#todd and leo. what do i even say

[thewandererh]

self love

do not tag this as a ship please

[astrogre]

Astro observations 4

Lilith in Leo and Aries can have unconventional, rebellious hairstyles that stand out and perhaps aren’t considered what most say is beautiful but they do it for themselves e.g. a buzz cut, dying hair eccentric colours, having a flamboyant big hairstyle that others consider inappropriate to society

If you’re interested in being an actor, or ever wanted to know the roles you’d play best: look at the planets in your second house. They describe the kind of character you’d play well because 2H shows the skills and traits needed for us to make money. So if you were acting you’d get paid for showing the skills of the planets in your 2H in the role you’d get cast for. I’ve noticed actors who play roles that match their 2nd house planet become known, or most successful for it.

E.g Uranus 2H: Benedict Cumberbatch- Played as Sherlock holmes (role required themes of intellect, eccentricity, thinking outside of the box to be Sherlock) same with Dr Strange (very ironic because Uranus literally represents things that are weird).

Pluto 2H: playing as villains, morally questionable characters, surgeons, morticians, taxidermy artist, piercing artist, gang member, scaring people. Johnny depp has this placement and his most profitable roles were as Jack sparrow, Edward scissor hands, sweeny Todd, all to do with slicing using a sword scissors or a knife and immoral characters

I’ve noticed the fama asteroid doesn’t really depict the ‘good’ kind of fame, if you look into famous people’s charts, Fama tends aspect or to be in the house where they were in a scandal or something shameful.

E.g Kamala Harris has Pluto and Venus conjunct fama, she’s infamously accused of sleeping her way to power because her affair was made public

Ben Shapiro has his mercury conjunction fama, and I’m sure you know his views are not taken with the most respect. He gets harassed quite often for it.

Elon Musk has fama conjunct Uranus in 3rd house while he posts 4chan content and always is being called out for saying some ‘degenerate’ or ‘erratic’ opinion on Twitter.

Justin Bieber has Jupiter at 14 degrees conjunct the Fama asteroid in his 12th house—the house of hidden meanings and secrets. The degree, 14, aligns roughly with the age when he reportedly spent 48 hours with Diddy and was generously gifted a sportscar. He also got signed by Usher at 14 (Usher was Diddys mentee). Notably, this placement is in Scorpio, the sign associated with joint resources, power dynamics, and sex organs. Even now this remains a subject of gossip and speculation, with some suggesting that the generosity and “mentorship” (themes linked to Jupiter’s higher learning and expansion) from Diddy played a pivotal role in jumpstarting Bieber’s career, particularly in relation to the music industry’s power structures. Another thing to note is that he flew abroad from Canada to USA for this to happen to him which lead to him getting famous. (Jupiter represents foreign relations)

Fama is more of a humiliating but entertaining ‘tea’ placement. And not everyone wants to become a controversial kind of famous, some people may want to become famous for their talents and their contributions to the industry they work in. People who are famous and don’t have strong fama placements can actually have a good reputation with their fame. People won’t try to make fun of you or a spectacle of your life to mock you. This is why we can see very famous adored people like princess Diana have no fama aspects yet was in the limelight of it all. Whereas Camilla has Fama conjunct ascendant. Fama is more gossipy, the kind of stuff you don’t really want to be known for. Rumours that defame your character and make you look like a bad person.

If you want to see what nasty things people say about you behind your back, and what they gossip about, look at your fama asteroid.

I have noticed that Venus in the 8th house can result in them thinking someone is interested in them when they’re not. I’ve also seen that these natives really get hurt in love like there’s some unreciprocated dynamic in their relationships if they experience pain from them. It can be people trying to use them, like becoming friends with them so they can have access to a guy the native knows, you can have your partner “stolen” from you by others

Virgo Mars love to make their partners stressed or see them stressing out/ how they handle stressful situations. They will respect you a lot if you can take stress and high expectations, multi task them like it’s nothing, or taking in the toll but managing it with order and planning

Scorpio Mars/Mars in 10th/Mars ruled MC house have the scary smile. Your smile can be seen as rather menacing, uncanny. People like this that have this placement are Joseph Stalin, Joaquin Phoenix, Khloe Kardashian, Bruce Lee, Mark Zuckerberg, Usher, Charlie Sheen. I can’t describe it but it’s a smile that’s like “ILL KILL YOU 😁”, the eyes look haywire yet locked on target, the smile is exaggerated and almost too joyful, face distorted in excitement like it’s dying to start something, it makes sense since 10H can show bone structure and mars being here can add an edge to it.

Oh and don’t forget that Mark Zuckerberg smile meme (he also has Scorpio Mars), a lot of these natives are known for their menacing smile and presence. Also you guys are villainised yet kind of respected for it. I’ve seen it prevalent in the men. E.g Joaquin Phoenix’s joker smile, Charlie Sheen + Bruce Lee + Khloe Kardashian showing anti social behaviour and becoming respected for it. If you commit crimes people might like you more 💀

This made me think of the British musician Aphex twin, who has the creepiest smile. I looked at his chart and guess what? He has a Aries MC, midheaven ruled by Mars and look at that smile:

Mars in Cancer specifically in 1st house can hold a lot of resentment towards their mother, get into nasty arguments with her, name calling or blame their mother for how they look and find their appearance annoying. On a more positive note these natives can do everything in their power for their mothers. At best natives with this placement can be feminists, in support of women in power. At worst they can despise ‘pathetic’ women and end up treating their wives with the same level of hatred too. Or just degrade women because of their own insecurities

e.g. Lord Byron, a British poet who blamed his mother for his foot deformity and would often call her names and unleash his rage on his wife, cheating on her egregiously

Sun conjunct Uranus makes someone very good with innovation, numerical values, science and maths. Your big highlight in this life may be that you invent something not thought of before. E.g people with this placement: Ada Lovelace- the creator of the first algorithm, John Von Neumann- A scientific genius who pioneered the modern computer, game theory, nuclear deterrence. He was described as so smart he made his teacher cry from doing complex calculus in his head at the age of 6 💀.

Since 1H can show how you present yourself, it can tell you the clothing you wear in your daily outfits, which made me think of how each planet in the first house may dress.

Neptune 1H can wear fantasy clothing, cosplay, fancy dress, masquerade masks, covid masks, any mask, magical accessories like iridescent tights, tiaras

Saturn 1H can incorporate historical tradition clothing like a timeless TAILORED clothing, think top hats, timeless coats, Victorian style dresses, also can have corsets as Saturn shows restrictions. It reminds me of that 1800s kind of look

Moon 1H can wear soft comforting clothes like vintage slips, nightgowns, pyjamas and loungewear, babydoll dresses, chunky knit fleece/coat

Mercury 1H can wear smart uniforms, plaid skirts, blazers, graphic t-shirts with slogans or logos, suspenders, ties, glasses, just very witty and youthful

Pluto 1H can wear intimidating darker clothes like chokers, gothic clothes, long trench coats, hoodies, all black, latex, bodycon, face coverings

Jupiter 1H can wear cultural clothing like kimonos, sarees/lenghas, bohemian styles, togas/roman inspired clothing, or like embroidered tunics

Mars 1H can wear combat military clothing, like camouflage, leather, fingerless gloves, ski masks, harnesses, military jacket, those belts or garters that can hold weapons like knives and guns

Sun 1H can wear statement clothing, designer logo branded pieces, fluffy clothes like furr , jewellery, this one’s more varied because Sun is the expression of self so they can actually wear stuff based more on the sign

Venus 1H can wear standard beauty centered clothing like corsets, brooches, lace, satin, heels, off the shoulder tops, pointed loafers and ascots for men, impractical fabrics, they’re more likely to wear things that aren’t necessarily comfortable but they come at the price of beauty.

Uranus 1H can incorporate unique futuristic, punk, techwear, platform shoes , noticed men can look disheveled almost, unique pvc reflective metallic fabrics, can have tech in their clothes, asymmetrical clothing, shoes that don’t match, they can be known for their unique choices in clothing too. The kind that makes people stop and think “what am I looking at rn”

Planets conjunct your ascendant are basically the main contributor to the method you approach your life with. For an example an Aries ascendant conjunct 12H Mercury can have a “I CAN DO IT ALL” mindset to everything in their life while actually using their mind to whip up and improvise a plan quickly out of nowhere, whereas if mercury wasn’t conjunct - they may not be as quick witted for the situations that occur in their life or be as tactical, they’d be like action with little plan, a river with no path but trusting on its flow.

Neptune in 11H might make you difficult to find online, your stalkers are seething. Maybe you don’t post, can have hidden private accounts or your page can look really magical like a Pinterest board but it’s hard to get a lot out of you solely based on your digital footprint

Also another thing, Neptune is NOT your friend lol, Neptune is a deceiver. I find it so interesting because people see Neptune as pure but it distorts reality and blurs the lines but makes it really pretty. Reminds me of Glinda from Wicked or hextech from arcane. It can be difficult for even the native because they may not realise they can deceive others as much as they do it to themselves. Wherever Neptune is in your chart can show who you deceive. Or how you’re deceived 3H siblings, 4H lying to family or about where you come from etc. You can also be lied to about missing family members or the roots of where you came from. 7H could be your clients and romantic partners can lie to you about what they want, 12H people could lie about you behind your back but you can struggle to trace where it comes from, you can also be completely oblivious to your subconscious thoughts. 10h can easily make you the scapegoat at work.

Venus 6H and their consistency in their beauty routines e.g skincare is what many aspire to. They are constantly glowing up since 6H shows our daily routines and self improvement so having Venus here can make you look prettier day by day. It’s like that “oh you keep getting prettier than the last time I saw you..”

Uranus 6H can overcome an illness that nobody would have thought they would. This is because wherever Uranus is in the chart can show where you rebel and bounce back in a way that nobody expected. With it being in 6H which also rules your health, you can surprise others by your illnesses, if you are ill you can have a rare condition or you’re the kind of person who gets sick like all the time but recovers the next day

Virgo moons feel sooo much fulfilment in being the cause of someone else’s satisfaction, it made me think of the UK onlyfans model Lily Philips, she slept with 100 random men in 24 hours in a documentary, afterwards she cried and felt horrible and used and said that she was most upset about the fact that she couldn’t make them all finish. A very sad documentary. But it really highlighted the nature of Virgo moons NEEDing to serve, to please. They say Libra are the people pleasers but honestly I’d give that one to Virgo, except usually virgos pickier with who they decide to please.

Lily Philips also has Fama conjunct Neptune, she’s famous for the sexual fantasy she portrays and the false image she shows to others, she’s so different from how she acts when making her OF content. This also proves my earlier said point about fama being scandalous as well because Lily has SOOOO much hate and gossip due to her “deceiving” image that’s the influence of Neptune for you. Might analyse her chart later.

Having both Pluto and moon in the 1H can create a silent brooding type of attractive. Adrien Brody has this placement and really embodies an edgy but comforting gaze. He is tall, has emotional melancholic eyes from moons effect yet has high contrast, intense dark features. I think it’s a really interesting mix of traits to have in the first house

Chiron in Libra can make someone be rather insecure of their appearance, usually body and face or femininity. They feel like they’re not beautiful enough. Anya Taylor joy , Maisie Williams, Kylie Jenner, Dolly Parton, Freddie Mercury, have this placement and all have publicly known insecurities based on their appearance despite them being inspirational to others for getting the limelight and praise without looking like everyone else. They pick at themselves quite a lot.

I always raise my eyebrow when I see a Pluto conjunct Lilith/Uranus in a chart. That person can be very dark, they can bring about a side of humanity that most people don’t want to discuss yet are fascinated with. They are capable of some really…. scary things. Especially if all 3 asteroids and planets are conjunct to each other. Pluto is intense it’s dark, it’s controlling but when it’s conjunct Uranus it now has chaos, rebellion, Lilith also rebels but it’s unapologetic, it may make people scared and trigger primal fears because of how messy the person is, these people can be really explosive. They’re also really intimidating, i could imagine the group anonymous that leaked classified government documents having this kind of placement. They literally go into the guttural trenches of inhumanity and bring out its findings then present it to the naive public like a cat dragging a rodents scathed body to the owner expecting a reward. It can be impressive sometimes, you often think “how did you even come up with the idea to do this?”

[somerandomdudelmao]

So, I recently reread CAS and watched the movie in the appropriate place, and something stood out to me.

There's just no way that time portal was a spur of the moment plan.

Leo already knew Mikey could make one, and there wasn't any debate at all about who to send where and when.

(Also, it's interesting to me that they sent Casey back to the day of, instead of say, a week earlier, but that's a different conversation.)

So, what I'm thinking is, after losing Donnie, then their base, then Raph, and with their constantly dwindling numbers and supplies, Leo and Mikey had to see the end coming.

There had to have been a discussion at some point- winning is flat out impossible, and 'not losing' is also looking pretty unlikely, so how do we prevent complete and total defeat? -and somehow they landed on 'let's send someone to the past and fuck the Krang before they even know the game is in play.'

And, out of everyone they could have sent, options which included Leo, who knew everything he would have needed to know to snag the Key before Warren Stone and Hypnopotamus, and fucking Todd, who the Past!Turtles already knew and trusted, and who also knew the lay of the land, they chose Casey, who knew nothing about anything and only managed to find April on a fluke-

-because it was never about stopping the Krang.

It was about keeping their son safe.

And I hope Casey gets to see that.

Ohhhhohohoho I think you are the first one I saw who pointed this out~

Yeas yes yeS YES this is gonna be interesting conversation hehe

[northopalshore]

would you read elizabeth taylors juno or groom persona chart? i feel like it would be interesting and her birth time was 2:30 am!

Elizabeth Taylor's Juno, Groom & Venus persona chart analysis

‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋ ‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋ ‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋ ‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭

I feel like her marriage life is quite interesting from an outsiders perspective. The seven husbands or Evelyn Hugo was loosely based on her on the count of her 7 husbands. 7 divorces & one that was cut short by outside influences (a tragedy).

She was an outstanding individual who I myself have admired for being so influential in the old Hollywood scene. So in this post, I'll be doing a brief rundown on some of her placements in her Venus, Juno & Groom persona charts in that order.

Venus persona chart

Starting with her venus persona chart, I was curious about what it would say about her love life, and looking at it now I'm not surprised.

❀ 1st house stellium

She was the type to fall in love first and ask questions later. She has likely been surrounded by many admirers her whole life and evidently so. She falls in love quickly, and easily. Often finding her entranced by the charm and appeal of the opposite gender. All of her lovers have been the ones to pursue her first.

Ex: Late TV producer Mike Todd, her third husband was arguably her truest & deepest love. He had a clear intent to marry her the moment they met, and it wasn't a question when he proposed— it was a statement lol.

From abusive to passionate lovers, to even slightly problematic pairings that led to some controversy on her behalf. This placement is extremely common amongst people who have gone through many relationships in their lifetime.

❀ Pluto (19° libra) conjunct Juno (20° Scorpio) in Cancer 5th House

Some of her relationships were considered very taboo and have received much backlash from the public and those around her. She's been called a homewrecker for marrying a couple married men. She has also left a marriage to be with someone else, who was also married at the time of their romance.

Ex: Her 4th husband Eddie Fisher (her late husband's best friend) was married to her own friend Debbie Reynolds. He would leave Debbie to be with Elizabeth, although their romance was more of a 'condolence' partner while she was mourning Mike. Yikes

₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑

Juno Persona Chart

Onto her Juno Persona Chart, immediately face to face with an 8th house stellium lol.

If anything is an indication of multiple weddings, or marriages, it would be a gemini descendant in the jpc. In her case, it's especially so lol.

❀ Gemini DSC & Mars (°8 Scorpio) in the 7th house:

She has gone through many marriages, either ending in divorce or an abrupt ending (Scorpio energy). She moves on very quickly from her partners, but she falls in love quite deeply. Her close relationships & love life are always changing, always challenging.

❀ Mars trine saturn (°2 Taurus) retrograde in Aquarius:

Her flings can lead to marriage quickly, almost as if no thoughts were spared saying yes on a whim the moment her partner gets onto one knee. It's rebellious in a way that deflects all formalities people usually maintain before marriage i.e taking time lol. Feeling excitement, the love, the sparks, and just wanting to fully act on that.

❀ Venus (°3 gemini) retrograde in cancer 7th house:

That fast pace movement can sometimes prove to bite her in the butt when they realise that their relationship may lack a clear depth & understanding towards one another, a love that goes deeper than just fancy & adoration or lust. She may feel like there wasn't truly that deep of a mental or emotional connection somewhere down the line in their marriage.

❀ 8th house stellium, Cancer & Leo:

Her JPC Sun, Moon, Mercury & Jupiter are all here. As I've mentioned before, her marriage life has always been notorious throughout her career. Most people only remember her as the real life Evelyn Hugo, since it's always brought controversy & shock. Her love life is a large part of who she is & what she believes in. She's not shallow by any means, when she falls in love, she falls in love & she doesn't deny that. There is nothing she wouldn't do for love, or her lovers. Passionate & exhilarating. Life-changing & chaotic.

❀ Juno (°22 Capricorn) conjunct Jupiter (°22 Capricorn) in Leo 8th house:

Being known for her marriages, her husbands, it's almost seen as a part of her career or reputation in general. There's always this shock factor around her marriages. Aside from most of her husbands being older than her, they are quite influential in her industry too. Being able to get her into more prominent roles or meetings with the right people to advance her career.

₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑

Groom Persona Chart

She has a very prominent 2nd House stellium in her Groom Persona Chart.

❀ Capricorn (°capricorn) rising

All of her husbands were older than her.They were significantly older in fact. With Saturn & Mireille here, it's clear that she had a thing for powerful, mature & influential men. She also met a lot of them through work/friends (union 1st house, aquarius, Sagittarius degree).

❀ 2nd house stellium:

Her husbands were all rich, either through generational wealth or longtime hustlers. A lot of them treated her as a possession; someone they must have. Her husbands also all showered her with luxury. The more money they have the more extravagantly they'll treat her. The less it gets, the more rockier their relationship becomes. Perhaps they tend to use money as a way to control/manipulate her as well (groom 24° pisces 2nd house, mars °11 aquarius, 2nd house).

ex: In an article (from Today.com) it quotes "But as she grew more mature and became more confident, and his career began to fade, they had problems, Walker wrote. He added that while she was filming “Giant” in 1955, a gossip magazine claimed her husband had strippers visit their home."

❀ 6th house in Gemini & Populus (°26 taurus):

Her husbands were all famous for their work or work with famous figures. Having some sort of important/ active role in the industry they work in.

❀ Pluto ( °20 Scorpio) retrograde in Cancer 7th house:

Abrupt marriages, divorces & endings. I see it commonly when looking at the charts of people who married young & divorced somewhere in their mid 20s, 30s - early 40s. Their marriages are a whirlwind type of experience. Usually something very dramatic happens, which leads to divorce, but also divorce itself is a commonality.

❀ Jupiter (°13 aries) retrograde in Leo 7th house & Juno (°13 Aries):

Means she'll marry quite quickly/ without thought when she feels she has found someone worth marrying i.e she's fascinated with. She has married "young"/ early/ fast many times lol. She married her first husband right after finishing high school, & the rest of her husbands she married within a few months of knowing them.

❀ Briede (°24 pisces) in the 12th house:

A part of her may have felt rather undermined as a wife. Perhaps feeling like an accessory to her husbands rather than truly portraying the depths of her character. A part of her may also have felt like her marriage lives were something either she had not much control of or that she's always blinded by her emotions going into marriage.

₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑ . ₊ ⊹ .₊๋‧₊ ˚ ⊹ ࣭ ⭑

Hope this was interesting, & Thanks for reading ♡

@northopalshore

@northopalshore celebrity charts 2024.

[athenagc94]

Dear Daddy Long Legs - Chapter 22

Jason Todd x Fem!Reader

First | Prev | Next

Chapter 22

I might have something. You’re going to hate it. Meet to discuss?

Far from the confident lead he’d hoped for, but that’s the text he got from Duke earlier that evening. He tried to tease more information out of him, but the kid was adamant about discussing things face to face. Suspicious, but a fair request given the nature of their work. It was smarter not to talk about it over text if they could help it.

Jason still wasn’t happy about it though.

They planned to meet on the street near a safehouse located in the heart of his territory. Duke arrived in street clothes, torn jeans with an old puffer coat thrown over his hoodie. A smart move now that the sun had gone down. The yellow suit was bound to attract the wrong attention, and Jason didn’t need rumors swirling around that Red Hood was letting the Bats run amuck in Crime Alley.

Jason dropped down from where he stood watch on the roof, the hiss of his grapple gun still ringing in his ears. Duke, to his credit, didn’t even flinch. In fact, he’d never seen him more at ease than he was now, dressed as a civilian.

“This better be good.”

Duke rubbed his shorn hair. “Hey, Duke, how are you?” He said, doing what Jason could only assume was a bad impression his Jersey drawl. “Oh, ya know, same old, same old. Stopped a bank robbery the other day. Saved some kids from a burning building this morning. Oh, and I got the final hit on a Gelatinous Cube at D&D. No big. Just the highlight of my week.”

Jason crossed his arms. “I would be more impressed if it was a Beholder.”

He balked. “No way. You play?”

“Not in a while,” he said with a shrug, “Let me guess? Cleric?”

“Artificer, actually,” Duke said as he shoved his hands on his pockets, “Barbarian for you?”

“Bard.”

“Oh?”

Yeah, he expected that wide-eyed expression. He would assume he played the angry brawler class. At the very least, he wanted people to guess he played a gunslinger, but no, he would forever be the angry guy. Bullshit. Bards were infinitely more fun.

“I didn’t come here to discuss TTRPGs with you.”

“Right,” Duke said slowly, “Okay, well, let me start by saying that none of this is my fault. I was doing exactly what you asked of me and, ya know, things kinda spiraled out of hand from there.”

He narrowed his eyes. That wasn’t a promising start. “Okay?”

“But the good news is we found something.”

Hold up. Pause. Rewind.

“We? Who the fuck is we?” Deep down, Jason already knew the answer to his question, but he foolishly clung to the hope that Duke teamed up with an amiable rogue instead.

“We are a team.”

Jason swore under his breath as Tim, in all his Robin glory, hit the ground beside Duke.

“It’s been a while,” he said with a thin smile.

“Not long enough,” he shot back, “Whatever you know, forget it. I can do this alone like I should have from the start.”

“You see, that’s the problem with Leos.”

He resisted the urge to scream when Steph pulled up behind him, a swagger in her step and a pinch around her eyes that betrayed the smile hidden beneath her mask. This was precisely why he didn’t want to ask for help. This was quickly becoming a ‘family’ affair.

“Stubborn pride always comes back to bite you in the end. That was your horoscope, FYI. Be wary of pride. It keeps you from the goal at the end of a long road. A little on the nose given the situation, but eh.” She slung an arm around his shoulders. “No one said that horoscopes were subtle.”

Jason shoved her off, a growl ripping from his throat. “I gave Signal permission to come into my territory. You two are breaking an agreement.” His hand fell to his gun. “Scram before I start shooting.”

“Tt.”

His eye twitched.

Damian appeared around his other side with his hood drawn low over his eyes, though it failed to hide the general arrogance that permeated the air wherever he went. “First, you do not shoot that ruffian Blood Knuckle all those months ago, now you’re making idle threats against us. You are embarrassing yourself, crime lord.”

Jason had enough self-restraint not to punt a child halfway across Gotham, even if the snot deserved a swift kick in the ass. Instead, he turned his ire on Duke, who was now the odd man out in his street clothes. “What the fuck, Narrows? I told you I didn’t want to ask the others for help.”

Duke choked on a laugh. “Yeah, okay. You thought I could keep this to myself without the others finding out? First off, we’re detectives trained by Batman, world’s greatest detective.”

“Allegedly,” Steph cut in.

“Second, Oracle tracks my patrol routes. She knew something was up the second I crossed into your territory. Have you ever been grilled by her? I’m normally pretty good under pressure, but with her, I folded faster than an umbrella during a hurricane.”

“From there, I looped in Robin,” Babs' voice fed into his ear. Jason should have expected her to listen in. She had tabs on his vitals for Christ’s sake.

“I told Spoiler,” Tim said helpfully.

“And I informed Orphan,” Steph piped up, “She’s on a Bird’s of Prey mission tonight, otherwise she’d be here too. She was sad to miss it, but I promised to give her a play-by-play later.”

“That still doesn’t explain why the demon brat is here?”

“Tt.”

“We’re working on a case together,” Steph said as if it were obvious, “That’s what happens when you work a team, but when Rob told me he was talking to you tonight, I dropped everything to be here. Since I knew the brat would follow me anyway, I clued him in on what was happening.”

Jason chewed the inside of his cheek. “So, does everyone know?”

“Nightwing is out of the country,” Babs offered, the click of her keys accompanying her voice, “No point in telling him until he gets back.”

But she still planned on telling him.

Lovely.

Damian crossed his arms. “It was also agreed on by the others that Batman would not be involved.”

At least there was a silver lining.

He turned to Duke—the only one he wanted to hear from—to pose his next question. “What did—”

Duke raised his hand, effectively cutting him off, and walked back the way he came. “Nuh uh. I did my part. See something, say something, and all that noise. I just came to facilitate this messy family reunion, and now, I’m off the clock. I have a math test to study for and a lot of sleep to catch up on. You’re on your own from here.”

“You can forget about me helping with your college essays.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that,” Duke shot back.

Jason reeled. The gall of this kid. “I mean it.”

“Sure, ya do, man.”

Predictably, Duke called his bluff. Refusing to help him would take more self-respect than Jason realistically had. He buried his helmet in his hand and muttered, “I’ve been bamboozled.”

Steph snorted. “Who says bamboozled unironically?”

“Like it’s hard to pull a fast one over you,” Tim said.

Jason swung. Tim easily dodged the first punch but missed the second fist that connected with his gut. He doubled over, face turning an impressive shade of purple as he swallowed his grunt. It was mollifying to see, but a broken nose would have been infinitely more satisfying.

He leaned down to growl in his ear, “That was for telling her about the letters.”

“Do you feel better now?” he wheezed.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Good.” Tim knocked him off his feet with a quick swipe of his leg. He landed heavily on his shoulder, knocking the wind out of him. “So, do I, and that was just because I wanted to.” He offered his hand to help him up.

Jason knocked it away and grappled to his feet. He gave his shoulder an experimental roll, wincing when it twinged.

“Pathetic,” Damian scoffed, “You could have drawn blood at least.”

Tim shot him a warning look before continuing, “Now that we’ve gotten that out of our system, we can move onto the matter at hand. If you’ll come back to the cave, we can—”

“Absolutely not.”

“Be reasonable.”

“Reasonable,” Jason echoed, “Reasonable. This is my case. I went to Signal because I wanted to avoid this becoming a Batman issue. That’s exactly what’ll happen if I step foot into that cave. Black Mask isn’t worth it.”

“You enlisted help for Black Mask?” Damian didn’t even try to hide the judgement in his tone.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion. At least, I have an archnemesis.”

Steph pulled down her mask to reveal her grimace. “Yeesh. Are you really winning if you consider him your archnemesis? I thought you had a higher standard than that.”

Jason gave her a dead-eyed stare. “Black Mask nearly killed you.”

“Hood,” Babs snapped in his ear, “Uncalled for.”

Her expression shuttered, the usual sunshine and rainbows giving way to something much darker as a sardonic smile slid across her face. Too many teeth and not nearly enough whimsy. It was a jarring change to witness, but at least he knew Steph had her demons like the rest of them.

“Like I said, standards,” she said as she replaced her face mask, “You don’t see me walking around calling him my archnemesis.”

They were getting off track. The sooner he got the information. The sooner he could kick them out of his territory and move on with his life. “No Batcave. No Batman. We can talk in my safehouse if you want to do this somewhere else.”

Tim shrugged. “Fine.”

“Pass,” Damian said as he turned on his heel, “I thought this was going to be more interesting than our usual bickering and dallying. Are you coming, Spoiler?”

“Nah, I wanna see how this pans out.” Some pep returned to her voice as she planted a hand on her hip. “I’ll catch you back at the cave, and we can compare notes.”

“Suit yourself. Let me know if a real fight breaks out between them. Only then will it be worth my time.” He didn’t deign to say goodbye and hurried off into the night, the soles of his boots noiseless against the pavement. Jason was relieved to see him go. There was only so much he could take before he snapped.

“So, are we doing this or not?”

Tim motioned for him to lead the way.

His safehouse was a short walk from the alley, a one-bedroom in what was otherwise a condemned apartment building. In a lot of ways, it reminded him of where he grew up. Cracked plaster revealed the brick beneath. Floorboards that squeaked when he walked on them. Some spots softer than others under his heavy boots.

“Please tell me you don’t live here full-time,” Steph said as she took in the bare walls and scant, cheap furniture. Her gaze snagged on the small succulent decorating the counter, eyes narrowing. “This is depressing, even for you.”

“Again. I didn’t ask for your opinion.” He tugged off his helmet and tucked it under his arm. “Alright. We’re alone. Tell me what you found.”

Tim pulled a tablet from the depths of his cape. Where did he hide it? No clue. Jason decided it was better not to ask questions he didn’t want the answers to. With his eyes glued to the screen, he said, “I think we might be investigating the same case.”

“How do you figure that?”

“We have to turn back the clock a bit before we get to that,” he said as he swiped absently through several tabs on his tablet, “Context first. Over the summer, we discovered a series of break-ins at Wayne-owned warehouses at Gotham harbor. Chemicals were stolen. You caught me reviewing surveillance footage that night.”

It took Jason a second to piece together what he was referring to. Did he mean the night he broke into Wayne Enterprises? That had to be it. He thought it was weird to find Tim there. If he’d pressed a little harder, he might have found a lead sooner.

“What components were stolen?”

“Ones used to make fear toxin.”

Jason blinked. “Scarecrow?”

“Except it wasn’t him. He’s been locked in Arkham since last year, and that hasn’t changed. He’s also not known for employing henchmen, but this wouldn’t be the first time another rogue got their hands on fear toxin without Crane being involved.” He flipped his screen around to show Jason. Two men in nondescript black clothes approached the warehouse before the video went fuzzy. “For all our state-of-the-art technology, they managed to circumvent the cameras, and we found very little at the scene of the crime. I’ll admit, it was a clean job save for this bit of video.”

Huh. Much like Bruce, he saw the world through a fractured lens riddled with imperfections. Using those imperfections, Tim could draw conclusions. It was always about what was broken and how he could fix it. If he was commending them for a job well done, that meant something.

“And how does that connect to my case? The harbor doesn’t fall within my territory last I checked.”

“Maybe not, but the goods were moved several times,” Babs cut in.

The screen progressed as she remoted into his tablet. Green blips appeared on a street view of Jason’s territory. “They stayed to the periphery of your territory, but one veered too close and caught your attention.”

A final blip appeared in red. He recognized it immediately. It was the surveillance mission he botched. Luca had said that was part of a trail of breadcrumbs left by Mask to keep Hood off his trail.

But…

He never got around to checking the goods inside the warehouse. “A warehouse belonging to Mask full of lifted chemicals,” he breathed.

“Chemicals that you left behind,” Tim stressed as if Jason wasn’t feeling bad enough, “Paving the way for Black Mask to do as he pleased with them. Nice work.”

“Oh, cut the guy some slack. He fully intended to blow the place to high hell.” Steph sidled into the kitchen to pick up the succulent, studying it closely. Jason resisted the urge to rip it from her hands. “Why didn’t you blow it to high hell again?”

He didn’t owe them an explanation. “So, what are you saying? That fear toxin is some new wonder drug on the street?” It sounded absurd when he said it out loud. “I don’t believe it.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Tim scoffed.

Jason ran his fingers through his hair. “How am I the ridiculous one here?”

“Everyone knows about the harmful side effects of fear toxin in a more concentrated dose,” Tim continued with his usual air of superiority, “But microdosing seems to be the fad. People crave the rush of adrenaline that comes with fear.”

“Sounds like you would know that from experience?”

Tim merely shrugged, neither confirming nor denying the claim.

“I don’t believe you,” Jason reiterated as he snatched the succulent from Steph’s hands, returning it to its rightful place on the counter. Her pout went ignored as he continued, “I’m the drug guy. I would know if—”

His phone started vibrating in his back pocket, nearly giving him a heart attack. It didn’t usually ring. Not unless… He pulled it out, seeing your name on the screen. The corner of his mouth twitched up into the faintest hint of a smile.

“Woah, what the hell was that?”

The smile dropped. “What was what?”

“That thing you just did with your face right now. Was that a smile?” Steph pinched his cheek, scrutinizing his face. “Were you just smiling at your phone? I didn’t know you knew how to do that?”

 Tim pinched the bridge of his nose. “Steph.”

“Excuse me for taking an interest in his life. You should try it some time. Maybe if you do, he’ll stop acting like no one likes him.” She popped onto her toes to look at his phone. He tried to hide it, but he wasn’t fast enough for her discerning gaze. A sharp breath passed through her teeth. “That bitch. She told me she wasn’t seeing you.”

He shooed her away as he pressed the phone to his ear. “Hey?”

“I’m sorry to call you out of the blue like this. Are you in the middle of something?”

You sounded off, your voice brittle as if you were holding back tears. He glanced back at the other two before saying, “No.”

The line crackled with your whimper. “No, you’re busy. I knew it. I’m sorry. I interrupted you, didn’t I? Never mind. It was st—”

“Woah, woah.” He lowered his voice, turning his back on the others. “No need to freak out on me, lovebug. You don’t have to apologize. I can talk. Are you okay?”

“I don’t know.”

It was hard not to jump to the worst-case scenario with an answer like that, but he tried to keep his voice steady. “Do you need me to come get you?”

“Please.”

You could have asked him to walk barefoot over a bed of rusty nails and he would have done so in a heartbeat. Forget the case. Forget Tim and Steph. If you needed him, he’d drop everything to ensure you were alright. Even over the phone, he could tell something was wrong.

“Hold tight.” He shrugged off his leather jacket, “Ten minutes tops.”

He hung up, feeling the weight of judgement on his back. Tim gave him an indecipherable look before turning his attention back to his tablet. Probably stowing this moment away to use against him later. There was no escaping a comment from Steph.

“Lovebug?” she asked, “That’s adorable.”

He flushed. Pet names weren’t really his style, but it came out as if it were the most natural thing. Lovebug, of all things. That would not stick if he could help it.

“Shut up,” he said as he grabbed a hoodie draped over the back of his futon and threw it over his head. “I need to go.”

“We’re not done,” Tim deadpanned.

“I know that. I’ll be back, but I need to—” Fuck it. He didn’t owe them an explanation here either. He unbuckled his holsters and left them on the counter as he passed. “Give me a half hour. We can pick up where we left when I get back.”

But for now, he only had one thing on his mind. You.

***

He arrived outside the opera ten minutes later, an impressive feat given it was usually a twenty-minute drive from his safehouse. You sat on the curb with a young man with shaggy blonde hair that flopped down into his eyes. Jason threw down the kickstand and killed the engine. The blonde looked up as he tugged off his helmet (a completely normal helmet—Jason wasn’t dense enough to ride up in full Red Hood gear), giving him a clearer view of his face.

Jason had to do a double take.

That kid from the warehouse—Evan—was currently sitting on the curb… with you. He wasn’t sure what to make of this situation as he slid off his bike and approached, hiding his initial surprise behind something more neutral.

You hid your face in your arms. The yellow jacket draped over your shoulders. You shivered despite it.

He crouched in front of you. “Hey, lovebug.”

Again, it just kind of slipped out, and it still didn’t feel quite right. Luckily, you were too out of it to notice his bland attempts at affection. He tried again, “What happened?”

Finally, you dragged your gaze toward him. He swallowed his gasp. Your pupils eclipsed your irises, creating an abyss of black that unsettled him. You searched for the words, eyes darting back and forth as if they floated in the air over his head. In the end, you gave up and buried your face in your arms once more.

Evan leaned in and whispered, “Is this Jacob?”

“That’d be me, kid. You staying out of trouble these days?” A dumb question, he realized a second too late, but it had already left his lips. Jacob had never met Evan before tonight, and knew nothing about his rough past, but Red Hood was more invested in his wellbeing. Obviously, something was going right for him if he was here.

With you.

He couldn’t quite get over that.

It was funny how small the world could be.

Evan gave him a once over, taking in the beaten combat boots and the scars on his face. “Are you?”

Touche. Jason let the topic drop. “Do you know what happened?”

“Everything was fine. I was running around in the main dining room while she was working in the executive lounge with the top donors. She mentioned they were a bunch of freaks before the party started. I thought she was pulling my leg until I heard a scream. She ran from the room, and I didn’t see her for ten minutes. I found her in the bathroom on the verge of a panic attack, but she claims she wasn’t feeling well.”

“Did she drink anything?” Jason turned back to you. “Did you drink anything?”

You shook your head.

“Did you eat anything?”

Another shake of your head.

“What about—”

“Enough.” Evan shifted in front of you as if Jason wasn’t at least a head taller and twice as wide. “She’s clearly overwhelmed. Stop grilling her like she’s in an interrogation room.”

Jason withdrew like a scolded child. That was exactly what he was doing, and he failed to temper the shame that burned his cheeks. It was hard not to be in detective mode when faced with a situation like this. While it was possible you’d come down with something, it seemed more complicated than a stomach bug.

“What about you? Are you feeling weird?”

He fidgeted under his discerning gaze. “I’m fine.”

As it stood, you weren’t in any state to be alone. He’d have to take you back to his place. Where Tim and Steph were currently waiting for him. An inevitable cross-section of various aspects of his life stood in front of him, and it made him viscerally ill to consider. Jason couldn’t catch a break, could he?

“Do you feel comfortable going with me?”

“Yeah,” you managed after a second.

That was progress. “Can I touch you?”

You nodded. Evan scooted away, albeit reluctantly, allowing Jason to wrap an arm around your waist. He helped you to your feet and led you over to his motorcycle. Evan followed a few steps behind, distrust for Jason plain on his face.

“Are you taking her back to her place?” he pressed, “Not yours, right?”

Jason didn’t appreciate the insinuation in his tone. Despite an appearance that suggested otherwise, he would never take advantage of you. Evan might not know that, but come on, kid. Jason was clearly worried about you too. “That’s none of your business. Why would she call me if she didn’t feel safe with me?”

“Well, you weren’t the first person she called.”

He nearly tripped over his own feet. Ouch. That was the last thing he needed to hear right now, but he tried not to let the pain show on his face as he grabbed a second helmet from the bag on the back of his bike.

“Evan, I appreciate you looking out for me, but you can leave him alone,” you pleaded, seeming to find your words to rise to his defense, “I trust him and that’s all you need to know.”

“But—”

“Evan, thank you.”

You patted his cheek with a sort of maternal affection. He didn’t shy away from it like he would expect from a broody teenager. Jason felt a pang of sympathy for the kid. From one touch-starved kid to another, he knew all too well how nice it felt to be doted on.

“Really, I appreciate your concern, but not tonight.”

He looked like he wanted to argue, his gaze shifting between Jason and the motorcycle. Everything about Jason probably reminded him of the life he wanted to leave behind. It was good the kid found someone like you to encourage him. A good influence.

God knows, it was never going to be him.

Evan shoved his hands in his pockets. “I’ll send you a text later. Feel better.” With that, he trudged back into the opera house.

Once he disappeared, you placed a hand on his chest and said, “I called Steph first. Didn’t want to bother you.”

Shame hollowed his chest. He shouldn’t have let Evan get in his head like that, but the thought of becoming your second choice terrified him. “You’re never a bother. You don’t need to explain yourself, hon.” Better, but still not quite right. He pressed a quick kiss to your hairline before placing the helmet on your head. “I’m going to take you back to my place. Is that okay?”

“Your place?”

“I have some company at the moment.”

Your eyes widened through the tinted glass.

“The good kind.” Though good was relative in this case. He would have preferred to introduce you to one of his henchmen instead. Most of them were good guys. Well, outside of the drug trafficking part of the gig. “Is that alright? I didn’t want to blindside you.”

“It’s fine,” you said as you shoved your arms through the sleeves of your jacket, “I was the one who interrupted you.”

Jason swallowed his argument, knowing you’d be rehashing the same issue. You weren’t in the right headspace to hear him when he said this wasn’t an inconvenience. He replaced his helmet and activated his comm. “Oracle, I’m on my way back now. Can you let the others know to mask up if they’ve gotten comfortable. I’ll—” He glanced back. Your hands shook as you struggled with your zipper. He held your hands to steady them and helped you guide the pieces together. You managed to zip it yourself once they were fitted together. “I’m bringing a civilian back with me.”

Her beat of silence spoke volumes. “And you think that’s wise?”

“It’s my safehouse. I can bring back whoever I please.”

She sighed. “Alright. I’ll relay the message.”

“Thank you.”

The drive back passed in veritable silence. No wandering hands, though he felt the consistent tremor that you tried to hide by pressing your palms flat against his torso. No coy smiles, no sarcastic quips, just brittle exhales feeding into his ear when he took a side street a scooch too fast. He slowed considerably to avoid scaring you.

It was unnerving to see you like this. Jason didn’t know how to describe it, only that it wasn’t right. When he pulled up outside his place, you slipped off the bike and removed your helmet.

You rubbed your palms together as he dismounted. “How are you feeling?”

“Better, I think,” you said carefully as you took in the crumbling brick building in front of you, “The fresh air helped. My vision is a little...” You blinked a few times. “Shadows are more pronounced than usual, I guess.”

That failed to ease his conscience, but he would press the issue later, when you were more like yourself. He pressed your hands between his palms. They were colder than a shard of ice. He kissed your fingertips. “I'll wrap this up quickly, but once I’m done, we can talk about what happened tonight. If you want to talk about it, that is.”

You’d shown him grace with his secrets. He could do the same for you. “I don’t expect you to drop everything for me. This was more than enough, so take your time. I can survive now that you’re nearby.”

You had no idea how much that meant to him. Knowing you found his presence comforting made his heart swell. “I’ll get you comfortable first.”

Or as comfortable as you could get in his place.

He led you inside, up three flights of stairs until you reached his one-bedroom. The other two sat at the table, still masked up, much to his relief. Tim sat backwards in his chair with his chin resting on the back, snoozing. Typical. You didn’t balk as Jason ushered you inside. Not like Steph who openly stared after you, her concern evident as you stumbled in the dim light.

Way to be obvious.

Jason waved her off, hoping it conveyed that he had things handled as he led you into his bedroom. For once, he was grateful for his minimalist lifestyle. His bedroom was mostly clean save for a few articles of clothing littering the floor, but at least it didn’t smell. His bed was also made—likely because he’d been sustaining himself on naps at your place over the last few days.

You settled at the foot of the bed, a quick sweep of your gaze all you offered his place. Jason kneeled in front of you. “Do you need water? A blanket?”

“I’ll be fine,” you insisted.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m not made of glass. Like I said, I feel better already.”

You looked better, a bit of the color returning to your cheeks. He still had a lot of questions. Ones you might not have the answer to, and the uncertainty sat poorly with him. Unsure of what else to do, he kissed your hairline again. “Let me know if you need anything. I’ll be with, uh...”

“Robin and Spoiler,” you said, your tone unreadable.

“Uh, yeah.”

“I might have been more concerned to see Batman.”

It was a bland attempt at a joke, but it made him feel slightly better about leaving you alone for a little bit. “Be back in a little bit.” He stood and returned to the kitchen.

Steph rose from her chair. “Is she okay?”

“Unclear,” he admitted as he closed the door firmly behind him, “She’s better than she was when I found her. It’ll pass, whatever it is.” He lowered his voice and added, “She tried calling you first, FYI, but you were here instead, living for the drama. Was it worth it?”

She lowered her gaze, ashamed. “I didn’t—”

“Don’t. You made your choice, and I made mine. She’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it.” Jason kicked Tim’s chair as he passed. “Rise and shine, princess.”

He jolted awake. Drool dribbled from the corner of his mouth. Wiping it away with the back of his hand, he straightened, “I was awake.”

“Sure, ya were.” Jason leaned casually against the counter with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. “So, where were we? Fear toxin on the streets, right? That’s bullshit. I would know if there was a new drug on the market.”

“Only you wouldn’t because it isn’t starting in your territory,” Tim said, almost bored.

“And you would know that how?”

“Because it’s not,” Babs chimed in, this time through the tablet. A pixelated image of the Oracle sprite appeared on the screen, casting a sickly green glow across their faces.

Jason was suddenly in the Lazarus Pit, electric green as far as the eye could see as the pool worked its magic. Fitting his broken bones back together and making him whole again. It was as painful as it sounded. He looked away, shoving the memory away as she continued.

“Instead of starting on the streets and working their way up to more influential circles, it appears Mask decided to start from the top and work his way down.”

“I witnessed it in a real time the other week when I attended a party with Br—” Steph elbowed him sharply in the side and nodded to the closed door that led into Jason’s bedroom. It was unlikely that you were eavesdropping, but he’d been wrong before.

Tim licked his teeth and amended, “Some guests partook. They dip cigarette paper in fear toxin and smoke it with their tobacco or weed. It’s the smoke that doles out a hit. Leave it to the ultra-wealthy to get a kick out of experiencing fear.”

“Ironic,” Jason grunted, “Has anyone informed them that all they need to do is look out their windows to see the horrors of the world? Or is that too rustic for their tastes?”

Steph shuddered. “Rich people are the worst.”

“Not all rich people partake,” Tim mumbled sourly.

“Still rich. Still a pain in my ass.” Jason shoved off the counter. “You heard Oracle. What happens when small-time dealers catch wind of it and start distributing it on the streets. They’ll make dupes or cut it with other shit that makes it more dangerous.” A headache prickled at his temples just thinking about it. That would make a mess of his operation, for sure. “How do we stop that from happening?”

“We find the man behind it. Black Mask.”

“Wow. Fantastic.” He deadpanned. “Why didn’t I think of that?”

“But you didn’t have us before now,” Steph said in a tone that was surprisingly earnest, “We can help if you let us.”

Anyone else would have taken the olive branch she extended and moved one, but Jason was too proud to make things easy for himself. “Say I accepted your help. Hypothetically.” Steph and Tim shared a look but let him continue. “What would that entail?”

“A supplier would be a good place to start. There’s enough evidence to suggest that Black Mask is the Puppet Master, but we need to know how this new operation works. The sooner we find the suppliers, the sooner we can cut off the supply,” Babs said, her sprite flickering as if the mouth were moving with her words, “While the paper isn’t as potent as the original recipe, the drug is still a liability if bystanders inhale smoke secondhand. They’ll feel the effects all the same, creating a ripple effect you don’t see in other drugs on the market.”

“What are the effects?”

Tim said, “Paranoia, mild hallucinations, elevated heartrate, the usual schtick you see with fear toxin, just milder. It’s still—”

“Are you saying I was unwittingly dosed with fear toxin tonight?”

You stood in the door that had been closed seconds ago. Jason swore he stopped breathing. You threw an old hoodie over your clothes with the hood drawn. He swallowed thickly, trying not to fixate on the fact you were wearing his clothes and instead on the matter at hand.

“Come again?”

“Tonight. While I was working, Delilah Cadwell—her friend blew smoke in my face. I thought it was a cigarette but those side effects that you described were exactly what I experienced.” You stepped further into the room, undaunted by the masked vigilantes sitting at the table. In fact, you spared them little more than a glance as you went on, “There was fear toxin at the party tonight. It would explain why Delilah was acting weird and why I saw...”

You trailed off.

Jason had no idea what you saw, but he stepped forward to place a steadying hand on your back, captivated audience be damned. “Are you sure?”

“Hand-rolled cigarettes,” you stated soberly, “Delilah loves them, but they smelled off tonight. Like decay. If they’re dipping cigarette paper in toxin and smoking it, then yeah, I’m sure.”

So, you had been eavesdropping.

“You were dosed?” Tim grabbed his tablet. “What else can you tell us? Would you be willing to give us a sample of your bl—”

Jason stepped in front of you. “No one touches her.”

“Jacob, it’s fine.”

Steph and Tim shared a similar reaction, a small pinch to the eyebrows that betrayed their surprise. They missed a couple chapters in your relationship, but Jacob remained a constant since they last saw him with you. He didn’t need their judgement. He judged himself for letting this go on for as long as it had.

“You want a blood sample?” You pushed up your sleeves as you spoke. “If you think it’ll help, but I only got a puff to the face. Will it even register?”

Tim considered your question. “It should, even if your symptoms have passed. Are you encountering any residual side effects we should know about? Shortness of breath? Nerve spasms?”

“A little shaky,” you said, unnervingly calm for someone who just discovered they were drugged, “Shadows are darker.”

Tim nodded as his fingers flew across the screen. “That seems to coincide with the lingering side effects of fear toxin,” he noted absently, “Are you afraid of needles?”

Jason held up a hand before you could answer. “I'm not sticking her like a pin cushion. A blood sample isn’t going to do anything except satiate your little mad scientist brain, so let’s focus on the task at hand—finding a supplier. How do you propose we do that?”

Tim paused, his gaze falling back to you. “I think our connection is right in front of us.”

Steph curbed her surprise. “Robin, that’s reckless, even for you.”

“You work these parties. You’re intimately aware of the comings and goings of this crowd, yet your job allows you to witness the action from the outside. You would recognize something was amiss—if someone was amiss?”

Jason realized what Tim was hinting at. Involve you. He sputtered, “You want her to find the supplier. No. Not happening. She’s a civilian.”

“That’s for her to decide,” he insisted, “It’s not like I’m asking her to apprehend anyone. I think a tracker would suffice. One link inevitably leads to another, all the way up the chain.” He snapped. “And that’s how we find Black Mask.”

“I’m not putting her at risk.”

Tim leveled him with an unwavering stare. “You already have.”

Jason didn’t give him the satisfaction of a reaction, even though he made a valid point. Interacting with you puts you at risk. There was a reason vigilantes kept their identities a secret. The more you knew, the bigger the target on your back. He knew that, and he continued to see you anyway. Trying to keep you from helping now was hypocritical, but he also hated to watch you put yourself in harm’s way for his sake.

“We can stop talking as if I’m not here,” you said flatly, stepping around Jason to speak with Tim directly, “If you’re asking for my help, I accept. A supplier was likely there tonight, right under my nose. It’ll likely happen again, so why not make myself useful if I’m already on the field. I work at an art exhibition next week. If there was toxin at the opera, I bet it’ll also be at the art museum.”

“Fine, but you’re not doing it alone,” Jason conceded, “I’ll find a way to be there too. Undercover, or whatever.” That earned him a round of skeptical looks, even from you. He bristled. “Fine, I’ll go as myself. I can ask my buddy Tim Drake to get me in.”

A muscle in his jaw feathered. “That’ll make things messy.”

“I’m not sitting back and letting her handle something I should have nipped in the bud months ago.”

“I think that’s smart,” Babs piped in from the tablet.

You startled a little at the disembodied voice.

“Sorry to scare you.” Tim turned the tablet around to show Babs’ sprite again. “I’m Oracle. The eyes and ears of our operation. Don’t let them tell you any differently.”

“We would never,” Tim insisted.

“Ditto,” Steph piped in.

She ignored them. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” you said, taking it in stride, “You want Jacob there.”

“Jacob,” Babs said his name sharper than she probably intended. He was never living this down. “Is perfectly capable and well-intentioned. A second set of hands isn’t necessarily a bad thing either. We don’t know who this supplier is or where they’ll be. Having two of you will ensure they don’t slip through our fingers this time.”

“Alright, fine.” you conceded as you took the tablet from Tim. He let you without argument. “What’s the plan?”

He swore the sprite smiled. “Have a seat and I’ll give you a crash course in vigilante.”

You settled in the empty chair beside Steph who had tucked her blonde hair more deliberately under her hood and pulled up her mask until her eyes were the only thing showing.

If you figured out her identity too, he was well and truly cooked. Steph as Spoiler would inevitably lead to you discovering Tim as Robin and so on until you pieced together Bruce Wayne as Batman.

Jason cleared his throat, “Robin, can I talk to you for a second?”

Tim followed him into his room, leaving you and Steph to hash out the details with Oracle. Once the door closed behind them, he began, “If you’re going to bitch about this, save your breath, I have better—”

“I want something in return for this.”

He lifted his chin. “I wasn’t aware I owed you a favor. If anything, you owe me for that one time I helped you get a foundation off the ground to—”

“Do you know how to shut your trap and listen for five seconds?”

“When people deserve it.”

Jason resisted the urge to throttle him. “There’s a showcase at the end of the month at the Gotham Gazette for a writing competition. I need you to make sure Bruce is there.”

Tim’s lips puckered. “Why?”

He averted his gaze. “You know why. Don’t make me say it.”

“Are you sure you want to do that? I can see this blowing up, every pun intended, in your face if she decides to talk Bruce.”

“You think I don’t know that? I know what could happen and how it could all go wrong.” And maybe he wanted it all to go wrong. It would be the push he needed to finally tell you the truth because he was too much of a coward to broach the subject himself.

“But it would mean a lot to her if he was there, even if he isn’t the one who’s... you know. He’s still paying for her technically, so it matters, even if I’m the one she’s writing to.”

“I told you this was stupid.”

He inclined his head. “But?”

Tim sighed. “I’ll make sure Nadine puts it on his calendar.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” Tim sniffed, “I think you’re making a mistake, but you’re too whipped to realize it.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

But he was in too deep.

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

A/N: This is the longest chapter I've written for this fic thus far, but I had a lot of personalities to fit into one space. I missed Tim. Glad I could bring him back.

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[angelpuns]

Does Draxum get ✨ redemption ✨ in his au?

And, if he does ever figure out who the goat man is, how does Leo feel about him? Would he still kinda hate/resent him like in the show? Cus, I mean, Drax Did turn basically two of his dads into mutants(even tho Leo don't really think much of splinter after findin out) But he did still turn Todd into a mutant, and why would someone do somethin like that to such a nice man?

Yeah, its pretty much the normal Rise Plot but with less Leo shenanigans.

Leo would never say he hates Draxum, because he was raised to love everyone and that sorta thing. But he will never fully trust him, and he doesn't like what Draxum did to Todd obviously. He also probably has a moment where Draxum tries to hurt him/throw him off a roof later on in the show and he's like ' yeah I will never trust this guy he's a villain' and that sorta thing.

[torturedblue]

Just got to the end of season 1 of Rise yet again, and this time it’s really given me some extra thoughts and perspective about Leo’s behavior in the movie…

So we know at first Leo is goofing around like he usually does after the Dark Armor spits Draxum out. Undoubtedly with a huge boost of confidence from just defeating their Big Bad season 1 villain by merely creating total chaos and throwing plans out the window. After all, “we be we” right? Which leads Splinter and Raph to yell at him a lot while he just constantly insists “they’ve got this”. Which, sure, but Leo baby you have to actually fight and get focused for that to be true 😂 But it keeps Splinter’s doubts up all the while they’re moving through the Battle Nexus arc, and Leo doesn’t really get Splinter’s approval for his while big plan until he proves he knew what he was talking about all along and the Nexus crowd is cheering them on

“They love ya, Pops!”

“It was all you my son!”

They spend scene after scene with Leo insisting they’ve got this while working his Face Man routine on the Spiderwoman up until he gets thrown in the “kraken’s den” with Rat Jitsu and it’s not until then after he says it was all part of his plan and Splinter again doubts him, that Leo’s had enough of his lack of faith and failure to really pay attention to his strategies enough to say “How come no one trusts me? None of you have any faith in me, why?” Which, ouch.

And it’s kind of the same when they get back to the rest of the team. We know Raph was very unhappy with Leo bouncing on them even though the plan was actually Splinter’s, and as soon as they get back he chews Leo out for leaving them high and dry. Thus Leo’s “when I said you guys got this I meant that” speech. Raph remarks about how accurate Leo’s guesses were about how things went when they were gone, and when Shredder shows up again Raph asks if Leo’s sure about this to which he replies yet again “Trust me.” And while it may be with a confident grin, after all the previous events of the episode it makes me sad to hear the way Leo asks for trust again.

(Which, I love my guy Raph, but after watching him also doubt Leo for the whole episode it does make it hard to believe when he finally says he does)

And I could go off on a whole other tangent about Bug Busters and how Leo saw everything that Big Mama did coming beforehand unlike his brothers—like altering the terms of the deal Raph made with her at the last second—which allowed him to expect exactly that in Many Unhappy Returns and outsmart her… but I don’t think I need to.

So even though Leo doesn’t see it as much with Raph, he really had to work to earn his Sensei’s and his leader’s trust as a reliable team member. Now to be fair, he did keep his plan on the DL from Splinter up until the end, which makes it a little more unbeatable, but I always felt like he did that because someone who worked for Big Mama was always around and blabbing about what he was going to do around any of them wouldn’t have been smart.

And interestingly enough, the only episodes Raph does use him to do his Face Man thing are after all this, in Todd Scouts and Pizza Puffs, but I don’t think Raph ever did that in season one. “Go in there and do what you do best: face!” This leads me to think it’s the season 1 finale events that showed Raph Leo’s people skills and cleverness really were more useful than he thought

Looking back on all of this it really makes clear now more than ever why Leo had such hesitation about accepting his promotion to leader and acting accordingly.

Because Leo’s proven to know his family a lot better than they know him… which is actually really saddening

Even if you set aside all the other aspects of Leo being used to getting to take it easy, or seeing how when things get really serious the pressure of leadership can really get to you, or how people can actually die, like in the season 2 finale. At the end of the day we know Leo’s insecurity comes a lot from thinking his brothers or family don’t believe in him, so even after being given the leader role, how is he supposed to believe in himself?

[aydaptic]

I find it weird how Todd is a child abuser, Zlatko experiments on androids and turns them into monstrosities, Perkins betrays and kills Markus but yet Gavin is considered the worst person because he *checks list* doesn't consider androids alive (like almost everyone else in the game at that point) and doesn't trust Connor.

Among those you mention, Gav is by far the most justified. Yet I wanna clear some things up here bc I'm not a hypocrite.

1.) Todd -- who doesn't think androids are alive -- is an android child abuser.

"You don't want anything, you're just a goddamn piece of plastic." - Todd Williams

It's still phcked up that he's abusing/can kill something that resembles a kid to the T, but it's important to make that distinction. We see no proof of him abusing a human child (...even though it can be theorized bc his wife took their kid and left.)

Abusing an android kid is just as bad as abusing a human kid -- we know this -- but Todd doesn't see it that way, so that describes/partly justifies his reasoning. There's no such thing as 'abusing' a machine and that's how Todd sees it.

A lot of ppl are also (wrongly) infantilizing Con, so I'm not surprised that they consider Gav's bad treatment of Con worse than Todd's bad treatment of Alice who is a literal kid. Seems like most of them don't even care about Alice/kids in the 1st place (...and that says everything you need to know about these POS'.)

Mistreating a kid (Alice) is way more abhorrent than mistreating a grown-ass adult (Con.) Alice is also passive while Con often instigates conflict. So Todd is way worse than Gav by that alone.

2.) Zlatko -- who is aware androids are alive -- thinks he's doing them a favor.

"Believe me, you’re better off being erased and feeling nothing… No more pain… No more hopes dashed… I almost envy you." - Zlatko Andronikov

He's the worst among those four, but this is again a scenario where you need to see the situation from his perspective. Yet he knows they're alive/capable of emotions and that makes him a million times worse than Gav.

3.) Perkins -- who is aware androids are alive -- is doing his job.

"That android… [North] You seem to really care about her… You don't want her to die, do you?" - Richard Perkins

...and if the lover status isn't there

"You could have what you've always dreamed of." - Richard Perkins

In Perkins' eyes, it's about national security. Androids have killed humans (Partners/Stormy Night/Broken -- even if Markus didn't actually kill Leo or Carl, that's what the public thinks -- Zlatko/Spare Parts/etc. too many chapters to mention,) destroyed public property (Capitol Park,) hijacked media (The Stratford Tower,) demonstrated illegally (Freedom March,) etc. Not to mention that androids are superior to humans in every way and nothing tells Perkins that they won't eventually get violent if taking the peaceful route.

Yet his knowing androids feel makes him (as Zlatko) a million times worse than Gav.

"'Could always try roughing it up a little. After all, it’s not human…" - Gavin Reed

Meaning Gav doesn't think they're alive (unlike Zlatko and Perkins.)

Gav isn't the only character I (partly) defend on shit like this. I just defend the others 'less' bc 1.) they're worse, and 2.) they don't get nearly as much undeserved vitriol as Gav does. Something that's legitimately insane bc, again, they're way worse by a longshot and I'll explain why down below.

Con stans (fandom majority) are thinking emotionally instead of logically

ppl hate/envy Gav bc he's a conventionally attractive white man (you don't see a lot of Todd, Perkins, Zlatko, Leo, and Allen fans even if there are a minuscule few bc they're not conventionally attractive)

Funny that we don't see a lot of hate for Amanda. An AI or not, she's the worst influence in Con's life with her emotional manipulation. Something way worse than physical abuse. I wonder why... (not really bc *cough* you apparently can't say anything bad about a black woman without being racist/misogynistic *cough*) Ofc there are some ppl that aren't afraid to speak up against her, but it's nothing compared to the shit Gav gets.

It's also why I'm not talking about North often bc the majority are (rightfully) defending her already. My voice isn't needed there. Every single person -- other than me, in my experience -- who defends Gav is being spinelessly backhanded about it.

Defending someone doesn't mean you agree with them or condone their actions. It's simply proof that one has the empathy/critical thinking skills to understand their point of view. Something lacking nowadays.

[sasheneskywalker]

batfamily fic recs which are told from an outsider’s perspective

the city carries ruins in its heart by nex_et_nox

“Do you trust him?” Jim asked.

“Yes,” said Batman, unhesitating.

He didn’t know if he would ever like Red Hood. He didn’t know if he would ever be able to like working with him. He wanted to arrest the man. But if Batman trusted him, that would have to be enough for Jim.

Jim Gordon's evolving perspective on Red Hood.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Jim Gordon & Jason Todd

playacting by nex_et_nox

“So,” Jim said, “are you one of Wayne’s new kids?” Because only siblings acted that way toward each other, and it seemed like every time Gotham turned around, Bruce Wayne was adopting more kids. It was a reasonable question.

“What?” Jay asked. “No, I’m—” He paused. Very slowly, his head tilted as he looked over Jim’s shoulder in the most obvious way he possibly could.

Jim Gordon accidentally meets the "newest" member of the Wayne family.

G | No Archive Warnings Apply | Jim Gordon & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Jason Todd

Finding a New Perspective by njw

“I got this, Hood.” Red Robin sounds annoyed as he arcs and twists through the air, kicking one henchman into another and wrenching the gun away from a third while simultaneously retracting his grappling line and then launching it to catch another unwary henchman. Just, how?

“I can see you do,” Red Hood says, and wait. Was his voice always that deep? Is he… Maya squints. Is he staring at Red Robin’s ass?

She blinks, then studies the line of sight more closely. Maybe he’s just checking out Red Robin’s kneecaps, in preparation for shooting at them? That seems more his style. Sexual attraction is kind of confusing and she still doesn’t totally believe Tosh that it’s actually as big a thing as people make it out to be—seriously, do other people really spend that much time thinking about it? Sounds fake but okay.

But no, Red Hood’s helmet is totally pointed at Red Robin’s ass. Huh. That’s new.

*

For the tumblr Jaytim Week 2021 Holiday Gift Exchange. Thanks, Chibi, for putting this all together!

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Tim Drake/Jason Todd

seeing is believing by envysparkler

Five times Agent Padilla has the wrong idea about her neighbors’ relationship, and one time she gets it right.

(Or: Natalia knew that Gotham was crazy, but she didn’t realize it was move-in-next-to-Nightwing-and-Deathstroke-the-Terminator-crazy.)

M | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson

red by any other name by curiositea

The first thing Leo thinks, when she sees the guy strapped to the chair, is that cable ties aren’t going to be enough.

or, a minor gang kidnaps the Red Hood’s “boyfriend”. It goes about as well as you’d expect.

Not Rated | No Archive Warnings Apply | Jason Todd & Original Character(s)

The Talking Cure by DariaHernandez

Two vigilantes and a couples therapist walk into a room.

M | No Archive Warnings Apply | Tim Drake/Jason Todd

The Horrible Lives of the Completely Sane by withthekeyisking

Three civilian looks at the goings-on of the Wayne family.

G | No Archive Warnings Apply | Batfamily Members & Original Character(s)

Training Day: Gotham City 911 Edition by Spee (birbsandbats)

“Could you at least help me out here? The mall is about to explode!”

“Meh. It’s gone downhill since the Macy’s closed,” Pilar said.

“Meh??” Eric sputtered. “How can you not take this seriously?”

“The Riddler isn’t even an A level villain anymore. I think you and Robin can handle him, newbie.”

or: Eric Richards knows nothing about Gotham City--which would be fine, if he weren't its newest 911 operator.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | No Relationships

Something to Last by Lawsome

Gotham City Police Department Detective (Senior Grade) Sally "Sal" Yun's most recent sting netted Internal Affairs and the FBI forty-three felony indictments against eight GCPD officers and netted Sal a promotion to Detective Senior Grade, a prestigious transfer to Major Crimes, and a quiet personal promise from Chief Vitelli that Senior Grade was as far as she would go.

Sal's caught a new case. It seems Vice has lost one of their informants and they’ve decided to dump the case on Major Crimes after the snitch told somebody that a dead rogue called the “Red Hood” was back in town.

========

Or: "The Wire: Jason Todd Edition"

T | Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Original Character(s), Stephanie Brown & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne

[imagionationstation]

I’m sharing this with you cause none of my friends like Tmnt and I wanna share this.

Two of my dumbest headcanons.

Both Raph and Donatello are HUGE musical theatre fans. Raph’s favorite is Heathers, Little Shop of Horrors or Sweeney Todd. Donatello’s favorite is Hadestown, Be More Chill or Nerdy Prudes Must Die.

I like to imagine Raph is huge on self-care and has a skin care routine that’s like…20 steps (maybe not that but it’s a lot lol) and when his brothers are having a hard time (ex. Donnie stays in his lab too much, and doesn’t take care of himself, Leo is feeling down maybe about Splinter etc etc) he forces them to do a self-care day with him.

idk I think these are silly lol

It’s so ironic that you’re commenting about having to share your stuff elsewhere because the people around you don’t get it because MAN I have had a night. Let’s just say that being the only person you know with an interest in something can be difficult.

I love dumb headcanons <3

My favorite part is how difficult they are for me because I am the poster board of every meme of everything needing to make sense:

If anything feels SLIGHTLY off in my headcanons, my brain makes stalling noises. BUT THESE AREN’T MINE.

So take that brain.

I enjoy a few musicals, but I haven’t heard of half of the ones that you listed, so I wouldn’t know for sure if it would be up their alley or not. It’s amusing to imagine them sitting in Donnie’s lab, trading musical preferences to see which ones match up. Their brothers will never heard the end of it when they do. 🤣

NAH WAIT. I can’t get the image out of my head of them tied up as Raph helps them “relax.” One of the few ways that he knows to say “I love you you need to take care of yourself” is by sharing what he enjoys, even if they don’t care. He will make them care.

THEY WILL BOND.

And the worst part is somehow it always works.

[britt-kageryuu]

Afternoon Day 1

First | PREV | Next

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

💙

Leo was enjoying the switch to Meet and Greet, the fact that he was now just talking to fans, and some random people that spotted him while walking past.

His favorite thing to do is ask April to hand him something, and what happens is he opens a small portal just behind the curtain to pass things through, and he'll make a show of recieving and showing it off.

Though one time Cass just chucked a box of tea through the portal so it would hit him in the head. Many leaned around to find out where the stuff was actually going.

Though the small argument with a guy who was offended by Leo just existing for some reason was hit with, "Well I'm not the one arguing with and yelling at with a anthropomorphic Red Eared Slider on a Fancy TV. Now am I?"

Guy nearly punched the screen until April said 'If you break it, it'll cost you 4k to replace the hardware."

Well other then the occasional fan asking how he and Usagi were doing, some genuinely curious people asking about the VTurtles, and some odd photo requests, it was pretty calm.

Though there was one interesting conversation with a Med Student that go some people just watching a Humanoid Turtle and someone dressed as Jason Todd talk about obscure medical terminology.

❤

Raph was feeling awkward about taking over the Live Stream interviews, but at least he could dress up for it.

Many were kinda caught of guard by this tall dude dressed as an apocalypse survivor (think the Kraang Future Raph but human), with a robot turtle on his shoulder, asking if they want to be interviewed.

He got stopped multiple times for pictures, people wanting to compliment the costume, and he had to check on a few people who collided because they go distracted while walking.

Though he also stopped to take some pictures of different Cosplayers, especially the one person dressed as Red Angel.

Though he did have one interesting moment were he helped someone who got hurt, and helped carry them to a medical office. The person had randomly said 'Marry Me', only for Raph to awkwardly reply with, "I have a girlfriend, sorry."

There was a number of posts about this, with quite a few saying 'wish that were me!'

💜💙

Donnie sadly had to return to the booth to let April and Casey have a break. He regretted letting the Dragons have no obligation to help with the booth other than as tech support when he wasn't their.

Leo was having some fun bantering with Donnie when not chatting with people walking past. The urge to go into Disaster Twins was very tempting, because of how naturally they fell into it.

Though the reminder to call Donnie by a different nickname was a bit hard.

"Just call me Othello, Blue."

"Okay, Tello Tello~"

"O-Thell-O! Get it right you broken neon light!"

Other than that, running the booth solo even for a half hour was a bit tricky, though it was funny hearing people ask Blue what the prices for things were. The most popular things so far were prints, keychains, and plushies.

And according to a small survey done for future merch requests, people wanted to get whatever 'Voice Packs' were. Though the idea of making a mod that would switch out some voice acting with their own wouldn't be a bad idea.

🧡

Mikey was feeling exhausted, but still very happy.

So many people bought so many things from his booth, he had to list a couple of items out of stock for the day. And adding a note to bring the needed restock the next day. Especially loose paper, people really loved the quick sketch thing, and he ran out of paper pretty fast, and had to remove the option from the 'menu board' item lists.

Not to mention some of the pictures he's got (with permission of course) of so many amazing Cosplayers. He also had to make a note of possibility needing to grab another pack of business cards for his alt social. He didn't expect people to want even just the card.

Though it might be the fact he went out of his way to have multiple designs on them, so people were treating them like collectors items on their own... Maybe that should be a gimmick for the next time he does Artist Alley, a 'Golden Ticket' business card... or would that just lead to way more work than he needs.

Mikey took a quick look at his phone, and noticed that there was only an hour until the Halls Closed for the day.

Which thank Pizza Supreme, he was ready to get a quick bite, and sleep!

~▪~▪~▪~▪~▪~▪~

Once the closing of the Dealers Hall and Artist Alley were called, and the last people were ushered out. Then came packing up some small things that they didn't want to leave behind, and shutting off and securing the tech in the booth, before leaving themselves.

The booth teams, Raph, and the Dragons met up outside with Leo who went to grab some pizza and sides from a local place with good reviews. Not forgetting to grab the drones, wouldn't want to leave their robot children behind in that chaos.

They had their Dinner outside while going over how they were going to balance the next day, since someone would need to switch out with Mikey for his shift on M & G, because it would be unfair to leave CJ alone for hours.

They also looked into what was going on during the evening, for those who weren't quite tired yet, maybe a panel, movie or Karaoke room?

Either way they split up, with those who wanted to get to bed going back to the hotel, and the rest setting off to wander to event for a couple more hours before heading back to get some sleep.

They all remembered to queue up some posts to go up during the day tomorrow, just standard 'watching the Live of the con from work when I can', a reminder that Dee and Mandarin were doing meet and greets, maybe a 'Did I see some VTurtles Cosplay!?!' with screenshots from the live.

Meanwhile social media from the event itself was being pretty chaotic on it's own, with many people already putting together compilations of what was going on. And extensively reported on by various Social Media Reporters.

Though many have yet to face April in a battle of journalism just yet.

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

Masterpost

This ended up a bit short, but then again I kinda restricted myself on how I was going to write this out.

Mainly the 'I have given the characters an obligation, and they can't explore very much' thing.

Well, again I am open for criticism, and let me know what you think.

[cheemscakecat]

Things that would make Connor Detroit Become Human even cooler

Higher durability. In my reboot, the androids don’t look like actual humans, but this change could still work with the original design.

Make him tank bullets. Daniel tries to shoot him on the roof? He gets back up and sends the deviant into a hysterical rant about the humans and their new toys. The android he questions at the station shoots him in the head? He gets back up. Sends the poor guy into terrified screaming and yelling at the police about their “abomination”.

Connor already has different speech patterns than the other androids; he speaks with an edge of authority, not submissiveness. Even in a lot of his polite dialogue before befriending Hank. And if you choose to play cold or evil Connor, he can snark at humans in ways the other models can’t.

Kara has to say “I’m sorry Todd, it won’t happen again” when he curses at her for standing near the TV. Markus can’t really get mean even around Leo pre-deviancy. But Connor? Connor can dump Hank’s drink at the bar. Early in the game, when he’s not deviant. Hank is human.

And the things he can do or say to androids are terrifying. The interrogation is a prime example. Shooting the CEO’s android when asked, using damaged androids voices to find Jericho. Detroit could have used that.

Imagine Detroit become human deviants at the hideout, talking about the police monster android. Imagine he’s to them what the terminator is to humanity. Imagine Kara going out disguised as other androids, terrified that thing will be lurking around with the Police force. Imagine Alice going to confront him and the screams of horror and panic from her new deviant friends.

Yeah, you can play wholesome Connor… but the Androids won’t have that context. I want Detroit Become Rebooted Connor to be terrifying like the first and second Terminator. I want Kara on solo missions stressing over every minor mistake because he might be around. He might catch her, and where would that leave Alice?

I want this to be what the other playable characters feel when dealing with the RK800. Cheap, easily damaged androids with no weapons training. Using what little they’ve seen of human media and the deviant TRACI models’ experience. But there’s a police android with the programming to take down humans. It tanks bullets. It can talk like the human police and the owners they ran away from.

Meanwhile he goes to see Hank and it’s like:

“That burger is bad for your health.”

“Thanks, but I really don’t care, Connor.”

Also, imagine the police have been using the RK800 for a while before deviancy, so they actually know some way to take him down. Like, make Hank actually take him out in the park if you get the one of the endings where he shoots.

[dandylovesturtles]

Fanfic Writer Ask Game!

🎯 🦈?

🎯 Do you have a writing milestone you’re working towards?

nope. I am at the whims of my inspiration and energy levels.

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

in ROTTMNT I would probably say Mikey. I think it's a little easy to lean too hard into the sort of "sweet little brother" thing that a lot of fandom likes (this isn't meant as a callout, lol, I like it too) and forget that he is canonically a little gremlin who is very silly and sometimes pretty gross (I mean he's a 13 to 15-year-old boy so it tracks).

Also he probably has the least defined character arc of literally every main character in the series (including the supporting cast like April, Splinter, Draxum, and both Caseys). Leo has his struggles with his place and identity within the team as well as his growth as a leader, Donnie has his issues with feeling replaced and directly linking his family "needing" him to his family loving him, Raph is struggling to live up to the expectations of the clan and his role as a big brother, April deals with her struggles connecting with her own peers and her fear that she doesn't count as part of the fam, Splinter has a billion things going on, Draxum has a whole redemption arc (truncated as it was) and Casey Sr effectively does too, and Casey Jr. has grief and trauma. And Mikey... would probably have had a really good character arc if we'd gotten the rest of season 2 and season 3!

A lot of Mikey's episodes where he gets to really get feelsy and show his emotions are directly tied to other people's character development, especially Donnie's and Draxum's, so we don't get as much of what his deal is. The only really solid Mikey centric episode is Hot Soup The Game, which definitely brings up Mikey's frustrations with being the youngest and thus babied as a result, so that's something you can draw on for his character, but even that's more tied directly into what he wants from interactions with other people and less about what he wants for himself.

(the truffle episode is super weird... like Mikey learns not to take his friends for granted? I guess?? I wouldn't have expected him to in the first place but yeah I guess that's some character development lol)

(actually as a total side note, it does annoy me a little that when Todd is first introduced as a character in Season 1, the whole point of his superpower being niceness was that he was so nice you'd do anything for him, and even villains were unable to turn him down, which was a really good gag and made him an interesting character. Then at some point it became that Todd's niceness meant he couldn't turn anyone down and suddenly he was just kind of a doormat, to Mikey first in the truffle episode and then all of them later in Todd Scouts. I actually like the Todd Scouts episode but also you didn't have to do that to him lmao)

(actually actually even though I like Todd Scouts I would have loved a version of that episode where Splinter stayed with them in the woods and then we dealt with how his feelings were hurt by the kids being more interested in their phones than his teaching and they could have pointed out that their dad kind of waited until late in life to start teaching them life skills and IDK WE DIDN'T GET THE FAMILY BONDING CAMPING TRIP WHEN THEY GOT CAUGHT IN THE TURTLE TANK IN SEASON 1, WHY DIDN'T WE GET IT IN SEASON 2??)

cough. anyway.

yeah so I always feel bad that when I look at my AUs and stuff I always feel like I give Mikey the least. I'm so sorry, Mikey, you're just already perfect and I don't know where to take you. ;;

Thanks for the ask!

[teetle-time]

Time Is All We Have

A Doctor Who x Rise of the TMNT Xover interest check/story prologue because i'm losing all control of my life lmao

Quick mini-primer for where in both timelines we are:

Non-teetle fixaters, you can just watch the first few minutes of the Rise movie. Bad future timeline shenanigans wahoo! You should probably also get a feel for the regular present timeline from the show if you can, though we won't be directly interacting with it for a quite a bit. Because Reasons. :)

Non-Who fixaters, we're rolling with David Tennant Doctor The First and the companion named Martha Jones. The name similarity to the Casey Joneses makes me giggle, especially now that I've watched through the (REDACTED) episodes where she ends up with some more Caseys parallels. Those haven't happened yet for her though lmao. Frankly, she's only had a few episodes'-worth of adventures with the Doctor by this point. :)

anyway. shoutout to my brother purpletango for having this idea. i believe what i hurriedly jotted down in my notepad app went like this:

the rise movie begins, mikey gets ready to send junior back in time- -and something goes wrong. welp, the gateway's there now. may as well use it. junior gets yeeted through (and my brain is now adding the idea of leo realizing something's up and going with him) and junior (and maybe leo) land…in the TARDIS. now they gotta get back to earth (hoping they're at least in the right dimension) to find the key and stop the krang. NO PRESSURE LMFAO

with a lil tweaking to the premise that just sorta happened as i was writing, i'm now at 26k words of combined fic and notes. it has been 2.5 weeks. i am nowhere near done. help lmao

gonna be doing something a bit funky with the tardis here just to get the ball rolling. idk if it's a canon thing that can happen but if it's not then shshshshshshsh just pretend with me. take my hand

〜

Almost exactly twelve hours prior to the moment he died, when the rest of what remained of the Resistance had been asleep and it had only been the turtles awake to keep watch, Michelangelo had looked to his big brother and said, "We can't beat them, can we?"

Last night, Leonardo had swallowed and given a slight shake of his head. "We can't."

"They've even stolen the night sky from us somehow," Michelangelo had said, lifting his gaze to the cloudless, crimson sky. "Look, there's no stars anymore."

"When did that happen?" Leonardo had asked under his breath. "We still had at least a handful last I checked…"

"Sometime since the last time we had enough peace and quiet at night to actually look up. I'd say…in the past few weeks?" Michelangelo had suggested.

There had been silence for a long moment after that, broken only by the quiet, deep breathing of the few who were left, as well as the shifting of Michelangelo's cloak as he scooted a bit closer to his brother.

Between the two of them, Leonardo and Michelangelo had enough organic fingers and toes to count everyone else who'd survived the past twenty-odd years. Then again, with only two toes on each foot, three fingers on each hand, and three organic hands left to use…well. Less than twenty wasn't exactly an army.

Casey had shifted in his sleep, eventually, mumbling something incoherent the way his mother always had.

Leonardo had swallowed.

Michelangelo had pulled his gaze back down to Earth and looked at him.

"The Krang won't give us the mercy of dying," Leonardo had said grimly. "Not if they can help it."

"They won't," Michelangelo had agreed.

"The others chose to fight with us. Humans, yokai, and mutants. Even Todd. Never would've expected him of all yokai to be so kickass, back in the day. But…this is all Casey's ever known," Leonardo had continued.

"It is."

There had been a shifting in the shadows off in the distance, then, and while it had turned out to be easily taken care of, it had still put a pause on the brothers' conversation for a bit.

When they'd gotten back, but before they'd woken the others and gotten moving again, Leonardo had nailed Michelangelo with a solemn look. "We can't avoid this forever, but Casey…"

"I know you're not talking about that thing we talked about never talking about," Michelangelo had said, raising the ridges of his brows for a deadpan look and a wry smile.

Leonardo had jabbed an elbow into his plastron with a thick snicker…but he hadn't denied it.

Michelangelo had sobered up, then. "Oh."

"Do you think you can do it?" Leonardo had asked as he'd knelt to shake April awake, pausing before he did to meet Michelangelo's eyes.

"I know I can," Michelangelo had said, remaining quiet about how 'it' would very likely be the end of him.

They'd both already known as much.

"When?"

"I-I don't know. When things look bleakest," Leonardo had tried. "If it comes down to us. If it's just you and somebody else. If…if it's just you."

Michelangelo had nodded, then put a hand on his brother's carapace. "The Krang'll get front-row seats to Earth's very own home-grown sun. And that's a Doctor Delicate Touch guarantee."

"Wouldn't expect anything less, little man," Leonardo had chuckled. "Give 'em a light show that'll have 'em running scared."

"I can fly, Leo. And 'little man' was always Raph's thing," Michelangelo had snickered, reaching down to wake Casey. "Hey, Casey, we gotta get moving. Mind waking up and reminding your sensei that I win all height contests forever, no take-backs?"

The noise had begun rousing the others, and Leonardo had scoffed. "Turning my own student against me, Mikey? Low blow."

"Nah," April had said from where she lay. "This is a low blow."

She had snapped an arm out to smack Leonardo's shin, and the rest of the survivors had woken to quiet laughter.

It had been nice.

The last moment of calm within the storm.

In the present, Michelangelo winced as the mystic energies swirling through him reached a crescendo, but still pushed further, digging his fingers into the fabric of reality and wrenching it apart.

With Leonardo wounded, everyone else outnumbered, and Krang closing in on all sides, it was definitely pretty bleak.

There was no better time to make a time gateway than when there was no time left, after all.

His heart pounded in his tympana, loudly enough he almost could have sworn it echoed, a thud-thud-thud-thud that wanted to shake him to the core.

For a moment, with the Krang bearing down on him, his brother, and his nephew, it felt like he was losing his grip.

Casey's voice managed to overpower the thud-thud-thud-thud: "Master Michelangelo, no! You're gonna-!"

He knew.

How could he not, with light cracking his skin and his scales into little flakes of dust on the wind?

But Casey…he was the future.

The best of all of them.

As long as Casey would be okay, Michelangelo could do anything. Would do anything.

He turned his head back over his shoulder for one last look.

Casey looked horrified.

Leonardo looked resigned.

There was no one else left.

(He didn't want to go.)

Michelangelo smiled and gave his family a cheeky little wink, then turned his attention to the time gateway in front of him, threw his arms out to his sides with one last heave-!

-and like Earth's very own home-grown supernova, like the very last star in the universe, he imploded into golden light.

〜

Leonardo felt himself shatter inside as Mikey disintegrated and the time gate stabilized, but the Krang were still closing in.

"Casey, when you're done saving the world, do me a favor," he said, putting a hand on the kid's shoulder.

Casey looked up at him with wide eyes. "Sensei, don't-!"

Leonardo just smiled sadly and shifted his grip from comforting to more of a ready to throw.

He ignored the fire in his side and the trickle of blood down his plastron as he hurled Casey into the gateway. "Grab a slice-!"

"NO!"

Casey's scream was the only warning Leonardo had before the wrist-strapped grapple (standard issue, at least before Donnie had gone out with a bang) streaked back out of the portal, latched onto Leonardo's good shoulder, and yanked him off his feet.

"Whoawhoawhoawhoawhoa-!"

The deafening thrum of a Krang laser and a flash of heat at his back told Leonardo exactly how he should have died, but the sensations vanished just as quickly as they'd appeared, leaving only the golden light of Michelangelo's ninpo and the silhouette a few yards away that told Leonardo where Casey was.

Leo almost let himself go limp in the rushing mass of energy as it faded from golden-orange to something more bluish-gray.

Almost.

Instead, however, he grit his teeth against the way his wound flared up and started swimming for Casey.

The light around them grew brighter with no signs of stopping.

By the time Leo reached the kid, he had to screw his eyes shut to avoid going blind.

He managed to grab Casey's hand, then wrap himself protectively around him-

-and then some kind of metal grating slammed against his carapace, his head snapped back, and he knew only darkness.

〜

The Doctor blinked at the sudden sound of beeping. "Oh? That doesn't sound right."

"Doctor? What is it?" asked Martha.

"I'm getting an alert," said he, darting over to one of the TARDIS' monitors for a look. "An alert that there's a lifeform catapulting through the timestream almost completely unprotected- two! Two lifeforms!"

Martha blinked. "What? How did that happen?"

"I don't know, but if we want to find out, we'd best get them onboard before whatever shielding they do have is eroded away." The Doctor studied the monitor for a moment more, then slid around the console and started throwing the appropriate levers and flicking the appropriate switches. "I need to focus on getting close- would you mind peeking out the doors to make sure my aim isn't off?"

"On it!"

The Doctor grinned, then turned his focus back to steering. "Aaalright then! They ought to be coming up just ahead, maybe a smidge to our left-!"

"I see them!" Martha called. "One of them- one looks human!"

The Doctor blinked, then looked up. "Only the one?"

Martha nodded, not tearing her eyes from the window. "The other looks almost like a turtle! Except, well, it's person-sized!"

"Curiouser and curiouser," the Doctor mused. Then, looking back down at the console, "Well, I think the simplest course of action would be to just…scoop them up!"

Martha glanced his way in confusion. "What, just open the door and grab 'em?"

"Exactly. You'll want to be quick and precise," the Doctor recommended. "Good to know we're on the same page."

After a moment to process what he'd said, Martha nodded slowly. "…right."

The Doctor carefully piloted the TARDIS close, and as he watched the energy readings of the two lifeforms get close enough, he heard Martha open the door, then yelp in surprise as something hard hit the metal flooring with a clang.

"Sensei?!" squawked the thick and emotional voice of a pubescent human boy.

"Oh, my," said the Doctor, skirting the edge of the console as he jogged over for a look.

Immediately, he could tell that whatever the circumstances were that had led to the two strangers being catapulted into the timestream, they had not been pretty. Between the apocalyptic fashion and weaponry, the fact that the turtle had seemingly been curled around the boy until losing consciousness, and the sight of tear tracks on the boy's face…well, a billboard would have been less obvious.

The boy glanced between the Doctor and Martha, wide eyes quickly shifting into suspicion as he slid off "Sensei's" plastron and placed himself between the turtle and the Doctor. "Who are you? What do you want with us? Are you with the Krang?"

Huh. He sounded American.

"Krang?" asked Martha, turning to him. "Doctor, what's a Krang?"

The Doctor frowned, mulling the word over. "Krang? Krang, Krang, KrangKrangKrang… Can't say I recognize the name. Bit of a shocker, really, and somewhat worrisome."

The boy's face spasmed, confusion clearly welling up, but the door chose to remind them all that it was still open by letting a tannish cloak drift through and land next to the two newcomers.

The sight of the cloak made the boy's eyes moisten further.

Oh, dear.

"Martha, could you get the door?" asked the Doctor, shifting his voice into something a little softer as he knelt next to the two strangers.

"Oh, uh- you got it."

As Martha did exactly that, the Doctor met the boy's eyes. "I'm the Doctor. Behind you is Martha, and this is the TARDIS. I don't know what it is you're running from, whatever this 'Krang' business is, but I promise you, you're safe here."

The boy's suspicion slowly lessened, the tension in his shoulders loosening some- though, notably, nowhere near completely. "And…what's a tardis?"

"My spaceship," said the Doctor modestly. "'S how I get around. What I want to know is, how did a humanoid teenager and a turtleman with a robotic arm end up hurtling through the timestream all on their lonesome?"

At that, the boy's gaze flickered to the cloak on the ground, and his jaw hardened in that way jaws tended to do when the only other option was to sob.

"…I see," said the Doctor quietly. "While I'd like to know the specifics, pushing this sort of thing never really seems to work out well. So I won't."

"You-" The boy's voice cracked, and he tried again. "You said you were a doctor?"

"The Doctor," corrected he.

"Though I've been training as one for quite some time, myself!" Martha reminded.

The boy visibly warred with himself for a moment, then grit his teeth and pulled slightly away from the turtle's side, revealing a nasty gash that had gone clean through his shell. "Help him. Please."

Martha gasped. "Oh, God-!"

The Doctor's eyes flew wide, but then he nodded firmly. "We'll do everything we can."

[etes-secrecy-post]

Hi, before I explain my post, I want to say something important.

• What you see my blog has become a major overhaul. And despite the changes, I decided that my 2nd account will be now my artwork blog with a secret twist.

⚠️NEW RULE! (W/ BIGGER TEXT!)⚠️

⚠️ SO PLEASE DO NOT SHARE MY 2nd ACCOUNT TO EVERYONE! THIS SECRECY BLOG OF MINE IS FOR CLOSES FRIENDS ONLY!⚠️

• AND FOR MY CLOSES FRIENDS, DON’T REBLOG IT. INSTEAD, JUST COPY MY LINK AND PASTE IT ON YOUR TUMBLR POST! JUST BE SURE THE IMAGE WILL BE REMOVED AND THE ONLY LEFT WAS THE TEXT.

⚠️ SHARING LINKS, LIKE POSTS, REBLOG POSTS, STEALING MY SNAPSHOT PHOTOS/RECORDED VIDEOS/ARTWORKS (a.k.a. ART THIEVES) OR PLAGIARIZING FROM UNKNOWN TUMBLR STRANGERS WILL IMMEDIATELY BE BLOCKED, RIGHT AWAY!⚠️

😡 WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT EVER LIKED & REBLOG MY SECRET POST! THIS IS FOR MY SECRET FRIENDS ONLY, NOT YOU! 😡

Okay? Capiche? Make sense? Good, now back to the post…↓

Title: My "Baggy Cloth-Ober" Day 29: 😺🏀🏈

Hello, October! 🎃🦇 My daily "Baggy Cloth-Ober" continues with our next daily Inktober! 🧢👕🧤👖🧦👟😊

If you haven't seen my previous related post, then please click these: ↓

• Day 1: Maxwell 🐰🖌️ • Day 2: May 🐰👊💥 • Day 3: Sam 🦊⚽ • Day 4: Mikey 🐱🎧 • Day 5: Brown 🥜 • Day 6: Choco 🐰🍫 • Day 7: Stripes 🦝⚾️😴 • Day 8: Leo 🦁🖌️ • Day 9: Wilson 🐶 • Day 10: Foofie 🐩🌸 • Day 11: Jumbo 🐘 🎮 🧹 • Day 12: Jo 🐆 • Day 13: Emme 🦌🌼 • Day 14: Ziggy 🦨 • Day 15: Jazzy 🦨💃🎵 • Day 16: Todd 🐑📚 • Day 17: Bearo 🐻🎒🚗 • Day 18: Joey 🦘 • Day 19: Katie 🐨 • Day 20: Batty Midnight 🦇🌙 • Day 21: Spot Speedster 🐶🏎️ • Day 22: Riya Speedster 🐰🏎️ • Day 23: Miya Speedster 🐰🐻🔋 • Day 24: Aace Speedster 🐶🐺⭐ • Day 25: Cude 🐰🤖 • DAY 26: Vanilla 🐰🎀 • Day 27: Shadow R. 😺🗡️ • Day 28: Tory 😺🩰

DAY 29: Caleb's Autumn Clothes 😺🏀🏈

• An OC that was inspired by Carmen's real-life brother sibling is 'Caleb Ramcat'. 😺🏀🏈 An Anthro fox-cat hybrid critter who loves playing basketball (and other related sport stuff). 👓 Not to mentioned, that he's playing any kind of Game consoles as much as their Ramcat siblings. 😊🎮 That's all about to say to him, but what his Autumn Clothing? ⚫🔴🤔 Just like I said on Shadow R.'s A/W Clothing, there's nothing much special about his Autumn Clothing. Sure it fits his personality, but it is anything but... No offense, Caleb. 😥 Again, I'm not throw any hateful words 🚫 because he's my 'Best Friend'. 🫂 Nevertheless, on the plus side, I think Caleb is enjoying himself playing basketball while he's wearing comfy baggy clothing. 🌸👕🧣🧤👖🥰 And did you know, that 'Fabric Softener w/ Expanded Formula' possessed a sweat proof? Yup, drops of sweaty drops converted into concentrated beautiful scent! Even a strong fowl order can converted too thanks with that special FabCom, trust me! 😉

Well, that's all for now. More daily "Baggy Cloth-Ober" artworks to come, until the end (of October)!😊

Caleb's Autumn Clothes - owned by @shadowredfeline

[coochiequeens]

A teen girl with mental health issues who expressed a desire to transition was removed from her family who wanted to try treating the mental health issues before transitioning was romeved from her home by the state’s child protective services and is now in Canada?

By Anna Slatz. January 29, 2024

A family in Glasgow, Montana is accusing the state’s child protective services of “kidnapping” their teenage daughter after the girl began to identify as a transgender “boy.” Krista and Todd Kolstad spoke to Reduxx about their ordeal, revealing that the child had been removed from their care and was now going to be sent to Canada.

Krista, the child’s step-mother, explains that their nightmare began in August of 2023 after they received a call that their 14-year-old daughter, Jennifer*, had expressed suicidal ideations while at school.

“She had always had problems at school,” Krista says, noting that she and Todd had even pulled her from one district and sent her to another due to issues with bullying in an effort to give her a fresh start. But despite experiencing some real-world hardships, Krista claims Jennifer also had some undiagnosed mental health concerns, including attention-seeking behavior.

Later on that same evening, a case worker with Montana Child and Family Services (CFS) showed up to the Kolstad home to speak with Jennifer and do an inspection. Krista had been preparing dinner at the time, and invited the case worker to tour the residence despite both her and her husband being distressed by the sudden appearance.

Todd, Krista, and Jennifer in a Christmas photo. SOURCE: Supplied.

During the interview with CFS, Jennifer claimed to have consumed toilet bowl cleaner and painkiller medications that day in an effort to commit suicide. Krista says that it had immediately struck her as being highly unlikely, as not only did Jennifer not have access to either substance unmonitored, but that Jennifer had expressed no symptoms of imminent illness that day.

Despite their doubts about the veracity of Jennifer’s claims, Krista and Todd agreed to take Jennifer to the local hospital on an emergency basis. While there, blood work returned that Jennifer had not consumed any toxic substances.

Krista and Todd provided Reduxx with copies of Jennifer’s medical paperwork to substantiate their claim that Jennifer had not consumed any dangerous substances the day she was admitted to hospital. The paperwork confirms that there were no abnormalities detected in Jennifer’s system, and that her overall physical health was good.

But notes taken at the hospital consistently mention that Jennifer identifies as a “male” and wishes to be called “Leo.”

From the hospital documents. SOURCE: Provided.

Krista says she and Todd immediately made their objections known to Hospital staff, requesting Jennifer be called by her birth name.

“We were very clear to the emergency room staff as well as [CFS] that this goes against our values, morals, and our religious beliefs,” she said, but hospital staff refused to listen. “They told me to call their lawyer if I have an issue as they will do what the patient tells them.”

While the medical transitioning of minors was prohibited in the state of Montana at the time, Krista says the hospital told her that “social transitioning” was a “grey area” and continued to call Jennifer “Leo” and refer to her as a boy.

As a patient admitted for suicidal ideations, Jennifer was placed on 24/7 watch to keep her safe. But Krista says an aide was placed outside of her door who would regularly talk to Jennifer about “gender affirming” care.

“I came one day and she was talking about having top-surgery and being non-binary,” Krista says of the aide. She took her complaint to the on-duty Doctor, who dismissed her. “He told me, ‘why are not you more concerned that your daughter is trying to harm herself, then what [the aide] is talking about?'”

Another aide who had been set to watch over Jennifer similarly chastised Krista, telling her to “respect” Jennifer’s wishes to be called “Leo.”

Krista describes Jennifer’s time in the hospital as a period of constant efforts to undermine her and Todd’s parental authority. In addition to not respecting their wishes to refer to Jennifer by her birth name, hospital staff refused to abide by any other requests, such as limiting Jennifer’s TV and phone time, encouraging her to do her school work, and not allowing her to have copious amounts of junk food.

During this time, Krista and Todd had communication with Child and Family Services, and all agreed that Jennifer would benefit from specialized residential care for treatment and counseling. But during a conversation about where Jennifer could be placed, Krista says the possibility of her being moved to Wyoming was presented.

Jennifer and Todd. SOURCE: Provided

“They told us that there were 6 facilities in Montana, but that there was also a facility in Wyoming. And at that point, because we were already in such a state from the hospital disrespecting us and our wishes, we immediately looked up Wyoming’s laws on transitioning minors,” Krista says. “It looked to us like kids could go ahead and have procedures done and have hormones without parental consent.”

Concern began to set in, but Krista and Todd were assured that the most likely scenario was Jennifer being placed in a Montana-based facility, and on August 22, Krista and Todd were told that Jennifer was next in line for a bed in Billings, Montana.

But hours later that same day, Krista and Todd were called and informed Jennifer would be moved to Wyoming.

“They called and told us that a bed had opened up in Wyoming and that Jennifer needed to go. [The Doctor] said ‘she has to go. she’s not doing any good here,’ and we were really blown away,” Krista recounts. “No one talked to us about the the name of the facility — we had no one to answer our questions. We told them we wanted our questions answered before we accepted the bed.”

Ten minutes later, Child and Family Services arrived at the Kolstad residence with police.

“They showed up at our home to serve us with papers to take Jennifer out of our care,” Krista says. “They told me the reason was that we were ‘unable or refusing to provide medical care.’ That’s just not true.”

The next day, August 23, Jennifer was transported to Wyoming. Despite the fact that Krista and Todd were not allowed to see Jennifer during her move, CFS did allow Jennifer to stop and see friends and co-workers prior to leaving the city. Krista would later find out that Jennifer had told her friends that she was “crazy and trying to kill herself” and was being taken away from her parents.

“I feel this was a lapse in judgement by [CFS], a violation of HIPAA, and a miscarriage to Jennifer, as she is only 14. What if, when she is 17, this incident is behind her and she is in a good place mentally? This is a very small town and they have just let her brand herself as the ‘crazy kid’ who tried to kill themselves.”

While Jennifer was in Wyoming, neither Krista nor Todd were allowed to speak with her directly. Instead, they had to go through Jennifer’s counsellor, but Krista says they were very reluctant to give her information.

Krista later had to request Jennifer’s records from the center in order to get an understanding of what had happened to her while she was at the facility.

A letter sent by Krista to CFS expressing dismay at the situation and offering Jennifer clothes and comfort items. SOURCE: Provided.

On September 25, Jennifer was returned to Montana and placed in a Youth Dynamics group home where she has remained ever since.

“They called it ‘temporary legal custody,’ which means they have the say over where she is at, but we are supposed to be able to have the say over everything else. But that was not upheld. There were incidents of her getting vaccines we did not consent to, we were not told the name of the Doctors involved, and she was allowed to shave her head,” Krista says.

Since Jennifer returned to Montana, Krista and Todd have had monthly court meetings along with Child and Family Services to determine next steps. The couple was assigned a public defender, who simply encouraged them to keep their head down until the process was complete.

“I am not trying to throw them under the bus… but all of their advice has been ‘play nice, just let her finish the group home program and then get her back in your care and move on with your lives.'”

But while the group home placement should have been just 6-9 months, the family’s situation took a dramatic turn for the worse during their hearing on January 19, 2024, when the court decided to hand custody of Jennifer over to Child and Family Services.

“We were told that letting Jennifer transition and live as a boy was in her ‘therapeutic best interest’ and because we aren’t willing to follow that recommendation, the court gave CFS custody of Jennifer for six months,” Krista says. “CFS is now going to place Jennifer in the care of her birth mother in Canada, who has never really been apart of her life. The judge said to us ‘you need to expect that reunification with your family may not be what you are expecting.'”

Krista and Jennifer. SOURCE: Supplied.

Jennifer’s birth mother, Christine, currently lives in Kitchener, Ontario with her new husband. After Jennifer was born, Christine reportedly left the child with Todd, and has never been involved in her care since.

“She’s never called to see how [Jennifer] is. She’s never sent her anything. Nothing,” Krista says.

According to Krista, any communication from Christine at all has been sparse, and she has never made a meaningful effort to have a relationship with the children she left in Montana. Despite her apparent lack of interest, Krista has been sending Christine semi-regular updates on all of her children for the past seven years.

But disturbingly, Krista explains that she and Todd have grave concerns about Christine’s fitness as a parent.

“I have this letter from one of Jennifer’s previous counsellors that recommends that if Christine wants to come back into her children’s lives, she should do unification therapy, there should be trial visits… all of this stuff should happen because the children reported her as being abusive,” Krista says.

Krista and Todd provided Reduxx with a copy of a statement from a licensed professional counselor detailing sessions that Jennifer and her sister had attended. Both girls described Christine as being uncaring, abusive, and even “crazy.”

In one section of the statement, the counselor describes one of the girls as witnessing “incidents of violence directed at an older sibling,” which involved Christine “throwing that sibling against the refrigerator after becoming enraged at her” for wearing her mother’s jewelry without permission. The child goes on to detail “incidents when her biological mother would punch, hit, slap, and kick her and her siblings.”

An excerpt from the counseling report reviewed by Reduxx. SOURCE: Provided.

Jennifer similarly alleged disturbing cases of abuse by her biological mother, including one time Christine reportedly grabbed and held her around her waist while repeatedly slapping her in the face.

Of the five children Christine and Todd had together, only one had lived in Canada with Christine prior to aging out of her care. While living with Christine, the boy exhibited severe behavioral problems to a point where Christine approached Krista and Todd for help.

In one conversation, Christine admits to regularly checking homeless encampments and police records in anticipation she would one day find her son in jail.

Child and Family Services was provided both the counselor’s statement and the text messages, but Krista said that nothing could be done to intervene in Jennifer’s placement.

“Our family has been destroyed by this. We have little to no contact with Jennifer and our rights as her parents have been trampled on,” Krista says. But despite the turmoil that has been brought into their lives, the couple says they will never stop trying to help their daughter come home.

Krista and Todd chose to defy a judge’s order to remain silent on the case in order to tell their story. They were set to appear in court today to respond to charges of contempt, but have had to delay the hearing due to a family emergency.

“We will continue to fight. We will never give up on our daughter and for what we believe is morally right. We will continue to tell our story, even though we are currently in contempt of court, and try to keep other families from going through this. Our greatest fear is that our daughter is now going to become a victim of this system and eventually take her own life.”

While Krista has expressed fear that the family’s legal avenues are limited, she has said that they intend to find any means they can against Montana Child and Family Services as well as the hospital where Jennifer was treated.

“I will also be looking at if we have a case against Youth Dynamics Group Home for socially transitioning our daughter against our wishes,” Krista says. “This is NOT about money, this is about standing up and telling our story so this does not happen to another family. We will fight to save our daughter no matter what it costs us financially or emotionally. That’s what parents do for their children.”

*The child’s name has been changed at the request of her parents.