of courage, as therapy can be scary and even at times unpleasant: As Dr. Sharon says, “The truth will set you free, but first it will p— you off.”

It takes a leap of faith to engage in therapy, as it’s a process often filled with challenging emotions. Ambivalence is normal and even expected. “Ted Lasso” delivers a raw and honest portrayal of how — with the right therapist — a person can overcome their fears and begin to pursue a more hopeful path. (It’s worth noting here that Ted represents the best-case scenario for someone seeking therapy. He has a quality therapist who has time for him, is conveniently located and is presumably free of charge. In real life, availability, location and cost are major barriers that can prevent people from even getting in the door.)

Still, though Ted is staying for the duration of his sessions with Dr. Sharon at this point, he’s not actually doing the work. So she tries a different angle: Following a traumatic accident on her bike in “Man City,” she worries she’ll be too scared to do one of her favorite activities going forward — and shares these feelings with Ted, using self-disclosure to model behavior for her client. When she’s vulnerable and honest about her emotions, it gives Ted the license to do the same.

A day later, Ted witnesses an altercation between Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) and his abusive father, and it triggers a reaction. It’s easy to imagine the old Ted swallowing his own feelings and trying to smooth the situation over, but that’s not what happens. Instead, he races outside, calls Dr. Sharon, and tearfully confesses to her that his father took his own life when Ted was 16. And Ted Lasso — both the character and the series — has fully earned this moment, as we’ve witnessed absolutely every step that has led up to his breakthrough.

For a show such as “Ted Lasso” to depict the initial stages of therapy with such care and nuance is an act of generosity. Just as Dr. Sharon modeled desirable behavior for Ted, the series successfully modeled a very real experience that can and does hold people back from finding the support they need. Perhaps Ted will eventually be the catalyst for many of the people in his orbit — looking at you, Nate, Rebecca and Jamie — to seek out time with the doctor as well.

Qualey is a licensed therapist specializing in addiction and trauma with more than a decade of experience in the field. She also works as a freelance writer, often focusing on the intersections among mental health, addiction and pop culture.

[ultfreakme]

Since you so kindly ask for comments, I would like to give my input.

Starting from the Bendis Run, right after the age-up, it is heavily implied that Jon copes with his trauma through repression, and a vehement avoidance of what he went through. Even when he's recounting his experience, he's using casual language and is emotionally pretty grounded.

Before and after the age-up, Jon speaks with a lot of humor and a hint of sarcasm, and that's the approach he's taking when speaking to Lois and Clark.

We see obvious signs of him dismissing his own trauma and spinning jokes out of it, we see him refusing to speak in detail about what happened. He is running away from ever having to speak about it.

He also is very ashamed of the fact that he took so long to return, and emphasized Lois & Clark's emotional well-being over his own.

All of this combined makes it so Jon acts like he's fine, and the facade works extremely well. His parents are obviously concerned but Jon himself has not expressed any desire to get help, and acts like he's totally fine 24/7. His parents can't force him into a couch in a therapist's office and demand that he speak. Lois and Clark are above all, good parents who trust and respect their children's boundaries. They would not go behind their children's backs to do anything without their consent. Doing so would be antithetical to the entirety of their core values.

Therapy is good, confrontation is good, but no one can force a person into these things.

There's also a common misconception in the fandom that Jon was in the volcano for 5-6 years, and upon his escape, immediately got back to his earth. That is false. Jon escaped and spent a substantial amount of time just living in the cities of Earth-3. He had months, potentially years worth of time to process what happened to him, therefore preparing him better emotionally for a meeting with his parents.

The next thing I want to address is that it is "too late" to address Jon's trauma. Firstly, it is not in terms of comics story timeline. There are plenty of characters who have experienced deeply traumatic events in comics, whose traumas go unaddressed for decades. Jason Todd is the most famous example, where his revival and his laundry list of traumas and even his position as antagonist or hero wavered for years.

Jon's trauma actually got addressed rather quickly- approximately 3 years after his return from the volcano in Superman : Son of Kal-El.

There, we see that Jon is deeply affected by a lot of his former anxieties about his power, his ability to help people, and his difficulty in defining what he wants to represent as Superman. A lot of the actions he takes are directly influenced by his fears, but he refuses to acknowledge that it is because of his anxieties.

In these panels, it's Pa Kent who's explaining Jon's consistently portrayed tight control of his own powers. Jon himself never speaks of it this way.

Jon doesn't say he's learned to control things because he was destroyed by accidentally killing his pet cat, but through a general acknowledgement that his powers are capable of causing great injury.

The entirety of 'Superman: Son of Kal-El' does this. The trauma is a looming shadow over the story. Present, but it does not directly interfere with the story. This anxiety directly interferes only when he's coming out to Clark, where he admits that he is scared of how Clark will look at him now that's he's different to what Clark expects- this is in reference to him being bisexual, and in the age-up.

This continues on in Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent, where he's forced to confront Ultraman and Injustice!Superman. I will admit that AOSJK is terribly executed towards the end and needed more issues, but it's disingenuous to say his trauma has not been acknowledged(and like, pretty much every comic character has a bad run at some point, it's basically a rite of passage). AOSJK came out immediately after Son of Kal-El too, so it was a running theme that Jon kept dodging his trauma by embracing the title of hero and Superman.

I think your story concept is an extreme character assassination of Imra, Lois, and Clark. Legion of Superheroes (2019) had already terribly mischaracterized Imra and you are adding fuel to the fire. Making her be the bad guy fixes nothing.

In all her previous iterations, Imra is shown to be deeply aware of her powers, and how terrified people would be of them. She respects boundaries, always take consent, and is mindful whenever she has to use her powers in so drastic a way as you propose(she would rather never do it at all since it goes against her values as a hero).

Lois & Clark also, would never agree to anything which would take away their son's autonomy. If Imra told Lois and Clark Jon is not prepared, the most in-character thing for all three of them to do, is talk to Jon and let him go back to the 21st century. Which is kind of what happens anyways in canon (not them discussing stuff, just Jon returning).

Further butchering a female character is pointless. And edgy plot like this sounds good, and raises a lot of questions and intrigue, but in the context of these specific characters it makes no sense.

I'd also like to say it's extremely rude to be sarcastic and condescending on a post which is excited about Absolute Power: Super Son. Ending your reblog with "comments? questions?" is basically hijacking a post and making OP see negativity, when all they did was express enthusiasm about a comic they're looking forward to.

Next time, please make a separate post. I hope these comments have some insight into the current canon for Jon.

Absolute Power:Superson Previews!!!

Looks like this comic is gonna be all over the place as Jon goes through his memories but I’m excited for it, I can’t get over Damian’s outfit, based one what we’ve heard it sounds like he’ll make some more appearances throughout.

Also I wonder if Nia is actually dead, I don’t think she is but maybe she’s stuck in Jon’s head for the time being.

Jon being glued to his phone texting Jay is so cute I can’t wait to see them reunite. “They’re telling me to rest” implying he would have gone to pick up Jay if he could lol

Here’s some previews that came from the Nicole and Sina’s social medias!

It looks very silly in the initial previews but based on the descriptions we’ve gotten so far it’s sounds like it’s gonna get serious and dive into Jon’s trauma.

I’ll keep you all updated when it releases on September 18th!!!

[danny-chase]

Do you think that Tim saved Dick in a way? Because we see Dick getting better as he gets closer to Tim and healing and getting back into the family, and ig it’s Tim who initiated that.

I literally don't have a yes or no answer for this... like most things in the Batfam - it's complicated. (Following answer is informed by 90s-00s comics, i can't really speak for new52 because it just... has so many issues one of which being erasing the relationship between Dick and Tim for *checks note* no discernable reason other than possibly *checks note* Didio hates legacy characters and wants only bad things for them so he could have excuses to kill them off or cancel their comics... idk just a guess)

Warnings: for Bruce stans - just look away i'm about to bring up bits of canon you most likely don't like, for Dick stans - Devin Grayson's run is mentioned, for the lovely anon - i wrote an essay, hope you are prepared

Tim coming into the family gave Dick a reason to occasionally hang around Bruce and i'm not sure if this is an exaggeration or not but he did sort of save that relationship - but whether that was a good or bad thing at the time, i can't really say. For sure - it starts off good, Bruce is actually trying to be a good dad (he comes down to Blud to check on Dick, adopts him, trusts him with his own city, calls him for backup, etc.). But we also see throughout Bruce Wayne: Fugitive/Murderer how unhealthy the relationship between the two can be. Dick built his core values around Bruce - if Bruce had actually killed here it would have been devastating for Dick (he was pretty much on the verge of a mental breakdown simply because they couldn't find proof Bruce wasn't guilty). The two literally got in a fist fight during the arc because Bruce was being uncommunicative and Dick couldn't take it anymore, snapped, and punched him when Bruce said "Bruce Wayne is dead only Batman now" - this tied into Dick finally having the relief and validation of being adopted and he couldn't handle Bruce stripping himself (and by extension, his fatherhood of Dick) away. In this era of comics Bruce had gotten physical with Dick before (here's me venting like an annoyed loser), and here's a clip from Bruce Wayne Fugitive that i just, *sigh*, canon Bruce, my detested.

Now on the other hand - getting Dick involved in the batfam more doesn't just mean he was hanging out with Bruce. His relationship with Tim is pretty great and I can definitely see where it was healing for a while - but also - to give credit where credit is due, the healing he goes through during this era of comics can also be attributed to Barbara and the Titans (the fab five specifically). Wally literally joins the Titans to give Dick a "social life" (me - it's because he's gay and wants to spend more time with Dick, actually, screw you DC you know i'm right). Donna plays a major part in keeping Dick's emotional well being in check. So like everything was going fine - Dick was healing, spending more time with friends, spending a lot of time with people he loved, like Tim, except he was neglecting his health and not sleeping - but overall he was in fact, managing, and moving past the deaths of Jason and some of the other Titans. With the current Titans - he was a hardass (which like ~trauma~ so I understand), but like things were going relatively okay.

And then Donna and Lilith died. And hooof Donna dying was like really really bad for his mental health.

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files (2003) #1

[Image ID: Dick sits in a room staring at a photo, the phone rings in the background, and he doesn't even acknowledge it, the voice mail plays: "I'm not here. Leave a message after the beep." The photo is shown closer in the next frame, it's of the five original Teen Titans - Roy kisses Donna on the cheek, tipping his hat his other hand making the okay sign, Donna has an arm around Roy, the other hand on Dick's shoulder, Garth proudly stands beaming with his hands on his hips, and Dick has both his arms around Wally's neck. Everyone is smiling in the photo. A voice plays over the answering machine: "Dick, it's Roy - pick up the phone... c'mon... please... I know you're there... just pick up. Dick, we need to talk... you can't just... please..." End ID]

For context - the previous page noted that this is Dick SIX WEEKS after Donna died. Usually Dick's the one who moves on quickly, but Donna dying broke him in a way nothing else had before - and that could be partly because he was still recovering from everyone else's death.

Up to this point, Dick had been healing and Tim was definitely a part of that, but then DC decided to throw the absolute book, bookshelf, and library at him. Reading Outsiders (2003) it's very clear he's very traumatized, and around the same time, Devin is literally whumping him like it's the whump Olympics, breaking him and Babs up, burning down his childhood home, blowing up his apartment complex (killing all but like two of his neighbors), he's literally sleeping on fire escapes using newspapers as covering because he has nothing, and the bad thing i don't like to think about (i'll let you know if you ask but that one needs lots of tw, but if you know where i'm going you know what it is already), Blockbuster is killed and he blames himself - and loses it over breaking Bruce's one rule, Bludhaven is nuked, and he pretty much tries to kill himself.

So basically, he was on the path to healing (with Tim as part of that) before he got absolutely destroyed (and almost killed off by Didio in one of the crisis). Tim in his own right, was also going through a lot in the meantime, his dad died, Steph died, Kon and Bart died, i don't remember what else happened and i haven't read that era of Robin yet. Things were good until they weren't anymore, and sometimes i think Dick would regret ever exposing Tim to the life they live, and questions whether he should have just sent Tim packing x2. They do get to spend a year together on a mental health cruise, but then Damian comes into the picture, Battle for the Cowl happens, and they have their falling out. But whatever happened on that cruise must have been really healing for Dick because he actually kind of rocks it in this era - he keeps things light with Damian, Alfred notes at one point how he makes things easy because he has lightness in him, and he patches things up with Tim - catching him in that panel of Red Robin - from there they kind of go back to normal, there's a lightness to the way they banter with each other (also here) and Tim returns the favor (from the Red Robin incident) by pulling Dick out of the water.

They've saved each other multiple times over (physically), and in both in the Black Mirror and Gates of Gotham, Tim helps out in a period where Dick is starting to fall apart from the pressure of holding things together for so long (something Tim might feel guilty for, because he did run away from Gotham on a wild goose chase for Bruce). In that period, it's really clear that Dick saves Tim (he reminds him in RR, that someone does actually care for him) and then Tim saves Dick from being torn apart by Gotham.

I should point out - Damian, while starting off as kind of a hinderance, does eventually start helping Dick as well. By the end of their relationship (before the New52 destroys everything i love), Dick has helped Damian grow emotionally, and through that process Dick probably finds meaning and value in their time together, probably a lot like he used to feel with Tim. And of course, physically, they've both saved each other multiple times by the end of the run.

So yeah. I think Dick finds meaning in growth in mentoring his younger brothers, and it's likely a healing process, that healing just has some twists and turns along the way, and sometimes, on bad days, he probably feels like maybe he shouldn't have intervened at all, but i think on most days, he's proud of what Tim's become.

...I hope this is coherent lmao

[caprisunsweet]

I can’t decide if I hate or love Jason Todd’s character in Titans.

(well ok, I always love Jason Todd, I just meant what they *did* to him)

Like, they did get- the basics of Jason’s personality down right? He’s the troubled kid from an impoverished background who had to scrimp and scrape for every piece of respect and care he was given, and was filled with a lot of rage, trauma, and overall Issues because of it. They really grabbed the thing with him being an asshole towards other people and posturing he’s got to make himself seem bigger and badder than he really is. He’s a kid who needs guidance, who needs someone to help him work through that underlying fear and self-esteem issues he’s got going on, and his whole process of thinking he has to fight for everything and against everyone to establish his place. It’s not- the most well shown in the show, but it is there, especially if you’re familiar with his character.

But then, you get the Red Hood plotline which just turns it all- fucky. Like for one, they clearly messed up by making him come back so quickly; the timeline is scuffed and remains scuffed that entire season, because the entire design behind Red Hood is he dies young and tragic, a kid who needed guidance and never really got it (which- that shows up at least, because holy fuck s2 really made the rest of the Titans especially the adults into the biggest assholes; blame this kid for everything going on and treat him like shit until he almost commits suicide bcus he already thinks he’s a reject fuck-up, and now you’ve made him the fuck up of the Rejects. Good job Titans, real heroes you lot are. Not to mention how you act when you find out he died, what the fuck guys). Then after his death he gets resurrected (or never died if you look at Arkham Knight, pretty sure), trained up and manipulated a bit not to mention whatever the Lazarus Pit does to him. But there’s a solid 3 or four years between his death and his return as Red Hood.

Titans said, “Let’s speedrun this bitch” and had him resurrected and terrorizing Gotham (which, don’t even get me started on whatever the hell the beginning of s3 Jason was, that is NOT Red Hood) in a span of a few weeks? two months? And then threw him for loop over loop with whatever weird plot they had. Curran did a great job with Jason, and really highlighted the vulnerability of his character and how he was on the edge of a breakdown. But the execution of his relationship with Dick, the other Titans, and then Scarecrow sends everything on this weird see-saw where you just feel terrible, because he looks and gets treated like a kicked puppy. He’s not scary or intimidating, but they treat him like he is. The Titans (except Gar) aren’t worried or sympathetic and trying to reach out to help him, with the exception of that short period with Hank, which COULD have been a great set up to show how far fallen Jason is.

Imagine if, after we have the scene of Hank saying (I don’t remember exact wording or anything) Jason is past-helping and needs to be taken down, Jason calls Hank. We have the same set-up of showing him curled up, half-crying, while Hank’s original anger simmers down and he tries to talk to this kid (and really, Curran’s great but he looked like Hollywood 15 or 16 playing Jason), who by all means it’d be reasonable for him to relate to given all we know about Hank. He goes to help Jason, we get the swimming pool scene, except they actually talk. Hank tells Jason he can come back, that they can work this out; Jason is angry at first, but starts to go along with it, wanting to believe Hank until Hank says something that reaffirms Jason’s belief that they can’t just ‘work this out.’ That the Titans abandoned him, that Bruce, everyone abandoned him or failed to help him, and at this point he’s a lost cause and he’s going to do what they never could. That’s when Hank is knocked out, and the audience is left unaware of what happened. But they feel more emotional attachment, because now it’s more clear how Jason at least is feeling (followed up with the episode of Jason and Bruce’s falling out that led him to Scarecrow and showing how he got there) and it cements how the Titans failed Jason, and are in their own way partially responsible for what he’s become. Something that can be built back up then as the Titans work towards becoming an actual found-family like the show wants to insist so badly they are, but fails to do.

All of the connections with Jason just feels like a troubled kid routinely blamed for what has happened to him and the people around him. And don’t get me wrong, Jason is a dickhead, but he also is clearly someone who needs help, help that is never offered to him by any of the Titans, and makes him feel like a chronic punching bag, and the Titans into giant assholes.

Jason Todd in Titans, and in general all of the characters in Titans, have such great potential, and some times the show writers do something amazing with characters, but they routinely fail to bring together the message they are trying to send (not to mention outright ignoring certain characters in favor of badly done development for others.) So maybe I do love Titans Jason Todd, I just hate everything around him.

[sil-and-seals-blog-something]

Oh how I love seeing comfort verging on the line of co-dependency. That dogpiling into a house and onto each other in response to the absolute trauma shit show that the Outlaws + Phantom Fraid just experienced makes me so happy. I imagine that the none/less liminal ones realize how close they’re verging on unhealthy codependency (with varying reactions to that) and the more liminal/ghostly ones are straight up not in a state to even begin processing that because ghost-instincts are yelling to ensure safety and comfort and health of the fraid.

But, yeah, Bruce would probably manage to get them into the manor (eventually, after someone pries them apart and Alfred coaxes them over). They stay collectively together. Everything that they saw was genuinely horrifying. The fact that it started with finding a starved teen crawling out of a grave is probably a good indicator as to how messed up what they’ve just been through was.

Alfred is easily the first of the Batfam let anywhere near Danny and Ellie. Yes, it eventually eases up to allow the rest of the Batfam close, but before that? If any Batfam member except Alfred got close, multiple members of the fraid would get riled up (even if they weren’t aware of it outside of the feeling, which definitely confused Jason at first when the anxiousness and defensiveness and “away away away away” feelings hits him via fraid bonds).

Oh Bruce and Tim are absolutely hitting the GIW with every single lawsuit possible, even those only partially applicable. They’re vicious together. The GIW are only just getting repairs going when these lawsuits and attacks hit them, and will probably do as shady government organizations do when desperate and confused. Anyways, Bruce is absolutely respecting the mother henning that Jason is doing is amazing and manages to somehow get him rights to be one of the first of the Batfam (his placement is after Alfred and Cass) to get close to Danny and Ellie. Neither Jason nor Bruce actually fully understands why. Bruce is happy to accept this.

Clingy and anxiety prone Danny. Ohohoho. Let’s add some claustrophobia AND nyctophobia (+ a lesser noticed xylophobia, all as apart of taphophobia). The moment that he can’t see/feel a member of his fraid and one of these phobias are applicable? He’s gonna spiral. Eventually it’ll be manageable enough for him to function with more than his fraid, but for the first week? He wasn’t having a good time at all. (Something else that he refuses to admit is that seeing Jazz’s red hair without view of her face would startle him. He’s grateful that that was manageable/minor enough that it took him a while to even realize that.)

YES! Jazz, Tucker, and Sam are not playing around. It takes a lot of reasoning to keep them from just blowing up the GIW bases again (the first time can be rationalized to the public as the retaliation of a third party, but if three teen liminals under their care were to do so? It would make taking those laws down much harder). Instead, they impart every ounce of knowledge they have to Lois and Clark while copying every GIW file they can get into to anonymously release to the public (and prevent from being taken down or pushed out of notice).

Yeah. Vlad’s right fucked here. At this point though, I’m not sure he’s in a state of mind to care. With everything that’s happened, I wouldn’t be surprised if his obsession is wavering because it’ll be hard for him to properly defend what Maddie did, and a lot of his thing was defending Maddie’s action via a “she can do no wrong” process of excuses. When something so starkly cruel is thrown at him that he can’t easily excuse? Well. He’s going through some shock and uncertainty. Might even appreciate whatever’s he’s gonna have to face after healing.

Ooo! The Fortress of Solitude is honestly a really good location for the portal! It might make tracking trouble makers harder, but said trouble makers might not even bother after realizing how far they’d have to go to do anything. They might just start having parties at the Fortress instead.

They’re all going to need so much therapy. Dinah (Black Canary) and Bruce are going to absolutely work on a list of approved therapists that could work with the Outlaws and Phantom Fraid on this, with specialists for certain things. It’s definitely going to be a long process, as you said.

The Outlaws are investigating a small town in Illinois. They don't get very far into town though when Jason feels a weird tug at his chest. He can't help but follow it to a graveyard and then to a specific grave. It is there he witnesses something he never thought he'd experience from an outsider's perspective. A boy trying to claw his way out of his grave.

[anondudeao3]

Fic Recs!

Since I'm on hiatus, I've finally had time to do some reading, and I thought I'd give some fic recommendations, since I won't be posting for quite a while. These are my absolute favourites!

(I'm splitting this into two posts — one for JayDick and one for JayTim — because now that I'm finished with the first half it's quite long)

JayDick

A Love Triangle With The Same Person

By: Chrystie, kate882

Word Count: 10,031

Summary: Dick might have a bit of a thing for Jason, one of Red Hood's criminal underlings. But he's also already a little in love with Red Hood.

→ Identity porn! Who doesn't love identity porn? Very cute and sweet.

Everything I Know

By: epistemology

Word Count: 12,360

Summary: Red Hood is a little bit in love with his partner, Nightwing, who has a huge crush on Jason Todd, the hot bookstore owner, who is actually the Red Hood, who is too busy being in love to notice Dick Grayson, who's actually Nightwing.

Jason and Dick fall in love with the wrong versions of each other, and things become complicated fast.

→ More identity porn, but this one is a lot more sort of missed connections, plus it has bookshop owner Jay who was never taken in by Bruce! It really has you begging SOMETHING to happen to somehow make them see that THEY ARE EACH OTHER, THEY ARE THE ONES THEY LIKE. AHHHH IT'S THE SAME PERSON. And when it finally does happen, it's so sweet and satisfying. (I recommend checking out their other fics too! Lots of sweetness.)

Lie To Me, Darling

By: Chrystie, kate882

Word Count: 19,214

Summary: Officer Dick Grayson is undercover in the infamous Red Hood's gang trying to track down the man behind the helmet. With his former partner killed for being found out, there's a new guy in the gang to take his place. Jason doesn't seem like the average new gang recruit, and Dick may be getting more than he bargained for trying to get close to him.

→ Okay, ngl I JUST now noticed that this one is by the same people as the first one, and I specifically didn't want to put multiple fics by the same people (just say I recommend checking out their other stuff, but not rec separately), but it's too late now and I don't have a 7th JayDick fic to recc that isn't also an author repeat, and I don't want it to be uneven.

But ANYWAY. This one will fuck you up, I can't lie. Unhappy ending, but if you can brave that, ohhh it's so good. It's so damn sweet whilst the good times last, even though you know it's only temporary and it's all going to go to hell at some point... man. It hurts. But it hurts so good. It's beautiful, and I personally think it's worth the pain.

Two Birds on a Wire

By: empires, pentapus

Word Count: 20,565

Summary: Dick asks Jason for help on a case. Jason should have never agreed.

→ It's probably laughable that I'm reccing this, since pentapus is one of the authors and their art is like huge in the JayDick fandom, and the fic has more than 22.5k views, which seems to be quite a lot as far as JayDick fics go. But in the event that you haven't read it yet... This is actually the very first JayDick fic I EVER read, it introduced me to the ship, and I just reread it and it's still just as amazing, what a winner to start out with!

The dynamic between Jay and Dick, the way Dick gets so into his undercover role, Jay's emotional turmoil, the action — it's all just absolute chef's kiss! It's so hard to write action well, and these two made this fic so engaging!

All Soulmates Final, No Refunds

By: empires, salvadore

Word Count: 38,900

Summary: Mystic Waters Grande Hotel sells itself as a luxury soulmate retreat with all manner of couple’s activities. The cost is high, and all is not as it appears on the hotel’s grounds. Dick and Jason go undercover as newlywed soulmates to find out what’s behind the rash of missing persons. And dig up old feelings in the process.

→ (Since empires was collaborating with two different people of the different fics, I don't count that as a repeat).

Well firstly, this is a rare Batman!Dick JayDick! And secondly, yes, one of the ubiquitous soulmate AUs. But with some very interesting twists! Also, like TBOAW above, the action in this is amazing, and absolutely had me on the edge of my seat. Similarly, their undercover personas were lots of fun, and it was very fun to see them push each other further and further with them.

Secrets of the Sea

By: ParzivalHallows

Word Count: 42,711

Summary: Being a merperson was dangerous enough, but being a merperson captured by pirates? That's got to be one of the worst fates for a merman. Merman Dick Grayson is captured by a slave ship, where he meets Jason Todd, who's a slave on that ship. Together, the two plan an escape. However, they need to put aside their odds first, which is very difficult for the two stubborn men.

→ I have to give you fair warning first, this one is incomplete and hasn't been updated since 2017, so I don't think it's ever going to be finished (but it can't hurt to leave a nice comment!) BUT WAIT, DON'T SCROLL YET, hear me out. It's really good, okay. You do need to mind the warning tags because there is major character death (not Jay or Dick though, and since it's not complete I'm kind of choosing to believe that they're not really dead and later in the story it actually turns out that they managed to survive).

There are a lot of grim things in this story, it's really about survival, but the worldbuilding is fucking phenomenal, and the author drew me right in. The descriptions and the action and emotion, the unexpected magic that they have to figure out? It's all so cool and well done.

Steady On Forward

By: JayseHasNoGrace

Word Count: 96,287

Summary: Dick Grayson's life has never been easy, but he'd like to think it's been going better lately. He's been operating mainly out of Gotham again for almost a year, and has been in a steady relationship for just over. He knows where he stands with crime-fighting, and the family is all on pretty good terms, considering.

Things are really going pretty well.

Unfortunately, the balance doesn't last long, and old horrors from Dick's past end up dredged up alongside new ones.

This is a story about love and family, but equally so about trauma and healing from it. Please heed the warnings in the preface.

→ Alright, the final JayDick rec, the longest, and the darkest. But wait, again, don't scroll! It's also by far the most hopeful AND FLUFFY. Now, the author is NOT fucking around about heeding those warnings, there's a shitload of them and it's really heavy, hard shit. Do not get me wrong, this fic is going to HURT you. But by the end, it's going to have felt so cathartic, and you're going so feel soft and hopeful and whole. I don't know how they did it, but it's SUCH an emotional rollercoaster. Another commenter on AO3 (mach5plus1) said it better than I could:

I gave this fic my whole heart, it took it, smiled and said “awwww, I’ll take care of it!“

Then started putting pressure on it and I told it “ouch, that hurts”

The fic kept smiling and put more pressure until a piece broke off (last chapter)

and then another (this chapter)

The fic keeps doing it until my heart is shattered into pieces and it’s standing over each shard with a frown saying “oops” (the upcoming chapters)

Then, after finding each piece again and picking them up, the fic will slowly push each piece back into place.

By the end it’ll give my heart back a little different, but somehow better than it was when I gave it away.

It will crush your heart, but it will lovingly patch it back together by the end, I promise. If you can read it without getting triggered, I thought everything was well handled, and it's so worth it. (I recommend checking out their other JayDick fic too, they only have one, but it's a fluffy romcom, so if you need a break after this one, that's there!)

[why-this-kolaveri-machi]

the wolf should’ve been afraid of me.

Titans 3.04

just under the wire! ... i hope.

like with the previous review, i’m typing this up as i see the episode. here we go!

spoilers ahead.

1. ... well. that was an interesting cold open.

1.25. i don’t know whether to admire this show’s restraint when it comes to gotham and its excesses, particularly arkham asylum. it’d be easy to go hammer and tongs, like suicide squad (2016) did, or any number of bat media did, at a tropey, colourful~~insanity~~ that can be quite damaging, casting mental illness in strangeness and criminality. it definitely shows gotham as... separate from the rest of the country, its own ecosystem of heroes and villains, a sort of rogue state. 

but that ecosystem is still human, with its heroes needing to clip parts of themselves away just to survive, growing old and needing to be recycled, its villains languishing in the same kinds of systems that fail everybody else who needs to be helped. it’s a quieter, tenser sort of wrongness: not strange enough that you can dissociate, but not close enough that you can completely empathise. gotham is its own creature.

1.5. i know that the reasoning behind this is more doylist than anything, but i’m so glad that joker was killed off with little fanfare right at the start of the season. he is the one man in the batverse that’s transcended its confines as this sort of ethereal boogeyman/eternal edgelord and to justify his presence in the series would mean giving him this tired, overblown importance and too much of a stab at colourful, tropey “madness” in this otherwise-subdued series. i wish all batmedia would follow suit and get rid of this fucker.

1.75. so jason is bucking scarecrow’s control! or reminding him of who exactly holds all the cards right now. circling back to what i talked about in the last review, it’s remarkable just how little time it’s been since jason’s “death” and he’s already got ‘minions’ and elaborately set up plans to track, break and kill the titans. just how long has he been planning this? when did he first look at WE weapons prototypes and think that’s something i can use to blow somebody up? and the most unsettling question: did he plan his own death at the hands of the joker just so that he could break batman?

at this point it’s obvious that the scarecrow at least started jason down this path, but it’s frightening just how far he’s travelled already.

1.8. aaagh, less than one minute in! i’ll shut up. 

2. conner washing his hands at the sink reminds me that he was directly in the line of explosion when hank got blown up and he’s probably got atomised hank-bits all over his skin that he’s desperately trying to wash off.

... you’re welcome.

2.25. conner, don’t you speak to gar fucking logan like that, sir, no!

2.3. if anything it’s the lex part of him that gave him the knowhow to recognise the weapon and build a de-activator for it. 

anyway, for that ‘half-breed’ and ‘talking tiger’ comment?

(i wish, tho, that we actually see conner more interested in the superman part of his legacy, like maybe listening to stories from gar, or even better, dick, so we get a better idea of the pressure he’s feeling to live up to that part of him and not the part that’s lex.)

((i talked about conner’s stages of moral development in his introductory episode last season, but i wonder if the next stage of his self-actualisation would be to further integrate the parts of himself and realise that they are only parts and he, conner, is an entirely different person unto himself that can make decisions on how to use what he has and what he knows. his superman abilities can be used to destroy. his lex knowledge can be used to save.))

3. oh dawn :((

3.25. is this the last we see of dawn and hank? i mean, we know donna is coming back; would it be a stretch to think they’ll try to have a go at resurrecting hank as well?

3.5. “deathstroke didn’t make us into killers.” good, because deathstroke didn’t make jason a killer either. there’s a missing step there you need to be looking for, dick. 

3.75. dick did try to break the cycle, step away from gotham, run from the possibility that he could turn into batman. it didn’t help; he couldn’t fully withdraw from his vigilante persona the same time he loathed it, and batman literally haunted him both asleep and awake. but maybe gotham doesn’t have to turn anybody into anything. maybe gotham has nothing to do with it at all. it’s about taking responsibility, realising some sacrifices are pure bullshit, and building an actual family instead of merely a team.

anyway: hugs!

(oh, also? mr “i hate flying”? i mean, there’s perfectly valid reasons to hate flying that’s not related to childhood trauma, but then again, this guy was literally a ‘flying grayson’ once. also also, remember that he also gets sea-sick. must’ve a lot of fun stories to tell.)

4. ooh that gar/kory confrontation was brief but cool!

listen, i have never seen a psychiatrist with that extravagant an office and SIR I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW--

4.5. kory’s so unused to reaching out for help and it’s breaking my heart that HPG likely is some kind of impostor that’s maybe causing her symptoms in the first place. 

kory and dick have mostly been apart this season but it’s remarkable how their journeys have paralleled each other; kory processes her grief, isolation and existential dread into a determination to take care of this new family she has, no matter what it takes; dick does much the same, forging ahead with plans and solutions until he has no fuel left in him and spirals into a massive breakdown.

4.25. listen titans this really is a TERRIBLE continuity error. we aren’t goldfish; we can clearly remember that two minutes ago it was gar’s upper arm that was burned, not his forearm. COME ON.

“sensory deprivation tank” *SNORT*

anyway, gar is the BEST

4.5. i wonder where these visions of experimentation took place. was it on tamaran, or on earth, after she came to hunt down rachel/trigon and before she lost all her memories? is HPG a part of the scientist group that experimented on her? ... god, i hope not. i mean, i think he is, but it would be cool to have some positive therapist representation in media. 

5. you’d think the van transporting a dangerous supervillain that only batman could catch would be more secure but... i’m also not entirely surprised. 

5.15. i love dick gives ZERO shits about hiding himself or even ensuring scarecrow is adequately contained. just turns away after kidnapping him in BROAD DAYLIGHT and says ‘let’s go’. I LOVE THIS DUMBASS

6. lmao gar is having a really really shitty day SOMEONE GIVE THIS MAN A BREAK or just a goddamn story arc of his own

6.5. i’m really confused about the timeline here. so... sometime ago, kory came down to earth to hunt down trigon, yeah? at some further point down the line she and her sister were kidnapped and experimented on. THEN she somehow escapes but... loses her memory? a few months pass and then we see blackfire alive and well and free; she kills faddei, can impersonate other people, and is clearly seeking out kory. but now she’s still in the experiment facility...? what’s going on?

i’m not entirely surprised about the facility being mostly deserted. either the biggest investors in this project gave up on it and it was left to the most fanatic to carry on, or they were deliberately trying to lure kory and get her to free blackfire--expand the environs of the experiment, so to speak.

7. hopefully barbara is going to get something to do other than listen to various men give her Attitude

8. how do you terrorise a terrorist? well:

i love when dick is a scary-competent motherfucker.

8.25. ooooh, the attack on crane at arkham a ploy to get crane to blackgate? nice one dick, i didn’t even think of that. but why though? to protect crane from the titans? to intercept the van to blackgate and “rescue” him? seems likely--red hood was there, except dick got to crane quicker.

9. still reeeallly unclear about the komand’r situation. was komand’r captured after s2? is this all A TRAP?? if so, why are you stepping into the only thing that can contain you, kory????

9.25. so... definite parallels between dick/jason and kory/kom here. i’m just. i’m still. really confused. i’ll shut up now.

10. this may be my favourite dick look yet:

woodsman!dick in a beanie.

10.5. i unironically love how titans has made this bizarrely-devoted-to-his-moniker, toxin-spewing supervillain into a tamer version of hannibal, psychoanalysing his victims into submission. it’s of a piece with how inward looking titans is, the way all of its villains are obsessed with how our protagonists’ minds work, to the point where they would actually spend time inside of them. 

there are no big plots to end the world. no apocalypses or endgames here. these villains collect the titans’ insecurities like infinity stones. the way the titans defeat them is by achieving character growth--literally winning by the power of love. literally “the real superpower is the friends we made along the way”!

10.7. anyway, i’m betting dick is used to this bullshit from crane and is humouring him in the service of getting more information. the story about the wolf? an implicit threat, not to mention dick getting to control what crane knows about him and what methods he would use to manipulate him.

am i giving dick too much credit here? i don’t think so. he’s really impressed me so far this season.

10.75. like. there’s a real unreliable narrator vibe coming off with every person that talks about bruce (much like how the various members of the titans talked about jason’s motivations) and to buy into crane’s talk about bruce being a psychopath is to fall for the same manipulation that jason fell for. dick is the only person who hasn’t really psychoanalysed bruce this season, and i think some part of his detective brain is piecing things together into a bigger picture.

11. i’m glad kory rescued kom but did she have to kill the scientist?

(i mean, yeah, probably - the less people know that kom escaped the less likely they’re going to have the fucking govt on their doorstep, but still.)

11.5. dick’s gonna come back to wayne manor, stare straight at komand’r and go, well which room would you like? because the team might as well adopt ANOTHER person, yeah?

12. oh MAN that red hood/nightwing fight was AMAZING! and he did the thing! the boomerang escrima thing! i’m so delighted!

12.5. the anger and disbelief in dick’s voice when he says you told crane EVERYTHING?! tells me that he knew exactly what he was telling crane himself.

12.75. “everything you are is because of him” - oh that reminds me of halluci!bruce from last season. i hope we see halluci!bruce again--he is so vicious but so entertaining... so much more effective at tearing dick down than crane or jason combined. goes to show that dick’s biggest enemy is own fucking head.

12.8. oh no! dick’s shot! crane is in the wind with red hood! blackfire is now with the titans! i love it!

honestly this season’s pacing is such a big step up from the last couple. gold star, show.

[icerosecrystal]

Jasonette - A Second Chance Pt. 1

Next

This one-shot contains major character death as well as blood and violence. BTW, to clear up their ages at the beginning of the story.

Alfred: IMMORTAL, MY CHILDREN

Bruce: 44

Dick: 29

Jason: 24

Marinette: 23

Tim: 21

Damian: 14

(Marinette’s POV)

Ladybug had failed all of Paris. She had gone into today’s battle, thinking that she and her partner Chat Noir would work together to defeat Hawkmoth. But, right when she had asked Chat Noir to take Hawkmoth’s miraculous, he froze. He then did the worst thing she could imagine he laughed. Chat then walked up to Hawkmoth while Hawkomth chuckled, “Little Bug, even your partner doesn’t support you anymore. Just give up.”

Ladybug froze, her mind racing. Her partner had betrayed her. He had decided that the cause they had been fighting for the last decade was no longer worth the fight. (I was going to make you’ll do the math, but then I saw I already told you Marinette’s age above, lmao.) She screamed in frustration and then shouted, “ Never!”

Ladybug or Marinette was a great fighter, especially after having been in the superhero gig for so long. But, Chat Noir was also pretty good, and he was allied with both Mayura and Hawkmoth. It was safe to say that the odds weren’t looking well for Marinette. She was growing tired, and Tikki didn’t have much energy left within her.

That’s when it happened, Marinette made a mistake. The next thing she knew, Hawkmoth had her pinned to the ground and had pulled off her miraculous, consequently revealing her identity. Hawkmoth handed over her miraculous to Chat Noir, who put it on. Chat, then turned into a deep purple, and a voice asked him, “What do you wish for, oh young one?”

Chat replied, “I wish for the rebirth of my mom, Emilie Agreste.” Marinette’s heart stopped. Her ex-partner was Adrien Agreste. And if he’s assisting Hawkmoth, that must mean that Hawkmoth is Gabriel Agreste, her idol. Then Natalie Sancoeur must be Mayura. Marinette came to those conclusions in a matter of seconds. But, after a minute, she started feeling sluggish.  She felt her heartbeat slow down. She was so tired. She just wanted to sleep forever. She didn’t feel so good at this point. Through her blurry vision, she saw a woman that looked like Adrien’s Mother appear. As Emilie returned to full consciousness, that’s when Marinette started losing consciousness. The last thing that she heard in a whisper was, “ A life for a life, that was the price.” Before she closed her eyes,  succumbing her body and mind to the darkness that lay ahead.

(Talia POV)

Talia Al-Ghul was expecting a lot of things today. What she was not expecting was to find Paris in a mid-battle, for one of the heroes partners to betray them, the villains winning, and then said hero dying. She looked at the body of the girl that everyone was staring at and thought she didn’t deserve to die like this, plus she might be useful to the league. Talia pulled up her mask to cover her face and then blended in with the shadows. No one actually so her until she grabbed the girl and disappeared. Her actions prompted a lot of commotion back at the battle location.

Talia boarded her plane, carrying the body in her arms. She was slightly worried about the potential effects the Lazarus pit could have on her. She had experienced the worse side-effects, courtesy of one Jason Peter Todd-Wayne. Talia could still remember his screams as he clawed his way out of the Lazarus Pit and started to attack all the assassins with the intent to kill anyone and everyone. They had barely managed to restrain him. She hoped that this girl would not receive similar side-effects. But, based on the amount of trauma and betrayal she held within her like Jason, it would be inevitable.

Once Talia arrived at the league with the dead girl, she walked out of the plane got some bandages. Talia then took the girl, or rather Marinette. She found out from a face scan that pulled up all her legal documents as well as her background information, to her father, Ra’s. Once she arrived before her father, she bowed her head in respect for him.

“Ahhh, daughter, you’ve returned. And who is this you’ve acquired.”

Talia answered, “Her name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng, twenty-three-years-old, and an excellent fighter. She lived in Paris, France, and was the main hero. Today was the final battle, and her partner ended up betraying her, getting her killed in the process.” She then handed over all of Marinette’s legal documentation as well as her background info to her father.

Ra’s looked through it and then asked, “How would she be a useful asset to the league?”

Talia responded, “After what happened with Marinette, she would have a thirst for revenge on the people that wronged her. I’m enunciating that we can use that to our advantage. The only problem is that Marinette carries around a lot of trauma, betrayal, and loneliness like Jason Todd. I’m concerned that she might have the same reaction for dipping in the pit.”

Ra’s nodded, considering the idea and agreeing that a person with the thirst for revenge would be a useful addition to the league.

Talia watched Ra’s, hoping to get an idea of what he was thinking. He then beckoned for her to follow him. He leads her to the Lazarus Pit, and Talia now knew that Ra’s supported her decision. She put Marinette down and wrapped her in bandages before dipping her in the pit. What happens next is alarming.

Marinette has the same reaction as Jason. This time though, everyone was ready. Talia quickly took hold of her and started whispering how she got to her destination and how she came back to life. Unlike Jason, though, Marinette doesn’t have as much of a temper, which helps Talia efficiently calm her down faster. Talia then tells Marinette, “Would you like to be an Assasin and fix those who have wronged you?”

Talia wasn’t asking. They would force Marinette if she refused, but they wanted to be her ally rather than as her foe. But what would she choose?

(Marinette’s POV)

A burning sensation was all Marinette felt. But she was supposed to be dead. So, what was she doing alive she got out of the green ooze that she was inside. Marinette frantically looked around while clawing the bandages on her to get rid of the burning sensation. When it didn’t work, she tried to claw her way out of the goop to ease the burning until someone caught her around her middle. The same person took her out of the green goop and started whispering reassurance in her ear. Marinette relaxed until the women asked a question that would change everything, “Would you like to be an Assasin and fix those who have wronged you?”

The logical side of her brain argued that she shouldn’t yield herself to killing others, that it was wrong. The other side of Marinette’s brain felt hazy from dipping into the ooze. It was also hazy because of her grief, pain, betrayal, trauma, and loneliness argued that revenge was the only way to go. She slowly let the murky part of her brain take over until revenge felt like eating ice cream on a hot summer day, great. She nodded her head in agreement with the proposition. The woman smiled and then introduced herself as Talia Al-Ghul, the demon head’s daughter. She spent the rest of the day explaining everything about the league to Marinette. Talia also explained rules that applied specifically to her. By the end of the day, Marinette had an outfit that she would use on missions and during training. Talia then left Marinette to settle in. Marinette looked around the room and sighed, getting ready for experiencing this every day from now on.

(Four months time skip)

It had been four months since Marinette became a member of the league of assassins. And as expected, she was a valuable member of the order. Her need for revenge drove her to work harder on missions.

One morning, Talia awoke Marinette with some news. “You will be going to Gotham to check on my son, who should be 14 now. You will observe how he communicates with his family, and if there any problems arise, you will assist them. Report back to me every day, understand?”

Marinette nodded, “Yes, Mistress.” Talia nodded back and then left to get the plane ready. Marinette wore her usual assassin outfit.

Marinette then went outside and stood before Talia. Shed waited for Talia to give her to okay to board the plane. Once she did, they both got on and reviewed everything they knew about Damian and the Waynes. By the time they arrived in Gotham, Marinette had memorized the information of every single Wayne. She said goodbye to Talia and tracked down Damian, watching him from afar in the shadows.

(Time Skip of a Week)

It had been a week since Marinette started observing Damian. She had to say that he was growing soft. Although, it had been four years since Damian was under league supervision. Everything was going all right on the bat’s patrol until it wasn’t.

The bat family was fighting some thugs at the docks when a thug snuck behind Damian, or rather Robin, and shot him in the stomach. Damian fell to the ground in pain, but still alive. This action provoked Marinette to let out a deep, feral growl. She then grabbed some of her throwing stars and launched them at the thug, effectively killing him in the process. Her actions lead the bat clan to shift their attention to her. They quickly fought off the remaining thugs. They then walked up to a bleeding Damian and Marinette standing in front of him as if to guard him.

Batman then asked, “Who are you, and why are you here?”

Marinette answered, “My name is Dark Angel. I was sent by Mistress Talia to look after Damian for a little bit and see how he’s fitting in.”

Batman then stated, “You killed the man.”

Marinette shrugged, “It comes with the job description. I’m an assassin. You know, a murderer who targets people that would be better off dead?”

Batman sighed, “Nobody is better off dead.”

Marinette shrugged again, so done with this conversation, “Speak for yourself.”

(Jason’s POV, sorry for the abrupt change)

Jason stared at the woman in front of him, who must be his age. He recognized her behavior from somewhere. Jason suddenly realized where he had seen this behavior before he exhibited this demeanor after he came back to life. That meant that she had died, and Talia was using her want for revenge like the league used his.

Jason asked, no stated, “You died.”

Dark Angel stiffened, “Who wants to know?” Yup, her reaction confirmed his suspicions she had died and was then brought back by the Lazarus Pit. Most likely recently by how raw her emotions still were.

Jason walked up slowly to her and remarked, “You died and later brought back to the Lazarus Pit. You probably have a thirst for revenge. I can see a lot of you in me. I can help you.” He tried to be as gentle as possible, which was hard considering his character.

Dark Angel backed away while shaking her head, frantically", No, you know NOTHING ABOUT ME! YOU DON’T KNOW THE BETRAYAL, THE TRAUMA. YOU KNOW NOTHING!!!“ She then ran away, trying to get away from the Bat Clan.

Jason looked over at Bruce, or Batman, with determination clear, in his eyes, "I’m going to go find her.”

Batman nodded, “Take RR and Nightwing with you. I’m going to take Robin back to the Bat cave, where Agent A can patch him up. Once you find her, bring her to the cave so that we can talk with her.”

Jason then nodded and grappled in the direction that Dark Angel went, with Red Robin and Nightwing following in his wake. After running for a little bit, they caught sight of her blending in with the shadows. They decided to split up to cover more ground. Jason ran as fast as he could along the rooftops when he finally caught sight of Dark Angel. She looked to be crying. When she saw him, she jumped off the roof and opened a portal falling through. Jason jumped after her and barely went through in time. He then fell on top of something and groaned. Jason got up and looked around. He realized that he was standing on the Eiffel Tower, was he in Paris?

(Marinette’s POV)

After Jason or Red Hood confronted her and tried to compare herself to him, she ran. She started crying, the emotions too overwhelming to not cry. Marinette cried for a little bit. But, she then caught sight of Red Hood running up to her. She glared at him and asked Kaakki to open a portal. A week after she had managed to become an assassin, she had returned to her room and got the miracle box back in her possession. Talia had no idea, and Marinette had no desire to tell her.

She jumped through the portal, she landed on the Eiffel Tower, and took a deep breath. Behind her, she heard a loud thud and then a groan. She whipped around to find that the idiot Red Hood had followed her through the portal. She saw him get up and look around before a look of realization spread through his face. Marinette saw him look at her. She quickly ran away. She felt him running after her. But she had a mission, and she wasn’t going to stop until she accomplished it. Marinette’s mission the demise of everyone that ever hurt Marinette.

She ran to the Agreste Mansion and went through Adrien’s open window. She saw him sitting at his computer happily looking at something. That asshole, he killed her and was enjoying life himself. “Adrien,” she crooned sweetly, “How are you? Are you having a good time since you got your mother back by killing someone else?”

Adrien looked frightened, “How do you know that?”

She walked up to him, hips swaying. She then pulled out her dagger and slid her finger across the blade, “I know a lot of things about you. Like how you are a selfish, asshole.” She then pulled him closer to her and put the dagger to his neck. “You deserve to die, slowly and painfully, and I will happily help you.”

Before Adrian could scream for anyone, Marinette had already stabbed him in the stomach where his lungs were. She was going to do his heart or behead him, but that let him off too easy. The look of pure horror etched onto his face as he fell on the floor with blood all over him, and the floor had Marinette smirking. She grabbed the cat miraculous off of Adrien’s finger and the ladybug miraculous off of his ears. She knew that Red Hood was behind her, but she couldn’t care less.

Next, Marinette went looking for Gabriel and Natalie. It looked like Emilie was out right now. So, Marinette wouldn’t kill her. She also didn’t take part in killing her. She found Gabriel and Natalie in the house’s atelier. Once they saw her, they prepared to attack her. But she had already whipped out a gun and had shot both of them. She had tried to shoot them approximately below where their heart was. As Marinette got closer to examine them, she realized that she had damn good aim. The bullets had hit them directly in the area she was hoping. Close enough to kill them, but far enough to cause them pain. Their blood was gushing out of them, and Marinette could tell that they would die. She grabbed the butterfly miraculous and the peacock miraculous. She brought Adrien downstairs to lie next to his family. Marinette then went back into the shadows with Red Hood following her right as Emilie arrived.  

Marinette watched as Emilie looked at her dead family and started sobbing. Emilie then took notice of the note next to them.

It read:

THEY TOOK A LIFE, AND NOW I DESERVE TO TAKE THEIR LIFE FROM THEM IN TURN. EMILIE, YOU ARE SPARED BECAUSE YOU TOOK NO PART IN ANYTHING.

~DARK ANGEL

Marinette watched Emilie drop down to her knees and continue wailing while crushing the note in her hand. Marinette watched closely, and she wondered if her parents did the same or if they replaced her like everyone else. She shook the thought off and then went to another house, the house of Liar Rossi.

Marinette her house, and went around it trying to find the liar. She found Lila in her room, practicing her crying. Marinette smirked to herself. She always knew that Lila had to practice crying with how many crocodile tears she let loose every day. She snuck up behind Lila and whispered, “I’ll give you a real reason to cry.”

Lila stopped her tears and turned around, scared out of her mind. “Who are you?”

Marinette snickered, “I’m Dark Angel, or more specifically, you’re worst nightmare.”

Lila started crying again, except this time, her tears weren’t as fake as her life. “PLEASE DON’T HURT ME, I’LL DO ANYTHING! I HAVE A LOT OF INFORMATION ABOUT THIS COUNTRY’S GOVERNMENT!”

Marinette took a knife out and ran it across Lila’s skin, causing a scream out of her, “Here’s the thing, Ms. Rossi. You are extremely selfish. You were willing to sell out your country just like that. Plus, I know you’re lying. It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. So, here’s the deal, the more you lie, the more I torture you.”

Lila spent the next thirty minutes telling lies. When Marinette knew she would be confessing, she gave Lila’s phone to Red Hood so that he could film her confession. Lila then broke, “OKAY OKAY, I AM SO SORRY!!! I DON’T KNOW ANY OF THE CELEBRITIES I CLAIM I DO. I DON’T HAVE TINNITUS EITHER! MARINETTE DUPAIN-CHENG WASN’T BULLYING ME, I BULLIED HER. I THREATENED HER IN THE FIRST PLACE WHEN SHE FOUND OUT MY LIES AND THREATENED TO TAKE AWAY ALL HER FRIENDS. I SUCCEEDED. I WAS ALSO WORKING WITH HAWKMOTH AND HELPED MAKE ADRIEN WHO WAS CHAT NOIR BETRAY LADYBUG!!! NOW PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!!!”

Marinette sneered and said, “Don’t worry, I won’t kill you.” Lila looked at her in hope until she stabbed Lila in the stomach, saying, “Oops, I lied.”

As Lila died, Marinette went to Red Hood and took the phone from his editing the video before sending it to all of Lila’s contacts. When she sent it to Alya, she asked her to post the video on the Lady blog before watching it. She then looked over at Red Hood, who was looking at her in shock. “Don’t worry, pretty boy. I’m not assassinating anyone else. Just torturing them.”

She then went to each of her classmates’ houses and tortured them, depending on how loyal they were to Lila. The person who Marinette tortured the least was Juleka, and the person that she tortured the most was Alya. Once Marinette had finished torturing all of her ex-classmates, she looked over to Red Hood and said, “Okay, I’m ready to go now.”

Red Hood looked at her, confused, “If you were going to go with me either way, why did you run?”

She shrugged, “Your clan had found me out. I wanted people dead. Plus, I was emotional as hell after your whole speech. I also still need to check up on Damian.”

(3rd Person POV)

Red Hood nodded and beckoned for her to open a portal. Marinette did so, and they both dropped through, ending up in the Bat cave. Their sudden appearance surprised all of the current occupants of the cave. Marinette walked up to Damian and asked him, “Are you okay?”

Damian replied, “Tt, ” and then nodded in affirmation.

Before Marinette could say anything else, Batman told her, “I now want you to explain to us who you are, why you’re here. Got it!” He then gave her the Bat glare in case she wouldn’t listen to him.

Marinette nodded and then spoke, “Hi, my assassin name is Dark Angel. My birth name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” A flash of recognition flashed through everyone’s faces. Unbeknownst to Marinette, Hawkmoth had been broadcasting the final battle. Everyone had seen when Hawkmoth had revealed her identity and when she had died. “I was a superhero in Paris. My partner and I were in the final battle when I found out that he had betrayed me and Hawkmoth’s side and was playing me this whole time. The villains won, and they made a wish to revive a dead person. In return, someone else had to die. In this case, it was me. The next thing I know, my whole body feels like it’s burning, and I’m inside of a pit full of green goop. Mistress Talia promised me revenge for the people that had hurt me. I excepted her offer. Since then, I’ve been an assassin for four months now, training every single day for hours. Talia told me to watch your family for a little bit as a mission, which was what I was doing until Damian got shot. You know the rest.”

Red Robin looked at her skeptically, “Where did you and Red Hood go when we tried to find you.”

Marinette looked at Red Hood before carefully answering, “I had some business in Paris, so to speak.”

Nightwing then asked, “And what was this "business” and how the hell did you get to Paris?“

Marinette sighed, rubbing her forehead to ease the throbbing, "You’re not going to let this go, are you?” When she saw everyone shake their head, she answered, “Fine. I was able to get to Paris because I have a miraculous that can open portals.” She showed them the miraculous and then demonstrated it to them. “Once I got to Paris, I committed my revenge. I killed my old partner, Hawkmoth, and Mayura. I also killed a liar who took away everything from me and was also working with Hawkmoth. I also exposed the liar. Finally, I tortured all of my old friends. Yay, I told you everything. Can I go now?”

Everyone looked at her, horrified that she was talking so casually as if she hadn’t just admitted to murderer and torture. Before anyone could say anything, Red Hood shouted, “No!” While taking off his helmet.

Marinette looked at him in irritation, “No? And why fucking not?”

Jason looked over at her, “Because I’m not letting Talia use you anymore.”

Marinette sighed, knowing he was right. Now that she had gotten her revenge, her mind was a lot more clear, and she realized why Talia wanted her to be an assassin in the first place. “Fine, so I’m staying here?” Everyone nodded, still in a daze from everything they just learned.

Marinette shook her head, and Alfred (THE AMAZING GOD THAT HE IS) came into the Bat Cave when Marinette was going to ask someone to lead her upstairs. As Marinette walked upstairs, she hoped that things would work out for her.

(one month time skip)

Marinette had been staying with the Bat Fam or rather Waynes for a month now. She honest to kwami had no idea how they were still alive. The number of times they pulled a weapon on each other was frightening, to be honest. As she got to know each of them, they felt more like her brothers and father, except for one person, Jason damn Todd. She really liked him. He was so gentle with her, and at first, she didn’t understand why. But one day, Jason told her his backstory. To her surprise, it was similar to hers. Once she figured that out, they connected on a whole other level. In fact, they had both sworn that they would try not to kill again. And naturally, the one guy who will probably ever understand her, she had to have a crush on.

Another problem was Talia Al-Ghul. She still hadn’t come to find Marinette. So she was either planning something big. OR SHE WAS DEAD! What, a girl could dream. Marinette then heard a crash downstairs. She ran downstairs and what she saw had her reeling. Talia was in the middle of the living room, playing with her dagger. Once she saw Marinette, she smirked, “Marinette, you’re here. We can go back to the league now.”

Marinette shook her head, “I like living here, and I don’t want to leave.”

The smile that was on Talia’s face disappeared, “Even if you do like it here, you still have to get revenge on the people that wronged you.”

Marinette clicked her tongue, “That’s the thing, I already did revenge on them. I killed the main ones and tortured the rest.”

Talia yelled in defeat, “Well, if you won’t come back, then you’ll just die!” (I know I made Talia super sweet at the start of the story. But let’s face it. She’s a manipulator and a bitch) She then charged Marinette with her dagger in hand. But before she could reach Marinette, she was dead on the floor with multiple bullet holes going through her.

Marinette, with a gun in her hand, sank to her knees sobbing. The Wayne family, having heard the gunshots, hurried to the first floor. There they found a sobbing Marinette and a dead Talia. Jason hurried to Marinette and pulled her into his arms. “Hey, Pixie, what’s wrong?” Marinette shook her head, still sobbing. The rest of the family, seeing that Marinette wasn’t calming down, decided to give some words of support before taking Talia out of the room and cleaning the blood.

Jason picked up Marinette, who was clinging to his leather jacket and took her upstairs to his room. He whispered soothing words in her ear the whole way. Once they arrived, he put her down on the bed and cuddled her, “Marinette, Pixie, Baby, I need you to tell me what’s wrong so I can help you.”

Marinette’s sobbing started dying down. Eventually, it was only an occasional tear with some hiccups and sniffs. “I made a promise that I wouldn’t kill anymore. I broke that promise. Deep down, I really am a murderer.” She started sobbing again.

Jason sighed and crooned to her, “Oh, baby. Do you really think that? I used to murderer people all the time. Does that still make me a murderer? No! It doesn’t make you a murderer either.”

He then started kissing her cheek, her eyelids, her button-nose, her forehead, her head, her jaw. He trailed kisses down her neck while speaking, “I- love-you-so-much. And nothing-is ever-going- to change-that. You- are not- a- murderer.” He then planted a fervent kiss on her lips, which she deepened.

They continued kissing until Marinette broke away to say, “I love you too. You helped me so much when I was broken.”

Jason looked at her in the eyes with a raw intensity, “Then if you love me, never blame yourself for what happened to you.”

She smiled softly, “I promise”, before kissing him once more, with a deep passion.

He pulled away this time and told her, “You have a chance to have a second chance at life. Not many people get that. Use that second chance to fulfill everything you ever wanted. Leave the past behind. Be who you really are. Who you were before everything. But move into the future, with me by your side.”

“A second chance,” Marinette whispered, “A second chance.” Before kissing him once more. She was going to be okay. They had each other, and they were going to get through everything together. Together no matter what, they were going to give themselves a second chance, and they were going to spend every second of it together.