#im in love with barbara and it shows i fear

[tickle-bugs]

If prompt requests are still open, I have a beetlejuice one! We all know Adam is a huge jokester. I like to imagine that Adam and Barbara like to play around and see who can make Lydia laugh the hardest. Adam is always winning with his jokes, so Barbara decided to take matters in her own hands and tickle Lydia since the game just said to make Lydia laugh, but never said it could only be jokes. Adam accused Barbara of cheating and the jumps on her and tickles her and Lydia. Sorry if this doesn’t make sense lol feel free to disregard it if it doesn’t make sense or if prompt requests are closed. Thanks!

Okay, I Believe You

Summary: After a long drought of joy, the Maitlands hold a competition to see who can make Lydia laugh first. No Beetlejuice AU where Lydia summons the Maitlands on accident while trying to bring her mom back.

Something that Barbara will always love about her husband is his unflappable sense of joy. His light never wavers. As a bit of a cynic, she used to take it for granted, but now…his light is the single-most important blessing a ghost could ask for. 

Even now, doing a crossword from almost twelve years ago, Adam’s still smiling. She’s watching him delight himself every time he figures out an answer and it should be more heartwarming than it is, but her mind keeps drifting. 

She flips through one of the Deetz’s photo albums. Dozens of pictures of Lydia, lovingly arranged, spell the story of her childhood. A wobbly, gap-toothed toddler in too-big rain boots grows into a shaggy, unabashedly weird child. Smiling. 

“Do you think Lydia likes us?” Barbara’s gaze turns towards the attic door. Lydia’s trapped downstairs at one of her father’s real estate dinners. Her absence guts Barbara a bit. 

“Of course, honey. Yesterday, she said we were ‘pretty okay’, remember? That’s a big upgrade from ‘tolerable’!” He straightens out the newspaper and watches her over it. She averts her eyes.

“Yeah, maybe.” Barbara chews on her thumb. “Sometimes I wonder if she wished she’d gotten her mom back, instead of us.”

Wordlessly, Adam stands and folds her into a hug. She tucks into the frigid crook of his neck and sighs. Even in death, they fit together perfectly.

“I think—“ He pauses to run his fingers through her hair— “that Lydia shows her affection much differently from other people. We shouldn’t take her normal as anything strange.”

“You’re right.” Barbara sighs. “It’s just…when I think of her, I think of her frowning. Even with all these pictures, I can’t imagine her smile. Her joy.” 

“Tell ya what. I’ll get her to crack a smile and you’ll see what I mean.” Adam leans back a bit to catch Barbara’s eye. 

“You think you can make her smile?” She looks up, sliding her hands to his waist. 

“I’ll do you one better. I’ll make her laugh.” He grins. 

“So confident. Maybe I’ll beat you to the punch.” She raises her brow. He laughs heartily.

“You’re on.” Adam sticks out his hand to shake and Barbara takes it. 

….

A dreary scene unfolds at the dining room table. Real estate execs politely choke down Delia’s food as Charles attempts to dazzle them with his nightmare house. Maxie Dean seems to be the only one enjoying himself--his loud, grating guffaw bursts out every few minutes. A giant taxidermy bear, poised and ferocious, rattles on its stand behind him. The giant red bow on it threatens to slip free. 

Lydia, wearing a frilly yellow nightmare of a dress, busies herself with trying to kill Delia with her eyes. The pointed impact of her silverware against the near-inedible steak on her plate sets a pace for the whole affair.  

“Hey, Lydia.” Adam leans on the back of Lydia’s chair. Immediately, she sits up straighter. 

“What are you guys doing down here? They’ll see you!” Lydia hisses under her breath. When the table breaks out in mechanical laughter, she rolls her eyes. 

Barbara thinks of the time she walked in on Charles and Delia and shudders.

“They definitely can’t see us. Don’t worry about it.” Barbara pats her shoulder.

“We just had to visit our favorite occult expert.” Adam ruffles her hair. Delia looks over curiously. Lydia glares until she turns away. 

“This seems like a drag.” Barbara surveys the table. “What’s with the bear?”

“That wasn’t always there? I thought that was one of your dad’s…choices.” Adam squints at it. Lydia sighs.

“Gift from Maxie. Kill me now,” Lydia mutters, flicking a piece of rubbery steak across the table. When it hits the plate of the agent across from her, she levels him with a challenging stare.

“Well, I can’t do that, but…bear with me.” Adam gestures to the bear with a mischievous grin. 

A bowler hat lifts off of the hat rack and bobs through the air, ducking behind ugly sculptures and chandeliers to avoid prying eyes. It lands haphazardly atop the bear’s head. Adam gestures with more enthusiasm. 

Lydia snorts quietly.

“I’d offer him some of this steak, but…it seems he’s already stuffed.” Adam scrunches his nose and an apple floats into the bear’s open mouth. Lydia ducks her head to hide her smile. 

“What do you think a bear’s favorite constitutional amendment is?” Adam whispers, already chuckling at himself. “The right to bear arms. He’s already halfway there!” 

Lydia rolls her eyes with deadly force, but she’s still smiling. Barbara puts a hand over Adam’s mouth before he can gear up for another unbearable joke. 

“Okay, my turn.” Barbara grins mischievously. 

Maxie Dean taps a knife against his glass for the attention of the table. All eyes turn to him and the bear. 

Barbara flicks her wrist and a vinyl on the other side of the room slips free. It lowers itself onto the record player and the needle drops harshly. A gentle beating of drums fills the room. 

“Whoa, well that was…convenient—“ He looks uneasily towards the turntable—“but I love some mood music.”

When Maxie next opens his mouth, it’s not his squeaky voice that leaves him. Instead, in a guttural shout, he booms:

“DAAAY-O!”

The dining room goes quiet, save for the record. Maxie clears his throat. Lydia’s eyes widen. 

“Sorry, I’m not sure what--me say day me say day me say daaaayyy-o--”

Chaos erupts in the dining room. Harry Belafonte’s crooning voice fills the space as everyone but Lydia is forced to their feet. A conga line of disgruntled real estate mooks chugs around the table. Charles stiffly beats an ice bucket like a drum. The bear rocks around the room on its stand, shimmying with the music. Delia and Maxie spin like tops. 

Lydia sits at the perfect center of the storm, watching the whole thing with a gaping grin. Barbara waits for even a chuckle of disbelief, but all she gets is:

“Make Delia put the fruit bowl on her head.”

… 

“I can’t believe that didn’t work!” Adam pathetically kicks a pile of their junk and shakes a few things loose. A magic eight ball rolls across the attic floor and disappears in some far off corner. 

“Honey, you’ll have to do better than a hat on a bear.” Barbara snorts. “I’m shocked my plan didn’t work.”

“...you are?” Adam raises his eyebrow. Barbara swats his arm. 

“I brought the roasted pig to life and made it chacha! That’s precisely her sense of humor.” 

Lydia comes up into the attic humming. The door squeaks but doesn’t shut behind her. 

“That was awesome.” She sighs happily and twirls. “Almost made wearing this dishrag of a dress worth it.”

“I think you look positively haunting.” Barbara twirls Lydia under her arm, trying to shake a giggle out of an already-silly mood. No dice. Lydia gives a playful curtsy and flops down on a milk crate.

The attic door creaks open and Delia tumbles in. The levity evaporates. 

“Why are you poking around up here?” Lydia scowls. 

“I was not poking, I was…observing the feng shui of the attic stairs.” Delia sniffs and dusts herself off. She steps tentatively into the attic, looking at the various piles of Maitland-Deetz junk with distaste. 

“What do you want? I’m busy.” Lydia taps her foot against the floorboards. Delia approaches her gently. 

“Have you ever read Matilda?” Delia asks loftily. Lydia glares at her hard enough to elicit a squeak of fear. 

“In that charming novella, the titular young heroine develops…supernatural abilities under extreme emotional stress. But ultimately she uses them to rid herself of her greatest enemy and becomes a hero.” Delia gestures fervently at Lydia and receives a blank stare in return. 

“So does Carrie. What’s your point?”

“Look, when I was a youth…I often felt trapped and holed up. I know you must feel that way now, in our new house—“ 

“You think I’m trapped in here with you? You’re trapped in here with me. This is my house.”  Lydia leaps to her feet suddenly. The motion destabilizes a pile of junk at the end of the room. An old lamp falls over. 

“Lydia--” Delia swallows nervously. Adam, seizing the moment, rattles the shutters and piles of clutter. Barbara grins at him. He winks. 

“This can’t be happening.” Delia’s eyes dart around. Adam nudges the magic eight ball towards her. It stops at her feet. Outlook not so good.

“Perception is reality, right? You said it yourself.” Lydia stalks towards her. 

“Hang on, kiddo,” Barbara murmurs in Lydia’s ear, then concentrates. Lydia’s feet rise slowly off the ground as she levitates. She squeaks in surprise, then resolves her face back into murderous mischief. 

“Leave this place!” Lydia shouts, and Adam flings a cross stitch kit from a high shelf. Delia yelps and scrambles backwards. She looks up at Lydia in terror. 

Is this healthy for their relationship long-term? No. Is it fun? Absolutely. 

Delia screams and flees the attic, falling down a few stairs by the sound of it. Adam slams the door shut behind her. 

Lydia grins, bright and free, and it’s the most distinct show of joy they’ve seen from her…ever. Much like the pictures gathering dust up here, she’s radiant. But…still no laughter. Barbara’s not above admitting when she’s desperate. 

“You can put me down now.” Lydia twists to peer at her, still bobbing in place. Barbara chews the inside of her cheek. If this doesn’t work, nothing will. 

“Remember, you can’t kill me if I’m already dead,” she murmurs, then skitters her fingers over Lydia’s stomach. 

Lydia giggles, then cackles, kicking her legs where she still floats in the air. 

The Maitlands gasp in unison--Barbara in sheer joy and Adam in betrayal. 

“B-Barbara!” Lydia throws her head back as she laughs. Barbara squeezes her sides once, gently, and she squeals, shaking with the force of her laughter. Barbara thinks back to the photo albums--Lydia has her mother’s smile. 

“I didn’t think this would work.” Barbara’s hand passes through Lydia by accident and her voice leaps an octave or five. Lydia scrambles for her hand and pulls it out of her stomach. 

“That’ssobad,” Lydia gasps out, giggling like a maniac. Her eyes glitter with sheer joy as she squeezes Barbara’s hand. She almost seems to be waiting for something. 

Oh. How sweet. 

Barbara scuttles her fingers up Lydia’s ribs and her voice completely drops out. She hides her face in her hands but it does nothing to dim the room. It takes her a moment to uncurl once the tickling stops, but Adam catches the flash of disappointment that she tries to smother. 

Lydia floats back down, bewildered and bright pink, as Barbara takes a victory lap around her husband. 

“I win! Yes!” Barbara floats straight off the ground in a joyous little spin. Adam splutters and gestures at her. She sticks her tongue out at him. He splutters louder. 

“You are disqualified for eternity--” 

“On whose authority--” She snickers. 

“What is happening?” Lydia throws an old pillow directly through both of them. It thumps uselessly to the ground. 

“We were having a little contest to see if we could make you laugh. I won.” Barbara grins. Adam growls and starts reeling her into his arms. She gasps and starts trying to worm away. 

“You did not win, you cheated--”

“You guys are so…weird. Why do you care if I smile?” Lydia’s nose wrinkles with the force of her thoughts. She doesn’t look upset, which is promising, but she’s quickly reaching neon levels of blush. Her teenage need to look cool is very visibly warring with her smile. 

“Well, kiddo--” Adam speaks smoothly while wrestling with a giggling Barbara-- “We care about you. Is that such a radical concept?” 

As Lydia stands there, quietly bowled over that someone would look at her with such care, Adam busies himself with tickling his wife within an inch of her undead life. Barbara’s laughter floods the attic, the lights flickering in time with the music of it.

It’s so simple to them, Lydia thinks. Joy. 

“You gonna stand there like a ghost or are you gonna help?” Adam grins, lifting Barbara clear off the ground. She shrieks in surprise and starts stumbling her way through bargaining. Lydia coos at her mockingly and accepts Adam’s invitation. As she approaches, Barbara starts talking faster, and Lydia’s heart warms. 

“Wait, guys, we can talk about this--”

Adam buries her face into her neck and she squeals, somehow higher pitched than Lydia. Barbara throws her head back to laugh and it’s warm in its familiarity. Lydia dismisses the memories swirling like watercolors at the edges of her mind, instead opting to tase Barbara’s ribs. She snorts through her next peal of laughter, tossing her head from side to side as she tries to hide. The snorts find her anyway. 

Adam and Lydia exchange a mischievous look. 

Adam descends on one side, Lydia on the other, and Barbara giggles so violently that she phases directly through the floor. Adam and Lydia burst out laughing, leaning on each other for support. Barbara trudges back up the attic stairs, grumbling, and it sets them off again. 

“Next time, we’re setting up rules.” Adam wipes his eyes.

“Next time I’m sending you through the floor,” Barbara fires back, wiggling her fingers in his direction. Adam yelps and disappears entirely. 

Lydia’s too busy laughing at him to acknowledge the flutter of excitement at ‘next time’, but she’s overjoyed that it’s there.

[h0ney-san]

✑ "Magic in your hold"

[Holw!Creator Au]

CW: NB Reader (im trying-), PLATONIC Reader & Bennett, mentions of Razor and Barbara, Bennett is called "My child" and "Sleeping beuty". Benny having bad luck as always, angst at the middle part(?, Benny close to death- bad writting and mistakes, English is not my first lenguaje.

A/N: Okay after a big brake and re writting this thing on like 6 times i can finally post THE BEGGINING PART of this series ( please kill me ), i wanted to post it all together, but since i haven't post in mounts i prefer to do this in separated parts so you can enjoy it. I'm sorry I taked to long, a lot of things have happened in my personal life...

You can see it more in a normal SAGAU rather that SAGAU imposter AU. This takes place after Fontaine Archon Quest!

His bad luck is back again.

As Bennett was in the branch of a large tree, avoiding the rocks that 3 Hilichurls are throwning at him, he can't stop thinking back some months ago, where his life was the best he have ever dream.

Back in the day the Almigthy Creator woke up from their sleep and took the Traveler as their first vassel, he was daydreaming of ever meeting them, since he haves memory, he can remember his dads telling him bedtime storys and legends of the Almigthy Creator, of how they made this word, bless it and mold all with care and love for all of them was something they did often when he was more little, never he could imagine that the literally Creator of all would woke up in Mondstatd, something that just elders pray about to see with their eyes, something that young ones hope that their generation would have the pride to tell about, it finally happend.

You can even imagine his exciment when he notice how other vision holders began to be grap in the wram embrace of the Guide of the elements, not only from Mondstatd, but also Liyue and even some from Inazuma and Sumeru and Fontaine! You could heard the loud "GASP" he let out when non other that Razor was chosen as a vassel from miles away, how his eyes sparkle as he saw the vassels walk by, showing the artifacts and wepons their Grace gift to them with pride ( Even tho that at the begining they were just random and din't really fit them... ).

Slowly but surely, people around Teyvat began to randomly be chosen as a vassel, and he could only wish to be one of them, he tried his hardest to cach their goddly sigth for just a second, fithing enemies that other adventures fear ( Even tho he end up in Mondtastd church to be heal by Barbara ), getting inside a ancient ruin to get a legendary artifact ( Wich was just a rumor and it din't exist such thing ), heck, he even began to pray harder before going to sleep to the point of almost dessesperation, as his dads peeked thro his door staring at him, kneling infront of his bed almost screaming.

✑⸻"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DEAR CREATOR PLEASE-"

As just time pass, he began to get a bit anxius, more and more people he know were chossed as vassels, but not him... Razor, Barbara, Kaeya, Lisa, Amber, The Traveler, Noelle, all discribe from a different perspective how it was the felling of becoming a vassel, something that he really wanted, but knowing his luck... the only thing he could had is hope.

One late nigth, when his constellecion was shining for all to see in the dark of Mondstatd, his bad luck hit again, making him running around to cach a owl that steald his sword, he presenciate something that fit the tittle of Miracle, a meteor shower start, as he know from the tales...

"When the meteor shower start and your constelaccion is up in the sky, theres a chance that they see you, and take you as their new vassel"

As the sky began to shine, he have see it before, normally theres a purple glow on it, and people have said that if they chose you, that beuthiful purple glow start would approuch you.

Aneixiety began to grow in his stomach, going up to his throt. He cross his fingers and murmur under his breath.

✑⸻"Please... please"

Forgeting about his now lost sword, Bennett began to pray, closing his eyes hard and taking a deep breath, feeling the wind pass thro his hair softly, and how his hands tremble a bit, it was almost as time have pause itself.

When he slowly open his eyes, he meet a shiny purple glow that stryke him... quite literally, because he feel backwards as the star hit him all over the face-

Even with the way it began, he can swerd for his life that that was the luckyes day he will ever have and had.

To his great surprise, the Almigthy Creator adore him! He felt a blush on his checks as he heard the voice of non other that the Gods of Gods, prise him, and call him cute names that only his fathers call him, the nickname they use more to call him was "My child" ( Tho he notice that they call "My child" almost everyone around his age or below, but still he was the first to be call that. ), they spend a good amount of time farming artifacts meant for him, swords? Now he have a good hand to pick of, as the the Almigthy above is always getting new wepons and they always see if theres one that cold fit him, he knows is a support, he have heard it from the Creator one or two times, but it still make him feel so especial to know that the Almigthy Creator has favorites and he is one of them... wich sooner or later, make him actually see the Almigthy Creator as a parental figure.

Along side them, his bad luck dessapeard, chest were not affected by his bad luck, weather? Nope, teamates? Never, now that they have make him stronger he was not only able to protect himself, but now his others... Countless adventures, powerfull enemies, lovely escenarys, all that he dream of when he was back in his normal life have came real... Or so he thogth.

Because dreams are that, dreams, and one way or another, you would wake up.

Maybe it was his fault for becoming so dependient of them.

Maybe it was his fault for letting his guard down.

Maybe he could have do something to prevent them for dissapear.

But after all, he is a mere mortal, a teeneger.

Six months back, some time after that Fontaine was saved from the profesy, he wake up and make his day, everything was normal, all people were doing their own things, but... he some how feel... out of place, like something its wrong, one of his first mistakes was think that it was his imagintaion or after the Creator appeard like usual and take control over him he would feel better, but they din't show up.

Its not so out of place that they din't appear for time to time, but this time it feel... different, he can't put his finger on it, but it feel weird.

So, him, the vassels, archons and Teyvat wait.

And waited.

And waited...

And... waited...

They didn't return back.

People began get worried around Teyvat, trying to figure out where are they and if they are okay, but when the preyers and vassels call their holy name there was no anwser...

Its almost as they didn't exist, like it was before their awakening, the vision holders that were filled with their warm often, now feel more cold that they would have before, and the more terrefing thing was, the things they got for them slowly losse their holy aura.

The artifacts? Began lo lose the color they had.

The wepons? Began to be normal ones that were capable of getting broke.

The visions? They don't shine as they used to.

And slowly, his bad luck was back again.

Today was one of these days.

The wind took his map out of his reach, he got loss, it began to rain, a bunch of Hilichurls hunt him down, and last but not least, the sword they took a bunch of materials to level up for him, broke in two when he was figthing the Hilichurls back...

He was huging the handle of the now broke sword, something that remind him of the Almigthy Creator, as he tried to make the Hillichurls go away, swinging the sword at them.

✑⸻"Sho! Sho! Bad Hilichurls! Ba- H- hey! Stop trowing rocks at me!- Ouch- nOT THE SLIMES-"

He tried to cover himself as the Hilichurls began to tried pull up Pyro slimes to tried to hit him, but... they just suddenly stop their accions, and were staring at him ( Kind of, the masks make it hard to know if they are looking at him... )

✑⸻"Huh?... Why did they suddenly-"

Bennett couldn't finnish the sentence before the three Hilichurs run for dear life, did he scared them-?? Or-

✑⸻"W-WHOA-! WH-WHAT IS GOING ON-?!"

The ground began to shake to much it made him almost trip and fall, clinging to the tree for balance, he began to hear... the sound of a machine, clocks, old metal of a heavy height, that was just behide him.

✑⸻"[Please don't be a Ruind Guard, please don't be a Ruin Guard, please don't-]"

Slowly looking backwards with his eyes closes he began to pray every divine being to protect him, to pray it wasn't a Ruin Guard, the loud noises of foosteps made by a giant machine steping agains the wet grass, the cold wind and the rain souding hardly againts his ears, Bennett slowly open one of his eyes.

Oh! That's not a Ruin Guard.

.

.

.

That's NOT a Ruin Guard!!

✑⸻"WHAT IN BARBATOS-"

A machine much larger that a Ruin Guard, or any machines he have seen in Mondstandt, so large that even the large tree he was on look like a tiny branch, it seams like its made of pices of old metal and ruins, wet thanks to the rain, and making loud noises as it walks, that thing breaths fire... he can't quiet cach it all, because that thing is almost gonna crush the tree he is clinging-

✑⸻"OH OH- NO NO NO- W-WHOA!!"

His luck again betrays him, but this time, it puts him rigth in the line of life and death.

He tried to get down of the tree as quick and safe posible, but not only thanks by the ground shaking and the wet branch he was on, he slips and falls, before all turns dark, before he hits the ground, before he is crush to death by that thing, his only wish is...

✑⸻"[Dear creator... Please save me...]"

Maybe after death, he can finally feel their warmt again.

.

.

.

Huh

.

.

.

Was this after death?

.

.

.

Is more... boring that he spected.

Just... black

.

.

.

And felling warm.

.

.

.

Warm?-

✑⸻"Heeey... kiddo? Have you alredy woke up-?"

... huh?

A voice talk to him softly, and he did his best to look like he is still sleeping ( he clearly looks like he is just playing dumb- ) and tried to know were is he, relaying on his sense of touch, Bennett can tell he isn't in the wild, that he is on... a sofa, probably- with a blanket cover him up and cotton bandages that hug his brusies softly.

Slowly open his eyes, his vision was blury, but one thing is sure, theres fire close to him, and there someone here in this room with him...

✑⸻"Good morning sleeping beauty, did you have a good rest?"

Is-

.

.

.

Is the fire talking?!

Jumping on the couch, now fully awake, Bennett frote his eyes multiple times to clear his view- is he in a coma? A dream? Alucination? He haves never heard of something like this before!

✑⸻"W-wait-!? Are you alive?!"

✑⸻"Of course i am, why would you think im not?"

The talking fire was... weird, it had eyes, and a mouth, being in a old looking fire place cover in ashes, close to the sofa he was in, it seams like it also haves hands, because rigth now it pull some fresh wood agains their flamimg body to burn even more.

✑⸻"You almost gives us a heart attack, you know? Finding you pass out in the middle of the way to the north of Mondstatd while it was raining was somethimg we weren't expecting at all... You feel alrigth? Your brusies were pretty bad, and im not very sure if the healing magic work out... you really have a BAD curse you know?"

Getting out of his shock, Bennett quickly check himself out, looking at the clean new bandages he can tell they were recent, his body don't really hurt like it normaly do, he feels just like when Barbara finish to heal him, or when the holy power of the Creator heal him...

Curse? What does that mean- is it refering to his bad luck?

✑⸻"I uh- yes! i feel great, thank you...?"

✑⸻"Im Calcifer, a extremely powerful fire demon and protector of this place, nice to meet you kid... its have been a while that i don't introduce myself like that-"

✑⸻"Demon!? Wait- uh- can you tell me where are we?? I remember falling from a branch because i wanted to escape from a giant machine that was going to crush me- and- how long i been sleeping??"

✑⸻"We are in (•••) castle, its very messy around here, so don't go wandering around here- (•••) haven't clean around here for a while now and i totally refuse to do it for them... and, you have been sleeping like... one and half day? Most likely"

✑⸻"I been sleeping that long?! Crap! my fathers are gonna get worried!!-"

Bennett tried to stand up, but with just his first step he fell to the floor and Calcifer got to the edge of the old fire wood

✑⸻"Hey- slow down kid!- you haven't eat anything for a while, even if you were sleep you body haven't recarge the energy lost, you know? Not to mention the weird escenario you were on before you pass out"

✑⸻"But- [sigh] i need to go back, i been far from home before but- this time they don't know were i am..."

✑⸻"Well, sorry to get you out of your bubble, but you are wounden and we are almost at the north of Mondstatd, if you try to go home like this, im pretty sure you will have a pretty bad death"

Bennett, looked at Calcifer defeated, sighing and re incorporing slowly in the sofa, as he began to murmur

✑⸻"[Sigh] Can you... Can you atleast help me to go back? Please?"

✑⸻"Umm-..."

Calcifer looked away avoiding the puppy eyes of Bennett, and seem a bit nervous by the question.

✑⸻"Erm... Listen kid... I can't-"

Calcifer was abruply interrupted by the sound of a door being open, the craking woodfloor as fast footsteps where heard.

✑⸻"Calficer, we need to move 50 meter away please, i just saw some treasure-... horders..."

The person let mid sentence as they saw Bennett, full awake.

✑⸻"Uh... welcome back (•••)!..."

This was going to be a really long day...

Holy Jesus Christ on a bike, it took me long for posting, I'm really sorry, things have happened and I completely forgot about posting this, I really hope you like it...

For now...

See y'all!!

⸻ h0ney 🍯🐝.

⸻ TAGLIST

@originalcollectivedragon

[pinazee]

First season wrap up:

Okay, to start, i should mention my general opinion on first seasons for shows, especially cable shows, is not to read too much of it as canon. The writers, producers, actors- everyone- are all trying to figure out what works and what doesn’t, so i give them latitude, particularly when it conflicts with later seasons. That being said, i do enjoy jumping through the hoops to make it all fit haha

So heres a few leftover notes i had as i revisited the eps to rank them:

I bet part of Lassie was craving the father figure in Henry, since we find out later his own father passed away when he was quite young. I wonder if thats part of the reason why he became a cop, as they are portrayed as the protectors and in the 80’s they were mainly men (i don’t really remember if he states his reason later, i suspect he did and im just not remembering). So when Henry didn’t meet up to the expectation he had in his mind, i bet it hurt a little more as it reminded him of what he lost :/

I think the other reason Shawn plays dumb so much, besides hiding his genius so ppl believe hes psychic, or for laughs, is because its how he gets people talking. Like in Shawn vs. the red phantom, he purposely guessed the wrong room number so the boys would correct him. My apologies if someones pointed this out before, i haven’t combed through the internet for everyone’s theories 😬 i only now noticed. I’m not the quickest at picking these things up lol

If i had to guess, Shawn didn’t want to be a cop for halloween, he probably wanted to be something star wars related to go with Gus’s Lando. So i wonder at what age Shawn stopped trying to please his dad. But also, why didn’t his mother ever stand up for him?? I’ll come back to her later -_-

I somehow missed it the first time, but shawn clearly asked Gus to come to the dinner and Gus even points out that it was a big deal for henry to reach out. Soo, yeah, shawn obviously didn’t wanna be alone with his dad, and even henry seemed nervous about it as hes pretty drunk.

Shawn has a right to be afraid of pointy things, his dad hid his easter eggs under glass when he was 6! Not to mention he later gets stabbed 3 times! (Also its just a legitimate fear???)

So far the list of Shawns knowledge (things i wouldn’t expect an average person to know) includes (beyond the obvious observational skills, deductive reasoning, reading people (poker), and all things police (marksmanship, police codes, etc.)):

Incredible spatial and physical reasoning skills (knowing how much money could fit in the duffle bag, knowing to rotate the water pitcher to catch the reflection from the tv)

Kurt Vonnegut (well, I didn’t know who he was at least)

How to spell aggiornamento (and probably all words because of his photographic memory)

Handwriting expert

Casually spoke and understood german

Has every road he’s driven mapped in his brain, and likely all of Santa Barbara

Familiar with paint (enough to know to mix latex enamel for no messy drips)

Animal tracks (i went back and forth on this but ultimately decided he must have known what to look for)

And heres a list of Gus’s niche interests:

Forensics

Spelling bee

Safe cracking

Historic rifles

Comic books

Astronomy (even though he was going to the planetarium for the girl)

Law

Local tennis

Online poker

Lastly, Ive decided instead of ranking them, im putting them in tiers. I feel like too many of them are hitting at the same level and I can’t differentiate:

Sweetest, Juiciest Golden Pineapple Tier

Scary Sherry, Biancas toast (ohmygod i just got the biancas toast 🤦🏽‍♀️)

Blue Psych Logo Tier

Weekend warriors

Forget me not

From the earth to starbucks

Poker? I hardly know her! (Sorry @pineapple-psychic!)

Pepto Bismo Pink Tier

Spelling bee

Pilot

She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me oops hes dead

Who ya gonna call?

Shawn vs the red phantom

Oops Canadian Flag Tier

Cloudy with a chance of murder

9 lives

Game set muuurder

Speak now or forever hold your piece

Woman seeking dead husband, smokers okay, no pets

[cowboybrunch]

writerly questionnaire tag!!!

finally getting around to this, thanks a million @the-golden-comet (here) @harmonic-melodii (here) and @fortunatetragedy (here) <3

About You

When did you start writing?

as soon as i could hold a pen. i have notebooks FULL of little me's stories (i keep everything ive ever written. for nostalgia.) it was mostly silly escapism for a lonely child but now it's sweet to look at and giggle. from when i was maybe eight? nine?: "Pain and fear, like a perfect recipe. Pain and fear, milk and eggs"

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

mmm probably. when i say ill read anything, i mean ill read ANYTHING. i dont think ill ever write a hockey romance but im down to clown

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you’re often compared?

poetry-wise Bhanu Kapil has been a massive inspiration for me. also Kaveh Akbar and Ariana Reines (Mercury sits in a place of honor on my bookshelf). for novels? i feel like i emulate whatever i last read. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver did horrible (affectionate) things to the way i write

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.)

my office! my favorite place in the world!! cozy lights (that double as gamer lights), diet coke can graveyard, comfy office chair big enough for me to sit in a way that absolutely destroys my posture. sticky notes everywhere (a fun challenge! can i read my own handwriting?) AND!! i have an audience

What’s your most effective way to muster up some muse?

reading something else, talking to someone about whatever im stuck on, setting a timer and just dumping everything in my brain (something in there HAS to be worth pursuing)

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

HA!

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

overbearing parental figures that believe they're acting in the best interest of their kid... surprising when i realized that it's in almost everything i write characters that are good at heart but commit atrocities due to their circumstances... less surprising oh! and death. i write a lot about death (someone pointed this out recently and i was like huh. you right)

Your Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character? (Current WIP, past WIP, never used, etc.)

Missy and Theodore staring at each other like

sorry! Theodore is my favorite!! he got here first!!!! he's my precious loser baby boy who HAPPENS to be the heir of death but he's trying his best! he's pathetic!! he's doomed!! but he means well! he doesn't want anyone to die alone! he wants to be good! he wants to be good soooo bad!! he hates rivers but loves the ocean!! he lies to everyone, including himself! he's simultaneously full of self-loathing and self-righteousness!! AND... he's bisexual!!

Which of your characters do you think you’d be friends with in real life?

i would kick it with Robbie for SURE. snarky little smarty pants that can't sit still for more than five minutes, we'd be peas

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

*looks around nervously* ... Marcella (BOO!! TOMATO!!) im sensitive and she would be mean to me!! i feel like we'd warm up to each other eventually but not before she made me cry

Tell me about the process of coming up with of one, all, or any of your characters.

they just kinda... show up. and reveal more about themselves as i write them

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

ougffff. lots of anger in these parts. most of my characters are angry, esp the women. as they should be

How do you picture them? (As real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc.)

depends on the character! for main guys, they get listed descriptions but i cant picture them in my head (thank you picrew). but others? they're like. blurry shadows moving through the story (do NOT ask me what Uriel looks like! i DONT KNOW!)

Your Writing

What’s your reason for writing?

words in brain make story in head. need story out of head so i can focus on literally anything else no but seriously. that quote that's like "the only thing worse than writing is not writing." it's like. a maintenance activity. if im feeling especially wound up it's probably because i havent written anything lately

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

if you leave me ANY comment i am kissy you on the forehead. just knowing that someone read it let alone enjoyed it... waoh

How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in whatever way you interpret this question.)

i am... trying very hard not to fall into self-deprecation here. i think there are things that i do well and things that i can improve on, but even if i write something and think it's "bad" i can still learn from it. all practice is good practice!!! (said through gritted teeth)

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

yea! i would find comfort in it i think, same way i do now. have my little characters for company

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it’s a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

i am my own target audience. i am the conductor of the self-indulgence train but there's room aplenty if you wanna hop on

tag! @illarian-rambling @writingrosesonneptune @sarandipitywrites @mrbexwrites @mysticstarlightduck and a wide open tag if you havent done this yet. gimme a peek into your brain!!!

[tableintheteacherslounge]

Abbott Elementary S03E08 thoughts

Melissa schemmenti angry slut

THIS COLD OPEN I WAS CRYINGGGG

Barb’s protective goggles

“We gonna be down about $700

The squeeze my cheeks kid

Every one getting hit in the damn face

Ava pushing gregory

Greg vs tariq 🥵

Barb shooting in the wrong basket then saying “i’m carrying this team”

Gregory flipping the table

Just PERFECTION

“Why dont u look better” ava really says what i wanna say to people

What IS up with melissa to be snappy, always on her phone, hookups, staying out late

Heyyy manny 🤭 he’s foine I’m SORRY

But if Janine’s meant to be in once a week whys she not seen her abbott friends - not her and jacob not seeing each other 😓

“Girl was there a fire?” See this delivery is why slr has an emmy

Ok I KNEW melissa would hookup with burt hummel. I cant deny the chemistry and at least he’s a better actor than g*ry, but lets keep it casual yeah?

RICHARD TYLER WILLIAMS 💀

The delivery on “interesting 😀”

Tariq hosting the panel?!? I love that for us

Badass janine get it girl! She is ON IT

Not ava and crystal speaking over each other 😭

“I don’t think this is on 🎤 “ “IT IS” ijbol 💀😭

Barb is stroppy and sad ☹️ but why wouldn’t melissa trust her! I get it! But also it’s casual so maybe I get not saying anything too! But barb is so sad (jealous) that melissa didn’t tell her (jealous)

CASUAL GHOST

No bc whys that ur face after ur friend tells u its just sex BARB? I get being upset at not being told but why are u upset its just sex … unless… jealousy

Why arent they clapping abbott 🙁

Why is tariq scoring 😭😭

“Give it some razzle For the love of god gregory give it some dazzle”

Janine just caring about the gossip she’s me

Friend of over 15 years!!! I appreciate the work wives lore but that is literally inaccurate I’m sorry

“Since your lips already touched” GASP (also br*no could never deliver a line like that I’m just saying)

The workwives having a marital spat while ppl are just trying to get their certifications

Is it different? Mmm lowkey bc melissa should know what’s going on in her house but also she can acknowledge that actually barb was validly upset but we know Melissa is stubborn sooo

On her roof? Ew! I dont need to know honestly

Janine not reading Jacob’s text 😖

MANNY CALLING JANINE BIG TEAGUES TEEHEEE 🤭 KICKING FEET TWIRLING HAIR

Gregory sit down 😭 honestly that speech alone could give tyler an emmy nom

MR BOHNSON FROM BABBOTT BELEMENTARY HELP

“You talked to me about gary” aww 🥺☹️

“Because that was a real relationship that YOU approved of” ok poignant emphasis on you - Barbara’s opinion is so important to her 🥺 that’s her number 1

“Awwwmygod congrats” “thank you baby”

Melissa’s true apology 🥺

MELISSA DRAGGING BARB CLOSER TO HER EVEN THO BARB WAS STILL MAD i feel like that was lisa and sheryl

“Look how coy this boy is” jacob always gets great ppl as love interests bc first zach and now i love this guy too “i even showed captain robinson” aw 🙁

Janine aced it! Quintas physical comedy is soo good

Wait is mr j wearing a jacket over his uniform 😭

Cancelling on the fireman for barb 🥺

I fear burt hummel doesn’t want it as casual as mel

“Ok did he just make me fall in love with him” 😭

BI AVA BI AVA!! Wbk but BI AVA (but yk im a hardcore barlissa truther so shipping them w ava makes me gag)

MR JOHNSON PANEL beep beep beep that to my face!!!

Wish they ended on barlissa at the bar tho :(

Ok overall I honestly didnt love that ep at first

And the big reason is i didnt think the panel needed so much and i wanted barlissa to have more

Their conflict didn’t feel as real and earnest as other examples

It got wrapped up surprisingly quickly - they fell out more over safety scissors and ‘yous’

And I’d’ve liked them to share a vulnerable moment away fro everyone else.

It just felt eh

Also being away from school felt weird too

Based on teaser clips i thought it could be a lisa emmy consideration ep but no - could be for tyler though

Barbara’s jealousy is v v interesting tho 👀

After a few days I like it more

I still feel a bit confused tho

OH MY GOD I FORGOT TO MENTION KEEGAN MICHAEL KEY HELLO??!?? What a guest actor to get oh my god

[lolotheparagon]

What Each G3 Pony Thinks of Scarecrow

Scootaloo: HES THE BEST!! He’s super scary, super smart, super cool and just SUPER EVERYTHING! I was the only pony out of my friends who liked scary stuff so I’m so psyched to have a friend I have something in common with! And to think this all started from me making a wish for a live scarecrow. We both try to scare people on the street which is really easy for me cos for some reason, I scare everyone in Gotham. Mr Crane says it’s because they can’t comprehend talking ponies. Weird. Anyway, Mr Crane may be a grump, but I bet having seven ponies to look after must be pretty hard. He always makes time for me though! He says I’m his no 1 henchpony and calls me Ragnarök! Which means natural disasters or something. Either way it’s cool! He’s the best boss ever and I hope he likes this new butterfly bomb I came up with!

Cheerilee: I thought he was a stinky old man at first, but we’ve got a lot more in common than I thought! For a scarecrow, he’s actually very smart! Which is strange, cos I thought scarecrows have no brains. Well, that shows what I know! Mr Crane has taught me loads of subjects like psychology, complex math and biology. Ponyville’s library doesn’t have any knowledge like this. It is a little hard to wrap my head around at times but it is worth it to rub it in Scoot’s face hehe. Mr Crane would make a very good teacher, if he didn’t look like a stitched up skeleton

Rainbow Dash: I know he doesn’t get my love of fashion and that’s totes understandable. He’s old. I mean have you SEEN that cloak?! Major frump alert! And pee-uw! does his breath stink! But he’s cool, as long as you don’t put him in a bad mood. But that won’t stop me from putting him in a dress! He is long overdue for a makeover!

Pinkie Pie: I don’t know if he’s our boss or our dad but either way, it’s nice to have someone to look up to. I may be the leader of my friends, but Im still a pony. So I can always rely on Mr Crane for advice. But he has a very weird sense of what’s right and wrong and I’m gonna criticise the heck out of that! I’ve never seen Mr Crane laugh, but when he does, it’s nice to see! But he’s never happy regularly when he’s around us. Sometimes I don’t know if he likes us very much… I try to cheer him up with a surprise party, but Mr Crane doesn’t like parties. Says they’re too loud. Doesn’t like the colour pink either. He does save us from Riddler’s bullying and protects us from people in Gotham throwing stuff at us, he’s very polite and says he “likes” us. So thats good!

Sweetie Belle: He can be a bit mean and grumpy but I think he’s very nice deep down. After all, he gives us toys, trips to the funfair and ice cream if we’re good! He also gave us such funny nicknames! I’m Pesticide! It’s also funny how he struggles to say our normal names without making a grumpy face! Haha Mr Crane is the funniest boss ever! Although I don’t get his whole scaring people thing with fear. I’m pretty sure he can scare people with how he looks already

Toola Roola: Its amazing how a scarecrow can be both magic and be really smart! He looks very scary but I guess that’s his job, isn’t it? And it kinda makes sense where he comes from. Gotham is a very gloomy place. Aw, I bet he misses it a little after being in Ponyville for so long. Maybe I’ll paint him a nice graveyard with lots of crows on it. That’ll cheer him up!

Starsong: You can tell he’s an old man cos he doesn’t know what TikTok is. Although it is so worth it cos his dancing is so silly, heehee! Good thing our babysitter whenever we visit Gotham, Barbara Gordon, knows all about TikTok and loves our dances! She has a beautiful singing voice! Oh yeah, we were talking about Mr Crane. Well, the only dancing he likes is the St Vitus’ dance. Why would a dance be named after a saint? That doesn’t sound very groovy…Mr Crane’s really weird.

Here is part 1.

[berenwrites]

Anyone Else Love Mission Impossible?

And I'm not talking Tom Cruise here, I'm talking the original series 1966 - 1973. This is my go-to, feel good re-watch show.

I've had the DVDs for years, but I bought myself the blu-ray set with birthday money and so, of course I am watching them all again.

If you watch enough episodes you begin to believe that five people with a plan can save the world. Really kind of a good feeling in the current day and age.

For those unfamiliar, Mission Impossible is an action series where the Impossible Mission team, led by Dan Briggs (Steven Hill) in season 1 and Jim Phelps (Peter Graves) for the other 6 seasons (and the 2 seasons of the 80s sequel), prevent foreign government or the mafia or hitmen or anyone bad, from getting their own way.

Each episode is a stand alone adventure (with maybe 1 double ep per season), so its easy to dip in and out without fear of having missed a vital plot point. Oh weekly episode shows how I miss thee.

If you or any of you IM force are caught or killed, the secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This tape will self destruct in five seconds.

The first 5 seasons are the best IMHO, with clever plots. Season 6 & 7 are still fun, but they don't have the same intricacies as the previous ones and are very much US based, where as the other season pretend to be all over the world.

When I used to watch it in re-runs as a kid, I really thought Jim picked a different team for each mission, but in my defence I did only ever get to see an episode every now and then.🤣 And I had totally forgotten there was a different leader for the team in season 1.

No Seasons - 7

No Episodes - 172 (they made nice long seasons then)

Cast:

Steven Hill - Dan Briggs - S1 Barbara Bain - Cinnamon Carter - S1-3 Greg Morris - Barnard "Barney" Collier - S1-7 (and guested in 1980s) Peter Lupus - William "Willy" Armitage - S1-7 Peter Graves - Jim Phelps - S2-7 (and 1980s) Martin Landau - Rollin Hand - S1-3 Leonard Nimoy - Paris - S4-5 Lesley Ann Warren - Dana Lambert - S5 Sam Elliott - Dr. Doug Robert - S5 Lynda Day George - (Lisa) Casey - S6-7 Barbara Anderson - Mimi Davis - S7

This is well worth a watch if you get the chance. It's an uplifting kind of show where the good guys always win with the most outlandish plans.

Anyone else have fond memories of this show?

Forgot to add, my fav episode is s3e13 - The Mind of Stefan Miklos, but there are many others a close second.

Anyone have a fav episode you remember, even if it's just a vague recollection?

[rottiens]

How did you feel about homelander and stormfront? I really wished we could see more of what stormfront was doing in that lab. But I think you’re the first person I’ve seen that likes homelander (outside of liking how he’s written as a character) I have great disdain for all of the seven except for the original noir. And I appreciated the responses you gave to my other questions regarding homelander! I’d love to hear what about him you think is appealing? I personally love Antony Starr I think he’s doing an amazing job portraying homelander and of course I love the nuances of the character

i also wish to see what else stormfront was doing in that lab, i would like them to maybe show more about that in the future although i must watch it again because i dont quite remember, maybe it had to do with what was going on in the lab in gen v (let me know if you saw it)? but i will watch those eps again to keep my mind fresh

and i never liked stormfront especially around homelander because she made him much worse, she pushed that evil side of him to such an extent that you see him in some scenes "impressed" with her actions and that's a lot to say about HL (like when she talks to ryan about racism towards white people 😭 and further distorting the reality of the facts to confuse ryan, this woman lol) and maybe it's hypocritical of me to say i don't like her when i like HL but i feel he can come up with charisma, for people on the outside who admire him and you as a viewer too, you can come to like him because he is charismatic (the smile, how he presents himself to others, the hypocrisy in terms of kindness, he is made for people to adore him) and I also love his twisted humor but I can't rescue anything about stormfront, she is so extreme and there is nothing about her character that I like. and like i said, her and homelander are just worse, but the sex my friend? 🤌🏼 i loved every single scene between them lol she just matcheted his freak so well, i know he misses her for that and to my understanding their relationship was especially based on that

im so curious now about what makes you like noir…its his story maybe…i feel like they didn't give us much of him but what they did give us was so meaningful and emotional and sad at the same time, what he had to go through to finally die like that

and baby lskdk i'll try to be as honest with you as possible, psychoanalyzing myself but not spreading myself too thin. antony plays a big part in me liking the character, if it was another actor it probably wouldn't have the same effect on me. so points for the face. out of that,

1) in the beginning i hated HL so much lmao the first season was just horrible, i couldn't watch him because i hated him, every trait of his personality was (is) horrible. same in season two, especially knowing what he did to butcher's wife that man had (has) to go down.

2) it all started in season three and soldier boy where they show us more of who homelander is, jhon. we meet his son and they show us of that more human side of him and that's when i realize the imperfections that the strongest man in the world has, in the end he is nothing but human, and there is nothing i love more than when they justify a villain correctly

3)dont get me wrong, i still hate him and i keep waiting for his downfall but he is still among my favorite characters of the boys because he seems to me such an interesting and complete character, his nuances, his complexity, his fears, his insecurities (i like how they work that little by little in the seasons) and what makes me love him with the same intensity i hate him, is how human he is deep down inside. his psychological problems and his need for affection seem so well achieved, and dealt with in the series that i am drawn to him. and the icing on the cake was that scene with barbara, his character is so well done chefs kiss mwah. it is so sad to see everything this kid had to go through, all he has known is terror so it is the only face he can show.

4)kinks. ✋🏼✋🏼 what can i say???? 👆🏼 homelander activates my predator prey kink + so many others. and a horny person can't think well their decisions 😞 and again, antony and his so good acting, hes so so so good, his facial expressions and tone of voice and aaaaand physique ofc plays a very important part.

thank you very much for asking 🥺 i tried to be as brief as possible sorry lskdkd

[moreaugriffins]

oh boy, i have so many (heads up, it's mostly 2, and 3 and 6. i haven't seen much of 4 or 7 yet so i dont really have any recommendations for them even though im sure they have some great stories) 1:

'the romans' - i think it was the last purely historical story? and i enjoyed it a lot. ian and barbara are iconic as always, and 1 is a lot warmer than he was back in season 1. vicki is very sweet. the story is a little all over the place at first, but that's what happens when the gang is split up. honestly, i thought it was kinda a funny story. the characters just keep missing each other, and there's a lot of shenanigans

2:

'enemy of the world' - patrick troughton gets to show off his range when it comes to acting, and that's neat. a lot of politics, a lot of corruption, a powerful figurehead the gang must find a way to take down.. and yet, it's not all so black and white.

unfortunately, the character troughton plays (other than 2) is a mexican guy, so he puts on an accent and darkens his skin slightly. it was the 60s and was considered relatively ok for actors to do, but yeah. heads up on that.

'web of fear' - it has the first appearance of lethbridge-stewart (a colonel in this) what more reason do you need to watch it? ok well apart from that, it has a neat mystery going on, and it has the yetis/great intelligence.

'the invasion' - first introduction to UNIT, and we have brigadier lethbridge-stewart (and benton!). it also has a neat mystery to it (which,, isn't much of a mystery when you think about it, but it's interesting to watch it unfold). the doctor just needed some circuits fixed, and how he, jamie, and zoe, are stuck trying to take down this corrupt company and leader, with the help of UNIT (oh and stop the cybermen). compared to a lot of classic who stories, i think this one actually has good pacing

'the war games' - the pacing is a little all over, and it's long (10 episodes!), but damn if the story didn't make me emotional. no happy endings this time, y'all

(now that i think about it, to get the best out of this story, i'd recommend you leave it until you've seen all of 2's run.. or all of two's run, starting from when zoe joined.. then think about what they were like when they met the doctor, what was their life like, and how much they changed by travelling with him-)

3:

'doctor who and the silurians' - i mean, if i could, i'd recommend to watch all of 3's run. because i love it all. but this story really does show how, like, political this run is, and what the Doctor stands for and believes in, and how much he clashes with others (namely the government and brigadier)

'inferno' - you get to see the UNIT gang being evil, and the brigadier with no moustache and an eye patch.. oh and liz in a terrible wig. no but the story is great, and the Doctor goes through hell. it is Liz's last story though :( and i wish they gave her a proper send off, but i suppose it's nice that her last moment is her laughing at how silly the doctor is

'the mind of evil' - i thought the machine was neat, and seeing people's different fears, especially the Doctor's, was cool. nice to see the Master again! a lot of politics, and the poor brigadier is being pulled in so many directions and dealing with stubborn people.. there's a cool moment where the Doctor actually speaks in another language instead of the TARDIS translating everything. oh and the brigadier goes undercover, yates is a badass, benton has a thick skull, and jo is surprisingly calm and chill with the mayhem going on

'the daemons' - it's campy, it's iconic, it's very english, and you get to see Benton and Yates in their civvies. everyone gets to be a badass at one moment or another

'the three doctors' - it's the first multi-doctor story. 2 and 3 bicker like little chldren, 1 acts like the oldest child even though he's the youngest, brigadier is so done with everything, and benton is so chill (jo, of course, is used to this kinda stuff)

'the green death' - a story about protecting the environment, and taking down corrupt companies (but also how difficult that is when they've got connections to the government.. brigadier has usually managed to get his/unit/doctor's way by calling up ministers and geneva, but this time it doesnt work, the company gets their way.. and that's worrying) im not a fan of the romance between Jones and Jo, because it felt far too rushed, but it's a nice bittersweet send off to Jo

5:

'black orchid' - 5 is like a single dad of 3, who's going on holiday because he needs a break, and he's so done with humans

'the five doctors' - the story isn't the best, there's so many characters involved so it makes it kinda hard to do.. but it's iconic, and you get too see several doctor's come back! (and brigadier, and susan and sarah!) oh and the master gets punched

'frontios' - the monsters are genuinely horrifying, and turlough has intergenerational trauma (i mean, ancestral memories)

6:

'vengence on varos' - it's a really dark story (both in terms of themes, and just the dark colours they use for the set lol) and colin baker does a fantastic job in this (i mean he always is)

'the two doctors' - 2 is a damsel in distress, jamie is back and iconic as ever, and jamie, 6 and peri make a great team. kinda wish we could see more of it, but, we cant

'the trial of a timelord' - ok, so that's the whole of S23, and yes it's technically split into several stories, but in my head, because the courtroom scenes take up a significant chunk of each episode, they dont feel enough like separate stories for me to count them as such.. but it's a fun season. there's paradoxes left unexplained, and it's dramatic, and not at all how people would act in a courtroom.. honestly, it can be summed up well as "a bunch of timelords sit down to watch doctor who, and debate about it"

7:

'remembrance of the daleks' - ace is iconic and hits a dalek with a baseball bat. need i say more?

Currently trying to watch all of classic who so send me recommendations on what episodes to watch pretty please

[martyrbat]

Hi! Um, I thought I would offer you these panels from utrh of Dick with a knee brace, as per your last few posts about disabled representation in comics. Also indirectly answering that other anon who said that representation in comics isn't exciting and can't work with them being superheroes...

And I mean, you can totally write intriguing and interesting stories about a character coming to terms with their disability and figuring out that while it makes them different from who they were before, they're still a fucking hero. (Like Babs becoming Oracle after losing the use of her legs. Making her walk again and be Batgirl again... Idk how you can call that anything other than ableism?? She's seriously cool as Oracle, that def didn't need any retcons.)

Anyway, I think the problem is that many people associate being disabled with ableist prejudices of helplessness, without even being fully aware of it. Which is exactly why more rep in any type of media would help!

my friend! your post is as wonderful and insightful as always and thank you so much for the panels, i forgot which comic they were from! this it was exactly what i was referring to and imagining when talking about his knee brace, thank you again!! i love how its something that allows him to continue being a hero and that it just exists instead of being a big plot point. just casual and normalized use of mobility aids my beloved <33

and absolutely agree in it creating interesting stories of them adapting and handling the changes they need to make because of their disability and how it doesn't make them weaker! i think to this panel from the batman chronicles specifically:

[ID: Barbara Gordon smiling at white birds as she's in her wheelchair. Behind her un-detailed people are walking as they go about their lives. Her hair flows slightly in the wind and her internal narration boxes read, "A little over a year has passed since my old life ended, since I died and was reborn. The shadows remain, but only to give contrast to the light. I am no longer a distaff impersonation of someone else. I'm me - more me than I have ever been. My life is my own. I embrace it, and the light, with a deep, continuing joy." END ID]

the entire issue is so well done in her voicing her discomfort and fear and anger at her sudden disability and the change. because of course its frustrating to have that sudden change. of course she feels lost when she based her purpose on being batgirl, something that depended on her being physically abled. and seeing that voice and feelings being represented alongside of it highlighting and showing that she still has purpose and is just as powerful and capable of doing what she loves is so <3 she found her identity, not as an extension of anyone else but just as herself, as a disabled woman. and how happy she is!

i think abled people tend to be so uncomfortable with the idea of disabled people (especially physically disabled people) being happy or still being powerful. they hate the idea of disabled people not being weaker to them while also hating the anger and frustration that can come with being disabled. they hate seeing us successful and just as capable and hate seeing us as human rather than a "poor victim" to put up on a pedestal for inspiration porn that makes them feel better about themselves.

we're allowed to "motivation" to them as they simultaneously think its unnatural for us to be happy or successful on our own. we're either looked down at or held to standards that abled people arent - never to be equal. im allowed to be just as pissed off as someone that can walk and move around freely. i should be allowed to be as messy or rude as someone thats neurotypical without being viewed as a child to pity or as someone that should be better than them in my behaviour. i should be allowed to be smart and sexy and funny and complex as anyone else. my disabilities doesn't make me more or less of a person. it just makes me a person thats disabled.

disability is such a broad spectrum. from paralyzed, needing canes or wheelchairs or any mobility device, needing hearing aids or anything that's physically noticeable. to chronic pain and neurodevelopment disorders and other invisible disabilities. and everyone's experience is different with each one and its so vast. the opportunities it allows and how fascinating and empowering it'll be to see this range and how these characters handle it is unbelievable and such wasted potential. from dealing with the sudden frustrations and limitations to it just being part of them.

it can literally be one panel in a random comic that says nightwing needs a knee brace because of worn cartilage and have it be part of his character casually and consistently. have an ongoing arc and theme of random brain injury side effects because of the head trauma hes taken and have a moving moment in being reassured and how he struggles with it. have something.

theres so much they can do and just refuse not to. the only reason disabilities isnt represented is pure ableism, there is no excuse.

[bunnvoid]

tell us more about your demon au! :) what happened to jason in this au that leads to him only having one horn? is bruce like the demon king? if there demons how did bruce acquire the kids also do they have powers or something? sorry this is so many questions your au is so cool and your designs are so unique :)

Gosh I'd love to share more! I honestly really dont mind all the questions^^ <3

So for the first question, Jason only has one horn because of he lost it when he was killed by the Joker when he died. Since he was resurrected by outside forces it didn't heal when he took a dip in the pit. (Joker in this specific au is an entire force on his own)

I imagine some demons can change the size of their horns and even grow back broken ones but because of his special circumstances he unfortunately can't. -

cut off cuz this is gonna be a long post ;U;

Though for the world itself, since I'd like to keep it different from my cryptid/supernatural one (Night Culture), demons are made by special means! Also not all demons are evil, unless they represent evil, none really are. They are just entities beyond the realm of humanity and operate on their own means and rules.

In this au, you could live an entirely human life but some event can turn you one. Some people become demons or born demons.

My ideas right now are so not put together but since its recently got some love I've got a whole ton. (Also thank you to my beloved gf for letting me ramble to her and giving me some ideas)

As for Bruce and his gaggle of kids and allies here's what I do have!

Everyone posses their own special abilities that vary

Bruce is the embodiment of darkness and sorrow, it was his parents death and the strong emotions that turned him into a demon.

As the embodiment of darkness is a slight control and influence of shadows/darkness as long as they there to begin with. His wings and even his horns are made of tangible darkness, as well as his batarangs. (Man can probably 'summon' a hoard of bats if he wanted) But because of the nature of shadows, he can't fly with his wings or make anything sharp enough to kill anyone with it. These can be used as more of a show of pure power and help enhance fear in folks. (Que Cass having more and bigger wings than him because Cass supremacy <3)

Cassandra is the conduit of darkness so she can do what Bruce but isn't especially tied to it as he is and could probably change that as she grows. But where ever darkness is there is light, her counterpart is Duke! Conduit of light and dare, so he can do what they do with light, and can even beat Bruce if he developed his powers more! He is also the conduit of dare, so think of super risky daring acts, but he can pull them off with little to no mistakes if he's using his cool demon abilities.

Im still stewing over the specifics of this au because its newer than my other one but here's a list of what bats have as their lil titles and have their abilities based off of

Cassandra - conduit of darkness

Duke - conduit of light & dare

Jason - vessel of flame & heart

Dick - spear of thunder & justice (still workshopping)

Bruce - embodiment of darkness and sorrow

Damian - vessel of blood and protection

Tim - spear of integrity (workshopping)

Barbara - spear of integrity and foresight

Steph - vessel of fury and strength

Alfred - embodiment of loyalty and home (became a demon protecting Bruce)

I really wont mind ideas, even asks for this au or my other one! Ask-box is always open!

[toadstool32]

im delirious i just had a GREAT idea this requires having terminal homestuck brain and also liking the idea of batman being fucked up in a funny way. putting this under a read more bc i want u to choose to ruin ur day

ok so like are your familiar with spicyyetis davekat halloween special? well i hope you are now.

ok now are u familiar with bruce wayne? are you familiar of his habit of accidentally acquiring kids left and right and also his perfect mental health?

ok now are you seeing what im seeing

im thinkiong like years in the future like im p sure there was a panel of bruce telling stories to one of his grandchildren like it was very cute right hand on im pulling up the panel

Batman Lost #1 a tie in for dark knights metal

do you see that those are kids , little children running around the manor with an old man bruce just chilling in his murder mystery office, this is the best thing i have ever seen.

so like ideally bruce would have a very happy life retired and with all the rest of the bats taking over in crime fighting n shit and his sons and daughters however many he gets are gonna fill the place with kids eventually bc picking up strays is like, a bat requirement u know, however, im not thinking in a positive way or even a coherent way.

back to YM&O did u see old man dave hoarding kids in a very lonely mansion bc of his fear that the kids are one day gonna be the nly thing that will remind him of the loev of his life or whatever yeah you see where im goin with this.

like i can see it perfectly in my minds eye bruce trying to cope with yknow life and stuff n finally accepting that hes not a one man show and maybe as he gets older hes like alright i gotta, take care of myself? and no matter how much my kids may hate me at times and try to shot me i know they love me and they would be Very Sad if they had to bury me, like , again i mean and so hes like well now im old and trying out this taking care of myself now what and hes like oh i know ill take care of the kids and then at the start dick is like weird but ok better late than never!!! i guess!! but oh wait actuyally sorry old man i cant hang out but u can hang out with timmy and damian ok bye have fun and at this point evryone is like almost thirty and are like trying to subtly get away from bruce bc they were raised independently and also theyre grownups damnit (cass is a treasure so she hangs out but also she knows whats up its chill) and then it expands to the other kids like he starts trying to act as this doting old fatherly figure (hes goin senile its what is HAPPENING) and its not until dick is like haha have u heard jason just got kids following him around thats cute and bruce is like YES THATS IT like he gets hardcore empty nest syndrome except the nest was always kinda full u know? thi pile of leaves and bird shit is gonna overflow,anyway like a few months later dick comes back and theres Horrors tm in Manor bc bruce definition of kid isnt constrained by like, species,(do you think jarro would want more siblings?)

so like the house is packed with kids, all sorts of kids, some arent even kids, some are straight up science experiments and bruce is like I Love My Family :) alfred has been dead for over 30 years and yet bruce finds the way to drag his ghost back to the house so they can coo at the kids together (alfred look at my new daughter isnt she cute yes master bruces shes quite charming what will all the eyes, yes youre right she is) jarro is having fun having siblings but he still tries to win bruces attention , cass is almost encouraging bruce to get more kids (i want a new sister) tim and damian are scared but in different ways jason went there once and said Not My problem (hes also scared) barbara doesnt know the extent of the problem and is just amused the titrans know and dick is the last to know (but only bc i find it funny) if u ask what about duke i dont wanna inflict this hell on him he scaped early amen also the justice league either enables him or is subtly trying to stop him (it is. not working)

[captainpyro]

the hydro aspect

who has hydro? what is the ideal that is truly a part of hydro? im going to attempt to cover that here.

as we see with pretty much every hydro user, all of them have a tendency to follow in the footsteps of someone (idolization, essentially)- or something, at least. also, theres a slight tie with intelligence, specifically one that lacks social intelligence and what people would consider “book smart”. not only that, quite a few of them have ties to being an “upper power” (much like how the hydro archon represents justice, something that has power over others depending on how you use it

to paraphrase, key concepts of hydro is intelligence, idolization, power, and influence

so, for each character...

xingqiu: obviously, its his tie with the guhua clan, and also the fact that hes an extremely important figure. hes the second son of the feiyun commerce guild. hes powerful in that way because of his influence. also, as we see, hes not exactly social, hes moreso of keeping his head in the books. he doesnt even know of his own influence, really, in inazuma, another way to show that.

barbara: for her intelligence, this mostly ties with her intelligence with the church. she doesnt really know anything “bad” thats going on, and can seem very naive, but she has extreme influence over the people of mondstadt because of how much people love her. they would be there for her no matter what, pretty much. that is such a strong social status.

tartaglia: he idolizes the skirk, he wants to beat her. and, obviously, hes one of the most feared on the battlefield. this is his tie to power and idolization- his ambition of more and more power, as well as to beat the skirk. hes intelligent and strategic, and also moreso “socially smart” than the other two. but, otherwise, he rather fits it well

sangonomiya kokomi: very obviously, she has strong ties to power, seeing as how shes the leader to a very large resistance. everyone in that resistance looks up to her and shes always trying to beat that standard. she doesnt catch a break, and she also holds that same strategic need as tartaglia does, though probably less reckless than him.

mona: probably the most difficult to parse if you look at her at the basics. but, despite her lack of social power she still has those ties to idolization and intelligence. she has this idolization of her master, as well as this need to beat (if i remember correctly) klee’s mother. she’s extremely intelligent and exceeds the strength of an astronomer’s powers, and is overall well fitting for the given words of hydro

though, some quotes to also parse this:

“The God of Justice lives for the spectacle of the courtroom, seeking to judge all other gods. But even she knows not to make an enemy of the divine.” (Dainsleif)

it mentions that she wants the power to judge, pretty much. she wants this power, and also the influence from the ability to bring justice. but, even she knows her own limits and knows not to go overboard

[buttterknifeee]

Tims S/O vs. the batfam

You, the reader, are Tim’s significant other. Congrats! you may think the hard parts over right? WRONG. you need to win over the whole ass Wayne family and heres how it goes.

Alfred

refers to you as Mx. L/N; however as you visit the manor more frequently, he begins to refer to you as Mx. Y/N

Since he refers to you as Mx. Y/N, you call him Mr. Alfred because you feel weird calling him just by his first name

No matter what first impressions you gave off to him, he never shared them due to not wanting to be impolite

you quickly realize that none of the bat fam helps with the chores, so you try to lend alfred a hand whenever possible

you try to be polite as possible around him, and he appreciates it

Dick

Is EXTREMELY protective of Tim

So when you first met him, he did the whole “you break my brother’s heart i will break your face” talk and that was TERRIFYING

Tim tells you not to worry about it, but whenever you were with Tim, you could sense Dick out of the corner of your eye, watching

However, as you spend more time around him, he sees that you’re really in love with tim and hes really in love with you

And you see that tim and dick have an amazing brotherly relationship, something you’ve never experienced yourself

One night, you tell dick that you wish that you had a brother as great as him

In that moment, he decided that he was gonna adopt you as one of his siblings and boom hes your big brother too now.

Duke

Duke being considered the newest person in the Wayne Manor, is basically your liaison, explaining all the dynamics and history of the Wayne Family/Manor

Super Charismatic, though hes clearly being observant of your every move, analyzing who you are as a person

But for the most part, he made you feel really comfortable at the manor

So the day you bought him a 1000 puzzle set was the day you basically won him over

You let him geek out about film and riddles, listening to every word he said, which was something that apparently didn’t happen often to him

Also duke straight up just third wheels you as often as he can

Jason

so basically

you were scared of jason

He was rarely at that manor, especially while you were there but when he was, he came in dragging blood or drinking alcohol

once while you were alone in one of the rooms by yourself, Jason came in, mask off, bandage on his right arm

he asked you, “so why are you dating replacement?”

“Why do you call him replacement?”

“Oh you know, because he replaced me when I died”

“oh. right.” Yeah you’re kinda stupid for that one

It takes a while for you to remember that jason is a vigilante who literally died and came back to life, and it takes him a while  to remember that you’re a teenager and not a crime fighting super hero

so yeah your relationship does improve a bit

Whenever you guys get to talk, he always asks you some really deep question that throws you off guard, but you guys end up having really meaningful discussions and you get closer with him that way

Cass

you were even more scared about Cass than Jason

She just silently stared at you sometimes: didn’t even try to hide it

Like duke, she analyzed you a lot during your first meeting with her, although she did it to a more extreme: just by looking at you, she could sense your breathing, heartrate, movements; she was basically reading you soul

From this, should was able to tell just how absolutely frightened you were to meet her, so she made sure to smile to calm you down

Whenever you were alone with her you couldn’t help but feel a bit awkward; not only was there a bit of a language barrier but she was not the most talkative person, at times you just sat in silence

So you would try to do things with her rather than talking: you showed her pictures from your phone, she showed you her fighting moves, and you made conversation through facial expressions and body movements

Steph

VERY AWKWARD SHE PROBABLY HATED YOU IMMEDIATELY THE FIRST TIME YOU MET

i mean whos gonna be happy about seeing their ex’s new s/o not her nope

She kept smiling and laughing but you could see the burning hatred behind her eyes

It took a solid month before she actually talked to you

and it took another month for you to pluck up the courage to ask if she actually hated you

She looked embarrassed and admitted that she did kinda hate you in the beginning but that was solely because you were dating her ex, but she saw how good of a person you were, so she doesn’t hate you anymore

She asked if you hated her, since she kind of ignored you in the beginning

You said no, since she was so cool and you could see why Tim dated someone like her

Yeah so now you’re besties

And you often talking about Tim and his dating antics, sometimes right in front of him lol

Sometimes she would joke about stealing you from him, making sure to give you extra long hugs, and give u a kiss on the cheek just to piss Tim off >:)

Barbara

definitely looked up all your information as soon as she found out you were dating tim

Immediately went to interview mode when she met you

Asked about your future plans with tim, your job, your future college choices, your darkest fears, your median income

“... Im like 16″

Asides from that, shes pretty chill

you dont see her often, but she’s always down for a talk!

Would acted like my aunt from new jersey (in a good way)

Damian

You were super nervous about meeting him

Tim recalled events with him like he was recalling a war

So you were surprised to see a 12 year old kid being the one shooting daggers at you

“Drake brought home another guy/girl/person”

“damian shut the fuck up”

one day you catch him painting in his room

You ask him about his various paintings and he tells you his inspirations from each, going on a long rant for a solid hour

He realizes that hes been lecturing you for an hour and looked at you, blushing a bit

“Damian, you’re an amazing artist.” you say. smiling 

Now Damian always tells tim that you’re too good for him, and everytime you banters with tim damian always took your side

Except when he saw you two kissing/cuddling, he would call you guys “disgusting pigs” and bolt out of the room

Bruce

ah, bruce. the final boss

You couldn’t help but feel absolutely terrified. 

I mean not only is he a super mega rich business man and also like super famous but hes also BATMAN

you are also almost certain that he doesn’t know who you are despite being with tim for a few months by now

Everytime youre both in the same room he is often too busy to look up from whatever hes doing or rushing past you to go somewhere

Tim often confides in you about being the middle child in the family, meaning that sometimes people dont notice him and its really frustrating for him and for you to hear

One day u and tim are chilling in the batcave and bruce comes it and freezes when he sees the two of you

“who are y- what are you doing here-”

“oh um hello Mr. Wayne”

Bruce kinda just looked at you with a perplexed look, but that was when damian and cass walked by

“Father. Drake. Y/N” said damian, with Cassandra smilng and waving at you, to which you wave back.

“Hey Damian” you say nonchalantly. “I saw that you’re working on a new painting. youll have to tell me ALL about it later.”

“Of course. Im sure you’re aware of Georgia O’Keeffe” 

You smiled and nodded, to which he gave the tiniest of a smile back as he and cass headed for the training room

Bruce just stared at you even more perplexed than before, I mean, you just made damian smile

You glanced at Tim, who seemed just as uncomfortable as you

“Oh yeah Y/N, didn’t we have that movie we were gonna watch? yeah lets go like right now.” Tim said as he pulled your arm took you out of the batcave, giving bruce the well talk later look

After that instance he talk to some of his children about you, and they had nothing but good things to say. Even Jason, who literally kills people for a living, put in a good word about you.

The next time you visited the manor, you were greeted by bruce himself, dressed up in a business suit.

“Y/N, correct?” he pulled out his large calloused covered hand and held it towards you

After a brief moment you smiled and took it

“Yeah, thats me”

[tableintheteacherslounge]

Abbott Elementary S03E10 thoughts

The bear you have 1 episode to respond

The bear cold open im DEAD ik Quinta and Ayo were creasing about this 😭 abbott the real best comedy iktr

Mr j icon as always “This is …trash” // “Now who’s gonna clear this up”

“Theyre not the same, mine rhymes” “oh thats why i liked it better”

Kick my feet twirl my hair whenever manny calls her the big teagues

“Oh hey thats my class” 🥺🥺🥺

“It just says ava fest over and over”

“BOOO unshow me that now” 😭😭😭 can’t wait to quote this over and over

“Have ya ever tried just being hinged”

“Can u also give her this important message: i love her, i miss her, and i cant wait to see her again” i love jacob and Janine’s friendship but why does this job means shes been flaking on him when SHE is the one to insist they weren’t just work friends in the first place ☹️

The admin person actor always makes me laugh like the delivery is always so good “This place would collapse without me” 😭 i NEED him in more shows please

JANINE SO EXCITED TO SEE GREGORY 🥰

A card from barbara 🥹 a framed photo of jacob 💀😭 melissa got u some mace 😭😭😭 and mr johnson wanted u to have a strand of his favourite mop 💀😭💀😭😭💀😭

WOW DIRT 😁😄 her genuine excitement so cutesie

Thats such a thoughtful gift ill cwy - forget i ever said anything about manny its greg >>>

She still has the lanyard on all the time ☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️ JANINE COME HOMEEEE

“This calls for a plan b u cannot get a cvs” 💀

Janine not understanding sarcasm then misusing a colloquialism lets go neurodivergence

Not tariq moderating another panel, when he’s a regular for s4 then what 😈

Barbs fake laugh at mels impressions 😭

“Ive heard u breathing and i think u need a specialist” Janine’s breathing my favourite long running joke

And janines overwhelm omg shes so me

“I dont know who thats supposed to be but he sounds responsible” wife is trying her hardest to be supportive

Jacobs voice breaking 😭

“CORNER!” Slam “are we just yelling out things we see now?? WALLS FLOOR HUGE MESS OF FOOD”

Why did barbs card to Janine make me tear up???

2 claps for melissas impressions and barb originally forgetting nooo 😭💀

“Thank god we had a backup plan” “youre welcome” melissa 😭😭

JANINE!!! FOR GOOD!!! 💗💞💞💘💝💖💞💓💓 IM SO HAPPPY

Barb hugging her and calling her sweetheart 🥺🥹 i love my favourite mother and daughter

“Theres noone id rather teach second grade with than u” see melissa u did miss her really (i need more melissa janine content honestly their teaming up eps are always so good)

THE KIDS WRITING IN THE CARD 😭😭😭😭😭😭 noooooo ill cry

Ava u gotta STOP scaring barb w this pregnancy accusation

GET HER BARB thats why she has an emmy!!

OH QUEST LOVE HE IS THERE

Okay top 2 eps of the season easily

So funny but so full of heart - exactly what abbott does best

Did expect janine to stay a little longer before going back to abbott but that fear of such a long commitment is so real and I’ SO GLAD SHES HOME

[justcourttee]

Love, Right?

This was an ask from AO3, but I loved it so much and wanted to post it here too.

vasiliassuns asked: aaaaa!! i love all these one shots so much:)! would it be any trouble to ask for the waynes (minus alfred, he knows all) being in paris to research ladybug and accidentally see marinette transform before watching her whoop ass? (i know theres a lot of fics with this in the damianette tag, but aa!! such a good trope,,,and your writing is awesome.) its totally cool if not! i also wanna add that im super excited for the next chapter:) seriously tho your writing is awesome and i adore it

If you had told Damian Al Ghul Wayne that he would discover the love of his life in a shotty alleyway in Paris, France, he would’ve laughed in your face.

Yet there he was, his heart racing a million times a minute as he watched her swing into action sending the akumatized person sailing with a solid kick to their chest.

‘Flawless Execution, I couldn’t have done it better myself.’

Damian ignored the crowds pushing against him trying to take cover in the nearest shelter. He knew that by now his family would’ve seen his transmission from the camera contacts that Barbara had provided them before leaving Gotham. They would also be racing toward the battle hoping to catch a glimpse of how these victims communicated with the notorious Hawkmoth.

He turned the corner colliding into three other rushing bodies.

They all fell to the ground with a groan, each holding their own heads with equal scowls directed at the others. Damian was the first to find his feet as he crossed her arms, glaring down on his mess of brothers. Three voices filled the alleyway simultaneously, all as panicked at the other.

“Damian was that the coffee goddess-”

“Damian was that the flying angel from the acrobat gym-”

“Damian was that your girlfriend-”

Everyone silenced as their gazes shifted to where Jason stood. He only shrugged his shoulders in response, that familiar smirk pulling at his lips.

“She’s not my girlfriend Todd.” Damian tried to say it with the straightest face he could manage but he could do nothing to hide the red that had crept up his cheeks.

“Well, whatever she is doesn’t matter. What does matter is that the flying angel is Ladybug! That information would’ve been helpful earlier. We were already hanging out in civilian form, I mean, we could’ve been having our top-secret meetings without the masks!”

“Dick, some of us care about our secret identities unlike you.”

Dick pouted as Tim elbowed his side.

“All I’m saying is that if she can trust me to catch her 40 feet above the ground, then she should be able to trust me with her secret identity.”

“It’s not like she knows our identity’s Richard.” Damian narrowed his eyes at the older boy essentially silencing his continuous whining. “Besides, she probably didn’t want to harm us. If we showed care for her superheroine side, then Hawkmoth could try to attack us to get to her.”

Jason flailed his hand around mocking Damian’s speech behind his head earning a giggle from the others. Damian’s whole face flushed red as he tried to count backward from 10 to avoid killing Jason.

A blur of red landed in front of him, her slightly flushed face staring above them, as determined as ever.

“I’ve never seen anything so beautiful.”

Her eyes darted down to meet his, a slightly surprised look crossing her face.

“Gentlemen, please return to the shelter. It’s not safe right now.”

The boys stared at each other, calculating their best chances of regrouping if they split now. She swung off before she heard their answer shielding them from the oncoming blow. Damian wanted to rush to her side and help her back to her feet but it wasn’t the right moment.

As they made their way back toward the shelter, Damian’s mind was racing a million times a minute.

The quiet girl with a load of sass who helped him study French couldn’t be the bold superheroine who fought crime on a daily basis right? It seemed illogical.

Yet the more he thought about it, the more he could see it. The way she stood up in class to Chloe and Lila whenever they attacked him, the way she could maneuver around every situation within mere seconds of seeing how it would play out, the way those same blue eyes would shine with determination when she knew she was the smartest one in the room and was only being challenged to prove it.

“I’m so stupid.”

“Wait, can you say that again? I wanna make it my ringtone.”

Damian stuck his foot out as he skidded to a stop taking joy in seeing Todd tumble to the ground, a satisfying rip coming from his new leather jacket.

“Ah, c’mon man, it was just a joke!”

A small scream of terror caught their attention. A girl stood in the middle of the cobblestone, clinging to a stuffed bear, the Akuma looming over her as if ready to strike. Damian knew he couldn’t make it quick enough, but damn if he wasn’t going to try.

The Akuma's hand came down before he had even moved an inch, a sickening smack turning Damian’s stomach. As the dust cleared, Damian raced forward, intent on beheading any man who dared to lay hands on a child so small, but the Akuma was nowhere in sight.

The only thing that was left was a breathless Ladybug, dropped to her knees in front of the small girl, a white butterfly fluttering into the sky.

“Mar-Ladybug!”

Her head perked up at the sound of Damian’s voice as he fell beside her, checking her over for any injuries.

“I’m fine Damian, please, check on the girl.”

As if Damian needed any more confirmation that Ladybug was Marinette. Here she was not even denying that she knew him in that cute stammering manner she did. With a small nod, he turned to check over the girl, making sure the Akuma hadn’t bruised her.

Beside him, Ladybug stumbled to her feet throwing her Miraculous Cure into the air. Instantly, Damian noticed all the damage disappearing under the blinding lights as if the battle had never happened in the first place. He wanted to ask her how the magic behind it worked, but the sound of a shout cut him off.

“Oi! Get back here you little brat! I’m not done teaching you a lesson for eating my food!”

Instantly the girl in his arms became smaller. Ladybug noticed it as well as her eyes hardened, almost daring the man to take a step forward.

“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to stop right there. You were just a victim of Hawkmoth’s powers and need to be checked over by Chat Noir.”

The blonde hero nodded warily as if ready to attack from behind if things went south.

“I ain’t doing any of that. This child right here is mine and needs to be taught a lesson one way or another.”

Ladybug glanced behind her at the small girl’s silent tears as she clung to Damian’s arms as if they were her lifeline.

“You will be doing no such thing. In fact, by the end of today, she will no longer be your child. I suggest you leave now sir, I wouldn’t want things to get ugly.”

The man had the audacity to laugh. It fueled the rage inside Damian, but he refused to let go of the girl. He feared that if he did, she would run.

“What are you gonna do? You superheroes can’t touch me if I’m not akumatized.”

In a flash, he lunged forward. Ladybug wasn’t even fazed as she sidestepped him, pushing his head down into the cobblestone below. It was only one blow, but he was out cold, a small split on his forehead.

Damian couldn’t help the way his jaw hung.

“Medic, he’s going to need stitches. Sir,” Damian shook the shock from his face as he met her eyes. “This child seems to have taken a liking to you, would you mind taking her to the police station for me? Tell them I will be there soon to make my report and check on her.”

Damian nodded, unable to find his voice as those intimidating eyes stared down into his.

“And one more thing, I’ll be checking in with you later as well. It seems we have much to talk about little bird.”

Damian’s entire face flushed red as she swung off with her partner, his eyes never leaving her figure until she was out of sight. The sound of pounding feet on the pavement brought him back to reality as his brother’s skidded in front of him, their faces as impressed as his.

“Hey Damian, this is your fair warning. If you don’t date her, I might.”

“Ditto.”

“Me three.”

Damian stumbled over his denial as he watched his brother’s burst into laughter. Dick gathered the young girl from his arms, cooing at her until she was calm once more, allowing him to finally stand.

“You all are not worthy of her, only I am.”

Jason crossed his arms mocking Damian’s half pout as he and Tim shared another laugh at the murderous look in his eyes. He could care less what these imbeciles thought, the only thing that mattered was what she did.

And he couldn’t wait to find out.

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