#this is just all great though i love metropolis

[salsa-di-pomodoro]

Why does every single track from Metropolis go so fucking hard

[long-live-astronerd-ghost-king]

DPXDC prompt ~ Honor to Us All ~ Gotham as one true the most haunted city edition

~~~~~

Instead of a welcoming banner in front of a city was an old column, so familiar to a boy, with a warning inscription:

"To outsiders mad enough to attack Gotham: You will be forced to understand that dead soldiers will also go into battle. And having risen to protect, they will be ready to perish all again, So no one of the living would die near them."

Danny smiled with love. 'I’m home, Mother.' Ghost whispered into the void. And Gotham answered.

~~~~

Danny: My Lady, I brought you the crown of Pariah Dark. And The Ring of Rage. They’re gifts to honor the Gotham family. Lady Gotham: The greatest gift and honor is having you on my side, child.

~~~~~

Danny Fenton was born in Gotham and lived here until his parents decided to move. The city didn’t accept them.

'When I die, I want to be one of the Gotham Knights.' Little Danny with pride and eagerly reported to his parents after visiting the Battle Glory of Gotham Museum on a school trip. This evening, Danny learned that not all his plans should be told to his parents.

Danny know his parents are crazy about ghosts. and that all ghosts are "bad". But obviously, the ghosts they talk about, and his, or rather Gotham's, ghosts are completely different creatures. The spirits of the defenders are those who, even in the darkest of times, make the shadows of the Gotham a protection to the citizens.

But that knowledge is his little secret for now. Because if he starts arguing he’ll be punished and he won’t be able to run off to the roof where he’s arranged to meet Robin. Robin’s cool! He works with one of the 'still-living' knights. And he knows more about the city than anyone. Danny doesn’t want to offend his friend.

~~~~~

Mr Lancer doesn’t understand why the lecturer about ghosts, Constantine, after seeing Danny, said something about the bloody gothamites and their inability to stay underground. It wasn’t nice at all. Mr Lancer doesn’t blame Mr Fenton for smiling at the man a little aggressive and viciously. Poor boy probably didn’t know how to respond to his behavior. Danny moved to Amity Park a long time ago and did not stand out at all. So what was this man’s problem?

Danny only half dies because Lady Gotham blessed him when he was a child. So when Danny sees snow-white hair and glowing green eyes in the mirror, he is not frightened but surprised that the Lady protected him even though he is not living in Gotham now.

~~~~~

Danny knows gothamites don’t consider that Gotham is a part of the USA. Even their Metropolis neighbors are just pathetic cowards, unable to withstand the hardships of life. No, really. Why the hell would they be patriots of the country that thinks they’re its dirty secret? This opinion is shared by old ones and children, rich ones and residents of Crime Alley, heroes and villains.

Danny loves Gotham. And he likes local jokes about how if one of their supervillains ever took power enough to threaten the government, he would be obliged to release them from that citizenship. Otherwise, he would be shamed and ridiculed by the inhabitants.

Phantom is not a villain. But for Gotham? For their common purpose? He is ready to pretend to be.

~ A ghost can bring his city ~ Great honor in one way ~

Gothamites remember that the child of mad scientists was the only person Boy Wonder was willing to call a friend. They remember how boys' laughter was heard from rooftops and from alleys on particularly dark nights. And they know whose restless spirit has returned to mourn the death of the second Robin.

The boy’s parents must be fools. Many outsiders are. They call their blessing a curse. People die in Gotham. And not all of them come back. Residents know that these ones are chosen by Lady Gotham herself.

The public enemy of Amity Park number 1? What nonsense. He is not theirs anything! In Gotham they will accept the Phantom as a guard, as a silent shadow, as a villain or a hero. In any kind. Because he belongs here. He should be part of their dance between life and death. He should be amidst dark alleys and acid rains, gliding between fear and laughter in the air.

Even local villains experience strange yearning. Like something’s wrong. Like a piece of a puzzle that’s lost. Therefore, the local abandoned observatory is empty, and none of them is in a hurry to call it their territory. Because it will be in demand, it will be loved and needed. It’s only a matter of time.

Let the spirit of Gotham guide you home, child. Dead gothamite is still gothamite. Which means there will always be a place for you.

~~~~~

When Danny first enters his favorite cafe in his Phantom form and with a wound on his leg, he doesn’t expect a cleaning lady to yell at him immediately for the blood on the floor. With a mop in his hands and with already bandaged leg, Danny feels as if all his worries had gone. They are not afraid of him. Of course. No one in Gotham would avoid him because of glowing eyes and sharp teeth. And that’s nice.

The waitress throws a tray of food on a table next to him: Welcome dinner for the wandering son of the alley. Red Hood said it's your usual order. He’ll be waiting for you on the gargoyle. You should know which one.

~~~~

If parents listened to his childhood stories about good ghosts, they would know that the Phantom is not special. He is not an anomaly of ghost nature and not a mistake. He is one of many who always were and will be defenders of the city. Danny stands in front of the costume that he admired years ago. He's ready to take another shift at work. The remains of his colleagues can rest quietly this night. Lady will wake them only when in dire need.

[dcxdpdabbles]

So Danny is just a bunch of good that takes a humanoid shape, and we've seen him stretch and warp himself. What is sometimes he just leaves bits of himself behind. He has restoration so he can heal himself and others so when he realizes he left a foot behind he just grows a new one.

Batman: We've found more of the meta, 3 left feet all genetically identical, either were dealing with a cloning operation or someone using a regenerative meta as an organ farm. The most recent finds washed up between Gotham and metropolis.

Meanwhile Danny: I've gotta visit Dani more Madrid was beautiful can't wait to show Jazz the photos, tried to land and eats it, Damn it I though I fixed this!

Danny loves his new power- he likes to call it "Play-Boo" as a pun on playdough because it allows him to shift and change his body as he sees fit.

It was hard to mentally change his appearance as his core was tied to his idea of himself. Still, he can make his hair longer at will, shift to a younger or older version of himself, and even slightly change his coloration, though that takes a bit more concentration.

Danny is sadly unable to shape-shift into someone else. He thinks being able to regenerate is an okay trade-off. Especially when Danny accidentally leaves bits of himself behind with his new warping technique.

It's not the kind of warping he would like- seeing as he could only go a few yards from his original spot- but he hopes with time and practice, he will be able to fling himself from one side of the country to the other, much like opening portals.

But unlike the portals, he won't have to step into the ghost zone as a layaway.

One day, he'll be able to think, "Star City!" and bam will be there without having to destabilize his whole body or lose limbs. Or some internal organs. Like his left kidney.

Which was currently somewhere in Gotham as his warping has developed to the point that he can send himself to the area within eyesight, and he had traveled to metropolis in this method instead of flying to try to perfect it.

"Shoot," He grumbles, falling into a booth across from Dani. She had asked that he visit the big city with her, do a few sights, and then the two would fly downstate to check out some national parks.

"Lost something again?" She asks, sipping the soda she had ordered while waiting for him. Dani had been in the city for about three days and had fallen in love with the diner they were eating at.

She insisted they meet up there just so Danny could try some of their roast beef sandwiches. The favorite food of the two siblings.

"My left Kidney." He sighs, patting his side. Thank goodness his Play-Boo allowed him to not feel pain. He hated to have to feel every time he lost one of his body parts. "I need to eat my troubles away until a new one grows back."

"I'm not paying for your meal."

"But Dani! I'm down a kidney!"

She snorts. "It'll grow back by the time we leave, and you know it. But fine, you big baby, I'll pay for lunch. You have to cover the diner."

Satisfied, he lets her call over a waitress who quickly takes their orders and vanishes to the back, where the cook will likely make "the best damn roast beef" for him. He leans back, asking Dani about her travels.

She eagerly starts talking about the local art she has taken pictures of. At one point, her travels had turned into photo albums, documenting everything she saw and experienced.

She made some money this way, selling some of her photos, but mostly, Dani preferred to keep them for herself or the family.

As she talked about the light reflecting on some large News building- the daily planet- and the great lengths she had to go to get close enough to capture the sunlight, the door to the dinner chimed.

Two men in suits ushered in, one wearing a dark blue that seemed far cheaper than the deep black of his companion. Danny instinctively turned towards the sound, but he quickly looked away as the two men found a seat in a booth furthest away from him.

"I met this guy, Jimmy, who promised to have my photos submitted for a junior photographer contest. It's to help promote tourism, so it's based on the "Metropolis' beauty," but first place is five hundred!" Dani eagerly tells him, her eyes sparkling.

"I know you'll win. You'll make a name for yourself in no time as the best photographer of our era." Danny smiles at his little sister. He lowers his voice "Maybe with that money you win we won't have to sell my organs for a while."

She laughs, adding to the joke like it's second nature, "But you're so fun to harvest! Side's it's not like Vlad will allow you to walk away from the operation. He already has two more kidney orders from Gotham waiting for you."

Danny grimces. "I just lost one this morning. Why does he overbook me so much."

"I can do it if you-"

"Not on your life. I can regerate. You can only cry."

Dani kicks him hard in the shin. She waves her coffee spoon at him like a wizard banishing a wand. "Are you calling me a crybaby?"

"Well, I'm not calling you a cry-lady." He laughs as she scoffs. She opens her mouth to say something when her eyes lock with something over his shoulder. Her face closes down at once, hardening into someone who has traveled through the roughest parts of cities and towns.

Danny used to be worried that her instance of traveling alone at such a young age would ruin her childlike wonder and innocence, but he knew it would be worse to keep her at home.

Even with Vlad finally getting the much-needed help, the fact that Dani has existed for two years now didn't mean she was comfortable with being tied down.

Twisting around, he doesn't see anything out of the ordinary. The two men are casually eating their meals by the far window- too far for them to hear, the waitress is sitting behind the counter flipping through a magazine, and the chef can be seen through a little window making something at his gril.

What had alarmed Dani so much?

"We have to go," She hisses in ghost speech, eyes never leaving the man in the blue suit. Was it him? He seems to unthreatening with his big bulky glasses and easy smile. "I don't know why, but I don't like that guy's vibe."

Well, he won't argue with her about her gut feelings. Those were never important to ignore. "Let's take the rest of this to go."

She raises her hand, calling over the waitress, flipping open her wallet to leave enough to cover their bill and leave a generous tip. Danny quickly gathers their food in take-home boxes, keeping his body in front of Dani to block the men's view of her.

He's grateful that he had pulled on his hood, as his ears had gotten cold from the warping. With the fact he never turned around once since they walked in and his trusty hood, his face has been kept hidden from the men.

A small victory.

Hopefully, he won't see them again after this.

"Come on." He tells Dani, as she quickly gathers her stuff. "Vlad is going to have my arms and legs if we late meet him. I don't want to be just a torso again."

"I mean, it's your fault for trying to run away." She sighs. "You know how he gets. At least you didn't have to entertain his guests."

"Yeah laying in a dark room hoping to regrow my limbs is much better than letting those freaks touch me." Danny agrees thinking back to the big gala Vlad had invited them to.

To show goodwill and try to move past their hostility, the Fentons' children- Jazz, Dan, Danny, and Dani- had all agreed to go with him, under the condition that they be on their best behavior.

Danny had been running late due to a ghost attack and had chosen to use his wrapping far past the agreed limitation his parents, and Vlad had set for him.

He got to Vlad's castle but none of his limbs had followed him. Mom had been so outraged by his reckless behavior he's been grounded staying in one of the guest rooms without tv to "think about what could have happened!"

Dad and Vlad had merely nodded to their wife's punishment for their child. (And he was still getting used to the idea of Vlad being married to his parents.)

Jazz, Dan, and Dani were left to the gala, where Jazz had intellectual conversations with college professors Vlad was funding or where Dan was talking up some pretty men and women with a drink in hand, Dani as the youngest was left to affluent old ladies pinching her cheeks and giving her backhand compliments on being a "lady."

The Dannies hated being touched by strangers, and those higher-class old ladies had no concept of personal space.

"Don't worry, I'm almost too old soon." Dani chirps, holding the door open for him. "Soon Vlad will have to find other kids to flaunt in front of rich people."

"That would be the day." The two exit the dinner, switching the conversation to the idea of dessert- deciding to search on their phones a local frozen yogurt place.

Neither notice the two men- one whose fork has crumbled in his grip and another who is clicking away on his phone with a look of outer disgust on his face

"Bruce?"

"I'm already messaging Babs. She's following them with the city cameras as we speak. Don't worry, Clark, this "Vlad" isn't going to get away with it."

[tiny-space-platypus]

Part 5 Not your average field trip

Previous

Dani had learned that rich people school is SO much different from regular school in the past month and a half. She was actually learning something here unlike the school she used to go to where she'd just sit bored most of the time. She had learnt quite a bit actually. Something that really angered her was realizing that her class bullied Mr.Brother mistaking, bad attitude, Damian Wayne. Though they never actually touched him, just rumors, rather awful jokes, and mean spirited memes. Apparently being a Wayne meant he was practically immune to physical bullying. Something about the others being afraid of his family ruining theirs. Did the Waynes have that much power?

Whatever, Dani has decided she was going to be this boy's friend. So instead of hanging around the other kids she hung around Damian her protective core claiming him as a friend meaning she'd protect him.

Talking to him was almost insufferable though. He was soooooo uptight till Dani started noticing his sketches. Well, that was something they could actually bond over since talking wasn't working. So Dani started bringing her own sketch book though her drawings were mostly blueprints like her brother, she also did like just drawing regular things as well. They might not talk when they spend time together (both finding each other's voice insufferable) but they did share drawings and sometimes even blueprints that the Dannies worked on together. Damian had even admitted they were good! Her brother and her even getting a compliment out of Mr. Always scowling Damian Wayne! Dani got way too excited over that almost falling out of the tree she was dangling from. He compared her to Mr.Grayson Wayne, she huffed when he told her that wasn't a compliment.

Today was like every other day of school. They'd sit in class, do whatever they need to then go out to recess like the rest of the kids. Dani would play games with the other kids for the first half then go sit at the tree with Damian to draw. She was always sitting in the tree hanging upside down. Dani insists it's the best way to draw but Damian doesn't believe her. She's just weird. Anyways today Damian decided to talk with Danielle. "Are you excited for the field trip?" Dani looked down at Damian confused. She didn't know there was a field trip and certainly didn't pay for her spot. She wasn't sure if she could pay for it. "Field trip? I didn't get anything for a friend trip. Did we have to pay for tickets?" Damian scoffed at Danielle not knowing anything about the field trip. They had been talking about in class for a week now. "No you don't need to pay we're going as a class to an aerospace museum. I thought you'd be excited." Just by the look in Danielle's eyes he'd released he messed up. Not that he had upset her but he had hit something she was going to non-stop talk about for the rest of recess. He groaned internationally, at least her rambling was intelligent.

Apparently Gotham academy loved going on field trips and today was supposed to be one of those days. They were going to go to Metropolis to go see The BEST aerospace museum so Dani was excited. She loved space about as much as her brother did after all. Her and her class all got on the bus together and happily chartered with each other, Dani of course sat next to Damian. They were close now after all even if their relationship wasn't built on talking. Damian rolled his eyes at her since she was practically shaking with excitement. Damian and her spent time before the bus ride started doodling for each other then when everyone else got on the bus Dani became much more social with the other students. Telling them about space and aircraft and all sorts of constellations, even drawing them out for them. Everything was going great!

But of course, she was a Nightingale and this was Gotham and things have been going too well for too long. Apparently the weirdo and his gain of fruitloops is the Scarecrow and his goons. As soon as the bus started down the main road the bus was hijacked and forced off course to a graveyard that the Scarecrow used as his base. Dani frowned as they ran over graves and that whenever one of her classmates moved a gun would be pointed towards them. She wasn't afraid they'd actually use it though, they had no intent to kill them if she read their emotions right. She noticed how whenever they threatened someone Damian tensed but in a way that felt more like he was ready to fight not run. Interesting.

Dani was going to wait, she knew that heroes were coming eventually so they wouldn't be missing too long. Then one of the goons mentioned something about them being subjects. Experiments, they were going to be their experiments. Danielle refused to be an experiment again.

Damian had pressed his panic button as soon as the bus was taken over. He could have done something, could have taken out every one of these goons and could have had them back on track to their field trip but that would have blown his cover. He can't blow his cover, he can't put his family in danger. He'd have to wait for the others, he'd have to wait to be rescued.

It was interesting watching Danielle's reactions, she didn't seem scared at all. Actually the only time she seemed any sort of upset was when they ran over grave stones mumbling something about disrespect. Then in an attempt to scare them more the goons brought up the tests they were going to do on them. How they were going to use fear Toxin on them, a new branch of it and they were the first test subjects. Danielle tender at that then tried to get up only to be pulled back down by Damian who was looking at her with a 'what the fuck are you doing?!' Causing her to just smile at him, it was different from her normal smile, this one didn't feel human. This one felt threatening, Damian barely managed to pull her down again. Whispering urgently to her. "Danielle don't- The bats will be here soon, they'll deal with them. Don't kill yourself"

Danielle begrudgingly sat back down next to Damian who now refused to let go of her hand so she didn't do something stupid. So now they were stuck waiting.

It took another 15 minutes to get to their location though they weren't off loaded from the bus. Instead the emergency exit was pressed against a mound of dirt and someone was guarding each one of the emergency exits. They took the role called lists from the adults, guess that was how they were going to determine who it reacts best to. There was a gas canister attached to the top emergency exit. Both Danielle and Damian just stared at it though nothing happened, nothing was coming out frustrating the goon who was supposed to control it. Damian then noticed Danielle's hand growing colder and colder.

They threw in a gas grenade into the bus hitting the adults in the front with gas before stuttering and stopping completely. When the second one was thrown in the one on top stuttered dripping out the concentrated fear toxin.

Dani was creating ice over the exit points for the gas preventing it from spreading but it was slowly getting harder to hold as more grenades were thrown in. This would be so much easier if she could transform but she couldn't do that here. Her reading was probably already going through the roof meaning the GIW- No focus. Just prevent the gas from getting more people. Prevent more people from becoming experiments. She got colder. She looked at Damian for a second then tried to pull her hand away as another grenade was thrown in, instead of the pale yellow of the others this one was bright blood red. Danielle breathed some of it in before freezing that one too. Blood bloom gas, they had blood bloom gas. She choked on it about as much as Damian did. He squeezed her hand as he began to hallucinate. He then attacked her just as the bats finally began to show up taking out the goons and of course losing Scarecrow.

Danielle was holding her own against Damian who was currently trying to tear out her throat. Both now tussling on the ground. Both of them breaking ribs, blackened eyes, broken noses, the works as they battled. This would have been fun if they weren't both poisoned. Maybe when all is said and done Damian would agree to fight her again. Without poison.

Eventually though they were pulled away from each other. Batman holding Damian down as he sprayed something into the kid's face. Danielle almost attacked Batman for it till Damian calmed down and held onto the bat. She hadn't been paying attention to the Red one looking her over and asking questions. She was still breathing heavily from the poison and fighting. His voice caught her attention.

"Ms, are you alright?" RR asked as he touched the red trails left from the blood blooms under her skin. It wasn't a kind of poisoning he's seen before. She flinched away when he touched the trails. Danielle mumbled "Will be, it hurts though"

"We're going to get you to a hospital alright?" It took Danielle a solid 10 seconds before processing what RR had said. The look of pure panic on the little girl's face worried him. "No! No hospitals, No doctors!" Danielle could not go to a hospital, if she went to the hospital they'd realize she wasn't human and if they realized she wasn't human she'd be put back into a lab and Vlad and the GIW.

Danielle was now hyperventilating, causing RR to back track. "Alright, no hospitals. We won't take you to a hospital. Do you know where your home is, we can take you home." Danielle slowly got up and looked at RR then at Damian who was still holding onto Batman. She still looked a little panicked. "Is he going to be alright?" RR looked over at Damian and smiled softly. "Yeah he'll be alright, do you know him?" RR already knew that Damian had been keeping tabs on her but he still wanted to know what she thinks of his brother. "We're friends. Or maybe we were friends, I did break a few of his ribs" she paused and looked away from Damian then back at RR. "Can I go home? Please?" RR was still looking at Basn and Damian but did start to respond. "Yeah after-" he turned to look at her and she was gone. Huh, guess the kid's a meta.

As soon as RR said she could she turned invisible not listening to him complete his sentence. He said yes and that's all she needed. Danielle flew home where Danny was still in the middle of an online class. When she was him she immediately grabbed onto him sobbing. Dani sobbed then passed out mumbling something.

Slight problem, this wasn't Danny. This was Jason who was now very confused and concerned. Dani in her slightly delirious state went to the wrong apartment building. Seeing what she assumed was her brother she just let herself in not even trying the key. So now Jason had a kid in his safe house, who didn't have a key or set off any of the alarms, who looked like hell, now passed out on his couch.

Next

[mamawasatesttube]

ok i put a longer post abt tim's Emotional State in drafts for when my brain is less melted but re: tim and going to college im just gonna get a lil silly with it. hear me out.

i have this whole vague story in my mind for tim's college days moonlighting as red robin as he tries and figures out what he wants out of life. (it's a while after rr leaves off and all because he's like. Super Depressed for a hot minute and then has to drag himself through actually bothering to get his GED and applying to college, etc., but eventually lucius is like hey. you're great with gadgets, and you clearly love tinkering. i'd hire you for r&d in a heartbeat but you need at the least a bachelor's of engineering. i know you have a lot of the technical skills, but you need a degree. so tim goes ugh fine i'll get a goddamn engineering degree how hard can it possibly be.)

anyways. i think it's a universal experience that if you go to college and you hang with the STEM crowd, you will unfortunately get to know at least one Fucking Guy. it's like brentwood arc; tim does make friends, but there is just this One Fucking Guy he cannot stand and will never stand. this Fucking Guy is in the common room playing his guitar at midnight. he's drunk and yelling and laughing really loud when people have exams coming up. he's convinced everyone adores him. there's also a detective/supernatural plot going on. the subplot is just that tim hates This Fucking Guy.

at some point, there's a story beat where he as red robin has to rescue That Fucking Guy from a real dicey situation, and That Fucking Guy is really shaken and grateful to him, and he's like okay. maybe. maybe we are making progress. but then the next time he encounters This Fucking Guy as tim drake, the guy is just like. "ohhhh hey drake you missed it last night, it was AWESOME!!! i had to save red robin from a KILLER ROBOT. he's pretty cool though i guess. i bet you wish you could be more like him huh??" and tim is just. I Will Not Grind My Teeth About This. I Will Not. his life is a fucking joke. he dismantles the toaster oven in the common room kitchen to cope. it's definitely to cope and not just so that That Fucking Guy won't be able to heat up his pop tarts in the morning.

at another point, This Fucking Guy looks at street mode, lowkey, unremarkable Normal Car-looking redbird and goes, aw, dude, i thought your dad is loaded?? he only got you a generic-ass sedan?? that sucks lol, if you want we can take my car down to the game instead. and tim is just Say One More Fucking Word About My Baby I Dare You I Fucking Dare You One More Fucking Word.

(also i like to toy with the idea of this being a university in metropolis - he's out of gotham, but not too far. keeps him from getting antsy about what if he's needed because he can get right back over there. and in the meantime, he can hang out with kon and kara a lot, and occasionally enable and be enabled by lois lane and her snooping habits. there's another subplot in which tim and lois get up to shenanigans. at least once.)

it's sort of an introspective thing of him trying to come to terms with the way he no longer wants a fully normal life the way he always used to assume he would - he has the option to walk away from the cape now, like he always thought he would one day, but he just can't give it up anymore. he's fallen into the same black hole he watched dick and bruce dive headlong into. it's also about him finding joy in tinkering and working with his hands and getting to spend more time as tim drake first and foremost. and it's about him venting to kon about That Fucking Guy while they have a lil picnic on the green while kon loses his absolute shit laughing. all against the backdrop of a little mystery or something. <3

OH and also, most importantly. zoanne wilkins is there and laughing at him for assuming college would be easy. and kon gets her into wendy the werewolf stalker. My City Now.

[gildedphoenix]

During the great depression, somebody made a wish. Fueled by desperation, powered by the pure dumb luck of being in the right place at the right time to be heard by an ancient Djinn (it was totally Desire) with a sense of humor. 

After the wish, everyone had a red string hanging off their left pinky. It dangled down a few inches and then just faded into non-existence. Nobody knew what it was for a few years but then stories started coming out. People finding their perfect match after feeling a tug at their string and following it. The string would twist and twine and lengthen as you got closer to your fated mate, your strings eventually connecting together. 

Most people’s strings just hung limp. Maybe listing in one direction or another. But 8 Billion people in the world and only one is your soul mate? Most people didn’t meet theirs. It was true that your soulmate was always within 10 years of age as you. But 10 years older to 10 years younger still gave you a 20 year range to work with. Everyone’s string appeared by the time they were 10. Some babies were born with their string already spun, a small red thread fading off into a wisp after a scant inch. 

Nowadays, it was common to go on a “string chase” vacation after graduating high school. Some people were close enough to their soulmates that they could just follow the leadings of their string, which would become longer and more opaque the closer you got to your mate. If your string gave you no leads, there were all kinds of "methods" to help pick which direction you should go.

Tucker and Sam were determined to go on string chase journeys post graduation. Tucker because he loved the excitement of an adventure, Sam to find someone who would truly understand her.

Danny was not so hopeful. At one point they'd all agreed to go together, but Sam felt like she was being led to the west coast while Tucker was just going to start in Metropolis, the nearest big city and go from there, hopping the next train out of town after a few days if he still had a slack string.

After a lengthy discussion of pros and cons, they decided that Tucker was more likely to get himself into trouble than Sam, so Danny found himself packing light and on a Greyhound to Metropolis. It was a shitty trip. Objectively the worst way to travel. Walking, or even hitch hiking would have been more pleasant. The bus was late. They had no way of making their connection in Chicago, and the vent fan in the bathroom was broken, making the bus reek of sewage.

Danny has shit luck and just doesn't believe he'll ever find his soulmate. The universe just doesn't like him that much.

Jason has, somehow, always had a leading direction on his string. When he was younger, there was nothing he could do about it. And now he had baggage and didn't want to pursue romance or relationship. (Even though he's a total sap for soulmate meet stories)

While in Gotham, both their strings keep tugging and lengthening and then falling slack again.

----

I know this isn't much but I promised myself I would post whatever I had and it's almost 1 am. So there. There's that fucking thing. I'll try to flesh it out more tomorrow, Enjoy red ♥️🧵♥️

[starwrighter]

"Dad" Dan au

(Pov I haven't read Agit yet) ( I don't mind spoilers though)

I don't think we in the dpxdc fandom play with the canon information that Dark Danny is a product of Danny's ghost half fusing with with Plasmius.

Yeah, he's completely down with mass murder and is really sadistic in the episode but that's not as fun to play with in this context.

He's still merged with Vlad and I'd like to have that bleed into him a bit more than the "oh he's so evil," but him being obsessed with his own Mom like Vlad is a level of weird I'm not willing to touch with a fifty foot pole.

I say, let him have Vlad's obsession with making Danny his son. It's hilarious! Imagine being obsessed with making your past self your son! Dan had no qualms with directly trying to murder the past version of his family. But I love the idea of him first seeing his past self in all his awkward half-ghost glory an obsession kicks into gear with a fury!

Dan hating his own parents with a passion because they're uh, well... His parents. And that stops him from being his own parent! It's so stupid. Dan judging every single one their parenting decisions. All while he himself is still morally detestable.

It's great! Still can't decide if he's just stalking the family like a creep. Or he pretended to be redeemed and Danny with Jazz gaslit their parents into believing they have an older sibling ghosts his from them.

Onto the dpxdc part of this!

Now Dan is just looking for the opportunity to whisk Danny away. Jack and Maddie are interfering with his obsession without even trying to! He'll be trying to feed the kid something edible and they'll be ectoplasm samples in the fridge! Ghost hunting equipment in the open when they know it has a tendency to misfire around their son! Dan doesn't care if they really love Danny. There are harpoons pointed at his kid! Those idiots were one misstep away from accidentally killing their child a second time and Dan isn't having it!

Dan yoinks Danny and fucking books it into the ghost zone. Danny clearly wouldn't be happy with this development (betrayal or surprise you choose!) And Dan is trying his best to get Danny to co-operate. Either with specter deflectors or a deal with Desiree. But Danny's stuck with the guy.

I'm taking advantage of the fact that the Dc universe has absolutely obliterated it's multiverse making pretty much impossible for normal ghosts and humans to navigate. Dan flees with Danny to an iteration of the Dc universe and pokes around for a place to settle.

Metropolis's hero was an annoying goodie two shoes and he'd kill this "lex Luthor" the moment he heard the fucker speak. Plus, both rogues and hero's threw cars like baseballs.

Gotham was flooded with crime but their rouges were just people. Their heroes were just people. Crazy people sure, but Dan could kill them if they stepped out of line.

If only the self proclaimed hero's would stop trying to make grabs at his kid.

[primeofprimes115]

Overwhelming Burden - Supergirl x Male Reader

Note: Fluff 🥰 and Angst 🥺

I've just read the Zero Hour 30th Anniversary comic #1 not long ago and... Honestly, it's such a good comic, biggest highlight for me is seeing Supergirl wearing a black suit with the silver S on the suit and cape, the silver belt, bracelets and black gloves (In the comic, there's instances where she's wearing black gloves or not which is a little weird but in this imagine, she'll be wearing black gloves, another image will be shown in the imagine later of her wearing black gloves) are a nice addition as well... And pants! Best suit I've seen in a while.

This is a world where Superman is dead, dead after his fight with Doomsday and where Batman never came back because he's broken, so pretty much retired and Batgirl is Gotham's Knight now while Supergirl is Metropolis's protector. Diana Prince is no where to be found so Donna Troy is the new Wonder Woman also. They what would be the New Trinity in those words.

Supergirl in this comic however is supposed to be Matrix aka Mae Kent, but DC for some reason wanted Kara Zor-El/ the original Supergirl to be mentioned in this rather than Matrix Supergirl which is a little odd but I'm not complaining. Spoiler for those but Donna named dropped Supergirl as "Kara" in the comic, so... I suppose it's Kara Zor-El, again it's a little odd, ain't complaining, I honestly don't mind.

So in other words... This imagine is inspired from this. Hope you enjoy!

Credit also goes to @bisupergirl for the pics!

Metropolis, once a city that was defended by a man who revolutionized the way Aliens were welcomed on Earth, a man that changed the world with more superheroes making their debut, along with the added threat of supervillains and those that had an agenda against him. He was a man who only found out he was in fact an Alien once he found out where he really came from.

His parents, Ma and Pa Kent, aka Martha and Jonathan, once told him he came from the stars one day, crashing down onto Earth in a small pod not far from where they lived in their farmhouse, and finding a newborn wrapped in a red cloth that would be used as his cape when he grew older to become...

Superman.

He inspired many, became Earth's Champion, defended Earth and Humanity from many threats, though he couldn't always do it alone, he eventually had allies that formed the Justice League that vowed to protect Earth from any known threat known to Humankind.

Clark Kent of the Daily Planet and from a little town called Smallville, Kal-El of Krypton, Superman, the Man of Steel, Man of Tomorrow, once an icon, a hero, a loving Husband and son to all that loved him.

He was once the fabled "Last Son of Krypton" until one day, that changed... When another pod came crashing down onto Earth, holding a young blonde haired girl, who was petrified, confused, unaware of how long it has been after being in hypersleep for many years, sent from her planet of Krypton alongside her cousin, before her pod was knocked off-course.

Kal didn't know at the time, but the arrival of this girl changed his life forever and for the better, this girl was his cousin, Kara Zor-El, who would later become Supergirl and wear the same colors and family crest, one that Clark learned more about from Kara, all about the House of El, their family, his and her parents... Some he already knew from the Fortress of Solitude that was created by the Kryptonian crystal that he put into the ice in the North Pole.

Things were going very well with Kara's introduction to Earth, adopted by the loving Danvers family, she took the name "Linda Lee Danvers" to blend in and hide her powers, though at times she wasn't great at controlling them, she was taught how to.

From going to Earth school, to meeting the one guy that she befriended, the boy named Y/N, which the two eventually began to fall for one another during high school, becoming somewhat high school sweethearts. Clark supported the fact Kara found someone she liked, someone to keep her on her toes when unexpected, she eventually introduced Clark to Y/N, letting him know of the other secret they hadn't told him yet. Their Kryptonian heritage which was a big surprise to the young boy at the time, she even took him on a flight to convince him further.

Around this time, Kara being 16 years old, she debuted as Supergirl, cousin of Superman. Embracing the whole Girl of Steel part of herself to defend her new home from enemies alike. Sporting a blue top with a red skirt and gold V-shaped belt, a short red cape with a golden S on the back as opposed to wearing the same S on her top with a red background just like her cousin, showcasing the House of El sigil proudly.

At first, the world wasn't sure how to accept Supergirl, but eventually not long after, they did with Superman's help. Kara was more happier than to be both Linda Lee Danvers and Supergirl.

But... Not everything is forever...

With some years going by and now with Kara have been Supergirl for three and a half years...

A Doomsday descended upon Earth... Many heroes answered the threat and couldn't stop it without cutting losses.

It was Superman who saved the day... But at a heavy cost...

His own life, succumbing to his wounds and the world fell silent once the news broke out.

Earth's Champion... Superman... Had been confirmed dead, giving out his life to fight Doomsday, the fight was nothing more than brutal and destructive, Metropolis was wrecked and battered by the events.

His death hit many heavily, Kara especially. There was supposed to be a surprise for Kara, before Doomsday came to be, but Y/N called the surprise off, in exchange to grieve, knowing it wouldn't be the right time to propose to the girl he has always loved.

In honor to grieve her cousin's death, Kara made the decision to change up her suit and colors, now sporting a black top, long cape and pants, with a silver V-shaped belt, bracelets and the S and shield, colored silver, even on the back of her new black cape had the S colored in silver, also supporting black gloves over her hands. The bracelets both have a diamond shaped sigil on the front, even the belt too, unlike her previous suit.

No longer blue, red and gold. Just a black and silver look, the world took notice of this change, seeing a black and blonde blur zoom past on multiple occasions throughout the world, it didn't take long for people to know it was Supergirl, now having a wardrobe change since the last time she appeared on camera months ago.

Some asked why? The obvious answer was simple... Coming from her.

"To honor my cousin" she said nothing more after. She refused to take anymore questions about anything else, it was nothing but a bother to her.

She became Metropolis's new protector, Earth's New Champion and part of the new Justice League that was put into place, post Doomsday and Superman's Death within a year later.

Kara was well known to he amongst the newer Wonder Woman and the Batgirl that has taken over Batman's duties after he mysteriously "vanished" when more forces played behind the scenes in that regard.

Meanwhile, still being Supergirl, her lover, Y/N, now loving Husband, having gotten married a few months ago, remained behind as the ever-loving House Husband, in their now shared apartment building, every day and night when Kara came back from her duties as Supergirl, he'd be the one greeting her when she came back.

But as of recently... Kara's been barely getting home than usual, skipping lunch dates, dinners, her usual work before she quit and the two had a fairshare of arguments then and there about the issue, as mostly every married couple eventually argues over something.

This morning was no different, it was the same as usual, Y/N always said that her being Supergirl didn't had to always be a thing, he wanted her to be Linda Danvers for a day or two, but she kept refusing the idea, Supergirl was needed day and night, it was her duty, her vow to fill in Kal's shoes.

Y/N made the argument that Superman wasn't always needed and this only infuriated Kara further, where their argument turned a little more heated. Y/N hated arguing with her about this, this was the first ever heated argument with her and he felt bad bringing it up. Kara was still hurting about Kal's death. There was one thing he did say that was true...

He felt neglected by her now, he hadn't been hugged by her in the last few weeks... Or even kissed by that matter and he missed having her lips on his

Kara was nothing but frustrated and moody mostly in the last few months, the last time he ever saw her smile much was during their wedding day and the entire week. It was like something switched off in her that caused her to be like this.

Could it be that something has happened? Something so bad, it's keeping her awake at night and not as the forgiving girl she was before?

She wasn't a Girl-Scout, but there was times she was, and it rarely shows today.

Y/N spent all day to himself once more, still thinking back on the argument he had with Kara this morning before she left, getting groceries, doing the laundry, keeping an eye on their cat, Streaky, before he eventually began to relax for the day. Not having to do any online work since Kara quit her Human job.

He sat on the couch, his Playstation controller in hand, playing a story-driven game before he paused it to go grab a drink.

His mind was still on the argument they had this morning, his eyes caught onto the plate of food, covered by tin-foil, dinner that was made for Kara for when she would come back at the usual time but again... She hadn't come back yet.

Y/N knew not to worry much, but it became increasingly hard for him, he loved her so much, despite the arguments they've had since getting married.

But he was worried, he was worried that she was beating herself up over everything that's happened, and it showed in her face, her body language.

The pair haven't kissed or hugged in the last two weeks and he missed being held, being kissed, being flown by her, he misses the old Kara, the old Supergirl...

The old Linda Danvers he fell in love with...

Just as he poured some fresh OJ, Y/N heard a pair of boots land on the wooden flooring by the window. He briefly looked to see Supergirl, his wife, who had seemed to look like she had been tossed around and thrown into the surface of the sun yet again, nothing more than usual.

His heart swelled to see her, but it hurt knowing she was probably still mad at him. He knew he wasn't wrong, but he just wanted to patch things up, like a normal married couple would.

"You're back" he stated the obvious with a lowered tone, but a tone she could pick up with her super hearing. "I... I was beginning to worry, but... I'm glad you're okay" he gave a little smile at the corner of his lips but it soon vanished after taking a sip of his drink.

Supergirl hadn't said anything back to him, she only looked at the TV to see what he had been doing in her absence, before noticing Streaky as she shakes her long, black cape, wiping off dust particles.

'Ugh, gonna have to get that cleaned up' he mentally noted before taking another sip from his drink. "I made dinner again, it's cold now but I ca-" a whooshing sound interrupted him and he was met by Kara who had zoomed up close to him after looking him in the eyes, completely surprising him. He almost dropped his glass of fresh OJ once she zoomed up at him in a nano-second.

"K-Kara?".

There was nothing but pain and hurt in her eyes before grabbing the sides of her cape and lunged her arms around him, wrapping her cape around him also as her body began to quiver and tremble.

She dug her face into the crook of his neck and her breaths became shaky, Y/N could only stand there with a surprised look on his face as Kara... The Girl of Steel, his wife, Supergirl, had began to break down emotionally from what it sounded like.

Then he could hear her sobbing into him, little sobs of sadness washing over her as she clung onto him hardly but gently, not wanting to let go just like any other time he'd tried to hug her.

"Y/N" she mumbled with a shaky breath into his neck, her messy blonde hair tickling the side of his face. "I-I-I" she couldn't speak her words, sadness overwhelming her as tears flushed down from her closed eyes that began to soak the T-shirt's fabric on his shoulder, crying even harder by the minute.

Y/N wrapped his arms around her figure quickly, who was clinging onto him like she was holding on for dear life, he accepted the hug he longed to get from her, it broke his heart hearing her sob and cry, feeling his shoulder getting wetter by the minute from all the tears she was shedding. Her words coming out trembling and mumbling nonsense

"Oh, Kara" Y/N cooed to her, rocking a little left to right while feeling the warmth of Kara's long cape wrapped around him and her, her arms holding him into place while a hug carried out.

"I-I... I'm so s-s-sorry!" she cried harder into him, her sobbing getting more prominent as Y/N tightened his arms around her, even his breaths began to get shaky at this moment, he felt her words hitting him in the heart. "I-I".

"Sshhh, i-it's okay" he cooed to her softly.

"N-N-No! I-It's not o-okay!" she denied that fact, struggling with her words still, but Y/N understood what she meant.

Yes... It wasn't okay, he could clearly see and hear it, with a crying Supergirl in his arms, also embracing him with her cape wrapped around him to cling onto him as she cries and sobs, overwhelmed by drowning dread and grief.

He always had a feeling eventually Linda/Kara L/N would be overwhelmed with this, mostly overwhelmed with the burden of being Earth's Champion twenty-four-seven, since Superman's death, she's been nothing but mostly Supergirl the entire time, the only acception she wouldn't be her superhero self was at the wedding and the week following that with the honeymoon.

"Let it all out, it's okay, my Sunshine" he cooed further though he stumbled on his wordings, calling her by a nickname he had for her, one she hadn't heard in a while which made her sob harder. "Let it all out" he told her once again, letting the broken Girl of Steel cry on his shoulder, just like he once told her that if she needed a shoulder to cry on, she's got him.

He could remember the days when they were in high school, remember when they were fifteen years old, he'd stop by the Danvers's place to hang out with Linda and her two other friends that she made in class, he remembered getting to know them better since he had different classes from them, and only a few classes where he and Kara would be seated near each other, often not sitting next to one another.

The days where he first began to crush on Linda, he found her the most adorable and smartest girl in the world, to him? She was everything he wanted. He didn't have much friends, most were into edgy stuff, which didn't match his tastes.

But Linda? She was into anything, she was cool to him, smart, had a sense of humor, was fun to be around and was pretty defensive for him against his bullies, once publicly embarrassing one of them by flipping him over her shoulder, on the verge of breaking the bully's arm, potentially ruining his placement for the basketball game coming up that time.

Once everything had calmed down, along with Kara's sobbing, and apologies were made about all the arguments they've been having, the two pulled back from the hug and kissed, lips-to-lips for the first time in two weeks, a kiss both surely had been missing, a long kiss between them with their lips slowly smacking off each other in a slow dancing way.

His hands caressed her cheek with his thumbs swiping away at any stray tears that fell down from her eyes which they did once they began to kiss, Kara's cape still wrapped around him and herself, not even thinking of letting go any time soon.

"Y/N" Kara broke the silence after the long kiss they had, the kiss she could clearly see that Y/N had been dreading for, a kiss of closure in other words. "I... I thought about what you said this morning, and... You're right, I have been... Neglecting you as of recently" she painfully admitted, her voice croaking as she spoke.

"No, no. I was wrong to say that" Y/N backed down from what he said, taking back the hurtful thing he said this morning. "I shouldn't have said that in the first-".

"No" she interrupted. "It's the truth. All I've thought since..." a pain arose in her chest as she felt it flare up from what she was about to say, struggling to speak a little.

"I don't think you need to say" he told her, knowing what she was going to say, as it was clear as day...

She took the burden of being the next Symbol of Hope, the carry on the shoes and burden that Superman alone carried with him through his actions and heroism, Supergirl was a role model to most, if not, all people as expressed through her actions and words alone. She didn't want to be like her cousin, she wanted to be her own person.

She once admitted to him the fact she was scared she'd end up losing herself because of the fact that there could be one day he might die and she'd have to pick up where he left off being Earth's Champion, but Clark gave her sound advice. Like him...

She had family and friends to help her carry the burden if she struggled, to carry on without him if he were to die, which happened.

"I visit that statue every day" she sniffled, looking into Y/N's eyes still. "Wishing he'd be here today still, wondering what it would be like to have him around again" she closed her eyes and sighed with a sadness that could be seen in her face. "I miss him... So, so much" she croaked.

"I know, I miss him too" he laid a finger under her chin and raised her head so he could look into her eyes, tears forming her eyes once more before one fell down onto Y/N's thumb. "But you're not alone, Kara. Being Supergirl twenty-four-seven hasn't done you good, you look stressed and tired, which is concerning considering Kryptonians don't get tired from what you've shown" he made a valid point across to her, but she seemed to have heard it before.

"You sound like Babs".

"Do I know?" he chuckled. "Well... If I was Barbara, I think she'd also be correct".

This prompted to make the Girl of Steel smile just a little, which was enough for him to point out with a little smile back at her.

"There she is, there's the smile".

"Don't ruin it" she groaned.

"I'd never" he smiled, giving out a little laugh that was a little contagious for Kara, a soft laugh escaped her before it died down, with her sighing next.

Y/N pushed a strand of Kara's hair behind her ear, seeing the other half of her face that was hidden by her golden hair. "I think... You should take off the suit and Supergirl" with his eyes he traced out the House of El glyph on Kara's chest. "...could use a good break for a little bit, you can have someone else fill in for you, clear your mind a little with me" Y/N suggested to her, though he knew she wouldn't like it, now that things had been settled between them, he wouldn't lose his chances.

And Kara knew it...

"I can heat up your dinner, or you can probably use your heat vision since it's quicker than the oven" he snorted, getting a faint laugh out from Kara while she smiled, his face brightened up again noticing it. "And we can also... Cuddle on the couch, put on a movie of your choice, not my pick because you know I'm picky" he suggested further.

"Or..." Kara unwrapped her arms off him for a moment before wrapping them back around, only around the crook of his neck this time around with her cape billowing slightly behind her due to the window being open still on a cool windy night. "I can take you on a flight?".

"Ohh" Y/N caught himself between two hard choices. "Hmm... Maybe tomorrow you can take me on a flight, how about that, Sunshine?" he answered.

"Deal" she nodded before smiling a little more, finally answering after a minute. Deep down he was right from earlier when she thought about it, her being Supergirl twenty-four-seven has done her no good, it put some strain on the relationships she's got with her loved ones, her adopted family especially and Y/N, who love her all the same, she had a prior visit to them before coming back, wanting to reconcile which was as emotional as it was already.

"It's your favorite, by the way, from your adopted mother's recipe" he smiled as Kara x-rayed the plate with the tin-foil over it, spotting a Lasagna and coming from him, it was Edna Danvers recipe of her Lasagna.

"I thought I smelled something familiar" she noted while looking at the plate.

"Go on" he gestured his head toward the plate.

"You want some? There's plenty left for us to share" she offered, unwrapping her arms off him and began to walk up to the plate.

"Nah, I'm good" he declined politely.

"You sure? In case you end up eying it up anyway" she smirked, taking off the tin-foil gently though unnecessary to do it gently.

"I had like... Maybe two plates earlier, cooked a bit too much, I'm full still" he gestured. I'll wait on the couch for you, gonna turn this game off and that".

"Okay, Love" she nodded and smiled before she looked at the food, her eyes soon lit up red before she quickly heated up the food with her heat vision, heating it up to the right temperature, just for her.

Taking the plate, she saw her Husband save his progress and switch off the game, she had a little fond memory of him kicking her ass at a fighting game when they were younger, back when things were simpler when Clark was still alive.

"Y/N" Kara broke the silence yet again.

"Yes, my Sunshine?" he answered.

"I love you, I really love you, you dork. Always remember that" she smiled once again, stabbing her Lasagna with a fork that was left on the table next to the plate earlier before taking it to her mouth to savor the taste of the food.

"I love you too, Linda L/N" he smiled back at her, her face noticeably brightened as she strolled over with her plate of food in hand... 

______________________________________________________________

Fin...

Word Count: 4078

[quinloki]

quin-uhhh:

would you?!

Fic authors self rec! When you receive this, reply with favorite five fics you've written (include links, and if you want- a few thoughts about each one), then pass on to at least five other writers if you're up for it. Spread the self-love ✨

If you don't, I'll just... I'll just... well I won't do a thing but please?!

many fist pumps,

▲ I'm a symbol now

\o/ Tri, my sweet friend, you are - if anything - a symbol of good cheer =D ♥

Let's see, five favorite fics I've written. That's much easier than trying to pick just one ^_^

Birds of a Feather Marco/Reader ( tumblr / Ao3 / Wattpad ) - This is my most recently completed fic, at least at the time of this post, but I love it so much. My passion for Marco feels like it came out of nowhere and has made itself reigning champion in my thoughts. But a story I expected to be relatively short, ended up almost twice as long as I expected, and it was so easy. It was fun to write, and I think it goes down smooth, despite being nearly 90k words people consistently devour it in a single sitting.

Quicksand Sir Crocodile/Reader ( tumblr / Ao3 / Wattpad ) - Not sure if you're a fan of the sandy crocodile-themed warlord? Tread carefully, reading this title is statistically likely to convert you. Quicksand has an alternative ending because the story was originally intended to be a very dark Yandere - to the point that Doflamingo would've been the "good" guy. That's not how things went, and I'm quite glad for it. Quicksand going its own direction is what helped seal the deal in creating the Tales of the Grandline Metropolis, which is currently 3.8 completed stories. (it'll be at least 8 before it's done).

A Light Touch Eustass Kid/Reader ( Ao3 / Wattpad ) - My first Eustass Kid/Reader story. Set in the same AU as Quicksand, it was started from a pun, of all things. I figured Kid would be fancy tech stuff like neural-linked prosthetics, and the idea that would make a prosthetic for the reader after they lost a hand was something I wanted to write. Creating something like that would take a light touch, and if it glowed, that would be a different kind of light touch and getting close to Kid requires a light-- you get the point. Like I said, it's all based off a pun, but I'm really proud of the story, it's one of my favorite re-reads.

Some Direction Zoro/Reader (tumblr / Ao3 / Wattpad ) - A Modern AU where the government mandates who you marry. I have to give thanks to @lyndsyh24 for not only inspiring me to write this one (start to finish in a single month, I was obsessed!) but also for allowing my to play in the AU she'd built up. From Matchbook to the laws themselves, it's all thanks to Lyn. Zoro started out as one of my favorite characters in the series - I still have love for him, and I'm always happy to write him, but he's taken a bit of a back seat to my top three. Still Some Direction is a story I'm really proud of - even if I worry there'll be a mob after me for who the antagonist is 😅

Family Ties Doflamingo/Reader ( Ao3 / Wattpad ) - I was torn on this last choice - even with five slots it's hard to decide between stories I suppose ^^; Also, oops, apparently I only put the first ten chapters on tumblr... I need to fix that >.> Ahem, anyway, Family Ties is the first fic I wrote after over ten years of not writing at all. It's my first reader insert, my first true multi-chapter too. When I wrote it, it was the longest fic I'd written by nearly 50k words. I wrote it because I wanted a more morally ambiguous reader compared to what I'd been reading. It's not a dark fic though, it's pretty tooth-achingly sweet, honestly, but it's currently the only fic I have where the reader is a murderer in a very undisputed and direct manner.

Honorable mention I almost posted as piece 5 - The Dragon's Clause - my Sabo/Reader Noble/Fantasy/Magic AU, and also the only title I mention that's incomplete. But it's a an ode to my favorite genre, and a great many of my favorite tropes.

[supercorpkid]

Ace Reporter

Supergirl, Kara Danvers x Reader!, Lena Luthor x Reader!

Word Count: 2030

More to come!

“Miss Luthor, Miss Y/L/N is here from the Daily Planet for the interview.�� You hear Lena Luthor’s assistant on the phone, and look back at your hands clenching into your purse. 

You never got nervous interviewing before. But now, you came to National City to talk to Lena Luthor and try to get something out of her brother’s latest jailbreak. You are aware that the chances of Lena actually telling you anything about Lex are pretty slim. But there’s nothing you can do about it. If they sent you all the way from Metropolis to get a quote from her, you might as well work for it.

It’s not that you’re scared of her. No, that would be absurd. Yes, her brother is a borderline maniac and even though he is just a man he is a worthy opponent for Superman himself, so his mind is both amazing and bizarre. And yes, you’ve heard all Luthors have the same brain. But you’re not scared. No. You just think you should be careful with your approach.

“You can go in, Miss Y/L/N.” Her assistant signals for you to follow her, and takes you to Lena’s office. “Please.” She gestures for you to walk inside.

“Thank you.” You nod at her while she closes the door. You look to the other side of the big, fancy office to find the person you’re looking for. “Miss Luthor.”

“Hello, Miss Y/L/N.” Lena points to the chair before her desk. And you promptly make your way there. “Haven’t heard from the Daily Planet in a while.”

“Oh, yeah.” You smile, swallowing your insecurities while you’re in front of her. The fact that she was beautiful you already knew, but holy damn, you were not prepared for this gorgeous woman in front of you. You must look like a total loser while you stare at her at a loss for words. “I bet you only hear from CatCo now.”

She smiles, agreeing. CatCo is a pain in the ass of the Daily Planet. Actually, that’s not true. CatCo is a pain in your ass. Or rather one reporter named Kara Danvers. You push your reservations against CatCo and Kara aside, coming back to what it matters.

“I’m glad you said yes to sitting down with the Daily Planet today, Miss Luthor. We’ve lost touch now that you moved to National City. But you’re always out doing interesting things.” You try to butter her up a little to see if she’ll be more inclined to give you the information. “And rebranding Luthor Corp! That’s worth publishing about.”

“Oh.” Lena furrows her brows. She looks directly at your eyes, narrowing hers, clearly confused with your approach. “If you are actually here to talk about L Corp, I’d love to chat. But,” She raises her eyebrow at you and you know exactly what is coming next. “If you're here to ask about Lex, then I’m sorry but we have nothing to talk about.”

You give her a patient smile. “I’m here to hear about you, Miss Luthor.” Liar. Liar. Pants on fire. “Of course Lex’s name might come up since you took over his company, but I don’t think there’s anything more interesting than you.”

It’s a lie, but it also isn’t. You, as a person, are super interested in Lena. The Daily Planet, however…

The interview went well. As well as it could go with Lena purposely dodging all the questions about Lex, and you trying to be sneaky enough and get a quote on something about him. In the end you got a shabby quote about how she has no idea what he’s been up to, because she has much to do to recover the company since he left it in a horrible state. 

There were far more important things to talk about, and her mind is just as amazing as his for what you could see, but you did what you could in your limited time with her.

“Well, it was great to talk to you, Miss Luthor.” You stand up, showing her your hand. Lena looks at it with a smirk before taking into hers, and shaking it strongly.

“Hope I was worth the commute.” She tries to be funny, but it comes out a little flirty. With the eyebrow raised, the raspy tone both followed by a little smirk, you have a really hard time making your brain function properly. But that’s insane, Lena Luthor wouldn’t flirt with a simple reporter such as you.

“National City has its charms.” You smile, clearly talking about something other than National City. Because, honestly, this city has got nothing on Metropolis. Maybe the Super. You love Superman, obviously, but Supergirl is just as powerful and also a snack. "I guess I can see why it was appealing to some people."

“I hope you’re sticking around longer, there is much to see here.” She adds, and you furrow your brows confused to what she might be talking about. There’s literally nothing to see in National City. 

“Really? And here I was thinking nothing could beat this view." Your mind finally catches up to your brain when you realize you've been staring at her directly while saying that. "I mean, we're so high up." You point to the windows behind her.

Lena Luthor is a professional so she obviously wouldn't laugh right at your face, but she totally could after this. Ugh.

Instead, she smiles with a little nod. She rounds the table taking you to her office door, clearly telling you it’s time for you to leave without being indelicate.

“I hope to see you around, Miss Y/L/N.”

“She has given us nothing.” You hear on the phone, and breathe deep, knowing this would be the reaction from your editor.

“She doesn’t trust me. You know how hard it is to approach Luthors, especially in a situation like this. Just let me go back to Metropolis and help Clark with the investigation about Lex.”

“Clark doesn’t need any help, and we need at least a serious quote from someone in the family. Lena is our safest bet.” You can hear him shuffling with some papers. “Clark told me his cousin works for CatCo and she’ll be happy to help. She and Lena have a good relationship you can exploit. Look for her, her name is Kara Danvers.”

“What?”

“Kara Danvers.” He repeats as if you hadn’t heard him. “You can come back when you give me an actual quote I can use.” He hangs up right after.

UGH! You throw your phone in the hotel bed, pissed. Not only you have to stay in National City for God only knows how long, now you also have to work with Kara fucking Danvers? This is your worst nightmare. 

You open your laptop, looking her up on Google. It isn’t the first time you’ve done this and it probably won’t be the last. You can’t believe you have yet to read her piece that won the award. The award that was supposed to be yours. It was so close, you were sure you were going to win, then Kara swooped in at the last second and took it from you. She must be a real dick. You can’t believe she is Clark’s cousin. He’s so nice and she is… ugh. Just the worst.

You don’t want to know if her article was actually better than yours. So you close your laptop, and throw yourself back in bed, looking at the hotel walls and imagining different ways you can be passive-aggressive with Kara Danvers.

Yet, you swallow your pride and make your way to CatCo first thing in the morning. You might not want to work with Kara, but you do want to go back home, and if this is the only way, then so be it.

“Hi, I’m Y/N from the Daily Planet. I was told to look for Kara Danvers. We are going to be working together.” You give the brunette in front of you your best fake smile. Even though she looks adorable and worth much more than that.

“Oh, that’s so cool. I’m Nia Nal. Come on, I’ll take you to her desk.” You follow her, heart beating fast in anticipation, you’re about to meet the woman that took your best chance to have a better career. 

“Kara, this is Y/N from the Daily Planet.” You stop behind Nia, looking at Kara and her button up shirt and stupid cardigan. She adjusts her glasses while looking at you. You can’t believe you lost your prize to this fucking nerd.

“Hi,” She stands up, showing you her hand. “I’m Kara. It’s nice to meet you. My cousin Clark texted me you’re coming. Hopefully I’ll be able to help you.”

Yeah, right. You hold her hand, forcing a smile. “I’m sure you will.”

Nia excuses herself, and Kara shows you to a desk in front of her where you can set up your things. “So, what brings the Daily Planet to National City?”

“Lex Luthor.” Kara’s eyebrows are pinched together when she hears his name. “His latest jailbreak.”

“Oh.” She adjusts her glasses on her face one more time, then smooths her hand over her stupid cardigan. 

“You look surprised, Danvers.” You smirk, glad to know something the prize-awardee doesn’t seem to know.

“No, no.” But she clearly is still processing the information. “I’m just confused as to why you’re here. Wasn’t he in a Metropolis jail? Seems you’d get more information there.”

“Clark is looking into it.” You breathe out. “We had to look for other sources.” 

She immediately puts two and two together. “Lena.” It’s merely a whisper, but you can hear her just fine.

“She agreed to an interview, but obviously wouldn’t talk about Lex.” You raise an eyebrow at her. “With me, at least.”

"She's nothing like her brother. I thought the Daily Planet would’ve figured that out by now.” Kara crosses her arms, defensively. Looking like she won’t want to help you. Which you can’t really blame her, but still can hate her for it.

“Of course I know that.” You don’t know it for sure, but your intuition tells you so. You were only with Lena for 20 minutes, but you already know she is different from all the other Luthors. “But we have nothing on him. Even Superman is worried. I know Lena is trying to reverse her brother’s evil schemes, and moving to National City was an excellent idea, because people in Metropolis hate the Luthor name even more than they do here. But still, Danvers, if she has anything on her brother, it would help a lot.”

“Yeah, yeah. I get it.” Kara looks back on her phone, and you dare a glance at it. She is texting Clark. 

Kara: What's up with Y/N?

Clark: Best reporter I know. Great at finding people's secrets.

You smile at the compliment. Even Clark knows you're a better reporter than prize-awardee over here. You stop looking at her phone and focus back on her face. She gives an annoyed sigh, clearly not wanting to help, but finding it impossible to say no. 

Come on, Kara Danvers. She owes you one.

“Look, I get it. You don’t want to help. Trust me, if I could, I wouldn’t be here either. But I need a quote from Lena to leave, and God, I really want to leave.” You show her your hand. “You help me, and I get out of your hair as soon as possible.”

“I can try, but I don’t think Lena knows anything.” 

“Well, that's an easy fix, isn't it? We're reporters, we just need to find something for her to learn. What do you say, Danvers?” You show her your hand one more time. “Your name can be the first one in the byline.”

Kara rolls her eyes, but shakes your hand in agreement. This fucking nerd. You can’t believe you came all the way from Metropolis to interview a Luthor and were paired up with the only reporter you cannot stand. Honestly, when did your career get so side-tracked?

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Astrid x Lena - Autumn/Fall

I am listening to my fave fall/witchy playlist on spotify, and now I'm thinking about how Astrid might handle Lena discovering her witchy heritage.

It makes most sense to me that somewhere in the crisis era, Lena and Astrid dated but broke up (amicably) and are friendly but no longer together. They keep in touch, but their work keeps them from actually seeing each other post crisis.

Until post finale, when they bump into each other on the streets of Metropolis. Astrid is in town on business, and Lena is there for meetings in relation to her charitable foundation (or maybe finalizing her relinquishing/dissolving LuthorCorp). Except its technically Saturday, so while Astrid is her usual 5-star self, Lena is a little more... basic bitch-- comfy sneakers, cozy sweater, hair loose in its now customary waves. No red lipstick, no pencil skirt, no jimmy choos.

Astrid barely recognizes her, and in fact doesn't until Lena chirps a breathless "Oh! Astrid!"

At which point Astrid blinks, and the image of this pumpkin spice latte drinker resolves into Lena. To say she's surprised is an understatement.

"Lena??" Astrid scans her as she leans into a hug that is absolutely genuine, but turns into concern as she pulls back but doesn't release her grip on her ex-girlfriend's shoulders. "Is everything okay?"

"What? Yeah! Of course it is!" Lena's confusion is mitigated by the joy seeing Astrid after so long. "Better now, though! It's so great to see you!"

Now, Astrid is polite, but she also knows Lena, and cares about her. So she pushes just a little, to get some more information.

"You look... different," she says judiciously.

Only then does it click for Lena. She glances down at herself, then flushes sheepishly. "Oh. Yeah, ah... well. I've had a change in... circumstances?"

Astrid frowns. "Lena, you know you never have to ask for help from me, ever."

"Oh! No-- the money is still there. It's nothing like that." Lena huffs a little awkwardly, knowing how confusing she sounds. In the end, all she can really say is:

"Everything is fine. I promise. Better than fine." She gestures to the relatively uncharacteristic image of herself with a giggle. "This is deliberate, I promise."

Astrid still isn't sure what's going on, but Lena's responses contain no guile, and she's satisfied that, if nothing else, Lena is happy.

"Hey, uhm... would you-- want to catch up?" Lena asks nervously. "Tonight? Only if you have time--"

"I would love to," Astrid cuts her off gracefully, earnestly. She smiles. "I would love to. Ernesto's?"

Lena flashes her a demure smile. "You still remember my favorite..."

"Our favorite," Astrid reminds her. Oh, she knows what she's implying, and she's pleased that Lena doesn't push away from it. If anything, she leans towards it.

"Right. Our favorite." Her gaze heats when it meets Astrid's. "Our usual table then?"

"I shall accept no other," Astrid teases.

Lena giggles. "Okay, good. I'll see you at 7."

Their usual time.

"I look forward to it," Astrid promises.

As they part ways for the afternoon, Astrid can't help but pause and glance at Lena's departing form as it disappears amid the crowded street.

Even aside from the wardrobe change, Lena is different. She's always been confident, but now, it seems less... projected. Less a screen erected as a front and more... true. A settling into her own skin.

She sees that same quiet confidence at the restaurant later that night. Lena has exchanged her doc martens and knitted scarf for a silky gown that makes Astrid's mouth go dry, but it's the softness at her edges that truly catches Astrid's eye.

Where Lena once shone brilliantly, a sun to bright to look at directly, this Lena simply glows, an ember sitting warm and happy on the hearth.

During appetizers Astrid learns that Lena spent the day scouring the city for a book. A very specific book, it would seem. Rare and mysterious, if the way Lena repeatedly seems to stop herself short just before she begins to explain its nature or purpose in any greater detail.

It happens more than once, and beyond the search for the book as well. Certainly enough to pique Astrid's interest.

"Are you seeing anyone?"

Lena's question surprises Astrid. There's no edge to it, no judgement or resentment. Just open curiosity and the warmth of being ready to accept anyone who makes Astrid happy.

"No," Astrid returns truthfully. "I'm not."

Others in her social sphere usually react with sad deprecation-- Astrid is basically a spinster of a divorcee at this point. But Lena's eyes simply warm as her smile deepens.

"Then maybe I should count myself lucky," Lena murmurs, voice as silky as her dress.

Astrid returns the smile, reaching across the table to tangle her fingers with Lena's.

"Perhaps we're both lucky."

But when they head back to Astrid's hotel suite with one thing in mind... Astrid's attention can't help to wonder about the damn book. She should be halfway out of her mind with delirious delight, the way Lena is tracing patterns on Astrid's skin and the way Lena herself sits on Astrid's bare lap in nothing but her lace bra and panties.

But the mystery of their conversation early tugs too insistently at the back of Astrid's mind, and she pulls gently away, lifting her hands to cup Lena's cheeks in her palms.

"Lena, darling... what aren't you telling me?"

Lena freezes, a deer caught in the headlights. She moves rise, but Astrid tugs her back down.

"All night, you've been so enthusiastic, but just before you share the what and the why of what makes you happy, you stop yourself. Why?"

Lena swallows audibly. "I don't know if I have a good answer that won't scare you away."

Astrid scoffs. "Scare me...? Lena-- you are magic to me. You always have been. And if you think anything you can tell me will drive me off, then... you don't know me very well."

Lena tilts her head with a plaintive smile. "I'm afraid it may be the opposite. I'm... different. From the Lena you knew before."

Astrid leans forward to kiss her. The touch is sweet and soft and lingering.

"Then tell me," Astrid urges. "So I can learn to love you all over again."

Lena's nervous smile turns hopeful. Astrid watches the warring thoughts behind her lover's eyes, and sits waiting in the hopes the doubts would quiet enough for her to learn whatever new truths Lena may share.

In the end, she's rewarded with a soft sigh. "Okay," Lena breathes. "Just know that it's complicated, and I'm still figuring it out myself."

"Oh, god," Astrid groans. "Please don't tell me you've been straight all along..."

The comment pops Lena out of her nerves. She barks a laugh, giving Astrid's bare thight a light smack.

"No," Lena chuckles. "Nothing like that. But...."

Astrid nibbles at the hook. "But...?"

Lena smiles.

"It's funny that you mentioned magic."

[suppose-i-was-worm]

Dragon Landing pt 2

Kon watched in fear as the dragon touched down in the wide plaza, Lex smiling smugly as the great beast landed.

“Great Dragon, welcome to Metropolis.”

The dragon nodded slowly, swinging it’s head around to see the gathered crowd.

“If you are looking for your assistant, I regret to inform you that he has committed a most horrible sin against you, sir.”

The dragon tilted its head, and the crowd parted. Kon tried to dart forward to catch Danny as he was thrown to the ground, securely tied in ropes, but his guards grabbed his arms and held him tight.

“What has he done?”

The dragon’s first words rumbled across the plaza, and Kon shivered at the underlying anger to it’s voice.

Lex made a grand gesture.

“He dared to seduce your intended spouse, my nephew Kon-el. Do not worry, though, we caught them before anything untoward could happen.”

A strange chuffing noise came from the dragon, and it lowered it’s head to look at Danny, still lying on the ground.

“Do you know what you have done, son of Clockwork?”

Much to Kon’s horror, Danny grinned brightly.

“I understand what I’ve been accused of, sure.”

“You have betrayed me in this, Daniel Clockwork.”

“IT WASN’T HIS FAULT,” Kon yelled, struggling against the guards. “Please- punish me, if you must- Danny didn’t start anything!”

The dragon side eyed Kon, and then turned it’s attention back to Danny.

“Rise, Daniel, and accept your punishment.”

“Oh? I thought you liked the sight of me tied up.”

To the shock of the entire plaza, Danny rose to his feet, slipping through the ropes like they were air. He stood in front of the dragon’s great head, smiling serenely.

The dragon brought it’s nose down close to Danny, and a wisp of flame spouted from it’s nostrils.

Kon screamed as the flame wrapped around the man he’d fallen in love with- he could never care for the dragon after this, even if he had to marry the great beast.

And then the flames subsided, and there Danny was, still standing. He was different, though- the purple bruise on his cheek from Lex’s guards was gone, and he wasn’t hunched over his right side, favoring a broken rib.

When he’d arrived in Metropolis Keep, and every day since, his garb had been nice but unremarkable. Now, having been consumed by flames, his clothing was of the finest silks, with delicate embroidery and gems creating the night sky on his dark robes.

Most shocking at all was the pointed ears of a faerie and his hair- an ethereal shock of white were before it had been blacker than shadow.

“It has been too long, my loyal servant” the dragon rumbled.

“A month without you is akin to a year without stars, my lord.”

Kon took advantage of the guards shock to rush forward, pushing past his uncle to reach Danny. Danny, who turned to him with a brilliant grin.

“Prince Kon-el! Meet my lord, the dragon.”

Remembering some decorum in the face of his worry, Kon bowed to the dragon, who regarded him with one great yellow eye.

“A pleasure to meet you, Lord Dragon.”

The dragon chuffed again, turning back to Danny.

“He is pretty, I’ll give you that. Will you stand with us, Prince Kon-el?”

Kon looked to Danny, who was nodding furiously at him.

“If that is your wish?”

“I care more for your wishes, but I will accept that answer.”

The dragon’s tail looped around them both, and Kon watched as Danny gave it a pat.

“King Luthor.” There was danger in the dragon’s voice. “You made a deal with me- a spouse in exchange for power.”

“Yes, Lord Dragon, if you-“

“I did not give you permission to speak.”

A sick sort of glee filled Kon as Lex shut up with a snap.

“I would have complied with your request, had I not spent the last month learning of your misdeeds. I might have even been lenient, more than just allowing you your life, but it seems you missed a very important fact about dragons.”

The tail surrounding Kon and Danny tightened possessively.

“Dragons are known to have multiple spouses- hoarding them more fiercely than gold and treating them better than the finest of gems. Until today I was possessed of only a single spouse, and you- usurper, kidnapper, false king- you allowed him to come to harm.”

Kon looked sharply over at Danny, but the faerie was smiling vindictively, stroking the dragon’s scales with delicate fingers that were dripping with silver and diamond jewelry.

“Did you know,” the dragon continued, “that the man whose throne you took- who was left for dead by your traitorous followers- recovered well? King Kent is returning to Metropolis to take back his throne, along with his wife and son.”

Something roiled in Kon’s stomach- the knowledge that his father had another son with a legal wife- as opposed to himself, a child born out of wedlock to Lex’s sister through coercion- made him feel ill.

“He has agreed that Kon-el may come with me until Metropolis is safe. After that, it is up to the prince as to where he will go.”

The dragon reached out one massive claw, touching Lex on the chest.

“I curse you, Luthor- I curse you for laying a hand on my beloved, for usurping a throne that is not rightfully yours. I curse you for casting out a friend of my father and leaving him for dead. I curse you for stealing a child from his father and depriving him of that relationship, and I curse you for attempting to use that child as a bargaining chip for power. Lex Luthor, you will never hold a position of power again. Only the dogs will believe the words you speak from here on out. So mote it be.”

Kon watched as Lex started to protest, but all that came out was the howling of a street dog.

The surrounding crowd began to snicker, and then to laugh.

They stopped as the dragon continued speaking, this time to the guards who had thrown Danny to the ground.

“Personally, I do not think those who laid hands on my husband should be allowed to live, and yet I am well aware what he thinks of wanton bloodshed. His people, however, may not be so kind. I would suggest stocking up on cold iron.”

Danny tugged at Kon’s hand, and he let himself be pulled up and onto the dragon’s tail, and then up further still to rest on the beasts broad back. Part of him thought that he ought to have struggled to climb up, but the rest of him was dealing with relief from the stress of the past day.

The man he loved was safe and sound, his father was well and returning, and Lex could no longer bring the kingdom to evil.

The dragon spread his wings, and with two hefty flaps, they were off the ground and in the air.

Kon scrabbled to grab a hold of something with the hand not held securely in Danny’s but there was no purchase on the smooth scales underneath him.

“Peace, Kon-el,” the dragon rumbled beneath them. “I will not let you fall.”

A tugging on his hand again prompted Kon to turn to Danny, who was smiling at him gently.

“Do you want to continue what we started?”

There was a twinkle in his eye, and Kon flushed hot, remembering their almost-kiss while they practiced dancing.

“H-here?”

Danny shrugged playfully.

“Why not? My lord doesn’t mind.”

“I- no, I don’t think I am comfortable with that.”

With a nod, Danny brought Kon’s hand up to his lips, brushing across the back feather light.

“Your comfort is my utmost priority, my prince.”

The dragon rumbled underneath them, and Kon almost thought it was agreement.

[trashlama]

How about future mikey and leo trying to get with reader and there "ha bitch i get her first!" And reader in the background "man they are great *friend*"

A Mikey and Leo rivalry? I can work with that.

Knowing these two this would probably end up being in a situation like the Jupiter Jim sidekick competition episode/or the Mafia Boss Dinner episode.

Both instances the brothers bumped heads to gain favor. Willing to pull whatever to gain an advantage over the opposing brother. Vying for the approval of their idol and table.

Though instead of Space Points and unicorns this two-man competition's prize was your affections. And were they determined to win it. By any means necessary.

Because of this pretty broad concept I conjured up a couple scenarios. One that is pretty long(wouldn't call it a drabble but, I guess it could be), and the rest are pretty short and sweet.

Sorry if these are pretty fluffy!

Enjoy!

1.) Mikey and Leo budding heads over who would their newly acquired yokai friend would prefer romantically.

It was obvious you liked them. You visited their home all the time. Polite and friendly. Always happy to lend a hand when needed.

A darling Oni that has been relentlessly plaguing Mikey and Leo's thoughts since their first encounter with you on a trip to the Mystic City market. Lost in the sea of merchants and patrons your light shined the brightest amongst the populace they swam through. Memorized by your character they found themselves hooked. They needed more of you in their lives. They just couldn't get enough. You were too addictive. Like a good slice of pizza that demanded seconds. They craved more.

It wouldn't take long until a disagreement sparked between them because of Leo's arrogance and lack of self-control. Mikey although capable of choosing his battles would not stand for Leo's blatant antagonism. Defending that he too was just as capable of obtaining your attention as his older blue color coded sibling . After some back and forth bickering the two would arrive at an agreement.

They'd settle this just like everything else they both wanted. Compete for it.

And the prize? You and the bragging rights that came with.

With a handshake the match was set.

And so let the games begin!

The following weeks when visiting the Mad Dog's Lair a ceaseless competition between the red eared slider and box turtle. Given the opportunity the two wild child Hamatos would one-up each other. Both in their own unique way of trying to woo you.

Leo being the showoff that we all love and snicker at would approach this with all the swagger in the world. Bombarding you with compliments and grand gestures. Surprising you with sentiments of affection and trips all around the metropolis. Showboating his skills on the court and in a match. Pulling out all the stops to make sure every time you guys hung out was memorable. After all he's got a girl and bragging rights to win.

Mikey would just try to play it cool in his own Mikey-ish way. And by cool, I mean over the top. Using equally cringy pick-up lines and gestures that anyone else that wasn't you, would've recognized right away for their romantic undertones. Attentive and sweet constantly whipping up snacks and treats just so he could gift them to you. Encouraging you to join the box turtle playing games and other extracurricular activities. Doing anything to get you alone with him. He wasn't losing you to Leo! Not on his watch.

Meanwhile you found the whole charade fun. Finding humor in the way the color coded brothers would squabble as they butted heads over what most would consider little things.

Since the encounter that introduced you to the turtles the grass was a little greener on your side. Finding acceptance amongst the family of mutated Hamatos despite your lineage. Being a kijo wasn't an easy life for a yoaki. So finding someone let alone a whole group of similarly fated individuals who didn't immediately shun you was a blessing. To the Hamato clan you were just another friend. And for someone like you that was a tough commodity to come by. So of course when the turtles— especially a pair of blue and orange bandana wearing brothers wanted to invite you all over the place. Who were you to deny such an opportunity?

You were just glad to have such great friends.

2.) A friend of April's that they both found interest in and compete to woo their s/o. Ooonnllly for the reader to be into Raph/or Donnie. Naive s/o just thought she's making a great first impression with her crush's family. Not realizing instead you further stoked the fire between the red eared slider and box shell.

3.) Human s/o convinced by Mikey and Leo to visit the Mystic City with them. The two using the excursion as a way to settle who you would prefer to date out of the two of them by putting you through wild ass obstacles. Such as them taking out to eat to see who could pick out the best dish for you, taking you down to the mystic market to see who could pick out the best gift, even going as far as taking a detour so they could purposely run into trouble so they both could 'save' you. To only find out later after all of this once they return you home that you already had a human boyfriend. Welp guess they're going to have to team up to take out the real competition.

4.) A newly mutated s/o who Mikey and Leo try to woo as they try to 'help' you adjust to your new form. Taking advantage that you mutated into a turtle so that they can get closer to you. Claiming that because their turtles too that they would be able to help with the transition process. S/o just thinks they're great friends meanwhile in the background Leo and Mikey bumping heads over who will get to be with you when spring comes.

Annnnd that's all for now folks!

I probably could've come up with more but, I suck.

Here's a little author's note in regards to requests↓

Sorry about slackin' on the request! I'm also sorry about the requests not being posted in the order that may have been requested in. They don't really have dates next to them so I kinda've been pickin' and choosin' the ones I can get out quickly. I suck I know. Buuuuttt, the reason others that may be older is also because I want them to come out good. Everything I make may it be writin' or drawin' I always try to work on soemthin' until I'm satisfied with it. I hate creating something that I don't like. I like for all my stuff to be on some level unique, personal. I make these for you guys so I want you guys to feel like I actually gave a damn rather than just throwin' somethin' together and saying tada. Once again sorry about this long ass message. I haven't abandoned these requests. I'm just slow due to some outside forces and my own personal stuff.

Thank you guys for bearing with me and I hope you guys enjoyed these!

I hope you guys have a great day!

Here's some memes I came across while at work.

Sorry this is long↓ I don't own these memes. I've never claimed to do so. I just come across them on Pinterest when I'm on break at work and think they're funny so I like to share them. If I mistakenly put one on here that I shouldn't have please let me know! I like to respect people's wishes. And if you could add the creator names too that would be great so the same mistake isn't made twice. Sorry for the inconvenience that my sharing may cause. I hope you have a good day.

[pixeldistractions]

So, as it turned out, Maria had made herself a haphazard stay-at-home mom. That wasn’t something she had ever aspired to. Taking care of children was honorable work, no doubt, but she never imagined it could be her full-time reality. To suit their travels, they couldn’t put Johanna in preschool, and it wouldn’t make sense for Maria to apply for steady work anywhere, either.

“Don’t worry about it,” Jordan said, “You just focus on JoJo.”

So, homeschooling then? Maria launched into this lifestyle with wild abandon, like she’d launched into everything else she’d ever done in her life. Whee! Here we go!

Maybe she saw now why her parents questioned all of her decision-making.

Homeschooling a preschooler was easy enough, but next year, when Johanna was old enough for kindergarten, there would be regulations, paperwork, and exams. Perhaps she should read some books about it. For now, it seemed good enough to make sure she could ride a bike.

Jordan left for the university each morning to plumb toilets that had no doubt seen some terrifying things, and Maria and Johanna had these days to themselves. They loaded up their packs with snacks and water bottles and rode into town. Sierra Nova wasn’t a sprawling metropolis, but there was enough to do here. Museums and libraries, to start. There was the beach, the farmer’s market, parks and playgrounds. When Jordan’s contract was complete, he also wanted to take them to the adventure park.

Today, they found an arts fair at the community center. Creative at heart, Maria swooned over all the artists selling their crafts and artwork. She daydreamed about whether this was also something she could do with herself someday. Someday when JoJo didn’t require so much of her attention, which was actually most hours of the day, so maybe it wasn’t something she could do with herself. But it was fun enough to dream about.

At the back of the room, Maria found a stand peddling musical instruments. She could never resist a finely crafted instrument, and she could play a note or two on most anything after years of musical education. She strummed a couple guitars. She picked up a flute and turned it in her hands. Violin was the instrument she’d trained on for most of her life, but she also had a great love for the cello. It had been so long since she held one.

“Oh, JoJo, look at this one!”

“Wow,” Johanna said, “It’s so big!”

Somewhere in Wisconsin, Lou was sobbing over the missed opportunity to say, “Your mama loves having a big instrument between her legs.”

Oh, Maria missed her sister dearly.

She would channel that longing into a deep and mournful song, drawing the bow slowly, feeling the sound deep in her chest. Johanna only stood in awe for about three seconds before she went to the sales table to find an instrument of her own to play. With her eyes gleaming and hands rabid, the attendant quickly handed her a simple tambourine instead of the beautifully crafted wooden flute.

A wise choice, Maria thought.

The two of them made a ragtag little duet. Maria tried to get her wild child to follow the steady pace of her tapping foot. Johanna had little rhythm, but she was adorable, swirling and dancing and chiming the tambourine above her head.

And then the funniest thing happened—someone tossed a ten-dollar bill at their feet.

Oh, god, he probably thought she was begging. A homeless single mother, down on her luck, using her adorable child for pity tips.

“Wait, no,” Maria called out, but the man didn’t hear her and carried on. She felt bad for taking the money under that assumption, but at the same time, she was technically unemployed. And sort of homeless? Maybe his assessment wasn’t too far off the truth.

Maria nodded and JoJo picked up the money.

“Not bad at all,” the seller said as Maria returned the cello to its stand and the crowds dispersed. “You sure you don’t want to buy it?”

“Thank you, but I don’t think we have the room for something like that. We’ll take the tambourine, though.”

Well, Jordan said they didn’t need any more pillows in the camper, but he never said anything about musical instruments.

— “boxes and squares #5.2: come down from the clouds” (3/10)

Next -> // 5.2 start // index

[fcmn]

So, I decided to talk about Downpour DLC of Rain World, because, why not?

I'll talk only about More Slugcat Expansion part of DLC, because Co-op and expeditions that were added is just great, I don't have anything to say about them.

Also I want to make clear that everything said here is purely my opinion and I don't force anyone to agree on it, and also spread hate on anyone who disagree on this opinion.

SPOILERS!!!

So, Downpour. An Expansion, that added 5 new characters to play and 5 new campaings to expirience, and yet, there's something I don't like about it. So let's talk about everything one by one.

1. Slugcats

Gourmand, Artificer, Rivulet, Spearmaster and Saint. Five new scugs, five new ways to play the game. I really like how fun they are, really, they all powerful and unique, you have to adapt for every single one of them. But this coin has two sides. Fun and power we got, cost us the idea of vanilla Rain World, the fact, that we are almost at the bottom of a food chain, we can overpower every threat, but with pure strugle and effort, not just because we have the ability to make everything go kaboom. I can't say I dislike the gameplay of new scugs, but I can't say I purely like it. The same creatures and threat that we encountered as vanilla trio, doesn't feel the same way for new squad, they can arguebly easy kill anything. I do believe, that there is a golden line between fun and philosophy of Rain World, it is probably possible to balance every scug in a way, that they will feel more natural for the eco-system, but still being fun to play. I'm not a developer, nor a game-designer, it's just my opinion as a player.

2. Story

This is something that I started to think about not so long ago. Each of the new campaings, except Saint, has a pretty similar pattern: Go to FP, listen to some dialogue, go into new region and get your score screen. Why is it always Five Pebbles? You have to visit him in order to progress the story. Which isn't true for Hunter, Monk or Survivor. I mean, as a new player, you'll visit him to get a basic understanding of what are you even suposed to do, but when you know where do you need to go, you can get to the ending without visiting Pebbles or Moon. You could say, that it makes sence for them to go to Pebbles, because they have to receive something from him. Fixing ID drone for Arti, giving Riv the ball, opening gate to outer expanse for Gourm and taking thr pearl put of Spearmaster. For SM, I'll say right now, that it is logical for him to visit Pebbles in prder to progress, he is a messenger. Probably it is the same for Riv, but I still have a filing that it could be done differently. Though I think it should be different for Arti and Gourm. As a Gourmand, it doesn't make sence for Pebbles to give him a mark of communication at all, he could just sent him out of his can and show him the direction to the Outer Expanse via the Overseers, much like Iggy does guide Monk and Survivor to Looks to the Moon and then to Five Pebbles. For Artificer, since she's next after Spearmaster, of which visit FP wasnt happy at all and he could just lock the karma gates to FP region like he did with Outer Expanse, so no one could enter his structure and distract him. Sofanthiel (ID drone), could be more useful in this scenario, he could act as an Overseer of sorts, pointing out threat, flashing images of Chief Scav and Elite Scavs as warnings and he could lead to the alternative way into Metropolis and also, I would give player a bit different route to the Chieftain Scav arena, the route that would make a visit to Atop the Tallest Tower mandatory for going forward, and the Echo there would give player a choice, proceed with the path of violence or choose a path of Ascension, which, in my opinion, does fit the "What fate a slugcat?" phrase.

Saint is just worth a whole another post to just talk about him, because he gives off mixed signals for me. But I can say, that, I love his campaing.

Overall, I do think that downpour story is good at some points, for me at least, but I also think, that it could've been done a lot better.

3. Five Pebbles.

I do like the new character of Five Pebbles, it does waves away almost everything pre-Downpour FP showed us, byt it's still a great character with good tragedy story. Five Pebbles and other Iterators being more human-like is a good thing for me. Five Pebbles being more similar to humans with his personality is something I like, because you can grow a bond with him through out the story. From SM's campaing where he is an angry teen who just pushes everyone away, all the way to the Riv's campaing, where he is more mature, regretting everything he's done in the past, not seeking forgivness upon himself. Seeing him first time in Saint's campaing and listen to him barely able to speak is... Heavy. It is a really emotional moment and I couldn't hold the tears, looking at the way he speaks and trying to listen his favorite pearl, even though it's already showing sings of decay, slowly fading out.

4. Sliver of Straw.

It's more about Challenge 70 being uncanon. I do dislike this statement and I think, it wastes a lot of interesting things to discuss because of it. All the theories about Sliver and Saint, also about Iterator's abbilities just fell into nothing. I personally love the theory about Saint being THE triple affirmative, created by Sliver herself to ascend her and probably others, but, it just happend too early, before Sliver was able to share the news about solving their great problem, and that's why she fought back, as Saint tried to ascend her. I just love this theory and I hate the fact, that it all just nothing more than a silly headcannon, because of how Challenge 70 is considered non-canon >:(

That's all I have to say about Downpour. Sorry if there was too much hate of just straight up nonsence, these are just my unfiltered thoughts on the DLC. Also I am, by no means encouraging you to spread any form of hate towards Downpour developer team or Videocult themselfs, they all did a massive job to bringing this Expansion to life and I am happy we do have it at all.

[bethanydelleman]

Northanger Abbey Readthrough, Ch 4

Catherine is fully prepared to meet Mr. Tilney again but he is nowhere to be found! Disaster!

However, good is on the horizon, Mrs. Allen finally finds a friend, Mrs. Thorpe, an old schoolfellow. Austen throws in a great joke:

Their joy on this meeting was very great, as well it might, since they had been contented to know nothing of each other for the last fifteen years.

Austen brings up this again in Mansfield Park, where for all her sisterly love, Mrs. Norris will not put herself in any expense to see her sister:

It had, in fact, occurred to her, that though taken to Portsmouth for nothing, it would be hardly possible for her to avoid paying her own expenses back again. So her poor dear sister Price was left to all the disappointment of her missing such an opportunity, and another twenty years’ absence, perhaps, begun. (Ch 37)

It is such a true thing, a sad thing, that we claim to love people and yet are content to never see them... (Or even write) This is clearly performative friendship, but it happens with real ones too.

I love the "friendship" between Mrs. Allen and Mrs. Thorpe because it is so true to life, they both talk about themselves and really don't listen to the other:

they proceeded to make inquiries and give intelligence as to their families, sisters, and cousins, talking both together, far more ready to give than to receive information, and each hearing very little of what the other said.

Also, Mrs. Allen unable to brag about children contents herself by knowing she has more handsome lace!

So I have heard theories that this whole meeting was planned by the Thorpes, but honestly, the Thorpes are not that good at planning. Also, the childhood acquaintance is real. It seems likely to me that the Thorpes were already going to Bath to husband hunt and John Thorpe planned to bring James, but everything else was a "happy" coincidence.

We meet the three Thorpe sisters:

Her eldest daughter had great personal beauty, and the younger ones, by pretending to be as handsome as their sister, imitating her air, and dressing in the same style, did very well.

This comes much later, but the younger Thorpe sisters are basically clones of Isabella. We hear them talk and it's identical to Isabella. I cannot imagine spending time with this family! I would explode.

Miss Thorpe, however, being four years older than Miss Morland, and at least four years better informed, had a very decided advantage in discussing such points; she could compare the balls of Bath with those of Tunbridge, its fashions with the fashions of London; could rectify the opinions of her new friend in many articles of tasteful attire; could discover a flirtation between any gentleman and lady who only smiled on each other; and point out a quiz through the thickness of a crowd.

Quiz does not mean "a short test" until the 1850s. The word quiz is used a lot in Northanger Abbey and it's current meaning is, "odd person, person or thing deemed ridiculous".

This passage reminds me a lot of a section from Austen's Love and Freindship:

Isabel had seen the World. She had passed 2 Years at one of the first Boarding-schools in London; had spent a fortnight in Bath and had supped one night in Southampton. “Beware my Laura (she would often say) Beware of the insipid Vanities and idle Dissipations of the Metropolis of England; Beware of the unmeaning Luxuries of Bath and of the stinking fish of Southampton.”

In both passages, I believe we are meant to understand that the informant is not actually that informed, they just look worldly to our poor naive heroine.

This passage is a jab at the novel style of the era:

This brief account of the family is intended to supersede the necessity of a long and minute detail from Mrs. Thorpe herself, of her past adventures and sufferings, which might otherwise be expected to occupy the three or four following chapters; in which the worthlessness of lords and attorneys might be set forth, and conversations, which had passed twenty years before, be minutely repeated.

I didn't really understand the reference until I read Belinda by Maria Edgeworth, wherein a character gave a 36 PAGE history of herself. It was very strange to read and not very natural. So good on Austen for realizing that style was terrible.

Also, this much loved quote is so sarcastic:

Catherine was delighted with this extension of her Bath acquaintance, and almost forgot Mr. Tilney while she talked to Miss Thorpe. Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.

Ah yes, her disappointed love of not seeing the guy she danced with for one evening! And her friendship of about 10 minutes.