#robin and the 7 hoods imagine

[captainlordauditor]

thank u op i never want to hear anything about bruce wayne's diet ever again unless it's either a)his kosher diet or b)his absolutely insane 4000 calorie eating habits that make everyone not in the know wonder where the hell he puts it all and how he’s managed to keep in shape*

*except the people who buy into hollywood bullshit and think that because he’s built like a wrestler and not a bodybuilder he’s out of shape

I don’t think people realize the sheer amount of calories the batfam has to consume just to keep up with their daily activities. Top level athletes can burn 500-800 calories an hour while training (don’t think for a second Bruce doesn’t have these guys training a few hours daily), and then they’re also patrol several hours a night.

Meal time is probably less sitting nicely waiting to be served and more like sharks in the water after a bucket of chum has been thrown. It makes me laugh to imagine Duke’s first time at a family dinner reaching for bread roll only to be pulled back by Alfred for fear he’s going to lose a finger as the rest of them absolutely savage the food spread.

[unadulteratedsoulsweets]

A DC X DP IDEA #7 The Summons

Imagine dis…

It is always Danny being summoned by cultists, John Constantine, enemies…etc to the mortal plane that starts a beautiful meeting and adventure between the two fandoms. But what if Danny pulled an uno reverse this time, and shenanigans and misunderstandings ensue?

Danny is getting tired of all types of summoning around the Infinite realms, being King and immortal quickly gets boring after a few couple centuries. As well as the fact he is getting annoyed at the summoning that he kept getting himself into. The monologue is getting less creative and less creative by the day, he was sure that all villain monologues are either copyrighted or even ripped off from the same book and source, as they are either A. offering their world for his liking B. making him do something, or even C. kill a certain someone, and you wouldn’t believe the number of times he was summoned for the sole purpose of killing either Batman or Superman from the dubbed both liked and least liked dimension for Danny. Liked as they have real live aliens in that dimension as well so far begun the exciting one in this dimension, Least because the majority of the uncomfortable summoning's are from that dimension and the majority of the so-called heroes are either messing up the timeline which comes to the headache of both Danny and Clockwork as well kept jumping through the dimensions of their universe.

Today he sat on his throne with all of his eldritch glory when he felt that feeling of being summoned, now when being summoned is like a very annoying ring that you have on this phone on volume that kept on ringing until you answer it. Sighing at his current life, the number of times he summoned in that dimension to the point he can already feel and identify the same ringtone for that dimension. In a spur of a moment as well an ungodly amount of pettiness at that moment for all the times he has summoned as well the headache he and his mentor received he pulled an uno reverse on the heroes and prepared himself to get back at them.

…

Superman, Constantine, Batman, Red Hood, Nightwing, Red Robin, and Robin interfered with yet another cult dedicated to freeing the tyrant Pariah Dark. From what little information they have gathered through the relics and scrolls, Constantine stated that this Pariah Dark will make most of their world-ending fights look like a kid’s squabble due to the vast powers of the Pariah Dark stating that if he wishes though he can destroy this universe in a flick of his hand.

This cult, however, is on a large scale seeing that they were led in a wild goose chase while the other members prepare the runes, sigils, and sacrifices for the necessary ritual.

They managed to stop the cultists from killing their supposed sacrifices when the runes suddenly glowed green, blinding them completely.

The moment they gained consciousness they immediately knew that there is something wrong.

Looking around they noticed that they have been teleported to some sort of forest but looking up to determine the time of the day made them pause.

The sky is painted with endless toxic Lazarus green, and all of the heroes are now on high alert as they assess the situation. They either dimensioned hopped again or they have been dragged by the cultists and transported to wherever this Tyrant ruler is.

Constantine kept reassuring himself that it would be the former but the amount of death magic that flows through the air like oxygen made him think the worse.

Superman tried to fly upwards to have a better view around them but found out that he couldn’t use any of his powers.

As they were navigating this new and dangerous territory Batman kept grilling Constantine for information as every bit of information is now precious as they need to find their way home. Despite Batman drilling for any information that he knew, he knew nothing more other than the following facts.

Pariah Dark is a tyrant that ruled the Infinite realms. Using both fear and his unlimited power to control and dictate the Infinite Realms.

The Infinite Realms have also known as the Ghost zone, in all of the limitless universes and other histories. The Ghost Zone occurs at every feasible and non-feasible moment in time, which means that no matter where or when you are in the Ghost Zone, you are everywhere and every when because it all exists at the same time.

Without the Infinite Realms then there would be the end of their world and reality as they know it.

The residents here are told to be the most powerful ghosts in existence as Deadman could not even measure up to their strengths.

Suddenly the group heard a loud commotion and quickly hid by climbing up the trees for a better view.

There they see a group of large flaming black armored people that covered their entire body and face except for their glowing green eyes. Two of them caught their attention, the larger one has a purple flame surrounding his helmet, carrying a flaming sword as he rides a menacing black horse that has bat-like wings while the other one has a blue flame on top of his head pointing an electrified sword towards the cultists that were teleported differently from them.

From where they at, they were able to hear about the black armored knights that mortals are trespassing around the Infinite Realms. All of the cultists are now screaming and trying to fight off the knights that tried to restrain them, in the end, they were dragged and caged in a metal cage that is connected to a chariot of the skeleton of horses.

They were brought out of their stupor when they heard the continued screaming and begging’s of the cultist in a distant direction and when they heard a child’s giggle below them.

Looking down below them they saw a small child. The child could not be more than 6 with gravity-defying white hair, Lazarus green eyes wearing a simple white cuffed sleeve with brown pants and black shoes.

He pointed at them for being a mortal and looked at them with awe and proceeded to exaggerate the fact that mortals are in the Infinite Realms.

Nightwing being the friendliest face alongside Superman asked who and where they were. The child proceeded to introduce himself as Danny and tell them that they are in the Infinite Realms and that they are trespassing in the land of the dead, being without the High King’s order.

Danny kept gushing at the fact they are living heroes, as well as proceeded to act like a naïve child that will spill information with a few sweet words.

The kid kept asking Nightwing what it’s like to be alive and to eat food that doesn’t attack you.

Of course, that made the heroes grimace seeing that they were reminded that they were in fact in the land of the dead.

Danny next floated towards Superman and excitedly asked about his culture and language as a Kryptonian alien race.

As the ghost child kept asking Superman some questions nobody saw Constantine pale at the moment, they saw the child. As a dark magical user, he can sense the amount of death magic towards a thing or someone. The moment the child appeared in front of them the man Constantine tried to calm his nerves down seeing the abundant concentrated death magic that clings to the child like some parasite.

Batman tried to ask more relevant questions but Danny flew towards Red Hood and Robin exclaiming that they need a doctor, putting on a frown on his face. Batman’s questions kept growing when they heard a siren that seems to echo throughout the realms and the only thing the kid, Danny, said Oh no.

Looking in the direction where Danny looked, they saw a large army of flaming flying horses with black armored knights each of which look like a black sword as the largest one that they have seen before leads them towards their direction the moment they locked eyes on them.

Without thinking of the consequence Red Hood picked up the dead child and proceeded to retreat alongside the rest of the Bat clan, Superman and Constantine.

…

Danny was enjoying this, the soul-whore man was just a bonus. The fact that he owns this poor man’s soul just out of pettiness for tripling the amount of his paperwork for selling his soul to different deities. Once he dies, he is going to embarrass this man to the point he wished he was in hell.

His plan was simple, make them scared at the act of the High King being mad at them. Make them see the horrors of the Infinite Realms and send them home, simple right?

He was about to give them one last scare when he heard an alarm that blared throughout the realms. He just knew that Fright Knight had just pulled the alarm. For the spirit of Halloween, he is serious and zealous about his job. The fact he had forgotten to write a note might be on him.

He was just about to turn around when Red Hood picked him up and carried him like a sack of potatoes. Now in any political sense Red Hood is committing treason, he kept trying to wiggle out of the man’s arms, unable to phase out due to the man’s nature as one of his subjects.

He may be petty but he didn’t mean on making them commit treason, he can do that on his own to piss off the Observants, thank you very much.

Now Danny is panicking about how this prank had railed off course due to his luck.

…

The team of super mortals is now running away from the army approaching them. Using the forest where they have landed to conceal themselves as they think of a way to escape the army of the dead.

Suddenly a green swirling portal opened in front of them, they were about to change direction but Constantine exclaimed loudly that, that portal is the same one that brought them here. So, by that logic that portal will lead them back to their universe.

When they returned to the dark warehouse before they were transported only then they noticed the extra baggage that Red Hood may have brought with him. In fear, Constantine asked why would he bring a ghost child who has extremely protective ghost parents that will hunt them down the moment they realize that he is gone.

Jason argued that ever since Danny appeared the pits quieted down to the moment the ghost child appeared as if he was never been dunked on the Lazarus pits.

As they were arguing Red Robin noticed Danny that he looked worried and kept looking around as if to look for another portal.

…

Newsflash, he was looking for a way to escape the heroes undetected to create his portal.

…

Red Robin was about to ask what was bothering him when all of the heroes present suddenly saw a green outline of a crown and a cape coming from Danny.

Danny asked nervously why were they looking at him funny.

Constantine dropped his cigarette and paled several shades whiter in fear, to the point he was paper.

Batman is now on the verge of a breakdown as well. In a span of a few minutes, they traveled to the land of the dead and saw some ghostly knights and children, and Jason adopting strays in his way. Apparently in the argument the two have and the action, Jason had done in a matter of minutes, his son Jason decided to adopt a ghost child which in return Constantine replied that it is not possible seeing that ghost children in general have protective parents that may hunt us down now that ghost child has a highlight and outline of a crown and cape.

Seeing his look and reaction of Constantine when looked at Danny due to the green highlight outline, Batman demands Constantine's answers as to why and what could be worse news other than Danny’s ghostly parents hunting them down for unintentionally kidnapping their child.

Constantine replied in a small and shaky voice that they didn’t just kidnap an ordinary ghost child, they kidnapped the Crowned Prince of the Infinite Realms.

…

Danny was sure that the cat is out of the bag, but when the sad trench coat man whispered Crowned Prince instead of High King. He can turn this whole situation turn around in his favor, now if only the spandex-wearing men stop harassing him on his so-called “Father-King.”

…

PS: If someone out there wants to continue or make a fic about this you are free to do so don’t forget to tag me though.

[qcomicsy]

being a Gothamite must be so stressful imagine finishing your shift at 7-Eleven and then just stumble over Red Robin and Red Hood fist fighting on an empty parking lot

[katyawriteswhump]

moonlight and lace

For @steddieangstyaugust day 7 prompt, Moonlight. (Originally, it was for day 6, ‘who did this’ but then moonlight took over somehow, which gave me more time, too!)

Rating: M WC: 1880 Content warnings: kidnap, captivity, abuse, severe trauma, non-explicit horror and torture, unwanted touching, victim self-blaming, all dead dove, so yeah, I mean it, sorry! Tags: extreme angst with eventual hurt/comfort. No Upside Down AU.

Summary: That last night with Eddie, Steve did literally everything wrong… and then he went and got kidnapped and clings to fraying dreams of putting things right.

 …

Steve watched the strip of moonlight creep slowly across the cellar. With his thumb, he fretted his bloodstained lace cuff, freeing it from where it caught beneath his manacles.

Night time. Moonlight. A lump clogged Steve’s throat.

The moon had shone that last time he’d seen Eddie—not imagined, nor hallucinated, but properly laid eyes on his boyfriend, Eddie Munson. He and Eddie had kissed, and Steve had been in a rush. Crap, he’d been in a shitty mood, and he’d taken Eddie’s smoochy sweetness for granted.

Not anymore.

He’d relived each moment of that parting a thousand times over. Eddie had wound his arms around Steve’s neck and rubbed his face in Steve’s hair. “I could get high on you, Babe. Even without inhaling a lungful of Farrah Fawcett.” 

Steve had wriggled free, and their last kiss had been rushed. He’d been cranky, tired, in a hurry to get home.

Now, Steve sniffled and shifted his aching bones. His chains didn’t allow him to lie flat, or even sit comfortably on the concrete floor. He’d literally trade his wretched life to press his clammy brow to a dry pillow. Or to snuggle beneath a warm blanket that would cut out the biting cold. Or to go back to that fateful evening with Eddie, and…

…not toss his entire world into a dumpster.

Because, somehow, this was Steve’s fault, right?

Scoops had been quiet the final hour of that final day, with only one or two lone customers. Robin had disappeared round the back of the store with Vickie, and Steve had gotten all intense with Eddie in a booth. His words had haunted him for… Shit, he didn’t know how long he’d been a prisoner here. He’d not scratched the days on the walls, like Dustin or anybody who wasn’t a braindead idiot would’ve done.

He’d just slowly lost count.

“It’s not that I don’t wanna be with you, Eddie,” he’d said, back in that booth, idly picking the fudge topping from their shared sundae. “It’s only that… Look, I always dreamed about a wedding and then family, and I just can’t wrap my head around how that’s gonna work with us. I mean, I know I’m only nineteen and all, but if we’re gonna foster or adopt, we have to think about this adult shit. And, seriously, I want a proper wedding, which isn’t even legal! Could be one day, though, and Robin says we need to make a stand about these things, so we gotta think about costume and—”

“Sssssh.” Eddie had pressed his fingertips to Steve’s lips. “We’ll make it work, Babe.”

Steve scowled, and Eddie’s warm touch slipped away. “You gonna give me more bullshit about marriage being a crypto-fascist institution?"

“Nope.” Eddie leaned closer and said, in a barely audible whisper, ���That dude in the next booth is listening.”

Steve flicked his hair from his eyes, surreptitiously peeped. He couldn’t even see the accused guy’s face beneath his hooded top. “You’re the one who says we should be out and proud,” bitched Steve. “Why be a wuss about it now? Jesus!”

“It’s not that, Honey. He keeps staring at you, and I’ve seen him here before. He’s giving me the creeps.”

“Woah. Jealous?”

“Always. But I’m being serious for once.” 

After that, Eddie had wanted to walk Steve back to his car. Of course, Steve had refused: “Like I need the Prince of Geek to defend my honor.”

They’d parted near the delivery entrance of Starcourt, and Eddie had walked away to his van. Steve had hurried toward his BMW alone, across the moonlit employee parking lot.

He’d been here, in this cellar, ever since. Long enough to understand that a future with Eddie would always have been beautiful. Might even have been that Winnebago and six little nuggets, and instead…

…there’d been that sickening crack across the back of his head and then nothing. Then worse than nothing.

In his prison, a flash of daylight between the broken shutters usually woke Steve. He’d often be ripped from a fevered dream about Eddie. He dreamed about his other friends, too, but it was always Eddie who he imagined coming to free him.

And when that too-bright light stirred him? His heart would thump like it was gonna burst through his ribcage and he’d blink the mists from his eyes.

For a magical heartbeat, Eddie would still be there, rushing toward him, arms open, eyes wide with forgiveness. Always forgiveness, because Steve craved that most of all.

“Who did this?” Eddie would ask, taking Steve’s face in his hands.

I did? I deserved it, Eddie, I…

Eddie would crumble to dust. The masked figure looming in Eddie’s place would grab Steve bodily, partially unchaining him, then hauling and twisting and shoving him toward the bucket and then… and then…

Some days, they’d strip that disgusting lacey wedding dress from him, sponge him down with ice-cold water, dress him again. Like he was a doll. Bending and manipulating him, the sicko would arrange Steve however he chose, because Steve was too weak to struggle. He was a ragdoll.

Steve had gotten good at shutting his mind down to the touching. He’d learned that skill fast—even in the early days, when they’d kept him in his Scoops uniform, and when he’d still tried to fight back. 

Which never went well. 

His movements were sluggish—he figured he’d been drugged, though his head hadn’t been right since they’d brained him behind Starcourt. Also in those early times, when he’d realized screaming meant more pain, he used to suck on that dumbass red neckerchief from his Scoops uniform. Recently, in the wedding dress, he’d battle to get to that grubby lace cuff, so he could bite and tear and chew.

That was his mornings. He was okay at night, though. Always left alone.

Until everything changed.

Steve heard shouting and thumping, the petrifying ratter-tat of gunshots, and then his own desperate cry, frail and distant. Then he froze completely, ragged nails gouging through the lace and into his palm. This was not the routine. Eddie was here and his face was eerily underlit by torchlight, rather than marbled by the moon, and it was wrong, all wrong, and…

…it’s not Eddie. It’s never Eddie. It’s HIM.

Steve attempted to curl into a ball, chains clinking, teeth grinding as he braced for… what? A gentle touch on his shoulder had his lungs jamming up.

“Hey, Steve? You with me?” The rumbling voice was distantly familiar. The smell… male and sweaty… different to that putrid musk he’d choked on too many times. “It’s me, Chief Hopper. You’re safe now, okay? We caught the crazy son-of-a-bitch, and we’re gonna get you out of here. You with me? You understand?”

Steve peeped up. Then screwed his eyes tightly shut. “Dream,” he whispered. The furnace-like heat of the other man’s body made him shiver violently.

“No, kid. I’m really here. You’re gonna be okay now.” Then, in an ear-splitting yell: “Hey? HEY! Where are those goddamn bolt-cutters? This kid is not in good shape.”

In the hospital, Steve fiddled with the IV drip then the bracelet they lopped about this wrist. He missed the tattered lace and he had to focus on something. Looking up into people’s faces was more than he could handle.

His friends were freaked by him. From the tail of his eye, he watched his parents gawking at him, like he was a china doll. Still a fucking doll. His mom squeezed his hand and it hurt way worse than it should. He bit his sore lip that, even now, refused to heal.

Eventually, he snatched a sharp inbreath, and glanced up at Robin. Her squeak reminded him of that cellar rat that’d bit his foot once. Drawing on every last ounce of his strength, he tried again and this time held her terror-struck gaze.

“Steve, um, sorry. It’s just this is the first you’ve looked at—" 

“How long since they brought me here?”

“Uh… lemme think. Eight days?”

She’d turned ghostly white beneath her freckles. His heart heaved a dull thud. “Why hasn’t Eddie come to see me?”

“He has, Steve. He visits every day. They stopped letting him in. When you see him… I dunno, he triggers something bad. You totally flake out.”

“Oh.” What more was there to say? Other than, “Can you say sorry for me?”

“What for?”

“I… I honestly can’t remember, apart from... Oh God, please, Robin. You gotta help me. I need to see him.”

The next thing he knew, he’d flung his arms around her, and he was sobbing into her chest. She hugged back, rubbing juddering circles on his back. He didn’t remember the last time he cried. Then again, his memory had more holes in it than… a frayed lace cuff.

It felt like a century between when she left and when she came back. She held his hand loosely and said, “Eddie’s here, Steve. He’s real, I promise. It’s all real and you’re gonna get through this, and you’re gonna be okay.”

“Liar.” Steve smirked, then his mouth dropped open and turned dry. Eddie stood not two yards off, clutching the doorframe.

“Stevie, listen—I’ll never forgive myself for not walking you back to your car.”

“Seriously?” Steve shrank from Eddie’s tragedy-filled eyes. Panic jostled from every angle, especially as Robin released his hand and backed away. “Well... I guess it would’ve been cool to have some company in that basement.”

“Honey, how can you joke—”

“Gotta do something.” Steve fiddled with his wristband. He sensed Eddie edging closer.

Don’t lose your shit, Harrington. Say what you have to say. You thought about it long enough.

“Look, Eddie, I’m sorry. I’m really fucking sorry I was a bitch that night. I’m still up for kids, if I’m not too broken to be a parent, though you’re in luck on one thing. There’s no goddamn way I’m ever getting dressed up for a wedding.”

“I can’t laugh at that either,” said Eddie, “you’re sick, Baby.”

“Hah! No shit.”

Eddie enfolded Steve in his arms. He whispered that there was nothing to forgive. He’d known Steve was beat that night and had never been mad about it, even before Steve had been snatched. Anyhow, Eddie had apparently been dead cranky the day before it all happened, although Steve remembered nothing of that, and…

Steve tuned out. It was all too much. Thank Christ he hasn’t taken my face in his hands.

He pressed his cheek to Eddie’s shoulder, revelled in that fluffy hair, breathed deep of the scent of Eddie. Tobacco… A touch of cherry twizzlers? Really, truly, Eddie. The lights seemed to dim, and he watched the moonlight trickle through the hospital blinds.

Moonlight. Oh shit.

“This is real,” murmured Steve. “Right?”

...

(it is real, he really got rescued, okay? Unless you reeeeally wanted the angsty horror ending, but I say he escaped...)

Thanks for reading!

All my ST stuff on AO3

[thesummerstorms]

Okay, so Annabeth would know the identity of Batman and Nightwing because they gave up hiding it from her at some point. They attribute her scary intelligence to Bruce, though, not Athena. She knew who the second Robin was, but ran away after Jason died.

She was probably be able to piece together the identities of most of the BatFam who followed because she had that initial context and could watch the gossip magazines to see who was now associated with Bruce Wayne. Not super difficult even without being an Athena kid.

BUT.

Red Hood would not be anywhere on her radar because she did not know about the Lazarus Pits at age 7 and for demigods death tends to be a lot more permanent than for Super Heroes. The two exceptions she knows about were such unique scenarios she doesn't think they could be replicated. The majority of her friends and siblings stay dead .

So Annabeth spends a decade thinking Jason Todd is dead and Jason spends about as long thinking Anna Wayne is dead.

And now I have this scenario in my head where Jason and Annabeth reunite but no one thought to TELL her Jason was alive because it's such a given for them now. So Annabeth is clinging/hugging/sobbing (and Jason is honestly hugging and clinging back, because again, she has been frozen in his perception as his dead seven year old sister).

But while they're having that dramatic moment, Tim and Dick are in the background like "shit.... Now someone has to tell her that her beloved big brother is Red Hood. The guy who murdered a bunch of people. The guy with the duffle bag with the heads."

I don't think that's my canon scene for this scenario, but man, when I imagine them going pale with that realization I just cackle.

[radio-ronpa]

Disney I want songs for each V3 character, go!

I got this a few days ago and I've been ruminating on it. I think I've finally settled on them? Plus notes on why I picked that song.

Here's the rules: Has to be from an official Disney Animated Classic (no Pixar, live action, or straight to vid sequels). Must occur within the run time of animation (no songs that only appear in the credits, ala True to Your Heart from Mulan). Only one song can be used from a particular film.

Let's fucking goooooo.

1. Angie Yonaga - Give a Little Whistle (Pinocchio)

Have you ever seen Jiminy Cricket and Atua in the same place? Think about it.

2. Gonta Gokuhara - The Bare Necessities (The Jungle Book)

Optimistic, joyous, and appreciative of all of life's moments, even if they are very small.

3. Himiko Yumeno - The Next Right Thing (Frozen 2)

If there was a DRV3 stage musical, this would be the number she does at the end of Trial 3. It's literally perfect.

4. Kaede Akamatsu - Good Company (Oliver and Company)

The scene with this song in the movie is literally a piano lesson, and it's about being friends and having faith in that. How could I not?

5. Kaito Momota - Go the Distance (Hercules)

Oh, I want to be a hero because I feel like I don't belong anywhere and I want to be strong enough to give my friends good hugs? Herc and Kaito are both beautiful himbos.

6. Kiibo - Strangers Like Me (Tarzan)

I mean, Keebs is real Pinocchio sometimes, but I started crying imagining him to this song. He's so earnest and I love that for him.

7. Kirumi Tojo - Very Good Advice (Alice in Wonderland)

Classic, underappreciated, and sad as fuck.

8. Kokichi Ouma - The World's Greatest Criminal Mind (The Great Mouse Detective)

Look, this song is just fun and chaotic and delighted by its own mischief. There's so many ways you can go with Kokichi, but I had to pick this one for sheer giggles.

9. Korekiyo Shinguji - Never Smile at a Crocodile (Peter Pan)

JUST READ THE FUCKING LYRICS.

10. Maki Harukawa - Reflection (Mulan)

It's cliche. It's also true.

11. Miu Iruma - The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers (The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh)

Kind of unhinged and still somehow endearing. Miu Iruma is bounchy flouncy fun fun fun fun fun.

12. Rantaro Amami - Thomas O'Malley Cat (The Aristocats)

The fucking swagger. The worldliness. The feet that can't stop moving. (Of course Rantaro is my favorite character. I adored that cat.)

13. Ryoma Hoshi - Not in Nottingham (Robin Hood)

For the love of god, somebody hug that man.

14. Shuichi Saihara - This Wish (Wish)

If The Next Right Thing is Trial 3 of the DRV3 Disney musical, This Wish is the end of Trial 6. This is Shuichi standing up and telling the villain that they're not going to give in to despair, honoring Kaede's wish with his own. Plus, it's a princess song. I gotta give the main protag the princess song.

15. Tenko Chabashira - Surface Pressure (Encanto)

Tenko doesn't have a complex about being strong and defending people, what gave you that idea?

16. Tsumugi Shirogane - Mad Madam Mim (The Sword in the Stone)

Using your powers of shapeshifting to delight in causing despair and gloom? Can't relate.

This was a wild three hours of research and spreadsheets, and it was delightful fun to do.

Thanks, anon.

[sidecharactersdomatter]

Thoughts I had during TGCF S2 Ep 7

One more half left to go!

Previously on TGCF…

-He’s squeezing his fist tight 

-Honey, the reason he’s not demanding requital cause he knows you never meant to cut him with E Ming

-What’s wrong is both man and sword are still upset for that mistake

-E Ming: No let him pet me!

Hua Cheng: Leave it!  It’s fine

E Ming: No I’m not! *sobs more*

-*Hua Cheng smacks E Ming*

E Ming: OWWWIIIEE!

-Hey that’s sentient mystical weapon abuse! I’m filing!

-Hua Cheng:Because it’s always crying!

E Ming: Because you don’t want to be vulnerable in front of him!

Hua Cheng: Useless

E Ming: NO I’M NOT!  

-See, there’s the sensory overload I was talking about to me that would be pain in your ears

-He still has the dice!

-That explains a lot

-“Hello Again” HAAAAAAAAAH

-“Oh come on Hua Cheng, teleport into Heaven.  *Tosses out soggy carrot* Sweep him off his feet, carry him off in style.” - Little John, Robin Hood (1973)

-And then the brain cell starts getting tossed around like a volleyball

-Well you know as they say, Heaven’s got a lotta stuff, a pair of dice ain’t one of them.  Also, pair of dice = Paradise, props.

-It’s the transmutation technique from the Fullmetal Alchemist series

-And then Feng Xin literally just went, ‘YOINK!’

-It’s a four!

-In they go

-There go the eardrums

-Could’ve told ‘em that earlier Qingxuan

-And four is the Chinese number for ‘Death’

-When you accidentally stumble into the opposite gender’s gym locker in junior to high during a tournament

-Not in the sauna!

-Try a badger mole’s tunnel

-Still could’ve told ‘em that earlier

-Now Mu Qing rolled a four

-That hair flip Mu Qing just did

-What are you doin in my swamp?!

-Gator boys!

-That lizard just blasted off

-Hadouken

-They’re just tossing swamp water at each other, that’s mature

-And even the gator people got scared

-Literally all the junior officials sneaking into the telepathic matrix:  FIGHT!  FIGHT!  FIGHT!  FIGHT

-Also:

NAN YANG!  NAN YANG!  NAN YANG!

XUAN ZHEN!  XUAN ZHEN!  XUAN ZHEN!

-And every other official just started another betting pool

-Qingxuan’s the only sane god in this pickle

-Just imagine the Gaang rolling the dice

-Yeah that’s pretty

-A water droplet

-Hey no interrupting!

-The same dark sword

-He does

-His huge ass goddang sword

-Round 2!

-A sword fight that could have the energy of Sokka vs. Piandao

-Hua Cheng gasped!

-The wind

-“Forget the forgotten” what Jun Wu told him in Ep 1

-His eyes glowed

-Ruoye just evilly grinned

-A.  Yeah I was wrong on the fight comparison with the sword duel in Atla book 3

B.  THAT’S IT!!!

-He spared your life be grateful 

-“All’s fair in love and war.”  Was that one of Sun Tzu’s teachings?

-Like the Crimson Rain Sought Flower

-“The perfect being you crafted in your mind is only just that.”  Well that’s a good lesson because in reality nobody’s actually perfect.

-“I never was that person.  Believing I was will only disappoint you.” That last sentence is also great advice for how we revere certain famous people.

-That old conflict and prejudice

-Scapegoats are never good

-Thank you Mengyou

-Another genocide prevented

-Mengyou wants to move forward instead of staying in the past

-It’s official, Mengyou is the MVP of Season 2

-Power is also knowledge aside from duty.

-He smiled as Fang Xin

-Thank you Fang Xin and Mengyou

-He was a good ruler

-He lied!

-Why did he kill the previous king and queen of Yong’An

-Literally any of my TGCF OCs witnessing Xie Lian laughing and then crying: Is he ok?

Also I heard about Xie Lian being indecisive on laughing or crying and another TGCF OC will be like: Laugh or Cry?  Just pick one!

-Hua Cheng knows he is not ok

-It’s like a Matryoshka doll and a punching dummy had a small ancient Chinese uptight baby

-That 3D dice toss and teleportation

-A cave

-He took his sword

-There’s no where to hide

-The orcs from Tolkien’s fantasy novels

-He doesn’t have the will to fight

-Smurfs

-Ghost disguise Hua Cheng and Xie Lian are instant sketching inspiration!

-They look awesome!

-Qi Rong mention

-In other words, Qi Rong sticks a blue candle on all his ghost goons and calls it a day

-Dumb as a sack of stones

-He’s got fangs!

-Who’s he gonna meet?

5 episodes left! 2 more acts left in chapter 1 of The Scrap Immortal and the Avatar

[they-reap-what-we-sow]

20 questions for writers

thank you for the tag @fanfictiongreenirises I finally managed to finish a tag game!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

168- with 44 podfics and the rest are regular fics!

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

346,848. unfathomable number who is she where did she come from

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Batman (Batfam) my love my life, but 9-1-1 is a close second with one-offs for a lot of my other passing interests.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Floppy Bird - crack fic that was meant to be an angst fic that I never understood why people liked so much asfhjs

cocoa on a cold night - a classic timby holiday fic that I wrote in the middle of summer, talk about environmental storytelling

secrets un(revealed) - the only purposeful long fic I've ever written, and also the most trope mashing I've ever done with reverse robins, magical realism au, and delicious delicious miscommunications (in my head the only fic that deserves to be in the top five :wheeze: )

Eggshells - vent fic alert !! very embarrassing that people like this I try not to think about it ":)

taking the blade (for you and yours) - a round robin fic written with the server and CHOCK full of Damian suffering.

5. Do you respond to comments?

NO PICTURES. NO COMMENT. I DONT KNOW HOW TO READ.

no jk jk I really really try to but once I start getting behind it's just a whole spiral. these days I have a better chance of replying to a comment on an old fic than a brand new one because I dont want leave them half replied

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

any of my death fics probably? I think with DC a death is a little more inconsequential than other fandoms just because of how often it's unpermanent, so as a concrete answer, I'll say for you (i would cross the line). nothing quite like parental grief.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

happy ending wink-wonk or XD

probably Who The Hell Is Red Hood? - I've done things there with growth and healing that DC HQ would shudder to imagine

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not regularly, thank everything, but the one controversial three-some I posted needed comment regulation lmao

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes and uh, the kinky kind? idk take a look for yourselves I guess

10. Do you write crossovers?

Yes, and they're ALWAYS unserious- Buck from 9-1-1 dating Emma from Friends (yes Ross and Rachel's kid) anyone?

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Uh, not by a person? as far as I know? but I have found my fic on those like, document websites??? which is weird lmao just read them on your phones guys not everything needs to be uploaded

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

nope!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

weee yes! round robin my beloved, and also every fic @canonicallyshort and I have written in our threads. those count. to me. emotionally.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

I WILL GO DOWN WITH MY MULTISHIP (which really means I'm never going down at all) but really I dont think I will ever get over Merthur... or Buddie... or- you see what I mean?

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

oh god I have so many wip that I am holding out hope for but my biggest WIP is an unpublished hellhole affectionately entitled "Death Pit" by everyone who is working on it- most notably because it features a literal Death Pit, every horror, angst, whump, and trauma trope you can think of, and a cast of characters and a plot thread so long we have 20+ page outline documents that aren't even fully updated... I shudder to think what will become of it one day, I imagine sentience isn't very far off

16. What are your writing strengths?

why is this an interview question. I dont know my strengths really?? um. I have good ideas, that one I'll say. execution is a different story (likely one that will never get told. like the rest of my good ideas)

I also think I do fairly well with scene descriptors. I really like to set a scene because I'm seeing a movie in my head and you all should too!

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I'm down to clown globally! I dont like to use google translate though, so if im writing in another language it's only because SOMEONE on the server is a native speaker and can vouch for my text.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

oh god one direction. head in hands. it was an 'adopted by 1d' fic that I made my mom beta, and turned it in to my 6th grade English teacher as my creative writing assignment. then I made a poem about it. then I wrote a song about it. thankfully it never got published and is trapped in the cursed purple file folder it was 'hidden' in since 7th grade. my first published fic was almost 7 years later with a Gomens fic!

20. Favourite fic you've written?

AHh um. favorite child scene here, but top contenders include: lithium + 5 for its graphic design and medical accuracy, fiery veins on speechless days for its emotional whump that makes me hurt every time I reread it, [PODFIC] wither on the shore which is not a fic I wrote but one of my favorite podfics of @silk-scarlet-ribbons 's works.

tagging (if you wish to participate!) @canonicallyshort @silverandsunflowers @selkienight60 @crows-murder

[ragnarokhound]

>:3

just saying Icarus au would be too easy for this rn

uhhm

JayTim fire water personalities, clashing, hurting each other, fitting together as opposites

still not really an au hmmm

just gonna keep throwing ideas here

ohh wanna see a mermaid au in your style

or one of those free willy mermaid aus

deaging 🤔 of one character and the other gotta take care of them

bound by magic (in what way? who knows)

take ur pick

For the ask game!

AUGH ABYSS HOW DO I CHOOSE

But omg mermaids is so fun... It is one of my all time favorite self-indulgent urban fantasy aus haha, I still want to finish my teen wolf mermaid fic... Someday...

Mermaid aus are so good for the yearning. The secret keeping of it all, the 'we're from different worlds and idk how it will work unless one of us makes a sacrifice' of it all. And I kind of sort of already played this trope straight with the selkie fic I wrote for jaytim week this year, haha (selkies aren't technically the same as mermaids, but there's a big overlap there lol)

But I also like that the existence of Aquaman in DC lets you flip that trope on its head while still complying with canon! There totally could be real life mermaids in DC because low-key there already are lmao

This isn't quite what you asked for, but in that vein:

please entertain with me Atlantean!Tim who admires the Bats from afar. Most of my exposure to Atlantis/Aqualad is via the Young Justice cartoon (the glow up between the first seasons and the later seasons is still insane to me lol) so please imagine Tim found out about Robin when YJ made an appearance in Atlantis, or Tim got himself on the same track as, say, Lagoon Boy and hopes to join one day. He has the biggest crush on Jason Todd and Jason doesn't even know he exists

There are two vastly different directions I am torn between from here, but the funnier one is: Tim basically follows Jason home to Gotham. Cue Gotham getting a new harbor cryptid that's just an Atlantean with a crush and a very robust immune system lmao

Tim gets horribly sick for the first week or two (he's not keeping track) while his system reacts to the bullshit that is Gotham Bay - but he is determined to stick it out. Naturally, he gets found by a bat while he's shivering near the docks one day, following up on rumors about the kid from the black lagoon who keeps dodging harbor security. Bonus points if it's Babs, and she agrees not to tell Batman and Robin, at least until Tim is healthy. Bonus bonus points if it's not a bat who finds him, but Catwoman :^) (Fishy-fishy, I wouldn't let a goldfish swim around in this water, where are your parents, you're coming home with me--)

Meet-cute between Jaybin and Harbor Cryptid Tim involves a smuggling operation that Jason's been tracking. During the sting, he gets in over his head, ends up in the harbor, and Tim saves him from drowning

Jason knows Bruce hates it when Supers and other capes come to Gotham. He knows who Aquaman is. Ergo, he has to keep Tim a secret from Bruce. Cue sneaking around and hiding from Batman and all kinds of teenage dating tropes and shenanigans. Tim blushes 24/7 because, omg he's hanging out with his crush and he isn't freaked out by the whole Atlantean thing and he's helping Robin wow; meanwhile Jason is fascinated by Tim, exhilarated to have a secret from Bruce, and wondering more and more what it would be like to hold Tim's hand.

(Bonus: When Bruce finds out about Tim, the first thing he does is tattle on him to Aquaman. Follow those dominoes down to Tim being an Aqualad equivalent on the Young Justice team a few years down the road. OwO When they find Red Hood with the League of Assassins, Tim is right there with Dick trying to get him back.)

When I started writing this out, I did not intend for this to become cute baby jaytim with an atlantean twist, but that's where it ended up going haha

[maccreadysbaby]

A Hundred Ways to Become a Wayne

batfamily + oc insert

tw: gore

wanna read more? here’s the table of contents!

want to read the first fic in the hundred days series so you understand what’s going on here? here it is!

I’m so hyped you guys I’m so hyped

part forty-one

❝ ROBIN (BY FORCE OF WILL?) ❞

SATURDAY — SEPTEMBER 12 — 7:01 PM

“WE DON’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING,” Was the first thing Batman said.

“But-“

“No buts,” Bruce ordered, completing his suit by clipping on the gauntlets. “You are staying right here in the Manor with Alfred. We’re going to do everything we can to ensure the safety of your friend, but I have to make sure you’re safe, too.”

Bentley deflated like a balloon. “But I have superpowers now. I’ll be useful!”

“You can be useful to Alfred here,” He replied. He had more of his Batman voice on than his Bruce voice, which made it… slightly harder to argue with him, if Bentley were being honest.

“Please, Bruce, this is what I’ve been waiting for! To prove that I-“

“You have nothing to prove, Bentley. You belong here,”

Bentley groaned dramatically. “But it’s just Asten! What if he won’t talk to you?”

“He’ll talk to Jason,”

“He’s mad at Jason,”

“Bentley, I’m sorry, but you’re not going. And that’s my final answer,” Bruce ordered, and Bentley quieted, looking down at the floor with a quiet sigh. Not a second later, Batman’s glove was resting on the side of his head. “I love you.”

Bentley looked up at him, and despite not being able to see his eyes through the lenses of the cowl, he could imagine the famous Bruce Wayne glint they had in them. 

“I love you, too,” He replied, looking down at his ratty red tennis shoes next to Batman’s boots. “Be careful.”

Bruce moved quickly. He, Dick, Tim, Duke, Jason, and Damian were all ready in a flash, Batman and Robin taking the Batmobile while the others readied motorcycles. Bentley and Nico sort of just stood off to the side and watched the chaos unfold. Alfred had come downstairs and taken over the Batcomputer, which now had a map of Gotham with all the vigilantes’ trackers displayed. The cave was superhero free in minutes.

“I think I’m having a brain aneurysm,” Nico muttered, shaking his head side to side. “I’m in Batman’s secret lair, where Batman was getting ready to go fight my best friend, and before he left he told my other best friend that he loves him. Batman told you he loves you!”

Somehow, Bentley found it in himself to snicker, glancing over at the blonde with an amused look on his face. “He’s my legal guardian.”

“My life feels like a tv show,” Nico pulled his phone out and glanced down at it, exclaiming suddenly: “And… my parents are blowing me up, saying they’re coming to get me. Better not keep them waiting! Thank you for having me, Bentley. Mr. Pennyworth.”

“Anytime, Nico,” Alfred called from his station, a bit preoccupied by his duties.

Nico then began back up the stairs toward the manor, and Bentley followed him all the way. 

“I thought your parents were out of town?” Bentley questioned, trying his best to recall the reason Nico had come over in the first place.

The blonde said nothing. 

“Your parents aren’t coming, are they?”

Nico sighed heavily, his blonde hair bouncing as he ascended the staircase. “Asten’s my best friend, and Batman isn’t my dad. Sorry, dude.”

“Seriously? You’re just going to leave me here?” Bentley grumbled as they came out of the grandfather clock in Bruce’s office. “I thought you’d be terrified of something like this.”

“Oh, trust me, I am. But Asten has been my best friend for years, and if he won’t listen to the Red Hood, someone needs to be there just in case. I’ll be fine. No need to worry about me,”

“You’re running… flying into a warzone,” Bentley stated flatly. Nico scrunched his face up.

“Yeah… but I prefer not to think about that and focus on the fact that I have awesome superpowers and my best friend’s dad is Batman,” He replied, walking through the Manor briskly, all the way to the front door. “I wonder if I can use my speed to fly super fast. Like double powers.”

Bentley huffed. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“Sorry, Bentley, but I’ve gotta run. I’m sure there’s something super important for you to do here. I’ll see you later,”

And with that, a gust of wind came, and Nico was gone in a flash. Bentley didn’t even see the front door open.

With a deep inhale and exhale, he returned to the cave. 

“I trust Nico’s parents were pleased to see him?” Alfred questioned as Bentley turned the corner, grabbing a rolling chair and dragging it to the Batcomputer.

“Oh, yeah. Thrilled,” He replied flatly, plopping down in the office chair. “Why won’t Bruce let me do anything? Damian was Robin when he was ten. Dick was Robin when he was nine! And they didn’t even have superpowers!”

“Those were both very different circumstances than your own, Master Bentley,” Alfred explained, typing on the Batcomputer and bringing his hand up to the earpiece that was in his right ear. “Three blocks to your left, sir,” He stated, then removed his hand. “Times were very different when Master Dick was Robin, and Master Bruce was very different. As for Master Damian, his former training and skill-set makes his role as a vigilante the most optimum outlet for him.”

Bentley exhaled, sliding down into the chair. “I feel useless.”

“That’s nonsense,” Alfred replied, his eyes flying across the screen at a pace Bentley could only dream of. “You’ve had a very important role in this family, even without the vigilante passtime. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them more harmonious than when you started living here.”

Bentley tapped his thumbs on the arms of the office chair. “Really?”

“Yes, my boy. Even with the occasional hiccups with Master Damian, I have to say, this is the most unified the Wayne household has been in a long time,”

Bentley said nothing. It did make sense, though… maybe Bruce just needed a (mostly) normal kid that wasn’t defying death every night? Maybe that could help him? With what, Bentley wasn’t sure. But the idea made sense in his head. Sort of.

“I have a question for you. What would you say makes Master Bruce, Master Bruce?” Alfred questioned, looking at Bentley for only a second with his eyebrows up. “Would you say the cowl and cape makes him Master Bruce? Or would you say his endless devotion to his children does? His astronomically large heart that makes him unable to avoid adopting any deserving child he comes in contact with? His willingness to do anything it takes to keep his family safe and secure?”

Bentley looked down at his own hands. “Um… the way he loves, I guess.”

Alfred nodded and hummed simultaneously. “Indeed. So, Master Bentley, what would you say makes you, you? Surely you’re not missing an identity simply because you’re not behind a domino mask.”

Bentley blinked a few times. “I… I don’t know.”

“Well, I’d say you’re very determined. Brave. Loyal,” Alfred continued, typing a few more strings of code. “Devoted to this family, similarly to Master Bruce. You have a big heart.”

Alfred brought his hand up to the earpiece in his ear. “Yes, sir, I’m looking into it now.”

Another tab came up on the Batcomputer, this one was the same view from the drone that Tim had been watching. It flew around until it focused on a… massive… floating ball of purple light, in the center of a rubble-filled street?

“I have my eye on it, sir,” Alfred continued, zooming in on the strange light. There were a few dials and charts on the right side of the screen that were fluctuating. “It’s putting out an entire nuclear power plant’s worth of energy.”

Bentley creased his brow, scooting a bit closer to the screen. “What is that?”

“I’m not sure, my boy,”

He watched it closely. It was sort of spinning and spitting and moving — like a star or the sun. There seemed to be a whirlpool of air around it that was blowing flame and debris around. Right in front of Bentley’s eyes, the purple things doubled in size, the center turned black, and someone began to step out of it.

Bentley had seen that before. When they fought The Void — when she’d sent Duke through a portal to Australia. 

Confirming Bentley’s suspicions. The Void in question stepped out of the portal first. She looked different from last time Bentley saw her. Her hair was purple now, a dark, royal purple that matched her glowing eyes. She was wearing an honest supervillain suit — a solid black, skin tight jumpsuit with neon purple lines at the seams, and massive, neon purple heeled boots that couldn’t be comfortable to do anything in. When she stepped out, she looked around at the destruction and smiled.

“It seems to be that Void we sent to Arkham, sir,” 

Bentley’s jaw unhinged slightly when lots of people started stepping out of the portal. The second was the Secret Keeper, in her full suit get-up with the yellow cape and bloody platinum hair. Next was Mandy Todryk, who’s hair was now a deep Raven black. She was wearing what looked like a black shirt and green tactical pants, and on her back sat massive, raven-black wings. Whole entire wings that looked straight off of a giant bird.

After her came a bunch of people — metahumans — Bentley had never seen, all with glowing eyes, multicolored hair, and strange suits. There had to be at least three dozen, and they all looked fairly young. Only a few looked to reach Dick’s age.

At the very back of the group were Davis and Titus. They had huge, bulky chains that synched around their necks and wrists, and these gnarly looking metal muzzles over their noses and mouths that kept them from speaking. They were both beaten to the high heavens, bleeding in various places and bruised all over, with the worst of it on their wrists and necks where the chains were being jerked on. Davis was still wearing his giant metal gloves, and Titus had what looked like metal cups over his hands that kept sparking with blue electricity. Did that keep him from teleporting away?

A strong wave of relief washed over Bentley when he saw that they were both alive. 

And something similar to rage came crashing immediately after. Why were they chained up?

“Babybird,”

Bentley turned when the Secret Keeper’s voice echoed through the cave, looking toward the locker room, the launch pad where the Batmobile usually sat. Nothing moved, and nothing looked out of place. Nothing at all.

“In the locker room,”

Bentley’s eyes flicked to the locker room door, and he saw the hem of a purple dress move just out of his sight.

“Charlie?”

“C’mon, Bentley,”

“What was that?” Alfred questioned, turning to look at Bentley, who blinked a few times.

“I’m… going to the bathroom,” He replied, rising from the office chair and heading toward the locker room.

“Alright…”

Bentley crept across the cave quietly, checking for anything out of the ordinary, but he couldn’t find anything. He inched into the locker room and peered around. Nothing out of the ordinary was in there, either — a few lockers, display cases with suits, the showers and bathrooms. It all looked… normal.

And then Bentley was in the white room of nothingness again.

Stunned, he blinked a few times to get used to the brightness. He’d never been taken into the white nothingness without being knocked out or asleep first. 

“Hello?” He questioned, spinning around. “Anyone?”

“Bentley,”

He whipped around, and flinched when Charlie was only inches from his face in her purple dress. She didn’t have the shackles or muzzle on anymore, but was free, aside from bruising left from the metal.

“Charlie,”

“You have to go,” She said, a downright urgent look crossing her features. “You have to go now.”

Bentley looked around at the white nothing. “What do you… you mean go fight?”

“Yes. Yes, I mean go fight. You’re the only one that can beat this,” She announced, and she grabbed onto his shoulders, shaking him a little. “They’re all going to die, Bentley.”

“Wha- who?”

“Everyone. I… the Secret Keeper, she can see the future, this is how they planned it…” Charlie ran her hands through her own hair, obviously stressed and obviously stressing Bentley out, too. “This is their plan. Your family is going to die at the hands of these metahumans. But I’ve seen the other outcomes, and you can stop it. But you have to leave now.”

Bentley breathed in, rubbing his eyes. “Are you sure?”

Charlie groaned. “Look!”

Smoke came — not the Secret Keeper’s black smoke, but more colorful smoke, moving slower, too — and swirled in the middle of the whiteness until there were figures all over the room. The closest ones to them were Robin and The Void, engaged in combat. Damian was better with a sword, and the Void was losing.

“This is the future you’re heading toward, if you don’t leave!”

Bentley watched as The Void, purple hair and all, summoned a portal right beneath Damian’s feet that sucked him in and disappeared. Then an identical one showed up in the sky, what had to be thousands of feet above her, and Damian fell out of it.

And kept falling.

And kept falling.

He fumbled for his grappling gun and shot it, but the end didn’t hook on anything.

And he kept falling and kept falling until he hit the ground with a sickening noise and a poof of smoke — smoke Charlie probably put there so Bentley wouldn’t have to see the aftermath.

“It’s all of them. Every single one,”

Behind where Damian had just fallen, Nightwing and a metahuman Bentley hadn’t seen before — a guy with half-white half-black hair — were fighting hand-to-hand near a massive pile of rubble. The metahuman guy shoved Dick into the debris, and with the flick of a hand, metal barbs from the pile moved and bent and snaked around his wrists like vines, pinning him there. Could that metahuman control metal, like a human magnet?

Tauntingly, the metahuman guy backed away and lifted his hand in the air, palm out. Then he smirked at Dick and made a fist.

Three huge shards of metal came out from the pile of debris straight through Dick, from his back all the way through his front, and Bentley looked away with a strangled noise.

That image dissipated into smoke, and behind that was Jason being held in the air by actual vines that were wrapped around his neck, choking him to death. He was fighting them, clawing and ripping at them with his hands, but they were too strong, too powerful. They didn’t stop squeezing until Red Hood went still.

That image faded away, and the next was Red Robin and the Secret Keeper. They were standing right across from each other, just looking, like some kind of standoff. It was fast — her eyes glowed, Tim’s ears and nose and eyes bled, and he hit the ground.

The last image in the line was Bruce. He was on his knees, his suit ripped up and destroyed, the cowl torn off of his head leaving his identity completely exposed. He was bleeding everywhere, from his nose to a gash on his torso, and the Secret Keeper was standing in front of him.

“You lost, Batman,” She crooned. She had a chain in her hand that led to Davis’s neck and wrists, and she kept tugging on it maniacally. “Let’s finish this with a bang, shall we?”

She jerked on Davis’s chain until he was right in front of her. “Please, Charlie, please, please, please, please.” He was begging, and Bentley was pretty sure he was crying, but it was hard to see past all the dirt and grime on his face.

Charlie unclipped one of his gloves and let it hit the ground with a clack, revealing a withered, black hand.

“You’re kids are all dead. You have nothing to live for. You’ve lost, Mr. Wayne,” She ordered, pulling tight on Davis’s chain when he began to fight, choking him. He reached his black hand toward her, but before he could touch her, he shouted in pain and hit the ground, on his knees in front of Bruce.

“Touch him,” The Secret Keeper ordered.

Davis’s eyes began to glow amber, and his arm began to move. It was shaking, trembling, actually, like he was using everything in him to fight the control she had over him. He was bawling his eyeballs out, now. “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry,”

Bruce did one of his reassuring smiles. “It’s okay, Davis.”

Davis touched a spot on Bruce’s arm where the suit was torn, where skin was showing. The light left his eyes.

Bentley was crying. When had that started? “Okay. Okay, I-I’ll go. Let me out of here!” 

On command, the white room disappeared, and he was back in the locker room with no one more than lockers and old super suits.

He took a few moments to gather his thoughts, take a few breaths, stop crying, and try to make a semblance of a plan. He was going. He was going into the destruction to help his family, to save them. He couldn’t just go out into a war-zone looking like Bentley, though, then everybody would know who he was, and in turn, could figure out who Batman was. Right? So he needed a disguise. Right? That made the most sense. That’s what Bruce did.

He glanced around the locker room. There were display cases with old suits in them, from some of Dick’s Nightwing suits all the way to the old Robin ones. One of the newer displays was the Robin suit Damian had just stopped using, when he switched from the red to the gray one Bruce had shown Bentley.

Being stupidly devoted to this family was starting to become a Bentley Whittaker trademark, wasn’t it?

He backed up and peered out the locker room door, back into the cave. They kept their earpieces for communication in a drawer at the Batcomputer, Bentley knew that much — he’d seen them get them out a bunch. Alfred was still typing and talking away, with several tabs pulled up on the massive screen.

He needed a suit, and he needed an earpiece so he could hear what was going on. And he also needed a means of escape, but that was something that he would get to at the right moment. Suit. Earpiece. Save the day. 

With a deep breath and a deep determination that couldn’t be very healthy, Bentley summoned a tiny stream of water from the bathroom and made it crawl across the cave floor toward the computer like a little worm. It was only a little thicker than a strand of hair, and virtually (hopefully) incognito to a Butler that was knee deep in a mission. Bentley focused as hard as he could to make it subtly slither itself up the leg of the Batcomputer’s desk, and even harder to make it squeeze into one of the drawers without drawing too much attention.

He took a moment to breathe, and then watched closely as the water slithered out again, pushing the drawer open just enough to fit one of the earpieces out. It made its way back to the floor the way it had made it's way up, and began to slither back to him.

With an exhale, he turned back toward the display cases. The only thing in them close enough to his size (that had pants) was either Damian or Tim’s Robin suits. But, looking at them now, Tim’s smaller Robin suit was a little awkward (it looked like a girl’s swimsuit?) So really, Damian’s was the only option.

Was he actually about to steal a Robin suit? (Was it still stealing if he lived there?)

Nevermind that. Now, his obstacle was getting the case open. He didn’t see any keyholes or buttons or doors or hinges or anything on them. So… how did they open? 

Surely you didn’t have to open them with the Batcomputer, did you?

“Hurry, Bentley!” Said Charlie’s voice in his head.

Bentley exhaled heavily. He had to leave because he had to save his family. From, like, dying. Literal death. Stuff like how he got the case open didn’t actually matter when he was saving his family from death. Right? Right?

With that sorted out in his head, he summoned water from the bathroom and made it levitate right in front of him, spinning it into a large sphere. Once he decided the circle was big enough (and before he could change his mind away from the incredibly stupid thing he was doing.) he pressurized it and shot it at the glass case like a pressure washer on steroids.

And within a second, the whole thing shattered.

Then it was crunch time.

“Master Bentley?”

Bentley quickly made all the water wrap around his feet and lift him up (careful not to collect any broken glass.), jerked the suit out of the case as quickly as he could, and shot back through the door of the locker room. The water that had the earpiece in it shot it into his hand when he went through the door.

“I’m sorry,” He said as he passed Alfred, who looked rather miffed and had already been halfway to the locker room. “I’ll clean it up when I get home!”

And with that he flew (floated?) up the stairs on the water as fast as he could make it go without flying off, and into the Manor. He stopped at the front door, but right when he got there, the security panel next to it turned red.

Alfred had turned the security system on, just so Bentley couldn’t get out. 

In a moment of panic, Bentley forced water into the lock and handle of the door, trying his best to turn the system off. When that didn’t seem to work, he forced the liquid into the button panel and made it spark. (Oops?)

On the bright side, when he opened the door, the alarm didn’t go off.

And just like that, Bentley Whittaker ran away from the Manor for the third (fourth?) time, Robin suit and superpowers in hand, to save his family.

… and not for a second did he stop to consider that the Secret Keeper may have been lying.

—

dedicated to @sassenashsworld 💚

—

tag list! (If you want me to remove or add you, ask in comments!)

@fleur-alise @sarcopterygiian @flyrobinflyy @skylathescholar @gayboss-too-close-to-the-sun @xiaonothere @beatyoutothatusernameloser

[pluckyredhead]

i really wanna know your ideal dc publishing cause seriously they could be doing so much and instead choose the absolute worst trashy choices

Lol thank you for indulging me, anon. I have thought about this EXTENSIVELY so sorry not sorry for the tusnami of opinions you have unleashed.

Before I get into the list, a few points to explain my approach:

ONGOINGS. I am a firm believer in the importance of ongoing series. There's nothing wrong with a miniseries but you can't get any forward momentum or character development with them because things keep getting reset to their baseline. Get really strong teams on your ongoings and let them develop their stories for years at a time. That's where all the legendary runs come from.

To that end, I am proposing a list of 30 books, which is a little more than 7 per week, which is roughly what DC publishes now (not including things like Sandman, Looney Tunes, etc.). They can add on as many minis as they want but will need fewer since so many more characters are accounted for with ongoings.

I am a strong believer in backup features - more value for your dollar and double the amount of characters included - so you'll see a lot of those.

I tried to balance what I personally think would be the most holistic representation of the DCU with what I believe will sell, so you're still going to see a lot of Bats. It should be understood that books without Bats are not going to be treated like throwaways like they sometimes are now. They are going to get top tier creators with long, sustained runs, just like Bruce always gets.

It will not be a publishing slate of all straight white guys from the 30s-60s.

Books with an asterisk* mean they will be kid-friendly. Not exclusively for kids, but appealing and accessible to young readers, the way Young Justice and its members' books were in the 90s. They can still include ongoing plots and queer characters and serious topics! They just shouldn't be relentlessly grim.

OKAY THE BOOKS!

Super Books:

Superman*: The lead Superman title, with a backup featuring starring Jon.

Action Comics*: Focuses more on the Superfamily as a whole, though the plot can dovetail and cross over with the main Superman book. (This is basically what's happening now.) Backup feature rotates between Kon, John Henry, Natasha, Kenan, Lois, and Jimmy.

Supergirl*: Why did I give Kara her own book and not Kon or Jon? Because a) DC needs more female-led books and b) I want to. The primary audience for this book is women who watched the CW show, or girls who have outgrown TTGo! and DC Super Hero Girls, NOT ADULT MEN. (Optional: Kon or Natasha backup feature.)

Bat Books:

Batman: Like the Super books, this would be the central title and focus on Bruce. Backup feature can rotate between the nine billion Gotham characters who need a home.

Detective Comics: Focuses more on mysteries/the family. Another rotating backup feature. NOTE: These backup features CANNOT star a character with their own book (Bruce, Dick, Damian, Selina, or Harley).

Nightwing: Dick sells. ;)

Robin*: Starring Damian, Tim gets a team book further down.

Batwoman: Perhaps we could try letting a queer woman write this for once? Revolutionary, I know.

Catwoman: Because she fucking rules.

Harley Quinn: Because she fucking sells.

Birds of Prey: I prefer a classic Babs/Dinah/Helena lineup but I'm flexible.

Batgirls*: If it’s too messy to have Babs in BoP and this, take her out and add Harper.

Red Hood and the Outlaws: Imagine if this book was good! In my universe, it will be.

Solo Books:

Wonder Woman

Flash: This will star Wally. Optional backup rotates between Jay, Bart, Ace, and Avery. Barry can show up sometimes I guess.

Green Lantern: Starring Hal, John, or Kyle. Whoever is the lead CANNOT also be on the Justice League.

Green Lantern Corps: Okay yes technically this is a team book. Shhh. Guy should always be on this book since he does better in an ensemble. The plot should dovetail loosely with the main GL book with an annual crossover but you don't have to read both if you don't want to. I am flexible about how to fit all the Earth GLs in (including Simon and Jessica), whether that's backup features or just including them in the GLC ensemble, but all six should always have a publishing home. Jo should get as many prestige graphic novels as N. K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell care to bless us with.

Aquaman: Jackson backup. Please let him go back to being Aqualad and stop making everyone grow up so fast.

Green Arrow: This book is currently perfect, no notes.

Blue Beetle*: Starring Jaime, though Ted may show up to be annoying if he would like. A Booster backup is permissible.

Vixen: If they have a Webtoon they should have a comic for $ too.

Zatanna: See above.

...I'm torn between Shazam!* or Stargirl* here. I feel like they both kind of fizzled? I guess it depends on which book gets the better pitch.

Team Books:

Justice League: I mostly don't care who is on this but if it's a bunch of white guys plus Wonder Woman and either John Stewart or Cyborg as tokens, AGAIN, DC gets shut down permanently. I don't make the rules.

Justice Society: This is also not allowed to be only old white guys. I know that's harder with the JSA. I don't care.

Titans: I'm going to be honest, I'm not convinced the OG/New Teen Titans can star in a decent book anymore, since they haven't done so in two decades. But I will give them one more try. They can call themselves the Outsiders instead if that helps.

Young Justice*: They also maybe need a new name because they are all legal adults, but this is Tim's book. I'm highly skeptical of success here as well but I think the right creative team could make something really soapy and New Adult and queer work. Please keep in mind that there are nine trillion characters in the DCU who are roughly Tim's age to draw from; the "Core Four" (ugh I hate that term so much) can all be members but they are not the only members. (Cassie cannot be the only girl and it cannot be all white.)

Teen Titans*: Damian's team! I vote for characters like Emiko, Ace, and Jackson here, but I'm flexible. THE AUDIENCE FOR THIS BOOK IS MIDDLE SCHOOLERS, NOT PEOPLE WHO GREW UP ON WOLFMAN/PEREZ. Jesus, DC.

Suicide Squad: I truly do not care about this book but we need to do something to appease the edgelords.

The New Gods: I'm thinking EPIC, I'm thinking KIRBY, I'm thinking SIMONSON. Everyone talks in a serif font and it should be impossible to explain out loud with human words. It's what Kirby would want.

So there it is, there's my pitch. Again, this doesn't cover minis (Elongated Man miniseries WHEN), event books, etc., but I think it gets most of the key players on the board!

(And yes, I know I left the Legion out. I'm sorry. But not very sorry. They can cameo in Kara's book.)

[sasheneskywalker]

batfamily fic recs which are told through unusual formatting

a hat fashioned from tin foil by discowing (ameliafromafairytale) nightwang @karakurachou – 8 hours ago jason todd is alive and faked his death so he could become robin: a conspiracy theory thread

Batfam conspiracy theories meet social media.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | No Relationships

occam's razor by BeatriceEagle r/SolveIt • Posted by u/Phalangefier 3 days ago

It's the fifth anniversary of Jason Todd's death

Today is the fifth anniversary of the day that Jason Todd and Sheila Haywood were murdered, so I thought I would post a write-up unifying all of the information that we have on the case. There have been a lot of posts about Jason over the years, but this case is so weird and has so many branches to it, I don’t think that anyone’s ever compiled all of them in one place.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson & Jason Todd

Send to All by kerosceene I, _______________, hereby acknowledge that this form represents my wishes should I contract phytoaphrodisiac-induced delirium (hereafter referred to as “PAID”) during engagements with or while apprehending Dr. Pamela Lillian Isley (“Poison Ivy”).

-

The bats have a sex pollen release form. Because of course they do.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon & Dick Grayson, Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne

Batman Hits the Red Hood with His Batarang by redboard (Ink) Batman hears whispers of a new crime lord in Gotham, trailing blood and carnage in his wake. The Red Hood is skilled and ruthless, and quickly seizes control of the drug trade, seemingly for his own ends.

Red Hood, after years of planning, your moment has finally arrived. Why have you come?

An "Under the Red Hood"-themed tabletop game, for one or two players. You will need colored dice (or a dice roller), your imagination, and, optionally, a friend who has as many feelings about Jason Todd as you do.

(Yes, I'm serious. This is not a bit.)

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne

#Justice4Gotham by Havendance So, uh, Hi. I’m still alive. I didn’t die of the clench (barely). I’m kind of sorry for disappearing on you for so long but life just got really busy and I didn’t really have time to chase after Batman and Robin anymore. I’m not sure how many of you guys still check this blog, but if you are out there, I’ve got a big favor to ask you all.

On June 27th at 7:03pm, Gotham City was hit by the worst earthquake the east coast has seen in, like, ever. And now we could really use your help.

[Or: When you run out of things you can do, there’s always yelling at the world from the blog you made when you were ten.]

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | No Relationships

Night Blogger by AnonDude There's a blogger catching the internet's attention with a long, insane, and twisted tale. The problem is, he seems to persist under the impression that he's just a random anonymous blogger looking for advice on his relationship. That's all.

QuillsNFrills: I like your first entry! But I'm a little unsure as to what genre you're aiming for here; it seems a little confused and all over the place. It's clear you want it to be something more lurking under the guise of a simple relationship blog, but is that…mystery? Thriller? A dark romance? Sci-fi/fantasy/magic (with the…whatever is going on with BF's head)? I'm also kind of wondering if I'm reading right that maybe there are hints this isn't a reliable narrator? Maybe that will continue…eyes. Anyway, keep up the good work! – April 15, 2023 –

BlueberryPancakes: this […] only continued to get MORE wild, and despite the "clearing up"…I still don't know whether to believe […] it's supposed to be an obvious red herring and this is all an Experience^tm, or whether this is really OP's life. – April 17, 2023 –

M | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Tim Drake/Jason Todd

A preliminary examination of potential significant others (last saved by T. Drake) by Betty, Elf_Herself, Petra thefourthvine wrote, "I want the story where someone sits down and thinks that, and lists every single person in the canon (probably in some kind of database, with numerical codes and assigned weights for each category and stuff) and weighs all the pros and cons and finally, after a lot of careful deliberation, selects a candidate for the position of Significant Other."

This is the first step in that process.

G | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | No Relationships

[bilightningwhumper]

Mangst 2024- TNEI Edition Masterlist

TNEI Tumblr Masterlist

My part in the Mangst 2024 event (not all finished in May, but finished anyway). Ao3 link on the bottom.

* placed next to any 18+ links

Key for Spoilers:

Spoilers- minimal to no changes planned when appearing in fic

Partial spoilers- several changes planned, but will still be similar in fic (if not exact scene, then variation of it)

No spoilers- changes to be made will make it very different and/or no longer planned to be used (for that specific story, anyway); they're now more character studies than actual story fragments

Day 1- I never wanted this.

Forever Prey (Red Riding Hood) - Spoilers POV: Rae - Huntsman Summary: Rae wakes up after Sienna has a nightmare

Day 2- If you can't trust yourself right now, trust me.*

Forever Prey (Red Riding Hood) - Partial Spoilers POV: Sienna - Red Riding Hood Summary: Sienna's going into heat and Rae's there to help

Day 3- You don't remember, do you?

Picture Perfect (Rapunzel + Hansel and Gretel) - Partial Spoilers POV: Leslie - Rapunzel Summary: Leslie learns more about her family

Day 4- Don't look, you shouldn't have to see this.

Lost Voice (Little Mermaid) - Partial Spoilers POV: Hannah - Prince's fiance/bride Summary: Hannah sees Sam's scars for the first time

Day 5- Can't you see that there are people who love you?

Missed Shot (Robin Hood) - Partial Spoilers POV: Marianne - Maid Marian Summary: Robin receives a terminal diagnosis and refuses treatment. Marianne finds out and is furious about Robin's decision.

Day 6- You've done so well. Let me take it from here.

Ashen Spell (Cinderella+Beauty and the Beast) - Partial Spoilers POV: Issac - Beast {to be replaced with Nerissa} Summary: Isaac gets the group successfully into asylum at the Evergreen Heart Medical Center

Day 7- You don't act like yourself anymore.*

Picture Perfect (Rapunzel + Hansel and Gretel) - Spoilers POV: Leslie - Rapunzel Summary: Mama finds out about Leslie mating with her soulmate

Day 8- I wish I could go back to when things made sense.

Ashen Spell (Cinderella+Beauty and the Beast) - Partial Spoilers POV: Cinder - Cinderella Summary: Cinder tells Isaac how he was sent to the Institution

Day 9- I kept imagining that you'd come back, but you never did.

Forever Prey (Red Riding Hood) - Partial Spoilers POV: Rae - Huntsman Summary: Sienna's ex-girlfriend from high school finds her unexpectedly at her father's bakery cafe [Epilogue Piece]

Day 10- I can do whatever I want to you, and no one can stop me.*

Forever Prey (Red Riding Hood) - Spoilers POV: Sienna - Red Riding Hood Summary: Director Wolf isn't happy about when Sienna was in heat

Day 11- You've only ever been a disappointment.

Lost Voice (Little Mermaid) - Spoilers POV: Sam - Little Mermaid Summary: After the public post was made outing Sam, his parents corner him after dinner to talk

Day 12- How could you believe them? Over me?

Ashen Spell (Cinderella+Beauty and the Beast) - Partial Spoilers POV: Cinder - Cinderella Summary: Cinder makes a hard decision to make when talking to his best friend

Day 13- I know it hurts, I'm here, you're doing so well.*

Caged Bird (Swan Lake) - Spoilers POV: Rosalin - Odette Summary: Rudolf preparing Rosalin for the day she births pups

Day 14- I crossed a line, and I can never go back.

Missed Shot (Robin Hood) - Spoilers POV: Robin - Robin Hood Summary: Robin telling Isaac how she was sent to the Institution

Day 15- We'll get through this together.

Caged Bird (Swan Lake) - Partial Spoilers POV: Rosalin - Odette Summary: Rosalin comes to comfort Leslie after the DNA results

Day 16- Don't you see? I never had a choice.*

Lost Voice (Little Mermaid) - Partial Spoilers POV: Sam - Little Mermaid Summary: Sam reunites with an old... friend at the Institution

Day 17- I love you. I wish I didn't.

Caged Bird (Swan Lake) - No Spoilers POV: Teddie - Odile Summary: Teddie visits Rosalin at the medical center after her rescue

Day 18- It doesn't matter if they die; all that matters is you.*

Lost Voice (Little Mermaid) - Spoilers POV: Hannah - Prince's fiance/bride Summary: Vanessa takes Hannah home when she suddenly goes into a heat at Derrick's workplace

Day 19- Please, let me try to fix this.

Lost Voice (Little Mermaid) - Spoilers POV: Derrick - Prince Summary: Derrick takes Sam into the scrap fabric room at work to give him a break from his "job"

Day 20- You shouldn't trust me.

Missed Shot (Robin Hood) - Partial Spoilers POV: Robin - Robin Hood Summary: In the midst of her rut, Robin gets a visitor

Day 21- You're all I have left.

Ashen Spell (Cinderella + Beauty and the Beast) - Spoilers POV: Crystal - Beauty Summary: Crystal learns some bad news from Rae

Day 22- Who would ever choose you?*

Ashen Spell (Cinderella+Beauty and the Beast) - Spoilers POV: Cinder - Cinderella Summary: Cinder goes into heat for the first time with only his step-family there to take "care" of him

Day 23- You're nothing to me but a bad memory.

Caged Bird (Swan Lake) - Partial Spoilers POV: Teddie - Odile Summary: Teddie visits her father in prison

Day 24- It was all for nothing.

Ashen Spell (Cinderella+Beauty and the Beast) - Partial Spoilers POV: Issac - Beast {to be replaced with Nerissa} Summary: Isaac wakes up at the Evergreen Heart Medical Center

Day 25- They've been dead from the start.

Caged Bird (Swan Lake) - No Spoilers POV: Rosalin - Odette Summary: Rosalin gets some unhappy news

Day 26- You're not really here, are you?

Lost Voice (Little Mermaid) - Spoilers POV: Derrick - Prince Summary: Derrick makes a discovery (with Hannah's help, of course)

Day 27- I can't believe I thought you loved me.

Royal Makeover (Frog Prince) - Spoilers POV: Max - Princess Summary: Max has a hard decision to make

Day 28- Everything I've given up is worth nothing to you.

Picture Perfect (Rapunzel + Hansel and Gretel) - Spoilers POV: Leslie - Rapunzel Summary: Leslie is scared to go to her first "adult" party

Day 29- I'm sorry. You're not worth the risk.*

Weary Rest (Sleeping Beauty) - Spoilers POV: Petal - Sleeping Beauty Summary: Petal makes a disturbing discovery in Sir's private study

Day 30- When they find out what we've done, they'll kill me.

Dead End (Bluebeard) - Spoilers POV: Ruben - Bluebeard's last wife Summary: Ruben calls Henry with new information

Day 31- I can't breathe.

Picture Perfect (Rapunzel + Hansel and Gretel) - Spoilers POV: Amalia - Gretel+Prince's wife Summary: Josh comes home from the Evergreen Heart Medical Center to tell Amalia what happened

Kudos/likes, comments, and feedback welcome!

[meet-the-thenardiers]

Disney X Les Misérables

1. Jean Valjean - I imagine two characters "playing" him. In his younger years (before he was arrested, and sent to the galleys) I imagine him as Aladdin. And when he is older, I imagine him as Cassim.

I don't know how many people will remember this character (or this movie) but he is Aladdin's father and first appears in Aladdin and the King of Thieves (1996)

2. Fantine - I know that many people relate the character of Cinderella to Cosette (which is fair), but her appearance in the Disney films really reminds me of the Fantine, and how she described in the books:

"She was called Fantine because she had never been known by any other name [...] She had gold and pearls for her dowry; but the gold was on her head and the pearls in her mouth."

3. Euphrasie "Cosette" Fauchelevent - Okay, for Cosette I imagined these three characters for each "stage" of her life. The first two images are of Penny from The Rescuers (1977), and would represent her around the time she was rescued by Jean Valjean. The third is Princess Eilonwy from Black Cauldron (1985), who would represent Cosette at 12-14 years old, when she left the Petit-Picpus convent. And lastly, Princess Aurora would be her at 16-17 years old.

Also, I just noticed that while in the novel her hair is described to get darker over the years, here it seems like it has gotten lighter.

4. M. Thénardier - Dr. Facilier as Monsieur Thénardier, that's it! I could list a few reasons why I think these two fit together perfectly, but I think the decisive one for me is Facilier's expression in the masked ball scene (that would be the second image). It reminds me of the part of the novel where M. Thénardier sees Marius and Cosette's wedding procession during the Mardi Gras.

5. Bishop Myriel - The Archdeacon from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). Yeah, I don't think there's much to explain about this one. Besides the two (in a way) being part of a work by Victor Hugo, their personalities and appearances fit together very well.

I also thought of Friar Tuck from Robin Hood, and more specifically, the anthropomorphic version of him that appears in the 1973 film.

6. Fauchelevent - For Fauchelevent I imagine Amos Slade from the movie The Fox and the Hound (1981). I remember that I didn't like this character when I was a kid, not necessarily because he was a hunter, but because of his "obsession" with capturing Tod. But looking back today, I believe it was because we were seeing the movie from the poor animals' point of view (I mean, his dog was hurt too).

But like Fauchelevent, I believe he is not necessarily a "bad guy" – perhaps a lonely, grumpy old man.

7. Monsieur Gillenormand and Mademoiselle Gillenormand - For Monsieur Luc-Esprit Gillenormand, I imagine his appearance to be similar to that of Georges Hautecourt from Aristocats (1970). And although the lawyer seems to be much more lively, pleasant and fun than M. Gillenormand, I really imagined his appearance to be something like that.

And for Mlle. Gillenormand, I picture Aunt Sarah from Lady and the Tramp (1955). Although I don't think Marius's aunt is as old as Aunt Sarah appears to be, so I picture her hair starting to turn gray, not completely white.

8. Toussaint - Last but not least: Nanny from 101 Dalmatians (1961) as Toussaint, the maid of Jean Valjean and Cosette. Let me tell you, to this day I find Nanny to be the most adorable female Disney character, the way she loves and cares for the Dalmatian puppies is just so cute, even in the live-action version.

[whimsicallyenchantedrose]

Christmas Reruns 2024–Day 20: The Christmas Wish

Merry Christmas if you celebrate it and happy holidays if you don’t!  One of the things I love about Christmas is watching reruns of all the old classic Christmas movies–Christmas is a big time for nostalgia.  A few years ago, I decided to incorporate that tradition into my fandom life and post my CS holiday reruns.  So here you go!  Enough holiday (mostly) fluff to get you to New Year’s Day. (With a new story posting on Christmas Day.)

Word Count: 1849

Other chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

CS Genre: 5x21 Canon Divergence

A/N: Merry Christmas to @Captain-EmmaJones!  I was your Secret Santa this year!  I’m much more experienced writing fluff than angst, but you told me you liked to suffer...but be happy with it, so here you go.  Mild trigger warning: this story deals with a character grieving the death of a loved one, but don’t worry.  In any story of mine, a happy ending is guaranteed.

These last three months had been the worst, the hardest and the most painful of Emma’s life.  No contest.  She wouldn’t wish this pain on her worst enemy, not even on the worst villain they’d ever faced.

Three months ago today she’d left Killian in the Underworld after promising to go on with her life, after promising not to put her armor back on.

In the first few days, her time had been occupied with the battle against Hades.   Like with every villain they’d faced, it had taken a team effort, all of them, all of the Nevengers, as Henry liked to call them, working together to find a solution with the least collateral damage they could manage, but they’d succeeded in the end.  What was even more amazing was the fact that they’d definitively defeated Hades without losing any of the heroes (although Robin Hood had only narrowly ducked out of the way before being hit by the Olympian Crystal.)

The town had held a huge victory celebration in Granny’s after Hades’ defeat, and Emma supposed she should feel some sort of satisfaction at their victory, but all she felt was...empty.

Without Killian, it was hard to force herself to even get out of bed in the morning.  Turns out losing your true love felt a lot like having your heart pulled from your chest, only the pain never went away, never stopped, never seemed to lessen.

She tried her best for Henry’s sake, for her parents, who were clearly worried about her, for the promise she’d made Killian, but it felt like she was constantly alternating between aching sobs and white hot anger.  She tried to comfort herself with the thought that Killian had, no doubt, moved on, and that she’d join him one day when her time came, but it was cold comfort when she had to climb into her empty bed every night.

Everything reminded Emma of Killian. Everything.  Maybe one day the memories would be a comfort to her, but for now, they were like a dagger to her heart.

Emma had started going to see Dr. Hopper once a week, trying to work through her grief.  He told her she was doing well, that she was grieving in a healthy way, but if this was what healthy grieving felt like, she couldn’t imagine the dysfunctional kind.

Emma took a sip of her cocoa and looked up at the beautiful Christmas tree in the front room of the home Killian and Henry had picked out for her.  Her parents, Regina, Robin, Zelena and Henry had shown up at her doorstep this morning with the tree, all the decorations, and everything they needed to make enough Christmas cookies to feed the town.  They’d insisted on bringing her Christmas cheer and brightening up her life with the sights and smells and tastes of the season.

“I know this holiday will be hard for you, honey,” Snow said, giving her a big hug after they’d finished and everyone but her parents had left.  “I remember those first few holidays after my mom and then my dad passed.  The joy and excitement of everyone around me felt like a slap in the face.”

“How did you bear it, Mom?” Emma asked through her tears, which had started falling yet again. “I’m trying to be strong, I’m trying to go on with my life, but it feels like a part of me--a vital part--is just….gone, and I don’t even know how to function.”

Snow caressed Emma's cheek.  “You let yourself feel what you’re feeling, and you give yourself time.  You lean on your family and let us help you.  I don’t want you to ever feel like you need to stay strong for your father and me.  If you need to cry, cry.  If you need to break down, break down.  We’ll be here to hold you, to give you whatever you need.”

She had finally broken down then, sobbing for what felt like hours in her parents’ arms, but when her emotions were spent, she had to admit she felt a little better.  It had been cathartic.

“Thanks,” Emma said, finally.  “For the tree and the cookies and everything.  It really is beautiful.”

David pulled her toward him, hugging her to him and holding the back of her head. “I’m glad you like it.  Enjoy it if you can, treasure the good memories.”

But after her parents left, it didn’t take long before the pain returned.  She’d been looking so forward to the first Christmas she and Killian would spend together as a couple.  She’d looked forward to all the firsts they’d have, looked forward to introducing him to all this realm’s traditions.  She’d looked forward to making Christmas memories and traditions of their own.

But that, all of that, had been stolen from her, from them. 

Emma looked up at the top of the tree, at the bright, shining star.  Her mom had told her that in the Enchanted Forest, they’d had a tradition of making a Christmas wish upon the star on top of the tree.  It was said that if your heart was true, your Christmas wish would be granted.

What the hell; couldn’t hurt.

“I wish--” she began, having to stop and clear her throat, will away the tears that threatened to overwhelm her again.  “I only have one wish.  I wish he was back here with me.”

She waited, but nothing happened.  She hadn’t expected it to, but somehow it still felt like a betrayal.

Emma turned from the tree, threw on her coat and nearly sprinted out the door. Suddenly her house felt stifling, the tree, the decorations, all of it was too much. She had to get out of here; had to be with him, even if “being with him” now consisted of standing before his headstone.

It was a beautiful evening, the wind calm, the snow glistening in the last rays of the sun.  He would have liked it; he’d always had a fondness for snow, though she told him she thought he was crazy for it.  She smiled through her tears as she rounded the corner and then stepped through the arches into the cemetery.  She remembered the day he’d coaxed her out in the snow with him.  She’d been miserable.  It. Was. So. Cold!  But he’d been as excited as a child, and somehow his joy had been infectious.

It had always been that way with him.  He brought her comfort and joy whenever she was with him, had since the very beginning, if she was truly honest with herself.  That’s why she’d been so cold and distant to him at first.  It scared her how much he made her feel.

She stooped down before his grave, laying a flask beside the flowers her mom had no doubt left.  “Hey, I thought you’d like this more than roses.  Thanks for the pages.  Hades...Hades he’s gone now.  It’s done, so I hope you’re in a better place.  I know I should be happy about that, but it just feels like now you’re really gone, and there’s nothing left to do but just--”

The sobs threatened to overcome her again, but with a force of will, she pushed them aside.

“I miss you.”

For long moments she remained there, looking down at the stark letters of his name etched on the headstone.  She should have something else engraved, shouldn’t she?  She should say something about what a true hero he was.  Somehow, nothing seemed appropriate.  How did you sum up how much someone meant to you, to everyone he met, in a few short words?

The twilight was quickly fading into night before Emma decided there was nothing for it but to go home.  She’d no more than turned away from the headstone, when a sudden whoosh, a rush of energy passed over her.

What the hell was that?

“Swan?”

Her heart stopped and then began pounding.  It couldn’t be….could it?

She whirled around, not daring to hope, not daring to believe, but when she was once again facing the grave the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen met her.

Killian!

She raced to him, leaped into his arms, her lips connecting to his in a desperate kiss.  Oh gods, if she was dreaming she never wanted to wake!  She’d missed him so much--the feel of his scruff against her face, the soft, silkiness of his hair through her fingers, his taste, his smell.  Him.

She pulled away, resting her forehead against his as the tears--happy tears this time--streamed from her eyes.

“How are you here?” she asked through her emotions, before surging forward, kissing his cheek, his mouth, any part of him she could reach.

He laughed joyfully.  “It was you, love, your wish,” he said in between kisses.  “For some time, Zeus has been looking for a way to reward us--all of us--for our part in defeating Hades, but until today his hands were tied.  King of Olympus though he be, there are immutable rules surrounding the Underworld.”

“Wait…what?” She asked, before diving in for more kisses.  “Nevermind.  I don’t care how you’re here, I’m just glad you’re back.”

They remained standing before his empty grave, one kiss leading into another as night settled in around them and the snow began to fall.

“I am, Emma,” he said finally.  “I’m back, and I’ll never leave you again.  Never.”

She laughed, cupping his cheeks and bringing him down for yet another kiss.  “I’m going to hold you to that.”

Emma took his hand, leading him back to her home--his home too, she hoped--her heart feeling so full it might burst, as he exclaimed in wonder over the Christmas tree whose lights twinkled merrily in greeting.

“I have so much to tell you; so much to show you,” she said, laughing in pure, incandescent joy, as they sat together on the couch before the tree, holding each other close.  “Killian, you’re going to love Christmas!”

He smiled down at her, before leaning down and taking her lips yet again in a long, slow, achingly deep kiss.  “I’ve no doubt I will, Swan, but for the moment I have more pressing matters on my mind.”

“Yeah?” she asked.  “Like what?”

His grin turned mischievous.  “Like moving our reunion to your bedchamber where I can properly--or rather, not-at-all-properly--show you just how much I missed you and precisely how glad I am to be home.”

She laughed, taking his hand and leading him up the stairs.

Her Christmas wish had given them a second chance, and she was determined that she wouldn’t waste a second of it.

NEXT CHAPTER->