#with the added insistence by the author and the stans/fans that

[angelsaxis]

ooh this video essay is good. i forget the whole quote but the gist of it is about how media consumption in fandom is so focused on the individual and the self and how they can project themselves onto a work that youve got people who approach a work and their immediate goal is to change some aspect of it (headcanon, fic). the OP doesnt think fics and hcs are bad btw and neither do I. but theyre also right

[sokkastyles]

I saw some Azula fans saying that Mai and Ty Lee were not afraid of Azula. About the scene where Ty Lee tries to stay with the circus and refuse Azula, they also added:

"The fact that Ty Lee tried to refuse at all shows us that she isn’t just 24/7 terrified of Azula.They’re genuinely friends. Azula would still be scary regardless because she’s their princess in a highly militarized society.Zuko does this too, threatening people including his Uncle to get his way constantly. It’s clearly a common thread between them and not at all unique to Azula.Yet no one accuses Iroh of only supporting Zuko out of fear."

I'm just here thinking that the power dynamics between Iroh and Zuko are very different from the dynamics between Azula and her two friends. I'm sure you've probably talked about this topic before, but what do you think about the idea that Azula and Zuko threatening people to get their way is a "common thread between them"?

There's multiple things I want to address here.

First of all, you are absolutely right that the power dynamics are different. There IS a commonality between Azula threatening people and Zuko threatening people, and it's that both have learned that same entitlement that comes with being royalty of an imperialistic nation and both were raised by Ozai.

But one of the major differences is that we know that Zuko's natural inclinations are towards empathy, and we see him as a more empathetic child in contrast to Azula. His behavior towards Iroh and his men at the beginning of the series is a direct result of being burned and banished, and feels like he's trying to imitate what he's supposed to be, just like he imitated Azula at the turtleduck pond when he was little.

Zuko's threats are also never taken seriously, which is another reason why it feels like imitation rather than something he would really carry out. Iroh is not cowed at all when Zuko threatens him, his men call him out, and Zhao laughs in his face. Zuko technically outranks all of them and could use his authority against them, but he has neither the will to do that nor really the desire, whereas Azula's quick readiness to deliver threats plus the way people much older than her react to her with fear shows that she is ready to carry those threats out at a moment's notice.

I'd also point out, with Ty Lee, that being afraid or someone doesn't mean you never say no to them ever, and I find it extremely hypocritical that people deny the obvious fear Azula's victims show of her and say they weren't abused because they weren't quaking in their boots 24/7, and then turn around and insist that Azula was terrified of Ozai offscreen, even though she never shows fear of him ever, lies to him, and screams at him that he "can't treat her like Zuko." Yes, Azula and Ty Lee were friends, but you can still be abused by someone you care about. Azuls stans, in particular, should know this, since they love to talk about how Azula was abused by Ozai. And I'm not denying that she was, just saying that if you are going to talk about abuse, you need to recognize how Azula abuses others as well and not apply double standards to her victims.

[spirit-animal-sisters-official]

Spirit Animal Sisters Act One: Genesis - Gravity Falls Saga

Episode One:  Last of the Jackalopes

You are Here |Next Episode

In which we meet our heroines, friendships are formed, and destiny abound.

Spoiler Alert: This episode takes place between the Gravity Falls episodes Not What He Seems and A Tale of Two Stans. I advise you Gravity Falls fans to watch the former first, or else this episode won't make a lick of sense. Don't say you weren't warned.

“Our names are Mandy Penders and Stacy Penders. we are kangaroos and sisters, and this is the story of how we had the adventure of a lifetime."

July 29, 20XX. a flashy Toyota Corolla was headed towards Gravity Falls, Oregon.

“…Two days. We had that gig at the Fazbear's Fright in Riverdale for two days, Stace," griped a kangaroo woman to her sister, a similar looking otter woman. "What is your hang-up with that place, anyways?"

"I didn't trust that Spring Bonnie animatronic, Mando," countered the other kangaroo woman. "I think it's possessed."

"Still didn't give you the right to torch the place to the ground. The only place that would let us sing is in some backwoods area in Oregon. If you can control your pyromania for three minutes, we might not-- Oh my God, what is that?"

“Grunkle Stan, who's this?”

Dipper and Mable, having recovered from the experience with the dimensional portal were now confronting their great uncle Stanley Pines, or “Grunkle Stan”, as he insisted he be called. The elder Pine sighed, as he knew this day would come eventually.

“Kids”, he began, “this is my brother, Stanford Pines, author of the Journals. He had been wandering in that portal for a long time.”

"I… I can't believe anything anymore," sobbed Mabel. “To think I trusted you, almost let the world come to an end and for what? Some guy we've never even met until now?”

“Mabel's right,” added Dipper. "The sheer unmitigated gall that you lied to me, to us, about the journals, about everything. What else have you been hiding from us, that you have a real, live jackalope at the Mystery Shack?"

“How did you know about- I mean that's not important. The important thing is that we're a family again! Isn't that great?”

“I- I… I gotta go,” muttered Mabel, “I've got things to think about.”

“What kind of things?” “Just… things.”

As Mabel walked out of the Mystery Shack, Mandy and Stacy had given what looked like a jackalope girl a ride with them to Gravity Falls.

“My name is Grizelda Cooper and I am a jackalope. I escaped from a place called the Mystery Shack in a place called--”

“Gravity Falls?” asked Stacy.

“Yes,” Grizelda replied. “How did you know?”

“Because we're going there to perform our act; oh my gosh, we are so rude. My name is Mandy Penders and this is my twin sister Stacy; no, we are not related to Ken Penders.”

“Well, it's nice to meet you both. Truthfully, I'm not looking forward to going back to Gravity Falls.”

“Why not?”

“Long story. Say, you girls have any whiskey?”

“Nope. Never touched the stuff, not gonna start now.”

“Ugh, this is gonna be a long day.”

As the trio continued on towards Gravity Falls, a humanoid figure with a snake's tail and head for arms emerged from the shadows.

Master Trizarious, I have located the possible reincarnations of Sagittario and Bliznetsy and am preparing to engage.

Don't be hasty, Orphius; I shall send one of our minions to… welcome them to their doom.

つづく

[natashas-widows]

I posted 159 times in 2021

25 posts created (16%)

134 posts reblogged (84%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 5.4 posts.

I added 44 tags in 2021

#bucky imagine - 6 posts

#bucky barnes fluff - 5 posts

#sebastian stan x reader - 5 posts

#bucky x you - 4 posts

#bucky barnes oneshots - 4 posts

#bucky barnes fanfiction - 4 posts

#steve rogers fluff - 4 posts

#bucky barnes x reader - 4 posts

#mommy wanda - 4 posts

#bucky barnes series - 4 posts

Longest Tag: 30 characters

#bucky barnes x pregnant!reader

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

christmas shopping with bucky

pairing: bucky barnes x reader

summary: you go christmas shopping with your overprotective soilder.

warnings: nun but if you count overprotective bucky then yayyyy :)

author’s note: you guys can leave requests now !! just dm me on here and i will try to make your dream come true <3!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

You loved Christmas, the scent of the Christmas tree, warm light of fairy lights and presents giving to the person you loved makes that holiday more magical. You already knew that Bucky isn’t a big fan of shopping, but he insists to go with you, even tho he hated it but you begged him and he couldn’t say no to his best girl. You were in the big mall for about an hour and you still need few presents, you decided to also buy some food and you hoped that you will find the rest of the presents soon.

“You wanted to go eat something after shopping?” you asked, looking at him. “Yeah doll, I’m so hungry after that run between shops. You could train recruits with that shopping trips.” he kissed the top of your head. “I told you I can go alone.” “I don’t want you to go alone,” he whispered, “I’m protective type doll.” Well to be honest he wasn’t really he just likes being around you hehe. “I know,” you said, kissing his lips. A loud noise took your attention, you turned around to look what happened when you saw a man and a woman, arguing about something, but after a moment the man walked away.

You kissed Bucky once again and went away to look something for dinner. Bucky looked at the fruits once again, he hated when you walked away and he couldn’t go after you to protect you. It was his weakness, ( which he absolutely hated ! ) He lifted his sight looking at the woman you both starting at only minutes ago. She was sad and Bucky couldn’t stop looking at her. It was something in her that bothers him, something sad and terrifying. At once he heard a loud voice almost yelled into his ear. “Are you staring at my girl?” the man asked, clenching his fists. “Let go, man,” Bucky answered. “What’s going on?” you asked, putting meat to the card in front of Bucky. “Your boyfriend was staring at my girlfriend.” he took a step towards you. At once Bucky was in front of you, shielding you with his own body. You didn’t know what that guy wanted, but you were sure that if he will act like this towards you, yelling and dangerously waving hands in your direction, Bucky can hurt him. Badly. “Just walk away while you still can.” “Or what?” the guy yelled, poking Bucky’s metal arm, “dude! Are you some kind of freak?” he said, almost laughing. “Come on doll, let’s go home.” he wrapped his flesh arm around you. “Next time just leave my girl alone!” he yelled, “maybe yours want to know how it is to have a real man?”

At once you felt Bucky’s muscles froze, his metal hand clenched. But he held his metal hand t stop him from hurting the man, instead bucky turned and looked at the man and the man became scared all of a sudden. “Apologies,” he whispered. “For what? it’s not my fault your girlfriend doesn’t have a real man.” he said with a smile on his face, “hey! You can always come to me, I’ll show you what fun is, babe.” he yelled at you. In one swift motion, Bucky took his hand in a tight grip, making him kneel. They man cried from pain, trying to lose the grip of the metal hand. When Bucky spoke to him again the man was nothing else like crying baby upon his feet.“Apologize.” Bucky repeat. “I’m sorry!” he yelled, “I’m sorry.” “Good. Now, you will leave the store without even looking at your girlfriend. I bet she will find a ‘real man’ quickly.” Bucky’s metal hand lose the grip. letting the guy stood up and when he did it, he almost runs to the door. Bucky turned to face the girl, who was now standing in front of him with tears in her eyes. Who was you. He apologized and hugged him while wiping your tears. You took a few steps towards him, he was shaking from the amount of adrenaline or just because he was so mad. You had never been afraid of him, not even once when he was mad or sad or after a nightmare he just had, you just knew. You knew that no matter what he will protect you, he will never hurt you on purpose. You pulled him closer to you, holding the hem of his shirt, looking straight into his ocean blue eyes. Your nose touched, your lips gently brushing his, while your hands were resting on his big chest. You pulled away and looked in his eyes.“I’m proud of you,” you whispered. “Proud? I almost killed that dude!” he shrugged. “Almost.” you said, smiling, “I think you deserve a present..“Yeah? What kind of present?” he asked. “I’ll show you there.” you pointed at the lingerie alley, “I’m sure you will like this one.” “I think that I’m starting to love Christmas,” he said, squeezing your ass while going to chose the sexiest lingerie at the store.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

( guys i know you probably have seen this before, it was my friend story but she doesn’t write anymore so i asked could i share this story so yeah ! )

214 notes • Posted 2021-06-10 04:20:32 GMT

#4

unexpected surprise

pairing: bucky barnes x reader

summary: bucky and reader just got married and reader has a gift she wanna give bucky at the reception in front of everyone.

warnings: umm, there’s nun really but if you count the amount of fluff and bucky being a big crybaby ( in a good way ) one then yeahhhh :)

author’s note: um hi :) ! this is kinda my first time writing something like this on here ( there will be more to come <3 ) but tell me if you like it or not !

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

It was at least 4:00pm and you and bucky just got married. You nor bucky couldn’t wait to be called Mrs. and Mr. Barnes. You guys loved each other till death like reallyyyy. It made some of the avengers mad because you two would spend all of your time together instead of helping on missions. But they were really happy to hear about you guys engagement. You guys were now at the reception and it was time to open presents but first you had a special one just for bucky.

“Okay okay, everyone, i want to thank everyone for coming out here today to celebrate me and bucky’s wedding day!” you announced as you and bucky standed hand and hand in the middle of the dance floor. “But i have a announcement plus a gift for bucky.” you look over at him and natasha brings out two chairs and your gift for bucky. “Open in” you said looking at bucky. “I’m scared what is it?” he asked. “Buck, just open it and stop being difficult!” everyone laughed and so did you and bucky. As bucjy started opened it tears started to come into your eyes. Bucky pulled out a packs of pacifiers , bottles and a onesie that said “daddy’s little helper” It took him a minute to get the message once you understand it he stood and with tears streaming down his face and asked “You’re Pregnant?” you nod “yes” and he hugged you and spun you around and put you down and kissed you passionately. Everyone around also caught onto the message and started clapping. Bucky finally got him dream to come true. To have a beautiful wife and a child of his own.

220 notes • Posted 2021-06-10 02:00:39 GMT

#3

86 with natasha pls <3

prompt : 086 "I knew it was a mistake to get the twins matching clothes."

pairing : natasha roman off x reader

summary : you and natasha buy the twins matching outfits and the team doesn’t know who is who.

a/n: ahhhh ! my first request !! thank you so much for requesting this !! love you all <33 !!

you and natasha thought it would be a good idea to put your twin girls into matching outfits since you two were going to the compound to hang out with the team since you haven’t been going there since emma & gemma was born. “hey babe, are you sure this is a great idea for the twins to be matching? because they looking alike like alot.” natasha asks as you were getting ready. “yeah. they look very cute!” you replied coming out the bathroom in your new clothes you just bought which was almost matching with natasha outfit. you were wearing a silk black skirt, with a white turtle neck shirt with white high top vans with a black jean jacket. whole natasha was so wearing white vans with black jeans with a plan white shirt also with a jean jacket. “oh wow, so we are somewhat matching just like are babygirls ?” you asked picking up emma ( since you know them apart because their birthmarks. ) “yeah, i love it!” natasha said as she kissed you in the lips but it emma was mad. “no! my mama!” meme said hugging you tighter. “okay okay im sorry baby!” natasha said laughing.

you guys made it to the compound but once you looked back to twins were sleep and you didn’t wanna wake them but you had no other choice. “so who’s gonna wake them me or you?” natasha asked as she was getting ready to get out the car. “you get emma as i get gemma okay?” you asked and you both agreed. you got gemma and natasha got emma and you bathe walked into the compound but as soon as you both walked in the doors … “hey, looked is y/n and natasha!” tony yelled as you kept tryna tell him to shut up, but as soon and he stop yelling you heard the cries of the little. girl in your arms. “hey hey , mamas here.” you cooed to gemma but it didn’t work once she woke up and saw tony she jumped out your arms and ran to him. “uncle tony!!” gemma said while laughing as he picked her up. “hey um, gemma i think?” tony asked as he tried to see which little girl is which, but gemma helped him out by nodding her head yes. emma was still sleep in natasha arms so she took her to the spare room which was downstairs so she laid her in the bed and walked out the room closing the door but leaving a crack.

it was only 5 minutes later when emma walked out the room asking for natasha. “mommy!” emma ran up to natasha as she picked her up. “hey sweetie, are you okay?” she asked as she held her. “mhmhm.” emma said nodding her head. when meme realized where she was, she looks at wanda and jumped out of natasha arms. “auntie wanda!” she yelled as she jumped in her arm. “hey sweetheart.” wanda said as she kissed her cheek. “wait, which twin is who?” steve asked as he looked in between the two girls. “idk, we want you to find out.” you said. as them team argued about who was who you and natasha slipped out and went into the kitchen. "I knew it was a mistake to get the twins matching clothes." natasha said. “no i think it’s kinda fun watch the team trying to figure out who was who.” you said. natasha slowly made her way towards you and wrapped her arms around your waste. “you now y/n, you will be the death of me but i love you.” natash said as she kissed you. “i love you too natasha.”

268 notes • Posted 2021-06-16 02:58:32 GMT

#2

for the one i love

paring: bucky barnes x reader

summary: how much bucky loves his girl ( sorry i’m bad at writing summary’s but it will get better soon. )

a/n: i’m gonna try to write at least 2 post a day but i’m gonna make my masterlist & my navigation blog soon ! 

✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡

Bucky loved his girl, and that was no doubt.

He never had anyone that would love and care for him as much as y/n does ( except for steve ) but once he met her, his whole life changed. He always thought about him as the “winter soilder” , but when it came to her, she made him forget about everything. She made him better than ever!

Flashback:

It was a sunny morning in late june, she was walking in the park with a book in her hands, she was reading until she wasn’t looking and bumped into someone. “Oh my god i’m so sorry.” she said picking up her book and looking up to see a man with a hat, a red henley and some jeans plus he was kinda cute, she thought to herself. “Oh no, it’s f-fine.” he said kinda nervous. “I’m Y/N.” she said while smiling holding her hand out. “I’m Bucky.” he said shaking her hand and smiling back. “Maybe i could um, take you out for coffee sometimes since you know i ran into you.” she said while laughing a little. “Yeah. s-sure, that sounds nice.” bucky said smiling a little. That was when he knew she was gonna be the love of his life.

End of Flashback.

Bucky was pulled out of his thoughts as soon and he heard her voice. “Buckyyyyyyy come hereee !” y/n screamed from the bedroom. He ran to the room because he thought she was hurt because he never liked to see his girl hurt. “What, what happened doll?” he asked pulling her up by her hips from the bed to look for any injuries. “Nothings wrong buck, i just wanted to give you a kiss that’s all.” she said while laughing at how cute he was looking being worried about her.

“Doll, please don’t scare me like that again. you had me thinking you were hurt but if you wanted a kiss you could of just came into the living room.” he said looking into the same eyes he fell in love with 2 years ago. “I know but, i didn’t wanna get up, i wanted you to come to me. now gimme kiss” she said pulling him down by his collar for a kiss. The kiss was magical to him because he was sharing it with the one he loves.

And he never felt like this before, this truly made him happy.

✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰ ♡ ✰

337 notes • Posted 2021-07-13 01:19:03 GMT

#1

finding out you’re pregnant | b.b

- this gif is not mines. credits to the owner.

• okay so like the two of you would be just chillin in your new apartment which the two of you decided to by after the fight with karli and blah blah.

• you two would be cuddling on the couch watch some sitcom bucky begged you to watch with him for no absolute trade on but you agreed.

• you had a urge feeling that you were gonna throw up but you thought it was gonna go away but it didn’t ( sadly . )

• you didn’t really think much of it until you shot up from your spot from cuddling bucky and ran to the bathroom and bucky HAD to follow you bcs he was worried about his babydoll 🥺.

• when bucky finally reached to bathroom when you were he immediately sat down behind you to hold you hair and whispered in you ear that it was gonna be just find and to let it all out .

• “doll , was it something you ate?” bucky asked when you finished and you flushed the toilet.

• “no i don’t think so, but i should probably…. you know get a pregnancy test just to make sure.” you said back once you set you back against the tub.

• ( btw you guess where trying for a baby for a long time. )

• “okay babydoll i will head to the store to get some.” he says back. he kissed your head and helps you up but you stop him broke he could reach the door.

• “you don’t have to buck, i actually have some in the cabinet behind my tampon box.” you said while reaching the cabinet to get them out.

• and when you said that his eyes went WIDE. like how come he didn’t know? when did you buy them? but he quickly let it go and gave you a quick “okay” and left so you could take the test.

• after you took the test you flipped it over and put on a timer on you phone for 15 minutes and went back to the living room to see bucky waiting for you.

• “are you ready to become parents? only if the test is positive.” you asked bucky once you sat in his lap as he wrapped his hands around your waist.

• “as long at the baby come out of you, then i’m ready to be the best father i can be.” bucky said as he have gave you a passionate kiss on your lips.

• you guys talked and waiters for the timer to go off and when i finally did you guys were nervous like … REALLY REALLY NERVOUS 😬.

• you stood up and grabbed bucky’s metal hand and led him back to the bathroom. “you ready?” you asked once’s you reached the bathroom and was getting reader to see the results. “yeah, i’m ready doll.” he said back.

•once you turned on the results …

• you saw …

• TWO PINKS LINES.

•which meant you were pregnant and it was the love of your life baby you were growing inside of you.

•once bucky saw the test and saw that it was positive he immediately picked you up and spun you around but not to much because you told home don’t because you were gonna throw up if he did.

• “ OMG !! we’re having a baby! omg doll i love you so much.” buck says once he put you back on your feet.

• “ i love you too bucky. we’re gonna be parent to baby barnes.” you said while kissing bucky on the lips.

• bucky finally got his dream. a wife , a home, a baby on the way , and especially happiness.

352 notes • Posted 2021-10-06 01:08:32 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[bigskydreaming]

Okay so I freely admit this is way long even by my standards, lol, but like, obviously I didn’t have a ton of time to like...think about superhero stuff, lmao, but that didn’t mean I didn’t still have Very Important Thoughts, so I kept adding them throughout the week and then I woke up and was like oh hey, actually this is done. And also, oh hey, that shit added up fast. Whoops. C’est la vie. Such is me.

ANYWAY. Here. I give you a Mega Meta. A Master Meta. A...shut up, me.

Okay. So. 

Thing is, to be perfectly clear....the problem many of us have is not with people writing Dick getting angry. Nobody’s saying he never gets angry, nobody’s saying you should never write him losing his temper.

The problem lies in so rarely writing Dick’s anger as sympathetic. 

Meanwhile, you have Jason punching him left and right in fics without ever apologizing or with readers even expecting him to or saying he should...because he has issues. Hell, almost every fic I can think of off the top of my head where Jason punches Dick for some reason, even when Dick didn’t actually do anything wrong or Jason jumped to conclusions...Dick ends up apologizing to him, more often than the other way around. He sheepishly volunteers that he probably deserved it. That’s. That’s not good, guys. And then we have Tim holding a grudge for years and finally erupting at Dick, with people cheering in the comments, validating it, validating Tim. 

Or we have Bruce being cold and dismissive in order to protect himself and his own feelings, but that’s just Bruce, people say, sighing as if exasperated with the character for doing the things that he only does because he’s written doing them. Because people have long since accepted seeing Bruce engaging in this kind of behavior with his kids, and more often that not...again, with Bruce they validate this behavior instead of calling it a flaw that needs fixing or needs spotlights shone on it. They don’t condone it, necessarily, but they accept that its just who he is, that its integral to him, that to change that would be to fundamentally change him, and thus, its not even so much a flaw at this point as just a fundamental touchstone of his character. That’s just how he is.

So again...its not that we think its out of character to write Dick being angry or losing his temper or yelling at someone. Its that his anger is almost universally treated as a flaw, specifically, instead of ever being framed as a merited reaction to something fucked up.

Whereas everybody else consistently has extenuating circumstances or explanations or justifications or bigger issues or whatever, any time they lose their temper in fics. When Jason, Tim, Bruce, Babs, Steph laying into Dick because he did this or that or didn’t do this or that, all of this is fine with everyone in the comments, its deserved, oh sure it sucks that the other characters had to be so blunt but the truth bombs needed to be dropped about Dick’s bad behavior or whatever, etc, etc....

But turn back to the vast majority of fics that make a point to write Dick getting angry or losing his cool at someone...and Dick’s anger at a friend of member of his family, by comparison, is practically never upheld as justifiable, understandable, sympathetic. Instead its more commonly framed within the narrative and agreed with in the comments, that it was simply him being selfish or self-centered, inconsiderate or spoiled or short-sighted or hypocritical.

Disregarding stories where Dick has no real storyline of his own, the ones where he’s there to support and further the plots and emotional arcs of his family....that aside from those, in stories or even just in scenes where Dick takes center stage, where he and his conflicts are front and center.....

Is it wildly inaccurate to say that except for fics that are clearly written by authors who are Dick stans first and foremost, that in a sizable majority of other fics, just about the only time you will see Dick portrayed as truly sympathetic....is when he’s inarguably a victim, specifically spelled out and acknowledged as such by the other characters themselves? In Tarantula or Mirage fics, injury or illness fics or ones where he’s been tortured, Court of Owl fics or ones where he’s been targeted by Deathstroke or adapts the Apprentice arc from TT...

That the only time a large part of fandom actually sympathizes with Dick, is when the narrative clearly and undeniably centers him as a victim in need of comfort and support, almost always from some external threat outside the family (with the exception of Bad Dad Bruce Wayne fics as well, to be fair).

Whump fics or when he’s being tortured or is sick or injured....often specifically scenarios in which he has very little agency of his own and his siblings and/or Bruce are stepping up to protect him. Which in theory is great. But in reality, it highlights the fact that the only time Dick securely has readers’ sympathy, is when everyone or most everyone in the fic has already offered it to him first.

Any other time though? Dick’s reactions to things are hardly ever framed as sympathetic, understandable. Not when the conflict is with other main characters. He’s always too extreme, too over the top, too heedless of how his words and actions affect others. He’s always described in comments in ways like “I understand Dick being upset here, but he went way too far” and even when he did absolutely nothing to incite a conflict and merely reacted to what other people did first, somehow it ends up being “well both of them are in the wrong, if Dick would just stop fighting”....again...even when he was the one in the conflict who undeniably had less agency, less power, less initiative, and thus him ‘stopping the fight’ is actually more accurately described as letting whatever was done go, so they can all make nice, even though he’s the only one who actually has to compromise.

In comparison, would Jason fans be comfortable with the argument that if Jason would simply stop fighting with Bruce, he could come home and they’d all get along fine? Would Tim fans be comfortable with the stance that if Tim would simply come back to Gotham during the events of Red Robin and make peace with Dick, they could be a united front and be all the stronger for it?

Or would the response to those takes be hell no, because Jason is RIGHT to stand by his convictions, to stand up for himself against Bruce? That Tim is RIGHT to stay absent from Gotham and keep ignoring Dick’s attempts to reach out to him, because anything else would just be letting Dick off the hook and he doesn’t deserve to have it that easy after what he did?

Meanwhile.....even in narratives where the take being used is that Bruce unequivocally fired Dick, forbid him from being Robin...its Dick who’s being stubborn and selfish for not forgiving Bruce, even though Bruce hasn’t actually put forth any actual effort to apologize or acknowledge what he did to hurt Dick or ask how he could make it better. 

Because also, the other factor in all this...Dick’s never just allowed to exist for himself. Because there’s always someone else who needs him, who by extension is being hurt and neglected by Dick’s focus on his own conflict and holding out for the conclusion to it that he secretly hopes for, the one where the other person apologizes and puts effort into fixing things. With it thus being deemed that the longer Dick’s conflict with someone else lasts, and keeps him from helping whomever else needs his attention, the more Dick is actually the one hurting that other person, by refusing to simply cave and settle and let go of his hurt. 

And when his conflict is with Bruce, notorious for never budging on things, the implicit understanding is Bruce is never going to be the one to cave, so Dick is never going to get the resolution he really wants, and thus trying to insist on it anyway, at the expense of not focusing his attention on that third party and prioritizing their needs....well, this, ultimately, becomes viewed as Dick being selfish. Because he’s insisting on holding out for something nobody believes will actually happen, and thus he’s just being stubborn and heedless of how his stubbornness is impacting others. 

So even when Bruce was the instigator of a conflict, when Dick was staying away with reason, because he was hurt, because he shouldn’t have to be the one to make things right......

Suddenly, the frame shifts, in ways it never does with other characters. Well, forget about Bruce for a second, readers argue. Because Dick’s still being selfish, see, because what about Jason? Maybe the fight was Bruce’s fault, maybe he did do something wrong, but Dick was still wrong for not putting Jason first, centering him, even though at the time Dick was a nineteen, twenty year old with his own life to live and no actual obligation to the boy his father figure took in all while making no effort to repair the damage he’d caused in his relationship with Dick. Instead just dedicating himself to being ideal for Jason, who got the adoption Dick had long wanted, the name and mantle that he created and Bruce treated like it was his to give and take...

No, none of that was ever Jason’s fault, and he definitely shouldn’t have been targeted or penalized by Dick for any of that. But the thing is, he wasn’t. All that is wholly a fanon creation. While meanwhile, by the same token, it was never Dick’s responsibility to buck up and get over his own hurt for the sake of someone who was at the time a complete stranger to him and who had no real connection to him yet, because it was Bruce’s responsibility to make a case for that connection existing. Because Bruce was the only connection between them at that point. Bruce was the reason there was any possible tie between Dick and Jason at all....but at the same time, Bruce was also the reason for Dick’s unwillingness to simply return to Gotham and play one big happy family. Because Bruce had fucked up, Bruce had overstepped and hurt him, but showed no willingness to actually take responsibility for that, and take any actual steps to fix what had been broken by his own actions and stubbornness. 

I mean, when Bruce took Jason in...Dick literally had NO ties left to Bruce at that point. His wardship dissolved at eighteen, Bruce held no legal responsibilities towards him, nor legally established bonds...Dick wasn’t living at the Manor anymore, hadn’t in a long time. He lived with the Titans, his teammates that Bruce had never truly approved of...as far as he could tell, he had no real presence in Bruce’s life anymore....and then Bruce takes in this new kid, adopts him, full legal ties for life, no aging out at eighteen...makes him Robin, gives away Dick’s mantle that he took from Dick in the first place when it was never his right to do so...fire him as his partner sure, but take away the mantle, specifically? No.

So here’s Dick, having gotten reluctantly used to Bruce, his father figure, being pretty much a non-entity in his life by this point...and then Bruce goes and gives every possible sign of recognition and family and WANT to this new kid...thereby establishing that he wasn’t just emotionally incapable of making those declarations, he wasn’t just utterly unwilling to ink permanent, undeniable bonds of family because of his own issues surrounding his parents’ death....

He just, for reasons born of thought processes Dick wasn’t privy to due to Bruce making no effort to contact him since their fight either...as far as Dick could tell, he just showed no interest in putting forth any kind of similar effort in Dick’s direction. In reconnecting with Dick, or establishing in the kinds of ways he’d quickly volunteered to establish with this shiny new kid, that he did in fact still want Dick in his life, in his family. That no matter the current lack of legal ties between them, he wanted to say or indicate otherwise now, change that, the way he had with Jason. To make clear that even though he was no longer obligated to Dick in any way, bound to him, he still wanted to be.

And I mean, its not like its impossible to see or consider Bruce’s headspace at the time. I believe in all likelihood, Bruce’s unwillingness or hesitation to reach out to Dick and try and rebuild their relationship was essentially just a fear of rejection. That he was afraid he could give it his all, dedicate everything to trying to fix what he’d fucked up...but Dick would reject it, reject him, and say it wasn’t good enough, or it was too late...because that was Bruce’s own assessment of things. That deep down, he didn’t believe Dick would be willing to work things out, to try, that he would ever truly forgive him, because Bruce didn’t believe he SHOULD be forgiven. 

I think Bruce absolutely came to regret everything he’d said and done, and realized too late just how badly he’d hurt Dick....and while I’m never shy about expressing I believe Bruce has major entitlement issues...his guilt complex is equally vast. I do think that often times Bruce’s refusal to apologize or express remorse is a stubborn insistence that he made the right choice or that at the time, his choice was valid...but I also think that just as often, Bruce’s unwillingness to apologize for hurt he caused a loved one comes from the sheer depth of his guilt, and the self-loathing that accompanies his awareness of the hurt he himself caused. He doesn’t apologize not because he isn’t sorry, but because he believes no apology could ever be good enough to make it right, that he could never truly be forgiven because what he did didn’t deserve forgiveness. And in the process, he so often makes that lack of forgiveness a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Because understanding that headspace of course does not actually absolve Bruce of anything. His feelings of remorse mean jack shit if he kept them bottled up inside instead of ever expressing them to Dick, the person who needed to see them, who needed a reason to believe Bruce knew how he’d hurt him and was sorry and wanted a chance to rebuild a relationship and vow to never repeat the same mistake. All the guilt, self-loathing and remorse in the world, if not turned into actual words or actions...does nothing to move the needle on the responsibility that was still Bruce and Bruce’s alone, to account for his own actions, his own choices, that affected both Dick and Jason in ways they had no equivalent power to re-order everyone’s lives with their own choices, as Bruce’s heavy handed edicts resulted in.

And yet...people constantly insist that Dick was selfish back then for not stepping up and doing MORE than he already did with Jason, because he was mad at Bruce....as though it was some silly little spat he should have long since gotten over, rather than because the heart of the entire issue lay in Bruce’s ability to demonstrate he could still be for Jason the kind of father he once was for Dick....but had seemingly decided to just abandon all effort to reach out and try and rebuild the connection with Dick that he was at the very same time quite happy to build with Jason.

So even when its all but impossible to frame a specific conflict between Dick and someone else as being Dick’s fault....people simply shift the ENTIRE CONFLICT to a new angle wherein Dick is still managing to be selfish, for not adequately performing the role and tasks their father should be taking it upon himself to do....since ALL OF THIS, his fight with Dick, his willingness to let their estrangement last as long as it did with no effort to even ask Dick to come home, to express that he wanted Dick to...and then his taking in Jason, adopting him, making him Robin...

EVERY SINGLE CHOICE IN ALL OF THAT WAS BRUCE’S. THE POWER, THE AGENCY, THE DECISION MAKING, THE CAUSES THAT RESULTED IN EFFECTS...THEY WERE ALL BRUCE’S AND NO ONE ELSE’S.

And yet somehow, Dick gets stuck with half the blame, half the responsibility. All while skipping straight over his own hurt and the repercussions of him being the one most directly and negatively impacted by Bruce’s choices and their inevitable ripple effect on his life. Disregarding the fact that he was FAR more wounded by his conflict with Bruce than Jason was by proximity to said conflict...and instead refocusing all that sympathy straight on Jason, for being the target of Dick’s resentment at being replaced. An angle that had to be wholly created by fanon in the first place, since that wasn’t how Dick actually treated him in canon. 

Dick gets cut entirely out of the middle in order to allow most reader sympathy to miss him completely...and somehow at the same time he gets pasted back into the frame parallel to Bruce, where he’s thus regarded as equally at fault, equally stubborn. Yet the reality remains that at no point did Dick ever have equal the power Bruce had when unilaterally making the choices that affected both Dick and Jason. Dick’s only real power lay in whether or not he settled for burying his grievances without any actual apology from Bruce, or an attempt by Bruce to take the initiative in repairing their relationship. 

People levy undeserved responsibility onto Dick’s shoulders in all of that, most likely to make up for the parts of all that mess that Bruce wouldn’t take responsibility for, not out loud. Because people just take it for granted that well, its Bruce, that’s who he is, that’s not going to change...so since we don’t expect him to do everything that needs to be done, we put that on Dick instead, because he’s more likely to take on more responsibility than should be his in the first place. He’s that kind of character. 

Its just easier to keep heaping narrative and emotional responsibilities on the character who’s established as being willing to keep taking on that responsibility, no matter how much you add and how much it isn’t his...than it is to do the legwork of trying to measurably change the character who’s established as being most stubborn about resisting change.

And so Dick keeps over and over getting backed into a corner where the only choices are take responsibility for the very actions someone else did to hurt him, or be the scapegoat for everything that continues to go wrong anyway. Because he makes for an easier target to blame than Bruce, who its deemed pointless to try and get to do anything he’s not already willing to do.

And that pattern repeats, across the board, with pretty much everyone. Its always a one-way street when its Dick’s actions or words that have hurt one of his siblings or Bruce. The responsibility for their conflict is ultimately his and his alone, and there’s never any excuse for what he did or how it hurt someone, never any mitigating circumstances. But each and every time the narrative presents a situation where someone in the family did something that hurt Dick, upset him, made him angry, made him leave....suddenly, it somehow always in those cases manages to be a two way street. Well technically both were at fault, or there’s two sides to every story, etc.

In fics, whenever the family is mostly in harmony or being brought together by some tragedy...Dick’s often cited as the emotional glue that holds the family together, the heart of it....but the second conflict erupts between him and one of his siblings, its equally cited that for some reason, the family’s emotional glue just can’t seem to stop himself from fucking up with one of his siblings, mistreating them, misjudging them, misunderstanding them....in ways that nobody else is guilty of. Its just him, the lone holdout that’s causing friction. From emotional glue of the family to the only one who can’t seem to get on board with what everyone else is perfectly fine with....in two scenes or less.

Which brings me to my ultimate point:

The only times Dick’s anger is considered justified, when its validated and approved of by writers and readers, is when that anger is on behalf of someone else. Then he’s allowed to be as cruel and cutting and as vicious as possible, and readers celebrate it.

Meanwhile, like I said earlier, Dick is only deemed truly sympathetic when he’s hurt and traumatized and shaking…then he can receive soft words of comfort, expressions of sympathy and support, and ‘aww, poor Dick’ in the comments. But anything else, lashing out because of his trauma, and he’s being selfish and not considering the effects he’s having on others (again, I point you back to how many times Jason hits Dick in fics with it not even getting a shout out in the comments).

Should he get angry on his own behalf and express resentment and bitterness towards his own family’s treatment of him at times, then he’s being cruel and inconsiderate of their own circumstances, his response is disproportionate or somehow just happens to cross the line up til which readers were willing to see his side of things, and shifts them firmly ‘back’ in the other person’s camp (again, I point you back to how many times Tim is celebrated for lashing out with years of pent up resentment at Dick, or even cutting him out of his life entirely. With readers cheering Tim on and saying Dick deserved it to degrees I have never seen readers validate or vindicate any amount of hurt or resentment Dick has towards Bruce’s firing of him as Robin).

It all adds up to creating this trap where he can be angry for others, but never himself. He can be sympathetic, but only to a point, and only if it costs no other main characters anything. He can be a victim, but not one with agency, not one with a full spectrum of emotions and reactions that might potentially be upsetting to others. And he can be an antagonistic foil or aggressor, but never one with understandable cause or justification behind his actions, unlike Bruce, Jason or Tim for whom there’s always a reason underlying why they do or say the things they do or say to Dick in canon or fics. Its complicated and they’re only human after all. Dick however, is pretty much always cast as just being unreasonable, hypocritical, spoiled and stubborn or all of the above.

Fandom has gradually over time eroded Dick down to only his opposite extremes, allowing no room for nuance or shades of gray in anything he says or does in canon OR in fiction. Its either or. He’s the most perfect or he’s the most flawed. He’s the solution to the story’s problem, his family’s problem, or else he is the story’s problem, he is the one causing the family conflict. He’s the best brother anyone could want or he’s the worst brother for anyone to be stuck with. He’s a supportive, everpresent son or he’s a resentful, absentee son. He’s eternally pining for Kory, Babs, Roy or Wally, or he’s flighty and promiscuous and with a sexual history longer than Deathstroke’s body count. He’s a helpless victim with too much trauma to act on his own agency or he has no trauma period, and thus no understanding of anyone else’s. He misses his parents too much to ever truly want or think of Bruce as his dad, or he never thinks of them or references them at all. He’s so perfect he exists as an unreachable benchmark that everyone resents him for being, or he’s not really that smart or talented beyond his acrobatics and only significant because he came first, with the others all having long surpassed him in skills and intellect. He has platonic, romantic or sexual relationships with practically every mercenary and antihero in the DC universe, or he has no flexibility whatsoever on his moral stances and is completely incapable of seeing the POV of even his own siblings when they disagree on these matters.

And any and all attempts to paint within these polarizing opposite extremes, to fill in the in betweens with shades and nuances…results in these things almost universally being deemed ‘Flaws’.

Any time he gets angry on his own behalf, so much as raises his voice at a member of his family or someone he’s in a relationship with, even if its only as a response to something they did to hurt him, a fight they initiated and pulled no punches in…this isn’t him being angry, experiencing a normal human emotion characteristic of every character at one point or another…this is his temper on display, we’re told, and this is a Flaw.

The fights always end with him having the last word, the parting shot, because he’s just that stubborn. And by total coincidence, this means the takeaway from all fights he’s in is always that he’s the one who refuses to finish...what he usually never wanted to begin in the first place.

And the thing is...Bruce is infamously angry as well of course, as is Jason, as are many, many others within and outside of the Batclan. But you see, its different with them, because they use their anger, they make a tool of it, it fuels their fights for others, it drives them forward even when they’re frustrated with how much is stacked against them or how unreasoning their opponent is being. They’re angry, yes, but their anger has purpose, their anger accomplishes things. Their anger is another tool in their utility belts. Their anger helps.

Dick’s anger, however, being a Flaw (with the exception of when its ignited in protection of his family), is pretty much at all other times a hindrance. His anger is unreasoning. It’s blind passion. It clouds his judgment and makes him behave irrationally. It can’t be harnessed, its too primal for even him to ever consciously control or put a leash on, and thus it is in all instances dangerous. It is destructive to both himself and those around him; once ignited, it will consume anything in its path, regardless of who or what it comes across. It puts up obstacles between him and the people who love him and just want to help him and be with him but he won’t let them, he and his anger and his stubborn refusal to see past it just keeps wedges between them for years, until someone smacks some sense into him. 

(Curiously, every extended canon conflict I can think of between him and Bruce or him and someone else…almost always seems to end with him being the one to come back, reach out, extend the olive branch, etc.)

Similarly, any time he prioritizes himself or his own circumstances over what a member of his family wants him or needs him to do or be…this isn’t an understandable conflict born of the fact that even in co-dependent families, siblings still have a right and a need to live their own lives, and its unrealistic to expect one to eternally put their own life on pause to settle everyone else’s emotional conflicts or needs….this is him being selfish and inconsiderate, we’re told, and this is a Flaw.

I mean, you get what I’m saying, right? Its not that Dick is a flat, two dimensional character who needs flaws to make him more interesting. Its that Dick is a fully three dimensional character the same as everyone else, but people keep calling anything except his most two dimensional characterizations a Flaw, and then they just point to his two dimensional characterizations as proof that he’s boring without these things….

Even though nobody’s disagreeing with that, we’re just disagreeing that all these other things that keep being called flaws are actually flaws! As opposed to just human, three dimensional characteristics that are repeatedly hammered down to their most flat and singular presentation before having a spotlight shone on them and captioned as an eleventh hour addition intended to give depth to his character...

When ironically, these flaws that are supposedly highlighted in order to flesh him out, make him more realistic, human, relatable...are almost always presented in a very shallow way themselves, with very little depth or context to them or Dick’s expression of them, usually intended to only be interpreted in very specific ways. 

You want him to be fully fleshed out and three dimensional, not static or unchanging or too unrealistically perfect? You want him to be like every other character?

Well…he already is. All those nuances that are so detectable in everyone else are already there in his core characterization, his canon. Nobody needs to add anything to make him compelling, to make him a partner in a narrative rather than an obstacle to be overcome…because the problem is not with Dick or his characterizations or his emotions, not really.

Its how everyone around him is written reacting to those things, or not reacting, as the case may be. Its this bizarre form of fictional gaslighting where people look at a chapter where Bruce instigated a conflict by bulldozing over everything Dick expressed he wanted or felt, and just issued an edict that Dick objected to…and people somehow come to the conclusion that well, if Dick didn’t want to fight with Bruce, he should simply have not objected to Bruce overriding his wants or needs, or at least gotten over it after a week or two. Hence, really, the fault is Dick’s.

Its Dick having trouble interacting with Jason when he first finally starts trying to reconcile with the family, with Dick written being cautious and wary and watching Jason like a hawk when the readers all know that Jason is trying here, he’s doing his best, he’s changed, why can’t Dick see that, why is he still hung up on….those times Jason almost killed their other brothers. Its like, why is he keeping distance between him and his brother…because of his narratively stated concerns for his other brothers, that are born of that first brother’s canon actions (and referenced within the fic itself) that hurt them. He’s vilified for not caring about his brother…when his caution and distance is literally born of caring about his brothers. Instead of garnering reader sympathy for being thrust in between a rock and a hard place while he works his way towards trusting that maybe nobody is going to hurt each other again and this could actually end well for all of them....he’s condemned for not reaching that point fast enough. 

For having to work his way there at all instead of instantly intuiting that Jason has changed and Dick can trust their brothers’ safety around him now...even though had he encountered Jason right before Jason started enacting his big plan in UTRH and welcomed Jason home with open arms and brought him straight to the manor and vouched for him because he wanted to believe this was a happy ending for all of them...at that point in time Tim very well might not have  been safe at the manor with Jason, and that could have ended horribly, and how could Dick possibly be expected to just know that Jason had truly changed and something like that was not a possibility at all...without the benefit of reader POVs or without being allowed the time to get to know Jason as he was now, rebuild trust that even if it primarily had been broken by external factors like the traumas that so drastically changed Jason or the effects of the Pit on him...that didn’t mean that even without assigning blame, there was still trust that need to be rebuilt, or built again. On all sides.

But meanwhile, Jason’s inciting actions contributed nothing to this conflict, because he had context for his actions...context that is rendered sympathetically by most narratives, and he’s past all that now and changed. So really, as far as most readers are concerned, the problem that needs to be fixed in this story is getting Dick to pull his head out of his ass and figure out what everyone else already knows, that he should somehow be able to just….sense Jason’s new trustworthiness. That Dick’s flawed for not accepting it at face value because of previous interactions, and being stubborn and judgmental in insisting on proceeding with caution at first instead.

You really want Dick to be three dimensional? He doesn’t need you to add anything to his character to put him on an even playing field with everyone else, or emphasize specific flaws in order to bring him down to anyone’s level.

It literally just requires…treating his character the same way you treat every other main character within a narrative.

Like…just let him be angry for himself at times, without painting him as the worst ever for daring to do so. Like everyone else gets to be, such as when they’re mad at him instead.

Let him put himself first at times without calling him neglectful for not constantly being at his brothers’ beck and call, like everyone else gets to be when they go off and have their own stories and adventures and no one calls them while they’re in Europe and says hey you need to come home and play mediator between Bruce and Damian, or Damian and Tim, or Jason and Bruce.

Let him need time alone not because he’s flighty or flaky or has commitment issues but because he has things he needs to sort out in his own head and that’s impossible to do when he keeps getting pulled in to everyone else’s fights to play peacemaker or expected to take sides.

Let him have inconsistent views on things like killing not because he’s a hypocrite, but because peoples’ views on charged matters can and do change over time, or they take into context specific situations they hadn’t previously considered, or they’re applied differently to other people who have other motivations than this previous instance he expressed a different stance on.

Let him have issues with how Bruce raised him, not because he’s ungrateful or inconsiderate, but because Bruce has trouble expressing how he truly feels about things a lot of times and Dick is someone who happens to really need actual open affection or else doubts start to creep in when he’s forced to rely on reading between the lines. Let this actually be acknowledged as part of the conflict between them, instead of offhandedly mentioned in passing before all focus is honed in specifically on Dick and his ‘part’ of the conflict.

Let him retain his own identity outside of Bruce taking him in, instead of acting like the second he moved into the manor, he became more of a spoiled rich kid than even Bruce is ever accused of having been. As if his identity in his eyes, the whole time he grew up with Bruce, wasn’t far more that of Robin, Batman’s partner, than it ever was of Bruce Wayne’s Ward, the newest Prince of Gotham. Y’know, like how Bruce taking Jason in didn’t magically turn him into an upper class snob, or Damian coming to live with Bruce didn’t magically make him the same as all his peers instead of constantly at odds with them because of his different childhood and how it shaped him in very different ways than theirs did.

Let him constantly hug and touch people and initiate bodily contact with people not because he’s inconsiderate or unaware of boundaries, but instead keeping in sight his own history of being touched without inviting it, and of having things assumed and insinuated about him by virtue of his heritage or simply from being taken in by a bachelor. And thus exploring how perhaps him so often taking the initiative in making or at least offering bodily contact first, lets him set the tone and degree of that contact rather than ever leave him caught unawares. A defense mechanism against people initiating unexpected or unwanted bodily contact with him - if he does it first, and on his terms, then he can never be surprised or disturbed by it, the way he’s so often been subjected to in canon and fics.

Let his family come to HIM sometimes, rather than just waiting for him to always come to them and saying well that’s just how he is. Instead of ever considering maybe that’s just how they’ve always made it be and he never was actually given a whole lot of choice in the matter…it was either accept the status quo or be deemed stubborn and neglectful for refusing to always come when called. Or labeled petty for pointing out that they could just as easily come to him when seeking his help. Or, y’know. Just to drop in and say hi or check up on him or behave like an actual family that acts like they WANT to be around him rather than having to tolerate his presence.

(’Everybody loves Dick Grayson’, most of the Batfamily cite as a source of resentment in some fics, accompanied by an eyeroll. Because despite that supposedly being a truism, almost every actual character in those fics seems irritated or annoyed by him merely walking in the door).

Let his family put in a little effort to seeing behind the mask they all know he wears at times. Let them take the initiative to try figuring out what’s bothering him rather than point to that mask as proof he just doesn’t want anyone to know. When there’s no acknowledgment that their own reactions to his attempts to air grievances in the past quite feasibly gives him a lot of reason to doubt they even want him to take off that mask around them. Given how, as mentioned previously…the vast majority of his canon conflicts with them end with him being the one to cave and get over it, even if he had nothing to do with initiating the conflict. Constantly being told that your reasons for being at odds with a family member aren’t Valid doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that opening up about your current hurts will end any better this time.

Let his family WAIT to hear his reaction to things rather than just presuming they all know exactly how he’ll react based on their own specific views of him, and then jump straight to reacting off of that while he has to play catch up and ends up boxed into the position they assumed he was going to take, rather than ending up there because it was where he WANTED to end up.

Let his family apologize to him for shit they do or say, as often as they expect and demand apologies for every little slight he makes - not to mention a number of ones that weren’t actually his.

Let his family hear and validate and understand and sympathize with his anger, rather than deeming it a flaw and disproportionate and over the top. While at the same time expecting him to always validate and understand and sympathize and get over them killing people because of their own anger, nursing grudges for several years because of their own anger, saying cold and cutting and cruel things to him and telling him to get lost because of their anger, etc, etc.

Let his family be understanding and protective of his childhood mementos of his first family - as in his literal name and his mantle of Robin and the costumes inspired by his family - I’ve said it before and likely will a hundred times again, but I will never understand why this is such a sticking point for people. Why is it not abundantly obvious that if you actually want to delve into the emotions and thoughts and opinions of a character who was orphaned at a young age, your narrative priority should probably not be to first and foremost make sure you find a place to sneak in your latest penis joke about his name. We get it. His name is another word for cock and that’s weird and silly to you. But so much so that you just have to find a way to sneak it into literally every fic about him, even at the expense of your narrative tone or your other characters’ characterization?

Because hate to break it to people, but when you have Jason ready to pound someone into the ground for disparaging Catherine in his earshot, but then write him turning around and two scenes later making a sport out of coming up with new and clever ways to weaponize his brother’s refusal to give up the name he associates with his dead parents, like…you just made Jason a hypocrite and an asshole there, for the sake of a penis joke at Dick’s expense. That’s what that actually was. The dick jokes don’t actually say or do or change anything about Dick whatsoever, in any story I’ve ever read. They only ever actually make everyone making those jokes seem a little less likable to any reader whose first reaction isn’t to giggle. Like, is reusing the same basic handful of jokes over and over really worth that? Are we all five?

Honestly, I think the reason I keep coming back to this specific trope so often is like…I constantly hear fans of other Bat characters say they have trouble connecting with Dick or empathizing with him because he feels less real, they have trouble understanding or relating to what makes him tick, there’s too much shiny and not enough actual depth to his character.

But to be perfectly blunt…when someone’s priority in a scene is coming up with jokes about Dick’s name rather than putting themselves in that character’s headspace and trying to come up with angles for why he would keep that name, despite all the jokes and ridicule he gets for it…like. The problem there is not with Dick’s character or lack of depth or being too hard to relate to or understand. The problem there is they simply don’t care to examine that character’s depth and emotions and motivations and what makes him tick, because they’re having too much fun using him as the butt of every other character’s jokes. And I mean, hey, you do you, but people being unable to move past the penis jokes about a character whose name has been that for eighty years, like…that’s about reader/writer priorities, not an absence of character material.

But anyway, moving on. Again like, try having his siblings actually respect his ways of honoring of his parents and childhood, rather than expecting him to placidly accept being the eternal butt of everyone’s jokes but also to never ever be inconsiderate or absent-minded about their own origins or childhoods.

Let his family respect and appreciate his contributions to their family, the superhero community at large, and their own lives, rather than only ever pointing to his time as Robin or his central place in the superhero community or in their family as a reason to resent him or somehow deem him completely unworthy of any kind of respect. But again, nobody better catch him ever disrespecting one of the later Robin’s skills or contributions to the mantle and community, because how dare he, only they’re allowed to resent or disrespect his time as Robin.

Let his family express actual gratitude for all the times he shows up for them and puts them first, rather than only ever pointing out the times he fails to do so, or doesn’t do so precisely in the ways they expected or wanted him to.

Let his family actually acknowledge his sacrifices on their own behalves, rather than simply expect them to exist, and thus deem them not worthy of notice or recognition.

Let his family be mindful of his traumas and as careful and considerate about them as they expect him to be about their own, rather than forgetting he has any at all, or handwaving them away as not that big a deal and deciding he’s incapable of understanding or relating to anything they’ve been through because he’s had such a better life in comparison.

Let his family remember that he spent his entire childhood with Bruce out on the streets fighting crime and trying his best to save people, often at the expense of normal childhood milestones and accumulating all sorts of injuries and traumas and witnessing just about every horror man can heap upon each other in the process, rather than scoffing at him as spoiled and sheltered because out of all of them, he spent the most time living in an actual mansion.

They wear HIS mantle after all, follow in HIS footsteps, not Bruce’s. Why do people concentrate so much on writing Jason and Tim and Damian’s conflicts over Robin and fights born of its importance to each of them....when judging by every scene they share with Dick in the same fanfics, the three of them often dismiss him as spoiled, shallow, indulged, out of touch with the ‘real world’ or just generally have no respect for...their predecessor....whose mantle still nevertheless means so much to them, they come to blows over it?

Just…let Dick be what he already is, rather than acting like he only exists as one of two opposite extremes and needs everything else rewritten or reframed as a character flaw or else he can’t possibly be deemed compelling or interesting.

You really want a three-dimensional, interesting and compelling Dick Grayson, rather than just a golden retriever on two legs, a source of comedic relief, a humorous punching bag, a handy dandy family therapist, or the Designated Asshole?

You don’t actually need to do anything to his character…other than give it the same courtesy you give to every other character around him.

Just let him be freaking human.

[rxdonmyledger]

Tease.

Anon requested: Hi dear, I really love you writing and I was wondering if I could request something where the reader teases Seb by doing the cross leg that Sharon Stone does in Basic Instinct and then it turns into smut. Thank you.

Author’s Note: Hi guys! I know it’s been ages since I wrote something but I’ve been having some crazy months. I promise I’ll try to be here quite often. I hope you all enjoy this little one-shot. Feel free to comment as always and send me request if you wish! Also, you can buy me a Ko-fi here in case you want to support my writing!

Pairing: Sebastian Stan x Reader

Warnings: SMUT, 18+ ONLY, Spankings, language, Dom!Seb, fingering, oral sex (fem. receiving)

Words: 2,490.

You should have known by now that your boyfriend was a freaking tease. It’s been a long time, so should know better. But still, you fell on his traps. He knew how you loved watching him wearing a suit and he knew that you were not able to see it often. Sometimes he changed into a suit for a gala or a photoshoot in LA or elsewhere.

You had started your day going to the gym and after your shower you had checked your phone to see if you had important messages from your work or from Seb. You had felt your lips curving into a smile when you saw his name on the screen. He would be in the premiere in London and probably he wanted to show you how it was being in there.

You were so proud of what he had accomplished over the years. He was a hard-working person that wanted nothing but to be a good actor. You loved the way his eyes shone as he spoke about acting. You smiled at him, not fully understanding that world but happy just of watching him like that.

{Seb}: Good morning, doll 😉

{Seb}: Thought you wanted to see this.

You rolled your eyes at the nickname. He had started to use it one night you were playing Truth or Dare and he asked you what would your favourite nickname be if you were dating Bucky. Being the lil’ shit he is, he teased you with it for weeks until it grew on him, using his best Brooklyn accent to call you.

The moment you saw the photograph you thought of at least 201 ways to kill him. That bastard had taken a photo of the suit he was wearing. Dark blue and black were definitely his colours, you thought as you bit your lip, swallowing at the image. He was staring at the mirror with that gaze that made your body to burn.

{You}: I hate you.

The three dots appeared in the screen and you bit your nail, waiting patiently for his response. A line of laughing emojis filled your chat and you groaned, wanting to punch his perfect teeth. The dots appeared again and you sat down, playing with your hair.

{Seb}: You don’t, honey.

{Seb}: Gotta go. Love you xxx

You repressed your desire of smashing the phone on the wall. Or even on your boyfriend’s head. A sigh escaped your lips as you smiled, shaking your own head. You would never admit it, but you loved your little games. Teasing each other, playing, spicing things up.

You tapped your fingers on your chin, thinking of a way to get your revenge. You loved winning him, because it was then translated to bed, where you two had fun or even he let his darker side free. When the idea popped into your mind, you couldn’t stop your chuckles.

You greeted your friend Sarah as she opened the door, hugging her. Sebastian did the same and you two followed her inside the house, where some of your friends were already there. They were basically yours but they had become friends with Seb too. Soon you lost him, talking with Sarah and Laura about work.

You were wearing one of your favourite dresses. It was black with the sleeves made of lace and Sebastian loved it when he saw it the first time. He was the one that insisted on buying it for you and you knew that he became mad when he saw you wearing it. Like that evening.

The moment you had appeared on the door his went wide and his mouth fell open, drinking on your sight. He had swallowed hard as you strutted towards him, pecking on his lips before grabbing your purse and walking to the main door.

Little he knew that tonight, you had a surprise for him.

Even if you didn’t talk to him, you knew your gazes were teasing him. He couldn’t take his eyes off you, biting his lip when you looked back at him. You smirked at him and winked, turning to talk to one of your friend’s husband. You knew your dress hugged your body perfectly. Besides, that night had “accidentally” forgotten to put on your panties.

“Dinner’s ready!” shouted Oliver with a smile, watching as the guests entered the dining room. You sat between two of your oldest friends while Sebastian was on the other side of the table, just opposite to you. You had asked Sarah to placed him there and you friend had just shrugged, smiling.

Time passed as you enjoyed a wonderful dinner sharing great moments with your friends. You laughed with the stories that were told and you saw that your boyfriend was enjoying as well, though he spent more time watching you with his dark eyes. At one moment, a metallic sound filled the room and you felt your heart bumping against your chest. Sebastian bent under the table to take the fork that had fallen from the table and you swallowed, opening your legs to let him see your bare core before you crossed your legs.

It was a very Sharon Stone movement. Excepting that you were not Sharon Stone.

A bump made the glasses to clink and the table to shake. You covered your mouth with your hand, trying to hide the laughs that wanted to escape your lips. You took your glass and took a sip of your drink, clearing your throat as you saw your boyfriend sitting straight, rubbing the back of his head. Sebastian was glaring at you with his eyes dark, the blue of his irises now gone.

“You okay, darling?” you said, battling your eyelashes at him, smiling innocently while eating your food. Sebastian mumbled something and nodded, lowering his head. You smirked when you observed that not only his face was red but his neck as well.

The night went on and you all kept eating and drinking, telling anecdotes and updating with the last moments in your life. You could feel Sebastian was getting more and more nervous as time passed. And, you would say, a little bit aroused too. His leg was jolting near yours and he was biting his lip so hard you were surprised there was not blood.

“Let me help you, Oliver” you said as you stood up, smoothing your dress as you grabbed some dishes and glasses and walking towards the kitchen, adding an extra sway of your hips, feeling your boyfriend’s eyes on your body.

When you got back, you observed that Sebastian was already grabbing your coats and was talking to Sarah, apologising for leaving so early. He had that sweet smile that drove his fans crazy and you cursed under your breath.

“I hope we can meet to go to the gym together!” Sarah said while Sebastian helped you to get inside your own coat, being the perfect gentleman and so. You nodded and kissed her on the cheek, allowing Seb to take your hand and drag you to the outside, where his car waited.

“Get in” he growled once the door closed behind your backs. You smiled and nodded, walking to the passenger’s seat and getting inside the car, waiting patiently for him. His voice was dark and full of promises and you could feel your core already getting wet.

He made the drive home in silence, not even turning the radio on. And that was a sign, because he loved singing while driving. When the traffic lights were red, his long fingers drummed on the steering wheel, not looking at you. You swallowed hard and got out of the car once Seb stopped it in front of your shared apartment.

You got inside the lift and leant against the walls, playing with your fingers, noticing the tension building between the two of you. Seb had his jaw tensed and you were surprised he hadn’t broken his teeth.

“Get your ass in the freaking apartment” he whispered huskily, opening the door for you. You obeyed and jolted when you heard your boyfriend slamming the door shut, turning to see him strutting towards you.

You swallowed hard and found yourself with your back against the cold wall of the hall, his hands at both sides of your head. You took a deep breath and allowed yourself to look at him insolently, knowing that would make him even more furious. His breath was hitting your face and his nostrils moved. Sebastian walked closer and his body was completely pressed against yours.

“Apparently, you like to play with me, kitten” you shivered at the nickname and bit your lip, watching as his eyes followed the movement. You smiled and shrugged.

“You started this” you stated simply, laughing while Sebastian furrowed in confusion. That made him even angrier and his jaw tensed again. “You sent me those damn photos when you were in London”

Sebastian roared in laughter and shook his head, leaning against your ear, letting his breath to graze your skin, raising goosebumps on it. His husky voice made you close your eyes and his teeth grabbed your earlobe.

“Seriously, Y/N? All this little game of yours for that…” he muttered, touching your bare arm with his slender fingers. You shivered under his touch and bit your lip again, swallowing hard.

“You started this” you repeated, looking at him with a fake indignation in your features. “Knowing what those photos would do to me”

Sebastian chuckled and bit your shoulder before moving to your neck, grabbing your chin with his right hand and forcing you to look at him, smirking at the sight of you in such state because of him. His tongue drew a line from your shoulder to your jaw, biting the flesh of your cheek carefully.

“You know what are you going to do, kitten? You’re getting your ass inside that room so I can punish you”

“Really? Well, if you can catch me”

Taking him by surprise you pushed him and started to run to reach the bedroom before he could catch you, but if he played the Winter Soldier was for a reason and soon you were over his shoulder, kicking your legs and swatting his ass as he walked to your shared room, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

“Count for me, kitten”

Before you could prepare yourself, you felt a hand lifting your dress to your hips and landing on your ass harshly. You counted aloud, trying not to moan, knowing perfectly that what he wanted. He wanted to make you a writhing mess. And you were not going down without a good fight.

“Fifteen” you whispered, burying your head between your arms, feeling his soft hands soothing the pain and helping you to get into the bed. You had surprised yourself not making a single sound and Sebastian was thinking the same, noticing the frown in his handsome features.

“Well, well, love…I’m astonished…” He said, caressing your legs before dragging you to the edge of the bed, placing your knees apart and getting on his own, peppering kisses on your skin.

“Seb…”

“Shhh…” he shushed, smirking at you before biting your thigh and kissing it, blowing air to your core. You hissed and shuddered, trying to escape from your strong grip. “Let me take care of you, kitten…”

You moaned aloud when his tongue licked a long line from your entrance to your clit. His lips closed around your bundle of nerves, sucking and licking. His beard rubbed your thighs and you screamed his name, pulling at his short hair. Sebastian smirked and moved his head from one side to the other. You bucked your hips and he placed his arms over your waist, pinning you to the table. His free hand touched your folds and one of his fingers got inside you.

“Sebastian…” you whined, biting your lip and whimpering, knowing you were close. You had a tight knot inside your stomach and you took a deep breath, closing your legs around Seb’s face.

You screamed his name when his fingers curved inside you, rubbing your g spot while his tongue moved in circles around your clit. Your orgasm collapsed and went over your body, waves of pleasure traversing every single part of it. You shivered and tried to get away from his grip, your head hitting the pillow.

With hooded eyes you observed your boyfriend kneeled at the end of the bed, wiping his mouth clean. His lips curved into a smirk and he climbed onto the bed, taking off his chest. You bit his lip and let your nails scratch his chiselled chest, locking your gaze with his. Sebastian’s hand went to the back of your neck, crashing your lips with his. You moaned and cupped his jaw, deepening the kiss and biting his lip. Your boyfriend growled and you rubbed his length over his jeans.

Sebastian fumbled with his belt and stripped himself, sitting against the headboard and patting his naked thigh. You straddled him and rubbed his length, making him to whimper your name. His hands gripped your hips and guided you. You two groaned at the same time when he entered you, leaving you enough time to get you used. His arms circled your body and pressed you against his body. Sebastian closed his eyes and begged you to move.

You complied and rolled your hips at the same time he lifted them. You moaned when he hit you in the right places. You leant against his shoulder, biting the skin there while your boyfriend buried one of his hands on your hair, snapping his hips against yours. The sound of skin against skin along with your grunts and moans were the only sounds in the room.

“Please, Y/n…tell me you’re close”

“I am…come for me, Seb…” you whispered with almost no voice, rolling your hips harder. Sebastian turned his head and kissed you, swallowing your moans when you came again. He grunted and moaned softly against the skin of your neck. Your breaths were fast and you tried to calm yourselves before you rolled to the side.

Sebastian got up to get a wet cloth and clean you both before getting inside the bed by your side. You snuggled against him, smiling when he pressed a kiss on your forehead, playing with your hair. The room was in a comfortable silence.

“I have to admit…you played well” your boyfriend said with a chuckle, sending the vibrations to the chest. You smiled proudly at him, winking.

“I know” Sebastian rolled his eyes and patted your ass playfully, making you to jolt at the sensitivity you still had.

“Tease”

“Yes, but you love me for that”

“Yes, it’s true. I love you, Y/N” he replied with a lovingly smile, dragging you closer before kissing you softly, closing his eyes and hugging you while your eyes fell closed.

[sandykolbo]

The Keeper of Lost Things (or as I think of it—The Lovely Cup of Tea)

By Ruth Hogan (2017)

I read several reviews of this book, and I had to agree with several of their statements. It was awkward at times and the dual stories that ran throughout the book were confusing initially. Laura and Anthony may not have been as interesting a couple as Bomber and Eunice, and Laura was not heroic perhaps, but I would give Laura more credit as a character than these reviewers. She “persisted” as we are prone to say these days.

I listened to the Audible version of this book, and I thought it was very well done. I loved the accents and the way the characters were differentiated by the readers. I occasionally drifted off during the finding of lost things. I don’t remember much about the lost friendship bracelet. Sorry about that.

One reviewer criticized Hogan’s characterization of Sunshine, Laura’s Down Syndrome neighbor, who she reluctantly befriended at Sunshine’s insistence. The reviewer hated it that the author diminished Sunshine by giving her magical abilities to analyze the backstories of the found things. Okay, I get that, but Sunshine was the bright spot in this novel for me.

I will never forget the scene where Sunshine picked up a beautiful teacup and saucer and determined that the original owner did not want it back, which was, of course, true, because the previous owner had committed suicide. This teacup and saucer led to several events featuring “the lovely cup of tea” that Sunshine offered to the visitors to Padua.

One standout in “the lovely cup of tea” story line was the lawyer, who accepted several cups of tea from Sunshine to be polite, and then had to awkwardly ask Laura if he could use the toilet before he left. The dinner party that featured Sunshine’s parents, Stan and Stella, added a bit of fun to the novel. Laura’s almost upended romantic relationship with Freddy was resolved, which, as a Hallmark enthusiast, I appreciated. Laura eventually realizes that working in the midst of a mountain of missing treasures, she just might find herself in the process.

I don’t always enjoy the introduction of magic into a story—although some of my favorite authors have done so, but it didn’t seem so out of place in this old mansion.

I agree with some of the reviewers that the “better story line” was the story of Eunice and Bomber. I loved the introduction of Portia and her attempts to get Anthony to publish her books that blatantly used famous classics to build her storyline.

It was sad to watch Bomber follow in his father’s footsteps and fall victim to dementia. Equally sad was his sister’s insistence that he be put in a nursing home of her choice rather than his. Eunice was faithful to the end—even in assisting Bomber to get the key to the balcony which enabled him to end his life.

The resolution of the two stories was a bit of a reach, but I thought it was “a lovely cup of tea,” at a time in history where I really needed one.

*Padua—Saint Keeper of Lost Things

Helen Hogan shares:

The trio list the lost items on a website they call "The Keeper of Lost Things," in homage to Peardew, with a nod to Anthony of Padua, the venerated Catholic patron saint for the recovery of lost items. As they progress in their mission, however, their personal lives are upended and strange happenings start occurring.

Peardew was a little joke that I had with myself. It is pronounced in the same way as ‘perdu’ – the French word for ‘lost’. Anthony’s fiancée, Therese, was named after Saint Therese of Lisieux, who was also known as Saint Therese of the Roses, which just happen to be my favourite flowers.

Whilst I was dithering about whether or not to include Sunshine, I went on holiday and took a ride on a restored steam train. During the trip, the guard on the train told us about the history of the engine and its restoration. He explained that it when it was built, it was named after the station master’s daughter, Heulwen. Heulwen is the Welsh word for sunshine, and there was my answer!

I have posted my finds on Instagram and Facebook, and now other people bring me lost things too. In many ways I have become the character that I wrote about. I am now The Keeper of Lost Things!

In my early thirties I had a car accident which left me unable to work full-time and convinced me to start writing seriously. I got a part-time job as an osteopath’s receptionist and spent all my spare time writing. It was all going well, but then in 2012 I got Cancer, which was bloody inconvenient but precipitated an exciting hair journey from bald to a peroxide blonde Annie Lennox crop. When chemo kept me up all night I passed the time writing, and the eventual result was THE KEEPER OF LOST THINGS.

I live in a chaotic Victorian house with an assortment of rescue dogs and my long-suffering partner. I spend all my free time writing or thinking about it and have notebooks in every room so that I can write down any ideas before I forget them. I am a magpie; always collecting treasures (or ‘junk’ depending on your point of view) and a huge John Betjeman fan. My favourite word is antimacassar and I still like reading gravestones.

Jan 24, 2017

[were-cheetah-stiles]

The Recruit (Chapter 1) - Mitch Rapp

Author: @were-cheetah-stiles​

Characters: Mitch Rapp, Stan Hurley & Reader/OFC

Title: “Day 1″

Warnings: Some violence, sort of, slow burn.

A.N.: I have been quietly sitting back and reading basically every bit of fan fiction for a few weeks now that I can find pertaining to Stiles/TW/Mitch Rapp/Void/American Assassin, and I finally decided to throw my hat into the ring. I get so much joy from everyone else’s work and I just really hope you can all get the same out of this. 

Summary: Mitch’s fiancee, Katrina, was brutally murdered in a terrorist attack a year and a half ago. He had been hunting the perpetrators by himself for over a year, but finally came across the radar of Irene Kennedy, the Director of the CIA. She sends him to Stan Hurley to be properly trained at becoming a covert assassin on behalf of the American government. When he agreed to all of this, he never expected to meet Y/N.

Chapter One - Chapter Two

"Who is he?" You asked Stan as you walked up next to him, looking out the window at the black SUV that had come to a halt in the driveway.

"I guess we're about to find out, Y/N." Stan said as he walked away from you, closing the front door behind him.

You watched as the young man, clad in an unzipped gray hoodie, blue plaid shirt, black t-shirt, blue jeans, shaggy dark brown hair and light stubble talked calmly to Stan. He seemed alert, yet relaxed, and carried a hint of a constant smirk on his pink lips... He was handsome. You shook your head, breaking your concentration on his face, and walked back to your room.

You heard the hinges on your door creak, as you opened your eyes and glanced over to the tall figure in your doorway. "Hey, Y/N, we're going out for The Circle." The man said, before ducking out of your room again. You nodded, swung your legs over the side of your bed and laced your boots up.

You watched as Stan,  standing in the middle of the group with the new recruit standing across from him in just his tight black shirt, jeans and boots, pontificated to everyone about ‘the mission’. You had heard it a million times before and you were only half listening until you heard Stan say something new.

"Kill me." You heard Stan say calmly as he handed a knife to the young man.

He quickly lunged at Stan with decent technique, but as swiftly as he moved, Stan had pinned him to the ground, with the tip of the blade pressed again his throat even quicker. The man looked bewildered and pressed his large hands against Stan's trying to ensure that the knife didn't get any closer.

Stan backed off, taking his knee from against the new recruit's ribcage, and helped him off the ground. "Why don't you have another go at this... Who against...” Stan scanned the faces of his trainees, and smirked when he saw yours. “Y/N, get in here." Stan insisted.

You looked up at Stan and the man in black, not moving your head, but simply lifting your eyes. You did not look amused. You blinked a few times, then inhaled and took Stan's place in the circle. You hated when he did this. You were the only woman in the group, not a spectacle to be gawked at.

Mitch glanced around and saw the smirks on the faces of the guys in the group. He focused his eyes back on you, not fazed by your gender, but somewhat concerned by the general merriment of the group. He stepped forward and watched you remain unflinching. He was puzzled by your lack of movement; you wouldn't even bring your hands up to protect your face. He threw a punch that you caught in your small hand. You pushed his hand back and then dropped your hand back to your side. 

You were quick; he would have to test just how quick before he readjusted his strategy. Mitch threw another punch, which you deflected simply by moving out of the way. He tried to hit you from the other direction, but you backed your head out of the way, then brought your elbow up and hit him on the outside of his face with the outside of your bent arm. He grabbed at his head and stumbled backwards, disoriented. His ear was ringing. He had never been hit like that before.

He shook his head, trying to get the ringing to stop and put his fists up tighter to his face, vowing not to let you best him like that again. He was so busy watching your Y/e/c eyes, waiting for you to divulge what your next move would be by where you looked, that he missed your hand press quickly against his chest, quickly followed by your foot hooking against the back of his knee, bringing him down to the ground. You landed on top of him, pulling his arm across his body in a way that felt like it was about to be dislocated from the socket. You stared straight into his warm brown eyes, still pulling hard, while he thrashed painfully underneath you, only releasing him when you heard Stan start to clap.

You got off of the young man and looked at Stan as you walked back to your place in the circle. "I hate when you do that." You said quietly, as you passed by your mentor.

Stan was smirking, pleased with himself and how his plan of emasculating the new recruit was a success, as he walked passed his protégé. "I know." He simply replied to you, as he helped the muddy young man to his feet. "Maybe one day you'll be as good as her, although it's doubtful." Stan patted him on the back and walked away from the group, heading off towards the main house. "Tomorrow at 0700." Stan yelled at the group, as he left them in the woods.

The new recruit clutched his shoulder and watched as the short, slender, y/h/c haired woman walked back to the house with the group of men. Most of them chatting together, her only chatting with two.

He followed the group back and found an empty room to put his medium sized duffle bag in. He caught a glimpse of the person across the hall as the shadow moved across the room. He watched you walk over, a paperback book folded in half in one hand and an apple pressed against your mouth in the other. You didn’t even notice him, as you pushed the door closed with your foot. He decided to close his too, and he went back to unpacking his minimal belongings.

As the slow and quiet day began to come to a close, you walked into the bathroom with your toothbrush and a wash cloth and began brushing your teeth. You heard a toilet flush behind you, and saw the new man walk out of the stall, rubbing his shoulder and rotating it in an obvious effort to get it to pop. He paused when he saw you standing in front of one of the many sinks and mirrors. He lowered his arm and walked up to the sink next to yours to wash his hands.

He made a mental study of you in his periphery. Your hair was long and wavy from braids, the same way Katrina's used to be, but he could tell was generally pin-straight from how it fell at your roots. You had a smattering of freckles across the bridge of your nose, pierced ears, toned arms, and were barely over five feet tall. He examined your frame as you bent over to spit.

You were wearing a tank top with no bra, and long black leggings, with purple socks over your surprisingly large feet. You rubbed the warm, wet cloth against your face, rung it out, and turned off the water. You glanced over at him, unconsciously placing his hand back over his arm, and you walked away. He realized that he had been staring the entire time, and he shook his head at his own lack of subtlety. He shut off the faucet in front of him and followed you down the hall, to your bedrooms.

No more than ten minutes later, Mitch heard a light knocking on his door. He got up from his bed and opened it, revealing the woman from across the hall standing in front of him. 

"Can I come in?" You asked, your voice low but sweet. Mitch stepped out of the way, silently granting you passage, and closed the door behind you. You glanced around the room, seeing no personal items added by him since he got there, except the duffel thrown under his bed. You turned back to him, catching him staring at you once again, and you spoke. "I think I may have dislocated your shoulder a little. I didn't mean to actually do it." You finally said, nodding your head at his arm.

"It's fine." The young man replied.

"No, it's not... sit." 

He complied and sat on the edge of the bed. You walked up to him, slowly raising your hands to his shoulder, all while watching his deep amber eyes. A normal person would be enveloped by what your hands were doing snaking under the fabric of his shirt, but he watched your face. It made your heart race a little. You began pressing the tips of your fingers into his skin, looking for the disconnect. You wrapped your delicate and soft fingers around his wrist, pushed your other hand against the place where his neck and his shoulder met, and leaned one knee against the bed next to him.

"Are you going to count?" He asked, knowing what you were about to do.

"Nope." You said as you yanked his wrist up and then pushed his shoulder down, hearing a small pop, signifying that the joint was back in place. The young man exhaled loudly and growled. You released your grip on him and stood up straighter, in front of him again. He rotated his shoulder with ease, and looked up at you watching him. "Better?"

He cracked his neck. "Much. Thanks."

"You shouldn't thank me. I’m the one that did it to you in the first place." He noticed that you always looked like you could crack a smile at any second while you were talking, but never actually would. "What's your name?"

"Mitch."

"You got a last name?" You asked, leaning your hand and weight against his dresser.

"Rapp."

You nodded, never actually cracking that smile that he was becoming more and more curious over with each passing second. He wouldn’t get what he wanted tonight, as the same serious look on your face, that he had seen all day, remained. "Y/N." You pointed to yourself. "I'm sorry about earlier, Mitch." You turned and opened the door.

"You got a last name?" Mitch echoed your question.

"Yea." You raised your eyebrow, and smiled with your eyes as you walked out the door, closing it behind you.

Mitch chuckled lightly to himself, shook his head, and laid back on top of his sheets, thinking about the events of that day.

-> 2

[haberdashing]

After The Portal (1/2)

After coming through the portal Stan opened for him, Ford discovers that not all is as it seems.

Inspired by the epilogue of @thelastspeecher‘s In Another World, and in turn by some old fan theories from shortly after AToTS.

Part 1 / Part 2

on AO3

Also on fanfiction.net (no link because filters)

Ford quietly seethed as Stan described the day of their fateful fight in 1982, as Stan spoke of the thick snow that carpeted the landscape, of the blustering winds that blew fat snowflakes to and fro, of the bitter cold that sank deep into his bones.

Because once again, his brother was telling a lie for no one’s benefit but his own.

It had been a sweltering summer afternoon when Ford fell into- no, was pushed into the portal. Stan had arrived with that filthy hoodie of his half-drenched in sweat, and Ford had had to use one hand to shield his eyes from the sun’s bright rays while his other pointed a crossbow at what he had then initially assumed was Bill in disguise. There hadn’t been a snowflake in sight.

Ford knew that. Stan knew that. So why, then, was Stan so adamantly claiming otherwise?

There was, perhaps, some grand metaphor to be found in setting the scene in winter, in a time where warmth and light were rare finds indeed- but Stan was presenting his version of events as the unvarnished truth, not some overwrought work of fiction. But what did he have to gain? Some small modicum of added pity for traversing the icy roads of Oregon in February, for braving wind and snow in his brother’s name? That had to be it- and yet, for a lie of that magnitude, one that could so easily be uncovered, the payoff seemed awfully low.

Ford could easily have called his brother’s bluff, could easily have exposed his fraud, but he chose to stay silent for the time being. Perhaps he could speak up later, use this as ammunition when it was needed most, proof that Stan was a liar through and through.

Because that’s all it was, wasn’t it?

At least, that’s what Ford had assumed at first, but one conversation with his great-nephew deepened the mystery.

Once Dipper started talking to Ford, the boy never seemed to stop; when they weren’t holding DDnMD sessions or working to close the rift that Stan had so carelessly created, they spent hours just making conversation, whether comparing their studies of Gravity Falls’ anomalies or their respective pasts. This time, Dipper was talking about how he’d become so interested in Ford’s third journal in the first place, and his search for “the author”, never knowing that the search would end so close to home.

“-and for a bit I thought Old- I mean, I thought Fiddleford was the author- see, we’d found this laptop in the bunker, and when it, uh, got smashed I saw the name McGucket Labs on it-”

“McGucket Labs, you say?”

“Yeah- it was from his computer company.”

Ford had heard the name McGucket Labs before. Ford had said the name McGucket Labs before, said it many times over in his attempts to convince his associate to give his company a more professional name. But Fiddleford had stubbornly insisted on the company going by Fiddleford Computermajigs, despite Ford’s arguments that such a name would ensure his work never got the respect it deserved, saying that he didn’t "want the respect of a bunch of humorless old codgers in business suits anyhow”.

“R-right, of course...” Ford spoke as if on autopilot, spitting out words while his brain was racing away on another track altogether.

It was, he supposed, theoretically possible that Fiddleford had finally taken his advice, renamed his company something sensible, and made a new computer with a label to match. But after long decades of dimension-hopping, after spending years upon years discerning the differences between nigh-identical versions of reality... another possibility came to mind all too easily.

“Grunkle Ford, are you okay? You look kind of pale...”

Ford forced himself to put on a smile as his mind reeled. “Actually, now that you mention it, I think I could use some time alone.”

The moment the elevator door closed as Dipper retreated upstairs, Ford ran to the journals, newly returned to him but only briefly perused in the interim, to confirm his suspicions.

The journals were all wrong.

No, that wasn’t quite right. The journals weren’t all wrong. Some bits seemed right- pages that he recognized at a glance, snippets that he felt sure had been written by his own hand (and, in a way, they had been)- but interspersed were segments that were entirely unfamiliar to him, words that he knew he’d never written, tales of creatures he’d never encountered. Ford’s lengthy discussion of vampires- how to find them, how to fight them, how to cure them, information all hard-won through experiences he’d much rather not relive- was nowhere to be found, and in its place was a detailed description of different types of ghosts, knowledge far beyond that he himself had gathered through his own handful of brief encounters with such creatures.

Ford felt sick to his stomach as the truth behind his suspicions sank in.

He had thought that, after thirty long years jumping between unfamiliar dimensions, he was finally back home, albeit under less than favorable circumstances.

He had thought wrong.

[jaehyunsleatherpants]

                                            — Little Darlin’

genre: fluff

pairing: yuta x reader

summary: yuta takes you on a 50′s themed date ♡

requested: nope :( | request here

words: 1,485 

“My darling I need you To call my own And never do wrong To hold in mine Your little hand I’ll know too soon That I’ll so pray Please hold my hand”

- “Little Darlin’” by the Diamonds (1957)

masterlist | mobile masterlist

Your doorbell rang, precisely at 5pm, as he said he would. You smooth the ruffles of your dress down, anxiety taking over you. -This is a real date, sweetie, no turning back-, you thought to yourself, your hands shaking as you opened the door. There he stood, suited up, his hair ever so slightly pushed back with gel, and a radiant smile. You huffed a sigh of relief, as you watched his hands fidget with the material on his pants. “Yuta,” you breathed, as he handed you a bouquet of red roses, all the same height and color, and the smell was definitely intoxicating. He stepped closer to you, his cologne attacked your senses, leaving you in a slightly trace-like state. “Hi, baby. Don’t you look fine this evening,” Yuta said, a smirk adorning his face, as he took your hand in his. You blushed, and he squeezed your hand. You couldn’t wait for this day to come, Yuta had been hinting at this for months, and you were constantly on your toes when this day was mentioned. You had always loved the 50′s, a time when milkshake dates and drive-in theaters were a thing. You remembered your grandmother always reminisce about the 1950s, telling you about the crazy stuff she did with her friends, the trouble she used to get into with her parents, and of course; how she met your grandfather. You had always wanted a love like that, you hoped and dreamed about it. Then you met Yuta, the out going soccer player, in high school. Your head spun when he was around, and you knew he was the one. All through college, and after graduation, he was attached to your hip. You knew this was the love you dreamed of. You knew this was your 50′s love story.

Yuta walked you down to his car, the shiny, black surface reflecting the sun’s rays. Your fingers twirled the curls in your hair, all held together by the pink ribbon your grandmother gave to you as a child. -I can’t believe I still have this-, you chided at yourself as you remembered the excitement you felt when you found the artifact, as you got into the car, with Yuta holding the car door for you. He got in from the driver’s side and started the car, the radio playing an Elvis song. You giggled as he started to sing along to it, his sweet voice better than what Elvis Presley could provide the audience with, although your grandmother would argue. The ride was smooth, the songs switching from the rockier tone of Elvis, to the smoother tone of Johnny Cash, you couldn’t help but sway your upper body to the Yuta singing along to “I Walk the Line”, the smooth guitar going along with his voice. 

It was getting dark outside, the street lights began to light up, and you felt like you were in your fantasies as a child. Yuta turned the car to the left, revealing a diner, with more Elvis Presley playing. The neon lights flashed all around the building, illuminating Yuta’s face, the natural glow on his skin accentuated. He took your hand and burst through the door, the scene inside was lively. People huddled around a jukebox, shoving quarters in it to play more. Some were dancing along, some sang. You never felt so young before, the music pumping in your veins. Yuta found a booth, sliding in after you. His face millimeters away from you, his hot breath fanned over your lips. “Baby, you look stunning today,” he whispered against the skin of your neck, smirking when he felt you shiver. 

“Now, now,” he whispered, giggling as he kissed your cheek, “let’s order milkshakes,” he grinned, his teeth prominant as he browsed through the menu. You remembered your grandmother letting you on a little secret. “If you ever order a milkshake, always get fries with it, my dear. Because if you do that, you can dip the fries in the shake, and it tastes amazing!” your grandmother would say whenever you ask her about her favorite food. 

The waiter stood by your table, waiting for either you or Yuta to order. You finally spoke up, “I-I’ll order the chocolate banana milkshake, two straws, and a plate of fries, please,” you smiled, and she smiled back, nodding in understanding at your plan. Yuta looked puzzled, frazzled at the thought of what your ordered. “F-fries? really, babe?” he asked, playing with your fingers on the table. “Wait and watch, baby. Just wait and watch,” you say, a smirk spreading across your face. As you waited for the shake and fries, you observed young lovers canoodling in booths and making kissy faces at each other. Some dressed like you, some dressed in your everyday clothes, from jeans and a t-shirt, to even a romper. Most of the customers got up for the next dance, as the jukebox played your grandfather’s favorite song, “Hound Dog” by Elvis Presley, memories of him dancing with you as a baby came back. The way he would carry you as Elvis sang, swaying his old body with the music, the big grin on his face when you got into the groove. 

Yuta grabbed your hand and pulled you out of the booth, Elvis’ voice booming in the diner. He spun you around, but kept you close. His arm around you hip, and yours around his shoulder, as you danced to the music. Your heels clicked against the floor, the beat getting faster. Yuta spun you around faster, sweat collecting on your foreheads towards the end. When the song ended, the diner was filled with hollers and claps as customers took their seats again, ready for their meals. 

Your milkshake and fries finally arrived, the sparkle in your eye when you remembered your grandmother’s words. You put the straws into the drink, the mix of chocolate and banana heavenly, the calories you were gaining pushed into the back of your mind. Yuta chuckled at your eagerness, and followed suit. “Now, for what you’ve been waiting for,” you say, and pick up a hot fry from the plate, ignoring the useless condiments proved to the side. You scooped the milkshake with the fried potato, making sure to gather some of the whipped cream from the top too. “Here,” you say as you give Yuta the chip, his eyebrow cocked in confusion. “Really? You really think this would taste good?” Yuta mumbled, an unsettling feeling forming in his stomach. “Here goes nothing,” he whispers, a forced smile appearing on his face as he bit down. His expression changed from a disgusted one to a shocked one, a laugh erupting from your chest. You proceeded to get yourself a fry and make one for yourself, the taste was beyond heavenly. The mix of sweet and salt danced on your tongue, the whipped cream adding a different texture. 

You finished your milkshake, the fries on the plate non existent. Yuta paid the bill, even though you insisted on paying, since you ate and drank majority of the stuff. Yuta pulled his, “I’m a man, I can pay” card out, which got on your nerves. You twiddled your thumbs, waiting for the waiter to be back, your legs swinging in the booth, a slow song played on the jukebox. People had shuffled to the middle of the diner, with foreheads pressed against each other and smiles exchanged, and a few kisses. 

With still no sign of the waiter, Yuta pulled you along to slow dance, your heart racing as your hot bodies pressed against each other. You rest your head on his broad chest, the sound of his heartbeat lulling you into a calm trance. He pressed kisses on your head, his body moved yours to the music. You were in bliss. He removed one of his arms from around you, a little bit of cold air rush in between you. You lift your chin up and looked deeply in your eyes and said, “My darling I need you, To call my own, And never do wrong, To hold in mine, Your little hand, I’ll know too soon, That I’ll so pray, Please hold my hand,” the lyrics to the song rolling off his tongue, the sweet serenade ended with his soft lips on yours, the taste of the shake and fries evident on his lips. He pulled away from you, and mumbled a marvelous, “I love you, baby.” You nuzzled your face against neck and kissed the tanned skin and mumbled, “I love you too, baby.”

Yuta pulled away from you completely, his eyes full of shock. “W-what is it, Yuta?” you asked, the dress doing no justice in making you feel warm. “We still need to pay.” He said, a giggle erupting from the both of you. This is what you wanted, this was the love you dreamed of.

author’s note: THE END!!!!!!! this is to my soft yuta stans here ♡ I love you guys, and I hope you liked this short lil imagine :)~

[ethelbertpaul444-blog]

Arsne Wenger jumped because he feared push from Arsenal board

Arsne Wenger made the seismic decision to walk away from Arsenal on his own terms because he was mindful of the very real menace that he would be sacked at the end of the season Arsene Wenger made the seismic decision to walk away from Arsenal on his own terms because he was mindful of the very real menace that he would be sacked at the end of the season. The club’s majority shareholder, Stan Kroenke, and other chairmen had grown increasingly concerned by the team’s grim Premier League performance and the huge number of followers who have chosen to stay away from residence joins in recent weeks. The Guardian understands the golf-club originated a drive to cold call Red Members of their ally planned on Wednesday to give season tickets for 2018 -1 9 in the face of evidence numbers of non-renewals. Scarlet Members are below Gold and Silver members in terms of priority. Wenger had regularly said he would fulfil the remaining year on his contract but the wagons have clique for some time. The chief executive, Ivan Gazidis, has made a series of appointments on the technical side as part of his” catalyst for change” schedule- most notably those of the head of football relations, Raul Sanllehi, and the head of recruitment, Sven Mislintat. The impression has been that Gazidis was putting a succession design into lieu while Wenger was in the building. Wenger has experienced the pressure from committee grade, although there was a sense of disturbance amongst the squad when he informed them before a community episode and a grooming conference on Friday morning that he would step down from what he has referred to as his life’s work at the end of the season. Timeline Arsene Wenger’s 22 -year tenure as Arsenal manager Show Hide 22 September 1996 div > Arsenal announce Wenger’s appointment div > 12 October 1996 div > Win 2-0 against Blackburn in Wenger’s first join in charge 3 May 1998 div > Defeat Everton 4-0 to win Premier League title 16 May 1998 div > Beat Newcastle 2-0 to filch FA Cup and ended the double 13 February 1999 div > Wenger offers to replay Sheffield United following controversial FA Cup win 17 May 2000 div > Lost 4-1 on retributions to Galatasaray in Uefa Cup final 8 May 2002 div > Win 1-0 at Old Trafford to triumph the tournament title 25 April 2004 div > A 2-2 extort at challengers Spurs strengthens third league entitle win 15 May 2004 div > Beat Leicester 2-1 to complete The Invincibles’ unbeaten season 7 May 2006 div > Final game at Highbury 17 May 2006 div > Defeated 2-1 in Champions League final by Barcelona 28 August 2012 div > Lose 8-2 to Manchester United at Old Trafford 22 March 2014 div > Marks 1,000 th competition in charge by losing 6-0 at Chelsea 27 May 2017 div > Wins record-breaking seventh FA Cup with win over Chelsea 21 May 2017 div > Despite defeating Everton 3-1, they finish outside the four largest for first time in Wenger era 20 April 2018 div > Announces he will leave Arsenal at the end of the season Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback. Wenger sauntered into the dressing room at London Colney and he announced:” I have some bad news .” He talked about how he had enjoyed his long work at the team and now was the time to go out on a high by prevailing the Europa League. Arsenal face Atletico Madrid in the semi-final- the first leg is in London next Thursday- and, were Wenger to acquire a first European memento, it would revert the guild to next season’s Champions League. None of the players said anything in the immediate aftermath of Wenger’s speech. There was merely dazed stillnes. Per Mertesacker, the squad’s most vocal representative, then stood up to deliver a war cry, urging them to do Wenger proud in the season’s final matches. The hope at the club is that the timing of the bulletin will galvanise players and love for the Europa League- their shot at saving the season. It also offers Wenger the chance to enjoy a measure of goodwill from backers over his final weeks, even those who have hounded him relentlessly. The conversion of the humor from anxiety to an flow of tendernes was a feature of an extraordinary daytime. Arsenal face West Ham United at the Emirates on Sunday. The changing appearance of Wenger at Arsenal. Photo: Gabriel Bouys/ AFP/ Getty Images Gazidis said the benefit of the decision was that it would allow them to approach managerial candidates proactively without it feeling as though they were going behind Wenger’s back. Gazidis insisted no approachings had been made and that the process- the difficulty of which he did not underestimate- would to all intents start from here. The decision to wait so long has represented their missing out on one selected candidate: Thomas Tuchel, the onetime Borussia Dortmund manager. He has chosen his next career move and “its not” Arsenal. Even if the London club was set to approaching him, it would be too late. It is believed that Tuchel is primary to change Unai Emery at Paris Saint-Germain. Arsenal have been linked with a raft of refers, including Luis Enrique, Leonardo Jardim, Max Allegri, Patrick Vieira, Joachim Low and Brendan Rodgers. Allegri has not ended his future and he will have a meeting with Juventus in May. The Celtic “shareholders “, Dermot Desmond, said here club has not been able to stand in Rodgers’ direction if he were approached. Gazidis imparted an emotional press conference in which he paid tribute to Wenger. His principal send was that the day was about acknowledging Wenger’s greatness, rather than uncovering any of the nitty-gritty that led to the parting of ways. Gazidis did discuss the profile of the manager he wished to while concluding the point that” you don’t find a substitution for Arsene Wenger; you find a brand-new track forward “. He also said he did not guess the two candidates would have the same “kind of authority” and the” width and remit” that Wenger has enjoyed at Arsenal. Gazidis added:” It’s important to me that we continue the football significances that Arsene has instilled in the society. Our fans want to see that- someone who will continue to play exciting, progressive football. What’s also important is how the candidate represents the club. And so is the value of giving youth a chance. ” We’ve got to be open-minded and also heroic in government decisions. When Arsene was constituted, I don’t think he was on many people’s radar screens. That doesn’t mean we have to make another appointment that not everybody is thinking about and speak about. But it does mean we need to be bold in the appointed and get the person we believe is the right party .” Quick guide Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal honours Show Hide Premier League( 3 ): 1997 -9 8, 2001 -0 2, 2003 -0 4. FA Cup( 7 ): 1997 -9 8, 2001 -0 2, 2002 -0 3, 2004 -0 5, 2013 -1 4, 2014 -1 5, 2016 -1 7. Community Shield( 6 ): 1998 -9 9, 1999 -2 000, 2002 -0 3, 2004 -0 5, 2014 -1 5, 2015 -1 6. P remier League Manager of the Season ( 3 ) b >: 1997 -9 8, 2001 -0 2, 200 -/ 04. League Managers’ Association Manager of the Year( 2 ): b> 2001 -0 2, 2003 -0 4. BBC Sports Personality Coach of the Year( 2 ): b> 2002, 2004. Premier League Manager of the Month( 15 ) b> Photograph: Scott Heavey/ PA Was this helpful? Thank you for your feedback. Gazidis stressed that the speed of the appointed was not the most important thing. What next for Wenger? It is believed that he wants to remain in management and he is certain to get many responsibility offers. Mertesacker described Wenger’s address to the players as “emotional”. He computed:” We will fight for every single day to make this season a success storey to its implementation of elevating a entitle. We want to give Arsene Wenger a parting story that no one will forget .” Sign up for The Fiver, our everyday football email. Wenger pronounced:” I feel it is the right time for me to steps down at the end of the season. To all the Arsenal lovers, take care of the principles contained in the squad. My adore and support for ever .” Read more: https :// www.theguardian.com/ football/ 2018/ apr/ 20/ arsene-wenger-to-leave-arsenal-at-the-end-of-the-season http://dailybuzznetwork.com/index.php/2018/06/18/arsne-wenger-jumped-because-he-feared-push-from-arsenal-board/

[spirit-animal-sisters-official]

Spirit Animal Sisters 01: The Last of the Jackalopes

Spoiler Alert: This episode takes place between the Gravity Falls episodes Not What He Seems and A Tale of Two Stans. I advise you Gravity Falls fans to watch the former first, or else this episode won’t make a lick of sense. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

“Our names are Mandy Penders and Stacy Penders. we are kangaroos and sisters, and this is the story of how we had the adventure of a lifetime.“

July 29, 20XX. a flashy Toyota Corolla was headed towards Gravity Falls, Oregon.

“…Two days. We had that gig at the Fazbear’s Fright in Riverdale for two days, Stace,” griped a kangaroo woman to her sister, a similar looking kangaroo woman. “What is your hang-up with that place, anyways?”

“I didn’t trust that Spring Bonnie animatronic, Mando,” countered the other kangaroo woman. “I think it’s possessed.”

“Still didn’t give you the right to torch the place to the ground. The only place that would let us sing is in some backwoods area in Oregon. If you can control your pyromania for three minutes, we might not– Oh my God, what is that?”

“Grunkle Stan, who’s this?”

Dipper and Mable, having recovered from the experience with the dimensional portal were now confronting their great uncle Stanley Pines, or “Grunkle Stan”, as he insisted he be called. The elder Pine sighed, as he knew this day would come eventually.

“Kids”, he began, “this is my brother, Stanford Pines, author of the Journals. He had been wandering in that portal for a long time.” “I… I can’t believe anything anymore,” sobbed Mabel. “To think I trusted you, almost let the world come to an end and for what? Some guy we’ve never even met until now?”

“Mabel’s right,” added Dipper. “The sheer unmitigated gall that you lied to me, to us, about the journals, about everything. What else have you been hiding from us, that you have a real, live jackalope at the Mystery Shack?” “How did you know about- I mean that’s not important. The important thing is that we’re a family again! Isn’t that great?”

“I- I… I gotta go,” muttered Mabel, “I’ve got things to think about.”

“What kind of things?”

“Just… things.”

As Mabel walked out of the Mystery Shack, Mandy and Stacy had given what looked like a jackalope girl a ride with them to Gravity Falls.

“My name is Grizelda Cooper and I am a jackalope. I escaped from a place called the Mystery Shack in a place called–”

“Gravity Falls?” asked Stacy.

“Yes,” Grizelda replied. “How did you know?”

“Because we’re going there to perform our act.; oh my gosh, we are so rude. My name is Mandy Penders and this is my twin sister Stacy; no, we are not related to Ken Penders.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you both. Truthfully, I’m not looking forward to going back to Gravity Falls.”

“Why not?”

“Long story. Say, you girls have any whiskey?”

“Nope. Never touched the stuff, not gonna start now.”

“Ugh, this is gonna be a long day.”

As the trio continued on towards Gravity Falls, a humanoid figure with a snake’s tail and head for arms emerged from the shadows.

Master Trizarious, I have located the possible reincarnations of Sagittario and Bliznetsy and am preparing to engage.

Don’t be hasty, Orphius; I shall send one of our minions to… welcome them to their doom.

つづく

[bigskydreaming]

Hi, this is a vagueblog that is very very Vague and not at all a blatantly passive aggressive response to an anon comment on someone’s fic about a Certain Favorite Topic of Mine (aka Let Dick Be Angry About People Being Dicks To Him).

But arguing that Dick was entirely and solely in the wrong for how everything went down between him and Tim, on the basis that “and the idea that a 16 year old should be responsible in any way for not helping someone 7-8 years older than him grieve is ridiculous” is textbook woobification.

Know why?

Because we’re talking about Tim.

As in the character whose entire existence as Robin is predicated on taking it upon himself to help Batman in the wake of Bruce’s grief for Jason, due to how it was affecting both his violence against criminals and his own recklessness.

So it is categorically disingenuous and dishonest to act like Tim is some helpless little baby at age sixteen who its completely ‘ridiculous’ to expect to take even a single scene anywhere throughout his solo series in which he jets around the world, solo, having adult adventures against adult villains with zero adult supervision by his own choice.....

And think “hey, maybe I, the kid who at age twelve made it my literal mission to help Batman through his grief....could take five seconds to look at this other Batman and acknowledge....he needs help because he’s drowning in his own grief.”

This is the blatant double standard that annoys people about certain Tim stans. 

Tim may have been sixteen, but we’re talking about a family of superheroes who have been doing adult acts since their preteens. We’re talking about a kid who’s helped save the world by this point, and how he responds to ‘being wronged’ by an older brother who in the most frequently referenced continuity was fired as Robin when hardly any older than Tim was there. Only Dick was actually fired, and by Bruce himself, and with the latter making NO effort to keep Dick from leaving, as opposed to Dick who made every effort to keep Tim from leaving. Tim left because he wanted to, despite Dick wanting him to stay. Dick left because he felt Bruce didn’t care if he stayed, because Bruce made no effort to get him to stay.

And yet time and again, the narrative is twisted so that Dick ‘fired Tim’ instead of calling him his equal (actual canon), kicked Tim out, instead of begging him to stay (actual canon), and asking other people to spy on Tim, follow him, and talk to him instead of handling it himself, when per actual canon....the reason Dick did all of those things was because he was still concerned about Tim and Tim wouldn’t allow Dick to talk to him and check up on him himself.

How do you hold someone responsible for not having a conversation that the other person literally refuses to let them have?

And yet, for over a decade, that is precisely what fandom has done.

And someone actually writes a story where in contrast to the dozens and dozens of stories that take the singular perspective that Dick wronged Tim and should grovel for his forgiveness, they instead suggest that Tim was mature and responsible enough at the time that he at least should have been capable of acknowledging that he wasn’t the only member of his family grieving and having a difficult time, and Dick wasn’t doing any of that to neglect or hurt him.....and this is what’s so objectionable to someone, they have to go on anon on that very story’s actual comment thread and argue that the author is being unreasonable and that Dick should be the one apologizing to Tim here, yet again, like the dozens and dozens of already existing stories posit?

Peoples’ issue with Tim and Tim stans and these stories aren’t that we don’t like Dick being criticized for his handling of the situation or people saying Tim was hurt by all of that....its that its treated as valid and factual for Tim in all these other stories to say things like “you’re never there for me” because the one time Dick didn’t support Tim exactly in the specific ways Tim wanted, despite years and years and years of dropping everything to rush to Tim’s side whenever he needed as Robin....

This apparently constitutes proof that Dick is “never there for Tim” instead of always doing his best to be there for Tim, except this one time he was literally overwhelmed and couldn’t be everything for everyone exactly as they wanted him to be. And yeah, unfortunately, he had hoped that Tim could pick up a little of his slack for a change. 

And he still tried to be there for Tim, after Tim blew up at him, he just literally couldn’t be because Tim left and avoided him the literal minute after Dick did one thing he didn’t agree with.

And thing is, that’s not to suggest it was a LITTLE thing, by any means. That Tim didn’t have every right to be emotional and upset and hurt by Dick’s decision. Its not even that its wrong to say that yeah, ideally, Dick should have pulled Tim aside and had a conversation about what he wanted to do with Robin before Tim found out from Damian.

But that’s not what Dick’s condemned for in fandom, is it? The common refrain isn’t “well, I know it was a tough time for Dick as well, but he should have talked about it with Tim first”....its “Dick is such a hypocrite for doing the exact same thing that Bruce did to him and giving Robin to someone who didn’t deserve it after firing Tim despite everything he’d done to prove himself over the years.”

These are completely different levels of criticism, and its blatantly dishonest to treat them as interchangeable, or to object when someone’s clearly taking issue with the latter, and instead try to frame it as though Dick stans are just unable to accept Dick ever doing anything wrong at all on any level - such as with the former.

Like, when people can’t handle one story existing that suggests hey, they were both in the same situation of being brothers who’d both lost their second father and felt lost and grieving, and it might be nice for a change if instead of just seeing Tim erupt at Dick over and over for being so fucking flawed as a brother and a human being back then, Dick has a chance to for once say he feels hurt that his little brother didn’t seem to give a shit about what he felt at the time, or didn’t seem to want to acknowledge all the other times Dick had been there for him, at his own expense....

That is the kind of thing that makes people feel like Tim stans have a victim complex or an insistence on seeing Tim as perpetually victimized and never ever doing anything that might hurt his siblings as well.

I mean, I can acknowledge and understand why Tim was hurt by Dick’s choices and the way things went down....and why Dick was too overwhelmed to be as on top of handling everyone’s feelings as he usually is or likes to be. They’re not mutually exclusive.

It was a shitty situation. It didn’t have to mean that either of them were shitty people.

But you all have ZERO chill, and after years and years of one singular narrative that posits that Dick was operating from a plateau of emotional zen and all his decisions should be weighed and measured against his own peak performance standard of catering to his family’s emotional needs (when almost no examples of the reciprocal even exist)....

Like, sorry if some of us are exhausted of trying to be mutually understanding and are more interested in focusing on the viewpoint of the character who’s been bashed to hell and back by that one singular narrative. Ad nauseam.

Apologies to @octoaliencowboy for jumping in and I’ll happily delete this if they prefer, but I thought their story was fucking excellent and something that some Dick fans have long wanted to read for a change of pace.