#i associate him more with the hello puppets fandom

[mishkakagehishka]

Hello! I've been wanting to ask you this for some time now... who is that Mika guy you talk about? Is it the anime cartoon thing you post sometimes? Is it a videogame? A comic? Why do you like him so much?

It makes me feel old haha because it is completely out of all the other fandom things I see around and I'm super confused, as if it came from a different universe lol

Oh no i hope it didn't make you feel old in a bad way or anything😭 don't worry about it, i feel like in our countries, ensemble stars isn't really much of a thing yet? Games like that in general. Even if they were, enstars is region-locked and all.

But yeah, Mika is from a mobile rhythm game! It's p much a rhythm game like any other, tho it being a "free" mobile game, it does have gacha mechanics </3 it's fun tho and Mika is my Absolute Fave because he's just so [holds him gently] [proceeds to squeeze him until his eyes pop out]

We had a survey that asked the same question of "why is your fave your fave" and it really is smth i could write essays on, but, to keep it short, he's a Freak and i do love creepy wet freaks in fiction. He has read the Mabinogion in middle English, but doesn't know who Chaplin is. He loves horror movies and is said to draw eroguro. He dumpsterdives in his free time, finding thrown away plushies, mending them and keeping them. All of his pajamas are similarly just clothes he got out of the rubbish and mended (thrifty king tbh) He speaks in a dialect commonly associated with comedians and considered a "hick" dialect and he's often talked about the split between what people expect him to act like (funnyman extrovert) vs how he actually is (shy introvert) and how he ends up looking because of that (aloof/stuck up). He is simply everything to me. And he's so weird... 😭💞 he thought he accidentally killed his roommate and proceeded to almost bury him alive in the dorm courtyard. Has said he sleeps better after looking at "scary pictures"😭

He's just my little meow meow tbh he likes creepy-cute and even he himself has that sort of gap going on, bc he's generally a rather adorable guy, he made a brooch for his best friend bc she wasn't able to buy one she liked, he really wants to prove himself as an artist both in terms of music and designing/sewing and he seems to be growing a spine as of recent (i don't wanna like. Confuse you by bringing up lore, but it's also one of the things that have me going heart eyes, in early stories he was fine being treated like a doll to be puppeteered, but he's "learning to be human" as of recent and has made really good steps, incl yelling at and threatening to throw away his former puppeteer's prized possession + implying he'll beat him up bc he threw away smth of his without asking), but he's also had those moments of "what the hell" like when he threatened to either kill himself or his unitmate's future spouse if he ever gets married, or when he threw a tantrum because said unitmate was paying more attention to a literal 15yo than him.

I think he's neat tbh a combination of his aesthetic being creepy-cute, his unit's aesthetic leaning into steampunk (both of which are so 💞💞 to me), him being a dialect-speaker, and then the fact that he's the "aww he's so cute [gets to know him] oh he's a little bit fucked up" type just really appeals to me. And his hidden intellect, there's a lotta moments where you can just tell that he's Actually Intelligent, but he's the first who'll say stuff like "sorry i dropped my brains somewhere" and call himself dumb. Personally, I interpret it as either him leaning into stereotypes associated with his dialect considering the "i feel like i let people down when they find out what i'm like bc they expect me to be totally diff bc of the way i speak" or him not liking having responsibilities so he tries to "i'm too dumb to do this on my own" his way out of the possibility of disappointing people by failing.

[hamsamwich23]

Twenty ref

Tw for: electrocution, heavy injuries, heavy scars, implied experiments/dissection, burns. If I forget anything please let me know

I was gonna make Daisy's ref first, however I really like my oc, and, although I wanted to be careful due to certain people trying to copy off of him (and if they copy off of anything here I'll have evidence) I also feel I should be able to show him to you all. So without further speaking, let's begin

Twenty (formerly Zimaki of dimension 2020) is a sixteen year old hybrid who was experimented on from the beginning of his existance. His dimension was destroyed when he was thirteen and has been living on Earth 100.5 for almost 3 years. He lives with his sister Kai (who's owned by my friend Kido!!)

Twenty's own appearance isn't actually caused by the curse, not fully at least. It's a result of what experiments were done on him. Which was mainly the empire combining his DNA with an extinct species (which I am still working on)

this is from my friend @we-dont-talk-about-kido-nonono :] (their old tumblr is here, I gotta link their new acc)

A more recent image of Twenty's face with the four eyes done by @/elysiblu (and another few images from the same person :] )

This was something I commissioned someone for!! By @/goldenkingyo !!!!

Body reference for Twenty:

Head + Neck:

Twenty's hair is REAL, unlike Zims which is very obviously a wig. It started growing when he was about seven. And it is, very fluffy

Twenty is supposed to have four eyes. The two he's originally drawn with here (that's on me because I'm inconsistent with design but what I'm typing ARE the final designs. I'm done with changing Twenty's around too). His two first eyes look humanish, with pink iris's. The two eyes below his are supposed to be much smaller than his original eyes. With red iris's and the sclera being black.

His right eyes are shown to have a burn mark around them, followed by a scar on the first eye (the original one)

There's also the scar on the side of his face as shown as well.

There's also a scar that goes all around his neck (left their by an shock collar that was used during physical based experiments)

The nose doesn't actually look like a nose, as seen here. Not too much anyways

The antennas are fuzzy and have a slighter hint of pink on the tips

His teeth are sharp, sharper than irkens zipper teeth

The tongue literally looks like a worm:

Like I can't make that up, literally.

Arms + hands:

Woah mate this dude has four arms!!! But the bottom pair of arms is optional and retractable

The hands and arms have this design on them, that reach up to his elbows (I literally pulled these from Pinterest, I have no idea WHAT that first one leads too I just hope it isn't smut/lh)

His arms are covered in scars, which are usually wrapped in bandages if he isn't wearing his signature hoodie (his new one, he has to give the old one to Scout since it wasn't for someone with four arms. So now they have Anti-Irken hoodies to match each other :])

The scars on his arms glow and are, strangely, all capable of glowing different colors. It's a faint glow that's only noticable during night in dark areas.

His hands all only have three fingers on them. And they're all clawed, as shown

There are also scars all over his hands. Which is why he wears the fingerless gloves. But there are also scars on his fingers as well (he loves feeling the texture of certain things, so he likes to have his fingers unhidden)

Body/torso:

Twenty's body type is at a healthier level, due to him occasionally working out whenever he wishes to (he has a gym membership and enjoys physical activities...when it's not part of an experiment), he's definitely not into sports though, nor is he super muscular. He's actually slim but with some muscle.

He is 5'5, four inches taller than Scout.

His entire body is covered in autospy scars, burns, and stitch scars from his experiences in labs with scientists. Luckily these are all decently healing. Although the burns might be more recent, due to the rainwater being toxic to his species, and being able to burn his skin

He has tattoos!!! Provided by Nick. So far he has one on his chest (where his "heart" is), that is a symbol for himself and Scout. And there is another one on his right shoulder for the Anti-Irken/rebellion symbol. There's another one that's on the left side of his stomach that's his own reminder of his mother figure from dimension 2020 (aka, Tallest Miyuki), and it's a picture of her face with the words "Rest In Peace' besides it.

He has a PAK, which is a storage tool, a weapon kit, and a lifeline all at once. The basic concept with the lifeline being "an irken only has ten minutes left before they die and the pak has to find a new host", as the pak is TECHNICALLY the brain of the irken. And once the host body dies it will seek out another. so they die, but they don't die at the same time.

(theoretically, Twenty can live without the pak. But he doesn't wish to test that theory out at the moment)

A PAK looks like this, except Twenty's is a bit bigger, due to him being taller than canon. And the circles are more of a brighter pink. With the top light being black

Twenty does NOT have sex organs (no nips, or reproductive organs. Or an ass), in all seriousness. His species is asexual and creates offsprings via cloning blood and DNA.

He also has a tail!!! Again as seen. The tail is all black, but the end of it has a red tip. It's quite soft.

Legs:

He does not have robotic limbs. His legs are very much real

His thighs, legs and feet are all covered In scars, and small burns.

His legs also have a similar pattern to what's on his arms. It starts at the feet and goes up to below his knees. The scars on there also glow different colors

The feet only have two toes and they're clawed. And somehow they aid to help him hang from high up places (aka the fucking ceiling, at three am for no fucking reason other than to terrify any poor individual who is also awake)

Preferred outfits:

Twenty's default outfit is just a Zip up hoodie (made for people with four arms) with a shirt underneath, a pair of black shorts and a pair of combat boots. Along with dark grey fingerless gloves. The back of the hoodie has the Anti-Irken symbol in pink.

He is also quite fashionable and enjoys wearing a lot of alt sort of fashions (admittedly enjoys the "e-boy' or emo aesthetic as well). And also just enjoys casual things. He isn't very picky about clothing (unless it's too bright for his taste. He doesn't like wearing certain colors)

Random facts dump!!

He is an incredible cook

He eats bugs and spiders

He's quite good at video games AND card battle games (like a certain card game series included here)

He knows how to drive a car (it's a lot easier than driving a space cruiser, he's found

He also loves sweet things

Unlike irkens he CAN eat meat.

He's also the one who made the puppets robotic legs (as he's had experience with advanced tech)

He also makes inventions that can make people's lives more convenient (however he has not shared this to the public)

His blood is hot pink

He's TRANS (ftm)

I apologize if this seems more rushed than before, I've been a bit sick today but I really wanted to get this done!! If there's anything that needs fixing I will come back to it. Thank you so much for looking!

(I also give anyone permission to draw him....but if anyone sees any questionable fanart of him being released, especially on my birthday it is VITAL that you let me know immediately)

Edited: this is what I imagine what the anti irken symbol would look like (except it's not horribly edited like this)

[amethystdarkwolf]

My ‘Orange Side’ predictions, theories and a lot of Logan angst.

So I've had this theory for a hot second, and only recently decided to finally sit down and write it out. This goes on for quite a bit, and is a little bit on the heavier side, as it has my predictions for the last dark side, and a bunch of little patterns that are interesting to point out, that mostly lead to angst.

Okay, enjoy!

TL;DR is right before the little bonus thing at the end that's just more angst stuff for Logan that kind of applies.

So if you've been in the fandom for really any amount of time, you will know about The Rainbow Theory. Basically, all it is, is that the sides colors will make up the rainbow, and it seems to be nearly canon. We have all the colors except one. And that color is Orange.

Using the knowledge that this side will (most likely) be orange, we have a clue about him. That he's watching, and that he's aware of the audience.

From 26:34 to 26:44, in the upper left hand corner there is a score in orange text, the number is '07734'. Now, if you were to put that number into a calculator and turn it upside down, it would spell out, 'hello.'

Now this is mostly common knowledge at this point due to the fandom (me included) absolutely losing it over the hint of a new dark side. Especially since he shows up seemingly out of nowhere. I just needed to get those establishing bits out of the way before I continued on with the theory so it's a tiny bit easier to track my thinking (I tend to not explain my points correctly before moving onto the next one so I hope I did a better job of it this time through).

He is speaking to us. He's not saying hello to Patton or Roman or even Thomas! They don't even notice it! He is speaking to the viewer, which leads to the question of what exactly this side knows, and more importantly what this side is capable of.

There is also speculation that this dark side is going to be somehow attached to or the opposite of Logan. The opposite of Logic, that implication alone should be at least a little unsettling. Now, I love Logan, I love him a lot, him and Janus are my favorites. But he does seem to have kind of not the best relations with the others at times. However, I do not think we've reached him actually despising any side, not even Remus or Janus. I think that is going to change.

The color schemes Thomas and the team have been using are really clever. They convey a lot about the character just by having the color associated with them. They have also been working with the idea of opposites. And those opposites seem to conflict quite often.

What I mean is, violet on the color wheel is the opposite of yellow. Virgil and Janus' colors. Now, it is very, very plain to see that Virgil and Janus do not get along. Whatever history they have is still up in the air for specifics, but it's obvious that they have one. And at least Virgil hates Janus.

Red and green are also opposites on the color wheel. Even though they have barely interacted, it's clear by Roman's language towards Remus that they don't have the best relationship. Roman breaks down at the mention that him and Remus are similar. Also the funhouse simile, (DWIT: 35:56) "It's a little like, looking into a funhouse mirror,  but instead of a giant head, or, like, long legs and a tiny torso... It shows you... Everything you don't want to be."   That's more than enough evidence to prove they aren't on the best terms.

Now, onto blue. Blue, more specifically, Logan's shade of blue, is opposite to orange. And judging by the pattern we see developing with the opposite colors. Logan will not like the orange side one bit. Hold onto that piece of information for a moment while I make a few more predictions based on some more patterns.

Someone has already pointed this out, (if someone will be so kind as to remind me of who pointed this out that would be lovely <3), but back in Moving On Part 2, in the background, there is a picture hanging on the wall that will typically change  to fit whatever topic they're currently on, (ex: it changed to a picture of Thomas preforming in the show he won the golden apple for when it was brought up, or a zoomed in picture of the children's book he made.) At 1:30 the picture changes to show Thomas doing the 'speak no evil, hear no evil and see no evil' poses. (Covering his mouth, ears and eyes)

The dark sides and Virgil seem to each have a connection to one of these.

Virgil: See no evil. (Embarrassing Phases: 7:32. Virgil makes the room go completely black, blocking everyone's field of vision while he changed Logan's costume.)

Janus: Speak no evil. (Self-explanatory)

Remus: Hear no evil. (DWIT: 5:36-5:48. Remus muffles the other sides conversation, making Thomas hear him clearer than anyone else with the "Have you ever imagined killing your brother?" line.)  

The last one in that same vein, would be 'do no evil'.

So what does this pattern have to do with the other patterns I've pointed out?

Well, in order to get there, I need to point out, yet another pattern. (I'm so sorry)

Logan has always been a bit more physical than the rest of the sides I think. I don't really like using pre-Fitting In information in my theories, as I'm unsure of exactly how much they had planned at that point?, but I'm unsure of how to explain my point that well without this example. In Accepting Anxiety part 1, at 6:36 you can see Thomas rubbing the back of his head where he was hit with the laptop, immediately after, you can see Logan do the same thing.

To me this sort of establishes that what happens to Thomas can happen to Logan, making him a bit more of a physical presence than the others. The brain is what stimulates pain after all, it controls all the nerve endings and pain receptors.

Another much looser example, is his puppet choice in LNTAO, the whole 'not made of felt' thing was most likely just because of what Logan said that y'know, he didn't feel anything. It is also the fact of, all of the others puppets had felt somewhere on them, except his. Which makes the puppet, in contrast, feel more sturdy and physical.

I don't think this one applies all too much, but it is worth noting that out of all of the sides, Logan tends to always end up holding something/having something more physical in his possession more than the others. (Moving on being the exception)

The note cards.

The yerkes-dodson curve chart.

In Can Lying Be Good he was given a little headset.

Logic Vs. Passion he had a notebook (Which also made an appearance in Embarrassing Phases) as well as the drawings and graphs, while he wasn't physically holding them, they were real and not animation like Roman's examples.

(If you wanna count the crofters go ahead...?)

LNTAO also had the paper ball throwing physically hurting Roman.

In SvS when he was summoned (lmao summoned to appear in court I just got that as I was typing this out.) He is holding a law book.

In DWIT he gets physically hurt, twice. Having his teeth pulled out, and the throwing star. [Side note: the little interaction at 19:07 could also apply here, showing how he's more grounded as he stays almost completely still when Remus practically jump scares him.]

In the Healthy Distractions video he has what I'm assuming is coffee-

Then in the redux, he physically ends up hurting Patton by popping up too close. An odd little detail that really didn't apply, don't you think? And it's immediately followed up with Patton reiterating that they were just figments of Thomas' imagination.

Logan is much more grounded in reality and more physical than the other sides. Which is a very good thing for Logic to be, that's what it has to be.

Now what is the actual theory?

Virgil can blind the others

Remus can mute the others

Janus can silence the others

My theory is that the 'orange side' is going to have the ability to physically or mentally control the others.

And Logan is going to be his chosen victim, at least at first.

Logan is going to have an antagonistic relationship with this side because of the fact that he takes control away from him. Which order and control is what Logan seems to thrive on!

Keeping schedules, having everything in order, being taken seriously, attempting to make sure that Thomas is punctual, all of those things are Logan trying to maintain control. Now that isn't a bad thing in this circumstance at least, he's trying to make sure Thomas doesn't do anything that would cause his life to devolve into chaos.

But when it's taken away from him it's going to send him into some kind of spiral, and lead to his two-part video. Losing control of things is scary as hell. It was one of the points brought up as to why Remus was being a pest more than usual (DWIT: 29:37-29:56). And obviously being ignored and pushed to the side isn't helping either. It could just be the straw that breaks the camels back.

Long story short, Logan's arc is going to be directly tied to that other dark side, at least in my predictions.

And it's going to hurt.

Okay, this last little bit, is purely speculation, with very little connection to anything in canonicity. All of the dark traits seem to have a connection to some kind of animal, and they're typically ones that are seen as gross or creepy in some form, spider, snake, octopus.

What if the last dark side's animal was some kind of bug? A beetle or something. Like seriously the thought of a bright orange beetle or cockroach is, disgusting.

The only reason I'm saying this is because of a random thought I had. We all know Logan's 'robot' persona he puts up, he can't feel anything, he's mechanical, right? Well, a side coming in and completely flipping all of that on it's head, and ruining the control Logan had...

That would be a real bug in the system, now wouldn't it?

Well! Thank you for reading through all of this! I know it got a bit long-winded I just like having as much evidence as possible before stating a theory.

But those were just my thoughts and I'd love to hear yours! So please tell me what you think!!!

TL;DR: My prediction is that the orange side will be able to take control over the other sides, and he will take control of Logan which would cause Logan to spiral enough to warrant his two part video.

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

BONUS: Some more angsty bits about Logan and control, that didn't apply to the theory too much! 

So first off, to me Logan seems like a very straight-forward (ha.) problem solver. If there is a problem there is no need to go through extensive loopholes or anything, no emotional mires or musical numbers unless necessary, the problem just needs to be fixed, period end of sentence.

I have a feeling that Logan applies that same logic to himself.

In the videos prior to Losing My Motivation, Logan was very very happy and bubbly. Easily excited and willing to participate in things he probably wouldn't have otherwise. He was much more expressive. (I know this is most likely because he was not a fully fleshed out character yet, but it can tie into some angst.)

Then in Losing My Motivation, Logan was brought the conclusion that he was the problem. (Note: this was also where the infinitesimal mistake was also made.)

From then on, we can slowly see minor changes to him in the videos, he starts becoming more reserved, serious, as well as trying new things to sort of fit in? (i.e the note cards) He saw the problem, and he tried to fix it. He became the definite voice of reason. Him smiling also went down a lot.

Looking back on this better explains why Logan was so upset at the beginning of Logic Vs. Passion, 2:28-2:41. To him he's already fixed his problem, he's fixed himself, he was the problem, how could Thomas run into this problem again!

Then we get to the crofters musical, where he just completely drops his walls down and sings and has fun with something he enjoys. Then of course, Virgil and Patton kinda come and unintentionally embarrass him. And he starts getting more feelings of inadequacy which build up to the whole problem of LNTAO.

Then in SvS almost his entire time on the witness stand was Janus subtly poking at him, and at 15:04, he talks about wanting to make sure Thomas is punctual and productive. He in fact calls it his passion project, something he is PASSIONATE ABOUT.

After two or three years, Logan is still trying to fix the problem. He's still trying to fix himself.

Now this link to control is mostly in what Logan is trying to get Thomas to do, be punctual, follow schedules, produce adequate content at a steady pace, and follow the same pattern every day, according to the chart in Logic Vs. Passion. This habit forming, tends to nearly eliminate variables from Thomas' life. Earning Logan more control. Which is clearly what he's wanting, as he feels that is the way to prevent problems from happening.

[ayamari-no-goshi]

Eidolon 6 | (T)

ff.net | AO3

Fandom: Danny Phantom (DP)

Summary:  AU: What started off as the result of a simple act of rebellion ends up causing his life to spin out of control. How will young Danny cope with the results as well as a past that has a strange habit of coming back to haunt him.

Warnings: rated T for violence, mentions of death, kidnapping, and various other things

Parings: hints of Danny/Sam much later on

Notes: originally uploaded to Ff.net. Cross-posted to AO3 and tumblr

6. Phone Call

Winston was at a complete loss as to what to do. Though Danny was feeling better, he firmly denied anything strange happened before he started feeling ill. Worse, his friends had decided they were not going to leave for a while. After everything that had happened during the day, he really needed to talk to the boy. It was just he did not want company to hear… though, knowing Danny, he would probably tell his friends anyway.

His other problem involved trying to figure out just how much he should say. He knew he had to explain what happened to the boy's parents, it seemed to factor into both Masters' and Plasmius' involvement in the whole mess. But the other aspect, which held most of Plasmius' attention, was a touchy subject. Unfortunately, that would have to wait until a later time. Without Danny's acknowledgement, there was little that could be said.

He ran his hand through his hair while he continued to pace. Why did everything have to be so complicated?

A sound from the phone interrupted his contemplation. Irritated, he glared at the number and realized it was in his best interests to answer it. Blasted social services! They couldn't leave him alone for more than a few hours anymore. Though, in this case, he did deserve it. After taking a moment to calm himself, he answered the phone, expecting to hear the social worker from earlier in the day. Instead, he was shocked to discover the educated-sounding voice on the other end belonged to none other than the Vlad Masters.

"Hello! Is this Winston?" he asked with a strange, almost false, enthusiasm. "Splendid! I'm just calling to check in as I was informed earlier that you had to cancel a meeting with one of my representatives due to an emergency earlier today."

Winston's eyes narrowed as he listened. "Sorry about that. I tried explaining to the woman that I'd gladly reschedule as it was imperative that I checked in on the situation. It was just as much as a shock to me as to everyone else." He paused for a moment. "You know, I wasn't told that the meeting was with one of your people."

"What?" The voice on the phone had the nerve to sound shocked. "I could have sworn that you had been informed. I'll have to make note to talk to the office about that. Anyways, the meeting was supposed to go over the legal aspects of young Daniel's case."

"Legal aspects? What 'legal aspects'? The courts decided years ago that I had full legal permission to take care of him! You honestly want to remove him from the place he's called home for the last twelve years?"

"There's no need to get testy with me, now is there? Yes, you were given permission, but things have changed since then. That letter of yours was definitely written by the Fentons, but it's hardly a true legal document. So, I've decided to retry the case."

"I hope you realize if it was considered fine back then, it most likely will have the same result now."Although he tried to sound civil, Winston could hear the growl lurking beneath. Just from the way Masters was talking, it was clear there was something abnormal about his interest in Danny. Not only that, but it just did not make sense the problem of a couple missing documents would turn into a potential court case so quickly. It seemed like Masters was doing his best to puppeteer everything to a favorable situation, which was starting to sound worrisome.

"…I'm also going to remind you, even though you probably already know this," he continued, not caring if Masters had something else to say. "It is unlikely that the courts will want to remove Danny from a home where he's been well-taken care of. Not only that, all of the proper paperwork has been turned in showing I've adopted him legally, other than the couple forms that have disappeared. It will just be easier for all parties to have me continue to take care of him."

A somewhat dark laugh answered him. "Let's look at this piece by piece, shall we? Are you certain the boy's happy and healthy? Why, when I visited your house earlier today, he looked under the weather. Think of what the courts will think when he doesn't get better."

"And are you insinuating that he won't?" he demanded. Silence was the only answer he received, though he could almost sense the smirk forming on Masters' face. "And what do you mean visited? You're telling me that you were here, in person?"

"Oh yes. Though, I must say that Daniel was quite displeased to find me in your kitchen. He wasted no time in confronting me. Haven't you taught him not to talk to strangers?"

Winston could just feel his blood pressure rising to the boiling point. "Y-you…! HOW DARE YOU! DO YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT YOUR MONEY GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO BARGE INTO OTHER PEOPLE'S HOMES?"

"Oh dear… It appears as if our conversation has turned a bit sour. Let's continue this on a different day, hmm?"

It took nearly all of his willpower to calm down to the point where he was sure that he was not going to yell again. "Fine… but let me ask you this first: what is your interest in Danny? I know that someone like you rarely involves himself in the personal lives of other, especially those we aren't in your social class. So, why?"

"Me? I'm simply trying to do what my two old friends requested of me before their deaths."

"Forgive me if I don't believe that. And, what makes you think they're dead? No evidence has ever been found. I'd think as a friend, you'd be hoping for the best until proven otherwise."

"Oh ho, more questions! And here I thought we were done." There was a pause before another strange laugh came across the phone. "But I'll indulge you one last time tonight. Though I'd love to be told that Maddie and Jack have been found, I know it's quite unlikely. It's been nearly thirteen years, and statistics have shown that the odds of a missing person surviving that long are so minute it's laughable." He then paused for a moment before speaking again. "Winston, as a… normally… reasonable man, so I implore you to think about this carefully. A court case will be messy and will probably drain you financially. Also, think about the boy's happiness. You're telling me that he wouldn't be happier in my care?"

"From what I've heard over the phone, you sound like you view Danny more as an object than an actual person, so I doubt it," Winston snorted. "Mr. Masters, until that court date, stay away from my house and my family. Now, if you excuse me, I have some things that I have to attend to." He then slammed the phone down and breathed.

It had taken all of his willpower to not start cursing at the man. If he didn't trust the man before, he certainly didn't now. There had been something that had been left unsaid in the conversation, even if they had danced around the topic. Masters had made it sound earlier that Danny would remain ill, but with how angry he had been at the time, he hadn't bothered to press the subject. Was it possible that he knew about Danny's 'condition'? And, could he have been the associate that Plasmius mentioned?

Well… whether he was or wasn't, he still needed to talk to Danny. Without wasting another minute, he started towards the boy's room.

xxxxx

"Tucker, asking him the same question over and over is not helping!" Sam warned the boy while eyeing the PDA in his hand. From Danny's vantage point, he wasn't entirely sure if she making sure it wasn't going to be thrown or if she was thinking about swiping it.

"But... he's gotta know something!" Tucker's voice was panicky. Since his scare earlier, he had been trying to find a rational explanation for what had happened, but his efforts were failing miserably. However, it wasn't because he wasn't asking the right questions, but rather, Danny honestly did not have the answers.

He sighed as he watched Sam threaten to destroy the PDA in what he assumed was the wrong was to calm someone down. What was going on? Although he didn't want to admit it, this was similar to what happened on Sunday, though he hadn't gotten stuck that time. The best thing that he could come up with is that it was some weird sickness that was causing it. He really didn't want to say anything to Winston, especially since this was only the second time that this had happened.

But, although falling through solid objects was definitely strange, it was not the first odd occurrence he had experienced recently. There was that frightening encounter the previous week with that thing... "Hey, guys..." he said quietly as he tried to put his thoughts in order, "Do you think this could be related to that strange thing that chased us?"

Tucker looked confused for a moment while Sam just narrowed her eyes. "You mean the thing that appeared in the cemetery? Why would you think that?" she asked, dubious.

"Why'd you have to go and bring that up?" Tucker nearly choked. "I've been trying to forget about it!"

Danny allowed himself to smile at Tucker's reaction in spite of his concerns. "Well... nothing really strange started until that happened. Also, do you remember that it said something somewhat odd before it vanished? I think it was something like, 'Enjoy it while it lasts'."

"I remember that..." Sam told him as she looked at him curiously. "It was almost like it was saying that you weren't going to be around for much longer." A frown appeared on her face as she thought about it for a moment. "So... do you think he knew about this?"

"Or maybe it made this happen..."

"Great, just great! That's just what I need to hear! You don't think that thing scared me enough when we first saw it? Now you're giving it super powers!"

Unsure what to say, he just watched as Tucker's fearful exclamation turned into a full-blown rant that somehow seemed to jump from the fear of the unknown entity to worry that his precious PDA would be damaged back to the fact that people shouldn't be able to get their leg stuck in the floor. Although he knew he should probably stop him, it was probably better if he got it all out now. It would definitely make it easier to talk to him, once he calmed down either by his own volition or by Sam's.

However, he wasn't stopped by either things. Instead, a loud shout, which was probably more comparable to an enraged snarl, took all of them by surprised. Danny looked towards his door in shock. Winston almost never raised his voice like that, but when he did, usually it was not a good thing. He only hoped that he was not going to end up on the receiving end later on.

"Uh... was that...?" Tucker asked worriedly. It was almost as if he was afraid to finish the question.

He nodded and listened for a moment. It sounded like his guardian was on the phone with someone. "He doesn't lose his temper too often," he told his friends before donning a wry smile. "But when he does, I'd rather be facing that weird thing again."

...

It was a little later when a knock on his door interrupted his conversation. "Danny? May I come in?" Winston's voice called from behind it. Although Danny really did not want to deal with his guardian at that moment, he knew that it would be dangerous to refuse, especially after the outburst earlier.

After telling him that he could, Winston came in, and it was very clear that he had a lot on his mind. The man looked so worn and stressed, that he seemed to have aged at least ten years in a single night. Hopefully, that was just a temporary thing.

"Danny... I know that this is probably not the best time, but..." Winston's tone suddenly changed from pleasant to accusing. "Where did find those?"

He was definitely confused by the question, until Winston gestured towards the letters that were now on his end table. With everything that happened, he had completely forgotten about them. "Oh, those. I had found them in your study when I came home... "

"He was the only one who went inside though!" Tucker piped before anyone else had a chance to say something. "What?" he asked after Sam gave him a strange look. "I'm trying to save him from getting in trouble."

Danny was surprised when he watched Winston's suspicious glare change into a more amused expression. "You definitely have found some good friends."

"Actually, they found me," Danny corrected. After all, it was them who decided to go look for supposed ghost in the cemetery. That thought just amused him. Who in their right mind thought that he was a ghost?

"Would you mind handing me those?" Winston after allowing himself to take a set at the end of the bed. After being giving the letters, he seemed unsure of what to say. "Did... did you take a look at these?"

"No... After I found them, we ended up being distracted by that Masters guy... Oh, that's right, I... uh... forgot to mention that to you..." Even he could hear the nervousness in his voice. Random people being in the house without permission was somewhat important.

"I know... He was the one who called earlier, and he decided to let that slip..." There was a momentary pause before Winston looked at him with a very serious expression. "These letters both have something to do with what happened to your parents and part of what's happening now. And, it's about time that you knew."

Wait, was Winston really about to tell him what he thought he was? He wasn't too sure what to say until Sam made a noise, making him jump. For a moment, he had forgotten that his friends were still in the room.

"Uh... do you want us to leave... since this is a delicate subject and all?" she asked. From her expression, he could tell that she really didn't want to leave just yet.

"It's alright... I know that no matter what, you'll end up hearing the story anyways." Winston replied with a bit of a grin. "How to start this off...? Danny, back before you were born, your parents were actually making quite a name for themselves as scientists and inventors, focusing mostly on the field of parapsychology, which is how I ended up initially meeting them."

"Parapsychology? You mean like research on stuff like ghosts and psychic abilities?" Sam asked. It was clear that her interest was clearly peaked.

Winston nodded. "The very same, though they tended to focus more on what they referred to as ghost hunting. Anyways, it appears that some of their research caused a bit of a problem for them. Someone by the name of Plasmius... started taking a negative interest in your family. It's a bit unclear why, but shortly after you were born, Plasmius decided to, for lack of a better word, attack your family."

"Your parents seemed to know he was coming... and called me shortly before that attack happened. But, I got there too late. By that time, the house was a mess and your parents were... just gone! It's not entirely clear what happened to them. I searched the house for some clue, but it was as if they vanished into thin air. Yet, somehow, I was able to find you, Danny. You were unhurt and tucked away in a laundry basket of all things."

"Where... do the letters fit in?" he asked, unsure how everything was related.

"I'm getting to that. Now, according to your parents' will, a friend of theirs was supposed to take care of you if anything ended up happening to them. However, about a month before the attack, I was sent a letter from them that asked if I would be willing to take care of you instead." Holding up the one letter, he frowned as he examined it. "It looks like someone's been reading this... Anyways, although it's not a proper document, the courts seemed to view it as an updated but unofficial will. It caused a lot of problems for your parents' friend who seemed almost desperate to get a hold of you."

"I'm a bit confused..." Tucker interrupted. "Why didn't Danny's parents want their friend to take care of him?"

"It's not entirely clear..." Winston told them rather slowly as if he wasn't sure how to phrase what he wanted to say. "But, from what I understand, they seemed to suspect him of somehow being in league with Plasmius. After the problem with the court was settled, I moved us away from your old hometown, hoping that it would bring an end to the trouble... I was wrong. It... it appears that he past is trying to repeat itself. The second letter you found was from Plasmius, saying that he knew where we are. I was so shaken up... I went out to see if I could find you, but I ran into it... him instead... On top of that, Vlad Masters has gotten himself involved again... He thinks that he can win this time... It's such a mess."

There was just silence as Winston finished up. It was very clear that he was deeply troubled by the whole even, and Danny was just as lost. There was just so much information to sift through and try to understand, but something was sitting a little off. "'win this time'?" he repeated. "Do you mean that the guy that was in our house today was the same person my parents didn't want to take care of me?"

"The very same. I don't know exactly why he's so dead set on this. It could be related to Plasmius, or it could be a completely different matter. I don't know." Winston sighed for a moment before he looked directly into his charges eyes, making him nervous for some reason. "All I do know is that Plasmius is very dangerous and has some sort of interest in you." He then stood up and moved towards the door. "Be careful. I don't want to find out that the next time you disappear is because of him."

[fandom-necromancer]

039. Shouldn’t you be with him/her?

This one is a bit longer than my normal, just a headsup! (Finally not only emotions but story XD)

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 | AU: reverse AU

‘Oh, no, I won’t be ordered around, Detective!’ ‘You- Wait, when did I order you around, Gavin? I just asked you to come with me.’ ‘Exactly.’ ‘Gavin, we are partners, we are supposed to go to missions together!’ ‘Yeah, well, I never asked for a phcking partner! Let alone a damn human. And I’m not becoming someone’s puppet!’ ‘I-I am not trying to make you one, we just have to go. We have been called as backup for the SWAT, me being a former military and you being a state of the art android.’ ‘You have been called out to duty.’ ‘It is implied I take my partner with me.’ ‘Oh and now I'm your property, yes? I imply you should go phck yourself! I’m not following you around like a damn lapdog!’ ‘Fine! I’ll go alone then, partner!’

Gavin watched the human march off. Honestly, he had expected him to hoist him up and pull him with him. Or to complain to the captain resulting in god knows what for the GV200. Or to punish him in any other way. He hadn’t at all expected the man to simply walk away. But then again, Nines wasn’t like other partners he had had. It would be too much to say the man had left him alone and in peace, but he had always ordered him in a polite way, even if it was an order nonetheless. Well, he wouldn’t feel guilty about it. The human had worked alone the whole time. In his file it said he had one or two partners in his career. One in the military that died the first week, one in the beginning of his police-life. Well, they lived to tell the tale, but it wasn’t a pleasant one for sure. Gavin had heard the stories about the uncontrollable Detective that, well, every definition of asshole and self-entitled idiot fit. Nines had been over five years at the force without a partner, he would manage.

GV200 spent the time until the human would get back attending to the menial work no one wanted to do. The android tasks, the ones left for them to complete by the humans. Gavin hated it. He had a whole life of signing papers for his partners, writing reports, filing evidence, sending samples to the lab, waiting for results. He didn’t realise how the hours passed and he wouldn’t have noticed the ruckus in the bullpen weren’t it for a few sheets of paper he had to fetch from the printer.

‘Hey, shouldn’t you be with him?’, someone asked as he passed by and Gavin didn’t spent time looking at them, when his auditory sensors picked up that voice coming out of the headphones somewhere. ‘This is Detective Richard Stern, requesting immediate backup! The perimeter has been overrun, I’m in enemy territory, cut off from the SWAT team. Status-‘ The man held his breath and far-away voices became audible. Then hushed words: ‘I haven’t been spotted yet. I have to keep quiet.’

Gavin ignored the lingering stares at him and the muttered questions why he wasn’t there. He asked himself the same questions.

Before he could think about it, he was out and running down the streets at inhuman speeds. He pinged Nines’ communicator, getting an exact position and looking for the best route there. Ignoring streets, cars and even humans, he bolted through the city. It was one thing to hate his partner and the whole situation of being dependant on him. It was a whole other to let his partner die out of pettiness. He connected to the frequency Nines and the precinct were using, talking without using his mouth: ‘Detective unit GV200 on the way responding to backup-call. Arrival in approximately…’ Instead of following the street he jumped over a fence through a row of gardens, recalculating the time. ‘twelve minutes, twenty-five seconds.’

It were long twelve minutes, the only sign of Nines being a regular ping that yes, he was still alive. Gavin finally arrived at the building, operator van easily spotted behind a overgrown bush. He easily hacked the lock, throwing open the back doors to some equally shocked faces. ‘Where is he?’ No one answered him, at least not fast enough. ‘Detective unite GV200 partner of Detective Richard Stern. He requested backup as he is caught behind enemy lines. Where the phck is he?’ ‘Er… around here…’ A woman pointed to a laptop-screen and Gavin jumped into the back of the car looking over her shoulder at what he supposed were the schematics of the factory-complex. ‘Where is your team?’ ‘Over here.’ That was some distance, Gavin mused. There were multiple rooms in between his partner and the SWAT-team. ‘Our men claim he saw a chance to bypass them and acted although he was ordered not to. We had to fall back not to get caught by the criminals.’ ‘And the hostage?’ ‘We suppose he is kept here.’ Huh? That was relatively close to where Nines hid.

‘Okay, I’m going in. I’ll keep broadcasting to you guys. You! White-jacket-guy! Give it to me!’, he demanded. The man flinched and looked at him confusedly. ‘Give me the damn thing! Holy shit, I’ll buy you a new one when this is over, deal? Just give it to me!’ Hesitantly the cloth was handed over and Gavin laid it flatly on a desk. ‘Perfect. Now does any one of you idiots have a sharpie?’

~

Nines had knelt in a corner behind some crates for what felt like an eternity. Surely the twelve minutes had passed already. He hated waiting had always hated it. Fuck, his plan could have worked. If only he had known there was a guard seated in front of him that had decided to patrol the only doors to this room in a rhythm that wouldn’t allow him to slip by. He was so near, he could hear the hostage promising his captors anything that might cause them to let him leave. An android could have told him that. He still waited for either the SWAT-team to act or backup to arrive, when there was a sudden change on the criminals’ behaviour. ‘Hey, has the android stood here before?’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘Yeah, well, there’s a fucking android standing here. Seems to be dead though. Doesn’t move, has no light.’ ‘Probably leftover from the factory.’ ‘Shit dude, don’t touch it.’ ‘Why? You scared it’ll go full terminator on us?’

Then there was a second voice. A voice Nines knew, but usually in another tone. ‘Hello! I’m a GV200 work unit. How may I help you?’ It was nearly unnatural as happy and quirky as it sounded. Was that really Gavin? ‘Holy shit. I didn’t think it would wake up. Scared the shit out of us, tin-can!’ ‘I have entered Stasis six years, three months and twenty days ago. My orders were to awaken when prompted.’ ‘Hey, nice, free android! We can sell it and keep the change.’ ‘Or we could take it to the boss. Ey, robot! What can you do?’ ‘I have been built with an enhanced chassis for labour. I am quicker and stronger than a normal human.’ ‘What’s with sensors ‘n stuff?’ ‘Enhanced auditory and visual sensor systems.’ ‘We just got ourselves a guard bot, man.’ ‘Acknowledged. I will guard this building. Are there any more persons with you?’ ‘Yeah, we’re seventeen-‘ ‘Thomas is ill.’ ‘Sixteen humans. I would say to look out for police officers and such.’ ‘You can’t just say that, it’ll know-‘ ‘Search parameters saved. Have a nice day.’

Apparently Gavin had left them standing, because there were footsteps getting lost in the distance while the voices of two men remained. ‘We’ll have to tell the boss before it meets the others.’ ‘Yeah, so much for selling it ourselves, dumbass.’ Okay, Gavin was inside the building, having free access to everything. And he even found out how many people there were. A genius plan, he had to give it to the bot.

It took a while until something happened again. Accompanied with a muttered: ‘Phcking humans, I swear!’, Gavin entered the room. Nines stirred but kept quiet, so the man patrolling wouldn’t hear him. It was a shock for him to be suddenly grabbed by the arm and ruggedly pulled to his feet. ‘Intruder alert!’ ‘Gavin, what the fuck?’, he hissed, looking confused at the stark white of a Cyberlife jacket. Wait, was this even his Gavin? ‘What’s with the Cyberlife-Outfit?’ The android showed him his palm, all the while screaming ‘Intruder alert!’ over and over again. I’ll bring you to the hostage, then we wait for SWAT to arrive. Risky. But he trusted the android to know what he was doing. So, he played along. ‘Let me go, you damn android!’, he pressed out and struggled knowing he wouldn’t stand a chance even if he would have honestly tried to get free.

Immediately the guard from before came running in, looking first at Nines, then at the android. ‘You told me to look out for police and other associated forces. This one is a police detective. I've completed my first patrol through the whole building. He is the only one. I believe someone to collect more information on your operation for later intervention. According to statistical data a raid is set one to two weeks after first investigation.

‘Holy shit, you really are useful, droid. Come, let’s get him to the others.’ The man Nines had observed for the better part of an hour now tried to grab him, but Gavin simply walked off. The human continued to fake-struggle in his grip, once strong enough to earn a slap in the face by the guard. After that he backed down a bit. This wasn't how he had planned his day to go.

~

'The android has found a police officer snooping around!', the asshole following Gavin announced as they stepped into the room where the hostage was held. He was still unharmed. Considering they wanted ransom nothing out of the ordinary, but it didn't mean he was save. Especially if the SWAT-team came barging in the situation could change immediately. 'So... Has it?' A skinny man came over to take a look at Nines or more at his uniform. 'Everyone, be ready to ditch this place, we've been compromised!'

Gavin had been broadcasting what he saw and heard to the operator van as well as the team itself and unbeknownst to the criminals, his data had allowed them to surround the room and clearing the rest of the building while he was on "patrol". They waited only for his sign to attack now and Gavin smirked at the thought of humans in his command for now. The leader of the gang saw his change in expression, but before he could put two and two together, Gavin had grabbed Nines' firearm, let go of the human and took the criminal at gunpoint instead. Nines immediately dipped for the chair the hostage was strapped to as the SWAT-team came running in, taking over. He managed to pull the whole chair into a corner, but he wouldn't have needed it. They had been overwhelmed so quickly that they barely even resisted.

 'I have to say, you are amazing at the job!' Gavin looked up sitting in the passenger seat of Nines' car and knew he must have misunderstood something. 'Excuse me?' 'Yeah, your idea of infiltrating was really something else.' 'You praising me because you liked me being the obedient android?', Gavin asked. 'What? Hell, no! Why... Are you really still on that path?' 'I'm not letting myself be ordered around!' 'I haven't- Gavin, this morning I said and let me quote my own fucking self at you: "We just got a call, Let's go, I'll drive us there." how the hell is that ordering you around? You don't need orders, you just proved it today by saving the whole operation single-handedly!' 'I will not follow you around, doing your work!' 'I have not expected you to!' 'Then why did you left me with all the damn paperwork?' 'I haven't left you with it when I wanted you with me to begin with for fuck's sake! Humans procrastinate, okay? We don't like doing something? We shove it all the way to the back until we have to do it. I didn't mean to load it all on you, I just couldn't bring myself to do it yet.' He sighed, pulling into an empty spot in the parking lot. 'I am honest with you, I'm not a good partner. Today proved it, I can't follow orders very well. But neither can you so, how about we start over? Let's go in there and try again!' 'I won't let you order me around again!' Gavin grinned as the human groaned and planted his face on the steering wheel. He let him suffer for a while, before he punched Nines in the shoulder.

'Hey, I'm just messing with you. Let's go and be partners!'

[alterlifes-a]

i love u and the psd u have for mirio is beautiful!!! can u rec some bnha blogs? or maybe anime blogs in general, thank u!

you want blog recs ?! i got blog recs ! also , i did have another anon a few months ago asking for blog recs , so i’ll only be recommending b.nha blogs , since i can do non - b.nha blogs another day ! ALSO , thank you so much for your input on my psd for mirio  !!  i’m so proud of it , as well tbh !  ❤︎ i’m putting this under a read more so i can gush and not clog up peoples’ dashes !! also these are in order of my following list rn , so it’s in no specific order .

@dualbred  /  @soarsun  /  @eletriq  /  sunny’s other blogs  ❤︎  sunny is someone whose name describes what they are perfectly : he’s a ray of sunshine in your day ! he’s very charming, creative, and sweet, and he’s the perfect person to go to if you want to plot and walk out of the conversation just . screaming . whether that’s good or bad , depends .@frogblep  ❤︎  idk if birdie is okay with a lot of people following since they’re really private + super mutuals-exclusive, but they’re so cute and have such a great personality ! 10/10 would chirp .@ichorsun  ❤︎  wow i love hide the canon character . but for real , rye has such a well - crafted oc , and this blog deserves all the attention it can get !@dprssin  /  @quirkgifter  /  @mcka  ❤︎  listen i know nanners is on hiatus cause the fandom sucks ( which is why i also linked his d . va ) , but that doesn’t erase the fact that he’s got one of the best [ and only , from what i’ve seen hsdkfjs ] nanas out there . also , we support n adore his native american mixed aizawa , thank you . @toughfist​  /  @torncape  /  @tailsfur  ❤︎  nora is so so kind and honestly just a huge burst of sunshine in your day ! also sakkun is such a cute oc tbh . it’s obvious she puts a lot of love into her muses , so go check out her blogs !!@knowthem​  /  @inneall​  ❤︎  i haven’t interacted much with jade yet , but honestly if you write iida i already trust you … sfkjs but honestly speaking , jade is a welcome and warm presence on the dash . just having them around is grounds for a good time !@pyrrhe​  /  @spireheart​  ❤︎  ram my love … my buddy in great music taste … she’s your local lesbian who’s here to kick butt and write amazing replies and guess what … she’s all out of butts to kick .@sepiternal​  /  @amariodal​  /  @hwitzr​  /  @solsace​ ( shut up , will’s an anime — )   ❤︎  rory literally made a mirio because i wanted one , what more could you ask out of a son … but really , he’s one of my longest standing friends and no matter rain or shine , i know i can count on them to be vivacious and original @lacquarms​  /  @jetlegs​  ❤︎  if anything happened to theus i will personally manifest in every tumblr user’s room and delete all of their blogs and destroy the entire website myself . but tbh , theus is so amazing and charismatic !! 100% recommendation from me@whiphero​  ❤︎  hansie is just one of those people who , like , you see a new blog followed you and you go to check it out , then you see hansie’s name on there and it’s just an instant follow tbh .@palmfed​  /  @wuvlite​  /  @dphium​  ❤︎  punpun is always very funny and super multifaceted in his skills … he has so much creative energy , but also he’s the друг friend so like . tread carefully . oh . he’s already there . clicking the follow button . you’re on your own now . godspeed .@amerismash​​  ❤︎  FOSTEEEER [ i yell so loud i break the sound barrier ] follow foster , just trust me on this . you won’t regret it .@tikkvn​  /  @montlady​​  ❤︎  cass radiates big lesbian energy by merely existing and if that’s not the kind of presence you aim to be … but for real , befriending cass is going to be nothing but fun times and a nonstop waterfall of support . they’re so lovely and super valid and just the kind of person you naturally want as a friend !@ohaul​​  ❤︎  i’ve yet to interact much with veggie , but honestly ? i already trust them . sfhjdks but seriously , they seem real cool ! doctors say you need veggies everyday so here’s a perfect chance for you to get your daily dose !@c0py​​  ❤︎  bruno this icon of yours radiates so much chaotic feeling … but honestly , bruno is great and you gotta check out their monoma 10 / 10 say critics ( me )@natsutodoroki​​  /  @ksri​  /  @negativeat​  ❤︎  i’m not over the fact that you managed to get such canon urls but hskfjds clarrie is honestly such a kind and charismatic person , and the way she writes her muses makes it evident they put a lot of thought into how the character is portrayed in canon itself . also natsuo is clarrie’s oc i don’t make the rules .@heartmindcd​​  ❤︎  okay first of all , can i just say : vincent’s art ? [ fans myself … ] but honestly as a fellow artist in the rpc , i love seeing other muns’ art on my dash and vincent is no exception . he has such a distinct style , and this also translates into how he portrays shinsou ! he obviously has a good handle on how shinsou works as a character , and seeing him in my notes or on the dash is always grounds to make me smile !@yunihon​​  ❤︎  endy is the best , eri is the best … but seriously , endy’s eri ( that sounds like a tongue twister ) is amazing . 5/5 best daughter , would adopt and protect from all harm ( please protect eri from all harm )@charistatic​  /  @ofiignition​​  ❤︎  i have so many feelings for gina and tbqh they are all positive . we kind of brushed shoulders with one another in a previous fandom , but now that i’ve gotten to better know her , i can say for sure that i will personally destroy you with both my hands if you make gina upset in any way . but for real , she’s caring and so fun to be around . also we scream about promised neverland together , i mean , what’s not great about that ?!@riteous​​  ❤︎  eulalie has a b.nha verse on this blog so i’m putting them here .  ok ok but thanos is singlehandedly one of my most favourite oc’s in the world . whenever eulalie posts about them i’m just : eyes : : ok_hand : : 100 : … also they look … stunning . seriously , if you’re going to follow eulalie for like the most bare bone reason , follow because their muse is the prettiest but stay because the mun is a wonderful person .@faceplain​​  ❤︎  kit’s sero is iconic … you should check out their blog !! and if not it’s okay , i’m activating my own tape quirk to slingshot you over there right now as i type .@trapsminds​​  ❤︎  i literally look at sunne’s icon on my dash and i immediately light up into a smile , and if that isn’t any indication that this is a shinsou worth following then idk what ever will be .@bgku​  /  @kwurk​​  ❤︎  CLOOOOOOO —- [ i continue this for 3 hours straight until you click clo’s blog ] ok but really i love clo’s headcanons for bakugou so much … even the smallest , two word post will leave me going :D !!@raijima​  /  @slipstep​​  ❤︎  ryou has a b.nha verse so i’m putting him on here too but also vanur is such an imaginative person and i love every single idea that pops out from his head . he writes such amazing and divine original characters , they feel like they’re real and palpable .@tapeties​  /  @exposensei​​  ❤︎  REID I GIVE YOU ALL MY LOVE RIGHT NOW !!! tbh when i think of aizawa , i just think of reid in general … his penmanship with any character is * chef - kisses my fingers *@chargebolted​  /  @noquirk​​  ❤︎  if you’re not following prince i’m going to come into your house and steal all of your left shoes . ok but really , prince is not only inventive and innovative , he puts a unique and loving touch on every single character he writes . literally ! what more can you ask for ?! i actually mix myself up because i’m so accustomed to writing about / with his deck that i forget he isn’t canon , which . hello , hori ? do it . now . puppeteer and analyzer spin off WHEN !?@trickry​​  ❤︎  you’re lucky i’m putting you on here because i literally hovered over your blog just to double check things like i did with everyone else’s and i got met with that stupid header oh my go — ( but follow hunni actually )@thuskindlyiscatter​​  ❤︎  what do you mean ruby isn’t a canon bnha character ( august just ended but i’m extending it . today is august 37th . so you have to follow august during this month . )@rdriots​​  ❤︎  you know how sometimes you just associate a mun or muse with one another ? like , if you thought of the name tooru , a lot of people would think of me ? i think of kiri and one of the first blogs that comes into mind is this one , because leo’s kiri is just that iconic .@viperot​​  ❤︎  don’t follow if you don’t want madoka to release 10 , 000 snakes into your muse’s house . actually it doesn’t matter , they’re going to do it anyway . i hear their reviews on yelp are awful , though :(  in all seriousness , lemon is one of the best muns i know out there . they’re naturally just a great person . #geminisolidarity@scartar​​  ❤︎  i would kill for zander . like . literally . i would kill for zander . seeing zander on my dash brings me so much unbridled joy … also they’re the person who likes every single one of your posts , get THAT kind of support in your life tbh .@quirkedit​  /  @heartslight​​  ❤︎  sparky log onto your monoma . sparky log onto your monoma . log onto your monoma , sparky . sp@ondespair​​  /  @onfaith​  ❤︎  who is this man i don’t know him he just randomly appeared on this blog rec and definitely does not have a super well - thought out and developed oc .@killslove​​  ❤︎  rose logged onto his himiko yesterday and i am still screaming about it more than 24 hours later … but honestly , rose puts SOOOOOO SO SO SO SO much thought into how himiko works as a character , and that makes me happy because i also wrote / psychoanalyzed her for a brief moment and tbh rose ? articulates all of that research into a well fleshed out and believable interpretation of her .@creatied​​  ❤︎  i went to type in the url but then just typed in ‘ maddy ’ like an idiot . but yeah . maddy . she’s beauty she’s grace she loves momo so much and you can very much tell . she isn’t super active rn and that’s understandable but whenever she does post i am heart eyes !@implosiveexplosive​​  ❤︎  HONESTLY JUST LOOK AT JAY’S WRITING AND TELL ME YOU WOULDN’T FOLLOW OH MY GOD IT’S GORGEOUS@boydazzle​​  ❤︎  egg est un auteur magnifique ! aussi … voulez-vous du fromage ? :)@keiuu​​  ❤︎  QUEENIE IS LITERALLY ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING PEOPLE ON THIS WEBSITE this isn’t even my opinion it’s literally a FACT  thank you goodBYE@aerve​​  ❤︎  can you tell i’m writing so much i’m running out of things to say without just repeating 20239 times that everyone is amazing ( which they are ) anyway coral is one of said people who i can use a billion adjectives to describe positively and yet my brain is churning out none . but coral ? valid . so valid . also gr8 art amazing beautiful wondrous@halfher​​  ❤︎  i think out of everyone here , kaien is the person who has known me the longest … honestly kaien has the skill to be a full - fledged published author at this point and you can’t convince me otherwise . i’ve seen them improve and grow in the 3 or so years between when we first interacted and now … i’m so proud of them tbh !@juuheart​​  ❤︎  i love notay the canon bleach character bUT ALSO NIQUE STOP HURTING HER !! >:((( but also follow nique so you can become attached to notay and yell every time nique hurts her — KJSFFNSDJK@negatiiv​​  ❤︎  hands down one of the most well - done / well - executed oc’s on here . there’s so much development that’s gone on with emi , it’s unbelievable . but also [ naruto vc ] believe it@anquished​​  ❤︎  jihoon is my son and izuku is tooru’s son need i say more i mean really … but also jihoon writes such a unique take on izuku and i love his portrayal so much @faulterd  ❤︎   rOWAN’S MOMO IS SO AMAZING IT’S LIKE I’M READING EVERY INTERACTION STRAIGHT FROM THE MANGA ITSELF !!!@quirkthief  ❤︎  oh my god i’m posting all of these blogs in the reverse order that i followed them from and i literally had to go through 700 followers to finally find connor all the way in the first few hundred i followed after making the blog … how long … is that … how lONG HAVE I KNOWN CONNOR ?! but existential crisis aside , connor’s afo is like … the one canon afo for me lmao . i could write a huge tangent on how much i appreciate him but honestly if you follow him and talk to him you’ll know already . but also be warned cause you’re basically already going to be placed in the afo cult and there’s no escaping please help me i—@greaterhero  /  @conhnhaketon  ❤︎   i literally had to find an excuse to put ro on this because they’re not even an anime blog and they hate the b.nha fandom ( hecking valid if you ask me ) but i want to put them here anyway because you need to follow ro … how are you following me but not them … okay but for real , they’re smart n kind n super fun to talk to ! love forever … and also huge respect tbh …@mightyfrail  ❤︎   a wonderful wonderful all might honestly hsdfjs i’ve been following this blog for soooo long it’s literally … illegal that we’ve yet to interact what the heckie … but yeah , all might is a trans icon there is nothing you can do to convince me otherwise 

[kayasurin]

A long-time lurker of @suzie-guru, I’m tossing this Strange Magic story idea under the cut. I blame (and thank) Suzie because I might not have found the fandom through her stories, but they are what kept me in the fandom (and inspired me to get the DVD as well as get ideas of my own). 

Please find below 10 pages of notes for an idea I’m just calling the Accidental-Marriage-and-Pining AU. If someone decides they want to take it over, just give me a heads up. Otherwise, in my (non-existent) spare time I might take a swing at writing it myself.

·         Instead of kidnapping Dawn when the love potion gets stolen, Bog King declares war. Still crashes the elf party, but only to yell at people and tell the king that hey, war.

·         Roland is defeated & injured early on (shiny armour! No use! He looks very good in a parade but has never actually, y'know, fought before.) Not even by Bog, just some foot soldier goblin. Maybe Brutus with a backhand.

·         Dawn's still hit with a love potion BTW, and falls for a married elf who is devoted to his life-partner and, uh, it's flattering but he likes... guys. (Dawn literally cannot understand the idea right now, when normally she's as passionate about people being able to marry the ones they love as Marianne is passionate for denouncing love, period.) Dawn is kept in her room.

·         Sunny gets hold of the love potion and hands it over, along with his guilt - he is able to say it's Roland's idea, since Roland went from "respected" to "ridiculed". The triplets come forward and admit that they may have suggested Roland use a love potion on Marianne (who is very scary and they're very sorry). People remember that Roland's been talking off and on about war with the Dark Forest for a long time.

·         Bog is not about to stop the war now, even with the Fairies offering the potion back and they're really sorry - the Elders of the Forest would overthrow him in a heartbeat if he did.

·         Sunny is punished, but not as harshly as if he were the sole cause of the war. Basically confined to his rooms helping with the routine paperwork everyone else is too busy with the war to deal with. He might have nightmares about being unable to tell Requisition Form A-7 from Requisition Form A-8.

·         The Imp steals the love potion. It was well guarded but not well enough. Marianne hunts the Imp down (while everyone else is on the battlefield - her dad thought it'd be great for keeping her away from the fighting) but not before several fairies, elves, and a sparrow are dusted. Lizard/Lizzy still fixates on Sunny because he got dragged along with. (Everyone knows Marianne asking him what the hell he was thinking about a love potion and her little sister is more punishment than requisition forms.)

·         (Sunny is really, really sorry. But at least the lizard fixated on him. Guy who had a sparrow fall in love with  him got carried off. No one knows where he is. Everyone is varying degrees of worried)

·         (He's okay and shows up later after escaping when the love potion wore off. Maybe, haven't decided yet.)

·         The war, meanwhile, has lasted a month so far. The final battle happens.

·         Bog goes after Dagda, has to fight his way through the battlefield.

·         Marianne, who is not supposed to be there, gets between Bog and Dagda. She is a fresh fighter, compared to Bog who just spent a couple hours beating his way through elves and fairies and Dagda's guards. Also, Marianne is angry someone's threatening her dad. Also-also, there might be some high-pitched and painful-to-goblins screaming going on.

·         Marianne wins. Bog's hurt, very badly. (I'm sorry boo!) He's mistaken for dead for a little bit, actually.

·         Dagda, trying to signal to the goblins that their king is dead, please stop fighting and go have a civil war on your own side of the border, tries to pick up the Bog King's staff of office. He gets burned. It's wood (or... something?) but it just heated up like a sword fresh from the forge and not yet quenched. Marianne takes the staff, mostly because Dagda drops it, and is perfectly fine.

·         Battlefield turns into a different sort of chaos, of course. It's sorted out that Marianne is now Queen of the Dark Forest by right of personal combat with the Bog King - who, it turns out, is still alive. Marianne orders he be taken care of immediately (Maybe she can give this stupid staff thing back? Seriously, it's twice her height or something and really heavy and also she doesn't want to rule the Dark Forest! Heal up so she can give it back, now!)

·         Marianne, however, isn't going to be a bad ruler. She's got a bunch of terrified Goblins watching her and a bunch of scheming fairies too. She tells her dad to hand Roland over, since he was the real source of the conflict, but she'll be nice and accept him going to the Stone Reach * for investigation and trial.

·         *I envision the Stone Reach to be this rocky outcrop on the south border between the fields and the forest and, possibly a swamp or something. Not associated with anyone, considered perfectly neutral and called on in cases where the royals might have a conflict in sentencing, ect. Since three generations back they've also dealt with passing messages across the field/forest border, because Bog's grandfather refused to talk to Marianne's great-grandfather, and no one's changed the status-quo since. They do other things too for both sides, but the main one is being neutral.

·         They also run around fully cloaked, so no one can tell what species/race they are. Other than weird. The head of the group, AKA main investigator, I envision as something like Sam Vimes from Discworld, except covered head to toe so no one can actually see him. The right personality, though.

·         Back to the story though - the goblins had expected Marianne to just kill Bog on the battlefield, but weren't complaining when she wanted him healed instead. He's moved to the castle, sort of a prisoner and sort of "the prison cell is the only other place in the castle with beds long enough for this guy, and the Queen's taken over the Royal bedroom, and someone this injured cannot sleep on the floor."

·         Marianne also moves to the Dark Forest castle, immediately after telling the fairy council where they can stick their plans for the Dark Forest. (She's going to be a good queen and also hand this nonsense back to the Bog King once he's conscious. She can't hand the place back if the council gets their way.) The goblins are obedient, but not helpful. Griselda spends her entire time watching over Bog in the prison/sick room.

·         Griselda and Marianne encounter each other whenever Marianne's down there interrogating Sugarplum about the love potion. Dawn's still dusted after all, never mind everyone else. (Griselda: not impressed with this fairy who nearly killed her baby boy.)

·         Some of the goblins start actively plotting against Marianne. They're kinda bad at it because goblins go for "in your face" things like actual challenges, instead of backstabbing and what have you. Most of the plotting, therefore, is "who can we all agree to back and who has a chance of defeating our new Queen - shh she's coming" and not "let's poison her drink."

·         Seriously, goblins have standards for overthrowing their monarchs and solving political problems. Who'd be low enough to resort to poison or stabbing someone in the back when these sorts of things are important and should be seen by everyone! (Fairies. Fairies are low enough. Marianne is aware of the plotting but is expecting them to rebel the way fairies would - AKA knives in the dark or poison in the food. The lack of action in that direction is confusing her.)

·         The plotting goblins loosely fall into the following categories - those who want to back Bog in taking the throne back, those who want "new blood" on the throne (and if that blood happens to be related to them, so what?) and then there's a very small group of goblins who think Marianne's not the worst thing in the world, but only if she marries a goblin and has goblin babies.

·         Around this point (approx 1 month after Marianne takes over) Bog wakes up. It takes him a little while, but he regains his health pretty quickly once he's conscious and isn't being force-fed (or unconscious-fed) broth. He sees Marianne when she visits Sugarplum and gets full reports of everything going on thanks to Griselda, Stuff, and Thang (as the ones most able to visit him without being noticed and what have you). He's annoyed at the plotters manoeuvring and spends his time thinking of how he can possibly get his throne back without relying on those plotters who back him.

·         Seriously if he accepts help from any of the plotters he can say hello to a new life as a political puppet. As for anyone else ruling his forest, hah! He dealt with that fly-shit as a kid when someone stole his father's throne (from Griselda, Bog's regent, since Bog's dad kind of died when Bog was a newborn) and then Bog had to kick the imposter off the throne - and not doing that again, thanks.

·         Between his informants and reports about captured goblin soldiers, Bog figures out that any rebellion will likely be met with fairy soldiers setting the forest on fire. It's the main stumbling block to his plan of "kill or kick the fairy out and take the throne back" and he and Griselda spend a long time trying to figure out how to prevent the fire happening. At the very least they're expecting Marianne to turn the Forest into a servant-state of the Fields.

·         (The fairy council, despite her telling them what to do with their plans, expect the same. And are very annoyed that it hasn't happened yet. It's a temper tantrum, that's what it is. Sure.)

·         (There's tension between Marianne and Dagda for this reason, among others, especially since Dagda only "let" Marianne go to the forest to try and get a cure for the love potion.)

·         (Marianne is super unhappy at being in the forest, but as long as she doesn't go outside or look out a window she doesn't panic or anything, which is one way to avoid talking face-to-face with her dad.)

·         After a while (couple weeks) Bog's judged as healed as he can get just lying around and to start getting up and moving to build his strength back. He and Griselda have no answer to the probable "fairies with fire" thing, so Griselda instead begs Bog to capitulate to Marianne, swear allegiance so she doesn't kill him to strengthen her rule. (They've figured that's why she's having him healed up, so she can execute him in front of the Elders and properly strengthen her claim.) Griselda: "I've buried my husband. Please don't make me bury my son."

·         She doesn't fight fair. Bog, meanwhile, might not be king any more but the oaths he swore when taking the throne still count, okay. He still has a responsibility to protect and serve the goblins, and obviously a rebellion isn't the way to go (fairies with fire). If dying keeps them safe (or safer, anyways) he'll do it. He'd rather not, but he will.

·         Marianne finally gets the story of Bog using the love potion, and what the antidote actually is, from Sugarplum. Bog is unaware of this, by the way. He is aware that Marianne's yelling at Sugarplum ("What, real love is the only cure? Are people aware that you're peddling something fake? Seriously, all you're doing is making longer-lasting BEER GOGGLES you fraud!") but can't make out the words. Probably for the best.

·         Marianne contacts Dagda (those weekly messengers are finally good for something) with the cure - true love - and tells him Sunny can cure Dawn, now stop sending me constant messages telling me to come home, I'm BUSY ruling my new COUNTRY. Dagda obviously does what he's told re: Dawn and Sunny, and keeps sending Marianne messages asking her to come home, the forest is no place for a fairy, ect, ect. They'll set up a subsidiary of the council to take care of the day-to-day humdrum of ruling the forest. (HAH! No.)

·         Sugarplum is shipped off to Stone Reach. Her actions are going to be evaluated for treason. No, Marianne's not being petty and it's not revenge for the whole "Dawn got love potioned and Roland was going to use the potion on Marianne" thing. And absolutely nothing about feeling sympathy for a young, love-lorn Bog King who then got his heart broken because Sugarplum was selling lies. No sympathy for the stick-insect-man at all.

·         Bog requests an audience with Marianne during her next open court. Either his (horrible) plan will work, or it won't and he'll die. Either way, it'll be over with quick. And he's figuring on the "I'm going to die" side of things, because it's a terrible idea but no one can come up with anything better, and it will  hopefully keep the plotting idiots from doing something to bring fire-and-fairies to the forest.

·         Oh yeah, little tidbit that this story relies on - there's a second, smaller throne beside Marianne's. The goblins brought it in. When Marianne asked why it hadn't been there to start, they explain that Bog had it taken away, but she hasn't told them the policy about the second throne yet, ect. They do not explain who the second throne is for, figuring it's obvious. It is not. Marianne figures it's for - like in the fairy kingdom - the chief advisor/heir, depending on whether there's an heir or not. The goblins, meanwhile, know it's for the ruler's partner. Both sides think the other side "knows" what the second throne is for.

·         Bog shows up in court looking like he's just barely mobile, because he is. He's got some fresh new scars showing. First time for the majority of the goblins to see his wounds. People are either impressed he survived or disappointed he survived. First time Marianne really sees his wounds - or him - as well.

·         (This is a slow burn, people. They've finally met properly. That's not the end of it yet though.)

·         (Bog's worst wound is, I'm envisioning, a cut high up on the inside of his thigh, in the small area between hip and leg not covered by chitin. Yes, there. A few others include healed cuts on his face and hands, and a crack on his chest, which has healed but won't go away until the next shed or two.)

·         Bog explains to Marianne that the goblins don't want to accept her as Queen, that she will face challenges to her rule as long as he lives, even if he is not the one challenging her. (Simplification of all the nonsense the plotters are coming up with, of course.)

·         Marianne challenges Bog that he wouldn't be saying that if there wasn't another way, unless he wanted a public execution. (Outwardly calm, inwardly panicked. She hasn't killed anyone yet, not even on the battlefield. She really doesn't want to start by chopping someone's head off.)

·         Bog kneels and says he will swear to accept her as the rightful ruler and abide by her rules. He'll even live in the fields if she wants him out of the forest, ect. (Inwardly going "Oh hell no I do not want to live in that horrible place - but I will if I have to and that might help protect my people too, yes self you just volunteered to be a hostage but whatever.)

·         After some back and forth, Marianne accepts Bog's oath. The goblin Elders are annoyed because they didn't factor this possibility into their plans at all. Griselda is resigned but relieved that Marianne's not going to kill Bog. The common goblins are confused, but relieved, ect.

·         Marianne then announces she has made a decision about Bog. Bog is there expecting to be sent to the fields in exile, maybe with a few goblins. Instead, Marianne tells him to take the lesser throne. (The spouse seat. The Elders are freaking out. They REALLY weren't expecting THIS.)

·         Goblins, shocked. Bog, shocked. Marianne, confused and hiding it. She just wants to keep the former ruler as her chief advisor. (Why didn't she just take the chance and shove the throne back at him and flee as fast as she could?! She could've done it but nooooooo...)

·         The slow burn BEGINS, MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHA

·         Bog is moved into the previously closed spouse-bedroom attached to the royal chambers through the washroom. He's constantly sitting to Marianne's right during dinners and things. He is very confused and bemused and worried, because now he's Marianne's husband? That's literally all it takes for the ruler to decide yup, this is my life-partner, just an announcement and the life-partner sitting in the lesser throne. (Most do throw parties of some sort or other, but that's not required.)

·         Marianne does not help by having a discussion with Bog, immediatley after court, about what his duties will be, once he's healed. Advising her about goblin law and customs, primarily. Nothing "active" until he has a clean bill of health. (She's thinking sparring, maybe, or sending Bog out to be the royal face so she doesn't have to fly through the forest - no she's not getting better on her own. Bog's brain maybe shuts down a little, though, because married + active = error does not compute.)

·    ��    They set up a routine: breakfast together, usually with a group, very informal. Mornings are spent separate, Bog going to the healer, his mother, dealing with the guards and messengers, ect. Marianne reviews proposed laws/drafting proposals herself, dealing with household complaints, ect. (Marianne asks Bog why the hell he let things get so bad the linens were taken by field mice. Bog is confused they ever HAD linens. There's a reason why Marianne's the one in charge of the household. Mostly because Bog's pants at it.)

·         They eat lunch together, then court if it's a court day. Or the library the rest of the time, for Marianne's "how to rule the Dark Forest" lessons. History, politics, who wants to kill who, how property rights are handled, inheritance law, ect.

·         Dinner together, and then Bog gives lessons in staff fighting. At the start he gets to sit down and correct Marianne's stances, then as he gets better he starts moving around and eventually they begin, very carefully, sparring.

·         Bog, during this part, transitions from hating Marianne with a passion (she beat him and stole his throne!) to respecting-but-disliking her (okay, she stole his throne, but she's not horrible, for a fairy) to respecting and liking her. It helps that she admits she didn't actually want to take his throne, he was going for her dad and she just reacted, and she's really sorry but she's determined to do a good job of it. (She may or may not have started to offer to give the throne back, but it won't work that way, because Bog lost and would need to win a serious fight to get it back. No-go right now, and depending on how that leg heals, maybe never.)

·         Marianne, meanwhile, is also transitioning during this part, from distrusting everything and everyone (she's a fairy and fairies are good with backstabbing) to trusting that she's accepted, for now, as the ruler. The plotters have stopped their plotting until they figure out how to handle everything that's happened. She relaxes, trusts Bog but is feeling guilty over stealing his throne, even though she didn't mean to. She also finds herself, by the time they're sparring, admiring Bog's fighting ability (and absolutely not his body. Just the fighting ability. Juuuuuust the fighting ability. Not his hands, or the way he can twirl a staff with just his fingers, or the way his shoulders flex, or that smirk or - just the fighting abilities. Yup. That's her story and she's sticking to it.)

·         By this point it's autumn and the harvest starts, so it's all hands on deck. Bog's delegated to the kitchen, because he can be trusted not to chop his own fingers off and he's still only allowed to be only so active. Marianne assists with winterizing the castle and the hidden outbuildings (archives, ect) because she might not know how to hunt and she can't tell the difference between a poisonous berry and a safe one, but by golly she can slap mud and moss over a crack in the wall like a champion.

·         Word from the Stone Reach arrives. After the (date to be determined - probably hunter's moon, or maybe harvest moon, before the first frost but only just), Roland and Sugarplum's trials will be held. Marianne can't avoid it, Bog has to go too, ect.

·         Marianne and Bog have had multiple personal conversations by this point, everything from brief, "this reminds me of" and in-depth, hours-long conversations. However Marianne stops sharing her personal history/views/values/experiences. They had stopped sparring because Super Busy for harvest, but they take it back up again. They still discuss laws and culture, but not as much. They're also still busy doing what they're allowed to do for harvest. (Marianne is too busy to get freaked out bringing stuff to people outside, and anyways everything's changing colours and she's not reminded of things that happened, so it's okay.)

·         Harvest festival with the goblins - Dawn and Sunny visit. Most goblins are unaware Sunny was the elf that stole the love potion, so they treat him decently, and Dawn's okay because she's their Queen's sister. Dawn asks Marianne to come back for the fairy's harvest festival. Marianne tries to get out of it (she really doesn't want to talk to Dagda in person by now, she's been avoiding him for most of the year now - Primroses stop blooming around May) by telling Bog if she goes, he goes. By the end of the night Marianne and a small group of goblins, including Bog, have been selected. She's not sure how that happened.

·         (Goblins, for the most part, wear jewellery and not clothes. For the most part they're all wildly different in shape anyways, but what one of them can wear as a necklace another can wear as a bracelet, ect. Tasteful bling happens.)

·         Bog warns Marianne that he only has his traditional outfit and there's no time to get anything made for his new status. She tells him to wear the traditional. (She's expecting, like, maybe a crown, maybe some armlets or something.)

·         Bog's outfit is a royal great kilt. (I put the Scottish-accented Bog in a great kilt, I'm so proud of myself.) Where fairies use magic on flower petals and leaves, goblins have weaving - which takes so much longer, since they spin cattail fluff and thistle-down or tufts of fur into yarn, and then have to do the weaving. Marianne's given a wrap with the same pattern as Bog's kilt and they started making it the moment she was officially Queen - so about the time she sat down on the throne for the first time.

·         (Telling Bog to wear the great kilt provided to the forest's king - not the prince, not the consort, but the full king - reinforces the "married" thing. She doesn't know that. Bog assumes he hasn't been asked to 'perform' his 'marital duties' because Marianne doesn't find him attractive, and he is totally 100% relieved about this and not even slightly regretful someone he considers a friend thinks he's too hideous to touch. Yup.)

·         (Marianne, meanwhile, is all but punching herself in the face because she's started humming, goddamn it, whenever she and Bog are alone or plausibly alone. She totally has feelings she refuses to examine, mostly because Bog's kind of like her employee now and he probably still hates her for the whole 'stealing the throne' thing.)

·         (Bog may or may not have the odd wish that Marianne would sing to him, because fairies sing to the people they lo - like. Right? Right. Yes. Friendship songs, toooootally friendship songs. They'd be nice.)

·         Then the fairy harvest festival. Marianne sees Bog in a kilt and nearly walks into a wall, because - clothing. She's seen him naked, technically, but hooooooh boy now that he's wearing clothes, of a sort, all the can think is getting him out of them and there may or may not be some (a lot) of blushing and mental beating herself up going on. (Marianne has read romance novels, of the sort that go into details a young and impressionable and curious thirteen year old was curious about.) (Bog, in contrast, is quite innocent, poor guy. Doesn't know what's going to hit him...)

·         The entire festival basically goes as follows: Fairies are polite but condescending to the goblins. Fairies are polite but condescending to Marianne. Goblins get annoyed at the fairies being rude to their Queen - the group was chosen by Bog half because they'd be useful in a fight, half because they happen to genuinely like Marianne by this point. Marianne doesn't notice the fairies being condescending to her but she does notice them being rude to her goblins. Most fairies end up acting like catty brats.

·         At least one fairy accuses Marianne of having gone native to the forest. She does not deny it. At least one council member warns (threatens) her that her actions are risking her inheritance of the Fields. Bog overhears the threat, but not Marianne's response of "Dawn would be a good queen (and Sunny, you know, her elf fiancée? Would be king. Won't you enjoy that, you wrinkled old prune?)"

·         The trial at Stone Reach is probably immediately after the party, so the goblins ride their dragonflies there and the fairies fly. Marianne spends the entire flight snubbing Dagda who probably spent the entire fairy party trying to ask her who she wants to take over the day-to-day ruling nonsense so she can come home, and also would she please reconsider any of these charming fairy bachelors (who were rude to her goblins so not just no, hell no.)

·         (She might be a little a lot protective of the goblins, now. She really likes them and their way of life and sure it's different from what she's used to, but that's hardly a bad thing. Also, Bog. Who has nothing to do with her "hell no" about the fairy bachelors, of course.)

·         The trial. Evidence is presented, including Roland cheating on Marianne and how often, her breaking up with him, all because it goes into his motivation for wanting a love potion. (Someone gets to observe if Roland had just kept it in his pants for one more day, he'd have been married and thus the next king... up until Marianne caught him cheating and killed him, anyways.)

·         The Stone Reach provides it's judgement of Roland to be treason to the Fair Fields (knowingly and deliberately taking actions that led to the war) and conspiracy to act against the Dark Forest. Roland is sentenced to death.

·         Plum is judged to not have committed treason by reason of mental instability. She is to stay at the reach until she is judged sane. Also she is to not make any more love potions, because the spell-masters at the Reach believe creating love potions did not help with the mental stability. (No, that's probably not an excuse to make her stop, they're from the Reach. They certainly wouldn't lie. Tell only part of the truth, sure, but out-and-out lie? Never.)

·         Marianne does not stick around for Roland's execution, but instead leaves as soon as she can, taking the goblins with her. She remains distant to everyone - having her blindness to Roland's true character and the many times he cheated on her revealed to everyone hurt - but especially avoids Bog. She does her duties, but without her usual enthusiasm, and doesn't spar.

·         Bog ends up confronting Marianne in her bedroom. They fight, both verbal and physical, though not much of the later. Marianne ends up threatening to send Bog to live in the fields if he can't keep his nose out of her business. He retreats after that.

·         (I mentioned slow burn, right? Also, threat to the trust they've built up to this point, along with their friendship.)

·         Bog goes around snarling at everyone, Marianne is upset with everyone, and it's just in time for the first snow to hit.

·         Griselda tries to talk to Bog and gets nowhere, so she ends up confronting Marianne. "I'm a mother and you should fear love me" works where nothing else did, and Marianne ends up confessing about the fight and how bad she's felt since defeating Bog, and taking away his kingdom - and just everything, really. Up to and including how she has 'no right' to feel as she does for Bog, ect.

·         Griselda does manage to direct Marianne to talk to Bog. Marianne does, and apologises for what she said, confirms that she'd never ask him to move to the fields, never mind order him there, and that she relies on him more than anyone, ect. Finishes by saying he's her best friend - and apart from Dawn, kind of her only one, really.

·         This is the moment Bog falls head over heels out of friendship and into love. He's sunk.

·         All the pining happens from this point on. Sparring resumes, the duo begin to notice (and admit) their physical attraction to each other, and their conversations become awkward (but so exhilarating). They have more personal conversations, including Marianne eventually discussing how she felt about Roland, how she felt about being cheated on, ect.

·         (Marianne does say, in retrospect, she loved the idea of Roland more than the person, and her upset was as much for losing that 'idea' of him as being cheated on. Also, in hindsight, not that Marianne tells Bog this, but she didn't feel much for Roland, physically. He was too pretty to lust over, or something. She just figured she'd get the physical attraction once they were married.)

·         (Of course, Marianne is comparing her memories of how she felt about Roland to how she feels about Bog now, and she is noticing Bog physically a whole lot. Primarily his eyes, hands, wings, that scar high up on his thigh, and how careful he is with his strength. She maybe wants to wreck his self control, which is not something good fairy girls are supposed to want.)

·         (Bog, meanwhile, really wants to know what Marianne's hair feels like, and really likes her eyes, and her wings, and her neck keeps catching his attention, and she's so tiny but she's so strong and it's really impressive how she can just, like, go toe to toe with him and even overpower him at times. It gives him fluttery feelings inside.)

·         With winter in place, Bog starts taking Marianne out on trips in the forest. Short trips because it's cold, but he gets the chance to show her places he feels are the most beautiful - things like waterfalls where the plants and rocks are coated in ice from the constant spray, or the glow cave, flying through the thorn bushes only this time it's daytime and they look like they're carved from crystal because there's just so much frost everywhere, ect.

·         Mutual pining continues. The goblin midwinter ceremony happens - no set details right now, but probably something about staying up all night until dawn, dinner being 'starvation food' (like super-thin soups and salads made out of things you'd only eat if you had no other choice), putting all the fires out and lighting candles, then lighting the fires from the candles, ect. Marianne does the fairy tradition of giving gifts - those closest to her get personal gifts, everyone else gets generic gifts like sweats (or socks - goblins love the idea of socks). She ends up giving Bog a traditional engagement gift - possibly a wire and gemstone bracelet?

·         During the first council meeting of the new year, the Elders of the Forest make preliminary noises about potential heirs and merging new Royal blood with the old. (They have finally decided how to handle Bog being married to Marianne.) Marianne finally discovers she and Bog are considered married. The goblins finally discover she had no freaking clue. The goblins are stunned. Bog's heartbroken, because of course there was no chance, Marianne's reaction just proves that out.

·         (Bog assumed, his feelings for Marianne aside, she was just making the best of their marriage and doesn't feel anything more than friendship for him. He figures it's a one-sided situation again, only worse, because a) no way he'd ever consider using a love potion again and b) they're married.)

·         (Marianne is heartbroken, as she figures this means Bog was just making the best of a bad situation and maybe they are friends, but how the hell can he love her? Not only did she steal his throne but she told him they were married the first day he was barely mobile... ect.)

·         More pining! Not helped by the goblin Elders, who are pushing for a proper marriage that both sides know is a marriage.

·         Griselda is just so done with everything, from the Elders to the mutually pining idiots giving each other sad, longing looks over the breakfast dishes (and not realizing the person they're sighing over is sighing over them right back. They're sitting right next to each other, how are they this dense?!) She sends messages to Dawn explaining EVERYTHING, especially about the mutually pining idiots. (Griselda may or may not have spent multiple hours with each idiot bemoaning their sad and sorry fate. At least Marianne's honest about wanting to shove Bog against a wall and oh yeah you're his mother, sorry...)

·         Dawn sends a letter back saying she won't be much help until the snows help in spring, but be encouraging (and blunt) with the idiots.

·         Griselda sets up the romantic dinner from the movie, only the song is "kiss the girl" from The Little Mermaid. The idiotic and pining duo get angry, tear up the decorations, and go off to spar (and pine.)

·         After they spar, they go outside to stargaze a little. They grouse about the Elders and the romantic dinner (blaming the Elders, not Griselda). Someone slips - probably Bog - and probably along the lines of "after all, I know you wouldn't - well, I'm me (gestures at self) and you can do better."

·         Whoever is self-deprecating is reassured and the initial confessions of feelings happens. They retreat to Marianne's private office to talk in the warm. Further confessions of feelings happens. Kissing happens. Someone (probably Bog) gets shoved against a wall and ravished. There is no complaining.

·         Their relationship escalates quickly (probably same day, TBH) to sharing a bed, but no sex. They do end up with lots of heavy petting every night as they figure out what feels good, what doesn't, ect. Marianne discovers Bog's spine thing, Bog discovers Marianne's thing for necks (both hers and his - she's equally enthusiastic having her neck kissed (and nipped) as she is doing the kissing (and nipping) as well as Marianne's ear thing.

·         They try to keep it secret from Griselda and the Elders. They are not subtle and they fool no one. The Elders, however, have to shut up about it because Marianne has a sword and tells them what she'll do with it if they don't move on to the next subject, NOW.

·         Griselda sends Dawn an update with no reply, but isn't surprised.

·         Marianne and Bog end up with smut. Bog is quite happy to be shoved around and Marianne is quite happy do shove him around. They take turns turning each other to mush. Marriage proposal once they're able to do words again afterwards.

·         Close out with a wedding under the cut primroses, some combination of goblin and fairy traditions. (Okay, more fairy traditions than not, because fairies actually need a ceremony to be married and goblins don't, but details.)

[starspatter]

Ozymandias

Title: Ozymandias

Fandom/Universe: BTAS, post-RotJ flashback

Summary: The mighty looks upon his work, and despairs.

Rating: PG-13, for references to character death, child psychological torture and trauma.

Genre: Family/Hurt/Comfort

Word Count: 5,013

Also on ff.net and AO3.

“It’s okay, Tim.  It’s okay.”

You stand there for lord knows how long, watching Batgirl cradle what once was Robin in her arms, repeating the same hollow assurance over and over.

It’s not okay.

To abduct a child – torture him relentlessly for an entire month – intending to crush his mind and body and spirit – and, on top of it all, compel him to commit cold-blooded murder – how could any of it be okay?

But he has to be okay.  You have to be okay.  Even when inwardly you want to curse and yell and cry at the unfairness of it all.

Why couldn’t it have been you?  You could’ve handled it, withstood any pain in his stead. Because you’re Batman, dark knight and defender.  Unbeatable, unbreakable.  God among men.  And he’s just Robin.  Dear, sweet, innocent Robin.  A minor, and a mere mortal.  Nothing bad was ever supposed to happen to him, not on your watch.

But you weren’t watching him, were you.

“…I think he’s asleep.”

The breach in pattern and subsiding of sniffles stirs you back to attention.  Batgirl tucks the boy’s slumped head over her shoulder, tenderly rubbing his back.

“Poor kid.  He must be exhausted.  What in the world did Joker do to him…”

“Electroshock torture.”

You respond in monotone.

Her pupils widen with horror.  “My God.  How could that monster…?”

“I’ll explain more on the way back.  For now we need to get him out of here.”

You move brusquely, unclipping a pair of handcuffs from your belt.  Batgirl bites her lip as she shields her body around the small bundle.

“Are those really necessary?”

“As a precaution.  We can’t be sure he won’t attack us again if he wakes up.”

Begrudgingly, she allows the restraints.  You lift the weight – too light – and transport him out to the Batmobile, placing him gently in the backseat.  Batgirl insisted on riding beside him, and you made no objection. Someone needs to monitor his status, and you don’t trust yourself to keep an eye on the road with whitewashed hide and green hair glaring in your periphery.  (Ignoring those tiny gloved palms that had just aimed a gun at your head, fettered though they may be.  You’ve seen him chop through the same chains before; you taught him how.)

You hurtle down the hill from the asylum, detouring across the lawn the avoid wasting time with hefting the demolished gate out of the way.  As you tear through the town at top speed, you recite back to Batgirl what you witnessed on the tape Joker showed you.  She punctuates with perturbed exclamations, but it’s all vacant noise – static.  A part of you wants to think that this is all just a movie, a mistake.  Some kind of sick joke, gag reel.  Reflex. Someone, Alfred or Dick, will pop out with a hidden camera and shout “surprise” and you’ll all have a hoot and forget about the last three weeks like it was a bad dream.  (Erase the sounds of silent scream.)

But when you glance in the rearview mirror and see the boy mumbling and moaning restlessly in his slumber, Batgirl consoling his cheek with concern, you know the nightmare is far from over.

Pulling into a concealed driveway in the mountainside, the passenger (perhaps “prisoner” is still more precise at this juncture) jars awake as soon as the engine’s hypnotic pulse shuts off.  The hood slides back, and his eyes blink as they daze and adjust, darting frantically about his surroundings.

“Tim?  Hey, hey, it’s all right.  Do you know where we are?”

Batgirl quickly speaks to reassure him.  He scrunches his brow, staring up at the stalactites and shadowy critters flitting back and forth between them.

“Buh-at.”  He slurs slowly, as if struggling to recall how to form words.  “C-cave.”  Piecing the information together bit by bit, irises lit with hazy recognition.  “…Bat-cave.”

“That’s right, this is the Batcave.  You’re home.  You’re safe now.”

“…Ho-me?”

At that moment, Alfred appears at the top of the stairs.

“Master Bruce, I received your message.  Thank God you found him.  Is he all right?”

He descends in a hurry, halting abruptly when he catches sight of the hunched shape being helped out of the car.

“…Good heavens.”

“The Joker had him.  He’s been tortured and brainwashed.  This is the result.”

You brush past him, summarizing briefly.

“Sir, you’re limping.  And bleeding as well-”

“I’m fine.  Take care of him first.”

The butler straightens sharply at a commanding bark.

“Yes, of course.”

As you begin dialing Leslie’s number, you hear their conversation continue vaguely in the background.

“Tim, you remember Alfred, right?”

Pick up.  Pick up.

“Al-fred…  He’s… a friend.”

Please pick up.

“I’m going to remove these now.  Promise you’ll be a good boy and listen to Alfred?”

You rotate in time to see him nod, and Batgirl bends down to undo the bonds.  Every muscle in the cavern tenses, but as soon as the shackles are released he merely lets his limbs hang loose by his sides, looking expectantly at Alfred like he’s the only being who exists in the world.  An angel who kindly takes his hand, leading him up the steps from hell. From darkness into light.

“Come, Master Timothy. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

“…Whoever’s calling, this better be an emergency.  Do you realize what time it is?”

Despite the weary exasperation, the elderly voice that finally greets on the other end is like a divine saint that elevates your own soul.

“I have a patient for you.”

“…Bruce?  What trouble have you gotten into this time?  Don’t tell me something’s broken again.”

“It’s not me.  …It’s Robin.”

There’s a grave pause.

“How bad is he?”

“I need you to come to the Manor.”

“Why, what happened?  Is it so serious you can’t bring him to the clinic?”

“Just come.  Please.”

“…Understood.  I’ll be right there.”

-

The waiting is agony.

Barbara left to meet her father at Arkham after calling to inform him and Dick.  You’re alone, anxiously pacing the front parlor despite the burning anguish in your leg.  You hastily patched it as best you could by yourself, relying mainly on fading adrenaline fuel to keep you upright.  Even though you’ve changed back into Bruce Wayne, you feel anything but a million bucks right now.

At last, the doorbell rings, and you wrench open the knob to usher the physician in.

“Bruce, what in the world is going on?  You look positively awful.”

As you describe the situation, her own expression pales.

“I always feared something like this would occur…  The very idea of taking on a ‘junior sidekick’…  It’s bad enough you go on these suicide missions every night, but how could you have let this happen to someone so young?”

You have no words, no arguments. You can only lower your head in shame, realizing how right she is.

“What would your father think?”

The angry, whispering disapproval lingers in the air, cutting you like a knife.

“Good evening, doctor.”

You’re spared from further lecture – although not from confronting your own sin – by Alfred’s timely entrance. He has what now more closely resembles ‘Tim’ in tow, at least superficially.  The hideous stage cosmetics have been successfully scrubbed off his complexion for the most part – thank God it was only greasepaint and not permanent bleach – although his hair is still tinged with verdigris.  Even though the gauntlets and gauche garb were removed as well and replaced with pajamas, the slack ensemble only emphasizes how gaunt and haggard he is, jawbones drawn and pinched like he hasn’t eaten or seen sunlight in days.  (Which you glumly realize is probably an accurate assessment.)  In essence, it feels more like a robotic simulation, an animatronic model made to look like him.  There’s none of the spark and spunk he used to have, no more eager stars of excitement in his bold, wondering eyes.  Only a meek, dead doll dragging along, a zombified puppet trailing by its strings. Abiding obediently by a leash like a petrified puppy.

Shuffling his feet, Tim timidly shies behind Alfred as Leslie approaches.

“Hello, Timothy.  There’s no need to be frightened.  My name is Dr. Thompkins.  I believe we may have met before; I run a small clinic in Park Row. Do you mind if I take a look at you, and maybe ask a few questions?”

He hesitates, tugging slightly at Alfred’s sleeve as he shifts his gaze upwards, as if requesting permission. …Not from you.

And that’s when you notice. Not once has he regarded you since that instant in Arkham when he was about to shoot a spear between your eyes. Instead, he seems to be deliberately evading any contact or communication in your direction.

Alfred gives an encouraging pat, and Tim signals willingness.

“Good.  Why don’t we go in that other room?”

You start to follow them, but Leslie holds up her hand.

“I think it’s best if you stay outside.”

Before you can even protest, Alfred advocates on your behalf.

“Pardon me, but is that wise?”

Leslie purses her lips in that firm, no-nonsense air you’re familiar with from when she would treat you as a lad yourself.

“In order to make a proper evaluation, I need to speak with him – in private.”  Her tone drops to a hush.  “And if I’m not mistaken, he seems less… comfortable with you around.  Your presence could be a hindrance to obtaining specific details out of him.  It might be easier to open up to a relative stranger in a relaxed environment, without any other adults or authoritative figures he could perceive threat of punishment from, however false it may be.  Right now he’s likely mixed up and associating speech with distress – or disloyalty.  He has to feel calm and safe enough to be able to tell me the truth, and he can’t do that with you looming over my shoulder like you always do.”

The blade twists deeper in your gut, but you acquiesce.

“I’ll… go see how Barbara is doing then.”

She and the Commissioner could probably use a hand with the mess you left behind after all.

-

By the time you lug yourself back, covered in soil and sweat from burying the Joker’s body, Leslie is about to pack up her medical kit.

“I’ve done all I can for now.  The twilight anesthesia’s wearing off; I’ve given him another dose of sedative to help him sleep.”

Can you fix him?

She sighs.

“His wounds are treatable. He’ll probably be going through a period of severe withdrawal for several days, but I believe we can wean him off the Joker toxin eventually.”

That means he’ll get better, right?  He’ll be normal again?  He’ll go back to being the carefree kid who pulls dumb puns and daredevil stunts and smiles cheerfully while swinging his legs, if not from rooftops?

“It’s not his physical condition I’m worried about though.  Mentally, he’s unstable.  He’s been through an extreme traumatic experience, and I can tell you it’s going to require intense long-term therapy.  I fear this is far beyond my capabilities.  …I’m not a psychiatrist, Bruce.  He needs professional help.”

I’m not sending him back to Arkham.

“That’s not what I’m suggesting.  There are other options available.  I was going to recommend that perhaps you admit him to the pediatric unit at County General’s psych ward.  Or, if you want my personal opinion, I could refer you to a licensed specialist…”

No.  No hospitals.  No other shrinks.  You’re the only one I can trust.

“…I’ll do what I can. But I make no guarantees.”

Thank you.

“Don’t thank me, Bruce.   We’re not out of the woods yet. Far from it.  And don’t think I’m not holding you accountable for all this.”

You know.  You’ll accept responsibility, foot the bill, do whatever it takes to make it right.

…At length, you risk one more inquiry:

“Does he hate me?”

The wrinkles of her face soften.

“You have to understand, Bruce- the one he hates most right now is himself.  He thinks he failed you.  Became what you hate.  He’s scared to let you see that side of him.  Scared of himself as much as the Joker.”

It wasn’t his fault. He was confused, under duress, acting in self-defense.

You’re not sure whom you’re trying to persuade more with that statement.

“I know that.  And I think deep down he knows that too. Still, it’s going to take time to convince him otherwise.  …That despite what he’s done, whatever error he’s made, he’s still a decent human being with a good heart, capable and worthy of love and affection.”

She rests a hand on your shoulder, and you’re not sure whom she’s trying to persuade now.

“Now, let’s have a look at that leg.”

-

He’s terrified of thunderstorms.

At the first rumble and sign of lightning, he’ll immediately dash for the dim confines of the closest closet, curling in a fetal position as he cocoons himself in jackets and down.  Entrenching within trenchcoats.  Bracing tightly into a ball and clenching his jaw, he alternates between hugging his knees and clamping cloth over his ears to drown out the din.  Whimpering and wincing at every resounding boom, counting down each one to encroaching doom; cringing further upon crackles of electricity bursting underneath the door.  It’s like he perceives the silver sky-webs as a creature’s claws, slivers of a beast’s tentacles extending towards him, roaring in wrath.

He traces the tendrils over and over again in grim, grade school-esque drawings, which Leslie proposed as a way to help “convey his emotions”.  Reproducing ominous images of guns and knives, morbidly stabbing, stripping gray flesh off shrieking, skeletal stick figures.  (Judging by these, any projects involving scissors are clearly out of the question.)  Other pictures are more difficult to interpret: grinning, deformed fish dripping from purple clouds of acid vapor as abstract rain.  Sometimes he’ll just scribble randomly over the strange doodles, dumping dull shades on the canvas, blending water splashes and streaks into a freakish maelstrom.  The puddle’s murky palette usually merges into a pitch gloom, despite providing an abundant rainbow of paints at his disposal to choose from.

For that matter, it’s almost as much a catharsis for your benefit: spending extravagant amounts of money on a vast array of various arts and crafts supplies… Not for the fact you can afford it, but because it’s the only method you can conceive of to show support.  You lavish expense on entertainment, indulge whatever inventive whim in distant hopes of fostering some semblance of “fun” again – recapture stolen youth.  Boosting confidence through creativity.  (You cautiously read every label in the aisle to ensure selected products are nonhazardous before purchasing, lest he ingest or inhale; he’s had enough chemicals pumped into his system at this point that he doesn’t need pigments absorbed as well.  Juggling an assortment of medications is already an arduous task, and you still haven’t identified every element of whatever jumbled serum concoction Joker injected in him.)

…On occasion, when he concentrates hard enough (at least according to instruction to depict “contentment”), he can bring himself to conjure more common, colorful content via vivid red birds and sunset scenery, golden capes fluttering over city landscapes.  (Somehow managing to effectively capture dynamics of flight with skilled crayon strokes.)  Adding contrast to the composition with black masks and bats – before subsequently ripping every single sketch into shreds.

It takes him forever to simply go near a toaster again, let alone touch or use most daily power-driven appliances.  Plugs, sockets, wires; all of them need to be kept out of reach and safety-proofed, as if for an infant.  You deactivate all excess outlets, defuse and defang, insulate and inspect – constantly checking and conducting careful circuit tests in order to block potential conduction. (Not to mention subtly swapping the Bat Signal nightlight in his room for a plain one.)

There are other triggers as well, and you endeavor to learn them all, memorizing a meticulous list on how to neutralize them prior to exposure.  Creating a sheltered atmosphere as per Leslie’s advice by minimizing ambient distractions – containing within a crystal cage, a modified crib.  Limiting sensitive stimuli and stressors not just for the sake of aiding recuperation, but also for your own well-being.  Anything clown-related is strictly prohibited, and God forbid he see a grill or smell barbecue…  One time he tackles and nearly critically injures Alfred for daring to wear an apron in the kitchen (the latter might’ve ended up in traction had you not intervened), apologizing profusely afterward upon regaining clarity, but maintaining guard all the same.

The first few nights, he refused to even sleep on a real mattress, could scarcely stand a couple hours without getting up and crawling to the floor.  As if he were uncomfortable being on anything but a hard surface.  …Like he didn’t deserve it.

Even when he’s heavily put under, he’ll still toss and turn, often rousing in the middle of the night, kicking and screaming loudly.  (It’s fortunate you don’t have any neighbors to upset, else the persistent racket would surely incite them to riot.  If anyone were to file a complaint, not even Gordon’s influence could likely deter the launch of a full-on investigation.)  You rush to his side, wrap him up along with thrashing sheets (pinning his arms on purpose to prevent self-harm), rocking until he settles down.

You don’t mind the screaming.  It means Tim is still inside, just afraid to come out.  Afraid to accept the harshness of a fractured fantasy, of abuse delivered by delusion of grandeur and blind devotion to an idol.  Ideals displaced, manipulated and “molded” to putrid decay, serving another’s depraved needs.  Scarecrow was a bogus; the real bogeyman must’ve thought it funny to disguise himself to the next generation as a disgusting bozo.  A gloating glutton who feeds off dread, gleefully taking pleasure in distorting delight to despair.  Converting a child’s unbridled joy into something more terrible than anyone could imagine.

…Still, at least you can somewhat comprehend that contorted notion, rationalize the motive for such behavior. The kid has every right to be afraid of the demons that plague his skull, dancing in visions only he can see.  (If only you could leap in and slay them all you would.)  Fear is natural, visceral.  Primal.  You know fear.  Know how to use it as a weapon, strike others’ cores with it.  …Know the damage it can do.

The laughter is something else though.

It echoes through the halls at odd intervals, even when he’s asleep.  Dry, mirthless sound interspersed with bouts of hysteria, completely alien. Sometimes the uncontrollable giddy spells last for hours on end, and when mania reaches its peak he becomes uncharacteristically violent, vicious.  A danger to anyone who comes near, as well as to himself.  Aggressively lashing out like a rabid animal, hissing and growling, scratching savagely at any intruders to his space – or else invisible bands choking his wrists.  Resorting to nails and teeth rather than fancy tools or fists, throwing a fully feral fit.  Every now and then he’ll disappear afterwards into his shell, shrouding in a fort of blankets like a lair as he blankly transfixes on the walls.  Reducing respiration, his senses enter a practically comatose state, a half-hibernation trance.  Utterly rigid and unresponsive, inert.  Non-alert. Remaining stiff as a statue until gurgling amusement ripples and rises to his throat again, transitioning to the first stage of the cycle.

You don’t know how to react to these… “fluctuations” in mood (wavering over use of obvious terms like “creepy” or “crazy”).  Can’t even tell whether the hallucinations and hostility are induced or inhibited by drugs.  Can only listen to hypnogely helplessly.  Pray that it passes swiftly, that the morning will bring peace.

But when he snaps out of the snickering stupor (and you have to remind yourself that he will – he has to), whose hovering silhouette will be the one he sees vigilantly stalking by the foot of his bed: a stark, intimidating outline barely illuminated by moonbeams flickering through the window – tentative but tenacious, unwilling to leave to go on regular patrol except during rare respites – even when criminals are likely running amok in Gotham each evening you don’t show?

The hero who saved him

or

The man who betrayed him?

-

You ask – demand to know once, during one of his “episodes”:

“Where’s Tim?”

JJ looks at you and giggles.

“Timmy’s not here anymore.”

He’s in there somewhere. I know he is.  Give him back.

“Timmy was weak.  A crybaby. Little wretched shit wouldn’t shut up, wouldn’t stop whining. Waiting, wailing for Batman to come and save him.  So Daddy kept hitting him, over and over…  Even though the pathetic worm needed to be taught a lesson, I couldn’t stand back and watch anymore.  You weren’t coming, so I had to take over.”

You locked him away.

He chuckles at the accusation, sneering derisively.  “Coward fled by himself, ran off into his own little ‘secure’ realm.  Couldn’t deal with reality anymore, I guess.  But I was strong, I could take the hurt.  I could protect him.”

You’ve done enough. Now let him go.

A twitch of irritation – or perhaps dissatisfaction.  His smirk vacillates, vanishing before being supplanted by an obscure grimace.  “Can’t.  Daddy’s watching.  Always watching.  He’ll be mad at us.”

I want to talk to Tim.

“Yeah well maybe he doesn’t want to talk to you, old man!”

The costly ornamental clock smashes on the wall beside your head, followed by a China plate.  But you don’t flinch.  Don’t move.  Don’t breathe.

Let me talk to Tim.  Please.

Frustration wells, flooding against the dam – sentiment surging behind a barricade.  Charging and churning until it crashes through the ruptured channel, unleashing a streaming barrage of wild expletives, a bombardment of blame that’s been long building up towards both parties.  Inner turmoil roiling, exerting overwhelming pressure beneath a fortified exterior, mutely repressing resentment and (mutual) self-loathing.  Ticking down to zero until he detonates.  You don’t bother disproving or dodging projectiles, letting him lob and vent, explode into a volatile rant – at you, at himself – expelling all the pent-up vexation that’s been lodged inside, driving the wedge between you further.  He flings obscene insults and (increasingly expensive) items everywhere as he proceeds to lividly demolish the living room, razing and raving in a razor rage, rashly upending furniture until the area approximates a combat zone.  Shrapnel scrapes your skin, but you stand your ground, declining to budge. Toughly taking in the tirade without offering any retort or retaliation.  (Rather, you idly reminisce to the time Alfred came under temporary effect of laughing gas and destroyed a priceless Ming vase.  …If only you had let Joker fry then.)

Eventually he runs out of ammo, and when that doesn’t work to daunt or dissuade, he breaks – into tumultuous sobs. Trembling, he takes a faltering step towards you, stretching out like a bawling toddler.  You catch him as he wobbles and falls, collapses into a colossal wreck – a crying, shaking, howling heap in your arms.  Conflicted, he grapples between beating his paws on your chest and clinging to it.  Gasping and grasping, flailing, failing to reject.  His head is hectic, pounding – hounded by the deafening argument of split personas within his consciousness.  Crisis of infinite identities.  Separate psyches collide and clash, a whirlwind of whispers, taunting and haunting, wreaking eternal havoc as they all clamor for authority – each facet of a fragmented personality claiming “authenticity”:  Id versus (alter) ego versus super(hero)-ego.

The quarreling quells, quieting as his sincere side wins out.  He clutches your collar with all his might to keep from sinking further, desperately holding on to the vestiges of his sanity.  His family.

“I’m sorry, Bruce.  Oh God, I’m so sorry…”

Abandoning dignity, he weeps openly without reserve.  You wipe dry his tears and soothingly embrace the huddled, shuddering mass (so slim and subdued and startlingly vulnerable), enveloping in warmth.

“I’m sorry too, son.”

You forgive – and forbid – from ever putting on the uniform again, and he silently affirms agreement. Closing his eyes, he leans his frail forehead against your breast – where the standard symbol of your shattered link would typically be – murmuring faintly through unadorned fabric.

“Was I a good soldier? Was I?”

You answer him, honestly.

“Of course you were.”

Tomorrow, and a lifetime later, he won’t be able to reflect on this declaration due to rebounding delirium and depression.  Overcompensating for guilt by suppressing everything your partnership – relationship – friendship stood for, good and bad. Flashbacks to war but not ceasefire. Whatever foundation for a shot at happiness crumbled when he fired – when you “fired” him.  For him there’s no fulfillment, only relief of duty.  Dismissal.  Disillusionment.  Disappointment.  It’ll take all his effort and will to climb back up from the bottom afterwards, impaired self-esteem slowly recovering from the whole sordid ordeal (only for it to ultimately consume him once again, “relapsing” after years – decades even – have elapsed). Until then, any accomplishments or approval he once sought will mean nothing.  The breadth of bitterness broadening between you stings, but even when ages pass and he wants to try and mend the gap, you won’t permit yourself to cross that bridge.  Instead you turn your back on the tide, wallow in waves of remorse.  Resist the temptation of exoneration – of salvation.  Because it’s easier to retreat than move forward. Beyond.

…Because even if, somewhere down the road, he finds the resolve within himself to reconcile – absolve your own stubborn conscience – you won’t forget you were the one wrong, for recruiting a bright-eyed boy into battle in the first place.  Lured in with hope and a welcome hearth to escape your own loneliness, leading only to misery in the end.  Your inadvertent contribution to the crime was unknowingly far greater, if you could have only foreseen the cost of captivating worship.  He admired you, adored you – and you let him down.  Invested more energy in cultivating and carving than caring, sculpting purity for your own selfish objective, preparing to succeed when you’re gone.  Training to march as a mascot to your petty parade, a masquerade.  …Some mentor – guardian – parent you were.  For all your scolding and “molding”, tending a garden of flames for the future, fanning embers and glimmers of glowing prospect – in such a short span they were snuffed out. Smothered without a second chance to rekindle.  Never to ignite – take flight – again.

Even though someone else sprung the trap, you were the one who set it.

You’ve dug your own grave.  Now lie in it.

-                                                                                                                           

You found the suit at Arkham – stumbled straight into it whilst exploring the ruins for any evidence you missed – slipped over a dummy in a straightjacket, dangling from the ceiling of a bare cell by a noose.  No doubt another cruel display Joker was planning to mock you with before dealing the final blow, had he been given enough time.  …Or maybe, he strung it up as a warning – a grisly example to goad the victim it once belonged to.  The thought makes your blood boil, simmer to a sear, swear and furiously punch the wall until knuckles are raw as you fume and speculate just how horrendous he could make a hostage’s experience.  Seething with steaming contempt, you coldly cut the suspension and took it home, along with a disturbingly large collection of more films and photo albums you retrieved rooting through the remains.

You sift and pore over them all, one by one, to confirm the source of each and every scar on Robin’s body – internal or external.  Defying but not denying suspicions a thousand times over.  Each atrocity is worse than the last, owing exorbitance and… “originality” to that insane bastard’s inflated sense of self-import.  (If points could be awarded for inspiration in causing suffering, the Joker seemed to be actively trying to amass them all.) Though you swell with pride upon seeing your brave warrior hold out for so long, such ruthless brutality is too much for any one person – let alone an adolescent – to bear, and you wonder if it’s a mercy it didn’t kill him.  You doubt you could have even endured it without ultimately succumbing to the impulse to extinguish Joker – if not yourself – once and for all.  (If JJ hadn’t ended him, then you suspect you eventually would have.)  Some of the malicious acts recorded are so repulsive they make you retch.  Yet you force yourself to compose and compile, review and revile.  Rue every last gruesome deed, matching to marks of defilement.  …Repress bile growing in your gut.  Replaying until your stomach can’t take it anymore and wants to hurl, until you want to hurl a chair at the screen.

You place the costume delicately back in its case, next to Batgirl’s.  Someday, Nightwing’s would join too, and so would yours, when you’ve driven yourself to the brink of moral abyss – over the edge in an endless, empty attempt at atonement.  For murder and madness and mother and father and children who looked up to you, who had faith in you, would die for you.  Would follow you to the ends of the earth, pledging fealty forever.

Never again.

…And yet, you couldn’t return the favor when it counted.  You don’t know how to give back, reclaim what was lost.  Restore honor to a dismantled mantle – nevermind a mind mangled beyond repair.  How to even show grief or mourn anymore, as much as you lament the row of regrets rallied behind the glass.  The only thing you can do is keep fighting, carry on the solitary mission (you’d rather sully your own hands, let them burn at this point than pass on the torch – inherit your liar’s throne and crown of thorns, your rotting empire of dirt – even though you’ll end up violating that vow too).  For everything – and for nothing.

For “family”.

Even then, it won’t be enough.  But – for now – this is how your legacy begins and ends: Not with a whimper, but a ”Bang”.