#hes actually the second oldest when it comes to start age for robin

[oifaaa]

I will always make it my mission to remind people that Tim was actually 13 when he first became robin I refuse to let this boy get away with being infantalised further

[diariesofthelover]

Wayne Brothers’ Gala Girl

synopsis: Bruce Wayne’s galas are held every once in a blue moon, but when they did occur, every Gotham socialite was sure to attend. The eldest sons of Gotham’s favorite billionaire always wound up in some trouble to entertain themselves, this time the brothers’ idea of fun was a beautiful woman who looked almost as bored as them.

notes: Jason Todd & Dick Grayson x reader, 3rd person pov, little bit 🌶️, inspired by the painting above.

The Eldest Wayne brothers found themselves in the quietest corner of the gala, bored with no idea of what they can get into this time around to beat last gala’s “performance” as they would call it.

“We could set off the fire alarm,” Dick suggests lazily to his younger brother.

“What are we twelve? Most of the people here already think we’re still fifteen.”

“No, they think you’re still fifteen because you were legally dead for like four years.”

“Shut up, dickwad.”

“HER!” Dick exclaimed, “Her, her, her, her!”

“You were Robin not a fucking parrot, her what?”

“That beautiful beautiful woman right there that looks even more miserable than we do with those tuxedo vultures circling her.”

Tuxedo vultures was spot on. These rich pigs had her trapped, all trying to win her attention one at a time, attempting a better pitch than the last guy. Any kind of manners that were instilled in her from an early age couldn’t apply after the third man insisted that he was the perfect man for her, actually, the perfect man for any proper woman, brains or not. All of the men here were the exact same, they believed their money and family were enough to flatter any woman here, that having any form of a likable personality or distanct traits besides snobbery was, “not something women really wanted.”

The woman couldn’t control her eye roll after the second attempted joke was made, averting her gaze where her eyes landed on the two men who already had their bright eyes on her, Bruce Wayne’s oldest sons.

She didn’t have a problem with the Wayne Family of course, she was after all attending their gala, it was just some of the guests that she wasn’t so fond of.

“What about her?” Jason looks over to who Dick was fawning over. Jason wasn’t blind, actually his vision only got better after he was resurrected, he too thought that the woman was beautiful, maybe one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen, which is why he immediately shut Dick down, knowing what he was going to try to do.

“No, Dick. No chance, leave her alone.”

“I don’t think she wants me to,” Dick replies as the woman returns his famous flashy grin with a soft smile.

Dick had been trying to get Jason…well more out there after the whole dying, coming back to life, and then out in the public eye again thing. Jason died young, he barely got a chance to live his teenage years so whenever Jay’s attracted to someone, he starts acting like a teenage boy but at the age of twenty instead of sixteen.

Dick, make every girl swoon over him since his Robin days, Grayson mastered the whole girl thing by now and is trying to be his not so little brother’s tonight’s wingman.

“Follow me,” Dick whispers to Jason, not taking his eyes of the beauty across from him.

Dick and a hesitant Jason make their way over to the group of men that were all secretly jealous of their father, probably jealous of his sons too, interrupting the lifeless conversation and taking all of her focus off the vultures and onto him and Jason.

“Good evening gentlemen, how are we doing tonight?” Jason almost gagged at his at his brother’s fake politeness, he was always the better one at socializing, his charming personality didn’t stop at women.

“Richard Grayson, boy you’ve certainly grown up since I last saw you!” An older man around Bruce’s age greets him stirring up the rest of the men.

“Dick Grayson huh, pleasure to finally meet Gotham’s new prince.”

“I hear you’re very popular with the ladies,” the group erupted into laughter, these men really love any jokes to do with a woman don’t they?

“And you must be Bruce’s other son, Tim is it?” Jason’s takes his eyes off the woman to give the man a slight scowl, he promised Bruce he’d behave tonight.

“No, no, that’s Jason the one that…” one of the men tries to begin to tell the epic tale of Jason Todd.

“Say, we would love to stay and chat but our date has been waiting for us for quite a bit now,” Dick quickly interrupts him before Jason pulls out any kind of weapon on these men and offers his hand to the woman.

She places her hand into his thinking that she’d rather be a damsel in a in distress in need of saving by a knight, or in Gotham’s case a masked vigilante, instead of spending another moment with some men that are old enough to be her father thinking about how’d she make the perfect trophy wife and the younger who simply want to get laid after the gala. As Dick pulls her away from the hungry drunken men, she offers her hand to Jason who gives her a confused and flustered look.

“If I’m not mistaken, Mr. Grayson said our date,” she says to him in the most soothing and charming voice Jason’s ever heard.

Forcing himself to snap out of this teenage haze, Jason takes her hand earning a smile from both her and his brother.

“I hope you don’t mind us whisking you away like that, you just seemed like you weren’t enjoying yourself,” Dick started, never dropping his darling smile.

“I don’t mind at all, I needed an excuse to get away from them,” the woman looks back at the men as they watch the brothers walk away with their “prize” in envy, “god they’re pathetic,” she sighs.

“Tell me about it,” Jason mumbles beside her.

“All night I’ve been surrounded by these people that only talk about their money, their jobs, their mansion and penthouses, it’s a bit exhausting, they really can’t think of anything else to discuss. It’s fascinating that they really think that’s the way to win over a woman.”

“Well I can promise you we’re a lot more interesting than that,” Dick laughs, “We also have access to all parts of the manor, how about Jason and I give you a little tour?” Dick states rather than asks earning a questioning look from Jason about what he’s planning.

“If you insist.”

Jason knew how Dick wanted him to jump into the dating pool. He frequently tried to set him up with either other vigilantes so he wouldn’t have to worry about his partner 24/7, or an ordinary Gotham citizen where Jason could escape from Gotham’s criminals and Red Hood duties to enjoy a semi-normal life. What Jason wasn’t understanding was why Dick had a chosen a woman that he was madly attracted to as well.

As Dick began his small tour of the manor, Jason stood awkwardly alongside the woman who was attentively watching his older brother and the places he showed. Jason didn’t know if he should join in or take over, make some small talk, he was sort of frozen in place and shy. You’d think that the big bad Red Hood who always had a mouth on him since he was Robin and would break Batman’s moral code would be the last person to get nervous around a pretty girl, maybe Red Hood wouldn’t but Jason Todd would.

“And this is the library, Jason’s favorite place in the manor,” Jason was snapped out of his thoughts when Dick mentioned his name, “once he comes in here you won’t see him for hours.”

“Big reader?” It took a moment for Jason to realize that the question was for him and not Dick.

“Yea, um, yes, I love literature.”

“Really, would do you love to read?” She was now fully focused on Jason who was struggling to maintain eye contact as his cheeks and ears were colored red.

He couldn’t keep his cool physically but he could try verbally, “classics,” he responded simply, not adding more to his portion of the conversation to which Dick internally sighed to.

“Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Austen?” The charming woman tried to get something out of the boy.

“All of them, and more of course,” Jason gave her a shy smile.

She heads towards the leather chair that Jason always sits in, making herself comfortable in his spot.

“This where you sit, get lost in all those stories you read?”

Something about her sitting in his chair made his blood rush. The way that she had made it look twice the size bigger being half the size of Jason, the way she relaxed into his chair, sinking into his molding. The boy was so mesmerized he forgot to answer her question.

Dick noticed and decided to swoop in, “Mhm, right here,” Dick drags now standing over her, “he’s a very smart guy you know with all the books he reads, runs in the family.”

She slowly shifted her gaze from Jason to Dick who was getting closer and closer, “I guess the looks do too, interesting for adopted brothers,” earning a smile from both boys.

“Excuse my brother for his shortness, we usually occupy ourselves with stunts at these galas, not beautiful women,” Dick says switching the attention back onto Jason, “he can get pretty shy.” Normally that statement would earn a punch to the shoulder or at least a nasty remark but Dick was right, Jason was pretty shy around pretty girls.

Dick and the mystery woman were now smiling at Jason who was leaned against the wall, close enough to where he can see the rise and fall of her chest, but far enough from engaging the way Dick was.

Dick gently tilts her head up with his large calloused hands forcing their gala girl to look up at him, “What do you think of my brother?”

Now it was the woman’s turn to be painted red, “I think he’s one of the most handsome and intriguing men I’ve ever seen.”

“And me?” Dick pouts.

“I think you’re one of the most handsome and charming man i’ve ever come across,” she says in a sultry tone that lures the boys in like sailors to a siren.

Both Dick and Jason’s blood is rushing, relishing in the fact that this goddess of a woman found the boys to be worthy of her attraction, that nobody else at the gala was as good as them.

“Tell me something, both of you,” she starts, “why stray from your usual chaos and shenanigans to show me around your manor?”

“You’re much more intriguing than anything we had in mind,” says Jason surprisingly boldly as he moves closer to her.

“You’re the most entertaining here tonight, baby,” adds in Dick who quickly got back his confidence after a brush to his ego.

“I heard I was beautiful too,” she teased, trying to get the higher ground again.

“I bet you get told that a lot, don’t you angel? You think that’s what those pigs were telling her Jay? How much of a pretty girl she is,” It was too late though, once Dick Grayson got wound up, he got complete control, “Now you tell me something doll, did they tell you how sexy you look in that dress of yours?” She shakes her head no, any kind of witty and teasing responses wiped from her pretty head, “Aw, well that’s just wrong, Jason tell her how good she looks in that dress.”

Both eyes are on Jason, waiting for his compliment, “She looks—you look stunning in that dress,” Dick was waiting for more, he knew Jason had the vocabulary he just needed the push, “You suit my color, red’s my favorite,” now they were getting something out of him.

“I’ll be sure to think of you when I wear red again,” god she was good. Dick had to bring the power back to him and Jason again, this all quickly became a game to him, his real entertainment for tonight’s gala.

“And what if we got rid of the red,” Dick slips the strap of her dress off her shoulder causing her to shudder, he’s in control again, “how’s that look?”

“Fuck,” Jason whispered under his breath.

“I think Jason feels the same way about it as I do,” with how quiet it was in the library his whisper was heard easily by the two, “what do you think pretty, you think it’s better?”

She felt like how Jason felt in the beginning, mesmerized and stunned. From Dick talking to her so confidently and his usage of pet names, to the way Jason was losing his fucking mind over her.

“Y’gonna answer me or are you gonna keep looking at Jay with fuck me eyes?” Dick wasn’t jealous, he was trying to tease the two, get them riled up.

Before she gets to respond there’s a knock at the door, “Master Richard and Master Jason, Master Bruce requests your attendance for at least another half hour.”

“We’ll be right out Alfred,” Richard quickly answered before Alfred could barge in on the scene, “shall we?”

Dick heads towards the door as Jason and their gala girl slowly fix themselves up, avoiding any kind of eye contact with each other.

Dick stops Jason before they head back out to the gala, “You’re welcome, Jaybird.”

[thedum1]

     I wanna talk about my dumb little OCs and whatnot.

This will get long and I will go overboard. So I’m trying out the read more thing. I’ll list them off from oldest to youngest, not when I made them but the year they would’ve been born...this list made me realize I’m not good at naming my OCs.

--For most of these the year the show/thing came out will be the year it takes place as well.--

Jazz and Coy the Goody Two Shoes Cat Siblings, not their actual last name, for Animaniacs They were made not long after the Warner Siblings were locked away. So I’d say around Christmas season of 1934. They were made to balance out the very high energy and extremely tooney Warner siblings. But their show flopped big time and the studio saw it as a waste of money. So similar to the Warner they got locked away but in a spare and mostly forgotten storage space. Why did it flop? Most popular cartoons had a very toon energy about them. Being full of slapstick comedy and cartoonish violence. The Cat Siblings were the exact opposite of that. Being calm and full of life lessons on being a well behave kid without the fun parts of cartoons. They were freed in 2020 during the C-19 Plague by Yakko accidentally. Now they chill with the Warner sibs and are slowly learning how to do slapstick toon things. (They are cartoon cats....they have no race...)

Some quick facts about the siblings:

Jazz, lowkey based off me in the sense of older sibling with a strong “must protect my younger siblings” vibe, imagine her around the same age as Yakko.

She’s a bisexual demigirl and goes by she/it.

Its got a crush on Roxanne from A Goofy Movie. It and and the others sometime pop by the D*sney Studio for a visit.

Coy, lowkey based of my younger siblings. A very big bookworm and enjoys school. He’s around Dot’s age.

Currently cisgendered and goes by he/him.

Michael Smith is my first and currently only trans OC. He’s from the YouTube series Good Game, though I’ve never watched it myself. He runs and own his own café/bakery, which is below his apartment. His food is what fuels Alex, Ryland and the others during practice sessions. It was actually Ryland who found his place and actually becomes a regular, he recommends his place as “gamer fuel” for practice. This leads to Michael and Ryland getting close and eventually developing a mutual crush, because yes. Michael was born in the year of 1987, his birthday is June 9th....because 6/9/87 as I am a child and 69 is fucking hilarious to me. (My special boy is just a regular white American boy.)

Facts about my son:

Michael’s parents LOVE the country Queen, Dolly Parton and originally named Michael after one of her songs, Jolene. They accept Michael’s transition and name change with open arms.

Alex and Michael’s relationship is a little rocky in the beginning because I’ve decided Alex has a slight thing for his gamer roomie and is jealous. He gets over it and actually ends up with one of Michael’s BFFs, a male Australian Cartoonist.

Michael and Ryland get married and even have a kid, which they announce at the Announcement of Michael’s second shop location becoming a thing.

I’ve come up with a stripper AU for Michael, I don’t have much info on it other than Michael works at an LGBT+ club and is a top tier stripper.

Phoebe “Frostine” Summers my ice power wielding villain for Teen Titans (2003 version which I’ve decided also takes place in 2003). She was brought into the world in 1987. She’s got her powers not long after turning 9. To be exact she started showing weird signs (always cold and could never warm up) the day after her 9th birthday. The first time her powers come out is around 7 months later. Of course her parents freak out and shipped her off somewhere. H.I.V.E. academy took her in when she turned 12. She learned to control her powers and became a really good villain. Though that wavers after meeting Robin. (My daughter is full white. Most ancestors come from predominantly white European contries.)

Facts about my icy daughter:

Yes, she got her villain name, Frostine, from the CandyLand character Queen Frostine. I am not sorry about that.

Around the time the show starts, ‘Go!’, Phoebe makes a civilian persona out of boredom. She goes to the same school as the bratty teen villain Kitten. She was very jealous of the fact that Kitten got Robin to be her date to the dance...yeah she was that into being a regular teen.

Did is say jealous? Yes I fucking did. I’m pushing my old childhood crush onto her. The reason she got into being a civilian was because she likes Robin how he’s nicer to her. She does reveal herself to him at some point.

While Phoebe is a villain for most of the series she actually doesn’t really like the other H.I.V.E. teens and likes to take their steals sometimes. Other times she’ll just annoy/distract them and get them caught. She eventually just stops being a villain at some point, which is great because she knows villain things to help the heroes.

Beau Young my bisexual “6teen” half Canadian Indigenous teen. Born in the year of 1988. Beau works at the Galleria Mall in the Albatross and Finch store. I haven’t touched his “story” in forever so I don’t remember too much for him. But he is half-sibs with another OC of that’s coming up. (His mother is where he gets his Indigenous blood from.)

Some facts I do remember about boy:

He’s friends with the main 6teen cast but is particularly close with Nikki and Wyatt...he thinks Wyatt is pretty and Nikki is super cool. But he’s not close with Jen or Jonesy. He finds Jen to be too uptight and Jonesy a very annoying, especially when it comes to girls.

He’s a grade above the main teens and is willing to help with school shit if asked. Yes that includes Jonesy...as long as someone else is there too.

Beau plays the violin and likes having coffee and jam sessions with Wyatt. The violin also gets him extra attention from girls, which Jonesy hates.

Him and Caitlin talk about relationships and judge each other on their taste in boys.

Beau Carriedo the half Spanish half French teen of Code Lyoko. Born in 1989 from a surrogate for two men...a French man, Francis Bonnefoy, and a Spanish man,  Antonio Fernández Carriedo. (I have ZERO shame in that one). He’s somewhat new to the OC pile. Another gay OC as I refuse to be stopped. Sometime ago I looked at Odd Della-Robbia and decided he needs a BF, so Beau was born. I also decided Odd may have not yet come to terms with non-heterosexuality so it takes time for anything to happen between them. Beau also has an on-off crush on William, which doesn’t become a thing anyways.

Facts about my NOT A-Hetalia-Love-Child child:

Beau is the same age and year as Yumi, which is why he knows William and is close with him. But he’s not a Lyoko warrior. 

He knows French, Spanish and English. Which makes him my first/oldest multilingual OC on this list.

It was Odd who made Beau realize he liked boys. For a while he thought none of the girls at Kadic were his type. Then BOOM!! Odd came into his life and he realized that there were girls who were his type...except for their gender.

Beau was someone who found Clone!William weird and off putting, not funny. I don’t know if I want him to find out that Clone!William is a clone and Real!William is trapped in Lyoko, which would then lead him to learning about Lyoko.

Taro “Yama” “Sakura” Yamada my Japanese femboy for Death Note. Born in 1990, between Matt and Mello. Been at Whammy’s house since he was but a wee babe of 2. He is cis and gay, just finds feminine clothes more comfortable to wear. He has a deep crush on Mello and even left Whammy’s to go for him, with Matt. The young boy learned coming off as a cute and a “needs to be protected” girl got extra cash and sadly attention. When the boys meet again Taro, who goes by Sakura to be “undercover”, helps Mello to get the Death Note. I’ve yet to decide if I wanna go with the canon ending for Matt and Mello or give the boys a semi-happy ending. I’m slowly working on a fic for him. Dunno if it’ll come out or actually be finished, it’s just a thing I work on on and off. Either way Taro doesn’t die.

Facts about my sad boy:

He’s good at acting and manipulation which Mello uses to his advantage.

Because I stopped caring I’ve decided Matt has a crush on Taro while Taro has a crush on Mello who is undecided on romance. How does it end? It depends on how I want to finish Taro’s story.

He is somewhat friendly with Near and would sit in silence with the boy before he left Whammy’s.

Taro is a fairly recent OC actually. Not even 2 years old if I’m remembering correctly.

Jean Grey my only goth OC at the moment. She’s the half-sister to my other OC Beau Young. In 1991 she was born and her X-Men loving mother named her after her (mother’s) favorite character. Yes. Beau and Jean have different mothers. They come from polyamory parents and Jean carries that on into her own relationships. She’s very bi and has dated both boys and girls before Total Drama takes place. She eventually starts dating Cody, sometime before the end of season one, and Lindsay, between Action and World Tour. (Homegirl is just white...that’s it really.)

Fact ‘aboot’ bi-poly goth girl:

She’s got a couple of pet chinchillas and misses them terribly when she’s doing Total Drama.

She’s goth in terms of clothes mostly. She definitely doesn’t act like typical goths do and is fine with that. She’s been tempted to “borrow” Gwen’s clothes during the competition.

She’s got the strong urge to fist fight Heather, Courtney and Alejandro...Chris and Chef too obviously, as I’m sure most of the competitors do.

I’m working on a fic where Jean is a new to fame cover artist and is still dealing with Total Drama nonsense...I’m also not that far into it.

Jasmine “Jas” Luna was technically me at one point before just becoming her own person. She was born in 1994 to a workaholic mother and loving father. Sadly her father was a victim of a speeding accident when she was 8 and her mother never cared for children. She left home at 18 to wherever Mystic Messenger takes place. She meets and befriend a young man who also recently left home. They find a kitten and become cat parents for the little guy. Her canon story is intertwined with said friend and they go through Zen and Saeyoung’s stories at the same time. She’s related to an MC on this list as well.  (She’s half American Indigenous and half Caucasian.)

Facts about no-longer-me MC:

She discovered the lovecore aesthetic right before she moved away from home and it became her everything. The soft pinks and vibrant reds paired with hearts is just her vibe. Even the food she makes is cute and soft looking.

Her cat is my cat but smaller and nicer. She has him during the events of Mystic Messenger and will set up kitty playdates with Elizabeth the Third no matter the ending.

Her “true” ending is with Saeyoung. But if I had to chose a different member for her to end up with it’d be best coffee wife Jaehee. She finds her very pretty and is touchy with her, though it’s platonic when she’s dating one of the boys.

My shortest adult human MC/OC. Standing at a whopping 5 feet even and on the plump side to boot. If she was a male....4′10″ max. We love short kings and queens.

She knows English, Korean and Japanese. Which makes her my second multilingual OC. While I’m sure Mystic Messenger takes place in Korea I thought it’d be fun if it was in Japan and was amongst a group of Korean folks.

Jaci Summerhill the younger but much taller than his cousin, Jas, MC of Obey Me. 1997 the year of their birth...along with their twin brother Jack. Jaci, and Obey Me, got me to come to terms with my non-cis...ness?? When I first started the game I used my name but that felt wrong. So a google search later Jaci was born. While it took some time for Jaci to become what he is today I knew he was meant to be masc presenting, so a masculine nonbinary Jaci became permanent. His pronouns are he/they. At the moment, when not in the Devildom Jaci lives in France as a professional chef. (Jaci is mostly American Indigenous.)

Facts about my tallest OC/MC:

Tallest? YES!! This version of Jaci is my tallest character. They stand at a WHOPPING 7 feet even!! It’s why I’m such a big fan of tall reader/MC fics. Had Jaci been AFAB instead of AMAB they’d be slightly taller standing at 7′3″ because tall ladies are my favorite.

Jaci is very weak when it comes to Asmodeus, Simeon and of course Luke. The Little D’s are also a slight weak point for them. He’d do anything they asked because he just loves them that much.

My sweet tall child....is a bit of a himbo. They are very big, both height and build. Not the best when it comes to school. Yet he did learn 2 other languages. He speaks English, French and Japanese.

Jas and Jaci are very close and see each other as siblings more than cousins. Before Jaci became an exchange student he used to visit at least twice a year. They even learned Japanese because she did. 

Miguel Jimenez my only selective mute OC who lives in Gravity Falls. Born in 1999 just before summer season, so May-ish I’d say. He’s the young nephew to local TV personality Shandra Jimenez. He lives not to far from a bestie of his with Shandra and his older sister, Andrea. He likes to spend the summer with the Pines Twins post-Stan’s-first-party-at-the-Shack. Miguel and Andrea lost their parents to a terrible accident when the young boy was even younger. That lead him to being mute, only talking if he feels comfortable around the person. (If you didn’t pick up on it Miguel is Hispanic.)

Facts about my quiet child:

He was gonna be gay but I believe just queer is more fitting for him. It’s a nice umbrella term for him and he feels most comfortable using it. He does date Dipper by the end of the show though, so draw up whatever conclusions you want.

Miguel “co-parents” Waddles with Mable, as he’s grew quite attached to the sweet pig.

Miguel’s first friends are Candy and Grenda. But he considers Dipper to be his best friend and talks to him for the first time right before the twins leave. They do nightly phone calls till they can see each other again.

Wendy and her group of friends (which includes Andrea) will sometimes let Miguel hangout with them, especially when Candy and Grenda are busy and can’t hangout with him themselves.

Jasmine “Jazz” Luna (Alt version of Jas) Uh...I’m gonna be real with y’all. Jazz is for the new-ish Cheritz game ‘The Ssum’ and I don’t have any plans playing it after the 200 days are over. Since I have no real way to say this game as a set date, other than the early 2020s, I’ll say she was born in 1999. (She’s just like Jas...don’t know what to tell you.)

Do I have facts for her??

Um....she dated Zen (not MysMes timeline) for a hot minute I guess.

She’s cousins with TWST!Jaci.

So far she’s not me but not her own person??? Does that make sense?

This is probably it for her. I’m planning on uninstalling The Ssum when I’ve finished the story for Teo. Won’t even bother looking at Harry’s. Way too many microtransactions. 

Julien DeForest the fully French OC for Miraculous Ladybug. He’s got lesbian moms who run a popular flower shop. He has no contact with his dad beyond birthday gifts and congratulation phone calls, by mutual agreement as papa moved and has a budding career. 2001 is Julien’s year. He’s my gay little mural artist who’s got a FAT crush on Cat Noir. He does enjoy helping his moms in the shop though. He may or may not also end up crushing on Nathaniel, his BFF, and Adrien. Thomas Astruc can fight me in the back of a Denny’s for the adoption papers for his characters. I’d treat them better....also make more of them openly LGBT+. (Boy is just white.)

Fact about gay flower son:

If I wanted to give him a canon miraculous it would be the Bee. He’d place it on the back on his head right above his little ponytail, if I feel like drawing him with it. If he doesn’t get a miraculous he actually cuts his hair shorter.

Julien has been friends with Nathaniel for years, since they were 8ish. Julien used to do those stupid looking anime doodles on Nath’s notes when he was bored, which is how he got into The Arts~!!

My boy just loves jamming out to Clara Nightingale and Jagged Stone while working on his next mural....sometimes his music gets too loud and he gets paint on some poor soul who “sneaks” up on him.

One of Julien’s mom is a black woman named Odette. He loves her and how happy she’s made his birth mom. When he was little, about 6ish, he got to be the ring bearer in their wedding. It’s one of his favorite memories and stories.

Jaci Summerhill (Alt version of Obey Me!Jaci)  but now he’s cisgender and hangs out with twink-ified (for the most part) D*sney Villains. Just like The Ssum I have no idea when Twisted Wonderland takes place so I’ll say the early 2020s. With my...sub-par math skills I’ve come to the conclusion that TWsT!Jaci was born in 2005. I’m not too far into the game at the moment so TWST!Jaci doesn’t have much to him. I do like the idea of him being a theater kid and he likes musicals in particular. (Again, he’s just like Obey Me!Jaci.)

Some facts I do have about boy:

His favorite musical is Chicago and he loves Billy Flynn’s songs the most. He’s also fond of Sweeney Todd and knows all the lyrics to all the songs.

Jaci actually doesn’t really like Grim and blames him for them almost losing Ramshackle when they were dealing with Azul. He does feel a little bad the little gremlin doesn’t have family.

He’s slowly learning all 800+ rules that Heartslabyul has to follow...mainly to get on Riddle’s good side because he thinks the dormleader is very pretty. Also cause his favorite dorm to hang out in is the Red Queen’s dorm.

Despite Jaci learning all of the Queen’s rules he finds Vil’s to be too much for him. Perhaps it’s because of the power Vil has. Good with potions and a huge fan base? Yeah, that’s intimidating.

Kan-D is my rollerblading and graffitiing teen for Jet Set Radio Future. I read somewhere from Google JSRF takes place in 2024. Since I want Kan-D to be around 16 he was born in 2008. The canon characters don’t have too much going on for them so neither does Kan-D TBH. (He’s fully Indigenous.)

Facts ‘bout skater boi:

He lives in Tokyo with his dad’s parents because he was causing problems and his parents were sick of him.

I’ve dubbed this boy as pansexual. He likes to tease Yoyo because he likes to see him all flustered. He’s also got a crush on Boogie and maybe had a thing with one of the Rapid 99 girls....though that’s “just a rumor”. 

This skater teen loves grinding and is found in Sky Dinosaurian Square. The way he joins the GGs is actually a grinding challenge. Gotta do the same tricks he does, like Combo’s challenge.

Beat and Kan-D have a frenemies relationship. Kan-D just finds him annoying and a little egotistical.

Ishya Chee my first fully adult OC. MHA takes plays mid to late 2100s so I have no idea when she’d be born. I will say she’s 30. Ishya and her parents moved to Japan when she was just starting her last year of middle school. Her powers are plant based, she can grow plants from her limbs and her “hair” is thick vines. She’s in a relationship with FatGum and they want to get married, with the 1-A students as guests because those are her kids now...sans Mineta. (Ms. Chee is afro-indigenous, she’s got a black mom and American indigenous dad.)

Facts about plant mom:

I said the 1-A (-Mineta) kids are her children...I’m not really lying. She cares for them obviously but Bakugo is the one kids she definitely sees as hers. Seeing how his mom treats him (WHO SMACKS THEIR KID INFRONT OF HIS TEACHERS ONE WHO WAS THE NUMBER ONE HERO!!???) leads her to being protective of him when talking about the class.

Inshya is a class assistant?? Like in the MHA where she is a real character the first year classes get a little like...teacher assistant. They help pass out papers, grade assignments and act as a bit of a counselor for the students, especially the heroes-in-training. She got that job though Aizawa after a heroing accident.

Her reaction when Bakugo was kidnapped was heart wrenching. After all the students were taken care of she just clung onto Aizawa and sobbed. In the UA apology she’s in standing behind the others, with the other TA, and she’s clearly tired and not paying attention.

Ishya’s always wanted kids but the heroing accident left her unable to. That’s why Aizawa got her the UA job. She gets to help budding heroes grow up and act as a sort of parental figure for them if need be.

Jazz is my ACsona so no real age other than young adult. Currently he is a mostly masculine pronoun using genderfluid 20-something year old. The pronouns he uses are he/they/it. Their backstory differs depending on the AC game. I play New Leaf (I need a 3ds charger) and Pocket Camp but I desperately want New Horizons. (He’s American Indigenous and Hispanic.)

Small facts about the sona:

He likes wearing feminine clothes with a predominantly soft pastel color pallet. Things like skirts in a mid to light neutral color with a pastel colored top. Typically paired with cute accessories and mary janes.

He’s very close with Apollo, Julien and Cherry. I like to imagine Julien and Cherry take turns in playing dress up with him. Apollo gets the after pics for final say though.

Please gift this sweet child flowers. He loves them so much and cherishes them for so long and gets sad when they wilt. He’ll save and press a flower from each bouquet he’s received.

Bubblegum KK is his favorite. Do I need to say it? Probably not. Is it cliché and over done? Definitely. Do I care? Pft. Fuck no, man. Just let my little guy bop along amongst the flowers with the homies as they sing Bubblegum KK.

        ~~~~~~Feel free to ask about any of them or just judge me.~~~~~~

[luckywolfsbane]

Sage, writing her statement: Our eldest sister is dead.

Everos: *crying*

Sage: Sorrows. Prayers.

Meet the Crept siblings:

Katya, Sage, Robin, and Everos.

Katya, Sage, and Robin Crept are Everos's older sisters. They're a set of triplets and are the oldest three guardians of the bunch.

Katya is considered the elder guardian and essentially runs the show. If it doesn't go through her, it's not an official act of the guardians. She's calm and calculating but rarely sees fit to act and interfere with the rest of the world. She believes they shouldn't try to save mortals from themselves, going as far as to refuse to counsel world leaders that would otherwise seek their opinions. She believes that, since their world knowledge is outdated, they have nothing of true value to offer to running the world. She watches for world-ending threats and helps heroes where she can, but leaves most of the action to the mortal heroes themselves. Everos is the only guardian who openly acts without her approval, which can easily be attributed to Katya stating MANY times that he isn't a true guardian. She's highly traditional and believes their rules for what should and shouldn't be are already cut and dry. She has a very black and white worldview.

Sage is mute... or extremely non-verbal? No one actually knows. She insists she can't speak. However, she did speak when they were younger. There was no accident or illness that took her voice. It can be easily assumed that she impulsively took a vow of silence, or even that she may have been cursed without anyone knowing. In any case, whether or not it's true that she can't speak, it is true that she never does. As such, Sage writes all her statements, opinions, and general dialogs in a journal she carries at all times. It's not exactly efficient, but by now, she is the quickest writer out of any guardian. While easily assumed to be emotionless, she has one of the softest hearts of the entire group. She copes with this by overanalyzing and using excessive logic to escape most of her emotional reaponses.

Robin is the youngest triplet and the most mortal in her actions. She didn't age the same as her sisters due to her refusal to "gather dust." She's a bookworm and seeks scholars and common minds all around the world. She does this, however, in secret. This also makes her the most wise out of the traditional guardians. She often seeks Everos's counsel when approaching issues with Katya, creating a logical bridge between Everos and Katya without the elder knowing. Robin's powers cover luck and chance, allowing her to reduce the odds that Katya will ever find out where her wisdom and information come from. She's not overly proud. However, she does pride herself on being the least informed in any room so as to always learn as much as she can. Any ruler that has claimed to have received counsel from a guardian aside from Everos has likely consulted Robin in secret. She's often viewed as having her heart on her sleeve, but also as a sort of "Lady Luck."

Everos was cursed with immortality by his then fiancée, who was killed seconds before she could use the same spell to spare herself. Since the curse must be undone by the caster, Everos remained immortal. Since he didn't gain this status via a blessing or ritual, Katya refuses to recognize him. It can be said, however, that Katya is the ONLY one who doesn't view Everos as a guardian. However, since it must have her approval to be official, Everos isn't considered a guardian in any official capacity by the start of the series. He's known as the "Bearer of Prophecies." Having befriended many oracles over the centuries, Everos safeguards their prophecies and sees them to fruition/helps avoid them in any way he can. He's known widely as "The Immortal Nomad" since he's been known to wander the world without settling for more than a few decades at a time. If they're immortal and don't consider Everos an old friend, they're either freshly immortal or someone to be suspicious of.

[tessxii]

Introduction to Tess & Nora from the wattpad story ''Before the End | A Stranger Things Story''

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·. MEET • TESS WHEELER

Name: Tess Wheeler Age: 20 (Is the oldest sister of the Wheeler family) Appearance description: Long black (dyed) hair, bright blue eyes, always wears dark makeup, metalhead fashion style, average height and has a resting bitch face. (This is actually how I look like lol) Personality: Brutally honest (doesn't have any filter with words, cusses a lot and can get really bitchy if necessary), very introverted but has some loud moments, very loyal and is considered a freak Bestfriends: Nora Ross & Robin Buckley Friends: The rest of the Hawkins gang Love pairing in the story: Eddie Munson Likes: Rainy days, smoking, Alone time, Horror movies, Scaring people, Metal/Rock music & drawing Dislikes: Popular crowd mainly cheerleaders, school, the upside down & parties (can go to a party if forced though) A little bit more about Tess Wheeler: Tess is the oldest sibling in the Wheeler family, she discovered everything regarding the upside down back in '83 when Will Byers went missing. At the time she was someone who didn't have much of a friend group until the scary events happened which brought new friendships to her such as Nora Ross who became her bestfriend and with friends the younger kids Dustin and Lucas. Nancy is the sibling she is the closest too even if she is like the ''opposite'' type of Tess they have a good sistership. In '84 when the mind flayer possessed Will she also grew a friendship with Steve Harrington, that was after he stopped being an asshole to say the least along with becoming friends with Max Mayfield. During the school life she's been troubled such as skipping whole school days and classes, not giving that much of a shit about grades which caused her to be held back twice. She was meant to graduate High School when Steve graduated but she didn't, in '85 she earned a second bestfriend which is Robin Buckley and along with Nora they became a little friend trio. Tess have never been the type to be in relationships as she just knew she had no potential in being a girlfriend to anybody not only because of her attitude and how she looks like, being one of the only metalheads that are a girl in school had it's downs. In '86 it's when things started to change for her, not only had she promised Nora and Robin to actually do her school work so she could graduate finally and what motivated her was to get out of Hawkins to start a new life. What made school a bit more annoying is Jason Carver and his group of friends who always made fun of Tess which have caused in several punches in the face from Tess (no shame in that really, he deserves it). Along with promising to do her school work and graduate in '86 she connected with someone she never thought she would ever expect having in her life, that being Eddie Munson the school ''freak''. Being so stubborn as she is she didn't know that she is falling hard for him and that he is doing the same, two people who are so alike each other fit like puzzle pieces. The question is how they're going to survive the upcoming events from the upside down...together.

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·. MEET•NORA ROSS

Name: Nora Ross Age: 19 Appearance description: Brown hair long enough to reach her shoulders, brown eyes, is pretty short (Kinda Nancy's height), petite, doesn't wear too much make up but likes to keep it cute, very cute fashion sense that would be considered girly and has the kindest smile. Personality: Pretty shy and doesn't like to get unecessary attention, but can get very confident and outgoing if she trusts somebody. She has her sassy moments which usually comes unexpected which is cuz of her adorable appearance. She is very well behaved and formal, is also like the second brain of the gang after Dustin as she is very intelligent. Bestfriends: Tess Wheeler & Robin Buckley Friends: The rest of the Hawkins gang Love pairing in the story: Steve Harrington Likes: Romantic movies, reading, photography, nature, taking care of plants and writing Dislikes: When people are too loud, the popular crowd, the upside down and (believe me or not) school too

A little bit more about Nora Ross: Nora is an only child and lives with her mom and dad, she doesn't come from a strict family as her parents are pretty chill but she is raised to be very well behaved. She also is neighbors with the Wheelers. She also discovered the upside down back in '83 when Will Byers went missing which was also the year she developed a strong friendship with Tess Wheeler who became her bestfriend. She's always had some slight interest in Steve Harrington but it felt rude of her to have that small crush because at the time Steve was together with Tess younger sister Nancy Wheeler, she pretty much became the second babysitter as she had to make sure the younger ones aka. Mike, Dustin, Lucas etc were safe during the scary events. In '84 she tried to move on from her crush but it didn't fully disappear when she found out Nancy and him had split. She developed a really good friendship with Max Mayfield at the time too, she taught Max that why Lucas was acting so ''strange'' was because he had a crush on her and was the one who styled Max for the Snow Ball prom. Her school life have never been that much of a trouble, she's always been intelligent with the subjects in school and have had to help a couple students with their homework a few times which includes Tess. In '85 she earned her second bestfriend which is Robin Buckley who she grew closer to during the awful time with being basically kidnapped by the Russians. Her, Robin and Tess eventually formed a little friend trio which became unbreakable and during this time around her crush grew incredibly strong for Steve to the point Robin also had started to push Nora to say something. As of events of '86 when things starts to get more extreme with the upside down doing again, more shit to Hawkins she's decided that she is going to say something to Steve and see what happens. Along with the distraction of trying to get Tess to graduate with her that year but something happens which feels like a dream coming true....but can she survive it and will Steve be by her side?

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.

Here is the information I can give so far about Tess Wheeler and Nora Ross, these two are just me and my real bestfriend Nora being put into the book. Like I said in the previous post about this book is that there is slight changes only such as our ages (we're 22 and 21 in real life but 20 and 19 in the book) and the fact that we're American in this book, the stuff such as our personalities and looks/fashion sense (that includes our dislikes/likes) are actually real. I'm actually a metalhead in real life, I have one hell of an attitude but can be nice if I like you, I was actually held back in school twice which caused me to graduate later than everyone else so that's not even made up either. When it comes to Nora she's actually that kind, tiny bit shy but very smart, her fashion sense is also incredibly cute. And oh, there isn't anyone that fits Steve Harrington more than her but she could say the same for me and Eddie. - HERE IS THE LINK TO THE BOOK: https://www.wattpad.com/story/318404693-before-the-end-a-stranger-things-story

[joisbishmyoga]

Ok, to go with my headcanon about the Hogwarts Founders (to wit: based on etymology, they can't be contemporous), I have headcanons about Hogwarts castle itself.

Number one! It, like the Founders, was ALSO not all contemporous. (And my apologies that I still can't find the goddamn keep-reading option.)

Helga never-actually-Hufflepuff's Hogwarts, c. 990-1090:

The original and oldest part of the school is the tower that now houses the famous moving staircases and the Headmaster's Office. (It wasn't alone, though: it had a number of outbuildings, stables and smithies and such, that have long since vanished.)

The tower was not, at the time, a hollow column full of moving staircases. It was a defensive watchtower akin to Threave Castle in Scotland, though somewhat taller and a little bit larger. It was also not round at the time, which can still be seen in the fact that the interior is square; later generations simply added walls to make it round. There are almost certainly late medieval and Renaissance defenses, as well as secret passages, built into the space between the original tower and the rounding walls.

The tower's long-since-removed floors:

Cellars (wine and cold storage).

Ground floor (entrance, reception, kitchens).

2nd floor, in the American style of count (dining, Helga's room).
3rd floor (classrooms)

4th floor (dorms: divided by gender and class rather than age)

5th floor (servants and defense).

The cellars expanded regularly over the centuries, a new room or corridor or floor built every time the castle's population (or political demands, see below) needed more cold storage.

The conical roof and the modern Headmaster's suite were added at a much later date.

Rowena Hraefenclew's Hogwarts, c. 1050-1150:

The first expansion of the castle was the modern-day Great Hall, though it lacked the enchanted ceiling attributed later to Ravenclaw. The recieving of guests was transferred to this space from the original tower, and the grand entertainments of medieval feasts and banquets were added to school life -- a requirement of any social networking, as Rowena steered the school through the political mess of the era without getting entangled in any of it.

(The enchanted ceiling was a Renaissance creation, adding light to what had been a very dim space. The original enchantment wasn't of the sky, though, and the modern ceiling would appall the people of the 1400s: what is so grand or impressive or artistic about just making the roof invisible?

(Not having a masterpiece of Christian religious art looming over the heads of hundreds -- thousands -- of magicals who'd just lived through zealous persecution, is what. The people who charmed it all invisible considered the frescoes to be quite gauche and impolitic.))

Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor's Hogwarts, c. 1150-1250:

The High Middle Ages brought a massive amount of upheaval to England (and France: half of the modern nation was ruled by England at the start of this period), as well as the rest of Europe. This is the era later connected to Robin Hood, the age of the Magna Carta and Richard the Lionheart and Prince (King) John... and that is where we begin, with Richard faffing off to join the (many, many, MANY) Crusades, and King John losing the entirety of the French regions of his rule. Loss of land = loss of wealth --> spikes in taxes and fees on nobles --> furious nobles --> Magna Carta + King John's reputation forever in the toilet + the absentee and therefore not interfering with nobles' power and money King Richard getting lauded as the best king ever (spoiler: he v much was NOT).

Richard's career included internecine rebellions, uprisings, cruelty in what provinces he bothered to rule (in France), and widespread Jewish persecution. (Things that are pretty much always in Europe: Jewish persecution. The Crusades were mostly massive disasters that did very little to Islamic rule and population in the Holy Land, but exterminated some 90% of Jewish Europe on the way. HSST.)

All of this is to say that Salazar and Godric's Hogwarts expanded to accomodate thousands of Jewish, wandering-poor, and magical refugees from the Continent: Hogwarts was still the only formal, centralized school of magic in all of Europe, and would be for several more decades.

The school still didn't reach the modern extent by the end of this building period, but got up to about 50 percent, adding almost everything on one side of the ravine that cuts through the bluff. Except for the clock tower, the Great Hall's half of the school was complete.

This is also when Hogsmeade changed from being a House-Elf farming settlement to a human town, and for the same reason: Continental refugees, largely from the Childrens' Crusade -- thousands of people of all ages, later thought to all be children due to a misunderstanding in language. (The word for "child" was co-opted to mean "the working/wandering poor": basically, "the (socially) powerless".)

The post-Founders' Hogwarts, c. 1250-1900:

The second half of the school, the conical tower rooftops (and rooms inside them), the internal plumbing for baths (but not toilets), and all the bridges -- both the stone ones across the ravine and the wooden one to Hogsmeade -- were all built in a hurry in the late 1500 and early 1600s, this time to handle refugees during the last few decades before the Statute of Secrecy. The modern Headmaster's Office was also built at this time, as high as possible to cover all approaches to Hogwarts.

Unlike the stone bridges of the ravine, the bridge to Hogsmeade has always been made of wood, in order to be easily destroyed should the castle come under attack. (And in fact it actually has been destroyed several times, most recently in the 1970s as a pre-emptive measure against Voldemort. It was then rebuilt in 1982 with more nostalgia than construction skill.)

As mentioned before, this -- the early 1600s -- is when the Great Hall's enchanted fresco ceiling was rendered invisible.

The T-shaped clock wing on the Great Hall's side, being a six-story pendulum-type clock, was built in the early 1800s, and improved in the late 1800s for accuracy and not whacking students around like golf balls. (The restrooms were also added and improved at these times.)

The greenhouses were built around 1900: Dumbledore might well have had Herbology classes before they were put in.

Now then. That is all headcanon #1. Construction headcanon #2:

Hogwarts is in TERRIBLE condition.

The famous enchanted ceiling is perhaps the most obvious damaged spot. Or it would be if it hadn't been charmed invisible. While it had Owl Post holes in it. (For the record, the easiest way to bring down, say, a barn? Chop a 3x3 ft. hole in the roof and wait ten years.) For the last four or five centuries, every time someone on staff noticed they were getting dripped on, they just threw an Impervious Charm up at the ceiling and considered the leak magically fixed. There's literally nothing left but the Impervious charms and a few scraps of gold leaf.

The stairs are another trouble spot. Centuries of people walking on them should have them worn down in the middle to look like you cut a bowl in half vertically. Would have, but the House Elves have been pulling the stone up flat again for centuries, and eventually started using magic to color-match and add enough support to the remaining stone to take people's weight. Some of the well-known trick stairs that like to disappear? That's not the magic being playful. That's the magic of late House Elves fritzing out to show there's no step left. (The moving stairs have also ground down their joints to nothing.)

It's the same across the entire castle. Centuries of manipulating the materials and covering wear with illusions and throwing Impervious Charms at drafts and drips means a lot of Hogwarts is nothing but swiss cheese and fading spells cast by long-deceased magicals anymore.

(Or it was, until the Battle of Hogwarts in 1998 disrupted enough of the remaining spells to drop them. Voldemort's forces were powerful, but not THAT powerful.)

(A large percentage of the two generations following Harry's were saved by the Battle of Hogwarts. Slytherin House was a misaimed hex away from flooding, and most of the towers were going to collapse with a few more winters of ice picking away at the mortar. Of course if the previous several centuries of magicals had just bothered to check...)

[lov3nerdstuff]

Voluptas Noctis Aeternae {Part 7.3}

*Severus Snape x OC*

Summary: It is the year 1983 when the ordinary life of Robin Mitchell takes a drastic turn: she is accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite the struggles of being a muggle-born in Slytherin, she soon discovers her passion for Potions, and even manages the impossible: gaining the favor of Severus Snape. Throughout the years, Robin finds that the not quite so ordinary Potions Professor goes from being a brooding stranger to being more than she had ever deemed possible. An ally, a mentor, a friend... and eventually, the person she loves the most. Through adventure, prophecies and the little struggles of daily life in a castle full of mysteries, Robin chooses a path for herself, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more, and two people abandoned by the world can finally find a home.

General warnings: professor x student, blood, violence, trauma, neglectful families, bullying, cursing

Words: 5k

Read Part 1.1 here! All Parts can be found on the Masterlist!

______________________________

Lunch break came and went, and so did the second half of the conference. Robin and Snape continued doing what they had been doing for the most part of the day, quietly criticising the many misconceptions, mistakes and missing pieces of the other people's lectures, but they wouldn't be as tactless as to publicly bring it up in the discussions. All corrections and truths, as well as all snarky comments and crude jokes were kept exclusively between the two of them. The handbook, or rather the immense knowledge that was compiled in it by now, wasn't supposed to become known, especially not around here in these circles, and thus Robin had to refrain from correcting mistakes for the most part anyway. Only when she was asked for her opinion specifically – which actually had become an almost usual occurrence at this point – did she speak up at all. But of course the conference wouldn't have been the same without Kenneth Crowe, nor without his not so subtle attempts to mess with Robin once again.

"May I remark, Miss Mitchell, you haven't commented on my presentation yet, and given your inclination to comment on absolutely everything, that does surprise me now. So please enlighten us, what brilliant conclusion did you come to this time?" He asked her during the discussion to his lecture, his tone so pointedly hostile and sarcastic that a few people frowned at him in confusion. They must've been living under a rock for the last two years if they had missed this growing one-sided rivalry.

"Never give a green cat a flamethrower." Robin replied in perfect neutrality an instant later, looking him dead in the eye from all the way across the room. Admittedly, she had come prepared for such a situation this time around, and that left her feeling a lot more in control of the situation than she had in the previous years. Next to her, Snape raised an eyebrow and tried very hard not to look too amused by what he certainly guessed was coming.

Crowe however openly scoffed at Robin, rolling his eyes in a condescending manner, before crossing his arms over his chest. "Matters certainly get more ridiculous every single year; I won't even honor that statement by questioning it."

"That would be the point." Robin gave him a polite little smile, and multiple people in the room quietly snorted against better judgement. "I'm glad you agree with me on the issue. Some matters simply aren't worth to be commented on."

A few jaws dropped, Crowe's being one of them, but he stayed pointedly quiet in return and instead seemed to ignore Robin entirely from there on. Just what she had wanted. That settled the issue, and the afternoon continued on quietly until the last lecture was over, upon which the crowd assembled in the front for the usual picture to be taken. Unlike last year, Robin didn't have to convince Snape to partake, and they found their place easily just like everyone else did. After that however, Robin was asked to stand for a second photograph all by herself, which obviously was a usual procedure for the people who gave the lectures. She wasn't particularly fond of the idea, but it would've taken more time to argue herself out of it than to get it over with, and thus she simply shook her hair out of the bun it had been in and stood still.

"Smile for me, would you?" The photographer asked, and Robin tried to somewhat smile without looking stupid. But obviously he wouldn't have her not-smile. "No no no, smile with your entire face, like you actually mean it!"

"The others didn't have to smile either." She scoffed, thinking of how all the men before her had been done with the picture within seconds, and without a comment. "So why do I have to? Just because I'm female doesn't make me a dress up doll."

"I'm sure your smile is lovely, sweetheart." He reasoned and gave her a look that annoyed Robin within a second. "They say a woman's smile is the most enchanting thing about her, you know…"

"That is the best you can do? Not very creative, is it?" Snape remarked from just a little off to the side, raising an eyebrow at the photographer, absolutely unimpressed. "I would rather say it's the mind that enchants, but what would you know about that, right?"

Robin couldn't help laughing at the comment, at the sheer sass in it, and even just at the expression on Snape's face. Before she knew, her photo was taken and the grumbling photographer packed up without another word to either of them. Well, at least she was smiling like he'd wanted her to, even if she had looked behind the camera rather than into it.

What followed was the usual: endless smalltalk and conversations, being handed over from one person to the next, and having to tell people as politely as possible that her life wasn't a topic she would give them information on. But unlike last year, Snape stayed by Robin's side the entire time and thereby made the whole procedure a lot more bearable. He obviously didn't have the same reputation here as he did back at Hogwarts, but even without knowing exactly who he was, his height, scowls and generally dark appearance sufficed to keep people at a distance from both of them. For the most part at least.

"So you are the famous Miss Mitchell…" A man perhaps a little older than Snape approached them in a slow saunter in the very moment Robin's previous conversation came to an end. She had noticed how he'd kept throwing glances at her throughout the evening, but only now he actually approached her, in obvious disdain that Snape still refused to leave her side. Perhaps that's why his eyes and focus stayed exclusively on Robin. "A true honour to meet you at last."

"I'm Robin Mitchell, yes." She replied, after not finding a name tag on him anywhere. "But I'm afraid I didn't catch your name."

"Jacob Crowe." He smiled way too brightly, bowing in an exaggerated manner. "You already know my brother Kenneth, unfortunately. But let me assure you that not everyone in our family is quite as ignorant as him."

"Nice to meet you, then." Robin made herself return a polite smile even though his forcefully charming demeanor made her rather want to scowl. At least Snape's hand was still securely resting on her back, had been from the start of these torturous conversations, and she found herself leaning into him the slightest bit more on instinct now. He surely wouldn't mind… just for the duration of this uncomfortable situation.

"I must say, your presentation was quite enchanting." Crowe gave her another look that was probably supposed to be dashing, but only did the very opposite. "A fascinating story of research and intellect, told by the most fascinating woman I have ever seen. Logically, I was clinging onto your every word."

"Yes, that much was obvious." Snape taunted with the inevitable scowl, glowering at Crowe before Robin had to come up with a reply on her own. It was the first and only time he had gotten himself involved in any of Robin's conversations this evening, and good gods he couldn't have picked a better time.

Crowe glared right back at him, making a face that was in no way inferior in its hostility to that of his brother. "And you are…?"

"Tired of hearing you speak when you clearly have nothing to say." Snape replied in a cutting voice that was filled with boredom and disdain alike, and yet he tugged Robin even closer to his side ever so gently. Always the contradiction.

Crowe glared at him for another moment, then turned back to Robin with a still somewhat irritated expression that he however tried to cover up with another smile. "You are a remarkable woman, Robin… It would be a true joy to get to know you, to hear more about your research and life. But then again, you seem to be spoken for already."

"As a matter of fact, I generally only speak for myself." Robin replied calmly, but yet in a tone that made abundantly clear what she thought of his advances. "And I am here to speak about research, not about my personal life."

"There's no harm in combining work and pleasure, my dear." He gave her another almost suggestive grin, obviously misunderstanding her previous statement. "I know for a fact that you are quite exceptional in one, and I would love to find out about the other."

"Good evening, Mister Crowe." She got out more or less politely, then turned on her heels and pulled Snape towards the doors with her. He seemed no less eager to finally leave this place, which made it more of a common hasting than either leading the other really. However before they could get far, another group of three men stepped into their way. They at least acknowledged Snape with a nod before focusing entirely on Robin.

"Miss Mitchell, I was wondering if you could tell us a bit more about the Siazella you found on accident. I have never heard of it before, which should be surprising enough at my age! How on earth did you know what you were dealing with?" The oldest in the group got right to the point, smiling in a curious and friendly manner at least, and Robin still had to suppress a sigh. She just wanted to leave… but that would have to wait. If Dumbledore had already set her up for the lecture, he surely would expect her to answer the professional questions as well. At least these men actually seemed sincerely interested in her research.

For another twenty minutes Robin elaborated on the Siazella and her knowledge of it, careful to leave out her handbook nonetheless, and once she also had answered any follow-up questions, the three men finally wished them a good night and let them be at last. Two heartbeats passed, and then Snape and Robin practically ran out the doors to avoid getting held up another time. Only once they had rushed all the way through the hallways and down the first flight of stairs, they finally slowed down a little, which left Robin both breathless and amused. Somehow, fleeing from the crime scene together had a charme in itself.

"I'm glad it's finally over…" She sighed as they walked down the elaborate staircase that –as everything in the wizarding world, it seemed– was merely lit by an astonishing number of candles. "The day was more annoying than I remembered it to be, and a whole lot more exhausting. I'm glad it's just you and me now."

"I wonder why I ever attended this pathetic event in the first place." Snape grumbled to himself in return, his scowl coloured by the barest hint of a pout. "A room full of idiots who speak nonsense and pride themselves in entirely irrelevant matters. I could have the very same in the Slytherin common room."

Robin let out a snort, which however was followed by an almost affectionate smile. "You attended because of me, I would say."

"So did everyone else, obviously." He drawled, rolling his eyes in complete disdain once more, much like the expression he had given the younger Crowe.

"Are you jealous?" She couldn't help asking in a teasing tone, quirking an eyebrow at him in amusement. Yeah, maybe teasing him when he was annoyed wasn't the best idea.

"Whyever would I be?" He scoffed immediately, a little too immediately, and definitely much too defensively.

"Because unlike back at Hogwarts, I am the one with a reputation here." She grinned in return, choosing to let go of what she had originally been insinuating in favour of a more universal interpretation, then couldn't help laughing at her own thought. "Usually you're Batman and I'm Robin. But here I'm Batman and you're Robin… which you're probably not used to being. But I can assure you that I definitely couldn't have done any of this without you, so perhaps it's not the best analogy."

He rolled his eyes again, but couldn't help the small smirk tugging on his lips. "Poor analogy indeed, especially for you. As far as I remember, you are the heroic type who saved a girl from almost certain death, twice in a row."

"And you are far braver than you give yourself credit for! I mean, you're spending a great deal of time with me, that's gotta take some bravery to go through with willingly." Robin smirked up at him, raising her eyebrows in humour as they made their way through the almost empty entrance hall in complete ignorance of everyone who was still present.

"If I was any kind of brave, I would have cursed all those men up there the second they dared to gawk at you in such a lewdly manner." He said once they were finally out in the dark street again, and his words sent an immediate shiver through Robin. But she also reminded herself that he probably, no, definitely didn't mean it in the way her mind so desperately wanted to believe.

"That wouldn't have been brave but just rash." She replied with a small smile, calm and reassuring, even though her heart was racing. "Take Crowe, for example. He was only sweet-talking me to get information on my personal life. And as much as I wanted to hex him myself, it just would've looked like I have something to hide."

"How can you be so rational about people mistreating you like that?"

"Practice." Robin shrugged with an actually humoured smile. "And I had you with me the entire time; what bad could possibly have happened to me?"

"I feel honoured by that assessment, but still, you take their crude behavior far too lightly."

"I'd rather say you take it too seriously. You said yourself that it's just a room full of idiots and creeps, so why should we waste a thought on them?" She gave him a pointed look to accompany the statement. "It's over now either way, and the only idiot you have to deal with is me."

"Yes, but that is an entirely different matter. You are my idiot."

"I am?" The grin was on her face before she could help it, and his words burned themselves into her memory to haunt her in her mind for all time to come.

"Obviously." He quirked an eyebrow at her in a way that made her grin even more, and only then he allowed himself the tiniest smirk in return. A moment passed in silence before he spoke on. "It is fairly late already, and knowing you, you will most certainly want to look into another theory tomorrow morning."

"We don't have to! I mean, if you'd prefer to… to take a break, we can continue any other time really. If you've got something else to do, I absolutely understand that. I mean it's been two weeks, and I haven't even once asked if I was keeping you from anything, and really it's been quite rude of me to just blindly assume that you would want to waste your entire holidays on me, but since we never really discussed it, you know, I just-..."

"Breathe." He cut in with a still subtly amused expression. "Tomorrow is fine."

"Good…" Robin said and let out a long breath at the same time indeed. Really, if she was exceptionally good at anything, it would have to be rambling. Or overthinking. "Tomorrow morning it is then."

"The cliff?"

"Always lovely meeting there. Eight as always?"

"Very well."

"So… time to say goodnight, I guess."

"Indeed."

And yet, they both remained standing a step apart on the dark sidewalk, looking at each other expectantly while neither wanted to be the first to go. After half a minute, Robin started smiling, then grinning, and finally straight out laughed at the situation and at how silly they both were being. This wasn't the first time this had happened, but it never ceased to amuse her, nor amaze her that he seemed to be as reluctant to part ways as her.

"Coffee?" She finally asked with a soft smile.

"Yes."

… … …

Finding a place to have decent coffee after eleven at night was surprisingly easy in London, but for the sake of being a little more subtle than going to the Leaky Cauldron or any other establishment where either of them surely would be recognized, they settled for a random muggle pub that wasn't too crowded nor too loud, and where hopefully nobody would ask questions about Snape's choice of clothing. He'd been very much right in that regard, muggles didn't take too kindly to people in robes, but since Robin looked mostly normal, they merely received a few odd glances. Admittedly, they could simply have gone back to making instant coffee somewhere far away from people, but real coffee was a tempting change for once. Thus they found themselves sitting at a small table in a corner, and Robin couldn't help enjoying the anonymity of a crowded place as well as the bliss of doing something so very ordinary with Snape for once. If one looked at it that way, they had never actually spent time in public together, so this was a welcome new experience that came with very welcome tingles no less. Before long their orders arrived, and the overly cheerful blonde waitress reminded Robin of something she had almost forgotten about after everything that had happened that day.

"Oh fuck…" She groaned under her breath, sighing at the realization that her evening had just gotten a whole lot longer than anticipated.

"Huh?"

"Oh, nothing really." She sighed again as she returned Snape's inquiring gaze and rested her chin in her hands, elbows propped up on the table. "I just remembered that I still have something to do when I return… home tonight."

"Doesn't look like it will be a pleasant task. Chores?"

"If that's what you wanna call Cas, then sure." Robin laughed, especially when he rolled his eyes in return. "I'm supposed to help her with something, and I don't know if I can. At least not in the way she would like me to."

"You have always been exceptional at keeping me in suspense." He sighed, then took a sip of his coffee and motioned for Robin to go on already. After briefly considering it, she did.

"I said something on the train ride home, about how a well written letter can be a great way to connect with someone if you can't see them for a while. And well… she wants to write to Simon without being cheesy or boring."

"And she wants you to write it for her?" Snape quirked an eyebrow at Robin in doubt. "That would defy the entire purpose of such a letter, wouldn't you say?"

"Obviously it would, and that's why I don't know how to help her! She didn't specifically ask me to write it for her, just to help her in any way I can. Give her some inspiration, or pointers maybe… You got any idea?"

"I'm afraid I have no experience with this kind of matter. Most letters I have written throughout my life were related to my work in both content and form. Don't you have received or written something of a similar kind before?"

"Obviously not! I've only ever written to you, to be honest." Robin shrugged, stirring her coffee with a spell before remembering where she was and quickly taking the teaspoon instead. "But I'm supposed to be the knowledgeable one and help Cas out. It's my job to know better than her."

"That is what I thought about you for a certain amount of time." He mused with a not-smirk. "But I gave up at some point in your third year."

Robin chuckled, sipping her coffee as well, before setting it down with a sigh and a new determination. Without another word, she summoned a piece of paper, a pen, and Cas' book out of her backpack, then placed it on the table in front of her with a thud. "You're helping me with this. If I don't know what I'm doing and you don't either, we better be clueless together."

"I had feared you would suggest that." He sighed dramatically, giving her a teasingly annoyed glance nonetheless. "But I would be a poor excuse of a friend if I let you down in times of despair."

Smiling, Robin pushed the dreaded book closer to him and kept the paper to herself. "Here, look through that for anything useful. Cas loves this book, it's full of sappy teen romance."

"And you would know that because…?"

"She sneakily made me promise to read it, so I did. I had to."

"Of course she did…"

"Now you just sound like Dumbledore."

"Insult me and I'm gone." He drawled in bad neutrality while flipping through the pages, and Robin had to snort. Neither of them seemed to be on good terms with the headmaster today, not after he had put Robin through giving a lecture without even a notice.

"The book really is quite terrible. I got it over with in the first week of the holidays, but I barely made it out alive." She remarked as she brainstormed what she knew about letters, love, Cas and Simon, but her thoughts kept coming back to the book as her only point of reference.

"What is it even about? I cannot tell from the glimpses of bad dialogue thrown at me here."

"Oh, you know… stupid stuff." Robin replied evasively, but even to herself that answer was a poor excuse, if anything. She hadn't written it after all, nor even read it voluntarily. But secretly enjoyed it a little more than she would ever admit. "This eighteen year old girl who falls madly in love with some guy who's new at her school. Ridiculous, really… They don't even know each other all that well, but still hit it off after just a few weeks of unreasonable conflict. It's the least romantic thing ever, they don't even seem to care about each other as much as they care about themselves. They go through all those firsts together, which admittedly is quite adorable, but then they ruin it all again by being so flat and shallow and vain that you just wanna smack them in the head the entire time. If anything, that book is a test of patience."

"Certainly sounds like it, yes… The writing is poor, the plot too as it seems, and the dialogue is an abomination in itself."

"Yeah, you could say that." Robin snorted with a smile.

"Perhaps we should treat it as a negative example for the task at hand then." He suggested. "Tell me, what exactly is bad about the way this is written?"

"Well, the entire thing is just so exaggerated and blown out of proportion... It feels unnatural for people who have known each other such a short time to be quite so over the top with their emotions and declarations." Robin started, and at the same time Snape plucked the pen out of her hand and pulled the papers on the table closer to himself.

"Do go on." He said as Robin stopped speaking to frown at his doings, and then gave her a look that left no room for argument beyond his words.

"Uh, alright… as I said, it's exaggerated, and just too much. Then the author also relies way too much on the use of straight out saying 'I love you', as well as just kissing and making out, to indicate the sentiments between the characters. The emotions should rather be obvious between the lines; if you have to directly say them to be understood, you're doing it wrong. Not that saying it would be bad, I don't mean it like that, it's just… it shouldn't be said just because it needs to be. At least not when they're already in a relationship. Their love should be the driving force of everything that is said, not the direct message itself, and-..." Robin cut herself off before she could start rambling again, and focused on moving on instead. "Then, as I said earlier, they seem to not even know each other. You could switch out any of the names on the pages, and it wouldn't make a difference. They should be playing on what they know and adore about each other, even if it's not much yet. Just… lending a book to someone who loves books will be a much more meaningful gesture than getting them a bouquet of roses, for example. People really shouldn't be afraid to go for the unusual kind of gestures and gifts."

"That makes for a decent list of don'ts already, which is a point to start. So tell me, what would you like to read instead of the negatives you pointed out? You already mentioned a few ideas for improvement, but perhaps you can think of more. Start from the negatives you created, and envision their counterpart."

Robin gave him a partially annoyed, partially desperate look, but he merely quirked an eyebrow and waited for her to continue. Insufferable idiot… but his idea to make her talk on the basis of the stupid book was helping more than anything she had come up with herself. Sighing, Robin gave in. What would a teenager want to hear from their love interest? What would Cas enjoy reading if she already enjoyed the stupid book so much? Damnit… this was difficult. "I don't know… I'm not good at these things, I can't imagine what a teenager would want to read."

"If Cassandra would have wanted to write by the standards of a teenager, she would have asked one of her mutuals. But she asked you, so you might as well advise her from your own perspective."

"Fine…" Robin sighed, and hid the heat on her face behind her coffee cup. What had she enjoyed hearing from Snape, in letters or in conversation? Or rather what would she enjoy? Damnit, she should have allowed herself to dream about this more often. "I think it is of major importance how much you let someone see of yourself. Allowing them to know you better than anyone else, giving them the chance to understand you in a different way by showing them more than just the big picture. Learning about the small and random moments in someone's life just has an entirely different level of intimacy to it than learning about the big things. I mean sure, it's the big events that shape a life, but it's the small things that shape the person and give them their colour. If I had to choose, I would always choose the colour, because it is what makes a person truly who they are, and not just the sum of bad or good things that have happened to them. The sky doesn't need a shape to be beautiful either, but it's the colour that makes one fall in love with it."

For the moment that followed, they both stayed quiet. Robin sipped the remainder of her coffee, and Snape finished writing whatever he was noting down of her words and thoughts. Perhaps she shouldn't have let herself get so deep… perhaps she shouldn't have asked him for help in the first place. But then she would be sitting in her tent by herself tonight, listening to the same old records she had put on every night since taking the player, and drown in sorrows over how little she really knew about love, and about people. No, this was much better indeed. Before long, Snape pushed the piece of paper across the table towards Robin again, and she smiled when she saw the perfectly organized list of things to avoid, and things to do instead. Copying it would probably be the best idea, to send it to Cas in her own handwriting. But Robin was keeping the original for sure.

"I think that should be a decent reference for anyone to write by." He said calmly, and finished the rest of his coffee while leaning back in his chair. "Cassandra would have to make a real effort to mess it up now."

"You should never underestimate Cas' ability to mess things up… Especially the easy ones." Robin grinned at him for a moment, until she managed to tone it down to a sincere smile. "Thank you for your help with this. I think we did pretty well for two people who didn't know any better."

"You shouldn't thank me. It was you who said every single thing that is on this list; I merely wrote it down in an appropriate format."

"And you made me say them in the first place!" Robin objected, almost finding herself as amused as nervous by the fact that the statement was only too true. He was the only reason she knew what truly loving someone felt like, even if it left her no wiser about being loved in return. But she knew that he appreciated her quite a lot, at least. Who else could say that about themselves, huh? In a way, that was a status as exclusive as it could get.

"Perhaps we simply make a good team no matter how impossible the endeavour." He suggested calmly, and gave her a not-smirk that had her melting within seconds.

"We most certainly do."

______________________________

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[incorrectbatfam]

Batfam mafia Au, how would that go? Btw love your blog

this took a little more research

Starting from the top of a standard crime family tree, we have Bruce “Batman” Wayne as the boss. His consigliere (impartial advisor) is Alfred “Agent A” Pennyworth, who disguises himself as a plain ol’ butler. We also got the underboss, Kate “Batwoman” Kane, who is second-in-command and designated to take charge if the boss can’t for some reason.

But like any good mafia leader, Batsy knows to stay low-profile and isn’t out on the field himself 'cause of the risk of exposure to the GCPD. That’s where our acting boss comes in. Jason “Red Hood” Todd, is almost an urban legend among rival gangs (rumor had it he died in an explosion and came back to life). Some fear running into Hood more than they fear the actual boss man.

Next we got our caporegime, or captain, Dick “Nightwing” Grayson. Being the oldest family member, it’s his job to keep the rest of them in line. The crew loves Nightwing and he’s the reason why everyone’s so loyal to the Wayne family syndicate. He’s got an added bonus of being the worm in Bludhaven’s police department. And his siblings (excluding Red Hood) are among the finest soldiers around.

Cassandra “Black Bat” Cain is their best spy, sent to get the drop on other mob bosses’ plans. She lurks in the shadows and attacks out of nowhere, finishing jobs swiftly and cleanly. When Gotham criminals meet, it’s not the sound of her they’re afraid of, but the silence. 

Tim “Red Robin” Drake is their field genius. He carefully plans patrol routes to handle criminals and help civilians with utmost efficiency. Red Robin can single handedly take down an horde of petty thugs and still have time after to hack the government’s servers.

Stephanie “Spoiler” Brown is exactly as her name suggests: she is a top-of-the-line saboteur who slips behind the scenes to fudge up rival mafia schemes. Don’t mess with her, ‘cause even if it looks like she’s by herself, she is never alone.

Duke “Signal” Thomas is in charge of witness and jury intimidation—in a crime family, protecting your brethren comes first. He catches witnesses leaving crime scenes to have a little chat with them. Most times he just has to drop a generic threat, but occasionally things get messy. 

Harper “Bluebird” Row is the modus operandi behind every operation. An engineering prodigy, she specializes in armored transport for the boss’s crew and builds unique, state-of-the-art weapons so the Waynes always have the upper hand.

Carrie “Batgirl” Kelley, a master at the art of acting and deceiving, is their main messenger between Gotham City and Bludhaven. With her young age and innocuous appearance, she can slip between towns without raising the suspicious of enemies or authorities.

Damian “Robin” Wayne looks like a regular kid, and that’s what gives him the advantage as the Wayne’s primary hitman. He’s well-versed in the art of taking someone down and hiding the body, and excels at blades like katanas, as opposed to regular guns.

Barbara “Oracle” Gordon is an associate rather than directly part of the family, and she liked it that way. She works with the mob, supplying them endless intel from police or other groups with her state-of-the-art surveillance systems, with plans to work around every last one. If it involves connections or keeping an eye out for authorities, Oracle is the one everyone turns to.

[darth-el]

Shout With The Devil

Pairings: Steve x Buckley!Reader Warnings: Smoking, underage drinking, mentions of groupie like behaviour but only if you squint.  A/N: I am back, kind of. Life has been really crazy these past few months and it’s been majorly up and down, but I have found new inspirations (in the guise of 1980′s and dead rock stars...oops) so I figured I could use that my advantage when writing. It’s also worth mentioning here that the reader’s age is 20 so they’re not that much older than Steve. The interview I’m referencing, if anyone is interested, can also be found here.

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You were dancing trying to keep warm on the doorstep of your cousin Robin's house with your suitcases by your side as the blistering cold whipped against your face. It was a rare occurrence for you to even step foot in Hawkins as you left it behind a long time ago but after hearing the news of what happened to the mall and everything else that made its way into the news regarding Hawkins, you finally plucked up to the courage to come back and used Christmas as the excuse to do so. “Come on Robin.” You whined to yourself as you rang the doorbell again before retreating into your coat to keep warm, after what felt like an eternity Robin opened the door with a shocked look on her face due to the fact she wasn't expecting you to be on her doorstep.

“What are you doing here Y/N?!” She screeched excitedly jumping on you to give you a tight hug and pulling you inside sans bags.

“I thought it was time I'd visit my baby cousin.” You shrugged smiling as she started babbling over how long it had been since she last saw you while bombarding you with questions about LA that you couldn't answer because she wouldn't stop talking.  

“Oh suitcases!” She said excitedly pushing you into the living room and running out to grab your bags. The living room was exactly how you remembered it, there were photos of Robin above the fireplace throughout her children as well as doilies and ornaments everywhere, it was a far cry from your roach infested apartment. It took you a minute before you noticed several sets of eyes on you and they all looked like you had crashed through the ceiling in a UFO, you leaned against the door frame unsure what to do with yourself as you became more uncomfortable; the longer the silence lasted the more you were convinced you had grown several heads. Robin came bouncing into the living room and pushed you onto the couch next the oldest guy that you vaguely recognised, possibly from school. “This is my cousin Y/N!” Robin introduced you with a big smile on her face. “This is Steve, Dustin, Lucas and Max.” They all awkwardly smiled and waved as Robin introduced them to you.

“Robin's never mentioned you.” Steve said awkwardly trying to make conversation.

“I don't know why she would,” You said matter of factly and she shot a look at you like she was offended by that statement. “I did essentially run away from Hawkins when I was fifteen Robin, we haven't seen each other in five years.” She looked at you almost like she was pouting before eventually agreeing that you had a point.

“Seriously?” Dustin asked eagerly sitting up with a huge grin on his face as he never met anyone who had run away from home and didn't get grounded for it.

“Where did you run away to?” Steve asked and instantly you could see he was trying to play it cool with you, something Robin also noticed.

“First New York,” You said biting your lip. “Then settled in Los Angeles as I needed warmth.” You laughed looking at the sets of eyes on you.

“How did you afford it?” Lucas said sounding skeptical as he tried to figure out how he could do it if he were to leave that day.

“A lot of hitchhiking.” You smiled at Lucas who was looking at you with furrowed brows not fully believing your story.

“Steve?” Robin said looking at him looking at you as you answered the children's, mainly Dustin's and Lucas', questions.

“Mm?” He hummed pulling his attention away from you to glare at Robin.

“Can you help me with Y/N's suitcases?” She asked slowly and instantly Steve knew she was up to something.

“Can't Dustin?” He asked wanting to avoid whatever she had planned which got a protest from Dustin.

“Well I want you to help.” Robin said in a sharp tone.

“Ha!” Dustin said loudly as Steve groaned pushing himself off the couch to help Robin as you continued to answer the barrage of questions.

Steve and Robin took longer than they should have with the bags and it was made clear why when you heard them coming down the stairs arguing quietly over something; the second Steve sat down next to you Robin had pulled you up off the couch and into the kitchen as she sorted out snacks for everyone. “Steve likes you.” Robin said as she rummaged through the cupboards for food.

“I know.” You said nonchalantly and sitting down at the table while fiddling with your lighter that you pulled out of your pocket.

“You should go for it,” She encouraged you as she dumped a whatever she could grab out of the cupboards onto the table. “If you've got to smoke, do it outside.” She warned like you were a child who was misbehaving.

“Rob,” You looked at her with shock on your face. “He's not my type and he's too young for me.” You sighed pulling a cigarette out of a silver case and placing it between your lips.

“I forgot your type was douchebag rockstars.” She said sarcastically as you got up so you could smoke your cigarette, or what was now going to be cigarettes in peace.

You were half way through smoking your second cigarette when the back door opened and Steve made an appearance, who made it very obvious that he had misjudged the temperature as he started shivering. You pulled out an engraved hip flask from your pocket and handed it to him making him look at you puzzled. “Trust me it'll help.” Your tone was very blasé as he took it from you and swigged the contents, immediately choking as what turned out to be whiskey burned the back of his throat.

“Are you trying to kill me?” He laughed handing the flask back and pulling his own cigarette from his pocket.

“Tell me you're not warm.” You smirked at him while having a swig yourself before shoving it back into your pocket.

“You have a point,” He chuckled lighting up his cigarette and staring out at the Buckley's backyard, the winter sun making it seem more inviting than it actually was. “What made you run off to New York?” Steve asked leaning over the porch, you subconsciously mirroring him.

“I wanted to marry Johnny Thunders.” You laughed admiring his features as he smoked his cigarette.

“Did you?” He asked jokingly raising an eyebrow at you.

“No comment.” You smirked at him, taking a drag on your own cigarette and as you exhaled you created O's with the smoke.

“Okay then,” Steve smiled with a knowing look on his face. “Why LA?” He continued his interrogation.

“I just needed something new and heard about a few bands in LA so I decided to make my way there and check them out,” You sighed picking at the skin around your nails. “It was either there or the UK, so naturally I chose LA.” You laughed looking at Steve who was looking like he was hanging on your every word.

“What bands?” Steve asked trying to figure out if he should feel threatened or not by you.

“Mainly Motley Crue.” With this Steve let out a huge laugh as the stories he heard on MTV were very far removed from anything that Hawkins had experienced.

“I can see you going for the devil worshippers.” He teased looking you up and down in your leather clad outfit.

“What makes you say that?” You nudged him lightly having another drag on your cigarette, realising it was probably going to be your last one.

“You look like you'd like the devil shouting song.” You burst out laughing at Steve's description of the song as you flicked your cigarette away and lit up another one.

“Shout At The Devil.” You tried to stop yourself from laughing but every time you did it just made you laugh even more.

“That's the one.” Steve said proudly clapping his hands together with a big smile on his face.

“They're shouting at the devil,” You teased gasping for air as you were still laughing. “Not with the devil and the cover has a pentagram which is used for protection against him.” You smiled up at him as he flicked his own cigarette away and lit up another without thinking.

“Did you end up marrying any of them?” He winked at you as you shook your head at him rolling your eyes so hard that you were sure you saw your brain. “I'll take that as no comment.” He said leaning into you slightly.

“Why are you so interested in what bands I 'married'?” You asked pulling out your whiskey and taking a swig of it to keep yourself warm before offering some to Steve who declined as he was taken aback by your forwardness.

“Do you want the truth or the lie?” Steve asked raising an eyebrow trying desperately to play it cool again, but you both knew that ship had sailed a long time ago.

“Lie.” You shrugged flicking the ash off your cigarette and watching it float down to the ground.

“It's definitely not because I want to ask you out or anything.” Steve said trying not to fall over his words and embarrass himself as that was becoming the trend with him as of late.

“Do you want the truth or the lie?” You said matching his tone from when he asked you the same question.

“Lie.” He said confidently and suddenly having a panic that this was how you were going to reject him. You could see he was becoming flustered as you left him hanging while you took a drag of your cigarette, making you feel somewhat cruel but at the same time you enjoyed the power you had in that moment.

“If you were to ask me,” You said slowly taking another drag on your cigarette and letting the smoke escape through your nose as you exhaled. “I definitely wouldn't say yes.” You whispered flicking your cigarette away and sauntered over to the backdoor. Steve just looked at you bewildered that he actually somehow managed to get a date and it was with you who seemed so effortlessly cool unlike him.

“Uhh.” He said trying to figure out what to say next as he watched you open the backdoor and you laughed as you could see his brain going into overdrive.

“Pick me up Friday at eight and remind me what this town has to offer.”  You winked at him as you leaned on the open door before going back inside, leaving Steve in the cold who was still trying to figure out what had happened and how he managed to pull that off. Eventually he decided not to question it and thanked the gods as he decided they were obviously being kind to him that day and joined you all in the living room as Robin put on Indiana Jones.

[longitudinalwaveme]

Flash Rogues: Age

Determining the age of any comic book character is difficult, not only because specific ages are rarely provided but also because of the frequency with which characters are drawn differently by different artists, killed and brought back in different bodies, or de-aged thanks to retcons. That being said, here’s my general guesses as to the age order of the Rogues. 

-I’ve always assumed Heat Wave was one of, if not the, oldest of the Rogues. Of the Silver Age Rogues, he was the last to debut, and one of the only ones who seemed to have a long-term career before becoming a criminal (namely, he was a fire eater at a circus). I’ll admit to also being influenced by Dominic Purcell’s depiction of the character on the Flash television show, who appeared to be at least in his mid-forties and also seemed to be older than Wentworth Miller’s Captain Cold (although Miller is apparently a bit older than he looks). He was also stated to have turned forty during Johns’ run (but who knows if that’s even remotely applicable anymore). 

-Captain Cold is probably likewise either the oldest or second-oldest Rogue. Not only does he often play the role of “team dad”, but during Johns’ run he was by far the oldest-looking Rogue. I do think it’s likely that he’s aged prematurely due to a difficult life, but it’s clear that, at least during Johns’ run, he wasn’t as young as he used to be. Of course, he and the other Rogues have subsequently been de-aged, but I would still assume that he and Heat Wave are the oldest two. (Also, since the reboot, Cold’s become good-looking for basically the first time in his history.) 

-Captain Boomerang Sr. is probably next. He was already partially balding during his first appearance, and, while some men do go bald young, it did seem like the artists might have been hinting that he was supposed to be older. He also was clearly depicted as being well into middle age prior to his death in (ugh) Identity Crisis. His subsequent resurrection appears to have made him a lot younger (and more attractive), but since everyone’s now been de-aged I still feel comfortable assuming he’s one of the oldest Rogues. 

-Weather Wizard, I think, would be next. He definitely appeared to be getting older during Johns’ run, and he had already gone to jail twice before becoming the Weather Wizard. That being said, he aged much more gracefully than Captain Cold and Captain Boomerang did. (Heat Wave is hard to quantify in that regard in part because he’s often covered in third degree burns.)

-The first Mirror Master, Sam Scudder, despite being the de facto leader of the Rogues during the Silver and Bronze Age, may actually have been younger than a lot of them. We know that he was arrested once prior to becoming the Mirror Master (Weather Wizard, by comparison, had been arrested three times and been to jail twice), but for some reason he doesn’t strike me as being as experienced as Boomerang and Cold were prior to taking up their costumed identities. (It doesn’t help that, unlike the other two, we know almost nothing about Sam’s history.) He’s also easily one of the most attractive Rogues, and the fact that he died during Crisis on Infinite Earths means that, unlike Cold or Weather Wizard, he was never written by Johns, meaning he looks young during basically all of his appearances (both in the pre-Crisis era and the post-Flashpoint one). 

-The Top is next. As pointed out by @gorogues​, while he was arrested once prior to becoming the Top, he looks really, really young in the flashback scene where we actually see him in a cell. Him being younger would also make his relationship with the Golden Glider, who appears to be five to seven years younger than Cold, seem less odd. He died during the Bronze Age and has since basically existed as a ghost, meaning that he’s never really aged beyond possibly his mid-thirties.

-I would actually put the Golden Glider before the first Trickster and the Pied Piper (I’ll get to why later), due primarily to the events of Mark Waid’s run. While she’s almost certainly not much older, the delay in her debut could be attributed to the fact that she was a figure skater and not a career criminal prior to the Top’s death. She entered the supervillain game later than most of the others, but it wasn’t necessarily because she was the youngest. That being said, she’s probably younger than most of them. We know for sure that she’s younger than Cold, and since we can assume that many of the Rogues are within a few years of Cold age-wise, that would make her younger than a lot of them too. The fact that she died before Johns started having a lot of the Rogues depicted as older and didn’t come back until after Flashpoint also makes determining just how young she was difficult. 

-The original Trickster, James Jesse, is only this low because of the fact that he literally never seems to age. To demonstrate: 

Here’s his first appearance in 1960. 

Here he is in the 1980s. 

Here he is in 2008.

Here he is from last year. 

He’s died and been brought back, but he didn’t look much older before he died than he did after he came back. Combine this with the fact that he seems to be friends with the Piper, who in terms seems to have been depicted as one of the younger Rogues because he hangs out with Wally, and I will guess that Trickster is one of the youngest original Rouges. Either that, or he stole Cold’s de-aging tech and has been using it for decades. 

-The Pied Piper almost has to be one of youngest Rogues by virtue of the fact that he seems to have been de-aged either during or shortly before Waid’s run on the Flash. Unlike Cold, Boomerang, and Weather Wizard, but much like the Trickster, Piper wasn’t depicted as noticeably aging, and generally looked to be about the same age as Wally (possibly a little older). In fact, Piper actually seems as though he might be getting younger over time in terms of how he’s drawn. I think the best assumption to make with him is that he was simply very young when he started fighting Barry (either that, or he was de-aged during COIE). 

-Captain Boomerang Jr. is one of the very youngest Rogues, apparently being a contemporary (or rather, a few years older than) the third Robin, Tim Drake. He’s the son of the original Captain Boomerang (although he seems to have been born while the older Captain was still relatively young), and he’s consistently treated as a youngster by Captain Cold during his time with the Rogue. 

-The second Trickster, Axel Walker, is clearly the youngest member of the Rogues. Sixteen at the time of  his debut and always the baby of the bunch, there’s no doubt that the second Trickster is the youngest Rogue. 

And now, for the biggest headache in terms of the ages of the Rogues: Evan McCulloch, the second Mirror Master! He seemed to be reasonably young during his debut in Animal Man (where he had a truly horrible mullet), but then, confusingly enough, seemed to be a lot older during Mark Waid’s run on the Flash (he actually looks kind of like Captain Boomerang when he isn’t wearing the cowl). It was like he had aged like a decade in maybe two or three years of in-story activity. Of course, when Johns took over, things got even weirder. Usually, he didn’t look especially young (though he did usually look a bit younger than Waid had implied), but during his spotlight issue, he looks like he’s eighteen or something. Granted, he started his criminal career fairly young (at sixteen), but I doubt he was a criminal for only two or three years before joining the Rogues. Although since comic book time is endlessly confusing, maybe he was. All I can say for certain is that he’s older than Axel and probably Owen. 

[addictedtomanga]

Shoujo manga recommendations - living together/neighbors

1.      Konyakusei 

Sachi Hanaoka has just lost her parents to a traffic accident and her fear of living alone becomes reality. To add on to her troubles, Kouichi Saonji, the young landlord of her apartment, approaches her and requests that she prepare to vacate since she is now be unable to pay rent. Alternatively, Kouichi proposes a solution: he and Sachi will get married and she will act as his caretaker. Not only will her expenses be covered, but it would also serve as a method to quell his family's nagging for him to find a wife. Despite the lack of genuine feelings between them, Sachi finds herself drawn to Kouichi and accepts his offer. But will the newly wed couple be able to fall in love, or will they remain strangers forever?

2.      Sugar Family 

Since Yuuka's mother died at an early age, Yuuka turned out to be the one taking care of her child-like father. Right before high school started, Yuuka's dad announced his remarriage with Satou Masami. Masami-san turned out to be a reliable, responsible person, so Yuuka finally thought she's off the hook. That is, until she finds out about her new older brother...

3.      Kyou mo Uchi de Machi Awase

After a fire, a middle-aged man meets a homeless single mother and her son at the convenience store. He is instantly reminded of someone he used to know over a decade ago. Could it be...?

4.      Kyoudai Gokko 

Growing up, Rio Takara has always wanted siblings. So when her parents decide to move overseas without her and tells her she will be living with two people around her age, she's cautiously optimistic. But they turn out to be brothers who fight like cats and dogs. Is this what having siblings is like?

5.      Kamiki Kyoudai Okotowari

Iroha was raised by her single mother, but when her mother remarries, they move in with her step-father and his 3 sons. To Iroha, this will be the first time she's living with men. What will happen to Iroha's new life!?

6.      Monokuro Shounen Shoujo 

Kureha Mimachi, a 15-year-old girl, has just transferred into Shiritsu Kenhono High School. However, there is something weird about this school, it is actually a school where the Princes and Princesses of the beast-kind go to...?! Even though Kureha is human, she is there as a way to help the students their lives peacefully with humans and has the role as the "rabbit". Will she be able survive without being eaten by the students...?!

7.      Mademoiselle Butterfly 

Our heroine is a girl who lives as a geisha in Japan. She has a male childhood friend who's always been kind to her and is her favorite. He's a painter, only he paints on human body parts, and she loves it when he paints beautiful butterflies on her arms. She goes to visit him one day and finds a naked woman lying in his room. Immediately after, she gets a customer who's rich and very interested in her. The thought of being away from her friend pains her, but is everything really too late?

8.      Mayonaka Lolita 

After she took some medicines, Michiryuu became suddenly a little girl. People used to say that she was really perfect. That's why she wants to came back to normal quickly. But the only condition if she wants that happen is to find "a personn she'll love". But that's completely impossible for her! So what will happen to Michiryuu...?

9.      Mayonaka ni Kiss 

Natori Nono is a very tough school-girl, she lives with her widowed mother Ayame and her younger brother Takumi in a very small apartment, where she does all the chores. Her boyfriend wants money from her, because he's really poor, too. But one day, Nono discovers that her mother remarried! She married Ichijou Hayato, the owner of the 'Ichijou Group'. Now, Nono lives there (in unaccustomed riches) with her mother, her brother, her stepfather AND her new stepbrother: Ichijou Kasuomi (his father calls him Omi-kun)!!! At first, Nono thinks Kasuomi is not nice. But what will happen next?

10.  Harem Lodge 

Midori lost her mother when she was young and now her father's gone too. But her dad left her with a surprise: a fiancé named Tetsuya. So now, Midori has to live in a good-looking men only apartment (Harem Lodge), which is actually filled with weirdos. What is going to happen to her? Well we just have to wait and see...

11.  Hyakujuu no ou ni Tsugu!

This is the liberated area where you listen to girls will, a girls high school! in this class, there's a king. Me, Yuka! My friends are counting on me and boys are afraid of me! But that kind of paradise will suddenly break up by a thirty-year old man!! dates will take place in golf areas and kisses will have the taste of smoke...

12.  Last Notes 

Haru and Aki are the masters of the branch store - an old-looking and very unusual shop. It sells only one thing: a special kind of incense that, when burned, allows the user to see and speak with the spirit of the dead person that appears in the smoke. Every customer has a different reason for calling up the dead, and how they use this unusual opportunity is up to them...

13.  Hapira Hajimaru 

Asai Sachi's luck has always been considered dreadful. After becoming the class president, she meets Kurono Hyougo, a guy with a frightful face who bears various gruesome rumours behind his back. Hyougo had been living alone in an apartment; but when Sachi mistakenly reveals that Hyougo is a minor, he had to be kicked out. Fortunately, Sachi's father is a realtor, and suggested to have Hyougo live in their unused detached house. Would Sachi's bad luck turn upside down upon meeting Hyougo?

14.  Hana o Meshimase

After Shion's mother passed away, she was left with her father who loves to gamble and evade his responsibilities as a father. Due to that continuous pattern, Shion moves in to live as a live-in employee with 25-years-old florist Shun Mamyuuda. As she begins to learn the value of flowers and life, will she also find her place in love?

15.  Good Morning Call 

Nao Yoshikawa stays behind to live by herself when her parents leave to inherit her grandpa's farm in the country. On the day she moves into her new apartment she soon discovers that it was rented also to Hisashi Uehara—a cute, super-cool and popular guy from her school. Not only did their housing agency unexpectedly close down, the landlord of the apartment tells them that they had to pay more for their apartment then they had expected. With both no money and no home to return to, Nao and Hisashi decide to live together as flatmates.

16.  Nanako Robin 

Yoshino Nako has a saying. "If I'm happy, I can do anything!" In her sister's place, Nako-chan steals the groom of an arranged (political) marriage and helps them elope. But when the Hayami group starts failing, she must pay the consequence by housing the delinquent brother...

17.  Momo Raba 

Chieri (Cherry) was living an ordinary life, until her sister Ichigo (Strawberry) suddenly left her child Momo (Peach) on Chieri's doorstep. Momo is an infant; how is Chieri supposed to take care of a baby while still in high school!? To make matters even more frustrating, two guys are fighting for Chieri's love...!

18.  Men’s Life 

Mio's life is changed in a big way due to an encounter with Rin, an upperclassman who is one-year-older, and...!?

19.  Tonari wa Nani o Kuu Hito zo 

Inaba Suzuna is trying her best to make a campus debut and to have many friends in Tokyo. Until she realized that she miserably fails at living alone. Fortunately, her neighbor, Seto, comes and saves her from dying of starvation. Bright campus life is still far away for Suzuna, but at least, she has a very dependable neighbor!

20.  Yumemiru Taiyou

While loitering in the park, Shimana Kameko, who intended to run away from home and skip school, meets a suspicious man in a kimono. This man, who had been locked out of his house, offers Shimana a place to stay. However, he requests she fulfill three conditions in exchange for her tenancy!?

21.  Taiyou no Ie 

After her mother abandoned her and her father remarried, high schooler Mao Motomiya is left feeling like she doesn't have a place where she belongs. One night, her childhood friend Hiro Nakamura finds her in a shrine eating cheap convenience store food and offers to take her to a restaurant. Their subsequent heart to heart leads to Hiro suggesting that Mao move in with him. To Hiro who has lived apart from his younger siblings all these years after their parents passed away, bringing his family back together in the once-lively Nakamura home begins with the first step of giving Mao a loving place to belong. When Mao reluctantly accepts his invitation, she is surprised at how easy it is to settle in with her longtime friend. Now she must deal not only with mending her relationship with her father and helping the oldest Nakamura brother attain his goal, but also her growing feelings for Hiro.

22.  Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet 

Oono Fumi is a poor second year high school student. Because of her father's debts, she's kicked out of her own home and has to rely on her own connections to survive. Thus begins her life as a live-in housekeeper for a reclusive writer...

23.  Faster than a kiss

Losing their parents, Fumino and her brother hop from one relative to another. Getting tired of all those movings, she finally decides to quit school and work to support her brother on her own. As they sat on a park bench, her teacher appears in front of her and agrees to her demanding of marrying and supporting both her and her brother!! Is he serious or just playing around...!?

24.  Kiss/Hug 

Ryuu, a super-business-like transfer student from England with black hair and blue eyes just arrived! During the night of the Tanabata festival, Ryuu and Yukino became attracted to each other at first sight. He then declares, "You will be mine!" This brought confusion to Yukino, who has zero experience in love. But could she actually be falling in love?

25.  Kanna to Decchi 

Our heroine Kanna is the daughter of the famous builder in town. One day a boy with a hammer appears to train under Kanna's father?! The heart pounding love story of a handsome apprentice carpenter.

26.  Sabaku no Harem 

Mishe a strong willed girl raised from poverty has caught Prince Kallum's attention. Attention as in, "you will become one of my concubines," thus begins Mishe's adventures into Prince Kallum's world.

[sxveme-2]

blueberry pancakes // bucky barnes

MASTERLIST

Description: A single mother. Juggling being a mom, a full time pediatrician, and a difficult ex who believed now would be the best time to finally be a father. A soldier ripped out of time. Ex-assassin turned superhero. Learning how to balance a new domestic life with handling demons of his past, while facing the trials of the future. a love story began over something as simple as chocolate chip pancakes with hidden blueberries.

Disclaimer: I do not own any original Marvel characters! All canon plots and canon characters belong to Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios. This is an original work. You may not publish it anywhere else

Status: Edited

Note: Takes place after endgame. I have elected to ignore Tony's death and Steve's leaving. Did not happen. Quick Reminder! My works are only published here, AO3 and on Wattpad, thank you.

Chapter Fourteen: The One With Her Brother

Warnings: Mention of childbirth

Word Count: 2644

The cool air around the waiting room shrouded a twelve-year-old blonde by the name of Lily Osborne. Wrapped in her cardigan-covered arms was a five-year-old Rose, the younger sister of the eldest Osborne. Just to the right of her sat two conservative grandparents, only moments away from learning if their third grandchild from their daughter would be a girl or boy. So far, the two had only been gifted with granddaughters, two from their other son William, and two from their daughter, Alicia, the mother of the two girls awaiting their newest sibling. Lily had already been through the grief of a new sibling with the little girl that sat in her arms, but it sadly didn't transfer over to the second blonde born from Alicia and Abel Osborne.

The small creek of a door just beside the many uncomfortable chairs stationed behind a small half wall and all four of the family member’s blonde heads popped up. Lo and behold though, it was merely a group of nurses seemingly leaving from their shift. Four collective sighs created harmony throughout the robin egg blue maternity wing waiting room. A heavier head leaned back onto her shoulder and Lily placed a gentle kiss on the bright blonde curls that sat atop of Rose's young head like a mop. Glancing down, Lily saw her little sister’s eyes flutter shut and she let out a gentle sigh, running her fingers up and down the child's thin arms. Just moments later, however, the doors opened once again and a panting Abel Osborne came shooting out with a bright smile plastered on his rugged features.

"Do you guys want to come to meet your new baby brother?"

-----

For as long as Lily could remember, being Cedar's older sister was one of her most sacred pride of joys. Or just being an older sister in general. Especially being so much older than the younger two. Her parents were amazing, sure, and they always did their best with raising the three children. But when it came down to more personal issues and handling things like bullying, friends, or middle school, Lily was their go-to. And she cherished that fact. It was like having her own child, but without a majority of the responsibilities, the mother faced. It helped scratch that maternal itch Lily had since a baby.

Whenever her parents weren't able to, Lily walked Rose and Cedar to school. She was even his emergency contact for high school after their parents, same with Rose. when Cedar began high school, Lily was in her last year of university before beginning med school and handling a one-year-old baby boy and an unhelpful husband, she travelled down to Long Island with Hunter, and joined Cedar for his orientation day when their parents were on a business trip. Everyone thought she was his mother, and the two made a bit of a joke out of it.

Just below a year before that, when Lily and Scott were scrambling together a wedding, it was Cedar who had helped her choose a wedding dress that made her feel beautiful, even while she was four months along in her pregnancy. She was tempted to try and convince Scott to elope, feeling as though she wouldn't find a dress that gave her that moment that made her face light up when she saw herself in the mirror. Luckily, Cedar helped her achieve it.

-----

She didn't want to go, really. It was the last place on earth that Lily wanted to be. Every morning when she looked in the mirror she felt huge. She thought her thighs were getting too big. That her cheeks were getting larger and she felt puffy. All because of the beautiful life growing inside of her. It wasn't her fault. She was four months along in the pregnancy she was handling at the age of 22, all while planning a fairly rushed and impromptu wedding to the father of her unborn child. Even though, if she would admit it to herself, she knew deep down this wouldn't work, and that he wasn't good for her. But she'd never say it out loud.

But today, well, today she just felt awful.

Today was the day that she would be picking a wedding dress. After a whole week of yelling at Lily, her fiancé, Scott, managed to get her to drop the idea of eloping, and instead, funnelling money into a wedding. On top of handling pregnancy and her last year of university. Lily had originally planned to handle this feat alone, feeling self-conscious about having anyone else there. But with her parents and brother now living in her basement, with her brother staying with them over the summer before he would go back to Long Island and stay with his grandparents until Lily gave birth, and their parents would move back home, well...her brother was the only one she couldn't get to stay at her home when she went out.

The boy had just turned 11 and was a pretty stereotypical pubescent boy. But with a much closer relationship with his sister than most kids with the age gap that the two had. Lily depended a great deal on her relationships with her siblings, for she never really talked or even spent time with girls or boys her age outside of school when she was younger. Of course, moving to New York City and over the past few years, she had expanded her bubble.

As the youngest and oldest Osborne sibling arrived at the quaint wedding dress shop in Soho, Lily wished to turn around and avoid any sort of questions about the growing bump that was prevalent on her stomach. Being at this store was the last place Lily wanted to be spending her Saturday afternoon. But alas, the tug of a boy’s hand on her sleeve persuaded the blonde to enter the shop alongside him.

After answering dreadful pregnancy questions from the shop owner, Lily had found the dress. But her hands cupped the growing belly of hers, and those green eyes grew sad as she looked in the mirror. The dress was a spaghetti strap, heart-shaped neckline, lace flower decals dancing across the organza type material, and sliding from her waist in an a-line style. it was loose, flowing, and hid any real evidence of a pregnancy. But Lily knew. She knew what was growing inside of her. What she would look like within two months when the wedding would be taking place. Her stomach even more swollen.

Cedar slowly stood from the couch and walked towards his older sister, taking her hand and looking up at her with the eyes that made Lily realize just how lucky she was. And with a shy nod towards the owner, Lily had found her dress. All thanks to the young blonde boy she called a brother. And those soft eyes.

-----

Ten years later, the two were still as close as ever. Or so she believed. He stood at her wedding party at her and Scott’s wedding when she was twenty-two. He was there when she gave birth to Hunter. God, she remembered the day she went into labour so vividly. And the boy who had informed her distracted parents, and who pushed through the labour alongside his sister, before the actual birth began. She remembered that day so vividly.

-----

Her hand gripped onto the pen she was using to take notes from her online lecture. Being the top student so far in her first year at Medical School had its perks. The professor's offered her online lectures and videos, while she handled the pregnancy. Her brother and parents had taken over the basement, as they came down from Long Island to take care of their daughter, who was very obviously in a neglectful marriage. The cool winds of November whispered secret thoughts to Lily, the window of her office allowing them in.

As Lily went to finish off a note about the fetus in a woman growing, her own decision to take a different approach. A popping deep within her set off a relay of gasps as water trickled down her leg, staining the loose dress she wore over top of her swollen stomach. her hand smacked itself across her lips as a small squeak escaped from her throat. A pair of footsteps ran themselves into the office, catching Lily's eyes as he spotted the water dripping down onto the floor.

"Mom! Dad! Start the car! Lily's water broke!" Cedar exclaimed, holding onto his sister’s hand. The same hand he'd be holding for the next few hours.

—————

Maybe it was the feelings of betrayal that hit Lily the hardest. Before her then sat one of the most important people in her life, handcuffed to a table, waiting to be interrogated by police officers for attempting to break into her ex-husband’s apartment where her child sat, scared to death of the somewhat familiar tone of voice. Or it may have been the disgust that churned deep within her stomach as she came to the realization this was not the same sweet and innocent boy she had last seen a mere few weeks ago when visiting her parents. A boisterous and somewhat playful smile far gone from his face that was now carved full of deep stress lines, with bruises evident on the thin skin below his eyes. This wasn't Cedar Osborne. This was a mere shell of him.

"Sir there must be some sort of mistake," Lily laughed softly, gesturing towards the glass, "That's my brother he would...he would never hurt my son or try to. He's a nice kid how would he—"

"Ms. Osborne, I know this is a shock but this is the man that was caught trying to break into your ex-husband’s apartment." The detective said in a calm tone, "He confessed to it. We just can't get any evidence as to why he may have done it out of him...which is why we called you."

Lily stared at the man in front of her. Her crossed arms dropped to her sides as a look of pure shock took over her previous exasperated and confused face. He wanted her to interrogate her own brother? Try and get him to confess information about a crime he tried to commit against her son. Why Lily wanted nothing more than to smack the living daylights out of the police officer. But then again nowadays she has had this happen often.

"You did not just ask me that!?" Lily exclaimed, "He is my brother, and I know my brother, officer. There has to be a mistake. There has to be! And until you figure out what that is I will not be questioning the same boy that sat by my side at my son’s birth when my husband wouldn't. He is not capable of this. My son is the most important thing to that man and you dare think that he would scare him?" Lily exclaimed, chest heaving.

The officer fell silent. The look in his eyes said it all: he knew this woman wouldn't be interrogating this man. With a curt nod, the police officer spread his arm to guide Lily from the room. Her shoulders moved up and down at a rapid pace as she stormed from the building, her heart racing inside of her chest and pounding in her ears so loudly she couldn't even hear the loud noises from the New York streets. Typically, Lily would wait for an opportunity to cross the sidewalk to her car, but today, she bulldozed through the group of people, fumbling for her keys. The moment the ignition turned on, the tears fell.

The tears ran down her face non-stop as she drove through the streets of New York. Sobs wracked her body as she continued to shake. Lily had no way of comprehending the fact that her own brother was the culprit arrested for attempting to break into her ex-husbands home. Sure it was known that the entire family had a distaste towards Scott Harvey, but the Osborne's were a far from violent family. Docile and subservient almost. It was only when Lily pulled into her driveway when a memory fell on her like a ton of bricks.

-----

'Here Comes Santa Clause' played over the speakers as the Osborne family bustled around the cozy home of Lily's parents’ home. Children played and adults laughed over wine as the previously mentioned woman and her brother slaved away in front of the stove as they prepared Christmas dinner. The two quietly chatted while working on their respective side dish, patiently waiting for the turkey in the oven to finish so they can begin to eat.

"Hey, how's work been going for you?" Lily hummed, working her arm as she continued to mash potatoes.

"Oh yeah," Cedar responded in a gentle tone, "I actually just left the company." he continued, failing to elaborate to Lily as to why on earth he would have left the job as an electrician at a power company that supplied most of Long Island's power.

"Really?" the eldest Osborne huffed, halting her movements and turning to her younger brother, "What happened to your dream of being an electrician?" she wondered, head tilting to the side a bit.

"Offered a different job, better pay," he stated abruptly, turning his back to Lily as he finished mashing the yams that he had been working on.

"I see...where are you now?"

"Dinner's ready!" Cedar yelled, ignoring his sister’s question and pulling the freshly finished turkey from the oven.

-----

Lily felt her heart sink as she recounted the events of the Christmas that had just passed close to a year ago. Her hand slapped itself over her mouth as she came to the realization that her sweet and innocent brother may have very well found himself in a sticky situation. Her mind ran to the worst place she could think of...what if he was working for a hitman agency? No that couldn't be right. HE may be sneaky but Cedar wouldn't be capable of murder.

Shaking her head, Lily pulled her hair back from her face and allowed her breathing to regulate itself once more. God, she felt like everything she knew to be normal was crumbling around her. Everything that she had become accustomed to was falling to pieces and there was nothing she could even do about it. If Cedar was getting invested in solicit and illegal activities, Lily knew she would be the last person he would admit it to. The two had a relationship based on kindness and loyalty...and it broke the blonde's heart, the idea of her baby brother falling into the traps of something horrible.

Stepping from the car, the cool and brisk air of the season chilled the raging heat the flared in Lily's face. Locking her car, the young mother unlocked her front door to hear music playing and the dog going wild. Furrowing her eyebrows and stepping out of her shoes, the blonde made her way down the hall towards the living room where the loud noises were coming from. When she rounded the corner, the sight made all of the pain and sorrow she was just wallowing in mere moments ago fade into distant memories.

Hunter was stationed on Bucky's back as they flailed around to an outdated Justin Bieber song that the blonde boy sang at the top of his lungs, igniting the howls of Joey. With a giggle, Lily dropped her coat and bag and made her way towards the pair, joining in on the singing and dancing. For once, Lily allowed herself to step away from the burden of anxiety and enjoy the moment in front of her.

Her eyes locked with Bucky and she knew, that maybe, just maybe, things could work out.

[meteor752]

The Gamgee-Baggins children

I have mentioned a few times Frodo and Sam’s army of kids that they adopted and that Aragorn and Legolas love to babysit, and now I’m gonna go more in-depth because why not.

Also, they are based on Sam’s actual children, but I do have to tweak a few things because we switched out an entire parent here, so yeah.

Eleanor

The oldest, adopted when she was two

Was a very calm and kind child

Took up her dad’s love for gardening

Worked in Rivendell as the head gardener as an adult

Still remained her kind self though

Got the nickname “The Fair” by the elves because of her golden locks, which she appreciated

Aragorn

The second child, was adopted when he was just a few months

Was often teased by other young hobbits because of his strange name

Loved his namesake though, whenever they babysat he would just cling to him like a Koala

Is honestly just a very sweet boy that constantly craves physical contact

He became a pretty good chef in his adulthood, mainly working with Potatoes because he’s a gamgee to the core

Rose

This is where Frodo and Sam got their first devil child

Rose is their third child and was adopted when she was three, where she already had a tendency to just scream if she felt like it

Was not allowed to be around Merry and Pippin too much, it was too dangerous

While both Elanor and Aragorn used to watch and care for their younger siblings, Rose hated it and would often just ignore their existence

Gained a passion for painting, as it allowed her to truly express herself

Her paintings were all very wild though, but she enjoyed it and her parents were just happy that she was happy

Merry

The fourth child of Sam and Frodo, adopted when he was five

Was surprisingly calm and obedient, despite his namesake

Used to sit on the floor and do puzzles by himself while his parents and older siblings tried to keep track of the younger ones

Has a problem with reading and spelling however

Incredibly shy

Still doesn’t know what to do with his life as an adult, and is honestly just flowing through it

Pippin

The fifth child, adopted when he was two

This boy takes after his namesake, and they are pretty sure he’s a Took by blood

Loves his older sister Rose, looks up to her a lot, but she practically hates him.

Is often off going on his own adventures, though he stays in the Shire 

Often used to under a tree in a pasture with the ponies, eating some food he’d stolen

Befriended a small chestnut colored pony named Peanut

Still goes there when he’s an adult

Goldilocks

Child number six, adopted when she was seven 

Her real parents drowned, and Frodo couldn’t not adopt her

Picked up her papa’s love for storytelling, and started writing books

She secretly writes fanfiction sometimes about the fellowship, but shh only Primmy knows that

She often takes care of the youngest hobbits of the shire together with her sibling Primrose, where she often entertains them by reading

Is very sought after by other hobbits of the Shire, but she is not interested at all

Hamfast

The seventh child, adopted when he was just a few months

Has a lot of anger issues

Is *that* sibling. You know, the one you just get the Cain instinct every time you see them

Neither Frodo or Sam knew really what to do about his constant tantrums, as they are both very soft spoken

So they had someone teach him how to box, just so he could get it all out

Is as an adult one of the best ring fighters in middle earth, and does not take it lightly when someone teases him for being a Hobbit

All of his siblings except for Rose are kinda scared of him

Daisy

Child number eight and twin sister of Primrose, they were both one when they were adopted

Is baby

Just a pure ray of sunshine basically

Used to take flowers from their garden to make flower crowns

Sam and Elanor never minded, mostly because she was so cute when she did it

Managed to get a real talent for flower braiding, not just into crowns but also into art

Is always in charge of flowers when it comes to weddings

Still remains baby as an adult

Primrose

Child nine and twin of Daisy, they were both one when they were adopted

A real social butterfly

Gets along with absolutely everyone

Their best friend is their sister Goldie however, who is pretty much the opposite of them with her love for books and the indoors

Often takes care of the younger Hobbits of the Shire with their sister Goldilocks, where they entertains them by playing with them

Falls in love with everyone

Bilbo

The tenth child, adopted as just an infant

Ever heard of social anxiety? Yeah this is the embodiment of it

He does not like people, and would rather just be by himself thank you very much

The only people he’s really comfortable with are Frodo, Sam, Daisy, and Legolas

Kinda just goes unnoticed by everyone because of his many siblings, and likes it that way

Is actually rather talented when it comes to music, but would rather die than show it to anyone

Ruby

Child eleven, and proudly the two minute older twin of Robin, both adopted when they were seven

A really smart cookie, and a future entrepreneur in the making

Spend most of her childhood scheming on ways to get her grubby hands on sweets

Developed a secret underground trading network of food and pastries with the children of the shire, and sat on top as a small mafia boss

Became a skilled merchant as an adult, and has a goal to become incredibly rich

She’s a real scammer when it comes to buisness, but his able to hide it behind her big dark eyes and curly locks, because who so cute could be so wickedly clever?

Not the most lawful thing, but hey, you do what you gotta do right?

Robin

Child twelve, and sadly the two minute younger twin of Ruby, both adopted when they were seven

Pretty much instantly became friends with Brand son of Bain of Dale, despite the almost ten years age difference

While Brand is very rebellious and does everything to pester his family, Robin is a kind of sweetheart who just follows along and tries to keep him out of trouble

Loves his twin very much, but is unsure if Ruby is choosing the right path for herself

When Brand is crowned king of Dale, he becomes his royal advisor that mostly tries to keep him from getting himself killed

Nothing’s changed really

Tolman

The thirteenth and youngest child, adopted when he was an infant

Was adopted when Ruby and Robin were practically adults, unintentionally

They just found him abandoned on their doorstep, and were just like yep we’re keeping him

Had a hard time connecting with his older siblings as he’s so much more younger

Loved that he was the focus of attention with his parents however since everyone else had moved out, and all of his siblings are jealous

Will become a skilled drink mixer as an adult, but is currently just a small wittle bab that likes to play

And yeah that’s it! Now onto the other stuff!!

Elanor is Biromantic Asexual

Aragorn is Bisexual

Rose is a trans lesbian

Merry is Pansexual

Pippin is Gay

Goldilocks is Aromantic Asexual

Hamfast is Heteromantic Asexual

Daisy is panromantic Demisexual

Primrose is a non-binary pansexual

Bilbo is Gay

Ruby is a lesbian

Robin is Polysexual

Tolman is a child and doesn’t care about all that kissing stuff

Goldie is missing an arm

Daisy has a problem with her foot that makes her limp

I don’t have any romantic thing planned for any of them, but who knows

I kinda like Robin X Brand though (Robrand????)

They are in the order they were adopted, but some are older than others, like Ruby and Robin are three years older than Bilbo

Maybe I’ll make a chart of it some day, who knows

The only name I changed was the second child, who was originally named Frodo, to Aragorn, otherwise these are Sam’s actual canon children

I love all of them

[rookiesbookies]

Dad!Jason post @babyjordy come over here

Imma start with the kids

Oldest is David

He’s adopted, his parents were killed on the streets of Budhaven, originally Dick was going to take the kid but Dick wasn’t in a good living situation or a good place financially on his own to take care of David (who was like 6-8 at the time I haven’t decided) Majority of the time we’ll see David I have his age as 18-19 years old

Middle Child: Martha

When she was born Jason was so sure he was having a boy that he made a bet with Bruce that if it was girl, then Bruce could name the kid. Martha has no interested in the family business but she’s excellent at covering for them. She spends most of her time covering for her family in fact. “Oh my Uncle Dick? He had to slip off because he got a call from my aunt!” “My grandpa? Oh he and my father had a fight and they’re settling it over a game of pool in the lounge, they’ll probably be gone the rest of the night! Once they start playing they don’t stop!” She about 2 years younger than David. Usually have her as 16-17 years old in most things

The Youngest: Robin

Yes she’s literally named Robin. So Jason lost the bet again, Bruce got to name her, but Bruce couldn’t come up with another name so Damian was like “What about Robin?” And Jason’s wife was like “What about Robin?” So Robin got named Robin. Robin really wants to take the mantle of Robin but Jason’s like ‘fuck no, none of my kids are taking that mantle,’ (Im still trying to decide of David takes the mantle on for one night or if he’s kidnapped and put in the costume, but either way something happens between David and Joker, then Jason becomes even more like ‘hell no’) but Robin has been training for her uncles, dad, and her grandpa to prove that to her dad that she can. Robin is younger than Martha by like 2-3 years. I usually have her appear as 13-14 in most things

Needless to say I’ve over thought this.

But like David arguing with Jason about how good the books he reads in his school classes are.

“To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a drag, there’s nothing about mockingbirds, the book should not have been centered around the kids, and the movie was terrible!” David yells at Jason, who promptly threw his hands in the air.

“It’s a classic! You’re like 16! You have no right to judge it yet!” Jason says, resting his hands on the back of the leather couch, reading over his son’s shoulder.

David tilted his head back to look his dad in the eyes, a bored look on his face. “Just because it’s a classic doesn’t mean it’s good.”

Or Martha coving for her family at a gala

“Martha! Sweetie! How are you!” A middle age woman draped in jewels, in a black dress, with her hair up in a fancy knot. She smelled like a terrible perfume that cost too much and hair spray. “Where’s your dad! I haven’t seen Jason in soooo long!”

Martha decided to start by being … diplomatic with this lady.

“My dad is busy with my mom, they slipped out a bit ago. They may be making me another little sibling.” She touched her pointer finger to her cheek, pretending to think. She watched as the woman’s face fell, Martha stayed innocent. “I wonder how Robin would feel if we had another sibling, then she wouldn’t be the cute youngest sibling anymore…” Martha trailed off, knowing her dad and mom had to slip off to work. Her mom didn’t do vigilante stuff but she did work coms and listen to police radios with Aunt Barb.

Or imagine Robin sparing with her family

Robin grabbed Dick’s leg with her feet, pushing his knee away from her and pulling his ankle toward her, causing him to fall. She quickly got up and put her foot on her uncle chest, standing in a heroic stance. “See! I can take down Uncle Dick!”

“He takes it easy on you and you know that. You’ve seen him whoop my ass.” Jason said, wrapping his hands to spar his youngest child.

Robin took her foot off her uncle, “that’s not fair, how do you know Im just not, maybe, better!”

Jason walked over and hooked his foot behind Robin’s, sending her to the floor where her uncle had just been a second ago, “expect the unexpected, that’s what you forget.”

Robin held her wrist and whimpered, it was an act, her father hadn’t actually hurt her because she knew how to fall.

“Quit that. I know it’s an act.” Jason crossed his arms but Robin just sighed and got on her knees. Jason reached out for her hand to help her up, “that’s an unexpected you taught me too expect.”

Robin quickly smirked and grabbed her dad’s hand, hooking her legs around his like a monkey to try and take him down, but alas she was like a paper weight to her dear old dad. “You’re out of your weight class, kid. That’s how I know Dick’s faking.” Jason flexed and lifted his 10 year old daughter higher.

“Nah, you’re just fat cuz you ate too many cupcakes at Tim’s birthday party last week.” Dick shot at Jason from the bench, toweling off his sweat.”

[eak8753]

“You Made Your Decision”

They had always been a duo. They always knew each other like no other. The two birds of the team; Raven and Robin

Everyone on the team could see it. The bond between the two of them became all the more noticeable when he went to hell for her. Cyborg and Beast Boy were wary; Cyborg thought of Raven as a sister and would never want harm to befall her, she was already hurt too much. Beast Boy had seen first hand what it was like when she was heart broken, they had been each other’s biggest ally’s after Terra and Malchior, helping one another through the heart break.

Starfire hadn’t seen it at first. She just assumed Robin and was being nice, being a friend to Raven. Although she often wondered why he had been the one to go to hell for their friend. It had made the most sense for her or Cyborg to go, but instead Robin had gone. It had taken years after her and the Titan’s leader’s break up to understand that he had been in love with his fellow bird.

It was subtle at first, he had always found Raven attractive but it wasn’t until Tokyo that he knew that he was hopelessly in love with her. However, at this point he was already with Starfire, he knew that the two of them wouldn’t last, so he would wait out the relationship. It was a cowardly move, yes, but he would not hurt his alien friend’s feelings. Plus, Raven had always been a bit slow when it came to emotions, she probably didn’t even realize what was between them.

She knew. She knew before Cyborg or Beast Boy. Before Robin and far before Starfire. Raven knew how she felt, she was never one to lie to herself, and she knew that Robin felt the same. She was, after all, an empath. But he was with Starfire; he had made his decision and she would give him the opportunity to make it again, just not now.

Yes, they had always been a duo. Always knew each other like no other. The two birds of the team; Raven and Robin

Well, now Raven and Nightwing.

He had gone away. Bruce had called him back because the media was getting angsty and thought that Dick had gone missing or was killed. That had been almost a year ago, but now he was back. His absence didn’t have a huge effect on the team. The Titans Tower had been a popular spot for meta’s and supernatural teens/youth to crash. Although the original team still remained they did have a few constant visitors; Donna Troy/Wonder Girl, Wally West/Kid Flash and Jinx, Jericho, and Argent to name a few. 

Another hero who visited constantly was Zachary Zatara. He was Zatanna’s little cousin and was a very skilled magician for his age. He had immediately taken a liking towards the empath and they often practiced magic together. He would invite her to his shows but she rarely came, preoccupied with something else.

It had been like this for years now. Everyone had grown accustomed to each other’s fighting styles and if one was to leave they could easily fill them in with another hero.

So no, the team’s fighting was affected by his absence but they did miss him. And he missed them. He decided that it would be fun if he surprised them. So he had taken the two hour flight from Gotham to Jump without their knowledge, got a cab from the airport to drop him off near a cafe and hauled his luggage the rest of the way. In hindsight, he probably should have called.

Once he entered the common room, two things happened. One, he was bombarded with hugs and “I missed you” “look who’s back” and other welcoming phrases. Two, Raven wasn’t there. If he was an adolescent he may have scolded himself over looking for her, but he knew now that he loved her and didn’t deny himself the simple pleasure of seeking her out.

“Hey guys, I missed you all too. It’s good to be back” he smiled up at his team, feeling the happiness radiating off of them. 

“So uh, where’s everyone else?” They knew immediately that he didn’t actually care where everyone else was. He cared about where Raven was, and they couldn’t help but cringe at their leaders' words. They knew, eventually he would come back and he would find out, they had just always assumed Raven would be here to tell him herself.

“She’s uh” Cyborg stepped in, trying to think of a place we’re the sorceress could be.

“Park” “Library” “Cafe” Dick heard them all say simultaneously, he could hear the guilt in each of their voices. What he couldn’t understand is why? Where could she possibly be that would make him upset. Wha-

Suddenly the doors to the common room opened revealing a young man with a tux and white gloves on, a young woman in a knee length dress covered in lilac lace. Her sleeves were elbow length and she had on a pair of silver heels. Half her hair was pinned up to the middle of her head and the other half down, a few pieces of hair around her face to frame it. 

The most disturbing thing about the picture however was the fact that the two of them were holding hands, while the boy smirked and the girl gave a slight smile. 

Dick knew that smile, it was the smile that she gave when she found something interesting or was in awe. The smile she gave when someone said something amusing. The smile she gave when she was appreciative. The smile she gave when she was at ease; the smile she had always given him, and only him.

Zachary and Raven entered the common room, quickly looking over they’re friends faces and as she saw him, her smile faded a bit. 

What was she doing holding Zachary Zatara’s hand? Didn’t she know that his cousin wanted her dead. And more importantly, she was supposed to be in love with him.

“Dick” Zachary said, surprise and amusement in his voice. “It’s good to have you back man” he said, noticing his gaze wasn’t in him. In his defense, he couldn’t take his eyes off Raven, she looked absolutely stunning and he had never seen her in a dress before. But where in the nine levels of hell was she and why was she with Zachary.

“Richard” she said, her voice monotone and cool; controlled. “Raven” he said in the same voice. Before he knew it though, he was pulled in a light hug by the small girl, and she gave a sigh. “Welcome back” her breathy voice said next to his ear, and he smiled as he returned the hug, basking in her warmth. All too suddenly though, she pulled away.

“When did you get back” she asked, and he was faintly aware of the guilt in her voice. “A few moments ago” he responded, and he was sure that his cheeks were lightly dusted in pink; it really wasn’t fair that she looked that good in a dress.

“You should have called, we would have picked you up” Zachary called, moving towards Raven once again. This snapped him out of his staring and he realized, for the second time that night, he didn’t know where she had been.

“Where were you guys anyway?” He said nonchalantly. His eyes were scanning her face, trying to see if there was anything he could pick up. Alas, she wasn’t called the “Ice Queen” for nothing.

“I had a show,” Zachary told him. Well that explained him being gone, but it didn’t explain Raven’s absence. Or why they were holding hands. Or why she was wearing a dress.

“And my presence was all but demanded” he heard her voice, the amusement evident in it.

“Yes, well” Zachary came around and turned her towards him, fully encircled her waist. “Forgive me for wanting to show off my breath-taking girlfriend” he said, leaning down to peck her lips.

“Girlfriend?” Dick asked. He mustn’t have heard them right, there was no way. Raven was in love with him, and he her. Sure they had never kissed, but he had kind of confessed before he left, he knew she understood what it stood for.

Turning towards Batman’s oldest son, the magician grinned. “Yeah, I finally plucked up the courage to ask her about 4 months ago.”

Four month. They had been in a relationship for 4 months and he didn’t know. He hadn’t really had a chance to call them while he was away, but had kept up with the news and knew of all of their battles; just as he knew they had kept up with the media and knew all about “Dick Grayson’s Return.”

Never had he thought any of their personal lives would have changed that much, least of all Raven’s. She didn’t like change and avoided it at all costs, it was only natural for him to assume that she wouldn’t have made such a drastic decision; that she would have waited.

Mumbling a quick excuse he left the common room to get some much needed rest. They would talk in due time, but for now he just wanted to wallow in his self pity. 

***

It had been a few days since his return and he had yet been able to get Raven alone. He sighed in his cup of coffee. He had just come back from patrol and had a couple of cuts along his body, not many and certainly not enough to warrant any attention but they still hurt.

However, no amount of physical pain could ever be equal to the hurt that the hole in his heart caused. He didn’t understand, she was supposed to be with him. They had been in this game of “will they, won’t they” for years. He thought once he came back they would finally be together but...

The sound of footsteps broke him out of his thoughts. He knew those footsteps, they were hers. 

“Raven” he said as she entered. She nodded towards him and made her way to the kettle, filling it with water. She was in her uniform; her classic blue cloak and a black catsuit. She turned around to face him, her back leaning on the counter. She looked tired but happy.

She looked beautiful 

“How have you been?” She asked, running a hand through her hair. He wondered what it would feel like to run his fingers through it, but he pushed those thoughts aside. 

“Fine” he grunted. He would have been better if it didn’t feel like he had been stabbed repeatedly; but hey, he had dealt with heartbreak before. ‘Not like this’ he thought.

“You're mad” she stated. Sighing she turned towards the kettle that started screaming and poured the water into a mug, adding a teabag when she was finished. Lastly she added some honey and turned back to him, one eyebrow raised.

“I’m not mad” he started off. “I just, I don't get it Raven. I thought you loved me.”

“I did”

“So then why? Why Zachary? Why ruin what we have?” He didn’t understand, sure he had relationships even though he was in love with him - Starfire case and point. But that was when she was unattainable, when he had just realized his feelings for her. It was different now, they were adults, not confused teenagers.

 “16 Dick. That’s how long we’ve been in love. That was when we went to Tokyo, when you kissed Kori, when you found out you loved me.” 

He was stunned, he really thought she didn’t know how he felt until last year when he had semi confessed to her. Empath. She had known, for all these years, felt everything he had. Yet, she chose him, even after she knew how he felt about her, she chose him.

“Did you really think I was gonna wait forever?” 

“Huh” came his intelligent reply.

“It’s been four years Dick, you made your decision. You made it all those years ago when you kissed Star in Tokyo, re-made it when you held her hand in front of the world.”

“I thought that once you two broke up we could be together, but then you went to Gotham. You made your decision again.” She knew this conversation was necessary but she really wished it could have been had when she hadn’t just woken up and yet to mediate.

“I had no choice, Bruce needed me and I couldn’t just leave him hanging-” No matter how much I wanted to be with you, he wished he could add, but she didn’t give him the chance.

“Did you have no choice in getting involved with Barbara? Did Bruce need you for that too? You made your choice Dick, whether it was the right one or not you made it.” She said so quietly he strained his ears listening.

“Well what was I supposed to do? We couldn’t be together at the time and the media ate it up. Sure, I had feelings for her  but they’re nothing compared to the ones I have for you.” He pleaded with her, trying to show her his side. 

“Look Dick, I know now that we can’t be together; never could”

“But we can be, we could have been if you hadn’t got together with Zachary. If you had-“

“Shawn” her voice broke. “What” he asked. What did she have to do about this, they had been together for less than two weeks. 

“I thought the reason you didn’t tell me about your feelings after yours and Kori’s breakup was because you were embarrassed to be seen with me.”

“Even if I could do the heels and dresses, I would never be accepted by high society. I’m not tall or undeniably beautiful; not like Star or Babs. But then you got with Shawn and I knew that no matter how much you loved me or how much I loved you, we could never be together.” She slightly screamed, but did Raven ever scream. She looked to be on the verge of tears and he just wanted to wrap her in his arms and  tell her everything was gonna be okay.

But they weren’t, things had become so strained between them, he didn’t know if they could be fixed; but he hoped, oh god he hoped they could.

“So when Zachary asked me out, I said yes. He’s loved me almost as long as you have, he just did something about it first. Yeah, I gave up on ‘us’ first, but you drove me to that point. I wasn’t going to wait forever Richard.” 

“Do you love him?” He swallowed, he didn’t want to know the answer but he had to ask.

“No” she shook her head. “I don’t love him, and he knows that. But I like him, oh Azar, I really, really like him Richard. He's amazing and patient and funny and a little flashy and cocky but in an enduring way.” She rambled, and he let her, for although he loved her and every word she spoke was a stab to the heart, she was still his friend first and foremost. He would pretend to be happy for her, even if he was dying on the inside.

Speak of the devil and he shall arrive, Zachary walked into the kitchen, hair and shirt disheveled. Grumbling he walked up the sorceress and pecked her on the cheek, grabbing the mug from her hands and taking a sip from the tea. Sighing in contentment he turned to go make a proper breakfast.

“Toast or waffles?” He asked the mage. “Waffles” she said without missing a beat, excitement in her eyes. The magician chuckled at her expression and taped her on the nose lightly. 

He loved moments like these, moments where he didn’t have to be “Zachary: Teen Magician.” Sure he loved performing, but he would be happy to just sit and read with the dark girl. He still couldn’t believe she was his, after years of silently pinning after her, she was his.

Turning around he addressed the Titans leader, nodding towards him. He knew of their history, more than Raven thought he did. It was one of the reasons he had been  so shocked when she said yes, but she had and he made sure that she didn’t regret it everyday they spent together.

“I have to meditate, I’ll be done in an hour and after breakfast I have to go into town and pick up a few things” she said to both of them.

“I’ll come” Zachary insisted, and surprisingly she didn’t put too much of a fight, he assumed whatever had happened between her and Dick had taken a lot of her emotionally. He made a mental note to check up on her as he watched her retreating form.

“You know” he said to the acrobat. “You May have been the one to go to hell for her. But don’t think for a second you’re the only one willing to.”

“Excuse me” the leader supplied.

“I know you love her, but so do I” with that he turned back to making breakfast.

The Titans leader just found himself nodding towards the magician before leaving for his room.

As he entered he leaned his head against the door, feeling the tears underneath his eyelids. He smiled a bit sadly. 

She may be taken at the moment, but they had been friends since they were 14. They had their whole lives ahead of them to get together; they had time.

[sqoiler]

There is a time vortex, and a malfunction, and in the end there are six people on top of the Wayne Enterprises building. 

They look at each other in shock and take in the matching outfits, the red and yellow and green. All of them have some idea what’s going on, who they’re seeing, except the youngest (who is really the oldest). 

“Wait,” he says, his eyes wide. “There are more Robins?”

“There must’ve been something that altered time,” says the third Robin, who is clever. He is not yet wearing the red and black costume of mourning, and when he looks at the group around him, he only knows the second and first Robins by name. “It’s the only explanation.”

“Of course,” the fifth Robin huffs, exasperated. Unlike his brother, he recognizes everyone except the sixth, and he wishes he didn’t. Under his mask, his eyes rocket skyward. “Just my luck to be stuck with you imbeciles.”

“Awfully judgemental, aren’t you?” the third Robin notes. 

“I have a 4.0 GPA,” the second Robin says. “I don’t think I’m stupid.”

All of the Robins stare at him. This is unexpected. 

“Okay, I’ll admit I don’t know what’s going on,” the sixth Robin says. “I’m barely even a real Robin, I’ve only met Batman like...twice.”

“Why are you in the costume, then?” the fourth Robin asks, her arms crossed. She’s afraid, a little, and nervous to be in the presence of all these other Robins. She doesn’t like that she’s the only girl.

“It’s complicated,” the sixth Robin says. The other Robin accepts that at face value. 

“How do we know the order?” the second Robin asks. “I mean, I know I’m second, and he’s first.” He points at the first Robin. “And apparently, after us you guys put on some real pants.”

“It’s a traditional acrobatic outfit,” the first Robin protests, and the second says, “I know, I’m just yanking your chain.”

“I’m the third,” the third says. 

“I’m next,” the fourth says, tossing her ponytail and trying to be brave. She knows the first and third Robins, although not this young. 

“I suppose I am forced to admit I am not the last Robin,” the fifth one says, glaring at the sixth, who shrugs and says, “Again, I’m not like, a real Robin.”

“What purpose did that exercise serve?” the fifth Robin hisses. 

“Well, we need a leader,” the second Robin says. “But I guess it doesn’t matter who’s technically oldest, just who’s actually oldest.”

“Why should the oldest--” the fifth Robin starts to protest, but all of these Robins are young, and to young people, the oldest is in charge. 

They look at each other. 

“Don’t look at me,” the sixth Robin says. 

“I’m eleven,” the first Robin says. The fifth blinks. 

“I’m twelve,” he admits, staring at his mentor as if just realizing that the first Robin is a child. 

“Thirteen,” the third says. “Almost fourteen.”

“And I’m actually fourteen,” the second Robin admits easily. The ones after him wince at this casual admittance of his age, at the reveal of this ticking time bomb they know will go off only too soon. 

The fourth Robin’s eyes widen. Oh no, she thinks. Oh no. 

The others are looking at her expectantly, and she clears her throat. 

“I’m sixteen,” she whispers, her voice hollow, and the others nod. 

“I’m only fifteen, anyway,” the sixth Robin says, evidently relieved, and the second one says, “Girl Robin is in charge, then.”

“I beg of you to reconsider,” the fifth Robin says, and something in the way his voice snarls makes the fourth Robin’s fists clench. She looks around at them, determined. They are all looking to her. 

“Fine,” she says. “I’ll be in charge. Our first order of business is to figure out who’s timeline we’re really in. The easiest way would be to ask Oracle.”

“Who’s Oracle?” the first Robin asks, eyes wide. 

“Don’t worry about that,” the fourth Robin says. “Everyone who can, try to get in touch.”

She touches her own ear, and the third and fifth mimic the gesture. 

Oracle does not answer any of them. 

“Okay,” the fourth Robin says. “Let’s find a newspaper. What year is it?” 

She points to the first Robin. 

“2005,” he says. She points to the second. 

“2012,” he says. 

“2014,” the third Robin says. 

“2017,” the fifth says. 

“2018,” the sixth says. The fourth nods. 

“Alright,” she says. “And I’m from 2015. Everyone remember? Okay. Let’s go find a newspaper.”

They leap from the rooftop together. The fourth Robin watches the sixth, since he said he’s new, but he has a grapple, and he can use it. They don’t go straight down, just away from Wayne Towers, and towards somewhere they can be inconspicuous. The fourth Robin is aware that she’s in the lead, and she realizes they could just go back to the Manor, that would solve their problem of what year it was. 

But no, instead she casts her gaze instinctively to the spot in the sky where the signal gleams, and it’s not there. She falters and stops at the next rooftop. 

“This isn’t a newspaper,” the fifth Robin snarks once everyone else has stopped. 

“Was the signal on?” she asks, and the others exchange a look. “Answer me!”

“Yes,” the third says. 

“Yes,” the second says. 

“Yes,” the sixth says. 

“Yes,” the first says. 

“Yes,” the fifth admits. 

“Look,” the fourth says, and she points at the sky where the signal isn’t. “Someone turned it off. No matter what year we’re in, someone turned it off.”

The others exchange looks, although none of them know each other, not as Robin, anyway. The fourth Robin remembers that she does know the third Robin, but she thinks she’s the only exception. 

“We’re going to GCPD,” she says. “We have to see why they turned the signal off.”

“What about the newspapers?” the first Robin asks. “We still don’t know what year it is.”

“If the person who messed with time turned off the signal, than we can confront them,” the fourth Robin says. 

“There could be a newspaper on the way, anyway,” the second Robin reasons.

 “Or something else to clue us in,” the third says. 

“Exactly,” the fourth Robin says. “Let’s go.”

Surprisingly, the others don’t really argue, and the fourth Robin leads the way. 

In front of the Batsignal, there are six shapes. They are standing in a perfect circle, the same distance apart. One is shorter than the others. The fourth Robin squints at them from her spot behind the signal, the others crowded around her. 

“Which is which?” the sixth Robin whispers. 

The fourth Robin gets up and goes to the back of the signal. The others follow her, even the stubborn fifth Robin. 

She signals, and the second Robin flips the switch and turns the light on. 

The six Batmen turn, five dropping into a matching fighting position and the sixth into a different one. 

“You all had better be time-displaced Batmen, otherwise we’re gonna be really mad,” the fourth Robin calls, flipping herself up to stand on top of the signal. The second and third Robins point the light at the Batmen instead of the sky. 

“Spoiler?” the Batman who seems to be in charge says. He must be the oldest, although the fourth Robin thinks it’s weird that he would call her Spoiler when she’s not that anymore. 

“Wrong,” she says, crossing her arms. She’s behind the light, and they can’t see her. “Boys, be ready.”

“How many are there?” in-charge Batman says. 

“Six,” another Batman says. Even from here, the fourth Robin can tell he’s a younger one. “There’s six of us, why wouldn’t there be six of them.”

“Chum,” a different Batman says, holding out his hand. “Come here.” The fourth Robin hears movement behind her and she holds out a hand. 

“We don’t know that this isn’t a trick,” she says. “How do we know you’re who you say you are?”

“Do you want your secret identities?” the different-Batman says. The other Batmen glare at him. 

“Come on, Rob,” the third Robin says. “We should be able to identify our own Batmen.”

“The Batmen could certainly identify their own Robins,” the second Robin says. The fourth Robin sees four of the six Batmen flinch at the sound of his voice. “I mean, come on, we all have different costumes.”

“Ours are the same,” the first says, gesturing at the second. The fourth Robin looks away from them and back to the Batmen. 

“I already know my Batman,” the fifth Robin drawls. “I am fairly sure this isn’t a trick.”

“Are you saying there’s six Robins back there?” the different-Batman says, sounding like he might laugh. There’s something familiar about him, the fourth Robin decides. Definitely not Bruce, but familiar. 

“Hm,” one of the Batmen says.

“There’s more than one Robin?” a Batman asks, and the fourth Robin knows which one that is. 

“I mean, they seem time-displaced,” she says, and the fifth Robin scoffs. 

“To hell with this,” he says, and he breaks out of the gaggle below the signal and steps into the light, heading straight for the different-Batman. 

“Language,” the different-Batman says, laughing for real this time, and the fourth Robin wonders why he would be different but the sixth Batman is still Bruce. 

“Fine,” she says. “Find your Batman, or whatever.”

The others listen to her, and leave the shadows. One of the Batmen puts his hand on the sixth Robin’s shoulder and guides him away. The first Batman permits the first Robin to hug him. 

The various Batman stare at the second Robin, except the one who claims him as the correct time. The second Robin doesn’t seem to notice. 

The last two Batmen stare at the third Robin, and the fourth feels a little sick. They’re only one year different, after all, and she knows she wasn’t the first choice of a Robin. 

She jumps from the signal but stays near it, watching their showdown and staying by herself. 

“What’s going on?” the sixth Robin asks her, dragging his Batman behind him. 

“He hates me,” she says, gesturing.

“I mean….you’re Robin, aren’t you? He probably doesn’t hate you,” the sixth Robin says. 

“I made him make me Robin,” the fourth Robin says. “He didn’t chose me.”

“He doesn’t hate you,” the sixth Batman says unexpectedly. “I had a lot of issues, back then.”

“And you don’t still?” the fourth Robin asks him, raising her eyebrow. 

“A fair point,” the sixth Batman says, and Robin’s mouth drops. He never agrees with her! “Close your mouth, Robin.”

She does, and she looks back at the Tim Trio. The third Robin seems to have claimed his Batman, and the other one is kind of watching her talk to the sixth Batman and Robin. 

“You were always one of the best,” the sixth Batman says, his voice soft and weirdly tender.

“Better than Tim?” she asks instead of addressing that, grinning. 

“Go to your own Batman,” the sixth Batman says.

“That’s not a no,” the fourth Robin sing-songs, but she listens anyway, and goes over to the only Batman by himself. 

“Fifth Batman is staring at second Robin still,” she says. “Embarrassing.”

“Actually, he’s looking at you,” her Batman says, and when the fourth Robin turns to see if that’s true, the fifth Batman has changed his gaze to look at the first Robin, instead. Some dots attempt to connect in Robin’s head, but she ignores them because that makes no sense.

“Sure he was,” she says instead. “Whatever. Let’s go home.”

The sixth Batman is in charge of the Batmen, since he’s oldest, and the Robins follow their Batmen. The Time-Turner is from 2018, but accidentally transported them all back to 2005. He apologizes profusely upon seeing six Batmen and Robins, and everyone goes back home. 

After Steph’s shower, she goes out into the cave in leggings and a t-shirt so someone can drive her back home. 

“Why don’t you stay tonight,” Bruce says, also freshly showered, and Steph blinks after him. He only lets her stay if she’s injured!

“Sure!” she says, and she follows him up into the Manor and to the hall with all the bedrooms. Before she goes into the guest room that she always uses, he clears his throat. 

“What you did today,” Bruce starts. “I mean. You were in charge?”

“Yes,” she says slowly. “They wanted the oldest to be in charge. It was Jason’s idea.”

Bruce flinches at the mention of his dead son, and then reaches out a hand to put on her shoulder. 

“I’m...proud of you,” he says, his voice a little strangled, and she stares at him, wide-eyed, until he releases her and goes to his own room, shutting the door firmly behind him. 

[ao3]