#everyone: unreliable narrator jason

[laufire]

honestly I find the idea of challenging the assumptions made by other bats about jason far more satisfying than The 1167th Story about How Jason Was Wrong about the Bats Who Love Him Very Very Much So Now It's All Fixed. in part because I think the first ones were both more numerous and more inaccurate, but also because as I've discussed with other fans jason is like. far less precious about re-evaluating his opinions on a person when he gets new information (teen titans '03 #29). and this is the reason why I've clicked back on so many fics xD

[reinedeslys-central]

"I think you should totally get in the back of my truck, actually," Leo says, linking pinkies with Jason. "What's the line? 'I can show you the world'?"

Jason stares down at where their fingers are curled together, peach on olive. He can't stop looking. "You don't have a truck."

Leo groans. "That was one time. I promise this one's legal. See?" He gently untangles their hands and slips behind the blue Chevy, returning with a slip of wrinkled paper that he triumphantly shoves in Jason's face.

LEO, I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU BREAK MY CAR WHILE I'M IN IOWA I WILL HAUNT YOU TO THE END OF TIME.

Your loving cousin, Nyssa (P.S. You can take your boy for a ride. I'll allow it. There's blankets in the back (and please help yourself to the glovebox). Don't tell me.)

Jason's eyes travel down the sparkly purple pen, catching on the note at the bottom before flickering back up. There's something that aches in his chest at the words 'your boy'.

He's not sure what expression takes over his face, but Leo, for his part, sees him and immediately ducks his head down so he can read the paper too, frowning. Jason follows his eyes down to the same line as they widen and Leo turns a raging, glorious red before hastily re-crumpling the note and sticking it into one of the many pockets of his cargo pants.

He clears his throat awkwardly while inspecting the dying grass at their feet. It looks like it could be good grass if it ever rains again this month, nice and long and thick.

..Yeah, nevermind.

He takes his glasses off and cleans them in an attempt to - what, exactly? It's not like he's got the object permanence of a toddler. It's not like looking away will stop him from thinking about red-hot blushes and bouncing curls and sharp smiles and -

Leo claps once, calling Jason's attention back up to him and the pretty blush staining his freckled nose. He looks just as awkward, laughing bashfully.

"Well, that's just Nyssa. Uh, she probably wouldn't actually haunt me, she doesn't believe in ghosts - not, I mean, if you do -" his words trip over each other, diverting the original innuendo that was definitely just meant to tease Leo since Jason's never even met her, not to mention he's not his, finally ending with - "but as you can see, it's clearly perfectly legal. So."

Jason raises an eyebrow. "Somehow I doubt that." Leo groans. "Oh, come on, dude, live a little, why dontcha?" He sidles up to him again, draping a warm arm over his shoulders and drawing him over to the car doors. "I know, you know, your dad's in California, your mom's in Paris, and your sister's at a party."

Jason opens his mouth to protest again and -

"- and before you say that you have homework," Leo scoffs, "allow me to remind you that we did our homework together yesterday, and you're already done your math homework for tomorrow, because you're a nerd."

Jason closes his mouth. "It's a school night," he offers weakly.

"Yeah, and every minute you have us waste out here is another minute we're not in the car, ergo another minute we're wasting, on a school night." Leo steps around him and holds his hands out again, eventually latching on to Jason's wrists and tugging him closer so he can peer into his eyes.

Jason may or may not forget how to breathe.

"Are you tired? You don't look tired," Leo frowns. "If you really don't want to go, I won't force you, y'know."

Jason forces his lungs to expand, contract, expand, so he can blurt out, "No, I mean, you got me. I'll go."

Leo grins as bright as the setting sun and twists around, whooping. He not-so-gently pushes Jason towards the car door before jogging over to hop into the driver's seat.

It takes a while, once they're actually on the road and leaving their neighbourhoods behind, that Jason finally goes, "You know, I'm just as concerned with how legal this is as I am with the fact that you still haven't told me where we're going."

Leo glares at him through the mirror. "Hey, if I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?"

Jason hates surprises. "For all I know, you just kidnapped me for a surprise road trip to Toronto, and I didn't even pack my toothbrush."

Laughter bubbles out of the boy sitting at the wheel, quickly escalating into a full guffaw. "You're funny," Leo gasps, wiping away tears at a red light. "How did I not notice that you're funny?"

Jason's definitely never been told that he's funny. He might joke, sure, but being 'funny' is reserved for people like Percy, people like Leo or Cecil, who carry humour on them like sugar on a pastry, baked into their laughs and sprinkled over top with how clever they are.

No matter how hard Jason's tried, he's never been very clever.

Leo's still laughing, now more of a soft giggle as he pulls into the left lane to make a turn. He tries not to let it affect him.

"You should joke more often, dude. Bet all the girls would love that."

Jason looks outside at the trees and farms they're passing. Judging by the position of the sun, they're heading pretty much due south. There's nothing down south for them to be doing, though, especially not this late at night.

Skinny dipping, maybe. He wouldn't put it past Leo to suggest something like that and actually go through with it. But dragging him along? They barely know each other. What's a couple months on all the other people he knows?

"You wanna turn the radio on?" Leo says. Jason looks over to see him watching him with an odd smile. "Shotgun's choice, right? Don't worry, I won't judge. Even though I bet you listen to those 24-hour 'nature recordings' for fun and don't know what real music sounds like."

Jason rolls his eyes and plays with the dial until the 106.1 comes on. Leo groans. "Seriously? They keep playing, like, the same six artists over and over. Sure, Top 40's fine, but show a little variety, you know?"

He shrugs. It's like Leo said - he doesn't really know radio stations. His dad - when he deigns to drive the family places - is much more of a silence-of-doom, or failing that, an ominous-car-conversations person. "You put something on, then, if you're so set on it." He replies.

The warm light from the street plays over Leo's knuckles as he switches the wheel to one hand, blindly flailing the other one towards Jason until he hits the box behind the gear shift. "Pick a CD from here, whatever's fine. Eh, maybe not the Chopin or Metallica though. Might shift the vibe a bit too much."

Obligingly, Jason tugs at the black, faux-leather box until it comes open with a muffled thunk. Inside is a stack of CDs, spanning everything from Katy Perry to Vivaldi to Iron Maiden to Monsta X.

"Your cousin's got quite the music taste," he tosses out, rifling through the stack while giving periodic glances out the window to make sure they're not, like, five seconds away from a crash or something.

If there was anything Beryl Grace taught her kids, it was how to be a responsible passenger.

Almost on autopilot, Jason digs the pink-purple Teenage Dream CD out of the pile and then has to hastily shove the polaroids that spill out from underneath it back between the surrounding paper disc-sleeves (Mamma Mia!, he sees, and ..Heng:garæ? Whatever that means). That can't be safe for the discs, especially in a moving card, but then again who is he to judge. He doesn't even own any CDs.

They've fully left the town behind now, sailing down the open road with nothing but trees, farms, and the occasional streetlight in sight. He leans over and pops the disc into the CD drive, wondering again for the hundredth time where Leo's taking him.

Leo rolls to a stop at a four-way and watches him skip over the first two songs. "Whadya choose?"

Jason smiles. "Is now a good time to tell you I was born in Pasadena?"

The open bars of 'California Gurls' start to play, and Leo's warm, penny-brown eyes widen before he laughs, bright and a touch wild, incredulous.

It's weird. It's so weird. Maybe this is what his father meant when he said not to get any weird ideas in his head so close to finally reaching the decade-long goal of an Ivy League school. Maybe this is what his mother meant when she'd chastised him, saying hormonal teenagers got more impulsive with puberty and he should take care to keep listening to his parents, lest he lose everything he's worked so hard for.

If anyone else had tried this, he thinks, he wouldn't have said yes. He would have stayed at home, studied ahead for bond enthalpy and subjunctive Spanish, made tomorrow's lunch and cleaned his room. Adhering to routine. Acting - being normal.

You have to be normal, Jason. That's how they love you.

I will not tolerate an abnormal son.

Oh, Jason, it's like you just don't understand. What will people say? About you? About our family?

Leo isn't normal. Or maybe he is. Normal doesn't exist, when he's with Leo. He likes that about him.

He takes a risk and rolls the window down halfway so he can lean his head out and watch the sky, crisp wind tousling his hair. Leo smirks at him and switches the wheel to his right hand so he can roll his window down to match.

"Ten minutes," he says. "Look alive, buddy."

"There must be something in the water", Katy Perry croons.

also from 'burning like a glowing star', this valgrace fic I'm writing.

more stuff: Writing Directory

[brucewaynehater101]

hii i just wanted to ask about the accuracy of the statement of "Talia abducted Jason during when he was arguably at his most vulnerable cuz catatonic and took advantage of his state (+no Bats knowing Jason came back to life) to indebt him to her and a cult + groom him to be a tool for whatever goal she had in mind" or if it's fanon and your opinions on this idea (+ actual canon if this statement is in fact fanon)

but just like how we play with the scale of good parent, bad parent Bruce we could also fuck around and do so much with this concept (fanon or not)

Hi! I'm not as familiar with this, so let's do the research together ^^ It's gonna be a long post!

I've heard many many many people curse out a few writers (I'm shitty at remembering names) for being a racist pieces of shit. I've also heard of Talia being thrown under the bus by a lot of writers. Here's a link to a wonderful Tumblr post that goes into Talia and how writers fucked over her character.

There's other posts, but this one quickly summaries what they did to Talia and briefly mentions the assassination of Ra's character as well.

Here's a post that goes further into Ra's character.

On that note, I have seen a few fics play around with two ideas that were (as far as I'm aware) retconned: Damian's conception being unconsensual and Talia having sexual relations with Jason.

As long as you keep in mind that these were retconned and come from racist, sexist, or both connotations, it's okay to explore the impact these actions would have on all characters involved (especially if we're utilizing the reasoning that Talia wasn't in her right mind during those actions).

That's a basic summary of why there's heavy debate around Talia and the al Ghuls as a whole.

Now! Let's get into Talia and Jason specifically!!!!

The comic run we want to look into is Red Hood - The Lost Days. I am unsure if there are any other comics that cover post-death Jason but pre-Red Hood. If anyone has any other canon material that covers or mentions this time period, feel free to comment, reblog, etc.

This is Talia's initial reaction to hearing about Jason:

She expresses concern, worry, and grief for Bruce

She then has spies give her updates on Bruce's situation. Everyone else states Bruce is "stepping up his game." She calls them fools (since Bruce is obviously just hurting)

Very quickly, we get into her discovery of Jason Todd:

So. Jason's catatonic and Talia was ordered not to inform Bruce. Regardless of if she wanted to, she would be betraying her father if she told Bruce

Then I'm just going to drop all of these panels:

This shows she somewhat cares about him. Whether that's for Jason or because of Bruce, that's irrelevant. She still cares and wants him to get better. She wants him to go home.

Talia only pushes Jason into the Lazarus Pits because she's run out of time

Now... she may be an unreliable narrator. She states she's doing this for Jason's sake, but it does seem like it's more for her own. Regardless, she doesn't have ill intentions.

Talia dips Jason in the Pits and then tosses him out

That line of hers seems suspicious, but I see it more as her trying to hide the fact she had Jason for so long. It's less "go be mad at Bruce" and more "gods, what is Bruce gonna think of me if Jason shows up on his doorstep?"" Selfish, but not in the way fanon characterizes it.

She had trackers on the bag, though. She just needed him away from Ra's

Ra's tells Talia she fucked up, Jason tries to blow up the batmobile, and then tries to tell Talia he didn't lose his nerve for revenge against Bruce

Talia realizes that reviving Jason with the Pit might have fucked Jason up

Jason asks Talia for her help with revenge against Bruce. Talia did not set that up. Jason was the one to suggest it without influence

Talia obviously does not want to be helping Jason right now. She still agrees, though

Let me just toss this here too:

So... She's not doing this completely because she cares about Jason or that it's the right thing, but she also sure as hell does not want Jason to be going down this revenge path

Despite all of this, there's this:

They then proceed to fuck.

Which is gross as hell, and how some people can say that she took advantage of him

I think them fucking got retconned, though....

So, it's slightly complicated?

In my personal opinion, the final answer is: "It is fanon!"

There may be some truth or canon behind it, but that most likely comes from more racist characterizations of her character. However, the canon material that explicitly covers this topic makes it clear:

"Talia was selfish with her help to Jason. She wants Bruce to love her. She thus ends up hiding Jason's existence out of fear of Bruce's reaction. She does not want Jason to be mad at Bruce or fight his dad."

This also matches the other characterization I've seen of this: "Talia uses the distraction technique to try to hold Jason back from murdering his own father. 'You can't murder Bruce without training, Jason.'"

To continue, whether Talia should've told Bruce or not is an entirely different matter. Sometimes, I've avoided telling people shit out of fear, which made the situations worse. It wasn't great of her to do that, but in no way should this villainze her. I also 100% love that this gives her a flaw. People make mistakes. She's trying. She may have gone about it poorly, but she did what she thought she could. It was selfish, but I don't blame her.

She could've also convinced Jason to give up his mission entirely right before they fucked. That's where it gets murky.

You are absolutely correct that we can use the fanon idea of the al Ghuls manipulating Jason. On the other hand, I haven't seen enough fics where Talia treats Jason like an unruly toddler instead.

"No, Jason. We can't murder Bruce. Obviously, you need training first." Her visible reaction is a motherly rolling eyes. Internally, she's just panicking ("fuck fuck fuck fuck. How do I curb bloodlust? How do I stop patricide? Procrastination!!!")

Anyways, thanks for bringing the question up! It allowed me to look into it and put my thoughts in order ^^

Feel free to read the rest of the run!

[thecruellestmonth]

How tall is Tim Drake in canon?

AFAIK Tim Drake's adult height is somewhere between 5'9" (175.26 cm) and 5'11 (180.34 cm).

Comics canon

Exact heights aren't often stated in the comics; height is usually an irrelevant detail that isn't worth tracking through the fluctuating canon of comics.

One of the uncommon exceptions is Batman: Family #5 (2003), in which 15-year-old Tim is described as "five foot nine, one hundred and forty pounds. He's probably no more than sixteen."

Though the narrator can't find Tim's exact age without knowing his secret identity, reasonably he could find this much information through observation.

In everyone's favorite comic Batman: Battle for the Cowl #2 (2008), Catwoman remarks that 17-year-old Batman Tim is shorter than Batman Jason Todd, but the height difference is apparently small enough that she didn't immediately notice it until she followed Tim.

Note on databooks and supplementary material

Comics canon takes precedent over non-diegetic information. The DC databooks (like Who's Who?, Secret Files, official Encyclopedia, etc) are notorious for containing some unreliable details, including heights and weights. The weights reported for most superheroes are often more realistic for underweight supermodels than for conditioned athletes. Some supplementary material gives Jason Todd's height as 4'6" at 15 years old, which is probably pulled from the height and weight that he was reported to have in his first databook when he was approximately 12 years old, but comic canon The New Titans #55 put him at the much more reasonable and realistic height of 5'4" at 15 years old.

The databooks seem to indicate that Tim at 14-16 years old is taller than Jason Todd and Damian Wayne at around the same age.

The Batman Character Encyclopedia corroborates that Tim is taller and heavier than Damian in their first meetings. Tim is supposedly 17 years old, 5’6”, and 131 lbs. Damian Wayne is 10 years old, 4’6”, and 84 lbs. Though again, if we use comics canon, then Tim would be at least 5'9" and 140 lbs. So if you've really been wondering who is the smaller and baby-er child between the 17-year-old and the 10-year-old... well it's the 10-year-old...

The databooks that list Stephanie Brown at 5'5" also list Tim at 5'5" or 5'6", while Cassandra Cain is 5'4" or 5'5". Tim is consistently taller than his female peers, and his various love interests, excepting Bernard. This is in contrast to Dick Grayson (5'10"), who has been listed as shorter than Starfire (6'4"), Barbara Gordon (5'11"), and Huntress (5'11") at several points.

Comics art

Comics art is pretty inconsistent, and characters' heights can vary between artists, and even between panels on the same page. Tbh this section is just an excuse to show some hugs.

Janet and Tim in Batman Chronicles #4 dream sequence and Batman (2016) #134

Bruce and Tim in Red Robin #17 (2010) // in Detective Comics #981 (2018)

Steph and Tim in Robin (1993) #58 and in Convergence: Batgirl #2 (2015)

Cass and Tim in Detective Comics #967 (2017)

Conclusion

Tim Drake isn't very short or small. He's usually depicted at an average male height. There isn't much indication that he has been or will be shorter than Cass, Steph, Duke, or Damian. But as we know, canon is quite malleable, and maybe you can find evidence to the contrary.

[ao3feed-jaydami]

Amber by Apollo_21

by Apollo_21 Damian Wayne is a difficult child, everyone knows that. But right now, all he sees in front of him is a monster in human form.And his shell is just skin, a tool for completing missions and nothing more, because inside it is empty Fake heart, fake soul. He himself is something like a man. Why is he in so much pain now? (Sequel to The Colorless World, where Damian is overcome by emotion and drinks, and then calls Jason.) Words: 8389, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 2 of Colorless world Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood: Lost Days Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Underage Categories: M/M Characters: Jason Todd, Damian Wayne Relationships: Jason Todd/Damian Wayne Additional Tags: Damian Wayne Needs a Hug, Damian Wayne is Robin, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Blood, Child Death, Past Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Underage Drinking, Underage Kissing, Crying, Jason Todd and Damian Wayne Meet in the League of Assassins, Misunderstandings, Unreliable Narrator, Damian Wayne Gets a Hug, Jason Todd Loves Damian Wayne, Damian Wayne Loves Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Song: Slipping Through My Fingers (ABBA), Catholic Jason Todd, Panic Attacks, Self-Hatred Read it on AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/57689836

[makethosenarratorsfight]

UNRELIABLE NARRATOR BRACKETS

CLOWNS AND GHOULS WE ARE STILL CURRENTLY ON A SLIGHTLY SMALLER HATIUS! WE WILL BE BACK WITH A REVIVAL BRACKET SOON :]

Semi Finals

Kim Dokja (ORV) vs. Eugenides (The Queen's Thief)

Lemony Snicket (Series of unfortunate events) vs. Marvin (In Trousers)

Finals

Eugendies (The Queen's Thief) vs. Lemony Snicket (Series of Unfortunate Events)

CONGRATS TO LEMONY SNICKET FOR WINNING THE WINNERS BRACKET!! However, there is one more battle for him to face. The winner of the revival bracket!

RULES

For tie sweeps, im giving each match up a 0.2% margin. Additionally, you have to convince me that these two character have something in common besides being unreliable goofiers

Propaganda is very much encouraged :]

Please be nice to each other :( At the end of the day, this is a silly internet bracket with way too many obscure characters to count. remember to touch grass everyone

Polls from round 1-3 will be one day! From there, all polls will be a week, including the finals

The winner of the loser's bracket will go against the winner of the winner's bracket and that winner will be declared the most unreliable

Main tag (with polls) will be #unreliable narrator battle

NOTE; I do NOT write the propaganda on each poll. It's the propaganda I collect in submissions.

List of all characters below (+their match ups and brackets!)

(im not sure how to make them face each other?? if that makes sense. so uh. have these 4, right facing brackets :') )

SIDE A

SIDE B

SIDE C

SIDE D

I tried to evenly match everyone, however, i also metaphorically live under a rock so my view on everything might be EXTREMELY skewed. sorry.

SIDE A 

Round 1

Lemony Snicket (A series of unfortunate events) vs. Dr. James Sheppard (The Murder of Roger Ackroyd) 

Neil Josten (All For the Game) vs. Cersei Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire) 

Simon Snow (Carry On) vs. Alcatraz Smedry (Alcatraz Vs The Evil Librarians) 

The Biologist (Annihilation) vs. Yukio Okumura (Ao no Exorcist) 

Briony Tallis (Atonement) vs. Tobias (Animorphs) 

Montresor (Cask of Amontillado) vs. Margot Garcia (An Unauthorized Fan Treatise) 

Kuruto Ryuki (AI: The Somnium Files Nirvana Initiative) vs. Kaede Akamatsu (Danganronpa V3) 

Jason Todd (DC Comics/Batman) vs. Greg Heffley (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) 

Varric Tethras (Dragon Age) vs. Marco (Animorphs) 

Mysterious Man (Into the Woods) vs. Narrator of Jane the Virgin (Jane the Virgin) 

Johnny Traunt (House of Leaves) vs. Charlie Gordon (Flowers for Algernon) 

The Narrator of Greater Boston (Greater Boston) vs. Italo Calvino (If on a Winter’s Night, a Travler) 

Rebecca Bunch (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) vs. Rue Bennet (Euphoria) 

Tsurugi Kamishiro (Kamen Rider Kabuto) vs. Nishijou Takumi (Chaos; Head) 

Humbert Humbert (Loltia) vs. Ted(I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream) 

Brooke Page (Ever After High) vs. Coriolanus Snow (Hunger Games) 

Round 2

Lemony Snicket (A series of unfortunate events) vs. Cersei Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire) 

Simon Snow (Carry On) vs. The Biologist (Annihilation)

Briony Tallis (Atonement) vs. Margot Garcia (An Unauthorized Fan Treatise) 

Kuruto Ryuki (AI: The Somnium Files Nirvana Initiative) vs. Greg Heffley (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) 

Varric Tethras (Dragon Age) vs. Mysterious Man (Into the Woods)

Johnny Traunt (House of Leaves) vs. The Narrator of Greater Boston (Greater Boston)

Rebecca Bunch (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) vs. Tsurugi Kamishiro (Kamen Rider Kabuto)

Ted(I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream) vs. Brooke Page (Ever After High)

Round 3

Lemony Snicket (A series of unfortunate events) vs. The Biologist (Annihilation)

Margot Garcia (An Unauthorized Fan Treatise) vs. Kuruto Ryuki (AI: The Somnium Files Nirvana Initiative)

Varric Tethras (Dragon Age) vs. Johnny Traunt (House of Leaves)

Rebecca Bunch (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) vs. Ted (I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream) 

Round 4

Lemony Snicket (A series of unfortunate events) vs. Kuruto Ryuki (AI: The Somnium Files Nirvana Initiative)

Johnny Traunt (House of Leaves) vs. Ted (I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream) 

Round 5

Lemony Snicket (A series of unfortunate events) vs. Johnny Traunt (House of Leaves)

SIDE B

The Narrators (Ever After High) vs. Louis De Pointe Du Lac (Interview with the Vampire)

Ulysses (Fallout New Vegas) vs. Phone Guy (FNAF) 

Bilbo Baggins (The Hobbit) vs. Hamlet (Hamlet) 

Patrick Bateman (American Psycho) vs. The Narrator of Fight Club (Fight Club) 

Joker (Joker) vs. Ted (How I Met Your Mother) 

Alex Eggleston (YIIK: A Postmodern RPG) vs. Benjamin Brynn (Before Your Eyes) 

Odokawa (Odd Taxi) vs. Nadeko Sengoku (Monogatari Series) 

Mima Kirigoe (Perfect Blue) vs. Drosselmeyer (Princess Tutu) 

The Narrator of Slay the Princess (Slay the Princess) vs. Dr. Money (Presentable Liberty) 

The Batter (OFF) vs. Sunny (Omori) 

Submitter (Real Life) vs. Every Fic Writer (Real Life) 

Shen Qingqiu (SVSSS) vs. Cale Henituse (Trash of the Counts Family) 

Wei Wuxian (Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation) vs. Beatrice (Umineko) 

Haruaki Fusaishi (Raging Loop) vs. Lee Hakhyun (ORV Side Stories) 

Kim Dokja (ORV) vs. Yoon Jongwoo (Strangers From Hell) 

Prince Huai (The Imperial Uncle) vs. Fukuide Kei (Ultraman Geed) 

Round 2

Louis De Pointe Du Lac (Interview with the Vampire) vs. Phone Guy (FNAF) 

Hamlet (Hamlet) vs. The Narrator of Fight Club (Fight Club) 

Ted (How I Met Your Mother) vs. Benjamin Brynn (Before Your Eyes) 

Nadeko Sengoku (Monogatari Series) vs. Mima Kirigoe (Perfect Blue)

The Narrator of Slay the Princess (Slay the Princess) vs. The Batter (OFF)

Every Fic Writer (Real Life) vs. Shen Qingqiu (SVSSS)

Beatrice (Umineko) vs. Lee Hakhyun (ORV Side Stories) 

Kim Dokja (ORV) vs. Prince Huai (The Imperial Uncle)

Round 3

Phone Guy (FNAF) vs. Hamlet (Hamlet) 

Benjamin Brynn (Before Your Eyes) vs. Mima Kirigoe (Perfect Blue)

The Batter (OFF) vs. Shen Qingqiu (SVSSS)

Lee Hakhyun (ORV Side Stories) vs. Kim Dokja (ORV)

Round 4

Hamlet (Hamlet) vs. Mima Kirigoe (Perfect Blue)

Shen Qingqiu (SVSSS) vs. Kim Dokja (ORV)

Round 5

Hamlet (Hamlet) vs. Kim Dokja (ORV)

SIDE C

Harrowhark (The Locked Tomb) vs. Percy Jackson (PJO) 

Jonathan Sims (Mangus Archives) vs. John Gaius (The Locked Tomb) 

Kuzco (Emperor’s New Groove) vs. Goob (Meet the Robinsons) 

Jeramie Brasirie (Ohsama Sentai King Ohger) vs. Noé Archiviste (Vanitas no Carte) 

Kvothe (The Kingkiller Chronicle) vs. Darkstalker (Wings of Fire) 

Nelly Lockwood (Wuthering Highs) vs. Dr. John Watson (Sherlock Holmes)  

Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb) vs. Apollo/Lester (Trials of Apollo) 

Dean Winchester (Supernatural) vs. The Narrator (The Stanley Parable) 

Guy Montag (Fahrenheit 451) vs. Holden Caulfield (The Catcher in the Rye) 

Theo Decker (The Goldfinch) vs. Nick Carraway (The Great Gatsby) 

Pi (The Life of Pi) vs. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (How to Train Your Dragon) 

Rosie Amo (The Administration Podcast) vs. Rune Saint John (The Tarot Sequence) 

Charles Kinbote (Pale Fire) vs. Nana Daiba (Revue Starlight) 

Lloyd Allen (Shaperaverse) vs. Josh Newman (SINF) 

Kaz Brekker (Six of Crows) vs. The Maid (The House in Fata Morgana) 

Eugenides (The Queen’s Thief) vs. Grisia Sun (The Legend of Sun Knight) 

Round 2

Harrowhark (The Locked Tomb) vs. John Gaius (The Locked Tomb) 

Kuzco (Emperor’s New Groove) vs. Jeramie Brasirie (Ohsama Sentai King Ohger)

Kvothe (The Kingkiller Chronicle) vs. Dr. John Watson (Sherlock Holmes)  

Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb) vs. The Narrator (The Stanley Parable) 

Holden Caulfield (The Catcher in the Rye) vs. Nick Carraway (The Great Gatsby) 

Pi (The Life of Pi) vs. Rune Saint John (The Tarot Sequence) 

Charles Kinbote (Pale Fire) vs. Lloyd Allen (Shaperaverse)

Kaz Brekker (Six of Crows) vs. Eugenides (The Queen’s Thief)

Round 3

Harrowhark (The Locked Tomb) vs. Kuzco (Emperor’s New Groove)

Dr. John Watson (Sherlock Holmes) vs. Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb)

Nick Carraway (The Great Gatsby) vs. Pi (The Life of Pi)

Lloyd Allen (Shaperaverse) vs. Eugenides (The Queen’s Thief)

Round 4

Harrowhark (The Locked Tomb) vs. Gideon Nav (The Locked Tomb)

Nick Carraway (The Great Gatsby) vs. Eugenides (The Queen’s Thief)

Round 5

Harrowhark (The Locked Tomb) vs. Eugenides (The Queen’s Thief)

SIDE D

Narrator of Death in the Forest (Death in the Forest) vs. Singer of the Main Character (The Main Character) 

Guy Pearce (Memento) vs. Chief Bromden (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) 

Joe Goldberg (YOU) vs. Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Sixth Sense)

Daniil Dankovsky (Pathologic) vs. Amanda (Amanda The Adventurer) 

Keyser Soze (The Usual Suspects) vs. Jane (The Yellow Wallpaper) 

Narrator of Tell Tale Heart (Tell Tale Heart) vs. Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein) 

Gareth (Philadelphia) vs. Grace Marks (Alias Grace) 

Squealer (Animal Farm) vs. Scout (To Kill A Mockingbird) 

Katrina Kim (Liar Dreamer Thief) vs. Aislyn (The City We Became)

Claudia (Monday’s Not Coming) vs. Marvin (In Trousers) 

Mars (The Honeys) vs. Jane North-Robinson (Horrid) 

Rachel (The Girl on the Train) vs. Amy Dunne (Gone Girl) 

The Mother (Pumpkin Eater)vs. Lacey (Lacey’s Diner) 

Leshy (Inscryption) vs. Taylor Herbert (Worm) 

All the Narrators of Rashomon (Rashomon) vs. Wayne Booth (The Rhetoric of Fiction) 

Christopher (The Curious Incident o the Dog in the Night-Time) vs. Alex (A Clockwork Orange)

Round 2

Singer of the Main Character (The Main Character) vs. Guy Pearce (Memento)

Joe Goldberg (YOU) vs. Amanda (Amanda The Adventurer) 

Jane (The Yellow Wallpaper) vs. Narrator of Tell Tale Heart (Tell Tale Heart)

Gareth (Philadelphia) vs. Scout (To Kill A Mockingbird) 

Aislyn (The City We Became) vs. Marvin (In Trousers) 

Mars (The Honeys) vs. Amy Dunne (Gone Girl) 

The Mother (Pumpkin Eater) vs. Leshy (Inscryption)

All the Narrators of Rashomon (Rashomon) vs. Alex (A Clockwork Orange)

Round 3

Singer of the Main Character (The Main Character) vs. Amanda (Amanda The Adventurer) 

Narrator of Tell Tale Heart (Tell Tale Heart) vs. Scout (To Kill A Mockingbird) 

Marvin (In Trousers) vs. Amy Dunne (Gone Girl) 

Leshy (Inscryption) vs. All the Narrators of Rashomon (Rashomon)

Round 4

Singer of the Main Character (The Main Character) vs. Narrator of Tell Tale Heart (Tell Tale Heart)

Marvin (In Trousers) vs. Leshy (Inscryption)

Round 5

Narrator of Tell Tale Heart (Tell Tale Heart) vs. Marvin (In Trousers)

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Hurt birds fly home ( or they are supposed to )

by Owlsindamoss Dick never wanted him as a brother. Jason obviously hated him. Damian hated Tim too. And at last was Bruce. Who had never wanted him in the first place. Or, Tim gets hurt on patrol and thinks nobody notices. Featuring Tim angst and Cass being an angel. Words: 3717, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types Rating: Not Rated Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Other Characters: Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain, Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Duke Thomas, Alfred Pennyworth Relationships: Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Batfamily Members & Duke Thomas, Batfamily Members & Tim Drake, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown & Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown & Cassandra Cain & Duke Thomas Additional Tags: Tim Drake-centric, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Cassandra Cain is Orphan, Good Parent Bruce Wayne, Good Sibling Cassandra Cain, Hurt/Comfort, Unreliable Narrator, Tim Drake's Missing Spleen, Blood and Injury, Damian Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Good Sibling Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Stephanie Brown and Jason Todd are Siblings, Stephanie Brown is Spoiler, Stephanie Brown is a Menace, Jason Todd Being a Little Shit, Tim Drake Gets a Hug, Tim Drake Angst, Tim Drake Has Issues, Damian Wayne is Robin, Popcorn, Movie Night, except in the morning, Cassandra Cain is Bruce Wayne's Favorite, but no one is objecting, because she is everyone’s favorite, probably OOC everyone via https://ift.tt/USTNYjE

[scarlethood]

it is so incredibly funny when writers try to retroactively make young jason a "bad kid" cause theyre worse than the og jim 'ill have him break the arms of ped*philes and then everyone will hate him' starlin and he just ends up as a Goob level unreliable narrator

jason's narration: i was a horrid person always lashing out in anger

the page: a friend tries to touch a cut on jasons cheek and he brushes her off telling her not to worry then she thanks him for beating up/driving off the people trying to hurt her

jason's narration: ive always been a selfish asshole criminal in the making

the page: jason swaped out live ammo for blanks so kids wouldnt get hurt, tries to own up to take the punishment, patches up the friend who took it instead and tells him off, the friend then reminds jason hes the only person who looked out for him and he was paying back that kindness

you're making him look like this!

[thatthirdtriplet]

Relationships:

Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne Tim Drake & Dick Grayson Tim Drake & Damian Wayne Tim Drake & Jason Todd Stephanie Brown & Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake & Duke Thomas & Jason Todd & Damian Wayne Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake Tim Drake & Stephanie Brown Tim Drake & Duke Thomas Batfamily Members & Tim Drake Tim Drake & Kon-El | Conner Kent No Romantic Relationship(s) Tim Drake & Alfred Pennyworth

Characters:

Tim Drake Dick Grayson Damian Wayne Jason Todd Duke Thomas Cassandra Cain Bruce Wayne Alfred Pennyworth kon-El | Conner Kent

Mentioned:

Stephanie Brown (mentioned)

Additional Tags:

Tim Drake-centric Tim Drake is Red Robin Tim Drake is Not Okay Batfamily (DCU) Batfamily (DCU) Feels everyone is trying their best okay? Tim Drake Gets a Hug depression suicidal Thoughts Blink and you'll miss it Damian Wayne is Bad at Feelings Damian Wayne is Bad at Communicating but he's trying!Good Sibling Dick Grayson good Sibling Duke Thomas Jason Todd is Bad at Feelings but he is also trying! Hurt/Comfort emotional Hurt/Comfort angst with a Happy Ending good Sibling Cassandra Cain good Grandparent Alfred Pennyworth Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake Friendship mentioned - Free form Tim Drake is an Unreliable Narrator No Batcest | Batfamily Incest (DCU) Platonic Cuddling alternate Universe - Canon Divergencecanon who? I don't know who that is? canon was lovingly scrapped for parts not Canon Compliant messy timelines cause DC no beta we die like jason Todd Bruce Wayne Tries to Be a Good Parent Bruce Wayne's B+ parenting mediocre Parents Jack Drake and Janet Drake bad parents actually but they're not really spoken about much tbr everyone is trying to heal everyone Is Doing Their Best no antagonist just Tim Drake's self hatred but its okay because there is a happy Ending 5+1 Things British English Tim is allowed to age because if DC is making Damian 13 it means Tim is at least 20

Summary:

Tim Drake has messy relationships with everyone in his life, but after a long time after accepting that independence is his only way forward, his family shows up when he needs them.

OR

5 times the Batfamily show up to show Tim how much they love him in each of their own unique ways, and one time he goes to get that love for himself.

[sad-boys-book-club]

"&" Ampersand - A Literary Companion: Intros & Narrators

Hey everyone!

I'm excited to dive deeper into the literary companion I created for Bastille's upcoming project “&”. As you might realize from my previous post, each song has been paired with two books that complement its themes, so I’ll be breaking down why I chose each one of those books for each song.

Let's start with our first gorgeous, chef's-kiss of a track Intros & Narrators.

David Foster Wallace - "Oblivion: Stories"

This one might be a more obvious choice, as Dan’s lyrics explicitly refer to Wallace in the pre-chorus with “David talked about the daily trenches of adult life.” For anyone who might not be familiar with David Foster Wallace, I think most of his work can be a bit intimidating—who wouldn’t feel discouraged when facing the 1,079 pages of Infinite Jest? It gives me tendinitis just to consider the endeavor! But he’s a really talented (although controversial) author and a certified name you’ll see on multiple ‘1001 books to read before you die’ kind of lists.

I first came across his writing when I was still in university (Journalism grad here), when an overly excited J02 professor claimed that Consider the Lobster had changed his outlook on post-modernist literature. At the time, I was a bit skeptical—all I’d heard were jokes about hipsters carrying copies of Infinite Jest without ever reading it—so I did some digging into who this highly regarded author was. Not to take up much of your time, dear reader, so if you’re interested in learning more about him, I recommend checking out the movie The End of the Tour, which follows David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg), a reporter with Rolling Stone magazine, as he interviews DFW (brilliantly played by Jason Segel) during his book tour. It’s a bit of a depressing watch though, as Wallace struggled with depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, and suicidal tendencies, which eventually ended in him ending his own life.

Anyhow, back to Bastille and some less depressing topics.

The reference in "Intro & Narrators" is a direct reference to David Foster Wallace‘s 2005 commencement speech to the graduating class at Kenyon College. The speech is long, definitely worth reading in its entirety, but if I could pick one single bit that feels the most relevant it is as follows:

“Probably the most dangerous thing about an academic education—at least in my own case—is that it enables my tendency to over-intellectualize stuff, to get lost in abstract argument inside my head, instead of simply paying attention to what is going on right in front of me, paying attention to what is going on inside me. As I’m sure you guys know by now, it is extremely difficult to stay alert and attentive, instead of getting hypnotized by the constant monologue inside your own head (may be happening right now).”

The speech ended up becoming the posthumously published book This Is Water, however, I think Wallace's third and last short story collection, Oblivion: Stories (which I’m now wondering if it inspired the band’s Oblivion too), feels like a much better choice thematically and might be a better introduction to Wallace’s body of work. Just like the song, these short stories delve into the unreliable nature of our perceptions and the complex narratives we construct about our lives. Wallace's verbose, complex, convoluted style (including a bunch of words you might have to search online, at least, I did) works really well in those short stories, and is a sort of joke into the whole idea of an "unreliable narrator"—I think he’d argue that no one can be actually reliable when it comes to speaking about ourselves.

Aparna Nancherla - "Unreliable Narrator: Me, Myself, and Impostor Syndrome"

A lighter read, because life is all about finding a balance between existential musings and humor, Nancherla's book is a candid exploration of personal identity, mental health, and the ever-present impostor syndrome. Aparna Nancherla, a stand-up comedian and actress known for her roles in BoJack Horseman, Master of None and The Standups (also, for publishing a lot of essays on the New York Times), brings her unique voice to a collection of essays that tackle personal identity, mental health, and the ever-persistent specter of impostor syndrome.

Imagine a painfully timid person thrust into the limelight, grappling with a skyrocketing career and the gnawing fear that everyone will soon discover she’s a total fraud. That’s her reality, and she shares it with a raw vulnerability that is both touching and hilariously relatable. As a South Asian woman navigating the overwhelmingly white, male-centric world of comedy, Nancherla’s insights are as sharp as they are entertaining. Be warned, though, you'll laugh, yes, but you’ll mostly find yourself nodding along, recognizing some of the truths she unearths about self-doubt, mental health and the human experience.

With a background in Psychology, Nancherla doesn’t just present her experiences; she backs them up with research, adding depth to the whole thing. There’s a saying that comedy is the refuge of the chronically sad, and Nancherla embodies this paradox perfectly (as do, famously, a lot of stand-up comedians—Bo Burnham’s pandemic-inspired Netflix special Inside, immediately springs to mind). Stand-up comedy can often create the illusion that comedians are perpetually happy-go-lucky individuals, effortlessly tossing out jokes right and left in their day-to-day life. That is so far from the truth. You’ll find most of them are actually perfectionists with a capital P and little control freaks, obsessing over every word and timing to make sure their jokes land perfectly (this is not a dig at comedians, the same can be said for any other creative profession: writers picking out the perfect dialogue, actors who go method to embody a character, musicians who just can’t seem to stop tinkering with a melody…). 

Why does this book pair so well with this song, you ask? Well, both Nancherla and the song delve into the concept of being unreliable narrators of our own lives, often judging ourselves more harshly than anyone else ever could. The struggle of introverts in the public eye, the tug-of-war between creating art and performing a persona—these themes echo through Nancherla’s essays and Bastille’s lyrics. 

That's it for this one. Stay tuned as I continue to break down each song and its literary companions. I hope these pairings enhance your listening (and reading) experience.

Feel free to share your thoughts and any other book suggestions as well!

With love,

Cat

[cuephrase]

all the penance ✨lore✨

i say "all" i will probs forget stuff lmao. if you had any questions or this posts spark some, feel free to send me an ask!!

so okay. one of the things i absolutely delight in doing as a writer is like attention to detail for oomph and drama and sometimes that comes through very clearly, like the chapter names each being a different stage of grief (which was technically not planned, as in i didn't know that from the jump but as soon as i titled chapter 1 i knew what they were all going to be), and other times it's more subtle. basically, i overthink everything but uh i have fun and now i'm going to share all that with you!!

if you are most interested in how i came up with the ending, scroll to the bottom of this post 🫡

⚠️ SPOILERS AHEAD ⚠️

cw: the fic is tagged with MCD and deals extensively with grief and mourning, however, !big ending spoiler!: everyone lives :)

the pov rule(s)

the pov could only ever be someone who could see ghost!tim. so ch1 and 2 are strictly tim and jason (and why we don't get jason pov until after he sees tim again). the first time we get dick's pov is after ghost!tim gets the bracelet that makes him visible to everyone!!

that being said, the reason why we don't get bruce pov until he's making the trade with tim is because i...i wanted bruce to look bad. listen, unreliable narrator is extremely important to me, okay? and the second we got bruce's pov we would see how he's actually doing vs how the boys were perceiving him and it would've ruined everything.

i wanted bruce to be incredibly frustrating, what can i say? it's relevant later, bookmark this for when i get to the Ending.

why touching hurt

okay i never found a convenient way to work this into the fic, but there is a reason why touching the ghosts was physically painful.

basically, interacting with the ghost of a loved one brings all of the grief they're feeling front and center.

this is why it hurts dick the most the night that tim dies, bc the grief is intensely fresh and raw. however, years later when he hugs ghost!tim it doesn't hurt as bad, although it still hurts a ton, bc he's had time to process his grief and heal in some ways.

this is why bruce seemed unaffected, bc he is wallowing in his grief on a regular basis but doing his best to function through it. he breaks when he's standing outside of jason's room bc he was already vulnerable in that moment and didn't have anything to cover with.

this is why it doesn't hurt jason when ghost!tim touches him, until after they've started the unwinding process.

jason and tim's relationship in this fic is very...unique. they don't mean anything to each other until after tim has died. his death wasn't really something that super affected jason for tim's sake- like he was mainly bummed for dick and bruce. and then, once jason comes back to life, tim is the same to him. ghost!tim is the only way he really knows tim. the way that ghost!jason feels about tim is very much so like, he's in Robin-mode and tim is a civilian-in-crisis.

and they trauma-bonded, but also they were only ghosts together for a month so like their relationship is this haphazard blend of intense vulnerability but still only kind-of knowing each other. plus like, ghost!jason is different than resurrected!jason and ghost!jason is who tim has a connection with- it's a mess, it's so fun. but anyways!!

jason isn't grieving tim's death until they start the unwinding process, bc for him, that is the moment that tim's death becomes real to him. and at that point, he's no longer just a civilian-in-crisis to jason- he's the last person jason promised himself he'd save and he's failing him.

the reason why touching hurts less over time, specifically prolonged contact, is bc it forces them to kind of sit with their grief and feel it and accept it rather than just shove it all down. in a way, it's helpful. extremely uncomfortable tho.

why alfred was in england

he functions too well as a buffer. i needed them to be forced to deal with each other and alfred being around gave them too many outs. also, after the trade, i didn't want dick to have anyone to lean on.

about dick

idk how many of you will agree with me, but i really think dick had it the absolute worst out of everyone. no lie, the whole thing that sparked this fic was stamp (@a-canceled-stamp, darling if you see this ilysm, and also you should def check out her fics if you haven't, cardboard box destroyed me) mentioning how much anguish dick would suffer if tim died, okay, so like dick having a Horrible Time was the origin and yet. seeing him struggle was...i was sitting there like "who could do this to him" as i typed merrily.

although!! fun fact!! the scene where dick and tim hug is one of two scenes that made my cry. it was not pretty. i get like really into the pov character's headspace when i write and so like i knew that the scene was going to be sad obviously, but holy fuck it hit me so hard. i tried to like give myself a second to cry and re-group, but the tears persisted so i had to just type and blink and power through. the scene was actually going to be a bit longer and more painful, but uh. i physically could not continue.

this dialogue exchange wrecked me, i tell you- wrecked me:

“I missed you so much.” He should really shut up now. “And I’m so sorry that I couldn’t save you. I know you said it wasn’t my fault, but it was, because if I was faster, or if I hadn’t left you alone, if I’d been the hero you thought I was-” “But you are.” “I failed you.” The words are sharper than stomach acid in his mouth. “No, you didn’t.” Tim says. He edges closer. “Without you, I would have died alone. But you saved me from that.”

omfg it's making me tear up again, help me. *scrolls so i can't see it*

i did bum myself out with that tho, bc ch 3 was bargaining and i lost a moment of bargaining bc of my weakness.

dick was supposed to plead with tim to stay, to put off moving on for even just a day. and tim was going to be like conflicted but say something like, "if you really want me to, i'll stay an extra day. for you." and dick would realize how much the request was hurting tim, even if he was willing to give dick what he wanted, and know, awfully, that even though he just got his brother back, if he loved him he had to let him go again.

which yk. ow. but ultimately, i do think it worked out for the best!! i think i was able to cover all that emotional anguish later.

fun parallel

cw: vomit/throwing up

so penance is a sequel, but bile is sweeter is 100% optional. however, if you did read bile is sweeter you might have noticed this fun callback:

Tim didn’t need to ask Jason which was worse anymore. The bitter taste of failure in his mouth made the bile sweet in comparison.

bile is sweeter

Sour and sharp, the leftover bile burns in his mouth. It’s still a sweeter flavor than failure.

penance, ch 5

now i point this out, not bc it's an easter egg (this post would be miles long if i was doing all that), but bc it's actually a really fun, depressing reversal. in the first fic, tim feels like a failure bc he knows he's dying. however, in the second, tim feels like a failure bc he's alive.

i was super hoping i'd be able to twist that, and it was super satisfying. honestly all the body horror with tim was incredibly fun- at the beginning when he's a ghost and in denial about it but can't help noticing all the things that are missing. this line in particular was really fun imo:

Tim crept closer, the terror in his chest building. It was such a quiet terror without his heart pounding. 

and then, hopefully, bc lacking a pulse/heartbeat had been reinforced as a trait of ghost!tim, i was able to immediately signal what the results of the trade were when ch 5 opens:

He can feel his heart beating in his chest.

which. opening ch 5 was a Challenge. i wanted it to be very in the moment and even though tim was alive, i didn't want there to be any sense of like relief or peace. i also didn't want to flat out say "Tim is alive and Bruce is dead!!", partially bc i knew people were expecting a twist, like even if i brought tim back i might've done a fake-out as far as who traded with him. i don't drag it out very much, and i don't think it's a surprise for anyone who wasn't guessing a fake-out. but that is also why the chapter opens the way it does- one by one you get a name, so you can confirm who's alive.

but back to the body horror!! tim having a hard time re-adjusting to being human again was so much fun to write. partially bc of like all the little details, all those small things about existing that you might not notice, but also bc all of those things were working together to remind tim that he was alive- which he was not happy about. like. everything was a trigger for the poor kid.

oh!! another really fun parallel/reversal, that i can explain now bc i explained why touching the ghosts hurt- ghost!jason is the one who has to explain to tim that he's dead, right? he's the one that helps tim figure that out and learn the ropes of being a ghost. and he's comfortable in that role. however, despite that, jason is the one that has the hardest time coming to terms with the fact that tim is not alive. this one makes me !!! because like if you notice, ghost!jason never actually says "You're dead" to tim. i mean, it is implied often and evident via context clues, but yeah!! like look:

“Am I…? I’m-” The word stuck in his throat. He tried to say it again and only succeeded in making that hollow feeling inside him expand. “Aren’t I?”  He stared at Jason helplessly. He understood what Tim was asking, didn’t he? Oh god, why had he asked him. He didn’t want to know.  Jason glanced away, blinked rapidly. Nodded.  “Yeah.” He moved as if to pull Tim towards him, then stopped himself. “You are.”

even in this moment, jason can't bring himself to like fully admit that tim is dead- neither of them say the word, partially bc they don't need to to know what they're talking about but also it's like a fun lil speck of foreshadowing that jason wil really struggle to grasp that the tim he knows is a dead kid.

which, if you're like, hey wait a minute cue, but jason knew that there was a second dead robin and it was part of what made him upset with bruce, sooooo. correct!! so the reason for this is bc of jason's memories getting all messed up. he doesn't super associate the ghost he knew to the robin that died after him, mainly bc he didn't think the ghost memories were real. his fury over the follow-up robin's death is more about the Principle of the Thing than 'you're actions lead to the death of someone i care about'. plus like, there is no robin when jason comes back to life- robin is someone who has died. but tim? tim is exactly like jason remembers him. so they just kind of exist as like separate entities for jason. which is-

don't get me started on the character's headspaces, okay, we will be here for hours. i was having the absolute time of my life working out their reactions and relationships fr

tim's memorial case (or really, the lack thereof)

remember how i said earlier i was going to cycle back to wanting bruce to look bad? well. obviously the lack of a memorial case was a big strike against him.

highlighting that particular detail was really fun, even if i felt manipulative af for it bc i knew that the only reason there wasn't a memorial case is bc it was too hard for dick to have that.

fun fact: within the scope of the fic rn, i don't think tim ever finds out about this? this gets revealed when dick and jason are fighting (gah also super fun) and in the whirlwind of shit that happens just does not get brought back up.

it's also one of those things that really emphasizes that to dick, bruce, and alfred, tim was dead. a couple things may have happened here and there that made their skin prickle, but overall they were just...grieving. they didn't suspect any ghosts. bc really, the lack of a memorial isn't that heinous- yes, it's hurtful to tim, but they have no way of knowing that. and to them, they know how much tim means to them and the different ways they carry his memory with them every day.

like, tim thought they didn't do anything on the anniversary of his death. he thought bruce went out like it was any other night. which just showcases how being geo-locked inhibited ghost!tim's awareness. like, he thinks he's omniscient to an extent when it comes to bruce and alfred, bc he's in the Manor- he sees them when they think they're alone. but he isn't with any of them 24/7, even if he is seeing them in situations he wouldn't have when he was alive.

truly so many misconceptions in this series- i love it sm.

the ending

look. there were a lot of ways i could have ended this fic. however, stamp had mentioned not really liking sad endings, and i took that as a personal challenge. how could i write this fic about grief, in all of it's messiness, and deliver an ending that felt tonally and thematically in line that wasn't sad? honestly? i had no clue. before i started writing the first chapter, i knew that i wanted everyone to live, but i had zero clue how i was going to achieve that.

now, in general, i do not plot. i had 5 scenes in mind when i started writing this fic, and none of them were in the last chapter. i started that last chapter blind. well. sort of. i had a sort of mental checklist- i knew i didn't want the end to feel like a cop-out or contrived, so i had these three things i wanted to establish before there was proper hope for bruce's return:

the boys could not save bruce

tim accepting the fact that he was wanted and loved

jason accepting them as his family

and even tho we do get bruce's pov before all of these get established, they do occur before bruce is offered the deal and there's like a tangible, in-story plausibility that he might live.

the only other thing i knew for certain was that bruce was going to have to choose his kids over his parents. but i didn't know how that was going to get set up.

when the shadow-spirit came onscreen, that's when i saw how bruce could get his loophole.

the shadow-spirit is a soul guide, it's whole entire job getting bruce to the Afterlife and it's super fed up with bruce bc he's not going. time isn't supposed to keep looping the way it is. it thought that by giving bruce his parents, the transition would be quick and easy and yet this one is struggling. it doesn't offer the deal to bruce out of kindness, but cruelty. it thinks it knows how to out-think and break bruce, and kind of wants to punish him for making its job so difficult.

fun fact about the shadow-spirit: it looks the way it does for two reasons- one bc i couldn't picture a person and decided to stop trying and two so that i could get this line:

The darkness rushes at him, consumes him.

which tickles me bc darkness is literally rushing at him, but also the metaphor?! so much fun.

i also needed bruce to get his memories back bc it was Very Important to me as the writer that bruce knew exactly what he was doing when he chose his sons/chose to live by letting go of his parents. bc in that moment, bruce is accepting the fact that they're gone and he can't save them, even if he wishes he could. which is such a big deal for bruce bc his grief over losing them motivates him sm.

but i truly believe that he loves his kids so fiercely that as much as he would want to choose the happy life he never got to have with his parents, he would give that all up if he got the chance to continue being their father. bc he knows what it's like to be a son and lose your parents. but it’s still a hard sacrifice for him. so hard.

bc his parents are the easy choice, yk? who would blame him, really. and the boys already think he’s dead and can’t be saved, and as we see, they’re a mess but they’re coming together. they would never know that bruce could have come back to them if bruce decided not to. and bruce would forget that he ever knew them, so he wouldn’t even have to mourn them. so it’s tempting.

which is why i think it’s so !!!!!!!! when he chooses his kids bc i think it’s like believable that he might not choose them. within the story, and also outside of it, bc readers trusted/expected me to be evil and last we saw the boys, things were rough but they were coming together.

the boys could heal. bruce could be free.

but that’s not the story i wanted to tell. it’s not about accepting death. it’s about accepting life.

this is also why you don't see how the trade with bruce and tim goes down until the very end- it wasn't just so i could leave things off on a cliffhanger. it was so i could end it on this sentence:

He accepts the trade.

yes, bc it reflects the title of the chapter, fun, but bc by accepting the trade, tim is accepting life. which in some ways, is still me making commentary about the grieving process, bc in my experience, one of the hardest parts is accepting that you yourself are still alive. you've got to find some way to keep going despite the loss.

but it's also me making commentary about superheroes and the genre, bc yk, they're typically pretty damn willing to die for others. they'll make that ultimate sacrifice. but in some ways, the harder sacrifice is not dying, is choosing to live and deal with the aftermath of tragedy.

the title

penance: voluntary self-punishment inflicted as an outward expression of repentance for having done wrong.

and that’s kind of what they’re all trying to do the whole fic, sacrifice themselves as punishment for their perceived mistakes and shortcomings.

but their basic premises are wrong. death is not their fault. they are not mistakes. there’s nothing they need to atone for. all they need to do is be there for each other.

anyways!! i think that's everything i can think of rn, shy of like dissecting the whole entire fic. if you read through all this (and/or the fic itself), tysm for entertaining my ramblings!!

[garbagequeer]

Can you help me im so confused how archie (and everyone listening to him) had those memories for his poem i thought everyone but betty and jughead forgot 😭

bobbyjean asked: Wait a second were those the good memories. the serial killer gene and jason’s corpse. and archie playing football in leopold and loeb juvenile detention center……

well imo you can work with different theories so like

they dont remember these things as things they lived themselves but they remember them as things tabitha showed them the first time they saw the riverdale memories (so like if they'd watched themselves go through these things in tv but not as if they happened irl for them)

goodbye riverdale is back to jughead's narration and jughead is unreliable he's just making shit up (this also goes with the theory that what jughead showed betty was not real but was a fabrication he made up for her as her dying wish was to relive those days with everyone as they were + the fake reality had plot holes because to be fair jughead was like 86 when he died he cant keep track of who remembers the serial killer genes and who doesn't he's busy)

narrator jughead seems to be in control of this episode more than he was before (we see him corporeally and there's 2 jugheads in the end) so the characters' lives have been rewritten to fit the narrative jughead wanted to tell so they remember because he does too and the story belongs to him and not to them (to me jughead is always afraid of abandonment and change so he keeps his stories ones where his friends don't leave or grow + he has been shown to find it hard to come up with anything other than stories about his friends in riverdale in s5 and as bunker/god jughead). for me this also fits with the idea of the characters and angel tabitha trying to break free and narrator/god jughead(s) not allowing it -> town won

they loved these memories they love cults and killing and corpses and gay juvie. the bad memories were like archie not getting his high school diploma or something

from a doylist pov (boring) this meant nothing about the story and was just an homage to their most iconic moments in the show for the audience and the crew. you could twist this a bit to be meta and make something up about the characters behaving as characters and talking willingly to an audience because they exist only in our eyes if you wanted

which are all fun ideas to consider and theyre not mutually exclusive (like it could be jughead taking over the narrative but it could be in a world he makes up just for betty so all the other characters are in the real sweet hereafter but betty went to purgatory pop's because she does remember it all and this prevented her from being able to leave it behind. also archie for sure would remember some of gay juvie he loved the gay parts of gay juvie he told me. and fangs probably had god times at the cult i mean he dated human kevin maybe a love for cults is what they had in common)

to me it stood out as a moment where i was like oh jughead is lying to us for sure. awesome. one last jughead lying to us and trapping us in the cycle forever for the road yippee

[ao3feed-jaytim]

the haunt

read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/52284271 by Anonymous Tim never stops taking pictures of Jason. He really can't help himself, even when Jason wants to kill him. Actually, Tim thinks that Jason wanting him dead only exacerbates the whole issue, but no one asks about it (because no one knows), so he never tells (and he never will). This, at least. Tim always thinks. Let me have this, if nothing else. Words: 12237, Chapters: 1/4, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown, Damian Wayne Relationships: Tim Drake/Jason Todd Additional Tags: Canon-Typical Violence, Temporary Character Death, Stalker Tim Drake, Obsessive Behavior, Unreliable Narrator, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Morally Ambiguous Character, Pining, Tim Drake Has Issues, Jason Todd Has Issues, Everyone Has Issues, i looked up unreliable narrator in the dictionary and there tim was, oh look jason is there too huh, it's not as dark as the tags make it out to be i swear, or is it idk actually read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/52284271

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Bloody Valentines

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, Young Justice 98, Titans, GL Corps, Legion of Super Heroes, Flashfam, New Gods

Summary: 90s vampire slasher AU

Chapters: 5/?

Characters: Dick Grayson, Joseph Wilson, Jason Todd, Charley Parker, Zatanna, Eddie Bloomberg, Daniel Cassidy, Chester Williams DC, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, Lilith Clay, Raven Roth, Kole Weathers, Bette Kane, Donna Troy, Roy Harper, Jenni Ognats, Bart Allen, Virgil Hawkins, Richie Foley, Ayla Ranzz, Zoe Saugin, Rol Purtha, Darla Aquista, Lori Zechlin, Hal Jordan, Helen Jordan II, Orion DC, Lightray DC

Relationships: DickJoey, Daniel Cassidy/Zatanna, DonnaRoy, Jenni Ognats/Virgil Hawkins, Raven/Lilith Clay

Additional Tags: POV First Person, Unreliable Narrator(s), Vampires, No Capes AU, 90s Slasher AU, Homoeroticism, Horror, Slasher

Chapter Five: The Omen (Lilith's POV)

Donna suggested the trip, and Roy insisted on driving us. I invited Bette and Kole, and Donna requested Raven join us. It was the only time we all had off to vacation. We planned on spelunking and walking the beach and doing all sorts of things, but the closer the trip got, the more we all started feeling uneasy. Raven read a book, Bette nibbled on trail mix, Donna messed around with the map, Roy ignored her directions, and Kole slept soundly on my shoulder. Occasionally, I'd lean over and glance at Raven's book or check if Kole was alright, but the car was mostly silent.

Roy stopped in the middle of the road, and everyone looked up. "Injured animal in the road... Hold on," Roy whispered. He rolled the window down partway. "Hey! Do you need-?"

"No, thanks! Can you get around?" a man yelled, and Roy answered back before driving around them. Raven grabbed my wrist.

"Did you feel that?" Raven questioned. I shushed her. Where she came from, those feelings weren't as foreign to normal people. But yeah, I felt it. A full-body cold started in my frontal lobe and penetrated my scalp, trickling down my neck, shoulders, and chest like ice water. Fear. Primal. Final. It was different than regular fear. It was dreadful, helpless, hopeless. That was a fear, unlike anything I'd ever felt before.

"Mhm," I mumbled.

Raven and I felt things. Other people's feelings, the feelings of animals, and sometimes places. Empaths. Raven was more in tune with it than I was, but it came at a cost for both of us. She was heavily affected by the emotions of others, and it showed on her face all the time. I could mask it, but she never had to. Donna touched Roy's arm for Roy's comfort. Not hers. I could feel his distress.

He sighed. "Call me superstitious, but I've only seen a dead coyote a few times before, and nothing good ever comes from it... And that coyote isn't gonna make it. Looks like something ate it up," Roy stated. Donna whispered in his ear, and he shook his head.

The car fell silent until we reached Happy Harbor. I woke Kole, and we walked in the dark to our cabin. Raven had a dizzy spell as soon as we walked in, and I reached out to help her, but I felt it too. Bette grabbed me, Kole grabbed Raven, and they sat us down. "Yikes, you guys good?" Bette questioned. Raven and I nodded. The energy there was outrageous. Raven's hand brushed mine, and I saw a flash of Bette covered in blood and screaming. I recoiled. Raven stood up and took a deep breath.

"Let's go make s'mores while it's still early," Raven suggested. Everyone eased up, and we grabbed our jackets and the bag of roasting sticks and walked to the beach. Roy and Donna lagged behind, so we couldn't see them holding hands. We all knew about them, but they were worried about being labeled as an item and messing up their friendship. I didn't have to be an empath to see it wouldn't last.

When we got to the beach, a girl and her three male friends had already started a bonfire, so we shared our s'mores. They were calm and collected, so it helped everyone else relax. Then, a brunette and a redhead with a bowl cut came to the beach with hot dogs, and the brown-haired guy made a pass at me. Bette lied and told him it was a gay beach, but I don't think she had to lie to this one to leave me alone. He looked like the type of guy that was more than willing to take no for an answer and move on. I could feel the grief coming off his body, so I could've let him down without hurting his feelings.

We were at the beach until it got too cold to be outside. Once we returned to the cabin, we divvied up rooms and beds. Three rooms. Three beds. Bette and Kole wanted to stay up and paint each other's nails, so they bunked together. I asked Raven to stay with me, so Roy and Donna wouldn't have to find a way to lie to be together. The worst kept secret in America. Roy took his jacket off, and I glanced at his tattoo. Roy met eyes with me, and I leaned forward. I wanted to get a closer look and get a laugh from him. "Can I help you?" Roy laughed.

"Just getting a look at the details," I replied.

Roy nodded, and everyone got ready to take their showers. First, Roy, then Donna, Raven, Bette, Kole, and finally me. I didn't mind. I climbed into bed with Raven, and she turned to me. "What did you see?" Raven asked.

"You first," I whispered.

"I think Kole is going to kill someone," Raven whispered. I knit my brows.

"I think Bette's gonna kill somebody," I replied, "Maybe we should talk about something else..."

Raven looked at me, and we held eye contact for what felt like forever. "Do you think it'd be the same?" Raven questioned. I took a breath. I knew what she meant. I thought about it before.

She drew my hand to her chest, and I let her touch mine. I could feel the smooth outline of her breast beneath the thin, satin fabric of her lingerie. I passed curiosity and ventured into arousal as my hand slid down her stomach and came into contact with her thigh. Her skin was as icy and silky as it looked. "We should stop," I whispered as I tried to gain control of my senses.

"Do you want to stop?" Raven questioned. I shook my head, and she leaned forward so close that our lips brushed against each other. Our eyes were wide open at first, but her lips were so soft. When she ran her foot against my leg, I shut my eyes and melted into the ecstasy of the moment. And then I felt it. Her arousal interlaced with something else. Something innocent and sweet.

"Are you-? You're a virgin?" I questioned. She nodded. "You want me to take your virginity?"

Raven answered with a tentative kiss, and she pushed me down further into the center of the bed by my shoulders. I pulled her nightgown up underneath the sheets and let my fingers brush against the front of her panties. My middle finger ran up and down against the cotton fabric as she lifted her leg, throwing it over my thigh. We kissed a third time, with confidence, as I hooked my thumb in her waistband. I could hear her breathing in between kisses. Then thunder crackled, and lightning flashed, scaring us apart. We turned, facing opposite sides of the room.

I don't know if Raven slept afterward or if she lay awake. But I know one thing for sure. I still wanted to fuck her. That feeling was mine. Undeniably mine.

[sepia-stained-sunset]

Chapters: 1/1

Rating: General Audiences

Fandoms: DCU (Comics), Batman- All Media Types

Relationships: No Romantic Relationship(s), Jason Todd & Tim Drake, Jason Todd & Everyone

Characters: Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Batfamily Members

Additional Tags: Jason Todd-centric, Jason Todd Angst, Jason Todd has Issues, Good Sibling Jason Todd, De-Aged Tim Drake, Unreliable Narrator Jason Todd, Guilt, Self-Hatred, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Happy Ending

Summary:

“When you were a kid”, Dick continues, because he takes silence for an opening and not as the plea for distance that it is in actuality, “you’d curl up on the settee and stay there for hours. Bruce would always forget to look for you there first, and you’d be so quiet we wouldn’t hear you when we walked past. You’d get so lost in your books that you wouldn’t hear us either, so we’d be running around the house, searching for you, and we’d find you only when you’d put the book down at patrol time. Do you remember that, Jay?”

𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, he thinks, and it hurts less to have bones broken than to think back to a time when the only green at the edges of his vision was that of the Manor library’s worn velvet loveseat, 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳

Or, Tim is de-aged, Jason takes care of him, and he buries some of his demons, just for a little while

Inspired by @ky-landfill amazing fanart

[wine-and-fanficideas]

Unfortunately Your Reputation Precedes You

Part 1

Part 2

Dpxdc TW murder, rape, abuse and other dark themes to be explored. Will also cover recovery and complicated relationships. Unreliable Narrator, or is it biased narrator? Idk its Danny's pov so far.

Vlad is a horrible awful person in this fic, murder, rape and recovery and associated issues. Jazz does not have a good time at all. None of them do actually.

I don't know what ships I'll use later, been thinking Jazz (18/19) & Jason(early 20s), Danny(15/16) & Tim(16/17), maybe Danielle & Conner? I'm open to suggestions as I flesh it out of course, there are so many characters in the DCU and itd be interesting to explore rarepairs.

Danny (15) - Danielle (15) - Jasmine (17)

*Story Starts Here*

Wasnt it supposed to be raining? Funerals were supposed to be dark and dreary, and it was supposed to rain so much no one would be able to tell if there were tears.

It was cloudy, sure, as it had been for the past week, but there wasnt a drop of rain in sight.

Last week, things were normal. He was finally getting used to his new normal since the portal incident, only for things to change again. He was at school when it happened. The end of the year assembly. He could remember exactly which part of the speech it was, Paulina was transferring from the football cheer team to the schools competitive cheer team and had to let everyone know. Then there was the distant sound of an explosion, and the ground shook.

A minute, then two, and fire trucks and police cars and ambulances raced past the school. A dozen or so minutes later and people were getting phone calls, the assembly canceled as everyone rushed to make sure their families and friends were safe. Then Jazz and Danny were called to the principal's office.

It was easy to find out what happened when he turned on his phone. "FentonWorks Explosion" summed it up, but the articles popping up about it all had something to say.

The FentonWorks Underground Lab exploded at 2:45pm this afternoon, killing both Doctors Fenton, and causing the house above to collapse inwards. No other residents of the neighborhood were killed, though the shock wave managed to break several items in the nearby houses, only minor injuries were reported.

Danny doesn't remember what happened after that very well though. He talked to a lot of people, CPS and the police and a reporter and doctors.

Somehow, Vlad had created a record for Danielle, she was legally recognized as his twin sister, and their interdimensional biology was reduced to a mere medical condition, that Vlad just so happened to have, which mad him the best guardian for the two orphaned Fentons since he was already guardian of the twin the Fentons had abandoned for whatever reason.

When Danny blinked, it was a week after the incident and now they're holding a funeral for his parents.

He wasn't sure how this could get worse honestly, but as he looked at Vlad he realized the worst was yet to come.

Danny wanted to be sick.

Vlad was looking at Jazz the same creepy way he looked at Mom.