#oh and it messed up some of the formatting I had after posting it okay 🙂

[20001541]

AFO Ship Opinion Results

57 responses total, thank you to everyone who participated!

-

What do you headcanon AFO's sexuality as?

Straight: 4

Gay: 2

Bisexual: 12

Pansexual: 16

Asexual: 13

Other: 10

Responses to other

-

AFO x Ujiko

the average is 5

-

AFO x All Might

the average is 5

-

AFO x Inko

the average is 7

-

AFO x Gigantomachia

the average is 5

-

AFO x Kotaro

the average is 4

-

AFO x Hawks

the average is 3

-

AFO x Endeavor

the average is 3

-

AFO x Kurogiri

the average is 2

-

AFO x Lady Nagant

the average is 2

Note: it says 56 here because I forgot to make this questioned required to answer so someone ended up skipping it as a result. I apologize

-

AFO x Star and Stripe

the average is 2

-

AFO x Gran Torino

the average is 5

-

AFO x Nana

the average is 4

-

AFO x Spinner

the average is 1

-

AFO x Destro

the average is 4

-

AFO x Kudou

the average is 3

-

AFO x Midnight

the average is 1

-

AFO x Mr. Compress

the average is 2

-

AFO x Nighteye

the average is 2

-

AFO x AFO

the average is 8

.....

AFO Ships Ranking

AFO x AFO with an average of 8

2. AFO x Inko with an average of 7

3. AFO x Ujiko, All Might, Gigantomachia, Gran Torino with an average of 5

4. AFO x Kotaro, Nana with an average of 4

5. AFO x Hawks, Endeavor,Kudou with an average of 3

6. AFO x Kurogiri, Lady Nagant, Star and Stripe, Mr. Compress, Night eye with an average of 2

7. AFO x Midnight, Spinner with an average of 1

-

Are there any AFO ships that are considered problematic that you enjoy?

Majority said no

.....

Responses

Note: Yes, I know I all AFO ships are technically problematic, mainly just wanted to ask how many shipped people like Yoichi and Tomura with him without someone jumping down my throat and attacking for including it. Already had an anon be weird towards me about that stuff before in the past so thats why I asked this this way. But I fully see why people were confused lol.

Honestly several months later idc anymore and I still feel curious enough to know what people think of these ships so if anyone wants to do a poll asking about what people think of afotomu, afoyoichi, and afodeku send me an ask and I'll do it.

-

Feel free to tell me more about why you like or dislike certain AFO ships and mention any ships that you enjoy that I failed to include here if you want

Note: My editing program on my phone kept messing up so I just gave up and left it at that. Wanted all of them to have pictures. Already addressed about the problematic thing in the question above. But there's small community of afomidnight shippers on twt, even seen some fanart of it thats why it was included, AFOtomu is one of the bigger AFO ships though I agree.

-

Anyways thank you to all who participated in this. So sorry this took forever to post, as I said before I did have it finished the first week the survey closed but Tumblr decided to delete the original post when I tried to queue it, forcing me to start over from scratch and then my old computer broke, so I had to redo all the screenshots and find the averages of all of them again. Plus other stuff that happened in my personal life. Incredibly frustrating! But didn't want to leave you all hanging forever so here it is now :(

If you find any mistakes let me know! Love y'all 😚

[hapuchika]

Chapter 10

Yay, New chapter!

Also, I'm not sure how it's going because I had to quite literally force myself to write this chapter and post it.

Hope you have fun reading!

Chapter summary: Reader attends the party. Whole bunch of fluff (little angsty in the start but nothing too bad)

Chapter warnings: Talk about death, injuries, brief mention of wanting to fuck wandanat (who wouldn't want to though lets be honest)

Series Masterlist

x--x--x

Shortly after putting their respective marks on you, Wanda and Natasha went back to their separate rooms to get ready for the evening.

You decided to get some work done while you waited for them. You opened your Stark-issued laptop and began writing the report for your most recent mission. Thankfully, Natasha had shown you the format for writing them a couple of weeks ago.

You smiled when you remembered how excited you were that Natasha fucking Romanoff took the time to sit right next to you and explain how mission briefing work, the protocol for post-mission briefings, and how to write mission reports in detail.

You remember inwardly freaking out when Natasha kept on scooting closer to you until she was practically trying to fuse into you. Claiming it would be easier to show you on her computer rather than just tell you.

You remember how giddy you felt when Wanda decided to join in to help you understand, effectively squishing you between them. From the very beginning, you loved how their touch always calmed you down and how safe it made you feel, whether it was in the form of a hug or simply having your pinkies touch when you sat down next to one or both of them.

Shaking your head, you leaned forward and continued with your mission report. The memories of them flowed through you, how loud the alarms were, how it took you hours to rescue all the survivors and heal them as you carried them. How the ground was littered with more blood and dead bodies the closer you got to the heart of the facility.

You were so lost in your thoughts that you didn’t hear Natasha knock on your door. You definitely didn’t hear Natasha walk up behind you, leaning forward as she read your mission report from over your shoulder.

“YOU DIED?” Natasha asked incredulously.

If not for what she read, Natasha would have definitely burst out laughing at the scream you let out as you jumped out of your chair and fell on your ass.

Heart pounding, you stood up and turned to face Natasha, intending to scold her for scaring you like that. The words died in your throat as you took in what she was wearing.

Your insides tingled as you took in what your partner was wearing. Her curly red hair framed her face perfectly, stopping just as they touched her shoulder. Her bare collarbone looked oh so inviting. Your heart fluttered as you noticed that her earrings complimented your outfit.

You almost lost what little composure you had left when you took in her expression. Equal parts stunned and furious. Her gorgeous green eyes that had flecks of hazel seemed to pierce through you.

For the second time that day, Wanda burst into the room expecting a fight. This time, she seemed to be wielding lipstick as a weapon.

When your eyes flicked to Wanda, you were sure the two women were trying to kill you.

Her gorgeous dress seemed to match Natasha’s hair. Her fingers were littered with rings, and her necklace complimented your outfit. Her exposed thigh seemed to be calling out to you.

You were a total gay mess, and these two were not helping that one bit.

“What’s going on?” Wanda asked, a slight smirk playing on her lips since she definitely heard your thoughts.

Natasha doesn’t move but simply points at your computer.

Frowning, Wanda starts reading your report. Within moments, her eyes shift to you.

“Malyshka, what do you mean you died? I thought you couldn’t die?” Wanda asked, concerned.

“I.. um. It’s jus-.. I..”

“Just talk,” Nat ordered.

“It’s hard, okay?” You snapped. “The both of you look hot as fuck, and I’m having trouble thinking about anything other than fucking the shit out of both of you.”

That seemed to break the tension. Wanda snorted and started cackling. Natasha tried to hide her smirk but ultimately failed.

You sighed. “Look… I’m okay. It was an accident. I tried to heal someone, but they turned out to have died a while back, and I accidentally attempted to bring them back to life. The feedback killed me for a minute or two, but I came back. I always do. I’m okay. I promise”

Wanda had stopped laughing but still had a soft smile as she nodded slightly.

Natasha was not as convinced. You could still see the undertones of worry. She knew you were more than capable, but for some reason, she had trouble controlling herself when it came to the both of you.

You walk up to Natasha, take her hands, and gently put them on your face. You look directly into her alluring green eyes, promising your safety.

She finally lets out a small smile when she sees you nuzzle into her hand the moment she starts to caress your cheek with her thumb gently.

You decided to complete the report either later tonight or tomorrow morning. In the meantime, you were going to escort two stunning women to the party.

X–X

The party had started a while before the three of you arrived. Some would say you were fashionably late. Some… wouldn’t.

You spent the first twenty minutes with Tony interacting with what looked like different versions of the same old white man.

There were several moments when you upset whatever guest you were speaking to due to your lack of etiquette and inability to kiss ass. Tony seemed to find their baffled state hilarious, knowing your lack of experience attending formal events or even socialising.

You finally sat down opposite your girlfriends, already exhausted with the unnecessary bureaucracy. Wanda gave you a sympathetic smile and went back to her conversation with Clint and Natasha.

“My my, don’t you look stunning?” you heard a voice behind you.

You turn your head, grinning, seeing Pietro in an all-black suit. He flops down beside you, loosening his tie a little bit.

You felt relieved that you had someone to talk to. It was not that you didn’t want to talk to your girlfriends; they just seemed to be discussing something, and you didn’t want to interrupt.

“I hear congratulations are in order”, you heard Pietro say.

You looked at him, confused. He merely rolled his eyes.

“A little birdie told me that you happen to be in a relationship with a spy and a witch.”

You chuckled. “As if you didn’t already know.”

He merely grinned. “Oh, I knew. You three weren’t exactly quiet about it, remember?”

Your ears burned as you looked away, causing him to laugh out loud.

Pietro leaned in closer. “Although… I have to say, y/n, I think you and Natasha chose the wrong twin. I can assure you I’m much better.”

Your nose wrinkled in disgust. “You’re barking up the wrong tree, Maximoff. You’re not my type.”

“Besides,” you say softly, poking Pietro’s chest. “I wouldn’t trade what I have with Wanda for anyone or anything. She and Nat mean the world to me.”

Pietro leaned back into the sofa, a proud smirk on his face.

You frowned at him in confusion. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

The man merely shrugged, his smirk widening.

Deciding you didn’t want to bother with his antics, you looked elsewhere, only for your eyes to land on your two gorgeous girlfriends who were staring… At you.

Wanda was positively beaming at you while Natasha looked at you with a soft smile, eyes shining with affection.

You were utterly clueless, and more importantly, you were famished.

It seemed life decided to be kind to you at that moment because a person made his way to you holding a tray full of food.

“Would you like a vegetarian spring roll, ma’am?” He asked.

You thanked him and did your best not to look too eager when you took a spring roll. Your brows shot up in surprise when Wanda, Natasha, and Pietro took a piece each.

To the best of your knowledge, the spy and twins had an aversion to vegetables if meat was an option.

“They’re for you, Draga. We know you haven’t eaten since breakfast,” Wanda reassures you.

If not for the fact that you’re pretty sure you’re immortal, you probably would have died from all the love and affection these people were giving you.

True to their word, they gave you the spring rolls one after the other.

Four spring rolls later, you realised just how hungry you were.

You seemed to have gained some good karma as numerous members of the catering staff graced your group with yet another tray full of yummy food.

By the fourth person, you realised that all the food you received thus far had been vegetarian. Before they could leave, you spoke to the server.

“I couldn’t help but notice that all the food I’ve seen so far has been vegetarian. Are there no non-vegetarian options for today?” You asked, worried that your teammates won’t be able to enjoy tonight properly.

The server merely smiled and shook her head, “We have plenty of non-vegetarian options. Mr Stark had simply given us strict instructions to provide you with a wide variety of vegetarian hors d’oeuvres before anyone else.”

With that, the server took her leave and went to give other guests the remaining hors d’oeurves. You simply sat there in shock with a smile on your face.

Despite never having attended a party such as this one, you were enjoying yourself immensely. Other than the occasional greeting to strangers for political reasons, your teammates did their best to make sure you didn’t feel uncomfortable.

You were at the bar with Natasha, explaining how you can’t get drunk due to your healing when you felt a gentle tap on your shoulder.

By the glare Nat was giving the person behind you, you could only assume it was the very same person who had tossed you against the wall in the morning.

You squeezed Nat’s hand in reassurance and turned to him. Smiling at his awkward face.

“Hi there, Dr. Banner. You cleaned up nicely.” You said as you asked the bartender for a glass of water for the scientist.

He merely chuckled awkwardly, accepting the glass and downing it in one go.

“Rough night, eh?” You joked.

He smiled half-heartedly, closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, presumably to gather courage for whatever he wanted to say.

“I’m sorry” he stated.

You merely looked at him, urging him to continue.

“I.. was scared. When I say you with Natasha, I.. um.. felt very protective. I thought you were forcing yourself on her. I let my anger get the best of me, which isn’t really much of an excuse, especially for me… I really am sorry,”

You simply patted his shoulder.

“You like her, don’t you?” You asked gently, standing a little closer to him.

His flinch told you everything you needed to know. He looked in the mirror behind the bar and saw Natasha talking to Wanda and Clint.

“I did.. or at least I thought I did. I’m starting to realise. I just admired her and appreciated how she didn’t treat me like a monster or a liability. I felt special, but I see the way she is with you and Wanda. The way she looked at you earlier. I just- I wanted that for myself.”

Your heart broke for him. You gently put your hand on his, his head snapping to you.

“I’m sorry you’re treated like that, Bruce,” you said genuinely.

“I know it doesn’t help, but I’d be more than happy to be your friend.”

He simply stared at you.

“If it’s any consolation, I’d love to be your friend... I mean, it’s not like you can kill me..” you joked.

You could see a slight smile forming at the corner of his mouth. It dropped a second later; he looked at you seriously.

“You may not die, but the- the hulk could genuinely hurt you,” he warned.

You let out a giggle at that, confusion clouding his face.

“I can assure you, Brucey, nothing the Hulk can do to me hasn’t already been done. Now, enough of this depressing talk; let’s go hang out with our teammates.”

He let you drag him to the lounging area where your teammates were sitting, his face baffled as he processed the new nickname.

The two of you joined the group, and you sat next to Pietro while your girlfriends sat opposite you. The glares your girlfriends gave Bruce caused him to shrink inwardly.

You patted his shoulder in understanding and began talking to him about FRIDAY.

A look of understanding passed your partners, and they chose to continue with their conversation, deciding to forgive Bruce just this once.

X—X—X—X—X

The rest of the party flowed smoothly until you could not handle it anymore and proceeded to say your goodbyes.

You heard Wanda mutter a “finally” as she got up and stated that she, too, was exhausted and would be heading back to the compound.

Nat wordlessly stood up and made her way to the main entrance.

You decided to ignore the whistles from Tony and Sam and walk to the main entrance, where your two girlfriends were waiting for you, intent on hiding your burning face from your teammates.

The three of you sat in the back in comfortable silence, allowing you to fall asleep.

Natasha let out a slight chuckle when she noticed your head on her shoulder.

She kissed the top of your head and went back to looking at her phone; news about the Avenger’s newest teammate was already spreading.

She glanced back at the sight of you and Wanda, where the latter was slowly nodding off.

Upon arriving back at the compound, the three of you wordlessly went into your separate rooms to get ready for bed.

Once ready, you peeked into Nat’s room only to find it empty.

You quietly opened Wanda’s room and saw both of them watching what seemed to be an old TV show.

You silently closed the door and went back to your room, deciding to give them space.

You watered all the plants in your room and headed to bed.

Not even a few minutes after you were in bed, your door opened, revealing a very grumpy witch and an exhausted spy.

Wanda flopped onto your bed, getting under the blanket and immediately snuggling with you.

“Got tired of waiting for you”, she grumbled, her eyes already closed.

You turned your head to Natasha, who seemed to be fluffing her pillow (seriously? THE black widow fluffs her pillows???) in preparation for sleep.

Nat merely shrugged at your questioning glance.

“We got tired of waiting for you to come to us, so we came to you.”

You grinned as she cuddled into you, the warmth from both of them making you feel safe and comfortable.

You closed your eyes as the three of you fell into a deep slumber.

Maybe you could get used to this..

x--x--x

A/N:

I'm really sorry for disappearing off of the face of the earth. I had my final thesis, and then a bunch of personal stuff came up.

Thankfully, I've had @bookwo-rmy to keep me sane.

Now that my little block is over, I'm going to try to write a little more, but I can't promise anything at the moment.

Thank you so much for understanding. Stay safe y'all.

ALMOST FORGOT TAGS tags: @marvelwomen-simp @nothanksbye07 @jono723 @luadyjcmd @alexawynters @falloutboy-lover

[cornfieldsrambles]

I saw your explanation about lords in black and I have a question: tgwdlm the main lord in black is pokey, in black friday it is wiggly, and in npmd, who would it be?

oh god that post is going to haunt me forever (joke)

well, NPMD isn't really that simple I don't think. It's all of them. All five Lords in Black. And I think that makes sense.

Let me back up and explain. So NPMD happened after both Nightmare Times had been released. Obviously NPMD had been "in the works" before then, but for the actual finished show, I think Starkid assumed that a substantial amount of the people watching would've seen Nightmare Time. So I reckon they wanted to give something new to those people, while also not excluding people who hadn't watched it. That's just my assumption, though.

Not every Nightmare Time story is directly related to the Lords in Black.* About half the episodes have a bit more of a 'monster of the week' vibe. Hatchetfield Ape-Man, Forever and Always, Perky’s Buds and Killer Track are some examples. Generally, the pattern goes: a monster of the week, then a Lord in Black, then a monster of the week, then a Lord in Black.**

So when NPMD rolled around and (again, this is kind of me speculating) Starkid wanted to give something new/rewarding to those who watched Nightmare Time, while accommodating those who didn't, so they decided to do both. A particularly memorable and exciting monster-of-the-week is the main event, and we also get to see the Lords. Hatchetfield lore is referenced but you don't need to know much about it, and the stuff you do need to know is communicated through what the characters learn. The Waylons were in a cult and had their weird book which they used to worship Wiggly and co., and now they're dead and their house is cursed or something. Got it.

The other thing about Nightmare Time is... we've already seen each Lord in action. Heck, including TGWDLM we've seen Pokey twice. So what's better than one Lord in Black? FIVE LORDS IN BLACK!!!!!

So having not just Wiggly, but ALL of the Lords - with brand new Tumblr sexyman forms to boot - and showing them in a new and interesting role of pretty much the Deus Ex Machina of the show (this is hands-down the most helpful they've ever been) is something that feels very new and very rewarding to NMT watchers. Like "Oh my god! I know those guys! But it's all of them! This rules!"***

But also, showing Wiggly again gives the non-NMT watchers something to latch onto. Showing his brothers is in itself the new exciting thing, like "Oh my god, it's Wiggly! Wait - there's more of him? What the hell?!" At its core, their purpose in the plot is simple and comprehensible. It's deal-with-the-devil plotline, it's not rocket science. That, and showing all the Lords and dropping crumbs of lore could also get non-NMT watchers excited and interested, and would hopefully entice them to watch Nightmare Time. (Which I am once again encouraging you to do! There's so much you're missing out on!)

So TL;DR - My guess is that Starkid wanted the show to be rewarding to Nightmare Time watchers, and accessible to non-NMT watchers. They did this by combining the two main Nightmare Time episode formats (monster of the week and Lords in Black) in a way that felt new and exciting, wasn't too lore heavy to confuse non-NMTs, but was just lore-y enough to get them interested and feeling rewarding for NMT watchers who already knew about this stuff. So that's why they used all five Lords.

Wow I did not mean for this to turn out so long, I am sorry lol

*If you want to be pedantic, you could say everything/most things in Hatchetfield lead back to things like the Witchwood or the Starry Children or whatever, which arguably lead back to the Lords, but what I mean is not every Nightmare Time is about one or more Lord in Black directly making a mess. The 'monster of the week' things I mentioned are all related to stuff that happened years and years ago, so they don't count as much.

**Okay, NMT2 doesn't really stick to this formula as cleanly, but that doesn't really matter for my point.

***This was pretty much my reaction, after a lot of incoherent excited yelling lmao

[starrynightarchive]

20 questions for fic writers!

thank you @minusboy and @chrysofightme for the tag!

how many works do you have on ao3?

18 so far!

what's your total ao3 word count?

247,895. nice :)

what are your top five fics by kudos?

friend please, don't take your life away from me

2. he ain't heavy, he's my brother

3. where we're from, there's no sun

4. do you like or like like me?

5. cotton candy (of course. i'm not even surprised tbh)

what fandoms do you write for?

so far i've written for haikyuu, bsd and death note. been having a Lot of one piece thoughts so i'll be dropping a one piece fic soon. dunno how soon but. Soon.

do you respond to comments? why or why not?

i try to respond go them all, but sometimes i lose track of time and let them sit in my inbox for a good while. but i always come back to them! just a week ago i responded go a comment from three months ago lol

what's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

darling, don't you weep for sure. one of my fav fics that was so fun to write

what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

my beautiful 82k iwaoi fic, till forever falls apart

do you get hate on fics?

i get threats made by my friends in my inbox after they read something good i wrote, but it's all very /pos and feeds my ego a lot. actual hate? thankfully, no.

do you write smut?

I tried... twice. came out terrible. deleted one and orphaned another i think? i dunno i try not to think of it. okay i mean like it wasn't Bad by regular standards but when it comes to writing i set pretty high standards for myself and it didn't reach up to that level. ALSO i didn't have much fun writing it. but i plan to write some good smut that i actually enjoy writing sometime in the future. i have learnt from my mistakes time to make my blorbos fuck nasty (while trying to not make it a character study and failing)

do you write crossovers?

nope! i've read some pretty good ones but so far i haven't felt very compelled to write any fics of that kind

have you ever had a fic stolen?

my work was reposted in some other site once, does that count? i think it was more of a bot thing than a person thing

have you ever had a fic translated?

nope! but it'd be awesome to have my stuff translated as long as i get credited :)

have you ever cowritten a fic before?

yes, twice. once with my beautiful spouse ali (we are alone, and all we need) which almost killed both of us. then me, vik, ela and sai created our awful terrible no good child cotton candy. to people who are wondering, yes, there will be a second chapter, we're just taking our time with it lol

what's your all time favourite ship?

ohhhh that's a hard one. it varies wildly from time to time but i would say iwaoi will always be special to me

what's the wip you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

hmm i dunno i started writing this post apocalypse skk fic a while ago and it had some pretty sick scenes. it would be really great if I finished writing it, which I won't lmao

what are your writing strengths?

i like messing with formatting, if that's anything. it almost always ends up good. it's really really fun to play with words and symbolism and all that jazz. i also think i'm good with writing intense emotions and picking apart a character's psyche.

what are your writing weaknesses?

oughhh consistency. sometimes i go insane and write 10k in 3 days (been a while since I did that tho) and sometimes i drag out one chapter update for more than 6 months (sorry, navarasam. I'll come back to you i swear on my life). oh and im not great with action sequences.

thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

if you mean any other language than english, then yeah sure. love it, very fun. i haven't written any yet, but i did name and base my fic, navarasam's, theme in tamil concepts.

first fandom you wrote for?

that i posted? haikyuu. that i ever wrote? ...no, i shan't say.

favourite fic you've ever written?

oohhh that's a hard one. i love all my fics very much because i have this policy of don't like don't write. i just don't bother writing/posting something i don't adore. that being said, my death note light yagami & sayu yagami character study fic (dollhouse. oohh you wanna read this fic so bad) was SO fun to write. it also helps that it's an absolute banger. so yeah i guess you can say i had the most fun writing that one.

as for tags (no pressure ofc)- @feralshadowdemon , @justadino-ig , @mithrilwren , @softzosan , @valleykey , @itowhotypes and anyone who wants to try this out :)

[mrs-monaghan]

the jkk broke up rumors and tkk is real are even stronger after today's concert.

Anyway, jm didn't stand in a different row than tkk, he stood in front of the table so he can lean on it, and sit on it.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FzddJFMaYAAj03R?format=jpg&name=medium

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FzdaAZYWwAAqn9I?format=jpg&name=360x360

And i think tkk came together and left together because they're on the company working on their albums.

Also, jm didn't cancel his fashion show to sing tm (he didn't) or because this is yg's last concert (it's not) He's professional, people acting like they don't know him at all.

Thanks for these anon. Me likey 💚

Can I just say I still can't believe so many of you care about my thoughts? Like my ask box was a mess before all the jkk moments started flowing in, which is why I took my time to talk about Suga's concert. So hope this covers all your lamentations and concerns and queries. I am flattered but also its alot of pressure guys. But umm... okay here I go

Oh! Insecure Jikookers who visited me, for once I didn't block u. Just this one time you got a pass. But this one time only. After this I'll be back to cursing u out. But for now, I forgive u. Only because I understand your frustrations. Jimin had arrived alone while tkk had arrived together and people lost their minds 😂 so I get it. Patience is not a strong suit in these parts. 🤦🏽‍♀️

Before we begin, I want us to remember that there was ALOT of Jikookery. Way, way more than I expected. I'm still shook. 👀

We had first and foremost JK hovering. He hovered the entire time. Satellite Jeon never fails. Even when they're not supposed to Jikook, you can't control muscle memory. So next to Jimin is where JK was most of the night.

Tweet

Then Jimin gave JK a heart 🥺🥺

Tweet

Then bossy Jimin was like "babe, they can't see you, get over here."

Tweet

And let's not forget all the posts anons shared here here here here here here here here here here and here

Guys,

After all these moments I don't wanna hear Jikook are not close. I will smack you. We asked and hoped for Jikookery and we got it. It still wasn't enough because we are greedy motherfuckers, but we were fed y'all. Thats why the vermin are acting up. They only have tkk arriving together and tkk whispering to eo or something and that's it. Vminers got more than they did. Of course they're bitter.

Which is why I wanna start by saying, we as Jikookers don't need to explain away the tkk car ride. We don't need to start coming up with excuses. Tkk rode together, it happened and its fine. Think about it, if Namkook rode in together would it have bothered you? No. Would Yoonkook? Vmin? No. Why? Because their shippers are not psycho.

This topic is the main reason i made this post. It seems like we have forgotten about Set me Free prt2 and what Jimin told us. Jimin knows he has ALOT of haters. And guess what? He told them to fuck right off!

He will never stop, will keep going inspite of their existence.

And not only that, but he made peace with that and told us to raise our hands to the past him.

The past him. So what we have now is a new Jimin. A Jimin who refuses to make the haters affect or get to him.

This part.... this part was everything.

This means at some point these haters used to get to him but now he's come to peace with their existence and doesn't give a flying fuck.

We know that part was crucial because BOTH TIMES Jungkook reacted to SMF he smiled during that part 👆🏽 That read to me as proud. He is so proud that Jimin is done letting the haters win.

@guacamoli-avocadorado and i were talking about how Jikookers need to go back to this song, watch it and really digest the lyrics. Jimin is finally free yall. He said he ain't gonna let the fools get in his way.

He called them fools even. He hee. That's what i'mma start calling them too when i argue with them. Jimin was cursing them out and everything. Cursing!

Let's take a second and think about this yall. Jimin. The Jimin who babies Army more than any other member was dropping F bombs. He didn't care guys, he just needed haters to know where he was at.

Jimin is free Jikookers. He is free.

It's important we remember this. There is a reason he chose to prioritise choreography for this song. The whole thing was symbolic as hell and went hand in hand with the lyrics. So let's try to remember the existence of this song and what it means. He said to listen to his album chronologically. And SMF basically wraps everything up. Why? Because this is where he is right now. FUCKING FREE.

I will keep fighting vermin because they need to be stopped. But I refuse to let them affect my BTS experience and I advice you do the same.

Many have go10 to a place where they can't even enjoy Jikook moments and for what? Because of what tkkrs will say? So what? Let them. Jikook still remains real, Jimin goes back to his happy, comfortable life with the love of his life next to him, completely unbothered. If Jimin doesn't care then why do you?

The people who corrected me about my hajima post were all talking about tkkrs this, tkkrs that. Bro, we need to stop thinking about these people. At least finish enjoying the BTS moments and then think about them. Think about antis after the fact. Not during and certainly not before. This just ruins everything for you which is just wrong y'all. Even whatever V does Jimin doesn't seem to care. Which is why I also don't.

Jikook made the first appearance since Hobi's enlistment and it was a good one. We got to see them like we hoped. We got to see them laughing, talking, touching, being next to eo, it was a great day for Jikookers. Or atleast it should have been. But alas!

We love Jimin so much then let's listen to him. Let's follow his lead. And most importantly; let's believe him when he tells us he's free.

TLDR: I can't tell you what to do, but I am just suggesting that you to stop prioritising tkkrs. Your BTS experience will be better for it.

Bonus!!!! Then Vs Now

Jikook haven't changed. They are the same they've always been. Happy and in love. Haters can yap all day but they ain't ever gonna change this fact.

[lonelybiscuits]

I wrote you a little sequel to your fic about Duman messing with Ogron by speaking French! I sent it into your inbox so it’s together with the original fic on your blog, but if it’s too long in this format, just let me know and I’ll post it over on my blog instead. Enjoy!

Ogron knew when he was being messed with. Okay, he didn’t; he’d been left oblivious after about ninety-percent of Duman’s pranks, the shapeshifter in hysterics at having pulled one over his put-together leader. But still! This time…this time he knew he was being messed with. He had to be, right? Or else he’d gone well and truly mad… He’d worked himself to exhaustion before, but he’d never heard voices… But if he was imagining the voices, then he must also be imagining the hidden snickers from his team. Well, Gantlos didn’t snicker so much as look vaguely less stoic than usual, but each to their own. ‘Oh, to hell with this,’ Ogron muttered, shoving off the blanket and swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He didn’t need to rest! (Well, he actually did, but that is a concern for another time.) He needed to get even. This positively reeked of a Duman prank, but he had no proof. He was convinced Duman didn’t speak French, but he just knew he wasn’t hearing voices. Or being haunted by some French ghost. ‘I need a plan here…’ he murmured, pacing back and forth. Of course, he could just tell Duman he knew this was him, and that it was over, but he knew Duman. He’d just shrug with that irritating look of confusion and say he didn’t even speak French, and that maybe Ogron needed some rest. No, this called for some tact and cunning. Fortunately, those were two things Ogron excelled at. Ogron had never met a problem he couldn’t solve with a few hours of hard thinking (except for the Winx; they were a bit trickier, but he wasn’t thinking about them right now), and after sitting at his desk for most of the morning, scribbling pointlessly on scraps of paper, he was finally hit with an idea. A trick. A rather brilliant trick, if he did say so himself. Now all he needed was a French dictionary. And a good few hours to dedicate to his plan.

‘Hey, aren’t you supposed to be resting?’ Gantlos asked, glancing up as Ogron walked down the stairs and into the living room. ‘Yeah,’ Anagan agreed. ‘What with all the…French?’ Ogron caught the twitch of a smile on his friend’s face, the expression only solidifying his certainty that this was all a prank. ‘I’m going for a walk,’ he replied coolly. He didn’t want to give anything away. Granted, Gantlos would almost certainly admit that it was a prank if pushed, but by this point, he wanted to catch Duman out. Nobody messed with him. Nobody. He heard another of the whispers, frowning and whipping his gaze around. His resolve faltered as he saw neither hide nor hair of Duman, making him question his theory, until he caught a glimpse of a small grey shape scurrying under the couch. So that’s how he’s been doing it… Refusing to dignify Duman’s latest whatever the bloody hell he was saying with a response, Ogron turned on his heel and walked out of the house, striding towards his destination with all the purpose of a prideful wizard who truly did not appreciate being screwed with.

About three hours later, surrounded with every book on French that the Gardenia library had possessed and rapidly deteriorating towards just falling asleep at the table, Ogron finally completed his work, copying across the last word into his notebook. He had to admit, his life would probably have been made easier had he possessed a phone, and simply used a translation programme, but a: he did not own a phone, and b: he had got along just fine with books for centuries, and he didn’t need any technological nonsense messing with his devious planning. ‘Nobody makes me think I’m losing my mind,’ Ogron muttered, closing the book he’d been reading/resting his head on for the past half an hour. ‘Nobody.’

‘I’m back!’ he called, practically shivering with excitement as he walked inside. ‘Well that was quite the lengthy walk,’ Gantlos remarked, looking up from the book he was reading. ‘Feeling better?’ Duman asked, looking up from where he was trying to get Gantlos to forget his book and make out with him. ‘Oh, much.’ Ogron sat on the couch, beckoning Anagan to sit too. ‘Now, I have some things I would like to discuss, if we’re all amenable?’ ‘Sure.’ Duman sat up straight, a smirk tugging at his lips. ‘But you sure you shouldn’t get some more rest? I mean, you’ve been hearing French ghosts. You don’t think maybe you should go back to bed?’ Ogron smiled internally at the perfect lead-in Duman had given him. ‘I had been meaning to talk to you about that, actually. You’re quite certain you didn’t hear it?’ Duman shook his head. ‘Nah.’ ‘I wish I knew what was being said.’ ‘I’d help you out, but I don’t speak French.’ Duman shrugged apologetically, laughter dancing in his golden eyes. ‘Sorry.’ Ogron’s lips quirked. ‘Oh, that’s perfectly fine. Now, let’s discuss team strategy.’ Duman groaned, flopping dramatically against Gantlos. ‘Seriously? You’re hearing voices, and your answer is boring team strategy sessions?’ Oh, that’s not my strategy at all, Duman… ‘Yes. Now, I wanted to talk about why we’ve been failing lately.’ ‘Maybe because you’ve been asking the Winx if they hear the French?’ Duman teased. Ogron ignored him, pushing on. ‘Well, we’ve been failing in a number of areas recently, but I think our biggest drawback is fairly obvious.’ He paused, waiting for someone to jump on the statement. After a moment, and a few exchanged glances, Anagan did. ‘…What is it?’ This was his moment. Keeping his tone as calm and level as possible, Ogron spoke the words he’d repeated roughly seven hundred times until they were carved into his brain. ‘Eh bien, je dirais que nous devons nos récents échecs au changement de forme décevant de Duman. Peut-être que s’il avait été plus créatif, nous aurions gagné.’ ‘What?!’ Duman exclaimed, his expression wide-eyed with indignation. ‘No way this is my fault! And I’ll have you know that I’m plenty creative!’ Ogron smirked, raising an eyebrow. ‘Thought you didn’t speak French.’ Duman froze, realising what he’d just done. ‘I…’ Ogron’s grin widened. ‘I think the ‘French ghost’ has just tripped himself up.’ Duman flushed bright red. ‘How the hell did you do that?! You don’t speak French!’ ‘You’d be surprised what one can get done with a dictionary.’ At the look on Duman’s face, Ogron burst out laughing. Duman sagged with disappointment, and Gantlos patted him on the shoulder. ‘In all fairness, Duman, what were you expecting? Ogron doesn’t take being messed with well.’ Ogron pulled himself together, storing away the image of the blushing shapeshifter to enjoy at a later date. ‘Now, I think perhaps we need to have a discussion about pranking me in the middle of battle. And that goes for you two too.’ He gestured to Gantlos and Anagan, who both looked away awkwardly. ‘I shall have to think of some way you can all learn a little lesson here…’ The other three wizards exchanged nervous glances, and Duman grimaced awkwardly. ‘…Désolé?’

I loved this @calissarowan

[mumms-the-word]

#17 for the writer's asks. Like you have a schedule for Nautera, and I can't fathom writing fast enough to strick to a schedule 😭, or being certain I wouldn't want to change some parts until the fic is almost done. So I'm interested to hear what your process is!

Oh man this question is so complicated for me haha here we go. Looong answer ahead so I've put most of it under the cut!

17. talk about your writing and editing process

okay so let me start off by saying...I don't have a consistent process haha

I do up to a point. So most of the time for fic, when I get an idea, I'll mull it around in my head a bit, and I might jot down a few lines or notes I don't want to forget in the Notes app (either on my phone or on my laptop), and then I'll set it aside for when I have time to write it. Then I write it, read over it the next day for edits, put it in tumblr for another round of edits, and post it when I feel like I'm happy with it.

But in reality? Oof. It really just depends. (also TLDR, writing is a process, and I love my fanfic community <3)

Sometimes the inspiration to write a whole oneshot or scene takes me and I'll write out a first draft right there in the Notes app (I tend to sacrifice work when I do this, which is bad and often why I end up with so much unfinished work with deadlines staring me dead in the face at the last minute. So I do not recommend this, but hyperfixation will hyperfixate...) I believe I wrote the entire first drafts for Choosing to Live and Ascension, Return in one day each.

Other times, I'll come back to it and play around with it for a bit. Sometimes the writing is easy! Chapter 4 for In Fathoms Below was super fun for me to write (especially the last half) because I had battle music playing and I was just so excited to get to the dragon turtle reveal. Chapter 5, which will be a much more intense action/adventure scene, was significantly harder and took much longer. I think I spent several days, probably a week fighting with that chapter, because I wanted it to be good, fast-paced, and tense...but also make sense. I'll probably still mess with it before it posts on Friday.

Sometimes, I can write a whole scene/chapter in a day. Other times it takes me several days. It really just depends. Sometimes music helps. Sometimes I just can't make one single paragraph work and it frustrates me for days (*coughcoughCHAPTER 5cough*). Sometimes I write myself into a corner and I don't know how to fix what I did, but I'm too stubborn to delete anything just yet or start over. Not every chapter/scene/oneshot is the same!

Once I have a full draft of the chapter/oneshot, however, then I start to edit it. This also changes up depending on the project. For a oneshot, I might read through it twice on my Notes app, adjusting things as I go. I try not to write a full oneshot and post it on the same day so I can sleep on it and come back to it with a fresh brain (mini fics like the Nightfall and alone, finally fics don't count, I'll post those after two read-throughs on the same day because they are asks).

Once I'm half-satisfied with it in Notes, then I'll stick it into tumblr on my laptop and use the Grammarly widget to help catch grammar mistakes. Reading it in a different font/arrangement/format also helps with finding mistakes or catching awkward sentences. Once I'm happy with it on tumblr, I'll queue it up to post, and then copy/paste everything into AO3 and post it there once it goes live on tumblr.

For a chapter of my longfics, however, I might read it several times. I'll go back and read the previous chapter and then the current one to make sure I've kept things consistent and that everything flows or transitions from one chapter to the next, for example. I'll read it once a day for a couple of days (maybe skipping a day if I'm frustrated with it) and see what each new day brings in terms of edits, fixes, and ideas. With the Masquerade longfic, because it's kind of just for me and a friend (though I'm excited that others are enjoying it too!), I'll post the chapter as soon as I'm relatively satisfied with it, maybe only spending 2-3 days on edits (not counting time spent writing a full draft).

For the Nautera/Atlantis fic, however, because I know there's a bit more hype from 2-3 more readers (and people have been SO lovely in their comments on AO3 as well!! <3), I put a smidge more effort into it. For one, I set up a schedule and wrote several chapters in advance, because last week and this week is PACKED with deadlines and work I ignored while doing other things (ahem, like writing the Atlantis fic). I wrote 4 chapters pretty much in the span of a week and then held off posting any of them until I had a good queue lined up. Then I queued them up over two weeks.

The benefit to this is that it gives me breathing room to write at my own pace while still ensuring I have content for my readers...which is different than the Masquerade fic, which I kind of write "as the inspiration strikes" and so I don't update it nearly as consistently (sorry friends). Trust me, if I posted chapters as soon as I had them ready, I would've posted 4 chapters back to back on the same day or on 4 days, and then we'd be waiting 2-3 weeks (or months) for the next chapter. I'd get bogged down by shame, I'd contemplate quietly quitting the project, it would be a whole thing. The queue helps me and my readers. I really need to implement it for the masquerade fic too.

(I still have a queue going, actually. I currently have Nautera's chapter 5 queued up to post on Friday and chapter 6 in a "midway" draft stage, and the start of chapter 7 in Notes. I don't normally write that far ahead! But the idea has me in a chokehold...and I'd rather write it than work, unfortunately.)

HOWEVER. The benefit and downside to having the chapters queued up and being excited for them is that I can still mess with them. So for the Nautera/Atlantis chapters, they might sit in my queue for a week, and every day I might go back in and make tiny adjustments. So for some things, I might only do a day of edits, maybe 2 days. For something like the Nautera/Atlantis fic, though? I have a bad habit of messing with each chapter several times lol sometimes this is fine and sometimes I feel like I'm messing with them too much, you know?

All that said, for some reason, fics don't trigger my perfectionism, even knowing I have actual readers reading and responding to them. You'd think they would, but they don't. Unlike my original book projects, which trigger my perfectionism so bad I haven't finished several of them because I want to keep messing with them, fics are consumed so quickly I feel less pressure about sharing them. I think there's a kind of freedom in knowing that once it's posted, it's out there, for better or for worse. You can fix minor edits, but you don't necessarily have to sweat the small stuff because it's just fanfic, it's posted for free, and if people don't want to read it, it's not personal. It's been really fun, actually, and I love the little community I've built making BG3 fics for people (and for myself).

I think, also, it's been healthy for me to hone my writing craft/skills away from fandom spaces first. I didn't get an AO3 until this year and I'm in my late 20s. I think if I had tried to write fanfic when I was a teen or even in my early 20s, I'd be too obsessed with the numbers. At this point in my life, I'm just happy to get a couple of comments, and happier still that my writing brings 4-5 people joy <3

It also helps to remember the wise words of one of my graduate instructors when it comes to certain projects: Done is better than good. This is a life-saver for essays and school projects, of course, but for fic, I know we want our content to be good. So I'll adjust it for fic here:

Done is better than perfect.

[applinsoda]

I haven’t posted anything in hot second so I thought I’d post some random doodles and mess with the formatting on tumblr for a bit. I should say that this post will probably be all over the place + not one of these drawings are related to each other nor are they finished so uh…yeah I’ve just been feeling a bit burnt out lately and haven’t felt like finishing anything. Hopefully I did mess this up but I’ll see once this is posted .<.

This is me messing with how I draw the lamb nothing to special although I will say did struggle a bit with the lamp

And here are some bloons hero’s because I tend to bounce between hyperfixations really really quickly and oh actually-

Because I’m always all over the place how bout some coroika characters? On the left is the goggles doodle was inspired by a “cosplayer” in game I met. I was also pretty bored that day and out of ideas…OH if you’re confused all of the splatoon manga characters are named after the gear they wear! why? Idk anyways…I’ve never draw someone blowing a kiss before so I may have messed up- it was a learning experience. Headphones is on the right and I yeah I gave her freckles just cuz I felt like it no other reason behind it. As you can probably see I gave up half ways and didn’t finish them and will probably never.

Last and certainly least my hollow knight OCs because like…I felt like it- I don’t have to justify myself. I’ve oh so kindly labeled it so that you know whose who. Oh yeah and they’re all vessels and dancer’s because I felt like it. I just made them because I had some random inspiration one day then like a two years later redefined them and well now here we are. Their backstory’s/names came second. Do I plan on writing about them ever? No probably not but hey at least they look okay-ish.The names are kinda weird but that’s because I’m bad at naming things and my naming processes is basically make up random gibberish—> Google it to make sure it isn’t related to anything unsavory—> and then apply name

[asksoldieron]

SO-12: The Spirit of Harpo Marx

If there's a lot of engagement on this, this post is liable to get real long, beware before you expand.

Welcome to the Engagement Lounge, for Alight at the Window (SO-12) an instalment! Short comments can go in the replies, but there's a 475 character limit. Longer ones will need a reblog. Remember to @asksoldieron if you're reblogging someone else's reblog, so I can see it too!

Awwwwww, ya know? Awwwwww ❤️!

Poor Erik is in ⚡🔋no shape🔋⚡ to communicate, but he's doing his best. Maggie has no idea whether he's messing with her on purpose, or what's wrong with him, but she won't let him go. They'll get to him eventually. (I've just finished that part, actually. They've got him! Uh. Sorta. At least he's... safe now? 😅Oh, I can't say that with a straight face.)

This is the last of my queued posts/instalments, and I have no idea where my reading and drawing ability will be when it goes live. If I can't update you on my condition (and the condition of the next six instalments) I'll hafta have the spouse type a note for me. I want to do six more right away, or I might take a two week break, or - if I'm really struggling - it'll be a break of indeterminate length. I hope I'll be okay to just keep going, my Patrons have been so patient this year. Thanks, y'all.

But, either way, there will be a break at some point, because I'll have a while where I can't write or draw and that's going to eat up my backlog. Also, recent updates have done more stupid things to my theme and I think the site needs a redesign - maybe including some radical simplification. I'm just not mobile friendly and I can't make the current format behave. People with better eyesight than me do a lot of reading on their phones.

I have no idea how to build a community and I'm flailing, really, but maybe if I can get the interface more convenient, more people will like me? (I have no idea. Probably they won't.)

Look, though! You've got some extra art to tide you over! And a song!

I'm not in love with how Erik's design looks right now - he looks like a train wreck, but he should look like a train wreck. Nobody is going to fix his hair. I still feel self-conscious about it. He used to be cute. I've got to do a full-body rendering of how he'll clean up, but I don't have time for it now.

However, I did do a page of something trying to get comfortable with his ability to emote in train reck form. I don't have time to finish it, but I think it looks cool so I'm sharing.

This is potentially a way for me to serve you the music without lyric backgrounds that you can't read! It's very labour-intensive, but I was figuring out how to do it and it might get a little easier with practice. Also, my current tablet is struggling with the resolution and I plan to update it by the end of the year - depending on sale prices.

After I saw Hedwig and the Angry Inch, I found out the original Off-Broadway incarnation had filked music with lyrics by John Cameron Mitchell. 🥹😊I'm calling it! This is something other people sharing my identity do to tell their stories! Filk musicals are an enby thing! We do not give a shit about the music industry's copyrights! I'm performing nonbinary correctly!

So here's the lyrics again, and maybe I'll give you the rest in comic form as my vision and my tools improve.

You Are Found! (based on "We Are Young" by fun.) I need a minute, I… I don’t know if I’m ready yet I’m tryin’ to get my shit together, Maggie, please don’t be upset My family must be looking for me somewhere very near Guess I knew you must be coming but I can’t believe you’re here, and… It’s been forever since I’ve seen your face I know you want to take me home But although it hurts to do this work they need my help for what it’s worth —  Oh, gods I’m not sure if I wanna go So maybe if, next time you see me, You can take me by the hand, You’ll steal me away At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down No, I wanna go home I’m just not done I guess that I, I just hoped We could visit and I’d get right back to work But I can’t go yet So I must forget 'Cause I think you’ll hafta steal me away At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down Steal me away at last (na na na na na na) Come steal me away at last (na na na na na na) Steal me away at last (na na na na na na) Come steal me away at last (na na na na na na) The gods have their own plan (na na na na na na) But I’m just one weary man (na na na na na na) So you're gonna hafta steal me away at last (na na na na na na) I have so much to do (na na na na na na) How can I go with you? (na na na na na na) So you're gonna hafta steal me away (na na na na na na) At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down At last I am found So I guess the party’s over Time to get sober, and come down So maybe if, next time you see me, You can take me by the hand You’ll steal me away at last

See you soon! Ha, I hope!

Late edit: Two week break, folks. No drawing ability yet, so we're stuck with it. I still hope to get you the next six by the end of the year. I'll keep you posted!

[Back to Site?]

[duckdoeswords]

Change of Pace Ch.5 - Well, I Think It looks Nice

Summary: When a scandal breaks out after her father is arrested for Electoral fraud and Tax evasion she takes this opportunity to disappear leaving Atlas for a small town in the south where her Grandfather had a small farm that had fallen into disrepair. She arrives hoping to find a better life for herself and her daughter.

Words: 18,574

Main Relationship: Weiss Schnee/Ruby Rose

Rating: M

Notes: I'm currently working on posting links to fics I forgot about to tumblr. I'm also trying a new format for posting said links. If you want to set the mood for the fic please check out the playlist for it and you can check out my ko-fi if you want.

Fic:

Chapter Text

Weiss pulled into the parking lot of the consignment store Ruby had mentioned the sign on the front of the building read 'Daichi Family Consignment’. She put her car into park, turning off the ignition before climbing out of the car. Weiss took in the storefront which was part of a small, relatively empty strip mall, built from red bricks and large panes of glass. Closing the door, she made her way around the car, opening Ivory’s door finding that she had managed to unbuckle herself. Weiss moved out of her way as she jumped out of the car, landing on the ground with a grunt. Once she had moved out of the way Weiss closed the door and moved around to the back of the car. She opened the trunk revealing two white trash bags one with a ‘W’ and the other with an ‘I’ written on them in permanent marker. Taking a deep breath, she reached forward grabbing the tops of the bags and pulling them out of the tunk. Closing the trunk with her elbow looking down at Ivory whose messy hair stuck up in several places. She set one of the bags down running a hand through her hair in an attempt to tame her unruly mane. “I swear your hair is a mess.” Ivory shook her head, giggling as she reached up ruffling her hair. Weiss grabbed the bag, smiling down at her daughter. "Let's go inside."

"Okay." Ivory said trotting ahead toward the front of the store, stopping in front of the door, turning to look at Weiss who pushed it open causing a bell to ring overhead as the pair moved inside. Weiss let the door close behind her look around the interior of the consignment shop. It was small and slightly stuffy with about as many racks of clothes as could fit while still allowing mobility. Turning her attention to the front counter where a broad-shouldered, intimidating-looking man with a shaved head, tan skin and seemed to be of Asian descent. Walking up to the counter Weiss set the bags on the floor next to the counter. 

“I’d like to turn in these clothes for store credit.” The man stood up revealing that he was at least 7 feet if not taller. He moved around the counter, looking down at the two bags picking them up with ease, and tossing them over the counter. 

“I’ll have to appraise the items but feel free to look around while I do so.” The man said in a flat voice but Weiss barely registered what he’d said as she craned her head to look the man in the eyes. 

“O-okay.” Weiss turned to Ivory who had wandered slightly off to the side where she tugged at one of the items on the racks. “Woah! Don’t tug on that.” 

Ivory quickly let go before looking up at Weiss. “Why?” 

“Because it could fall over.” 

“Oh.”

Weiss looked around the building, noticing the sign near the back that simply read ‘Shoes’ Weiss herded Ivory through one of the racks and toward the back. The back wall was covered floor to ceiling with shelves of shoes, starting with children’s shoes and ending with men’s. Moving over to the children’s shoes, half looking over her shoulder she muttered. “Ivory come here.” Ivory trotted over to her, coming to a stop and looking up at Weiss. “We’re gonna get you some new shoes.” Weiss gently patted a small seat in between the shelves. “Have a seat.” Ivory took a seat, crossing her legs at the ankles and looking up at Weiss as she kneeled in front of Ivory. Quickly she undid Ivory’s shoes pulling them off and placing them to the side she pushed herself up, moving to look at the girl’s shoes, Weiss leaned her hands on her knees looking at the different shoes that sat on the shelf. ‘She needs play shoes but I also want something...” She trailed off when her eyes landed on a pair of shoes that were exactly what she was looking for. A pair of white sandals with flowers on the straps. Grabbing them she moved over to Ivory where she kneeled, taking her foot in her hand, slipping the small black dress flats on her. “Alright. Walk around and let me know how it feels.” 

Ivory jumped from her perch walking around and jumping up and down. “I like ‘em!” 

“Good. Why don’t you pick out a pair of play shoes?” Ivory nodded moving to go look at the shoes Weiss giving her a gentle pat on the back. “I’ll be right over here.” 

“Uh-huh.” 

Weiss walked over to where the women’s shoes started, looking at the various styles and brands that sat there biting the inside of cheek before settling on a pair of tan work boots. ‘Perfect.’ Picking them up off the shelf, she sat down just as Ivory slammed a pair of green slip-ons with holes and white tips down next to her. “You want those?” 

“Yuh-huh.” 

“Alright well try them on and make sure they fit.” Weiss quickly put on the shoes, standing up she tapped her toes against the ground flexing her toes to makes sure they were comfortable. 

A tugging at her shirt caused Weiss to look down at Ivory who was holding a small cloth shoulder bag shaped like a frog with a smile and heart-shaped cheeks. “Can I get this?” 

Weiss thought for a moment before nodding. “Sure.” 

“Yay!” She pulled it on over her head smiling as she spun around. “Do you like it?”

“I love it!” Weiss reached down ruffling her hair. “Now let’s get you some new clothes.”

Continued on Ao3

[quibbs126]

OH RIGHT THE FUSION PROJECT

I WAS SUPPOSED TO TALK ABOUT THAT

*groan* but I don’t really wanna right now, that’s a lot of stuff to get through. Like, if you thought my other original idea posts were long, you have no idea how long this would be. Made worse by the fact that there are so many plot points and I don’t know how to put them in a coherent format

But I did say I’d talk about it if people wanted me to, and people do

How about this, for now I’ll just give you the prologue of how I came up with it, since I should at least give people something

Okay, so backstory, I was in my Dragon Ball phase at the time. I was only ever able to get about halfway through the original series, just at the start of the 2nd Tenkaichi Budokai arc (random fact, I forgot the name of the tournament and just now had to look it up, and I got it mostly right other than me swapping the ending bits. Sorry I just thought it was funny), but I still knew what went down through people on YouTube. And Dragon Ball Z Abridged. I should go and watch it again sometime

Anyways, one thing I discovered and loved about the series was the fusion aspect, I really liked it, with Vegito being a favorite of mine and someone I often drew (sketchbook only though, so no Vegito art for you). I admit I liked the Potara method far more than the Fusion Dance method, considering the clothes combined too. One thing I also liked was how it fused the characters abilities, giving them both character’s abilities and even creating combinations of both. I also discovered the Fusions game, in which a bunch of the characters could be combined and fused, and all the different fusions that came with it

However, one thing that got to me is that with the majority of the main fighters, if they weren’t distinctly alien looking, not many of them would have fusions with much variation. Like yes, the designs would look distinct, but something that was a bit of a gripe for me was that a majority of the characters would have black hair and eyes, with the only major exceptions I can recall being the Androids, Videl and Mr Satan, and the Briefs family. While I generally don’t have a problem with this with the characters themselves, it makes fusing them a little boring in the looks department, since there’s not much to do

So one day in Physics class junior year, I was typing these thoughts on my computer, and I was struck with the idea to make my own shonen esque series with distinctly different characters, so I could fuse them all and make a bunch of designs?

And for all intents in purposes, that’s what it all started out as, just an excuse to make cool fusion designs. I made 10 characters, tried to give them all distinct looks and character archetypes, so that I could have fun fusing them and drawing those designs. Though soon after I started trying to develop some sort of story with them, though it was never more than a collection of general plot and character points

Though I do admit, I didn’t go too far with designs, as they’re all human, and it wasn’t until much later that I started to consider non human options

Looking back, I find myself wondering if I should just have stuck with that original idea. I do love combining characters to make new designs, that’s one of the reasons I like making fankids, but I also realize that other than the beginning, I never really did draw those fusions, focusing only on the characters on their own

Honestly maybe if I want to move forward with the fusion project, I just need to leave everything behind and start from scratch once more, going back to that original idea. I’m just not sure, especially since I do like a lot of the original characters and don’t want to just get rid of everything I made. But I also realize in my constant attempts to rewrite things, I may have made a mess of things, and might just have to start everything over again with that clean slate

But yeah, there’s your origins for the fusion project

…Actually you know what, I’ll be nice and leave you with some of the earliest art of the series, when I was creating the designs and not the story, including the very first lineup

…You know, I kind of just want to leave you with my art and designs and not have to go super in depth about all these characters and the world, sort of like what I did with when I showed off my Standswap drawings. But I also recognize that there, I had a pre-established world with Jojo’s that I didn’t need to explain, whereas here I’m the only one with the knowledge of all the characters. Hmm

[gking10]

Liveblogging TMAGP 3: Putting Down Roots

It's time...

I've unfortunately seen fanart related to this episode, so I'm pretty sure it involves someone turning into a tree. That's the risk of existing in TMA fanspaces, sometimes people also post TMAGP stuff and sometimes it isn't tagged. Oh well. The case being filed as "Infection (full body) / arboreal" doesn't exactly hide it. I'm excited that it seems like it's going to be a journal entry! I love these incidents having different formats than just all being like statements.

"Written by Graeme Patrick" Oh! New name! Looking them up (I wasn't able to find their pronouns), it seems Graeme is a writer for Ain't Slayed Nobody, a Call of Cthulhu podcast, and has also done some cinematography work for some films. IMDB lists them as a guest writer for this episode. Neat!

1:41 - "What actually is a .jmj error?" It's clearly a crying face, Alice. OmO is neutral, ^m^ is good, and jmj is sad. I'll be taking Colin's job now. Okay, but JMJ? Jon, Martin, Jonah, perhaps?

3:16 - "I’m serious. Don’t give it a personality. We shouldn’t even be calling it ‘Freddie’." This is interesting coming from Colin, because he knows something in the technology is watching them. He can play it off to Alice as just being pissed at the program being a buggy mess, but the real issue is that Colin does not want to get even remotely friendly with whoever, whatever, is lurking in the computers. He doesn't want to let his guard down.

3:58 - "Case: Homicide" Oh, hi Norris! Also what. What do you MEAN homicide? My best assumption is the police came across a tree-person corpse and decided it was murder? I don't know...

4:22 2009? Okay so the supernatural definitely existed before last year in this world then. But then why did Norris, Chester, and Augustus begin to speak a year ago? What was the trigger?

4:34 - "Item: Journal of Dr. Samuel Webber, age 46. Issued by grief councillor Harriot Manning." I misheard Webber as "Weather". Thanks transcripts! So either Samuel was the victim... or this journal has details of a homicide within, somehow. It was given to Samuel by a grief councillor. Who in his life did he lose? 5:00 "Found within a water-damaged black briefcase, partially buried, penetrated by mouldy roots." That's not good. It was buried, which could look like someone trying to hide evidence. Or it could just be... a tree trying to take root. Where did the water damage come from though? "Additional Contents: water-damaged smartphone, Wallet with Dr. Webber's ID and Visa Card, Keys on a gold chain for 13 Marigold Drive, Partial medical files on Gerald Andrews, age 37, of 12 Castlehill Av. And Maddie Webber, age 39 – Deceased—" That answers my question of who Samuel lost. Maddie is explicitly listed as deceased, so then Samuel and Gerald are still presumed to be alive at this point? If Samuel is not the 'homicide victim', I guess he is believed to be the perpetrator? All these specific items being buried makes it feel like it really was just an attempt to hide evidence. Or some discovery. There's the medical files. There's some on Maddie, who I assumed died to an illness. Possibly involving tree roots. If not, Gerald's definitely has to. Actually, if Gerald was turning into a tree... How would that not be noticed? Surely at least Gerald would be missing then, but the that's not in the report, which feels like it would be relevant. Or maybe the entire case is on Gerald's homicide, so restating Gerald is deceased would be redundant.

5:49 - "They don’t understand. I was so close to getting caught... but it’s done. All I need to do now is disappear." Okay, so Samuel definitely did something. And apparently after he did it, he had a panic attack in a crowd and a paramedic came. It had to had been away from wherever he did what he did, otherwise he would have gotten caught. My current theory is Gerald was Samuel's patient. Samuel discovered Gerald had some horrible disease and was convinced he had to kill Gerald to prevent it from spreading. So Samuel did something in the hospital that would lead to Gerald's death, and then began to leave. While leaving, he had a panic attack. That's why he was close to getting caught.

6:16 - "I’m paranoid, I know, lying low amongst wildflowers in an overgrown garden. The mud has ruined my shoes." Hey, buddy, don't use plant metaphors. It makes me feel as though your human form is not long for this world. There's mud on his shoes already. Okay, so Samuel probably buried someone, that's what he was nearly caught doing. Noted.

6:25 - "Files on “the star-crossed couple”." This makes Maddie most likely Samuel's sister. Maddie and Gerald where dating. Did they get the infection together?

7:39 - "I could be Gerald Andrews. I’m sure Maddie would have loved that." Hey, Sam, what do you mean? It sounds resentful, but I have no clue what for.

7:55 - "I remember now. It was the jasmine. That perfume in the drizzling rain that drew me in. It reminds me so much of her. Maddie loved the scent of jasmine." The way this is phrased, it sounds like Samuel is remembering a romantic partner, not a family member. "Drew me in". But Samuel called Maddie and Gerald the "star-crossed couple". Did they used to date, but then broke up and Maddie married Samuel? Or did Maddie and Samuel marry first, and then Maddie cheated with Gerald? Either way, it's clear Samuel feels like Maddie preferred Gerald and is resentful about that, even if that might not even be true. 8:18 - "The scent is much more pungent here than it was outside, an almost overwhelming sickly-sweet rot amongst the bushes." Corruption. "Sickly-sweet rot"? Come on. Corruption. We're even already getting themes of love. Looks like we'll be seeing a more plant-based take on it here though, and I'm all for it! Flora is beautiful, but it grows, it festers, it consumes.

8:54 Pausing here. Samuel has wandered into this untamed garden. He's picked himself thorns and brambles, literally the prime opportunity for him to get some sort of infection. ...I don't think Gerald or Maddie had an unnatural tree-infection. I think Samuel straight up murdered one of them for mundane reasons, and he's the only one that's going to end up infected over this. Also "I’m staying put anyway"... Here in garden, let's play a game, I'll show you how it's done. Here in the garden, stand very still, oh this will be so much fun. 9:39 - "It definitely would have been warmer and drier though with the boiler on all day." What is with the emphasis on getting dry? Is the environment just really damp, or is there some other reason?

9:56 - "Maddie stored her stuff there after she moved out." So Maddie left Samuel. She either divorced him and never changed her last name, or just left without an official divorce. It seems like Maddie left Samuel for Gerald. At least, Samuel probably believes that. 10:09 - "This itch is killing me!" (Eerie ambience immediately starts) Yeah, Sam is already dead, isn't he? He was from the moment he scratched himself on those bushes. It's tree time. 10:28 - "Thought I heard someone calling my name. No flashlight though, no movement, just the voice. Sounds like Maddie." The Garden wants you, Samuel. The Garden will love you. Won't you love it back? Won't you be willing to stay?

11:16 - "I examined one on my forearm and it seems to be secreting something full of coiled translucent strands" Oh, that's gross. That's awful. The listed symptoms are thankfully not that repulsive, but are still very distressing. 12:59 - "It hurt so much but I made it. Only to find more garden on the other side." Why would you want to leave? Here you are loved. Here you are nourished. Here you are whole. To love is to be consumed. To grow and eventually rot, your carcass feeding into the ground, feeding into new love in nature's endless cycle. Don't you want that?

13:08 - "Jasmine everywhere" The garden knows what you love. I'm pretty sure at this point Samuel murdered Maddie. That does confuse me on why he got a grief councillor. My first thought when reading those words is grief related to death, but maybe it's divorce grief? 13:24 - "I’m back in the undergrowth. I’m not sure if I ever got up at all." That is deeply unnerving. It happens so suddenly too. At this point Samuel must be fading in and out of consciousness. 13:46 "Maddie makes a good point, though." 'Shouldn't it be made?' I thought. 'Maybe I'll make a note about this, but it doesn't seem that importa-' "She’s offered to go and get my supplies herself. She always was kind." NO NO NO NO NO NO At least he has a gardener now. 15:09 - "I worry when she is out alone. She’ll talk to anyone, like Gerald. I never liked him. I should make more time for her; I’m too busy and work far too much." Samuel is regressing and it is disturbing. He's fully under the spell and is back to the mindset of before he killed Maddie. Before Maddie even left him. He is obsessed. He needs to be loved, needs to be cared for. And the garden provides. 15:27 - "But I’m not alone here though. I’m covered in insects. They seem to enjoy feasting on my wounds so I let them" Do they sing sweetly that you can be a home too? 15:52 - "My left arm is now completely numb and the skin is splitting down to the bone. I removed the phalanges—tugging them out like stones from a peach. I planted them deep. Flies swarm the wound, and soon there will be maggots eating only the dead flesh and leaving the living. Nature is so wonderful, so efficient—nothing is wasted in the garden." And now it's reached a point where he's actively participating in his own decomposition. It's morbidly beautiful. If nothing is wasted, then everything is used. And if everything is used, is it not then loved? Is it not then given purpose?

16:50 - "Maddie feels it isn’t prudent now that the vomiting has passed." Hey, you never mentioned vomiting. How long are these gaps between journaling? 17:14 - "I’ve gained some good weight and my skin is pulling away nicely like blanched tomatoes." Wonderful. And by that I mean what in the ever-loving fuck. The sheer bliss and serenity Samuel writes with as he welcomes his lignification. And honestly, as much as I joke and am repulsed... it is also hauntingly beautiful? Like to just peel away your skin and become something so... simple. To just simply exist.

17:36 - "No greenfly or other parasites. I remain quite healthy." While this whole thing is very Corruptiony, it's things like this that makes it distinct. The Corruption would settle for a wretched, infected tree, but Samuel explicitly had to vomit all of the filth out. This is not the Crawling Rot. It is nature that festers, and grows, sure. But this is clean. This is healthy. 18:11 - "The clouds have finally broken and the azure skies are so bright, almost blinding! We are blessed with such a radiant joy of warmth and love sitting within our garden together. The thought of all those years behind me, toiling in the dark, ignoring nourishment for myself and others, so withdrawn… but no longer." This... I nearly cried. Like I said, there's a haunting beauty to it all. I can just picture Samuel standing there, only his head left as anything resembling human, the rest below being wood and branches and blooming leaves the flowers. He just gazes into the suns radiance and... it's beautiful. 20:17 - "Ah but you’re new. You can just claim ignorance." I mean, sure Alice, but still kinda uncool for you to semi-throw Sam under the bus, even if you doubt he'll get much flack for it. 22:29 No specific quote to bring up. Alice and Gwen have a very adversarial relationship, as they naturally would. Gwen's seriousness threatens to force Alice to think about the implications of this job. So Alice retaliates with teasing and antagonizing Gwen to try to keep things as unserious as possible. Which just makes Gwen more cross and feel like no one respects her. They're still amenable enough coworkers to ask favors of each other, but those two's relationship is a powder keg waiting to explode.

That's episode 3 done! I really enjoyed it. And that garden sounded really nice. I should visit sometime. Maybe stay a while...

[britcision]

Gonna try and sneakily post after dnd let’s see how fast I can yeet this up 👀 new chapter!!

(I was kinda considering pushing out the porn parody to push me over one million words on AO3, but I have to be in the mood to write good smut, whereas I’m damn near always in the mood for crack, so here we are

The porn parody has been started though, and the first chapter is edging its way to completion. I will be starting an entirely new taglist for the porn parody though, so do say in the comments here if you would like to be tagged in the first chapter of that!)

I got to use a little of my actual real life work knowledge for once in my life, instead of my unending stash of random knowledge 👀 it’s a bold new world and I bet you ANYTHING Bruce never documents his code

Eleven million backup plans for if marshmallows take over the world, but someone else sits to debug the batcomputer? Zip. Nothing. Fuck them if they can’t read Bruce they aren’t authorised to touch it

As may be rather obvious… We’re right up in the bats again this chapter, and Bruce is going to make some Inadvisable Decisions 😈

I’m sure this will have absolutely no consequences whatsoever! This chapter also came in a little short, since there’s not quiiiiite enough space left to squeeze in our next scene, Danny Attempts To Make Jason Kill Him In A Motorcycle Accident

This means we should not brick ANYONES’ tumblr! (Like that’ll happen, my poor mobile using fellows)

Note: there is a reason why I’m choosing when to use our various vigi’s human names while they’re masked, I didn’t miss one on the “edit” that is formatting this mess for Tumblr 😁

First Chapter and AO3 link:

Previous Chapter:

——————

One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night

About twenty minutes after dropping Danny off at his dorm, Jason was suited up and ready to go.

Well, he’d stayed outside until he’d seen Danny shut the door behind him first. Jason had some fucking manners, though if pressed he couldn’t name who’d taught him them.

It was a habit older than the streets, watching to be sure his friends got to safety.

Danny’s dorm was about fifteen minutes from one of Jason’s better safe houses, as it happened. Jason had never been to a dorm, but from Danny’s stories?

A step below Teen Titans’ bunks, and those had sucked. Less privacy, smaller rooms, and more people? Who weren’t even part of the same team?

Maybe next semester Jason could offer to let Danny move in. He didn’t need need the safe house.

Red Hood could always buy the building. There were other apartments and while they weren’t luxurious, they beat half his other spots. The neighbourhood wasn’t bad either.

It’d be nice to pay Danny back a bit. Not have him closer. Just. Repay some of the debt by giving him a place to stay, rent free.

And maybe, just a little bit, the part of Jason that enjoyed the romanticism of his period novels kinda liked the idea. An estate for the king on your lands was a big deal back then.

A slightly more modern part of him thought being a landlord for his ruler would also be pretty funny. He figured Danny would enjoy that side too.

And it wasn’t like the guy could complain, since he’d literally given Jason back himself. Yeah, Jason was gonna pull that one out if Danny tried any familiar “oh I can’t accept this” on him.

Fixing his core was pretty damn god level on the favours spectrum. Jason could do whatever the hell he liked and Danny would just have to deal with it.

It cheered him up a little more, kept him in a good mood on the ride back to his safe house. It was more time where he couldn’t help Cass, but seriously?

Danny could change in a matter of seconds and be at her side not much slower. Walls, cars, goons, Jason had this feeling that none of it would slow Danny down.

And yeah, knowing that helped, but there was still a piece of him that only unknotted as he slid his helmet on and headed to the window.

“Hey, Black Bat. Busy?” He asked as the comms switched from earpiece to helmet display.

Of course he wore both. People kept trying to steal his damn helmet. That was also what the internal explosives were for.

The others all piped up when they heard him, Harper and Steph calling cheerful greetings around an ongoing conversation.

“Shit, Hood’s in, this mean I can go back to bed?” Bluebird teased. Spoiler cut her off immediately.

“Hell no, it can’t be a school night, Robin’s here! Great timing though Hood, we’re planning Red Robin’s eulogy and you have some experience there,” Spoiler chirped brightly, and Jason hesitated.

Sucked in a breath. He wasn’t gonna judge anyone else’s coping mechanisms until they got past “heads in a bag” levels.

Best to ignore it, since she wasn’t actually trying to set him off.

What the hell had Tim done since they’d left the manor?

Shaking his head, Jason settled into Red Hood and hopped onto the fire escape, scaling easily to the roof.

“Black Bat?” He repeated instead of answering, and half smiled when Spoiler groaned dramatically.

Black Bat answered in the considerate group pause.

“Not busy. Why?” She sounded amused, not even particularly tired, and Jason relaxed enough to slip all the way in.

“Thinking of going a little out of my way tonight. Wondered if you’d mind a tagalong?” Red Hood asked, hoping he sounded casual.

It wasn’t like he’d been planning to patrol the Alley anyway; his guys had already been told to handle it. He’d have to run around tomorrow night to keep the creepers scared, but he could have a couple off.

The tiny pause before her answer didn’t quite feel like judgement, but Jason muted before blowing out the sigh as she did. It wasn’t like the others needed to know he’d been stressing.

“Sure. Meet at library?” She’d had his tracker up. Hood nodded, turning and running for the edge of the roof.

“Sounds good.” And they’d probably wound Spoiler up enough, she’d start plotting vengeance for being ignored soon. “So what the hell did Little Red do?”

“Brought Too Fine to the Bat Cave,” Spoiler told him with relish, not noticeably put out by the delay.

Not necessarily a good sign, since she was also this enthusiastic while actively plotting against him.

Wait.

Too Fine was Tucker’s hacker name.

“But he doesn’t know about us,” Red Hood said with a frown, catching an outcropping and swinging on.

“Oh, now you tell me,” Tim groused while the others snickered, “what a shame you didn’t think to when it’d have actually been helpful!”

News to Hood that he was on, probably still in the cave.

“He knows now,” Nightwing chimed in brightly, probably also travelling from the slight strain in his voice.

Hood paused for a moment, letting that sink in before attempting the next jump.

“Is he on comm?” He asked warily, because if Tim brought Tucker to the bat cave, it was entirely possible that they were all outed.

And that Tucker might tell Danny he was Red Hood.

Shit, he still had to text Harley. Resolving to do it once he hit the library, he set back to running, throwing himself across another street.

Black Bat would probably take a little longer to get there.

“He’ll be back, he’s in the bathroom,” Tim explained with a heavy sigh, shaking his head. “It’s not all bad, he’s given me the full story on what happened in Amity Park. Witness account and all.”

“From a witness you let down to the bat cave~” Spoiler sang sweetly across the air.

Red Hood could hear Oracle rolling her eyes as she cut in.

“Tone it down, Batgirl. Bluebird, if you’re still thinking of heading in, could you swing past one last site on your way?” She said firmly, then lightening her tone for their current guest.

“Batgirl who? I’m Spoiler,” Spoiler grumbled, but didn’t push beyond that. None of them did when Oracle invoked the name she’d had before any of them masked up.

Bluebird snickered at her before answering the question, a hint of exertion suggesting she was on the move too.

“I’m not actually in a rush to go home, O, I got all dressed up so I might as well enjoy one last hurrah.”

Right, because she’d be going back to school probably when Danny did.

Harper had always been a damn good hero in Jason’s books, but she valued her retirement and none of them really wanted to ruin it. Unless, apparently, seven bats just had to stalk Jason’s new friends.

Hood would have apologized, but frankly if she’d said no, some of the others couldn’t have come to the gala to be a pain in his ass.

And then he couldn’t have had so much fun fucking with them.

Fine. One cool fruit basket for the Row household, and some rainbow cupcakes for Cullen. He needed practice on frosting roses anyway.

Although that also reminded him.

“Hey Bluebird, have the others filled you in on Phantom?” He asked, cutting off some more background chatter from Spoiler and Tim.

Nightwing and the girls had had hours by now.

“What, your new boyfriend?” Bluebird asked sweetly, and Hood rolled his eyes.

Probably hit the important shit then.

“Sent you a picture?” He asked instead, decidedly not entertaining that question.

Nightwing and Spoiler snickered. Hood flipped off their general directions, settling himself comfortably on the roof of the library to wait for Black Bat.

There was a short pause, the others now wondering what he was getting at. Good.

“In and out of suit,” Bluebird agreed, curiosity tinging with mild suspicion. Being out of retirement clearly wasn’t good for her.

Hood nodded, pulling out his phone and shooting Harley a quick text. It might be moot now, asking her not to mention Red Hood shit in front of Danny, but he might as well.

He still had to ask if Waylon knew. Might as well ask. And see if Tucker knew when he got back.

“I know you’re outta the game, but keep the light show to a minimum if you see him around, okay?” He asked, scanning quickly over the list Danny’d cleared for public discussion.

He didn’t know if Tucker would have mentioned it, but he might as well. Cause of death was good, but Jason personally would veto “and the effects it may have now”.

Because fuck Bruce and his need for everyone to show him their weaknesses.

Bluebird definitely sounded curious now, and possibly like she was punching someone.

“Oh? He not big on the electricity?” She wondered aloud, and Hood grimaced.

Because if they were both at Gotham U in engineering… there was actually a chance Harper and Danny would run into each other.

Danny was older, but Harper skipped a couple years and he had no idea what year Danny was in. Fuck, they might be in the same classes. He couldn’t believe he’d never thought of that.

“Not exactly. You mighta seen him around actually, he’s an engineer too. But he’s not a fan of the electricity flying around,” he explained, Nightwing making background noises that told Hood he hadn’t put the pieces together either.

Good. At least he wasn’t alone.

Bluebird made an interested hum, and probably a finishing blow considering the satisfaction when she spoke next.

“I thought he looked familiar. But then, he’s total Wayne-bait. Yeah, I can keep the good stuff under wraps if I see him around. Gonna guess he’s had some bad shocks in the line of work?”

Hood hesitated and in exactly the same instant Black Bat landed on the roof. Sam had given them all the warning about talking about a ghost’s death, so he could leave it at that.

But…

The way Danny had looked when he explained about Vlad. Yeah, he’d rather they took this seriously. He didn’t want any of his family to hurt Danny, even by accident.

“It’s how he died. He won’t spontaneously combust or anything, but it’s a bad memory.”

Silence reigned while the others absorbed that particular detail, Black Bat crossing to crouch on the roof beside him. Hood leaned over enough to bump their shoulders together.

He could almost feel concern radiating off her, which was an extra weird experience after literally feeling all of Danny’s emotions half the day.

Guess that was where Cass’s liminality was going. It made sense, kind of; despite her occasional trouble speaking, she was pretty much the clearest communicator in the family.

Having another back up way to make herself heard would only fit.

On a whim, he tried projecting comfort back to her. Black Bat didn’t seem to notice, though whether that meant more on her part or his was the question.

She leaned in and bumped him back, her expression unreadable between the full face mask and the shadows.

“Heard and understood, Hood,” Bluebird agreed after a minute, her tone unusually solemn. Hopefully Dickie would take it to heart too.

The odds of Danny running into Nightwing weren’t great if he stuck to Blüdhaven, but Dick was a nosy bastard and there was always one “emergency” or another.

Better than the odds of running into Bluebird, although Harper would almost definitely look him up at school.

Maybe Jason should warn him.

“Maybe you could build him a faraday suit,” Spoiler mused, and Red Hood snickered.

“Handy, but then we couldn’t contact him,” he reminded her and she groaned loudly.

“Hey, if we’re both techies he’ll probably have his own idea. I’ll look him up out of costume, it’s my turn to say hi,” Bluebird decided, and Hood shot Danny a quick text.

Just a heads up.

A picture of Harper, captioned “beware of sibling. May be looking you up in class”. Black Bat giggled beside him, head cocked to watch the screen.

Harper wasn’t technically one of the Waynes, but if Waylon counted she definitely had to, and it wasn’t like Bruce picked his family. Asshole.

A few minutes later he got a message back from Danny.

‘DannyP: !!!!! I know her! 😳😳🤯 She does the cool nanobots! Half our year is betting if she’s a rogue or a vigi 👀 inside info??’

Which was fair, since just knowing Jason wouldn’t be much of a hint either way.

“He knows you,” Black Bat reported to the others, Bluebird immediately bitching that she’d been ratted out.

Red Hood mostly ignored her, texting Danny back.

‘JTodd: Neither anymore. She was a vigi, but she’s retired and getting her degree. No idea if she’ll come back after.’

“Odds you’ll change sides and go rogue, Bluebird?” He asked into a pause, and very much enjoyed the momentary stumped silence. “Apparently there’s a hefty bet.”

Momentary, because everyone had an opinion on that and had to share it. Everyone except Bluebird herself, who seemed to be thinking it over.

“What’re the odds for rogue?” She asked thoughtfully, immediately defending herself as the group booed. “What! I have student loans!”

“You are my villain arc, Red Hood,” Spoiler declared as solemnly as she could through laughter.

“I’m my own villain arc thank you so much, go find your own,” he refuted with a half grin.

“Ask Phantom,” Black Bat advised Bluebird in the meantime, which was probably fair. They weren’t good at staying on topic.

She then gave Hood another gentle nudge, probably for the same reason. Flicked off her comm for a moment.

“Wanted to talk?” She asked, and yeah, they probably should get back to it.

He gave a shrug, hauling himself up and holding a hand back down to her. Definitely not feeling guilty.

They’d tell her before anything became relevant. It just.

Well.

They were a family of fucking detectives, who could never leave well enough alone, and Jason really didn’t want them questioning his humanity.

Just once, he’d like to know something about himself before anyone else did. To have time to understand and come to terms with what he was before Twenty Questions.

Cass was very good at not asking questions though. And Black Bat turned off her comm first. Tim was distracted, probably with Tucker coming back because he’d been quiet.

No better opportunity was likely to come up.

And really, she deserved the same courtesy. Knowing about herself before the others did.

Maybe she’d have some ideas on how to tell them.

Making up his mind, Hood tapped his comms and hauled Black Bat up with his other hand.

“Hey O, gonna be offline for a minute. Text if you need me or BB, we gotta be radio silent.” There were enough possible reasons for that, he didn’t bother giving one.

Just so long as they knew.

Usually he’d just turn the comm off and swear at her if she turned him back on if he wanted peace and quiet, but… well, it was nice to hear the background chatter.

Nicer when the big Bat himself wasn’t in the field to tell them to focus.

“I always need you, baby!” Nightwing called just before he clicked off, and Red Hood rolled his eyes under the helmet.

Dramatic bitch.

He looked back to Black Bat, wondering where would be the best place for this talk. She was watching him patiently, not moving.

It had been her patrol.

“Is there anywhere on your route we can talk privately?” He asked softly, a little surprised at himself. He’d been the one who wanted to wait.

But that just made it his call who he decided to tell what, and when. And Cass… he trusted Cass.

Besides, it wasn’t like he was liminal. It’d give them something to think until he was ready.

Black Bat regarded him for a moment longer, then nodded and made her way to the edge of the roof.

“Follow.”

**

The night was wearing on, but Bruce was darkly satisfied that they were finally making progress.

Constantine’s pacing (replacing his smoking; Bruce may not have bothered arguing in the cave, but even Constantine knew better than to light a cigarette in space) had finally slowed.

Something terrible had happened in Amity Park, but even the magician was grudgingly admitting it was probably over. Left permanent scars, but getting no worse.

Unless it was on a cosmic level and would be a slow seeping problem for millennia, but Alfred had Opinions about Bruce concerning himself with issues on that time scale.

There was only so much they could do in the moment.

Another survey of the city was required, and in person since even the League’s best couldn’t take clear pictures of Amity Park.

A fact which didn’t seem to have stopped the Amity Parkers from photographing and sharing pictures of each other, according to his children. Constantine hadn’t actually argued when Bruce compared it to background radiation, so it must be close enough.

He also hadn’t done more than grimace when Bruce asked if he wanted to undertake the survey personally. That was as good as an enthusiastic agreement.

First, though? First they needed to call a meeting of the Justice League, primarily the heroes located in North America.

They had been horribly uninformed of what was going on right under their noses, and if Constantine was right… Amity Park’s problems had begun to spread.

To Gotham.

To his children.

Constantine’s grumbling that it was the miasma of death that hung over the city drawing them in had not inspired confidence, and Bruce resolved to have Zatanna over at her soonest convenience to explain.

Helping Constantine put together a report on Amity Park itself had more than convinced Bruce not to ask Constantine, even if he could have done it today. The man was…

Well. Bruce wasn’t looking forward to having to run him through the JL’s classification system again. Maybe one of his children would want to go and handle the technical side.

All he had to do was finish preparing the presentation, call the League, and he could rest. It would likely take a day or two to put a full meeting together, but he could at least fill Clark and Diana in tonight.

He could sleep in between. Just for a little while.

Right after he showed Constantine how to configure the alerts from Amity Park to direct to the Justice League Dark, not the spam folder. They hadn’t sent one in years, but he was determined not to miss any changes.

That should have been the easiest part of this whole mess. It was just a simple form, with a basic test button to ensure it worked.

Nothing too complicated even for a man who’d decided “no reply needed” meant the same thing as “too dangerous for anyone but JL Dark”.

Fine. It was fine.

Bruce loved making training videos to highlight the most basic functions of a system and ensure that people actually understood what the various controls meant. Wonderful.

It meant that they could work in parallel for a while, Bruce on the presentation for the League, Constantine to fix his mistake. In a blissful silence, even.

It couldn’t last.

“It’s not working, Bats,” the magician declared, pushing back and away from his computer. Probably to pace again.

Bruce closed his eyes, breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, and made his way across to frown at the monitor.

“Did you save your changes?” He growled, doing his best not to let the irritation show. It was getting harder every time.

Constantine rolled his eyes, definitely not helping, and pointed at the screen.

“See for yerself. Look, JLD Top Priority, like ya said. And then ya hit the top button to save, and the red button to test it, and nothing happens.”

He waited impatiently while Bruce clicked through the buttons, seeing it for himself.

Constantine wasn’t wrong. That was unexpected.

Brows furrowing under his cowl, Bruce checked the deleted requests. Three test messages from “Amity Park”.

“Hn.”

“Someone’s fucked ya system,” Constantine commented dryly, sounding unduly pleased that it wasn’t his fault.

Something other than his haphazard filing had apparently been causing some of their problems. Bruce… just didn’t have the time tonight.

He nodded over to his screen instead, pulling up his wrist computer to send a private message to Tim in the cave. How long could a tour take?

Tim could find what was going wrong long before he’d have the time.

“I’ve compiled most of the presentation on creatures of the Realms. Is there anything important I should add?” He asked gruffly and Constantine sighed dramatically and flounced over.

Bruce firmly ignored Steph’s voice in his ear.

Not because he didn’t agree, whatever a “woobie” was.

He just needed Constantine’s once over to confirm he had all the pertinent information, and then he could call Clark and Diana.

Head home.

Get to bed.

“Looks fine. I should check yer damn revenant some time soon too though.”

Bruce froze, finger just above the send button on that tech request to Tim.

His fucking what.

**

Black Bat led them easily across the city, along what was probably her normal patrol route. Taking her cue from Red Hood, she didn’t rush, but soon indicated that they turn off into a small alley between two warehouses.

Hell, not even a proper alley. A gap where the buildings hadn’t quite smushed together.

Red Hood recognized the area from Nightwing’s bitching; there’d been a bust here last week, and something had cloaked the whole block from surveillance.

These days, he was almost tempted to check what Danny knew about it. Ghosts fucked with technology in ways none of the bats would find.

Black Bat stopped them half way down the gap, feet braced against one wall and her back to the other, leaving her “sitting” about twenty feet off the ground.

Hood matched her a little further down, grumbling a little at the crush. Almost a foot taller, it wasn’t exactly a comfortable position for him, but he’d held worse.

They were stable, and damn near impossible to observe. This was as good as they’d get.

“So,” he began, and immediately realized he had no fucking clue what to say.

Black Bat’s flat, expressionless mask was not helpful.

Hood wished he could pull his helmet off, just to run his hands through his hair. But they were on patrol.

Black Bat just waited, silent and patient while he wrestled with himself. Finally he decided to just spit it out.

“Danny died, and came back,” he said in a rush, glancing over to her.

Black Bat nodded.

“Like you.”

“Like us,” Hood corrected, groaned, and switched off the voice modulator. Actually, fuck it, he had his domino on.

He pulled the helmet off, balancing it in his lap. He could shove it back on if it came time to go.

Black Bat was beside him now, almost close enough to touch. Close enough to lean in and bump their shoulders together.

“One main difference,” she noted thoughtfully, then tapped her chest, “no skin change.”

Which, yeah, Jason had been hoping to emphasize before any of the family got too far down the right track.

“Right,” he agreed, leaning back to stare blankly into the smog of Gotham above them.

Fuck. How do you even say it? How do you tell someone they’re not fully human anymore?

Someone like Cass, who’d been raised to believe she’d never been human, by force. Just a weapon.

Her hand was in his now, and he couldn’t be sure if he’d reached out or she had. He stared down at their laced fingers instead.

“You know how people get when they spend too long around the pit water,” he began slowly, trying a different path.

Cass had been raised around the League of Assassins. She knew.

And took the change of topic fully in stride, nodding and giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

“Erratic,” she mused softly, her face tilted to the wall across, “unpredictable, especially if they went in.”

No one was going to say Ra’s Al Ghul was an unstable mess of a man, but no one had to. Still, how controlled he was was impressive, especially after you saw what mere exposure to the fumes did to other people.

Red Hood nodded, sighing softly.

“Danny’s parents kept it in the fridge. He was… exposed long before he died,” he explained quietly.

If he was talking about himself, he’d say “contaminated”. Hell, it was the word Danny used when explaining it to the bats.

Jason just couldn’t use it about Danny. It just wasn’t right.

Black Bat stilled, almost enough to be mistaken for a statue instead of a living being. Was that her liminality too? Or just her training?

Red Hood couldn’t stand it either way, giving her hand a gentle tug.

“He told me… being around it too long can change a person, even if they never get dunked,” he said slowly, trailing off again.

“We got dunked,” Black Bat said quietly, her hand curling more tightly around his. There was no hint of emotion in her voice, and Jason hated it.

Pulled her closer, doing all he could to project comfort-sorry-concerned-love you. Wishing he’d asked Danny to teach him to do that first.

Neither of them had really considered he’d need it, since Danny was so good at reading him. But he needed her to know she wasn’t alone.

Her shoulders hunched suddenly, body tensed to spring until her head snapped round to focus on him.

He could… he could feel surprise from her. Maybe it was working.

He gave a graceless half shrug, grinding his shoulders against filthy bricks.

Tried to project yeah it’s weird for me too, but wasn’t sure how well it came across. Anything beyond pure feelings was a little tricky for him to push, though he could usually work out what Danny was saying.

“We got dunked,” he agreed quietly, resolving instead to wrap her in love-protect-safe-safe-safe, “and sometimes… that changes you even without a flashy transformation.”

It was an awful explanation and he knew it, could practically feel her eyes darting all over his face, his posture, reading things he probably wasn’t aware he was showing.

Then she relaxed all at once, settling in and leaning part of her weight on him as well as the wall. He braced automatically to take it. He wouldn’t let her fall.

“He called it being “liminal”,” he explained softly, working an arm around her shoulders above the wall to coax more of her weight onto him. “I don’t know what it means for you yet, BB. But nothing bad. He was sure it wouldn’t be bad.”

Black Bat made a soft humming sound, obediently shuffling so he could wrap his arm around her. Looking down at their still twined hands.

“Can feel you,” she said softly, hand rising to tap gently against the red bat on his chest. “Big brother.”

It startled a bark of laughter out of him, because… well, yeah. A good way to sum up everything he’d wanted to tell her without words.

Felt a quick rush of satisfaction from Black Bat, and tried to answer it with relief-agree-protect.

“Yeah, that’s the fuckin’ weirdest part,” he agreed dryly, almost felt the rush of her giggle more than he heard it. “Apparently some liminals get this… aura around them. Sharing what they feel. I didn’t know if you would…”

What? If she’d notice? If she’d be able to feel the same things?

Black Bat nodded, head tipping up to meet his gaze once again.

“Robin? Batman?” She asked, and Jason hesitated.

He couldn’t talk to either of them about it. Not yet. Bruce would fucking push, he always did, and wouldn’t stop until he tore the secrets out of him. Damian would just run to Bruce.

But it was a valid question. And they did sort of deserve to know just as much.

For now he took refuge in what he knew, shrugging it off.

“Danny thinks they’re liminal, but… not as far along as we are.”

Not as close to death. Not as close to not being human, although technically they were both legally non-sentient, so that was fun.

“D’you really think either of them have the emotional bandwidth to share?” He tried to joke, covering the moment.

Black Bat just stared at him until he fell silent. Then nodded.

“Should tell them. No rush,” she added almost before Jason could tense, leaning back in and resting her head on his shoulder, “have been for a while, yes?”

Jason paused a moment longer, shook his head, and snickered.

“Cannot believe I ever doubted you’d be able to do the whole “emotional telepathy” thing,” he grumbled good naturedly, and Black Bat glowed with gentle amused.

“Better than you,” she told him archly, sounding for a moment like Steph when she was teasing Tim. Jason gave her a squeeze.

“Don’t I know it. But yeah, it’s not a new thing, and won’t mean anything to anyone unless one of us dies again.” Which he wasn’t going to think about.

Shit, someone said Robin was out tonight.

Nope. Not thinking about it. Robin had been patrolling for years, and as much as he whined about his solo patrol route, he never deviated.

Not after Oracle had highlighted his route on his wrist computer for him and proved she could see every footstep. She wouldn’t necessarily tell Bruce, but she’d always know.

Black Bat nodded, resting against him for a moment longer before sitting up again.

“You want to wait.” It wasn’t a question, but he felt compelled to answer.

Picked up his helmet, turning it over slowly in his hands. But of course she’d understand. She always did.

“I want to know what this means to me before I have B poking and prying into every part of my life,” he said quietly, staring into the eye slits of the helmet.

Black Bat ruffled his hair.

“Can wait,” she agreed gently, switching her position to have a hand and foot on either wall. Ready to move on. “No rush.”

Red Hood pulled his helmet back on and matched her, the pair climbing quickly out of the crack between the warehouses. It almost wasn’t worth saying, but…

“You can tell the others if they ask. I just…”

“Don’t want questions,” Black Bat agreed lightly, flipping up onto the roof. “Can ask Danny when the time comes.”

“Yeah,” Red Hood agreed, crouching beside her. “Mind if I stick with you on patrol tonight?”

He sort of hoped she’d think it was unrelated, but another moment of stillness passed across her as she regarded him.

“Until we die again,” she repeated his own words, and Hood was pretty happy she couldn’t see his face anymore as he grimaced.

Not that it mattered, another shot of amused shooting between them, followed by a much softer appreciated.

At least she wasn’t judging him for being a mother hen.

“Understand.”

**

Tim and Tucker had made quick work of the interview, and Tim was pretty much running out of questions when the batcomputer pinged with an incoming message.

Tucker gave it a longing look and Tim chuckled softly, wheeling himself over.

“Hang on. Might be one of the others out on patrol,” he explained, right clicking to pull up the monitor that tracked the bats’ various dominos out and about.

Tucker stared up at it politely, diverting his attention from what Tim was doing on the other screen, no matter how curious he was. Showing trust and all that.

It was actually really cool too; he’d not really seen a map of Gotham, and having one superimposed with little glowing lights of the various heroes on patrol was really cool.

It wasn’t really zoomed in enough to tell if Bluebird was actually in a fight, but the little blue dot seemed to be the only one standing still, so Tucker assumed she was.

How cool would that be? Watching just normal human vigilantes fight and take down bad guys?

Although off the top of his head, he could already think of a couple of things to add to the monitoring program. They might already be there, he hadn’t clicked around, but like.

Vitals were all well and good, down in the corner next to each hero’s name and the colour of their dot, but just the heartbeats? That wouldn’t tell you enough.

Tucker preferred brainwaves, because then you could tell if they’d been hit with something or overshadowed.

Although maybe it was because he’d spent his time keeping track of a guy who pretty regularly did not have a heartbeat. And it also gave him more data points for some of his cooler side projects.

Understanding the different brainwave patterns an individual made in different situations was a key part of neural mapping, and adding it to the bat’s routine would get him a ton of data.

And then they could really play Mariokart.

He’d have to ask Tim if they tracked any of that later. Not all the bats wore helmets or cowls that would support the electrodes, apparently. Although if Danny could get his hands on a domino…

Tucker was snapped back to the here and now as Tim pushed back from the batcomputer, a wry grin on his lips.

“Actually, I think this might be something you could help with, Tucker. If you don’t mind a little work on your night off?” He teased, back to Tucker’s complaints about a night of fun and tech.

Like getting to play on the batcomputer did not absolutely count as fun and tech.

Tucker beamed, excitement welling up in him and cracking his knuckles. It’d be pretty cool to assist a human vigilante too. And on a tech problem!

Gotham was fucking great. If Tim really meant it about getting him an internship, Tucker might have to see about switching schools.

MIT was great, but it wasn’t Wayne Enterprises, personal meetings, or personal tech demonstrations with Tim Drake Wayne!

“Sure! What’s going on?” He asked, shuffling over to look at the other screens now that he had permission. Making sure it was obvious he hadn’t been looking.

Resisting temptation had been hard. He deserved credit.

Tim nodded to the screen, and that? That was a message from Batman. Bruce Wayne. Batman.

Tucker scanned the message, eyes widening even as Tim spoke.

“Wanna help debug the Watchtower?” Tim asked, and Tucker clutched at the back of his chair as his heart leapt, swooning just a little.

The Watchtower. The actual Watchtower. In space. Oh he was shoving that in Danny’s face for not telling him he was friends with the Bats!

There was only one real question left.

“Will Oracle be here?” He asked eagerly, looking around the rest of the screen.

A soft chuckle played from a speaker in the bottom corner, and Tucker jumped half a mile as a masked voice spoke.

“You boys have fun with this one, I’ll keep an eye on the city. If you finish early you could walk me through that server of yours?”

Oracle.

The Oracle.

They were real, they talked to him, they wanted to talk about his locked down servers! Tim lunged to catch him as Tucker collapsed, knees giving out under the swell of emotion.

All of his dreams were coming true, all at once.

He’d never been happier.

**

Danny was having a pretty quiet night in. That didn’t used to be unusual while he was in Gotham; having time to himself was still pretty much a novelty, and he wasn’t exactly a party boy.

Of course, it was a night in with some of his parents’ inventions and recently one or two of his own, so the actual “quiet” part was negotiable.

Quiet enough not to piss off his dorm mates, but luckily most of them were engineers too. They may not always know what he was doing, but they were usually interested.

Tonight, he was alone, most of the floor still being home for the holiday. That had been one of the things he’d looked forward to most about staying behind, but…

Well, after his noisy and action packed few days… he was lonely.

He wished he’d asked Jason to stay. Just because he’d said he was going to bed didn’t mean he had to do anything of the sort.

It was just that Jason had been… tense. He’d not even gotten off the bike when they arrived, just pulling over and chatting for a minute before heading out.

Like he wasn’t fully comfortable going into Danny’s place, which was kinda fair. Unlike Jason’s apartments, Danny’s dorm was a communal space.

Even if most of his dorm mates weren’t home, there was still a chance one of them might turn up. And then Danny would have someone else bugging him about his “boyfriend”.

Nope.

Besides, he’d see Jason again at 11am (he had this horrible feeling Jason might be a morning person), so it wasn’t even all that long. He should probably just go to bed.

He should check his class schedule, actually. Work out what days he’d have free, work out when he and Jason could skip to the Zone for fight club.

Wait.

Would Jason be free.

What the hell did Jason do for a living? He’d have to ask at some point, Danny mused, logging in and taking a screenshot of his class schedule for the new year.

For now, it was probably best just to send Jason the picture so he’d know when Danny was free, and then Jason could work out a good time for them to go and it wouldn’t be Danny’s problem.

Excellent. Sheer genius.

Humming happily to himself, Danny pulled up Jason’s number and sent the picture of his schedule, with the caption:

‘Let me know when ur free for field trips 👊🏻💥👻’

Eyes closing for a moment, Danny let his awareness drift out across the city. It wasn’t something he’d done a lot; Gotham wasn’t his haunt and he didn’t want to step on any toes.

Usually he’d just expand his conscious aura if he was looking for someone, but knowing how much Jason didn’t like it… well, his passive aura covered most of the state, so reaching through the same city couldn’t be all that hard.

Right?

Frostbite could find anyone, anywhere in the Far Frozen with little more than a thought. And was convinced Danny would be able to do that with the entire Zone, some day.

Danny was a little less convinced. Past the background awareness that he was no longer in Amity Park that had taken months to fade, he’d never really paid attention to his passive aura.

It’d be too tempting to feel out the rogues, or at least react to the sudden surges of aggression and danger. But he hadn’t had anyone to protect before, and he knew Jason would feel better knowing Danny could.

That was kinda why Danny hadn’t mentioned how theoretical this particular ability was, although he had no doubt he’d recognize Cass’s energy if she came close to death.

Which meant he should totally recognize it while she was alive, well, and had more energy, right?

He had no idea where she was, which parts of Gotham fell on her patrol route, but that kinda helped. It meant he couldn’t trick himself by focusing on a particular area.

Surprising precisely no one though, he found Jason first. The other halfa almost glowed when Danny was focusing on his energy, a bubbling little ball of yellow and red.

He… was maybe with Cass? Danny’s brows furrowed, nose scrunching as he tried to focus without changing his aura.

He was definitely with one of the liminals. And that quiet little light, almost blue, felt sort of like Cass. When he forced himself not to be distracted by Jason’s brighter glow.

Eyes snapping open, Danny’s concentration broke and he frowned up at the ceiling.

Well, that explained why Jason was in a hurry to get going. He was no expert in Gotham herself yet and had no idea where the two of them were, but if he tried again he could probably work it out.

Did Jason still have a suit? Or did he call Cass in, find something he could do as a civilian to have her help?

Shrugging to himself, Danny dismissed the question and hauled himself up. Might as well get to bed; they’d be back together in the morning and he could always ask.

**

Tim was scrolling through the code for the alert messaging system itself while Tucker went through the sections that pertained to Amity Park specifically on his PDA when the other boy made a sudden, startled squeak.

Tim considered pretending he hadn’t heard, but there was a chance he’d found the answer. So he glanced over.

“Any luck?” He asked, noting Tucker’s sudden strained expression. Maybe the guy needed the bathroom actually. They’d been down here a while.

Tucker laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“So… uh… what exactly does the bug we’re looking for do?” He asked in a small voice, looking more embarrassed than Tim had ever seen.

Which… was not a proportionate response for that noise. And a question that they both probably should have thought of sooner.

He’d meant to mention it, since they’d have to explain it to the Amity Parkers at some point.

“So… remember how the Justice League never responded to an alert from Amity Park?” Tim asked not a little sheepishly himself.

Tucker nodded, not actually looking any less embarrassed himself either. That was definitely a great sign.

Tim sucked in a deep breath and forged ahead.

“So, it turns out there’s a bug in the Watchtower’s systems, where anything coming in from Amity Park gets marked as spam and funnelled straight into trash. We fixed the marking as spam thing, which I guess was user error, but it’s still-”

“All going to trash,” Tucker finished with a sigh, grimacing and shaking his head, “aaaaand I think I know why. But the timeline doesn’t make sense?”

That… that wasn’t even on the same continent as what Tim’d expected he’d say.

“The timeline?” He asked, brows furrowing, sliding over to peek at Tucker’s screen.

Tucker shook his head again, angling it so that Tim could see… a section of code that shuddered faintly in and out, almost disappearing entirely every few seconds.

That.

That was not a thing that should be happening.

Tim would have loved for it to be a simple screen glitch, but it was only that one small section of code. The lines above and below were fine, and Tucker could move the flickering chunk up and down.

“Yeah, this is your problem,” the Black man sighed, wiggling the section demonstratively, clearly aware of Tim’s shattered hopes.

Heartless man. Genius man.

“You’ve had ghosts in your back end. Probably wouldn’t even show up on an uncontaminated device. Which, by the way…” he trailed off, and Tim shook his head immediately.

“Not tonight. No changes to the batcomputer without Bruce’s say so,” Tim said firmly, since he’d already fucked up once. Might as well limit the damage.

Tucker shrugged and nodded back to the section of code.

“Okay. But this… this was definitely Technus. And that makes no sense? He’s a spirit of technology, we’ve fought him a bunch of times, but if he got into the Watchtower’s code he wouldn’t just… hide,” he tried to explain, adjusting his beret fussily.

It totally wasn’t adorable.

Tim did his best to keep up though, nodding along and thinking back over everything they’d been told about ghosts so far.

“You think we’d have noticed?” He asked, and Tucker snorted.

“He likes making giant robot bodies out of toasters, you’d definitely have noticed him on your space station,” he agreed dryly, then sighed.

Frowned down at the tablet again.

“I mean, Danny could make him do it and behave himself now, but if these changes were active during the whole Pariah Dark thing… I dunno, Technus should have been a way bigger problem. He’s not subtle.”

Tim frowned, thinking about what Tucker had said and then pausing.

“Danny could make him behave now?” He asked and Tucker pulled another face. Like he hadn’t meant to say that.

“Well, yeah, Danny’s miles out of Technus’ league now,” he tried to brush it off with a laugh, “the guy knows he’ll lose any fight so he’s really not a problem anymore. We have hackathons,” he added and Tim really wanted to know more about that.

There was just. Something off about Tucker’s answer. Not the content itself, just the way Tucker clearly wasn’t saying something.

That was a problem for future Tim though. Present Tim had a job to do.

“So can you fix what he did?” He asked the important question, and Tucker made another face.

“Dude… whoever or whatever made Technus do this, will probably notice if we fuck with it,” he said warily, and Tim shrugged.

“Whoever or whatever made Technus do it couldn’t do it themselves. How would they know?” He shot back, and Tucker chewed his lip.

Shook his head.

“Lemme text Danny. He’s the ghost expert, he’ll know how much we should worry about this,” he explained quickly, pulling out his phone and shooting off a short message.

Tim gave him his very best deadpan expression.

“How much we should worry about technology ghosts getting into space and fucking with Justice League HQ. I have the feeling the answer is “a lot”?” He offered sweetly, and Tucker snickered.

“Yeah, well, we’ll see. Might actually be alright, if this is all he touched. And, since you won’t let me juice the big computer, we’d have to scan the whole thing through my PDA. Every line of code,” he added, like Tim wasn’t already dreading it.

Tim sucked in a slow breath, weighing his options.

Touching the batcomputer? Ultimate no-no. But Tim’s personal laptop… it had access to the Watchtower’s systems, and was under Tim’s personal control.

And would let Tim go through the sensitive data himself, which the core code of the Watchtower was full of. The question was, did he trust Tucker not to install anything dangerous?

That question had been answered the second he asked Tucker to help him debug though. Clearly the guy could already put what he wanted, where he wanted, and with their current tech?

None of the bats would ever know. At least if Tim’s computer got the update, he’d have a chance at spotting ecto-infused code.

There were other computers they could use of course, old or unnetworked computers that Bruce would probably insist they start with.

Which wouldn’t be able to access the Watchtower’s servers, and couldn’t hold the whole thing to be able to run a useful check.

The answer really was kinda obvious.

Tim looked to Tucker, who’d been texting away while he thought things through.

“We can’t do the batcomputer, but is there anything you could do for my laptop tonight, or do we have to wait on Danny still?” He asked, deeply regretting that they’d gone to video games instead of the tech upgrade.

At the time he’d been planning on having a burner laptop done though, so it probably wouldn’t have been as useful.

Tucker shrugged cheerfully and slid his phone into his pocket, cracking his knuckles.

“Well, I can’t give you the full infusion to let you open Amity’s encrypted data, but I can write you a little something that should expose Technus’s code even without it,” he offered, and Tim brightened up.

“How long?” He asked eagerly, wondering if Tucker would let him watch. It’d be fair if he didn’t, Tuck had been cool about not looking when Tim played on the batcomputer, but…

Tucker smirked, flicking open a new screen on his PDA.

“How long will it take you to get the laptop down here?” He asked smugly.

Tim booked shit to the elevator.

**

Private Chat: DannyP & TooFine

2:15am

‘TooFine: Danny when tf did u have Technus hack the JL’

‘DannyP: ……. 👀 u cannot prove i did that 🚫🚫’

‘TooFine: I’m helping Tim debug the Watchtower’

‘TooFine: double fuck u for not telling me about Batman btw’

‘TooFine: someone sent all the Amity alerts to trash’

‘TooFine: if we keep talking about this I might accidentally send something to the group chat 🤨’

‘DannyP: FUCK FINE DONT TELL SAM 🏳️🏳️🏳️’

‘DannyP: after the pd thing’

‘DannyP: cw called’

‘DannyP: they hadnt been reading the messages anyway i just’

‘DannyP: shitty people track the jl y’know? and i didnt want em knowing about us’

‘DannyP: let em all think its a joke and then no one else comes an tries to use our portal to harness the realms and blow up superman or whatever’

‘TooFine: dude u fucking told me to tell them what actually happened??’

‘TooFine: pretty sure anyone tracking the jl will work that out now’

‘DannyP is typing’

‘DannyP is typing’

‘DannyP is typing’

‘DannyP: ok so maybe i didnt think that through 😔😔😔’

‘TooFine: no shit. I’m fixing the code in case any new alerts come through but it’s not like they’ll bother to call’

‘DannyP: not like they need to, frighty’s got em covered 🗡️🗡️🎃’

‘TooFine: yeah yeah. I’ll set it to ping u too’

‘DannyP: ur the best tuck 🙇🏻‍♂️🙇🏻‍♂️🙇🏻‍♂️’

‘TooFine: better than u deserve’

**

Across the city, Red Hood and Black Bat had stopped for smoothies. Patrol was quiet, and word on the street was that Bluebird was mostly to blame.

Nobody wanted to know why she was back and taking no prisoners, so even the docks were almost deserted.

Then again, with Riddler and Waylon snapped back off the streets, Penguin lying low in fear of Harley, and Batwoman making Two Face’s life a personal hell?

Yeah, no wonder the smaller players were lying low.

Hood had pulled his phone out to check in on the Alley in case they’d be more useful there when he noticed a message from Tucker’s private chat app.

It was from Danny.

Danny had sent him his class schedule. Told Jason to let Danny know when he was free. Like class was the only thing that’d stop Danny from wanting to see him.

Jason was so lost in staring at his phone, utterly swamped in the implications, that he didn’t even notice Black Bat finish her smoothie and swap out her empty cup for his.

Danny wanted to see him again.

He’d have to work out a proper schedule of his own.

**

Bruce was having a Bad Day. An extended bad day, one that was fast approaching 48 hours long.

As if everything with Amity Park wasn’t already bad enough, both in the past and the present, now Constantine believed there was something wrong with Jason.

That his son wasn’t fully human anymore.

Now, Bruce’s best friends weren’t even a quarter human between them, and no matter what everyone seemed to think he was perfectly happy with meta humans.

So long as they kept themselves safe.

Preferably where they wouldn’t be mind controlled, kidnapped, or held hostage every few days. Frankly being a meta was probably stressful enough even in a normal city.

But he’d keep Gotham’s metas as safe as he could, just like Duke.

But Jason… Jason had been born human. Had lived as a human, died as a human, and Constantine seemed so sure he’d come back as something else.

“Revenant” the man had called him. An animated corpse that haunted the living, powered by rage.

Bruce might even have believed it two years ago, when Jason first returned. Jason had been so angry, intent on destroying Tim when the other was just a child.

When Jason was little more than a child.

But… that wasn’t all he was. He was himself, truly Jason Todd in ways Bruce hadn’t wanted to believe. He’d fought his rage and won every day.

Most days.

And being around Amity Park, being around Daniel James Fenton, might be enough to push him back over. To drag Jason closer back to death.

Halfas could act as psychopomps, bringing lost souls safely to the other side.

Jason had only just become himself again. They had only just begun healing the rift between them.

Bruce couldn’t lose him again.

They had to keep him away from Amity Park. It was as simple as that really; something in Jason’s resurrection had gone wrong and they all knew it.

Even Jason himself wouldn’t argue with that. Something about his death clung to him, poisoned him with that violent green rage.

His children’s reports told him that Danny was claiming to help with the pit rage because he had also been exposed. But what if he was just helping the pit?

Even if he didn’t mean to, exposing Jason to that much power that closely tied to death couldn’t be good. Constantine hadn’t exactly said as much, but Bruce could read between the lines.

Death magic was contagious between those who’d been infected. Who’d died and come back.

That wasn’t fun to know. Not with how many of his children, his friends had all died before.

Even he himself had. He’d have to investigate Amity Park personally. Take the risk himself, to keep it from the others.

Tim and Duke could help, but they were both so busy with their own lives. He would have to wait and see.

His meeting with Clark and Diana hadn’t gone well either. They’d both been gratifyingly concerned with what he’d learned and had recognized the threat.

Clark had promised to keep an ear out for Jason, to listen in on his heartbeat and make sure he was okay. Bruce would have been grateful, if Clark hadn’t also told him that Jason’s heart was noticeably slow.

Easy to pick out, even if they hadn’t spent much time together.

Just how close was his boy to dying again?

Diana had advised caution. Wanted to speak to Danny herself, see the hero who had shouldered the burden of this small town. See if he had turned under the pressure.

Pressure that should never have been his. Pressure they should all have shared, protecting the child and the town together.

It would be his fault if Danny had broken. Had given in to whatever in the Infinite Realms had stolen a whole town away.

Bruce knew that with a leaden certainty, felt the weight of it settle in his chest. The same way he knew he was responsible for most of his rogues.

He could see the wisdom in letting Diana talk to the man first. She was wiser than most of the League, and a good judge of character. Even without her lasso, it was hard to lie to her.

But if what Constantine said was true, he didn’t want to tip their hand. Zatanna and Shazam had both agreed to attend tomorrow and give their own opinions.

They could afford to wait one night. Perhaps two, if Danny couldn’t be found tomorrow.

Just about the only thing Bruce wasn’t worried about was Danny running. If he had ill intentions, he wasn’t the sort to give in and disappear so easily.

He’d threatened Bruce to stay out of things between him and Jason. And certainly wasn’t afraid of a fight.

Bruce was also quite sure that he and Diana could take the boy if it came to it, even with the abilities Constantine ascribed to the realms. He would find a way.

But not tonight, he reminded himself firmly as he strode into the zeta tube. Tonight he would go home, update his children, and get some sleep.

Maybe waiting a day or two to speak to Danny directly would help. This concussion had passed frustrating and was beginning to affect his decision making.

Shaking his head to clear it, Bruce hit the button to send him home. Soon he could rest. At least for a little while.

**

A gentle buzzer went off in the cave and Tim yelped like he’d been stung, clutching at Tucker’s arm in an entirely unmanly way.

“SHIT he’s back hide the candy canes!”

Tucker stared at him wide eyed, but to his credit the other man didn’t hesitate to sweep the pile of different flavoured canes off the desk and into the front of his shirt.

“Where?!” He asked, and Tim hesitated for half an instant.

The zeta tube was down by the cars. Bruce would be up in less than a minute. Spinning Tucker by the shoulders, he shoved him towards the infirmary.

“Get in there! Don’t come out til I say!” He hissed, already hearing the zeta tube’s door whoosh open.

Tucker obediently scurried away, and thank fuck he was quick on the uptake enough to drop his voice below a whisper.

“What?! Tim, what?! Am I not supposed to fucking be here?!” He hissed, and Tim pulled the infirmary door almost shut before darting back to the table.

He’d cleared it with Bruce, had texted about giving their guests a tour, but since it turned out that Tucker hadn’t already been in the know… well, he wanted to prime Bruce with the good news first.

The tube only pinged once though, so Constantine hadn’t come back with him. That was probably good. Bruce would be less cranky.

Tim wasn’t exactly back in his seat by the time Bruce reached the batcomputer, but he was close enough to watch him note the second chair.

Tim didn’t let him ask.

“I have a first hand witness account of what happened in Amity Park.” That was the important thing, right? That they had answers.

Bruce stared at him for a long moment, eyes narrowed and the whiteouts narrowing with them. Tim stared him down, refusing to look away.

He’d fucked up just like, a tiny bit. But he’d gotten results. Better results than anyone else. So was it really a fuck up?

He watched Bruce’s eyes widen as he realized, and was a little surprised when the man’s shoulders slumped. He dropped gracelessly into the swivel chair, elbows propped on the table and his head cradled in his hands.

Tim was growing a little alarmed now, hurrying forward to Bruce’s side. Was he injured? Had something happened?

His hand was just reaching out to touch when Bruce sighed and sat back up.

“Tim. Who did you bring to tour the cave?” He asked in a tired, heavy voice, and Tim’s brows furrowed.

What? He’d said, hadn’t he?

“Tucker Foley?” He said cautiously, wondering if he should call Alfred. Maybe switch out Bruce and Tucker and get the big guy into the infirmary.

Bruce was very still. Tim forged ahead, hoping to get to the good news.

“He was a vigilante back in Amity Park, part of the support team. I have his statement going back to the beginning of the ghost attacks, and he’s already answered most of our questions.”

Leaning past Bruce, he hit a couple of keys and brought up the sound file of Tucker’s interview.

Bruce was still a little slow as he turned to look, but it seemed to hearten him. Which was when Tim realized.

“Wait. Who did you think I was bringing?” He asked, brows furrowing in confusion.

Bruce shot him a sidelong frown, pulling off his cowl.

“Not a stranger,” he growled, though his heart clearly wasn’t in it. He just sounded tired.

Tim carefully patted him on the shoulder, still thoroughly confused.

“What? But I said…” he paused, pulling out his phone and staring at the texts.

Nope. No he didn’t.

Oops.

Groaning, Tim let his head drop.

“Ah fuck, and I thought we were doing so well!” He sighed heavily and Bruce made a grunt that might have been a laugh. “Alfred’s going to be unbearable.”

That shut Bruce right up, as it should, and then Bruce sighed again. They were moving past it then. Probably for the best, since Alfred would lecture them both on the importance of communication later.

At least it wasn’t only Tim’s fault. The only person who wasn’t a stranger or a bat had been Harley, and he wasn’t actually sure if Harley had cave privileges.

Well. She did now. Since that was what Bruce must have thought he was asking.

Then Bruce straightened, eyes determined and steely.

“I have new information from Constantine. The risks of the Infinite Realms.” It definitely heartened him to talk about, skipping straight to the debrief part of the day.

Maybe they could just skip right over the Tim-fucked-up-and-brought-a-stranger-to-the-cave.

“I need you all to keep away from the Amity Parkers until I know more.”

Ah.

No then. Nope, not skipping over it, because Tucker was actively still fucking in the cave. It was for the best that they’d hidden him then.

Tim shook his head firmly, hoping that if he seemed certain that would help.

“That’s not gonna work, Bruce. I couldn’t have fixed our Watchtower problem without Tucker, and we can’t look at any of the Amity Park data without an Amity Park device.” It was the theory they’d been running with, but they’d had it confirmed now.

Never mind that Tucker had already downloaded most of what was publicly available for them. Bruce would always want a primary source anyway.

Tim pretended it didn’t affect him when Bruce’s head jerked, eyes narrowed as he scowled at Tim.

“You let him into the code for the Watchtower?!” He exclaimed in a hiss. Which was interesting, since Tim had kinda figured the bat cave thing would be more personal.

Then again, the Watchtower could compromise more than that.

“Bruce, read the report on Tucker. We literally couldn’t stop him if he wanted to hack in, because his tech runs on levels that slide right past ours. Tech he’s already sharing,” he added sharply, reaching behind him without looking to hook his laptop forwards.

Bruce, mouth already open to argue, quieted at once. Yeah, new toys always helped. Tim nodded to the batcomputer.

“The update’s ready to go live, but I waited because you need to see this. Open the third window,” he nodded over, pulling up the corresponding section of code on the laptop.

Bruce’s expression pinched but he did as requested, clearly not willing to put another step between himself and the answer. A quick glance up to confirm, and Tim nodded to himself.

Fuck, he needed a laser pointer.

“So it all looks good up there, right?” He pushed and Bruce frowned, but nodded, eyes scanning quickly across the screen.

“Is this your update?” He asked but Tim was already shaking his head, pushing his own laptop towards the man.

Bruce’s eyes widened at the glitching sections of code. Tim nodded, satisfied he’d gotten Tim’s point.

“Tucker Foley wrote me a program so that I could access this ghost code. In half an hour. From scratch,” he added for emphasis, and yeah, he could already hear the lecture about “compromised tech”.

He tried to shut that one off too, pointing up at the screens.

“That? That’s apparently the work of a ghost. One called Technus, who likes to possess technology, and now Tucker and I are going through every line of the Watchtower’s code looking for changes.”

Bruce’s lips thinned to a tense line and he gave a short, harsh nod. He very obviously didn’t like it, but the presence of a bigger threat did wonders for calming him down.

Tim patted his laptop.

“We’re waiting on you to upgrade the batcomputer, but we’re gonna need to check every program on that too. Everything, Bruce. These ghosts could have been rewriting everything. And we’d never know if I hadn’t asked Tuck to help me with the Watchtower.”

Honestly, Tim was just hoping none of their rogues had made any ghostly connections. The implications made his head spin, but he stubbornly kept himself on track.

They needed Tucker’s help. Never mind that the ghosts themselves were reportedly allergic to subtlety and would always go big over going home; that was a tendency, not a guarantee.

Hell, if Tim had a say, he’d get Tucker’s upgrades for the ghost code, improved firewalls, and Danny’s ectoplasm into all his own gear by tomorrow.

He wasn’t going to, Bruce’s paranoia being what it was, but he was already uploading Tucker’s program to his suit’s wrist computer. It wasn’t like there’d be any hidden malware.

Tim had watched over his shoulder as Tucker wrote it, direct on the PDA. And watching him work had been… it was just…

He so rarely got to talk to anyone that was actually on his level. Rarer still that they weren’t a direct member of the family.

And Tucker, for all he currently had a tech advantage? He’d invented that advantage himself. All on his own, he was incredible. Maybe even better with some aspects of software than Tim himself.

The things they could do together… even the internship was pretty much a formality at this point. Just get Tuck through college and see if he’d accept a job at WE.

Hell, if he wanted to found his own company Tim would invest. That kind of brilliance deserved everything it needed to grow.

He had to wrench himself back to the present moment, the “introduce new genius to Batman” step still looming large, but honestly? Tim wasn’t worried. Bruce would see the potential.

Here and now Bruce’s gaze had gone distant, and Tim could easily have kept going, but he stayed quiet. Let the man absorb new information, stop and think.

And if he still wanted to make dumbass decisions, well, Tim could argue with him literally all night. They’d all picked up Bruce’s stubbornness too.

**

It was hard to focus on the screen through the throbbing of his head, the lights too bright even at their lowest setting. He’d checked.

Luckily, it was an issue he’d been dealing with for years, and Bruce pushed it aside with the resigned acceptance of long practice.

He’d pay for it later. That night of sleep was probably going to be a day of sleep at this rate, but he’d get at least six hours. More if Alfred caught him.

For now… Tim felt very strongly about this. Had good reason to, if he was even half right about the scope of the problem, or Tucker’s uses as a solution.

After hearing from one member of the Justice League Dark, Bruce was desperately hoping Tim was right. They sorely needed an ally, one they could trust to guide them through these dangerous waters.

Of course, Fenton and Foley were close. That may skew his judgement, but it could be accounted for. Wasn’t worth more than an ally whose skillset Bruce understood, and could trust.

Tucker Foley was a tech expert, which put him above any occult master in Bruce’s book. Magic had no rules, not that could be relied on, and Bruce wouldn’t touch it if he didn’t have to.

And Tucker’s tech would work with his own.

There’d be a review period of course. He’d have to meet Tucker himself, speak to him a little, get a sense of the man. See how far his opinions would be based in fact, not feeling.

Tim’s vouch was a good first step. As little as Bruce liked that Tim had brought an outsider down to the lab. And then let him use Tim’s computer.

And honestly, it certainly wasn’t Tim’s fault that Bruce hadn’t asked. He’d been lax, not checked properly, and it was that damned concussion slowing him down.

He needed sleep. His thinking was dangerously clouded. But one thing was always true: he trusted Tim’s judgement. Probably more than he trusted his own at the moment.

They could review the situation in the morning, come up with some suitable punishment and protocol to introduce new vigilantes to the cave (which they’d never needed, because other heroes usually came through the League and were already vetted).

A thought struck and Bruce almost smiled. It would be a fitting solution on three separate sides. Maybe the punishment would be easy after all.

“Alright. I’ll need to speak to Foley first. And you will be writing out fresh protocols to address when a new hero but not a league member can be introduced to the cave,” he added, and Tim groaned loudly.

Bruce ignored him. That was just the start of his troubles.

“You will also be responsible for running John Constantine through the full reporting system, and updating the training materials so this doesn’t happen again.” It was a weight off his shoulders, really.

And a fitting punishment, because Tim would definitely think twice before pulling this stunt again. The man himself threw both his hands into the air.

“What?! Bruce! You said you fixed it!” He whined, and Bruce resisted the urge to smile.

“And I fixed Amity Park. But I highly doubt this was his only error, so the two of you will have to review every case he’s reported on before you go back on patrol.”

It was probably several hundred since they’d had the new system alone. Tim groaned like Bruce was sucking the soul from his body.

Bruce levelled him with a stern look.

“I take the secrecy of the cave seriously, Red Robin. This will not happen again.”

“Because I’m gonna die of old age sitting at a desk with Constantine,” Tim grumbled, folding his arms and scowling.

It wasn’t even something he could write a program to fudge for him; every case would need Constantine’s personal input to be sure it was filed correctly.

Bruce was quite pleased with this solution. But he made sure to hide the smile from Tim, who wouldn’t appreciate it right now.

“Tucker Foley may end up working out for us all, but that’s no guarantee a future mistake won’t be fatal. And Tim…” even if it was a formality at this point, he had to ask. “Do you trust him?”

The answer was obvious, this was Tim’s personal laptop, this was the Bat Cave, and as expected Tim nodded immediately, the sulk from his punishment vanishing.

“He’s a good guy. He’s even made a clean set of Amity Park data you can look through until Danny fixes the batcomputer.”

Ah. And there was the problem. With a solution wrapped around it though, so Bruce focused on the cleaned set of data.

If Tucker was anything like Tim, it’d be extensive enough to keep him busy until the Justice League came to a decision.

Until he could speak to Danny. Speak to Jason.

He was so tired.

Bruce nodded, leaning back in his seat.

“Alright. Tucker Foley is exempted, but I need you and the others to stay away from the rest, and particularly Danny Fenton until the League has made a decision.”

It was just a little heart breaking watching Tim’s face fall from hope and happiness straight back into worry.

“But Bruce… he’s helping Jason with the pit, he might need to see him,” he argued, arms folding again.

Bruce shook his head. That was exactly what he was afraid of.

“I know… and I know how Jason feels about following orders. I’ll tell him myself, tonight.” Luckily he was still in the batsuit, if not the cowl.

Raising his wrist to his face, Bruce activated his secondary comm on the group channel. He’d turned both off when his children headed out, fully aware Oracle would override it if they needed him.

He didn’t need to be distracted by the noises of a normal night.

“Everyone, return to the cave before heading in please. There have been developments I need to update you on.” Nothing to worry them, but hopefully interesting enough that Jason would still drop in.

No talk of protocols or anything. No, that was Tim’s future.

Tim, who was looking at him oddly.

“Who told you Jason went out tonight?” He asked, and Bruce frowned. Looked up at the batcomputer, and realized that the tracker screen wasn’t open.

That could be a problem.

“Didn’t he?” He asked, really not looking forward to asking Dick to ask Jason to drop by tonight. If Jason was actually home, actually sleeping…

But Tim shook his head, that odd expression still on his face.

“He never said he would, but he called in after taking Danny home. He’s out with Black Bat,” Tim added, and Bruce frowned.

Why even bring it up if Jason was out? What did it matter?

Tim, clearly seeing and understanding his confusion, groaned and tugged at his hair.

“Bruce. Please, just… listen to me. Danny isn’t the threat here. He’s been nothing but helpful. He’s the one who picked up the ball when the League dropped it, who dealt with all the ghosts we can’t. He saved that town-”

“We don’t know that, Tim,” Bruce cut him off, shaking his head sharply. “We can’t take that risk.”

He could see Tim getting frustrated, temper flaring, and in an odd way, it made him feel better. Calm. In control.

“Bruce, you stubborn… so what? We just tell Jason to keep away from the only person who makes him feel better?” Tim asked sarcastically, and Bruce could see exactly how he’d missed the point.

This was what he’d have to watch for with Tucker Foley. But the technical advantages would be worth it.

“We don’t know that he’s making the pits better,” Bruce said darkly, and fuck it felt good to even voice the thought aloud.

Made it feel real, less like paranoia.

Tim gaped at him, but didn’t argue.

Bruce raised a hand, counting the points off on his fingers.

One.

“None of us heard anything about him a week ago. Not even a few days. Fenton has been here over a year and only just ran into Jason?” It wasn’t possible.

It didn’t make sense. Gotham was a large city, sure, but for two people apparently so closely linked? No.

A second finger rose.

“Danny himself claims that he is helping with the pits.”

“Jason agrees,” Tim cut in, clearly looking to break his train of thought. Bruce silenced him with a stern glare.

“Danny claims he is helping with the pits. Jason claims to have noticed the same thing, but we already know the pits affect his mind. He may not understand what’s being done to him.”

That? That made perfect sense. The pits had driven Jason into those uncontrollable rages, made him do things he’d never have wanted to.

Who was to say they couldn’t have a more subtle influence? More dangerous? More like Ra’s himself.

Even Tim couldn’t argue with that, and Bruce nodded his satisfaction at the boy’s silence, raising a third finger. This… he wasn’t looking forward to this one.

But its weight had been sitting in his chest since the possibility came up, and he didn’t want to hide anything from his boys. They deserved to know the risks.

No matter how much he’d rather protect them from it.

“The little f… Constantine believes there is a chance that even being close to Danny may have dangerous side effects for Jason, purely accidentally.”

Tim’s eyebrow rose at the aborted description, and Bruce was glad he’d clamped down on it. Couldn’t quite meet the boy’s eye as he continued to explain.

“Danny’s connection to… his death,” the words were hard to even speak, another child lost, “is what gives him his power. It’s strong, and may have radiating effects Danny doesn’t even know about.”

Because that was kind of the worst part. There was a chance that Danny truly meant everything he’d said in earnest. That he was Jason’s friend, wanted to protect him.

Wanted to help Jason come back to himself and be free of the pit rage. That they did truly care for each other, and wanted to make each other better.

And none of those good intentions would matter if Danny’s mere presence risked Jason’s soul.

He could see Tim realizing it too, eyes widening and the aggression slumping from his shoulders. But he’d decided to be honest.

Clear, open communication. They could try.

“The way Jason came back… we still don’t know how it happened, or why. But anything half living and half dead can have side effects on the world around them, especially for those who have already died.”

Danny might be here to take Jason away. Back to the dead.

He’d meant to say the words, to lay it bare, but in the end he choked on them. Couldn’t even face the thought.

Tomorrow. After he slept. If they still needed convincing, he’d try again tomorrow. Which did neatly bring them to point number four.

Steeling himself, Bruce shifted his gaze back to Tim, raising his pinky finger.

“And if you are right, if Danny really is helping… it’ll only be for a few days. I meet with the League tomorrow. Zatanna and Shazam will both be there to give their opinions.”

Suddenly Bruce just felt tired. Tired of arguing, trying to make people see things his way. All he wanted was a couple of days. Just to be sure. Just to be safe.

Tim raised an eyebrow again, shifting slowly to lean against the other chair.

“Then why will it be a few days? Why not tomorrow?” He asked cautiously and Bruce chuckled.

Of course Tim knew him well enough to know there would be something else.

“I’d like to talk to him myself first. Perhaps have them meet him directly. Just to be sure what his intentions are in the city.”

“And with Jason,” Tim put in flatly. Bruce just nodded. The boy was right.

“With the city and with Jason,” he agreed, looking back up at the large screens of the batcomputer.

Pulled up the location tracker for his bats and birds, watching their little trails of light run across the city. He wouldn’t let any of those lights wink out.

Tim sighed and shook his head, coming to lean against the back of Bruce’s chair instead. Not quite tall enough to rest his chin on the top of Bruce’s head, and not likely to grow much more at nineteen.

“I still think it’s a bad idea,” he said bluntly, eyes tracking the Red Hood dot in particular. “You’ll only push Jason further away by trying to control who he sees.”

Bruce shook his head, leaning back just a little more into the presence of his son.

“I don’t care if Jason hates me for the rest of his life, so long as it’s a long and healthy one,” he said softly, and Tim snorted.

Pushed away from the chair, and for a moment the distance ached.

“Yeah, well. When it blows up in your face, I told you so. Did you wanna see Tucker tonight or tomorrow?” He asked, and Bruce’s head snapped suddenly around, scanning the cave.

“He’s still here?”

**

Shaking his head, Tim made his way across the cave to the infirmary, pulling out his phone where Bruce couldn’t see it. He shot off a quick text, not looking down.

‘J. Don’t come back to cave. B has mega bitch face just let him cool down’

**

Across the city, the message flashed in the corner of Red Hood’s helmet visor. Groaning to himself, Hood kicked a goon’s gun into Gotham bay and waved to Black Bat.

“You good? I gotta send a text.” He called, deeply offending the eight goons still standing, armed with knives and fucking pipes, and tussling with Black Bat.

Which only got worse when she shot him a quick thumbs up, sat on a particularly tall goon’s shoulders before throwing herself back so far the guy toppled, twisting them in the air so she still somehow wound up on top.

Hood nodded, pulling out his phone one handed.

“Hey! You can’t just text! We’re not done!” A goon protested, rushing in at Red Hood.

Who pulled his gun and shot him in both kneecaps, sending him sprawling to the slick planks of the dock.

This was why he always took out their shooters first. Batman could preach hand to hand all he liked, it was way safer when the bad guys had holes in their hands and no guns.

“Anyone else?” Hood asked rhetorically, pointing the last gun on the dock at the remaining goons in turn. In unison, all six focused their attention solely on Black Bat.

Not because they thought they’d win, but well. She didn’t have a fucking gun.

“Yeah, thought so,” Hood grumbled, sending a quick message back to Tim.

Paused to take a picture when Black Bat actually got three heads at once into a leg lock, because that had to be a record.

‘Is it to do with your big fuck up?’ Cuz honestly, what else could B be pissed about?

The answer came back though, fast and weird.

‘As hard as I also find it to believe this, no. Magician’s got him all twisted around about Phantom. Wants to forbid us all from seeing him.’

The phone creaked in Jason’s grip as he read the last words, a low rumbling growl spilling from low in his chest.

The remaining standing goons whipped around and exchanged startled looks.

That. That definitely wasn’t fucking good. No way.

Black Bat took another to floor as they paused, and the last three fled. Didn’t quite make it to the door.

Jason didn’t notice until her hand landed gently on his shoulder, concern radiating off her. His head whipped round, and he was suddenly glad the full helmet covered his face.

Couldn’t see the way he fucking snarled at her.

Black Bat didn’t move, her head cocked to one side as she regarded him.

“Eyes. Glowing,” she told him carefully, reaching up to touch the side of his helmet.

Jason jerked back in shock, but he could already feel the green rushing away. Receding until his vision purely his own again.

He hadn’t even noticed the green haze.

Black Bat inspected him again, then nodded, going on tiptoes to pat him on top of the head.

“What’s wrong?”

Red Hood sucked in a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment to recenter. He’d never felt the rage come on that fast, from nothing to all consuming before he even felt it.

Even thinking of the messages made angry green tides again.

We will not be kept from the King!

And it was talking to him again. Lovely. Why couldn’t that part have been his imagination?

Shaking his head, he focused on Black Bat’s question instead.

“Just B bein’ an asshole again. I’m gonna pass on the cave tonight, tell him I went to bed.” It was about as much as he thought he could talk about it without screaming.

Almost forgot that Black Bat could read him too, her aura still soothing and open to him as she nodded. Rested a hand gently on his shoulder.

“Go now. Rest,” she told him firmly, turning back to the downed and groaning goons.

Red Hood hesitated, looking around the dock. It was getting early, nearly time to turn in anyway, and they were done here. Just a routine drug shipment.

The last lot too dense to be cowed by the mood on the streets, or counting on the hour to mean the bats went to bed. Cuz that went so well for them.

He nodded and moved to help her, flipping the biggest goon over and zip tying his wrists to his elbows, and then his ankles.

“After I help you wrap your presents,” he agreed, heard Black Bat let out a soft huff of laughter.

One of the still conscious goons shot him a glare.

“Y’could at least pretend to take us seriously,” she grumbled, then yelped as one of her fellow goons kicked her in the shins.

Clear message: do not push the crazy bat.

Red Hood snorted.

“I’ll take you seriously when you’ve fuckin’ earned it,” he told her, going for the next biggest body.

Black Bat could take every one of them out of the fight, but bagging and tagging a dead weight was much less fun for her. He could handle that part before turning in.

He had a big day tomorrow.

**

Private Chat: DannyP & TooFine

4:30am

‘TooFine: dude Tim just shoved me in a closet I don’t think Batman knows I’m here?????’

‘TooFine: dude’

‘TooFine: dude wake tf up I might need emergency evac 🚨🚨’

4:35am

‘TooFine: that fucking Constantine guy’s put a bug in Batman’s ass’

‘TooFine: told u we shoulda hunted him down 😤’

‘TooFine: and after all I did to help!! Ungrateful bat!!’

4:46am

‘TooFine: okay Batman fucking hates u specifically ur screwed 😳’

‘TooFine: I’m good tho 😇’

‘TooFine: I think he likes me now 😏’

‘TooFine: he wants all my sweet tech upgrades’

‘TooFine: they’re gonna let me play on the batcomputer!!! 😳😳😳’

5am

‘TooFine: u are missing vital updates bitch’

‘TooFine: he’s gonna fucking ground Jason from hanging out with u’

‘TooFine: AH SHIT HE KNOWS IM HERE ABORT ABORT ABORT’

8am

‘TooFine: u may have been right going to bed early man this shit sucks’

‘TooFine: didn’t even get to see what happened’

‘TooFine: they sent me to bed like a naughty child! 😤’

‘TooFine: I’m changing all his ring tones to Funky Town’

10:59am

‘DannyP: okay miette’

11:02am

‘HalfBitch: OKAY IM SORRY TUCKER AT LEAST TAKE THE MAGIC MIKE THEME OFF’

——————————

Next Chapter:

Tag List: @welcometosasakiworld @kyrianclawraith @someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones @starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost @akikkobara @rainbowbunny0159 @littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife @serasvictoria02 @wolfjackle @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf @anime-hipster-the-amazing @undead-essence @skitscratched @blackroserelina @snoodly-boop @trickerdi @mayoota-blog @xysidhe @idkmrpianoman @little-apricot-the-writer @chaoticmistake @the-legal-shipper @bun-fish @aroranorth-west @demon-cat-goes-woof @perfectwastelandcreation @onyxlightdragon @larks-and-katydids @peachesandcreamfemboy @jesus-camp-the-sequel @may-rbi @mothman-the-mothman87 @viyatrix @stargirl1331 @idfk-man10 @thedepressedrobin @skulld3mort-1fan @rootsmudge @ravenshadow17 @cankoking @phantom-dc @mentalcarebear @magic-pincushion @redamancyardor @lyra689 @itsparadoxlacuna @alcorbearson @asphyxia778

[raainy-daze]

the longest movie marathon

platonic!rottmnt x gn!reader

summary: after your snow day had gone to all hell thanks to ghostbear, a very alarming piece of information came to light: you had never seen a jupiter jim movie. not a single one. that just wouldn’t do. you know what that means - movie night! [set after s1e23b, snow day]

word count: 916

a/n: first real post! i’m not sure how i feel about the writing on this one, but i tried. i’m also still on mobile (i’m probably going to be on mobile for a while) so again, formatting might be messed up. hope someone enjoys this!

◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤

That morning, you had woken up to a fresh layer of snow over New York.

Needless to say, you were delighted. You were even more delighted when you received a text from Leo, asking to hang out with everyone at the park. You had a great time; you built a snowman, participated in a snowball fight, and the hot cocoa was great too!

Oh, and pro wrestling champion Ghostbear got mutated and attacked you, but that’s just a given.

However, throughout the day, the turtles and April kept arguing over movie rankings. Even Mayhem seemed to have an opinion (every time you saw him, that thing seemed more and more intelligent). It was pretty funny, actually. It all sounded so bizarre out of context. You thought they’d finally dropped it after freezing Ghostbear. You should’ve known better than that. Just as you were leaving, Leo made some comment, and it was back in full force.

“I’m sorry, but have you seen the special effects in JJ Sails the Seven Galaxies? It is absolutely HORRENDOUS-!”

“There is a REASON PV4 is the last Pluto Vacation!”

They’d been going on like this for nearly two blocks now. You were used to this sort of thing - hell, you were a part of this sort of thing when you understood the topic. The longer it went on, the more ridiculous the arguments got, and less comprehensible. You were starting to near your apartment, but they showed no signs of stopping.

“(Y/N)!”

“JEEZ-“ You stumbled, dropping the sled you’d been dragging behind you. You had not expected all of them to yell your name at once.

“You haven’t said anything-“

“All day!” Leo cut Donnie off. April jammed a hand over both of their mouths.

“You’re gonna settle this for us. Which is the better movie, Pluto Vacation 4-“

“- Or Sails the Seven Galaxies?” Raph finished.

There was a silence. They all stared, waiting for your reply.

“Dunno. I’ve never seen ‘em.”

“WHAT?!”

•°. *࿐

You’d gone years of your life without seeing even a single Jupiter Jim movie. According to the turtles, April, and (apparently) Mayhem, this was nothing less than a crime against sci-fi. Thus, movie night was scheduled.

One week later, you sat in the lair. Donnie was fiddling with the projector, which wasn’t turning on because Leo had unplugged it. You weren’t going to tell him that, of course. April was going over the ‘ground rules’ with you.

“Oh, and whatever you do, do NOT get attached to Planetary Percy, okay?”

“Why-“

“Don’t.”

The projection screen suddenly flickered to life. You turned around to see Donnie by the outlet, glaring at Leo.

“Gee. I wonder who could’ve done that.”

Watching the stare-off, you were just waiting for Donnie to throw something at him. Before that could occur, however, Mikey appeared from seemingly nowhere holding a pizza box.

“PIZZA! And plenty of other snacks waiting in the kitchen for whenever we’re ready!”

“Thanks, Mikey!” Everyone took a slice for themselves. Just as Leo was taking his, Donnie hit him in the back with a pillow.

“HEY-!”

Raph quickly snatched said pillow up from the ground and held it to his chest. You tuned the twins out and turned to Raph, who was sitting on the floor by the couch. “Where’s Splinter?”

“Oh, he doesn’t like Jupiter Jim. Lou Jitsu superiority, and all that.” Raph shrugged.

“Makes sense.”

“I still can’t believe you’ve never seen Jupiter Jim!” Mikey sat down next to you.

“Yeah, I mean, it seems like the kind of thing you’d be into.” April agreed. “Why’d you never watch it?”

You shrugged. “Spite.”

“Excuse me?”

“Spite. It’s like a game, seeing just how long you can go without it. It drives people insane, it’s funny.”

“You monster.”

“I know.” You grinned. “But I’ll watch it with you guys, if it’s really that important to you.”

“Aw, you do care about us!” You lightly kicked Raph’s arm.

“Are we going to start the movie or not?”

Within the next five minutes, Donnie finally got the very first Jupiter Jim movie set up. You were sandwiched in between April and Mikey, the latter of whom kept quoting lines as they were said. Every so often, Donnie would pipe up with some behind the scenes fun fact, or he’d explain some easter egg.

Jupiter Jim movies 1-3 was pretty decent as a trilogy.

Jupiter Jim: Pluto Vacation was mediocre.

Jupiter Jim Sails the Seven Seas was fantastic.

Jupiter Jim: Origins was fantastically bad.

You fell asleep during the holiday special - according to Leo, you didn’t really miss anything.

You spent all night watching every single movie in this ridiculously long franchise. You knew you’d regret it when you needed to do homework tomorrow, but in the moment, you had no regrets.

As the credits to Atomic Lass Returns rolled, you let out a long yawn. Everyone looked pretty tired - Mikey had fallen asleep on your shoulder three times already.

“And that’s the last one. Well, until May 23rd, when Atomic Lass Dies Again comes out,” Donnie announced.

You stretched, feeling a bone pop somewhere. “I’m pretty sure that was the longest movie marathon in my life.”

“Oh, probably.” April yawned. “But now that it’s over…”

Here we go again.

“Which is the best movie, (y/n)?”

What were you expecting, really? All eyes were on you, waiting for you to decide the fate of Jupiter Jim’s tier ranking.

“I like Invasion of the Squirrelanoids best, actually.”

“OH, COME O-“

[mintmoth]

OKAY I'm gonna do a big ask response here! There's a few I didn't grab which are mostly just people saying sweet things- to which honestly I can't thank you all enough 😭 it's so wild to me to see people enjoying my art so much

I'm gonna keep most of the replies under the cut since it's gonna get a bit long but I wanted to touch on this one real quick-

Absolutely anyone is free to use my art as an icon wherever! Just be sure to have something crediting somewhere and yeah absolutely go for it!

OH ALSO my submissions don't work on mobile for some reason? The formatting messes up I guess, but check out this awesome coloring!! I love how the layers of shading look 😭

LMAO okay so I've seen a good handful of older/mafia au designs for Floyd and Jade and a lot of them have either both of them with double sleeves or Floyd with sleeves and Jade with a back piece- though I've also seen somewhere both of them having one sleeve on the opposite side

Right now I'm just messing around so I don't have any official tattoo designs for either of them, but I do know I want Floyd with at LEAST the double sleeves, and Jade with some pieces he keeps hidden by mostly wearing business attire lmao

XBSISNK THANK YOU 😭😭 honestly drawing hair is one of my absolutley FAVORITE things to draw lmao, most of my ocs have long hair I just can't help it honestly

YES ABSOLUTLEY probably not too often but I could definitely see Azul going to bed and waking up to a very full bed lmao. Funnier yet because I think all three of them are the type to cling in their sleep when they have someone else beside them. They're just weird sea creatures used to small comfy spaces

I actually haven't thought about this! Honestly I think that would be really cool! Or even if he found that he had a specific shade range of color blindness as a human- though I could see Jade and Floyd taking advantage of that by doing something like giving him the wrong color shirt to wear that day or something lmao

Though you also reminded me! Eels also have terrible eyesight! So I've seen people both having the headcanon that the twins wear contacts, and also the headcanon that Azul needs glasses now because he did a deal to give part of his vision to both of them

Honestly it's really cool to think about! I don't know which headcanons here I like the most, but I love seeing them

Okay honestly I absolutley have to draw this because I LOVE this idea and part of why I'm answering this is to mentally catalogue that I need to draw this lmao

I also love this idea! Like at lunch, after classes before they go to work at the lounge, and after the lounge closes up for the night it just becomes the twins' gossip hour lmao

Because yeah they do spend a lot of time together, but they're still apart a lot, and there's no way they're not telling each other about all the nonsense they're getting up to once they meet back up

DBSISNSK DONT CRY LMAO I got a handful of questions about Niles I want to try to touch on here

Absolutley he wouldn't mind helping anyone set up games on their computer lmao, especially if it's a hard to get visual novel that he's a fan of because he's the type to want everyone to play and love the games he loves

He's definitely dropped hundreds of hours into "creature crossing" with one of those islands with tons of customization and cute shit, and his "island creatures" are mostly cats with a couple dogs and the pegasus LMAO

Also while he's not directly inspired by any specific character, since he's in Ignihyde he does have a little Greek mythos theming and has some inspiration from Eros, which is also why he's very "love" themed/romantic

OH MAN I'm actually not 100% sure which moray I think the twins would be, I'd have to look more into them specifically

But I did want to mention that my idiot self is tempted to make Yet Another Oc (though I probably won't post this one since I feel very oc heavy already) that's also a moray- but specifically a snowflake just because wow I want to make a design around the coloration they have 😭

ALSO!!! Regarding Eel Anon!

I wasn't able to screenshot everything you sent but it was absolutley fun hearing about the dorm idea you have!! I love hearing about new dorm concepts and I've seen a couple nightmare before christmas dorms so it's neat to see the different ideas people have! Also no way do Eri and Rika sound like knock offs of the twins lmao they both sound really fun and I like how they juxtapose one another- also how you have their whole family worked out??? It just reminded me I need to do some more backstory work for my group lmao but honestly it was really cool reading about them so don't even worry about long asks or anything!

[user9715467]

A/N: hi friends! Just posting this requested one-shot. Please read the warnings before you check it out. Also, apologies for the weird formatting. Posting from mobile. Please let me know what you think!

Warnings: mentions of mental illness, self-harm, depression. If you are triggered by any of this, please exercise care and caution; it’s okay if you need to skip this one. I love you and please be good to yourself.

Request: So like imagine yn being addicted to self harm like small cuts on the palm so that they don't really get to be show that much and like harry doesn't know about this. One day harry got a cramp on his hand, so yn was applying the ointment on his hand and massaging it without realizing that the ointment will sting on her palms. After applying she was wincing and wincing, which h noticed and like you can think from here.

——

“Honey, I’m home!” Harry called out in a sing-song greeting, letting his gym bag drop to the floor in a dramatic thud. He set his keys back on the key hanger and followed the candle scent into the bedroom to find his girlfriend.

Her ears perked up at the sound of his voice coming from the entryway. He’d been gone all day and she’d missed him.

“Hello, darlin’” Harry smiled as their eyes locked in the bedroom mirror. She was in front of it, going through her skincare and getting ready for bed. She’d changed the bedsheets, lit candles, turned off most of the lights, she looked cozy and it made Harry’s heart melt.

She turned around, reaching her head upwards as he bent down, meeting her halfway to get a quick kiss. “Missed you.” He mumbled into her lips.

“How was your day?” She asked as she returned her attention to her serums and lotions, smiling at Harry through the mirror.

“Oh it was great! I had a lot of fun and it was good seeing everyone. Did you have a good day too?” He was a sweaty mess after a long day of playing soccer - or as he liked to correct her: football- with his friends. His curls, still damp with sweat, were clipped back, he wore two layers of Nike gym shirts, and soccer shorts, his knee-high socks, once white, were now muddy and stained grey. But even in his post-workout mess, she thought he looked perfect, especially the way he was smiling. The activity had clearly done him good.

“So, who won?” She asked, rubbing her moisturizer in circular motions onto her face.

“We did, of course!" Harry was rambling on about how it was a close call by halftime and they almost tied with the other guys a couple of times. Reliving the highlights as he recounted them, he looked like an excited little kid, but she couldn’t help but notice something as she watched his hand gestures in the reflective glass. Everything he’d said after she caught the cut on his hand meant nothing to her.

“What’s that?” She said, frowning at his moving hand.

“What’s what? Oh! That? Well, I, uhm, kind of fell when we were playing. Landed on top of my own hand. It’s nothing serious though! Just a couple of bruises, some superficial scrapes. Doesn’t even hurt that bad.”

“Oh my god, Harry!” She shook her head, immediately leaping to her feet and abandoning her skin products. “Let me see that!” She took his hand in hers, turning it over and examining his injury.

Harry was no stranger to these kinds of injuries. The occasional overzealous gym session, cramps from getting back into playing the guitar after a long break, acrobatics onstage gone slightly wrong, he was accustomed to it by now, but he loved watching her fuss over him. The care and attention she always gave him made him feel loved and spoiled, so he wasn’t about to turn down an opportunity for her to look after him.

“Don’t worry, baby. It’ll be good as new in a few days.” He reassured her when he noticed her running her fingers over the injury and clicking her tongue in disapproval.

“Gotta be more careful, Harry.” She mumbled under her breath. “Don’t want you getting hurt….let’s get it cleaned up.”

Harry tried to protest but she had already made up her mind. She dragged him into their main bathroom, grabbing the first aid kit and his muscle sprain cream. Harry made a suggestive joke about “playing doctor” and wink at her. She pretended to be over it, rolling her eyes and warning him not to get any ideas, but she secretly loved his silly jokes.

She’d managed to successfully clean his scraped skin to prevent it from getting irritated or infected, now, she just needed to apply some antiseptic before bandaging it up and massaging his hand. Unfortunately, she got too caught up in being his nurse that, for a moment, she unthinkingly forgot to watch out for her own secret scars. The antiseptic from Harry’s hand was quickly revealing them. The contact with her skin sending a burning feeling throughout her arm. She kept a straight face at first, determined not to flinch, move her hand away, or let her face show any signs of pain so that Harry might remain in the dark. But the longer she fiddled with Harry’s hand, the more of the sterilizing fluid clung to her palm and the harder it was to hide her pain.

“B-baby? You alright?” Harry’s eyes watched her carefully.

Shit. He’d caught on to her wincing.

“Mhm.” She pretended to be clueless, keeping her eyes on his hand to avoid having to face him.

“Y/n? What’s wrong?” Harry persisted.

The closer he watched her, the faultier her act was. Finally, she withdrew her hand hissing in pain. “I-it’s nothing. Guess my skin’s cracked or something.” She bluffed, hoping he’d drop the subject.

Harry wasn’t buying it, though. Not when he literally just walked in on her lathering herself from head to toe with all kinds of skin products. He knew she took good care of herself. “Well, lemme see…” gently, it was his hand that was examining hers now. His face went white as a ghost when he saw the inside of her palm.

They stood there, in silence, for what felt like an eternity. She watched him look down at the scars, speechless. Eventually, she began to shake in his hands, knowing that the hiding was over. He knows now. Harry could obviously see and feel the trembling of her fingers, but he said nothing.

“B-baby? W-what’s, um, what’s all this?” She could tell from his voice that his question was just a courtesy he was giving her. He already knew the answer.

Even though she knew this is the moment that she’d been caught, some still desperate part of her persisted in her lies. She figured maybe his question was a way out of this conversation. He pretends not to know what he’s looking at, so she could pretend it’s not what he thinks, and this whole thing could be over. She said she’d just cut herself making dinner the other day, but Harry had more follow up questions. When was this? What was she doing? Where was he? Why didn’t she say anything? Those scars look deep. They look intentional. There’s more than one of them. The more holes he poked in her sorry excuse of a story, the harder it was to escape the inevitable. Finally, she broke down.

“I’m sorry, Harry, I’m so sorry….” She murmured through tears, her knees buckling underneath her, she dropped to the floor.

Without thinking, Harry immediately joined her on the bathroom floor, a hand on her shoulder.

He did his best to remain calm, but the truth is, a fire was burning in his chest. Even as he held her close, he couldn’t help but feel like they were oceans apart. How could he have been oblivious this whole time?! This had happened right under his nose. He had no idea how she was feeling, let alone what her feelings had led her to do to herself. This had had happened all the while they’d been going out with friends; she’d been visiting him at work; they’d been road-tripping across the country. Things were supposed to be fine. She was supposed to be okay. How come he couldn’t see it?!!

Harry knew his girlfriend had struggled. He knew her battle with depression was something that she’d dealt with all her life. Long before they’d ever met. She would occasionally even express not feeling great about herself, but, for the most part, whenever she confided in him, she spoke as if the worst of it had happened in the past. Like she was out of the woods now, things were better, more tolerable, manageable. She’d been evasive about the details, and he never pushed her to say more than she was comfortable with, not wanting her to relive those memories. He never imagined her feeling so in pain and so alone that she had to resort to hurting herself. Should he have pushed her to talk to him? Should he have said more? It was now dawning on him that, maybe in not asking her about it, he’d made himself unreachable. Given her the impression that she couldn’t talk to him. That, above all else, broke his heart. The idea that his girl could be laying right next to him every night, carrying such pain inside of her, while he slept soundly through the night.

He felt his own tears begin to spill, but he didn’t want to make this about HIS feelings. So he squeezed them tightly a few times and cleared his throat before finally speaking up.

“H-how long?”

She hated that question. It felt like he was interrogating her. Establishing a timeline of her crimes. Piecing together the details of her lies. She worried that if he knew, he’d be angry with her. Doubt her trust. “Does it matter?”

“Jus’ umm…not trying to make this about me, but..why- why? Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Say what? ‘Hey, honey, just a heads up, I’ve been feeling so out of control and miserable that I’ve cut myself a few times, no worries though, should be good soon?’”

“No, why? Why let yourself feel so awful to the point where you had to do that without telling me how you feel? I-“ he paused, realizing that his tone was more accusatory than comforting. That’s not how he ever thought he would speak to her. He took several deep breaths, running through his mind for things to say. For what he would like to hear his partner say if he were in her shoes. For something meaningful. Something other than platitudes like “I’m here for you” and “you’re so brave” and “talk to me.” But he came up short.

“Why, y/n?” He was openly crying now. “You’re so beautiful. And kind. And smart. And you work so hard, and so many people love you.”

She was shaking her head with every word he spoke.

“No. No, I’m not. That’s the thing, Harry!” Her voice broke. “I- this- it isn’t me! This person you’re describing! That’s not who I am. I don’t know who she is, but she isn’t me. I feel like I’ve lied to you! To everyone! Everyone thinks I’m this great person. I’m not! I desperately want to be. I want to be normal. I want to be good. I try. I try so hard to be the kind of person that everyone thinks I am, and I hate that I am not. I’m just not. Everyday that I’m not, I feel like I’ve let everyone down. That I’m gonna be caught. Found out. And once people realize what a mess I am, they’ll be afraid of me. YOU’LL be afraid of me.”

“Is- is that why you never said anything?” Harry was incredulous. The words coming out of her mouth seemed so outrageous. He sniffled, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand.

“I- I don’t wanna be a burden to anyone. Don’t wanna add to anyone’s problems.” She exhaled loudly, mustering up whatever remains of courage she had left to make it through this conversation. “Everyone has problems, Harry! Fuck, I know that more than anyone. I want to make people’s lives better, not worse.”

Harry turned to look at her through tearful eyes. This was the first time that they’d looked one another in the eyes since sitting on the floor. He could see, clearly, that she believed the words that she was uttering. Just when he thought his heart couldn’t possibly shatter anymore, he felt it break again. She looked so small, helpless, lost in her thoughts. He knew that this was bigger than him. He wasn’t going to be able to fix it. And he certainly wasn’t going to make it all go away with one conversation. But he needed to at least try.

“Baby, I- the fact that you would ever think your pain would be a burden to me breaks my heart.” He finally said, shaking his head and pulling her in for a hug. Kissing the top of her head, he whispered in her ear “I love you, y/n, so much.”

Hearing him confess his affection should’ve been comforting. Who doesn’t want to hear their partner tell them that they love them? To her, it felt like a stab in the heart. “But, I’m no good for you. Im so broken, it’s-“

“Don’t you dare say that! Don’t ever say that, okay? Those scars don’t change anything. You’re still you. Your pain doesn’t make you any less beautiful, any less smart, any less kind…you’re perfect.”

She broke down, sobbing into his chest, his clothes muffling her cries. She heard him, listened to his heart beating as he spoke the words, but she’d been so alone and so in pain for long enough to feel like this kind of love didn’t apply to her. She couldn’t wrap her mind around the acceptance that Harry was offering. She couldn’t even come up with an adequate response.

“I don’t know what to say.” She finally spoke when her cries had let up.

“You don’t have to say anything, baby. Just promise me you’ll talk to me.”

“Harry- you can’t-“

“I’m not trying to. I’m not trying to fix it. I just want you to know that you can come to me. You can tell me how you feel. You don’t have to pretend to be okay when you’re not. Not for my sake.”

“You…really want that? You won’t be disappointed?”

“Never. Never ever. Promise me? Please, y/n, promise you’ll talk to me.”

“Promise.”