#there were so many elements that had terrifyingly botch-able potential

[threewaysdivided]

I was screaming when I saw the update notification in my inbox! (And I might have done a little embarrassing dance, too). Every part of this chapter was well worth the wait! The tone and plot read like something you would find in S1 of YJ, and I loved every minute of it! I have to say, one of my favorite moments was when Phantom accidentally gave everyone a brainfreeze 🤣 That was unexpected, but definitely added some levity to the situation haha! Thank you for the excellent chapter dear author!

Thank you so much! The number of people who've told me they yelled/ gasped/ jumped or otherwise went absolute wiggly bonkers on seeing the update note for Deathly Weapons Chapter 18 has been utterly delightful. After so long I was mostly expecting to be met with a mix of crickets and "oh huh. guess you're not dead then. cool".

Hopefully 21K worth of mission is sufficient apology for my frankly overlong absence.

There was a time when this fic had a regular upload schedule but these days I feel like I've evolved into an odd sort of cryptid. The Loch Ness monster's saltier cousin who occasionally whale-breaches out of the lake to canonball novella-length updates into the water before disappearing back down into the murky depths of container gardening and writing analysis from whence I came.

I've been really gratified to hear so many people say the Black Gold mission felt like it could be a proper YJS1 episode. Arc II is definitely where YJ:DW swings more Young Justice story-wise and it's sort of my little love letter to Season 1 so it's nice to know that I'm coming somewhere within swinging distance of capturing that style.

I'm also glad this one seems to be carrying itself pretty well as a semi-self-contained plot - I was kind of worried that it was going to be a bit of a wet fish to drop after 2 years of silence. Don't get me wrong, Chapter 18 is doing important structural things but (to me, at least) it's not as significant to the characters or long-term plot as the missions I have planned to follow it (ironically contributing to the catch-22 of it taking so long to write).

One of my favorite moments was when Phantom accidentally gave everyone a brainfreeze

Fun fact: that odd little scene of telepathic tomfoolery came about mostly because I wanted to set up Wally calling Phantom "an actual headache to work with" in a later chapter. Behold the lengths I am willing to go to for absolute nonsense!

While I wouldn't call Black Gold an especially funny chapter on the whole there were definitely some little bits that were just plain fun to write. Top picks include:

Sphere rattled her plates in a way that made it clear she felt she was being babied.

“Uh, yeah, just… have you ever cut through a construction yard after dark?” - the Boy Wonder’s affirmatory noise was echoed by Artemis - “Well now imagine it’s full of people who want to kill you.”

Wally attempted a suave lean as the men slid to the ground.  “These guys bothering you?”

Just for a moment, he considered that he might be insane.

“Wasn’t he tied to a table?” “Yeah, and?” the speedster gave a magnificent shrug.  “He still is.”

“Besides,” Kid Flash shrugged the item on experimentally, colour eye-watering against his stealth-suit, “you know me: moves like a shadow.”

Can you tell that I just really, really like writing Wally?

also this one:

“Maybe you should re-re-count. You know, make sure you’ve got your facts straight?”

which isn't all that funny but tickles me because oh the shade, the backhandedness of it all.

In somewhat related news, I am very excited now because Chapter 18 being done means I get to move onto Chapters 19 - 21, a trinity which astute readers may recognise as Flashpoints, Combustion and Equilibrium aka that Wally-heavy trinity whose outline I've been going nuts over for literal years.

And also: it's already got a rough outline! Which, with luck means I might take less than 20% of a decade to get it to you. Golly, imagine that!

Hope you'll come along to see 💜