#the secret within the secret

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Tis but a flesh wound!

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[starry-bi-sky]

Blood Blossom Au: Baby's First Commissioner Meeting :)

TL:DR This Post: Danny (orphan) gets poisoned with blood blossom extract by Vlad. He runs away from him and ends up under the care of one Pre-Robin Battinson Batman! Starry is loudly pushing her batdad agenda.

(Also known as "Late At Night, When The Nightingale Sings" on my ao3!)

This was a fun rough idea I've been sitting on for weeks, thinking about how Commissioner Gordon and Nightingale's first meeting might go.

---------------

Commissioner Gordon likes to think that he's adjusting to the new normal of Gotham very well, -- the new normal being grown men running around dressed like bats, in military-grade strength body armor, committing acts of vigilantism, -- and slowly, little by little, he was no longer being surprised when this new normal pops up out of the shadows like the world's most terrifying daisy. His shaving lifespan thanks him for it.

....

The kid is a surprise though.

Granted, he seemed to be a surprise to the Bat too.

There's been a string of murders lately, -- which, in Gotham, is kind of like saying there's been another storm during monsoon season. And there's just been another; in some dilapidated building down in south Gotham, with the broken, boarded-up windows and mildew-crawling walls to match. The victim is a man in his thirties, multiple gunshot wounds to the chest, left in the center of the room for the blood to pool out around him.

The place is already secured when he arrives, the building swarmed with officers and the forensic detectives. The Bat emerges shortly after he does -- or, he might've been here the whole time, hiding someplace dark and shadowy. For his own sanity, Gordon doesn't think about it too hard.

The kid is a surprise, and he appears like a bolt of lightning.

He shows up in the middle of a conversation Gordon is having with the Bat.

A whistle, sharp and loud, slicing through the air, meant for open air rather than a confined space. Gordon's ears pierce and protest the sound, and the solemn, murmured chatter floating through the room abruptly cuts off like the swing of a gavel. As he turns towards the sound -- as they all do -- he swears, up and down, that he sees Batman's shoulders jump, just slightly.

At the source, perched on the window, is a boy. A boy in a gray-blue scarf and an oversized black hoodie, one that hangs off his frame and has ace bandages wrapped around the wrists in some attempt to cinch the sleeves. The hood is up, big like the rest of it, and threatens to swallow the upper half of the boy's face whole in the fabric. What upper half Gordon can see, is smeared with some kind of opaque, black face paint. He's holding onto the side of the frame with one hand, on his hip is a grappling hook. A familiar grappling hook.

Gordon has multiple questions, and his officers tense up.

Martinez puffs up, brows furrowing as his face shapes into a frown. Shoulders rolling back. "You can't be here, kid--"

The reaction is immediate, like a spark to gunpowder, the boy yanks his fingers from his mouth and his mouth twists into a scowl. Head snapping over to Officer Martinez, his hood manages to stay on but Gordon swears that as he bares his teeth, the glint makes them look sharper than they should be. His voice is rasp and quiet and harsh; snappish in its hissing; "Put a fuckin sock in it, Martinez. I'm not stayin."

Martinez reels back, and the boy immediately veers his attention off him. Like a switch, his demeanor drops. Despite half his face being covered, his mouth twists into a cringing, apologetic smile. Slanted and off-beat, embarrassed. It'd be disarming if this wasn't Gotham, and if he didn't just hiss at Martinez like he was about to bite his head off.

"Sorry." He whispers, voice deceptively polite and softer now. Gordon has to strain his ears to hear him. "I was looking for him."

He points his finger towards-- Gordon? No, Gordon follows the direction, and finds himself looking at -- the Bat.

The Bat, who always looks stiff as a pole, now looks even stiffer. Somehow. Well, the explains the grappling hook attached to the boy's waist.

"What are you doing here?" The Bat says, gruff and unable to completely smother the stumble of surprise in his tone.

The boy still holds a sheepish smile, and slips off the window ledge. His feet hit the creaky boards with a near-silent thud, the Batman finds his feet and rapidly begins crossing the room.

Gordon notes the slight tremble in the boy's legs as he straightens. He adjusts his scarf, which droops close to his knees now that he's standing, and slings a backpack -- how long has had that? -- off his shoulders. When the Bat reaches his side, he does as he always does, and looms over the boy like a spectre. A threatening mass of shadows cloaked in all-consuming black. Standing next to him, the boy looks teeny in comparison.

The Bat is a man who terrifies even the most hardened criminals, Gordon has seen grown men shiver in fear at the mention of his name. And yet when the boy looks up at him, he doesn't even flinch.

Instead, his sheepish smile melts away like ice under the sun, holding only traces of his previous embarrassment. It remains as a shadow on his face, a small upturn at the corners of his mouth. The boy pushes his hood back just enough to reveal glinting, ice-flint eyes surrounded in tar-black face paint. He holds the backpack up with one arm. "You forgot this."

[germworms]

"How did the guy with no friends win?"

I need at least a 2 week break after that finale. Can't believe the villian actually won in a series, that's insane. Welcome to Scar for joining the winners team!

[bunnieswithknives]

Okay but does Peri KNOW that Dev has a robotic leg when he shows up? Something about the fact that Peri's wand is a cane and the fact that Dev could have kept his leg and just had a cane for the rest of his life instead tickles my brain.

I mean he doesn't know immediately, he wasn't like briefed or anything, but he basically lives in Dev's house so he definitely finds out. Peri doesn't comment on or react to it all though really, there's no reason for him to think anything of it, plenty of people have missing limbs, a lot of people are born without them, it doesn't necessarily mean anything sinister happened. He had no reason to pry or ask and I think Peri's lack of reaction to it helped Dev feel a bit more comfortable in his skin. (Not by much but.. a little bit.)

[ravenpureforever]

One thing I really do love the Sins of Youth storyline in YJ98 is that really does show how good at Young Justice are at being superheroes.

Because all the adults get de-aged and it’s absolute chaos and they can barely keep their shit together and Young Justice wonders if they’re that bad and the answer is “actually no you’re not, you’re actually doing pretty solid for your age in experience and you’re being held up to an unfair standard that invites more criticism to your actions”

It’s also a fascinating exploration of how adult anxieties are unfairly projected on to teenagers and while they of course still have room to grow and change and mature, the kids are, in fact, alright and actually capable individuals who do need support and guidance but aren’t helpless idiots by any means

[speedbump-mannequin]

HELLO?????

[heartfulselkie]

@coffeebanana !!! My fabulous wife in angstimony! I was your Littlebug Secret Santa!! Are you surprised? Are you?? Probably not

I know you love a bit of Ladrien, and I know you especially love putting Adrien Through It™. Of course I am going to give my spouse whatever she desires! (After all I enjoy a bit of angst too..!)

I'll let you decide what happened here. Did Adrien jump in to protest his Lady without transforming? A confrontation with Monarch gone wrong? Or did he just have a lot of tomato soup and got sleepy now that he's full, but Ladybug is distraught because he made a mess and that's going to stain dammit!

[plucky-y]

Disco Elysium

[angelellipsis-devilofdots]

sometimes i dont realize the true meaning of certain the amazing devil lyrics and then i pay really close attention to it. and then the weight sets in of what something like “i look at those secret worlds you call eyes” means and i just melt. that shit is profound

[adobe-outdesign]

I love how in the ongoing Neopets plot our three main characters take like a week to leave one (1) area and then abruptly end up at Altador despite there being an entire mountain range, haunted forest, AND desert in the way

[lovingherwasgay]

harry's bar fight in golden circle is SO FUNNY TO ME because like. bro did nothing to provoke that dude. didn't even talk to him. he was just trying on his new kingsman glasses in peace and this dickhead comes out of nowhere with the homophobic comments like he has a gaydar up his ass?

it gives off these vibes:

[the-silver-peahen-residence]

||Survivors of the City||

~~Reserved Resident evil au with @within-the-resort ~~

Leon S. Kennedy was driving down the road while looking ahead and checking the radio hearing nothing. He was sent here for a mission after the last one he's done a few years ago. He got reports of survivors maybe still trapped in a new zombie infested area. Wasting no time, he was driving fast to get to the city and hopes he was not too late. The drive wasn't too long but he hopes to make it in time.

[misssleepless12]

happy birthday Rinrin my beloved!! U get to be clowned on by ur bf as a treat!! 🎂

[mad-hate]

[heymistersuperstar]

Marilyn Manson - As Sick As The Secrets Within

[nelkcats]

Wrong Ticket

Danny bought a plane ticket to travel to Goshen, Indiana to visit his father's family. Apparently his aunt was very excited to meet him, and Jazz was excited to send him away from the lab after his accident.

She was worried that she would have to spend a few days scouting colleges, and Danny would be left home unguarded (she wouldn't make that mistake twice, her parents didn't count as good guards and Danny would be too bored since he was on school holidays), so the invitation from their uncles was like a miracle fallen from heaven.

Unfortunately for Danny, his family didn't check the ticket after purchasing it, and therefore they didn't notice the error where "Goshen, Indiana" was changed to "Gotham, New Jersey," so when the airline called his flight, Danny didn't notice his destination. He practically fell asleep a few seconds after entering the plane.

Danny wished he had been paying attention when a few hours later he found himself stranded on the streets of Gotham with nothing but his luggage and a little money. Though that last seemed more of a risk than a benefit if he took into account the way they watched him as he passed.

As if that wasn't enough, it seemed that something strange was starting to happen to him, there were moments where his backpack would slip from his grip, almost as if he was walking through it, and others where he felt invisible. This did not go unnoticed by the denizens of Gotham, who were assessing him with clear interest.

Red Hood, who had noticed the guy (possibly meta) stumbling into his territory, sighed and offered him a temporary place to stay. Danny, who just met the strange guy in the red helmet, was relieved to have temporary lodging, though he would probably look for another place the next day. Just in case.