#ra's: 5 ninjas should do it right?

[sardonic-sprite]

Home Alone

Some days, Tim was really fucking glad to have Batman for a next-door neighbor.

He couldn't exactly remember a time when he was quite this glad or relieved, though. He'd never been on the verge of being kidnapped before.

But that was ok. He wasn't going to be kidnapped.

He had a plan.

Call the police would probably have been more rational, but the power was all still dead from the snowstorm, and Tim figured the roads to Bristol were blocked up, too. At the very least, his driveway was, and it was long enough to be considered its own short road.

Stupid fucking snowstorm. It was its fault that Tim's parents couldn't get back in town, and that he was alone and trying not to end up kidnapped on Christmas.

But it was ok. Because he wouldn't. Because he had a plan. And about two hours to set it into motion. And if it failed, the kidnappers were probably just going to be so pissed they'd kill Tim, so technically his goal of don't get kidnapped would still be met.

Technicalities were usually much more fun.

Tim ran around the house in a frenzy, darting glances out the window every few minutes to make sure the creepy men hadn't gotten any closer. But no, they were still huddled around their fires out in the yard, waiting for him to surrender.

Big fat nope to that one. Tim didn't know who they were working for, or why that guy wanted an eleven-year-old kid, but he knew it was most definitely for something very bad, and he wasn't interested in the particulars.

He paused, shuddering at the thought that entered his head, then scattered a few more Lego pieces on the floor.

The thing was, Tim could neither call for help nor run away while the power was out and the bad guys were surrounding the house. But if he got them inside the house, and made sure they couldn't follow, then he could race across the half-mile stretch to the property line. Crossing that would trigger Batman's security, and he'd come and investigate and bring Tim somewhere safe and beat up the bad guys, and maybe even be impressed at how clever and resourceful Tim had been.

Of course, even getting outside hinged on how many bad guys actually did come inside, and how many got caught in Tim's traps long enough to give him a head start. The traps had never been tested, after all, and Tim only had time for so many math calculations to determine their effectiveness. Drake Manor was also so large that he couldn't sufficiently cover it. He'd have to guide the bad guys where he wanted them to go.

Which meant he was using himself as live bait.

... It was gonna be fine.

The clock began striking nine as Tim finished his second-floor traps and double-checked the wiring. His heartbeat was going crazy in his chest, and he took deep, slow breaths in time with the chimes to steady himself. If he hyperventilated and passed out, he was worse than dead.

"TIMOTHY DRAKE," boomed the voice that had called out before, somehow magnified so that each word was perfectly clear, "THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE. SURRENDER NOW AND YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED. REFUSE, AND WE WILL USE ALL FORCE TO APPREHEND YOU."

Tim threw open the nearest window and stuck his head out, squinting against the snow to see the nearest fire. He didn't know if the man was at that one or not, but it didn't matter. He was sure his cry of "FUCK YOU, ASSHOLE! EAT SHIT!" was heard by all.

He slammed the window shut as the voice yelled furiously and sprinted down the stairs, skipping over the wires and traps. He wasn't sure how many were going to enter in each direction, but the first landing was the best place to bring them all closer.

Tim had to wait there for several minutes, anxiety building, before he heard the first cry of pain. It sounded like it came from the front door, and Tim smirked, thinking of the heavy vase that had just gotten shattered over the bad guy's head.

Strangled swearing erupted from the kitchen where superglue had stolen shoes to bare feet to a sea of Legos. A howl rose from the living room where a hot plate had been set under the window.

"DRAKE!"

"Last chance to surrender!" Tim hollered mockingly, wiping sweaty hands on his pants.

Screams and a terribly loud bang meant that his flashbomb had successfully blinded someone, and the most creative swear Tim had ever heard in his life confirmed that sticking his mother's sewing needles into the grey carpet had been a stroke of genius.

"You will pay for this, you insolent whelp!"

"You want it in cash or credit?" Tim needed them closer. Besides, it was just a little bit fun to tease.

"In blood!"

The first man appeared at the foot of the stairs. He held his right hand close to his chest, but otherwise looked unharmed. He must have avoided the lighter in the hall, though by the sound of it, one of his buddies hadn't.

Tim gulped. All he could see above the black ninja mask was the man's eyes, and he looked furious.

"Um, how about traveler's checks?"

The man started up the stairs with a roar and immediately toppled backwards, slipping on the generous coating of oil over the hardwood.

"Oh, yeah, I just polished that."

One man staggered into the foyer from the front hall. He still had dust and broken pottery on his head and shoulders, and his eyes looked unfocused. Another limped in from the kitchen, barefoot and glaring. He drew a knife, and Tim scrambled backwards.

"No!" The first man grabbed the other's wrist. He didn't look happy about it, but he said, "Lord Ra's wants the boy alive."

"He can live without his arrogant little tongue!"

Tim tried to think up something clever to say, to get them to come up the stairs, but he really did not want them any closer than they were. Out in the yard, they couldn't hurt him, but here they could. They could hurt Tim very, very bad.

Two more ninjas stumbled in, one blinking and squinting, pant leg still smoldering. The other, who looked like a woman, was walking on the sides of her feet. She left a thin trail of blood behind her, and Tim both felt sorry and wished it were worse all at once.

"He's lost his tongue even without your blade, Hans," laughed the first man. "Not so brave now, are you, boy?"

Brave, Tim. Brave like Robin.

Jason wouldn't be scared of these goons, and neither would Dick. Dick would make fun of them, and Jason would cuss them out, so Tim did both.

"Like hell I'm scared of you shit-faces! The wax dummies at the history museum would make better ninjas than you!"

Hans yelled and ran at the stairs. He didn't hear the first man yell, "Fool, it's oiled!" until he was already flat on his back. Tim listened very hard, but couldn't hear anyone else in the house. He taunted, "Where's the rest of you? Maybe you could use the power of friendship to figure it out," to make sure.

"Thank whatever god guards you there are none others," the woman snarled. "Or you would choke on your blood even as you laugh."

"Dramatic," Tim quipped weakly, voice a bit too high.

"How did we fail him that Lord Ra's would punish us this way," moaned Pottery Man. "Being tormented and mocked by an infant."

"Hey!" Tim cried, indignant. "I'm eleven and five twelfths!"

"Enough of this!" Number One shouted. "Hans, the servant's stair, Edda, the back stair. Jethro, the dumbwaiter." They scattered, and One began stalking up the oiled stairs, clinging to the rail and motioning the blinded man to stay behind. "You think we do not know every hall and stair in this house, boy? Every entrance and exit? What do you think will be your salvation if you stall us?"

Tim swallowed, edging into the hall and carefully pushing open the first door. He may have to adjust his escape plan.

"Indiana Jones, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Steven Spielberg, 1981!" Tim hollered. He dove out of the way as his father's massive, prized floor globe, the one twice the size and weight of Tim, rolled down the improvised ramp and onto the stairwell, gathering speed every second.

Tim took off, running down the hall to his bedroom without looking back. He heard screaming from several parts of the house, and would have jeered at them about not expecting him to know how to trap his own house, but he no longer wanted to give away his location. He'd need extra time now. Climbing down from his window was going to be a hell of a lot harder than climbing the rope he'd put in the dumbwaiter for himself.

Tim pulled out his army knife as he passed the dumbwaiter door and started sawing at the rope, grateful the set-up could double as another trap. He didn't even have to cut all the way through, the ninja's weight snapping the fibers in seconds once they frayed. He heard a yell and an awful snap.

The cry of, "I'll kill you, brat!" should not have been comforting, but Tim didn't want to have killed anybody, so it was.

He made it to his room, shut and locked the door, then shoved his dresser against it, grunting and panting. He had to lean against it for a moment to catch his breath, swiping the sweat from his forehead. He gave himself thirty seconds, but dropped it to twenty when the shouting drew nearer.

"I can do this," Tim whispered, stepping onto the windowsill and staring down. "I can totally, one hundred percent do this."

He sat down and shimmied around until he was clutching the window ledge with ungloved hands. His fingers were already freezing. His toes hung and flailed in open air for a few terrifying seconds before they found crevices in the weathered brick.

Tim took a deep breath.

Slowly, inch by inch, he worked his way down the wall until his feet hit the top of the first floor window. His fingers scraped and bled against the bricks, turning white with cold and terror. Sweat ran down his face and back, making him hot and cold both at once. Once he got his hand or foot on a hold, it was hard to make himself move again.

Carefully -- oh, so, so carefully, when Tim's feet hit the top of that window, did he turn his head over his shoulder. The snow rose to the bottom of the window, making the drop only about three feet into a cushion. Tim closed his eyes and jumped.

The snow crunched loudly beneath him, and he broke through it up to his knees. He didn't dare waste time celebrating, but immediately started off, hoping the blizzard would help to cover his tracks.

Half a mile due east. Tim could make it.

Half a mile through ever-deeper snow, in wind and dark, with only a coat and boots, and furious ninjas hunting him down.

Tim had to make it.

At first he tried to run, shoving his hands in his pockets to make them warm, but it was like trying to run through a pool, and Tim soon found himself basically swimming with his arms and legs. Within minutes (though each felt like an hour) he couldn't feel his fingers at all.

The snow was high enough to slip into the tops of his boots, melting into his socks and making his feet grow numb. Tim started crying, only realizing it when the tear tracks burned down his cheeks and froze there. Every breath became a white cloud in front of his face.

The whole world had turned into the snowstorm. Tim didn't know anymore if he was going east or west, north or south, up or down. If he was still going towards Batman and safety, or if he'd got so turned around he was about to run right into the ninjas' arms. He stumbled and staggered, knowing he had to keep moving no matter where he ended up. Fall down in the snow, and he was never getting back up.

Then finally, finally, Tim saw light in the distance.

"Help!" he cried, but his voice was ripped away by the wind.

"Batman! Mr. Wayne! Robin! Help me, please!"

A shadow blocked the light, and Tim sobbed in relief as arms hugged him tight.

"So this was your clever plan, was it, boy? No wonder Lord Ra's took an interest in you."

Tim screamed and started thrashing, but the ninja had his arms pinned, and the snow blocked his kicks. He tried to bite, but there was nothing in front of his face but thick cloth.

"Let go!" he wailed. He was so close, he couldn't fail now. "Let me fucking go! Hel--mmph!"

Tim was spun around and a hand covered his mouth, grip bruisingly tight, enough that Tim couldn't even move his jaw, let alone bite.

"Oh, no, boy," the ninja snarled in his ear. "You will be brought before the Demon's Head, and punished for every injury inflicted, and even the great Detective can't save you!"

"Can't he?"

Tim's heart leapt as a hulking shadow appeared out of the snow, Batman's unmistakable growl now a roar over the wind. He had done it! He'd gotten to Batman! He was saved!

And then he felt ice cold metal against his throat.

"Stay out of this, Detective. Lord Ra's cares not if he must resurrect his prize."

Tim trembled, even though he'd stopped shivering ages ago. He didn't know what that meant, but he never wanted to find out.

"He should care that Gotham and its people are under my protection. Let the boy go, or there will be retaliation."

"We do not fear your posturing, Detective," the ninja sneered. He started dragging Tim back, away from Batman and safety. "And we do not fear your allies. But continue to oppose us now, and we will strike you down--"

"Wanna bet?"

There was a loud thunk and the ninja's hold went slack. The knife dropped to the snow, its wielder crumpling, and Tim stumbled, grabbing for his throat to be sure it wasn't bleeding.

"Kid? Kid, what's wrong, are you hurt?" Robin hollered over the wind.

Tim slowly shook his head, staring at the ninja. He felt something warm and big and surprisingly soft drape over his shoulders, like a blanket, and looked up to see Batman leaning over him with his cape.

"You're freezing," he murmured, sounding much more like Mr. Wayne. "Robin, get him inside!" His voice dipped back to a growl as he said, "I'll deal with the League."

"Here, kid."

Batman was replaced by Robin, but the cloak remained wrapped around Tim. He was bundled tighter into it, then scooped right off the ground and into Robin's arms. He squeaked in surprise, but pressed closer because Robin was so warm.

"Geez, you're tiny!" Robin half-shouted, wading through the snow only a little faster than Tim had. "How old are you, kid?"

"Eleven and a half," Tim mumbled. Jason Todd was a fine one to talk about being small for one's age.

As Robin muttered something like, because the half makes all the difference, a big black shape loomed out of the snow right in front of Tim's face. It took him far too long to realize it was a Bat-Snowmobile; Robin had plopped him on top and climbed on behind him before he registered the headlights had turned on.

"Hang on tight!" Robin ordered, and the engine roared to life.

Tim yelped, grabbing Robin as the vehicle lurched and zoomed into the storm, throwing his arms around the older boy's neck and hiding his face against his shoulder. One arm wrapped around Tim's waist and gently squeezed.

"Just hang in there a few more minutes, squirt. It's not far."

"What's not far?"

Not Tim's house. Please, not Tim's house. He didn't want to go back and run into the rest of the bad guys -- the League -- without Batman. Robin was awesome and warm, but Batman was powerful, and Tim didn't think the League would give up without more of a fight.

Robin hesitated before answering. "Wayne Manor is just under a quarter mile. They can look after you while I go back to help Batman."

Tim sighed in relief. Wayne Manor would be warm and safe, and until Batman and Robin came back to be Bruce Wayne and Jason Todd, Tim would no doubt be looked after by Alfred Pennyworth, and he was as powerful as Batman himself in Tim's book.

I did it, he thought happily, cuddling closer to Robin's warmth. I actually fucking did it.

"Eat shit, Lord Ra's."

Robin laughed.

After only a few more minutes, Wayne Manor appeared, looming out of the dark with a few cheerily lit windows. There was a glowing Christmas tree visible through one, and seeing it warmed something other than Tim's fingers.

Robin parked the Bat-Snowmobile outside the back kitchen door and swung himself off, then scooped up Tim to plop him on the ground. He kept an arm around Tim's shoulders as he went and knocked on the door. Tim could see the kitchen lights on, and it only took a minute before the door opened to reveal Alfred Pennyworth in a robe and nightshirt.

"Good heavens!" he exclaimed, and immediately backed up to usher them inside.

"Mr. Pennyworth, this is Tim Drake, your next-door neighbor," Robin introduced. "His home was attacked tonight by the League of Assassins, and he had to run a long way through the cold. If you would look after him and warm him up, Batman and I will be back before too long."

"I-- yes, of course," Mr. Pennyworth said, surprise changing to concern. "Thank you, Master Robin."

Robin nodded and ruffled Tim's hair. "You'll be safe here for a while, ok, squirt? Batman or I'll be back soon."

Tim nodded, and Robin grinned and left. Tim could hear the roar of the Bat-Snowmobile as it tore off outside.

Mr. Pennyworth turned to put a kettle on the stove, then told Tim, "Come, let's get you out of those wet things, Master Tim."

Tim nodded eagerly, stumbling a bit on frozen feet as he followed Mr. Pennyworth to a bathroom, still clutching Batman's cape around his shoulders.

"I'll set some of Master Jason's things outside the door for you. You're about the same size, I think. If you can find your way back to the kitchen, I'll have hot cocoa ready in moments."

"You don't have to go to any trouble," Tim said shyly.

"Nonsense, dear boy." Mr. Pennyworth smiled. "Tisn't any trouble at all, I assure you."

He left, and Tim stripped out of his sweats and socks. He hated to drop Batman's cape on the ground, but it had gotten soggy with snow just like everything else. He tried to fold it up, but it was like trying to fold his sheets, it was so huge.

A knock came at the door, and Mr. Pennyworth called that there were pajamas and a sweatshirt outside. Tim answered with a thank you and waited a moment before sticking one hand out the door to snatch the bundle.

He was startled into a laugh to see that the pajamas were themed like Batman and the hoodie like Nightwing. He wondered if Dick had gotten it for Jason. There were also a non-themed pair of slippers, and now that the feeling was coming back to Tim's toes, he could tell they were wonderfully soft.

Once dressed, he found his way back to the kitchen, where a kettle was starting to whistle before Mr. Pennyworth plucked it off the stove.

"Warming up, Master Tim?"

"Yes, thank you, Mr. Pennyworth."

The butler tutted. "Alfred is quite alright, dear boy."

"Thank you, Alfred," Tim corrected shyly. He'd never called an adult by their first name before.

A very loud yawn from behind made Tim jump, turning to look at the doorway, where...

Tim blinked.

Where stood Jason Todd.

He was dressed in Wonder Woman pajama pants and a red hoodie, rumpled like he'd been asleep, but his hair was still damp and his nose and cheeks pink from the snow and cold. His eyes looked bleary and sleepy, like he'd just woken up, but he most definitely scanned over Tim like he was looking for injuries.

"'S goin' on, Alf?" he asked, slurring his voice to sound half-awake. "Who's that?"

Tim just kept staring, dumbfounded, as Alfred said, "You recall young Timothy Drake, Master Jason? I'm afraid he ran into quite the spot of trouble tonight. Robin brought him here for us to look after until the situation is resolved."

Jason's eyes widened like he hadn't himself, as Robin, dropped Tim off ten minutes ago. "No way," he muttered. "What the hell were you doing, Timbit, that you got mixed up in superhero stuff?"

Tim hesitated.

"Batman! Mr. Wayne! Robin! Help me, please!"

"So this was your clever plan, was it, boy? No wonder Lord Ra's took an interest in you."

Tim hadn't had any idea just why he was being almost-kidnapped, except maybe for ransom or something, until the ninja had said that, and Batman showed up seeming to know all about that Lord Ra's guy and his ninja-kidnappers. At the time, he'd been too terrified to analyze, but now he wondered...

Did Ra's somehow know that Tim knew who Batman was? Tim didn't think that was possible. He hadn't even told his parents. But maybe Ra's was a mind-reader. Or had some kind of special powers. But then why would he need Tim to tell him who Batman was? Especially when the ninja sounded like Ra's and his League already knew all about Batman.

"Timber?"

Tim blinked and looked back at Jason. He and Alfred were both watching Tim, sharp-eyed. That was when he realized Jason wasn't just asking as a shocked civilian, he was investigating as Robin. In order to protect Tim, he and Batman needed to know why he'd been endangered in the first place.

"I...I don't know," he admitted. Jason's mouth twisted into a thoughtful frown, until Tim hesitantly added, "But I might have a guess?"

"Yeah? What do you think?"

Alfred set a cup of steaming cocoa on the table in front of Tim. It warmed his face, and he almost thought it burned his hands when he cupped them around it, but he didn't care. One sip warmed him all over inside, like he hadn't been cold or frightened at all. He wondered if Alfred was magic.

There was another clink of ceramic, and Tim realized Jason had gotten a mug of cocoa, too, and had sat down across from Tim. He held out a bowl of marshmallows, and Tim took two with a soft thanks.

Jason waited until Tim had taken two more sips before prompting, "Timmers? What's your guess?"

Tim took a deep breath, trying to calculate how mad Batman was going to be when he found out, and blurted, "I know who Batman and Robin are."

"What? No way! Who are they? How did you figure it out?" Jason gasped, face splitting into a grin, looking for all the world like someone expecting to hear the most amazing secret in the world.

But Tim saw the panic behind his eyes.

"I wouldn't tell you, if you didn't know," he promised. "But they're you. You and Mr. Wayne. I... I know because it was Dick Grayson first. He's the only person ever who can do a quadruple flip, and I saw Robin do it with my own eyes."

Jason stared.

Alfred stared.

Tim ducked his head and stared at his cocoa.

Then Jason said slowly, "You... you saw the first Robin in person? Doing a four-flip?"

"Yes?"

"How... how old were you?"

Tim frowned, calculating. "Nine?"

Alfred coughed.

"You were nine," Jason repeated. "And you were out in Gotham and saw Robin. Doing a fancy flip. And figured out one of the most dangerous and well-kept secrets in the city."

"Yes," Tim said, a bit more confidently. "Like I said, only Dick Grayson can do that flip. And if he's Robin, Bruce Wayne has to be Batman. And you have to be the next Robin. It's... it's just logic."

It's just logic, Jason mouthed. His lips stayed parted in astonishment as he turned to look at Alfred.

"That's... quite impressive, Master Tim," he managed. "Although, might I inquire... just what were the circumstances under which you saw Robin's flip?"

Tim hastily took a sip of cocoa. Jason raised his eyebrows and copied him, not setting down his mug until Tim did. Tim immediately took another sip. Jason and Alfred exchanged a glance.

"IusedtofollowBatmanandRobinaroundatnightandtakepictures," Tim blurted.

Jason blinked rapidly several times before suggesting, "A-again... slowly, please?"

"I... I used to, to follow Batman and Robin around at night. And take pictures."

"And your parents let you?" Jason yelped.

"They didn't... exactly know?"

"How...?" Jason's voice kept sounding more and more strangled. If Tim didn't know better, he'd have thought an invisible villain was throttling him.

"Well..." Tim ducked his head, shoulders almost rising to his ears. He stared intently at the melting marshmallows in his cocoa as he said, "They're not really around much."

"What exactly do you mean by 'not much,' Master Tim?" Alfred asked, both firm and kind, but also concerned.

Tim's ears felt hot. "They're usually on digs. They come back for a weekend or so every couple months. So they never knew I went out at night. I never told them I figured out who you are. I promise that I've never told anybody, and I never would tell anybody, even that Ra's guy, no matter what he did!"

He looked back up at Jason and Alfred, hoping they could see the honesty in his face.

Their faces showed a mix of shock and horror. Jason's eyes were wide and round, but Alfred's were pinched, and his mouth was drawn into a hard line. Tim swallowed nervously.

"You're a very impressive young lad, Master Tim," Alfred said in a carefully measured voice. "If you'll excuse me a moment, I think I ought to go inform Master Bruce of... these developments. I assume your parents were not home tonight?"

"Their flight got cancelled," Tim admitted. He wondered for the first time, as Alfred nodded curtly and stepped out of the room, if Batman had a mind-wipe machine or something. He very much hoped not.

Jason made a low whistle, then murmured, "Well, damn." He took a sip of cocoa, looking at the door Alfred had left through.

"What's 'well damn'?" Tim asked, voice too high.

"Alfie's 'bout'a go off," Jason chuckled, then, seeing Tim's expression, clarified, "not on you, Timberly, on your parents. And Ra's. Definitely also on Ra's."

"Why would Alfred be mad at my parents? And what does he need to tell Batman? Are you mad at me? Because I figured it out? Or..." Tim gasped in horror. "Or because I led them here? I led them here! Oh, God, I told a villain who Batman is! I--"

"Tim! Tim, calm down, it's ok!" Jason seemed torn between laughter and concern, but he reached out and put a bracing hand on Tim's shoulder. "You didn't do anything wrong. Ra's already knows who we are. Alfred just has to tell Bruce, um. Not to look for your parents. And why they're not there. And that's why he's pissed off, because nobody should leave a little kid all by himself for all but a few weekends out of the year."

Jason looked pissed himself when he said the last bit. Unfortunately, all of it just left Tim with even more questions. But even as he opened his mouth to ask them, there was a loud rattling and banging from above.

"What was that?" Tim yelped, jumping and spilling cocoa on the table.

"The storm," Jason said, completely expressionless. He grabbed some napkins from the holder on the table and dropped them on the spill, clearing it with one neat swipe. "Don't worry about it."

"You're sure it's not the ninjas?"

Jason snorted. "Don't ever let them hear you call them that. I'm sure, kid. Batman's got it covered."

Alfred came back into the kitchen muttering about reception, and took Tim's and Jason's empty mugs over to the sink to wash. There was a loud pounding from up above, first moving distant, then drawing near again. Tim realized it was running feet.

He raised his eyebrows at Jason.

"The storm, huh?"

Jason shrugged with a smile too mischievous to be innocent.

A moment later, Bruce Wayne appeared in the doorway, hair mussed and face pink, barefoot and wearing a red bathrobe that did not succeed at hiding the Batsuit underneath.

The way he blinked and squinted at the warm kitchen light appeared genuine, but he sounded far too awake as he said, "Alfred, what's going on? Who's this? Jason? I thought you went to bed."

Jason glanced at Tim, mischief peaking.

"Dad!" he exclaimed, jumping up and running over. "Dad, you'll never guess what happened! This is Tim Drake, from next door, and he was attacked by supervillains and Batman and Robin came and saved him and brought him here!"

"Oh! My... God..." Mr. Wayne faltered, glancing from Alfred (who's back was turned to hide his smile) to Tim (who was just as confused as he seemed) to Jason (who was grinning just a bit too wide), before narrowing a bit at the last one.

Jason beamed up at him, and Mr. Wayne apparently decided not to worry about it, because he turned to Tim and asked, "Are you alright, Tim?"

"I... think so," Tim said slowly, staring at Jason, who was mouthing at him. Mr. Wayne glanced down at his son suspiciously, but Jason shut his mouth in an instant.

"Are you hurt at all? Cold?"

"No, I'm ok now. Mr... uh, Alfred's hot chocolate warmed me right up."

Mr. Wayne smiled. "It does that quite well. Are..." He turned hesitant again, glancing at them all before asking, "Do you know if your parents are alright? If they escaped?"

"They weren't even there," Jason said, bright smile turning downright ferocious. "They leave Tim all alone in the house all year and only come in for a weekend every once in a while. And since that's criminal neglect, and Batman and Robin asked us to take care of him, I guess I got a little brother for Christmas like I asked for after all!"

Tim stared. Mr. Wayne stared. Jason beamed. Alfred coughed in a way that sounded much too much like a laugh.

"Um..." Tim started, but had no idea how to continue.

"It... I... don't think it's all quite that simple, Jay," Mr. Wayne cautioned hesitantly. Jason just stared straight up into his face, both grinning and glaring at the same time. It was mildly terrifying, and Mr. Wayne cleared his throat before turning to Tim. "But of course, you're more than welcome to stay with us until it's safe. We'll be glad to have you."

Tim stammered out a thank you, wondering if Mr. Wayne offered because he knew as Batman that it wasn't safe. He hoped not. As awesome as being Jason Todd's little brother sounded, Tim already had parents and a home, even if they were... distant. He also wondered why Jason was pretending he was an ordinary civilian, and that Tim didn't know better. And Alfred was going along with it, even though he'd been about to tell Batman everything just before.

"If you're quite warm and well, Master Tim, I think a good night's rest would do you good," Alfred said, "as it would the rest of us."

"Oh. Um, yes." Tim blinked and looked at the clock, which read 11:30 PM. "Sleep. Yeah."

"Great!" Jason chirped. He did a cartwheel over to Tim, channeling Dick Grayson, probably, and pulled him up, slinging his arm over Tim's shoulders. "C'mon, Timbers, we can have a sleepover in my room."

"Uh, sure."

A sleepover with Robin? Tim was equal parts confused and ecstatic. He followed Jason past a mystified Mr. Wayne, who wished them both goodnight, and up a small back staircase to the second floor.

It wasn't until Jason had showed them into his room and they got settled in bed that Tim finally asked, "Jason? Why didn't we tell Mr. Wayne that I know who you are? Isn't it kind of important?"

"Oh, Timmy Tim Timmers. Think about it. We only get to tell him that once."

"But-- oh. Ohhh."

"Exactly." Jason sounded smug. "Just you wait, Timbit. I have a feeling you and I are gonna be the holiest terrors this city ever saw."

[ninjagobythenumbers]

Tournament of Sources Spreadsheet Updates

Bechdel Test

This was a perfect season (bechdel test wise), but the fragmentation of Wyldfire, Sora, and Nya into different groups made it difficult in those later episodes. I had to strain to find dialogue in a couple of episodes that succeeded (I actually didn't find dialogue in episode 19 but @genericplaceholdername did so thank you to them). In the one where Sora fought Kizzy, I counted non-verbal interaction because Kizzy bowed in response to Sora. Sora was my hero this season as while she did mostly talk to Lloyd, Arin, and Cole, she, thankfully was also trying to figure out what was up with Jordanna. Wyldfire was pining after Roby and beefing with Cinder so she'd rarely talk to other women. As I predicted, Nya was thinking about Jay so she mainly talked to the older ninja as they knew him. Zeatrix would mainly only talk to Lloyd and Ras and Rox would mainly talk to her brother and Ras, so the female antagonists failed to be as helpful as I would have hoped. For the women fans out there, season one of DR is going to be your best choice, but season two is of course, still great. They just need to hang out more.

Groupings

Even more than season one of DR, parts one and two of this season really just feel like seasons in their own right. I've labeled accordingly and I may go back and give DRS1P2 a label of its own for consistency's sake. Riyu felt a lot more like a character this season rather than an accessory to someone else's plot line so I gave him his own row because he deserves it. As you can see, there's only been 3 episodes before this where he deviated from Arin/Sora, which is why I didn't give him a row until now. Tournament of Sources really made me feel like I had to change how I do this chart, because I've been operating based on what the ninja are doing in the beginning of the episode as up until now, those groupings rarely changed mid-episode. However, in this season, it seemed the ninja would be in a different grouping each scene, likely due to the fact there was no barrier of travel as, aside from Kai and, for most of the season, Jay, they were all in one location. As you can see, the ninja tended to go on little sidequests of their own, with Arin and Riyu going on the most, but they all gravitated towards staying with the team. I don't think the non-incapcitated ninja spent a single episode without meeting as a team, aside from episode 11 in which Zane was training and Cole was in an unknown location, presumably the Land of the Lost Things, because Geo mentioned he got the invite right after Cole left. I've kept Jay on the business trip designation, because he's still just doing what he's doing because he doesn't know who he is so it's an odd state between incapacitation and a mission.

I did have to add a new designation which I did not expect to have to do, but Kai was voided, Nya was in a cave, and Lloyd's a glass cannon. A crazy thing about this season is that, normally when someone's incapacitated, that's the main focus, but Nya and Riyu's capture occurred completely off-screen and they were the only ones working on Kai's recovery. There's a record number of different states of incapacitation. With Jay's amenesia we have 4 and depending on what Pixal's up to we may even have 5.

Combinations

Thanks to Kai getting voided and the overall structure of a tournament season, part 2 ended up being great for "Three's a Crowd." Sure, 2 fulfillments may look small but there's only 8 combinations left to complete. Half of them involve Jay so it might take a while. I do need to note that a massive asterisk should be put on nearly all of the DR fulfillments as I ignore the presence of the kids. I may amend to include them in the future, but that would be hundreds more unique combinations, so I need to wait until they've had a lot more scenes.

Timeline

Jay was still in the administration at the end of part one and he needed at least a little time to assimilate into a wolf cult, so I put 2 months in between part one and two, which I title Blood Moon and Tournament of Sources respectively. The reason I didn't put more than 2 months, aside from my policy of always putting the least time possible, is because Sora mentioned that saving the world had prevented them from going to the Administration to find information on Arin's parents sooner, indicating it hasn't been too long since the Blood Moon.

Ages

I only updated this chart because I updated the timeline. One interesting note of dialogue for me was Cole saying "You know I ran away from that dancing school my dad put me in when I was a kid." It's sort of a similar piece of evidence to Kai referring to Arin and Sora as kids, and it's interesting to hear him refer to his pilot season self as a kid, but it's also possible he ran away from the school much earlier than the pilot season. Thanks for reading this far! I'm going to start working on some suggested charts. Please let me know if you have any ideas or feedback!

[localguy2]

(yet another DR rant, this time about villians, so yeah Spoilers).

I genuinely love every single villian/antagonist in this new show, they are crafted to masterfully and they all have their own specific traits, they actually made Imperium out to be an actual big threat to all of the merged realms, and it's absolutely fantastic.

Ras is threatening and serious all the time, he doesn't underestimate his enemies and is extremely skilled at fighting, him being in the higher chain of command inside Imperium only makes him that much bigger of a threat, not to mention the Imperium claws supporting him. (well until the ending at least)

Rapton is just, so fucking chaotic and fun, he's trying way too hard and he's basically the ultimate anti-Ras, he underestimates the ninja and starts bragging about he's gonna win when they're in a bit situation, however despite all that, he's still a threat, he has rare moments where he actually thinks about the situation, like how we saw with him asking Sora to manipulate the Imperium claws drone as a test, he knew Sora had powers, but he was also going to test out if she has control over them, and in the end, it helped him capture Sora.

Doctor LaRow is a genuinely despicable antagonist, her first scene with Ras and Sora's flashbacks give off the impression that she's forced to do these horrible things, but when Sora gets brought to the Advanced Systems Lab, you see her true evil face.

She's smart, and she's fully intent on using her abilities to serve Imperium, not to mention how she repeatedly calls Sora by her old name (Ana), not to mention basically torturing Sora (the dragon) just for her energy and experiments, what she lacks however is fighting skills, and she was also sort of full of herself and too confident that nothing would go wrong, which ultimately being her downfall when Sora knocked her our, and eventually disarmed her in the final episode of part 1.

Beatrix is also a very hateable character, she's the empress and leader of Imperium, hell bent on making Imperium the most powerful kingdom by using Dragons to take over the merged realms, so that alone should make you hate her enough, and we're shown how shitty she is especially in the last 3 episodes mostly, she has a genral dismissive opinion of Dragons and only views them as a means to get to her goals, something shared with all the villians I mentioned but especially apparent in her, and LeRaw.

Although I have to give her credit for giving her guards banger designs and a bunch of silly hats, shout out to them silly hats.

Still, she's a piece of shit, and I hate her.

All these villians are really well made, I always felt hooked when they were on screen, and I'm happy that we got to see a lot from them during the last 5 episodes (except Beatrix).

They all want to capture dragons for their power, and they go about showing their cruelty towards the creatures in different ways.

Rapton shows it with his pride when he captures dragons.

Ras doesn't show it, he only wants to use Dragons for "The Plan", whatever it may be.

LeRow shows it in her right out dismissal of their suffering, even reducing them to code names.

And Beatrix shows it with her delighted happiness when a dragon is captured, like how we saw with her reaction to Riyu when he was captured.

[sanjuno]

Sanjuno’s Story and Fandom Masterlist

I’m going to pin this list of titles so that people can more easily figure out what they want to vote for each Friday. Anything labelled with Meta, WIP, or Concept can be voted for.

1.    ATTACK ON TITAN

1.1.  Coordinates T by H: Eren’s coordinator abilities allow him to metaphysically bond with other humans, thereby giving everyone in the group the ability to psychically communicate with the rest and also boosting everyone’s healing ability exponentially to be on par with the Titan Shifters. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

2.    BLEACH

2.1. What Happens on Vacation: Crossover with YYH – turns out that Kurosaki Misaki was a senior ferry girl on sabbatical (which translates as living a mortal life unaware of her true nature) and she was late returning to work due to being trapped in Grand Fishers gut. Ichigo and Uryuu are very confused when their “cousin” Kazuma shows up to introduce his new bride to the family. Koenma is just really pissed off by all the paperwork he needs to deal with while cleaning up his father’s mismanaged pet project. Chaptered, WIP - Unposted

3.     CODE GEASS

3.1.  A Code of Ice and Fire: Crossover with GOT – Lelouch, his two younger siblings, and Lelouch’s most loyal followers are reincarnated into Westeros. Lelouch proceeds to make it his lifelong mission to drive Cersei into frothing fits and strengthens the Baratheon dynasty to the point that even Tywin is impressed by his grandson’s machinations. Then CC shows up with dragons and Ned Stark starts to think that maybe Robert’s onto something with the “drinking to forget” idea. Meta

3.2.  Abandon Thyself: Post-Zero Requiem Suzaku travels back in time to the scene in the Shinjuku Ghettos when the truck explodes. Given that the people closest to him haven’t actually spoken to Suzaku in years, the origins of Suzaku’s obvious mental instability is hilariously misattributed by various outside PoVs. So when Suzaku hits his knees in front of Lelouch, swearing eternal devotion and vowing to make Lelouch the next emperor nobody panics. (They should really reconsider panicking.) Drabbles, Prompt Fill - Posted

3.3.  The Sun Also Rises: At the moment of his death in the Zero Requiem, Lelouch travels back in time to his childhood body. With only a week to go before Marianne is “assassinated by terrorists” Lelouch sets out to rearrange the board in a way none of the other players will see coming until it’s far too late. Lelouch has been given a second chance to make things right, and Lelouch wouldn’t be Lelouch if he didn’t plan big. This time around, Lelouch plans for his victory to be a bit more obvious. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

4.    DCU

4.1.  Time Enough: Terry McGinnis, his little brother Matt, and their dogs are the only members of their timeline to survive because Bruce Wayne was too old to see any more of his sons die in front of him. So they all got knocked out, shoved into an escape capsule, and ejected from the Batman Beyond timeline before it crumbles. Said time pod crashes into the middle of a Red Hood versus Match throw down, and Terry’s Wayne-inherited charisma is so powerful it allows him to banter his way into good graces of both villains. Jason drags them all off to his lair because every single member of the Batfam hoards orphans. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

5.    DRAGON BALL

5.1.  Saiyajin Pride: Alien biology has a larger impact on characterization that it does in canon. Mirai comes back to the main timeline live in sin with Videl and Gohan. Vegeta and Goku deal with some shit that comes from being the last full-blooded members of their species. Then just as things are settling down… Garlic is an idiot who thinks up a loophole in the “can’t wish people dead” rule and wishes Goku and Vegeta’s families straight out of existence and they end up in an entirely different reality. The only upside is that Vegeta finally gets to kill Frieza. Chaptered, WIP - Unposted

6.    FAIRY TAIL

6.1.  Flight Of Dragons: Future!Lucy misses her target and ends up landing further back in time, during the same year Natsu and the rest of the Dragon Slayer kids were brought to when they were pulled forward in time.  Fairy Tail luck kicks in, and future!Lucy runs into child!Laxus as he escapes from his father after being fed the Lightning Dragon Lacrima. Laxus is handed a Prophecy and runs with it. Children have never needed Fairy Tales to tell them that Dragons exist, but they certainly help. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

6.2.  My Heart Overflows: Juvia and Grey have finally started dating, but the Fairy Tail Mage Guild has some interesting traditions when it comes to proving the validity of a romantic relationship. Oneshot, Prompt fill - Posted

7.    FAMILIAR OF ZERO

7.1.  A Velvet Glove: Crossover with TMNT – Leonardo gets summoned to be Louise’s Familiar. Since all of his brothers are dead, Leo sees no reason not to make the most of this “lifelong bond of magic and spirit” and adopts Louise as his little sister. Halgenkia is not prepared for a Louise Francois le Blanc de la Valliere with ninja training. Henrietta is probably far too gleeful over making her best friend her Spymaster, but it’s not like anyone knows enough about what they’re doing to stop her. Reconquista gets exposed and smashed, and Wardes really should have respected his fiancée more. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

8.    FINAL FANTASY VII

8.1.  A Dirge of Ice and Fire: Crossover with GOT – Several members of Avalanche and the Elite Soldiers are reincarnated as the spares and bastards of Westeros’ Great Houses. Given that Rhaenys Targaryen used to be Cid Highwind, the Sack of King’s Landing goes very differently. Meta

8.2.  A Feather’s Weight: Crossover with Naruto – Kakashi and Obito, along with their respective subordinates, are reincarnated in Wutai, and are thus in position to undermine a lot of Hojo’s plans simply by being themselves. Wutai still loses, but by a much smaller margin, and SHIN-RA realizes much too late that Wutai’s “concession” was a trap. Kakashi is a big shiny distraction for Sephiroth, the SOLDIERS revolt, and nobody knows who assassinated President Shinra. Chaptered, WIP - Unposted

8.3.  Antiviral: Woden and Gaia conspire to create antibodies to fight off Jenova’s infection. Cid and Vincent end up bearing the brunt of this decision, get roofied by Divine Intervention, and also end up the Gaian equivalent of demonic werewolves. Also the Planet is transforming all the SOLDIERS into werewolves too, yes, even the dead ones. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

8.4.  For Love Of: Cid Highwind crashes the Tiny Bronco into Lucrecia’s cave, does the metaphysical equivalent of tearing her heart out and eating it to absorb her power, and them proceeds to adopt General Sephiroth as his son because it’s not like anyone can stop him. Cid Highwind does what he wants. Sephiroth does what Mother wants. SHIN-RA soon regrets everything because Cid Highwind is a hell of a lot better at rewriting the social order than Avalanche is. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

8.5.  Hindsight is 20-20: CHAOS decides to rewrite time because they have a massive crush on Cid and they don’t want him to die. CHAOS fumbles the landing and Cid ends up in the body of some weird Lucrecia/Ancient-Cetra-Who-Was-Jenova’s-Host Clone and ends up giving birth to Sephiroth. Things only get worse from there. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

8.6.  Like it Rough: Cid likes Vincent a lot and also has a bit of a kink for scars. Cid walks in on Vincent naked, runs away to hide his raging boner, and Vincent ends up chasing Cid around the airship until he can pin his friend down in the Captain’s bunk because the demons are all drunk on the pheromones. Oneshot - Complete

8.7.  Names of Power: Jenova’s taint getting mixed into the Lifestream has far-reaching consequences, and Avalanche gets tapped to handle the fallout whither they like it or not. Series, WIP - Posted

8.7.1.     Small Packages: The Lifestream meddles in Avalanches lives even after the Planet has been saved. There are clones and ancient powers better off left alone but it’s not like Avalanche ever gets a say in the matter. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

8.7.2.     History Inverted: Jenova isn’t all the way gone and the Planet really doesn’t care if Humanity survives or not as long as the infection is burned away. Aerith shoves the spirits of Avalanche and their children into a new timeline because she doesn’t want to watch their souls get shredded. Avalanche proceeds to mosey along and wreak havoc in the way only they can manage. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

8.8.  To Earn the Sky: Echidna, Mother of Monsters and Heroes, and Jenova, the Calamity From the Skies, are at war. Hojo makes a very big mistake when he uses the Blood of Echidna’s Children in his Revenant Project. Cid Highwind is a good son, and his Mother wants to meet her new Grandchildren. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

9.    FINAL FANTASY XV

9.1.  A Light of Ice and Fire: Crossover with FFVX – Noctis, his Retinue, and the loyal members of the Kingsglaive and Crownsguard are reincarnated into Westeros. Jorah Mormont is Cor Leonis, but Cor Leonis is not Jorah Mormont, and so the Northern Forces are something to fear in Robert’s Rebellion. By the time King Robert visits Winterfell, it will be a very different Northern Kingdom that he finds there. Meta

10. GAME OF THRONES

10.1.               Crossover Fixits to Help Westeros be Less Miserably Doomed: Various casts from other series end up reborn in Westeros and use knowledge from their previous lives to change the Game. Series

10.1.1. An Assemblage of Ice and Fire: Crossover with MCU – Team Iron Man focus, since Tony is reincarnated as Ned Stark. Starks are made of Iron, and Winter is coming. Tony’s genius intellect, knowledge of politics and economics, experience with magic and alternate realities, and the fact that Extremis carried over through his reincarnation and adapted to work with First Man magic means that the Stark siblings who go to the Tourney of Harrenhal are nothing like the canon versions. Rhaegar gets his Stark bride, and he proceeds to regret it for the rest of his life. Meta

10.1.2. A Balance of Ice and Fire: Crossover with SW – Qui-Gon Jinn’s three Padawan Learners and Padme (who got taken in Anakin’s place) are reincarnated as the Tyrell siblings. They proceed to follow the Will of the Force and prepare the Seven Kingdoms to win against the Long Night. Meta

10.1.3. A Code of Ice and Fire: Crossover with CG – Lelouch, his two younger siblings, and Lelouch’s most loyal followers are reincarnated into Westeros. Lelouch proceeds to make it his lifelong mission to drive Cersei into frothing fits and strengthens the Baratheon dynasty to the point that even Tywin is impressed by his grandson’s machinations. Then CC shows up with dragons and Ned Stark starts to think that maybe Robert’s onto something with the “drinking to forget” thing. Meta

10.1.4. A Dirge of Ice and Fire: Crossover with FFVII – Several members of Avalanche and the Elite Soldiers are reincarnated as the spares and bastards of Westeros’ Great Houses. Given that Rhaenys Targaryen used to be Cid Highwind, the Sack of King’s Landing goes very differently. Meta

10.1.5. A Dying Will of Ice and Fire: Crossover with KHR – The Tri-Ni-Sette holders and all those bonded to them are reincarnated into Westeros Noble Houses. Xanxus is born as Robert’s eldest trueborn son and Heir to the Iron Throne, and so all it takes is one look at the Wall to know that there is something to fear on the other side. Tsuna is busy swooning over Arya’s muscles but in-between reciting odes to his amazing betrothed he takes time to tell Nono’s ghost “I told you Xanxus would make the better Heir.” Meta

10.1.6. A Light of Ice and Fire: Crossover with FFVX – Noctis, his Retinue, and the loyal members of the Kingsglaive and Crownsguard are reincarnated into Westeros. Jorah Mormont is Cor Leonis, but Cor Leonis is not Jorah Mormont, and so the Northern Forces are something to fear in Robert’s Rebellion. By the time King Robert visits Winterfell, it will be a very different Northern Kingdom that he finds there. Meta

10.1.7. A Space Between Ice and Fire: Crossover with Naruto WCE – The Konoha Founders and their siblings are reincarnated as Starks and Baratheons and manage to save the Realms of Men while resolving their many and varied issues with one another. Meta

10.1.8. A Transformation of Ice and Fire: Crossover with TFG1 – Most of the Cybertronians who died during Unicron’s Awakening end up reincarnated as dragons (Seekers) and Direwolves (Autobots). The sapience of the animals causes significant changes to outcome of several key canon events. Meta

10.2.              Singing In A Different Key: SI is reborn as Jon Snow, who then precedes to Machiavelli the fuck out of the North in preparation for the coming Long Night and also to screw over the Lannisters. Because fuckthe Lannisters. Meta

10.3.               Wolf At The Door: When Ice takes the head of Eddard Stark, Valeryian magic mixes with the Blood of the First Men. It’s wild, uncontrolled, and Ned ends up as a four year old in Winterfell’s Godswood, staring at his reflection in the water. Eddara Stark, second-born child and first-born daughter of Rikard and Lyarra Stark looks back up at him. Ned, fully believing that this is his punishment for failing his family and best friend the first time around, decides to fix the Realm by fulfilling the Pact of Fire and Ice. The thing about being a woman is that no one ever expects you to be a threat, not even other women. The thing about being the Quiet Wolf is that everyone overlooks you until the moment your teeth sink into their throat. Concept

11. GET BACKERS

11.1.               Holy Days of Yore: Various celebration themed fic that explore Ban’s backstory as the “With Queen’s Grandson” and bring a bit more of that old black magic into the Get Backer’s lifestyle. Series

11.1.1. Lupercalia: Ban gets a magic matchmaker box in the mail and everyone wears their heart on their sleeve for Valentine’s Day. Oneshot - Posted

11.1.2. Oeastre: Ban gets roped into being the master of ceremonies for Maria’s coven and Easter gets interesting. (Everyone makes like bunnies.) Oneshot - Posted

12. GIRL GENIUS

12.1.               The Other Side of the River: One of the Jagermonsters manages to catch wind of Lucrecia’s plans and absconds with Klaus Barry during the confusion caused by the first explosion. This understandably causes some disruption in everyones plans when KB and his nanny run into Agatha during her time with the Circus. WIP - Unposted

12.2.               Threefold Path: Agatha, Gil, and Tarvek get their brains booted back in time during the si vales valeo and decided to run away and join the circus until they’re old enough to take over the world properly. WIP - Unposted

13. GUNDAM WING

13.1.               Mistakes and Misdemeanors: Heero was on blockers for the entire war due to a series of implants, which did no favours to his mental health. When the implants run out Heero gets run over by a hormone train and absolutely nobody knows how to handle that. Chaptered, WIP – Posted (Under Revision)

14. HARRY POTTER

14.1.               Black As His Name: Sirius Back lives! Because the Veil dumps his mind-and-soul into the empty body of his younger self in a world where Walburga Black lost it on her eldest son much earlier in life and Sirius was tortured until he was left brain-dead. Arcturus Black is pissed off over the treatment of one of his Heirs and since Sirius’ magic is still intact, names Sirius the Heir to House Black and proceeds to hold the Heirship over everybody’s heads for spite for as long as Sirius continues to “live”. Everyone in the Black Family is very surprised when the annual shaming ritual disguised as Sirius’ birthday party is crashed. By none other than the birthday boy himself. Sirius rolls with it and becomes a True Black in the most Marauder manner possible. WIP - Unposted

14.2.               Black Hunt Under Bloody Skies: Crossover with KHR – Regulus and Sirius both end up dumped into KHR because Death owes them a favour on its Master’s behalf. Things start to get weird after the Arcobaleno curse is broken. Regulus is actually Skull and Sirius is his Sky and they confuse the entire Mafia so much. WIP - Unposted

15. HOMESTUCK

15.1.               A Jump To The Left Behind: Post game reality has all the races living in a Galactic Republic, and the Troll Ancestors and Human Guardians all need to team up in order to solve the mystery of the planetoid-sized meteor that just barreled into the middle of their busiest spacelane because their names are written all over it. In the process of exploring the meteor they accidently wake up the Players and Sprites. Chaos ensues. Concept

15.2.               Pandora’s Final Gift: A mermaid AU where a Deep Old One gives Eridan (and only Eridan) the memories of his Game Player Self as a lark. Eridan hits the level cap for his current reality, freaks out, saves Sollux’s life, and then absconds as far away from the center of the Empire as he can get. Concept

16. INU YASHA

16.1.              Hunter’s Moon: The standard “Demon Mating Season” idea that draws on the infectious nature of demon energy in the Sengoku Jidai and runs with it. Everyone over the age of eighteen gets some. Kagome gets to go home and take a nap. Chaptered, WIP – Posted (Under Revision)

16.2.              Cry Wolf: Playing straight with the crack concept that Inuyasha and Kouga were betrothed as children. Kagome isn’t in the picture because she got yeeted back to her own time when the Shikon no Tama got purified. Chaptered, WIP – Posted (Under Revision)

17. KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN

17.1.               A Dying Will of Ice and Fire: Crossover with GOT – The Tri-Ni-Sette holders and all those bonded to them are reincarnated into Westeros Noble Houses. Xanxus is born as Robert’s eldest trueborn son and Heir to the Iron Throne, and so all it takes is one look at the Wall to know that there is something to fear on the other side. Tsuna is busy swooning over Arya’s muscles but in-between reciting odes to his amazing betrothed he takes time to tell Nono’s ghost “I told you Xanxus would make the better Heir.” Meta

17.2.               Black Hunt Under Bloody Skies: Crossover with HP – Regulus and Sirius both end up dumped into KHR because Death owes them a favour on its Master’s behalf. Things start to get weird after the Arcobaleno curse is broken. Regulus is actually Skull and Sirius is his Sky and they confuse the entire Mafia so much. WIP - Unposted

17.3.               Burning Salt Water: Crossover with OP – Xanxus gets dumped onto the Oro Jackson during the Pirate King’s last voyage when Nono’s Zero Point goes sideways and he ends up adopted by Rouge and Roger while he heals. After the execution Xanxus ends up raising the ASL trio to take over the Pirate Throne and Ace sets the Moby Dick on fire when Whitebeard kidnaps him. Meta, WIP - Unposted

17.4.               Cat’s Paws: Uri has seen enough Time Travel bullshit to know how it works, and so when Hayato gets himself killed she grabs his soul and flings herself backwards in time because fuck the timeline this is her human and he’s not allowed to abandon her again. The other Box Animals think it’s a great idea and do the same with their humans, and this results in the kind of alternate timeline that gives Byakuran a headache. In other words, Uri creates a timeline where Flame Actives are a lot more Alien than they used to be and now everyone thinks Youkai and other myths are real. Chapters, WIP - Posted

17.5.               Fire Shall Waken: All of Nono’s sons are still alive when the Cradle Affair happens and it results in the entire 10th Generation gathering up their Harmonies, rolling Xanxus into a blanket burrito, and taking off to Japan under assumed names where they proceed to spend the next eight years coddling Tsuna and being spoiled rotten by Nana in return. Meta

17.6.               Gremlins Della Varia: Mammon’s experiments with the Curse have had some odd side effects on the Varia. It all comes out during the Ring Battles and the other Arcobaleno are Judging You, Viper. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

17.7.               Karma, and the Repercussions Thereof: Crossover with Naruto. Legendary Ninja from the Elemental Countries get reincarnated into KHR and proceed to adopt all the Magic Rainbow Fire Children. Nono and Iemitsu suffer. Series, WIP

17.7.1. Karmic Balance: Kakashi and Obito are ninja married from the very start because of metaphysical bonding and some minor haunting during their last lives. Between Ninshu Shinobi needing to be in Clans and Flame Actives needing to be in Harmonies it does not take long before the child stealing begins. Gokudera Kakashi is the best wife and Dokuro Obito repents, repeatedly and often, while also having the time of his second life. Tsuna loves his Kakashi-sensei and wants to be just like him when he grows up. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

17.7.2. Karmic Justice: Madara and his brothers are reborn as Fon’s nephews and do not take kindly to the Arcobaleno curse being put on one of their relatives. The Hibari Clan proceeds to start hunting for the Man in the Iron Man en mass. Madara and his brothers hit Namimori during Nono’s visit and witness the sealing of Tsunayoshi. They don’t take well to this either. Things go worse for Tsuna than they do in canon and Madara hunts down Tobirama because he needs the resurrection to be done perfectly. Tsuna loves his Madara-shishou and wants to be just like him when he grows up. Oneshot - Posted

17.7.2.1.      Karmic Justice – Hubris: Madara comes across Xanxus in the ice while investigating the Vongola and despite Xanxus being a bit older than the usual target for child stealing decides to steal him anyway. After resurrecting Tsuna, Madara and Tobirama’s next project is defrosting Xanxus. Concept

17.7.2.2.      Karmic Justice – Providence: Madara finds Xanxus on the streets while hunting in Italy for the Man in the Iron Mask. Wrath Flame calls to Wrath Flame and Madara instantly adopts the delightfully savage little boy. Then Namimori happens, and Tsuna’s seal gets him temporarily killed, and Xanxus reaches 100-year-vengance-plot levels of overprotective big brother. WIP - Unposted

17.8.               Music of the Spheres: Crossover with SM – Post Stars Usagi and Post Vongola Inheritance Tsuna are cousins who meet for the first time ever only after the Vongola’s enemies kidnap Ikkuko and Shingo. Usagi gets taken into protective custody by her Mafia relatives without being given the chance to say she doesn’t need it. Usagi then proceeds to seduce all the women, charm all the men, and accidently throw Iemitsu out the nearest window every time he’s in the same room she is. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

17.8.1. MotS - Celestial Chorus: Chibiusa’s arrival has Usagi dragging her family to Namimori to prove that Chibiusa isn’t their cousin and things get wildly out of hand. Meta

17.8.2. MotS - Sing In Exaltation: The Shingo from The Sharp Knife Of A Short Life hears the name of his ‘cousin in Namimori’ and immediately begins to meddle. Meta

17.9.               Overlooking the Obvious: They say that to truly know someone you need to walk a mile in their shoes. The adage is proven true rather dramatically when a misappropriated Possession Bullet ends up switching Gokudera and Hibari into each other’s bodies. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

17.10.           Reach For The Sky: Kamen Rider Sora and his team are the protectors of Namimori against the invasion of Youma from the dark dimension. Reborn shows up to tutor the last remaining Vongola Heir and ends up in the middle of a longstanding battle against the Forces of Evil. Does the World Greatest Hitman have what it takes to guide the mysterious masked Rider towards his true strength? Stay tuned to find out! Drabbles, Prompt Fill - Posted

17.11.           When the Nightingale Sings: Sky Flames are Dragons, and when a Sky is Sealed they turn into True Dragons once said Seal breaks. Tsuna has the Best Treasures Ever. Reborn is confused but willing to roll with it. Hayato needs to do all the research. Drabbles, Prompt Fill - Posted

17.12.           Where the Sky Meets the Sea: Crossover with OP – The ASL Trio are reborn as Sawada Tsunayoshi’s younger brothers, and the Will of D means they remember everything. Sawada Iemitsu might once have been Akagami no Shanks and despite lacking his memories knows better than to keep secrets from his wife. (Iemitsu does keep a lot of secrets from Nono, such as the fact that he has more than one son.) Iemitsu redirects Xanxus’ attention to the Family traitors, Nono never meets Tsuna, and nobody gets sealed. Then Reborn shows up, and everything is now on fire. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

17.13.            

18. KYOU KARA MAOU

18.1.              The Needs Of Our Natures: Wolfram decides to prove exactly how much his mother’s son he really is and seduces Yuuri. Wolfram seduces Yuuri like it’s his job. (Yuuri likes it.) WIP - Unposted

19. MARVEL

19.1.               An Assemblage of Ice and Fire: Crossover with GOT – Team Iron Man focus, since Tony is reincarnated as Ned Stark. Starks are made of Iron, and Winter is coming. Tony’s genius intellect, knowledge of politics and economics, experience with magic and alternate realities, and the fact that Extremis carried over through his reincarnation and adapted to work with First Man magic means that the Stark siblings who go to the Tourney of Harrenhal are nothing like the canon versions. Rhaegar gets his Stark bride, and he proceeds to regret it for the rest of his life. Meta

19.2.               Iron Laced: Crossover with TMNT – Maria Carbonell was actually Oroku Karai in disguise because she was on vacation from being a member of the Council of Shadows. Karai and all the Turtles accessed magic ninja dragon powers when they took over the Council and Karai-as-Maria passed that down to Tony. So Tony is actually a dragon and an encounter with the Enchantress leaves him locked in his dragon form. WIP - Unposted

19.3.               Miles To Go: Post-MCU Civil War almost-Time Travel where Tony grieves so hard he sends an Extremis injector capsule to the year before the Winter Soldier murdered his parents. Said capsule lands in front of a wasted 15-year-old Tony in the aftermath of a frat party. Cue the face hugger scene. Tony gets an Extremis upgrade about 30 years ahead of schedule and it’s the only reason he survives the memory download without his brain turning into mush. WIP - Unposted

19.4.               Perception: Instead of killing Scott in X3, Dark Phoenix instead fixes the brain damage that prevented him from controlling his optic blasts and then shunts him trough time an space. Scott wakes up 18-years-old in Stryker’s lab and proceeds to hijack Wolverine’s rampage so that they can both escape. James Howlett is impressed, and Cyclops hates everything but especially time travel because it ruins all his fallback plans. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

20. NARUTO

20.1.               A Feather’s Weight: Crossover with FFVII – Kakashi and Obito, along with their respective subordinates, are reincarnated in Wutai, and are thus in position to undermine a lot of Hojo’s plans simply by being themselves. Wutai still loses, but by a much smaller margin, and SHIN-RA realizes much too late that Wutai’s “concession” was a trap. Kakashi is a big shiny distraction for Sephiroth, the SOLDIERS revolt, and nobody knows who assassinated President Shinra. WIP - Unposted

20.2.               A Space Between Ice and Fire: Crossover with GOT – The Konoha Founders and their siblings are reincarnated as Starks and Baratheons and manage to save the Realms of Men while resolving their many and varied issues with one another. Meta

20.3.               A Widening Gyre: Rin survives the Chidori and her existence is now an S-class secret. Said S-class secret distracts Obito on his way to ambush Kushina’s labour and several different chase scenes take place. They all end up in the ROOT base made from one of Tobirama’s old labs and instead of Kyuubi getting loose Team Ro, the Fourth Hokage’s team of bodyguards, Obito, Anko, and all of ROOT plus Danzo himself get dumped into the Warring Clans Era. Obito kills Danzo in a panic when he realizes that taking the Bijuu means killing Rin, Kakashi sacrifices himself again, and there is a lot more running around. Kakashi suborns ROOT en masse, Obito is stupidly overpowered and homicidal but it’s okay because Kakashi is playing damsel in distress and distracting him. The Senju and the Uchiha are all really confused by these kids, there are far too many mistaken identities, and Konoha gets founded much earlier than in canon. Meta

20.4.               According to Custom: Hashirama and Madara should not be left unsupervised (that’s why Mito and Touka tend to lurk nearby when they have tea together) because it causes them to get Brilliant Ideas. This time they decide to make friends with one another’s little brothers. How Madara went from being “nice” to Tobirama to courting the oblivious younger Senju is still something of a mystery, but there are several bets riding on when Tobirama is going to realize what’s going on. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

20.5.               Around the River Bend: Tobirama feels Itama die and runs to the river to mourn. Quite predictably he meets Madara there, and the course of History changes. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

20.6.               Colours and Promises: Set a decade after the Evil has been defeated and life returned to normal, Tobirama (once the magical superhero Dragon) is still living with the side effects of sacrificing everything to save the world while he was still a teenager. Notes on a piano, and a familiar voice singing a familiar song. Tobirama finds Madara (once the magical superhero Phoenix) and finally gets to enjoy his victory. Love can be killed, but it never dies, only ever taking on new shapes as we move on with our lives. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

20.7.               Dare Not Speak Its Name: Madara is Demi as all get out aka Madara’s a virgin with a shy dick. Also known as the AU where Madara proposes marriage to Tobirama for the sake of peace and the children. The only reason Izuna approves is because the thought of Tobirama suffering a lifetime of blueballs is hilarious to him. Meta

20.8.               Heavy as the Mountain: Team 7 is losing the fight against Kaguya, but Obito and Kakashi perform a last-minute sacrifice that means the kids survive. It also causes them all to be de-aged by over a decade and thrown back in time to the Warring Clans Era. Kakashi and Obito die, Team 7 gets adopted by presumably-Hatake Kanna, then a few years later they run into Uchiha Izuna and it all descends into chaos. (Team 7 takes total advantage of everything to get their revenge on Zetsu and maybe fix some of Konoha’s longstanding issues at the same time.)  Oneshot, Prompt Fill – Posted

20.8.1. Crumble To The Sea: The adventures of time travelling Team 7 as they get adopted by the Uchiha Clan, arrange to make Izuna’s life miserable until he proves worthy of courting their An-chan, and get aggressively mother-henned by Uchiha Madara. (The last one came as a bit of a surprise.) Kurama ends up adopting the Uchiha Clan because he likes frustrating Zetsu, and Team 7 appreciates the extra time to grow taller before they need to go weed whacking. Concept

20.9.               In Konoha We Dance: The Uchiha Clan has a tradition of belly dancing and it fixes everything that was wrong with Konoha in canon. Series

20.9.1. O-Bon Appetite: Thanks to his dance training Izuna manages the core control to dodge Tobirama’s sword enough to avoid a fatal wound and Konoha starts off on more equal footing. Tobirama then walks into a traditional Uchiha celebration and his brain shuts off. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

20.9.2. Hot Like Burning: Kushina drags Minato to the Uchiha Police Office Party so she can make time with Mikoto and there is so much skin, Minato was not emotionally prepared for this. Fugaku takes advantage of the Yondaime’s weakness as only an Uchiha can and the glorious ‘ship FuMiKuMi sets sail. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

20.9.3. Got This Fire Burning: Overnight shifts at the Mission Desk gets boring. Konoha ninja like to dance, because dancing isn’t boring. Kakashi shows them all how it’s done when a member of Team 7 hits it. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

20.10.           Karma, and the Repercussions Thereof: Crossover with KHR – Legendary Ninja from the Elemental Countries get reincarnated into KHR and proceed to adopt all the Magic Rainbow Fire Children. Nono and Iemitsu suffer. Series - WIP

20.10.1.                Karmic Balance: Kakashi and Obito are ninja married from the very start because of metaphysical bonding and some minor haunting during their last lives. Between Ninshu Shinobi needing to be in Clans and Flame Actives needing to be in Harmonies it does not take long before the child stealing begins. Gokudera Kakashi is the best wife and Dokuro Obito repents, repeatedly and often, while also having the time of his second life. Tsuna loves his Kakashi-sensei and wants to be just like him when he grows up. WIP, Chaptered - Posted

20.10.2.                Karmic Justice: Madara and his brothers are reborn as Fon’s nephews and do not take kindly to the Arcobaleno curse being put on one of their relatives. The Hibari Clan proceeds to start hunting for the Man in the Iron Man en mass. Madara and his brothers hit Namimori during Nono’s visit and witness the sealing of Tsunayoshi. They don’t take well to this either. Things go worse for Tsuna than they do in canon and Madara hunts down Tobirama because he needs the resurrection to be done perfectly. Tsuna loves his Madara-shishou and wants to be just like him when he grows up. Oneshot - Posted

20.10.2.1.  Karmic Justice – Hubris: Madara comes across Xanxus in the ice while investigating the Vongola and despite Xanxus being a bit older than the usual target for child stealing decides to steal him anyway. After resurrecting Tsuna, Madara and Tobirama’s next project is defrosting Xanxus. Concept

20.10.2.2.  Karmic Justice – Providence: Madara finds Xanxus on the streets while hunting in Italy for the Man in the Iron Mask. Wrath Flame calls to Wrath Flame and Madara instantly adopts the delightfully savage little boy. Then Namimori happens, and Tsuna’s seal gets him temporarily killed, and Xanxus reaches 100-year-Xanatos-Gambit-vengance-plot levels of overprotective big brother. WIP - Unposted

20.11.           Look the Innocent Flower: Orochimaru gets the Hat instead of Minato because instead of working for Danzo he creates his Baby-no-Jutsu (the same one that produced Rogu and Mitsuki) and that’s how Orochimaru accidently turns Tenzo into the Orochimaru-and-Tsunade lovechild while field testing some gene-splicing adoption techniques. Sarutobi is so delighted by all the babies he names Orochimaru his successor without any further debate. Konoha proceeds to become a somewhat androgynous, gender-fluid utopia full off affectionate, friendly people who only want you for your body. Orochimaru refuses to allow hypocrisy in his Konoha and loyalty to ones comrades is not only encouraged, it’s enforced. Meta

20.12.           Negotiation is an Artform: Remix of The Art of Negotiation by Kage88 – Konoha’s Founders take a trip to Uzushio and the Uzumaki are annoyingly persistent in their attentions, even when said attentions are unwanted. Tobirama’s political savvy is not to be underestimated, and Tobirama’s just as ridiculously overprotective of his loved ones as his relatives are of him. Bitchy pining resolves into dating, and the only reason Tobirama lets Hashirama get away with betting on his love life is because Hashirama was the only one who had faith in Tobirama making the first move. Oneshot, Fandom Exchange Fill - Complete

20.13.           No Evil Abolishing Resentment System: Post Kaguya’s return, Madara gets bound by a System determined to help Madara turn all his Resentment Level into Love Points via a quick transmigration plot. Transmigrator!Madara gets to kiss-kiss fall in love with Reincarnator!Tobirama 55 times in a row. I promise that all the gratuitous makeout sessions are plot relevant. Meta

20.14.           Only Fools Rush In: Also known as the Uchiha Get Catnipped AU – the scene of Rin’s suicide is a few seconds off from canon and this not only results in Rin remaining alive, but Obito is also welcomed back to life so enthusiastically by his teammates that his Makengyou spontaneously manifests. A year or so later, Danzo attempts to use an experimental drug to weaken the Uchiha Clan enough for ROOT to have an easy time killing them and/or an excuse for eradicating the entire Clan. Only the drug is a happy-making drug that has every single member of the Clan manifest the Makengyou and immediately run off to snuggle their friends, family, and sundry other precious people. Meta

20.15.           Red in Hand and Claw: Madara has Raptor Summons. This fact is significantly more terrifying than anyone outside of the Uchiha Clan is really aware of. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

20.16.           Roads Diverged: Kakashi from a Darker-Than-Canon AU ends his fight with Obito with mutual destruction, and as they both lay dying Kakashi confesses to having always loved Obito. Obito being Obito and therefore unholy levels of Extra even for an Uchiha, proceeds to use Edo Tensai on Team 7 in order to heal Kakashi and then fling him through dimensions until he lands in a Lighter-Than-Canon AU where Kakashi sees Rin in time to avoid hitting her with the Chidori. Things spiral from there. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

20.17.           Spite And Fury: A crossover with the “Original Goods” Proud Immortal Demon Way from Scum Villains Self-Saving System – Uchiha Madara and Shen Jiu get combined into a single person and Cang Qiong is not ready for this much concentrated asshole. Too bad for them, the new-and-improved Shen Qingqui is here to stay. Meta

20.18.           That We Answer to Our Stars: Crossover with SW – Kaguya’s reality warp has some strange side effects to the point of ridiculousness. All the Uchiha to ever exist are resurrected and then dumped wholesale onto an alien deathworld that is essentially what Training Ground 44 would be if it was allowed to cover an entire planet. The Uchiha proceed to seduce the Jedi and foil all of Palpatine’s plans for galactic domination. Meta, Chaptered WIP - Posted

20.19.           The Memory Remains: Canon divergence via the reincarnation of Uchiha Izuna, his wife Kanna, and Senju Touka as Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi, and Nohara Rin. Yes, they retained all their memories. Yes, Konoha is going to suffer for its sins against the children. Yes, this is going to end in a Team Minato threesome. Meta

20.20.           The Thin Line: Kakashi loses patience with the Sandaime when no appreciable action is taken to remove Danzo from power even after Kakashi literally reports to Sarutobi’s face that he was ordered by Danzo to assassinate the Third Hokage. So Kakashi crashes an Uchiha Clan meeting and asks them to run away with him and his cute little brothers to a lovely tropical Island. Cue the Uchiha Exodus That Fucks Over Canon. Kakashi and the Uchiha Clan proceed to re-found Uzushio and collect a few S-class missing nin along the way. Meta, WIP - Unposted

20.21.           The Waters and the Wild: The Senju are High Court Fae, and the Uchiha are Wild Hunt Shapeshifters. Tobirama attempts to interrupt Hashirama and Madara during their riverside meeting, only it backfires when he realizes that Madara is his Soulmate. Also the Uchiha are “clothing optional” and Tobirama was not emotionally prepared for this. Oneshot, Prompt Fill – Posted

20.22.           To Linger In Dreams: After Kaguya takes over his body Madara gets yeeted out of reality into the Void. An eldritch Void god takes an interest in Madara and chucks Madara into a Magic Fantasy AU and Madara is even more not-Human than he was before. Also known as that really fucked up AU with cursed ABO dynamics. Meta

20.23.           Truth in Hyperbole: Shinobi are what happen when Aliens and Humans have kids, Bloodline Talents are what happens when Kami and Youkai ancestry gets added to the pot. Most of the time Shinobi stay mostly Human. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they really don’t. Series - WIP

20.23.1.                Blood Price: Tobirama wakes up after being killed and proceeds to resurrect his little brothers and Madara’s little brothers. Tobirama would resurrect Madara too but Madara had already managed to resurrect himself. Oneshot, Comm. Fill - Posted

20.23.2.                Still Waters Run: The Sage of Six Paths gets his ass kicked by his ex-wife, his daughter-in-law, and Tobirama’s mother. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

20.23.3.                A Thing With Feathers: Madara’s side of the story of their transformation into minor kami. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

20.23.4.                Come Away: Zetsu is targeting Obito in another attempt to create the Rinnegan. Kakashi has his first “near death” experience and Obito is not amused at all. Neither is Rin. Team 7 is overprotective and codependent regardless of the generation in question. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

20.23.5.                Quoth the Raven: Danzo’s schemes got him chased out of Konoha to escape execution, and he invades during the Chunin Exams in order to get his revenge. Summoning Tobirama using the Edo Tensai was probably not the best plan. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

20.24.           Tsukumogami No Kankurou: While he is still very young, Kankurou signs a Summons contract with the Tsukumogami (aka the Muppet Theater Troupe) and then proceeds to interrupt Yashamaru’s “attack” on Gaara while simultaneously wreaking havoc across the entirety of Sunagakure. All of this is done to get back at Rasa for not letting Kankurou play with his baby brother. The Middle Child Syndrome is strong in this one. Never underestimate the power of petty spite. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

20.25.           Twice is Happenstance: As a side effect of the battle against Kaguya breaking through dimensions, the ghosts of the Uchiha Clan send their memories as far back as possible. On the eve of his younger brother’s assassinations, Uchiha Madara wakes up with memories of being Indra and Sasuke. All the Uchiha have memories of their past and future lives combining with their current selves, and it causes something of a fracas while it gets sorted out. Cue the Uchiha Exodus That Fucks Over Canon. Oneshot - Posted

20.25.1.                Enemy Action: The building of Uchihatlantis, the knockback effects of remembering more than one lifetime, and what happens when the Uchiha start to go back out into the world in order to hunt down their spouses and mess up Zetsu’s plans. Meta

20.26.           Two Steps Back: Retired Rokudaime Hatake Kakashi accidently has his first vacation ever interrupted when he visits the Uzushiogakure ruins and gets slingshot back an incarnation or two due to triggering a derelict seal. Kakashi being Kakashi, he proceeds to continue with his vacation until he has a drunken bar hookup with Uchiha Izuna and now the beloved younger brother of Uchiha “I-can-fight-five-armies-and-win” Madara is stalking Kakashi in order to recite (hilariously awful) poetry about the beauty of Kakashi’s kenjutsu. This is not the retirement Kakashi signed up for. Drabbles, Prompt Fills – Posted

20.26.1.     TSB – And a Jump To The Left: The epic courtship confusion which descends upon the Land of Fire when the Time-Travelling King of Trolls and an Angry Weasel Brat attempt to out-romance each other. Meta

20.27.           Two Truths and a Lie: Mikoto and Kushina have been fake!dating for years to keep the more annoying Uchiha relatives from trying to get her married off. It’s a brilliant plan, and it works perfectly. But times change, and Kushina’s eyes are very pretty. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

20.28.           Wills of Fire and Conquest: Crossover with OP – Kakashi is Rouge’s little brother and ends up raising the ASL trio while also searching for other reincarnated shinobi. Obito and the rest of Akatsuki become the Red Dawn Pirates and Kakashi eventually founds a new Uzushiogakure on the Red Line. Ace decides he wants to be the Nidaime Uzukage, and Whitebeard accidently insults Ace’s mother so badly during the “recruitment” debacle that Ace spends 100 days trying to beat an apology out of the arrogant old goat. Shinobi-versus-pirate culture clash is frequent and hilarious. WIP - Unposted

20.29.           Worth of a Thousand Words: Political Hostage!Tobirama gets caught by the Uchiha just before he manages to use Hiraishin in battle for the first time. The Uchiha are all sensors that use Ninshu techniques otherwise since lost to time to communicate among themselves. This results in a much more united Uchiha Clan who are perfectly willing to let Madara push for a peace treaty with the Senju now that Tobirama’s capture has given them the leverage to do so. Meta

21. NURARIHYON NO MAGO

21.1.               1001 Demonic Nights: An AU Rikuo who was dragged into Yomi along with his Hakkai Yakko during the battle against the Nue manages to escape from hell by jumping into an alternate reality where his mother Wakana had a threesome with Rihan and Otome. Wakana left to take over her family shrine without telling her lovers that she was pregnant. The Rikuo who was born as a result died as an infant from the Nue’s curse on Nurarihyon’s bloodline. Both Rikuo and Otome’s daughter were conceived on the same night and are both half-demons due to Rihan shifting forms for kinky species-play. WIP - Unposted

22. ONE PIECE

22.1.               Burning Salt Water: Crossover with KHR – Xanxus gets dumped onto the Oro Jackson during the Pirate King’s last voyage when Nono’s Zero Point goes sideways and he ends up adopted by Rouge and Roger while he heals. After the execution Xanxus ends up raising the ASL trio to take over the Pirate Throne and Ace sets the Moby Dick on fire when Whitebeard kidnaps him. WIP – Unposted

22.2.               How Far I’ll Go: Roger had other lovers before he met Rouge and one of them was a Fishwife that he met at a Peacemoot. Their daughter was a mermaid and thus needed to remain on Fishman Island for her own safety. The World Government is so Human-centric that they don’t bother looking into any of Roger’s lady friends from the other races. Gol D Ann gives no shits about anybodies prejudices and when her mixed up genetics mean her feet come in about 20 years early she immediately takes off to track down her baby brother. Goldfish is Luffy’s favourite sibling and Ann is delighted to find three baby brothers for the price of one. WIP - Unposted

22.3.               Rumour, Slander, Hearsay: Garp is even worse at interpersonal communication than in canon and now the entire Marine fleet thinks that Monkey D Dragon is an oversexed degenerate who keep dumping his illegitimate spawn on his poor heroic father’s doorstep. Otherwise known as Dragon adopts ASL and they seek a glorious Revolution. Meta

22.4.               Those Who Favour Fire: Ace survives Marineford, even if only in spirit, because the Goddess of the Sea answered the prayer of another version of Ace. Waking up in the place of his 17-year-old murdered doppelganger, Ace now has to deal with raising a 7-year-old Luffy and escaping the notice of the Marines. Oh, and his murdered younger self is hanging around as a ghost, all the younger versions of Luffy’s crewmates keep showing up on Ace’s boat, and Ace keeps getting tripped up over how much more horrible this world is compared to the one he came from. Chaptered WIP - Posted

22.5.               Where the Sky Meets the Sea: Crossover with KHR – The ASL Trio are reborn as Sawada Tsunayoshi’s younger brothers, and the Will of D means they remember everything. Sawada Iemitsu might once have been Akagami no Shanks and despite lacking his memories knows better than to keep secrets from his wife. (Iemitsu does keep a lot of secrets from Nono, such as the fact that he has more than one son.) Iemitsu redirects Xanxus’ attention to the Family traitors, Nono never meets Tsuna, and nobody gets sealed. Then Reborn shows up, and everything is now on fire. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

22.6.               Wildfire Hearts: Ace goes back in time from his death to the Grey Terminal Fire, figures out how to use natural fire to heal himself, saves child!Ace and child!Luffy, changes his name to Portgas D Riot, runs away to the Grand Line with his baby brothers, puts together a new pirate crew, and hits on Marco so hard the Phoenix forgets how to complete his sentences. Everything works out for the better. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

22.6.1. WH – Heave A Sigh And A Wish For Me: SI-Clearfin Lionfish Mermaid named Occhio D Vittoria gets tapped in by the Ocean Goddess to help Riot et al from Wildfire Hearts succeed in their adventures.Oneshot, Prompt Fill – Posted

22.6.2. WH – Today Is The Day Of Reckoning: Riot is gathering up his new crew, forming the Anarchy Pirates, dealing with Garp, seducing Marco the Pheonix, and discovering that Sabo survived when his little brothers gatecrash a Revolutionary Army mission. Meta

22.7.               Wills of Fire and Conquest: Crossover with Naruto – Kakashi is Rouge’s little brother and ends up raising the ASL trio while also searching for other reincarnated shinobi. Obito and the rest of Akatsuki become the Red Dawn Pirates and Kakashi eventually founds a new Uzushio on the Red Line. Ace decides he wants to be the Nidaime Uzukage, and Whitebeard accidently insults Ace’s mother so badly during the “recruitment” debacle that Ace spends 100 days trying to beat an apology out of the arrogant old goat. Shinobi-versus-pirate culture clash is frequent and hilarious. WIP - Unposted

23. PETSHOP OF HORRORS

23.1.               Event Horizons: Leon isn’t human, and that changes things in the aftermath of the confrontation with Papa D. Count D wants to unravel the mystery of his favourite Detective, and Leon is starting to wake up. Hopefully they both find the knowledge they’re looking for before it’s too late and their enemy finds them. Chaptered WIP – Posted (Under Revision)

24. POKÉMON

24.1.              The Hero Of His Own Story: When Green Oak is replaced as the Kanto Champion less than a full 24 hours after winning the title, he runs. Right into a Celebi that was looking for an assistant. Green Oak gets over his bullshit really fast because oh shit that’s an Angry Legendary. Green is also supremely unimpressedwith Red’s bullshit when he learns that Red was supposed to be dealing with all the world-saving events but is instead hiding in a depression cave. Meta

25. SAILOR MOON

25.1.               From Olympus to Mu: The Senshi go to college and Mamoru reunites with the Shitennou. Basis of headcanons and characterization for any further post-canon SM fic. WIP - Unposted

25.2.               Music of the Spheres: Crossover with KHR – Post Stars Usagi and Post Vongola Inheritance Tsuna are cousins who meet for the first time ever only after the Vongola’s enemies kidnap Ikkuko and Shingo. Usagi gets taken into protective custody by her Mafia relatives without being given the chance to say she doesn’t need it. Usagi then proceeds to seduce all the women, charm all the men, and accidently throw Iemitsu out the nearest window every time he’s in the same room she is. Chaptered WIP - Posted

25.2.1. MotS – Celestial Chorus – MotS Spinoff AU: Chibiusa’s arrival has Usagi dragging her family to Namimori to prove that Chibiusa isn’t their cousin and things get wildly out of hand. Meta

25.2.2. MotS – Sing In Exaltation: The Shingo from The Sharp Knife Of A Short Life hears the name of his ‘cousin in Namimori’ and immediately begins to meddle. Meta

25.3.               The Sharp Knife Of A Short Life: SI is reborn as Tsukino Shingo under the aegis of the Roman God Janus and then proceeds to merrily say ‘screw canon, my sister gets to be happy or else’. Oneshot, Prompt Fill - Posted

26. SCUM VILLAINS SELF-SAVING SYSTEM

26.1.               Spite And Fury: A crossover with Naruto and the “Original Goods” Proud Immortal Demon Way from Scum Villains Self-Saving System – Uchiha Madara and Shen Jiu get combined into a single person and Cang Qiong is not ready for this much concentrated asshole. Too bad for them, the new-and-improved Shen Qingqui is here to stay. Meta

27. SLAYERS

27.1.               Infinite Blue: Zelgadis starts paying more attention to the deeper practices of Shamanism and gets in touch with his demonic side while achieving deeper harmony in himself. Xellos approves and it all results in magic explosions and very strange demonic courtship rituals. WIP - Unposted

28. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

28.1.               Skipped Tracks: The triplets from Underground end up transmigrating into the recently deceased bodies of their counterparts in a SatAM reality and proceed to rock out and confuse everyone. WIP - Unposted

29. STAR WARS

29.1.               A Balance of Ice and Fire: Crossover with GOT – Qui-Gon Jinn’s three Padawan Learners and Padme (who got taken in Anakin’s place) are reincarnated as the Tyrell siblings. They proceed to follow the Will of the Force and prepare the Seven Kingdoms to win against the Long Night. Meta

29.2.               A Robe of Stars: Crossover with TMNT – The turtles and Karai help Obi-wan save the Initiates and babies in the Jedi crèche before the Temple gets razed. Once the children are safe, Obi-wan and his new allies turn their attention to saving the Vode. WIP – Unposted

29.3.               That We Answer to Our Stars: Crossover with Naruto – Kaguya’s reality warp has some strange side effects to the point of ridiculousness. All the Uchiha to ever exist are resurrected and then dumped wholesale onto an alien deathworld that is essentially what Training Ground 44 would be if it hadn’t been fenced in. The Uchiha proceed to seduce the Jedi and foil all of Palpatine’s plans for galactic domination. Meta, Chaptered WIP – Posted

30. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

30.1.               A Robe of Stars: Crossover with SW – The turtles and Karai help Obi-wan save the Initiates and babies in the Jedi crèche before the Temple gets razed. Once the children are safe, Obi-wan and his new allies turn their attention to saving the Vode. WIP - Unposted

30.2.               A Velvet Glove: Crossover with FOZ – Leonardo gets summoned to be Louise’s Familiar. Since all of his brothers are dead, Leo sees no reason not to make the most of this “lifelong bond of magic and spirit” and adopts Louise as his little sister. Halgenkia is not prepared for a Louise Francois le Blanc de la Valliere with ninja training. Henrietta is probably far too gleeful over making her best friend her Spymaster, but it’s not like anyone knows enough about what they’re doing to stop her. Reconquista gets exposed and smashed, and Wardes really should have respected his fiancée more. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

30.3.               Iron Laced: Crossover with TMNT – Maria Carbonell was actually Oroku Karai in disguise because she was on vacation from being a member of the Council of Shadows. Karai and all the Turtles accessed magic ninja dragon powers when they took over the Council and Karai-as-Maria passed that down to Tony. So Tony is actually a dragon and an encounter with the Enchantress leaves him locked in his dragon form. WIP - Unposted

30.4.               Paper Flowers: Leonardo and Michelangelo reconnect after years of separation and deal with some leftover issues from their childhood while they prepare to welcome the next generation of Ninja Turtles into the world. WIP - Unposted

30.5.               Patching the Trousers: Starting from the end of the Fast Forward arc, Leonardo gets lost in the multiverse and proceeds to adopt all the secondary turtles. All of them. Leonardo is the Mom Friend, only he’s not a friend he’s just a Mom. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

30.6.               Stained Bandages: Realistic resolution to the most common dark!Splinter tropes. Leo doesn’t really care about himself, but if you touch his brothers he will kill you. Splinter touches Raphael. Karai is gifted with Splinter’s decapitated head in a box. Oneshot- Posted

30.7.               Unraveled Sleeves: After First Contact and Splinter’s death from old age, the Turtles scattered to live their lives. Leonardo is the only one who stayed in the Lair. Making peace with the Karai was only the first step towards healing, and Leo makes peace with himself as he takes on students and his family grows again. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

31. TRANSFORMERS

31.1.               A Transformation of Ice and Fire: Crossover with GOT – Most of the Cybertronians who died during Unicron’s Awakening end up reincarnated as dragons (Seekers) and Direwolves (Autobots). The sapience of the animals causes significant changes to outcome of several key canon events. Meta

31.2.              Action Equals Reaction: There is a time and a place for everything. Even things like learning that your Air Commander is pregnant, and his parents are wingnuts. The middle of battle is neither the time nor the place. Oneshot - Posted

31.3.               Compromising Positions: Bay’verse Shattered Glass – Megatron knows that there’s something wrong with his brother, but nobody will listen to him. Oneshot - Posted

31.4.               High Stakes Wagers: Decepticon Romantic Gestures at their finest. Series

31.4.1. The Bet: Soundwave saves Starscream’s life after he gets blasted away from Unicron and they proceed to have wild, kinky spark-bonding and that’s it that’s the plot. Oneshot - Posted

31.4.2. The Rebirth: Starscream and Soundwave head off Galvatron and Zarak’s attempt to destroy Cybertron (and Earth, but that’s really secondary to them) and earn their just rewards for being on the winning side. Oneshot - Posted

31.5.               Nine Rings of Vos: The Epic Seeker Saga where Starscream is the uncontested leader of the Seekers and he’s using the Great War as a cover to renew his people’s population numbers, add some variety to their core coding, and also destroy the Cybertronian Government because they liked to make Seekers into their slaves. Seven-part Series, Chaptered, WIP - Posted

31.5.1. Before Dawn: A Rings spin-off where the Seekers are actually all sparklings who disguised themselves as their parents in order to survive the Great War. Crash-landing on Earth precipitates the Big Reveal and also the actual adult Seekers get woken from Government sanctioned stasis thanks to the energy surges caused by resource shipments coming in from Earth. Chaptered, WIP - Posted

31.6.               No Evil: Starscream is a scientist who wants to stay a scientist but he’s so damn good at being Air Commander that he gets promoted anyway. Also, his best friend/roommate from the War Academy is the closest thing to a therapist that the Decepticons have and that means Starscream stays mostly sane. Concept, WIP - Unposted

31.7.               Thundercracker’s So Crazy in Love: Seekers Go Into Heat and that will put the War on pause for a bit because of the crazy. Series

31.7.1. Always the Quiet Ones: Thundercracker terrorizes the Decepticon forces on Earth while displaying for his Wingmates and accidently kills Megatron. Oneshot - Posted

31.7.2. Decepticon Service Announcement: Thundercracker is the new Supreme Leader of the Decepticons and he’s decided that they’re in a good position to negotiate peace terms with the Autobots now. Oneshot - Posted

32. YU-GI-OH

32.1.               Old Game, New Rules: Sentinels and Guides are a built in part of society and a certain playing card game ties into that a bit more than most people would expect. There’s a lot of gratuitous soul-bonding smut, worldbuilding runs rampant, and there’s a lot of social commentary on the futility of stereotyping any portion of the population based on a single point of commonality. Chaptered WIP – Unposted

32.2.               The Future of the Past: Jounouchi’s past life left a surprise in their soul that the trip to memory world triggers and now Katsuya is living through all of Jono’s memories. Chaptered WIP – Posted (Under Revision)

33. YU YU HAKUSHO

33.1.              Bonds: Koenma and Yusuke are soulmates and Enma Daioh interferes because one his brat son is properly wedded and bedded Enma can take a long overdue vacation. Oneshot – Posted

33.1.1.                  Ties That Bind: Koenma and Yusuke are just starting to get used to being bonded mates when a new/old-and-forgotten enemy shows up to complicate things. WIP – Unposted (Under Revision)

33.2.              What Happens on Vacation: Crossover with Bleach – turns out that Kurosaki Misaki was a senior ferry girl on sabbatical (which translates as living a mortal life unaware of her true nature) and she was late returning to work due to being trapped in Grand Fishers gut. Ichigo and Uryuu are very confused when their “cousin” Kazuma shows up to introduce his new bride to the family. Koenma is just really pissed off by all the paperwork he needs to deal with while cleaning up his father’s mismanaged pet project. Chaptered WIP - Unposted

[ysalamiri-queen]

Thanks for the tag @crimsonlostsoul ! This is a 10 characters meme were ya list out 10 of your favorite character from 10 different franchises!! Should be fun!

1. Star Wars- This is a big old tie between Luke Skywalker and Eli Vanto... Luke has some GIF’s so I’ll picture him but yeah, you could not make me pick between the two!

2. Naruto- Rock Lee- go you funky little green bean go!

3. Ninjago- Zane Julian- yeah there are going to be a good few ninjas on this list... Little me had very narrow interests and they stuck

4- Marvel- Another tie between Iron Man/Tony Stark and Talos... becuase I actually wrote a fic for him the crown goes to Talos! (Also just... Ben Mendo...)

5- She Ra- Bow- I don’t really need to explain he’s fantastic! Such a fun character I was in love by like, episode 2 XD

6- Mike Tyson Mysteries- Marquess of Queensberry- Have you seen my blog lately? LOL

7- Pokemon- Feraligatr- More of a species than a character but ugh I ADORE these guys!

8- Star Trek- Data- You know how I mentioned ninjas earlier? Also androids, lots of androids...

9- Teen Titans- Cyborg- Another one!!! I thought (and still think) this guy was SO COOL!!

10- Gorillaz- Murdoc - he’s an asshole but I had to include him X’D

If anyone else wants to do this go right ahead!! It took a while to even remember 10 franchises I’ve been into tbh, right now I’m kind of cycling through the same 3 things oops X’D

[xiaotvng-a]

❛  𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗬 𝗝𝗢𝗕𝗔'𝗦 𝗗𝗔𝗬 !  —  ˓ parte 2/2 ˒

@jobswrites / apenas um compilado de frases que meu personagens provavelmente diriam se estivessem naquela situação. edicão especial de aniversário da joba !!

quentin : so i heard you like bad boys.

kalina : not really.

quentin : oh, thank god.

---

roxy : is she always like this when she loses?

gustavo : oh, yeah. you should have been here for the great jenga tantrum

miranda : you bumped the table and you know it!

---

keith : 20 years from now, i guarantee you i will be kitty's second husband.

kitty : what happened to my first husband?

keith : nothing you can prove.

---

aurora : will you be the yee to my haw?

texas : i am begging you to stop.

---

kitty : i have this urge to do something stupid

keith : i’m stupid. do me!

kitty :

keith : did i just say that out loud?

---

manager : i've come to take you back

aurora : let me ask taejoon

manager : it's not a choic-

aurora : he says no

---

kalina : *sighs dramatically*

quentin : what’s wrong?

kalina : you haven’t looked at me for ten minutes

quentin : we’re watching a movie

kalina : did i ask for an excuse?

---

aurora : if i got a dollar for every time i thought about you, i'd only have one dollar because you're all i think about

texas, holding back tears : we’re gonna be broke

---

gustavo : all my shirts are disappearing.

miranda, wearing a shirt three times her size : weird.

---

random trainee : you need a hobby.

aurora : i have a hobby.

random trainee : staring at texas’s face is not a hobby.

aurora : you're right. it's a profession and i excel at my job.

---

texas : a good romance starts with a good friendship.

aurora : and a bad romance starts with "ra, ra, ah, ah, ah. ro, ma, ro, ma, ma, ma. ga, ga, ohh, la, la."

---

gustavo holding miranda in his arms bridal style : i'm like a mug.

miranda : ... explain?

gustavo : holds hot things.

---

gustavo : *jumps into bed next to miranda*

gustavo : once again, fate throws us together.

miranda : honey we’ve been married for 5 years this is our bedroom.

---

aurora : i’m gonna go take a shower. care to join me?

texas : minsun, there’s a freshly sharpened knife in the kitchen drawer. if i ever say ‘no’ to that question, use it against me.

---

kitty : is that your hand on my ass?

keith : it was an accident.

kitty : it's still there.

keith : it's still an accident!

---

random guy : so is aurora like, y’know, with someone?

texas : now when you say ‘with someone’, do you mean as in ‘in a romantic/sexual/personal monogamous relationship with a man who will go to war with any and every fuckboi in this proximity for her heart’? then the answer is yes.

texas : oh and that man is me, so i’ve got my fucking eye on you.

---

gustavo : i have something i want to get off my chest

miranda : is it your shirt? please say yes

---

quentin : what’s your blood type?

kalina : how would i know?

quentin : how would you not?!

kalina : who do you think i am?? karl landsteiner, discoverer of blood groups???!

quentin : you don’t know your own blood type but you know who discovered them??!

---

someone : what's your favorite color?

texas : aurora.

texas : wait, what was the question?

---

miranda : i wasn't that drunk last night.

roxy : you were flirting with gustavo.

miranda : so? he's my boyfriend.

roxy : you asked him if he was single.

roxy : and cried when he said he wasn't.

---

kalina : you know i was thinking, what if i uh... unpacked here?

quentin : then all your stuff would be here.

kalina : well, what if all my stuff was here?

quentin : then you'd be going back and forth all the time, i mean it doesn't make any sense.

kalina : okay. what if we lived together and you understand what i'm saying.

---

miranda : all i could think of was, you know, "is gustavo gonna kiss me?"

roxy : and did he?

miranda : i'm a lady, roxy, i don't kiss and tell.

miranda : but this hickey speaks for itself.

---

miranda : i just had the most amazing bath.

gustavo : really? i don’t like baths.

miranda : wait, you like them with me?

gustavo : honey, it’s not the bath i enjoy, it’s the wet, naked lady.

---

texas : *licks the chip aurora is about to eat*

texas : i licked it, therefore it is mine.

aurora : *licks texas*

texas, blushing : well played.

---

love : uh oh.

kitty : what?

love : somebody's in love.

kitty : yeah, right. i just think keith's cool. it's not like i lay awake at night thinking about him.

kitty, later that night : uh oh.

---

keith : kitty and i are no longer friends.

kitty : keith, that is the *worst* way to tell people we’re dating!

---

*miranda walks into her bedroom*

gustavo : hey babe!

romeo : hello mira.

roxy : what's up?

miranda : hello, my boyfriend and two people who never seem to stay at their own houses.

---

kitty : keith, can i speak to you for a minute? in private.

keith : ooh, someone's in trouble. it's me. i don't know why i did that.

---

kalina : jail is no fun. i'll tell you that much!

quentin : oh, you've been?

kalina : once. in monopoly.

---

gustavo : hey miranda, what’s your last name?

miranda : uh, it hasn’t changed since we first met?

gustavo, getting down on one knee : well, maybe it should.

---

miranda : he will always catch me if i run his way, watch

miranda : gustavo!

gustavo : miranda! wait i have food in my hands- *drops food on floor and catches her*

---

texas : do you want to see what my snack is?

random trainee : sure.

texas : *shows a picture of aurora*

random trainee : oh. why am i not surprised?

---

miranda : is it bad that one of the reasons i love having a husband is the 24/7 protection from creepy people and also things that go bump in the night?

gustavo : i'm not gonna lie, sometimes i'm lying awake at night and hear a noise downstairs and think "oh crap. i'm the husband. time to go downstairs and die, i guess."

miranda : a true hero.

---

aurora, before they dated : you have a face.

texas : yes, i do.

aurora : i mean, a nice face. you have a nice face.

texas : thanks, i think.

aurora : please accept my attempt at flirting. i don’t know what i’m doing.

---

kitty : bite me.

keith : only if you ask nicely.

---

quentin : okay, finish this sentence. sticks and stones may break my bones..

kalina : …but chains and whips excite me?

---

gustavo : miranda let’s go on this trip together.

miranda : gustavo i am busy trying to finish this project by the deadline.

gustavo : don't make me use the voice.

miranda : what voice?

gustavo : *speaks slow, deeper and rougher* this one.

miranda : o-oh...my

gustavo : you're coming...or not?

miranda : i am already packing.

---

kitty : why is your back all scratched up?

keith : *flashback to him chasing a raccoon after kitty told him to leave it alone*

keith : i'm having an affair.

---

kalina : *kicks the door open looking panicked*

quentin : what did you do?

kalina : nobody died!

quentin : what kind of answer is that???

---

roxy, before miranda and gustavo dated: what’s this?

miranda : it’s my to-do list.

roxy : oh? that’s great. i’m so glad that you’re starting to be more organiz-

roxy : this just says “gustavo”.

---

gustavo, looking through his wedding album : i remember during the wedding, miranda was crying so hard she couldn’t even say ‘i do’. have you ever seen someone cry harder?

romeo : that was you, gustavo. and no, i haven’t.

---

keith : hey, spell ‘me’

kitty : ‘m, e’ ?

keith : you forgot the d

kitty : there’s no ‘d’ in ‘me’

keith : not yet ;)

---

roxy : why are your tongues purple?

gustavo : we had slushies. i had a blue one.

miranda : i had a red one.

roxy : oh.

roxy :

roxy : oh!

---

gustavo : you deserve a reward for dealing with me miranda.

miranda : you are my reward.

keith : you deserve a reward for dealing with me kitty.

kitty : damn fucking right i do.

---

kalina : is that seat taken?

quentin : that’s my lap

kalina : i know what i said

quentin, blushing : 

---

gustavo : so i’m thinking for our wedding we should have a giant fire pit... maybe have it in the summer?

miranda : wedding? we're not even engaged yet.

gustavo :

gustavo : that's what i forgot to do last night.

---

kalina : *unbuttoning shirt* god, it's so hot in here.

quentin : i know, but why are you unbuttoning my shirt?

---

keith : i just kind of feel like we're meant to be together, i mean look at how fate just throws us together like this!

kitty : keith, it's 3am. you are literally in the middle of climbing through my window. how did you even get here?!

keith : fate brought me here. i just told you that.

---

romeo, before miranda and gustavo dated : why is gustavo screaming and doing push ups in front of miranda’s apartment.

roxy : i told him that she saw a guy doing 1000 push ups and was impressed.

romeo : she didn't though.

roxy : exactly.

gustavo : 834! are you impressed yet! 835!

---

kitty : i wish for me to have a good rest of the week.

kitty : *drops a dime on the wishing well*

keith : well i wish i get to be kitty’s boyfriend~

keith : *seductively empties about 10 bags of change*

kitty :

keith :

kitty :

keith : to be fair, it was a legitimate wish.

---

texas : who ate all the cookies?

aurora, panicking : ninjas.

texas : but i didn’t even see them.

aurora : no one ever does.

---

quentin, playing among us with kalina : the imposter is pretty good

kalina : thx

---

miranda : here's your cereal

gustavo : can i have a big spoon please?

miranda : of course *delicately embraces him from behind*

gustavo : lovely

---

kitty : whatever you're thinking right now, stop it

keith : what?

kitty : you always make that face when you're about to say something stupid to piss me off so cut it out-

keith : i love you

kitty :

keith :

keith : also cereal qualifies as a soup

kitty : i knew it

---

texas : aurora i really don't have time for this...

aurora : you have to, it's in your planner

texas : you can't just take my planner and write "aurora time" all over it!

aurora : sure i can. you're also scheduled for a long, warm hug later.

---

miranda, sleeping : *rolls over in bed and knees gustavo in the ribs*

gustavo : ow

gustavo : you kneed me

miranda, sleepily : yeah, yeah i do need you

---

*training for a spelling bee competion*

kalina : next up, your word is fergalicious.

quentin : definition?

kalina : make them boys go loco.

---

kitty : if you say anything stupid i will shut your mouth with my mouth.

keith :

kitty :

keith : ...crocodiles are amphibians.

---

quentin : what are you doing?

kalina : tying your shoes.

quentin : ... why?

kalina : so you don’t fall for anyone else.

---

miranda : gustavo has been working out a lot lately, i wonder what he needs to be so strong for.

roxy : who knows?

gustavo, at the gym: *lifting weights* i’m gonna be so good at hugging miranda!

---

aurora : hey taejoon, guess what my jackets made out of

texas : wool?

aurora : no, girlfriend mat-

texas : you’re gonna get cold if you’re wearing anything other than wool, here take my jacket

aurora : *tearing up* o-ok

---

miranda : hey, can you help me with this zipper?

gustavo : sure.

miranda :

miranda : up!

gustavo : oh, less fun.

---

aurora : *eating a cinnamon roll*

texas : cannibalism.

aurora : *confused chewing noises*

---

miranda : do you ever look at gustavo and just, "who the hell blessed me with this dork. i am the luckiest loser in the galaxy"

---

quentin : someone knocked on my door and they were wearing a red hat. i didn't answer cuz i was scared it was donald trump

kalina : what if it was mario you utter fool

quentin, crying : shit... you right....

---

keith : i believe you said that your childhood experience was satisfactory?

kitty : no, you misheard me, i said it was ‘sadness factory’.

keith :

---

texas : i need you.

aurora : for?

texas : ever.

aurora, voice cracking : oh

---

kitty : i hope you’re not going to do anything stupid.

keith : i hope you’re not hoping too hard.

---

miranda, slamming a package onto the kitchen counter : i got the steak from the freezer.

gustavo : why do you have chocolate on your face?

miranda : it was under a chocolate cake.

gustavo : so you ate your way through it?

miranda : i made a judgment call. you weren’t there.

---

kalina, reading something on her cellphone : y’know apparently the tongue is the strongest muscle in the body?

quentin : really? huh!

kalina : 

kalina : 

kalina : hey quentin, wanna fight?

---

*miranda and gustavo, on a movie date, watching twilight*

miranda : if you make out with me during the baseball scene, i will kill you.

gustavo : it’s just something about this movie!

[iphoenixrising]

Hiya Babe! So there's this idea I've been sitting on for like two weeks about your AOB world; first I'd like to say that your AOB stories are the first ones i read that had AOB dynamics, and it kind of reconcile me with the concept, so kudos to you! So when I re-read the part of the Part 5, when Jason... enters Tim, you wrote : "Tim’s eyes go wide, his thighs clamping down on Jason’s hips, hands scrabbling for something to hold on to when Dick takes a hold of one flailing hand" 1/3

(Warning: a bit graphic below the cut)

And the 'flailing hands' made me remember a scene from Grey's Anatomy. Now I don't know if you watched it, but at the end of Season 12, there's this pregnant doctor called April, who begins to have contractions while she's trapped in Meredith's house with another doctor. And then the baby arrives but it's presenting by the feet, but they're trapped so the other doctor has to actually slice open April to pull the baby out, with no anaesthesia whatsoever; and cue April's flailing hands. 2/3

And I took the time to re-read all the drabbles you posted to be sure, but when Tim first got pregnant, and then when the baby was coming, and “some very sneaky, stealthy ninjas are the ones that reach him first”, you never actually told us what happened after, didn't you? Now I'm not saying someone needs to cut Tim's belly open to pull out their kid, but... that's totally what I'm saying :D Love you lots! 3/3

**

Hi babe.

When I had my daughter, I went natural, so I get the pain, but literally being cut open without anesthesia sound absolutely fucking awful. 

As to the end of that drab, ah, no lol. I’ve never talked about what I might do when Ra’s people are the ones to find him first :D :D

I don’t really know that I could write that much of a graphic scene or how it would go down until I actually get these THREE THINGS ON GOOGLE DOCS FUCKING DONE and be able to write it.

However.

This is not to say I couldn’t completely see Nightwing and the Red Hood ripping through Gotham the second Tim’s frantic comm cut off abruptly.

When they find the abandoned manor the League is using in Gotham, they find Tim tied to a bed and screaming. He’s in hard labor, captive with Ra’s al Ghul himself waiting for the ultimate prize. A mate he can mold to be utterly perfect.

But. There is also a cute little ask about what kind of spastic dad Jason Todd might be, and I abso mentioned how he’d have the entire damn world on speed dial for when Tim finally popped.

So the absolute shock of the night for the League?

When superheroes (and a few supervillains, let’s just be honest) converge on their safehouse like a wave of vengeful justice. Wonder Woman give no shits about kicking the fuck out of ninjas left and right while other JLA, Titans, Outlaws, and more are just surrounding bad guys with some nasty grins and a whole lot of please try it. 

I mean, even Booster Gold is in on it, so you know it’s the party of the year.

N and the Red Hood, B and Robin, are battering Ra’s al Ghul between them like a soccer ball because that’s what the hell Pack does for its’ own. 

At the next scream, the two vigilantes break off and run to their Omega.

“Flash!” Nightwing yells, “extraction now.”

Hood is calling Agent A, trying not to freak out while ripping the bindings off, pulling Tim up in his arms, almost shaking with relief.

Flash and Kid Flash make simultaneous decisions, Wally scooping Tim out of Jay’s arms and Bart snagging both Alpha males.

I would probably write it as Tim having a C-Section in the Cave rather than surrounded by bad guys. It would be terrifying and soothing because Dick and Jay are holding him the whole time, crying with him, supporting him through it because their child is in distress and the time for pain medication, Master Tim!

“Do it,” he cries, “save them. Save our babies, Alfred. Pleasepleaseplease just save them.”

And it is excruciating, even with his Alphas there, even with the heartbeats getting fainter, he cries in Jay’s shoulder, gripping Dick’s hands hard enough to break, apologizing sloppily because he should have gotten out, run, escaped, and if their babies, if their babies–

But it’s perfect timing when Leslie gets there and quickly helps extract the children, checking them both over while Alfred closes and takes care of Master Tim.

The healthy cries have all three parents sobbing even harder because they sound so perfect already.

Cue Tim’s gown lowered so he can hold both his babies against his skin to warm them and bond and nuzzle and sob. His Alphas arms under his weak ones, and their kisses all over his face and neck and mark, their pups, and the small family huddled together in the Cave on that medical bed.

Make it even more when trusted superheroes slowly show up to peek in, to coo in awe at how tired and happy Tim is, purring with his babies now swaddled against Tim’s side and the Alphas laying with him, bracketing him in, their scents all intermingling. 

The babies might find their way to their Grandfather’s arms once he takes off the suit and the cowl so he doesn’t scare them. Diana nuzzles soft cheeks and tells them battle stories. Clark promises to stay absolutely on the ground, and sighs nostalgically when he hums them to sleep.

Wally probably doesn’t have kids just yet so he nopes right out of that sitch. They’re too small and he might drop them or go to fast or something, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t lean over B’s shoulder and make stupid faces.

J’onn is a natural at balancing both children in his arms while standing at the big computer to coordinate Watchtower activities from Gotham. 

With so many superheroes around, their pups safe, Dick and Jay take an hour to do what all good Alphas do.

Take care of their Omega.

The bath they have upstairs is gentle and warm, the two of them being so careful of him, can’t stop touching him, giving him gentle kisses and soft words, how proud they are of him, of how beautiful their babies are, how honored they are to be his.  

So ah. Yeah. That’s kind of how it could go.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

HypMic 7 - 9 | Maou-jou 5 - 6 | Akudama Drive 6 - 8 | I7 s2 6 - 9 | Taiso Samurai 5 - 6

HypMic 7

I will never not laugh at the content advisory, haha.

I like Kazuha already. Too bad he’s probably evil…

Oh, is it the day of the DRB in the series already…? Or maybe, because it’s the qualifiers, BB and MTC’s match is on a different day to FP and MTR’s.

Oh? Does Tom know Jakurai well enough to call him “Jakurai-sensei”? (<- middle ground between “Jinguji-sensei/Sensei” and “Jakurai”) Also, Tom uses “ore”.

Ooh, Iris is a motorbike rider, eh? Interesting. I thought they (<- not sure if Iris is a “she” or “he” with a really weird name) were more of a Saburo-type and didn’t bother with things like that, based on their appearance. Update: Someone on Yahoo Answers said based on Iris’s watashi, she is a woman.

Typo fixed! Good job, anime staff! Update: I’m referring to “…darkest hour is just before the down” (sic).

…bukkorosu = “f***in’ slaughter ‘em”. It’s not wrong…it’s just the subbers really like to abuse the F word for MTC. But you knew that already if you got this far…right?

LOL, Ramuda wants to “scratch [Rex’s] back” (figuratively) to…get SNS views? Hahaha.

This Studio Alita is probably a reference to Shinjuku Alta.

Yotsutsuji!!! That was the one big spoiler I got before watching the episode today and I’m so happy I got to see him animated!

(One of) Irihatoma and Degarashi refer to Jakurai as “Jakurai-sensei” as well. Hmm, I never noticed. Update: That’s Degarashi, because Irihatoma speaks to Jakurai alone later this ep.

There’s 50% chance I’m getting this wrong, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say Kazuha is voiced by a veteran VA…one I already know about.

Doppo calls Kazuha by his first name…That upgrade means their relationship escalated quickly (or this is a quirk of HypMic in general, since I noticed most characters are on first name basis with each other). Also, it’s cute Doppo finally has someone in his corner. No other part of the franchise has one, to my memory. Update: It might actually be “Kazuha-kun”…but I’m still surprised though. Update 2: It’s both, actually.

I’ve listened to the phrase “some random guy” several times from Hifumi’s mouth and all I can figure out is the “yatsu” at the end. (Doesn’t help my ears blocked themselves up again, although it’s less than it used to be.)

Harumi Wharf.

R? On a helicopter landing pad?

…uh oh. I was right when I thought Kazuha was going to be evil. Also, Doppler shift/effect. Update: “Doppler” is clearly a pun on “Doppo”.

Hmm? “Hey, Doppo” from “yaa”…it doesn’t have a name referred in there. It’s a small but odd thing to do. (I remember a professional translator was complaining that people with intermediate Japanese were giving them flak for translating things “wrong”, but what I do here is analysis for my future and edificiation. I’m not here to knock down pro translators’ doors and demand a refund, because I’m trying to go pro to atone for my sins as a scanlator.)

The soundtrack’s slightly sinister tone, plus the fact I figured the culprit well before Doppo did, makes me slightly scared…for MTR.

I realised they skimped on the budget…this “hot off the car chase” line seems more like an MTC line, doesn’t it…?...Yeah, it’s almost word for word for MTC in DRB+. Maybe the subbers rushed and used this translation (this link I put here) rather than their actual lyrics…? I will have to get to the bottom of this. Update: Turns out the translation is slightly different, but…yes, there is reference to a car chase in the start of Shinjuku Style. (Sorry, I don’t know every lyrics of every song off the top of my head.)

…wow, this got really Doppo-centric. I’ve never seen the leader relinquish their position when it comes to “leading into battle” before. It just goes to show the staff really do pay attention to how popular Doppo is.

Note “Doppo” means “walk alone”, roughly speaking, hence the “solitary” line.

This song is very, very faithful to its original lyrics, because I was trying to look at Hifumi’s “mixing paint” line and it pretty much matches.

Hifumi’s “my men”, LOL.

Kazuha = “one leaf”, hence the “leaves” in one of Jakurai’s lines.

I cringe every time I hear screaming coming from this episode, y’know…?

…oh dear. MTC’s plot actually bled into MTR’s.

I already knew from browsing Twitter earlier today that Kizuna was going to become FP’s today, but hearing it is another matter entirely.

Kosuke Miyoshi is Kazuha. Apparently, this guy also voiced Mashirao Ojiro (the tail guy) from BnHA, but that’s his only major role…so I was right in that I knew him, but wrong in that he was, again, a relative rookie in comparison to most.

Apparently FP’s sign is a peace sign sideways to represent an F, but…it’s just a sideways peace sign to me…

…how is Dice’s bead ornament attached to him? Is it on his hair, on his ear, on the skin behind his ear…? I was trying to replicate his outfit and got stuck on how to represent it, so I ended up opting for trying (and failing) to do a small braid on the right side.

IWGP shows up this season…it’s the song with the “hoo!” noise BB perform in this episode.

LOL, “Dead men tell no tales” is a perfect saying for MTC.

Akudama 6

Is there a movie called “Brother”…? There’s apparently one that’s the plural of that, but not that itself.

If HypMic likes the F bomb, then Akudama like the S word.

I-Is it just me or is the choreography sped up at some points in this episode…? It’s a bit disorienting to come back to.

I thought the kid was a robot…but close enough.

Oh no! Why does the teacher always have to die for the student to become stronger???

Kairaku/shugi -> pleasure/doctrine (if I didn’t somehow misunderstand the shark’s kanji combo),

The part after the ED looks a little too long…keep watching.

The Japanese says “Lost Children”, but the English says “The City of Lost Children”, probably referring to this French sci-fi film.

I7 s2 6

I like how Gaku is taking special offence to Yamato’s comments about him being a playboy.

Re:vale-san. I never noticed until now.

“I’m already looking forward to it.” That’s how I would translate Tsumugi’s “I’m already excited”.

“…who could possibly complain?” – I think Mitsuki might.

The pun in the MEZZO show is that tai (group/squad) sounds the same as tai (want to ~). Rabbinsta is obviously Instagram + Rabbit (Chat?).

Oh my gosh! It’s the Yotsuba sister!

Mitsuki’s shopping trip OST is nice, man. This piano.

This episode has a really great sense of danger and foreboding for the future.

I7 s2 7

Perfection Gimmick. Never heard it in the anime before.

Even the ramen house’s name is a play on “Idolish7”.

LOL, Yamato sure turned that comment around.

The sign talking about beer says something about coupons below it. (It went by too fast and my CR app’s kinda fiddly, so I can’t really go back…)

Kimi to Ai na Night (pun on Idolish7, aka “AiNana”, again).

Mitsuki, no one hates you! You’re just imagining it all!

I7 s2 8

Momo hugely resembles Sasara, right down to the highlights on the hair…

“…you’re so handsome…” – I’m dying on the inside here, people! *laps up the BL pandering with a derpy smile on my face*

Banri and Tsumugi haven’t been focussed on lately…they’re clearly doing something regarding Banri’s ties with Re:vale, but I can’t quite figure out what that “something” is.

Why is there a basketball and a football in the back of the Takanashi office…?

Please don’t run in heels, Tsumugi…

“I love Idolish7!” - Ah, despite my quibbles, Tsumugi is good after all.

“making one’s best exertions” – Why do those words on the cup worry me a bit…?

Isn’t “I’m watching you” a creepy statement…?

Apparently Tamaki’s symbol is mp (mezzo pianissimo), hence Sougo’s words.

…my gosh! Aya’s foster father is Kujou?!

I7 s2 9

If I heard it right, Tenn’s line was “I can be your idol”, not “your prince”.

“Older Izumi” - …ah, poor Mitsuki.

“Damn you, sexy beast…” – LOL!

…aw, I think this is the first time my heart has been lightened by Tsunashi’s laugh. He’s a good boy.

The chibis…I’m still trying to get used to them…

As a song once said, “You can’t please everyone so you just gotta please yourself.” (Blah blah blah, something about garden parties…)

Takao what now???...okay, Takao Dayuu.

…You’re lucky that wasn’t Tenn doing Takao Dayuu. It would’ve been very “Gentaro does his courtesan voice” if it was.

Nagi doesn’t overpronounce things as much in this season. It’s…pleasant, actually. Give me more of that.

Nagi’s “Oh my god!” was hilarious.

Taiso 5

Ra (ら) and ro (ろ) look kinda similar in hiragana.

Even without the audio, I can guess the words were “yarubeki koto” (things you should do) -> shachihoko.

The texts are written in gyaru-moji. Gyaru-moji is basically indecipherable to anyone who doesn’t know how it works – kind of like the common teen vernacular, to be honest (LOL…?) – and so the subs actually kind of ruin the confusingness of it all, but they did slightly better when they went “UR”.

Movie shiritori! But…has it really been half a year since Leo started? I feel slightly robbed about that plotline with the Men in Black right now…(then again, HypMic is just as bad about important plotlines, if not worse, so…I’m going to be patient and not complain.)

July 5th…Rei is a Cancer…?

They’re…finally moving on this Men in Black plotline! I only complained two points ago! Thank you, staff, for listening to my complaints (…?).

Moon Land finished recently, so I wonder if I’ll lose interest in this anime from here on out…? There was a Pommel Horse Prince in that.

Moon Land taught me that gymnastics has a lot of skills named after their creators, much like the Aragaki previously. The score is out of 10 for both D (difficulty) and E (execution), meaning a 20 is the best you can do, but the judges can get really picky...

The word for “vault” literally means “leaping/jumping horse”…makes sense.

Some of these names are names I’m familiar with from Moon Land already…but I never remember what the skills look like.

…welp, Leo just proved he really is a ninja after all.

Dr Stone’s s2 had its ED announced to be “Koe?” by Hatena and “Yume?” here really makes a theme…does Hatena give all their song titles question marks on the end?

Taiso 6

Colour gangs? Like in IWGP?

It’s nice to see they’re (Jotaro and Rei) communicating properly for the first time in possibly this entire anime.

On the wall, that thing is an evacuation map…of some sort.

…I’ve always wondered: if a bird eats chicken, does that count as cannibalism?

This is like thw Makkachin incident all over again (in YoI).

“…there’s no reason for you to grin and bear it.”

…Leo and Jotaro, both are so dense! Boys *shakes head*.

BB? More like ET (LOL)!

Maou-jou 5

…I didn’t even notice the cast was all dudes bar the princess at this point.

Tatakau Onnatachi. It could mean “fighting women” or “female warriors”.

I’m still vaguely pissed that Kirito is here under my nose…darn Demon King!!!

One of the harpy’s recent worries was that she wanted to become friends with the princess…That’s kinda cute…

Didn’t Syalis already get the coffin that one time? Or did it get confiscated?

*eyes sparkle* Cloud…I’d like to sleep on a cloud…*dreamy look on face* Cloud.

This is basically Princess, ‘Tis Time for Torture in reverse.

Is it “make do” or “make due”…?

I don’t think I need to explain the joke where the harpy is happy.

Gendo pose!

I wonder if the bed or the sheets will talk to her (Syalis) someday?

Maou-jou 6

The New Gearbolt’s quote is “guruguru dokkan”, which is just a bunch of sound effects. It would translate to something like “whir-whir-thud”.

Underwear episodes are some of the worst episodes ever…they’re so juvenile…I dropped at least one series based on the underwear episode alone.

Ah! The seal on the ice monster’s shoulder! Too cute!

How can a mechanical princess mecha (…thing?) have worries?

LOL, never underestimate the hilarity of the teddy demons ganging up on the Demon King.

I like how the Japanese pointed out the demons only moved the princess.

HypMic 8

I thought the robberies were Kazuha’s doing…? Or is this a separate case?

Samatoki answering his phone with his feet up…LOL, there’s just something funny about it. It shows he’s just so badass, he can get away with it.

Riou’s hacking (?) skills come to the fore again. (Or is that listening to enemy intel?)

Ooh, Iris is sassy. I love her already.

…er, Samatoki? Blowing cigarette smoke into Jyuto’s face is just rude…

“…don’t hang up your gloves.” – Considering Jyuto has his red gloves…LOL.

What the heck is that backing track when the 2nd car moved out? That’s a cool track.

Ah! Iris is a Saburo-type…LOL, Saburo’s fake identity.

“a cop who’s in with the yakuza” - Wow, way to diss your own teammate, Samatoki.

For a guy who was only just in the water, Riou doesn’t even look wet.

“2 DIE 4” – Hmm? So did the anime staff know what Riou’s 2nd round song title was at the time…? Update: Judging by the name “Requiem” dropped in the next episode, I would say yes.

“…f*** the police…” - Wow, way to diss your own teammate, Samatoki. X2

Hmm? In Riou’s rap bit near the end, he goes “mad warrior” and that rhymes (in a very loose way of speaking) with “Mad Trigger”. The English didn’t keep that.

I remember seeing a spoiler which said that line (the one about slaves)…but seriously, Jyuto is such a “sexy revenge cop” (as someone once said – I think it might be Slug, or an anon to Slug) that literally nothing else seems to matter about him.

Why do they subtitle the laughing??? I still have no idea.

“Sgt. Iruma”? The guy just says “Iruma-san”. Is he a sergant or some other rank? Update: Yes. (As in, he is a sergant.)

I’ve never actually seen Ramuda sleep in a bed before, come to think of it. Does he not have a bed?

I would assume Gentaro is going…but he said he won’t be going, then negated that and then negated it again. Unless the 2nd time was him admitting it was a lie the first time…is he going or not???

“shinsetsu no human” – (Spoilers for later on/manga)…Yes, that’s actually what Ramuda says. It’s as if Ramuda subtly admits, right there, he isn’t human.

Nodo = throat…If this were translated more literally, it would sound pretty clunky.

“…rappa no inochi…paa!” – Yep, the subbers got the gist of the joke there.

Dice is basically a worm at this point…He’s squirming like one, anyway.

That “number of pips facing up” thing has got to be foreshadowing for something, y’know? Nothing in a story ever goes to waste. Also, it’s likely the dice are weighted or something…

…yep, there you go.

That voice Gentaro used for “I despise lies” was amusing…because it’s so different to his normal voice, and because Gentaro is a serial liar.

The 2nd song…which I already know is called “JACKPOT” from browsing Twitter earlier today…was a bunch of fun.

Udagawacho.

Hmm…emphasis on the candy. I wonder what that means? (<- already knows, I just want to keep it a secret from you, dear reader, if you don’t know it too)

ANIME SHOP is so clearly a pun on Animate, including the colours, that I can’t even…LOL.

FP’s Kizuna sounds distinctly different to the others…probably because of Ramuda. It’s mostly Ramuda carrying the tune there.

“Life is what you make it.” – Hmm, an interesting quote for sure.

HypMic 9

…welp, they don’t call it Fling Posse for nothin’.

I didn’t believe my ears, so I went and listened to it again. Sure enough, Ichiro calls Jakurai -san, not -sensei.

Ramuda’s normal voice! Things are getting serious~!

“Hifuming”? Is that a deliberate choice on the translators’ part? Or is it a mishearing?

…I’m laughing at how Samatoki called Ichiro a “hypocritical piece of s***”. I know the “s***” part is correct at minimum from the audio.

I believe Samatoki said -san, not -sama when he asked for an honorific. Hmm, interesting.

I knew this would get animated, but…I still can’t believe I’m watching it! Amazing…absolutely amazing.

If you’re wondering…yes, that long thing is her entire title and name. It’s said the name “Kadenokouji” is the longest Japanese surname in existence.

I remember reading a tweet earlier today that said somebody wanted “Altercation! Altercation! Altercation!” as a song title…and now I LOL, because the subbers made Gentaro say the exact same word.

Hmm…I only just noticed BB are the only ones with bags. They probably came last, but who took the others’ bags into Chuoku…? Update: Some of the others did have bags, I just never spotted them. For instance, Riou is carrying a large black rectangular bag, but Samatoki and Jyuto don’t have any. Jakurai has the bag from his TDD days.

The 2nd DRB brackets got announced today. BB vs DH, MTR vs BAT, FP vs MTC, rolling out across Japan (and Japan only due to COVID) in 2021.

“What happened between you and him?” - I was going “who?” in Cantonese (as I sometimes do), but turns out they’re just referring to Samatoki.

This is exactly as it played out in the drama tracks and manga…exactly what I was waiting for all this time! So good, dangit!

LOL, in the future, we will have camera drones working our concerts like they do in the DRBs…I think (?)

I wonder what Dice is thinking right now, seeing Otome on the screen…hmm…

…gah! Airhorn! Airhorn to the ears! *tilts to side due to sound*

I still kind of remember Slug’s take on the final battle…”The popo? More like the poopoo!” (or something like that). *sniggers*

The little barking bit after Jiro’s verse was…kinda cute, actually.

…ow, these are some burn-ass words. See? This is the power of the DRB!

…eh? Riou’s mic has his MC name on it. Don’t think I’ve seen that in any other part of the series.

Hoh, Riou even made references to Saburo’s character songs.

You can see “Hc” on Samatoki’s mic too…probably another case of his MC name, but partially obscured by his hand.

Aw, “Samatoki no sabaku toki” is a good lyric. Why couldn’t you try to keep that, instead of translating it literally to “judgement day for Samatoki”?

You can hear a thumping beat in the background when Samatoki prepares himself. That seems to be a similar way to how ARB treats this stuff.

“I’m THE Samatoki” – “Samatoki-sama da”.

I think it was really cool to show Samatoki handing the song over to Riou, but it also indicates there’s a disjunct in the lyrics that would cause such a thing. From this, maybe Riou is MTC’s weak link…?

Skeletons with katanas! Is that not cool?!?

…hey, that joined words thing Ichiro does…I would assume that’s what Rhyme Strike looks like in the HypMic universe?

Notice Samatoki took the word “signal” from Ichiro’s part and put it into his own one.

“Today is a good day to die.” – *eyes bulge* Oh…gosh. What a quote. Update: Someone theorised Ichijiku wrote these titles (the last 2), but someone else – like me – theorised this quote was what FP and M fans thought for this battle.

Akudama 7

…that’s one twisted kid.

Never threaten to kill a kid who can regenerate far better than you, Hoodlum.

Brawler is still in the OP…it’s kind of saddening to see him now.

I noticed a certain character appears on the Executioners’ hands if you pause at the right moment in the OP. It’s the first character in shori (management).

Bunny: set meal/Shark: roasted meat (yakiniku)

…This sounds a heck of a lot like the genbaku dome (Hiroshima Peace Park).

Bunny and Shark’s shirts together: Idiot -> Shark: Bone

Actually, this also reminds me of the Osaka Expo held in 1970. I loved writing about that event – it was just so fun to write about.

This anime is like Appare-Ranman’s sequel, except without the racing and crazy racial stereotypes (although there are still crazy stereotypes).

…whoa! This scene is going on the end of year list for sure. Just…have to remember this scene, where all the children disappeared, exists.

…”The City of Lost Children” is an apt title for this episode.

(HypMic spoilers!) I wonder if they’ll reveal that Ramuda is a clone in what’s left of the HypMic anime?

…oof, Doctor’s a filthy traitor!

Rule number 1 of fighting: never yell out “Smokescreen!” when the smokescreen is meant to cover you.

…LOL, dark censorship bar. Please wait for the Blu-Rays to see this scene uncensored.

What the heck?! The countdown went from 7 to 0 so fast!

Akudama 8

Black Rain, huh? *checks* It’s a movie about a pair of New York policemen who have to save a Japanese gangster from his death.

…don’t jinx it, Swindler!

Your brother isn’t on the moon, Sister. It’s just your dreams on there.

Notice “Neo Lake Biwa” actually has “Reiku” in its name, as opposed to, say, “mizuumi” or “ike” (the Japanese equivalent).

You can still see where Doctor stitched herself up.

What did Doctor “hold on to”?

Way to monologue through the whole morality thing… (<- not as satisfied as they would like from this scene)

I wonder if the seal is electronically tracked…

Tsubo = pot, vase…*thinks about drugs* (Not that pot.)

“…I’ll make you into a real man.” – More like a eunuch, LOL. (partially sarcastic)

I recall from Sarazanmai that “pair look” is the term for “twinsies” in Japanese.

Oh! Swindler kind of looks like the Executioner Boss now.

…I find it ironic that Swindler had long hair up until not too long ago.

Can to the eye! Ouch! That’s gotta be worse than a lightsaber…er, jitte to the eye!

This makes me wonder…was Courier a rich kid once…?

[erindrifter]

So, I just binged the entire Dark Knight Trilogy pretty quickly, and since it's been a pretty long time, I kinda want to talk about it. I'll go movie by movie on my opinions, then give an overall score.

BATMAN BEGINS

This movie is pretty great. It came out during a completely different time of superhero movies, so it feels different from the others. I also really like how the suit was more armored than the others, and not as flashy.

The storytelling is pretty linear, with only a small handful of flashbacks. There's a lot in the first act, but that's it. The rest of the movie is linear storytelling. You find out one thing, then find out the next, and so on.

The movie sets up the fact that this is a superhero movie, but is also taking itself seriously. It's grounded in reality, and the characters reflect that decision. Ra's Al Ghoul has alternative methods to seem immortal, superpowers aren't actually a thing, etc.

This movie plays as a thriller/crime fighting movie. It's got mob bosses, and syndicates, it's got everything. Most criminals even have the stereotypical accent. The most outlandish thing in the entire movie is the whole hallucinogen thing they got. And that's something that's at least plausible.

All in all, it's a good movie.

THE DARK KNIGHT

Right off the bat (heh), this movie feels different from the first movie. It's got a much more serious tone, and it introduces the Joker pretty early on. You know the goal, now we just have to get there.

This movie has the most linear story. It's got the least amount of flashbacks (none) and just goes from point A to point B with no detours. Everything that happens in the movie leads to the ending.

This is also the most "realistic" of them all. There are no hallucinogenic plots to destroy the city, no angry ninja assassins, just a dude with half a burnt face. Other than that, it's a gritty crime-fighting movie with some politics thrown in. By "some", I mean that you gotta pay attention before you lose track of what's going on.

Some say that this is the epitome of Superhero movies, and in my (admittedly biased) opinion, that is not true. But it is still a really great superhero movie, and a pretty good movie in general.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

This is the movie that a lot of people don't like very much. And, I'll admit, I used to be one of those people. But, my opinion has changed after this last rewatch.

This movie is a big ball of storyline. Very messy, too. There are lots of flashbacks, timeskips, etc. They don't do a super great job explaining how long is spent between scenes. The opening scene takes place 6 months before the movie, I think. I know this from a quick line halfway through the movie. Bruce spends 3 months in the prison. I know this because they mentioned the bomb taking 5 months to explode. Except, that doesn't line up? But the engineer says that the autopilot patch was 3 months old? Yeah, it doesn't make sense. And there are SO MANY flashbacks. Some people think they slow down the movie, I think it's a necessary evil because of the story elements they're throwing at us.

But how's the rest of the movie? Well, not super smart. The League of Shadows has this plan to destroy Gotham, but in this scenario, Gotham would become a martyr of a city, and the effect wouldn't really have a positive impact. It might actually encourage the criminals in other cities. Either way, not a smart move. Bruce, keep track of your money. You didn't even know you lost most of it. And that's before the stock exchange scene. (Which is obviously fraud, and should not have been a thing that actually went through). And, that Robin reveal is so dumb. Making his actual legal name Robin? Why? There are 5 Robins to choose from! "You should use your legal name, Richard. Or Tim. Or Jason. You're an orphan, your last name might have changed to Blake at some point. Or that's your middle name."

BUT!! Does this movie have redeeming qualities? Other than the fact that it's pretty fun to watch? Yeah. It deals with the fallout from the other movies quite well. Batman is a fugitive, Gordon gets slammed, Gotham is under a sense of security built upon lies. Batman has to deal with the fact that he killed the father of a pretty capable person. There are lots of new things, but they don't become too overwhelming to learn about. Most performances are pretty solid.

Overall, this movie, while the weakest of the trilogy, is still pretty good. There's lots of things to make fun of, but nothing too significant.

OVERALL

Well, this is a pretty good trilogy. Christopher Nolan does pretty great work. There's not much I can actually complain about in these movies, they're pretty solid.

It breaks the mold of the traditional trilogy sequence. Most of the time, it goes like this: Introduce the setting/characters -> Bring heroes down to their lowest -> Heroes are triumphant

Instead, this trilogy goes like this: Introduce setting/characters -> Bring Hero down to their lowest -> Then get them down EVEN LOWER and end with only a small bit of hope.

But, this trilogy pulls it off pretty well. I'm rather satisfied with it.

If you have any questions about my review, or anything specific you want to know about, feel free to ask them!!

[sick-raven]

Ghosts of the Present - Chapter 5

Chapter 1 + warnings

AO3

Previous chapter

Chapter 5

“Motherfucker,” Miranda grumbled under her breath. Jonathan’s phone was dead, the message was obvious. What could have anger him this much? Miranda had her suspicion and the ridiculousness of the whole situation made her pissed. Not only was he snooping around, he also couldn’t even stay and ask a question? Fucking Jonathan, is that the genius you claim to be, you damn baby? His theatrics annoyed her before, but now he just stepped over the line with his damn stalking. He deserved thinking whatever he did!

Sitting in her living room, body burning in pain, she grinded her teeth. What the fuck, that idiot. Was she really that untrustworthy? What did she do wrong?

Nothing! This reaction is on him, she was fair!

“Motherfucker!” she shouted angrily and took her phone out again.

The other side picked up immediately.

“What do you need, Constantine?” she asked calmly, focusing at the most important thing at the moment. It wasn’t Jonathan. She can deal with him later, if she deems it worth it.

“I found the last ingredient, if you feel like going for it, love,” answered Constantine.

“It hurts like hell,” she whispered unsure whether she talks about her body or the betrayal.

“I warned you.”

“I know. Tell me.”

***

The anger grew stronger by the minute. Jonathan moved around the lab making small silly mistakes that threw him into worse and worse rage. How dares she? Takes away his dignity and now his focus too! “Fuck this,” he grumbled to the vial with wrong amount of liquid.

“You should drink some tea to calm your nerves,” Jervis giggled.

“Shut up!”

Jervis sat in the corner of the lab. Somewhere he got small chair and table and he prepared whole tea set with kettle, biscuits and tiny cups. Only thing missing was a teddy bear. Jonathan counted seconds, ready to flip the table if Jervis only looks at him funny.

He slammed his fists on the table. Focus, Jonathan! One bitch won’t destroy your work. She doesn’t matter!

Miranda…

Damn her!

Was he not good enough? Was he a bad fuck? She was just playing with him, eating his feelings like succubus, cutting his life, energy and trust. She never liked him. Who could’ve? Bitch!

Stumbling around dissatisfied with everything his mind was running. Formulas and amounts of necessary components tangled together with Miranda’s voice asking him, if he trusts her.

He had to sit down. Calm down. Focus.

That’s how Khulan found him, strict look on her face. “How is the work proceeding?”

“Well,” he snapped annoyed. “Your flying monkeys work overtime.” That made Jervis in the corner chuckle. Jonathan will stuff the kettle into his throat!

“You need to hurry up; Ra’s al Ghul wants to fasten the production.”

“Ra’s al Ghul can come here and say it to me himself.”

“Watch your tongue, doctor,” master Khulan warned him.

“Your self-important attitude doesn’t scare me,” he snapped. “It’s easy to order around, but the work has system! You brainwashed morons couldn’t know!”

“You…” Khulan reached for her dagger, Jonathan held his toxin bracelet up. The imminent disaster stopped Jervis who jumped between them.

“Everybody please, hide your weapons,” he asked in happy tone. “Excuse my good crow friend, dear scary master,” he giggled. “He is angrier than Red Queen herself since his Banshee left him.”

“Shut up, Hatter!”

“Or he left her,” Jervis continued.

Khulan straightened her back, frowning at the short man. “What did you say?”

Jonathan moaned frustrated and turned back to his work. The last thing he needed was to speak about Miranda to the…

League?

“His dear Alice is no more,” Tetch was babbling. “Even though she was hardly Alice, maybe her eyes, but dark, dark lady she is indeed. Scary, always hidden in the shadows, killing like one of your ninjas.”

“Banshee,” Khulan repeated.

Jonathan lost his breath. Small puzzle pieces fell together with loud snap. He found what he forgot and realized what just happened.

Good! Let her rot!

No, that’s…

Khulan smiled at Jervis and her smile could freeze people alive. “Tell me, Mr. Tetch, where do I find this Banshee?”

Cold has run on Jonathan’s back.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

***

Miranda was lucky, if whatever happened these last few days could have been considered luck. Sadness and anger she left behind her. There will be enough time to wallow in feelings (is this really why she looked for them so hard? Just to suffer?). Right now she had more important matters.

Gotham museum could challenge the best prisons she has ever seen. Constant destruction and robberies forced the city to invest in good security system. Miranda never was a tech-savvy, but she was Banshee. Making loud noise was her jam.

Hidden in shadows she moved around the building. Silent alarm had to be on already, she moved fast, going exactly where Constantine sent her. The work was quick. She got to glass display of old Irish artefacts.

‘Violence is always the answer’ was a motto she lived by. Miranda broke the glass with a baton. The silent alarm switched, now it was screaming. Whole building was screeching, honking like crazy. In the shards a bracelet was waiting, decorated with runes and pictures of snakes and branches.

She grabbed it and screamed. The gold burned, so did her whole body. Every part of the skin Constantine touched was boiling. She couldn’t let go, she tucked her hand in, but the gold fried onto her fingers. The bracelet melted, the gold liquid found its way on her hand, up to the wrist, and burned in her skin.

The bracelet disappeared. A scar of gold stayed around her wrist.

“Fuck!” she hissed painfully on her knees. “Next time warn me, you jerk.”

She stumbled her way back. The police ran by her without noticing her in the shadows. She slipped right by them, skin still pulsing in pain. Why did she ever agree to this? Ha, as if! Why did she ever decide this?

Home sweet home. In light she could finally look at the new scar. The burn lost its red colour. Now it looked like grey and gold tattoo, pulsing, burning. “Cool,” she mumbled. Will it work? Hand trembling, she dialled John.

“You could have told me I will get attacked by jewellery!”

“You are welcome, pet. It’s the last thing you needed.”

She bit her lip thinking. “Thanks, Constantine. I owe you one.”

“I will summon you if necessary. You remember the rules. Don’t die, Bradbury.”

Don’t die. She wanted this. She built this up for a month and half. Stealing, killing, hurting, cooperating with John fucking Constantine. Just so she didn’t die. So she knows more and knows better. So if the League ever came back…

And it did. Sooner than she anticipated.

With a sigh she took down her weapons and set them on the table. Sleep is what her body and mind needed. Long, deep sleep. In her experience, it solved many things. In the morning she will know what to do with Jonathan. How to deal with danger in the city.

Her plans got interrupted by knock on the door.

She hid a knife in her palm. Who would come here now? The knock came again, more desperate than the first one. Slowly, she opened.

Jonathan stood there, guilty look in his eyes. Miranda clenched her teeth. Brave of him to come here after that theatre. Stabbing him between the eyes sounded nice.

“What do you want? Calmed down, huh?” she snapped.

“I’m sorry, Miranda. I overreacted,” he apologized.

“Overreacted? You are a jerk, that’s what you are. Goodbye.”

He held the door so she couldn’t close it. Playing with fire, she was so close to smack his fingers in the frame.

“What do you want?”

“Let me in, I will tell you.”

Should she listen to him? Give him a chance? Why? He went out of his way because of one stupid message. He didn’t even have balls to ask!

Maybe he gathered them now?

“Fuck you,” she hissed and went back to living room. He followed, looking around curiously. His gaze stopped at pictures on her wall. He never noticed them before. “Well? Speak!”

“I’m sorry, darling, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusion,” he said gesturing apologetically, faint smile on his face. Miranda’s anger rose. What was he playing? “I hoped to made this right.”

“Oh? How?”

“However you ask,” he held his hands to her.

Miranda frowned. Something smelled fishy. “What did I do to you? Answer.”

“Nothing, and I know that now.”

“I see. You will do anything I ask?”

“Yes.”

Miranda tucked her hair behind ear. Then she smiled. “You beg on your knees for forgiveness, Johny-boy, just like last time you fucked up. And I will consider your request.”

Jonathan didn’t hesitate to go down.

Neither did she. One swift kick to the side of his head. This wasn’t Jonathan. Send him to the land of unconscious and question that fucker later!

But this she didn’t expect.

Her leg hit his face. She expected hard surface.

Leg went through. It burrowed in the face like a mud. Miranda shouted in shock and staggered.

“What the fuck?” she screamed.

Wet bubbling came out of Jonathan’s body as it crumbled under its own weight into pool of mud. It didn’t splash on the floor but formed into humanoid shape. The mud golem grinned with yellow teeth.

“What gave me away?” the mud asked.

Miranda took a step back. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Gotham, what the fuck is that? Weapons!

She threw her dagger.

With a laugh the mud swallowed it inside its body with wet sound. No good!

Golem grabbed at her. She dodged. His arm stretched and caught her anyway. Hugged her body like a disgusting wet strait jacket. “Let go!” No strength could get her out. She tried to kick to no avail, he was too far away.

“Master Khulan wants to speak with you,” Golem said.

Miranda’s head gone light as if he forced every ounce of oxygen out of her. That name stabbed her heart. Khulan. In Gotham. And she knew about Miranda. How? HOW!

Jonathan.

“No!” her tries to wiggle loose were for nothing. “No! Kill me! Do it!” The mud surrounded her face stopping her screams leaving a taste of cemetery in her mouth. Tears formed in her eyes. No! Not to them! How the fuck could he?

She can’t die.

She doesn’t want to die!

Table! Weapons! Close enough. Now, Miranda, no time to waste!

She kicked. The leg hit one of the sound mines and activated it. Loud noise and rhythm in low frequency filled the room. She felt it resonate in her head, teeth hurt, heart couldn’t decide how to beat.

Golem screamed as his arm fell off. Whatever held the mud together broke apart and the mud slid down and splat on the floor. With every beat it got flatter and turned into liquid.

Miranda spit the mud. She grabbed the gun and the rest of the sound mines.

Window behind her broke. On the carpet fell burning bottle.

“Shit!”

Door in front of her burst in flames.

Shadows moved in the flat, out of balance from the sound.

Miranda activated the second sound mine. Every normal human this would sent to unconsciousness. And it did. League’s assassins screamed and fell silent. Miranda wobbled to the door, blood spurting out of her nose. She jumped the fire and ran out, finding her tempo. Behind her sound mines screamed and loudly cracking fire was swallowing everything she owned.

“Fuck you! Fuck!” she grinded her teeth. They knew about her. Jonathan told them about her. To Khulan of all people! What now?

While running, she called Terry.

“What is it, boss? It’s night.”

“Don’t go to the shop, Terry, understand?” she ordered, hardly catching her breath.

“What?”

“Don’t!”

“Okay, okay. What is…”

She ignored them and kept running.

Next chapter

[hexadecimalmantis]

Argonaut Games Research

This post was originally going to be an absurdly long documentary video, but I realized it would have been a bit boring, so I ultimately decided on making a glorified blog post. 

When I joined BioMedia Project last year, I was tasked with researching Bionicle: The Game and its sequel Bionicle 2: City of Legends. I have talked about both games in great detail many times before, and I think we all know about the issues that plague both of them by now. Bionicle: The Game is seemingly incomplete, and filled with content that was cut early on, and Bionicle 2: City of Legends never made it past a private movement demo. For context about Bionicle 2: BioMedia Project managed to obtain an Xbox build of the movement demo a few years ago. It has a few issues, such as broken audio and some missing graphical effects. I began reaching out to former developers in an effort to piece together the entire story of Argonaut Games, and uncover more secrets about both games. (Initially) With the assistance of Liam Robertson of DidYouKnowGaming?, I began contacting some of the developers. For those of you that are unfamiliar, Argonaut Games was split into two different facilities during the development of Bionicle: The Game. The first being Argonaut London, and the second was Argonaut Sheffield. I decided to reach out to the former developers from the London branch first. I initially didn’t get any replies, but I remained persistent. After waiting a few weeks, I eventually I got a reply from a former artist. Keep in mind that personal details about the former developers I contacted will be expunged in order to protect their identities and to prevent harassment and spam.

This is the first message I received after I inquired about Bionicle: The Game:

“Hi, yes I was lead artist on Bionicle. I'd say that it was a game that we cared a lot about, and to be honest we had high hopes for, at least initially. As always with game dev there wasn't just one cause of the games problems, but probably the biggest was we fell in love with the games setting and bit off far more than we could chew. We should have started with far more cautious goals, but we wanted to tell the whole story. I'm surprised if there was that much unused content on the disc TBH but the original scope of the game is definitely visible in naming conventions etc. we had intended each character to have toa levels and toa nuva (if thats the right term?) their powered up versions - before adding the 7th. Given that they have different abilities that was a huge ask of the team.

(Redacted)”

This message was about what I expected, the devs were a bit too ambitious and were unable to complete their ideas during the given development time. I later asked about the developer signatures stored within the BIGB archives, and asked them if they had worked on any of the Kopaka areas, since I found their signature within a subset of those files:

“the 'signatures' probably just refer to the designers - which is a relatively small subset of the team as a whole. I oversaw the project from an art perspective, so characters env, frontend etc then I ended up doing some animation work on the bull, onua, the weird door thing. I didn't work on Kopaka - that work was done up in Sheffield, I used to visit their studio to review stuff & sign it off.”

I’m sure the Bull was probably the Kane-Ra seen in Onua Nuva’s level. There are some pre-release trailers that show a Kane-Ra attacking the player with unique animations too. After that, I asked him about Argonaut Sheffield and their work on Bionicle 2: City of Legends. To my surprise, I got this:

“No, I didn't I thought they were disbanded alongside Argo”

This essentially meant that nobody from Argonaut London was aware of the development of Bionicle 2: City of Legends. With this information, it was easy to conclude that Bionicle 2 was created solely by Argonaut Sheffield as speculated. After failing to get more replies from former developers from Argonaut London, I shifted my focus to Argonaut Sheffield, intrigued by the messages I received from the former artist.

After a bit of waiting, I got a reply from another former artist.

“Hi,

Yes, I worked on Bionicle as a character artist along side artist (redacted). He was my mentor back then as it was my first industry job. I think we modelled about 130 odd characters/modular models back then between us. The character concepts we're drawn up by (redacted).

Argonaut Sheffield was previously Particle Systems who made I-War, the PC Sci Fi game and some other iterations. It was a technically adept small team and great to work with. I didn't have much to do with the London branch. We went on to try and make some failed movie tie-ins alongside them at a later date. Catwoman, Zorro, Star Wars, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and also Bionicle 2.. which was going to be a fluid parkour type platformer. Which never materialised as after being there just shy of two years, London shut us down.

I'm actually working back in the offices where it all happened now. Which seems strange. I did work at Sumo Digital as a lead Char artist for ten years in between. I know there's a basement full of hard drives still here as one of the old directors still rents some space here.

(redacted)

(redacted)

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

(redacted)”

I received concept art for both Bionicle: The Game and Bionicle 2: City of Legends in this message. The art was later posted on my Twitter: https://twitter.com/HexMantis/status/1099883979942084608

Aside from the plethora of art, this message provided some insight about how Argonaut Sheffield came to be. It was previously known as Particle Systems before it assimilated into Argonaut Games. After this exchange, I reached out to a former programmer from Argonaut Sheffield. This time I provided a set of questions for the developer to answer in an effort to obtain specific information. After waiting for nearly a month, I got a reply:

The questions I asked will be enclosed within [ ] to avoid confusion.

“Hey!

There's some incomplete credits here (redacted)

but you could try contacting (redacted) as he was the lead programmer there. He used to work at PKR too, also owned by (redacted).

(redacted)

[Asked about the main development platform for the games]

1) Yep it was PS2. The PS2 version was handled by Argonaut Edgeware and programmers in Sheffield did ports for the other platforms

[Asked about the cut content from Bionicle: The Game]

2) Sorry, I wasn't involved with that bit. I was responsible for adding the hyper threading features on the PC (redacted)

[Asked about interactions with the London branch]

3) Yep, we worked together on it. Designers and Artists in Sheffield were working on assets for the main game.

[Asked about I-Ninja’s compatibility with Bionicle: The Game]

4) I think they should be compatible with each other. I-ninja came out a bit later though.

[Asked about Bionicle 2: City of Legends]

5) Maybe, not sure as it was a long time ago and I then moved to the Edgeware studio. If they did I guess it was just a prototype for a pitch

Good luck with your fact finding!“

I later asked if they knew of any early builds of either game, and I got this reply:

“Hey!

Sorry for the late reply. I believe everything was archived by Argonaut and EA. I'm not sure if anyone archived it personally at Argonaut or not but there were a lot of people working on it. They created archive PCs with everything you need to make the game from the source assets.

Thanks,

(redacted)”

The concept of the supposed “archive PCs” was interesting, but I doubt any of them are still around after all this time. After this, I contacted another former programmer from Argonaut Sheffield. This time with a focus on Bionicle 2: City of Legends:

“Hi William, I must admit, I'm curious where you found my name in the demo. Do you have a source code drop to go with it, or did I leave my name in an error message in the binary package itself?

Either way, yes I did work on the demo, albeit briefly. The engine the demo is built on is largely the same engine used in Bionicle (the original PS2/Xbox/PC game), Catwoman, and I-Ninja. It has an older pedigree than that too, but those were the games it was used on while Argonaut Sheffield was part of the Argonaut group. I was one of the programmers who ported the engine over to PC & Xbox for the original Bionicle, which is why I was involved in the demo in some capacity.

I'm still in touch with a lot of the designers who worked on the movement demo; the lead designer, (redacted), has said that I can pass on his contact details if you'd like to get in touch with him. You can contact him at (redacted).

Cheers,

(redacted)”

I was not surprised to get confirmation that Bionicle 2 used the same engine as Bionicle: The Game, since most of my existing programs I wrote for Bionicle: The Game were compatible with the Xbox demo. I asked if a PS2 port of Bionicle 2: City of Legends ever existed, since the Xbox demo we have has DualShock button mappings present in the game:

“Ah, I'll bet that's because I'll have compiled and built the disc image, so it's embedded my PC's name into the image. The level select would have just been for test levels where I was looking at specific bugs, performance problems or new features.

I really can't remember if we did PS2 or PC builds of the demo, other than the development binaries the design team would have been using. It's unlikely we'll have done a full ISO for the PS2, because the spiders caused real performance problems and we'd have wanted to show it to the publishers on the fastest available hardware.

By the way, the Xbox version will have reference to PS2 hardware because the original engine was PS2 only. The easiest way to port the engine was to, as far as possible, just get the Xbox and PC versions to pretend they were doing exactly the same thing as the PS2. For example, the game scripts don't need to know that when they get a button press from Cross or Circle, they're actually getting button presses from A or B. So although the names are going to be PS2-centric, they're still doing Xbox specific stuff.”

I was surprised to find out that the Morbuzakh Spiders were the primary reason for shifting Bionicle 2 to the original Xbox. I guess it makes sense, given how little time Argonaut Sheffield had to optimize the game. Switching to the original Xbox appeared to be a quick and easy way to avoid the hassle of optimization.

I later asked about the audio issues present in the Xbox demo, and for some general information about Bionicle: The Game.

“Hi William,

I'm afraid I've got no idea why the demo would be silent - it's been far too many years for me to remember the exact details, and I have no idea which version of the demo is the one which has been circulated. The full code for the audio system will have been present, because it was just a continuation of the engine used on Bionicle, and I'm sure the designers would have had at least some placeholder audio to hook up.

Audio is habitually the last thing to get hooked up in any game development, and since most developers prefer to have a silent build and listen to their own music while they work, it's not unusual for it either to be neglected in early internal builds, or for it to have been hacked to be silent (assuming the demo was one built locally rather than for showing to a publisher).

In terms of the development situation on Bionicle, although we weren't directly in the body of main developers, I think most of us were aware that the game wasn't progressing as well as it should. As well as the code team doing the porting work, our design and art teams were making the 'adrenaline levels' - which were the short lava/ice/tree surfing levels. They were only supposed to be short breaks between much larger levels, but it became increasingly obvious towards the end that these relatively small levels were still a large percentage of the actual content, and the other larger levels weren't coming online as fast as they should. QA in particular do full play-throughs on a regular basis, so they have a very good view of how fast the game as a whole is coming together.

I'm not 100% sure on all of the reasons for the delays in development, having been a relatively junior developer in a satellite studio at the time, but the reasons discussed at the time with leads and producers are fairly common ones that I've seen and heard about on other projects since. Inexperienced publishers or IP holders who haven't worked with game developers before often don't understand the lead times involved in producing content.

It's very hard to explain to customers who are used to working with companies like advertising agencies, who can turn around a complete change of direction in a matter of days, that you need to make and lock down decisions months or even years in advance. I think the penny finally dropped for Lego about three months out from submission that if they kept holding up approvals and kept requesting changes, they weren't going to get any game at all on the shelves - which of course meant we all had to crunch like hell to get the content in good enough shape to ship!

Cheers,”

An example of the aforementioned “Adrenaline sections” is the Tahu Nuva level from Bionicle: The Game. This level is actually internally named “Ta Adrenaline” as well. It’s obvious at this point that Tahu Nuva was originally going to have more than just surfing sections in his level, given the evidence in this message and the fact that he has a full set of unused walking animations.

I eventually contacted the designer mentioned by the former programmer, and got a reply after a month. (This designer was kind enough to restate my questions in his message):

“Hey,

I'm so sorry it's taken so long to get back to you. I was launching a game and I completely forgot about this.

1. What was your role as a designer like when working on both games? What kind of work did you do?

I was lead designer at Argonaut Sheffield, and we were brought in to help out on Bionicle the Game. We were responsible for what was known internally as "the adrenaline sections". The game was split into third person. exploration and combat levels (which were developed by the main Argonaut office in London), and the fast moving on rails sections that we created. As well as leading the team on these sections I was directly involved in the Tahu Nuva Boss Race near the end of the game.

2. Were you aware of content being cut or removed when working on Bionicle: The Game? Did you work on anything that didn't make the cut?

Like with any game there's work that involved that never sees the light of day. There were a lot of changes to the design over time, sometimes for practical reasons, other times because Lego wanted them.  I seem to recall that in the original design you would play as each Toa normally and each one again in their Nuva form in large open levels - with the platform adventure and the adrenaline sections seamlessly blending into each other. Quite soon after we were brought into the project a much clearer separation was made between the two, but I'm sure there was lots of the preparatory work for that ended up on the disc.

3. Do you know if any other character models aside from Matau (The green character) were created for Bionicle 2?

No other characters were made for that demo. I think we had a matter of weeks and everything had to be done very quickly.  That build represents a build that we sent to Lego (And Giant who eventually became TT Games) for approval and hopefully for more funding for the company. And we spent a lot of time agreeing the visual look of the character, as it was very different from what we'd done in the first game.

The work done on Bionicle 2 was entirely done up in Sheffield so we had a lot more control over the content. We knew that the Bionicle audience was getting older, and their gaming needs were becoming more sophisticated and we wanted to do something that would appeal both to that audience and be an interesting game in its own right. We felt that the first game had been so compromised by production issues that it ended up being very disappointing. We wanted to make something fluid and interesting that was a joy to play as a platformer, and had the dynamism and the sense of scale that the Bionicle world deserved.

4. Do you know if any other builds of the Bionicle 2 movement demo exist? Like a build that has working audio?

I don't remember for sure if we ever ended up with a build with audio. But it feels a bit unlikely that we would have got to the stage that we did without their being something in there, especially if the audio assets were on the disk. Somewhere in the depths of my home I think I have a PS2 version of the demo, so I may see if I can get that up and running and find out. As I think - so far - the only people who have had access to the game have played on Xbox, right?

Thanks”

Of course LEGO was being difficult during Bionicle: The Game’s development. They did something similar with Bionicle: The Legend of Mata Nui, and that certainly did not end well. This message was a big deal for us at the time, not only did we get a lot of information about both games, but we also got confirmation that a PS2 build of Bionicle 2: City of Legends actually exists! Unfortunately, this developer never replied again, and I was beginning to lose motivation.

I decided I had enough of Argonaut Sheffield at that point, and shifted my focus to Argonaut London once more. After waiting a bit, I got another reply from a former AI programmer.

“Hi William, sure thing, although it was a long time back so may not remember too much :)

probably easier to use my email (redacted) though as I rarely login to Linkedin.”

We later communicated via email:

“Hi William,

on the unused level front, it’s entirely likely that a bunch of the designers and strat coders ’play areas’ would have ended up in the build. Not sure if you’ve had any background info on how a lot of the Argonaut games were built, but here’s a brief rundown :)

So, when I started at Argonaut in 1997 , I joined the Croc 2 team, who were using the first updated iteration of the engine they built for Croc that had its own scripting language written (originally for the level designers to use) to write all the gameplay elements, while the engine coders focused entirely on the main engine for the PS1 (and a separate small team handled porting the engine to GameCube/Dreamcast, PC etc.). The idea being that ASL (Argonaut Strategy Language) Strats would be cross platform as they were just interpreted by the engine.

As it turned out, ASL strats were a bit too complex for the level designers to write themselves without coder assistance, so Argonaut let them focus on the actual level design itself (using the editor that just became known as the Croc Editor) and got gameplay specialist coders (like myself) to work on the strats. This worked out great as we could focus on individual items or groups of them independent of what was happening with the engine and we could quickly tweak a strat and run it on the devkit without doing a full build of the game (which took *AGES* back then ;) ) as well as some basic debugging capability.

This meant that most of the level designers and strat coders usually had a level slapped together with all the bits they were trying out. I don’t know if my one with all the Matorans following you in a chain still exists, but there were some pretty strange ones. In theory these wouldn’t end up on the disk but the build system was pretty clunky, so it’s entirely likely that some ended up there.

So by the time I got drafted onto the Bionicle PS2 project, I’d worked on Croc 2, Aladdin Nazira’s Revenge, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Bionicle Matoran Adventures on GBA. All but the last one using revisions of the Croc Editor and ASL.  (The Emperor’s New Groove, Harry Potter 2, Malice, Catwoman & iNinja also got written with the engine). I say revisions as not a lot was actually added to either over time. Also, by Bionicle PS2 I was kind of an emergency response coder for strats, as I got parachuted in after the project started to help fix a lot of problems with how ASL was being used and design issues with the levels.

There were a lot of issues with Bionicle (not as many as Aladdin or Catwoman started with and my 4 days on Malice were certainly interesting, but they’re entirely different stories ;) ). Mostly from inexperience as the team working on it had a lot of new hires or ones that had been drafted from other teams that didn’t use ASL or the Croc Engine, so they weren’t familiar with its limitations. There were some HR issues going on too, but I’m not going to get into those. The team were mostly all professional and good at what they did, but struggling with a relatively clunky engine. By this point Argonaut had split off most of the engine coders to the “Tools” team and we had to officially request any engine or editor changes we wanted through their chain of command (and they weren’t interested in working on the ‘old’ engine).

There were also some issues with inexperience in games from the Lego UK side too. So a lot of the overall design rules were a bit flaky and lead to a lot of levels and gameplay getting changed. The “No Weapons” rule was one we thought was pretty odd, considering the swords, pikes etc. in use. Apparently they’re tools, not weapons. So we weren’t allowed to use them as direct combat weapons for gameplay, only for magical ranged effects. There was also a lot of issues of really big levels being designed without consideration for what could actually be rendered on screen at the required frame rate on PS2 with the old Croc engine. Even updated to PS2 and with everything the engine coders could do to optimise it, the engine and ASL were struggling to do what the designers wanted.

I don’t think it’s a case of biting off a bit more than they could chew (we successfully wrote Harry Potter from scratch in 9 months in time to release with the film using the engine but that was very much a dream team of all the right people with the right skills and a publisher working well in sync). More a case of it being a new team of people not so experienced with the system and a publisher that wasn’t entirely sure what it wanted. So things were that bit harder to get done in the time available.

In theory, some older gold disks are likely still around. (redacted) was one of our engine guys on the project and “Master of the Build” (he was the only one who had enough tasteless Hawaiian shirts for the numerous submission build days). I’ll have a dig through my CD collection, but it’s unlikely I’ve got any Bionicle builds surviving. I *might* still have some strat code floating about on an old hard disk. I do seem to have some of the Catwoman build code that used mostly the same (although slightly updated) engine though.

One thing that I think got axed was my chain of Matorans. The idea was a level where you’d be picking them up from around the level and they’d follow you to a rescue point. Normally this wouldn’t actually be that difficult to code, but ASL never actually had any arrays! I’d been asking for them for a couple of projects by that point but they never got added, so my Matorans were each working as their own array elements and frantically messaging one another in a chain, which never quite worked reliably enough with ASL, so we shelved the idea.

(redacted) was one of the strat coders working with me on Bionicle. I think he’d just joined Argonaut then, but luckily, knew his stuff.

(redacted)”

I guess a few of the unused levels I found in the PS2 port of Bionicle: The Game are examples of “play areas” given how small some of them are. This message also provided some insight about ASL, the proprietary language both games were created with. This gave me a good idea about how difficult ASL was to use as well. The fact that Arognaut also had many new hires that couldn’t handle ASL’s idiosyncrasies certainly didn’t help Bionicle: The Game at all.

I later reached out to another former AI programmer affiliated with the previous one. They had some interesting things to say:

“Wow, I'm really surprised that anyone is that interested in Bionicle, because I didn't think it was a very good game, but I'm happy that you felt strongly enough to do this, I guess. That's quite an impressive bit of digging.

[Asked about ASL]

Q1) ASL wasn't a great language to use, it was being developed at the same time as the engine so it was constantly changing and was occasionally broken as well. The turnaround from making a change in code to testing it on the target device was quite slow. And coming from C++ the lack of modularity was frustrating. There was some talk in the team about wanting it to be object oriented, but anything that made it cleaner and less prone to repetition would have been good. My memory of it isn't that good since it was 20 years ago. I remember the collision and animation systems being awkward and crude as well though. Do you know about the other games that the system was used for? Catwoman took the animation engine a bit further, but it was really horrible trying to program the animation blending for finite state machines with a language that was so hard to debug.

[Asked about scrapped content in Bionicle: The Game]

Q2) I don't remember much about what was scrapped. There were different teams working on different levels and playable characters, I mainly worked on the Tahu levels and the final boss. I think there might have been some stuff scrapped from the other characters. One or two of them were developed by the team who were doing the cross platform conversion for us, and we didn't see much of what they were doing and only saw it quite late.

[Asked if any early builds of Bionicle: The Game still exist]

Q3) I have no idea - perhaps Sony or EA have archives of the earlier builds. Someone on the engine team might do, I can't think how or why a strat coder would have one.”

The issues with the collision system they mentioned are definitely present in Bionicle: The Game. It’s quite easy to glitch out of bounds, as speedrunners have demonstrated many times. We later talked about general programming concepts and discussed ASL further:

“Reassuring to know that I'm not imagining Bionicle being pretty bad! I think object oriented was just flavour of the month in 2003, Java was a highly respected language at the time and we thought it was the future. It would have been nice to work in a language that was used in other places, because having ASL on your CV was a pretty crappy prospect for seeking other work. At least if you used Fortran or Pascal it was recognised by employers as a mainstream language. WTF is ASL? I worked in two other organisations that had proprietary languages and it was annoying. The good thing about starting work at Argonaut at least was that ASL was a proven language that you could make games with, and it did let you get down to the relevant bits of gameplay you wanted to take control of. Before that I worked at Phase 3 studios where they had never made an action game before, and we spent a lot of time programming systems that had hardly any effect on gameplay. So I was grateful for ASL and the toolchain for making it easy to do some limited things. I was very impressed by someone on the iNinja team for getting ropes to work with a vertlet algorithm, we stole that later for the green Bionicle to use. I think the High Voltage Software studio might be using a different language with the same initials? I can't see how it could possibly be Argonaut's language. I'm pretty sure there was some talk about opening it up as middleware to sell other studios but I don't think we ever got there. Many of the staff from Catwoman went on to work at Rocksteady, Sony and Ninja Theory, but I think they just started using whatever engine was in place there. You could find hundreds of people who had brushes with the language.”

I asked about other studios using ASL for their games:

“What release date were the games? Argonaut folded in 2004 I think, so the creditors might have managed to sell off the technology as cheap middleware of last-gen consoles

or perhaps they were licensing the tech while we were using it, and I just hadn't been aware of it”

I sent him some notable examples of games using ASL from other studios, such as The Conduit and Ben 10: Protector of Earth:

“That fits the picture then - liquidation in 2004, sell the technology in 2005, two years of learning the systems and developing content, release in 2007

The PS3 would be the current gen console by then, but the PS2 had a large enough user base to make it a viable market, especially for movie tie-ins and children’s games”

I later asked if there was any possibility that Argonaut received parts of ASL from other sources:

“That's an interesting question... I don't know but I think Argonaut were using strats since 1993 and the language gradually evolved from Starfox to Croc and so on. I think it was around before High Voltage existed. It does seem like a massive coincidence that the header is VOLT but there aren't many words that sound cool to programmers so I still suspect it is just a coincidence. Programming was Argonaut's strongest suit, it doesn't make sense that they would buy tech in like that. I was only at the company for two years or so, ask someone who was there longer.”

Then out of the blue, another former designer from Argonaut Sheffield reached out to me about Bionicle 2. After that, I asked them a few questions:

“Hi William,

Great to hear from you. Let me see what I can do to answer your questions!

[Asked about the development process of Bionicle 2]

1. Designing the demo was a bit of a break from the usual licensed Dev. We had creative control so got to decide what direction we'd like to take things in (hence a departure from the 'standard' platforming fare of the time!) My role was predominantly as a technical designer - that was, creating ideas and prototyping/building in the tools. For the demo I was responsible for populating and scripting some of the functionalities in the level.

[Asked about the broken audio in the Xbox port of Bionicle 2]

2. Not sure on the silence in the build tbh... I seem to remember doing some work on creating and implementing some spot FX and seem to remember we put some audio track on the front end screen. With this being a closed pitch demo, I honestly can't remember if we'd created the track or sourced it from elsewhere!

[Asked if they knew about any other builds of Bionicle 2]

3. I believe a have a variety of unreleased games and demos on various formats somewhere. Most of them will be PS2 from that period.

Thanks”

When they mentioned owning a variety of unreleased games and demos, I was immediately intrigued. I later asked if they had a PS2 build of Bionicle 2 and offered to send him a copy of our Xbox build of the game in exchange for it, and to my surprise I got this:

“Hey William,

Cool, I'll have a search when I get some time and attempt to extract it for you!

Thanks”

I was ecstatic. Finally, after months of searching, I was about to get something tangible! But the days passed, and those days turned into weeks. I was beginning to lose hope until I got this message:

“Hey William,

Quick note on my progress - I've not forgotten! I delved into my garage over the weekend and came away with 3 CDs labeled bionicle 2 with various dates on!

I'll attempt to create an ISO of the latest date and share with you when I get a mo (most likely the weekend again!)

Thanks”

Not only did he have a build of the game for the PS2, but THREE of them! After seeing this, I decided to wait for the weekend to arrive. Unfortunately I would be very busy on this particular weekend, but Bionicle was still my top priority! So I proceeded to bail on my friends to wait for an obscure as hell prototype game from a discontinued children’s toy line to show up in my inbox. However, on Sunday, the weekend was coming to a close, and I had heard nothing from the former designer. My waiting and persistence later paid off after I got this message:

“Hi William,

Give this a go - no idea if it works - let me know!

(redacted)”

At last! I finally got it! The latest known PS2 build of Bionicle 2: City of Legends! But there was a problem. The game didn’t boot. Just my luck. But I wasn’t ready to give up. I ended up rebuilding the entire iso with some proprietary tools, and by some miracle, it booted up in my emulator. It’s about what you would expect: It’s similar to Xbox build in many ways, but it is also different. Unlike the Xbox port, the audio works, and there are some extra graphical effects and animations. I was also able to get the game to boot up on a real PS2 without issue.

I can’t say exactly when BioMedia Project will release this build to the public, but I'm sure it will happen soon. Until then, feel free to watch some gameplay footage of the demo on my Youtube channel: https://youtu.be/Dvmzz92F3oo

These past couple of years have been pretty crazy for Bionicle. The Legend of Mata Nui was found TWICE, and there has been so much more activity within the community as a result. I’m glad I was able to make my mark and get this unreleased build of Bionicle 2: City of Legends into the hands of the Bionicle community where it belongs. If you made it this far, Thanks for reading. If you liked this post, don’t forget to share it. I spent a lot of time researching this, and I would really appreciate it. Special Thanks:

BioMedia Project

Liam Robertson

Fraug L. Coolman

[whetstonefires]

fictober prompt #5: “Take what you need.”

“Take what you need,” Tim said, waving toward the tiny armory, and he probably shouldn’t have been surprised that the little tribe of assassins immediately started pushing and shoving to get at the best gear. It made sense to have his armory in an easily concealed recess when it was just for him; he hadn’t anticipated it being utilized as a weapons buffet for a small army.

He decided to let them sort that out amongst themselves. “No murder,” he directed, sinking into his chair, his hands already going a mile a minute over the keys as he checked all his systems for updates and alerts.

“We wouldn’t,” said one of them.

“Not each other,” said another, which Tim could tell by rhythm, but not by any difference in the sound.

A lot of people wouldn’t be treating them like people. Tim knew that. The impulse had been there for him, too, especially when the suspicious little face staring up at him in septuplicate had been that of someone he had never gotten along with, who had in fact consistently used his every moment of generosity or compassion against him.

But he couldn’t call himself Connor’s friend and not respect the rights of a bunch of clones who’d run away from their maker seeking independence.

If they turned out to be evil then he’d regret arming them, but he had a lot of sympathy for how naked they obviously felt without any means of self-defense, and under the circumstances that was a pretty decisive reason to arm them.

No major local Gotham issues developing he had to somehow balance this with, a relief. No signs of movement from the League as a whole, outside Talia’s personal staff who were definitely moving. No word from the family, either. Had the kids actually made it all the way here without raising any alerts?

He started digging.

“We’re ready,” said one of them, directly to Tim enough that it broke through his screening-out of their ongoing bickering. He looked over.

“None of you need high explosives,” he announced. “I don’t even carry those unless they’re specifically called for in a mission plan. None of you need any bombs, actually. Put all of those back.”

There was a lot of grumbling, but astonishingly they appeared willing to listen. He hadn’t even needed to invoke the specter of Bruce’s disapproval. New bickering started up as previous trades were declared invalid by those who’d received explosives they weren’t allowed to keep.

Tim was probably very poorly adjusted, six year olds squabbling over grenades shouldn’t be adorable. It was increasingly obvious that either Talia had been educating these telepathically, or letting them out of the tubes for training of some kind. He was used to people whose ages didn’t match their bodies, and these didn’t quite give that vibe, but they weren’t normal, either.

The little boy who’d told him they were done kept staring at Tim; he didn’t seem to be carrying any bombs. He had one of Tim’s bandoliers draped across his chest; it was cinched as tight as it would go and the bottom edge still hung against his upper thigh.

“Yeah?” Tim asked, after the silent staring had gone on long enough.

“You’re helping.”

“Yeah?” Tim said, because that wasn’t an answer or a question. “You asked.”

Well, one of them had. They’d all been dressed alike before they started putting on his stuff, he didn’t know which one had called out wait, when he’d pretended he was going to leave them to fight off eight adult ninjas on their own, without weapons.

He’d half-expected someone to call his bluff, or else give up theirs, but the tone of that wait hadn’t been that at all. It had just been.

Well. He’d turned around.

“You brought us to your home.” Did the League disincentivize asking questions? Yes, they did, come to think of it. Damian had avoided asking them too, though it was less obvious when papered over with that much bluster and arrogance and homicide.

“My place was closest,” said Tim. It had been literally a block away.

“You haven’t called anyone else.”

There wasn’t a nice way to say that if they were a trap, he’d prefer it only caught him.

“Do you want me to?” he asked instead.

The little spokesman slowly shook his head. “He’d come. Wouldn’t he.”

Bruce? No. Damian. “Robin?” Tim asked.

He still wasn’t happy that the name belonged to the demon brat now, but the little horde had responded to ‘Damians’ when he rallied them after they put the League hunters down, and he didn’t know how uncomfortable it would make them to have it applied to just the original. Assuming he was the original, who even knew. He could be version twelve.

The spokesman nodded.

“You want to avoid him?” Then why come to Gotham?

The little spokesman shrugged.

“We don’t want to see him yet,” said another boy over his shoulder, one of the ones who’d strung half a dozen grenades on one of Tim’s belts and had now replaced them with smoke bombs.

“Yes,” said the spokesman, whose nickname was already starting to seem ironic.

Tim addressed that. “Okay, and by the way what do I call you? I can’t just keep saying ‘Damians.’”

The Damians, all of them now fully armed and without visible bombs, clumped up briefly for a silent conference. Were they psychic? He hoped they weren’t psychic.

The names they gave when they were done hopefully whispering were just ordinal numbers in Farsi. More horribly, they weren’t contiguous.

“Will more of you be joining us later?” Tim asked, and got ‘no’ from the spokesman in the bandolier, whose number was Sizdahum, thirteenth.

This was not the time and Tim was not the person to compromise their stoicism on that, so he moved on without comment. If they needed to leave Gotham again to avoid meeting Damian before they were ready, that was acceptable to the collective. Yes, they would welcome his help making a satisfactory entrance. Yes, they realized making a good impression on Batman was at least as important as making one on Robin.

“And now?” asked smoke bomb kid, numbered Haftum, seventh. He was the one who moved the most, was hardly ever still, in contrast to Sizdahum who didn’t seem to move at all without a specific reason. It was going to be a struggle learning to identify them all by cues like this before they used or rearranged some of the equipment he was using to tell them apart for now; Tim suspected they’d forgive some errors.

He shut down most of the processes on his computer, though he left it on in case of any important updates, and turned his back to it. Folded his hands, his elbows propped on his swivel-chair’s arms. He was slightly taller than they were even sitting down.

“Now we plan. Our options are limited, especially if we want to avoid Robin. My defenses here are good against intruders, but if they don’t want you alive they can just destroy the building.”

He looked expectantly at the attentive row of pint-size Damians. Tactical information please, first graders.

“We’re just spares,” scoffed Haftum.

“They won’t hold back,” said Chihaarum, fourth. He was the lowest number in the room, unless you counted Tim, whose number was of course three.

“Ra’s would prefer me alive, but not enough to make it easy for me, and these are Talia’s people. I have a much better-secured bunker some way out of town. If we can shake off pursuit I can access a van that can get us all there. If necessary, I have contacts that can help with extraction to a secure location.” Kon and Bart would be 100% willing to be called in on this. Tim would rather not risk them, but they couldn’t possibly be the intended targets if this was a trick, so it was better than calling the family, and he wasn’t going to let these kids get killed for his paranoia.

“Objections, concerns?” None were volunteered. Tim could enjoy working with such a professional team if it weren’t so creepy. He initiated system lockdown. “We’d better move out.”

They nodded, and Shishum took point out the roof exit once its location was indicated. Tim let him, because they’d apparently made it halfway around the world without his supervision and he remembered how annoying it had been trying to get adults to take him seriously and having his competence utterly dismissed on the basis of his age.

Tim did insist on being the first one to step out of cover once they were all on the roof. No one seemed to be holding any of the sniper posts that could target his roof, so he motioned the kids after him. Counted them off, 4-6-7-9-11-13-14.

“Chahardahum,” he whispered, identifying the boy by the oversized Kevlar vest he’d thrown on. “Stay lower, we’re trying for stealth. And can I call you Chadah?” He wanted to respect their individuality even if it was numbers, but four syllables, three of them fairly long, wasn’t ideal for this sort of situation, especially when it sounded so similar to Chiharum that no mumbling could be allowed.

The boy named Fourteenth rolled his shoulders in a shrug, then nodded. He didn’t like the idea, clearly, but he accepted it.

“Great. Thanks. Let’s go.” Red Robin took off over the roofs, leading his trail of ducklings and keeping an eye on what their comfortable jumping range was as he tried to plan a sneaky route that was physically possible.

The order they fell into was unexpected, with Shishum at the front instead of a flank and Sizdahum bringing up the rear, and he resisted the urge to give directions about who should be where. They knew their own skillsets better than he did, micromanaging was not going to help here.

Of course, with the size of his current forces, any managing he did would be micro.

[sanjuno]

Could you please list out the various au!ideas you have at some point? I really want to find a certain one every now and then but then have trouble remembering what you called it

You asked for this…

An incomplete AU Master List for Sanjuno’s Ficwork:

1.    ATTACK ON TITAN

1.1.  Coordinates T by H: Eren’s coordinatorabilities allow him to metaphysically bond with other humans, thereby givingeveryone in the group the ability to psychically communicate with the rest andalso boosting everyone’s healing ability exponentially to be on par with theTitan Shifters. Chaptered, WIP

2.    BLEACH

2.1. What Happens on Vacation: Crossoverwith YYH – turns out that Kurosaki Misaki was a senior ferry girl on sabbatical(which translates as living a mortal life unaware of her true nature) and shewas late returning to work due to being trapped in Grand Fishers gut. Ichigoand Uryuu are very confused when their “cousin” Kazuma shows up to introducehis new bride to the family. Koenma is just really pissed off by all the paperworkhe needs to deal with while cleaning up his father’s mismanaged pet project. WIP

3.    CODEGEASS

3.1.  A Code of Ice and Fire: Crossover withGOT – Lelouch, his two younger siblings, and Lelouch’s most loyal followers arereincarnated into Westeros. Lelouch proceeds to make it his lifelong mission todrive Cersei into frothing fits and strengthens the Baratheon dynasty to thepoint that even Tywin is impressed by his grandson’s machinations. Then CCshows up with dragons and Ned Stark starts to think that maybe Robert’s ontosomething with the “drinking to forget” idea. Meta

3.2.  Abandon Thyself: Post-Zero RequiemSuzaku travels back in time to the scene in the Shinjuku Ghettos when the truckexplodes. Given that the people closest to him haven’t actually spoken to Suzakuin years, the origins of Suzaku’s obvious mental instability is hilariouslymisattributed by various outside PoVs. So when Suzaku hits his knees in frontof Lelouch, swearing eternal devotion and vowing to make Lelouch the next emperornobody panics. (They should really reconsider panicking.) Drabbles, WIP

3.3.  The Sun Also Rises: At the moment ofhis death in the Zero Requiem, Lelouch travels back in time to his childhoodbody. With only a week to go before Marianne is “assassinated by terrorists”Lelouch sets out to rearrange the board in a way none of the other players willsee coming until it’s far too late. Lelouch has been given a second chance tomake things right, and Lelouch wouldn’t be Lelouch if he didn’t plan big. Thistime around, Lelouch plans for his victory to be a bit more obvious. Chaptered, WIP

4.    DCU

4.1.  Time Enough: Terry McGinnis, his littlebrother Matt, and their dogs are the only members of their timeline to survivebecause Bruce Wayne was too old to see any more of his sons die in front of him.So they all got knocked out, shoved into an escape capsule, and ejected fromthe Batman Beyond timeline before it crumbles. Said time pod crashes into themiddle of a Red Hood versus Match throw down, and Terry’s Wayne-inheritedcharisma is so powerful it allows him to banter his way into good graces ofboth villains. Jason drags them all off to his lair because every single memberof the Batfam hoards orphans. Chaptered, WIP

5.    DRAGON BALL

5.1.  Saiyajin Pride: Alien biology has alarger impact on characterization that it does in canon. Mirai comes back to themain timeline live in sin with Videl and Gohan. Vegeta and Goku deal with someshit that comes from being the last full-blooded members of their species. Thenjust as things are settling down… Garlic is an idiot who thinks up a loopholein the “can’t wish people dead” rule and wishes Goku and Vegeta’s familiesstraight out of existence and they end up in an entirely different reality. Theonly upside is that Vegeta finally gets to kill Frieza. Chaptered, WIP

6.    FAIRY TAIL

6.1.  Flight Of Dragons: Future!Lucy missesher target and ends up landing further back in time, during the same year Natsuand the rest of the Dragon Slayer kids were brought to when they were pulledforward in time.  Fairy Tail luckkicks in, and future!Lucy runs into child!Laxus as he escapes from his fatherafter being fed the Lightning Dragon Lacrima. Laxus is handed a Prophecy andruns with it. Children have never needed Fairy Tales to tell them that Dragonsexist, but they certainly help. Chaptered,WIP

6.2.  My Heart Overflows: Juvia and Grey havefinally started dating, but the Fairy Tail Mage Guild has some interestingtraditions when it comes to proving the validity of a romantic relationship. Oneshot - Complete

7.    FAMILIAR OF ZERO

7.1.  A Velvet Glove: Crossover with TMNT –Leonardo gets summoned to be Louise’s Familiar. Since all of his brothers aredead, Leo sees no reason not to make the most of this “lifelong bond of magicand spirit” and adopts Louise as his little sister. Halgenkia is not preparedfor a Louise Francois le Blanc de la Valliere with ninja training. Henrietta isprobably far too gleeful over making her best friend her Spymaster, but it’snot like anyone knows enough about what they’re doing to stop her. Reconquistagets exposed and smashed, and Wardes really should have respected his fiancéemore. Chaptered, WIP

8.    FINAL FANTASY VII

8.1.  A Dirge of Ice and Fire: Crossover withGOT – Several members of Avalanche and the Elite Soldiers are reincarnated asthe spares and bastards of Westeros’ Great Houses. Given that Rhaenys Targaryenused to be Cid Highwind, the Sack of King’s Landing goes very differently. Meta

8.2.  A Feather’s Weight: Crossover withNaruto – Kakashi and Obito, along with their respective subordinates, arereincarnated in Wutai, and are thus in position to undermine a lot of Hojo’splans simply by being themselves. Wutai still loses, but by a much smallermargin, and SHIN-RA realizes much too late that Wutai’s “concession” was atrap. Kakashi is a big shiny distraction for Sephiroth, the SOLDIERS revolt,and nobody knows who assassinated President Shinra. WIP

8.3.  Antiviral: Woden and Gaia conspire tocreate antibodies to fight off Jenova’s infection. Cid and Vincent end upbearing the brunt of this decision, get roofied by Divine Intervention, andalso end up the Gaian equivalent of demonic werewolves. Also the Planet istransforming all the SOLDIERS into werewolves too, yes, even the dead ones. Chaptered, WIP

8.4.  For Love Of: Cid Highwind crashes theTiny Bronco into Lucrecia’s cave, does the metaphysical equivalent of tearingher heart out and eating it to absorb her power, and them proceeds to adoptGeneral Sephiroth as his son because it’s not like anyone can stop him. CidHighwind does what he wants. Sephiroth does what Mother wants. SHIN-RA soonregrets everything because Cid Highwind is a hell of a lot better at rewritingthe social order than Avalanche is. Chaptered,WIP

8.5.  Hindsight is 20-20: CHAOS decides torewrite time because they have a massive crush on Cid and they don’t want himto die. CHAOS fumbles the landing and Cid ends up in the body of some weirdLucrecia/Ancient-Cetra-Who-Was-Jenova’s-Host Clone and ends up giving birth toSephiroth. Things only get worse from there. Chaptered, WIP

8.6.  Like it Rough: Cid likes Vincent a lotand also has a bit of a kink for scars. Cid walks in on Vincent naked, runsaway to hide his raging boner, and Vincent ends up chasing Cid around theairship until he can pin his friend down in the Captain’s bunk because thedemons are all drunk on the pheromones. Oneshot- Complete

8.7.  Names of Power: Jenova’s taintgetting mixed into the Lifestream has far-reaching consequences, and Avalanchegets tapped to handle the fallout whither they like it or not. WIP

8.7.1.    SmallPackages: The Lifestream meddles in Avalanches lives even after the Planethas been saved. There are clones and ancient powers better off left alone butit’s not like Avalanche ever gets a say in the matter.

8.7.2.    HistoryInverted: Jenova isn’t all the way gone and the Planet really doesn’t careif Humanity survives or not as long as the infection is burned away. Aerithshoves the spirits of Avalanche and their children into a new timeline becauseshe doesn’t want to watch their souls get shredded. Avalanche proceeds to moseyalong and wreak havoc in the way only they can manage.

8.8.  To Earn the Sky: Echidna, Mother ofMonsters and Heroes, and Jenova, the Calamity From the Skies, are at war. Hojomakes a very big mistake when he uses the Blood of Echidna’s Children in hisRevenant Project. Cid Highwind is a good son, and his Mother wants to meet hernew Grandchildren.

9.    FINAL FANTASY XV

9.1.  A Light of Ice and Fire: Crossover withFFVX – Noctis, his Retinue, and the loyal members of the Kingsglaive andCrownsguard are reincarnated into Westeros. Jorah Mormont is Cor Leonis, but CorLeonis is not Jorah Mormont, and so the Northern Forces are something to fearin Robert’s Rebellion. By the time King Robert visits Winterfell, it will be avery different Northern Kingdom that he finds there.

10. GAME OF THRONES

10.1.              CrossoverFixits to Help Westeros be Less Miserably Doomed: Various casts fromother series end up reborn in Westeros and use knowledge from their previouslives to change the Game. Meta

10.1.1. An Assemblage of Ice and Fire:Crossover with MCU – Team Iron Man focus, since Tony is reincarnated as NedStark. Starks are made of Iron, and Winter is coming. Tony’s genius intellect,knowledge of politics and economics, experience with magic and alternaterealities, and the fact that Extremis carried over through his reincarnationand adapted to work with First Man magic means that the Stark siblings who goto the Tourney of Harrenhal are nothing like the canon versions. Rhaegar getshis Stark bride, and he proceeds to regret it for the rest of his life.

10.1.2. A Balance of Ice and Fire: Crossoverwith SW – Qui-Gon Jinn’s three Padawan Learners and Padme (who got taken inAnakin’s place) are reincarnated as the Tyrell siblings. They proceed to followthe Will of the Force and prepare the Seven Kingdoms to win against the LongNight.

10.1.3. A Code of Ice and Fire: Crossover withCG – Lelouch, his two younger siblings, and Lelouch’s most loyal followers arereincarnated into Westeros. Lelouch proceeds to make it his lifelong mission todrive Cersei into frothing fits and strengthens the Baratheon dynasty to thepoint that even Tywin is impressed by his grandson’s machinations. Then CCshows up with dragons and Ned Stark starts to think that maybe Robert’s ontosomething with the “drinking to forget” thing.

10.1.4. A Dirge of Ice and Fire: Crossover withFFVII – Several members of Avalanche and the Elite Soldiers are reincarnated asthe spares and bastards of Westeros’ Great Houses. Given that Rhaenys Targaryenused to be Cid Highwind, the Sack of King’s Landing goes very differently.

10.1.5. A Dying Will of Ice and Fire: Crossoverwith KHR – The Tri-Ni-Sette holders and all those bonded to them arereincarnated into Westeros Noble Houses. Xanxus is born as Robert’s eldesttrueborn son and Heir to the Iron Throne, and so all it takes is one look atthe Wall to know that there is something to fear on the other side. Tsuna isbusy swooning over Arya’s muscles but in-between reciting odes to his amazingbetrothed he takes time to tell Nono’s ghost “I told you Xanxus would make thebetter Heir.”

10.1.6. A Light of Ice and Fire: Crossover withFFVX – Noctis, his Retinue, and the loyal members of the Kingsglaive andCrownsguard are reincarnated into Westeros. Jorah Mormont is Cor Leonis, butCor Leonis is not Jorah Mormont, and so the Northern Forces are something tofear in Robert’s Rebellion. By the time King Robert visits Winterfell, it willbe a very different Northern Kingdom that he finds there.

10.1.7. A Space Between Ice and Fire: Crossoverwith Naruto WCE – The Konoha Founders and their siblings are reincarnated asStarks and Baratheons and manage to save the Realms of Men while resolvingtheir many and varied issues with one another.

10.1.8. A Transformation of Ice and Fire: Crossoverwith TFG1 – Most of the Cybertronians who died during Unicron’s Awakening endup reincarnated as dragons (Seekers) and Direwolves (Autobots). The sapience ofthe animals causes significant changes to outcome of several key canon events.

10.2.             SingingIn A Different Key: SI is reborn as Jon Snow, who then precedes toMachiavelli the fuck out of the North in preparation for the coming Long Nightand also to screw over the Lannisters. Because fuck the Lannisters. WIP

10.3.              Wolf AtThe Door: When Ice takes the head of Eddard Stark, Valeryian magic mixeswith the Blood of the First Men. It’s wild, uncontrolled, and Ned ends up as afour year old in Winterfell’s Godswood, staring at his reflection in the water.Eddara Stark, second-born child and first-born daughter of Rikard and LyarraStark looks back up at him. Ned, fully believing that this is his punishmentfor failing his family and best friend the first time around, decides to fixthe Realm by fulfilling the Pact of Fire and Ice. The thing about being a womanis that no one ever expects you to be a threat, not even other women. The thingabout being the Quiet Wolf is that everyone overlooks you until the moment yourteeth sink into their throat. Meta inDevelopment

11. GetBackers

12. GIRL GENIUS

12.1.              The OtherSide of the River: One of the Jagermonsters manages to catch wind ofLucrecia’s plans and absconds with Klaus Barry during the confusion caused by thefirst explosion. This understandably causes some disruption in everyones planswhen KB and his nanny run into Agatha during her time with the Circus. WIP

12.2.              ThreefoldPath: Agatha, Gil, and Tarvek get their brains booted back in time duringthe si vales valeo and decided to run away and join the circus until they’reold enough to take over the world properly. WIP

13. GundamWing

14. HARRY POTTER

14.1.              Black AsHis Name: Sirius Back lives! Because the Veil dumps his mind-and-soul intothe empty body of his younger self in a world where Walburga Black lost it onher eldest son much earlier in life and Sirius was tortured until he was leftbrain-dead. Arcturus Black is pissed off over the treatment of one of his Heirsand since Sirius’ magic is still intact, names Sirius the Heir to House Blackand proceeds to hold the Heirship over everybody’s heads for spite for as longas Sirius continues to “live”. Everyone in the Black Family is very surprisedwhen the annual shaming ritual disguised as Sirius’ birthday party is crashed. Bynone other than the birthday boy himself. Sirius rolls with it and becomes aTrue Black in the most Marauder manner possible. WIP

14.2.              BlackHunt Under Bloody Skies: Crossover with KHR – Regulus and Sirius both endup dumped into KHR because Death owes them a favour on the Master’s behalf.Things start to get weird after the Arcobaleno curse is broken. Regulus isactually Skull and Sirius is his Sky and they confuse the entire Mafia so much.WIP

15. HOMESTUCK

15.1.              A Jump ToThe Left Behind: Post game reality has all the races living in a GalacticRepublic, and the Troll Ancestors and Human Guardians all need to team up inorder to solve the mystery of the planetoid-sized meteor that just barreledinto the middle of their busiest spacelane because their names are written allover it. In the process of exploring the meteor they accidently wake up thePlayers and Sprites. Chaos ensues. Meta

15.2.              Pandora’sFinal Gift: A mermaid AU where a Deep Old One gives Eridan (and onlyEridan) the memories of his Game Player Self as a lark. Eridan hits the levelcap for his current reality, freaks out, saves Sollux’s life, and then abscondsas far away from the center of the Empire as he can get. Meta

16. InuYasha

17. KATEKYO HITMAN REBORN

17.1.              A DyingWill of Ice and Fire: Crossover with GOT – The Tri-Ni-Sette holders and allthose bonded to them are reincarnated into Westeros Noble Houses. Xanxus isborn as Robert’s eldest trueborn son and Heir to the Iron Throne, and so all ittakes is one look at the Wall to know that there is something to fear on theother side. Tsuna is busy swooning over Arya’s muscles but in-between recitingodes to his amazing betrothed he takes time to tell Nono’s ghost “I told youXanxus would make the better Heir.”

17.2.              BlackHunt Under Bloody Skies: Crossover with HP – Regulus and Sirius both end updumped into KHR because Death owes them a favour on the Master’s behalf. Thingsstart to get weird after the Arcobaleno curse is broken. Regulus is actuallySkull and Sirius is his Sky and they confuse the entire Mafia so much. WIP

17.3.              BurningSalt Water: Crossover with OP – Xanxus gets dumped onto the Oro Jacksonduring the Pirate King’s last voyage when Nono’s Zero Point goes sideways andhe ends up adopted by Rouge and Roger while he heals. After the executionXanxus ends up raising the ASL trio to take over the Pirate Throne and Ace setsthe Moby Dick on fire when Whitebeard kidnaps him. WIP

17.4.              Cat’sPaws: Uri has seen enough Time Travel bullshit to know how it works, and sowhen Hayato gets himself killed she grabs his soul and flings herself backwardsin time because fuck the timeline this is her human and he’s not allowed toabandon her again. The other Box Animals think it’s a great idea and do thesame with their humans, and this results in the kind of alternate timeline thatgives Byakuran a headache. In other words, Uri creates a timeline where FlameActives are a lot more Alien than they used to be and now everyone thinksYoukai and other myths are real. Chapters,WIP

17.5.              FireShall Waken: All of Nono’s sons are still alive when the Cradle Affair happensand it results in the entire 10th Generation gathering up theirHarmonies, rolling Xanxus into a blanket burrito, and taking off to Japan underassumed names where they proceed to spend the next eight years coddling Tsunaand being spoiled rotten by Nana in return. Meta

17.6.              GremlinsDella Varia: Mammon’s experiments with the Curse have had some odd sideeffects on the Varia. It all comes out during the Ring Battles and the otherArcobaleno are Judging You, Viper. Drabbles

17.7.              Karma,and the Repercussions Thereof: Crossover with Naruto. Legendary Ninjafrom the Elemental Countries get reincarnated into KHR and proceed to adopt allthe Magic Rainbow Fire Children. Nono and Iemitsu suffer.

17.7.1. Karmic Balance: Kakashi and Obito areninja married from the very start because of metaphysical bonding and someminor haunting during their last lives. Between Ninshu Shinobi needing to be inClans and Flame Actives needing to be in Harmonies it does not take long beforethe child stealing begins. Gokudera Kakashi is the best wife and Dokuro Obitorepents, repeatedly and often, while also having the time of his second life.Tsuna loves his Kakashi-sensei and wants to be just like him when he grows up. Chaptered WIP

17.7.2. Karmic Justice: Madara and his brothersare reborn as Fon’s nephews and do not take kindly to the Arcobaleno cursebeing put on one of their relatives. The Hibari Clan proceeds to start huntingfor the Man in the Iron Man en mass. Madara and his brothers hit Namimoriduring Nono’s visit and witness the sealing of Tsunayoshi. They don’t take wellto this either. Things go worse for Tsuna than they do in canon and Madarahunts down Tobirama because he needs the resurrection to be done perfectly.Tsuna loves his Madara-shishou and wants to be just like him when he grows up. Oneshots, WIP

17.7.2.1.     KarmicJustice – Hubris: Madara comes across Xanxus in the ice while investigatingthe Vongola and despite Xanxus being a bit older than the usual target forchild stealing decides to steal him anyway. After resurrecting Tsuna, Madaraand Tobirama’s next project is defrosting Xanxus. WIP

17.7.2.2.     KarmicJustice – Providence: Madara finds Xanxus on the streets while hunting inItaly for the Man in the Iron Mask. Wrath Flame calls to Wrath Flame and Madarainstantly adopts the delightfully savage little boy. Then Namimori happens, andTsuna’s seal gets him temporarily killed, and Xanxus reaches100-year-vengance-plot levels of overprotective big brother. WIP

17.8.              Music ofthe Spheres: Crossover with SM – Post Stars Usagi and Post Vongola InheritanceTsuna are cousins who meet for the first time ever only after the Vongola’senemies kidnap Ikkuko and Shingo. Usagi gets taken into protective custody byher Mafia relatives without being given the chance to say she doesn’t need it.Usagi then proceeds to seduce all the women, charm all the men, and accidentlythrow Iemitsu out the nearest window every time he’s in the same room she is. WIP

17.9.              Overlookingthe Obvious: They say that to truly know someone you need to walk a mile intheir shoes. The adage is proven true rather dramatically when amisappropriated Possession Bullet ends up switching Gokudera and Hibari intoeach other’s bodies. Oneshot

17.10.          Reach ForThe Sky: Kamen Rider Sora and his team are the protectors of Namimoriagainst the invasion of Youma from the dark dimension. Reborn shows up to tutorthe last remaining Vongola Heir and ends up in the middle of a longstandingbattle against the Forces of Evil. Does the World Greatest Hitman have what ittakes to guide the mysterious masked Rider towards his true strength? Staytuned to find out! Oneshots, WIP

17.11.          When theNightingale Sings: Sky Flames are Dragons, and when a Sky is Sealed theyturn into True Dragons once said Seal breaks. Tsuna has the Best TreasuresEver. Reborn is confused but willing to roll with it. Hayato needs to do allthe research. Drabbles, WIP

17.12.          Where theSky Meets the Sea: Crossover with OP – The ASL Trio are reborn as SawadaTsunayoshi’s younger brothers, and the Will of D means they remembereverything. Sawada Iemitsu might once have been Akagami no Shanks and despitelacking his memories knows better than to keep secrets from his wife. (Iemitsudoes keep a lot of secrets from Nono, such as the fact that he has more thanone son.) Iemitsu redirects Xanxus’ attention to the Family traitors, Nononever meets Tsuna, and nobody gets sealed. Then Reborn shows up, and everythingis now on fire. Drabbles, WIP

17.13.           

18. KyouKara Maoh

19. MARVEL

19.1.              AnAssemblage of Ice and Fire: Crossover with GOT – Team Iron Man focus, sinceTony is reincarnated as Ned Stark. Starks are made of Iron, and Winter iscoming. Tony’s genius intellect, knowledge of politics and economics,experience with magic and alternate realities, and the fact that Extremiscarried over through his reincarnation and adapted to work with First Man magicmeans that the Stark siblings who go to the Tourney of Harrenhal are nothinglike the canon versions. Rhaegar gets his Stark bride, and he proceeds toregret it for the rest of his life. Meta

19.2.              IronLaced: Crossover with TMNT – Maria Carbonell was actually Oroku Karai indisguise because she was on vacation from being a member of the Council ofShadows. Karai and all the Turtles accessed magic ninja dragon powers when theytook over the Council and Karai-as-Maria passed that down to Tony. So Tony isactually a dragon and an encounter with the Enchantress leaves him locked inhis dragon form. WIP

19.3.              Miles ToGo: Post-MCU Civil War almost-Time Travel where Tony grieves so hard hesends an Extremis injector capsule to the year before the Winter Soldier murderedhis parents. Said capsule lands in front of a wasted 15-year-old Tony in theaftermath of a frat party. Cue the face hugger scene. Tony gets an Extremisupgrade about 30 years ahead of schedule and it’s the only reason he survivesthe memory download without his brain turning into mush. WIP

19.4.              Perception:Instead of killing Scott in X3, Dark Phoenix instead fixes the brain damagethat prevented him from controlling his optic blasts and then shunts him troughtime an space. Scott wakes up 18-years-old in Stryker’s lab and proceeds tohijack Wolverine’s rampage so that they can both escape. James Howlett isimpressed, and Cyclops hates everything but especially time travel because itruins all his fallback plans. WIP

20. NARUTO

20.1.              AFeather’s Weight: Crossover with FFVII – Kakashi and Obito, along withtheir respective subordinates, are reincarnated in Wutai, and are thus inposition to undermine a lot of Hojo’s plans simply by being themselves. Wutaistill loses, but by a much smaller margin, and SHIN-RA realizes much too latethat Wutai’s “concession” was a trap. Kakashi is a big shiny distraction forSephiroth, the SOLDIERS revolt, and nobody knows who assassinated PresidentShinra. WIP

20.2.              A SpaceBetween Ice and Fire: Crossover with GOT – The Konoha Founders and theirsiblings are reincarnated as Starks and Baratheons and manage to save theRealms of Men while resolving their many and varied issues with one another.

20.3.              AWidening Gyre: Rin survives the Chidori and her existence is now an S-classsecret. Said S-class secret distracts Obito on his way to ambush Kushina’slabour and several different chase scenes take place. They all end up in theROOT base made from one of Tobirama’s old labs and instead of Kyuubi gettingloose Team Ro, the Fourth Hokage’s team of bodyguards, Obito, Anko, and all ofROOT plus Danzo himself get dumped into the Warring Clans Era. Obito killsDanzo in a panic when he realizes that taking the Bijuu means killing Rin,Kakashi sacrifices himself again, and there is a lot more running around. Kakashisuborns ROOT en masse, Obito is stupidly overpowered and homicidal but it’sokay because Kakashi is playing damsel in distress and distracting him. TheSenju and the Uchiha are all really confused by these kids, there are far toomany mistaken identities, and Konoha gets founded much earlier than in canon. Meta

20.4.              Accordingto Custom: Hashirama and Madara should not be left unsupervised (that’s whyMito and Touka tend to lurk nearby when they have tea together) because itcauses them to get Brilliant Ideas. This time they decide to make friends withone another’s little brothers. How Madara went from being “nice” to Tobirama tocourting the oblivious younger Senju is still something of a mystery, but thereare several bets riding on when Tobirama is going to realize what’s going on. Long Oneshots, WIP

20.5.              Aroundthe River Bend: Tobirama feels Itama die and runs to the river to mourn.Quite predictably he meets Madara there, and the course of History changes. Oneshot

20.6.              Coloursand Promises: Set a decade after the Evil has been defeated and lifereturned to normal, Tobirama (once the magical superhero Dragon) is stillliving with the side effects of sacrificing everything to save the world whilehe was still a teenager. Notes on a piano, and a familiar voice singing afamiliar song. Tobirama finds Madara (once the magical superhero Phoenix) andfinally gets to enjoy his victory. Love can be killed, but it never dies, onlyever taking on new shapes as we move on with our lives. Drabbles, WIP

20.7.              Heavy asthe Mountain: Team 7 is loosing the fight against Kaguya, but Obito andKakashi perform a last minute sacrifice that means the kids survive. It alsocauses them all to be de-aged by over a decade and thrown back in time to theWarring Clans Era. Kakashi and Obito die, Team 7 gets adopted bypresumably-Hatake Kanna, then a few years later they run into Uchiha Izuna andit all descends into chaos. (Team 7 takes total advantage of everything to gettheir revenge on Zetsu and maybe fix some of Konoha’s longstanding issues at thesame time.) WIP

20.8.              InKonoha We Dance: The Uchiha Clan has a tradition of belly dancing andit fixes everything that was wrong with Konoha in canon. Oneshots

20.8.1. O-Bon Appetite: Thanks to his dancetraining Izuna manages the core control to dodge Tobirama’s sword enough toavoid a fatal wound and Konoha starts off on more equal footing. Tobirama thenwalks into a traditional Uchiha celebration and his brain shuts off.

20.8.2. Hot Like Burning: Kushina drags Minatoto the Uchiha Police Office Party so she can make time with Mikoto and there isso much skin, Minato was not emotionally prepared for this. Fugaku takesadvantage of the Yondaime’s weakness as only an Uchiha can and the glorious‘ship FuMiKuMi sets sail.

20.8.3. Got This Fire Burning: Overnight shiftsat the Mission Desk gets boring. Konoha ninja like to dance, because dancingisn’t boring. Kakashi shows them all how it’s done when a member of Team 7 hitsit.

20.9.              Karma,and the Repercussions Thereof: Crossover with KHR – Legendary Ninjafrom the Elemental Countries get reincarnated into KHR and proceed to adopt allthe Magic Rainbow Fire Children. Nono and Iemitsu suffer.

20.9.1. Karmic Balance: Kakashi and Obito areninja married from the very start because of metaphysical bonding and someminor haunting during their last lives. Between Ninshu Shinobi needing to be inClans and Flame Actives needing to be in Harmonies it does not take long beforethe child stealing begins. Gokudera Kakashi is the best wife and Dokuro Obitorepents, repeatedly and often, while also having the time of his second life.Tsuna loves his Kakashi-sensei and wants to be just like him when he grows up. WIP

20.9.2. Karmic Justice: Madara and his brothersare reborn as Fon’s nephews and do not take kindly to the Arcobaleno cursebeing put on one of their relatives. The Hibari Clan proceeds to start huntingfor the Man in the Iron Man en mass. Madara and his brothers hit Namimoriduring Nono’s visit and witness the sealing of Tsunayoshi. They don’t take wellto this either. Things go worse for Tsuna than they do in canon and Madarahunts down Tobirama because he needs the resurrection to be done perfectly.Tsuna loves his Madara-shishou and wants to be just like him when he grows up. WIP

20.9.2.1.     KarmicJustice – Hubris: Madara comes across Xanxus in the ice while investigatingthe Vongola and despite Xanxus being a bit older than the usual target forchild stealing decides to steal him anyway. After resurrecting Tsuna, Madaraand Tobirama’s next project is defrosting Xanxus. WIP

20.9.2.2.     KarmicJustice – Providence: Madara finds Xanxus on the streets while hunting inItaly for the Man in the Iron Mask. Wrath Flame calls to Wrath Flame and Madarainstantly adopts the delightfully savage little boy. Then Namimori happens, andTsuna’s seal gets him temporarily killed, and Xanxus reaches 100-year-Xanatos-Gambit-vengance-plotlevels of overprotective big brother. WIP

20.10.          Look theInnocent Flower: Orochimaru gets the Hat instead of Minato because insteadof working for Danzo he creates his Baby-no-Jutsu (the same one that producedRogu and Mitsuki) and that’s how Orochimaru accidently turns Tenzo into theOrochimaru-and-Tsunade lovechild while field testing some gene-splicingadoption techniques. Sarutobi is so delighted by all the babies he namesOrochimaru his successor without any further debate. Konoha proceeds to becomea somewhat androgynous, gender-fluid utopia full off affectionate, friendlypeople who only want you for your body. Orochimaru refuses to allow hypocrisyin his Konoha and loyalty to ones comrades is not only encouraged, it’senforced. Meta

20.11.          Negotiationis an Artform: Remix of The Art of Negotiation by Kage88 – Konoha’sFounders take a trip to Uzushio and the Uzumaki are annoyingly persistent intheir attentions, even when said attentions are unwanted. Tobirama’s politicalsavvy is not to be underestimated, and Tobirama’s just as ridiculouslyoverprotective of his loved ones as his relatives are of him. Bitchy piningresolves into dating, and the only reason Tobirama lets Hashirama get away withbetting on his love life is because Hashirama was the only one who had faith inTobirama making the first move. Oneshot -Complete

20.12.          Red inHand and Claw: Madara has Raptor Summons. This fact is significantly moreterrifying than anyone outside of the Uchiha Clan is really aware of. Oneshot

20.13.          Roads Diverged:Kakashi from a Darker-Than-Canon AU ends his fight with Obito with mutualdestruction, and as they both lay dying Kakashi confesses to having alwaysloved Obito. Obito being Obito and therefore unholy levels of Extra even for anUchiha, proceeds to use Edo Tensai on Team 7 in order to heal Kakashi and thenfling him through dimensions until he lands in a Lighter-Than-Canon AU whereKakashi sees Rin in time to avoid hitting her with the Chidori. Things spiralfrom there. WIP

20.14.          That WeAnswer to Our Stars: Crossover with SW – Kaguya’s reality warp has somestrange side effects to the point of ridiculousness. All the Uchiha to everexist are resurrected and then dumped wholesale onto an alien deathworld thatis essentially what Training Ground 44 would be if it was allowed to cover anentire planet. The Uchiha proceed to seduce the Jedi and foil all ofPalpatine’s plans for galactic domination. Meta

20.15.          The ThinLine: Kakashi loses patience with the Sandaime when no appreciable actionis taken to remove Danzo from power even after Kakashi literally reports toSarutobi’s face that he was ordered by Danzo to assassinate the Third Hokage.So Kakashi crashes an Uchiha Clan meeting and asks them to run away with himand his cute little brothers to a lovely tropical Island. Cue the Uchiha ExodusThat Fucks Over Canon. Kakashi and the Uchiha Clan proceed to re-found Uzushioand collect a few S-class missing nin along the way. WIP

20.16.          TheWaters and the Wild: The Senju are High Court Fae, and the Uchiha are WildHunt Shapeshifters. Tobirama attempts to interrupt Hashirama and Madara duringtheir riverside meeting, only it backfires when he realizes that Madara is hisSoulmate. Also the Uchiha are “clothing optional” and Tobirama was notemotionally prepared for this. Drabbles,WIP

20.17.          Truthin Hyperbole: Shinobi are what happen when Aliens and Humans have kids,Bloodline Talents are what happens when Kami and Youkai ancestry gets added tothe pot. Most of the time Shinobi stay mostly Human. Sometimes they don’t.Sometimes they really don’t. Series - WIP

20.17.1.               BloodPrice: Tobirama wakes up after being killed and proceeds to resurrect hislittle brothers and Madara’s little brothers. Tobirama would resurrect Madaratoo but Madara had already managed to resurrect himself.

20.17.2.               StillWaters Run: The Sage of Six Paths gets his ass kicked by his ex-wife, hisdaughter-in-law, and Tobirama’s mother.

20.17.3.               A ThingWith Feathers: Madara’s side of the story of their transformation intominor kami.

20.17.4.               Come Away:Zetsu is targeting Obito in another attempt to create the Rinnegan. Kakashi hashis first “near death” experience and Obito is not amused at all. Neither isRin. Team 7 is overprotective and codependent regardless of the generation inquestion.

20.17.5.               Quoth theRaven: Danzo’s schemes got him chased out of Konoha to escape execution,and he invades during the Chunin Exams in order to get his revenge. SummoningTobirama using the Edo Tensai was probably not the best plan.

20.18.          TsukumogamiNo Kankurou: While he is still very young, Kankurou signs a Summonscontract with the Tsukumogami (aka the Muppet Theater Troupe) and then proceedsto interrupt Yashamaru’s “attack” on Gaara while simultaneously wreaking havocacross the entirety of Sunagakure. All of this is done to get back at Rasa fornot letting Kankurou play with his baby brother. The Middle Child Syndrome isstrong in this one. Never underestimate the power of petty spite. Oneshot - Completed

20.19.          Twice isHappenstance: As a side effect of the battle against Kaguya breakingthrough dimensions, the ghosts of the Uchiha Clan send their memories as farback as possible. On the eve of his younger brother’s assassinations, UchihaMadara wakes up with memories of being Indra and Sasuke. All the Uchiha havememories of their past and future lives combining with their current selves,and it causes something of a fracas while it gets sorted out. Cue the UchihaExodus That Fucks Over Canon. Oneshot - Complete

20.19.1.               EnemyAction: The building of Uchihatlantis, the knockback effects of rememberingmore than one lifetime, and what happens when the Uchiha start to go back outinto the world in order to hunt down their spouses and mess up Zetsu’s plans. Meta

20.20.          Two StepsBack: Retired Rokudaime Hatake Kakashi accidently has his first vacationever interrupted when he visits the Uzushiogakure ruins and gets slingshot backan incarnation or two due to triggering a derelict seal. Kakashi being Kakashi,he proceeds to continue with his vacation until he has a drunken bar hookupwith Uchiha Izuna and now the beloved younger brother of Uchiha “I-can-fight-five-armies-and-win”Madara is stalking Kakashi in order to recite (hilariously awful) poetry aboutthe beauty of Kakashi’s kenjutsu. This is not the retirement Kakashi signed upfor. WIP - Drabbles

20.21.          TwoTruths and a Lie: Mikoto and Kushina have been fake!dating for years tokeep the more annoying Uchiha relatives from trying to get her married off.It’s a brilliant plan, and it works perfectly. But times change, and Kushina’seyes are very pretty. Oneshot - Complete

20.22.          Wills ofFire and Conquest: Crossover with OP – Kakashi is Rouge’s little brotherand ends up raising the ASL trio while also searching for other reincarnatedshinobi. Obito and the rest of Akatsuki become the Red Dawn Pirates and Kakashieventually founds a new Uzushiogakure on the Red Line. Ace decides he wants tobe the Nidaime Uzukage, and Whitebeard accidently insults Ace’s mother so badlyduring the “recruitment” debacle that Ace spends 100 days trying to beat anapology out of the arrogant old goat. Shinobi-versus-pirate culture clash isfrequent and hilarious. WIP

20.23.          Worth ofa Thousand Words: Political Hostage!Tobirama gets caught by the Uchiha justbefore he manages to use Hiraishin in battle for the first time. The Uchiha areall sensors that use Ninshu techniques otherwise since lost to time tocommunicate among themselves. This results in a much more united Uchiha Clanwho are perfectly willing to let Madara push for a peace treaty with the Senjunow that Tobirama’s capture has given them the leverage to do so. Meta

21. NURARIHYON NO MAGO

21.1.              1001Demonic Nights: An AU Rikuo who was dragged into Yomi along with his HakkaiYakko during the battle against the Nue manages to escape from hell by jumpinginto an alternate reality where his mother Wakana had a threesome with Rihanand Otome. Wakana left to take over her family shrine without telling herlovers that she was pregnant. The Rikuo who was born as a result died as aninfant from the Nue’s curse on Nurarihyon’s bloodline. Both Rikuo and Otome’sdaughter were conceived on the same night and are both half-demons due to Rihanshifting forms for kinky species-play. WIP

22. ONE PIECE

22.1.              BurningSalt Water: Crossover with KHR – Xanxus gets dumped onto the Oro Jacksonduring the Pirate King’s last voyage when Nono’s Zero Point goes sideways andhe ends up adopted by Rouge and Roger while he heals. After the executionXanxus ends up raising the ASL trio to take over the Pirate Throne and Ace setsthe Moby Dick on fire when Whitebeard kidnaps him. WIP

22.2.              How FarI’ll Go: Roger had other lovers before he met Rouge and one of them was aFishwife that he met at a Peacemoot. Their daughter was a mermaid and thusneeded to remain on Fishman Island for her own safety. The World Government isso Human-centric that they don’t bother looking into any of Roger’s ladyfriends from the other races. Gol D Ann gives no shits about anybodiesprejudices and when her mixed up genetics mean her feet come in about 20 yearsearly she immediately takes off to track down her baby brother. Goldfish isLuffy’s favourite sibling and Ann is delighted to find three baby brothers forthe price of one. WIP

22.3.              Rumour,Slander, Hearsay: Garp is even worse at interpersonal communication than incanon and now the entire Marine fleet thinks that Monkey D Dragon is anoversexed degenerate who keep dumping his illegitimate spawn on his poor heroicfather’s doorstep. Otherwise known as Dragon adopts ASL and they seek aglorious Revolution. Meta

22.4.              Those WhoFavour Fire: Ace survives Marineford, even if only in spirit, because theGoddess of the Sea answered the prayer of another version of Ace. Waking up inthe place of his 17-year-old murdered doppelganger, Ace now has to deal withraising a 7-year-old Luffy and escaping the notice of the Marines. Oh, and hismurdered younger self is hanging around as a ghost, all the younger versions ofLuffy’s crewmates keep showing up on Ace’s boat, and Ace keeps getting trippedup over how much more horrible this world is compared to the one he came from. WIP

22.5.              Where theSky Meets the Sea: Crossover with KHR – The ASL Trio are reborn as SawadaTsunayoshi’s younger brothers, and the Will of D means they remembereverything. Sawada Iemitsu might once have been Akagami no Shanks and despitelacking his memories knows better than to keep secrets from his wife. (Iemitsudoes keep a lot of secrets from Nono, such as the fact that he has more thanone son.) Iemitsu redirects Xanxus’ attention to the Family traitors, Nononever meets Tsuna, and nobody gets sealed. Then Reborn shows up, and everythingis now on fire. Drabbles - WIP

22.6.              WildfireHearts: Ace goes back in time from his death to the Grey Terminal Fire, figuresout how to use natural fire to heal himself, saves child!Ace and child!Luffy,changes his name to Portgas D Riot, runs away to the Grand Line with his babybrothers, puts together a new pirate crew, and hits on Marco so hard thePhoenix forgets how to complete his sentences. Everything works out for thebetter. WIP

22.6.1. Heave A Sigh And A Wish For Me – WH SpinoffAU: SI-Clearfin Lionfish Mermaid named Occhio D Vittoria gets tapped in bythe Ocean Goddess to help Riot et al from WildfireHearts succeed in their adventures. WIP

22.7.              Wills ofFire and Conquest: Crossover with Naruto – Kakashi is Rouge’s littlebrother and ends up raising the ASL trio while also searching for otherreincarnated shinobi. Obito and the rest of Akatsuki become the Red DawnPirates and Kakashi eventually founds a new Uzushio on the Red Line. Acedecides he wants to be the Nidaime Uzukage, and Whitebeard accidently insultsAce’s mother so badly during the “recruitment” debacle that Ace spends 100 daystrying to beat an apology out of the arrogant old goat. Shinobi-versus-pirateculture clash is frequent and hilarious. WIP

23. PETSHOP OF HORRORS

23.1.              EventHorizons: Leon isn’t human, and that changes things in the aftermath of theconfrontation with Papa D. Count D wants to unravel the mystery of hisfavourite Detective, and Leon is starting to wake up. Hopefully they both findthe knowledge they’re looking for before it’s too late and their enemy findsthem. WIP – Under Revision

24. SAILOR MOON

24.1.              FromOlympus to Mu: The Senshi go to college and Mamoru reunites with the Shitennou.Basis of headcanons and characterization for any further post-canon SM fic. WIP

24.2.              Music ofthe Spheres: Crossover with KHR – Post Stars Usagi and Post VongolaInheritance Tsuna are cousins who meet for the first time ever only after theVongola’s enemies kidnap Ikkuko and Shingo. Usagi gets taken into protectivecustody by her Mafia relatives without being given the chance to say shedoesn’t need it. Usagi then proceeds to seduce all the women, charm all themen, and accidently throw Iemitsu out the nearest window every time he’s in thesame room she is. WIP

24.2.1. Celestial Chorus – MotS Spinoff AU: Chibiusa’sarrival has Usagi dragging her family to Namimori to prove that Chibiusa isn’t their cousin and things get wildly out ofhand. In Meta

24.3.              The SharpKnife Of A Short Life: SI is reborn as Tsukino Shingo under the aegis ofthe Roman God Janus and then proceeds to merrily say ‘screw canon, my sistergets to be happy or else’. WIP, Drabbles

25. SLAYERS

25.1.              InfiniteBlue: Zelgadis starts paying more attention to the deeper practices ofShamanism and gets in touch with his demonic side while achieving deeperharmony in himself. Xellos approves and it all results in magic explosions andvery strange demonic courtship rituals. WIP

26. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

26.1.              SkippedTracks: The triplets from Underground end up transmigrating into therecently deceased bodies of their counterparts in a SatAM reality and proceedto rock out and confuse everyone. WIP

27. Stargate

28. STAR WARS

28.1.              A Balanceof Ice and Fire: Crossover with GOT – Qui-Gon Jinn’s three Padawan Learnersand Padme (who got taken in Anakin’s place) are reincarnated as the Tyrellsiblings. They proceed to follow the Will of the Force and prepare the SevenKingdoms to win against the Long Night.

28.2.              A Robe ofStars: Crossover with TMNT – The turtles and Karai help Obi-wan save theInitiates and babies in the Jedi crèche before the Temple gets razed. Once thechildren are safe, Obi-wan and his new allies turn their attention to savingthe Vod’ade. WIP

28.3.              That WeAnswer to Our Stars: Crossover with Naruto – Kaguya’s reality warp has somestrange side effects to the point of ridiculousness. All the Uchiha to everexist are resurrected and then dumped wholesale onto an alien deathworld thatis essentially what Training Ground 44 would be if it hadn’t been fenced in.The Uchiha proceed to seduce the Jedi and foil all of Palpatine’s plans forgalactic domination. Meta

29. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES

29.1.              A Robe ofStars: Crossover with SW – The turtles and Karai help Obi-wan save theInitiates and babies in the Jedi crèche before the Temple gets razed. Once thechildren are safe, Obi-wan and his new allies turn their attention to savingthe Vod’ade. WIP

29.2.              A VelvetGlove: Crossover with FOZ – Leonardo gets summoned to be Louise’s Familiar.Since all of his brothers are dead, Leo sees no reason not to make the most ofthis “lifelong bond of magic and spirit” and adopts Louise as his littlesister. Halgenkia is not prepared for a Louise Francois le Blanc de la Vallierewith ninja training. Henrietta is probably far too gleeful over making her bestfriend her Spymaster, but it’s not like anyone knows enough about what they’redoing to stop her. Reconquista gets exposed and smashed, and Wardes reallyshould have respected his fiancée more. Chaptered,WIP

29.3.              IronLaced: Crossover with TMNT – Maria Carbonell was actually Oroku Karai indisguise because she was on vacation from being a member of the Council ofShadows. Karai and all the Turtles accessed magic ninja dragon powers when theytook over the Council and Karai-as-Maria passed that down to Tony. So Tony isactually a dragon and an encounter with the Enchantress leaves him locked inhis dragon form. WIP

29.4.              PaperFlowers: Leonardo and Michelangelo reconnect after years of separation anddeal with some leftover issues from their childhood while they prepare towelcome the next generation of Ninja Turtles into the world. WIP

29.5.              Patchingthe Trousers: Starting from the end of the Fast Forward arc, Leonardo getslost in the multiverse and proceeds to adopt all the secondary turtles. All ofthem. Leonardo is the Mom Friend, only he’s not a friend he’s just a Mom. Chaptered, WIP

29.6.              StainedBandages: Realistic resolution to the most common dark!Splinter tropes. Leodoesn’t really care about himself, but if you touch his brothers he will killyou. Splinter touches Raphael. Karai is gifted with Splinter’s decapitated headin a box. Oneshot, Completed

29.7.              UnraveledSleeves: After First Contact and Splinter’s death from old age, the Turtlesscattered to live their lives. Leonardo is the only one who stayed in the Lair.Making peace with the Karai was only the first step towards healing, and Leomakes peace with himself as he takes on students and his family grows again. Chaptered, WIP

30. TRANSFORMERS

30.1.              A Transformationof Ice and Fire: Crossover with GOT – Most of the Cybertronians who diedduring Unicron’s Awakening end up reincarnated as dragons (Seekers) andDirewolves (Autobots). The sapience of the animals causes significant changesto outcome of several key canon events.

30.2.              Action Equals Reaction

30.3.              CompromisingPositions: Bay’verse Shattered Glass – Megatron knows that there’ssomething wrong with his brother, but nobody will listen to him. Oneshot, Complete

30.4.              HighStakes Wagers: Decepticon Romantic Gestures at their finest. Series of Oneshots

30.4.1. The Bet: Soundwave saves Starscream’slife after he gets blasted away from Unicron and they proceed to have wild,kinky spark-bonding and that’s it that’s the plot.

30.4.2. The Rebirth: Starscream and Soundwavehead off Galvatron and Zarak’s attempt to destroy Cybertron (and Earth, butthat’s really secondary to them) and earn their just rewards for being on thewinning side.

30.5.              NineRings of Vos: The Epic Seeker Saga where Starscream is the uncontestedleader of the Seekers and he’s using the Great War as a cover to renew his people’spopulation numbers, add some variety to their core coding, and also destroy theCybertronian Government because they liked to make Seekers into their slaves. Seven Story Arcs, Chaptered, WIP

30.5.1. Before Dawn: A Rings spin-off where theSeekers are actually all sparklings who disguised themselves as their parentsin order to survive the Great War. Crash-landing on Earth precipitates the BigReveal and also the actual adult Seekers get woken from Government sanctionedstasis thanks to the energy surges caused by resource shipments coming in fromEarth. Chaptered shortfic, WIP

30.6.              No Evil:Starscream is a scientist who wants to stay a scientist but he’s so damn goodat being Air Commander that he gets promoted anyway. Also his bestfriend/roommate from the War Academy is the closest thing to a therapist thatthe Decepticons have and that means Starscream stays mostly sane. Meta in Production

30.7.              Out From Under

30.8.              Thundercracker’sSo Crazy in Love: Seekers Go Into Heat and that will put the War onpause for a bit because of the crazy. Oneshotseries

30.8.1. Always the Quiet Ones: Thundercrackerterrorizes the Decepticon forces on Earth while displaying for his Wingmatesand accidently kills Megatron.

30.8.2. Decepticon Service Announcement:Thundercracker is the new Supreme Leader of the Decepticons and he’s decidedthat they’re in a good position to negotiate peace terms with the Autobots now.

31. YU-GI-OH

31.1.              Old Game,New Rules: Sentinels and Guides are a built in part of society and acertain playing card game ties into that a bit more than most people wouldexpect. There’s a lot of gratuitous soul-bonding smut, worldbuilding runsrampant, and there’s a lot of social commentary on the futility of stereotypingany portion of the population based on a single point of commonality. WIP

31.2.              TheFuture of the Past: Jounouchi’s past life left a surprise in their soulthat the trip to memory world triggers and now Katsuya is living through all ofJono’s memories. WIP – Under Revision

32. YU YU HAKUSHO

32.1.             Bonds:Koenma and Yusuke are soulmates and Enma Daioh interferes because one his bratson is properly wedded and bedded Enma can take a long overdue vacation. Oneshot, PWP-ish

32.1.1.                 TiesThat Bind: Koenma and Yusuke are just starting to get used to being bondedmates when a new/old-and-forgotten enemy shows up to complicate things. WIP – Under Revision

32.2.             WhatHappens on Vacation: Crossover with Bleach – turns out that Kurosaki Misakiwas a senior ferry girl on sabbatical (which translates as living a mortal lifeunaware of her true nature) and she was late returning to work due to beingtrapped in Grand Fishers gut. Ichigo and Uryuu are very confused when their“cousin” Kazuma shows up to introduce his new bride to the family. Koenma isjust really pissed off by all the paperwork he needs to deal with whilecleaning up his father’s mismanaged pet project. WIP

… Ta-dah. And also I apologize to the mobile users.

[bat-losers-inc]

Date Night

Warnings: none

Summary: Tim and Jason are out for their anniversary. Unfortunately, Gotham City's criminals never take a night off.

Pairings: Jason Todd/Tim Drake

Tim laughed and squeezed Jason’s hand from where they were linked together across the table. He pushed his finished plate away from him. The restaurant was at full capacity, with some of Gotham City’s finest sitting at tables around them dressed in their best. Tim stared at Jason, across from him, dressed in a gray suit— one of the three suits that he owned, and wondered how he’d managed to get a reservation. Tim had a feeling the name Wayne must have been casually thrown in during conversation with the receptionist.

Tim’s phone buzzed to life in his breast pocket. He withdrew his hand from Jason’s and reached for it, squinting at the alert of his screen. He was aware of the waiter asking if they were interested in dessert and Jason saying something before the waiter placed down two menus and left.

“Everything alright?” Asked Jason, leaning in towards Tim.

Tim glanced up from his phone and huddled closer across the table so that he and Jason wouldn’t be overheard by the other restaurant goers. “Since it’s our anniversary, I have to ask, were you planning on surprising me with anything after this when we got home? Did you leave the door or any window unlocked for someone to slip it and set up?”

Jason grimaced. “No… should I have? I booked the most expensive restaurant in Gotham, I didn’t think I needed to—”

Tim waved him off. “No. Jason, you did fine, but I just got an alert from the security system I set up in the apartment. Someone set it off.”

Jason cursed, and wiped his mouth hastily, dropping his napkin on his plate. “I guess it’s a no to dessert then.”

He was already turning and signalling for the waiter to bring the check. Tim didn’t have to stress how serious a security breach was to him. If an intruder, petty thief or otherwise, broke into their place and managed to find their uniforms and connect them to their secret identities, they’d be in a hell of a lot of trouble. Batman’s disappointment would be the least of their worries if that information was brought to the GCPD.

They exited the restaurant at a hurried pace. Jason snatched Tim’s car keys from the valet, he pressed some money into the valet’s hand with a hurried ‘keep the change’ tossed over his shoulder as Jason rounded the car and slipped into the driver’s side next to Tim. Tim watched as he pulled into the city traffic, then turned around in his seat after a few minutes.

“Did you forget how to get home?” asked Tim. “ It’s the other way.”

“Gotta make a pitstop at one of my safehouses. I keep some spare weapons there.”

“Are you sure that’s necessary? It could just be a small-time thief.”

“Yeah,” Jason sighed. “Or it could be Ra’s sending in his ninjas to steal or plant something.”

Jason pulled up and parked in front of a nondescript building. He looked at Tim. “It wouldn’t be the first time he’s tried to ruin our anniversary and if it is him, then I’m sure as hell going to send him back a message of my own.”

“True,” agreed Tim, getting out of the car and following Jason into the building and up the stairs. He watched as Jason retrieved his keychain from his pocket and flipped through the keys until he found the right one, fitting it into the lock. “You better have something for me that isn’t a gun, though. Or a knife. If it is Ra’s men than I want to keep one of them alive to figure out what they were there for.”

The door gave way from it’s warped frame with a hard shove of Jason’s shoulder. Jason cast Tim a disparaging look over his shoulder before leading him inside the apartment. “I might have some pepper spray for you but try not to hurt yourself with it, princess.”

The apartment, like all of their safehouses, was furnished with the bare essentials. A bed to sleep on, clothing in the dresser drawers, canned food in the kitchen cabinets so you didn’t have to worry about it going expired, first aid equipment under the sink, and most importantly a backup stash of weapons. Sure enough when Jason yanked open the doors to his weapons’ locker, the first thing that Jason found was a small bottle of pepper spray.

Jason wiggled it in front of Tim in offering, a grin spreading across his face. “Don’t hurt yourself now.”

Tim’s eyes narrowed. “Keep it up and you’ll be sleeping here tonight.”

Jason’s smile dropped like Tim had just slapped it off his face. He ducked his head as he replaced the bottle in it’s previous spot. “Right, sorry. It’s still our anniversary.”

Jason’s head tilted to the side, suddenly. “Hang on…”

He swung one of the locker doors closed and reached around to the back side of the cabinet. Jason made of noise of triumph that was slightly distorted by his current position before he emerged with something in his hands. It took Tim a moment to realize he was holding a pair of Dick’s escrima sticks.

“It’s not your bow staff but it’s close,” Jason offered the sticks to Tim with a shrug. “Will these do?”

Tim nodded and took the escrima sticks from him, he clutched them together in one hand as he watched Jason retrieve his shoulder holster and load his guns. He couldn’t help himself from asking, “So, Dick’s been here before?”

“Only once,” replied Jason, slipping a spare magazine into his pocket.

“I haven’t been here before...”

Jason’s head jerked up sharply like he’d suddenly caught the scent of Tim’s current emotion. Jason’s hands spread out in a placating gesture. “Oh hang on, now. It was just a one time thing… the idiot was bleeding all over Gotham, so I brought him back here and stitched him up. He must have just forgotten some of his gear. What was I supposed to do, let him bleed out?”

“Of course not!” Tim snapped, more annoyed at the notion that Jason thought Tim was jealous enough to even suggest it. “Let’s just get going.”

Tim turned, leaving Jason to scramble after him, muttering curses the whole way to the car.

Their apartment was dark and silent when Tim unlocked the door and let it swing open. They stood on the threshold for a moment, Dick’s escrima sticks clutched tightly in Tim’s hands and the reassuring presence of Jason brushing against Tim’s back. There was a click as Jason removed the safety on his guns. “Right behind you, babybird.”

Tim crept forward into the room, placing each foot down carefully— heel to toe— trying to keep his steps as silent as possible to prevent the wooden floors from creaking. He went to the source of the intrusion first, the window that looked out onto the fire escape and shut it. He eyes scanned the kitchen and living room, but came upon nothing suspicious. Tim turned to meet Jason’s eyes across the room as he slid out of the back bedroom, shaking his head at Tim’s questioning look.

Tim lowered his borrowed escrima sticks. “Whoever broke in, they’re long gone by now.”

“Damnit.”

Tim held up a hand, calming him. “We should still do a thorough sweep of the place to see if anything has been moved or taken.”

There was a thud as one of the dining chairs was shoved backwards, and Tim and Jason jerked around to see a dark blur streak towards the open door. Jason swiveled his guns, fire off two shots that slammed into the door frame before Tim could react.

“Jason, no!” Tim pushed past him, taking off down the hallway after the figure, Jason right on his heels. They caught him at the top of the stairwell, but it wasn’t an assassin or a petty thief that stared back at them— it wasn’t even a man, but a boy who must have been only 5 or 6 years old.

“What the hell?” Jason muttered behind him.

The boy thrashed hard in Tim’s grasp, crying out and pounding on Tim’s arms where they were locked around the boy’s torso. In the midst of all the flailing and kicking limbs, Tim tilted off balanced, falling awkwardly on his ass on the linoleum floor. The boy’s yelling stopped long enough for his teeth to clamp down on Tim’s upper arm.

“ Oww! ” Tim yanked his arm away from those sharp teeth.. “Stop it, I don’t want to hurt you.”

  The boy broke free of Tim’s hold and made towards the stairs. The thought of having to scramble down those stairs seemed like more than he was up for at this moment, but Jason saved him the trouble by snatching the kid up and flipping him upside-down. The boy squeaked as he hung upside-down, his legs pinned firmly against Jason’s chest to keep him from kicking, curly brown hair dangling in Tim’s eyes.

“Stop trying to run, kid. We’re not going to hurt you, we’re the good guys here.” Jason paused a moment to let that information sink in before continuing. “If I put you down, will you stay where you are? We just want to ask you a few questions.”

Tim slid out from under the pair until he could stand back on his feet next to Jason. The boy in his grip nodded, a barely perceptible gesture when his upper body was already swaying back and forth. Jason paused still and the boy seemed to think that his message hadn’t been received, for a moment later he hiccupped and responded with a watery ‘yes’.

Jason’s movements afterward were careful, almost gentle, as he turned the boy right side up and placed him back on the ground. He didn’t release him completely however, holding onto the little boy’s wrists, and crouching down in front of him. Tim did the same, finally getting a good look at the boy; a mop of curly brown hair that hid a small nose— dribbling with snot in the way that most little kids’ noses do— and brown eyes opened wide in fright. Tim’s heart broke at the sight, no doubt they scared the hell out of the kid.

“Hey,” Jason gave the kid’s wrists an encouraging shake. “What’s your name?”

“Bodi.” The boy responded, trying to wipe at his nose with the heel of his hand, but then remembering it was captured in Jason’s grip. Tim retrieved the handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at the boy’s nose with it.

“Hi, Bodi.” he said, “I’m Tim and this is Jason. We’re really sorry if we scared you before.”

“S’okay.” Came the murmured response. Bodi’s eyes never leaving the floor.

“Hey, Bodi. Do you mind telling me what you were doing in our apartment?

“Markos told me to hide.”

Tim shared a worried glance with Jason. Jason crooked a finger beneath Bodi’s narrow chin and urged his head up. “Who’s Markos, Bodi? Is he your brother?”

Another small nod.

Tim was started to get a bad feeling in his stomach but he had to know. “Why did Markos tell you to go to our apartment?”

Bodi shrugged and picked at a scab on his elbow. “He said Mommy and Daddy were fighting and they were making a lot of noise. He said we had to go to Grandma’s house. We were walking to Grandma’s house, but then Daddy came to get us and he was really mad. Markos told me to run and hide. I climbed up the ladder and came through the window and hid under the table.”

Tim shared a concerned looked with Jason. The boy could still be out there, in what state it was impossible to know, but if Tim was certain of anything, it was that they at least had to go look for him. And they couldn’t leave Bodi.

“Okay,” Jason slapped his knees in emphasis. “Operation Save the Children is a go. Tim, you look after Bodi while we’re out looking for big bro. Bodi, is it alright if Tim carries you?”

Bodi nodded and held up his arms towards Tim. Tim sighed and clutched Dick’s escrima sticks into one hand. He hoisted Bodi up and settled him against his hip. He wagged his hand that held the sticks in Jason’s face.

“If I’m carrying him how am I supposed to use these?”

Jason cocked an eyebrow with a grin. “You, Daddy dearest, aren’t. I’m the one with the long range weapon.”

Tim rolled his eyes, totally not down with being the appointed babysitter in this situation. He pressed a hand against Bodi’s ear as the boy snuggled his face into the crook of Tim’s shoulder. “At least give me a knife.”

“Fine.” Jason went back into their apartment and returned a minute later with two knives, one he slipped into his pant pocket, the other he handed to Tim.

“Let’s go find Markos.”

They took the elevator down to the ground floor. Some of the residents spared a few curious glances at the trio during the descent, and Tim figured they would made an odd trio— what with him and Jason in their tailored suits and Bodi dressed in frayed jeans and an oversized sweatshirt that might have been his older brother’s hand-me-downs. On the ground floor they exited the building and rounded it until they reached the alleyway that their fire escape looked out upon.

Tim nudged Bodi’s head with his shoulder to get his attention. “What street do you live on, Bodi? Can you tell me the name?”

Bodi shook his head and pointed off down the alleyway. “It’s by the corner deli.”

Saying that in Gotham was just about as useful as saying you lived near a dumpster.

Jason rubbed at his forehead with the edge of his gun.

“Alright,” he shrugged. “I guess we’ll just start off that way until something looks familiar.”

They ended up walking for awhile, twisting and turning through dark streets and alleyways where the only people they encountered skirted past them, never straying far from the shadows cast off the buildings. It was strange for Tim to walk the streets of this part of Gotham at night, instead of swinging from rooftop to rooftop. He did not claim to know this area especially well, seeing as it was on the edge of where Jason patrolled, but the number of businesses closed and gated shut seemed more than usual.

In the end it was Bodi who pointed them in the right direction, finally identifying the building he lived on that sat next to the saddest excuse of a deli Tim had ever seen. Without Bodi with them, they might have walked right past it. Tim shifted the boy to a more comfortable position against his side as Jason slipped one of his guns out of it’s holster again.

“Guess security isn’t a big priority here.” stated Jason as they stepped into the building and pushed through the door that hung ajar. There was no elevator in this building, so Tim and Jason took to the stairs, climbing until they reached the third level. They heard the shouting before they exited the stairwell.

“That’s Dad. He’s mad.” Bodi murmured, breath hot against Tim’s neck.

“He most certainly is.” Agreed Tim.

The trio stepped out into the hallway. The noise was coming from the apartment at the end of the hall.

Jason glanced behind him and Tim. “Stay here.”

“Jason—”

“You have Bodi. ” The underlying meaning of his words was clear and definitely not open for discussion. Jason couldn’t focus on helping Markos if he was worried about Tim and Bodi as well.

Tim nodded and placed Bodi on the carpet next to him. “We’ll wait for you.”

Jason nodded and walked briskly towards the apartment, shaking the arms that gripped his guns loose as he picked up pace, not stopping until he crashed against the door, throwing his shoulder into it. The door banged against the wall and Jason turned off to the left, guns raised. It wasn’t often that Tim got to see Jason ready himself for running into the fray, usually too concentrated on doing the same thing himself. It left an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He realized very quickly that he did not like it.

The noises that ensued after that were chaotic and angry, overlapping each other so that Tim could not make out one word from another. He was only able to discern one voice he knew from other’s that he did not. Until he heard the overpowering sounds of gunfire, too much at once to be just from Jason, then Jason yelling quite clearly, “Go, go!”

“Markos!” Bodi cried as his brother came sprinting out of the apartment. Markos’ face was bleeding from a cut across his cheek and his clothes were ripped like he’d physically torn himself out of someone’s hold. Bodi’s older brother came barreling into Tim, arms wrapping too tightly around his waist and Bodi’s shoulders, but Tim’s eyes were still glued to the open doorway waiting for Jason to emerge.

And then a moment later he did, crashing against the sidewall, suit bloody and panting harshly. His voice was frantic when he shouted towards Tim, like he’d encountered something he hadn’t been expecting and it tore at Tim’s insides.

“Tim, run! Go to Harper’s! Get the kids to Harper!”

A figure slammed Jason into the wall, knocking one of the guns out of his hands. Jason, even bare without his armor, grabbed the man by the shoulders and jammed his knee into the man’s gut. Another man shoved around the pair, heading straight towards Tim. Tim turned and yanked Markos’ arms from around his waist and Bodi’s from his thigh, shoving the pair towards the stairs.

“Go! Downstairs. Wait for me in the lobby.”

He didn’t spare a glance for them as he turned and pulled Jason’s knife from his pocket. The man raised a gun level with Tim’s chest and Tim had a moment to realize he’d brought a knife to a gunfight before he was twisting out of the line of fire as the man pulled the trigger. He lunged low and forward, coming up fast with the knife and catching the man in the gut. The man gave a startled cry and crumpled. If he made it to a hospital soon, he’d live.

Tim wanted to tear the knife from his body and continue forward until he reached Jason. He wanted to drag him with him out of this building towards safety, but Tim knew he couldn’t leave those boys alone downstairs for long. Besides, as much as he didn’t want to believe it, Jason could survive a fight without him.

He raced down the stairs and pulled the brothers out into the night with him.

Tim could not blame Roy Harper for the horrified look on his face when he answered his door. By now the boys were tired, cold, and scared. Tim had had to carry Bodi the last part of the journey, the 5 year old was so tired by now that Tim had worried about him tripping over his own feet. Besides, Tim had wanted to move as fast as possible and get them off the streets of Gotham. Next to him, Markos hovered close, his hand gripping Bodi’s ankle where it dangled in the air. Tim had tried to ask Markos what had happened inside the apartment, but the boy grunted Black Mask and refused to say any more.

After that, Tim was afraid to ask any more questions. But, now he stood in front of Roy Harper’s door, a man that Tim knew in passing as Jason’s friend and teammate, with two boys, no Jason, and no idea what to tell him.

In the end all he could come up with was, “Jason said it was safe to come to you.”

Roy shoved back his long red locks of hair and opened the door wider. “Come on in. Lian is in the living room watching a movie. The boys can join her in there.”

“Thanks, Roy.” Tim lead the boys into the apartment and placed Bodi down on the couch next to Lian, Roy’s little girl. Markos sat down on the floor, his back against the couch.

“Lian, baby?” Roy appeared behind Tim. “Is it okay if these boys watch your movie with you?”

“Uh-huh.” Lian nodded, her dark pigtails wagging.

Roy smiled. “That’s my girl.”

Roy gripped Tim by his elbow and drew him into the kitchen. He started making a fresh pot of coffee, scooping grounds into the filter and sliding it into place. He didn’t say anything until the coffee was brewing, hissing and dripping dark liquid into the pot.

“So who are the kids?” asked Roy, leaning his back against the counter.

Tim shrugged. “I don’t know, honestly. Brothers. Jason and I found the younger one hiding in our apartment after we came back from dinner and he said he had a brother. It sounded like he was in trouble, so we went looking for him.”

“Well you found him.”

“Yeah, but I think we also found some of Black Mask’s men. The older one, Markos, mentioned them… I’m scared for Jason.”

“He’s taken on Black Mask and his goons before.” reassured Roy.

“He’s in civvies with two handguns and knife for protection against a group of men armed with guns. And I left him there, alone.”

Roy pulled a mug down from the cabinet and filled it with coffee. He slide it across the counter to Tim, followed a second later by a dish full of sugar. “It wouldn’t be the worst situation Jason’s ever been in. And if you’re worried that Jason is going to be sore about you leaving him behind, don’t be. You know how he is when he gets something in his head. If he wanted you and those boys to get to safety it was going to happen with your say so or not.”

Tim stirred some sugar into his coffee and took a sip. He winced at the burn as he swallowed and put the mug back down on the counter to let it cool off a bit.

“He knows how much I hate waiting on the sidelines.” Tim grunted, feeling the need to vent out some of his feelings. To his shock, Roy started laughing.

Roy’s eyes were bright with amusement as he clapped his hand on Tim’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Tim, I know we don’t know each other that well, but trust me, waiting around for news with you is definitely more enjoyable than waiting around with Jay. You have not seen that man work himself up into a panic, I mean man that guy goes stir crazy…  and I have a feeling that if you were in any kind of trouble he’d be very panicked right now.  It’s better that you’re here.”

“I know you’re right.” Tim sighed. He glanced through the pass through window that separated the kitchen from the living room. Markos had moved onto the couch and Bodi was now curled up next to him. “How old is Lian now?”

Roy scratched at the red stubble on his chin. “She’s gonna turn six in a month.”

“Wow.”

“You and Jason are invited to the party, by the way.”

Tim smiled. “Thanks, we’ll definitely try to be there. I know Jason loves Lian.”

Roy grunted, amused. “He should. He’s her godfather, afterall.”

Roy yanked open a drawer and pulled out a first aid kit. “That cut on Markos’ face needs to be disinfected and taped up.”

Tim could definitely see how much of a parent Roy had become while raising Lian. He half expected him to start mothering him.

Roy offered him the case. “I have a feeling he trusts you more than me. Patch him up and we can get them settled down for bed. I expect you’re staying tonight?”

Tim shrugged. “Might as well. Who knows when Jason will get here.”

Tim cleaned the cut on Markos’ face, wiping away the blood and dirt that stained his face. Then together Roy and Tim settled all of the kids down— Roy scooping up Lian and carrying her into her bedroom as Tim set up the pull-out couch with blankets and pillows. He settled into an armchair by the pair and curled his legs underneath him, pulled a spare blanket over his body. This definitely wasn’t the anniversary he was expecting.

When Tim opened his eyes again, the room was dark but not entirely quite. Tim could hear voices down the hall and with a start Tim realized it was Jason’s voice he was hearing, tone low as not to wake anyone. Tim shoved the blanket off of himself and scrambled out of the chair. Jason and Roy were talking by the door, but the moment Jason caught sight of Tim he smiled tiredly.

“Hey, Babybird. Miss me?”

Tim launched himself into Jason’s arms, gripping him as tight as he could. “I love you.”

“Love you too,” Jason’s voice was muffled as he pressed his face into Tim’s hair, planting a kiss there. “I hope I didn’t ruin our anniversary.”

“Of course you didn’t. You came back.”

Tim turned his head in time to catch sight of Roy smiling and disappearing down the hall.

[theabominableblogger]

My Reaction to “Gotham” S4E19

We gotta wait two weeks until the rest of the episodes!!!  Which is actually a pretty smart move because “Infinity War” premieres next week.

Initial thoughts and predictions about the last three episodes of S4 are included as well after the reaction.

AN:  I managed to record my reactions to this episode and hopefully I can transcribe what I said into this post.

*imitates the Epic Voice Trailer guy doing the Gotham commercials*

OK, this recap is totally full of spoilers for me because I haven’t seen those episodes yet so this is my first time seeing Ra’s in action and I’m trying to catch up with this show...

What did they inject her [Tabitha] with?

OK Barbara, what are you doing?

*Some League Members sneak attack Barbara*  Oh wow!

“How should I know?!?  You’re ninjas!”  That’s... racist...

“I’m [Barbara] the Demon’s Head.  My hand is a freaking lightbulb!”  *snorts*

So the Demon’s Head can tell.. the future... with the flashlight hand?  OK...

Bruce, your car’s so loud!

“You don’t have a covert mode on this thing?”  No, cause it’s not the Batmobile yet!

*Bruce quiets the exhaust down*  Ohhhh... there we go!

“All I know is it’s about Barbara and it’s important.”  WHY? Why would you go along with that?

Bruce, why?  Just get back in the Batmobile!

 “Barbara needs our help.”  Why?

They’re gonna bring him [Ra’s] back from the dead?!?

I like this music here [that plays when the other League members take some of Bruce’s blood to bring back Ra’s]

Ohhh my God!

Ooooohhhhhh my God!

Wait, what about the Lazarus Pit?  Can’t they use that?  Just... throw him in?

Yeah, didn’t Sofia get shot in the forehead?  How is she still alive?

“What am I [Ed] to you [Lee]?”  Good question.

What the hell is this storyline?  Like, where are we going with this?

Freaking Oswald...

That sass, oh my god...

DID HE [Ra’s] JUST RIP OUT THE DUDE’S THROAT?

I knew Barbara wasn’t gonna last as the Demon’s Head!

Ohhhhhh who called it??  I did!

“I heard your offer.  And here’s my counter...”  Bite me.

“Bite me.”  There we go!

“Ohhhh... God, are you kidding me?!?!?”  HAHAHAHAHAHA!!

“We did not come here to fight.”  No, you [Oswald] came here to mope.  And bitch and complain, Oswald.

“Little advice:  be sure to skim some off the top when she tosses you aside.”  What?  I’m sorry, what?

“Turns out the old boy’s club don’t appreciate a woman calling the shots.”  I don’t think it’s that....

“I [Barbara] need to do my own thing.”  Uhhhhhh.... Barbara, no...

How are they doing Ra’s half-dead zombie mouth?  Is that prosthetics or CGI?

“You [Barbara] think that [the lady in the painting] was you?  She was just a whore...”  Ooooohhhh....

“You really thought you were an incarnated queen?  But in truth, you’re just an unstable nightclub owner whose greatest accomplishment was the murder of her own parents!”  Oooooohhhh....

Now there’s more flesh on his [Ra’s] hand now.  There we go.

OHHHH... WOW!

WE GOT SWORD-FIGHTING RA’S AL GHUL!  YES!!

*accidentally whacks laptop with a clothes hanger in excitement*

Oh that looks AWESOME!

*Ra’s impales a League member through the back with his sword from across the street*  OHH WOW!

Bruce just looks pissed!

Are they [people from the Narrows] eating bugs?

Oh yeah, she’s [Lee] like the leader of the Narrows

When is Lee gonna get back to Gotham?

“You don’t get it, Jim.”  No, I don’t get your [Lee’s] storyline.

“We’re gonna kill the son of a bitch [Ra’s].”  How?

Why does Bruce have to the one to kill Ra’s?

*laughs*  Uhh, what?

I like Alfred’s suit

Ohh my God!  Haha, they’re [Alfred and Tabitha] pretending to be married!

[Selina gets lowered down through the roof to steal the knife] *starts scatting the Mission Impossible theme*

And they [the embassy security] don’t even notice the knife being gone!

No cameras were on or anything that caught that?  Really?

I don’t like this whole split personality thing going on with Ed.

 I don’t like this...

Or... plot twist!  What happens if like both personalities figure out what’s happening and they kinda *claps hands together*  merge together or something like that?  I don’t know.

Selina, what are you doing?

“Give me [Barbara] the knife!”  Noooo

“Stay back, muffin!”  “Don’t you even go there, love!”  Hahahaha!

*Barbara points a gun at Bruce*  Really?

*Barbara shoots out the tires*  Oh, that’s mean...

Nooooo... they [Tabitha, Barbara, and Selina] took the Batmobile!

“That lovestruck moron, Ed, is floating down a river of dopamine deep within the primitive circuit of my brain and I need you to help me drown him.”  Ohhh.. wow.

“And how big is the score?”  “Uh, about a hundred million.  A piece.”  Ohh, big payload.

“Stabby-stab!”

“Maybe call back up?”  “I [Barbara] did!  Here they are!”  Really?!?

“Selina, we’re strongest when we’re together.”  But this is a terrible plan!

Does she have to do a special spell or all she has to do is lift up her flashlight hand [to summon Ra’s]? 

Like “for the glory of Merlin, daylight is at my command!’ kind of thing...

Jim, what are you up to?

45 branches?!?  Of a bank?!?  In one city?

*Ra’s appears after the lights flicker and go out for a moment*  Ohhhh that’s cool!

“Ouch.”  HAHAHA!

*Ra’s throws Barbara through a glass window*  Oooooohhhh, wow!

*Bruce runs in and tackles Ra’s off of Barbara*  Ohhhh, Bruce in with the assist!

What?

Oh, it’s the future!

*Barbara sees Ra’s kill Tabitha*  Ohhhhh....

Wait, it’s another future thing!

“[Ra’s] You win.  Just don’t hurt her [Tabitha].”  Oh snap.

Ra’s funeral outfit that he’s wearing currently, with the hood, looks pretty sweet.  And with the ascot tucked into the vest.. that’s nice stuff.

*Ra’s starts transforming back into himself after getting the Demon’s Head back*  Uhhhh... everybody run?

Ohhhhh.... wow!

*Ra’s breaks the knife in half*  Shiiiiiiitt!

Bruce’s probably like “Man, I gotta learn how to do that Stealth Hi-Bye in the shadows like Ra’s does!”

Oh he [The Riddler] double-crossed them [Oswald and Butch]!

“If you come against Lee, you come against me.”  *cue incredulous look toward screen*

Take a shot every time Oswald goes into crazy yelling mode

Wasn’t it like a few episodes ago where the Riddler broke Oswald out of Arkham and they had their whole working together thing?

I like that shot of Ed putting on the bowler hat

Lee...

“[Lee] You know your rights.”  Oh wow.  Cold!

Barbara, what are you wearing?  That’s hideous.

*Barbara’s League members pledge their loyalty to her*  Ooohhh, so she has her own army now?!?

Ohhh... OK, things are getting interesting!

Can’t they just forge it [the knife] back together?

*Bruce leans in to kiss Selina*  Oh oh ooh ooooohhhhhhh....

*Ra’s interrupts*  OOOHH!!

Has he [Ra’s] been there the whole time?

“You have no idea what I’ll become.”  “Of course I do.  At least, what you could become.”  He’s telling the future!

“When I took back the Demon’s Head, I saw a vision of a cataclysmic event soon to befall this city.”  No Man’s Land!

“A cleansing fire that will purify, destroy, create.”  Ohhh..

“I will use it as a mighty forge, molding you into a dark knight of Gotham.”  Aaaahhhh!!

Oh wow!

OK, does that mean that for the No Man’s Land storyline coming up, does that we’re gonna get a “Batman Begins” kind of situation?  Where they would have to close off the Narrows and leave Scarecrow to go nuts in there.. and then...

“A cleansing fire...” yeah, they’re gonna try to burn it down!  Yeah, it’s gonna be like the Great Fire of London and burn Gotham down to the ground.  Are they gonna have that as well as the earthquake?  Because with No Man’s Land, the earthquake caused the government to segregate Gotham from the rest of the world (like no one was allowed in or out).  So how is this gonna work?

Or maybe Ra’s hasn’t seen like the whole future yet... no, he has to know, because Barbara had that whole Butterfly effect thing with seeing what decisions were bad for her to make.  So maybe he’s not telling Bruce the whole truth...

And with Season 5, if we ever get a Season 5, is gonna be a soft reboot because they’re gonna bring in more Batman-related elements so probably in the season finale, Bruce is gonna step up his vigilante game and all that (but I highly doubt he’s gonna go full Batman at the age of 18 like whoa, little soon, buddy).

And promo pictures of some of the villains doing their own thing were released already, so that’s probably how this season’s gonna end.  Wow.  Because we have Jeremiah stepping in as the Proto-Joker (who looks eerily like young Jack Napier from the 1989 Batman), and then all the others... wow!

And then, what’s gonna happen to Ecco?  She’s his [Jeremiah] bodyguard!  Like, he said that she pledged his life to him or something like that and he looked pretty freaked out when he though Ecco was in danger.  I don’t know what’s gonna happen to her.... I really hope she lives.  I know there’s a lot of theories going around about her.. there’s a theory that she’s gonna be Harley Quinn, which I’m not sure about.... while I kinda find it interesting, I’m more leaning toward the fact that there is another character from “No Man’s Land” named Echo, and that’s who she is.  Or...theory time:  what if Ecco ends up teaming up with Bruce and Gordon and she’s like “Hey, so Jeremiah’s going off the deep end and I want to make sure you guys can take him down rightfully but in order to do that, I’m gonna be a double agent for you guys and still work with Jeremiah as his bodyguard.”  I can see that happening...

How is the end of this season gonna go?

[reginaldbelchhuggins-blog]

The Short and Miserable Romance of Victor Criss

Chapter 6: Last Meeting

Pairings: Henry x Victor, with some side Butch x Mrs Criss Rating: M Warnings: Domestic abuse, noncon elements, major character death, canon-standard content, bullying, racist slurs, violence, strong language Chapters: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], 6, [7]

Ao3: [x] Summary: The end...

July 1989

“Get the fuck up and talk to Burp!” Victor didn’t open his eyes, moaning in protest when he felt the warm, cozy blanket disappear. Ice cold air conditioning stung against his skin, and forced him to curl up, his legs breaking out in gooseflesh. “I am tired of him calling!”

Not content with just stealing his comforter, his Mama grabbed the corners of his pillow, and pulled hard. His head struck against the lumpy mattress, jolting him wide awake. He rolled to try and grab it, but it was already too far out of reach.

Mama’s face was an emotionless mask – her eyes permanently fixed in a droopy, tired gaze. But Victor knew it was hiding a sadness that had been wrapped up inside bitterness and buried so deep, it was practically Mumm-Ra. He knew it had been his actions that had summoned the Ancient Spirits of Evil to create those feelings, and he was sorry, but his one attempt to apologize had been thwarted by Butch. Butch stood in the hallway with his back turned, telling Mama that some boys needed stronger discipline.

“Andy always was too soft,” Butch said, ominously. “Spare the rod, spoil the lamb, as the good Lord commanded.”

Victor hadn’t quite drawn up the strength to try again.

His Mama walked out the door, bedding in her arms, and Victor was glad to see her go. He glanced around the room. It was empty, but he still felt his skin crawling – leftover feelings from his nightmare. He wished he could pull his blanket in tight, and roll his face into his pillow. But it was time to wake up, apparently. Then again, maybe, if he turned just right, he could sleep without them.

After a few moments of mental debate, Victor rolled out of bed. The walk down the hall was slow, due in part to the swollen knee that Bill Denbrough left him with. In his ninja turtle boxers, he could very clearly see the yellow and purple decorating the skin around it. It was like someone had dipped his knee in watercolor, like an Easter egg. At least it wasn’t black anymore, or bleeding.

The other part was due to the headache throbbing away on the right side of his face. That, too, was because of a well-aimed rock. But while the swelling around the gash had lessened, the pain beneath it grew, and shifted, until every flash of light made him want to vomit.

When he turned the corner into the kitchen, he winced as the sunlight struck him dead on from the window. His Mama turned to look at him, and then gestured to the counter, where she had set the phone down. Without a word to him, she went back to making herself, and only herself, lunch.

Vic wasn’t hungry anyway.

“Hey Belch,” Victor said as soon as the phone was to his ear. He pressed his fingers into his head and turned away from the window. It soothed it a little, but the headache was persistent.

Henry’s voice came through the line on the other side, aggravating it even more, “Hey asshole, why are you avoiding me?”

“Megatron,” Victor said, pinching the bridge of his nose.  He was not in the mood to deal with this.

“That doesn’t work on conversations,” Henry stated, sounding more than a little annoyed. “Now, answer the question. Why. Are you. Avoiding me?”

“Fuck off, Henry. I’m not feeling well,” Victor lied. Well, only half lied. “I have a concussion, remember? Doctor says take it easy.”

“It’s been a week—”

“You know more than my doctor, do you?” Victor asked. He tried to keep the bitterness from his voice, but it crept out all the same.

“No, but I know you were feeling good enough to go to the movies with Peter Gordon last night,” Henry said. “He was getting awful chummy from what I saw.”

Victor’s nose flared as he took a deep breath, and suffocated that anger before it could break out and get him in trouble.

“What, you wanna say something about that?” Victor paused for a moment, wanting to say more, but his Mama was still within five feet. So instead, he said, “Marcia accused him of cheating, which is a bitch thing to do because Peter’s head over heels for her skanky ass. So we went out to get his mind off it.”

Victor paused again as his Mama passed. She carried a small thing of soup and a diet coke into the living room, where she was watching her Dallas VHS tapes. Lowering his voice, Victor added: “You know his girl, right? Marcia Fadden? She had a pregnancy scare last Christmas? Didn’t know whether it would be you or Peter was going to stand at the end of her daddy’s shotgun on her wedding day. Funny thing is, weren’t you seeing someone else around that time?”

“I didn’t…” Henry sighed. It was deep, and weighted. Victor could almost see Henry on the other end of the line, clutching the phone as he curled over it. It was the same way Henrietta had stood when talking on the phone. “Vic, I never had sex with her, or any of them.”

That was genuinely surprising. The tables flipped for a moment, Victor wasn’t sure if he believed Henry. Instead of looking at that deeper, he shook it off.

“Look, whatever, alright. I don’t care,” Victor said. “I’m just taking a breather. The last two times we hung out, we got hurt. So unless we’re talking Dairy Queen and a new Nintendo game, I’m out.”

Victor didn’t need to mention that Henry had promised they’d talk last time. It had been the selling point of his pitch, even.

“I’ll explain everything,” Henry had said, his tongue dripping silver and honey. But if it wasn’t Belch hovering around like he was the mother hen making sure his idiot chicks didn’t hurt themselves, it was Henry shutting down whenever Victor even started talking about it. His eyes would fall to the ground, his hands between his knees, and his mouth stubbornly silent until a distraction came along.

Trying to spell out his fear, and his needs, without accusing Henry of anything directly was trickier than anything Victor had ever done. But it was impossible when Henry refused to listen. So Victor resorted to the age old tradition amongst Criss men, which was avoiding the problem. He was a little young to drop a paycheck on some whiskey – and maybe he would’ve never done that anyway – so instead, it was kitten-napping.

That’s what Mrs Huggins called it when someone had a series of proper hour to two-hour long naps sandwiching a large snack – kitten-napping.

They couldn’t carry on as they were. Victor’s heart couldn’t take it. He loved Henry – loved him. But he also hated Henry so much more than he ever hated anyone in his life. Because Henry knew him better than anyone else on the planet, and still had the audacity to peg him for something he would never do.

“You weren’t exactly complaining,” Henry said, with a dangerous tone. “I mean, ain’t you the one that crushed that little Pickaninny’s fingers with your boot?”

That was true, and Victor regretted it. He regretted it long before Bill Denbrough and five other kids showed up armed to the teeth with large, jagged rocks. Victor regretted it the minute he got out of the car. By the time he actually put hands on the Hanlon boy, his mind had detached itself, and his emotions had become a void.

But once he was in it, he was in it. It was as always – every kick, every thrown rock, each one represented something he wanted to scream.

The rock that smacked Trashmouth between the eyes was Andy Criss leaving for Bangor after dragging his family to live some poor ass hick life on a farm. The one that hit Tits on the chest was stupid Henry, and stupid Henry’s stupid paranoia. The one that got Eddie was Butch Bowers playing with his hair, like a fucking creepazoid pervert.

Victor was almost feeling better when Bill Denbrough locked eyes with him. He knew it was over then, but he went down swinging. He got Bill so many times before that final blow took out his knee and Vic was out of the game. Even worse than the pain, though, was watching the kid let blow after blow fall off him, like he didn’t even feel it.

If you had told Vic a week ago that he’d be frightened of Stuttering Bill, he would’ve laughed. But that kid was the terminator, and Victor neverwanted to fuck with him again.

“That was him,” Victor finally said. “I said we got hurt. I got a concussion, man. Patrick’s dead. You couldn’t even stand up for like an hour. So how about I stay home today, okay?”

There was silence as both boys waited for the other to say something. Almost too quietly, Henry started filling it with what took Victor a moment to realize was song lyrics.

“Maybe I didn’t love you quite as often as I could,” he said, his voice tender. “And maybe I didn’t treat you quite as good as I should. If I made you feel second best, Vic I’m sorry I was blind. But you are always on my mind.”

Victor had to cover his face, physically trying to keep the smile from breaking out. It was such a stupid little thing, but it was everything. To hear him say things like that, even borrowed from someone else, it created that glow beneath Victor’s skin, warming his cheeks into a red splotchy blush. He didn’t want to let go of his anger, but it was slipping.

“Pretty ballsy using Elvis to try and apologize,” Victor commented. He glanced over his shoulder to make sure his Mama still wasn’t listening. She wasn’t. She couldn’t care less. “Wasn’t he the one who said ‘we can’t go on together with suspicious minds?’”

“Shut up. And I wasn’t quoting Elvis, that’s the Pet Shop Boys… isn’t it?” Henry asked. The smile on Victor’s face couldn’t have gotten any larger. He bit into his bottom lip to keep a laugh from escaping. Henry chuckled a little himself; it was low and throaty, and tickled Victor’s ear pleasantly. He felt himself leaning towards Henry’s charm, the trap closing in around him. He could almost feel the teeth of it digging right into his heart.

It was the same as last time, and Victor was aware of this. He still couldn’t stop it happening.

“It was Elvis first,” Victor said, the smile creeping into his voice. He twirled the phone cord around his finger, listening as Henry took several deep breaths, preparing for some kind of speech. Vic expected something cheesy, maybe something trashy. He didn’t expect anything close to what came next.

“Look, I don’t have a… suspicious mind,” Henry started, his words chosen carefully. “I know you aren’t like that. But Patrick…” Henry was speaking slowly, as he did when he didn’t want to say what he was about to. It immediately drew all of Victor’s attention. “He’s smarter than me. He dresses better. He has better hair, and all his teeth… and he wouldn’t ask you do weird shit during… you know…”

The silence was thick. The phone cord uncurled and fell free of Vic’s hands. He heard Henry sniffling, like he’d been crying. “Henry—”

“And I was afraid that you were getting tired of my shit,” Henry said, his voice cracking. “I know now it was a stupid thing to say. I wasn’t thinking when I said it. I was just scared because I’ve got nothing to give you.”

Victor knew he should’ve been angry still. After all, Henry wasn’t really saying anything different. The accusation was still there, only the narrative around it changed. But at the same time, hearing it in those words, Victor found some feelings of guilt surfacing.

Sure, he’d spent years soothing away all the shit Butch put in Henry, things like feeling stupid, or weak, or cruel. But who put it in his head that he was a bad boyfriend? Or that he, Henry fucking Bowers, whose hair was soft hay and skin was the sun itself, whose eyes were painted by the Gods, was anything less than desirable?

Victor would trade owning the world with anyone else for one private moment with Henry, and the idea that he had failed to somehow make that clear was both horrifying and heart-wrenching.

“I’m pretty sure Patrick was into weirder shit than hair pulling, first of all,” Victor said. Henry laughed, but the sound of it made Victor certain that Henry had been crying. “Second, I don’t want anything from you but you, and that’s something nobody else can ever give me.”

Mama was still not paying attention. Victor did a quick check when he realized what he said. On Henry’s line, he could hear noise in the background as someone moved around. Henry’s voice changed immediately, becoming louder, colder, “Anyway, my dad left his gun with me and he won’t be back until late. It’s just me, Belch, and some cold beers. Come on and let’s destroy some shit.”

Victor rubbed at his dull headache, knowing that loud noises were only going to make it worse. But the siren song of unsupervised target practice was hard to ignore by itself, let alone in the shadow of what Henry said. It dulled the warning bells telling Vic not to fall for it again.

Before he could say anything, Henry already knew his decision. He heard Henry’s hand close over the mouthpiece as he whispered very clearly to Belch, “he’s gonna say yes. Go! Now!”

“Tell him not to wait outside,” Belch said. He sounded far too excited, and Vic’s resolve was gone. He could practically see Belch’s face, all bright and happy, like a puppy waiting for his master to come home. It was that final thing needed to seal his fate. The trap closed completely, and Victor was a dead man walking.

“Alright,” Victor said, knowing he’d regret it later. “I’ll be there shortly.”

“Cool,” Henry said. “Belch will come get you.” Then, taking Vic completely by surprise: “I love you.”

The line went dead. Once the phone was back on the cradle, Victor walked back to his room to get dressed. He had to take a moment to lean against the door, his heart coming alive.

You’re such a fucking idiot, his brain supplied. Victor didn’t disagree. Still, he threw on that sleeveless shirt Henry liked, and fixed his hair.

His emotions were a roller coaster – soaring high when he remembered how it sounded to hear Henry say he loved him – and falling low when he thought of how many times he had overlooked some important clue to Henry’s insecurities.

When he heard Amy, Vic decided not to think about it, but just to continue forward with a better understanding of things.

He tried to say goodbye as he walked by his Mama for the last time, but she barely even looked up at him. She would remember it later – his little wave and quiet bye, mama. The way his face was young, and full of hope. It would be about the only thing she remembered, for as soon as the door was closed, she pulled out the vodka and rum Vic had brought her nearly a year ago.

She would still be sitting there, drunk and crying, when she got the call later from Officer Conley.

~~~

There was a power in holding a gun that just couldn’t be matched with anything else in the world. Not fucking someone so hard they forgot how to be human; not getting off a good comeback and shattering someone’s ego; not diving off a cliff or screaming at tornadoes. Being on the right side of a firearm felt like what Victor imagined He-Man felt like as he thrust the Power Sword to the sky.

For those few seconds before you pulled that trigger, you were immortal.

He couldn’t imagine being on the wrong side of one. Staring into an endless dark barrel, knowing that death was one quick burst away, could make a man crumble – not a man made of paper, as Butch so eloquently put it, but even the ones made of stone and steel and leather. It made men who hated life remember what was worth living for, and it could make men who lived it to the fullest realize that they just want it all to end.

But Butch wasn’t God, and he wasn’t Superman. He might’ve felt like it when he held up that gun, the same as Victor had. But he was the paper man, not Henry. He was a paper man with a powerful toy, and he needed to prove something to someone, though Victor didn’t know who. Maybe it was himself.

Regardless, he casually aimed that gun, and then he pulled the trigger.

Don’t show him you’re afraid…

As Vic leaned back and tried to block the light with his bangs, his headache having taken over the back side of his head completely, he glanced over to where Henry had been sitting. The older boy was no longer there, but was coming down the driveway. Victor hadn’t seen him move, but judging by the stiff way he was walking, he still hadn’t quite recovered.

They’d all been sure Butch was going to actually hit Henry – none more than the target himself. But instead of Henry’s chest, it was the ground at his feet that exploded. Three shots, each one getting closer and closer to Henry’s boot, until one left a scuff mark, and a dark, dampness spread across Henry’s lap.

Victor watched Henry shuffle past them, heading towards his house. Victor started to walk towards him, but Henry just gave him a look, silently commanding Victor to stay put. He stood outside on his porch for a few moments, and then disappeared behind the front door. Victor did not follow, but he didn’t like it.

“Maybe he’s just getting some clean pants,” Belch said, his voice dropping into a whisper. “Look, when he comes back, let’s just go straight to ma’s house. My mom can take in my old clothes to fit him, and we can figure out the sleeping arrangements later, but the basement ain’t that cold right now. It ain’t the best solution, but there won’t be no fuckin’ crazies tryin’ to put holes in him neither.”

“Butch knows that trick now,” Vic said, crossing his arms. He rolled a rock around with the toe of his boot, thinking. “What if we just… kept driving? How long you think before we reach Canada?”

“I can’t leave my mom. I’m the only one she’s got,” he said. Vic turned around, closed his eyes, and pressed his forehead against Amy’s roof. All he needed was one good idea— “What the fuck?”

Victor looked up at his friend. Belch was slowly leaning away from Amy, his fists clenching. Vic spun around to see whatever it was, preparing to punch someone.

Henry was back on the porch, the screen door slamming shut behind him. He turned to face them, slow, stiff, like he was thinking. Vic’s eyes fixated on the red spots on Henry’s face, watching as they slowly ran down his face, becoming red streaks. As soon as Vic realized that it was blood decorating his boyfriend, the panic was immediate.

“Vic, no…”

He forgot Belch was even there as he moved towards Henry, a singular train of thought taking over the whole station: Henry’s hurt.

He was going to cup Henry’s face, push back his hair, and find out where the wounds were – find out how to fix them. Vic didn’t see the knife in Henry’s hand, at first. Belch did, but he might as well have been shouting at a wall, because Vic didn’t hear him over the sound of his own anger rising. Just as soon as he realized what Henry’s intentions were, it was already done. The blade moved left to right, leaving a red smile in its wake.

Victor felt nothing worse than the prick of a mosquito bite. It was the heat in his throat as he desperately tried to pull another breath through it that told him something was wrong.

Belch was screaming, but it was far away. Blood crept between Vic’s fingers as he tried to push it back in. He felt it moving through his throat, rushing to the newly created opening, trying to escape. It flew out of his mouth as he choked on it, speckling Henry’s face even worse than before.

Victor stepped away from Henry, landing on his hurt leg wrong. His knee buckled, and his ankle twisted. His headache was screaming when his skull collided with firm soil, but then numbed itself to nothing. Lying there face down in the warm grass, it occurred to Victor that he was dying, and it had been Henry that killed him.

It just didn’t feel real. His body was working a wonderful magic, trying to lull him to sleep. Everything felt dull, and dreamlike. Even Butch looked like some child’s nightmarish take on himself. His skin sallow and eyes sunken, looking more Frankenstein than police officer, with orange pom poms instead of buttons on his uniform. If Victor could’ve felt anything, he might’ve felt fear. But even that was lost.

“That Hank. Always did like putting his little sword in the throats of pretty boys. Just like his old man,” Butch said, his voice sounding off with its playful tone. He crept closer, moving in large, slow jerks. “I know what you think about me, you disgusting, dirty little thing. You tease and taunt, but you always run away. Now you can’t run, can you?”

He smiled a hideous grin, teeth as sharp as a shark’s beneath the layers of rot. Victor’s scream was as much blood as it was air. The Butchenstein would’ve lunged for him if Belch hadn’t hit the ground between them, Henry following after. Vic realized that he had to have tripped over Victor’s body, but he didn’t feel anything at all.

Henry threw a punch, and Belch caught it, and then twisted Henry’s wrist. Henry let out a feral cry, and brought his other hand down. There was an odd squelch – the same sound a cantaloupe made when being cut open. When his hand came back up, it was covered in blood, the glint of the knife barely visible beneath it. Henry was bringing his knife down again, and again, and again, but Victor could only hear it.

His eyes were fixed on Butch, who was leaning over him, pulling his hands away from his neck.

“Now it’s my turn to eat you, pretty boy.”

But the world had already turned a bright white for a few seconds, and then, it went black.