#i mean there’s a LOT of heroes and cities in dc

[swiggity-swexual-i-am-asexual]

As per usual, it’s DP crossover with (probably) DC, although you could probably adjust it for other fandoms

ANYWAYS

A little kid and his mother are trick or treating in another city, perhaps at some kind of event rather than knocking on doors, and the kid is dressed as Phantom. It’s very adorable, with his little ghost-shaped bucket and clearly homemade and already stained costume—listen, white only works if you can just fly over street grime or phase it out of your clothes—and his slightly I’ll fitting wig. The kid is SO happy to be out and about dressed as his favorite, and maybe even showed it off to Phantom back in Amity Park before his family left.

The hero, insert whoever you wish here, is probably in civvies and just enjoying the event. The kid, meanwhile, is so glad when people ask who he is so he can explain, and so- the hero gets to hear ALL ABOUT the local town hero who is probably pretty small time despite the kid’s clearly exaggerated stories. The hero certainly never heard of him, but the kid’s mom confirms that Phantom really was the town hero, despite some mixed reviews of the poor guy.

“Did you manage to show him your costume?” the hero asks.

“Yeah! We went down to the cemetery to leave flowers and I got to show him my costume.”

Wait. Cemetery? Maybe it was part of theme, because Phantom had to be named that for a reason, but… it sounded like…

The kid ignores the suddenly VERY still hero and instead turns to his mom. “Momma, do you think we should bring him candy? He doesn’t get to trick or treat like we do, and I can work super hard to get him a bunch!”

The kid’s mom just smiles. “We could, but maybe we should bring him something homemade. I bet he’d like something more filling, teen boys like him have a hollow leg.”

The kid wrinkles his nose. “Like Vernie with the pizza bagels?”

“Like your cousin, yes. We can make some cinnamon rolls and take them to his memorial, maybe bring some of the apples from your grandpa’s garden…”

The hero is pretty much forgotten as the two-part family wanders off, not quite intentionally forgetting the hero is there so much as the hero somewhat accidentally ended the conversation when they just froze and didn’t ask anything further.

Not that the hero didn’t want to. But they’d learn something very serious.

One—there was a small town hero they’d never heard of. Two—that hero was apparently a teen. Third—most pressingly, the teen hero was both beloved enough to have kids dressing up as him and dead enough to have a grave.

This… might require some phone calls.

[bluerosefox]

Tim, buddy, what do you mean you might had accidentally made a Love Child?!

Danny finds out that

1. He's a clonish 'love child' of two heroes

2. He was accidentally created during one of his donors mental break downs after losing his father and best friends (one of which was his other donor)

3. CW interfered before his creator realized what he made and pulled him out of that dimension because "it would had lead that world to true ruin if he found out at his state of mind. He's better now but it would had been the final straw for him should anything had happened to you in his care and given who he had to partner up with later... I did what I had to."

4. Due to Danny having a bad fall out with his parents after he told them about being Phantom (they didn't attack him... but they did disown him.) Danny is left adrift of what to do. He doesn't wanna bug Jazz, she's in college and dorming. Tuckers place has no room. Sam's parents would never let him stay. Vlad was a definitely a no go. And Dani (Ellie) last check in was near the Amazon rainforest.

5. Danny finds out some of his powers might not be as ghostly as he thought... it does explain the huge power boost some of his powers have compared to other ghosts.

6. He went to Clockwork... who proceeded to tell him the truth, smile his cryptic smile while saying "and now. Have fun this time around. I'll see you again in due time Daniel." Before yeeting him into a portal.

7. Danny woke up in his home dimension.... deaged to being five years old (the age he would be if he stayed and grew by now) (DC timeline is slower than DP in this)

8. He woke up apparently his creator's home city... during a Gala (Danny woke up in a garden, dazed and confused. His memories are fuzzy)... and wandered into the party... and apparently he looked like a perfect mix of his.. dads? Which catches A LOT of peoples attention.

9. Especially with Tim Drake-Wayne and Conner Kent-Luthor just announcing they're dating that very night.

10. Rumors and gossip of a random kid, who looks just like the recent happily announced couple, go flying quickly among the elite... and reaches certain ears before it gets to batfam and supers (I have a feeling they learned how to block out rumors and gossips during these events)

11. Those ears happen to be Lex Luthor and Ra's al Ghul (both who are there at the Gala just to annoy and unnerve the Bats and Supers)

12. By the time the rumors get to Tim and Conner, they find Danny almost getting taken away by one of those two.

[xjulixred45x]

Hi! I was wondering if I can request mark grayson dating fem!reader who’s like raven from dc? Like powers and all that jazz? Also maybe can reader be mean-ish but has a huge soft spot for mark? And maybe since they’re both supers they just fly as a date? Hc’s please ╰(*´︶`*)╯♡ (sorry if some of this doesn’t make sense 😭)

Hi! Yes! I love Raven! Thanks for the Request

Mark Grayson/Invincible x Raven! Reader

Genre: Headcanons

Reader: female

Warnings: some spoilers from Invincible season 2(and MAYBE comics), Reader is like Raven, so it's kind of mean to everyone but eventually softs up, Reader has an HORRIBLE dad, comfort, Fluff.

It seems that the reader can never have it easy..

reader is the daughter between a human and a demonic entity, which precisely wanted to use her as a channel to other worlds.

Fortunately her mother was able to take her to a safe place to raise her.

reader was on the run with her mother for much of her life, learning magic, about her lineage, her powers, etc.

but at some point something went terribly wrong, related with her father.

It's something painful to remember, but after that the reader's mother...was gone. and she was alone.

reader fled from her father for years, jumping between dimensions and existential planes to evade him.

which obviously generated a lot of mental exhaustion.

But, when she was older, she finally managed to find a relatively safe place.

the earth.

a seemingly peaceful planet, advanced enough to survive, but not a wonder.

and it was infested with people with superpowers.

She would fit in well.

Or well, she would have done it if she had presented herself to the public, reader she dedicated herself to staying in the shadows, anonymous, lending a hand from time to time.

If there were problems and she was around, she would solve it.

and she was fine with that.

But she would be lying if she said she didn't crave the same thing that the hero teams had.

friends, camaraderie... family.

but it was dangerous. It was better to stay out of it.

so it was. until a certain person got in her way.

In fairness, Cecil probably already knew about the reader and tried to send a couple of agents to recognize if she was a possible threat, but they couldn't really find her after that.

Even Cecil himself had a hard time appearing to her, if that says anything.

so they simply issued a kind of bulletin regarding her, that she had magical abilities, that they didn't know if she was an ally or enemy, and that she could be potentially dangerous.

Thanks to this, the reader was even more anonymous than before, even ceasing to appear when the situation required it.

She just didn't want Cecil's attention or for them to think she was an enemy.

Reader spent much of my time hiding in Midnight city or meditating to kill time.

and it continued to appear every time Cecil's agents had a fight where there was a lot of destruction (almost all of them).

Although it was not until the Midnight City incident that the reader met one of them, Invincible in person.

Can you imagine that a reader can access the shadowverse? She was probably there when Mark and Darkwing were "fighting" and she, tired of having her meditation interrupted, simply told Mark that if he caught Darwing he would have to take him out.

and Mark appreciated the advice👍

When he left the Shadowverse and knocked out Darkwing, Reader simply went out to check that he was still alive.

Mark would recognize Reader from the previous encounters, they formally introduce themselves, but Reader leaves when Cecil reconnects with Mark. She says nothing personal, it's just for security.

After that Mark begins to try to include the reader the times he encounters her in battle, he has already seen her using magic, he knows he can help more.

Sometimes it works, and the reader ends up helping to fight certain guys like the environmental scientist, or even the bugs from Mars.

but there are other times where it backfires, where the reader ends up using her powers excessively and that shows a side...not very pleasant about herself.

like a small incident with a member of the lizard league who almost blinded her with a stratospheric device.

...and in return that member went almost crazy for a couple of weeks.

Mark knows that the reader has magic, not what he doesn't know is HOW she has magic, he just knows that it's not something she likes to talk about and it has something to do with her father (and God knows he empathizes with that).

So Mark tends to defend the reader a lot in these types of scenarios, starting a nice friendship between them.

The reader will be somewhat distant and even borde with the guardians of the globe, but Mark gives her a certain feeling of security, after all he does not see her as a threat, so she tends to be in a better mood when he is around.

(and it seems like everyone is aware of this except Mark himself😅).

Reader has joined Mark on patrol several times when she notices how balled up he gets after each fight, and she's really worried that he gets hurt so often, so she acts as an extra backup.

and somehow Mark can't help but be touched by this, aww the bad girl cares about me kind of feeling. Although of course, appreciate the support and concern.

Besides, have the opportunity to see the reader work? sign him the fuck up.

When Mark is away on "family business" (for lack of a better term) the reader is quite anxious to say the least, but tries to keep calm with meditation and doing heroic work.

Let's just say that Mark ends up influencing her to be more heroic on her own no matter what Cecil says about her :')

The reader tries to encourage Mark to open up about his trauma with his father (and more recently Armstron) even if it's not with words, simply by being there for each other.

It is MANDATORY that the reader knows Oliver, I am not making the rules (okay, MAYBE I am, but it's for plot sake), I find it funny because probably at first she would not know anything about how to handle a baby (much less an alien baby) but in reality she knows some tips for dealing with superpowers from a young age(thanks to her mom).

reader asleep with Oliver in her arms 🥺(RIP, Mark Sebastian Grayson, cause of death: excess tenderness).

Debbie probably knows the reader at first only because of the times Mark talks about her (as a very cool, intelligent, elegant, pretty girl...) and she definitely takes advantage of it when they meet formally 🤣

Mark totally dosen't wanna go to the other side of the world and SCREAM--

(reader being especially attached to Debbie because she reminds her of her own mother is my Roman empire).

If we look at the relationship as it is, it is quite nice and relaxed, a reader despite being half-borderline, she shows her best side when she is with Mark since in general he encourages her a lot.

Just as the reader supports Mark when his father comes back into his life, Mark supports the reader when her "father" tries to enter hers or bad times come back to haunt her.

They can definitely do bonding through daddy issues😅

The reader probably got quite used to reading in Mark's presence, before to help him with his studies/university in literature matters, and when he left the university simply to relax him a little. the reader's voice is very relaxing (⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)

and also in general it is nice to see the reader talk about things she likes like epic stories/poems, how certain magical writings work, etc. just nerding out and Mark listens.

(as the person who asked or asked the question said) there are days when they are both so exhausted by their jobs/problems that they want to be together in a quiet way, so they decide to have a flight, sometimes just flying over the city, other times they have reached reach other countries, sometimes they do races, etc.

Mark learns pretty quickly not to touch the reader's cool gadgets, one time he literally almost summoned the devil, NO JOKE.

I think the only gadget Mark can touch from the reader's collection is her cape, and it's pretty funny because it's too small for him🤣 and he tries to imitate Darkwing when he puts it on.

We all love silly guy Mark.

Mark lets himself be carried like a princess by reader, FIGHT ME--

Mark has probably wanted to at least learn the basics of magic with Reader, no, he doesn't want to use magic, he simply wants to learn to defend himself against it (especially after what happened with Armstrong) and he is surprisingly good at theory.

-"Are you sure you left university?"

-"Are you sure you never went to school?"

Yep, just like Mark influences the reader for the better, the reader ended up influencing Mark's humor😅 his sarcasm has evolved to unimaginable levels.

At least now Mark has less chance of dying now that he knows more about magic.

Honestly, the story could perfectly change a lot with a character like Raven because if Mark got lost she could simply look for him with her Chakra stone and bring him to earth with a portal.

Imagine being Mark, being super beaten up and READER coming out of a PORTAL to save your skin.

or even extend her power to other dimensions! (Raven can AND does it in some comics)

She is OVERPOWERED.

probably thanks to this Cecil is even more cautious with her and even hostile, which would open the gap even more between him and Mark (you can't expect Mark to accept that his partner goes with Cecil knowing that he will want to turn her into a weapon of mass destruction ).

very Sunshine(Mark) and Sunshine Protector(reader) dynamic.

overall a great pair honestly, they balance each other out really well and are ADORABLE together, I just hope their parents don't cause too many problems in the future..

Shares, reblogs and comments are very welcome!

[brucewaynehater101]

Fuck yeah! I just love it when Tim makes a name for himself and his own place to help people using his resources instead of Bruce's resources. It's just something so dear to my heart.

Also it would be really funny if Tim wasn't only hiring other people goons. Like yeah, he's stealing all of Lex's workers, but he's also taking Joker's and Bane's and Penguin's and Two Face's. He put up a policy that said, "we hire (most) all felons. Crimes do not matter, unless certain scenarios such as crimes of a sexual nature." Which means most of the Henchmen who are only that because they can't get a legal job? They *flock* to Tim.

Tim also hires villians as well. He offers Ivy a job studying plants and green solutions to make the company better. He offers Harley a job as a nurse. He even goes to other cities to offer jobs to other heroes rouges such as giving Chershire a job trying to find holes in his security so he can patch them, Captian Cold works as a security guard, and Metallo works in some of the research labs working with chemicals that humans can't touch or testing new cybernetics that allow him to actually feel.

I am fully under the belief that a lot of DC rogues/villains/criminals would pursue an "honest" line of work if they had that choice/ability. This is why fics or AUs of one of the Bats (I am more partial to Tim, but I'd also so be down for Barbara) figuring out how to incorporate better social programs and supports to cut down crime.

There will be people who commit atrocities for the hell of it (fuck you Joker), but most of DC's villains have a just reason for their actions (even though the execution is poor).

Now, Tim cutting down crime through social programs and hiring people more so than the JL lowered crime since its founding? That would be fucking hilarious.

I would love to see more fics of different rogues getting their needs met and having options outside of the path DC made for them. Your examples are great, and I'd love more

[rapplesart]

Ok but like hear me out .

One of the dc crossover fanfics where Bruce adopts a kid (Danny phantom or Peter Parker iykyk) but instead of you know the bats finding them on the streets or having a whole hero cants and mouse thing or Barbara seeing them in the library they just go to the Wayne’s doorstep asking for money after being broke and having the idea in a half drunken state or joking about it .

Like for example Danny after being chased away from amity park and escaping his parents sits on the rooftop and talks with a gargoyles named Gary

„Yeah anyway that’s how I got here Gary, no clue what imma do know“ he says between another bite of pizza „like I’m pretty fucking broke and yeah maybe buying Pizza wasn’t the best investment in my situation but I was hungry I think I deserve a treat after all that .“

Gary stays silent as the two of them look over the city . Sirens echo in the distance, a few roofs in front of the, a black shadow appears between the gaps of the buildings, disappearing into the shadow just as fast as it appeared. Must be one of the bats Danny thinks .

He sets the piece of pizza back down into the carton in order to take a swig of the wine he stole from Vlads gift basket before his great escape. The man puts puts them on the counter for Mandy to find on a weekly basis now as part of his latest attempt to woo the woman. Jack adored the baskets when they first appeared, exited to have his best friend care about him and his wife.

Danny didn’t really plan on drinking it, he just brought it because it was the closest thing to grab. It was there so he took it . Now, sitting on the rooftop realising how fucked he truly was he decided he might as well be drunk for this too.

„And it’s not like any safe and sane workplace will take a random kid without paperwork. I probably need to do something illegal to go by now , Jazz would be so disappointed „ another swig from the wine .

It was fruity and dry and scratched his throat and Danny honestly didn’t enjoy the feeling but it made his wine just a little bit fizzier than before and it helped in a strange way.

Gary remained silent .

„sure there are a lot of Wayne foundations in Gotham that give out stuff , I did my research once I arrived after all, but they’d call cps and cps would either give me back to my parents or just straight up hand me over to the government so that is not an option „

Another bite of pizza . It was delicious a stark contrast to the wine

„It’s not like I can just go to Bruce Wayne and be like ‚yo got some money?‘ the guy would probably think I’m robbing him and call the cops and yeah, you get the gist of it Gary“

Another few beats of silence .

„But the dude is like crazy rich right? And he has his name on all of these foundations , and people say he’s an airhead so maybe I can just go to his house or something and ask for a donation. I mean it would be for a good cause , feeding a hungry homeless teenager is a good cause isn’t it ?“

„Yeah sounds like a pretty good cause Danny“ Damny answered himself as Gary by lowering his voice . The way one might get more into his head than he thought .

„You know what , I think imma just do this. Let’s just ask the rich guy for money he probably won’t even notice that he’s being scammed and if he does he probably has enough money nöt to care „

[goodoldfashionedengineer]

Lego Batman Family Matters truly has the best Bruce and Jason reconciliation scene I have seen in a DC property.

For up: Jason didn't die, he ran away because he didn't like how much authority Bruce held over him. By this point he already is Red Hood, kidnapped the family members minus Bruce into the BatCave.

Right now, him and Bruce are alone in the Wayne Enterprises building, had pretended to be Batman when Two Face wanted both Bruce Wayne AND Batman. Bruce didn't ask him to do it, Jason just followed him and took over. And now the AI created by WE, that Bruce couldn't care less about, is about to blow up the whole city.

Bruce: What makes a family great isn't leaving and starting over. It's learning to stick together, especially in the tough times. I owe you both an apology. You have the ability to be heroes. And I'm sorry if my selfishness got in the way of that.

AI: [...] Apology accepted.

Jason: Oh man, that was close.

Bruce: Jason, I meant what I said. I never meant to hurt you.

Jason: That means a lot. ... I'm sorry for running away

Bruce: Just promise me you'll never do it again

Jason: I promise

Bruce: Now, how about we go home

Jason: Great idea

A Lego movie that is less than 1½ hours long did what the comics couldn't

[bibibbon]

Hi, I did a big mulling (lol) on the whole moral aspect of Dabi and his killings. Especially considering my own au.

Look let's not kid ourselves here. It would be impossible for Besties au or canon for dabi to be "pure" aka never kill anyone. Boy was on the streets after waking up from a coma in a creepy hospital.

"a good Samaritan in the villain side took him in" ok maybe but even this good Samaritan would still be a villain and Dabi wouldn't be save of killing. Even if is self defense.

The discourse I mentioned in my channel on....ironically called Discord was about how dabi killing bad peoples works better than killing innocent people. I get the fallacy of this logic. I get the appeal.

We see characters like Punisher and we root for him bc "he is killing bad people" which makes him good in comparison. I used to like that, who didn't? But consider this idea: One villain killed the anti-hero's wife. One, and the anti hero responds by going on a rampage.

"he is angry she is dead, it's grief" he still kills a lot of people and shows no remorse.

(nothing against Anti heroes characters per se. I do love Jason Todd even if I agree how DC mistreated him, I like Bucky. I can't like Punisher through)

The thing here is if Dabi only killed bad people how we would know if the people he killed were bad to warrant the death penalty?

"dabi only killed rapist and pedos" ok. How he would know if a person committed those crimes? Waiting for the person to shout to the world all the horrible things he did on this fine Tuesday?

(this all is making me think of a case of lynching in my country, a person was accused of committed a crime, a group of the small city wanted justice and ....went to make on their own hands....turns out the person was Innocent. They killed an innocent person)

Besides killing is killing. Even if Dabi has concrete proof the people he killed are EVIL. He still took a life, he is still unaffected about it (not saying if dabi kills a rapist he should weep, but you can't exactly be so blase about it)

(I even think if Dabi goes around killing only bad people, in this case, villains....wouldn't that make others villains wry of LoV for keeping dabi? If we have a hero killer. What if we have a villain killer?)

My point on this long ass thread is how in besties au dabi has killed, ofc he did, even if is for survival...and that sticks with him. He doesn't like killing. It weights on him.

"and Endy?" Yes. He wants to kill Dabi. He wants to destroy Endy and in besties he is doing a good job. He is proactive (unlike Mr. Possum)

But the killing weights on him.

Smth I don't think it does on the heroes who kill in canon. They are sure the villains they kill are evil (I mean, I get why) and no need to think twice, right hawks?

But it's odd seeing villain stans defending dabi killing any villain without remorse and try to justify "they are evil"

Well.....

If that was the case...all the LoV deserved their fates as they are terrorists who killed lots of people, wage a war and more.

Hi @mikeellee 👋

Agreed! There is no way within Canon that dabi has never killed anyone at all. Actually, we only see dabi physically kill people after he joins the league of villains, whether that be with failed lov recruits or heroes dabi has killed.

However, in chapter 290, dabi states that he has cannonically killed over 30 innocent people. Now, I have talked about this in the @sapphic-agent post, but the framing of that panel seems to be there to humanise enji while dehumanising dabi.

How does dabi know these people are innocent?

Why did he mention the fact that they were innocent? Why didn't he just say he killed thirty people?

All of this makes me think that dabi thinks that he accidentally killed the people in the hospital.

Ultimately, dabi would have realistically had to kill in self-defense. Imagine a young teenage boy obviously covered in major scaring, roaming the streets for scraps or anything to survive. That would be an easy target for people to use, rob, or do whatever they think of doing to him. Dabi would have had to quickly learn self-defense and how to survive on the street, and it shows that he did learn by his appearance.

The first time we see dabi in chapter 68, we see just how scrawny and skinny he is. He ends up gaining weight and muscle after joining the league, yet his first appearance definitely depicts him as malnourished and the increased burn scars definitely mean that he has been using his quirks ever since he was on the street for various reasons.

Dabi killing bad people or who he views as a bad person makes sense and is actually very in character for him. A dominant characteristic of dabi that fanon seems to undermine is that he is a huge Stain fanboy/follower. His first introduction, he announces that he plans to make the hero killers will a reality.

However, we do fall into the problem of dabi pushing his own moral views (which let's be real dabi has some very concerning views) that would be a problem. Or how does he know that this specific individual he is killing is a bad person? There's so much this is the same character who was shown to have some very misogynistic and victim blaming views, so that would be a rocky hill for him to go down on.

All of this could definitely be a great idea to explore and could easily dive deep into dabi's mentality and how that might change over the course of the series.

It is absolutely a great idea to make dabi killing weigh on him whether they're innocent or evil. Those are still people. They are still lives, they breathe, weep, form complex thoughts, bleed red etc they are people, they could be dabi and his body or the body of his loved ones could be next.

While Canon doesn't truly focus on it, it does highlight the fact that dabi does feel regret to a certain extent. Dabi is upset, and he knows, realises, and accepts that he is a bad person. It is exactly why he believes that he belongs in gell with his father. It is why all of his conversations with enji mention BOTH of them suffering and being in hell together for their sins.

There is an anime only scene with a hero cornering dabi asking him if he regrets killing and dabi doesn't respond directly, but we are shown a scene of a bloody tear falling from his face.

There is also a manga page where dabi remembers snatch and directly says that killing him drove him crazy thinking about it with a tear coming from his eye.

[lorbanery]

I just need to talk about Dick Grayson and Jon Kent's relationship for a minute

Just 'cause I keep seeing people file it under the typical Super-Bats dichotomy (Bruce and Clark, Tim and Kon, Jason and Bizarro, Damian and Jon)

BUT

Have you considered: Dick is the Superman to Jon's Robin?

Just

Just listen

There's the obvious justification that's just "Dick is much older than Jon", sure. But there's more nuance here.

Dick is different people to different generations of heroes.

To his own generation he's the responsible best friend everyone knows they can rely on, but also know better than to think of him as superhuman because they've all seen him at his worst (and by worst I don't just mean "most depressed" I mean most "shouting at his four year old niece" bitchy asshole).

I'm skipping Jason because he doesn't have his own generation he just kind of awkwardly pilfers people from Dick's and Tim's until they'd willingly shank Batman for him.

To Tim's generation he's a legend who they quickly realized is actually almost as out-of-touch as the first gen heroes. They're like a big queer friend group and he's the one kid's kind of square straight older brother. He's cool, he's supportive, he's always willing to drive them places, covers for them when they ditch class or are out past curfew, and he WILL throw down with anyone's homophobic parents; but he always has a lecture ready about underage drinking and while he laughs along with their "I'm too gay for this" jokes, you can tell he doesn't really get them. At least he's always excited for Pride. He buys himself a new "ally" shirt every year.

(Disclaimer: Previous paragraph was meant merely as a demonstrative metaphor and not to express any definitive opinion on Dick Grayson's sexuality. @ DC Comics let that boy be bi)

But to Damian's generation? Dick Grayson is a parental figure. When Damian and Jon were first starting out their superhero careers, Dick was not only acting as Batman, but as Damian's guardian, two roles most people, in-universe, expected him to be in permanently. And for Jon Dick wasn't just his friend's dad; when Clark had to leave Earth, forcing Jon to step into the role of Superman, and Jon expressed concern over being up to the job, Clark specifically told Jon to seek out Dick.

Because Jon, of course, was a teenager facing down not only the responsibility of being a superhero, but of bearing the weight of being a famous figure of hope. Something Dick had already done as the first Robin, and had helped at least a little two other teenagers navigate.

Now, I'm going to take a little tangent here to explain why Dick is the Clark in this situation.

When we talk about Dick's tragic backstory, a lot of little details change from retelling to retelling; but the one thing that stays consistent is the fact that Bruce took him in because Dick reminded him of himself. They both watched their parents get murdered at a young age (sometimes the exact same age, depending on the retelling); neither of them had any immediate family to take them in; both of them were only children who suddenly found themselves with the burden of being the sole carrier of their family's significant legacy. But that's pretty much where the similarities end.

Bruce was raised in a wealthy family, in a mansion in a major metropolitan city where his family had deep roots all the way back to its founding. Dick was raised by a very much working class family that lived out of a trailer/wagon/train most of, if not the entire year, traveling all across the country and/or globe. If they had a permanent residence anywhere, it was probably one of the suburbs around Tampa that were historically the off-season homes for circus performers (at least that's where I would put it).

Bruce was able to stay in his childhood home with a guardian who'd known him his whole life, who knew his family history and legacy. He was able to step into his family's legacy when he grew up and even expand it well beyond what his parents did.

Dick had to leave not only the circus he grew up in, he had to leave behind the entire community and culture and ended up being raised in a world that was completely different from it. Raised by a man who certainly respected his family and their history, but didn't know much about it or what their hopes and expectations had been for Dick.

While the path that eventually led him to becoming Batman began, for Bruce, that night when his parents were murdered, he didn't actually start seriously working towards and mentally taking on that responsibility until he was much older. In some cases he was in high school, in some not until after he graduated. But he taught himself and learned how to be a hero as an adult. He was in his twenties when he was taking the responsibility of other people's lives onto his own shoulders; when he was learning how to be most effective; when he was learning in real time the consequences of doing something wrong.

Dick started training and/or working as Robin the moment he became a permanent member of the Wayne household. He was anywhere between roughly 8 and 16, depending on the retelling, but in every version he was very a child or teenager taking on that responsibility of other people's lives, learning in real time the consequences of doing something wrong. He was trying to navigate school and a social life while feeling that responsibility for other people's safety and having this huge secret he couldn't talk about. He was given these special skills from his birth family's legacy that his adoptive parent warned him to hide from people lest they guess his secret. He had this overdeveloped strength and fighting skills that meant he had to consciously hold back when he fought bullies in school.

But while that doesn't describe Bruce, it does describe someone else in Dick's life: Clark. He lost his parents at a very young age leading him to be raised in a completely different culture and world by his adoptive parents. They respected his birth family and their culture, but knew nothing about them. They were a working class family, who lived in a small town. He developed his powers when he was just a kid. They were a part of his family legacy that his adoptive parents encouraged him to hide to keep his secret. They created a sense of responsibility in him at a young age to use them to help and protect people. They made it so that he had to hold back when he fought bullies in school. He had to learn how to navigate school and a social life while feeling that responsibility, while having this huge secret, and learning the consequences of doing something wrong when he was trying to protect people.

Clark related to Dick as a kid/teenager in ways that Bruce never really could. Clark understood a lot of the struggles Dick was facing, the weight on his shoulders. That's one of the many reasons he was, typically, very friendly and supportive of Dick; why he treated him as a respected colleague ; why he was always happy to spend time with and chat with Dick, even when Bruce wasn't around. He became a second trusted mentor to Dick, someone who understood what it was like to dedicate your entire life to protecting people; to spending your entire life as someone potentially dangerous to normal people; to being removed from your family legacy and their culture and taking up that of your adoptive family instead.

That's why, when Dick finds himself in situations where his life is drastically changing, one of his first stops is always Metropolis. That's why, when his life drastically changes and he doesn't come to Metropolis, Clark comes to check in on him. And Clark doesn't always have good advice to share to help Dick find his way. But he has enough similar life experience that it makes him pretty much the only mentor figure in Dick's life that Dick can really talk to who best understands him and his unique struggles.

Back to Jon.

When Jon was forced to become Superman, he was worried about how to be Superman. How to take on that kind of responsibility when he was so young. Clark sent him to Dick not just because he had a unique perspective on what Superman needs to be as someone who's been a fan, a colleague, and a friend; not just because he could teach Jon how to fight and protect himself and others even without his powers; not just because he's an excellent teacher. But because no other non-super has as much experience navigating the complex life of being a high profile kid superhero.

And Dick taught him. He trained him, and he told him about his father and his legacy, about who Superman was to the people who cared about him and worked with him.

And well after Dick's gone back to being Nightwing, even when he's not a constant fixture in Damian's life anymore, even when he's off in Bludhaven, when Jon finds himself struggling to navigate a new situation as a superhero, one of the first things he does is seek out Dick. Dick doesn't always have good advice to give him, but he does have similar experiences that help him understand Jon and his unique struggles.

[fanonimus]

My brother is obsessed with TTG, and I am baffled. We binged it, and I looked around in the... Fandom? I know the show is lighthearted, but I'm a psychology nerd.

Tw: Abuse, neglect, shitty people in general, mind conzrol and trauma. Progress with caution.

Not many people talk about the abuse Robin faces. I don't understand why is there basicaly no angsty content.

I also want to scoop that boy up and hug him and take him away from those people that surround him.

This boy has no positive influence in his life. Get him a therapyst.

He's neglected. I was sick watching this.

WHAT THE HELL DUDE this was genuinely hard to watch, and even the colour coded idiots aknowledge how badly he was treated.

Oh but they don't get away scott free. The little idiots.

They constantly hurt him (which I noticed is a reocurring joke, but it happens to him so constantly that it's not even humour. It's just... painful.)

What the fuck was that prank?

Considering I know his backstory pretty well (look, I watch enough dc), this prank just makes me want to cry. He smiles. His smile broke my heart. I genuinely started crying, alonside Robin. It was not a nice experience.

So they clearly don't have a problem with triggering traumatic responses.

Robin is also almost always the butt of the joke, even tough he is the leader nobody respects him.

Which would be understandable if he didn't try his damn hardest. He's resourceful and can make the best of a situation.

Like the time he got dance powers (which is just amazing, holy shit I want dance powers).

He found great use of an othervise "useless" pover.

Speaking of useless, his "friends" look down on him because he has no powers. Even though he is capable of beating all of them without it.

Yknow, like in the movie.

Oh yeah, nice recall to the movie the one where they competed with the Super Hero Girls team (love that show).

Y'know, where it started like this

And ended like this in like, five seconds.

Abandonment issues go brrr:

He's my angsty boy.

Also, the fact that he answered mind control on the last question, and it wasn't even on the board, broke something in me.

Him being a "control freak" is also played up for jokes, which I personally hate, but you can also go with the route of the Titans just not listening, ever, and Robin, still raised by the batman even if differently than in canon, in a city where if you are not on top you are dead, it's obvious that he developed an instictive need for control. He had gotten used to being on top of every situation, so when he felt that control slip, he grasped it and held on. This behaviour is not good, but he can't help it, and without proper consuling, he won't be able to stop this behaviour. He could, if he just let go of the illusion of control he clings to, a safety net, and we all know one can not simply just do that.

(I was someone people called a "control freak". I worked on myself, and I changed, but it took years after I noticed. Letting go is the hardest thing people like me and him can do because letting go means losing control, and that can be the scariest thing in the world. So I have experience, yes.)

(Yes, I also have experience. No, I am not going to talk about it, but it wasn't physical, don't worry)

For the hitting... Wild hot take and shit: Since Batsy was not a stellar dad, he kept robin in line by means not so family-friendly. (He hit his kids in canon, it's really OOC for him, but we have proof that happened) And it was really effective. Children of abusive parents go a lot of ways, but repeating the parents' mistakes is one of them. So maybe Robin decided that violence might be the thing to keep his teammates in line. (We are circleing back yeah.) But it clearly didn't work.

Edit: Holy shit I just realized that this Robin is all of the worst qualities of the other Robins. Obsessive, Controlling, full of himself, violent, and then throw their insecurities into there too (Abandonment issues, parental issues, anxiety, paranoia). Holy lady.

Edit2: Thank you, Yurki-posts, for pointing out some things my little rant was missing. I shall update it now.

[underforeversgrace]

Okay so. Idea I'll never write bc it involves DC.

So yknow those post-reveal/stuck as Phantom stories?

And then those Danny teaches at Gotham stories?

Combine those.

Danny's been outed for a while but 99% of Gotham just doesn't pay attention bc they have Batman and Phantom is another city's hero.

Danny's gotten better with his fights AND developed that ability to make portals Dan had and hasn't retired.

So most of his "fights" now are seconds long and typically he's able to just yeet them through a portal so Gotham doesn't even realize he's there (he let Batman know when he moved in)

But he gets stuck as Phantom after one of them.

And just... shows up to teach like that.

And his students are baffled bc what the fuck do you mean he's a superhero???

And then that one student who's name I can never remember but is in a lot of these is just like. "How did you guys... not know? Did no one even Google him?"

No. Absolutely no one did and now their teacher is fucking glowing, his hair is white, why do his eyes look radioactive, and why is he flying??

[captainkirkk]

✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes. Please look at tags and warnings on ao3 before reading.

Harry Potter

The Ordeal of Being Known by louisfake

When Auror Potter is anonymously cursed with silence by being forced to hide his own voice inside his mind, there's unfortunately only one person in the country with the qualifications to fix it: Certified and Licensed Healer Legilimens, Draco Malfoy, specialist in Mind Curses and Afflictions. It's obviously a terrible idea, a disaster waiting to happen, but Draco's never been able to back down from a challenge... especially from Potter.

Features fuzzy cartoon slippers, devious house elves, 90s music, and lots—LOTS—of memories. Ron is annoyingly hot, Hermione sees right through you, Harry is a powerful idiot, and Draco is a reclusive masochist that would buy an entire city if it would make a kid happy. (And Pansy is "5'2, I wanna dance with you, and I'm sophisticated fun.")

Super Mario Bros

Cooking Mama (Luigi)! by Little_RedHots_Riding_Hood

Luigi was having a perfectly peaceful stroll through the Toad Market - the sun was shining, he'd just found a lovely handmade blanket, and was on his way to the bakery before heading back to his and Mario's home.

Only... what was that sniffling noise from that dark, scary alleyway?

Of all the creatures he was expecting to find, the littlest prince of the Koopa Kingdom certainly wasn't it.

Star Wars

the tiger is out by elumish

Wolffe looks like he’s regretting having a second Jedi with them.

DC

Cryp-Tim by PrinceJakeFireCake

"The cons of dating Tim Drake were innumerous. For one, he was almost impossible to photograph, and so none of Kon’s friends at school actually believed he existed. His family was scary, horrifying really, and all of them seemed to find joy in making Tim regret ever being born. And Tim had charmed Ma and Pa Kent so thoroughly, they had ditched their shovel talk to instead coo at him and offer him pie and compliment him for fixing their tractor, so Kon was at a disadvantage when it came to intimidating someone with his family.”

Kon and Tim date. It goes pretty well, all things considered.

Tim Has a Hero Worship-y Crush on Every Robin Ever by PrinceJakeFireCake

"Tim as an adult was bad enough, Tim with no filter as a child was too much to be around."

Cork Board Contingencies by PrinceJakeFireCake

If you don’t use a cork board to obsessively plan contingencies for every possible way a date with your best friend can go, how can you go on a date at all?

Excerpt: “Are you free next Saturday?” Tim asked, pretty sure that Kon’s jumble of words was agreement that he wanted to date Tim.

“Maybe!” Kon exclaimed.

“Cool,” Tim commented, taking another sip of his drugged grape soda (“Dammit, Tim,” he mentally told himself. “Do not give in! Buy new grape soda! Stop drinking the drugged grape soda! I’ve shotgunned another can of drugged grape soda, haven’t I? Dammit, that makes five!”) then saying, “That gives me just enough time to pass out for fifty-two hours and plan our first date."

Immunology by JustGettingBy

Hypothetically speaking. Could a hybrid creature become suddenly not viable? Like say it survives being an embryo, makes it through growing up, and then just one day… stops? the text from Kon reads.

Tim’s heart spikes up through his ribs. Kon. What’s happening?

(OR Kon gets the flu. It becomes Tim's problem.)

Change of Plans by PrinceJakeFireCake

"Who’s your friend, Tim?” the voice asked.

Jason hissed. This was his baby! Not his friend!

“Sorry, sorry,” the voice hastened to apologize. “I mean, who’s your parent, Tim?”

AKA, who has the time to be a murderous crime/drug lord when there are kittens to adopt

Motion Blur by sElkieNight60

At Damian's school art showcase, Bruce realizes he needs to help Tim reframe their relationship.

[ironunderstands]

I must say, even though I’ve just barely gotten into Jason Todd’s character (and the DCU as a whole), the underutilization of the All Blades is so disappointing, because they could be SO cool and I just don’t mean fight-wise

From my understanding of them, they are magical swords he can summon from his soul that only work against magical entities in the presence of absolute evil, something that is incredibly cool, and that he can’t make much use of considering Batman’s no meta heroes/villains in Gotham thing (plus in general it doesn’t seem like the place has a lot of those).

But what if it did?

There’s a million different reasons why Gotham could start getting more spooky in more ways than one, and if a threat like that ever happened, realistically he’d be the only one around to deal with it.

So why not let him? Honestly, I don’t even know how to describe his relationship with the Bats currently (to be quite frankly honest, I don’t think the writers do either), but if they let Jason focus not just on his differing morals, but on his unique abilities (or rather, combing the two), we’d have very interesting stories on our hands

Jason fighting an evil others literally cannot even see, and slowly wearing himself out, but fighting anyways to protect his city.

Jason in more ways than one protecting Gotham from the evils the Bats can’t, and not just in a “murdering the really awful people” way

Jason finding a newfound sense of purpose in this, and maybe (although it might be impossible) taking others under his wing for a change to help defend this city from this new threat, and to hopefully help him heal from his past experiences

THERE IS SO MUCH POTENTIAL. DC WRITERS. DO THIS. PLEASE. FUCK IT ID DO IT IF I KNEW MORE ABOUT THE LORE AND CHARACTERS (I got into this community like, 2 months ago tops) COME ON. THE BEST STORY EVER IS RIGHT THERE. LET JASON/RED HOOD DO NEW THINGS.

[luvo27]

anyways jack drake is living in normalworldeverydayguyplace and wondering if he's wasting his life trying to apply to grad school for history because he doesn't want to be a teacher or anything and he's having major regrets when he sees a kid about to get hit by a train, jumps in to save him and dies

he wakes up. he's standing in a sunny street and there's a train flying towards his head and there's a woman with dark hair and the most beautiful blue eyes he's ever seen in his life and now he's certain that he's dead, because one, he was just hit by a train, and two, this woman grabbing his arm must be an angel

the woman drags jack out of the way of the train and shouts something like, "are you an actual idiot for real?"

and jack is like, "no, actually im graduating with a 3.9 gpa,"

and the woman is like, "oh my god you're an idiot for real. first time in metropolis?"

and jack is like, "city city? who came up with that?"

and she's like, "holy fuck well i cannot let you wander around on your own did you get your mind wiped-"

"mind wipes don't exist-"

"I'm janet. you're coming with me, and also do you want to get nasty?"

so janet becomes jack drakes guide to the dc universe.

conversations abound like, "so, dr. psycho. good guy, like dr. strange?"

"who the fuck is dr. strange?"

"From marvel?"

"What the fuck is marvel? no, dr. psycho sucks."

"sucks like ultron or sucks like magneto?"

"literally what the fuck are you talking about?"

and as janet teaches jack about the alternate history of this strange new world where superpowers and superheroes are real, jack rediscovers his passion for history. janet, in seeing her universe through a new pair of eyes, also finds herself falling in love with history

they go to grad school and become archaeologists together

they watch a lot of wonder woman speeches and things. the existence of the amazons and their culture utterly fascinates jack. time capsule culture is an archaeologists wet dream.

through their studies and travels and learning about the world together, jack and janet fall deeply, deeply in love. they move to gotham because jack doesnt technically exist as a person and they can get away with it there. they get married. they have a baby boy. they name him tim

time passes. they all get older, jack and janet go on an expedition, their plane goes down, there's a villain who isn't a racist caricature and janet dies and batman is too late to save her, and jack is grievously injured

without janet, this new world of superheroes loses its luster. Jack wants no part of it anymore, he remembers the good old days where people died normally, in accidents and regular murders and to illness

so when he finds out his son is one of the heroes in the world, he almost kills batman

time passes. jack gets to know his son without this secret in the way, through tim's eyes he is once again reopened to the world of heroes, in a different way than janet did it, but his eyes are opened again regardless.

he understands now, that this world of heroes means that regular, ordinary people like his son can save untold numbers of lives in a way they couldn't in his old world.

and then he dies. rip.

[nitewrighter]

“We don’t know what the hell her deal is”

Sounds like THE major problem with Donna in particular, and the Wonder Woman mythos as a whole come to think of it.

With Donna, they just won’t leave her origin alone for 2 minutes

For Diana in general, ever since marston died dc just lets writers do whatever. It might just be garden variety sexism, but the og writer dying in the middle of the first run probably didn’t help.

Batman, you know he lives in Gotham city, he’s a billionaire, he operates in the batcave his friends are Alfred, Robin, the Gordon’s etc, his archenemy is the joker etc.

Superman, he lives in metropolis, works at the daily planet, his friends are Lois lane, jimmy olsen and Perry white, his archenemy is lex luthor etc.

But Diana? Where does she live? Where does she work? Who are her supporting cast? Who are her her rogues gallery? It’s all libel to change on the whims of whatever writer is assigned to her that week.

Because it’s all mercurial, there’s no baseline, so neither franchise nor fanbase can gain a proper foothold.

Writers can’t even agree on if she’s just as, or even more against killing as Bruce or Clark, or if she’s the one member of the trinity who’s willing to kill.

Guys, in every category, just pick one and stick with it.

I mean like, I'm no Wonder Woman expert, but the general vibe I've gotten from the Wonder Woman comics I've read (the Rucka run, Dead Earth, a handful of crossover events including the Metal saga and Final Crisis) is that, yes, Wonder Woman is willing to kill, but also there have been circumstances in which other members of the Trinity have killed. Wonder Woman's willingness to kill is almost entirely defined by a painful necessity to do what she can to preserve life. She killed Max Lord to stop him from murdering countless innocent people, but that largely got reduced to being a plot device and also unfortunately guided a lot of really lazy writers who thought that the fact that she was willing to kill defined her character more than the actual philosophies of the Amazons. Of course, as you say, there's more than a fair share of continuities that have the Amazons be just as big warmongering murderous assholes as Thanagarians because... a Greek Mythology themed heroine is only interesting if she's aping Zack Snyder's 300, I guess.

I mean from a Doylist perspective, the existence of Donna to begin with is kind of narratively fraught. Like, let's go with the "Diana is basically a Demigod" interpretation of her character--it's not like a demigod can't have a sidekick--is Ares nearly as fun without little gremlin Eris chucking her apple from the side of his chariot? Hephaestus has his robots, etc. So like... it shouldn't be that hard to come up with a character who's both an ally and foil to Diana, who contrasts her while supporting her, but that was never really what Donna was, and that's not really what motivated Donna's creation. I think what's repeatedly shot Diana in the foot as far as helping her create her own solid lore footing is the fact that DC sees her as being defined more by The Trinity™ than by her own standalone stories. Hell, her daughter fucking takes on the name 'Trinity!' Like, tell me you gave her a daughter purely because Bruce and Clark both have kids without telling me you gave her a daughter purely because Bruce and Clark both have kids. And unfortunately, that's kind of what's heavily factored in to Donna from her very start--did you give Wonder Woman a sidekick because she needed that contrast, or did you give Wonder Woman a sidekick because Batman and Superman have their own respective 'hero families?'

Anyway, I tend to define my Wonder Woman by the Rucka Run more than anything else, though tragically, that ended up being a run that defined Donna by her absence more than her presence.

[cerealboxlore]

Whiz Kid Billy Batson and Lois Lane + the others

How come I haven't seen anything about Billy Batson interacting with the other journalists and reporters in the DC universe when it's the perfect opportunity to have the truth seekers in one room combining their skills/forces together?? I mean seriously, let the Whiz Kid Billy Batson HC meet with the others during some big journalist/reporter convention being held in Fawcett City, he has his own little radio show, let the boy speak his mind! Billy and Lois would have a blast together solving a cold case, interviewing superheroes together, and investigating the mystery behind who invited all these famous journalists and reporters to Fawcett city.

Make it be like a Knives Out scenario where someone extremely important and big suddenly bites the dust during the convention, and not only are the famous reporters and journalists there meant to solve the case, but they are also the suspects! The superheroes are away and can't help in this event, it's up to the non super powered allies to get to the bottom of this and save themselves!

Billy obviously can't transform into Captain Marvel due to the circumstances, but he's more than ready for a challenge to prove that Billy Batson is just as much a hero as his alter ego is.

Billy Batson, Lois Lane, Iris West, Jimmy Olsen, Viki Vale, Cat Grant (I'm going off the DC wiki for journalists and reporters). Put all these people in a room and all of your secrets will be in extreme danger.

Bonus points if Benoit Blanc is canon to the DC universe and was invited as a plus one to a guest of honor/VIP at the convention. I like this fruity southern detective man a lot. Him existing in the DC universe would just be hilarious and actually fit. Man solved a lot of famous cases, who's to say he's never solved a supervillain crime case or answered a few Riddles by the Riddle before (even though he thinks they're stupid). Let this man meet batman for crying out loud! (And let him play Among us with the other journalists/reporters-)

I got the idea based on the snippets of the fic being made by @wolfsbanesparks that involves Billy going through a mentorship program under Lois Lane.

[orlaogden]

Mchart week: The Road Trip

They are both unusually quiet in the morning. As if they are afraid to break the peaceful silence and ruin everything, so they let their bodies speak for their tongues. Kurt fries bacon and eggs, Diane warms up bagels and makes coffee.

A light brush of hands, short timid smiles. She adverts her eyes, and he feels a sudden pang in the chest. His arms snake around her waist, he just can't help it, his lips kiss the side of her head above the right ear. Despite the short glimpse of sadness he felt radiating from her just a moment ago, she leans in his embrace readily, caresses his back, kisses his shoulder. They're bathing in morning sunlight, in the warmth of their embrace and in the smell of the coffee.

"Kurt. Let's get away from the city for a while?" Diane blurts out.

"You mean, go to the country?"

"No... Go on a trip. Spend some time in nature." She knows he would love it. She knows that she will enjoy it too and they need it.

Kurt's eyebrows go up. Diane and nature: a beautiful combination but a rare one.

"Why?"

"To make a room," she pauses and finds his left hand with hers. "To clear more space for... love. Just be simply Diane and Kurt for a while."

Kurt is almost ready to laugh. He thinks that he is always himself and that being in love with her is his default state of being. But he gets it, so he just squeezes her hand and kisses her cheek instead.

"Do you have something particular in mind?"

"Nope. We can make arrangements today and go tomorrow."

"It's a deal then." He smiles into her hair.

The silence between them sparks with anticipation of something exciting as they eat.

***

Eventually they decide to go to Starved Rock. It's not too far from Chicago and it's beautiful.

Kurt's driving the car. Lyle Lovett doesn't provoke a sudden wave of longing anymore. The car doesn't reek of incense. Everything falls right into place. They're not going to meditate, they're going to walk and see the waterfalls, although Diane doesn't even mind watching him fishing for the whole day, breathing in the fresh air and the closeness of the most important person in her life she missed so much and desperately tried to forget in the fear of no future.

"You know what. We should try an axe throwing next."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. I'll show you my moves." She adds with a cheeky smile. 

"I always thought it's a pity that you had got over it before we could try it together." 

"Maybe you'll find that the axes are actually hotter than guns."

"I know for sure that you'd  look hot as hell with an axe. As for the technical side… Maybe I am a simple guy, but I like complicated things, you know."

"Oh, I know. You wouldn't marry me if you haven't." Diane sighs. "There are actually so many things we haven't tried doing together…"

The majority of the trip they discuss their plans for future activities they want to try, building a bridge to their life together in DC. Diane thinks that maybe her cowboy is not an artsy person but he sure knows how to have fun and make her feel warm inside. 

The playful talk only dies out when they stop at a parking lot near a gas station to buy some coffee. Somehow coffee gets forgotten pretty quick as they indulge in a not exactly silent make out session.

***

“There is something humbling about the ancient rocks. We try to be important, be heroes, make a difference, while they’re just standing here and will outlive us all…”

“You’ll be able to make a difference again when you’re back in a courtroom. Real difference for real people.” 

And you will feel better, his tender green eyes tell her. She already feels better. The earth, the rustle of leaves, water and his steady presence ground her. Baby steps are not so frustrating anymore. Finally she knows what she needs to do: go back to what she does best. Leading a law firm, fighting for clients she actually cares about. Finally she doesn’t feel so painfully alone.

She looks down at the calm water surface and muses. 

This is crazy how you start to think that a person you have mutual interests with understands you on a truly deep level, seeking his advice because you feel like drowning, only to realize later that he doesn't know you at all. And it makes sense, because he really doesn't.

And this is crazy how a person, you have so little in common with on a surface level, gets you better than anyone else in the world. It doesn't make sense at all, but it feels so right when you don't overthink it.

***

"Ouch!" Diane stumbles and almost falls but Kurt's strong hand supports her in time.  

"Are you alright, hon?" he asks gently caressing her side. Diane takes a deep breath trying to not lean too much onto him.

"I think I've twisted my ankle. I'll be alright in a minute."

"You need to sit down and rest for a bit…" Kurt looks around trying to find something suitable. Sadly, they are out in the wild and there are no benches. "What do you think about this nice looking rock?" 

Kurt helps Diane to reach the big flat rock he spotted and sit down. Then he takes three steps back, checks her out affectionately and pulls the smartphone out of his pocket. 

"You look like a princess who got lost in the woods."

"Yeah, seventy years old princess in leather pants", Diane answers sarcastically. 

"Princess SexyPantsass", Kurt says lightheartedly and gets a perfect shot of her laughing. This will be a nice addition to his growing collections of Diane's photos. 

When Kurt helps Diane to stand up again, his stomach grumbles loudly. 

"I think we should head to the picnic area. Maybe this place has a dark history, but I don't want my galant knight to starve!"

***

Kurt gives Diane a plate with a hot aromatic grilled cheese sandwich and two sausages on the side while she spoonfeeds him a pasta salad she made this morning. He feeds her grapes. She wipes her hands with a napkin and pats his knee. They clunk two beers and toast their trip. The silence they've immersed into now is comforting in all its cozyness. 

A gust of wind ruffles Kurt's hair, and Diane's fingertips tingle. He is relaxed, almost serene. He looks at her with such tenderness that her lips start tingling too. She brushes breadcrumbs from his mustache, lightly touching the upper lip with her pinkie. He smiles and kisses her fingers. She can't restrain herself anymore. One hand goes up his cheek and disappears in the thick silver hair. The other hand goes up his chest, then his neck. And they are kissing, and kissing, and kissing. Bottles fall clinking against each other. Diane silently prays for the bottles to be empty, but when they end the kiss she looks only at him. 

"Now I'm starved for something else", Kurt breathlessly murmurs in her ear, sending a tingling sensation down her spine. Diane is half turned on, half hyper-aware that they're in a public space. 

"I'm afraid we have to starve for this much longer, my love", she whispers, moving away from him. The look on his face when she says the last two words almost makes her cry. 

“Thank you for coming back to me.” She literally breathes the sentence out. Her guilty look adds: Despite me hurting your feelings again and again.

It is both an apology for how she had left things and gratitude for him finally being here for her, not on the phone with a despicable organization, not somewhere else.

“Thank you for choosing us again.” Kurt answers simply, his voice is breaking in the middle. 

Her brows form two slanting lines, her lips tremble. As though they both could go a different way. They almost did, but no, she couldn't, they couldn’t.

She just hugs him then. If she could melt into his soft flannel shirt, she would. His hands clutch so tightly on her back as if he is afraid she would disappear. 

The next moment an angry kid passes them muttering something about "gross adults". They break their embrace and laugh, probably making the kid even angrier. The unexpressed thought makes them laugh even louder. 

On the way back to the car they see a double rainbow. 

"Everything is gonna be alright", Diane thinks. Kurt opens a car door for her. Going back home doesn't seem so depressing anymore. 

_______________

The song in the edit: Love Will Keep Us Alive by Scorpions. 

Thank you @rexlockhart for organizing such a wonderful fandom event! 💗💗💗