#if dc lets us use them is up for debate

[andi-o-geyser]

“we’re doing another groundbreaking storyline with batman fighting his greatest enemy, the joker-” pack it up.

[dcxdpdabbles]

DC x DP fanfic Idea: Gotham Gossip

Meta-human rights are a touchy topic in Gotham. While the city is known for Batman's view on them, it's also known for Bruce Wayne's viewpoint.

The Dark Knight did not welcome Metas, while the Light Knight worked tirelessly to employ charities and programs to support Metas. Both men- if Batman was a man- influenced Gotham so intensely that their viewpoints became the face of the public.

Even people outside of Gothman learned what "Are you a Dark pawn or a Light pawn?" meant when it was spoken about during national debates.

Really, it was no surprise that Batman and Wayne got caught up in a rather explosive public argument over the subject. Or rather, Wayne yelled at Batman during a hostage situation when his party boat got taken by a group of masked men.

Thankfully, Batman was able to save everyone on board, and although he didn't stick around to argue with Wayne, it was noted that Batman seemed intrigued by a few of Wayne's passionate rants. A few reporters were excited to point out there may be a chance of growth within the vigilante, but it was overshadowed by gossip rags that used this incident to make up a wild rumor of Wayne being a bitter ex with Batman.

This rumor runs for months, with various people posting online proof of a relationship. It sparks debate and anger, with other people responding by fact-checking and countering the "proof." Eventually, the argument moves away from Meta-human rights and falls into celebrity gossip, which has Wayne steaming.

People ignore his passionate activism to better the lives of Metas, only watching his speeches, marches, protests, and donations to various charities to gain new proof of his nonexistent romance that may or may have been in his early twenties when he mysteriously vanished to see the world.

That's when the video comes out.

A young teenager wrote a song parody of what was happening. A soft acoustic guitar accompanied his short words, accusing the masses of caring more about a wealthy man's pants being on or not than the lives of his people.

This young teenager is Danny Fenton, a known meta from a small town in Illinois. This quickly turned into people attacking the boy, who released another song using the hateful comments as new lyrics.

Wayne reposts one of his sons, claiming it a masterpiece, which is when one fan notices the similarities between the two. She makes a post talking about how Wayne and Fenton could be father and son as a joke, expecting people to take it seriously.

Overnight, the internet finds out that Fenton was, in fact, adopted into his current family after being surrendered at a fire station anonymously. More and more people started to notice the similar features between the rich man and the small-town singer until a video of Fenton using his powers was leaked.

Fenton's power is invisibility. This resembles another well-known Gotham dweller who can appear and disappear through the city's shadows. It's not long before Fenton is being called the love child of Batman and Wayne.

It leads to so much media attention and harassment aimed towards Fenton that Wayne steps in. He offers to take a paternity test to finally put the rumors to rest and let the young boy vanish from the limelight (should he stop writing songs).

The only problem?

The test is positive. Wayne is Fenton's biological son. The whole nation loses their minds when it's leaked by a very regrettable intern at the clinic where the test was done. (To be fair, the intern's email was hacked, so when she scanned the papers for herself, they were able to steal them)

Worse, Joker thinks it would be hilarious to kidnap Wayne's newly discovered son and, on live TV, give him another paternity test against Batman. The clown is laughing hysterically while his men prepare the results, only to become more gleeful when it's a match again.

Fenton is the son of both the Dark Knight and the Light Knight. It matters little that Batman's DNA is slightly messed up, as various people already suspected him of not being human.

This just proves Fenton is not a meta-human but rather half-human and whatever the hell Batman is. Joker is having a ball reading out the results, proclaiming he would help Fenton meet his biological grandparents with his one guarantee.

His words are cut off when Fetnon- unknown to the viewing public- escapes his bonds and swings an axe from the emergency fire station inside the aged wearhouse at Joker's neck. The clown collapses to the ground dead, the boy bathed in his blood, and the half-finished joke is cut off by the sound of choking blood etching across every screen in Gotham.

The remaining goons and Fenton stare at each other in stun silence while one is brave enough to rasp. "But Batman doesn't kill."

"Do I look like my absent father to you? Besides, Joker venom is a war crime. I'm within my rights, and if I'm not, I would have killed him again anyway."

Fenton quickly outshines his fathers in the public's eye because no matter where one stood on the Meta Rights, everyone stood on the "Kill the Joker" debate.

[palmanatomy]

Addressing the debate about if tim takes up a new identity, what should it be. So far, we know in canon that tim has been Robin, Red Robin, Robin again, Drake (blame bart), and Robin again. He's never actually taken a name for himself, Red Robin was just what the newspapers seemed to call him and it was also Jasons identity. Even Drake was Barts idea after they went to alternate timeline and fought evil versions of themselves (again) and bart thought it was a great name.

So, my argue is that even though names like cardinal, rook, jackdaw, red hawk are all interesting, I think that Tim wouldn't really make up an identity for himself and would just kinda roll with whatever the news calls him. HOWEVER. Tim also values his loved ones with a high regard and he incorporates a piece of them when hes lost them with himself. For example, Kons death made him change the iconic Robin colours to red and black to honour him. I know that the red robin suit was already existing but he wore it after Bruces death and I like to believe that the cowl was a nod to Bruce. When he was in the unternet and we see how he perceives himself as (probably my favourite tim costume), his costume kinda looks like nightwings with the red depiction and this is when tim and dicks relationship is strained (a bit of a reach, i know, but like. Look at it.).

And what does Tim love more than anything in the world? His car, redbird. DC has not included redbird in ANY comics since he had to sell it to alfred for like a million bucks when his dads company went bankrupt and I have been scouring, searching through the wilderness that is modern dc for this fucking car. I do not know where it is and its killing me. Tim loved that car. He is a car guy to his core and the lack of rebird in modern dc has lead me to believe that redbird has died.

Therefore! Tim should be Redbird, honouring the loss of his beloved car and incorporating it into his own identity. it still incorporates the red part of his identity but it leaves robin entirely. Also, on a more serious note, in his chats with Lonnie Machin he uses the alias Redbird and other villains have called him redbird before so like. its not impossible. And i miss redbird like actually him being a car guy was so important to me and like tims relationship with cars is literally so important. like secretly shipping a batmobile to san francisco, being the only one that the supercycle would let drive it, being so proud of his car and remote controlling it and i just love redbird and i miss it.

thanks for coming to my tedtalk.

[scorpioriesling]

I was reading through your works, and I am going FERAL. I was wondering if you were still taking requests for your prompt list? If not, feel free to completely ignore this, but I was thinking reader/Xaden/Liam? Like, established relationship? I was thinking the reader has like, really bad anxiety all the time? But despite that is a decent Rider? (I was thinking she could have a signet that let's her create/control plantlife? Like Poison Ivy from DC but feel free to make your own or ignore this part) But maybe get's really hurt during a mission or an attack or something; maybe trying to save one of the loves of her life? But during the healing/mending, while she's unconscious, they find out she's pregnant? Hurt/comfort with a LOT of comfort, with prompts 33 & 40?

If you're too busy though, I completely understand! I just love your work and saw the list and went a little crazy

In The Wake of Tragedy

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･��: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *

Pairing(s): Xaden x Liam x reader

Warnings: angst, injury, violence, pregnancy, some fluff

Summary: Many times, it is not the battle that we remember, but the cataclysmic shift that follows it.

SR’s Note: This was... interesting, lol. I actually really enjoyed it, I haven't yet written anything with an established 3-person relationship but this turned out to be really sweet! I hope you all like it, and it's what the requester was looking for. This also uses prompts 33 and 40 from my masterlist.

Tags: @mellowmusings @rcarbo1 @lilah-asteria @kitsunetori @velarisdusk @nctsawrus @lreadsstuff @desprrssooo-espresssooooo @freakishfandomfiend (inbox me or comment if you'd like to be added!)

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ✧･ﾟ: *

"Y/N -- I said fall back!"

Xaden's angry, mental shout had you gritting your teeth harder as you swerved through the mass of Wyvern. You'd been training so hard for this, Hell you'd stayed up half the night anxiously awaiting daybreak. You ignored his shout as you navigated Moira deeper into their territory.

Ahead, you watched as two Wyvern rose closely to the ground. Perfect. Quickly, you drew all of Moira's power as every vein in your body tingled with anxiety -- hopefully, this would work. Two stalks speared from the Earth in an instant, and you held steadfast as they speared directly through the Wyver's torso's.

A jolt of excitement flared within you, and you felt your anxious thoughts fading away as Moira praised you mentally.

"Fantastic work!" Her upbeat tone sounded. "Now, let's take care of the rest."

She bobbed and wove through the dense fog, searching for her mates. Neither were seen anywhere, but you were at least close enough to communicate with Xaden mentally.

"Did you catch that?" You flaunted, hoping the message would reach him. "Two more down, if I do take credit for myself."

"Fantastic." You could practically feel his eyeroll, much at odds with the way Moira reacted. "Now please, there's only a few left -- take cover, Y/N."

You huffed. "Do you not trust me? I just took out two in one go for Gods sakes -- an I incapable?"

Xaden was more than just your Wingleader, he was one of the absolute loves of your life. You felt, to him, you were only his girlfriend, a relationship he had to share due to his dragon's relationship. But right now, he was simply one thing; in charge.

"I don't have time to debate this right now," he said mentally, his tone softening. "Please, Y/N, I can't stand the thought of loosing you. Get out of sight or else-"

"They're incoming!" Moira's mental voice was more panicked than you'd liked. Your eyes widened as a group of three ugly, gray Wyvern soared ahead, aiming right for you. Pulling on your power, you managed to uproot a few thick, thorny vines and wrap them around one of the beasts, pulling it down to the ground as it thrashed in pain. A small victory, yes -- however, there were still two more coming. And fast.

Moira roared and prepared to torch them, but something below held her back. You looked down, trying to understand what would halt her in this situation.

Your breath caught in your throat when you saw it. Between the heavy white fog, and beats of Moira's green wings... there was red. And it was ascending quickly.

"Liam! No-"

You shouted mentally, anxiety making an unwelcome approach once again when you found his mental shields blocked. Moira forged ahead, careful to avoid the impending drive of her mate, but to stay close to assist.

"Moira, we have to do something, we can't let him-"

The plea was too late, though. Deigh drove straight up into both bodies of the Wyvern, his teeth ensnaring both of them. They clawed and writhed to escape, however their attempts were fruitless. The large red creature dropped both to the ground below, where they landed with a disgusting crunch.

You were speechless as Deigh pivoted above, soaring back down toward you. However, a million thoughts and voices rang unheard ikn your head as you took in what just happened before you.

"Y/N, look out!"

"Now, Y/N, now! Get down now-"

You turned, not having enough time to even allow a scream to take form in your throat as a large, gray talon swung toward you. It knocked the wind out of you, as well as completely ripped you from Moira's saddle. In seconds, you felt the wind all around you, under you, over you as you free-fell down, down, down.

You heard Moira's roar, but your eyes couldn't focus as you tumbled head over heels toward the ground. Panicked shouting rang through your mind, adding to the pounding headache taking form as you conitnued to lose altitude.

There was a quick moment that you faced the ground, watching as it came closer and closer to you. On instinct, you thrust your hand out, attempting to channel any sort of power to help break your fall. You were yards, then meters, then feet before the Earth as soft petals bloomed, but it wasn't quick enough to provide much aid.

Your shoulder hit first, then your abdomen, then everything else. You'd careened directly toward the thorny mass that encased the dead Wyvern from earlier, and though a few lush roses had began to bloom with your efforts -- it just wasn't enough. The short relief of the velvety petals was fleeting as you passed the petal layer, your body twisting and tangling and crashing through the thick, thorny vines. You'd fallen, branch after branch until you hung only a few inches from the dusty ground, suspended as thorns ripped away at your skin.

You stared face-down at the ground, your nose nearly brushing the dirt as pain made it self all the more aware throughout your body. As adrenaline faded and the sheer amount of pain stabbing at you emerged; you slowly slid your eyes closed.

The dusty, cracking ground was the last thing you saw before darkness enveloped you in whole.

✧･ﾟ: *

Your breathing shallowed as consciousness came back, the waves of reality and real life flowing back into you. Blinking against the severe, blinding lights above, you slowly inched your eyes open, drawing in breath after breath through your nose.

When you finally focused on the scene around you, confusion twisted in your mind. You began to panic as you looked around, first meeting Xaden's warm brown eyes and then Liam's calm blue. Both men were dirty, covered in dust and dried blood -- however, they sat silently to your right, simply looking at you. Xaden sat closest, your right hand clutching his as Liam sat next to him, his thumb brushing over your knee beneath the blanket.

"Oh good! She's awake."

Your gaze slid to the left, and you caught sight of a tall women dressed in mending attire. Her hair was in a tight bun behind her head, and opposite of the males in the room, she appeared pristine.

Xaden sighed, and Liam's hand gently rested on your thigh.

"What's the damage?" Liam asked, and you only glanced at him before the woman spoke again.

"Well," she began, flipping through the papers attached to her clipboard. "Her vitals are surprisingly doing well, all things considered."

Xaden sighed heavily, resting his forehead on his hand as he shook his head slowly.

"However, she has suffered massive blood loss, but-" the mender reassured. "Keeping her here for a few days should be enough to get her back to the level she needs to be at. She is providing for two after all."

Xaden's head shot up, and Liam's hand stilled.

"As far as memory, there's no telling what she does and doesn't remember, so that might just come with some questioning. Light damage to her left leg, and scarring of the torso but we've mended-"

"Woah woah woah," Liam waved his hands. "What did you say?"

The mender stopped, blinking at him.

"Which part?"

Xaden huffed a short laugh. "Uh, providing for two? That part?"

The mender tilted her head, as though the incinuation was the most unmomumental thing in the world.

"Yes? She's with child?" She said, more confused as to why they were confused. Flipping back through her charts, Xaden chuckles.

"Yeah right. I think she'd know if-"

"Sure. It's listed just here," the woman flips to the third page, turning the board as both men leaned in to look. You sat up straighter, but winced at the pain still evident in your side. Xaden stared intently as Liam's eyes widened, straying from the outstretched hand of the mender to instead look directly at you.

"No way-"

"Yeah, no way." Xaden said heatedly. He turned to face you once more, his brows rising as he tried to understand. "Y/N, how long have you known?"

Your face flushed as you were immediately put on the spot, anxiety welling deep within you. Had you known? Sure, you missed a period or two, but-

"She surely would have known prior to this incident -- says here she's four months along," the mender says, and you narrow your eyes in her direction. Since your voice didn't seem to be working, you tried to reach out mentally.

I wish to be alone, please. Can we talk about this alone?

Both boys immediately straightened, and Liam gulped.

"I don't quite appreciate the accusation you're waging, mender." Xaden said, his eyes narrowing on the woman. Her mouth fell open, and his stare intensified. "She didn't know, obviously; and I don't like you putting words in my girlfriend's mouth, thank you very much." Your heart clenched at his words, the way he was so ready to defend you.

The woman's mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, and Liam swallowed before speaking.

"What he means to say," he says calmly. "Is that this is a very delicate situation, and we'd appreciate some time alone with Y/N as we navigate this new information."

Your heart swelled at Liam's words -- ever the smooth talker. She forcefully blew a breath out of her nose as her lips pursed, and she flipped the papers back to their natural stack on her clipboard.

"I'll leave you to it, then."

With that, she made a quick exit, and only when the door had clicked shut behind her did Xaden sigh and run a hand over his face.

"So... is it true?" Liam asked gently, scootching closer. "Did you know you were..." he struggles to say the word, and Xaden glances at him.

"Of course she didn't know, Mairi, or else she would've told us." He turns to look you in the eye again. "Right?"

You gulp, trying to reign in your racing thoughts as anxiety tangles your stomach into knots.

"N-no," you say weakly, your vice raw with unuse. "No, I didn't know. I mean, I don't know... I missed a couple periods, but nothing really feels too different. Not different enough for me think that... I'm pregnant," You explain. Liam nods empathetically, and Xaden gets a far-off look in his eyes.

"Well, you don't look four months pregnant," Liam clears his throat, cluckling humorlessly. "So, I wouldn't blame you for not knowing."

His palm squeezed your thigh, and you felt a few of the anxious nerves recede when you shared a small smile with him.

"Do you remember what happened-"

"I'm going to be a father." Xaden said, and the room fell quiet. He continued staring at the wall, trying to wrap his head around this new reality.

Liam clapped him on the shoulder reassuringly. "We are going to be fathers," he said, looking to you again. "And Y/N is going to be the best mother to the beautiful little thing."

That got Xaden's attention again, and he finally looked back at you. The wetness in his eyes caused tears to sting the backs of yours, and you allowed one to fall as you grounded yourself in the knowledge that your baby would have the best support system when it finally did come.

Liam smiled, breaking out into a joyous laugh. "We're going to have a family!"

His happiness made both you and Xaden smile, and Xaden chuckled along with Liam as tears flowed over your smiling cheeks. Liam stood, flanking the top of the bed as he leaned in to press a kiss to your cheek, wrapping his arms around your shoulders.

"I'm so happy for you, Y/N," he admitted, burying his face in your hair.

"All of us," Xaden corrected, raising your knuckles to his lips as he too pressed a soft kiss to your skin. "I'm happy for all of us."

✧･ﾟ: *

5 months later

"Oh, before you put her to sleep I needed to change-"

"I've already done it."

"And her bottle? She needs her warm milk before bed-"

"I'm on it!"

You stood, no other bedtime tasks coming to mind as Xaden redressed the little girl in her pajamas and Liam worked in the kitchen, preparing a bottle for the little one before bed. You sighed, wondering what you could do to help when Liam's gaze locked on you.

"Come on, mama," he said gently, pausing the bottle preparation to make his way to you. He took your hands in his, guiding you to your shared bedroom. A small smile played on your lips as he gently helped you into your favorite reading chair, grabbing your current read from your nightstand and handing it to you. "You just take some time to relax, yes?"

You blushed when he draped a soft cover over your legs, then reached to open the blinds so you could catch the rest of the sunset. Your eyes met and he leaned in, pressing a kiss to the tip of your nose before making for the door once more.

"You're sure you don't need-"

"We've got it handled, Y/N," he said, winking at you. "Take some time for yourself."

You did just that, opening your novel to continue where you'd left off. One month post-partum was apparently not long enough to recover before you could engage in rider training again -- so, you'd taken up reading as a hobby instead.

That was, when you were not dedicating all your time to the new precious girl in your life.

You listened as Xaden murmured in the hallway, passing the open doorway with the pink bundle in his arms. He bounced as he walked, whispering a bedtime tale to her as he made for her room.

"...and then, your mom fearlessly dredged two big vines right from the ground, heading right for those ugly Wyvern..."

You smiled as you recounted that day. Your final battle before discovering your pregnancy to begin with, and the day you and the guys realized how much your life was about to change.

In 10 minutes, Xaden was flanking your doorway once more, this time leaning seductively against the frame with a steaming mug in his hand.

You gasped in fake-shock, though your heart swelled at the action.

"Is that for me?"

He smirked, crossing the room in a few long strides before handing the fresh-brewed tea to you. Taking it greedily, you brought it to your lips, groaning as the honey-sweet liquid glided down your throat. Xaden kneeled before you, and you giggled as you lowered the mug.

"She went down okay?"

He nodded, leaning in to press a tender kiss to your lips. You grinned, and his fingers moved to tuck your hair behind your ear.

"She is just fine." He assured, smiling to himself.

You sighed before brushing his cheek with your thumb.

"You're a great father, Xaden. You and Liam both."

A faint rose blush colored his cheeks, and he leaned in to kiss you again.

"Couldn't do it without you."

You smiled, and his hands moved, taking one of your feet in his hands as he began massaging. Your head tilted back at the instant relief, but you still felt a tinge of guilt.

"You're sure I can't do anything for you? Liam said to relax, and the two of you have really taken on the new 'dad' title, but-"

Xaden sighed, looking at you pointedly.

"You know, I think Poppy gets a lot of wonderful things from her mother; for example, her beauty, just to name one." He said, and you instantly closed your mouth.

"But, if she never worries half as much as her mother, I think she'll be just fine."

✧･ﾟ: *

[ruoshik0]

DP x DC: The al Ghul twins but with a twist! P2!!

Training, as it had always been, was tiring. Add on the fact that now, he was at least a meta-adjacent, his training regime was updated to accomadate that too. Which is annoying.

Actually, Danyal meant he hated his life in the League of Assassins. Relearning all he did back when he was a child, training like a madman and rekindling his ‘kill as fast as possible’ style of fighting, manipulating and experimenting with the Lazarus waters (It stunk. It stunk so much that Danny just couldn’t even be in the same room as it. Ugh, why was his life so fucking hard), and tinkering and engineering with gadgets whenever possible.

Danyal realizes just how much he had it easy back in Amity. The amount of free time he had, how much fun just letting lose and have nice kiddy brawl with ghosts, puns and snark, and… acting.

It had been a months since he returned. Only about few days till his seventeenth birthday. The day he plans on meeting his brother’s new family and Damian himself. In those months, he had stopped denying, letting himself acknowledge that yes, he did start caring. And he had started caring too much. It’s been a pain the unlearn all of it. And as much as he was Danyal, he was also Danny just as much.

He can be serious when he wants to be. But sometimes, an easygoing smile and mischievous glint in his eyes felt… better. It felt like he was normal again.

Normal felt more like home than whatever he had been before that.

Now, graduating from tutors and what was basically the league’s version of homeschool- he is very smart thank you, it’s just that Danny wasn’t supposed be as smart- his schedule had opened up significantly.

Which meant more training and now, lessons on business and how to deal with people and stuff related to leading the League and shit.

And perhaps this is also the best time to mention this. His coronation or something had been… delayed. Seeing as he was away doing a covert mission, meaning his education in the league was far behind. Which aslo meant, time is no longer a resource he has an abundance of.

Someone please kill him all the way. Paperwork as a monarch in the infinite realms is so much better than whatever the fuck he is going to learn in the aforementioned business shit and how to rule assassin cults. Scratch that- paperwork as a monarch so much better than the League itself. Why didn’t he kidnap Sam and Tuck with him when he returned?!

Danyal felt like crying… jokingly, though. Taking them here would just result in them getting killed or them getting forced to become assassins themselves.

Sighing, he resumed tinkering with the fun little gun he had been working on since last week.

He just hopes he would be able to say what he wanted to Damian… (and of course, terrorrize Batman and his army of children! It’s gonna be so fun!)

Invisibility and intangibility together was already a deadly match up to any living being. Which is the reason why literally no one at the dining table could notice him next to the big bat himself (Though Danny was pretty sure Signal- Duke Thomas- was sweating because of him. So… he could see his aura even if Danny was invisible).

Danyal had to say, he didn’t have any plan in his mind. Mostly because Danny didn’t plan and Danyal had grown used to not really having that in his head. He considered just leaving Damian an encrypted letter, but really, where’s the fun in that? (Danyal prioritized efficiency first and foremost. It seems everyone he met and befriended back in Amity had more influence on him than he thought)

So now, he was left debating whether or not he should just appear standing on the table doing jazz hands. He would most definately get killed by one of them if Danyal does that. But dying works in his situation.

It wouldn’t make him cool though… Then, an idea struck in his head. What if…

Damian, all things considered, was having a good time. His birthday was going great even. It’s just that at times, his mind would wander back to the sibling he had left behind. Sometimes, he would wonder if Danyal had returned from his mission. Or if he decided he wanted to live there- in Amity park- for the rest of his life.

Damian hopes he did.

He knows that nowadays, he couldn’t stand to see an indifferent expression and an emotionless stare on Danyal’s face. Because nowadays, his own semi-permanent scowl had melted into something else. Something less haunted. He couldn’t face that he went on to live his best life while leaving Danyal all the responsibilities Damian was supposed to shoulder.

So it was a pleasent surprise when he realized that the Danyal in front of him- the intruder who infiltrated the manor, who appeared out of nowhere next to father, who has a handful of father’s hair in his fist, who had, also, pulled father’s head back harshly (Damian almost wondered of Danyal was here to take him and the rest of the Bats to the other side)- was smiling. Smiling like he was here to torture them and have fun while doing that but… for once, Danyal was smiling. Openly.

The Bats didn’t even take a second to stand up and immediately engage in combat with the intruder. If it had been anyone else, facing almost all of the Bats at the same time would have been a death sentence.

Yet, in Damian’s eyes, Danyal almost looked like he was having fun. Easygoing smile, the mirth, the- the everything. It just screamed relaxed and having fun. Despite himself, Damian didn’t actually get up from his seat. He observed the person flinging his siblings into walls. He observed his actual brother.

Kick, dodge, punch, open palm strike, a tornado kick, flinging father to the wall this time, using Brown as a meat shield before tossing her towards Cain.

Unlike what he was so sure of, Danyal wasn’t here to assassinate the Waynes. He, at most, was here to have a good brawl. But that didn’t make sense. It really didn’t. Why was Danyal here? Why did he make himself known? No one came after Damian to take him back after the first few assassins because there was still an heir. A spare who blended in with the shadows better than even father. As far as he was concerned, Danyal had only gotten at hiding better at hiding. So why? It was all confusing and it made Damian angry and he just wanted answers and what else was he supposed to do? Damian did the only thing that came to mind.

He screamed for everything to stop. He slammed the table and sent a League worthy glare towards his family. All of them. Which included Danyal and father and Alfred and- everyone.

(Damian will not admit to being nervous. No never.)

They had listened. Everyone freezing in their spot as they all stared at Damian with shock. They would have died by now if Danyal decided to take advantage of that. The rest becoming aware of their mistake and sending weary glances toward their opponent. Not that Damian cares much about that currently.

“Danyal. Explain why you are here.” His voice was low and rough. It was a tone he only used in the early months of his arival here. A tone the League forced him to talk in.

Currently he needed answers and asking directly always worked. He was extra cautious in not letting anything known. While he hated to hide himself from Danyal, he didn’t know the Danyal in front of him well enough and any show of to a League assassin meant death. A gruesome one.

And really, he expected many things in response. A harsh laugh in his face or the ever present indifference that plagued Danyal when he was young. Maybe even immediately getting maimed by his beloved brother. A brother who was supposed to protect him from the shadows.

What he didn’t dare expect (yet still hoped for) was Danyal’s face and stance and the way he held himself- all visibly softening. A smile that seemed so geniune, something Damian never saw himself, something looked so foreign on the face he and Danyal shared.

“I’m here to congratulate you, akhi" And the tone he heard, it made his eyes burn. Danyals voice had lost its harshness. It had different tones- so unlike the emotionless monotoneous voice he always heard. It had all the gentleness of of the world. And Damian dared to hope. Hope that Danyal is free from the League like he was too. He really did. Because by now, he had thick and big tears tailong down his cheeks. His eyes burned.

And he was finally happy. Happy to have finally gotten his sibling back. The one before Danyal encased himself in harsh cold ice seemingly over night one day. Damian finally felt like he got his sibling back.

Danyal was now fretting over him, expressive in a way Damian hadn’t seen in more than a decade. Danyal was a phenomenal actor. And his cold hard demeanor was a facade Damian had witnessed getting built. Finally it had all melted away. Finally he can hug his brother tightly and say all the things he hesitated to say.

Finally, they can be regular brothers now.

In the back if mind, he noted that his father and family was sending confused glances to each other. He couldn’t care less about that.



[sassylittlecanary]

Happy Pride! Time to talk about how DC still hates Midnighter and Apollo despite occasionally holding them up as flashy tokens to say “Look, we do have queer superhero couples! We’re so progressive!”

Perhaps the most insulting thing about DC wanting credit for having such groundbreaking queer superheroes is that Midnighter and Apollo weren’t even DC characters during their most creative and successful years. They were created by Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch in 1997 in Stormwatch, published by Wildstorm Comics, which was then an imprint of Image Comics before being purchased by DC a year later. DC didn’t create their success or foster their status as pioneering gay superheroes (that was all due to Wildstorm’s independent and edgy creative team)—if anything, DC fought against it. In 2000, DC vice-president Paul Levitz infamously censored a kiss between the couple because he felt they were “making fun of Superman and Batman.” (It was only a few years later, during Levitz’s presidency at DC, that he apparently didn’t have a problem with Brokeback Mountain jokes in Batman/Superman comics, but that’s another story). And that, really, is the crux of it. DC hates Midnighter and Apollo not because they’re gay, but because they’re gay pastiches of DC’s two most iconic heroes. Progressive as modern DC can be, it’s hard to believe they’ve truly gotten over their discomfort about Midnighter and Apollo’s unsubtle and satirical origins.

There’s also the fact that while the New 52 screwed over basically everybody, it began the DC tradition of absolutely destroying everything good and interesting about the former Wildstorm Universe. Yes, DC gave Midnighter a solo book and then a miniseries he shared with Apollo that centered their romantic relationship (one written by a gay man, no less) but those were still lackluster efforts when contextualized with the fact that the DC versions of these characters are heavily sanitized and depowered, barely a shadow of their former selves (especially Apollo). Wildstorm (in spite of DC rather than thanks to DC) made them the first gay couple to get married in comics and gave them an adopted daughter during an era when gay adoption rights were even more hotly debated than they are now. Post-Flashpoint, DC then broke them up, eventually let them get together again, and then basically stopped using them (and then when they did, like in Superman and the Authority, Apollo thinks Midnighter’s cheating and he’s doesn’t really deny it). A far cry from their glory days as devoted husbands and co-parents in the 2000s! Now they usually only appear in Pride specials, and even then it’s either “we’re using them for laughs and also Apollo’s the housewife teehee” (2025) or “Midnighter’s there but Apollo’s not despite them sharing a cover” (2021). They’re given no mainstream exposure, no meaningful character development, no creative endeavors.

Compare this to Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn being literally everywhere, Batwoman and John Constantine getting TV shows, and regular comic appearances (including solos) by characters like Alan Scott, Renee Montoya, Tim Drake, and Jon Kent. Many queer DC characters are both beloved and profitable. DC’s lack of real interest in Wildstorm’s legacy aside, their underutilization and sanitization of Midnighter and Apollo outside of using them as queer-friendly props when it’s convenient seems to indicate that the old resentment over “lol look we did Batman and Superman except they’re different and gay” really hasn’t died. Their legacy carries baggage that DC editorial isn’t willing to handle.

[luciaintheskyainthi]

Hi!!! I LOVE ECM!! I'm completely down this rabbit hole now, (spider web?) And I'm reading jason/peter fics 🫠 I'm not really a fan of DC so this is a 1st for me to love 🫠 I initially went through a peter/danny phantom thing then peter/harley mostly because tom's been my person for spidey now, you can imagine those pairings wouldn't necessarily deal with the morality debate like it does with jason/peter so this really made me think how they'd work

But then, in my personal thing, for the DC, it's not really a question of who's right or who's wrong or who deserves the privelage to live or how to solve the question of who's morally superior but who can endure and live with the decisions they make you know?

One thing i see in like my general knowledge of DC and what you've opened my eyes to regarding Jason and Peter, is that they're the type of people who mingles with the community. They want to save or help people because these are THEIR people u know? They grew up in these streets, mingled with what would constitute as background characters and npcs at most to the dc world, just statistics as u say, but they're people to them even the villains

Jason in my head in these case, will understand that while the 'bad guys' can be redeemed, he's not willing to take a chance that it will cost other people's lives. Innocent people that don't deserve to be just part of a redemption arc of a criminal and he can endure killing, what that does to him and other's views of him but he's someone who survives and can do this as long as it saves those future victims

Peter on the other hand wants to help everyone because he believes and has seen those that can be saved from 'villainy'. He can endure continuing to try and continuing to save possible victims but that's because to me, he's kind of op in his possible abilities and smarts u kno, he has the option to think of a way to help both 'villain' and victim and keep standing up after he's hit. In a way that Jason, as a relative normie can't. I think peter's experiences and what he witnesses in marvel verse shows the type of power and ability that allows them to help what other's would call iredeemable, like how he did in nwh.

It's a matter of how well they'll be able to endure either killing someone who could've been redeemed or allowing someone to live who continues to kill.

They're both stubborn tho, so I imagine in these scenario they'll just be each other's support 😃 in a happy place, that's what I want to think anyway.

How would you happen to see them in this context? 'Cause honestly, in bruce and tony's case as people who don't technically mingle with the community the way the other 2 do, they kind of come off as sanctimonious pricks who has a privelaged view of how to handle their criminals.

Considering they think that the people they fight with will target them and everything they may or may not do is associated with them, they certaimly don't think about the 'background' people affected in their actions the way I imagine peter and jason do. Sorry I rambled too much I'm not even sure I explained mythoughts properly 😃

Still ur an amazing writer 🥹 thank you for your generosity in sharing your worls with us

Finally getting to this ask! 🫣 I loved it very much and have been waiting for the right bandwidth to respond because I knew I'd end up writing a damn essay ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 (and would you look at that? I HAVE)

Let me start by saying I LOVE how you've put the moral debate that lies at the heart of Jason (and of course the Jason/Peter pairing!):

it's not really a question of who's right or who's wrong or who deserves the privelage to live or how to solve the question of who's morally superior but who can endure and live with the decisions they make you know?

I DO know and it's something that I've had Jason touch upon a few times previously (but also more in later chapters). He's long since accepted that burden - in some respects, because of his training with the All Caste I think he sees it in part as a responsibility, too (the All Caste kind of exists to fight against the Untitled, who are meant to embody evil, so there's a bit of that going on with Jason, too).

At this point, I think Jason understands that Bruce isn't someone who should take on that burden like Jason has. And he understands too, that the world is better without a Batman that's willing to kill. But at the same time, he also sees Bruce's 'inaction' as hypocritical and harmful because he DOES prioritise the lives of mass murderers over the lives of their inevitable future victims. Unlike Bruce, who is an optimist, Jason is a realist and a utilitarian. The greatest good and all that.

(Of course, I don't think that was entirely his motivation throughout the events of Under the Red Hood, but I'd like to think he's matured in the 4 years since then... Of interest: the Batman: Urban Legends issue covers pretty well the reasons why comics!Jason would stop using guns, after he lets his temper get the better of himself and he kills an admittedly shitty guy, but someone he knows shouldn't have been killed. While I still have Jason use guns here so that event's non-ECM canon, I do think it made a good argument.)

I do see Peter as a hero who should be very firmly community-minded (certainly far more than he was set up as in the first few showings of MCU Spider-Man), which does bring him into alignment with Jason, despite their differing views on killing villains. The thing is though, and I said this in an earlier ask, Peter's recent villains have been men who have been changed/altered, and its primarily this alteration that led to their villainy (with the exception of Beck and Toomes). Likewise, Peter is stronger, and that's meant he's not been made a victim in the same way that Jason has. So the way he views villains has been tarred by the belief that they can change.

But the thing is... while, sure, there are Gotham villains who are like that, there are also some who are just... irredeemable assholes. There's no 'fixing them' because there was nothing 'broken' about them. Or not broken in the way Peter's used to....

I think you also bring up a great point about the fact that Peter and Jason, living in the heart of Crime Alley, and community-centred heroes, would see Bruce's POV as sanctimonious because those future victims aren't just faceless victims, they're their neighbours. They're friends. They're the petty passive-aggressive arch-enemy whom Jason's in a constant battle with for the final parking space on the street.

There's no ivory tower for Peter or Jason. And that means something. To both of them.

I would also note, that while Peter's against killing and certainly would never bear the knife himself, he's capable of nuance. Because LBR, both MCU and comics Peter has associated with characters who've killed. MCU Tony killed Thanos, yet Peter never decries that decision. He still hero-worships the man after death. Same goes with all the Avengers, which there's no doubt Peter was aware of, yet he still wanted to join the roster in Homecoming.

Likewise, comics Peter still associates with killers like Deadpool, and though I've not read the comics, from what I'm aware it's not so much that he's antipathetic towards Deadpool because he kills but because he's a mercenary.

(Of course, one could make comparisons between Jason and the Punisher, who Peter canonically hates, and thinking of the Jason from UTRH, there's no way Peter would associate himself with the Red Hood then. Because like the Punisher, the Red Hood was indiscriminate when it came to killing 'bad guys'. But the Jason of now is a very different beast from the Jason of UTRH.)

To me, that says that the motivations behind having to kill someone matters to Peter. As of course, do the circumstances. Though you never saw that conversation from Peter's POV, he was immensely relieved when Jason confirmed that he wasn't interested in just breaking into Arkham and killing the villains inside executioner-style, even if that would still prevent them from creating any more victims.

Anywho, all of this to say, that while Jason thinks himself capable of taking on the burden, he doesn't think that should be the case for every hero. Likewise, while Peter would never allow himself to kill someone, even in the heat of a battle, that doesn't mean he's going to immediately condemn someone else for being forced to do the same.

[jewelsli]

Wizarding World X DC

Okay this idea has been spinning around my head all day, an au where the Wayne family is an ancient line of pure bloods that moved to Gotham from Britain ages ago, it’s still tradition for the members to go to Hogwarts for their magical schooling because the family has been there since the founding of the school.

Basically Bruce would have gone to school around the same time as James and Lilly and John Constantine but that’s not for right now. He wasn’t involved much in the Order of the Pheonix because that was around the time the JL was fighting a bunch of stuff/forming. He’s an exceptional wizard who could easily become an auror if he wanted to with his level of skill that he has because he is an overachiever. I think that he would also learn to become an animagus because of just how paranoid he is (and it obviously would have to be a bat, probably one of the mega bats), but that’s up for debate.

Anyway none of his sons would go to hogwarts(or know that he’s a wizard/about the British wizarding world) since magical blood is pretty rare naturally (I have a headcannon that anyone could learn magic but it would be much harder). I was debating making the Drake’s another ancient pure blood line and I’ve decided that at some point they had a few generations with just squibs and have forgotten their magic? Or something?

Putting that all aside, along comes Damian, almost eleven and in no way educated about his magic (accidental magic was lessened because of the strange energy of the Lazarus pits). Cue Bruce trying to teach his son everything he can about magic in the seven months he has before his new kid has to go to school, while also trying to keep it from his other kids(why does he have so many…).

They end up saying that Damian is going to a boarding school in Britain (the cover story for every Wayne child) that has limited spots. Damian is reluctant to leave his new role of Robin but Bruce, in a last ditch attempt allows Damian to get his own owl (Bruce had one already), promises to work out a way to let him apparate to Gotham every few weekends (the other kids think they are using the bat plane) and also agrees to teach Damian to be an animagus as well (Honduras white bat? One of those desert cats? Idk yet).

Damian would be in the same year as the golden trio or one year above/below them. I think Bruce would have gotten sorted into Slytherin (ambition) or Ravenclaw (wit and wisdom), but he could fit in Gryfinndor as well. As for Damian, I think Hufflepuff would actually be the best fit (loyalty), however as with his father any of the houses could work.

The professors are NOT ready for Wayne headache number two with Damian sneaking out almost as much as his dad and finding twice as many dangerous magical beasts (and somehow taming them).

Since the Wayne’s are a sort of legacy family Bruce can visit occasionally (think how Lucius just shows up for some reason).

As for the golden trio. I think that first off a few things would change with the Justice league(and more) existing. Personally I think Harry would get his hands on every comic/merchandise piece he could, and hermione is fascinated by them and how each of them came to be (if she was in Gotham her and Tim would get along or clash). Ron has no idea who most of them are but does know about the Wayne family (since they are a pretty famous pure blood line and his dad is fascinated by how they have integrated into muggle society) and magical supers like dr fate and Captain Marvel.

Damian walks in and once people realize who he is a lot of them expect him to be airheaded and shallow (or an absolute jerk). And like… it’s only been a few months so he’s not the greatest with people but he’s not BAD. He is absolutely disgusted by Draco when he talks bad about muggles around him, he does not tolerate bullying at all (it’s not logical), and he’s like… scarily perceptive…

For year one he absolutely goes to the forbidden corridor the second he can, finds fluffy, and is absolutely fascinated by them, he goes looking for the troll but is stopped lol. Oh he also meets Hagrid’s dragon to and helps the trio smuggle him away (the books). I don’t think he would bond with the trio fast enough to come along with them to the ending, but if he was invited he would definitely have done it.

When the chamber opens he’s real actively safe as a half-blood but that does not stop him from actively learning every defensive (and offensive) magic. He tells his father about everything and he ends up visiting more often then the first year because of paranoia. When Harry is revealed to be a parselmouth Damian isn’t scared like everyone else and instead demands that he be taught to speak with snakes as well (he has a pet ball python at home). This would be the catalyst for him growing closer to the trio. The rest of the year would be mostly uneventful for him since he doesn’t go into the chamber with Harry and Ron (he does later go check it out however).

I honestly have forgotten most of year three… but I think in this year he would be closer to the golden trio, and the only reason he isn’t included in many of their schemes is that he is in a different house. I also think that by year three he’s almost done learning to be an animagus and is also excelling in care of magical creatures while being mostly above average in his other classes. He’s trying way to hard to start learning wandless and worldless magic ahead of schedule (Which may have come from watching Bruce use a wand/wordless spell on a villain when he was just done with the night).

I’ve also forgotten most of the other years- but I’ll just say that I think he would be okay at quidditch but prefer broom racing, he will and has challenged literally anyone to a duel when he gets fed up. Also he finishes becoming an animagus year four or around year four, thinking on it I think that an ocelot would be a good fit for him.

just remembered dementors lol. They would go crazy for him, traumatic past, death energy from the pits, yeah they love him lmao. He learns a patron is really fast (from Bruce because the dementors also love him).

Damian is totally going to be trying to get into the triwizard tournament no matter what, he can’t get in though… he sees his first adult dragon because of the games and gains an interest in learning to speak merrow because of hearing dumbledoor speak it. Damian totally believes Harry when he says that Voldemort is back, as a side note he knew Cedric personally…

The amount of pure loathing he has for Umbridge is INSANE, he records every instance of her breaking the law (there’s many cases of child abuse/torture, including against him…). Bruce is trying to get her out of office the entire time and his voice holds a lot of power in the wizarding community, it’s not enough. Damian is a huge contributor to dumbledoor s army and helps a lot of people learn, also meets Grawp at some point, and an introduction to the centaurs :D

after that year he compiles all his evidence and end up getting umbridge into azkaban for a while (literally like half the school brought counts of illegal use of truth serum and torture forward)

Bruce would show up when the kids break into the ministry (he apparates to Britain a lot) and gets to punch Lucius in the face (he’s not as reliant on spells as the average magic user). Bruce gets so mad at dumbledoor because WHY ARE YOU LETTING THESE KIDS ALMOST DIE WITHOUT EVEN TRAINING THEM?????

Bruce adopts most of them in spirit at that point- (and is reminded why his family left the British wizarding world)

I’m not sure if Damian would go on the horcrux hunt with the main trio, if anything he would actually bring them to America to hide in Gotham at some point (maybe he stays there one summer? I’m sorry y’all I hate the dursleys so…)

Anyway that’s pretty much what I have so far…

Also Damian ended up splinching his arm off the first time he tried apparating, yet was also the one to practice it the most so he could visit Gotham more

Extra (based off of the mention of John earlier):

John: *rambling about how Batman’s soul would become corrupt if he tried to learn magic*

Bat *amused*: is this what you tell every muggle when they want to learn magic?

John, suddenly remembering his years at Hogwarts (he went up to halfway through the sixth year)(wizarding Britain is the only place that says muggles aside from Australia):

John: WAIT WHAT-

(John and Bruce went to Hogwarts in the same time frame and knew eachother) (John got sorted into Ravenclaw or griffindoor)

[linkspooky]

Art credit: @/charscounterattack reposted with permission.

INVINCIBLE VS. MY HERO ACADEMIA: WHEN HEROES KILL

Whether or not heroes should kill people is a hotly debated topic in comics.

There are people who think heroes should never kill, and others who think heroes should kill more. One of the most famous comic book storylines "Under the Red Hood" has Red Hood / Jason Todd debate whether or not it was ethical for Bruce to keep letting the joker live even after the Joker killed Jaso, especially after the Joker killed Jason. If killing the Joker earlier to prevent all future deaths would have been justified. There are like a hundred DC Aus that are like "What if Batman and Superman just started killing people?"

In order to explore this question I'm going to explore two situations in different comics, Invincible and My Hero Academia when the hero, a very idealistic young hero kills someone for the first time.

LET HORI COOK

Storytelling, especially for serialized storytelling which comes out week by week instead of all at once works on the premise of drawing people in by promising that certain future developments and plot points are going to happen. Stories are all about creating expectations, building them, and then paying them off.

Here's an example: The Dabi is a Todoroki theory has existed pretty much since the training camp arc. Horikoshi wasn't in your face about the hints about Toya, but there was just enough hints to make the theory seem more and more plausible. Toya having the same fire quirk as Shoto / Endeavor. Toya mentioning both of them by name. Shoto's two other siblings getting revealed but not Toya. Toya saying that Hawks should have paid attention to him most of all. All of these little pieces came together until Toya finally revealed his identity on live TV in front of both Shoto and Endeavor.

This worked because not only did it give the audience just enough clues that they felt smart for figuring it out, and get invested in the idea of Toya as a Todoroki, it also was well-paced so it didn't seem like Horikoshi forgot about it unlike the traitor plot which went hundreds of chapters without being mentioned. If Toya was revealed to be a Todoroki at the training camp arc with no buildup, it wouldn't be as effective bcause we didn't have years of waiting and theorizing. If Todoroki was revealed to be some guy named Steve after all the hints, it also wouldn't be an effective reveal because there were hints dropped for Toya Todoroki, but there were no Steve hints so it'd feel like the author lied to us.

Themes are like this too. I tend to explain story themes by oversimplifying it as "Question, and answer." The story asks a question, it provides us an answer, and we can come up with our own answer as well. However, there's a middle part I'm skipping out on which is deliberation. Before you can come up with an answer, you obviously need to deliberate it, either by presenting arguments for or against, hearing outside opinions or just thinking things through.

In other words, you need to "Let things cook."

If Toya calling Shoto by his full name at the Training Camp Arc is when we're first asked "Is Toya a Todoroki?" or when the theories first started, then the long middle period between Training Camp Arc and the First War Arc is the deliberation. This is when the story not only added more hints to the idea that Toya was a Todoroki, but also set up why that reveal mattered. Endeavor wanted to atone for his past sins, but one of his victims was no longer alive. Endeavor begins to move on anyway and think he's finally made himself a good hero, but now Toya appears to flip up the reverse Uno Card.

So let's follow this basic formula, for how ideas get developed in My Hero Academia and just any good story.

Question / Introduction

Deliberation

Answer / Conclusion

My Hero Academia and Invincible explore similar themes in regards to heroism, generational trauma and how to be better than the previous generation in both Mark and Deku. I'm going to streamline their arcs down to one basic question for the sake of time. For both the question is:

Can I be a better hero than my Dad?

Deku and Mark might be two characters who cannot possibly seem to be more different, but you can actually list off a lot of similarities between them right away. Deku and Mark are both people who in a world oversaturated with superheroes spent most of their childhoods with no superpowers at all. Also, they were genetically supposed to inherit a quirk / viltrumite powers, but Deku was born quirkless, and Mark was an extremely late bloomer. They are also people who while being powerless civilians for most of their lives worship heroes. Deku collects so much All Might Merch he even stole some from Nighteye after he died, Mark attends comic conventions even after he becomes a superhero.

They also grew up worshipping one hero in particular who was essentially earth's strongest hero, for Mark it was his dad Omni-Man, for Deku it was All Might. They also both get the opportunity to train directly under their favorite hero immediately after they get their powers. At first this makes it seem like they've been given everything they've ever wanted. All Mark has ever wanted was to be a hero like his dad and make his father proud. Not only did Deku just want one person to tell him he could be a hero too even without a quirk, but his very idea of heroism is built around seeing All Might always save people with a smile.

However, both of them suddenly hit complication just when it seems like they've been given everything they've ever wanted. They are both confronted with the fact that their heroes are not who they expected them to be. They are overly idealistic heroes who have been dreaming of being heroes since childhood only to be hit with a much greyer reality. To the point where there innocence becomes a flaw in and of itself. The way they've been coddled and protected all of their lives leaves them completely unaware and unable to spot the grey areas in the world, or the people around them.

For Deku the moral greys exist in the villains around them. In MHA Society, villains are basically just bad guys in suits for the heroes to punch on television. They're seen as a faceless enemy, and there's very little in way of rehabilitation for villains once they're captured. Deku lived in a very black and white world before this point, and he's suddenly presented with the idea that his villains could be morally grey.

Deku's image of All Might is a hero who saves everyone with a smile, so he could never imagine that there are people who All Might has failed to save. He's never stopped to consider where villains came from, or if any of them might have legitimate reasons for their grievances.

This becomes a pretty central theme in MHA. It's first brought up here when Shigaraki talks about All Might acting as if there's no one he can't save. Twice brings it up again in his first backstory chapter, that the heroes only save the virtuous ones.

This is further enforced in the same overhaul arc with members who are loyal to Overhaul because they are society's trash who would have been thrown out otherwise. There is a group of people fiercley loyal to Overhaul who is a terrible boss, because he is the only person who would accept them.

edits belong to @stillness-in-green from bring it all back a tone poem on returning to staus quo located here on ao3.

In the War Arc this long running theme basically reaches a climax with the Hawks and Twice confrontation, where Hawks decides to try to offer Jin a chance to restart because he's deemed him "good" but he won't extend the same helping hand to the league who Hawks has determined as "bad." He then asks Jin to betray his friends in order to be saved, something that Jin rightfully calls out.

That Hawks only wants to save Jin because he's one of the good ones, and he's written off the rest of the league and left them for dead. Hawks choosing to divide between good and bad victims ad only save the one he personally thought was worthy of redemption, makes it impossible for him to save Twice who would never under any circumstances give up on the rest of the league.

Twice's death is a tragedy, but it also presents us a clear example of the failures of the previous generation. Even a hero who sincerely sympathized with a villain and wanted to help them start over wasn't able to help them because of this attitude of selectively picking and choosing who to save. If the heroes only save the innocent the I guess the lives of the guilty are worth less.

This is the questio Toga poses to Ochako, if the heroes killed Twice then are you going to kill me in order to stop me. This is the central subject of Shigaraki's speech to the heroes. That heroes and villains will never uderstand each other, because the entire hero system perpetuates itself on ignoring the needs of societal outcasts and rejects in form of the "innocent people" and those outcasts who aren't having their needs met eventually turn into villains who get systematically put down by heroes. Heroes and villains are incapable of understanding each other and breaking the cycle, because the entire system isn't built on helping people, but merely maintaining the idea that heroes are perfect, faultless saviors so normal people will feel secure, while the people the heroes have failed get swept under the rug so society can keep "functioning."

"You heroes hurt your own families just to help strangers. You heroes pretend to be society's guardians. For generations, you pretended not to see those you couldn't protect. That means your system's all rotten from the inside with maggots crawling out. It all builds up, little by little, over time. You've got the common trash, all too dependent on being protected, and the brave guardians who created the trash that needed coddling. It's a corrupt, vicious, cycle. Everythig I've witnessed, the whole system you've built has always rejected me. Now I'm ready to reject it. That's why I destroy. That's why I took power for myself. Simple enough, Yeah? I don't care if you don't understand. That's what makes us heroes and villains."

So if the starting question is: Can I be a better hero than my dad?

Then everything I've detailed above is deliberation. Here we have, ever since the training camp arc, this slowly built up idea of why All Might was a flawed hero in the end.

Mark has to face the fact that his father is a more morally grey person than he could ever imagine, whereas Deku has to face the fact that the villains are more morally grey in his world, and that makes the heroes look more flawed in comparison as well. The deliberation is all slowly bringing Deku to think over what Shigaraki asked him all the way in the beginning in there first meeting.

Were there ever people that the heroes couldn't save? If so then what are you supposed to do with the victims you can't save after they grow up? This is when Deku begins to start forming his own answer.

Deku hears the advice of both the other OFA users, and The Stinky Old Man (Gran Torino) that killing Shigaraki is the best option, but wants to explore other options.

Scenes like this clearly telegraph what the answer / conclusion Hori is leading us to to be. The same way that Toya is a Todoroki is foreshadowed long in advance, statements like "All for one is a power meant for saving, not killing" clearly set up Deku's Endgame. Deku's end goal is to find a way use his power to save Shigaraki rather than killing him. Everything else is just a matter of deliberation, Deku knows what his edgoal is but the chapters between then and the end of the manga is Deku having to figure out how exactly to save Shigaraki without killing him.

You Heroes Hurt Your Own Families Just to Help Strangers

Invincible is the story of Mark Grayson, the son of Omni Man / Nolan Grayson. He's been told all of his life that his father is a viltrumite, a race of benevolent aliens who send out people like Nolan to alien civilizations in order to uplift their entire civilization. Which is what led Nolan to come to earth and become Earth's greatest heroes.

This turns out to be a big fat lie when within 12 chapters Nolan not only slaughters the guardian's of the globe, but also has a confrontation with his son.

Mark has wanted to be just like his dad his entire life. Only to be slapped in the face with the realization he's known nothing about his dad his entire life, shown rather brilliantly by these panels where Nolan tries to have a normal father / son conversation with Mark while covered in blood.

Nolan isn't from a futuristic utopia but from a brutal, fascist space empire. He didn't come to earth to help bring it up, but to weaken its defenses and make it prime for conquering. He didn't have Mark out of love, but to produce another soldier for the viltrumite empire.

Mark's entire schtick is that he's invincible, but he's so inexperienced as a hero that he gets beat up constantly despite the fact he has the strongest power set in the series b/c he has viltrumite powers. However, not only does the series introduce moral greys by continually showing how Mark even with the best power set in the series constantly gets his ass kicked, it also challenges Mark's black and white thinking and hero worship of his father by showing him the kind of man his father really is.

Mark has wanted to be exactly like his father his entire life, but now that's suddenly a bad thing. His father is a morally reprehensible person and Mark is now a descendant of an alien race meant to conquer worlds. Not only is Mark confronted by who his father really is, but now everyone in Mark's life judges him by comparing him with his father.

Mark has to work with Cecil and be his on-call Superhero, both to be able to pay for college, and also to prove that he's not his dad. The unspoken part of the agreement is that Cecil gets to keep a leash on Mark and Mark has to prove that he'll never turn out like his father to earn Cecil's trust.

Cecil is automatically suspicious of him because if Mark were to turn evil, the planet would have no defenses against him just like it didn't have any for Omni Man. Mark's mother starts to drink and blames Mark for Omni-Man leaving in a drunken moment of weakness because of how much the information that Omni Man only regarded her as a pet affected her.

The comic even shows us that in most alternate universes, mark actually did make the decision to join his father's conquest, and this universe is one of the few exceptions. This is also where we're introduced to a major reoccuring antagonist in the comics, and also the main antagonist / final antagonist of season 2 of the cartoon Angstrom Levy.

Levy is someone who can jump between dimensions and has traveled to almost all of them collecting his alternate selves. He has witnessed for a fact that in most universes Mark sides with his father instead of fighting against him.

Levy enlists the clone bros to build a device that would combine the knowledge of his alternate selves into one individual. This device ends up breaking tragically (partially mark's fault, but levy himself made the decision to stop the machine in order to stop the clone bros from killing Mark). Levy's memories become confused as a result of the machine malfunctioning, and he can't tell the difference between himself and his alternate universe counterparts. This means that Levy now remembers several alternate universes where Mark did turn evil, and remembers them as if they happened to him.

It's better elaborated upon in this post:

The process by which Invincible has had to condense and consolidate the plot beats of the original comic, coupled with the opportunity it's granted the writers to tighten up and emphasize its themes on a second pass, has resulted in a newfound appreciation for how unbelievably fucking good Angstrom Levy's whole character concept is. What's that, Mark? Your main emotional crisis this season is your fear of turning out like your father? Here, have an archnemesis who's out to kill you because his memories were inadvertently overwritten with the lived experiences of hundreds of alternate versions of himself whose friends and families were slaughtered in worlds where you did, in fact, turn out exactly like your father. Because it turns out that that is in fact the multiversal norm. That you turn out like your father. And now you're left to wonder what set of arbitrary coinflips pulled you back from that abyss in this dimension, and whether your luck is going to continue to hold into the future.

Mark is not only hit with the revelation that his father isn't as good as he thought he was, but also while he's in a crisis about about whether or not he will turn out like his father, he learns the answer is yes, in several dimensions he turns out exactly like his father.

In My Hero Academia there are families like the Todoroki's who balance the difference between a hero's obligations to society, and a hero's obligation to society. However, that's a side plot where I'd argue that the main plot for Invincible and it's main focus is what Mark owes to the world as a hero, and what Mark owes to his family.

It's not just that Omniman is trying to invade earth for the Viltrumite empire. It's not just that he failed as a hero, but that he failed as a father. What makes Mark snap, is hearing Omniman call Debbie a pet. Until that point Mark was in denial and still trying to reason with his father.

Invincible is about two intersecting themes: Is Mark obligated to use his incredible powers to help make the world better? Can Mark be a good hero and a good family man?

While MHA has more far reaching societal implications in its themes and questions, Invincible is more specifically about the Grayson Family. It's generational trauma on a society level, vs generational trauma on an individual level. The way Nolan was raised on Viltrumite effects how he raised Mark causing their conflict, and Mark's conflict with his father effects most of his young adulthood when he's trying to figure out what person he wants to be (read: not his dad), but also the way he parents his daughter with Atom Eve.

Omni-man failed Mark as both a hero, and a father. Mark feels the need to overcompensate for what his father did the world and all those innocent people by acting as Cecil's lapdog and doing whatever Cecil tells him.

However, Mark is much more hurt by the personal betrayal than he lets on. It's not just that his father killed a bunch of innocent people, it's also that Mark's father failed as a father, abandoning both him and mom and choosing to be a viltrumite rather than being Mark's father. Mark's stated reason for wanting to be a hero post the omni-man reveal is to prove he's not like his dad to the world, and also make up for the innocent lives he failed to save. However, his unstated underlying reason is Mark is hurt and betrayed his father didn't put his family first, and this causes Mark to always put his family first.

This leads to two insecurities / narrative flaws. One, Mark is insecure about becoming like his father so he tries to prove he's nothing like him by being the most selfless, perfect hero possible. Two, Mark is hurt by being abandoned by his father and doesn't want to become a deadbeat like Nolan so he gets extremely overprotective of his own family.

These two things are obvious in conflict with one another: A hero has an obligation to the common good which sometimes means sacrificing time with your loved ones. However, being a good family man requires a level of selfishness that directly contradicts the selfless hero that Mark is pushing himself to be. In the comic the way Mark prioritizes his family and loved ones over the common good and justice is made even more obvious. His first instinct on seeing Omni-Man again isn't to call him out for being an awful father, but to hug him and ask him to come home. Mark is a distraught son first, and a hero second.

Mark has two flaws, his fear of being like his father makes him try too hard to be a perfect hero, and his trauma over losing his father makes him prioritize his family over being a hero. It's very much a having your cake and eating it too situation, oftentimes heroes make huge sacrifices for their personal lives in order to be heroes, that's basically a theme discussed in the comic with Nolan being absent for a lot of Mark's childhood, and why Mark's relationship with Amber fails.

The show also introduces us to the idea that Mark is so afraid of becoming like his father that he deliberately holds back his punches. Which is good when he's fighting earth villains, but bad when he's facing viltrumites who can only survive being disemboweled, but will also come to wipe out all life on earth if they're allowed to live. In the show it's directly mentioned that Mark is holding back, in the comic it's implied when we see how helpless Mark is in the fight against other viltrumites. Mark lacks the resolve to kill someone and when fighting a viltrumite, failing to put them down can have consequences because they are galactic conquerors who will not show you any mercy.

This all comes to a head in the Angstrom Levy fight where Mark makes his first kill on-screen when beforehand he'd never fought to kill before, and even held back against galaxy conquering aliens who were out to murder him and his dad.

However. before we begin that.

Should superheroes kill?

People often act like whether or not super heroes should kill their villains is a black and white topic, where it actually depends highly on context.

Batman’s an entire character is written around how he wants to redeem Gotham and save the city, most of his villains aren’t even sent to prison they’re sent to Arkham a facility that’s supposed to rehabilitee the mentally ill so they can rejoin society. Batman has decided it’s his place to stop crime, not his place to decide whether or not people have the right to live or redeem themselves.

Batman is also at risk for being just like his villains, that’s why he’s foils with Harvey Dent, someone who tried to prosecute people under the law who then snapped and went full violent mobster vigilante. Batman actually is at risk for walking the same path as Harvey if he decides murder is an option.

In X-Men 97, there was a character known as Rogue who dropped Simon Bolivar Trask off of a building in an act of vigilante justice. This action makes sense in context for several reasons. One Rogue was raised by Mystique and Destiny, is a former member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and began as a terrorist in the comics. She's not really a "moral highground" character like Batman. Two, Boliver Trask built a giant killer robot that resulted in the deaths of millions in Genosha which Rogue is a survivor of. Number three, Trask had no sympathetic reasons for building the genocide robot, he built the sentinels out of bigotry to wipe out mutants. He's not a victim in any way, he's an oppressor facing consequences for his actions.

Batman shooting Harvey Dent, his former best friend, a victim of severe mental illness and trauma that still has hope for recovery, and Rogue dropping the guy who made a genocide robot off of a building are both wildly different situations.

So in the context of MHA we have Shigaraki Tomura, a terrorist who's goal is to destroy japan enough that it will dismantle the hero system for good. Shigaraki Tomura is a ten year old child who lost control of his quirk and killed his family for mistake, he wandered for days in crowded city streets but not a single hero stopped to help him, then he was found by the main villain of the story and groomed for ten years into becoming his successor. Shigaraki is also surrounded by a group of societal outcasts who were failed by society in similiar ways, so Shigaraki knows he wasn't the only one failed by hero society and he starts to wage his war for their sake as much as his own.

In Invincible we have Angstrom Levy. Angstrom is not plotting mass murder the way that Shigaraki is. He is specifically only targetting Mark Grayson's family for revenge (at least the first time he showed up, the second time during the invincible war arc was different). Angstrom's revenge against Mark Grayson is misplaced, but to be fair the accident messed with his brain hardcore and he doesn't remember clearly what happened. He doesn't remember that he's the one who decided to stop the machine in order to help Mark. It's tragic. Angstrom also has the memories of like hundreds of different universes of evil Marks. Even though he's the victim of a tragic accident, he's also a victimizer in that he doesn't choose to just go after Mark, he deliberately picks Mark's family, his mother, and his infant little brother as a way of hurting Mark.

So both of these characters blur the line between villain and victim, but neither of them are like Trask in that they have no sympathetic motivation whatsoever. Shigaraki's actions don't come from bigotry, and he's not an oppressor. Trask was actually trying to do something good before his machine broke and his brains got scrambled, and now he wants personal revenge and to blame all his problems on Mark which is petty yes, but not on Trask's level of heartlessness.

So, there's a case that can be made here for both of them that there's room to save them. After all Mark and Deku aren't killers to begin with. Mark especially has an incredibly vested interest in not becoming a killer. Even if they don't explicitly go out of their way to save and redeem these two people, we're still at this point expecting the heroes to at least take down these two sympathetic figures non-lethally. Mark doesn't want to be like his dad and Deku has said explicitly he wants to save Shigaraki, and that OFA is a power for saving and not killing.

Also to sidestep this argument before people comment on my post with it.

What do you expect the heroes to just let a mass murderer live?

YES!

It happens in comics literally all the time.

Magneto, Wolverine, Jean Grey / Phoenix, Emma Scott, heck, OMNIMAN himself, all characters who have killed lots of people and all characters who get to live and even be on the heroes side. Of these three Jean Grey of all people has the highest body count.

Shonen Jump also has Vegeta. Have you ever heard of Vegeta? Most popular Shonen Rival of all time? Omni-man and Viltrumites are basically just Saiyans.

In real life they wouldn't let a mass murderer walk away but comics are not the same as real life. That's why characters are always punching dinosaurs all the time. Fun fact, if you were to try to punch a dinosaur in real life it would probably hurt your hand. I would advise against it. Dinosaurs are for the most part much stronger than human beings.

As I outlined above Shigaraki and Angstrom are different characters than Trask. They might all be murderers, but the first two have sympathetic elements and are humanized, they are victims of oppression (Angstrom's been killed by viltrumites in a whole bunch of worlds) whereas Trask is an oppressor.

So for both of these stories we are not expecting to see Deku and Mark kill their final villains (for the series and for this season). Deku because he's spent the final third of the series trying to work out a way to save the villains, and Mark because he doesn't want to turn out to be a violent murderer like his father so he's trying to be the most selfless, most perfect hero ever.

I THOUGHT YOU WERE STRONGER

So we finally reach the scenes in question and I thought I'd compare them without much commentary, just highlighting what happens without adding much spin.

So the final episode of Invincible Season 2 and Issue #33 of the comic is where Angstrom and Mark have it out. Angstrom appears in Mark's home and threatens his family. he brings up the comparison between Mark and his father right away. This is also something Angstrom has seen first hand by traveling to multiple universes where Mark has sided with his father.

In the cartoon he's a lot more confused because he's constantly remembering other universe's memories as if he were his own so he genuinely thinks he's taking down an evil viltrumite, in the comic he's being more petty and blaming Mark for his deformity (I think he doesn't remember that he was the one to take the helmet off by choice). In both versions he uses Mark's family as hostages to keep him from fighting back as he tries to send Markk to his death in several different realities.

Angstrom then ups the threat of violence from holding them hostage to threatening to kill them. In both the show and comic he brutally breaks Debbie's arm. Mark is sent through several more realities, only to discover that Debbie's arm is broken and lose his temper.

Mark and Angstrom's fist fight comes to an end, and while Mark has him on the ground he keeps hitting and hitting and hitting long after Angstrom stopped fighting back. Which is what prompts the famous "I thought you were stronger..."

Now, in this situation it looks pretty justifiable that Mark attacked Angstrom so aggressively,. it was self defense for one against a man trying to kill him and he only got truly aggressive after he saw his mother's arm get broken. Not only that he didn't intentionally kill Angstrom, you can argue he went too far in a case of clear self defense. Other people even tell Mark that this one isn't on him, including Cecil who compares Mark to his father the most.

Then, why is Mark so disturbed?

It's because this....

Is a deliberate parallel to this...

It's not just that Mark killed a man, it's that he killed a man by pounding on him relentlessly long after he'd stopped fighting back the exact same way his father did to him during their fight.

There's a difference between Mark say, fighting against a viltrumite and making a deliberate decision to kill them because of the danger that viltrumites represent to other people considering they are planet conquerors, and Mark killing this man because he lost his temper and couldn't control his own strength.

Mark spends the entire season trying to not be like his father, only to see first hand that he's capable of the exact same violence that his father is. The last episode of Season 2 summarizes this moment pretty perfectly in a montage of season 1 moments while Mark screams and breaks the sound barrier trying to push his viltrumite powers to their limits.

Mark: I'm strong enough and I can do this. It's all I've ever wanted for as long as I can remember. I want to do what you do. I want to be just like you. Omni-Man: You will be, son. You will. Mark screaming. Omni-Man: You'll outlast every single fragile being on this planet. You'll live to see this world crumble to dust and blow away. Everyone and everything you know will be gone. Mark screaming. Cecil: You know who else said that to me? Mark: I'm not my dad. Mark screaming some more. KRegg: Your father will be execute and you can return to earth. You will assume the mission to prepare earth for our rule.

So not only is Mark hit with the realization that he's just as capable of being violent and angry as his father is. He also is being forced by the situation to become more violent out of pragmatism, because if he doesn't get strong enough to fight viltrumites then they're going to come to his planet and take everything.

Not only has Mark lost some of his innocence, he's also being forced to throw the rest of it away. It's why Mark drops out of college at the end of the season because any pretense of balancing between his human life and his duty as a hero is gone. He is basically forced to be a viltrumite full time now and will abandon any semblance of trying to live his own life for a very, very long time until his relationship with Eve starts to get serious.

Which is why a pretty justifiable murder in this context is presented as so bloody, gruesome and traumatizing an event for both the audience and Mark himself. We both know there's no coming back from this.

As for the death of main series villain Shigaraki Tomura, Deku ends up being forced to kill Shigaraki in a situation similiar to Mark. Though I will highlight one difference right away. Mark was trying to reason with Angstrom, but he was at no point like "I want to save Angstrom, he's a victim I want to find some other way of ending this bloody conflict between us." Mark just didn't intend to go so far as killing him.

Deku entered the fight with the explicit stated desire to save Shigaraki rather than killing him, which would make him different from the previous generation of heroes because he wouldn't turn a blind eye to society's faults and victims like Shigaraki accused him of.

Deku makes a journey into Shigaraki's mental landscape to find Tenko in a recreation of the memory of the day of his worst trauma. As Tenko's quirk activates, Deku attempts to grab the little boy's hands to comfort him.

Deku's "Why I am here" is markedly different from All Might's. Deku says the reason he wants to save others is to take their hands, comfort them and give them peace, whereas All Might as the strongest hero tried to keep peace by beating all the villains down. Deku's way to become the greatest hero once again, focuses heavily on saving others, and offering his hand to everyone without hesitation instead of picking and choosing who to save like previous generations.

Deku even says that he has to extend a helping hand to everyone because he's learning that the world is more complicated than he thought, he was ignorant to a lot of people's suffering, and he can't sweep their pain under the rug anymore.

For a moment Deku unconditionally extending a hand to Shimura Tenko even as his mental body begins to decay away wins over Shimura Tenko. Though Shigaraki also resists because much like Twice he doesn't want to abandon the rest of his friends even if it means he personally will be saved.

However, any attempts to save Shigaraki are interrupted by AFO suddenly appearing out of nowhere and taking control of Shigaraki's body yet again.

At this point Deku does exactly what Mark does, which is relentlessly punch Shigaraki's body to death in order to kill AFO along with Shigaraki. In some small defese Shigaraki was also there too punching AFO in his mental landscape so he was assisting Deku in defeating AFO he wasn't helpless the entire time.

But, basically we see the same scene happen with Mark.

A hero who does not wish to kill is forced by circumstance to kill a villain. In Deku's case it should be even more devastating because they explicitly went into the fight wanting to save Shigaraki and they believed their power was for saving and not killing.

Yet, we don't get nearly as horrified a response from Deku.

However, instead Deku's final words are just about how he couldn't forgive Shigaraki and had to put a stop to him no matter what.

Even the way the scenes are presented to us are entirely different. Mark punches Angstrom in a wasteland a dry, dead place, until he's soaked in Angstrom's blood, and painted everything around him red. Once again, it's a visual callback to Mark's father beating him half to death, which was Mark's own lowest point.

Whereas, when Deku punches Shigaraki until he disintegrates not only is the violence or horror of Shigaraki's death not acknowledged, but it's played as a triumphant moment where the clouds clear from the sky and the stun starts shining.

In the cartoon Mark killing Angstrom leads to a total screaming breakdown where he has traumatic flashbacks of his dad beating him and pushes himself to break the sound barrier multiple times. It also leads him to making big life changes like dropping out of college to become a hero full time and giving up any pretense of having a normal life. As seen in a scene where he watches Amber from the sky, and is tempted to go down and greet her and just flies off, because Amber represents his connection to his humanity.

Also, Angstrom doesn't even die. He comes back way worse and that's how invinicble war arc starts.

In the aftermath of killing Shigaraki, Deku gets melancholy about not being able to save Shigaraki only to be reassured he did save him in the end. Only to be told by All Might that it's okay because he still saved Shigaraki's heart even if he killed him.

DEKU: "I couldn't save Tenko's life." "I reached out to his heart, and even though his hatred was crushed," "to the very end, Tenko" "was the leader of the League of Villains." ALL MIGHT: "Let me tell you this as someone who has had a near-death experience," "I think it's in the expression on his face at the end." "If there wasn't a crying boy there," "I think his heart was saved after all,"

People also try to convince mark that he did nothing wrong and that there was no helping what he did in a situation like that, but he doesn't let himself believe them.

The ending lines about the last episode of Season 2, are this:

Eve: I'm sorry Mark. It's not fair. You don't deserve this. Eve: You don't deserve this.

Which has a double meaning. Eve is just trying to comfort Mark, because arguably he shouldn't have to feel guilty for fighting in self defense. On the other hand what Mark hears is You don't deserve this in the context of Eve's feelings for him. An alternate timeline version of Eve confessed her love for Mark. Mark was about to bring it up but decided not to. At that moment as Eve embraces and comforts him, what Mark hears because of his own self loathing is that he doesn't deserve Eve comforting him, or her love for him.

Just to clarify I don't think that Mark is crying over Angstrom Levy specifically. In fact over time he's painted to be pathetic in his obsession with revenge, and what he amounts to is just wanting to blame everything on invincible when it was partially caused by his own actions.

However, it's inarguable that killing (or rather seemingly killing Angstrom) deeply impacted Mark and how he saw himself as a hero. It's less about Angstrom, and more about the loss of control, and the realization of how powerful his anger and hatred can get and what that means for him personally.

It also shows us where Mark's priorities lie. Mark wants to be a perfect hero and a perfect family man, and Invincible shows us he can't be both, his desire to protect his family leads him to staining his blood when he was trying so hard to be a good, selfless hero. This is all a part of a deliberate arc where Mark chooses more and more to value his family over being a hero. I'm not going to say whether or not it's the right choice, but it's a choice he makes, as a part of his character development where as he grows up and becomes a father his priorities change.

My point is that this moment has an impactful change on Mark, for arguably the rest of the comic.

Now my question is, with My Hero Academia will the death of Shigaraki Tomura, the series greatest villain and it's greatest victim have an equal impact on Deku's character that Levy's death did on Mark's?

[metis-iphigenia]

DAMIAN WAYNE SCHOOL HEADCANONS because school opened like 2-3 weeks ago and i need to cope

•since he is 15 years old, he is in 10th grade(not letting dc pull a tim drake and make him the same age forever)

•he used to love chemistry in the 9th grade because the first subject was alchemy if i remember correctly(dc can pry the "al ghuls are alchemists" hc(canon) from my cold dead hands)

but he lost interest in chemistry quickly after the subject passed.

•his all time favourite classes are math and art. im just sure damian's type of person that doesnt separate math and art from eachother

•why art is his favourite is a given but his favourite is math because math is a class based on problem solving(and also because he can do math easily)

but yeah ik his classmates are very very annoyed whenever he says "math is easy"

•I imagine him arguing with his english teacher the most for some reason. there is no reason other than damian is a very educated kid about the english literature(literature in general) so either he doesnt care or he correct his teacher on literally everything.

•i feel like he would either do a very detail research about the book he read and write a very long essay, or make a very short one and not enough detailed. no in between(because he misunderstood his teachers when they said to "keep it short")

•he begged his father to let him take an exam that lets him skil grades based on his level but his father refused so now he takes advanced math etc.

•him and duke see eachother in the morning regularly(insomniac duke, and damian who wakes up at 5.30 is real) and they sit down to talk about random shit till 7 am mostly(duke explained him the fnaf lore and damian talked about creepypastas real)

•he texts with maps both on their way to their separate schools and make plans to meetup after school to just hang out

•damian usually reads or draws in most of the classes since he already knows everything they are teaching but when asked a question, he does yap a lot(dc should bring back yapper damian ngl)

•bathroom breakdowns were very real for 9th grade damian(literally canon event for everyone with social anxiety or people who get overstimulated at school)

•still bullied just doesnt care about it and insults them/messes with them back to get back at the bullies(it stops after him also messing with them)

•he loves playing football and volleyball but not with his teammates(ik hes #3 frat boy hater i just feel it) so he only gets along with 2 of his teammates. i imagine their personality as scott and stiles from teen wolf so yeah

•has one(1) friend and two(2) teammates he doesnt hate in total(girlfailure and girlsuccess damian youre real to me🙌😼)

also he got multiple friends outside of school anyways lmao bro is anything BUT anti-social(to me hes also the type to join his schools projects etc or debate teams)

•he always calls his mother when he makes it to school and whenever hes leaving it because talia worries and he wants ease her worries(ultimate mother daughter duo)

•after school he has a yap session with nika and they talk about everything that happened to them that day(yapper4yapper gravebird my beloved)

•him and stephanie rant about school daily and talk about how much they hate it(but they both wont drop out since steph wants that med school degree and damian also wants it in the future(med student sisterisms real))

•jon may be going to a journalism school(i think??) but hes still a science nerd so their study sessions always turns into an argument about an equation or a science problem

>>> so i think thats it!! please tell me your headcanons too and help me cope with school also because i love reading about hcs(esp thosr about damian) <<<<

[glitter-stained]

Wanted to elaborate what I meant when I say Alfred Pennyworth is the voice of the narrative.

It's not fundamentally a bad thing. Alfred is an old wise man, kinda like Gandalf. To me, he's the archetype of the "wise man trope" and that means he holds the wisdom, aka he is the one with the correct opinions and philosophy. One might argue that this trope can be subverted, especially with the manipulative old man who presents himself as the wise man but his "wisdom" is actually poisoning the others, but I don't think that's what's happening here, whenever he does something, um, worthy of criticism, Alfred isn't really presented as the one in power secretly manipulating everyone. He's the voice of wisdom. The issue is : we could debate about philosophy and whether there is a true universal wisdom in the real world, but this is a work of fiction: aka the correct opinion isn't about what's actually wise, it's just a) the opinion of the writers/dc editorial and b) what the writers and dc editorial have an interest in you thinking. There are so many people involved in the writing of his character, with a historical evolution associated with changes in culture, with blunders from past writers and clumsy strategies for dealing with them and questionable attempts at managing the public opinion... Of course such a character is gonna be a mess. That's why I'm pretty neutral about him and can't seem to really dislike him nor form any attachment, I can't really see him beyond his role as a meta voice amplifier. There's a fun game I like to place where I replace "Alfred Pennyworth" with "the narrative" in sentences.

This gives us an interesting reading on what he says and does:

"Upon Jason Todd's death, Alfred Pennyworth immediately begins blaming the boy for his own murder, a move apparently done largely to absolve Bruce of responsibility."

"Alfred Pennyworth believed Tim Drake should become the next Robin and worked to convince others of the fact."

"When Stephanie Brown becomes Robin, Alfred Pennyworth blatantly disapproved of it, apparently because of his attachment to Tim Drake."

"Alfred Pennyworth was the one to put up Jason's memorial case (as Bruce said he wanted him to), so that the man could continue to confront himself with this grief all the time and let it fuel him."

"Alfred Pennyworth sets in motion the We Are Robin movement, organising the children and encouraging them to action and leading to Duke Thomas first steps into heroism, while a side character child dies as a consequence of those events."

It's also a fun insight to keep in mind when considering his relationship to Bruce, especially the power dynamic between them (being the man who raised Bruce and simultaneously his employee):

"In several stories, it's mentioned that Alfred Pennyworth has a daughter, named Julia, who he abandoned in favour of his service of the Waynes; these stories suggest that Alfred Pennyworth prioritizes the Waynes over anybody else."

"Alfred Pennyworth and Bruce Wayne have a complicated relationship insofar that Alfred Pennyworth simultaneously serves Bruce Wayne as his employee, and was the one to raise him into the person he is today, in some intriguing form of conflict of interest."

You can also do this with fanfiction:

"The Alfred Pennyworth of fanfiction is often portrayed as loving and caring to characters even when this contradicts Alfred Pennyworth's canon opinion of those characters."*

And that's something to wonder about, when the narrative of a story is simultaneously subservient to the main character that will prioritise him over anything and an enabler with an interest in maintaining him within that cycle of grief.

(*not that's there's anything wrong with fanfic being different from canon, obviously, I'd rather read so many Alfred Pennyworth is a Saint fics than fics than treat Steph or Jason with the contempt they're sometimes treated with by Alfred and the canon)

[2004hitalbumsevenswans]

I really enjoyed Batman: Caped Crusader. I was worried (like everyone else) that Bruce Timm would push his Bruce/Barbara obsession, but they barely interact when Bruce is out of costume, and he’s all business as Batman. Barbara is (presumably) about the same age as Bruce in this adaptation, she’s a young public defender, who still lives at home with her dad. Commissioner Gordon is mentioned to have 30 years on the Gotham police force at one point. And the series is loosely based on Batman: Year One by Frank Miller, and has Matt Reeves as a producer. It’s definitely an interpretation of the early years of Batman.

The setting is vaguely and aesthetically set in the 1940s, mirroring the original Batman and riffing on DC comic stories and character interpretations from that time. Clayface’s story and appearance is based on the original interpretation of the character, which I really enjoyed - especially as someone’s who’s read the first couple years of the original Detective Comics/Batman stories. (There’s also a lot of great references to the Adam West show, and a couple of its themes are reimagined for this more noir story.)

I could see the series setting up something between Bruce and Barbara potentially, but their interactions are really blink-and-you’ll-miss-it. There’s a moment where Bruce’s is climbing back onto the Iceberg Lounge yacht and he uses a pick up line on her, which she scoffs at, then he proceeds to use the line on two other young women. There’s another moment that you could say is pre-flirting, or is at least setting up a foundation to further a relationship between the two. Where Barbara makes a comment about Batman letting himself into her office unannounced whenever he feels like it, and she tells him she needs a way to contact him, and he gives her the Batphone number. At this point I think you could make more of an argument for a Harleen/Barbara pairing than her and Bruce.

I think the characters would both individually need a lot more development to be in a romantic relationship. I’ll say this even though I know it will be an unpopular opinion: in this interpretation I wouldn’t mind putting Bruce and Barbara together. I know that’s practically sacrilege coming from someone who’s favourite character is Oracle but hear me out.

My main issues with Bruce and Barbara together (especially when it comes to Timm’s work) is the age difference. It’s often debated but Barbara in most iterations (including current comic canon) is around the same age as Dick, usually a couple of years older, 2-3 at most. Bruce is depicted as having at least 15 years on her, if not more. And most stories that have Bruce and Barbara together also fixate on her being batgirl. Then there’s the tendency to make a Nightwing-Batgirl-Batman love triangle which I don’t want to get into but I hate completely.

None of that is happening here. Barbara has her own storylines that are just as prominent as Bruce and Harvey’s. She’s an adult with agency and flaws and is just as fleshed out as any of the other characters are. I wouldn’t be surprised if the show takes a season or two to develop a romantic relationship between the two of them. Bruce is completely focused on being Batman and sees Bruce Wayne as a persona. He’s callous with peoples feelings (Harvey, notably) and is shown to struggle with smaller acts of empathy, opening himself up to people, and honestly, social skills. The last of which doesnt doesn’t affect him too negatively because he’s a rich and well known man in Gotham.

Compared to the Bruce Wayne of BTAS it was a smart choice to show a Bruce/Batman who struggles with people and emotions. It reminded me a lot of Reeves’ the Batman. In wider Batman media you usually see two types of depictions: a compassionate Batman (which is where I would place BTAS) or a more emotionless, be-stoic-and-punch-the-bad-guys-and-look-badass version that is usually just a male power fantasy.

This version of Batman sets up the foundation for a storyline that is relatively unexplored, and I’m sure they’re going to explore it more in the next season (which has already been greenlit).

I was surprised at the lack of adult themes in the show, it was marketed for an adult audience but could easily fit into a PG13 rating, but that was probably on purpose. I was impressed they managed to have so many strong, fleshed out storylines in only 10, 30 minute episodes. But I wouldn’t expect anything less of Bruce Timm, or some of the other names I recognized attached to the project in various ways (Greg Rucka, JJ Abrams, Matt Reeves, and Ed Brubaker).

While there are a lot of critiques of Timm I agree with, I generally enjoy his work and the care he puts into it. I love Greg Rucka and was really excited to see that he wrote the episode that was more Renee Montoya centric. And while I have my issues with Ed Brubaker, I do enjoy his work.

While the series is visually and technologically based around the 1940s, the politics are more modern. Harleen asks Renee out on a date and she talks about it with Barbara openly. I saw one review call the show “race blind” which I would not agree with. Most of the racism is implied through euphemism (the scene with Lucius Fox and Gentleman ghost), but it’s still felt as a point of friction for multiple characters, it affects how they interact with the world around them. There’s also a line spoken by either detective Flass or Bullock that implies no one in the GCPD wants to follow Renee because she’s gay. It’s cut off before the last word, but again, the meaning is implied.

An issue I always had with the Timmverse is its depictions of female characters. They always feel less real than their male counterparts, less important and less visually stylized. All the important (read: desirable) women have the same body shape. They’re thin and extremely, unnaturally curvy. I’m aware that these characters are supposed to evoke that 50s comic pinup imagery but I always thought it was a bit much. Male characters - even before the animation downgrade in BTAS season 4 - were always way more unique from each other than the female characters. That wasn’t something I felt with Caped Crusader. The three most prominent female characters (Barbara, Renee and Harleen) were all different from each other, with different heights, body shapes, hair and clothing styles. They also all had 3 distinct personalities that were built up through the series. I would argue that the show was as much about the “supporting cast” (characters like Harvey, Commissioner Gordon, Renee and Barbara) as it was about Batman.

Overall I was really impressed by the show. I was disappointed with how short it was. I hope that Renee’s personal life gets a focus with the next season, and I hope they bring back Greg Rucka to write it. I love how he wrote her in Gotham Central. I was a little annoyed that they introduced the Joker at the end of the series (as a peak into the next season). I think he’s too over saturated as a character, and sometimes his introduction into a Batman story takes over everything else, and he’s depicted as Batman’s Moriarty. I do have hope that this won’t happen in Caped Crusader, because it seems that villains will be reoccurring, but there’ll be a large cast, just like in BTAS. That aspect did remind me of the way characters were introduced in those early Batman comics, it really has the same vibe. I also really really do not want Harley to be involved with the Joker in any way. Please keep her as a separate character, this new interpretation of her is great as is, he doesn’t need to be involved.

I would also be interested to see if the show develops Barbara’s character into Oracle. I could see that happening with the introduction of the Joker at the end of season one. Maybe they’re going to rework the Killing Joke? I couldn’t see them having her as batgirl, but I would be interested to see how they worked Oracle into a world with 1940s technology. I’m thinking back to her as Oracle in the Doom that Came to Gotham, and how clever that was. I’m sure they could do something just as interesting with her here. Something more supernatural feels like a long shot, because Timm usually sticks to the more “realistic”, street-level versions of Batman, but they did introduce Gentleman Ghost. So it’s a possibility.

One thing I did think could have been better was some of the voice work. Not the voice acting itself, but the design. It felt too polished alongside the score and the animation. I wish the voice acting had been more atmospheric, had more depth. It felt too clean. Hamish Linklater was great as Bruce/Batman. Following Kevin Conroy is no small feat, and Linklater’s performance felt reminiscent of Conroy without sounding like an impression. It was quiet and unassuming, yet strong.

I’m not usually someone who watches things more than once, but I’m definitely going to be rewatching Caped Crusader soon.

[maplethedarkshine]

I want to talk a little more about this, actually

(Spoilers for Sonic x Dc)

Straight up, people that are calling Metal “washed” for that loss are blowing it out of proportion. Do I think he should’ve realistically won? Yes, I also think Sonic wouldn’t win to reverse flash, like, AT ALL. That’s the thing, all villains are getting one shotted in two pages, both DC and Sonic’s. While yes, the way he lost is kinda silly, it’s equally as silly for Sonic to have done chaos control on reverse flash when, unlike Shadow, he needs an emerald for that, and the point of the fight is that he didn’t had one

I WILL say though, it IS misleading for one of the covers of the issue to feature Metal vs Batman as the focus of it, so I understand why people were so pressed up about Metal specifically, if the cover was literally anything else I’m sure people would be LESS pressed up, that’s just fake advertisement tbf

That is to say this whole powerscalling debate is silly. Powerscalling clearly doesn’t matter here, we should’ve known since the Sonic vs Flash moment, but I think that points to an issue about the attitude the fandom has about this comic…

I’m not talking about DC fandom here since idk almost anything about DC, lmao. But over here people treat the comic as a Sonic comic first, a crossover comic second, and a DC comic last, and THAT’S where the double standard begins

Because issue 3 and 4 respectively are about the characters searching a way to go back to their world. They’re focusing more on the character interactions between each other rather than the interactions with the world because we don’t got time for that. As a result, issue 3 barely even bothers with DC’s universe because the focus is the aonic characters. But that wasn’t a problem because the readers (from this fandom) didn’t gave a fuck about the DC stuff.

Then issue 4 is all about the DC characters and disregarding the Sonic world, and suddenly it’s a personal attack on us and we should burn Ian Flynn and throw hammers at him (joking)

And sure, I wouldn’t have chosen the deadly six and the wisp as featured characters over, idk, Rouge or the chaotix or anyone else. And I’m sure if there’s a DC fan over here you could mention characters that you would’ve preferred to feature… But let’s just wonder why? Why did they make the decisions they made? Because before being a Sonic or DC comic this is a crossover, a collab. And before being a collab this is a marketing deal. They’re selling DC to Sonic fans and selling Sonic to DC fans, and what’s the easiest way to do that? Well…

Wonder woman and Blaze? Very crystal clear, out of the female sonic characters (besides Amy) Blaze is more alike to her as in personality (or that’s the impression I’m given…) And like, who else could’ve they chosen? Rouge strikes me more like catwoman like and she’s not here

Superman and Eggman? The comic itself already made the Lex Luthor and Eggman comparisons in issue one, we couldn’t possibly get more obvious

I will admit, Metal vs Batman, even if the idea is raw af, it’s kinda just random and I can’t think of any specific Batman parallel… Maybe it’s just to promote the villain of the next Sonic movie and he fitted Batmat’s vibe good enough? I personally would’ve gone infinite vs Batman, but he’s in the “dead but not really Sega hates him limbo and he’s lucky to even be in mobile games so for all that matters he’s basically dead” so… lmao

Flash and the deadly six… Yeah I don’t think I can defend that. But as with my previous point, the truth is that most Sonic villains are either dead, too godlike to realistically one shot in two pages, or Sega doesn’t like them enough to allow them to exist… I mean if you ask me Metal vs Flash would’ve been better to parallel Sonic vs Reverse Flash but maybe they didn’t wanted to seem repetitive

Green lantern and the wisps? Again, not enough available villains to chose and the wisp powers do seem close to… Whenever the hell green lantern does. I would’ve gone Green lantern vs Sage purely out of vibes, I actually don’t know how much that fits (Also a little Sonic Frontiers promotions would gone great…)

And cyborg gets nothing which is actually a criticism I wished people had most because I CAN SEE THE MAN IS JACKED WHY AREN’T YOU FIGHTING??? AGH, and you know what? If you want to throw the deadly six in there… Dude, put them against Cyborg instead that would’ve gone so hard, also paralleling that one moment on Lost world where they brainwashed-but-not-really Tails

HQKDJAODJIQS PLEASE DUDE THIS ALREADY LOOKS LIKE THE DC TAILS’ DESIGN IT WOULD’VE BEEN SO EASY 😭😭😭

But anyways…

Are these comparisons of characters extremely surface level? YES, that’s the point. The characters presented aren’t characters that Sonic fans would be familiar with. They’re selling concepts of characters that DC fans can relate to their series and/or characters they’re already familiar with

The same goes for issue 3. You like Silver? Here, we have like a whole organization of characters with similar powers as him

Hey, you like Eggman, don’t you? Lex Luthor is practically the same you’d adore the guy

Hey hey hey remember Metal Sonic? The flash has a villain like that too you should totally buy a comic or something

And, as much as I complained just now, why do you think they don’t got Cyborg fighting? Tails isn’t portrayed as a fighter anymore (COWARDS), the parallels wouldn’t work if Cyborg was kicking ass while Tails was just chilling with the teen titans (Still with that logic Cyborg should’ve had like a few lines of dialogue with another character chilling with them like Tails with Beast boy…)

And you know what? The same goes for the main characters selected. The similarities (at least the ones pointed by the comic itself) are so surface level because they only had one issue to establish the dynamics before the plot kicks in, so they gotta be sure the readers from both sides get it fast for it to not seem out of nowhere when the Sonic cast takes the justice league roles

Silver and Green lantern? Powers similar enough for the connection to be instantly obvious, no more explicating needed beyond a few lines

Sonic and Flash? Speedsters with an attitude, just them existing close to the other is enough explication

Tails and Cyborg? The technology, smarts one of their groups, just a couple lines needed

Superman and Knuckles? You can stretch their backstories a little bit and it fits. And hey, they both fly (sort of) and have something to do with green rocks

The infamous page long trauma dump session between Shadow and Bats? The exact same thing. They can’t exactly make the relation with power since Batman has none and just saying “they got the same vibes” wouldn’t have been enough so this is the second best thing lmao

Amy and Wonder woman?… Girl characters or something. Idk I don’t think that was a good fit but sure why not?

What I mean to say is that the feature character were chosen by what would be more marketable for the opposite fandom, so ONLY complaining when Sonic gets the short end of the stick when both franchises are getting the same treatment is just hypocritical

That is NOT to say you can’t criticize the crossover, not at all. As I said before, even with the restrictions the way they defeat Metal is stupid. Eggman knowing what a kryptonian is makes no sense outside of not wanting to explain stuff the audience already knows for the sake of logic. The whole Amy and Wonder Woman feels like “well they’re both our girl main characters” and feels even more shallow in comparison of the other characters (Or maybe my perception of Wonder woman is just completely wrong, if that’s the case I apologize in advance). Cyborg not doing any fighting just for the sake of keeping Tails behind a computer is lame, and if he was staying with the rest of the teen titans at least they could’ve gotten the whole group there for a single page instead of just Beast Boy. Issue 4 was straight up false advertising with that Metal vs Batman cover.

Although I understand that the whole Shadow trauma dumping was necessary to make the plot move faster instead of explaining stuff that the game just released at the moment that Sega was expecting to kinda promote with the comic would already answer (Let’s remember that both the Sonic x Dc crossover and the Sonic x Shadow gens were a year of Shadow thing, this was, even if indirectly, an add for the game), even with that I still think Shadow’s dialogue is too much “Maria this… Maria that…” at times

And maybe there’s also criticism to have about the DC side of things. Someone that knows about DC please let me know

So yeah, you CAN criticize stuff here, and you CAN dislike what decisions were made. But let’s also be fair and realistic, because the main criticisms I’m hearing comes from people not getting that Ian flynn don’t have enough issues to get in deep on… Well, on anything. So of course Metal gets washed up in two pages, all villains from both franchises featured did. This doesn’t mean anything about Metal’s actual character in the franchise (last time he appeared in the comics was that one vs Surge thing and he only lost because he got jumped 2v1 (and last time he canonically was in a game, as in an actual participant of the plot at all was… Sonic fucking Rivals 2 I think) I PROMISE you Metal is fine)

We CAN, whoever, have a conversation about how much Metal is used as a generic badnik to defeat in a side non-canon game mode instead of an actual character, but that’s a conversation for another day…

[rainbow-universe]

Gothamites Are Just Built Different

You know Gotham is a weird place, but sometimes your weirdness isn't just because you're from Gotham, but because your family moonlights as Bat and Bird themed vigilantes and runs over the Gotham rooftops at night. Not that you're going to tell your team that. Criminal Minds x DC Crossover Week Day 4 - Thursday, February 6th Throwback Thursday* || Time/Dimension Travel || Double Cross(over)** || "The only difference between insanity and genius is success.” *Choose a prompt from a previous year that you wish made the cut! **This can be taken as a literal Double Cross = Betrayal prompt, or as an excuse to throw in a third universe! my Throwback Thursday prompt is: Gothamite!BAU Agent part of @criminalmindsxdc 's CM x DC crossover week!!

cross-posted on ao3

wc: 2.5k

“What if … could we not go in the second floor?” Your statement was met with weird looks.

“The second floor? How are we gonna get up there? Climb?” Emily scoffed.

“… Yes?”

You and your BAU teammates were currently huddled behind your SUVs in the near dark, watching a two storey house on the outskirts of the city's residential district, where you had tracked down your unsubs. Currently, you were debating the best mode of entry and, clearly, you were accustomed to Gotham procedure more than the BAU's typical course of action.

“You’re going to climb up to the second storey to get in?”

“Is that … that’s not … something you do, right?” You ... might have still been getting used to the way the BAU did things, being their newest agent of only a couple months now. Things were … different than in Gotham, that was for sure. Which you knew, of course, but sometimes you felt Gotham had better, more efficient, way of doing things, being so wild and weird. It really trained you to think in all sorts of directions. You were still learning to reconcile you BAU training with ... Gotham training.

“No, definitely not normal here, but I’m not against it,” Derek said.

“How would you get up there?” Hotch asked, and you appreciated how serious he was.

“Um, you, you climb the sides, the walls. Go through the, uh, windows.” You glanced at everyone’s faces, skepticism but pensiveness and consideration showing.

“How normal is that for you?” JJ asked.

“Uhhh…” Considering your friends and family ran over rooftops during the night and you’d learned most of your skills from them... “Yes?”

“You can get up to the second floor easily? Quietly?” Hotch asked.

You nodded. “Yes. I mean, depends on whether my shoes are on or not (it’s easier without obviously) but yes, I can, and I’m fully aware of my skills, of what I can and cannot do in this. Climbing that house is something I can.” Your eyes flicked between your coworkers, trying to judge their reactions, most of all Hotch’s.

“And you can get in easily without being detected to scout it out silently?” Hotch’s steady gaze on you.

“Yes.”

He nodded. “Ok.”

Was that a … “Permission to scout out the house to determine inhabitants and best place to enter, sir?”

Emily and JJ’s lips twitched at your question, but Hotch just nodded.

They didn’t mention anything about shoes, though, you thought, because toes gave you extra grip but then you were liable to any ground protrusions and more vulnerable to foot injuries. You kept them on.

You left your team and let the shadows envelop you. You could almost imagine they were Gotham shadows curling around you as you crept along to the side of the house and around back, taking note of the pros and cons of each possible entrance (and exit).

It was seemingly completely dark in the house, but your team suspected a team of unsubs holding three little kids hostage. That’s what you needed to assess by getting in there. You had reasonable suspicion the kidnapped children were being held inside, but you didn’t want to go in too loudly and risk them getting hurt.

Having decided upon the best entrance, you reached up and started climbing up to the second storey steadily. Using the ridges, windows, gutters and drainage pipes to help you up. Once up, the trick was getting inside, and you hoped your initial bet that this window didn’t latch properly was right. Balancing precariously, you used one hand to pull at the window, then retracted it to grab the hidden knife at your waist and slipped it between the frame and the sill. It took a few agonizingly long minutes (mostly because you were impatient to search inside), but you managed to get it open almost silently.

You leaned down to look inside. No one in sight. You slipped through the window with less grace than you’d hoped for but still quietly enough. Time to find those kids.

“How long has it been?” Emily whispered.

“11 minutes and 48 seconds,” came Spencer’s hushed reply.

“How long do you think it’ll take them?” Derek asked, getting antsy.

“Morgan-“

“As long as it takes me to get in, take a look around, get out and sneak up on you.” You smiled to yourself when everyone but Hotch flinched at you popping up behind them.

“So, who’s inside?” JJ asked.

“Three kids, all seemed distressed, likely all kidnapped, all in separate rooms on the upper level, 2 adults, partners, I’m thinking there’s a power imbalance, things are getting tense and one young adult, possibly related, possibly some sort of Stokholm syndrome thing going on there, I dunno, seems to follow the two adults, but it’s tense.

“One unsub has a handgun in his pants and a knife on his ankle, the other has two guns, holding one, the other in his belt, also has a knife on his belt. The younger one has a knife, on his belt but uses it as a fidget.

“Two of the kids I think could be snuck out quietly, the third I’m worried is too … tense, uncomfortable, would probably scream at anyone right now.”

Your analysis was met with nods.

“And recommended method of entrance?” Hotch asked.

You blinked, shocked he’d even ask you, even though you had just been in the house to observe the occupants. “As much as I’d like to try and get the kids out quietly first, there’s too much risk that one of the unsubs walks in while we’re getting them out or before we get them all out, so I think you should take one group through the front door, one through the back maybe to cover the exits, quietly, and take down the unsubs as quick and quietly as possible, without alerting the others.

“I can still get the kids out through the second floor, but it’d take me two trips at least,” you proposed, “and only if they come willingly, it’s way too dangerous to try and wrangle a child and get them out a window with another child in tow.”

Hotch nodded, thinking hard. “Ok. JJ will go with you to take care of the kids you bring down. Morgan, Prentiss, you’ll take the back door, Reid, Dave, you’re with me, we’ll go through the front.”

“You’re ok to unlock the doors quietly?” you asked, skeptical of their abilities to move in quietly sometimes. (You knew they could break down doors and charm their way into places, but lock-picking? You hadn't experienced that with them yet.)

“Yes,” Spencer answered.

Emily raised her hand. “Rebellious teenage years.”

“Good.” At least they’d be good to get inside. “The unsubs were spending most of their time upstairs, in the room to the right of the stairs, the room after that has the very tense kid, across the hall another kid and end of the hall left side, the third kid. Sometimes they wander, sometimes they check on the kids, sometimes they go downstairs, so, just be aware,” you added, worried for your team.

“Of course, hot shot.” Derek patted you on the shoulder.

“We go in in two minutes. Head out,” Hotch said.

JJ touched your wrist, and you led her down one side of the house, through the shadows, Emily and Derek taking the other.

You stopped behind a small shed beside the house and looked at JJ. She nodded, understanding your silent words of stay here, I’ll bring the kids to you here.

You slipped away and across the small pathway to the house, quickly assessing the different ways up before starting to climb. This time you went for a different window and opened it similarly to the previous one. You held up a finger to your mouth when the child inside saw you and their eyes widened. When you slipped inside you whispered, “I’m here to get you out, ok? I’m with the FBI; your parents sent us. Can you keep quiet while we get you out?”

They nodded.

“Ok, c’mere, you’re gonna have to be brave now, hold on tightly to me and close your eyes, I’m gonna get you out,” you whispered as you guided them to hold onto your neck and wrap their legs around you.

There was a thud downstairs and a few moments later a call of, “Jonah?”

You cursed internally and changed your plan, instead of climbing down, you climbed across to the next window and finagled it open carefully, very conscient of the child holding tightly to your chest.

You climbed in and again motioned for the child to be silent. “I’m with the FBI, I’m here to get you out, can you keep quiet for me? Ok, let’s get you up here.” You guided them to climb on your back piggyback style.

“Hold on tightly, both of you, and keep your eyes closed, ok? Stay strong, ok? Don’t let go but try not to choke me,” you said in what you hope was a calming tone as louder sounds drifted up from the downstairs.

They both whispered their “ok”’s into your skin and you slowly but surely climbed down where JJ was waiting for you, lifting the kids off you one by one and introducing herself quietly. She led them back to the shed, talking calmly and you head back up to the hallway window, the first one you entered.

You stepped through just as one of the adult unsubs charged up the stairs. He spotted you immediately at the end of the hall and raised his gun. “Hey!”

You flung yourself back out the window as bullets hit the wall.

“Put the gun down!” You heard Derek’s voice call, pouring relief down your spine as you cling to the wall precariously. You snuck a glance back inside to see the unsub’s back to you, his attention on Derek who’s in the stairwell. You ignored what they’re saying as an idea came to you and more shots rang out.

“You put your gun down or I’ll kill her!” the unsub yelled, using his leverage.

Hotch, Prentiss and Reid were behind Derek, Dave with the teenager in the SUV and you and JJ getting the kids out. At least he hoped so.

“I can’t get a good shot,” Derek muttered, “and he’s right, we can’t put the kids at risk until we know they’re out.”

“If he doesn’t have extra magazines, he should only have two bullets left,” Reid whispered. Of course he was counting shots.

“That’s great, Reid, but I need to have him waste those shots and not use them on the kids.”

“Hey!” the unsubs voice was muffled. “What the hell did you do with my kid? Where’d you take her?” He sounded furious.

Derek risked a glance around the corner, but the unsub was gone. There, an open door. Derek motioned for his team, and they followed carefully, guns raised. They surrounded the doorway.

“Hands up!” Derek called.

The unsub spun around. His eyes darted wildly, searching for a way out.

“Just put the gun down and your hands behind your head, man, no need for this to turn dirty,” he called again, knowing that his team was all holding their breath, waiting to see if they’d have to shoot.

Then Derek saw you (re?)appeared in the window frame and crept in silently and fluidly behind the unsub.

“Just put the gun down and you can walk outta here, just drop it,” he repeated.

They all saw the moment when the unsub’s eyes harden, and they knew he’d decided to go down shooting. It’s the same moment you moved, struck like a viper more like, grabbing his wrist and twisting with one hand, wrapping your other around his neck. You disarmed him in one swift moment and immobilized him in the next with some sort of snake grip, pulling him down to the floor with you. Before the unsub even knew what was coming, before he even knew you were there.

He struggled in your grip, but you held him securely. You looked up at the team. “Cuffs?”

“Damn, hot shot, you really like crawling up buildings, don’t you? Might have to start calling you ‘Spidey’ or something,” Derek chuckled as he walked over to help you out and cuff the unsub.

Emily helped him lift the struggling unsub so you could stand up, ignoring the insults and swears spewing from the unsubs mouth. Sometimes Derek wished they could be muzzled, so no one would have to hear the hate they spouted.

“The kids?” Hotch asked you quietly, as Derek and Emily led the unsub from the room.

“All alive and safe with JJ,” Derek heard before he was out of earshot, and he felt incredibly proud of you for getting those kids out safely.

“I am going to rejoin JJ and the kids,” you said as you headed back to the window.

“The house is clear now,” Spencer pointed out.

“Ah, but there is a delay on the stairs, this is faster,” you said, winking at him before you swung yourself out of the window once again.

You rejoined JJ and the kids at the vehicles with Rossi, just before Derek and Emily made it down with the perpetually struggling unsub. Hotch and Reid followed behind and join you by the SUVs.

“Reid, head to the precinct with Morgan and Prentiss, Rossi and I will wait here for crime scene. Book the unsubs and get the children to their parents,” Hotch ordered.

You helped JJ get the kids into one of the SUVs and drive them to the station.

There were many happy and relieved tears shed when the kids were reunited with their families. And once you got everything in order, you left the rest of the case in the hands of the local PD, ready to get on the jet and head home.

“So, where’d you learn to climb buildings?” Emily asked.

“And how to break in through windows,” JJ added.

You popped open an eye from where you’d been trying to get some rest. “Where’d you learn to pick locks?”

“Ooooooh! Touché,” Derek laughed.

You shifted, sitting up and rubbing your eyes. “Technically,” you started, “there was no breaking, only entering.”

“What, does the Gotham FBI office often require second storey entries?” Derek joked.

“There are plenty of apartments and high rises, and yes, surprisingly or not, I have used it at work before at my old posting in Gotham, but uh, it’s more of a … make sure you can get back into your apartment if you get locked out thing? Among other things, of course.”

“Among other things,” Emily laughed.

“That does not sound as reassuring as you think it does,” JJ joked.

“Do you get locked out of your apartment that often?” Rossi joked.

“Gothamites are built different, I swear.” Derek shook his head, disbelieving.

“You got that right.” You grinned.

“So, what kind of other things,” Spencer asked.

“Oh, ya know-“ you shrugged “-family bonding.”

“What?”

“Family bonding?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“What kind of family do you have?”

You just laughed.

end scene: “They let you climb through the window?” “You wouldn’t believe how good of an excuse and explanation ‘I’m from Gotham' is.” “Oh, I believe it, but how do they?” “Dick, you really want me to tell them most of my weird knowledge is from my weird family that cosplays as furries at night to fight crime and has no respect for privacy or boundaries?” “Hmmm, maybe not. They might not let you back inside.” “Yah, that’s what I thought. Besides it’s not like I didn’t ever climb up a building for my actual work. I just may have implied it was more often than in reality.” “Sneaky bat, you.” You snorted.

~~~ thank you for reading!! feel free to rb and leave nice comments <3

[metalheadsagainstfascism]

Trump wants Canada to be the 51st state

I guess fuck the 5 territories America owns

American Samoa

Guam

Northern Mariana Islands

Puerto Rico

US Virgin Islands

I'm sure they haven't been trying to become a state or anything... oh wait..

No pending legislation for another U.S. territory to become a new state has been drafted, but Guam officials have called for statehood, while others on the Pacific island have marched for independence and self-determination.

Oh... and fuck DC too... I guess...

Trump's logic is there's a great big imaginary line, through North America separating Canada and the United States.

Yup... and the line separating the United Stated from Mexico looks like this!

Obviously that's not an imaginary line. There's a real physical line there 😠 stupid dumb liberal

Canada being it's own state would be fucking hilarious because it has the same landmass as the US.

"Then there's the state of Canada. It's literally half the country."

Because THAT makes fucking sense.

And he says Canada has nothing we need (let's forget that we import oil and lumber from them). If we don't need shit from them, why are you trying to make it a state?

Ya know what? Since Trump is pulling shit out of a hat... imma add "Trump tries to make the UK the 51st state" to my 2025 bingo card. Because, why not? It's not any more crazy than Greenland or Canada. Oh, while we're at it "Trump tries to make Iceland and South Africa our 51 states" will be added too. Why Iceland? He's gonna mix up the name with Greenland at least once and double down. Why South Africa? Because Musk will probably try to do it for his Starlink crap.

-fae

[tripolishigh]

Welcome to Tripolis high.

We Welcome you to Tripolis High, a high school made for everyone.

We encourage students to be themselves and to be unique in their own way. We have been inspiring students since 14th of May 1940.

Our staff made this account to keep an eye on students as well as give important announcements! We do have a Snow ball on the way!

We also welcome back our old students! We hope your new school year starts out better than the last and you spend yet again a wonderful time this year. We know exams will be stressful for the oldest ones but do not panic and study well, a lot of you have great potential.

Anyways let’s get to the fun part!

If anyone here wants to join an after school activity, please do! We have quite a lot to offer!

Gardening club

Acting club

Music club

Cooking club

Art club

Science and tech club

Football/basketball/soccer clubs

Film club

History club

Literature club

Dance club

Journalism club

Robotics club

Cheer leading

Student council

Student council is up and running, if anyone wants to apply for a position, please contact us and make a plan for what you think this school needs.

We also are opening president debate!! 2 students will fight for the role of Student council president. A poll will be set and cast the best president for their school.

Thank you all for reading and staying.

-Tripolis High Staff.

OOC:

Finally an account for the school!

This is made by me @mikeydraws and @isityuno

This is a Highschool DC AU, this is mostly about young DC heroes like Young Justice! This is a big project me and Yuno finally brought to daylight, thanks to the encouragement from a few friends of ours. They are also part of this au as characters.

The full list of people in this is all on the pinned account of @jaimereyesbug Which is mine! I run it :)

Thank you to all the people who already joined this is an absolute delight to be apart of, if this AU gains a bigger audience and more people want to join we will open our very own Discord server. But before that I wanna apply some rules

OCs and self-inserts

- this is absolutely fine, don’t feel bad about adding an oc or a self-insert, we accept those and you won’t be judged.

Canon characters

- if a canon character is already taken then don’t bother making your own version of it, we won’t accept them. The reason being is that it will be so confusing for us and keeping track of it, it’s better if we keep it simple.

Older characters

- we accept older characters, like Bruce, dick or Wally. However they won’t be too much focused on as young DC characters are the main voice of the Roleplay, I won’t allow Bruce as a teenager so don’t even try, this will make it weird since we already have a Damian.

NSFW and inappropriate things

- you will get instantly reported and blocked, this is a high school au, most characters are under the age of 18-19.

This is all! Please contact me ( @mikeydraws ) or this blog if you are interested in joining!!

Ciao!