#This turned into more just Tim stuff but hey it's part of the continuity

[solelifauna]

Yandere Batfam & Neglected Reader Prt. 3

Finally getting a tiny bit of Bruce's monologue!! And uh oh, looks like you've gotta clock in!

As the car began to move, you couldn't help but feel a growing sense of panic. The tension in the air was palpable, and you could feel the weight of everyone's gaze on you. You tried your best to focus on anything but the Waynes, your mind desperately attempting to process what just happened in the parking lot. You shifted uncomfortably in your seat, staring out the window as the city lights blurred past. It was then that Damian decided to break the awkward silence.

“Father, what is the meaning of bringing her along with us?” Damian spoke curtly, disdain marring his voice when mentioning you.

As much as you disliked him as well, he had a point. Why the hell are you sitting here with them?

Bruce glanced at Damian. Truth be told, he didn't quite know why. While you were his child, one out of the only two biological children he had, he had never really had the time or care to acknowledge you. You coming into his life abruptly disturbed everything, so he paid you no mind. He’ll admit, it wasn't fair of him to do so, but he had bigger things to worry about. He was tired, and a child that wasn't involved with his night business, who did not understand what his life of vigilantism took out of him, would never understand the sacrifices that he's had to make. It wasn't until seeing you on the football field, happy, talking to your friends and acting in a way he'd never seen you do, he'd begun to realize what he missed. 

When did you get so tall? He could have sworn you were no taller than his waist. And when did you join the cheerleading team? And who was that girl throwing her arm around you? Who was that boy? Gods, just how much has he missed? 

But he couldn't say all of that. So instead he just replied, “She's a part of this family, Damian and she needed a ride back home.”

He could feel Cassandra’s knowing stare, she could read him better than anybody and she knew the inner turmoil brewing in his heart. That's coupled with Stephanie’s smirk and Dick’s predatory grin. Jason grunted in response, clearly not pleased with the arrangement. Lastly, he could see the disbelief on your face, as if you couldn't believe you'd even be considered part of this family. And he’s mostly to blame. 

He internally sighed. He'd have to work on that. You were his daughter. His. It was his job to keep you safe and happy. It was his job to make sure you felt loved. And right now? He was no better than Jannet and Jack Drake leaving poor Tim to fend for himself. But that would all soon change, starting with himself and his children.

You on the other hand were still reeling from Bruce’s words. “Family”? Is he fucking kidding or what?

Dick, always the one to break the tension with his charm, spoke up next. "Hey, (Y/n), when did you become a cheerleader? I didn't know you were into that sort of stuff." Dick said with that condescending tone.

Your eyes twitched. You did not like his tone.

“That's none of your business Dick.” You shot back before you could even think.

Everyone looked your way. Whoops, that was your bad. 

It was Jasons turn to get upset, “Watch your fucking mouth.” He growled, ever possessive over his older brother.

You immediately froze up, offering a quick and quiet apology before retreating into your own head. Jason–Jason scared you more than any of the others. You knew about his pit rage, you knew about the bloody and beaten bodies he's left in the wake of his rage. You knew he’d never dream of hurting his family, the pit often aiding in his possessive tendencies over the rest of the bats but– you weren't family. And you'd hate to be on the receiving end of Jason’s wrath.

If anyone had continued talking to you, you wouldn’t know. The sound around you was muffled like your head was filled with cotton and you could feel yourself shaking. You wanted out. Now. Thankfully, the rest of the ride was mostly quiet. Sure, everyone would occasionally turn their eyes towards you, making you shrink further in on yourself, but you were almost at the manor. The vehicle barely came to a stop before you were throwing yourself out the door and into the manor. You bid Alfred a quick “goodbye” and “thank you” before bolting up the stairs and into your room. 

You locked the door, not that anyone would bother coming up to your room, but still it gave you security nonetheless. You stripped and hopped into the shower, the soreness in your body now making itself known. God it was gonna suck tomorrow. Why? Because it was Friday today, that meant tomorrow would be Saturday, and that meant that you'd have to go to work at the ass crack of dawn, 5 am. Plus, you didn't even have your bike, so you’d have to rely on Alfred to take you and bring you back. Great.

So with a heavy heart and heavy limbs, you tucked yourself into bed ready for the worst sleep of your life. 

You wake up to the grating sound of your iphone alarm, as you groggily get up to brush your teeth, shower and get ready for the long day ahead. Making your way down for a cup of coffee, sleep still in your eyes, you fail to notice the looming figure of Tim Drake already sipping his own coffee. It was dark downstairs and you were still fighting off exhaustion from the day before, so who could blame you for not seeing the corner of the cabinet. Before you knew it, you were hunched over on the floor grabbing your pinkie toe in pain. 

“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck, that hurt! Holy shit, kill yourself, kill yourself! Who the fuck puts a cabinet there, oh my god.” You wailed in pain, cursing at the damn cabinet. You’d blame it on delirium and exhaustion. Honestly, it was an expected crashout.

You laid pathetically on the floor for a couple of more seconds before you heard a monotone, disinterested voice make itself known.

“Are you done now?” Tim says from behind you.

You yelp in surprise, before clumsily scrambling up and turning around. And there he was, sitting at the counter, coffee in hand and an almost (dare you say) amused look on his face. You blanche. Shit, how long has he been sitting there? Oh god, please don't say he’s witnessed the entirety of your embarrassing crashout? 

And as if reading your mind, he cryptically answers, “Yes, I've been here this entire time.” All while sipping his coffee as his calculating eyes scarily bore into your figure.

You don't know what to say, embarrassed out of your mind, so you just apologize. 

“Right–um, sorry about that. I’m just tryna get some coffee. I'll be out your way.” You hastily say before turning, tail tucked back towards the coffee pot. 

You could still feel the weight of Tim’s stare on you but you're too tired and embarrassed to care. You pour yourself a big cup of straight up black coffee and proceed to chug it while walking towards the sink. After finishing it, you proceeded to gag for a few seconds, the bitter taste still permeating your mouth. God you hated the taste of black coffee, but you’d do whatever it takes to not fall asleep on the job. You discard your cup into the sink before you decide to find Alfred, it was 4:37 am and you needed to clock in by 5:00 am or else your ass was grass. You conveniently ignore Tim who has watched all of your misfortune happen this morning. He doesn't say anything when you leave the dining/kitchen area, just eerily watches. 

God, he made you nervous.

Anyways, your quest to find Alfred was short lived as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere, Damian in tow (you could feel the scar on your face burning). Great, was everyone up at this ungodly hour or was it just them two? You avoided the heat of Damian’s glare as you relayed to Alfred your predicament, apologizing profusely since you did ask him last minute. He simply smiled at you, letting you know that “it is never a hindrance when you need something Master (Y/n).” You smiled back in relief, thanking him once more as Alfred got ready to drop you off.

But of course, Damian just had to break the silence. 

“What could you possibly need to do at this hour? Alfred has better things to do other than encouraging your galavanting.” Damian spoke sharply.

You just sighed, “Not that it's any of your business, but I have work.”You don't offer any more information as your hand unknowingly caresses the scarred tissue on your face. 

Damian’s eyes draw to your face at the movement, seemingly fixated on the scar he left on you. He doesn’t think much of it, but sometimes, something green and dangerous purrs inside of him. Yes, his mark. It was his mark on your face. As much as he hated you, you were his only other blood-sibling no matter how weak and useless you were. He had bested you, and usually would pay you no mind, you knew your place and would typically remain docile. But recently you’ve been showing a new abrasive side, one he is not particularly fond of.

He’d have to talk to father about it.

Silence permeates the air as he doesnt bother to dignify your disrespect with a response. You’re saved when Alfred comes back with keys, both you and him rushing to whatever vehicle he's pulled out from the large, large selection of coveted cars Bruce owns. Looks like it's a BMW today. You practically throw yourself in, as Alfred speeds away to the cafe you work at. You arrive at work in record speed, bidding Alfred a “goodbye” before rushing to throw your apron on and clock in. 

You’re greeted by the one other person working your shift, Matheo. He’s a sweet boy, very soft-spoken and mostly sticks in the back near the kitchen to bake the pastries while you work the register. Of course he comes and helps with drink orders when it's particularly busy, he’s too kind to leave you to fend for yourself. Regardless, you have a pretty straight forward agreement, which is what spells your doom. It was a regular Saturday shift, with the pilate moms coming in, middle schoolers loitering, and the occasional customer with an attitude. Everything was fine and dandy till three familiar faces walk in.

You were ever the busy body, finishing one last drink before yelling out a quick “I’ll help y’all shortly!”, to whoever just walked in. You quickly rush over to the register, not even bothering to look up from the register.

“Sorry ‘bout the wait! Now what can I get you?” You said in your regular customer service voice.

“Well, well, well, turns out you were right Dami, she does work here.” A chillingly familiar voice jests.

You freeze, slowly looking up only to be met with Dick smiling at you. It was not a kind smile, no, there was something dangerous about it. Behind him, you could see the familiar figures of Cassandra and Damian. What the hell are they doing here? God, you should have never mentioned anything to Damian, now you had to deal with this.

“R–right, what can I get you?” You shakily say, putting back on your customer service persona. 

Dick’s smile grows, his teeth now visible, almost as if he was baring his teeth. Danger. Something inside you screamed.

“I’ll just have a vanilla cold brew, extra cold foam. Dami, Cass, what do you want?” Dick grinns.

“Tch, I don't want anything from this place.” Damian says, uninterested.

“Cass?” Dick asks, looking at her.

She comes up to the register, giving Dick a one-off-glance. Worryingly, her eyes seem to be fixated on you. She doesn't say anything for a few seconds, holding immensely uncomfortable eye contact with you before relaying her order.

“Just a caramel latte.” Cass says, still looking down at you.

You frantically fill in their orders on the register.

“Will that be all?” You ask. You hoped that was all, you didn't want them spending another minute talking to you.

Dick says a quick cheerful “no” before you ring them up and get started with the two drinks. It doesn't take too much time before you’re calling out their names to come get their drinks. You hope they leave right after. But of course, nothing goes according to your wishes as they grab their drinks and seat themselves at a table. Great.

The minutes after result in further disaster. After a couple of more customers, a lady comes up to you, face already molded into a scowl with a half empty drink in her hand. Oh great, a “karen”.

“Hello ma’am, how can I help you?” You kindly say.

“You! I need a refund. Right. Now!” The lady booms, wagging her finger in your face.

“A refund, right, is there a reason you’re requesting a refund?” 

“A reason!? You made my drink wrong and I want my money back!”

“Please correct me if i'm wrong, but I believe you ordered a double mocha cappuccino, correct?” You ask slowly.

“Yes, that's what I ordered! Why are you asking me all these questions?!”

“Sorry ma’am, but that is the drink I gave you. Is there something specifically wrong with the drink?”

“The drink that you gave me is wrong, you made it wrong! It doesn't taste anything like regular coffee!”

“Oh, well sometimes different cafes use different recipes for the same drink, i think maybe that's why–”

“–Well I don't care! I want a refund!”

You could feel eyes on you as the other patrons start to notice the commotion brewing.

“Ma’am, i'm so sorry but i can't give you a refund, you’ve already drank half the drink. If you would have let me know sooner, I could've remade it for you, but–I'm sorry ma’am I can't give you that refund.”

“Are you serious! Why I never!? It's always bitches like you who try scamming people out of their money!”

“Ma'am, I'm really sorry, it's the company policy. I just work here–” You gently say, trying to calm her down.

“–Go to hell you bitch!” Is all you hear before you’re doused in the face with warm coffee. 

You just stand there is shock, blinking through the coffee. There's no way that just happened. Theo, comes out having heard the commotion (albeit a little too late), only to be met with the sight of you covered in coffee.

“Oh my gosh (Y/n)! I should have come sooner, are you okay?”

“Peachy.” You say, voice audibly watery and cracking.

“I'll take care of everything up here, you go take some time in the back. Clean up or honestly if you don't feel like it, just rest in the back–”

“–It's okay Theo, I–I just need a couple of minutes. I'm fine.”

He gives you a quizzical stare.

“I'm fine. I promise.” You smile, although you could feel your eyes starting to water. 

You hastily walk off to the break room and proceed to cry for a good 2 minutes before deciding to start cleaning yourself up. You do your best to get the coffee that's dried into hair out while wiping down your now sicky arms and face. Changing your apron gets rid of most of the mess, but your shirt underneath still has a couple of large patches of coffee. Sighing, you tidy yourself up as much as possible before heading back to the counter, Theo worriedly waiting for you. You just shoot him a thumbs up and let him know that it’s okay for him to retreat back to the kitchen; he lingers for a moment, hesitant to leave you alone, but drudges back regardless.

There are eyes on you. You look up perturbed, only to find Dick, Cass, and Damian still sitting at their table, sharp stares pinned on your figure. They saw all that happen, didn't they? You mentally cringed. 

Checking your watch, you realize that there are still four more hours left on your shift. Great, that's great–just another four more hours, which is technically thirty minutes eight times, which is technically fifteen minutes sixteen times–and you’ve lost it. Jesus you were losing your mind, which was understandable (honestly you're surprised it hasn't happened sooner) during one of the worst shifts of your life.

It’s fine. You got this. Just four more hours, and you can have your “Mental Breakdown Part Ⅱ™”.

Tag-list!!:

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[joelswritingmistress]

Neighbors with Benefits: Part 2 (Joel Miller x f! Reader)

Part of the #hotdilfsummerchallenge put on by @hellishjoel 🙏 Thanks again for this overabundance of Dilfy Pedro content & promotion 🥵

Pairing: Joel Miller x f!reader

Word Count: Roughly 4000

Warning: Dilfy Smut/ Age Gap (23 & 42)

“(Y/N), do you want some money for pizza?" The voice sounded like a distant echo. "(Y/N)... (Y/N)?"

You finally snapped out of a daydream and turned to your mother in the kitchen from the sink where you aimlessly washed dishes. "Huh?"

"Do you want some money to order a pizza or are you going to have something here?" Your mother waited for a response that was taking you an extra long time to give.

"Oh." You cleared your throat and looked at the soapy bowl in your hands, "No... no I'll eat something here."

"Are you sure?"

You nodded. "Yeah there's... soup and stuff."

"Soup?" Your mother asked, "It’s eighty-eighty degrees outside.”

You shrugged. "I had a turkey sub for a late lunch. I'm fine." You managed a smile, "What time will you and Dad be back?"

"Well the banquet starts at seven." She eyed the ceiling as she thought, "I can't see us being out much past ten."

Your father wandered down the stairs straightening his tie that completed a black suit, "How do I look?"

"Dapper dear."

You laughed, "Dapper? Is that still a word?"

"Hey if selfie is a word," your father contested, "Then, yes, dapper is a word. And I'll take it." He kissed your mother on the cheek, "Are we ready to go?"

"Just about." Jennifer glanced at you again.

"I'll be fine." You shoo'd them with your hand, "You guys look great."

Tim reached into his wallet and handed his daughter a twenty. "Just take it," he ordered with a grin when you began to refuse. “In case you change your mind about the pizza.”

"Fine." You smiled and tucked it into your jeans and then kissed them each on the cheek. "Have fun."

The two of them waved and then headed toward the front door, locking it behind them and heading off for the evening.

You continued with the dishes, unable to put the events of the night before out of your mind. You knew you had officially crossed a line - a big line. You had had one of the hottest moments of your life the night before with your much-older neighbor. All day you had kept an eye out for Joel. Once you'd seen him outside watering flowers in the front of the house and another time washing his car. With your parents quite literally over your shoulder it proved to be harder to pursue his offers than you would have thought.

All the more reason to have my own place, you thought.

You turned off the faucet and dried your hands before making your way up into your bedroom. You had begun to feel like a stalker, staking out Joel's every move and looking for some opportunity or excuse to go over there to see him.

"Where ya headed?" Joel's voice filtered in through the open window in your room and you rushed to the window to listen.

You swallowed hard, watching as he sat on a rider lawn mower shouting to your parents who hadn't yet left the driveway.

"Retirement dinner!" Your father shouted, "Open bar!"

"Even better." Joel put his hands out to the sides and gave a wave. "Enjoy!"

You took a breath and saw him kick the mower back into gear before continuing on down the yard. You couldn't take your eyes off of him and only did to watch your parents' vehicle vacate the premises with a friendly double-beep of the horn as they headed a few towns away to a fancy dinner for a friend.

Do I go over there? you wondered. Will I look too desperate? Your heart raced and all of a sudden you felt like you were in high school again - waiting for your parents to leave so you could talk to some guy you were crushing on. Not just some guy, you knew. He was more than you had bargained for in the best of ways.

With a deep breath you took a glance at yourself and changed from the plain, pink t-shirt into a fresh cami from the closet before reapplying some deodorant and giving a spritz from her best Victoria's Secret body spray collection.

I'll just go grab a beer and sit outside, you decided with a nod before ripping the hair-tie from your hair and letting it fall in a naturally messy fashion around your face.

You darted down the steps, reached for a bottle of Bud Lite and headed out the back door to sit on the steps. Your heart was pounding now and flashes of memories from the night before continued to rattle your brain, sending electric currents to every part of your body. You didn't want the encounter to be a one-time ordeal and so when you saw him casually ride up and down in the next yard over you couldn't help but stare.

He's busy. You didn't know if you meant what you were thinking or if you were just scared to go over there and talk to him.

Each second felt like a minute; each minute like an hour. You adjusted from sitting to standing, to sitting again and then decided to pretend to check the mailbox, though you couldn't have cared less if there was mail or not. All you wanted was for Joel to notice you.

Like before, your heart thudded with each step as you crossed the yard and rounded the house that was adjacent to Joel's. His back was to you, and for that you cursed to yourself but you continued the walk toward the driveway, glancing out of the corner of your eye as he put the mower in reverse and turned to face your direction. As your feet waltzed over the pavement you saw him glance over, letting his stare linger as you paced the length of driveway before reaching the mailbox.

You swallowed hard, noting there was nothing to retrieve and then took a deep breath as you prepared your walk back. Again, Joel’s back was to you and he continued what he was doing, mowing perfectly straight rows up and down the lawn.

You sighed, noting it was only halfway done and the impatience that radiated out of you began to drive you mad. Still, next door Joel didn't falter. He carried on with a sense of patience and control that it almost made you feel crazy.

He doesn't seem to be in any rush, why should I?

You sipped your beer again and then reluctantly went in the house when Joel disappeared around the opposite side of his. You scrunched your nose and turned on the television to try to pass some time, though you opened up the living room windows so you could hear the hum of the lawnmower.

You actively felt yourself growing weaker as you relived the moment in the bathroom yet again - his face a few inches from yours while his fingers explored your most sensitive areas. You imagined his inability to control himself in the midst of his climax that left him cursing and moaning with no regard for anything but the way you were making him feel. And his eyes; his eyes burned into your soul and made you submit to him in ways that no other man had. Never in your life had you been enamored so quickly or fallen so hard and fast for someone. It was all brand new and exciting.

It's driving me crazy!

When the lawnmower went off you muted the television and listened, wanting to burst out the front door and run over next door. You knew you couldn't do that - not if you wanted to look like you could handle the passion that was brewing between you and Joel. He wouldn't tolerate some clingy little girl. You knew he needed a woman - a hot, young woman to satisfy him.

You tapped your foot and bit down on your fingernails until they were as short as they could possibly go. As the world grew darker your hopes began to fade. Truthfully, you didn't know if you had the balls to go over and knock on the door of his house. Though, without warning, fate finally appeared to be on your side.

A light knock at the back door made you freeze. Your body went numb and you swallowed hard, able to hear the beating of your own heart. On a second knock, you sprung to your feet and began to rush through the living room. The closer you got, the slower you moved in an attempt to look like you had your shit together. You didn't - not even a little bit. Still, you were addicted to the feeling and the suspense that went along with your short bout of time knowing Joel. If it was anyone else at the back door you knew you might lose it, and so when you flung it open and he stood there still in his yard clothes, you couldn't help but smile as excitement and relief filtered through your body.

"Hi." You smiled at him.

"Hi." Joel's voice cut straight through you. A familiar tantalizing chill ran down your spine.

You stepped aside and held the door, prompting him to slowly ease himself inside. As if it was already a habit he removed his work boots and closed the door behind him, leaving them on a mat so as not to make a mess. The action made you grin and you glanced up at him.

"You, uh... you cool with the shit that went down last night?" Joel asked, leaning against the counter in the kitchen.

You nodded. "Yeah."

"You sure?" The human lie-detector in him studied your features more intently now though he could tell from the smirk you were fighting off, your big excited eyes and the reddening flush in your face that you were being truthful.

"Yeah, I'm sure." You nodded and Joel looked around for a moment. "My parents are... gone."

"Until when?"

"Ten."

His eyes landed on a clock that read seven-thirty-six and then he returned his gaze to meet yours. "The mail doesn't come on Sundays."

"What?" you looked at him, "Yeah, I know..."Your voice trailed off and you felt your face grow a shade darker again.

Joel began to chuckle, "I was sure you did."

You shook your head and sighed, putting your hands on your hips for a moment before casting them out to the sides. He had seen right through your little stroll up the driveway.

"You could've just come over ya know." He gave a closed-mouth smile accompanied by playful eyes.

"I didn't want to bother you when you were mowing the lawn."

Joel smiled, "I was just fuckin’ killing time.. waiting around.. hoping you’d bring by some butter.”

"You were?" You smiled a little wider, pleased to know that you weren’t the only one who felt the anxiety that went along with the cat-and-mouse game you were actively involved in.

"My dick's been hard half the day thinking of last night. Took some serious will power not to fuckin' take care of it myself."

Fuck. What a visual that was.

You giggled but felt that familiar flush in your cheeks again as you leaned back against the counter across from him. Joel grinned when you began to twirl the blinds closed in front of the kitchen window.

For a moment he stared across the room, taking every part of you in from where he stood and eyed each twirl of your fingers around the blinds. When you moved to the next window to assure your privacy, he stalked quietly, waiting for you to begin to close the blinds on the second window before moving in behind to wrap an arm around your midsection.

You felt it again - the electricity. His touch shot currents through your body like you had never experienced. Your eyes closed as he kissed your neck; you whimpered as his fingers carefully undid the button of your jeans. He teased you by letting them dance just an inch or two below your waistline.

Joel reached for your hand, placing it on the front of his jeans and began to nibble on your earlobe. You bit your bottom lip when you felt his hard-on through his pants. "This is what you fuckin' do to me," he whispered.

"Mmm..." you moaned, keeping your eyes closed, "You already know what you do to me,” you told him, pushing his hand farther down your pants so he could feel the dampness that had lingered there since seeing him out on the lawn mower.

He moaned against you, pushing his erection against you from behind and continued to ravage your ear. "I've been dreaming of what you feel like all day." Joel continued to whisper, becoming more aroused by the second.

"God..." you pressed your eyes shut, your arousal spiking now from his words. When you felt his hands sweep down over the thin straps of your cami, you slunk your arms out of it, allowing him the access to grasp both of your breasts from behind. His hot breaths continued to land on your neck. When you heard him undo his zipper you almost couldn't take it. You sighed out loud and reciprocated his advances when he bent you over in front of the back door so your hands were pressed firmly against it.

Joel dropped his pants, stepping out of them with ease and removed himself from the black boxer-briefs he was left standing in. With a swift move he fingered your underwear to the side and positioned himself so at your entrance.The anticipation was almost too much.

You bit your bottom lip and closed your eyes as you waited those long couple of seconds until finally feeling him for the first time. Inch by inch he eased in.When Joel pushed fully inside of you, you moaned

“Ughh…”. His deep, desperate breaths from behind made you feel weaker in the knees, though when his big, strong hands clamped down on the outsides of your hips and he started thrusting you were taken to a whole new level of pleasure.

"Fuck..." You were barely able to get the word out as he wasted no time, pumping hard and relentlessly into you; though when he didn’t stop you couldn’t contain yourself. “Oh..my..God.” You couldn’t hold it in.

Joel closed his eyes, switching his hands from your hips to her shoulders. He tried to remain in control of the feeling, but everything about you got the best of him. The way your back was arched; the way his name echoed off the kitchen walls as you moaned uncontrollably. You couldn’t help it.

As a man who often prided himself on control, Joel was the one who was overwhelmed with a desire so intense that he felt like he could come already at any second. It was why he was forced to pull out, replacing his dick with fingers so he could continue to pleasure you.

“Joel.” You whined his name and your fingers curled against the door, widening your feet again to assure he could do whatever he wanted. Your head dropped and your midsection went weak. “Fuck.” When he removed his fingers this time he pulled you back to him, spinning your around to face him and then crashed his lips against yours.

Joel's tongue dominated you and you wrapped your arms around him. Both of you moaned together as you took a breath in the kiss before he picked you up by the backs of your legs and set you down on the kitchen counter so you faced him. For another few seconds you continued to make out fiercely until he finally reconnected himself to you again at the edge of the marble.

You met his half-open eyes as he proceed to fuck you raw. You wrapped an arm around his shoulders and left the other pressed firmly into the counter with your calves digging into the backs of his legs. He appeared as if he was barely hanging on, though everything he was doing was effectively leading you toward an orgasm.

Your eyes closed now and your fingers dug into the back of his shoulders. You tightened your legs around him and whimpered. It left your thighs aching; your stomach taut. The strength of what was building was mind-blowing, and you begged him not to stop as you let yourself go, releasing a moan you didn’t know you had in you. It was primal and raw, accompanying a burst of pleasure that pulsed with such ferocity that Joel groaned from the recognition of your climatic moment.

"Holy fuck..” He barely got the second word out and gripped your hips harder before releasing inside of you, complimenting your orgasm with a powerful one of his own. Joel let out a guttural moan and had trouble catching his breath as the feeling lingered. Joel kissed you hard as he finished completely, leaving an ache on your lips as he breathed his final breaths into your mouth.

You held onto him hard. Sweat coated his heaving back beneath your palms as he breathed heavily and rested his forehead against yours, now dormant inside of you.

"Fuck," he whispered against your lips and pulled your hips closer to his, thrusting slowly into you once more as if to assure you had gotten every single drop from him.

"Mmm..." you hummed a moan, keeping your arms slung loosely around him. In that moment, you knew you could easily get in too deep, too fast.

When his lips lazily danced against yours again you felt the same electricity as when he'd first entered the house. Your new mission was not to fall in love.

"Any of them college boys ever fuck you like that?" Joel whispered, half-smirking with heavy, satisfied eyes. He hummed another quiet moan and nibbled sensually on your earlobe.

Your senses hadn't quite turned to normal and your face glowed a shade darker. You breathed out the word, “No.”

Joel pecked your lips a few more times in a row before finally separating himself from you.

All of it still felt a bit surreal. For the first time ever you didn't have a care in the world for what kind of consequences could stem from your actions. Joel didn't take his eyes off of you. The lazy post-coital gleam in his eye was unmistakable and you finally chuckled when he failed to look away from here.

"What?" you tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Joel's face twisted into a mischievous smirk. "Let me see your phone." He kissed you once more before pushing back off the counter to retrieve his pants from the floor.

"My phone?"

"Yeah," he chuckled, "Your phone." Joel began to get dressed and you slowly slunk off the countertop, feeling a heaviness in your thighs.

You glanced around the kitchen, not wholly aware of where you'd left it and then reached a few feet away across the counter when it finally caught your eye.

Joel waited patiently, still smirking to himself. "Punch the code in, honey."

You did as he asked and were tempted to ask what he was doing, but ultimately decided you had nothing to hide and slipped the phone into his waiting palm.

"What the hell was that friend of yours name from the bar last night?" He asked.

You pressed her eyebrows together, a small bout of jealousy filling your body. "Holly. Why?"

Joel kept his eyes on the small screen in front of him, letting his tongue dance over his lips in amusement as his thumbs began to type away at the screen.

The anxious butterflies returned to your stomach and you were dying to know what he was writing.

Joel continued to smirk, almost laughing to himself, and then a noise went off that indicated he'd successfully sent a text message. "Here." He tossed the phone back and sat down at a chair at the kitchen table, crossing one foot over the other, waiting in anticipation as you read what he'd written.

Your eyes scanned the screen and you couldn't contain a wide grin when you saw that he had texted her parents claiming you were spending the night at Holly's house.

When your eyes lifted to meet his, Joel maintained a smile and waited for what you would say.

You decide to tease him. "I'm not staying at Holly's house tonight."

"I know." He nodded matter-of-factly.

You snickered, knowing what he was getting at. "What about my car? My parents will see it in the garage."

Joel waved a hand again, requesting the phone back.

You handed it over, smiling as he sent another message before tossing it back to you again.

"Holly is on her way to pick me up," you read aloud.

Joel cleared his throat and then rested his hands behind his head. Before either of you could say anything more your phone went off and he chuckled, prompting you to put your finger to your lips over an ear-to-ear grin.

"Now, I thought you were an adult and could do whatever the fuck you wanted." He winked and you fought back a laugh as you answered the phone.

"Hi Mom." You made eye contact with Joel who you knew was gaining far too much amusement from the situation. "Yeah I'll text you when we get to her house... no we're not going out drinking." You paused, “Yeah I'll get us some pizza with the money." Another pause. "Okay, goodnight."

When you hung up the phone you eyed Joel again who appeared more than satisfied about the situation. "How will I get back over here without being noticed?"

“I've put all the pieces of this plan into motion,” he reminded you, “Time for you to be creative." Joel slipped his boots back on. "I'm going to shower," he informed you.

“Okay.” You reached down for your jeans, still standing next-to-naked in the center of the kitchen.

Joel made his way back to you, resting his fingers beneath your chin and tapping just under your lips with his thumb. He then leaned down and gave you a chaste kiss. "Pack a bag. I'll leave my back door unlocked."

CLICK HERE FOR PART 3

@pedropascal111 @axshadows @smolbeanzzz

[fluentmoviequoter]

Mom and Dad Are Still Fighting

Part 2 of The Bradfords

Pairing: Tim Bradford x fem!cop!wife!reader

Summary: After a long night, you're grateful for Lucy and all she does for you. You continue protecting her from Tim's attitude, even though you're lying to them.

Warnings: mostly fluff, brief angst, threats and robbery. typical rookie stuff.

Word Count: 1.4k+ words

A/N: I love this dynamic!! Two Bradfords caring about Lucy in their own ways is so fun to write (and being married to Tim is a dream by itself). I will continue abusing Chenford gifs for this storyline lol.

“Good morning, Mom,” Lucy calls as she enters the bullpen. 

She passes you a cup of your favorite drink, and you look at Tim quickly. He tilts his chin to the side, and you nod once. You’ve been talking without speaking for years, and you’re more grateful than ever for your silent language.

“Thank you so much, Lucy,” you say.

You pull her into a hug that lasts longer than usual. She couldn’t know that you had a long night and needed this today: the drink and the hug. Hence, your shared ‘did you tell her?’ ‘no, she just cares’ look shared with Tim.

“Where’s mine?” Tim inquires with his brows raised.

“I, uh, I didn’t know your order,” Lucy says carefully. “Sorry.”

Angela calls for you, and you thank Lucy again as you walk away. Tim watches you go; he knows you aren’t feeling great and appreciates Lucy’s care on your behalf.

“Thanks, Chen,” he says.

“For what? I didn’t get you anything.”

“You should know that caring about her is the same as caring about me. At least as far as I’m concerned,” he answers. “Now get ready.”

Your long night catches up to you quickly. By your mid-morning break, you’re feeling tired and stressed. The worst part of what you’re feeling is that you haven’t told anyone why you’re feeling it. Tim stayed up with you most of the night and held you to comfort you, and while you appreciate it, it only upsets you more because he did it without asking why you needed it.

“7-Adam-19 requesting backup,” Chen calls over the radio. “11351; suspect in possession of heroin and oxycodone.”

“Dispatch, attach me to 7-Adam-19’s backup call,” you request.

You drive to the address dispatch provided and hope your day improves after seeing Tim again. When you arrive, the suspect is cuffed and in the back of Tim’s shop as they search his car for other drugs.

“Hey,” you call as you exit your car. “What do you need?”

Tim looks at you as Lucy says, “Suspect escort and search assistance.”

“I can do either. Let me know what you want me to do,” you offer.

“Suspect escort, please,” Tim answers. He tips his head to the side, and you walk to the sidewalk with him.

“Are you okay?” he whispers.

“Yeah. So, you just want me to get him to booking?” you reply, brushing off Tim's concern.

“Please. Will you tell me if you stop being okay?”

“Yes, Tim. I’ll, uh, I’ll see you at lunch.”

You turn away from Tim and move the driver in custody into your shop to take him back to the station. Tim and Lucy abandon their search to watch you leave.

“Is she alright?” Lucy asks.

You turn a corner, disappearing from Tim’s view, and his jaw tightens. He couldn’t get an answer from you, and now Lucy thinks he knows everything in your head. Tim refuses to show worry, so he lets his concern come out as anger and annoyance.

“That is not your business or an appropriate topic to discuss while we are on duty, Chen. Focus,” he replies.

Lucy nods and returns to the search of the car, but she’s beginning to feel just as stressed as you and Tim. You all care about each other and moving around in circles like this won’t help.

“Goodnight, Luce,” you call as you walk beside Tim to go home.

“Hey, do you want to go to dinner with me on Friday?” she asks. “Just to catch up, hang out?”

“Yeah, that sounds fun,” you answer with a smile. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Tim grumbles beside you, and you’re convinced it’s because he didn’t get an invite.

“We’ll have breakfast Saturday,” you promise him.

Lucy laughs behind you, and you wave over your shoulder as Tim spreads his hand across your back and leads you toward his truck. You know he’ll hold you close again all night, even if you don’t ask, because he comforts you without pushing you. When or if you want to talk about it, he’s ready to listen, but he knows what it is like to need room, and he’d never take that from you or force you to tell him anything before you’re ready. He’s amazing, and you wish you could share what is bothering you, but you can’t put any more people in danger.

When dispatch alerts you to a call in your area, you accept it, hoping to get your mind off everything. The officer reads Lucy’s apartment building address, and your stomach drops. You tell dispatch to attach Bradford and Chen to the call before hitting your lights and sirens to get there as fast as possible.

The apartment building, for the most part, has been ransacked. Doors are broken, windows broken and locks picked, and residents’ belongings are strewn through the halls, but nothing appears to be missing. Tim and Lucy arrive a few minutes after you do and meet you on Lucy’s floor. Her apartment is trashed, but she can’t see where anything has been stolen.

You lead Tim through the other side of her apartment before stopping suddenly.

“Tim,” you whisper. “Someone called me a few nights ago… They threatened to do something to Lucy, and I think this was it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks.

He looks over your shoulder to ensure no one is listening before giving you his complete attention.

“Wade knew, but he said that you and Lucy shouldn’t know because the threat was vague, and it would just put you on edge.”

“That should have been my decision!”

“Tim, I’m sorry.”

Tim’s eyes soften before he nods. “Is that what you’ve been so upset about? You were worried about Chen?”

“Yes,” you admit softly. “But this looks planned, intentional. They only went into certain apartments, and the stuff thrown everywhere was an afterthought.”

“Someone was looking for something,” Tim agrees.

“But what?”

Tim looks around before yelling, “Chen! Get in here!”

“Yes, sir?” she asks as she enters.

“What do you have in here that someone would be so desperate to get?” he asks.

“I don’t-“

“Don’t tell me that you don’t know. Think about it, Lucy. What would someone risk their freedom, their life for, and do this kind of damage to hide?”

Lucy taps her fingers against her thigh as she thinks. Your surprise phone call didn't provide information about what they wanted, so you stay quiet.

“Well?” Tim pushes.

“Give her a second to think,” you scold. “She didn’t ask for this, she’s not the criminal. Be nice.”

Tim clenches his jaw. In his mind, she may as well be the criminal. She led someone to her apartment, to you, and you’ve been worried because of her. His annoyance and need for answers is justified.

“Wait, I got a necklace at a police auction!” she says suddenly.

“You bought jewelry at a police auction?” Tim asks. “Last boyfriend really that cheap?”

You elbow Tim and shake your head. “Leave her alone.”

“Who buys a single necklace at a police auction?” he argues. “A car, a trailer, sure. But one necklace?”

“It was expensive,” Lucy defends.

“Which means whoever wants it is probably the one responsible for the police having it,” you deduce. “I’m going to go help them search the upper floors. Tim, be nice. Lucy, look for the necklace, please.”

You walk into the stairwell and find yourself face-to-face with a Humphrey Bogart wannabe in a ski mask. It takes less than thirty seconds to get the cuffs on him, and based on his surprise, he thought he had already outsmarted the cops with the widespread burglary distraction.

After you pass him off to another officer, you return to Lucy’s apartment and let them know he’s in custody.

“Bradford, why does my suspect have a black eye?” Wade asks over the radio.

“He threatened Lucy,” you answer quickly. “But, who knows, maybe he already had that. He was wearing a ski mask, after all.”

“You hit him for threatening your puppy, station kid, whatever you call her?” Tim asks with his brows raised.

“Thanks, Mom,” Lucy calls from her bedroom.

“We’re leaving,” Tim announces. “Good luck finding your criminal necklace.”

“It’s pretty!” Lucy yells as you walk out.

“I need a nap now,” you tell Tim.

He nods and says, “I always need one after working with Chen.”

[iguessthisisanewobsession]

this is a sequel to this.

The hoodlums and nightlings: @skulld3mort-1fan, @satanicrutialspecialist, @terzatheunderscorerima, @autumnwulf, @jaggedheart11, @froartuck,

Danny is panicking.

Not to say that he isn’t usually in this state of mind, but it has became very clear that he had fucked up as he looked down at the two unconscious vigilantes in his living room.

He had just moved to Gotham for a scholarship.

He can’t go to jail!

Glancing around Danny threw the creep stick behind the sofa.

‘Think Danny think! Fuck who to call? Should I even call?? I can’t lose my scholarship, I’ll have to move back to amity!

“Uuhhh-“

Dragging two unconscious men into his bedroom was not how is Thursday morning would go.

But here he is!

He gently plopped the two on their sides and closed the door.

“Fuck.. fuck.. ah fuck.”

Grabbing his phone, he scrolled through his contacts and pressed call.

“Pick up pick up come on don’t be the first time you sleep in-“

“Yo man what’s up?”

“Hey- Tim! This Danny from film class!”

“Kinda figured man, caller ID and all. Why are you awake anyways you said we would continue our call tomorrow?”

“Yeah.. about that uh this going to sound a bit odd but I’m a transfer so I don’t really know much about Gotham rules and stuff so there might be a code for this or something but-“

“Danny, you’re rambling. Just spit it out and-“

“IMAYHAVETWOOFTHEVIGNETTESONMYBEDPLEASEHELP!”

.

.

“Come again?”

Danny took in another deep breath,

“I was getting a glass of water, and someone broke into my apartment, so I knocked them out. Turns out it was a vigilante. And he was not alone. So now I have two vigilantes in my bed. Please help.”

There was another pause and Danny heard what he thought was a snort through the speaker before Tim cleared his throat.

“Ok, don’t panic, I know a guy. He’ll come over and take them out of your hands. Just need an address.”

~~~~~~~~

There was a tap at his fire escape half an hour later.

Danny unlatched the window to let in Batman and Red Robin.

“Birdy retrieval system; you bag em’ we drag em’. How may we help you?”

Danny scuffed his slippers against his rug with a weary chuckle,

“I am so sorry I-“

Batman gently rested his palm on Danny’s shoulder,

“The two of them were supposed to do surveillance in the area and had the wrong complex. You did nothing wrong; this entire situation is on their fault, and they will be properly dealt with for their actions.”

Before swiftly walking into Danny’s bedroom and slinging Red hood onto his back.

Red Robin for his part was holding back laughter as he shouldered the larger nightwing like nothing.

“Yeah man, it’s not everyday someone gets the jump on one of us let alone two.”

And before he could even begin to comprehend how weird his life was, the four left Danny to his own.

With a shake of his head, Danny grabbed to creep stick and leaned it against his radiator before locking his window once more and headed to bed.

“It’s too early for this..”

~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile in the Batcave:

Tim: YOU GOT TAKEN OUT BY A TWINK!!

[sharksnshakes]

Night Out - Tim Drake

image source: batboyblog on tumblr

When out at a dive bar with your friends, you step outside for a breath of fresh air and run into the Red Robin. For some reason, he seems... familiar?

AN; writers block is brutal and disgusting and horrible. also. i am suffering from batfamily brainrot so expect more of this (part two can be found here!)

Wordcount; 787

TW; some cursing, mentions of drinking

It's a damp spring night when you meet the Red Robin. You're out with your friends at some college dive bar on the East Side. The area's a far cry from Gotham U's campus, but with free entry and cheap drinks, it's worth the elevated risk of mugging.

"Besides," one of your friends had declared on the way to the bar, "It just means we're more likely to see Nightwing's hot ass."

You're pretty sure the dark-haired vigilante operates exclusively in Bludhaven these days, but you're not a party pooper.

The music was good, the crowd was fun, but a small room of drunk co-eds had a way of heating up quicker than Firefly's flamethrower, and so you'd retreated out the side door for a breath of fresh air. You weren't stupid; you'd taken your small can of mace with you. This was Gotham, after all.

The alleyway was blissfully empty, save for a dumpster--quite the relief, seeing as the last time you'd been here, you'd stumbled upon a couple deep in the throes of a heated make out session. Taking a breath, you leaned up against the cool bricks in the alleyway and let yourself decompress.

"There's definitely better places to hang out around here than dark alleys," a voice says from somewhere behind you.

Living in the city has taught you many things. Most importantly, how to turn off potential predators by acting downright crazier than they do.

You spin on your heel and hold the mace like it's a pistol, coming face-to-face with none other than--

"Holy shit, you're Robin," you gasp, eyes widening.

Thank god you didn't actually mace him.

"That I am," he says, warily eyeing the can in your hand.

"Like... the Red Robin," you continue. You're blinking at him, openly gaping, and it occurs to you that you should probably stop pointing the can at his eyes. You stow the makeshift weapon in your back pocket. "I'm so sorry! I thought you were a mugger or something!"

"Hey, it's fine," he chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck. "If it's any consolation, you definitely would've scared the shit out of a mugger."

You laugh, but it's mostly in disbelief. Red Robin is standing mere feet away from you, domino mask and yellow cloak and green pants and all, and you're suddenly very thankful you'd gotten dressed up to go out tonight. For a split second, you swear you see him give you a quick once over. But no, there's no way Robin's checking you out.

He glances around the alleyway for a moment, almost awkwardly, before speaking again. "...Any reason you're out here?"

"I'm out with my friends," you say, motioning to the building behind you, where the bar's logo is printed in peeling white vinyl. "Needed some air. Somehow, smoke and asthma don't make a good combination," you joke.

"Can't imagine why," he grins, and holy shit Red Robin thinks you're funny.

"You got any fun, exciting plans tonight?"

He hesitates.

"Wait, you don't have to answer. I know, top secret Batman stuff--"

"Nah, not that secret." It's dark in the alleyway so maybe you're not seeing things right, but you swear you can see a hint of color rising to his cheeks. "Just patrolling. Y'know. Keeping an eye out for muggers and mace-wielding asthmatics."

You laugh. "Sounds boring."

"Definitely could use a drink." He glances at the side door with an unreadable expression.

"Rough start to the night?"

"You could say that."

A brief silence stretches between the two of you. Traffic and the faint pounding of the bar's music fill the space, and for some reason, despite never having met Robin and likely never meeting him again, it feels... almost familiar.

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one stuck at work tonight. One of my best friends, Tim, had to bail last minute since he's got an exam to study for. So, like, you're not suffering alone!" you add, thinking back to the guy you've kind of been maybe having romantic feelings for lately.

Robin chokes.

"Shit, you okay? Need me to, like, slap you on the back or something?"

"Nope," he says, voice raspy.

"You're sure?"

"Positive." He gives you an awkward thumbs-up.

"I should probably let you get back to work, then," you sigh, turning back to the side door and grasping the handle. "And I should get back in there. Don't need my friends worried about me."

When you turn back around, it's just you and the dumpster.

"Fuckin' impressive," you mutter to nobody but yourself. "See ya, Robin."

You step back inside. The door closes behind you and... fuck.

You forgot to ask for a picture.

[aprocessionofthoughts]

Left Behind

ai-less whumptober day 19- left behind/why wasn't I enough fandom- dp x dc TW- abandonment Summary- The Fenton parents leave their kids at the Gotham Public Library

ao3 ailesswhumptober masterlist part 1 of TFR

Barbara was working the closing shift at the library. She was putting some books away when she overheard a conversation.

“Do you know when mom and dad are going to pick us up?” said what sounded like a teenage boy.

“No, I– Oh, wait they just messaged me.” said what Barbara thought was a slightly older teen girl.

Silence.

“Jazz?

“They left.”

“What?”

“Someone posted about a possible sighting in Metropolis. They said they’ll be there for a few days.”

There was more silence. Barbara stayed quiet.

“So, they left us behind.”

“Yeah.”

“Again.”

“...Yeah.”

Barbara closed her eyes, thinking of Tim and how he had been left home alone so much. And these kids… their parents had abandoned them too.

“Well at least we’re not helpless.”

“I hate them.”

“Jazz–”

“No, Danny. I hate them. They’re supposed to be our parents. They’re supposed to take care of us.”

“I know. They always chose something else over us. Why aren’t we enough, Jazz?”

“I don’t know.” she sniffled.

“Jazz, hey, look at me. We’ll be okay.”

“I'm sorry, Danny. I'm just so tired.”

“I am too.”

Barbara was about to speak up when they continued.

“At least i have a credit card this time so it won’t be like the time they forgot is in Bridgton.”

“Yeah, that sucked. We were lucky we were able to sneak onto that semi.”

“Well, tonight we can get a hotel room and then get bus tickets tomorrow.

“I could just... you know. Do my thing.”

“I guess, but we should at least get a hotel for tonight. I don’t want to try traveling while you’re exhausted.”

“That’s fair. But–”

Barbara finally decided she should make her presence known. She cleared her throat as she made her way around the bookshelf.

The two teens startle. They looked like siblings. The girl was a redhead with teal eyes, and the boy had black hair and blue eyes.

“Hello, I’m Barbara. I work here at the library. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation.” she paused as the siblings glanced at each other, the boy reaching over to grab his sister’s arm. 

“What do you mean?” asked the girl, Jazz, if Barbara was correct.

“You need a place to stay tonight? It’ll be hard to find a good hotel at this hour. I’ve got an extra bedroom at my apartment, and you’re welcome to stay the night. You won’t owe me anything.”

“Why?” asked the boy, Danny.”

Barbara considered for a moment. “I have a friend who went through a similar situation as you guys, so I’m familiar with what it's like to have your parents be too busy. And you wouldn’t be the first kids I've let stay the night. I can help you find bus tickets in the morning. I’m familiar with most of the routes and can let you know which ones are the safest and quickest.”

The girl glanced at her brother, who stared at Barbara. There was a moment where his eyes seemed to glow and Barabar felt as if he were really looking at her. She suppressed a shudder at the intense feeling. 

Then he turned to his sister and nodded.

“That’s very kind of you. Thank you. I’m Jazz and this is Danny.”

“It’s nice to meet you both. I have to finish locking up so I’ll meet you by the door.”

They nodded and started gathering their stuff.

Barbara went to finish the rest of the closing shift duties. 

She also had a call to make.

[suppose-i-was-worm]

Ghost on the Stairs

**alright, alright. I asked and y'all answered. Here's my siblings Bruce and Danny fic!**

“Boo!”

Bruce clattered to a stop on the floor, holding his arms out for his baby brother as the boy toddled his way forward.

“Hey, Danny! Did you miss me while I was at school?”

Danny waved chubby arms, clearly delighted that Bruce was waiting for him. He was all of two years to Bruce’s seven, and the two of them were almost inseparable.

Chancing a look over to his mother, Bruce found her and father smiling fondly at the two of them. Alfred was coming up behind them with a tea tray.

“Boo!”

Bruce turned back to his brother, only to lurch forward as his tiny brother took a step straight into a swirling green portal that opened up from nowhere.

Danny’s screech as he fell was cut off by the portal shutting with a snap, leaving Bruce on his hands and knees, reaching for air.

Mother, father, and Alfred all clustered around him as he began to cry, and the four of them began desperately looking for the youngest member of the family.

They never found him, and a year later, Bruce lost his parents to a gun. At least that was something he could fight against.

When Bruce became Batman at the age of twenty-two, he finally erected a gravestone for his baby brother, right next to their parents. If Danny ever came back, he wouldn’t be the same boy who had vanished.

~~~

Red Robin swung into the building, breaking through the window with his momentum. The cult surrounding a magic circle on the floor of the warehouse had been causing a ruckus in Gotham, and the bats had finally had enough.

Just as they finished knocking out the cultists, the magic circle flared to life and a green pool bloomed from the floor.

Tim, purely out of scientific curiosity, leaned closer, only to be pulled back roughly by Batman.

“Stay away from it.”

“B?”

Batman grabbed a batarang from where it had landed in the melee and threw it with a precise hand, cutting through one of the lines of chalk surrounding the pool.

Narrowing his eyes, Tim watched Bruce’s face- his expression right now was all Bruce, no Bat in sight- sorrow mixed with relief.

Once the pool had vanished completely, Bruce pulled Tim into his arms.

“Woah, what’s up B?”

“I cannot lose you too.”

The moment passed, and Red Robin found himself following Batman as the vigilante swept out of the building.

~~~

“Constantine.”

“Bats. Nice of you to call. What do you need?”

“I sent you a data packet. What is the summoning circle for?”

Constantine was quiet for a long while as he perused the files Bruce had sent him. Bruce paced in front of the batcomputer, glad that all his children were in bed for the night. Somehow they had known something was wrong, and every single one of them had come to the manor- even Jason.

“Looks like an attempt to summon a being of the Infinite Realms to me.”

“Infinite Realms?”

“Mhmm. The afterlife, if you will.”

Bruce couldn’t help the small wheeze as his airways caught. Constantine didn’t seem to notice, as he continued.

“The ghosts haven’t been as active lately, not since the new king came into power. It’s been maybe two decades since?”

“I would like to meet this king.”

“Why?”

“It would be politically intelligent of us to make allies.”

Constantine sighed, long and loud.

“Fine. Give me a week to gather up the stuff.”

~~~

Jason glanced over the thin information brief that Bruce handed down, skimming it at first, until something caught his eye.

“B?”

“Hn.”

“According to this, the being we’re trying to summon is damn powerful. Wouldn’t it be better to do this on the Watchtower with more backup?”

“Yeah B,” Dick chimed in, “Constantine’s report does say that the guy is rumored to be a wandering spirit, which limits his power, but what if that’s not right?”

Jason looked back down at the papers, his eyes darting through to find out what a wandering spirit was.

A ghost that couldn’t find its grave. Part of Jason ached at the thought, and he didn’t quite understand why.

“Fine. We will summon the king at the Watchtower.”

Small victories.

~~~

Bruce was not a praying man, and yet here he was, hoping against hope that this ghost could assist him in finding out what happened to his brother.

The sigils on the floor flared to light, and a now familiar green portal swirled into being. The entire room waited with bated breath for a few moments, and then a young woman rose from the portal.

Batman knew what it felt like to be stabbed. There was no way he could have been, and yet there was a knife in his gut as he stared at this girl who looked so much like his mother, except for the inverted colors.

“The Ghost King thanks you for your call- Unfortunately he is currently unavailable. Please leave your message after the-“ the girl’s professional, almost robotic voice petered off. “Wait a minute- it’s here!”

Her eyes were wide, as was the smile she flashed at the group.

“Please hold.”

She sunk back into the pool, and Bruce took a step towards it, despairing of his chance.

And then she returned, dragging a young man up with her.

“Can you feel it, Phantom? It’s here! We can find it!”

“Calm down, Phantasm. We can go looking soon- first we need to find out why I was summoned.”

The young man turned to Diana, who was standing at the front of the group. She had been chosen as diplomatic leader, seeing as she was a Princess and Ambassador.

“Pardon my sister, how may I assist?”

Bruce let their conversation wash over him as he cataloged the young man’s features. They were so very similar- so close.

The man was both too young and too old. Daniel would be in his mid-forties had he lived, and only two if he’d died. This young man couldn’t be older than thirty.

As Diana’s explanation ended, the young man smiled.

“I agree. It would be advantageous of us to be allies, knowing what I know of this reality now. As allies, I must ask- what is the real reason I was summoned?”

He turned his green (wrong, too much like Damian’s) eyes to Bruce.

“Will you explain? The summoning was filled with great longing for something.”

Bruce stumbled forward, and surely to the shock of his teammates, friends, and children, fell to his knees before the king.

“My- my brother. He fell through a portal so similar to yours and I- I need to know what happened to him. Please.”

The king and his sister looked at each other before looking back at Bruce.

“The Infinite Realms are just that, infinite. However, I may be able to help.”

“Phantom!”

The king ignored his sister.

“What was his name, this brother of yours?”

Bruce hadn’t spoken his brother’s name in decades.

“Danny. Daniel Wayne.”

The room was so silent he could have heard a pin drop.

“And you gave him a grave when he never returned to you.”

Bruce looked up at the king, who was looking back contemplatively. The king’s sister was staring up at her brother with her mouth agape.

“I did.”

The king was very, very quiet, and the moment stretched on and on and on.

After a time, the room grew darker as the green pool closed slowly, and the two ghosts landed with barely a whisper of sound.

“I died at age fourteen,” the king began, musing his own thoughts. “As I died, I thought that the color of the ectoplasm surrounding me was too familiar in color and movement for that to have been my first experience with a portal.”

He took a step towards Bruce.

“It was terrifying and I was so afraid that I would be ripped away from everything I ever loved again.”

Two bright white rings circled the king, and Bruce found himself looking at a man who looked just like his mother, but with a twitch of the lips that was entirely his father’s.

“Hello, Boo. I’m afraid I can’t remember your name properly.”

Bruce took his cowl off slowly, wanting his baby brother to see him despite the fact that he was crying.

“We’ve got his chin, Danny.”

The girl was standing a little behind Danny, smiling. She winked at Bruce.

“He always did want to find his bio family.”

Bruce held his hand out, and Danny took it, using his position and apparently superior strength to pull Bruce into a hug.

“Bruce. Bruce Wayne.”

“Danny Nightingale- well. Nightingale-Wayne, I suppose.”

~~~

Danielle Nightingale (Wayne?) watched her original and his brother(!?!) hug it out. The big man in black was obviously not used to hugs.

“Miss?”

She turned to the inquirer, the nice looking ambassador from before. (Sue her, Dani hadn’t been listening to the conversation. She had been trying to pinpoint the location of their grave!)

“How can I help?”

Ambassador lady smiled at her.

“We were unaware that our teammate had siblings, and clearly Daniel has introduced himself. May we ask your name?”

Dani grinned.

“Oh, I’m not a sibling. I’m sibling-adjacent. Sibling clone? One of those. My name is Danielle, but I go by Dani with an i. It gets a little confusing since he’s Danny with a y.”

“I see. Welcome to the Watchtower, Dani. May I ask what you and his majesty are looking for that was found here?”

“Our grave, of course! Since I’m Danny’s clone, I can feel it too- a little distantly, but it’s not like I’ll get my own. I was born dead.”

Ambassador lady was looking a little faint. Dani took pity on her.

“But now I’m a kickass princess, so all’s well that ends well.”

“I suppose so.” The ambassador looked over at Danny and surprise brother with a small smile. “I suppose so indeed.”

[lifewithdavefarts]

DaveFarts - Episode 32 “A Worthy Opponent” [Episode List] Dave is back at the warehouse and filming another short “fart porn” clip for Greg. As he keeps blasting Tom, his co-worker and fart sniffer, a masked man steps into the set…

Greatly influenced by this suggestion.

Reminder: Tom was introduced in Episode 14.

POV: Dave

Alright, just like I did last time, it’s all good.

Getting paid to fart in someone’s face? Easiest money I’ll ever make in my life.

My friend Greg, the wannabe movie director, wanted me for another fart porn film.

Yes, that’s an actual thing, this is my life now… a small part of it at least.

You know me, I’m a chill dude, though before accepting such task some months ago I wanted to make sure there were some lines that we shouldn’t cross. To be honest, however, the more I worked with Greg, the more I got used to all of this gross kinky stuff.

I mean, that sounds hypocrite, I’m aware: I’m an incredibly skilled straight farter who continuously face-farts his friend and roommate, fully knowing the he has a fart fetish, and even before that I’ve always been a proud farter, and rightfully so.

Also, I spend too much time on the Internet, so I’m well-versed in gross stuff.

With Tim, however, it’s different.

Here there are cameras, people telling me how I need to fart (seriously!), people I barely know but, truth to be told, who gives a shit? It’s just business, a business that revolves about farting, so you could say that my ass shits gold, almost literally.

Plus, I already got a Tim in my fart-victim collection: a Tom always sounded like the next logical step, the next Infinity Sniffer. You can starting calling me Thanus at this point.

So here I am, back at the warehouse, in this fake living room, wearing a pair of shabby grey sweatpants, cautiously sitting on Tom’s face. 

Tom, my co-worker and professional fart sniffer.

He was lying on this couch in the middle of the set, face up, his nose perfectly aligned with my asscheeks already.

He didn’t say a word or move a muscle: this guy is a pro for real. I still don’t know if he actually has a fart kink or not. What I do know is that I did blast him even when we weren’t working once. 

What can I say? My farts are too good to be wasted!

As of now, I sat on him and adjusted my position, spreading my legs wide, to ease the next fart out and, according to the script, “to showoff my manly bulge”. Thanks, I guess?

I lean just a bit and I effortlessly rip the first fart of the session, a natural blast I’ve been brewing for a couple of minutes. The warm gas passed through the fabric of my sweatpants and soon Tom’s face was imbued with my poisonous flatulence.

“Fuck yeah.” I said, as the loud blast kept going. “Don’t choke on that you fag.”

Hey, I didn’t write the script!

I could feel and hear Tom taking deep whiffs of that fart. I wiggled my ass in response, an improv which he seemed to enjoy, both professionally and… kinkly?

This blast lasted around 6 seconds. A good one don’t get me wrong… but you know what I’m truly capable of…

I noticed Greg from behind the camera giving me a thumbs up, mouthing my next line.

“Alright you filthy slave, you better open up.”

Tom obeyed. I leaned once again and spread my legs even wider, my anus aligning with my co-worker’s mouth.

Another home-run, another loud fart, I didn’t even need to push that much. I’m ridiculously good at this, I swear. It feels stupid to brag about farting skills but trust me, as soon as I finish ripping one of my huge farts, my body is already brewing the next one. I got a quick reload.

Tom’s face was shaking and this time, for real, he almost choked on my gas, as I felt him move. And when even Tom, who’s usually stone-cold while working, flinches, I know I did a good job.

I saw Greg talking to his assistant: he seemed angry. In that moment, behind me, the fake door of the fake living room opened without warning. Was this an unscripted moment?

I stopped farting and turned around, kind of forgetting that I was sitting on Tom’s face.

Someone stepped into the set, another man, around my age, tall and skinny. I couldn’t see his face as he was wearing some kind of black ski mask. His clothes were as casual as mine (a red t-shirt and a pair of blue skinny jeans).

He didn’t look friendly, yet the moment he saw me, he kind of froze on the spot for a few moments.

Is Greg making a farter-slasher movie all of the sudden? Not that I’d complain! Sounds camp-y enough to me.

I gave an inquisitive look to my director-friend, who promptly stopped filming.

“C-cut!” he yelled. “Alright, we got our first farts.” he said, as he walked towards me. “N-now, make room for the other farter of this session.” 

I gave him a puzzled look. “Other farter?”

“Duh!” Greg replied, as he pulled me out of the set, impatiently. “You thought you were the only person capable of ripping ass?”

Honestly, kind of?

I mean, I don’t think about farts 24/7, but I do know that I’m pretty good at it. Ask Tim.

“Are you replacing me?” I bluntly asked.

Not gonna have a fight over… farting, that’s for sure. And I’m not even mad, I was just taking those extra bucks for granted.

“Don’t be jealous.” he replied, as he let me sit next to him, next to the director himself, as if I was one of the crew.

I watched as this masked guy stepped on the couch and squatted over Tom’s head, just as the poor guy was getting used to fresh air again. I guess this is his lucky day, assuming that he does have the kink.

“Action!” I almost went deaf when Greg screamed that.

The masked guy was basically another master and he acted accordingly.

“Here you go, fag. Got something for you to taste…” 

The fart that followed was very loud and echoed in the whole warehouse. On one hand, when I’m not the one torturing a poor soul with farts, yeah, it’s pretty gross. On the other, as a man, I gotta tip my imaginary hat to a fellow talented farter. The blast was nowhere as long as mine, but holy shit.

This other “master” was way more dominant than I was, way more natural I’d say.

“If you wanted a master, you could just ask…” I whispered into Greg's ear, sounding way more flirty than I intended to be, which almost made me laugh.

“You can’t be a master like him.” he firmly replied. “You’re too nice.”

Should I be offended? I really don’t know anything anymore at this point.

“Fire in the hole!” the masked master yelled, just as he ripped another loud fart down Tom’s throat.

I admit this guy’s voice sounded quite familiar, despite his best effort at trying to sound much deeper.

“Do we know this guy?” I asked Greg. The question almost startled him.

“Uhm. No idea.”

Ok, liar ahead. Clearly we know this guy then.

I will get to the bottom of this… after I put this masked guy to his place.

POV: Tom

Fuck. 

Dave’s farts were already impressive, but this masked guy’s blasts are really hard to endure, really pushing the limits of my kink. Those farts sound utterly gross, almost wet, and they smell horribly. I like working with Dave because, among other things, his roaring ass is loud but when it comes to stench, I can easily inhale those.

This guy… I have no idea who he is, Greg refused to introduce us for some reason, but I decided to trust him: I think I made a mistake. The rough surface of his skinny jeans is almost scraping my face.

Another fart erupted right into my nostrils, renewing the already terrible stench. It smells like… spoiled milk? I don’t know, it’s nauseating, I feel like I’m drowning in a sewer. I’m always very calm and composed when I’m… working, but I wasn’t ready for this I admit it.

“You’re such a bitch, I knew you couldn’t handle it.” the man said, ripping another loud, short rip.

If this guy doesn’t get up soon, I’m probably gonna choke in my own puke.

“Alright, that’s enough, get the fuck out of here.”

I heard Dave say, walking towards us, and I was relieved.

The masked man got up, my eyes adjusting to the spotlight shining over the set. I took a deep breathe of (relatively) fresh air, but anything was better than that. 

I managed to recognize Dave’s silhouette, towering over me.

“That was cute. Now let me show how a pro does it.”

Great. I’m basically the city you see in the background of kaijū movies while the monsters fight each other. You know the city, right? The city that usually gets completely leveled by the huge creatures?

I guess that’s my role for today.

Let’s get it over with.

As I said, Dave’s farts are huge but I’d take anything over that other guy’s gas.

I quickly took more deep breaths… before letting Dave sit on me again.

POV: Dave

“That was cute. Now let me show how a pro does it.”

I don’t know who this guy is, but if he really wants to do this, a fuckin’ fart challenge, then he’s gonna get blown away.

Well, not him, rather, my good pal right here on the couch.

“Alright…” I whispered to Tom. “Get ready bro. I’m gonna rip some huge ones and act like an asshole for a bit.”

I earned a puzzled look from him. “An asshole?” he paused for a moment. “But… you’re too nice.”

Oh great, now the sub tells me how lovey-dovey I am, perfect!

I stepped on the couch, not caring how my feet was crushing Tom’s chest, and squatted over his face, my fabric-clad anus tickling the tip of his nose. As I said, I’m always brewing a big one, and having a quick cheeseburger before coming here surely helped.

Once again, effortlessly, my ass started roaring, loud and unstoppable. As I kept pushing this one out, I maintained eye-contact with the mysterious masked challenger, who could only watch haplessly as I showed him what real talent looks like.

“Open wide, fag. This is far from over.”

Tom took it like a champ, inhaling deeply for the camera -I don’t even know if we started filming again. 

All I know is that my farting skills are a sight to behold… and to sniff, in Tom and Tim’s case at least.

Ahah… I’ll never understand this gross kink, but I gotta admit, if I had this fetish, and my best bro and roommate was, well, me, I’d probably be as thirsty as Tim is. So yeah, in a disgusting way… I get it.

And just like that, 12 seconds passed. Long, but not as long as my best ones, I can do even better than this… but I play fair so, after brushing my sweaty sweatpants ass on Tom’s face, I stood up and crossed my arms, eyes glued on my rival. 

“Your move, beanpole.” 

It’s ridiculous how seriously I’m taking all of this, but I can get quite competitive.

The masked master laughed and… lied on the floor. He held one leg up… that’s a position I’m quite familiar with. Surprisingly enough, he started sucking air in, right through his jeans. That’s a great talent I gotta say, I thought I was the only one who could fart on command so easily. 

A worthy opponent, at long last!

After a few seconds, the man stood up, proud and tall and, just like I did earlier, treated Tom as if he was part of the couch, and sat on his face. His eyes glued on me, I could tell there was a smug mile making fun of me under that ski mask.

The fart that followed was quite impressive and loud, but still not as massive as the ones I’m able to produce. This guy was good, no doubts about it. I’m pretty sure Tim would fall in love with him (the thought of that made me visibly laugh, putting a dent in the menacing aura I was trying to convey).

You know what, fuck this. It’s not worth it. 

But since I’m already here, and I’m able to rip huge farts both naturally and on command, I guess I could simply… well… join the fun, you might say.

I’m sure Tom will understand.

POV: Tom

The masked guy’s fart, despite being on command, was as foul as the one before. Dave’s blasts weren’t a cakewalk by any means, and they’re still much louder, deeper and stronger overall, but whatever this guy ate was doing numbers in his stomach. He was wearing a pair of skinny jeans but he could very well be naked for how much my nostrils were burning. 

The stench of Dave’s previous farts mixed with the rotten eggs-flavored gas this guy’s anus was blowing in my face and, truly, I started to think that this was a big test that Greg set up just for me, for some insane reason. If I survive this, I’m gonna kick his ass.

After around 9 seconds, the flatulence’s loudness faded out, essentially turning into a classic silent-but-deadly.

The man raised his ass just a bit, to make sure I could breath a bit of fresh air before the next one.

I turned my head and I could see Dave approaching the couch again.

Okay, it’s the other kaijū’s turn I assume.

Funnily enough, this is actually good ne-

...

Wait.

Why isn’t the other guy stepping aside?

“If it’s a show you want, Greg, a show you’ll get.” Dave boasted.

The farter above me finally moved, but just a bit, his ass still covering half of my face, hovering over my mouth.

The reason he moved, however, wasn’t altruistic by any means: instead, he had to make room for Dave’s ass, which ended up being planted directly onto my eyes instead.

Just... just fuckin’ do it you gassy bastards.

“Hey fag, it’s your lucky day.” the masked guy said.

“Good thing you have two nostrils: one of each anus.” Dave said.

Whether they were improvising or not wasn’t important, because their asses certainly weren’t.

Dave’s ass started speaking first, erupting his deep warm gas into my eyes. Mere seconds later, the other ass started talking as well, its fart being more high pitched. The sounds mixed together like a symphony and after a few moments I couldn’t tell which anus was being louder, ‘cause they both were. 

I became part of the couch as those two asses kept crushing me, farting loudly. My face couldn’t endure that barrage of farts any longer, as the farters kept cycling between either loud series of farts, or single long ones. The stench... I felt like they were taking a shit on me, I could taste that thick gas and even guess what they ate for lunch.

It was getting hot, too hot, and I started breathing more heavily, which only meant I got to ingest more of that poisonous gas. 

And yet, my massive boner betrayed my disgust.

While my eardrums were getting crushed by those farts, I could still manage to recognize Dave’s fart being the loudest: the man found a worthy opponent, sure, but he still owns the crown, no doubts about it.

“And for the big finale…” I heard the King say.

Dave lowered his sweatpants, exposing his sweaty bare ass (the masked farter kept his jeans on instead), and ripped a short, yet very loud toot, drops of sweat being blown onto my face and teary eyes (for the smell).

The two remained there for a few seconds, finally in silence from both ends, letting me inhale those last particles of gas, even though I’m pretty sure my skin merged with their farts on sub-atomic level, then they finally got up and shared a high-five.

Much to my surprise, the two men then turned back to me and helped me sit down, and they both high-fived me as well.

I guess a fart master is nothing without someone willing to sniff it all.

I appreciate the respect.

The mutual respect.

POV: Dave

After taking a much-needed shower and putting my civilian clothes back on (my usual dark brown hoodie and a pair of loose jeans), I cleared things up with Greg. 

He admitted he messed up things up with the schedule, and that indeed there was another “master” audition today, but he really enjoyed our improv and filmed everything, and thus the editors are pretty satisfied with what we managed to film today.

He also told me that, indeed, the mysterious farter is “a common friend” who didn’t want to be recognized.

No hard feelings with Tom either, obviously.

Now, time to tie up one last loose end.

I went outside, on the back of the warehouse, where I knew I could find my masked rival. He was checking his phone sitting on a shabby couch, an old prop that the crew moved here after they bought a new one for the set.

Basically, glorified comfy garbage.

“Hey, fire-in-the-hole-guy! I knew I’d find you here… that’s there they put the trash after all.” I said, with a smug smile.

The man shook his head and laughed. “Greg told you?” he asked.

I walked towards the couch and sat next to him, wrapping my right arm around his shoulder.

“You thought I woudn’t recognize your beautiful eyes, Adam?” I joked, acting all flirty (and hopefully annoying).

He  punched my shoulder and took his mask off.

Indeed, it was Adam all along.

He laughed a bit more.

“I didn’t know you were working with Greg.” he said. “Finally, you can make money from the one thing you're good at!"

“Very good at.” I corrected him.

I was going to fart to prove my point, but Adam seemed worried about something.

“I kind of needed those extra bucks you know...”

“Why is everything gravitating towards farts lately…” I thought out loud.

“What was that?” he asked.

“Nothing, forget about it.” I quickly said. “Extra bucks you said?”

“Yeah, as gross as it sounds, I thought I could make some quick money out of… whatever Greg’s doing here.”

“Hey, not judging bro!” I reassured him. “I mean, I’ve been doing this for a couple of months.”

“Does Dana know?” he asked.

“Nah, I didn’t tell anyone. Not even Tim, he’d probably be jeal-“ 

I bit my tongue just in time, even though I didn’t really think he’d get jealous. I was just trying to make a joke I swear!

“Jealous?” my friend inquired. “Jealous of what?”

“…Uhh… jealous of my success, obviously!”

Adam didn’t seem too interested in the conversation anyway, luckily enough, so he didn’t find anything suspicious about my not-so-harmless joke about my roommate.

“That’s envy, not jealousy, you idiot.” he observed.

Never mind.

A few dozens of seconds of silence followed. Adam wasn’t exactly a talkative guy, and he does have a job and all, but if he needs extra bucks, maybe I could help.

“I’m sure we can arrange something with Greg.” I stated.

“Mh?” 

“Yeah, you can fart on Tom on Tuesdays, while I can do it on Wednesdays.”

We stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.

“I can’t believe we’re talking about this.” Adam admitted.

“Yeah.” I patted his shoulder. “From great farts, come great responsibility.”

We remained there, on that smelly (not because of us) couch, for a few more minutes, as if all that fart-talk was the most mundane thing in the world.

“Doing something tonight?” Adam asked.

“Dana and Tim are out of town, so probably nothing. You?”

“There’s a good pub a few blocks from here. Care for a beer?”

“Always.” I simply said, as we both stood up, and started marching towards our new destination.

“Easy bro.” Adam said. “I’m not gonna drag your drunk ass back home.”

“I can handle way more beer than you, pal!” I said.

“Yeah, in your dreams maybe.” he replied.

“Alright. Ready to lose against me for the second time today?” I threatened him.

“Lose?” he scoffed. “It was literally just far-“ 

I cut him off by ripping a huge, natural blast, staring at him with a smug grin. The fart easily echoed in the alley and I’m pretty sure they heard it downtown. It was short and sweet, you might say.

4 loud, proud seconds.

“I’m sorry.” I said. “You were saying?”

Adam laughed in response. “Fine, you won whatever that was back in the warehouse.” he admitted. “But I’m still not gonna drag your sorry drunk ass back home later.”

You know me, I’m a chill guy, but if you tease me, I can get very competitive.

I again wrapped my arm around his shoulder: “If it’s a show you want, Adam, a show you’ll get.”

Nah… maybe I’m too nice.

The End

[adultswim2021]

Check It Out! With Dr. Steve Brule #2: “Relationships” | May 24, 2010 - 12:30AM | S01E02

I think I forgot to talk about the part in the last episode where Brule childishly spits milk all over his dishes at the restaurant. That is maybe one of my favorite things in all of Check It Out. Damn! Time to talk about this episode, though, which isn’t as good.

This episode is about Relationships, which Brule investigates by having an interview and a demonstration of love with Jan and Wayne Skyler (the Married News Team from before). Jan mostly talks about deterring Wayne’s sexual advances, and not-so-subtly hints that she has a crush on the good doctor.

The talk about adding red pepper flakes to her nipples with wood glue certainly paints a memorable picture, and there are a lot of ideas here that I think are funny in theory. But I don’t like this segment much at all. Eric in particular seems like he’s dashing off his performance, and they fail to find the proper tone. It’s more of a continuation of Awesome Show silliness and it sticks out like a moronic sore thumb. And the little bit at the end where they are all in bed together with cartoonly slap sound effects really turns me off. Sorry doctor, but ya blew it. 

I do like the interview Brule has with the sexpert, which gives birth to the practice of Brule referring to handsome men as hunks in a derogatory way. Aside from this bit, this might be my least favorite episode of the series. It hearkens back to the first episode of Tom Goes to the Mayor, which relied heavily on Tenacious D’s guest spot when I was already sold on Tim & Eric. Now the shoe is on the other foot, as it were. My honest assessment is that I think Brule should’ve been allowed to leave the nest with dignity, like Jonathan Taylor Thomas when he left Home Improvement.

MAIL BAG

I worked on the Jimmy Rebel episode and it was great fun.

Umm… let me guess… you were the WHITE guy...

Can we get the plex server hookup? What other cool stuff you got on there. Can I watch Titanic in 4K?

I have exactly one 4K file on my server and it’s a scan of 35mm print of Terminator 2, but the computer I’m using to run everything isn’t powerful enough to stream 4K stuff so it just crashes every time. Hey, that’s another James Cameron film. What a coincidence. To answer the first part no you can not get a hookup, I put pornography on there and I’m too embarrassed to let anyone see what I splooge to

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

Trick or treat!

Another continuation of the Pinocchio fic, the previous one being for @chasm-side here and the first one being for @zeroducks-2 here :3

Tim is tired. His whole body is sore. He's hungry as hell. He's thirsty. He's too damn hot, practically sweating through the kevlar of his suit.

However, the world is safe again, and so he's feeling pretty damn good laying here next to one of the watchtower's external windows, watching the beautiful blue marble that is Earth turning peacefully below.

He hears a loud pair of 'bwa-ha-ha' laughs and turns around to see Booster Gold and Blue Beetle on the other side of the room. Huh. He hasn't talked to Ted Kord in ages, and you know what? He may as well give Booster a shot, right? The straight Fs jock probably won't have any leads worth a damn, but Tim'd have to kick his own ass if it turned out getting answers was that easy all along and he didn't go for it, right?

He drags his weary bones off the ground and goes over to shake Ted's hand.

"I had no idea you were picking the goggles back up!"

Ted gives a tight laugh, "Hah ha! Neither did I! But hey, what else can a guy do when he's suddenly kidnapped by aliens?"

"Yeah, can't say I recommend fighting them in your underwear. Take it you're putting it right back up in the closet once you get home?"

"Ehh, I dunno, I might need to wear it into my cardiologist's office - she's gonna kill me."

Booster shakes his head. "I keep tellin ya, just let her know you got your thirty minutes of cardio in this week and leave it at that!"

"See the thing is I knew a much younger guy who used to try that line on her all the time and for some odd reason it never seemed to stick..."

Tim laughs. "Call me if you need backup against the nurses."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbles lightheartedly, "Anyways, you sticking around for the speeches or are you gonna scram?"

"I'm a Bat, there's no getting out of them for me. Gotta stand up on that podium, rain or shine, health or broken tibia. Real quick though, Booster Gold! Need a quick word with you, there's something you just might be able to help me with."

"Hey, throw it at me! There's nothin' the Gold can't handle!" Booster gives him a patented crest toothpaste commercial grin.

"Awesome, it's a history question."

"Oh... goodie..." His smile instantly becomes strained.

"Does the name Inverz Pinocchio mean anything to you?"

"Oh shit, yeah that actually means a lot to me. That's not even history that was slash will be current events almost, uh, shit okay so you know furbies?"

"Incredibly cursed way to start an explanation. Yes, I know furbies."

"Okay, cool, great, this will only get more cursed! So Inverz basically made tons of furbie type stuff except a million times more advanced, we're talking artificial muscle fibers and animal level intelligence. They were super popular pets until the pinocchio scandal got out, cause like it's all the benefits of a cat, except you didn't have to feed them and could store a bunch of music in their brain."

"Oh gods, they were selling sentient androids, weren't they?"

"Oh yeah, and here's the real kicker: they didn't even know they were androids."

"What? Like the buyers thought they were getting real human people?"

"No no no, like, the androids themselves didn't know they weren't human! They were designed as sleeper agents, it was nuts, like they had all this shit in them that was designed to mimic human biology and then bam!" Booster snaps. "The CEO of Inverz pushed a button and suddenly all the energy keeping up that disguise went straight into the weapons systems."

Horror pours down Tim's spine.

"But- no that- there'd have to be some way to tell, right?! Like, it's just not possible to hide that much tech perfectly!"

"Well yeah obviously, once people found out that apparently there were thousands if not millions of people out there who were robots-"

"Millions?!"

"Oh yeah, that's the part where it got bad. Turned out Inverz was trying to build an army and had been planting their sleeper agent androids into the wider population without anyone's knowledge for decades and... uh... hey you're lookin a little pale there...?"

Ted puts an arm around his shoulders and starts steering him away from the crowds and towards a couch. "How about we sit down for the rest of this history lesson."

"Okay..." Tim says distantly.

This can't be happening. He can't be a- He can't be what this implies. He can't. He's been through medical exams - he's been through surgeries! Oh gods, the surgery was from Ra's Al Ghul, there's no way he would have told him anything, and Leslie's always told him that his blood pressure was a little wonky, and gods this can't be happening.

"Soooo, uh, yes there are a few ways to tell." Booster Gold continues awkwardly. "Most of them are pretty invasive? But you totally don't have to worry about those! Nobody's saying you have to crack your- er- somebody's skull open!"

Beetle makes un-subtle 'STOP' gestures with one hand across his neck.

Tim stares into the middle distance, stone faced.

Booster attempts to pivot. "So yeah totally just gonna list some like, little hint things? Little clues? Um. Infertility."

No data points on that one.

"Can't really get a concussion."

He thought he'd been lucky. He assumed that Dick and Jason and Steph and everyone had so many more problems with TBIs simply because Tim got hit in the head less but... but he didn't, did he? Deep down he kinda always knew he was taking as many blows but he still hadn't thought...

"There was also something about a lot of things feeling and looking just a little different? Like they'll be weirdly numb to some things but super sensitive to others and the way they do logic just doesn't quite line up with how humans do it."

Ted says, "Guess that makes sense, what with them having a whole different brain structure. The whole way they process the world is probably just a little bit off from human norms."

He thought he was just a little weird. Though, at the same time, he'd kinda always suspected it might be something more? Sometimes, when he was a teenager, he'd look at what his classmates were doing and feel like an alien. Sometimes he'd have to mimic them without truly understanding in order to keep up.

"That's no guarantee of anything though, plenty of humans are just oddballs."

...Was this why his parents had traveled so much? Why they shoved him in boarding schools and left him alone at home for weeks? Because they purchased him? Because he was a robot and not a real child?

But if they'd cared about him less, if they'd known... then why had his Dad been so frightened for him when he went out as Robin? Why did his mother bother tucking him in at night when he was little?

Why had they given him a birthday at all? Oh gods, that hadn't actually been his fourth birthday! Those were his first memories; that had to have been right after they switched him on for the first time. And- and they got him cake. And gifts. And carried him around and-

And they'd loved him... hadn't they?

Ted studies his face for a minute. Then he pats his shoulder and asks, "Say, Boost, ol' buddy ol' pal, any chance they made a proper diagnostic kit for that whole thing?"

"They did! Totally non invasive and everything, um, we thinking maybe put that down on the wishlist for an early Hanukah gift?"

"Yeeeaaaaahhhhh, that sounds like a good plan. That sound like a good plan to you bud?"

Tim nods.

[mskoreodyssey]

[TLOK] Book Two: Spirits (Fix)

Original Book 2: 7-14 (Spirits)

Part 1 // Part 2

Fix Book 2 by Tim Hickson

[Episode Seven: The Sting]

In the opening moments of the episode, Asami is preparing a huge shipment of Sato Industry weapons. And that, she assures, will bring the conflict to its end. "This will be decisive. There will be no more war. That the Northern army just isn't equipped to fight these kind of mechs." That night, though, the whole warehouse is bombed. The loss of this immense stock nearly bankrupt Sato Industries, which was already struggling. But Varrick kindly offers to buy out a controlling stock in her company. "Well, come on, it's got to be worth it for a pretty yuan. And I've got a few ideas of where we can take it. The stars. How many of stars? Were gonna go with so many stars on planets and other planets and stars. Yeah, how about it?" Mako tells her not to. But Bolin says, "Oh, hey, Varrick, he's a great guy. I've been working for him for a while. He's a lovely man, great sense of humor, good amount of money." And Asami agrees. Mako and Beifong suspect that this bombing of her warehouse is trying to prevent Asami from providing help to the South. "They don't want their tribe to be humiliated." "Benders have always been proud of their abilities", Asami says, "sometimes too proud". And while investigating the warehouse, Mako again finds evidence of the Triple Triad. Which is strange, they're a bending gang that is often hired for odd jobs. He wonders whether this, the embassy and the attempt on Asami's life are connected. Asami brushes it off because of course it's going to be to do with the South, and she assures him that there are better explanations. We also see Varrick's new propaganda pieces, which paint Unalaq as this terrible tyrant with his foot on the boot of the working Southern man. And Tonraq as this glorious muscled hero. In the South though, the fight continues. Korra goes off to find where Tonraq was banished to and locates him on Kyoshi Island. She talks with him about the dreams she's been having and asks whether he might know who the boy is, it's not an Avatar she recognizes. Tonraq says, "That dreams come from strange places, but should never be ignored". She asks if it's true that he burned up the Spirit Wilds in the North. And Tonraq pauses, turning to her, and confesses. "I was young and I was ambitious, I was destined to be chief. I felt invincible and no one could come for me. And I let my pride get the best of me. They didn't just banish me, but everyone close to me. Including your mother? Including those who had nothing to do with it, we were shunned. See, Korra, I know tradition has its value, but I have also seen traditions spite people like it did me and your mother. Tradition is why the North remains in the hands of a single chief, or the South has tried to be more democratic. For a long time, women were forced to be healers up there, not warriors." This idea resonates with Korra, who swears that she will bring him back home, and she thinks that she knows what she has to do as the Avatar. She's got a side to fight for, she returns to the South to challenge Unalaq. "This has gone on long enough", she declares, and she decides that her mother was wrong. That she can choose a side, that it can be solved by the Avatar. Unalaq insists, "Avatar, your role is to be neutral here. You cannot do this". That her duty is to the spirits. But Korra says, "No, it's more than that". However, with little air-bending training and none of her other elements, Unalaq just wipes the floor with her.

(And let's be honest, the fight scenes in Season Two were top tier. Holy crap, the water-bending in Season Two. We haven't seen amazing stuff like that in so long, it blows my mind. I want to keep all of those fight scenes as much as possible.)

Korra attempts to water-bend and turn the tides, but no, she's defeated. Believing that she needs to get her bending back in order to make a difference in this war. She sets out to find this island that she's been having dreams of near the fighting. That maybe some ancient spirit is pulling her towards it to get her bending back for her. That it might hold the secret of this ancient pact that the Water Tribe once made to bringing the war to its close. Now, like in the show, she sits out, but she's confronted by a huge, corrupted spirit. A fight ensues, and she loses, drags down into the ocean depths. And that leads us into.

[Episode Eight: Beginnings, Part One]

Tenzin and his family are meant to head to the Northern Air Temple, but Jinora says that she needs to head east, not South. When asked why, she looks over and sees the cat-deer spirit who has been guiding her, someone that apparently only she can see. Without much explanation, she says goodbye, that she'll meet them in the North, and she dances away, heading to the coast. She flies to the this nearby strange island that looks like it's covered in the ruins of an old city, and she follows the spirit there. There she finds Korra's barely conscious body washing up on the shore. She helps bring her back and offers to help meditate when Korra explains her problem. This might help her get in contact with the past Avatars who could have more answers, and they suspect that something was drawing them together. They explore the strange island but have no idea who once lived there. They settle down on the peak and try to meditate.

(As I said, one of the things that always annoyed me about the Beginnings episodes, and if you want to learn more, go watch the full video on that. I'm quite proud of it. I think I anticipated my thoughts quite well, and people really liked it, was that there's no demand for Korra to look into the past here. There's no reason for her to go and learn about Avatar Wan. She doesn't ask any questions about it just something that happens to her, right? It's something that just interrupts the story. This is hopefully fixing that. It is Korra going out to learn things.)

As on the show, Korra meets Wan, who explains that in order to get her bending back, she needed to understand how the Avatar and bending came to be in the first place. If she wants to understand her role in the Southern War.

(Now, my thoughts on Beginnings are basically that they're a fine story on their own, but they ruin a lot of the world and story around them. If it were up to me, Beginnings would just never have happened because normal. But we have rules here for a reason, and these two episodes are a fundamental part of the season and of the wider series as a whole. So I will not cut them. I will only modify them in ways that I don't think undermine what was already there, which was my main issue.)

I kind of hated how we're told that Raava and Vaatu were kind of like Yin and Yang. They're light and dark, order and chaos, but narratively, they're not right. They're just treated as good and evil. Vaatu never once does anything that could be conceived as good, ever. There's no way getting around it. And it doesn't really fit Avatar like that idea of morality. So we're going to really hype up the order and chaos elements of their characters and really walk away from that good versus evil thing. This also gives us a parallel to the Southern conflict. Tradition and order are closely connected. They're positive, but sometimes stifling forces. And chaos, is this new Southern culture a mismatch from the rest of the world? And it can be liberating, but it also forgets or destroys other things.

Bending is no longer going to come from the lion-turtles. It's dangerous to go alone, take this. Instead, people are going to learn it by looking to the moon and ocean, the sky-bisons, the dragons and the badger-moles. This was kind of the way that it was envisioned in The Last Airbender, and I'm not going to get into the discussion about whether or not this is a retcon, it's not. They got the elements from the lion-turtles and they learned how to actually bend from the animals, but blah, blah, blah, I don't care about that. The changes is that they just learn it from those original benders. Because to be perfectly honest, getting the bending from the lion-turtles doesn't really change Avatar Wan's plot line that much. It just doesn't.

Beginnings part one plays out mostly the same. The humans live in the cities on the backs of lion-turtles, while the whole world is full of spirits. Few humans venture out because it's dangerous out there in the wilds. But Wan and a few of his friends are banished from the city after stealing from the ruling class. Everyone expects them to die soon after because few make it, and only if they're trained hardened warriors, but Wan doesn't. He finds himself living amongst badger-moles, and instead of being defensive or aggressive, he tries to respect them and live alongside them. Years later, Wan develops the ability to earth-bend. Wan returns to the Lion-Turtle’s city to demonstrate his powers, saying, hey, it's possible to live out here if you respect the spirits, if you live alongside them, if you learn from these creatures and the spirits who are all deeply connected to these powers. And for the first time, people begin living on the continent.

(Years later, Wan chances across two massive spirits who personally let's get rid of the kites. Okay, They don't look good. I've never really liked them. It looks okay when it's like, patterned on her chest, but when they're just flying around, no, it's weird. It doesn't feel like it fits in this world, you know?)

So imagine them how you like, but like in the show, he breaks them apart with his new found bending abilities, and rather, the spirit of order is wounded and she can only be sustained by fusing with one. He vows to rather to bring Vaatu to justice, who now works around the world unchecked. But he needs to become more powerful if he's ever going to challenge him. So Wan begins working his way around the world to learn other elements. He finds communities of humans living alongside sky-bisons and dragons, just as he had badger-moles and across the years, he gains air and fire as well. Seeing how they live and truly understand these very spiritual creatures. It's about showing that profound experience. Not just treating it as something that you can copy, but something that you have to learn to empathize with, to align your mind with, to understand on a truly profound and personal level. And these non-benders, because they need to have this respect for these creatures, they learn it as well.

[Episode Nine: Beginnings, Part Two]

The world has waned in the years since that fight. Wan begins to encounter communities of people roared with chaos, with Vaatu's chaos. They're free, but they are destructive and uncaring individualistic, with no sense of community. The environment is growing out of control, all weeds strangling other plants. “This”, says Raava, “is the domain of Vaatu”. “You see what is chaos does to the world. And most importantly, the humans and spirits are at each other's throats. They're constantly getting at each other, fighting wars even. Vaatu is thriving on this chaos of violence. These people need order”, Raava insist. And Vaatu arrives amidst the chaos to breathe it in. Wan gets up to fight him, but is swiftly defeated. But on the other hand, Wan wanders and comes across places that were influenced by Raava, the spirit of order. Places where nobody is free, where the land grows, only one type of tree or fruit. There's less violence, but there's also little happiness. And importantly, the spirits are dying here too. Spirits who have always taken on strange, chaotic forms, who rely on the constant forces of change in the world. Vaatu comes for them again, seeing how weak Raava has become. And the two fight once more, and with Raava's help and encouragement, controlling himself and those impulsive tendencies, Wan wins and brings Vaatu down into a weakened state. End him, presses Raava, and let the chaos end, but Wan realizes something. The world needs both order and chaos, that it can't be one or the other. Disregarding Raava, one chooses to take Vaatu into himself. The spirits of both order and chaos in balance with one another, fused together in a mortal human destined to reincarnate forever. And yet the spirits and humans don't stop fighting. Even with the spirits of order and chaos fused, Wan's confused that was meant to work. They're still hunting each other, spirits and other humans battles and wars and hatred. In the middle of a grand battle between humans and spirits, Wan intervenes as the Avatar and declares that humanity cannot coexist with the spirits. The spirits agree to leave through a portal at the South Pole, but only after they make a pact with the Southerners that they would always keep this portal open and preserve the spirit wilds around them as a symbol of the promise that one day, when humanity was ready, the spirits will be able to return to this world. Avatar Wan presides over that agreement, and the episode ends the same way it does in the series, with a scene that I actually really love.

(It's amazing and melancholic and deeply evocative and kind of horrific when you think about kind of the role of the Avatar. Is this person destined to just sit and admires of human conflict forever? Real commentary on humanity's proclivity for violence.)

Korra wakes alongside Jinora now, knowing how the original benders first learned and what the pact that the Southerners has made with the spirits was.

(So, here's the thing. My version of Beginnings really isn't that different, or at least I don't think it's that different. I think it keeps the core concepts, and the only major things I change is...)

Clearly, Vaatu isn't the main villain of the series because, well, he's a part of the Avatar, and, well, I kind of hate him. 

Harmonic convergence just isn't a thing, okay. 

(We're going to tone down those more fantastical scenes of the series to focus on the more grounded philosophical concepts. As I said, if we're up to me, Beginnings would just never be a thing. But it is. And so I want to respect that decision, you know, but I will also admit that this is where I'm going to take a little bit more creative liberty only for the season with where the story goes. It's going to end up in roughly the same place, but we're going to take a slightly different route to get there. See, the biggest criticism of Season Two is that it is that bait and switch. It has this fascinating interplay between colonialism and tradition and war profiteering, and it's got a commentary on the Avatars place in this new world, but then suddenly it forgets any of that. No, suddenly it's about good versus evil. And the giant demon kite, giant spirit lasers... who thought that this was a good idea. It is the most amateur writing decision to think that simply upping the stakes, to be all of the multiverse, is that's bad is at stake here. Making the evillest character you can is the way to make something feel more dire, more important. So, no, we're going to stick with that more interesting story that we have already set up.)

[Episode 10: A New Spiritual Age]

Realizing that they are atop of not only one of the lion-turtles on which humanity once lived, but the lion-turtle that Aang once met. Immediately, Korra goes to meet it, and it says, "You have come to me with yet another face". It recognizes her instantly, she asks what to do about the Southern Water Tribe civil war. And the lion-turtle responds, “There is a day for spirits, a day for man, and a day for the Avatar”. Korra thanks Jinora and doesn't quite know what that means, asking how she knew to come here. "Oh", she says, "you've just got to listen to the spirits, and they will talk to you". The two part ways, with Korra heading South and Jinora heading back North to meet her father with the help of that spirit, that lead her there. Back in the Southern Water Tribe, the rebellion has gathered momentum and Unalaq is losing grip on the city. The propaganda and Varrick's technology are doing their job, the Northern Forces are being pushed back. This has also led to an uptick in those corrupt spirits attacking the city, which Unalaq is able to deal with. but the resistance can't. Korra race in the South and immediately goes to face Unalaq. “Unalaq, I know you're just trying to help”, she says, “but I know what the Southern pact is now. The fight is over, go. It's clear that the South doesn't want the North here”. Unalaq leans forward, “I'm glad you have learned about the pact, Korra. Tradition needs to be preserved, sometimes even by untraditional means”. “What does that mean?”, asks Korra. Suddenly, a wave of mechs and tanks that we haven't seen before roll into the Southern city, technology that outpaces those of the Southerners. Their limited number of water-benders are captured or pushed back, and Unalaq seizes back much control of the city. He shows mercy, of course, to those who are willing to lay down their arms. He welcomes them, he provides them with food and lodgings.

(We don't want him to be an evil tyrant, exactly. I mean, he's kind of being a bit of a tyrant. But at the same time, he's not the worst tyrant, which is a thing.)

In Unalaq's part of the city, people are living a more traditional water tribe life, just like they really wanted to. The resistance is left believing that they need more, more and better technology. More deadly technology, if they had to compete with the Northern army. And they sent out a call to Varrick and Asami for help. Varrick and Assami received the call from down South. “Who on earth is funding them, giving them technology like ours? I'm going to go see it for myself and help Korra”, Asami and Varrick agreed a set sale for the South. Meanwhile, Mako, Bolin and Beifong have had a breakthrough. In their case, the Water Tribe embassy was looking into a strange company called Karav Limited, which was looking to sell weapons to the North. Any official owners have been faked, their houses are just entirely empty. But they do have a headquarters in Republic City, Mako and Bolin go to investigate. Tenzin and his family are flying towards the Northern Air Temple, with Tenzin recounting nomad history to them. When they spot an island in the distance, not unlike the very island that we see Korra washup on in the show. It's an isolated, insular community who have escaped the view of the world as they care for a sky-bison herd. Sky-bison, of course, at this point are thought to be near extinct.

(But unlike in the show, these aren't going to be fire-benders, right? These are going to be fire-benders who are taking care of the sky-bison. In fact, they won't be benders at all.)

Now, we already know from the comics that following the enormous genocide and Aang's return, there were some people who tried to emulate enormous culture. They took on vegetarianism and nomadism, they were at peace with the spiritual world and detachment and non-violence. They weren't very good at it, but they did try, brownie points. By the way, the people on this island aren't trying to copy the air-nomads, per-se. But they have been emulating and following the way of life of the sky-bison, supposedly for generations, and there are clearly air-nomad influences in how they live. Tenzin is astounded to find these people, but he isn't sure how he's meant to feel about it. It feels like co-opting his culture, a culture that he felt was on his shoulders alone. And this lost herd of sky-bison surely fall under his care, right? Like he has to take them with him. He has to care for them because they're such an important part of his culture. His family tell him to be happy, but he wanders off, unsure of himself.

[Episode 11: Night of a Thousand Stars]

Korra, having seen the North's new technology, attacks Unalaq in the streets. Unlike the first time, though, she wins and throws them down. "You will leave the South", she cries. But she draws the ire of the Southerners, who actually do want the North to help them maintain order and traditions, and she realizes she was tricked. Of course, the Southern forces are already being pushed back and taking Unalaq out alone isn't going to solve that problem. The press as well captures this moment and paint her as the aggressor, perhaps as Unalaq intended. "The tyrant Avatar. Let us decide for ourselves", the headline reads. Shocked and not quite understanding what happened, Korra flees into the city alleyways. That night, she listens to a group of those very Southerners. They're practicing an ancient water-bending technique on the shore during a full moon. They tell her about all the things that the South has forgotten. Its heritage, its old stories and tales, its unique style of water-bending, and they're trying to bring it back. And they even offer to teach Korra, nervously... Korra agrees. "While the North listens more to the moon", one girl explains, "we listen to the ocean. Its fury and calm, its tenacity and its kindness, always carrying us home". Korra feels for the tides and thinks back to what Jinora told her, "If you listen to the spirits, they will talk to you". And for the first time since she lost to water-bending, she senses the water at her finger tips. She leaps and punches the air, ecstatic, and these girls don't even understand why she rushes off. Jinora arrives at this island, puzzled as to why the spirit was drawing her here. When she meets this community of people following the sky-bison way of life. It's kind of magical to see so many people immersed in, well, kind of adjacent to her culture. Right? The children in the family immediately fall in love with this community, and they love learning about how these people do things. And in turn, they want to show them air-bending. The people living here are excited to see it. I mean, this is them seeing air-bending for the first time potentially ever. They want to learn, but of course they're like, "Well, I don't know if we can". Eventually, Jinora figures out that Tenzin is nowhere to be seen, and she goes off to find him.

(So just like in the series, Jinora does have a spiritual arc of her own. She's got a really key storyline that pans out in the end. And I really love her character.)

She finds Tenzin meditating at the top of a mountain, talking to himself and wondering what Aang would do with all of this. Jinora finds him, and they talk about the burden of being the last air-benders. That there's alot riding on them, that they have to be perfect for the world because they're the only ones there, and everyone's looking to them. Jinora explains that she read in the archives about these acolytes that Aang met, and he, too, struggled to accept them at the start. Tenzin feels vindicate and starts walking down the mountain to say, "Ah, this is my culture, stop this". Before Jinora continues, "But he accepted them, she says. "And they helped bring nomad culture back to life today, they're still out there." Tenzin sighs and admits that she's right.

[Episode 12: Darkness Falls]

Asami arrives in the South Pole to meet Korra, along with a shipment of Varrick's new weapons to help the resistance. She asks around to know who is supplying Unalaq's forces with all this stuff, and she bumps into Korra, who has snuck around with Naga to get to the resistance side of the city. The two are glad to see each other, and desperate to show her new abilities, she drags Asami to the ocean. "I've got my water-bending, back", she cries. And then admits that maybe Asami, who was once an Equalist, isn't super keen on that. But Asami assures her that she know show important bending is to Korra. Korra also says that she knows how to end the conflict. That she needs to open the Spirit Portal at the South Pole and restore the pact that they made with the spirits. Asami says, "Go for it". She takes Naga and rides off into the icy wilderness, Asami watching her go fondly. Back in Republic city, Bolin and Mako are investigating this Karav Industries limited warehouse. While it appears abandoned, they find a secret floor full of mechs. Just like the ones that were sent to the North, at which point they are attacked by the Triple Triad. Mako and Bolin fight them off and find these special designs for the tank and the mechs. As well as shipment plants and huge amounts of money being promised by the North, Mako gasps and dashes off to call Asami. Asami picks up Mako's call to Varrick's ship and listens to what he has to say, her eyes widen. "Somebody's been targeting me?", she says. "And what could you have possibly done to deserve that?", says Varrick in his signature way. But he knows by the look on her face that she has already figured it out, and his face curls into a mischievous snarl. Asami goes on, "You sent the assassin". "Mako is a Triple Triad member pretending to be an Equalist. An easy cover, because, of course, they'd come for me. Who's been selling the North weapons? You're a war profiteer. Sell weapons to both sides, and when one gets the upper-hand, you sell more and better ones to the other. Up and up and up. And more people dying, you get rich." "You bombed the embassy because they were onto you. To stoke even more attention". Varrick smiles, "Competition. Competition. It's great for innovation, terrible for business". Varrick flees into one of his mechs, Asami dust pick up one of the electric gloves and a mechanized arm that gives it the strength of three men. The two fight to top Varrick's ship until Asami gets the upper hand and brings him down, he is promptly arrested.

[Episode 13: Echoes of the Past]

Korra arrives at the Southern Spirit Wilds that Unalaq took her to at the beginning of the season. Following her vague memories of the landscape from her time with Avatar Wan, she locates where the Spirit Portal should be. It's currently wrapped up in brambles and thorns, entirely hidden from view. She senses something is following her, and something is. A huge spirit tears out of the forest, a love-crafting creature of vines and pincers, and ice and things Korra doesn't even recognize. “I'm here to open the portal”, she tries to explain. But the spirit is enraged and attacks her. Unalaq decides that this is the time to end the fight for the South, and gives a speech to the unionists and his forces. “Time and again, we have seen the scars of war and history leave cultures forever wounded, unable to recover, unable to remember. You don't think that the air-nomads have lost their ancient traditions? They are left with the memory of one man. The spirits have been angry for this reason, yet they do not attack us because they know that our cause is right. Only in preserving this heritage can we ensure a stable and true South for the Water Tribe. Yes, the One Water Tribe, as it was and now shall be.” But at this speech, it's also noticeable that the South is less in favor of the Union than it was at the beginning. People are whispering amongst themselves, you know. “Why is Unalaq using these mechs and all this technology after denouncing this lifestyle for so long? Mechs that were clearly not built in the South, but in Republic City.” The final battle commences with Unalaq launching a new offensive, outward. The resistance has gone to find Tonraq to bring him home,  their chief as a symbol of their resistance. As the South has started to unite a bit more around independence, they say that it might have once been around tradition or moving into the new world. But the mechs kind of changed that, and independence from the North is more important now. Varrick's propaganda, for better or worse, has reached them as well. They see the smoke and the distance of Unalaq's mechs approaching and ready for one final battle. They have the numbers, but not the technology. Korra continues to fight the spirit, and the episode ends with it trapping her and a tangle of vines right over the portal, about to kill her.

[Episode 14: Light in the Dark]

Korra tries to fight off the spirit, straining harder and harder. Thrashing before realizing that she can show the spirit her good intentions by opening the portal. She reaches for it desperately, only just managing to touch it with the tip of a finger, just like we see in that really cool scene at the beginning of the show. The bridge between man and spirit shattering the barrier that has grown between them. An explosion of spiritual energy throws them backwards and illuminates the sky with the Southern Lights. The Spirit Wilds turn from ice and cold to a gorgeous green forest, an oasis in the cold. Warmed by the life of the portal, which now glitters like a marble. The spirit attacking her returns to its uncorrupted form, a gorgeous tree entity. In fact, one of the ones that she saw in the vision with Wan when the pact was originally made. This spirit is ancient, she boughs reverently, and the spirit bows back. With that, she feels assured in her role as the Avatar, she managed to do something really good. Not someone who needs to decide every man-made conflict in the world, but the bridge between spirits and humanity, that she can do. Korra returns to the Southern Water Tribe to find it in chaos, she tries to intervene. "The pact is restored", she tries to tell people, "the Spirit Portal is open". True enough, no corrupted spirits are involved in the fight. Slowly, the South pushes Unalaq's forces back with Korra and Asami's help. They fight together and work together, and they seem to work really well as a couple. But when it comes to the final blow, Korra makes herself take a step back. And she lets Tonraq, the chief, face Unalaq himself. "Hello again, brother", he says. "I knew you'd come back. You always do." "You can't banish every problem Unalaq." Soon they have nowhere to go. The press takes photos of this interaction and paints it as a victory for the South. The South winning over the North in a real resolution, rather than the Avatar just deciding. Korra reconnects with her mother. "You are right", she says. "Sometimes people have to solve their own problems and I've got to solve the problems of the Avatar." She explains how she got her bending back by listening to the spirits the same way the original benders had learned. And wonders if maybe other non-benders could do the same with dragons, with badger-moles and sky-bison. On the distant island of sky-bison that Tenzin and his family have found, they're learning the strained ways of life of these people. And in turn, Tenzin introduces them to Nomad ways of life. He sighs, knowing that they will never be full air-nomads, but admits that he feels some camaraderie with them. But as the autumn winds sweep into the valley, one of the children riding one of the young sky bison land and turns to touch its forehead. The exact same way that we see Aang do, that the nomads are always taught to when they're young. And in that moment, the boy floats, air-bending, for the first time. With Southern sentiments strongly for independence now, the Northern forces leave and Unalaq with them. He warns against losing their culture, and Tonraq acknowledges the truth of it. He swears in front of his people to do more, to preserve and remember their culture, with Korra standing beside him. Korra and Asami talk about the civil war, about how hard it is to intervene. Not only that her duty to her family often gets in the way of her duty to the world, but it's hard to know how to intervene effectively. That it wasn't about just picking the right side and giving it the biggest weapon, the Avatar. But it was about finding out the way to help. Asami says, "This is why the Avatar has been such a target for the Equalists. That they're flawed beings with immense power, but sometimes people need to solve their own problems, like Republic City is now doing." Asami says that she faced the same problem. She was on the right side with the Equalists, but wasn't sure the right way to help. Korra then admits that the role of the Avatar isn't what she grew up thinking, it was the policeman of the world. Korra and Asami get word from Tenzin to come to this strange island. Who announces proudly that he might have found a new community of air-nomads, which is just bizarre. They don't understand and so they rush off. Korra arrives and goes, "Oh, my gosh, I'm right, you know. Like these people have learned, people could learn with the right dedication to that way of life", just like she saw with Wan originally. And the series closes as they reunite with Mako and Bolin.

[Season Conclusion]

Okay, let's be real. The main problems with Season Two were the spirit lasers, the bizarre left turn halfway through the series that totally abandoned the interesting plot, and the strange Deus Ex Machina ending. I tried to fix those, while also respecting the original intention. You've got new air-benders, you've got the portal opening, you've got the spirit and mortal worlds being connected again.

(My question is, though, how would you fix Season Two? How would you rewrite it?)

This also builds into what I feel is pretty clearly the overarching theme of Legend of Korra. The shifting role of the Avatar in the modern world. What is their role in these new geopolitics? We see this with Amon, with Zaheer and Kuvira all questioning the role of the Avatar. And here she learns a bit more about what that means for her personally.

📖Hello👇Future👇Me✏️’s Legend of Korra

[fahrni]

Saturday Morning Coffee

Good morning from Charlottesville, Virginia! ☕️

Well, we’re in another of Virginia’s 12 seasons. Fake Spring is over, now it’s time for Winter Two or Three, I can’t remember the funny names given to them. 🤣 It’s been gray and rainy with thunderstorms all week. ⛈️ After a month of beautiful, mostly sunny days, it’s hard to go back to rain. Oh well, such is life in the Southeast.

Hey, good news! That project I loved so much is extended through the end of June. That makes me super happy. 😃

Gracie and Kolby are fired up this morning. Let’s see if they’ll let me get through this in a decent amount of time. Apparently it’s playtime. 🐶

Hope you enjoy the links.

Campbell Robertson • The New York Times

After a meeting that lasted for hours, the Shenandoah County school board voted early Friday morning to restore the names of three Confederate officers to schools in the district.

Good grief. Just when you think the South is finally making some progress stuff like this happens.

Racist bastards. 🤬

512Pixels

As nice as the new OLED display looks, and no matter how powerful the new M4 may be, the iPad’s problem in 2024 — or another year for that matter — is the software.

Power users continue to basically want macOS installed on their iPads.

I say Federico Viticci should find a way to make his FrankenPad easy to reproduce with a full line of accessories and how-to articles to guid you through the process.

He’d make tens of dollars.

Tim Murphy • Mother Jones

Musk is not a tech visionary with a side interest in politics these days, nor is he just another bored billionaire with a nativist streak; the political activism and the technological ambitions are inseparable. He believes his work is part of a civilizational struggle in which woke progressives pose an existential threat to humanity. And he spends most of his days inside a feedback loop that’s radicalizing him even more.

I think we all know good old Space Karen has been Red Pilled for a very long time. Folks like him and Jack Dorsey slide further and further down the rabbit hole with each passing day.

Good riddance I say. I hope they buy some island, move there, and never come back. 🤡

Diana Ionescu • Planetizen

Data centers in Northern Virginia are using “absurd amounts of water” to power cooling systems, writes Sachi Kitajima Mulkey in Grist, causing concern among local officials.

How is it I live in Virginia and didn’t know it was home to so many data centers?

You’d think all these smart people would figure out how to power everything with good clean energy and find alternative cooling methods. Like building underground or something. 💧

Joan Westenberg

It’s time to wake up, folks. When someone offers you “exposure” or says they want to “empower creators,” keep a firm hand on your wallet. They’re not your friend, and they don’t care about supporting the arts. They care about money, pure and simple, and they see creators as resources to be exploited.

I instantly thought of most YouTubers and Musicians. Sure, there are some who make a killing off their works but most make almost nothing.

I thought, very foolishly, I’d be able to make $200 a month with my Indie Apps. Boy was I ever dumb to think that way. At its high point in 2009 to 2011 I was making about $20 a month from RxCalc. It’s still my biggest money maker between it and Stream. That is, of course, my fault. Making my apps better may result in better income.

Do YouTubers and Musicians feel that way or do they feel ripped off by the platforms?

Karissa Bell • Engadget

Jack Dorsey claims Bluesky is ‘repeating all the mistakes’ he made at Twitter

Dorsey also seems to have been Red Pilled. I’m not really sure what he’s after. It sounds like he wants and no hold barred free for all. What he’s after would turn into a giant garbage fire. A flame war to end all flame wars. It would boil out into the streets. An ultimate chaos machine.

Countries have laws. Those laws are largely in place to protect people.

We don’t need a lawless social network but apparently Dorsey now thinks X is the bastion of free speech. It’s not. It’s become a right wing propaganda machine full of Nazis, white supremacist, and vile right wing extremists with your occasional famous actor or favorite personality. 🗑️

Jean MacDonald

I am leaving my position as Community Manager at Micro.blog at the end of this month.

I wish Jean all the best. She’s been ever present on Micro.blog since day one and she made it a better place.

Cheers, Jean, and all the best in your next adventure! ❤️

Kelly Crandall • Racer

Michael McDowell and Spire Motorsports have announced a multi-year agreement for McDowell to become the driver of the team’s No. 71 Chevrolet beginning in 2025.

This caught me off guard! Michael McDowell seems like one of those loyal to a fault type guys. He’s single handedly kept Front Row Motorsports afloat, in my opinion. He’s been very competitive this year at times and spent time leading races. He even came darned close to winning at Talladega. Apparently he told Dale Jr. he was willing to die to win that race. A bit too aggressive for my blood, but that’s the attitude he’ll bring with him to Spire Motorsports.

Here’s hoping he goes to that next level and wins more races.

Jon Brodkin • Ars Technica

Boeing says workers skipped required tests on 787 but recorded work as completed

I just can’t with this company. How can anyone get on a plane now?

I’m afraid of heights and flying in general. So, yeah, I already had issues with getting on a giant tube held in the air by some magical force. Ok, ok, you know what I mean.

Now I’m really leery of getting on one. 😰

Bill Doerrfeld • The New Stack

Open source software is having a midlife crisis. Open source contributors are struggling to keep pace. Popular open source projects are making restrictive licensing changes. Backdoor threats are placing the open source supply chain in jeopardy. And, no one seems to have a clear grasp on what “open” means in the context of artificial intelligence.

There’s a lot of open source software available for individuals and corporations to use without paying a dime for it. That can come at a price. We’ve seen developers remove their packages from node, breaking developers worldwide, we’ve seen plenty of repositories go dark and watch contributions waste away from but rot, and recently we’ve witnessed a long game infiltration into an extremely important piece of software by what appears to be a nation state.

I have no idea how to fix these problems. I suppose treating people with kindness and respect could help with certain issues but some are going to take vigilance one all of our parts to make sure the things we use continue to work and aren’t used for nefarious purposes.

Sarah Perez • TechCrunch

Meta’s move into the open social web, also known as the fediverse, is puzzling. Does the Facebook owner see open protocols as the future? Will it embrace the fediverse only to shut it down, shifting people back to its proprietary platforms and decimating startups building in the space? Will it bring its advertising empire to the fediverse, where today clients like Mastodon and others remain ad-free?

It’s hard for me to imagine what Meta can do to take over the Fediverse but I don’t have a devious mind.

The Fediverse feels like the place we commoners can make a place to flourish. To date I know we have Mastodon as a Twitter replacement and PixelFed as an Instagram replacement. What about YouTube and the likes of Spotify and Apple Music? Is there a brave enough musician or group of musicians willing to build a music streaming service based on open protocols and API’s?

Maybe Taylor Swift would like to back a small team to build streaming software that federates and gives indies a way to host their own music and their own stores. I don’t know if something like that is plausible? Anything is possible to build given enough will, inspiration, time, and resources.

Maybe we’ll see some new ventures spring out of the Fediverse related to video and music streaming.

Jason Graziadei • Nantucket Currenr

Cyber Stuck: First Tesla Cybertruck On Nantucket Has A Rough Day

Once again the Cyber Truck gets a lot of attention by being kind of a bad truck. To be fair it’s easy to get stuck on a beach but damn I kind of like seeing it fail. And that all stems from my dislike of Tesla’s public face in Space Karen.

[aceofshitposts]

@uttercalamity :  Jaytim babysitting kiddo bruharley after Harley discovers the hedge maze

man you all really like this silly little au i made huh 😂 well i'm glad you're all enjoying yourselves!

-

After a morning filled with rain that was mostly spent in the cave talking with Zatanna and trying to come up with some sort of plan, the sun comes out.

The sky is still mostly a mottled grey but between the clusters of dark, rain filled clouds run veins of clear blue, sun rays breaking through wherever they could. It's a striking sight, one that begs to be immortalized forever and, well, if Harley's fidgeting is anything to go by, they could all use the fresh air.

So once the examinations were done and it was determined there wasn't anything further they could do but wait for whatever magic had done this to wear off on its own, Tim and Jason with the help of Alfred bundle the two newly five year olds into some warm hoodies and head out into the garden for some lunch.

Tim raises his camera to take a picture of the sky.

Drawing the short stick to watch the kids wasn't so bad, Tim decided, as he snapped picture after picture of Jason chasing Harley around in circles, Bruce drawing quietly in the dirt with a stick (upon closer inspection, he appears to be practicing his times tables) and then of Harley leaning over Bruce's back to ask what he's doing and why he isn't playing with her.

"How about we take a walk around the garden?" Jason suggests.

Harley whoops, absolutely brimming with energy, and drags a grumbling Bruce to his feet.

The gardens are just beginning to bloom, new spring leaves growing on the trees and bushes in a vibrant green and tulips and daffodils budding from the ground. There's still a slight chill in the air but birds are singing and a breeze is blowing. Harley is running up just further ahead and Bruce is asking question after question about the different flowers as they pass.

Tim looks up from showing Bruce a picture on his camera when Jason asks, "where's Harley?"

Tim's eyes immediately go to the trees, hoping she's just scaled one of them in a fit of boredom. No such luck.

Overhead the clouds move over the sun.

"Crap," Jason says. "I'll take B and check if she just went back to the house?"

Tim nods and takes off further along the path, raising his hands over his mouth to shout, "Harley!" as he went. Shit. There were so many places she could have gone, the estate was huge even for an adult.

Tim stops, forcing himself to examine the surroundings. There, a hole in the hedge that must have been made by an animal during the winter that lead into the maze they had been walking parallel to. Tim could never resist a temptation like that as a kid, he would put money on Harley letting her curiosity getting the better of her too.

It's a tight squeeze and one of Tim's sleeves gets caught and torn on a branch but he makes it through easily enough. He turns in a slow circle, trying to see if there's any evidence on whether she would have gone left or right. Nothing. Okay, new plan.

"Marco!" Tim yells into the quiet afternoon.

There's silence, enough to make him think she's not close enough to hear and then he hears a slightly watery, "polo!" coming from ahead.

Okay, there's a turn further into the maze to his right. He goes that way.

"Harley, don't move, okay? I'm coming to get you," he shouts. It's been a few years since Tim has navigated the maze but he remembers it well enough to think he knows where Harley is.

Sure though she's sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest in a dead end, cheeks and nose red. Her eyes light up as she sees Tim approach, scrambling to her feet Ave launching herself at him.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to play hide and seek but then I got lost then I thought you and Jay would get mad at me but I didn't know how to get out," Harley blabbers into Tim's chest, arms as tight as she could get them around him.

"Hey, it's okay Harle, I'm not mad." Tim soothes. He picks her up, letting her wind her arms around his neck. "I used to run off all the time when I was a kid."

"Yeah?" Harley sniffles against Tim's neck.

"Mhm," Tim hums and launches into a retelling of how he used to sneak out of whichever boarding school he was at to stake out places he hoped Batman and Robin would pass by, Tim promising to show her the old photo album he still keeps under his bed.

"Oh good, you found her." Jason meets them just outside of the maze, looking like he'd just run a marathon.

"Timmy was telling me about his photos of Batman!" Harley exclaims, previous fear over being lost in the maze forgotten.

"Oh, yeah?"

She launches into her own retelling of everything Tim had said to her, exaggerating to a point that the story is more fiction than reality. Jason leans in, putting his arm around Tim's shoulders while he hums and haws at Harley's story.

The sun breaks through the clouds again.

[pendragon-writes]

𝒮𝒽𝑜𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓃𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝓈𝓀𝒾𝑒𝓈

Batman x Teen!Son!Reader

Requested: Yes

Note: I decided to go with just the two of them doing 'normal' family stuff (Let's be honest tho anyone related or is a part of his family doesn't have normal lol) This turned into more of the whole family than just Batman but I hope you like it anon.

"Hey Bruce do you have the list?" you asked him as you pushed the cart. Today was Alfred's day off and as a result, someone had to go shopping with him since the others would've caused chaos Bruce entrusted you to help him out. "Yep," he responded, pulling his cap more down.

As much as you enjoyed non-vigilante tasks you hated the fact that you had to hide your faces just so that paparazzi wouldn't charge at you in any public spaces or the fact even though you were a teen people felt the right to try and harass you even more than they did with your older siblings.

“Great, what do we have first on the list?” Once he told you the list the both of you continued shopping for stuff, and while everything was going smoothly something just had to ruin it.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

“Oh my god is that who I think it is?” A civilian said pointing with her daughter at the both of you, this caused you to freeze up for a second before continuing what you were doing. Bruce noticed this but didn’t comment anything since he didn’t want to bring any more attention to the both of you. Before the lady could try to walk up to the both of you Bruce quickly moved you both in another direction resulting in her losing you both.

Once you finished both the shopping and putting the groceries in the car you sat in the shotgun, just as you were about to put some music on your headphones he stopped you. "How about you play some of those songs you like on here?" He asked. "Um, sure. Do you have anything in mind?" "Not at all, just whatever you want" he replied. You hummed in response and started playing I'll never smile again, this seemed to be of his liking because he nodded in approval and continued driving.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

"Hey, Bruce?" "Yeah?" "Can we go to batburger?" "Sure, make sure to call the others and see what they want and let Alfred know as well". You grinned at this and texted the group chat.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

[This Chaotic Family]

Me: Hey what do you guys want? Me and B-man are at BatBurger

Get me the Cheesy Bat Combo with a coke! :D :Blue-Bird

In that case, I'll just get my regular :Bucket Head

1 Sweet tea and a Bat Pounder thanks (N/n)! :Computer Legend

I don't mind whatever you get for me will do just fine Master (Y/N)

:Alfred The Wise

Whatever is good as long as it's vegan. :Lil Robin

A coffee and Big bat with fries :Wanna-be Detective

Me: Tim unless you've forgotten you've been banned from coffee for this week...

Fine no coffee just get me a sprite then :Wanna-be Detective

Me: Got it

Dr. Pepper and Bat Burger plz :Cass

Get me a Bat-LT with curly fries :D Oh and Duke wants the same!

:Purple Lady

°。°。°。°。°。°。

As you both finished ordering and dropping off the food you both got ready to go on patrol together, as you put on your mask you turned to Bruce who finished putting on his cowl. He nodded towards the Bat-mobile and you entered the passenger seat.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

You jumped from building to building using your grappling hook to get to the farther ones, Bruce was nearby but was doing his own patrol just like you. You finally landed next to him and waited for Oracle or someone to let one of you know of anything going down. While you'd normally get a bunch of people and places you needed to help it seemed tonight was less busy, and that was true for most of the patrol before you heard Batman himself talking to someone. You turned to him, leaned on the wall, and waited. After a little while, he responded. "On my way. Let's go"

°。°。°。°。°。°。

"You needed me, Gordon?" Batman asked. Gordon hadn't seen you yet and you wanted to see just how long it'd take. "Ah yes, thank you, Batman. We have a case that neither my detectives nor me myself can solve." He showed him a file that read as classified. "Arnold Wesker? what does he want?" You asked from behind. "AH! Oh, it's you, hey kid" Gordon responded. "And yeah it's him, says he wanted to speak to Batman himself, no idea why but he won't tell us". You sighed at this, as nice of a guy as he was his puppet was extremely annoying to deal with, even if they've been separated again they somehow always manage to get back together.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

While Batman was talking with Wesker you waited outside of the room and started tossing a coin left to right, the loud clinking noise caught some of the guards' attention. At first, they didn't say anything but after a while, one of them asked to try it and you tossed them it. Most of the guards failed but it seemed to brighten up their day slightly getting to try something new out. When the Bat himself returned he saw one of the guards attempt to pass the coin to the other side and fail miserably. When the guard noticed they slowly went to pick it up and apologized quietly.

Once that whole ordeal was done and the patrol was over you both got back to the manor and started getting ready for movie night. A common tradition in the manor and a welcomed one after Alfred suggested it as a way for all of you to spend quality time.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

"So what are we watching?" Damian asked as he petted Alfred, the cat. "I don't know isn't it Dicks turn to pick?" You responded, sitting next to Cass and passing her the popcorn, to which she smiled in gratitude. "Today, my children we are watching Master Chief!" Dick answered in a mock British accent. "Dude your accent sucks!" Jason laughed. Laughter and giggles filled the room with even Bruce himself laughing a bit at the accent.

°。°。°。°。°。°。

After a few episodes all of them were fast asleep, some on top of the others and others laying on their back, you laying your head on Bruce's shoulder. Alfred walked into the sight and smiled. He saw all of you as one of his own and seeing all of you relaxed and getting some rest brought him some joy. He covered each of you in blankets and took a picture of you all together.

[meetmyothersouls]

hey, i absolutely love you & your account & your writing is ✨AMAZING✨

imagine the reader & timmy are divorced & have children & they agreed to try & get along again (for the kids sake) so he comes over for like a movie night at the readers house & the kids have been going on about it all week & how excited they are & how they prepared for it (e.g. like buying snacks etc) & when they watch the movie the reader & him are like cuddling under a blanket & their head is on his shoulder and the kids are getting super excited and stuff, (but don’t show it to their parents just maybe like text it in a separate group chat they have idk 😅) & it’s just super fluffy & then maybe for a part 2 after they put the kids to bed they like…yk ;) but like they really know they shouldn’t but they just can’t help it like kind of passionate, hateful, make up vibes & then you can decide if they plan to get back together or not 🦋🦋🦋 sorry this is super long ~ ilyyy ♥️

Ahhhh! I love this so much!!!!!!!

So Much It Hurts

Warnings: fluff

You didn’t know why you found yourself trying to pick out the perfect outfit or why you made your makeup look exactly the way he always liked it. You had been divorced for a year and half now. You promised to make it work and be friendly for the kids, but now that he was coming over more and helping you clean and cook and even participating in family game nights, you found yourself getting excited again like you were when you first started dating. You didn’t dare say anything to the kids. They adored their father and you’d hate to crush their hopes of anything happening between you two again, even if you secretly wanted it.

You made your way downstairs and your kids had set out a rather impressive array of snacks and drinks. “uhm, what’s all this?” You asked surveying the coffee table. “Mom! We got all this for the movie night tonight! We made sure to get your favorites: Coke Zero, popcorn, and M&Ms!” You had to admit you were rather impressed at the dedication they put into setting this up, and you had no idea. “I see you got Dad’s favorites too, huh?” You said taking note of the Coke and tortilla chips. “Yes! He’s still coming right?” Your youngest, Abby, asked. 

As if on queue, a knock sounded. “Dad!!!” They both sprang for the door. He scooped them in his arms and flung them around. They all laughed wildly, and you couldn’t help but stand there and smile. 

“Hey Tim,” you said as you walked to shut the door behind him. 

“Hello, y/n.” He kissed your cheek and your oldest, Jacob, nudged Abby and they both giggled as they ran over and claimed the bean bag chairs that sat almost directly in front of the TV.

The kids chose a movie and you and Timothee took a seat on the sofa on the far side of the living room. “I’ve seen this so many times, I can recite every word,” he said as he scooted closer to you and put his arm around the back of the couch behind you. His fingers brushed against your shoulder. It took everything in you not to lean into his touch. 

“You remember the first movie we seen together?” He asked you. 

You snorted lightly, “How can I forget, Shrek 2. That was the same night I discovered you did an uncanny Donkey impersonation.” He almost choked on his drink at the memory. “Holy shit I forgot about that!!” 

 As the movie continued, the brush of his fingers on your shoulder turned into his whole hand. You didn’t resist this time as you scooted closer to him. He brushed his thumb against the smooth skin of your shoulder and chills formed on your arms. He must have felt it, he covered the two of you up with the quilt that you kept draped over the arm of the sofa. You leaned your head onto his shoulder and huffed out a heavy sigh. 

“I miss you,” he whispered into your hair. You shuddered at both the feeling of his breath and the thought he just shared with you. 

“I miss you,” you said back. His hand rubbed your thigh under the blanket. 

You felt him smile against your head, “I miss you so much it hurts, y/n.” You looked at him this time, lifting your head to face him. You weren’t expecting his lips to be so close to you. You wanted to kiss him, you missed those lips. You missed how perfectly they felt on yours, and every other part of your body. “What do I have to do to get you to love me again?” He asked, his voice was barely a whisper. Your mind was racing and your heart was beating just as fast. You couldn’t control your mouth attaching to his and how deeply you allowed yourself to kiss him. He kissed you back. Hard and full of want. He pulled away from you and you had to hold back the whine that was trying to escape you. “Uhm, I think we’ve got an audience.” He suppressed a chuckle as you looked to your children. 

Pulling yourself together you cleared your throat and stood, “Okay, okay, it’s uh...it’s bedtime. School tomorrow, early bed.” You could barely get out full sentences. Jacob and Abby ran upstairs giggling and you could have sworn you heard the sound of a high five. You rolled your eyes and ran your fingers through your hair. Timothee smiled at you as you crossed your legs and sat next to him on the sofa. 

“Do you really miss me?” You asked him. You missed him constantly, but you truly didn’t think the feeling was mutual. 

“Do you know how often I think about you?” He huffed out a breathy laugh. “I miss you so much that I’ve gone out and bought the perfume that you wear and spray it on pillows and blankets throughout my apartment. I’ve done that for a year just so I can feel like I still have you. I curse myself daily for not making things right with you and not getting on my knees begging you to forgive me. I ache for you.”

Your breath felt like it was stolen from you. Had you even blinked since he started talking? 

“Tim, I--” 

You were cut off by a loud “MOM!!” from upstairs. 

“Fuck, I’ll be right back, don’t leave, okay?” 

He nodded as you turned and walked up stairs. Your heart was racing as you ascended, you couldn’t help but look back. He was still sitting there, watching you. He smiled and he gave you a little wave. You continued up the stairs and hoped the man that you still dreamed about every night would still be sitting there when you returned. 

Tags: @imnotoverlyobsessive @dayafied @soulofendlessbook @fashphotolife @chicchanelcigs @weasleytwinscumslut @mxciscastleintheair @lovelyrocker @marvelmaniac2000 @taylors-folk @timotheeisthelomll @divine-1 @scentedkittenperfection

[shadowthrone-ammanas]

Living Time Piece

I had this idea a while ago and even started writing it, never finished it though. But when considering what Snatcher related story I could write for Halloween this year I randomly remembered it so here it is, entirely rewritten because my original go at it wasn't that great, perhaps part of why I never finished it.

~

The living soul that had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of Subcon turned out to be Hat Kid again. Not surprising, she was the only would that could do that kind of thing as far as Snatcher knew. Still it had been best to make sure lest it be someone else. Now he could leave and go back to what he’d been doing. She’d no doubt find her way over to him sooner or later, but that would be a problem for future him. He didn’t quite turn away yet though, continuing to watch Hat Kid instead.

She was climbing the big tree in the center of Subcon. Despite having only been at it for what couldn’t have been more than a few minutes she was already halfway up. She was being reckless, not paying much attention to safety in her seeming rush to get to the top. The risk of falling was high to say the least and at that height it would likely cause severe injury if not death. Maybe Snatcher should…

As Hat Kid hopped to a new branch, it snapped underneath her. She fell without a sound. Snatcher teleported over, intending to catch her but… was just a bit too slow. She hit the ground in front of him with a horrid wet crunch of breaking bones.

Before he had time to do anything more than flinch, the world jumped and he was suddenly hidden in the tree line again, looking up at Hat Kid as she climbed Subcon’s large central tree. What the fuck? She deftly avoided the branch that had broken as if she knew… and well, perhaps she did.

It had to be a Time Piece, right? She had one on her person somewhere so it would break if she fell. Still risky though because what if she landed in such a way that her body would cushion it enough that it didn’t break? Also, didn’t she make a big deal out of how using the Time Pieces too much was dangerous? It could end the world or something like that. So why was she being so frivolous with its use now? Surely she should at least be more careful because once again as she put her full weight on another branch, it broke, sending her to the ground.

From over here, the crunch of her body breaking as it hit the ground was still unfortunately audible. But just like last time, the world immediately jumped back to when Hat Kid was safely up in the tree, only a short distance away from where she’d fallen.

Snatcher had had enough. Shifting out of cover of the shadows, he floated over to hover and loom over her. “Hey kiddo.”

Surprised by his voice, she messed up her jump. This time Snatcher caught her well before she hit the ground. He levitated her over so he could frown down at her.

She smiled, lifted a hand in a small wave. “Hi Snatcher.”

“Didn’t you make a big stink about not using the Time Pieces? So why are you risking breaking them to climb a tall tree of all things?”

“What do you… oh, wait! You remember me falling?”

“Uh… yeah.”

Her smiled widened. “It must be because of how much you’ve been wearing the hat I made for you. Or maybe the phone I gave you? I don’t really know. But you remember now too which is cool.”

“What are you talking about?” The hat – one similar in many ways to her own – and cellphone she’d given him as gifts more than a year ago now and had absolutely nothing to do with anything right now.

“I’m not using a Time Pieces to save myself when I fall and stuff. I’m like… a living Time Piece, I guess but also sort of not. When I die or break, time jumps backwards to shortly beforehand. Like the Time Pieces, yes, but I’m pretty sure the rules are different for me because most of the time no one except for Bow remembers when I break like they do when the Time Pieces break. And I’ve died a lot without anything bad happening so the way it works must be different and thus I can break and reverse time as much as I want and it’s fine. Other than the fact that it hurts anyway, that part sucks pretty hard but it only lasts for a super short time so it’s not too, too bad most of the time.”

If it wasn’t for what Snatcher had just witnessed he wouldn’t have believed it for a second. But that would also explain Hat Kid’s lack of fear and general recklessness; why be cautious and fearful of death if she’d always come back from it? … But wait, if this had always been the case but he was only just now able to remember it for whatever reason… “When we fought, did I successfully manage to kill you?”

“Yeah. A few times, more than anyone else actually.”

Yes! He wasn’t so pathetic to have lost to a kid during their first tussle. She’d had the unfair advantage of multiple tries and recalling all her previous attempts while he hadn’t. Of course he’d still lost which was embarrassing but now it was slightly less so.

“Now,” she continued, interrupting his triumphant chuckle, “can you put me back so I can get back to climbing the tree?”

“First, why are you like that? Is it an alien thing or what?”

She shrugged. “My theory is that I was made in a lab as an experiment and then something happened when I was still too young to remember and that’s how I ended up in an orphanage. I don’t really know though. Bow says I might be an entirely different kind of alien or maybe only part alien somehow. I try to keep it a secret. Which is easy because almost everybody doesn’t remember when it happens. Except back on my home planet, people there tend to remember more often, not always though. But still I almost got caught a few times and had to…”

Bored of listening to her chatter, Snatcher levitated her over the the tree and dropped her back onto it. She caught the branch just barely but pulled herself up with no problem.

“Oh, okay. Thanks. I’ll catch up with you later after I reach the top.”

Snatcher floated away without an answer. That revelation had certainly been interesting. The fact that she didn’t know why she was like that sucked though. Perhaps he could do some experimentation and figure that out himself. Like he’d been planning to do with the Time Pieces before she’d stolen them back. He was going to have to think on that idea for a bit to sort out how best to go about it. Perhaps by the time she caught up with him later, he’d have an idea in mind.

~

My original idea had this being longer via having this leading into the Death Wish contracts and probably multi-chaptered as a result. But due to lack of time, I decided to just leave it with a vague suggestion of that happening instead.