#plus a bunch of people literally come and go

[bpdkangel]

atp im literally just abt to force myself to make flags everyday for both of my flag blogs

[thetangibleghost]

"give me a beer, a lullaby, and a word in my ear" -guy at a speed dating event in my dream

[deadsetobsessions]

Sea Cryptic! Danny AU- Pt. 7

[Pt.1] [Pt.2] [Pt.3] [Pt.4] [Pt.5] [Pt.6] [Pt.8] [Pt.9] [Pt.10]

“I’m having a child.”

Danny stared at Batman.

“…Uh, congrats?”

Batman whips out a stack of paper and a pen. “It’s you. Sign here and initial the highlighted spots.”

Danny instinctively, from years of dealing with Vlad, whacked the stack right out of Batman’s hands and into the bay. He doesn’t even feel bad about littering this time because, “Begone, fruitloop!”

Wait, no, that’s not what he meant.

“I mean- I have parents!”

“Not for long.” Batman muttered and then did a double take. “You have parents? How?”

Danny gasped, placing a hand on his chest to clutch his metaphorical pearls. He ignored Batman’s mutters. Everyone knows the vigilante has an adoption problem. At least, everyone who lived in Gotham did, as everyone who didn’t was somehow convinced that he “worked alone” or some bullshit like that. “Are you naturally this insensitive or were you dropped on your head as a baby? Obviously I had to come from somewhere.”

“They’re still… alive?”

“And kicking,” Danny said, inching away from yet another rich weird guy trying to adopt him. “Mostly the kicking part, though.” He said, remembering the sparring sessions. His mom could kick his as six ways to Sunday with nothing but jiu-jitsu and still have time to work in the lab.

“I see.”

“I’m charging you extra for the emotional upheaval. I have trauma regarding rich people trying to adopt me.”

Batman sullenly handed over a thousand.

“Sweet. There’s a group of shades down here asking if you could find their murderer. Apparently the serial killer is still at large.” Danny pointed.

“Of course. Tell me everything.”

The adoption papers disappeared as Batman went into detective mode.

Danny shoved the cash into his glowing chest and breathed a sigh of relief. He needed to make rent this month so it was a windfall running into Batman.

——

“Hey, Tim?”

Tim woke up from his Power Nap. “Huh?”

“Phantom’s complaining that Batman kept trying to adopt him.”

Tim blinked. “Uh.. what does that have to do with me?”

Danny stared at him, a patiently amused smile on his face. “Just in case the rumor about the Wayne’s sugar-daddy-into the Bats was a thing. Other than that, we might have to confront Batman to get him off of Phantom’s back. ”

“You… want to confront Batman.”

“Hey, man, Phantom’s a friend and it’s ride or die.” Danny snickered. It was literally die, with his Phantom side of things. He held two fists up, and wound them, like Popeye right after eating spinach or something. “And if Batman bothers Phantom, we ride at dawn.”

“Batman doesn’t come out unless it’s dark, though? Or for the Justice League.” Tim grinned. He mentally classified Danny under his “to go to” list. That’s where Bart, Bernard, Cassie, Kon, and Garfield were. If he starts shit, he could count on them to have his back and cause even more shit. Danny, wanting to fistfight Bruce over the man making Phantom uncomfortable? He absolutely is making that list.

“Then we ride at, like, dusk. Or uh, like 10PM. I gotta get my beauty sleep.”

“You’ll definitely need it,” Tim inconspicuously texted the group chat, which quickly blew up.

“Shut up,” Danny playfully shoved Tim. “Wait, can Batman even legally adopt? Isn’t being a vigilante illegal? And how can he adopt someone dead?”

Tim dramatically flailed and splayed over Danny’s carpeted living room. “Dunno about his identity,” he lied to Danny, like a liar. “But Gotham has a bunch of laws for the undead/restored to life people so there’s probably enough gray space there.”

Danny spluttered. “You guys have undead friendly laws?”

“Yeah, geht do you think Grundy just chills out? Plus, we have like a minor resurrection event every few years. It usually doesn’t stick but sometimes it does. Bruce pushed for those laws when Jason came back to life, except he doesn’t actually want people to know he’s like, alive.”

“Jason died?” Danny blinked. Well, that would explain the vibes. “Huh. So what’s up with his rank vibes then?”

“Rank vibes?” Tim pressed record on his phone.

Danny nodded. “Yeah, you know how Phantom’s got like a really chill green vibe?” Inwardly, Danny snickered at his pun. Chill. Yeah, he meant that very literally. “Jason’s got kind of a rank green vibe. He’s kind of stinky? Definitely never introduce him to Phantom.” Danny’s senses got worse in his ghost form.

“Jason regularly showers, though?!”

“Not smell! Like, a spiritual smell?”

“You can smell souls?!” Tim sat up. “Bro, you’re a meta?!”

“Uh.” Danny hesitated. “Yeah. I can smell souls. It’s a thing. Everyone from my town can do it.”

“What?!” Tim paused. “Wait, can Phantom smell souls?”

“Yeah. We’re, uh, from the same town.”

“Danny, what the fuck?”

“Hey, don’t look at me like that, you’re the one with a soul-sick brother! Not to mention, you’re kinda stinky too!”

“Hey!”

“Soul-stinky nerd man!”

——

“I stink?!” Jason spluttered out, extremely offended.

“The Lazarus pits. He’s most likely smelling traces of Lazarus pit on you, you imbecile.”

“We need to speak to Phantom. This instant.”

“I dunno, B. Danny sounded like he was gonna break your face if you bothered Phantom anymore.” Dick snickered.

“Yeah,” Tim chimed in, from his seat in front of the Bat-computer. “He was pretty serious.”

“Are we just gonna glaze over the fact that they’re from the same town?!” Stephanie exclaimed, practicing her moves on a training dummy.

“How does that even work? What does that mean? I thought Phantom was an immortal?” Duke asked.

“We also can’t rule out time-travel.” Barbara slammed her baton into a training dummy, twisting her wheelchair in an agile maneuver that left the dummy on the floor.

“No bothering Phantom.” Cass proclaimed.

“That’s quite right. You all have a warm dinner sitting above your cave and should it remain uneaten, I assure you that sherbet Sunday and crêpe Tuesday shall be canceled.” Alfred stepped in. The Bats, threatened, scrambled to ditch their gear and go upstairs.

[windyremedy]

NOT JUST A FANGIRL

pairing: bakugou katsuki x reader

scenario: your roommates finding out the hero in your posters, the one you seemingly clearly idolized so much was actually your man.

life in college was pretty tame aside from the occasional meltdowns on assignments, late nights studies for tests, pressuring presentations, and more than strict professors. plus the existential dread in addition to whatever else it may be but really it all came down to just getting it done and coasting through the days just like everybody else.

though in your opinion everything would have been ten times harder without your surfeit amount of dynamight posters on the wall, hanging mini explosion keychains on your bag, and chibi magnets of your boyfriend wearing a rather evil grin stuck on the fridge.

you were glad your roomies didn’t mind your obsession being splattered all over the place but you just couldn’t help it. anytime you came across any kind of merch of his whether it be official or not anywhere online or in physical stores you just had to get your hands on them no matter what. one of your favorites was even a derpy looking grenade one that definitely did not come out right from the factory, yet you kept it because he was so cute. so so cute.

so, yeah to them it only looked like you were a fan, a massive one at that of the great explosion god murder dynamight and well it’s true so you didn’t bother correcting them. though you should’ve added that he was also your boyfriend.

just to y’know save them from the hospitalizating whiplash of seeing the six foot, top five hero, villain fearing, three time champion in a row bachelor of the year and probably even more to be listed, sitting at their sofa that definitely was too small for the hulking hero’s figure.

“who are you?” he gruffly asked barely glancing at the two as his arms layed lax behind the soft cushioned seats, feet kicked back as if he owned the place.

“we live here??” one of them hesitantly answered, both feeling kinda interrogated as if they were the one’s stepping out of line.

before anyone could get another word you graciously popped up from the unlocked door.

“oh you guys are here?” you asked in surprise since they don’t usually end at this time.

but neither had answered you, too busy staring at something or rather someone. a blonde ruby eyed man named—

“kats!” you called out excitedly after seeing him rise up from his seat, still in his hero uniform.

“THAT’S KATS??!!” the stilled girl asked in shock as your other roomie physically left the earth as their ghost spiritually ascends to the heavens.

because damn all this time the “sweet” guy you’ve been yapping about was the infamous dynamight. the pro hero known for having an explosive attitude towards the paparazzi and actually quite literally everyone. they never realized that the guy you were always in a call with at some point in the day without fail was him of all people.

“he’s you’re boyfriend?!!!!” she queries in absolute confusion as you greeted bakugou who returns with his own bear hug.

“yeah!”

“you said he was cute!????”

“mhm!! isn’t he adorable?” you nodded with a smile.

she turned to check what you might be seeing, only to find him already staring at her in agitation like they were interrupting something precious and they should therefore cease to exist. in contrast to your beaming grin of unawareness.

“w-well we actually have to go somewhere.” she mumbled trying to reason a way out.

“what— but you just got here right? c’mon it’s perfect! you two can finally meet him.”

“no! no, it’s— the…uhhh our teacher just sent a message and she’s actually here today so we gotta head back!” she hurried nervously, viciously shaking her head and then spilling a bunch of other half baked excuses before dragging your other friend with her out as well since she was still passed out on the floor, quickly shutting the door with a slam.

“wow, she wasn’t even holding her phone. maybe she has two quirks right?” you joked as he leaned into your neck in agreement, letting out a satisfied hum from getting what he wanted.

however you thought he might’ve felt insulted so you reassured him patting his hair gently as the soft spikes puffed out from his gear.

“they really wanted to meet you though, promise.”

“s’ fine. only wanted you anyway.” he voiced, pushing his face deeper in your neck as you shyly leaned away slightly.

“that’s a bit…”

“don’t act all shy, I’ve been inside of you.”

“okay—“

©windyremedy

[wonderjanga]

combining people hitting on ace marvel with Billy having total control over the magical champion body, plus Billy having terrible conflict resolution skills on account of being a child and Solomon not having any answers regarding turning down someones affections. So if someone is hitting on marvel he escapes by acting like hes being attacked or cursed. The magical champion version of "uhh my shoes are untied... OVER THERE!" A person tries to kiss him and he just.

Marvel: *inching away from a lady who keeps coming near him and trying to kiss him*

Lady: “Oh you’re my hero!” *tries to kiss him again*

Marvel: *dodged and sees a nearby drain*

Billy then proceeded to do the only thing he could think of in that moment. Melt.

Marvel: “Ah… I’m melting! Ahhhhhh…” *terrible actor but is trying his best to sound like he’s in agony*

Lady: “Oh my God! Someone call an ambulance!”

Marvel: “NO no… no. Don’t do that.” *still melting and now trying to melt into the drain* “But yeah- Ah… I’m in so much pain!

Billy didn’t really like having to find a way out of the sewers. Nor did he like smelling like sewage after. But, it did get him out of that situation, so he’ll take it.

or

Marvel: *flying*

Lady: “Captain! Captain, could I have a word with you?”

Marvel: “Of course, miss! Is there a problem?”

Lady: “Not really.” *puts her hand on his chest and bats her lashes* “I just wanted to have a little chat-”

Marvel: *makes his own chest cave in away from her*

Lady: *stares for a solid sec* “OH MY GOD??”

She was absolutely horrified because she could literally hear his rib bones snap and he somehow didn’t flinch at all.

or

Marvel: *backed up against a wall in a lady’s apartment after he helped with a small house fire*

Lady: *tries to kiss him*

Marvel: *looks absolutely mortified and turns his head away*

The worst part in Billy’s opinion about that situation was that he couldn’t really escape. Like, he couldn’t let himself fly up because there was a roof and if he did, the rubble might fall on the lady and injure her. He can’t go down because they’re on the second story of a building and the rubble will land on the people down below. And he can’t go through a wall because there are other rooms full of people in the other rooms. So what does he do? He explodes. Literally. Not metaphorically.

Marvel: *literally lets his head explode into confetti*

Lady: *stares*

Marvel: *blindly feels around the room because he can’t see and stumbles over a bunch of stuff as he leaves*

He fell down the stairs multiple times, and ran into what he was pretty sure was a trash can. (He can’t be too sure considering he can’t hear or see) He ended up somehow getting to the street and wandering before a JL member came out of nowhere, was horrified, and made him sit down on a bench. As for how he knew it was a JL member, he literally let his hand palm their face so he could feel who it was. It was Flash. Anyways, he regrew his head.

Flash: *talking with someone on his comm* “Dude, I think Marvel was decapitated-”

JL member: *says something that Billy can’t hear*

Flash: “No, I don’t know how!

JL member: *says something else*

Flash: “No, he’s not dead. Somehow. He was walking around before I found him. I got him to sit down.”

Marvel: “Flash, who are you talking to?”

Flash: “Spooky.” *pauses and slowly looks over to him now registering Billy said something* “Wha- dude! You have head again!”

Marvel: “Yeah?”

Flash: “Jesus, man, you had me worried-” *looks back to his comm and speaks to it* “Cap just grew his head back.”

JL member(Now known as Batman): *says something else*

Flash: “I don’t know! It just grew back!”

Batman: *probably says something about how he expects a report or explanation or something*

Flash: “Yeah, yeah I’ll fill more details later.” *hangs up and looks over to Billy* “Dude. How did you get decapitated?” *sits down with him* “I thought you were supposed to be super durable like Supes.”

Marvel: “Oh uh… I blew my own head up.”

*silence*

Flash: “What?”

[autball]

No one wants to be lied to. When it comes from another adult, you feel betrayed. When it comes from your kids, you feel that PLUS a responsibility to make it stop ASAP, before it becomes a “thing” that reflects badly on you as a parent. 

But a lot of people are going about doing that all wrong. Lying is actually a normal developmental milestone that starts when kids realize they can know things that other people don’t. Lying is also often a stress response, meaning it’s a symptom of another problem and can even happen involuntarily.

BUT ALSO, some people, and Autistic and ADHD folks in particular, are being accused of lying when that’s not even what’s happening.

Neurodivergent people perceive the world differently. Y’know, because we’re literally wired differently. But I see people assuming their ND kids and partners are lying *all the time* instead of considering the possibility that our different wirings simply led to different perceptions.

Lying is when the person knows that what they're saying is not the truth. If a person truly believes that what they're saying, that their *own perception of the world,* is the truth, that's not really lying, is it?

And it’s not that Autistics and ADHDers are incapable of lying, of course, or that nothing should be done about it if lying truly does become a problem. You’re gonna wanna be sure that’s what you’re dealing with before you try to do anything about it, though.

You’re also gonna need to understand that it’s about more than “moral failing” and “bad character” if you don’t want to make it worse. Because what do you think is gonna happen when you heap a bunch of stress in the form of shame and punishment onto a person who is already struggling with lying as a stress behavior??

And so I present this list of possibilities to consider when your person’s version of events isn’t lining up with yours (or their teacher’s, or their sibling’s, or whomever else it may be).

Related note: If “inconsistencies in reporting” are coming from school, please keep in mind that teachers often don’t see everything that happened to your child with their own eyes (because their attention is pulled in many directions), and that bullies who will rile your kid up on purpose and then lie about what happened are an unfortunate reality for many ND kids. In other words, please don’t assume that your child is the one who has it wrong when their version of events differs from others’ without also considering the reliability/motivations of the other witnesses.

[milessunflowers]

Wow. Criminal law seems really hard. And to me, you seem magic. I can't cram, I actually need spaced out revision, it's a curse I tell you.

But anyway! May I humbly request a smau with Max Verstappen and male!snowboarder!reader who's won like a bunch of medals and trophies in multiple snowboarding categories and even a couple skiing ones just for fun (like he has a whole room full of them because there's so many and most of them are high level competitions too). But. BUT. He's actually more invested in model building. Models of what you might ask. Everything, everything from trains to animals to Buckingham Palace to people and even to entire skylines. He's really good at it too, they're all very realistic. He's the type of person to be like "OMG!!!! Just finished my model of the New York skyline!!!! Isn't it so pretty? (And I have this gold medal from the Olympics.)"

Thank you!

i know nothing abt snowboarding so hopefully this is how you saw it!

max verstappen x male!snowboarder!reader

synopsis: you would think you would show off your gold medals to the world, but no. you showed off the models you made together with your boyfriend

author's note: as stated above i know like nothing abt snowboarding so i kind of just used the pictures and vague descriptions. for this i used a lot of pictures of lego builds bc i fuck so heavy with legos and they look so cool. hope that's okay! it isn't very long bc im still not the best at smaus but hopefully you like it!

yourusername

❤️ 75.7k 💬 55.4k ➣ 43.2k

liked by lego and others

yourusername guys guys guys guys guys. look at my legos!! aren't they so pretty

view all comments...

lego i think this guy likes legos ╰┈➤yourusername does this mean we're friends now?

user1 i forget he's literally an olympic gold medalist and not just some lego freak 😭 ❤️ liked by the author

user2 this is the same guy who is srsly incredible at snowboarding? the same guy who is dating max verstappen, four time world champion?? THE SAME GUY WHO HAS LIKE TWO GOLD MEDALS??? ╰┈➤maxverstappen1 three medals* ╰┈➤user2 my bad dawg 😭

user3 bro i need y/n's wallet ╰┈➤user4 max's* ╰┈➤youruser user4 nah he's my sugar baby maxverstappen1 ╰┈➤redbullracing can confirm

maxverstappen1 schatje, where are you going to put those? ╰┈➤yourusername i put more of your trophies in storage 😇 ╰┈➤maxverstappen1 wow. ╰┈➤user5 how many times has this happened ╰┈➤maxverstappen1 too many 😔

maxverstappen1

❤️ 127k 💬 1,287 ➣ 9,567

liked by yourusername and others

maxverstappen1 remember guys, he's a gold medalist and not an overgrown child

tagged yourusername

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yourusername well i would hope im not a child that would be weird 🤨 ╰┈➤maxverstappen1 you're the worst 🤦🏼‍♂️ ╰┈➤yourusername but you love me 😘 ╰┈➤maxverstappen1 unfortunately 🫶🏻💙

oscarpiastri when can we build more legos yourusername ╰┈➤yourusername bring logansargeant and some food and we can build some today ╰┈➤maxverstappen1 seriously?? didn't they just come over?? ╰┈➤yourusername shh maxverstappen1 ╰┈➤logansargeant yeah maxverstappen1 shhh ╰┈➤oscarpiastri plus we're already on our way ╰┈➤maxverstappen1 i give up

user6 i love how y/n is best friends with oscar and logan

user7 if my relationship isn't like max and y/n's, i don't want it ╰┈➤user8 but that means you gotta get a bf first

user9 they're so cute together oml 🥹

yourusername posted a story

convinced maxverstappen1 to build legos with me 🥰

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oscarpiastri how much did it take? ➾yourusername three hours of playing on the sim with him 😔 ➾oscarpiastri good luck man 🫡 ➾yourusername ty 😔

lando holy fuck you actually did it ➾yourusername just as surprising to me

user10 LEGO DATE NIGHT!!!

user11 max is gonna have to make more room on his shelves

user12 stop this is so cute 🥹

maxverstappen1

❤️ 263k 💬 5,490 ➣ 3,421

liked by redbullracing

maxverstappen1 🏂

tagged yourusername

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yourusername that's it?? just 🏂?? for our two year anniversary?? couch ╰┈➤user13 did we just witness max getting banished to the couch? ╰┈➤lando this has got to be worth fifteen lego sets ╰┈➤yourusername AT LEAST FIFTEEN ╰┈➤maxverstappen1 okay 😔

danielricciardo yeah bro, you're in the dog house now ╰┈➤maxverstappen1 help? ╰┈➤danielricciardo nah mate you're on your own

user14 max just gave up oml 😭 ╰┈➤user15 y/n's the same way omg ╰┈➤user16 they know when not to mess with their boyfriend 🤷‍♂️ ╰┈➤user17 they're just too cute

user18 user19 take notes ╰┈➤user19 yes ma'am

user20 oh max is cooked 😭 ❤️ like by yourusername ╰┈➤user21 NOT Y/N LIKKNG THIS

yourusername still love you tho 🫶🏻 ╰┈➤oscarpiastri wonder why 🤔 ╰┈➤yourusername i mean have you seen those thighs 😍😩 ╰┈➤maxverstappen1 love you too ╰┈➤lando yourusername stop being horny on main ╰┈➤yourusername lando stop being jealous of main ✋️🙄

TAGS! (if you want to be added lmk!)

@op-81-lvr-reblogs, @koalapastries, @justaf1girl, @ghostking4m, @spoonfulofmilo, @seonghwaexile, @alex-wotton

[sabertoothwalrus]

I'm going to think out loud about the dungeon meshi ages for a sec

I'm going to preface this by saying that this is based on my existing knowledge, and fact checking is difficult because there is A LOT of contentious research out there.

First of all, I think a lot of people come at this from a modern lens, forgetting the context that this is fantasy medieval era. this is fiction. on top of that, this is specifically Ryoko Kui's understanding of medieval era aging. plus fantasy. So before anyone comes at me with a bunch of 'ermmmm actualy's just consider that I don't really care and also it might not matter in this context lol

as far as the "age of maturity" assigned for each race, something I don't see many people talk about is that "teenagers" are a fairly recent concept. For a long time, you were either considered A Kid or Not A Kid. but this doesn't necessarily mean kids were more/less developed then, just our cultural expectations for certain age groups have changed.

Laios says the age of maturity for tallmen is 16. I don't think that means 16 year olds in the dungeon meshi universe are necessarily "more mature" than modern 16 year olds, but moreso that they have more responsibilities. However, things like medicine, smoking, drinking, sun exposure, physical activity, etc all affect age, so it's possible that developmentally they're closer to modern 18 year olds? Izutsumi is 17 (less than two weeks from turning 18, actually), and very much acts like a modern 17 year old.

The age of maturity for half-foots is 14. Chilchuck was 13 when he got married and had his first two children. Even though, at age 29, he's the equivalent of a modern 50 year old, I don't think he was That much more developed at 13 than a tallman. I think if half-foot 14 is equal to tallman 16, then Chilchuck was Pretty Damn Young for a parent LMAO. Even if you're generous and say tallman 16 is a modern 18, he still would've been younger than that.

The long-lived races are interesting. Marcille is obviously a unique case, and not a lot of this applies to her. We do know what Senshi was like as a minor (miner, lol), and he seemed like a modern 15ish, considering he was 36 and dwarf maturity is 40. I think it'd be really interesting to delve into how a culture functions with people being developmentally adolescent for soooooo long. Imagine middle school lasting 20 years. that would fucking suck. I suppose it makes sense why long-lived races are so patronizing.

Moving onto lifespans, I want to emphasize that they're average lifespans. Even in the manga, they say some half-foots live to 100, it's just rare. So it's less that a tallman 60 year old is "older" than a modern 60 year old, it's that it's easier to keep people alive for longer nowadays. Modern medicine is a BIG contributor. Dental health as well, considering how much your health is affected by your diet (and how much the action of chewing alone aids in digestion). Curious to know what the FUCK elven dentistry is like.

It also makes me wonder if half-foots would have a longer average lifespan if they weren't like, used for bait and treated so poorly, but half-foot 29 does seem to be middle-aged for half-foots. so who knows!

In that vein, I don't know if I can see Mithrun quite making it to 400 😬 like, his experience as a dungeon lord took a lot out of him quite literally, and he's doing exceptionally well despite it! I imagine he'd eventually start to develop a lot of heart problems if he doesn't have them already. Perhaps early-onset dementia. His memory seems still quite intact (he corrects Kabru on his story's accuracy) and he doesn't act like, lobotomized. He doesn't seem forgetful or confused, and he has a sense of humor/sarcasm still. It's mostly his task initiation that's been affected.

I almost want to say that mana affinity could affect long-lived races' lifespans, except dwarves have very poor tolerance for mana, so it's probably not that.

okay anyway I didn't really have a point to this post so I'm just gonna end my rambling here

[radiance1]

De-aged Mothboy Dannyo.

Except this time, he isn't in Jump City and Killer Moth is sadly not his kidnapper turned parent.

Instead, he's in Gotham.

He doesn't really do anything in the City of Crime. To everyone else, he's just a street kid who was unfortunate enough to be abandoned because of his meta status.

Danny's little home is literally a dumpster in an abandoned alleyway that he cleared out of all the trash. He has a mat that he uses as a makeshift bed, and a corner where he stores all his pretty little marbles he gets from dumpster diving, as well as an old backpack he found somewhere to hold all his other stuff.

He did use another Dumpster to expand his little home though, he doesn't know what he'll do with all the extra space really, but he'll find a use for it, probably.

The use was pulling in a bunch of other soft (enough) mats that he managed to find, filling the extra space with all of that, and then laying down on all of it in joy.

How did he make said Dumpster extra space? Simple, he just tore off one of the walls, and stuck them together with a drill and a few nails he managed to buy with his limited amount of money.

Danny... doesn't remember a whole lot. He remembers red, people in white, people who he thinks he knew laying so still. He doesn't try to remember any more than that, it usually hurts.

So, he's just one little kid trying to live his life in the City of Crime. He usually tries to stay away from any gang-controlled area, he couldn't do it all of the time, but he managed good enough. He meets some other street kids, and tries to make friends, but they aren't very receptive to his efforts.

So what does he do?

Bribery!

He has enough money to buy some snacks and stuff, and he does pay for it, no matter how cashier looks at him as if he were going to steal something, to be fair she does that to everyone but still! He's a law-abiding street kid!

Bribery worked very well! The first few times it wasn't anything too special, but after that, they decided that he was one of them now! They tell him stuff about the various gangs and stuff, which ones to avoid, and which area to not go towards because of one incident or another.

They also helped him that one time when he was chased by some really mean people who wanted to take him somewhere and apparently sell him? He didn't wanna hurt them, so he was trying to lose them and go back home, so that he could then get off those weird cuff thingies they put on his lower set of arms that made him feel a strange disconnect for some reason.

So he was running, didn't expect for one of them to have a gun, tried to evade the bullets, one hit him in the leg, then another in his other one, and he hit the pavement. Then they caught up and put some cloth to his face and he started to feel loopy and really tired.

Before he fell unconscious, he heard a loud smack. Then he was woke up to his friends, those weird cuffs gone, his legs having been bandaged and a really nice bed.

So he thanked his friends, and went back home. He gave them each their favorite snacks for their help!

About a month after that, he meets this really kind old guy that he helps carry stuff to his car, he took most of it, puffing out his chest and saying he's got this because he's really, really strong. Then the old guy invited him to come with him for a thank you dinner.

His friends told him not to accept any suspicious offers from strangers, but he helped the guy and he just wants to say thank you. Plus, food.

So he says yes.

He didn't know the old guy- no Alfred, had a giant mansion! His jaw-dropped, awestruck face practically showed what he felt. He then looked at himself, back at the mansion, and almost didn't wanna step in because he's afraid he might dirty it, before being gently pushed inside by Alfred.

[hiroyildiz]

One Piece but Luffy is flirty as fuck.

This boy was raised on a bar until he was seven. He spend most of his time with Shanks in said bar and idolized that man. He heard so many things.

Then he was sent to live with literal bandits and I'll be damned if those dumbasses never tried to rip off rich assholes by schmoozing em.

There is also Ace and Sabo. These three tricked restaurants into believing they were an adult man. I can't imagine Ace not taking the role a little too far and flirting with waiters. Sabo was raised rich and he never grew out of that gentelmanly passive aggressive flirtation tactics that work on rich women, whick consisted of body language and small touches on the hands, shoulders and hair. After Sabo's incident it was only two of them Luffy would sweet talk people to distract them as Ace piled up dishes from the kitchen.

Worst thing is, he doesn't even know he is doing it. He is constantly using words like: love, honey, sugar, sweetheart, etc... and his crew just gets used to it along with pecks on the cheek and pats on their shoulders, arms, cheeks, legs... They know he doesn't mean anything bad by it but their first meeting were awkward at best.

Luffy: All this heat must be getting to your pretty head, what about you come with me sugar and sail the seas?

Zoro *thinking*: I will kill this guy.

-after all the fiasco-

Luffy: What do you say, love? Ready to go?

Zoro *thinking*: Wtf? I'm... gay?

Zoro: Aye aye, captain.

Luffy *twirling a lock of Nami's hair on his fingers*: You know stealing is bad, kitten.

Nami: Listen here you fuck-

Luffy: I knew your daddy, he was a nice guy, very handsome, just like you.

Nami, Usopp: WTF MAN???

(Zoro is getting the hang of Luffy-ism at the time so he doesn't outwardly react but still feels the shiver)

Luffy: All Blue can have all the fish at the sea, if only I get to keep you, darlin'.

Sanji *panicking bc some weirdo is flirting w him*: Nu-uh. I'm into women. Go away. Go. Just go!

Luffy: *Only ever addresses Vivi as Princess*

Luffy: The real monster is my heart, can't you hear it roaring?

Chopper *a doctor*: What do YOU MEAN YOUR HEART IS ROARING?!

Luffy: Sure u can stay Mama.

Robin: *morbidly curious and entertained*

Luffy: Wow, look at those guns, baby.

Franky: *too dense to know what flirting look like*

Franky: I know right. They are SUPER.

Brook: I can't feel anything. Why? Because I'm all bones and no skin! Yohohohoho!

Luffy: Does that mean you can't feel my love for you?🥺

Brook *panicked*: Of course I feel it! Deep in my bones! Yohohohohoho...

Luffy: You can have my heart mr. tall, dark and handsome.

Law * Slightly suspicious*: No thanks.

Luffy: U sure, sweetheart? It beats for u. *Wink wink*

Law *100% suspicious*: U-huh.

Luffy *At Wano*: Kids! Daddy is back!

Crew: *Cheers*

Jimbe *Resigned after Impel Down plus Marinefors plus Mermaid Island*: Yeah kids, daddy's home!

Everyone is mortified. Straw Hats are the flirtiest bunch u will ever meet. And Shanks doesn't even know what he has created.

[yeokii]

excuse me.. do you have a tutorial on how you make the banners of your themes?

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀• GFX TUTORIAL !

honestly a bunch of people asked me how to make banners like I do, but chat im gna be fr there's no set tutorial because if u check some of my headers, they're quite different! but ill try to explain my process heh

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝒇 . how to make banners !

⠀⠀⠀₊˚ thank u anon for asking!! if anyone wants to make banners like these, hopefully this tutorial will help u!!

⠀⠀resources 𝑖𝑖.　 pinterest

i usually use pinterest for overlays and pngs like these u can check some of them out here in my pinterest or just type up gfx overlays and itll show up!

for pictures of idols when I make smau headers or navi headers, I recommend choosing photos that match!! In most cases, I use photoshoots of the idol I chose. for example if it was jake, I would use something like this!

⠀⠀inspo 𝑖𝑖.　 pinterest

most of my header ideas come from pinterest! they have many gfx edits on there and its very helpful if u don't have a solid image on what u want! you can check out my pinterest once again for some ideas ( here are some I found on pinterest )

another important thing is to have a matching colour scheme!!! guys im telling u thats literally what brings it together!! STICK TO THE COLOUR SCHEME like genuinely imagine ur colour scheme is like white pink and yellow and u go ahead and put like a blue png on there. executed on the spot.

take a look at the pictures above, they have a matching colour scheme that compliments the edit! pro tip if u have a concept on what u want ur header to be ( for example grunge ) use colour schemes that match the concept ( so for grunge you would use for example red black and grey )

⠀⠀software. 𝑖𝑖.　photoshop, procreate, ibis paint

now this is the part where u have to actually make it. I reccomeed ibis paint ( guys have u seen soov headers ) cuz its lowk mad easy to make stuff on there plus its free, but personally for me I would choose either photoshop and procreate ( I moved on from procreate to photoshop cuz the quality on procreate was buttcheeks ) icl I got photoshop for free ( @aewon my goat thank u ) and it took me like a few tries to get the hang of it ( okay I lied I made the gigi header on the first try ) BUT Its really easy honestly its just the system that looks intimidating.

　　　　　⎯⎯ anyways here are some things I like to add on my headers based on what I have already made

( shapes ) guys the rectangle shapes thing with a gradient in it always does it for me. they fill up spaces u dont know what to add in really easily. just put some text over it and align it and call it a day LMFAOOO

( pngs ) okay hear me out, pngs but only ones that FIT the concept. say ur making a game themed banner, I would put either pixel pngs or those cute game consoles yk!! I wouldn't slap a postcard onto it, that wouldn't fit the vibe

( texts ) the go to fonts I use is coolvetica, la graziela demo and retro gaming. honestly these fonts fit literally almost any concept!!! its lowk fire! something I like to do is use my cursive font ( la graziela demo ) and type one letter and zoom it in. it looks really cute trust!!

( effects ) guys pixelate effect is literally my bsf cuz why do I use it in everything!!! it literally is so perfect I use it in EVERYTHING! guys trust it brings it together so well!! especially when its like blending in to the unpixelated area! another effect I love to use is grain! chat I basically use it for everything. genuinely its like going out without any setting spray on like TF!! add ur grain, it makes it look so much more expensive ( but not that much, it just has to be really subtle )

( overlays ) okay this again! but these overlays are some I use for quite literally anything ( u can see it if u zoom hard enough ) but add them in the right places and put the blending mode on lighten and ur good to go!!

⠀⠀results 𝑖𝑖.　the finished product

well, if u have enough practice and a creative mind, it should look something like this!!

guys this was lowk so fun!! hope this helped u guys I literally pulled out every header I made lmfao 💭 lmk if u want one on how to make themes heh

[ckret2]

I've been thinking about Ford's shockingly poorly-timed "Grammar, Stanley" comment, and I've got a take on it I haven't seen go by:

Most folks I've seen think Ford's decision to pick on Stan's grammar comes from being coldly aloof and oblivious to Stan's mood. I think it's the opposite. I think he was keenly aware of the situation and too angry to think straight.

From the moment Ford was unfrozen, here's every single thing Stan said:

[coldly/sarcastically] Hey, good to see you too, bro. Now let's get outta here, huh?

Drawing a circle on the floor. Well, he's lost his mind.

You realize this is a bunch of hogwash, right? You really think some caveman graffiti is gonna stop that monster?

Whoa. Hey. I'm not the enemy here, people. Don't forget who literally created the end of the world.

Fine. Just do one thing. Say "thank you." [From Ford's perspective, Stan's holding the safety of the universe hostage to make him apologize, and in front of a bunch of other people who have just been dragged into their family mess]

I spent thirty years trying to bring you back into this dimension and you still haven't thanked me! You want me to shake your hand? Say "thank you."

Now, see. Between me and him, I'm not always the bad twin.

Every single thing out of Stan's mouth is either subtly snide, or a blatant insult. Ford's just been through literal torture, is trying to save the universe, already feels like this is all his fault, is trying to get his grumpy brother to cooperate—and he's just getting jab after jab after jab. He's called insane, stupid, the bad twin, the enemy, and he's forced to thank the man who just said all this.

By that point, Ford was probably as angry as Stan. He didn't care about his grammar; he wanted to knock his dentures out. A passive-aggressive swing at his grammar was Ford trying to restrain his seething rage while letting just a little of the pressure whistle out like a tea kettle. Sure, it was petty and very counter productive; but it wasn't out of nowhere. He couldn't get into it with Stan over the "bad twin" comment, so he aimed his snark at another part of the sentence.

This is a furious brother suppressing his urge to commit homicide by channeling it through his grade school know-it-all instincts. … and, in the process, accidentally inspiring the other furious brother to commit homicide.

(Plus picking on your brother's grammar during the apocalypse is such a deliberately annoying sibling thing to do.)

[fallen-w1ngs]

'' flower shop of feelings ,,

[ 03 : distractions ]

|| pairing : james "bucky" barnes x florist!reader

|| warning : very VERY brief encounter with a gun , mission but barely talked abt

|| wc : 2.5k

The next couple of weeks went by like normal, or as normal as they coule. Both you and Bucky would text each other, sending small ‘good morning!’ texts as well as ‘goodnight’ ones. It made Bucky act as if he was a highschooler again, his heart all giddy every time a notification popped up on his phone- sure, he didn’t have a phone back when he was a teen but hush.

He really did enjoy texting you, it was definitely the highlight of his day.. But the more you texted, the more.. Attached, he's grown? Didn’t help that you’d both go out for coffee at least once a week. It was harder to hide himself from you, hide the fact he was living in the Avengers Tower, that he was.. Well, seen as the Winter Soldier.

You were just so sweet. Kind. He couldn’t tell you, his past was a literal nightmare. He’d done terrible things and-

“Hey, soldat, Steve, Sam and I are going to a museum, wanna join?”

“Why would I wanna go to a museum?”

“Maybe ‘cause you’re ancient,” Natasha snickered before shaking her head. “We’re going there ‘cause we got a tip that somethings going to go down. Might be big, wanna join?”

As much as Bucky wanted to say no and just lock himself in his room, he knew Steve would just try to drag him out. So, instead of fighting it, he nodded and sat up. Plus, maybe this could distract him from you.

–

In some “undercover” clothes, the four of them were walking around a museum, one that showed off arts and sculptures. Maybe in another life, Bucky would’ve found it interesting. But, they were just pretending to be enamored by the statuettes. No, they were on guard due to the fact they had gotten a warning from anonymous that some suspicious activity was going to go down. It could be some sort of drop-off of a weapon, magic shit, or maybe just stealing some art. Who knows?

Bucky stood besides Sam as they stared at some giant piece of art, it was a painting. A really well done one, actually. Oil painting of some sort of landscape with a bunch of people, the colors matched, the composition was wonderful, and the story behind it was deep.

“Think something’s actually gonna happen today, or just bad intel?” Sam kept his eyes ahead, as if analyzing the art in front of him.

“.. 10 bucks says something’s going to happen”

“10 bucks says it’s bad intel, I mean c’mon, it’s a Wednesday”

“What’s so not important about a Wednesday?”

“Why couldn’t it be on a Friday?”

“Maybe the bad guys were busy on Friday.”

Sam raised an eyebrow and just rolled his shoulder. “I’m gonna go over down the hall, check out the statues and make sure nothing’s going down.”

Bucky nodded and went back to looking up at the painting. Admiring the bumps and parts of the painting where the paint seemed to clump. Real pretty.

He turned from the painting and went the opposite direction of Sam. But the second he started to walk, he froze. Either this is a terrible coincidence or God wants to mess with him. Standing a few feet away from him was you. Shit shit shit! He can't be distracted by you. In a small panic, Bucky started to walk back, a few steps before he turned around and bumped into something.

Shit, all that ‘training’ went to shit, he bumped into a trashcan. Making a loud clatter noise, drawing everyone's attention, including yours. Now where was Sam in all this? That bitch was recording everything.

“James?”

Shit.

He turned slowly around, tugging at his hood and hiding his forehead. “Hey, [Name]..”

You just giggled at the strange coincidence that Bucky was here. In fact, you didn’t even mean to come to the museum today, a buddy of yours that worked there invited you to go, and since you didn’t have to open up shop today, you agreed! Funny how fate works! “What’re you doing here? You here with a friend?” You glanced around, it didn't seem anyone claimed to have gone along with Bucky.

“Admiring the art.” He let go of his hood before pushing his hands into his pockets. He couldn’t say that he was actually on some Avenger mission. You still didn’t know he was the Winter Soldier. And he wanted to keep it that way.. “What’re you doing here?”

“My friend just invited me, she works here, kinda just spur of the moment!” You scratched the back of your head as you looked up at the painting in front of you. “Plus, I didn’t have to open shop today.. Kinda a free day today.”

Bucky nodded and shifted in his spot. His eyes darted from you and back to the painting, just because the two of you have been texting for the last month didn’t mean he knew how to talk to you like a normal person. I mean, he was a good speaker back then right? He could.. He could try to act like that again, right?

“Hey! Since you’re alone.. And I’m alone, wanna.. Be alone together?” You shrugged, shifting your weight from your toes to your heels. Rocking front to back as you asked. “As cheesy as that is.”

The super soldier besides you looked over your face for a brief moment before looking around the hall. Looking for Sam, who was currently pretending to be interested in some sort of old statue. Bucky was sure he’s going to ask about who you were later, God, he’ll need to make up a lie.. That’s not even what he should be worried about, he should be worried about the damn mission they were on!

Your eyes softened as you looked up at his nervousness. Bucky was an.. Awkward person, but it was part of his charm, that’s why you like him. “Or, I could walk away, meet you back up later, and then pretend it’s a coincidence?” You cracked a small smile and kept your eyes on him.

Thankfully, the small joke you made seemed to make him visibly less like he’s about to explode on the spot. He gave a short nod before turning away and walked off. You didn’t mind, he was his own person, and you were yours, but man would it have been fun to be with him instead of alone.

–

The time passed by quickly, every other exhibit, you’d find yourself in the middle of a conversation with James. Though, he seemed to be on guard more and more each ‘coincident meeting.’ Again, you didn’t mind.

“Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s wonderful people are trying to be more- communicative with their mistakes with their partners, but seriously, I’ve gotten like 15 customers this week who wanted to buy a basic rose bouquet as a sorry present!” You tugged at your hair as you complained about work. Bucky didn’t mind, though, he’d rather listen to your voice than his. “I swear, if I get one more customer ask what’s the best type of flowers for apologizing to their partners for sleeping with their best friend, I’m gonna lose it!”

“It’s that common?”

“Uh, yeah, people are such assholes nowadays, can’t find a decent person to date, y’get desperate, then yeesh! You’re stuck with some asshole!” You waved your hand in the air as you brushed what you said aside. Truth be told, you hadn’t gotten into a relationship in the past.. Maybe 2 years? Even then, it was always casual. “That’s why I–”

RING! RING! EMERGENCY! EVACUATE TO THE NEAREST EXITS!

The blaring alarms cut you off as red lights danced in your vision. There were people screaming and guns firing, it seemed something bad did happen, and Sam owed Bucky 10 bucks. Bucky’s eyes darted towards the sound of the gunshots and started to run towards it, only to be tugged by your hand. Your eyes wide with worry and confusion as to why the hell your friend James was running towards the danger!

“James! What’re you doing?! C’mon, we hafta go!”

“I can’t–”

“Bucky, there’re 6 armed men near Sam and your location, Nat and I are taking care of the other 6” Steve’s voice came through into Bucky’s earpiece. “They’re trying to do a drop-off, some sort of Hydra weapon! Get the briefcase!”

“On my way.” Bucky replied as you stared up at him, your brows furrowed in even more confusion. What the hell was he doing?? “You need to get out of here, it’s not safe.”

“No, we have to get out of here! James, c’mon, you’re not some super he–”

You cut yourself off as your friend shucked his jacket off and blocked a bullet that was flying both your ways.. With his arm. A sleek, black metal arm. That’s when it hit you, that’s why he seemed so familiar. That’s why he was so secretive on where he stayed or not. He wasn’t just James. He was James Buchanan Barnes, the Winter Soldier.

“Holy shit.”

“Get out of here, I’ll-” James grabbed a gun from his holestor (Oh my god???) and shot at the ones who were shooting at the both of you. “I’ll find you outside.”

“.. Be careful” You muttered before turning away and running out to the closest exit. You didn’t know how to react, what to do with the newfound information. You felt so.. So stupid, not realizing that James was an Avenger. He lived in the Avenger tower- Oh my god, he was a super soldier.

With shallow breaths you turned a corner and your eyes locked to the nearest exit. You took a breath of fresh air as you felt the cold breeze hit your face, as if the museum was stuffed with smoke. It wasn’t, thank god, the people who arranged the attack didn’t seem to think to use fire power. It’s probably for the best.

As you stepped farther away from the door, a paramedic looked over you, you weren’t hurt, not shot, not even grazed. Thank god for.. James. You still couldn’t wrap your head around it. Whilst you sat on the edge of the sidewalk, waiting for the fight to die down, you pulled your phone out. You didn’t have many contacts, honestly you were.. Pretty alone. Parents? Only mom was left after dad passed. Siblings? An older, pretentious brother. Friends? You were pretty quiet in highschool, only the museum buddy of yours, who was Maria, she’s the one who gave you this death wish of an invite here. Then there was your other friend, who was in fact your neighbor, May and her nephew Peter. Nice bunch, you gave them flowers on their birthdays and they’d bring you some sort of baked good. Ah, but I digress.

Jeez. Maybe you’ll call up May, she’d probably know about this, plus, she told you Peter was an intern at Starks, right? Ah, but.. No, that wouldn’t do much good. He’s an intern, not some superhero. You kept scrolling through your phone for a few more minutes. You didn’t know how well of a promise James’ll keep, especially with him fighting people with.. Super weapons or something, but you stayed. Hoping he’ll keep to his word and try to find you.

After a long while, you heard claps and cheers from the citizens as the four of them brought all 12 of the villains out of the museum. They seemed hurt, but not to the brink of death, thankfully. The Cap was quick to hand them over to the police to take care of as the citizens slowly dispersed. People knew all about the hero's life, hearing it on the news and such, it was hard to be an Avenger. So, they needed space.

You waited as the crowds grew smaller before you took a few steps closer, holding your arms closely as you stood to the side. Watching as your friend's eyes darted around. It was amusing. Despite just saving a bunch of people, including yourself, he was still awkward.

“[Name].” He muttered, his voice light as a breath of fresh air as he spotted you. His shoulders seemed to sag in relief as he walked towards you. He should definitely be headed to the Avengers Tower, but right now he needed to make sure you were okay. “Are you hurt? They didn’t get you, right?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine, James, I-” You let out a small breath and placed your hands on your hips as you looked over at him. He had some blood on his jacket, some scratches on his face.. And that arm. Oh, wow, he.. Yup, he had a metal arm. “You.. Never told me you were an Avenger.” The corner of your lips tugged into a small smile as you chuckled.

He mirrored your smile, relieved at the fact you didn’t seem upset, or even the smallest bit scared. “You never asked.”

Your nose crinkled, “I asked what your job was, you said–”

“That I work as security.”

“Security for the whole world, James!” With that you started to laugh into your hand, this was unbelievable. This awkward man who’d stumbled into your flower shop looking for a gift for his friend was James “Bucky” Barnes.

“Sorry for keeping that from you, I just-” He shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. “I liked that you just knew.. Me.”

That made your heart melt. Everyone in the world knew James as “Bucky” or “The Winter Soldier.” The only people who knew him differently was Steve, only because he knew him back in the 40s and was his best friend and.. You. You knew him as James, and as much as the name felt weird, it felt right in your lips.

“Don’t apologize,” You hit your fist against his non-metal arm in a playful manner, an understanding smile on your face. “I get why you didn’t tell me. I’m not upset over it, if you’re worried.”

A small smile danced on Bucky’s lips and he nodded. “You’re too sweet.”

“Nah, I’m just a good friend.”

“Friend.” Bucky repeated to himself and nodded again. Oh he loved being your friend. He honestly thought the only friend he’d ever have would be from the Avenger Tower, and that’s only because they were Steve’s friends. “Ah, uh- I should probably-”

He pointed over to where Steve, Natasha and Sam were talking and you immediately understood.

“Oh! Yeah, no you go do that-”

“Thanks, uhm-” He stepped back and hesitated to turn away. “I’ll, uh, text you?”

“Yeah- Yeah!”

“Cool.” He nodded and turned away, the corners of his usually scowling lips quirked up as he repeated to himself. “Cool.”

He approached his team and just blended in nicely, no one seemed to notice him leaving and coming back. Perfect.

He spared you one last glance, as you walked away. Friend.

|| WOOO !! :3 FRIENDSHIP

[pluckyredhead]

“I have larger thoughts about how DC has kind of written themselves into a hole with Jason and now he's stuck in this limbo that's unsatisfying to everyone which is why so many Jason fans are mad all the time, but that's for another ask.”

🤓 Do tell…

Okay, let's see if I can do this in less than a thousand words!

So Jason, at his core, represents a challenge to Bruce's ideology, right? Bruce's #1 rule is No Killing, and Jason's basic idea is: "That doesn't work. Some villains are bad enough that they have to be killed for the greater good." (There's something very funny about Jason, famously undead, thinking killing stops ANYONE in the DCU, but we'll leave that aside for now.) This is a really interesting ethical quandary to throw Bruce's way, and by having it voiced by his beloved son, his greatest failure, his second most profound tragedy, it becomes a deeply thorny emotional problem as well as an ethical problem. That's all great.

The problem is, DC can't allow Jason to be right, for two reasons:

Batman must always be right and must always win.

...I mean, come on. They can't actually publish a story advocating for a traumatized 19-year-old with assault weapons to be the arbiter of who lives and who dies, that's nonsense. I love Jason but really.

The problem with that is, Jason is a major recurring character.

UTRH works great in a vacuum. But if Jason is showing up in a comic every month, or even just a few times a year, this central conflict has to be addressed, and the options for doing that are limited:

Bruce and Jason fight and Jason wins. DC will never let this happen. (And what would "Jason wins" even look like, honestly? He's not going to kill Bruce.)

Bruce and Jason fight and Bruce wins. They've done this a bunch (sometimes with Dick in place of Bruce), but Jason fans don't want to see him repeatedly getting his ass kicked while being lectured, and frankly it doesn't make Bruce look great either.

Bruce allows Jason to kill people. This can't happen either; it would be wildly out of character for Bruce, not to mention literally everyone in the Batfamily. They are all canonically pretty opposed to murder.

Jason continues to operate however he wants, but outside of Bruce's reach/jurisdiction. As wretched as RHATO was, I actually think it was a smart decision to keep most of the action outside of Gotham, because then we can pretend Bruce doesn't know what Jason's up to, just like we pretend Clark couldn't super-hear everything in Gotham and save Bruce's ass every single night without breaking a sweat. The problem here is that it means Jason is unavailable for the kinds of casual team-ups and crossovers that fans of all stripes crave - plus, every time he comes back to Gotham, he and Bruce have to relitigate their entire relationship AGAIN.

Jason compromises and agrees to follow Bruce's rules in order to have a relationship with the Batfamily. This is basically where DC has landed, and I understand why they did, because it's the option that allows them to publish the most comics with Jason in them, which they want to do because he is an immensely popular character who makes them money. However, it leaves him in this awkward position where instead of being a tragic villain/badass antihero, he's just...the sassiest member of the family, while simultaneously always being available to be treated like shit because he's Bad. He gets punished without even the fun of doing the crime anymore.

So what's the solution? I don't know. Theoretically, DC could try to do what Marvel does with the Punisher. People always get mad when I say Jason is DC's Punisher, but he kills pretty much indiscriminately in UTRH and RHATO, for pretty much the same reasons. ("Dudebros think it looks cool.") And Marvel heroes inexplicably let Frank just kill however many people he wants unless they're appearing in a Punisher comic, at which point they go "Frank, you naughty boy, I shall stop you!" and then Frank kicks their ass and makes them look like an idiot. DC is never going to let Jason do that to Bruce, plus it would put a real damper on the Wayne family Thanksgiving dinner.

Alternately, they could make him a Nightwing villain. Dick has spent 40 years fighting inconclusively with Deathstroke; he's much better suited to go endless rounds with Jason without either of them Always Triumphantly Winning than Bruce is. I don't personally want this option because I just don't care that much about Dick, but it could be really interesting, though it would limit Jason to fewer appearances and primarily in Dick's book. (Jason would have made a superb Red Robin villain 15 years ago for similar reasons.)

My vote, I think, would be for a really good (god, if only), really thoughtful Jason series where he has reason to seriously reevaluate his philosophy towards crime - something that reshapes him into a character who can still challenge Bruce's entrenched ideas without being so diametrically opposed to them as to make him a villain. He needs to be close enough to Bruce's rules to appear in crossovers, but far enough and specific enough that he's not just Meaner Nightwing. Jason is a passionate character; DC needs to find a new way to let his passion work for him, because right now he doesn't have anything driving him, and it's satisfying no one.

(900 words, BOOM!)

[365emotionlessfaces]

This is going to be a 10 part fic 🙃 I wrote it for entirely selfish reasons, but if you guys enjoy it, even better.

Melissa meets a girl at The Aspiring Teachers Program, but she’s just a kid. Many years later, she meets you and wonders if she should let go of the past.

The Aspiring Teachers Program

Part 1 WC~1.5k

Melissa was thirty-five and going through a nasty divorce from a nasty man. She had been in the teaching game for a decade now, and the last thing she wanted to do was volunteer for some Aspiring Teachers Program. Well, second to last. The redhead supposed that the only thing worse would be to be spending the week in the same house as Joe.

When she had told her friend, Barbara from work, the woman had just laughed and said that she had quit going to those things years ago. Too much hullabaloo for her liking. But Melissa needed out of the house, so she decided this would be the first and the last time she signed up for this stupid program.

The end of the school year came faster than Melissa would have liked, and by the second day of summer break, her suitcase was packed and she was on a flight to Chicago, of all places. The stupid program chose a new city and a different mix of teachers every year, so there was no guarantee you’d get an invite. To Melissa, that didn’t sound like too bad a deal. Yeah, sure, she’d have to be around a bunch of eighteen to twenty year olds, answer their questions, try to get them interested in teaching, and she was definitely not thrilled about that, but it beat what was waiting at home. Plus, it was all expenses paid.

When Melissa’s taxi pulled up to the camp, the literal camp, she started to think maybe she shouldn’t have come. It was very… rustic. Looking around, she realized that this thing was a lot bigger than she had anticipated. There must be at least a hundred people walking around. She noted the woman with the bullhorn seemed to have a sense of calm in the chaos that looked to be surrounding her. As Melissa exited the taxi, the bullhorn lady could be heard calling out names and assigning them to cabins. She rolled her eyes. This was going to be a long week.

As she stood amongst the crowd, but far enough back that she had a healthy amount of personal space, she listened for her name. A girl hollering off to her left made her turn her head to see the hubbub.

“Yo, Tie-Dye Girl. A little help here!” A young girl of probably twenty or so, stood in front of a giant pile of duffel bags and suitcases and waved to a woman in her forties wearing a campy tie-dyed shirt, who promptly turned on her heel and came to the girl's rescue. Melissa rolled her eyes.

“It’s giving Parent Trap,” a voice from Melissa’s right jolted her away from the tie-dye scene and to the bright-eyed and bushy-tailed teenager that stood beside her. The shock of the girl being so close startled Melissa so much, she let out a small yelp.

“What the hell are ya doin’, kid?” Melissa snapped. “I coulda killed ya.” The girl was not affected by Melissa’s harshness, or if she was, she certainly didn’t show it. In fact, Melissa was sure she saw the girl’s grin grow wider before she replied.

“Sorry,” the girl was radiating happiness and cheer, and it was almost enough to make Melissa sick. “You were standing here all alone, so I thought I’d make a friend.” The girl’s smile was so bright and strong, Melissa wondered if the girl ever stopped smiling. “It just reminds me of a movie from when I was a little girl.”

“You’re still a little girl.”

“I’m young, sure, but I’m almost twenty,” Melissa huffed at the girl’s response. Her smile still hadn’t faltered.

“Listen, I’m not a good friend, okay? So why don’t ya go make friends with those guys over there?” The redhead pointed randomly in the crowd, hoping the young girl would get the hint and leave her the hell alone. She wanted to enjoy this week as much as she could, and having a thorn in her side would not make that task easy.

After the young girl kept trying to make conversation, and had gone so far as to introduce herself, Melissa felt obligated to at least give the kid a name.

“Em,” she had told her. When the girl asked for her full name, or even her last name, Melissa joked with her. “What are you? The cops? If you’re the cops, you gotta tell me!” The young girl laughed and seemed to leave the matter alone after that.

Melissa had gone to the restroom, and when she returned to her bags, the young girl and her bags had gone. She took that as a small blessing and continued to listen for her name. Once given her cabin, she trudged her way to it, bags trailing along with her. She pushed through the cabin door, looked around the room, and thanked her lucky stars that the remaining bed free of luggage was the bottom of one of the two bunk beds. She’d be damned if she had to climb a freakin’ ladder to get to bed!

She unpacked the clothes and most of things she brought, and headed to the mess hall where the first meeting would be held. This would be where Teacher Buddies would be assigned and Melissa got to find out who she’d be spending the next two weeks with. Melissa was considered a Veteran Teacher, despite the fact that she was only in her mid thirties. She supposed it was due to the fact that the older teachers knew better than to come to these things. Since she was of the higher rank, she would be assigned to an Aspiring Teacher. One of these fresh-faced little things that had their whole lives ahead of them, and they wanted to teach. Poor things.

When she entered the hall, it was all abuzz. It was worse than the cafeteria at her elementary school the day after Halloween. There were grown adults and young adults laughing and yelling happily alike. Despite all the noise, Melissa thought it was kinda nice to see a room full of happy faces. Even if she knew most of them wouldn’t last. She looked around and found a few faces that looked like they wouldn’t be too much trouble for the next week. She hoped that she got one of them.

She was approached by the bullhorn lady, only this time she didn’t have the bullhorn, and was told that as a Veteran Teacher, she would go up on the stage with the other Veterans and draw the name of their Aspiring Teacher. This idea was not as thrilling to Melissa as Bullhorn Lady was trying to make it seem, but she did it anyway. When it was her turn, and she pulled out the name that young girl from earlier had given her, she considered making up a fake name, and pretending that her Aspiring Teacher hadn’t shown up. Unfortunately, before she could enact that plan, Bullhorn Lady took the paper and read the young girl’s name out loud. There was clapping and hooting, and then there the girl was again.

She and Melissa made their way to a table in the back and sat down. Melissa looked at the girl as she made some comments about not believing in fate or destiny and some bullcrap about coincidences, and the redhead wondered why the girl would tell her something like that. The girl had that damn smile, still, and her eyes were… kinda shiny. Melissa wondered if she had been that beautiful when she was younger. Surely not, or she wouldn’t currently be going through a divorce.

“So, whattaya think?” The young girl asked, making Melissa snap back to reality.

“Sorry, Parent Trap. I wasn’t listenin’. Whadja say?” This time when the girl smiled, there was something else to it. The redhead noticed the difference, but couldn’t quite tell what it meant. Melissa had to work to focus on what she was saying instead of getting lost in her thoughts again.

“I was thinking that you could hit me with the worst of it first. Tell me all the horror stories about teaching, so I can steel myself for them now, ya know? And then if I can make it through those, maybe you can tell me why it’s worth it?”

Those plans were foiled before Melissa could be the one to break the girl’s heart. Bullhorn Lady announced that the week would be a series of competitions and games for the Buddies, and the free time at the end of the nights would be dedicated to asking and answering all the questions the Aspiring Teachers had. Melissa groaned. This is not what she thought this week would look like.

When she returned to her cabin after everyone was released from the mess hall, Melissa was surprised to see that not only was the young girl her Buddy, she was also one of her three roommates. ‘Oh, boy. This just keeps getting better.’ She decided that it was in her best interest to mind her business, and only talk to the girl when necessary. So she grabbed her pajamas, and changed in the tiny bathroom provided in the corner of the only slightly larger cabin. The air was warm for Chicago, which made Melissa very glad that she chose the outfits she did. When she returned to her bed in her light pink silk tank top and matching shorts, she was too focused on minding her own business that she didn’t notice the young girl’s eyes glued to her frame or how flushed the girl’s face had become.

Part Two

[cripplecharacters]

Hi! I'm writing a character who experienced a severe TBI in the past. Her main character arc is about learning that people who will support and accomodate her are out there. I based it on my own disability journey of finally finding people who accepted me and took my needs seriously.

However, I don't personally have a TBI - I am disabled in other ways. I wanted to ask - are there any notable tropes or writing pitfalls I should be aware of with a character like this? I want to be careful with this subject matter.

Hello,

The biggest pitfall is the people who don't do research on the brain and wind up giving their character symptoms that make no sense. The brain is an extremely complex organ made of a bunch of tiny parts that all do different things. Damage to one thing causes one symptom, damage to another thing causes another symptom. Usually, with a brain injury, those two things that were damaged are right next to each other or, if the brain got jarred particularly bad, on opposite-ish sides of the brain (though that second option will lead to far more than two damaged cortexi.) I'm going to get into something called neuroanatomy, the study of the structure of the brain and what little areas control what plus where everything is positioned.

Let's say we have damage to the auditory cortex on the left side of the brain. This would usually also come with damage to the limbic system region, Wiernicke's Area, the superior temporal gyrus, and possibly the middle temporal gyrus, which are all immediately next to the auditory cortex at least on the left side of the brain. But the character won't have symptoms that indicate damage to those areas, they'll have symptoms that indicate damage to the very front of the frontal lobe. And there will be no symptoms associated with damage to the areas around the area they damaged. Getting hurt like this, damage to these two general areas, is possible if you get hit in the right way, but there would be damage to the areas around the area they've affected, even if they managed to get stabbed through the head and create sharp-force trauma to these two areas (an injury that would probably be lethal unless you're going for Phineas Gage.) That's one of the biggest pitfalls here- not doing research. Is the average reader going to notice this? No, probably not. But it's still poorly-thought-out representation even if no one catches it. I know this research is going to be complicated because the brain is extremely complicated, but at the very least learn the general lobe where the damage is located and stick to symptoms related to injuries to that lobe. Do not WebMD this, WebMD has symptoms associated with damage to a bunch of different areas to the brain and if you give the characters all of those symptoms, unless they managed to get hit so that their brain literally rolled across the inside of their skull (I've no idea if that could be surviveable,) that's super unrealistic.

The evil person who becomes evil for TBI reasons is another trope that's frustratingly prevalent. They get knocked on the head and now they're evil and start doing villain things they never would have done before the knock on the head. Look, massive personality changes and mood swings can be part of a TBI, but doing them in the way this trope does is both insensitive to the few cases that are this extreme and often unrealistic, as a pacifist getting hit on the head and suddenly becoming a spree killer is almost always (I want to say 97% at least but there's no actually research there so take my opinion with a grain of salt) unrealistic and harmful to people who actually have TBIs. At least it's definitely always harmful.

The grief trope, which has been discussed ad nauseam on this blog for all kinds of disabilities, is also something to be avoided. Is this something that happens? Yes, absolutely, it'll happen for pretty much everyone who remembers the "before" time, the time before their injury (not everyone can, either due to the trauma or because they, like me, were too young to remember the time before their TBI,) but it's hard to do respectfully and gently and I'd prefer if this topic was only approached by people who've actually been through this process. If you absolutely need to include the aftermath of the TBI and you can't avoid writing the grief, get a sensitivity reader with a TBI, maybe a few, read our experiences, ask us a lot of questions, and be open to critique from people who've actually gone through this. Usually, writers approaching the TBI grief plot don't bother. Please, please bother.

Please do not treat our existence as a tragedy. You have no idea how many times people have told me they would rather die than live like me the second I say I have a TBI, and the tragedy trope plays a significant part in that. Yes, our lives can be hard. Often, our lives are definitely hard. But our lives are not tragic and should not be treated as such. They're our lives. We have sorrows and joy as everyone does, the fact that we have a TBI does not mean that our sorrows are a tragedy. Yes, there are people with TBIs who do feel that their lives are a tragedy. That does not mean this trope is something that should be done by someone without a TBI.

And please just make sure to write Character with a TBI, not TBI. You are not writing the traumatic brain injury, you are writing a character with a traumatic brain injury. She should have likes, dislikes, hobbies, interests, friends, enemies, a personality- don't get so wrapped up in writing the TBI that you forget to make her an actual character. People with TBIs are more than just our brain injury, we are people. That's a surprisingly big pitfall, people taking the person part out of disabled person. Don't do that.

Mod Aaron