#am i ever gonna use the stuff in this update? probably not

[gabrielle-darktree]

why are people on instagram complaining that todays update is useless

[cashmoneyyysstuff]

bakugo and reader meeting again after a long time like maybe katsu has been away on a mission and he just misses us so much 🥹

anon this is literally such an adorable request!! This has been sitting in my drafts for the longest time cus i could never rlly figure out what i wanted to do with this, but as soon as i got the inspo i got to it !! im so so sososuuupperr sorry for making you wait so long and if you’re still sticking around, I LUB YOU !! anyways, i tried honoring this lovely sweet request as best i could, if you’re reading, i truly hope you enjoy (and all of you ofc!!) <33

fem reader, jus pure fluffy fluff ! katsuki n reader watch selling sunsets bc my mom does lmfaoo this ones for you momma, kissing, biting (lol will i ever stop), lemme know if i missed sum else !

katsuki regrets planning this surprise.

it’s been one month. exactly 31 days since he’s last seen you. one month he had to survive off of late night phone calls and good morning messages.

katsuki had slowly but surely started climbing up the ranks as a hero ever since he’d gone independent and this mission was a huge steppingstone to victory.

except it involved him going abroad for a month.

you’d congratulated him when he’d told you. you hugged him hard and offered him your brightest sunshine smile, you’d made him dance around your little living room with you, celebrating his ‘rise to stardom’ as you’d called it and he remembers chuckling about it. you’d even gone out of your way and made his favorite to celebrate. but now katsuki understand you were probably doing that so as not to worry him.

he's known you for a long while and he knows you know he can tell when you’re lying, so he was sure you were happy for him. (you can’t fake anything from him and especially not the way you smile, he’s committed that to memory). and you truly looked happy for him, but he knows youwell enough to know that you were also devastated to find out he was leaving for so long. he’d seen the way your eyes widened and your shoulders dropped. but knowing you, you probably powered through it so as not to make him worry.

so stupid. you’re stupid. and he misses you so much.

despite you being in different time zones you make it work. he made sure to be updated daily and called you every time it was time for you to go to bed to make sure you got some well needed sleep and not staying up late mindlessly scrolling through your feed.

you send him pictures of everything happening throughout your day and you’d hound him about his, asking him if he’d eaten well and if he’d beat up any bad guys. and no matter how minuscule his actions were you’d always praise him. as somewhat childish as he knew it was katsuki still walked with his head up high for the rest of the day. if it was to impress you and make you proud, he’d be on the clock 24/7. but, knowing you, you’d get mad at him for overworking himself.

he misses you so much.

he’s on the plane. making his way back home to you a day before he’d told you he would be, his surprise. you’d been so excited, your squeals ringing through the phone, katsuki just couldn’t wipe the smile of his face and goddamnit he tried.

“ou, i can’t wait ! i missed you sooo much, katsu !” you chirped, he couldn’t wait to hear your voice in real life again instead of through his phone.

“yeah, missed you too sweets” he hums, packing up the last of his stuff.

“you better be ready cus when you get back, m’not gonna let you go for a whole month.” you tease, giggling. katsuki huffs out a laugh, looking down at his luggage ready to go as he’d fully finished packing up while you were on the phone.

“uhuh~?” he muses “better be ready for me when i get back. yer not goin’ anywhere either. no bathroom breaks when we're cuddling.”

“ew,” you snort “what am i supposed to do if i have to pee ?”

“that sounds like a you problem, sweetheart.”

you laugh and laugh and katsuki smiles, he couldn’t wait to be able to hear and see it again. expect not one phone call away, like he’d told you he always would be when you’d accompanied him to the airport all teary eyed, but in real life.

except now he’s starting to regret not just coming home on time.

don’t get him wrong, the sooner he gets to you the better. he’d meant it when he told you he wouldn’t let you go and as somewhat embarrassing as it is to him that he had gotten so clingy, being away from you for so long really did a number on him. distance makes the heart grow fonder his ass, he was more than fond of you when he was laying next to you every night instead of all alone in his hotel bed.

but right now he’s way too antsy. he wants to tell you about how he’ll be home soon to hear you squeal and giggle, but he sucks it up in favor of surprising you.

it’ll be worth it. at least that’s what he tried to convince himself when he finished packing up. and on his way to the airport. and on the plane..

who even thought of this stupid surprise idea anyway ?!

he can’t sit still. he has to stop himself from tapping his foot against the floor and shuffling around in his seat. the guy in front of him keeps reclining his seat back but it doesn’t bother him that much, because all he needs is to remember your smile and remember he’s coming home to you, and he feels his nerves settle. recliner-seat-guy be damned.

it’s pitch black by the time he’s off the plane and finally back home. when he checks his phone he sees it’s 2:09 am and you’re no doubt dead asleep by now, he smiles at his phone screen when he sees you smiling back at him.

his limbs suddenly feel heavier the higher the numbers show on the screen inside the elevator to his floor. his body buzzes with excitement but for some reason he can’t help feeling nervous. katsuki knows it’s stupid because you tell him every day how much you miss him and how excited you are to see him. all he wants right now is to see you.

he fumbles around a bit when he fits his keys into the door to walk into your tiny shared apartment and when he finally walks back inside, katsuki is reminded why he does this. why he’s been gone for exactly 31 days.

he kicks his shoes off quietly and sees yours left right by the door like they always are. like he always wants them to be. he wants to come home to your shoes by the door and to you smiling at him brightly and greeting him, or beckoning him over to the couch because you’ve been waiting all day to watch your favorite show with him. (he’s forbidden you from watching any episode of selling sunsets without him, the last time you did he got cranky at you for a good 2 hours.)

katsuki sneaks over to your room, socked feet padding over to the door quietly cracking it open. he’d managed to convince you to move in with him a few months ago, claiming it’d lower costs and yapping about how you practically lived here anyway. it was barely anything to get used to, it felt natural, like this was everything his life was leading up to. but he wants to give you everything you deserve and this cramped little apartment is definitely not it.

he wants to give you a cosy little house, or a penthouse or even a fucking mansion if that was what you wanted, as long as he could be there with you he didn’t care. he’d do whatever he could to get you everything you dreamed of at the flick of a wrist. and that’s why, as annoying and lonely as it was to be without you for so long, he’d pushed through.

katsuki needs to save people, and he wants to. but everything he does, he does with you in a little corner of his mind.

you’re fast asleep like he’d expected, katsuki huffs out a laugh, brushing at your cheek with his finger. his heart almost explodes when you try to lean into the faint touch and he can’t help it anymore. he sits down by your side and kisses your cheek. once, two times, three times and a little one on your nose. if he wasn’t feeling all mushy he’d be an asshole and bite you, but you look so cute he’ll put that off for now.

your nose scrunches up and your eyebrows furrow at the wet kiss onto your skin, you instinctively go to rub at your face with a whine, katsuki chuckles to himself when you open your eyes and the lack of distance between you both meaning your quite literally face to face with him.

“katsu..?” you mumble sleepily “ ‘m i dreamin’ ?”

katsuki chuckles, eyes soft “glad to know ya dream about me, but nah, this isn't a dream.”

you blink sleepily, and katsuki recognize those bright eyes he so loves gleaming the more you wake up “katsuki !” you squeal, wrapping your arms around him and pulling him straight against your collarbone, since he was practically nose to nose with you before he knocks against your chin but you both don’t care.

katsuki crawls into bed and wraps his arms around you tightly, snickering into your neck and you into his hair. you squeeze and squeeze him so hard he thinks you’ll suffocate him but he couldn’t care less, squeezing you like he’s trying to mold you to him.

you breathe him in and he flips you both over with you giggling uncontrollably. you topple over and land straight into his chest. you lift your head up with stars in your eyes like he’d hung up the moon for you and katsuki smirks back softly. because he would. he’d hang up the moon and the stars and more.

all for you.

“you’re back !” you chirp, kissing all over his face. katsuki feels his cheeks hurt, this is the hardest and longest he’d smiled in a month.

“how’d you figure that one out ?” you roll your eyes at his sarcastic remark, blowing lip bubbles against his cheeks as punishment. he playfully pushes your face away from him and you laugh.

“i thought you weren’t coming back until tomorrow..” you quickly reach over to your nightstand to check your phone then throw it back down.

“it is tomorrow.” katsuki quips, already getting back to being a smart ass, you roll your eyes but you can’t wipe off the happy look on your face.

“you know what i mean, asshole” you jokingly narrow your eyes at his smug face and press a finger against his cheek “later tomorrow i mean. was gonna surprise you and you….out-surprised, me” you pout at your ruined plans.

he turns his face so he can sink his teeth into your pointer finger and you quietly squeal in disapproval, he smirks “was gonna, but couldn’t wait anymore. needed to see you.” he pulls you closer to run his nose against your pulse point “felt like i was gonna go fucking crazy if i stayed with those other bastards for a second longer.”

you giggle, placing your hands against his shoulders as he kisses up and down your shoulder and neck haphazardly “ don’t be mean.” you scold.

he lifts his head up to raise a brow at you, hands running up and down your sides “you mean to tell me you wanted me to stay away? didn’t miss me ?” he jokes, squeezing your hips harshly.

“of course i did. missed you so much i felt my heart would tear up sometimes..” you smiles sadly, running your fingers through his blond strands, he frowns "but i'm glad you're back now."

"yeah, and m'not leaving again for a damn long while." he squeezes you so hard he lifts you up in his lap a little bit and a surprised noise leak out of you. he lifts his head up from your chest to smirk at you in challenge "you're gonna have to get used to me and my big mouth all over again."

your heart squeezes, you feel like it'll bursts from happiness and katsuki wonders if he' supposed to feel this happy, if it's okay to be this content with one person. but only for a moment, because he's greedy, so so greedy for you. and he doesn't care if it's wrong because he gets to make you happy, to make you smile and laugh, to have you.

and katsuki does everything for you, so he gives himself to you without a second thought.

you hum, placing your hands against his soft cheeks to press your lips to his "got a month worth of your big mouth i need to catch up on." you whisper before finally closing the distance. you both immediately sigh in relief at the contact, being able to feel each other like this again. you smile into the kiss and katsuki thinks he's never felt more at peace.

after a month, exactly 31 days, katsuki's finally back.

bonus :

"hey." katsuki ask, you snuggle into his side and hum.

"did you watch any episodes of selling sunsets without me ?"

you stiffen.

"n-noooo..." the sheets shuffle and crinkle when katsuki looks down at you. you shrink into yourself.

"maybe one or two.." you squeak out meekly. immediately he's flipping you over and pouncing on you.

"fuckin' traitor." he growls.

"i'm sorry i couldn't help myself !" you wheeze when he starts tickling your sides, kicking at the sheets "it's been a month !" you screech trying to catch your breath.

"yeah i know that !" he exclaims, ignoring the way you're thrashing around as he mercilessly tickles you.

"i'm soooorryy !!"

[phantom-0-writer]

*standing menacingly at the door* i made u something

anyways lol. i had a lot of school work and was really busy freaking out and stress studying for a singular test that was 4 questions and would be over in like an hour and then i proceeded to cry about it in my car for various reasons.

but yk what that means!

time for our irregular and unscheduled update of

Gotham Academy's Mentorship Program

this episode featuring a fan favorite: Duke Thomas (aka The Signal - but thats kind of irrelevant for this)

you were supposed to read that like it was from a '90s sitcom and the off screen crowd cheers rly loudly.

some house keeping updates: this scene happens in the beginning of the school year (going by the american system should be september) danny meets damian (and upsurges tim on the same day) around midterm which is around october and then the stuff with jason and damian's drawing happens around december. i kinda accidentally burned the irl timeline for anything dc first scene so now im just gonna do whatever i want.

anyways with out further ado:

table of contents

scene 04: after school activities for normal kids

Duke stood around the corner of the classroom awkwardly, wondering if he had made the right call. Sure the bats and the birds had a plethora of hands on deck any time, but most of them specialized as night time heros. Not to say that they were incompetent or anything, they were some of the most skilled and innovative people Duke had ever had the pleasure of meeting. Sure if anything happened, they could handle it, at least until Duke could slip away and show up as the Signal- Alfred and Bruce had assured him so much. But Duke couldn’t slip the guilt of busying away more of his time to after school activities when he could be patrolling or studying instead, 

But Duke had wanted to do something outside of those things, which was specifically why he had made the difficult decision to join a few clubs and after school activities. He could use a break from being surrounded by people who worked the vigilante life-style just to remember how to be a normal civilian. Let himself take a break from constantly be consumed by one case or another, one disaster or another, not being able to do enough no matter how much he tried or how much time he spent patrolling. 

Duke needed to feel grounded, like his feet were on the ground and he could press the brakes and smell the fragrance of life. Even if the fragrance was a forgotten pile of dog s-

“Alright,” The instructor for their culinary club started with a weird German accent that sounded really fake. “I am Herman. You can call me Chef or Chef Herman or just Chef. I will not bore you all with the boring introductions, and let's head right into the cooking, yes. On this paper here I made the partners for all of you to cook with for the rest of the year. If you have problem with it then quit.” 

This Herman guy seemed like quite the character, and was definitely not helping any of Duke’s previous anxieties. Many of Duke’s clubmates seem to think so too, sending their friends various looks. But no one spoke out, and instead shuffled to the front to look at the singular sheet of paper that would assign them their partners. Duke finally made it to the front and saw that he was paired with a Daniel Fenton at Station 7. 

Crossing his fingers that Daniel had at least only a half-rotten personality, Duke made his way over to station 7. The station was already prepped with an assortment of ingredients and cooking equipment. Duke had already set his stuff down claiming the seat closer to the exit (in case) when a lanky kid comes over, “Uh, your Duke Thomas?” He asks hesitantly looking back at the front counter the partner assignment sheet was. 

It took Duke an awkward second longer to realize that this kid was probably his partner. “Oh yeah I am.” He laughed apologetically, “You must be Daniel.” 

“Danny’s fine.” The boy smiled, absentmindedly brushing his messy black hair out of his face, his glacier blue looking at the equipment. Duke couldn’t help but feel like there was something off about Danny. Not in Gotham’s usual psycho-maniac-out-to-terrorizer-the-city-and-kill-innocent-people kind of off, more in a he’s not in sync with the rest of the world off. While Chef Herman explained the general structure of various types of kitchen and kitchen hierarchy that Duke was already familiar with, Duke tried to get a read on him. 

Weird did not mean threat, after all many of the Justice League- heck even the local Wayne/Batclan were pretty weird- and they (usually) didn’t mean any harm. It wouldn’t be fair of Duke to jump the horse like that. 

Deciding he should try to be friendly with him, Duke leaned over, “Is it just me or is Chef Herman’s accent totally fake?” he whispered. 

“Oh, Ancients,” Anciets? “I thought I was just going insane.” Danny sighed in relief with a small chuckle. There was a moment of silence between the two of them where no one said anything for longer than socially acceptable and Duke debated using his powers to see if he could find a clue or something. That seemed kinda invasive, though. 

When the Chef had started instructions on making today's recipe, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Danny helped Duke measure out the ingredients. “So,” Danny tried again, “What are you in for?” 

“What am I…” Duke repeated confused, 

Danny chuckled awkwardly, “Like why you joined the club.” 

Duke seriously needed to get his head in the present; this was getting embarrassing. “Oh.” He nodded in understanding, “I’ve always liked cooking,” Duke shrugged, “When I was little my parents and I would always cook together, and it was always one of my favorite things to do. And I’ve kinda always liked it, but I fell off of it for a while with school and stuff,” emphasis on the stuff “I thought joining a club could help me get back into it and get away from… everything.” That was a little more candid than Duke had planned on being with someone he had met quite literally a few minutes ago, but it felt good to have that out of his chest. The pleasant memories of his parents swimming in his mind. Mixing the dry ingredients, “Sorry that was kind of a lot.” Duke laughed genuinely this time. 

“Dude, no it’s actually so cool that you like to cook.” Danny said admiration was easy on his face, and Duke couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed. 

“What about you, then?” 

“Ugh,” He groaned jokingly, “You can’t seriously be asking for my lame ass reason after you pulled out the flashbacks.” Danny whined, letting the oven preheat like Chef told them to. 

“C’mon, it’s only fair.” Duke played along, already ahead of the other groups. 

Danny sighed, “Promise you won’t laugh.” 

“Okay, it can’t be that bad.” Duke could already feel the smile cracking on his face. 

“It is.” Danny drawlled, “So I live in the dorms right, and I got to pull some strings and room with one of my friends from back home this year. And well, let’s just say my family has a bit of a reputation for causing problems, and the kitchen definitely wasn’t an exception. One time my dad tried to make some soup for my mom because she got sick.” Duke nodded approvingly, that was a sweet gesture, “It was all fun and games until the bomb squad had to show up and long story short we had to move.” 

“You’re joking.” Duke gaped at the bizarre story, but at Danny’s solemn expression, Duke couldn’t help but be appalled, “A bomb squad over soup.”

“My parents were never really heavy on lab safety,” Danny added, as if that explained everything, “But I burn one pot of water and maybe make a few extra-crispy eggs, and suddenly its all ‘Danny you’re not allowed in the kitchen unless you start taking actual classes’ and ‘Danny that's a biohazard’.” 

“You burned a pot of water.” Duke echoed, Danny nodded innocently, “Water doesn’t burn.”

“Well, maybe you’re just not trying hard enough.” Danny sneered, trying to crack an egg on the corner of the bowl only for all the shell to fall in the bowl and the yolk on the counter. 

“Somehow, I don’t think that’s true.” Duke said, taking the bowl from him and expertly cracking an egg single handedly. Danny looked on in awe. “You said you live in the dorms?” Duke asked easily. 

“Oh yeah, all of the non-local scholarship kids have to.” 

Before Duke could respond, a girl from the station in front of them whips her head around, “You said you’re here on a scholarship?” She asked almost oppressively. 

Danny just as taken aback as Duke felt, “Uh, yeah.” 

“Me, too. Have you heard anything about the Mentorship Program here? Apparently we all have to join.” The girl’s partner was looking between Duke and Danny confused, but returned to their cooking uninterested. 

“Oh, yeah. They make us all join.” Danny nodded. 

“I heard from some of the older kids, that no one actually gets picked for that. It’s just like a weird formality thing.” The girl spoke animatedly, “What department are you in?” 

“Applied physics and engineering design.” The oven beeps that it was ready but no one moved. 

The girl seemed to deflate that answer, “Oh, I’m doing culinary science.” And with that solid conclusionary statement, she turned around and got back to her work station. 

Danny blinked, processing what just happened and slowly turning to look at Duke for proof that just happened. But the second the both of them met each other’s eyes, they burst into a fit of silent laughter. 

Bent vunuralably over the table, trying to catch their breath, they were accosted by Chef Hermon. “The two of you are having a comedy club, not a cooking club.” Chef crossed his arms at the edge of the table. Duke was pretty sure he was trying to sold them, but the fake accent was making it hard to tell. 

Danny cleared his throat and striated up, “Sorry, Sir.” He apologized quickly. 

“Chef.” Hermon peered at them, his hat looking comically large and lopsided on his head now that Duke was getting a closer look. 

“Sorry, Chef.” Duke amended, trying to keep his cool. 

“Yes, finish cooking your cookies.” He nodded satisfied, leaving their station. 

“Okay so,” Duke tried to recount what the last thing they did was, but one look at Danny trying desperately to hold in his laugh had ruined all of Duke’s efforts as well. Barely managing to get their cookies in the oven, over Chef’s fake german accent and floppy oversized chef’s hat. 

“So scholarship for applied physics and engineering design, huh.” Duke recounted from earlier, impressed. 

“Yeah…” Danny trailed off embarrassed, “It sounds kinda snotty.” 

“Dude. That’s literally one of the hardest departments to get into, and the scholarship is no sneeze either. There’s no doubt you worked your butt off to get that.” Duke assured Danny as they sat in their stools waiting for the cookies to finish. 

“Thanks,” Danny smiled sheepishly. They sat in a much more comfortable silence now before Danny spoke again, “What grade are you in by the way?” 

“I’m in 10th. General studies for now, but I was thinking of doing medicine. You?” 

“I could totally see you as a hot-shot doctor.” Danny nodded approvingly, “11th. Technically, I’m your upperclassman then.” 

“Technically?” Duke asked.

“I mean, how old are you?” 

“15.” Duke supplied confused. 

“Me too. I skipped a grade in elementary school, so we’re actually the same age.” Danny explained, sheepishly. 

“Dude, you're actually way smart.” Duke gaped in awe. 

“Hey medicine isn’t a day walk either.” Danny nudged his arm playfully, “I’m glad the mentorship thing is just for show, though. Now that we’re upperclassmen, y’know. I would not want my hands full with some random rich kid.” 

Duke laughed, “Yeah, that definitely sounds like a lot of work.” 

Easily unfolding the conversation into various topics and interests Duke found that he didn’t mind that the cookies were burnt. Or that Danny was definitely weird. But in a good way. Duke was glad they met and would get to hang out and cook with their weird not-German Chef every week. And if Danny and Duke exchanged numbers and planned to hangout outside of club activities, then well who was going to stop them.

[majorproblems77]

Hi, Linked Maze fans! It's me again!

Ohhhh boy we are cooking and I am excited. Let's do a late-night ramble with yours truly

When I tell you I looked at these panels for a reasonable amount of time I was lying and it was longer than that.

Now a link to the comic page can be found Here! Please go give it some love :D

For the important stuff!

Linked Maze belongs to @linked-maze and its wonderful creator @frulleboi. (You should follow them, they are wonderful) And as a heads up, Linked maze is for more mature audiences! :)

As usual, you know the drill, Grab some water, Grab some popcorn and prepare for me to ramble at you for however long it is!

Here we go!

Oh lordy it's the sun (you'll see why later.)

He sniffin. Sniff Sniff

Now, Everyone remembers the first rule of exploring. Dont run off! That includes you Wolfy!

Now I have a theory. Which I'll come back to in detail later. But just, Remember the shadow behind four for me. We'll get back to it.

Warrior is the group Dad at this point. also, I love this side shot of him thank you.

Also

Warrior. Speaking to Wolfie like he is a kid rather than a wolf.

WARRIOR KNOWS SOMETHING IS UP YOU CANT CHANGE MY MIND

I dont think It'll be Sky. I think it'll be a hero we haven't met yet!

We interupt this comic analysis for unhinged analysis :D

Ready? Me too, lets go

Because, that shadow?

this one?

I dont think it's wolfy, It can't be.

Wolfie's shadow has a definition to it. It has a shape.

You can see the outlines of his tail, which is what we would see if it were him.

Where this one is a blob. Closer to a person.

Ie Winds's shadow

the blob

In fact, if I had to give you a position for Wolfy right now. It's not there. Let me explain.

Shadowssssss

Remember the sun? (Me too, I miss it;-;)

The sun can tell us a bunch about time and stuff. But also where a person is (Because fun angles and maths that I know way too much about tbh)

Anyway

So Wolfy's shadow hits another wall

This wall looks flat so it can't be a corner. (Taking the grass as reference)

And his face isn't shadowed at all, So he himself isn't behind a wall. He's approaching one tho. So in this case I reckon Wolfie isn't visible at all to wind and Warriors at the point Four turns to them.

So who is this mysterious shadow?

It ain't angel. No way.

I reckon it is another Link group. And we are either going to meet the last of the Links we are yet to meet. Or we are pulling groups together.

You know what....

I think it's World or Spirit. And we are gonna see these guys interact before they meet the other larger group of heroes.

Though im leaning towards Spirit just because of the shadow's shape. (And the lack of Sheerow)

Let me know what you think because I'm not 100% sure and I'm interested in what you think.

Okay ramble over, but to be fair that's why your here right?

Oh windddddd

the poor boy

I feel so bad for him he didn't deserve this. He probably tried to open his eye cause he was excited. :(

:((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

The boyyyyyyy

He's trying to be a strong hero in front of these other heroes again. This poor kid i feel so bad for him.

ALSO THE EARS :(

They have expressive ears and it kills me to see wind sad like this.

AHHHHHH

BIG BRO WARRIOR

I LOVE HIM

And his little ear lower of worry for the small I love him sm okay.

Excuse me?

bhdjlhsafdnsajkfndas;nfdas

You can't leave it like that

Where's wolfy

Wheres four?

Will the small boy ever not be in pain?

I have questions!

Ahh okay okay I loved this update it was very fun. Im excited to see what's coming up in the next chapter.

Thats all from me!

Have a great night all! :D

[reashot]

Red means Stop, Green means Go and Yellow means you can ride on Blondie. 🚦

Jaune: it's so great that you decided to stay here with us forever Jessica.

Ruby: Jess are you sure you're making the right decision? After all you're leaving everything you ever knew behind.

Jessica: Oh it's not really a big deal. I mean there's already like, what? ten Green Lanterns already. They won't notice one missing.

Meanwhile on OA...

Tomar-Re: Okay, are all the Green Lanterns from Earth already in attendance and counted for?

Hal Jordan: Here!

Guy Gardner: The one and only.

Kyle Rayner: Present!

John Stewart: Attention!

Simon Baz: Ready.

Jo Mullein: Let's get it started already!

Kilowog: Wait! We're missing one poozer.

Tomar-Re: Who are we missing?

Guy: Who knows? There's so many Green Lanterns from Earth that it's hard to keep track of... And while we at it. I'm not a geo/space-political egghead or anything like that, but don't you think it's kinda messed up that Earth is overly represented in the Green Lantern Corp. Compared to other planets?

Kyle: I hate to admit this, but Guy here have a point. Why do we have so many Green Lanterns from Earth anyway? Heck! I got to be one and all I had to do is be in the right place in the right time.

Hal: Huh? You know I never thought about it like that. And this kind of put all the Alien attacks we had into a new perspective. Do you think they attacked us because we have too many influence in galactic affairs? I mean Green Lantern aside there's too many notable humans in Galaxy despite us not being a space faring species.

Jo: This is definitely gonna make my assignment to the Far Sector a lot more problematic. I'm in the same boat as Kyle I was personally recruited by the Guardian in a club. I don't think that's normally how you get the ring.

John: What the heck with there's more humans in the Lantern Corp. Has to do with anything? All of us are Green Lanterns now and there's no changing that. Whether the ring chose us or the Guardians did, matters little, we still have the responsibility of a Lantern. And I don't think they are wrong in making their choices.

Simon: You said it John. You said it... Argus you getting any of this?

Meanwhile at Argus...

Amanda Waller: We hear you loud and clear Agent Baz. Make sure you keep them talking as much as you can. We need as much info as we can get from this glow in the dark clowns. Junior! Keep giving me constant updates on the Green Lanterns situation. You got that?

Gordon Junior: Yes mrs. Waller. We will monitor the situation as best as we can.

Amanda: It better be, for your sake too.

Returning back to OA...

Simon: While we wait for Jessica. How about we all talk about Green Lantern stuffs. Seeing we probably missed a lot by not being here. Preferably as loud and clear as you can...

Hal: Who's Jessica?

Simon: Ha, ha, ha, nice joke Hal. How could you forget about Jessica?

Jo: No. Seriously who's Jessica. This is the first time I ever heard of her?

Simon: I know you're new and all but that doesn't excuse for not knowing your fellow Green Lantern.

John: I don't know what you're talking about Simon? But there is no Green Lantern named Jessica.

Simon: Then which Green Lantern are we waiting for?

Guy: We're waiting for Keli Quintela. Who else are waiting for Baz?

Simon: A-am I losing my mind here. How could everyone in here forgot about Jessica Cruz?

Kilowog: Who the heck is Jessica Cruz?...

Simon: Not you too! You know Jessica. She's the... Eh, the.. Why can't I remember her?

And finally back on Remnant

Jessica: I'm sure it's fine...

Jaune: Well if you said so Jess... And Jess thank you again for choosing to stay with us. *hugs her*

Jessica: Oh Jaune... Now I know I'm making the right choice. After meeting you I can't imagine myself without you. You are everything to me Jaune...

Jaune: Jess...

Ruby: *grind teeth*

Jaune: Then we have to celebrate. I'll make a reservation at my favorite restaurant. And maybe afterward I can show you around the place.

Jessica: That would be lovely Jaune. And I think any place would be great as long as I am with you...

Jaune: *blush* Y-you do? Then I better go and make my reservation. Ruby can you keep Jess company while I'm out. Okay thank you, bye...

Jess: *blush* He's so thoughtful... 💕

Ruby: So you done trying to steal my man? 😡

Jessica: N-no I wouldn't dream of it Ms. Rose... He-he is way out of my league. With him being so tall, handsome, blonde... Oh I'm just making it worse for me, am I?

Ruby: *sigh* Look Jess it's not that I don't know where you're coming from but I love Jaune too and I have no intention of giving him up.

Jessica: I know that. Ms. Rose but I love him so much. If I met him first like you do I won't give him up. But I have no intention of stealing him away from you. I-I just want to be close to him that's all. Being with him makes me feel safe and loved. I feel I can be a better version of myself just by being with him... *tearing up*

Ruby: Oh Jess... *comforts her* You're just like me. Before me there was another girl named Pyhrra. Just like you I pretend I didn't want to steal him from her. But deep down I wanted him for myself.

Jessica: Pyhrra... Is that the red headed girl I met before right?

Ruby: Yes. But she died a while ago and Jaune loved her dearly. He was devastated by her death... And Jess if you decide to go after Jaune, I will allow it.

Jessica: Really?!

Ruby: On strict conditions of course. That I Ruby Rose will remain his number one girlfriend and you need to ask my permission first to go on a date with him and for other things to.

Jessica: O-of course I will always ask for your permission beforehand and I will never break your trust. (Yes. I can be with Jaune.)

Ruby: Oh, very well then. I Ruby Rose will allow you to go on a date. But make sure to keep it PG-13. Or else.

Jessica: Yes, of course. I will make sure to bring him home before midnight.

Jaune: Hey you two. I hope you haven't been waiting too long. So what are you talking about?

Ruby: Oh we're just talking about girls stuffs you know... Anyway, enough about us. Where are you taking Jess to on your first date together?

Jaune: I-it's not a date Ruby. I'm just showing her around her new home that's all. And Jess how do you feel about French food is it okay with you?

Jessica: I love it Jaune...

Ruby: Remember keep it PG-13 or I'm gunning for you Jess.

If anyone ask why do the DC characters suddenly can't remember anything about Jessica. Well that's just the price for abandoning your own reality unfortunately. I'm sure it's nothing...

[xcherryerim]

Update: Joshsbimbo situation. (now joshslolita)

tw: mentions of rape, SA, violence, abuse, incest, stepcest, substance abuse

I wasn’t gonna comment on this but someone asked me to. Please know that Joshsbimbo is back as Joshslolita (if the @ is not concerning you i don’t know what will)

To refresh your memory, she has written fanfics with triggering themes such as rape, SA, violence, abuse, incest, stepcest, substance abuse, and probably a lot more with a character played by Josh, Mike Schmidt.

And yes, is fanfiction, but these themes are not something to romanticize.

Joshbimbo has also reblogged ai images putting the image of Josh Hutcherson in clearly sexualized scenarios, and has called a minor a slur. (that apparently she can claim) either way, you shouldn’t call strangers slurs.

For more information click here

For everyone, be understanding, you don’t know what someone is going through. DO NOT send dead threats.

To joshsbimbo if you somehow manage to see this even if I blocked you. I’m sorry people sent dead threats, I am. I don’t know why you’re into the stuff you’re into or if there’s a reason behind them. However, this is concerning and honestly, so unhealthy. This is not us as a fandom kink shamming you. Is us being concerned for others that might stumble into your stuff that has not been tagged correctly, or impressionable people that will fall into the rabbit hole of sexualizing these real possible scenarios.

1 in 4 adult women had been victims of physical violence by a partner. Over 1 in 3 women in the US have experienced rape, physical violence, and/or stalking by a partner in their lifetime.

This is not fiction. For a lot of women, transgender people, and non-binary people this is our reality. And now more than ever, we need to stop romanticizing violence and abuse.

[moyokeansimblr]

Update

Not feeling so hot and I'm not going to do anything impulsive at 8PM on a Friday evening but

here is a link to a sfs folder with ALL of my content that's currently only hosted on patreon.

I want to add individual sfs links to the tumblr posts but that's a lot and I'm now regretting never adding alt dl links this whole time... and sorry I don't think the downloads in the sfs folder are in order... it also might be some other things, like fixed meshes or stuff. tbh I just added everything I've made after April 3rd 2023 since that was the last time I uploaded anything to sfs.

I guess while I'm here... I was going to wait until after I finish up the last of my active requests (probably by Monday, I'm almost done) but I desperately need a break from CC. I sent a group message on the 17th to my $4 and $6 patrons encouraging them to cancel, but I know not everybody knows patreon even has dms so maybe you'll see this post and I'll reach out again in the coming days so nobody is wasting their money. I am so immensely burnt out and I need to not create for a while. This is completely my own fault, nobody made me work on CC for 8-10 hours 5 days a week for the last several months and I fully knew it wasn't sustainable ages ago but I kept doing it because it made me feel good, until it didn't. Quite honestly, even before I sent the group message the instant wave of relief I felt just having made the decision to take a break... that caught me off guard but just confirmed I need this. I do feel really awful about it because I feel like I'm letting people down but at the same time I don't want to hate creating which was already happening. That being said, I don't know how long the lull in CC is going to be, and if you're only following me strictly for CC I apologize. As said I am still finishing up one request I still had, I'm about 75% done with that as of this post. But that's gonna be it for a while.

There is a part of me that wants to stop using patreon completely and unpublish my creator page (which is what I'm not going to impulsively do tonight without properly thinking it through...since there are positives like how easy it is to download files and whatnot) but I'd again encourage not only those who joined the $4 and $6 tiers but also the $2 tier to cancel so that you aren't wasting your money. If I did do this I would definitely do the individual sfs links on everything first. I'd not just leave you guys unable to download my stuff.

So, what does that mean for this blog? I'll spare ye, impatient readers, who have already read a lot because I ramble⬇️

Well, as of posting this I still have THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FOUR Strangetown posts in my queue. And I'm not tired of playing that.

I'm looking forward to having an opportunity to do all of the things I've been neglecting. I'm finally going to go through the subfolder within my downloads of everything I'm downloaded the last few months and decide if I wanna keep it in my game or not. And finish default replacing everything. And all my other various little projects I haven't been doing.

Also, I want to start playing Veronaville 😮I've already started downloading lots from kattaty to replace the in-game ones, and I found a cool replacement for the neighborhood map. I am leaning towards making a new sub-blog for this so that you don't have to try and follow Strangetown/LFT posts and Veronaville/ALT posts at the same time. I've only ever played the Veronaville sims for like one day as part of a super failed megahood years ago so I'd like to get to know them.

So basically, I guess I'm a gameplay blog for now? Until I want to create anything again anyways, but I don't know when that will be.

I don't know how to end this post... I'm sorry for the disappointment, but thank you so much for enjoying my stuff 💛💛

[agendabymooner]

lost in japan ! max v. x ofc (hearth sister!ofc) - tltl series extra

“i was hoping i could get lost in your paradise.”

summary: sylvie and max in japan. sylvie’s new obsession. a lot of shopping. and twitter/instagram wars. OR f1 twt summarized each one of max’s posts in his ig story after he and sylvie ford went to japan without any notice.

content warning: use of explicit language, established relationship, threads of posts regarding their relationship, nothing just an inchident serious just fluff and possibly humour, press the pictures for the full view!

note: me: i’m gonna update the masterlist. also me: haha funny brain post some more.

i don’t feel alright today but i hope y’all are doing good and touching grass. enjoy xx

masterlist

tagged maxverstappen1

liked by tillywolff, landonorris, georgerussell63

comments have been limited

yukitsunoda0511 did you go to akihabara then? liked by sylvieeford

maxverstappen1 she practically lived there if i’m being honest 😀

danielricciardo watch out mustang he might steal your supermodel career liked by sylvieeford

sylvieeford he already snatched it. by the weave and all

landonorris left the country as an avid animal crossing gamer and supermodel, came back as an animal crossing gamer and supermodel with a hint of otaku liked by sylvieeford

sylvieeford i can be hot and be obsessed with certain fandoms at the same time, best friend 🤐

landonorris i know, best friend. and i fw it 😍

pierregasly max had been texting us in the groupchat asking yuki about animes and street foods. he was studying that’s why he’s on the phone all the time 😂 liked by sylvieeford

sylvieeford we had a tour guide for a reason maxverstappen1 😭

maxverstappen1 yuki knew the seedy areas that we didn’t know about. how did you think i found our way into that alleyway of vending machines?

yukitsunoda0511 i helped him

sylvieeford it was quite sketchy but thank you yuki 😀 take me somewhere with lights next time caddy

charles_leclerc did you get me something?

sylvieeford my priceless presence during the next race?

charles_leclerc i’m hoping for something like some stuff from the mario theme park.

shawnmendes i’m glad you took my advice 😉 liked by sylvieeford

sylvieeford am i ever glad that i did.

maxverstappen1 if we hadn’t been listening to your playlist we probably wouldn’t have anything to do at home 😅

tillywolff is there anything for the little cubs perhaps??? 👀 liked by sylvieeford

sylvieeford maxverstappen1 lol about that

maxverstappen1 you’re gonna hate us so much

tillywolff oh god, you two went all out on the kids. victoriaverstappen these two are at it with the gifts again 🥲

victoriaverstappen we should swap lives for a day at some point and see how much clutter would you step on when you get them toys

sylvieeford actually we got them new friends and some new clothes from the nintendo shop 😉 then we went to sanrioland and got them all…

tillywolff you two need to stop the retail therapy

maxverstappen1 what’s done is done, tils 🤷‍♀️

christianhorner i’m glad you two missed me 🙄 liked by sylvieeford

sylvieeford don’t worry we got you something to compensate 😉

christianhorner i don’t even want to know.

maxverstappen1 posted a story !!!

bonus !!!

[decadeduo]

Helloooo welcome, call me Decade or Impostor or just about anything you want! This blog is for a Ask Goldie Anything au I've been working on ever since I found the now discontinued comic back in 2019!

I have ADHD and multiple other projects, so if I'm quiet for a bit feel free to poke me because I probably just forgot to update the blog. I also have a tendency to over-explain, so if you have trouble with reading long blocks of text then the colored text is there to highlight the important stuff! I believe you can only read the colored text and still understand the post, if I did it correctly. I'm sorry for people that struggle to read with colored text, but uh, I'm sure this paragraph alone shows how much I yap vs how much information is useful - it's kinda necessary. Alt descriptions of images are also available for all of the important posts, usually with some side notes about making said drawing or giving some context.

dms and asks are always open! This au only relies on asks about 30% of the time, but I'll always answer asks 100% of time (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠) that number will change as we get further into the story, mostly the introductory act and the last act is gonna need asks, as well as asks in-between each act to pass in universe time :]

In order to hold myself accountable and actually keep. Working on this thing, as well as to let everyone know I'm not dead, where am I currently in making this au?

Plot: it's been complete for 2 or 3 years and atp im making DLC for it whenever im bored, right now I'm aiming to complete the story with 4 - 6 Acts (⁠・⁠∀⁠・⁠)

Timeline of said plot: it's roughly laid out, and I'm currently working on fixing any plot holes [since originally this au was more like 14-17 segmented scenarios I've stitched together]

The actual comic: I'm currently working on the first comic pages! I'm also working on the cover art for each act, and after the first page is posted I'll work on asks (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧

More info below!

What is this au about you may ask, so far I've said nothing about it you say? basically I looked at aga, and then looked at actual FNaF lore with the crying child and Cassidy possessing golden Freddy and decided the more ghosts the merrier. When Evan died, he started possessing Goldie, and gave him the ability to float, teleport, etc. Goldie can also exit the suit and be a ghost at any time, but he tends to stay inside unless he needs to be alone or do something that Evan can't.

If you send me any asks that are non-canon or spoilery, I'll just redirect you to my main account @impostorsshow and answer it there anyway. No asks will go unanswered [like said dlc I mentioned (⁠?⁠・⁠・⁠)⁠σ I might post about said non-canon stuff unprompted since I like my phasmophobia and shadow Bonnie au alot] Also I just like yapping so if you go to #fnaf ranch dip on my main account, you can find some old posts about this au (⁠◠⁠‿⁠・⁠)

Every time I edit this post I try to trim it down and make it less wordy and fail horribly. It'll get better one day. Maybe. Anyway here's some extra stuff <3

Bonnie: why does he always do weird stuff....

[spilledmilkfkdies]

So what are your personal thoughts on Yilidth (if you haven't already answered). I hadn't read the comics in a while but I don't think they ever said anything about him being related to Duman, though considering his eye and hair colour I guess it was probably implied. How do you think he created him? Like did he just use magic or did he had a one night stand and then years later, a basket with baby Duman just appeared with a letter telling him he's the dad, and he's like "Oh, f*#k".

I actually made an au where the wizards had joined Yilidth's wizard cult as novices and one task that he made them do was babysit Duman. Imagine the chaos😂

I think I have given my thoughts on him before, but that was both a while ago and I didn't appreciate him as much as I do now, which you can tell 💀💀 very angry very rambly stuff over there- So let me give some more/updated thoughts!!

Him being underused and shoehorned is still very true, unfortunately. He could've been a super handy tool to give us more information about the whole Terrestrial conflict, since that was an interesting part of canon that might have benefitted from a bit more exploration, even if it was a bit late. But then he just. Wasn't?? He was announced, he came, he died?????? And that was the first and last we saw of him. Honestly deranged boooo yucky.

He never even got to interact with the wizards again- You could literally say he was just some random criminal that had been locked away and almost nothing would change, and that's really his main problem. Aside from his design. I mean, love a blank canvas to throw a bunch of takes at, but come on!!!!!

Him and Duman's relation was never really mentioned either, I don't think? Beyond the "He was the leader of the fairy hunters!" there's really um. Nothing. Like in general. Ask canon Yllidith their names and he'll give you a blank stare fgbhbn- Tbh I'm surprised Duman's even in the lil flashback thingy at all ngl

Now, can we call any sort of relation implied? Are we gonna give them that much credit? Well idk! I'm just personally a fan of it so I just kinda. Squinted real hard. Matching eye colour? Mhm. Hair colour? Sure kinda. Yllidith having illusion magic and Duman being a shapeshifter? Yep that lines up enough for me, that does it, they're related now. Some people see the vision, others might not- I've spoken to plenty of people who aren't a fan of the take and that's a-okay, just know that I very much am 👉👈

This is a. Surprisingly consistent thing for me too?? Like yeah there's a case of "it depends on what I'm doing", there usually is- But not to a large extent ig? The method varies, but in a lot of stuff I'm doing now there's definitely a relation in one way or another.

Usually Duman is more or less made from scratch, a magic'd up baby, if you will. Though the process did include Yllidith's blood, so you have enough wiggle room to still say there's a blood relation. (Duman wouldn't.) (Yllidith only does when it's convenient.) But I've been getting the urge to explore a more normal approach where he was just regularly born lately, so maybe I'll get to that at some point too.

And!! If you ever feel like sharing more of that AU in any way, please do, because it sounds absolutely DELIGHTFUL. Imagine them thinking it's gonna be an easy enough task, and they wonder why nobody else wants to do it, then little Duman starts shapeshifting into horrors beyond mortal comprehension. Bye, I'm obsessed.

[kozykricket]

well! about that mc live, huh?

im just gonna say right off the bat. you know that i am not a "mojang lazy" person. doesnt mean im not critical of them. gonna give my nuanced view in this post. itll be a long one!

so... first of all, i just gotta say like, changing to having more "drop" updates instead of yearly summer updates is... thank god. i didnt wanna see mojang become gamefreak with yearly, formulaic releases.. hell, im kinda thinking. they're probably working on the big updates in the background now, while they can still keep people (and corporate people) satisfied, by delivering drops of content. and the other ideas they have? instead of being hecked over by priorities as much... they can actually just decide like "okay, we have more than a year to work on the big update. we can fit it in, so it doesnt get delayed back to the next big update" ...or, if its something small, then it wont be held up from releasing by like... waiting for the next Big Update. for example, if we had the drop releases back in 1.16, we could've had the ability to break leaves faster with hoes... waay earlier, instead of having to wait for the full nether update to drop. yknow? or, again using 1.16 as an example, if they have more ideas for the content in the Big Update, they can decide "yeah, we can put it in!" like how the allay was conceptualized for 1.16 but they didnt fit it in because well, they have more time to work on it! they can have bigger scope! more flexibility! ...but they're clearly still going for yearly key-jingling of shiny new content, i can see. like, as usual, its something new that is entirely self contained and doesnt really effect the rest of the game. its avoidable. which like, okay... i get it. i get why mojang doesnt want to make the game feel too different for people who come back to it after a while, but like. i dunno. i feel like- okay how about i actually just go over the features individually ...i appreciate the biome being a fantasy biome. ive kinda just accepted that mojang disregarded any plans to ever have non-real-life biomes in the overworld, unless they were underground like the deep dark. but nope! we can have weird white trees with freaky tree monsters!!! so, thats very nice. and the mechanics themselves seem really nice and interesting, its overall a very well put together vibe. weeping angels are overdone because theyre GREAT monster types !! theyre AWESOME!! and attaching the mob to like, having to destroy a block? thats prob the most interesting way to defeat a mob like the creaking! great gameplay and the biome has really cool hanging moss on the trees, and the moss carpets climb up blocks... but therein lies the problem -- its very self contained. its like, mojang. you just gonna.. keep developing really thoughtfully designed sidequests?? i'd like to see the main game experience updated... but alas this is a DROP and not an UPDATE, to be fair. its just like ...the new biome gets ambient sounds, which no other overworld biome has. now that sets the bar higher for updating older overworld biomes to also have that. i wouldnt have wanted it before, but now i do. same goes for like, new mobs having better animation systems, yknow? i wouldnt have wanted better animations, but now... you gotta update stuff even more , for consistency. adding so much to your plate, mojang and ... why does THIS moss carpet get to be cool and grab onto blocks?? why cant they have updated old moss carpet?? i feel like they probably WONT update it ... because ill be honest, my first thoughts were "this all couldve been in the dark oak forest" hanging moss? would look great on the trees moss blocks on the ground? would be great the creaking? yea, i think it'd be spooky as a dark oak ent! thing is the dark forest already has a pretty unique kinda vibe and playstyle to it, being a biome thats typically dark and spawns lots of mobs, and also. has lack of sight due to the big trees (1/2)

[autisticlancemcclain]

thank u @zenstrike for the tag <333333333 i see ur mic and i'm elated about it

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

185! but i haven't updated in like a week and a half so we're probably closer to 190

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

556,104. i am very excited to watch it jump up when i finally finish my longfic teehee

3. what fandoms do you write for?

literally just voltron lol. well not counting baby me's wattpad lol. i started writing almost two years ago and just went ham basically. i've been intentionally avoiding things that i know i will get hyperfixated on bc i don't want to stop my writing obsession lol

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

ooooou i'm excited to check. i know it's changed quite a bit over time. i usually sort them by hits!

i will grind you to sand (beneath my louboutin heels) [voltron, 2573 words]: bamf lance fic where i give him a revolver and let him go ham basically

mr. snuggles [voltron, 1656 words]: one of my very earliest fics! lance, lover of weirdo animals, finds a demonic cat-sized spider and adopts it despite his friend's freakouts

he might not look like he gets bitches (but honey that dick was eleven inches) [voltron, 1136 words]: this one is so dorky lol but it's just secret relationship klance coming to light in the most embarrassing possible way

does anyone know where the love of god goes (when the waves turn the minutes to hours) [voltron, 4283]: a canon divergence au where lance is a seer and convinces the skeptics on his team of his abilities by ending the war

this is the part of me that you're never gonna ever get away) [voltron, 3262 words]: a lance & shiro hurt/comfort with a small autistic lance character study! i'm very proud of this one

5. do you respond to comments?

i definitely do on tumblr! it's one of the first things i do when i wake up actually. on ao3, though...i'm pretty sure i have about eight hundred unanswered comments sitting in my inbox 💀 it's an ongoing issue

6. what’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

i'm almost sure it's this post-game show lance leaving fic, because i got comments and asks for weeks begging me to write a happy ending lol. but this fic from the hana universe, from when keith is little and shiro is fighting for custody and they haven't figured things out yet. that one is sad. this dream pov adashi fic is also sad and has no happy ending bc, you know. shiro is in space and adam thinks he's dead and everything. my loneliest series is also still in progress and as such there is no happy ending. and this is my earliest angsty-ending fic with MCD

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

oh god pretty much everything i write has a happy ending?? if i’m being serious?? frankly i don’t do a lot of linear plot. i just write Scenes that are vaguely connected. BUT my h2o fic had a plot that ended happily, as did my cowboy fic, but truly i’m more of a slice of life kinda gal. all my active wips are plot-driven, though, and i plan for all of them to end happily.

8. do you get hate on fics?

oh god yeah. i get it on brown eyed lance, autistic lance, adhd keith, allura just in general (are you sensing a pattern), my refusal to use readmores, and lately just some demands for me to write differently/more?? most of it is just funny so i post it to goof on it lol, but some of it i just delete and pout about until i forget about it 💀

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

yes and it’s nasty and i will literally never ever post it. although i guess i’ve written some softer stuff that’s more allusion than anything, like in my loneliest series.

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

not anymore, but i did when i was a kid?? i think i wrote a pjo/hoo/divergent/the mortal instruments/homestuck/a bunch of other shit fic when i was 13. i’ve successfully blocked that era out of my mind tho so i’m not sure. i do a lot of insane aus, tho. i wrote a fic based off a country song written in the sixties. so.

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

i’ve had people write continuations of my wips?? which i didn’t rly like. i just ignored it.

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

someone has asked me about translating a fic before! haven’t heard anything since tho.

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

i have tried. i’m not very good at it. i have very Specific ideas about things and can be very controlling, so it’s honestly better that i don’t lol.

14. what’s your all-time favorite ship?

klance, easy. been in the trenches of this goddamn fandom since i was 13 years of age. it’s been a Journey.

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

god, the butterfly effect. i get people asking me to update all the time and i genuinely feel bad, because i have absolutely no ideas or plans for it. i might try to come up with an ending of some kind?? but i wrote that like two years ago, so i have changed a LOT about my writing since then.

16. what are your writing strengths?

dialogue and humour, i think. and sometimes writing lack of emotional communication (if that makes sense — i like to try and write around an emotion).

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

i over explain a lot. and i overuse dialog ur tags sometimes. i have a Very Specific scene playing out in my head and i want everyone else to see it like i’m seeing it, which is my downfall a lot. i’ve been trying to work on implicit stage directions.

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

i think sometimes it’s necessary? it can be a good tool for humour, like with cussing that can’t be achieved in english. but while i understand and read several languages i have always always struggled to speak or write in them. it’s very frustrating so i often avoid the subject entirely lol.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

i’ve been writing fanfic in my head since before i knew what it was, but i started typing things at around 11 when i used to homestuck roleplay with my friends lol. messy messy times.

20. favorite fic you’ve ever written?

oh i am my own target audience. i have several.

i need a man (who’s patient and kind): keith-centric post canon (divergence) fic where lance takes him to his family and keith is good with kids and just keith being loved is the whole point. always.

what if i lose it all: an alternate universe where lance, as a baby, loses both his parents, and then is raised by his oldest siblings. in luis’ pov.

when does a ripple become a tidal wave (when does the reason become the flame): brogane fight & angst canon divergence post season 6; covering shiro’s guilt complex and keith’s unwavering loyalty

he’s into superstitions (black cats and voodoo dolls): halloween verse with witch lance and vampire keith! i have barely spoken about this au on here but rest assured i’m thinking about it all the fucking time

the applebee’s universe: modern au with young keith and lance learning how to love each other

ceilings (plaster): non-linear dream-like fic that’s just so trippy and strange i’m obsessed with it

if the sky comes falling down (for you) there’s nothing in this world i wouldn’t do: a keith character study about how the biggest bleeding heart in the universe loves

the hana universe: brogane-centric universe as their family starts rocky and grows

thank u again for the tag zen <33 open offer for anyone else who would like to hop on!!

[majorproblems77]

Sacred realm, Sacred realm, Sacred realm!!!!!

OH BOY, I AM EXCITED ABOUT THIS ONE

Prepare yourself for the most excited screaming you've ever heard because this update is wonderful and I love it and I'm so excited about it that I'm writing this instead of sleeping and it will be worth it.

Set the clock its 12.45am lets see if I can do this before I have to go to bed for the morning shift.

Alright, now for the important stuff! Sacred realm belongs to @zelda-the-sacred-realm, and all art from the comics belongs to the comic artist. I've got their permission to do these!

Link to the comic can be found here! :D

Now, get some popcorn and if your like me probably an energy drink too and lets goooooo!

Firstly...

HI

HELLO THERE

OH MY

Big evil big bad. Who's hair is stunning i could never ngl.

(Investigates)

It's awesome to see the black knight like this. (I believe that's right? Correct me if I'm wrong.)

Though im trying to figure out what he found unexpected? Is it Sky? Is Sky the unexpected thing? Good, No body expects the blorbo to come out of the medallion and whoop ass.

Self-sacrificing boy please you are in pain

Cinnamon roll link please i know you're not used to this, but he's got this

He's so damn pretty dammit, pretty boy right here. Hylia chose him for his looks first, 10/10.

Yesssssssssss

GET THEM! GET IT!

THE FACT THAT THEY JUMP IN FRONT OF HIM IS GIVING ME SO MUCH LIFE THEY ARE LIKE PROTECTIVE UNCLES OF THE SMALL CINAMON ROLL.

Like low key look how Sky is moving he's pushing towards time but moving more to the right to do so then time is. Which would indicate that he's moved rather quickly to get in front of this thing.

They have to protect the small hero and it gives me life.

Okay, this all but confirms this isn't the first time they've done this.

Oh and it has to be said

BY THE POWER OF STUBBORN FRIENDSHIP!

That's a practised spell

(using a few panels from this update here) Chapter 4 - part 1

So, I think that the last time the spirits gathered was sometime around when Twilight was still alive, we know that Time had direct contact with Twilight because of the comic panels in the last update.

We also know that Time recognised Sky when he first appeared in the last update.

So there one of two explanations

The medallion or something akin to it has been used in a previous hero's journey. And so some of the spirit already know each other

Or being a spirit grants them foresight that they can just fight with each other like this.

Im more inclined to lean towards the first one at this stage because of that recognition from time but to be honest I think we need to meet Twilight first before we get any answers about that.

I am also going to assume the element that time yields is Electricity (Or time haha.)

It looks like lightning, but we've also seen him use a time spell so I'm not entirely sure at this stage.

Gonna lean towards lighting tho, it suits him

YEAH GET HIM!

He looks so tired, and the lines against him have been growing longer. I assume its more and more of the barrier sucking his energy away.

Pretty boy alert

i am once again an advocate for the Sky is the Best Bean Club he just needs a nap he's going to be fine

Also, Medalion jails for Sky because he's eepy.

I assume this is how we are going to keep Sky out of this arch, he is too tired and is resting from doing this now. I hope we see you soon blorbo!

HA

This made me chuckle, Time just grabbing him by the waist like the child he is brings me joy (Im aware Link isn't a child but he is in the cinnamon roll outfit right now so he is a child)

And time is older than him and is at current the only one who can help with the current predicament.

We interupt the end of this post for a Sky appreciation segment because he is the best bean and is my blorbo and got a bunch of great panels this update

He

Being the hero

Jumping into harm's way

The face of determination

He

Sleepy

Sleepy boy we got sleepy sky and I love him

Okay im done, We shall get back to the end now.

That's everything from me! :D

I hope you enjoyed my rambling please do let me know if you spotted anything I didn't! Thanks for hanging out with me and for uhh, also hanging out as I yell excitedly about my blorbo because, to be honest, I love him and it wouldn't be something from me if I didn't soooo....

Yeah!

Thanks again to the artist for letting me do this! I really appreciate it!

Have a great night!

[lych33dragoncookie]

((Long ask/ramble incoming)) Hallo :> I absolutely adore your analysis on the ending of GC/BS’s update !!! I do agree it’d overall be a better ending if Burning Spice did have his Soul Jam taken away, but… I can kinda understand why they didn’t do that?

The obvious “ooo final showdown Ancients vs Beasts!!!1!1!!1!1�� thing that Devsisters probs wants to do aside, why would a character like Golden Cheese want the Light of Destruction? GC would want nothing to do with that power, in my mind. It’s the opposite of what she wants, and she wouldn’t want the Light of Change either- she’s fine with her kingdom as it is, ever growing. Yes, she could take it to safeguard it, but she hardly has any cookies awakened from their soulcheeses right now. Just Smoked Cheese. She’d have to keep it with herself. IIRC she’s also going to go see White Lily at the end of the story, and she knows that there are other Beasts out there looking for their Soul Jams, and GC doesn’t know much about the other Beasts. What if one of them took the Light of Destruction from her? Who knows whether it’d work or not, but it’s still a risk. Though, it is a lesser one than leaving it with its original owner, I will admit.

Gah, it still sucks that they didn’t do something like that though. Maybe with Golden Cheese’s new power, she could’ve awakened Burnt Cheese and Mozzarella to help guard the Light of Destruction while she goes and does… whatever she’s going to do with White Lily? I’m not even sure how she’d find the Faerie Kingdom, if that’s what she’s gonna do. Isn’t it hidden from outsiders?

Also, yeah the way they treated Nutmeg was horrid tbh. They didn’t even show her doubting her ideals at all. She’s still stuck in her ways, even after Smoked Cheese gives her that whole speech. And she’s proven right! What kind of character development is that?! It’s both boring and disappointing. Devsisters almost did it… they almost made a good story… but no. It’s sad, honestly. I loved the update until the ending- I’m not good at spotting flaws in a story on first watch but even I felt something went wrong. Now it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Oh yeah, obviously when I say she should have taken his soul jam I don't mean it so much in the same way the Beasts do it; take it, and make sure it never sees the light of day again. No attempt to absorb it whatsoever. Honestly, it's not like she doesn't have a place to keep it, and she does still have the cheesebirds to either make some sort of chamber or other containment area for it, alongside whatever other vaults her kingdom still has, and honestly depending on how much stronger her light of abundance is now, she could potentially keep one of her 3 besties (or multiple) alive long enough that she's able to take care of the stuff she needs to do while not risking the soul jam being taken obv she'd want nothing to do with the power itself, big duh there, but at the end of the day if she never uses it and makes sure it's tightly secured, it's just... kind of another treasure, yknow? hell, it could even be able to serve as a trophy of sorts if she's into that kinda thing

but like yeah she does have the infrastructure and the help and the means to keep it hidden and make sure it never falls into the wrong hands ever again, and considering she's a hoarder as is it wouldn't exactly be out of character for her, i'd say

honestly yeah tho. even if ur not in camp "JUST TAKE THE FUCKING SOUL JAM" like i am it's kind of undeniable how underwhelming this entire ending was on multiple ends. maybe someday if i'm feeling GC/BS strong enough i might make a combination fanfix/ship/redemption fic of some sort, though knowing me i'll probably end up making it 10k words like the WL/DE one and frankly that's an undertaking and a half lol

[kinnato]

First ever fic cause i’m so bored and i don’t wanna do HW, It’s 4 AM, I’m tired, and gay so this is what you’re getting. Don’t interact if you’re homophobic or other stuff i don’t care what you think on this ship. Won’t update again probably, fic was ended early on cause i’m TIREDDD, also was not proof read so sorry if the grammar isn’t 100%. 1k words.

The rumbling of thunderous strikes plague Los Angeles, it streaks across the ever darkening night sky, painting the sky a violently beautiful blue. It highlights a certain mansion, home to an actor, but if you ask him he’s not ‘just an actor’. He’s an award winning director and actor, hot people can be talented too. The smell of rain is running through the house, the hearing of the puttering-pitting rain drops on the window, begging to be inside. A young man stirs awake from the light of his phone on the bedside table buzzing, a light flashes from the notification displaying the actor’s wall paper. It displays a blurry photo of a portal, the camera was shaken when it was taken as if it was hit.. perchance by an ex yakuza member?

The man tries to ignore it, but as one says ‘curiosity killed the cat’ and if one receives a notification in the middle of the night what’s the harm in waking up a little the actor believes as he stretches up, his hair falls on his face covering his eyes. He runs his hands through his soft brunette hair pushing it back as he stretches his back hearing cracks, the soreness of such leading into a slouch, but he puts his back up straight as he licks the dryness of the night off of his lips and grabs his phone. A few unsuccessful annoyed attempts at Face ID due to it being so dark, his phone unlocks and he sees the notification. The actor listens to it it.

“Johnny, my apologies for texting you so late into the night, may I stay for a while until my flight goes? Signed, Kenshi Takahashi.”

There’s a verdant green around the text message, Kenshi is adamant about not buying an IPhone due to the obscene cost. Johnny chuckles quietly to himself, of course Kenshi would use a voice message like he would a letter, that stubborn man would rather get blinded again then give up his manners. Johnny sends an audio message back, he clears the night time gunk out of it with a few ‘m-mms.’ and drinks water to lubricate his larynx. After all of this he still sends a voice message that sounds like Johnny just stirred away, in which he did.

“Kendoll you already know you are welcome at any time baby. Love Johnny.”

He shorthand mocks Kenshi’s manners, ignoring the fact he causes a blush like a anthill reacting when boots step on it. As if clockwork, the sound of a doorbell echos throughout the house, hitting its way to Johnny’s ears. Johnny stands up quickly and rushes not even taking in the darkness of the house, ignoring the need to turn on lights due to the harshness, he wraps a soft velvet robe with the initials ‘JC’ on the back. It was soft and smelt like lavender, the texture of the velvet like an enrapturing warmth in the coldness of the home, well… it’s gonna be home once Kenshi steps inside.

The unprotected feet feel the bitter cold of the floor as Johnny practically limps tiredly to the door. He’s “busted as hell”. He has dried drool on his chin horrifyingly matching his unshaven stubble and eye bags from tirelessly working on his ‘Mortal Kombat’ script.

His hand opens the door and he meets Kenshi. Kenshi is wearing a button up shirt, and pants. He’s drenched in rain water, his blindfold still on tight as ever.

“Thank you, Johnny.” Kenshi says as he walks inside and closes the door. The lighting still streaks every once in a while. Johnny chuckles handsomely at this man is in disarray. “Rough night with the ladies?”. Johnny jokes as he takes Kenshi’s hand. He leads the blind man throughout the house to a bathroom to dry off.

“No, just my flight to Japan got cancelled.” Kenshi spoke, his voice gruff from coughing out from the cold. “Still wearing my gift huh?” the actor chuckled as he noticed, when they get to the bathroom Johnny braces as he turns on the lights. He grabs Kenshi’s hand and places it on his cheek. “I haven’t forgot what you’ve done for me, but” a short silence comes. “where’s Sentō?” Johnny says confused, it’s attached to the blind man almost always. “Sent through TSA before hand so I won’t get jumped by the agents if I try to get on with a sword. “Oh, alright how the hell did you get here?” Johnny asks confused, Kenshi doesn’t respond.

“I want to remember your face.”

Kenshi spoke quietly as his hands slowly start tracing Johnny’s face. Johnny’s face reflects the shortest wavelength back at Kenshi too embarrassed to talk. Kenshi felt the warmth spread to his palm, he doesn’t comment on it and continues tracing Johnny’s face with his hands.

“Kenshi you’re gonna catch a cold, you’re still wet.” Johnny speaks, then Kenshi drags his thumb over Johnny’s lips to hush him. “Shh..” he breathes out, he feels the grooves in the man’s smile lines, the soft hair on top of his head, the ridge on his nose, and the growing stubble.

The taste of anticipation lingers on Johnny’s tounge, he lets the blind man explore his face, taking time with it. “Am I as pretty as you met me?” Johnny chuckles out, Kenshi groans but still continues tracing his face. He pulls his hands away and starts to take off his clothes, Johnny respectfully looks away. “Johnny, grab some of your clothes for me.” Kenshi says, Johnny goes quickly. His eyes already accounted for light as he turns on the lights on the house with the help of his alexa

Johnny comes back with clothes, his heart pounds in his chest as he sees Kenshi naked wrapped in a towel in front of him. “Wasting no time I see?” Johnny jokes and pins Kenshi to a wall, clothes in his other hand as he smirks. “I can practically smell your shit eating grin Johnny, give me the damn clothes.” Kenshi laughs out as he smiles along too.

“You can eh?” Johnny cocks a brow and puts his head into Johnny’s neck smiling, Kenshi feels it.. and some nips from Johnny.

“Watch it!” Kenshi laughs out as he kisses Johnny’s forehead. “Man I missed you, do you really have to go? I can help y’know I did beat you.” Kenshi just sighs. “Johnny I have to fight for my clans honor, besides you have a movie.” Johnny groans and he almost angrily hands Kenshi his clothes as he un pins him and leans on the counter looking away for Kenshi to change. “Alright alright sexy face, just promise me you’ll stay in touch.”

Kenshi gets changed and leisurely relaxes on Johnny. “Fair.” Kenshi and Johnny away quietly to the rain and thunder as they eventually creep into bed, cuddling eachother until they fall asleep intertwined in love and comfort.

[skylathescholarly]

The Terrible Fire of Old Regret (fic under the cut)

A One Hundred Days to Become a Wayne (by @maccreadysbaby) story

TW: Child abuse, violence, panic attacks

So! If you follow the lovely @maccreadysbaby, you may find a thread where we both shouted at each other (in a good way) over this lil oneshot. If you haven't read their fics, you can find the first installment here, and if you love the Batfam you need to read it. You'll also need to in order to understand this, haha. But anyway! Most of the dialogue is taken straight from her story. It covers chapter 1-3 in 100 Days (plus some stuff I made up that doesn't happen in the original, but is implied to have happened) and is Dick's POV of chapter 7-8 in 100 Days. Chapter title from Bitter Water by the Oh Hellos. Hope you enjoy!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dick swung through the streets, reveling in the swing and release of his grappling hook. It was good to get out and clear his head. He’d been having a weird feeling lately, like something was coming. 

It was probably nothing. They were tracking a new metahuman, those cases always got on his nerves. It was dangerous for metas in Gotham, and they also really didn’t need to be adding to their Rogue gallery anytime soon. 

“No. It’s… I don’t know. It’s like all of these reporters are scared of her for no reason. None of them point back to anything she’s done, all the photographs are of her just… walking around.” Barbara said over the comm.

“Then how do they even know she’s a metahuman?” Dick asked. 

“I don’t know, I’m looking into it,” Barbara replied. “Facial recognition software pinged her on the Northern outskirts of Gotham. Nightwing, you’re closest, but I’m sending her coordinates to everyone. Stay sharp.”

“Always am,” Dick grinned.

“Lots of these reports say they saw her in a dream-like state before they ever saw her in person. One from the blog Drew Confidential says: I’d never seen the girl before in my life, until I fell asleep that night. I could hear her voice and see her botched face. It was like I could feel her in my head, and I knew she had to be stopped. I didn’t know, however, that I would see her, yellow hood tugged over her head, walking right by my office building the next day. I knew her name without ever speaking a word to her — Secret Keeper. Several of the first hand accounts talk about dreams coming first, and then seeing her for real.”

“Okay, weird. I’m just going to be busy walking elderly people across the road.” Steph cut in. Dick smirked at the comment, but quickly returned his attention to the task at hand. 

“She’s moving to the East, Nightwing. Slowly — looks like she’s just walking down the street. Keep your head on your shoulders.” Barbara instructed. 

“Gotcha.”

“Red Robin, standby to assist,” 

“Standing by,” Tim replied.

Dick silently followed Barbara’s directions. Secretly, he had to agree with Steph. What the eyewitness had described was more than a little creepy. The creepy parts of the night job were always the worst. 

“Oracle, I’m closing in on her position,” Dick updated the Cave. He hoped Bentley wouldn’t watch if it got to be too much. The kiddo didn’t need any more trauma than he already had. Anything to keep him out of the field. Maybe one of us can be the lucky one for once. 

Suddenly he saw her. Blonde, dressed in yellow, standing on the ground below him. She looked… weirdly calm. 

“I’ve got eyes on her,” Dick said. “And she’s… got eyes on me?”

“Elaborate, Nightwing.”

“She’s waving at me. She was waving as soon as I walked up, like she knew I was coming,” because that wasn’t creepy at all. Oh no, am I gonna get kidnapped? Not this week, please, I’ve got stuff to do. 

Barbara sighed. “Well, she hasn’t done anything yet, so the most we can do is monitor from afar. I’ll let the police know where she was and keep her pinged on the Batcomputer, for now.”

“Alrighty,”

“I’m also going to set up the system to alert us when she gets near large public gathering places — schools, the library, malls, the bank, county buildings,” Barbara said, and by her tone Dick knew she was already working on it. 

“Roger that, Oracle. Should I-” Dick suddenly gasped as agonizing pain shot through his head. He could honestly say that in all his years of crime fighting, he’d never felt such piercing pain. He tried to form the words he needed to call for backup, to warn his family, to ask for help, because it hurt- black spots swam in his vision and he knew he was too late. He barely felt himself crumple to the ground. 

When he opened his eyes, he didn’t recognize his surroundings. It almost looked like Wayne Manor, but he knew intrinsically that it wasn’t. It was too… dark. At the sound of light laughter, he got up and walked across the hall. The rest of the house seemed to be decorated just as classically, if a bit over the top for Alfred’s usual tastes. Everything around him felt real enough, but one could never be sure in Gotham. He could even just be dreaming in the Cave. A really weird, hyper-realistic dream, but still. A guy could hope. He found the source of the laughter in a sitting room, and snuck into the room, sure he wasn’t able to be seen. He wasn’t sure what was happening-either some new Scarecrow drug or the Secret Keeper. Lovely. Dick prepared himself mentally, but… even then, his usual protections fell short. 

Bentley. That was a tiny baby Bentley, sitting on a chair much too big for him, in a tiny suit that looked supremely uncomfortable, staring at the three adults in the room with a serious, wide-eyed gaze. The kid couldn’t be more than five, but he wasn’t fidgeting at all. Dick began to feel sick. Were these Bentley’s real memories, or an elaborate lie his brain was concocting? Or even the Secret Keeper’s doing? 

The adults were talking, Dick heard snippets of conversation that sounded like business matters, and he had to wonder what Bentley was doing here. Maybe it was a weird rich kid thing. Tim might know. 

Dick turned his attention fully to the adults as the two guests started exiting. Bentley’s father-no, Bentley has a better dad now. A better family. This man is nothing. Whittaker saw the others out, and returned to the room to collect Bentley. Dick watched warily. He knew Whittaker was an abusive piece of trash, but none of them had really pushed Bentley into telling details. From various nightmares he’d helped Bentley through, though, he knew Whittaker was physically and emotionally abusive, and Bentley often dreamt about a dark closet. He had a terrible feeling that what he was seeing was real, and that he was about to get up close and personal with Bentley’s worst nightmares. 

He wanted to see. He wanted to run away. He wanted to grab the tiny Bentley and hold him as tightly as possible. He wanted Bruce to handle it. He didn’t want anyone else to have to see it. 

Bentley hopped off the chair as Whittaker approached, a hopeful look on his tiny, squishy face. He was so little. Were five year olds normally this small? Was he even five? 

“Did I do good, Father?” Little Bentley asked, and despite the tension growing in his chest, Dick had to resist the urge to coo at the toddler. 

“Shut up, Bentley. Go to your room, I have work to do.” Whittaker said dismissively. Dick clenched his fist. 

“But-”

“Go! Do you want to spend the night in the closet, Bentley?” 

“No, sir, please don’t-”

“Go to your room.”

“Yes, sir.” 

Dick watched as Bentley ran out of the room, barely holding back the tears. He followed the boy, trying to put aside his anger at Whittaker in favor of comforting the child. Everything felt way too real to be an illusion or hallucination, and as crazy as it seemed, he might have to start considering time travel. He had to admit, though, it was mostly wishful thinking. Maybe if he got sent back in time, he could make a difference in Bentley’s life sooner. He made sure he wasn’t seen as he followed his baby brother to what he assumed was his room. 

Bentley scrambled onto the bed and buried himself under the covers, and Dick flinched as he heard the unmistakable sound of someone choking back their sobs. Bentley was trying to cry as silently as possible, probably out of fear of his father. He desperately wanted to comfort the kid, but wasn’t sure he should. Would Bentley freak out? He was dressed as Nightwing. Bentley didn’t live in Gotham or Bludhaven, he probably had no clue who Dick was. He didn’t want to scare Bentley more than his father had. No, maybe he’d wait and watch, as much as it pained him to do so. 

Almost as soon as he’d decided to leave Bentley alone for now, the scene dissolved and Dick found himself back in the sitting room. Confused, he turned and saw Bentley, but it was the same Bentley that Dick had first met all those months ago. Small, scared, and pale. Brave, hopeful, and kind. And sleepy. Dick watched as Bentley’s eyes drifted gently shut and his chin sunk toward his chest. 

“Aw, John… looks like your little helper got a bit sleepy. How sweet is that?” A female voice said. Dick turned long enough to see two people, obviously potential business partners. He didn’t spend too much time on them though, instead focusing his attention on Whittaker. It would’ve been invisible to a civilian eye, but to him who’d been Bat-trained since he was eight, he saw the brief flash of anger. Bentley jerked upright as Whittaker strode toward him, chuckling. 

“It seems as though he has. Let me take him up to bed.” He gathered the boy into his arms. Bentley wrapped his arms around his father’s neck and laid his curly red head on his father’s shoulder, the very picture of youthful innocence, but Dick could see the tense lines in his shoulders, the slight tremble to his fingers. No nine-year-old should ever have those traits. 

Dick ran after Whittaker as he carried Bentley down the dark halls. Once they were on the other side of the house, Whittaker stopped and abruptly dropped Bentley onto the floor. Dick cried out and lunged towards the boy, but he was too slow. Bentley hit the ground with a thud and a soft whimper, and Dick turned on Whittaker, furious. What the heck? Why did he even have Bentley with him in his stupid meetings if he was just going to beat him up for being a kid? 

“Get up,” Whittaker said, a cruel edge to his voice. Bentley obeyed wordlessly. “How many times do we have to talk about you not embarrassing me during meetings? It’s always something with you. You’re tired, you’re hungry, you don’t feel good,”

“I’m sorry,” Bentley whispered as he brought his hands up to wrap around his middle. “I was really tired.”

“Yeah? Well I’m really tired of your excuses.” Whittaker said. Dick jumped forward to stop the hit he saw coming for Bentley’s face, but his hand seemed to slide right off of the attacker’s arm, and he shouted as Whittaker slapped Bentley-his own son, just a little kid-in the face. Bentley jumped and staggered back. His hand reached up to his cheek, and Dick choked as his little brother whispered a small, 

“I’m sorry.” 

Tears were now pooling in Dick’s eyes, and he tried to blink them away and focus on Whittaker. He was moving toward Bentley again, and Dick was too slow, he was trying to get Bentley away, he couldn’t move-

Whittaker gripped Bentley’s arm tightly and dragged him around the corner. All Dick could see was Bentley’s terrified, pale face, as Whittaker dragged him toward a white door. 

“No! Father, please… I promise I won’t do it again. I promise. Please don’t-” he begged, pleaded with the larger man, but to no avail. Whittaker simply growled something at him and tossed him roughly into the dark room behind the door. Dick heard another small thud as Bentley hit the ground again, and he wanted to scream. Why couldn’t he help? He was so useless, it was Ethiopia all over again, he wasn’t enough-

Whittaker deadbolted the door and left, not seeing Dick standing helplessly in the hall. Dick rushed toward the door, tried to open it, to get in, to save his baby brother, but his fingers kept slipping off the lock. He couldn’t open it, couldn’t unlock it, why?

“Father! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Bentley was screaming, but then he finally gave up, and all Dick could hear from inside the closet was silence. Awful, dead silence. 

“Bentley! Bentley, please, it’s okay, I’ve got you, I’m right here! Bentley!” Dick cried, near frantic. He was still desperately trying to open the door as it dissolved into darkness like before. It gave way once again to an elaborately furnished office. Bentley was sitting on a chair on one side of a large desk, and Whittaker occupied the desk chair. 

“You know I love you, right?” Whittaker said, and cupped his hand around Bentley’s cheek. Dick tried to cross the room to rip Bentley away, but he felt like he was running through mud. 

“You… you what?”

“I love you,”

“The way I treat you, the way I raise you — I do it so you can be successful,” Dick saw Bentley start to trust the gentle touch, to lean into it. 

“I teach you the hard lessons so you don’t have to learn them from anyone else,” Whittaker stroked Bentley’s face. “Because I want what’s best for you. I always have.”

“No, Bentley, no baby, don’t listen, we love you-” Dick felt like he was being ripped apart. 

“And that, son, is how you manipulate someone,” The man said, and walked away from his desk. Bentley was unbalanced by the loss of support, and Whittaker’s expression regained its cruel edge.  “With your words, your touch, your eyes… you can make people fold in the blink of an eye. People you never thought would fold. You believed me, didn’t you?”

“No! No, you- you- stop!” Dick practically screamed in Whittaker’s face, but the man looked right through him. 

“I… you don’t… you were lying?”

Dick turned toward his little brother just in time to see the heartbreak unfold on his little face. 

“I’m going to teach you how to do what I just did to you. How to take people's pasts, their desires, their fears, the tiniest sliver of information they present to you… and twist it into a net they can’t get out of. How to tie strings around the wrists and ankles of every person you meet so they bend to your will. Move when you move.” Whittaker pulled a stack of files from the desk. “I’ve asked myself for a long time, what’s the most efficient way to get rid of my rivals? To silence them? It's been right in front of my face for as long as I can remember. Sales people, businessmen, they live, thrive off of pulling the right strings, moving the right parts, saying the right things… they’ve made manipulation, deception, into a career. But us, we’re going to make it into a superpower. And you… into a weapon.”

Dick couldn’t hold back anymore. He sobbed as he tried to hold Bentley, to take him away, to cover his ears, but he just couldn’t seem to affect anything. 

“These are going to be your main targets.” Whittaker said. Dick guessed they were the Wayne family folders, but he didn’t care. “But first, you need training. Let’s start with this,” 

Bentley and Dick yelled out in surprise and anger respectively when Whittaker’s hand thwacked across the child’s face, hard enough to shake the office chair and leave a painful red mark on Bentley’s cheek. “You must not allow yourself to be so easily deceived. If you’re going to be using it as a weapon, you must be immune to it yourself.” Whittaker eyed his young son with distaste. “Don’t you dare start crying.”

Dick sobbed harder. Bentley didn’t move. 

��You know who else thrives off of manipulation? Children. They cry to get what they want, or to make people feel bad. It’s instilled in you simply for existing as a human being. And while you’ve learned over time that you can not manipulate me with childish antics… you will learn just how far you can take people before they teeter off the edge. We’re going to pull that instinct out of you until it’s all you are. All you know. I’m going to turn you into a human Puppeteer. One that can twist and weave its way into the unsuspecting consciousnesses of strangers and control them, make them feel and believe things that aren’t really there. A weapon that can’t be found. Do you understand?”

“I… understand, father.” Bentley said, but his voice sounded thick. Dick didn’t know how much more he could take. 

“Good,” Whittaker tossed a protein bar on the desk in front of Bentley, and Dick nearly threw up at the look of joy and thankfulness on Bentley’s face when he saw it. “It seems you have much reading to do. When you finish, we’ll discuss how you can use that information to make the Waynes weak at the knees.”

Bentley happily began to eat the measly protein bar and look at the files. Dick tried and tried to get Bentley to see him, to hear him, but nothing worked. He was still trying to get the boy’s attention when the room faded to black again. 

He knew he should be trying to focus on figuring out what was going on, could hear Bruce’s voice in his head telling him to slow down, think logically, but he couldn’t. Bentley was in trouble, his baby brother was getting hurt and again-always, always-he couldn’t do anything, he was too late, he was in space, he didn’t listen-

The darkness once again pulled away and Dick was standing in another sitting room. Whittaker was staring at a portrait of a woman on the wall, a glass of alcohol in his hand. His eyes were red, he was crying, and Dick hated him. Hated him with every fiber of his being. His attention was drawn toward the door on the other end of the room, and he saw Bentley peer inside, fear and curiosity on his face. When he saw his father crying, something unreadable crossed his face. 

“Father?” he said timidly. Even with this monster, he’s always kind. Dick thought, but his reflection on his brother’s unfailing empathy was chased from his mind when Whittaker leapt from his chair and punched Bentley in the face. Dick screamed as Bentley flew into the air and crashed down hard on the floor. The ten-year-old pressed his hand against his mouth as tears pooled in his eyes. 

“Stop it, stop, stop, he’s just a kid-” Dick shouted at Whittaker, but the man marched toward Bentley without a glance in Dick’s direction. Bentley scrambled backward, utter terror written in every line of his body. 

“What have I told you about invading my privacy?!” Bentley’s back hit the wall, Dick’s feet seemed to be cemented in place. “Tell me!”

Bentley curled into a little ball, and Dick saw rather than heard the sobs rack his body. 

“Stop crying!” Whittaker raised his hand and threw the glass toward the child, his son. 

“No!” Dick screamed, and lunged forward, but his hands just slipped off the glass, not deterring it in the least. The glass barely missed Bentley’s head and shattered against the wall. Strong liquid pooled on the floor, and the scent of heavy alcohol, fear, and anger made Dick want to gag. 

“Just… just… go put yourself… in the closet,” Whittaker grumbled. When Bentley simply looked up at him, he shouted, “Now!” 

The boy stumbled to his feet,and in his hurry, pressed his hand against the shattered glass. Blood joined the already nauseating smells in the air. Dick remembered that wound. They’d helped him dress it. 

“Get out of my sight, boy!” Whittaker slurred as he sat down. “Knew I shoulda’ given you away after your mother died. Worthless excuse of a human being.” 

Dick heard the words as he followed Bentley out, and he knew the boy had, too. I hope he knows better now. I hope he knows we love him. Bentley’s small frame shook with sobs as he huddled in a bathroom, but after a while, he bandaged his own hand and cleaned the blood from the floors and walls. Dick hated the blank, miserable expression on the child’s face as he closed himself into the closet. Dick tried to comfort him, tried to hug him close, but he couldn’t do anything to dry Bentley’s tears, and he was soon crying as well. 

“Dick…” Bentley’s voice said in the darkness. But it wasn’t the young Bentley still crying in the dark next to Dick. It was his Bentley. His babybird. “It’s okay. Nothing scary is happening.”

As soon as Bentley finished speaking, Dick was pulled violently from the darkness of the closet. He was in the sitting room, Whittaker was slapping Bentley. He saw Bentley cry himself to sleep because he was so hungry. He saw Bentley get locked out of the house as a toddler for interrupting a meeting. He saw Whittaker strike his son again and again and again and again and again, and he couldn’t move, and Bentley kept getting hurt, and Whittaker starved him and yelled at him and never ever touched him without causing pain and Dick screamed and sobbed and begged everything he knew for it to stop. 

Until it finally did. Until he woke up in the Cave, Bruce sitting next to him. Until he sobbed into his father’s shoulder and begged him to send Bentley down, he needed to see Bentley, bigger and happy and safe. Until he could finally, finally hug his baby brother.