#so make of that what you will

[quadrantadvisor]

DP x DC, revenant!Jason Todd

Shortly after meeting, Danny and Jason have a late night conversation about what it means to come back. 1281 words

On AO3

-

Danny woke groggily, in a dark place that he didn't recognize, and took a moment to get his bearings.

He felt the warning ache in his neck that came from being propped up against an arm rest. There were two sources of dim light in the room—the glow of city street lights, muffled behind a curtain, and the green eyes of the man whose lap Danny's feet were propped on.

Right. Danny hadn’t meant to fall asleep on the revenant’s—on Jason’s—couch, but they’d been talking for so long, he must’ve dozed off.

Jason had had so many questions, about ectoplasm, about the zone, about Danny’s own experiences. Danny had done his best to clear up everything he could. A revenant may not be quite the same as he was, but still, it made Danny happy to be able to pass on his hard won knowledge and maybe save someone else a bit of the hurt and confusion that he’d gone through. It was what he’d always wished someone would do for him.

Jason was slumped into the couch, but he didn’t look relaxed. Danny examined his still profile, cast in strange shadows by its own green glow, and wondered how long it had been since he’d moved.

Danny shifted slightly, purposefully producing the fabric sounds of a body against upholstery, to make sure Jason knew he was awake. No reaction. Danny gave him one more moment, then asked, “You okay?”

Jason didn’t look at him when he answered, “You told me I’m basically possessing my own corpse, and I’m supposed to not be upset about that?”

Really, Danny should’ve predicted something like that. How long had he spent, trying to pretend that death hadn’t really touched him? It wasn’t an easy thing to accept.

“What’s the difference between a body and a corpse?” Danny asked.

Jason’s eyes snapped to Danny, their glow intensifying. “I am not dealing with riddle bullshit right now, I swear to-”

“No, I’m being serious,” Danny interrupted, pulling his feet from Jason’s lap and sitting himself up. “There’s one difference between a corpse and a living body, and that’s that someone is living in it. Jason—” he reached out, gripping one of Jason’s hands in his “—you’re alive. That’s what matters. The rest is details.”

Jason’s shoulders bent inwards, his other hand raising to rub at his chest. “You don’t get it,” he said, quiet. “People don’t just come back from what they did to me. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“However you died, it’s not-”

Jason huffed an ugly sound, a short and bitter laugh that Danny hurt to hear. “Is it crazy that that isn’t even what I was talking about? I meant after.” The motion on his chest was repetitive, like he was tracing something underneath his shirt, and Danny got the sinking feeling that he knew just what sort of scar it might be. “I was gone, okay? I was gone, and this body was still here. And they took it, and they cut it open and rummaged around inside to figure out what happened. Which is—” he cut off, sniffed, and Danny gripped his hand tighter “—which is stupid, right? It’s not like it wasn’t obvious.” His fingers twitched, and he continued, haltingly, “I mean, I’ve read the report. Pulled it off his stupid files. The smoke inhalation did me in. After everything that happened, it was the smoke.”

Jasons’ hand pulled out of Danny’s, and they both rose to cover his face, cutting off the glow while he curled in on himself even tighter. His voice was slightly muffled when he said, “And then they had to ship me home, right? So they bled me dry and pumped me full of formaldehyde, and they prettied me up so they could pretend I wasn’t just some empty thing, and Bruce held the tiniest most depressing little funeral known to man and put my ass in the ground, and I had to wake up down there.” His words and his breaths were coming too quick, and Danny didn’t know how to help. He didn’t want Jason to stop, not when it seemed like he needed to say all of this, but he could see just how badly the revenant was hurting.

“But you did wake up,” he whispered.

“Woke up in my own mutilated corpse!” Jason snarled. “Everything I’ve forgotten, and that memory is still crystal fucking clear! It stank in there, like death and vinegar and mud, and it was so small, and I couldn’t even try to scream for help because they sewed my fucking mouth shut—!” He broke off into a sob, and Danny couldn’t stand it anymore, had to lean into Jason’s side and wrap an arm around him as he shook with all the emotion he couldn’t reign in.

“Okay,” Danny said. Not you’re okay, just okay. “Okay, so that’s the most horrible thing I’ve ever heard, and I regularly hang out with a guy who wants to skin me.”

Jason sniffed. “What?”

“Nevermind. It’s just-”

“No, I think we should go back to the skinning thing-”

“I just don’t want you to let it define you,” Danny interrupted. “I did that. I got into my head about it, the whole ‘being dead’ thing, feeling like I was…” Danny gave himself a second, swallowed, “like some sort of freak. A thing that didn’t belong anywhere. But I’m still alive, and you’re alive, and even if we weren’t, it wouldn’t matter, because we’re still here, and as long as you’re here you can find something that’s worth staying for.” Danny rubbed what he hoped was a soothing pattern into Jason’s admittedly impressive bicep.

Jason let out a sigh. “I must really be pathetic if you’ve gotta pep talk me like that, huh?” he said, and Danny pretended not to see him wiping at his eyes. “Sorry,” he added, “about all this. I’ve got some shit I haven’t dealt with, and this ‘revenant’ stuff brought it up pretty bad.”

“I get it,” Danny said, and hoped Jason could tell how much he meant it.

Jason sighed again, heavy, like he was trying to release something else with his breath, and said, “It still doesn’t make any sense. Logically, I can’t be alive. Where did my blood come from?”

Danny shrugged. “Do you have blood?”

“I definitely have blood. I’ve seen a lot of it.”

That gave Danny pause. “Just like, around?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Jason said, deadpan. “I’ve got a surplus, so I like to leave some here and there, make sure everyone gets a chance to appreciate it.”

“I have no idea how much you’re joking and it frightens me,” Danny told him.

“Weak,” Jason replied.

“Anyways, you gotta not think about it too much. The interdimensional goop is already logic-defying, and you’re mixing magic with it with your special soul willpower or something. Your brain will explode if you try to make it make sense.”

Jason huffed a little laugh, bouncing Danny on his shoulder, and this time it made him feel lighter. “Can I just say that I hate that I’m full of interdimensional goop?”

“Valid,” Danny said.

Even without looking at Jason, Danny could tell that he just rolled his eyes by the way the soft green light moved.

Danny had his ear pressed to Jason’s shoulder, feeling his warmth, and if he focused, he could just make out the revenant’s pulse. Personally, Danny thought it was pretty cool to be full of magic and goop and blood. Much cooler than Danny, who was way more science goop than magic goop. They’d have to compare notes on that sometime.

Maybe Jason would come around to it.

[rettrogue]

you should really learn to mellow out.

[stopbuggingm3]

told ya they'd be back

the more time passes, the less normal I get about them.

Loooooong rambles about their relationship under the cut, I said I would and i intend to deliver

So. Out of all the other pastas shes come into contact with, Arya easily ends up the closest with Brian/Hoodie (who i will refer to exclusively as Brian for the sake of my own sanity for this). They've got a "begrudgingly tolerating one another to faux-sibling dynamic" thing going on

How did that start?

Roughly a month or so after she went "missing", both Tim and Brian (they'll always come as a pair to me) find Arya out in the woods, bleeding out and barely conscious, after she managed to wander within close proximity of the cabin the two stay at. Surprised she even made it out so far, they go to investigate (and put her out of her misery) but stop when they find the operator symbol Arya has on her stomach.

Context: In my au, having the operator symbol on your body like that essentially marks you as being Slendermans property and is typically something only the proxies have, which also means that anyone under Slenders control aren't allowed to kill anyone possessing a symbol (don't break the bosses toys, he doesn't like that)

Arya is ironically lucky thats the case, or she absolutely would've been forced to find out what healing around a bullet feels like.

Initially Brian was against the idea of taking Arya with them at all, to the point he only agreed after Tim promised they would get rid of her if she proved to be too much of a hassle. It didn't take very long for them to find out she isn't a proxy herself after she was healed enough to talk, though they still couldn't do much about it, so they came up with a deal: She helps them in whatever way they need, and they'll help keep her safe

From that point on, Arya would regularly stick with Tim and Brian, only leaving whenever the other proxies were around or they had a particularly long job to do. Tim was civil enough, but Brian was considerably colder and untrusting towards her and would repeatedly make it clear that they'd only keep her around for as long as she was useful to them. He takes his job seriously and he's not about to let her become a burden just because they can't get rid of her for good.

Hence the art i made of them the other day. Arya was definitely made to tag along on a handful of Brians more graphic jobs. He still films the way he did when he was ToTheArk, more out of habit and comfort than anything, and I like to think he pushed it onto Arya at least once.

But, as frustrating as it was, and as much as she'd snap back at him for it, Arya didn't take any offence to the harsh treatment. If anything, she viewed his reluctance to trust her almost as a challenge and made it her personal mission to prove herself to him. She refused to let him think of her as a burden or dead-weight, she actually liked that he was a hardass on her. It was better than him immediately writing her off as incapable.

The petty arguments the two of them would constantly get into has single handedly supplied Tim with so much guilt over subjecting Brian to his and Tobys constant bickering, because now he knows exactly how it sounds to everyone else around them.

Speaking of Toby, he crashes on Tim and Brians couch from time to time and Arya is quick to clear off any time he does because, in Brians words, "Toby would gut her alive if he found her" and honestly Arya wouldn't be any more merciful.

It was a slow and painful process, but after a while of sticking around Arya did eventually manage to earn Brians trust and learned to give her own back in return. They warm up to each other. Theres still a good amount of petty bickering but it's much more light hearted and playful than before, petty in the way siblings are rather than enemies.

Brian appreciates how reliable and determined she can be and the way she trusts his judgement on plans and decisions rather than question his every other word like Tim and Toby can sometimes do (Tims a cautious man by nature and Toby...is Toby)

Similarly, Arya appreciates him trusting her capabilities and ability to handle the tasks he gives her. He doesn't assume her to be less capable because of her disabilities and it's a welcome change from the way others can automatically underestimate and look down on her for them

Brian reminds Arya of her older sister Kat (or Katherine for long) in a way, mostly in that they both tend to show care and affection through "tough love" and smaller gestures. Theres times when they argue (usually about Aryas recklessness) where Brian will near enough quote Kat word for word and Arya will just crumble to whatever it is he's saying. She knows her sister had her best interests in mind and the way they constantly argued is something she regrets more than anything, so she tries to avoid the same thing happening to her and Brian. Unlike Kat though, Brian is much more willing to hear her side out and meet her half way on things, which makes it easier to listen to him when he needs her too.

Usually when Arya has a POTS flair up, she'll either shut herself away in the cabins spare room or find somewhere in the woods to hide away until it passes, but sometimes (when it's particularly bad) she'll let Brian stay by her and keep her company because she knows he won't treat her like glass over it. He will be a pest though, if a well meaning one

"Y'know you still have to eat somethin', right?"

"...bring that near me and I will vomit."

"Yeah, but you'll be even more unbearable later if you don't so i'm willin' to risk it."

After weeks of listening to her pester Tim about it, Brian taught Arya how to shoot his gun. She doesn't have one of her own and Brian is usually in need of his, but she has free access to his bullets if she ever meeds them (which is definitely not a privilege she abuses I promise, she will absolutely replace any bullets she may or may not steal)

[modmad]

would RGB ever play a sport. if not what’s the closest he gets . Board games? Poker?

RGB can play every sport! how well he can play them is another thing

[rnoonsetter]

ive never seen this talked about directly, prolly because i don't intentionally seek out people talking about Disco Elysium - i see so much of it incidentally!

but. the matchbox tower. there's something about it i can't speak to. out of all the scenes in the game, i think that one, as silly as it is, is genuinely that good.

the infra-materialism book is, of course, pure nonsense. and you're not supposed to take it seriously. like sure, being a communist means your beard grows faster and you can have sex for eight hours straight. marx and engels just read each others' thoughts. dumb shit.

but the idea that, if you hope enough, if you pray enough, then, just for a moment, the world is different...

i feel like so many of the iconic moments and lines in DE all have this throughline, "true love is possible, only in the next world," "un jour je serai", "should we stop building love", "you're the miracle harry", "in dark times should the stars also go out", etc, they all have this message of hope. and i think the tower of history fits with all those others. that's love.

(and there exists, of course, the antithesis:)

[altocat]

If the firsts played sports what would they be good at?

Angeal: Big bear man. Big bear man body. Definitely wrestling. Or maybe boxing? Angeal is stockier and heavier than the other two firsts, so definitely a sport requiring a lot more emphasis on power and strength.

Genesis: Genesis is Genesis. Which means he's going for gymnastics all the way. He's already got the flipping thing down with all his fancy fighting moves! I could definitely see him doing great for figure skating. And I can't unsee the hilarious mental image that is Genesis Equestrian adventures.

Sephiroth: He'd be good at ALL sports. He's Sephiroth. Buuuuuut if I had to pick just a few...probably fencing or swimming. The former because of his skills with a blade. The latter because he's got a powerful upper body and height for that sort of thing. Sephiroth strikes me as someone who is aggressively athletic and likes healthy competition...but is otherwise completely uninterested in sports, thus wasting his talent lmao

[starmocha]

Plushie Emperor Li Shen

[awesomeart-83]

If I have a nickel everytime a media based in France that has a villain who tried to commit terrorism but was later redeemed at the end, I would have two.

Which is quite disturbing and weird, but it is weird it happened twice.

I mean, I was hoping for a Team Flare mention like Lysandre being hinted at, but I wasn’t expecting Mable to be her and be the Pokemon professor.

[cakebatteronabrickwall]

I have like one story left in me with the working title: spider owns a dog and it's not river

[adhdo5]

I would reblog all your transfem wwx posting but the mdzs fandom scares me (especially wwx fans)

Just kill (READ: block) everybody who pisses you off

[ninjaaa-go]

the mage exam arc in frieren is the best arc in the show and you cannot change my mind

[bookwyrminspiration]

You’re definitely also fin

I did once try to make rainbow fire in my backyard for an assignment in hs after my teacher specifically told me not to because it was "too dangerous" or something equally ridiculous...

[wiskiemonk]

It's honestly miraculous that he ever gets laid tbh

[stopmyhearts]

Writing prompt: Braxiatel attempts to Console Ramana after Etra Prime. But Romana doesn’t trust him because she doesn’t remember him and all Braxiatel wants to do is help her.

I think these two are best when both suffering together

https://archiveofourown.org/works/63406588

thank you for this prompt, hope you enjoy!

Brax made me super sad in writing this, he and Romana break my heart

[cyberdragoninfinity]

Does KansasZarc have a fursona?

If you asked Zarc this to his face, there is a 100% chance his reply would have a slur in it and be in the volume range of a "shrieking chimp losing its absolute marbles." You think he's kind of FURRY??? YOU THINK HE'S INTO THAT GAY SHIT??? WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN.

and then he would go home and look at google image searches of "cool dragon illustration" for two hours