#Writing on the Walls

[gremlin-bot]

There is No Closure, Just Adapting To Life

Ao3 link: Here Master list: Here

Summary:

Danny should have asked more questions before accepting the request to fix a different dimension's time stream from Clockwork. He didn’t think he would be de-aged and live a different life where he would latch on to a new family and friends. It was nice being a part of a community of heroes.

It really wouldn’t have been that bad if he stayed there. Too bad that he was pulled from that world and back into his old one, both fulfilling his wish to see his original family and killing all the relationships with his new ones.

Now he has to figure out how to live in his original dimension again. And maybe, just maybe find a way to visit the one he forcefully left behind.

Chapter 1: Your trial period is over; your account has been put on hold.

Danny shouldn't be thinking about the past life he lived, shouldn't think about the parents who adopted him only to disappear for months at a time, nor the vigilante family he’d inserted himself into during their time of need. That life wasn't his to begin with! Just a dimension with a timeline that needed fixing in an unconventional way. 

So, why is he crying? 

He just got back to his home, time hadn’t passed here. He can see Sam, Tucker, and Jazz again! (He'll never see Cass, Jason, Dick, Damien, Steph, Kon –) He's more experienced and better at fighting now. He can protect Amity better! (He misses Gotham. The city seemed to make heroes feel like magic) Danny has his original life back… but damn it, he wants to go back! He doesn't want to protect a city alone again! 

Danny curls into himself on his bed. Silent sobs racking his body. He's so different than he was before. His hair was longer and parted in the middle, nothing like his usual, (old), fringe style. His missing scars and the new ones he can't explain. Gods-  (No, wait, it's Ancients) he is missing his spleen! How was he going to explain that, or any of this? Even as his sobs grew more violent, their volume didn't increase. 

A trick he learned in the Wayne manor. 

He didn't want to disturb anyone with his half remembered dreams of a different life.

Danny took a shuddering breath, the feelings he’d been trying to bury since his return hitting him full force. He’d been sucked back to his original dimension without warning a day ago. Clockwork, that bastard, didn't even give him time to say goodbye to the rest of the Bats and Birds. He was in his apartment as Tim Drake one second and plopped in Danny Fenton's bedroom the next. 

His talk with the older ghost didn't make the situation any better. 

He didn't explain anything! Just that his work in that dimension's timeline was done. If Clockwork hadn't time locked the portal Danny would've been in the ancient’s lair instead of dissociating in a room that doesn't feel like his anymore. He hates not being given a choice or having a plan. 

Jason was right; anger was so much easier than actually dealing with your feelings.

His spiraling was stopped when he heard a soft knock on his door. Oh, he’d forgotten that Jazz was home. Living through a lifetime made him forget a lot about his first one. He didn't get time to follow the new spiral of thoughts before his sister opened the door. 

"Danny?" Her voice was soft, laced with worry.

"Yeah," He hates how hoarse his voice sounds.

 He should be better than this; he’s infiltrated the league of assassins for Ancients’ sake. He watched as she approached his bed, buried beneath blankets. He can hear when she actually sees him by her gasp. 

"What happened?" Jazz asked as she sat on the bed facing him.

"I… I fixed a timeline in a different dimension for Clockwork." Danny can't bring himself to look at her. Everything is still fresh. The feeling he can just barely comprehend as grief has yet to settle inside him. He takes a deep breath. He can compartmentalize this and deal with it after Jazz leaves.

"How long were you gone this time, a month or two?" Jazz looks at him with unending patience and care. 

"17 years," He whispers hesitantly.

"Oh… oh, Danny." He couldn’t have prepared himself for the shock and pained confusion on her face. She leaned her over him, pulling him into a tight hug.

Oh, he can't compartmentalize this after all. Danny’s breath hitched as fat tears began rolling down his face, dampening his pillow even more. His life as Tim made him forget what it was like to have unending support from a sibling. He loved the hodge podge of the Waynes, but he was a vigilante first. He wasn’t really family.

Just a coworker.

“You don’t have to talk about it if it’s too much. Just know that I’ll always be here for you little brother,” Jazz’s voice was gentle. Oh, did he miss her during those years. Cass and Barbara helped him cope with missing Jazz whether they knew it or not.  He turned into her, relishing in the fact she was here. He may be missing a whole new family, but he got his old one back.

“I missed you, Jazz. Can you stay here with me for a little while?” He pleaded between silent sobs.

“Of course. I’ll be here as long as you need.”

---------—x—---------

Tim woke up to the sound of typing and the sight of red hair. He must have crashed at Barbara’s last night. He sits up, not fully awake just yet.

“Morning, Babs,” he yawns, eyes blurry. 

The gentle but persistent clicking of keys stops with a hitch of her breath. "Danny, it's me Jazz. Is Babs someone you were close to… before?" 

The voice he hears back isn't Barbara's.

It's one he barely recognizes now, made even harder to place with the barely covered pain. Jazz deserves a better brother than him. 

What kind of brother is he, that he doesn't even remember his own sister at first glance. 

Danny takes a deep shaky breath. No, he can't think like that. He hasn't seen her in 17 years, Of course he isn't going to recognize her. Still she hasn't changed one bit. 

He can't tell if that makes it better or worse.

"Yeah" he croaks, voice rough from sleep and the lump that's formed in his throat. “She has hair like yours.”

“Oh… do you want to talk about it?” she offers awkwardly. She was completely out of her depth but still wanting to help in her own way. (Alfred would have loved to meet her.)

Danny shakes his head, pushing past the aching in his chest as he drags himself out of bed. He doesn't look back at Jazz, he doesn't want to see the pitying look in her eyes. Something ugly, angry, and raw always tends to creep into him when that particular emotion is directed at him, and she doesn't deserve that.

What a cruel joke that the one thing that he gets in spades in both lives is pity.

He needs a strategy if he plans to survive the next couple of days, (the rest of his life), and that starts small. Get ready and investigate what the hell was happening in his life before… his time mission. He lost so much time with his breakdown, how annoying. 

Tim (no, he's Danny now) huffs, opening his closet. Well before he starts anything he needs a damn shower. 

---------—x—---------

By the time Danny was clean and dressed, Jazz had left him with a journal with his name on it and her scrapbook. Ancients, she really is the best big sister. (Cass would contest that). 

He knows that he should dive into them right away, but… he can put it off a little longer. Remembering and relearning will take time, and he has all the time in the world now, whether he likes it or not. Diving deep will be too much. He’s too emotionally raw, and just needs something to latch on to, like: 

Next day survival plan 101, start small. 

He can look at Danny’s phone; he’ll figure out what to do with Tim’s later. Remember, one step at a time; one thing at a time. Finding the device was easy, it was on the nightstand where he always leaves it. Seems like this is one of the habits he kept in both lifes. Opening it up was easier than he originally expected; he really didn't have a sense of cybersecurity beyond Tucker back then.

(…Now?)

The device was familiar in so many different ways; he always did gravitate towards technology (with Tucker pushing him forward right next to him). The screen lit up, showing the basic layout of all phones; he dismissed notifications from dumb games, leaving the social media ones. What he was really looking for was his messages.

He had a couple new messages from Sam and Tucker in their group chat. He should look at the chat, but, in doing so, he'd be facing the people he had been grieving their missing presence for the last 17 years. A missing presence that had him picked up so many new hobbies, just because they reminded him of his two best friends. Danny would have never touched a camera if it wasn't for the ache in his chest everytime he passed a looming gargoyle. The hundreds of pictures will finally be seen by their intended audience, if he could only get himself to open the gods damned chat!

Shaky breath slips from his lips as he steadies his thoughts. Baby steps. Look at the messages and go from there.

— New Messages —

PettyWitch

Tucker I swear if your ass isn't up rn, I'm coming over and replacing all of the meat in your fridge with lettuce.

TFine

give me a sec 2 get down there you can stop calling me 

i'm not going to answer

what about Danny

how come you aren't calling HIM!!!!!

PettyWitch

Bc Danny can actually get up before noon during the weekends unlike other people in this chat! So he can be trusted to get to Nasty Burger on time. 

TFine

HEY!

Their banter goes on. Danny scrolls through it with a painful kind of fondness draping over him. A hole that once gouged his heart was being filled, only to have a different part get ripped out for the same reason. The people he missed will always have some type of mouth on them, especially one that gets them in trouble. Moving past the too fresh grief and focusing on the conversation at hand does bring about a pressing issue, he's supposed to meet up with Sam and Tucker soon.

Shit.

Looks like he's facing more ghosts of his past-turned-present sooner than he thought. It's Tucker and Sam. They stuck with him through his death and his first hero career. If anyone besides Jazz could sympathize with him, it was them. Resolve hardened like the Bat he is (was —there is no way back to them now), he spends the little remaining time flipping through pictures and looping handwriting as he pieces the memory of his old life back together.

[wrvvth]

I am absolutely fascinated with the implications about Daniel and Armand's relationship in s2e2. Particularly the way Armand reacts when Louis is absolutely digging in to Daniel, openly trying and succeeding to make Daniel upset.

Despite the fact that Armand has been challenging Daniel at every chance he got, despite the fact that he is the one who suggested them teaming up to throw Daniel off his rhythm, the moment Louis digs a little too deep Armand appears to become... Not quite remorseful, but at the very least uncomfortable? Armand protests and tries to ask Louis to stop and when the onslaught inevitably continues he actually COMFORTS Daniel.

There's two ways I interpret this: Part of me believes it is a show of real emotion from Armand. He likes to make Daniel squirm, sure, but in tears? Shaking? It stirs something inside of him. Another part of me wonders if Armand was able to tell that Daniel was remembering parts of their relationship and was trying to stop Louis from bringing back any more memories. Or maybe it's a secret third thing! Maybe it was nothing at all! All I know is that I am absolutely SEATED for however AMC decided to take their relationship. SAT.

[sageinscriptions]

Sailor's Wishes

Things started to change for me - meeting up with that Sailor. Everything I'd ever want made fore me - custom tailored. Trying out my sea legs - it's gonna be a long night. But in the depths of the ocean - I found a little light.

What will you wish for if you pass this test?

Let's start with peace and happiness. How many more do I have left?

Wishes were plenty - my own personal well. Some things kept close to my heart - I'd rather not tell.

I really never believed in magic - 'til it was knocking at my door. Smoke screens and slighty tricks - witness of the lore.

Stalled, thought and pondered - what could I truly desire. Even recalled on that old poem - music of the lyre.

I said - heaven knows I've got this deep pain in me. My last wish - is to be set free.

Sage Inscriptions

[technicolor-technopath]

"Nine people you want to know better" tag game

tagged by @gryptids, thank you el!! Last Song: i don't uh listen to music and i know this wasn't the last song i heard but my partner was playing Pomegranate Seeds by Julian Moon in the car yesterday Favorite Color: I don't subscribe to the scarcity model of loving colors but I usually say green or purple, unless I'm in a red mood. Last Movie/TV Show: last movie was puss in boots: the last wish which was rad as hell. also working through demon slayer (in the entertainment district arc) and dungeon meshi and loving every second. i thought there was another dm episode out already so i sat down to watch it with my lunch but it doesn't come out til tomorrow :'( Sweet/Spicy/Savory: savoryyyyyyy. i think a lot of people oversweeten sweet foods tbh, and besides that, i'm just overall an umami bitch Relationship Status: five years and counting. fucking wild how long that is Last Thing I Googled: green day tour dates. they're gonna be in boston near my birthday soooooooooooooo

Current Obsession: i'm a genshin gamer now. it's the only game i play and i can't stop. the writing kinda sucks (sometimes--i'm convinced there's several people with varying skill levels) but i'm fascinated by the design, expert application of incentive principles. my mains are tighnari and shogun i'm also perpetually obsessed with the fantasy world in my brain but y'all gotta wait for the book on that one

Last Book: I'm sloooowly working my way through mordew by alex pheby but i also just finished the tombs of atuan by ursula k. le guin. truly she was a genius of the pen and i'm having an incredible time going through her work now

Looking Forward To: clearing out my to-do list so i can have more time to fuck around. i'm hoping i can get all my upkeep chores done on saturday and have time to write after

i don't even really know nine people on this site tbh and i don't like to impose myself on y'alls online experiences so feel free to take or leave this but @sauntervaguelydownward @official-bagpipes @thebiscuitwitch @honeysuckle-venom @goolock @feralplantain @ladyoftheshield @idislikethissite and Free Space Your Advertisement Could Go Here

[1introvertedsage]

All my writing must be getting labeled ‘mature’ because it’s not for small all minds to comprehend.

[void-crump3tz]

im bored

i have decided i will summon a demon to stop being bored

or i will stop procrastinating and FINALLY finish down and out in paris and london

or write ominous messages and political statements on the walls

one of the three

im probably just gonna doomscroll for an hour tho lets be honest lol

[tediousmalcontentt]

my favorite scene in all of literature is when Neil Josten wakes up in Columbia after being drugged, hurls an alarm clock at Aaron, dumps his water on the floor and throws the cup at Aaron, stuff his clothes down the toilet and squeezes out through the window, has the foresight to call Matt from a pay phone to protect his shit, hitch hikes back to campus, eyes back to brown?? shows up on Wymack’s door like 😜 and reveals he could speak German the whole time?? CHARACTER OF ALL TIME, that is a protagonist who knows how MOVE THE MFING PLOT ALONG

[hansluvs]

you're really going through IT 😭😭😭

mimi u have no idea i'm actually still spiralling

[chromaticroses]

aw wow susie, that’s you!

this sure does mean a lot to you, huh?

oh, this really means a lot to you, doesn’t it

man, it would really be a shame if,

if that prophecy wasn’t 100% confirmed to be talking about you,

if there was something that might indicate you might not be the hero of legend,

something like using completely different equipment?

if there was something that implied the story had been changed,

that you were maybe supposed to be a different character…

ah, well. i wouldn’t worry about it, susie. keep putting that stock into that prophecy! you’re definitely the hero of legend, you can definitely base your newly found self worth around the idea of that. i’m sure nothing will come up that shatters this illusion.

but, hey, even if you aren’t the hero,

i’m sure you’ll end up all right.

[zorangezest]

switcheroo part 3 (starscream edition)

part 2

part 1

this was originally going to be included in part 2 as a short segment, but it was getting too long so they ended being posted separately!

why is this one high quality. why did I put so much effort into this. why have I drawn so much of this blucking au

[gremlin-bot]

There is No Closure, Just Adapting To Life masterpost

Ao3 link: here

Chapter 1: Your trial period is over; your account has been put on hold.

more chapters to come!

[a-purple-girl]

"it''ll be a statue of a woman, like a beautiful statue of a woman, and it'll be like...she helped lead the way for so many refugees or she was a nurse or she was this and she was that. She was just this pillar of society in her time. She was such an influential and powerful woman.

And they'll zoom in on her face, and they'll zoom in on the plaque, and they'll zoom out and show a full body...and it’ll show that one of her breasts has been basically rubbed off and it’s so shiny because all the tourists and, you know, whoever, has touched her breast and that's her legacy now.

[…] and you walk up to it and it’s just… through all that, through all the effort, through all the care and all the legacy she left behind, the only thing that she is now seen for is her breasts. That's gonna make me actually sick."

-brittany broski via the broski report

juliet, dalida, idk, molly malone

some people are just fucking rotten on the inside.

[sageinscriptions]

Maelstrom

Wondering where the breeze will take me this time. Floating on the last wave for what seemed like eternity. Dare I say, I'm finally free?

Learning flow vs. force I realize the wind beckons at my arrival. We're here to work our magic To settle in to who we are To share the love bequeathed to us With the world. All while reminding those closest to us They matter too. They have an enormous part in where we've been And where we're going.

It's not us against the world It's our love for the world. As we wait Maelstrom comes in the form of denial, distraction, doubts and fears. And we know where they come from.

Feeling so observed Everyone is watching But the ones staring in the show. We knew this We knew this

The coming between The scent of trouble at every turn Was breathed over our lives since The first hello.

If I could change the world Stand up straight And pull the arrows out of my back Lacing our hearts Keeping all strings intact I'd have the space to fully show you Your importance.

Making our way through the quicksand We were told before we fully understood what it meant. Our hearts knew and our minds weren't ready But we tried to fly anyway.

As the wind blew More than space separated us Only the truths of our hearts shall set us free.

Sage Inscriptions

[mischievous-thunder]

They're equally bad. They love teasing each other to a degree that's dangerous to the general public.

[1introvertedsage]

The writing is more than on the walls.

It’s in bold and written in the sky.

[rainedravens]

"oh my god guys the enemies just became lovers"