#another day another ramble

[novemberdevils]

I FUCKING FORGOT TO SEND THIS 😭😭😭 at my job rn and saw the notification fron your account and realised that I forgot to send this oops; sending this from the bathroom sorry about this, A bit sad about the end of the end of the 24 season for obvious reasons but my god that drive from charles?? From p19 to p8 in one lap that’s my goat and you must somehow make this happen in the fic but in a better ending where McLaren doesn’t win, this would be as usual a mixture of puck drop and intermission thoughts; actually no intermission thoughts I as usual fell asleep-a surprise to no one-.

ONTO ROUND SEVEN WE GO!!! And it’s all imola my favourite race having a chapter on its own I thank you for that, jack needs to go home and be cuddled to death and if nico is not going to do it I volunteer, one thing I loathe about my job is having meetings but I can’t imagine what meetings in Ferrari be like, jack falling asleep in nico’s room and then getting out of it like some kind of walk of shame is hilarious to me, ok atp jack needs to put that damned drug store concealer in his travel bag because he will use it more than he will use his shampoo, JACK TAKING A FUCKING PICTURE??? Sure his face is cropped but are they actually still talking on instagram? The poor interns who update on their accounts get treated to their insanity, and nico sending a picture back my god those two their conversations are going to get leaked and no one will know how to deal with the mess, sainz is going to catch their asses simply because jack never uses that concealer omg, oh fred hii!! My bald small terror frenchman, at least jack and carlos are on the same page with the incident because I can never imagine myself apologising like a misbehaved child but them being on the same page actually makes it better because thw team can’t do anything to stop them except for maybe dropping them and they will not do that so they are forced to act like it’s ok, I love the little details of who and when jack calls someone by their names or nicknames vs last name; it’s the ultimate guide on who he sees as a “friend” on the grid, Nico would be proud of him. YES HE WOULD BABY, jack and carlos agreeing WE CHEER, jack using nico as an example when he was so mad at him last time when he said the exact same thing we love a character development arc.

Quinn there is a way to win at meetings which is ending it without committing any crimes because of the amount of stupidity that you hear, Might be the NASCAR in me but I never liked how media-perfect they have you guys over thereme too quinn I want the fist fights the petty fights the contract drama the everything messy, omg nico is there a space on jack’s body that you didn’t mark??, no because I love overanalysing the different mindsets in the tifosi there are people who bleed red and there are people who support the drivers not the team; I wonder how does jack feels like does he feel the majority love him because he wears red but despises him because he is an American that was promised to bring them glory? Or does he feel welcomed when he is there?, ok this also making my logan soft spot become rather obvious but you never see the other drivers nationalities being thrown at their faces every single time they are in public; a person can only handle so much before breaking down but to have his own fans throw that they wouldn’t support him because it’s insulting to have an American driver must hurt more than having a random interviewer doing it, second in the championship ouch you could hear my heart breaking a bit from reading this, A TREVOR PODIUM!! He deserves it because he is the only one in my nice list about jack everyone else is in my bad list, may and indy are soulmates written in the stars they are perfect for each other, and we are back to my beloved couch I already miss her and want her back, oh jack I love you but you will 100% not survive an indy grid those guys are insane on a whole different level that you, are those two flirting over indy500 and being eaten alive…?, omg jack delete the whole conversation before you traumatise some poor intern, they are kicking each other’s legs oh my god when I tell you I put my phone down and hold my head in disbelief, jack remembering what nico said in fucking Shanghai which was -checks notes- round TWO; your obsession is becoming clear mister hughes get it under control, oh god the fact the first time seeing each other after fucking is in a media setting is so on brand, not because they know Jack was letting his title rival dick him down raw in Miami, I spat my tea omg jack please don’t think it you will end up saying it 😭, “Hischier, how does it feel to be leading the championship for the first time in your career?” Horrible next question, FUCKING WHISPERING????? NICO WHAT THE ACTION FICK HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?? Also you should be glad that you will not receive a community service for saying pussy, jack using nico again as an example I love character development.

they’ll film the most awkward media challenge you’ve ever seen then roll up to the interviews like “yeah he’s right idc if he crashed into my whole entire car” i’m dead queen lex with her usual quote of the chapter, jack having the notification visible on his phone lock screen where everyone could see it; how are those still haven’t been found by other people it’s not like they are trying to hide, those two give me the biggest headache I hate them, “You’re the one who sent me your room number.” Yeah to have sex with you later not now, oh god they have a usual that they can say this is not usual for you, jack please don’t get ideas about pushing nicotine in front of everyone, them and hotel rooms entrance are a match made in heaven, ok nico please jack is already as unreliable as they come don’t make him question everything again because that will cause ME a headache, Then why? Jack wants to ask. What do you gain from it otherwise? This is a crazy thought jack but bear with me you could I don’t know ASK him???. 

Ferrari sending jack and carlos on different times during fp is funny because come in they ARE insane but will not crash onto each other during practice, I just realised that I probably don’t want them to be level on points heading to Abu Dhabi because my anxiety would NOT handle it; almost had a panic attack during the wcc when it was almost impossible to win it I don’t need to stress over a fic too, jack being mad with the team I like it and watch nico tattooing this moment because of how proud that jack is being cunty with someone other than him.

We arrived to the jack and luke conversation which is probably top two scenes in this chapter it was SO GOOD, there is always the unsettling feeling when you spend too much time travelling because you will stay in a hotel room; and I feel like that feeling is multiplied by a hundred for jack because of his whole not feeling he belongs anywhere and he misses Monaco simply because it’s HIS apartment maybe he doesn’t spend enough time for it to be considered a “home” but it still somewhere he feels at home, and him being with luke but still have a sense of longing to a home hurts because of the fight, like it’s his brother the closest to a childhood home he will get in a foreign country but because he feels like luke is expecting what the media wants from him so that belonging is taken from him, driving one-handed hottest thing a person could do, luke perhaps judging jack when he was the one who told him that the f2 guys were talking about him is a bit of a hypocrite move from him it looks like he was expecting a reaction and he didn’t get it so now he is judging him for it, luke giving jack weird looks because he mentions nico is funny but a bit annoying as jack would be overthinking about what he says so he doesn’t get judged; like what if he DOES watch his interviews it wouldn’t be the end of the world, “Maybe they’ll fire Checo,” perez taking the seat from a much deserved driver even in this fic I love the consistency, toro rosso my beloved name look what they have done to you im sorry, also I always had a difficult relationship with sister teams because it sometimes feels disadvantage especially when it used blantley-rb im specifically looking at you- but I do like them when they don’t throw a rookie in the main team and then drop them if they don’t preform; look as long as MY driver is the one who receives the advantages idc. 

ok I will say that them attacking jack when he says that they don’t understand what he is going through because it IS the truth neither of them have ever been leading an formula ONE championship like sure they understand the racing part of it because both have experience in that but what they are doing to jack every time he says they don’t understand what he is feeling at the moment it diminishes his feelings in a way; and look im probably overthinking it and they don’t mean it that way but kack has said multiple times that they don’t understand so them ignoring that and still pressing and pressuring hurts a bit for him and that must be why he even goes to nico in the first place because nico has no expectations about how he should act if he should mince his words if he should be this way or that way, “What, so I’m not allowed to call you out on anything?” There is a difference between calling someone out and telling them in an actually polite manner that this isn’t what you should be doing and if they continue to do it leave it you have done your part, “It’s for your own good, Jack,” oh my god the words I HATE the most I get to decide what id good for ME not you the most you can do is give me advice and then shut up; like genuinely nothing pisses me off more than being oh im diminishing you and pretending I didn’t hear you telling me to stop because I know what is best for you, luke throwing the words jack used the same tactics that the media uses ouch, “Neither of you have raced in F1, it’s different, I don’t care what either of you have to say about that, it’s—” THIS WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY thank you for putting more eloquently, their whole argument breaks my heart btw, everyone around jack joking about how honest he is and how fun it’s but when he FINALLY tells them what he feels he is a bitch to them because he said something they didn’t like, How? How is it different? How am I supposed to know what any of you want from me? Am I a cunt or am I pathetic or am I honest or am I admirable or does your teammate want to fucking be like me or like Nico or are we the same or are we— what do you— which of us do you want to be like? Do you think I was easier to handle the way I was before? You do know that killing me would have hurt way less than reading this?, Jack apologies first why is he so me like im getting attached to him because I see myself in this but especially in that moment, you do deserve the biggest compliment for putting all of my thoughts in coherent terms, especially the no one get it except nico part, JACK GOING TO NICO’S ROOM AFTER THE FIGHT excuse me while I scream in my pillow, oh starting with a kiss okay get it jack!, okay what is it with nico and jack’s neck like yeah it’s a pretty one ngl but the obsession is funny, the way jack had just started telling him what happened like I will be patiently waiting for the Realisation that he loves him, “You could just not care. About all the opinions.” Nico leave jack’s neck for a second and tell me how to do this because live would be so much easier, the way jack says that he is not in control when the reality he has it and it was just proved when he said he wanted more pressure and nico provided it; if jack never said it he wouldn’t do it and if jack wanted to end their whole mess nico wouldn’t be able to actually stop him because then it would turn into assault rather than it be something they both enjoy.

shouldn’t have started the fighting scene snd this at 2 am because now im crying about how helpless jack feels about everything and nico is just there to help him take a breath and letting him talk about it without judgement, oh yeah im crying genuine tears the whole scene where nico is pressing jack to say he is in control hits me so hard, also jack not wanting to open his eyes but still doing it because nico asked is not helping the tears to stop, also the way nico is repeating himself it feels like he is desperate to let jack understands he is the one in control, “You’re supposed to get it,” what is it with you and letting them say stuff that hurts so fucking bad?, why the fuck am I crying over this scene I will be sending you my therapy bill so you can pay it, jack saying winning feels the same as being pinned to a door, nico you are in my prayers for staying strong with jack being like this in your arms, “You are not like anyone I have ever met before in my life.” Yeah nico tell me about how you have no idea what to do with jack because every time you try to understand him he surprises you with something else, nico apologising for overanalysing their Scenes because he feels like it’s a betrayal to jack who uses them as an escape kill me.

Okay this would be the end for this comment because I gave myself a bit of a headache from the weird crying session I had, see you later.

HELLO I AM BACK TO ANSWER SOME STUFF. i exploded and disappeared over finals week because finals week then i was kind of just being dead to the world for a while. i played a lot of the sims 4. very important stuff. but now i am here i tried writing a race scene on my phone in bed last night and i hated it the whole time Anyways i will actually speak to this ask now and not nonsense

there will be some endgame championship shenanigans. it wouldn't be a fanfiction about a title battle without shenanigans... and yippee imola! a wonderful race that absolutely got away from me one too many times. and jack is big time stupid. which i think we all knew. he probably threw that concealer away in monaco and hasn't found the braincells to replace it now that he's back in europe (maybe with something that sucks a little less) because that would involve thinking about it and he cbf. because Obviously the better option is to just roll up to a team meeting with visible bite marks -- carlos is the only one who outwardly acknowledges it but that's because he has no shame or fear. and i don't think it's the first time jack has Taken a picture but it's def the first time he's sent it to nico. if i remember correctly. again, big time stupid. maybe the social media peoples in charge of their accounts choose not to open their dms in the interest of privacy or something. they're busy

yeah sainz has Theories. probably. my ideas for his character are mostly a giant mess, everything is the most ridiculous work in progress of all time. it's fine

ferrari drivers agree that team orders is stupid and ferrari team agree that drivers is stupid. but only one side of that argument are the ones Actually driving the cars. so they win by default, even if outnumbered. jack will always apologize first because he thinks it will make the other party apologize back once they realize he acknowledges his own wrongdoing. it does not always work. and jack does not always mean it when he apologizes, it's just supposed to make things easier. yeah i give a stupid amount of thought to how jack refers to the other drivers, i know i've said it before but at all times how jack refers to carlos is a direct reflection of exactly how he feels about him in the moment. i think it shifts back to carlos from sainz in the middle of the meeting scene idk i only wrote the damn thing

petition for more fist fights in f1!!! the media (and most of the fans probably) could absolutely never handle it but i think it would be a good time. and the tifosi are such an interesting party to analyze, so i am glad i made jack a ferrari driver in this fic because it means i get to fuck around with it lol - there definitely are tifosi who support him without really caring that he's american, but there are others who really do care. whether they support him anyways (just with a grain of salt) or elect to hate him and root for carlos instead, or something. but in my head, even some of the tifosi who half-resent him know he's the team's best bet, because obviously, so they lean towards him, anyways. but they aren't jack fans, just ferrari fans: if he were to jump to another team (which he won't) they wouldn't follow him, they'd pick up with whoever came to take his seat. womp womp. i imagine jack has this idea in his head that he can somehow win over everybody ever even though that's impossible, but he sometimes tries to play to everybody instead of just being honest or whatever. if i remember correctly i've referenced this before? i think he says something in some scene at some race about how it's not his fans' opinion of him that matters, because he's already won them over, but the people who don't like him that he has to worry about. like he'll ever be able to change their minds

and i say "imagine" about jack's character like i'm not writing the fanfiction

i also have a logan soft spot... it is very obvious in the whole entire everything about this fic... i got a comment on it a little while ago that literally only said "are you a logan sargeant fan" like thanks what gave me away. yes i did write logan/oscar fanfiction on a different account. what gives. Anyways. my soft spot for logan is largely what motivated making jack the only american on the grid (also The Narratives) even though that very greatly limited what nhl players i could haphazardly shove into f1 cars. that's partially why there's so many actual drivers left on the grid, and also partially because i just think it's funny. but any american nhler was automatically out of the running because it would ruin The Narratives. also why there are 19 billion canadians lmao

trevor podium. trodium. he's busy. maybe he stays on the nice list because he's far away and jack and they don't talk very often, but also i have no intentions of making trevor do any evil that gets jack mad at him or anything. he's there for vibes. a little self-indulgent window into the indycar world and also a guy jack can tell all his fucking-his-title-rival-related secrets. best friends forever

jack and nico public flirting incident number ninety-seven. they should both actually just keep their mouths shut for the rest of the season, i think that's the only way to prevent nonsense. i lowkey wrote the 'dick him down raw in miami' line as a joke but i was too amused by it when proofreading to remove it so there it is. still kicking despite it all

lex is so real i love writing her tweets (that's why she has so many of them oops) and jack is biggest idiot ever!! going for the gold like dumbassery is an olympic sport! which is why he will never ask nico anything ever except like. very guarded versions of the questions he Actually wants to ask. he can't reveal too much (see also: anything) about how he's feeling in his attempts to figure nico out, so he usually just ends up firing accusations at him rather than asking him anything real. they're such a mess but is that not the point

i'm so excited to write some of the end of the season scenes it's not even funny but like omg so many races before i get there... so many things to happen... but believe me i have some ideas. the end of the season arguably has more of an outline than anything else, which isn't really saying much because this fic barely has the idea of an outline. i just do whatever i want. i think up scenes and then i write them. Boom. hundred thousand words. that's how being a writer goes sometimes

yeah i made jack and luke fight by accident... i think i said that a little while ago but in vaguer terms. writers know how it is, shit writes itself without your input. they just started fighting. and i was like Oh okay we're doing this! and then we were doing it across two whole races. i'm glad you liked the scene! i like writing dialogue a lot (if you can't tell) and that scene was a lot of fun to do, even the parts that got away from me lol. luke arguably Is the closest thing to home jack has out in europe, and the same applies to luke with jack, which is part of why fighting each other is so like. Bad. and why quinn kind of inserts himself into the situation and tries to play mediator. he hates watching his brothers fight for selfish reasons, sure, but he also knows that both of them need each other in ways they would never properly admit to, so he tries to get them back on good terms before they get away from themselves. writing sibling relationships is so complicated (because sibling relationships just are complicated). obviously i have no idea what it's like to be a race car driver, but i do know what it's like to have a sibling, so. i like getting to put a little magnifying glass over those relationships. is fun

and luke is absolutely being an annoying little brother in this scene. he tells jack something then gets upset with him for having the exact reaction he was always going to have, then he gets mad at jack for being upset, et cetera, et cetera. maybe he was secretly hoping jack wouldn't react as predicted, and it was like some kind of test, and now he's upset that jack failed. who knows (me, arguably, but do i?). checo has to be around in this universe because i needed to give nico a teammate who was objectively worse than him - same with why i kept carlos in ferrari. i know i could've made either of their teammates Other nhl players but this is more fun for me. i wanted the fight to be unequivocally between jack and nico, fuck their damn teammates, so they're just like drivers who are Also There. it is what it is. and toro rosso was absolutely the best name for red bull's sister team!!! i know now they have stupid sponsors or whatever but toro rosso was cool. and less confusing than the shorthand 'RB' because that is arguably just also red bull. VCARB. whatever. i also miss love the blue and silver toro rosso liveries bring those back they were pretty

jack literally cannot go anywhere without getting attacked. everybody sucks. in their heads, they're looking out for him or giving him advice or whatever, but jack will always see it as an attack or them not believing in him somehow, and like jack says later in the chapter, he's the only one who gets to decide how other people make him feel, their intentions be damned. but the others (quinn and luke mostly, in this scenario) really do think they're coming from a good place, and don't properly understand why jack always gets so defensive whenever they try to talk to him, or why he's always insisting that it is different, and they don't understand, because they don't really know what else they're supposed to do. but jack doesn't want them to understand, he just wants them to acknowledge that they don't, and still be there for him anyways. blah blah blah character nonsense GOD i never know what i'm talking about. jack in this fic is one of the most complicated characters i've written in a long time tbh. i am having a great time. yes, nico has less of an expectation for how jack should be behaving, and also he actually gets it, because they're the two people who are actively fighting for that title right now. he's drawn to nico because he doesn't challenge him, and even if he also says things that jack doesn't believe to be true, they're different things. he still doesn't trust nico in all his own ways, but he's also drawn to him for a whole list of reasons he never really lets himself read into. and nico is. nico. Yup

luke is too little brother to figure out that difference. he is just going to Be Suck for a while. "it's for your own good" is absolutely some bullshit but luke Really believes that, and he's too dense and in his own head to understand why jack doesn't appreciate it. jack can never win!!! pathetic or honest or a cunt or admirable or none of the above, whatever he does someone is always against him, and whatever he does he always feels like everyone is against him. no winning. ever. off to nicotown because jack thinks nico is the only person in the entire history of ever who understands him, even though nico arguably does not understand him at all. he understands all those racing things that no one else can, but also. like. both jack and nico are kind of obsessed with figuring the other out in their own ways. obviously it shows more with jack because it's his pov, but they're both trying to get a read on each other. jack may interpret nico trying to get a read on him as some kind of strategy, those off-track games he always thought nico was playing, even though he knows that's not the case for him. it's the whole "you aren't like anyone else" thing. we aren't there yet are we. Whatever. each of them finds the other confusing and neither really knows how to handle that

nico has neck problems. also it's because i wrote this fic that's the simplest answer lmao arguably this entire plot could exist without the hickey nonsense but i do what i want. see, this is nico's version of "helpful advice," and it's arguably the same shit (why do you care so much when you don't have to, it doesn't matter, et cetera) but somehow it feels less awful coming from nico, maybe because he's less insistent about it. maybe because jack knows that nico does understand exactly how this feels, and yet he chooses to handle it all completely different to the way jack does. like some kind of proof that it really is possible not to care, even if jack still can't figure out how or why. unlike when luke does the same shit, because he doesn't get it, and jack doesn't trust that luke wouldn't care if he was in his position. et cetera. omg i'm rambling so bad

yeah jack absolutely has the control he just doesn't believe that. i could go on but that's all too spoilery

sometimes i write a line and then i just stare it for a moment like Jesu Christ and then it makes the final edit. and sometimes i forget all about the crazy shit i wrote and find it again when i'm proofreading and go Jesus Christ all over again lmao. there were a lot of those scenes in imola. i am having a great time, as the writer who has all the answers. Or. most of them. i think some of the answers are still yet to show themselves to me

[anbaisai]

Couldn't unsee Aira's hair as literally pink Azul hair so I had to make this once episode 10 of Dandadan dropped

[tigerdragon1001]

Hey everyone look at my fuckign isopod

Thank you have a good day

[bababaka]

Yall need to interact with fanfiction author's more.

So. After the ddos attack on ao3.

I was encouraged to write more comments and make my love known to fanfic writers.

I dont really like commenting. Because im a bit shy and soooo lazy.

Now though. I am writing more comments. And dude. This is so heartwarming. Ya'll need to treat writers better. They are doing the lord's work.

Take for an example, couple of days prior, i was searching for something interesting to read, and found an oneshot quite compelling.

I read it. At the end of it, i was blown away by how good it was. It promised me something and it went beyond my expectations. But then i saw a crime, zero fucking comments!

At that moment, i wasn't feeling up to writing a comment. Because, normally i like to write huge paragraphs. But because im lazy i decided to be brief.

Next day, the author answered that the comment lift their mood for the whole day.

That warmed my heart.

Duuuuuuuude! Write comments! Suport the writers of the fics you like! No need to be something super elaborate. Just give your thoughts. Freak out. Ramble. Ask something. Make theories. Compliment. Make a joke about how you wished to give kudos every chapter but ao3 sucks(not true bby) and won't let you.

Truly. Just. Comment. It can make someone's day. And that is part of the apeal of writing fics. Interacting with people.

Just give love to fanfic writers yall. They deserve this and so much more.

[duckprintspress]

Urgent: Help Us Not Get Screwed

Anyone who follows us has seen us screaming from the hill-tops about our current crowdfunding campaign for Aether Beyond the Binary (17 aetherpunk stories! Outside the gender binary main characters!). We've only got 50 hours left...and we just got screwed.

Our Anthology Kickstarter is being scammed.

About two hours ago, with us still roughly $1,500 from our goal, we got a junk pledge for almost $2,000. This pushed us into being marked as "funded" but there is zero chance it's a real pledge, it's from a shell account marked as being in Turkey. This kind of money doesn't just fall like a miracle into the laps of small business like ours.

The timing on this attack is devastating. The final 48 hours of a campaign are absolutely critical, especially for one as close to meeting our goal as we are. We were very likely to hit our target, but doing so was going to require appeals to y'all that started with "hey, we're so close, please help spread the word." Further, the campaign has hundreds of followers who will get a notification at the 48 hour mark, and many who might have backed to help get us to the finish line will now think "oh, they're there, they don't need me," and not back. Meanwhile, one of two things will happen with the spam pledge: either it will get removed by Kickstarter, which could take hours or a day+, totally nuking us during this crucial window, or it won't get removed until the payment bounces post-campaign, at which point we won't actually have enough money to do fulfillment.

Either way, we are fucked.

Please, please don't let these dipshits ruin the love and passion that 30+ people have poured into this project for over a year.

Our campaign IS NOT FUNDED, and it won't be without help. I'm begging, help spread the word about how we're getting screwed, and help spread the word about Aether Beyond the Binary (visit the link for so much info!) so that we can get enough real pledges to fund this project we've poured our hearts and souls into.

SUPPORT THE QUEER ANTHOLOGY KICKSTARTER FOR AETHER BEYOND THE BINARY (with your pledges or with signal boosts!)

[bloggerspam]

A Christmas Carol AU

Inspired by a prompt found in the @haunting-heroes-creative-games :) (i.e. back on my shit again)

When a 15 year old Jason, pissed at Bruce for taking Robin away from him, finds his birth certificate he realizes Catherine Todd is not his real mother.

Just as he resolves to go out and search for his birth mother, Jason finds himself accosted by three ghosts in his room, talking about A Christmas Carol of all things.

===

"So, what? We're gonna Christmas Carol him?"

Dan scoffs, crossing his bulky arms with an unimpressed look. "We hated that movie."

"I didn't." Dani chirps, disturbingly cheery, "I didn't see it!"

"We hate Christmas," Danny corrects, "But the movie was alright, and the logic is sound."

"I don't hate Christmas," Dani once again interjects cheerily, "I've never participated!"

"Sound my ass," Dan growls over her, throwing his hands up. "We don't even know this guy!"

"Minor detail." Danny insists, "Tuck can look him up."

"He's a fucking Bat, Danny." Dan scrunches up his face, pinching the bridge of his nose just like Vlad does when he's disgruntled with any of Dad's shenanigans.

"He's a Robin, actually." Dani pipes in, "And he's just a kid. How hard is it gonna be to pretend to be this kid's Ghosts?"

"You're a kid," Dan reminds her, crossing his arms, "And you didn't believe me when I told you sticking a fork in the outlet would shock you."

"I believed you," Dani sniffs haughtily, crossing her arms and pointing her nose up with a snooty voice, "The warning simply did not deter me from doing it anyway."

"We don't have to convince him we're his Ghosts, or even that we knew him before," Danny reasons, needling, "We just have to convince him that we're…"

He hums, pointing at Dani. "Past."

He points at himself, "Present."

He points at Dan, "Future."

Dani does a little cheer, arms up and twirling into the air before landing with her legs over Dan's shoulders, hands and head settling atop Dan's fiery, but harmless, hair. It flickers, before going limp into long white strands that Dani messes up by gently scrunching up the strands and running her fingers through them.

Dan lets her, huffing and looking weirdly like a downtrodden, wet cat. "Why am I future?"

"Because." Danny doesn't continue, because he knows it makes Dan annoyed. True to form, his scowl gets worse, like sucking on a lemon. They all know why anyway.

Dani grins, triumphant and knowing, letting her voice go real deep, "The future," she intones into Dan's hair, "is here."

"The future is now," Danny corrects her, but doesn't lose his smile, floating up to tuck a strand of her hair back behind her ear.

"The future is already here," Dan mumbles his correction, or is it a follow-up? "It's just not evenly distributed."

"How about you distribute some of those muscles, Gibson," Danny sighs, shaking his head "Waiting for puberty is such a drag, and we both know you didn't get the mass from Vlad's side of the family."

Dan makes a moue of disgust, but it serves him right. The consequences of his own actions, and whatnot. He looks up at Dani, who simply shrugs. "I think you'll do great." She leans down to give him two pats on the arm.

"So how's acting out A Christmas Carol gonna help us stop this Jason guy from blowing up?" Dani fiddles with Dan's hair, tongue poking out as she attempts a braid, "Will he even see us? Ghosts in this dimension taste funny."

"He'll be able to see us, it's magically rich enough for some ghosts to maintain a semblance of themselves," Danny explains for the third time. Dani and Dan hum at different pitches, and even though Danny is the common denominator he kind of hates that Vlad has more of a lasting impression on them. "The ectoplasm here is scarce and mostly corrupted, though, so it's rare."

"So there's lotsa bad ghosts here?" Dani eyes the messy braid she's made, proud, even as Dan's silky hair immediately causes it to fall apart, "Or 'mentally unsound' or whatever Frostbite called it."

"No," Dan grumbles, annoyed and indulging all at once, "Corruption begets ecto-rot, but the scarcity means they're not strong enough to actually retain their sense of self enough to rot."

"Shades," Danny explains when Dani looks even more confused, "There's lots of shades."

"Is this one of the Olympian dimensions?" Dani groans, flopping over Dan's shoulder as he sits down on the sofa, "I love Pandora and all, but if I see Zeus again I'm gonna lose it."

"It's one of the hero dimensions," Danny hums, taking over braiding Dan's hair the way Jazz made him when they were little, "There's a couple of Amazons walking about, but on the whole no Olympians."

"I don't know why he didn't just dump me in a Norse dimension." Dan leans back and closes his eyes to their ministrations. "Especially with my current occupation."

The three of them are sitting in Dan's apartment, a large loft studio located somewhere in the UK of the aforementioned hero-dimension. Alber-something, Danny can't remember. Doesn't need to, it being a different dimension from his anyway.

Dan doesn't have a lot of things: a sofa and TV, a bed in the corner, a decent but small kitchen. They're still trying to figure out decorations, but Dan on the whole is a minimalist so it's been slow going.

He's working as a bartender these nights, whiling away his odd existence now that his form has stabilized.

And wasn't that a trip? Learning that hey, adult lightning halfas shouldn't really be mixed with teenage ice halfas, actually!

Apparently, ectoplasm can become corrupted if you try to combine incompatible sources.

Apparently, side effects include (but are not limited to) unmitigated violence and a devastating need for vengeance.

Sound familiar?

"This dimension has a lot of time continuity errors," Danny reminds him, "Dropping you here gave the least amount of pushback."

"Yeah, yeah," Dan flaps a lazy hand, "Praise be the speedforce and flashpoints and whatnot."

"Plus," Dani adds softly, absent-minded as she watches Danny finish up the braid, "Lotsa heroes to help out if you relapse."

Dan heaves a slow, controlled sigh. Danny and Dani both pretend they don't notice.

"Is it bad?" Dan doesn't open his eyes, his voice is so low Danny can only hear him by virtue of his ghost powers, "Like me levels bad?"

"No." Danny shakes his head, leaning into his older self, his older brother of sorts, "He decapitated eight crime lords, killed a couple of assassins, maybe an innocent or two depending on your definition of things."

"Past tense?" Dan scrunches his nose. They all hate how confusing Time Shenanigans are.

"He's living as Red Hood, right this very moment."

"Red Hood?" Dani questions, "That his hero name?"

"Crime lord alias." Danny corrects her, "But he's more of a vigilante these days. Has a bat on his chest and everything."

"But it's bad enough to warrant a trip to the past." Dan points out, "Bad enough for us to try and persuade him. Does he relapse?"

"Not…exactly." Danny scrunches his face, not wanting to explain Clockwork's ambiguity.

Dani floats to spread over Danny and Dan's laps, sprawling out and purring like a cat. Self-soothing, though it's more for their benefit than hers.

"Like Dani said, there’re lots of heroes here, and he doesn't have powers." Danny continues, petting at Dani's soft hair, "The world doesn't end. He doesn't have the means to, even with the ecto-rot."

Danny pauses, and chooses his words deliberately and carefully. "And deep down, Jason Todd is a hero through and through. Relapse would be…difficult. His Obsession is similar to yours."

Dan lets that sit for a moment, but nods, Danny moving a little with the motion. The tension slowly bleeds out as they wait like that, enjoying each other's company.

"If the world doesn't end," Dani whispers, "Why is Clockwork sending all of us?"

Danny thinks on that, on his meeting with Clockwork. The Ancient's voice when he explained what would happen.

He thinks about Jason Todd, about Bruce Wayne, and Catherine, and Sheila. He thinks about Batman, and Robin.

He thinks about Dick Grayson and Tim Drake, about Damian Al Ghul, about Cassandra Cain, and all of Jason's Outlaws.

He thinks about a tattered uniform that stays up in a glass case for a long, long time.

Most of all, he thinks about Dan.

He thinks about regrets and one bad day away.

And then he stops thinking about it, because sometimes the past is the past, and other times, it's the future that never happens that haunts you instead.

"You know, Dani." He settles on, "I'm not sure. He probably has his reasons."

Dan leans heavier onto him, and they lean together like that, with Dani in their laps.

Ghosts of decisions made, unmade, and never to be.

Follow the story on AO3 here!

[treasure-goblin]

Reblog to let prev know you're proud of how far they've come and that they are deserving of love and care.

[chiricat]

big bro yu

[bluepandadraws-log]

As soon as I'm done with commissions (and depression stops being a bitch) I WILL draw more ragapom and make more comics, cuz holy SHIT we need more Sapphics up in this bitch!!!

[lackpenny]

a broken man's last effort, all for nothing

[tullecake]

some silly metal doodles because i looooove them ^^

[waiting-for-a-sunny-day]

Let’s talk about how much Geto (canonically) loved Gojo. He saw Gojo in a way no one else did.

The way that Geto answers this question is deceptively meaningful. Let me explain…

This is a flashback, but we can assume this interaction is roughly 10 years after Geto’s defection, based on Nanako and Mimiko’s (Geto’s adopted-ish daughters) apparent ages. Right around the time of JJK0.

For context, let’s remember that the last time Geto and Gojo spoke as friends (KFC breakup), Geto said this:

Geto was being intentionally hurtful here. He knew that everyone (except him) sees Gojo, first and foremost, as “the strongest.” Gojo is barely even a real person to them; he’s just a savior or threat or deus ex machina.

Geto used that to twist a knife and ask: “Is there actually anything more to who you are than just being the strongest sorcerer?” He knew this would be devastating to Gojo. Gojo’s best and only friend is saying: “even I don’t know if there is anything else that’s important about you other than your strength.”

Let’s go back to Nanako's question.

She sets this question up in an important way. Like every (non-Geto) person, she sees Gojo’s fundamental defining quality as “strong." So, naturally, her immediate sub-question to “who is he?” is “he’s super strong, right?”

She’s asked the question in a way that Geto could very easily answer it: “yes, that’s right. He’s the strongest sorcerer.”

BUT

- - - - - Keep reading cut - - - - -

Geto gets contemplative. (“Hm…” - he’s thinking about how to answer because “Who is X?” is either a very basic question or a very philosophical question).

He ends up not even acknowledging the second part of the question about Gojo’s strength and instead tells her who Gojo is to him.

Because when they were best friends and even a decade later, he never actually thought of Gojo as just the strongest. Gojo was always something more to him.

“He was my best friend.”

As an adult, an ex-best friend from high school isn’t necessarily someone meaningful to you. Is Geto saying this actually significant? Yes.

This memory (“who is Satoru Gojo anyway?”) is what Nanako remembers as the context to this next thought:

This is WILD.

This thought is during Nanako’s interaction with Sukuna where she is essentially blackmailing Sukuna into helping get Geto’s body back.

She loves Geto so much that she’d risk pissing off the most dangerous curse/demon/sorcerer just to get Geto’s body back. That’s how much she loves him.

But the man who actually killed Geto she will (never fully forgive but) “let things be” with. Because Gojo was Geto’s one and only best friend in a way that was deeply meaningful to him up until his death.

..

“Are you the strongest because you’re Satoru Gojo or are you Satoru Gojo because you’re the strongest?” is just what you say to someone you love when you need to hurt him enough that you can stay away from each other.

[lazylittledragon]

the thing that i love so much about my relationship is that i feel absolutely zero pressure for us to be in eachother's pockets constantly. not just in the way that we like to have our own space sometimes but that i don't feel guilty for getting fixated on a project and not texting him or leaving him on read for a few hours. we have a system where i just say "i'm so sorry, i fell down the Art Hole again" and he says "that's ok, was the art hole fun, can i see what you did in there?". or if i have a feeling i'm going to draw until late at night i'll be like "pre warning, i might be in the art hole this evening" and when i'm done he's texted me goodnight anyway.

tldr: find someone who doesn't get mad at you for crawling into a hole and instead helps you out of the hole and asks what you saw down there

[ditzyredrobin]

“-and you know, the whole Interpol thing.” Tim says cutting through his slice of pot roast. Which was apparently a mistake because when he looks up, all eyes were on him. “What?”

Dick was mid bite, eyes suddenly wide, and Jason was leaning back, looking unfazed as always, if not amused.

“What Interpol thing?” Bruce is the first to speak, brow furrowed.

Tim shrugs. “I mean, it’s not that big a deal. There was this thing months ago but it’s handled now.”

-

Y’know, that time in Red Robin Tim was probably definitely wanted by Interpol. Just another normal Sunday dinner in the Wayne household.

Will I continue this? Probably.

[fallen-goldfishcracker]

Part of the reason I find Wyll to be such a compelling character is that he is such a good person, but in what I think is a kinda unique way. 

I've seen a few criticisms of how quickly Wyll seems to switch sides in his initial confrontation with Karlach; how fast he goes from convinced he must kill her to letting her live. For me though, this makes perfect sense. 

The decision Wyll makes in that confrontation not actually whether or not to kill her; he has to decide whether or not Karlach is innocent, but once he's confirmed that, it's not a question.

He commits so quickly to Karlach because he doesn't have to choose whether or not to kill her in that moment; he already decided seven years ago. 

Because at seventeen years old, he decided he would sacrifice anything for the safety of others. 

At seventeen years old he decided that his own life, comfort and happiness was never worth the cost of someone else's. 

And so at twenty-four, he learns the devil he's been chasing is a person, and a victim, and an innocent, and the decision is already made up. 

Because Wyll Ravenguard at twenty-four is who he was at seventeen, and twenty, and ten. 

And to me that's one of the coolest things about him.

There's a separate post I'd like to make about how Wyll never loses his childhood wonder of the world- and I think there's a very similar principle here. Wyll grew up hearing stories of knights who slay monsters and heros in shining armor, and he took those stories and loved them and held them close to his chest. 

And then he's seventeen and a devil asked him if he wants to be a hero, and he's not an idiot; he understands the price of saviourhood so he says yes. 

And so when he meets Karlach, it's never really a question of if he'll kill her. It's just a matter of him finding the courage. 

Because he says "you don't know what you're asking of me" and he's absolutely right, we don't. But Wyll understands the cost; he's understood it for seven years. I'll bet anything that when Wyll Ravenguard made his pact with a devil to save tens of thousands of souls, he promised himself and his city and his father who wouldn't listen that he'd only ever use his pact to help and be good, and when it comes down to it, he sticks to his word. 

Because above all, Wyll Ravenguard is a man who knows who his is and what he beliefs, and who sticks to his principles no matter what, and for me that's incredibly compelling.

[rameiixo]

xiaolumi resurrected from my heart for the new year!!