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starry-bi-sky · 6 months ago

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tales of the passerine - danny fenton being bruce wayne's first kid

okay okay. so this is like a continuation/elaboration of my oneshot/prompt i wrote about the idea that Danny was the first batkid. We have a lot of aus where he joins the family after the rest of the bats do, right? So hey! Lets shake things up a bit. Danny is the first to be adopted by Bruce Wayne.

Danny's parents and unfortunately Jazz die shortly after the events of TUE -- how so? I was gonna say an ecto-filter explosion, that would call back to the TUE explosion and trauma behind that. But lets do something new! Carbon-monoxide poisoning.

It's not too unexpected for something to break in the Fenton house, especially with the Fenton parents' questionable understanding of proper weapon handling and lab safety. The water heater broke from a stray shot by one of the weapons, and was promptly MacGyver'd incorrectly. Danny went to stay with Tucker for a guys' night, and came back to a dead silent house.

(Danny's neighbors got a very unfortunate shock when he ran to the next house over in hysterics.)

There was a lot of shuffling around with CPS, the police. People had to be called in to handle the equipment in the lab, and the GIW was rumoring to show up in aid to clearing the scene. When Danny heard of that, he immediately went and dismantled the ghost portal to the best of his abilities. He burned the physical blueprints of all his parents' inventions, their blueprints on the ghost portal, and their most dangerous weapons were destroyed beyond recognition. Anything to prevent the GIW from getting their hands on his parents' tech.

It opened up another investigation, but he was not under the list of suspects. He was placed in the care of Vlad Masters, where they then went back to the rebuilt castle mansion in Wisconsin. Danny, terrified of the future that has once passed and may do so again, shuts down in his grief. Inadvertently, he ends up somewhat repressing his ghost half. Something Vlad, who is grieving Madeline but relishing in Jack's demise and his custody of Daniel, is not very happy with.

Vlad's... gone into a bit of a mental health spiral. He's becoming increasingly possessive over Daniel, the final remnants of his friends and a liminal being like him. He doesn't like that Danny's repressing his ghost half -- both out of genuine concern as a ghost, but also because of his desire to control Danny and groom him into the perfect son. If you ever had a phase where you read Dark SBI found family fics, first off; me too bro, and second off; those are the vibes I'm thinking of.

Danny's mentally shut down from grief! And fear. He's dropped into a bad depressive state -- paralyzed with grief and the terror of the inevitable. Clockwork saved his parents because he believes in second chances, but what's the point of that when his family ended up dead anyways? Danny doesn't wanna believe that he's destined to become evil, and he's holding out onto that hope, but it's a thin line, and he feels utterly hopeless and trapped. He hasn't used his powers or ghost form since he trashed the lab, and Vlad has alarms set up to prevent him from trying to escape.

He's also unintentionally cut off Sam and Tucker -- both of whom are so scared and concerned for Danny too, and are trying their damndest to reach out to him. He keeps ignoring their texts. Danny basically haunts Vlad's manor. He goes out to eat if he has to, attends parties Vlad drags him to, and stays in his room all day if he can.

At parties, Vlad doesn't allow Danny to leave his side, or really talk to anyone -- not that Danny wants to. A product of Vlad's increasing possessiveness. Well, he almost doesn't let Danny leave his side. Danny has a habit of slipping off to hide somewhere for the parties whenever he can, and Vlad reluctantly allows it so long as he stays alone.

This becomes an advantage when eventually, Bruce Wayne returns to Gotham after missing for years, and holds a bright charity ball to celebrate the return. Vlad has been chomping at the bits to get his hands on Wayne Industries, and with the return of its owner there is no better opportunity to wipe out his rival. He goes, and he as normal, brings Daniel with him.

Vlad thinks Wayne will bleed his little heart out for Daniel's poor orphan sob story -- he's a fellow orphan himself, after all. He's not wrong; Wayne's little heart will bleed, just not in the way that benefits him.

Bruce sees Vlad and Danny approaching before they're even close enough to introduce themselves - and like with many of the children he will soon come to care for, it's like someone set a mirror into the past right in front of him.

Danny Fenton's suit is tailor-made for him, and despite the fact that it's his perfect size, the sag in his shoulders, the ducked down head, and the way he hunches into himself all pictures the image of a child in shoes too big for him. There's a far away, glazed over look in his eyes and grief marble-cut into the lines of his face. There's not enough makeup in the world that will hide the dark circles under his eyes.

("My nephew, Daniel Fenton." Vlad's hands are possessive on Danny's shoulders. Bruce immediately notices the way the boy tenses under his touch. "His parents passed recently, and as his godfather I was designated his guardian.") ("I'm so sorry, the loss must've been terrible.") ("Yes, carbon-monoxide poisoning caused it. Daniel was out with friends, when he came home... they had already passed.") (Bruce immediately dislikes that Vlad shared the details of their death unprompted -- he likes it even less when Danny flinches at the reminder and hunches into himself.)

Danny runs off at some point earlier into the charity. At this point, parties are still being held at Wayne Manor (because iirc google search mentioned that was a thing at first before it was changed), so he disappears and hides in one of the empty rooms nearby. It just so happens to be the same room Bruce Wayne hides in when he needs a break from all of the socialization.

Thus begins a long, long process of trust. Bruce can't reveal his hand as being smarter than he looks, but he can be compassionate. Kindness needs no measure of intelligence. He keeps Danny company for as long as he can before he runs the risk of being found.

Rinse and repeat. Vlad insistently wants Wayne Industries, and he'll go to as many Wayne parties as he can to get his hooks into the man. The problem is that Bruce Wayne is never alone, and getting him alone is impossible. Finding him too. It's like the man never stops moving. Always talking to someone, always circling somewhere. He orbits around the room as if he isn't the sun of the Gotham Elite's solar system.

Danny's had such repetitive behavior that Vlad never thinks to believe that Bruce Wayne is disappearing to go talk to him. That "Vlad's" son is even interacting with him at all. Danny never gives him a reason to think so, and neither does Bruce.

Danny doesn't actually acknowledge Bruce until a handful of parties in, where he hands Bruce a small slip of paper he smuggled in that says; "don't trust Vlad". Danny's face stays carefully blank, but he's so tense that his hands are trembling, and he's purposely looking away from him. Bruce plasters a smile onto his face, slips the paper into his pocket, and tells him "okay".

(he's been busy with his own goals with the mafia, but he sets aside time to investigate Vlad Masters. He was holding off. Until now.)

Danny does eventually start speaking to Bruce, he's starting to really like the guy. He's starting to see a little hope, even as Vlad is starting to get more and more agitated with him the more he refuses to use his powers.

He reaches out to Sam and Tucker again, and starts trying to reconnect with them. Vlad has spyware on his phone, and he limits the amount of times he can talk to them. A weird parental control lock of some sort that leaves a time limit on how long he can talk to them for. 30 minutes. Danny doesn't tell them anything about Mr. Wayne.

Danny, slowly, wants out of here, and he's slowly gathering the motivation to do it. Vlad is genuinely scaring him -- and Danny wonders just how truthful the past-future Vlad was when he told him that Danny wanted his ghost half separate. He starts trying to come up with an escape plan.

Vlad has anti-ghost wards everywhere around the mansion, and while they're always on, they boost to full power at sunset. The doors and windows are always locked, all main exits have alarms set on them. The only reason it's not super extensive is because Danny hasn't tried leaving at all yet, so Vlad hasn't had to tighten anything.

At night, Vlad locks the door to his room and puts up an anti-ghost ward around the room. The mansion is on the outside westward side of Madison, more entrenched in rural Wisconsin. The closest town is a four-way stop sign with one house on three corners, and an open bar on the fourth. Not much to go.

He refuses to go to Sam and Tucker; Vlad would look there first. It's too dangerous. Vlad would sound alarm bells and have a manhunt looking for him, Danny can't risk going just anywhere. Too much risk of being found, sold out, or caught. There's really nowhere for him to hide.

Until there is. Bruce is telling Danny about the history of Wayne Manor, and says, as casually as saying the weather; "The manor has dozens of empty rooms, I'm sure Alfred wouldn't mind filling another one if he could." And quietly, hesitantly, Bruce places a careful hand on Danny's shoulder, unrestrictive and gentle; "He wouldn't mind getting one ready for you if you need one."

And there it is. There's his out.

Danny, just as quietly, replies; "I'll keep that in mind."

The ball starts rolling.

Now I've been trying to summarize this au as much as possible for length convenience, but Vlad has been steadily growing more and more controlling. More emotionally manipulative. More agitated at Danny for not using his powers.

He wants Wayne Industries under his thumb but he's been steadily growing more and more concerned with Danny. He's started grabbing him, yanking him around, shaking him; trying to goad him into using his powers. He gets angry when Danny doesn't react, or tells him he doesn't want to use his powers. He hasn't outright attacked him, but he's getting there. This has been happening over the time it takes for Bruce to indirectly offer Danny sanctuary at his home.

It all comes to a head when Vlad stops going to parties at all -- something Danny has to pretend he isn't upset about -- because Vlad doesn't want him around other people anymore. Vlad rarely goes now without him, and only leaves to go to a Wayne function or to handle something at VladCo.

Danny can't wait for Vlad to leave long enough to escape. So he leaves during the night of a big storm. Vlad's locked him in his room, but Danny doesn't bother trying to go for it; he goes to the alarmed window instead. Danny's been repressing his ghost half so long that he can't access his powers immediately anymore -- he can feel it, he knows its there, but he can't quite reach it.

He breaks the lock by hand.

Immediately the alarm goes off through the entire castle, filling the room with red, and he scrambles for the rope the Wisconsin Ghost left for him a few months back. Danny's already out and climbing down the side of the castle before Vlad even reaches his door -- the only good thing about the entire room being ghost-proof is that Vlad can't get in that way.

The rope ends before it reaches the bottom, and he's still twenty feet in the air. It won't kill him if he lands it right. Danny takes his chances, and drops. He breaks his ankle, but he survives.

And he fucking books it to the back garden. He hears Vlad shrieking over the thunder and rain.

I'll save the full experience for a future oneshot, but Danny makes it out into the nearby woods and forcibly experiences what it's like to be in a horror game, trying to hide from the thing that's hunting you. There's only one thing going through his mind; "i'm going to die"

I have this mental image for this scene. Very stereotypical horror imo. Where Danny is hiding behind a tree, with a hand over his mouth, and Vlad is a few feet away from him, glowing ominously red through the trees, trying to search for him.

Danny doesn't get away from this unscathed, but he does get away alive. That's all he could ask for. He gets away by getting his ghost half awakened long enough to transform into Phantom and fly to Gotham.

But he gets to Wayne Manor, he gets to Bruce. Or, at least, Alfred answers the door from his insistent pounding. Danny's just in tears and Alfred gets him in the living room, wrapped in a towel, with ice on his swollen leg before he has to step out and alert Bruce.

Bruce already breaks multiple traffic laws on a nightly basis. And that's just with the sheer existence of the batmobile itself, not including the speeding and military artillery attached. He breaks double the amount trying to speed back to the cave and get out of the suit.

Right off the bat: Bruce will know, at least before Dick enters the picture, about danny's powers. He'll figure out something considering the fact that Danny traveled from Wisconsin to New York in a single night. That'll be a bit of complicated affair, but I've already got something in mind.

Actually it'll probably be very soon after Danny joins the family, because Bruce tries to offer to fight for custody for Danny - the state Danny was in at arrival is clear enough evidence for a trial. But Danny immediately shuts it down, says it's not going to work and then Vlad will know Danny's with him and he won't be safe. He tells him that Vlad cannot know Danny was with Bruce.

Danny's biggest regret was not telling his parents he was a halfa, and while he doesn't want to tell mister wayne (yet), he does tell him about Vlad being one. He needs to know why Danny can't be seen with Bruce. So he tells him, and Danny's current plan is to just hide out from Vlad until he turns 18. That way, he has no more legal jurisdiction over him. After that? He's not sure.

And to wrap this up, since this has already gotten very long and I can make more posts about this au later; I've thought about it, and I'm going to say that Danny does become a vigilante before Dick enters the scene. He goes by, as you probably guessed; Nightingale. "Gale" for short.

#dpxdc #dp x dc #danny fenton is not the ghost king #dp x dc crossover #dpxdc crossover #tales of the passerine au #i dont want to overemphasize how much vlad sucks but also i dont want to downplay it. but also i didn't wanna make this post too long #i didn't emphasize enough on vlad's possessiveness but i wanted to make this post as general enough as possible for the au.#for some more wiggle room in the future if i make more posts about this au.#the consequences for Danny repressing himself was not a concern i was focused on for the post but i am thinking about it and mulling it ove #i'll be blunt my main specific reason for why this occurs shortly after tue is bc it means dani doesn't exist yet and it means i dont have #to include her in the continuation of this au. i love that girl but she's a dead weight. i dont wanna come up with an elaborate reason as #to why she's not in the picture when i can just say 'she never created in the first place' instead. i don't have anything for her to do #I don't want to risk giving her a poor plot line just so that she exists in au.#sometimes i really hate just how long my posts get. i feel like it kills my engagement. but i also don't want to make posts that have #a part 1 and part 2 just because I think it got too long.#i feel kinda bad for having Danny take the spot of 'first partner' from Dick. But that was part of the reason i was inspired to make this a #i've already got the skeleton of a reasoning for danny becoming a vigilante being made in my head.#He can't go by Phantom since that risks drawing Vlad's attention -- a new vigilante showing up in Gotham. a place the visited frequently #who goes by the name Phantom? He'd be on that faster than chickens on meat. and nightingale has familial meaning behind it due to being #part of an ancestral name. it follows robin's theme of using it to honor his parents while still having its own unique enough lore to stand #on its own without feeling like a cheap copy. plus the bonus meta reason that it follows the bird theme. which personally is vital to me #my other alternative to Nightingale is Sparrow. mostly because it has good phonetic structure for a hero name. not too many syllables #a good balance of consonants and vowels. dont want a hero name with too many syllables or unbalanced consonants. or worse; both.#my reasonings is that hero names should be easy for a civ or teammate to yell while still being understood. max amount of syllables before #it threatens to become too wordy is 3. If it goes over 3 it should have a balanced consonant-vowel ratio. Wonder Woman is a good example #some things got cut here that were in the initial oneshot. like danny giving bruce his physical ghost core and showing up bloody.#the first son au

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garpen · 3 months ago

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Lian call Jason Apa But she is not filipino is she?

No she is not filipino in the comics/my au. She is half Vietnamese on her mother's side.

"Apa" is also a way to say "dad" in Spanish! It's a shortened version of "papa", just one letter less! I'm mexican, so I head canoned Jason as Mexican in my AU.

I thought it would be a cute lil thing to add. Like Jason speaks spanish at home and she's picked up on some of it. And she's heard him say "apa" and she asked him what that meant and he told her "dad".

So she stored that away in her head and one day when she was introducing him to one of her school friends she was like "This is my apa." And Jason most definitely probably tried really hard not to cry in that moment.

Like not only is she calling him dad, but she's doing so in his native language which means so much more to him

#i got off topic but yeah. apa actually means dad in so many languages! though I guess it's more commonly known in tagolog?#Out of everything I call my mother i most frequently call her “ama” over mama-mami-mom-mommy or any other alternative eng/span alternative #dc #batman #gotham #batfam #batfamily #dcu #jason todd #roy harper #lian harper #jayroy

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wispythreads · 1 month ago

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Tali is the only character so far that has an appropriate reaction to hearing that the ship has an artificial intelligence after everything we learned from the first game.

There was literally an AI on the Citadel that would rather blow itself up and the discoverer with it than allow itself to be known for what it was. Because it would be certain death regardless for that AI. If you want to de-escalate the situation and resolve things peacefully, you're companions will pipe up about the fact that you can't.

"Commander, AIs are universally illegal. They must be destroyed upon contact, without exception." - Garrus

But here we are in Mass Effect 2 and everyone prior to Tali has just been responding with:

"Huh neat :)"

"Oh that's handy! :)"

Like. Bruh.

Are we still in the same world?? Extremely illegal tech??? No negative reaction until we get to the Quarian whose entire species has been severely punished by the consequences of the accidental creation of AI, said punishment delivered by the hands of their very own creations???

And even still it's only a quiet reaction. She looks back, already pissed off just from being in the presence of Cerberus trying to play nice with her. You can feel the disbelief and rage at the gall of him just bringing the ship's AI up casually. But she doesn't say anything. I feel like that should've been a blow up moment.

"What did he just say this ship had."

#mass effect #mass effect 2 #bit of play experience #That last bit has pinged in my brain as something I want to pin and explore in some alternate scenario I could write #will I ever get to it?#probably not I have so many other things I'm trying to do and currently procrastinating on #queued thoughts I forgot to actually post about! my present perspective is post Mass Effect 2

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rapidhighway · 2 months ago

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I can't believe people give advice that's basically "be less stressed". How can I explain to you that I've been scared of walking down the stairs since I learned to walk and I get an intrusive thought every time I cross a road. And then I have a lot more, actually real and important stuff to be anxious about!!

#like 90% of my intrusive thoughts are about me being harmed instead of the other way around #which i guess can be better than the alternative cause i question my morality less and stuff #like i went through the harmful yo others intrusive thoughts most of my childhood and it's kind of switched at some point #but now i am. unimaginably stressed by. everything #like sometimes i feel like im actually going crazy because how many times can you #live out your own death or have thoughts of great harm being donw to you. its just an insane feeling #whatever i was just thinking about a talk i had with one doctor #who asked me if i have a lot of stress in my life and when i said yes #she said “well you should become less stressed”#thanks girlie #ok sorry for using this post to vent about my intrusive thoughts but they suck ass and i can #never talk to anyone about them #god if i ever said more than a sentence about them I would feel so crazy

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holographings · 2 months ago

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hello there's a lotta new people here!!!!!! hi! last time i did one of these was like 3 years ago atp so hi. nice to meet u. i am a comic author/illustrator and i have not known peace in 23 years. u probably came for the vampires but i got a lot of original art and stuff too^^

#not listed- my brief love for wuxia/censored cdrama adaptations and Many many other phases but oh well. no time for all of that #my art #meet the artist #illustration #artists on tumblr #i Do in fact own a jabot howevr i don't wear it nearly as much as i would like to. living in a tiny city brings its own specific #neuroses when it comes to dressing even mildly alternative. so. i Should wear it more. eventually

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cluescorner · 6 months ago

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I cannot imagine being a Damian stan right now. You've got both Zdarsky's bullshit (where he clearly doesn't give a shit about your boy) and The Boy Wonder (where Juni Ba clearly gives so many shits about your boy) coming out on the same day. The whiplash must be insane. I hope y'all get some nice warm soup for your efforts jfc

#damian wayne #damian al ghul #damian al ghul wayne #batman #batfamily #for all of the issues that come with having Steph as your fave having too much wild shit happening at once is never one of them #btw I quite like The Boy Wonder Issue 1. wow shocker an artist and writer who I have liked everything they've ever done #has once again written something that I am enjoying with art that makes me want to be part of its world.#it's almost like Juni Ba is really freaking talented or something #like I have some problems with it but it seems like many of those are part of the point. Damian is learning that his siblings are more #three-dimensional than he realized and that is part of this 'coming of age' story merged with fairytale #so I can't be mad at the oversimplistic defining of Dick and Jason and Tim until the conclusion of the series. that might be the point.#I hope that the series will address Steph as a Robin but if not then frankly it's not an issue unique to this series.#I'll be annoyed and disappointed but ultimately roll with it like I am with Babsgirl being here. There's too much good stuff here to get #hung up on shit that seems to be almost an editorial mandate at this point. at least that's where I'm at.#I am also very sorry that Chip Zdarsky is massacring your boy. he has 'X (Tim for him) is the best Robin so everyone else must suck' diseas #where a writer really likes one specific Robin and in trying to uplift them demeans all of the other Robins. instead of like...just writing #for that one character only or alternatively not demeaning the other characters in order to make his blorbo look good #it's wild because I actually think his writing for Tim is pretty solid. but he's not writing a Tim series. he's writing a Batman series.#and if you are going to write a Batman series and include other Batfamily members you need to actually write them well.#instead of assigning them like 2 personality traits while Tim gets to be a whole character #I accept that behavior in fanfic where I have lesser standards because it's fucking free. not a comic run that wants me to pay #tens of dollars in order to understand what the fuck is going on. he's been going for a while now it's gotta be a lot of money.#I can buy Steelworks with that money. I can see John Henry and Natasha Irons in a trade. Fuck you Chip.#it's why it takes such a special person to write a good ensemble story/a good Batfamily story. you have to be good at writing a LOT #of different characters. which I don't think most people are. I sure as hell am not. I can write maybe 3 at a time confidently well.#and you also have to give all of them at least SOME love or else people will be upset that you aren't focusing on their fave #and also the writing as a whole will suffer. Chip Zdarsky is a pretty good Tim writer. I'd maybe read a Tim solo written by him.#I would not read a story focusing on multiple characters that I like written by Chip Zdarsky. because every character who isn't Tim #is at least a bit weak/inconsistent/out of character INCLUDING FUCKING BATMAN. THE NO. 1 GUY MOST ARE HERE FOR

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lets-try-some-writing · 7 months ago

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In the Pretender AU, the "issues" that Pretender!Ratchet has for Bumblebee is maybe this jealousy between him and his relationship with Optimus?

Despite his apathetic attitude it's clear in familiarity Bumblebee has more of a bond with the Pretender Patriarch given their early time together and him being the first generation. Which makes Pretender!Ratchet jealous.

With maybe his jealousy eventually morphing into brief anger after Bumblebee had his voice modulator torn out by Megatron and Ratchet was unable to fix it.

Once again, making him look like a "failure" in the eyes of his Patriarch.

You got it spot on! Pretender Ratchet is SO jealous of Bumblebee and Optimus's connection and it drives him up the wall. Bumblebee is one of Optimus's direct offspring which he molded with purpose. Ratchet is a host born, a being intended to serve as an advisor. He must fulfill his design and that means that he is not granted nearly as much room for error as his fellow Pretender. Optimus needs useful advisors, and if Ratchet fails to be useful, there are other Doctors for the Pretender Patriarch to take instead.

Pretender Ratchet is VERY aware of how precarious his situation is. Optimus does care for all his creations, but he is above all else, logical when it comes to the usefulness of those around him. If one of his advisors becomes more trouble than they are worth, he is not opposed to taking the biological data of the advisor in question and creating natural born Pretenders from them instead. Would they have the memory and skill? No. But Optimus abhors waste.

Bumblebee losing his voice evened out the playing field a degree for Ratchet. But it also left Ratchet in incredibly hot water for a while. Failure to repair Optimus's eldest creation had the Prime prowling around threateningly for a while. Ratchet took that as his sign to self exile for a time to claw his way back into Optimus's good graces.

This is how he gained his combat prowess.

If he could not be as great a Doctor as his host, Pretender Ratchet was determined to prove his worth in other ways. There is a reason that Decepticons are now incredibly paranoid around rafters and high ceilings. The good doctor of the Autobots may be lurking nearby.

Megatron is both terrified of and holds a unique hated for Pretender Ratchet. He holds a certain degree of pity for all of Optimus's creations since they did not ask to be formed the way they were. Ratchet is no different for him in this regard. But the hatred and fear stems from the simple fact that Ratchet, in his exile, managed to slaughter his way to one of the largest Decepticon encampments in Tarn. It was his slaughter that led to Damus being infected alongside dozens of other far less fortunate sparks.

Megatron only met Pretender Ratchet once on the field, and he received one of many facial scars from the Pretender before he managed to tear off several of the Doctor's additional limbs. Ratchet dragged himself away unable to serve as a solider any longer. But he got what he wanted. Optimus allowed him to return in light of his offerings and Ratchet has since become incredibly cunning to the point of sabotaging other host born if they threaten his position.

Brutal and desperate to remain useful, Pretender Ratchet is a force to be reckoned with.

#transformers #maccadam #transformers prime #optimus prime #ratchet #bumblebee #megatron #alternate universe #pretender au #mooooore random au info #one day this will become a fic #probably when I finish one of my other many long form aus #sorry for taking so long with this #I did want to answer #but as ive said stuff has been hectic and I dont like feeling bound to tumblr

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ikemenomegas · 2 months ago

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good-ending!kakashi and itachi need to have a little former traumatized geniuses cooking club where they get comfortable with making little "mistakes" and putting imperfect dishes on the table and improvising without needing to explain themselves like it's life or death

#the “former” is aspirational and v cute #probably sai and tenzo also join at some point #of course gai joins in occasionally because he's not to be outdone by his rival with cooking of all things #and also with these four it can get depressing quick #iruka is invited once as a courtesy when he shows up to work with one too many kitchen injuries lol #if there's one thing they're not the cooking club is not clumsy #... unfortunately he is quietly assigned a buddy any future attendances #usually itachi because itachi can put out fires very quickly #or sai because sai is (frustratingly) talented in the kitchen and doesn't feel he's missing out on practice #neji might also participate sometimes! he wasn't ever anbu but he probably needs the therapy-ness of it #he's not a huge group activities person but sai invites him and he's surprised by how low-key it is #he gets a little competitive with itachi lol #since itachi doesn't care about things like using all whole-grains or only organics or attempting to make a recipe vegan #he's very good at following directions don't get me wrong but he's not much of an experimenter unless he knows a dish super well #while neji just knows which replacements to use after doing it for so long #neji isn't super militant about it but he watches his diet to make sure it isn't imbalanced/overly protein heavy #and like itachi he doesn't care for strong tasting meat so he'll preferentially choose fish or plant proteins #this is what finally makes things more easy between the two of them! some of the others want to make a meat-heavy dish one time #but itachi isn't feeling it and neji shows him how to do a tofu alternative!#long tags #naruto #from the margins #hatake kakashi #uchiha itachi #hyuga neji #sai #yamato tenzo #umino iruka #omegaverse

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2nd2ndalto · 4 months ago

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what if there were two (side by side in orbit)

Here's the Solangelo X-Files AU absolutely no one asked for!

Prologue

September 1998

Nico completes his second lap of the cluttered basement office, skirting filing cabinets and sidestepping bankers’ boxes, trying to clear his mind and approach the problem with fresh eyes.

He finally returns to his desk, to the two files awaiting his consideration. The one on the left - two skeletons discovered under suspicious circumstances, both coated in a mysterious yellow substance. The one on the right - reports of a plesiosaur-type cryptid suspected of being responsible for several deaths near a lake in New Mexico.

With a sinking heart, Nico realizes that he already knows the outcome. The favors he’d have to beg to get the cryptid investigation approved are daunting. Not to mention that the case would require two days’ drive, or a flight. The skeleton case is only 200 miles away.

Nico’s heart is with the cryptid, but unfortunately the feds pay his bills. And there is only one of him, after all.

There’s a brisk knock, and the office door opens before Nico has a chance to answer.

He glances up. “Reyna. To what do I owe this unexpected visit to the dungeon? Didn’t realize you were allowed off the third floor.”

Reyna twitches an eyebrow at him, but otherwise doesn’t react. “You’re being assigned a partner,” she says, flat.

When Nico frowns, opens his mouth to protest, Reyna shakes her head. “Don’t even start with me, di Angelo. They want to shut you down entirely. This is the compromise we came to. I’ll spare you the details, but rest assured you should be thanking me.”

Nico deflates a bit. “Fine. Thank you,” he adds grudgingly when Reyna doesn’t immediately respond.

Reyna drops a folder onto Nico’s desk. “Are you familiar with Agent William Solace?”

Nico blinks. “Doesn’t ring any bells.”

“He’s a forensic pathologist. Upper management chose him specifically because of his strong science background.” Reyna sighs, tired. “He’s two years out of the Academy, been teaching at Quantico since then. He’s an excellent researcher. Well-qualified. I’m meeting with him tomorrow.”

With colossal effort, Nico bites back every argument that’s sprung to his mind. “Fine.”

“And you will treat him with consideration and respect,” Reyna adds over her shoulder as she turns to leave.

“Sure,” Nico says dryly. “Can’t wait. I’m sure we’ll get along like a house on fire.”

There’s the distant sound of the door to the basement stairwell slamming shut, and Nico is alone again.

He scowls at the new file on his desk, the neat writing on the label – William Solace. Nico shoves the file to the side of his desk, reaching for the mysterious-yellow-substance one instead.

But he’s already been through the case file cover to cover, and after a moment he lets it fall back to the desk. With a sigh, Nico pulls William Solace’s file towards him.

(chapter 1 here)

If you liked this teaser, there is much, much more to come :) This was my NaNo project last year & it has been steadily growing since then. I can't make any promises about a posting schedule, but I'm working on it! I believe the whole fic is sitting at around 150k at the moment. Thank you approximately one million times to @rosyredlipstick for her beta & plotting assistance, and general moral support.

#solangelo #nico di angelo #will solace #reyna ramirez arellano #rated teen for now #many other characters to come #alternate universe - fbi #fluff and angst #casefic #my writing #holy crap I'm so nervous to actually start posting this

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