#yes jason did crime as well as a kid but seeing your father commit crime to survive is another matter

[brucewaynehater101]

Alright. Willis Todd being an abusive father to Jason is a trope often utilized. Comparing this version of him to Bruce's reactions to Red Hood is fantastic. Lots to analyze there.

However, I raise you. There needs to be more fanwork addressing the classism behind Willis Todd being characterized as an abusive alcoholic. In some version of canon, Willis Todd was a good dad in a shitty situation. He was poor, his wife (Catherine) was sick, and he had a newborn baby he needed to provide for. In this horrid situation, where he has no family to fall back on and no higher education to obtain a decent well-paying job, he tries to get quick money. He's desperate to keep both his wife and son alive.

Catherine turns to drugs because it's easier and cheaper to buy drugs than healthcare. The pain she experiences is debilitating, and she'd do anything to not feel pain for one godsdamned second. Unfortunately, this turns into an addiction.

This ultimately shapes the way that Jason views crime. Bruce, while he may be sympathetic to individuals who resort to crime to pay their bills, will not understand huddling in Crime Alley in the dead of winter as he debates whether to buy food or pay for heating. He won't understand the bitterness, hatred, pain, and resignation of never having enough money to survive as you get chewed up again and again.

If Jason's dad is just an abusive criminal, that not only perpetuates the notion that all criminals are evil, but it will shape how Jason views those who commit crime. Breaking the law doesn't make someone bad. There's plenty of reasons people commit crime, whether to survive, protect someone, or something else. The issue, especially in Gotham, is the system that perpetuates wealth inequality through bribes and unethical governmental practices.

Anyway, I think Jason's Red Hood is more fleshed out if it accounts for him acknowledging the desperation behind goons and small-time criminals because he grew up without other options.

[marauderundercover]

This Side of Normal Ch. 8

AO3

Prev

Marinette was seriously considering murder. She was pretty sure Jason would be able to help her hide the body, he was a lot stronger than her. But murder was seriously on the table. Why has she decided to break that one golden rule, you might ask? Lila Rossi. The bane of her existence. The very reason they were spending two fucking weeks in the crime capital of the world instead of their original destinations. But no, Lila just had to convince Mme. Bustier to take them to Gotham. And then, as if making Marinette plan a million things last minute wasn’t bad enough, Lila decided to talk. Nonstop. Throughout the entire first half of their tour of Wayne Enterprises. The only thing keeping her from strangling the girl right now was the promise of coffee in the cafeteria. She didn’t need food, she needed coffee. And then she’d go right back to plotting murder. Would anyone look in the river for her body? 

“Whatever you’re thinking, I’m sure you shouldn’t do it.” Adrien says, pulling her out of her murder plot. She glares at him. 

“I’m planning a murder, and I don’t appreciate you interrupting me.” She deadpans. 

“Murder’s bad, Mari. We don’t murder people.” Adrien sighs, throwing an arm over her shoulders. 

“Maybe you don’t murder people. I’m thinking about branching out.” She hums, getting in the line for coffee. Adrien huffs and grabs her arm, tugging her behind him. She immediately starts whining, reaching out towards the coffee booth. 

“Mari, you need actual food. You can have coffee after you eat something. I know for a fact you didn’t eat breakfast.” He says, staring her down. She huffs, crossing her arms. 

“You’re not my dad.” She mumbles, turning away from him. 

“Why the hell are you all pouty?” Jason asks, walking up to the two. Marinette smiles briefly, then drops her face back into a scowl. 

“Someone is keeping me from my coffee.” She says. 

“Good job kid!” Jason says, high fiving Adrien. Marinette’s jaw drops at the betrayal. 

“Honestly rude. Guess I’m not gonna ask you to help me anymore.” She says, sighing dramatically. 

“Help with what?” He asks, frowning. 

“Murder. She wants to commit a murder.” Adrien says, rolling his eyes. 

“Who’re we killing?” Jason asks. This time it’s Adrien’s turn to drop his jaw, Marinette laughing loudly. 

“Ha! I told you Jay would help me!” She cheers, shooting Adrien a smug smile. 

“Marinette! Lila needs your help carrying her tray.” Mme. Bustier instructs, walking over to the trio. Marinette immediately frowns, looking over at Lila who was carrying a tray. Just fine. 

“Uh, looks like she’s got it.” She says, nodding towards the liar. 

“Well, she got it okay, but she needs someone to carry it to her table for her.” Mme. Bustier says, frowning. 

“And one of her friends can do it. I’m not getting out of line for my own lunch just to carry Lila’s tray Mme. Bustier.” Marinette argues, crossing her arms. 

“Marinette-” She starts, then stops when she realizes Jason isn’t one of the students. “Very well. But we’re going to talk about this later.” She adds before walking away. Marinette rolls her eyes. 

“Is she the one we’re murdering?” Jason asks, leaning down a little so he could whisper. 

“Nope. The one whose tray I was supposed to carry is the one on my list.” Mari says, nodding towards the girl who was now fake crying. 

“Jesus. How does anyone put up with her?” He asks, face curling in disgust. Marinette shrugs. 

“At first I thought she was Meta. Now I think my classmates are just idiots.” She says simply. Jason snorts. 

“I believe that. I’m gonna go grab you a coffee. As much as I’d love to help you commit a murder, pretty sure the boss would be pissed.” He says, ruffling her hair before walking away. Marinette turns to Adrien and gives him a smug smile. 

“Ha, bitch.” She says, snorting as he starts spluttering. 

“You can’t just say that, Bug!” He whines, before turning to order his food. Marinette snorts. 

“Sure I can.” She says in English, before quickly switching to Mandarin and lowering her voice. “I’m a seventeen year old ex-superhero, I’m allowed to say bitch.” Adrien just snorts, thanking the lady and grabbing his food so that Marinette can order. Once she has her food, she follows Adrien to an almost empty table in the corner farthest away from their classmates. She smiles at the person at the other end of the table, Dick Grayson. He was their tour guide and had dealt with their annoying ass class surprisingly well. She was tempted to make him a certificate if he lasted til the end of the day without losing his sanity. Plopping down in her seat, she starts eating her food slowly, watching Jason across the room at the coffee booth. 

“Mari, he said he would get you coffee. He’s gonna get you coffee.” Adrien says, nudging her side to try and get her to actually eat. 

“You don’t think he’d get me decaf, do you?” She asks, remembering the time he’d brought coffee to one of their late night training sessions. It was decaf then, he claimed that she needed to be able to sleep after training. She argued that she needed to stay awake and do homework and commissions and some lameass decaf coffee was not going to help her do that. She just hoped he would take pity on her and get her actual coffee this time. 

“I think I’d get you decaf,” Adrien starts, dodging her attempt to whack him. “But, I think Jay’s a little nicer than me today. Probably since he hasn’t seen us in awhile.” He muses. Marinette stops trying to attack him, nodding in agreement. He’d be more likely to give her decaf tomorrow than today. So it was still safe to trust her coffee order to him. For now. 

“I’m sorry, did you say Jay?” Mr. Grayson asks, catching her attention. She glances at Adrien who just shrugs. She knew the two had talked earlier, but she really didn’t want to accidentally get Jay in trouble. 

“Uh, yes?” She says, wincing at the awkwardness. 

“You know Jason.” He says, and she nods, frowning. 

“Yeah, we got to know him last year when he was on a business trip in Paris.” She explains, dodging around the whole ‘he trained us as heroes and then found out our identities and helped us take down a supervillain’ part of it. “We ended up getting close and we’ve kept in contact over the last year.” Mari adds, confused as to why Mr. Grayson looks so lost. 

“Really?” He finally asks. 

“Yeah. He’s basically like our big brother.” Adrien adds, obviously sensing that Marinette was getting uncomfortable. 

“Hey Dick, long time no see.” Jason snarks, putting Mari’s coffee in front of her and plopping down in the seat next to Adrien. 

“Jason. So you have two new siblings?” He asks, gesturing to Mari and Adrien. Jason nods. 

“Yup. And they’re loads better than you lot. Pixie Pop here even said I could help her with her first murder.” Jason teases. Marinette’s face instantly heats up, as she turns her glare to Jason. 

“Jason!” She hisses. He’s lucky he’s on the other side of Adrien. 

“Wait, you two are brothers?” Adrien asks, and Marinette blinks. Oh, yeah. Wait, what. 

“You didn’t know?” Dick asks. Adrien looks at Mari who shrugs. She definitely hadn’t known. She’d assumed Dick was one of Jason’s bosses. 

“Yeah, unfortunately this dipshit is my older brother. Adopted, of course.” Jason says. 

“We also have two other brothers and a sister. And some unofficial siblings.” Dick adds, making Mari raise an eyebrow. 

“All adopted?” She asks. Adoption was no joke. It was crazy expensive in the US. 

“All but one. B kinda adopts every dark haired, blue eyed kid with trauma that he meets.” Jason says, smirking at Marinette’s face. 

“I’m feeling attacked right now. Are you attacking me? If anyone has enough trauma to be adopted by a serial adopter, it’s Adrien. Not me.” She says with a pout. 

“Hey!” Adrien objects. Marinette looks pointedly at his arm. 

“Your arm was cut off by your supervillain father who was an emotional terrorist for over three years. That’s a shit ton of trauma.” She says as he pouts. 

“Yeah, but if I get adopted in the US, I’d never see you anymore.” He points out. 

“But you’d see me all the time.” Jason teases. Adrien grins. 

“That’s right! Okay, sorry M, I’m gonna get adopted here.” He says with a wide grin. 

“Traitors, the both of you. Mr. Grayson, how’d you like a new little sister? I’m officially disowning both of these losers.” Marinette says, ignoring the indignant squawks from Adrien. Dick snorts, a wide grin stretching across his face. 

“Sure kid. And call me Dick. Do you happen to know any acrobatics?” He asks with a teasing grin. Mari smirks. 

“As a matter of fact, I do.” She says. Dick freezes before a huge smile makes its way onto his face, his whole body shaking in excitement. 

“Wait, really? You’re serious?” He asks. She nods. “That’s awesome! Sorry Jay, I’m stealing this one.” He says. Jason scowls. 

“I don’t think so. I’ve known Pixie Pop longer, therefore, she’s my sister.” He says. Adrien clears his throat. “Our sister.” Jason amends, nodding to Adrien. 

“But she’s an acrobat! You know I’ve been looking for someone to teach trapeze to!” Dick whines. Mari’s eyes light up and she starts bouncing in her seat. 

“Wait, trapeze? Seriously? Where? Oh my god, that would be so much fun!” She squeals, suddenly actually excited about being in Gotham. 

“We have one at our house, you guys have to come over! I could show you the basics.” Dick suggests, still grinning. Marinette turns to Jason, waiting to see what he’d say. If Dick didn’t know Jason, she’d never consider going over and learning trapeze. But since he’s Jason’s brother…..

“Ugh, fine. But if B ends up trying to adopt both of you, you can’t blame me. I wanted to keep you away from him. You’re the one who got suckered in by the damn trapeze.” Jason gripes, leaning back in his seat. Marinette just grins at him before turning back to Dick to figure out the specifics. Maybe this trip wouldn’t be that bad.

Next

Tag list (open): @toodaloo-kangaroo @laurcad123 @kittenmywaythrulife @lost-in-the-world-of-maribat @queenz-z

[scorpionyx9621]

Do you think Jason Todd fandom is kinda toxic? Because it seems like NO MATTER what DC do, there'll always be complains. Forget the bad adaptation like Titans. Even Judd Winick cannot escape the criticism with how he potrayed Robin!Jason. They just never satisfied.

SORRY, IT TOOK ME SO LONG TO RESPOND TO THIS. I just moved from Washington D.C. to Seattle, which, for my non-American friends, that's 4442km away. And I DROVE THERE ALL BY MYSELF. And now I'm trying to find new work in a new city and trying to stay mentally healthy and positive. Life is exciting but hard and scary.

*sighs*

As someone who was a fandom elder with V*ltr*n. I've seen some of the worst when it comes to fandom behavior. I'm talking people baking food with shaving razors and trying to give them to the showrunners. I'm talking leaking major plot details and refusing to take it down unless they make their ship canon (I am looking at you, Kl*nce stans) For the most part, DC Comics has had a decades-long reputation of treating their fans like trash and not caring what they think so from what I've seen, we all just grumble and complain in our corners of the internet about how we don't like how X comic portrays Jason Todd.

The challenge with Jason Todd is that he's your clinical anti-hero, the batfamily's Draco in Leather Pants, he's a jerkass woobie, and on top of all of that, he's a Tumblr sexyman. It's a perfect storm for a very fun but frustrating character to be a fan of. It doesn't help that every writer decides to re-invent the wheel every time Jason comes up so his canon lore is confusing at best and inconsistent as a standard.

I guess starting with a general brief on who Jason is and what is uniform about him with every instance he's appeared in comics/media.

Grew up in a poor family in Gotham with a dad who was a petty-mid-level criminal, and a mother who dies of a drug overdose.

Survives on the street on his own by committing petty crimes and potentially even engaging in sexual acts to keep himself alive.

Is cornered by Batman and taken in after Dick Grayson quits/is fired

Becomes the second Robin, but is known for being the harsher, more brutal Robin.

Is killed by Joker after being tortured, but somehow comes back to life and regains senses through the Lazarus Pit

Resolves himself to be better than Batman by basically being Batman but kills people.

Where there has been a lot of conflict in the fandom is the fact that Jason Todd is not a character that is written consistently. DC Comics loves to go with the narrative that Jason was "bad from the start" and was the "bad robin" when, yes, he has trouble controlling his anger, but he also still is just as invested in seeing the best of Gotham City and trying to be a positive change for the world as any other DC Comics hero.

Where I get frustrated with the fandom is its ability to knit-pick every detail of a comic they don't like while completely disregarding everything that makes the comics great and worth it to read. My example being Urban Legends. To which most people had pretty mixed reactions to. I was critical of the comic at first but as it went along I ended up really liking it. I have a feeling DC Comics went to Chip Zdarsky and told him he had 6 issues to bring Jason back into the Bat Family, and honestly he didn't do a bad job. Did it feel rushed? Absolutely. I wish there was more development of Jason and Bruce's characters and their dynamic as a whole. However, where I see a lot of people being angry and upset with Urban Legends is that they feel Zdarsky needlessly wrote Jason as an incompetent fool who needs Bruce to save him.

Whether or not that was the intention of Zdarsky is up to debate. However, and this may be controversial, but I don't think he wrote Jason Todd out of character at all. For as fearsome, intimidating, and awesome as Red Hood is. Jason is a character who is absolutely driven by his emotions. Why do you think he donned the role of Red Hood? As a response to his anger towards The Joker for killing him, and towards Bruce for not taking action against The Joker and for seemingly replacing him so quickly after he died. Jason didn't care about being the murderous Robin Hood or for being the bloody hammer of justice against N*zi's and P*d*ph*les. He only cared originally about making The Joker and Bruce pay. It wasn't until he trained under the best assassins in the world and realized most of them were horrific criminals who trafficked children and were p*dos that Talia began to realize that the teachers that she sent Jason to train under started dying horrific and painful deaths.

The entire story of the Cheer story in Batman Urban Legends was started because it finally forced some consequences upon Jason. Tyler, aka Blue Hood's father was a drug dealer who gave his supply to his wife and kids. And when Tyler's father admitted he gave the drugs to Tyler, it immediately made him fall within the self-imposed philosophical kill-list of Jason Todd. And Jason, well, he proceeds to kill Tyler's father. When this happens, Jason is in shock. Tyler's dad fit the bill to easily and justifiably be killed by Jason. We've never seen Jason having to deal with the consequences of being a murderous vigilante on a micro-level. When Jason realizes what he's done in that he's murdered Tyler's dad, he's shocked. He tells Babs the truth. He does a rational thing because he's in shock. He doesn't know what to do, he never has had to face the consequences of his actions as Red Hood and now the gravity of befriending a child as a vigilante hero who kills people just set in when he killed the father of the same child he was just introduced to.

(Oh here's a little aside because it had to be said, Jason would not have been a good father or a good mentor to Tyler and absolutely should not have been his new Robin. Jason is a man who is in his early 20's (not saying men in their early 20's can't be good fathers at all) who is a brutal serial killer using the guise of a vigilante anti-hero to let him escape most of the law. the complications of having the man who murdered your father adopt you and make you his sidekick are way too numerous for me to explain in a long-winded already heavy Tumblr essay post. There's a reason why we don't advocate for a story where Joe Chill adopted Bruce Wayne or one where Tony Zucco took in Dick Grayson.)

The next biggest argument is that they feel that Jason is giving up his guns as a means to just be invited back into the Bat-Family. To which I will tell anyone who has that argument to go actually read Urban Legends. Already have and still have that argument? Please re-read it. Don't want to? That's okay, I will paste the images from the comic where Jason specifically says that he doesn't want to give up his weapons for Bruce and his real reasoning down below since the comic isn't exactly readily accessible.

Jason gave up the guns because he felt the gravity of what he had done and knows how it'll effect Tyler. Thankfully his mom is alive and in recovery. But Tyler doesn't have a father anymore. And Jason killed Tyler's father. It may have been in accordance to Jason's philosophy, but it was a case where it blurred the lines. Jason Todd isn't a black and white character, just very dark gray. He doesn't kill aimlessly like the Joker. If you are on Jason's list you probably have done something pretty horrific, and also just in general, being in his way or being a threat to him. Mind you, in early days of Red Hood and the Outlaws (Image below) Jason almost killed 10 innocent civilians in a town in Colorado all because they saw him kill a monster. That being said, Jason isn't aimless in his kills.

(Also can we just take a moment to appreciate Kenneth Rocafort's art? DC Comics said we need to rehabilitate Jason Todd's image and Kenneth Rocafort said hold my beer: It's so SO GOOD)

That being said, the key emphasis in the story of Cheer asides from trying to introduce Jason Todd back into the Bat Family and give an actual purpose for him being there, other than him just kind of being there ala Bowser every time he shows up for Go Kart racing, Tennis, Golf, Soccer, and the Olympic games when Mario invites him, is that Jason and Bruce ultimately both want the same thing. Jason wants to be welcomed back into the family and to be loved and appreciated. Bruce want's Jason back as his son and wants to love and protect Jason. Both of these visions are shown in the last chapter of Cheer while under the effect of the Cheer Gas. It's ultimately this love and appreciation they both have for each other that helps them overcome their challenge and win.

Jason Todd is a character who, just like Bruce, has been through so much pain and so much hate in his life. The two are meant to parallel each other. While Bruce chose to see the best in everyone, giving every rogue in his gallery the option to be helped and give them a second chance, hence why he never kills, Jason has a similar view on wanting to protect the public, but he understands that some crimes are so heinous they cannot be forgiven, or that some habitual criminals are due to stay habitual criminals, and need to be put down. But at the end of the day, the two of them both try to protect people in their own ways.

I am aware that through the writings of various DC Comics authors such as Scott Lobdell and Judd Winick, the two have had a very tumultuous relationship. And rightfully so, I am by no means saying that Scott Lobdell writing an arc where Bruce literally beats Jason to within an inch of his life in Red Hood and the Outlaws, nor Judd Winick's interpretation of Under the Red Hood where Bruce throws the Batarang at Jason's neck, slicing his throat and leaving him ambiguously for dead at the end of the comic is appropriate considering DC Comics seems to be trying everything they can to integrate Jason back into the family. That being said, a lot of these writings have shaped the narrative of Jason and Bruce's relationship and have an integral effect on the way the fandom views the two. It doesn't help that Zdarsky acknowledged Lobdell's life-beating of Jason by Bruce at the very end of Cheer by having Bruce give Jason his old outfit back as a means of mending the fence between the two of them. That does complicate a lot of things in terms of how they are viewed by the fandom and helps to cause an even greater divide between the two.

Regardless, I want to emphasize the fact that Jason Todd is a part of the family of his own accord. Yes, he's quite snarky and deadpan in almost every encounter. However, Jason is absolutely a part of the family and has been for a while of his own will. There's a great moment in Detective Comics that emphasizes this. Jason cares about his family because it is his found family. Yes, they may be warry about him and use him as a punching back and/or heckle him. At the end of the day, we're debating the family dynamics of a fictional playboy billionaire vigilante whose kleptomania took the form of adopting troubled children and turning them into vigilante heroes. Jason Todd wants a family that will love and support him. This is a key definition of his character at its most basic. This was proven during the events of Cheer and is being reenforced by DC Comics every time they get the opportunity to do so.

Now, none of this is to say that I hate Judd Winick. I do not, I don't like the fact that in all of his writings of Jason, he just writes him as a dangerous psychopath, and Winick himself admits to seeing Jason as nothing much more than a psychopath. Yet Winick is the one who the majority of the fandom clings to as the one true good writer of Jason Todd because 'Jason was competent, dangerous, smart' Listen, friends, Jason is all of that and I will never deny it. However, what I love about Jason isn't that he's dangerously smart of that writers either write him as angsty angry Tumblr sexyman bait or that they write him as an infantile man child with a gun. There's a large contention of this fandom that has an obsession with Jason Todd being this vigilante gunman who is hot and sexy and while I definitely get the appeal. It is very creepy and downright disturbing that all of you hyperfixate on his use of guns and ability to be a murderer. It is creepy and I'm not necessarily here for it.

What I love about Jason Todd is that despite all of the pain, all of the heartache, all of the betrayal, and bullying, and death, and anguish. Jason Todd is one of the most loving and supportive characters in all of DC Comics. Jason has been through so much in his life, but he still chooses to love. He still chooses to see the bright side in people. Yes, he takes a utilitarian approach and chooses to kill certain villains, but at the end of the day he wants to see a better world, and he wants to be loved. It takes so much courage and so much heart to learn to love again after one has been abused or traumatized. I would not blame Jason at all if he said fuck it and just went full solo and vigilante evil. He has every right to, but he still chooses to be with the Bat Family of his own accord. That's something that I see a lot of in myself. I have been through a lot of trauma and yet I try to be a better person myself in any way that I can. It is extremely admirable of Jason to allow love back into his heart when he really doesn't need to. He kills and he protects because he has this love of society. It may have been shaped by anger and hatred, but Jason has found his place amongst people who love him and value him. I think Ducra, from Red Hood and the Outlaws put it best in the image given below.

To end this tangent, I love Jason Todd and all of his sexy dangerousness, but it's far more than that. As much as Jason may be dangerous and snarky, he loves his family without a shadow of a doubt. I look up to Jason Todd because despite all of his pain and all of his trauma, he still choses to love. Jason Todd is a character who is someone I love because despite all of his flaws and having a very toxic fandom, he still serves as a character filled with so much heart and so much passion. I wish more writers would understand that. But for now I will live with what I have. Even though the fandom may be vocal about it's hatred for his characterization, I choose to love Jason regardless because he is a character who chooses love and acceptance regardless of his pain. Jason Todd is by no means a good person in any sense of the word. He has easily killed upwards of 100 people by now. He is a character who is flawed and complex but ultimately is one who powers forwards and finds love and heart in a place from so much pain and anguish. That is what I love about Jason Todd. After all, to quote a famous undead robot superhero, "What is grief, if not love persevering?" Jason Todd chooses to love despite all of the trauma and pain and grief. Yes, he is hardened in his exterior, but inside there is a man with a lot of love to give and someone who deserves the world in my eyes.

[mochegato]

Everything the Light Touches

“So, as you can see, it is actually a decent adaptation of the classic.  Admittedly, they lost a lot of the original gravitas of the story by allowing Nala to live instead of committing suicide like Ophelia did, but I suppose it makes the story more fun without the massive amounts of death and depression and insanity.” Jason rocked the baby in his arms for a bit, seeing if he’d finally, finally fallen asleep.  After a few moments of quiet, the baby scrunched his face in discomfort and started whining at the loss of the soothing sound of Jason’s voice and the resulting vibrations resonating throughout the chest he was cuddled against.

Jason smiled softly and bounced him gently as he continued pacing around the nursery.  “Uh huh, uh huh.  I can see your point there.  But, that was one of the lessons we learned from ‘I Just Can't Wait to be King’.  It's not only a fucking… er, um, freak… no… bloody?” he stuttered and sighed deeply, “no, Mommy probably won’t like that one either…”  He wrinkled his nose as he searched for an acceptable alternative word.  “A really annoying song that your sister insists on screaming at the top of her lungs for hours at a time,” he offered instead.

“It shows us first that Simba wants to be king.  He wants to rule.  But, in the same stroke, it also shows us he doesn't understand what that means.  What he's asking for is control, a tyranny, which is what he thinks becoming king means.  It's all about him.  A lot like the rogues Daddy and your uncles and aunts fight.  Simba doesn't realize the responsibilities of a good ruler.  It shows us, that if things had continued the way they were, he may well have become Scar on his own.”

The baby gurgled again, nestling deeper into Jason’s arms.  “Ooh, very good point.  You’re so smart, just like Mommy.  Yes, he had his father there to guide him.  We saw and heard his father truly understood what it meant to be a king and was slowly trying to teach him that.  So maybe he wouldn't have become Scar.  We'll never know.  Him deciding to let Scar live at the end shows he chose Mufasa’s view of ruling.  He finally understood the lesson.  He won't become Scar.  He will become like his father.”

He paused for a moment and gently stroked his son’s head with his nose.  His voice got impossibly softer.  “So maybe it wasn’t necessarily about the lessons he taught intentionally.  Maybe it was the love he showed his son.  He showed him so much love, that even years later, Simba wanted to emulate him.”  He kissed his son’s head.  “God, I hope I can be that for you, Hugo.  I’d give you the world if you wanted, if I could.  Everything the light touches.  Not that I expect you to take over anything from me, and definitely not my old crime empire.”  He cringed slightly.  “Mommy would murder me and not even wait to do it in my sleep.  But I hope I can show you that level of love.”

Hugo responded with relaxed, even breaths. Jason smiled at him again before furrowing his brow in mock seriousness and bringing him closer to his face.  “But, if you want to throw an uncle off a cliff, especially Damian or Adrien or Roy, I’ll cover for you.”

He placed a soft kiss on Hugo’s head.  “Next time, we’ll analyze the success of the Oliver & Company adaptation,” he whispered barely loud enough to be heard. Jason gently laid Hugo back down in his crib, moving carefully so he didn’t jostle him too much and wake him up for the fourth time that night already.  He stroked his stomach lightly a few times until he was sure Hugo was asleep enough that movement wouldn’t wake him.

He quietly closed the door behind himself and let out a relieved sigh as soon as he released the handle.  He rubbed his face wearily.  This growth spurt was killing them.  They hadn’t slept more than a few hours at a time for a week now. His eyes caught on his daughter’s door, which was just slightly ajar, and let out another deep, resigned sigh. That was not the way they’d left it when they put her to bed earlier.  He pushed the door open slowly and leaned against the doorway.  His face split into an adoring smile.  Marinette was laying on top of the covers, her arm slung over Catherine who was curled into her.  

If you asked her, Catherine would tell you she was extremely excited for Preschool to start in a few weeks and not at all scared. However, she’d been waking up at least once every night for the last month and asking for Mommy Cuddles to make her room less scary, which Jason completely understood.  Marinette’s cuddles were amazing.  But it meant that at least Marinette was getting woken up to comfort Catherine at least once a night and at least twice to nurse Hugo.  

Jason gently picked Marinette up, being careful not to disturb Catherine and restart the soothing process all again.  His heart warmed when she instantly snuggled closer into his arms as he walked.  Even after their years together, the way she instantly reacted to his touch, even unconsciously, blew him away.  He laid her in their bed with a lingering kiss to the temple.  She opened her eyes groggily, a sleepy smile on her face.  “Hey, sexy.  You know, most parents sing lullabies or tell fairytales to their kids,” she teased.

“Most parents aren’t awesome,” he answered as if it were obvious.  Marinette hummed in agreement and moved to make room for him.  “You heard,” he chuckled as he crawled into bed after her.

“I caught the beginning before Catherine woke up.”  She yawned as she answered.  Jason curled around Marinette, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her back against his chest.  She snuggled into his warm embrace and hugged her arms over his.  She was quiet for a while, savoring the embrace, until Jason thought she’d fallen back asleep.  “So, Lion King, huh?”

He smirked and nodded into her hair.  “It’s a classic.”

After a moment she turned back to eye him knowingly.  “Which uncle did you tell him it was okay to kill?”

He blinked a few times.  She couldn’t have heard him so that meant she just knew him that well.  He grinned at the thought.  “...a few.”

Marinette sighed and cuddled back into him again.  “You need to stop doing that. He's going to start talking you seriously.  And we do not need a baby Damian.”

Jason puckered his lips at that horrifying thought. That was terrible enough to go through once.  But Damian never tried to hurt his father and this time Jason would be the father so...  “It'll be fine,” he assured her.

“Catherine was glaring at Wally so hard earlier today he ran away before Adrien even had the chance to ask him on a date.  And Adrien put so much effort into setting it up too,” Marinette warned him, not at all entertained.  She was the one that had to apologize to Adrien after and listen to the awkward call between them so Adrien could try to set up another chance and talk to Catherine about not killing off Uncle Adrien’s love life.  He didn’t need the help.

Jason snorted.  “Seriously?”

Marinette elbowed him at his amused tone.  “Yes.”

Jason grinned and buried his face in Marinette's hair.  “That's my girl.”

@jasonette-july-event

[huilian]

stop confusing my name, dad!

AO3

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Barbara Gordon

Summary: 

Bruce has too many children, or, 5 times Bruce calls his children by the wrong name.

A/N: this is inspired by this post by @in-fearful-day-in-raging-night​. Please check them out! They post quality batfam things! The first four have dialogue stolen (with permission) directly from the post, and the last one is mine. I wanted to add one time Bruce got called the wrong name, but couldn't figure out how to do it properly, so... sorry?

***

It’s a quiet morning at the Manor. Too quiet, with two of his children currently on attendance. Admittedly they’re all here because they crashed after a truly exhausting patrol, but Bruce has trained his children well. They are never too tired to wreck havoc inside his home. 

Bruce walks towards the kitchen silently. If his children are quiet, he can be quiet too. He has to catch them before they catch him, or the consequences (for him) will be even worse. 

No one in the kitchen. At least, no one Bruce, with his extensive training, can detect. He walks in gingerly, still scanning the room for hostiles, namely, his children. If they are not in the kitchen, then they are somewhere else. He has to stay vigilant.

Yesterday night was truly an exhausting patrol. Why are his children like this? 

A crash. Somewhere on the second floor. 

Bruce runs towards it. He knows, logically, that it is most likely his children doing what passes as fun between them, but he can’t shake the nagging feeling inside him. What if it’s not his children? What if someone has come to hurt them? Bruce runs. 

He stops dead in his tracks, however, when he sees Damian. Who is standing in front of Tim’s door, frantically trying to break it down, while dripping wet. Bruce distantly notices an upturned bucket some feet away from his youngest son, but he’s much more interested in the fact that his youngest son is breaking his other son’s door. That is made of solid wood. 

He’s going to break himself. Bruce, with no other thought besides stopping Damian, says, “Dick, stop that! Wait, no.” Why is he calling Dick? It’s clearly Damian in front of him. So he tries again. “Jason,” no, that’s not right either, “no, Tim, ugh, Cass, I mean Damian! Stop that!” 

Damian, who thankfully stops his assault on Tim’s door, glares up at him. “Father! How dare you confuse me with Drake!” 

Bruce opens his mouth to scold Damian, because breaking down his siblings’ door is not acceptable behaviour, but then Tim’s door opens, revealing the boy himself. “Damian, he literally called everyone’s name, and that’s what you focus on?” 

“He called me by your name! It’s a disgrace I will not stand on!” 

“He went through everyone’s name! And I’m not a disgrace!” 

“Ha! You admit you are a disgrace!” 

“I literally just said I’m not a disgrace, you little brat. Are you even listening?” 

Bruce sighs. Tim and Damian arguing is basically an everyday occurrence by now, but the headache it inflicts upon Bruce never stops. Why are his children like this? 

“Enough!” Bruce shouts. “Damian, breaking down your siblings’ door is not acceptable. Jason, stop pranking your little brother,” because Bruce knows enough by now to be sure that the bucket was Tim’s doing. 

Silence. Normally a Tim and Damian argument can’t be solved by just a simple admonishment, but Bruce is going to take what miracles the universe decides to give him. Bruce turns to go. He needs coffee, because yesterday night was truly an exhausting patrol, and he has work to do today. 

That is, until Tim shrieks, “Jason?” 

Oh no. 

“You’re calling me Jason?” Tim scoffs. “Unbelievable.” 

“Tim, Tim, wait, I’m sorry,” Bruce stammers, but Tim scoffs again. 

“Jason. I’m done with this. Come on, Damian, let’s leave Bruce to his inability to remember his own children’s name,” Tim says. Then, he adds, low enough to pretend that he doesn’t want Bruce to hear, but just loud enough so that Bruce can hear it perfectly well, “Batman, my ass. Can’t even remember his children’s name.” 

“For once, I agree with you, Drake.” For someone who is spitting mad at being called Tim just a few minutes ago, Damian follows Tim easily enough. 

Oh no, oh no. Those two working together is going to be unstoppable. Bruce shudders to think about what they are going to do to him. 

(He got locked out of the kitchen. And then his room. And then his car. Basically every door he tried to open today is locked. Even the entrance to the Cave is locked, and he made it. Why are his children like this?) 

It’s always good whenever all his children are in Gotham, patrolling with him. Provided they are not there because of a massive Arkham breakout or an apocalypse that needed all hands on deck. It’s always good whenever all Bruce’s children are patrolling Gotham with him because they all decided to visit. 

(He knows it’s the overbearing parent in him, but he likes all of them patrolling Gotham with him because if they are on patrol with him, they are not getting into any trouble he can’t help them out of. Ideally they would not be getting into any trouble at all, but Bruce knows his children. That hope had sailed long ago.) 

Since they are all here tonight, Bruce decides to do one of his semi-regular sweeps of the illegal bars. There are a lot of them tonight-almost all of them, really, except for Black Bat who has her own mission tonight-so Bruce is hoping that this time the message will stick longer. 

He left this at the very end of the patrol, when the bars are at their most crowded, so that it would hit even more people. Robin is already with him, of course, and he registers the rest of his children gathering next to him. 

It’s not that complicated of a bust, so he feels comfortable just giving instructions on the go. “The patrons are not committing any serious crime, not yet, but they are planning to do so. We’ll stop the planning, but no use of force unless absolutely necessary.” He waits for confirmation from all of them, already pulling his mental map of the bar. “Nightwing, take the left entrance.” Wait. That’s not what Bruce meant. That’s not what Bruce meant at all. “No wait, Robin, no, Black Bat, Red Hood, Batgirl, whoever you are,” Bruce points at Tim, then clicks his fingers a few times. It doesn’t make that much noise, especially with the gauntlets on, but the gesture itself helped. “Red Robin!” Finally! His children change their names far too many times, Bruce swears. “Take the left.” 

He’s greeted with silence from his children. Then Tim (Red Robin, Bruce’s mind helpfully supplied) said, “Wow, B, thanks for that.”

The statement from Tim seems to unlock the rest of his children’s mouth, because everyone starts talking all at once. 

“Black Bat’s not even on this mission!”

“Wait, so-”

“I swear he does this all the time!”

“-who’s taking the left?” 

Bruce decides to focus on the actually relevant question (thank you, Dick), and growls out, “Red Robin is taking the left. Nightwing will come with me and Robin through the front entrance. Batgirl, stay on the back entrance and handle any runners. Hood, take the right.” 

Everyone seemed to be paying attention, for which Bruce is grateful for, but then, because his children will never let anything go, Jason said, “Are you sure it’s me who’s taking the right and not Robin?” 

Stephanie looks like she also wants to add something, but Bruce cuts her out before that. “Yes. Now positions, everyone.” 

They move, but it’s only because his children (and Bruce notes this with not a small sense of pride himself) are professionals. Bruce is sure that he will pay for this, with interest, but that can wait until after they finished this bust. 

It’s just him and Dick, tonight. Robin has a test tomorrow, and Bruce knows that Damian is going to ace the test, patrol or no, but the rule has always been and will always be no patrol before a test, so Damian is staying in. The rest of his brood (Bruce has a brood now. He would have laughed had you tell him that a few years ago.) have their own cases, and so Bruce is patrolling with Dick. 

It reminds him of days long passed. 

“Robin, fall back and we’ll rendezvous at the docks,” Bruce says to his comms. Dick is a few blocks away, having split with Bruce to check in with someone he saved a couple weeks ago. It’s a quiet night, at any rate, and Bruce just wants to sweep the docks once and go back home. 

There’s no answer from the comms. Bruce is starting to panic, because Dick knows better than to not answer his comms. He starts to move towards Dick’s location, while trying to hail Dick again, when Dick, finally, blessedly, answers, “Do you mean me?” 

Bruce is so relieved to hear Dick’s voice that the meaning of his words doesn’t register to him for a minute. Why wouldn’t Dick think Bruce meant him? “Yes, of course I mean you,” Bruce says. 

“B,” Dick’s voice sounds exasperated, even through the comms, “it’s been well over a decade since I’ve been Robin. There’s been four other Robins since me.” 

Oh. Bruce mentally rewinds the conversation, only to shamefully realize that a, he did call Dick Robin, b, Robin, the actual Robin, is currently inside his room, and c, Dick is right. “Sorry, Nightwing.” 

Bruce hears Dick sighs. “What should I do with you, B?” 

“Next thing you know, he’ll be calling me Batgirl.” Oracle. “There’s a mugging two streets over, Batman. You might want to check it out with Robin.” 

“Hey! Don’t lump me in with him, O! I know better than that!” 

“It’s your fault. You’re the one who made him start taking in kids left and right,” Barbara says. “Go high, Nightwing.” 

“You know I’ll always go high, Oracle.”

Bruce is content with letting the two of them banter as he takes down the mugger. He knows these two. They can run their mouth off, but they’ll still do their job perfectly. And besides, it is nice to hear Barbara’s voice. That just makes it feel more like the old days. 

Bruce keeps his mouth shut though, partly because he’s still reeling from calling Dick Robin, and partly because he cannot trust himself to not call Barbara Batgirl. Like he said, tonight reminds him of the old days. 

He finishes neutralizing the mugger at the same time as Nightwing emerges in his point of view. He checks the bindings one more time, then looks up. 

“O, tell me something,” Nigthwing has a huge grin on his face, “you keep recordings of our comms, right?” 

Oh no. Dick wouldn’t. Barbara wouldn’t. 

“Of course, Nightwing. Is there something in particular you need?” 

Then again, it’s Dick and Barbara. Robin and Batgirl. They would. They absolutely would. 

“Can I get a recording of tonight’s conversation?” Dick looks Bruce right in the eyes as he says this. “I need to share it with my siblings.” 

“It would be my pleasure,” Barbara says. Even Bruce can hear the smile in her voice, and he knows Dick would hear it even more. He can’t win against the two of them. He hasn’t been able to for years now. “Should I send it to Batgirl as well?” 

“Oh, please do,” Dick says. “I can’t wait to see their reaction.” 

Bruce sighs. Not so much like the old days, after all. At least back then, they didn’t have anyone to share his embarrassing moments with. 

“Red Robin, what’s your position?” They’ve been trailing this particular shipment for a few weeks now, and Bruce wants to close this case as soon as possible. 

“Uh… I’m standing next to you?” Tim says. Damn it. He’s doing it again. 

“... Red Hood, what’s your position?” He can’t be blamed that his children choose very similar sounding code names. Even he can’t remember everything. 

Of course, Jason would beg to differ. “Fuck you, B, if you can’t even tell us apart, I’m not telling you jackshit.” 

Bruce sighs. “Hood, please, let’s just finish this now and have the pissing contest later. We need to stop the shipment from getting to the streets.” 

“Fine, but only because I don’t want to let the drugs get on the streets. We will have the pissing contest later, mark my words.” 

Bruce starts to feel relief, but it’s apparently too soon, because Tim (dear, dear Tim) says, “What about me? Stop forgetting my name, B.” 

“Um, little bird, he forgot my name, not yours.” 

“He substituted my name for yours! That means he forgot my name too!” 

“Boys,” Bruce feels very strongly the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, but forces it down because he’s wearing the cowl, “please stop arguing. Let’s, let’s just finish this. Please,” he whispered the last word, unsure whether it’s a plea or a prayer. 

Tim looks at him, and Bruce has the feeling that Jason, from his own perch, is also looking down at him. Tim nods, and then eerily, both he and Jason say, “Fine,” at the same time. 

Bruce knows that this is not over, not even close, but he’s so relieved that they agreed to shelf this for now. So he says again, making sure he says the right name, “Red Hood, what’s your position?” 

“Up the second rig, Batman,” Jason answers. There’s still an underlying sense of Jason being pissed off, but at least he’s answering Bruce’s questions now. 

“Noted. I’ll drop down on the sellers, and Red Hood, you’ll be coming with me,” Bruce recites the plan. He waits for the confirmation, but it doesn’t come. 

“I thought I’m coming with you?” Why is Tim sounding so confused?

Damn. Damn. Bruce swears. 

“You messed up our name again, didn’t you? Fuck you, B.” 

Bruce swears again. This is going to be a long night. 

“Batgirl, three men your way,” Bruce says. 

“My way? Are you sure, Batman? I’m inside the vents?” Stephanie says. 

This is getting ridiculous. Why does he keep mixing up his children’s name? He doesn’t even have that many of them. “Black Bat, three men your way.”

Cass looks back at him and gives him a smile that promises pain to everyone that dares to come her way. He knows he doesn’t need to give out warnings to Cass, but he still worries. He watches as Cass delivers perfect takedowns one after the other. It calms him, to know that Cass is much, much better than he is. 

The sense of calm doesn’t last though, because his comms hiss alive again. “Did you just forget that I’m Batgirl?” 

Bruce sighs. “No.” That’s the truth, too. He just mixes up the names sometimes. More than once, he wishes that his children aren’t passing down names and taking new ones every other year. It’s getting harder and harder to keep everything straight in his head. 

“Wait, is this the thing Red keeps telling me about? You mixing everyone’s names up?” Stephanie sounds absolutely gleeful. 

“No, Robin. Focus on the mission, please.” 

Cass, who had casually taken down every thug in the area, walks over calmly to Bruce, and says, “You just called her Robin.” 

Bruce freezes. Oh no. Now Stephanie’s never going to let this go. 

“Did you just call me Robin?” There it is. 

“Sorry, Batgirl.” 

“Oh my god, I can’t believe it! Batman, mixing up people’s names! O sent me that recording of you calling Wing Robin, but I thought that’s that! I can’t believe it!” 

“He mixes up Red Robin and Red Hood all the time,” Cass says. 

“You didn’t! B! No wonder Red keeps bitching about it to me!” 

“Are you in the command room yet, Batgirl?” Bruce swallows down his embarrassment. Focus on the mission. Focus on the mission. 

“Yeah, I’m copying their data as we speak, B-man. How many times have you mixed up the Reds?” 

Bruce considers lying, but then, Cass is right there. She would bust him right away. 

“Three,” he grits out. 

“Four,” Cass says. 

“Three. The time with Condiment King doesn’t count.” 

“Condiment King? Oh this conversation is gold. Please tell me the story, BB.” 

Bruce closes his eyes. For the umpeteenth time, he asks himself, why are his children like this? 

[elareine]

Reverse robins thing where Tim and Damian dont get along, but the citizens of Gotham know the two are the scariest pair when someone messes with their younger siblings. Jason was getting constantly bullied until Tim found out.

I love that idea, thanks for the prompt!

Damian does not understand why Father chose Drake as his replacement.

Drake is less of a fighter than Damian. Even after receiving from Shiva, he is still clumsy, with none of the grace and deadliness Damian has achieved at a young age. Damian supposes the other’s quite intelligent, a decent detective, but so are they all. There is nothing special about Drake. Nothing.

And yet his replacement—the pretender—is more natural with Bruce than Damian ever was. They share hugs, easy claps on the shoulders, all the physical affection Damian has always wanted from his father and never knew how to ask for. It makes him livid to see his place usurped like that by someone who is not worthy.

(Damian refuses to think that he is hurt because he wants his father’s attention on him, at all times, especially after his death. It’s a ridiculous, childish notion, and he is neither of these things anymore.)  

Nevertheless, they can work together. Damian is a professional, and Drake aspires to be. Their sniping drives Father crazy, and Damian works mostly out of Metropolis these days, but when need be, they make an adequate team.

(There is an incident where Drake is knocked out and left to choke in a burning warehouse. Damian will never tell him, but none of the men that did this to him will ever walk again.)

In the end, neither of them is enough for Batman. The next Robin follows, and the next. Damian would be bitter about that, but even he cannot look at a battered child—for that’s what Jason is when Bruce brings him in—and begrudge him love.

More than that: He understands what it means to feel so protective over someone that you would take a bullet for them without hesitation; not because it’s the right thing to do, but because everything else is unthinkable.

He looks at Drake and sees the same emotion in his face. They make a silent pact that day, one that carries them through many of the years to come.

Such as the day that Drake comes to his room, his eyes burning. Damian has never appreciated how cold that blue could be until now.

“Jason’s been having trouble at school.”

Damian frowns. “What are you talking about? His grades are much above average. Certainly better than yours ever were.”

Drake ignores his comment, which tells Damian that this is serious. “I’m not talking about his grades. Dick mentioned something, and when I looked into it, I found out that he’s being bullied.”

“Bullied?” Damian can’t help but ask. “Jason?”

“No one in his grade talks to him. They just pretend he isn’t there, or make snide comments as soon as he speaks. He spends the breaks reading.” Drake hesitates, then adds: “Apparently, he lets the other kids get hits in when they feel like it. Bruce told him not to show his abilities to civilians.”

They contemplate that in silence.

“We should’ve seen that coming,” Drake says. “He’s—well. It’s a school for rich kids.”

“Ah.” Damian remembers being distinctly uncomfortable when he arrived at Gotham Academy. With his accent and his ethnicity, whispers had been inevitable. But he was Bruce Wayne’s blood son, no matter what Gotham continues to think about his mother. Moreover, even then, he’d been secure in the knowledge that he had Jon.

Jason, though, with his Park Row accent and his unwillingness to make friends when he isn’t wanted….

Damian exhales and tries to unclench his fists. The urge to kill teenagers that are merely unthinking in their cruelty does not become him.

“Do they do the same to Dick?”

Drake shakes his head quickly. “No, I don’t think so. Anyway, you know how he is.”

Yes. Damian knows. Their youngest brother would make friends with Two-Face if they let him, just to turn around and punch him if he committed a crime. Dick was about as foreign to Damian as a human being could be, and he loved him for it.

“What do you suggest?”

Drake looks surprised at the question, but of course he has an answer. He would not be here if he didn’t have a plan and needed Damian’s help for it. “I think his teacher might appreciate a visit from us. A reminder of the school’s no-bullying policy, so to speak.”

Damian nods, already mentally selecting the suit and tie he will wear to the meeting. In Gotham, nothing is more effective than wearing the right cufflinks.

“And if things don’t improve, because even the teachers can’t make others talk to him… Other places offer academic excellence, too.”

“We will need to sell it as an improvement. Part of his training, perhaps.”

“Yes. I thought—that would mean more coming from you. Or Bruce.”

Damian supposes it would. It’s Father that they should be having this conversation with, really, but… Batman is busy. They can inform him when Jason has made his decision. They did the same when Cass quietly told them she would prefer to go to a school that focused on dance, after all.

“I assume you already have a list of suggestions.”

“Sure, but I wanna hear your opinion on it. You’re the one who’s always talking history and literature with Jay, I’m the high school dropout.”

And—Damian mentioned that fact himself mere minutes ago, but he does not care for Drake’s self-deprecating smile. “We should go through it together. You have a better grasp of the social situation than I do.”

“Oh. Okay.” The look in those eyes softened somewhat, though the steel was still there. “After we pay the academy a visit, then.”

Damian nods. Drake and he—they will take care of it, as always. They can go back to hating each other after.

[ma-gic-gay]

The next day, they show up to court on time, as expected. There's a large gaggle of reporters in the room and an even larger group of witnesses. Most are for Carly, of course, but a few are probably for Cyrus. After all, you don't make it this long in the business without having any friends who will back you in court.

Court starts fairly quickly, opening statements passing dully before the first witness, Elizabeth, is called to the stand. "Mrs. Baldwin, you were the nurse to treat Mrs. Corinthos right after her rape and kidnapping, correct?" Diane asks.

"That is correct, yes."

"Now, can you describe to me what you saw when she was brought in, in terms of injuries and just how she looked?"

"She was beaten up pretty bad; you can still see some of her bruises. Jason was carrying her in, but she was still snarking with me, so I could tell she was distracting herself. She seemed like she was processing what happened to her still. Now, I don't know much about how she acts in most situations in general, but I could tell something had happened and it wasn't good from her body language and from the way she seemed a lot more... Fragile."

Carly scoffs from her seat in the courtroom, "Fragile?"

"She's testifying for you, Carly. Play nice." Robert whispers.

"This is nice," she shoots back before redirecting her attention to the testimony.

"Now, you and Carly don't get along very well, do you?" Diane questions.

"Understatement."

"Then why did you volunteer to testify?"

"Because this is something that's bigger than the fact that we can't get along. This is a traumatic experience for her no one deserves to go through. So I put aside my own personal feelings for her and volunteered to testify." Elizabeth answers, smiling at the blonde, who actually manages a real smile back. A minor victory, but he's counting it as one.

"I retire this witness," Diane says before sitting down at her chair again.

"Now, Mrs. Baldwin, you discussed your dislike of Mrs. Corinthos a minute ago, did you not?" Cyrus's lawyer, who's name is Addison Helstrom, questions her.

"We don't get along, yes."

"But you have a child with her best friend, correct?"

"That is correct; Jason and I have a little boy named Jake."

"And did you and Mr. Morgan ever engage in a romantic relationship?"

"Objection, relevance. Asking witness about her relationships has nothing to do with this trial, on any count." Robert objects.

"I'm merely trying to establish a relationship with Mrs. Corinthos here."

"Overruled. You may answer."

"Yes, we were in a relationship at one point." Elizabeth answers uncomfortably.

"Did this contribute to your dislike of Mrs. Corinthos?"

"Objection, relevance. We're not having their feelings on trial here, we're having the charges against Mr. Renault. As far as I can tell, questioning Mrs. Baldwin about her social life isn't affecting that." Diane objects.

"Trying to establish a relationship between them."

"Overruled. You may proceed."

"My relationship with him didn't affect my feelings about Carly, if that's what you're asking. I'd already had the dislike for years by that point."

"Now, do you believe that someone could hate her enough to kidnap her?"

"It's happened plenty of times before."

"A yes or no will suffice," Addison says sharply.

"Yes, I do believe people could hate her enough to kidnap her. It's happened before."

"Do you believe that Mr. Renault could kidnap someone?"

"There's not much he could do that I wouldn't believe. Kidnapping Carly and raping her, that doesn't strike me as something he wouldn't do, along with the rest of the charges against him."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, he's done or arranged a lot of things in this town since he's been here. Even if he's made it so that you can't trace it back to him, we all know that it's his fault that overdoses have gone up, along with a whole other slew of crimes he's had other people commit."

"So, speculation in town has helped this? Mrs. Baldwin, you're a town gossip. Are you sure that you should be talking here?"

"Objection, harassing the witness."

"Sustained."

"I retire this witness," Addison says before sitting down again as Michael's called to the stand.

Flashback

"Carly, enough! Yes, alright, I'm Jake's father. Happy?"

"No. You lied to me, for over a year, about being his father! Me! I'm your best friend! And you lied to me because why, because Liz told you to?"

"Stop badmouthing her!"

"No! Jason, you're not telling me things because of her! You're keeping secrets, you're acting like she's the most important thing in your life. You've let her manipulate you into thinking you don't deserve to be Jake's father! I remember how you were with Michael when he was a baby and he turned out great," Carly shouts at him, hurt and betrayed.

"Jake's not safe with me as his father," he defends his decision to her angry laughter.

"Really? That's your defense? He isn't safe? Jason, you'd give your life in a second for any of the people you care about so don't give me that bullshit. Lizzie really does have you wrapped around her finger, doesn't she? I mean, god, what does she mean to you?"

"She's the mother of my child."

"I found out from Sam that you're Jake's father, Jason! Sam! Who else knows about this? Who else did you trust with this more than me? Who else did you decide got to know that you became a father while I sat there, thinking that kid was my cousin's? Please, tell me who means more to you than me. Give me a list." She shouts, tears streaming angrily down her face and making this conversation a lot harder.

"It's not like that-"

"The hell it isn't! You became a father and I had to find it out from Sam, of all people. Sam, who hates me. So who else matters more than me, who else deserved to know this more than me? Sonny?"

"Fine, you want to know who else knows about this? Lucky and Sonny. That's it. They're the only people we told," Jason shouts back. "So yes, your cousin knows that he's not Jake's father."

"Is this a bad time?" Elizabeth asks, walking in. "I can go."

"No, please, stay, Elizabeth! Clearly, you're worth keeping one of the most important things to happen in his life from me, so I'll go and leave you two to it. Maybe you can make another kid and hide that from me for a year!" Carly says. "I'll go. Clearly I'm not wanted."

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth asks, confused. "What the hell is she talking about?"

"She knows about Jake."

"Oh."

"Oh? That's all you have to say for yourself? You managed to trick him into thinking he shouldn't be a father to his son! Because, you love him, but you hate his dirty life, right? This is the way for you to keep your claws in him and distance the life you think is too low for you to deal with. God, Elizabeth, this is working out so fucking perfectly for you! You get to keep Lucky and you get to keep your claws in Jason at the same time. Congratulations!" Carly says sarcastically.

"Look, the adults who matter in his life have already decided this is for the best." Elizabeth counters. "And you're right, I do love Jason."

"Not enough to be with him! Not enough to let him be a father to his child! Not enough to even think of ruining your perfect little saint act by admitting to yourself that the reason you hate him is the thing that sustains him. So don't you dare start fucking preaching to me."

"Carly, stop!" Jason says, standing between the two fighting women. "This is exactly why I didn't tell you!"

"You know what? I'm not even mad at you, Elizabeth. I'm beyond angry you managed to get him to agree to not take fathership of his own child, but you're not the one who hurt me here. You did, Jason. How do you become a father and hide that from me? The biggest thing to ever happen to your happens and you didn't tell me but you told Sonny. You told Sam. You decided that Sonny, Sam, and Elizabeth are the most important people in your life. I'm no longer on that list. When did that happen?" Carly asks, half sobbing by this point.

"What are you talking about? You're my best friend. Of course you're one of the most important people in my life," Jason asks, confused.

She laughs, but it's absent of any humor and full of hurt. "I'm your best friend but you hide this from me. You hid this from me. The single most important thing to ever happen in your life happens and I'm not on the list of people who get to know. No, but Sonny is! Sam is!"

"Sam knows because Jake's why we broke up. And Sonny knows because I needed to talk about it with someone."

"And that someone couldn't be me?" Carly asks, voice breaking. "You had to talk to someone and the person you talked to couldn't be me, your supposed best friend. No, you talked to my ex husband about this. When did I lose my place in your life, and when did he fill it? Or, did Elizabeth," the name comes out venomous, he's half sure she's going to kill someone with it, "take it? Please, tell me when I lost my best friend to fucking Elizabeth Webber."

"You didn't lose me."

"Like hell I didn't! You hid this from me!"

"Because it's what's best for my son!"

"Is it? Or is it what's best for Elizabeth? You agreeing to pretend not to be Jake's father means that she gets to keep her perfect reputation and you, what, you just pretend you don't have a son for the rest of your life?" When he doesn't respond, she laughs again, still full of hurt and absent of humor. "Just tell me this, were you ever going to tell me about it?"

"I don't know." He admits slowly, watching as she practically dissolves into hysterics.

"You don't know? You were going to keep this a secret for the rest of your life? You would go to the grave without telling me about this, about your son?" Carly asks, sobbing by now. "How would you feel if I did that to you?"

"I'd be pissed," he agrees.

"Then why the hell did you do it? Why did you hurt me?"

"I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Well, you should've thought of that before you hid from me that you're a father," she responds sharply, wiping her tears and collecting herself. "You know what, I'm going to leave."

"Carly, you don't have to go," Jason offers.

"Yeah, yeah I do. I've got to go somewhere that doesn't remind me of the fact my best friend just betrayed me." Carly says before walking to the door. "I guess I should've known better than to go anywhere near this mess. Then again, I always thought you were the only person who'd never lied to me."

With that, she walks out the door. And, as far as he knew, out of his life forever.

"Well, for once, I agree with her," Elizabeth sighs, smiling. "She shouldn't have stuck her nose where it doesn't belong."

"Stop, Elizabeth."

"What? I'm not lying, she had no business inserting herself into this-"

"I've got to go find her."

"Why? Because she's mad? Carly's a big girl, Jason, she can deal with being mad every now and then. She needs to understand that we made the right decision for our son."

"Because she's my best friend and I'm pretty sure she's as close to hating me as she's ever been. I need to fix this."

End of flashback

"Thank you," Carly thanks Elizabeth.

"I just told the truth." Elizabeth smiles before leaving the courtroom for work.

"I never thought I'd say this, and this doesn't make me a fan of hers by any means, but she definitely helped our case. I don't know if I'd be able to do it if I were her." Carly whispers to Jason, who just smiles to himself in response. "I'm still not buying her whole saint act though."

"Mr. Corinthos, you've had your fair share of spats with Mr. Renault over the past couple of years, correct?"

"That's one way to put it, yes."

"Can you explain that answer?"

"He's presented a serious threat to my family since he stepped foot in Port Charles, so we've been in several arguments. The biggest came when my wife, Willow, who was pregnant at the time, somehow got kidnapped and was found, tied up, in one of his warehouses. Mr. Renault's doing what he did to my mother a few nights ago hurt my entire family." Michael explains calmly. He's a good testifier, very calm and assured while also not being too cocky. Probably comes from all of the testifying he's done.

"You believe he would kidnap your mother, correct?"

"Yes. My mother's been one of his chief enemies, second only to my father and Jason Morgan."

"Now, do you think he has an obsession with your mother?"

"I try to spend as little time as possible with him, but yes, I believe he's probably got an obsession with my mother. After all, he had one with Willow before he kidnapped her."

"Have you ever seen Mr. Renault harassing your mother? Loitering at areas she's at, things like that."

"Yes, numerous times. My mother can handle herself, so I don't step in, but yes, he does harass her regularly."

"I retire this witness."

"Mr. Corinthos, you're close with Mr. Morgan, correct?"

"Yes, Jason's like a second father to me."

"And you love your mother, correct?"

"Of course I do."

"Do you believe that they would concoct a story of a kidnapping and rape in an effort to hurt him?"

"No. Never in their lives would either of them lie about a kidnapping or rape. Especially not when there's evidence both took place."

"So you believe they're good people?"

"Objection, relevance."

"Sustained."

"I retire this witness."

Flashback

"I come with the boys."

"I think the proper greeting is hello."

"Whatever. Come on, you are going with us to the park. It'll be fun."

"Carly, I have-"

"Work and, lucky for you, it can wait. You know what can't? The park. It's beautiful outside and you are going to go play with my boys outside to take your mind off of everything." Carly insists. "Come on, let's not keep them waiting. They're rowdy enough as it is."

"You can't just storm in here and-"

"Too late, I have. Come on, Jason, it's gorgeous outside and the boys really want to see you."

"Fine," he sighs, giving in.

"I knew you'd cave."

In lieu of a response, he rolls his eyes and they leave the office to the presence of two very loud boys. "Jason!" They yell excitedly, running over to him.

"You see, I don't get a greeting like this every time they see me. I think they like you better." Carly jokes.

"Didn't you say something about the park, Carly?"

"Just change the subject, it's fine," she sighs. "Alright boys, to the park we go!"

The boys chatter excitedly the whole way there, talking about everything from their latest school projects to the video game they just got to pretty much anything having to do with them. That's one trait they got from their mother.

When they finally arrive at the park, the boys run over to the jungle gym excitedly, leaving them to themselves. "Things any better on the Sonny front?"

"Nope. He's still with Emily."

"Well, you do know you're doing the right thing, right? Fighting him on it, even if he doesn't see it now. Emily is going to get hurt and you, better than anyone, know that."

A few minutes pass and Michael walks up to them. "Jason, how come I look more like you than my dad?" He asks. "And how come I haven't always been a Corinthos?"

Jason and Carly exchange a glance before sitting down and gesturing for him to sit in between them. "It's a long story, bud. You sure you want to listen to it?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Well, you know how Sonny's your dad, legally and emotionally and stuff? Well, biologically, your dad is actually my brother, AJ Quartermaine. For the first year or so of your life, you lived with me and your mom."

"So I'm a Quartermaine?" He asks, confused. "Like Emily?"

"By blood. And legally, for a few months." Carly answers. "Michael, when you were born, AJ couldn't be a good father to you. He threatened to take you from me. So I had Jason take care of you. I practically begged for him to say he was your father because Tony Jones, a doctor who I'd also been involved with, wanted you too. I knew if I didn't have someone on my side, preferably him, I'd lose you."

"And he agreed to help you out and say I was his. So wait, I was a Morgan?"

"For a while, yeah. AJ, though, he found out you weren't mine, you were his, and he was going to sue Carly for full custody of you. So she married him to save herself and he changed your name to Quartermaine."

"So I went from a Morgan to a Quartermaine to a Corinthos?"

"Yeah. Your dad and I, we got together and I got pregnant."

"With Morgan?"

"No, that, uh, that baby didn't make it. I miscarried him. But your dad and I stayed with each other and we got married to keep him out of jail. Eventually, though, we really fell in love so we renewed our vows and he adopted you. So that's how you became a Corinthos."

"That's complicated."

"Yeah, yeah it is."

"So wait," he asks, turning to Jason, "you were my dad for a year?"

"Yes I was."

"Cool. So is that why I look like you?"

"Well no, you look like me because I guess AJ and I look alike."

"Not really."

"Well, then it must be that the combination of your mom and him made you look like me, Michael."

"I guess," he says, shrugging your shoulders. "Are you sure you're not my dad biologically?"

"Yes, we are."

"Alright. Well, I'm going to go swing."

End of flashback

To be continued when I wake up or something idfk

@ryleighjosephine

[bloojayoolie]

Fucking, Google, and Joker: File: black-manta-new-52.jpg (96 KB, 618x412) Damonashu 116 points 1 year ago ALEX DEGEN MAGIC SERPLE 2018 I'd like to imagine that Black Manta spends his time awake at night thinking of new ways to reminds Aquaman how he killed his son 0121121 >»90121140 >>90121185 >»90121418 >>90121437 >>90121471 Anonymous 02/22/17(Wed)05:43:49 No.90121094 @ADACTIVITY 90121568 »90121617 »90121781>»90122145 >>90122957 90123029 >90123691>90124826 >>90125587 >>90126898 Share Save What's his problem? Zarester 74 points 1 year ago The pacific ocean has 3.9 stars out of five on google maps MST KILL "Hey, Aquaman. Help me with this crossword. 17 across, seven letters, 'another phrase for a dead body'." "Cadaver?" Anonymous 02/22/17(Wed)05:45:30 No.90121140 "No. Has an O." >90121094 (OP) Aquaman "Uhm, A corpse?" Who the fuck is downvoting the ocean "Nnnnope. Doesn't work. Oh! I got it! "What is it?" TO BE PERFECTLY FRANK- I'M DOING IT OUT OF SIMPLE SPITE. Anonymous 02/22/17(Wed)05:50:22 No.90121286 "Your son!" >>90121264 Wow, he must really hate Aquaman Share Save Harhan Metal Gear Ray Romano 57 points 1 year ago "Hey Aqua Man, Knock knock." Anonymous 02/22/17(Wed)06:03:46 No.90121559 *sigh* "Whose there Black Manta?" The madman took over a terrorist organization that was on the verge of world domination just so he could use them to fuck with Aquaman. Manta is a man of "Not your son. 'Cus you know. I killed him." sheer will and limitless potential Share Save REALLY HATE YOUR GUTS, YOU KNOW... View Same Google iqdb Sauce NAO Aquaman_Vol_7_23.1_Black_Manta.jpg, 2MiB, 1920x2951 strips_of_serengeti Respect the Pipe 28 points 1 year ago I'm pretty sure Black Manta would just adopt an orphan and take it with him on his next nefarious plot, just so he could tell Aquaman that it's Take-Your-Son-To-Work Day, and rub in how great it is to be a father to a living child. PLAGKTA Anonymous Fri 24 Mar 2017 09:54:01 No.52342588 MANTS Report Quoted By: >5234421152356342 And he'd treat the kid well and make him super happy just to rub it in. >>52342483 >>52331311 >>52329634 Share Save Man, I love Black Manta. Especially his modern incarnation where he basically doesn't seem to have any personality at all except when fucking with Aquaman. He's basically Jason Vorhees or Mike Myers in terms of personality. And he's a member of the Legion of Doom. Can you imagine the poor schmuck that has to sit next to him in Legion meetings? Scarecrow's just sitting there, trying to have a nice conversation with Solomon Grundy (Born on a Wednesday), when Black Manta walks in and sits down and proceeds to just stare straight ahead, hands flat on the table, his only movement an occasional grinding of his teeth. HOWB THE WICE The Legion has supervillains and mad scientists and near-literal gods and demons, and Scarecrow is stuck next to a man, smelling vaguely of fish and blood, who mostly just wants to kill people close to Aquaman with whatever's on-hand at the time. But at least it's better than the one time he tried to be social. Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed)22:49:55 No.52440454 >52439850 > In the beginning there was a formless presence which cast its gaze onto the new born universe. > As it gained form millennia later it thought but one thing. >One thought randomly generated and with no outside influence. Fuck Aquaman. >"Uh...hey, Black Manta." >...Did you know that you can completely gut some species of fish, and if you put them back in the water, they'll keep on swimming?" >"..uh...no I didn't." >"...I must kill the sea." Anonymous 11/18/15(Wed)21:02:17 No.77559040 77566345 >>77566848 File: f338e5becd29807d401655ce8...). jpg (318 KB, 736x649) Anonymous 03/30/17(Thu)12:49:16 No.52448523 I could only dream of creating an enemy this autistic and hate fueled to throw at my players. Black Manta is a man that both philosophically and symbolically with his suit has encased himself in hate. He is the living manifestation of human hatred brought upon him by the cruel Poseidon like forces of wrathful nature, represented by the ocean. Black Manta has made himself into the very same pitiless, irrational and savage force of hate that the earth lays upon humanity from the seas. He is to Aquaman what a hurricane is to humanity, who he sees as responsible for taking this reckoning upon himself as Lord of the Anonymous 03/31/17(Fri)18:20:20 No.52471419 >52447826 52455734 Fucking perfect. I need to add something like this to a superhero campaign of my own >This guy is after you >You don't know why, or how, but he will do everything in his power to slowly destroy you and make you know it was him. >And his power is significant oceans. He has the same all consuming hatred for Aquaman that Captain Ahab had for the white whale The fact that his true origin is purposely obscured makes him even more striking as a shapeless force of nature Anonymous 03/30/17(Thu)14:43:07 No.52450280 >>52430715 Fuck man, Manta has given so many reasons that turned out to be lies to fuck with Aquaman that the real reason could very well be that Manta woke up one day, poured himself a bowl fish-o's, turned on the news, saw Aquaman, and thought, "Fuck that guy and everything he stands for." But really, the reason doesn't matter anymore because Manta doesn't need it. Manta isn't a man anymore. Asking why Manta hates Aquaman is like asking why the stars burn or why gravity exists. They just do. Manta has long ago stopped having a reason beyond the fact that Aquaman exists. Manta has long ago stopped being a man. Now? Now Manta is much like the sea he spends so much time in. You can see it in his eyes, the pitiless cold and the cruel indifference. Manta is a force of nature fueled by hate and spite that has long ago stopped having reason for existing beyond the fact that it does. Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed) 1 2:46:58 No.5243 1077 >>52430715 It's like the OP pic says. He just really, really fucking hates Aquaman. He's givien multiple conflicting backstories and motivations, several of which he admits he made up just to fuck with Aquaman. At this point even if he remembers his original reason he probably doesn't care about it anymore. His sole purpose in life is to screw with Aquaman in any and every way he can. There is no line he won't cross, no action too petty, so long as it hurts Aquaman. He has bent his entire being around making Arthur's life as miserable as possible and he will never stop, never falter, never give up. He is to the king of the ocean what the sea is to angry sailors, cruel, uncaring, and relentless. He's Captain Ahab as a comic book character and we love him for it. Anonymous 03/31/17(Fri)14:39:05 No.52467471 >>52430715 He literally just really fucking hates Aquaman. Everything he does is to fuck with Aquaman, any crimes he commits are purely either to fuck with Aquaman or to acquire funds to use to fuck with Aquaman. Not a day goes by in which he doesn't sit down and reflect on how much he fucking hates Aquaman Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed) 12:27:15 No.52430777 Anonymous 03/31/17(Fri)18:44:59 No.52471769 >52430577 Quite literally the only reason he didn't kill himself when Aquaman died was because of the off chance that he came back to life since Manta is genre savvy enough to realize that heroes do that often Is there ever a hour where Black Manta don't think about his hatred for Aquaman? Do he even sleep? Anonymous 03/31/17(Fri)18:50:27 No.52471853 Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed)12:29:34 No.52430813 >>52430715 There is conflicting stories about why he does. It really doesn't matter, because his place is a implacably, actually threatening counter to Aquaman. >>52471769 Well, physically at least, he is still human, so he has to sleep at some point. But he probably uses a form of self-hypnosis to ensure that when he dreams, he dreams about hurting Aquaman Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed)12:29:45 No.52430817 >52430758 Naw he was faking that. >52430715 He just fucking hates him. Maybe there is something deeper but its a mystery so far since he keeps faking out actual origin stories. Honestly, part of the appeal is that he is just raw anger towards the king of the sea wrapped in a calm, hate-oozing package. He's the Joker but without having been ruined of all character through numerous iterations. Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed)12:31:48 No.52430849 >52430758 Yes, well, I have students that are autisitic as fuck and none of them have tried to overthrow a PMC yet to fuel their crusade against me.

[fxyeahriverdale-blog]

You Were A Kindness

Chapter 1: Rebel With A Cause

Read this story on AO3

Summary: After his father has been arrested for stealing from the Serpents and Hiram Lodge, Jughead Jones is forced to pay off his father’s debt by being a get away driver for the Serpents. Their next target is the Blossom mansion. Jughead is forced to transfer to Riverdale High undercover. His mission is to fit in as a normal Northside student while gathering information to help the Serpents with their next crime, but Jughead runs into a few distractions during his mission.

A/N: New story!! So I saw Baby Driver last week and I was inspired to write this story. The only similarities to Baby Driver is that Jughead is forced into being a get away Driver. 

I edited this myself, so please be nice! Sorry for any mistakes!

Jughead's eyes are glued to his white and red leather gloves that are gripping the wheel tightly trying to control his shaking hands. He takes a deep breath trying to calm his nerves.

He looks up from his gloves finally, scanning the perimeter. Nothing, but the still of the night.

A deer runs across the street and Jughead jumps out of his seat. He takes a deep breath calming himself. Everything is going to be okay. He has done this several times, he still shouldn't be this shaky.

A gun shot is fired in the distance, Jughead flinches. He should be used to this by now, but it still haunts him every time.

He doesn’t care what happens to himself, but he can’t stomach the thought of where or who that gunshot hit.

His eyes are fixed on the road ahead. He turns the headlights of the car back as he spots the men with masks dressed in black run towards his direction. Jughead positions his foot over the gas ready to do his job. He looks up at the ceiling thinking,’if there is a god I want you to know that I am sorry’. He doesn’t pray for himself, but for the sins he is committing.

The door to the silver mercedes is thrown open, the men pile into the car. “Let’s go!” The car doors are shut so loudly the car shakes causing Jughead to jump remembering the gun shots from moments ago.

Jughead slams his foot onto the gas pedal as he focuses on the escape path. Down Main Street, left on Archer Ave, right onto the dirt road until they reach the farm on the right after forty miles.

Police Sirens begin to ring in Jughead’s ears. “Fuck it’s the cops,” Joaquin says paranoid.

Jughead keeps a stern look on his face. He feels numb as he speeds up the car staring at the darkness ahead.

“Jughead’s got it,” Mustang says confidently in the front seat. He roughly squeezes Jughead's shoulder giving him an evil grin. He always had it. Jughead has out run the Cops several times by now. Sometimes they are lucky and get away before the cops show up because Jughead is so quick. He is the best get away driver in New York, considering he is one of the few that isn’t dead or behind bars.

Jughead knows he is a good driver. He has been driving cars since he could remember. Whenever his father was too drunk to drive home, he would have to take the wheel as a child. He knows how to control ever turn and every angle of a car at any speed. That’s why he was recruited.

Jughead veers a bit off course of their planned route to avoid the oncoming police cars. Jughead backs the car into a parking lot with several cars and he makes a sudden sharp turn.

"Fasten your seat belt boys," Mustang cheers wickedly. He backs the car into a parking space that has two cars next to it.Jughead turns off the car and the headlights.

“Get down!” Jughead orders. Everyone in the car leans back, so that they cannot be seen.

The sirens are growing closer. They listen as the sirens drive right past the parking lot without any suspicion.

The men sit up as soon as the sirens are way off in the distance.

”Atta boy Jughead.” Joaquin gives Jughead a pat on the back. Jughead double checks to make sure that the coast is clear.

He quickly turns the car back on and races out of the parking lot.

He veers off the main road on purpose in case the cops that just passed them call for back up.

The men begin to crack jokes about their latest job. They remove their masks. Mustang lights a cigarette in the front seat. He holds out the pack to Jughead. “No thanks.” Jughead declines.

Jughead drowns out the laughing in the back seat as he keeps his eyes on the gravel road searching for the dirt path. As soon as Jughead found the dirt path all of the adrenaline was replaced with his usual misery and emptiness.

Another job done.

An hour later the silver mercedes pulled up to an old abandoned looking farm.

The garage door in the small building next to the farm opened. Jughead pulled inside. He hesitated before turning the engine off. The men cheerfully hop out of the car.

“Jughead you coming?” Joaquin asks.

“I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Don’t keep the boss waiting too long,” Mustang warns. Jughead knows. Their boss is not a person that you want to piss off.

Jughead learned the ugly truth when one of his I guess you could call it "coworkers" Joe accidentally left his gun at the last robbery with his fingerprints all over it. Their boss called the men in for their pre job planning, Jughead noticed a new man in Joe’s place. The boss had told Jughead to take the car to the impounder upstate to get rid of any evidence of their previous robbery. Jughead would have hopped into the car quickly without a problem, until he saw the limp bloody fingers sticking out of the trunk. “Ugh kids.” His boss walked to the car and opened the trunk revealing Joe’s bloody dead body squished into the trunk like garbage. The older man shoved the body with no care into the trunk. “Better?” Jughead nods wordlessly. He is too shocked for words.

Jughead took the keys out of the ignition. He double checked the car to make sure that none of the men left anything behind. He does not want anymore blood on his hands. Jughead reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his signature grey crown shaped beanie. He places the hat back onto his head checking the mirror to make sure the hat looks okay.Once he confirmed that the car was empty, he headed for the bar

He looked up at the stars admiring how beautiful the night sky is in the countryside. He kicked the dirt in front of him with his hands in his pockets wishing he could feel something, anything.

Jughead opened the barn door where the men were congregated around a table.

“I am glad you could finally join us Jughead.” Hiram Lodge flashes a devilish smile with his perfectly white teeth as the teen as he enters the barn. Jughead shivers as he makes eye contact with his intimidating boss. This man gives him the creeps. He is a well known millionaire business man who has no business in crime. Jughead can't help, but wonder if he is just evil by nature. He enjoys taking from people. He definitely enjoys torturing others.

The barn has been converted into a warehouse with a drawing board, table, and cots.

“I was doing a final sweep of the car to make sure that nothing was left behind.”

“Good boy. Find anything?” The men all exchange paranoid looks as they wait for Jughead's response.

"Nope."

Hiram nods at Jughead and then continues counting the money.

Hiram Lodge was not the usual suspect for these kinds of crimes. He is a well known man. A wealthy business man from Riverdale with a family. He is the secret boss of the Southside Serpents. Not all Serpents are bad. There is the stereotype that the Serpents are a crime gang. Less than half of them are into crime. There are some really good people that are apart of the Serpents. Jughead’s dad is a serpent. FP has his demons, but he had once been a good man. Jughead really believed that.

Hiram throws the last bill onto the table and all of the men look nervous as hell waiting to listen to Hiram's opinion of their work.

“Did the cops see you?”

“No Jughead parked in between two cars and the police didn’t notice a thing,” Hiram gives an approving nod to Jughead.

“All right here is your cut.” Hiram passes out the cuts to everyone, but he jokingly takes back the money that he was holding out to Jughead.

”You can go. Do you all know your routes?” The men nod and get up.”Not you Jones, we need to have a chat.”

Jughead scans his brain nervously trying to figure out what he had done wrong. The police hadn’t seen them. He drove them without being followed. He had the car impounded last week and he watched it burn himself. He hasn’t done anything wrong. Jughead can feel his heart beating so spastically he feels like it is going to fall out of his chest. He couldn’t have screwed up.

“Jughead we have a really a big job coming up. This is the major leagues. These jobs have been a practice leading up to this. We are going to rob Clifford Blossom, the most corrupt business man in Riverdale.” Jughead had thought that was Hiram, but he would never say that out loud. Only if he has a death wish for himself and everyone around him.

“Riverdale? I thought we are trying to keep a low profile?”

“We are. That is why this job needs to go off without a hitch. I need eyes and ears everywhere. Clifford has two teenage twins that are your age, Cheryl and Jason. You and Joaquin are the only teenagers, I have. Joaquin is a known serpent. You are unknown Jughead, which makes you perfect for this job.” 'How does that make him perfect for the job?'”I need you to do your research on the Blossom twins. As you know Monday is the start of the school year. I submitted the paperwork and it has just been approved. You are the newest student at Riverdale High.”

“What?” Jughead asks pissed and confused. Is this a joke? If he thought Southside High was bad socially, imagine Riverdale High with all of the rich kids.

“Yes Jughead. This mission if very important. I want you to become a normal Riverdale High student. You need to fit in, become popular. I want you to make friends, join the football team, extra circulars, attend parties, hook up with girls/boys whatever you teens are into these days. I need months of research to make sure that this job is done flawlessly. Make this cover work or you know what happens if you fail me. Do you have any questions?” Jughead swallows nervously. He knows. Hiram constantly reminds him. It’s embedded in his brain now.

“No I get it.”

"If you do your job Jughead, your debt has been paid off." Jughead can barely believe the words that he's heard from Hiram Lodge's mouth.

"I am really done after this job?"

“Go to the store in Greendale and get yourself a nice iPhone and some new clothes for school.” Hiram hands him a large wad of cash."Enjoy your first day of junior year Jughead Jones.”

_______________________________________________________________________

“You’re joking. Shut up!” Kevin throws the popcorn bowl in the air dramatically. Betty watches in slow motion as the popcorn spills all over them.

“Kevin!”

“I am sorry, but that reveal was worth the popcorn bowl getting thrown in the air.”

“You threw the popcorn bowl in the air the first Chuck and Blair kissed, whenever Ross said “We were on a break”, when Leslie and Ben got married, so many moments that were not even popcorn bowl being thrown in the air worthy! You can only do that during scary movies.”

“Betty we’ve been bffs for years and you’re just realizing that I’m dramatic?” Good point.”I can’t believe Bonnie pushed Perrie. I was not expecting that.”

“You would have if you read the book.” Kevin turns over to Betty giving her an unamused look.

“That’s the beauty of television Betty, now I don’t have to read what happens. I can just sit and watch the drama.” Typical. Betty picks a piece of popcorn out of her hair.

“I got an email from Principal Weatherbee, I get to show around the new student tomorrow.”

“Ooh spill the tea, boy or girl? Hoping it's a hot guy finally.”

“I think it’s a boy. They have a very erm unique name, so I am not exactly sure.”

“Like Blue Ivy unique?” Kevin asks excited,”Or Apple unique?” Kevin’s nose scrunches showing his disapproval.

“It’s definitely unique. I can’t remember hold on.” Betty picks up her phone and pulls up the email.”Forsythe Pendleton Jones III.” Kevin pulls out his phone.”What are you doing?”

“Checking to see if this guy has a Facebook. That is definitely a boy's name. Nope nothing. Who doesn’t have Facebook?”

“Maybe he doesn’t go by his full name and there are a million of people with the last name Jones.”

“Hopefully he’s hot. Riverdale High needs some fresh meat.”

“My fingers are crossed for you Kevin.”

“This is going to be our best year ever Betty.”

“You say that every year Kevin!”

“I mean it this time. This is our year. We are both going to get hot boyfriends.” Betty roles her eyes as she picks a piece of popcorn out of her bra.

“Okay Kev.” Unfortunately, for the first time ever Betty doesn’t believe her best friend.  She always starts the new school year with optimism that 'this would be her year'. Betty knew that was a naive way to think.

A common occurrence in the boring life of Betty Cooper is that everything is always the same.

Tomorrow is the first day of her junior year in high school and she all ready knows exactly how her year will go. Just like every year, the fall will consist of cheerleading and football games.  Betty will spend most of her time trying to unsuccessfully recruit people to join the Blue and Gold. Kevin will still be the only guy in her life. She will plan every dance. Her campaign for Senior class office will begin in the Spring. Kevin will run for President and she will run as his Vice President, the dream team. Her parents will take her on college tours all year to schools she has never even thought about applying to. Her mother will be on her about her weight, style, grades, personal life, and how she breathes.

She had gone back to school shopping with her mother today. Her mother picked out a new pastel wardrobe that matches with her all ready full closet of identical pastel clothing. Due to the fact that her older sister Polly had twins this summer with her boyfriend Jason Blossom, her parents are watching her like a hawk making sure that Betty does not screw up like her older sister. All of their perfect expectations are now projected on Betty instead of both Betty and Polly.

There is giggling coming from across the way and Betty looks over at the window of Archie Andrews her next door neighbor. His curtains are shut, but she knows that he is in there with Veronica. Veronica was the new girl last year. Betty gave her a tour on the first day of school and they became friends despite how different they are. After Veronica practically talked Cheryl into giving Betty a spot on the River Vixens, they became best friends.

Betty was sure that sophomore year would be the year that everything changed for her. She was determined it would be the year that she and the handsome boy next door Archie Andrews finally got together. She was finally a cheerleader which made for the perfect narrative for her and Archie. The cheerleader and the football player. She was way wrong.

Instead Veronica moved to Riverdale from New York, sweeping the red head off of his feet. He was head over heels for her the minute she walked into Pop's while Archie and Betty sat in a booth together. Betty was just about to tell him how she feels, when Veronica walked in looking like a goddess. She knew she lost at that moment. They fell for each other right in front of Betty's eyes. Being the coward that she is, she smiled and pretended like everything was fine while her heart was breaking. They have been a power couple since last year. Betty has sat on the sidelines and watched her lifelong crush/next door neighbor/best friend date her other best friend.

“Isn’t the sheriff expecting you home by now Kevin?” Alice Cooper appears in Betty’s room with her arms folded and a scowl that is not to be messed with.

“We were just finishing this episode mom.”

“Okay, but then you are going to clean up this mess and Kevin needs to go home.”

“Yes mom.”

This year is going to be no different.

A/N: I know the first chapter is a bit short, I promise the other chapters I have written so far are longer! This is more of a prologue.

I am having a lot of fun with this story and I have lots of ideas. I am still working on my spring break story and will alternate between posting that story and this story. Please let me know if this is something people would be interesting in me continuing. Come talk to me on tumblr at fxyeahriverdale or leave a comment here it would mean the world to me xoxo.

The title of this story is inspired by one of my favorite songs by the National. I think this song fits the narrative of this story really well!

[bloojayoolie]

Fucking, Google, and Joker: File: black-manta-new-52.jpg (96 KB, 618x412) Damonashu 116 points 1 year ago ALEX DEGEN MAGIC SERPLE 2018 I'd like to imagine that Black Manta spends his time awake at night thinking of new ways to reminds Aquaman how he killed his son 0121121 >»90121140 >>90121185 >»90121418 >>90121437 >>90121471 Anonymous 02/22/17(Wed)05:43:49 No.90121094 @ADACTIVITY 90121568 »90121617 »90121781>»90122145 >>90122957 90123029 >90123691>90124826 >>90125587 >>90126898 Share Save What's his problem? Zarester 74 points 1 year ago The pacific ocean has 3.9 stars out of five on google maps MST KILL "Hey, Aquaman. Help me with this crossword. 17 across, seven letters, 'another phrase for a dead body'." "Cadaver?" Anonymous 02/22/17(Wed)05:45:30 No.90121140 "No. Has an O." >90121094 (OP) Aquaman "Uhm, A corpse?" Who the fuck is downvoting the ocean "Nnnnope. Doesn't work. Oh! I got it! "What is it?" TO BE PERFECTLY FRANK- I'M DOING IT OUT OF SIMPLE SPITE. Anonymous 02/22/17(Wed)05:50:22 No.90121286 "Your son!" >>90121264 Wow, he must really hate Aquaman Share Save Harhan Metal Gear Ray Romano 57 points 1 year ago "Hey Aqua Man, Knock knock." Anonymous 02/22/17(Wed)06:03:46 No.90121559 *sigh* "Whose there Black Manta?" The madman took over a terrorist organization that was on the verge of world domination just so he could use them to fuck with Aquaman. Manta is a man of "Not your son. 'Cus you know. I killed him." sheer will and limitless potential Share Save REALLY HATE YOUR GUTS, YOU KNOW... View Same Google iqdb Sauce NAO Aquaman_Vol_7_23.1_Black_Manta.jpg, 2MiB, 1920x2951 strips_of_serengeti Respect the Pipe 28 points 1 year ago I'm pretty sure Black Manta would just adopt an orphan and take it with him on his next nefarious plot, just so he could tell Aquaman that it's Take-Your-Son-To-Work Day, and rub in how great it is to be a father to a living child. PLAGKTA Anonymous Fri 24 Mar 2017 09:54:01 No.52342588 MANTS Report Quoted By: >5234421152356342 And he'd treat the kid well and make him super happy just to rub it in. >>52342483 >>52331311 >>52329634 Share Save Man, I love Black Manta. Especially his modern incarnation where he basically doesn't seem to have any personality at all except when fucking with Aquaman. He's basically Jason Vorhees or Mike Myers in terms of personality. And he's a member of the Legion of Doom. Can you imagine the poor schmuck that has to sit next to him in Legion meetings? Scarecrow's just sitting there, trying to have a nice conversation with Solomon Grundy (Born on a Wednesday), when Black Manta walks in and sits down and proceeds to just stare straight ahead, hands flat on the table, his only movement an occasional grinding of his teeth. HOWB THE WICE The Legion has supervillains and mad scientists and near-literal gods and demons, and Scarecrow is stuck next to a man, smelling vaguely of fish and blood, who mostly just wants to kill people close to Aquaman with whatever's on-hand at the time. But at least it's better than the one time he tried to be social. Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed)22:49:55 No.52440454 >52439850 > In the beginning there was a formless presence which cast its gaze onto the new born universe. > As it gained form millennia later it thought but one thing. >One thought randomly generated and with no outside influence. Fuck Aquaman. >"Uh...hey, Black Manta." >...Did you know that you can completely gut some species of fish, and if you put them back in the water, they'll keep on swimming?" >"..uh...no I didn't." >"...I must kill the sea." Anonymous 11/18/15(Wed)21:02:17 No.77559040 77566345 >>77566848 File: f338e5becd29807d401655ce8...). jpg (318 KB, 736x649) Anonymous 03/30/17(Thu)12:49:16 No.52448523 I could only dream of creating an enemy this autistic and hate fueled to throw at my players. Black Manta is a man that both philosophically and symbolically with his suit has encased himself in hate. He is the living manifestation of human hatred brought upon him by the cruel Poseidon like forces of wrathful nature, represented by the ocean. Black Manta has made himself into the very same pitiless, irrational and savage force of hate that the earth lays upon humanity from the seas. He is to Aquaman what a hurricane is to humanity, who he sees as responsible for taking this reckoning upon himself as Lord of the Anonymous 03/31/17(Fri)18:20:20 No.52471419 >52447826 52455734 Fucking perfect. I need to add something like this to a superhero campaign of my own >This guy is after you >You don't know why, or how, but he will do everything in his power to slowly destroy you and make you know it was him. >And his power is significant oceans. He has the same all consuming hatred for Aquaman that Captain Ahab had for the white whale The fact that his true origin is purposely obscured makes him even more striking as a shapeless force of nature Anonymous 03/30/17(Thu)14:43:07 No.52450280 >>52430715 Fuck man, Manta has given so many reasons that turned out to be lies to fuck with Aquaman that the real reason could very well be that Manta woke up one day, poured himself a bowl fish-o's, turned on the news, saw Aquaman, and thought, "Fuck that guy and everything he stands for." But really, the reason doesn't matter anymore because Manta doesn't need it. Manta isn't a man anymore. Asking why Manta hates Aquaman is like asking why the stars burn or why gravity exists. They just do. Manta has long ago stopped having a reason beyond the fact that Aquaman exists. Manta has long ago stopped being a man. Now? Now Manta is much like the sea he spends so much time in. You can see it in his eyes, the pitiless cold and the cruel indifference. Manta is a force of nature fueled by hate and spite that has long ago stopped having reason for existing beyond the fact that it does. Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed) 1 2:46:58 No.5243 1077 >>52430715 It's like the OP pic says. He just really, really fucking hates Aquaman. He's givien multiple conflicting backstories and motivations, several of which he admits he made up just to fuck with Aquaman. At this point even if he remembers his original reason he probably doesn't care about it anymore. His sole purpose in life is to screw with Aquaman in any and every way he can. There is no line he won't cross, no action too petty, so long as it hurts Aquaman. He has bent his entire being around making Arthur's life as miserable as possible and he will never stop, never falter, never give up. He is to the king of the ocean what the sea is to angry sailors, cruel, uncaring, and relentless. He's Captain Ahab as a comic book character and we love him for it. Anonymous 03/31/17(Fri)14:39:05 No.52467471 >>52430715 He literally just really fucking hates Aquaman. Everything he does is to fuck with Aquaman, any crimes he commits are purely either to fuck with Aquaman or to acquire funds to use to fuck with Aquaman. Not a day goes by in which he doesn't sit down and reflect on how much he fucking hates Aquaman Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed) 12:27:15 No.52430777 Anonymous 03/31/17(Fri)18:44:59 No.52471769 >52430577 Quite literally the only reason he didn't kill himself when Aquaman died was because of the off chance that he came back to life since Manta is genre savvy enough to realize that heroes do that often Is there ever a hour where Black Manta don't think about his hatred for Aquaman? Do he even sleep? Anonymous 03/31/17(Fri)18:50:27 No.52471853 Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed)12:29:34 No.52430813 >>52430715 There is conflicting stories about why he does. It really doesn't matter, because his place is a implacably, actually threatening counter to Aquaman. >>52471769 Well, physically at least, he is still human, so he has to sleep at some point. But he probably uses a form of self-hypnosis to ensure that when he dreams, he dreams about hurting Aquaman Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed)12:29:45 No.52430817 >52430758 Naw he was faking that. >52430715 He just fucking hates him. Maybe there is something deeper but its a mystery so far since he keeps faking out actual origin stories. Honestly, part of the appeal is that he is just raw anger towards the king of the sea wrapped in a calm, hate-oozing package. He's the Joker but without having been ruined of all character through numerous iterations. Anonymous 03/29/17(Wed)12:31:48 No.52430849 >52430758 Yes, well, I have students that are autisitic as fuck and none of them have tried to overthrow a PMC yet to fuel their crusade against me.