#just let my boy be a dick without trying to justify it

[soup--champ]

every time that I see someone say that q!pac and q!mike deserved to be thrown in prison or say things to try to minimize the severity of q!foolish's actions I want to gnaw the legs off of a chair.

[dukeofdelirium]

This has to quite possibly be the dumbest Anti-Aang I’ve seen on Tumblr. “Aang didn’t go out of his way for anyone”. Like that’s objectively wrong, factually incorrect. Like saying The Earth is flat, you can think it all you want, but it ain’t true. I ask you, I genuinely ask you, how can someone call themselves a fan of this show when they completely misinterpret it and hate the main character this much? This person’s crazy.

Aang never went out of his way for anyone? My god, if this take were true, Zuko would have been dead at the end of season one. Everyone aside from Aang was fine with the idea of allowing Zuko to freeze to death, leaving him to die. Aang was the one that saved him.

Holy shit, the first thing Aang ever offered to do with no expectation of anything in return was to offer Sokka and Katara a ride home before they died themselves stranded in the tundra. He then offered to take Katara to the other side of the world to fulfill her dreams. When he was banished from her village, he left without protest and even said he didn’t want to come between Katara and her family. Even when he was sad to leave because he had just made a first friend in who knows how long (seeing as we know he was ostracized at the temple), he still left.

He then came back not to break the banishment but to save their lives. He offered himself up, LITERALLY sacrificed himself for them, with no expectation of anything in return.

Aang is an extremely compassionate, good natured person. He is the most “altruistic” character in the show, followed only by Katara who comes nearly as close (one of the reasons they are so good together).

He singlehandedly put the fires out on Kyoshi Island that ZUKO SETS, he protects the NWT from invasion in every possible way he can and singlehandedly wipes out their fleet when he gives himself over to the ocean spirit, he demands they search for Bumi NOT because he needs a teacher but because bumi is his FRIEND! He saves everyone in the cave by making sure they don’t get fucking crushed with its collapse, he is willing to sacrifice himself and force himself into the Avatar State to win the war because he is that guilt ridden even when the AS is extremely painful and traumatizing to him, he stops this only when it affects Katara because he loves her, he offers to let Toph run away with them not because he wants to use her as a teacher but because he listened to her life story and wishes to help her feel free, he fucking dies for Katara and sacrificed his own love for her to save her life

he tries to shoulder every burden he feels on his own as a means to protect the other characters

he supports Sokka when he voices insecurities, he is welcoming and friendly to Hakoda and even inquires about how Katara is feeling when he meets Hakoda, he sobs during the eclipse invasion because Katara and Sokka have to be separated from their father again and Aang blames himself for this defeat and is grief stricken because he is so upset they are losing their dad again (and he thinks it’s his fault)

Why the actual fuck would Katara ever “choose” Zuko over Aang?

Katara was never deeply tied to Zuko. She always saw him as an enemy trying to take away the boy she loved. This is why she threatened to fucking kill him.

Zuko helped his sister murder Aang right in front of Katara’s eyes. It was canonically the darkest period of her life.

Katara’s anger and hatred toward Zuko is 100% justified. Of course, Zuko is a self absorbed ass, so he claims her anger isn’t justified and that she’s just projecting. Her anger toward him specifically had far more to do with what he did to Aang and far less to do with what the Fire nation and Zuko’s family did to her mother. Even still, she’s right to be angry about her mother’s murder too, and Zuko’s piece of shit family is responsible.

Why the fuck would Katara magically drop to her knees and suck Zuko’s dick? He’s literally a colonizer for over 2/3 of the show. He didn’t just have a passive role, he was an active player in the war and invaded the NWT with the FN as a means to capture Aang and take him back to his daddy, where Aang would have undoubtedly been tortured mercilessly and kept on the brink of death. He assaulted Katara during this and knocked her unconscious, he taunted her with shitty words and undermined her bending ability and threw some racial/classist remarks as well as some misogynistic ones her way.

When he eventually did get his shit together and join the group, he just used her mother’s death against her and Sokka because that’s all he ever did in regards to Katara and Sokka’s mother. He learned how she died, then had Sokka divulge trauma to then use said trauma to try and force Katara to forgive him by persuading her to go on a suicide mission of revenge and bloodlust. He also literally mocked Aang’s culture and genocided people to his face, when his family committed the genocide. Oh, and he also mocked Aang’s forgiveness despite begging on his damn hands and knees for that very forgiveness like 3 episodes prior.

And then at the end of the episode, Zuko states himself that he legit doesn’t understand Katara or what she needs in life. Cuz of course he doesn’t. He isn’t a survivor of genocide, he hasn’t suffered ethnic cleansing, he isn’t oppressed. For fucks sake, his mother isn’t even dead and he gets reunited with her a few years after the canon shows timeline. Everything Zuko loses, he has returned to him. His honor, his right to the throne, his mother.

But tell me again how Katara and Aang are a bad match when they are the only two who will ever truly understand the other

[holylulusworld]

Competition 2.0

Summary: You and Lloyd are in a competition for life.

Pairing: Lloyd Hansen x fem!Reader; God, the bounty hunter x fem!Reader (not really)

Warnings: concurrence, mentions of erectile dysfunction, language, Lloyd being Lloyd, implied subish Lloyd, implied bi-sexual Lloyd, kinda knifeplay (not really)

Catch up here: Competition

“Aw, sugar cake,“ Lloyd grins as you try to ignore you agreed to join forces against the new player calling himself God, the bounty hunter. “How about we start the party now and work harder later.”

You roll your eyes. “I agreed to sit in the same car with you. If you keep on pushing boundaries, it’s totally justified if I stab your face.” You smile darkly at Lloyd. “What will it be, sugar cake.”

“You’re a red-blooded woman,” he hums and unashamedly runs his hand over his crotch. Lloyd is not subtle. Not at all. “I like me a feisty pussy to pound.”

“I hope that motherfucker is worth spending time with you. If not, I’ll kill you for wasting my time and for being annoying.”

“I killed people for less,” Lloyd grins. He scoots a little closer to brush his hand over your knee. “I got you a limousine, sunshine. If the gesture doesn’t scream—” He grunts the second you grab his hand and twist it.

“If,” you bend his thumb, making him wince, “you ever touch me without my allowance again, I’ll castrate you.”

“But you want me to touch you,” he nods to himself. “I only need to wait for you to whimper my name. I know you are addicted to Lloyd Hansen.”

“You mean disgusted by you,” you push his hand away. “I don’t do limp dicks.” You huff. “Now focus on the mission. I want my witness back, and you want to settle things with that guy calling himself God.”

“God the bounty hunter,” Lloyd corrects. “I will carve his heart out for fucking my mission over. That sexy thief will feel the wrath of Lloyd Hansen. No one steals my kill and gets away with it.”

“Sexy?” You cock your head. “Ah, I see.” Nodding knowingly, you smirk. “The girl didn’t get you hard because you prefer them more…masculine.”

“If so?” He cocks his head and mirrors your smirk. “A nice body is a nice body.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Even though, I prefer your body today.”

“Hmm…” you eye Lloyd warily. “If you are a good boy, I’ll let you shoot him first.” Your eyes round watching Lloyd shift in his seat. He swallows thickly and rubs his hand over his crotch. “Do you like being a good boy?”

“What?” He hiccups. “No! I’m in control. Always! No one calls me their good boy.”

“No one ever did,” you scoot closer to run your fingertips over his thigh. He shudders and purrs your name. “Say, Lloyd. Do you want to be my good boy?”

His eyes are half-lidded, and his mouth falls open. He struggles to answer, too lost in the feeling of your featherlight touch. “I…I…”

“If you want to be my good boy, you’ll leave God and the witness to me. Just provide backup and look pretty.”

“You think I look pretty?” He murmurs, close to creaming his pants. “I knew it…”

You snort and move away. “Christ, Hansen. You are so easy to manipulate. One pretty face, the right words and you forget about the mission. No wonder that new player snatched my witness out of your hands.”

“He didn’t!” Lloyd grunts. He crosses his arms over his chest and pouts. “I wasn’t distracted at all. I played along to steal your knife.”

Lloyd proudly twirls your favorite knife between his fingers. “You fucker! Give it back!”

“You didn’t think it’s so easy to manipulate Lloyd Hansen, didn’t you?” He laughs now. “Aw, baby cakes. You’ll have to do a lot more to distract me. If you sit in my lap and ride the life out of me, maybe then I’d be distracted.”

“Just tell this to yourself.”

Lloyd had to take the lead. He stormed into the building before you got the chance to analyze the situation. He kicked the door open and yelled orders at his men while aimlessly shooting anyone crossing his path.

“Hello sunshine,” he snickers and stalks toward the new player. “Did you think I’d forget about you?”

“What do you want?” The man replies. Unimpressed by Lloyd, his men, and their guns aimed at him, he sips his coffee and furrows his brows. “The man is gone.”

“Where is my witness?” You shove Lloyd out of your way. “Whatever you have to settle with that idiot,” you jerk your head toward Lloyd, “has nothing to do with my witness. Where is he?”

“Gone,” God’s eyes flit toward you. He looks you up and down and takes another sip of his coffee. “He won’t come back. This was my mission.”

“No it was mine,” Lloyd argues.

“It was mine,” you huff. “Can you stop the pissing contest for a moment, Hansen?” You look at God. “Where did you bring him? I need his location right now.”

“He’s gone,” he repeats.

You sigh, deeply and exasperated. “Listen, I got that he’s gone. I just need to know, where to, and if he’s still alive. I’ll pay you for your information.”

“Cupcake, you won’t pay that fucker for the information. I’ll break his pretty face for you, and you can pay me back with something sweeter than money,” Lloyd flashes you a cocky grin.

“I told you to stop this shit,” you are just done with Lloyd’s antics. “So, what will it be, Mr. God.”

“God, the bounty hunter,” he corrects. “Not mister or God.”

“He likes his name,” your mustache-wearing nemesis snickers.

“Fine,” you secure your gun. “What will it be, God, the bounty hunter? Money, diamonds, or a bullet from Mr. Hansen’s gun?”

“Oh!” Lloyd cocks a brow. “You’ll leave the kill to me?”

“You should get a room,” God, the bounty hunter says. “I already got paid. I do not break my contracts.”

“Listen you fucker,” you get your knife out to throw it at God. He not only dodges your attack but also catches your knife. God sniffs at the knife before licking over the blade. “Fuck…” You lick your lips. That was the sexiest thing you’ve seen in a while.

Your pussy clenches around nothing when he gets up to hand you the knife over. “He’s gone, miss. There is no coming back for him.”

You take the knife, holding God’s gaze. “You killed him.”

“That was the order. My client was very strict about it. They wanted it to happen in a certain way too,” he drops his eyes to the gun in your thigh holster. “A Colt M1911A1, nice. Very reliable.”

“I like reliable,” you reply. “Nothing better than a reliable partner.”

“Are you fucking kidding me now?” Lloyd throws a tantrum. “First that bastard steals my kill and now you are flirting with him. Did you forget that he killed your witness?”

“Hey, sometimes you win,” you roam God’s body with your eyes, “sometimes you lose.” You dip your head to glance at Lloyd. “And sometimes you get the chance to turn a loss into a double win…”

Tags in reblog.

[beybaldes]

my certainty is wild, weaving

summer sleepover masterlist

roy kent x gn!reader

summary : “being overprotective in front of potential partners”

content warning : roy takes a beating and gives one ! potential partner is a dick, one use of yn, me saying men who wear one earring are dicks even though I think it’s hot af I won’t lie

an : prompt was requested by both the lovely @onceuponaoneshotfanfic and the lovely @a-second-hand-sorrow because it’s the most Roy thing ever!!!!!

Roy had hated every single partner of yours he’d ever met. And each time it was one of the same two excuses: ‘they’re a prick,’ or, ‘you deserve better then that.’ And, of course, each time there was the secret third explanation for his actions: ‘I’m so certain that I’m in love with you that I can’t bare to think about you with anyone else.’

Not that Roy would ever present that reason to you.

This time, Tony - or Tom? Or Tim? Travis? Taylor? - Roy didn’t remember and he didn’t care, but he did know that whoever the guys was, he was a dick. In the ten seconds you’d left the table to grab another another drink from the bar, your date had eyed up some random girl on the table across from him, tried to chat up Keeley and tried to get Bumbercatch’s number. What kind of guy did that?

Roy knew that if he was your date tonight he wouldn’t have been able to keep his eyes off of you - he wasn’t even your date and he was struggling with that anyway - and he definitely wouldn’t have been chatting up your friends and random strangers. He couldn’t understand how you managed to attract such dicks considering you were the nicest person he’d ever met.

“So, Roy.” T-something had turned to Roy, taking a sip from him lukewarm beer between every couple of words. “You ever hit that?”

“What?” Roy didn’t know what was worse; that he wasn’t entirely sure what the guy was talking about or that the sick pit in his stomach said he was asking about you.

He hated being correct. “Y’know, yn? You ever hit that?”

Roy stayed silent in fear he’d do, or say, something stupid. He wasn’t going to lose you over some stupid comment from some stupid guy; even if it meant breaking his beer bottle with the grip he had it in.

“No? Calm. Just trying to feel out if all this is worth it.”

“Worth it?”

“Yeah.” Your date, who was quickly revealing himself to be the dick roy had assumed he was, took another, long sip of his drink, finishing it completely. “This is our, what? Fourth date? And they’ve still not let me hit, like, what gives? All I’m saying, dude, is the sex better be worth it.”

“Right, then.” Roy’s hand clapped against his knee as he stood, his movement slightly limited by the other set of chairs that pressed directly into the back of his. “Makes what I’m about to do a lot more justifiable.”

Roy had never been one to pull his punches, and especially not when it came to you, and he’d say he’d never seen someone hit the floor so quickly but that would be a lie. When you return to the table amidst the commotion, your mouth hung open in a gasp that never slipped past your lips. Tim, your date, was on the floor, his hand cradling his nose as blood poured past his fingers and dripped onto the ground.

“Babe, thank God you’re back. Roy-“

“Had a good reason to do that, I assume.” You ignored Tim, who remained on the floor cradling his face and walked right up to Roy. As you crossed to get to his side of the table, you placed down the two beers you’d picked up for the boys, both of Roy’s favourite kind even though Tim had asked for something different, and your own drink too.

You grabbed Roy’s hand, loosely planting your fingers between his and pulling him out of the bar without so much as a goodbye to Tim or the team. Thankfully, the walk back to your apartment was a short one, and the night air was filled with an early summer breeze so it didn’t matter that you’d left your jacket in your seat. You hadn’t even thought about it until your mindlessly tried to take it off once you’d made it inside; your entire focus had been on Roy and they way he’d punched your date and let you hold his hand the whole way home.

“Was he a dick?” Roy just grunted as you pulled him into your bathroom, pulling out your little, under sink, first aid kit to deal with the scratch that ran along his knuckle. “Your aims getting bad, old man.”

“My sight isn’t that-“

“-good at night anymore? Yeah, I know. Explains why you’ve got the outline of his earring imprinted across your knuckles.” Roy barely moved as you wiped across the top of his knuckles, making sure nothing was bleeding or would have the opportunity to get infected.

“Should’ve known he was a dick when he showed up in that stupid earring.” The first words Roy had said since he’d landed a hit on your date and you desperately struggled to keep your laughter in. “Who the fuck even wears a single earring?”

“Jamie.”

“Yeah, and he’s the prince prick of all pricks.”

“Sure. That’s what you really think about him.” Finally, the tension had began to seep from Roy’s feature and he had seemed to calmed down. “You didn’t need to punch him, y’know. I’m sure a ‘fuck off’ or ‘you’re a cunt’ would’ve done the job.”

“Yeah? Well, you didn’t hear what he was saying about you.” You dropped the used wipe into the small bin under the sink then slipped your arms around Roy’s waist, pulling him close to you. “Fucking vile.”

“I’m sure it was.” Your fingers ran over the surprisingly soft material of his suit jacket, only now taking in the opportunity to really look at what he’d worn tonight. “I know you wouldn’t do it for no reason.”

“I hit anyone for you. Anytime, anywhere.”

“Geez Roy-o, just say you’re in love with me and get it over with.” Roy just smiled down at your folding, his injured hand coming up to cup your cheek, his thumb running over the apple of it softly. “You want to stay over tonight? The left side of my bed is awfully cold and desperately empty.”

“Only if I can do something first.”

“Do what?”

Roy leant down slightly, closing the tiny gap that had separated the two of you in one movement of his head. It was a surprisingly soft kiss, compared to what you had imagined kissing Roy would ever be like, but that wasn’t to say you didn’t enjoy it. You didn’t think you’d ever liked anything more then the gentle press of his lips against yours.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” You answered breathlessly as he pulled away from the kiss, keeping his lips only an inch away from yours, ready to go in for another, and another, and maybe even another kiss, if you let him. “Yeah, you can definitely do that, like, again. More. If you want to.”

“Definitely want to.” He promised, soothing your hair back being your ear, his hand returning to cup your cheek as soon as he’d done. “But I’d hate to leave the left side of your bed cold for much longer.”

“Race you.” You sprinted out of the bathroom and down the hall to your bedroom, not waiting up for Roy and doing your best to not listen for the sound of his footsteps getting closer and closer to the door.

You knew, the second Roy entered the room, the left side of your bed would never go cold and empty again, and his promise would instantly be made good on. Not that you were complaining.

[allzelemonz]

Mistake III: Micah Bell X Male Reader

Pronouns: None Mentioned, Reader referred to as ‘fella’ and ‘boy’ Physical Sex: AMAB Rating: E/Smut, language, violence Warnings: Micah Bell is his own warning, drinking, anal sex, rough sex, multiple orgasms, flashbacks, hair pulling, no mention of Reader drinking, top Reader and bottom Micah, denial of feelings, arguments, threats to life, robbery, murder Summary: You leave camp to clear your head but nothing seems to work.

You turn your attention back to your horse and mount up. You can’t just leave camp, it isn’t enough, you need to shoot or rob something. Your horse shakes their head as if to tell you you’re being as stupid as you feel but you give them a pat and carry on towards the tangled roads of West Elizabeth.

Micah pulls away just enough to speak between kisses. “Hotel ain’t far, cowpoke.”

“You want me to fuck you or something, Bell?”

He groans as your leg rubs against his straining dick. “God yes.”

You smirk as you give him a long kiss, unbroken by conversation. He moans into it and tries to feel your leg against him again.

You have the urge to hit your head against the tree you’re stopped next to. Micah felt so good, he tasted like whiskey and tobacco the way most men do but it only made you want him more. Damn you’re such an idiot. Micah fucking Bell. You could’ve fucked anyone and you managed to pick up him. There were plenty of men in the godforsaken saloon that probably would’ve accepted a proposition and you fell into an alley and bed with the camp snake. If a stagecoach with a lot of money doesn’t come along soon you’re going to go crazy.

“Keep saying my name and I might actually fuck you.” You whisper as he catches his breath.

“I ain’t gotta do a damn thing, cowboy.” He chuckles. “Ya wanna fuck me and yer gonna, don’t matter what I do.”

You pull your fingers out of him and he has to grit his teeth not to whimper. His hips move, trying to chase the filling sensation, but you push him back down and occupy him with sucking marks into his neck.

“You’re too sure of yourself, Bell.” You mutter against his skin. “I could leave you like this and let my hand do everything you can.”

“Fuck you, cowboy. Ya want me.”

The annoying image of Micah in a state of bliss nearly causes you to miss the approaching coach. It’s a regular passenger coach, but it’s fancy enough to likely have passengers with money. You pull your bandana over your nose and draw your gun, riding onto the road. It doesn’t take a single word for the coach driver to stop and put his hands up, probably not his first time getting robbed.

“Come on out, folks!” You call.

A man comes out, hands cautiously raised in the air. Then a young girl, no older than ten. Nice family, still robbable. You throw a bag down to their feet.

“Everything you got in the bag.” You order, gun aimed at the man. “Don’t make me shoot the kid.”

You’re not really gonna shoot the kid, not that anyone needs to know that. Threats go a long way. The man scurries, taking everything of value off of his person and the girl. There’s a watch, a ring, a necklace, a billfold, earrings, enough to justify your trip out of camp but not enough to make you feel better. The man timidly holds the bag up and you gesture for him to bring it over. He hands it to you without trouble.

“Thanks for your cooperation, folks.” You give the driver a nod, deciding to let him keep whatever he has. “Enjoy your trip.”

You move around the coach slowly, watching for any sign of trouble as it takes off down the road. Somewhat to your disappointment, nothing comes.

You keep a rough pace as you grip at Micah’s hips, only stalling when you hit your peak and go soft for a moment. It nevers lasts long, not with the way Micah looks and the view you have of your dick filling him up. Micah doesn’t last as long as you do. He’s cum much more than you have, yet the primary slick aiding your thrusts is now your own seed. He’s enjoying the endless and presently ruthless fucking based on the noises he makes. Only once has he had to touch himself to get off. At this rate you’re getting tired but you really don’t want to stop.

You wander around for a few more hours and you end up shooting a fella in an attempt to feel something. He seemed like an ass so you don’t feel too bad about it when you loot his corpse.

Your name being called as you stand makes you sigh because you recognize the voice.

“What, Bell?”

“Havin’ trouble there, cowboy?” Micah chuckles as you try to get yourself hard again.

“I’ve been fucking you for hours, Micah.” You groan as he grinds back into you. “You could always help.”

Micah leans forward, making you slide out of him, and sit up to kiss you. His hand finds its way to your dick and strokes it slowly, fingers playing with your balls when he slides down the base.

“Just one more, cowpoke.” He mutters. “Ya can fuck me one more time can’t ya?”

You smile against his lips. “I could fuck you much more than that, just give me a little time in between.”

“Ya that smitten with me?”

You groan as his thumb brushes over your now hard tip. “You’re a good fuck, Micah, don’t get cocky.”

He slides off on Baylock and gets in your face like did back at camp. “Come on, cowpoke.”

You shove him back, his tone annoying you more than the memories. “Forget it happened.”

“I ain’t forgettin’ nothing.” He groans. “Ya don’t get ta fuck me an’-an’ get all sweet, ‘specting me ta drop it.”

“I lied.” You lie. “I’m not sweet on you. How could I be?”

He hides his face with his hat, but the fuming anger is clear in the air. “Horse shit.”

You force the words out and they nearly burn your throat. “It was just fucking, Micah. Get over yourself.”

“We gonna be sweethearts then, cowpoke.” He chuckles. “Gettin’ all sentimental an’ fuckin’ every night?”

“Bet you’d like that.” You mock, fingers playing with his hair.

He hums. “Maybe I would.”

“My, my, Micah Bell is turning soft.”

“I ain’t turnin’ soft.” He grumbles, pausing for a moment as his hand runs over your chest. “Just like ya.”

“Maybe I should get you a ring, seal the deal.”

“Shut up.” He mutters as his face turns red.

You smile, laughing lightly. “Alright, alright. I do like you, Micah. We can figure out how soft you are later.”

He looks up from the ground, anger covering his face. “Ya think I was too drunk ta remember, that it, cowpoke?”

“I. Lied.”

“Ya ain’t that cruel.” He steps forward. “Yer a bastard, but ya ain’t cruel.”

“And you are.” You huff. “I’m not gonna be with someone like you. Especially not you.”

“But you’ll fuck me?” He laughs in disbelief. “Suppose ya fucked Morgan too? An’ Bill? Javier? Bet ya made real quick work a’ the whole damn gang if yer enough a’ a whore ta play like ya did.”

“Fuck off, Micah.”

“Wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how ya got inta this, bet ya fucked Dutch and he kept ya around like the bitch you are.”

You turn, pressing your knife to his throat. He puts his hands up and curls his lip in a grimace.

“Stop talking.”

“I got yer attention, cowpoke?” He asks flatly. “Understand how much it stings yet?”

You drop your hand, putting your knife back in its place. “Why do you do that?”

“What?” He sneers.

“Fuck with people’s heads when you know they’ll fuck with you.”

“I like the attention.” He mocks. “Maybe I wouldn’t have ta if I had a fella ta fuck every once an’ a while.”

“Then look somewhere else.” You hiss. “I’ve never done it but I hear Charles swings this way, bet you got off on him throwing you around.”

“I want you, asshole.” He snaps. “Quit playin’ like we ain’t sweet. Like we didn’t have some girly moment last night.”

“I hate you.”

“Maybe. But you’re still sweet on me.” He argues. “Sweeter than ya should be, sweeter than any man has been.”

The twinge in your heart gets to you when you see his face. It’s not quite cold. It’s defensive, but a clear mask to hide how desperate he is.

“Fuck, Micah.” You groan. “You couldn’t just let this go?”

“Ya got no idea how long I wanted ya, not just fuckin’, I… I ain’t sissy enough ta say it but I want it.”

You can’t help yourself despite your better judgment, you pull him close and hug him. “You fuck up, I drop you.”

He holds you tight enough to hinder your breathing slightly, his nose cold against your neck. “I’m in love with ya.”

“Of course you are.” You mutter, too conflicted about his behavior to let your feelings take over completely. “We, uh, we have a lot to talk about, I suppose.”

[maxphilippa]

Nickel ii

My favorite thing about him: Genuinely he's one of the most well developed characters and the usage of subtext on him is beautiful. The way they tell you that he is a flawed person, but they never just let him not try to get better or not try to acknowledge what he did wrong. The way they show you how even IF he had his very well fair reasons, he knows he fucked up either way. But they don't purely villanize him like the fandom does. Because he's morally gray. And I like that a lot. His writing is consistent (for the very most part... we'll get into that) and his design is neat.

My least favorite thing about him: Genuinely some of the inconsistencies of him in season 2 and how they've could had have made him be more... openly caring towards Suitcase? So it could be a bit more shown that he does care about her a lot? But mostly just the inconsistencies about him saying "once you make an alliance something personal it stops being an alliance" and like.

Boy. What did you do. Also I KNOW this is because they didn't know what to do with Nickel on early s2 but. Just his characterization thing? Again. We know he cares about Suitcase and fucked things up. But I think that it would've been easier for the fandom to actually get them A BIT RIGHT or for it to not completely rely on subtext, if Nickel was shown to at least respect/care about Suitcase as an ally. However they trying to fix that and I get it. I don't mind the subtext the fandom is just insufferable.

My favorite line: "You don't owe me forgiveness / I just wanted to keep what we had. "

brOTP: knife, silver, microphone, bot, test tube, and etc.

OTP: world's worst polycule, clover, lightbulb, paintbrush, fan, and some others I can't really remember.

nOTP: ... blueberry, honestly. and also silver and knife.

random headcanon:

unpopular opinion: HE'S A CISGENDER MAN AND INSANELY BISEXUAL 💥💥💥 I think that Nickel's character is one of the ones that suffers from the worst characterization and treatment on the fandom, despite the fandom in theory liking complex characters, he sure becomes the most awful, ableist, misogynist character ever in the fandom and like. No! He's not! A complex character is that! Complex characters are meant to do shit but with reasons!

They're not justified but they EXPLAIN the character! Nickel was scared of getting manipulated, or his alliance getting manipulated by Balloon, so of course he would be an asshole towards the guy. You guys kinds forget that Balloon kind of sucked on s1. And of course this doesn't mean that Nickel's treatment towards Baseball and ESPECIALLY towards Suitcase isn't justified, but it doesn't mean he was a dick to them without reason. Yes, it was fucked up, but he wanted to protect them. And Nickel genuinely regrets how he was because he finally knows that HE was the problem. The whole point of his arc was him taking accountability for his actions. Sometimes I think that the fandom just treats complex women "better" because they mischaracterize them and say. Well. High of tone things about them. But can't do that with Nickel. Which thank God because man he suffers from enough OOC here. My boy is just going through shit.

song i associate with him: never love an anchor, tongues and teeth, take me to war, copacabana, love like you, escapism, everything stays

favorite pictures of him:

[shewhotellsstories]

It’s crazy ironic how you go on and on about how “Penelope stans call Eloise a white feminist/criticise her/etc to bring up their fav (Penelope)” when literally all u do is criticise Penelope as a half baked attempt at defending Eloise.

Let me be clear - I am not a Penelope fan. I do not like her, and I fully agree with your criticisms of her. That said, it’s ridiculous how pretty much ur only method of responding to Eloise crit is by bringing up things Penelope has done. Like, they are two different people. Penelope’s bad behaviour does not in fact have any bearing on how Eloise should be examined.

And all this while constantly complaining about the same damn thing u urself are doing ??? Insane levels of hypocrisy honestly

You know, I went a good chunk of the summer without getting any obnoxious anon messages. But all good things must come to an end, and of course, the peace would end over Regency Era Perez Hilton. So let's get into this anon.

If you've read my blog you'll see that my issues with Penelope Featherington pre-date her falling out with Eloise. I've said I think she punches down quite a lot. I've said I find it wildly unethical that her stans call what she does "reporting" because reporters have ethics, editors, a responsibility to fact-check, and ways of being held accountable if/when we get something wrong. When you're hiding behind a pseudonym and printing whispers and rumors as fact, with no way of verifying if it's truth that's just not happening. Additionally, at the end of season one after the reveal I posted that I didn't think Penelope's hurt feelings over an unrequited crush were as serious as the threat facing Marina as an unmarried pregnant girl (google fallen women, they tend not to live long). I don't think that Colin deserved to be tricked, but given the alternatives of a lifetime of poverty or being married off to a creep twice your age who approaches an engagement the same way a person purchases a horse, I understand why the desperate 17-year-old pursued the boy her own age who she knew would at least treat her well. Not only that, but I said I found it gross that she was smiling in Marina's face while having exposed her secret in the cruelest way possible.

Here's another Eloise-free critique of Penelope, she's the worst kind of mean girl, the kind with a victim complex who wants to do nasty things while still being seen as an angel who can do no wrong. Do you want another criticism of Penelope that has nothing to do with Eloise? I think it's icky that she mocked Kate for being a spinster and called one of the few Indian women on this show a beast. I heard that was in the books too, but fun fact, Black and brown people being compared to or flat-out called animals has a racist history and present. Despite the "Penelope woman of the working class people" song and dance, I pointed out that she's trying to stay in Madame Delacroix’s good graces because she can blow the whistle on her.

I've said, it annoys me that people behave as if Penelope's crush being unrequited is a terrible hardship that justifies all her misdeeds, when Colin has never been cruel to her about romantic feelings he doesn't know are there. Contrary to Penelope stans version of history he hasn't tried to lead her on or hurt her, he treats her like a friend and nothing more. In Queen Charlotte, I said it was a dick move to needle the Queen about her lack of heirs during her granddaughter's funeral.

Now, you're saying that I only use Eloise to criticize Penelope, but not only is that untrue it's devoid of context. I only started comparing Eloise and Penelope because after their falling out Penelope's stans started saying that Eloise was a privileged white feminist as a reason that Penelope's actions weren't wrong and why she had no right to feel betrayed. Eloise's feminism is flawed, there's a lot she hasn't considered because she's been sheltered. ICYMI, I pointed out that she failed to understand that due to their class differences, Theo was in more danger than she was because he didn't have a rich family nor the protection that comes with her surname. I even agreed with Theo getting frustrated with her because due to class he is vulnerable in a way she is not. Furthermore, when Penelope stans say Eloise is an entitled white feminist it's not really about what Eloise has done, it's said in service of absolving Penelope of any wrongdoing. I've pointed out that it's said as if in comparison Penelope is Audre Lorde and hasn't been almost as privileged as Eloise up until her father died.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Who acts like more of an entitled white feminist. The girl who is ignorant or the girl slut shaming other women and notably hurting women of color for her own selfish gain? Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony would be proud. Sure, it's despicable that they used racism to gain support for women's suffrage and threw Fredrick Douglas under the bus, still wanting voting rights is less selfish than wanting the high and financial gain that comes with running an anonymous burn book.

Call me a hypocrite if you want but I've got the receipts to show I started criticizing Penelope way before she fell out with Eloise. And frankly, it's hypocritical of you not to realize that my Eloise and Penelope comparisons are a response to the "Eloise crit" that are just thinly layered Penelope apologism and revisionist history.

Have the day you deserve anon.

[rin-u-pos]

ACOTAR tag game 💕

Who's your favourite ACOTAR character?

Tamlin of course. I'm mostly in this fandom for him although I love Nesta and Lucien too.

Who's your least favourite character?

Rhysand. I found him icky in ACOTAR but didn't mind him. I started hating him when sjm tried to jam into my head how great he is. I don't like people telling me what to do or how to feel. I would've liked him more if the narrative let him be and didn't absolved him of his crimes while making him an obvious foil to Tamlin.

Say something nice about your least favourite character.

Mind manipulation is a cool power and it makes him op. I wish the narrative didn't conveniently give him morals when mind reading would solve everything. Let him actually be morally gray without it being justified by the text.

Who's your favourite High Lord? (If you picked one for your fav character, then who's your second fav!)

Beron. He's a dick and I'm excited for the day Eris finally kills him, but I have a lot of fun when he's on the page. The HL meeting made me unironically like him.

Favourite MINOR character?

I have multiple and can't decide who I like more. Eris, Gwyn, Emerie, Vassa, Jurian and Andras. Do the first 3 count as minor characters?

Favourite ship? (Crackships included!)

Neris, Tamcien, Elucien, Tamsand and the bat boys are gay agenda.

Favourite court and why?

Spring Court. My favorite seasons are spring and Autumn. I love the spooky season but I'm not down to live with the misogyny. I have no allergies but I'm scared of bugs. Now I have a legit reason to cling onto Tamlin.

Make up a brand new court RIGHT NOW, NO PREP JUST VIBES.

A secret court of witches. After the war 500 years ago they went into hiding and have kept their magical practices alive through their possession of ancient grimoires. Both humans and fae coexist in this court.

What relationship would you have wanted to see more of in the books?

Tamlin, Lucien and Andras. For the guy who started it all, Andras has almost no presence in the book.

What's your unpopular opinion?

I don't like briar x tamlin. I don't hate it and I understand the theory, but I don't care for it. I'm not really interested in a romantic arc for Tamlin. I just want to see him build a better life for himself and fix his friendship with Lucien. A relationship with a human while beautiful is very tragic for an immortal. I would want him to experience an easier romance.

And I don't want a fiery love interest who will kick his ass. I prefer a gentler love for Tamlin. Someone who will listen to him, strive to understand him and treat him with compassion. Being gentle with someone doesn't automatically equal an enabler. A SLOW burn friends to lovers is what I want for him.

What's your favorite headcanon/fan canon?

Azriel is a failure but not like in a malicious way. He tries so hard but he's not good at spying. The girl he likes doesn't like him back and it's so pathetic it's funny.

If you were swept away to Prythian, what's ONE thing you would want to do?

I would go and try to talk with Tamlin. I'm really awkward and not a hugger irl so I would ask if he wants to be friends but deep inside I want to hug him too.

If you could have ONE faerie ability seen in the books, which would it be?

As someone who is afraid of driving and gets easily stressed by traveling, I would say winnowing.

Look @mathiwrites I actually finished it! Took me way too long and I forgot who else tagged me. Thank you moots who tagged me! I'm not tagging anyone because everyone I know has already done it. If you see this post and want to do this, I just tagged you!

[heystovepipeboys]

sooooooooo ok I just realized this after turning this fic over and over in my head like a rotisserie chicken for the past few days......... the inclusion of orpheus as an actual character outside of dick (and outside of his story-- you gave him agency over his grief, do you know this? do you know what you've done? you've given this boy who is ripped into shreds agency over what to do with his ending! like!! that's so clever!!!) seals the deal that dick is NOT orpheus therefore he won't end up like orpheus. he's not gonna turn around. he's not orpheus. in fact, orpheus will HELP him (I mean the voice in the end is definitely open ended like is it rlly orpheus? i like to think it is), and that's what saves him from becoming orpheus!!

anyway. also. the idea that after this whole ordeal they still have bastogne SHATTERS me though. and that nix will almost die again one more time. YOU HAVE TO JUSTIFY YOUR HAPPY ENDING BOYS, SORRY. but they'd rather that than a world where one is without the other like. yeah. alright. truly *chef's kiss* you and your wife deserve all the accolades amen. - @lewis-winters

ahhh sorry this took me SO long to answer. I just mentioned it in my prev ask answer but we have been going through a bunch of Life Stuff and my brain has been like hammered flat recently. But know that I was so happy to get this ask and immediately yelled about it with @batmanschmatman obviously. One of the things we talked about while writing rotten work was definitely how Orpheus has sort of made it a mission of his to give other grieving lovers the chance he got when he can, and I believe we mentioned a few times that this has happened before etc. He isn't like guiding people through the underworld himself but showing them the path and letting them try like he tried and sharing his advice. We still wanted it to be Dick's personality and determination and stubbornness that got him through and helped him succeed where others failed, of course, but Orpheus opening the door for him to prove himself that way. We didn't actually intend the voice at the end to be Orpheus rather than just Dick's inner voice, but it's definitely ambiguous and that's a neat reading!

Also YES there is still Bastogne to go through omg and we have talked about what a wreck Dick would be if Nix still goes on the disastrous jump over Germany. They still have so much of the war left to go!! It can't just be easy 😭 but at least they know what they are to each other now and can protect each other and find comfort in one another as much as they can.

thank you again for the ask!!! ❤️❤️❤️

[an-android-child]

Hello! I am procrastinating and autistic, so I'm gonna refute the rebuttal, if you don't mind. Please, don't take anything personal. I do not know you and I'm not judging you as a person. With that out of the way, let's begin:

"However, 2 is where most of the discourse seems to be happening. Your argument is that Jason doesn't have the right to ask that that of Bruce. I do actually disagree on that point, both more generally because I think children are allowed to ask things of their parents that a peer shouldn't ask of another peer, and more specifically I think a close reading of Jason's original '80s Robin run shows a Bruce that would've been more willing to grant his request." Parents are still human beings who deserve to have boundaries respected. Just because someone is a parent doesn't mean the child deserves to take away their one boundary to force them to do something against their will. We're not talking about Jason wanting a hug and Bruce having touch aversion, we're talking about Jason telling him to kill a man or watch him kill a man. Also, about that other point, I have no words to explain how much him granting that request would have ended him as a person. In every universe he gives in and kills the Joker he's unable to rationalize himself from stopping, because once he has already crossed the line, he can cross it again, and again, and now everyone is safe and no one will die and who cares if he's alone or if he's an enemy to the Justice League, or who cares if he'll kill without thinking if the person deserves a second chance. Once committed the crime there's no going back. Everytime he starts killing, he stops trying to rehabilitate the crooks. He becomes disillusioned, he decides this is the way Jason would have wanted this. So, no, I do not believe 80's "even rapists deserve to face a fair trial, and if that doesn't work it's a societal problem we have to fix instead of just simply killing off the guy" Batman would have given in. He would have wanted to, he may have even almost given in because he tended to be quite emotional and impulsive, like it happened in canon, but I'm completely sure that if he actually did it, it would have killed him. Jason would have come back to a ghost or to a grave.

"2 (If Bruce won't kill the Joker, then Jason will.) is hardly more kind, but I do think it is an important element people don't actually address when they talk about this moment. Jason isn't necessarily asking Bruce to kill; he's asking for him to bear witness. It's a halfway point. It's still unacceptable to Bruce, which is allowed. But it is a significantly more complex moment." Bruce has raised that boy so he would be better than him, so he could experience the happiness he never truly could. The only reason he didn't kill the Joker was because Clark convinced him Jason wouldn't have wanted that. He didn't even care about starting WWIII. Hell, child!Jason wouldn't have wanted that: He didn't mind Two-Face as a child (or even as an adult) after he killed his bio dad (maybe that has been retconned actually, comics are weird). Watching people kill has been exactly what created Batman. His disgust for guns and killing has been a core trait of the character for decades, and the fact that Jason would make him watch him, the son he grieved and failed, kill someone he has always wanted dead, would be incredibly traumatizing, to say the least. It's not as complex of a situation, because Bruce would never live with himself knowing he could have prevented Jason from becoming a killer. Because when Dick killed the Joker and started struggling with guilt, the one that made everything in his power to bring the man he hates most in the world back was Bruce. And it was out of love.

"Bruce violently imposes his own boundaries on Jason. They're both pretty awful to each other in this moment. I love it." With a hand over my heart, I think someone is a little bit more awful here, and the other is a little bit more justified. We're using comic context here, right? Jason has almost killed Tim, Bludhaven has blown up and is swimming in radioactive waste with Dick still in it, and Jason is purposefully taunting Bruce about the fact that he won't be able to save another son again, because he's forcing him to stay right there, with him and the kidnapped Joker. He's the one forcing him to stay here and every minute that passes is a minute Dick can die, which I would say it's a bit more unethical. Also, I'm pretty sure Bruce was trying to get away as fast as possible. I'm not even sure he wasn't expecting Jason to dodge, like he had already done before, but I digress. He needed to find his first son quick, he needed to save him and as many people as he could, but instead he was in a warehouse full of bombs with his dead child telling him to watch him kill or to kill somebody. With a gun. That's like, one of Scarecrow's hallucinations levels of fucked up.

"I think I generally agree, but I disagree that Batman can or should be considered a single person." Batman is a man. I know, I know he tries to create an idea, a symbol. The symbol literally means there will always be second chances, no matter what. But underneath that, Batman will always be Bruce Wayne, will always have seen his parents gunned down in an alley, and will always try to stop bullets from hitting anyone else, no matter what. That's Batman, too.

"Batman is a self-appointed vigilante. He is not beholden to literally anyone. He regularly transgresses upon other people's rights. He is functionally a public figure free of any oversight. People are allowed (and ought to) demand better of him. No one owes Batman the benefit of the doubt or personal consideration because he rarely grants those things to others." One word: GCPD. Another word: Justice League. These two powerful organizations have held him accountable plenty of times. Hell, he has a team full of people who will hold him accountable, as shown numerous times, even in the infamous Gotham War. He's not a figure free of oversight, he's basically a cop, but if a cop actually got the job done and didn't kill (a fantasy indeed, at least at the time this was written). And, if I may agree he doesn't grant the benefit of the doubt to a lot of people, he did grant it to Jason Todd, the man we're talking about, when he may or may-have-not killed Felipe. So, this is definitely not a fair argument in this context.

"Now, whether "demanding better" encompasses "demanding that he kill" is a different question. I think, within the world of the comics, Batman as self-appointed arbiter of justice being permitted to do everything he does, but having his no-killing rule respected because "he's just a man" is sort of not tenable, because Batman isn't a man, he's an idea, and I don't think he can be both." It's in the name. If he's an idea, the idea is redemption, vengeance for the innocent, but he will always be a man first. There are countless stories of Bruce having to come to terms with this simple fact: that he's just a man. And this man wants to do good, and he wants to save as many as he can, and he wants to give second chances, because if he can reform just one person, if he can help just one civilian, then it doesn't matter all the pain that he has to go through. It's not only tenable, it's the only thing that doesn't make him an actual cop, or a tyrannical murderer.

"I think Bruce Wayne not killing because he personally doesn't want to is compelling and interesting; I just don't think it's really ethically justified?*" In a world where the Joker has seen himself rehabilitated countless times (even if he relapses) is it fair to just kill him without lawyer or judge? In a world where Bruce decides if someone will take a life, it will be with an electric chair, after a fair trial, because he won't be judge, jury and executioner, in what world is that not an ethical position? Yes, yes, the Joker always escapes because the Joker needs to sell, but Bruce has given money to the asylum countless of times, has made it as humane and high-tech as his billionaire's money allows him to. And that's the thing, the Joker is always sent to a mental facility because he's incredibly dangerous, but also because he's mentally unwell (how unwell, depends on the writer or reader), and so people can try to get him the help he needs. How is this an unethical position for Batman to take? Hell, Commissioner Gordon only trusts him because he never kills, because he knows he tries to give everyone a fair chance. Batman at his core is compassion, and many writers forget that.

"All that said, I mainly replied because I think you're working from an ethical framework that's highly individualistic. I think that makes sense for discussing Bruce & Jason in UtRH, but I don't think it works for Batman, The Vigilante or for Bruce Wayne, The Public Persona or for Bruce Wayne, The Parent.**" At the end of the day almost all moral is individualistic because all moral concepts come from the minds of individuals, if that's what you meant. But also English is like, my third language, so I might be jumping the gun here. Also, all of those masks make the man that is Bruce Wayne, the man who has watched his son die because he was too late, his other son get beat up almost to death, and is now seeing his first son get blown up in a radioactive explosion while the son who died is taunting him and telling him to traumatize himself even more by letting someone die where he could have prevented it, or letting his son become what he fears most. So.... yeah.

"I'm sort of troubled by the insinuation that billionaires don't owe their communities anything. I mean, I know that's basically libertarianism, and if you're a libertarian then we're just going to have to disagree but: Bruce Wayne, billionaire, is not legally obligated to do any of what you mentioned (and canon is very inconsistent on if he actually does) but the idea that someone with a literally unfathomable level of wealth isn't ethically responsible for giving back to his community is weird to me. Even ignoring real life logic, which states there's no way Bruce could have that wealth in an ethical way, having that kind of money creates, imo, a moral imperative to help people." Bruce Wayne canonically gives to charity a ton of money, tries to create as much change as a billionare as he can, and the only reason Batman exists is because he realized he can't really help the middle man as a philanthropist as much as he could by being there in person. But Bruce, very consistently, gives back to Gotham constantly. I don't understand what is your point here. Bruce The Persona, as you called it, very much is a billionare playboy who only makes public apparances when charities are involved, and who gives and gives without second thought, whose whole company is full to the brim with ex-convicts and street people because he tries to hire as many as he can so they can afford an honest living. Hell, he even pays college tuitions and has pretty good healthcare plans, but that, of course, will depend on what continuity you consider canon. But, even with that, the constant is always the same: He donates, at least, large quantities without second thought.

"Additionally, I'm extra troubled by your saying "he didn't have to agree to cars for several angry, reckless, and bitter kids with death in their hearts" because like. That's a really weird way to frame his adoption of ... most of the kids." I'm pretty sure OP didn't mean it literally, but more like he could have not helped any of his kids and just let the authorities or assorted Wayne-paid subsidiaries deal with them. But, as we know, he's a bleeding heart to the core, so of course he decided to help the only way he knew how to. I don't see your point about it being a weird statement, so I'll assume it's simply a personal opinion phrased as fact.

"I think Bruce wanted to help his kids. I also think he wanted to help himself, (NOTE: while I do see what you mean, he has explicitly said multiple times he wanted his children to turn out better than he did, which is exactly why he took them. It's not as clear-cut as you make it seem) and it's weird to frame his taking in of Jason (post-crisis) as a selfless desire when he admits in Batman #416 that it's at least in part because he misses Dick." I wouldn't say all his motivations are selfish, because he states multiple times post-crisis he wouldn't leave Jason's side if he ever decided to stop being Robin, and that he'd always be there for him. He was more closed-off, less talkative (because we started with the arguments in this universe), but Bruce was very much against taking Jason in at the beginning (the whole Ma Gunn incident) and also him being Robin at first (he spent half a year training).

"It's even a weirder argument to make for Tim, who explicitly offers himself up to a grown man in A Lonely Place of Dying as a replacement goldfish since Bruce can't cope with Jason's loss." I think that's an incredibly oversimplification of what Bruce was going through, and of what Tim was truly offering. Bruce was not in a good place, and Tim decided to help by asking for Dick. Dick set a boundary, and Alfred decided to entrust way too much responsability in a very young person. I don't appreciate the dismissive tone of what is one of the more interesting takes on grief in the DC, at least in my opinion. Bruce is struggling, Bruce is passively suicidal. His enabler, Alfred, basically hires Tim to keep him afloat, something Bruce was so against at first that it took Tim saving his life for him to consider it, and even then he wasn't that ok with it. Hell, Tim didn't even do any field work 'till his Mother's funeral passed. That's a lot of months with nothing but training and comms duty (and it would have been longer if not for Scarecrow and Tim proving himself once again, against Bruce's wishes, but I digress). They formed a relationship with time: from boss and employer, to lifeboat and drowning man, to colleagues, to friends, to father and son, with all the tumultuous things that come with that rollercoaster of a relationship. They have a very complex one, and an incredibly interesting one.

"For Bruce's other canonical kids, Cass is mostly cared for by Barbara, explicitly does not have death in her heart, and is pretty poorly treated by Bruce." Once again, depends on the run. I've read Batgirl 2000, and I can see what you mean, even though I'm one of the few people who's very against the idea of Barbara as a mother figure (no, not all women who are caregivers or who try to help someone young need to be a mother, sometimes things can be messy and still be ok, but that's more of a personal opinion on the idea of maternity as something all women should aspire to or end up in) but for what I've read, I'm not exactly sure what you mean when you say "treated poorly". He has troubles comunicating, yes, but he never did truly go out of his way to treat her bad, even tried to give her the choice of reconnecting with Cain without as much as a second thought, and has had her best interest at heart multiple times, if not a bit overprotective. He was closed off and wasn't good at talking, but they had an understanding of each other thanks to Cass' unique abilities, and they're arguably the most similar of the bunch. I truly don't know what you mean. Maybe you meant when they sparred because he didn't know how to talk to her and knew this was the only way she knew how to talk, and when she told him that was what his abusive father also did he stopped? He's a very decent father to her, I can't think of many instances, at the moment, but I could do more research later.

"I can't speak to Duke because I haven't read his run, and Damian is his biological kid so yeah, he actually did have to be responsible for him." I would say he's pretty good with Duke, and as someone who's seen some friend's families... I can tell you blood can only do so much. If he hadn't wanted, he would have been in his "right", be it as morally questionable as you may think it is, specially because the child was hidden from him for ten whole years (if we go by Morrison canon, then there's an even bigger and valid reason). It would have been a complicated situation, but I think I get what OP truly meant.

"If you're counting Steph, who can go either way since she's not officially adopted, Bruce is super weird and awful to her." I have this whole meta in the drafts that's a three part long text BUT I haven't finished it, so meanwhile I'll link two of my favourite metas: the first and the second.

"Like I'm sort of not sure why you even brought the kids up (NOTE: probably because we're talking about one of them), or brought them up in that way,(NOTE: probably as a way to mention offhandedly one of Bruce's defining character traits: a strong, sometimes misplaced, sense of responsibility) because while Bruce does want to help his kids, his relationship with all of them is constantly motivated by a mixed desire to help, control, project, and mold. His impulses towards most of them are often rather selfish because he had trouble getting out of his own head and he is canonically a sub-par parent at best." I actually agree with this point, but i don't believe he's a sub-par parent... then again, it depends heavily on the writer and continuity. He has done very horrible things in different canons, and it is confusing to keep track, but I do find it more interesting when good intentions simply backfire, than just sheer selfishness... which I guess it could be debated isn't always the main motivator. I would actually say his paranoid nature and need to protect are much bigger setbacks as a parent, more than the sheer need to mold and project. But then again, i'll assume this is an opinion stated as fact, again.

"1. Public figures, especially vigilantes, do not get to set interpersonal boundaries the same way regular people do." A person does not stop being a person just because they're famous or a law enforcer, specially if that boundary is: I won't kill people and I will let criminals be judged by the justice system.

"2. Wealthy people have, in my own ethical formulation, a moral imperative to use their wealth for good." This is a moot point. Bruce Wayne already does that in all main continuities, as far as I'm aware.

"3. Parents absolutely owe their children more than the bare minimum. I do not think that extends to committing murder for them, but I do think Bruce taking in kids when he doesn't have to doesn't prove much about his moral character." The only thing it proves is that he wants to help, and that he cares for them somewhat, be it for better or for worse. And, again, this is a moot point. You say it yourself, the bare minimum does not extend to crossing your one and only boundary.

"4. I think I understand your point about boundaries and I think they're reasonable on an interpersonal level, but fail to take into account hegemonic power structures and social expectations." Talking about crossing boundaries, Jason has already done that a few times, and that is barely discussed in your argument. If I may add, from a moral standpoint, I believe Bruce has an ethical reason not to kill the Joker, just because Jason has stomped on so many lines with him over and over again since he came back (antagonizing, beating and almost killing his loved ones, using a friend's daughter's rape against her, stealing his company, killing people and showing him the bodies, forcing him to choose between killer or spectator, forcing him not to go save his son from dying, and I think I'm missing a few). I think you fail to see that if someone had power over the situation, it was the one with the trigger.

TL;DR: Your whole argument seems to need to depersonalize the man behind the mask, to make him just a symbol so that his one and only boundary, that comes from very deep trauma, can be torned off and used against him. I don't think there's a good resolution for a conflict like this, and that's exactly why I love it. But there are wrong choices. Bruce killing and Bruce doing nothing would be devastating for him. And that deserves to be taken into consideration.

If someone has burned all the bridges, it wasn't Bruce this time.

Jason Todd is my favourite character in all of DC but:

If someone doesn't want to kill, you can't ask, tell, or expect them to kill for you

Or, you can, but you'd be a complete asshole. The only time those expectations are valid is when a person signed up for a job where killing is expected (e.g. the military).

But as we all know, Batman is not the military nor the police. He only has one rule—or only one rule he truly cares about—and that's to not kill.

And frankly, I don't care what his reasons are for that; the bottom line is that he doesn't want to kill and we should respect it. Because at the end of the day, when you take a life, you're the one who's fully responsible for it. You're the one who has to live with it. And because of that, nobody should force you to do it.

Look, like I said, Jason Todd is my favourite character too. But that doesn't mean I don't find it disturbing or unfair when he expects Bruce, and only Bruce, to kill the Joker for him.

Do I find it understandable and human? Of course! Jason died horribly and gruesomely to a madman who'd do the same to anyone else so long as he finds it funny enough. It's only natural for him to want and expect someone—especially his father, the one he loved the most and the one he'd been searching through the thin crack of the door for even as the countdown struck zero—to put an end to the clown permanently, but. Does that mean he should? Absolutely not, and I think it's straight-up awful that so many people in this fandom encourage this take.

And the kicker is, if Catherine was still alive, if Catherine was the sort to become a vigilante and this happened to the both of them, do you think Jason would have the same expectations for her? I bet not. Not because he's sexist, but because Bruce is Batman and we take Batman for granted.

Yeah, you heard me. We take him for granted. We expect too much out of him.

This has been a slow-coming realisation, but it comes after a particularly harrowing conversation with my sister during which she told me that I was taking her for granted and I surprised myself by agreeing with her. I won't go into the nitty gritty details but what I took away from the conversation was that just because someone can do something, and you yourself would do that something for them, that does not mean you should automatically expect them to do the same for you—especially if it goes against their character and what they stand for.

This goes the same for Bruce. Just because he's capable of murder and is justified in doing it, that does not mean that he should do it if he doesn't want to. And just because Jason would do it for him if the reverse happened, that still does not mean he should do it if he doesn't want to (which Bruce would have never asked for anyway because that's just not part of his character). No matter their similarities, Jason and Bruce are two completely different people and they can't be expected to do and choose the same things.

Batman, of course, chooses to take responsibility for many, many things, most of which are completely optional. He's a billionaire, he doesn't have to help his city by spending his nights saving people, facing the worst the city has to offer, and risk his life and sanity on the daily. He's the CEO of one of the most wealthy companies in the world, he doesn't have to uplift his city by donating to orphanages, hospitals, and charities, creating programmes to help the youth, the poor, the disabled, ex-convicts, and other minorities, as well as funnel any struggling person he encounters to his company so that they can be assured of a job. He was a single and free man, he didn't have to agree to care for several angry, reckless, and bitter kids with death in their hearts.

All of the shit he does is completely optional! Yet, the one thing he explicitly chooses not to do, the one thing he absolutely refuses to take responsibility for and takes great pains to avoid, is killing.

And I get it, this is murder we're talking about here. You can't just expect people to be just okay with doing that, even if that person is a demented dude in a bat costume.

Actually, why are we expecting so much out of such a person? Cause Batman can do anything? Cause Jason is his son and Gotham is his city? Cause if given half a chance, we wouldn't let Jason down? Cause if something happened to us, we hope that we mattered enough to someone for them to avenge us, no matter if doing so would completely destroy them? Tear them apart from the inside-out? No matter that we're already dead and they'd have to live the rest of their lives like that?

Just something to think about.

At any rate, I think it's wrong to look at someone and expect them to kill for you. If Gotham wants Joker gone, they're just gonna have to do it themselves cause expecting a volunteer to do this extra shit they never asked for and explicitly does not want to do is more than just appalling.

It's cruel.

[britcision]

Alright I’m on a Dead On Main kick but I’m also permanently in house “Danny Should Adopt Connor For Proper Clone Parenting”

So let’s combine those for crack purposes!

Timelines are fake and so are trees

Jason and Danny are both technically younger than Connor’s supposed to be, and both actually older than Connor is

There’s some fight in Gotham big enough to justify both Superman and Superboy showing up, Red Hood’s willingly working with the bats, mass hysteria

Jason Todd knows more than enough about forcing a working relationship with shitty parents enough to have Suspicions about how Man and Boy are interacting

He knew them before he died and knew it was a bad relationship then, it’s clearly no better

But it’s shooty shooty guns time so we’ll get to that later

Eventually he has to call in the bf because the JL are getting their asses kicked and Danny shows up and joins the fight

Even he can spot the tension and he and Jason exchange Big Gay Looks

But as the fight goes on, Connor’s pinned

In Big Danger, going down, Superman’s closest and doesn’t even glance twice

Just turns away

In comes Danny with the steel chair and if some flying fragments of goon nearly hit Supes, well, pure coincidence

Danny helps Connor to his feet and they get back into it, Connor gets to be in on the big plan which is Get Danny To The Middle

One ghostly wail later, that’s it that’s the fight

Everyone’s wondering what happened, how all the baddies disappeared, Danny gives Connor a pat on the shoulder

“I’m retired kid, and couldn’t have done it without you, so do me a favour and you take this win”

Danny’s gone, Connor’s confused, Jason INSTANTLY backs him up

If Bats is wondering who the unknown fighting alongside them was, well, Superman’s making his biggest constipated faces about congratulating his clone

Jason promises to explain everything if Connor comes by for coffee, Connor has no social life so post debrief they go and pick up enough for 3

Connor’s a little surprised cuz yeah, Jason’s different from when he was Robin, but way less angry and violent than Dick’s led him to believe

Jason explains it’s because of his new bf Danny, the explainer in this case

They get back to Danny in his human form, he’s all gushy and happy to meet Connor cuz whether he went to space or not Connor is technically an alien

Connor gets very quiet about his dna donors

Danny gets Instantly Suspicious and remembers that moment in the fight

Jason rats out the incidents he knows about where Superman’s been a shit

Connor insists we are Not Talking About This It’s Fine

Danny stares him in the face

“Hey wanna meet my clone? Her name’s Danielle, her creator made her try to murder me to replace me. She’s my sister and best friend and I love her dearly and You’re My Clone Now Too.”

Connor, befuddled, is instantly adopted by Dani as well because Clone Sibling, who cares about genetics

Jason tells Connor they’re always like this, but yeah, if he doesn’t wanna put up with Supes’ shit he can go his own way

He doesn’t even have to go full Red Hood style, but they’ll take care of him if he wants to break off on his own

Connor doesn’t believe Supes would ever allow this and would kill Connor the second he showed any hesitance

Danny goes Full Eldritch Horror

Jason:

“Oh hey I don’t think I formally introduced you, Connor this is my boyfriend Danny, the King of the Infinite Realms, you just watched him melt a guy who was kicking Clark’s ass. What were your concerns again?”

And that’s how Connor ends up adopted by his friend’s baby brother and his eldritch boyfriend, complete with happy family jokes

Jason and Danny both call him their baby incessantly and Connor will never admit he kinda loves it, not least for the faces Dick makes

Superman does predictably kick up a stink about Connor not living on base, Batman can’t control Jason but Jason isn’t a world ending threat

Jason smiles extremely sweetly and demonstrates exactly what a world ending threat looks like by texting Danny, who shows up again in full Eldritch Horror

And then Danny texts JAZZ and the Justice League learn the true meaning of fear from a 6’9 redhead therapist who went to the Harley Quinn school of “Sit Down And Shut Up While I Read You For Filth”

Danny pinky swears not to end the world if the JL leave Jason and Connor alone, they can even still be on call for the league and MAYBE so will Danny

If they’re extremely lucky

Constantine assures them this is The Only Way Fucking Hell Superman What Did You Do

The only hiccup in the happily ever after is Dick deciding this makes him Connor’s uncle and being insufferable about it

Danny agrees and it only makes it worse

[elysianslove]

haikyuu boys that ━━

━━ would absolutely, definitely, 100% get nauseous, dizzy, possibly might faint, while their s/o is in labor. one peak and they’re doubling over the hospital bed, inhaling deeply and exhaling sharply, steeling themselves. some are surprising, some are expected. all are stupid.

iwaizumi hajime; he just cannot. he cannot fathom what is happening. there is no way you’re going through that and surviving. no wonder you’re screaming in pain. of course you’re screaming in pain. he takes one look at what’s going on and just immediately takes a step back, eyebrows raised and hand pressed to his chest like “my god.” he’s an 8/10 though because he is incredibly supportive and those arms are great to grab onto. will not complain for a second (is strangely way too quiet), but he’s worryingly pale. maybe he’s quiet cause if he speaks he’ll throw up. 

miya atsumu; he’s this close to screaming. or crying. possibly both. he can’t tell if he’s scared in general or scared for you or if he’s hurting seeing you hurting. in fact, no one can tell. he just looks like he’s watching an alien abduction happen right before his eyes. like a 6/10 because he probably does actually faint. it’s almost as if he’s the one in labor. and he’s the annoying kind of supportive that makes you want to smack him like shut the fuck up i’m pushing a whole child out of me right now. but his reactions are extremely endearing and hilarious to watch back because he most definitely insisted on filming. 

akaashi keiji; the silent struggler. really doesn’t wanna make it obvious at all. like he really, really, really doesn’t want you knowing that he’s uncomfortable in any way, but he’s like, sweating from how nauseous he is. a big part of it is hating seeing you in pain; he cringes every time you so much as groan or pant. 7/10 because he’s incredibly supportive but his hands are way too clammy :/ like fr get a grip keiji. again, supportive, but his voice is shaky so it’s like, really ineffective. he cries when he sees his baby and it automatically makes him an 11/10.

sakusa kiyoomi; absolute coward. pussy. it’s not about hygiene, he’s just genuinely mortified. keeps asking you’re okay like,,, what do you think, sir? he keeps looking even though every time he does it doesn’t get any better? question mark? you can see him visibly gulping cause he’s in so much shock. like a 5/10 because he forgets to hold your hand. just stands there. eyes wide and mouth parted like a dumb fish. chokes back on his sobs when he hears his baby’s cries and it’s adorable how he brings his hand up to silence himself so maybe he’s a 7/10.

goshiki tsutomu; please he probably has a panic attack mid labor. definitely screams with you and all the nurses and the doctor are like ???? holds your hand tighter than you’re holding his. apologizes the whole time. the whole time. like the doctor asked him if he wants to see what’s happening, which idk why they would consider that a smart idea, and he just wailed like, “baby i’m so sorry, i’m so sorry, can we just adopt?” a 3/10. he’s so cute but. bring someone else if you don’t want to rip your hair out and his. 

kageyama tobio; he absolutely tries to pretend that he’s okay but he just gets really, really quiet once you start delivering and his lips are chapped and his pupils are blown and his face is so pale. he looks like he just got off of a really bad rollercoaster. he’s not even holding your hand you’re just hanging onto an unmoving, lifeless limb. maybe 6/10, cause he could be better in the supportive department but, at least he was quietly panicking. he does have a mini panic attack once his baby is in his arms though. like just starts hyperventilating. it’s okay though! it’s actually kind of cute <3

lev haiba; actually faints. not probably. he actually faints. like all 6′5 of him just drops onto the floor by your bed and you’re like ,,, damn, guess i’m doing this alone then. he wakes up and the first thing he sees is your baby crowning and he just faints again pls. someone has to be there with you, just like to help him to you. he cannot stand straight at all, he’s leaning on the bed the whole time. 5/10 because it genuinely makes you laugh it kind of makes the pain bearable. they have to get a chair in case he just falls back cause he’s just so dizzy pls.

━━ would be so fucking annoying. who the hell let them in this room? why did you agree to this? how are you going to raise a child with them? regrets. so many regrets. 

tanaka ryūnosuke; he’s like annoyingly scared. shut up and calm down for a minute i’m trying to birth your child here. swears so much like “holy shit holy shit that’s a big baby.” like pls you’re trying to push it out of you and he has the audacity to say shit like that? treats it like it’s some sort of volleyball match like he cheers whenever the doctor praises you. maybe a 5/10 cause he’s just annoying, but it’s motivating in a way. accepts any insult you throw at him too, like he’s so on board with it. “yes, i’m absolutely a piece of shit— what do you mean you’re not getting anywhere near my dick babe wait.”

bokuto kōtarō; listen :( you don’t want to think he’s annoying but he lowkey is. he’s trying his hardest to make this an easier experience for you but you just need him to be a little quieter. like this hurts bo, calm down please. you want to match his energy but it’s literally physically impossible. he’s an 8/10 though because you doubt it’d have been possible to go through it without him. bokuto’s incredibly ripped too so he lets you hang onto him and he holds you tightly too, like grips your hands and legs so strong that it’s v physically supportive too. 

kozume kenma; he’s so. quiet. like say something kozume. say anything. he’s just wincing and cringing. 4/10 cause where’s the emotion. lets you hold his hand, like wow you should be honored. insults you back if you insult him???? like what’s that about???? when he sees his baby he does like, sharply intake a breath or whatever cause he doesn’t want to cry but he’s really struggling not to, which is kind of cute you guess. films the whole thing and does like a peace sign with a very nonchalant face but he has a filter on and the filter scans your face too except you’re like screaming. actually a 3/10. 

sugawara kōshi; he’s incredibly supportive yes, but mans will be laughing at you. laughing. at you. probably films you and is like properly giggling and laughing boisterously. is so unfazed by anything and everything he sees. he would so easily be a 10/10 but he becomes a -1/10 just cause he’s an ass. definitely like is breathless and is so mind-blown when he sees his baby. just in awe and in shock that he laughs like, “we made that holy crap.” good to have in the delivery room because he does make the atmosphere easier and more lighthearted, but,,, at what cost? your sanity’s. 

suna rintarō; the amount of times you wanted to punch him you cannot count on your ten fingers. makes some sex joke about how you’re so stretched out. you literally want to deck him. films the birthing process and makes you watch the video when you’re not even done delivering the baby? cause he’s insane i guess? justifies it as “this is a reminder of how strong you are,” like shut up with your bullshit. it’s kinda smart tho cause you can pull this on your kid later but still. he’s so fucking annoying. if you hold his hand too hard he’ll be like “it can’t be that bad stop being such a baby,” and the baby is delivered like an hour early out of spite. a 6/10 tho cause somehow you love him and decided to have a baby with him. 

ushijima wakatoshi; pt.2 to say fucking something??? he’s mostly quiet cause he doesn’t really know what to say, and cause he’s never seen you in this much pain and it’s kind of shocking him. he’s not scared though, cause it’s like, a natural process of human life and the life cycle and all that stuff, he’s just like. taking time to process it. lets you hold his hand though. also if you wanna like give up halfway through he’s annoyingly angry with you like “no. you can’t just give up halfway. stop being a coward.” like why don’t you give it a try toshi??? a 5/10. could do better. 

terushima yuuji; so hyperactive that it’s infuriating. doesn’t even hold your hand, he just stands back and observes and like cheers. literally will jump every time you push, like what the fuck, my love? makes really weird comments like “what does it feel like? does it feel like you’re pooping?” like???? it feels like i’m being torn in half yu :D a 4/10 only cause when you ask if you can slap him he wholeheartedly agrees and the doctor cannot hold their laugh back. also definitely plays like the chika dance and makes the nurses do it with him. probably films a tiktok too. you’re going to kill him after. 

oikawa tōru; he’s trying so hard to be supportive and your backbone but he’s just so jittery and nervous. he’s not going to faint or get nauseous, but he literally cannot stay still. he’s so anxious it’s making you anxious. his hands are shaking when they grip yours, but honestly, completely unbiased of course, an 8/10, cause it really is so endearing. like he’s breathlessly and exasperatingly praising you and you can tell he’s near tears just gasping back sobs so ,,, maybe he’s not that annoying. but he is. he is annoying. a little. 

━━ would be the best of the best. perfectly supportive. a lovely anchor. not too quiet, not too chatty. is so soft and gentle with you. you fall in love with them all over again. 

miya osamu; definitely a 10/10. husband material. he has a cloth that’s just patting away at your sweat. kisses your hand and knuckles. soothingly rubs at your thighs. tells you you’re doing great, that it’ll all be worth it. kisses your forehead. grins at you halfway through when you need that extra motivation. literally all the nurses and the doctor are swooning over him. he’s very nervous deep down but he won’t show it, not for a moment, for your sake. 10/10. can’t stress this enough. 

kita shinsuke; another king! so soft with you when you feel like giving up. just speaks to you in hushed tones like, “you’ve come this far, lovely. you can’t back out now. think of all the happy moments we’ll get to share just a few hours from now.” and you’re like “alright i’m sold.” completely unfazed by anything he sees. okay maybe a little fazed but he just kisses your forehead after sneaking a peak and tells you you’re doing wonderfully. 100000/10. imagine him as the father of your children???? like literally who else would you want????

aran ojiro; wow another inarizaki i sense a trend. except atsumu he’s a pussy. cheers you on quietly, holds onto your legs, breathes with you, smooths your hair back, literally just an angel. if you take a small break he just spends it quietly talking with you to get your mind off the pain. his knuckles are just caressing your jaw and cheek softly till you’ve calmed down. 10/10 obviously. he’s just the right amount of loud supportive and quiet supportive. kisses you full on the mouth when he first hears his baby’s cries and can’t stop thanking you. literally wtf he’s so cute.

kuroo tetsurō; he’s actually surprisingly very serious when you’re delivering the baby. he’s cracking jokes and all before to try and get you less nervous but it’s actually because he’s freaking out. he’s mostly quiet, just holding onto your hand as tightly as you’re gripping his. he holds his breath every time you push. keeps whispering i love you and pressing kisses to your temple. a 9/10 cause he’s so quiet it’s a little scary but he cannot hold back his tears when he sees his baby. kisses you all over your face after. 

satori tendō; very emotional. like so emotional. he’s teary eyed the whole time, just thanking you even if you hadn’t given birth yet. it makes the nurses cry too cause it’s so lovely to see him get so visibly affected by this. he’s just whispering thank you’s and i promise not to let you down ever and i promise to love you forever and you’re pretty sure he’s speaking to the baby you’re birthing at this point. 9/10 cause he made you cry :( no but really he’s a 10/10. super loving, keeps asking you if you’re okay, if you need water, need to hold his hand, anything. angel, fr. 

matsukawa issei; relatively surprising as well because you expected him to be more than just annoying, but he’s just. in awe. he’s so amazed by how much you’re going through, and he just stores it in the back of his brain. literally thanks you for the next 50 years to come. laughs endearingly with you to lighten the mood. 9/10. a point is deducted because he jokingly said that now you’ll be able to take his dick really easily. a nurse choked in shock pls. gets real close after to whisper i love you so that only you can hear. he’s just a dream <3

━━ would not let you move an inch after giving birth. all the work is on them for the next 5 years. 

all of them. not a single one is left out in this one. they’re annoying but ,,, they all love very strongly <3

end note; listen idk what this is. i had a vision where iwaizumi could not handle his s/o giving birth and the thought was actually so sweet to me, just the nurses laughing at him and he’s just breathing deeply to try and not throw up and then. this happened. anyways. this helped put me in a better mood so i hope it does/did for anyone else too! 

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

Marauders' Era Fics - One Fic Writer's Opinions on why they are so stupidly divisive

AKA opinions no one asked for but I'm putting out into the world anyway ;) ...also caveat these are my observations, some are clearly generalizations, I'm aware that I can't have read all the fics, etc, my opinions are likely biased by something or other but I'll try my best to make them unbiased in this post.

So - I started reading HP fanfic less than a year ago. In this time, one of the most divisive things I've found are Marauder era fics.

Why? Because it's really fucking hard, IMO, to write a good Marauder era long fic (the 70s) without falling into traps that divide folks. (One shots/short fics are exceptions)

Here are the main problems with the Marauder era:

It's boring. Until the late 70s when Voldemort's activity is rising and the betrayals happen, it's dull. It's boarding school kids being brats to each other and a werewolf running around Hogwarts.

Because it's boring, fic writers (myself included) have to come up with either a) plot points and/or b) solid characterization and character changes to get from 1971 to 1981 with a compelling story. What makes a compelling story?

I'm glad you asked. Ideally, from what I've read/seen, it's plot AND characterization. The plot develops, the characters change. One of the key drivers of my fics has been writing a story, not just a bunch of interrelated situations. So, what's the issue with Marauder fics? They rely, IMO, either on convoluted plots that don't change the characters OR they have to reinvent the characters in a way that makes them too OOC.

The issue I see with most Marauder fics is that it's EITHER a bunch of situations and the characters don't really change OR the characters change so that they're unrecognizable to their canon counterparts. The Marauders are tiny versions at age 11 of who they'll become when they die. Sure, they build friendships/relationships, but besides coming of age (which is totally fine as a story, and I think that explains why ATYD is so popular because of Remus's changes from beginning to end, or Debt of Time, because of Hermione/Mia's changes), but otherwise, that's what Marauder era fics must rely on, IMO, in order to be successful. It's the character changes that make the story compelling, not the plot or story itself.

Next point. The characterizations, in my opinion, are why the Marauder era fics are divisive. Lacking plot we need character building but it takes a tremendous amount of effort to work backwards from the broken men in canon to the children we only get glimpses of - let's talk examples now:

Severus Snape, at 11, is not an evil child who poo-poos on James Potter because Snape is inherently evil. Snape is a poor, likely abused child who sees a snobby, rich, pampered boy and reacts in jealousy. Snape isn't blameless. He's not perfect by any means and there are plenty of situations in which there are no excuses for his behaviors. Setting him up as an evil antagonist as a child (eg bashing) assassinates his character. Yeah, he's a dick in many ways but he grows up more in the 70s AND MATURES more than the other characters, who grow up LATER.

Sirius Black, at age 11, is already at odds with his family. He's a defiant little shit who makes friends and sticks up for ONLY who he thinks is worthy of his time. It's all too easy to pick on Snape (again, he's not blameless either, but why not take the high road, Sirius?). He grows up somewhat as a result of what happened to the Potters, but it's a stunted growth because of Azkaban. He does become the best godfather to Harry as he can be (Who eats rats for their godson? Respect, bro.) That being said, I'd rather read about Sirius as an adult because as a teen he's a prick. I love him a lot in later years but reading about him as a Marauder is nauseating sometimes because his behavior is glorified or justified because Snape is "evil."

Remus Lupin, at age 11, is somewhat dull. Yeah, he's a kid werewolf so he has among the most potential (besides Snape) to grow up and get good character development. The problem is he's set up immediately with the other boys who are so confident, and Remus so insecure, that he bends over backwards to defend them. He doesn't really grow up till later because he's NOT challenged to grow. Other than the werewolf business (and I fucking LOVE Remus Lupin, btw) he doesn't have much potential till he's older. This creates a problem for Marauder fics, because if he's dull, we've got to spice up his character in lieu of a good plot. This is my main beef with ATYD - Remus is a gay, dyslexic, orphan werewolf. YIKES. That's the starting point for Remus to get to his canon character and I'm just not buying it. He's cowardly and it takes someone like Tonks to change him because he's not truly challenged as a teenager.

So, what DOES make a good Marauder fic? Either telling the story from a more complex/challenged character and seeing them change (Snape, Peter) OR creating plot lines that make it AU. Lacking that, it's all about (mis)characterization and that's what makes these fics so divisive. Or, just doing one shots, short fics, or centering on 1979-1981.

I like the Marauders well enough and I think there's plenty of fertile ground for good one shots and short fics of their Hogwarts years. Sirius and Remus are WAY better characters as adults than as teens. I also like Snape well enough. He's not perfect and a lot of his behavior is appalling (most adults in the HP series are incompetent or cruel) but he was necessary for Voldemort to be defeated. I'll make a separate post one day on Snape, but this post was mostly about Marauder fics and why they're divisive.

Alright, that's all. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far.

(One day I'll make a post on why I hate wolfstar so much, too, but in short I legit can't see Sirius Black being into shabby, shy Remus when he has confident, cool James Potter right there, even less so when we consider the prank involving Snape and the mutual betrayals. yeah, it's great fodder for relationships (cool angst) but not seeing it as a sustainable ship at all)

[sleepydrabbles]

I want to add to this— it didn’t really relate to my main point but I think Horikoshi is just trying to yank us around at this point. He’s not interested in a deep story, he’s probably bored to shit and back with an idea he didn’t expect people to love so much. He’s demonstrated that he’s a naturally mischievous and immature person as well, my best example being that his convenient fog for Bakugo’s dick literally spells out dick in Japanese:

Behold your deep, thought-provoking mangaka. /sarcasm

BNHA is still listed as a comedy on Hulu. Horikoshi is friends with the author of attack on titan. He empathizes most with his perviest character and his favorite is the wild explosive gremlin boy who makes it to high school without maturing at all. He’s also working with a shit system and chances are he’s high on caffeine or tobacco or smth, I mean come on.

You really think he cares about plot holes? He’s basically writing fic for his OCs at this point. Events will happen because he wants them to happen and he’ll attempt to justify them later… maybe.

I’ve been told I’m quite cynical but I don’t think it’s too far off to assume that the whole bkdk plot line happened because he spotted some shit on Twitter and went “you know what? I’m going to do the OPPOSITE of the rational thing. Kiss my ass.” It’s exactly the kind of thing his type does.

So if you feel gaslit? Congratulations, he’s probably trying to see how far he can push shit, what’s the wildest thing he can get away with before he loses the fan base entirely (and when he does— he’s won! He gets to do something else!)

We’ve all put him in this position, let’s at least laugh at the consequences.

My frustration with most criticism leveled at manga artists and authors is that people end up addressing symptoms and not causes.

When I was 11 or 12, I wanted to be a manga artist. Part of this particular fixation meant reading a lot of manga and trying to imitate the styles— something you can still see in my art. I came across a manga called Bakuman that I would really recommend, because it gave me a better understanding of why manga has a bigger tendency to have huge plot holes, fucked up character development, and flat characters when compared to, say… published novels. I’ll need to dig it up sometime so I can show y’all specific stuff but for now I’ll work from memory… I need to get these thoughts down.

Most manga are published through weekly magazines, and the artists are expected to come up with a chapter a week. I’ve seen some shifts lately due to the work-related stress and injuries that have abounded as a consequence but that is where things started, and that meant manga artists had to come up with SOMETHING on a schedule, no matter how good or bad it was. (So yeah, that terrible pandering filler chapter/arc was probably a mangaka with a hell of a block.)

Then, within the magazine, there are frequent checks and polls to measure popularity— if a manga isn’t popular enough, it gets cut, whether or not it was finished. (Yeah, that manga you loved that had a really sudden and terrible ending? Probably more niche than you realized.)

Contrast this with traditional publishing (as I saw someone here doing, comparing Harry Potter to My Hero Academia): authors take years to write, and then they have to find an editor, and even if the whole story is published in segments they have at least a year between those segments to plan, write, and edit. NaNoWriMo winners have demonstrated that the writing phase can be finished in a month or two— the rest of the effort goes to editing.

Manga artists have an editor, sure, but that editor is on the same deadline. Worst-case scenario they get a day or two to read over the chapter.

Novels also tend to remain popular enough not to have to deal with getting cut— and most novelists will just finish in self-publishing if their publisher decides to terminate their contract. Manga artists simply move to the next idea, from what I’ve seen.

This leads to a system where, I kid you not, most artists are just throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks. They get an idea, it gets dashed out, and then they see what happens. I can’t tell you how many artists I’ve seen express genuine surprise at the popularity of their ideas, and I think it’s just because that idea was one in maybe five or six that got submitted to the magazine that round. They have to figure it out as they go, and what does that mean? Plot holes.

And if a manga is popular enough, the expectation is that the manga artist will continue to make it… and make it… and make it. My dad joked once that you’ll always find another villain behind the latest big bad with these types of series, because the goal is not to create a cohesive story but to maintain audience attention as long as possible. My Hero may be in the middle of a final battle, but who knows whether AFO will actually turn out to be the ultimate villain— while Voldemort was clearly the problem and remained the problem for the entire Harry Potter series. (I’m working with the comparison I saw— I have some personal issues with JKR as an artist and a person that I won’t get into here.)

You see where I’m going with this, right? I sure hope so.

Learning that, as a manga artist, I would be expected to continue creating what gets popular no matter how I felt about it— that was what tanked my desire to become a manga artist. And I love manga to death, but I’ve also learned not to expect much of it because the system itself is designed in such a way that only the most batshit insane series with wild twists and turns and crazy unrealistic characters will succeed. Think about Naruto, Bleach, My Hero, ONE PIECE, etc. it’s a miracle there’s a plot line there at all.

Unfortunately, some people hold these manga to the same standard as Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Steelheart, Mistborn, etc. And as long as they do so, they’re going to be disappointed, because the manga publishing world is basically a reflection of the internet influencer world— “create till you drop and everyone forgets your name” is the goal of the game. Until we see some kickback against that system, you’re not going to see well-developed manga that are also popular.

If you do find one, congratulations! Cherish it. The mangaka probably had to kick a few shins to keep it true to their vision.

[astermacguffin]

What if the Mark of Cain manifests differently when it's imprisoning God and not the Darkness? If the Darkness makes the Mark bearer go insane with unbridled want for destruction, then what does sealing God make you do?

An obsessive desire for creation? Creation to the point of corruption? (Think of the Shimmer from the film Annihilation. Continuous reproduction to the point of begetting alien, cancer-like entities. A refracted, distorted notion of creation.)

Okay, so canon divergence from The Trap. They successfully seal away Chuck, then Castiel bears the Mark. (Jack won't be back until later episodes, so he's not here yet.)

At first, they think he's fine. Cas says he's not feeling any bloodlust just yet. (He does feel a certain itch under his skin. Not a desire to murder, but a desire to do...something. He doesn't tell this to anyone.)

His grace is getting stronger, almost archangel-like (if not more). It's incredibly helpful for hunts, and Cas is happy to feel his wings healthy again after a long time. Sam is happy for him, but Dean is suspicious of things (especially since he's a previous Mark bearer).

After a while, Cas starts feeling...burdened, almost bloated by grace. (After all, he does have access to an infinite supply of it.) He needs to have an outlet for it.

Cas tells them so and Sam suggests healing people. Dean gives the green light on the condition that he remains invisible and he doesn't go Godstiel on them again.

It's a great outlet, and for the first few weeks they start feeling normal again. But unfortunately, healing stops being enough to relieve Cas of his excess grace anymore. The mass healings start to pile up all across the globe and it catches everyone's attention. Some think it's a blessed miracle, some think it's a sign of the end times. They make him slow down on the healings after that.

Without an outlet, however, Cas starts feeling antsy and pained. They brainstorm on possible alternatives. Cas suggests going to Heaven and saving it from collapse by healing his brethren's wings and creating more angels out of consenting souls in Heaven.

He explains Heaven's endangered and dwindling numbers. Sam agrees that it would hit two birds in one stone: relieve Cas from excess grace and prevent the extinction of angels. Dean doesn't like the idea of more winged dicks so he shoots down the idea. Eileen says that since Cas is the one in pain, he should be the one to decide.

Ultimately, Cas defers to Dean's judgment (as always). Sam protests, arguing that he can't just shoulder that pain. Cas replies: "I've suffered worse, Sam."

Cas doesn't complain about the pain for about a week, so for a while, everyone believes him when he said he can shoulder the pain. One day, Dean finds him outside the bunker, groaning in pain as he bleeds himself out, his grace pouring into the ground and sprouting plants. Dean sees this and is finally convinced to allow Cas to make more angels.

What follows then is a series of escalating events:

While Sam and Eileen are practicing their witchcraft for spell they need in a hunt, Cas suggests to enhance Sam's physical and magical abilities using his grace. "It will make the process faster and safer," he reasons. He agrees, but Dean eyes this suspiciously.

During one of their hunts, they encounter a young and freshly-turned vampire. The boy begs them not to kill him, and Cas gives him a proposal. "Promise not to feed on humans ever again and I shall cure you of your hungers and your pains. Pledge your allegiance to me and you shall never be afraid of yourself ever again." The boy agrees, and before Dean could even protest, Cas slices his palm and feeds the vampire his grace.

They argue about the grace-feeding in the Impala. Dean notices Sam's pointed lack of complaints and figures it out. "You're in on this, aren't you? How long has Cas been doing this? He's going Michael behind our backs and you're letting him?"

Sam argues that it's different because Cas isn't making super monsters; he's making them less "monstrous" (whatever that means). Sam's obsession with his own "purity" is key to understanding him here.

One time, Dean catches Cas in his "garden" ("forest" seems more apt with how lush the greens already are) creating butterflies and bees out of thin air using his grace alone.

Reports of the miraculously healed people suddenly gaining new abilities like increased strength, heightened senses, and prophecy start popping up. Some are experiencing phantom limbs, talking about their sprouting "wings."

Sam is becoming addicted to Cas' grace to the point that he willingly lets himself be hurt in hunts just so Cas can cure him. Dean confronts him about this, but Sam just argues that he's "never felt this pure before." Eileenn shares the same concern as Dean.

Hunts are becoming less frequent the more monsters are being "cleansed" by Cas. The world is becoming disconcertingly quiet.

Cas' "garden" is starting to emit this strange aura. The plants and creatures growing inside it are starting to look more...alien.

One of the original angels goes to Dean and tells him of Heaven's affairs. The Host is stable again, but the angels he created are...not exactly angels. They're graced up and they sustain Heaven, but their true forms are "horrifying and incomprehensible, even to an angel." The angel adds that more than 60% of Earth's creatures have already been touched by Cas' grace.

The final nail in the coffin is when Dean catches Cas in the garden fiddling with his angel blade. It's emitting a strange glow, vibrating a subtle hum and looking as if it's liquid, flowing and distorting here and there.

Dean asks him what he's holding. "Oh, this?" Cas responds. "This is the Last Blade. Last, not in terms of time but in concept, for no other blade shall ever compare to it. The spark of creation. Fiat lux."

Dean's heart sinks. Of course. The First and the Last, Alpha and Omega. "Cas...the Mark, I think i-it's scrambling your brain, man."

"I know," he replies, eyes wet and apologetic. It's a small moment of lucidity amidst weeks and months of...whatever that was.

"Okay, okay, so you're still you, that's... that's good. Okay." Dean doesn't know how to approach this. Give him a fight and he'll know what to do, but this? Watching his best friend, the love of his life, be distorted into something incomprehensible? Yeah, this is totally beyond him.

"You know, I used to hate Chuck," Cas says. "How could the Father of All Creation be this angry, petulant child? But," he continues, "knowing what I know now, it's either regressing into a petty child or being reduced to insanity."

"Cas...what are you talking about, man?"

"No mind should bear this burden, Dean. No matter how infinite they are," he says, voice trembling in exhaustion.

(more below the cut)

He continues. "The awareness of everything is the awareness of nothing at all. Imagine perceiving every possible piece of information about the world all at once. Seeing light in all its forms all at once: ultraviolet, infrared, etc. Sensing all the neutrinos zip by, sensing gravitational waves, sensing the slighest bit of seismic activity."

Dean doesn't know how to respond, so he lets him go on.

"Knowledge can only ever be a slice of the Totality of Truth. Truth is absolute chaos, and Knowledge is the partial ordering of this chaos. One can sanely approach Truth only through organized paritions of Totality. Why do you think Chuck is so obsessed with stories? Stories are linear and finite; they're sensible snippets of the endless sea of possible worlds."

"So, what? Are you trying to—"

"I'm not trying to justify Chuck's actions, Dean," he interrupts. "I just want to contextualize them. Chuck's simplistic and repetitive narratives are what they are: manifestations of a chaotic Totality, gone insane trying to understand itself. Looking for simple things to hold on to."

Cas takes a deep breath. He speaks with a shaky voice. "I'm barely holding myself together, Dean. I can feel the universe beneath my skin."

He doesn't know what possesses him to ask, but he does it anyway. "What are you holding on to?"

Cas smiles at that. "You."

They stare at each other for a while, frozen where they stand. Cas, with unrestrained affection in his face. Dean, struck by shock and indecision. It's Cas who first breaks the silence.

"I think we both know what needs to be done, while I'm still lucid enough." Cas slices his palm and lets his blood drip down the soil. He then thrusts the Last Blade into the ground, lifting it when the soil glows.

Dean stared in awe as the ground erupts and a familiar shape rises from the hollow. "Is that.."

"The Ma'Lak box, yes. I also enhanced it with the Blade to be able to house things as powerful as me."

"Cas, wait, maybe we can think of another way to—"

"Dean," he says, calmly. "You know there's no other way. I wouldn't ask this of you if there was."

In any other scenario, Dean would've kept arguing, but even he knows that they're running out of time. Sam's grace addiction is getting worse and all the creatures touched by Cas' grace are slowly mutating into eldritch horrors. Dean offers a shaky nod. "Okay."

Tension visibly releases from Cas' body. "Thank you, Dean." He opens the box and enters it with ease. "When you lock this, bury me with the garden's graced soil. Once I'm under, my influence over the world should dampen."

Dean gives a wordless nod. For a while, they just stared at each other, Cas lying down and Dean trying to memorize every inch of his face while he can.

Cas presses his hand into Dean's left shoulder where his mark used to dwell. "My untainted grace," he whisper gently. "Some of it is still inside you. That's probably why you're not as affected by me."

Dean wants to say, I'll always be affected by you, but he holds himself back.

He takes his hand back, a bloody handprint now on Dean's jacket. "I love you, Dean," he says, breathless.

"Cas..."

"I probably would've built up to that if we had more time but," he makes a surprised laugh, "I am, as you would say, already 'losing my marbles', so."

The air quotes would've been funny and endearing in any other scenario, but it just makes Dean's vision blur up with tears.

"Thank you for everything, Dean. I know we've done nothing but repeatedly hurt each other these past few years, but I don't want to spend a deathless eternity with that as my memory of you. I forgive you, even for the things you haven't forgiven yourself for yet. And I'm sorry for everything, especially for ending things like this."

He should probably wipe away his tears to clear his vision, but Dean can do nothing but stare at Cas in awe, in fear, in grief, in reverence. They're both fully crying now.

"Goodbye, Dean."

"Wait, Cas."

Cas looks at him, waiting.

"Can you...can you say it again?"

He doesn't need to clarify what 'it' means. They both know.

With one last mournful smile, Cas says: "I love you, Dean."

And with that, Dean finally gathers all the strength he needs to shut the lid and lock the box. He stares at it for a while, unblinking. He forgot to ask, Can you hear my prayers down there? But it's too late now to ask.

The box automatically lowers itself into the hole it arose from. Now all that's left to do is to cover it again with soil.

Dean doesn't bother with a shovel. He gently buries the box with his hands deep in the soil, some of it getting trapped under his nails. He continues the mindless task, whispering a tireless series of I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I hope you're okay I'm sorry, over and over between his quiet sobs. Cas is quiet inside the box. No screaming or crying. Dean doesn't know if that's better or worse.

When the final clump of soil is pressed into the mound, he suddenly feels it: a visceral shift that echoes throughout the world. The alien glimmer of the garden dims, and the world corrects its axis. Dean screams his agony into the air.

That's how Sam finds him: sprawled over a mound of soil, crying his heart out. Dean doesn't need to say anything: he knows what happened. He pulls his brother off the ground and brings him inside the bunker.

For the first two weeks, Dean cycles through drinking and passing out in various places in the bunker. If he's not wearing the jacket, he's holding it with close to him. Sam gives him a considerable space to grieve while he monitors the world grace problem with Eileen. The grace mutations have significantly dropped since then and everyone's going back to normal.

Unfortunately, that means monsters are getting hungry again. Sam doesn't want to leave his brother alone after going nonverbal with grief and dysfunctional due to alcohol. Eileen assures him that she can handle hunts on their own and that the hunter network that they're building will lessen the workload.

Sam's attempts to sober Dean up finally work, mostly due to the latter having very little strength to protest. Dean remains sober an entire day for the first time in weeks, and all he can think about is: I haven't prayed to Cas in a while. The longing might have reached him, but never a coherent prayer.

The first time he goes out of the bunker in a while, he heads straight to Cas' garden. Sam's glad that he's finally going out because "the sun is good for you" or something, but he's really only here for Cas. He kneels in front of the burial mound (where a patch of an unknown species of flowers is already growing).

The first prayer he says to him in a while is: I love you, Cas. I should've said it while you were still here. Not saying it out loud and just strongly thinking about the words somehow bolsters him to get the words through.

He's crying again, and he knows he's losing coherency. In his mind, he's explaining about his hangups and his regrets and his continuous denial of his own joy, but one constant remains: he's beaming all his love and affection into this prayer.

He's halfway through explaining all the traits that he finds endearing in Cas when suddenly, he feels it like a snap. If the glimmer dimmed when he buried Cas, now it's as if it was never there in the first place. With an unsettling amount of certainty, Dean just knows that Cas is gone. For real, this time.

"C-cas...?" It's the first thing he's said in a while and it sounds rough in his long unused voice.

"CAS! CAS!!! " He's now screaming, ripping away the flowerbed with his bare hands and scratching the soil away. Tears are obstructing his vision, but he has no time to wipe them away. He needs to make sure that is really gone. His hands are bleeding and he doesn't give a damn.

Eventually, Sam comes running towards him. "Dean! Dean, stop!"

He tries to hold his brother back, but Dean just keeps on clawing away soil. "Sammy, Sammy he's gone, he's not there anymore, Sammy I have to see, please, let me see Cas again, I need—" he breaks into sobs again, and like a puppet with its strings cut off, he slumps into Sam.

"Dean, it's okay, it's okay..." he says softly to his shaking brother.

Eventually, when Dean calms down, he looks at the carnage he's done and starts sobbing again. The flowers, his last evidence of Cas being here, are all destroyed. Now Cas truly is gone.

. . .

When Cas first heard Dean's confession prayer, he was overcome with joy. When he realized what that means, however, his stomach suddenly sinks.

He hears before he sees the Empty arrive, slithering like black goo.

"Wow, were you excited enough for eternal slumber that you wanted a preview?" The Shadow teases in Meg's voice.

At first, he was dreading the Empty, but now that he thinks of it, it's actually the perfect prison for him: a vast, endless nothingness for him to fill with his creations.

And if Jack wasn't in Heaven, that only means that he's in the Empty, and he can't wait to see his son again. Even when blinded by the madness of the universe, he can never forget the joy of being a father.

"Yes," he replies, "I'm actually glad you're here now."

. . .

Somewhere around the globe, Billie drops Jack back.

"Don't worry, kid. You'l reunite with your father very soon."

(to be continued)

[mochegato]

Even the Losers

Chapter 6

Chapter 1     Chapter 5

Marinette collapsed onto the barstool and immediately motioned to the bartender, ordering a drink before Adrien had even sat down. She downed the drink as soon as it came and motioned for another.  The bartender raised an eyebrow at her.  “Want me to just leave the bottle?”

“Yes,” Marinette answered gratefully with a bright smile.

“No,” Adrien answered over her.  “Just another drink for now and a water for me, please.” The bartender looked between the two of them, waiting for her response to his interruption.  Marinette pouted and slumped in her stool, but didn’t counter him so the bartender nodded and left to pour the drinks.

“Leaving the bottle would be easier,” she commented, slightly annoyed.

“And more dangerous,” he warned.  Marinette rolled her eyes and looked away.  It wasn’t that she disagreed.  She knew it was stupid.  She knew she shouldn’t drink until she blacked out.  She knew it wasn’t safe, especially in Gotham.  But honestly, she didn’t care.  The entire day had been a clusterfuck of dark thoughts and tears, after their meeting with M. Fox, and now she just wanted to forget… everything.  She wanted to forget her day.  She wanted to forget the last twenty odd years.  She wanted to forget her feelings.  She wanted to forget how to feel.  She wanted to forget how to think.

“You might want to try something else,” Adrien tried instead.  If self-preservation wasn’t going to get through to her, maybe he could use her self-destruction against her.  “If you get the bottle, you’re committed to that liquor.  If you just go by the glass, you can try different ones.”

Marinette looked at him from the corner of her eye, knowing exactly what he was doing but unable to fault his logic.  Instead she propped her elbows on the bar and buried her face in her hands.  She mumbled a thank you to the bartender when she heard him set her drink in front of her but groaned when she heard someone sit on the stool next to her.  There were plenty of open seats around the room, plenty of seats at the bar, if that’s where the person wanted to sit.  

The only reason for the person to sit so close was because they wanted to talk to her.  And while she would normally be polite and give the person a smile and maybe talk with them before turning them down, she was utterly, completely, and in all ways, not in the mood.  So, regardless of whether the person was there to hit on her or talk to her because she was a Wayne, she had no interest in any kind of a conversation.

She moved her hands just enough to clearly enunciate, “Not even remotely interested.  Move along, please.”

The man chuckled and leaned against the bar himself. “Good to hear it.  I'm pretty sure the Press would have a field day with that.”

Adrien scowled at the men who had taken the seat by them and wouldn’t take no for an answer.  “Hey, buddy, she said not interested.  Find someone else,” he growled threateningly.  

The man shook his head.  “I only have so many sisters and the others don’t drink. Well, not with me anyway.”  He motioned to the bartender.  “Actually, the only other sibling we have that can drink, besides Cass, is Dick and he is going to be absolutely insufferable for months over this, trying to make you feel welcome in the family.  So I’m avoiding him too.”

Marinette eased her head out of her hands to look at the man.  She immediately recognized him from the gala.  Jason Todd.  One of Bruce’s sons.  She narrowed her eyes at him.  What was he doing here?  How did he find her?  “You followed me here.”

Jason shook his head with a light chuckle.  He looked up as the bartender approached. “Hey Jay, Roy.  The usual?”

Jason nodded.  “Thanks, Jack.”  He waited for the bartender to retreat to pour the drinks before turning back to her. “If anything, you followed me here.”

Marinette scoffed and turned back to her drink.  “I was just looking for some place to get drunk and forget about the whole,” she motioned to him, “drama.”  She glared down at her purse.  “Lucky me.  I chose this bar.  Sorry for the accusation.”

Jason waved her off.  “No.  I get it. Paranoia is justified in this family.  Welcome to the family.  It doesn't get better.”

Marinette groaned and dropped her head into her hands again.  She motioned to the bartender as he brought Jason and Roy their drinks.  “What do you want?  Same?”

“I don't care.  Whatever you have and make it a double… please.  Is a triple a thing?”  Her eyes brightened at the idea.  Adrien motioned no behind her, his eyes pleading with the bartender.

Bartender nodded.  “Yes, ma'am.  Double it is.”

Adrien let out a relieved breath and turned to the boys.  “Hi.  I’m Adrien,” Adrien finally cut in after a few moments of awkward silence.

“Nice to meet you.  So you’re the one schtupping my sister.”  Jason reached out to shake his hand.

Marinette wrinkled her nose in confusion.  “Schtup?  What is schtup?”  She downed the last of her drink as she waited for them to respond.

“Screwing,” Roy answered.

Adrien choked on air and Marinette spit out the whiskey she had just drank.  Marinette glared at him and shot Jack an apologetic smile.  “Sorry about that.  This one and the next are on the asshole.”  The bartender looked to Jason with a laugh and nodded.

“It was just an observation,” Jason answered with a smirk.

“Don’t be an asshole,” Marinette grunted.

“That’s a tall order for Jason,” Roy grinned.

“He’s tall.  He can handle it,” Marinette snarked with a shrug.  She turned back to Jason.  “No.  No we are not stooping.”

“Schtupping,” Jason corrected.

“Stopping…” Marinette tried again.

“Sch…toooo…ping,” he corrected again, accentuating each sound for her.

Marinette blinked a few times at him.  “Screwing,” she finally finished with a decided nod.  Roy laughed hard.  “He’s my brother Adrien.  Adrien…”

“Her other brother, Jason.”  Jason finished for her.  Marinette narrowed her eyes at him but didn’t contradict him.  “And this is my partner, Roy,” Jason continued, motioning toward Roy who gave a short wave before taking another drink.

Marinette waved back at him.  She turned back to Jason.  “Partner… is that another word for screwing too?”  

Jason sputtered and narrowed his eyes at her, frustrated that he walked into that so easily, but Roy laughed loudly again.  “I like her.  New favorite sibling… don’t tell Cass… or Dick.”  He grinned charmingly at Marinette.  “But no.  Business partner.  Not currently schtupping anyone.”

Jason rounded on him and glared.  Roy looked back at him innocently.  “Yes?”

“No,” he said warningly.

“Are you another Wayne?” Marinette asked Roy.

“No?”  He stared at her for a few seconds before realization set in.  “No.  I hang out with them a lot.  Dick and I used to be on a team together so we were around each other constantly for a while there.  Our families used to be together a lot.  They feel like family sometimes.”  He grinned at her.  “But, no. Not in any way related to you.”

Marinette nodded and looked back at her drink.  At least that’s one person in Gotham her… M. Wayne hadn’t adopted after chucking her out.  Jason glared harder at Roy and punched his shoulder.  “Sister,” he hissed.

Roy grinned back.  “Yours, not mine.  We just established that.  Keep up.”

Jason narrowed his eyes even further before relaxing them as he turned back to Marinette.  “So, how are you handling… you know, everything?”

Marinette and Adrien both stared at him with deadpan expressions.  Marinette looked pointedly around the bar and her drink.  “Oh, you know… well.”  She kept eye contact with him as she downed the rest of her drink, wincing at the feeling. She looked down at her drink critically. “Why do I drink this stuff?  I hate it.”

“Maybe you should ease off then,” Adrien offered gently.

“No.  Fuck off. I want to get drunk,” she glowered back at him.  Roy chuckled and motioned to Jack for her.

Adrien sighed and raised his hands in defeat. “Okay.  Maybe something that tastes better then?”

Marinette cocked her head in consideration. “Okay.  Excuse me, M. bartender?  Can I get something that will get me very drunk very fast and taste better than this, please?”

Jack blinked at her a few times and looked over to Jason.  Roy laughed at her response while Jason shook his head.  “She’s had a rough day.  You got anything?”

Jack grunted and shook his head as he looked around. “I’ll look.”

“Thank you, M. bartender,” Marinette chirped at him. He waved her off without looking back at her.

“I think you came to the wrong bar if you’re looking for something other than the basics,” Roy mock whispered at her.

She leaned in closer, leaning past Jason to talk to Roy. “I came to get drunk and away from reporters and forget about all this,” she motioned toward Jason.  “I came to the wrong bar for more reasons than my liquor preference.”  

She suspiciously eyed the drink Jack put in front of her with a grunt, but plastered a smile on her face.  “Thank you.”  She tentatively took a sip and wrinkled her nose in disgust.  There was no way she was going to be able to drink this slowly.  The only solution was all at once.  She removed the tiny umbrella she was pretty sure he added to mock her and downed the drink like a shot.  She gasped at the horrific sensation.  Adrien just barely missed getting his water away from her before she grabbed it to get rid of the taste.

She handed the now empty glass back to Adrien and buried her head in her hands.  “Regretting your decision?” he asked with a smirk.  Served her right for stealing his water.

Marinette groaned into her hands and nodded.  After a few seconds she leaned back in her chair, eyes unfocused.  “I should never have come here.”

“Told you so,” Roy singsonged.  “Now there’s a different bar a few streets over you might like better…”  The rest of his sentence got cut off when Jason smacked his shoulder with the back of his hand.

Jason turned to Marinette with a sympathetic smile. “I often feel that way, but usually after a few more drinks.”

Marinette shook her head.  “I knew it was stupid to come.  I knew I shouldn’t have,” she groaned pitifully.  “I could feel something bad was going to happen, I just thought that was the part before we came not… not,” she motioned all around her. “God, I was so stupid.  I should have known I wouldn’t be able to just sneak in and out.”  She leaned her head on Adrien’s shoulder, fighting the tears.

“So why did you?” Jason asked as though he didn’t know.

She looked over at him for a second without raising her head from Adrien’s shoulder before closing her eyes again.  “Friend needed a job.  Was getting sc… schtuped by the hiring committee at WE and scouted by a few other places that I didn’t trust… I mean Lexcorp gets blown up less than Palmer but then he’d have to work for M. Luthor.  And, yeah, I don’t think so.  So that leaves your dad.”

“Our dad,” Jason corrected pointedly.

“So you thought you'd use your connections to get him a job and didn't think you would get noticed?” Roy asked not even bothering to hide his amusement at the apparent stupidity of the plan.  It wasn’t often he got to enjoy how laughably bad other people’s plans were.

“So,” she countered pointedly, looking directly at him, “I thought I’d use my charismatic personality to charm M. Fox into noticing him and let him know one of his scouts is poaching ideas.  You were never supposed to know I was here.”  She squeezed her eyes shut and let out another long sigh.

“But I was so stupid and now everyone knows and once they know...” she groaned and let her head drop onto the bar top with a resounding thud.  She popped her head up quickly and rubbed her head.  “Ewww.  It’s sticky. I don’t even want to know what caused that.”  She pulled some hand sanitizer out of her purse and wiped her forehead with it.

“You approached Lucius Fox with nothing more than charisma and got him to do what you asked?” Roy asked in amazement.

“And my brains, but…” she leaned closer to him as if passing on a secret, “I can be very charming when I want to be…”  She looked down at herself and frowned.  “When I’m not,” she motioned to herself, “you know. A mess.”

Roy smiled charmingly.  “I believe that.  Even when you aren’t trying.  And if this is you as a mess, normal you must blow people away.”

Marinette scoffed and turned back to her drink.  Jason waited until her attention was on her glass and shoved Roy hard enough to knock him off his chair.  Adrien raises an amused eyebrow at them before shaking his head and looking down.  Marinette looked over at the sound.  Her brow furrowed in concern.  Jason smiled casually and motioned to Roy.  “Too much to drink.”

Roy narrowed his eyes at him and rubbed his hip. “Overprotective much?” he grumbled quietly enough for Marinette not to hear.

Marinette turned back to her drink, noting it was awfully low.  She swirled the contents and nodded distractedly.  “Lucky.”

Roy bit his tongue as he climbed back onto the stool to stop from asking if she wants to be, because there's no way asking Jason’s new sister, in front of him, if she wants to get lucky, ends well for him.

“I’ll have whatever he had, please,” Marinette called out to the bartender, motioning toward Roy.

“So what now?” Jason asked.

“Now… fuck,” she whined.  She almost dropped her head on the bartop again but stopped herself just before actually making contact.  She eyed the surface suspiciously and whimpered instead.

Roy took a long drink to keep himself from talking because “Is that an invitation?” was not going to end well for him either and he was not looking to get a black eye out of tonight.  He frowned at his drink.  What was in his drink tonight?  He didn’t usually have this much trouble keeping his comments in check.

“I don’t know.  Now everything is…” she made a jumbled motion with her hands that almost caused her to fall out of her chair.  “I haven’t even…” she whimpered and eyed the bartop again before grabbing a napkin and setting it down in front of her.  She dropped her head onto the napkin with an audible thunk.

“You know your hair is still touching the counter,” Adrien mentioned with more amusement in his tone than Marinette appreciated.  Marinette groaned and sat back up.  She pulled her hair in front of her eyes to look for traces of gunk.  “She only found out about all this a few days ago and by then we were already on our way to the gala and in mission headspace so she hasn’t even had the chance to deal with it yet,” Adrien explained, keeping his eyes on Marinette.

“You didn’t know?” Roy asked incredulously.

“Nope,” Marinette responded popping the p and nodding in gratitude to the bartender for bringing her another drink and motioned for another.

“What the fuck?” Roy grunted.  “That’s messed up.  How did you find out?”

Marinette downed the entire glass.  “Heard my maman talking on the phone and distinctly heard ‘if you would like to actually meet your daughter…’ and she wasn’t speaking with my papa.  And I just…” she shrugged, staring at the empty glass like it might have an answer for her.  “… knew. I had a friend trace the call. And then I was here the next day and…”

“I think B was expecting more time to deal with it too,” Jason nodded along.

“He’s only had 20 years.  If that wasn’t enough, I may not live to when he finally has the time he needed,” Marinette groused.

“Twenty years,” Roy mused.  “Isn’t that when…” he trailed off and his eyes got wide realizing the timing of Dick’s adoption.

“I think he was planning on doing something soon,” Jason said louder than was necessary for their close proximity, leaning forward slightly to cover Roy.  “And being able to ease into it, slowly, making sure you… and Damian, weren’t too overwhelmed and you could move at your own pace,” Jason offered, fighting down the odd feeling defending Bruce left in his chest.

Marinette stared at him, swaying slightly in her seat. “Did you come here to drink or defend your dad?”

“Our dad,” he corrected.

“Because you seem to be doing a lot of one and not the other,” she continued as though he hadn’t said anything.  

Jason shrugged.  “Easy fix for that,” he said raising up his glass and finishing the contents.  “So… you staying around or what?”

Marinette whimpered again and eyed the bartop.  “I haven’t thought that through yet.  That wasn’t the plan, but then again getting found out wasn’t the plan.  Getting drunk tonight is now the plan.”  She looked over at the hoodie Roy had thrown over the back of his chair and back at the bartop.  “Can I…” she motioned toward the hoodie and reached for it at the same time.

“Oh, are you cold?  Yeah sure,” Roy almost fell out of his chair trying to get out of the way so he could hand the hoodie to her.  She gave him a weak smile and thanked him before spreading it out on the bartop and dropping her head audibly on it again.  She sighed almost happily as she let her head stay down on the bartop. Roy watched her in amused fascination and let out an amused huff.  “Not what I was expecting, but glad you’re getting use out of it, I guess…” he chortled.

“And do you always need to have a plan?” Jason asked curiously

Marinette and Adrien snorted in sync.  “Do you have a plan,” Marinette mocked, raising her head purely so she could take another drink, but decided to keep it up to educate them. Jason looked over to Roy to see if he was as confused as Jason was.  “I have lots of plans,” Marinette continued swinging her glass around to accentuate her words.  

“I have plans.  I have contingency plans.  I have backup plans.  I have plans for plans,” she started listing off on her fingers.  She looked at her hands accusingly as she ran out of fingers and almost dropped her drink.  She set down her drink with a frown and continued counting off her plans.

“I have plans to back up backup plans.  I have plans for contingencies that the contingency plans didn’t cover.  I have plans for when things go sideways.  I have plans for when things go to shit.  I have plans for when things go exactly to plan,” She leaned over to them. “I’ve never once gotten to use one of those.  I have life plans.  I have death plans.  I have future plans.”

“That’s a lot of plans,” Roy noted, fascination laced his voice. “Any of them turn out for you?”

“No!”  She threw her hands up in exasperation.  “And then I have to make a new plan on the fly.”

“Sounds familiar,” Jason grumbled.

“If all your plans get destroyed before you can complete them, why bother making them at all?” Roy asked.

Marinette brought the fingers together in front of her face and stared at it as though she were holding something precious.  “It’s all about the illusion.”

Roy snorted and nodded.  “She’ll fit in.”

Marinette narrowed her eyes at Roy.  “Is that an insult?”

Jason laughed and Adrien dropped his head into his hands.  “Jesus, Mari,” he groaned.

She scrunched her nose at him.  “What?  He said I’d fit well with M. Wayne.”

“I meant his kids,” Roy assured her.

“Oh…” Marinette answered sheepishly.  “Sorry.”

Roy waved her off.  “Nah. It’s okay.  I get it.  I meant you’re smart, sassy,” he eyed her with an amused glint in his eyes, “short…”

Marinette rounded on him, mouth agape in insult.  She quickly closed her mouth and glared at him.  “Not too short to kick your ass.”

Roy laughed and grinned at her.  “Violent.”

Marinette scrunched up her nose and turned back to her drink. “Not like I’m out there every night beating people up.”  She took a swig of her drink, missing the glance Jason and Roy sent each other before looking back at her for any indication she had meant something more by it. “Anymore…” she muttered under her breath just loud enough for Adrien’s sensitive ears to hear it.

“But,” Adrien cut in.  He motioned toward Jason.  “Short?”

“Yeah,” Roy granted, “Jason’s the exception to the short part.”

“Damian’s the exception to the sassy part,” Jason added.

“Who’s the exception to the smart part?” Marinette asked.

“Dick,” Jason and Roy answered at the same time.

“Who’s the exception to the violent part?” Adrien asked, concern edging into his voice, because that wasn’t exactly a comforting quality to be associated with Marinette’s new family.  

Jason scoffed at the idea of any of them not being violent.  “We were hoping it was going to be her,” he motioned toward Marinette.

“But, nope,” Roy finished, popping the p.  “I mean Duke isn’t particularly violent.  He can protect himself but, like, he’s chill about it.”  Roy eyed Marinette analytically.  “Maybe you can be the exception to the emotional car crash part,” he offered.

Marinette snorted inelegantly, took a swig of her drink, and looked back at him.  “That wasn’t on the list.”

Adrien leaned past her to look at the boys.  “She wouldn’t be the exception.  She’d be leading the pack.”

Marinette shoved his shoulder.  “Like you’re any better.”

Adrien raised his glass to her.  “Never said I was, Bug.”  He eyed his glass with contempt.  “You know, this would be a lot more effective if there was alcohol in here.”

Jason ordered another round for them and raised his glass to Marinette when the drinks came.  “Well, at least now I know why you were completely uninterested at the gala. Because I'm your brother.”

Marinette scowled slightly and hunched over her drink at the bar.  “Not my brother.”

Jason looked at her curiously, a frown forming on his lips before a hurt look flashed in his eyes.  Almost immediately, the hurt turned into annoyance.  He pressed his lips together hard.  “Right, another blood child.  Another kid that thinks only blood matters. So adoption doesn't count?”

Marinette furrowed her brow in confusion. She faced toward him and pointed toward herself.  “Given away and never contacted again doesn't count.  You he cared for.  You he wanted.  You're his son, but I am not his daughter.”

Jason’s eyes softened looking at her and he nodded in understanding.  Feeling unwanted, he understood.  Feeling abandoned, he understood.  Feeling like you weren’t considered good enough, he understood.  Feeling replaced, he understood.  And the fact that Bruce had made someone else feel that too, that it wasn’t just him, pissed Jason off more than he could express.  He didn’t even bother reacting when Roy punched his shoulder.  “Maybe not. But you're still my sister,” he assured her.  “I want you.”

Marinette scoffed.  “You don’t even know me.”  Adrien gently bumped her shoulder with his and gave her a gentle warning look.

“I know you better than he did,” Jason reminded her calmly.  “I have more to base my decision on than he did, and I know enough to know you’re my sister and nobody can change that.”  He gave her a devilish smile.  “You’re stuck with me now.  Fuck the old man.  He did this to himself.”

“And,” Roy interrupted excitedly.  He raised his drink for her to clink.  “Now you get to be an official member of the Shitty Dad Club.”

“Oh,” Adrien perked up.  “Can I be a member of that club?”

Roy eyed him suspiciously.  “What are your qualifications?”

“Neglect, severe emotional abuse, and he was a supervillain who tried to kill me regularly,” Adrien rattled off nonchalantly.

Roy blinked a few times.  He looked to Marinette for confirmation.  She nodded almost imperceptibly.  He turned back to Adrien and raised his drink.  “Right.  Welcome to the club.  We meet whenever there are drinks.  We should get you one.  You deserve it.”

Chapter 7

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