#so here's Maggie and Wayne for now

[ddwcaph-game]

To those who are celebrating today... Happy Mother's Day!

At least, I hope your day is happier for you than it is for me.

[emo-batboy]

i'd like the chart thanks!

Also, there's another person who wants to rp Leo, can they?

Okay a few people are asking for the chart so here’s the current chart!! (I took out some characters that are still not as fleshed out. That includes Nathan, Ria, Nina, Ashley, Zoe, Ray, Maggie, and the hater and Metropolis characters, but they’re all filler characters rn)

A Wild Battinson Character Lore Continuity

- Felicity

- Oldest of the bunch, right between Millennial and Gen Z

- Works at an office, besties with everyone there. Corporate girlie (does use the term girlboss)

- Like if a Gothamite/Bruce Wayne fan was swiftie-coded?

- She has a pet pitbull, you know that kind of white girl

- Tatum

- Goth U, Comp Sci major

- Keeps everyone he knows online at arms length so we don’t know much, has a small close knit friend group irl but he’s also mutuals with everybody on twitter because he’s that kinda guy yk?

- But they’re slowly convincing him. He’s getting there

- Marzia

- Oh god poor Marzia

- Italian, born in Northern Italy, English is her second language but you wouldn’t be able to tell if it weren’t for her slight accent

- Biggest Bruce Wayne stan, will go feral, but only gets replies from him at the worst moments possible

- *snorts like cocaine* “Please don’t do cocaine” is my personal favorite

- Goth U, she gives art major vibes but tacked on a double major in psychology last minute so now she’s staying a fifth year

- Reads smut, writes smut, part of the poetry club, def on booktok, you know the type

- Alejandro

- Runs an ice cream stand in the park on the weekends when it’s warm enough

- Bi, Dating Leo (pfp is them holding hands because he’s a whipped son of a bitch)

- He’s like if that normal-looking kind of athletic guy who always wore sweatshirts and basketball shorts to class just suddenly mentioned he had a boyfriend one day.

- He’s straight-coded but more specifically “the straight guy that gay guys have crushes on against their better judgement”-coded

- Knew the whole time he was bi but never REALLY liked a guy until Leo 🥺. whenever he looks at Leo, he’s got those madly in love eyes

- Thinks Batman is hot and suffers constant torment from Leo (who has a crush on Bruce) because of it

- Ale just wants to be bench pressed is that too much to ask? But It’s his fault he’s a twunk dating a twink so—

- Goth U, Really interested in tech stuff but he’s actually a sports medicine major. He wants to be a physical therapist for athletes

- Cannot hold his liquor

- Smile Watch

- Who knows

- It’s a mystery

- Lela

- Goth Girl

- BFF’s with Nico (goth girl, e-boy solidarity)

- Also good friends with Natalie, they lined up all their gen Ed’s together

- Chill in a Morticia Addams kinda way. She is Morticia Addams actually

- Mom owns a convenience store, she helps out after classes a lot

- Studied for the MCAT, did pretty well, she wants to be a doctor (probably neurosurgeon but it depends on what internship she gets)

- Currently completing the undergrad to grad program at Goth University with a masters in public health

- Natalie

- Former intern, now ASSISTANT at Wayne Press

- Got the job because she impressed Bruce with her good reporting skills, now works mostly on organizing press releases and maintaining Bruce’s public image

- Great at her job because she knows social media and Bruce Wayne Stans the best (she is one obv)

- (Babysits Bruce when Alfred is busy, how did this happen, why is this her job now? She’s tired of his shit lol)

- Still technically working part-time because she hasn’t gotten her degree yet, but she’s set to work full time after she graduates Goth U in May

- Sometimes while sitting at her desk she just gets that perspective shift where she’s like “how did I get here” Bruce Wayne Stans’ dreams do come true

- Caleb 🤡

- Literally 18/19 but aging faster than humanly possible with the stress he’s under

- Used to work at Bat Burger, left because the babysitting gig required more time

- Lives with his aunt who’s already retired (used to live alone, she never had kids or a husband so she’s loaded) He’s staying cuz his parents are super busy and travel for work :) and guess what crime-filled alley their window overlooks? I’ll give you one guess

- Babysits Tim, used to be a less serious gig but his parents have been out of town a lot lately (just vacationing without their child 🙄) and thankfully Caleb lives right across from their swanky apartment so he’s practically a nanny now (read: older sibling/third parent)

- Took a ton of childcare courses for this job and now he’s kind of interested in working at a daycare maybe? If Tim doesn’t kill him in his sleep first

- Recently graduated Goth High, now takes online classes at Goth Community College while deciding what to do with his life

- Jarod

- Recently graduated Goth High, now taking a gap year before starting GothU in the fall. Him and Caleb were always in the same classes so they’re super close (they’re the youngest)

- Future Comp Sci/English major (he wants to be a video game writer)

- Has a younger sister, and technically the oldest child but spiritually he’s the middle child.

- His parents and Priyanka’s parents are close friends so he kind of grew up seeing Priyanka as an older sister. That’s why they’re Like That.

- Literally so fed up with Priyanka, it’s not even funny (yes it is) but the second you’re rude to Priyanka, he will deck you, watch yourself

- Katie (Sweater Thief)

- ER Nurse at Gotham General Hospital, mostly does night shifts

- Gives chronically online energy when she’s online, but everyone in real life wouldn’t suspect a thing because she’s so good at having her life together (the code switch will give you whiplash)

- Surprisingly older than most of the others despite being Like That.

- Literally graduated with a 4.2 GPA how tf?

- BFF’s with Leo then became BFF’s with Ale too after they started dating (she is slowly corrupting Ale and I think that’s beautiful)

- Creator of the Babygirl Bruce Wayne Agenda and PROUD

- Priyanka

- Works at coffee shop owned by her mom called Caffe Mood. She plans to run it one day. Currently a barista

- Goth U, business major (accounting)

- Bilingual, knows Hindi

- LESBIAN QUEEN

- Despite being gay, She is allowed to think Bruce Wayne is hot, that is her Right

- Mad fucking crush on Georgia, calls her Georgie. Intends to never tell a soul. Will fail miserably

- Dead fucking set on the idea that Batman’s a vampire

- But she thinks everyone’s a vampire so—

- Her parents and Jarod’s parents are close friends so she kind of grew up seeing Jarod as a younger brother. That’s why they’re Like That

- Jarod is constantly on her nerves, wtf Jarod (but be mean to him and she’ll kill you)

- Leo

- Works at bookstore called Gotham City Bookstore

- Gay, Dating Alejandro

- Twink (derogatory)

- Swears his gaydar is the most accurate there is (always wrong)

- Made being gay his entire personality because he had an identity crisis in middle school and proceeded to have a massive crush on some straight guy all of high school (that guy was Ale, Leo’s gaydar is so off)

- BFF’s with Katie despite being a few years younger. They were in a high school production of Sweeney Todd together and the rest was history

- Calls every single celebrity gay as a joke, Ale reigns him in if he’s getting too out of hand

- Used to have a mad celebrity crush on Bruce, still kinda (definitely) does

- Attends GothU, undecided for a while but ultimately settled on mathematics because it’s ironically his best subject

- One of those mf’s that needs to be held back at all costs, god help Ale

- Rose 🌹

- Works a tailoring job full time

- Good friends with Felicity, she’s like the black cat to Felicity’s golden retriever

- 70% super nice and chill, 30% wild card party girl

- Gets drinks with friends a lot, tweets when drunk but no one can tell the difference. It’s amazing

- Does not seem horny, is horny. But like normal about it? If that’s a thing

- Nico

- Kinda plays the straight man of the group if the straight man was emo

- BFF’s with Lela (e-boy, goth girl solidarity)

- KING of twitter roasts. He makes memes to end lives.

- Pansexual, single, and probably writing bad poetry in his diary about it but don’t tell anyone

- Goth U, actually dunno the major. Probs public health with Lela but doesn’t want to be a doctor. More like research parallel to social sciences

- Has a 8/9yo sister named Madelaine whom he would die for despite not expecting to be an older brother so late in the game (what were his parents thinking)

- Has tea parties with her and all that jazz. She steals his eyeliner and chain accessories all the time, also she’s friends with Dick and Barbie (yes, Barbara Gordon) so sometimes he watches over their play dates

- He’s a “tough emo boy” so he totally doesn’t laugh at Madelaine’s puns. He’s a bitch ass liar

- Kellyanne

- GothU, marine biology. Transferred from GCCC with an associates degree to save money but now she’s got a full ride cuz of the WE higher education fund

- More recent Bruce Stan

- Pretty poor upbringing, that’s how she met Bruce Wayne. He bought her whole family groceries one night after her card declined at the convenience store trying to buy dinner

- Now she’s in it for the long haul :)

- Lia

- GothU, fashion merchandising

- A GIRL’S GIRL

- Older sister also attends Goth U, but she’s in med school

- More recent Bruce Wayne stan, still not particularly in with the culture and jokes but getting there

- Friends with Georgia and Elizabeth irl. Elizabeth was in the same sorority before graduating first. Got to know Georgia after Lia found her dog with Bruce at the park outside GothU. They party together now

- Elizabeth

- Graduated GothU last May and worked an internship at LexCorp, immediately regretted it but snagged a job at WE (thank god)

- Now works as a research assistant at Wayne Tech in the R&D department for commercial products

- Didn’t really get the whole Bruce Wayne Stan thing until Bruce Wayne personally wished her a happy birthday?? The man is so sweet?

- Absolutely loves her job but still screams at rubber ducks over faulty code in her little cubicle, but that’s the industry she chose so it’s a give and take

- Met Natalie through Stan twitter and now they DM each other about working at Wayne Enterprises

- Doesn’t post much on twitter but follows the main Bruce Stan accounts, irl friends with Lia and Georgia

- Georgia

- Has a dog named Bean

- GothU, majoring in like three languages, polyglot (including Hindi 😏)

- Works at a retail home decor kinda store (home goods?)

- So lesbian-coded, but does not know it yet. Priyanka is her gay awakening. She is now a regular at Caffe Mood (She thinks she just likes the coffee (yeah right))

- Works at Goth U’s admissions department over the summer too

- Once got drunk and locked herself onto a roof by accident, ended up hanging out with Batman (he offered to break into her apartment for her but she said “nah”)

- Jane

- Works at Wayne Enterprises

- Runs bring your kid to work day (idk what her actual job is but she’s an Essential Worker, okay?)

- Very sweet, 10/10, looks on the bright side but never in a toxic positivity way

- Super social too, became work friends with Bruce because she’s nice but not draining to his social battery? They have lunch on occasion

- Watched the Graysons die with Bruce, call that trauma bonding

- Watched her toxic ex’s car burn to a crisp after a joker spree and took a selfie with it (she can have a little revenge, as a treat)

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

i had a worm wiggle it's way into my head when 'work song' came on on my way home today.

pairing: steddie | word count: 2,949 | rated: T

cw: major character death (no gore, nothing descriptive, though it's stated that Eddie was sick and getting weaker, then implied that he dies.)

Eddie Munson’s mother was a witch.

He didn’t know this until he was stricken with the same sickness that took her from him years and years before, but he knows now.

He knows from the small chest he found buried deep in his and his Uncle’s attic one day after learning of his ailment, and the handful of months he should expect to have left, from the local doctor. 

The chest was brimming with scrolls, tomes, candles, stones, herbs, vials, even a small pewter cauldron.

“I shoulda known,” was all Wayne had said, heeding Eddie’s beckoning call that hazy afternoon. 

Eddie sorted through everything he had found; spending hours every day flipping through each book and journal, deciphering his mother’s handwriting and the spells she had inscribed onto the pages. 

He even started to try a few; his mother’s ‘powers’, per sae, had come from the earth around her, writing in the largest, most disheveled of the journals that all she had needed to do was to listen to Mother Earth herself, listen to what she had to tell her.

So, Eddie practiced.

Small things at first, like seamlessly re-attaching the snipped off head of a daisy back to it’s stem, snipping it off again only to regrow an identical one in it’s place. Even starting a broken branch of the pine outside the Munson home on it’s way to a new green version of what was lost.

Eddie counted himself very lucky that Wayne was not one to believe the church’s nearly unhinged ramblings about witchcraft being the work of the Devil, and let Eddie practice a couple of the other simpler things on him.

“Jus’ don’t go thinkin’ I’mma let you chop my head off, boy.”

Wayne’s body aching from following their ox around all day with the plow? “Here, drink this, it should help.” It did.

Couple of Wayne’s fingers get snapped under the same ox’s hoof? A little harder, but he managed; the digits sore and achy that night, but good as new come morning.

“There a hair spell in that book, Ed?” Wayne joked one morning over breakfast, a good three quarters of the way through the six months the doctor gave Eddie, and a couple after finding Maggie Munson’s secret.

“Hmmmm….I dunno Uncle Wayne,” Eddie flips through his journal absently, “I think a Get Your Hair Back spell is too close to a love charm to work right. You could end up with hair all over your body and not just on that beautiful, shiny, head o’yours.”

“Love spells are touchy,” Maggie’s journal had said, “There are a rumored few that work, but only for the truest forms. I’ve tried some simple potions and charms…Al still left..and if they didn’t work…” the rest was easily filled in. 

“Oh yeah? Then how's about a Cure What Ails Ya spell? Got one’a those in that there book?”

“Why? You feeling sick, Wayne?” Eddie half-jokes, trying to veer away from having this conversation with Wayne again.

Wayne’s quiet as Eddie focuses intently on the book infront of him, trying, and failing, to scoop up a bite of egg onto his fork without looking away.

“Ed,” his uncle starts, soft and pleading once again, “Is there really nothin’ that can help ya?”

Eddie huffs, dropping his fork onto his plate and pushing it and the journal away from him. Definitely something a younger boy would do, not the nearly 25 he is now. “Why don’t you give them a look, huh? ‘Cause I already have.”

“Ed–”

He snaps his head up to glare at the older man. “What is it Wayne? What?” Eddie snatches the journal back up off the table without looking. “I’ve looked okay? Through Mom’s and through every damn book in that attic. And there was nothing. Nothing! You think she would’ve left if there was?” He stands sharply, knocking the small faded blue table away as he does. “Would’ve left m—”

His free hand wraps around his middle, nausea and the spins taking him for a ride a the sudden movement.

“Hey, Hey, sit back down son.” Wayne stands as well, coaxing him back into his chair. 

The nausea spells have become more frequent, the dizziness even more so, as the months have worn on, so Wayne ties up Eddie’s hair (growing thinner by the day), walks the short few steps to the pitcher of water he’d pulled from the well that morning, and pours some into a bowl, grabbing a clean(-ish) rag on his way back. 

Wayne smoothes the cool damp rag over Eddie’s face and neck, slowly and deliberately until the nauseous feeling passes.

“‘M sorry, Uncle Wayne, I know you’re just worried.”

“It’s alrigh’ boy, I shouldn’t’a pushed.”

“I’m still doing better than most,” Eddie says, voice tilting up at the end, “I think it’s ‘cause of the magic.”

“Thoughtcha said there wasn’t no cure in that book.” Wayne states, moving to empty the bowl. 

“There’s not,” Eddie closes his eyes, relaxes back into his chair. “Doc thinks Ms. Wilson had the same as me and Ma, and you saw how quick it took her.”

“Mrs. Wilson was nearly 70, Ed.”

“Then how about that boy Carver? He was my age, and Doc gave him six when he came down with it too, was gone in two.”

Wayne shrugs, “The devil wanted him back sooner.”

Eddie barks out a laugh, lifting his head to catch a glimpse of his Uncle’s ‘desperately-trying-to-hide-his-smile’ smile.

Wayne jokes, but Eddie’s been contemplating this for a while now. When he had hit his second month, he was about the same as he was, steadily growing weaker, as what was expected, but nothing like how Ms. Wilson and Jason had looked in theirs. 

Hell, Jason had worked on the docks with Eddie since they were boys; both fit and lean, healthy young men with the musculature to show for their work.

That was when he’d found his mom’s books, and ever since, his health had slowed to a crawl. 

“I think using mom’s magic is helping me.”

Wayne is quiet, cleaning their plates from the table and dumbing the leftover eggs out the window to the pigs. 

“I think it’s your magic now, Eds.”

—---

And so it went.

Eddie’s given six months turned into a year, his magic growing from healing fingerbones, to mending their ox’s broken femur with ease. 

His year didn’t come without worsening symptoms though, and his previously well filled out overalls hung loose around him, his calves barely filling out the tops of his boots tied all the way tight. 

Wayne always kept the faith, so to speak, not a religious man by nature, but Eddie could hear him sometimes in the early morning and late night praying to “Whoever’s got their ears on up there,” to keep Eddie safe, to keep him in their sights when the time came. 

Eddie had been doing work of his own, too. Writing down anything new he found out while sitting with the Earth, listening, watching….

Mother told him through the whispers of the trees, the soft humming of the grass, that he’d know when it was time. 

And that time was within the next few days. 

He felt it in his bones, he felt it in the air when Wayne passed him his birthday gift (a flaky scone with the biggest chunks of chocolate in town, an amazing treat he got once a year) on the morning of his 25th year, he felt it in the very ground he walked on…

He was ready, though he did harbor one regret. One thing he knew he missed out on.

He’d never fallen in love.

Over his last year, Eddie would sit with Mother; amongst the trees, lain back in the field of grass on the hill behind their house, and tell her about them. 

The ‘they’ that he’d likely never meet, the they that would love him for nothing but his love in return. 

Nothing was ever specific, only the vaguest feelings he’d get about them, about the way they’d love, the humor they’d possess, the love for Eddie’s stories they’d have.

And every time he’d speak of them, Eddie’d leave with something that he didn’t realize he had picked up until he was nearly back home. 

A chain of daisies Wayne had plucked from atop his head when he sat down for dinner, a scrap of dark blue fabric he’d found walking through town, a bouquet of bright yellow daffodils, the tiny sun bleached skull of a bat.

And he’d write. Over and over, never quite getting it right, but there was something he knew he needed to get out of his very being before he left for good. Something that felt like a promise.

–

The morning came, and Eddie awoke to a silent house. 

Wayne out on the fields already, most likely out helping the folks on either side of them with whatever they needed doing, with only the hens’ clucks and pigs’ snorts keeping him company with the calls from the birds in the trees. 

Eddie got up, slow as slow could be, got himself into his clothes, shuffled down the hall to the kitchen to their small blue table, tore out a blank page of his mother’s notebook and wrote.

Pouring all of what remained within him, Eddie thought of the Earth, of his mom, of Uncle Wayne, and them. His unknown love.

-x-X-x-

Steve Harrington’s mother was not a witch.

But for the last few years, he’s had a suspicion that his Grandmother is.

Everyone says that their food tastes so good because “It’s made with love!”,  but with Mama Harrington, it was real. The love and intent she imbued into her meals was there. And she could cure any ailment.

She would always go on and on about the importance of food, each recipe’s ingredients’ healing powers, and of the recipes and their stories that had been passed down through the years from her mother, and her mother’s mother, all the way to now, where they ended up in a cookbook that’d gone untouched since it was given to Steve’s mother in the late 60’s.

“A gift! Unused for so many years, Steven!”

“I know, Mama,” he nods again, dropping some green something into the pot of sauce bubbling on the stove. “Almost 25 years.”

“Aye! You have catching up to do.” she says, shaking a thick wooden spoon at him.

“Me?” he scoffs, “I don’t know the first thing about cooking, Mama!” Baking? He’d hold his own. Cooking? If his grandmother wasn’t there to help him of on the phone to guide him through a recipe? Kitchen would go up in flames.

“Bah! Watch closely, dear.” she says, shuffling to the pot that stands nearly as tall as her where it’s perched on the stovetop. “It is always your intent behind what you are cooking. You can make anything be anything as long as the intent is there.”

“Even eggs?”

She nods, her nearly fully white bun flopping back and forth on top of her head. “Even just eggs.”

“So if I want a carbonara to help get my friend a passing grade?” he asks, incredulous, but immediately thinking of Robin, who’s coming up on her finals in a couple months (for her doctorate! A PhD! Can you believe that!).

“The intent! Put it into the eggs, into the pasta, I don’t care! But make it for That!”

She throws a concerningly large handful of pepper into the pot on the stove, and gives it a stir.

“Now, this is my Mama’s recipe, and it will help your Pa’s back.”

“How so?”

“Because I told it to,” she growls, glaring at the pot and raising her spoon as if she was going to smack some sense into it.

“Alright, Mama,” Steve chuckles, “What do you need me to do?”

He spends the next hour helping his grandma roll out some of her premade dough for some fettuccine looking noodles, grabbing a wrapped up blob “from the top shelf, Steven. That’s the stuff I made for you.”. 

He rolls, folds, and cuts it as he’s told, then goes to pick Robin up from campus while she finishes everything.

“It won’t take long now, dear, and you shouldn’t either.” Mama scolds, waving her spoon around once again.

“Got it, Mama, be back soon.” He slips on his shoes, looks in on his grandpa in the living room as he passes, grinning at the loud snores he hears from the direction of Pa’s recliner, and slips out the front door to his car. 

In no time, he’s picked up Robin, stopped for a movie from Blockbuster, and is home to the smell of fresh bread.

“We’re home Mama!”

“I’m just setting the table, grab your Pa!”

“Come on Pa, Mama’s got some pasta for you.” Steve says, coaxing his grandfather out of the chair and into his slippers. 

“Ah, perfect, my back’s been real achy lately.”

“That’s ‘cause you sleep in the recliner, Mr. Harrington.”

“How many times do we gotta tell you, Robin? Just call us Ma and Pa.”

Robin plops down in her designated spot across from Ma, “Hey, you should get used to it now; Once I finally get up the nerve to Chrissy out, she’ll come over here all “Mr. Harrington” this and “Mrs. Harrington” that.

“And how’s that coming, Bobs?” Steve asks her, sitting down beside his grandma and immediately passing the plate of bread across the table to Robin’s waiting hands. 

She starts going off at a million miles a minute about her longest standing crush, while Steve shares a look with his grandma, both smirking conspiratorially as Robin takes a bite of the bread.

That’d been Steve’s suggestion, a bread imbued with luck.

It wasn’t a “Love Spell”, Mama said there was none in existence that were worth the pain. But the minimal luck that she had sown before into countless baked goods (especially near February), have had a surprisingly great track record.

With everyone but Steve.

She couldn’t quite figure out what it was that kept him from getting the benefits too, every time she had tried, they had tried, it was an astounding failure. 

First with Tommy Hagan, the carrot cake cookies Steve had presented him with as a special birthday treat back in middle school ended with two missing front teeth and a broken arm.

Then again without even thinking about it, he’d added some luck and hope to homemade chicken pot pies he’d whipped up when he and Nancy were on the rocks. 

It had somewhat worked with Billy Hargrove, but that one hadn’t even been intentional, and he shudders to think about it to this day.

“I don’t know my dearest, maybe it is because you are already tied to someone else?” She had said after her tried and true pot pie recipe failed.

“But it didn’t even work with the one I was already with!” he yelled, sighing deep and pinching the tears away from the bridge of his nose. “She jumped right into Byers’ arms.”

Mama had just given him a pitying look, which was worse, honestly.

Now, he stays far away from any of Mama’s lucky foods, especially with the weird twisting feeling he had gotten the few times he’d tried over the years after leaving Hawkins.

He and Robin came up to Indy for Robin to go to U of I, a year after she graduated, and when Steve was fired from the job that had been paying the majority of their apartment's rent when he was spotted kissing his then boyfriend by his manager….they came to live with Steve’s grandparents, taking to them both with open arms and hearts.

He comes back to the present when his third bite of pasta clears away the last of his headache.

Steve shoots his grandma a knowing look, which she ignores with a sip of wine. 

–

They’re nearly finished with dinner when it happens.

Steve’s listening intently to a story Pa is telling them, something he’s sure he’s hears a dozen times before, when he absentmidedly picks up, then takes a bite of the bread Ma made for Robin.

It’s more than he’s ever felt before.

In the past, whenever Steve’s tried to gain some luck in love, he’s been inundated with flashes, feelings, words, a warmth in his bones that he’s wanted to hold onto forever. 

The feelings grew stronger the older he got, and now, Steve finds himself sitting on a rolling grassy hill. 

It’s not a flash of a vision like before, he’s sitting in the tall soft grass, and his hands are already making a chain of daisies. Nearly done, in fact. 

He finishes it off, turns it around in his hands, then when he goes to put it on…

He’s back at the table with his family, the slice of bread in his hand, and Pa still telling his story.

Steve jumps up, startling the other three, and beelines it to the kitchen, flinging open drawers, searching for just a damn scrap of paper. 

Mama follows him, “Steve, the bread?”

“I was on a hill, chaining daisies, and now I have to get these words out.” He probably doesn't make a lick of sense, but he doesn’t want to lose them.

Suddenly, a pad of paper and pen are passed into his line of sight. He snatches them up, and starts scribbling down as much as he can.

He and Mama stare down at the words on the page. 

“Mama, what is this?”

She is silent for a handful of breaths.

“This is why the luck never worked.”

now with a part 2!

also: i don’t know the first thing about being a witch or anything of the sort, nor do i know anything but the basics about cooking; hope im not way way off on anything!!! this is all in fun 😅

[missmarveledsblog]

I Think I love you a little bit more everyday ( Steve Harrington x Reader)

summary : being in love is never easy and it most definitely not easy when the person you love is one of you best friends .

warning : steve is an insecure boy , angst and fluffy

Steve harrington was known for many things , the great head of hair on his head, most popular guy in hawking high for a long period of time , many jobs he had despite his family being rich . He was also widely known for his failed love life , from nancy and his up and down romance to all the failed dates afterwards . Another thing that was well known was when she was a round steve puppy dog brown eye would light up and follow her around  or an inkling of trouble and he was ready to come to her rescue not that she needed it given she was one of the kids from the lab one that help eleven escape after something so horrible nether spoke about it . when those two showed up it was like a nuclear bomb went off exposing so many things. One of those things that most people of hawkings forgot was chief hoppers first fleeting marriage and his first daughter , back when he was young cop he and claudia henderson’s sister maggie had one night stand that would lead to a pregnancy and marriage to do the right thing, then one night when the girl was four years old  maggie took off and sent papers of divorce . What Hopper didn’t know was the girl's ability or the lab approaching the mother paying her a large sum of money . For years and years even before she returned he never stopped even though mentally he was done , he’d never stop looking  .  in all that time she was so close and yet so so far away it wasn’t til he noticed the birthmark on her arm  and a  under wraps blood test to find out who the  now almost young woman was . unlike eleven she was able to be out in public the towns people talked for long time but soon with everything else it became old news. 

The odd nature of it all skipped over but for steve harrington it was more skipping from a crush to full blown feelings . Everytime he tried pulling his mind to something else she would be around and everything would flood back , convince he was undesiring of love or convinced that he was cursed and destined to never get the girl some form of karma for his stupid asshole behaviour . so it was safe to say he was afraid to get that close to her in a way where he could get hurt even thought realistically  this was killing him . 

Even though many times their lives had been put in situation were if a love confession should arise it would be now on the tip of his tongue but he chose to ignore it  a decision he nearly regretted when he say eddie carrying her weakly while dustin henderson was chewing him out for being an idiot for not sticking to the plan  mainly because he was scared , because he watching people he loved being taking  from his life . steve heart fell into his stomach , the blood in his veins cold looking at the lifeless limp pale body in his arms  rushing to their side all at once asking what happened what was wrong . all bickering til the reached the byer place one where they all spent many of times at not wanting to leave her side as she lay , least the colour was starting to come back into her cheeks and he did turn so nancy and robin could clean the blood and fresh clothes on her. Then when it was last straw , it was end battle one of good and evil wayne munson promised to the stay by her side . when it felt like everything was hitting the wall , when it felt like a loss was on the brink the bright headlight of a pick up truck and added effect of metallica blasting through the  speaker like some knights on four wheeled beat up stallion . 

“ As metal as this is what the hell your suppose to be watching over her” eddie hissed although slightly impressed at the entrance he couldn’t lie .  

“ she was going to go whether i let her or not so i got her here safely … shit kid i was kinda hoping this wasn’t actually real “ wayne’s eyes looking at monstrous creatures . 

“ can you use one of these” hopper asked holding the shot gun like nothing  . 

“ yes sir .. legal hunting “ he was made sure to clarify . 

“ i don’t care just aim and shoot  these fuckers legalities don’t come into play here” dustin yelled as  y/n stood out of truck eyes locked on the enemy before turning to see steve both happy she was up and pissed she was there something she could ask about once it was over .  hand in hand they stood watching her and eleven get the better hand holding Venca in the air almost tearing him apart . the anticipation and fear all over everyone's faces.   Like a sick joke the two thrown apart the cruel laugh that spilled from its grotesque mouth as their friend watched trying to get to the girls  then when the beast turn his sights on the people they loved it was like every life lost due to this creatures being channeling through giving them the strength to rip him apart and this time for good . that should of been that moment for steve but again he missed it by just hugging her so tightly til hopper had to clear his throat all in the midst of it all the feelings of it finally being over , the seemly curse of hawkings finally broken as eddie munson screamed his victorious yell and few obscenities that prompted wayne to slap him back of his head . 

“ ladie present” he’d gruffed . 

“ shit sorry … shit “ the boy cursed . 

A year after that day , the town of hawkings rebuilding people still coming in droves to the so called cursed town as it and the people in it are some sort of spectacle .  oddly at first it help getting so much aid but it came with a price  , media circus and droves of people coming to town . steve stood in family video because of course  that could be rebuilt fast not that he could complain and in hindsight his parent stayed longer this time before heading off again . something else that linger in the air , tension of a sort with him and y/n. He tried once more burying the feeling deep down  which seemed harder to do every time he would try close his eyes he could see her lifeless in eddies arms or thrown by Vecna  to point he was losing sleep  , ignoring robin and co pleading with him just to talk to her which he would if it wasn’t for kyle , he first came to help the town wit others and seemly took an interest in y/n and before steve knew it he was watching yet another girl he was in love with in the hands of another like a knife constantly plunged into his heart and it was his own fault or was it just future proof of his own curse.  Yet it did nothing to quell the feeling the weeks almost months of distance did nothing to stop the strong coursing feelings that building up and up he felt it was going to rip him apart . everything he face nothing scared him more than this  , no matter what fear he had  he needed to tell her maybe if he got it all of his chest he could move on , closer in it own bitter way . flowers in hand and man on a mission he drove like bat out of hell not caring if he blew a red light of if the cops would try pull him over because in this very moment nothing was more important than freeing himself of all this . he needed a release from  it and he needed to do it now , right now . pulling the car to a stop and walking to the door muttering to himself , psyching himself up . 

“ rip the band aid off look she gonna reject you , you might have to fight kyle but we need to do this “ he muttering unaware of eddie and wayne sitting on their porch ready to witness  it all . pumping himself up and knocking at the door watching it fly open  and her voice filled with surprise of course it was he actively avoided her for months because he couldn’t fess up or bare the thought of her with another man . 

“ look no talking , listening yet shitty of me to say so but i need to get this out because if i don’t i will throw up and make this a hundred times worse , i know i have been a dickhead… “ 

“ putting it lightly “ 

“ ok deserved that but look hush … i couldn’t be around you it was killing me … i mean not you but you and kyle it was killing me watching another doing what i should be doing but i know would never happen because let face it henderson and the rest of shitheads will get married before i can find a girl that doesn’t leave me for someone else and that in itself is why i’m afraid .. was ..no actually still scared to tell you i’ve been in love with you since i met you , every time i try think of way tell you end of the world happens or that voice in my head tells me to shut up because you one of my best friends and now i need to tell you get some closure and also be made at you for almost dying twice  and even then my coward ass couldn’t tell you i think i love you a little more every day and it killing me , i can’t eat or sleep because it’s tearing me apart holding on and i know ….”  his whole body seized up at the feeling of her lips and his , the fact of her lips on his sending him into a short circuit and that fear melting away  , what felt like ice that was thawing away a warmth was coming into his body for first time .  pulling her close even if kyle was there and  not that he care he pulled her closer almost like  their bodies were welding together in iron clasp hold . suddenly the alarms in his brain ringing off she felt the same, she feels the same . as much as he didn’t wanted to pull away he needed to breathe and he was pretty sure the nerves of it all still had him ready to throw up still . 

“ kyle? “ he gasped .

“ we broke up couple months ago “ 

“ why didn’t you tell me ?” 

“ because you kept avoiding me “ she glared still feeling pissed at him. 

“ why didn’t anyone else tell me ?” he asked .

“ BECAUSE YOU NEVER LISTEN BIG BOY “ eddie yelling making him aware of the audience . 

“I wanna hit you for ignoring and avoiding me “ she glared. “ but i also want you to kiss me again ,  you idiot i’ve been in love with you since we met too “ her face softened. 

“ what if you find someone better” that broken vulnerable voice spilling from his lips made her own heart clench . 

“ there is no one better than you steve , in my eyes your the best of the best, everyone knew it  i was like a little school girl all heart eyes at you that when you dated i was secretly wishing they sucked and you would like me back honestly i owe buckley and all of friends therapy for all times i’ve pretty much blabbed about how much i’ve been and still am in love with you “ all her own pent up feelings finally breaking like a dam  gushing out of her mouth before she could even think to stop them . 

“ so this whole time “ 

“ you both been dumber than a box of rocks  … yeah “ eddie called. 

“ maybe we should take this inside “ she laughed as both their faces flushed . 

“ and make up for lost time i’m way ahead of you sweetheart “ he chuckled lifting her up and rushing in, the voice in the back of his head was telling him this was going to hurt but the voice in his heart told him he was going to be ok because this time he got the girl who was going to want him and only him .

[arjengelly]

If Demon Slayer can reincarnate people, then so can we!!! 🥹

When Deku and Kacchan are in their 60s-80s, they run into some familiar faces.

Not everyone is reborn exactly (Touya & Sako didn’t die yet here). Also the reincarnated don’t have any memories of their past lives.

I wasn’t sure on the color scheme of everyone yet. 😅

Jin & Toga are reborn as siblings. Genji and Haruka. Genji can change people’s appearances & make them look identical to other people but if damaged it can melt off like Twice’s clones. Haruka can change people’s blood type depending on her mood.

Yoichi and Kudo are dating. They go by Yoite & Juuzou and are in Kotetsu’s business class.

Bruce works in UA as a very essential maintenance worker/sub. His name is Wayne. He usually tries to avoid Yoite & Juuzou.

Yagi and his mom get a second chance at life. The boy is now called Haji.

Spinner dies in his 60s but is reborn as his youngest grandchild, Iggy. Iggy is part of a rich family b/c of Spinner’s books.

Hana and Tenko are siblings again. Kana is about 7yrs older than Hibiki. Kana is Kotetsu’s girlfriend and can slap things into floating away.

Hibiki is best friends with Iggy and is always texting him or playing online together. The siblings get to go on family trips with the Iguchis.

Shirakumo is reincarnated as the grandson of Moe & Rumi. He’s rivals with Kotetsu b/c both want to be class rep. He spins into a flaming wheel almost reminiscent of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Shinomori, Banjo and En are a family. Shino, Dante and Enzo. Enzo is also in Ko’s class. His dads are Deku fanboys. Enzo and Kana mock Juuzou for being the only Dynamight fan of their group.

Kotetsu is the spitting image of Touya but it’s just the Himura genetics. He’s the son of Geten & Malu (making them old parents and he’s Star & Bumi’s younger brother). He’s initially thought as quirkless until his nephew Ichigo accidentally put him in a life threatening situation. Ko can freeze metal to the point it shatters into small pieces as soft/lightweight as snowflakes. (Ko himself is still oblivious to this).

Magne is reborn as Sato’s granddaughter, Maggie. She has a crush on Ko (he helps out in Nejire’s daycare center when Kana can’t). Maggie can emit a repulsing force that pushes people away certain distances depending on what she eats.

Mr. Compress and Ragdoll had a grandson that kinda looks like him. The kids just refer to him as Sako. He is quiet and stares off into space. His quirk makes things you’re looking for disappear (can be invisible in front of you or in a diff location).

This family is everywhere! The two blondes are Ichigo and Kira. They’re cousins and first years at UA while their uncle Kotetsu and his friends are on their last year there.

Kira’s uncle (Yao Kaminari’s lil bro) is Bumi’s sidekick Doc Hack. Kira interns for them while Ichigo acts as an anti hero at Villains for Hire, an agency run by Giran’s grandson, Bumi’s ex, Wyatt Okuta/Riot. Ichigo does this to mess with his mom (Spitfire/ Bumi). The entire family believes Ichigo to be quirk-less (except Kira who’s in on his secret). Ichigo’s alter-ego is Fennec and his quirk is flame whips.

Sorry for the bits and pieces of a long @$$ story…. I just don’t wanna forget them. 🥲

[harrywavycurly]

Hi Sarah!! Happy New Year!! 🥳

I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate your positivity and all of your posts. They’ve gotten me through some not so fun times this year and always put a smile on my face. I feel like I’ve been channeling a bit of Bucket of Sunshine Eddie the last few months, so I’m wondering how those two are doing. Did they enjoy their first New Year’s together?

~🐈‍⬛

Hiii babes!! Happy new year to you as well!!!🥳🥳 I am sooo happy to hear you enjoy my posts that means the world to me!! Ohhh how I do miss my little grumpy Eddie and his little ray of sunshine!! So I hope you enjoy these conversations from their New Year’s Eve together!!💖

-find everything Bucket of Sunshine here✨

“What’s all this shit for?” “It’s rude to-” “Sorry…hello sweetheart.” “Hi Eddie…now was there something you wanted to ask me?” “Yes..what’s all this shit for? We are just going to the lake to watch fireworks.” “Edward James Munson as if I’d ever show up to a party empty handed? It’s not polite.” “Baby it’s not a party it’s us and Steve who is bringing uhm…uh…what’s her name again?” “Her name is Heather…don’t call her Maggie like you did his last date.” “I didn’t mean to! I swear I thought it was Maggie…looked exactly like her…kinda creepy if you ask me…how he dates girls that all look the same.” “Well thank goodness no one did…now can you please put this in the van?” “Did…you…just insult me?” “No? I simply stated a fact? No one asked you if it was weird that Steve dates girls who kinda look the same.” “Sounded like an insult to me sweetheart…” “Then it also sounds like we need to get your hearing checked…now can you please put this in the van?” “Yeah yeah I’ll go put it in the van.”

“What are you wearing? You’re going to be freezing.” “It’s a dress? And won’t you be there to cuddle me?” “Well yeah but still that’s uhm…a lot of leg to show off when it’s cold as fuck outside baby…” “you don’t like it?” “No no…that’s uh not…what I said…” “I’ll be fine…I packed an extra blanket and I still have your jacket so I’ll be nice and warm.” “Stealing people’s clothes isn’t very nice you know that right?” “It’s not people’s clothes it’s just your clothes and you’re my boyfriend so it’s fine.” “Oh right…yeah that makes sense…you look really beautiful by the way.” “Thank you Eddie.”

“Here you go…don’t worry it’s nothing crazy it’s just cheese.” “Will you ever stop trying to feed me?” “No…now take the pizza and say thank you.” “Thank you sweetheart.” “You’re welcome…where is Steve? Have you talked to him since we got here?” “He said he’d be here in a bit but that was…over an hour ago…maybe him and Heather changed their minds and want to party alone.” “That’s rude to not tell the other people in your party that you’re no longer going to be attending…I packed him a snack so he wouldn’t get grumpy waiting till midnight.” “I see he didn’t get blessed with the politeness gene?” “Apparently not.” “Well if I’m being honest I’m glad it ended up being just the two of us…not that I don’t like hanging out with your brother but…you’re my favorite Harrington.” “Awe am I really? That’s so sweet…you’re my favorite Munson.” “Oh Wayne is gonna be so upset when I tell him you said that.” “I’ll tell him you’re lying.” “What? You’d lie to him just to make him happy?…I’m so shocked.” “You’re making fun of me aren’t you?” “Teasing you baby not…making fun of you…that sounds way more harsh.” “You love how nice I am to everyone…just admit it.” “I wish you’d be a little more strict on who you’re so nice to but…yeah…I love you and how nice you are.” “I love you and how hard you try to be an asshole…it’s cute.”

“You’re going to give me an anxiety attack with the way you’re so reckless with that sparkler….just hold it still until it burns out.” “Hold it still? That’s not fun Eddie don’t be lame.” “Me? Lame?…now that’s just downright rude baby.” “Am I really making you nervous?” “You always make me nervous.” “What? Why?” “I’m just always nervous you’re going to snap out of whatever daze you’re in and you’ll see me for who I really am and you’ll…run away like everyone else.” “Eddie…I do see you for who you really are and that’s someone who loves me and would do anything to keep me safe and happy…what else could I want from someone? I’m not going anywhere.” “I do always find myself having to keep you out of harms way…so please can you just…stand still while you have a sparkler in your hand?” “Fine…this better?” “Much…thank you.”

“Ohhh Eddie only thirty seconds till midnight!” “Time flies when you’re having fun doesn’t it sweetheart?” “It really does.” “Happy new year Sunshine…I hope this is just the first of many new years we’ll be spending together.” “Oh don’t worry you’re stuck with me for the foreseeable future…I love you.” “I love you too.”

[artandshid]

Family Matters Part 4

~Damn it’s been awhile yall, i’m sorry. I found this in my drafts and decided to finish this part, time can only tell when the next part will be. Life is crazy and I’m busy, and as much as I love writing, I sometimes forget that I do and I take a little break. But I hope people can still enjoy my writing and if you haven’t read the other parts, they’re in my masterlist.

“You’re just letting him waltz back into your life like nothing happened?” Steve exclaimed loudly.

You close your eyes and take a deep breath. You know deep down you’re doing the right thing. Maggie deserves to know her father. And she deserves to grow up with her father in her life. But you don’t appreciate people in your life making you second guess what so best for your daughter.

“I’m letting him into her life. Because this isn’t about me or you or Eddie. It’s about my daughter. Five years from now, I don’t want people teasing her about her father and her having questions that no child should have. He’s a good guy, we both know this, deep down he’s a good guy. And maybe he wont be as present in her life as other kids father, but he could be another person to love her.” You scream, defending yourself and your decision, you see Steve soften up. Because he does know that deep down Eddie is a good guy, but he’s finding it hard to forgive for what he did to you and Maggie. “And not sure if you noticed Steve, but I don’t have much family. Sure I have my friends and you guys are wonderful, but Maggie doesn’t have grandparents in her life right now. At least if Eddie is present then she could have Uncle Wayne. I don’t appreciate you making me feel like an idiot for doing this when all I’ve been doing for the past 4 days is kicking myself in the ass for possibly making a mistake”

You take a seat on the couch and put your head in your heads, already feeling a migraine coming along. Steve comes over and wraps his arm around you and draws circles on your shoulder.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt. You’re like a sister to me and that little girl is my first niece and I don’t want her to grow an attachment to him that his lifestyle can’t cooperate with.” He tells you his fears.

“Steve I appreciate that and everything you’ve done for me and for her, but I have to give her a chance at having a relationship with him. And if she gets hurt then I’m happy to know that you’ll be here to help her stand again. And worst case scenario, he leaves her and she still has the support system she did before him. Best case scenario, he lives up to promise and she has two father figures.”

“If you think this is best for her than I support this decision the whole way.” He says and kisses the top of her head. “Also next Friday, I have a date” Your heart drops next Friday is your overnight shift at the hospital, “but I already asked Robin, she said she will watch her.” Your heart slows down to a normal pace again.

“Thank you.” She says before Steve heads out the door.

————————————————————————————

Eddie sits across from y/n at the Denny’s in the town over from Hawkins. They wanted absolute peace for this conversation. They didn’t want any interruptions from anybody they knew.

“So when can I meet her y/n?” He asks you giving you puppy dog eyes.

“I haven’t decided yet, Eddie. I feel like I need to know what your plans are and what role you plan on having in her life.” She explains quietly.

“I plan on playing the role of her father.” He tells you seriously and you scoff.

“That’s not for you to decide, that’s up to me right now, thank you.”

“I’m not trying to argue with you y/n, but I plan on being there for her the same way a father would and should be.”

You sigh, “I’m happy to hear that, but what about when another tour opportunity comes up? How are you going to juggle being a father and being a rockstar? It was too much before what makes it any different now?”

“Honestly I’ve thought about this already. For the time being me and the boys could just do gigs on the east coast or even just in Indiana, that way I’m always close. And Maggie would come before any gig.” He tells you and grabs your hand.

“Eddie, I’m so happy to hear that.” You say and squeeze his hand. “And, even though me and him are just friends, Steve is a part of her life and a big part of her life. That isn’t going to change just because you want to be a part of her life now.”

“I understand, I love that she has such a huge support system, I just wish I got my head out of ass earlier. I could’ve been here the whole time.” He says and you watch as a tear falls down his face.

You reach over and wipe it off, “Me too Eddie, me too.”

“I want to do anything I could to make it up to you and especially to my daughter. I love you so much and I hate that I was stupid enough to forget about all of that.” He says basically sobbing now and you can tell that he’s sorry, but you’re still hurt. You still have cuts from your past relationship with him that can’t be healed by just an apology from him. You need action and even then that may not be enough.

“Eddie, I don’t think I’m ready to hear that right now, I’m sorry, but we can work out the details about visitation and everything at a later time. I’m willing to let you back in her life because she deserves to know you and have a relationship with you, but as of right now, our relationship is limited to learning how to coparent and make a strong support system for Maggie.”

He looks slightly wounded at the fact that you guys can’t even be friends right now, but he truly understands that this is all his fault. His gratefulness towards you for allowing him to fix his mistakes is enough for him right now.

“Y/n I completely understand, and now that we’ve set the boundaries and everything, I’m ready to make this right. Thank you so much.”

You smile at him as the waitress sets your food down on the table. The rest of the night was pleasant, a little awkward because where you guys stand right now isn’t ever what your relationship was, so neither one of you know what topics to bring up and what topics are appropriate so small talk was taking over the booth. Both of you hated it.

[bluejaysandblackbats]

You're Just Like Quicksand

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, Batman Beyond

Summary: Jason Todd is ready to go into semi-retirement after fifteen years working with troubled youth, but one case in particular forces him to confront the sins of his youth and painful memories from his past. (TW // Character Self Harm Mention in this chapter)

Chapters: 13/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Terry McGinnis, Warren McGinnis, Mary McGinnis, Matt McGinnis, Bruce Wayne, Original Character(s)

Relationship(s): TBA

Additional Tags: Protective Jason Todd, Good Sibling Jason Todd, Retired Jason Todd, Multiple POV, Hurt/Comfort, Parent-Child Relationships, Canon Divergent AU, Angst, Mourning Jason Todd

Chapter Thirteen: Parasomnias (Jason Todd's POV)

Three weeks passed since I’d seen Terry, but I doubt it helped my case with Andrew. I sat beside Andrew’s bed every night, wondering if I’d made the right choice. It occurred to me that my recollection of my family was rose-tinted and not necessarily reflective of reality. I’d forgotten Andrew’s sleep problems. Years of sleep paralysis nocturnal panic attacks, bedwetting, and insomnia. It started before his mom died, and we tried everything. Over-the-counter sleep vitamins, sleeping pills, nighttime meditation, and lavender in the humidifier. None of it worked until one day it seemed to stop mysteriously. Andrew was fifteen then. That’s when he got hooked on a drug that was a combination of the original fear toxin antidote and a high-dosage sedative. It wasn’t necessarily illegal, but it was experimental at the time. He hated me for taking him off the drug. We were back to sleepless nights. Even after the drug was approved for use, Andrew decided not to take it. 

I turned the soundproofing on for his room, so he wouldn’t wake Avery-Marie, and I sat by his bedside, waiting for the worst. I shut my eyes, not flinching when his hand fell out of the blankets and touched my head. He got an hour of sleep before I heard his breathing. Sleep paralysis. I knew the sound better than anything. He couldn’t scream, so he struggled for breath. Mostly rushed inhales without a solid exhale. “Drewby, it’s okay,” I whispered as I touched his hand. He gasped for air as I pushed his hair back. “Drewby, look at me.”

Andrew leaned forward and started crying into his hands. “Come up here,” Andrew cried. I obeyed, climbing under the blankets with him. I draped my arm around his shoulder, shutting my eyes as he trembled. “I saw her again.” 

“Yeah? Andrew, look at me… It’s okay. Look at me. She’s not here,” Jason whispered. Andrew hid his face in my shoulder and sobbed. “I know… Drewbers, I—.” 

“You don’t know… No one understood except Avery, and he’s gone now. You never told me how he died. Does Avie know?” Andrew asked.

“No, and you won’t ask her,” I whispered. Andrew opened his mouth to argue. “Drewby, let’s go to bed—.” 

“Maggie and Mom haunt me when I sleep… Tell me what happened to Avery,” Andrew replied. 

I covered my face. “Drugs… He wrote a letter. It mentioned you… He said the same thing you told me… No one understood except you. Will you ever tell me what happened?” I questioned. 

“Drugs? Avery who took his meds in chocolate pudding?” Andrew laughed. It was the first time I’d heard him laugh since before the incident. “He—. He wouldn’t. You’re lying.” Andrew’s laugh faded into weeping. I rubbed his back. 

“I wish I was lying. I never saw it coming. He looked so happy, Drewby. I saw him the day before. I—. One year. He’s been gone a year. Abigail blames herself for bringing drugs into the house, but it wasn’t her fault,” I whispered. 

“It wasn’t yours either… You made a mistake. No one thought he’d kill Maggie… But why didn’t you quit?” Andrew asked. “Is this one anything like—?”

“No… He was upset, but I’ve been watching him. He’ll get over it. I wasn’t in his life as long as H—. I wasn’t in his life long. He’ll move on,” I reassured him.

“Did Uncle Dick let you see what happened to Henry?” Andrew questioned. I shook my head. I shut my eyes, remembering Dick blocking me from entering. 

“He said, ‘I can’t let you in there. It’s not good.’ I didn’t see anything. Barbara drove me to the hospital… And you were gone when I got there. They never found Mikey—.” 

“Michael’s alive. I saw him,” Andrew whispered as he wiped his face.

I didn’t know what to say. Andrew was in and out, so I couldn’t tell how much of what he said was true. He kept cycling back and forth between the past and present. “I saw Michael with somebody. They were in Louisiana. Kissing. He saw me and I waved, but I don’t remember—.” Andrew rubbed his eyes. “It was Louisiana. I know it was because people were celebrating in the streets… He smiled at me.”

Andrew laid his head on my lap, and I stared at the posters on Michael’s side of the room. “How’d he look?” I asked. I shouldn’t have asked him, but my heart got the better of me.

“He was drunk, but he looked cleaned up… He had a suit on. I feel him sometimes… So, he’s still—. He’s still alive, Dad,” Andrew answered. 

I scratched his head. “Are you tired?” I questioned. 

“No more than usual. Where’s Uncle Dick?” Andrew asked in reply. Dick loved my kids. He always visited them between missions, entertaining them while I was busy. He used to do all sorts of tricks with the kids when they were little. Old circus habits died hard, I guess. Andrew loved him. Andrew ran away from home once when he was thirteen and went straight to Uncle Dick’s in Blüdhaven. He always ran to Dick’s, but he didn’t that last time. Andrew didn’t want to be found and was smart enough to stay hidden from me until he felt like seeing me again. 

“Do you wanna go up to Uncle Dick’s to visit for a few days?” I asked.

“Are you dropping me off? I don’t want—.” 

“I won’t leave you there… I think—. It’ll be nice to take you and Avie to see your uncle. It’s been five years… And he hasn’t met Avie yet. We’ll take a family trip,” I replied. Andrew rolled over. 

“Did you tell him I’m alive yet?” Andrew asked. I hadn’t told anyone. Andrew held my hand as his eyes fluttered. He was exhausted and fighting it every step of the way. 

“No, I didn’t tell him, Andrew… What’s on your mind?” I asked. 

“Don’t tell anyone yet… I don’t want to leave the house right now. Please,” Andrew pleaded as he hid his face in my side. 

I faded into a memory. Andrew and Michael were twelve, and I was up late working in the living room when I heard Andrew in the laundry room. I got up to check on him, and he hid his face in my sweater, holding the fabric tight in his little fists. “Drewby, what’s bubbling beneath the surface?” I asked aloud like I did that night thirteen years ago. I rustled a hand through my son’s hair and watched as he looked at me with his big brown eyes. 

“After Henry killed Maggie, Avery snapped, and he got loose. Henry shot him—. No, he grazed Avery’s arm, but it didn’t stop him. Avery beat Henry to death with his bare hands, and I had Maggie’s—. Maggie’s blood was all over my face. 

“And Avery untied me and hugged me, but I couldn’t cry. How could I cry when Avery did the unthinkable to save me? I don’t know what happened to Michael or how he got free, but I—. Every time I get close to him I can’t speak. He didn’t see what Avery and I saw, so he can still smile. What Avery did killed him… What I saw broke me. He looked untouched by it all. I can’t take that from him,” Andrew mumbled. 

“How many times have you seen him?” I asked. I couldn’t process anything he said about Maggie and Avery. It was too much to think about.

“Twice. I would’ve gone to see him this year, but I couldn’t look at him anymore. He’s still in Louisiana… So, he’s not hiding anymore. You should go. Take Avie with you—.” 

“I can’t leave you, Drewby,” I interrupted. 

Andrew smiled. “I’ll be here. I promise I won’t hurt myself,” Andrew whispered. I shook my head. I was afraid. I couldn’t lose another child. 

“I’ll wait until we can go together… I can wait,” I reassured him. Andrew yawned. “Sleepy?” 

“I’m always tired… But, I don’t know if I can sleep. You can sleep if you—.”

“Don’t worry about me. Get some shuteye,” I whispered. I playfully snipped at his bangs… But the truth was, it took all my mental power to bury what he said about his brother and sister. That would haunt me forever.

[cardcaptorsakura96]

Taxes, Taxes, Taxes- Chapter 27

Fandom: Supergirl

Characters: Kara Danvers, Clark Kent, Samantha Arias, Lena Luthor, Lillian Luthor, Ruby Arias, Oliver Queen, John Stewart, Diana Prince, Bruce Wayne, Barry Allen, J'onn J'onnz, Alfred Pennyworth, Lois Lane, Cat Grant, Lucy Lane, Damian Wayne, Felicity Smoak, Streaky the Supercat, Martha Kent, Selina Kyle, Talia Al Ghul, Lucius Fox, Maggie Sawyer, Alex Danvers, Jason Todd, Otis Graves, Lex Luthor

Summary: What if superheroes had to pay a property damage tax every time they had a fight in the city?

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, Chapter 25, Chapter 26

Kara stretched while sitting on the sofa in the living room of Wayne Manor. She was currently sitting next to Barry while Diana, Bruce, and Oliver sat on the chairs opposite of them. 

Barry yawned and said, “I am kind of surprised that Damian wasn’t the first one here. He seemed really excited about the prospect of playing.”

“I can assure you I have been here the entire time Flash.”

Barry yelped as Damian suddenly appeared behind Barry.

After catching his breath, Barry turned around to Damian, frowned and asked, “Where the hell did you come from?”

Damian smirked and said, “Don’t be mad that you didn’t suspect my presence.” Damian patted Flash on the back and said, “Maybe if you are nice I can give you pointers on stealth.”

Barry rolled her eyes while Kara chuckled. 

“You have the stealth thing down Damian. I was barely able to detect your heartbeat which I am not sure if that is something I should be amazed or worry about,” said Kara. 

Damian smirked and said, “One day I will surprise you Supergirl.”

Kara smirked and said, “I look forward to the challenge.”

Damian turned to his father and asked, “Father, did Drake, Todd, or Grayson say when they will be here?”

Bruce nodded and said, “They just finished up a mission and will be here in about 15 minutes. Why?”

Damian smirked and said, “It will give Supergirl, Flash, and me a chance to talk about strategy. I see that you brought the heavy hitters with you, but I suggest you take the time we have to do the same.” Damian turned towards Kara and Flash and said, “Come. We have much to discuss.”

Diana and Oliver stared at the trio startled as Kara and Barry shrugged their shoulders and followed Damian out of the living room. 

Oliver turned to Bruce as with a raised eyebrow and said, “When you told me about this, you said it would be a nice game of paintball. Why do I have a feeling now that it will be something similar to war games?”

Bruce sighed and said, “Knowing Damian it is or it could be a dig at the fact that I have lost every game night since we started this about a month or two ago.”

Oliver bursted out laughing and asked, “Wait….you’re telling me….the great detective….hasn’t won anything yet. You can’t be serious.”

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and said, “Please don’t make me regret asking you to come tonight.”

Oliver wiped a tear from his eye and said, “I’m sorry. I just didn’t see that coming is all.”

Diana chuckled while patting Bruce on the back and said, “Don’t worry. We will make sure that this isn’t another losing streak for you.”

Bruce leaned back into his chair, sighed, and said, “I hope so.”

*****

Kara and Barry sat on Damian’s bed as they watched Damian go through his wardrobe in search of something.

 Barry yawned and asked, “So what is this secret strategy that you want to discuss so badly.”

Damian turned around and carried a box to his bed. He opened the box and smirked while looking at the contents inside.

Barry looked at Damian hesitantly and asked, “Whatever you have inside the box isn’t alive, is it?”

Damian scoffed and said, “You have an overactive imagination, Barry.” 

He looked back down in the box, grabbed two gift bags, and handed them to Barry and Kara.

While peeking inside the gift bag, Kara asked, “What are these for?”

Damian smirked and said, “To win, we need to show team spirit. I thought a good start of that was having a team uniform.”

Kara and Barry looked down at the gift bags in surprise. Each gift bag had several clothing items: a black shirt with the words “Worlds Finest” with their logos directly underneath it (Supergirl symbol, lightning symbol, and a bat symbol), a baseball hat with the same imagery as the t-shirt, black pants, and black gym shoes.

Barry looked back up at Damian shocked and said, “These are really nice. You didn’t have to go through all this trouble.”

Damian looked down while grabbing his uniform from the box and said, “I know I didn’t have to, but we should go in as a united front if doing this. It will help with morale.”

Barry and Kara turned to look at each other and smirked. 

Damian frowned and asked, “What is that look for?”

Kara smiled and said, “It is nice to see that you care is all. This is very sweet of you.”

Damian scowled and said, “It isn’t that big of a deal.”

Barry chuckled and said, “Dude, just take the compliment. I know that I will be wearing this a lot after today.”

Damian looked up surprised and asked, “Really?”

Kara chuckled and said, “Of course. I can’t wait to wear it and show it to Lena later.”

Damian looked down while rubbing the back of his neck and said, “I am glad that you guys like the items.”

Damian cleared his throat and said, “Anyways…” He walked over to his nightstand and grabbed out his laptop while Kara and Barry chuckled among themselves. They enjoyed seeing a little vulnerable side to Damian.

As Damian started typing on his laptop, he turned it towards the duo and said, “I found out that we will be playing in the bat cave. I went out and took photos in order to make a 3d rendering of the space. I thought we can discuss which spaces in the cave would give us the best advantage points.”

Barry raised an eyebrow and asked, “Isn’t this supposed to be just a friendly game between peers?”

Damian scowled and asked, “What rock have you been living under? This is a test to prove myself to Father that I can go back into the field. He is trying to make this extra difficult since he requested the assistance of Arrow and the Amazon princess.”

Barry sighed and asked, “Don’t you think you are being a tad bit overdramatic? The more likely reason why he asked Wonder Woman and Green Arrow here today is because Bruce got tired of being in last place all the time.”

Damian gave Barry a deadpan stare. 

Barry rolled his eyes and said, “Fine. If you really think this is some conspiracy of people being out to get you, what do you suggest our course of action is?”

Read the rest on AO3

[loganlostitall]

C, F, L for ask game.

A ship I have never liked and probably never will:

Oooh girl you trying to get me in trouble LOL. Every ship from my last post probably falls under this category as well, besides Rickyl and Desus because I genuinely don’t think I’ve been in this fandom long enough to say that those won’t be my favorite ships in a few years. I don’t think they’ll grow on me but I also said that Daryl would never grow on me, and the same with Negan, soooo I’m not going to make the mistake of using those words ever again LOL.

I can say for TWD though that Daryl Dixon x Leah Shaw, Negan Smith x Alpha, and.. whew… Bethyl aren’t ever gonna be something I like. You’re gonna get me killed here. But Beth Greene x Daryl Dixon is almost exactly the same age gap as Amanda and I were, and you were already my friend when that whole mess happened so I’m sure that comes as no surprise to you. (Amanda is my ex girlfriend?? who was 38 when I was 15, fun time 😀). And Daryl was I believe 41 while Beth was 18 so that’s quite literally the same number of years. 23. No ty. It doesn’t nauseate me because she’d be an adult but I do try to avoid reading it; my mutuals can talk about it though if they want for all I care. I do in fact believe that Beth had a crush on Daryl and just wouldn’t have pursued him, looked for those traits elsewhere.

Marvel forever dislikes: Tony Stark x Peter Parker, Wanda Maximoff x Puerto Maximoff, Gamora x Nebula, Peter Parker x Morgan Stark (seriously, ew), Thanos x Loki Laufeyson, Odin Borrson x Loki Laufeyson, Odin Borrson x Thor Odinson, Odin Borrson x Hela Odindottir, Freyja Freyrdottir (Frigga) x Loki Laufeyson, May Parker-Jameson x Peter Parker, Norman Osborn x Peter Parker, Otto Octavius x Peter Parker, Skip Westcott x Peter Parker!!!!!!!!, Tony Stark x Sentient Armor, Steve Rogers x Peggy Carter, Steve Rogers x Sharon Carter, Bruce Banner x Natasha Romanoff, Brunnhilde x Hela Odindottir, Thor Odinson x Carol Danvers, James Howlett x Anna Marie, if I listed them all I’d be here all night

DC forever dislikes: Alfred Pennyworth x Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne x Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Lucas Fox, Barbara Gordon, or any of Batman’s sidekicks (I think you get my point by now), Jack Napier x Harleen Quinzel, Jack Napier x Clark Kent, Hal Jordan x Arisia Rrab (she’s an entire child 😐), Dick Grayson x Catalina Flores (sexual assault), there are just so many more

Shameless forever dislikes: Fiona Gallagher x literally everyone she ever dated, Debbie Gallagher x all of her exes as well, Lip Gallagher x Mandy Milkovich (she rped him guys!!! don’t forget), Lip Gallagher x Karen Jackson, Karen Jackson x Frank Gallagher, Frank Gallagher x Sammi Slott (that’s your child dude…), Ian Gallagher x Kash Karib, Ian Gallagher x Caleb Daniels, Carl Gallagher x Kassidi Gallagher (typing that made me laugh 😭), Carl Gallagher x Dominique Winslow, Carl Gallagher x Tish (she rped him as well), Liam Gallagher x Sissy (MORE rpe), please just let my babies be happy and in love

Euphoria forever dislikes: Maddie Perez x Nate Jacobs, Rue Bennett x Jules Vaughn, Cal Jacobs x Nate Jacobs, Cal Jacobs x Jules Vaughn, Cassie Howard x Nate Jacobs, Rue Bennett x Nate Jacobs, Rue Bennett x Fezco O’Neill, Fezco O’Neill x Ashtray

What’s the longest you’ve ever been in a fandom?

I am still a Marvel and DC fan, so it’s gotta be those. I’ve literally been a fan since I was born.

Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves.

Maggie Rhee does her absolute best for her son. I… don’t have much /pos commentary besides that 😭

[ddwcaph-game]

any new updates?

No updates yet, but progress is going! I want to finish it before Wayne and Roselyna's birthday comes up again, but you already know how that goes. (Sorry, I forgot JM and Mary's birthdays were last week)

I've been sharing some screenshots of the new additions in the Discord, but besides the new branch, here's a quick summary of the new stuff in the next update to tide you over:

Customize your eyeglasses

Give your twins secret embarrassing nicknames!

New NP choice to customize B's nickname for MC!

Decipher an encrypted sticky note in MC's locker

Ask Lily about 'The Man from Taured'

Option to make MC write their surname first before given name

Select Singer MC's vocal range + added custom input for musical instruments

Choose MC's favorite TV channel with no NP restrictions

New Traits: [Smooth Moves], [Two Left Feet], [Sickness Magnet]

New details to existing secrets (Wayne was almost kidnapped, more info why Maggie rarely calls, another heartbreaking reason why Wayne stopped calling Roselyna 'ate', a darker reason why JM likes supernatural stuff, plus more secret changes)

Expanding the janitor chase scene

New NP choice to select Top 5/Top 10 Student if you don't meet the requirements

New NP choice to let Wayne, Roselyna, Lily (and maybe JM) to mouth off Tita Steph without any filters

Playthrough summary is now shown when you finish a chapter

Steal your twin's slippers + More twin banter!

Lots more!

Anyway, I've thought about the "new" NP system a little more, and I've decided to hold off on implementing it. Instead, I'll just polish off the existing choices, remove some of the extraneous ones that feel more like filler, and add more impactful ones going forward.

It was actually very fun brainstorming what F6E would say to Tita Steph if they didn't have any filters, so maybe I'll share a snippet or two when I'm done editing those. 😛

[clay-cuttlefish]

Oh Greg Rucka we're really in it now. Everything from Officer Down to when Gotham Central starts.

Officer Down

There's been a lot of cop shit so far, but this whole event is nonstop Cop Shit.

Batman going out of his way to wish Gordon a happy birthday is a pretty good moment. World's weirdest work friendship.

The speech about arresting people being the expression of police power is so dumb. You've killed people Gordon.

Unbelievably depressing how important Gordon is to Renee. She has so few people in her life.

Text-to-speech user Cass my beloved.

There's a joke about Cass being trans Batman that's tasteless but is a little bit funny to me as a Cass gender enthusiast.

I am willing to suspend my disbelief, and my real world beliefs about vigilanteism, to read about a spooky goth manbaby's unhinged family drama as he fights a clown trying to explode the city. It is very hard to do that when he works directly with the cops about normal crime, and Crispus laying out why that's fucked up only to walk it back drives me up the wall more than any unacknowledged shittiness. "Oh blah blah Montoya was right this is just how Gotham is" no the fuck she isn't!

There have been flickers of it in earlier appearances, but this story, and the very end, are where Renee is firmly out of the role of Good Cop and into her own arc.

Renee goes from not being a smoker to drowning her sorrows in the space of two issues. It's fast, but it doesn't feel rushed to me. She's been holding back so much for so long - now that her facade has broken, she can't put it back together.

Tec #755

Renee's only in this for a few panels and one line, but it's an interaction with Two-Face when he crashes Gordon's retirement party and gives a heartfelt speech.

Unknowing (Tec #758-760)

Things have settled for now, with Renee and Crispus working together fairly amicably.

And then they get mind controlled. Whoops.

Renee and Babs get dinner together in the backup for 758, which is cute. It's mostly a framing device for a story about the new commissioner, but hey! They're friends!

The actual important effects of this come later, but it's a good story and I like Sasha.

Tec #761

Renee and Crispus are outsiders even within their department and she's actively mocked here, which really doesn't help her ongoing breakdown.

Having Sasha's training montage as a side panel, with the department investigation overlaid, is a lot more interesting than just having them separate. It's a cool looking issue.

Hey remember how Bullock was implied to have killed that guy?

Tec #682

And that's Bullock gone. Renee's willing to investigate the murder he helped commit, despite trying to commit it herself, so she's a lot more stable than she was at the time. Unfortunately things will continue to deteriorate for her.

Orpheus Rising

A mini about the new vigilante Orpheus and the racial tensions in Gotham. There's still a lot of police apologism, but it's leagues ahead of its contemporary Bat comics when it comes to acknowledging police racism.

His introduction is explicitly about the lack of Black heroes among the Bats and how there aren't enough heroes of colour in general, which feels especially bad to read knowing that he's killed off in War Games less than three years later.

Tec #764

Bullock is finally actually gone, and he's replaced by Maggie Sawyer, an out lesbian from Metropolis who doesn't make me want to punch the screen.

Batman #597-598

Renee's increasingly quick to try and pass "freak" crimes onto Batman. That's probably fine.

Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive

Not a lot of important characterization for Renee here, but she and Crispus get to be competent and chase Alfred, so it's a good stable period for them.

Bruce implodes every relationship in his life and gets caught up in absurd Checkmate espionage and none of that is relevant.

Green Arrow Vol. 3 #16

Vic at Ollie's funeral. Not tiny in a crowd this time! They're acknowledged as friends!

[frankenstein-ate-my-left-shoe]

@steddiemas Day 11 -  Animated Holiday Movies & Pop/Alt Christmas Songs

y'all mind if i use all the movies and one of the songs from today's prompt? no? okay cool

pairing: steddie | word count: 1,612 | rated: G

“Alright Munson, it’s time to get you in the holiday spirit.” Steve says, pushing him down onto his own couch one Sunday in mid December. “I managed to grab Charlie Brown from work, and Rudolph, The Grinch, and Frosty will be on CBS tonight.”

“Damn alright, no need to get pushy.” Eddie grumbles, crossing his arms in front of him. He’s not looking forward to this, alright? He’s definitely going to get a stomachache.

“Pizza will be here in just a few minutes, Rudolph starts in 30, then The Grinch and Frosty are right after the other,” he’s pacing now, “I’ve got pop and beer, and chips, and leftover cookies—I’ve got to make more soon don’t I—”

“Steve, Stevie!” Eddie grabs his wrist as he passes in another line of worried pacing in front of the couch. “You gotta calm down sweetheart, why are you makin’ such a fuss?” Maybe if he ignores it, Steve won’t notice the pet name that slipped out from between his lips.

Steve heaves a sigh, “Yeah, yeah you’re right.” he drops down beside him, the couch protesting with a creak, “I just want you to have fun, I suppose.”

Eddie pats Steve’s shoulder comfortingly, “How’d you get all this set up anyway, where’s Wayne?”

Eddie had woken up in the late evening when he heard a crash from the kitchen followed by low swearing. Coming out in his ratty sweatpants and no shirt to Steve sweeping up a bowlful of pretzels back into a large mixing bowl in the middle of his kitchen was quite a sight, but before he could fully process, a green Hawkins Swim Team hoodie was shoved over his head, a hairtie pressed into his palm, and the rest of him being 'shoo'-ed into the living room and onto the couch.

His Uncle’s foldaway bed and his Uncle were missing from where they should be in the small family room, Wayne normally didn’t wake up until about now to get ready to head into work.

Steve shrugs, getting back up off the couch to go back into the kitchen, “When I asked him if I could borrow you for a movie marathon, he insisted I have it here. He’ll be back soon,”

“‘Back soon’? Shouldn’t he be sleeping right now?”

Eddie watches as Steve fiddles around in the kitchen for a few moments, picking up the previously be-floored bowl of pretzels and dumping it into the trash can, when the front door opens and Wayne enters with two pizza boxes balanced on one hand.

“Wayne?”

“Come grab these, will ‘ya Ed?”

Eddie shoots up at once, hopping over the low coffee table to grab the boxes while Wayne takes off his boots and Steve shuffles around them to pay the delivery boy standing on their porch.

The boxes are taken from him only a couple moments later, with Steve bringing them back into the kitchen.

Wayne snaps him back to himself with a hand on his shoulder. “Y’alrigh’ Ed?”

“Wayne. I can’t watch Christmas movies with him.” he says lowly, only to his Uncle. It’s one thing to make cookie cutters with him, but watching some of Maggie Munson’s favorite holiday movies is a whole ‘nother one thing altogether.

Wayne’s crinkled face smoothes out minutely. “Yes y’can, son. I’ll b’here too.”

“Don’t you have work tonight?”

“I swapped shifts with Roger so I could hang out with you boys.” Wayne says at a normal volume, fixing Eddie with a look.

Eddie’s eyes prick with the threat of tears.

That look says “I swapped so I could be here for you.”

“Wayne said he loves Christmas movies!” Steve grins, carrying back two plates with three slices each.

“Didn’ realize they were showin’ all these good’uns tonight!” Wayne says, stepping past them toward the hall, “‘Scuse me boys,”

While his uncle changes out of his coveralls and into his own comfy clothes (which will likely be a flannel and worn Levis), Steve shoves one of the plates of pizza into Eddie’s hands and leads him back to the couch.

He sets the other plate on the side table next to Wayne’s chair, and goes back to the kitchen for a third plate and three beers, all three gripped around their necks in one hand.

“You’re gonna love these, Eds.” Steve plops down beside him, “Charlie Brown is my favorite, but they’re all classics at this point right? That’s why they show them every year.”

Eddie gulps and puts down his plate of pizza on the coffee table. Putting on a brave face, he pulls his hair up into a bun at the back of his head.

“Forgive me if I’m skeptical, Stevie, but let’s get on with it, huh?”

Eddie has fun in the end, that pioneer man with the pickaxe in Rudolph reminds him of Wayne, so it doesn’t surprise him that he’s Wayne’s favorite.

A lot of the tunes and storylines are familiar, of course, it wasn’t like he can wipe the same movies from his mind just because mom is gone, but it was nice to see them again with Wayne and Steve by his side (though Wayne’s been sawing logs from the armchair since even before Rudolph was over).

By time A Charlie Brown Christmas is re-wound and put back in its case, Eddie is bushed. It’s only been a couple hours total that they’ve spent watching, these movies are shorter than he thought, but he’s stuffed full of pizza, beer, and nearly the whole (new) bowl of pretzels he inhaled during their little marathon.

He stretches out on the couch when Steve gets up to clear their plates away and swears he only closes his eyes for a second…only to wake up to the early morning light streaming in through the window behind the TV.

There’s a blanket tucked around him, another is thrown over Wayne (still keeping up with his very astute impression of a chainsaw), and Steve’s Nike’s are missing from the pile next to the door.

He snuggles back down into the cushions and promises to thank Steve later today.

Later today comes after their Hellfire meeting; the party stomps up Mike Wheeler’s stairs from the basement and trickle out the door at 8 o’clock sharp to their respective rides (a stipulation of the Wheelers and the Sinclairs if their boys would still be allowed to be in Hellfire after what happened in March).

Punctual as ever, Steve is already sitting in the Wheeler’s driveway waiting for Dustin and Will. Eddie immediately starts towards the maroon beemer but his steps falter when he hears the music that’s absolutely blasting inside the idling car.

“This yeaarr, to save me from tears, I’ll give it to someone special..” Eddie hears Steve singing along to that accursed new Wham! track, and not just singing along to the lyrics, but vocalizing the instrumentals too.

He manages to get to the driver side window without Steve noticing him, his attention on a book of Sudoku puzzles of all things.

“Knock knock! Earth to Stevie!” Eddie calls, rapping his knuckles on the pane of Steve’s window.

Steve, of course, jumps at the sudden noise, and cranks down the sound along with his window. Well, lowers his window. Stupid BMW with its stupid power windows..

“Jesus Christ, Eddie, you scared the shit outta me.”

“Not my fault you’re not aware of your surroundings, Stevie darling.”

Steve grins up at him, “How was the game?”

“The session was good, I was thiiiis close to killing off Dusty,” Eddie says, holding up his pointer and thumb, nearly pressed together to accentuate his point, “But Will the Wise here saved his ass at the last second.”

“And Dorngar the Monk will be forever grateful.” Speak of the Devil.

“Dorngar the Monk better watch himself next time.” Will says, shaking his head.

Will climbs into the backseat and scoots to the middle of the bench to start going through a play-by-play of the session with Dustin, who gets in the passenger side and kneels backward on the leather seat immediately.

Steve only rolls his eyes at the two of them, his lips curved into a fond smile still turned towards Eddie.

“Hey, I wanted to say thanks, by the way.” Eddie says, leaning his weight onto the roof of the car with his forearm.

Steve’s brows furrow immediately. “For what?” “For last night? I had fun. Surprisingly.”

“You’re welcome, Eds.” Ah good, the smile is back. “Did you sleep good on the couch? I was going to take you into your room before I left, but you looked comfy enough.”

“Oh yeah, I slept like a baby.”

Steve chuckles, “I don’t think a baby could sleep through your uncle’s snores.”

“I did! My mom used to take me over to Wayne’s whenever I’d get too fussy to sleep normally.”

“That’s hilarious!” Steve guffaws, “I can definitely picture it: your uncle asleep in that same chair? Little baby Eddie laid out sound asleep in his lap? Ha!” 

“That’s about how it was,” Eddie grins, thinking of that exact picture his mom had taken during one such visit, the one in the fading photo album tucked away in his closet.

“Dudes, stop fucking around, we gotta get home!” Dustin gripes.

Eddie steps back from the window, raising his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, I’m leavin’ too, be careful getting these assholes home, Stevie.”

“You too, Eds, watch out for deer.”

Eddie’s heart stutters at the simple phase, the same one he’d asked Wayne why he would always say that every time he and mom left his place.

Wayne had just smirked, “Don’tcha know Ed? That’s midwestern for ‘I love you.’.”

to anyone outside the midwest: yes, that's a real thing and also watch out for deer on your way home <3

other parts! Pt. 1 (Day 1) | Pt. 2 (Day 2) | Pt. 3 (Day 5) | Pt. 4 (Day 6) | Pt. 5 (Day 7) | Pt. 6 (Day 11) [YOU ARE HERE] | Pt. 7 (Day 13) | Pt. 8 (Day 18) | Pt. 9 (Day 21) | Pt. 10 (Day 25) also on AO3! this year

[riley1cannon]

In hopes that a bit of streamlining might help to jumpstart at least one fic (in progress for roughly two years, although never posted), I have made the decision to snip out a scene. It was to have been the start of a lengthy flashback sequence that would have really been a story unto itself. Not necessarily a bad thing, but after two years it’s pretty clear it doesn’t want to happen. Does this mean the now-streamlined version will roll out with no bumps in the road? Yeah, I wish. If there’s a chance this shakes it loose, though, it’s worth a shot.

Anyway, because I do kind of kind of like this scene, even though it won’t go where it was supposed to, I’m choosing to preserve it here...

Bruce halted his rush down the stairs of the hotel lobby, gripping the elegant railing as a burst of gunfire rang out from the ballroom. He glanced at Clark, beside him and aiming an intense look in that direction. “What? Is it her?”

Grim-faced, Clark nodded. “Looks like she tried to take out Miss Metropolis.”

Ready to jump over the railing, Bruce found himself held in place by Clark. “Damn it, Clark--” Squirm and strain as he might, he couldn’t get loose of that grip on his shoulder

“Hold your horses. She’s okay--Miss Metropolis is okay. Mrs. Quinn missed. Looks like she might’ve nicked the emcee, though. Mrs. Quinn’s headed this way,” Clark added, even as he released his hold on Bruce. “Go get her.”

Bruce had time to shoot one grumpy look Clark’s way before he charged on down the stairs, timing it just right so that he immediately plowed into a matronly woman, fashionably dressed for murder. She stumbled, caught herself, and began wailing on him with her Dolce and Gabbana purse.

“Get out of my way, you buffoon!”

“Ma’am--” smack smack smack “if you’d just calm down--” smack smack smack

“Calm down? Calm down?!” She smacked him again, got a closer look at him, and growled, “You! You two again!” She’d caught sight of Clark on his way down the stairs, and taking his sweet time about it. Wheels were turning in her mind, dots were connecting as she looked from one to other, suspicions coming together in her eyes. “This is all your fault!” she screamed, bag ready to smack Bruce again.

Clark shot out an arm to catch hold of the purse. “Ma’am, you really need to stop that.”

“Don’t you dare tell me what to do!” She tugged on the bag, trying to get it back. “Let go, you big oaf!”

He did, and the purse went flying through the lobby, smacking into a decorative column and scattering its contents all over the marble floor. She screeched, pushed her way past Clark and Bruce and rushed to her purse, scrambling to gather up all the spilled items.

Bruce kicked a stoppered, brown glass vial Clark’s way, pleased to see he picked it up with a handkerchief. Tugging out his own pocket square, he snagged a Glock  G42--in Tiffany blue, for god’s sake--and was holding it out of her reach as Metropolis P.D. detectives Maggie Sawyer and Dan Turpin came barreling out from the ballroom, their own guns drawn and Turpin yelling, “Everybody freeze!”

“Oh, thank God.” Mrs. Norah Quinn moaned, feigning a swoon as she sank down on a plush sofa, the back of one hand pressed to her forehead, and venom in her eyes as she looked at Bruce and Clark. “Detectives, I want you to arrest these two men. They’ve been stalking and harassing me--”

Gun holstered, Maggie Sawyer let go a deep sigh, favoring Bruce and Clark with a look that could have halted a herd of rampaging elephants in its tracks. “We know exactly what Mr. Kent and Mr. Wayne have been up to, ma’am.” She jerked her head at Turpin. “You want to do the honors?”

“With pleasure.” Turpin stepped forward, cuffs ready, as his partner collected the gun and glass vial. “On your feet, Mrs. Quinn.”

“What?” Playing the flustered and confused card, she looked around the lobby, the crowd spilling out from the ballroom, the reporters and paparazzi, the uniformed officers crowding in. “I don’t understand. Arrest them!” She pointed a manicured finger at Clark and Bruce.

“Don’t you worry,” Turpin said as he helped to her feet. “We’ll be having a word with Starsky and Hutch here. Now, Ms. Quinn,” he snapped handcuffs on her as cameras flashed, “I’m placing you under arrest for the murders of Mercedes Beckett, Paul Lamont, Danielle Jackson…” He was still rattling off names and charges as he escorted her through the lobby and outside. She’d had a busy week.

Sawyer raised a finger before Bruce and Clark could make a move to follow. “You two, hold it right there.” She held up an evidence bag with the vial, half-filled with a viscous fluid that, if ingested, would immediately induce symptoms ranging from vomiting and bloody diarrhea, to respiratory failure. Left untreated, a person would be dead in roughly half an hour. Norah Quinn had added just a few drops to her victim’s tea during late night visits to harangue them for disqualifying her daughter from the Miss Metropolis pageant. “This is it, huh?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Clark pushed at his glasses. “She’s been collecting sap from yellow oleander flowers--”

“Toxicity level six,” Bruce chimed in. “I looked it up.”

She gave him a hard stare. “Do tell.”

The way she said it, he had a feeling she really didn’t want him to tell.

“How about I make a deduction?” she went on. “You two decided to make like the Hardy Boys and go snooping around Ms. Quinn’s house and garden and do our jobs for us, even after you were told to keep out of it. Even when you were made aware we were investigating. As for you,” she gave Bruce a look that warned she ate dilettante rich boys for breakfast, “Jim Gordon’s told me all about you--”

“Oh, I doubt that,” he drawled.

“--and if I ever find you over here again,” she plowed right over him, “making out like you’re some Lord Peter Wimsey wannabe, I will throw you in a hole so dark and deep that all the white-shoe law firms in the tri-state area won’t be able to get you out.”

Bruce could have pointed out that the only reason Metropolis P.D. had put Norah Quinn on their radar was because Clark’s suspicions had been raised while doing research into the pageant’s history, and he had accordingly called in Bruce to give him a hand. He could have pointed that out, but a quelling look from Clark kept him quiet.

Instead, with as much grace as possible, he nodded, and shrugged an apology.

If she wasn’t entirely satisfied with that, there was at least a shade less heat in her eyes as she swung back to Clark. “Have to say I’m a little disappointed in you, Mr. Kent. Never pictured you for these kinds of shenanigans.” 

“No, ma’am,” Clark said, all aw shucks. “I’d blame it on a bad influence,” he looked at Bruce, the implication clear on the source of that bad influence, “but…” He trailed off with a sheepish shrug. Bruce wanted to slug him.

“I get you want to see justice served, and land yourself a big scoop in the process, but you playing amateur sleuth like this just makes my job harder. Bad enough we have to put up with all these costumed vigilante goons these days.”

Expression solemn as a Puritan’s gravestone, Clark nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I do understand.”

Bruce could only roll his eyes.

“I hope you do,” Sawyer said, “because I meant what I said. If I ever catch you and your boyfriend getting underfoot again--”

No, on second thought Bruce didn’t want to slug Clark. The look of flabbergasted dismay on Clark’s face made up for everything.

“Ma’am, no, he’s not my--”

“Darling,” Bruce threw an arm around Clark’s broad shoulders, “I think we should just thank the detective for her generosity and take that as our cue to go.”

Sawyer eyed Bruce with suspicion, but only said, “Sounds like a plan.”

“Come on,” Bruce leaned in to whisper, “let’s make our getaway before she changes her mind.”

Still speechless, Clark let himself be tugged away. 

[countenanceblog]

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Maggie's heart raced with excitement and fear as she followed Karen through the purple door at the end of the hall. They entered a spacious purple room with a large, L-shaped purple sectional couch in the middle. A modernist chandelier hung from the high ceiling. Rufus, Xander, Wayne and Corey were sitting on the couch. Jack was standing beside it. "Okay," said Corey. "Since there's no windows in here, I've been calling it the war room."

"Oh, thank God," said Gage. "Ralphie has a room just for this occasion." A hiss issued from Karen.

"We need to focus, this is serious," she stated.

"What happened at the school?" Jack asked Karen. Jack put his hands on his hips, brushing his duster behind him.

"Ask Maggie, she's the one who saw it." Everyone turned towards Maggie Campbell expectantly. She seemed to shrink in the spotlight. She took a deep breath, and rolled her shoulders back.

"Raj jumped off the commons. Four stories. He sort of hovered in midair, before he actually fell to the ground. So he survived uninjured. Well, almost." Xander leered.

He lolled his tongue. "What do you mean, almost?"

"I think he broke his nose," replied Maggie. She made a dismissive hand gesture. "Valarie saw it too."

"You expect us to believe this?," asked an incredulous Wayne. "Rufus told me you have powers, Karen, and I believe that for the space of zero seconds."

"No," said Karen calmly. "I expect you to believe this." She un-clenched her hand, revealing a silver-plated token. "These tokens weigh an ounce, Wayne. How far can you lift it with your mind? How high?"

Wayne laughed. The token slowly rose a few inches into the air above Karen's palm. Everyone's eyes widened; Jack even took a step back. Xander gasped.

"W-what, how are you, what the fuck?!," he exclaimed.

Wayne was very nearly frozen in place. Corey's pale green eyes bulged. Jack seemed to be trying to get a grip on himself. Rufus piped up.

"Look, we have a huge problem. They're going to come after Raj's friends. You've seen the movies, you know exactly what they're gonna end up doing to us." Wayne slowly, and with great difficulty, turned his head, and then his eyes, towards Rufus. And away from the token.

"We're going to vivisected in some laboratory," Wayne realized aloud. "By Hel, what am I gonna do? I'm supposed to be getting a job, with Elite Tactical. Now I'm gonna get hunted down, by Elite Tacti – "

Xander yelled over everyone. "WHAT THE FUCK?! I'm not friends with Raj! Why would they – what are you talking about, Rufus? What's going on? Why were they surrounding Raj's house? Karen are you some kind of – "

Karen cut in. "Freak? Is that what you were gonna call me?" The token slowly descended back into her palm. "We don't know what's going on, Xander."

Jack, with his bold nature and determination, stepped forward. "Guys, listen up. We can't just sit here and wait for whatever's coming. We need to reach out to the Resistance. They might have answers or resources we don't even know about. We can't face this on our own."

Wayne, true to form, scoffed at Jack's idea. "The Resistance? Are you serious, Jack? This isn't some action movie. We're dealing with real-life problems here, not some movie bullshit."

Karen, holding onto the silver token, chimed in, "Wayne, this isn't a joke. Look at what happened to Raj. There's something strange going on, and we need to be prepared."

Maggie spoke up, "Jack's right. We can't ignore the signs any longer. If there's even a chance that the Resistance can help us, we have to take it."

Rufus, nodding in agreement, added, "It's worth a shot. We need to gather information and protect ourselves. Who knows what they might know about this ET mess."

Xander, still in shock from Karen's telekinetic display, struggled to find words. "I... I guess it can't hurt to check it out. But let's be careful. We don't know who we can trust."

Corey, the voice of reason, chimed in, "Agreed. We need to approach this with caution. But if there's a chance it can keep us safe, we should explore it."

Wayne rose his voice above the din. "Are you guys fucking retarded? Seriously, you think some secret organization that may or may not exist is going to bail us out? They're going to keep us safe? How does that work?!," he exclaimed. Everyone was looking at him.

Corey stomped his white sneaker on the wooden floor. "LOOK, DAMMIT. I know someone. Someone who can help us." Rufus raised one of his pointed eyebrows.

"Who?," he asked Corey.

"David Griffith," was his reply. The room fell silent.

"Homie," intoned Wayne, "he's Public Enemy Number One. They want him worse than they want Nemo Davis. How the fuck do you know him?"

Corey smirked the slightest bit. "Basketball."

[themovieblogonline]

The Legacy of The Dark Knight

With Oppenheimer generating so much talk about Christopher Nolan, there still might be some that are maybe unfamiliar with his work, and why this director/writer/producer is so highly regarded. In short, one of the main reasons why he has become so well-known is because of his take on The Caped Crusader in The Dark Knight, and with 2023 celebrating 15 years since its release, we thought it might be a good time to reflect on the movie, and attempt to uncover why it achieved such critical acclaim. The Legacy of The Dark Knight When Batman Begins was released in 2005, fans were not ready for what Christopher Nolan was going to do to one of the most iconic superheroes to ever exist. He stripped back that ridiculous feeling that emitted from predecessors like Batman Forever & Batman & Robin and based his vision of Bruce Wayne/Batman in a much more solidified way. Ultimately, it felt like Bruce Wayne was living in the same world as us. With a stomping soundtrack from Hans Zimmer (You can hear it right now can’t you?) along with a whole host of legendary performances from Cillian Murphy (Fun fact, Cillian Murphy auditioned for the role of Batman before becoming Scarecrow), Liam Neeson (Ra's al Ghul), Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth), to name just a few, Batman Begins was a monumental hit and a refreshing reminder of how important this DC character is. As the title suggests, it was just a taste of things to come, and what came next was something truly special... If you ask anyone in the street to name a Batman villain, the first one that would come to mind for most is The Joker! When it was confirmed that The Joker would be making an appearance in The Dark Knight, fans and cinema attendees alike went into complete overdrive with excitement. Let’s not forget though, that at the time, fans were skeptical of Nolan’s decision to pick Heath Ledger as The Joker due to him being famous for projects that some thought weren’t in a similar vein to the seriousness of The Dark Knight, but when the credits started to roll, Nolan earned trust, and Heath proved every single doubter wrong. Heath Ledger’s take on The Joker is nothing short of iconic, and as someone who watched this film in the cinema when it came out, I can still remember just how silent the audience was every time Heath did a scene, his laugh, and frenzied presence was terrifying. Michael Caine famously mentioned how scared he was to just be on set with Heath when he was in costume as The Joker, and I believe him. With his unfortunate passing, The Dark Knight is just a snapshot of Heath’s diverse acting ability, and as a viewer, you can’t help but wonder what incredible roles he would have taken on next if he was still with us. A tragic loss to say the least. Now, I haven’t mentioned Christian Bale’s take on Batman yet, so let’s get stuck into that. In short, he is in my opinion one of the best Batman’s we have ever seen. He nailed the voice, and his nipple-free look as the Batman itself, is a modern, spot-on style, that again harks realism. Christian glues the plot together, he gives us a professional and streamlined Batman/Bruce Wayne, whilst giving space for supporting characters to thrive. Also, when it comes to cinematography, it doesn’t get much cooler than watching his version of Batman cruise around the streets of Gotham on his Batmobile, or Batbike, with Hans Zimmer’s heart-pounding soundtrack racing in the background. Going back to realism, that is certainly another key reason why this movie has lasted the test of time, and practical effects are nothing short of legendary here. There’s that classic sequence where Nolan flips a whole truck (this is NOT CGI), and the opening sequence with zip lines, clowns, and a bank robbery, instantly pulls in the viewer. Encasing the movie are standout performances from Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent), Maggie Gyllenhaal (Rachel Dawes), Gary Oldman (James Gordon), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) and not forgetting a breakout role from David Dastmalchian. Just like Batman Begins, The Dark Knight features an outstanding cast. There are a ton of reasons why The Dark Knight is so well known (You could write an essay on the importance of each main character alone!), and this article only covers just some of those crucial points, so why not celebrate its 15th anniversary by revisiting the movie today. Read the full article