#thread . . . diana & bruce.

[theirmadness]

diana's dark gaze followed the movement of bruce's hand up her legs. she's intrigued, so she parts her legs open just enough as a quiet invitation, raising one of his eyebrows down at him with a challenge in her eyes. she could snap his hand in half, and he knows that. but instead, she's allowing him to continue to do whatever he intends.

Bruce looks into her eyes for a moment then slides down onto his knees in front of her, his hands sliding slowly up her legs.

[fortunatelychaoticphantom]

Bruce: **staring at Clark intently for a long time**

Clark: "What is it?"

Bruce: "Do you have an appendix?"

Clark: "What?"

Diana: "Bruce, that's rude. You can't just ask someone if they have an appendix."

Bruce: "So we're just not going to talk about **gesturing vaguely at Clark** this?"

Victor: "I was actually wondering this myself. I mean, the evolutionary implications alone are staggering. Does this mean we have a common ancestor? Are we Kryptonians? Are they human? Is this a nessecary evolutionary path for all advanced life forms in the galaxy?"

Clark: **panicking** "Oh my god. I don't know."

Barry: **freaking out** "What do you mean you don't know?!"

Clark: "Get me a mirror, quick!"

Barry: **running in a blur and getting a mirror**

Clark: **trying to x-ray himself with a mirror, half crying** "What am I???"

Bruce: **exasperated and a 100% hiding how freaked out he actually is** "That's not how your vision works."

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

Later...

Bruce: **meeting J'onn in his Martian form for the first time, losing his goddam mind** "This is so much worse."

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

Later later...

Hal: "I mean, most of the folks I meet are human-like, so it's not that weird."

Bruce: **holding his sanity by a fucking thread** "Most???"

Hal: "Oh you should meet Mogo. He's a sentient planet and a Lantern."

Bruce:

Hal: "He's not very friendly though... I think you'll like him."

Bruce: **leaves and never returns**

[licnheartedd]

a lesson in laying your armour down

19,235 words | T | batfamily & superbat

They knew from the beginning that there was no coming back from this. Darkseid had already taken everything from them, and if they wanted to rebuild—if they wanted to buy themselves some more time with the people they love before it was all lost again—this was their only choice. With his children dead at his feet, and with everyone he had ever tried to protect long gone, Bruce was ready to dig his own grave. The mission was over. He had failed. Even those left standing—Clark, Diana, J’onn, Barry—were hanging on by a thread. There were a few others too, but Bruce couldn’t pull himself out of his grief long enough to register who was still standing. Even as the final plan, their last chance, was being discussed, Bruce felt a million miles away. Absolution finds him where he least deserves it.

[thesummerstorms]

God, I have so much reading and/or research to do to see if this actually makes sense. But my rough/working outline for Heroes of Olympus Wonder Family goes like:

> The Titan War/Second Titanomachy ends

> Diana sees enough when the Justice League is sent to clean up and investigate the remnants of the three day battle in Manhattan to demand answers of the Gods

> Diana, along with Donna Troy and Cassie Sandsmark, get answers. They do not like the answers. Too bad, so sad, Zeus already made them swear, so no take backs.

> Diana and co. start seeing the early supernatural disturbances that indicate Gaia's rise, which were previously hidden by the Mist

> Artemis of Bana-Mighdal has started figuring out the whole demigod thing on her own with the Mist having been weakened by Hecate's defection, but assumes Diana already knows, which pisses her off

> All four Amazon's respective teams/ superhero friend groups are perturbed by their sudden, seemingly random disappearances and their refusal to explain what's happening (Diana & co. because of their oath on the Styx, Artemis because she's playing her cards close to her chest until she finds out who already knew about the dying children.)

> This continues, gradually escalating and getting tenser, until the Gods seal themselves in Olympus and Thanatos is captured. None of the Amazons actually know where either Camp is specifically so they can't ask for answers unless they find a demigod in the wild.

> Cassie Sandsmark takes a blow that should have killed her in front of Kon and Tim. She revives similar to Gwen from Camp Jupiter. Her friends freak out. She freaks out. Diana shepherds her away without answering any questions.

> All three of Diana's Amazons go dark overnight. Donna and Cassie's absence isn't really noticed by the civilians, but the press does eventually put it together that no one's seen Wonder Woman.

> Artemis the Amazon has also gone missing, but most people who notice think she's gone back to Bana-Mighdal. She has not.

> She may actually find Sadie and Carter Kane at some point, but I know even less about their books

> Elsewhere on Half-Blood Hill, the Roman and Greek demigods eventually destroy Gaia. A lot of clean up/mopping up is done after the funerals.

> Diana publicly reappears with grey inexplicably threading her hair. When Bruce and Clark demand answers, all she'll say is that the Gods can take back anything they freely gave. The implication is that she angered her father Zeus and is no longer immortal.

> Bruce and Clark realize she can't speak about whatever happened, but are disturbed enough by the results that Bruce starts digging.

> Donna Troy shows up first to bother Dick Grayson in Bludhaven specifically and then to the Titans. Unlike Diana, she is still actively looking for loopholes and starts bugging the shit out of them to return to Manhattan, hoping to lead Dick specifically to discover the demigods without revealing enough herself to get zapped by her oath on the Styx.

> Kon and Tim just walk in one day and Cassie is sitting there without any warning. This is one of the weaker bits for me because I haven't read enough source material, but right now I imagine it leads to Cassie having some sort of break down that Tim and Kon don't know how to handle. If that's OOC, I'll revise it later.

> Artemis has voluntarily relocated herself to NYC, though she vocally hates it, due to the proximity both to CHB and the Brooklyn House. She reached out to Jason starting to ask for aid gathering specific information, not knowing that he's already been tipped off by his brothers that something is up.

> Somewhere in the midst of this growing mess, Annabeth Wayne Chase, only a few months returned from Tartarus, is spurred by a chance reunion with her cousin Magnus to go home to Gotham for closure.

> She doesn't intend to contact any of her family so much as observe them from a distance, as her own Oath not to reveal the Gods and their children to the superhero community is still in place.

> ...good luck with that, Annabeth. It's not like they're all already more suspicious of the Greek gods right now or anything....

[dreammakcr]

Diana clicked her tongue at his answer, but knew better than to think that this was just going to be a regular gala. After everything she'd seen, she was already ready for the next battle. "A shame, really. I was hoping to at least get a bit of dancing done before the moment is ruined," she sighed, turning around to face him. "Anyone I should be keeping an eye on?" // @talesfromthevoiid

"Diana." Bruce returned, there were very few people who could tell when Bruce Wayne was walking up on them (if he didn't want them too) but he had never been able to hide from Diana Prince. He smiled for a moment, "I think we both know that I wouldn't be here if everything was fine." he pointed out, "A little far away from home for my taste. I hope you didn't plan to actually enjoy this party."

[frownyalfred]

You brought this upon yourself, Res.

it's late evening and bruce has taken the rare chance to relax in the gigantic pool that/jacuzzi that he's got bc he's rich enough to buy the entire solar system

clark and diana are with him too, enjoying themselves and splashing around in the water. they try to get bruce to join them but he refuses so after a bit they gang up against him and push him into the shallow end.

they hold him down under the water but it's fine bc he's batman and he can hold his breath for longer than a normal person can

but eventually the lack of oxygen gets to him and he starts to struggle a bit, but diana and clark don't let him bc they forget he's, well, y'know, human

bruce is getting light-headed and is about to pass out when the two realize he's actually drowning and pull him out. he's breathing heavily and the two are apologizing profusely but he's got the biggest blush on his face and they realize he's hard

joke's on you. I gave him a strength kink. after all, how many people has he met that are stronger than him? (that are not villains or his children)

diana takes advantage of this. starts dirty-talking him. tells him about how good he was and praises him for staying under the water for so long. "that's my bat-boy." she says. he whimpers 🥺

clark runs his hands down his sides, pressing his face into bruce's shoulders, nibbling a bit at his collarbone. bruce melts into his arms, shivering at the treatment.

diana kisses him, making him every more light-headed than he already was. he kisses back against her desperately, eager for more.

bruce moans, bucking up against her. she grins menacingly, reaching down to grab his election through his swimming trunks, teasing him.

bruce begs for her to touch him before she shushes him, telling him she calls the shots here. clark kisses him next, reaching down to grab his ass, a vague promise of what will happen next.

diana reaches into his shorts, grabbing his dick and pulling it out. she strokes it with feather-light touches, calmly listening to his whimpers and whines as she pleasures him.

"clark, take over?" she asks attaching herself to bruce's nipples. clark's firm grip is wider and stronger than her's, stroking bruce faster than diana did.

bruce is very loud at this point.

"shhh." clark croons. "don't want anyone hearing, do you? aren't the kids still around?" he shuts bruce up with his mouth.

bruce is holding on buy a thread now. diana reaches down and prods at his hole, gently pushing in shallowly, aware of the lack of lube.

bruce cums, seeing stars. he's laying limp against clark, who chuckles, holding him close.

"we're not done yet, bruce." He says.

Do I continue???

Okay anon 👀 I see you. I don’t think I’ve ever run into a drowning kink before but I can see where you’re going.

If you want to write it, you should! There’s a dearth of superwonderbat fics out there.

[rhinexstone]

Bruce Wayne is that billionaire full body laser removal kinda smooth and I also feel like he lasered off the sweat glands of his lower face to leave no trace in the suit. He also got rid of all body hair so if he’s injured he doesn’t need to dry shave before operating.

Clark however spent his teens honing the eye-laser-beam-facial-and-haircut because it’s the only thing that cuts through his hair, so he would rather eat Kryptonite than try to remove his own body hair.

Diana 100% does not shave but she does get her brows threaded with whichever green lantern is in town (Hal and John are 100% into grooming)

[nebulastarss]

World building the Catbatfam AU:

About Gotham: it's actually peaceful there. Yeah, all is casual, no need for costumed vigilantes. There's still a dark and dreary aesthetic, but is it truly GOTHam without the gargoyles and rain and darkness? It's just a normal city, no unusually high crime rate.

About the Rogues: honestly? They're either also cats or don't exist. With things being the way they are (peaceful Gotham, no vigilantes), some of the Rogues dont have their problems.

Examples:

Mr Freeze: Nora's illnesses don't work if she's a cat, and we can't have Victor going villain, so instead she has a rare illness, but beats it against the odds, and they live together happily. This works as both cats and humans

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

The Joker (a potential side story in a series): he's a human, he's just a bitch with a bad sense of humor who doesn't like animals. He moved to Gotham thinking the smog would lower the amount of animals, but not only did he move in across from a (thriving?) Park, but also his last remaining relatives died, and all they left him was their fucking cat named Harleen, or Harley.

(They did that as they left everything else to their close friends. They hated him, so they didn't want him to sue for being forgotten in the will, and instead left him something they knew he'd hate. They figured he'd give Harley up within a week. The Joker has too much pride for that.)

He hates that cat. He refuses to get a litter box, so she very quickly has to learn to be an outdoor cat. Harley does not know how to outdoor cat. She is struggling.

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

Ivy: a stray cat who's taken over the park outside of the Joker's house. She's got plant powers, always having plants threaded through her orange fur. She helps Harley, and their story ends with her kicking the Joker's ass. They become Gotham's resident cat-park lesbians. Honestly, she's living her best life. Harley is no longer struggling.

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

Killer Croc: Waylon is a cat with a skin condition, he always seems to be covered in scabs. He was taken in by a lovely family.

I can't think of anything else, I don't really care for the rogue's backstories tbh

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

The Wayne's (main plot): the owners are Martha and Thomas Wayne, and their cat Alfred. They refer to him as their friend, talk to him like a person, and eventually claim he's co-parenting their kitten Bruce. They got Alfred in college, and I'll post a drawing of him the second motivation hits. Until then you don't get to know his breed, it's a surprise. (I found out that the breed exists like. 10 minutes ago. Never heard of it before) from there, Bruce slowly collects his kittens and everyone lives happily ever after

Potential other families

The Kent's: lovely older couple bigs up a dog off the street. Who picks up a dog off the street (they're apparently related? Hello Kara.). And then another dog (who... he's also related too? Why do you have a son. Where did he come from. Whatever, his name is Kon) And then another dog, but at least he brings his wife this time. (Your wife's name is now Lois. Your newest son is now Jon. How many of these are we getting?) Etc etc for other superfamily members. They become those farmers with a whole clan of dogs who help out.

The Prince's: honestly I know jackshit about Diana. However I think she has a boyfriend? (Steve? Trevor? I dunno.) So he's a loser living alone with his badass cat. She could beat him in a fight and he knows it. He's pretty sure that she has more muscles than him. Also she's not like. Aging? Girl how old are you. Why do you look at me with such intelligence. I love you with my entire heart and would do anything for you but also you scare me. (I feel like he'd get her a talking button pad. She'd love it I think.) ("Is Diana otherworldly?" 🤷. If you ask her boy he'd say yes, but her vet would say no)

The Allen's: Barry is a bird. End of story, I shouldn't have to explain myself here. He is a bird, along with Wally and Bart.

J'onn: fish. He is a fish. To me. I dunno I'm working off of vibes here. M'gann is also a fish. Martians are fish.

(Picture me, desperately trying to remember the other members of the Justice League after having a busy day and 2 big meals. I'm so tired)

The Lanterns: there's canoically a rage cat. There's a cat with the red ring. They are cats. All of em, Hal, Guy, Kyle I think, there's probably more but I don't know em, all cats.

The Queens': genuinely I do not know this man. Well, no. I have like the opposite problem here as I do with Diana, as I know Diana's personality but I know nothing about her. I know Oliver's backstory, but I know nothing of him as a character. I can't accurately say anything about him. I think it would be funny to make him a cat because Bruce is a cat and these 2 parallel each other, but I'd rather make that decision based on him, not Bruce.

[xxgoblin-dumplingxx]

Oddduck meeting the rest of the Justice league? I love the idea of them all in this pretty serious meeting in the batcave and her just stumbling down to see Bruce and the others just seeing this odd little woman having Batman and Superman wrapped around her finger (in diff ways aobbiouslh

"Who the hell-"

Diana looked where Ollie was looking and noticed Clark's jaw tense out of the corner of her eye as she watched Bruce Wayne. The Batman lead a comparatively normal-looking woman in a pair of sandals, some jeans, and a cardigan- not a shred of tactical gear in sight- to a board covered in things and pay very close attention to everything you're saying before closing the door behind you and coming to join the meeting.

"Batman," Clark said, eyes narrowing, "I thought we discussed-"

"You ordered," Bruce said calmly. "I ignored it. She's a grown woman. She can decide what she does and doesn't do."

"Damn it you don't know-"

"I know she's happiest when she's working. And I know I can protect her," Bruce said folding his arms. Glancing to where you were settled in. Happy to look for patterns and chase the research threads the rabbits down their holes.

"Just because she's dating you-"

"Wait. DATING?" Ollie interjected, looking between Bruce and Clark for a moment before looking at you, happily oblivious in your little room. "Batman is dating Superman's what- weird kid sister?"

"She's older than I am," Clark corrected absently, glaring at Bruce.

"And that's his friend, right?" Diana added, beaming, "The one who has an arrest record for losing track or time?"

"Yes," Clark sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "She's a civilian. A professor she's not-"

"She's perfectly safe," Bruce said levelly.

"She better be," Clark said, eyes still narrowed.

[little-pondhead]

Rejected Threads Pt. 2

[This is a series where I post the bits and pieces I decided to cut out of their final fics due to various reasons. I welcome anyone who wants to pick this up and make it their own. You do not need to ask for permission to use it, but I would like to be tagged in whatever you make. Just so I can see it :) ]

[Everything here is unedited and may ramble at times. Enjoy!]

---

For some reason, it never occurred to the Justice League that their resident Wonder Woman could have a living family. One that wasn’t from Themyscria, that is. It just never really crossed their minds. Diana Prince was a demigod, after all. But lo and behold, sitting before them was a smiling Diana with a small child on her lap. Someone sighed. This meeting just had an extra hour added to it. 

“Wonder Woman,” Batman said as a way of greeting. Sitting down next to his colleague, giving the little boy she was holding the side eye. The child looked no older than five, with pitch-black hair and clear blue eyes. He wore a pair of little yellow sneakers and a space suit costume-one of those orange ones from NASA. He had a death grip on a kid’s book about the solar system and was staring at the pages intensely. Overall, the child was adorable and seemed very focused on his book. But why was he here, in the Watchtower?

Diana shook her head adamantly and wrapped her arms tighter around the boy’s torso. “Absolutely not, Bruce.” She declared with a smug grin. “You can’t adopt this one. He’s mine.” 

“I didn’t say anything about adoption.” 

“You were thinking it,” She accused. And Diana was right. Bruce had been thinking about it, but who could blame him? At this point, adoption was a knee-jerk reaction.

Barry Allen, also known as the Flash, blurred right before their eyes as he dashed away to fetch something quickly and came back. “He’s so cute!” Barry cooed, crouching down to the kid’s eye level. The child, finally noticing the people in the room, blinked at Barry’s sudden appearance. “Hi, kiddo. What’s your name?”

The child stared at Barry for a tad too long before he looked up at Diana for direction. “It’s okay,” she smiled, taking the book from the kid’s hands so they could face Barry completely. “This is Flash, one of my coworkers, remember?”

The kid nodded, turning back to Barry. “I’m Danny.” He said shyly. “ ‘s nice to meet you.”

“Hi, Danny.” Barry gave the kid a blinding smile and fished something wrapped in napkins out of his pocket. “I’m the Flash, like WW said. I saw you reading that space book. Do you like space?” Danny nodded again fervently. “Would you like a moon cake?” He unwrapped the napkins carefully to reveal a slightly squished moon cake cut into four equal pieces. 

“But…” Danny looked confused. “ ‘s not the new year anymore.”

“Well, how smart are you!” Barry sounded genuinely impressed, and the whole room focused on Danny. “It’s okay. There are just some leftovers from the cafeteria. This one has mango filling. Do you like mangos?”

“Yeah!” Danny’s eyes lit up with excitement, and he bounced a little on Diana’s lap. “I like mangos, an’ strawberries, an’ razz-berries, but I never eat the razz-berries ‘cause tha’s Jazz’s favorite fruit.”

“Raspberries? Jazz?” Barry shot a glance at Diana, but she ignored him in favor of helping Danny keep all the crumbs on the napkins as he devoured the moon cake. 

“Wonder Woman, who is this child?” Clark Kent piped up, asking the question on everyone’s mind. “Is he your son?”

Diana wrinkled her nose. “Ancients, no! No, Donna is enough for me, thank you. Danny is my little cousin. Unfortunately, he got caught up in some nasty old magic spell, so I’m babysitting while his grandfather and guardians can reverse it.” 

“Spell?!” Clark was alarmed. 

Oliver Queen snorted and sat back in his chair, seemingly unimpressed. “Have fun with that. I’m not touching this issue with a ten-foot pole. I do not want to deal with any more magic hijinks this week.”

“No, seriously guys.” 

“Yeah, the giant green mealworms yesterday were enough for me.” Hal Jordan scratched his head. “I gotta admit, though, I never thought you’d have any relatives in the mortal world.”

“Am I the only one concerned about the magic spell part?”

Diana simply shrugged. “Danny isn’t exactly blood-related, per se. But it’s close enough.” Everyone could tell Bruce was just itching to grill her about what she meant. 

Martian Manhunter and Captain Marvel, who had both been absent until now, chose that exact moment to walk into the room, deep in discussion about intergalactic policies or something. As soon as Danny spotted them, he shot out of Diana’s lap with incredible speed and slammed straight into Captain Marvel. “MARVEL!” He shouted gleefully, wrapping his arms around the man’s neck. Captain Marvel, for his part, didn’t stumble and immediately brought up his hands to catch whatever had just assaulted him, but to everyone’s shock, Danny was freely floating with no issue. 

“What the-” Captain Marvel grabbed Danny by his torso and held him straight out in front of him. He squinted. “Danny?!”

“HE CAN FLY?!”

“Bruce put the adoption papers down.”

“Can someone explain what’s going on?”

“Yeah, I feel like we’re missing a few steps here.” 

“It’s like the author forgot her ADHD meds or something.”

“The what?”

Diana stood up, silencing the room. “Danny, we talked about this. No zooming in the Watchtower.” She scolded. Danny visibly drooped and floated away from Marvel’s grasp. 

“Sorry.” He mumbled. 

Clark made the time-out sign with his hands, desperately trying to turn everyone’s attention back to something important. “Okay, pause.” He insisted. “Let’s backtrack. Danny is your little cousin, and he got hit with a spell??”

“That would explain it,” Marvel mumbled, which was entirely unhelpful. 

Danny, bless his heart, had gotten over the scolding quickly and floated back over to Diana, snatching a box of space stickers from a baby bag that had gone unnoticed until now. He bobbed around, giggling and putting little stars and planets everywhere, especially the ceiling. Of course, he completely ignored the situation he had just created. Diana just sighed and rubbed her forehead, seeming to age ten years. 

“Yes, sorry, Clark.” Diana apologized. “Danny is sometimes hard to keep up with, and I have been a little scatterbrained this week. But, to start from the top, Danny is a superhero, and one of his rouges thought it funny to turn him into a little kid.”

Hal frowned. “A hero? What’s his name, do we know him?”

Diana shook her head. “No, probably not. He only protects his home and rarely gets involved in mortal realm affairs. His work is of the supernatural kind, so the JL Dark would have heard of him more than we might have. Well, aside from Captain Marvel, apparently.”

Marvel just shrugged in answer to the quizzical looks he was getting. “I’m the Champion of Magic. I work with the supernatural all the time. Danny and I are good friends.”

“Hn.” Bruce grunted. “What does the magic spell entail? You said his grandfather and guardians are working on reversing it?”

Diana pointedly ignored the latter part of the question, which did not go unnoticed. “Well, the spell itself isn’t all that complicated. It bends the timestream to make a bubble and then reverses whatever is caught in the bubble. This time, the victim happened to be Danny. So, in theory, we just need to find a way to pop the bubble.” 

“But…” Clark prompted. 

“But, Danny’s work with the supernatural has caused a few issues. He was granted to ability to work outside the timestream via a Time Medallion. Unfortunately, it was fused with his very being at some point, so the medallion and the spell are at odds with each other.”

J’onn, who had flown up to join Danny on the ceiling, hummed. “That does sound like a conundrum, as one would say.” It was odd looking at the two sit cross-legged upside down, but no one commented. Danny put a sun sticker on J’onn's forehead. 

“Sorry, can we go back to the part where Danny has a Time Medallion?” Barry raised his hand. 

“No. Anyway,” Diana smiled a little at the speedster’s offended gasp. Truth be told, she didn’t know much about the timestream, so answering his questions would be difficult. Time stuff always gave her a headache. “Danny keeps getting yanked in and out of the timestream, which makes it difficult to attend to his duties. So for his safety, our grandfather left him with me.”

The room was quiet as everyone digested this information. Diana was silently thankful that today’s meeting was a small one. The other heroes, like Aquaman and Cyborg, were out on their own missions. Not even one of Bruce’s many children was around, meaning questioning would be much shorter than if they were here. 

Finally, Oliver lifted his head as something occurred to him. “Did you just say ‘our grandfather’?”

The demigoddess merely smiled. 

“Oh my god, Diana.” Hal was twisting his ring anxiously as he caught onto what Oliver was thinking. 

Clark groaned, plopping down into a chair with his head in his hands. “Diana,” Clark really didn’t want this to be true. “Diana, isn’t your grandfather Kronos? The God of Time??”

Danny hiccuped and abandoned his makeshift solar system. Clark’s words had caught his attention. “Is grandpa here?” He asked excitedly. That was all the confirmation the League needed, and everyone sighed collectively. Honestly, no one knew how Wonder Woman got the reputation as the responsible one. She loved causing petty chaos, and it showed during times like this. 

“No, sweetie-” Diana began but suddenly cut herself off with an odd look. A moment later, Barry felt it. Something big was heading towards the Watchtower, using the timestream as a shortcut. He didn’t even get to shout out a warning before a swirling green portal opened up, and out stepped an elderly man with a purple cloak and a clock embedded into his chest. The whole room froze up. This was…something powerful. Ancient. 

That didn’t seem to matter to Danny and Diana, however. They were the only two to get up and approach the old man. “I stand corrected. Hello, grandfather.” Diana bent down to give her grandfather a hug. As she did, the man’s body shrank and morphed into that of a baby’s. 

“It is wonderful to see you again, my dear.” Kronos, the literal King of Titans and God of Time, hugged her back with his tiny arms, morphing into the form of a young adult as she let go. “Now, how is that rascal, Danny? Pandora has found something to fix this whole mess.” 

“Sorry, uh, Lord Kronos?” Clark winced at how weak and unsure he sounded. “Did you say, Pandora? As in, Pandora’s Box?”

“Call me Clockwork, Kal-El.” Clockwork turned into an old man again, and the cycle repeated itself. “I am not truly the Titan King you know of. Kronos was split upon his defeat, and I am the piece that became the physical manifestation of time. But yes, Pandora from legends. She is one of Daniel’s guardians and has been scouring her archives for some time now. She believes to have found a solution to this matter, so I have come to retrieve the young king.”

“Sorry, young king?!” Oliver screeched.

“Yeah! ‘m a king!” Danny crowed, practically glowing at this point. Wait, he was glowing. “I beat the bad king an’ put him to nap. Now I get to play until nap time is over!” 

Clockwork just sighed fondly. “Sure, Daniel. Let’s go with that. Say goodbye, Pandora is waiting.”

“Buh-bye!” Danny waved enthusiastically, and before anyone could move, the room was engulfed in a bright green light. When they finally blinked the stars out of their eyes, Diana, Danny, and Clockwork were all gone. So were the baby bag and stickers coating every surface Danny had reached. The only sign that they had been there at all was the little sun sticker still on J’onn’s head and the crumb-filled napkin on the table.

Bruce sighed. Obviously, the day’s meeting was going to take much longer than planned. “I’ll get Constantine on the phone.”

---

Final ficlet can be found here: Time Gives And Takes

[ao3feed-superbat]

a lesson in laying your armour down

read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/20LCkhY by licnhearted They knew from the beginning that there was no coming back from this. Darkseid had already taken everything from them, and if they wanted to rebuild—if they wanted to buy themselves some more time with the people they love before it was all lost again—this was their only choice. With his children dead at his feet, and with everyone he had ever tried to protect long gone, Bruce was ready to dig his own grave. The mission was over. He had failed. Even those left standing—Clark, Diana, J’onn, Barry—were hanging on by a thread. There were a few others too, but Bruce couldn’t pull himself out of his grief long enough to register who was still standing. Even as the final plan, their last chance, was being discussed, Bruce felt a million miles away. Absolution finds him where he least deserves it. or, Bruce Wayne finds himself transported to a strange new world, one in which his children are still young, still alive, and have never once heard of Batman Words: 19235, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 1 of we build a home from these broken wings Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, DCU Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: M/M Characters: Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Clark Kent, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, Damian Wayne Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne & Damian Wayne, Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne, Batfamily Members & Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Batfamily (DCU), Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Grief/Mourning, Healing, Canon-Typical Violence, only briefly though, it's mostly fluff, Good Parent Bruce Wayne, Falling In Love, POV Bruce Wayne read it on AO3 at https://ift.tt/20LCkhY

[alyrewrites]

rest now in my arms (as I watch over you)

“Like he knew the sun would come up the next morning, Dick knew that Batman would always get back up, that nothing could keep him down. It didn’t matter what came at him -- loss of loved ones, false murder accusations, having his back broken, getting lost in time -- none of that had ever stopped him before. But there was no miracle coming this time, Bruce was going to die and Dick would lose another parent.” For Whumptober 2024 Day 20 - Emotional Angst/Giving Permission to Die

This is wrong. That was the thought that kept going through Dick’s mind. Bruce had always been a strong and imposing figure in Dick’s life. Even after he had grown into Nightwing and worked and led heroes with a variety of powers, Dick found that Batman had a gravitas that no other hero seemed to have. He was a rock for Dick. Like he knew the sun would come up the next morning, Dick knew that Batman would always get back up, that nothing could keep him down. It didn’t matter what came at him -- loss of loved ones, false murder accusations, having his back broken, getting lost in time -- none of that had ever stopped him before. So seeing him lying in a medical bed, barely hanging on to a fraying thread of life, was antithetical to everything Dick knew and just assaulted his senses with a sense of wrongness.

Alfred sat at Bruce’s bedside and, in a rare breach of his butler facade, was running a hand through Bruce’s hair. It was one of the few times Dick had ever seen Alfred act like the surrogate father that Bruce viewed him as and all it did was drive home the fact that Bruce was dying. There wasn’t any coming back from this. Bruce had lost a massive amount of blood by the time the Justice League were able to get him to medical, but not enough that he couldn’t recover. However, nearly every one of Bruce’s organs were either failing or on the cusp of it and were impossible to treat without putting Bruce under, an action which would almost certainly kill him. There was no miracle coming this time, Bruce was going to die and Dick would lose another parent.

Bruce kept asking about them, needing to know if they were okay, if his children were safe. Alfred and Dick kept reassuring him that they were, that he needed to focus on himself, but Bruce wouldn’t believe them until he saw his children himself. So Dick stepped out and sent out an emergency comm to all of them telling them that they needed to get to the Watchtower now. Something in Dick’s voice must have been telling because Jason only put up token protest before agreeing to come.

It was only about 15 minutes between when Dick made the call and when the Zeta tubes announced the arrival of his siblings, but, to Dick, it felt like an eternity. He just kept watching Bruce’s chest take in shallow, uneven breaths, afraid of the moment when he would see it stop, but also hating the amount of pain every breath clearly gave Bruce. Normally, someone in Bruce’s condition would have been given morphine to give them a painless passing, but Bruce was aware enough to refuse any pain relief, as he usually did, but this time, neither Dick nor Alfred had the strength to ignore his wishes this time. It was selfish, Dick knew that, but he wasn’t ready to lose his dad yet.

Clark and Diana had informed his siblings of the situation before they entered Bruce’s room, but even with the warning, Dick could see how the sight of Bruce weakly hanging onto life affected them.

“We’re all here Bruce, see? We’re all fine,” Dick said, trying to keep his voice steady.

Bruce blinked. His gaze, normally so sharp and clear, was unfocused even as he seemed to try and look at them each individually.

“It seems I can’t see very far right now, chum. Come closer so I can see your face.” His tone was completely different from earlier when he was speaking with the doctors earlier and refusing his pain medicine. It was much softer with a desperate, pleading undertone. Dick had wondered if Bruce had been aware exactly of the situation, but he should have known better. Of course Bruce did, he just refused to lower his guard around anyone. Normally, his children were included in that, but it seemed that his impending death was what was needed to take down that emotional wall.

Damian wasted no time responding to his father’s request and approaching the bed with Dick, Jason, Tim, and Cass just behind. Alfred didn’t remove his hand from Bruce’s hair and step out like he often did when . Bruce raised a shaking arm to cradle his youngest’s face. He tried to remove Damian’s mask but couldn’t seem to muster the strength to manage it.

“Let me see your faces. Please.”

Each of them removed their masks.

“See, B, we’re all here and we’re all fine. So quit worrying about us,”

“I can’t. You’re my children.” The way he was looking at them made Dick want to rage. It made him want to cry. Bruce was always so emotionally stunted and held himself back so much. He hadn’t looked at Dick like that since Jason died, with so much love and pride that it was like looking straight into the sun.

Bruce took another painful, rattling breath. “I’m so proud of you. So, so proud of you. I’m sorry I couldn’t… I didn’t say that more often. You deserved better than me, but I’m so glad… so glad that you came into my life anyways. I was so lucky to get to be your father and your partner.”

Dick felt a hot pressure build up behind his eyes. He didn’t want to cry. He didn’t want to have his last view of his father living to be distorted through tears.

“You are all so much better than me… so much better than Batman. Please, promise me, you’ll let Batman die with me. Let that darkness die with me. I never wanted any of you to have to…to have to carry that.”

“We won’t need to if you just pull yourself together father,” Damian said, “You just need to recover and then none of us will need to take your mantle,”

Bruce smiled weakly at Damian before turning back to Jason, Tim, and Dick. “Promise me. I don’t want… I don’t want you to fight each other again. You need to stick together, take care of each other. Promise me you won’t let Batman come in the way of that.”

“You don’t control me, asshole,” Jason snarled, “If you don’t want me taking the suit again, you’re gonna have to make sure the suit isn’t empty for me to take.”

Bruce looked at Jason sadly. “Jaylad.”

Jason scoffed wetly. “Fine.”

“I-I promise, Bruce,” Tim said, “So just stop talking like you’re going to die. I’m sure Clark will find something in his Fortress soon and you’ll be fine. So please, please don’t die, dad.”

“I’m sorry, Tim.” Bruce squeezed Tim’s hand weakly.

Dick wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. He wanted to rage at Bruce. He wanted to tell him that he never wanted to touch the Batsuit again. He wanted to tell him that he wasn’t ready to lose him. He wanted to tell him that he still needed his dad. But he didn’t. Instead, Dick swallowed the lump in his throat and put on a small, strained smile.

“Don’t worry, dad, we’ll- we’ll be okay. We’ll take care of each other. You don’t have to worry about us. You can rest now,”

Dick could hear his siblings echo the sentiment in their own ways, but his attention was completely focused on Bruce. He watched as his dad looked to Alfred - looked to his dad - for confirmation

“It’s alright Bruce,” Alfred said, tears in his eyes, “I will watch over the family. You can rest now, son. You can let go.”

Dick watched as Bruce’s eyes closed and, for the first time, his entire body relaxed. The permanent tension that he seemed to carry finally released along with his last rattling breath. Bruce’s chest was still. The heart rate monitor showed a flat line and with the other monitors showing numbers that led to the same conclusion. Yet, Dick still couldn’t bring himself to believe it. He grabbed Bruce’s wrist and placed his fingers over the pulse point and waited.

Nothing. No warmth, no reassuring squeeze like Bruce used to do when Dick made him hold his hand as a child. Nothing at all. Bruce had lost a lot of blood already though, so maybe it was just that there wasn’t enough blood going to his extremities for Dick to find a pulse (he knew he was lying to himself, but the fact that none of his siblings stopped him was telling). He reached across Bruce’s corpse body to check the pulse point on his neck. He felt nothing, but he kept waiting, certain that he would feel something eventually. He just had put his hand in the wrong spot, just missed the artery. He adjusted his hand again and again, trying over and over again to deny the reality that was in front of him. Eventually, someone grabbed his hand to stop him. Dick found himself being gently guided into a hug by Alfred.

He sobbed.

[ghostsandmirrors]

MASTER WISHLIST

this is far longer than expected.

they are organised by muse, but I'm not organising them as like canons, then originals. they're just all in this together.

The Menagerie do you have a smug shithead muse? we have a zoo! pick one or two or three to bully your muse with. they're all a pain in the ass. (the menagerie are the animals. they're all canons from different sources.)

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Bucky Bucky and general DC heroes (MCU/DC crossover) (I started writing half my muses on MCU/DC crossover forum sites, including Bucky! I'm throwing him back into his roots)

Batman I just think Bucky meeting Batman would be very funny, especially in a professional setting and especially if canon divergent post-Endgame. Bucky having war flashbacks to being chased through Bucharest by a man dressed as a cat because 'so many superheroes are furries.'

Wonder Woman Bucky and Diana based on that one fan plot where Diana was involved, in some way, with fighting during WWII and they met back then and then meet again in the modern day. bonus points if Diana thinks he's his own grandson and he doesn't correct her.

Superman idk Bucky and Superman would just be kinda wholesome? also if Superman mun comfortable, Bucky would totally have a crush on Superman. you can't convince me otherwise. also Clark and Bucky as a ship would be 'pure of heart, dumb of ass' in that order and it makes me giggle.

Other any of the Batfam would also be fun but there's every chance they get unofficially adopted. new dad! new dad! new dad!

I don't know that many DC heroes. girl help. who else is there? idk but I want them!

Bucky + ship partner post-mission shit. anything. just them being like 'thank FUCK that's over with'. snuggling. idgaf.

Bucky + Steve, Bucky + Sam pure of heart, dumb of ass. this is a never-ending want. it's not a specific want, either. I just like putting them in threads together.

Bucky + Thor I don't know why but I've always wanted to and never gotten the chance to.

Bucky/Loki 🥺👉👈 Listen...

Bucky + Spider-Muses I once joked about Bucky adopting various Spider-characters and I still want it. Bucky is the ancient, morally ambiguous MCU Batman on this blog, in that he will not stop fucking adopting people, but at least Bruce usually adopts children. Bucky'll adopt a 30 year old. they're still 70 years younger than him so they're fair game.

---

Joker Joker + Batman <3 Joker is obsessed with Batman. ofc I want to thread them. I want every possible thread in any verse that's most comfortable. Joker is my comfort villain.

Joker + Batman characters in general (focused on villains/rogues gallery) I have no specifics, I just realised he talks to the Rogues Gallery a lot in comics/cartoons and my Joker… hasn't. ever. I can fix that.

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Dylan Dylan and Heroes (any DC) I also want Dylan and Gotham heroes, Gordon, etc.. Dylan needs more screentime 'cause her ass is overshadowed by the fuckin owl at this point. lbr who isn't.

Dylan and Heroes (any MCU) also Dylan plus marvel heroes since she has an MCU verse. do I have icons? fuck no. am I asking for Dylan threads regardless? fuck yes.

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Jameson Jameson and Heroes (any) Mortitaint is a masked murderer. that's it. that's the pitch. you want your muse hit with a shovel? I can help with that! also if any men want a boyfriend who is sweaty and dirty every day and surprisingly strong……………. im just saying……………… and then they can one day find out the other is a hero/villain……………………….. drama. 👀 (this includes anti-heroes)

Jameson and Villains (any) I just think it'd be interesting, y'know? Jameson doesn't tend to play well with others, in general, but there's a chance it doesn't go horribly wrong!

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Wag Wag and X-Men Characters Wagner Himura is an X-Men oc that, in his entire time on my blog, has never threaded with an X-Men character. it can be any character and any verse. I don't care. I just want him to speak to other mutants, man.

Logan specifically, I would like Wag and Logan threads. I always picture Wag as a general pest when he starts working at the school, like throwing water balloons filled with speed potions at people that annoy him kind of pest, and I get the feeling Logan would either hate his guts, like him because he does not discriminate between students and teachers, or be very cautious because he doesn't know Wag's limits while Wag's just like 'hey ;D I don't actually find you attractive but if flirting means I don't get stabbed, I'll flirt. ;D I'm high as a fuckin kite rn lmao ;D'

Charles Xavier Wag and Charles would also be funny because of the aforementioned 'high as a kite'.

Brotherhood any brotherhood muse in his brotherhood verse would be nice, too. Idk how he got into the brotherhood in that verse and I want to explore it. I just miss writing Wag, lbr.

OCs tbh any OC. let's yeet our x-men OCs together and see what bad ideas they come out with. it'll be funny. I'm willing to make up places that they can go through a portal to, as well.

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Bam and X-Men Characters Bam has an X-Men verse in which he vibrates particles when angry and I just… I miss Bam being chaotic. I miss Bam being a mess. she's gotten too collected and I want disaster Bam back. I don't have specific preferences for this one.

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Wag and Bam Basically, both Wag and Bam (in his X-Men verse) have abilities that can/are activated by emotions. With Wag, he has more control over his abilities and thus the chances of anger doing anything is low but not zero. If his anger is doing anything, it's a silent, 'scorched Earth' kind of anger that mostly shows in things moving telekinetically. With Bam, his power is exclusively activated by anger.

I just want that in a(nother, in Bam's case) thread or plot. It'd be fun.

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Mattie and Avengers/SHIELD/HYDRA Mattie worked for both SHIELD and HYDRA so I would like to establish some kind of relations with SHIELD and HYDRA muses, but she also sent records to the Avengers after the fall of HYDRA and began torturing/murdering HYDRA agents who survived The Snap so like……….. 👀

also Avengers meeting her after The Blip or whatever dumb bitch shit The Snap 2: Electric Boogaloo is canonically called would be… like she a gremlin in the swamplands. she's a whole fuckin cryptid by that point. I want her ex-coworkers to meet the cryptid she's become and be like, '... ayo? you good?' and her to be knee-deep in swamp water, dragging a body, like, '... yup!'

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Arnulf Arnulf and Steve's Friends arnulf needs to meet non-Steve avengers (or others who know him). it would be funny. 'hey you kinda look like Steve Rogers..' '[subtle german accent] a lot of people say that! it's so strange. I don't see it.'

Past - HYDRA threads between like 2012-2014 would be interesting? idk. I feel like I've forgotten how to write serious threads.

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Ultron + MCU? I'm sure i've mentioned this before but I just really want Ultron to reunite with the avengers through like idk texts? e-mails? something technology based so the urge to blow his ass up is reduced.

this is not limited to just the avengers. you have an MCU hero muse? a child of a canon? I'll take 'em. give me any muse who may know Ultron or his reputation.

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Dick + Heroes (MCU) LET HIM BITCH AT AN AVENGER ABOUT THAT ALIEN THAT GOT THROWN THROUGH THE WINDOW OF HIS WORK. he deserves this.

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Ai and Tony Stark I always imagine that they know each other due to being rich and fundraisers and shit like that. Ai might be an assassin but she gives to charity and does all the Very Good Things she's meant to which means attending Stark fundraisers and drinking his booze x

they do not have to like each other. I don't think Ai has met a single person she likes since she killed her husband, I'll be honest.

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Villains generally I do want more villain threads where my villain muses are being villains and doing villainous things. like, I have Joker and Ultron who deserve some attention but also Jameson, Ai, Mattie, Jesse, I have a verse where Bam's a villain (he's doing it for the vibes. that'd hold up in court /s), I have the brotherhood verse with Wag… like… plz. I want my muses to go apeshit.

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Fandomless OCs (Liaxee, the Bringer, Lieat) also I would like to do more with supernatural/fantasy/generally fandomless OCs and Liaxee or the Bringer or Lieat. Liaxee is a joy to write, the Bringer is my dumb bitch, and Lieat's the cutest muse I have. I love them all, your honour.

I think Supernatural (the show) muses and any of these three would be fun, too. especially Lieat, because idk if there's anything like them in the Supernatural universe?

I know I have two doctor who blogs following me so I'm lumping them in with supernatural/fantasy/fandomless oc/Superrnatural (the show). yous wanna meet a void creature?

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Special Requests have you ever seen a Crazy Quilt RPer? he's my favourite Batman villain. please. (this is mostly a joke but if there actually is a Crazy Quilt RPer, I want to know.)

Egghead is another DC special request because I love Batman villains.

also Typeface and Spellcheck. Idk them that well, but I want to and I have Spider-Man.

[divinatorydoll]

the eighth house and pluto: 📝

last month, i made a poll asking my followers if they wanted a thread on pluto in its own house, so here a list of some characteristics i’ve seen in 8H plutos:

very interested in psychology and what goes on within the mind. much like 8H mercuries they are students of human nature

brilliant musicians and poets due to their passion for psychology. since they like to know how the mind works, they enjoy being able to move others, excite them, terrify them, etc.

incredible psychic prowess, though they can be unaware of these skills / passively embrace them

capable of becoming very powerful and socially impactful people as pluto is the planet of power

somewhat prone to controversy or they have a strong interest in the controversies other people are involved in

must often learn to accept change because changes are constantly happening in their lives. pluto here accentuates the already metamorphic qualities of the 8H

they can be exceptionally private people; someone else having access to their inner world is a very big deal for them

tend to have recurring dreams, especially those of a more violent or grim nature. they often receive important information through their dreams

these individuals can have a difficult relationship with shared finances and business contracts. receiving or lending money can typically intimidate or bring them stress

true crime, horror, murder mysteries, thriller movies, etc. are usually big favorites of theirs

NOTABLE FIGURES WITH PLUTO IN THE 8H: alicia keys, alicia silverstone, bruce lee, nostradamus, mariska hargitay, jimi hendrix, princess diana, eartha kitt, leonardo da vinci

book a reading !!

my linktree

[comicarc]

AO3 - @comicarc

𝕯𝕮

𝒟𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝒢𝓇𝒶𝓎𝓈𝑜𝓃

☆ What is Robin?

What does Robin represent and what impact has it left on those who took the mantle? wc: 393

☆ Desires

Nightwing has had many victories, some small and some big, but when he looks back on his life, he realizes he's never really won. All he's really done is make excuses to keep himself from being happy. wc: 369

𝒥𝒶𝓈𝑜𝓃 𝒯𝑜𝒹𝒹

☆ Memories (w/ reader)

Just a walk down memory lane. I just haven’t found many fics about Jason before he was killed, so I thought I’d write one. wc: 1182

☆ We'll Go Back to Strangers (w/ reader) (𝐈, 𝐈𝐈)

"We'll get in your car and you'll lean to kiss me, we'll talk for hours and lie on the backseat." wc: 1434

☆ Hell is Empty and the Devil is Here (w/ reader)

A chance meeting with a stranger leads down the road of an inevitable devotion. Breeding a childish love into an obsessive attachment. The devil's temptation is all-consuming, only producing pain disguised as pleasure. wc: 2906

𝐵𝒶𝓉𝓂𝒶𝓃 - 𝐵𝓇𝓊𝒸𝑒 𝒲𝒶𝓎𝓃𝑒

☆ Symbols (w/ reader)

This is short and more like a breakdown of what Batman is with a sweet twist. wc: 497

☆ I Dreamt of Heaven (w/ reader) (𝐈, 𝐈𝐈, 𝐈𝐈𝐈, 𝐈𝐕, 𝐕, 𝐕𝐈, 𝐕𝐈𝐈, 𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈 ...)

"A lonely moon craving for the radiant sun." In which a certain girl catches the attention of a prideful billionaire playboy as they both attempt to find their way in the world. (I haven't seen many fics explore Bruce in his formative years, so I thought I'd share my take on them, of course with romance.) wc: 2469

𝒲𝑜𝓃𝒹𝑒𝓇 𝒲𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓃 - 𝒟𝒾𝒶𝓃𝒶 𝒫𝓇𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑒

☆ Moirai (𝐈, 𝐈𝐈, 𝐈𝐈𝐈)

Fate is a fickle thing and it seems to hate Diana. As the three sisters of fate weave the thread that is the Princess' life, Diana learns that hope can emerge in even the darkest of corners and that death is only the beginning. As she confronts her haunting past, she realizes what it truly means to be a hero. (Sort of a character study, with plot, of Wonder Woman as she discovers what it means to live as a human and live among other mighty heroes.) wc: 5431

𝕽𝖊𝖘𝖎𝖉𝖊𝖓𝖙 𝕰𝖛𝖎𝖑

𝐿𝑒𝑜𝓃 𝒦𝑒𝓃𝓃𝑒𝒹𝓎

♤ Guns and Roses (w/ reader)

A take on what happened to Claire, Leon, and Sherry after the Raccoon City incident where they meet the reader. wc: 2010

♤ Undead Curse (𝐈, 𝐈𝐈, 𝐈𝐈𝐈, 𝐈𝐕, 𝐕, 𝐕𝐈, ...)

Where our beauty is Claire Redfield and our beast is Leon Kennedy, both learn what it means to love and feel heartache as they navigate their lives as a prisoner and a dying cursed prince. (A heavily inspired Beauty and the Beast rendition but with a twist) wc: 1803

𝕿𝖗𝖆𝖓𝖘𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖊𝖗𝖘

𝒪𝓅𝓉𝒾𝓂𝓊𝓈 𝒫𝓇𝒾𝓂𝑒 or 𝑀𝑒𝑔𝒶𝓉𝓇𝑜𝓃

♡ Turmoil of a Heart (OC but can be read as x reader)

(𝐈, 𝐈𝐈, 𝐈𝐈𝐈, 𝐈𝐕, ...)

Eva just wanted to escape Jasper after she graduated high school, but recent circumstances have made it seem like an impossible endeavor. She's seen things she shouldn't have, heard things that should never be said, and felt things she should never feel. Maybe she'll make it out on top, or drown from the hauntings of her past. or An inside look into every character of TFP, their grief, struggle, past and present, through the eyes of my OC (with a little romance). *TW for abuse, phycological and physical trauma, kidnapping & death* wc: 4592

[saturniiids]

A brief analysis of aosjk #6 spoilers ahead!!

The final issue of aosjk was far from perfect in my opinion but it wasn’t as bad as everyone’s making it out to be.

There’s definitely some pacing issues but that always comes with minis especially when they’re 6 issues long. The action feels a bit rushed and I do think that a little more time should have been spent on Jon’s fights with the separate justice league members. Or at least on his fight with Diana. Or alternatively we should have seen Jon release Bruce and Harley, maybe even freeing them in front of Clark because it’s that sense of action I believe the issue is missing.

Another option is to have a fight between Jon and Clark where Clark is always on the attack and Jon has to counter. I think that would have worked well to metaphorically emphasise their differences.

However, where people complain about the hug I’m starting to understand it a lot more. I believe looking at it from a narrative pov it’s an interesting contrast to the hug we see in soke. I also think it does make sense for Jon to do and that people are miss reading the intention behind it. The hug isn’t Jon showing sympathy or forgiveness or love, it’s a tactical move. Everything he does in that scene is a tactical move because giving Clark what he wants, letting Clark see his wife again (in some sense) and letting him hold his child, is what gets him to step back even for a few seconds. It’s so obvious that the hug is a distraction technique.

Jon doesn’t want to give Clark the hug and he doesn’t forgive him because that’s not his place. What he does is target Clark emotionally because he does not believe he would win a fight against him (he’s seen this Clark rip apart ultraman with his bare hands… also he’s probably aware of the collateral a fight between them would cause).

The thing is Jon is in a very unique position of being Clark in injustice’s motivation. So what he does is give Clark the thing he’s longed for and then tears it away from him. He shows Clark his and Lois’ disapproval of what Clark’s done for them, targeting his biggest weakness. What would have worked best is if he was then able to restrain Clark with kryptonite and leave him for the people of that world to deal with.

Another thing I’d like to briefly address is Jon’s seemingly lack of emotion through the issue. I think this is very reflective of his emotional state and how drained he is. I don’t think we have an exact time frame for these events but they do occur in quick succession and we’ve barely seen Jon rest since Ultraman is killed so he is likely extremely tired physically and especially emotionally. Which I think is interesting and can be seen as an extension of his attitude we’ve seen in SoKE #5 where he prioritises being superman and saving people over his own well being.

Also I’m annoyed we never got a reappearance of Val-Zod and Red Tornado and hope at some point that plot thread is resolved because I’m not a fan of how they just got forgotten.

I do hope we get another solo for Jon in the future but we will have to see.