#and how Robin is slipping into that same mindset

[thediktatortot]

I love the Steve Harrington is Autistic HC but let me be even more nuanced with it. I think Steve also has ADHD.

Often times people who have both ADHD & Autism can look very different from those who only have one or the other and for me, who falls into both categories myself, completely see Steve as an AuDHD haver.

Lots of times people will think that just because you have Autism or ADHD, you are less likely to have friends or be popular but that's like...legit not the case. It's often found that there are TONS of well known, popular and well liked people who have both or either of these diagnoses.

For me, when I was still in highschool, I was fairly popular in a sense (not necessarily the 'cool' person but I had a lot of friends in a lot of different friend groups (Jocks, Nerds, Preps, Etc.) and I was able to get along with people pretty well because I was able to adapt easily and on top of that I personally was socialized as a girl and learned to mask very early in my life.

Steve comes from an affluent background, which I can easily say having family who have the same theme as Steve's parents do, you learn to mask early in those environments. You learn to be like everyone else or be shunned, you learn how to appease your family to stay out of trouble and you learn how to act different around different people.

So I have no doubt in my mind that if Steve was AuDHD, he'd have social masking down pact.

Also, we don't see his mask slip until he comes under extreme pressure. Not only does schooling get harder for many of us as highschool moves on, falling behind slowly because we thought we were smart or told we were smart and then began to fall behind. You can see that Steve's grades aren't perfect & he doesn't have the best time in his last years of schooling, but, he's still doing well on the basketball team and still has his popularity regardless, giving him friends and other pass times to focus on.

He's good at socializing, learning to socialize and learning people around him. He watches them, he follows conversation when others around him are talking and he will try to put his own input along side it how he knows or thinks is right.

Once the Upside Down happened? It added a complete and utterly unliftable overload of stress on top of him that made his mask crack, forced him into a mindset he'd never been in and the carefully crafted mask and pillars of his own social community he had built crumbled. This forced him to have to change course and change how to does things, once again falling back into the learning pattern of his surroundings while also setting him back hard and isolating him to a point.

We see he loves hard, loves openly and assumes people understand that. Nancy didn't want the same things that Steve did, and her actions and emotions towards Steve weren't really understood by him until she told him exactly how she felt.

Steve doesn't have any issues with personal space, but he also does. He gets in people's space, but people getting into his space is not always wanted.

Steve will take extra long to understand social ques, but he also learns quick and utilizes them as soon as he understands them.

Steve gets along with younger children easily because they aren't in the same social standing as him, he doesn't have to mask as hard with them or meet some social checkmark he didn't know existed. Plus some of the Party are probably also ADHD or Autistic and he quickly finds like minded friends there who aren't as dangerous to be himself around.

Robin is most likely ADHD and we can see how sometimes Steve and Robin will get overstimulated with each other on screen, both of them having things that grate on each other from conflicting issues with their own neurodivergencies.

Steve is both energetic but also reserved, he seems to find himself at a loss of how to control or move his life forward but yet we also see that he's good at following directions and taking action when the dime drops.

I know that the duffers nor Joe probably portrayed him as AuDHD but to me, looking at him and watching him from someone who is, I completely see how it ended up being that way with how he was played.

There's like, a million other things I could add to this but I have lost steam writing this xD

[a-bad-case-of-the-stephs]

@duskdog

Hiiii! Been meaning to respond to this because you raised some really interesting ideas, sorry that it’s taken me a hot sec.

The crazy part is (like a lot of things about Steph) we get conflicting information about how Bruce sees Steph in relation to her father.

Steph consistently worries Batman is judging her by her fathers actions when she’s sanctioned at Spoiler. She identifies it as a potential reason the rest of the team doesn’t trust her.

This tracks with how Steph is shown to have a pattern of feeling responsible for the Cluemasters actions (which as I’ve mentioned before I see as an extension of her helplessness to protect herself and her mother from him during her childhood).

She identifies on multiple occasions that her choice to be the Spoiler is rooted in the misgivings of her father. Clear, easy example of this mindset is when she states because her dad is an asshole, she “has a lot to make up for” (Robin 80 Page Giant). She finds herself responsible in some part for his actions.

So it makes a lot of sense that Stephanie keeps asssuming other people are holding her to this same standard, judging her based off of her fathers criminal ways.

However, this assumption is not really substantiated.

I can’t think of a time Batman says or thinks anything which implies he gives a fuck who her dad is, besides when they first meet assuming she’s working with the Cluemaster instead of against him. (I’m not perfect however and I Might have missed one)

That is, until… Bruce Wayne: The Road Home Batgirl (🎉I love talking about BWTRHB!!!!! The worlds shittiest acronym!!!🎉)

After his little assessment and convo with Steph, Bruce tells Alfred that Stephanie and Wendy “need watching”, as their dads were both “criminals”.

This train of thought comes out of nowhere. As already stated, there’s very little evidence that Batman cared much that her dad was a criminal before this point.

Additionally, half his goddamn team has criminal fathers/mothers, ranging from mob bosses to goons to cult assassins to international terrorists. What is he even saying.

This is a total inconsistency. But I can see your view kinda accounts for that hypocrisy. If Bruce sees Cluemaster as a “lesser” threat and holds him in less esteem than the more formidable villain parents, it might explain why he seems to put this bonus emphasis on Stephs parentage. (Maybe he sees Stephs fathers criminal ways as more ‘mundane’ and therefore easier for her to slip into?)

I don’t think I’m totally sold on that idea, but it’s definitely interesting.

His statement feels just so out of nowhere (and again applies to half the people he works with) that I find it hard to believe this is a consistent concern of his.

Batman’s opinion on low level thugs varies (obviously by era and writer), but the versions of him I find most compelling are when he is shown to be sympathetic and willing to help people in shitty situations get out of them (even if they were doing crime beforehand). However it’s entirely possible (and probably equally substantiable) that he has unconscious and class based biases which might affect how he acts and treats certain characters.

I’m not nearly as intensely familiar with Jason’s character as I am Stephanie, so I’m low grade blanking on any good examples of how Bruce interacted w Jason’s background (besides his generally all consuming belief that Jason was on track to worse and worse crime and eventual death before Batman took him in).

Sorry this is pretty rambly, but I thought you brought up a Rly interesting point and i had some thoughts I wanted to add on

How Batman uses the idea of those "born for" vigilantism to justify working with Teen Vigilantes before and after the death of Jason Todd, and what it has to do with Stephanie Brown.

(DISCLAIMER: I'm not trying to condemn the concept of child/teen vigilantes in superhero comics, its a staple of the genre and dumb to condemn it like you would in the real world. I'm analyzing the times in which Bruce Wayne the character has questioned the concept himself, and the rationalizations he comes to about it)

By examining Bruce Waynes mindset immediately before, during, and after Jason Todd's deadly time as Robin, we can see how Batman rationalizes and justifies teenaged vigilantism.

When Dick Grayson as Robin is shot by the Joker, Batman essentially fires him from being Robin. Bruce entirely dismisses the concept of working with a "child" to fight crime. Batman seems to believe working with Dick as Robin is simply too dangerous.

Batman #408 (1940)

His Mindset at this point: Teenaged Vigilantism = Dangerous and Bad

But this, obviously, doesn't stick. It barely takes any time at all after this forBruce Wayne to take in Jason Todd and subsequently make him the second Robin.

Crime fighting with a 19 year old is too dangerous, but crime fighting with the 12 year old? Yeah, sure, why not!

There is an obvious contradiction, and a clear change in mindset.

In order to rationalize his choice to take in Jason Todd as Robin after firing Dick, Bruce Wayne must internally reendorse the concept of Teenaged Vigilantism. And he does so in a specific way:

Batman #410 (1940)

Mindset: If Jason Todd was not Robin, he would become a criminal and die

The dying part is specific as well. When confronted at first by Alfred, its more of an afterthought, something which would occur down the criminal "road" Jason was bound to end up on. But when he is later confronted by Dick, the idea that being Robin "saved" Jasons life takes center stage.

Batman #416 (1940)

It's no longer some distant crime related death Jason was on course for, it was an imminent death which Bruce was able to save him from.

Mindset: If Jason Todd was not Robin, his "self destructive energies" and lack of "self esteem" would have killed him.

This phrasing is SUPER interesting to me, because its not true in a very specific way.

1. Jason Todd wasn't really shown to have "Self destructive energies" before he became Robin. He was stealing to make a living, to stay alive. He never showcases a desire for "self destruction", unless you count his hitting Batman with a tire iron, and his interference in Ma Gunn’s heist. Which I don't.

2. It seems to imply Jason Todd might have died because of specifically "self destructive tendancies", which seems ascribes a small amount of passive potential suicidal ideation, which is also vastly unsubstantiated by anything we see from Jason before he becomes Robin. But you know who is a character who is deeply rooted in concepts of suicidal ideation? Batman. (I'm not going prove this point here, but this concept gets more firmly rooted in the upcoming years after this comic, Knightfall being a great example) Being Batman, Knightfall will establish, is pretty much all that keeps Bruce Wayne living. You could say that being Batman saved his life.

3. Bruce admits he took Jason on because he was lonely in this very same confrontation when Dick pushes him on this idea. This makes it abundantly clear why he needs this rationalization in the first place, his real reason for making Jason Robin appears to be somewhat selfish.

But what does this all mean? For one, it proves that Batman's primary explanation for why he took on Jason Todd is lowgrade BS. It also shows how Batman's rationalization has begun to veer into projection. He states that Jason was saved from his self destructiveness by becoming Robin, something that is certainly true for himself, but not really Jason.

We see this projection fully take root when Leslie Thompkins confronts Bruce. Not only is Jason Todd saved by becoming Robin, now he wasn't even chosen by Batman. It was, much like Bruce Wayne becoming Batman, inevitable. Something he was "born" to do.

Detective #574

Mindset: I didn't chose Jason, he was chosen, he is just like me, we were born for this

This is essential. This mindset will show up again and again as a core part of Bruce's ability to rationalize working with child vigilantes once Jason has died.

Lets look at how his mindset has been evolving from before he meets Jason to his time as Robin progressing. Batman has gone from:

Teenage/Child vigilante Bad --> Child Vigilante Good because Jason would have become a crimial --> Child Vigilante Good because Jason would have died, I saved his life --> Child Vigilante is Good because I saved his life and Jason was meant to be Robin just like I was meant to be Batman, this is what we were was born to do

This is insane rationalization. But it works. For a while.

Then, Jason begins acting out, and putting himself in danger. Whoops. uh oh! How can Jason be saved by becoming Robin, if he is endangered by it? The balm for Bruce's semi-suicidal ideation was crime fighting, so if Jason is self destructive as Robin, does that mean Jason isn't like Bruce after all? Does that mean he wasn't born to be Robin? Was Bruce right in the begining? Is Teen Vigilantism Bad? Well, lucklily, the rationalization Bruce has built doesnt need to change too much in order to accommodate these new facts.

Batman #426 (1940)

See, this issue has not reverted back to being child vigilantism, it's the fact that Jason isn't ready yet.

Batman #426 (1940) / Batman #427

Batman latches onto this idea, he identifies it as "the problem". Is he wrong? No, not really. It does seem like Jason needs come to terms with his parents deaths. But this is important because it is still a rationalization for mindset he started with, still part of the reason he can be in favor of Teenage Vigilantism.

Then Jason Todd dies, as Robin. That truly breaks the underlying concept for this rationalization, that being Robin saved Jason Todd. The entire justification has fully shattered, and Bruce Wayne has lost a son. And, so because of this, in the wake of Jason Todds death, we see a full 180 revert back to the idea Bruce held onto at the end of Dick Graysons time as Robin: Teenage Vigilante = Bad.

Batman #428/ The New Teen Titans #55 (1984) / Batman #439

He has fully rejected the very concept of working with anyone, including the now adult Nightwing. He is literally right back where we started, with even deeper convictions against working with someone else (especially a kid) ever again.

But we all know this doesn't stick. He takes on 13 year old Tim Drake as Robin not long at all afterwards. As the 90's progress Bruces goes on to work with a huge variety of other vigilantes and partners, both teenaged and adult.

So how does he possibly justify this?

I believe he retrofits his rationalization for taking on Jason as Robin.

He adheres to a primary idea. The idea that some people are, like him, simply built for Vigilantism. That they, much like he once believed Jason was, "born" for it.

Mindset: Child Vigilantle is not always Good, but it can be Good. When its the right kind of teenager. Some Teenaged Vigilantes are meant to be Vigilantes just like I was meant to be Batman.

In this way, Jason Todds tragic murder is not a failure of concept, it a category error. Batmans mistake was not working with a teenager, his mistake was working with the wrong kind of teenager. Jason Todd was not built for vigilantism. But others are. This means he's still totally in the clear to work with teenagers, Tim Drake as Robin, then Cassandra Cain as Batgirl, and then eventually Stephanie Brown as Spoiler. So long as Bruce is able to believe they are "born" for it, that they are like Batman himself, meant to do this, and incapable of living a normal life, there is no contradiction, his rationalization holds.

But where’s the proof?

This mindset can be clearly seen and prominently seen when Stephanie Brown is fired as Spoiler.

When Steph is fired as Spoiler because she has moved in Bruce's mind from the "acceptable Teen Vigilante" category into the "unacceptable Teen Vigilante category". And the reasons he gives for this decision are exactly in line with the rationalization I've lain out. She is consistently contrasted to other teen vigilante characters who are fit for duty because he does not see her as "like him/them".

Detective #790

Notice how he jumps right from "Jason and Stephanie were/are not fit to fight crime" to "they could/can have a normal life" right to "unlike me and you, Cassandra Cain, who are stuck fighting crime forever". Much like how he originally justified his decision to work with Jason Todd as Robin through the idea that Jason and Bruce were both destined for this life, he applies the exact same idea, but this time, about himself and Cassandra Cain as Batgirl. And in contrast to them, and in directly comparison to Jason Todd, Stephanie is not meant for crime fighting.

Batgirl #38 (2000)

And Stephanie Brown is contrasted with Cass again, when Bruce first explains why he fired Steph to Cass. This is a consistent pattern. She is not like Cass. This is why she shouldn’t be a vigilante.

When he explains that he is going to fire Steph as Spoiler to Tim, he says something very interesting which invokes the same idea. In the list of three reasons he throw out that Steph shouldn't be Spoiler, he mentions that she is going to "throw her life away". When taken in combination with the other panels discussed, its clear to me that he means this is the common way the saying is used. That she is wasting her life by being a vigilante, that she should, as he mentions earlier, be living a normal life. But why is he saying this to Tim? If one of the reasons Steph shouldn't be Spoiler is her ability to lead a normal life, why the fuck is Tim exempt? I think it comes from a genuine belief that Tim is "like him". Unable to live a normal, non-vigilante life, "born" for crime fighting. Much like Cass, who we already saw him directly compare himself to in this exact same way. Thats why he can directly reference to Tim Steph's ability to have a normal life as a reason she shouldn't be a vigilante, he doesn't believe Tim fits the same category at all!

Robin #106 (1993)

So why the fuck does Stephanie move categories? She was acceptable earlier? What changed?

I've already done an in-depth explanation for what the subconscious underlying reason Bruce fires Stephanie: she simply is no longer useful to as a balm for his loneliness. I highly recommend checking out the post here if you are interested in the breakdown of why and how.

But in addition to that, it’s clear to me that it also has a weird amount to do with Jason Todd.

Stephanie simply and clearly reminds Bruce of Jason Todd. He points out their similarities in personality, and it’s worth mentioning the similarities in their circumstances as well (mothers who struggle(d) with drug addiction, and fathers who were criminals).

As we saw in Detective #790, their personality similarities led to Batman associating Steph with Jason. This makes sense, this association would only grow as he got to know her over the time she is sanctioned as Spoiler.

I believe this association leads to him eventually placing her in the same category as Jason, as not "born" for vigilantism at all, and as capable of having a normal life.

But it also serves as a clear way to rectify his mistakes with Jason. It’s his way of “making up for” his role in Jason's death. It’s his second chance. Never mind that this second chance leads to his assessment of Stephanie having very little to do with Steph herself, and a whole fucking lot to do about Bruce’s guilt over Jason’s death.

This is especially brutal because it seems to come from a place of genuine care (and a selfish desire to assuage his guilt too), but Stephanie doesn't get the tender moment of explanation and grief and regret that Cassandra hears. She doesn't get to know this.

What she gets, is to be told point blank that she is fired because she just isn't good enough. She gets to hear that she lacks the "skills and talent" from the same man who originally came to her to train her because he finally saw and recognized her potential. She gets told she will never be good enough by the guy who told her that she could learn and improve under his instruction. She gets two sentences. She has to fight for any more.

I cannot emphasize enough the fact that she had to track Bruce down to get an explanation for why he was suddenly ghosting her. He didn't even have the decency to tell her himself. Stephanie had to track Bruce down just so she could find out that he gave up on her.

Stephanie gets a blunt lie about why she is fired. And Bruce Wayne gets to feel good about "correcting" a mistake that had nothing to do with Stephanie. Stephanie gets cut off from her friends. Bruce Wayne gets to reconcile with his team. Stephanie gets to feel worthless. Bruce Wayne gets to feel justified.

[hargrove-mayfields]

share with us the angstiest thing you have ever written for the boys

triggering content starts after the cut. warnings: suicide, suicidal ideation, blood, substance abuse, major character death.

Before everything, Starcourt and monsters, blood baths and last breaths, Billy would knock on the double doors of the Harrington mansion exactly five times. The nights in Hawkins were long and dark, bad things happened in the small town after dark, and he always wanted Steve to know it was him. It was like clockwork, almost every night, when either of them couldn’t sleep or just needed to kill time, the sound of his knuckles against the double oaken doors rang out five times.

Now Billy was dead, and Steve would do anything to hear that knock again.

It’s been three months since they buried Billy, and Robin comes to check on Steve like she always does. They had an argument, and hed been holed up in his room since. Outside his bedroom door, Robin shifts her weight awkwardly back and forth, from her left to her right, thinking of what age could say to him from the other side of the door, but she’s frustrated, and eventually she gives up and walks away. But Steve, on the other side of that door, I’m some part of his mind, is unaware that it's her. He's in his bed for five hours without so much as moving, thinking that if he would’ve made a sound, the Russians would have found him again, and he cries silently in his bed.

He wishes he wasn’t alone.

Steve is in the hospital again. They say he can’t be trusted on his own anymore, that he needs constant supervision to keep him from ‘doing something he’ll regret’. What he really needs is to go back to the start, before abduction and drugs and death. They’ll never understand that, the five pairs of sympathetic eyes staring back at him as he sits in that stupid, stiff bed.

They can’t help him anymore, and he doesn’t want their help.

Steve doesn’t leave the house anymore. It’s not without reason, the first time he does go our, it doesn’t go well. He thought he saw something, someone just a little too familiar on the sidewalk, and he was too scared to move, instantly lost in his head. A horn blares five times, the last sharp beep piercing his haze and shocking him back into action. There’s a car behind him, and he’s parked at a green light, staring with wide eyes at the sidewalk. He drives back home like nothing happened, but he’s shaken, and he can’t stop worrying about what he saw.

Robin takes his license and his keys the same day.

Sometimes, Nancy comes to check on him while Robin’s working. They don’t trust him by himself anymore. Today’s apparently his 20th birthday, but he hasn’t known what day it was since July 4th. Every day in his head he’s back there, celebration seems pointless, almost disrespectful even. Nancy hands him a neat little stack of five gift boxes, one from her and some from a few of the kids she says. He doesn’t open them.

She leaves in a hurry, because there’s nothing really to celebrate.

It’s hard to know that there’s no joy in life left for him. Waking up and living everyday without a purpose is hard, next to impossible almost. The kids don’t need him anymore. Robin thinks he’s a burden. Billy and Hopper and 30 other people who weren’t strangers enough to forget them are dead. Everyone else moved on and he’s just stuck. He puts out his fifth cigarette against his wrist, watching the little red burn mark that forms on his skin.

He swears it doesn't even hurt, and thinks about not putting it out next time, leaving it to burn on the carpet, or in a blanket.

It’s been a year now, and they think he’s doing better. He isn’t, but they don’t need to know that. If they don’t see the tears, they don’t count. If they can’t find the scars, they aren’t really there. They wouldn’t get it anyways. It’s the Fourth of July again, and all it takes is five little firecrackers from the neighbors yard before he’s back there, back at the mall, concussed and sick to his stomach and throwing fireworks at the monster that had his Billy. And then Robin pulls him back inside and gives him something to take, and it’s over, much in the same way it was over the day Billy took a tentacle straight through the center of his chest.

He wants to change what happened that night and save everyone. He wishes he had been the one who died.

The phone rings five times before anyone answers it. Steve already knows it’s his therapist. He’s been lying and they found out. You don’t just drop thirty pounds without trying, and you don’t take too many pills by accident. They treat him like he’s crazy, like he’s broken and has no right to be after what happened, what he saw. They try to get him another job, try to make him eat three times a day and make him be social again. Steve knows it won’t work, because he’s already gone.

Everything that he went through already killed him.

A sound wakes him up. It’s the early hours of the morning and there’s a tapping on his window. Once. Twice. Three times. Four. Five. For a moment he wishfully thinks it was all a dream, but then the reality hits him. The monster is back for him, it found him and it finally came to finish what it started. He closes his eyes, but he isn’t scared, he’d felt it coming for a long time. It would come through the window and it would tear him to pieces, even if there wasn’t much left of him to begin with, and quite frankly, he was relieved. But it never comes. The sound was nothing more than a branch from the overgrown trees nobody had bothered to trim in years rapping against the side of his house. This repeats like clockwork, every night the same routine.

Steve is so, so tired.

Five knocks on the bathroom door, and he’s free of all the pain. Billy is here, and Steve isn’t sad anymore. He wants to cry when he sees him, kneeling down beside him, his golden hair and his deep blue eyes, no blood or black veins anywhere in sight, but he doesn’t think he could. There’s too much to be happy about. No more sleepless nights, no more terror plaguing his every thought, no more pitiful glances while he struggles to cope with what they did to him. Finally, it was all over, and Steve could move on.

~~~~~~~

Robin finds him in the bathtub. There’s a deep gash in each of his wrists, and a note taped to the mirror. She supposes she’s in shock, but it isn’t really surprising. For a while she could tell that they should’ve been doing so much more for him, but they weren’t. They didn’t know how.

She lets herself cry for a long while before she calls anybody. She knows that if it wasn’t for Steve, she probably wouldn’t have been able to deal with everything. Lord knows Steve couldn’t, even with what little they offered him.

She’s torn apart by the loss of the most empathetic person she’d ever met, of a brave soul and an even better leader, of her very best friend.

The faucet drips five drops at a time, and Steve’s blood is on Robin's hands.

[lunarianillusion]

A change in fate

a maribat fanfic

Chapter 08

It was so noisy; it was too noisy.

Marinette’s thoughts were running a mile a minute through her head. They were whirling around and around like a tornado. The thoughts were consumed in worries about everything that had happened in the last few days and could possibly come in the following. Her mind was overflowing with possible plans that her anxiety would then throw down into the void, only for them to resurface and overflow her mind again and the cycle would repeat itself over and over.

“Mari-”

The guardian knowledge, her thoughts, plans and worries colliding and overlapping with each other ripping each other apart, mending back together and whirling around her head like a hurricane. Her thoughts losing coherency until only a buzz like sound could be heard and it was only getting louder and louder.

“-ette…MAR-”

Her body began to feel numb as her brain stopped working coherently. She could barely move or feel her quickening breath, she did not notice her vision becoming blurry. Al the while her mind kept spiralling down, down, down, dow-

“MARINETTE!!”

The noir haired omega’s head shot up from where it had been laying on her crossed over arms. Her wide glazed over eyes locking onto a pair of concerned ocean blue eyes, but any other facial features were obscured in her hazy vision. A muffled sound, almost like rhythmic drumming sound, cut through the static haze in the girl’s ears. Was someone talking to her? She could not tell. Then her tingling hand was moved even though she did not will for it to. It took her a second to realise that the person infront of her had taken a hold on her wrist and had paced her hand a solid but warn surface, their chest.

The warmth of the clothed chest slowly chased away the numbing cold that had taken over most of Marinette’s body. She could now feel the slow rhythmic beat of the person’s heart and breathing, a stark contrast of her own erratic beating heart and stuttering breath. As if by instinct the omega began to copy the steady breathing pattern of the person infront of her and as her breath came back to her so did her vision. When it cleared up, she could see the person that had been helping her, it was Timothy.

“That it Mari, breathe. Just breathe,” The alpha spoke calmingly, his voice finally breaking through the static noise. The feeling soon returned to the girl’s body as her other senses started to calm down and her head started to clear.

Marinette let out a deep breath as she slowly removed her hand from Tim’s grip and used it to lean her head on top of instead. Closing her eyes to straighten out her last few disordered thoughts. That was one heavy attack and bless the kwami for their protection.

“You back?” the voice of the male infront of her once again breaking through her train of thought. Her eyes opening to look again at the raven haired alpha and giving him a small smile of reassurance. Her eyes drifted to her surroundings in order to pick the pieces of the morning for her memory had been foggy. With just a miniscule glace she was able to make out that she was in her classroom way before the bell would even ring. From their her memory started to piece itself back together. After having gained all the collected information from mist she had barely gotten any sleep even after the kwami’s had forced her to her bed. Her head had already started its downward spiral at that moment. That morning she had past her parents through the front of the bakery instead of going through the front door. They had said something to her, but even now she did not care what they had said and had gone straight to class when the whirlwind really overtook her.

“Y-yeah, I-I’m back,” the omega spoke softly to the alpha, who was now watching her like a hawk, with a small stutter. A moment of silence followed allowing Marinette to collect the final pieces of her scattered thoughts.

“Is it okay for me to ask what was happening inside of your head, or is it too soon?” Tim asked in a soothing tone. Marinette gave him another small smile to show her appreciation for his care. The genuine care he showed her warmed her heart, even with the suspicions she still held.

“S-sometimes the bottle cracks from all that we try to keep inside, away from the surface,” the noir girl spoke with a chuckle coming out of the alpha and omega duo. “How can I get your mind out of those thoughts?” “Just talk, the silence drags me back under,” The omega responded to the alpha’s question.

Tim gave a moment of thought to a possible subject to talk about and came to a different topic instead. “How about we ask each other some basic questions to get to know each other better?”  Though this was a nice and normal suggestion to everyday people this suggestion made Marinette’s hero mindset jump to attention at the possible recon opportunity. Maybe she can get a clue on him possibly being Red Robin. “Sure,” she answered softly.

And so, the asked each other several simple question. The very obvious questions of favourite colours and hobbies one enjoyed. Over the short time they talked Marinette noticed a topic that seemed Tim avoided talking about. “Say what is your family like, I don’t think you ever truly mentioned them since we met. Did they move with you to Paris?” The omega asked. An innocent enough question on the surface but could aid Marinette in discerning Tim’s possible relationship to Red Robin. She could ofcourse ask the kwami’s or use soul vision again. However, the headache was still bothering her greatly and made it hard to focus and this was good train for her growing detective skills. That still did not prepare her for his answer.

“They died some time ago,” the alpha’s voice was soft as he spoke and his sent was spiked in discomfort. The words made Marinette silently wince. “I am sorry. I did not mean to bring up bad memories.” Tim gave her a small smile, understanding showing in his eyes.

Still a question rose up with this revelation and concerning his age. “Do you have a guardian though? I don’t mean to say that I do not believe you can’t take care of yourself but we are of the same age and both underage, so should you not have a family or guardian with you?” Marinette asked, or rambled, as carefully as she could, maybe not as subtle as she would have wanted to be though.

Tim gave her a gently smile to reassure her from her anxious nerves. “I was taken in by a family acquaintance of my parents, who took me into their pack. But I emancipated myself a few months back, because I could not stay their any longer,” he told her in a calm manner, that made Marinette tilt her head with a hope for elaboration. Which the alpha gave. “Things started out really well but over time that foundation cracked and I did not feel welcome or save there anymore. So, I decided to start anew. I decided to move contents because I really do not feel like seeing them again and that is basically how I got here.”

No lie slipped from the raven-haired male’s lips. It took the omega slightly by surprise how honest he was about his situation. Marinette could easily tell as the emotions behind that statement lay bare in his eyes to see and the scent of regret seeping through the cracks of Tim’s control. It made Marinette feel more relaxed and made you over thinking brain ease up on her suspicions as her more sympathetic side came to life.

“I am sorry that all happened to you,” she started off, “To a certain degree I can relate to you in regard to worsening pack relationships,” The omega’s eyes were down cast as she reflected on the past few years. Timothy tilted his head with a gentle look in his eyes curious about the full story, what most likely included the lying orange sausage haired spider but waited for the girl infront of him on her own terms. The gesture was appreciated and so the words easily started to flow out of her mouth. “Believe it or not before Lie-la came along I was ‘friends’ with all of our classmates. Then the spider came along and turned all on me making them think I was a bully and now she has even ensnared my parents into her web of lies,” the midnight haired omega huffed before a conclusion she had come to hanks to this whole drama. “To a degree though I am grateful to the lying bitch,” She stated honestly, making Tim look at her in shocked surprise. “Thanks to her I was finally able to see who my friends are truly and who were nothing more then parasitise piggybacking on me for special favours,” Marinette elaborated gaining a nod of understanding from the alpha.

“I do envy you in a sense,” She continued, taking the ravenette by surprise once more. “I hate the situation that you got pulled into and I truly wish you did not have to go through that, but at the very least you were able to pull yourself out. Leave all the bad shit behind and start anew. I have tried getting out several times, but each and every time something or someone block my way to freedom.”

“Trapping you in a cycle of neglect and pain,” the alpha led out a pained breath at his own words as Marinette nodded in affirmation. The two fallen into a surprising comfortable silence, their presence soothing to the other. A part of Marinette’s brain thought that this was mostly due to the bond between true souls, but though that was definitely a factor a small part of her also thought that the raven-haired boy was someone she would truly able to trust. And being honest she did want to trust him.

“If you ever need help,” The male of the wo spoke, breaking the silence. “With trying to get away from humanity’s fucked society. Just say the word I will be happy to help,” he finished with a snap of his fingers, almost in a theatrical way.

A small playful smile grazed the female’s features as she spoke. “I will certainly call upon you should I be in need of your aid,” the omega tone sounding playfully posh. That was quickly caught by the alpha before her. “But pray tell how you would give me your aid?” This sent a banter ball rolling.

“Why can’t I look out for my fellow coffee loving insomniac with a likewise neglectful past,” Tim responded in likewise posh playful tone. “Truly one would think us to be related.”

“Oh, good heavens no,” Marinette gasped dramatically, as she placed the back of her hand onto her forehead. “I as the goddess of coffee am far too radiant to be related to you my dear friend.”

Tim gave a snort at the girl and her theatrics, before responding in in kind once again. “You are right. Your freckles make you to beautiful to ever belong to this mortal realm. I implore for forgiveness from my mistake a great mistress of the divine elixir that gives me life.”

“My, my is quite the development,” A new voice broke into the conversation. The dark-haired duo flushed at the amused voice and turned to the front of the classroom and the one who spoke. Their just on the steps leading to their seats stood an amused looking Chloé Bourgeois, a glimmer to her eyes that send a small chill down the dark-haired duo spine, and an equally amused Nathaniel Kurtzberg. At least it was not Lie-la and her posse of brainwashed fanatics.

In a graceful yet still dramatic motion, as per Chloé style, did the blond take her place beside her female omega friend. Her grin never leaving her face. Nathaniel two shuffling into his seat beside the male alpha. “Nathaniel we must prepare for the future,” the blond girl spoke first, finally turning away from the blushing pair. “If they are already fliting one this level, it will only be a matter of time before the two are married. And it is only the second day no less.”

The duo’s faces turned even more red with the statement and Nathaniel seemed to want to add some more fuel to the fire. “Yes, I think you are quite right Chloé. Before you know it, little dark-haired pups will be running amuck across Paris.” That statement drew a sound kin to a dying animal out of the dark-haired girl, much in contrast to the blonde’s badly hidden laughter. “Truly the end is nigh!”

Marinette’s face was ready to combust, if it had not already, from embarrassment. Looking through her fingers, with she had covered her face, she turned her eyes to Tim who was trying to cover his own face and was also as red as a lobster. At least she was not the only one on the receiving end of the teasing. She watched the dark-haired male take a peek at the clock and copied his action. It was almost time for the bell to ring.

“Though this is truly an enjoyable subject,” The alpha male spoke, his voice laced in sarcasm. “But unfortunately, the toxic spider and her gaggle of annoying flies will soon be upon us.” His statement made Marinette’s fellow Parisians groan along side her in misery.  

“I suggest that after this day of hell, we go over to my place and have some pack bonding time. Even get a head start on our investigation in that deceitful orange sausage, sound good,” The only blond of the group spoke. She may have said it was a suggestion but her tone left no room for question.

It still surprised the two boys at how easily the two females accepted them into their pack. A small warm smile graced Tim’s face for a moment as a warm feeling rushed through his pained heart. It soon changed into something more mischievous as the annoying sound of the liar graced his ears. “Say who wants to make a bet on the lies we will hear today.”

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

The two hidden kwami’s, Duusu and Wayzz, smiled at the turn of events. A rush of relief and feeling of gratitude flooding over them as the young dragon helped the young peafowl and new guardian out of the dark corners of her mind. A feat they had not been able to accomplish, no matter how hard all the kwami had tried, since the child’s awakening.

Marinette may not yet fully trust the boy, but in time hopefully she would. For even though the new guardian could see ones souls she could only see the surface level and could not see the dragon’s scars that reflected her very own. The two kwami present dearly hoped the two true souls would be able to help one and other heal, but only time will tell.

taglist: @moonlightstar64 @iloontjeboontje@mickylikesstuff@myazael @scribblinggraveyard @incredulous-reader@mewwitch@woe-is-me0 @fan-written@coolspidermanmusicflower@heretopasstimebi@jjmjjktth@ichigorose@cmouse @nyx-in-line@chocolatecatstheron@bookgirl14 @toodaloo-kangaroo@iglowinggemma28 @itsmeevie01

[thecaptainhelm]

Shut Your Mouth

Small daminette one-shot, aged up characters. Close to Robin V’’s retirement, close to Hawkmoth’s defeat.

Word count: 1350

Enjoy!

----

Robin irately observed the spotted hero sitting on top of the stairs leading to the second floor. She seemed to like high places, he noted to himself. She was currently using her yoyo’s compact form, tapping and scrolling through something.

The hero in question had been Ladybug, Scarlet Luck of the city of Paris. She’d come all the way from the JLE headquarters to the JLA ground site to receive tutelage under Batman and Red Robin themselves. That meant she wasn’t hopeless at least, but he didn’t see that as an accomplishment.

However, he could admit that she was a competent hero and good at what she did. He wouldn’t tolerate a daytime hero otherwise. She was good at improvisation and quick-witted, well organized and well spoken. She was decisive and leveraged herself as a pillar of strength and support for the citizens of Paris, her team included.

In that way, Robin and Ladybug had quietly bonded, being leaders of their own team and often sitting in silence together as they worked on their own tasks. It was neither amicable nor awkward, at least now and for the time being, merely productive.

And regardless of what Grayson said, he did not like her. At all. In fact, there were a number of things he detested in regards to her character.

First, there was her lack of confidence. While her image as the certain and sure-footed Ladybug was maintained by the lack of media coverage and professional conduct, she was more unsure of herself than not despite her blatant skills, effectively crippling her investigation into Hawkmoth’s identity, the most crucial aspect of her job. 

The moment someone’s opinion differed from her own she would second guess her decisions, wasting time and brain cells on a different perspective when all she needed were the facts and her own conviction.

Next, was her inane denial. She constantly proclaimed that Chat Noir was her partner, but where she saw an equal, the rest of the world saw ‘sidekick’. Granted, the cat hero could perform well, he wouldn’t still be here if he couldn’t, but he clearly did not contribute as much as he should be. 

The one left to do all the planning, coming up with strategy after strategy, as well as resuscitating the dead, dying, and brainwashed, was Ladybug. He was a sidekick who needed to stop being coddled so that he could reach his full potential. 

Lastly, was her leadership role. It was solid and her team didn’t question her judgement, he would give her that, but her team members weren’t solid enough to be relied upon. Chat was a one trick pony, more often a hindrance than not, Queen Bee had ultimately ruined any chance of wielding a miraculous again, Ryuko didn’t follow orders, Carapace was overtly prioritizing Rena Rouge over the rest of the team and Rena Rouge was recklessly endangering herself and others by either giving away her position, or clinging so close to the other heroes that she was a direct inconvenience. 

And don’t even get him started  on Viperion. One of Ladybug’s few competent allies and he retires?! For what reason, when he’s only participated in less than ten skirmishes, the lout. She needed to establish more than the ground rules, she needed to make clear expectations.

So, no. He did not like Ladybug. He didn’t hate her either. She did her job, worked with what she had, and left him to his own devices whenever they’d interact.

Except for now. Sort of.

Technically she hadn’t said anything, but every now and then she would glance up from her compact and thoughtfully observe his tight expression.

“Speak up or stop gawking,” he finally snapped. Ladybug’s thoughtful gaze quickly glimmered into something else, but it was gone before he could identify it.

“Trouble in Jump?” Robin didn’t care for being figured out so easily.

“Jump is none of your concern.” 

She tilted her head. “No, but it is yours’s. Tell me about it?”

He just glared darkly, and she raised her hands in surrender.

“Okay, I get it. I wasn’t asking to be nosy or anything, you just seem less stoic than usual, like you’re upset or angry, so I wanted to offer an ear,” she waved her hands, a foolish tell she needed to correct.

“Upset? Angry?!” He leaped up to pace around the room, cape swirling being him.

“I’m neither of those paltry emotions, angry and upset cannot begin to communicate sheer fury that boils in me!” His cadence was fast and biting.

“How much more will I have to fight to keep my position as leader of the Titans?! Have I not proven myself time and again to be trustworthy, yet my efforts are only met with scrutiny and skepticism as though I’m still that same child from all those years ago,” he dragged a hand through his hair without dislodging his hood.

“What more do they want from me, what more could I possibly give them to prove myself, how--how do I…” he trailed off from his rant, mutely horrified.

“...Robin?” Ladybug hesitantly called. “Um--?!” He rushed to stand above her on the steps.

“You will speak of this to no one.” He threatened. Her worried expression quickly flipped to that of annoyance.

“Yeah, I gathered,” She scoffed sarcastically and stood on a higher step, looking down at him.

He gritted his teeth. “You want something, so name it.”

“Pardon?”

“You wouldn’t offer something without knowing you’d receive benefits, so let’s just get this--”

“Oh Mon Dieu!” she groaned under her palm. “I’m not blackmailing you, moron. I--”

“Who are you calling moron?!” he growled.

“Just look up, damn it!” she snapped. He brashly tilted his head up.

“What--!” could looking up tell me about this situation, is what he would’ve said, but the world just…

It was as if time slowed to a crawl. Every nerve ending, each skin cell gained a hyper awareness rare outside of combat. 

What…

He could feel hot, gentle puffs of air on his right cheek. Heat was effusing through his body, soft and tender. Ladybug was closer than she’d ever been, close enough to see the detailed fibers of her mask. Ladybug was close because Ladybug was kissing him.

Why was she…? Robin couldn’t think, everything was focused on Ladybug. She pressed down and his head further tilted, accommodating her completely. Her lips were warm, sliding against his silkily, parting to slip her tongue into his mouth. The air got hotter.

Why am I…? Her tongue was slowly and possessively wrapping around his. He still couldn’t think. Then, it was over all too soon.

Ladybug pulled away with a quiet noise and he leaned into her space, eyes belatedly flickering open. When had he closed them?

“...” Robin gazed up, stunned.

“That’s...not why I offered, but I got lost in the moment,” Her blue eyes were steel, unyielding. Unapologetic. Strength left his limbs, the only reason he was still standing was because of sheer pride and willpower.

“...”

“Robin, I offered because it looked like you wanted to shut yourself away. I know what that looks like, from others as well as myself. It’s not a good mindset to be in, and I wouldn’t let you sink to that without at least trying to talk to you.” She bit her lip and he locked onto the motion behind his mask, frozen stiff.

“I...I don’t know what to say and I don’t know how to help, but I do know that I can at least listen to you so you can know that you’re heard. That you’re being understood.” She brought up her compact and input some command and his utility belt beeped.

“I just sent you my contact information. Call me whenever, for whatever.” She clasped her hand on his shoulder as she descended the stairwell.

“I gotta go deal with an akuma. See you later, yeah?” 

“....”

Just like that, Robin was left alone in the break lounge, halfway up the staircase and gaping up at the ceiling like a complete imbecile. Red, weak-kneed, and utterly stupefied.

What…?

-----

The end. Now validate me.

[bigskydreaming]

who is this gargoyle fellow 👀👀👀

The Gargoyle is a Teen Titans villain named Bromwell Stikk (oh DC, just NAILING it with the names per usual), who is probably better known as Mister Twister. He originally fought the Teen Titans when the team was just Robin, Speedy, Wonder Girl, Aqualad and Kid Flash waaaaay in their early days. One of their very first foes......probably the reason DC used him (in his Mister Twister guise) as the villain who led to the recreation of the Titans in Titans Rebirth.

But initially he was just a dude with a magic staff that he used to summon storms and put people under his spell a la the Pied Piper, that sorta thing. The Teen Titans put a stop to his big supervillain plan, and Dick managed to get Mister Twister’s staff away from him, thus rendering him powerless and he was taken into custody and vowed revenge blah blah blah.

But THEN, some other-world big bad known as the Antithesis, who was some kind of extradimensional demon who was empowered by chaos and thrived on conflict......he magically transformed good old Bromwell into the being known as the Gargoyle, to take his revenge on the Titans, and Dick in particular:

As the Gargoyle, he had the usual superstrength and was largely invulnerable, but in addition he now had a hypnotic kind of telepathy similar to the way his staff had previously enchanted people, but more in depth. Like Antithesis himself, the source of his power, the Gargoyle literally feeds on violence and anger, and usually uses his powers to trap his victims in their own minds, in false situations or memories intended to provoke a pained or violent or hateful reaction from the person, which of course just makes the Gargoyle even stronger and harder to beat. 

After he was transformed into the Gargoyle and went after the Teen Titans, they beat him again and Dick trapped him in Limbo, where he remained until a big company wide crossover event years (decades really) later, in which shit got fucked up in Hell and opened up all kinds of new doorways and escape hatches, allowing the Gargoyle to slip free. 

He went after the Titans (now grown) again, revealing he’d been watching them from Limbo since they trapped him there and plotting his revenge, and at this point his powers were such that before they realized he was on the same island as them, he was using some form of empathy/telepathy to get them riled up at each other, building on existing issues between them and kinda sparking the powderkeg in each of them, causing stuff they normally would keep under wraps or let slide erupt into actual fights between them and making them lash out at each other, drawing on pretty much anything they’d ever felt resentment towards each other for. 

One of the more interesting aspects of his telepathy, especially in terms of popular fic tropes, is that he’s not limited to confining people to their own mindscapes or memories, but rather is able to put multiple people into a kind of shared mindscape where all their memories or the illusions they’re seeing can bleed over into the same space, meaning they’re all witnessing the same things. Like when he trapped the Titans in mental self-images of themselves in their early teens, reliving memories of their childhoods but with no real boundaries between them, allowing them to cross over into each others.

The only way to really beat him, Dick figured out, requires not playing his game at all, taking away the fuel his power runs on by refusing to take the bait or shifting focus to happier memories or mindsets.

BUT there’s a caveat there, because even without actively adding to his power by reacting to his mindgames with hate or anger......a person can still end up trapped in them, stuck in the kind of Limbo he builds for them.....with it being Roy who figured out that SOME conflict is still necessary to beat his traps, something to jar the person loose from being stuck in that Limbo. Emotional momentum, basically. With the Titans in that particular story, that came from Roy and Dick having it out about the stuff that had gotten them fighting...like basically walking an emotional tightrope where they had to let the conflict actually play out in order to keep from being stuck stagnant in their own minds, but without letting the conflict get away from them and risk it turning into a self-perpetuating cycle of anger and resentment.

As Dick put it “Hating Gargoyle is status quo. He was trying to trick us into stagnation, into doing things the way we’d always done it.”

Basically, the ultimate trap is that the memories or illusions are crafted in such a way as to make it easy to fall into old patterns or to just let things play out the way they did originally, just relive it all.....you gotta find a way to do things differently.

Which again, plays quite well into the trope of being stuck in memories of painful events...especially when those memories include other characters whose repeating patterns of behavior are part of why those painful memories exist in the first place, let alone keep leading to similar situations over and over again in their lives. Resolution to a story that uses the Gargoyle as the villain REQUIRES finding a way to break patterns of behavior.

Anyway, that particular story left the Gargoyle’s status somewhat undetermined......as once the Titans escaped his mindtrap and woke up, he was nowhere to be found. But whenever he’s free, he always tends to go after Dick first and foremost....Roy joked about how “all he ever does is chase Grayson around and try and brain-whack him.”

[punksarahreese]

would you.. maybe write a reesker au where you use the 68. “I don’t need help! I just want the pain to stop!”?? like, Ava is s*icidal or s*lf-h*rming and Sarah is just trying to help but Ava doesn't like to feel "weak"... only if you feel comfortable of course

Uh oh you got it <3

CW: Suicidal themes, self harm, sexual assault mention; this could be majorly triggering so please take care <3

This is from the same universe as this oneshot. Yes Connor is the bad guy but so is Cornelius :/

***

“Sarah?”

The resident looked up at the call of her name, seeing April waving her over. She had been heading to the lounge, intending to grab her bag and pick up lunch on her break. Still, the look April gave her had her a bit worried; the nurse had never looked this nervous before. Deciding her lunch could wait, Sarah crossed the ED and was a bit concerned when April immediately grabbed her sleeve and dragged her to the supply room.

“April, what’s wrong?”

Her friend sighed shakily and Sarah could see that she didn’t know how to say what she needed to. She waited, patiently urging her to tell her, not sure what to expect.

“It’s, uh… Have you seen Ava today?”

“Doctor Bekker? Not today no, why?”

April looked close to tears and that scared her, “She.. um…”

Sarah was not expecting her to hand her her phone, hands shaking more than she had ever seen. The screen was open on a message conversation, the subject of which immediately set anxiety flaring in Sarah’s gut. She must have read the texts five times before replying, trying to wrap her head around what was going on.

“Is she..?” her question died before she could finish the sentence, a billion thoughts rushing through her mind. Is she okay? Safe? Home?

“I don’t know,” April admitted, “She told me something the other day and I urged her to get help but this is… not what I expected.”

“April, what’s going on?”

“I don’t think she would want me to tell you…”

“April,” Sarah grabbed her hand gently and the touch made her make eye contact, “If she’s in danger I need to know.”

Sarah and Ava weren’t too close but they were friendly. They had had many morning coffees together while working with Robin and Ava always had a kind greeting when she passed by the ED. She liked the surgeon, considered her a colleague she could trust, but she never expected this behaviour from her. She also knew she was supposed to be at work today and it was very unlike Ava to miss a day of work, which only amplified the anxiety she felt.

“She… um… It’s about Connor.”

“What about him?”

“He… He’s been hurting her,” April mumbled, “Not physically exactly but… she said he’s been pushing her to sleep with him and being really manipulative. She sounded so scared, Sarah; it didn’t even sound like Ava.”

That sent Sarah’s blood boiling. She knew Connor could be an asshole and had a ridiculous God complex but this was way past what she expected from him. Ava wasn’t one to show fear so if she sounded scared and was confiding in one of the nurses then it must be a big deal. The text conversation was rushing through her mind again, terrified for her colleague’s wellbeing at that point.

I can’t do this anymore, April.

I don’t want to see him ever again.

It hurts too much.

April grabbed onto her wrist, staring at her friend with tearful eyes, “I’m covering for Maggie today, I can’t leave. I’m scared, Sarah, I don’t know what she’s going to do.”

Sarah nodded, checking the time on her watch, “If you cover for me I’ll go check on her, okay? Don’t tell Doctor Charles where I am… Just say I had to go take care of something.”

The nurse sighed shakily, agreeing, “Let me know, okay?”

“I’ll do my best to keep her safe.”

***

Sarah drove to Ava’s apartment purely from muscle memory, having only been there a handful of times. Her mind was racing, praying that her friend was safe until she got there. She didn’t know what to expect, terrified that Ava would do something rash before she could talk her down. Sarah wanted to think that Ava wouldn’t do it, part of her saying that the surgeon was way too smart and level-headed to do anything permanent. Still, the texts she sent April and the things she had told her Ava said made her think otherwise. The other woman was clearly terrified and in pain and Sarah genuinely wasn’t sure what she would be capable of in that mindset.

Sarah knew her apartment door would be locked and she was sure that Ava wouldn’t unlock the door if she was preoccupied or upset. Luckily, she knew that she kept another key taped onto the inside of her mail slot, which gave her some hope that she would get to Ava in time. She did still knock, calling out to her and waiting for a moment. When she didn’t hear a reply or footsteps after five minutes, Sarah knew she couldn’t risk waiting any longer.

“Ava, I’m coming inside!” she called out again as she wrestled the key from its hiding spot and unlocked the door. She slipped into the apartment, finding the immaculate kitchen and living room to be spotless and void of any sign of the surgeon. She felt her anxiety rise as she walked down the hallway, flinching when she heard a familiar voice muttering to herself, tone thick with what Sarah could only describe as agony.

“Disgusting…” Ava was saying from inside the bathroom, “How could you let this happen again? Why did you do this?”

“Ava?” Sarah nudged the bathroom door a bit so it swung open partially, her words catching as she happened upon the sight in front of her. Ava was in the bathtub, in her scrubs as if she had completely planned to go to work that day. She had a loofa in her hand and was scrubbing aggressively at her arms, which were covered in open wounds and bleeding heavily with each movement. Sarah wanted to cry at the sight, realizing her friend hadn’t acknowledged her presence yet because she was stuck in her own head.

“Oh my god, Ava…”

The surgeon finally did look up at her, cheeks stained with mascara and tears, “Go.”

“No,” Sarah was on the floor beside the bathtub in seconds, trying to keep both of them calm, “Ava, you need help.”

The blonde shook her head aggressively, her curls bouncing, “I need to get rid of him,” she continued scrubbing her skin raw as blood mixed with the bath water.

“What happened?”

“Men,” she spat tearfully, “All they do is take and destroy. I can’t believe I fell for this again. I can’t… why did I let them touch me again, Sarah?”

“Who, Ava?” she asked gently, trying to approach the situation gently. She wanted to keep her talking, keep her distracted so she could reach for the scalpel balanced on the edge of the bathtub. The blade was bloodied and evidence of its razor sharp cuts littered Ava’s body. While her chest was still covered by her scrub top, her legs were bare in the water and her thighs bore just as many cuts as her arms, if not more. This was bad, Sarah knew it was bad, and she didn’t know how long Ava would have lasted if she hadn’t arrived when she did.

“Connor… Cornelius… m-my dad…”

The words had the blonde shaking again, the sponge back to tearing at the surgically precise slices in her skin. The water was almost completely opaque and Sarah knew her cuts were too deep for her to stay there, she needed medical attention and stitches, sooner rather than later if they were going to avoid a major transfusion. This was horrible, worse than Sarah had thought. She didn’t want to press her, didn’t need to bring up the trauma now, but she could only assume the worst. April had said Connor hadn’t hurt her physically that she knew of but Sarah was totally blind to what had happened with his father or Ava’s.

“Ava… I’m so sorry,” Sarah murmured, “It’s not your fault.”

“I l-let them…”

“No, if you said no then you didn’t. If you revoked consent at any point then they should have stopped.”

She looked up at Sarah, eyes unfocused as if she couldn’t force herself to look at her properly. She was lightheaded, losing her alertness, Sarah could tell the lack of blood was getting to her.

“I can’t get clean,” she interrupted herself in a heart wrenching sob, “I s-still feel him… everywhere.”

“Ava, come here,” Sarah offered her a hand carefully, “We’ll go to med and get you cleaned up, okay?”

“No!” her screech was bloodcurdling and she was immediately drawing away from her colleague, “I c-can’t… he- He’s there, no. I can’t see him again.”

Sarah tried to hush her, apologizing softly, “No, he won’t be allowed near you. I can even ask Kim to come stand outside your room, okay? He’ll never touch you again.”

“No… no no no.”

“Ava, you need help; let me help.”

Ava was shaking her head fiercely, the sponge dropping into the reddened water, “I don’t need help! I just need… I need the pain to stop!”

Before Sarah could even blink she was scrambling for the scalpel, bloodied hands gripping the thing shakily. She didn’t listen to Sarah’s pleading and just swatted her hands away, pressing the blade to her neck just enough for a red mark to become readily visible.

“Ava, no. Please,” Sarah was crying, begging her to stop. She knew if she tried to grab at the thing the surgeon would only slice through her carotid before she could stop her. She had never been in a situation like this before, not with someone actively threatening her life. She remembered the aftermath of Jason’s death, the evidence of his end all over the sidewalk. That had been hard enough, knowing she hadn't been there for him when he needed someone the most. If Ava did it now, when she was right there, Sarah wasn’t sure how she would react.

“I can’t do this, Sarah…” she was still sobbing, blade pressed to her skin a bit harder, “My life is ruined.”

“No, it’s not. Ava, please.”

Ava pointed to the toilet, making Sarah turn to see what she was shakily gesturing to. Balanced precariously on top of the lid was a piece of plastic and Sarah could see two more in the trash can. The doctor in her knew what it was immediately but she didn’t want to believe it, didn’t want it to be real for Ava’s sake. Upon further inspection, she saw two little pink lines on the thing, finally cluing in to what was going on. She wanted to cry even more, her heart breaking for Ava. She didn’t know if it was Connor’s or Cornelius’, didn’t want to ask, just knew that neither option would be good.

“I-”

“I’m s-sorry, Sarah…”

Before Sarah could even properly react, before her eyes even caught sight of the motion, her ears were filled with a cry of agony. She couldn’t reach Ava fast enough, the scalpel doing its job too well as it slid easily through the skin on the left side of her neck. Sarah screamed, she must have because her throat ached immediately, but she barely heard it. Her hand was pressed to Ava’s wound immediately, hands scrabbling to grab at any towel or fabric nearby. She was crying so much she couldn’t see, vision cloudy as she tried to staunch the flow of blood from the wound. She was pleading with Ava, begging her to stay with her even though deep down she knew she wouldn’t be able to. A part of her wished she would fall unconscious, not wanting her to experience such pain, but that would be worse. She knew she screamed for help and then yelled at her siri to call 911 because she couldn’t fish her phone out of her pocket with one hand. It was all so fuzzy, her memories clouded by pain and fear. She was trying so hard to stay focused, to save Ava, but she was shaking so badly she just wanted it to end.

I just want the pain to end.

[laxuscouldnever]

Rorona Zoro x Child!Reader pt.3

Soft snores filled the boys’ dorm, most of them coming from Zoro and Luffy. Although the snores were noisy, it was comforting.

A low whine broke through the snores and filled the room. Y/N sat up and grabbed his side. His eyes filled with tears as a sharp pain shot through his body. 

“Z-Zoro,” Y/N said quietly, trying to wake up the man sleeping next to him. Y/N shook Zoro’s arm as hard as he could until Zoro’s eye cracked open. Once Zoro saw the tears flowing down Y/N’s cheeks, he gathered the boy into his arms.

“What’s the matter?” Zoro asked, now completely awake. 

“M-My side hurts and it feels all wet,” Y/N cried into Zoro’s chest. Zoro felt the boy’s side and it was, in fact, wet. Zoro pulled his hand away and could see the blood in the dimly lit room. 

“Jesus, you’re bleeding!” Zoro said, voice loud and full of panic. 

“What the hell are you being so loud for?” Sanji peeked his head over the side of his bed to look at the duo underneath him. Zoro quickly stood up, Y/N still crying in his arms. 

“Wake Chopper up and tell him to meet me in the infirmary. Y/N is bleeding from his side,” Zoro ordered as he rushed out of the room, not waiting for Sanji to answer.

When Zoro entered the infirmary, he placed Y/N on the bed. Zoro walked over to the counter and lit a candle so he could see better. 

Zoro placed the candle on the bedside table and walked over to Y/N. The boy was still crying and seemed to be in a lot of pain. 

“I’m just gonna look, okay?” Zoro said. Y/N nodded and let Zoro lift up his shirt. Zoro carefully pulled off the soaked bandages from Y/N’s side. 

There, on Y/N’s side, was a deep cut from what looked like a blade. Blood was still flowing and dripping onto the bed. 

“When the hell did this even happen?” Zoro asked, even though he didn’t really expect an answer. 

“Z-Zoro, it hurts really bad,” Y/N cried. He wanted the pain to go away so badly.

Chopper suddenly burst through the door, catching the attention of the pair.

“What happened?” Chopper asked frantically. 

“He woke up in pain. His side is bleeding pretty badly,” Zoro said, moving away from the bed so that Chopper could start aiding the boy. 

“Please make it stop.” Y/N’s voice was strained and you could almost feel the pain in his voice. 

Zoro had to leave the room because he couldn’t stand to see Y/N like that. He felt responsible for the kid and was ashamed he let something like this happen. 

“Marimo, what happened?” Sanji appeared out of the boys’ room. 

“I-I don’t know. He’s bleeding, and there’s a huge cut in his side.” Zoro was scared. He wasn’t going to let his kid die, not as long as he was alive.   

“Is everything okay? We heard yelling.” Zoro turned around and saw Nami and Robin walking towards them. 

“I don’t know.” Zoro walked away from the group and found himself sitting in the crowsnest. 

How did this happen? WHEN did this happen? Who the hell did it?

Zoro couldn’t figure out what the hell was going on. Just until he remembered what had happened that day. 

Those damn marines, Zoro thought. 

Y/N must’ve been knicked when Zoro was distracted and was too full of adrenaline to notice he was injured.

An hour or so later, Zoro heard Sanji calling for him. Zoro climbed out of the crowsnest and met the cook by the infirmary door. 

“How is he?” Zoro asked. Sanji sighed. 

“He passed out a couple of minutes ago.” Zoro’s heart sank to his stomach. “But Chopper said he’s going to be okay. Y/N is gonna stay in the infirmary tonight.”

Zoro nodded and walked into the infirmary. Chopper was finishing wrapping up Y/N’s side in thick bandages, just in case the stitches tore. 

“You’re keeping him in here tonight?” Zoro asked. 

“Yeah. It’s safer for him to be in a bed by himself.”

Zoro grabbed a chair and pulled it up next to Y/N’s bed. 

“I’ll look over him tonight. You should go back to bed.” 

Chopper hesitated for a moment. He wasn’t sure if Zoro was in the right mindset to see Y/N in such a state, but he also knew that Y/N would be safe with Zoro by his side. 

“If anything happens, come wake me immediately,” Chopper said and left the room. 

Zoro leaned over and let his hand rest on Y/N’s forehead. His head was burning, but that was probably because he lost so much blood. 

“I’m sorry this happened, kid. I’ll make sure this never happens again, even if it kills me.” 

Zoro wasn’t exactly sure how long he was awake, but when he looked out the infirmary window, he saw the sun starting to rise. He looked back at Y/N. If the boy hadn’t been so badly injured, you would’ve thought he was having the most peaceful sleep. 

“I brought breakfast,” Sanji announced as he opened the door. “Let me know when he wakes up so that I can bring him something,” Sanji said, handing Zoro the plate. Zoro just nodded. 

Sanji lingered in the room for a moment, watching as Zoro paid all of his attention to Y/N. 

“It’s not your fault, you know. None of us were aware of it. There’s nothing you really could’ve done.” Sanji tried his best to comfort Zoro, but it was no use. 

“I promised to protect him, Sanji.” Sanji was a little taken aback at the fact that Zoro used his actual name. He must’ve really been upset. 

“This never should’ve happened. If I had been there, this-” A sob that had slipped out of Zoro’s mouth cut him and left the cook in stunned silence.

Zoro quickly rubbed his eyes to stop the tears that threatened to flow. 

Sanji went to say something but was stopped by a quiet groan. Y/N forced his eyes awake and looked around the room. 

“Zoro? Sanji?” Y/N’s voice was low and raspy. 

“Hey, kid. How do you feel?” Sanji asked. 

“I’m okay, I guess. Am I okay?” Y/N asked, looking at Zoro. 

“Yeah, you’re okay.” Zoro ran a hand through Y/N’s hair, a small smile on his face. 

“How about we get you something to eat? You need to help your body regain the blood you lost,” Sanji said. 

“Can I have some pancakes?” Y/N asked. Sanji chuckled. 

“You sure can. I’ll be back.” With that, Sanji left the room. 

“Zoro? Were you crying?” Y/N asked. 

“Yeah...” 

Y/N was confused. Zoro didn’t look hurt or anything, so why was he crying?

“Why? Are you hurt? Do you need to get Chopper?” Zoro gave Y/N a soft smile. 

“No, I was just upset with myself. It’s not a big deal.” Zoro didn’t want to make the kid feel any worse than he already did. Y/N nodded but was still a little unsure. 

“Y/N?” Zoro spoke. 

“Yeah?” 

“I want you to know that I really care about you. I really need you to know that, okay? I would give up my life if it meant you got to live yours.” Y/N was a little shocked, to say the least. 

Y/N didn’t want Zoro to die. Who else would train with him? Who else would carry him to bed when he fell asleep on the deck? Who would wrap their arms around him when a clash of thunder practically shook the ship? Zoro was basically his whole life and here he was saying he would die for him. 

“Zoro.” Y/N’s cracked voice made Zoro’s body cringe. “Please, don’t die. I wouldn’t be able to live the same life without you. I-I need you, a lot.” Y/N tried wiping away as many tears as he could, but some of them slipped by and stained his cheeks. 

Zoro quickly joined the boy on the bed and lifted him onto his lap. Y/N buried his face in Zoro’s chest and clung onto his shirt. Y/N let himself be calmed down in Zoro’s grasp, relaxing with every passing second. 

Zoro looked down at Y/N who was trying his best to stop crying, but a couple sniffles and hiccups sounded every so often. Zoro placed a soft kiss on the top of Y/N’s forehead, something that always seemed to calm Y/N down. 

The room went silent and the two could hear Sanji’s footsteps making their way to the infirmary. 

“Alright, one plate of pancakes, just for you.” Sanji entered the room and walked the plate over to Y/N. Y/N took a bite and it felt like his mouth was in Heaven.

“Mmm. These are so good, Sanji,” Y/N said, his mouth full of food. 

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, you’ll choke,” Zoro warned. Y/N gave Zoro a thumbs up and went back to eating. 

“If you guys need anything else to eat, I’ll be in the kitchen.” With that, Sanji left the room to go prepare breakfast for everyone else. 

Even though the circumstances weren’t the best, Zoro and Y/N enjoyed each other’s company as they sat in the infirmary together.  

[ladykeane]

Bertie and Reg dress up for Halloween at Dahlia's!! and the party!!!

To the lovely Nonny who sent this, I profusely apologise if you’re not the massive weeb/animation geek that I am. But this idea stuck, and I couldn’t help myself!

Fair warning, it’s quite silly, most definitely cracky, and completely self indulgent…

There was a lesson given to me by my drama teacher at school, Mrs Irving, that has always stayed with me. The gist of her teaching was that a good actor must have a sort of dual consciousness. I suppose what she meant was that a chap should have the power to transform his mindset into that of the character he plays - and then just as easily slip back into his usual mental space, once the curtain falls. There must co-exist a Bertie-the-Wooster and Bertie-the-Prince-Hal within a single animal. Well, I suppose I have put this lesson to good use in my adult life, as I can attest that Bertie-the-Drone, Bertie-the-obedient-nephew and Bertie-the-seducer-of-certain-Jeeveses manage to be conjured at the drop of a whatsit.

A particularly surprising example of this dual consciousness wheeze occurred just recently, on the night of Aunt Dahlia’s annual Halloween bash. I suppose the lifted veil to the spirit world aided this shift of the Wooster disposish. (Well, the costume probably helped too, not to mention my dear auntie’s insistence that her party guests never drop out of character for the whole of the evening. That can make certain things a tad awkward, such as bathroom ablutions. One must ask: does Superman use the lavatory at all?)

I was given the scoop on the event by my ancestor over the phone, as I sat digesting a fourth-or-fifth slice of Reg’s birthday cake. (This year he had requested a Black Forest, and I have to say that I outdid myself. The leftover kirsch was also a boon.)

‘Super-groups?’ I asked. ‘You mean like the Travelling Wilburys?’‘No, young clot, I mean super-groups like the Avengers, Justice League, and their lycra-clad ilk. The group with the best costumes and most convincing delivery will receive a prize from your Uncle Tom and myself.’‘Ooh! And what is that?’‘For one, a cooking lesson with Anatole. Apparently he owed Reg a favour, and your man generously donated said favour to me.’I glanced an appreciative glance at my beloved, who sat perusing the W.H. Auden anthology I had given him.‘Secondly, a near-pristine Nintendo Gamecube, complete with controllers and a collection of best-selling game cartridges.’‘You mean the one you confiscated from Angela and myself? I still think that was an unfair punishment.’‘I say, it was entirely fair! Do you forget that I got stuck with the bill to clean your old headmaster’s office!? I am told that the stench of baked beans can still be detected throughout the school halls, to this very day! Anyway, I would advise you to get cracking. The competition will be stiff, I hear Angela’s little friends have been working on their costumes since August. Perhaps you and Reg could go as Batman and Robin!’‘Perhaps, auntie.’‘Well, pip-pip then. I’ve got many a fake tombstone and skeleton to haul down from the attic.’

As I hung up, Reg raised his head from his book. ‘I believe Mrs Travers has briefed you on this year’s Halloween festivities?’‘Indeed. She’s never offered a prize for the guests before. They’re real plums, at that. I reckon it would be well worth the splurge to get some first-rate togs.’‘May I ask what this year’s theme is?’‘Super-groups. By which I mean, groups of superheroes. She suggested we go as Batman and Robin! We’re already quite the dynamic duo, anyway. What d’you think?’

As I uttered these words, the Jeevesian brow began sinking south, until the look on his face chilled the lukewarm cup of tea sitting at my elbow.‘I should say not, Bertram.’‘Oh. Well… what about Danger Mouse and Penfold? You could be DM, of course.’‘I regret that I shall be unable to attend this year’s festivities. I have much to do to complete the Earl of Rowcester’s living will.’

Of all the paper-thin excuses! ‘Oh, don’t give me that Reg! What is it? You don’t care to be in the same room as all that brightly-coloured spandex? You fared just fine at last year’s “Stranger Things” soiree, and we were surrounded by a multitude of eighties fashion, at that!’(He made quite the dashing Steve Harrington, actually. Aunt Dahlia cast this Bertram as Dustin, so while I was able to tag after him all night there was an unfortunate dearth of snogging.)‘I am afraid I must insist. I do not care to be dressed in the bright, garish apparel that is requisite of superheroes.’

Given that it was the lowly rotter’s birthday, I held on to the flames that should have escaped from my nostrils. ‘Oh, very well, Reg. Have it your way.’ To ensure that none of my internal invective against him slipped past the Wooster lips, I left the flat for a sullen trudge about Mayfair.

***

That very evening, Bingo Little summoned self and several other Drones to dinner. He was in town with his husband Randy, to look for a property where they could spend their Winters. While the reports given indicated that all was spiffy within their NYC townhouse, Randy wanted to ensure that his paramour did not lose touch with his British roots. And I think I remembered him saying that his next novel was to be set in South Kensington, inspired by the likes of Richard Curtis and Hugh Grant. All rather convenient, no?

‘That Gamecube and cooking lesson with Anatole is as good as ours, lads. I have the perfect idea for our super-group.’ Here Bingo took a long sip of tea, leaving us in a state of eye-boggling suspense.‘Christ and his disciples?’ suggested Stinker.‘The Bloomsbury Group?’ queried Boko.‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?’ asked Gussie.

‘Better,’ Bingo finally replied, a rivulet of tea dribbling down his chin. ‘Do you know “Sailor Moon”?’

‘Sparkly schoolgirl with the pigtails? Yes, I recall watching the English language version with Angela sometimes. Quite a cheesy romp, that.’‘Oh, you ought to read the original manga ,’ said Boko. ‘A perfect blend of costumed superhero action and romantic high fantasy!’

For the next half hour, we were subject to Boko and Bingo giving us a full synopsis of the dratted space opera, complete with character studies, mythological references, and feminist overtones. Now, I have known my fellow Drones to sometimes possess hidden depths, but I was unsure whether this encyclopedic grasp of a Japanese super-girl-group was more of a mild pathology instead.

‘So,’ Bingo announced, ‘I believe I’ve figured out the perfect casting for each of us. I shall be Sailor Venus, of course, the soldier of love. Randy does call me his golden love god, after all.’ (Pause here for requisite retching.) ‘Gussie can be Sailor Mercury, given his general… wateriness. Boko’s love of house plants is perfect for Sailor Jupiter. And due to his spiritual calling, Stinker will be Sailor Mars, the shrine-maiden.’

I was trying to picture each of my chums kitted out in a colour coded schoolgirl costume. Perhaps we would score points for comedic effect, if nothing else.‘And what about me?’ I asked.‘Well, you’ll be our Sailor Moon, naturally.’‘Golly! I must say, Bingo, I’m quite chuffed to be given the starring role. I assume that it’s due to my former experience with drag, not to mention my theatrical prowess and general heroic gravitas.’‘Well… I suppose. It’s also because Sailor Moon is supposed to be a ditzy blonde crybaby.’‘Ah.’The judicious nods that the others gave were a tad insulting.

‘Does this mean that I’ll have to wax? ’ asked Gussie.

***

Now, if you’ve ever seen the much-celebrated cartoon, you’ll know that one of the highlights of every episode is the spangly transformation sequences, where each heroine morphs from humdrum schoolgirl into celestial warrioress. Our first go at donning the famous fuku was much less glamorous.

Boko knew a chap who knew a lass who worked at a highly-regarded fancy dress company. Apparently, many a masquerade-goer and cosplayer has raved about their beautifully crafted goods. As we trundled our way out their HQ on the tube, we were all in high hopes of scoring the perfect outfits. As it happens, the fitting session that followed made me appreciate just how inadequate the standard sizing of womens’ apparel really is.

Bingo and I had the best luck, but the costumes closest to fitting us were narrow in the shoulders and wide in the hips. Gussie managed to squeeze into one of the larger sizes, but resembled more of a wrinkly chicken sausage than a cute superheroine. (The skirt was appallingly short on him, and when he bent over to grab his phone from his bag I was quite traumatised.) Stinker, who is built akin to a silverback gorilla, utterly utterly destroyed the costume he attempted to yank on. I offered to foot the bill for that one, as a vicar’s salary can only cover so many breakages per month.

‘It’s no good, boys,’ sighed the seamstress who had patiently assisted us, ‘you’ll need to get these custom-made.’‘And how long will that take?’ asked Bingo.She put on a brave face. ‘I’ll do my best to get them ready for Halloween, but bear in mind I’ve already got a backlog of orders to finish.’‘Chin up!’ I replied. ‘I can probably ask a favour of the drag queen who did my costuming for “Legally Blonde” - Reg cut her a sweet deal with a new agent at the time. I’ll ask if she can source the shoes and wigs and things.’

A level of relief washed on to the girl’s face at this. I’d feel the same, if I were freed from the task of cobbling a pair of Stinker Pinker-sized red pumps.‘Even so, we’ll be cutting it close with this order. I doubt I’ll be done before the morning of the 31st.’‘Send me the bill for your energy drinks,’ I offered.‘It’s a deal.’

***

Time ticked on, and All Hallows Eve drew near. While I did my best not to harbour any full-on wrath against Reg at his blowing-off of the party, I couldn’t help but act a tad pipped towards him. Were lurid leotards and shiny accessories really so horrid?When he snuggled close to me on the sofa, I scooched away. When he dropped a kiss upon my map, my only response was tight-lipped disinterest. The blighter refused to compromise, so wherefore should this Wooster succumb to his entreaties? I took a lot of cold showers that week.

The big day came, and still nary a costume was yet received.‘5pm, she said,’ Boko told me, ‘and we’ll have to go and pick them up ourselves.’‘Hm, that is cutting it close. Well, bear up, old fruits! Leather Smalls will be along this arvo to do our make-up and hair.’‘Leather Smalls?’‘Didn’t I tell you? She’s part of an all-drag M People tribute act.’

If I can impart to you the experience of tubing it across suburban London in a long blonde, pigtailed wig, a full face of makeup, and masculine civvies, accompanied by four other similarly styled blokes, you probably wouldn’t doubt my claim that it was one of the more surreal experiences in my life. Halloween is not quite the big deal here that it is across the pond, so we got quite the share of wolf whistles, disapproving auntly glares, and ‘yaaaas, queen’s from our fellow travellers.

At last, at last, we arrived at Brinkley Court, freshly finished costumes in hand. The coloured lights, costumed crowd, and strains of ‘Monster Mash’ from within indicated a party already in full swing.As we entered the front door, I grabbed for the first bowl of sweets I could find, given my lowered blood sugar.‘That’s it!? Gawd, Bertie, you could have at least made an effort!’

Angela had grabbed one of the sweets from my hand and popped it in her mouth. I wasn’t quite sure who she was supposed to be, but her costume was really quite the thing.She was caked head-to-toe in light purple body paint, with a long wig in a paler shade of the same colour. A brilliant gem was affixed to her chest, and she wielded a long double-headed whip. I did not feel inclined to backtalk her.‘So who’ve you come as?’‘One of the Crystal Gems, obvs. Anyway, you need to go easy on those. Mum says that some neighbourhood bullies have been stealing sweets from the trick-or-treating kids, and she’s promised to recompense them.’‘What!?’My blood was now boiling - what lowly cad felt the need to scam helpless rugrats out of their jelly babies and smarties?

‘Oh, it’s awful,’ said Aunt Dahlia, swiping the remaining sweets from my hand and depositing them back in their bag. ‘I just saw Captain America crying his poor little eyes out, being comforted by Bucky Barnes. A whole evening’s worth of trick-or-treating swag, stolen from them by three nasty teenagers!’‘She means Thos and Edwin,’ Angela translated.‘What teenagers?’ asked Stinker.‘Some of the nastier upperclassmen from Eton, apparently. Captain America tells me that they have a reputation for bullying even the house masters and head teachers. Great brutes.’‘Rum,’ I said. ‘But, Aunt Dahlia-’‘Who?’I took in my auntie’s costume.‘But, Catwoman, hasn’t anyone tried to pull them up for it?’‘They’ve been too wily. I was told that they also egged the Emsworths’ place, running off onto Ham Common before anyone could catch them.’‘Travesty!’ cried Boko. ‘They can’t get away with this!’‘Too right!’ I said.‘Well? You lot are supposed to be the Sailor Senshi, aren’t you? You fight for love and justice, yes?’‘Er…?’‘You must transform, and thwart the damned villains!’

The Drones and I shared a look askance. ‘Um.’‘May I remind you, Sailor Moon, of the video games and French cuisine that are up for grabs for the group who best embodies their chosen superheroes?’‘Right ho. Moon Prism Power Make Up, then!’

***

We stampeded upstairs, bottlenecking on the landing, and Stinker stumbled noisily upon the top step. Into my old bedroom, and our everyday trappings were cast off in favour of our splendid, sparkly sailor ensembles.It was a bit of a muddle - the others needed help donning their padded brassieres, not to mention adjusting their skirts to preserve modesty. But after a few fumbling minutes, we were ready to go, as resplendent a team of magical girls as Brinkley Court had ever seen.

I allowed myself an indulgent linger before the full-length mirror. I really did look cute. The big pink bow was quite flattering to my proportions, and the blue skirt and collar set off my eyes nicely.‘Come on, Sailor Moon! We’ve got a contest to win!’With a flick of my pigtails, I was off.

Bursting out of Brinkley’s front door again, we charged into the gloaming. The place looks directly out over Ham Common, and on the great stretch of lawn, it did not take us long to spot the perps.

A juvenile, quivering Wallace and Gromit were surrounded by three of the largest, most grotesque teenage boys that I’d ever beheld. Though a good decade younger than myself, they looked to be twice my height and about four times my body weight. Most ghastly of all were their choices of costume: the ringleader was dressed as Pennywise the Clown, with his two lieutenants cast as Thanos and a zombie version of Napoleon Dynamite. I admit that the hint of rotten green brain showing through his blonde afro was an impressive use of make-up, but it did turn my stomach a tad.

Just before they could rip the trick-or-treat bags from the youngsters, I put a solid, heeled boot forward.‘Leave those beloved icons of childrens’ entertainment alone!’‘Hurrr,’ slurred Thanos, ‘check out the anime drag queens.’‘Wanna come party with us, girls?’ said Pennywise. ‘We got heaps of sweeties for the sweeties!’I puffed out my padded chest. ‘Never! I stand for love and justice! And… by the Code of the Woosters, I shall punish you!’

And so it began. We swooped upon them. Wallace and Gromit scarpered, and we were met with a barrage of large humbugs. When thrown with enough velocity, those things can leave a bruise.

Behind me, Gussie boldly came up bearing a large garden hose. He turned the nozzle on the head, but instead of dousing the monsters, the force of the spray was a bit too much for him, and he clung on for dear life as the hose thrashed about in his arms. He quickly went down in a self-inflicted mud puddle.

Stinker managed to plant a shiner of a right hook on Thanos. The brute staggered away, doubled over in pain. He threw off his plastic infinity gauntlet, upon which Stinker tripped magnificently, going pumps over skirt into the turf as well.

Boko fearlessly leapt upon Napoleon’s back, wrapping his noodly arms about an equally noodly neck. Napoleon bucked about like a bronco with a bad itch. Boko did his best to hang on, but the slippery satin gloves ultimately betrayed him, and the poor soul was flung off into a nearby rose bush.

The three monsters continued running from us. It was just me and Bingo now. We exchanged a silent glance of Sailor Senshi solidarity, as we pursued them towards a clump of oak trees.With a well aimed stomp, Bingo got Pennywise right in the oversized foot, with the heel of his pump. However, before I could back him up, the two lieutenants grabbed my chum and snatched his wig by its red ribbon, hurling it up into the branches of one of the trees.‘NOT MY VENUS WIG!’Abandoning the skirmish, Bingo pathetically began clambering up the branches to try and retrieve the thing. (I mean, it was a nice wig. And if it came back damaged, I would be owing Leather Smalls big time.)

And so, the beasts turned their attention to me. Three cruel grins bore down upon me like vultures on a dying wildebeeste. They looked like they could easily pummel me into a boneless mush, and not even feel it the next day. I’m not too proud to admit that I quivered in my heeled boots.‘What was that about punishing us, sweetie?’‘Let’s hang her from the branches by those stupid pigtails!’‘Yeah! And then we’ll-’

All of a sudden, something sleek and sharp came whistling through the night air. It popped Pennywise’s balloon, and struck Thanos right between the cheeks of his ample bum.‘Ow!’‘What the…’It was a fine, thin blade, attached to a deep red rose.

The four of us whipped our heads towards the source of the floral projectile. Imagine my total astonishment to perceive, perched upon a high stone wall before the radiant moon, none other than Tuxedo Mask. Gosh, he was splendid, with his billowing black cape and aura of general rakishness.‘How dare you blackguards steal from innocent children and assault these brave soldiers. Sailor Moon, I know you can defeat them.’‘But how, dash it!?’

He tossed me a bright pink plastic object. It took me a moment to discern that it was an external hard drive. It bore a little decal of one of those colourful cartoon pony characters.I looked back at the monsters, to find Pennywise agog.‘Wh… WHERE DID YOU GET THAT!?’‘Uhm…’‘Dude… is that what I think it is?’ said Napoleon.‘GIVE IT BACK!’ cried Pennywise.

Tuxedo Mask and I shared a single silent, meaningful glance, and I dropped the thing to the grass, raising my heeled boot above it, primed to smash.‘Well… I might, if you agree to apologise to every last child you terrorised, AND return their sweeties.’‘But we already ate some,’ said Thanos.‘Alright… maybe just give them a few quid, in that case. AND you’ll be cleaning the egg off Mrs Emsworth’s front stoop.’‘Anything, ANYTHING!’ begged Pennywise. ‘Please just give me back my-’‘NIGEL!!!’

A robust, sour-faced Jean Grey was stomping across the grass, her fiery gaze fixed on Pennywise.‘You have a lot of explaining to do, young man!’‘But Mum-’‘I should confiscate your little pony stories this instant!’‘No! Please…’‘Instead, you will do exactly as Sailor Moon says, and apologise to all the people whose Halloween you have ruined! You too, Cyril, Edgar! Don’t think I won’t be telling your mothers what you’ve done!’

The clown was dragged off by his ear to begin his penance, but not before he could snatch up his pink hard drive. Now that the leader had fallen, his two henchmen slunk along in his wake.

The Sailor Senshi had regrouped, and Angela, Thos, and Edwin (sorry, Amethyst, Captain America, and Bucky) had also dashed up to join us.‘You know who that was?’ said Angela, ‘Little Nigel Belfry. I went to St George’s with his big sister Diedre. Rotten little punk. One of the worst trolls in the online “My Little Pony” fandom too.’‘He bullies us all the time,’ said Thos.‘Well, dangle the name “Eulalie” in front of him. That’s his username on all the major MLP forums. Not sure he’d like that info getting out at Eton.’ Here she thumped me on the back. ‘Well done, Sailor Moon, you gave him the punishment that he sorely needed.’‘Oh, but I couldn’t have done it without…’I turned towards the stone wall. Of course, Tuxedo Mask had already biffed off. Probably to go hunt down the Silver Imperium Crystal or something.

***

Now that the drama had wound down, we finally had a chance to mingle. I got to take in the costumes of Angela’s group: Honoria was some sort of giant magenta woman with sunglasses and boxing gloves; Florence looked lovely and delicate in a gossamer tutu, and gleefully swung about a rather frightening spear; while Madeline was surprisingly dressed in drag - some charming little chap by the name of Steven, I think. The craftwork of their outfits was simply matchless, and they were clearly the ones to beat for the contest.

After Time-Warping and Thriller-ing and Caramelldansen-ing the night away, as well as quaffing some questionable looking cocktails with names like Chemical X and Radioactive Sludge, it was time to announce the winners of the costume competition.Uncle Tom (sorry, the 4th Doctor) killed the music, and tapped a fork against his glass of Chemical X to call for silence.Dahlia-or-Catwoman hopped up on the coffee table, to better survey the throng. ‘The door prize goes to Winnie the Pooh, who clearly misunderstood the assignment.’Spode-the-Pooh shuffled up to grab his bag of humbugs, and Madeline-or-Steven applauded wildly.

‘The runners-up are Wario and Waluigi, who regrettably stayed true to their despicable characters all evening!’Claude and Eustace collected their swag of Quality Street and Jack Daniels, fighting over who would get to carry them.

Angela and I exchanged a tense side eye. Could one of us really have been left out?

‘And the first prize… is a joint win, between the Crystal Gems and the Sailor Senshi! Come on down, ladies!’Well, everyone pooh-poohs nepotism until they benefit from it. Angela and I joined hands, and led our respective groups to their shared moment of glory. (And after a little bartering, we agreed to let the girls take the cooking lesson, while we scored the Gamecube. I know that Angela has long been an avid fan of Anatole’s show ‘Cuisine Inferno’.)

***

After a little more merrymaking, the music changed from novelty festive monster songs to the cheesy fodder of slow dancing. As couples began to pair off and pitch woo, a thought occurred to me: where the devil had Tuxedo Mask gone?

At the very least, I wished to thank the fellow. It was anyone’s guess as to how he had picked up on Nigel-or-Pennywise’s little secret, but he had truly been my saviour.

I squeezed through the waves of slow dancers, trying to keep my eyes peeled for a top hat or a black cape. Alas, the only capes I could spy were of bright and garish hues.

I escaped to the quiet of Brinkley’s large, rambling back yard, in the hopes of getting a little air. As I ankled along the gravelled drive in my heeled boots, I couldn’t help but let a little melancholy sink in. Despite my search for Tuxedo Mask, I well knew who I really wanted to spend this night with.I reached the fountain, ornamented by Aunt Dahlia’s favoured statue of Artemis, and plonked my sorry self down upon its edge.‘Sailor Moon… we meet again.’

He emerged from behind the shadow of the trees, and I leapt right up.‘Tuxedo Mask! Ah… I really did want to thank you for your help back there. Awful solid of you, old chap.’

He did not come closer. ‘You are most welcome. I had been charged with organising the family affairs of the Earl of Rowcester. I encountered his youngest son, who proved to possess a most malicious and scheming temperament. I felt the temporary acquisition of the lad’s most prized digital information would prove a useful bargaining chip at some juncture.’‘And right you were, Tuxedo Mask! What a bally stroke of genius you…’

He stepped forward, and removed his eyemask.

‘Bertram, I am sorry that I was so intractable about tonight.’‘Oh… Good Lord… Reg, I hoped so dearly that it was you!’

I flew to his arms. And Angela, the sneaky brat, managed to get a good number of happy snaps of Sailor Bertie and Tuxedo Reg locked in a passionate embrace.

‘Reg?’‘Yes, my moonbeam?’‘Keep the cape.’

[peace-coast-island]

Diary of a Junebug

The Ethereal Gates of Wisdom

These past few days have been a bit of an unusual adventure. It’s one of those things I’ve been putting off for a while until the opportunity’s right. Traveling to the Ethereal Gates of Wisdom is no easy feat so it’s important to have a strategy on how to get there without getting lost.

According to Jamie, most people give up halfway because it takes too long to get there. That’s why they said only those who truly seek answers are the ones who make it to the Gates. Jamie gave me the key years ago and since then that adventure has been sitting on the back burner until a couple days ago.

The reason why I finally decided to visit the Gates is for Daisy Jane. Now that she’s been living at the campsite for a couple weeks, she’s been doing a lot of soul searching and reevaluation. The past year hasn’t been good to her so I’m glad that she’s finally found a light at the end of a long and seemingly endless tunnel.

A change of scenery can do wonders for your mind, especially if you’ve been stagnating for a while. That’s why Daisy Jane left Rosevine - because the place she once called home was suffocating her instead of letting her bloom and grow.. That’s how I felt too, as well as other friends like Emmaline, Minnie, and Robin. 

It’s not that we don’t like Rosevine, it’s just that we outgrew our little hometown. Our roots are still in Rosevine, but we’ve branched out to other places. Like flowers on a tree, we are carried away by the wind, floating and fluttering as we find our way in this vast universe. Some take root, others continue to fly freely.

Ever since Daisy Jane joined me at the camp, she’s been on a creative roll. For the past several months she was suffering the absolute worst art block along with a bunch of other problems that wore her down. After leaving home, she traveled for a bit before settling in Neptunia. The village, while it was nice, didn’t do much for her. So that’s why I suggested she move in the cabin and since then she’s made it her home.

For a while Daisy Jane has been considering opening a shop where she sells handmade crafts and stationery. I think she’s the kind of person who can pull that off because not only she’s super artsy, but she’s also organized and has the self discipline to run her own business. Unfortunately her family’s the main reason why she hasn’t started a shop yet as they don’t think it’s viable. As long as she was living under the same roof as them and not working a “real” job with income, an online business was out of the question.

Now that she’s out on her own with no parents or siblings to hound her as well as having her own space and income, Daisy Jane feels like she’s in the right headspace to design products for her potential shop. She’s been on a roll designing sticker sheets, which will be her main thing before branching out to other products like notebooks and enamel pins. Since she loves drawing florals and ephemera, Daisy Jane plans to call her store Happy Floral Mail, which I think is very fitting.

I’m not being biased, I would definitely buy Daisy Jane’s stickers. After all, she’s one of many artists I find inspiration from so why wouldn’t I want to support her?

Apparently a while ago Daisy Jane told her sister about her ideas regarding opening a shop as Mae’s in college studying digital media so she’s an expert on various programs. Mae’s a smart kid who means well but sometimes she can be a bit too much. 

Basically if Daisy Jane decided to co-run her shop with Mae, it would have failed before it even launched. The biggest issue would be creative differences because they’re basically opposites in terms of everything. It’s like telling an artist who likes to draw flowers that they have to draw cars because that’s what’s trending and if you disagree then you’re being ungrateful because you obviously don’t know what you’re talking about. 

So it’s that, plus the fact that Mae can be weirdly controlling and nosy at times. Like she’s strangely obsessed with who Daisy Jane keeps in contact with. Apparently if Daisy Jane isn’t constantly video chatting or talking on the phone or talking about socializing with someone, then she doesn’t have friends according to Mae logic. I get that Mae’s the kind of person who talks about everything - even when it’s not in her place - but she really needs to learn how to let people be.

Another thing about Mae which is pretty recent is how she sees most of Daisy Jane’s friends like me and Emmaline. Once upon a time Mae used to look up to Emmaline because she thought she was cool as she was always going on magical adventures. Now she kinda looks down on Emmaline because she doesn’t meet her definition of success. As in Emmaline never went to school so she has no degrees as well as no job or career (freelancing and odd jobs don’t count) so in Mae’s eyes, Emmaline’s a layabout.

Having grown up with Emmaline, calling her a layabout is such a misunderstanding. Being half elemental, Emmaline’s upbringing is far from ordinary. She spent her whole childhood and adolescence trying to bring her two worlds together, often putting herself in a position no one should be forced in and although she helped a lot of people, it had a detrimental effect on her mental health. Considering how Emmaline pretty much spent a good part of her life playing either peacemaker, therapist, fleeing war criminal, and diplomat - and is now finally finding footing by traveling the universe and enjoying life - to call her a layabout is an insult.

And yes, this is in response to a vague post Mae made in regards to not being on Emmaline and Minnie’s guest list for their wedding. Daisy Jane shared it to us and we all rolled our eyes collectively because yikes Mae. Like first of all, it wasn’t anything personal, it’s just that the wedding will take place while she’s studying abroad so there’s no way she was going to make it. Also, Emmaline and Minnie aren’t as close to her as they are to Daisy Jane so there’s really no reason why she should be offended at not being invited.

I’m curious as to what Mae would vague about me when she finds out where Daisy Jane’s been living. Don’t get me wrong, Mae’s a very capable girl who’s gonna be super successful but she really needs to get off her high horse. It’s understandable that she has a chip on her shoulder that pushes her to be hard working but as she’s gotten older she seems to have fallen into the mindset that if you’re not working your ass off, then you’re not worthy.

Anyway, now that Daisy Jane’s found her footing in terms of her creative spark returning and getting away from those holding her back, she feels like she’s ready to take a leap of faith. She says she still has a long way to go before opening a shop but the timing feels right. That’s why I decided to take her to the Gates - to give her the extra push she needs to bring herself one step closer to making her dream a reality.

First, we headed to the Witches Woods to retrieve the ruby key, which will lead us to a portal. Since it’s not too far from Camellia, Theda tagged along to guide us through the woods as she’s somewhat familiar with certain parts of it. The trails can be long and confusing so it’s good to have a navigator help us out. 

The deeper in the woods we go, the more dangerous it gets. The trees act as a defense system so if you’re not careful, you might get pelted by poison fruit or clawed by sharp branches. Plus there’s hostile creatures to watch out for as well, especially the giant spiders that usually come out of nowhere. Despite the seemingly harsh environment, the witches we came across are friendly and some were able to help point us in the right direction when the trees played tricks on us.

After the woods came the Floating Freeway, a well known highway for traveling through dimensions. There, Celinda joined in on the adventure as she can easily weave in and out of places easily with her powers. With her help, navigating the crowded freeway will take about half the time. 

From there, we headed to the Scattering Skies where we have to travel by magic carpet. It’s a rough ride as the winds are unpredictable so it’s important to have a pilot who’s just as reckless - meaning Celinda. And there’s also swinging swords with sharp edges floating freely about so we gotta worry about that too. Getting through the Skies and retrieving the jade key in one piece is no easy feat so if that isn’t enough to discourage you from going to the Gates, then that says a lot about your character in my opinion.

At the crossing, the jade key led us to another portal, taking us to the Floundering Forests, where we met up with Lenie. She and her parents have been exploring the forest for the past few weeks so they’re somewhat familiar with the trails. Lenie always wanted to see the Gates so it was the perfect opportunity! 

The thing about the Floundering Forests is that we need to arm ourselves with magic wands. Some areas have been overtaken by city folks who want to build factories so they’ll attack anything that moves. They’re also not the kind of people you want to get on the wrong side of so a basic sleep spell will do the trick to slip past them. Also, this forest tends to play tricks on you too so it’s important to keep track of where you’re going.

After finding the carnelian key, we headed to the Layering Lagoon, navigating by submarine piloted by Lenie. Through there, we locate the ruins of Castellana, which will lead us to the Gates. Lenie drove the sub, Celinda and I distracted lagoon monsters, Theda helped navigate, and Daisy Jane supervised everyone.

It really takes a team to get to the Gates of Ethereal Wisdom! There’s no way anyone can make it on a solo adventure, especially when confronting the currents and inhabitants of the Layering Lagoon. 

By my calculations, it took us about three days - starting from Witches Woods - to get to the Gates. If Theda, Celinda, and Lenie hadn’t tagged along I guess it’ll take me and Daisy Jane at least twice as long. It was a long trip, but it was totally worth it!

Stepping into the Ethereal Gates of Wisdom is like walking straight into a void. First you feel like you’re falling, then slowly you realize that you’re actually floating. You feel weightless like a leaf in the wind, floating freely without a care in the world. For a second I forgot that I had a physical form - and that was a trippy experience. A bit disoriented, very much exhilarated, small and alone yet wide and full - all of it crashing in on you.

I still can’t put into words how exactly I feel after stepping out of the Gates. I feel certain yet uncertain at the same time - like I have a better idea of what I want but I also realize how little I actually know about things. Something’s changed, that I know for sure, but whatever it is, I can’t quite put my finger on it yet.

[idontgiveaflyinggrayson69]

Keep Each Other Safe

Author: Nat / @idontgiveaflyinggrayson69

Requested: Yes – Anonymous

Tagging: @thisismysecrethappyplace @phoenix-fire-fangirl @itsgirl17321 @starryrevelations @aw-hawkeye

Fandom: Titans

Relationship: Pre-Established; Dick Grayson x Reader

Summary: The Reader is attacked and Robin comes to the rescue.

Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: Major Character Injury. Woman attacked by multiple men (Robin saves her).

Comments: Sorry it took so long, I had to be in the right mindset to write this.

It’s not hard to get a crush on a person you don’t know. People do it every day in the form of celebrity and fictional crushes. There was nothing out of the ordinary about these feelings, one could even say it was something that made people human.

You were a reporter, so it wasn’t hard for Dick to know who you were. Your face was plastered across Gotham news every night. People in Gotham had mixed feelings about he and Batman, but you always defended him to your co-workers and that was one of the things that first things that drew Dick to you.

You were kind and thoughtful, but also brave and fearless. You put yourself into harm’s way in order for other people to know about what was going on in Gotham. It impressed him and his little crush on you started to grow.

It was fine in the beginning, but Dick wasn’t one to deal with his emotions well, which was why, as the months went on and his crush got bigger, that he didn’t handle it so well.

He wouldn’t stalk you, per se. But, if he happened to be out on patrol and he saw you, he would follow you from the roof tops to make sure that you got where you were going okay. And you had no idea that you had a little birdie watching over you.

Well, you didn’t know until you were forced to find out.

You had been out late with some friends at a bar down town. Everyone had had some drinks, but you were the best off in comparison to the rest of your group, and your place was just a few blocks away. So, when it was finally time to call it a night, you decided to walk home. It was something you had done countless times before. But, tonight ended much differently than normally.

You were about halfway home when you noticed the two shadows behind you. You felt your heart rate pick up and you started to walk faster. The men behind you also picked up their pace. You, slightly intoxicated and scared, focused on the men behind you, which was how you didn’t notice a third man come out of the alley you were crossing in front of.

You only noticed him when he grabbed you and pulled you into the alley, his hand covering your mouth so you couldn’t scream. The two men who were following you entered the alley after you.

If you were scared before, you were absolutely terrified now. Your heart was beating so quick, you thought it was going to burst in your chest. You hoped that it would burst. You knew what men like this were capable of and you weren’t going to be one of their victims.

You bit the hand that was covering your mouth and stomped your foot down as hard as you could on his toes. The man yelped and let go of you. You tried to make a run for the alley opening, but one of the other guys grabbed you by your arm and slammed you against the wall.

Your face bounced off the brick from the amount of force and you were gifted with an instant headache, your eyes a bit out of focus. You shook your head a little to regain focus and noticed blood on the wall before you.

My nose, you thought.

You were so focused, or so unfocused, that you didn’t hear the men talking to you.

“Listen to me you stupid bitch.” He yelled before throwing you down onto the alley ground.

His foot followed soon after, colliding with your stomach, knocking all the air out of your lungs. In that moment, you thought you were going to die in that alley.

That was when you heard the loud bang come from deeper within the alley.

Dick had been on patrol when he saw you, or, more accurately, he saw a woman being attacked in an alley. He didn’t know it was you until he dropped down into the alley and got a better look at your face.

His anger intensified at the same time his heart dropped. Men who picked on women got under Dick’s skin and he would make them pay, but it wasn’t just any woman being attacked, it was his crush.

“Let her go.” Robin said harshly.

You knew that voice, it was Robin. You rolled over from where you were on the ground, afraid to get up. And you were right. Standing a few feet away from you was the boy wonder himself. You had a lot of respect for him and Batman, the way they would so selflessly gave themselves and their bodies up to help others. But you had never seen either of them in person. You thought you never would.

The men around you didn’t seem fazed by Robin, instead their eyes were scanning the rooftops, no doubt looking for the caped crusader himself. But, Batman wasn’t with Robin.

You met Robin’s eyes and you saw the anger and the ability. You couldn’t help but laugh. One of them men looked down at you and you shifted so you could look up at him with a smile. “You guys are so fucked now.”

You pushed yourself off the alley ground and as soon as you were out of the way, Robin jumped into action. You quickly moved to stand against the wall, out of the way. It didn’t take much for Robin to take the men down. A few punches and kicks later and they were all unconscious on the alley ground.

He gave the man who had kicked you in the stomach a harder kick to the gut before walking over to where you were resting against the wall.

“Are you okay?” He asked you in a softer voice than you were expecting from a man like himself.

You nodded, you hand holding your nose. By then, blood had run down your face and neck and you were fairly certain it was broken.

Robin grimaced and pulled a glove of his hand, bringing it up to your face. “Let me see.”

Robin gently pulled your hand away and tipped your head to the side. “Yeah, that’s broken. You’re going to have to go to the hospital and get that re-set.”

You nodded and let your eyes moved across him, taking in all the details about him; but, mostly you took in his eyes. Everyone in Gotham had heard stories of Batman and Robin and you would have expected the eyes of one of them to be harden by what they had seen and what they had done, or permanently reflect anger, like what you had seen in Robin’s eyes just moments earlier.

But, that wasn’t the case. Robin’s eyes were soft, they reflected a kindness you wouldn’t have expected to find in a man like him.

You knew many people who were afraid of him and even more who hated him; but, standing there with him, you couldn’t understand how anyone could hate him, let alone be afraid of him.

You brought your hand up to lightly touch the ‘R’ on his chest. “Thank you.”

Robin nodded with a small smile. “I’m always here to help.”

He torn his glaze away from you to look at the three men still unconscious in the alley. “I’m going to tie these guys up. You call the cops. Then, I’ll take you to the hospital.”

You nodded and when he stepped away to tie the men up, you searched the alley for your purse. It had ended up a few feet away from you. You did what Robin asked you to and called 9-1-1. And, surprisingly, Robin was still around after he had tied the men up.

You had done a lot of reporting on Batman and Robin and they were never one for sticking around, especially when it was smaller crimes like what had happened to you.

But Dick couldn’t leave you. He wanted nothing more than to take you to the hospital himself, which was why he had let those words slip from his mouth moments earlier, even when he knew he couldn’t. And since he couldn’t do that, he would at least wait for the cops to show up so he would know you were safe.

“Why are you still here?” You asked him.

Robin’s shoulders fell and he turned around to face you. “I have to know that you’re safe.”

You nodded slowly. “You don’t normally stay. I’ve spoken with a lot of girls you have helped…”

Robin sighed and he stepped closer to you. “You’re one of the good ones, one of the people who understand why I do the things that I do. (Y/N), I promise you that I will always be around to make sure that you’re safe.”

You swallowed. That was the last thing you were expecting.

Sure, you knew Robin. You reported on him and had done way too many profiles of him in your free time, trying to understand the man behind the mask. But, you would have never thought that he would know who you were.

“You know who I am?”

Robin smiled. “How could I not?”

You felt yourself blush at his words.

“You watch out for me out there on the news, and I’ll watch out for you out here, okay? We’ll keep each other safe. I promise.” Robin said, his voice off a bit, but you couldn’t tell why.

Truth was, was that Dick had a lot he wanted to say. He wanted to take you to the hospital and then take you home and make you some tea and make sure you were okay and taken care of. He wanted to have some sort of relationship with you. And knowing that he couldn’t, at least not right now, knowing that he would have to walk away from you in a few minutes while you were hurt, it hurt him.

You nodded to him with a small smile, though you were sure with all the blood, it did not come off as welcoming as you were intending. “We’ll keep each other safe.”

Robin nodded to you and the two of you could hear the approaching sound of sirens.

Robin stayed with you in that alley until the cops showed up, then he disappeared back into the night.

[saltyaos]

a loooong meta about lots of things I hated about 5x14 and what happened next, starting with the speech Deke gave Jemma, and while I did appreciate the grandson trying to comfort the grandmother, in the context of this tvshow, of the couple, to me it was incredibly toxic so keep in mind this is anti-fitzsimmons, anti what they did to Fitz lately, anti what they did to Jemma in s5 too, anti Deke and Fitz’s relationship

@whistlingwindtree​​ asked me to confront Deke’s speech to Jemma and his talk with Fitz in the next episode, but there is so much I hate that I extended it. But because it literally turned into a giant of 5000+ words I’m going to cut it in 3 different posts and then probably not being able to write for like three days because it took me hours, but at least I vented a lot (because like I said before, this reminds me of personal life issues and I couldn’t get out of that mindset)

these are points I want to touch, in bold are the ones in this post

-the speech itself  (post 1) -Jemma can never break for the rest of her life (post 1) -all her friends are more Fitz's friends than hers except maybe Daisy who was in the middle (post 1) -Fitz and Deke and the grandparent grandson stereotype  -Deke's speech to Fitz  -what happened after that: mental breakdown or bad friendship because the husband comes first?  (post 1) -Jemma and Fitz were supposed to reverse gender stereotypes but if I look at s4 and s5 all I see is gender stereotypes, tv stereotypes and not much of their fundamental traits and quirks left (will be in my third post)

part 1 post/180449275812/a-loooong-meta-about-lots-of-things-i-hated-about

 [this is part 2] 

[part 3 will be linked here]

disclaimer: this is how I interpreted things, I’m not claiming it to be the Truth. I also wrote what I think the reasons behind their actions are. Reasons, not justifications. They didn’t happen out of nowhere.  

part 3 will probably be posted tomorrow, it needs revising. 

Fitz and Deke and the grandparents-grandson stereotype

this is more in reference to my previous post, I want to put my context before I go to the speech. whistlingwindtree feel free to jump to the next point.

now here’s the thing. I like Deke as a character, but if Fitz had been framed as hating him because protective of Daisy, if they had fought about it, it would have been fine by me, obviously.  (a much better fight than the canon ones too: 

Fitz accusing him of selling Daisy out, 

Deke pointing out that given that they now know Kasius had bombs everywhere, if Daisy had marched in and taken Jemma away, Kasius would have anticipated his plan of demanding people back or blowing the lighthouse up, and they wouldn’t have been ready back then because they had just arrived and humanity would have died, 

and Fitz pointing out that she could have quaked Kasius into pieces, killed all the Krees with her powers without having to get anywhere near them 

and Deke retorting that 1) he didn’t know Daisy back then as anything but the destroyed of world and he had no reason to believe she’d care for the people there at all, just for her friends, since she didn’t listen to his attempts to explain how things worked there, and 2) Kasius’ brother and the other krees would have destroyed everything later. They only had the chance to win when at the very end they found a way to make humans escape on a spaceship. 

And then Fitz telling him he couldn’t have predicted they’d ever make it out anyway and he should just own he did something horrible to Daisy and there is no justification for it. He can’t stand behind near a man who gives up and wants to keep status quo like that

Deke pointing out he regretted it so much he was ready to die to give them a chance to go home because now he knows Daisy would have fought for his people too but he’s not a mind-reader and when he tried to tell her people would immediately die she ignored him. And so on. 

See that? a legit reason to fight and disagree, and less dickery

and after 5x14 Deke asking Fitz if he still feels like judging him that much since he seems to have adopted the: sacrifice one for many frame of mind too, and them fighting over THAT)

but I digress

what I saw in s5 was Fitz being angry at Deke’s childlike interest in the world, and inappropriateness, even though Deke came from a dystopian society where he was a slave himself, and his constant dislike for Deke seemed a bit too much to begin with, but after 5x14 had me go ‘really? you are in no place to say ‘Deke is the worst’. So I was already on the fence about this relationship. I didn’t find anything about it cute. You can say all you want about Fitz being under-stress but it was in a context in which everyone was doing their best to help, Fitz was isolating himself and snapping at the newest arrival, and can you imagine if he had been like that with Hunter in s2? Come on. It didn’t feel like Fitz anymore and it was on the heels of all the Doctorness. It felt like the typical male character that annoys me. And yes, I put male particularly there because female characters aren’t allowed to be like that without having to go through all kinds of redemption soon after or being ‘put in their places’. Jemma has been mean to people before, and has been demonized for it or it has been written off or gone unnoticed because it didn’t fit the typical bubbly scientist role they try to fit her in nor the sad but a bit cold one misreading of her from s2 either. 

(also... why weren’t the gravitonium expert Deke, also a computer genius able to re-program the framework in a world with no books or tech, grandfather and genius grandmother working together on the rift again?? To make Fitz even more of an isolated struggling protagonist? 

Again, it reminds me of the (always male) genius who snaps at people and is tormented stereotype that bores me so much and that is SO NOT Fitz. It’s Sherlock. It’s doctor House. it’s Wells. It was never Fitz. I loved Fitz for being different.)

But watching the flashforward when Robin remembered her past in the Lighthouse, and Fitz furious because Robin predicted Jemma’s death, and ripping projects there, and Robin and May stepping back and kinda instinctively protecting each other from his anger adds up to this and gives me horrible vibes. That’s now how Fitz should have been even in the Lighthouse, and yet that is the same Fitz from a universe where yes, 5x14 happened, and then the world ended, and Jemma supposedly supported him and he was the best man their daughter know. He was sweet with his daughter, I’m sure. But damn, if the context isn’t fighting to make me side-eye that too.  

It just made me so uncomfortable on many levels. They are all under horrible stress all the time, but Jemma is supposed to be nice about it, and Fitz is the grumpy-mean grandfather who snaps at a grandson who already had a bad relationship with his own dad too? Nice grandma who tries to calm down angry grandpa, and angry grandpa who doesn’t want the grandson there? A negative cliché that I hate.

Deke’s speech to Fitz

Deke’s characterization was all over the place, depending on the writers of the episode. And this takes the cake. Deke was shown so UNCOMFORTABLE and unhappy during 5x14, he was also clinging to the fact that the stories his mother told him were real, he needed to believe that.

Fitz: I don't see it. None of you looks like me. Deke: Well, I don't know what to tell you, Grandpappy. I guess your daughter found a real man. Fitz: Of all people. Why couldn't it be Flint? I liked Flint. Deke: Well, that's a lovely sentiment. That's almost as loving as when you had a robot point a gun to my head. Fitz: I didn't want to hurt anybody. Deke: It's fine. It's the first move you made that actually made me respect you a little bit. It's my kind of move. And this place, 80 years from now, I'd survived on moves like that. 'Cause it was kill or be killed. I know Johnson's still mad at me about the whole "selling her into slavery" thing, but you got to play the long game, or else the whole world is gonna be a vacancy, right? Fitz: Maybe. Deke: And you say you don't see the resemblance?

... WHAT?

here’s what I’m thinking: on one hand 1) Deke had at some point been a believer until he lost everyone 2) he was clearly in awe of his mother and her stories about his hero grandpa 3) his ‘long game’ was keeping humanity alive, and he thought he had to go against Daisy for it, like:

Deke: You are about to walk into a buzzsaw. Daisy: You're just worried it's gonna blow back on you. Deke: This has nothing to do with me! If you pick a fight with the Blues, they are gonna take it out on all of us. Today's Renewal was for three people. Tomorrow could be for 30. Death comes easy here. Daisy: Which is why I need to get to Simmons now. So if I were you, I'd get out of my way. Deke: You already destroyed the world once. I am not gonna let you do it again. (gets quaked into a wall)

and by the last Lighthouse-episode he had seen who they truly were and chose to die to let them go home, in the hope they might save humanity instead, so he had changed his mind. 

on the other hand: it’s bad enough that Fitz has done what he did, that the writers had Deke do what he did too, did they need to DRAG DAISY again to write them into another fight? Same show in which Jemma didn’t get to say anything about the time when she got tortured, not about when she was recently enslaved/mistreated/touched/humiliated and used in whatever way Kasius wanted? Same show in which Daisy was also tortured and didn’t get to say a word about it, nor she got to talk about how she was also used by Kasius as a fighting tool, operated on against her will, blackmailed using her friend against her? 

So what happened here? That speech to Fitz was like him slipping back to asshole because of the bad influence? He was disliked and reacted hiding behind dickery (which doesn’t excuse bringing up so lightly that he sold Daisy out, but this is not the point I’m making here)? 

and I’m not saying Deke wasn’t acting like a dick in the first episodes, mind you, but the way he goes from one attitude to another makes me feel like the dick one is a mask to survive and be less hurt, and in this case to be approved by grandpa

What I also mean is that this speech to Fitz takes like twenty terrible turns and I don’t know what the writers were trying to convey anymore, and that I feel it all starts from Fitz. 

Were the writers trying to say that Fitz was so horribly wrong that of course the guy who had to ‘kill or be killed’ his whole life and did all kinds of bad things would relate to it and make Fitz feel bad? That they were both right about doing what’s necessary? The end justifies the means? (no, not always, even the 100 knows that)  

Or were they willingly writing some toxic masculinity type of ‘grandson who just got physically and emotionally hurt by grandfather tries to make him angrier because that seems to be the only way to be respected by that kind of grandfather, and agrees with his actions to get some approval from him without even realizing it’? which is actually my theory except they didn’t think it’s toxic masculinity just like they didn’t think Alistair was abusive to Fitz? because honestly. Fitz blurting out he wanted Flint to be his grandson and all that has to be hurtful, it WAS hurtful, and when Deke speaks about it being a ‘lovely sentiment’ the sarcastic voice and expression are the same mask/defense mechanism that he used in the Lighthouse. Fitz keeps openly disliking him literally the first time he sees Deke after knocking him out really hard and then keeping a gun aimed at him and keeping him hostage. It’s also why Deke is trying to hurt him back pointing out his mother married a real man (and we know Deke disapproved of his father, it was clear in the way they talked with the other Lighthouse old guy about how the Lighthouse changed people, including his father, he was saying whatever he could to hit back)

hell, Deke switches and calls Daisy ‘Johnson’ like he’s some cool guy who barely knows her even though he’s been calling her Daisy the whole time, just to reach Fitz with that attitude. They are ‘strong men’ in this speech. They don’t let feelings get in the way. Fitz points out he didn’t want to hurt anyone, and I’m sure he didn’t, but he also later refused to let Jemma die even if it meant the end of the world, so he did have limits, and in a way he must know he hurt Daisy that much, so what the hell are they really talking about? I can see how people can interpret it as Deke actually just pretending to be nicer, but since we were shown scenes of Deke being alone or kinda unseen and still being all childlike and/or interested in Daisy, and also because of the change of tone and body language around Fitz, I can only see toxic masculinity spurred on by a grandfather who hates him. Deke already had unhealthy ways to react to begin with.

i can also see Deke trying to show Fitz their resemblance as an attempt to bond because he’s that desperate for grandpa’s approval... or as a punishment for grandpa who dislikes him so much, show him he’s not that different because fuck him. 

Of course after that Deke is seen saying whatever he needs to say to his grandma too to get her approval, about Daisy being a hardass and all, and then he apologizes to Daisy for being late and all that and it’s shown Daisy doesn’t know what he’s talking about so maybe instead he was imagining things about Daisy because flustered? 

Were the writers maybe trying to make me dislike both men at the same time, while I was already feeling repulsed by the arc they were giving Jemma?  

Jemma gets a speech about how she has to keep being the lovely kind understanding wife, Fitz gets a speech about how it’s kill or be killed in this world. Jemma is there to be supportive, Fitz is the one who acts one way or another. He’s supposedly in control enough not to hurt Jemma and she can totally trust that their love will keep him from doing anything to her while also not responsible for his action because mentally ill, but after 5x14 he seemed perfectly fine, as if it was just a temporary window in his life. What?

and the deleted scene where Deke hugs him and Fitz can’t wait to get out of it?

this is not a ‘funny’ grandfather who doesn’t want to admit he likes his grandson moment, this is adult grandson who lost both parents at a very young age and never made up with his dad tried to bond with grandfather who hated him and kept hating him and gave him one last hug in case he died which the grandfather really disliked, and grandson even tried to bond over by acting as if he didn’t care about Daisy, that’s how much he was acting there, it was unnatural, and it was okay to sell her out, after all grandpa is the kind who would point a gun at him and sweet grandma so he can operate on Daisy, who is tied up to a table. Same grandpa who said he didn’t want to hurt anyone but also thought it was the ONLY option and therefore never regretted it.

Why the hell did Fitz look almost upset when Deke commented that meeting his grandparents wasn’t that great after he spent the entire season disgusted by Deke?

So what. What were the writers doing? 

I’m supposed to compare these two speeches, the one Deke gave Jemma and the one he gave Fitz, but it’s like they are different people, talking about also different people, two different Fitzes who bring out different sides of Deke. 

There is nothing not toxic about this. Deke feeling the need to act all macho to impress Fitz and talking about disgusting things like they are okay, Fitz so openly insulting Deke again and again even after speaking to Jemma about him, their characterizations changing every episode and making people feel like they don’t know what is really going on (Fitz doesn’t want to hurt anyone vs Fitz bringing up that Daisy ‘betrayed’ them too when she is angry at him vs Fitz showing he’s regretful with his facial expressions to Daisy and saying he didn’t have a choice vs Fitz telling Jemma that he still thinks it was the right thing to do vs Fitz looking at Jemma like she’s insane when she says that maybe it was the right thing to do vs him being annoyed about being locked up as if he’s not hallucinating and cutting people open because he thinks it’s the right solution without even trying to talk to them first vs Fitz being unable to look at Jemma in the eyes). The writers writing Jemma in the position of the good wifey through Deke’s speech in a way that means she really spent her life like that. 

What is science, by the way, she’s sure as hell not the analytical and weird scientist she was before, not if you listen to these speeches. Deke’s speech to comfort Jemma is about Fitz. Deke’s speech with Fitz is him trying to show to Fitz that they can both do horrible things when they think it’s for the right reason so he shouldn’t be on a high horse. 

Everything is horrible. 

[iatethepomegranate]

Blue is the New Red Chapter 46

Masterlist

Note that due to tumblr being ridiculous, I no longer post external links on individual chapters. If you prefer to read on AO3, please refer to the masterlist link above.

Rated: M for torture, flashbacks, trauma reactions, PTSD, sexual assault of minors, consensual sexual content and related freaking out about it, drug references, non-consensual drug use, possibly underage drinking, homophobia and biphobia, references to self-harm, suicidal ideation and attempt. Chapter warnings:  animal cruelty, allusions to the sexual assault of minors, mentions of Wally's jerkass dad, hints of PTSD

Main Pairing: Birdflash

Status: Multiple chapters, in progress

Overall summary: Nightwing has finally made his return to the Team, but he finds the events of the past two years aren’t quite done with him yet.

Chapter notes:  Batgirl is participating in her first team mission, and Nightwing is finally back on active duty after his long absence.

Additional notes (and an apology): It's been far too long since I last updated. I'm so sorry. I wish I had a good explanation, but the fact is I just could not get myself into the right mindset to write this, let alone reread what I've written so I can remember how it goes. (See a longer explanation on the AO3 page)

Reminder: dialogue in bold is said through M'gann's mind link.

Chapter 46: Reconnaissance (Maybe)

It took Batman three tries before he was able to let Nightwing on the bioship the following morning. If it hadn't been for the smorgasbord of trackers embedded into every piece of Nightwing's uniform, he probably wouldn't have been allowed to go at all.

Batgirl squeaked when the seatbelt fastened itself over her chest. Nightwing, very charitably, he thought, did not laugh.

“You control the ship with your brain?” she asked Miss Martian once she'd recovered.

Miss Martian nodded. “I can also make her respond to commands from non-telepaths. I'll show you how to fly her one day.”

Batgirl rubbed the seatbelt between her gloved fingers. “Maybe once I've gotten used to this.”

“Wait until you see her shapeshifting,” said Kid Flash.

“You just want her to turn into that version of you with boobs again,” said Nightwing.

“Who can blame me? I'm hot.”

“Oh, grow out of your hormones already,” Artemis complained. “You don't hear Nightwing going on like this anymore.”

There was a very specific reason for that, but Nightwing made a conscious decision not to ruin the mood. At least it shut Kid Flash up, probably because he'd had the same thought. Artemis winced and opened her mouth to apologise, but Nightwing waved her off before she could. Better to just move on.

Miss Martian smiled awkwardly and called Batgirl over to show her how the bioship controls worked.

“Batman said he added colour change options to these suits, didn't he?” said Artemis, pressing various spots on the chest logo of her cold-weather uniform until it switched to her usual green. She pressed it again to switch back to white. “Nice.”

“I told him we wouldn't be very covert if we wore white indoors,” said Nightwing. “Nice to see he listened for once.” Nightwing hadn't had call to wear his new cold-weather uniform until today. Similar design to his usual costume, except in white, plus the cowl that had featured on his cold-weather Robin uniform. For the first time in a while, he felt naked without a cape. If the weather proved too punishing, he might have to add one for future missions.

“You stole that idea from me,” Robin complained. Seeing him in the same cold weather uniform Nightwing once wore brought on a feeling of nostalgia that he thought he'd finally gotten over.

“You snooze, you lose,” he said, shaking it off.

Everyone strapped into their seats and Miss Martian willed the ship into flight. It would take a few hours to reach their destination and Nightwing could barely contain his excitement. After such a long time of being stuck on the sidelines due to a never-ending parade of bullshit, he was finally back where he wanted to be, with his best friends in the whole world. There was that nagging fear in the back of his mind about what would happen if they came across the al Ghuls, but the likelihood of that happening was so remote that it didn't take more precedence than that.

Besides, there was nothing better at sharpening his focus than a good old-fashioned team mission. He already felt a thousand times smarter and they'd only just left home base.

“This is exciting,” Batgirl admitted. “I had no idea there was a team like this until a few months ago. How did you convince the Justice League to let you do this?”

“Well, to be fair, it started when KF, Aqualad and I broke into a supervillain's science lab without anyone's permission,” Nightwing said. “Then we found Superboy in a pod and busted him out. We also may have blown up the place, just a little bit.”

“Then we had to wait a thousand years for them to officially approve the team,” Kid Flash added. “Supey crashed at my place in the meantime.” The corner of his mouth tightened. “Well, I wouldn't call it my place anymore...”

“You've mentioned something about your dad before,” said Batgirl. “Ages ago, at that gala where you embarrassed Nightwing with that Enrique Iglesias song.”

“I'm amazed you remember that,” Kid Flash replied. “I don't even remember what I told you.” At least that eased some of the pain out of his expression, even if they were still talking about it.

“I have an eidetic memory,” Batgirl said. “Comes in handy. You mentioned Dick's—I mean Nightwing's—dad took the news about you two better than your own dad did.”

“Yeah...” His mouth tightened again. “He kicked me out of home last year. Been staying with my aunt and uncle.”

“That's horrible. I'm so sorry.”

Kid Flash shrugged, but no one believed he meant it. “My aunt and uncle have had all of us in the same room for a family dinner so it's not like he and Mum are out of my life completely. Just... mostly. I'm gonna invite them to my graduation. No idea if they'll show. No point dwelling on something I can't do anything about.”

Nightwing rested his foot on the edge of Kid Flash's seat; they were too far away for hugging, even if that's what he really wanted to do right now. A friendly foot of support would have to do.

“You really remember everything?” Zatanna asked Batgirl, who grasped onto the change of topic.

“No one remembers everything,” she replied, “but I can get pretty close.”

“Impressive,” said Aqualad.

The conversation very pointedly moved on, but Kid Flash had this faraway look in his eyes, even as he went through the motions of smiling and nodding at what the others said.

“Hey,” Nightwing said quietly. Superboy would hear, but he was pretty good at pretending he couldn't.

Kid Flash sighed. “I'm fine, babe. I just miss them sometimes.”

“I know.”

“I don't know whether I'm more afraid they'll come to my graduation and be horrible, or they won't come at all.”

“You sure you wanna invite them?”

“Yeah. I wanna know they care. If they care.”

“Whatever happens, you're surrounded by people who love you. And we're fully prepared to fight your dad if you want.”

Kid Flash snickered, just a little bit. “Please don't. He'll think we're moving into the final phase of the gay agenda: eliminate the heterosexuals.”

Nightwing cackled. “I'll pencil it in after brunch.”

The issue wasn't resolved, but the levity helped in the short term. Kid Flash relaxed in his seat over time and his father slowly filtered out of everyone's minds. There'd be time to deal with that can of worms later. No need to let it spoil the upcoming excitement of the mission.

Nightwing was so ready for this.

Miss Martian had to land the bioship a mile away from the facility due to a lack of surrounding cover, plus the thermal imaging at the base. Small groups wearing insulated costumes would have a better chance of slipping in undetected.

The team split into their squads and put some distance between each other, the better to trick the sensors. Zatanna prepared a teleportation spell for alpha squad while Nightwing hopped on Kid Flash's back for beta's run to the facility. Rocket expanded her bubble to include Superboy and Robin to improve the speed of gamma.

Alpha would arrive first and relay any immediate findings to the other squads. Batgirl was already a talented hacker and could handle any low-risk hacks, though anything more serious would have to await Nightwing's arrival. Batgirl was a quick study and would surpass him eventually, but that wasn't today.

Nightwing buried his face against Kid Flash's shoulder as they began to move. They screeched to a halt maybe a minute later, but he didn't get the chance to climb down before Batgirl's voice was in his head.

“I've got a virus into the external cameras. Nightwing should be able to take out the infrareds with minimal interference.”

“Thanks, BG.” Nightwing climbed off Kid Flash's back and they pressed themselves against the dull stone wall that surrounded the entire complex.

Miss Martian dropped to the snowy ground and rolled a few times. “There. My body temperature should blend into our surroundings if I'm quick. I'll find the sensors for you.” Martians already ran cooler than humans anyway. She camouflaged and phased through the wall.

“We're definitely safe from the infrared cameras here, right?” said Kid Flash.

“As long as we stick to the wall,” Nightwing replied. “The walls are insulated and the exterior cameras angled to watch for approaching invaders, remember?”

“I may have dozed off in the briefing a little bit.”

Whatever smartass reply Nightwing was cooking up had to be aborted when Miss Martian reappeared. They hugged the wall as they slipped in through a gate, the guard already unconscious, and then legged it to the security station.

Said station was a rickety little shack with a tin roof and a door thicker than its walls. Nightwing slipped inside with Kid Flash while Miss Martian stood guard outside.

Nightwing found a port on the three-monitor computer's CPU and pulled a plug from his wrist computer. He went slowly at first, just poking around in the guts of the programming to see what he had.

“Looks like the al Ghul techs added a shutdown sequence in a hurry,” he said, leafing through the programmers' documentation attached to the code. “Not part of the original programming. It's tied into some functions deeper in the facility.”

“Can you turn them off without alerting anyone?” asked Aqualad.

“I can make it look like a malfunction, but they're gonna know about it.” It wasn't ideal, but that's what he had to work with. “Are you in position? We won't have long to get inside, and we'll have trouble getting out again if they fix the system faster than we can work.”

“Perhaps we should consult Batman. It may affect the League's mission if we are discovered.”

“Make it quick. We had to knock out a guard to get here and I don't know if there are any alarms in this system.”

There were a few tense moments, each longer than the last. Nightwing half-expected they would have to fall back, but Aqualad's voice filled his head again, giving the go-ahead to shut down the infrareds.

It only took a moment. He'd had plenty of time to plan how to do it, after all. Then they hurried out of the security building and through the nearest door, Miss Martian taking point. Invisibly.

“I found an alarm system,” Robin said. “Doesn't look hard to turn off but, you know...”

“Looks can be deceiving?” Nightwing replied.

“Well, this is Ra's al Ghul we're talking about.”

“If you are concerned, perhaps we should leave it alone,” said Aqualad.

“Sure thing, boss,” said Nightwing. “We'll avoid detection the old-fashioned way.”

Kid Flash stifled a snicker beside him. Old-fashioned for him meant tripping over things and falling right into the people they were trying to avoid. So maybe they wouldn't do that.

“Our priority is reconnaissance,” Aqualad pointed out. “No unnecessary risks.”

“You ever notice how our recon missions always end with explosions?” said Kid Flash. Aqualad didn't respond, but his annoyed vibes through the link got the point across. The link wasn't typically strong enough to pick up on specific emotions, but Aqualad was uniquely talented in that regard. He'd certainly had plenty of practice making his frustration with the team's nonsense clear without uttering a word.

The corridors were long and made of soulless concrete. It was not like Ra’s at all. He preferred old-fashioned stone whenever possible, but maybe it didn’t hold the heat in this climate.

“What’re you thinking?” asked Kid Flash

“This place doesn’t look like an al Ghul original,” Nightwing replied. “Maybe it’s an adaptation for the cold weather, or he doesn’t care about aesthetics in a facility he’ll rarely visit. I don’t know. It doesn’t feel right.”

“Maybe he didn’t build it,” suggested Artemis. “He could’ve found it abandoned or killed the original inhabitants.”

“Possibly. If he was desperate enough.”

Unfortunately, Nightwing had been hoping for a more traditional interior, because there tended to be little alcoves that made good hiding spots. No such luck here. He spotted a heating vent and Miss Martian floated up to test if it would open, but it wouldn’t budge.

“Fused shut,” she whispered. Damn it.

“That’d be too easy,” Nightwing muttered. Ra’s knew about the batfamily’s tendency toward air vents and had clearly taken steps to thwart their use.

“I could get it open,” Miss Martian said, “but it would make too much noise.”

They continued, peeking into solid metal doors as they went. Each room looked like a horror movie version of an examination room, some with beds or dental chairs or even metal tables. No computers or samples yet. Nothing they could work with.

“Found something,” said Batgirl. “In the heart of the facility. Some kind of computer server. There are cages, too. We haven’t gone inside yet. I think there may be an elevator in there. Get here quick.”

“On our way,” said Nightwing. Kid Flash’s running would be too loud, so they ran at a Nightwing-level pace instead. Well, Miss Martian flew a little ahead with her camouflage.

If there really was an elevator, maybe that would explain why there was so little of use on this level. It made sense, really. Any infiltrator worth their salt could get in here. Maybe the central chamber was more difficult, or at least the fact it was central would deter all but the most determined snoops. Ah, language.

All three squads met up at a giant pair of metal doors, all taking turns to peer inside. The door was electrified shut, linked to a keypad beside it.

“Does anyone else think it’s strange we haven’t seen anyone aside from that one guard?” said Robin.

“Super strange,” Nightwing agreed. He pressed a button on his mask and scanned the keypad, lighting up four fingerprints that denoted the most commonly-used buttons: 5, 7, 1, 4. There were 24 permutations of those four numbers, and trying them all in a brute-force strategy would undoubtedly trip another alarm.

There was a camera on the wall behind the team, which was dead. It must have gone off when the infrareds did… Nightwing hoped. If he could break into the system and find the camera footage for the code.

“I need to find another security room to have any chance of cracking this without ruining the mission,” he said. Sadly, Ra’s al Ghul knew better than to use WayneTech. “Think there’s one inside, or do we have to go all the way outside again?”

“We passed one on our route,” said Batgirl. “It’s a few doors down that way.” She pointed behind her, to Nightwing’s right.

“What do the rest of us do in the meantime?” asked Rocket. “I feel silly just standing around.”

“We look for alternative entrances,” said Aqualad. “I want everyone to know this place so well they could walk it blindfolded.”

“Now you sound like Batman,” said Robin, as Nightwing took Miss Martian and Kid Flash down the corridor to find the security room.

“I will take that as a compliment. Begin searching.”

The security room was the third door on the left of the concrete corridor. Nightwing had to swallow bile, because the stack of cassette tapes on the wall reminded him too much of Skinner’s compound. He shook his head to clear it.

“Get a fucking grip, Nightwing,” he muttered, crossing to the computer on the cheap grey desk before Kid Flash or Miss Martian could question or comfort him. It was a modern computer with a flat-screen monitor, and it took him moments to break in. Fortunately, the video records were archived on the computer itself. The tapes must’ve been old. Good. He didn’t want to look at them again.

Nightwing also didn’t want to delve too deeply into the video archives. He found a digital map of the facility with all the cameras marked and downloaded a copy to his wrist computer. He also passed copies to Robin and Batgirl.

He found the central chamber on the map and made a note of the camera’s codename: AX253. He then found that folder in the archive and started sifting through the footage until he found someone using the code. It was a bad angle, but it was all he had. He ran the video a couple of times and finally figured out the first digit: 4. That brought the possible number of combinations down to six. Better, but still too many to risk a brute-force approach. Most systems got antsy after more than three attempts, especially in places such as this. If he could piece together at least one more digit…

“What’s taking so long?” said Superboy. “Whatever you did to the cameras could’ve been fixed already.”

“It hasn’t,” Nightwing replied. “I need a few more minutes. Got one digit figured out. Need at least one more to make brute-forcing an option.”

“Genius takes time,” Kid Flash added. Nightwing would’ve elbowed him and told him to shut up, but he was busy.

He sifted through the footage and found a shorter person. Both people had been wearing labcoats. This one was a woman, and she fumbled the combination the first two times because her hands shook. She got it on the third because she went slowly, enough that Nightwing could pick up the whole combination. That was nice. He also knew the keypad could take at least two mistakes.

The combination was: 4157.

“Got it,” said Nightwing. “Anything cool on your end?”

“No luck,” said Zatanna. “That door is our only way in and out.”

“Wonderful.”

They headed back to the door and Nightwing keyed in the combination. The door buzzed and released. Aqualad tested the handle, and it turned.

There were more metal tables in the room, and fur was stuck in some of the cages. Nightwing made a beeline for the enormous computer that took up an entire wall, dragging Robin and Batgirl with him.

“Find another way down if you can,” Aqualad said. “I would prefer not to use the elevator.”

“Bit of a fire hazard if it’s the only option,” Kid Flash quipped.

“Would Ra’s al Ghul care?” said Robin.

“Probably not,” Nightwing replied, pulling a cord from his wrist computer and plugging it into a port. “As long as he gets out in once piece, most of his people are expendable. Hell, even he is to an extent. Yay, Lazarus Pits.” He shook off a sick feeling at the green memory and focused on breaking into this computer, explaining his steps to Robin and Batgirl as he went.

It was a simple enough task to log in and poke around in the files.

“Nightwing, what are we dealing with?” asked Aqualad, who was examining the elevator across the room.

Zatanna had freed some fur from a cage and was feeling it between her fingers. “This is real fur. A wolf, I think?”

Nightwing found some research notes. “I’m not sure what I’m looking at yet yet. KF, get your science brain over here and help me make sense of this. I think we’ve got some test results.”

“All the test subjects have codes,” said Batgirl, pointing to the screen. “Can we find what those mean?”

“Sounds like a good starting point,” said Kid Flash, zipping over to them. He rested his hand on Nightwing’s shoulder, leaning in to get a look as Nightwing sifted through the files until he found a name authority file. “Maybe that’s it.”

Nightwing opened it. “Each code translates to a Latin name and a number.”

“Scientific animal names?” Kid Flash suggested.

“Makes sense,” said Robin. “Zatanna, can we look at that fur?”

Zatanna brought it over. Between the five of them, they were able to identify most of the Latin animal names. Lots of wolves, which made since given the grey animal fur. There were also foxes, various kind of large-breed dogs, large canines, and even horses and a bear or two. Nightwing swore he saw the scientific name for an African elephant as well, which was just upsetting and made him think of the circus.

“So, they’re doing animal tests here,” said Kid Flash. “Can we save some of this data? Uncle Flash would have a field day.”

“I’ll save as much as I can,” said Nightwing. “We still need to take a look downstairs.”

“The elevator is not code-protected,” said Aqualad. “It would appear we are clear to use it, if there is no other option.” He sounded less than enthused. Nightwing couldn’t blame him. You never wanted to get stuck in an elevator when you weren’t supposed to be there at all. Sure, they could try the elevator shaft, but it was a bad idea when you didn’t know if you could get in and out of the elevator if the need arose.

Nightwing went back to the test results, but even knowing the code meanings wasn’t much help. He downloaded those records and went searching for a thesis statement that would explain all this.

Finally, he lucked out:

Mission: devise a method to command dangerous animals to control human population levels.

Classic Ra’s al Ghul. Environmentalism through genocide. How exactly was he trying to command these animals?

“There a lot of information,” Nightwing said. “We should probably leave a small team here to gather as much as possible and keep a lookout for any patrols. There has to be a reason we haven’t encountered many people yet.”

“Robin, Batgirl, are you confident continuing Nightwing’s work here?” asked Aqualad. “We may need him underground.”

“We can do it,” said Robin. “He’s done the hard work already.”

“Very well. New squad assignments: Robin, Batgirl and Rocket are to stay here. Everyone else, with me. Should we need to split further, I want Superboy and Kid Flash protecting Nightwing.”

Nightwing almost made a smartass comment, but it did make sense. He was the only hacker going underground. If something happened, the rest of the team could become trapped if they were unlucky.

They headed to the elevator and peeked inside. There was a hatch up top. Superboy gave Nightwing a boost so he could test the opening. It budged without too much effort, so Aqualad pressed the down button and they all climbed out the hatch. If anyone was in the room below, better they saw an empty elevator than one full of invaders.

Nightwing crouched on top of the elevator beside Zatanna as it lurched downwards. He checked over the blueprints he’d downloaded, but they didn’t provide any information on the bottom floor. They were going into this without any knowledge of what was down there.

“I figured out why the infrared cameras need to be turned off,” Robin said.

“We figured it out,” Batgirl cut in. “These animals are controlled by radio and light signals. The canine and feline animals are controlled by high frequencies, but some of the others are controlled by low frequencies.”

“The cameras interfere with the signals,” said Robin. “Also, they’re probably jammed full of machinery. Enjoy.”

“Thank you,” said Aqualad. Aloud he whispered, “Be ready. We could find anything down here.”

The elevator shuddered to a halt and the doors pinged open.

“Hello?” came a voice. “Who’s there?”

“Oh, god, has someone come to rescue us?” came another voice.

“Please, show yourselves.” A third voice.

The team shared a look.

“I’ll go,” said Superboy. “They’ll recognise my logo.”

“And you’re harder to shoot,” Artemis added.

Superboy didn’t dignify that with a response. Aqualad gave the okay, and he dropped through the hatch.

“Superman?!”

“That’s Superboy, genius. God, I thought you had a PhD.”

“Care to tell me what’s going on here?” Superman said.

“We were kidnapped months ago to work on cybernetic animals.”

“Are there more of you?” asked Superboy.

“Yes! Are you going to get us out?”

“Sure.”

Superboy followed the three people out of earshot, so Superboy narrated through the mind link.

“They’ve taken me to another door. There are dozens of scientists in there. One of them is telling me they have been stuck here for days. They have to swipe identity cards to get back in the elevator, but they stopped working. Someone needs to stay in the elevator to keep it open for us.”

“Can you get to the scientists?” asked Aqualad.

“We should… no. Their cards have stopped working on this door and they don’t know what would happen if I broke it. We need Nightwing.”

Aqualad nodded to Nightwing, who dropped into the elevator with Kid Flash.

This room had even more cages, and the metal tables were covered in fur and stained with blood. Kid Flash shuddered. Superboy and the three scientists were on the other end of the room. Someone inside the room was beating against the glass.

“Hi, everyone,” Nightwing said. “Now, let’s see what we’ve got here.” A scientist offered her key card and Nightwing tested it on the keypad. It didn’t respond at all. “Do the upstairs security features affect these cards?”

“No,” said the scientist. “We have to swipe for all the rooms around here. We can’t do our tests if we can’t get the doors open.”

“Are there any animals left on-site?”

“No,” said another scientist, wiping sweat off his brow. “Soldiers came in and loaded them onto trucks a few days ago.”

“Did they leave us to die in here?” said the third. Nightwing decided against answering, because the answer was absolutely yes.

“We’re here now,” he said instead. “What kind of security measures are down here?” The keypad didn’t accept any codes and had no way to plug in and open it with his computer.

“Not many,” said the first scientist. “We have emergency buttons to shut down everything, but I don’t think anything happens with the keypads.”

“Okay, but just in case, we have to get everyone out quickly,” said Nightwing. “Aqualad, we might have to smash the security measures to get people out of this room. Are we ready for that?”

“This is supposed to be recon only,” said Aqualad.

“I know. Call Batman while I see if we’ve got any other options?”

“I will. One moment.”

“I’m going to see if there’s another way to get this open,” said Nightwing, “but there’s a very good chance I’ll have to ask our muscled friend here to tear it off to get at the wires instead. Do you have any computers you can access?”

The scientists showed him to a few laptops. He saved the research files on there but couldn’t find a way to get into the security system. He hadn’t expected anything, given these scientists were prisoners and possibly geniuses, but it was worth a shot.

“Batman gives his approval to get the scientists out. He is sending backup to take them from there. We are to rendezvous at the front of the facility and then head home.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Nightwing. “Okay, I can’t see any other options. Superboy, could you rip that keypad off the wall for me?”

Superboy tugged it off like a piece of gum from his shoe. The door was still shut, so Nightwing dug around in the wires until he found the right two and tapped the copper ends together to complete the circuit. The door slid open.

“Everyone out, please!” he called. “Go straight to the elevator. No dawdling.”

The trapped scientists flooded out and headed for the elevator. Nightwing nudged their three new friends to join the crowd. Not everyone could fit.

“We’ll take this group up and come back,” said Aqualad. Nightwing relayed that to the people stuck in the room.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he promised. “Our teammates will be back with the elevator in a few—”

A growl erupted from one of the other rooms.

“Um,” said Kid Flash, “didn’t the scientists say those soldiers took all the animals?”

Well, shit.

[fallinwitstyle]

True Happiness (1/2)

Title: True Happiness

Rating: T

Word Count: 2,878

Pairings / Characters: Robin / Regina. With appearances from Henry, Lucy, Alice, Robin (Jr) and Zelena. 

Summary: After her coronation, Regina gets one last surprise and a family once more is complete.

Notes: While I am glad that Robin was in the finale, I think they could have somehow brought him back and this is my take on it. Please enjoy!

Read on Fanfiction

Read on A03

Regina stepped out through the glass doors, a wave of relief washing over her as she left the noise of the celebration behind her and stepped into the peaceful silence of the warm evening air.

 Over the years she has felt a large range of emotions - love, grief, rage, hate, joy - but none seemed to measure up to what she felt that day.

 To be not only accepted but wanted as a queen, as a ruler, and as the person that she was. That was all she had ever wanted and it may have taken nearly two lifetimes to achieve it but she had finally reached that point.

 She had made peace with Snow a long time ago and now could not imagine a life without the princess or her husband by her side and part of her family.

 Regina was named The Good Queen of the Realms but shortly after she herself named Snow and Charming rulers of their own corner of the new Storybrooke.

 They would work together in peace and harmony. Regina knew there would be disagreements along the way, because as much as they had become friends, their views were not all the same. However, for once she looked forward to sharing the responsibility with Snow and Charming, instead of fighting against them.

 Then there were the Henrys. Her heart swelled with love and pride as she thought of her adult son and how happy he was with his wife and daughter. How he had conquered so much and became the hero he was always destined to be.

 The wish realm Henry had come along way from his vengeful mindset. Everyone accepted him into their life, even the older Henry, who took his younger counterpart under his wing like a younger brother.

 The situation was bizarre but it wasn’t the strangest thing she had ever faced.  

 All of the emotion of the evening, the outpour of love and joy, became overwhelming and she excused herself just to take a few minutes of fresh air.

 She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, a serene smile crossing her face. If there ever was true happiness to be felt, she thought right in that moment she was feeling it.

 She opened her eyes and looked out across the land. The sun was setting, casting a perfect glow of orange and pink over the castles and palaces and the small town that sat right in the middle of it all.

Storybrooke, she realized, was always where she was meant to be. The Enchanted Forest held nothing for her but memories of the past and hard as she tried, she never could make a home for herself there. Storybrooke was of her own design, a world originally cursed to everyone but herself. It wasn’t until much later, after the curse had long been broken, and she had gained family and friends in the people she once considered enemies, that she realized she had also cursed herself.

 A world of her own design but could not be satisfying until she accepted people into her heart and into her life and they accepted her in return.

 After another few minutes of silence she suddenly felt a presence behind her. She had learned long ago how to sense when someone was near, mostly to protect herself from any threat.

 However, there was a certain familiarity of the presence behind her, one that filled her with comfort and peace, which, to her, could only mean one person.

 “Have you come to escape too, Henry?”

 “I am not Henry but I have come to find you.”

 All at once her heart leapt into her throat and her breath was stolen as the familiar, warm voice reached her ears.

 “It is quite the celebration.”

 She released a shaky breath, tears stinging her eyes. She thought when Robin had appeared to her in her dream in the wish realm that was her final goodbye but apparently her memory was not ready to release him quite yet.

 “Robin.” She whispered and a small, sad smile twitched at her lips. She wished more than anything that he could have been beside her on this day.

 Perhaps this was how it would be from now on. Robin’s memory coming to her in times of conflict, and in times of great joy. Her partner even in the afterlife to help guide her and be with her when she wanted him most.

 She heard his footsteps, felt his presence but it was only when he stood beside her, his warm hand grazing her shoulder did she realize that unlike in the wish realm, she was not asleep, she was fully awake and in reality and the person beside her was real.

 With wide eyes, she turned quickly to face him and once again her breath was stolen by the familiar face smiling down at her with warm, loving blue eyes.

 “Robin.” She whispered again, this time in awe.  She stared at his face, memorizing all the features she already knew by heart, and glanced away long enough to realize he was not dressed in the outlaw clothes he had in her dream but the modern clothes he had left her in all those years ago.

 “Your Majesty.” He countered with a delightful smirk, his blue eyes twinkling in mirth.

 Her eyes filled with tears as she slowly, hesitantly reached out her hand towards him.

 Her hand hovered in mid air, afraid to touch him, afraid he would disappear because she knew this could not be happening to her. No matter how lovely the day had been, no matter how much joy she had felt, there was no way this, he, could be real.

 Then his hand rose to meet hers, his fingers gently curling around the back of her hand and tears blurred her vision as he led her hand to his face.

 She felt the warmth of his skin, the rough familiarity of his beard, and most importantly of all the black ink of his tattoo in perfect view on his wrist.

 “You're real.” She whispered past a choked sob, her voice full of her own disbelief.

 “I am.” He answered, his voice just as thick with emotion.

 All she could do was shake her head. “How?” She breathed.

 He pressed his lips together and lifted his shoulders. “Rumplestiltskin.” He then answered simply.

 She blinked, a few tears rolling down her cheeks, and her brow pressed together. “He’s dead.”

 Robin smiled sadly. “So was I.”

 Her chest tightened momentarily at the painful reminder and then another powerful wave of emotion rolled over her as she realized Robin was real.

 “I am not certain how he did it,” Robin continued, “I've learned not question the Dark One, but he said, and I quote, “she deserves hers as well.” He touched my chest and the next thing I know I am back in Storybrooke. Not the Storybrooke I remembered it to be but after I inquired about you, they pointed me here.” He smiled at her as fresh tears pooled her eyes. He released her hand and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I am sorry I missed the ceremony.” His eyes travelled to the crown upon her head then back down to her face. “You look beautiful.” He uttered in reverence.

 For once in her life she found herself well and truly speechless. Rumplestiltskin had given his life to save them all and then even in the after life had given more to her. Their relationship had been one of the most interesting in her life, from mentor to rival to family  but the man had always been important to her and she realized now Rumplestiltskin had felt the same odd admiration for her. However he did it, he sent her soulmate back to her. She knew then, wherever he was, he was safe and happy with Belle.

 “I can't believe this is real.” She said quietly, her thumb caressing his cheek, where she felt his skin crinkle as he smiled further.

 “Nor can I but here we are. It's a miracle.”

 “It’s magic.” She said with a smile and then without further hesitation, or concern about her dress or crown, threw herself at him. Her arms wound tightly around his neck and the delicate, jeweled crown slipped from her hair and clattered to the ground as she buried her face into his shoulder, her smile so wide it started to hurt.

 As his arms tightened around her waist, all she knew was him. The feel of him, the smell of him, all familiar but had been lost in years of memory.

 “Regina.” He whispered against her ear and the sound his sweet, loving voice was the last of her composure.

 She weeped silently in joy onto his shoulder and he tightened his arms around her even more, whispering words of reassurance against her hair.

 “I am right here, love. I am right here.”

 She quickly lifted her head and looked into his eyes, still smiling at him in awe and wonder. “I love you.” She said before she lost another chance to tell him.

 His smile widened to match hers. “And I love you, my Regina.”

 With a fierce possessiveness that arose from those words she captured his lips with hers in a passionate and needing kiss.

 His fingers traveled to tangle in her hair, undoing what Zelena had spent quite a long time doing that afternoon.

 His lips moved hungrily, desperately against hers and they only parted when they needed to breathe.

 “My Robin.” She said quietly, resting her forehead against his, tears filling her eyes once again as she thought back to the Wish Realm Robin who looked at her as a stranger. Whose kiss felt wrong and cold. A stark contrast to the Robin who held her now with warmth and passion and love. Her Robin, her soulmate.

 “Yours now and forever.” He vowed and then leaned in to kiss her again, more slowly and tender.

 She let out a sigh as they parted a minute later, smiling to herself, her eyes still closed as she leaned against him.

 It was still so hard to believe he was truly real but he felt real. He had felt real in her dream as well but it was merely her memory of him that felt real - despite all the years that had passed since his death, she still remembered his touch, what it felt like when he kissed her. Yet no memory could compare to having the real man in front of her, touching her, holding her, kissing her.

 “I have to know something.” She suddenly lifted her head and slid her hands to his chest, unwilling to let go of him just yet.

 His hands settled at her waist and he looked down at her with a small nod his brow pressed together which meant she had his full attention.

 “Of course, what is it?”

 “A few months ago I was kidnapped by another version of my son.”

 He frowned. “I'm sorry, what?”

 “There is a whole different realm with other versions of ourselves,” she shook her head, “it's a long story. The point is, in this other realm, created only by a wish, mind you, the Evil Queen was unsuccessful in her curse and was defeated. The Henry of that realm was raised by Emma and the Charmings and vowed vengeance upon me who he mistook for her after I may or may not have killed that version of the Charmings - but it is important to note that they weren’t really real and I had to do it to get Emma back - again long story.”

 Robin blinked. “What on Earth have I missed?”

 “Quite a lot I'm afraid but I will tell you everything later. What I need to know is was that you who came to me in a dream?”

 He frowned slightly and  then shrugged. “Regina, honestly the last thing I remember is being with you in that room with Hades. Wherever I was, however long I was gone for it's all a bit of a blur. The only thing that is clear is Rumplestiltskin telling me to wake up and find you and then I was here, completely restored.”

 Regina nodded and let out a breath. “So it was only a dream.” She shook her head quickly. “It doesn't matter.” She looked back up to him with a smile. “You're here now and you're real.”

 He answered with his own smile. “And we are together.” One of his hands found hers and he laced their fingers together, beaming down at her.

 She smiled tearfully. “I have missed you, Robin, so terribly.”

 He brought her fingers to his lips to brush a kiss over her knuckles. “I am sorry that you have had to live without me but I will not apologize for my actions that day. Trading my life for yours is never a question in my mind.”

 She swallowed over the sudden thickness in her throat. “Well hopefully it will never come to that again.”

 “I will certainly try my hardest.” He vowed with a small smirk, the smile that had been burned into her memory, and her heart leapt again at having it in front of her once more.

 He inched closer to her, intent on kissing her again but the tip of his foot kicked something on the ground.

 They briefly parted to look down to find Regina’s crown in pieces at your feet.

 Robin gasped and released her to pick it up. “Regina...I am so sorry…”

 She shushed him with a shake of her head and a smile. “It's not your fault. I'm the one who knocked it off. Besides,” she reached out to straighten the pieces in his hands. She then waved her hand, his hands were clouded with purple smoke for a few seconds and then the crown was back in one piece. She raised an eyebrow with a proud smirk. “It's an easy fix.”

 His smile widened as he lifted his gaze to her. “Then let's put it back in its proper place, shall we?”

 Regina smiled and stepped in closer as Robin reached out and placed the crown back on top of her head. “There we are.”

 She released another slow breath, trying to hold back the emotions flooding her at the simple action.

 It had meant so much to her when Snow had done it. A rivalry put to bed at long last and forevermore.

 It was an entirely different feeling to have the man she loved, recently, miraculously brought back from the dead, do it with such love in his eyes.

 He then combed a strand a loose hair behind her ear and she closed her eyes and sighed, leaning into his touch.

 Then his hand cupped her cheek and he brought her back in to him for another tender kiss.

 They were soon reluctantly pulled away from each other by the sound of loud laughter pouring out from inside the castle.

 Still holding onto each other, they looked towards the glass doors that Robin had kept slightly open when he came out to meet her.

 The party was still continuing on, with people talking and laughing and dancing.

 “Perhaps we should return you to your party.” Robin suggested quietly.

 A sudden fear gripped at her heart and she tightened her grip on his arms.

 He turned back to her in concern “What is it?”

 She looked slowly up at him and swallowed thickly. “I’m afraid…” She started breathlessly.

“I am afraid once I leave here you will disappear.”

 “Oh my darling,” he leaned in and kissed her forehead and then her lips, “I know this must be quite a shock to you, it is for me as well, there are so many questions I have, but I promise you I am real and only Hell could take me from your side again.”

 A determined frown formed her lips and there was a flash of fire behind her eyes. “And Hell would have to go through me first to even try. I may not  be the Evil Queen anymore but I dare anyone to try to take you away from me again and see what happens.”

 He smiled and took her hands in his and squeezed gently. “Whatever dangers we may face, we face them together.”

 She nodded, her face softening. She knew as Queen of Storybrooke she now had more responsibility than ever, to protect all the realms and all of its people. Robin was now included once again in the ever present fear of those she loved being placed in danger - Henry, Lucy, Ella, the Charmings, Zelena, Alice and Robin.

She let out a small gasp as she thought of a certain somebody inside the castle who also required a long overdue reunion with Robin Hood.

 “What is it?” Robin implored in concern.

 “There is someone you need to see.” She looked back at him and smiled at the adorable way his brow furrowed inquisitively.

 “Come.” She held onto his hand, their fingers intertwined, and led him back into the castle.

(to be continued...)

[seducing-mr-perfect]

So I passed the test, right? Let’s meet up at the hotel bar at 7 for the real lesson. Oh! Enjoy the lunch box - June.

The note. The thing that starts it all. The thing that starts out at as one of June’s heavy botched operations - only that it hasn’t failed the way she thinks it has. The thing that shows us for certain that, despite everything, Robin isn’t completely immune to June’s charms.

It is clear that while June may not particularly admit to liking Robin, things have changed between them after the Brighton deal. Which is why in the scene where she prepares the lunch box, in the dead of night, she seems to shake herself and say The operations must go on. No matter what. Almost as if her new dynamic with Robin is distracting her from her goal.

June seems to slightly miss the mark here too. As with Operation Angel, preparing a special lunchbox personally for him calls for a certain amount of intimacy that they haven’t reached yet. The movie has given us enough indications of how he feels about having his space invaded, for him to comfortably take what June is giving him. Preparing lunch for someone at work is a very intimate, taking-care-of-a-loved-one thing to do, and for a hoarder who doesn’t like to even have his office touched, partaking of that lunch (especially if he nursed secret feelings for the person who made it) would definitely feel like too much too soon. It’s no wonder then that he takes the note, and passes the box to Yoon Mi.

June sees this differently. She sees it as yet another rejection of her efforts, yet another reason to believe he wants to have nothing to do with her. She assumes that since he’s not even opened the box, he wouldn’t have noticed the note either.

Su-yeoung Tries To Help

We don't see Su-yeoung much in the film, even though she is June's best friend. A phone call in the beginning of the film, and two scenes where she is seen aggressively pushing to get June back into the dating scene.

What we do know is that Su-yeoung has had her fair share of disappointment in her own relationships. She has been married once and by the way she speaks of love in this scene, she seems to have changed to a more 'practical' mindset in contrast to June's, which is clearly more emotional and romantic.

However, having being brought up in a culture that does value both love and marriage as an eventual goal (for instance, one does not bring one's significant other to meet the parents unless they're certain of getting married soon), Su-yeoung controls the situation the way any Korean friend would - by arranging a sogeatting.

A sogaetting (소개팅) is a kind of introductory meeting that's often set up between strangers through a mutual friend. Approaching someone you do not know is not very common in South Korea, so it usually falls on a third person to introduce the couple and to stick around in case the meeting isn't going as well as planned. If the two hit it off, the mutual friend leaves them to decide how to take things forward.

Su-yeoung's motives are very straightforward: get June to move on from Ju-yeoung, with someone. Anyone.

Ju-hyeoung may have receeded far, far behind in June's mind, but there is a part of her that clearly isn't completely over him yet. June isn't the kind of let go of her relationships that easily - she tends to not give up on a person unless there is no way even she can ignore the red flags. That's just the way she is. So when her best friend insults Ju-hyeoung, she is immediately defensive.

This is an important distinction to make, because it gives us a better idea of why June would agree so easily to getting back with him later on, just as she has begun to realise her feelings for Robin.

The Note

The scene splits into two halves: one that shows us June's disastrous date with Jin-guk, and another that shows us Robin waiting for June for an entire hour. We don't get a lot of opportunities to see Robin's point of view on certain things, but the film teases us with enough to recognize that what he feels towards June and what he shows are two different things. It's in this scene that we learn that Robin didn't completely ignore the lunchbox, that he kept her note with him...and most importantly, that he's very, very happy to see her that evening.

We also don't get many scenes of Robin shedding his impenetrable sheild and being vulnerable. The times that we do are mostly associated with his past - his grandfather's belongings and occasionally his bullet wound. Robin is depicted as a hoarder; someone who holds on to his memories and keeps them to remind himself of how far he has come, and why his present is what it is.

This is the only time perhaps we see Robin actually show some attachment to something he has received in the present, that he keeps to himself, that he allows himself a private moment of joy (for instance, he tilts his head slightly while reading it, an action we see him do only with his grandfather's photograph). He first looks around to see if no one is looking, and only then gives himself the luxury of letting his guard down. And this is especially surprising given that he always chooses enclosed settings where he is completely alone - like his room or the office - to reflect on these things.

I think it's a mark of how deeply June has affected him that this intensely private man can't help but fondly re-read a casual, friendly note she has sent him, in a setting as public as a hotel bar.

Sogaetting

By sogaetting standards, the meeting between Jin-guk and Min-june is an unmitigated disaster. Su-yeoung only knows him as a friend of a friend, and June herself has her doubts even before the date has begun.

Marriage in Korea is usually a topic reserved either for when a couple have become really serious, or when it is a matsun (맞선) which involves matchmakers/relatives and where the entire aim of the meeting is marriage itself. While there are people who do date with marriage in mind, a sogaetting is hardly the appropriate place to jump into discussions about weddings, especially with almost no input from the potential "bride".

But Jin-guk? Goes straight for the jugular. Starts talking about wedding preparations: how their families will travel to the venue, the perfect place for venue and stay, consulting a family Taoist. He goes as far as to speak of the money the bride should be spending on their travel, reminding her of her potential place in his life and what he thinks her duties are. He presumes this is what she wants, presumes he is a good enough catch that it doesn't even occur to him that she may not want this, and in fact doesn't even care. June barely gets to even speak in this "conversation". She is so uncomfortable, in fact, that she has to hide in a restroom to escape him.

To make things worse, Su-yeoung enables his behaviour, fawning over him and agreeing to everything he says ("oh, a hotel? That's just fabulous!" "I love having my fortune told!"), eventually encouraging the match and calling June crazy when the latter states that she isn't interested. It's clear that by this point June has found herself in a tight spot.

Blind Date

There are two reasons the blind date/bar scene is so important:

1. It is the first of many misunderstandings in their romance. It works to keep the couple apart, keep them from even guessing that the other person might love them: so that when Robin tells June how he feels in the end, the revelation is that much more emotional.

2. More importantly, it highlights a pretty huge cultural gap between Robin and June.

For the most part Robin has fit in rather well to his new environment, despite his struggle with the language. He is respected by his peers and subordinates in the office, is able to navigate his work space without too many hiccups, seems at home with the way his juniors address him. He seems so at home, in fact, that it would easy to assume that he would know a great deal about Korean culture outside the office as well.

However, the film gives us enough hints of his struggle to understand certain aspects of Korean culture. One is the usage of certain slang words, such as piksari and tungchigi, which June has to explain to him. Another is his lack of knowledge about how marriage and meeting the girl's family works, leaving him to commit a huge faux pas in front of her father.

Robin has no idea what a sogaetting is. When June translates the same into a word that seems more accessible to him ("blind date"), she unknowingly leaves out the cultural context of how a sogaetting works and who facilitates it. "Blind date", for Robin and June, mean very different things. For June it is an arranged meeting that mostly just allows for further casual interactions to test the waters. To Robin, it could range from being merely introduced by a common friend (who won't be as involved as someone facilitating a sokaetting would, possibly?) to an actual date, which involves flirting and possibly sex if both parties are interested. This is possibly also why he assumes straightaway that she spent the night with her date as well.

This is where Robin gets not only angry, but also confused. This is someone who has gone to great lengths to get him to wait at that bar, including cooking for him and slipping in a note that specifically mentioned a time and a place. This is also someone who, he assumes, ditched her plans with him to date someone else, and didn't so much as give him a head's up about doing so (part of this is also his fault: he never lets June know that he received the note, even though he was aware that she found out Yoon Mi had the box). When the truth, really, is that she agonized over having her meticulously prepared lunch rejected, worried about losing the note, was tricked into spending an evening with an overenthusiastic friend and a man who bored her to tears, and spent the night wrestling with her brother over the takeout bill.

A lot of what Robin does here is pretty alien to the character we know thus far. He gets starry-eyed over a note, waits an entire hour for the woman who wrote it, calls her twice to find out why she didn't make it, and is tense and angry enough to warrant letting off some steam on the treadmill. None of this works, so he calls her again, unable to just let the matter go.

Let's remember that so far, Robin has been all about control. He exercises control over his relationships and over his feelings, because he knows the consequences of letting someone else have power over him. He views relationships as a game - which means he would prefer to detach himself emotionally from the other person involved, and not be affected by their actions. So when June "ditches" him, he's immediately riled up, instantly jealous, and just as instantly frustrated that he's giving her this much power over him. Part of his anger lies in the fact that she's affecting him in a way that's making him break half his rules.

He is also angry because, for the first time in possibly a long while, he was genuinely happy about something, genuinely looking forward to meeting up with someone, and her (supposed) lack of concern has ruined that moment for him. He is still thinking on the lines of what he thinks a date would look like, and assumes June's actions by those parameters. Owing to the issues he carries from his past relationship, Robin definitely seems like a man doesn't like feeling like he doesn't matter, and that's how he feels around June right now.

June never gets the opportunity (until just before their cruise trip) to clear this up with him, owing to multiple assumptions: that he never got the note, that he was calling her from some random place just to ask the time, that he thinks she is pathetic. First because she thinks the note has gotten lost somewhere, then because her cell battery died out on her. So she is left thinking he doesn't particularly care, and Robin is left thinking that he means nothing to her besides a man who can teach her the rules of the game. It's an impression of himself that makes him even more reluctant to admit how he feels about her - both to himself and to her. It's an impression of himself that he carries to the rest of the film.

--

*A lot of what I said about sogaetting I picked up from whatever I had read and watched. Korean readers, if I've gotten any of this wrong, I'm really sorry. Please do not hesitate to point it out so I can make corrections.

[orthographewrites]

💝 (unless it's too late to take out the trash for marius and robin idfk idfc)

send in a ‘💝’ for a random special valentine’s day kiss:(not accepting!)

On the Collarbone/Lips/Neck: 

Valentine’s Day, one of few days a year Robin wanted nothing but to gleefully enjoy from the morning hours until the night lured him to sleep. One could roll their eyes at his enchantment in terms of a commercial holiday, but to him, it struck with wonder and he more so viewed the day as a classic movie of romance. Birds chirping and playing their singsong tunes to flaunt the lovestruck main couple soon to declare their hidden desires in a playful melody; whilst their feet tapped alongside a choreographed set piece to perfect the one true kiss the audience was begging for at that point. They were holding their breaths by now, hands on top of their mouth to discourage any further sounds of gasping as one of the main leads braced themselves for the end of the scene. 

Robin, however, found himself in the image of a cupid more so than the main lead in these scenarios, fawning over the couple and wanting nothing but to shoot them with an arrow of ‘happily ever after’. It sounded strange coming from a person who disliked being single, but a track record of falling for people way past Valentine’s Day and breaking up with them before (or shortly after) had prompted him to keep it low. He had celebrated two of them as a taken man, today to be his third, and for once Robin was not to take the easy route in terms of a proper date. Ever since the start of his relationship with Marius he had found himself within the mindset of his boyfriend, accepting his wishes to keep them lowkey – Robin wasn’t needy in that sense, after all – but today they were doing it his way. ( @alicemorganwrites )

Robin had waited outside the clinic until the familiar sight of Marius and Pia had caught him, strutting up to them both with a not-so-secret smug on his face, that made him looked closer to a child that had slipped out of the hands of trouble, than an adult about to kidnap his boyfriend before he had a chance to say no. “You’re coming with me”, was the simple demand right before he waved off Pia and dragged Marius away with a firm grip on his hand. Puzzled questions followed, along with Marius adding that he should at least go home and change for this mysterious adventure of theirs. Robin didn’t care and instead nudged him into a taxi and not until they were already fast-moving did he care to reply. “Well, it’s Valentine’s Day and I know how you get with dates so… we are not having home-cooked today, it’s as easy as that.” 

He wasn’t going to overdo it, of course, but Robin could proudly announce he had booked a table at a downtown restaurant, a cozy and hidden gem that nuzzled up behind an alley. Live music was to be presented, crafted to charm the already smitten guests throughout the evening with a (to his opinion) twice as charming and handsome singer. A few roses were set to be delivered to their table upon arrival, which was as far as a pamper Robin was willing to push when it came to Marius – but he simply had to accept at this point. No reason to fuss about a lost cause. 

The coming two hours were grand, in Robin’s opinion. To have the choice and option to showcase his boyfriend in the open, to listen to him ramble about his day without ever slipping any proper details. Some could easily describe him looking like a fool with the dopey grin on his lips, warm from the bottom to the top at the topic that followed once Marius eased up and they ventured into the land of memories. Their road wasn’t the most glamorous, filled with thorns of mistakes both had thrown onto the pits of confusion and disagreement, but that never stopped Robin from recalling what they had constantly gained from one another both prior and after accepting their fate. Their feelings for one another had changed during the course of an evening, a single kiss of emotions neither had been able to comprehend, but they equally loved to acknowledge the strong connection of their friendship – and parts of Robin knew by default that he would never be able to find himself another best friend no matter where he and Marius ended up. To him, the evening cherished all they had and the things that they were – the things that crafted them and had forced them together with a magnetic friction from the moment they had allowed the other into their lives. 

The couple was lost in time until a waitress reminded them someone else had booked the table they were seated at and before they knew it they had trailed their way home to Robin’s apartment. For once he wasn’t even near drunk, merely tipsy as he had decided to keep himself at bay but it was still enough to throw him into a second mood as the two had thrown off their shoes and jackets; not wasting a second to turn the evening’s light pecks into a deeper appreciation as he grabbed Marius’ collar to drag the man closer to himself and locked their lips properly with one another where they belonged. He felt the corners curve upwards as the giddiness caught up and placed itself inside his stomach, unable to hold onto another smile as he moved Marius along with him into the living room, tipping himself back onto the couch before he invited Marius to join. 

“I love you, I just – “, Robin cocked his head to easy his view, sighing heavenly at the words that didn’t want to leave the tip of his tongue. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt… this strongly about any of the other people I’ve dated. I don’t understand how you keep doing it, but you have me hooked. You always have. I doubt I’d be the same man without you in my life.” His voice lowered and Robin placed one firm hand on Marius’ jaw, leaning forward once more to add a second meeting between their lips; this whilst the other hand pulled away some of the covering cloth from his shoulder, trailing down from the lips to the jaw right by his own hand. Then a quick stop by the back of the neck before he finished by offering Marius an inviting kiss on the exposed skin by the collarbone, to possibly end their evening with something more intimate than hand-holding – willing to offer Marius the last thing he had to show for today. But no matter what happened past this point, Robin was seated and pleased; holding on nothing but a secret wish that he would gain the possibility to spend the next Valentine’s Day with the same man. And maybe, just maybe, a few more.