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sevengraces · 1 year ago

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someday I'm gonna be somebody people want

ch1, You, Title Card

AO3 Link

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Hello and back again, I have the patience of a toddler when I'm invested so here we go besties. I could not bear to leave you on that cliff hanger for long so y'know you're welcome ig. Warnings are the same as the previous chapter so y'know feel free to go back and reread 'em lol. This chapter title is also from Dodie "All My Daughters" figured I should keep with a theme of some sort. Blanket notice for all my works btw, if the dialogue seems weird or off kilter it's because I am both of those things and have yet to figure out a single social interaction. If it's real bad you can just believe that they're both autistic, cause I am and that's why they're written like that lol. (I do feel in my heart of hearts that Tim Drake is autistic, but that's prolly cause he's my lad for projection so what can ya do. I didn't tag him as autistic in this fic b/c I didn't intentionally write him that way but again (!) I am autistic so there is a nonzero chance all my characters come across like that) c'est la vie tho so enjoy

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Chapter 2- Everyone but me knows how to let go

Tim sat up so fast he had to brace himself against the couch so that he didn’t face plant into a puddle of regurgitated coffee. Once he steadied himself he realized he had no idea where to go from here.

“What’s happening kid? I sent you a message but you didn’t even read it, and I knocked for like ten minutes once I got here.” Jason asked, closing the door behind himself and glancing around the empty penthouse.

The younger boy took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak, when Jason evidently spotted the vomit. “What the fuck? D’ya have a concussion? Did you even go out last night? Don’t you know better than to try and do your concussion watch by yourself?” He shot out rapid-fire.

Tim stood shakily and rolled his eyes, heading into the kitchen and pulling out a towel and cleaner from the cabinet under the sink. “I don’t have a concussion, no I didn’t go out last night, and obviously I know you can’t concussion-watch yourself Jason- despite what you might think, I’m not an idiot.”

Jason blocked his way towards the mess and looked him up and down.

Tim was shaking and pale. His lips were chapped and he had deep bags under his eyes, which were only broken up by the puffy red rings that displayed a decent representative of how long he’d cried for. His face was coated in those tacky tears and his hair looked like he’d been pulling on it for a long time. The boy was staring determinedly at the window behind Jason and he had the towel and spray bottle clutched so hard his knuckles had gone white.

The man softened a little, “You get yourself sick?”

Of course, Tim just stepped around the man and bared his teeth in a bitter facsimile of a smile. “Not in anyway that matters Todd.” He crouched down and held his breath as he cleaned up the vomit, spraying the floor and scrubbing some more with a second towel.

“What’s that supposed to mean Timbo? You’re either sick or not kid.” Jason sent another, sharper, glance around the apartment. His vision stuttered over the shattered mug, it was red and had writing on it at some point, but it was illegible now.

“No, I’m not sick Jason. Did you need something- I’m sorry to have ignored you I was a little preoccupied.” Tim steadfastly ignored any tension in the room and walked back to the kitchen. He deposited the spray bottle under the counter once more and dumped the used towels in a hall hamper. Then he opened a nearby door revealing a closet full of blankets and larger cleaning supplies. He pulled out a broom and dustpan then turned back towards the shattered coffee mug.

Once more the man stepped into the younger’s path. “Sure seems like it kiddo- listen is everything alright?”

Tim tensed even further then sighed loud and long. “Listen to me Jason, we don’t have to do this okay? You’re gonna ask what’s wrong with me, I’m going to avoid the question- then we’ll do that until you’ve felt like you did your due diligence. After that you’ll accept what I said the first time and ask for whatever favor you came here for.” The boy glared up at Jason and gestured that he should move, he did not. “It doesn’t matter and I promise, I’m not going to go whine to Dick or Bruce that you ignored my duress or something- hell if they ask I’ll lie and tell them we had a real heart to heart and fleshed out our entire sordid, bloody history to a nice storybook resolution.”

Jason took a step back and grabbed the boy by the shoulders carefully, “So you’re under duress then?”

He yanked himself backwards and let out a wordless shriek, before muttering to himself as he pushed around the older man and began to sweep. “Fuck why not, of course this is gonna happen- goddamnit, it might as well.”

Jason watched him warily, like someone watches a loose lion or a person a little too close to the edge of a building. “Look Pre- Tim, I’m obviously not someone you wanna be talkin’ to- and no one gets that more than me! But I can’t leave you alone like this, is there someone I can call? Dickiebird? Maybe Blondie? Hell, I’ll get the clone on the line if it’ll help ya, just tell me what I can do ta’ help right now, okay?”

Tim laughed bitterly, leaning down to pick up the dustpan then walking and dumping it in the trash. He dropped both items on the floor in the kitchen before storming into the living room and gesturing towards the leather chair across from the couch that he collapsed on in a pile of disjointed limbs. “Whatever Jason, you’re already here and this can’t get much worse honestly- so y’know take a seat! You need a drink or anything, or can I lay here and stare at the ceiling as I rerun my top ten worst mistakes and do the math to figure out how all of that ended up with us here in my shitty apartment on a fucking Saturday morning?”

The man in question edged around the kitchen counter and tentatively sat on the leather chair, “What’s up then? You said you didn’ go out last night, right?”

Tim muttered angrily, “I’m never going to live this down fuck- should just send a fucking group email and get it over with,” before rolling his head to stare at Jason, who had his boots toed off onto the ground next to the chair and a leg propped up on the coffee table between them.

Jason sat and waited through the grumbling, maintaining a faintly concerned expression the entire time.

“You really want to do this?” Tim finally sighed like it had been forced out of him.

The other merely shrugged and leaned back into the chair, “What else would I be doin’ huh?”

“Anything?” The boy laughed out before rolling his eyes and taking in a deep breath. “Fine, I’d tell you not to laugh but it isn’t like it matters, so here goes nothing I guess.”

Tim stared up at the ceiling and ignored how tense his entire body was, he stared up at the ceiling and ignored how obvious that tension probably was to Jason. “I’m lonely.”

The boy liked to imagine the silence hung like a gunshot in the air, but it didn’t- he knew what those sounded like.

“You’re lonely.” Jason repeated with no intonation whatsoever.

Tim shrugged and resolutely stared at the ceiling some more, “Yup, go ahead then let's get this over with sooner rather than later.”

Jason frowned and dropped his leg from the table, leaning forward; “Get what over with kid? D’ya want a hug? No offense but that didn’t seem like something you were interested in earlier.”

He sat up on the couch, “Jason don’t be an idiot,” he gestured widely with his hands between the two of them, “the laughter, the jokes, the- I don’t know Todd, texting everyone we both know and a few people we don’t for good measure! Whatever it is you’re gonna do with this!”

Jason stared for a long moment, “Listen- I know I’ve been an ass, especially to you, but this isn’t funny. You fuckin’ threw up because of it, you’ve obviously been crying, none of that is funny Tim.” The older boy pinched the bridge of his nose, “Why didn’t you call someone- actually how do you get so lonely you puke? Is this something Bruce knows about?

Tim gaped for a long moment before letting out a sharp, angry sounding laugh. “This isn’t funny? That’s the line for you Todd? If I actually cry about it then it isn’t funny anymore, shit if I’d known it was this easy to get you to act like a person around me I’d’ve dealt with this ages ago!”

The older boy flinched back like he’d been hit, “Tim I-“

He was interrupted, “No don’t act like you give a shit Jason! Not even twenty fucking minutes ago you were calling me Pretender, this is the most you’ve said my actual goddamn name in the entire time we’ve known each other. You asked asshole, I told you- knowing full well the consequences.” He breathed heavily for a minute before continuing slightly softer, “I get that you don’t give a shit about me, not in any way that matters. I know you think I’m a naive idiot Jason, but don’t pretend you want to know for any reason other than having a leg up on this weird one-sided pissing match- remember I’m the Pretender, only one of us steals titles.”

Jason curled in on himself, breathing deeply before staring off to the left of the boy across from him. “Alright, I think I fucked this up- um Tim listen I sorta thought you’d just know since I guess there hadn’t been any fights to the death for awhile and we uh- coexisted when necessary.” He shored his shoulders and turned to look the younger in the eyes, “I don’t hate you, okay? You’re not stupid or naive, I uh- I thought we were uh bein’ friendly- which yeah I shoulda known better it’s not like I ever actually apologized ta’ you. Fuck.”

Tim blinked, standing up and backing towards the window side of the living room. “Jason Peter Todd this is not funny, you- you got your fucking blackmail I- what the fuck do you want from me? Fuck off, did Dick tell you? Was it Bruce? Surely you’ve got better things to do with your time?” His voice broke halfway through, “Who thought this was a funny fucking joke?”

Jason went pale, “Shit- no kid this isn’t a fucking joke! I- who would? Why would that be fucking funny? Holy shit kid,” the man stood up just as quickly, shooting forward and pulling Tim into a hug. “Shit, I’m sorry- I don’t, I don’ know what to do here kid, please.”

Tim bit back a sob, tensing his whole body away from the hug. He desperately forced out; “If this is a joke I need you to leave right now- please Jason, you win okay? G-good one alright? You can go and uh, and tell ev- everyone how I fell for it al- alright?”

He leaned back, holding the boy steady in his arms. “Tim, Tim I’m not kiddin’ please- I just, whaddya need ta’ know I’m serious?” Jason begged frantically, “D’ya want an apology? Cause I’m sorry kid, I’m so fucking sorry for all of it alright? You didn’t deserve a goddamn bit of it and it never shoulda happened, not at all and not to you.”

Tim shook in his hold, just barely whispering “You don’t mean that, Jason you don’t mean that okay? I was- I was a shitty replacement an- and a useless Robin that was- wasn’t even a decent placeholder for the next one okay? Do- don’t say shit like that to me Jason, if it was ever funny it definitely isn’t now, okay? I don’t know what you want me t- to say!” He whined out anxiously.

If possible, Jasons’ face crumpled further. “No kid, I don’t- I’m not makin’ fun of ya. Don’t say shit like that Tim, you were a great Robin an’ I was lucky ta’ have you as a successor, okay?”

The boy collapsed, leaning fully against Jason as his sobs returned with a vengeance and his breathing rocketed up in speed.

Jason pulled the boy into his arms and lowered them both onto the floor, “Shit uhm- shh, you’re okay Tim- deep breathes C’mon. It’ll be okay, c’mere kid I’ve got ya.”

Tim whined and leaned into the hold so hard his head ached, and Jason began to run a hand through his hair. “You’ll be okay, s’all fine. I know Tim, I know- it’s a lot right now. Just breathe with me c’mon in and out you’ve got it.”

Tim struggled and shook and cried for a long time, he tried to pull back from the older man but Jason just kept holding him and talking through the panic.

Eventually he began to follow Jason’s voice, managing a choked inhale through his sobs every now and then until slowly, painfully, the panic began to ease.

Jason just continued to mutter reassurances like it was nothing, “There you go, there he is, you’re doing so good. Here we are, you’re right here with me and nobodies gonna hurt you, I’ve got ya kid- just take it easy.”

Tim slowly stiffened as he came back into himself. He was curled up in Jasons lap, with his head shoved under the older mans’ chin and his face buried in his neck. His hands were gripping the back of Jasons’ jacket like he belonged there and there were half dried tears all over the both of them. Jason had his arm wrapped around him and his other hand was running though his hair. Casually, he pressed a kiss onto the top of Tims’ hair, still speaking softly throughout it all.

He forced his hands free and yanked himself out of the elder's arms, nearly falling backwards, except Jason caught him easily. “Hey, hey you’re okay Tim- it's fine I’ll let you up just be careful.”

Tim scrambled backwards until he was pressed against the window like he’d been sitting earlier this morning. He scrubbed a hand up and down his face, refusing to look at the older man he’d just been crying on for who knows how long.

Jason let him, hands held up in acquiesce. “D’ya need a drink? Some food?”

Tim kept his hands in place and firmly did not look at Jason. Reluctantly he muttered, “Water’s fine, there are bottles in the pantry.”

He stood slowly then turned around and headed towards the kitchen. Jason opened the pantry door next to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water. He gave the younger a moment to collect himself before heading back into the living room and dropping to the floor across from him.

“Here, drink the first one slowly.”

Tim didn’t look up but he took the bottle and cracked the seal. He took small sips in silence for a heavy few moments before finally glancing through his bangs at the other boy.

Jason was sitting on the ground with his legs sprawled out in front of him, he had a second water bottle on his left and was leaned back on his right hand. He wasn’t watching Tim drink head on, instead staring out the window behind the boy with only the occasional glance to check his progress through the water. Stretched out across Tims’ floor, Jason looked so much like Robin that it hurt to breathe.

Eventually Tim finished the first water bottle, and Jason handed him the second without hesitation. “Drink as fast as ya like, just finish it.”

And so he did, he drank in silence for a few more minutes and pretended that he had any idea what was going to happen next.

After he got a solid amount of water in him, Jason cleared his throat.

Tim tensed in a way that was unfortunately quite visible to Bats, but Jason soldiered on anyways. “Listen, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have sprung that on you when it was clear somethin’ was up, and I’m sorry for everything I’ve ever done that’d make you think I’d make such a shitty joke. I get it if you don’t believe me or want ta’ see me again, I just- Tim you’ve gotta know that right now I’m serious, yeah?”

He shuddered, and Tim winced. “I- fuck Jason you don’t need to- m’sorry.” He exhaled sharply, “None of this was your problem and I didn’t mean to make such a scene but you know me. I uh- I overreacted okay? That’s not your fault. You uh- you just caught me at a bad time and had to deal with my fits, but its no big deal okay?” Tim chewed his lip and shoved his face into his knees muttering to himself; “Fuck this is embarrassing.”

The older of the two flinched like he’d been shot this time, “Tim can you look at me a minute?”

The boy reluctantly looked up and Jason let out a wobbly smile before continuing, “Ya don’t need ta’ be embarrassed okay kid? You had a panic attack, probably two judging by the vomit from earlier- and that shit just happens sometimes okay? Especially in our line of work.”

Tim shook his head and smiled tightly, “Not really Jason, I’ve kinda always been like this. But thank you anyways.”

“Tim, listen to me okay? Just to the words I’m saying.” Jason responded through grit teeth, “That shit happens sometimes and it isn’t your fault. You got that? People have panic attacks, especially kids in high stress situations 24/7 so this isn’t some sparing your feelings bullshit- when have you even known me to do that anyways?”

The younger laughed ruefully, “Apparently right after I have a breakdown in your lap.”

Jason snorted but shook his head, “I’m bein’ dead serious Tim okay? And-“ he hesitated but powered through, “I’m bein’ serious when I tell you I’m sorry.”

Tims' face went red and he looked off to the side, “Yeah alright Jason, I get it. I’m sorry I had a fucking episode all over you about it or whatever.”

Jason raised an eyebrow, “I’m not sure you do get it kid, but I can explain.” He bit the inside of his cheek and started, “I’m sorry I attacked you- each time Tim. You didn’t deserve any o’ that and I shoulda known better. I said and did a lot of shit to you, and I blamed you for a lot of shit that wasn’t your fault. I was running high and fast on the Pit, and I’m not sayin’ that as an excuse cause it isn’t one. I’m telling you that so you know I was dead fuckin’ wrong when I said that shit to you.”

He continued, “You’re not a pretender or a replacement or a fuckin’ placeholder. You were a damn good Robin and I meant it when I told you I was lucky to have you as a successor. I mean shit kid, even beat seven ways to hell on the Pit I still wanted you as my Robin.”

Tim hesitated and glared at the floor near his feet. “You- you don’t have to say all this Jason. I know you don’t want to kill me and I get that in your right mind you wouldn’t’ve attacked me. But-“ he trailed off before looking up helplessly and whispering, “you don’t like me Jason.”

He grimaced, “To be honest Tim, I don’t really know you. The only things I know about you are what Talia told me and what I’ve heard from everyone else in this shitty family.” Jason smiled crookedly, “But from what everyone who’s actually met you says about you? I’d be stupid not to like you kid.”

Tim curled up and grit his teeth, “I know that isn’t true, I mean c’mon man- who the fuck are you talking to? I don’t know if you know this Jason,” he began bitterly, “but I’m an asshole. I’m a petty, manipulative, cold-hearted little shit and the only reason Bruce has kept me on retainer at this point is because I’d be too hard to beat as a rogue.”

Jason blinked for a moment “Kid, how’d you become Robin? Why’d ya’ do it?”

The boy in question hesitated over the non-sequitur. “… I blackmailed B with proof of his identity and stole the suit?”

“Okay, and why’d you even do it? What was the point? If you’d known for years why then?”

“Jason what are you going on about? You know why, because I had to!” Tim snapped bitterly.

Jason snorts through his nose, “No you didn’t, Tim you didn’t have to do shit- you coulda gone on your merry way with your parents and your pictures.”

He glares belligerently, “No I couldn’t’ve! Bruce was going insane, he woulda killed somebody or himself- whichever came first.” Tim sighs, losing steam. “I had to because he would’ve proven the Joker right, he would’ve destroyed your legacy until it was nothing more than the last straw that ruined Batman.”

He smiles sadly and shrugs, “But why did that matter to you kid? Why not make it someone else’s problem?”

Tim sighs loudly and knocks his head against the glass behind him. “It mattered to me because my pictures of Batman and Robin were all I had- is that what you want to hear? That I forced my way in, not for any noble reason like /Batman needs a Robin/, but because I was a clingy kid who didn’t want to see his happiest memories ruined like everything else.”

“You’re selling yourself short with that summary kiddo,” Jason leaned forward braced on his legs, “I think the reason you took up the R was because you believed in what we stood for and you didn’t want it ruined for good. I think you knew that your pictures got you as far as they could and Robin got sad kids farther than they thought they’d ever make it, and that shouldn’t be taken away from them just because shitty people exist.”

The younger boy stared at his feet sullenly, “Who cares Jason? I was a lonely, naive kid sticking my nose in a grieving fathers’ business because I never learned boundaries- does it matter why I did it?”

Jason let out a sudden laugh, “Of course it matters Tim! You’re the only one of us who took up Robin because you thought other people needed you to do it. Dickie wanted his parents murderer gone and was willing to keep on doing that for others only after he got justice, I wanted to feel helpful and important even though I had shitty parents and a shitty past and then I decided I needed to prove what kids like me could do, Steph wanted it so she could prove to herself that she was more than what B an’ everyone else told her, hell even the brat wanted the R just ‘cause o’ blood ties and he’s only just now starting to do it to help people.” Jason ran a hand through his hair, “Kid you looked at a hero from legend who was goin’ off the deep end publicly and decided that it couldn’t go any further- and then you made it happen even when it was fucking terrible. You don’t do that shit because you’re a fucking optimist- you do it ‘cause you know what’s right and you aren’t willing to let shit slide.”

Tim opened and closed his mouth silently, staring at his predecessor with wide, glassy eyes. Eventually he mumbled out, “That sounds a lil’ different than cuckoo bird.”

He sighs sadly, letting his head hang. “Yeah, yeah it does kid. I was fucking wrong, okay? I was angry and scared, an’ I didn’t wanna admit that life went on without me just ‘cause that’s how life works. I saw this determined little wisp of a thing that looked at every fracture line my greek tragedy left and decided to do damage control and it scared me.”

“I didn’t ever wanna replace you, I wasn’t even s’possed to stay Robin forever- I was gonna give it to the next kid once Bruce found someone better or he got a little better” Tim forced out slowly, like he was tasting the words. “I guess Bruce or Dick didn’t tell you, huh?”

Jason cocked his head at the boy, “What’re you- oh. Kid I don’t know what they coulda told me that would make lying about an apology funny.”

He shrugged and mumbled something too quiet to be heard.

Jason stared at the boy, watching as his face slowly went red and his shoulders hunched. He forced out “Didn’t catch that kiddo” through some uncomfortable mixture of bemusement and trepidation.

Tim squared his shoulders but stared at his feet. “I took pictures of everyone, obviously. I started ‘round the end of Dicks’ run- got all the greatest hits of Batgirl and Boy Wonder, caught a few good shots of Batman figuring out he had a child that he’d die for in real time- but uh, well.” He hesitated but pushed through like a man to the gallows, “Well I’ve got the most shots of you. All my best work, all my favorites, just most of my pictures- were you.”

The older boy nodded slowly, “Sure, I mean you musta’ been tiny when Dickiebird started out. It only makes sense that you’d get better as you got older so it woulda been odd if they weren’t Tim- what’s that got to do with anything?”

He shook his head, “No- I mean yeah I was like nine when I started with Dicks’ Robin, and I followed you from like ten to twelve but that’s not what I mean.” Tim shuddered and mumbled to himself, “I can’t believe you’re making me say it out loud, oh god.” He took a deep breath and finally looked at Jason. “I went out maybe once every two weeks with Dick, not because I couldn’t do it more, just ‘cause. When you started on Robin though? I started going out every other night. I mean fuck Jay, I used to only go out when there was nobody to notice I was gone and I was really careful about covering my tracks and doing well in school and shit- but when you started? I even went out the few times when my parents were home, I was so excited just to see you out there doing good.”

Jason let out a low wounded sound, “Tim…”

“Jason, your Robin was why any of that shit mattered to me. Of course I cared before, but not like when it was you.” Tim laughed self-consciously and ducked his head “I hacked my school records, convinced my parents I should go to school in town, I mean- Jason I thought of you as my Robin. I think I have an encoded notebook that I used when I was like eleven where I write, verbatim, /my Robin is the best hero in the world, Batman sure is lucky to have him/, so yeah you can see how hearing that you actually thought we could be friends might seem like a cruel joke.”

He blinked tears back rapidly, rocking forward onto his knees to stop right in front of Tim, “Can I- baby bird can I hug you?”

“You want to?” Tim asked in a quiet voice.

“Yes, absolutely”

And the boy barely got a chance to nod before Jason had him yanked forward against him, arms clasped so tightly around him that Tim could feel his bones creak. Jason held him desperately with his face hidden in the younger mans’ hair and his whole body folded over him. “I’m sorry Tim, fuck- you were a good kid and a great Robin alright?”

Tim pressed his face into the mans’ shirt and took deep breaths. Ever so slowly he relaxed into the hold until eventually; he didn’t notice the awkward angle, or the way his sweatpants were bunched around his legs because of how he’d been yanked, or even how his tears were leaking into the shirt below him. Tim pressed his face into Jason and gripped the man equally as hard.

They sat like that for a long time, Jason held Tim until their legs were numb and the floor was uncomfortable. At which point the older boy just barely loosened his hold, politely ignoring how Tim only burrowed further, and leaned backwards. He pulled the boy with him, until Jason was sitting in the middle of the floor with Tim tugged into his lap and his arms encircling the boy with only slightly less desperation.

Tim croaked out cautiously from his place within the hold but didn’t look up, “Hey Jason?”

“Hmm?”

“If I’d’ve called you today, and asked if we could just uh- just talk, would you have come?”

Jason pressed a kiss to the top of his head, “Yeah baby bird, I think I woulda.”

And from the safety of his Robins’ hold Tim let loose a wobbly, genuine smile.

#fanfic #dc universe #Tim drake #Jason todd #batman #red robin #hurt/comfort #mentioned batfamily #grace is writing

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commanderquinn · 1 year ago

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im quinn!! a fandom ancient baby-stepping back into posting because i missed writing. you can find the most up-to-date versions of my work on ao3, but i will Attempt to keep tumblr updated as well

this is gonna be a fandom blog for the duration, with the occasional ao3 links and such. if you dont want my personal/rant posts block #quinn speaks & #quinns rant tag. im a slut for that one-armed grouch, bucko barnes, so most content is probably gonna revolve around him. i do get distracted with other fandoms from time to time tho

and i do have a bg3 side blog

tag nav:

my masterlists/oneshots

metas ive written for fandoms AND metas written by others

the inspo tag for all my ammunition plot device needs

posts that are My Vibe

my favs is a junk drawer tag at the moment. i will eventually refine it into multiples

free serotonin (post abt my doggo)

my current writing projects:

-Good Space (12/40 chapters posted) / masterpost: a bucky/reader fic! reader is named (Ava) bc i cant write a fic that long without one. i need Something, but physical description is left purposely vague (well. okay. refs to ava being Curvy and having glasses, you're welcome to picture Whatever You Want). plot is fully mapped, it'll just take me a bit to write something That Big

-Kinktober '23: the posting has begun! ive mapped all 31 days and they're focused on my MCU canon that you can find in good space. i dont consider the end of october the cutoff. im a writer in this for Good Vibes, not a time crunch. all fics will eventually be posted

fandoms i vibe with/write for:

im not gonna sit here and list every single fandom i know bc i have adhd and that'd be a Bad Idea, so if you wanna know if im down to write for your fandom but dont see me blogging about it, you can go ahead and shoot me an ask. that said, here's the fandoms i like/intend to write for on my own end at the moment:

-marvel -bg3 -mass effect -dragon age -outer worlds -starfield -fallout

writing requests:

i am open to taking writing requests!! you're welcome to submit them through my inbox or you can leave 'em on posts. up to you how descriptive you wanna get. seriously, any detail you can think of, go for it. you're not offending me by getting specific by any means

Some Blanket Rules:

-you can ask me to tw tag my posts. you can ask me to tw tag my fics. you have, at all times, my ACTIVE ENCOURAGEMENT to try to make my work safe for you. im happy to help in any way that i can, you're NOT bothering me by asking to put up warnings for things, its okay bb.

-however. please try to respect that im still A Person With Feelings. more importantly, to you, i am a stranger on the internet. acting like you've got some weird kind of authority over what kind of content im allowed to post is Really Fucked Up. please keep that attitude away from me. id recommend a therapist, but that's your call.

-i can, and will without hesitation, block anyone at the DROP of a hat if i catch bad vibes. im old. this is my house. i will make it a house i want to be in, anyone who fucks with that is no concern of mine. im just gonna block you and move on with my day.

-this is an anti-fandom-wank zone. i. am. old. (im not even 30 yet i should really stop saying that but i AM) and. tired. i cannot begin to describe to y'all how much i do not care about an internet stranger's biased view of something. leave me alone. im busy writing smut.

-in this house we believe in comfort fic supremacy

#im gonna come back and add links to other posts for stuff like fic recs #i gotta go round up links to all my favs #but look at me go!!! im finally doing the fandom effort

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jaecantwrite · 6 months ago

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thank you for the tag omg 🥹

Tagged by: @rubywingsracing

Favourite Driver: Oscar Piastri (i would die for him)

Any Other Favourite Drivers?: Lando Norris, Logan Sargeant, Charles Leclerc are the standout ones - I don't really dislike any of them except a select few

Least Favourite Drivers: Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, Lance Stroll - sorry :(

Do you pull for the drivers or the teams?: depends on the context, for McLaren i'm definitely saying both, for example

Which teams do you pull for? (if any): McLaren, Ferrari (everyones a ferrari fan), Williams (as long as they dont do Logan dirty i swear 😭), Haas (for the entertainment of seeing them get points)

How long have you been into F1?: my first race that i properly watched was vegas last year (i saw like the end of interlagos), but i have followed loosely in the past but i never really got into it

What got you into F1?: i dont exactly remember, but im 90% sure it was some landoscar content HAHA and i was like ok maybe i do need to follow them properly, then i saw the mclaren f1 academy stuff not long after and i was like "oh cool :)"

Do you enjoy fanfic/RPF?: i do! i read and write stuff over on ao3 under the same name :) i would say mainly landoscar but its all landoscar who am i kidding - f1 is not my first venture into fanfic but its definitely the deepest ive gotten! first fandom ive written for so 🫶

How do you view new fans?: i would definitely say i am still a new fan so :)

If you could take over as team principal for a team, which would it be and why?: putting my literal adoration for McLaren aside, i think i would try out like Haas, Sauber, Williams just for the fun of it and trying to see how good we could get while being one of the midfielders/backrunners of this year (not vcarb tho bc i do not want to be a part of the red bull family tree thing theyve got going on lmao) (not alpine either because theyre alpine)

Are your friends and family into F1?: ive made a handful friends through ao3, which i am eternally grateful for as not many of the people i speak to actually follow it aside from a select few, but that doesnt stop me from dumping info onto my family whenever it is slightly mentioned haha

Are you open to talking to other fans/making friends?: absolutely! i am an extremely introverted person but i still would absolutely love to know more people in the fandom but i am TERRIBLE at reaching out first 😭 so you would probably need to message me first but i would definitely be open to making more friends 🧡

Tagging (this is where i show how little people i know 😭): @lottie1824 @scythewrites @buddiesboobz @zoomguanyu

four. impressive, jae. real impressive.

as you can see i genuinely am so bad at thinking about who to tag and i get scared im bothering people so like if you stumble across this and want to have a go then feel free! <3

F1 Tag Game! Tag some people you'd like to get to know better!

Tagged by: No one, I'm a force to be reckoned with.

Who is your favorite driver?: George Russell!

Do you have other favorite drivers?: Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc - I like all but 3, really.

Who is your least favorite driver?: Sighs, I don't like admitting to this, but...It's a toss up between three. I'll just name one for now - Alonso.

Do you pull for drivers or do you like teams as well?: I pull for both, really!

If you like teams, what team do you pull for?: Ferrari, Williams, Alpine, McLaren.

How long have you been into F1?: I've watched casually (VERY casually) for a few years but I haven't actually FOLLOWED the sport until the start of this season.

What got you into F1?: My fiancé rekindled my love and got me and my entire family into it right after my grandmother passed literally days before the start of the season. He really brought us a lot of light in a time where we needed it most.

Do you enjoy Fanfic/RPF?: I do. RPF is just a fantasy play world, like a dollhouse. Holds no bearing on the real world - as long as you can separate the two, you're good.

How do you view new fans?: No issue. We were all new fans once, weren't we? Some may barge in with wild takes and hell I probably still do, but overall I think they are just looking to find some friends to help them learn the sport a bit better and then will be integral parts of the fandom once they acclimate!

If you could take over as team principal for any team, who would it be and why?: That's such a stressful job and I am not built for stress. It would have to be like, jesus, I can't really pick. I would do no better than anyone up there doing it right now LOL but I guess it would be COOL to pull Williams up from the depths, yeah? Sorry, James.

Are your friends and family into F1 as well?: Yeah! My parents and sister (and BIL) are into it, my grandpa enjoys it, my fiancé, and then a few of my best friends really enjoy it as well!

Are you open to talking to other fans/making friends?: Always. That's pretty much the only reason I'm here aside from just showcasing my love.

Tagging: @13834 @chilling-seavey @camilleisback @watercolor-hearts @alex-kresnik

@placna @thatsluttylittlesoupcanwaist @alpinegasly @abovecalamity @ohblimeygeorge

@mrgasly @osh-my-prince @oscar-hourglass-piastri @kissingwalls @peachyy-tea

@theluckyalien @faithshouseofchaos @scrappyracers @williams-spare-chassis

@grnherbs @afriques @memoriesofyellow @oscarrrpiastri @georgegraphys

@allphatauri @rubywingsracing @canihavemyhoodieback @landoom

@knut-ut @garykingz @future-oscarwinner @blimeycrikeygeorge @cacklingblobbittyrabbitty

@verstappen1-fan @geochals @ablogtocheck @luna-sibuna-trying @moodymoony71

@ribenab @litany-writes @llenne-siu

@starssfall @petrifying-risotto @its-avalon-08 @spabutterfly @vaniadels

@gnatthefly @1df1fan

I tried to tag everyone I most often see in my notes/in my DMs/in my inbox and who are mutuals <3

#f1 #formula 1 #formula one #f1 rpf #get to know me #lando norris #oscar piastri #tag game

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theplanetprince · 3 years ago

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Fanfiction Review

I can already tell this is gonna be super confusing bc I've been writing fic since I was 12 but have since gone through so many identity changes. But let's play anyway!

Thanks for the tag @redead-red

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

My current library is 8. I don't actually write fanfic too often unless a specific idea intrigues me-- or something in the fanon just doesn't line up with me. I do have at least 4ish more stories planned and maybe a revised version of an ancient story from when I was young. 2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

166,451! Pretty neato!

3. How many fandoms have you written for, and what are they?

Uh, in no specific order,

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (lost to purging)

Doctor Who (you ain't gonna find these)

Sonic

NiGHTs into Dreams

Dead by Daylight (<3)

Danny Phantom (my beloathed) Supernatural (my other beloathed)

and uhhhh, I think a bunch of various other video games I can't remember. For the sake of brevity I'm gonna put the rest under the cut.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

This is actually pretty funny bc I have so few fics released. I only get emails for certain ones all the time, so I wrote this part out by guessing, but I ended up not needing to change it. (also, don't read most of these; they're old and bad)

1. Schrodinger's Adolescent, 337 Kudos (Danny Phantom)

2. Teen Years and How to Survive Them, 97 Kudos (Secret Trio)

3. Two Fake Feds Come up the Laneway the other dayyyyyy, 56 Kudos (Letterkenny/Supernatural)

4. Brother's Keeper, 40 Kudos (Halloween, DBD)

5. Beginner's Guide to Destroying the Moon, 37 Kudos (Sonic)

5. Which of your fic do you want more attention for?

I'll be real here, I still enjoy most of the work I did for both Beach House Bummer, and Beginner's Guide to Destroying the Moon. I just wish I got more love for the latter bc I might be inspired to finish it lmao.

6. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I really try to! I love the long rambly comments I get on Schrodinger's because I can feel those people are giving me the same passion I put into my work-- Though most of the time I get the generic "post more" or "update plz" which I dunno I'm grateful for the interaction. Still, I don't really want to repeat like "I'm trying my best, dude." about 12 times a day.

7. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I'll be real I only have two completed fics rn-- but I can tell you I had this one fic that I wrote when I was fourteen where the ninja turtles had to burn down a lab full of half-born mutant embryos, and like I remember writing that and then going to middle school the next day like "They don't know I'm a literary genius."

8. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

Probably the Letterkenny/Supernatural crossover-- I feel very strongly about SPN and how people take it way too seriously, so when I found out it was filmed in Canada. It used famous Canadian actors from the show Letterkenny, it felt way too good to pass up. I do hope to write in that space again when I'm feeling less depresso-espresso.

9. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

Yeah. It's probably a big reason why you'll never see the tmnt fics for a while. I also used to write a lot of OC stories, and this was back in 2014 so like those were def hit the hardest. I'm glad to say it's like... subsided for the most part. I don't get hate as much as I just get really confusing and creepy comments, which don't hurt my rejection-sensitive-ass as much.

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

Hahahaha, no.

I am kind of bad at writing it, and I don't really like writing it. Which yeah that makes sense. My friends sometimes when they find out I write fanfic as a joke they'll send me some of the worst examples smut they can find and to test my talent I'll try to rewrite it to make it some kind of titillating-- but alas it just isn't my forte. The cons of being an asexual I guess.

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Uh, yes and no? I think I had one of my older fics stolen, retranslated, and then retranslated again to English? That was so long ago tho.

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

No, but I'd love to give it a shot sometime.

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Honestly, it's sonadow. I know it's cringe but I'm free, dammit. Outside of that I guess my favorite dynamic is jock/nerd, which you've probably gleaned from my resume here fhsdkjf.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

I've been working on Teen Years and How to Survive them since I was 16, I only started making headway on it when I was 19-- so I feel like that speaks for itself hskjhg.

15. What are your writing strengths?

It's been told to me that I'm very funny and I write convincing dialog that captures a character's voice. Which is extremely flattering despite the fact that I feel like I'm tricking you all.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

probably scenery and landscape, if I'm honest. I also accidentally keep creating scenes just for the dialog instead of action or environment.

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

I think as long as I can guess what they're saying from context clues, and the writer is courteous enough to include body language and the like, then it's mostly harmless. I love including a bunch of references in fic whether it's cultural, historical, or just like a quote from a movie or something so I have a bunch of tabs open regardless it wouldn't be too inconvenient for me to fire up google translate or something.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Probably Schrodinger's Adolescent, it really opened up a lot of doors for me in the DP fandom and I got to meet a lot of cool people because of it. It really cheered me up from a dark place. And despite me writing it initially out of anger and spite its grown into this soft thing that really means a lot to me.

20. What fic are you most proud of?

Honestly, I can't pick. I'm both embarrassed by them all and yet glad they bring people some form of comfort.

Uhhhh who to tag-- I don't really know

@ten0rreaper is the only one I can think of-- whoever else I guess can have at it. I'm not very good at these things lmao.

#tag game #txt

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tsuna-sora · 4 years ago

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Hi, yes hello. Good day all my gender and none gender darlings <3 This is gonna be a long winded salt post about the current state of mlb and the fandom and if that’s not for you feel free to skip this post as you please dear. I want your comfort as a priority and you do you. And for people who disagree with me I’ll kindly ask you not to engage on this post please keep scrolling and don’t let me have any bearings on your day. I will not interact to dispute this post cause I’m kinda tired of stuff if that’s alright with you. Love you. OKAY. *breaths* As someone who when it comes to Miraculous Ladybug fanfiction only goes into the Adrienette tag and never got the urge to see other ships in fics ever since the start of this show till now, I can safely say that I am indeed an Adrienette shipper.... yah know EXCEPT FOR CURRENT CANON. Because, this may shock everyone who likes this ship, the relationship they have in fanfiction and canon is not the same thing anymore. This series canon writing has been atrocious since the start of S3 (if not the middle of S2 where I could notice things were in the start of going in a weird /later confirmed bad/ direction)

So this is just a thing I wanted to say, hey like could y'all kindly not deliberately go into tags of your notp’s and harass shippers in their own tags/blogs? Cause that’s like, not raaad my dude. \(uwu)/ And tag stuff accordingly if you disagree? Please and thank you for being an amazing human being? And be polite if you wanna debate them? And if your not sure the poster is open to it please first ask/check with them for consent for that debate? :3c

Also can we like not dismiss someone’s extremely valid points and logical points that they wrote/pointed out as flaws and/or good points and well written parts just because *le gasp* they ship Adrienette or Lukanette and/or Adrigami instead of what you ship or is endgame in canon! Blasphemy!

Okay now for the serious note, Marinette is always punished for shit she didn’t do to the point her embarrassment and distress in Truth made me cry and have an attack that later made me finally quit the show. (if you want to see that distress post it’s here) One of my bff’s who writes Adrienette fics on AO3 also hates the writing and destruction of characters in this entire show at this point and agrees that the writing for the characters has been shit, Marinette is both a great person and then suddenly a freak for plot reasons, Adrien is a saint except he literally is not and him not learning lessons is the worst representation and image for young boys ever, every single character has been distorted to fit plot instead of providing it, but they keep watching for lore for their fic and have been explaining to me what happened since then. So yes I know about Lies through them and osmosis of bloggers I follow. And some of them holy molly are Lukanette or Adrigami and even Marigami blogs because that doesn’t matter to me one fucking bit because they’re freakin’ darlings of people who tag stuff properly and aren’t rude to others or have ever been rude to me and the points they make are valid. Just as I also follow a lot of dedicated Adrienette only blogs and in fact what all of these have in common is that when I interact with them or ask stuff they all have been nothing but fluffy bunnies I wanna kidnap into my home.

Just as some other people have also pointed all these things out even tho they are also Adrienette shippers.

( Tipo EU, e outras pessoas muito giras que só shipam Adrienette )

Who have been silenced by the other majority. If you don’t agree with me that’s FINE. That’s why I put that first part of the post informing you that if you read this till this point I don’t want to debate out my experience of Miraculous if it doesn’t mirror yours. And you don’t see the same things I did. That’s okay my dude. :c

IT’S FINE I LOVE YOU ANYWAY AND I WANT YOU HAPPY.

MY POINT IS *deep breaths* someone being a Lukanette shipper saying that Truth is a bad episode and presenting reasons outside their ship for it is valid. An Adrigami shipper pointing out that Lies is badly written and posting logical points that have nothing to do with the ship is valid.

You know what’s not valid?

Dismissing someone’s argument cause you went into their blog and noticed they shipped a certain ship even tho their debate/post had no ships involved as points of argument to begin with and then decided to harass/dismiss them and their post directly at them.

Guys we need to be kinder to each other. We need to respect each other. We need to understand that some people only like the shipping in a show. Some people only like to discuss writing of shows. Some people like to salt, others not at all. Some post things as an outlet not wanting different interaction/debate, others do want people to discuss and debate. ALL OF THIS IS GREAT AND FINE. BUT WE NEED TO RESPECT AND BE KIND TO EACH OTHER.

I have not been a perfect example of this and I am a mature person who can admit this. So if I unintentionally did this to you? I’m sorry. I will hear the person speaking to me and check myself and correct my behavior for next time. And so can you because I believe you are a good person.

I had proof of this very recently where me and someone else had a misunderstanding within a post and we ended up talking and we cleared up stuff. Turns out that person did not want to make me feel bad at all. We just had a case of me being a none English speaker and not being able to make my entire point super cohesive and them getting a wrong idea and it snowballing from there.

Which is also something I wanna point out. Please don’t forget that some people aren’t native English speakers and may not be able to explain themselves fully to you or cohesive enough. Be patient and before you think they are debating something without pointing out this thing or x forgot to point out something in their post ask them about it politely if they have an opinion on it or if maybe they forgot to mention? Jesus where am I going with this post at this point. Okay what I want everyone to take away from this is that we shouldn’t be fighting each other. We shouldn’t be dismissing and harassing each other. You know what we should be doing? Beating up Thomas Austruc and his writing team with sticks and DEMANDING BETTER WRITING FOR THIS SHOW AND ALL OUR SHIPS BE THEY CANON OR NOT ALL OF US TOGETHER---- Okay pitch fork revolution idea aside I just wanted to stop people from using a ship as a means to hurt each other. We all liked or still like MLB and I want us to be above this stuff. I believe in us cause I’m a stupid shounen protag whose hopes die last when it comes to people. I love you all okay? I seriously do. I’ve had a lot of fun when it comes to the fandom of MLB. I love seeing people post cute art of my ship. I love seeing cute art of Lukanette, I love seeing cute art of Adrigami and Nino and Alya, and Nino or Adrien and JuleRose. I love the gifs, the salt, the cute content, the mostly lore debated stuff etc. I LOVE IT ALL. And I’m not giving up on us. And I bet 100% that you aren’t either you stupidly beautiful human being. *kisses your cheek with your consent* This has been again a very rare self post. And I bid you all goodnight.

#miraculous ladybug #Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir #ml salt #ml positivity #personal post #All ships are valid #I love you #I believe in this fandom #We will get there #Don't let others dictate how you feel about this show and that includes myself #I have no idea what to tag and it's very obvious #Can yall tell this was written very poorly thought out cause my brain is fried?

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ray-the-fanatic · 5 years ago

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Fluffvember promt hand holding.

The camping trip.

Ducktales 2017| drakepad| one shot

Yep still doing thos whole fanfic thingy hoping this one is better than my last two. Also posted to my AO3 account

___________________

“Sure I’ll come along” Drake answered as he was removing his hat and cape after another night of patrolling the city. Looking back to back to Launchpad who was helping out by doing some maintenance on Drake’s soon to be ratcatcher.

“Really? You want to tag along on a woodchuck trip?” Launchpad asked again as he stopped and sat beside the vehicle so he could look at Drake.

"Yes LP" Drake confirmed again smiling slightly as he did “it’ll be fun and I could show those scouts what an old pro is like.” He barged as he gave an impressive flick of his hat getting it to land on top of Launchpad’s head like it was planned. The small pump of his hand gave away that it was by chance. “And you know it be nice to spend time with you as well.” He said a bit softer like he wasn’t too sure if he should have.

“Yeah?” Launchpad said as he lifted the hat up and smiled softly, “It would be fun to hang out with Drake Mallard, I hear he's a pretty cool guy.”

That prompted a slight laugh from Drake “So it's just an overnight night cookout type thing?" He asked mentally thinking about what he needed to do in preparation.

"Yeah just roasting some hotdogs and marshmallows for the night...course the kids also want to tell stories." Launchpad mentioned with less excitement

"Oh like ghost stories I remember doing that." He then looked over to Launchpad who was now tugging the hat down a bit to cover his face. Drake walked over to him bending slightly as he lifted the hat up “Hey you okay there big guy?" He asked smiling

Launchpad felt the butterflies in his stomach start to flutter. He liked when Drake called him that, cause he could count on him. Which he liked even more.

"Yeah, I'm fine DW."

"You sure there?" Drake asked not seeming to convinced "seems like something bothering you?" he added on as Launchpad tried averting his eyes.

Launchpad stood up suddenly knocking Drake over in the process. "Nope I'm fine I better head out I'll text you when I'm on my way to getcha," he said running off.

"Wait, Launchpad my hat- oh I'll just get it back later."

It didn't take long to get the camping site set up. The scouts already knew some basics as they got their tents ready Launchpad and Drake took care of getting their bonfire started, Drake being the one to start it in cause Launchpad overdid it again.

“Can’t believe I tripped over that branch” Drake complained the embarrassment not fading still

“Hey least some of the kids got a chance to earn a first aid badge too.” Launchpad reminded him as he gestures to the bandages on Drake. “so bringing you along really turned out to be a good idea. ” Drake tried to keep his annoyed expression but cracked when hearing Launchpad laugh. His bruised ego stood no chance against that.

Drake smile softened as he took a moment to just stare at his friend enjoying it as long as he could. Till he heard a slight cough come from behind him. Drake looked over to see, he wanted to say, Huey. He was still learning the kids' name.

"Uh yes?" Drake said realizing he got caught and sat up straight fast as he could quickly elbowing Launchpad for the duckling.

"Oh hey, Huey reporting in?"

“All setup, sticks are ready to cook hot dogs and our s’mores supplies are well stocked and organized. Ready for the correct assembly order.” He reported happily “Were all on schedule for the storytelling tonight as well.”

Huey seemed to pick his words with care but Launchpad still seemed to tense up a bit. Catching Drake’s attention right away. The young pilot smiled best he could muster and nodded to Huey. “Great we got the fire going so get the others.” He tried to avoid Drake’s eyes but could easily feel them on him as Huey smiled and took off.

“Yeah it will be getting dark soon that will really help set the tone for the kids,” Drake said eyeing Launchpad his suspicious growing.

“R right good um aura?” Launchpad said

“You mean atmosphere?” Drake asked, “Launchpad are yo-”

“That too! Well better gather up the campers” Launchpad said as he got up quickly catching up to Huey. He plucked him off his feet then ran off snagging each kid the same way with ease.

Leaving Drake to just stare, being the great detective he was, Drake knew something wasn’t right. Launchpad was pretty open so it was weird for him to be well pulling what Drake tended to. Drake thought as he pokes at the base of the fire thinking to himself.

The scouts had finished up eating all excited to get a chance to tell their stories and hear what the others had to share as well. Drake was walking around with Huey in tow giving each camper what they needed for their smores. Then they both took a seat by the fire as Huey got his own marshmallow going.

"Hey um, Huey" Drake said suddenly unsure what he was actually going to say. When the duckling looked up at him.

"Is something I don't know bothering Launchpad?" Drake wasn’t too sure what to ask, the kid might not even know.

"Oh well" Huey started as he looked over at Launchpad who was getting the camper's attention at the moment. Part of him wanted to keep quiet but he thought maybe it would be okay to say something. "Launchpad doesn't really handle stuff like this well."

"Stuff like this?" Drake questioned

"He likes to watch horror movies and all but he gets scared easily. I think he was close to attacking one of my brothers once after he and Mrs. Beakley took us to see a movie about mole men."

Drake looked back over to Launchpad and watched him as he fidgeted around as he spoke.

"So that's it," Drake said things started to click was that why he invited Drake along? Wait what did that mean. Did he feel safe with him around? Drake blushed a bit at the thought. He was a superhero so maybe that's why? He corrected trying not to get his hopes up.

"Alright, who's first?" Launchpad's voice cut through Drakes thoughts suddenly.

All the kids' hands shot up into the air right away after he asked after Launchpad picked one to start them off he sat back down. Drake got up and made his way over to Launchpads side as the first scout began to start his tale, Launchpad looking tenser as he sat up straight and clenched his hands up into tightly held fists, his knuckles slightly popping out as he tried pulling his fingers in more.

Launchpad just gave a forced smile when Drake sat beside him, Drake took the smile into account wondering how Launchpad would go about this if the roles were reversed. Launchpad seemed to always know how to cheer Drake up like before. Drake was less experience in well the whole people thing. He glanced down at Launchpads hand which were resting on his knees. They were slightly shaking now. Drake racked his brain for a moment and went with the only idea he had. Maybe it was stupid but it was something at least.

Launchpad was trying to keep himself still, even as the small bear kid went on to describe the monster of his story. A sludge beast with rows of razor-sharp teeth. Trying his best not to imagine it. But, that was hard with how good the kid describe it. He tightly shut his eyes hoping to block out the thought only to feel the sensation of warmth come over one of his hands. Launchpad chanced a glance down hoping it wasn't because of the sluggish monster he definitely wasn’t thinking of. Only to have the sight of Drake's hand on top of his, he looked over to Drake who seemed to purposely keep his attention ahead of him.

Launchpad was about to speak up only to stop when he felt Drake gently tap his finger against the back of his hand. Looking back down as he saw Drake use the same finger make a circle motion in the air, prompting the larger duck to turn his hand over. He looked back to Drake, who side glanced at him. He knew it was dumb but he had to try. So he gave a slight shrug of his shoulders and offered his hand uncertainly to Launchpad. Launchpad went and took hold of Drake's hand, enjoying the familiar warmth of it again. And the comfort it brought him.

Drake turned back to face the kids glad his idea seemed to work out as he rested his chin in his free hand. Launchpad grinning happily unable to fully hear anything over the sound of his heartbeat in his ear.

"Okay but what about the wailing willow ghost lady in Tad's story, she could strangle you and make you see every painful memory" Launchpad asked.

"How can a ghost touch you though?" Drake said trying to poke holes in each story.

"That's why it’s scary!" Launchpad defended but by the raised brow Drake gave he didn't seem convinced. "Well when I'm paralyzed by fear of my most painful memories you'll feel bad"

" that won't happen," Drake said causing launchpad to look slightly hurt, confused on what Drake meant.

" Because obviously I'll already there as Darkwing Duck" Drake said to answer the confusion well smiling. "I am the terror that flaps in the night after all." He stated proud then looked over to the fire realizing just how long they had stayed up. The kids had headed off hours ago and the fire was on its last embers. Drake was used to being late so he had a good guess at the time.

"So was there a reason you didn't say anything?" He asked finally. While slightly giving a squeeze to Launchpad's hand so to make his question clear.

"Its kind of dumb DW." Launchpad said as he tried not to react.

"Come on big guy what is it you always say, I can’t know unless you speak up?”

Launchpad rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand there it was again the nickname he loved so much. "I guess I was embarrassed. I know you count on me a lot when it comes to the hero thing. Guess I was worried you’d think you couldn’t cause I get the jitters from a few stories.”

"That's why you were acting weird cause of me?" Drake asked a bit concerned

"Heh yeah, I like how you see me and I didn't want that to change. That's why you call me big guy right"

"Well no, I'm not really original with nicknames...I never really been friends with anyone long enough to give one too" Drake said then quickly added on "it's okay to be scared though I'm pretty much always scared." Drake said straight-faced

"You? No way" launchpad said actually surprised

Getting Drake to laugh a bit "you know though if any of the monsters from the stories somehow turn out to be real. You could just call me. And Darkwing Duck will chase them off "

"I can?"

"Of course day or night I'll get there in a snap. Heck just set me on speed dial." Drake said then chuckled awkwardly as his cheeks gained a bit of pink to them. Mumbling why did I say that to himself.

"So I can call at any time?" was all Launchpad said, "Does it have to be only if I'm in trouble?" "Can I call for Drake Drake Mallard too?"

Drake looked at him surprised "me?"

"Yeah like can I call if I have a question, you'll know the answer too? Or can I call to see if you wanna just get some lunch together or if I just wanna" hear your voice he thought as he trailed off. Starting to lace his fingers with Drakes so he could hold his hand closer.WIshing he could say that out loud.

Drake froze for a bit taking in the feeling as he held tighter to Launchpad's hand "Well yeah any time you just want to is also an option. Darkwing or Drake either will be happy to answer.”

They both just smiled at each other quickly looking away to find something, anything else to focus on. Neither wanting to let go because they didn't want that feeling to end just yet whatever it was that seemed to hang in the air between them. Neither really sure what words to put to it just knowing they wanted to stay like this for a while longer.

"Hey, Drake?" Launchpad said breaking the silence

"Yes?"

"I still like the nickname so you know don't stop using it."

Drake laughed again, Launchpad hoping to keep being a reason for it "No worries Big guy, I won't"

#ducktales2017 #fluffvember prompts #hand holding fluff #drakepad #im still trying to write stories who knkws how long ill keep this up

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flavourlessfiction · 6 years ago

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Ice Melts When Heated ~ Chapter 4

Relationships: Jason Todd/Tim Drake

Rating: Mature

Tags: Alternate Universe - Skating, figure skating, Rivals, Slow Burn, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies is a slight overstatement tho, Banter, Time Skips, Rating May Change

Ao3: x

To: Bruce

Hi Bruce, I’m back in Gotham but my left hamstring’s been feeling extra tight and sore since the gala… 15 hour flight didn’t help. Not coming in until I get it looked at. Will bring a written in a day or two if you want it. Tim

A text probably wasn’t the appropriate method of communication, but then again, a text going the other way in the past week would have been nice. Would have made him feel slightly supported.

His hamstring wasn’t even remotely sore. He just needed a few days to cool off, to listen to his parents tell him to give up skating and focus on school and go to college. Then finally be able to rest and reassess what he was going to do about Worlds.

He couldn’t continue down the path that Bruce had laid out for him, yeah, he had another silver medal and a national title that no one considered valid considering the top skater wasn’t actually there. He was always going to be in Jason and Dick’s shadows for the way he came through, he had the potential to eclipse Jason however, and Bruce wasn’t giving him the time of day to do so. All his mom had done when he got home was hug him, said nothing, just allowed him to go up to his room to rest. He was surprised she’d come home before he had, having set out on another work trip a few weeks ago.

It was always possible she’d come home because of what happened. They might not have always been around, but they certainly cared about their only child, which was why they wanted him to give skating up. There were people out there who thought it was because they didn’t understand or because they didn’t value the sport. It had always been for the betterment of their child, to give him a long-lasting career, to stop the injuries even though so far they’d only been minor. Jack Drake was by no means a fan of Bruce but they both still supported him financially and attended whatever competitions they could.

They weren’t bad parents, they’d just been absent and people interpreted that as neglect even though it had allowed Tim skate whenever he pleased as a kid and he always had a nanny taking care of his more important needs. They were good people who loved their son, they were just incredibly busy. “Are you going to see a physiotherapist or a chiropractor, or are you avoiding the rink, darling?” A fair question if ever there was one, he didn’t realise she’d seen him messaging Bruce, or perhaps she’d seen the bruising on his back when she’d tried to wake him up this morning.

It wasn’t an easy question to answer, he hadn’t booked in an appointment and he didn’t need to go, he was essentially paying for a professional to lie on paper and waste half an hour or so. He’d said he would bring a written in though. Which meant he’d have to see someone and not seeing a specialist would be a giveaway that he lied. That he just needed some time away from them. From Bruce and Damian especially. “I’ll book an appointment in a bit. I don’t think they can do much about wounded pride though.” He mumbled, leaning into the breakfast bar as he played with his cereal. Typically he wouldn’t admit that, there was no point in stating the obvious but he needed his mother to know that he wasn’t struggling as much as he looked.

Even though it was a terrible idea and he still cringed at the thought, going out and getting drunk had been good for him, had distracted him for long enough to give him some sort of release. “You have one more competition for the year, right?”

“Unless I have to prove I’m mentally fit for another major comp.” Tim looked up at his mother, offering a small smile, he was sure she didn’t find it amusing but it was still worth a shot. “It’s in Oslo if you’re interested in going, the first weekend of April.”

She looked like she at least appreciated the soft invitation, it wasn’t often they really talked about skating in a positive light. He tended to assume that his parents wouldn’t ever be able to attend and they didn’t quite understand the skills or opinions he had. “I believe we’ve planned to be in Europe at the time, so we’ll try to be there for you.” It wasn’t an outright yes or no, but it meant the possibility that they would attend, hopefully he’d be back in form by then. “I’ll be returning to your father the day after tomorrow, we’re going to be in the south of Mexico. If anything happens we might not be easy to contact but you should still attempt to.” There it was, the short visit with a goodbye that featured nothing more than a ‘call if you need anything’, it could be worse, being able to see her was good enough. She hadn’t needed to come back but she did.

“Nothing’s going to happen, I just need a few days and then I’ll go back and pretend to be okay with everything.” Key word being pretend. There was no being okay with any of this but he still needed to act the part or else face scrutiny for being ungrateful for years of training under Bruce. His mother’s expression told him that he didn’t inspire confidence in her.

“Honey, you don’t have to stay with Bruce, I know you’re not comfortable with the idea of Ra’s or Talia coaching you but there are other coaches, you have options.” Two gentle hands rested on his shoulders, if his father said it, it wouldn’t be as delicately put. He wasn’t sure as to what Janet Drake’s feelings about Bruce were but they’d certainly gotten more negative over the past year. “We’ll support you no matter what but you need to stick up for yourself more, you’ve got that bite in you, everyone sees it when you go against that Jason Todd.” So she’d read the Vale article, or she’d seen the warm up. He didn’t know if it was captured on camera but it certainly wasn’t his finest moment as a human. Although Jason as a competitor brought out a nasty side of him at times.

As a person… well that was also a different side all together as well. Where there any real options though? Bruce’s name carried a lot of weight, more than most coaches and whilst it wasn’t fair a move would likely have an effect on his scores. “I can’t just change in the middle of the season, it’s something to think about in April and May.” It was something to think about.

It wasn’t even Bruce that was the problem, it was Damian, which in turn made Bruce a problem. Everyone could see it and whilst Dick had tried to keep the peace he could tell even Dick was struggling to know what to do. At least Dick had bothered to call him after the short program and whilst Tim had intentionally missed his calls after the free, he was sure the other understood. He didn’t have to say much for Dick to pick up on what was going on in his head, it was why he enjoyed working with him so much, Dick knew how to pull people out of a funk without any sort of hesitation.

He probably should at least call Dick, it would also send a pretty clear message to Bruce, that is if Bruce even bothered to care.

He should definitely call Dick, not to be spiteful towards Bruce but to make sure the other knew he was back and that he wasn’t mad at him. “I’m going to call someone… Could you see if my regular physio has any time tomorrow or Thursday, if you need to do things, I can call after.” He said softly, putting the bowl of cereal in the sink, not quite finished, bored of shovelling it into his mouth or stirring it around.

“I’ll do it. Make whatever calls you need.” She waved him off as Tim picked his phone up off the counter, taking slow steps towards the stairs, he might not have been injured but the bruising on his back did hurt if he moved too quickly or in the wrong way.

Tim tapped on Dick’s contact number as soon as he entered his room, adjusting the pillows that sat on the seat built into the window so that they were against the wall, resting back against them, he really would need to unpack today or tomorrow, sort out what to do with the gifts that had come from fans. “Tim, hey!” Loud as always. At least Dick sounded happy to hear from him.

“You’re not busy, are you?” He didn’t need to speak softly but he could hear the music in the background, there was always some sort of music playing, but if Dick was taking a call when he should be working he’d feel guilty.

“Nah, what’s up, Bruce said you might have hurt yourself and aren’t coming in for a few days?” Well at least Bruce had read the text message even though he hadn’t bothered to respond to it. Radio silence wasn’t exactly helping his attitude towards his coach.

“Ah yeah… Mom said she’s going to book an appointment to see if I am going to have to rest it for longer.”

“You’ll be fine, I’ve seen you bounce back before, they’ll just tell you to stop with any extensions that strain it.” Always so confident, he was sure Dick had his fair share of injuries and soreness although he rarely made any comments on it. There was an exaggerated gasp on the other end of the line, Tim rolling his eyes, Dick tended to react more so than the average person when seeing something he liked. “Holy shit! I never thought I’d see you in here again…” There was some chatter, Tim not able to make out who was speaking. He certainly was curious. “Hey, did you know-” He was cut off again, some muffled noises that he was sure sounded like Dick. “Okay fine! Sorry man, I have to go, we’ll talk properly when you bring in your doctor’s excuse for teacher.”

“Yeah that’s okay, I wasn’t even sure you’d be free so get back to work, I’ll see you before Friday hopefully.” Dick was gone without another word, whatever or whomever had come in obviously needing him immediately.

“You’ll be fine, I’ve seen you bounce back before, they’ll just tell you to stop with any extensions that strain it.” Dick leaned back in his chair, unable to wipe the smile off his face, Tim sounded normal at least. Quiet, sure but that quiet nature that was more obvious when he was younger had reared its head throughout this season. He’d just hoped that Tim wasn’t still utterly crushed like he had looked after the free skate. He might have masked it at the Gala but Dick was sure that it was because he was using the defeated emotions for the skate.

“Dick!” Several heads on the ice turned towards the door as well as a few bystanders, Dick quickly out of his seat. Well this wasn’t going to be a day without distraction or gossip, it wasn’t going to be a week without gossip that was for sure.

“Holy shit! I never thought I’d see you in here again...” Oh God, that would have been right in Tim’s ear. He held the phone to his chest. “You said you’d never come back, here for any reason at all, even if it was a comp.” It had been years and Jason had kept good on his word, deliberately missing a stop on the road for an ice show two summers ago, because he didn’t want to skate at the rink run by Bruce Wayne.

Yet here he was. “Tim’s not here is he?”

“No, he’s resting this week.” He slowly put the phone back to his ear. “Hey, did you know-”

Jason was quick, clamping his hand over his mouth before he could finish speaking. “He doesn’t, now help me find your boss.” He hissed, the calm expression he’d worn just seconds before now far more frantic. “I don’t want him to know… Not while I’m here.”

The hand was lowered, Dick putting the phone back to his ear. This seemed fishy but he was willing to play along in the game. He’d noticed their interactions had softened slightly, Jason had changed first but Tim had started to defrost somewhat as well. “Okay fine!” He needed to at least make some sort of promise to talk to Tim later. He was sure he’d be begging for answers later on. “Sorry man, I have to go, we’ll talk properly when you bring in your doctor’s excuse for teacher.”

Tim gave another soft response that in truth he only half listened to, far too curious about Jason’s presence to focus on anything else. As soon as the last words were uttered he hung up, slipping his phone back into his jacket pocket.

“I thought you and Tim were good, well aside from whatever happened in the warm up, why are you here if you’re avoiding him?”

Jason looked uneasy, but determined about something. Whatever he wanted from Bruce it looked like he was about to go into battle. There was no chance in hell that he was going to ask Bruce to coach him again. “Yeah, well, I may have said something he didn’t particularly like, he snapped at me and then avoided me during the Gala and banquet. More importantly, Bruce?”

Dick shrugged, finding Bruce wasn’t always the easiest of things to do. “I don’t know where he is, but I haven’t seen him leave which means he is here… Somewhere.” He had a lesson scheduled in ten minutes time, which meant a man hunt for Bruce wasn’t what he should be joining in on. “You’re free to look for him.”

“No! I need you with me, a witnesses and tape will mean he can’t report shit.” That didn’t exactly inspire confidence. However, Jason obviously wanted someone to keep Bruce accountable for what happened and Dick knew he was probably the best person for it. “You can film me if you want just to make sure.” That smile, so forced, trying to act sweet even though they were both well aware of the fact that whatever it was that Jason was wanting to do would likely be some sort of trouble.

If it meant Jason would show some sort of restraint then it was better to just go along with it. “Alright let’s see if he’s in the office upstairs then.”

He wasn’t, if Bruce had slipped out someone would know, Dick asking a few members of staff if they’d seen him, Jason lurking in the background listening. The longer it was taking the more worked up the other seemed to get, it wasn’t until Alfred stumbled upon them back in the office looking through Bruce’s schedule that they got the answer. In the small dance studio working with Damian.

A fact that only seemed to irritate Jason more. He didn’t even have time to rise out of the chair before Jason was out of the room and making a b-line for the studio. He was still a few steps behind when Jason burst open the door. “Hi Bruce, long time no see, you might not remember me I’m the first skater you fucked over in their prime.” That tone was utterly disgusting, it couldn’t even be labelled as forced sweetness, he knew very well that Jason was making a complete and utter mockery of those that played nice.

“What do you want Jason?” Bored, irritated, he didn’t even know what the right way to describe Bruce’s tone was, he’d only gotten back on Sunday night and hadn’t been the most engaged of people yesterday but he’d seemed in a decent enough mood this morning. He was leaning against the wall, watching Damian who was stretching against the barre.

Jason showing up wasn’t going to produce the nicest side of Bruce. “Oh I thought someone might need to have a little chat with you. Because your skater, you know the one that fell off the podium for the first time in his career, who wouldn’t dare disrespect you enough to say how he actually felt about all this.” So that was the actual reason Jason didn’t want Tim to know, they weren’t exactly friends but Jason was the person who knew what it was like to be the victim of Bruce’s mistakes.

Tim would need to see this, not because it was Jason, but because he needed to know how Bruce would react about being confronted with the aftermath of the competition. “And you think it’s your place to tell me how to manage my skaters?” No one should have to hear it either, Dick took his phone out of his pocket, swiping into the camera as he turned his back to the room, nudging the door closed his foot, once he had it recording the phone was back in his jacket pocket.

“I don’t care if it’s my place or not! You hurt someone who has been nothing but loyal to you. Taken actual hits- yes they were from me, that’s not the point, for you. No other skater would do that for a coach.” Just how long had he been rehearsing this in his head, it took just under fifteen hours to fly in and he could have gotten in yesterday afternoon or the evening? There was no guarantee he could shut down everything but Bruce hadn’t even had the chance to open his mouth.

Damian on the other hand did. “It’s not as though he would have been successful anyway, could barely get through a day’s training without having some sort of fit.” Not a total lie but there was no doubt in Dick’s mind that Damian hadn’t stopped for a moment to think that he was exactly what was causing Tim to get so upset.

“Really, you’re not going to defend him, he was in first after the short or did you not care enough to know that?” Silence, both Dick and Jason waiting for some sort of response, he hoped Bruce could at least say something that didn’t make him seem like even more of an asshole. “So your record with the men's stands at one skater who won everything imaginable, me who you broke physically something which you still refuse to accept responsibility for, and one you’ve broken mentally and I doubt you think you’ve done anything wrong by him.”

Okay, definitely irritated now. “If you’re actually here to demand an apology for something that happened years ago, I did apologize and you threw a tantrum and left my coaching. Some people just don’t have what is needed to win, you thought you were invincible and wouldn’t have listened-”

“This has nothing to do with me! If Tim didn’t listen to every fucking word you said he’d have won that World Championship.” He wasn’t even trying to be quiet at this point, the space might have been small but Jason’s voice certainly bounced off the walls. “You made us all so fucking afraid of failing you, you used to tell me all you wanted was for me to do what you said and do it right. That’s not what you want at all though, because when anyone does that you’re still not satisfied and you get bored with them.”

Dick couldn’t help but bite his lip, no matter how he weighed in it wasn’t going to sound great and whilst to an extent Jason was right, a lot of the words seemed to be coming from his own experience. “Oh I get it, you fucked the fa-”

“Damian, leave… this has nothing to do with you.” Dick hadn’t expected to raise his voice so suddenly, there was a line that couldn’t continue to be crossed, he might not want to pick between Bruce and Jason but Damian couldn’t keep getting away with what had been coming out of his mouth lately. Bruce hadn’t put a stop to it even though he probably heard far worse things come out of his mouth and he couldn’t for the life of him understand how he could listen to it.

Everyone standing stiff as they watched the teen stomp out, Dick ensuring that the door was pressed shut behind him. “Funny, both Talia and Ra’s have no issue with people’s preferences. That shit comes from learned behaviours, did he get it from you?”

“Of course not, you can attack me as a coach because of our history but you have no idea what it’s like to parent a child.” Christ, he sounded like a middle aged woman when he phrased it like that.

“You’re not being attacked, I’m standing several feet away from you and just because I’m giving you some harsh truths doesn’t mean it’s an attack.”

“As far as I know, Tim doesn’t like you and wouldn’t appreciate you being here, let alone having an opinion on how he’s coached.”

“Bruce, he wasn’t coached that’s the point everyone is making.” Dick sighed, it wasn’t the smartest thing to speak up on but the articles were everywhere, if Bruce looked at even one of them he’d know who was being made to look like the fuck up. “Yes there’s years of training and work from a coach that goes into creating a champion skater but you sent him there with no one when I could have gone to Germany for Damian without any trouble. Tim made huge mistakes but no one was there for him to tell him that it was going to be okay, that he hadn’t destroyed his entire career, did you at least call or even text him?”

“He and I will meet to discuss the competition when he returns which was always the intention regardless of what happened.” So that was a no.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Bruce, I thought you were a shitty coach before coming in for this little talk but you actually prove how fucked you are as a person every time you open your mouth.” He couldn’t see Jason managing to provoke Bruce but he’d already said plenty already, and none of it sounded good.

Bruce had clearly had enough, his speaking up probably hadn’t helped the matter either. “Jason you’ve outstayed your welcome, you can leave or we can make some phone calls.”

It was a threat that could mean a lot of things, Jason wanted it recorded, likely so if Bruce tried to claim to the ISU or USFSA that he’d done more than yell at him they couldn’t sanction him at all but he could still have him removed by police as well. Hell even reporting it to the ISU or USFSA would taint Jason for some time. “Fine I’ll go. You have no chance of keeping him past this season anyway, I can promise you that. I’m sure Ra’s will send you a thank you letter for handing Tim over on a silver platter.”

Jason getting the last word in wasn’t surprising and Bruce’s shoulders dropped slightly once the door opened and closed again. Leaving just the two of them, Bruce was definitely not pleased with him for saying something.

But he had more left to say. “I have a question, I’m late for a lesson but I need to know this… What did you think of Tim’s skates?”

“I believe the scores were very reflective of what happened.” The worst way he could have answered the question, undeniable proof that he hadn’t watched either the short program or the free skate. Telling the truth would have been a far better option.

There was so much he could say to that, start another fight but potentially lose his job at the rink and then end up with a damaged reputation as well. “If he asks, maybe just say you haven’t had the chance to watch, it’ll hurt a lot less.” He’d definitely said his piece and he wasn’t about to deny Tim the opportunity to throw the past few weeks back in Bruce’s face.

That is if Tim found fight to actually force Bruce into actually listening to him.

#jaytim #Tim Drake #Jason Todd

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ronyxfic · 7 years ago

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Educating the Victim - Act V, Chapter XXXVI

Pairing: -

Rating: Mature

Warnings/Tags: none for this chapter

Read it on AO3!

Educating the Victim Masterpost

(Previous chapter) (Next chapter)

CHAPTER 36: Bailing

The aftermath of what would later become known only as “The Heist” kept Amethyst up for the better part of the night. The events kept replaying in her head with a mixture of pride, shame and triumph, and Aurora and Blue had gone to sleep – which left very little for Amethyst to do.

Around four in the morning, she got the brilliant idea to text Pearl. Pearl was probably asleep too, so she wouldn’t get an answer til the morning – but at least she wouldn’t have to wait.

yo pearl guess what we did!! it was so cool ill have to tell you all about it when you wake up.

And yet... Pearl replied almost instantly. Oh, hey I’m awake. What’s up? :o

Amethyst frowned. didnt expect you to be up! u ok?

Kinda? Can’t sleep. But tell me about the thing you did. You seem excited.

oh yeah! we broke into the school. you didnt hear that from me, though, we never did that. but also yes we totally did and it was awesome!

Oh my goodness. Amethyst! That’s so dangerous. You two could have been arrested!!!!!

A few seconds later, there was another reply. What did you do at the school?

just some fun stuff. youll see when we get back tomorrow!! big d’s gonna have a heart attack :D

Jesus. Well. Sit tight just in case the police do find you. You should go to sleep soon though.

cant sleep. how about you? why arent you asleep?

Like I said. Can’t sleep. Just been thinking about something I might do soon. Tomorrow, if itll upset our common enemy.

oh? that sounds interesting, wanna talk about it?

It took a few moments for Pearl to reply.

Okay, well... I guess I’m about to really... really embarass myself. I’ve been thinking about Rose a lot at therapy and I’ve kind of had to come to terms with the fact that I did something kind of awful. And then excused it by saying I was ‘defending’ people. I don’t think Rose is a predator.

well thats a change of direction, Amy texted back. Then hesitated, and added, a good one, tho. so what are you gonna do?

You’ll find out tomorrow ;p, Pearl replied. But for real. I’ve managed to talk to my therapist about it and she’s been really helpful about it. I’ll show you tomorrow. But... thanks for at least talking to me about it. I was a little uncertain before but I think writing it down helped to cement that its something I should do.

The Principal’s office was in ruins; papers missing or destroyed, her computer in pieces on the floor, and that... abhorrent graffiti on her wall.

And in the middle, wearing a stony mask that hid just how close she was to tears, Marigold Diamond tried to make sense of it all.

Aurora had come in this morning, offering her sympathies and playing up the shock of seeing Diamond’s office in this state. Marigold tried to convince herself that Aurora had nothing to do with it. She didn’t, Marigold just thought she’d seen her face because... because Marigold was a weak, sentimental sinner and could not let go.

Aurora had nothing to do with it, she was sure.

And yet she didn’t miss that Aurora didn’t even ask if she could help. No trace of that sweet, diligent girl remained. It added to the hurt and confusion.

She already knew she’d get nothing done today. If she was lucky, she’d tidy up a little bit.

Pearl had arrived about an hour early that day, letter in hand. She made her way up from reception, every step towards the principal's office feeling heavier than the last.

By the time she came to Aurora's cubicle, she already felt drained enough to go home. Of course, she vetoed the thought.

It was time to do the right thing.

"Hi Rori. Amy said you had a nice party last night. You guys must be tired."

“Oh, I’m just fine. It was a good evening, though.” Aurora smiled at her innocently. “How can I help you?”

"Is the Principal available to talk?" Pearl forced a nervous smile. Perhaps she could just hand the letter over and escape the fallout of the impact.

“Probably. She’s definitely there. You might have to talk to her out here, though, her office is a bit of a mess. Surely you heard what happened? A breakin. Disastrous. She’s absolutely distraught. You didn’t hear it from me.”

"What... a shame." Pearl swallowed and then gave a nod, and with a wink began to walk towards Marigold's door. "I hope they catch the ones responsible for it soon."

She knocked, her heart thundering. "Principal Diamond?"

A few heavy steps could be heard from the other side. The door opened.

Principal Diamond stood behind it, frowning, visibly in a bad mood.

“Pearl,” she said icily. “What is it?”

"I, uh. Have something." Pearl waved the letter and handed it over. "I'll be going. Bye!"

“Not so fast.” Marigold stepped outside and closed the door behind her. “You’ll stay until I’ve read this.”

"Are you sure? I mean, I have classes... I really should be going."

“Unless something has drastically changed without me noticing, classes don’t start for another...” Marigold checked her wrist watch. “Forty-five minutes, at least. Now take a seat.”

Pearl gave a gentle look upon Aurora, as if it were her last, before sitting down next to the office. "I guess this is how I die," she murmured.

Marigold frowned at Pearl for a long moment before drawing her attention back to the letter Pearl had given her.

She started to read.

“‘I hereby redact any and all statements that I have ever made concerning my relationship with a certain member of staff, the currently suspended Rose Quartz. I was suffering from a mental breakdown when I made those allegations and I would like to assure you that none of them are true. With this in mind, I would kindly ask that you drop all proceedings against the aforementioned Ms Quartz and restore her to her position. Sincerely, Pearl Morgan.’”

Pearl laughed nervously. "Hah, um, the second letter is that from my psychologist. It, uh, it should function as an official doctor's note to further support the letter."

Diamond looked up, a thunderstorm brewing fast behind her eyes. “I don’t believe you,” she snapped. “You’re lying to appease your own guilt over what you did. Well, guess what. It won’t work. This letter, this note, it means nothing to me, and I will certainly not drop anything. Quartz remains suspended. Now get out of my sight before I suspend you too.”

Pearl wanted to leave. Her fingers twitched and her gaze never left the ground. "Then I'll just have to get my psychiatrist to write another one. And another one. That's legal evidence you're choosing to shove aside because of your own issues."

“Shut your mouth. You will not speak to me in that tone, you insolent child. I am the headmaster of this school and I was personally attacked last night and if you give me one more reason to ruin your future forever, I will. Get. Out.”

Pearl held her ground. "I'll be back tomorrow with another letter. I won't give up."

“Yes, you will.” And with that, Marigold turned and disappeared into her office, slamming the door shut behind her.

"Oof, and I got away with it Scott-free." Pearl raised her eyebrows and looked over at Aurora. "Is she always like this? Like, does she even possess the ability to turn off whatever bitch mode she's stuck on?"

Aurora didn’t smile. “Surprisingly enough, yes,” she said. “That was a gutsy move, Pearl. I’m proud of you.”

"Yeah, well. Getting Rose on suspension wasn't my call to make in the first place. And acting like a victim just made me even more shitty." Pearl shuffled her backpack on. "But I wasn't kidding. You'll make sure my letters get to her, right?"

“Absolutely. Is this why you got here so early?”

"Yeah." Pearl nodded. "You get some coffee in you, Rori. You look dead. I'll see you around."

Aurora sighed. Pearl was probably right. “You have a good day, and don’t get into too much trouble,” she told Pearl with a warm smile.

After the door closed behind Pearl, Aurora let out a deep sigh. She’d been dreading this moment all morning: the moment in which she found herself feeling like she should check up on Marigold.

She knocked on the door, hesitantly. “Principal? It’s... me.”

Marigold's voice seemed oddly tender when she replied, despite her thunder only a minute ago. Her voice cracked with exhaustion. "Come in, Aurora."

Aurora stepped inside. She closed the door behind her and didn’t approach Marigold.

“Are you... okay?” she said softly.

"No." Marigold’s tone grew cold again. "I didn't need this, Aurora! I didn't need to have my school broken into... I didn't need the documents I have on Quartz that I was planning to send off today go missing. I don't need your sister suddenly bailing a case on a predator."

Aurora fell silent.

“Oh,” she just said in response. The graffiti Amethyst had left during the night was clearly visible right next to the window.

“Is there... anything I can do?”

Marigold looked at her. As if recalling a memory, just out of her grasp. She then sighed. "No. I'm fine. This is all fine. I've hired the cleaning crew to fix this. They'll be here in twenty minutes or so, when school starts." She turned away. "I'll go and patrol to take my mind of it. Hold the ship."

Aurora swallowed. “Okay.”

She lingered in the office for several seconds longer than she should. Eventually, she sighed and stepped outside towards her desk.

Marigold stepped out about five minutes later, her uniform a little more fixed than the stern expression draped on her features. "I'm going to find out which one of these little brats wants me to 'fall'."

“Are you... sure going out right now is a good idea, Ma- Principal?” Aurora swallowed. Cursed herself internally for the slip up. “Students won’t be in for a... while.”

"There'll be some," Marigold replied, marching to the door.

> Act V, Chapter XXXVII

#steven universe #su fanfic #su human au #su yellow diamond #su pearl #su yellow pearl #educating the victim #etv act 5 #illustrated

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destielfanfic · 8 years ago

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There’s something about season 12

There’s something about season 12 and her name is Mary. Here’s a very small collection of canon verse fics that take a closer look at Mary and what it means for Dean and Cas. Not all fics are about Mary tho, some are just good old destiel!

If you want to read more, check out destiel fics with Season/Series 12 tag on AO3 and keep an eye on our season 12 tag for future recs.

Five times Mary Winchester tried to wrap her head around Castiel, Angel of the Lord, and one time she didn’t by karoffelbrei89 [T, 2,500 word count] pre-season 12, Mary’s POV

Mary tries to understand. Tries to get her head around it. But Castiel isn’t people. He is a hurricane trapped inside a body. He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t look at her son the way he does. Mary can’t help but wonder why he does anyway.

Assimilation by komodobits [M, 5,600 word count] 12x01 coda, Mary’s POV

Mary always thought you were supposed to be able to tell. That you could just look at someone and know they were – you know. One of that sort. It’s not supposed to happen to her son.

Ceramic Figurines by MajorEnglishEsquire [T, 4,500 word count] 12x01 coda

"I wasn't gonna say anything but the hugging thing is kinda weird," he tries. It feels really bad coming out of his mouth. "I know," Cas shrugs. "You think I'm weird. That seems to be how this works."

There'd Be No Distance by imogenbynight [T, 3,100 word count] season 12, New Year’s Eve, longing

In which Cas is lonesome on New Year’s Eve, and some misunderstandings get cleared up.

down to brass tacks by oonecologne [T, 3,100 word count] season 12, Valentine’s Day

He puts his hands in his pockets as he flees the kitchen and his fingers brush cool metal. He bites his lip and tries to get over the fact that Castiel appears to have given him jewelry for Valentine’s Day. Even if it is regifted.

He Knows Where He Should Go by 60r3d0m [M, 3,400 wotd count] 12x10 coda, angst

He should’ve seen it coming, what happens then, because it’s been a long time that Cas has been saying these things, a long time that Dean’s watched him silently suffer but not speak up, and when Cas finally does say it—when he finally verbalizes what’s been implied for so long with a clench of his jaw and those eyes—those bright, bright eyes, Dean thinks—Dean feels his whole form shake, a shudder that goes through him that leaves his body chilled, that leaves his mind frozen (it scares him more than death). “You think I deserve to die?” Cas says and Dean feels himself shatter.

In the Aftermath by cenotaphy [T, 2,900 word count] 12x12 coda, angst

Cas may be physically recovered from the events of 12x12, but that doesn't mean he's okay. But Dean and Sam are there for him. Because, after all, you don't leave family behind.

Be There by domesticadventures [T, 2,00 word count] 12x12 coda

Concern is rolling off of Dean in waves, and underneath that is fear and desperation and a dozen different types of longing that, for reasons Castiel still doesn’t understand, Dean has never acted on.

Teachable Moments by VioletHaze [NC-17, 2,600 word count] 12x12 coda, fluff

Honestly, Castiel has had it with humans who have decided the term "infinite knowledge" means "let me explain everything to you like you're a child even though my lifetime of experience is merely an early-swatted fruit fly compared to your long existence and also I am going to eat the rest of your French fries."

Longing by whelvenwings [T, 1,100 word count] future fic, longing

“Do you always understand everything you feel?” Cas asked, one day. He thought, obscurely, that Spring was the right time for a question like this; or at least this Spring was - a Spring that felt fresh and light and hazy, still dazed by the wonder of Winter’s passing. Dean, sitting in the car beside him, looked washed out by it - or rather, washed clean, Cas supposed he meant. Softened, in any case. “How d’you mean?” Dean said. He turned to Cas, the bright sun shrinking out the darkness in his eyes - turning them green. Green like go-lights, green like mazes - no, gentler than both of those; green like the water-full leaves of succulent plants. Green like book covers, like peppermint-flavour candies.

A World Without Monsters by lizbobjones [M, 6,800 word count] future fic, Mary’s POV, beach vacation slash case fic

The world is finally free of all monsters, and Mary is taken on a pleasant seaside holiday by Ketch to celebrate their victory. Unfortunately Dean, Cas and Sam tag along and won't let her have the peace she fought for.

#destiel #fic rec #season 12 #su #short #T #mary #bunker #coda

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darkhymns-fic · 8 years ago

Text

Murder with a Side of Lies (Ch. 8)

A discarded notepad sits on the table, crinkled and stained with ketchup...

It doesn't belong here.

Fandom: Undertale Characters: Sans, Flowey Rating: PG Chapters: 8/8 Mirror Links: AO3, FF.net Notes: The sequel to Kidnappings in the Early Evening by Sky. A fusion of detective noir fiction and courtroom drama! All stories, art, etc., related to this main story will be under the tag #undertale noir. (chrono)

Suggested reading music and some rain...

First Chapter Previous Chapter

[Chapter Missing]

nice. free notepad. paps must have forgotten it. finders keepers

butts.

hehehheh. butt butt butt. my favorite pie is buttspie with lots of butter.

What did one wave say to the other?

Nothin’ he just waved.

What did the grape say when he got stepped on?

Nothin’ he just whined.

i should probably have someone actually say something for these jokes to be a bit more effective, huh? nah.

What’s a mummy’s favorite music genre?

Mummy wrap.

heh. heh. that one’s really really bad aint it. that’s a keeper.

some reason i get the urge to write more than just bad jokes here. like I wanna say more. that’d be weird tho, wouldn’t it?

heh, and i aint weird.

What did the flower say when his house caught on fire?

Nothin’, he made like a tree and leafed.

Why did the flower need a job?

He was dirt poor.

Why was the flower feelin’ so blue?

Can’t find the root of the problem there.

really got flowers on the mind, don’t i? wonder why that could be.

you know, it’s strange. i keep coming back to this notepad even though my mind says why bother. what’s the point in writing down what I see or feel? not like anyone’s gonna read this, heh.

but why not. let’s give it a go. i’m interested, for whatever reason.

i’m sittin’ here at tori’s bakery shop. it’s raining outside, like always. got a plate of that butts pie im so fond of. it’s good, but(t) could use more butts. table I’m sitting at is uhhh… looks like a table. yep, sturdy. round? It’s round. that’s how these things go. you describe all the stuff here, right?

it’s pretty late here. no one’s around at this time of night. tori’s nice enough to let me hang out after closing and feed me the leftovers she didn’t sell, and I’m cheap enough to take ‘em. she really goats me, i guess.

usually tori would be swappin’ bad jokes with me right now, but she’s been pretty busy since that trial ended. turns out, no one was willing to take over the family’s duties after ol’ gorey got sent away. Not even fish face. kinda expected her to take over. guess she’s too busy playin’ detective with my bro.

tori, bein’ the nice lady she is, decided she’d take up leadership. probably for the best. if anyone can manage building homes for the poor and being generally kind to all us monsters, it’s her. i certainly don’t know what bein’ the leader entails, and im not exactly rarin’ to find out.

although, between you and me, it does get a bit more boring in the shop without her around. oh well. guess that’s why im writing this, isn’t it?

it’s so boring, i don’t think I even have anything left to write. dang. guess i’ll just go back to writing bad jokes.

Why didn’t the Flower eat chloroform?

He was chlorofull.

heh. really havin’ a bad time tryin’ to think of something other than flowers.

maybe it’s cuz I’ve been thinking about my good pal, flowey, a lot lately. can’t blame a guy, can you? tori literally has him on her person at all times.

Well. Most of the times.

I don’t think Tori knows it, but that little scamp escapes sometimes when she’s not lookin’. Heh, but it’s not like he’d get into any trouble, now would he? No, no, that doesn’t sound like the good natured Flowey I know. His parents would never allow him to get into any trouble.

His parents would probably protect him from anything. Even though he didn’t see ol’ Gorey much, I get the feeling Flowey’s dad really cared about him…and I mean really cared for him.

I shouldn’t be gossiping. But, it’s not like anyone is going to read this anyway, right? There’s nothing wrong with writing down some of my own little speculations. Just a hypothesis, is all.

Now, while I’m sure Gorey was quite the nice guy, he did some awful things. Maybe he did them because he thought they were right. Maybe he did those things knowing it was wrong, but believed it was for a good cause. Honestly, can’t say I blame him all that much either way.

This leads us back to the trial, though. Boy, that trial was objectively a good time. I’m so proud of my bro. He proved me wrong a number of times. If it weren’t for him and fish sticks, I probably would have sent an innocent person away.

Instead, I sent a not-quite-innocent person away.

Heh. heh. Tori had me promise I’d be a fair judge. A good judge. She told me to take it seriously, don’t mess around, don’t favor anyone. Me, like the bonehead I am, I promised her I would.

Why do I keep making promises I know I’m just going to break?

Oh. Spoilers, I guess. I broke that promise towards the end of the case. I don’t think Asgore killed that Burger fella. In fact, I’m pretty sure he didn’t. Still, I let them convict ol’ Fluffybuns.

I wasn’t sure what happened until he took the stand of course, till I heard all the facts from metal head and fish face. The ideas, the guesses, they were always in the back of my skull, gnawing away in the dark, but I suppose I’m good at ignoring things like that.

Something needed to be done with Asgore, after all. He needed to stop those little bad habits of his. I couldn’t see a more peaceful solution than this. Us monsters have never really needed to make a jail, after all. They were strangely forgiving, even knowing what he did.

The monsters in charge of the judicial system, (Mettaton, Gertrude, myself and a few others) decided we’d keep him under house arrest. At least, that’s kind of the best way to describe it. He’s not allowed to leave his home, not really allowed to do anything without The Family (aka Tori) knowing. People can still come visit him, ask him for advice, make a bit of tea, but that’s about it.

So I get what you’re thinking. Asgore (supposedly) kills an innocent kid. A monster kid no less. He only gets house arrest? He got off easy. Well, to be honest, we thought about the death penalty. It was an uncomfortable subject and it was clear there was no monster out there that would be able to carry it out.

Well, heh, guess that’s not completely true.

The guy’s pretty sad still. But, I think he’s feeling a little better. He’s left to those plants and flowers he loves so much. Not many come to visit him, though, but I think they’ll come around. This is probably the happiest ending that could come out of the situation, isn’t it?

Still, if Asgore didn’t kill that monster, though, who did? Who did, I wonder? And why?

Once again, I want to remind anyone reading this (but no one is reading this, so it doesn’t matter) that this is all speculation. I don’t have any proof, and I never witnessed anything myself.

But…

I get the feeling my pal, Flowey, killed Burgerpants. Strange, I know. Very strange. Flowey is such a cheerful, happy, helpful little friend, isn’t he? Why would he ever do something like that?

Well, first, we need to understand why he was with Asgore at the scene of the crime that night. I have a hunch. I think ol’ Gorey finally got enough of what he wanted out of his little bad habits. I think he wanted to give the fruits of his effort to Flowey, hoping that maybe it’d turn his son back to normal.

Problem with that, is Tori wouldn’t let Asgore near Flowey. She was very adamant, believe me, the arguments those two would get into got pretty heated. (get it, cuz fire magic) But, my good friend, Flowey, he’s a crafty little guy. He’s made some escapes; he’s gotten into contact with his father before without his mother’s knowledge.

How do I know that? Just a hunch, that’s all. What? I’m not the type to stalk people.

This brings us to that fateful night. If I had to guess what the scene would be, it’d probably be like this:

The rain musta been pouring like it always is. Asgore probably waited in that alley way for a good amount of time, without an umbrella. He was soaked to the bone, but poor Gorey felt he deserved it. He had soul and he had determination.

Once Flowey actually showed up, he probably did that sickly sweet thing he likes to do. Call him “daddy” and all that nonsense, really get into Asgore’s head. It must have been difficult seeing his son like this, but I bet Asgore was thinking it’d all be worth it. All those horrible things he did, all of it would be worth it if he could see his son again.

Although, thinking on it, human souls and determination are all well and good, right? You can do some great things with those on your side, but isn’t it missing one important ingredient?

Right, right, I forgot. A monster’s soul.

Flowey doesn’t have one of those, now does he?

Still hypothetically speaking here, of course… Asgore knew all this. He knew a monster soul would probably be needed. But, I don’t think he meant for it to be Burgerpants. I don’t think Asgore planned on giving any monster’s soul but his own.

Flowey, being the precocious scamp that he is, also knew a monster soul would be necessary. This whole thing was probably just a misunderstanding.

Poor Burgerpants, though. Wrong place, wrong time. How can a guy be so unlucky? Hey, whenever I’m feeling down, at least I can remind myself some other guy had it way worse.

Anyway, this Burgerpants fella shows up, and here’s what I think happens. Flowey misunderstands the situation. Or maybe he didn’t care. Maybe those dark habits of Asgore rubbed off on him in that moment. Maybe Flowey was just feeling particularly grumpy that day. Who knows? I certainly can’t read that flower’s mind. Don’t want to either. Hope I never do.

Flowey kills Burgerpants on the spot before Asgore can even react. A huge vine, full of thorns, slams him into the dumpster. Looks like a claw mark (or maybe a trident mark), heh. Now, remember, little flower boy is the son of two incredibly powerful fire users. Even if it wasn’t on purpose, I think he’s still got a little heated edge to his attacks. Explains why the time of death couldn’t be figured out. Dust was still hot. No one expected fire magic.

This frightens Asgore. This was meant to be his son, Asriel? How could this cruel being before him claim to be his son, yet be so full of hate? Maybe Asgore blamed himself at that moment.

Either way, he couldn’t go through with it after that. Maybe everything he did would go to waste, maybe those humans died for nothing, but he couldn’t keep making mistakes, now could he? Just because he buried a hole so deep for himself, didn’t mean he had to keep digging and take everyone with him, right?

Probably good thinking, I’d say. Best thinking he’d done in a while.

I’ll bet Flowey lost that sweet charm of his after that. I’ll bet he demanded those souls and that Determination from Asgore. “Why won’t you give it to me?! I’m your son!” he probably said. Maybe even threatened him when things didn’t go his way.

Asgore must have been feeling real bad at that time, but you gotta remember, through it all, he is still a father. A father disciplines his child. For the first time in years, maybe even ever, I think Asgore raised his voice at Flowey. I think he told Flowey “Go home to your mother, never speak of this again.”

“I’m not going anywhere until I get my --”

“I said GO!”

And just like that, Flowey was afraid. He’d never seen his father like this. Ol’ Fluffybuns actually mad? Boy, almost wish I coulda seen that.

But I didn’t.

Flowey must have dug back into the ground, running away to his mama while papa cleaned up after his mess.

Heh, it’s a good thing no one else figured it out, right? If Tori found out about this, would she be able to live with herself, I wonder? I have no idea what she might do. What would everyone think if they found out Flowey was a killer?

I think it’d be a lot of trouble for the little guy. I think he knows better now, though. I don’t think he’s ever going to hurt anyone again, or else he’ll have a pretty bad time.

Luckily, this is all guess work. No one has to know. No one needs to mess up this happy ending we got. No one’s going to read this.

guess this is just between you and me, isn’t it, pal?

...

The notepad had appeared on his bedroom table that night. Flowey knew it wasn’t on accident. He read the thing, read through the crappy jokes and the even crappier handwriting. His leaves trembled slightly, his vision blurred multiple times.

With an angry toss, the notepad slammed into the lit fireplace. The flames ignored it completely, of course. Toriel’s fire was never hot enough to burn.

With the grit of his teeth and the furrow of a brow, the fireplace erupted in flames. The notepad was devoured, disintegrated.

Turned to dust.

The thought unnerved him, haunted his mind. It was best to douse those flames now, forget it ever happened.

The fire cackled at him.

And the rain poured.

That smiley trashbag…

#undertale #sans #flowey #sans undertale #flowey undertale #undertale noir #multi chapter #sky's fics

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