#there’s gonna be a part 2

[joaniejustwokeup]

Listen.

Tim Drake is not someone who relaxes easily. Give him a case to crack, a technique to learn, a database to hack, some kind of problem to solve to keep the ever spinning cogs of his mind occupied and he’s happy. But once that problem is solved and the flush of victory subsides, he’s left with an itching in his brain urging him to pick up the next problem, to untangle the next knot, to work and code and solve and strategize and fix and just keep going.

His friends call him a workaholic. His family tries to get him to sleep more. But even when he tries to take time for himself, whether it’s to sleep or just to relax, he can’t seem to turn that part of his brain off.

One night, the bats returned to the cave after closing a case, and Red Robin immediately made a beeline for the bat-computer. He had taken the lead on this one, and though they had caught the guys responsible, too many innocent people had gotten hurt by those bastards while they been investigating. Too many had gotten killed. He couldn’t just stop after a night like that.

He was feeling that itching need to do something, to research and plan and catalog, but before his fingers could even touch the keyboard Batman had pulled him back by the scruff of his cape.

“Red Robin. It’s nearly dawn. You need to shower and gets some rest. Your mission report can be filled out at a later time.” Bruce looked at Tim, his frown turning slightly at the corners in a flash of worry most non-bats would miss.

So, with minimal grumbling, Tim showered and headed up to his room. Alfred had confiscated his laptop and Bruce had locked him out of his Wayne Enterprise account so he couldn’t even work on paperwork to distract himself. At least they left him his phone. Small mercies and all that.

He thought about calling Cassie, Bart, or Conner to talk about the case. He’d often found talking to them could help wind him down after a mission, so much so that, back when they were on their base, he’d often wake up finding he’d fallen asleep on top of one or more of them.

But they were all so far away now. And it was really late, no matter what US time zone they were in…

He settled with scrolling through social media, stalking their hero hashtags on the off chance they’d been spotted out late on a mission.

He was scrolling through #Superboy when he came across a bit of fanart. It showed Kon in his old leather jacket, smiling at the viewer in a surprisingly open and soft expression while holding… a guitar? Did Kon play guitar? Oh wait. The artist had put a link to an AO3 story in the description, crediting it as their inspiration.

Huh.

Well. Tim had never been one to let his curiosity go unsatisfied once piqued. He clicked on the link.

It was titled “That Distant Melody,” and followed Superboy as he bonded with the reader after they stumbled into him singing and playing guitar in some wooded “hiding spot” outside of Metropolis. It was a short read, but surprisingly insightful and sweet. Oh, it was completely out of character in so many ways (Kon? Being emotionally honest???), and quite clearly wish fulfillment in others, but it was also strangely… nice.

It reminded Tim of when he was a kid and used to fantasize about being a part of Batman’s team. He’d followed Batman and Robin and Nightwing around enough, had deduced enough about their secret identities, that when he felt especially lonely he would make up conversations with Bruce or Dick or Jason. Conversations where he had the answer and saved the day, or conversations where they asked him about school and tousled his hair, or conversations where he told them some witty quip and everyone would laugh.

And hey, Tim was man enough to admit he was, maybe, just a teeny, tiny, little bit attracted to Kon. He had a pretty face ok! And maybe it was nice to just read something and turn his brain off, and pretend his very pretty, strong, charming teammate had a crush on him for once.

Tim scrolled back up to the top of the fic, looking over the tags he had only glanced at before. Superboy/reader. Hurt/comfort. Fluff and angst. Angst with a happy ending. Musician au.

His eyes caught on the fandom tag: Superheroes and Vigilantes- RPF.

On some level he’d always known that their hero work garnered a fanatical online following. Heck, before he’d become Robin he’d been part of that following to a certain extent. But he’d rarely thought about fanfiction beyond the passing thought of, “Yeah, that probably exists.”

Deciding he might as well look, he tapped the fandom tag.

Aaaaaand that was an explicit Batman/Superman fic right at the top. Yeah no. Tim started filtering out various “ships” from the tag page. He’d already walked in on way too many of Bruce’s various hookups, he didn’t need to see somebody’s fantasy version of it.

Thinking back to the previous fic, Tim hesitated a moment before adding the “Reader” character tag to his tags to include list.

He was just… curious. Oh who was he kidding, he’s a bi disaster and way too many of his old teammates were way too attractive for him to not have crushed on them at one point or another. He also wanted to see what the Red Robin/Reader fics were like too. Sue him.

It took a couple tries to get the filters right (Why the fuck were there so many Nightwing/Reader fanfics, holy shit), but eventually Tim found himself browsing and reading fics and discovered it to be oddly relaxing. The “characters” that he knew and cared about and references to real life events kept his attention, but there were no problems to send him spinning down research rabbit holes, no real-world dangers to wake him up with a shot of adrenaline. Just stories.

It was around the third or fourth fic that he slipped down into sleep, easier and deeper than he had for weeks.

So, it became a bit of a habit. On nights where the case was solved, the mission over, the work completed, but still he couldn’t turn his brain off and sleep? He would open up the Superheroes and Vigilantes- RPF tag on AO3 and read Reader-insert fics until his thoughts were quiet and slow enough to drift off.

Alfred had even commented on how well rested he’d been lately, with a look in his eyes that was both relieved and surprisingly proud.

It was on one of these late night browsing sessions that Tim stumbled across a fic for a hero he’d never heard of before.

That in itself was incredibly odd, if not outright impossible. B kept all of them briefed and constantly updated on all new heroes that emerged, usually weeks before the general public had even heard about them. Tim had even worked with Oracle to set up the algorithm monitoring news, social media, security footage, and official reports for unknown metas and vigilantes.

He would think that this “Phantom” was someone’s original character, if not for the fact that he showed up in different fics by multiple authors, and most of these fics featured no other real-world heroes as characters. And yet these fics were always tagged as RPF- real person fanfic.

These fics also pretty much always had tags like Ghosts, Ghost Fights, Ectoplasm, Ectobiology, and other supernatural references. There were even common character tags, like Skulker and Desiree the Wishing Ghost, that seemed to be referencing his real life rogues.

Tim did a quick search online for Phantom, and came up with virtually nothing, no social media, no news stories, not even a brief mention.

His search for the city constantly referred to in these fics, a certain Amity Park, Illinois, gave him a bit more to work with but only just.

The city’s website proclaimed it “The Most Haunted Town in America!” That same website had not been updated in almost five years. It was definitely a real town, but try has he might, Tim could find almost no mention of it anywhere online for at least the past four years. It was like the entire population’s digital footprint had blipped right off the map.

It reeked of a coverup. But who the hell was censoring an entire city’s internet output? And why?

What were they hiding?

And why was Archive Of Our Own the only website that seemed unaffected?

Well. Only one way to find out.

He went back to the AO3 page with the reader-insert fic that had first caught his attention.

“Eurydice Will Welcome Me Home.” Huh, a Dumpty Humpty song reference. Nice.

He tapped on the title, and began reading through the fic.

It… it was pretty well written. The story followed a young Mexican American woman as the reader-insert who rescues Phantom from a “GIW research lab,” but not before he was gravely injured by their scientists. As they make their escape, the reader trips over a row of glowing green vials, the glass shards infecting her with a mysterious “ecto-virus.”

The girl takes Phantom back to her home where she nurses him back to health. As the ghost begins to recover, the reader’s health declines, with her developing green tinged skin, glowing red eyes, and sporadic episodes of floating, invisibility, and intangibility. Phantom comforts her as she starts to loose touch with her humanity and she comes to the sobering realization that she is dying, becoming “a creature of the afterlife.”

Phantom is distraught to discover this, blaming himself and panicking when he realizes he can’t stop her transformation and the pain it’s causing her.

Phantom snarls, his aura flashing out a pulsing beat of “protect, mine, protect, Protect, mine, Mine, MINE!”

You pull away from him.

“Phantom, you’re scaring me,” you whisper.

“I’m sorry,” he rumbles. “It’s my obsession.”

“Obsession?”

He nods.

“The thing that drives us forward, that lets us cling to who we are after we’ve died. The last emotion we feel, the last words on our lips, the last thoughts or desires we have that burn in our souls so brightly it gives us life once more, as twisted as it may be.”

He takes a breath, touching a hand to his heart.

“Mine,” he says shakily, “is protection.”

He touches a tear as it runs down your cheek, the brush of his fingers far colder.

“Protecting my home. Protecting the living. Protecting the dead. And especially, protecting those that are Mine.”

His gaze drops from yours as he takes your hands. You can feel calluses beneath his battle-worn gloves as he squeezes your fingers. He never squeezes too hard, just enough that the delicate shape of your hands feel protected, guarded by his own strong, slightly clawed digits.

“You will have one too, when you..” -he can’t say it.

When I die, you think.

You smile up at him, brushing aside a lock of snow-white hair and cupping his cheek.

“I think I already have one,” you say softly.

He looks at you in shocked despair, but you’re still smiling as you pull him close, your lips brushing the lobe of his ear.

“My obsession is You.”

He pulls back, a look of awe and wonderment sparkling in his emerald eyes before he lunges forward, capturing your mouth in a kiss. His lips are cold and soft and you savor the taste of him, moaning as your auras intermingle, pulsing with thoughts of “Mine, yours, protected, safe, yes, claim, mine, yes, loved, yes, yes, Yes, Yes, YES-”

“HEY Timmeroo! Watcha reading?”

“ACK!” Tim nearly launched his phone across the room, catching it just in time before he clutched it screen side down against the side of his sweatshirt. He knew his face had gone beet red.

“Dick! What the fuck!”

Dick grinned cockily down at him from behind the couch.

“Sorry Timbo! Gotta keep you little birdies on your toes. Plus? You were so distracted you let your coffee go cold. Coffee, Tim!” Dick gave him a wide-eyed look of mock shock before breaking back into that mischievous smile.

“Soooooo. What were you reading?” he asked.

Tim raised an eyebrow at his older brother.

“None of your business.”

“Aw, don’t be like that Tim! It looked like something that was really-” Dick leaned his elbows down on the couch, wiggling his eyebrows up and down no less than three times, “entertaining.”

“Ugh!” Tim pushed Dick’s face out of his personal bubble as the man cackled at his discomfort.

“Leave me alone Dick, it’s for a case.”

“A looooove case?”

“Dick, I swear to God I will put itching powder in your spandex-!”

“Hey, hey ok!” Dick raised his hands in surrender. “I’ll back off. I barely saw any of what you were reading anyway.” He put on his most innocent smile.

Tim narrowed his eyes at him.

“Hmm.” He turned and started to gather up his notebook and laptop (opened up to the Amity Park website), downing his nearly full coffee mug in a single chug. Dick made a face at this.

Tim had pulled an all nighter for the first time in almost a month, a new record for him. Breaking his streak got him dirty looks from Alfred and Bruce when he came down for breakfast that morning, but hey, he was on a case! He’d grabbed a mug of coffee before heading to one of their sitting rooms to continue reading and gathering notes about Amity Park and it’s apparent “ghost” situation.

Taking a couple breaks from the fanfic to compare it to notes he’d taken from the city website (sparse), notes from the bat computer’s database on the occult (contradictory), and notes from comments left by fellow Amity Parkers under each subsequent chapter (very informative), Tim’s brain was a buzzing mess of possibilities and theories, all pointing to a rather glaring conclusion.

They had missed something. Batman, his family, the Justice League, they had all missed something. Something catastrophic. Something that was potentially world-ending.

And he’d learned about it from a 100k, slowburn, strangers to lovers, reader-insert fanfic about the hero at the center of it all.

Fuck.

He needed to find an alternative information source stat, or he was never going to live this down.

DC/DP Crossover Idea #45

Where Amity Parks insanity gets exposed to the Justice League not through rumors, teenagers being teens in social media, or even ghost shenanigans getting leaked out. No the Justice League discovered Amity Park because of a 100k slowburn strangers to lovers fanfiction written by a Paulina Sanchez with the pairing being Phantom/Reader, this being read by Red Robin who got curious on who this character ‘Phantom’ was and began doing research which eventually led him down a rabbit hole and discovering the fuckery of Amity Park.

Let it be known that RR didn’t actually tell anyone how he discovered Phantom or Amity Park, if he did then he would never had been able to live it down by his siblings or literally anyone who knew him.

[tariah23]

The manga industry, especially JUMP, needs to hurry up and do away with weekly scheduling for mangaka. There needs to better regulations put into place for their health and safety because this is pitiful. Two weeks - monthly updates should’ve already been the standard for the manga industry at this point. These money grabbers will only continue to put the lives of these artists at stake for the sake of capitalism unless some serious changes are implemented.

[chloesimaginationthings]

Abby will have beef with toy Bonnie in FNAF 2..

[krysmcscience]

Call this the Whoopsie AU (it's barely an AU)

I mean. Narinder never explicitly SAID the Lamb would stay dead... :3c He probably should have been more specific. >:3c

Part Two:

Well. The Lamb tried, but...sorry, Nari, the crown hates you now. Shouldn't have been so quick to lend it out, I guess. :D

Aaaand Part Three:

'Isn't he just adorable?' -The Lamb, probably, while their followers smile and nod and internally scream at the brand new hellcat they now have to share living space with...

Anyway, nothing says 'Dead To Me' like following a person around to loudly remind them of how dead they are to you. Right? Right. Narinder's got this all figured out. <:]

[antiwhores]

You accidentally had sex with Bakugou.

You two had fallen asleep in his room after a hang out. You were bestfriends but you had some underlining feelings for him. So when you woke up in the middle of the night to him cuddling you, you almost choked.

You needed to pee really bad so sadly you had to pry yourself out of his arms. When you came back his eyes were cracked open just barely. He mumbled something before opening his arms for you to join him again.

It was out of character, maybe tired Bakugou was just a touchy guy. It couldn’t be more than that.

So you joined him on the bed. You buried your face into his neck. You had to savor this cause most likely this’ll be the last time this happens. Also, you were too tired to freak out. You just wanted to fall asleep in his arms.

You can barely explain what happened after that. He hiked your leg onto him, still with his half open eyes, and thrusted right against your clothed pussy.

The next thing you know, he’s dry humping you. And then he’s fingering you. And finally he’s fucking you.

It felt good, too good.

But the morning after? You felt embarrassed. No way you just fucked him without even a first date. He’s gonna think you’re easy. He might even tell everyone that you are.

Of course, that would never happen but you were panicked. You couldn’t possibly comprehend that the great Dynamight chose you. You weren’t famous. Not a vogue model, a hero, or even wealthy. You had nothing to give him.

He had to be messing with you.

So you slipped out of his hold at 5am sharp and went home.

You fell back to sleep in tears and woke up to several texts and calls. Good thing you had your ringer off.

Bakugou - 6:34am

Where’d you go?

I was gonna make you breakfast dumbass

Bakugou - 6:52

Y/n?

Missed call - 7:00am

Bakugou - 7:30

Is this about last night?

I’ll wait for that call back so we can talk about it.

Missed call - 10:03am

Bakugou - 10:05

Call me and we can talk about it. This ignoring me isn’t gonna make it go away.

Missed call - 11:12

Missed call - 11:26

Missed call - 11-31

Bakugou - 11:40

Fucking call me back, this shit isn’t funny.

You’re so lucky I don’t know where you live yet. I’d be there in 15 minutes if I knew.

You debated calling him back. But your embarrassment and anger stopped you from letting him explain himself. How could he use your feelings against you like that! He probably knew that you liked him and wanted a quick fuck.

You started to cry all over again.

A week passed by with no contact. He sent you the occasional text telling you to talk to him but after the 6th day he seemed to give up. At least you thought that until he showed up at your door.

You opened the door wide without checking who it was since you were expecting a package. Your eyes widened when you noticed the blonde leaning against the doorframe, still in his hero costume. He must’ve just gotten off work, saving civilians and climbing the charts. It was another reminder of how he could never want you.

“You gonna let me in or am I-“

You tried to slam the door in his face but he shoved it back open easily. He let himself in, scanning the place.

“Nice place, ‘don’t see why you hadn’t invited me over.”

Maybe it’s because your small, cosy apartment didn’t compare to his high rise penthouse at the top floor.

You grabbed his arm and tried to pull him out. But he wasn’t having it and didn’t let you move him an inch.

“You need to leave, Bakugou.”

“Wow. Last name basis and I was inside you a week ago.”

“Yeah well that shouldn’t have happened.”

“Okay but it did so let’s fuckin’ talk about it.”

You just wanted him to leave before you bursted out in tears. You shook your head, trying to pull him harder but to no avail. Your lip quivered in frustration as tears welled up in your eyes.

Suddenly, he threw you over his shoulder and set you on the couch.

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

You broke down in tears.

You told him everything, every assumption you made and every insecurity. You told him how you liked him but you knew he didn’t like you back. He sat there patiently, not speaking a word until you were done.

He got up with a blank face. You thought he was gonna leave at first but he kneeled down to be eye to eye with you.

“Wanna go on a date?”

It surprised you. It was the last thing he expected you to say.

“I’ll take you on a date and prove to you how much I want you. And for the record, I’ve probably liked you longer than you have me. When we met in that coffee shop I immediately knew you were the one I wanted. ‘S rude of you of you to make assumptions but I’ll let it pass if you go on a date with me.”

You agreed as he wiped off your tears. Who were you to say no?

[xxlumos]

*smooch*

[zoe-oneesama]

Yeah, no jokes here.

Episode 52 Part 13 First < Previous > Next Season 1, Season 2, Season 3, Season 4, Season 5 Ep 41, Ep 42, Ep 43, Ep 44 Ep 45, Ep 46, Ep 47, Ep 48, Intermission, Ep 49, Ep 50, Ep 51

Bonus:

The only joke is you two.

Ko-fi | Patreon

[macdenlover]

Windows - Part 1/?

[elliesproperty]

ELLIE + FINGER GRAB

[waltricia]

💔

[khalliys]

We're not so different, you and I. Part 1, Part 2

From Critical Role C2 E92: Home Is Where the Heart Is

[szynkaaa]

it's not like they live on a mountain with other monkey citizens running around

Or also known as Oz trying to flirt (??) but it backfires on her.

set after BMW when Oz is living on Mount Huaguo, hence the hanfu and the neater hairdo

I think I'm also slowly getting the hang of drawing Sun Wukong without having to look at 81 reference images

[chloesimaginationthings]

If Vanny is in the digital circus.. where’s Pomni?

[keexshound]

to me modern ellie will always be that rural tomboy texas girl. you mean to tell me the girl who's had physical labor jobs the entire game suddenly just sits inside all day being a toxic gamer and texting me on snapchat? insane, unbelievable. also why is she still toned if she doesn't do anything at all, that's always been a pet peeve of mine.

to me she's that girl you'd see getting rowdy with friends and she's covered in dirt n' grass. she'd point at cool bugs like a mantis or beetle and go "look at that thing!" modern ellie is a bug girl to me. she's the girl you'd see riding around in a farmer pickup with joel and anytime you come to her house she's always doing some kind of farm work like taking care of chickens, tending to gardens and crops, whatever. you'll see ellie with her friends poking around those old buildings around town that haven't been touched in years

maybe it's how jackson kind of reminds me of my town and the whole farm thing she had with dina that makes me have such a rural connection to her but idk. also texas farmer joel just makes sense, and he's technically her dad. so she deserves to be a texas farmer too.

[jvnart]

Pt. 1 of 2

Pt 2

Transcript under cut

Pakkun: what's the situation, boss

Kks: well-

Bisuke: HEY, GAIS HERE

Ninken, greeting gai!

Gai: (laughing) Hi, boys!

Pakkun: you should have seen this coming, kid

Kks: yeah yeah

Gai laughing

Pakkun: Hey, gai

[marvels-universe]

@giftober 2024 + @mcuchallenge prompt Day 14: Stairs.

The Avengers