cryptidbear

[cryptidbear]

Found my old cringy Miraculous ladybig art and died a little.

But also damn... teen me was having the time of my fucking life drawing this shit. Kudos to them honestly.

[cryptidbear]

"there should be some kind of test you have to take before having kids" -> wrong, extremely dangerous and highkey eugenicist and racist "the youth should have safe and effective legal pathways at their disposal to make sure their human rights are constantly protected and upheld" -> based, centers the youth, gives minors more power to fight inequality and does not reinforce the idea that parents are immune to scrutiny from their kids

[cryptidbear]

To America today...

Good luck, stay safe. Protest. They cannot drown out our voices forever.

No Kings

[cryptidbear]

you cannot talk about the homophobic murder of jonathan joss without including in the conversation that he is indigenous.

american indian men are at the 2nd highest risk of death by murder compared to all other ethnic groups. in their lifetimes, 82% of native men report having experienced domestic violence. yet the overwhelming majority of perpetrators are non-natives (88% of native men and 92% of native women who reported violence said their attacker was non-native). what’s more, tribal governments are often stymied in their attempts to bring justice against non-natives, meaning that many of these cases go unresolved.

this was an intersectional attack. the fact that he is indigenous matters, even if the motivation was homophobic, because it made him even more vulnerable and disposable in the eyes of his killer.

as always, look into MMIWP to learn more, and speak up for us. miigwetch, take care

[cryptidbear]

when two musicians sing into the same microphone and lean in very close to each other… like omg are you guys gonna kiss now to relieve the homoerotic tension?😳

[cryptidbear]

Ok so might accidentally end up doxxing myself with this one but here we go…

The Himboification of Dick Grayson, and Why It Sucks From A Gypsy Perspective

Warning: this is a long one! Also tw for brief mentions of Dick’s canonical SA/rapes, and discussions of purity cultures.

And disclaimer: none of this is intended to slut-shame anyone, so hopefully it doesn’t come across like that. I’m just hoping to explain the weird sexualisation of gypsies in the media, vs our more conservative attitude to sex. This also isn’t meant to shame anyone or tell you how you must imagine Dick Grayson - if you like dark skinned, more-fem Dick, then you keep on enjoying that! This is just what I’ve noticed as someone who is a gypsy, and some patterns I’ve seen in how Dick is portrayed and received.

So, I have a lot of problems with the depiction/perception of Dick Grayson, and particularly the hyper-sexualisation we see. I am not alone in this, and I know it’s something which has been discussed a fair bit in the past.

Honestly, I don’t even know where a lot of this came from? It’s only really in the past decade or so that we start to see it emerge properly in canon; prior to this, whilst it was agreed that Dick is good looking, he was kind of able to get around as a normal guy, and was praised a lot more for his capabilities and athleticism than for his looks. But with the New 52, there seemed to be this shift where Dick is really reduced to his looks. The Grayson/Spyral comics are particularly guilty of this: so many times we see Dick called an idiot (even if somewhat affectionally), sexualised (even by teen-aged girls when he is in his twenties), and reduce himself to his looks (Dick himself even says something along the lines of ‘It’s a good thing I’m pretty’). You can argue that the whole point of Spyral is that Dick was undercover, but it’s something we still see today (I’m thinking the 2025 Valentine’s Day Damian storyline). We can dismiss this as being ‘out of character’, but with how it’s been a gradually accepted part of DC canon over the last decade especially, I don’t know how long we can reasonably make that excuse.

The gypsy perspective isn’t necessarily the main reason I hate this, it’s just one which I feel capable of offering. (if you’re new here, hi, I’m a traveller/gypsy/showman/whatever you want to call me from a fairground and circus family in the UK. I’ve always stuck to fairgrounds myself but a lot of my family were/are still with the circus so I’m not an idiot and it’s all closely related anyway. I also grew up speaking Romani so there’s that.)

Other reasons I hate it include: the double standards of objectifying Dick being treated as almost acceptable because Dick is a man; Dick as an SA/rape survivor; and the fact that it’s bloody stupid because Dick is a highly competent vigilante and detective - a partner of Batman, then Batman himself, who even on his sick days is solving cold cases for fun. He is a genius ffs.

But anyway, onto the potentially doxxing gypsy perspective.

I know that Dick’s ‘gypsy rep’ has been a bit touch and go over the years. Grayson’s run is quite infamous for her handling of this (the whole internalised racism she gave him during his Tevis mob era, and Bruce’s stereotyping in Gotham Knights still makes me feel icky), and it’s only recently that it’s really been discussed again, mostly being ignored by writers in between. However, I’ve also mentioned before that to me, the writer with the most accurate representation is ironically Morrison (because he wasn’t trying). The thing is, even if writers have kind of circumnavigated the whole ‘gypsy’ thing (a term I use because it’s common in the UK, and is one Dick uses himself, alongside ‘carney’ which is the American English version of the British ‘showman’, a subtype of “gypsy”), it’s been canon since Day One that Dick is from the circus. And due to how circuses work, especially with the hereditary nature and how it was more common for the gypsy family who ran the circus to perform in the 40s when Dick was introduced, even if it wasn’t explicitly stated, Dick Grayson has kind of canonically (or at the very least, subtextually) been a gypsy since his introduction.

So now that bit of house keeping is out of the way, why does the himboification of Dick Grayson really annoy me, as a gypsy/showman/carney myself?

So, the first issue I have is really the exoticism. There’s been a large push especially from fan-artists (though it has been very subtlety reflected in canon) to have Dick portrayed with darker skin, to more “accurately” portray him as Romani (spoiler: this is not accurate). There is a fantastic post which explains this further, but it’s actually kind of colourist to say that Dick Grayson is whitewashed. I’m a full gypsy, not a diddakoi or anything, and I’m pasty as fuck. Sure, my dad was often mistaken as South Asian in his youth, as his family are all very olive-skinned and tan dark in the summer, but my mum is white as a sheet (much to her own father’s annoyance) and I take after her. This is the case for a lot of us, especially in the North of Europe. And yet, I am still ethnically a gypsy. Dick does not lose his ‘gypsy card’ for being white. And the fact that many of the fandom view it as necessary for Dick to have a darker complexion to fit this perception of what a Romani person looks like (especially since this perception largely comes from gorjas who’ve never knowingly met a gypsy before in their lives) is not only inaccurate, but kind of problematic. I don’t mind seeing a darker Dick Grayson, but it’s how people act like he has to be dark skinned to be Romani which is frankly just incorrect.

This is doubly problematic when people use his being Romani to exoticise and sexualise Dick. Like with Esmerelda in the Hunchback of Notre Dame, I’ve often seen the fandom (and even canon, to some degree) use Dick’s heritage to make him seem other, and almost remove some barriers for proper conduct (i.e. be overly affectionate, etc). We see this kind of sexualisation with a lot of non-white characters, like Talia for example, and I think that the push for a visibly non-white, exotic Dick Grayson does fall in line with the same kind of racist hyper-sexualisation we see there. Alternatively, maybe this idea of a ‘sexy gypsy from the circus’ has its roots somewhat in real life, but actually results from major misunderstandings: until the sixties, it was common for circuses to have peep shows, with girls outside advertising it in their underwear; the misunderstanding comes in that these girls were not gypsies themselves (see my next point) but hired gorja staff who worked for or alongside us. It’s not unreasonable, then, that a child visiting the circus (and thus shaping their idea of what a circus is) up until the 60s might misinterpret this as being related to gypsies ourselves (songs like Cher’s Gypsies, Tramps, and Thieves, also add to this misconception that we’re the ones in the peep shows when we are not, even if that song is a bop) - if that child then worked for DC or was in the fandom, as writers/artists/fan-fic authors/fanartists in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, from the 80s to the 2000s, they might have mistakenly thought this was part of our culture, and not a business running parallel to ours (I hope this makes sense?). This is just a theory, but one of the only places I can think of this stereotype coming from, besides just plain racism?

Anyway, this hyper-sexualisation is ironic because a big part of our culture is actually that it is a purity culture, with equal expectations on both sexes to maintain modesty and virginity prior to marriage (of course, it’s a bit more relaxed nowadays but the expectation is still there, even if you’re in your 30s and unmarried!). This is drilled into us from a very young age, so even if Dick was removed from his culture by the age of eight, in a real life situation, he would likely already be well versed in this aspect of our culture. As I mentioned earlier, even before Dick was explicitly stated to be a gypsy, I think it’s definitely possible to read a gypsy upbringing into his character, even if unintentional, as written pre-Grayson - there’s one discussion Dick has about his anxieties about moving in with Kory whilst unmarried (I forget which comic this is from), and I cannot help but feel this resonate with me as a gypsy.

Then there’s the element of dress. TV shows like ‘My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding’ have done a lot to convince people that we all dress immodestly, but first of all: MBFGW focuses on another subtype of gypsy, Irish travellers - not showmen/circus like Dick is portrayed to be; and secondly - it’s such a small percentage of the population who do dress like that, that it cannot be taken as truth. I’ve a fair few cousins who are half-Irish traveller, and none of them dress like that. You’re far more likely to find a gypsy man wearing a shirt, a jumper, a pair of jeans, and boots than any of the gelled hair and vest top combos you see on there.

It’s a big thing that Dick has some questionable fashion choices (which are often featured as justification for his supposed ‘himbo-ness’), and this is definitely true in canon (Discowing, that one polka dot shirt, the mullet era… oh Dick, you disaster), but I’ve seen a lot of people correlate that directly with his growing up in a circus. As someone from that background, let me tell you that is just a Dick thing. It has nothing to do with being from the circus, we all dress rather normally - I’m sat writing this in a blue T-shirt, a pair of navy jeans, and a pair of boots - aka the kind of thing Dick wears more often than not in later not-the-80s canon! The thing is, this kind of presumption is something I’ve experienced myself in real life. I was doing some charity work, and there was a press element - when the journalist found out I was a gypsy from a circus family, and that I had horses, I was told to come to the photoshoot in my ‘little pink sparkly dress or whatever it is I ride in.’ I ride in jeans and a T-shirt btw. They just presumed because my family owned circuses, I must do vaulting and perform and I don’t - I worked in the kiosk or on the rides. The point is, people make a lot of presumptions about us just because we’re from the circus, and it’s not accurate.

Then there’s also the fanon effeminising of Dick: often giving him softer, feminine features, make-up, etc, to make him ‘pretty’. Like with the skin-colour issue, draw Dick however you like. You do you. But don’t use his being a gypsy to justify that. Tbh, the vast majority of gypsy men I know are extremely masculine: physically, the cis-men of our community tend to be quite tall, stocky, with calloused hands and broad shoulders, by virtue of the fact that we have to build up everywhere we work, and that’s a lot of physical labour. In Europe, there’s a big drinking culture, and playing football, etc. Men also tend to dress quite masc and practically for blue-collar work. And whilst I am sure that there are some more gender-fluid gypsies out there (I have quite a few gypsy friends who are openly queer, or trans), I have seen so many posts on Tumblr with Dick presented as being quite soft and feminine looking, with make-up etc, and when people in the notes ask why he’s drawn like that, the artist replies ‘He’s Rom!’ and I just want to facepalm. You can be a gypsy and masc-presenting. You can be a gypsy and fem-presenting. However, being a gypsy ≠ being feminine, and I’m really sick of seeing it. As someone who studies ancient Persia (like, I have a degree in it and am writing an academic book), the similarities are so obvious with how the Greeks portrayed the Achaemenids as effeminate, and like with the Achaemenids, it’s just not accurate. Again, if that’s how you headcanon Dick, then that’s great, but let’s not pretend that Dick being a gypsy has anything to do with it.

So I’ve now discussed the sexualisation aspect of Dick’s character a bit (I’ve probably left something out but oh well), and now I’ll speak a bit about the ‘dumb’ part. This is a far more recent thing, I think, and I suspect it might be because: a) people have weirdly tagged Tim as the Smart!Robin (they’re all geniuses) and thought this somehow means the rest must be dumb?, b) because of how sexualised Dick is, they’ve gone full himbo (see: Dick in the Grayson comics saying ‘at least [he’s] pretty’). However, from a gypsy point of view, this really annoys me as well.

When travelling with the fairground/circus, it is difficult to get a stable education. We tend to go to school in the winter months, but in the warmer months, we are more homeschooled (maybe using education packs from our normal school), or at larger fairs/events, a special teacher may be present. It used to be common that if we were at a ground for two weeks or more, we’d be enrolled temporarily in a local school for that time, but this isn’t really realistic today. However, it is also true that traditionally, our schooling was quite halted. Whilst less common, it’s still fairly normal for us to leave school early - for example, I left school entirely aged 13 to work full time on the fairgrounds (yes this goes against child labour laws but nobody actually cares). As a result of this, a lot of us have very limited education (illiteracy is not unheard of in the older generations), so it’s not uncommon for people to mistake this for us being stupid. But the thing is, this isn’t true. My dad left school aged 11, and eventually got a gorja job in his late 30s - he is now the top in the country at his job. I left school when I was 13, but decided I wanted to go to university, so I sat my GCSEs without studying, got into college, and whilst also working a full time job, got my A Levels and got into what is ranked the number one university in the world. When I got in, people really could not believe that someone of my background could do it, so it was on national news and television. It’s not that other travellers/gypsies are incapable - for the most part, we just don’t see the point as we’ve got a job and a culture wrapped up in one which we want to keep alive and successful. The point is, it’s so common for us to be underestimated, and part of what I loved about Dick’s character is that he is unapologetically clever. But over the last decade especially, Dick is once again being reduced to just a pretty face. Now, growing up, it was a cultural expectation to take care of your looks, and whilst I think I always looked ok (washed hair every day, showered, ironed matching clothes), it was not my primary interest in the same way that it was for a lot of my peers. So having a character who was from the same background as me and allowed to be intelligent and respected for it in a way I sometimes wasn’t was really special. So to see that intellect being taken away from Dick, somewhat, does strike me. If Dick is reduced to just being pretty and flirty, that’s as stereotypical as it comes in my community, and I love it when he can be more. I’m not saying that Dick has to be super serious all the time (that’s what makes Dick’s character so great, even if he is a bit more serious in canon than in fanon, though to be fair that’s probably because canon is a lot harder on him than fanon), but he can be hot and flirty without being dumb and overly objectified.

I hope this makes sense and I also hope that none of my relatives or uni friends see this and immediately work out it’s me - there’s a reason I started a whole side blog to separate my silly little nerdy interests from anything my friends might see - but Himbo Dick Grayson is something which I can’t get behind. Let him be smart. Let him be hot but not overly exoticised.

[cryptidbear]

[cryptidbear]

Why Duke Thomas Should Be A Dick Grayson Hater

Dick and Duke is such an underrated and underexplored relationship. Here is my pitch for why Duke should be a Dick Grayson hater.

1. The Rooftop Thing

Reason number one and the start of Duke's grudge should be the rooftop incident in Robin War. Dick, as part of his plan or whatever, leads Duke to a roof and abandons him to the cops.

LOOK AT DICK'S SMUG FACE. Tell me you wouldn't hold a grudge too if this was the FIRST major interaction you had with him?? Duke should use this against him at any possible opportunity.

2. ACAB

From We Are Robin #2. Once Duke finds out Dick used to be a cop, it's OVER for him.

3. Jason and Damian

Duke is quite close with Jason and Damian (in my head, particularly Damian - that's his LITTLE BROTHER). Anyway, these two are obsessed with Dick. You have Jason, with his miles-long brother issues that puts Dick on a pedestal, and you have Damian, who thinks Dick is the best person on Earth who can do no wrong. They would talk Duke's ears off about him. Duke would HATE IT.

4. Robin

This panel from Night of the Monster Men sums up quite nicely the difference in the way Dick and Duke approach vigilantism. Duke is the 'idealised' Robin, whose Robin-ing isn't contingent on Batman; Dick is more or less too tied up in Bruce. I think, because the Robin identity means a lot to Duke, having the original Robin be like this would irk Duke a LOT.

5. Tom Taylor

SPOILERS FOR CURRENT NIGHTWING RUN: in Nightwing #116, Dick gets framed for murder and Babs tells him to reveal he's Nightwing to clear him of suspicion. She says Bruce suggested it, and recounts everyone who agreed:

Hm. Is someone missing here? Oh yeah: DUKE. TT probably just forgot Duke, but where's the fun in that? Instead, if Duke is a Dick Grayson hater, you have the funniest scene imaginable. Everyone gathered in the Batcave, laying down their identities for Dick, and Duke is like 'I don't give a damn. He can rot in jail.' and peaces out.

BONUS points if he does this to get back at Dick for reason number 1.

6. Parallels

Duke's origin deliberately mirrors Bruce's, but that means it mirrors Dick's as well. Duke and Dick parallels go insane: they both had loving families, lost both parents at once, were in the foster system (varyingly for Dick but for the purposes of this post I'm gonna include it), were wards/not adopted by Bruce initially, have a huge reverence for family, have a thing about heights, view Robin as separate from Batman, forged their own identities, etc.

Tell me this page doesn't slap:

Anyway Duke would HATE this too. He'd be so annoyed that the person he has the most in common with is Dick, and that would fuel his Dick Grayson haterism.

Dick, on the other hand, has no hard feelings towards Duke. Duke would be glowering at him from the corner of the room and Dick would meet his gaze and be like 'ah Duke is so cute' and smile back. This would make Duke 10000x angrier.

Anyway that's my ideal Dick and Duke dynamic, feel free to add or modify or disagree with anything!!

[cryptidbear]

Reblog to give an ancient spirit lurking in your room a nice hot bowl of soup

[cryptidbear]

DC can pretend that Jason knows who Tim is but I know the truth

[cryptidbear]

Preview of a one-shot fic I'm writing where Jason learns just how not okay Tim is, and learns how to be a better brother and overcome their communication issues. Why? Self-indulgent reasons.

TW: Hinting towards Suicidal ideation but no outright mention of it. Mentions of death and funerals, the after life, emotional vulnerability.

Also, beware, this might be very ooc, still learning how to write these characters. And write in general!!!

Sneak peak!!!

🦇🦇🦇🦇

🦇🦇🦇🦇

“Would you come to my funeral?” 

The words, spoken so abruptly in the silence of their stakeout on a random rooftop near the docks, catches Jason completely and utterly off guard, damn near dropping his food in surprise.

He blinks slowly behind his domino mask, red helmet resting lazily in his lap as he eats a greasy batburger, a tradition for really any stakeout that always elicits a look of disapproval from Alfred.

He chews the food that suddenly tastes like ash on his tongue as he looks over at the teen sitting right beside him. His throat clenches with old guilt and new worries, his fingers digging into the burger and squishing it slightly.

He eyes Tim silently for another few moments, eyes dragging over the weary form of his younger brother. Surely, he had simply misheard him, right? Surely the brat wasn’t asking what he thinks he’s asking.

“Why?” He croaks out finally, his hands lowering towards his lap, a lone pickle falling unseen to the cold concrete of the rooftop, a sure treat for whatever bird found it come morning.

Tim shrugs lightly, not meeting Jason's gaze. He faces the docks instead, eyes hidden behind the white out lense of his domino mask sweeping over the area. “I don't know. Just… been thinking lately, I guess.” His voice is quiet in a way it often is, quiet in a way that has Jason’s skin itching beneath his armor. 

“ ‘bout yer funeral?” Jason feels at a loss about what to do in this situation, more than lost really, if he was being honest with himself. “Uh, why… why are ya thinkin’ ‘bout such a gruesome thin’?”

He was never any good at emotional stuff. Clearly, with his whole murder spree and hunting down the boy who took over the Robin mantle and slitting his throat.

Heck, he couldn't even deal with his own emotions half the time!!

He really, truly just wasn’t fit for this conversation, not in the slightest.

Plus… he and Tim… they weren't close. Not like that, at least. Not close enough to be talking about their own funerals and shit, or whatever was happening right now.

Sure, he loved Tim, much as anyone could love the chaotic bastard of a brother Tim was, but…

Jason always kept his distance. He always made sure to with the guilt that weighed him down from the Titan's Tower attack.

He was trying to be better, but it was hard some days. And he didn't want Tim caught in the crossfire of his real bad days when the anger wound tight around his chest and wouldn't let go.

Or really, any of his family. It’s one of the reasons he rarely comes around the manor or the cave.

Better to be distant and achingly lonely than risk another incident, especially when his relationship with Bruce was still so rocky.

Jason clears his throat when Tim doesn't answer, concern growing at the teen’s silence.

It really was never a good sign when he fell so silent like that. Always thinking far too much. .

“No, I wouldn't.” He answers honestly, and he sees the way his brother's shoulders slump, his heart, once still and buried six feet under, squeezes tightly at the sight. Sometimes it’s so telling of how Tim held himself in his mind, how little he thought of himself with the way he reacted to things sometimes, no matter how much he tried to hide it. He takes a small breath before continuing in what he hoped was a softer voice.

🦇🦇🦇🦇

End of sneak peak!! I'm actually very excited for this one since I haven't actually written Tim before, well not properly at least.

(Also, to note, Tim knows he's a good Robin, knows he's smart and skilled. But I have to imagine with some of the things that happen in canon... that kids gonna have issues. He's going to doubt his place sometimes. He's going to question things. I like to imagine this is set maybe a few months after the whole time stream situation. Also I don't know 100% of what happens in canon so 😓)

And don't worry, Jason doesn't just say no. He has a reason. He'll comfort Tim as best he can.

[cryptidbear]

>tw blood and mild suggested self harm<

_Joker Junior and The Arkham Knight_

more

[cryptidbear]

A Reverse Robins Au Idea:

I love Joker Jr! And I am in love with the idea that in a Reverse Robin AU where the second Robin always dies, Tim — breaking through the brainwashing for just a second — turns the gun on himself to keep from killing Batman. And Bruce has to watch his son commit suicide in front of him to save Batman’s life.

And when Tim comes back (maybe Talia or Ra’s or Superboy Prime idk), he’s not mad at Bruce. If the pit exaggerates your strongest emotion: where Jason ran hot with rage, Tim runs cold with logic. Tim has always been more reserved and non-confrontational. So the Tim that comes back is cold and calculating and focused on revenge.

Tim understands why Batman can’t kill. Tim is an idealist. He believes in Batman and Robin and the symbols they represent. To kill for Tim would be irrational.

But he still wants his revenge, his vengeance. After all, Tim is already a killer, right? What’s a few more?

The plan started with taking out the Joker but grows to destroying all gas based villains (PTSD. He can’t feel safe with gas based villains running around. But he rationalizes it. Just because he’s “cold and rational” doesn’t mean he’s lost his emotions.)

Tim is smart. He never reveals himself.

He’s aware of the third Robin, Jason. Batman needs a Robin. That’s why, after Damien left to spread his wings, Tim bullied Bruce into mentoring him. The city needs Robin. So he’s glad there’s a new Robin. He loves all of the Robins. So he can’t let this one get hurt during his revenge. He needs to keep Robin safe and Batman and Damian distracted.

So he kidnaps Jason and keeps him in a massive underground bunker (a coffin) he built in the caves under Gotham, modeled after the mazes the LoA favor with moving walls and puzzles (because you have to keep little wings entertained and Tim will never have the chance to train Jason properly so he might as well while he has the chance). In the end, the only way out — the answer all the puzzles lead to — is there no way out so Jason has to dig his way out.

All the while, Tim has been manipulating Bruce and Damien into capturing all the gas based villains in Gotham and sticking them in Arkham via puzzles and clues Tim plants around the city. The villains include Joker, Poison Ivy, Scarecrow, Mr. freeze, etc. And when the rogues are all safely tucked away in the cells Tim has ensured they’d be places in, Tim blows Arkham off the map.

BOOM

Batman’s symbol is intact and Tim is avenged. Tim’s purpose on this earth is complete. He’s determined to slink back into his grave. There is no reason to keep sticking around. What’s one more death after all that carnage?

And it’s Jason — who discovered Tim’s identity during the weeks/months he was held captive — who chases after Tim with Damian’s help (Damian so guilt ridden and desperate to fix all the wrongs he got right with Jason.) They’re going to bring their wayward bird home whether or not Batman wants it.

(Batman wants. He really really wants.)

[cryptidbear]

I've been reading fanfic and writing it for as long as I can remember. Fanfic has been both an outlet and a friend to me through many hardships and my difficult home life, and even helped me figure out my queer identity.

Fanfic is the one comfort I consistently have thanks to ao3. Where I can just go.

Read. Write.

Talk with others.

Read things about my favorite comfort characters going through trauma to help me process my own.

Reading long and short fanfics because I don't have money for books and often times can't go to the library.

Fanfics, I think, are the cornerstone of the internet. And it should stay like this.

Fanfic is a free hobby.

It's one of the last few things we can have as a society that's free. You can engage, for free. People give you things (art, stories, etc), for free.

Don't buy into the consummerism just because it's everywhere else.

You don't have to consume everything you interact with. You don't have to use things, just because they exist.

You're allowed (still, for now), to have things that are enjoyable for free.

Do you realise how insane the world is? We don't have many places where we can just be, for free anymore, but ao3 is. Did you notice we don't have ads in ao3? We don't have pop ups? Where ELSE do we not have that?

Where else can you just go and not have to wait for a commercial to be over or for ads to be on the sidelines?

I don't think the younger people understand, but the whole of internet used to be like this. YouTubers would do Youtube for free, just because. You couldn't monetise your internet presence before.

Ao3 is like a little preserved corner of the internet where the old internet used to be, and it's being attacked by people who do not understand that free things are allowed to exist without judgment.

Please don't ruin this for us.

Some of us need it.

[cryptidbear]

Shout out to lost days Jason- he gets his mind back and immediately goes to kill bruce.

[cryptidbear]

THATS HIS MAMA CAT!!!! HIS MAMA CAT YOU HEAR ME!!!!!!!!

[cryptidbear]

If anyone's interested, I actually made a Spotify Playlist for this fic. Very self indulgent on my end, tbh. Helps with inspiration.

I'm not good at making a playlist, but I like how this one sounds, so I'm decently satisfied with it.

Hope y'all enjoy!! I know not all the songs fit super well together but it's songs that reminded me of them for their dynamic in this fic or just songs I think apply to the characters. Tried to keep it relatively short.

So Carry Me From These Walls, Brother of Mine

//Damian is not a child anymore, or at least, his training does not allow him to be a child anymore, despite only being 9 years old.

But during high-stress moments or when fear truly sinks in, he can't help but slip into old habits of his younger years and call out for his Baba to come and comfort him. He can't help but call out for the young man who had raised him like he was his own while they were in the League despite having been just a teen himself.

Jason swears he has no attachments anymore. He swears he only cares about getting his revenge and about his plans to get back at Bruce for letting that clown live and replacing him after his death.

And yet, every time his habibi is in trouble or in distress, he can't help but drop everything and come running, no matter what.

Even if it keeps setting his plans back more and more, to the point they just crumble to ash.

Because nothing is more important than the young boy that somehow became his anchor in this fucked up life.//

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65550514/chapters/168747442

Finally finished the fic i was supposed to in like, February, oops. Life hit hard so I had to step back and deal with some things, but I'm trying to get back into it. I'll be posting another fic as soon as I can, but also probably some one-shots as I try to hash out how to write these characters in a way i like and feels like them!

Shoutout to @crypticspade for beta-reading for me, though the final version wasn't beta-read bc he's out rn and i'm impatient, oops.

Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy! sorry for the long wait!

Tag list!

I tried to get everyone who asked. Apologies if you were no longer interested or if I accidentally tagged the wrong person, or if I accidentally forgot someone! Let me know if you want to be taken off or added!

@lenoryt13 @genderexenotfound @ashera-reaper @stephanie-brown-solos @dreaming-soundly @lustrousperidoe @leajoyrambles @carmineskiesandspidereyes @nyxserpent @afagkdjtslycy @slushiethecryptid @omeynzaol @feral-asexual-possum @blue-lothcat @burdened-locus @apexhaven @imheretoreadafic @stop-asking-me-to-sign-up @that1uselessmf @classicsimpforaaronwarnerclassicsimpforaaronwarner @gneepgnorpsneepsnorp @ravenodindottir @littlefenrir @sstrangerthing1 @bananapeeeeellssss @isisbambisis @hidinginmyhands