#that other spoken word one by the used with a tts that i tried to post a couple years ago but literally genuinely nobody had posted it to yt | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bobateastay · 3 years ago

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Hi can I request for a smut one-shot? a dom!hongjoong x f!reader where reader is hongjoong's gf also a producer working with ateez and she gets too flirty with wooyoung and it makes hongjoong jealous and ends up with a rough sex in studio after others left! sorry if its too much I've tried my best to explain TT

kim hongjoong x fem!reader

nsfw content - do not interact or read if you are under 18

cw - smut, mild jealousy, themes of possessiveness, brief impact play, brief choking, studio sex

word count: 3.3k

a/n: first off i want to apologise for taking so long with this request, i really hope that this isn't too late and that you'll still enjoy it!! if not let me know and i'll rewrite it or write something else for you! thank you so much for the request and for your patience <3

Jealousy was too heavy a word for the feeling that would occasionally bubble up in Hongjoong’s chest. Jealousy meant all kinds of things at once, like being insecure or possessive or grudgeful, and Hongjoong was none of those things. He wasn’t envious either - he was more than happy with the relationship he had with you and felt no longing to get from you what you might give to other people in your life but not to him. So Hongjoong wasn’t jealous and he wasn’t envious, but unfortunately he couldn’t really come up with another word for how he felt. In the end it all boiled down to the fact that he liked to remind both you and himself of how much of your trust you placed in him and how much trust he placed in you. Luckily for him, you liked being reminded of those just as much as he did, so it all worked out fine.

Except for days like today.

“Don’t I sound good?” Wooyoung said, exaggerating the words for the sake of joking around with you. “Am I living up to the role of ATEEZ’s sexy guy?”

“Wooyoung,” your voice echoed through the small room, taking on a soft sing-song lilt that made Hongjoong squirm slightly in his seat. You giggled from where you were sitting, resting your chin on your palm as you looked at Wooyoung. “Come on, let’s go through it again.”

Normally Hongjoong was happy to know that you got along well with his members - it was hard to mix personal and work life with his profession but you made it easy for him, although that might largely have been thanks to the fact that you worked at KQ. But watching Wooyoung whine at you and blow you kisses every chance he got, not to mention you reciprocating all the while, was starting to irk Hongjoong. He knew that it was noticeable from the way Seonghwa and Yunho glanced at him every time Wooyoung opened his mouth to speak. The other members were probably doing it too, although Hongjoong didn’t have the guts to check, not when he knew that they would inevitably tease him about it later. So all he could do was stare at the two of you and hope that the daggers he was glaring at Wooyoung weren’t too sharp.

“Okay Youngie, that’s all,” you hummed, turning around in your chair and kicking your legs lightly. It was adorable - even with his muddled mind Hongjoong knew that - but not adorable enough to make him smile like he usually would have. Your eyes met his for a moment and you flashed him a brief smile, only looking away when he nodded slightly to acknowledge it. “Everyone did a good job today, thank you for your hard work!”

The boys were all flattered smiles and thankful words once you’d spoken, the tension in Hongjoong’s shoulders dissipating a little at the sight. Of course he wasn’t lucky enough for it to last.

“Will you walk us out?” Wooyoung asked in the same sing-song tone you’d used earlier, smiling at you as the rest of the members started getting up to leave. You glanced at Hongjoong before answering Wooyoung, waiting to hear his opinion. Hongjoong just shrugged, a pout forming on his lips before he could stop himself.

“Sure I’ll walk with you. Hongjoong and I were going to head to his studio anyway,” you answered, seemingly oblivious to how Hongjoong’s pout was starting to look more and more like a frown.

“Score!” Wooyoung chirped, linking his arm with yours as soon as you stood up. You rewarded the action by ruffling his hair, walking out amongst the other members while Hongjoong stayed glued to his seat, his brain trying and failing to process the cold feeling mixing up with his insides. “You look pretty today by the way!”

Hongjoong mimicked Wooyoung's words under his breath, huffing as he got up from his seat and rushed to catch up with you all. Didn’t Wooyoung know that you looked pretty everyday?

“Hongie,” you called out for him from a couple of meters ahead. When Hongjoong looked up he saw that you were still walking with your arm linked through Wooyoung’s, a wide smile on your lips. “Why are you so far behind?”

Hongjoong made a small disgruntled sound in the back of his throat, trying his best to play it off now that he had the rest of the members looking at him as well.

“I’ll meet you at my studio instead,” he said, giving you and the members a half-hearted wave. He barely paid attention to the confused look that crossed your features, quickly making his way back to his own studio instead of following the rest of you out to the building’s entrance. He knew it was sort of unreasonable but he didn’t care very much either, shutting the door to his studio with more force than was probably necessary before sitting down on the sofa also with more force than was probably necessary, the furniture complaining beneath his weight. He’d wait for you to get here before starting with any work.

Luckily, it didn’t take you very long to get back, the door opening to reveal the half-worried, half-confused expression that took over your features as soon as you met Hongjoong’s eyes. You shut the door behind you, letting out a soft sigh as you leaned back onto it.

“What was that about?” you asked, your voice just as patient as always. It only made the strange, tangled feeling in his chest grow to hear you speak like that. He let his legs fall apart slightly and patted his thigh. Time for the reminder that always made you fall apart beneath his fingertips.

“C’mere,” he said, voice quiet enough that he wasn’t even sure that you’d heard him. But you did as he asked, legs settling on either side of his own so that you were straddling him, the worried part of your expression having melted away to reveal only confusion. Your hands found purchase on his chest and you leaned in to press a kiss to his lips without him asking, which was endearing enough to make Hongjoong smile slightly against your lips. He let his hands rest on your hips, squeezing as he nudged his nose against yours. “So Wooyoung thinks you look pretty today, huh?”

Your eyes widened as you leaned back slightly, searching Hongjoong’s face for any signs that he was just screwing with you but he was as serious as ever.

“You know it’s not anything like that,” you said, lips forming a pout. Hongjoong raised an eyebrow, his hands moving from your hips down to your ass.

“Of course I know,” he said, thumbs hooking beneath your pants and tugging down slightly. “I know that I’m the only one who gets to do this, right?”

He punctuated the sentence with a slap to your ass that was only just hard enough to make you jolt in surprise, lips parting as you inhaled sharply. The action was sudden enough to make you squirm slightly, pushing back into his touch in an attempt to get comfortable again. Hongjoong couldn’t help but smile at the sight, his grip on you tightening.

“All good?” he asked, a small pause to check that you weren’t uncomfortable - all you did was squirm in his lap again in response.

“Yes,” you said, hands moving from his chest to his neck as you leaned in to kiss him again, a little firmer this time. Hongjoong let his fingers push below the waistband of your pants and underwear, cold enough against your warm skin to make you gasp, lips brushing against Hongjoong’s as you did so.

“I’m the only one who makes you gasp like that too,” he murmured, removing one hand from beneath your pants to hold your jaw in a grip that wasn’t quite bruising but wasn’t gentle in the slightest. “The only one who gets to kiss you too.”

You gave a slight nod in confirmation, allowing him to pull you into another kiss. It was messier this time, his teeth pressing into your bottom lip hard enough to make you whine, hips shifting forward on his lap. Your lips were feverish against his and although Hongjoong would have loved nothing more than to kiss you until they were aching and raw there was still work to be done, not to mention the tent in his pants.

“You know what else only I get to do?” Hongjoong asked, lips still touching yours as he spoke.

“Tell me,” you whispered, letting out a long sigh as he slid his hands up beneath your shirt, pushing the fabric upward to reveal the expanse of your stomach and the bottom of your bra. All it took was a raise of his eyebrows for you to lift your arms, letting him remove the shirt and then your bra as well, fingers trailing over your chest slowly before stopping at your waist and squeezing tight.

“I’m the only one who gets to see you like this,” he said, a small smile playing on his lips as he reached up and squeezed your breasts. His thumbs pressed against your nipples and his smile turned into a grin when your breath hitched. “All of these pretty parts of you that Wooyoung will never get to see, hm?”

You nodded, arching into his touch as he squeezed your nipples between his knuckles. The touch was brief though, a slap echoing throughout the room as Hongjoong brought his hand down against the left side of your chest hard enough to make you cry out.

“Take your clothes off for me,” he said, voice firm with the same leaderly tone that made him so good at his job. He slapped the right side of your chest, making tears of shock well up in your eyes. Hongjoong leaned back into the sofa, surrounded by an air of nonchalance even with his dick half-hard in his underwear.

His eyes stayed fixed on your face even as you undressed, only tilting his head when you paused at your underwear, embarrassed by the idea of undressing completely in his studio. You hadn’t even locked the door when you came inside. But you pulled them down all the same, glancing back at Hongjoong to find him chewing on his bottom lip, which was the only real evidence that he was worked up at all. He hummed once you were seated in his lap again, fingers digging into your thighs as though he were inspecting them while he finally took the time to rake his eyes over your body. When his eyes met yours again, he was smiling.

“I’m the only one who gets to fuck you too,” he said. It was the most obvious statement out of them all and yet it still made your hips cant upward, pressing your crotch into his. You could feel the warmth of his erection even through his clothes and it would be a lie to say that the feeling didn’t make you wet. Hongjoong moved his hand so that it was resting between your legs, his fingertips pressing into your clit before he slid his fingers between your folds so that you were both aware of just how wet you were.

“Hongjoong,” you mumbled, a complaint rising in your throat about how slow he was being only for him to push two fingers into you. You gasped at the sudden intrusion, pushing your hips down into his hand in an attempt to feel more of him. It worked, your cheeks heating up at how easily his fingers bent to press against the spot that always made your knees weak, but it also came at a cost.

“Greedy,” Hongjoong reprimanded, his free hand abandoning your thigh to take a hold of your neck. He squeezed with practised ease, cutting off your blood flow as he began to thrust his fingers into you at a pace too fast to keep up with. “I’m the only one who knows this much about you too, isn’t it? Nobody else knows how to make you pass out like this or how to make you cum like this.”

His thumb pressed harder into the side of your neck just as he bent his fingers again, proving his point as you shuddered on his lap, a broken moan escaping your lips. Your thighs squeezed around his when his thumb brushed against your clit, a dull burn gathering between your legs as a third finger pushed into you. Your hips pushed down again and finally he released his hold on your neck, allowing you to inhale as deeply as your lungs would allow you, soft whimpers leaving you now that your voice wasn’t restricted.

“Fuck me,” you pleaded, greedy just like Hongjoong had said. When he only gave you a smile of mock-pity you whined. “Please, Hongjoong.”

And who was Hongjoong to turn you down when you sounded so pretty just for him?

“Condom,” he said, bending his fingers once more before pulling them out of you. He smiled as you got out of his lap, going about positioning yourself on the sofa while he searched his drawers for a condom, dick throbbing at the wet sound of you fucking yourself with your fingers while you waited. The sight he was met with when he turned around, condom in one hand while the other occupied itself with his zipper, made him groan out loud.

“What?” you said from your spot on the sofa, legs spread and two fingers buried deep inside of you as you looked Hongjoong in the eye, not embarrassed in the slightest. “Come on baby, don’t tell me you’re all bark no bite.”

Hongjoong stumbled on his way to lock the door - probably a result of multitasking the undoing of his jeans as he did so - and almost knocked his knee against the sofa as he let the condom land on your stomach, finally busying both hands with his jeans. He let out a groan once his underwear was off too, the head of his dick flushed a pretty red and slick with precum. He grit his teeth as he stroked himself, precum smearing over his fingers and his length as he did so.

“You know what else only I get to do?” he asked, looking at you to find you already tearing open the condom packet, gesturing for him to come closer.

“Everything,” you murmured, helping him to roll the condom over his length. “You get to do everything Hongjoong, I’m all yours.”

Hongjoong smirked at that admission, leaning down to press a kiss to your lips as he pushed into you. You both broke the kiss at the feeling, gasping into each other’s mouths as Hongjoong began to grind himself forward into you, hips moving with an ease that proved he knew how to make you fall apart beneath him with barely any effort at all. He kissed you again, tongue licking into your mouth hungrily and teeth biting down on your bottom lip so hard that you cried out, stunned tears blurring your vision. Hongjoong pushed his hips forward even though he was nestled as deep inside of you as he could get, doing nothing more than grinding into that spot that had your cunt dripping around him.

“Please,” you whispered, chasing his lips for another kiss. That was all the confirmation Hongjoong needed.

He took his time pulling out before pushing back into you with enough force to knock the air out of your lungs, your hands scrambling to find purchase on his shoulders as he set a brutal pace. The pace of his hips gave you no chance to catch your breath, each thrust of his cock inside of you sending jolts of pleasure up your spine, your entire body struggling to keep up with the onslaught. A long moan left your lips as you squeezed your eyes shut.

“What’s wrong?” Hongjoong asked. You felt the words more than heard them, his breath ghosting over your jaw as he pressed kisses there. Before you could shake your head to inform him that nothing was wrong his hands grabbed onto your waist, blunt nails digging into your skin as he pulled you into his thrusts. “Don’t tell me that you’re all bark and no bite dollface.”

“Fuck,” you whined, arching your back in an attempt to get closer to him as though he wasn’t already fucking you hard enough that your mind had turned to a puddle. With each of his thrusts you could hear yourself getting louder, your efforts to stay quiet becoming even more futile when Hongjoong pulled back from your jaw to look at you, your eyes opening to meet his. His hand moved, settling between your legs so that his thumb could rub circles into your clit as he fucked you. His rhythm was messy but it didn’t matter when he was looking at you like he could eat you alive, tongue caught between his teeth and lips pulled into a wide grin.

“Y’know Wooyoungie was right,” he mused. “You did look pretty earlier.”

“Don’t - fuck - don’t talk about Wooyoung when your dick is inside of me,” you whimpered, your voice embarrassingly unsteady. Hongjoong didn’t seem to mind though, rubbing his thumb against you at an angle that made your hips stutter, warmth building in your stomach. Hongjoong wasn’t oblivious to the way your walls clenched around him at the feeling, the lewd sound of skin on skin filling the room accompanied only by Hongjoong’s laboured breaths and your near constant moans.

“But he’ll never get to see you-” he paused his words, thrusting hard enough into you to make you see stars, hands shaking as your grip on Hongjoong tightened. “-when you’re gorgeous like this.”

“I wanna cum,” you whimpered, your thighs trembling as you tried to lift your hips to meet his thrusts better. Hongjoong’s smile returned, only half-mocking you this time. The other half was so loving that it made your cheeks heat up beyond how feverish they already were.

“Go on,” Hongjoong hummed, keeping up his pace even though it was growing sloppier with each thrust. “Cum for me.”

All it took was another thrust to push you over the edge, your body shaking as you came. Hongjoong’s name fell from your lips like a mantra, the feeling of his dick and fingers working you through your orgasm until it all became too much, your clit pulsing as the pleasure turned into overstimulation.

“Fuck,” you managed to get out once Hongjoong lifted his hand from between your legs.

“Only I get to see how pretty you look when you’re like this,” he murmured, his hips stuttering as his bruising pace turned you into a sniffling, whining mess. He grinned at the sight, holding your jaw and leaning in to kiss you. His moans were swallowed by your mouth as he came, hips grinding forward deep into you the same way he’d done when he first pushed into you. You both shuddered at the feeling, your hands shaky as they cupped his cheeks. When he broke the kiss it was to smile at you, making no move to pull out.

“You get that all out of your system?” you asked, laughing breathlessly when he blushed.

“I think so,” he murmured, nosing at your cheek gently. “I didn’t go overboard did I?”

“I would’ve told you if you had,” you reassured him, running your fingers through his hair. He leaned into the feeling like a cat, making you snort. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” he murmured, pressing one last kiss to your temple.

☆⌒

taglist: @lovely-ateez @sunsethw4 @seonghwanotes @xirenex @choiberry @peanutpmingib @sannierio @ateezinmymind @demonmatz

#ateez x reader #kim hongjoong x reader #ateez smut #kim hongjoong smut #ateez fanfic #kim hongjoong fanfic #ateez fic #kim hongjoong fic #ateez imagines #kim hongjoong imagines

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garthofshayeris · 3 years ago

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I've seen you've talk about how rebirth Garth is not real Garth and I believe you obviously mean personally I am still annoyed over Roy's clone from n52 that everyone keeps acting like is Roy is still a thing, but how is he different?

I’m so glad you asked! It sounds obvious, but typically people like a character for their personality or their story arcs or their character development. Like, why else would you like a character, right? So when there are huge changes to the things that make you like the character, uh…there’s not much left.

So, obviously with reboots some things are going to be changed. Maybe someone’s appearance is altered. some of their backstory is switched up, some personality traits get dropped or added. What sucks about Rebirth Garth is they changed everything about his character, none of it for the better. And for a character who, until now, has had a major part to play in Aquaman and other dc comics for about half a century, it’s honestly pretty insulting. So many creators poured their hearts into shaping him into a character before the reboot. There was so much love put into his stories, that the comparison to rebirth is so, so noticeable. Like…if Dick Grayson was rebooted with a completely different backstory and personality and was only vaguely related to the Batfamily, I think fans would be rightfully upset. I feel the same about Garth.

His personality, or whatever attempt they made at one, is bland and boring. He’s a brute who likes fighting and….that’s it. Compared to preboot Garth who is consistently sweet and sensitive and emotional and good. He’s just a good guy who thinks of fighting as a last resort, because he would rather use his words than his fists. It was such a lovely, refreshing take on a male character (and one who is in big name comics like Aquaman and Titans and JLA) that to lose one of his key elements is terrible sad and disappointing.

Garth’s story is, ultimately, completely tied to Arthur’s. They bring out the best and worst in each other. Garth is Arthur’s foil, from the start he is there to complement Arthur as a hero and they’re part of each other’s arcs. And his backstory heavily influences how Garth acts and what he does. His story is one of grief and loss and identity and overcoming stigma, prejudice, and taking control of your destiny. His story is about healing. Or it was.

Because Rebirth Garth doesn’t have any of that. He is, essentially, a completely different character who happens to be named Garth. Sure, he mentioned offhandedly that when he was in Magic College he had a girlfriend who Died Tragically and then they never mentioned that again. It’s a cheap imitation of his Tula storyline, told in like 2 panels, because Tula is also a completely different character now. They’ve spoken in canon once. Two characters who have been so closely joined together for 50 years barely know each other now. This is the same for every other character who still exists in Aquaman canon (they’ve written out a ton). He’s never even spoken to his other love interest in preboot, Dolphin, at all.

Let’s get back to Magic College though. Garth’s powers (or the few he retained from his original power set, though honestly he just like glows now? They’ve never really explained what he can do) are there because he went to underwater Hogwarts and I guess you can just do that and become magic. In comparison, preboot Garth has magic because he’s an abandoned prince from a long line of powerful sorcerer-kings. But power corrupts and his father is murdered and his mother flees, and although she abandons Garth as birth he is so haunted by their deaths that they plague his nightmares. His powers are earned through an incredibly moving journey that includes (among other things) closure from grief and the literal act of taking ones destiny into their own hands. Garth earns his powers because he is pure of heart, because he is brave, and because he loves so, so much and because others loved him. And when he uses those powers in other comics, you remember the meaning behind them. So Rebirth Garth being magic “just because” is so reductive, so boring, so uninspired. I’d rather him be an average atlantean.

But Garth has absolutely no history with the Aquafamily. Giving us an emotional story with him now would be meaningless because he has no part in the comics or the Aquafam. Sure, they mentioned once that Arthur “raised” Garth but…there’s no evidence of that. They don’t speak to each other in Rebirth. There’s actually no way Arthur could have done that in the canon timeline, but it doesn’t matter because they make no attempt to show he’s even part of the family. Garth has been to exactly zero life events for Arthur. He’s never met Arthur’s daughter. He’s never shown just hanging with the others, and they hang out with assholes who tried to kill them before. He is never there. But we are told, once, that he and Arthur like each other. This character means nothing. You can write him out of the few issues he appears in and nothing changes. He’s completely worthless as a character.

So his personality is gone, his backstory is gone, his character themes and growth are gone…surely he still looks the same?

Wrong. He’a ugly. I’m sorry, he is. Everyone is always posting pictures of him saying he’s so pretty (and comparing him to his look on TT:YO as if those aren’t completely different continuities?) but he looks like every other black haired character in DC right now. He looks like Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson and Time Drake and every other fucking guy it’s boring and it’s stupid. He has ugly straight hair (a far cry from Garth’s usual big, curly locks) in a boring ponytail because apparently YJ and TT are the only source the artists ever used to draw him. And his eyes. He has blue eyes. BLUE. When his character has had purple eyes for his entire existence, when his purple eyes have been a major plot point for his entire existence, when his purple eyes were his one defining trait for his entire existence. Insulting.

And he has eye tattoos. Sure, you say, because we all know Garth got his eye scars while training with Atlan (also now a completely different character) when claiming his birthright (written out of canon) to gain his powers (written out of canon) so yeah, maybe they’re just tattoos now. Except some dumbass at DC couldn’t be bothered to put them on the right side of his face. Yet another defining character trait completely fucked up because nobody at DC cared about making this character. He exists to tick off a box, to say “hey, look, we brought back a character you guys wanted. Buy our comics.”

So, when I say Rebirth Garth isn’t the “real” Garth, this is what I mean. The characters are different in every way that makes characters matter. He’s a character who shares a name and nothing else. And I hate him.

#garth of shayeris #sorry I have fucking clue how to post readmores anymore #so I’m sorry this is so long I have opinions and y’all are gonna see them

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rigelmejo · 3 years ago

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Some September 1st Updates

the READING SPEED difference of a novel at my level! I read the first chapter of 撒野 yesterday and this author is at exactly my reading level right now. I hit 0-2 new words each pleco page, which is usually the sweet spot to either guess the word or if I look it up I can pretty quickly adapt to recognizing it in context. Its also the sweet spot where if I only rely on guessing for new word meanings, on a second pass through I can fairly well guess the meaning quickly.

It was a 32 page chapter in pleco and I read it in 20 minutes. Compared to the 20 pleco page per chapter pingxie fic i just finished (like 124k characters! WOW I read and FINISHED that much!), which was taking 30-40 minutes per chapter (mainly because of number of new vocabulary per chapter being a bit higher). If I’d wanted to speed read saye I could have, I’d have missed some small details but I could have tried if I wanted.

Then I did a second pass later in the day with the audiobook just following along with the text. Realized 1. I knew most words in the audiobook and did not follow as well as i thought - but those first listen throughs without having seen the chapter I did manage to figure out the main character just broke up, just travelled somewhere, ran into a girl and somehow the girls brother showed and the two guys interacted a little and someone was being somewhat helpful, then the main guy met his father trying to ‘pick him up.’ Which is a true but very rough summary of what happens in the first chapter. By reading I could confirm the words I thought were names AS names, figured out WHY the girl was interacting with the main guy and that there were actually two girls in chapter 1, and figure out who helped who and who was the girl’s brother. Also somehow before I looked at the chapter text I never caught that the audiobook mentions a motorcycle despite me knowing that word and it SOUNDING like mota-che/motorche! it sounds like the word and i knew it and didn’t hear it! Then later following the audiobook with the text I realized another issue I had, is I’m not used to listening to soft voices with such faint pronunciations of the final sounds. I’m much more used to deeper crisper pronunciations and being able to rely clearly on initials and finals AS much as tones to recognize the words, whereas this particular audiobook i needed to mainly rely on tones and initials to figure out what word was what - that probably threw me off a bit. It’s probably good for me to get practice listening to such a different voice to what I’m used to. I have definitely learned the deeper the voice, the more I have a far easier time figuring out what’s being said. Also standard accent more like beijing but without a huge amount of ‘er’s just some, and taiwan accent are the easiest for me to hear when i’m not pa

For anyone curious, here is the audiobook for SaYe I’m listening to: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2w27tfjeeaySbMK272NpXwUtsBc-e3YN

Also here’s a chinese audiobook youtube I found: https://www.youtube.com/c/%E6%9C%89%E5%A3%B0%E5%B0%8F%E8%AF%B4%E5%90%AC%E4%B9%A6%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8Cyoushengxiaoshuo/playlists

Which includes The King’s Avatar: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTJaWZoVPdT1ZhIQIKxVci7fVEHr-oX6k

And ErHa: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsxEOGKlBMaFa6CS6Hf5ndy6qTtUL0Au_

Anyway, its a great book right now for reading practice. It’s very much around my level. I will probably stick with this author for a little while and solidify what I know/my base reading level.

IN OTHER NEWS:

I am apparently living proof listening-reading, heavy emphasis on re-listening a TON in the background as you work or type or walk/drive whatever, works for learning new words.

I re-listened to guardian chapter 1 audiobook at least 20-30 times by now, just a tremendous amount. Chapters 1-10 I’ve listened to at least 5 times by now random chapters at random days, and some probably also 20 times.

I have listened to these chapters enough, that I can officially follow so much that I know nearly every freaking word I hear, I know it immediately on hearing in at least 3 different audiobooks, and the few ‘less familiar’ words I recognize a second after hearing (like hearing ‘audacious’ or ‘glum’ in english it just takes me a second to re-remember), and the very few still forgotten words/specific details I learn From those words I can actually pick up from the context of listening.

I hear ‘powei’ and somehow forgot it AGAIN? Oh it means ‘rather’ in this context. ‘anli’ well i always hear ‘anlishuo’ as in ‘people say/generally speaking’ so ‘anli’ in this context must mean ‘generally/generally speaking.’ chuanghu? can’t remember it because i was just typing this JUST now and only hearing a few words from the audiobook in the background - well in context its obviously window, but out of context my brain said window and i just couldn’t remember if it was window or curtain but felt curtain had something more complex than ‘hu’ as the second half - just looked it up and my guess was right, even with no context which i’d have had if i’d been listening better and it had been clear it’s window, it still made me think ‘window’ immediately just hearing the sound. ‘xiang yi ge ren’ sounds like ‘looks like a person’ which is the next phrase i just randomly heard. ‘hua le yao ming’ shouted for their life/in awful terror? or that would be ‘huo’, so maybe ‘streaking toward him to take his life’? would make sense in context of a horror scene - i just looked it up and 划了要命 would be the second one. even IF i heard the wrong line, both of those are pretty close to a good guess in context and hua is the only unknown because without context i can’t place if it was hua or huo. i still confuse the words wu and wo for hold etc, but in context i can tell which one it is (wo is hold a hand, hold a face, etc).

I’m genuinely at a point where I can just completely follow the plot through at least the first 20 chapters from listening. And for most scenes, follow every detail too including stuff like guo changcheng spending half a year not working at home after he graduated, being so afraid of the phone, da qing being fawning to shen wei when they meet and rubbing against his leg, the specific conversation details when da qing runs across zhao yunlan’s car in chapter 2, what zhao yunlan’s room exactly looks like, etc. Its super cool to be able to follow the audiobook so well I can follow the story and details even when I don’t have time to read! It’s so fun! And it was not very hard!

It took 40 minutes of upfront study where you set time aside to focus: 20 minutes to have a program read the chapter aloud while you either see unknown word definitions pop up (like in Pleco) or look them up with some click dictionary as you listen. 20 minutes to go through and listen to the audiobook as you follow along with the text. Then after that, just play the audiobook chapters you’ve done this with whenever you want, either paying attention like when going to bed soon or walking, or in the background like when cleaning or doing busy work or driving. Since background listening can be done easily whenever all you have to do is remember to click play when you want something to listen to.

I’m honestly blown away by how much 3 months of studying mainly like this (which is quite fun and only requires me to carve out a small amount of actual study focused time) has improved my listening skills. I can now also listen to the 2ha audiobook okay and follow along (provided its a chapter I’ve read before so I have at least some prior context to help me out) - at least so far as that’s what I’m listening to right now. Basically, I can tell Guardian has both upped my vocabulary significantly and also improved my automatic recognition of many words I half-knew and learned since.

I recently found a new Guardian audiobook read by a deep voice and its lovely (and utilizes music and echo for effects, its lovely to listen to) I hope the poster keeps updating: https://fm.qq.com/show/rd002ED4aN0mYz2L__

I’ve been listening to it lately.

---

Also! Directions for using Pleco Android for screen reader:

1. To get any page bookmarked online:

Open a page in your mobile web browser you want to read. Click the menu, click share, click Pleco Reader (or ‘more’ or ‘...’ then Pleco Reader).

Go to Clipboard Reader. Now when you click text, dictate text megaphone will be an option.

*Since Clipboard Reader is free, you can do this to read in Pleco and have things spoken aloud with no money spent. (Though I find the Reader tool worth the money and add ons).

2. To have any text ‘dictated aloud’:

Go to Pleco’s menu, Settings, Audio, click ‘use TTS if no recording,’ then for Sentence Audio section area System TTS Setting click Speech Services by Google (you can also experiment by clicking other options I am just stating what worked for me, it didn’t work at first I had to make that my default TTS in my Accessibility-Talkback Settings menu on my main phone first and restart my phone before all this).

Then click the area right below to mess with speed and sound of the TTS voice.

(Note, to test if TTS is working you can go to any dictionary entry sentence, click the speaker next to the sentence and see if it plays audio. If it does not, you will get an error message and directions on what to change in your phone settings. That is what initially happened to me: I had to go to phone Settings, Accessibility, Talkback, TTS Engine, TTS Engine voice and settings. Pleco recommended I choose Speech Services by Google, and uninstall then reinstall the Chinese voice. Then restart the phone. That worked for me. An additional note: I have Talkback setting on ‘on’ and just have it in my toolbar to use if desired but am not actively using it. If you turn Talkback setting ‘off’ in the actual Settings area of Accessibility, I am not sure if it will affect Pleco’s ability to dictate).

3. How to put it together:

Now go to Clipboard Reader and read the page from the internet you wanted or text you pasted, or go to Document Reader and open the document you wish to read.

Click a word as a place to start. Now you should see both the loudspeaker (for pronouncing the single word) and the Megaphone next to it to start dictating all text. (If your phone is weird like me, you may need to press the megaphone a couple times before the audio works).

If you wish to change dictation reading speed, simply hold down the megaphone and select the speed desired.

Now that I’ve figured this out I really want to take pictures of my print book, make a pdf, and listen to all the changes.

(Now I just have to fix my weird dictionary in Idiom app and I’m all set on the new phone!)

---

All I’ve been doing the past august study wise is just reading pingxie fic and finishing, and listening to audiobooks. It’s been a busy time for me ToT

I do think it proved you can be lazy and still make some improvements though:

1. Reading in Pleco (or click-dictionary tool of your choice): pick something and read a chapter a day (that’s what I did, obviously the easier this is the less time you’ll need, but aim for around 30 minutes a day and reading material closer to your level if you don’t want to read too long)

2. Listening-Reading Method something above your reading level that you enjoy. Should take 40 minutes a couple times a week to several times a week to hours a week, depending on how intense you want to get with it and how much you’re going to alternate/include the reading portion. I did like 1-2 chapters a week so I was only spending 40 minutes to 1.5 hours a week doing this, or 3 hours one week no time another week. This is definitely something where you can do 6-12 hours one month then coast on it for another month just repeating older material’s audio/re-reading sections (which is what I did with guardian, doing 22 chapters then switching to just listening to audio a lot).

Once you’ve done a little L-R steps 2 and 3 (in either order, whatever works for you - and doing step 1 if you want more context prior to steps 2 and 3), then just make time during your days to play the audiobook chapters you’ve studied. You don’t need to be focusing every single time (although focusing on actually trying to follow the audio the first time you listen without text to aid you will probably speed up your comprehension a lot by giving you a lot of basic-context to help you comprehend more later). Aim to listen whenever you’ve got down time! Or time where you’d play music or some background youtube video or podcast - walks, exercise, drives, when cleaning, when browsing the web goofing off, when working if you have times when you’d listen to music with lyrics or a podcast in the background without issues, times when you don’t need to focus 100% on listening just putting it on to hear in the background).

That’s all I’ve done for study since May. It takes me about 30 minutes 5 days a week, plus 1-2 hours listening-reading actively a week. So 2.5 hours plus 2 = 4 hours of active study a week. Sometimes more like 8-10 if I got really into reading something or Listening-reading to several chapters. Then after that (very easy to fit into my life 4-10 hours per week of study) I just play the audiobook whenever I have downtime at work (that’s usually 0.5-4 hours where I just let it play because I forget its on while working on spreadsheets, updates, emails, etc, or play the audiobook while messing around on the internet in my free time at home, sometimes I put on music instead), while walking so 15-30 minutes maybe 3 days a week, while driving far so maybe 20 minutes - 2 hours per week. maybe lets say 2 hours*4 days a week (I don’t remember to listen every day) so 8 hours random listening+1.5 hours walking+1 hour driving per week. That’s 11.5 hours listening in the background or paying attention plus lets say 4 hours of active study a week. So 15.5 ‘study’ hours for chinese per week - an average overall of ~2.21 hours of chinese ‘study’ per day. This isn’t counting when I get into weibo and goof off, get into some chinese show with no english subs and just start watching it (I watched 16 episodes of Humans cdrama in August which is ~10.66 hours for a total of at least (15.5*4 weeks = 62 hours + 10.66 hours -> ~72.66 hours spent ‘with chinese’ in August at minimum. 4 weeks*7 days = 28, so over around 28 days or most of august I did 72.66 total hours/28 days -> or ~2.595 hours of chinese per day as an average. So... my guess that I spend at least 1-2 hours on chinese per day as the average was a decent guess. Looks like I’m usually 2 hours to 2.5 hours daily as an overall average. It’s not that hard to get in that much without a ton of time in the day once you get some listening skills built up ToT Deciding to build up my listening skills has been one of the funnest goals in chinese so far.

Notes on Listening Reading Actively - it also doubles as increasing your exposure to listening to your target language, and the more hours the better even if its passive in the background, just more hours adding up toward your mind getting a better ability to parse the sounds of the language is going to help your overall listening comprehension in general. So even if you don’t pay attention much and can’t follow the whole plot and only catch certain scenes, you will be improving at least comprehension of: hearing words you know, hearing colocations and common phrases and recognizing more automatically which will help with speaking/writing indirectly and reading recognition of those things, overall ability to hear things correctly in different combinations and getting used to the common combinations.

You will be surprised how much more you can pick up of plot and details the 3rd listen compared to the first, the 5th listen, the 10th listen. It’s wild. Like... I’m listening to the 2ha audiobook and even having never read it in chinese, just knowing basic context, the 2nd read through I caught so much more of the plot throughout just because I had forewarning of when scenes change a lot, what audio plays during some parts I recognized in previous listens, and so I have more focus for figuring out the new details I missed. Whereas the first listen, I didn’t always know WHAT the scene context was until I heard a familiar line or description I remembered from the english version of the scene, but on a second listen I now have a better guess at the scene the lines are probably taking place in before and after those lines I recognized in the first listen. And this continues etc each time you re-listen to something. (So yes, that initial context of knowing what you’re listening to with a previous read of its translation or target language transcript will definitely speed up comprehension pick up - but if you just wanna test what your basic listening comprehension to new content is then it works fine just going into new audio with no prior context its just more difficult at first lol until you build an idea of the context from listening).

The original Listening-Reading Method person did like 40+ hours a week, 8 hours most days, no wonder they made fast progress! They often included reading in some form (hence the name) and later translation, so they also were constantly working on listening AND some reading skills AND eventually often some speaking/writing skills. Doing it my way results in mostly listening comprehension of stuff you could already read to a degree, more automaticity in recognition, and for picking up new vocabulary both in listening and reading. I do extra reading on the side with other stuff to get more reading practice in an isolated way (since I’m trying to push my reading speed up above speaking speed). I always try to do it the way the creator originally intended, but I am not able to focus on things for more than 20 minutes at a time, 40 to a couple hours if I take a break every 20 minutes. So doing it 8 hours just doesn’t work out.

---

I’m fairly happy!

I am on plan for my main goals that started this style study plan:

1. Improving my reading level to get to start being able to extensively read actual danmei novels - we got there! I am at a reading level appropriate for SaYe at 98% comprehension when I checked, and at a bit above 95% comprehension for Guardian! I’m now continuing with that goal while adding on increasing reading Speed in general.

2. Improving listening skills so I have better automatic recognition of partly-known words from reading (working super well so far - I can tell because ability to watch cdramas in only chinese has improved noticeably and gotten much easier), and so I can start following the main plot and key details of audiobooks of things I’ve read before (working great for guardian, starting to work with other audiobooks provided I listen to the chapters a few times or several times if its brand new material I have no context for, however reading level matters and while things I have prior familiarity with are going very well - brand new materials are still quite challenging in that they require multiple listens for the full plot and several listens before I start picking up most non-plot-critical details).

#rant #september #september progress #august #august progress #listening reading method #pleco #rec list #audiobook #guardian #take all my study advice with heaps of salt #do what feels right for YOU #this is just the study plan that's been working for me recently #for my main goals: increasing base reading level and improve listening comprehension

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artxyra · 4 years ago

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Prom Proposal

So @enchantingdefendoreagle requested, “I have a request I am hoping for a Daminette fanfic. Where since Prom is canceled that the Waynes have offered to host Gotham Academy Prom because Gotham Academy is under reconstruction or something. Damian has seen Marinette for a while having a crush on her but never saying anything. “

Note: I wanted to try pinning Damian and a lot of things happened... so I hope you enjoy.

Normally, Damian would never make such a big deal over a school event cancellation. He would shrug it off as if it was beneath him. Well, that was the case until the Joker decided to turn Gotham Academy’s gym into a playground until Batman and Robin removed him from the premise. However, there was an absolute reason as to why this event had affected him so much. For a while now, Damian was actually looking forward to the annual prom dance. He was actually going to participate in said event, but the one person he was trying to ask to be date—they haven’t really spoken to one another outside of class assignments.

“Father I demand that we host prom.” Damian urges barging into his father’s office the second the school email about prom’s cancellation went to the students. What Damian didn’t account for was Grayson being inside the office as well.

“Hold, Little D. Why would you of all people even want to B to host prom? You didn’t go last year so why the sudden change.” Dick wonders at his little brother. So yeah, Damian didn’t go his junior year but once again this year is different.

With Damian being silent for a moment was all it took for Dick to realize something, “Is it for a girl…a boy maybe?”

“Tt. I have my reasons.” Damian counters crossing his arms and turning his attention away from his brother to his father, who appears to be done with everything going on.

“Damian, do you really think that having the manor full of teens is a good idea?” Bruce asks concern about his son’s mental health, but he too was wondering why the sudden change in attitude for one of many iconic moments in a teenager’s life.

“There is no reason father,” Damian says lying through his teeth. There was a reason, but he doesn’t want his family to find out about said reason.

Dick nor Bruce seemed convinced, but a simple quick look to one another, they knew getting an answer out of eighteen-year-old would be a battle they didn’t want to have.

“I’ll consider it.” Bruce states practically agreeing to his son plans to have prom at the Manor just like any other Wayne Gala he has hosted before. The only difference would be teens instead of adults.

It only took Bruce Wayne three days to send an email to the academy, offering to host prom night at Wayne Manor. The headmistress took that offer immediately know that there will be backlash for not accepting such a proposal. Two days after that, the school sends out emails informing the students that prom will be hosted in two months having it right on schedule. Those who order prom tickets will receive further information closer to the date.

After getting his father on board with the thought, Damian was internally excited, now just to put his plan into action. That plan over two months failed at least five different times.

The first attempt, in the classroom right after class was finished. He knows that she’ll usually stay in the class until everyone is out. Well, that didn’t happen. She was the first person out, running like her depended on it.

The second attempt was at the courtyard, a couple of days after the first attempt. Damian knew (well he asked Jon) that she had a tendency to sketch under the largest tree during the evening. He also knew that they shared the same independent study times due to having worked on projects together. Just as he was about to ask her, another student walked up to her. The bluenette, from afar, seemed to be interested in the conversation. Damian ended up walking away hoping to try again later.

The third attempt was almost a success. He was actually talking to her, but the words would not come out the way he had hoped. This just added to his stoic personality that she was used to. Then right before he finally mustered up the confidence, a girl with pigtails interrupted them implying that she only wanted to talk to Damian. Apparently, pigtail girl wanted to ask Damian to prom and he of course denied the proposal.

“You need, help?” Jon asks on the day before Damian could attempt his fourth go.

“Tt. I rather suffer.”

Jon raises an eyebrow, “Uh-huh. She’s in the art room.” Jon walks away with a smirk on his face. Damian could only glare at his retreating friend.

Sure enough, Jon was right, she was in the art room. However, it was clear that she was in the zone. A zone that is nearly impossible to get her out of.

“DC, can we talk?” She doesn’t acknowledge him. He tries again a couple more times. Damian should have known better. They barely speak when in class, so why the hell would they speak out of class.

“How it go?” Jon asks as he smiles knowing exactly how the encounter went.

“Kent, you could have told me she was in the zone.” Damian lightly punches Jon in the shoulder. “Do you have any idea what she’s working on?”

Jon chuckles and instead of answering he goes inside the art room. Damian couldn’t help but wonder about what they are doing.

The fifth attempt was really his own attempt. In fact, it was the girl he has been trying to ask out that ended all of his sufferings.

Damian was been avoiding practically everyone in the challenge to ask this one person to prom. Every potential idea was either scrap or too out of character for him—not that he was out of character trying to ask her in the first; he’s blaming it on this unknown emotion that has been haunting him since he had gotten to know DC. What makes matter worse is that prom was only a couple of weeks away.

“You’re going to love this.” Jon states dragging the Wayne heir across the school grounds. Damian put up a fight but Jon inhuman strength kind of won the battle. So, he was trapped in his best friend’s grip being to who knows where.

The next thing Damian knew was being stopped in his tracks and seeing black with little rays of light coming through Jon’s hand.

“Kent, I swear—”

“Yeah, yeah, just stay with me for a second.”

“A second.” Damian deadpans crossing his arms over his chest.

Damian may have not seen it but Jon was rolling his eyes and whispering some words to someone.

“Okay, in three…two…one!” Jon’s hand immediately uncovers his face. Damian was seconds away from turning to attack his friend, but something red, green, and yellow catches his eyes.

There standing in front of him, is the girl he’s been trying to ask out wearing a female version of the current Robin’s outfit holding a sign that says, “A Robin with a sword would be troubling, but a Robin without a sword wouldn’t be complete. Will you go to PROM WITH ME?” To the side of her is a try of Batfam theme cupcakes.

“Dupain-Cheng, you never cease to surprise me,” Damian states feeling a little stupid that he was worrying for nothing. “Yes, I’ll be your date to prom.”

“I know and do you have any idea how hard it was to pretend that I wasn’t interested.” Marinette awkwardly chuckles

“What?” Now he was confused. Hold on…pretending? Damian couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You knew?” He accused Jon who simply shrugs and takes a cupcake like it was nothing.

“Seeing you two pinning over one another was the highlights of my day. Mari was always in a panic when she tried to talk to you but there was always someone in the way, and you panicking like it was the end of the world. So yeah, I needed my own fun with all of this.” Jon answers before taking a bite out of the cupcake.

Marinette and Damian eye one another before smirking.

Legend has it that Jon’s screams of terror echoes throughout the school.

Fast forward to prom night, the Wayne family finally understood why Damian wanted to have prom at the Wayne Manor. The moment they saw the girl he was escorting—Damian had taken the car earlier that evening without a word to his family—they were all shook. Dick was squealing saying that the little bird finally found someone. Tim wasn’t sure what was going on aside from the flashing lights. Jason knew that girl and went into overprotective brother mode (that was not for Damian). Bruce wanted to cry but he had to keep up an image. Alfred had taken photos of the couple—those did not see the light of day until the wedding.

All in all, the family was pleased to see Damian being happy with the girl as they dance the night away.

Tag List: *View my Tagging System guidelines for how to to be properly tagged or removed.

#maribat #daminette #ml x dc #mlb x dc #maridami #ml crossover #dc crossover #marinette x damian

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verymuchimmortalcat · 4 years ago

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Maribat March Day 18: Protect

ao3

part 1, part 3

@maribatmarch-2k21

Ages of the Batfam approximately in the fic:

Dick-25

Jason-19

Cass-19

Marinette-18

Steph-18

Tim-17

Damian-11

Babs is around Dick's age and Alfred's immortal.

Also since this pre hawkmoth's defeat Adrien is currently Mr. Bug and fighting Akumas with the help of the rest of the team.

Dick and Damian had been injured on patrol. Unsurprising really. They were still getting used to being partners. So, Lady Noire was covering both hers and the dynamic duo's patrol routes.

Marinette had joined them on Patrol as Lady Noire the day after her return to Gotham. Alfred had refused to let her join them the first day. He had said that it had been way too much for her to handle and that she should go to bed. Alfred was right. But Marinette didn't see the need to admit it. She and Dick had drawn up the patrol route the next day. They were a lot more extensive than the ones they had followed the last time she had been in Gotham. But it was a crime ridden city with around half its protectors left.

She also happened to be one of the only members of the family who had managed to keep in contact with everyone. She and Babs had spoken and Marinette now had Oracle to back her up and by extension Batgirl. She and Steph had spent some time together but given that Steph was handling both college and vigilantism, they didn’t see each other all that often.

She called Cass regularly and might or might not have bullied Jason into accepting her calls.

Surprisingly, it had been Tim who had called her. He had needed to go to Paris on his search and Marinette had set down rules on other heroes entering Paris. Family or not they were supposed to let her know, and knowing better than to anger Marinette, Tim had called. He probably wouldn't have if he knew she was in Gotham, the idiot would have just tried to get away with it. She had been angry either way. He hadn't even bothered to talk to her before leaving Gotham. But Tim had retorted, "it's not like anyone believed me."

"I do. I saw your research there's a large possibility you're right. "

Tim had nearly cried then, telling her everything. She had immediately forced him to promise that he'd check in once a week at the least.

As she leaped across roof tops, she heard a little kid say, “look Mommy, it’s Catwoman.” You cannot throttle kids, she reminded herself. It wasn’t even the first time she had been mistaken for Catwoman. The first time it happened, Marinette had turned blank and Barbara had laughed, while Dick could be seen visibly holding in his laughter. Batman doesn’t laugh after all. Selina herself had teased Marinette about it endlessly.

Patrol had been quiet so far, which might have been a good thing if Marinette wasn’t sure it would take a turn for the worse. And wasn’t she right.

Alfred had just called telling her that Damian wasn’t at the pent house and the Robin suit was missing. His tracker led to one of the warehouses by the docks. Marinette cursed. On a normal day Robin could take down a decent number of goons and come out unscathed. Injured? Marinette didn’t want to find out.

She headed to the docks as fast as she could. It was honestly fairly obvious where they were, almost as if they were trying to bring attention to themselves. It was probably a trap for Batman. Taking Robin as bait almost as if it had never been done before. Except it had been done several times before. One would think they’d at least get a little more original.

Looking around, there were about fifteen goons. Damian must have been more out of it than he let on. God only knows why the kid would sneak out in such a state. Marinette had an inkling that it had to with Talia and his upbringing. What Marinette would give to have a conversation with Talia right now.

Sneaking in carefully, Marinette starts to formulate a plan. Taking them all down was not an option, some of them might try to harm Damian. She didn’t need him to over exert himself. They could take the Batmobile back, she’d already asked Alfred to bring it to their location, but he clearly had been downplaying his injuries and Marinette didn’t want to test his limits.

He could untie himself. He was definitely capable of doing so. Marinette couldn’t see if he had done so or not from where she was standing but she doubted that he hadn’t. He was also taunting them and sneering at them constantly. Marinette had no idea if he had a plan or not. However, before Marinette could do anything, one of the goons spotted her. Damian who had seen her at the exact same second, freed his hands and took down the man nearest to him. Before he could fight more, Marinette used her staff to vault over to Damian and grabbed him. She dragged him behind her to where Alfred had promised the Batmobile would be waiting, ignoring his protests of how he could take them on his own and that he had a plan.

Once they were seated in the Batmobile and headed back to the penthouse, Marinette spoke up, “why did you sneak out?”

“Tt, I’m capable of taking care of myself.”

“All of us are, but Bats protect our own.”

They made the rest of the journey in complete silence. Both Dick and Alfred were waiting at the cave. Once Dick had finished fretting over Damian, he benched him for the next week and sent him to bed. Marinette had begin to walk out so she could finish her Patrol when Alfred called, “Miss Marinette, I believe it’s time we all returned upstairs.”

Dick laughed and Marinette sighed and detransformed. Once they had returned upstairs, Marinette pulled her brother aside.

“What’s up?”

“Why did Damian think he had to sneak out when he was injured?”

Dick sighed, “I don’t know Nette, or rather I have no confirmation of my suspicions. But he seems to have an in built need to prove himself, thinks we’ll send him back and that failure is unacceptable.”

“I would love to have a very strongly worded conversation with Talia.”

“I would too, Alfred probably already has a speech drafted.”

Marinette chuckled, “that definitely seems like him.”

“Going to bed? Or are you gonna stay up working on your commissions?”

“I’ll check up on Damian and then go to bed.”

“Night Nette.”

“Night.”

Marinette made her way to Damian’s room. He was still awake when she went there, sitting on his bed and glaring at the wall. He was pointedly ignoring her presence. Marinette cleared her throat, all she got in return was a “tt.” Taking that as an invitation, Marinette sat down next him.

“I know Talia didn’t tell you about me, and with all the teachings of the League you think that our Family follows a hierarchy of the same sort.”

He didn’t respond but she knew he was listening.

“You’re part of this family too, ok? You don’t have to fight for a position here.”

Damian turned to look at her, clearly vulnerable. Marinette had just smiled him and wished him good night. She had meant what she said earlier today. Bats protect their own and Marinette would protect her little brother.

#maribatmarch2021 #maribat #bio dad bruce wayne #my writing

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butgilinsky · 4 years ago

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honest man // tt

warning; language, underaged drinking, and mentions of smut if you squint real hard, a little angst, mostly fluff

summary; where you and topper are hiding from the world, even if one of you wishes you weren’t. based on the song honest man by ben platt

word count; 3.2k+

There's something about you in the moonlight But your eyes go so well with the day You won't let go of your layers But your power can strip me away

“why are you staring at me like that?”

it wasn’t his fault. the way that the moon casted a blue light across the high points of your cheeks and shoulders had him realizing just how deep in it he was with you. he’d never seen a person glow the way you were glowing right now, and he would’ve given everything to stay like this, with you, forever.

“you’re the most beautiful thing i’ve ever seen.” you didn’t think you were capable of smiling so wide. the ache in your cheeks was quickly over powered by the slight dizziness your mind brought upon by his confession.

the two of you had only been together for a little less than a year, but he swore he’d spent ten lifetimes pining after you. sure, you both had been with people before you ultimately ended up together, but that felt like an entirely different lifetime.

topper thought he had fallen in love before. he thought that he had experienced the greatest heartbreak when he’d caught sarah cheating on him. he thought that was the pinnacle of how it feels to get everything stripped away from him, but the sheer thought of losing you was ten times worse than what he had felt back then.

“topper thornton, you’re quite the charmer.”

this was his heaven. having his arm wrapped around your back, pulling you against his chest while your own arm hooked around his neck. having your bright smile directed up at him in a way that had his heart beating at a mile a minute. he swore he’d never felt anything as sweet as the feeling of your lips pressed against his lightly, just enough pressure to call it a kiss.

he felt you smiling against his lips, though he didn’t mind as his own lips turned upwards at the feeling. he swore he would’ve traded everything in his life for you to kiss him like that for the rest of your lives.

“i love you.” the words were soft and sweet, but it felt like they held the world within them. it was enough to make topper’s stomach flip, the thought of having the girl of his dreams let the words drip off of her tongue so easily felt like a dream to him.

It's easier for us to hide If you come out, then so will I Promise that I'll meet you halfway 'Cause I see every part of you And I can tell you see me too By the way that you say my name

“do you ever get tired of hiding?” topper hated sneaking around the island with you. he wanted to go anywhere and everywhere with you.

sure, it was exciting at first. doing things in secret, having you all to himself, it was a dream. he wouldn’t have done anything different, but he was growing tired of keeping you a secret. he was tired of being a secret.

topper wanted everyone to know. he wanted to tell his friends that it didn’t matter that you lived on the wrong side of the island. he wanted to see your friends’ eyes bulge out of their sockets when he took your hand in public. he wanted to show up to the boneyard with you under his arm, and he wanted everyone to stare.

“sometimes, i guess.” you shrugged simply, slipping one of topper’s long sleeves over your head before turning over your shoulder and crawling back up to him.

he sat against his headboard, eyes locked on you while you moved up to sit beside him. his chest still bare from the moments prior to now, taking in the sight of his shirt hanging off of you as if it had been made specifically for you to wear.

“so why are we?” his voice was soft, the fear stepping in with every word he let slip. he was scared of ruining things, scared he was pushing too far.

“you know how that would end, top.” he sighed softly, figuring you’d say something of that sort. he knew where you stood on the issue, having far more to lose than he did.

he knew rafe and kelce would get over it. they’d tease him for a bit, but accept you with open arms. he knew kelce liked you, despite the fact that you were a pogue, because he had said so once or twice. rafe didn’t care for you, solely due to your class ranking, but topper knew that out of all of the pogues, rafe would pick you for his best friend over the others.

your friends, on the other hand, would not accept this deal with open arms and wide smiles. your friends would throw a fit, shocked by your betrayal of falling in love with a kook. you knew it shouldn’t have mattered, given kiara’s technical kook status, along with the fact that john b had been involved with sarah for over a year now.

but it didn’t matter. if anything, having sarah in your group made it that much harder. sure, if john b loved a kook then so could you, but what happens when sarah and topper have to spend time together? topper wouldn’t care, because he hadn’t thought of sarah in that light since before the two of you had gotten together, but you weren’t sure the blonde bombshell felt the same way.

“maybe it wouldn’t be as bad as you think, though. i mean, what if they don’t even care-” he stopped himself, seeing the deflated look on your face as he spoke. he didn’t want to push you, but he didn’t want to hide either. “we’re in it together, y’know?”

you nodded, settling your cheek against his chest. you hear him let out a sigh through his nose, only making the thoughts in your mind race more than they had already been.

I'm an honest man Why can't you take my hand I'm not what you planned But I'm a safe place to land I'm an honest man

you hadn’t expected to fall for topper. you were just trying to assure him that he didn’t deserve the hurt that sarah had dumped on him. nobody deserved that, kook or not.

but it’s now, as you stand across the beach from the boy who had managed to steal your heart and sweep you off your feet, that you realize you’ve made a mess for yourself.

all he wanted to do was hold your hand as you walked to the keg, swiping beers from jj, who was dishing them out for the night. he wanted to have his arm around you, as a silent tell to anybody with a pair of eyes that you were taken. you were off limits, and it killed him that nobody knew that.

“earth to top.” rafe snapped his fingers in front of topper, shaking the boy from his thoughts and tearing his eyes away from the group across the beach.

“what? sorry. what’s up?” he shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thoughts that were invading his mind for the past few weeks.

“just go talk to her. something’s clearly bothering you, has been for weeks.” kelce shrugged his shoulders, raising his cup to his lips as he downed the rest of the golden liquid.

“i don’t know what you’re talking about.” topper tried to wave them off, claiming that he had no knowledge of what their allegations were hinting at, but his friends weren’t stupid.

they’d caught topper looking at you on more than one occasion. the fact that topper had a crush on you at the very least was anything but a secret to the two boys that spent way too much time with him to believe otherwise. rafe had also connected the dots one night when topper blew them off, again, for some mysterious set of plans he wouldn’t say much about.

kelce and rafe knew. topper hadn’t told them, and there was room for error in their hypothesis, but they knew topper too well. they knew him better than he’d ever assumed, so a ten month relationship was harder for topper to hide than he’d originally thought.

“topper, what do we care if you’re shacking up with a pogue? sarah left your ass for one, kelce and i have our fair share of our nights with pogues. who gives a shit, dude?” topper’s eyes snapped over to rafe’s for a moment, slightly shocked that he was anything less than an asshole about the whole situation.

it took everything in him to stop himself from spilling the truth to his friends. they saw the way his knuckles turned white from gripping his cup tightly, his eyes locked on you, just yards away.

you were dancing with pope, a reasonable distance that allowed topper’s mind to ease ever so slightly. but the way you smiled, the way your hips moved in a fluid motion, and your laugh filled the air, was enough for topper to want things to go as smoothly as you’d asked many times before.

“i seriously don’t know what you’re talking about, rafe.”

You're so afraid of tomorrow So you build your walls up today You won't believe that you're ready But I'd never lead you astray

“you’re never going to be ready if you don’t at least try, y/n!” you groaned again, balling your fingers into your palm to stop yourself from lashing out on the boy.

“you just don’t get it, topper!” he could see the gears in your head turning, he knew your mind was racing but you were biting your tongue from saying what you were truly thinking.

“what don’t i get, y/n? i love you! isn’t that enough? what else do i have to do to show you that i don��t give a shit about what your friends think?” you groaned loudly, feeling the lump in your throat slowly subside as the tears poked at your lash line.

“i care what they think, top! i love you, topper, i really do, but i just- i can’t do it, top. not right now, at least.” he scoffed then, a sarcastic smile pulling at his lips before he ran a hand over his face in an attempt to wake himself up from this nightmare.

“what’s the worse that could happen, y/n? they don’t like me? i already know they don’t! i get it, i have a past with them, but how’s it any different than john b being with sarah?”

“see! you don’t get it! this is the same shit you always spew when we talk about this.”

“then help me get it, y/n!” his voice was back up, screaming across the room to reach your ears, though you would’ve been able to hear him all the same if he had spoken at a normal tone.

“i can’t, topper!”

“why not?”

“because you’re a fucking kook!”

topper’s face dropped, his shoulders slumping as a sarcastic laugh dripped from his face. of course you’d go there. you always went there. it wasn’t anything he didn’t already know, it was pretty obvious that he was a kook and you were a pogue, but he didn’t need the constant reminder that the one thing he couldn’t change about himself was your least favorite thing.

the thing that was holding you back from telling the world about your relationship.

“and you won’t let me forget it.” topper grabbed his things, not even bothering to slip his shoes back on before he was walking out of your house, slamming the door behind him hard enough to make the windows on the same wall shake slightly.

you let out a frustrated scream, one that he heard even out by his car. he paused in stride, having half a mind to turn back around and comfort you, suspecting that your cheeks were wet with frustrated tears while you chewed angrily on your bottom lip.

but he didn’t. he just got back in his car and drove the distance from your house back to his on the opposite side of the island.

I know I've played with hearts before Don't have the heart to play with yours I only swear to do the best I can 'Cause when you put your trust in me How beautiful our love could be If only you would take a chance

you’d heard the stories about topper long before you’d fallen for him. you’d spent too much time listening to random tourons, the repeats and the newbies, swoon over the boy who caught their attention quickly.

after sarah spending more time with the pogues, it only got worse. you’d heart the mess of it all, practically having the notion of topper thornton being kook trash ingrained into your mind forever.

you knew he’d done less than redeemable things. he’d done unforgivable things to your friends, and you’d never let him forget that.

but your topper was nothing like the stories. he was gentle and kind, soft and sweet. he noticed the little things, and helped you when nobody else noticed you were in the mess of it all. he was there for you when nobody else was, and he provided a sense of comfort you’d never found in the pogues.

topper, your topper, was the brightest light in your life. sure, you had walls built up, but he’d done everything in his power to break them down. he’d never hurt you, and you knew that. you knew he loved you with everything he had, and you returned the sentiment easily.

you weren’t scared of how things would end between the two of you. you were afraid of the outside pressures. you were afraid of your friends’ disapproving glares and harsh words. you didn’t want the criticism that came along with dating topper, but you couldn’t pick and choose any longer.

if you didn’t decide what you wanted sooner or later, you were going to lose topper, and the thought alone was enough to have you in tears for multiple nights afterwards.

you had to choose between topper and your secret. there was no more hiding.

I'm an honest man Why won't you hold my hand? I'm not what you planned I'm a safe place to land I'm an honest man See me as I am, show me that I can You make me an honest man

you knew he was on the golf course. it was friday, which meant a 12 pm tee time. you’d been with this man long enough to know his weekly routine, and golf was always written into the schedule.

to say you were nervous had to be an understatement. your ripped jeans and crop top that you’d already worn once this week was a stark contrast from the rest of the people on the course, all dressed in recently dry cleaned polos and khakis, or tight tops and tennis skirts.

you were walking around the course with no sense of direction, not having been on the course since the last time you helped pope deliver groceries, but that had been months ago.

you didn’t know where the boys were teeing off from, since topper never told you that. there was no use of you knowing which hole the started and ended on, but it would’ve been useful information right about now.

you swore the sky had opened up and handed you a gift on a silver platter when you caught sight of rafe’s tall stature on the green. he was laughing loudly at something that kelce had said, giving you enough of a hint to find him quickly. his eyes found yours, a smirk stretching across his face as you changed your path to walk directly over to the boys.

“top, your girlfriend’s here.” rafe called out, stopping topper mid swing.

he turned over his shoulder, muscles tense and face pulled together in confusion as you jogged across the course. he was confused, not having seen you in a few days at this point, along with never seeing you on the course in the entirety of your relationship.

“what the hell are you doing here?” he wasn’t mad, that much was obvious enough, but he was surprised and confused.

“i don’t want to hide anymore.” the words were falling from your lips before you could stop them, a sense of exhaustion hanging heavy in your mind as you begged him to connect the dots himself.

“what? but i thought you said-”

“fuck what i said. i don’t care what anyone thinks anymore. i don’t care about anybody else’s opinion but yours, top. i love you and i don’t care who knows about it.”

topper swore he’d never smiled so large. the realization sunk in quickly, resulting in his head filling with too many thoughts to decipher. to have you there, standing in front of him, telling him everything he’s wanted to hear for the past ten months, was more than he ever could’ve asked for.

“you sure?” you laughed softly, eyes flicking over his shoulder to meet rafe and kelce’s gaze, who were both biting back gentle laughs. your nose scrunched softly, a sight that topper would’ve paid to see at any moment of the day.

“it’s a little late for me to rethink all of it, don’t you think?” you lifted your chin in the direction of his friends, making topper look over his shoulder for a split second before rafe was waving his hand in front of him.

“we’ve known for a while.” your eyebrows pulled together, confusion evident in your expression. “kind of hard not to pick up on it when he can’t keep his eyes off of you for longer than five minutes.”

“alright, alright.” topper laughed gently while turning back to face you, trying to end the slightly embarrassing moment for him. “i’m serious though, are you sure? because i don’t care about-”

“i’m sure. i don’t want to hide anymore. if my friends don’t understand, then fuck them.” you shrugged gently, a wide smile spreading across your lips. “i love you, topper.”

“i love you too, baby.”

“just kiss already, so you can take your shot and we can move to the next hole.” kelce called out, earning a soft snicker from rafe and an eye roll from both you and topper.

topper broke out into an equally large smile, wrapping both of his hands, one gloved and one not, around your cheeks to bring your face close to his. your eyes shut before you felt his lips on yours, a sense of euphoria flooding through you on impact.

you loved topper with everything you had, and he loved you all the same. the two of you might have been hidden form the world for the first part of your relationship, but you had a feeling that’s what made the two of you so strong.

sure, the pogues might have had a problem with it at first, but if they were your friends they would get over it eventually. your happiness should’ve been a priority of theres.

it sure as hell was for you.

I've said all I can I am who I am And I am an honest man

#topper x reader #topper #obx #the obx #the outer banks #outer banks #outer banks netflix #austin north #imagine #one shot #song fic #topper thornton

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peppersonironi · 4 years ago

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Duke Thomas VS The "Good Child" Stereotype Chapter Four

For my @dukethomasbigbang fic, we have the third prank, and fourth chapter! I hope y'all like it! Yet again a huge thanks to betas @queerbutstillhere & @theycallme-ook

Summary:

Everyone was suddenly shaken out of their stunned staring when the Cave’s sound system flared up, blasting dramatic choral music. It was the perfect track for the perfect moment, building up tension to an uproar as the lights dimmed slightly, and all attention was brought on the crackling of lightning arcing across a new figure, who was rounding the bend.

Duke grinned at his crowning achievement.

Read on Ao3

Ah, Cheerios, the best kind of breakfast cereal. Duke just didn’t get why people seemed to hate them so much. They weren’t bland, they just had a nice even subtle oat flavor which was refreshing compared to all the intensely sweet sugary crap that Dick kept attempting to sneak in past Alfred. And they were so delicious with milk! Of course, they were also fantastic when you added things to them as well, like a light drizzle of honey, or a small handful of granola. If you were feeling especially adventurous - or if Damian was the one to go shopping with Alfred and therefore got the choice in what was bought that week - you could even have it with some unsweetened vanilla oat milk.

“But does that count as a subset of cannibalism?” Duke wondered aloud between bites of cereal.

He took another bite thoughtfully and hopped down from the island in the middle of the kitchen to make his way out the door and down the hall. Alfred was away for the weekend (Tim had mentioned something about regaining his honor in a pie baking duel with Ma Kent? Duke wasn’t sure.) so he wouldn’t get in trouble.

Not that he ever got in trouble. For some reason.

Duke angrily crunched down on another spoonful when a sudden banging around came from the ceiling above him. Duke froze, suddenly terrified. What was it? Aliens? Did Alfred (The Cat) finally figure out how to phase through walls? Were some of the skeletons (which Jason had warned Duke he stored in the drywall) finally reanimate and were slowly crawling out, in a slow determined quest for revenge?

As the opening to the air vent just a few feet ahead banged open, releasing a lone figure, Duke was dismayed to find it was not, in fact, some fantastical being or occurrence.

It was just Steph.

Duke quickly finished eating the spoonful of Cheerios and chewed as he waved a greeting with his spoon.

Stephanie, who was completely covered in glitter and carrying a feather duster, glared daggers at Duke and slowly, methodically, drew the duster across her throat.

Duke swallowed heavily and cringed. Ah, it probably would be in his best interest to avoid blaming the purple clothed bandit for any of his pranks in the future.

*****

For the second time that day, Duke found himself in the kitchen of Wayne Manor. Though this time, instead of pondering the moral and psychological repercussions of eating his cereal with oat milk, the teen was having a pre workout snack with his younger brother.

“Add more whipped cream, Thomas,” Damian advised, passing Duke the can. “Dairy is protein, and protein is essential to proper nutrition.”

Duke took the can with a grin, and added a more generous than necessary squirt to the top.

“Alright Dami,” Duke said as he set aside the can, “But you need to be sure to add more than one cherry. Fruit is good for you, you know.”

Damian sniffed superiorly and delicately pulled out three maraschino cherries from the fancy jar than Alfred kept in the pantry. He then placed them precariously on top of the summet of his ice cream sundae mountain.

Duke held up his spoon in front of Damian. “Shall we dig in?”

Damian grinned - a rare occurrence which took the years off of his face, allowing him to truly look like a child. Duke quietly celebrated, ever since he first saw Damian smile at him, he had made it his mission to make his younger brother happier more often.

They clinked their spoons together, and dug into their huge deserts. It was a good thing that Alfred wasn’t home at the moment, or the old Butler would have an aneurysm at the amount of sugar they were putting into their bodies. But oh well, they deserved it for the training session that they’d be taking part in later that afternoon.

It wasn’t often that Bruce had enough time to do a full workout session with any of his kids, let alone something smaller like a one on one thing, or him and a few others. Duke had only gotten this privilege during his first year of staying with the Waynes, and at the time, when he was futilely trying to kick down trees in the yard, he hadn’t understood why such a thing was coveted by his siblings.

But now he did, so he completely understood Damian’s excitement when the thirteen year old had animatedly informed him that because all the others were gone from the city that day, only he and Duke would be present for the training session. So of course Duke suggested making a special treat in preparation.

They were at the very bottom of their large bowls of ice cream when Bruce walked into the kitchen carrying his large jug of water.

“Are you boys ready for today?” Bruce asked, and Duke and Damian grinned.

“Of course, Father. We have been preparing extensively for the past half hour.”

Bruce eyed the empty bowls in front of each of his sons, and grunted. “And sprinkles helped you do that?”

Duke scoffed. “Of course, B. Didn't you know that?”

Bruce looked skeptical, so Damian butted in. “Father, Pennyworth is always informing you to eat your colors. You americans eat such bland food, all tans and grays. Surely compact fluorescent bites are the best way to remedy such a problem.”

Bruce squinted, but didn’t seem in the mood to argue, so he turned around and began to leave the kitchen. “Just be in my study in twenty minutes.”

Behind him, Duke offered a fist bump to his partner in crime. Damian accepted with a smirk.

*****

“Please tell me I’m not late!” Duke exclaimed as he rushed into Bruce’s study.

Bruce and Damian were over by the clock, looking as if they were about to input the time. Duke heaved a sigh of relief at that. Being late to a training session was a mortal sin in the Manor. Or at least, that’s what Jason told him. He said it was the reason he had died (something about Bruce kicking him out, which made him go to Ethiopia for some money an old rich uncle of his had left him, and then the Joker catching wind and tried to rob him, which somehow ended in with him, a warehouse, and a crow bar).

Suffice it to say, Duke made it his mission to never be late to a training session. Ever.

“Tt, Thomas,” Damian remarked, turning back to the clock. “You were cutting it close.”

Bruce sighed. “You’re fine Duke.”

Duke nodded and took his place right behind Damian. The boy huffed in a satisfied manner and crossed his arms.

“Any day now, Father. Unlike you, my time is precious.”

Translation: Damian was excited, and tired of waiting.

Bruce frowned as he spun the arms of the clock again. “The clock is broken.”

Duke raised his eyebrows. “Wow, that couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that it’s really just a door, right?”

Bruce frowned back at the face of the grandfather clock, not bothered by Duke’s incredibly funny remark.

A few seconds later, Duke tried again. “Bruce, what’s wrong?”

Bruce’s eyes were narrowed to slits by now, and his brow furrowed in concentration. “The entrance is malfunctioning. I want you boys to go around and check the others. Including Stephanie’s smuggling tunnel.”

Duke blinked. “Stephanie’s what now?”

Bruce made a shooing gesture with his hand. “Yes, I know about that. Now go.”

Duke and Damian looked at each other, shrugged, then left the room. Might as well do what Bruce says. The sooner they got this over with, the sooner they could work out. Plus they were sort of curious to know what was going on. Neither of them knew, they were innocent! Especially Duke.

Fifteen minutes later, and the trio reconvened in the study once more. Bruce looked angry, Duke looked confused, and Damian was positively fuming.

“This is outrageous!” He cried, as soon as he entered after Duke. “None of the entrances are working! I even attempted to use imaginative means to enter, and nothing worked!”

Bruce’s grim look receded for just a moment. “I’ll let Barbara know she did a wonderful job shoring up the security if even my children can’t get in.”

Damian scowled. “What’s the point of making security that we can’t get into?”

Bruce closed his eyes for three long, tired seconds.

“Anyway!” Duke said, “They aren’t allowing access. Any theories? Or should we just get Tim?”

Damian looked appalled at the idea. “Father!” he cried, “you can’t call Timothy! He will be unable to operate at maximum capacity if he does not complete the weekend of so-called relaxation with the clone at the Kents’ farm.”

“So second best option?” Duke asked.

Bruce raised an eyebrow. “I hope you don’t let Barbara hear that when she gets here.”

*****

“Hhmmmm.”

Duke, Bruce, and Damian cringed in unison at Barbara’s contemplative noise. The young woman was typing on a laptop plugged into some kind of control panel in Bruce’s office. She hadn’t spoken to them more than first greetings when she had arrived, so they were left in the dark while she rifled through the Cave’s security system.

Finally, Babs closed the computer and set it to the side. Duke and the others held their collective breath.

“The Cave is registering you as already present inside,” Barbara explained, “Actually, it says that everyone is in the Cave right now.”

Bruce was still and silent, considering Barbara’s words. Damian, on the other hand, seemed to be an inch away from having a meltdown.

“This is preposterous!” He blustered, whipping about and glaring, not having any particular target. “The system is trash, I said we should have fixed it ages ago! And now look at the outcome! I must remain at peak physical capacity, and I am not able to if I miss even a single session! Father, I demand you fix this!”

“Woah, dude, chill,” Duke soothed, resting a hand on Damian’s shoulder. Thankfully, the kid didn’t bite him. “I know you're frustrated, but we work more effectively when calm, right?”

Damian blinked, and glared at Duke for a long moment. “You are not incorrect, Thomas.” Damian finally allowed, turning away.

Barbara smiled. “Well, good news: I can get you in. It’s probably a good idea to call for back-up and wait till you have the forces to-”

“That won’t be necessary,” Bruce interrupted, his eye twitching at the glare Babs threw his way. “We can handle it - right, boys?”

Damian sniffed proudly and produced some knives from who knows where. Duke nodded confidently.

Bruce grunted, and motioned for them to fall in line behind him. Barbara watched with her precise gaze as Bruce, Duke, and Damian made their way down the stairs. They didn’t turn the lights on, going for optimal stealth as were, and moved slowly downward.

“Don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious,” Duke sang under his breath a little ways after the halfway point down the stairs.

“Making noise is very suspicious, Thomas.” Damian muttered.

“Quiet, Boys,” Bruce snapped before Duke could make a comeback, “We’re almost there.”

As soon as the doors to the Cave opened, they scattered and melted into the shadows. Duke just managed to see Damian crawl up the side of the cave wall, but didn’t see where Bruce went. He didn’t have much time to worry about that, though, as he was hiding himself among equipment that lined the sides of the space.

The path he had chosen gave him an easy pass to circle the main platform, and gage the situation. And boy was it a situation. Because, you see, like Barbara said, they were not the only ones in the cave. They were just the only sentient ones.

The elevator dinged, and Barbara rolled out and into the light. “Are those Manikins?” She asked, incredulous.

*****

Duke smirked proudly at the sight before him, the same sight that left the others outraged and confused

Someone, somehow (It was Duke, and through much hard labour during some time while the bats were actually asleep - he got someone to cover his patrol, this bright young girl called Maps to do it. She said she was a friend of Damian’s, and quite skilled with a grappling hook. Tim had mentioned her before, so Duke wasn’t surprised.) managed to get dozens of manikins - those hyper mobile ones that you can personalise their positions - and spread them out across the cave. And not just that, they had managed to stylize them after each member of the family.

The manikins also seemed to be moving around at preset speeds, through some mysterious robotic means (Duke mentally thanked the stars that Bruce didn’t bat an eye at someone purchasing thirty roombas with his credit card.).

The first manikin, the one that caught everyone’s eye, was clearly meant to represent Stephanie. It was doused in complete purple, the exact shade of her suit and automated to throw the glitter bombs stored in a sack by its side at seemingly everything - though apparently mainly at the nearest authority figure.

Said authority figure was obviously Bruce, who was moving slowly in wide arcs around the chaos. It was wearing one of those ghost costumes, (you know the ones with just a sheet and cut out holes? Yeah, that’s Bruce.) except with a black sheet. And two plastic forks taped to either side of the head to imitate Bat ears. Though by this point it was also covered in purple glitter, thanks to Steph.

Somehow, the figure right next to Bruce was completely untouched by the purple sparkles, despite wearing the exact same outfit as Bruce’s manikin, plastic forks and all. (Although to be fair, this one was significantly shorter.) Though this mystery could easily be solved by the fact that it was Cass. Well, that explains pretty much everything, actually.

Nearest to Bruce and his mini-me at that point in the rotation was a toddler sized, bright green manikin that represented none other than the current Robin. And if that weren’t enough, think of Edward Scissor Hands. Now imagine those knives and blades and such taped over the whole body. Now you have an accurate picture of Damian Wayne in Manikin form. Honestly, it wasn’t that far off.

Humans weren’t the only things replaced in the Cave, as just by Damian were little dog, cat, and cow statues. And a giant bat stuffie colored red.

Bruce’s manikin had to stop it’s wide arc and jerk suddenly to the side to avoid the next member of the family. Tim Drake’s stand-in was barely visible underneath the six foot tall pile of bulk coffee bean bags stacked around it.

Right behind Tim was a large manikin painted blood red, wearing a faux pink leather jacket with sparkles and rhinestones glued it. It looked like it was meant for a six year old girl. What didn’t look like it was meant for a child, though, were the strips of ammunition draped across its shoulders like a fancy scarf. The look was completed by a large red bucket dumped haphazardly over the head of the manikin.

To the side of the Cave, just barely out of the war path that was The Red Bucket, was something different. Instead of a manikin like you would find in the clothing store, a halloween decoration was set up. And not just any decoration: A life-sized recreation of Dracula that looked so cheap, it was probably bought at Party City for ten bucks. (Hey, it was on sale! Duke wasn’t one to ignore such a spectacular bargain!). The only thing customized about it was the cheap, long, cherry red wig perched precariously on its head. Hey, everyone always said Kate looked an awful lot like a vampire!

The simplest manikin was somehow one of the most recognizable. Painted plain white, it was mostly unadorned with the exception of “007” painted across the chest in big, black, block letters. Now who could that be? It wasn’t like the Bats casually knew a british spy.

But all of that is fairly sane, compared to the … others.

In one corner of the room, a manikin was on fire. Completely on fire. The blaze was huge. Somehow, the manikin itself wasn’t on fire, though. One got the impression that it was supposed to be reminiscent of the burning bush story, or perhaps a phoenix. Ha, phoenix. Flamebird. Duke hoped he wasn’t the only one who found that funny.

Dick’s was on a complicated zip line pulley type system thingy. It was upside down and twisted into a pretzel for a bit, then it reached a checkpoint and was replaced by a new “Dick” in a different position. It looks like Dick’s doing mid air acrobatics. Oh, and he’s wearing a crop top that said “I’m A Dick.”

There was yet another all-green manikin seated on a hover chair that looked suspiciously like alien tech taken from the Watchtower. There was a face drawn on, and it was emulating the Oracle Symbol.

Hidden amongst the shadows in the corner was another manikin, barely within sight. It was resting luxuriously in a clawfoot bathtub, which was filled with jewels of all kinds. Upon its shoulders were multiple cat stuffed animals.

Duke grinned at his crowning achievement, the one that is easily the most terrifying. The one that is undoubtedly the Taser Girl herself: Harper Row.

What made this one different? Well, that’s because Harper was not, in fact, a manikin. Instead, the figure was not unlike a stick figure made completely out of metal pipes. The bottom was attached to an encased roomba which was currently going in wide, swooping arcs. The arms are raised triumphantly overhead. (Duke may or may not have spent three hours in front of the Hellmo meme, making sure that it was perfect). And, of course, it was conducting bright blue crackling electricity. (Duke had gotten the idea from one of those science experiment things that is made of lightning, and will every so often shoot a bolt and light something on fire. Minus the fire part. He didn’t have a death wish .)

It was just then that some lightning arced out and set an extra manikin that had been lying about on fire.

Duke cringed internally, but his mood wasn’t dampened for long. He took one look at the other Bats present, and muffled a snort of amusement. They were positively shocked - even Babs! That in and of itself was an utter victory for Duke. It got even better when they slowly separated and began to wander the Cave in wonder and horror. Duke split off as well, and hid behind the Dinosaur.

He almost tripped, however, on one of the babies. Yeah, Babies. Around the legs of the dinosaur, on their own roombas, were inflatable versions of the giant T-Rex. Somehow (maaaaybe with a touch of fiddling with controls), they were even faster than the moving people. They were zipping around and crashing into each other. When Duke hit one, though, it activated a system he had put in place which suddenly unleashed a gigantic roar throughout the Cave via the soundsystem.

The Dinosaurs weren’t the only extra addition to the native wildlife, though. Bats, hundreds of them, were replaced with stuffed animal versions of themselves, and painstakingly hung from string to the stalactites at the top of the cave, like a giant mobile.

Duke peaked out from the side of the wide space where he had been inspecting his own work to gage the situation with the other members of his family. The shock seemed to have worn off by that point, replaced with mixed reactions. Bruce was growing increasingly frustrated, Babs was trying not to laugh, and Damian was secretly pleased, enjoying the look on his father’s face.

Duke chuckled to himself as he went back to looking around in the nooks and crannies where smaller details - like the glow sticks representing glow worms - are set up. He had to admit, when he had set all of this up in two-days-without-sleep haze, he hadn’t actually been sure if it actually looked good. Two minutes later, and Duke was absolutely sure that this was in the top fifteen best Bat-Pranks, He’d have to petition for it to be added at the next meeting.

A sudden clamor came from the Batcomputer, and Duke grinned before practically skipping over to see what was the matter. This will be fun, he thought.

Upon his arrival, he knew it was true.

“Holy shit!” He crowed joyfully upon catching sight of the one manikin that had been missing earlier: his own.

Duke’s manikin was draped in gold curtains - clearly from the South Wing’s Music Room - to look like a toga, and sitting on a throne. Literally. (Bruce just had one lying about in the Attic) The throne rested on a huge platform covered in jewels (also taken from the treasure chest in the Attic). A light setup in the crannies of the Cave’s ceiling shot out beams of ‘disco’ light. Thin black vales hang from the ceiling to give the ominous feel of shadows. And, in case there was any confusion, a golden plaque rests at the base, and is engraved with the words “The Duke of Gotham. Bow Before Your Ruler.”

It’s beautiful, Duke thought ecstatically, so much better than I could have ever dreamed!

He promptly burst into laughter.

Bruce growled in frustration. “This is not funny, Duke.”

“I dunno, B,” Duke shrugged, “I sure think it is!”

“It is not. This is a defacement of the cave, plain and simple. And a poor use of resources to boot. This space is supposed to be efficient, a place that aids in the mission - and are those my Great Aunt Matilda’s emeralds?”

Duke shrugged again as Bruce was set off onto an even longer rant about wasting everyone’s time and abilities since they were going to have to clean it all up. Duke was mostly tuning Bruce out by that point.

“-if you are being flattered by the prankster, that is a clear sign of them trying to get you on their side.”

Duke froze and did a double take. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I didn’t train you to be so easily manipulated.”

Duke coughed. “Uh, I think you got this mixed up, B. See that? That’s me on the throne. Clearly this whole prank was organized by me.”

Bruce stared at Duke for a solid three seconds. Babs was covering her mouth to avoid a giggling fit, or maybe just out of shock. Damian was frowning at Duke.

Bruce’s right eye twitched. “Duke, no need to be sarcastic.”

Duke opened his mouth to argue some more, to explain just how wrong Bruce was, when said Dark Knight whipped around and stalked towards the elevator. He froze, though, when he stepped in front of Damian.

There wasn’t even a moment's pause before Bruce was glaring down at his youngest son with resigned, tired eyes. “Damian, how many times have I told you that more knives are not better? You gave yourself away.”

Damian screeched in indignation, and raced to follow Bruce out, demanding for Bruce to see reason.

“Father, you are being ridiculous!”

But his cries were quickly silenced by the closing of the elevator doors, leaving just Duke and Barbara in the Bat Cave.

Babs pivoted to look to Duke and shrugged. “Sorry kid, but he’s just stubborn.”

Duke blinked in confusion as she wheeled away. Had she always known? Scratch that - she was Oracle. Of course Barbara knew.

Duke collapsed at the foot of his throne, and put his head in his hands. Next time, he promised himself, no one else is gonna be there. No one else can take the credit.

*****

“He’s really trying, isn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“Well, this will be fun to watch.”

“Yes.”

“Should we just tell Bruce and be over with it?”

“…”

“Yes, you’re right Cass. We wait and watch.”

#damian wayne #duke thomas #bruce wayne #barbara gordon #batfam #duke thomas big bang #dtbb21 #fanfiction #my fanfiction

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vln-vibes · 5 years ago

Text

Unwanted, Unreliable, Unstoppable

Yeah so this thing is crazy long so I’m dividing it into three parts. Anyways this is very self indulgent but I hope you like the content.

Summary: They were tired, they were so so tired. This fight has been going on long enough, this war was getting harder and harder to fight as the years went on but no one ever helped; Not the citizens of Paris, not the French government and certainly not the Justice League. But what is they received help from a man that was practically a myth himself; the Batman. Is this exactly what the Miraculous Team needs or will this lead to their falling from grace?

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“I’m so tired of this!” Ladybug scratched at her head feverishly. Currently she was standing at the second most top of the Eiffel Tower with her team: Chat Noir, Ryuuko and Viperion.

“I know m’lady” Chat sighed, letting his cheerful mask take a break as he stood next to her, leaning into the railings.

“Those— Those assholes that call themselves the Justice League just keep ignoring us; it's like they just don’t give a shit about us” Viperion rolled his eyes. They had tried, time and time again, to get help from older, more experienced heroes with their situation in Paris; they were fucking teenagers thrust into an adult’s war. One they didn’t even care for anymore.

“They don’t care for Paris… Why should we?” Ryuuko spoke up, cold fury clear in her eyes. “If they cannot find the need to handle the Paris situation themselves then why must we be the ones to? No one even appreciates out efforts, its like they just want us to have everything handled”

It was true.

At first the Parisians praised the Dynamic Duo, Ladybug and Chat Noir, for stepping up and saving the city from the terrifying Akumas they had no way of handling. They even got the heroes to help out with things not in their jurisdiction; suddenly any crime, as minor or major as it could get, required their attention, any fire could not be handled by the fire department alone, schools needed the heroes to make guest appearances, they were wanted in television interviews, everyone needed to know everything about them. It was fine, for a while, they didn’t mind helping out.

Then Heroes’ Day happened.

Suddenly they were pathetic.

If they were supposed to be so strong then how come other heroes had to come to help? It had never occurred to them that they were chosen by Ladybug and Chat Noir, all they knew was that the duo was not as strong as they once believed.

After all it was just one criminal,

How hard could it be?

Sometimes, Ladybug wishes, she had just let Alya keep the stupid earrings. She was sure the girl would have taken them immediately at the time but, given her brashness and temperamental nature, she would have already lost to Hawkmoth.

Plus she didn’t blame the small kwami or even Master Fu all that much: She resented the man but still respected him very much and knew he went through the same thing as she did at an even younger age with absolutely no way out. She was aware that if she truly wanted to all she could do was just give the earrings to someone else or even hand them over. But Ladybug was stubborn and the earrings were her’s now, just like the ring was Chat’s, the choker was Ryuuko’s and the bangle was Viperion’s.

That didn’t mean this battle was theirs to fight.

“... Why don’t we leave?” Viperion asked, disturbing their silence. The trio looked at him curiously, as though he broke an unspoken rule.

“Why would we?” Ladybug responded, knowing fully well that Viperion didn’t tend to speak up unless he was certain of his words.

“Because they’re running us dry, this city is killing us” Viperion raised his voice, aware that they could already, “Adrien and Kagami are living shitty home lives with abusive assholes that want to call themselves parents. Mari, you’re being burdened with too much responsibility by that bitch Bustier and that class full of sheep! I hate seeing you all kill yourselves for people that will never appreciate it because they think they’re above it!”

At the end of his rant Viperion’s eyes were nearly glowing, his breathing a bit more rough than normal, looking away from his teammates knowing he stepped too far. “Sorry, but I don’t want my friends to die on me when I can do something to stop it”

Ryuuko, Chat Noir and Ladybug understood where he was coming from but it was like a slap on the face, a reminder of what civilian life was like for them. Ryuuko could feel the sting coming from her leg, where mother had hit with her shinai after failing to be in proper form. Chat Noir still felt the ache of having to do photoshoots all day and then staying up at night to have to do his make-up work; not that his father cared with his disregard of child labor laws. Ladybug still had some redness from bruises Alya had caused by tripping her on her way to class.

“... Okay so these are the sad gang hours” the group turned back seeing Roter Fochs land, Roi Singe and Pegasus landing behind them. The Parisians were really only aware of ‘The Core Four’ as they’d rather have some aces up their sleeves; not that the three were ready to confront the Parisian backlash just yet. They didn’t want to deal with anymore bullshit than they had to in their civilian lives.

“Is everything alright? Or is it just Life™?” Roi Singe asked, leaning onto his bo-staff next to Viperion.

“It takes 60 euroes to go to therapy but no money to say it just be like that sometimes” Roter Fochs shrugged, much to the dismay of Viperion, Roi Singe and Pegasus.

“Can you please stop joking about your mental health” Pegasus found himself groaning. A small hovering screen appeared next to him, a cowboy hat firmly attached to the top with an antenna sticking out.

“Yes studies show that LGBT youth have a higher percentage to suffer from depression, some even to the point that they𑁋”

“Thanks for the concern CowBot but, really, I’m fine; let me have my fun” Roter softly tapped the little robot. It was nice having people, well sentient beings, still concerned with his well being.

Suddenly the group tensed, their artificial ears and enhanced senses picking up a light clink, the sound of something quickly winding up followed. Two male figures landed in front of them, quickly surrounded by the Parisians. The taller one of the two quipped:

“Well aren’t you a merry bunch”

“Who are you and why are you here?” Chat Noir kept an icy cold edge to his voice, emulating how his father would talk to employees that weren’t Natalie.

“They’re not Akumas, no magic radiating off of them” Ladybug analyzed, looking closely at the duo but she couldn’t recognize them at all. The male that had spoken had a lean and relatively tall body, he couldn’t be more than four years older than her team, so around his late teens early twenties. He had long raven hair, his bangs framing his face perfectly, even in the moonlight she could tell he had a pale complexion though the black domino mask he sported helped hide most of it and his eyes. His uniform wasn’t one she recognized from any superhero from the League; black kevlar, if she had to guess, made up nearly the entirety of his suit, from his boots, pants and even gauntlets, heck she wouldn’t be surprised if his cape was bulletproof. One of the only things to bring color was his crimson chest piece, with two belts across it holding up a golden bird symbol, the same one on his canary utility belt.

“Tt, we just came here to talk” the smaller male scoffed, his posture not looking any more tense or relaxed, just attentive. His build was also lean like his taller partner though she could tell his body would be able to build more muscles with his broader shoulders. She assumed they were around the same age, his jawline defined but not to the same extent an adult’s would be. His hair seemed almost darker than that of his partner’s and was slicked back though maintaining most of its volume, a naturally tan skin was found beneath a green domino mask, much like his companion’s. His uniform was definitely more colorful, almost as if he was meant to garner attention(and boy wasn’t that concerning); black seemed to be the main color in his suit with the outer cape, pants and sleeves being that color, ruby red tunic that went beyond his belt with dandelion accents on its edges and a golden R over his heart, pine boots and gauntlets matching the shade of his mask with dandelion yellow covering the inside of his cape and hood as well as his own utility belt.

She had no clue who they were.

“And why should we trust you?”

“Because we don’t like the Justice League any more than you do”

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One Week Ago

“Hey B, we found something interesting while reading the League’s data” Barbara Gordon’s voice echoed in the BatCave. Currently she and Tim were doing the weekly check-in on the League, something those heroes never seemed to notice. Not that they were surprised.

“What did you find?” Bruce asked, telling Duke and Damian to take a break from combat training while he did.

“There’s an alarming amount of distress calls from France, specifically Paris, that the League has been either ignoring or not receiving” Tim showed him the graph of all the history, going back at least three years closer. It was small at first, once every two months at the beginning, once a month when the second year began, every two weeks bordering on weekly near the end of it, by the start of the third it was daily until some time three months ago they just stopped.

Well wasn’t that cause for concern?

“Can we get any audio of the calls?” Bruce’s detective side coming up as Barbara was able to bring up a few that hadn’t been automatically deleted by the Justice League’s system. The first one was the very first from three years ago, a video call.

“Uh hello!” the girl on the video said awkwardly, clearly nervous but determined to get her message out, “My name is Ladybug”

Her costume looked like it was simply made by spandex, a rather plain design of red with black spots around, a domino mask with open lenses was the only thing really concealing her identity.

“Paris has a supervillain, his name is Hawkmoth and he feeds off of negative emotions. His power can turn anyone into his enslaved champion and we- my partner and I are the only ones really fighting this. I- I know you’re all really busy saving the world and all that but- but we’re just kids! We have no experience and well, we were hoping you can send someone to help? We’ve only confronted him three times now but well, we were just pushed into this”

Bruce could feel his blood growing cold, she couldn’t have been older than thirteen when this was recorded. He knew no Leaguers went on missions to Paris for the past five years… He told them to play the next video, from two years ago.

“Hello Justice League” Ladybug still wore her simple spandex though now standing tall next to a boy with a black cat leather outfit. Behind them was a girl with a bee themed outfit, a girl with a fox themed outfit and a boy with a turtle theme.

“We just came out of this Heroes Day disaster”

“No thanks to their help” the bee girl snapped before looking away.

“Look, Hawkmoth is getting more and more dangerous. He was able to transform half of Paris into his minions, they took over Paris and nearly won”

“What is it going to take you for you guys to finally help?” the cat boy growled much to the surprise of the others.

“Chat Noir!”

“Oh please we can totally handle Hawkmoth without them; you two should be enough already. With us three helping you, defeating him should be easy, power of teamwork and all that” the fox girl waved off, much to the surprise of the turtle.

“Rena did you seriously not remember what just happened. We were compromised, we nearly let Paris fall. We’re not trained for this, not even LB and Chat, and they’ve been doing this for the past year”

“Whatever”

“What was the last transmission?” Bruce found himself asking as the cave suddenly grew silent, all eyes on the monitor as their last transmission played.

“Why are we even bothering with this?” a new male voice asked, the video was shaky before finally pointing at the Parisian streets. If you could even call what was essentially a river of water, reaching to the top of most rooftops streets anymore. Items were floating about, bodies littered around them.

“They’ll never listen, they never did” another female voice agreed, they assumed it was the girl at the corner of the screen, looking down on the streets in what could be described as pity.

“I know” Ladybug’s voice sighed from behind the camera. “But they should at least see the consequences of their actions”

“If they even bother watching these, I wouldn’t be surprised if they just delete these as soon as we send them” Chat Noir entered the screen, eyes cold and calculating.

“Paris should be thankful that Lucky Charm is able to bring them back” the male with the snake themed outfit shook his head. “This is probably the 1,000 time most of Paris died with an akuma, second with Syren”

“Super lucky” the dragon female rolled her eyes “It’s not even worth trying to save citizens since all they do is cretique us”

“And the officers; Apparently we should be able to deal with city-destroying being and protect the people at the same time while officers just stand behind the lines waiting for us to do both” Chat Noir hissed

“What's done is done. This will be our last call for the Justice League; I hope you’re all happy, knowing that you’ve forced children to grow up and fight in a man’s war. Bug Out”

“There are no records of these videos even being played, or even of these events happening as far as Parisian government records say. But there’s clearly a lot of cover up going on, most of Paris’ emergency broadcasting doesn’t make it out of its borders, heavy encouragement of tourism even though there have been complaints by the people about… akumas?” Tim reported as soon as the video finished playing.

“There’s even records of a city-funded statue being made for Ladybug and Chat Noir yet no indication of where it is or what its for” Barbara continued “This blog keeps coming up, it used to be called the Ladyblog before it switched to Fox Tea. Look at these videos”

The screens were suddenly filled with shots of these Akuma; one that froze the city over, one who controlled the weather, one who began dropping adults from the sky, Syren, Heroes’ Day… All of them had to be handled by scared children.

“These look too real to be edited” Duke said in awe. He was very aware of his children all surrounding the screens, looking at the countless destruction of one of the major cities in the world.

And none of them had ever heard of them or these children who were forced to deal with it.

Ones who seeked out help and were never given the time of day.

“Red Robin, Robin” his two sons standing in attention “I want you to investigate the matter and offer our help; convince them that we’re on their side on not aligned with the League”

“We’re on it, Batman”

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“So you just want us to believe you found out about us and suddenly want to help?” Roter Fochs looked at the duo skeptically.

“We wish to assist you with this whole… situation. No one has heard of Akumas or of Parisian heroes before, we concluded that it may be the government attempting to keep tourism up” the shorter male, Robin, they later learned, spoke up while keeping his hands in the air.

“Though that doesn’t excuse the League, who we know you personally sent distress messages” Red Robin echoed the message “We understand the incompetence of the League better than anyone else. Did you know they never bothered to even open most of those messages?”

Red Robin was surprised by the sudden animalistic growling coming from the group, some of their eyes glowing while others looked disappointed.

Ladybug looked hurt.

“Who do you work for?” Ryuuko asked, curious but not letting her sword lower from its position.

“We’re Robin and Red Robin”

“Like the food chain?”

“.... Yes. Anyway we’re vigilantes sanctioned in Gotham, New Jersey in the United States; we’re both proteges of the Batman” Red Robin held back the need to roll his eyes at the monkey boy’s statement.

“Never heard of him” the French heroes turned to each other, trying to see if the name rang any bells.

“According to the internet the Batman is almost a folklore for Gotham; people claim to see him and his array of birds and bats but none could ever get clear photos” CowBot replied after a quick search.

“If the League never saw our messages then how do you know about them?” Chat Noir stared right at them, as though he’d know they were lying, which he couldn’t but Roter Fochs could and would.

“Because we’re better than the League” Robin said with the same certainty one would say the grass was green.

“Why should we believe you?” Ladybug asked skeptically, if they were so good then why didn’t they handle what the League wouldn’t? Why didn’t they just try to take over the Hawkmoth situation without their input? Why didn’t they just take down the League by themselves?

“You shouldn’t, “ Robin shrugged once more “But we’ll actually help where the League wouldn’t”

Ladybug stole a look from Chat Noir, both turning to Roter Fochs, who shook his head softly indicating the duo wasn’t lying.

“If you really want us to talk then give us the coordinates to meet with the Batman” Ladybug demanded, Robin looked outraged at the implication while Red Robin nodded.

“Alright, but how will you know if we’re lying to you?” he asked curiously, typing something in his communicator, the center of his utility belt, before handing it over to her.

“Trust me, we know when you’re lying plus we’d know when we get there” Viperion smirked, “Also you can stand down now Bunnix, MultiMouse”

The duo were not surprised to see two figures standing behind them, one male with a mouse theme and rope wrapped around his hands, and a petite girl with a bunny theme and a sharp looking umbrella pointing straight at their backs. They were just surprised that they hadn't sensed them before.

“Did you get those coordinates, Pegasus?”

“Yes Ladybug, waiting for your signal”

“Well then birdies, we better hope you weren’t lying or you’ll find Hawkmoth won’t be your biggest problem”

“Voyage!”

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“Why don’t you guys like the League?”

The meeting between the Bats and Team Miraculous had gone much better than any of them had expected; it had certainly helped when they found out one of their own, Agent A as they called him, was once a wielder.

They had both been surprised by the amount of members each team had: The Bats had expected Ladybug, Chat Noir, Ryuuko and Viperion; Roter Fochs, Pegasus, Roi Singe, Bunnix and MultiMouse had been a surprise.

Meanwhile Team Miraculous had only heard of whispers of Batman and many Robins, even a theory on a bat girl of sorts from their brief research; having Batman, Robin (V), Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, Signal, Batgirl, Batwoman, and Black Bat not to mention Oracle and Agent A; they had almost thought it was an ambush.

They supposed they each knew how to keep certain secrets tight.

“The Justice League, though still consisting of some of the most powerful people in this Earth, are too high and mighty; none of them really consider the consequences of their actions and are too reliant on their powers to be able to resolve all their problems. None of them have any contingency plans if their enemies find out their weaknesses and exploit them. Not a single member is a ‘normal human’”

He pulled up a hologram in the middle of the meeting table, every person who's worked with Justice League showing up, each showing their array of powers and abilities before showing their membership status.

Batman, Green Arrow, Speedy, Robin, Artemis; Non-Members

Two Green Lanterns, Captain Marvel, Black Canary, Bumblebee, Rocket, the Atom, Blue Beetle (II), Superboy; Reserve members with clearance.

“That does seem pretty discriminatory” Viperion hummed as he thought of the people on the list, those on the Non-member list had no power or enhancement at all while those on the reserve, with the exception of Captain Marvel and Superboy, had powers or suits but the vulnerability of humans.

They weren’t considered strong enough, or maybe even reliable enough.

“We’d probably be considered in the same capacity as a Green Lantern” Pegasus concluded “Take away their ring and their powers go away”

“Which brings us to the next question” Batgirl chimed cheerfully “What is it exactly that you’re facing off against?”

“The Miraculous are ancient artifacts that lend you the powers of certain godlings named Kwami. Kwamis are the essence of concepts and ideas: The Ladybug who represents Luck and Creation, the Black Cat who represents Misfortune and Destruction and Horse who represents Transportation and Innovation are just some examples” Ryuuko explained for them

“Hawkmoth is in possession of the Butterfly Miraculous of Metamorphosis and Desire along with the Peacock of Emotion and Will” Ladybug paused briefly as she saw the look of surprise on Agent A’s face, wondering if she’d feel that way if she found out Tikki was being used for evil in the future. “Both were thought to be missing, possibly destroyed, when the last Master of the Order was able to salvage them from the attack to the Temple of Miracles. He was only a child when the Temple was attacked, thus he was able to escape without being detected by the enemy”

“If I remember correctly,” Chat Noir interrupted “I believe Master Fu said their name was “The Shadows” or I think he said they now go by𑁋”

“The League of Shadows” Nightwing softly added, the air tensing immediately.

“You know of them?” MultiMouse was weary considering the Shadows were very keen on keeping to, well, shadows. That had to mean that the Bats had confronted them.

“Intimately so” Batman growled out.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bunnix’s brows furrowed underneath her mask, feeling as though they wouldn’t like the answer.

“The Shadows have been a pain in Gotham’s ass in the past” Batgirl explained before turning to Batman “Especially since the Demon’s Head was interested in having Batman as a Son-in Law, though his daughter is sometimes an ally”

“Batgirl!” Red Robin admonished

“Don’t forget the little demon over here” Red Hood joked, missing the look of shock in the Parisian heroes.

“Or the fact that it sometimes seems like he wants to get on Red Robin’s dick and have his babies”

“Batgirl, Red Hood that’s enough” Batwoman sternly looked at the duo.

“You’re saying Robin is related to the Shadows” the Parisian heroes in the Reserve Team looked at them suspiciously while the Core Four just patiently waited to see what the Bats would say.

“That’s in the past” Nightwing steely stated “He was born into that lifestyle, but his mother let him chose to leave and live a different life”

“We had no choice of who our parents were” Black Bat reinforced, the team taking a mental note that she was once a shadow as well.

“Noted” Chat Noir said cooly “Though you must understand our reluctance when hearing the Shadows; like we said the Shadows destroyed the temple that was meant to safeguard the Miraculous and killed off every Guardian in the process”

“It would be foolish of us to not be on guard when hearing of them being so close to us again” Ryuuko explained “Though we will give the benefit of the doubt”

And so was the beginning of their partnership.

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“You’re all skilled fighters for not having any proper training” Oracle commended, looking at the statistics of the spars they all had, by far the Core Four had the strongest stats but it wasn’t because of the others’ lack of skill.

“Thank you, Oracle” Ryuuko bowed after finishing her match with Robin, an intense sword fight having just finished. If she had truly wanted to she could have ended it by cutting Robin’s katana but she found it both dishonorable and the easy way out considering they were testing skill sets. On the other side of the room was Red Robin and Roi Singe’s fight, bo-staff against bo-staff, being monitored by Black Bat.

“Oh kwami” Ladybug whispered as she and Chat Noir were called for the next match… against Batman and Batwoman.

“This is where we die Noir”

“It’s been an honor m’lady”

The fight had been entertaining, each side coming in with an array of attacks. At first the Bats had played offensive with the Miraculous duo playing defensive, dodging Batarangs and all their little gadgets. The Bats hadn’t expected just how durable the simple looking yo-yo and staff would be or any of its features.

At some point there had been a flash bomb, Chat Noir blocking it from Ladybug and getting temporarily blinded, Batwoman had planned on attacking while he was disoriented however the attack amplified his enhanced hearing, extending his staff and tripping her in the process.

In the end the Bats had won but it had been a close victory considering the Miraculous Team had not bothered to use their special abilities during any of the fights.

As they were taking a breather, resting and getting drinks, Robin spoke up.

“How are you allowing your city to step all over you?” Team Miraculous looked at him briskly before Red Hood, of all people, continued for him.

“We’ve seen the reports and the Parisian news, they’re relying on your team of four, considering they aren’t aware of the others, to be there to solve all their problems”

“It’s okay for your people to put so much trust in you but it's gotten to the point where they expect it of you” Robin concluded.

“I’ve tried telling them” Viperion sighed, facing his group “We really should be leaving Paris to handle their own problems, we’re busy enough in civilian life and akuma fights as it is”

“How do you suppose we do that when we already face scrutiny for not dealing with Akumas fast enough?” Chat Noir asked, his tail flickering behind him.

“You could always stop patrolling in broad daylight if you don’t want to leave the city altogether” Red Robin suggested, “Hiding in the night is easier to avoid any authority or anyone trying to get interviews. Plus this way it's less predictable where you’ll be certain hours of the day”

“He does make a good point” Ladybug said, mostly to herself, before nodding “I think it's a good idea”

“You heard her team,” Chat Noir turned to face the others “All for stopping daylight patrol?��

All of them nodded in agreement, the beginning of a long list of necessary changes in their lives.

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“My father is planning a press conference to talk about his ‘concerns’ with the lack of your appearances” Chloe rolled her eyes. A year ago, after the Heroes’ Day Disaster, she and Carapace had chosen to stand down while Rena was ultimately retired. She’d found out about Adrien when she went for a visit only for him to jump in through the window.

It was awkward between the two of them before they called for Ladybug.

She gave her neutral face of disappointment first before making a plan.

They were all aware that Lila must have been the one to start the disaster, being Volpina was the only explanation, as Ladybug confessed that Lila had a vendetta against her. Chloe also figured she must have been lying, something she had already suspected before, about being in another country considering Hawkmoth’s attacks only stayed in Paris.

Due to Chloe’s secret identity being out in the open they realized Hawkmoth wouldn’t be above targeting her family again. Thus Chloe became Ladybug’s spy.

Meanwhile in civilian life Nino was getting tired of Alya and Lila’s antics, especially the ones against his bros Adrien and Marinette. Well more against Marinette and more sexual harassment/getting together with Adrien. That’s not even touching on their newest content on the blog which was just criticizing the Miraculous Team for all their weaknesses and shortcomings, in the guise of offering “suggestions” on how to get better.

They thought it’d be good to have an inside man, someone who could warn them of anything Lila and Alya might come up to.

They were both the secret members of Team Miraculous.

“Holy shit are you serious?” Nino exclaimed in Chloe’s room. They’d all come in secretly and by different entries to meet up in case certain nosy classmates had spotted them.

“Yep, I may or may not have threatened my father with a lawsuit against his violation of child labor laws and me not receiving my paychecks” Adrien said excitedly.

Chat Noir had made an off-hand comment on how his father had tired him out with a packed work schedule. This resulted in prodding from the mother hen known as Nightwing asking for details which ended in Chat Noir confessing that he works for his father’s company, had been homeschooled most of his life and often had a packed schedule full of extracurriculars, including up to around 12-hour work days sometimes. Turns out with that brief information Oracle informed them that his father was violating child labor laws due to the fact that he had worked more than thirty five hours a week since he was fourteen.

“Holy shit” he’d say in awe at the moment “My father is rich though… who knows if this would even go through with his influence”

“No man is truly above the law” Nightwing had given him a reassuring pat on the shoulder, “But… is everything alright in your home life?”

“I- I shouldn’t say anything that reveals my identity… '' the usually chaotic boy said solemnly, his cat ears downcast.

“Chat Noir,” the group turned to Ladybug, the one who’d help introduce her team to the life of masks and magic “Your own safety is much more important than keeping your identity safe. We both know the kind of person your father is… I’d rather you have the best options possible to face this”

“How come you’re so fast to trust us?” Robin asked, surprised but keeping a stern face.

“You do realize that she has the coordinates to this place, right?” Viperion smirked “She’s known who you are for a while and never mentioned anything. We just expect you to return the courtesy”

“That seems about right” Red Robin sighed before taking off his mask, the others of the Bat Clan following suit. Team Miraculous gave Ladybug one last look before dropping their own transformations, some of them looking familiar to the Gothamites.

“Marcus is that you my boy?” Agent A, otherwise known as the family butler, Alfred Pennyworth made his way to MultiMouse who nodded shyly.

“I actually go by Marc now great-uncle Alfred”

“Wait what, Al has siblings?” Stephanie exclaimed, Jason was whispering for Tim to write it down in The Book.

“Yes, an older half-sister” he said with an impeccable raised brow “I would have never thought you’d follow after my footsteps Marc”

“I guess it does run in the family”

“Adrien Agreste! Like son of the fashion mongul Gabriel and late actress Emellie Grande de Venily?!” Stephanie exclaimed as soon as she focused on the blonde teen.

“Yep” was all he could find himself saying, taking comfort in Marinette’s presence next to him.

“Don’t worry Adrien,” the boy looked up to the slightly intimidating looming figure of Bruce Wayne “We’ll help you deal with your father”

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“Boys” Bruce had said as soon as he entered the living room, where the group had devolved into a video game competition. “Remember tomorrow is your monthly therapy session”

“Already?” Damian groaned, his brothers, with the exception of Dick, looking like they would rather not go.

“Timmy isn’t prepared to face his inner demons”

“And it seems Timmy hasn’t slept in some time again, hasn’t he?” Luka teased, continuing to run his hand through Tim’s hair, the boy practically purring in response.

“You have a therapist?” Marinette asked Bruce skeptically.

“We’ve all… gone through things growing up. Alfred made me realize that we were all in need of some help”

“And do you umm… talk about your nightly activities?”

“They’re trustworthy and confidential, yes”

“Do you think you could give me their information?”

That’s how Team Miraculous found themselves on the day after another akuma attack, in a private room within Wayne Tower, each waiting their turn to see the doctor.

“You’ve been through alot Luka” the teen was lying on his back, facing the ceiling as the psychologist who worked with Bruce talked. “Losing what you’ve come to accept as your family, watching your friends die, even though you knew you could change the outcome. Doing it over and over again in order to save the city… It's not something anyone could be expected to handle, let alone a child your age”

“I… I know Dr.Quinzel. But I can’t allow myself to feel guilty over everything or even get overly emotional. If Hawkmoth found out it’d be a disaster, especially because Marinette trusted me with the miraculous… the first for her to assign full time as the Guardian…. I can’t let her down” Luka gave her a lost look, one rarely seen on the charming boy before.

“Keeping all of that inside… It could fester up and explode if you’re not careful Luka”

“So you’re telling me that you are perfectly fine with how your life at home is going, Nathaniel? Even after everything we’ve discussed”

“Look I’ve tried telling my parents they were wrong but they just keep saying I’m confused, not to mention think my art is a joke… and maybe they’re right”

“Those are important parts to who you are. Saying that would be like considering yourself a mistake… Do you feel that way Nathaniel?”

“I…”

“I think I have pretty bad taste in girls, though my friends usually call me a himbo for not really thinking things through. Maybe I should think before acting more?”

“I’ve known I was going to become Bunnix ever since I was fourteen, it was always just a matter of when. So when I was finally called to action I was so excited but… I can’t help but wonder if I’m cut out for this”

“My mother has groomed and taught me to be perfect at all I do. It was something ingrained to me since I was a child; It wasn’t until recently that I learned that is impossible to achieve. Why was mother so pertained to me being it?”

“I know I’m the smart guy but I shouldn’t be expected to have all the answers, especially for my classmates who refuse to look at evidence as it is. Seriously, if I had known they would have taken my comment about how dangerous a napkin can be as pure fact then I would have not said anything that day”

“Sometimes I feel like I’m not enough for my grandmother. She’s getting older, she’s starting to forget a lot. I help by telling her things like stories but I’m not sure how long that will last… She’s the only family I have left in Paris, I don’t want to leave my friends or boyfriend behind”

“My father has always been a distant man but ever since my mother… I’m not sure if he even sees me as his son at this point. There are some days I’m treated as nothing more than a trophy boy or a regular employee. I wonder if this would have happened regardless of my mother’s passing”

“I am Ladybug, I am also the last Guardian. But I’m just a teenager! I have a life I want to live outside of Paris… I want to be a designer, start my own brand, find love and have my own family… But Hawkmoth is in the way of all that”

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“Are you sure about this LB?” Nino asked from the terrace of Chloe’s penthouse. They’d been talking strategy when an Akuma attacked, given the chaos displayed by the news via LadyBugOut livestream, they could only assume it was another Volpina attack.

Unfortunately Volpina had a Sentimonster to help, Reality Check. A glorified 3D printer who could temporarily make Volpina’s illusions tangible and real.

It had proven to be a difficult battle, especially since Luka and Adrien had been caught up as civilians and couldn’t help Ryuuko and Ladybug. The others still had to wait for Ladybug to give the signal before they’d consider going out to help in broad daylight lest their hidden cards be revealed too soon.

In the middle of the fight the two heroines had made a strategic retreat, one the Fox Tea blogger did not hesitate to call the coward’s way out. Suddenly the two appeared at Chloe’s along with Roter Fochs. The scarlet hero had taken out two familiar boxes with extremely familiar jewelry inside.

“I’m certain of it” she said with a determined smile, “Besides this could finally get Hawkmoth and maybe even Alya off your backs if I introduce new heroes; Of course your costumes will have to be different, as will your codenames, but I trust that you’ll know what to do”

“Hello my queen!”

“What’s up dude”

Paris was in uproar when they heard of the new heroes; Abeille and Anselm.

Abeille’s costume was much more armored than that of Queen Bee’s; the whole suit had a honey yellow bodysuit with black armor pieces, her chest piece in the shape of a bee’s face, black elbow length gloves with some honey stripes, thigh high black boots with honey kneepads. Her own mask was different from her former as it changed her eyes to royal blue like Pollen’s while being honey colored with black v shaped lines. The golden gauntlets on top of her gloves would be able to send out small shocks, capable of stunning enemies for small intervals at the time, nowhere near as potent as Venom.

Anselm’s own attire was not so different from Carapace; Anselm still kept the hoodie his predecessor did though beneath it is where the differences began. Anselm wore a pine green helmet, yellow tinted goggles on top of his red eyes, with pale thin daffodile lines going from the top to the bottom of his hood. The hoodie and his undersuit was sacramento green, bordering on black, though the majority of the suit was also armored with pine pieces like the hexagonal chest piece, shoulder, thigh, shin, knee and elbow pads. He also had much thicker gauntlets than Abeille’s along with armored gloves and reinforced sneakers.

Of course, Chloe Bourgeois and Nino Lahiffe were quickly off of the suspect list when the two were spotted separately looking for shelter amongst the Akuma attack during Fox Tea’s livestream.

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“So you’re part of the OG Team huh?” Stephanie asked as she gave a once over to the two newcomers.

“Deep undercover missions, you know how they go” Abeille scoffed, her honey blonde hair swaying along with her five black streaks around it.

“What she said. We couldn’t help as Queen Bee and Carapace anymore, compromised identities, so we helped as civilians before covering our tracks and coming back” Anselm tried to keep back Chloe’s prickly personality.

“Like what?” Cass’ appearance startled the two, though both looked like they were about to draw out their weapons.

“Well I get them intel from what’s happening in the mayor’s office that Max and Markov can’t get out from the computers, daddy is a bit of a pushover and squeals pretty easily”

“While I get intel from Fox Tea’s disastrous dude duo. I’m usually among the first to find out about anything their plotting… though I’ve had to drop that. It was getting too much for me to continue being with Alya so we broke up”

“So you kept dating Cesaire just to gather intel? Doesn’t that seem manipulative?” Duke asked from his seat on the monitor, the two Parisians looked at one another before beginning to laugh.

“Not compared to what those two are capable of”

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“Are you sure about this?”

Currently Viperion, Ladybug and Bunnix were on the Gotham rooftops, shadowing the Bats for the night. The three were honored to be trusted with the responsibility but still felt foreign in the much darker environment, literally and metaphorically.

“It’ll be a good experience” Oracle said in their ears, their comms being synced to those of the Bats “And you won’t be alone, I’ll be here and so will your partners”

Right on cue Robin, Red Robin and Black Bat landed on the same rooftop. The plan was for the six to cover the patrol for the night, the others would be getting rest or doing specialty training with their abilities. It was a surprise for the Miraculous gang when it was revealed that Signal and Red Hood would be joining them as fellow trainees. Alfred and Black Canary, a metahuman who often worked together with Green Arrow in Central City, would be in charge of the training while Bruce also oversaw their progress.

Honestly they hadn’t known what surprised them more: the fact that Batman had metas on his team or that he trusted other heroes with the training of his children.

“It should be a regular night; standard mugging, gang fights and possible robberies should be all that happen tonight”

Of course that was not what happened.

As it turned out Riddler had escaped Arkham, no surprise, and had gone too long without his medication. Edward Nygma was usually a pretty tame man, if a little eccentric with his love of riddles and his brilliant mind.

He decided to hold Gotham Grand Terminal hostage.

Ladybug was decidedly trying not to panic as she saw the very obvious bombs spread across different sections of the terminal. There were too many for them to deactivate in less than three minutes and there were probably more hidden around.

“Riddle me this; What is Joan of Arc made of ?” Ladybug and Robin were the first to arrive at the scene, Viperion and Red Robin being the closest to coming as back up. Robin seemed as confused as she felt but decided to really think about it…

This was so stupid.

“Maid of Orleans” the look Robin gave her, like she just made the most foolish decision of her life, was seen spread across the faces of hostages before Riddler began to laugh.

“Why you are correct, little red” he wiped a tear from his eye “Bats would never think of something so punny like that!”

“Yeah well I’ve had a lot of experience with annoying puns”

“What’s colorful, loud and is a mess to clean up?” Ladybug’s eyes widened as he pressed the big red button on the remote control, Robin bringing Ladybug down and shielding her as the hostages began to scream.

BOOM!

“...Confetti cannons” Ladybug muttered, her whole body covered in the colorful paper pieces with glitter in the mix.

That son of a bitch!

It was April 1st.

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“So what is it that we’ll be doing?” Bunnix asked as Black Bat silently leaped through the Gotham rooftops, camouflaging effortlessly with the shadows unlike her because of the white and baby blue costume she had on.

“You two will be checking up on Red Hood’s sector for the night, Crime Alley” Oracle’s voice responded for her.

“Right, so is this just a standard patrol?”

“Something like that”

Bunnix was admittedly a bit nervous about being with Black Bat, Cass didn’t really talk much and was kinda hot. Bunnix had just dutifully shadowed her, staying as quiet as she could even if she did more parkour than necessary, when they stumbled upon a drug deal. Bunnix was about to go down to smack some people around with her umbrella when Black Bat shook her head.

“One of Red Hood’s men, let’s wait to see the deal go through”

Bunnix wasn’t sure what to think as she watched the deal go down. Weren’t they supposed to be the ones to stop this from happening and not helping them? It was a bit confusing and against her moral code…

“We do this to keep the kids out of the involvement” Oracle seemed to read her mind, explaining their reasoning “Before Red Hood decided to get involved with drug trafficking Crime Alley was full of children who would be taken advantage of by dealers; whether it meant getting them addicted or becoming their messengers and delivery boys. He made it very clear to his ‘allies’ that no child from Crime Alley was getting involved in their plans again or else the deals were off. Those who tried going above him… well they’re no longer around to try and take him down”

Still that did not help ease Alix’s worries as the night continued on. Black Bat came to a sudden stop on top of a warehouse, gesturing for Bunnix to follow behind her, and climbing in through a shattered window. Inside were dozens of wooden crates, each with cameras pointed at them and only one with an open lid. Black Bat walked towards the open crate with ease, going inside and taking out three duffle bags from inside. She placed two on her, criss-crossing each other before handing the other one to a reluctant Bunnix.

The tow then headed to a hidden tunnel underneath one of the empty crates, making their way in a closed (?) Gotham sewer. It didn’t smell as disgusting as Alix imagined it would be, musky at best, though she thought that it may be due to the fact that there was no dirty sewage water there. They walked in relative ease, essentially walking for what had to be at least 15 minutes in numerous twists and turns before reaching a ladder. The two got out, Bunnix recognizing it as part of Crime Alley with how run down the area looked.

Black Bat knocked on a rusting steel door, three times, five, once and then a tap with her palm.

The door opened up, a boy no older than 12 being the ones to greet them.

“Where’s R.H?” he questioned, he looked disappointed but not alarmed, clearly he had met Black Bat before.

“Was busy. This is Bunnix, she’s helping for the night” The boy was clearly unimpressed with her but he closed the door and led them down the long hallway. She noticed the few scattered toys along the way, with some open doors showing mountains of writing supplies and even a little library.

What was this place?

“This is Red Hood’s sanctuary for the kids of Crime Alley” Black Bat whispered next to her “Batgirl and Red Hood are usually the ones to come here though all of us have come at some point.” they entered the large room showing children of all ages, some as young as infants and others looking close to early adulthood. They dropped the duffle bags in front of what she thought was the leader of the pack when Red Hood wasn’t around.

They were filled with non-perishable food, wads of money that will probably be used to provide for the group of 30 or even more for the next month, toys, books and some new clothes.

As the children gathered around, each a little dirtier than Alix remembered ever being as a child, lining up to get a new something that Red Hood got for them she couldn’t help but think;

… Maybe things were never so black and white.

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“I know it may seem frightening, even unnerving, to let go of your control but if you keep your powers bottled up it may prove to be disastrous in the future” Black Canary told the group of teens.

“With abilities bestowed to you like those of the Miraculous are left untrained then it may prove to lead to your downfall” Alfred nodded along to Dinah’s words.

“As capable as Ms.Lance and I are, we have realized that we would need further assistance to properly be able to train each of your abilities”

From one of the Batcave’s entrances they could hear the screech of tires before a slick black car parked next to the Batmobile and Hoodcycle.

“Sorry, we’re late” a red headed woman said as she stepped out of the car, her pale freckled skin slowly gaining a green tint to it as she removed her lab coat and glasses, “Selina here thought she could make a quick steal on our way here”

“Oh c’mon Pam, you know you love the rush as much as I do” a tanned woman laughed, twirling around a golden necklace with one of the biggest rubies they had ever seen in its center.

“Now, ladies; Pam-a-lamb has a class of powered kids to teach” they recognized Dr.Quinzel belatedly as she was missing her glasses and uniform. She was now wearing a much more colorful array of clothes with the consistent theme of red,black, and white. Her skin seemed paler than they remembered and her blonde hair had red tips on one side and blue on the other.

“Hey girls” Barbara came down the elevator at the same time as Stephanie and Cass, seemingly cutting their conversation when she saw the newcomers”

“Babs!” Dr.Quinzel exclaimed, making her way to the other girls after giving a quick kiss to the green skinned woman.

“Well you’re right on time Pam” Dinah sighed, cocking her hip before pointing at the newcomers “These are Dr.Pamela Isley otherwise known as the Gotham Rogue Poison Ivy, Selina Kyle a more vigilante type thief Catwoman, and, of course, you know Dr.Harleen Quinzel or as she prefers to go by Harley Quinn”

“Hey kittens” Selina waved at the group “By the way it's been too long since we girls have hung out; how’s about a Birds of Prey raid? You in?”

“Only if Oracle agrees”

“Oh pleasepleasepleaseplease!” Stephanie and Harley’s persistent pleading could be heard immediately afterwards. A polite cough interrupted the chaos.

“As enthusiastic as you ladies are for your plans, may I remind you that we have prior plans to care for first. Namely the training”

“Sorry Alfie” Harley said, chastised, “We’ll get out of your hair. C’mon ladies!”

“...So training?” Marc asked

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“What happened to you?” was the first thing Kim laughed out as the duo stepped into the cave, leaving a trail of confetti and glitter behind. Marinette looked back at her team, unimpressed, in their own state of disarray.

Chloe, Max, Marc and Nathaniel seemed to be nursing their own cases of migraines; most likely having pushed the limits of their own new abilities which relied on mental fortitude. Chloe and Jason’s powers were the most similar to Alfred’s which involved manipulating and projecting thoughts and ideas to the people around them or to specific targets. Nathaniel was developing the power to create illusions that only his target would be allowed to see. Marc could create intangible clones of himself but could still project what they were seeing and hearing to him. Max could teleport objects a few meters away from or towards him.

Kagami, Kim, Adrien and Nino seemed the most physically exhausted. Kagami was beginning to have slight control of fire, wind and water but not yet conjuring it; given her slight burn marks, wet clothes and messy hair Marinette would guess that she still hadn’t fully grasped the manipulation aspect outside of being Ryuuko. Kim’s own face was dirty and slightly bruised and matched that of Adrien’s. Kim had begun to use his chaotic energy to make the wackiest things happen but to have the outcome he wanted while Adrien could suck the luck out of people for small intervals lest he want to have the misfortune backlash cling on him. Nino’s was more tame though he now had to focus on two things since he could now use his energy to both heal and to create a shield that encompased his body like armor.

“Oh god you guys look like messes!” Alix laughed along with Luka, the only two that looked fine as they had a fairly tame patrol with Cass and Tim.

“Next time I see Riddler remind me to throw a glitter bomb” Marinette grumbled as she made her way to the showers.

“Not before I stab him with his stupid cane” Damian growled heading for the male showers.

“So how long till Daminette guys?” Adrien asked

“Definitely before the end of the year” Duke concluded, the others not being sure if he used his power or not.

“I’ll take you up on that. I’ll bet we make more money than with Red Scales” Stephanie laughed.

“Red Scales?” Luka asked curiously before the others yelled out.

“Nothing!”

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“Okay how come no one warned me about that!” Jason yelled as he came out of the Cave’s entrance. The group either gave questioning or amused looks.

“Oh, so you saw that too?” Alix asked, perched from one of the sofa’s armrests.

“You assholes could have given me a heads up” he complained before groaning into a sofa “God, someone get me some bleach”

“What’s Jaybird talking about?” Dick asked, coming in from the kitchen with an array of snacks for the rowdy bunch of teeneagers.

“Oh just Timbers getting some with the big bad snake boi” Stephanie sang, causing Jason to groan and Dick to choke on his own spit.

“More like trying to eat each other’s tongue out” Nathaniel responded in disgust.

“Timmy, no!” were the words the oldest yelled out before heading into the Batcave in record time.

“Anyway,” Stephanie began “It’s time to pay up bitches. Marinette and Cass get the loot”

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“Hmm, so I guess that’s what fresh blood splatters looks like” Chat Noir said in morbid interest.

“Well it's certainly more noticeable than dried blood” Viperion nodded along, watching as Red Robin and Red Hood carried out the interrogation from a one-way mirror. There was a new gang who specialized in child trafficking, most of the kids coming from Crime Alley and therefore not getting reported to the police; luckily they had Red Hood looking out for them.

“Yes, well we are here to see how they carry out their investigation and get used to all the squeamish things” Ladybug gave a calculated look, as though she herself were in there and what she would do to get the information out of the man they captured earlier that night.

“Do you guys think this sort of thing is going too far?” MultiMouse asked curiously, he was beginning to grow a bit uncomfortable with the amount of blood the man had begun to lose.

“I mean this asshole deserves it” Roter Fochs glared “I don’t think it's too much if it means saving all those kids”

“Standing on the edge of what is seen as a hero𑁋”

BANG

“Let’s you see all the things you can’t from the center” Ryuuko watched as the man was forcibly being held back up by Red Robin after Red Hood slammed his face on the interrogation table.

“World is not black and white” Black Bat spoke from next to them “Many shades of gray in between; We are in the gray”

Ko-Fi

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birdwithavendetta · 4 years ago

Text

A New Creature Named Link

Hello! I am here to project onto Wild until it int Wild anymore! This is a self indulgent fic born from the fact that i feel like i can't share my interests with my friends without them making fun of me or getting bored, and my mother not really letting me stim...... this should be fun!

I'm changing wild’s age because I'm 15, and I want to, so he's 15 now.

expect some fluffy angst(eventually), cuz that's what I'm good at.

When he awoke, first awoke, he felt nothing, remembered nothing, heard nothing but the voice speaking to him, much too loud in his head. It was calling a name, a name he suspected was his name, repeating it over and over again.

"Link"

Feeling came to 'link' in a rush. He hated it. It was cold, and in a bad way. The room buzzed and hummed and echoed, despite the fact that he was under what felt almost like water. But it wasn't water, the strange water around him was too thick and too smooth at the same time. It felt wrong against his skin.

The voice that woke him was still too loud inside his head. He recognized it, but had no idea why. He could tell it was a woman, he felt like he should know her.

But he didn't.

She was begging him to open his eyes. Begging him to wake up.

No matter how much he wanted it to, his body refused to move. Even as the strange water slid against his skin, draining down tubes somewhere above his head, he couldn't grit his teeth like he wanted to, he couldn't throw himself away from it trying to wipe it off his arms.

Only once most of it was gone, and the rest of it was evaporating all too fast on his skin, making the horrid cold worse, could he open his eyes.

Link shot up, stumbling out of the black stone basin, trying to shake off the feeling of the not-water. An ache in his chest made itself known....... An ache that link realised was from not being able to breathe, but he was breathing, the echo of links panicked breaths hissed in his ears. Strange, and not at all how breathing should sound. He was breathing, why did it feel like he wasn't, why did it ache like that if there was air moving through his lungs, he shouldn't feel like he wasn't breathing at all.

Wrapping his arms around himself, in a vain attempt to keep the air in his lungs. Link closed his eyes tapping his fingers rhythmically against his ribcage. Till the quick hissed breting, evened out. He wasn't sure where he learned the tactic, or even why he knew it in the first place, but he was grateful.

The way the room echoed was not bad. Link decided that he honestly really liked the echo. The ambient hum in the room was nice too, it was very quiet, he could barley feel it rumbling under his bare feet.

Keeping his arms wrapped around himself, Link let his eyes roam around the room. The blue tint that everything had was...... eerie, but soothing, in its own way. The room was mostly empty, filled only with the now dry basin that held the not-water, glowing blue tubes attached to a flower shape above the basin, and a pedestal that sat in the corner of the room. The same blue emanated from carved lines on its surface.

Deciding the pedestal to be the more interesting artifact, Link unwrapped his arms and trotted over to it. reaching out to touch it. Link almost yelped when the clicking and whirring of machinery spilled into the stagnant air.

The voice was back again, calling the glowing orange thin box thing that had risen from the pedestal, a sheikah slate. The orange glow on it grew and reseeded with every breath, but the blue weeping eye kept on staring at him.

Reaching out a hesitant hand Link took it. jumping a little when it came to life. There was a belt on his hip with a convenient hold for the slate, reasoning that it was probably for this express purpose, a link attached to his hip.

More mechanical whirring and clicking as the pedestal righted itself, the humm of the room grew, energy moving from one place to the next. The scrape and grinding growl of stone sliding across stone filled the air, the segments of the wall sliding up to make a doorway. stepping out into the new room, Link found it to be rather a lot different from the one he just came from.

Same strange black stone walls, but different glowing orange constellations. Same rough gold stone wrapped around all the edges, but larger and almost completely empty, save some crates, and two cheats. He took the old worn clothes in the chests.

Warily he walked over to the opposite wall; it looked quite a bit like the stone door behind him. Another pedestal, and more words from the woman, telling him what to do. Hold the sheikah slate up to the pedestal. it wasn't the same as the pedestal in the other room, it was smooth excusing the same weeping eye carved on it.

Slowly, he held the slate up to it, not quite sure if that is what the girl meant. Blue light bursts from the carved lines, more energy hummed and rumbled under foot, moving toward the door.

The grumble of the stone was stronger with this door, Link had a feeling that this one led out. He was very quickly proven right when an unbelievable amount of light shone under the rising stone slabs. The cool green air from outside the cave rushed over him, filling his lungs.

The voice echoed in his mind as the light shone, too bright, in his eyes. She seemed to like speaking in her metaphors. Metaphors he did not understand.

Making his way through the tunnel, toward the bright daylight on the other side. The air full of green life, the bright sun warm on his skin, the grass whispered and murmured with the trees.

This was how it was supposed to be.

--<>-----<>-----<>--

Link knew he was strange.

Everyone thought so, they were usually kind about it, if someone saved you from a bokoblin you werent gonna be rude to em'. But it was evident that they thought him a strange sort.

He did a lot of things that he had never seen other people do. These were the things that people stared at him for. But he really didn't try to pay attention, if they had a problem, that was for them to decide. If anything, Link felt that most people were weirder than he was.

Other travelers and warriors understood.

Once he had been sitting with two other travelers at a fire for the night. Coming together as strangers, for safety as they slept, and parenting as friends with the sunrize. They had spoken about all the weird things they had come across in their travels.

Link was glad that most people knew sign language, because he couldn't force words out of his mouth. Every time he tried it felt like something was wrapping a hand around his throat and squeezing. All the stable masters knew sign, and so did most of the warriors he came in contact with. They would use it to talk to each other without alerting monsters to their presence.

When he spent too much time around people, everything would get too loud, he would flinch at the feeling of his clothes, people would get mad at him, and he'd find himself on the brink of tears. So he'd wrap his arms around himself, and find a quiet place to sit, away from any travelers or any monsters, and just be.

some people were rude about all of it,

But Kass was always happy when Link got excited for each of his songs, and every time link caught a beetle for....Beetle, the man would give an excited shout. The stable owners never complained when he opted to sleep outside, children liked Link, playing with or around him. Sidon would smile and talk with him despite the fact that link could only bring himself to sign.

so he didn't let the other peoples reaction bother him.

Then Link defeated Ganon, and rescued Zelda, he was ecstatic, she was almost hysterical with joy. they both were tired, dirty, and just so happy.

Zelda knew she had to rebuild hyrule. She had to connect the fragmented bits of the now broken land. explaining to them that she was zelda, and she had held back the calamity for 100 years. There were mixed reactions. But most people were glad that the kingdom was going to be put back together, some seemed to think that Zelda and Link had failed them, they were wrong about Zelda, she had fought so hard. But Link had failed them, failed them and gotten to take a one hundred year break, while Zelda held back the calamity, Alone.

Link hadn't really spoken before the calamity, had not spoken at all after he woke up in the shrine, so it was difficult at first because Zelda had never learned sign language, and Link's voice was so broken with disuse that he could barely choke out a single word. But slowly, Zelda helped Link speak. Now he could carry a short conversation, very short, and very quiet, but he could do it.

The calamities hold on Hyrule had left its mark, blood moons still happened, if irregularly, travel was dangerous, as monsters still plagued the land. Some of the monsters were even getting infected with something, their blood turned black, some of them got smarter, they all got more aggressive, they all were stronger.

They would seek out the smell of blood, so Link told all the warriors he spoke to, to cover the scent if they got hurt, so they had a better chance of getting back to safety. Tt was already common to stash and hide weapons so that monsters don't get their hands on them after blood moons, now you just had to hide the smell of blood on them too.

Bundles of flowers work, so do most spices, but spice hurts when you put it on an open wound, much more than a silent princess paste.

Link and Zelda traveled around finding capable warriors to help rebuild the army, the shika trained them, it wasn't much, but it was enough to keep those working on rebuilding the castle town safe.

It was fun at first, traveling across Hyrule, like he had before he had defeated Ganon, but not crushingly alone this time, connecting hyrule. But Zelda kept giving him rules. Like,

"Stop wrapping your knuckles against the sheikah slate"

"Don't rocking back and forth when talking to someone it's rude"

"You need to quiet down, your talking to loud,"

He kept getting comments on how he acted, so he started correcting himself, and started doing things he saw other people do. After the first week of doing this he ran into the woods next to the riverside stable, he stayed there, crying silently, until Zelda found him, several hours later.

"You need to stop fidgeting so much,"

"Look at people when your talking to them,"

"Quit humming like that,"

The words meant a lot more coming from Zelda, he had heard them before, from other people, more detached from him, less personal. And what's worse, now he had to listen to them, she was the queen after all.

"Stop snapping your fingers it's distracting"

"I know you like to run off but were busy now,"

"The inn is not too loud, your overreacting, come on,"

He was getting tired, Zelda had shika warriors to guard her, Link was just a sort of trophy, since he was the one who dealt the final blow to the calamity. He was just sort of there. Most people still had no idea that link was the chosen hero from all those years ago. They still thought of him as a boy playing hero, carrying the name of a man that died in battle.

Soon his voice was lost under anxiety, each time someone ignored, spoke over or got mad at him, his words he got quieter, no one really seemed to notice. Zelda did, she never remarked on it, but he caught her looking when he signed with sidon rather than speaking like the last time they were in Zora's domain together.

One night, while staying at the South Akkala Stable, Link decided to leave. unceremoniously, quite honestly not sure why he had decided to, he got up. It was the middle of the night,Link was tired, but he continued, completely silent.

he asked for a piece of paper and something to write with from the stable owner. making a simple note for Zelda. It may be a bit rude, especially to give to the queen of Hyrule, but Link had made his decision. Tucking a dried and pressed silent princess into the fold of the paper, Link stepped away from Zeldas sleeping form.

"If you don't mind me asking, what might you be doing?" Dmitri, the stable owner, asked. Quiet, carefully mindful of the other residents of the stable. Link smiled, only just visible under the shadow cast by his hood, lifting his hands to sign.

"Running away," that pulled a snort from Dmitri,

"From what boy, if it's your job, i think your too young to have one anyway" A playfully exasperated tone seeped into his words as he leaned forward, "Of course it must be tied to that slumbering princess over there"

Link only gave a hum in response,

"Right," Dmitri grinned as he stood up straight. "So let the other stables know that the hooligan is back on the loose, got it." he said, chucking. Link's smile grew, he liked it when other people laughed.

Link's eyes flicked over to the moonswept fields that he was about to find himself immersed in again. The whisper of the long grass was so close. He missed it all. Somehow even the crushing loneliness.

"Do you want to take a horse or are you leaving on foot?" Link faltered, it would be faster to ride but there was more of a chance of someone waking up and ruining his chances for today. he couldn't warp using the shrine, every time he did that Zelda could see where he went on her own slate.

"Walk" was safest, and the fastest way out, if he chose to ride he would have to wait for all the paperwork.....And he'd have to saddle up his horse, which could make way too much noise. Dmitri hummed in affirmation, putting away the papers he had started to get out.

"Well safe travels boy," he leaned back against the side of the counter. "Hope to see you soon," Link smiled in return, and silently trotted out into the field. immediately lost to the untrained eye.

This was how it was supposed to be.

( I got my own issues that I plan on projecting onto wild, but this ended up being a bit more like a sloppy prologue. writing a character for the first time is hard, especially when you imagine everything in move/animation format,)

#linked universe #wild #twilight #time #hyrule #four #warriors #legend #wind #sky #idontknowhowtotag #loz #legend of zelda #link #hero of wild #flora #botw

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cdelphiki · 5 years ago

Text

Bewildered was the only word Damian could use to describe how he felt.

Because just that morning, he hadn’t expected anyone to acknowledge what the day even was. But now, after he’d spent the morning playing video games with Jon, chatting with his Father on the phone, and then having a rather lovely lunch, people were showing up at the apartment.

Lots of people.

People Damian knew.

That he’d call family, if pressed.

...Plus Drake’s insufferable friends.

Which was just weird. Kon and Stephanie were there among the attendees, right along side Jason, Cass, Duke, and Alfred.

So yes, Damian was bewildered. Or befuddled. Or just plain old confused.

Alfred he understood, of course. Even if the two of them had barely spoken since Damian got whisked away to the Kent’s, Alfred had always been one to remember things. And despite their relationship’s rocky start, Alfred had always been someone stable and supportive in his life. So, actually, he thought himself stupid for not realizing Alfred would actually remember.

It was the rest of these people that startled him.

He’d felt off kilter ever since he’d answered the door, an hour before, at Jon’s insistence that “it’s for you, D.”

Which, that was just annoying. The x-ray vision. The flagrant use of powers within the privacy of the apartment. Damian wasn’t used to it. Clark and Jon just…. casually floated around, sometimes. Used heat vision to heat things up. Speed to get chores done in a blink. And x-ray vision to look at and find things.

Damian was becoming progressively more amused by the exasperated glances Lois shot him, though, whenever one of them forgot that the rest of them couldn’t just look through the fridge door to see how many eggs were left.

It usually made him grin, actually. And he’d caught himself giving her the same look, a few times.

When Damian opened the door, however, he kind of wished he did have x-ray vision. Just so he could have had those precious few seconds to prepare himself.

Because on the other side of the door was Tim Drake. Just standing there. Holding a neatly wrapped gift with a card on top, and surrounded by all those people.

“Uhh,” Damian had stammered, a horrid habit he’d acquired from Jon, no doubt.

“Hey,” Tim had said, offering a lopsided grin as he pushed the gift at Damian, “Happy Birthday, gremlin. Gonna let us in?”

So Damian did, and it’d been a literal party ever since.

Which was what was so bewildering.

He’d never had a birthday party before.

Not like this.

They had cake and ice cream, as a group, and suddenly it made sense why Lois and Clark had made such a large cake. Before Damian was allowed to blow out his candles, he had to listen to the group sing him a ridiculous song, and it made him nostalgic for that first birthday he'd had away from the League.

Back when it was just him and Grayson and Alfred.

Grayson had sung this same song, all off key and squeaky, entirely on purpose, just to annoy Damian. But it’d been that gentle teasing, The kind Damian had come to associate with Dick Grayson. The kind that made him ache for his older brother, wishing beyond hope that the man would just hit his head and suddenly remember everything. Even though he knew that was not how brain injuries worked.

But just as the song had done on his 11th birthday, it made Damian feel warm inside on his 14th. It filled, just a little, that empty spot in his chest. The one that so often burned, with a soft almost…. happiness he had a difficult time describing. But damn was he going to cry again today. Especially not in front of all these people.

It was one thing to cry in front of the Kents, but like hell would he make such a mistake in front of the Bats.

“Clark,” Damian asked, once everyone had finished their cake and Clark and Lois were gathering the plates to wash, so they could ‘open presents,’ as Jon had shouted so enthusiastically. Brat probably knew whatever Damian got would be stored in their room, and therefore was basically his, too.

At least, that had been his reasoning, a few weeks back, when Damian caught Jon using his nice markers to draw the most horrific drawing of his dad he’d ever laid eyes on. ‘A school project,’ he had said, ‘we have to draw our favorite superhero.’ Damian had just scoffed and criticized both his misuse of the expensive Copics, as well as his predictable selection of his own father as his favorite superhero.

‘Isn’t Batman your favorite,’ Jon had said, to which Damian scoffed, ‘Yes, but Bruce Wayne is not.’ It had effectively shut Jon up. And relaying the price of each marker had also caused Jon to hand them back over, not wanting to replace any by ruining them.

“Yeah, bud?” Clark asked, smiling as he rinsed off each plate at lightning speed, even while he spoke to Damian. They were alone in the kitchen, and even though it was an open concept apartment, the group was being loud enough that Damian was confident in their privacy.

“Did you invite everyone?” he asked, resisting the urge to look away or pull his hood up. He hated his tells, and he tried his best not to show them.

“No,” Clark said easily, now drying the dishes off and putting them away in the cabinets. Why have a dishwasher when you have a Clark, Lois always said. “Tim did, actually. This entire party was his idea.”

“Tim Drake,” Damian asked incredulously. Because that made no sense. Damian had just been curious whether he should thank the Kents or Alfred for the party. It had never even crossed his mind that Tim might be the culprit.

Because what the hell??

“Is there more than one Tim?” Clark asked, clearly amused, now just leaning back against the sink to chat.

Well, yes, there was more than one Tim, Damian thought, but it was true that he didn’t personally know another Tim. It’s just, never in a million years would he have expected Tim Drake to be the one to do something so…. thoughtful. To be the reason Damian felt at peace for once, in a world without Dick Grayson, that is. And without Father around.

“But… Tim hates me?” Damian whispered, failing to prevent his shock from showing on his face, “Why would he….”

When Damian trailed off, Clark just frowned. “I don’t know what all has gone down between you two,” Clark said slowly but softly. In that same tone he always used when comforting Damian. He kind of hated that he liked it so much. “But I can tell you this: He does not hate you. I’d venture to say he actually loves you.”

All Damian could do was shake his head. Because no. No no no no no. That wasn’t right.

That couldn’t be right.

Tim Drake did not love Damian. Tim was the one who always rolled his eyes whenever Damian started speaking at family meetings. He was the one who groaned whenever Damian crashed one of his cases. When he had to team up with the Teen Titans, and Damian was there. When Father assigned them to patrol together. When he just remembered Damian existed, in general.

And it’s not like Damian didn’t deserve it. He realized, now, how wrongly he had treated his ‘brother’ from the beginning. Pushing him off the dinosaur had been unforgivable, he now knew. The fact Tim even tolerated him enough to simply groan and roll his eyes at his presence was more than Damian deserved, after breaking so many of his bones for no good reason.

So, no, Tim Drake did not love Damian. It was impossible. If their roles were reversed, Damian would never forgive Tim. Ever. Would be glad to be rid of him after this whole thing went down between Father and the rest of them, pulling Damian out of Gotham and Tim away from Father.

“Damian,” Clark said, wrapping his arm around Damian’s shoulders and pulling him in a little, “whatever is going around in that head of yours is wrong, okay? Tim cares about you, pal. Otherwise he wouldn’t have reached out weeks ago to make these plans. All those people over there care about you. They wouldn’t be here if they didn’t, okay?”

Resting the side of his head against Clark for a second, the only acceptance of the half hug he’d show, Damian looked at the group of people sitting in the living room, carrying on and laughing about whatever dumb thing Jason had just said.

Steph noticed he was staring, and she smiled brightly and called, “Come on, birthday boy. Come open your presents, and be prepared to be amazed by my awesome gift. Everything else on this table pales in comparison, I promise.”

“Shut up,” Jason said, tossing a chip at her for the comment, “I’ll have you know my gift is very thoughtful and incredible. The demon will cry I tell you. Cry.”

“Pfft,” Tim said loudly, “Mine’s the best. Kon already confirmed it.”

“That’s cheating,” Steph screeched, “You can’t use powers like that!”

It just devolved into chaos from there, as the lot of them continued arguing. Clark squeezed Damian’s shoulder and said, “Go on. I don’t think they’ll stop until you open them all and declare a winner.”

“Tt,” Damian huffed, even though he was smiling a little, “it is not proper to play favorites with gifts. It is the thought that counts, I have been told.”

“There’s the Alfred in you,” Clark said fondly, pushing Damian toward the living room.

The gifts were all incredible. Well, some more-so than others. Jason got him a gift card to one of the local art supply chains, as well as a copy of one of his favorite books. Alfred got him a set of teas, all of his favorites from when he was living in the manor. Steph got him a cartoon-style Robin figure, which was just insulting and kind of hilarious.

But when Damian opened Tim’s gift, he make sure to pay attention to his brother’s face, without making it obvious he was doing so. Tim’s expressions were carefully blank, but Damian could tell he was doing that to cover up for anxiety and excitement for whatever he had gotten Damian. And once the item was fully unwrapped, all Damian could do was gawk.

Because in Damian’s hands was a set of extremely rare natural pigments. He actually hadn’t even heard of half of the pigment sources, that was how obscure they were. But they were some of the most vibrant colors he’d ever seen. Bright purple, rich orange, dark blue, deep red, just to name a few of the colors he saw.

They were…. incredible.

He actually could not wait to mix some of them up and try them out.

“I got them in the gem world,” Tim explained, “a lot of those are made from materials not found on earth.”

When Damian realized what that confession meant, he almost did cry. Because at some point, months ago, before this entire fiasco had even begun, Tim Drake had seen a set of pigments while stranded in another dimension and thought ‘hey, Damian would like those,’ and then got them. Stored them away and waited for his birthday, and then planned an entire party when he realized the Bats were not doing one.

Just that realization threatened to set him over the edge again, but instead he just smiled.

He smiled and started to think that, yeah. Maybe Tim didn’t hate him.

Damian definitely didn’t hate Tim.

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