#foster and atlas 1

[oflowtides]

"Like, I love cooking, don't get me wrong - I really do enjoy my job," Foster insisted. "But usually after cooking and prepping all evening, by the time I get home I just want to pop something in the microwave or dump hot water into a ramen cup."

"What would that be?" Atlas asks, lifting his eyes up towards the other as he places his own hands down against the table. "Oh shit, yeah." He chuckles, nodding his head. "I probably wouldn't want to fucking cook at home either."

[luvmeanyway]

hi there dan and phil tumblr

i'm iovecanglan on dnptwt, but that community has fostered a terribly toxic environment so i wanted to try my hand at tumblr for a bit :)

my name is jay and i'm a 23-year-old lesbian from texas :3 i will be at tit austin as well as london (friday + saturday) !! i have been watching dnp since 2013 and i am the #1 enjoyer of the dan and phil's traumatic golf incident video :P

even though dnp are my biggest interest atm i am also technically a multifandom account on every platform, so i will post about other things i enjoy too (like chappell roan, atla, studio ghibli, cdramas, books, etc.)

i also write!! i'm ivylakes on ao3 and i have an ongoing one-shot series where i write about canon events that have happened post-hiatus (such as what i believe dan's immediate reaction was to phil dyeing his hair blonde) <3 i have something really special in the works rn so stay tuned!

i don't want to make this too long lol so i think that covers everything for now... it's nice to meet you all and i'm super excited to be here ♥

[prying-pandora666]

On Outrage Marketing and How To Stop It (ATLA Live Action)

I’m sure we have all noticed an uptick of aggression and frustration against fellow fans on this and other social media sites.

Depending on your perspective, you may think that other fans are being overly critical and hysterical or complaining just to complain.

Alternatively, you may believe that other fans have descended into toxic positivity and are dead set on silencing all discussion and dissent, even if it’s the slightest bit critical or questioning.

The reality is: both are true and false.

This is outrage marketing.

As much as we can dunk on Netflix for their past decisions, they’re not idiots. This isn’t a case of the actors and director not knowing when to shut their mouths. These media outlets are not doing hard journalism and bringing us the facts: this is sponsored content. The studio is PAYING to put these stories out there.

Why? And why so close to release?

Exactly for the reasons you’re seeing: to make us fight publicly on social media.

Look at it this way. How long did it take for the trailer hype to die down and for it to stop trending everywhere? A week?

Meanwhile, how much longer can outrage carry hype and word of mouth? For months or even YEARS. All the outrage clickbait we have seen in the past with Disney products especially (Star Wars, Marvel) is intentional outrage marketing. It keeps people talking, which keeps the content trending, which keeps spreading the word and building hype in a time where content is myriad and every IP needs to compete to keep your attention.

Basically it works like this:

Group of fans #1 are fed these interviews by the algorithm and make criticisms or express concerns.

Group of fans #2 are fed the most exaggerated or hyperventilating takes from the first group to create the illusion of irrationality.

Group #2 decries the “hysterical” fans and lump every bit of criticism into this, silencing dissent.

Group #1 feels censored and attacked which makes them even more aggressive in their criticisms.

Rinse and repeat. Bots can also be used to help foster this hostile environment. Reddit and Twitter are known to be infested with fake bot accounted for this reason.

Meanwhile, the much larger group of audience members just sees ATLA is trending and there’s a lot of buzz and tons of pictures that are aesthetically interesting so they are interested in the show.

So how do we stop it?

By no longer making the repeated posts complaining about other fan reactions, and ignoring them when you do see them.

Instead, engage civilly with your fellow fans. Be curious. Try to understand their actual perspective before you attack. You can disagree without making a caricature of the opposition and interpreting them in the most uncharitable way possible.

This will produce more nuanced discussions and allow people to vent their concerns as well as share their excitement in a way less hostile or censored environment.

Thank you to all who took the time to read this. I love ATLA and I love this fandom.

[choicesficwriterscreations]

August MC of the Month: Dayin Axel Torres

Please welcome August 2024's MC of the Month: @oh-so-youre-a-nerd's Dayin Axel Torres

Each month, we highlight one MC or OC on our Meet My MC / OC List. They are selected randomly on the Wheel of Names, and eligibility requirements can be found here. We accept MC / OC profiles on an ongoing basis. Please feel free to send yours in!

Learn more about Dayin below

1- In your own words, tell us what you like most about your MC / OC.

I love their sense of humour, he doesn’t take much seriously, but he says his jokes with such a straight face. He’s fun but not bubbly, I think I described him earlier as “a warm sunny afternoon.” I also love how competent he is.

2- Do you feel your MC / OC is like you at all? How are you alike or different?

Honestly, not much. The only thing we share is a bit of whimsy, some similar music preferences, and a love of nerds. They’re more like the type of person I'd have a crush on haha He’s very calm, grounded, and quite smart and curious about things he enjoys. He’s a Wood Att, I'm pretty sure I'd be an Air Att, which is like opposite lol

3- What is most important to your MC / OC? What is their motivation in life?

Some things that are most important to him are not being vulnerable, and not being helpless lol. He hates showing anything other than positivity. His foster parents weren’t overtly shitty, but they never got him therapy (which, basically any adopted person deserves to have access to). His motivation in life is to not have any regrets. Regret makes him sick, it eats him up and feels like torture, he’s prefer physical pain to regret.

4- What are their biggest pet peeves/dislikes?

Tight schedules, pop music, bacon, when people don’t close the door when they leave his room, people who tease others for crying (he will rant at you for 30 minutes about why that’s fucked up), getting up early (unless it’s SPECIFICALLY to watch the sun rise)

5- If your MC / OC could change one thing - anything - what would it be?

Free higher education

6- What is your MC / OC’s favorite quote or song?

Song: Dark Chest of Wonders by Nightwish

Quote: “Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the notes and curl my back to loneliness.”

― Maya Angelou

7- Is there anything else you’d like to share about your MC / OC? 

Almost drowned at the beach during a field trip in 5th grade, and is absolutely terrified of the water and drowning/suffocating. That diamond scene where you learn Hydrobreath from Atlas was INCREDIBLY terrifying, and he still has nightmares about it. He was never able to do it, he just couldn’t relax enough. He still feels so much weaker than Atlas, since HE almost drowned too but he was able to teach himself in that life-or-death situation. 

[iamafanofcartoons]

We need to address how media, and media critics, portray female characters poorly. What can be done about it? What are examples of media works that portray complex female characters well? What are writing tips for people trying to write complex female characters? Why do media critics hate on women?

Its just something I noticed.

Male writers drop the ball with female characters all the time. They'll give the men all the good lines but women get weak roles and no sense of humor. When we complain they then make a female character who has too many boyfriends and too much ego and too much power but no resourcefulness, or she's super powerful but still needs a man to save her, and of course they make her complain about everything and fight with everyone who helps her. I could go on and on.

A lot of people are incapable of viewing female characters as anything other than an innocent saint or a portrait of pure evil. Arguably the best characters are morally ambiguous ones who live in the gray area between good and evil, but women are much less often afforded that distinction than their male counterparts.

I'm been having a huge problem connecting to media. The only women around are very young or very old and their main defining feature is usually motherhood. If a woman my age exists who isn't a mom she's usually either obsessed with men or desperate to have a baby (or will be once the right dude comes along).

Fanfiction has great female characters , but you keep running into people who will only write a complex woman who's tied to a male main character.

Michael Burnham from Star Trek: Discovery . POC Female Protagonist. You probably have heard or seen a lot of hatred against.

Korra from The Legend Of Korra. Sequel Series to ATLA. POC Female Protagonist. Despite losing fights and suffering extreme trauma and making mistakes, critics passionately bash the show, calling her a Mary-Sue, and accusing the show of being Protagonist-Centered Morality.

A lot of the time if there is a military high ranking female character or just female leader that is masculine or butch she will be the villain to be defeated by the traditionally feminine or at least more feminine heroine/love interest of the hero. I hate this because it basically implies that a woman can only be good if she’s conventionally attractive or a love interest. It’s saying being butch is bad/evil.

Even movies trying to be feminist, like “Contact” which I had to watch for homework? With Jodie Foster from the 1990s told the brilliant, focused woman scientist to not be so “confrontational” (as two male characters stole credit for her work right after they stole her funding) and to be happy with “small moves.” They continued to pat her on the head and tell her to be quiet through the whole movie. The one time she even spoke to another woman was to ask where she could find a really pretty dress. This was supposed to show growth in her character arc.

If I recall correctly, one of the playable characters in the next release of the grand theft auto series is gonna be a women. People online were flipping out over this saying they are being too "woke", among other things. Its funny to me because there has been 5 gta games with only male protagonists, and now there's 1 female in it and suddenly its a problem. Its like these people think there are only 2 genders in games, male and woke.

Heck, people love basic trope laden protagonists..... until they are women.

People love unreasonably over powered characters that are loved or feared in equal measure by the entire cast..... until its a woman.

Then all of a sudden, she's a Mary-Sue and the show/game/book is "Protagonist-Centered Morality"

Some characters who are torn apart for their initial naïveté like Sansa Stark or Usagi Tsukino (Sailor Moon) are immediately written off as stupid girl characters. Never mind that one becomes a political powerhouse and the other routinely saves the world. People just write their characters off as too “girly” or “annoying” before they even have the chance to redeem themselves in their stories.

Feels like at it's core, people don't like women trying to build self confidence and play out power fantasies. The only difference with the original Mary Sue was that she was imagining being liked by everyone, which was every woman's dream back then and to a certain extent, now. The power was being well liked, and that made her annoyingly boring because there was no struggle for her. Men think struggle is needed, even in fantasies and dreams, but it isn't.

The term Mary-Sue gained a new popularity by shaming female characters (such as Rey, Galadriel, Captain Marvel,…). I am not saying the term is not used towards male characters as well, but it is more rare, and it is rarely as violent as when it is used to characterize a female character.

More importantly it is used against female characters unevenly compared to male characters, its accepted as a genre trope for a male character to be extremely capable or to acrue experience and ability rapidly throughout the narrative. But when it's a woman suddenly "realism" must apply, a real person doesn't simply gain strength and talent through endless perfectly leveled hardship. In simpler terms, Batman can launch a thug across the room with a single punch and it's awesome, Black Widow, however, is breaking the laws of physics when she does her famous around the neck takedown.

Neither are realistic, arguably any grown man launching another grown man bodily through the air with a casual punch is less realistic than a woman pulling off a skilled takedown, but the unequal application of standards says all that needs to be said about the critic.

Writing a "mary sue" to be male often results in a praised character that people don't really worry about. Like Goku or Kirito. People are fine with it. Enjoy it. And there's massive amounts of rather popular fanfiction taking random male characters in series and sue-ifying them, making them the protagonist over the actual main characters, and slapping in poorly developed romance arcs. It's "mary sue" 101, but hardly anyone talks about them in that light.

Meanwhile a woman shows a level of competence similar to another character in the same series (e.g. Rey to Luke or Anakin) and the accusations are everywhere.

Calling these characters one-dimensional is one of the dog-whistles of the modern [whatever]-gate colony creature.

They know that they'll get savaged if they come out and say they're mad because this character is a woman, so they couch everything in these subjective terms. She's one-dimensional. She's flat. She's badly written. She's a mary sue. I just couldn't relate to her.

You can argue with them, you can point out that, say, in Star Wars, that Rey's ability to handle weapons intentionally established in the early scenes of TFA, that we see the setup for the skills she's going to display later in the movie/series, and that her first win is against a badly wounded Sith apprentice. By contrast, Luke successfully fights his way through a huge space station against professional soldiers, then hops into a starfighter he's never flown before, outflies a bunch of experienced pilots, and pulls off a physically impossible shot to save the day.

But sure. Rey is the one who strains credulity.

You can point all that out, but none of it matters. They're not arguing in good faith. They're just mad that there's a girl, and know better than to say that out loud.

He pulls off the shot because he has a throwaway line about murdering animals the size of a camel for fun in his civilian craft that just so happens to have controls similar to the military superiority fighter because they were manufactured by the same company. Because that doesn't strain credibility. Also guess which parts were filled in later by novel writers who were like, "holy **** that makes no sense at all"

Sailor Moon and Sansa Stark are two female characters that start out as whiney cry-baby girlie girls who evolve into political powerhouses and heroes in their own right. But most people write their characters off immediately, because they’re disgusted by their girlish-ness.

While our media gives male characters a chance to grow, female characters are generally written off unless they either show masculine traits, or are used for fan service. It’s why women in movies and TV are usually a kickass tomboy or a girlfriend character.

So anyway, I guess my point is that there are amazing kickass women characters who are well-written and evolve and grow, but their growth tends to be written off as frivolous and not as cool as their dude counterparts.

Imagine an anime where the woman is the main character and she's strong, smart, and not sexualized ?

How about Guardian of the Spirit (seirei no moribito in Japanese)? The MC is a mercenary woman who fights with a spear. She's a complex character, maybe somewhat emotionally stunted because of growing up on the road. She meets a wonderful, compassionate male healer and I love how they break stereotypical gender roles. There's also a complete badass old lady with magical powers and a temper. One of my favourite characters in any genre.

But I'd like to add SuleMio to the list.

Some people did not like that Gundam had its first female protagonist last year, or that she's engaged to another girl, or that they have a romantic moment where Miorine makes Suletta "promise to be with me forever".

It's my first Gundam show and I was nowhere near the fandom, but even I heard the howls of rage from the otakus over that show while it was airing.

“ I highly recommend reading Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Strong female main character with a supportive cast of male characters. His Skyward series is also good for this.  Sanderson is great but there are some female fantasy writers that do this even better IMO. NK Jemisin has tons of great female characters. Tamsyn Muir’s Locked Tomb series has a majority female cast and I’d say 4 or 5 of them are in the top ten most interesting and complex female characters I’ve read. “

You heard of The Bechdel test: Two women have to talk about something other than a man. There is no time window. It came up in a 1985 comic Dykes To Watch Out For and although it is not a great indicator of more feminist content, it's a wonder much media fails to pass that test.

Have you seen

Arcane? That is a wild crazy masterpiece with awesomely complex awesome characters. It's animated, yeah, so what? But I mean, to say "it's animated" is a heavy  understatement. Have you seen Jinx? Have you seen her portrayal of psychosis and godknows what else was happening in her head? No one in history came even close to that.

Queen's Gambit? Anya Taylor-Joy brought Beth Harmon flawlessly through immense complexity of the character

Mare of Easttown - Kate Winslet there is, I kid you not, the best acting I have ever seen. Her character is going through complex situations and emotions and learning to deal with her human side. Bryan Cranston raised the bar ridiculously high with Walter White, but Kate Winslet pushed it further up, set explosives on it, and walked away like a badass without looking at the explosion. No one is topping that anytime soon.

I'm sure there are more examples. But what I love about these, and a big part of what makes them perfect is that they are their own characters and aren't defined by men around them. Their greatn

I wish female characters were given better in terms of development and characterization. Honestly, I feel like a lot of people hate female characters simply because most male dominated media does such a poor job of writing women, and those characters aren't given the same excuses as poorly written male characters.

Anyway, yeah, sorry for my rant. Having grown up on Anime, Harry Potter, Star Wars, you name it?

I later in life realized what was missing, what is needed, and really needed to hear other people's input on this stuff.

I never understood the need for every main character to be only a cishet white guy. I had already come up with several characters of my own, all of them LGBTQIA+, and half of them women, and several also POC. But my writing and art skills are poor so I can't visualize them properly...

We need more female authors, and we need to promote the ones that are out there more!

(there are plenty of really, really good female authors, in all genres, but often they get less attention, because, well, misogyny)

Edit: If you want an example of how the double-standard towards women and LGBT is applied? Go watch RWBY or Legend of Korra. Both involve a deconstruction of tropes. Both involve women standing up against an authority that demands respect based on being authority, not based on respect. Both shut down the white male savior trope so hard, that men and women who love the patriarchy despise both shows.

But of course, anything that Team RWBY or Korra does is immediately held to a double standard and ripped into for anything that they do NOT because they’re flawed or because of writing decisions. Its because they’re LGBT women that they’re held under a microscope. Or have you noticed that every fixit fanfic for both series involves defending the Patriarchy while supporting toxic masculinity and trying to revive the White Male Savior trope that both shows have tried so hard to bury six feet under?

[acesw]

The Timekeeper group but instead of arcane skills, they have bending arts

Welcome to A.D. once again going insane in the head with character analysis and reverse 1999. I decided to analyze the characters in the timekeeper group and associate them with bending arts from ATLA that suit them best.

Non Benders: Vertin, Sotheby

Benders: Sonetto and Druvis (Water), Regulus and Lilya (Fire), APPLe (Earth), Vertin* (Air)

1. Airbending is a defense-reliant but versatile bending art, and it's associated with freedom and seeking enlightenment in life through that and peace. I think it's fitting for Vertin to have been born with this art, or it awakened in her after the spiritual convergence in TLOK. (In TLOK, the harmonic convergence in 171 AG awakened airbending in several non benders around the world. Though this is only a possibility.)

Although, at the same time, I think it would be more fitting for Vertin herself to be a non bender. She's more known for her physical strength after all. It highlights the fact that Vertin is significantly weaker in mythic power as opposed to a lot of main characters. Rather, she adapts and adjusts using her current strengths: physical ability and high perception. So I think for that matter, she would be knowledgeable in bending but also utilize chi blocking in her fighting style.

2. Waterbending is about change taking focus on the constant flow of the water and energy to utilize their art. Its fighting style is fluid and graceful, with its benders acting similarly and making it able to maintain this constant flow within their techniques and themselves. It's quite fitting for (especially) Sonetto and Druvis. In Druvis' case, she's able to manipulate the plants around her thanks to plantbending, an extension of waterbending that allows one to manipulate plants because all plants have water—from vines to roots, to even trees on the full moon.

Meanwhile, Sonetto's steadfastness and gracefulness compliment really well as we see when we look at her usage of her arcane skill. She would be quite focused and skilled at mastering this bending art; and as we see in its weaknesses, water bending relies on the user's internal life energy, thus its power and control being reflective on the emotional state of its user.

A known flaw in Sonetto is her passion and tendency to become emotional when faced with certain conflicts, and on occasion she overuses her power with a lack of control. It fits the description of weaknesses found in waterbending. But otherwise, her strength in being able to learn fast and her overall style of casting spells reflects greatly on the general style waterbending follows.

3. Firebending is an aggressive bending art that has quite a straightforward meaning: power. It originally developed and fostered on one's unwavered determination to reach their goals and desires, but was twisted into being fueled by hate and rage because of the 100 year war in the series. It still maintains the same principles, but its power intensifies from hate, rage, and anger. Its fighting style is easily used for offensive with very aggressive strategies, but these offenses can be turned into defenses too.

For Regulus, I can see her originally utilizing her anger because of the intensity of her emotions (and her tendency to be easily annoyed /joke), but as she learns more about herself and continuing to develop her art, she slowly shifts towards balancing it with her dedication towards the role she leads in life, and her unwavering resolve to give up on what she wants to do.

Lilya on the other hand can initially come off as her power coming from her temper and aggression as well, but it's not exactly the case. Because she’s skilled at what she does as a pilot, this will reflect her mastery and skills in her bending art for fire. She’s determined to be one of the greatest, and consistently victorious, and that drives her power in her skills. And in spite of her coming off as careless because of the behaviors she exhibits, she's excellently agile and precise, all the while taking the offensive in her attacks.

4. Earthbending is a bending art that relies on acting decisively with one having a wide range to their environment and many opportunities at hand. It has a maintained balance of offense and defense capabilities, and mastering it requires utilizing the neutralization of jing, or in other words, knowing how to rightfully time an action and the decisions that follow. Even then, the lack of precision is a great benefit, as Earth is reliant on brute strength rather than agile and precise movements.

With APPLe, I think he finds a good balance between strength and knowledge, and utilizing that when it comes to using his power. He knows that he does not need great precision, but being able to time things just right as well as being knowledgeable on the environment around him is enough to make good use of his bending art. His personality reflects the way he fights, and I see it being more defensive + counter attacking, while also being very clearly capable and not afraid of going on the offensive.

5. Lastly, as we know, it's possible to create potions in the world of ATLA. Thus, it's possible for Sotheby to maintain her role as a potions maker. It's hard to think of the possible bending art that Sotheby can have, so I rather settled on her being a non bender since her main highlight is her knowledge on potions and the environment around her. I like to think that she utilizes this and the growing technology to be able to create opportunities to help her friends, with the guidance of Vertin and APPLe.

I like doing these associations as well as creating ways to integrate their abilities in other universes (i.e. JJK). I might do this more or start a series with these👍👍

[lover-also-fighter-also]

MEET MY MC

ANITHA RUSSELL

Birthday: December 26, 1999 (according to my HC)

Nicknames: Ani (by her foster parents and friends), sunshine (Griffin), weirdo (Atlas).

Pronouns: She/Her (cis woman)

Sexuality: Bisexual (with a higher preference to guys), she realized that she liked girls right about her sophomore year in high school when she crushed on her soccer captain. She is out to her parents and they are fully supportive of her.

Personality: Sweet, Loyal, tenacious, extroverted (though she likes her me-time), quick-witted and uncompromising of what she believes in. She trusts people easily and does not take it well when the trust is broken. She is extremely protective of her friends and Atlas, after the events of TE 1.

Parents: Her foster father is a half-Indian, half-French while her foster mother is an Indian, who migrated to America. Both are attunded, but they hide that identity from Anitha and decide to raise her attuneless to protect her from Raife. They both take on the role as school teachers in the tuneless world. Her biological mother is Theia, who is the literal source of sun magick.

Siblings: Was an only child before she met her twin sister Atlas at Penderghast.

Childhood home: She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey till high school, before moving to Hartfeld for college.

Religion: She was raised as with all the Hindu practices and traditions. Her mother would persuade her to take part in rituals, which she initially disliked as a kid, but eventually realized that it carries a magic of its own, and keeps her calm and energized.

Hobbies: She sings AMAZING (though can't play an instrument to save her life), used to be part of her school soccer team till she lost the winning goal in her junior year of high school. At Penderghast she regains the confidence after playing Thief. Additionally, she loves motorbike rides which her father gives.

Love life: Anitha had crushes and casual relationships throughout school, but Griffin was her first and serious love. They get married 2 years after Anitha's graduation and have a small house by a forest. I HC that they have twins later on; a girl and a boy.

Other facts:

She is a nature and wildlife enthusiast and I HC that she will take up geology after graduating from Penderghast.

She likes the simpler things in life; big and rich is generally not her style (dw she loves Shreya)

Her favorite cartoon was Power rangers and always argued that the yellow ranger was the best.

She once tried to ride her dad's motorbike when she was 10 on her own, and it ended with her breaking her leg.

After getting her mom's pendant from Kane, she fashions it into a chain, which she always wears around her neck.

[thecreaturecodex]

May I ask what reference materials you have at your disposal?

This list includes only books about monsters that I own and have used for the Codex at some point. It does not include books I've gotten from libraries (I have access to an excellent university library and one of the best public library systems in the country), nor does it include RPG books or books about science and nature. We'd be here all day, and this list already took like 90 minutes to collate.

A Field Guide to the Little People—Arrowsmiths and Moore Barlowe’s Guide to Extraterrestrials; Barlowe’s Guide to Fantasy—Barlowe The Dictionary of Demons—Belanger Monsters in Print—Benedict Ghosts Monsters and Demons of India—Bhairav and Khonna The Mwindo Epic—Biebuyck and Mateene, ed. The Beast of Boggy Creek; Momo—Blackburn Bigfoot: Life and Times of a Legend—Buhs The Hidden—Christopher and Austin The Unexplained!—Clark Ghostland; The Unidentified—Dickey Prehistoric Monster Mash; Dinosaur Memories II—Debus After Man; The New Dinosaurs; Man After Man—Dixon Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology—Eberhart Welsh Monsters and Mythical Beasts—Ellis The Book of Yokai; Pandemonium and Parade—Foster Encounters With Flying Humanoids—Gerhard The Leprechaun’s Kingdom—Haining Meeting With Monsters—Hlioberg and Aegisson Dragons—Hogarth and Cleary Monster Atlas Volume 1—Hyland and Kay The Field Guide to Extraterrestrials—Hyughe Bestiarium Greenlandica—Kreutzmann Evil in Our Midst—Jones The Natural History of Unicorns—Lavers Legends of the Fire Spirits—Lebling Travels to the Otherworld and Fantastic Realms—Lecouteaux and Lecouteaux Cowboys and Saurians 1 and 2—Lemay Medieval Monsters—Lindquist and Mittman The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures—Matthews and Matthews The Night Parade of 100 Demons; The Hour of Meeting Evil Spirits; The Book of the Hakutaku; The Fox’s Wedding—Meyer Hunting Monsters—Naish Cryptozoologicon Volume 1—Naish, Koseman and Conway Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology—Newton The United States of Cryptids—Ocker Chasing American Monsters—Ofutt Iberian Monsters—Prado The Creatures of Philippine Mythology—Ramos A Wizard’s Bestiary—Ravenheart Giants, Monsters and Dragons; Spirits, Faeries, Leprechauns and Goblins—Rose The Encyclopedia of Monsters—Rovin Bad UFOs—Schaeffer JaPandemonium Illustrated—Sekien, translated by Yoda and Alt Dragons: A Natural History; A Manifestation of Monsters; The Beasts that Hide from Man; Flying Toads and Snakes with Wings; Extraordinary Animals Revisited; Mirabilis; A Menagerie of Marvels; The UneXplained—Shuker Dangerous Spirits—Smallman Myths and Legends of the Australian Aboriginies—Smith Monsters of the Gevaudan—Smith A Chinese Bestiary—Strassberg Mummies Cannibals and Vampires—Sugg The Ashgate Encyclopedia of Literary and Cinematic Monsters—Weinstock, ed. Mythical Creatures of the USA and Canada—Wyman The World of Kong—Weta Workshop Mystery Animals of China—Xu

Appearing on this list does not necessarily constitute a recommendation. Carol Rose's books, for example, has a lot of gaps and are responsible for a number of myths and misconceptions that have circulated around the internet. And A Wizard's Bestiary by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart is more worthwhile as a curiosity than as reference material.

There are a lot of internet sources, of course, but I'm linking my top choices. If you're not already aware of A Book of Creatures and Yokai.com, you need to be.

[jasntodds]

Caving In [4]

Pairing: Gar Logan x Fem!Powered!Reader, Jason Todd x Fem!Powered!Reader

Words: 7,625

Chapter Warnings: Swearing, a nightmare, fluff, hurt/comfort, some paranoia, mention of torture, mention of abuse, Dick tries to kind of have “the talk”, Jason and reader argue (we all know sometimes Jason is an asshole, this is the only time this kind of argument happens btw), mentions of bruising and swelling, a mention of drug addiction, mentions of death

Summary: ❝Tell me Atlas: What is heavier, The world or its people’s hearts?❞ You never expected your life to end up this way, turned upside down by an infamous Gotham villain. It’s been a living hell, every single day, until Dick Grayson brings you to Titans tower where you meet Gar Logan and Jason Todd.

A/N: I’m really excited to post chapter 7 just so you guys know lol This feels kind of like a filler but this is the only one that feels like it I think?? I might try to post chapter 5 this weekend because of that lol I am easily motivated to post more often when I get feedback 😂 The first few chapters take place between season 2 episode 1 and season 2 episode 2. You can add yourself the tag list below, ask me to be tagged, or you can follow my library blog @jasntoddslibrary​ and turn on notifications if you prefer that!!

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Nightmares are a funny thing. They’re rarely anything realistic once you’re able to be calm enough to think about them. But they always contain some type of fear or traumatic event someone has experienced. Sometimes, it’s not rational or there is some deep hidden meaning behind the nightmare but other times, it’s just from trauma left unhandled. Those nightmares are the worst.

They make you revise the worst times of your life over and over and over like a broken record. No matter what you do, you lose in the nightmare. Years later, you might be happy and healthy but the nightmare comes back and you feel like you’re right back where you were. Trapped in the never-ending agony. Trapped inside a tilt-a-whirl made of panic attacks and broken hearts. And every single night, it’s a living hell.

And that’s where you are now, living your own personal hell with screaming so loud your throat is raw and ragged breaths beg your chest to finally cave in. The flashes of your “foster dad” scar the back of your eyes with every blink, like Freddy Krueger clawing his way to the surface. You might have escaped him physically, but mentally you’re trapped like a bear at a circus. Your hands shake as tears well behind your eyes and as the panic rages through your veins, the anger sets in. And you’re so mad that you’re allowing this piece of shit to haunt you even in your sleep, somewhere you might just feel safe. How are you ever supposed to be safe from him if you can’t even sleep? What if he finds you? What if, somehow, your nightmares are just a sign he’s coming after you? What are you supposed to do then? What if he has powers and that’s why he’s coming to finish you off?

A million what-ifs scramble through your brain as you sit in your bed, the bedside lamp still on. You get out of bed and it’s not even like you’re walking. With every worst-case scenario running through your head at once, you’re just moving through motions to exit your room. You need to make sure he isn’t here, need to make sure everyone here is safe from him, that you’re safe from him.

Your hands go up, right in front of you, slightly outstretched as if waiting for you to run into him. The palms of your hands glow green, ready for any type of attack you might come across in the secure tower while you tiptoe your way out of your room.

“Y/n?” A groggy voice from the right pulls your attention as you were just about to walk down the hallways. You jump and spin quickly, the glow of your hands intensifying in the dim light of the hallway. “It’s me.” Gar defends quickly, putting his hands up. “Gar?” His voice is still groggy but full of fear as he glances between your hands and your face.

You could see him with the dim lights of the hallway and the green glow of your hands but it still didn’t click, not until he said his name. You aren’t sure where your head was but a part of you is scared because of it. You were so lost in a state of fear and urgency to make sure everything was safe, you were blinded. It’s a bit terrifying. 

You lets out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding, dropping your hands as the green fades. “Fuck, what’re you doing?” You whisper-yell at him.

Gar takes a few steps towards you. “You were screaming.” He whispers back to you. “I heard you so I came to see if you were okay.”

The walls aren’t thin but Gar is pretty sure your scream could have woken up anyone. It was loud and pained, etched in terror. But, that’s a thing that happens here from time-to-time. Everyone has a habit of occasionally waking up screaming. It’s either childhood trauma haunting them or new trauma from Trigon. Gar figures that’s why no one else got up. They’re conditioned to be used to it.

You watch him carefully as the panic starts to cloud with feelings of regret and guilt. You didn’t realize you had screamed loud enough to wake anyone up. That’s not fair to anyone, to be woken by someone who can’t handle their own shit. And then to be standing out in the middle of a hallway at the crack of dawn with sleep still in their eyes talking about it. You look to the floor, shifting your weight on your feet and chewing on the inside of your cheek.

“Are you….okay?” Gar asks, coming a little closer.

When you fell asleep on him earlier, you looked peaceful. Normally, you kind of always have this look of fear. Your eyes always seem a little distant and you look behind whoever you’re talking to a lot. You don’t make eye contact for longer than a few seconds. But while you slept, you looked at ease and peaceful and calm, like you didn’t need to look over your shoulder anymore but then you shot up out of nowhere. Gar knew it had to have been a nightmare. He reacts the same way when he has one, maybe everyone does but he knows the signs. Wide eyes, ragged breathing, distant but sleep-filled eyes. And now, you’re awake again from a nightmare and it doesn’t sit right with the kind boy with green hair.

You nod. “Y-yeah.” You offer a fake smile. “You, uh, you can go back to bed.”

“Are you going to go back to bed?” Gar asks with a pointed look and he doesn’t want you to be alone. The shadows are a bit more haunting when you’re alone.

“Uh….I mean….eventually.” You answer softly, dropping your head slightly.

“I can stay with you until you fall asleep if you want.” Gar shrugs his shoulders, putting his hands in the pockets of his pajama pants.

You raise a brow at him, not looking pleased with the idea. You don’t want to inconvenience him or seem weak. You’re in a tower full of heroes and you can’t even sleep through the night. The last thing you want is for any of them to see you as the weak link. What happens if you can’t pull it together? Will they just drop you because you’re not strong enough?

“It-it’s okay.” You  don’t smile this time, you just keep chewing your lip, pulling your sleeves over your hands, something Gar has been noticing you do.

“What were you doing out here?” Gar asks, his voice kind and not accusing but you shake your head, knowing it sounds ridiculous. “I won’t tell anyone.” He offers and there’s this sweet but subtle smile pulling at his lips.

Jason, a few hours ago, told you to talk to him. He said maybe it would help and the only way he’d know that, is if Gar knows Jason’s baggage, too. Jason doesn’t seem the type to wave the white flag and spill all of his secrets. Maybe Gar just cares about everyone and maybe it will help.

You sigh and cave. “I-I-I was….was just making sure….uh….he wasn’t….here.” You stutter but eventually get everything out and a part of Gar’s heart breaks at hearing it. 

You aren’t looking at him, a sense of shame consuming you and Gar is not about to have you feeling bad for worrying that the person who tortured you is seeking you out in the one place you feel safe. It’s not fair and it’s not right. Gar knows whatever you went through was horrible but the fact you’re so worried that the person is in the tower? It’s unfathomable.

Gar starts walking past you, stopping a few steps ahead of you and offering you his hand. “We’ll look together.”

You look at his hand and then up at him with his words and you can feel your nose getting warm while your eyes burn. Your entire face softens and there’s something about the offer that makes you feel like everything in you is being warmed by a fireplace, warmed by a place one can only describe as home. He didn’t think you were crazy or that it was ridiculous or stupid. He just…offered to help.

So, you put your hand in his, following him through the tower.

As you walk, you hold his hand tightly noticing the soft callouses. His grip is tight but in a comforting type of way and he glances at you every few seconds as if making sure you’re okay. You walk from room to room, turning on the lights and verifying there isn’t anyone around before you end up in the comms room with the supercomputer. Gar takes a seat and shows you that everything is still secure and there hasn’t been a break-in. Everyone still needs their fingerprints to get in and the front door is done by facial recognition. According to the logs, no one has been in or out of the tower since nine the night before.

“I’m sorry.” You say quietly, standing to the side of Gar with arms crossed and eyes on the large screen in front of you. “I know this was stupid.”

Gar spins in the chair to face you but your eyes don’t move. “It’s okay, ya know? You’re scared and this is a new place. It’s not stupid.”

“It feels like it though, I-i-i….I see him anytime I close my eyes.” Your voice is so small.

You think maybe you should take Jason’s advice fully. Gar is awake with you anyway and you woke him up. He could have gone back to bed but he walked with you instead, knowing full well there wasn’t an intruder in the tower. It’s like you owe him some type of explanation.

“Foster dad.” You clarify. “He’s originally from Gotham, too, ya know? So him being a complete psychopath kind of tracks.” There’s a sharp bitterness in your voice but you keep your stare off of Gar, afraid that if you can see the look on his face you know he’s giving you, you’ll just shut down and go to bed.

“He just…did that to you?” Gar asks with furrowed brows and pain in his voice.

“Yep, he wanted powers. Some weird thing against Batman and Robin so he used me because ya know, the system doesn’t actually give a fuck about most foster kids.” You grit your teeth, your fists balling in your arms. “Then thought I was concealing my powers from him because he was certain his experiments were working so he’d try to literally beat them out of me.” You shrug a shoulder. “Guess he was right.”

Gar pauses, piecing it together. He was sure you would have tried to use your powers, but you didn’t? “Wait so….you never used your powers around him and—“

“Let him beat me until he thought I was dead?” You ask, just glancing at Gar long enough to see him nod. “Yep. If he knew it worked, he’d have killed me anyway. Letting him think he failed was…” You tilt your head side to side slightly. “Vindicating in a way. I, uh, I know it sounds so stupid but I was desperate to try and get out. Desperate people do stupid things."

“I’m so sorry that happened.” Gar’s eyes are glued to you, hating the idea of living through that.

He was tortured before and it haunts him every single day. He wasn’t even tortured for very long and it’s still hell. You were tortured for a lot longer. He gets your hesitance and your paranoia. He’d be paranoid, too if he were you.

“Yeah….” You sigh. “So, I might have escaped physically but the piece of shit really isn’t leaving my dreams alone, I guess.”

Gar sits on it for a few seconds. While he was kind of this weird experiment in a way, Dr. Caulder knew it would work and it would save him. He never had to fear for his life around him. He feared speaking up and being himself because sometimes the doctor wasn’t very nice. He didn’t really like other people being their own people, not if it contradicted what he believed or wanted. So, he can’t even fathom want horrors haunt your mind even in safety.

“I can check the tower for you every night if you want.” Gar offers. You jerk your head in his direction, surprise etched across every crease of your face. “And uh, if you have a nightmare, you can wake me up. I leave my door unlocked anyway…if it’ll make you feel better.”

“Y-y-you’d do that?”

Gar gains a sheepish smile as he shrugs. “Yeah, of course.”

You will never tell Jason, but maybe he was right about telling Gar. You feel a little better about it and he’s so nice. He’s offering to lose sleep when you have a nightmare which could be every night. You wonder how he’s chosen to be so kind despite whatever he’s been through.

“Thank you.” You look to the ground and then finally look at Gar. “Can you not tell anyone? Please?”

He chuckles softly. “Your secret is safe with me.”

“Thanks, it means a lot.” You suck in a breath. “Well, now that I know my delusions are just delusions, I’m gonna try and get some more sleep.” You give him a genuine smile this time.

“I’ll be up if you need anything.” Gar says, turning back to the computer to exit out of the security system.

“I’m so sorry.” You apologize again. “I didn’t mean to keep you from sleeping or anything.”

“It’s okay.” Gar assures you. “I should be getting up early anyway.”

“Okay.” You nod, offering him a closed and small smile.

It’s six now so Gar’s alarm would be going off in an hour anyway. But, you’re still going to go to bed. He didn’t hear you go to bed the night before and it was pretty late when you woke up from the first nightmare.

“What, uh what time did you go to bed anyway?”

“Uh….” You squint an eye, trying to remember the last time you looked at your phone. “Four? I think?”

“Wow, okay.” Gar’s brows raise quickly as he chuckles softly.

“I-I got talking with Jason last night so…” Your words fall off. “Couldn’t sleep and I ran into him.”

Gar nods slowly, ignoring the tint of a burn in his chest. You talked to Jason but not him? He’s been so nice to you and he feels like you trust him. All you do with Jason is this weird banter thing that Gar is slowly realizing maybe it’s flirting. Not that he’s actively trying to pursue anything because that doesn’t feel right either. But something about you talking to Jason, hurts. He’s always deemed himself a trustworthy person who’s a pretty good listener but you went to probably the worst listener on the face of the planet. He doesn’t really get it and he knows he has not right to assume you would tell him anything. Above everything else, he’s just surprised you got talking to Jason.

“What’d ya talk about?” Gar plays it cool, not digging but just asking.

“Uh….nothing really, I guess.” You lie and it’s at that moment you realize you lie a lot. Not that you intend to, it just feels like an instinct now either to protect yourself or other people. “I mean…not nothing.” You correct yourself. “Some of what happened in a very unserious manner.”

Gar nods his head again and you might be a little dense but you’re not so dense that you missed the way he stiffed in his chair. “Did it help?” He asked.

“Well, I, uh, I felt better after but then I had a nightmare so….not sure how much talking about it really helped.” You scoff as you roll your shoulders.

“Is it because it was unserious?” Gar asks, quoting your direct word.

You shake your head. “Nah, always been better with unserious ways of talking about trauma. When it gets too….emotional I don’t….” You look to the floor, tugging your sleeves over your hands. “I don’t like it very much, like it less than I usually do, I suppose.”

“You can talk to me.” Gar offers, looking back over to you.

“I know.” You smile at him softly, it’s almost a smirk that forms. “Can you get a little snarky and nasty about it?”

“Would it help?” Gar chuckles, his position loosening with the question and the burning sensation in his chest starting to dissipate.

“Yeah, you can’t give that look you do. With the big eyes and sad expression, makes me feel weird.” You scrunch the left side of your mouth upwards.

Gar laughs softly, putting his hands up. “Okay, I’ll try my best.”

“Thanks.” You look around the room and then back to him. “I do like talking to you and hanging around you. You make me feel comfortable here.” You admit and then realize you’re saying way too much. “Okay well, that’s enough for today. I’m actually going to bed.” You smile at him and it almost feels like you should hug him or something but that also feels like it might just get awkward so you opt for a small wave as if that wasn’t just as awkward.

“Sleep well.” Gar laughs softly, matching the wave with burning cheeks.

You finally get some much-needed rest, without a nightmare. It wasn't a lot of sleep by any means but it was a lot more than you’ve gotten in a long time and for the first time, you actually feel well-rested. You aren't sure if it's because you talked with Gar about what happened a little bit or if it's because you knew he was awake and wouldn't let anyone in your room if they tried. Or that he helped you look around the tower for Jerry like two crazy people. Maybe it's a combination of everything but you feel a lot better.

You find yourself walking into the kitchen once you’re fully awake, still dressed in pajamas. Your thing has always been you shouldn't need to get properly dressed if you aren't actively doing something or going somewhere. Why bother dirtying clothes?

When you walk into the kitchen, Gar and Jason are sat on the barstools while Dick is making some type of shake, Rachel is just coming in from the opposite hall. The boys look a little sweaty, devouring their food like they haven’t eaten in days. You assume they’d just gotten done with a training session and, apparently, were too hungry to shower first.

"Good morning." Dick chimes, bits of sarcasm in his words given it just being past noon.

You pause, glaring at him. "You're one of those aren't you?"

"What?" Dick chuckles, confusion in his face.

"Thinking the early bird gets the worm or whatever." Your voice is flat and you might be well-rested and it might be the afternoon, but you’re not a morning person.

Dick shrugs. "It's true."

"But the mouse gets the cheese, my guy." You give him a thumbs up, moving to the seat between Jason and Gar and sitting down. Gar gives you this gentle smile while Jason has this proud smirk pulling at his lips. "What?" You look at Dick who looks somewhere between amused and contentment.

Dick is looking at you with a sense of ease and accomplishment. He thought you’d be more...closed off longer. This is a new place, you’re traumatized and hurt. But, you seem comfortable, using sarcasm with him that isn’t hurtful and plopping down right between the boys whose expressions did not go unnoticed by Dick. Dick feels like he might be doing something really good here.

"Nothing." Dick's face settles with amusement. "Settling okay?"

"Mhm." You hum.

"Since she doesn't shut the fuck up, I'm sure she's fine." Jason states, his voice trying to sound menacing.

Gar and you look to Jason with annoyance. "You have not shut up for a single second I have been here and this is day three. You had no complaints last night." You look away, Dick looking between the two of you with his cup held to his mouth. He doesn’t even wanna know.

"You were whining, I wanted you to shut up and it worked." Jason mumbles and  you let out a laugh. What is his issue?

"I don't whine, I complain. There's a difference." You hold your pointer finger up to correct him and Jason cracks a smile, Gar chuckles into his water bottle.

"Same shit." Jason fires back. "You could stop."

You roll your eyes and that's when the idea sparks. Jason isn’t winning this, this is your game to win. "Hey, Dick, question: What's your rule on dating? Ya know in the tower?"

Jason and Gar both stiffen in their seats, you catching it out of the corner of your eyes and it takes everything in you not to burst out laughing or break the stare you have with Dick. Gar is choking on his water and Jason's cheeks are turning red while Dick is stuck looking at all three of you wondering how the hell he got here. The last thing Dick wants to do is discuss this. Of course, he knew there was a chance of something going on, but he kind of assumed it would just happen. He didn’t think he’d get dragged into it, not like this at least.

"She's screwing with you." Rachel says from the other side of Gar. You give Dick a wide smirk, Gar and Jason looking a little displeased, Jason more than Gar who almost looks disappointed.

"Of course she is." Dick lets out a breath, his expression unamused. 

"Sorry, you were a necessary casualty in getting Jason to shut up for a few seconds." You hold an apologetic smile.

Jason flirts a lot and in your experience, if you bring up dating out of the blue, it’ll shut someone like Jason up faster than anything because it’s out of left field. He’s caught off guard and it gets his brain going on if there’s something going on. You think it’s funny, you’ve won this bit.

"Well, since you wanted to bring it up..." Dick starts and all four of you suddenly look like you need seatbelts.

"No, not the talk, please." Gar begs with a groan.

Dick grimaces. "No, of course not. I trust you all know about that." Even if you didn’t, Dick isn’t sure he’d be able to give the talk. He’d call Donna and Dawn. They’re the responsible ones.

"Some of us more than others." Jason quips with a smirk.

"Gross." Rachel mutters.

"Dude." Gar looks past you and at Jason, shaking his head at Jason.

"Anyway, uh..." Dick fumbles for words, realizing he never had any intention of this conversation which was his fault given the Titans past of relationship in the tower. "Just make sure everyone is consenting and be safe?"

"You sound so uncertain about that." You raise a brow as your words are slow.

"I don't know how to have this conversation." Dick defends.

"We don't have to." Gar is grimacing in his seat. "We know, safety and consent, got it." It’s not that Gar is a prude, it’s just awkward and he’s not much of a fan of awkward conversations. If it were just him and Dick, it wouldn’t be awkward, but it's everyone.

"Don't bring drama into the training room or while we're out."

"Obviously." Rachel says, already tired of the conversation.

"That won't be a problem." Jason mutters.

You rolls your eyes at him before looking back to Dick. "You're doing great, bud." You give Dick a thumbs up.

"That's it. I don't care, don't do anything.....graphic..."

"God." Gar groans, making you laugh. But, everyone has gathered this look of disgust on their faces with Dick’s choice of words. "Please, stop talking." Gar pleads.

"In a public area of the tower." Dick continues.

All of your faces contort into a grimace, even Jason’s. That is such an odd and specific request. You did not think this is where that joke would go. You didn’t think it’d go anywhere, let alone here.

"I feel like there's a very specific reason you said that and I don't wanna know." You laugh. "I'm sorry, I didn't think he'd decide to have this conversation." You apologize to the room.

"And what did you learn today?" Dick asks, not too happy about feeling like he had to have the talk with the new Titans.

"You want me today something like pick my words more carefully next time but...I think I just learned not bring up interpersonal relations with you in front of other people." You scrunch your nose.

Dick lets out a sigh. "Well, are we clear then?"

"YES." Gar yells, dramatically. "Can we stop now? This is awkward."

"Come on, Gar. Surely this isn't new territory for you." You kick Jason under the counter. "Ow! What the fuck?"

"Shut the fuck up." You snip at him.

"Yeah? And What are you gonna do about it?" Jason looks you up and down.

You narrow your eyes and for a second you think about what you could do. You could give him a burn, something equivalent to a rug burn. But, that’s not right and you’d never actually try to hurt him, not like this. And you can’t punch him because that also seems a bit extreme. He’d probably see it coming anyway, block you, then hit you back.

"That's what I thought." Jason scoffs with a look of pride as he’s won.

You shove him with your hand, Jason falling off of his chair. He hits the floor with a thud, looking at up at you with a twisted face filled of anger and shock. For someone who can't fight and who's injured, you’re ballsy. Jason could fight you right now and you'd basically be defenseless but Jason wouldn't do that. He knows where the lines are when it comes to physical contact and he doesn't cross them. He crosses a lot of lines, but fighting people who can't fight back isn't one of those. So, he's even more pissed about it.

Jason gets back to his feet, closing the distance between him and you. "What the fuck is your problem, huh?" Jason yells in your face, Gar adjusting in his seat, ready to get up at any point and Dick is ready to step in if he needs to.

"You are, apparently. Why do you have to be such a fucking asshole? For no reason? Aren't you friends?"

"He doesn't need you to come to his fucking defense. I was fucking joking." Jason snarls, looking just past you at Gar before looking back at you.

"Right." You mutter. "Except it's obvious the whole conversation has made him uncomfortable so why don't you go cool the fuck off. You obviously need to." You sit straight in your seat, your face close to Jason's and you’re not backing down.

"You shoved me!" Jason flings his arm out in frustration.

"You asked me what I was gonna do about it! So I showed you!" You bark at him. "What are you gonna do about it?"

A dry laugh escapes Jason's throat and he doesn't want to actually fight you, but you’re making it a little tempting right about now. "Is that all you fucking have?" He taunts you instead.

"Wanna test me?" You open your palms, holding them just in front of your shoulders as they glow. Jason looks at the green and he doesn't get how people with powers are so willing to use them. He doesn't need powers. He's got his fists and those are plenty.

"Because you're just another freak, right?"

Gar gets off his seat at that comment, pushing Jason slightly and standing in between you and Jason. "Dude, go calm down. It's not that serious." Gar keeps his voice level, trying to diffuse the situation.

"You a team now, huh?" Jason looks in between you.

"Jason, come on. Cool off for a few minutes." Dick keeps his stance, choosing not to crowd the already heated area.

"Fuck you guys!" Jason yells, pushing past Gar and heading down the right hallway.

Gar sits down again and Dick's position relaxes with Jason out of the room. Gar's just surprised it went as far as it did but it's also Jason. He has buttons and pushing them sometimes leads to blow-ups. Jason is still his friend but sometimes, he really does not make it easy and this is one of those times. He doesn't understand why Rachel and now you are freaks but somehow Gar is never a freak. He has powers, too and as far as he's concerned, turning into a tiger is far more freakish than whatever you have going on. And he always acts like it's your fault, somehow. Rachel was just born like that, no one gets to pick their biological parents. And Gar and you were injected. How is that right? It hurts a little because Gar knows that if they weren't friends, he'd be the target one of Jason's freak rants.

"Is that what everyone meant by I'd get used to Jason?" You ask the room.

"Yeah." Gar answers and Dick nods. "He does that sometimes."

"Interesting." You hum quietly, your hands shaking slightly, Gar taking notice.

"Are you okay?" He asks, looking between your hands and your eyes.

"Oh..." You quickly move your hands under the countertop and tug your sleeves down. "I'm, uh I'm fine." You fake a smile at him.

It's not that you really thought Jason might hit you, him hitting you over a shove didn’t even cross your mind. You don't really know if he's the type that gets mad and hits people, you don't really know him at all. But, you'd think that would have been a warning from someone if that were the case. It was more that you don't like getting yelled at apparently. It wasn’t an issue before Jerry but, now it seems to be another trigger.

"He wouldn't have hurt you." Dick assures you, as if reading your mind.

"Jason doesn't hit people here when he gets mad, just yells a lot." Gar assures you, following Dick's lead.

"I didn't think he'd hit me." You tell them with ease. "Got that throbbing thing in the back of my head when someone's going to." You remind them. "And I just...I'm not scared of him. Guess I just don't like being yelled at when someone is in my face." You look to the counter. "I'm fine, honest."

"Are you sure?" Gar asks.

"Yeah." You give him a soft smile. "Thanks though. I'm gonna eat." You get down and find a bowl in a cabinet, moving around Dick.

"Okay, I'm gonna go check on Jason then, make sure he's cooling down." Dick gives Gar a look and a nod toward you. Gar nods in response while Dick leaves to find Jason.

You make your cereal while Gar watches you. Your hands are still shaking and he feels bad. It's not his fault that Jason blew up because it's Jason. He blows up at everything but Gar could have defended himself. It's nice that you did. He's never had someone defend him like that but it got you yelled at by Jason and after you had, what Gar assumed to be, a pretty nice conversation the night before. He just worries about you.

"Hey," Gar starts as you take your seat back next to him. "Wanna do something today?" Gar asks.

You furrow your brows at him, before taking a bite of your cereal. "Like what?"

"What'd you wanna do?" Gar shrugs, figuring maybe you should be the one to decide. He just wants to hang out with you.

"Mmmm." You hum and think for a second. "Dye my hair." You chuckle softly.

"That's what you wanna do?" Gar asks.

"Mhm." You hums. "Always wanted to and you have green hair, Rachel's hair is purple." You shrug.

You just want a change. This is a big change, being at the tower but that doesn’t have anything to do with your appearance. You like how you look but you want something different. Your mom never let you dye your hair even though you really wanted to. This place, this place allows you to do that and to change something about yourself. It’s a way to take control of something. The way you see it, with all the bruising and swelling, you don’t look much like yourself anyway. Might as well change the hair, too.

"Okay." Gar beams at you. "We can go get whatever dye you want today and I can help. I'm not sure how much help I'll be but maybe we can get Rachel to help if you want." Gar rambles off and he seems so energetic and happy about it.

"Uh..." You stutter. "Okay, yeah that'd be fun. Thank you." The smile you give him is wide and filled of joy.

"What color?"

You tell him your favorite color, beaming at him. "Always thought that hair was cool." You smirk at him.

"We'll go when you're done eating." Gar gets up from his chair. "I'm gonna shower first."

"Have a blast." You grin to yourself, going back to your cereal. "Meet me in my room after?" You look back to him and he nods with a cheery smile before turning on his feet, and quickly heading down the hallway. "He's so cute." You say to yourself, going back to your cereal.

After Gar's shower, he met with you in your room. You were already dressed and ready to go, you even asked Rachel for help when you got back which Rachel was more than happy to help. Once Gar was ready, he was the one that asked Dick for some money before you left and off you went with Rachel, you feeling more comfortable having both Gar and Rachel with you. You realize how great it is that Rachel was willing to help because you never would have gotten something everything you needed.

When you got back, Gar and you met with Rachel in a bathroom. Rachel got everything together and get to work with your hair. You explained to Rachel that you still wanted some of your natural hair color but the majority of it to be dyed. Rachel understood what you were explaining while Gar seemed a little confused.

As Rachel helped with your hair, the three of you got talking about past lives. You all avoided all talk about trauma and tragic backstories and instead talked about your favorite movies and shows, music. If you'd ever been to a concert, the best places you've ever eaten, random stories about family and friends you had before everything. And while these conversations are going on, there's warmth and comfort that consumes you.

This is the longest you’ve gone without thinking about how your face looks or how your body is sore or Jerry. It's just the three of you and you feel so at home because Gar and Rachel make it so easy. And you wonder if this is what real friendship feels like.

Sure, you had friends before your mom died. But that was then and this is now. You had a small circle of friends but only one that you really relied on and could tell anything to. But then your mom died and it all got so messy and heavy. You couldn't inconvenience even your best friend with your problems over it. Your best friend never really understood the person you started to become after. Vengeful and spiteful and angry. And desperate and cold and detached. It struck like a hurricane right through your friendship.

You couldn't handle anything and you were always running from CPS. What kind of friend would you be if you endangered your best friend's mom by getting in trouble with CPS? You knew it was only a matter of time before they threatened to take your best friend away if they didn't give you up. At least, that's how you always saw it. It was always such a big fear and you couldn't put them through that, on the chance it did happen so you just left one day and never came back. But you weren't a very good friend then either.

You had all these plans of hunting down the Joker and even though you'd probably die, too, hunting him down would have made it worth it to you. To look him in the eyes and just try to hit him or shoot him, if you had a gun anyway. You knew you would never make it out alive and that was something you deemed to be okay because you didn't have anything worth living for anymore. Your dad went off to choose drugs over you, your mom died, your best friend not knowing how to handle anything. A suicide mission seemed like a pretty sweet deal at the time. But, now you’re here with Gar and Rachel, in this bathroom getting the hair you’ve wanted to try and maybe you have more worth living for.

"Okay, what do you think?" Rachel asks, shutting the blow-dryer off, proud of the dye job she's done.

You look in the mirror and your face lights up. Stripes of the color consume the majority of your head and you could not be happier in this moment. "I love it!" You squeal before turning around. "Thank you!" You hug Rachel quickly before turning back around and there's a sweet and amused smile on Gar's face.

"It looks really good on you." Gar's smile turns shy as you look to him.

"Y-you think so?" You asks, your stomach swirling with his words.

Gar nods. "Yeah, I like the color." Gar’s smile is the softest thing in the world.

"How cute." Rachel giggles before cutting it short as Gar looks at her with wide eyes. "It looks good, yeah." Rachel agrees.

"Thank you." You look at yourself again and you’ve never had this hair before, but it makes you feel more like yourself. It's probably the self-expression it's allowing you to have but you really like it. "And hey, now people will have something else to look at that's not my face." You laugh softly.

"You're face looks good, too." Gar says so quickly, you and Rachel barely catch it, but you do and you both look at him with raised brows. Rachel looks in between you and Gar, waiting for something to happen. This is the most entertainment she's had since they got to San Francisco. "I mean..." Gar stutters. "The, uh, the bruises and stuff, they're healing."

"Mhm." You hum with burning cheeks. "Thank you, Gar."

Gar feels the embarrassment wanting to eat him alive. He can't believe he said that out loud. Now Rachel is looking at him with knowing eyes and he can't help it. Sometimes, things just come out and then he feels like he has to backtrack and now he's embarrassed even though you didn't seem bothered by it. Which then makes him think he didn't need to add in the last comment about the bruises. Surely, you know he didn't mean just the bruises are looking fine now and the meant your whole face but now he doesn't know and he has got to get his brain to shut up for five seconds.

"There you are." Dick says, looking into the bathroom, the door wide open.

"Yes?" Rachel asks.

"Training room." Dick says.

Gar checks the time on his phone, seeing they were in fact late for their last training session. Shopping with you took a little longer than expected since you stopped for food and were having fun together. Then dying your hair took a while but Dick doesn't seem mad about it.

The three of you follow Dick to the training room where Jason is already waiting, as if he hadn't left the room since this morning. You sit on a bench and watch as you’re not allowed to train yet. Dick mostly supervises after giving them some instructions on what to do and then gives pointers. You mostly watch Gar and Jason.

It's interesting watching them. Jason is clearly the aggressor. You can't tell if it's all his pent-up aggression or if it's just his experience as Robin that makes him the aggressor but you find it interesting nonetheless. Gar and Rachel seem to work together to go against Jason even though they're all supposed to be working against each other. Gar works more on a defensive tactic, going for Jason after Jason comes for him or while Rachel has him distracted and that's when Gar gets a hit it. They're being trained by the same person but they fight differently and it seems to match their personalities.

Dick walks over to you as the other three continue to spar. "Like the new hair." Dick compliments you.

"Thanks, Rachel did it for me." You beam up at him.

"Feeling more comfortable?"

"Yeah..." You sigh. "I give you shit 'cause it's fun but I think I'm gonna like it here. Thank you again for taking me in." You say candidly. You make a mental note to thank him regularly for it.

It warms Dick's heart to know his efforts mean something. He just wants to be the mentor he wishes Bruce was and he just wants to help. It seems to be working, with you and Rachel and Gar, jury is still out on Jason. But Dick knows Jason will not be an overnight success.

"Good, I'm glad." Dick offers you a smile before walking back to where he previously was.

The rest of the training session goes by, Gar and Rachel going to you when they had a water break and talking. Jason opted to be by himself, Gar noticing the concern on your face and assuring you that he'll be calm and be over it the next day. But it doesn't quite sit right for you. You don't want him mad at you, you do like to mess with him in a fun banter way, not him being pissed at you.

You like to push people's buttons but you’re not too fond of people being actively mad at you. If there's a line you aren't supposed to cross, all someone has to do is tell you and you'll respect the line. You aren't about making people unnecessarily uncomfortable or mad. But you nod along with Gar anyway and eventually training ends. You stay behind with Jason, Gar hovers a little more than he would given the events of the afternoon but he does eventually leave the two of you alone.

"So, you gonna stay mad at me forever?" You ask as you walk over to Jason who's seated on a bench, getting a drink and ignoring you. "Come on," You groan. "Can you not handle a shove from me?"

Jason glares up at you. "Just shut up." He groans.

"Nope." You sit next to him, your leg touching his. "I'm sorry I shoved you." Jason's brows furrow at you and he doesn't think anyone has apologized to him since he's been here, for anything. "Honest, I should have left it alone but I provoked you further than I should have." You are sorry for it. Sure, Jason owes you an apology, too but you can apologize first. 

"Sorry for what I said." Jason mumbles, swallowing his pride.

He never wants to hurt someone's feelings, not really. In the moment, absolutely but then after he feels horrible about it. He hates when other people make him feel weak. You shoving him from his seat, it made him feel weak and he hates it. It’s how he’s felt his entire life. Weak. So, when he feels weak or when someone pushes the wrong bottom, he just starts talking and going off. It just flows out of his mouth before he can even think about it. It's not an excuse, he just can't help it and he is sorry.

"To you and Gar." Jason lets out a sigh.

The corner of your smile pulls up. "I forgive you."

Jason glances at you and he can’t stay mad at you. Normally, he’s very good at holding grudges. He still has a grudge against a kid who pushed him down a slide when he was seven. He’s very good at holding grudges but you’ve got this smirk that says you’re up to no good and this look in your eyes that sends this electricity through his blood. He can’t explain it but he can’t stay mad at you.

"Did you still wanna train tonight when everyone goes to bed?" Jason turns his head towards you, twitching his brows up and the grin starts pull at his lips. 

"If you're still willing."

"Someone's gotta show you how to do more than fucking shove someone." Jason scoffs but a smile pulls at his lips as he chuckles softly.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, got powers now and never had issues on the streets, okay? People happen to like my quick wit and quips.” You lightly nudge him with your shoulder. 

"Yeah," Jason chortles. "That's why no one fucked with you.” Jason nods his head and lightly nudges you back, not believing you.

"I'd like to think so, yes.” You hold your head up with pride and Jason has this genuinely kind smile on his face. “What time, boss?”

Jason shakes his head. “Midnight. Everyone is usually in their rooms or asleep.”

“Okay, I'll meet you here then." You smirk at him as you get up and lick your lips. He knows deep down he doesn't have a shot with you but his stomach burns with the thought of you. You get under his skin like no one else and he hates to admit it but he really likes it.

"Don't be late." Jason quips, his voice taunting.

You shake your head, turning around to face him again. “Shut the fuck up.” You laugh softly. “I’ll meet you here at midnight, on the dot.” You widen your eyes, mocking him before exiting the room.

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[empressgeekt]

Fic Series Idea - "There is no Escape Once Cradled in the Bat's Cape" Saga, or Gotham had just as much as an adoption problem as their champion.

Buckle up people this is going to be a long one...

Okay, So I've been looking in to Batman crossovers, and I've noticed that there is a large majority of MLB, DP, and Spider-Man ofr the crossovers. However, I have also found a very small percentage of cross-dimensional adoption fics, with Zuko from ATLA and Keith VLD, two dark angsty boys who definitely need the love of the batfam.

So, I'm planning out a multipart (At least on AO3) Saga, where, we can watch Zuko Keith, And Jet from ATLA get sucked up by Gotham, whom is a manifestation of darkness, insanity, and empathy and stands as the spirit in control of the land that both Gotham and Buldhaven would be eventually be built (much like Agni is for the fire nation).

1) The first installment would be Zuko's origin in the Batfamily.

After Agni can't stand to watch the soft hearted price suffer through his fate again, the deity of the sun calls a meeting with Gotham, begging sanctuary for the boy. After some rather harsh words, Gotham agrees, and swipes up Zuko right out of the Royal infirmary, mere hours after the Agni Kai. All While Iroh watches in horror. Left in the Prince's place is a single scroll, written in the language of spirits, the only part that Iroh can understand, is that in order to find his nephew he had to restore the honor to his nation and aid in the champion of the four nations, for that is a the only way that Iroh will ever find Zuko again. So, Iroh starts his quest for the Avatar.

On Zuko's end, Gotham dropped the prince in an alleyway, and lured a Robin!Jason to his location. Upon discovering a child laying in a dumpster with half of his face charred black, Jason phones Bruce and Zuko is taken to the Batcave. Even though the young prince is underneath the care of the incredibly skilled and patient Doc. Tompkins, Zuko quickly falls victim to infection, and his condition is touch and go for days. Bruce would go through all the identifying tests he can think of, but none of them even give a name to the dying kid in a quest room upstairs. The batman is honestly at a loss of what to do with the child. He can find no living family, no ID, no documents, no name. There's no where he can send the child, The foster system is out of the question, even if Zuko survives, he's be horribly scarred and likely disabled, not to mention even at 12 he'd be too old to good chances of getting adopted. All signs point to Bruce most likely becoming a father of three. Jason is fine with the idea of Zuko Staying. He's 15 at this point, old enough to be a good big brother.

Though things become a whole lot more complicated when Zuko is conscious enough to start talking...And he can't understand a lick of English...Our dramatic sparky boy, wakes up to an unknown world, in a utterly luxurious house, with people who are too pale to be water-tribe but have blue eyes, and wear weird robes. Zuko figures he was banished to this place, but he doesn't know what for, or what he can do to regain his honor, and these people are being so nice and gentle with him. Cue, confusion and panic.

Jason starts teaching Zuko English once he's conscious enough. The two grow closer, even if Zuko only grows more confused by learning. Once his bandages are removed, poor little prince ends up having a break down after seeing his reflection, one that Bruce walks in on. Que Overprotective BatDad, learning from a Zuko with Broken English skills, what, or who, gave the boy his scar. And yep, This kid was Bruce's now.

Zuko continues to heal, and eventually the holidays roll by. With the holidays came Dick Grayson, whom while still a hothead is trying to make a truce with Bruce for the sake of Jason, well, lets just say someone for got to tell him about the 12-year-old now living with them. Dick's temper gets the better of him and Zuko Get's spoked accidentally firebending at the Original robin. No one was hurt but Zuko still ran off, disappearing into the labyrinth of the manor. This situation is eventually resolved, and Zuko learns about the Batman, as Bruce offers to ask around the super community, and still very young Justice League, if there are other pyropaths who can help Zuko with learning control. Zuko doesn't want to at the moment as He's still getting used to everything else.

Eventually, Bruce makes Zuko his foster kid and with the help of the faked paper trail, gets him in school. He does well in math, as it is a universal (mulitversal lol) language, but Struggles with the other subjects, due to the language barrier and the fact that he's only ever had private tutors before. Everything is going well...

Then April rolls around. Jason and Bruce's relationship becomes strained, and eventually Jason learns about Shelia haywood, and goes looking for her. Jason says goodbye to Zuko before he leaves, and that he'll be bring a mom for them when he comes back. But everyone knows what happened. And instead of his brother Zuko gets a coffin. (sorry)

Months pass. Bruce trains Zuko, Just to make sure that his current youngest can protect himself, as Zuko refuses to put on the robin costume. Dick ends up spending more time at the manor, really trying to mend bridges after the tragedy. They live in this odd fog of grief, until one tiny Timothy Drake breaks into batcave with a resume and powerpoint explaining the need for a robin and offering himself to the position. Dick and Bruce pretty much go, "We can't just ignore this." because this kid is clearly being neglected. Tim is trained for Robin, wanting to follow in his hero's footsteps, and Zuko eventually decides to dawn his own cowl, as the Blue Spirit, because he can't let another Robin Die. that's where the first book ends.

2) second's installment is Keith's origin story.

Gotham after Zuko, starts to keep an eye out for souls they believe would thrive underneath their champion's care, even in worlds beyond their own. Gotham comes across one Keith Kogane, and right before Keith rams his fighter into the force shield at the end of season four, it isn't Lotor that comes to his rescue. Instead Gotham plucks the boy right out of the pilot seat and the pod still goes flying into the shield.

Keith is dumbed into an abandoned building, right in front of one on the run Cassandra Cain. Our angry little halfbred cupcake, has no idea, why a smoky person named Gotham has saved his life, or how they teleported him back to earth, but once he learns that this silent yet super sweet girl is being hunted by assassins, but he's not going to leave her alone. Besides she had seen him in his Blade uniform, and something is off with him. His fingers and jaw began to itch and ache, the odd vocal ticks he used to have as a kid come back with a vengeance, and his eyes water at night and whenever he looks at a light.

The two teenagers continue to travel, keeping out of sight from assassins and bonding. Keith for once has to be the talking one in a conversation, and Cass can obviously keep a secret, so keith doesn't hide anything from her. Besides once his teeth fall out and fangs grow in their place, his fingers bleed from growing a second set of retractable claws, and he gains a third eye lid, he can't really hide his mixed blood. Keith, talks, and starts to teach Cass how to read once he realized that she couldn't.

Eventually Keith learns about the city of Gotham, and feels a pull to go there. Once they are on route to the city the assassins, and stalkers get more and more intense, almost like they didn't want Keith and Cass to go there. This just makes Keith more determined. As the people after them won't want to follow them anymore if they were inside to Gotham territory. Sadly keith was wrong, the Assassins did follow them into the city, but now they were there to kill no capture, during the attack Batman, Robin and Blue Spirit show up.

At the end of the Keith finally has the pent up breakdown that has been right at his heels since the start of the story. Shouting about how his life doesn't make sense anymore, every since that smoky Gotham person snatched him, and Zuko goes, "you met Gotham?"

In the end, Bruce takes in both Keith and Cass, because both are sad traumatizes dark haired orphan even if both are legal adults his CAD (Compulsive Adoption Disorder) demands he keeps them, and while they don't know the motives of this Gotham Spirit, they create the code "Rapunzel". If any member of the family calls that code, it means that Gotham had dropped off another soul. Keith and Cass, become vigilantes. Cass is Black Bat, and with some modifications to his blade suit, Keith becomes Blade Bat.

3) Third installment! Jet's inclusion!

This one opens with Gotham watching over Jet while he dies from internal bleeding, and then the dark spirit vanishes away to make a deal with a certain other spirit...

Next thing Jet knows he's waking up in a Lazarus Pit. A woman with long dark hair and bright otherworldly green eyes, or as we know Talia Al Gaul, is pulling him out of it. She claims Jet as her own, even if Jet can't understand a word of what she is saying or what is happening.

Jason is also confused as to where Talia has found this frizzy-haired kid or why they were put in the pit or why Talia was training them with him. Once more Jason starts to teach a younger teen to speak in English, while Talia teaches, Jet Arabic and League speak. Jet struggles with Pit Rage, its even worse for him then with Jason. Mostly because Jet is much more frustrated with his situation. The sixteen-year-old wants to go home, he wants his troupe, the family he made after tragedy, he doesn't want to be here in this place, with a creepy woman who told him to all her mother, and a bunch of guys with way too many swords.

Jason is usually the one who has to deal with Jet's Rage, as Talia made them share a bedroom, and his big-brother instincts are slowly kicking in having been long dormant, it doesn't help that Jet is the age that Zuko would be if Jason had stayed at the manor. However, just as Jason is starting to connect with Jet, things go horribly wrong.

And here is where I'm going to take very heavy inspiration from the fic, "Jason and the Three Terrors", by, Cdephiki. I highly recommend this piece.

Talia runs into the boys' room in the middle of the night, waking them and telling them to pack. Ra's is getting to close to her plans and she doesn't want him to interfere with her children any longer. So, she gathers up Jason, Jet, Damian, Mara, and Athanasia and they flee into the mountains. Sadly though, Deathstroke catches up with them, and Talia is killed, leaving the Children to escape on their own. Jason and Jet have to navigate caring for three young children while running across Europe and Asia, meeting check point Talia had set up to help them disappear. At one of them Talia has left the Red Hood gear and helmet, and a nameless suit for Jet.

Eventually the League catches up with them, and they are forced to return to Gotham, (and on the plane ride, Jet learns that he gets Air-sick). Jason manages to get them a small apartment in Crime Alley, and they set up. He isn't comfortable with bring in the children into Bruce's care with the Joker still Alive, and Red Hood protector of Crime Alley is born, only this time he has a partner. His own dark reflection of Robin. Jet becomes White Hawk. The children are safe, Jason is cleaning up his home, Jet is more and more stable by the day. Things are good.

Until Ra's makes a reappearance. Assassins raids their apartment, and Jason and Jet are forces to run with the children in tow. Batman, Nightwing, robin (tim), Black Bat, Blade Bat, Spoiler and Blue Spirit intervene, thinking that Jet and Jason are kidnapping their own siblings. They get into a small scuffle, Until Ra's himself makes and appearance, with a bout a team of twenty assassins behind him. Once learning that Ra's wants the children and their connection to himself, Bruce completely forgets any ill will with Hood and Hawk and fights beside them in the presedeing brawl between the Assassins and bats.

Jason is run through during the chaos, and the bats retreat to the cave. for treatment. Bruce doesn't think twice about taking five children in at once, and he isn't about to be a deadbeat to his two bio children. Sure, Ra's will still be trying to hunt them down, but the Assassin's were beaten back for now. All is well..

Until Zuko takes his mask off...and Jet sees his golden eyes...

PTSD and Pit go into over drive and suddenly Zuko trying to die at the hands of Jet's blade. Keith, Bruce, Cass, Dick, and Tim, all jump into action holding Jet back. All of the younger kids are confused and on edge. The situation gets so bad that Bruce has to put Jet in a separate room, to keep the kids from killing each other, and to allow Thompkins to do her work and Save Jason.

Jason is stabilized (still knocked out), and Bruce takes control of the situation. He talks to the younger children first, getting their names and ensuring them that they'll be safe here. Alfred would make rooms for them, but everyone just wants to be by Jason's beside at the moment. Zuko approaches Bruce before, he leaves to speak with Jet, explaining what happened behind the attack. Zuko learned because Jet had slipped into Earth Kingdom Language during the attack, and Zuko recognized it, and all that Jet rambled about. Bruce reassures Zuko that he isn't at fault for Jet's trauma; he would've been a child during it after all. Then goes to speak to know a not Pit flooded, but still pissed off Jet.

They have a very informative discussion regarding, the differences between, vengeance and Justice, and Jet is of course emotionally adopted.

Later after Bruce, Dick, Zuko, and Jason reconcile and reunite. Zuko seeks out Jet, and apologizes for the fire nation's actions. There's little Zuko can do and what he has done isn't much, but he wants peace in his home, and him and Jet fighting would stop that. Jet Agrees to be civil, but they would never be family. Zuko is fine with that.

The next will either be the fourth or fifth installment, because I might do a self-indulgent, Jason/OFC fic in between these, but that remains to be seen....

4) Fourth/fifth Installment - Thomas Wayne, Flashpoint Batman

Gotham is watching one of the flashpoint time lines, watching crumble and shatter. For while Thomas was a good substitute, he would never achieve the full potential of the proper champion, forming an unstable reality. Only this time they don't allow Thomas (and maybe Martha I'm still 50/50 on whether she survives) to perish with in his reality. Gotham offers a second chance at family, or Thomas can go the way of his dopplegangers.

I think we all know which choice he takes...

There's nothing that groundbreaking that happens in this installment, just Thomas reconnecting with Alfred and Bruce, meeting the children and bruce's fiance (I ship BatCat and the relationship will be subtly developed on the side of the series). Thomas hangs up the cowl and works a more support team roll in the family, Tompkins isn't always available after all, and someone has to help Alfred watch the little ones who are either benched, injured, or not patrol ready.

5) Fifth/Sixth installment - Batman Beyond

Yep Terry is getting on this crazy train-wreck of the family, not just him though...Dana, Max, and Matt get swooped up too.

Once more Gotham is watching as a Beyond timeline is slowly breaking apart. The city is crumbling from non-stop earth quakes, satellites are zapping everything and Terry barely has had the time to rescue his loved ones from the chaos. Max was ready to go when he came for her. Dana needed more convincing, and Terry had to take his mask off to get her to come with him. Matt and Ms. Mcginnis....Terry only managed to get Matt out of the house, before the place went up in smoke.

The cave was the only place he could take them, but the batmoblie is shot out of the sky, just as they enter Wayne property. Terry yells at everyone to run into the manor, telling them to get to the cave through the clock, before confronting the one that shot them down. Blight (I think that's Powers' name), whom is supposed to be dead (fic taking place like mid season three) leaps out and he and Terry clash. During the fight, Terry's cowl get pulled down, and his suit is punctured. Blight eventually gets the upper hand to terry having already been injured in the crash, pick the teenager up by his neck and flinging him across the battlefield. Gotham steps in by this point, killing Blight by devoring him slowly with a swarm of supernatural bats. Terry makes a break for it running inside the manor.

Inside Old Man Wayne, explains what's happening, the timeline is breaking down, and there isn't anything the can to to stop it. Gotham appears in the cave, and Wayne recognizes them. He asks Gotham to spare the children, Gotham agrees after all Wayne has served as her faithful champion for decades, its time they pay him back. Terry tries to argue that he should saved too. Wayne disagrees, saying that he has sins to pay for and he doesn't have long anyway. After a farewell, Gotham, takes Terry, Max, Matt, Dana, and Ace, whirling them away to another more stable dimension.

The group lands in crime ally, in an ally (heh). It's late at night, and cold out. Terry barely makes it a few steps before the adrenaline wares off, and he collapses. Dana stays with him, while Max, Matt, and Ace go looking for help. Long story, short, they get jumped, but Red Hood and White Hawk don't allow kids to get hurt in their ally. Max sees the bat on Hood's uniform, and asks if he knows batman. Hood said he's bat adjacent. And Max grabs his arm and starts to drag him to where Terry and Dana are. Hood is so confused by this action he just freezes, but he's running full speed once he hears Matt say his brother's hurt.

They pretty quickly deduce that Terry's outfit is not a costume, and they call a code Rapunzel. Bruce rushes over to the scene, and after determining that Terry is stable. Takes, them back to the cave (Red Hood and White Hawk riding behind them on Hood's cycle). Bruce gets the run-down of what happened from Terry, during the ride, though Bruce does try to tell him it can weight until after he's seen a doc. Kid doesn't listen, only continues to talk until he's hit with a wave of nausea.

Once at the cave, Terry is handed off to Thomas, and Bruce takes care of the minor cuts and bruises the others have. Max takes up the role of explaining everything, as she was closest to the batman beyond team, other then terry...Then Thomas comes running out ordering everyone to take a decontamination shower. Jet and Jason take Matt while Cass (who was in the cave) took the girls into the respective locker rooms. Thomas diagnoses Terry with acute radiation sickness.

The rest of this fic would be terry slowly recovering and the others adjusting. Matt would be coming to terms with his mother's death, and getting close to his new siblings, especially Damian, Athansia, and Mara as they are the closest in age. Max meets Oracle, begins to train underneath her. Dana, feels out of control and after talking with Selina agrees to get training so she can protect herself. It would end, with the whole family playing rooftop tag on Terry's first patrol.

The next two installments

they would pretty much be follow ups to Zuko/Keiths realities and how they plan on getting their angsty boys back.

Iroh, would get Aang to translate the scroll that Gotham left behind, and a very reluctant John Constantine, sends the Gaang to Gotham.

On Keith's side, Lance and Matt are really ticked off by Shiro (kuron) behavior, and this leads to them digging to find out what is really going on. Red contacts lance through his dreams and tells him that Keith is still alive, and Black is waiting for him. This only furthers Lance and Matt to push forward, Krolia joins them after learning about the name of the former Red Paladin and leaves her mission to go find her son. Eventually they get the real Shiro back, and all he wants to see Keith. The search continues....

Well that's all the planning I have. I did play around with the Idea of Mirabel from Encanto getting picked by Gotham but I'm not sure if it would work. What do you think? is this a good idea to dive deeper into.

[thatuselesshuman]

Writer Questionnaire Tag

Thank you for the tag @wyked-ao3

It's always fun to do one of these lol

How long have you had your writing Tumblr/Writeblr? A fast and loose estimate is fine!

I've had a Tumblr account for about 6 months or so but I've only been a 'writeblr' for a couple months.

What led you to create it?

Idk tbh. I kinda just decided that I wanted to share my writing and it led me here.

What’s your favorite thing about the Writeblr community?

All of the creativity is amazing. I'm a whore for lore and world building, and the worlds that y'all come up with are immaculate. I could only hope to think of a world that vast and interesting.

What’s one thing you’d like your mutuals to know about you?

Please ddon't take me seriously. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but I'm not just a clown, I'm the entire circus. The day you take me too seriously (especially as an author) is the death of my whimsy.

Is there anything you’d like to see more of on your dash?

Nothing I can really think of. I'm pretty happy with how it is rn lol

WIP it Good

Which Works-in-Progress (WIPs) or writing projects are you noodling about, lately?

Bloody Hands are Kind and None of Us Heroes are always floating around. They're never not beating my ass with ideas and scenes.

How long have you been working on them?

I've been working of the series component of Bloody Hands are Kind since February, and None of Us Heroes for about 1 and a half months.

Do you remember what inspired them/what got you started?

None of Us Heroes started from the Honkai Star Rail brainworms known as Adventurine and Dr Ratio. Their designs and story inspired the two main characters of None of Us Heroes. The series component of Bloody Hands are Kind was basically me shoving a long-standing OC of mine into the Hunger Games universe and praying it would work.

How much time, in your best estimation, do you spend thinking about them?

At least a few hours a day, usually when I'm laying in bed trying to fall asleep. My array of illnesses make falling asleep hard and I find that thinking about my stories makes it easier to forget that I'm not asleep (and therefore hopefully fall asleep).

When someone asks the dreaded, “What do you write about,” question, what do you usually say?

"Whatever the voices command."

What do you want to say (if it’s different from what you do say)?

Meh I say that because I find it funny so idk if I'd change it.

Let’s Rotate Blorbos

Name any characters you created. Side characters, protagonists, antagonists, characters who’ve never been written, the first original abomination you ever pulled from your ass; whomever you’d like!

OHH LORD THIS IS GONNA BE A LONG LIST. So we got Adrian, Nova, Amarantha, Jack, Cora Beth, Ben Al-Badawi (x3), Jack Collins, William Talt, Blue, Zero, One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Azrael (aka Amane), Lucifer, Achlys, Quinn Amsel, Atlas Selic, Michael, Adena, Nakir, Evangeline, Celeste, Saeko, Gabriel, Kaz Anderson, Caspian, Jyn Osaka, Nikolai Sevigny, Cyril, Kylan Whitlock, Kestrel, Leo Valandi, Anaïs, Delph, Laz (short for Lazarus), Neo, Roland, Tobias, Will, Mirwais, Simon Cruz, Conrad, James Blackthorn, Alessandra Snow, Max Foster, Benyamin Safi, Haeyun Sin, and Dante Silvestre. There are more, but I either don't care enough to write them down or I've forgotten their names.

Who’s the most unhinged?

Blue 100%. He's not human and it is not uncommon for his species to be cannibalistic. He's not, but he's still unhinged asf

Who comes the most naturally for you to write?

Max Foster. He's easy to write because me and him share a lot if similarities.

Do you ever cringe at them?

Oh definitely. A lot of my old characters are cringy.

How much control do you feel you have over your characters? AKA, do they ever “write themselves,” refuse to cooperate, or do things you didn’t expect? To what degree? Are some less cooperative than others?

Dude idk what to tell you, whenever I try and force my characters to do something I hit the biggest writer's block wall I've ever seen.

On Writeblr Engagement

Do you enjoy people asking questions about your characters? And do you have a preferred means of receiving said questions? For example, as Asks, as replies, as reblogs, as tag notes, as comments on AO3, etc.

YES YES PLEASE ASK ME!! Anyways, I don't really care how you ask (I just want you to ask lol), but if I had to pick it'd either be asks or comments on Ao3. Though ofc I still love questions in any and all forms, even if it's something like making a separate post and tagging me loll.

What makes you want to follow another Writeblr account? Do you follow ‘em as you see ‘em, or take time scoping out the blog to make sure you align with its content? Do you follow based on WIPs, or vibes?

I mostly follow people if I think their cool or if I find myself consistently liking their posts as they come across my dash. I don't follow people often tho lol. I only follow abt 20 people I think.

What makes you decide against following?

If their vibes are too negative, if they're super political, if their content doesn't align with something I care about, or if they're super anti something I am. Any combination of those could be the reason I don't follow.

Do your mutuals’ characters occupy space in your noodle?

Yes. I think about other people's WIPs and such all of the time. I love stories, what can I say?

Do you interact with non-mutuals often?

Of course! As I said, I don't follow many people so I don't have many mutuals. I love interacting with different people though, so I'm happy to strike up conversations with random people I find cool!

@moltenwrites @willtheweaver @the-golden-comet @katenewmanwrites @agirlandherquill +open tag

[glagglepacks]

hello, you can call us glaggle! on this blog we make id packs for everyone to use. we love requests so don't be afraid. we also just like talking so if you just want to say hi that's also cool.

: more about us :

osdd-1b traumagenic system

bodily 18

luso-american

collectively uses he/it

we like fnaf, tf2, undertale aus, gravity falls, regretevator, pressure, phighting, roblox myths, hermitcraft, empires smp, life series, cookie run, sanders sides, pokemon, adventure time, sally face, scp, octonauts, mlp, stanley parable, rottmnt, wof, warrior cats, cult of the lamb, stardew valley, poppy playtime, invader zim, dbh, craig of the creek, lethal company, trolls, sonic, tadc, welcome home, tawog, inside out, omori, smiling friends, kirby, objectified, deltarune, among us, sims 4, hades, resident evil village, good omens, stray, inscription, over the garden wall, dhmis, encanto, luca, bluey, mario, animal crossing, our flag means death, little nightmares, bee and puppycat, hilda, she-ra, jsab, hollow knight, dialtown, ddlc, dungeon meshi, warhammer 40k, night in the woods, jjba (part 1 & 2), atla, dead boy detective, tattletale, a hat in time, spongebob, garfield, fosters home for imaginary friends, codename kids next door, inside job, ruby gloom, centaurworld, lps, nimona, maomao, team umizoomi

: boundaries :

we have our own opinions on things but will not share them on Tumblr. we can't stop anyone from looking at our id packs and we just want to avoid causing arguments. we block freely though.

: common fronters :

donnie . he/they . organizer . 💜

michael . he/they . protector . 🍕

mushroom . any . autopilot . 🍄

lethal . he/it . communicator . 🔪

grime . he/it . watcher . 🦴

no idea/blurry . ⁉️

: masterlist :

COOKIE RUN

truffle cookie, onion cookie, vampire cookie, poison mushroom cookie

POKEMON

scorbunny

REGRETEVATOR

dr retro, poob, bive, gnarpy, split, infected, lampert, pilby, prototype, pest, scag, mozelle

OTHER

glaggleland

POPPY PLAYTIME

craftycorn, catnap, dogday

GRAVITY FALLS

dipper, bill

[blueopinions49]

Understanding Type 1

An intro to enneagram 1

Barbara Howard (Abbott Elementary) ESTJ 1w9 sp/so

Core Desire (Purity)-They desire the perfect ideal of morality. This deep desire to be clean of any moral impurity

Vice (Resentment)- The believe that others dont deserve what they have due to not reaching the standard they have set for themselves. 

Fixation (Wrath)- They internalize their rage and redirect it to “perfect themselves” and others due to seeing the world through an acceptable and unacceptable lens.

Wings

1w9 (The Idealist)- They focus on their own sense of morality without the relation to the other. Due to the w9 this type is more reserved from reality and interested on its own understanding and interpretation of morality. Unlike the 1w2 who are open with their anger 1w9s repress it in order to find peace within itself. The 1w9 is incredibly impersonal when it comes to morality and often cuts others while the 1w2 will be more interpersonal and open with others.

1w2 -(The Advocate)- The 1w2 focuses their anger into perfecting others and creating a safe space for others. With the 2 wing they look to foster others emotionally and focuses on polishing others morally. They will find ways to make their own moral agenda about the others unlike the 1w9 who makes it about the self. Will focus on the interpersonal aspects of morality and will not have trouble being emotionally expressive unlike the 1w9.

Triads- Gut (8-9-1)

They repress their wrath in order to maintain a whats right and correct ideal. They do this by creating boundaries for themselves and others. 

Harmonic Triad- Competency  (1-3-5)

They get results by being strict with themselves and others. Refusing to ever cut corners in capacity. 

Hornevian Triad- Super Ego (1-2-6)

Their needs are met through looking for moral stability and justice.

Object Relations- Frustration (1-4-7)

An emotional frustration when it comes to attaching themselves to others so they take a “motherly’ role and work as a beacon to light others way in life. 

Subtypes

Social (so)- The social 1 sees themselves as this prophet that brings goodness and morality to the world. They bring attention to everything that is good, right and just. They look to “teach” others how to be a good person through their understanding of morality. They see themselves as righteous and just; often they look to corrects others behavior and due to being a super ego type they see it as rational to perfect others. They believe themselves to be morally superiors to others. Unlikely to be mistyped however they are often seen as E5. 

Ex-Captain America (Marvel Comics) ISFJ 1w2 so/sp, Light Yagami (Death Note) ENTJ 1w2 so/sx and Katara (ATLA) ESFJ 1w2 so/sp

Sexual (sx)- As the counter type of 1 this subtype doesnt withhold their anger and rather channels it into benefiting others. Due to their interested relying on interpersonal relationships they'll look to reform others and polish those who are close to them. They express their anger in a more direct manner compared to the soc one who withholds it from others. While the sx and soc one sound similar the soc 1 will focus on the grand and bast of moral reform unlike the sx 1 who will focus on the interpersonal aspect of reform. They may look like E8 due to their comfort in expressing their anger. 

Ex-Ronald “Mac” Mcdonald (IASIP) ESFJ 1w2 sx/so, Bruce Wayne (DC COMICS) INTJ 1w9 sx/so and Omni Man (Invencible) ESTJ 1w9 sx/so

Self-Preservation (sp)-The self-preservation 1 focuses on the morality of the self. If the soc 1 chastises groups and others to perfect them and sx 1 focuses on the moral then the sp 1 focuses on the chastity of the self. This subtype is hyper critical over the self and internalize their anger to perfect themselves and rid themselves of their own wickedness. Unlike the soc and sx 1 they are more on the introverted side and is incredibly anxious about their anger and rarely if ever expresses it. Due to this they can look like E6s. 

Ex- Kikyo (Inuyasha) INFJ 1w9 sp/so, Alicent Hightower ESFJ 1w2 sp/so and Jill Valentine (Resident Evil) ISTJ 1w9 sp/sx 

Movements (Positive and Negative)

Move to 7

Positive: The rigidness they find comfort in is gone and they become more flexible and enthusiastic.  

Negative: Becomes hyper critical over the self to the point of self loathing.

1 MOVES TO 4

Positive: Will slow down to take time to process more complex emotions. 

Negative: They lose touch their true self and become angry and emotionally reactive to anything and everything thats around them. 

[most-screwed-by-writers-tourney]

Fucked up attractive characters:

1. Narciso Anasui from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean.

2. Shih-na from Ace Attorney Investigations.

3. Haiji Towa from Danganronpa Another Episode

4. Korekiyo Shinguji from Danganronpa V3.

5. Christine (from Christine)

6. Dio from Zero Escape: Virtues Last Reward

7. Ramon from Captain Laserhawk

8. Niklaus Mikaelson, The Originals,

9. Sephiroth

10. Shadow Weaver

11. Luo Binghe from The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System;

12. Sateriasis Venomania from The Evillious Chronicles.

13. Fleabag, Fleabag

14. James Bond

15. Azula (atla)

16. Jareth (labyrinth)

17. Alucard (castlevania, the animated series)

18. Isaac Foster, from Angels of Death

19. Hisoka Morow (Hunter x Hunter)

20. Illumi Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter)

21. Dabi (My Hero Academia)

22. Tomura Shigaraki (My Hero Academia)

23. Makima (Chainsaw Man)

24. Himeno (Chainsaw Man)

25. Manila! Mikey (Tokyo Revengers)

26. Haruchiyo Sanzu (Tokyo Revengers)

27. Kiriwo Ami (Mairimashita! Iruma-kun)

28. Medusa (Soul Eater)

29. Arachne (Soul Eater)

30. Mahito (Jujutsu Kaisen)

31. Kenjaku (Jujutsu Kaisen)

32. Dante (Fullmetal Alchemist 2003)

33. Envy (Fullmetal Alchemist)

34. Lust (Fullmetal Alchemist)

35. Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov (Crime and Punishment)

36. Daki (Demon Slayer)

37. Akito Sohma (Fruits Basket)

38. Neopolitan (RWBY)

39. John Juniper (I expect you to die)

40. Astarion, Baldurs Gate 3

41. Anders, Dragon Age 2

42. Goro Akechi

43. Eros from your throne

44. Orochimaru (Naruto)

45. Edelgard von Hresvelg (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

46. Missy from Harlequin Valentine.

47. Devi from The Kingkiller Chronicles.

48. Vegas Theerapanyakul (Kinnporsche the Series

49. Roman Roy, Succession

50. Stu Macher, Scream (1996)

51. The Director from Nimona

52. Banica Conchita from the Evillious Chronicles

53. The Plague Doctor/Griffin from Ink in the Blood

54. Ianthe Tridentarius from the Locked Tomb series

55. Hannibal Lecter

56. Ash Lynx, Banana Fish

57. Chalathon from The Sign.

[simon-thomas]

I'm so happy I decided to check out your blog, you have some absolutely delightful art!

Could I ask to hear more about Stygian? He seems so neat and I absolutely adore those backroom pieces.

I don't know anything about backrooms other than that they're liminal spaces(?), but I've been seeing photos like that on Pinterest and I ALSO keep mentally putting mer in them, but I've been too busy to draw them. Seeing your pieces makes me super happy, they look so fucking cool!

And, last but not least, who are your other critters? They seem super interesting from the art you've posted for them so far. If you have the time, I would love to hear about them too :)

Hope you have a good day!

- @emcscared-whumps

(tagging myself since i cant ask on my sideblog haha...)

Ok so. I don’t have all of Stygian’s stuff written out yet. If you want to learn more about the Backrooms, I’d look up Broogli on YouTube. All I’ve got for him at the moment is this.

1. He is an ambush predator who hunts in the Danger Zone and occasionally the Deep End.

2. His prey consists mostly of wretches and skin stealers but he will also eat wanderers who have drowned or been killed by something else. He eats everything except hair and clothing.

3. He is not actively hostile towards people and enjoys interaction with them. However, by technicality he is a man eater. It’s a bad idea to make yourself a legitimate threat to him.

4. He is unable to talk but does understand human speech. He likes interacting with people because he is very lonely.

5. You can pet him. Doing so will help restore sanity.

As for the other characters I’ve got on here, all of them are from two connected stories I’m writing. You’ve got Atlas and Varian harassing the Thalmor. Then you’ve got the foster family, Simon, Kurtis and Nichole. For the moment, I’m keeping details on them sparse.

[aurorawest]

Title: The General Mess and Imprecision of Feeling Author: @aurorawest​​ Rating: M (language, violence, sexual content) Relationships: Loki/Stephen Strange, Loki & Thor, Jane Foster & Loki, Jane Foster/Thor Major Archive Warnings: Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings Word Count (so far): 78.6k Summary: Loki knows his feelings for Stephen Strange are a capital B-Bad Idea. Whatever character growth he’s struggled through hasn’t changed the fact that he’s uniquely incapable of making another person that kind of happy for more than a night.

When a powerful Asgardian artifact goes missing, Loki and Stephen must team up to track it down—especially once it becomes clear that the theft is part of a larger, insidious plot.

Can Loki tie together the loose threads of his life: the threat to New Asgard, his friendship with Stephen, and the feelings he can’t stop no matter how hard he fights, and write himself a happy ending?

Thank you to my betas, @mareebird​​​​​​​​​​​​ and AsgardianHarmony!

Chapter 23, The Tivan Group, is posted!

Skadi went still. “Bloody hel.” “I know, it’s ironic that a notorious liar would have a sword that reveals the truth, blah blah, et cetera et cetera, trust me, I’ve heard it,” Loki said. “No,” Skadi said. “You said it’s called Gram? It’s an Asgardian sword called Gram? Does it say that on the hilt?” “Er, yes?” Skadi rose to her feet. “Wait here. Atla, come help me?” Without any further clarification, they left the room, letting the door thud closed behind them. The only sound for a moment was the crackle of the fire. Loki flicked his eyes to Stephen. “So, how do you find Jotunheim so far?”

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