#just enjoy the chaos lol
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libraryofgage · 1 year ago
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A Place Like Steve in a Boy Like This
Part of: Steve Deserves Good Parents, Actually Debbie and Fester Addams One Rick and Evelyn O'Connell One (you're here!)
The Mummy (1999) is one my comfort movies, actually, and I realized Rick and Steve are very alike actually. It's the looks, it's the hair, it's the loyalty and devotion.
Anyway, here's an AU where Rick and Evelyn O'Connell are Steve's parents lol
If there are any other people you think would make good parents for Steve, let me know! I'll take them into consideration and see if inspiration sparks :D
Anyway, if you'd like a tag on any future parts, let me know!
As always, if you see any typos, no you didn't ;P
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After being relegated to the open-air portion of some ruins in Crete, Steve entertains himself by slowly moving closer to the cats nearby in the hopes of petting them. His parents said he couldn't go into the ruins, but they didn't say a thing about playing with the ruins' inhabitants. Said inhabitants are gathered in a circle, some standing and some stretching out in the sun, but sticking together as though they're waiting for someone to begin a discussion.
He takes a piece of jerky from his bag, tearing it into small pieces as he peeks around the corner of a column. A few large stones are scattered around it, nearly reaching his shoulders and helping to hide him from the view of the cats on the other side. Though, in all honesty, they're probably only sticking around because they smell the jerky in his hand.
Steve grins and tosses a piece of meat over the stones, watching as it lands in the middle of what he's dubbed the Cat Council. A calico cat jolts, ears perked as she stares at the meat before taking a tentative step forward. She sniffs the meat, decides it's an acceptable offering, and eats it.
When it's gone, Steve tosses more pieces. He feeds a few more of the cats now, and he's practically buzzing with excitement. Deciding they're less likely to scatter, Steve clambers onto the huge boulder in front of him, managing to find little footholds to boost himself up. With a grunt, he makes it to the top and looks down on the Cat Council, ready to throw the last of his jerky when he hears the stone beneath him shift.
In the time it takes to blink, the ground crumbles beneath the rock, scattering the cats and dropping the stone out from under Steve. He falls with it, momentarily and terrifyingly weightless before gravity takes over and he drops. A yelp escapes him, followed by a pained cry as he lands feet-first on the rock, his ankles taking the brunt of the impact and, if not breaking, severely spraining for the effort.
Grit, dirt, and dust coat Steve's tongue and throat, and he coughs up as much as he can while taking in his new surroundings. Thankfully, sunlight filters into the underground space, allowing him to see the tiled floors and walls covered in a carefully carved and painted frieze that has, somehow, survived the centuries since its creation. Several figures wearing togas and carrying baskets line up outside a darkened arch. They don't exactly look happy to be there, but they seem resigned to their fate. Steve can even see the tears meticulously carved into several faces.
When he follows the frieze, he realizes the space he's in is really a hallway, one that seems to stretch forever on either side of him. Amazingly, there's no other sign of aging in it. No spiderwebs crowding the walls, no erosion from wind or water damage, and no sign of people having walked the passageway in centuries. It's the kind of perfectly preserved discovery Steve and his mother lose their heads over while his father waits for something to go wrong.
Steve is about to try standing (if he can stay upright, maybe he can explore a little and find something to show his mother before they realize he's gone missing) when he hears...a snort? Maybe it's more like a heavy puff of air. He tilts his head, twisting around to squint down the corridor to his right. Something glints in the darkness, close to what he assumes is the ceiling, and Steve grabs his flashlight.
He clicks it on, aiming the beam at the ground and slowly moving it down the corridor. He stops when the light shines on cloven hooves, a bad feeling beginning to build in his chest. With a now somewhat shaking hand, Steve slowly raises the beam, that bad feeling growing as it shines over furry hind legs and a furry waist that seamlessly blends into scarred skin just below the navel. Despite everything, he keeps going, only confirming his worst fears when his flashlight finally reaches the top to find the head of a bull staring straight at him, the horns cracked and nearly scraping the ceiling, the black eyes undeniably trained on Steve, and a glimmering golden ring looped through its nose, as untarnished by time as the friezes.
For ten seconds (Steve counts while trying to control his panic), he and the minotaur stare at each other. Then, it puffs out air again, the force strong enough to sway the ring in its nose. Steve grips the flashlight tighter, swallowing around the wariness threatening to choke him and briefly wondering if, maybe, centuries have somehow soothed the minotaur's anger.
And then it roars, deep and loud and powerful enough to shake the corridor and bring more dust and grit raining down on Steve from above. It lowers its head, aiming its horns straight at Steve, and charges with all the fury of a creature that's been denied centuries' worth of sacrifices.
Steve screams as the minotaur's hooves shake the ground with each step, too scared to do anything more than sit there and wonder if there will be enough of his body for his parents to identify when the minotaur is done with him.
He's just about accepted the answer (it's no; the answer is no) when something grabs the back of his shirt and yanks him up just before the minotaur crashes into the boulder. Strong arms wrap around Steve, holding him close as his father's familiar voice says, "I gotcha!"
Steve blinks, his heart still hammering as he clings to his father's neck and looks at his mother over his shoulder. She's staring at the hole, a frown on her face as the minotaur's enraged roar sounds from below. "Rick, I think we should go now," she says, grabbing the back of Rick's shirt and yanking him back just in time to avoid the minotaur's giant hand slamming into the ground next to the hole.
"Great idea, Evie," Steve's father says, his voice a little strained as he passes Steve over and pulls out a gun. "I'll cover you. Get Steve to the car, get it running, and I'll meet you there." The minotaur screams again, and Steve is still close enough to see it realize it can climb the stone to reach the surface.
"You have three minutes, or I'm coming back for you."
Rick looks over his shoulder, flashing a grin at Steve and his mother. "I'll be right behind you," he promises.
And he was. With a minotaur right on his heels and another week added to their time in Crete while they tried to get the whole situation straightened out without too many casualties or Steve's uncle Jonathan ruining more than one good pair of trousers.
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Steve doesn't think he'll grow used to the smell and sounds of the hospital. The antiseptic, sterile atmosphere isn't too bad, but the constant background noise has the potential to drive him up the walls. It helps that he, Eddie, and Max were finally moved to a room together, mostly muffling the beeps and PA announcements with each other's chatter, snoring, and other noises.
Right now, everything is drowned out by the kids arguing with Eddie about their next campaign. Eddie wants to do a sequel of their current one while they've been gunning for something sci-fi-themed if Steve is understanding their debate correctly. He's not sure why it's so important, but their voices are creating nice background noise, and Robin's rhythmic, habitual tapping of her fingers on his arm grounds him, so he lets his mind wander.
Honestly, Steve thinks they'd all benefit from a nice trip somewhere. Maybe Paris. They can't possibly run into anything in Paris, right?
Well. The catacombs do exist, and nobody knows what's down there. So they'd have to stay well away.
But still. Paris. The food. The Louvre. The history. And, you know, maybe they could just pop into the catacombs just so Steve can take pictures and show his mother later. Following a strictly regulated guided tour should be perfectly fine.
Steve drops his head back against the pillow, wincing slightly when the action tugs at the stitches along his throat. They hurt, but his worst injuries are on his sides where the demobats bit and feasted. The doctor said they'd scar permanently, looking somewhat apologetic about the fact until Steve waved her off. What's a few more for the collection?
Besides, at the time the doctor was giving him a rundown of his injuries, another had been doing the same for Eddie. His list was pretty similar to Steve's, and it only took him a few seconds to realize something very important: if Steve hadn't been there to share the demobat burden, Eddie would be dead.
That fact had sat with him for a while. Death is no stranger to Steve. In fact, he's intimately familiar with the concept. And all the ways it can be subverted. Steve doesn't want to think he'd be the kind to pull out the Book of the Dead after everything his parents have told him, but he also knows he'd do anything for the people he loves. Like Eddie. Like Robin. Like the kids.
Steve has risked his life for them numerous times, and he'd do it again without a moment's hesitation.
"I can't believe we're only just finding out!"
This statement comes from the hallway on the other side of the room's closed door. The voice is achingly familiar to Steve, one he's only heard over the phone for the past few months, and he sits up straight. The conversation in the room falters for a few seconds before picking up again after the kids decide it's probably not relevant to them.
And then comes hurried, angry footsteps outside the door and a doctor's voice saying, "I'm sorry, but only authorized visitors are allowed to see patients."
"I wouldn't stay in her way," a man's voice says, his tone teetering between amused and genuinely sympathetic toward the doctor.
Apparently, he doesn't heed the warning, and the room is silent enough that everyone hears the following tirade. "Authorized visitors? Authorized visitors?! Are you stopping me from seeing my son? Who on earth do you think you are? If you don't get out of the way, I will make you move, mister."
"I wonder when she'll realize she's got the wrong room," Dustin says, sounding amused.
"Ma'am, I ca--," the doctor's words are cut off by a sudden yelp and the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the floor outside.
The door is thrown up to show a woman, her shoulders heaving and her curly hair in disarray. She's covered in grime like she dragged herself out of a grave and came right away without stopping to clean up. Which, honestly, might be the case. Behind her is a similarly disheveled man, a fond smile on his face as he looks at the woman. "That's my girl," he says, the smile becoming a full-blown grin when the woman smacks his chest without turning around.
The sight is so familiar that Steve nearly tears up. He hasn't seen his parents in months, and their appearance suddenly lifts a weight that he didn't even realize was on his shoulders. Whatever else happens, they'll take care of it.
Finally, Evelyn's eyes land on Steve, and the anger on her face melts away into relief and worry. She rushes over, sliding around Robin before she can move, and cups Steve's face in her hands. "Oh, my poor boy, are you okay? What have the doctors said?" she asks.
Steve's father hovers behind her, giving Steve a once-over with his eyes before determining he's fine. "Better question," he says, placing a hand on Evelyn's shoulder and leaning closer, "Where in the hell were your guns?"
Steve is about to answer when his mother whirls on Rick. "His guns? Our son is in a hospital bed, and you're asking where his guns were?! Are you daft? Have you lost your mind?" she asks, poking her finger into his chest.
He sighs, takes her hand, and wraps his other arm around her waist. "Evie, he's fine. He's awake, and nobody in here looks like they're preparing for a funeral. Clearly, he's gonna be discharged soon. So, I think asking where his guns were is reasonable because maybe he wouldn't be in a hospital bed if he'd had them."
"Dad is right," Steve says, getting his parents' attention. He grins at them. "I'm fine. Doctors said it would just be another scar. Or, well, like three more scars. Doesn't matter. I should get discharged later this week."
Before Evelyn or Rick can say anything else, Dustin asks, "What the fuck is going on here?!"
"Language!" Steve shouts, turning his head to glare at Dustin.
"Did you seriously just call him out on language?" Rick asks. "You?"
"His mom gets upset when he swears, so I've been trying to set a good example," Steve mumbles, slumping down in his bed. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. "Everybody, these are my parents. Evelyn and Rick O'Connell. Parents, this is, well, everybody."
"Oh, let me see if I can name them," Evelyn says, her eyes lighting up some at the challenge before pulling away from Rick. She points to each child as she correctly names them. "I already know Robin. So nice to see you again dear--"
"Nice to see you, too, Mrs. O'Connell."
"--Now, you must be Dustin. I've heard plenty about you, young man. And based on the haircut, you're Will. You've got to be Mike, and you two are Lucas and Erica. This must be El, and you're Max, right? I'm sure you'll get better soon, dear." When Evelyn turns and sees Eddie, she gets a softer smile. "And you're Eddie. I've heard quite a bit about you, too. All good, I promise. It's so nice to finally meet you."
"Wait," Lucas says, frowning slightly in confusion, "Eddie and Steve have only known each other for, like, a week?"
Everyone looks at Steve, and he shrugs in response. "Eddie was pretty impossible to ignore in high school," he says, brushing off the questioning looks until only Robin and Eddie are left staring, the former with a knowing glint in her eye and the latter with a confused one in his.
"Sorry, I still can't get over Steve having parents," Mike says, his nose scrunched up like this entire thing might be some hallucination.
"Did you think he was an orphan?" Robin asks, shooting him a similar scrunched-nose look.
"I don't know! He's never talked about them! I thought his parents were, like, absent assholes or something," Mike says, his shoulders raising defensively.
"That's our fault, I'm afraid," Evelyn says, smiling apologetically as she moves to stand by Steve again. She places a hand on his head, gently carding her fingers through his hair. The motion is familiar and reassuring, and Steve leans into the touch, unaware of Eddie staring at his mom's hand.
"Our work is pretty, uh, need-to-know," Rick says, shrugging as he reaches behind Evelyn and places a hand on Steve's shoulder. "As in, nobody needs to know."
Steve is nodding in agreement when more footsteps sound from the hallway and his uncle slides into the doorway, nearly tripping on his own feet. He clears his throat, adjusts his jacket, and looks up to find a whole room staring at him.
He blinks and tugs on his collar, shifting his gaze to Evelyn and Rick. "Well, after you lot ran off, I got us visitor passes," he says, holding up three stickers.
"You stole them," Steve and Rick say, their voices in synch and nearly indistinguishable.
To his credit, Jonathan doesn't question it. He just scoffs, walking into the room and slapping a sticker on Rick's chest. "I am offended. How could you possibly think I stole them?" he asks.
"Should I remind you how we met?" Rick asks, raising an eyebrow at Jonathan.
"Fair enough. Carry on," Jonathan says, looking away and moving to Steve's side. "Good to see you, old boy. Glad you aren't dead, and sorry it took so long to get your parents here. It's not easy making phone calls to the Amazon Rainforest."
Steve shrugs. "I figured," he says, watching as Evelyn pulls her hand from his hair to place the visitor sticker on her chest.
There are going to be endless questions later. The kids are definitely going to try to grill Evelyn and Rick about their work and about Steve as a child. But there's plenty of time for that later.
For now, Steve is happy to just relax and let his parents take over. He doesn't have to be the responsible one anymore, and he can finally breathe with that weight off his shoulders.
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Tag List (let me know if you'd like to be added!)
@badgerburrows
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humming-fly · 11 months ago
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Theatre Kid (Derogatory)
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sainteclectic · 2 months ago
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maybe I'll lead you into the light
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ssreeder · 2 months ago
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Chapters: 23/32 Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), others to be tagged later - Relationship Characters: Sokka (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar), Aang (Avatar), Katara (Avatar), Toph Beifong, Jet (Avatar), Suki (Avatar), Kyoshi Warriors (Avatar), Iroh (Avatar), Jee (Avatar), Hakoda (Avatar), Bato (Avatar), A bunch of OCs, Long Feng, Joo Dee (Avatar), Azula (Avatar), Mai (Avatar), Ty Lee (Avatar), Ozai (Avatar), General Fong (Avatar) Additional Tags: Violence, Blood and Injury, War, Minor Character Death, Rape/Non-con Elements, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Attempted Sexual Assault, Major Character Injury, Amputation, Implied/Referenced Suicide, possible major character death, themes similar to the first two books, Sexism, Racism (like has already been written in first two books), dark themes, Human Trafficking, Slavery, Just a lot of dark war-like themes, there will be a battle, Torture, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Injury Recovery, Healing, Underage Sex - Freeform, Underage Drinking, Animal Death, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Warnings each chapter, Hopefully some healing for Zuko finally, no promises, but that’s the goal, Reunions, hopefully a happy ending, Sokka gets some healing too, Non-Consensual Drug Use Series: Part 3 of Leaving It All Behind Summary:
-This is the last book of the series LIAB, please go read the other two books before this, or you will be very confused-
Zuko has been taken by the Earth Kingdom army to who-knows-where, and Sokka is determined to get him back.
But he can’t do it alone.
With Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors by his side, Sokka is headed to Ba Sing Se to find Katara and Aang so they can go rescue his fire bender.
Things aren’t as easy as he had hoped. Corruption, lies, and unknown horrors await them inside the city’s walls. None of this is helping Sokka’s mental well-being.
Hakoda and his men face a problem of their own as Azula approaches with the intentions of making it rain fire.
Sokka and Zuko will both find themselves having to reintegrate back into a life they thought they left behind, with people they hardly remember. It isn’t easy for anyone, especially when they don’t recognize the person standing in front of them.
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illiana-mystery · 15 days ago
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Robert, Taika, and Willem
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sysig · 1 year ago
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Okay but TSP/Portal crossover AU is such a cool concept, how have I never thought about that before?? I'd like to request Narra and GLaD hanging out watching their respective little guys go through tests like 'can you believe them they're so dumb <3'
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Day 30 - They're absolute hellions
Bonus:
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Noooo, my bucket!!
#My art#Requestober#Portal#The Stanley Parable#TSP#GLaDOS#The Narrator#Stanley#Chell#They're just all so antagonist towards others lol#I think Stanley is a terrible influence paired with just about anyone but honestly I think Chell would adopt him haha#She is also a chaos gremlin and enjoys taunting and flouting the ''rules'' - deservedly lol#It's hard to imagine GLaDOS or the Narrator just accepting that they've been dropped into a crossover haha#They're both so fixated on their respective protagonist that someone else is just strange! Odd!! Unwanted!!#And at least GLaD and Chell are at the homefield advantage - the boys are in a whole new environment!#The Narrator would freak the heck out lol - but if they got past the initial without everything combusting-#Well actually I can imagine GLaDOS getting fed up with Narra hogging the PA just to say what Stanley is/should be doing lol#''He is clearly ignoring you why do you bother'' ''It's my job! My duty!'' *explosion* Pfft#I do like the idea of GLaDOS referring to other people's test subjects by other lesser names#Something along the lines of I'm the only one who gets to call mine a test subject because I'm doing Real science haha#All these dynamics! How the two protags would react to each other and their respective voices reaction to each other and each's inverse#Too many to think about right now lol gimme a sleep or two on it haha#Although Portal/TSP crossovers have been around since they both existed concurrently ♪ Still they're fun to think about!#It is fun to imagine Stanley following behind Chell through the portals until he gets distracted#It becomes a bucket quest real fast lol - They poke around Rattman's bunker and Chell gets sad and Stanley ''helps'' with a distraction#Trimming GLaDOS down and doing a halfbody for Narra and then chibis for the rest - it's all about the right math right? Right lol#Only one more! Ahh!
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chaossmith2 · 3 months ago
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Wyll comes leaping down like an archangel in your very first encounter with him, practically radiating with charm at every turn— and the game told me I’m only allowed to be indifferent at best, or unnecessarily rude at worst any time he opens his mouth
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mostlyfate · 1 year ago
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EMBRACE LOVE 拥抱未来的你 (2023) 1.04 | You’re insulting me. Are you insulting me? No. I’m teaching you how to do Kabe-Don. You didn’t do it right. Shall I show you? Show what?
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noa-nightingale · 1 year ago
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Listening to the new ep of Pod Watcher and let me just say, bless the guys and their inability to do a normal ad read.
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double, triple, quadrupling-down, even, on being a shauna shipman defender. the more evil she is in the show the happier i get idgaf that's my girl
#as well as tai and misty like idc man they're my trio from beginning to end#i miss adult nat but at least she's trying her best in the teen timeline lmao#i truly do not care that ****** is dead i never really liked her to begin with i just don't jive with the wilderness being good#but i will miss seeing her adult version because i ironically enjoyed her more and the chaos she sowed LMAO also her lil outfits#but honestly it makes sense for her to die she was just way too devout about it. it was bound to her the death of her#i'm iffy on van too but as long as she has proximity to tai i'm fine with her#don't care for mari whatsoever but i'm happy she defended ben (apparently?) (i haven't actually watched the ep yet)#what else. um. i like hat for being a ride or die (literally) for shauna and i'm sad akilah will probably be gone within the next few eps#when it should definitely be like. gen or mari i mean come on. but anyways... i need a shauna shipman supercut rn i love her so bad#and it has nothing to do with jackie at this point i really do not sign off on jackie being 'the most interesting thing' about her at all#the most interesting thing about shauna is that she enjoys killing and eating things and she was always meant to be a butcher#and that she slipped into jackie's skin w/out realizing it. attempting to live as an inversion of her and thereby continuing to refer to he#indirectly forever LOL!!!!! she got a guy to be so obsessed with her that he painted numerous portraits from memory even when he kinda Got#that she was completely fucked in the head. like i'm sorry but if you hate her you're watching the show wrong bc she is one of the most#well-developed and interesting plot-rich characters in the show I'M SORRY it's just the truth like no one is doing it like her she is#THE walter white tony soprano saul goodman of this show
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starfire-s · 27 days ago
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literally was thinking on the weekend how boring my life was and then since monday everything has been chaotic
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brekitten · 7 months ago
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Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Danny Phantom, DCU Rating: Mature Warnings: Major Character Death Relationships: Danny Fenton & Jazz Fenton, Jack Fenton/Maddie Fenton, Barry Allen & Danny Fenton, Bart Allen & Danny Fenton Characters: Jazz Fenton, Danny Fenton, Jack Fenton (Danny Phantom), Maddie Fenton, Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, Wesley "Wes" Weston (Danny Phantom), Barry Allen, Bart Allen, Danielle "Dani" Phantom, Cujo, Valerie Gray Additional Tags: Angst, angst angst angst, Seriously guys so much angst, Character Death, Minor Character Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Torture, Implied/Referenced Torture, Vivisection, Vivisection Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Lore - Freeform, We made so much lore for this fic gang, i can't begin to explain how much lore, Buried Alive, Kidnapping, Bad Parents Jack and Maddie Fenton Summary:
There's a meta-trafficking ring in town. Barry would almost admire the nerve of the person who decided setting up shop in Central City, home of the Flash, was a good idea, if it wasn't for the fact that he wants to punch said person's teeth in. The reason he wants to punch said person's teeth in is curled up in the corner of the room. His blue eyes are wide with terror, and he's covered in dirt and dust. Including the Y-shaped wound on his chest that's bleeding the same blood he found in that alley. "Hey, there," Barry says, crouching down to be at eye-level with the kid. "Are you Danny?"
I totally didn't almost forget to post this on Tumblr, totally not-
Anyway! This is @forest-reblogs and I's Patrol Partners fic! Prepare for angst >:3
https://archiveofourown.org/works/58070356/chapters/147840730
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cephalog0d · 1 year ago
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Batfic - "Finders Keepers"
(For @dangerousdan-dan! I hope you enjoy! <3)
Rating: Teen and Up Audiences
Category: Gen
Characters/Relationships: Stephanie Brown & Selina Kyle, mentioned Bruce Wayne, mentioned Tim Drake, mentioned Arthur Brown
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Stephanie Brown is Spoiler, (specifically 90's Spoiler), Selina Kyle is Catwoman, (specifically 90's Catwoman which is actually relevant), very lightly implied TimSteph (in an "early mutual crushes" sort of way), Stephanie Brown-centric, POV Stephanie Brown
Summary:
Stephanie Brown just wanted to stop her dumb dad from successfully carrying off his dumb heist. If Batman won't so much as listen to her, she's willing to consider other offers. Or: If Batman doesn't want this perfectly good sidekick, Catwoman will take her instead.
Steph watched the chunk of concrete sail out into the darkness and hit the harbor with a tiny, silver splash. It was not nearly as cathartic as actually hitting something solid would be, but she absolutely did not need to add “getting arrested in costume” to her Humiliation Bingo card tonight, so it beat breaking windows or going home and punching a hole in her wall.
She ought to be making a new plan. Just because her first one hadn’t quite worked out the way she wanted didn’t mean she could just give up. Besides, it had halfway worked, at least. She’d gotten Batman’s attention with all the clues and things. She just hadn’t managed to convince him she had anything to say worth listening to.
And she’d lost whatever secret identity she might have had.
So one step forward two steps back, really.
What else was there to do, though? That had been her best idea, and all it had gotten her was a dismissive and condescending lecture (plus some serious suspicion that she was part of her dad’s crew) that made her deeply glad her mask covered her whole face so no one could see how humiliated she was. Maybe Batman would figure things out in time to actually stop her asshole father’s asshole plan, but she wasn’t willing to just assume that was true and do nothing.
Of course, the only other plan she had was stopping her father’s plan herself, and if she thought that was a good idea she wouldn’t have bothered with stupid Batman and his stupid sidekick in the first place.
Steph hurled another concrete chunk out over the water and let out an inarticulate shout of frustration before collapsing back on her ass with her knees pulled up and her arms wrapped around her head. All she had wanted was to stop her dad from being a fucking criminal and getting people killed. Why did that have to be so hard?
“What did the harbor ever do to you?” asked an amused voice behind her. Steph startled wildly and flailed her way upright, raising her arms in some approximation of a defensive position before she realized that someone who had managed to sneak up on her could have already attacked her if that was their intention.
It still took a couple of seconds for her brain to fully process what she was seeing. Not so much because she didn’t know who she was looking at (the purple bodysuit, thigh high boots and large cat ears were pretty distinctive, even in Gotham), but because there was no universe in which she had anticipated Catwoman showing up to say hi while Steph had a mini-meltdown over what a shitshow her evening had been.
“That was a joke,” Catwoman said when Steph just gaped at her for several long seconds (once again grateful for the full face cover of her mask; who knew what her expression was doing).
Catwoman straightened from where she had been lounging against the wall and prowled closer. (Steph was maybe a little bit deeply jealous of how she could move like that, all pure grace and confidence. No amount of gymnastics lessons or clandestine costume practice ever seemed to get Steph to anything better than “mostly not tripping over her own feet”.)
“It’s the boots,” Catwoman said with a grin and a wink, which is how Steph learned she had said some part of that out loud. A full face mask was truly the best decision she had ever made, good grief. “Well, that and some practice.”
“I know! Uh. That that was a joke, I mean. I know. I just. What are you doing out here?” Steph finally pulled her brain together enough to form sentences on purpose, although she also immediately regretted it. How many costumed badasses could she thoroughly embarrass herself in front of in one evening?
(Cont. on AO3)
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eyepatchdate · 8 months ago
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MASTEMA UNLOCKED FROM THIS ENDING???
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evadingreallife · 2 years ago
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Since the Best Tea poll is doing so well i thought i'd add to it with this poll on the great divide: loose leaves vs tea bags. Who will win?
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sysig · 1 month ago
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2024 Art Purge (Part 1)
Original Edition again! Another year of too many doodles between original and fanart that didn’t make the full cut over the course of the year - off we go!
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I made some concept art for smol early in the year of a mushroom girl she had a dream about a while ago that she wanted to try making as a low-poly model sometime. Pretty sure we've narrowed it down to the original DS-era style of 3D models
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And so some angular low-poly style doodles were also called for! She's so tiny haha
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Around the same time I was thinking about ZEX's “Kissing Strangers” meme, I started considering what Charm's reaction to that one might be - I'm always trying to think of animation memes for her, I'd love to animate her sometime ♥ In the end, it was all a bit too weird! In a way it’s fitting, as the meme is all about Looking and not finding the one you want to kiss til the very end lol, but who would that even be! Who would Charm Want to kiss, I don't know...
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[Purple Text] only got a very little bit of screentime this year, but they're just as weird and possessive as ever - once, forever and always, at least according to how they see things
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Smol and I tried out a few different creative games over the course of the year - my favourite probably being the Crossover Wheel where we each put in our list of fandoms, including ones we share, and then imagine what a crossover would be like haha. House Hunted is one of hers, and she tossed the idea my way of looking at Zillow Listings (specifically this group) and imagining them as Realtors! I got the Sunflower House - you'll know it when you see it haha
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Bit of a random one, but I thought the sheep from this little scene was hecka cute and needed to study her. Good shapes! Very adorable! I like her covered eyes quite a lot, and her spindly little legs, funny to me hehe
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I also wanted to study her "Leg of Lamb" posing - can you tell this is memory vs. references lol. S'why references are so important! The original's delicate posing is very lovely! The soft positioning of her knees and ankles and the way she's fully reaching across herself with those fluffy "sleeves" are probably my favourite parts, it's a good pose!
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Haven't done any Halfway Autumn concept art in a while-while, so why not come back with Diana's bathroom lol. Still a bit of work to be done, moving the door is probably the biggest point - having the leftmost wall lined with counter space is clearly the correct play here. I really like the shapes that naturally occur from isometric, like the way the shower curtain rod connects to "nothing" but it still reads as stopping at the wall! :D
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All of this floorplanning just for some flavourtext about Diana's preferred style of hand soap haha. Foaming soap dispensers are the best! Makes everything much much clearer, definitely not just because I prefer it, it's totally objective! Haha
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More bathroom flavourtext, either at the schoolhouse or the train station, or both! Since so much of the game is centered around Diana's needs, little things like what soap she uses actually impact the game! I wish something so simple wouldn't affect my day, but sensory needs are called needs for a reason :P
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Started a Charm comic that unfortunately only got as far as the first panel haha - she's taking a class! Off to improve her skills at something in a group environment! Good for her :)
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Or not, the sads are here :'0
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Did a bit of Tsumtsum studying while drawing the Helix boys as such haha - I have one of those little Vocaloid not-Tsumtsums (they're only Tsumtsums if they're Disney, right?), and one full-sized Iron Man one that I studied the approximate shapes of the pattern from, they don't Look complex and they're probably not Actually that hard to make but there's still a good bit to them! 3D shapes, I swear
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The 4th Wall group! Their poses and expressions changed a bit from start to finish, Cory once again looking at Bar - I don't think he's actually "seen" Bar's new design before this point! :0 They're all generally aware of each other but "actually interacting" is a whole other thing haha
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The two stragglers, made Tala way too tiny here haha. And forgot her bow here, no wonder I forgot it for the full version too! Pfbtl, next time :P
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A traditional version of the Just Desserts map! :D Made after putting the digital version together, just kind of loosely studied, general shapes good for mapmaking :) I quite enjoy the little mountain texture here over the one from the digital version! S'hard to make nice-looking shapes without my tablet but I really didn't want to use it Just for that haha, so nice shapes here! Gives me DQIX map vibes, just a little bit... All those little islands to sail to haha
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Snake, snake, snaaake, it's a snaaaake ♪ Made for smol's Christmas exchange ostensibly, but really more of a spacefiller and to get into the swing of drawing snakes, the cute lads
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Ball python in the style of a ball of yarn! I wouldn't mind wrapping up a plush snake, but the way real ball pythons curl up into a ball is too cute haha
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Here was the Actual snake I ended up making for smol - as a bookmark! I printed a few different versions, coloured one like this with extra-dark spots for the scales, and glued on a ribbon-tongue, cut down the middle for a forked look! :D She liked it, and I like it! Double victory :)
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A little sticker concept while my laptop was out for attempted repairs - can't save 'em all I suppose. I do like that the head mirror is a disc, the stethoscope is a mouse, cute little details even for an unfortunate set of circumstances
#Doodles#Original#Long post#I love when these are polite and don't break <3#This being the smallest of the three may have been a contributing factor there lol#Expect only more! But for now! Enjoy what is here! Haha#So much for 2024 being the year of little saved back lol I'd argue it just keeps increasing year by year#Stuff I want to show off! Where to put them is the question every time#All these not-quite-finisheds or one-offs or small groupings or concept sketches that would spoil the final version - where to put them all!#Right here and right now haha#As usual there are some I want to return to! The Kissing Strangers meme would be weird but that also part of what makes it interesting#Specifically to do with a sona makes it more complicated feelings tho!#Maybe I can have her kiss the other sonas lol I'm obviously not above self-love♪ lol#Technically there are some fandom-adjacent things here - even a study! That's explicitly not original! But I thought it fit better here#Original Enough™ haha#Fewer eyes in this particular set but just you wait - it's a mainstay it's the only way to be haha#It's also an odd one to have the purge coming out Now - not just the timing lol but because that means after they're done that'll be it!#It'll all be 2025 art once the third set is out! :0 That's so unusual to have the purge and cast the year completely aside!#I'm not sure how I feel about it yet :0 But I'm glad to have had a little extra time to work on stuff while the end of the year was in chaos#Too much going on! Best to take things as they come :) Prepwork is all well and good but sometimes just going with the flow is good too!#So I'm happy with it ♪
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