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eponymous-rose · 4 years ago

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Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E123 (Feb. 2, 2021)

After last week’s thoroughly relaxing and brief episode, tonight’s guests are Sam Riegel and Liam O’Brien!

Brian, to Sam: “You look like Tim Curry moved to Nantucket to become a sommelier.”

How did Caleb and Veth approach the ally-ship with the Tombtakers? Sam: “I mean, we got some information, and I think we got a little closer to Lucien and knowing whether he has any of Mollymauk inside of him, which is I think the most important knowledge that we’re seeking right now. Is there someone to be saved inside there? We got glimpses, and we got a little hint that Mollymauk is maybe still in there? Maybe? And we got a little more insight into their plans, so that was useful.” Liam: “We know why we were having that fucking dream.” Sam: “But other than that, it was just a road trip with assholes.” Liam: “All our plans have been ripped in a new direction, and it’s just been improvisation.” Sam notes that it feels like we’re always about to rip into Caleb’s backstory, but haven’t yet followed that thread all the way through. Liam: “It’s partially frustrating, to be sure, but also I like the idea that-- his whole shit has been selfish, it’s been dealing with the trauma that he’s been through and not the greater world, and that’s been shifting somewhat.”

Does Caleb think the book was worth it, and is he still interested in reading more? Sam: “How do you ask Caleb not to read a book?” Liam: “Caleb has spent enough time with the Nein to know you shouldn’t put a hand on a hot stove. After what happened with the book, he knows it’s a terrible idea. But maybe. But it’s a really bad idea. But reserve judgment, but it’s a really terrible idea. I think that Caleb is very aware that mages and people like him very easily fall prey to their curiosity and it can lead to bad places. But there is still that amount of scientific endeavor where you think there is value in knowing and learning, and maybe we can ride that line. He was True Neutral at the start of the campaign, and maybe he’s Chaotic Good now, but part of him is hubris, even if it’s a little bit, still.”

What about Otis has drawn Veth’s focus? Sam: “I mean, he’s a little shit. She was curious about Otis because he’s a small like she is, and in talking to him, he seemed to be real creepy, but he was just creepy and distant and didn’t value his past or family or anything like that. She sees someone who’s like her, but so not like her, and maybe that scares her a little bit more.”

How does Caleb feel about Beau being on this ride with him? Liam: “The dream is another example of how Caleb had very narrow vision of the things he wanted to do. It used to seem so massive to him, but now... To have Beauregard involved feels right. If anyone in the group is going to stop him from grabbing something he shouldn’t, it is probably Beauregard. She’ll punch him in the fucking face to stop him, which I think he needs, to a certain extent. They’re two different kinds of nerds, and I kind of like that, that this group of nine philosophers, they’ve reached out and somehow grabbed the two nerds in the party.”

How do Caleb and Veth see the Somnovum? Sam: “I mean, they seem real bad. Anything that’s a quorum of powerful entities heading towards your planet to unleash an energy of any kind, typically bad? I assume they’re bad, or at least the Tombtakers wish them to do ill.” Liam: “I think they want the kind of peace that comes from snapping your fingers and turning people to dust. Caleb sees them as a cautionary tale; they’re the worst-case scenario for arcane inquisitiveness.” He sees Allura Vysoren as the antidote to that.

Why the staunch refusal to use Halfling Luck? Sam: “I don’t like Luck! I just don’t like Luck. I think it’s cheap, I think it’s a cheat, I think it’s stupid. It just feels like a do-over.” Liam: “I am your antithesis! If I ever voice a halfling, I am going to hammer that feature!” Sam: “What I love about D&D is that you don’t know what’s going to happen. If you roll bad, okay, that’s it. If you roll well, it makes the success more enjoyable to know that it’s a pure success and don’t one where you’re like well actually... it’s so stupid. If someone was about to die, I would probably use the fuckin’ Luck feature. Well. It depends who. If it was Travis, yeah, no, he’s fucked, sorry.”

Liam drops that he’s picked Sam’s character class and race again for a hypothetical campaign three. Sam: “It’s not what I was thinking for future characters, but I’m excited to explore.”

Cosplay of the Week: an amazing Mollymauk by KatofValkyrie!

What was it like to bring the Tombtakers into the tower? Liam: “It is complicated, because he does not like him. Lucien’s just a fucking dick. But Caleb also knows that Molly’s in there somewhere. That tower’s only for the M9, and Lucien’s not in the M9. Their situation with these people is shitty, it’s terrible. Caleb doesn’t feel like they have the upper hand. He doesn’t like that they’re even going on this journey per se, because life is bigger than his bullshit. He feels like they’ve been losing over and over again, so it was a gamble to try to get on equal footing.

What spurred Veth into making sure she and Yasha have some one-on-one time? Sam: “Yasha hasn’t been getting a lot of moments to shine. Now that she’s back, I just got the impression that Yasha feels out of place sometimes, or timid, or unsure of herself. When Veth was Nott, Nott certainly had her share of those moments. I think she sees a kindred spirit and wants to make sure that she’s been giving all the opportunity she can to flourish and thrive. Dani, you’re just laughing at my mustache, aren’t you?” Dani: “Yes, that’s the only thing I’m laughing at through this whole bullshit.” Sam denies all knowledge of trolling, but eventually admits, on the topic of Yasha and Beau getting together: “They’ve made me wait this long... I’m going to make them wait a little bit longer!”

What was it like to show his friends the upper floors? Liam: “I kinda expected somebody to sneak up there before that. That being part of the tower is not even a conscious choice of his, it just is. The reason Caduceus has creeped Caleb out for a long time is because he talks about how-- Caduceus is a really kind person and wants Caleb to let go of the past. And in a really simplistic way, turn that frown upside-down. And that’s just not who Caleb is, and it’s not who everybody is. There is something to be said for trying to stay open and positivity, but thinking you can shut out the past, especially a traumatic one, is just not true. When things happen to us, we carry them. But to candy-coat it and say, ah, I’m free, or everything is good, or I’ve turned the corner... life is way messier than that. It’s not flipping a switch, it’s not bad-to-good, it is such a work in progress. Even when you make strides and start to get to a better place, you can backslide a lot. So the tower is who he is, and the tower is 7/9ths love for his friends, and 1/9th hope, but there’s still a percentage of him that carries everything from the past, and knows that he should, and knows that he should not go back to where he was. And the way to do that is not to say everything is rainbows, but to remember it. The tower is just like an extension of who he is. He’s never going to forget the past, and he’s never going to be like, I’m good, or I’ve turned a corner. He should remember the past, and he should do better, always.”

Does Veth still believe it’s possible to get Molly back? Sam: “Well, she was a person trapped in another body for many years, so has some experience there, and definitely believes that the spirit and soul of Molly is in there and just needs to be unlocked somehow.”

Fan Art of the Week: an amazing group shot by HarpySN!

How are Caleb and Veth dealing with their guilt and fear about being in the middle of this? Sam: “It definitely was a deep conversation that might have repercussions going forward. The problem with all of what we’re doing now is that we don’t have time to deal with our petty problems anymore. It’s all high tension all the time!” Liam: “It’s true; they’re not in control of their situation at all anymore.” Sam: “It’s good to have these check-ins, but it’s not like we can do anything about them. We’re reactive right now.” Liam: “He’s not happy with where they are, but they wouldn’t even be this far if the goblin hadn’t pulled him out of the mud. So part of it is, you saved me from where I was and got me on my feet again, and now it’s disconcerting to see it all just get knocked sideways by something he never could’ve predicted. I think Caleb felt nostalgic for when things were simpler, in a way, for them, when we’re both troubled drifters.”

What was it like to see Gelidon’s return? Liam: “I am the least superstitious person at the table. Ashley’s dice suck.” Sam: “It was fun fighting a dragon!” Liam: “Two massive battles in one episode, neither of which came away with a victory. I guess surviving is a victory.” Sam: “I’d forgotten about the dragon, honestly.” Liam: “I loved it. I was so upset at the idea that we were going to stealth and not get into it.”Sam: “Mercer doesn’t keep a live dragon around and not do something with it. That dragon’s coming back.”

How do Caleb and Veth feel about going to see Essek? Sam: “He can be very helpful, I believe, but as Sam Riegel, a player of D&D, I’m super suspicious. What the fuck is Essek doing up there, so close, now? I don’t trust him as far as I can throw him. And I can throw him pretty far because he floats.” Liam: “I 100% agree with you. I do not understand what Essek could bring to what we are going through. I know the audience loves him, I love him too. He’s a really cool character. But he’s fucking toxic. He out of curiosity caused a war between two nations. And Caleb has been changed for the good by the M9 from months of travel with them. Essek has had none of that. Caleb has changed for the good, but not because of people like Essek. Essek is where Caleb came from. We kept the lid on the pot during the whole treaty at sea and it almost all went fucking sideways, and only because we pressed him into a corner. I hope that guy finds some sort of balance and peace for himself, but I do not see how his input here would be helpful. There’s other heavy hitters that I would try to pull in.”

Liam notes that the Cloven Crystal is in the Bag of Holding. Sam: “Do I have Fluffernutter, or is Fluffernutter gone?” Liam: “Nope. 300 pounds of fireworks? Gone. A dead mage, a threshold crest, and fireworks.” Dani: “Your basic essentials.”

#critical role #critical role spoilers #talks machina #talks machina spoilers #long text post

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not-the-tie-youre-looking-for · 4 years ago

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Something that's been bugging me for years since the Legends finale. If Zhan had been the writer for Rebels, do you think he would have had Thrawn bomb Lothal to bring Ezra out? On the one hand, from Legends Thrawn's portrayal I imagine he would without a second of hesitation. On the other, Canon Thrawn has been much more... restrained? And on a third point, there's the fact that Legends and Canon Thrawn seem like they really could be the same person just at different points of time. cnt in next

...I'm just curious if anyone else was curious if Zhan agreed with that direction taken. Which, on that note, did Zhan ever say anything about his thoughts on how Rebels handled Thrawn? Both from a writing standpoint as well as an acting and musical one (Thrawn's various leitmotifs)?

Oh man. Ohhhhhhhh maaaaan. My friend, you have asked exactly the right person this question, because not only have I wanted to talk about this multiple times before, but I also have ~receipts~. 👀

⚠️Spoiler warnings for Star Wars: Rebels, The Mandalorian, the canon Star Wars novels Thrawn, Thrawn: Alliances, Thrawn: Treason, Thrawn Ascendency: Chaos Rising, and Thrawn Ascendency: Greater Good, and the legends Star Wars novels Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, The Last Command, and Outbound Flight.⚠️

Oh man. Where to begin.

Lets start with who Thrawn is, because depending on who you ask, you're gonna get different answers—whether you're strictly a Legends fan, Dave Filoni, a guy who's only seen Thrawn in Star Wars: Rebels, Timothy Zahn, or just a writer/artist fan like me.

To Timothy Zahn, the man behind our favorite chiss, Thrawn is a character that is constant in both attitude and personality throughout all of his content. In multiple interviews, ranging from Thrawn's debut in Rebels to the latest about the writing of the Ascendancy Trilogy, Zahn states that Thrawn in canon and Thrawn in Legends are indistinguishable.

And so I present the receipts:

In a 2017 interview with The Verge on writing the first canon Thrawn book Thrawn, Zahn is asked the following question and responds as such:

How do you navigate bringing back a character who already has an extensive backstory and audience expectations, with telling a new story that fits in the new continuity?

Actually, I didn’t find that to be a problem. I’d never written Thrawn in this part of the Star Wars timeline, so it was simply a matter of bringing him into the Empire and chronicling his rise through the ranks. It’s still the same character as in the 1990s books, just a decade or two younger and in a very different military and political environment.

In another interview with The Verge in 2018 (a few months after the finale of Rebels aired) about writing Thrawn: Alliances, he repeats this sentiment twice:

Thrawn feels like if it had been written before the canonization purge a couple of years ago, or if you squinted a bit, it would serve as a perfect setup for Heir to the Empire.

Oh, I don’t think you need to squint at all. I wrote him in these two books to fit in with everything else I’d done. So if someone at Lucasfilm snapped their fingers, and suddenly all of my other books were canon, and there would be no real retrofitting that would have to go in. It would all fit together.

Thrawn: Alliances feels more at home in the new canon, especially because Thrawn has been fleshed out a bit more in Rebels. Was there any adjustments for that?

Not really. I’m getting to play with more canon characters like Vader and Padmé and Anakin, but the character himself, I still see him as the same person. He’s got goals, and he won’t necessarily share them with you, but he as long as you’re going the same direction, he’s happy to cooperate and assist along the way.

...and this is referenced again in a 2020 interview with Polygon about writing Thrawn Ascendancy: Chaos Rising:

Along with Thrawn’s appearance in Rebels, Zahn would pen a new novel, Thrawn, that chronicled the character’s early days as an Imperial officer. Zahn didn’t have to change anything with the character, telling me in 2017 that “he’s like an old friend who I understand completely.” While Heir to the Empire was no longer canon, a reader could easily read Thrawn as a precursor to that classic novel. Thrawn went on to become a major presence in Rebels, and Zahn continued to explore his origins in Thrawn: Alliances and Thrawn: Treason.

The next day, an interview with IGN was published on the same subject:

Thrawn is an especially unique case because Zahn has been able to effectively continue the work he started way back in 1991 with Heir to the Empire. That novel may not be a part of official Star Wars lore any longer, but as Zahn explained, Thrawn himself is basically the same character regardless of continuity.

[....] The closest comparison between Chaos Rising and Zahn's earlier EU work is probably 2006's Outbound Flight, which is set during the Clone Wars and details the first encounter between Thrawn and the Galactic Republic (while also retroactively laying the groundwork for elements of Heir to the Empire). That novel is no longer canon, but Zahn told us he prefers to operate as if it were. He's making a concerted effort not to retread the same ground as Outbound Flight and to avoid contradicting the events of that novel as much as possible.

So yeah. In Zahn's opinion, Legends Thrawn is Canon Thrawn is Book Thrawn, and there is no difference whatsoever between Thrawns in, say, Outbound Flight, Heir to The Empire, Alliances, and Chaos Rising. I wholeheartedly disagree, but lets move on.

Now that the books are out of the way, its time for Rebels.

In July of 2016, after the trailer announcing Thrawn's canon debut aired, Dave Filoni had the following to say about Thrawn's character in regards to Timothy Zahn:

“I was pretty adamant with a couple of people saying, ‘Listen, we need to have Tim sign off on this. This is kind of a waste of time [otherwise],'” says Filoni. “We, of course, can do what we want with a character that Lucasfilm owns, but without Tim’s okay, what does it mean? That’s not going to be good. Once we had some stuff, we wanted to do what we thought was right and make the character. Then we brought him in. We had the production fully prepared. I said, ‘Look, if there’s something that Tim says that I think is really valuable, even if it changes something dynamically, we need to be ready for that and see what we can do.’ I wanted to make sure we did this right by everybody. We brought him in and we didn’t really tell him why. We just flew him up to Lucasfilm and sat him down in a theater and said, ‘Hey, we’re bringing Thrawn into the show.’ He was like, ‘Wow.’ and I said, ‘Yeah, wow. And I’m going to show him to you right now and you let me know what you think.'”

(Before we continue, keep that first highlighted sentence in mind for future reference. I'm going to come back to that later.)

Fortunately, Timothy Zahn was delighted at the show’s approach to the Empire’s imposing blue-skinned Chiss.

“We showed him some of the scenes with him,” Dave Filoni recalls. “He looked like a kid in a candy store. I think it meant a lot to him not just because it was his character, but because you have to imagine what he went through when it was announced that everything is Legends now, not Expanded Universe. I get that and I’ve always appreciated the work that goes into the Expanded Universe… For Tim, I think it was us saying, ‘No, no, no. We really like your character. We want him to be part of the real thing. The canon universe.'”

So in 2016, before we even saw Thrawn in action beyond a trailer, we were told that Zahn gave the OK, and he was chill with the way Thrawn was created in the show. In 2017, he gave a little more of the background of this process in an interview with FANgirl Blog:

The events of Thrawn dovetail closely with Rebels and shed light on some of Thrawn’s more seemingly surprising actions on the show, like when he appears to lose his temper and yell at Lieutenant Lyste. What was it like to see Thrawn come alive onscreen? Is he how you’ve pictured him in your head?

I don’t see my characters in terms of voice or appearance, but rather as personality or attitude. That said, I very much enjoyed the way the Rebels team brought him to life, in his appearance, voice, and actions.

I also appreciated the freedom I had to tweak certain incidents, such as the one you mentioned, and give additional or alternate explanations for the viewers who may have thought those were somewhat out of character for him.

He doesn't really elaborate on this, but we can assume he had SOME creative input on Thrawn's character, and he was overall pretty happy with the choices made in the show.

But then, we have this from that earlier 2017 the Verge article:

When did you learn that Dave Filoni was intending to bring Thrawn to Rebels, and did you have any input into how the character would be handled?

[...] I didn’t have any real input into how Thrawn was going to be handled, mainly because the lead time of an animated series is so long that much of season 3 had already been finished. But I trusted Dave and the team to do the character right. After all, why bring him into Rebels if you were going to drastically change him? Having seen the entire season now, I think we can agree that my trust was completely justified.

So... he didn't have "any real input," but was satisfied with it in the end? I guess? I don't know. We're getting into some contradictions now.

The last thing I've got in regards to Rebels is an interview Zahn did with the YouTube channel Star Wars Explained after the finale aired, where he responds to the following:

“So, maybe let's jump over to Rebels for a little bit. Now that it has wrapped up, how do you feel Thrawn was represented in Star Wars: Rebels?”

“They did a really good job—they not only understood the character and how to write for him, but they also understood the meta around how you defeat him. The only way to defeat Thrawn is to throw something at him he can't control, or can't anticipate. Given perfect knowledge and control, Thrawn will always find a way to win. But they understood, this is how you defeat him, these are the things we can use against him... so his portrayal in general, is very good; he's smart, he's anticipating, he's a step ahead of everybody, he's looking at clues and picking up on them, so I was very pleased with how the Rebels team handled the character."

I think these quotes answer many of your questions, so to answer your initial question: If Zhan had been the writer for Rebels, do I think he would have had Thrawn bomb Lothal to bring Ezra out?

Yes—but ONLY because at that point, the only established™️ Thrawn content was found in Legends, where Thrawn was a ruthless and calculating warlord.

However!

I do believe that if given the chance to re-write the Star Wars: Rebels finale using his now-canon novels as a solid background TODAY, Zahn would choose to not let Thrawn bombard Lothal's Capital City.

I believe this because he made one single very interesting creative choice when writing Thrawn that completely overwrote Thrawn's pre-established Rebels character: Thrawn was not responsible for the civilian deaths on Batonn—Pryce was.

And that's that on that.

A few months ago I would have ended it there, but today, Thrawn's story is no longer just contained in the novels and Rebels, but also in that of The Mandalorian.

This is where I will proudly say I have no idea what the fuck is going on. Before The Jedi aired, I was 100% sure that the next time we saw Thrawn, it would be nowhere NEAR the Empire, because Zahn was pretty adamant in the novels that Thrawn was only in the Empire to help. His. People.

So now he's apparently doing fuck-knows-what in fuck-knows-where and is STILL associated with the Seventh Fleet and Imperial Warlords???

Huh??? Despite the fact that he held no true loyalty to the Empire or to the Emperor??? It's been months and I'm still confused as fuck. Add to the fact that Zahn also doesn't know what the fuck is going on to the equation and we get a big fat question mark with one pretty clear answer that Filoni said himself that we have to keep in mind:

"We, of course, can do what we want with a character that Lucasfilm owns."

So I don't think Zahn has much control over Thrawn as we would all like to think. We can hope he gives us the crazy Thrawn and Ezra Space Adventure™️ novel all we want, but ultimately, Thrawn's fate does not rest in his hands.

If you guys have more to add please let me know!!! This is, obviously, a topic I am very passionate about, so I'd love to hear your thoughts!

#tye answers asks #not the post youre looking for #thrawn #timothy zahn #thrawn trilogy #legends thrawn #star wars #rebels #lothal #star wars rebels #dave filoni #thrawn ascendancy #chaos rising #greater good #thrawn alliances #thrawn treason #thrawn books #wow this took a while #but I like the way this is looking

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notepadsandtealeaves · 3 years ago

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Jason Todd x GN!Reader in: Mall Madness, Pt. 3

12 Days of Batmas || Day 3—Getting Lost at the Mall

MINORS/AGELESS BLOGS DO NOT INTERACT || 18+ ONLY ||

↞ previous: it’s always the little things… || cuddling by the fire

|| ao3 version | 12 days m.list | batboys tag | main blog ||

|| dames day 3 | dick day 3 | tim day 3 ||

Out of all the Bats, Jay’s probably the got the most chill when it comes to shopping. Who saw that one coming?

This man’s the best shopping buddy a person could ever ask for—well, providing you don’t get separated, that is…

↠ Requested By: Not a soul lol ↠ Reader Gender: Neutral ↠ Content Type: SFW with a dash of angst b/c I’m terrible like that ((but my blog’s 18+; if minors want to consume my sfw stuff while still respecting my wishes of them staying out of this space, they can head over to my AO3)) ↠ CWs/TWs: Some PTSD vibes on Jay’s part, as well as a described panic attack. See the note before the HC for more info. ↠ Betas? Nah, we don’t do that here. ↠ Total WC: ~1k

So this isn’t exactly new content—sorry to anyone whose hopes I got up.

In my efforts to make my posts a more, ahem, ✨~aesthetic reading experience~✨, I’ve been going through and editing my old posts. My original post for day three has always bugged me, so I’ve decided to break it up so that all the boys get their own posts. Also, I’m leaving Damian’s as the original post, so that’s something.

Other than the look of things and a few light edits, there aren’t any major changes. It should make for better, more streamline reading tho. ((thinking about it now, this is more like a quality of life patch than anything lol…))

Headcanon || WC: ~1k

This… got a lil bit sad. Again. I’m so sorry lol. I love Jay, I truly do! He’s actually my favorite out of all the boys, which leads to me delving deeper into who he is as a character and given all he’s been through… Well dude’s a walking angst factory if I’ve ever seen one. That being said…

TW for mentions of a panic attack, though I don’t go into great detail about said attack. I more so touch on helping him to work through it and the aftermath, and even that’s not super detailed. If you want to skip it, keep scrolling until you get past all of the ‼’s (6 in total).

🌟 Out of all the Bats, Jay’s probably the got the most chill when it comes to shopping. Who saw that one coming?

He’s got his list—which is p. short as he’s already bought most of his gifts months ago—so everything’s well in order.

🌟 He’s also v. flexible, able to adapt to any shopping style.

You more of a mission based shopper that likes to get in and out? Give him half of your list and send him off to hunt that shit down for you. Also keep your phone handy in case he needs to hit you up for some clarification.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, do you like to go in and just wing it? He’ll use his detective prowess to help you analyze any recipients you may be having trouble with picking something out for.

If you’re one of those people who gets easily distracted he’ll either help you stay on task or go off on a tangent with you depending on what you want to do.

You wanna touch all the things? He’ll only stop you if it looks like you’re gonna break something lol. And if you do he’ll pay for it with minimum grumblings on his part, though he will tell you that you need to be more careful in the future.

🌟 Doesn’t tend to get bored too quickly as he enjoys people watching.

He’s so damn tall that he can easily see over most displays, and thanks to his dip in the Pit his hearing’s enhanced*. If he focuses he can listen to the argument that a couple is having three aisles over or the total meltdown that somebody’s brat’s having over not getting whatever toy it is that they want lol.

If you want he’ll gladly narrate the goings-on for you.

*((I have no idea if that’s canon or not, btw. Regardless, I personally give anyone who has been inside of a Lazarus Pit freaky good reflexes and sensory intake. But anyways…))

🌟 More than okay with being a pack mule if you need him to be—after all, all those muscles gotta be good for something.

🌟 Also okay with being left on a bench somewhere with your haul. Again, people watching’s his jam and this gives him ample opportunity to indulge.

🌟 But that’s all only tangentially related to the prompt so let’s move on…

🌟 As far as getting lost in the mall… That shit would freak him out big time. He’s a former Bat, thee fucking Red Hood. He does not get lost–

🌟 –well until he does, clearly.

🌟 Depending on the headspace he’s in this can go one or two ways.

‼ If he’s already feeling stressed for whatever reason getting lost will freak him out as I’ve already said, though to a much greater degree. His anxiety will spike, potentially throwing him into a full blown panic attack.

‼ If you’re with him, try to pull him off to somewhere less crowded. A bathroom is one of the better options, though if the men’s room isn’t a viable option for you a dressing room will do as well. Walk him through some breathing exercises as those are the most effective method for calming him, and just stay with him until he levels out.

‼ Once he’s a bit more stable get him home asap. Plot out the fastest route to the nearest exit and find your way back to your car from there; he’ll be better off walking outside in the open air than trying to fight the crowds.

‼ He’s gonna be feeling p. fragile for a bit afterwards, so be sure to love on him as much as he’ll let you. He’s probably not gonna want to talk about it, not that there’s much to say. You both already know about his anxiety and the potential for crowds to set it off. Stuff like that’s easier to deal with when he’s in vigilante mode, but when he’s just Jason he finds that he’s not always as strong as he wants to be.

‼ And if you’ve managed to get separated… that’s just not gonna end well. Like at all. He’ll focus all of his anxiety into finding you, and getting in his way is not at all advisable. Once he finally locates you, you’re going home. Full stop, that’s it, drop whatever it is you’re holding unless you plan on stealing that shit because you’re leaving right the fuck now.

‼ He’s not trying to be controlling or anything like that, he’s just freaked the fuck out. He needs to get back to a space where he can feel comfortable and in control of his emotions again, and ofc he needs the one person that he trusts most in this world (i.e. you) to be there with him.

🌟 If he’s in a better headspace he’s gonna be annoyed more than anything.

How tf did he let himself get lost? And in a mall of all fucking places. Disgraceful, truly.

If there’s one available he’s gonna pull up a map on his phone to help orient himself, and barring that he’s gonna look for one of those directories that most malls have on a wall or stand somewhere—or at least they used to have them. I haven’t been to a mall in ages (the one in my city is p. empty so I do my shopping online) so idk if this is still a thing.

Anyways!

He is not above asking a guard or store employee for help, esp. if you’ve somehow gotten separated from each other. Your safety (and his sanity) comes well before any pride he may have.

Expect him to bitch about the whole ordeal for the next several minutes. He’s also gonna want to hit up the food court as he feels like he’s earned a snack after all that fuckery lol.

🌟 So overall he’s an excellent shopping buddy—10/10 would bring along again.

Up Next:

🌟 Day 4: ‘Martha Stewart’ Who? || Wrapping Presents

You wait with bated breath as your man inspects the parcel before him.

With its sharp creases, smooth sides, and expertly tied bow your offering would be considered immaculate, flawless even, to anyone else—but Jason Peter Todd isn’t just ‘anyone’.

It’s on sight, Ms. Stewart.

© notepadsandtealeaves, 2020 || Please do not repost, translate, or otherwise alter or distribute my works without my express permission. And for the love of god keep it away from Youtube and TikTok lol…

#((Immy does fan fiction: the Batboys))#jason todd x reader #jason todd x gender neutral reader #jason todd x gn!reader #jason todd x you #jason todd x y/n #jason todd headcanon #jason todd hc

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xisheppard · 3 years ago

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PART TWO

Tim's last day of training was uneventful consisting mostly of last remarks and the handing out of assignments. Tim would be returning to his station to work along side Sergeant Grey. More importantly to Tim, he was going home.

He meant what he had said to Lucy, he did miss her. After what had happened with Jackson they both had sensed a need in the other to not be alone. Having her in his space and then his arms had awakened something he thought long dead. He could see how much distance he had always kept between them but with one night the gap closed.

He had always been aware of Lucy, looking out for her, wanting her to succeed. That is what a good TO does but now there was something much deeper happening. When she had teased him about a future wife she had misunderstood his response. It wasn't that he didn't think he would meet someone but that he already had. As he had listened to her laugh come across the line he could not fight the image of her walking towards him dressed in white.

Lucy woke with a plan. She was going to address what was happening between her and Tim. She needed to know what he was thinking. She would grab Kojo and pick up dinner and hopefully beat Tim to his house to get the dog settled and calm her own nerves.

The universe however had other plans. She was partnered with Nolan which would normally be fine, but listening to his ramblings while trying to figure out how to tell her former TO that she really did have feelings for him was proving difficult. As one of the slowest shifts she had ever had drew to a close they got the dreaded call. They were assigned guard duty of a crime scene until it was processed. It was already after six and she would be stuck for at least another two hours. She decided to text Tim to tell him that her plans had changed.

Lucy: Stuck at a crime scene🙄 Don't know when I will be relieved. Can I get a rain check on dinner?

His response was immediate.

Tim: No need. I am about to head back now, will swing by and grab the dog and have dinner ready when you get there.

Lucy: I don't know how late I will be. We could just do breakfast tomorrow…

Tim: I don't care how late it is. I'll wait for you.

Lucy: I will let you know when I leave the station.

It was after ten by the time she left the station. She sent a quick text to Tim and started the drive to his house. She had felt tired as she changed into her jeans and crop top but the closer she got to his house the more her nerves and adrenaline kicked in. She still didn't really know what she wanted to say. Tim had been so adamant about her coming over. Did he really want to see her as badly as she wanted to see him?

The porch light was already on when she pulled into the drive beside Tim's truck. She made her way to the door debating between letting herself in or knocking. The decision was taken from her when the door opened to reveal a barefooted Tim in his Grey joggers and white t-shirt. Before either could speak Kojo wiggled his way past Tim's legs to make his presence known.

Tim rolled his eyes.

"You would think he was the one that hadn't seen you in weeks."

He opened the door wide so she could enter as she patted kojo's head on her way to the kitchen. Dissatisfied with the amount of attention he received Kojo weaved his way between the various stools before she could sit. Lucy laughed at his antics.

Tim slide open the patio door and turned to Kojo. "Come on boot that's enough. You've seen our girl it's my turn."

Lucy felt heat rise in her face at his words as she took a seat at the bar watching Kojo run out into the yard. Tim slide the door closed and turned back to her.

"Hi."

She smiled at his mock annoyance with the dog."Hi."

He moved toward the microwave "You hungry? I picked you up a burger."

" No not really maybe later. I had a few snacks. I want to hear all about your training."

"There is not much to tell that I haven't already. I'll get some drinks if you want to sit on the couch."

She walked back through to the living room feeling her nerves rise again. That's when she saw it. A silver frame on the mantle with a picture of her in her green dress from Angela's wedding. It was a candid moment of her smiling at something someone has said but she remembered who she was talking to.

Tim walked in with two beers and sat them on the coffee table.

"Where did you get this?"

He turned to see what had caught her attention and came to stand behind her.

"Angela has started going through photos from that day and she gave me that one."

"That day seems so long ago now. I am not even sure I am the same person I was then."

" Your not in every way, you're stronger." He gently turned her to face him as he cupped her face in his hands. " When I look at you I still see that bright sunshine love of life that you have but I also see a strong woman who can bring me to my knees."

Her eyes pooled with unshed tears as she reached up to hold his wrists. He leaned down till there foreheads touched and their eyes closed allowing themselves to feel each other's presence.

"Tim...I am not that strong, not alone."

He pulled back to look into her eyes again. " You're never alone."

He wiped the lone tear that spilled over with the pad of his thumb before meeting her lips with his own. One hand slid to her neck and the other to her waist pulling her closer. She could feel his hand where her top had ridden up as she stretched up to meet his kisses. It was hard to breathe but she kept grasping for him as if he was her air.

As they finally pulled apart she let her head rest against his chest in his embrace. When she finally looked up he had a small smirk on his face.

"What?"

"So does this mean we are still on for breakfast?"

She gave a small gasp at his forwardness before playfully slapping his chest. "Depends I am not an early riser and I wouldn't want to break any Bradford rules on appropriate times to eat breakfast "

He seemed to ponder this before grabbing her up handlely on his way to his bedroom. Her laughter echoed down the hall way as he spoke. " I think in this case some things matter more."

@everylastlinex @chenfordbaby @wbopossum03 @13shadesofanni

Things Unsaid Part One

#chenford fanfic #tim bradford #lucy chen #the rookie #chenford

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ieattaperecorders · 4 years ago

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Something's Different About You Lately - Chapter 14: After the Fire

Jon has some visitors.

Note: This chapter contains a few small instances of well-meaning people touching a blind person without warning in a way that startles them.

Read on Ao3

---

He knew that he was in a hospital before he was fully awake. The texture of the stiff sheets and gown, the antiseptic smell, some indistinctly medical quality to the air filled him with the memory of wandering through distant dreams, of emerging into a cold and brightly-lit room. He came to himself gradually, slowly growing aware of an uncomfortable heaviness, of something wrapped around his face and something else restricting movement on his right side. He shifted experimentally and felt a twinge. Quietly, he groaned.

"Hey," came a voice from nearby. "You actually awake, boss? Or is this another false alarm?"

I'm not your boss anymore, Tim, he thought. Then he thought, wait a minute.

"Tim . . . ?" his voice came out hoarse and thick with grogginess. "Where – augh . . . ."

Pain shot through Jon's body as he tried to lift himself into a sitting position. He heard Tim get up and felt a careful hand on his left shoulder, guiding him back down.

"Oooh, don't do that. They've got you on the good stuff, but you're still a mess on that side. Don't be such an impatient patient."

"Where's Martin? Is he –"

"Relax, Martin's fine. Well, not fine, he's been shot, but he's doing a lot better than you. Bullet glanced off your shoulder before hitting him, tore up some muscle and fat but didn't get anything vital. He was awake before you were even out of surgery."

The hand stayed on Jon until it was clear he was going to remain still, then came away. There was an audible scrape as a chair was pulled closer, and Tim sat down again.

"We're all fine too, by the way," he added, as if offended he hadn't asked. "Just so you know."

"And . . . Jonah?"

Tim was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was subdued.

"Didn't check if he was breathing when we left him, but he wasn't getting up," he said. "And I can't see anything coming out of that fire."

Jon lay still and tried to process it all. He wasn't sure what he should feel. What he did feel was a distant sort of unsteadiness, whether it was shock or whatever painkillers were coursing through his system, he didn't know.

"Have you been sitting up with me?" he asked.

"Don't get too big a head about it," Tim smirked. "I've only been here a bit. Sasha's come by to peek in as well, and we've visited Martin too. I was just lucky enough to be the one to see your grumpy little face when you woke up."

"Huh." Surprise and a strange melancholy rose in Jon at the thought. He smiled wryly, "and for my part, the first thing I hear on regaining consciousness is Tim Stoker's terrible puns."

"Excuse you, I am a delight to be around and my puns are charming."

Jon laughed softly, lapsing back into silence. The quiet stretched on for a while, solemnity beginning to creep in at the edges again. Then Tim spoke.

". . . You think he's actually dead?"

"Jonah? I think so. Avatars can be hard to kill, but he was very afraid of death." Jon tapped his less encumbered hand against the mattress, considering. "I think . . . if he had reached to the Eye in his last moments, it would have simply watched as his life faded away, doing what it does. Drinking in his fear."

"Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy," Tim muttered, something unsettled in his tone. "What about the circus?"

". . . Depends what you mean, I suppose." Jon tried to choose his words carefully. "I'm not the Archivist anymore, so I don't think they'd have any interest in me now. We're not protected from them, but I don't think they'd have reason to come after any of us. Unless, of course," he added pointedly. "Someone draws their interest by going after them."

"Even if we get away, they're still out there," Tim pushed, something limping in his voice, "Doing what they do to people. Am I supposed to just be okay with that?"

Jon was quiet for a while.

"If you could destroy the circus," he said softly, "which is a big ‘if', but if you could, the Stranger would continue manifesting in other forms. Possibly even as a circus again. You can't keep fear from the world, you'd only be changing details. In the end I don't know if it would save anyone."

"It would hurt those things, though. Wouldn't it?"

"Maybe," Jon said. "Maybe not. Certainly not as much as it would hurt anyone who cared about you."

It was Tim's turn to be quiet. He let out a long, frustrated sigh. "Not sure I like this new, future-memories version of you Jon," he said. "He's kind of a know-it-all."

"You should have seen me when I was literally all-knowing."

"Nightmare. Don't know how Martin put up with you."

"Neither do I." Jon smiled, warmth running through him at the thought. He took a long, slow breath. ". . . You died hating me, you know. In that other life."

"Yeah?" Tim didn't sound very surprised. "What'd you do?"

"Plenty," Jon laughed mirthlessly. "Though by the end I'm not even sure how much it had to do with me. We were lost, hurt, broken people, lashing out in fear and pain."

"Yeah. Starting to think that the Magnus Institute didn't exactly facilitate a healthy work environment."

"No . . . ."

He heard a soft, electronic tapping in the pause that followed. Maybe Tim was texting the others, letting them know Jon was awake? He couldn't tell. A gentle shove hit his uninjured shoulder, making him flinch.

"Well. Let's try not to fuck it up this time around, huh?" Tim said. "I'm gonna go get a nurse and tell them you're up, they'll probably want to check your vitals or rotate your tires or something."

"Right. Uh, right . . ." Jon stammered, "thank you."

The footsteps faded, and Jon let his head sink back onto the pillow. He felt . . . adrift. More so than he had in a while.

He'd been confused and frightened through all of this, half the time he hadn't even known what he was looking for, but at least he'd known he was looking. Even in the long, terrible walk across the nightmare domains, the constant pull of their destination had given him purpose. He'd known what he was hoping for.

And there had been Martin there. Of course.

For better or worse now, Jonah was dead and he was alive. He was severed from the Eye, the others were freed, and dark and terrible powers still lurked beyond the edge of human perception, waiting to Become.

Jon wasn't sure what he was hoping for now. He lay back and waited for the nurse to arrive.

* * *

Time passed in a haze. He had little sense of how much he slept, and the divide between sleep and waking blurred together.

Sometimes he had visitors. Georgie came in not long after Tim, having gotten a very incomplete version of events through Melanie. He hadn't exactly intended to tell her anything when she sat down, but somehow after a few confused inquiries, and a gentle "try me" or two, he found himself spilling everything. It was far more disjointed and emotional than his recounting in the tunnels, but the bulk of it seemed to get across.

When it was over, she just said, "sounds like you've had a hell of a time."

It was the calmness as much as the sympathy that affected Jon. As if he'd just told her about a bad relationship he'd gotten out of, rather than his place in the universe's nightmare cosmology and the end of the world.

He didn't know what to say to it, really, and frankly saying anything at all risked letting the tightness inside his chest come spilling out - the pressure bandage would hide any tears, but Georgie would be able to tell. She saved him by breaking the silence, asking if he had any stock tips or winning lottery numbers from the future to share.

Melanie's visits were less steadying, twice devolving into arguments. It seemed to be a constant between them, that no matter what happened or what forces were acting on either of them, their ability to rile each other was inevitable. She was also insistent that he explain every detail he remembered about what she'd begun calling the "dark timeline." When he complained that framing it as an alternate timeline was likely inaccurate and, frankly, horrifying in its implications, she threw a pen at him.

Still, she came back again afterwards. And still, he was glad that she did.

Sasha reported that her hand was healing, though when pressed admitted he'd been right about her range of motion not returning. She also helped him set the voice assistant up on his phone, which was a great relief. Though it was a bit embarrassing to reveal how little he knew about his own device's functions.

"Honestly Jon, you're only thirty-one," she said, going through some final setup that he'd already forgotten her explanation of. "You've got no excuse at all to be so tech-illiterate."

"Yes, yes. I've had other priorities lately."

"I don't mind you asking for help, understand. But what are you going to do if I get eaten by another evil table someday?"

He felt a stab of shock at the blazingly conversational reference to it. Something must have shown on his face because he heard her pause..

"Sorry. Too soon?"

"Ah. . . depends on your perspective of time, I suppose," Jon said, trying and failing to make it sound like a joke.

"Right. You know, it's all a little distant for me. Unsettling, sure, but on my end it's really just a story. . . ." she trailed off. "Hey, what were you doing in Hainault?"

"Gertrude's storage locker was there -- are you going through my location history?"

"Just the more recent stuff," she made it sound as if he was the strange one for asking, and he grunted with annoyed resignation.

"You should be careful about that."

"About what?"

"Prying into other people. Invading their privacy," he lay his head back against the pillow. "Don't forget that you were part of a temple to the Eye until very recently. You're free of the Institute now, but the power behind it might not be through with you."

She was quiet for a while. Whether it meant she was contemplating what he said or ignoring him so that she could continue digging through his phone, he couldn't say.

"All I'm saying is that it can be addicting," he continued. "That urge to push past the boundaries that people raise against you. Trust me when I say that I know."

"I'd imagine you would." She paused. ". . . What was it like?"

"What was what like?"

"Being all knowing?"

". . . Hard to describe."

There was a pause, and when it became clear he wasn't going to continue, Sasha pushed out an annoyed breath and said "well you could give it more of a shot than that."

"I don't know. Overwhelming," Jon said. "In the most complete sense of the word. Sometimes I had answers, but so few of them were helpful in the end. And the things I saw, the nightmares, the pain of everyone trapped in them. Having to watch that sort of thing, all the time . . . either it destroys you, or you learn to distance yourself. At least a little. If only to keep from breaking down. Neither is very good, but one lets you survive."

Sasha made a thoughtful humming noise.

"It isn't anything you want. Believe me," he said softly. "Even if the world hadn't ended, if I'd just been another avatar . . . any rewards aren't worth the price that others have to pay."

"Yeah," she sighed heavily. "Sounds about right."

Jon relaxed, some tension he'd been carrying in him slowly unlocking. Sasha continued.

"Well. Talking about privacy, while I'm here let me at least show you how to stop broadcasting your location to anyone and everyone," she tsked and scooted her chair closer. "Honestly. No wonder you got kidnapped all the time."

"I don't really think supernatural manifestations of fears needed GPS to find me."

"Couldn't have helped though, could it?"

"Probably not," Jon smiled sadly. "Should've had you around."

"Yeah. Can't imagine how any of you managed."

* * *

Even with his visitors, there were long stretches of time Jon spent entirely alone. Laying in the dark and the quiet, his thoughts shifting like a tide. Sometimes he'd drift back to those first years at the Institute, or the time-beyond-time after the change. Other days he'd lay contemplating the past few months, all the things that he'd re-written and the worries he still had.

Mostly he thought of very little, the twin sophorics of boredom and pain medication fogging his mind into an uncomfortable stasis.

When the knock came, he'd been listening to the soft, white noise of the air conditioning and thinking of how much it resembled distant waves, putting him in mind of a cold and empty shore. Then he heard two soft taps against the door, along with a familiar voice.

"Knock, knock," Martin said.

It was the first time he'd heard his voice since the fire, since the two of them were falling to the ground together. Without really thinking he asked, "who's there?"

"Oh! Right –" he sounded embarrassed. "Sorry, it's Martin."

"Yes, I -- ah, yes." Jon sounded pitifully eager, he knew, but he couldn't bring himself to care. "C-come in. Please."

* * *

If Jon was asleep, Martin decided, then he'd come back later. He probably needed the rest -- had needed it a good long while before they'd both been shot. Really, Martin ought to be at home resting as well. But when he knocked softly on the half open door, Jon turned in his direction, wide awake.

"Who's there?" he asked.

"Oh! Right –" stupid, he can't see you. Going to have to remember that. "Sorry, it's Martin."

Jon nodded, inviting him in and slowly shifting into a seated position as Martin pulled a chair up to his bedside.

He could see the edge of a dressing covering the bullet's exit wound, just peeking up from under Jon's collar. The bandages had been removed from his eyes, and the area around them was still a little bruised and swollen. He looked wrung out, small and tired. But then, Martin supposed, everyone looks small and tired in a hospital bed.

"How are you doing?" Jon asked, "they told me you've been recovering as well . . . ."

"Yeah, just got released this morning." He stretched, rubbing over the bandage that was hidden below his shirt and jacket. "Went home, had a shower, then came right back to the hospital."

"Sounds like an exciting day."

"What about you?"

"Mmm, still looking forward to a few days here, at least. They don't think I'll be needing more surgery, fortunately, and they're weaning me onto less intense painkillers. It's a little exhausting, but apparently I'm recovering well."

"Considering you took a bullet for me," Martin muttered.

A startled-sounding laugh came from Jon. "I'm not really sure that's what happened. More like we both got shot at the same time?"

"Suppose so," Martin said. Didn't quite feel that way, though. "Honestly, I don't even know if he was trying to shoot us at the end, or if the gun just went off when they tackled him."

"Neither would surprise me."

"But then I didn't even think he had a gun, let alone murdered people with it."

"I suspect he was desperate. He probably only resorts -- resorted to things like that when some disaster crept up on him. Like us, or like Gertrude. He wasn't the hands-on type. Which came back to bite him with the ritual. In a way it's the reason I'm here -- or, the memories are, I suppose."

"Right . . . ."

Martin had plenty of time to think about it all, laid up in his own bed on another floor of the same building. About all that happened, about the things Jon told them in the tunnels. More than anything else, it just made him feel foolish. Like he'd been left out of a conversation that had been going on behind his back, and now everyone was looking at him and expecting him to catch up.

Which was pretty foolish itself, of course. Jon hadn't told anyone the whole story -- there'd been no conversation, no loop he was kept out of. It wasn't as if ‘post apocalyptic time-traveling memories' was a conclusion he could have somehow come to if he'd just paid closer attention. It was a ridiculous way to feel.

Sasha had told him, between games of dominoes, that she was glad he'd been there that night because she didn't think anyone else could have talked Jon out of his plan. Which was a lot to unpack, but didn't help with the sense of being out of the loop. Not if it was that obvious. Of course, she might have just been trying to make him feel useful. The way he saw it, he hadn't done much that evening except quietly panic, shout a bit and get held at gunpoint. And get shot. And get Jon shot with him, because he'd stood in front of him.

"I'm sorry . . . ." Martin said, softly.

". . . For what?"

"I saw what was happening, just before the gun went off. I could have pulled you away if I was faster, or thrown us to the ground, or done something. Instead I just froze."

"Martin . . ." Jon tilted his head in his direction. "Even assuming you could have been fast enough, most people freeze up when a gun is pointed at them. I did the same the first few times."

". . . First few times." Martin repeated flatly. "Jesus, Jon."

"I know. It's been a difficult few years."

"I didn't even know . . . ."

"I didn't want you to know," Jon said. "I couldn't tell any of you, Martin, not until everything was ready. You saw how close things came as it was, if he'd gotten wind of things sooner . . . ."

"Right . . . of course."

The two of them fell into an uncertain silence. Jon's hand worried at a thread on the edge of the bedsheet, twisting and twirling it between his fingers. Martin thought about that hand moving slowly and smoothly over his own, about the sorrow on Jon's face when he'd pulled away. Doubt anyone else could've talked him out of it, Sasha's voice repeated in his mind.

"About what you said. In the tunnels . . . ."

Jon visibly tensed, the edge of the sheet twisting in his fingers. "Er . . . which part?"

"The part about me," Martin said, praying that would be enough, that Jon wasn't going to make him actually repeat the words. "About us?"

"Ah. Right," he smiled weakly. "Funny how much easier it is to say these things when you think you're not going to be alive much longer."

"You were really going to tell me that and then go off to die a minute later, weren't you?" There was something quiet in Martin's voice as he spoke. Calm. Like the eye of a hurricane.

"I . . ." Jon hesitated, then nodded. "Yes."

"Bit rude."

". . . Suppose it was."

Martin went quiet. What could he say to that, to any of it? It wasn't as if he didn't get it, insecurity only goes so far when there's a declaration that explicit. He knew what I love you meant, he just . . . felt like he'd only now joined the conversation.

Before the silence could grow too powerful, Jon spoke again.

"We were together. In that other life. By the end of it, at least. I --" he laughed softly. "It took me too damned long to even realize my own feelings, let alone imagine that -- but we were together."

I can't watch that happen again, he'd said. Martin had more or less guessed that was the situation, but it was still strange to hear it confirmed. Surreal to think that Jon had a history with him, or a version of him, that he wasn't a part of.

"Were we happy?"

Jon was quiet for a while before answering. "I -- I'd like to say we were. I don't know if happy is a word I can use. At first we were in hiding, and then after the Change it was . . . well, it was a nightmare. But we had each other, and that made all the difference. And --"

He took an unsteady breath. "I think I was happier in those desperate weeks we had before the world ended than I'd honestly been in years? And there were times I'd see you in that cabin, and you'd be complaining about something, or humming while we cleaned and laughing to yourself. And you'd look different somehow, and it felt like -- there was a part of you that had been tucked away in all the time I'd known you, that was letting itself breathe again, and I was so lucky to be allowed to see it," he laughed lowly. "Or maybe all that was me projecting. Maybe I was the fool who should have paid better attention before. I don't know."

Martin tried to picture himself tucked into some remote hideaway, hiding from sinister supernatural monsters but relaxed enough to be humming and laughing while they tidied up. Tried to imagine what Jon could be referring to, how he'd been different and whether that was a good or bad thing, even. He found that he couldn't do either.

"What was he like?" he asked. "That other me."

A soft smile spread through Jon. "He was like you, Martin. A little older . . . a great deal more tired. More short-tempered, or maybe just more vocal about it," he added with fondness. "He was brave, and frustrating, and . . . and wonderful. Just wonderful."

". . . Sounds like quite a guy." Martin managed.

Jon nodded. Then the smile slipped from him, and his hands came together in his lap,

"I know that you aren't him. That is -- you are, in a sense you're the same person, but you also aren't?" he gestured outward. "Our experiences, they shape who we are, they change us. I know that."

". . . Right."

A part of him had suspected something like this might be coming, and he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. It still hurt, and he felt guiltily relieved that Jon couldn't see his face just now.

"I just . . ." Jon continued, "I don't want you to think, ah, that I expect anything--"

"No, I get it." Martin tried to smile, tried to sound like every word wasn't twisting in him. "I probably remind you of him? And -- heat of the moment, you thought you were gonna die. I get it. I don't expect anything either."

Jon frowned, looking momentarily confused.

"I know I'm not him, like, it's not the same," Martin continued, clearing his throat. "It doesn't have to be a thing, you know, if you don't want--"

"Martin." Jon cut him off. "I meant every word I said down there. I still do."

The words dried up in Martin's throat as Jon continued.

“I love you. Just as much as I always have. I still want to have a life with you, and I’m still terrified of that life being torn from us. And I don’t know how you feel about me, but I know -- even if any, ah, feelings are returned, I--” He took a deep breath, “What I feel for you, it’s, well, it’s a lot? There are so many things I’ve been through with you that you haven’t been through with me, and that’s good, I’m glad you haven’t been through them because they were mostly horrible. But I can’t deny that many of them brought us closer --”

“Jon . . . .”

“And -- and I don’t want to scare you off with the -- the intensity of my feelings but I’d understand and I wouldn’t blame you --”

Martin reached out and put a hand on Jon’s arm. The flurry of movement and talk came to a sharp standstill.

“Jon,” he said again.

“Oh. Um,” Jon’s voice was small and quiet. “Oh.”

". . . I don’t know how I’m different from the Martin you remember. And I don’t know how he felt about you, or how what I feel is different,” he said slowly. “All I know is that when you said you were going to go off to find a quiet corner and kill yourself, it felt like the whole world was falling apart.”

Jon was still under his hand, barely breathing.

“Don’t do it again.”

Quietly, Jon nodded. Martin pulled his hand away, settling back into the chair. For a while neither of them said anything,

“I mean, listen . . .” Martin finally broke the silence, shrugging uncertainly. “I’m willing to give it a try if you are?”

An unsteady sound came out of Jon, his hand flew up to cover his mouth and when he pulled it away he was smiling. "I -- I'd like that. Very much," he said.

"Okay." Martin smiled back, feeling airy, lightheaded. "Cool." He laughed. "Getting shot together'll make a hell of a first date."

"Wh-- that was not a first date!" Jon protested, his own laugh coming out sharp and startled, "that was a -- a terrifying escape from our sinister employer."

"Kind of romantic though, right?" Martin teased, "in a bad action movie sort of way."

"Everything else aside, I refuse to entertain the idea that our first date involved Jonah Magnus in any respect," he shuddered, shaking his head. "Though it -- it honestly may be a while before I'm up for anything much better. I'll still be in the hospital a bit, and afterwards . . . well, I know there's a lot I'm going to have to adjust to."

Martin felt a twinge at Jon's voice, at the anxiety creeping back into it. ". . . You won't have to do it alone," he said.

Smiling weakly, Jon reached a hand over the hard plastic rail meant to keep patients from falling out of bed. Martin took it and squeezed. Jon nodded and let go, settling back.

"There's still so much . . ." he said. "So much you don't even know . . . about us, and about other things."

"You could tell me now, you know. If you wanted."

Jon paused, looking uncertain. "Are you sure you want to hear it? I don't know what you're expecting but it's not going to be some sort of --- pleasant office romance. It's just a series of horrible, traumatic experiences, one after another."

It was a fair question, really, and Martin thought about it before answering.

"I want to hear it," he said. "If you're okay talking about it, that is. I want to know what you've been living with all these months. And . . . I want to know more about that other life. Even if it's all just awful."

Slowly, Jon nodded. "All right . . ." he said, "but it really is a very long story. It's going to take a while."

"I don't have anything on today," Martin smiled, standing up. "I'll go and get us some tea."

#tma fanfic #tma #sdayl #man it's almost done wild

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ollieofthebeholder · 4 years ago

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leaves too high to touch (roots too strong to fall): a TMA fanfic

Tumblr tag || Also on AO3

Chapter 45: Martin Prime

“I Spy, with my mental eye, something that begins with…C.”

“Croft?”

“N—yes. Wait, how did you know that?” Jon sounded slightly indignant. “I didn’t even know you knew that word.”

Martin snorted. “Then you’re cheating.”

Jon sighed theatrically. “All right, fine, but which croft?”

“Hmm.” Martin pursed his lips thoughtfully. “The one two hills over, with the stone fence that was falling down in places. The one you had a hard time not seeing as sinister.”

“Well done.” Jon cupped Martin’s cheek in his hand and gave him a gentle kiss. “Right, your turn. Let’s go with…hmm. Let’s say Gertrude’s storage unit.”

It was a silly and relatively pointless game, but Martin loved Jon so much for coming up with it. They’d played I Spy several times when they were in Scotland because Jon had misunderstood Martin’s attempt to explain the one helpful thing he’d been given during his brief stint in therapy, but it had helped both of them, so Martin hadn’t told Jon until much, much later that it wasn’t what he’d meant. Still, it had been fun to play, and it had given them a brief moment of levity during their trek through the fearscapes between their tiny haven of sanctuary in Scotland and their ultimate destination in London. Martin had joked about playing it at Christmas, and Jon had apparently taken that to heart.

He’d come up with this variant not long after, and they’d played it a few times since. One of them would select a location they were both familiar with, and the other had to try and remember what it looked like, then pick something to “spy”. One part game, one part memory exercise, it was a continual surprise to Martin how many little details he could still picture in his head.

He sometimes suspected Jon of changing his answers solely so Martin could be “correct,” in the same way that Martin had never had a favorite color until Jon had guessed it to be green, but at least it was a fun exercise.

“Right,” he said, trying to cast his mind back over the storage unit. That one would be trickier. There’d just been so much crammed into a relatively small space, and Martin had admittedly been a little distracted by relief over having Jon back and talking to him, seeming to actually enjoy his company. It was hard to focus on details beyond the plastic explosives crammed in the hard case.

“I Spy, with my mental eye—” he began.

Jon’s fingers suddenly touched Martin’s lips as he hissed a warning to stay quiet. Martin froze and held his breath, and then he heard what Jon did—voices in the corridor. They were muffled but distinct, which did at least mean it wasn’t someone who didn’t need to be down there, but…

After a moment, though, Martin caught a laugh that sounded familiar and relaxed. “It’s them.”

“That’s…not good. It’s the middle of the day.” There was a rustle as Jon got to his feet. “God, what happened now?”

Martin bit his lip. Being blind and living essentially underground meant his internal clock was a bit off, but he trusted Jon. If it was midday, that meant it was Wednesday; Past Jon had been gone less than two days. He was probably still in Beijing. Nothing bad had happened to Jon while he was in China, unless there was something he hadn’t told Martin, and he probably hadn’t even had time to get into Pu Songling yet. Which meant something had happened to one of the others. Best case scenario, they’d uncovered a statement that bothered them or they wanted clarification on. Worst-case…

The door opened, and Past Martin’s voice came in, obviously in the middle of a sentence. “—like I’m offering to show you a pipe of Amontillado we’re keeping down here, it’s—oh, hey, you’re up already, that’s good.”

“What’s happened? Did something go wrong?” Jon asked urgently.

“Depends on your definition of ‘wrong,’ I suppose.”

There was a slight, nearly imperceptible creak as the door opened wider, and then a short pause before a female voice that sounded rather familiar spoke. “Is this some kind of a joke?”

Martin sat up a little straighter. “Melanie?”

He felt a surprising mix of delight and regret. He’d come to like the feisty firebrand in the short time they’d actually been able to get to know each other, despite the strain of the world having ended, and one thing he’d privately lamented when they’d made the decision to come back in time was that he wouldn’t get the chance to talk with her again, so having the opportunity was an unexpected pleasure. On the other hand, the fact that she was here and being brought down probably meant that she’d been trapped into working at the Institute, and that sent a stab of aching melancholy through his heart. They’d wanted so badly to keep her from turning bitter and angry…

She didn’t sound angry, though, at least not yet. Then again, their Melanie hadn’t at first either. “Are you clones or—you knew my name. What are you?”

Martin couldn’t help the grin that curled across his mouth, even as he got to his feet. “Me? Oh, I’m the Antichrist’s plus-one.”

The surprised laugh sounded like Tim’s. Melanie actually sounded delighted. “Does that mean he’s the Antichrist?”

“Assuming you’re pointing to Jon, yes.”

“Melanie.” Jon sounded like he was struggling to keep his composure. “It’s—it’s good to see you. What are you doing here?”

“Getting initiated. Or hazed, maybe. Depends on how you want to call it.” There was a rustle of fabric, and Martin guessed Melanie had just folded her arms across her chest. “You’re looking at the newest Archival Assistant.”

“Oh, Melanie,” Jon murmured, his voice full of regret.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, evil fear things, spooky stories, you can check out any time you like but you can never leave, today we are canceling the Apocalypse, blah blah blah.”

“Any other pop culture references you want to throw out there?” Martin asked dryly.

He could imagine Melanie shrugging. “I mean, you might have to give me a minute to come up with a few. But they told me all about the crap they have to put up with. We have to put up with, I guess.” She paused. “So, neither of you really answered my question.”

“Melanie King, meet the Primes,” Tim said. “Jon and Martin, meet the crazy woman who knew what she was getting into and did it anyway. Ow!” he added, punctuated by the dull, wet smack of somebody being punched in the side. “Jeez, what were you, a boxer in another life?”

“You say that like I’m not a boxer in this one,” Melanie grumbled. “I just don’t compete is all. Prime whats?”

“So you know those pop culture references?” Past Martin said. “Here’s one more. They’re—they’re Jon and me, from the future. They’re the reason we’re trying to stop the Apocalypse. The reason we know we need to stop the Apocalypse,” he corrected himself. “Tim calls them the Primes, like—”

“Like Spock Prime. Got it. Okay.” Martin could picture Melanie’s scowl pretty clearly; it had been more or less her default expression for a while. “Well, then. Unless one of you can mind-meld, you’re going to have to prove that some other way.”

“No, fortunately, the ability to plant thoughts and memories in someone’s head is one I was spared.” Jon sighed heavily. “I—I don’t know if there’s anything I can…m-most of what I know about, about your future counterpart are things that haven’t happened yet, o-or the others could have told us.”

Martin pursed his lips as a thought occurred to him. “I can think of one thing, but you probably don’t want it bruited about.”

“I seriously doubt that there’s anything you can come up with I wouldn’t want them knowing.” There was a challenging edge to Melanie’s voice that was all too familiar.

“Melanie—” Sasha began. Great, everyone was there.

“No. You think you know some big secret about me, something I wouldn’t have told you until later? Fine. Say it. I look forward to being able to look you in the eye and tell you you’re wrong.”

Martin sighed in exasperation. “You got shot by a ghost while you were in India. In the leg. You told the doctors it was a—a mugging, right? They couldn’t find anything in the scans, but trust me when I say it’s probably still in there.”

There was another one of those long pauses. “Fuck.”

“I did warn you,” Martin pointed out.

“You did, and I should have listened.” Melanie snorted. “I mean, obviously. I’ve only been working here for three hours and I already know that’s the number one Archives rule: Always listen to Martin.”

“Excellent life advice, both in the Archives and out,” Tim agreed.

“Both of you shut up,” Past Martin muttered, but without a lot of heat behind it.

Martin laughed. “It really is good to—we have missed you, Melanie.”

“You guys must have had a really rough few years if we’ve known each other long enough for you to miss me,” Melanie said, but he could hear the smile in her voice anyway. “For what it’s worth, it’s good to meet you.”

There was a bit of an expectant silence before Jon made a flustered-sounding noise of surprise and tapped Martin’s arm. “She wants to shake.”

“He’s not an idiot,” Melanie snapped. “If he doesn’t—”

“No, I’m blind. Sorry, should have warned you.” Martin reached out and found Melanie’s outstretched hand.

“Oh.” The slight pull against Martin’s arm was the only clue he got before Melanie—at least he assumed it was Melanie—surged forward and hugged him instead. In his ear, she said, “You look like you need it.”

“Well, I’ll never say no.” Martin didn’t need physical contact quite the same way Jon did, but it did give him comfort to feel a friendly touch once in a while. And it was substantially more important now that he was blind to have a tactile connection to the world around him. He was just momentarily caught off-guard; he’d forgotten how much shorter than him Melanie was.

After a moment, Melanie pulled back. “Right. Do I get an explanation or is it ‘you’re from the future’ and we leave it at that?”

“We can explain. Right, Jon?” Martin added, raising an eyebrow in his fiancé’s direction.

“Right. Of course. Ha-have a seat.” Jon sounded like the entire situation had put him off balance. “We’ll see what we can do.”

In a lot of ways, it was easier than when they’d told their story to the crew the first time, close to a year ago now. First of all, the team was aware now of a lot of things they’d had to explain, and Melanie had lived through at least some of it, so there was less to catch up on. Second of all, Tim, Sasha, and Past Martin were able to help fill in a lot of details. Including some things even Jon and Martin hadn’t been aware of.

“And then the world ended,” Jon concluded, much as he had the previous year. “And Martin and I…well, eventually we decided to try and put it back.”

“By coming back in time? How’d you even know you could do that?” Melanie asked. “Is it in one of those statements up there?”

“No. N-no, I don’t—I don’t think so. I don’t know how the Keeper found out about that passage back. That wasn’t our original plan,” Jon said slowly. “I’m not completely sure we had a plan, come to think of it.”

“Head to London, kill Jonah Magnus, and hope for the best,” Martin said with a shrug. “Push the big red reset button. I don’t know. I think we were still figuring it out when we got there.”

He could hear the frown when Melanie spoke next. “Sorry, I’m new to all this, I’m sure you’ve been over it a lot, but—how did you know you could? Can’t imagine the big scary fear god that thinks it’s won just…giving you a map to all its vulnerable spots or whatever. How did you know there was even a way to fix it?”

“We didn’t,” Martin said simply. He felt Jon lean against his shoulder and wrapped an arm around him. “But we had to try.”

There was another long pause before Melanie spoke again, her voice almost too soft to be audible. “Who else survived? Besides you two?”

“What?” Jon asked with a frown.

Martin realized she had almost been too soft to be heard; he’d only caught it because he had to concentrate so hard. “You, Georgie, and Basira. And the Admiral. But in our timeline…Sasha’d been gone for years at that point, she died when Jane Prentiss attacked us. And our Tim died in the Unknowing. Once Daisy went over to the Hunt, we were the only ones left.”

“The whole rest of the world died?” Melanie demanded.

“No,” Jon said quickly. “No, not—not yet. They would have. Eventually. But no. After the Fears came through…the world divided largely into two categories. Watcher or Watched. You were either trapped in a fear’s domain or—or observing one.”

“So which one was I?”

“Neither. You and Georgie, you were both sort of…outside it. I don’t know that you were the only ones, either, but you were the only ones we knew about.” Jon paused, then added, “You kept going into domains and—rescuing people, actually. Or trying to. These tunnels are a blind spot, and that didn’t change even when the Institute became the literal center of the world. You and Georgie would run into a domain, get someone out, and bring them down here.”

“And inadvertently started a cult,” Martin added. He couldn’t help the slight smile that tugged at his mouth. “You hated it.”

“God, yeah, I would have. I swear, the worst part of Ghost Hunt UK is dealing with the fans. I just got into it to investigate the paranormal, not to be famous doing it.” Melanie sighed heavily. Martin felt bad for her. “So what happened to us? After you left. Did you erase the whole future timeline so none of it ever happened, or did the three of us have to either fix it ourselves or live in a post-apocalyptic hellscape for the rest of our natural lives?”

“I—I don’t know.” Jon sounded incredibly shaken.

Martin rubbed comfortingly at Jon’s shoulder. “We left before…we didn’t get to tell them we were going. The Keeper—the one who helped us get back in time—he promised he’d let them know what was going on, he said they’d be safe. As far as I know, we didn’t…that timeline still continued to its end. I just don’t know when its end was. And unfortunately, we never will. Personally, I think what would have happened is that when the Keeper told everyone that our plan went to hell and Jonah got away, your counterpart would have said ‘fuck this’, got a knife, and gone after him herself. She kept trying to kill him in our timeline and he saw her every time. I don’t doubt for a minute that she’d take advantage of the fact that he literally wouldn’t have been able to see her.”

“Why not?”

“Same reason he can’t see me. Because she was blind, she was immune to the Eye. And as hard as she was working on her anger, I think she knew how to turn it into a weapon. Also, she hated Jonah.” Martin sighed. “So yeah. We don’t know what happened to everybody in our timeline, but if anyone could fix it, it’d be our Melanie. Correcting the Apocalypse with a knife and sheer spite.”

“Damn right,” Melanie said. Someone turned a laugh into a hacking cough.

Jon sighed and leaned against Martin’s shoulder. Martin shifted slightly to settle him into a more comfortable position. After all these months, the movement was as natural as breathing. “I’m so sorry, Melanie. We—we’d hoped we could keep you out of all this.”

“Hey, don’t take away my right to choose. I knew what I was getting into.”

“Did he ask?” Jon asked. “Or did he just hire you?”

“Of course he asked.” Melanie sounded exasperated. She dropped her voice to a lower register and did a very poor, mocking imitation of Elias’ drawl. “‘I understand that your show is on a hiatus, and with Jon off traveling, I’m sure Martin and the others could use some assistance. Jon spoke quite highly of your research abilities. Would you be interested in a paid position here in the Archives?’ I could have told him to fuck off if I’d really wanted to.”

Martin replayed the words in his head a couple of times. “Yeah, sounds like he flattered and dangled bait in front of you, but didn’t actually force you. Very carrot and stick.”

“So why did you say yes?” Sasha asked, sounding curious. “Knowing what you were getting into, more or less?”

Melanie sighed heavily—Martin was incredibly familiar with that sound—but to his mild surprise, it was Past Martin who answered. “She told us that, Sasha. Or at least indirectly. She—you said you started Ghost Hunt UK to investigate. And when we were having lunch before you left for India…I saw how animated you got when you were talking about that student film you did. The supernatural, the paranormal, it’s genuinely something you’re interested in. You agreed to join the Institute because it lets you do all that and get paid for it, with the added bonus of not having to deal with people if you don’t want to.”

“Yeah, basically. And, you know, if I can help save the world, that’s a nice little plus, too.”

Martin heard the rustling of fabric, but he honestly couldn’t have said if it was a hug or a light shove or what, and Tim’s next words made him none the wiser. “Thought you couldn’t read minds.”

“I can’t. I just know people.” Past Martin’s voice softened. “I promise, Tim. I’m not developing any new abilities.”

From the way he said that, Martin could picture quite vividly what Tim’s face had to look like. It was probably somewhere between the way he’d looked when he’d brought Sasha her coffee after she’d been attacked by Michael and the way he’d looked when telling Martin what had happened to his brother—a mixture of concern and fear and maybe a little bit of heartbreak. Tim really did worry about the others developing powers from the Eye, but there was probably an additional layer here because it was Past Martin.

Martin did know people. He had a fairly intuitive sense for the mood of a room and the way people interacted. In his timeline it had led him to play peacemaker, or try to, attempting to mediate between Jon and their Tim. In this…go-round, he supposed…it mostly meant he was picking up on a lot of things that weren’t being said, or at least weren’t being said aloud. He’d heard the fabric rustling, the lighthearted banter, the genuine laughter. He’d picked up on the gentleness in Past Jon’s voice that reminded him of the way Jon had spoken to him so often after Prentiss attacked, after he’d been accused of murder, and especially during those agonizing months he’d been working with Peter Lukas and they’d been so close and yet so far apart. He’d noted the affection in Tim’s voice, the way he’d tried so hard to control his anger and fear and actually talk to them. And of course he knew himself, and by extension his past self, knew what he sounded like when he was trying to navigate a simple conversation without wearing his heart on his sleeve, when he was trying to throttle back an emotion he desperately wanted to express but didn’t think would be welcome…or safe.

He knew love when he heard it, and dear God, if it had been that obvious to him for so long, he was already mentally betting with himself against how long it would take Melanie to call them out on it. Because he also knew hidden love, and he was willing to venture that they weren’t trying to hide their relationship because they thought it was inappropriate in the workplace. He was willing to bet all three of them thought it was unrequited on their part and that they had to keep it hidden from the others lest they be shot down.

He’d never really thought about polyamory himself, but in retrospect, yeah, maybe he had had a bit of a crush on their Tim. At least for a while. That would never have gone anywhere, though.

“Do we need to get out of here?” Melanie asked. “I mean, is Big Nose McCreepy going to notice we left the Archives essentially abandoned?”

“No, we’ve got a bit,” Sasha said. “He’s supposed to be meeting some of the Institute donors for a lunch of some kind. He’s not on site and he’s going to be occupied for a good while. I’m kind of hoping he gets a little tipsy, too. Anyway, he thinks he’s got us over a barrel right now. He thinks he trapped you into the Institute, so he’s feeling smug enough that he’s not going to pay attention to us for a while. His plan is to give us the rest of the week, at least, to let you ‘settle in’ before—”

“Sasha!” Jon said sharply. He sat up so suddenly it almost pulled Martin off-balance.

“Oh. Oh, shit.” Sasha inhaled abruptly. “I swear that wasn’t on purpose.”

“That’s—Christ, Sasha, you shouldn’t be able to do that from down here—”

“I didn’t—I Knew that before we came down. I’m pretty sure.” Sasha took another deep breath. “Right, okay. I don’t know who’s nominally in charge while Jon’s away, but—I think maybe I should take tomorrow off? Just to…recalibrate. Ground myself. Get some distance.”

“Take the rest of the week,” Tim suggested. “I don’t know who’s nominally in charge either, but—”

“I’ll stand in for your Jon,” Jon said. “Tim’s right. Take a good long weekend. Don’t think about the Institute, or the Archives, or the Fears. Just…I know it’s easier said than done, but try to distract yourself.”

“I think I have a way of doing that.” Sasha sounded thoughtful. Martin was pretty sure it was sincere.

“What do you do?” There was a hint of a challenge in Melanie’s voice, but also a good deal of curiosity. She was genuinely asking. “When it gets too much. What do you have that keeps you from—doing whatever it is you shouldn’t do?”

“Going out and pouncing random people to draw their traumas out of them,” Jon said dryly. “And I have Martin. He’s been my anchor for…much longer than I realized at the time. We’ll read or—or talk, or take a walk or something. We played cards a lot when we were in Scotland.”

“We were playing I Spy earlier,” Martin added.

Sasha snorted, but Past Martin seemed to actually understand. “Like a memory game type version?”

“Basically, yes. We pick someplace we both know—or knew—think about what was in it, and pick something for the other to try and guess. Five tries or less. And no mind-reading.”

“It’s still your turn,” Jon reminded him. “The storage unit.”

“Hmm.” Martin thought for a moment, then smiled as he remembered the one thing he’d fixated on while they were there. “I Spy, with my mental eye, something…brown.”

Jon made an exasperated noise. “I swear that must have been her favorite color. That could be anything.”

“Well, then, you’d best get guessing.”

“Fine.” Jon sighed heavily. “The…box full of dolls.”

“Nope. Guess again.”

“The book? The one we didn’t know what it was?”

“That was black.”

“It was—never mind.” Jon sighed again. “The notebook?”

Martin shook his head. “Come on, Jon, think. This is me we’re talking about. What would I have been looking at?”

“The…the frame on the painting with the dogs in it.”

“One guess left.”

“Give me one more hint.”

“It was the first thing that gave me hope in weeks.”

Jon was silent for a long while. Finally, he said, “I give up. I honestly, genuinely cannot think of anything that was brown that might fit the criteria you’ve given me. What do you spy?”

Martin’s smile widened. “Your eyes.”

There was a chorus of awws and exaggerated gagging sounds in equal measure from the other four, but from the way Jon took his face in both hands and kissed him, tenderly but thoroughly, Martin could tell that his choice had had the effect he wanted.

#leaves too high to touch (roots too strong to fall)#ollie writes fanfic #tma #the magnus archives #jonmartin #jonmartim

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heyitsani · 4 years ago

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For the final day of 2020, I have a little snipit from a future piece that goes with my Omega!Dick AU. I’ve been focusing on the Past Lives AU so I haven’t finished this, but enjoy a bit of it as my final gift of 2020 to you all.

This was a requested follow up to the AU piece where Dick dies. The original requester asked if I could do a piece where Jason tells James about Dick. Here is one of the times featured in the piece. It’s kind of turned into a 5+1 kind of story.

I adore you all and can’t wait to see what 2021 brings us all!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Todd could I have your opinion on a delicate matter?” Damian spoke carefully from the open doorway of the room where Jason putting his and James’ things for the few nights they had decided to stay at the Manor for the holiday. The five-year-old had begged him to let them spend a few nights there so they didn’t miss any of the celebrating and Jason didn’t have it in him to deny the child anything.

“Depends on what the matter is.” Jason turned and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the man. Though his instinct was to still call him a kid, despite him being legally an adult now. “What’s going on?”

Damian glanced down the hallway before walking into the room and shutting the door behind him. “You know what Richard left for me in his will.” It wasn’t a question; Jason was fully aware that Dick had left Nightwing to his Robin. So instead of saying anything, he simply nodded his head. “And you know I have outgrown Robin.”

“You outgrew Robin years ago, Dames.”

“Yes, well…” Damian stopped near the bed and looked toward the window, hands in his pockets, a pensive look on his face. Jason had a feeling where this was going now so he just waited for his brother to continue. “Would it do him honor to raise Nightwing again? Or would it be better to keep him at rest?”

Sighing, Jason leaned back on his hands. “Only you can know that,” he said. He knew it wasn’t helpful. But Jason didn’t know what exactly Dick had said in his letter to Damian. All he knew was Dick had written it about a week before he went into labor because they had both been beyond stressed and Dick had needed to feel like if something were to happen then at least some of his affairs would be in order. Jason had hated the idea, but what could he do? And unfortunately, it had turned out Dick had been right. “Nightwing is yours, Damian. He trusted the mantle to you. I don’t know what he told you, but I do know that he would be honored for you to wear the colors. He would also be honored if you decided to retire the name permanently. He trusted you to do what was best for you.”

“And what of Red Hood?”

“Well, that’s a whole different situation. But as far as Jason Todd’s Red Hood? He is gone. I am retired.” He had toyed with the idea of going back out there one day, but the idea of leaving James without both of his fathers stopped that thought immediately.

“No,” Damian shook his head and turned to face Jason. The older man watched his brother closely but remained silent. “What if I wanted to become the next Red Hood?” That was surprising, but a voice in the back of his mind wondered if maybe it shouldn’t have been. Damian had been raised in a different mindset before Gotham. Before Dick Grayson. Jason knew that mindset because he had trained in it for five years. “Would you pass the mantle down to me if I wanted to follow your path instead of Richard’s?”

“You’ll never be Batman.”

Damian shook his head again. “I’m never going to be Batman anyway. I do not want to be. I do not want the burdens that have weighed Father down for so long.” Jason was curious when that had changed. He opened his mouth to ask but was cut off by the sound of the door opening. The lack of a knock told him one thing:

James.

“Papa! Alfred said that dinner is ready and if I eat all my food then I can have some of his cookies and hot chocolate!!” Jason straightened up and smiled at his son as he bounced into the room. “Hi Uncle Dami!” The boy adjusted his course and ran to his uncle instead of heading for his father, making his uncle smile and kneel to pick up the boy.

“Hello little bird,” Damian greeted James and Jason just watched, knowing Dick would melt if he could see moments like these. Moments that happened so often now. “I heard a rumor that we are to have a sleepover tonight.”

James bounced in Damian’s arms and threw his arms up in the air. “Uncle Duke said he’d build the best blanket fort ever and that we could watch Rudolph and Frosty and Elf and all the Christmas movies until we all fall asleep because it’s…I can’t remember the word.”

“Tradition?” Jason offered up. James scrunched his nose in thought, an expression that was so Dick that it hurt his heart, before nodding. “You know who started that tradition?”

“No, Papa. Who?”

“Your Daddy,” he told him. James’ eyes grew wide and he wiggled in Damian’s arms, silently asking to be let down. Damian set him on his feet and the boy immediately rushed over to the bed and climbed up next to Jason. Jason looked at Damian, taking in the curious expression at James’ reaction, before looking back down to his son. “When Grandpa Bruce adopted your daddy, there weren’t many traditions in the house that were good for kids. And since Daddy was only eight when he came to live here, Grandpa and Alfred had to quickly learn how to entertain a child. So, Alfred bought Rudolph and Frosty and Daddy built a fort big enough for ten people even though there were only three of them and they stayed up late watching the movies.

“And each year after that first Christmas, the movies were pulled out and watched one night leading up to Christmas.” Jason didn’t mention that after his death, before Tim came to live with Bruce, that the tradition took a break because Dick wasn’t around to enforce it. But even the years before Jason had died, the tradition had remained, and Dick and Bruce had put aside their issues for the holidays. “It’s not the only tradition your daddy is the founder of for this time of year, but those can be surprises.”

“Ah Papa, please! I wanna know more!”

Jason chuckled and smiled at the boy before he tussled his hair and looked over at Damian. He was a little taken back at the sad look on the other man’s face. “Dames?”

“I didn’t know it was Richard either,” he said softly, smiling despite the sadness that remained around his eyes.

A knock on the open door interrupted anything else that might have been said and Jason looked to find Duke in the doorway.

“Alfred has dinner ready. Are you ready to fly Little Bird?” Duke asked, coming in as James stood up on the bed and bounced. Jason hated this, but James was definitely his father’s son. “Ready? 1…2…3…”

“GO!” James shouted as he leapt off the bed into Duke’s waiting arms before the man spun around and ran out of the room as he held the boy as if he were Superman flying.

“Gives me a fucking heart attack every damn time,” Jason muttered as he rubbed at his chest and Damian laughed. “You good, Baby Bat?” He pushed off the bed and went over, placing a hand on Damian’s shoulder.

“Do you tell James about Richard often?”

“Every damn day,” Jason admitted with a shrug. “He’ll never have memories of his dad, but he can have my memories. All of our memories.” Jason watched Damian consider it before nodding and letting the older man guide him out of the room so they could join everyone for dinner.

#omega dick grayson #jaydick #alpha jason todd #damian wayne #nightwing #red hood #wip #anikah in real life

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hope-faith-love-abide · 4 years ago

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I haven’t been keeping up with Heartland season 14 updates the past few months, but I decided to catch up on some of it since the premiere date is coming up and the teaser trailer was released recently. And I noticed some interesting speculation about what might happen in the new season, and I have...a lot of thoughts about it, haha. I think I need to write it out in order to really sort out my thoughts and feelings on it, but I think it might get kinda long since it’s pretty major, so I’m going to put it under a cut.

[NOTE: This post was written approximately a week or so ago, and I’ve been just sitting on it trying to decide if I wanna post or not. But having watched the full trailer for Season 14 now...I’m like 95% certain that this seems to be the route that the season is going. Still have about 5% doubt because trailers can be misleading and I could just be reading into it. We won’t really know for sure until we see the first episode, and I’m so torn between being somewhat excited just because I want to know for certain and nervous because I know I will still be sad if it’s true.

Either way, I wanted to get my thoughts down before the season premieres so here it is I guess lol]

So...it’s actually possible that Ty might die/be dead when this season begins? Which is utterly bizarre to think about because I never would have considered this to be an actual possible situation for the show. Even when there was that summary that leaked earlier this year, I still didn’t think it was a real possibility. I thought for certain that was fake, because this is Heartland. It’s one thing for a side character to disappear from the show or to be killed off, but a main character? A main character can be hurt, injured, and on the verge of death, but they won’t actually die. Especially not a character who is in one of the two major ships on the show.

Until now?

Of course, if this does happen, I don’t think it’s something anyone on the show wanted, not even the writers. In an ideal world where every actor wanted to be in every episode of the show, I imagine they’d be perfectly happy continuing to write that story.

But in cases where an actor no longer wants to be a main character on the show -- well, obviously I can’t say definitively that this is the case, because as far as I know he has never specifically said this in an interview, but from an outsider’s/fan’s perspective, it feels like that is a possibility. I don’t know the reasons behind it though, and I’m not going to go that far into speculation.

But let’s go with this scenario hypothetically. Because it does sometimes happen with television shows, where an actor for one reason or another no longer will be part of a show.

What do you do with that character?

The character could be recast, I suppose, but I don’t think that would work in a show like Heartland. How would we explain in-universe why Ty suddenly looks different when everyone else is still the same? Even if you can find an actor that looks similar enough, we know what Ty looks like after 13 seasons, and I don’t think anyone would be fooled into thinking it’s the same guy. I guess it could be explained with the trope that he got into such a bad accident that they had to reconstruct his face, but that feels cheap and too much like a soap opera.

So that’s a no.

The character could be written out in other ways. Ty could just be off screen somewhere...all the time. He’s at the clinic, he’s spending the day with Lyndy, he’s at a vet conference, he’s gone back to save wolves from poachers again, he’s gone back to Mongolia for the third/fourth/fifth/ten billionth time.

That, honestly, would be frustrating. It’s maybe the least painful short term option, but long term, it’s not very enjoyable. It’s like when important side characters suddenly disappear from the show, occasionally mentioned but never seen on screen again, only 10 times worse.

Or he could be written off by...y’know, breaking up him and Amy. Which, frankly, is the absolute worst option in my opinion. It would immediately, retroactively, destroy the entire show, past, present, and future. Ty and Amy aren’t the only important part of the show, but they are a major part of it. The show has spent 13 seasons building up this relationship (with obvious ups and downs throughout, but I’m not focused on analyzing their whole relationship in this post), so to suddenly turn around and have them divorce would be an absolute trainwreck.

What would even be the reason? Even with some of my disagreements in the writing of certain decisions the characters have made (*coughtheMongoliaplotcough*), I don’t think those are reasons enough for these two characters to break up over it. So something new would have to be invented, and it would likely be something completely ridiculous and out-of-character for them both and also likely ruin their character development from past seasons.

Which leads us to yet another option: Ty dying. A year ago this was something I never would have considered for the actual show (or any of those other options, frankly). It could be interesting to explore in a fanfic, but on the show? No way.

But...things change. Reality sometimes gets in the way of a television show’s ideal storyline, which is one of the difficulties of the medium, especially a live action one. And just because one actor hypothetically doesn’t want to be on the show anymore doesn’t mean it should be derailed for all the other actors and crew who are on board.

So you get rid of the character. It isn’t hard to do. Probably the hardest part will be the very first episode when it’s revealed to the audience. How did it happen? Did it happen before the season begins, or does it happen in the first episode? Or if it happened before, do we get any flashbacks?

Is it due to complications from the gunshot at the end of season 13? A freak car/motorcycle accident? An accident during a vet call? Depending on what it is and the context of it, it can be a strong final note on the kind of person Ty has become. If during a vet call/because of an animal, it happens while he’s doing what he loves, taking care of animals. If from the end of S13, it’s from him protecting his wife. If a car accident, maybe he was going to pick up Lyndy to spend time with her after leaving a vet call, because he’s a loving father. All of those are inline with Ty’s character and still support the growth that he’s had from the first episode to now.

And then there’s all the story potential and character growth that it opens up for all the other characters. Because this is something that majorly impacts the entire family. And the description of season 14 that was put out does talk about a “life-changing challenge,” particularly for Amy for obvious reasons.

How does she deal with losing her husband? They’ve been together for so long, not just as romantic interests but as best friends. What does her life look like without him in it? How does this affect her work? Is her work with horses a comfort for her, or does it remind her too much of him? How does she guide Lyndy through this?

And then the rest of the family. How does Jack deal with his loss? Considering Ty became like a son to him and “officially” joins the family when he marries Amy, how does it affect Jack to lose him? Especially if it was in something like a car accident, similar to Marion. How does it affect Jack and Lisa’s relationship?

Not to mention Lily, and Lou, and Georgie, and Tim, and Caleb, and Scott, and Cass. Ty was a huge part of all their lives, so this will affect them in major ways too.

Again, it’s not ideal. But I do feel like this option provides the best story opportunities without ruining the characters in the process the way certain other choices would.

And, of course, this is all purely speculation. We won’t really know what’s going to happen until the season actually airs, and it’s entirely possible that the “life-changing challenge” will be something completely different, and Ty will be fine. And if so, that’s okay with me.

But if Ty is gone...I think I could learn to be okay with it. Though it does still depend on how they handle it. Like if everyone’s sad about it for one or two episodes, but then everyone immediately moves on and everything’s fine, then I wouldn’t be happy with that. We don’t need a whole season of everyone crying all the time, but we also don’t need this to be something that’s swept under the rug. We, the audience, will need time to grieve along with the characters. Because this is a main character that we could be losing here, not just a minor side character like Mr. Hanley for example. So I hope we get to see all of the characters going through the stages of grief and processing their loss in their own ways throughout the season.

Anyway, it was nice to write through my thoughts on this. It’s kinda funny thinking about how not that long ago, I would’ve been completely 100% against this idea ever happening in the show, but now I’m like almost on-board with it. Maybe it’s the effect of 2020 or something lol

#brigette's rambles #heartland

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adragonhoardingstories · 5 years ago

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Of Blood and Bonds- Chapter 5

@mystery-5-5 @synnesstra @thesunanditsangel

@abrx2002 @clumsy-owl-4178 @daminett4life @zalladane

@heaven428 @unmaskedagain

@dawnwave16 @kris-pines04 @emeraldpuffguide @hypnosharkrebeldreamer

@weird-pale-blonde-person

@ravennightingaleandavatempus

@persephonebutkore

@be-happy-every-day-please @blue-peach14 @annabellabrookes

@jaynintodd @st0rmy-w1th1n @bluerosette23 @ladysblackcat @18-fandoms-unite-08

@vixen-uchiha @novicevoice @jessigurl-design @tinyterror333

@rebecarojas07 @sparkle9510 @magicalfirebird @mewwitch @shamefullove

@ravennightingaleandavatempus

@sassydepression @caffeinetheory

@reyna-avila-ramirez-alreanaldo

@krispydefendorpolice @mermaidofthelost @drarryismylife101 @ladybug-182 @northernbluetongue @i-like-fairytail-and-stuff @iloontjeboontje @mjisntme

Tag list for this is closed!

On that note, this book will contain swearing, mentions of rape and torture. I will try not be explicit but that's really relative. Read at your own risk. There will be warning before if I make a explicit scene so that you can skip it.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy and don't hunt me down for this.

Happy New Year

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

Another day she had needed to spend with the idiots in her class. Once again, she felt like cursing her parents.

Marinette was by all means done with Lycée, she was following University courses but after Tom and Sabine had disowned her in all but name, it's not like they knew that. Most of her old relations had no idea what she was up to and it suited her not seeing them ever again.

But despite everything, the Dupain-Chengs she didn't consider herself one anymore did to her, they still didn't want her to dishonour their family even more so they made an arrangement with her and her Lycée.

She had to at least show up for the exams and any school functions and they would leave her alone to do as she pleased instead of sending her to a boarding school and well with all her responsibilities, she never really had a choice.

Which brought her here - on the Gotham Field Trip. She really didn't know why they had even sent her here, they were only wasting their money and Sabine must have known that the chances of her meeting Bruce were high, especially since their activities were centered around Wayne Enterprises.

Today they were going to be assigned to one person they had to shadow all day - it was supposed to help them get some actual job experience.

Marinette was chosen to shadow the CEO - how surprising - and it just so happened that today was one of the rare days Bruce Wayne was in the company so she would have the pleasure of helping both him and Tim depending on who needed her most - yay her.

She was willing bet her future fashion empire that Bruce had orchestrated this in an attempt to get a chance to talk to her.

However she had to admire that one good thing come out of this - Lila Rossi got served.

Like she had mentioned it before, she didn't have anything to do with her past classmates except the bare minimum but it seemed even now the liar still felt threatened by her every time they met. And honestly, she couldn't care less except that wench was the reason her parents had turned against her and of course how could we forget the worse thing of all? That Lila Rossi was willingly working with Hawkmoth - a known terrorist.

So the jobs had been announced and Lila has started her usual act and name dropping and oh there must have been a mistake, Timothy told me that I would be chosen to work with him since I'm already used to helping him. That had received a sharp look from the one delegating and a simple comment about Miss Rossi you are to report to our legal team, they have something prepared especially for you. Seeing Lie-La pale and shut up so yeah that had been the highlight of her day.

But now, now she was most certainly going to be forced to speak to her father and she kind of wished that Lila had succeeded for once.

Just as the lady she had grown to like was about to show her the way, her father magically appeared not really, she had seen him hiding in the shadows for the last five minutes and offered to guide her himself.

As she predicted, he said nothing else, until they were in his office but once the doors were closed…

"Mari-" He started to speak but then the doors banged open and a haggard looking Tim Drake stumbled in.

"Nette, I heard I got you today. Thank fuck I didn't get one of the brats." He stumbled in on the couch, paying Bruce no mind and grinned at her. "Plus, I get sister bonding time so win-win for me."

Marinette looked from him to Bruce. "You have impeccable timing." She informed him. "So I'm going to make you coffee."

"You are an angel." He declared. "An absolute angel. Now I understand why Damian likes you so much."

Marinette laughed it off. "Damian likes me because I don't call him Demon Spawn Timbers."

"In my defense." He groaned. "He was a brat back then and now, well it's basically a nickname. Call it brother's privilege if you want. And he knows it."

Marinette smiled gently at him as she placed a cup of coffee in front of him and Bruce, and sat down drinking her own cup. "Does he know that?"

Tim blinked at her, a thoughtful expression taking place on his face.

It lasted until he tasted the coffee, then it was replaced by awe.

"This is so good, how is this so good, it's literally the same thing I drink everyday? Can you work for me permanently?"

She was amused and this conversation seemed to shock her father so it was a plus. "But Timmy, if I change my career how are you going to get your special MDC suits?"

That strangely made him go serious.

"About that, I needed to talk to you."

Marinette raised an eyebrow, this should be good.

"What would you think if Wayne Enterprises becomes the main sponsor for MDC?"

She leant back in her seat crossing her feet and took a long sip of her drink.

"Now why would I agree to that?"

Tim looked surprised while she was careful to keep her own face carefully blank but he recovered quick enough and seemed to thrive on the challenge.

Marinette could pinpoint the exact moment when he changed to his game face. "Why wouldn't you? This in the long term will benefit you especially when you decide to release your line or officially start your company."

"Who said anything about releasing a line? Right now I'm on a clientele only basis and the greatest thing about MDC right now is my anonymity. My business is flourishing and I'm on high demand, especially among celebrities so you can imagine the price I get for each of my works. Why would I want to change that?"

"While that is true, the novelty will eventually wash off. Your designs may be good enough for you to get some loyal customers but you won't be as you put it in high demand anymore. And I may have known you for only a while, but I doubt you haven't planned for the future."

Marinette could admit, she was a little impressed. "Also true, but I'm currently a millionaire and have more than enough money to launch a line by myself."

Tim opened his mouth to interrupt but she continues before he could.

"And yes, I do understand how accepting your offer will benefit me more but signing with you also means that will represent my brand and how can I - bearing my own interests in mind - accept knowing is publicly involved with Wayne Enterprises?"

He looked completely lost and Marinette was probably having more fun that she should with this. "I'm not sure I follow?"

"I mean that even if people don't outright state it, everyone knows that the Wayne finances and outfits the Gotham vigilantes."

"And your point is?" The poor boy was going to make her say it.

"Your costumes are a fashion disaster Timmy, an eyesore if not a horror?"

"They're not that bad!"

"Do not get me started on the first Robin's costume. Were you not in your right mind when you allowed it?" For the first time in the day, she spoke to Bruce.

"Wait, you know?" She shot Tim a questioning look. Why hadn't told him, she figured it out? The boy just shrugged and she sighed.

"It's not that difficult to figure out Bats. You and Mom literally met while you training in extreme martial arts and the way she described you doesn't match up with the idea the media has of you so I was already suspicious and then I met them and I saw them in costume, they have the same build and everything and their alibi was frankly terrible. Also the rate at which you take in kids matches with the appearance of each new Robin."

"When was the last time you got your IQ tested?" He demanded.

Marinette elected to ignore that comment in favour of finishing her conversation with Tim. "So?"

"So if I get everyone to agree to a costume redesign by you, you'll sign?"

"I get to re-design and remake all of your costumes as well as become the go to for the family for all your events."

"That's a lot of conditions."

She shrugged, a smile playing on her lips. "Those are my terms but if you'd like, you can consider the part about your costumes a favor to you sister so that she doesn't get a heart attack everytime she sees you suited up."

"I'll agree as long as you admit you're exaggerating."

Marinette gave him a deadpan look. "Have you ever seen the Red Hood helmet. I have nightmares about it."

He considered it. "Yeah okay that's fair. So should I start working on the papers?"

Marinette shook her head. "I'm going to rebrand once and for all once I'm 18 along with my face reveal."

"Rebrand, why?"

"Like you rightly pointed out two nights ago MDC stands for Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Well I don't want to be a Dupain-Cheng for longer than I have to. I'll be changing my name hence the rebranding."

"Would you consider Wayne?" Bruce asked softly. Marinette paused. She had been considering taking Master Fu's name actually. "I don't know B."

"I'll leave you two to talk." Tim said slowly getting up and she would have protested but she could not run from this forever and the Kwami pressing against her leg seemed to agree.

"Yeah just…" She took out her phone and send him a contact. "That's my lawyer, you can send her the papers to review. I'll talk to her about it."

Tim checked his phone and went slack jawed. "Elle Woods. Elle Woods is your lawyer." He threw his hands up in defeat. "I don't know why I'm still surprised at this point but I'm gonna ask, how did you get her to work for you?"

"She's one of my regulars. "

"Of course she is." Tim muttered. Marinette watched silently as he went to refill his cup of coffee but ended up taking the whole coffee machine with him and walked out of the door.

Marinette turned to Bruce. She was not looking forward to this but she sighed and got up. "I'm supposed to be working so give me something to do."

"I thought you agreed we need to talk Marinette."

"I never agreed to anything." She reminded him. "But yes we'll talk." She pointed a finger at him. "While I work. So, give me something to do."

"You need this to be on your terms." He noted.

"I know you've researched what happened. After having been stripped from my senses and having my will taken away from me, yes I do enjoy being in control." She dared him to say something. "So. Give. Me. Something. To. Do."

"You can arrange the paper on the desk. According to the project names, put it in alphabetical order with A being on top."

Marinette set to work without another word. Bruce took that as his cue to start speaking.

"You know about Batman. The year I stopped talking to you was when when I was assumed dead-"

"Then why?" She cut in sharply. "Did Alfred not even deign inform me that my father was dead? Or what about after you came back?"

He stayed silent.

"The truth B is that even before that you were speaking to me less and less. Your phone calls, rare as they were, were always so short I was never able to tell you what i wanted." She gave out a humorless laugh. "You know I used to be scared that you didn't want me. I mean why else would you keep me a secret from your other children? So I didn't complain because I didn't want to stop having the little time you even gave to me. Guess, I was right in the end."

"No." He stood up and came to stand in front of her. "Marinette sweetie, please believe me. I fell in love with you from the moment I saw you. I've never not wanted you but my lifestyle was always very dangerous but I never realised how much it really was until Jason died and then shortly after I returned Damian died. Every child of mine has been traumatized in some way by my enemies. I didn't want the same to happen to you. There are villains out there who know who I am. I got scared Marinette, distancing myself from you was me trying to protect you. I know - I know it doesn't excuse me not being there for you but you need to know I am so so sorry. Please let me make it up to you. "

Marinette felt the kwamis on her person press against her, offering their silent support.

"I'm willing to try." She said at last, finishing arranging the last of the documents. She looked up at him and could basically read the hope in his expression. "But you need to give me space. I'm not coming to live in Gotham nor am I going to defer to you. I've built my own life, you're not going to interfere with in. You can be in it but you don't get to try and change things."

"Okay, okay I can work with that."

"Then you've got yourself a deal." Marinette offered him her hand to shake and he did shake it but right after, he pulled her in a hug.

Bruce realized his mistake when Marinette stiffened up but she relaxed in his arms and she slowly, almost hesitantly clutched his shirt, like a small child holding their dad's shirt, trying to hide in his arms.

And a father's heart broke all over again.

#MLB X DC #maribat #platonic daminette #mentions of rape #torture #lila salt #adrien salt

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moving-wright-along · 5 years ago

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tim for the yandere alphabet ?

For this I’m going for a CP vibe, so this is mainly Masky behavior, but I don’t think he really wears the mask around his darling.

TW: Not to bad, mentions of hitting and abuse. Murder and whatnot. Yanderes are very unhealthy in real life babes!!!!!!

Affection: How do they show their love and affection? How intense would it get?

Before meeting you, Tim wasn’t a very touchy or affectionate person. Although that changes when he finally has you safe in his arms, he becomes almost suffocatingly affectionate at times. He’ll trap you in a bear hug, your face pressed into his chest and his limbs wrapped tight around you. Good luck getting out any time soon, because he’s going to get his daily snuggle time.

Blood: How messy are they willing to get when it comes to their darling?

Very. Bloody. His first plan wouldn’t be to kill all your friends and family, but he certainly would if he felt like he had to. He can’t have anyone prying into things they shouldn’t see, or trying to take you away from him, so if he thinks someone is close to getting in the way, they’re gone.

Cruelty: How would they treat their darling once abducted? Would they mock them?

He would only be mocking or cruel if his darling didn’t immediately accept him. He’s going to become frustrated and angry at every little snap or cry, god forbid you try pushing him away or fighting back, because that’s when he’s gonna get really pissed off. He’s a naturally very angry person, and not even his darling is totally protected from it.

Darling: Aside from abduction, would they do anything against their darling’s will?

Snuggling for sure. Especially in the beginning when you’re still scared of him. Just like in Affection, he’ll trap you in his arms for hours until you calm down and accept his love.

He also likes to control what you wear and do. You’ll be put into a lot of his clothes, or just things he think you’d look cute in. He likes having as much control as possible, so he enjoys picking things like that out for you.

Exposed: How much of their heart do they bare to their darling? How vulnerable are they when it comes to their darling?

Tim remains completely closed off, emotionally, even to his darling. In his mind, it’s his job to remain strong and protect you, so he always has to be on guard. There are points sometimes though where those walls will come down, and you’ll see how he really feels.

Fight: How would they feel if their darling fought back?

Like I mentioned in Cruelty, he’d be incredibly frustrated and confused. He’s given you everything you could need, what more do you want??? If his darling fights back, he’ll become a lot more likely to punish them or take away rights, so they’ll be forced to see just how much they need him.

Game: Is this a game to them? How much would they enjoy watching their darling try to escape?

This. Is. Not. A. Game. He’d be BEYOND pissed off if his darling even tried to escape, not to even mention if they succeeded. If his darling managed to get out, well, first of all good luck, because now you’re just lost in the middle of a forest with other killers and an eldritch being in it. And second of all, he’s going to get blinding tunnel vision. He’s not going to rest until he’s caught you and dragged you home by your hair. He doesn’t care how much you scream or cry or beg- you betrayed him.

Hell: What would be their darling’s worst experience with them?

(Maybe not the worst, but definitely still bad. The first time you realized just how willing he is to hurt you if you defy him.)

“I...I’m sorry, baby, but you know you shouldn’t make me mad like that.”

You flinch away from him when his gloved hand reaches up to stroke your swollen cheek, wiping away a tear. He pulls your cowering body in close, pressing your red face to his chest.

“Don’t ever do that again. Okay? Next time, I might not be able to hold back.”

Ideals: What kind of future do they have in mind for/with their darling?

Tim hasn’t thought much about the future in specifics. Overall, he just wants to live out this ‘normal’ fantasy, in your own little world where everything is okay. This is his future. Coming home after work everyday to his darling, that’s all.

Jealousy: Do they get jealous? Do they lash out or find a way to cope?

He’s extremely jealous. Of everything. Before he whisked you away, his skin would start to itch at any little interaction you had. The waiter’s playful banter, the girl who complimented your outfit, the dog you stopped to pet- He mostly just bottled it up and seethed in private.

Kisses: How do they act around or with their darling?

He tries (keyword, tries) to make your relationship as normal as possible. Of course his concept of ‘normal’ is a little distorted at this point. Very suffocating and overprotective. You’ve very rarely find yourselves in separate areas of the house, because he’ll always want to be with you.

Love letters: How would they go about courting or approaching their darling?

He doesn’t. He silently pined after them then kidnapped them when it became too much for him to handle. They probably had no idea he was even romantically interested in them.

Mask: Are their true colors drastically different from the way they act around everyone else?

He’s more laid back around his darling once he starts trusting them more, but he hides any semblance of you and being in love around others. Not because it’s weak or he’s ‘hiding his true, soft self’ or whatever, but because he’s literally that paranoid of someone taking you away.

Naughty: How would they punish their darling?

His go-to is isolation. Locking you up in your room for a few days with only the bare minimum of what you need to survive. This way, maybe you’ll be a little more grateful for everything he does for you once you’re let out. And while violence isn’t his first choice and he doesn’t like purposefully hurting his darling like that, he can and has lost control before.

Oppression: How many rights would they take away from their darling?

Mentioned above in Naughty. He’d take away essentially everything if he felt like he had to. You’d might as well be in solitary confinement. He might even chain you up if you’ve done something he’s deemed unforgivable, like trying to escape.

Patience: How patient are they with their darling?

His patience with his darling is higher than it is with anyone else, but that’s not really saying much. He can be forgiving if his darlings makes a genuine mistake, not so much if they defy him on purpose.

Quit: If their darling dies, leaves, or successfully escapes, would they ever be able to move on?

If his darling escaped- absolutely not. He’d kick himself every minute of every day, thinking about what he could’ve done better to make you stay (more accurately, how he could’ve better trapped you). If you got out, you’d better hope they’ll accept you into Witness Protection, because he’s going to be hunting you down for the rest of your lives. He won’t accept anything else.

He’s even more devastated if his darling dies. ESPECIALLY if you die while in his care. Any sanity he might’ve had left would fray and snap, leaving him an empty shell and completely unstable.

Regret: Would they ever feel guilty about abducting their darling? Would they ever let their darling go?

He’d feel bad about it if his darling cried a lot or clearly said that they missed their home/family. And while he would feel bad that they were upset, he would never consider giving them up. Sure they’re sad but it’s for the best. He’s the only one that can keep you safe, after all.

Stigma: What brought about this side of them (childhood, curiosity, etc)?

Pretty much every person that’s been important to Tim has either died or abandoned him. He stays so protective and possessive of his darling because he can’t handle losing another person- especially not his darling.

Tears: How do they feel about seeing their darling scream, cry, and/or isolate themselves?

He’d feel bad if he did something to make his darling cry, but he might start getting irritated if they were yelling or being loud. His solution is usually to let you just cry it out and get over it. All you need is a little time to adjust, you’ll learn to love him soon enough.

Unique: Would they do anything different from the classic yandere?

The only thing that may be different than typical yandere behavior is that he at least tries to act sweet and caring and at least kind of normal.

Vice: What weakness can their darling exploit in order to escape?

He can be mean as sin sometimes but he still has a soft spot for his darling. He can definitely be manipulated by his darling if they play along with his little fantasy. I don’t think he could be sweet talked into giving you anything that might aid your escape, though, he’s ultra paranoid about that. But you can certainly trick him into giving you more rights or whatever else it is you might want. Snuggle up to him, initiate affection, tell him you love him even if you’re lying through your teeth- he’ll melt like putty.

Wit’s end: Would they ever hurt their darling?

Not on purpose, but when he does he’s the king of gaslighting you into thinking it was your fault somehow.

Xoanon: How much would they revere or worship their darling? To what length would they go to win their darling over?

How much he worships his darling would depend on them. If his darling accepts his love and returns it? 100%. He’ll do his absolute damndest to treat you like royalty. He’d also try pretty fucking hard to get you to that point of loving him back- he doesn’t want you to pretend to love him, he wants you to love him as much as he loves you. If his darling is good, he’ll reward them frequently to try and win them over.

Yearn: How long do they pine after their darling before they snap?

A pretty long time, actually. You probably just start off as a friend or acquaintance, and he keeps you at arm’s length for a long time. Tim has convinced himself that getting close to people only gets them hurt, but he catches himself thinking about you so often, and he starts to spiral. He needs you, but what if you get hurt because of him? What if you get taken away like everyone else? This thought eventually spirals into you need him. He needs to save you from this cruel world, and protect you. To answer the question, it’s probably at least a few months.

Zenith: Would they ever break their darling?

Again, not on purpose, but it’s certainly possible depending on what kind of person his darling is. Accidently breaking his darling is probably one of his worst nightmares.

#Anonymous #my versions of yanderes are usually pretty watered down #so idk how good these are alskdjaldkajkd #masky creepypasta #yandere #the read more on this thing just fucking broke i think so im so sorry

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cryptocurrencydesign · 4 years ago

Text

Vechain Price Prediction 2021 - Specialists Take, Bullish Technical Outlook As Well As Collaborations Steering VET Price

Updated July 4, 2021: Vechain did not see the resolution it had wanted to see after an attack that occurred in March of 2019. Vechain Foundation lost VET tokens worth $6 million. This breach was the result of human error that resulted in the resignation of its CFO. The Foundation released an announcement declaring that they had rectified the error and leaving the final decision about whether or not to burn the stolen tokens to the Vechain community.

Collaboration Between Vechain and Amazon Web Services

VeChain Works With Walmart China To Power A Food Safety Platform VET Price Prediction. TradingView Analysis Updated April 11, 20,21

The price of in terms of price, the VET token is expected to gain enormously from the Chinese government's embrace of blockchain technology. In October, the president of China Xi Jinping said that the application of the blockchain technology was likely to play an important role in the modern technological revolution and industrial transformation.

In this article we will take a look at some expert predictions, technical analysis, and recent events that could have the potential to push the VeChain price higher this year.

Looking for the best place to trade in Vechain's VET token? You can do it using ETH, BTC, or BNB on the Binance exchange.

Experts Discuss Why Vechain Will Rise

It is crucial to be aware of the opinions of crypto experts on what they have to say about the future price of your preferred coin. While their predictions may not be correct however, they can have an impact on the market. Let's look at some of the opinions of experts on VET Price Prediction.

According to Roger Ver, also referred to as "Bitcoin Jesus," and one of the most influential voices in the crypto sector, VeChain has a bright future. The platform's primary mission is to solve real-world problems and offers applications for a variety of industries. Ver admitted that he's passionate about the blockchain's potential to develop an online digital cash system that is permissionless, VeChain also has exciting ways to make use of the blockchain to prevent counterfeit products, and make P2P markets that are permissionless more reliable.

Tim Draper, a Silicon Valley legend, a renowned investor in numerous businesses, and an enthusiastic advocate for digital currencies has joined the VeChain team early last year. The move was welcomed by the VeChain Foundation, who stated that Draper and the platform has the same vision with regard to the future of cryptocurrencies and blockchain solutions.

The price of VET is expected to spike in 2020. If the altcoin market has significant bullish momentum, this could drive the price up to $0.5. We have observed that in 2021 the digital currency was able to hit a peak of $0.23.

Everything will depend on whether the digital currency follows Bitcoin's trend. VET currently stands at 13th place globally and is likely to increase in the near future, if the bullish trend continues.

Vechain Price News

VeChain has increased more than 100% this month, breaking the 200-day exponential mean (EMA) for the first time since summer 2018. In the course of the month it has also been able to break an upward trend that lasted for 14 months. The gains are due to Chinese president Xi Jinping embracing the blockchain technology.

As we've mentioned previously, VET price is currently $0.23 and it has a market value of $14.79 billion.

The price forecast and outlook for the next three to six months will be cautious. However, cryptocurrencies are able to fluctuate rapidly and any price change could happen. For instance, BNB in 2021 saw its price rise from $40 to $500 dollars within two days.

Based on the analysis of various factors, our price forecast for Vechain will range from $0.015 to $0.040.

This is due to the following reasons: the value of THOR tokens (VTHO), its use of transactions on VechainThor. But, there are additional aspects to consider.

If the market enters a new bear trend which is likely to happen, we may witness the coin slipping downwards in the coming months. VeChain has partnered with PWC and Salesforce to offer innovative enterprise-level solutions to clients.

Disclaimer: We aren't financial advisers. The information contained in this article is not intended to be taken as investment advice. This is for educational purposes only. We cannot be held responsible for any decision you could take based on this information.

The Impact of Vechain THOR on the VET Price

Many believe that VET token's value will be determined by the amount of THOR it produces. What's the value of THOR? Well, we know that the minimum rate of production is expected to be .00042 the THOR for each VET day, but what is 1 THOR worth?

We're not quite sure yet. Because of low volume, there hasn't been any THOR price changes in the first two month. A lot of people are looking to keep their THOR in the upwards until the volume grows.

It is only available on the LBANK Exchange. This will change once OceanEx's trading platform launches at the end October.

OceanEx will run on VechainThors's blockchain platform. Holders will have the ability to convert or invest VTHO directly into VET and, consequently, increase the VeChain price. This could be one reason for why VET prices could rebound.

THOR demand will rise when Vechain's business partners begin to use the blockchain. When the project "comes into being", everyone will be actively involved.

Most enterprises are currently running test transactions on the test net. But, this is likely to change in the near future. We expect a migration to the main net in the near future. This will enable an rise in smart contracts as well as transactions numbers to be documented prior to the end of the year. Transactions can be tracked via Veforge.

VeChain has numerous alliances with other companies in the market. For example the Norwegian Royals have been a part of the VeChain and DNV GL agreement some months ago. This is a positive indicator for all cryptocurrency markets that are expanding daily.

More transactions are coming, which means more Pressure on the VET Price

The larger the number of transactions and smart contracts on the chain mean more VTHO is burned. These transactions will need VTHO to be burned.

To execute blockchain writing, more VTHO is required to be burned. This will force enterprises to sell more VTHO on the market. This would thus increase the value of VTHO. The company could decide not to take this route. It can purchase VET and create its own THOR. This move should cause an increase in the value of the native coin (VET) and, in turn, increasing the value of holders.

While all of this happens, Vechain is currently in talks with the Chinese government to develop a new carbon ecosystem--this time with multiple players (large enterprises) that could. take part. This would be more than BYD's Carbon Credit application to electric vehicles. Vechain could be the primary blockchain for an entire system of the "tracked" economy within Chinese initiatives.

Collaboration Between Vechain and Amazon Web Services

VeChain announced on February 18th that it has joined forces with Amazon. This partnership will allow the network of the cryptocurrency to expand and boost its value over the next months. One-click connection of the blockchain technology with Amazon Web Services will enable numerous businesses to swiftly and safely implement blockchain applications.

Amazon Web Services logo

VeChain's Blockchain as a Service will integrate the two. It was first launched in the year 2016. This platform offers a variety of solutions, including NFC+RFID chips, IT-related services for enterprises, as well as blockchain encryption.

BaaS allows businesses to build and utilize their own blockchain applications even if they lack technical knowledge. It will be easier for companies to run smart contracts in the cloud.

VeChain's BaaS solution makes use of AWS CloudFormation to enable customers to deploy with just one click. This will help eliminate the cumbersome manual deployment which is associated with the new industry.

The collaboration was met with enthusiasm from the VET community. As of the time of writing, VeChain has gained 16% over the last 24 hours. This momentum is likely to continue over the next couple of months as VeChain is established as the number one blockchain platform.

VeChain and Walmart China Work Together To Develop A Food Safety Platform

Walmart China has recently announced a new VeChain powered food traceability platform. The aim is to provide consumers with the opportunity to obtain more information about the quality of the food they're buying.

Users can scan the QR code of different products sold in China and learn how they came to be made.

Wal-Mart is determined to be a respected retailer by its customers. Wal-Mart has worked tirelessly to enhance food safety, quality management and other areas of its business since its entry into China 23 years ago. Blockchain technology will assist in helping Wal-Mart be a leading company in the field of retrospective management of commodities within the retail industry."

With this new traceability system, it will be possible to trace fresh meat account 50% of the total sales of packaged fresh meat. Similarly, vegetables will comprise 40% of the total sales for packaged vegetables. In addition, traceable seafood is expected to account for 12.5 percent of the total seafood sales by the at the end of 2020.

This is very important for VeChain holders that are trying to figure out how the digital currency is going to behave in the near future. According to VeChain Insider, the recent growth in transactions on VeChainThor blockchain may be linked to Walmart making its live on-chain debut with 23 different products.

Each transaction will require VTHO that is produced by VET. Each day, 37 million VTHO are created. More than 20 million VTHO are burnt every day. The number of transactions could rise as Walmart plans to increase the platform with 100 more products.

It's important to note that this is only one of the VeChain partners. The product is showing positive results in China , and there are other interested parties in improving their solutions using VeChain's blockchain technology.

The VeChain team says there are more than 2 million transactions per day on Walmart China. VeChainThor will be a more extensive network than Ethereum (ETH) as well as Bitcoin (BTC).

There are many other companies across the globe that are already using blockchain technology in order to track the different products sold at the grocery store. This could allow customers to access more information about the items they purchased at different shops across various countries.

A cryptocurrency-related network must be backed by solid foundations. It is essential that crypto and blockchain projects remain active during periods of low market growth or bear markets. They must continue to improve the solutions they provide to people. VeChain is growing on the market. Since August 1st the number of accounts having more than one VET has increased by more than 4 percent.

Companies will need to embrace VeChainThor to enhance their services and products. This is going to help to increase the use of VeChain and also to increase the value of the VET digital asset. In the long run, for the benefit of this digital asset more agreements and partnerships will be very positive.

The analyst has shared important information about the present state of the market for cryptocurrency and VeChain (VET). He reveals that there has been a sharp shift in the investor's sentiment as well as achievement of the continued an overall decline in price. The recent rise of trading volumes within the region between 0.66 USDT and 0.75 USDT indicates that there has been an upward trend around the prices.

He is of the opinion that VET may move higher by near 0.116 USDT or 0,12 USDT. Then, he analyzes the VETBTC chart and shows that there were sellers who attempted to get some ground beneath the area of 0.000002 and 0.00000236.

The trading pair VET/USDT shows that the digital currency follows the pattern of the largest virtual currencies that are available. This is evident in how the cryptocurrency experienced an upward trend that culminated at a top of 0.28 USDT per coin, and then it was followed by a "brutal" market correction.

It is possible to also see price trading between resistance and support areas shown in the chart. If prices rise above the resistance area it could be a reversal.

Let's keep going with VeChain (VET), with the analyst who believes this weekend will be "big" in terms of virtual currency. According to him that there's a important resistance that needs to be broken. The first one is very close to $0.14. This is very significant for the virtual currency since it indicates that it is in a position to move higher.

Instead, if the digital asset goes down, we might have it reach a value per coin of $0.10 in the worst-case scenario. This could be good for those that want to enter the market at cheaper prices. VeChain is the only cryptocurrency currently on the market that addresses the supply chain, data as well as logistical issues.

The VET Price Prediction is definitely affected by the recent FUD that has expanded in the crypto market. It had a major impact on the users across the world who were investing in this fast-growing digital currency.

The analyst provides a four-hour analysis of VeChain. He clarifies how the cryptocurrency moved into support structures that were before bouncing around on local views. In addition, VET has developed the down-sloping channel that is also coherent with the wave count as a part of an A B C formation.

It would definitely be necessary to know how VET moves closer to the lower support zones and how the coin manages to move away from them and bounce from these levels in the near future.

In the case of the USDT/VET trading pair The analyst believes that there seems to be a bullish sign of a break out from the triangle structure which is displayed in the charts. The analyst indicated on the chart that he believes there could be a breakout at these levels.

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goldandbluesmiles · 5 years ago

Text

Vow to keep you safe

Summary: Jason is now the proud parent of a young pup. It makes him think of a few things.

"Having him with me, it's just brought up all these feelings, ya know? How much I love him, how much I would give for him and I just can't understand parents that don't feel like that, that hurt their children repeatedly,"

TW: Implied/references child abuse.

Ao3

XXX

Jason smiled as he watched Bruce throw Ismael in the air and then catch him back expertly.

The bats were the only ones trusted to throw his baby in the air like that.

Ismael. His little pup.

Jason had never intended for him.

Two years ago one of Jason's crime alley friends, Javier, had gotten sick-cancer- to the point where he was scared that his baby girl would be taken from him. Jason, finally stable with a job and a nice two-bedroom house in Old Gotham- had given him an alternative and applied for his foster license. The documents had gone thought with minimal issue, probably to do with Bruce's influence.

Six months into Javier's treatment, he had been admitted to the hospital and social services had stepped in. So little Sarah had come live with him. He had given every comfort he could think of, had taken her to see her father almost every day.

Eventually, some time had passed and Javier had gone into remission and Sarah had gone home. She still visited him and called him uncle Jay and loved playing with Lian.

On a whim, he kept renewing his license.

And then Ismael had happened. During one of his rare patrols, he had stumbled upon the little boy eating out of the trash, his small hands covered in cuts, light brown skin pale and washed out from being sick and the whole body shaking because of the cold. A closer look had shown numerous bruises on the pup's little body.

He had wrapped up the little boy and taken him to the nearest orphanages, all vetted by Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd themselves.

Some research had shown that the boy's name was Ismael Guererro, four years old omega pup. Beta mother dead and Alpha mother a drunk who barely held on to a job. A visit to Leslie's had shown numerous breaks and bruises on the small boys' body.

That night Red Hood had given in to his anger in a way Jason had promised himself he wouldn't ever again. Afterwards, he had gone to Bruce and screamed his heart out in the older Omega's arms, his dad's soothing hands carding through his hair the whole time.

"Hush Jaylad. Hush, I got you,"

After a night of much-needed comfort and tears, Jason had gotten to work. Reaching out to all his contacts he had made sure Ismael would be placed with him. Then he had called the whole pack -Artemis, Kori, Roy, Dick, and even Biz- to help him shop and get the place ready for a kid.

They had set up the room in soft yellows and bright blues while Lian and Mar'i had given their opinion, both girls ecstatic to have a little pup in the pack.

Six months later, Ismael was now a big part of their world ad he didn't he would ever be able to let the precious pup go. Every time he looked at the precious little thing, he felt his heart squeeze with a love he never thought he was capable of. Every time the little boy hugged him, he scented the little pup, giving him the sense of safety he had never had at that age. Every time the little thing curled up with him, he vowed to be the best he could ever be. For this child.

Jason also had to admit, having Ismael had given him a new perspective on Bruce. Maybe he did mean how bad he felt when he messed. Maybe he did try as hard as he could because really, Jason could not imagine not trying for this precious little life.

Having Ismael had also given him a new perspective on some other things. Things that left a sour taste in his mouth and his heart heavy with aches he thought he had long left behind.

"Hey," said Bruce, startling him out of his thoughts by sitting beside him on the couch, "A little lost there?"

"Wandering thoughts," he said with a smile as they both watched Ismael play with his action figures.

"Hmm," said Bruce, "Speaking of thoughts, has Damian said anything to you about his plans after school? Pack wise?"

"No, why?"

"I think he might want to join you and Dick," said Bruce

"Huh," said Jason, "Are you sure, B? Cause I'm pretty sure he would want o keep himself to his family pack. It's what we all thought. Did something change?"

Most kids chose to start their own packs while occasionally checking in with their family pack. When that happened, if the original members of the family pack were one or two, like Bruce, they got folded into one of their kids' packs. Or if there were more, the average being five, they just lived out their senior years together. It all depended on circumstances really.

Some kids, however, stayed with their family pack and folded their mate and kids in, happy to live with the senior members leading the pack until they were too old to. They had all thought Damian would do that. Same as Tim, because really, Tim's abandonment issues meant that he didn't want to move away from home.

And he was thinking of that again. Bruce was talking about some odd way Damian had been acting as his graduation was coming nearer but Jason wasn't paying attention. Instead, he was too busy imagining a little Ismael, a little Timmy, a little Damian, a little Ca-

"Jay. Jason," said Bruce, waving his hand in front of his face, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, sorry," he mumbled, "Lost in thought,"

"Think I can afford them?" asked Bruce and Jason smiled

"I was thinking of Ismael," Jason told him

"Yeah? What about him?"

Bruce winced and Jason instantly shook his head, "Not you dad, never you. Our family isn't normal and we all messed up a lot but you tried, always tried to do the best, to be better, you fixed the mistakes you made and never made the same one twice. You learned,"

The older omega smiled and took his hand, "We can agree to disagree but okay,"

Jason smiled and laid his head on Bruce's shoulder, "I was thinking of the Drakes, of Ra's, of Cain, of Brown and-"

He chocked of for a little bit and Bruce carefully put his arms around him, "And Willis"

"Oh sweetheart," said the older omega, guiding Jason close to him until all he could smell was smoked apples and honey.

"I just don't understand it," he murmured

Jason felt Bruce sigh into his hair, "The Drakes were a sad type of people, they lived their life with a set of rules and checkboxes, never enjoying any of it and as cold as it sounds, having a son and heir was just another checkbox. Ra's might have had some heart a long time ago but there is a reason most humans aren't cut out for immortality, it makes everything seem insignificant and Ra's was much too greedy, to begin with. He had too long to cultivate that greed for power. Cain barely saw himself as a person, he definitely didn't see our Cass as one. Brown was an idiot who was never meant to be a parent. Willis was an asshole who couldn't deal with his life and used circumstances as a scapegoat while really, he was just violent,"

"But Jay?" said Bruce, "I need you to look at me and understand something,"

"What?" murmured Jason, raising his head to look at Bruce.

Bruce took Jason's face in his hands and looked him in the eye.

"Some times the only closure we have is that we will never be like them and it has to be enough. Can it be enough for you, Jay?"

Jason turned his head to look at his little pup and smiled. He imagines the future this little boy would have. The fact that he would start school now. That he would graduate and there would be an arm of people to cheer him on. He would have the choice to do whatever he pleased with his life. Most of all, he would be loved and cherished and cared for.

"Yeah," he whispered, "Yeah. It can be enough,"

"Good," said Bruce, once again pulling Jason close to him.

Noticing that his dad and grandpa were snuggling Ismael ran over, demanding cuddles too.

Laughing, Jason picked him and put him between himself and Bruce. The rest of the evening was spent just cuddling on the couch. The scents of the three omega males, smoked apples and honey, lemongrass and sweet tea, strawberries and vanilla, heavy in the air.

Jason would be better. Jason would be good. He would give this precious little boy everything he was able to.

Jason would not be like them. And that vow was enough.

#bruce wayne #Jason Todd #omegajasontoddweek #ojtw2020 #alpha/beta/omega verse #a/b/o

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