#nor would Jason being a villain feel right

[transfemskullfucker]

Love how Batman has like, 3 rogues that directly challenge his ideologies and then the rest are just random ass people & insane fuckers that have nothing better to do with their lives

(Bonus rant in the tags if you want an actual response to this post)

ur telling me batman (a hero whose power is like 65% fear 35% money) has a villain who is all about weaponizing fear and he’s not the main villain? ur telling me batman (man with a secret identity so strong that there are questions of who the real person is at the end of the day and whose entire creed is about stopping One Bad Day™️) has a villain who is his childhood friend that has physically separated his dual violent-nonviolent nature and is all about duality and chance and he’s not the main villain? ur telling me batman (man with strong ideas about the Right Way to stop crime and who emerged from the destruction of his own family structure) has a villain who is his undead son/former sidekick who he couldn’t save and now disagrees with the way to address crime in gotham and he’s not the main villain? ur shitting me about this clown guy right

[timmydraker]

During a patrol in Gotham one night, Red Robin comes across a strange sight.

A young woman stands over a crumpled body with a sling shot primed and ready, aimed a man with a rather large hand gun. It’s clear she’s protecting the woman who looks like she’s been hit over the head and had her bag nabbed, as it’s ripped and contents are spilled everywhere.

The girl sits shaking, she isn’t scared at all, standing strong with a shard of glass aimed at the man’s crotch.

Tim jumps down and disarms the man smoothly before turning to the young girl, who upon closer inspection seems to be around thirteen years old.

“Are you hurt?”

She shakes her head and stares at him for a moment with awe in his eyes before her eyes widen and she turns to the person behind her, “But she is! That guy was cornering her and I tried to help but he hit her and-“

“Alright, I understand. Would you like to help me get her to the ER a few blocks away?”

The girl nods with a determination Tim remembers seeing in Dick and Jason in their Robin days and he smiles.

He doesn’t ask her what her name is because side he knows he’ll follow up and find something to feel guilty about, but the girl seems to have her own plans.

She shows up a couple of days later, standing on a tall building with a cheap Robin outfit on.

Tim is confused before he drops down and she gives a big grin and mock salute, “How can I help?”

Tim smiled a little before shaking his head, “Taking the title of Robin, are you?”

She nods, now more bashful, “Well, I want to help people. I don’t want to fight exactly, but… well, sometimes you bats are too busy with the villains to notice the little guy and- bro to say you’re a bad hero-“

“You’re right, it’s okay. We can only do so much and sometimes preventing more damage being done saves more lives, but there will always be a cost.”

She smiles, bright orange, and impressively curly, hair getting in her eyes and sticking to the poor quality glue of her fake domino.

“I want to help. I… can help, please.”

Tim answers after a solid minute of silence, “What is your name?”

She frowns, “Aren’t I supposed to have a secret identity?”

He smiles in answer, “Yes, but I know what you look like and I can find out, I’m asking out of politeness.”

The girl looks like she could pout and Tim feels strangely old at the sight, even if he’s still got a few months before he can even legally drink.

“Carrie. Caroline to be specific.”

Tim smiles, “Well, Carrie, here’s the deal. I will meet you here or somewhere like here every night and until, and only until, you can land a hit on me will I agree to let you help.”

While Carrie doesn’t look pleased she nods, a clear sense of hope in her eyes even as she looks nervous.

She looses the first fight, and the second and third and fourth, but she gets better and better.

Tim doesn’t tell anyone about Carrie Kelly, nor does he tell her that he does end up doing a back ground check and finds two dead beat parents more focused on weed than their incredibly skilled daughter.

When she proves to be relentless in her desire to save lives he sends her to a teacher to help her stay hidden and safe. He’s not like Bruce, he doesn’t send her overseas to some dangerous people, but close by and to someone he trust to not hurt her nor tell anyone else about the strange young girl whose managed to give him a taste of his own medicine.

Selina Kyle is more than happy to take in the girl when she watches her sling shot fire crackers at muggers.

When Carrie comes back and meets Tim on a rooftop, she not only manages to hit him but knocks him off his feet.

Tim grins at her, pride filling his mind and making him understand Bruce just a little more.

But unlike Bruce, he isn’t throwing her into the fight at all.

Tim Drake is the one who pays for her school pills while her yippie parents refuse to work or spend money on her, and sends her real time footage of medical lectures in various collages across the country.

Carrie doesn’t become Robin, nor did she even wear that suit after the second night and he gave her a basic training outfit that properly covered her eyes and hair, but she does become something else.

She becomes Cardinal, the vigilante that swoops in to save civilians and provide the medical care that saves hundreds of people and allows the ambulances and hospitals to have a chance.

When she makes her debut the other bats worry about a new kid making bad choices, probably inspired by them, but Tim ignores it if only because he’s actually proud of her and trust her in a way he hasn’t trusted teammates in years.

After a year of this, a young girl asks for a meeting with Mister Tim Drake at his company and, purely so he wouldn’t have to do more pointless numbers, he lets her in after she passes the security check.

The girl who comes into his office is barely ten, cute little clips in her dark bob hair and a big book bag almost half her size behind her.

Tim recognised her instantly once he sees the bright yellow shoes she’s wearing.

This little girl, name Mia Mizoguchi, has been stalking him and Carrie for a few months now.

After he enrolled Carrie at Gotham Academy, the young girl nicknamed ‘Maps’ had been asking Carrie a lot of questions. Carrie had been good at avoiding incriminating answers, but had fallen for the younger girls clever trap as she casually spoke out infomation that could help with cases and Carrie delivered it back to Tim.

As soon as he realised that Maps had done exactly what he had done and figured out who Carrie was he was impressed. Because even if Carrie was new to the game, she had a skill for tricking people into looking away from her and had done well to stay low.

Maps had made the connection back to Tim, apparently.

Luckily, unlike Bruce, he wasn’t ignorant to their little stalker and actually knew her family from a few galas and charities. To be fair, Tim also wasn’t clouded by grief, but as he lets the girl explain how she totally doesn’t know who Red Robin is but if she did know who he was she would want him to know that a new drug trade route was actually being covered by a cotton candy company and she has over sixty pages worth of proof.

When he shows up to The Nest (named by Carrie) with Maps behind him, he finds Cardinal waiting with an excited gleam in her eyes.

Due to her being so young, Tim doesn’t allow Maps to go into the field until she’s the same age as both he and Carrie were, but she’s quick to show her worth taking over coms and doing an insanely detailed level of detective work that Tim can’t help but be a little jealous of.

Just like Carrie, who has been trying with Selina about only becoming Catgirl if Catwoman stops being a criminal for a few weeks now, he sends her to someone else for mentor ship.

Maps is a sweet girl, but she loves to talk and has a lot of friends who have most of the same interest, so he sends her to the one bat member he trust most.

Cassandra Cain immediately tells Tim that he has to adopt both of them and can’t quite understand why them both having living parents matters.

It’s Cass who gives Maps her vigilante name, Sparrow.

[valzhanginator]

calypso having an emotion-centered character and being viewed & getting treated as the ‘evil woman’ is actually a reflection of how every woman's emotions are villainized when they’re shown vividly and are a main part of their character in popular media.

in general media and riordanverse specifically, women with emotions are always looked down upon because showing emotions is regarded as a dramatic act so when a female character shows and acts on their emotiotions they get degraded and instantly despised because of it. this is done with every single female character while male characters who show emotion are treated like saints and found worthy of self redemption. this happened with annabeth when she didn’t want to believe luke was the bad guy and wanted to try bring him back because she was manipulated by him her entire life, meanwhile luke, who did batshit crimes like causing hundreds of innocent deaths, manipulating little girls by flirting with them, admitting his crush to a 16 year-old at his ripe age of 23, is remembered as a hero and considered ‘redeemed himself’ after sacrificing himself while annabeth was called insufferable when she didn’t believe he was evil in the first place. let’s not forget piper, who’s a lesbian that was forced into a relationship with a man by a goddess and thought she was in the wrong for not feeling right with jason. during the entire relationship she was experiencing a very hard comphet and couldn’t figure herself out because of the fake memories, everybody was bashing her when she was acting confused, when she was, in fact confused. i have a longer post about this specific topic, so if you guys wanna check it out it’s right here. 

 coming back to calypso, first we need to clear out the misconceptions about her curse on percy that affected annabeth. she wasn't blind nor was personally attacking annabeth, her curse was to make someone feel like how she was feeling all time and that’s why percy and annabeth couldn’t reach out to one another while being right next to each other. annabeth’s blindness came from the titan she defeated in the sea of monsters and is actually the first curse to be put by the arai on them, so it has nothing to do with calypso. the curse was affecting annabeth because she happened to be the person percy loved and was right next to him. if percy was there alone either percy would feel alone and abandoned or the curse wouldn’t affect him at all, since there’s no person he can go back to save. and the curse itself wasn’t even a death wish type of curse she just wanted to be heard, be acknowledged and wanted free off her island. not to forget the curse wasn't harming or killing any of them yet it’s still demonized more than by literally every other thing that happened in the books. nothing luke has ever done is seen as evil as her curse just because it was by her and i’m pretty positive if something like this was shown in pjo by luke it would be glossed over and romanticized in the fandom. further proof of how a male character's actions get brushed off and forgiven easily but soon a female character does something even slightly questionable they get villainized on the spot.

she is also despised because she doesn't let everyone's favorite man get away with his misogynistic stuff. calypso doesn't treat leo any worse than he treats her. whenever she starts arguing it is a response to something leo has said or done, which in the most case she's in the right but leo gets so much slack from his past and being fandom favorite to be held accountable for the way he treats people. he's always been written as a misogynist, he never treated any women with any respect. he always had some sort of disrespect for every female character he seems have some sort of closure with like piper, hazel, calypso, the list goes on, but yet calypso is always expected to be more 'tolerable and understanding' bc of his trauma, as if every single character in the series isn't written upon a single trauma they had and have their character built on it. and he always had a problem dealing with others and their emotions and instead of expecting him to be working to change that, calypso is expected to adjust his manners.

oddly enough, she's also expected to show some gratitude towards leo for saving her, when she never asked him to do so and not for a second believed that he was actually going to come back when he said he would. is she grateful that he came back and freed her? yes. should she feel any obligations to make him feel greater because of it? NO. everything leo did for calypso was his and only his choice and nobody else's. calypso is happy that he did so, but expecting her to tolarate every single thing he does solely because of that is wrong.

[maykitty]

Jason Todd x Hero!Reader: Not good enough (Part 3)

Warning: mentions of killing and jealousy

“Tell me what's wrong NOW” he didn’t like to guess nor if people were keeping something from him. “Jason, I’m not good enough for your love,” you said sadly. “Why do you say that?” Jason asked. “I’m not a born killer like Rose or Artemis nor am I at the highest beauty standards like Starfire”. “I feel angry enough to fight when I think about the other girls. That's not a healthy way of thinking Jay,” you confess.

Jason was quiet than spoke, “You know why I like you, because I know you will stay”. Jason started to list down why his other relationships didn’t work. “Rose has her own demons she needs to deal with including finding her own identity away from Slade and finding her mother. It’s why she only comes and goes as a playful flirt.” “Artemis has her issues as well like being failed owner of the Wonder Woman title and as a mercenary it was inevitable she would leave after the outlaws broke up even those there was love between us”. “Isabel and Babs couldn't handle my life whether due the no-kill rule or being kidnapped by villains”.

“Starfire only sees Dick Grayson when she looks at me so she will always leaves for him”.

Jason wraps his arms around you and holds you close. “I know you wouldn’t betray me when I’m vulnerable with you.” Jason kisses you to help your worries. “Thank you, Jay, I needed that,” you said, wiping your tears with your palms. “Come on, let’s watch a movie. I make the popcorn you choose the movies” he replies. Later, you two spend the night watching movies together. Everything that effected you earlier was in the past and right now your thinking of the present with him.

[aalghul]

read boywonder and exploded died (in a bad way)

talia... what have they done to you... what do they always do to you... ‘there is no honour in assassin’s work’ talia... where are u... the apple of my eye, i adore her sm very close to sending pipebombs to GM everyday waow...

watching people talk about how good this was for talia feels like chewing glass. boy wonder was clearly written by someone who has not read anything involving talia prior to grant morrison and doesn't care about her outside of whatever can justify her becoming an abusive backstory for damian.

boy wonder completely disrespects her struggle during the time when she was so conflicted because she wanted to be loyal to her father but wasn't sure if she believed in him entirely anymore. the struggle existed because talia knew she would not abide by nor aid him if she did not agree with him. because talia has her own moral compass and beliefs that she follows. juni ba disregards this very important part of her journey to instead make her an entirely different character apparently did not disagree with ra's at any point before her own son was threatened (going as far as making her uncaring towards damian's former caretaker to show us how twisted her way of thinking is. mind you, this is supposedly the same talia who cried the first time she accidentally killed someone and has risked her life to help strangers, the JLA, jason todd, etc). she has to be turned into a different person just because boy wonder needs her to be framed as a somewhat sympathetic villain who gets what she deserves by having her son leave her for a better family. her "happy ending" is knowing that damian's other family is making him happy, which she never could because the story deems her incapable of that.

along these lines is another thing i found insulting: juni ba insinuating that talia's love for bruce may have been caused by talia wanting to please her father, who wanted bruce as an heir. when in reality, ra's only took notice of bruce after talia fell in love with bruce. it was because talia was outspoken enough in front of her father to bring up bruce that ra's cared about him at all. it was because talia had been off in cairo studying medicine that she had been caught up in a scheme that took her to bruce. all of those were her own choices, and juni ba wants us to question whether any of it was real because he doesn't believe talia has ever had agency. all because he himself clearly has never read talia outside of recent comics.

related to the above: juni ba insists talia wanted to be the heir to the league of assassins. pre-GM talia has never expressed this. she's never even implied it. from everything we've seen, it's pretty clear she would never want to nor would she able to stomach so much death. because it's canon that talia's heart hurts for everyone she sees killed. but, again, juni ba does not care about this whatsoever because his story is about damian and the bats. talia's characterization is always acceptable collateral damage when it comes to damian and the bats.

the more I think about it, the more I hate juni ba's misinterpretation of her. people so readily accept things like boy wonder and WFA when it comes to talia because they know so little about the most foundational parts of her character and it's really upsetting that big projects will continue to give such ooc stories as the best case scenario for talia. this is equivalent to someone writing a story where bruce decided to not take in dick or jason because the mission's more important than one kid. that would make bruce a different and less compelling character, right? that's exactly what happened to talia here (and in wfa and in everything GM wrote and in pretty much every story written since then). these are very integral parts of her character. if boy wonder as a story can't function without talia being so thoroughly destroyed? it was never a story worth telling (and it really isn't. because it's truly not a good story at all, which makes talia being wrecked for it even worse).

it makes me so angry because things like this are exactly why people don't see talia the same way they see selina or bruce or any other character ever! she continues to be pushed into the role of the harmful past who can only atone for her mistakes by now becoming an obsolete observer.

[cookeybg]

Gotham Possesses

A cryptid Batfamily AU in which Gotham is the main character and follows its journey to consciousness as it follows its Bat and Birds. Chapters are short and a bit gloomy.

Main Characters: Gotham, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd (more characters pop up later, will add them then.)

No romantic relationships

Stuff to know: Cryptid Batfamily, grim, Melancholic mood (let me know if I should add more tags)

Word Count: 557

[Here's my table of contents]

Chapter 5 - Gotham Slept

Her Bat had always kept his secrets close. He had always prided the perceived control he had over himself. He always planned. He always prepared. Eventually his mission drove a wedge between him and her bird. Her bird was fed up, she could feel his frustration, his captivity and so she let her bird fly outside of her loving embrace. Her tendrils had extended farther than the city limits. Learning from the land, observing, absorbing, twinning and reaching until she touched another city. Bludhaven, it was called. Silently it slept, dormant. She led her bird there, close enough to keep the tether taut but lose enough to feel free. Unsure if the city would ever wake. Unsure if she was the only one aware. Relieved that her bird was within her grasp. Time ticked by and her Bat met a boy, small, with cracks but he made her Bat laugh. He brought him to the Manor and she watched curiously. He knew her differently than they, intimately. He had crawled within her muck and clawed and fought his way up just to be able to breathe, to eat. He had only known warmth in brief lucid windows and knew of the pain brought by meaty fists. He had been witness to the horrors brought on by need and even participated in a few. He was a survivor of a different kind. The boy would learn to fly, she knew. Some things are certain and her connection to her Bat, the tether, compelled. Her shadows embraced him. The boy donned the colors of her bird, of Robin, and her Bat’s loneliness was assuage. The new bird was not as graceful nor did he ride the skies as if he belonged, but he made up for it by being quick and clever of her streets. She watched them dance, aware of not being the only one, but too focused to care. She wove around him, caressing his hair, unable to do much else for him but lighten the burden of protection from her Bat. She made it harder for the villains, to see, to hear. Everything else was a learned skill, taught by her Bat. The day she felt her Bat’s pain, it was all consuming. In a wooden casket lay a shattered bird, the cracks finally given way. Cold, stiff and without warmth he was placed within her soil. The Bat blamed himself, claimed that he should have been better, should have done things differently. Her Bat blamed her, claimed that she took and took and took. She cried relentlessly, screamed and lit the skies. He was wrong. Wrong. Wrong. She would give back. She always did. Lightning struck her soil, tearing a spark of shadow from her. It did not work. She had given her shadow to the other bird once before and she would do it again. She struck again and again until a connection was formed. A rope to bind him to her. She called the vermin that slunk in her sewers and they dug. The bird took a breath, nearly drowning himself, but he had clawed his way up before and so he did again. The bird came out wrong. Twisted and confused. The bird was stolen, taken from his nest. She was too weak to hold onto him and in her exhaustion, Gotham slept.

Let me know what you guys think! I wrote this instead of working on my other fic. I just can't seem to get that chapter right.....

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

There are two dorks within me:

(I am neither well rested nor sober, forgive this being messy af)

Dorkus Primus sees Gotham War's plotline as being critically about the fact that there are more lines to cross than just killing and that if you (as Batman has in many many renditions of him) treat killing as the ONLY line you will not cross (also like a lot of Cops and Coppaganda does) then you ain't a hero! You will treat criminals in monstrous ways if you are willing to do anything except kill!!

Hurting Jason was very clearly meant to be one of those lines! Feeling like Batman is the villain in this one is the point!!

And like the Zur thing seems to be about grappling with how Batman is fundamentally not an answer to the challenges that the criminals themselves are facing because 'fuck em up and let the hospital and justice systems sort em out' does not do anything to help the criminals!!!! The Distilled Essence of Batman's reaction to seeing a dead criminal was to go hurt other criminals just as our own criminal "justice" system has no answer other than to hurt other criminals or victim blame the dead criminals.

Bruce, the side of human compassion, was willing to consider Selina's plan after seeing results because no matter how realistic or unrealistic Catwoman's scheme might be in logistical terms, if you accept the comic's premise that it was working, then it is factually more compassionate! People who commit crimes deserve compassion! Even if, or especially if, they continue to need to operate outside the law in order to survive! Batman and Bruce being separated out is key.

It also makes a TON of sense to have Jason in the center because he has many times been used as the Bad Apple Cop who kills criminals and thus legitimizes Batman's justice as being repairative even though... it... it does not... uh... seem to have actually been repairative in any comic I've read. And yet! Due to Jason's history he has a rich potential to be someone who is far far more sympathetic to his fellow criminals. Arguably has been in several versions of him.

Sidenote: I would LOVE to see him take up 'controlling crime' in the direction of doing shit like making sure all dealers gave free clean needles to their customers or shit like that, not that I have any hope of that ever happening

Thus Dorkus Primus thinks that it is 10000000% utterly critical that no vigilante or villain kills anyone and that no one else dies for the rest of the story to keep it being about the other lines one should not cross and how criminals are entitled to way more human rights than just their lives!!!

Dorkus Secundus says that it would be off the chain sick-nasty (positive) if Bruce killed Jason again and the fact that he died at the end of Under the Red Hood (technically unconfirmed but like wow is the evidence real stronk) was finally addressed when Jason is inevitably resurrected and actually breaks down and/or slips up and admits that this was his FOURTH stint walking in the resurrection direction. Also any version of him getting declared Officially Immortal in the Jack Harkness way would be reaaaaally dope!

...Shit actually the Superboy Prime method of resurrection has a LOT in common with the Bad Wolf method... sleepy thoughts for a decidedly different day!

[jaxxsoxxn]

Jason Peter the first flash was talking to Hal, Wally and Barry about the mission. They all just did with the suicide squad help as well, helping take down the villain, they had to face against

I have to met that was the most chaotic mission  I think I have ever faced my existence, being the flash well welcome to Gotham city Hal how said with a salute well, I can’t be all that bad right Barry Barry ?

Barry didn’t answer Jason question to occupied with something else across for them was Harley Bart, and Captain boomerang Harley and Bart with sitting in the couch, talking about anything about the whole mission.

Captain boomer, and the other hand, was lenient edge, of the couch, talking to Bart and Harley, with a beer in his hand, drinking it Jason was confused what was very looking at over there until he realized Barry was looking at that poor man’s behind Jason slept Barry‘s head without any warning smack

Ow what the hell was that for Barry ask confusing looking at the first the flash with a confused look.

Young man has anyone told you it’s pretty rude to look at someone’s behind what Barry was more confused until he looked back at boomerang and realized oh wait no I didn’t mean to no no no no that’s not. Don’t lie to me Barry I seen too many. Awful men looking at my woman’s behind and I had to give them a lesson to respect their manners like I’m doing to you

One second Hal and Wally starts laughing oh, this is the best day of my fucking life how said with a choked laugh it seems nice and innocent angel got in trouble looking at his rouges. Ass How does it feel buddy pal? You should make him apologize Wally said laughing even harder

You know, that’s a pretty good idea Wally what Barry said horrified excuse me young man over there. Wait wait no no no no no no no I promise I won’t do it again just please I’m begging, you no

——🦋





Usually I try to go through my asks from the oldest to the newest, but I can't help myself, I adore this prompt :} so it'll be first! Also thank u for that, Butterfly anon <3

---

Jay wasn't huge on helping Suicide Squad at first, but after a few times Bart and Barry came back all jumpy and excited, even he had to rethink his stand on the TFX missions. In the end, it was better to be close to the possible danger.

So here he was, now after their first mission together, standing next to Wally, Hal and Barry, while the rest of their merry group watched a silly cartoon next to them. At this point, their conversation strayed back onto the topic of their little "get together". It's not that Jay didn't see the trio a lot, but time was different for every speedster in some way. Barry, so alike Bart, hated the way a second could last days, so he usually tried his best not to be "faster" in that way and took time traveling risks only when needed - or so he said.

"...and like usual, it'd be way smoother without your hot-headed temperament, Hal - right Barry?" a softly delivered joke went through the Flash, making the younger speedster stop and look at the man. Jay noticed that the blue eyes were staring at something on their left, so he followed them with his own glare.

At first glance, their dear superhero was just looking at the rest of their team. Bart and Harley were sat on the couch, younger ranting about something connected to Johnny Bravo, which was playing in front of them.

While it was a sweet sight, Jay couldn't help, but notice that the thing in actual first plan wasn't them, nor the couch, but Captain Boomerang, bent over the back of the couch, lazily sipping a beer. His long body was strung up in some places, making the t-shirt a tight fit over his back. But if it'd be that what caught Barry's eyes, Jay wouldn't find even a small issue with it, but the glaring wasn't ending on the upper part of Boomer's body - it was on the lower part. If Flash would have Superman's powers, he'd burn the Rouge alive.

Jay couldn't help the automatic response of slapping Barry upside his head, a disappointed grimace on his face.

"Ow, what was that for?" Flash looked at him, obviously confused, until Jay answered his question.

"Barry, I cannot believe you from all people would stare at someone's... behind like that." the older man's tone was softly quiet, yet still offended.

If Hal and Wally wouldn't be who they are, maybe they wouldn't catch his words. But usually when you put a space cop and one of beacons of hope together, you should expect them to catch things others don't.

Barry hates that fact right now, his face burning from embarrassment, when they side glance at the same place he was looking at, noticing the Rouge bent over.

"No, no, no, no! It's not like-!" he scrambled to explain, before Jay shot him a judgy look.

"Barry, do not lie to me, you were eyeing him like he's a steak! I've met a lot of men who couldn't stop looking at others like that, but I cannot believe you, my boy, would be one of them." he shakes his head lightly. "I just- I didn't even think you of all people would need to learn some manners!"

While Barry gets redder, almost matching his suit, Hal and Wally can't contain their laughter.

"Oh my stars, it's the funniest shit. Did- Did our beloved sweet angel got caught staring at Boomer's ass?!" GL shook hysterically, while laughing with his whole body. His left hand landed on Flashes arm, shaking him while the owner hid his face. "How does it feel ending up on the dark side, huh?"

Wally, before his mentor could react, chuckled and said jokingly:

"You should make him apologize, Jay, that'll teach him!"

The older Flash considered it visibly, before nodding his head in agreement, making Barry freeze in his place in fear.

"You know what, that's not a bad idea-"

"No, no, no, no-! Jay, please, you know me! It was just a moment of weakness, it won't happen again! C'mon, please, no- I'll stop, I swear, I will-!"

[msfcatlover]

OKAY THIS IS A BIG ONE, just answer the ones you want to :D

DC (preferably Batman or Green Arrow or Superfam but actually everything) - games, comics, movies, books, fandom

what is your (can be more than one each category):

favourite fan AU

favourite headcanon

favourite female character

favourite male character

favourite comic

favourite canon AU (you know all these Future State and Kingdom Come and Injustice and Arkham verse and all that!!!)

favourite ship (IF you have one, otherwise the ones you can tolerate)

favourite death (if the character died more than in one universe or more than once, specify which death)

favourite powerset

favourite resurrection (LOL, same with #8)

favourite AU villain/antagonist (those who aren't villains but you imagine would be cool villains in your opinion)

favourite canon villan/antagonist (if characters like Jason or Talia then specify which plotlines/comics)

favourite DC loser.

sorry for bad English!!!! have a good day/night

Oh boy, that’s… that’s actually really hard for me. I have a hard time picking favorites, because I generally love things for very different reasons. I know much more clearly what I dislike when I see it; enjoying things is sorta my default state, y’know?

Like, take the AU question. I’d be hard pressed to tell you whether a good Reverse Robins setup was something I liked better than, say, @jube-art’s Superfam/Batfam role-swap (which, if you haven’t seen it, go check it out!)

I’m also working my way through canon chronologically, and am still in the early/mid-90s, so there’s a lot of characters I haven’t officially gotten to, and a lot of stories I haven’t gotten the chance to really dig into yet. (I made it to Knightfall, realized I hadn’t put any of the buildup to that arc in my comic library, and decided to go back and read Barbara’s time with the Suicide Squad instead.) I don’t feel comfortable planting a flag on this until… oh, at least until ~2006, probably. (Which, given just how many books/characters suddenly got added in the 90s, will probably take a while.)

(There are also lots of characters who have so much potential in their backstory/power set, but who never got to use them to their full potential. Or who only had the cool parts of their backstory tacked on as an obvious retcon in the process of writing them out of the story, because the fans were vocally upset about them, meaning they never got the exploration any of those story ideas deserved.) (I have a special level of ire for power sets that are really cool on a surface level, but where the creators added just one power too many to stop them from being fully interesting. For example, Menagerie’s bugs having mind control properties overcomplicates her too much, in my opinion. Or—if you’ll let me hop over to Marvel—a character like Alpha who has all the “standard” superpowers, but only one at a time? What makes that interesting is having to choose between being super-strong or invulnerable or super-fast (etc.) therefore this character should not have ranged attack options built into said power set; it disincentivizes him from ever getting up-close with enemies, forcing the writer to choose between having the character be stupid or having the character never use the interesting elements of their powers. (…I mean, Alpha being stupid is kinda the point of his plot, but you see what I’m getting at, right?))

I will say, I adored Jason’s post-Crisis Robin run (in both Batman series, though for very different reasons) and so far very little has brought me as much joy as reading DC’s Detective Comics from that time period! And those few pages of Dan Mora’s B&W cyberpunk short that went around recently had me absolutely frothing with excitement for the possibilities that verse holds. And Jason being Tim’s Robin brings me endless joy, which neither canon nor jerkfaces will take from me.

(Aaaaaaaand while shipping isn’t the catharsis I come to comics for (thank gods, basically every canon ship I’ve witnessed thus far has been awful in motion even when their potential is off the charts,) I can actually blame DCEU SuperBat for getting me into this whole mess in the first place. Blame @susiecarter, whose fics I found immediately after watching someone do a deep-dive analysis of everything that went wrong with BvS, which I paused when I thought, “Huh, these are actually all really good points… I bet fanfiction has done this exact story, but with much better execution, recognizable characterization, and probably a hell of a lot gayer. Let’s go check.”)

[awkwardturtletrash]

You’re so right! The fandom misunderstood everything about Tim that made him Tim.

Sleep deprivation:

He over sleeps, he’s always tired and overworked buts he’s always falling asleep — rollercoasters, ignoring phone calls, even at work. It comes off more as controlled chaos, clinical awareness, and depression. Also he drinks soda.

Taking care of Bruce:

He took care of Bruce but it wasn’t so much Bruce abusing him or taking his anger out and instead every bad thing Batman (because it wasn’t always Bruce!!!!) did was while Tim Drake was supposed to stop it or because he left! He couldn’t help and something bad happened. It’s less that he was beaten into being his carer, nor did he force his way into being his moral compass, but the guilt of him not preventing these bad outcomes. His response to problems is to fix them, whether it’s through social manipulation (good or bad) or cold, calculated planning. But he cares! And he feels guilty!

Jason vs Dick:

JASON WAS NOT HIS ROBIN!!!! Tim Drake has been a dick Grayson Stan for fucking forever (even when Dick hated him in the beginning) and they have a constant push and pull relationship built on hard work, learning, and insane respect for each other. They literally mirror each other’s stress responses during their big fight over Bruce’s death (Tim was the one who ran, Dick was the one who stayed). Their fight wasn’t Dick vs Tim moreso brothers dealing with trauma.

His parents:

They weren’t abusive, not in the beginning. They were bad parents, yes, but they weren’t training him to be a robot nor were they ice parents (also the creator wanted him to have a family so that he was focused on being Robin and not Batman while still able to disappear to be Robin ergo traveling parents). His mom is fucking hugging him when they meet the Graysons (first hug my fucking ass). Yes, him and his dad are on the rocks and his dad does drop the ball and he holds a gun to Bruce’s head but he’s still with his son, he’s still a present figure scared and controlling and also traumatized from being in a coma with a dead wife. They are not good parents but they’re not evil people. Jack Drake is a tragedy of a father and y’all are making him BORING.

Drake manor:

They moved in AFTER Jack Drake woke up! Stop it!

Ra’s Al Ghul:

It’s a hundred percent racism to make his whole character surrounding Tim. Yes, he is obsessed with Tim (Paris was intense and is never handled with respect by fanon) but he existed as a character before and after. There’s a lot more villains with personal ties to Tim (no one ever tends to write about fucking BOOMERANG but that would require batfam fans actually reading a comic for once) or new ties to be invented but they keep stripping Ghul his relationship to Bruce, Damian, Talia, and his existence as an antagonist and not side character.

Uwu Tim:

Tim would talk shit while getting beaten to a pulp. He has roasted Batman to other characters multiple times. He created up the worst ever fucking superhero design (Mr Sarcastic my beloved) to be a little shit. He stole a fucking Batmobile in the Batarang budget. He held a gun to his head threatening his future self. He has half a dozen aliases, and even considers himself to be three different people when needed be. He is a snarky, loser, dedicated hot mess and y’all make him the most stereotypical autistic child to the point of savant stereotype who cries when he receives a head pat. It’s pathetic and boring and SUCKS !!! Go watch Steven universe and leave dc comics alone

I am a Tim Drake fan. I just bought over half a dozen limited edition comics and merch at comic con last fucking week. And Tim Drake stans have fucking ruined the dc fandom. Go read a comic or start tagging everything with “fanon” or “I fucking made this all up” because Jesus, I don’t know who you’re writing fanfic of but it’s not Timothy Drake.

(I just got all four of my wisdom teeth removed so this other be delirious but whatever. Tim best boy.)

i promise i do like Tim guys :(

This is probably my most unpopular opinion as a Tim stan who spends a lot of time in the parts of the fandom that constantly talk about Tim, but this fandom has a habit of making Tim "better" than he actually is and it hurts his character in the end. Anways, i'm going to make a list.

There are so many characters that we never get to see because of him. We only get to see Jack and Janet Drake as abusive because the fandom decided that they were bad parents. We only get to see Ra's al Ghul when he's obsessed with Tim. Damian rarely gets proper fanfics about his early days as Robin or Dick's time as Batman because all those fanfics are about Tim.

The way a lot of this fandom treats him gives of special snowflake vibes and I admit I do read those fics but I feel like a lot of people write him that way because that's the only characterization of Tim they know. It's honestly unrealistic that he managed to stalk highly trained bats as a young child and take photos. I joke about it too, but he canonically has the strongest morals out of all the batboys and canon makes a big deal about the fact that he didn't kill anyone while blowing up buildings. I like these tropes, I read them and all that but they kind of take me out when they're in serious fanfics.

Probably the most unpopular one but I think fanon is doing Tim a disservice by not holding him accountable for anything and villainizing other characters for him. Like people refusing to acknowledge that Tim was very rude to Damian when they first met. The whole mess with him become Red Robin was a good example of that. Canon was a mess too but basically went like this: Tim insists Bruce is alive for no real reason, Damian becomes Robin for a multitude of reasons I won't talk about now, Dick suggests Tim gets a therapist, Tim gets mad and leaves despite efforts otherwise, Dick later finds actual evidence and the all make up. If Tim had stayed in Gotham nothing would have changed because honestly it probably would have been easier for him to find most of the evidence. This is probably the one trope I won't read because it seems insane to act like Dick was crazy for not believing him and he was ostracized from the family despite the fact that he pretty much choose this way. If Tim wanted to stay with the family so much maybe he should have done that while Dick was asking him too and offering him help?

Anyways you guys can ignore this if you want to and if you have a counter point your welcoming to say it

[marauderundercover]

Hanging by a Thread (3)

Prev

Throughout dinner, Tim tries his hardest not to stare at the Manor’s newest residence, but it was hard. Especially with her sitting right between Bruce and Damian. Pursing his lips, Tim wracks his brain in an attempt to remember any of the confidential information he’d glanced at before blowing up Ra’s bases a couple years ago. Nothing was coming to mind. In his defense though, he was more focused on bringing Bruce home and less focused on the possibility that Bruce and Talia had another kid together. And one younger than Damian. Subtly glancing at his younger brother, Tim frowns. Neither Damian nor the new girl had made any attempt at conversation with the other the entire time. But if she was younger, surely they knew each other?

“So, Marinette, Alfred tells me that your parents own a bakery in Paris?” Bruce says suddenly, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Tim’s eyes narrow. Did Bruce not see it? Glancing over at Jason, Tim raises an eyebrow. The older man shrugs, visibly fighting off a scowl. The girl, Marinette, nods slowly.

“Um, yes. It’s why they didn’t leave Paris, too.” She says, frowning down at her plate. Tim frowns.

“Is something wrong in Paris?” He asks. Marinette’s eyes widen slightly, scanning the room until she spots Alfred. He gives her a small smile.

“I didn’t share the details your grandmother gave me with anyone other than Master Bruce, Miss Marinette. It is your choice if you wish to talk about it.” Alfred says, his tone gentle, but a clear warning in his eyes. Tim fights the urge to scowl. He’d just look at the info in the Cave later if he had to. He wouldn’t interrogate a kid. Well, he would but not in front of Alfred-

“There’s uh, a villain? In Paris now.” Marinette says softly. Everyone’s attention snaps to her.

“Just one?” Damian asks, eyebrows raised. Marinette’s eyes narrow and her gaze turns cold.

“Oui, but we’re not Gotham. We don’t have experienced heroes. We have two people who showed up right after the villain. Two people who obviously have no idea what they’re doing, by the way.” She huffs out, glaring at her plate.  

“Has no one called the Justice League?” Damian presses. Marinette looks up at him and scowls.

“We did. The first day that Hawkmoth was there, almost everyone in Paris called, but no one came. No one. And once we figured out what Hawkmoth does, the Mayor ordered that no one else call the League.” She says, stabbing at her food instead of eating it.

“Marinette,” Dick says softly. She glances up and Tim’s slightly taken aback to see her eyes were bright with tears. “You don’t have to talk about this.” He adds. She frowns, her shoulders slumping as she closes in on herself.

“But that’s the whole point of me being here. So I can talk about things and be frustrated and upset without getting turned into a villain.” Marinette says.

“I’m sorry, what?” Jason asks, voicing what everyone was thinking. Marinette blinks.

“Hawkmoth controls people with negative emotions.” She says flatly. “That’s why my parents sent me away. It’s why the Mayor doesn’t want the League coming in. Any negative emotion: sadness, anger, frustration, anything. It can be used against you.” Tim frowns, a million possible plans running through his brain as he tries to think of a solution.

“And yet, your parents thought they should stay. Do they think they can resist this, Hawkmoth?” Damian asks, and Tim purses his lips to keep himself from saying anything. Damian’s questions were valid, but if the look on Marinette’s face was anything to go on, he was obviously pressing the wrong buttons.  

“They said they just needed to protect me. Apparently when they- when they took me in,” She pauses, her gaze growing distant as she sets down her fork. “Apparently, they promised my birth mother that they would protect me and keep me safe. This was them keeping their promise.” Tim makes eye contact with Jason across the table, tilting his head towards Bruce (who was still obviously suddenly oblivious). Jason nods, and Tim feels his shoulders relax slightly. If anyone could push Bruce’s buttons enough to make the man admit that this was clearly his daughter, it was Jason.

---

“So Marinette is obviously your kid, right?” Jason says bluntly, arms crossed as he stands next to the Batcomputer. Bruce glances over at him and frowns.

“I didn’t even adopt her, Jason. She’s here as Alfred’s guest.” He says. Jason blinks.

“Are you seriously telling me you don’t see the similarities?” He asks. Bruce raises an eyebrow.

“Similarities between?”

“You, Dami, and Marinette.” Dick says, applying his mask glue as he walks over. “You can’t honestly tell me that all those glances at Marinette during dinner were just because you’re worried about her villain situation.” He adds. Jason narrows his eyes.

“B, were you gaslighting me?” He asks. Bruce rolls his eyes.

“I was not gaslighting you, Jason. I just- well-” He tries, but Alfred cuts him off.

“He was instructed not to do a DNA test on Miss Marinette without her explicit consent. She is my guest here, and will be respected as such.” He says, his tone firm. “Her grandmother is one of my dearest friends. She told me that Marinette was not aware that she was adopted until shortly before she came here. If she decides she wants to find her birth parents, then I will allow a DNA test. Otherwise, leave her hair on her head.” Jason’s shoulders slump. He may be a reformed crime lord, but even he wouldn’t go against a direct order from Alfred. Even if he wouldn’t let them do a DNA test on Marinette, there was no doubt in Jason’s mind that the kid was related to Bruce.

“Are you saying that you believe that girl upstairs is my sister?” Damian asks, suddenly appearing, arms crossed.

“You can’t honestly tell me that you don’t see the similarities, Damian.” Tim sighs. Damian scowls.

“There are no similarities. You are simply seeing things.” He says, sticking his chin up. Jason snorts.

“Kid, I would literally eat my boot if that girl isn’t related to Bruce.” He says, holding his hands up in surrender when Alfred opens his mouth. “I didn’t say I was gonna do a test or anything. Just that if it happens at some point, I’m not gonna be surprised at the results.” Alfred quirks an eyebrow, but leaves, probably to check on Marinette before she goes to sleep.

“Do you really see the similarities too?” Bruce asks quietly, looking intently at Jason and Dick. Jason nods immediately.

“DNA test your first instinct when ya met her?” He asks quietly. Bruce nods.

“Alfred forbade it right away.” He says with a frown. Dick frowns, looking thoughtful.

“You may not like it Bruce, but why don’t you just call Talia?” He suggests quietly, stealing a glance at the Demon Spawn who was beating the shit out of a practice dummy. “It’s about time for her to make a trip to stalk Damian at school anyway.” Jason nods at Dick.

“He has a point. You know she makes a point of checking in every couple of months. Just expedite the process.” Jason says with a shrug. Bruce purses his lips, but nods slowly. Silently, Jason hoped that Marinette wasn’t Talia’s kid. Just because he knew it would upset Bruce, and probably Damian. And once Marinette found out, she’d probably be upset too. Especially since Talia kept Damian til he was eight, and she obviously didn’t keep her. Jason drags his hand over his face and sighs. Things just got complicated.

Next

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Story tag list: @laurcad123 @trying414 @maskirovka @buginetye @ascetic-orange @weird-pale-blonde-person @queralouspegasus @cult-leader-in-training @etherealangelcastiel @lex-am @nightmarewasteland @ae-vixrose @plz-excuse-my-inner-gay @thewondersoflebanon

[bobbie-robron]

Robron Fanfiction Recommendations (Sep-2022)

The below are/were recommended during Sep-2022 on Twitter. Enjoy!

The Chains of Freedom (2017) 99.3K words, brokenspell77

Robert has started working as a prison officer at HMP Hotten whose Governor is none other than his soon-to-be father-in-law Larry. Robert is assigned to E wing and this is where he he gets his first look at Aaron who is serving his fourth year of a 25 prison term for murder and is also under the thumb of the top dog, Jason. Taking an interest in Aaron right away, Robert sees something in him and makes an effort to help him which leads to being more than a prisoner and prison officer and offering something Aaron lost a long time ago… hope and a possible future outside the walls of the prison… together.

The Fine Art of Dating (2016) 3.6K words, lullabelle_moon

Robert and Aaron are two mates just having a drink out… in town. They get to talking about what a hypothetical date would entail for them. But the question in the end is, are they actually on a date now?

The Love That We Stole (2017) 23.9K words, interwebconvos

Aaron writes little notes to himself on his arm. Those notes are now appearing on his soulmate’s arm… Robert! Unfortunately, Robert is with Chrissie with no intention of leaving her so that means hiding those writings from her. What also adds to the situation is that neither know they are each other’s soulmates (at least at the start)… Robert believing it’s a woman while Aaron, well… he thinks it’s Finn even if he’s not his type. Soon enough a third party sticks their oar in and causes problems…

Journey Beyond series (2016) 24.3K words, moonlighten

Soulmarks, so-called cryptic matchmakers, marks (words) on one’s body that when spoken at the right time and the right way, identity who your soulmate is. For Robert, the soulmark is something ugly and the words inscribed are hard to accept and he’d rather ignore (as does Chrissie as she apparently isn’t her soulmate). Enter Aaron, while he does see the words, doesn’t read them out load… not until a pivotal moment in their story… and the bond is rejected! Six stories with the last part still a WIP to this day but an acceptable ending still.

The Muse (2017) 6.1K words, zoeteniets

Fashion designer Robert is down a model for his latest show and it’s his sister that brings scowly Aaron into the picture (even those he’s not the usual fey and ethereal type he normal uses) as a fill in. While he’s ‘not his type’ for the runway, Robert can’t get his mind off Aaron so much so new ideas begin to take shape centering around Aaron. In the end, he uses the guise of needing a model for a fitting at his studio. Will Robert finally act on his feelings for Aaron and will he reciprocate them?

Lost myself again and i feel unsafe (2015-2016) 10.7K words, reinacadeea

Soulmates: 1 in 1000 find theirs. It’s lifelong and forever. But for Robert and Aaron… well, Robert went ahead and married Chrissie even though he & Aaron solidified their connection the first time together. Now, both are suffering physically with lovesickness. When a harrowing event occurs, the connection they’ve kept secret from almost everyone might not remain so much long changing the course of their lives… forever.

Too hard, heart first (2016) 6.1.K words, finkpishnets

Superpowers AU. Robert is not a hero nor is he a villain. He just is but that doesn’t stop him from saving a bloke (namely Aaron) hanging outside of a 27th floor building. It also doesn’t help when his family is believing he set it all up because, you know, he isn’t a hero and because of past actions. That doesn’t stop Aaron from wanting to go out with Robert and becoming more with him.

Arch Enemy (2015) 17.9K words, bexcj

Robert has returned to the village with wife Chrissie and Lachlan in tow and winds up working at David’s to make ends meet (the Whites are not the rich HF lot). When Aaron steals from the shop and taunts Robert continuously about working there, the animosity only grows. When circumstances cause David to close the shop and put it up for sale, this gives Robert the chance to take a risk rather than playing it safe… and also learn why Aaron hates him so much… or does he?

The Swan Prince (2017) 22.2K words, zoeteniets

Once upon a time… there were two princes from two kingdoms who dislikes each other since childhood. As they grew up, so did their feelings and they slowly began to realize it was not dislike but poor attempts to be liked by the other. When Robert proposes to Aaron for reasons aimed at the kingdom alone, Aaron turns him down and leaves. Unfortunately for Aaron, his departure leads him on the course of being curse… into a swan. Will Robert be able to find him and admit his love for Aaron or will evil forces keep them separated. Robronized version of The Swan Princess.

A little too soon (2015) 25.4K words, dirtylittlegreasemonkey9384

It’s been several months since the lodge/Aaron outing Robert and they are officially together as boyfriends. But the thing is that while they are good together, the effects of the lodge are not so much in the past for Aaron while for Robert, there is still that niggling about that final outing. After a drunken rant over Vadam ‘making fun of him,’ the two decide they need a pause to get their heads together. Now it’s seven months later, one of them is getting his head straight while the other has been privately spiraling alone…

When I’m weak, i draw strength from you (2015) 21.5K words, reinacadeea

Aaron is called by social services when Gordon and Sandra have died since he is the only remaining blood relative to his brother, Elliott, which he doesn’t know. Aaron makes the decision to be parent/caretaker to the nine year old and gets much needed support and help from Robert especially with finding a home for him and Elliott - Jacob’s Fold. Robert’s sexuality is still not fully known in the village but when social services threaten to take Elliott from Aaron because of his recent mental issues, Robert has a decision to make…

Laying with Law (2017) 20.K words, NotForOneSecond

Aaron has a lot going for him. He lives in a penthouse, has a long-standing boyfriend, Kyle, has power and he’s opening up another new nightclub which is getting a lot of publicity. But that is only one side of his life. He is also a drug dealer known as Dust. At the opening of Echo, he spots an old mate, Robert, and it doesn’t take long at all for them to get it on after only first a lunch then an after hours meetup. But Robert is holding back something big. He’s told Aaron he’s in law but that’s it. He doesn’t tell him he is a copper on a task force to bring in a big business drug dealer Carl Logan (who unbeknownst to him, has a connection to Aaron)…

[redhead-batgal]

Type: One-Shot

Pairing: Fem! and Vigilante! Reader x Jason Todd/ Red hood

Content: cursing, a claustrophobic reader, little bit of angst, some fluff and a bit of violence

Y/N: Your Name, L/N: Last Name, V/N: Vigilante Name

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Angry wasn’t a strong enough word to describe how you were feeling. Enraged, infuriated and pissed off came close but not close enough. This feeling was so strong and so vivid you could practically see it, hell you could probably taste it.

Unlike how most people describe anger, yours wasn’t a red. No it was white, an icy hot white that seemed to drench every single one of your senses. White was in the corners of your vision, It was clinging to every single sound, it was in each smell, sharp and clear. You could feel it dancing on your skin like electricity, it covered your tongue and coated your cheeks.

It was everywhere. 

And at the moment the icy white seemed to be invading your lungs and slowly turning into a dark black. Such a dark and dense color it began to be hard to breathe. You were in fact in the last place you’d like to be at the moment. Which just so happened to be locked in a closet. 

It didn’t help that you weren’t alone. While yes, being alone would mean you would have to go through it alone. Go through the feeling of all the walls closing in on you as the air gets thinner and your head begins to spin as your brain fries from panic, as your entire body began to spasm and you blacked out from hyperventilating. But at the moment you would have preferred to be alone rather then let him, see you go through all of that. It was bad enough he had seen you slip up the week before while on patrol. 

You had been patrolling with Batgirl and Black Bat, this was usually what you did. Since you didn’t get along very well with Robin, and Red Robin, well he scared you a tiny bit due to one patrol in which you saw him consume ungodly amounts of caffeine. You couldn’t keep up with Nightwing and were informed by Robin that Batman thought you talked to much. Batgirl and Black Bat seemed to to be the perfect fit.

However on the night in question you sort of wished they hadn’t been. It would have been easier to explain why you messed up and he wouldn’t be able to hold it over your head. It had been a dumb move but you were bored, patrol had been relatively quiet with Black Bat taking care of nearly any threat that appeared before you or Batgirl could even respond to the comm. Oracle had just informed the three of you to be on the look out for Penguin. He had been recently making many trips to a abandon warehouse. The three of you had been asked to make sure nothing happened. Of course you decided that divvying up assignments would be perfect so all three of you could see some action. Neither Black Bat nor Batgirl had argued so you each took an area to watch. 

It had nearly been an hour since you had spilt up. There was no action on your end. You had just begun to give up hope when

“I see Penguin,” Batgirl whispered into the comm.

Excitement coursed over your veins and you found yourself bouncing up and down, you nearly threw yourself across the rooftops so you could join Batgirl in the fight. However-

“It looks as if he’s just casing the place... somethings off. What do you say Black Bat? Is something off?” 

You didn’t want to hear that, Penguin was here, obviously something was happening more then likely it was illegal and you were itching to punch someone, Shaking your head you bounced from the balls of your feet to your heels. 

One click came over the comm from Black Bat. She, agreed with Batgirl, leaving you the odd man out... well odd woman.

“I think we should just wait for now,” Batgirl remarked.

Begrudgingly you agreed, at the moment nothing was happening and you knew that if you charged in fists swinging and weapons raised Batman would have your head. 

“Fine.” You sighed

It took you a minute but you moved yourself so that you could watch Penguin without “technically” leaving your post. Penguin stood a couple hundred feet from the door to the warehouse, surrounding him was close to twenty goons.  He appeared to be talking to them and looking at his watch, suddenly one of the goons stepped up to him and whispered in his ear. Penguin nodded and waved a hand. All of the goons including himself began to move into the warehouse. 

There were upsides and down sides to this. 

Downside number one: You couldn’t see them anymore

Downside number two: This could be a trap

However there were more upsides then down.

Upside number one: You got to move into the warehouse

Upside number two: More then likely this was some kind of deal going down and you would get to punch a dude in the face

Upside number three: You were finally gonna see some action. 

Lowering yourself into a crouch you quickly spoke into the comm.

“I’m gonna go in.” “V/N, don’t. Something about this doesn’t seem right.” 

“I’ll be fine, besides how else are we supposed to see what’s going on?” 

There wasn’t a reply, though your weren’t really paying attention close enough to notice. You had begun bounding your way towards an open window you had spotted earlier while scanning the perimeter of the building. You vaulted in through the window just barely making it; internally you thanked Nightwing for insisting upon doing acrobatics for part of your training and made a mental note to ask him for some more lessons later. 

The warehouse wasn’t completely empty, it had two levels, the top was covered in boxes filled with packing peanuts. You briefly remembered Red Robin saying something about this place being owned by a former packing company, however at the time you weren’t really paying attention. In your defense Red Robin, at the time, had an mini army of at least fifty cups of empty coffee at his feet. 

Creeping past the boxes you settled yourself in between two large ones watching at Penguin and his goons stood in the middle of the room. 

“Where is he boss? Didn’t he say he’d be here?” One of the goons asked with a slight sneer.

Another rolled his eyes and scoffed, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t show, would make the boss look like an even bigger idiot.”

Penguin shot the man a look then he raised his umbrella, opened it slightly and a gunshot rang out. The goon fell down dead, a tense feeling came over you however, instead of jumping down and trying to apprehend him you stayed where you were. Someone else was coming, you may be impulsive at times but you weren’t a complete idiot. 

It wasn’t long before you heard doors open, it hadn’t occurred to you that the comms might not be working, you just thought that Black Bat and Batgirl were just either hiding as well somewhere in the warehouse or were waiting for you to say something. 

You can’t say that you weren’t surprised when you saw him. As far as you heard he was going straight, hell you where then when he told Batman himself that he was going to follow the Bat rules. You wished it didn’t hurt as much as it did, but seeing Red Hood walk into the warehouse stopping just before the center felt like someone shot you. 

He was alone and you could tell from his body language that this wasn’t exactly a friendly meeting, that and the fact that all of Penguin’s goons drew there weapons at the sight of him. 

“You rang?” Red Hood remarked.

Penguin narrowed his eyes and looked Red Hood over. He lowered his umbrella and took a step forwards.

“You came alone?”

“Does it look like I have backup?” 

Penguin didn’t reply, he just looked up and began to look around the second floor. For a moment you thought he spotted you, but he kept scanning the floor. After looking it all over he looked back to Red Hood, then remarked, 

“Search it.”  

Your stomach dropped and you knew you had to get out of there, normally you wouldn’t mind jumping into a fight, but Red Hood’s business was his own. No matter how much it hurt and no matter how much you wanted to know, it was none of your business. 

Slowly pushing yourself to your feet you waited until Penguin’s goons began to climb the stairs. Turning to go back the way you came you found yourself face to face with Scarecrow. 

Of course it just had to be Scarecrow, the one villain who had a toxin that could leave nearly everyone incapacitated. 

“Shit.”

Scarecrow laughed slightly remarking, “What do we have here?”

The next thing you knew something was being sprayed in your face. Instinctively you backed away from the liquid coming at you. Taking four steps back you suddenly noticed that the ground wasn’t beneath your foot anymore. Then you stumbled backwards and began to fall. 

After that everything was a blur, you faintly remember hearing Red Hood shout,

“Damn it.”  

Before everything disappeared and the nightmares took over. You awoke the next morning only to discover that had it not been for Red Hood you would have died. A rookie mistake, Scarecrow had snuck past into the warehouse as you were watching Penguin. Had you been paying attention to your surroundings instead of trying to find a reason to jump into the fight, you wouldn’t have been caught so off guard. 

Not paying attention to your surroundings also got you into the mess you were currently in. 

You, had been avoiding him, Red Hood- Jason Todd ,for the past few days. Not only was it embarrassing that you made such a dumb mistake but, the fact that you had to be rescued got under your skin. You prided yourself on not being a damsel in distress yet it seemed that you had times where you were one. It didn’t help that you felt violently angry at him, he was supposed to be going straight and yet he was meeting up with Penguin and Scarecrow. Every time you saw him you turned and nearly ran in the either direction. It had been working just fine until this evening.

You had been in the library of Wayne manor, grabbing a book off the shelf when Jason came in. Seeing him you felt a sharp spark of white anger, however instead of acknowledging his presence you decided to ignore him. A poor choice really, a petty one, and at the moment you didn’t care. 

You began to browse the shelves when you spotted him moving towards you. Continuing to ignore him you moved down the aisle. He followed and you turned sharply moving into the next aisle. 

“Y/N.”

You almost looked up, you almost blew it, however after many months of ignoring a persistent Tim Drake and an even more persistent Damian Wayne, you learned how to ignore someone when they called your name. 

Moving down the aisle towards the back of the library, you should have noticed Tim loitering in the corner and Dick at the very end of the last aisle. But you didn’t, you were too keen on keeping away from Jason.

“Y/N, are you seriously avoiding me?” 

You couldn’t keep it together, every fiber of your being wanted to shout YES, Yes! of course. Why wouldn’t you be avoiding him, you were angry with him, so very righteously angry... or so you thought. 

You made it to the end of the aisle and you stopped, had you been paying attention you would have noticed the open door just behind you and how Tim was right behind Jason as he got closer. You went to leave, to move to yet another aisle when Dick moved into your path. 

You side-stepped in a hope to slip past him but he followed you. Letting out a frustrated grunt you gave him a slight glare. 

“Move Dick, I need to get pass.” 

“Sorry Y/N, but no.” 

You blinked and raised an eyebrow in confusion, Dick took a step forwards and took the books from your arms. You opened your mouth to shout protests when he shoved you straight into the room behind you. Your back bounced against the wall and your stomach flipped as you realized it was a closet. A second later you saw Jason stumbling towards you. 

It seemed that he too got shoved into the closet, he slammed into you and you once again hit the back wall. The door slammed shut and you heard a faint click. Your stomach dropped and suddenly everything was dark. 

“You two,” Dick remarked from the other side of the door, “are going to make up and you are not coming out of there until you do.” 

You felt Jason pull away from you and then heard quiet cursing's. A light flickered on and you saw how small the room was, it was just the two of you alone together in a very tiny room. All the air went from your lungs and it began. You sank to the ground as the world around you began to spin. 

Instantly Jason was sitting across from you not fully seeming to understand you were having a panic attack. And that lead up to this moment the anger was being taken over by the panic. Your hands were shaking and you eyes closed, you could feel his gaze on you as you tried to steady your breathing. But everything was spinning and the enclosing walls followed you, dancing on your eyelids as you felt your empty stomach revolt against you. Had you eaten something you would probably be hurling it up. Instead your entire body shook as you pushed back dry-heaving's. 

Clenching your fists you let your nails dig into your skin trying your hardest to let the pain yank you out of the attack. But as your palms became slick with blood nothing happened. Opening your eyes you felt a fierce wave of panic come over you as you frantically looked around, trying your hardest to find your way out. 

You wanted to lunged towards the door, but you were stuck. The room was so small, you could feel Jason’s legs pressed against yours, your heart began to beat erratically and you swung a bleeding fist towards the door. Weakly banging against it you wanted to cry out but the words caught in your throat. So you decided to try and bang your fist against any and every thing you could, starting with the walls that seemed to be getting closer and closer with every breath. 

“Woah, woah, woah. Sweetheart calm down,” Jason remarked grabbing onto your wrist. 

You shook your head feeling tears beginning to form in your eyes, hands shaking even harder you felt your entire body begin to shutter. Squeezing your eyes shut you choked back sobs. Pressing your fists your eyes you tried to force back the tears. A heavy feeling cloaked your lungs and it felt as though you were trying to swallow a brick. 

You felt hands on your wrists, gently pulling them away from your face. Your eyes flew open and you began to once again look around erratically.

“Hey,” Jason said softly, “hey Y/N, look at me. Hey look at me, Y/N.” 

You forced yourself to focus on Jason, he locked gazes with you and then you tried to continue to look for a way out.

“Eyes on me doll,” He stated and you looked back at him, “that’s it, Atta-girl. Now breathe with me, innnnn and outtt.” 

He slowly began to breath and you took a deep breath in keeping your eyes on him, then let it out. Jason nodded and you breathed with him for a little while, slowly calming down ever so slightly. Still shaking however much calmer, he let go of your wrists and you clench your fists again. 

“Your safe, don’t worry. Everything’s gonna be okay. I’m gonna get us out of here alright?” 

At first you didn’t respond, then Jason pressed his forehead against yours and you could see his eyes, you were closer then you’ve ever been before. They were a pretty color, a greenish-blue, though at the moment they looked more green then blue. You also noticed how he had very light freckles across his cheekbones. If you weren’t freaking out you would have blushed, been embarrassed by how close he was, you would have probably taken a mental note about the freckles and how beautiful his eyes were. However, all you could think about was how small the room was. 

Very gently touching your forearms, Jason stared you dead in the eyes.  “Alright?”

You could only nod and grab onto his shirt in return. He blinked for a moment before his hand was off of your arm and around your waist. 

“Is this-”

You nodded once again before he could finish his question, he pulled you in closer, your legs squishing against each others as you pressed you head against his chest and closed you eyes. All you wanted was to get out of there, to be able to breathe and stop panicking. You felt Jason pull you into his lap and then he began banging on the door. 

“I swear to fuck that if you to dumbasses don’t open up this damn door I’m going to murder you in your sleep.” 

You could hear Tim and Dick quietly talking on the other side of the door. Probably contemplating whether or not they should open up. Merely thinking about the door make your heart pick up pace again and your restarted breathing quickly. Jason hesitated before he banged on the door again shouting,

“If you don’t open this door right fucking now, I’m going to break it down.” 

You heard cursing coming from the other side of the door and then a click, your eyes flew open and you watched as the door swung open. Lunging forwards you tumbled out of the closet. Air filled your lungs but you didn't stop there. No, you scrambled to your feet and went barreling out of the library down the stairs and out the door. Once you made it outside you took a deep breath in, fresh air sharply stung your lungs and you nearly collapsed into the grass crying with relief. 

It had been a lesson of sorts for you, learn to watch your surroundings... and don’t assume things. You didn’t exactly know what was going on at the warehouse but you did know that despite your previous disbelief, you believed Jason. He was going straight now, staying clean and following Bruce’s rules. Because there was no way he could be nice enough to help you through a panic attack, get you out of a closet and... save your life all while being bad and killing people. 

Though you’d never admit it, you might be a little biased, after all you might have a teeny, tiny, eensy-weensy little crush on him. It didn’t help that you found yourself wanting to spend more time with him, of course it wouldn’t be locked in a closet but... it wasn’t so bad. Being alone together. 

Blinking you lay down on the grass staring up at the sky, there were no walls here to come in on you, nothing really to suffocate you. Closing your eyes you took in deep breaths and let them out. You heard the sound of a door opening and the grass crunching slightly. Opening your eyes you saw Jason standing above you.

“You okay?”

“Much better now, thank you.” You replied taking in yet another breath

He nodded and looked as if he were about to turn and go when he let out a sigh. Closing your eyes you waited to hear the sound of him leaving, it never happened. Peeking an eye open you found him staring at you.

“You know Penguin asked to meet with me that night. He said it was a peace meeting… turns out he and Scarecrow planned to ambush me.”

You blinked in confusion. You hadn’t told anyone that you saw him in the warehouse and as far as you were concerned everyone thought he just swooped in and rescued you. Something you suddenly realized he was doing a lot of. Why was he explaining what happened to you.

“You didn’t have to tell me that,” You began as you gave him a confused look, “it’s not really my business.”

Jason shrugged then rubbed the back of his head. Nodding he remarked,

“Yeah, but I just thought you should know I am going straight. Following the old man’s rules and all.”

This only confused you more.

“Why? I didn’t tell anyone that you were meeting Penguin, and I wasn’t planning on it.”

Jason shrugged as he turned to leave, pausing for a moment he sighed.

“I don’t know doll, I just don’t like the idea of you seeing me as a bad guy.”

A weird feeling began in your chest, it wasn’t like butterflies or any kind of fluttery things. It was a warm and soft kind of feeling.

Smiling up at him you rolled your eyes and said,

“Well Jason Todd, I could never see you as a bad guy.”

He blinked and then smiled back shaking his head.

“That makes me very happy, Y/N L/N.”

With that he walked away and the warm feeling began to spread from your chest throughout your entire body all the way down to your toes and up to your ears.

It seemed it wasn’t as small of a crush as you wanted to believe. Feeling a slight blush begin on your cheeks, you covered your face as you realized being alone with him wouldn’t be so bad. As long as you were alone together

[ahugenerdynerd]

So I think a lot of us can agree that Titans isnt a great show. But not just with their portrayals of the characters but also with the writing.

I personally can forgive what Titans has done with the different takes of the characters, don’t get me wrong it’s still shit but that’s not what this post is about.

The show is just packed full of bad writing. This coming from someone who has studied film for over 4 years. But anyone who knows anything can see how bad the writing is.

(I will be waiting to pass judgment on season 3 until the entire season is out, so this will be focusing of season 1 and 2)

Analysis under the cut

Firstly they will establish something, only for them to completely forget about that fact next episode. Case and point in episode 7 of season 2 Dick finds out that Deathstroke has been stalking them and is in the tower. After that he rushes back, visibly distraught with a gun in hand dramatically declaring that Deathstroke was there in the building. Only for in the very next episode for that fact to have been completely forgotten and now they’re all just leaving and it never gets brought up again.

This isn’t the only time something like this has happened but it’s the most glaringly obvious one.

Something that they also do which is most prevalent in season 2 is the spacing of the events between episodes. Titans will dedicate entire episodes just for one part of the story. This may work for some shows, specifically sitcoms that are aired on tv. Shows like The Big Bang Theory or Friends that viewers generally aren’t going to be watching in the correct order so they’re made to be stand alone episodes. But Titans isn’t a sitcom nor is it being aired on tv. What they really should have done is spread these scenes out over several episodes as flashbacks rather than to condense them down into one episode. Because by having the full flashback episodes it makes the show feel disjointed and they interrupt the drama and the suspense. It’s like getting to the climax of a film only to be interrupted by a 40 minute ad. You end up not really caring for the episode because you just want to know what happens with the cliffhanger from the previous episode. When really the events of these flashback episodes should be the most important and interesting part of the show. Where we get to see what happened between the Titans that made them brake up and character backstories and the like.

I think the most disappointing use of this is with the episode ‘Connor’. Rather than condensing Conners entire backstory up to meeting the Titans into one episode leaves a lot to be desired. I would have much preferred to have seen his backstory of escaping Cadmus and his relationship with Eve spread out over sever episodes in tandem to what was happen with the main cast. It would have created a lot more build up and anticipation for him finally meeting up with the rest of the Titans. Whereas what we got was one episode where we could easily guess exactly what was going to happen and where too distracted by Jason supposedly falling to his death to really appreciate the episode.

Secondly, is the shows pacing. It is all over the place. Season 1 was especially bad when it came to this and season 2 was only marginally better. Obviously I’m going to be talking about what happened with Trigon.

Fist of all the decisions for Trigon to be the big bad of the fist season was an interesting decision to say the least. But let’s forget about the comic book aspect and look at what made this season so bad writing wise.

Basically it all boils down to set up and pay off. The set up obviously being how the show sets up the climax, in this case the battle against Trigon. And the pay off basically being how rewarding the climax feels for the audience. With good writing you will have a pay off that is equal to or greater than the set up. If there’s not much set up then it’s easier for the pay off to be worth it for the audience. However in Titans case they set up the battle against Trigon right from the get go slowly building it up over the season, painting him as this neigh unbeatable force. Admittedly Titans was already of to a bad start with their decision to include Trigon in the first season what with the comic fans already knowing about his character and having to live up to the pre existing show Teen Titans as well as the animated movies. In a way they set themselves up for failure.

However where they really let themselves selves down was with the pay off. After having all this build up for the battle against Trigon, the final product falls extremely short. Where they really went off was not including the finale for the season in the actual season but instead moving it to the fist episode of season 2. I don’t know about any one else but when I went into season two after how season 1 ended I was expecting a majority of the episodes to be about the trying to defeat Trigon. But not even 40 minutes in and he’s defeated. This felt extremely unrewarding and underwhelming after waiting an entire season and the time in between to find out what’s going to happen next, only for him to be defeated almost immediately with little to no fuss.

This battle should have definitely been drawn out more. Taking place over several episodes or at least and entire one, where all of the Titans have to work together and struggle to defeat him. Rather than Raven just going out there herself and beating him instantly. There was no reward there. It was just over.

They had a similar problem in season 2 with Deathstroke, one of the Titans main villains. Going through all this build up and emotional turmoil only for him to just be stabbed and oh look he’s dead. You don’t just kill Deathstroke.

Side note: no one checked for a pulse, so I am personally of the opinion that he wasn’t actually dead but was just laying there playing dead hopping no one realised

Finally in this list of examples of bad writing is their tendency to introduce something new out of nowhere with no previous foreshadowing. The most obvious example being in season 2 episode 7 where out of no where we find out that Dick is hallucinating seeing Bruce. This came out of absolutely no where when there should have really been some build up to this. Maybe we could have seen Dick acting oddly, or Talking to no one or really anything. But we got nothing. It felt like someone had just come up with the idea on the day of filming with no previous forethought. Not to mention the fact that it basically only lasted the one episode, with it briefly coming back in episode 11.

Tl:dr: Titans had so much potential to be a great show but they just fell short with the writing. Everything just feels very rushed and not very thought over and they definitely could have done better.

P.S There is definitely still good writing in Titans however. Mostly to do with their portrayals of mental health. So don’t take this post as me just dissing on Titans. Maybe I’ll write another post about the good writing or analysing their camera usage, idk.

[bluegarners]

“I have your loved one” with Dick and Jason?

heyyy, it's finally here haha! i'm slowly getting to each request lol

here it is on ao3

I Have Your Loved One

It’s Thursday.

Time: 23:47, or 11:47 p.m.

Bludhaven has hit a rough patch in its weather, a vicious storm battering against thin windows and overflowing gutters and drains. It’s one of those storms that brings in the water but no lightning, dark clouds blanketing the entire sky, remorseless and relentless in its pursuit of smothering any light from escaping. The clouds don’t muffle anything though, perhaps amplifying instead the downpour that floods through Bludhaven’s streets and alleyways. Its citizens like to think this is a New Jersey hurricane, freshly mutated and traveled from the east coast into their humble, mildew covered city.

Dick likes the rain. Likes the way it pounds against his apartment, screaming to be let in but just barely warded off by seven inches of concrete and steel. The blinds are closed against the windows, and he has towels pushed up against the sills just in case the sealing lets up. Even if they were open, Dick is sure all he would see is another wall of gray and black, dozens of delicate raindrops splattered against his windows.

Because of the storm currently wreaking havoc in his city, Dick has elected to stay indoors for the time being. Eventually, the rain will let up, its pattern being close to about 05:00, and then he’ll suit up and do a quick patrol before work. For now, he’s content with sitting on his couch and listening to the water smack against the old building and run rivers down the sides. He’d like to sleep through it, a free white noise service at the ready, but his mind simply refuses to allow him to rest just yet. In a few hours, he’s sure he’ll come to hate himself for not taking NyQuil or some other drug to help him fall asleep, but for now… Well, it’s nice. The rain is nice. It’s also very loud.

He misses the first call.

His phone is face down on the kitchen table, about eight feet away from where he lays on the couch, mindlessly staring up at the ceiling. It vibrates, buzzing for thirty seconds, before falling silent.

He misses the second call too.

Thunder rumbles through the black sky, its force shaking the windows and only encouraging the downpour. His phone buzzes again during it, quieting after another thirty seconds.

Dick hears the third call. Hears the tail-end of the buzzing, getting up from his position on the couch and padding over to pick up his phone only to miss the last few seconds. He unlocks his phone, checking the number, and feels something cold settle into his gut when he sees no caller ID. It’s the same person though, all three times, but no voicemail.

He’s about to call the number back, just in case it’s someone he knows and they’re ringing from a payphone or something else, when the no caller ID flashes across his screen for the fourth time.

Dick answers on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Is this Richard Grayson?”

“Yes, that’s me. Who is this?”

The voice is feminine, a slight, western accent, longer o’s and a faint drawl. Somewhere from Arizona most likely. Lower register too. Older woman, mid-to-late fifties. Smoker.

“That’s good. I was starting to think I had the wrong number, Richard.”

“Yeah, sorry, I just didn’t have my phone on me. You didn’t say earlier, but who is this?”

“That doesn’t matter too much right now. What does matter, though, is this.”

She pauses. There’s shuffling he can hear on the other side. A faint, second voice in the background. No, three voices. At least two others in the room with the woman. He can hear the sounds of an air condition unit rattling.

“I think you might’ve cut off there. What were—”

“I have your loved one, Richard.”

Lightning cracks through Bludhaven.

His stomach falls onto the floor, pooling around his ankles. The storm outside grinds to a halt, the quiet louder than any thunder it’s ever managed to produce, and there’s a high pitched ringing reverberating inside his skull. Dick thinks he might be sick.

“What?” he chokes, the air in the room suffocating and weighing down his lungs. “What did you say?”

“I have your loved one,” the woman repeats, calm and slow. “Your brother, actually. Then again, he tells me you aren’t related by name nor blood, so we’ll settle for a loved one.”

“What do you want?” Dick demands, already scrambling to get to his computer, find where they’ve taken Jason. Find his brother.

“He did say you weren’t one for small talk,” the woman carries on, unhurried and unconcerned. “Your brother isn’t either, hardly said a word all this time.”

“Can I speak to him?”

There’s a small huff on the other end of the call, exhalation and a sigh leaving the woman’s mouth. A cigarette. She’s smoking during this conversation, blowing the smoke into the receiver.

“I don’t know,” she finally answers. There. Dick has his general location. Still in Gotham. He needs the tracker to be more precise though. It’s taking time though. Too much. “Your brother here was pretty convinced you wouldn’t answer after his daddy didn’t pick up. Cried pretty hard about it too.”

“What are you talking about?” Dick grounds out, fearing his phone will crack with how tightly he’s gripping it.

“Well, you weren’t our first choice to call, Richard. I’m sure you understand.”

Dick says nothing, focused on the computer screen in front of him. He should contact Barbara. This would be faster with her. Faster to find Jason.

“We called about seven times,” the woman continues, blowing another puff of smoke out into the phone. “Isn’t that right, boy? We called and called and called. His daddy didn’t pick up once, went straight to voicemail each time. A shame, really.”

There’s a sniffle on the other side of the call and Dick’s heart seizes when he realizes it’s probably Jason.

Batman was currently off-world, all communication with him being strictly between Justice League lines. Bruce Wayne was somewhere in the Bahamas, partying with Italian models and Spanish actresses.

Of course he wouldn’t pick up.

“Can I please talk to him?” Dick asks for the second time, fisting a hand into the couch cushions. “Please, I just want to make sure he’s okay.”

More smoke. “I’ll ask him.”

There’s a muffled thud, the phone most likely having been put down, and quiet voices filter through the line. He can’t hear much of what they’re saying, short bursts of comprehensible syllables before fading back to unintelligible noises. His computer dings with a response from Barbara. She’s going to use one of the J.L satellites to better pin-point Jason’s location. She’s also in communication with the police, reporting a child-abduction.

Keep them talking, she writes. Everything is going to be okay, Dick.

It feels like his heart is beating in his throat and his tongue has swollen to the size of a bowling ball. The storm outside is unrelenting. Lightning hasn’t struck again.

There’s more movement on the other side, clattering and scattered noises. The phone’s been picked up.

“Alright,” the woman says, raspy and uncaring. “The boy says he wants to talk to you, Richard.”

Dick holds his breath, waiting. There’s more noises, a transfer he thinks, and another sniffle interrupts it.

“Hello?” a shaky voice asks into the receiver. Dick feels like crying.

“Jason,” he breathes. “We’re going to get you out of there, alright? You’re going to be okay.”

“I’m sorry,” his brother rattles, a sob latching onto the end. “I’m so sorry, Dick. I-I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s okay,” Dick shushes, feeling himself get choked up at the fear in the younger boy’s voice. “I know you didn’t, bud. Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“No, not really. I didn’t think you were gonna pick up,” he admits, voice cracking. “B-Bruce didn’t. He didn’t answer, Dick, and I-I thought you weren’t gonna either. I-I thought—”

“I’ll always answer, Jason, I promise. I’m coming for you, okay? I’m going to come get you and we’ll both go home together. Does that sound good, Jay? You’re going to be fine.”

“Okay,” the thirteen year old relents. “You promise though, right? You’re not gonna leave me here?”

“No, Jay, of course not. I’m not going to leave you there, I’m coming to get you. Right now. I promise, okay? Jason, I would never abandon you. You’re my kid-brother and I love you. I’m not going to-”

“As touching as this is,” the woman interrupts, “I think that’s enough.”

“Put Jason back on the phone,” Dick snarls. “I swear, if you lay a hand on him, if you even touch him, I will end you.”

“Sure, honey,” the woman drawls, puffing into the receiver. “Here’s what’s going to happen, so I want you to listen to me.”

His computer dings. It’s Barbara. She’s got the location. It’s close. Not even twenty minutes away. Border between Bludhaven and Gotham. Motel next to the gas station connecting the freeways. Room 13.

He’s out the door and revving up his motorcycle before the woman has even taken a second drag from her cigarette. The rain is beating against him, gloomy street lights flickering through the shrouded dark of the storm. Thank god for Bludhaven sewers, only slightly better than Gotham’s. The water level is only a few millimetres high.

“Now, I don’t want to keep this kid anymore than you want him to stay here with me,” the woman drones. The streets are empty. Dick blows through every red light he comes across. The tires are new, the grip is fine. “So, I think we can make this simple.”

“What do you want?” Dick growls, transferring the call into his helmet. He prays she can’t hear the rain battering against it. “Just tell me what you want already and I’ll give it to you.”

“Don’t rush me,” the woman snaps, and it is then that Dick realizes that this is all probably by chance. This isn’t some criminal mastermind who plotted to find and kidnap the son of a billionaire. This isn’t a case of a rogue villain piecing together vague details and figuring out Batman and company’s identities. It’s simply someone desperate. Someone who saw the opening and took it. The poor planning is evident, practically spelled out in bold print that these people have no real idea what they’re doing.

“Sorry,” Dick bites out, veering through a short-cut that says, in neon orange, Danger. Construction Zone. “Please continue.”

The woman on the line is vindictive though, choosing to remain quiet as the sound of a lighter clicking open tinnies through the call. She takes her time lighting a new cigarette, taking a long, slow drag and holding it in for a few seconds. Dick jerks his bike to the right, narrowly avoiding a large pothole. A passing car blares its horn at him. Finally, the woman exhales. He can hear Jason cough in the background.

“What I want,” she starts, a new color of intrigue hitting the back of her throat. He’s barely ten minutes away now. Could probably half it if he took more backstreets and increased his speed. “Is for my son to be released from prison.”

“Who is your son?” Dick asks, cursing silently as his back tire skids, hydro-planing for a moment. Thunder crashes above him and the rain continues to pelt at his body. It feels like getting hit with a paint-ball gun.

“Landon Jennings. I want you to get him released. I know you have the access to lawyers, probably have debts owed to you from people in high places. I want him released tonight.”

Time: 00:14.

01:14 a.m standard time.

“I can do that,” Dick says, heart beating faster as he sees the sign for the motel, dim in the gray, “but I’ll need a few hours. I need to contact my lawyers. Where is your son stationed?”

An icon appears in the front of his digitized visor. It’s Barbara. She sees him closing in. Police are on route. Seven minutes out. He has the option to wait on them and keep the kidnappers on the line.

“Same place they all go,” the woman barks. “Use that head of yours and figure it out. I want my son out by tonight, or you’re not going to see your brother again. And,” she rushes, “I don’t want the police involved. If you call them, I’ll know, you understand? I don’t want to hurt the kid, but I’m not scared to. My husband is here with me too, so if you try and—”

Okay, so waiting isn’t an option. He’s going in.

“No police,” Dick interrupts. “I understand. Please, don’t hurt him.”

“If you just do what you’re told, then I won’t have to.”

“Thank you,” Dick whispers, gently getting off of his bike and leaving it on the side of the road. He can’t chance them seeing him pulling into the motel lot. “You said your son’s name was Landon? If you don’t mind me asking, what is he charged with?”

“Why do you need to know?”

Dick jogs towards the motel, careful to stay out of direct light. The general office looks closed. Most of the windows facing the lot are shielded by salmon colored curtains. There’s only one floor, thankfully. Dick sees door 13. He’s shaking. His fingers are numb.

“My lawyers said they need to know in order to file for a judge to repeal his sentence.���

“Is that so?” the woman asks, suspicion tailing her voice. She takes a drag from her cigarette, contemplating. Dick’s clothes are soaking wet and he cringes every time his shoes squelch against the concrete. He decides crawling is best, ducking under windows and avoiding peepholes. “Fine then. Landon got falsely accused of statutory rape and breaking and entering. Is that what your damn lawyers are looking for?”

“Yes,” Dick breathes. He’s at door 10. He can see a faint glow coming from behind the curtains of room 13. He’s so close. “Thank you.”

He taps on the side of his helmet, sending a series of numbers that he’s sure Barbara will understand.

23-26-8-37

E-N-T-R

He can’t wait any longer.

While crawling, Dick made sure to get a good look at the motel’s doors and hinges. They’re standard, and though both Gotham and Bludhaven tend to have better locks than most other cities, Dick recognizes the model of the door and the wood it’s made out of. They’re thin enough for him to ram through. The hinges on the sides are rusted over as well, and Dick thinks they might just be weak enough to break. The windows however. The windows are his best bet. He doubts this kind of motel invests in bullet proof glass, and on some of the sills, he can see water damage. They leak. Poorly made. Meaning, if he ran at them, he could break through pretty easily.

But, if that doesn’t work. Or if he’s not fast enough to get on his feet once in. Or if the window is directly in front of Jason and the glass breaks all over him. Or if—

Stop. He can’t think about the what-ifs right now. Dick knows he can do this. Knows how to do this. There isn’t any more time to wait. He promised he would get Jason out of there, and goddamnit, he’s going to keep his promise.

“You’re being really quiet,” the woman mutters. “What’s going—”

Dick takes a deep breath and tenses. The light behind the curtain flickers. He needs to move. Now. Now.

Lightning splits across the sky and Dick can’t tell if it’s the glass shattering or the thunder that makes the other-worldly crack but it doesn’t matter because Dick lands feet first and is tucking and rolling before the occupants have a chance to react.

“Oh my god!” someone screams, but Dick isn’t paying attention to them because his gaze zeroes in on his brother, tiny, thirteen year old Jason, who’s tied up on one of the beds and staring right at him.

He can’t linger long though because he hears the words, “Get the gun!”, and he’s up on his feet again, rushing the closest person. It turns out to be the husband, a balding man with a patchy neck-beard, and Dick bunches up his fist and swings, socking the man in the stomach. He doubles over, wheezing, and Dick can see the small pistol in the man’s right hand, and Dick strikes down on his shoulder, kneeing him simultaneously. The pistol drops and so does the man, groaning, and Dick turns to the woman, who is staring at him like an animal cornered.

“Don’t come any closer!” she yells, pocket knife trembling in her grip as she shoves it in Jason’s face. “I’ll stab him, I will!”

Dick holds up his hands, sidestepping the groaning man. “Put the knife down.”

“No!” the woman argues, a strand of black hair falling into her mouth. “Now I told you- stay there! Don’t fucking move or I’ll kill this kid, you hear! I’ll fucking slice his throat open!”

With how scared the woman is, and how precarious she holds the pocket knife, which Dick can see is dull even from where he’s standing, he knows it’s not an idle threat. Scared people will do anything to get out of the situation they’re in. Scared people are unpredictable and dangerous.

But so is Dick.

So is Jason.

“I’m not going to move,” Dick reassures, eyes flickering towards his brother, “so, please, drop the knife. We can talk this out.”

“Talk?” the woman shrills, jerking the knife closer to Jason’s jawline. “You just killed my husband!”

“I didn’t kill him,” Dick corrects. “He’s just unconscious. Come on now. It’s just you and me. Let’s talk this over. I can still get Landon out if you give me back my brother. It’s as easy as that, alright? Just put down the knife, and we’ll talk. Does that sound okay?”

The woman looks like she’s considering it, the hand holding the knife still trembling, when the first sirens enter the lot. Red and blue light flash through the broken window as rain seeps into the curtains.

“You rat!” she screams, furious and terrified and desperate all at once. “You fucking called the cops! You broke—”

She doesn’t get a chance to finish before Jason snaps his head back, headbutting the woman directly in the nose. He falls to the side, getting out of range of the knife, and Dick takes his cue, leaping forwards and gripping the woman’s wrist and squeezing, weapon falling from her grasp. There’s blood spurting from her nose and Dick throws her to the floor, getting her on her stomach and hands behind her back. He sits on top of her, his weight overpowering any strength she has left, and in the next few seconds, police are banging on the door.

“This is the GCPD! Open up and put your weapons down!”

“You can come in!” Dick shouts, holding the squirming woman in place. “We’re unarmed!”

Things happen quickly after the door bangs open, several officers pouring in like the Bludhaven storm. As soon as an officer handcuffs the woman he’s on top of, Dick is rushing to Jason’s side, another officer cutting away his bindings. His younger brother turns to him, about to say something, but Dick cuts him off with a crushing hug, cradling the back of Jason’s head to rest against his shoulder.

“I’m so sorry,” Dick whispers, gathering his brother more fully into his arms. “I should’ve been there sooner. God, Jason, I’m so sorry.”

“I-I thought you weren’t going to come for me,” Jason confesses, hiccuping. “When Bruce didn’t pick up, I thought it was because he didn’t want me anymore. I-I told her that, I told her Bruce wasn’t coming but she wouldn’t listen and-and I—”

Dick wraps his arms more securely around the sobbing preteen in response, gently rocking back and forth as the mattress springs squealed under the pressure.

“I know I haven’t always been around,” he says, uncaring about the snot dribbling into his shirt, “and I’m sorry you thought you couldn’t rely on me to come and get you. You’re my brother, though, and I will always come running when you call. No matter what. I promise, Jay. Anywhere, anytime, I promise I’ll be there. Okay?”

“Okay,” Jason wheezes, the adrenaline from before slowly releasing its hold. “I trust you.”

Dick presses his face into his brother’s hair, relief washing over him as his heart slows. He’s never had a sibling before. Things were still tense with Bruce, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be a big brother. There isn’t a thing in the world he wouldn’t do for this kid in his arms right now.

“What’re brothers for, right?” he mumbles.

The rain doesn’t stop and pours and pours and pours. Dick just holds Jason tighter.

The real storm was over.

Five months later

It’s Thursday.

Time: 11:47 a.m.

The stone is nice. White marble. Shiny. Expensive.

There are fresh flowers. Roses and yellow daisies. The dirt is still new too. Evidence of freshly upturned earth. Dick reaches down and pulls out a weed that’s sprung up at the corner of the stone. Tosses it away.

He doesn’t have flowers. He has a newspaper in his left hand. Reads: Mourning billionaire sets off on trip to Europe.

Jason died a month before he got back from across the universe.

Anywhere, he had said. Anytime. I promise I’ll be there.

He crumples the newspaper into a tight ball and shoves it into his pocket. Stares at the stone. The sun is out. There are no clouds in the sky. It’s nice.

It’s a nice day.

“Fuck,” Dick mutters, a familiar burn in the back of his eyes. “Fuck.”

Anywhere, anytime.

Dick Grayson is an only child once again.

[algumaideia]

Disclaimer: maybe all I'll say on this post is only valid to how I'm writing Octavian right now. I also might be saying bullshit regardless.

I think Octavian wanted to be invisible. I know that doesn't make sense, because his whole deal in HoO was to be the savior of Rome, and he was really invested on CJ politics, he was an augur and the centurion of the first cohort. But the thing is: he mostly got negative attention by his peers, he was hated, bullied, othered. And that is why he was in this quest for positive acknowledgment by CJ. But I think that deep down Octavian knew this positive attention he wanted wasn't really good. I mean look how badly it affected Jason. It is not like it would make Octavian good either and I think he knew it. He was in a bad situation trying to go to another bad situation. And the only way to don't get neither negative nor positive attention is to get no attention. Be invinsible. That is why I have the headcanon that Octavian went to CJ garden and layed down between the flowers in a way that made him feel invisible. It is the only way to have peace, to be safe of all the bad and toxic things that come with being CJ hero or villain.

I think Nico is the opposite of Octavian. He tries to not be seen, to be in the background, to not call attention on himself. But what he truly wants is to get some positive attention, to be loved, welcomed, liked, not excluded, avoided, feared. And it is not like that he doesn't try to connect with people, to help, to be friendly. But I feel like he prefers to go to the background bc it is safier, because it is his option. Octavian couldn't not be seen, but Nico can.

And I think it is sad that Nico couldn't be the hero (remember how people treated him after tlo) and Octavian also couldn't.