goldandbluesmiles

[goldandbluesmiles]

Mous-fer-RATu.

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Just One More Row

by StormLeviosa From the bag, Alfred pulled a ball of yarn and two long straight knitting needles. Inwardly, Bruce groaned. He knew what Alfred was about to try and teach him and solemnly bade goodbye to his dignity. He'd had a good run, really, but even he could not escape the proliferation of 'old people hobbies'. or, After suffering a serious injury on patrol, Batman is grounded for the foreseeable future. Bruce, bored out of his mind, is in desperate need of something to do and so, in a fit of genius, Alfred teaches him to knit. And so begins Bruce’s journey of self-discovery and gift-giving… and also yarn. There is so much yarn in Wayne Manor now. Send help. Words: 5924, Chapters: 1/2, Language: English Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: Gen Characters: Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Damian Wayne, Tim Drake (DCU), Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown Relationships: Alfred Pennyworth & Bruce Wayne, Batfamily Members & Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Emotions, Fluff, Family Feels, Knitting, Canon Compliant, cannot believe i get to use that tag, Domestic Batfamily (DCU), Good Parent Bruce Wayne via https://ift.tt/TByZDXf

[goldandbluesmiles]

Ok but Bruce’s “batglare” except it has specific stages that mean you’re in varying degrees of trouble. Allow me to elaborate:

Level 1: isn’t even really considered a glare in Bruce-speak, more of a suspicious squinting

Level 2: standard Disappointed Dad look, the most you’re gonna get is a reprimand

Level 3: resting Bitch face. Less of a glare and more of a sharp look that WILL follow you around and creep you out

Level 4: worried batglare, features aren’t as sharp as with the standard batglare. Usually smooths out when his kids/teammates stop being idiots and putting themselves in danger

Level 5: standard batglare, regular criminals are usually at the end of it, most of the kids have gotten pretty used to it

Level 6: You’ve Fucked Up. Expect a screaming match or a lecture of at least 30 minutes. Also you’re grounded

Level 7: full batglare on steroids, makes grown men piss their pants, usually reserved for the joker. Most of the kids have received it only once and that was MORE than enough for them to never want to receive it again

Level 8: Alfred.

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happy family!

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the babies (dick grayson & bruce wayne) (please don't flop this took a stupid amount of time) (i used a different pen and im not a fan switch back to my bae 😒) (i looove dick grayson as robin)

[goldandbluesmiles]

fyi your dad is a whor—

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It’s more like he raised a vigilante mob and got attached

I love when people refer to the Batkids as "soldiers" because, yeah, Bruce trained them hard and they're capable of working in a team, etc but soldiers are absolutely not allowed to be free thinkers. They tend to be obedient by nature. I cannot think of a fictional family that's more prone to just flying off the handle and doing their own thing than the Batfamily.

[goldandbluesmiles]

Exercise Fic Recs 21

Sorry I’m a bit late posting this, I just got back from watching ATSV.  It’s just as good and everyone has been shouting about and I don’t know why it took me so long to getting around to watching the movies.  Anyway, on to the fics!

The Only by pasdecoeur  (Superbat, complete.  Felt like being a little sad, so I read this fic again.  Bittersweet, read the tags.)

how many roads less traveled? by TopHat  (Superwonderbat, complete.  Polyamory negotiations between the trinity.  Very sweet, features ace Bruce.)

be my kryptonite by renecdote  (Superbat, complete.  Clark has a sensory overload, Bruce helps.)

Courage by LemonadeGarden  (Batfam, complete.  Bruce has a run in with fear toxin and Dick helps him deal with it.)

Stuck in the Middle (With You) by TheResurrectionist  (Superbat and Batfam, complete.  A re(re)read for me, I needed some good humor.  Damian gets stuck and Dick calls for help.  Shenanigans ensue.)

Just a Formality by FabulaRasa  (Superbat, complete.  Bruce and Clark get married for work reasons, and Clark has So Many Feeling About This.)

misty by TheResurrectionist  (Superbat, wip.  Different first meeting.  Bruce crash lands on a cold, barren planet and Clark finds him.)

Patchwork Pod by Ktkat9  (Superbat, wip.  Another merbruce fic update!)

Midnight Hour by BisforBread  (Superbat, wip.  Medieval/fantasy au.  Clark is a prince and Bruce is a knight and they have Feelings for each other.)   

a world in repair by Batbirdies  (Barfam, wip.  Part of the Emotional Motion Sickness series.  Jason and Damian go on a trip together, but not everything goes according to plan.)

Veritas by Anonymous  (Batfam, complete.  Batman gets hit with truth serum and talks about how he loves his kids SO MUCH.)

Jesus Is Not A Zombie by Sadsnail  (uuuuhhhhh, bible fic?  I blame @beachcat0772 , she posted this in our friend server and told me to read it.  It’s just crack fic, but GOOD crack fic 😆)

They had a pastry with lemon curd on it, I couldn’t resist!

It was so rainy this morning!  It pretty much rained the entire time I was birding.  Got so cool pictures though!

The baby geese, they are growing up!  They are looking more and more like adult geese everyday:

Wasn’t able to get a good picture of this guy, but it’s a brown thrasher!  This is the second time I’ve seen him running around the area:

Look at this funky lil’ guy!  A grackle!  They were so fun to watch:

There were SO MANY swallows out flying around.  They kept flying around me, they were so much fun to watch!  And they’re SO PRETTY too.  I tried to take some pictures of them in flight, but it’s SO HARD.  This one is ok, I need to practice more.  This guy is a barn swallow:

A red-winged black bird chilling in the rain:

This is also a red-winged blackbird, but a female!  She caught breakfast!  This is probably my favorite picture I took today:

A robin!

When I got to the arboretum, some tree swallows were flying around!  Here are the best pictures I got of them midflight:

A titmouse grabbing a snack in the middle of the rain:

There’s also a big flock of goldfinches that hangout here too!  I thought this guy looked handsome:

This white-breasted nuthatch was having fun hopping around on this tree:

OMG.  I didn’t realize this until I got home, but these are juvenile eastern bluebirds!!  Wow!!!

This has a parent and a baby!!  Holy moly!!

An indigo bunting in the rain.  I think my lens was starting to fog up:

A downy woodpecker.  I like how it looks like they’re peaking around:

A black-capped chickadee!  They snagged a treat:

An indigo bunting again:

I love this picture of a female cardinal:

Now onto some scenery!

ngl, the rain made everything look prettier.

[goldandbluesmiles]

This somehow feels very relatable

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There is no heterosexual explanation for this

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fic rec friday 17

welcome the the seventeenth fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

1. got got got it bad by @kairiolette

“He leans in to hook his arm around Keith’s shoulders in full. It’s right in Keith ear, when he speaks. “I have a crush on someone new, like, every week.”

“No—it’s not someone.” Keith brings his head up, and it feels as heavy on his neck as if it were his center of gravity, and he meets Lance’s eyes with his own. Keith doesn’t mean to communicate something through their silence, he just kind of gets caught up in staring at Lance’s face, which tends to happen lately. Sharp features, cheekbones and chin. Impossible eyes and a loud mouth as expressive as his eyebrows. But Lance seems to come to some understanding on his own. He sits back in a rare, rare moment of speechlessness, that mouth of his slightly pursed and twitching in its search for words in what can only be, though Keith doesn’t know much about body language, immense confusion on the brink of realization.”

Or: Keith acknowledges his feelings for Lance and promptly goes through the five stages of grief.

what have i said about fics from 2016!!! just the end note and the end made me LAUGH like i couldnt help reading this. they are so stupid and so lame and i love them so much. if u like 5+1 and u like klance being annoying i highly recommend

2. Wicked rather than virtuous by 2dick2down [EXLPICIT]

No one ever told you how hard it was to be sexy during a Washington winter, especially not Fifty Shades of Grey, which Lance often felt like the star of. And, all right, in all fairness, Keith wasn’t Christian Grey levels of wealthy, and he didn’t have any secret sex rooms, and Lance was not with him because he’d signed his ass over to a repressed BDSM god.

Don’t get Lance wrong. Keith was definitely a repressed rich boy. It was just that he was Mr. Grey’s inverse: the type of repressed rich boy you had to beg to spank you and even then there was no telling if he’d have to leave the room afterwards because he felt so torn up with guilt at having to hurt you. Which he didn’t. Or, well, he did, but Lance liked it. Enough to ask for it, anyway.

And was that honestly so crazy?

okay so honestly this is a porn fic. BUT it is a porn fic that also has a plot, and the plot is actually pretty sweet. the crowning jewel of this fic tho is how fucking funny it is. like i was genuinely laughing out loud on several occasions. i will provide for you an example of such:

“Let me cook for you, since you so rudely interrupted my attempts to feed you last night.”

“I don’t know,” Lance said. “If I remember correctly, I was stuffed for most of the night.”

Keith let that sit between them untouched.

“I know you want to laugh.”

it’s so funny. this is one of many moments. read it trust me

3. you build your tower (but call me home) by @parchmints

In the land of Arus, the youngest Nalquodian prince—Prince Leandro—is hidden away in a little castle that overlooks the kingdom; a countermeasure to protect him from the Galran assassins that have sworn to take his life.

And in the tallest tower of the castle, behind a grimy rose window and under a dusty sheet, is an enchanting gargoyle that the prince finds himself compelled to visit every day.

Almost as if by a spell…

idk what it is about me and gargoyle fics. im obsessed. this one in particular blew me away!! the plot was EXCELLENT, magic and fantasy and royalty that doesnt suck. so much fun and SO much intrigue. i read this the first time and literally could not put it down, and then when i finished i scrolled right back up to the top and reread it

4. you’re lucky that’s what i like by zenstrike

Lance rescues a hamster from certain doom.

or, Lance has Keith wrapped around his little finger and doesn’t even realize it.

okay this description is from the first work in the series and it does not do the whole thing justice omg. i am OBSESSED with this series. a month or so ago i was freaking out on here bc it was updated for the first time in forever and i was so pumped!! the way klance is written here is like nothing i’ve ever read before and i cannot get enough. they’re soft and they’re scared and they’re so so young and they don’t know how anything works yet but they know that they want to find out together. and they each come from a place of brokenness and strangeness and they know that beauty can come from that messiness and they embrace it but they are so sure that they will be the ones to stay tangled together despite the odds and they’re RIGHT. literally no words i could use would properly explain this series to you like i am speechless! 

5. layer cake by zenstrike

Keith and Lance, on the couch with a bottle of wine

this fic is from you’re lucky that’s what i like, and it’s singled out particularly because this one did things to me. i read it several times in a row just to fully process it. it’s so aptly named because the layers of devotion…genuinely almost more than i could and can handle. god. 

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!  

[goldandbluesmiles]

god, I love Wall-e and Eve

[goldandbluesmiles]

“Lance, buddy.” Hunk nudges his best friend gently, who is currently dead to the world, somehow using his own shoulder as a headrest. “We’re here. Up you get.” Lance makes a noise that sounds vaguely like a mix of muffled yelling and sobbing, then testily uncurls himself, opening bleary brown eyes just to glare through the windshield.

“You’ll be fine, you drama queen,” Hunk admonishes. “You’re always fine once your brain kicks in.”

Lance only grunts, shifting his gaze to the door and opening it.

Well, trying to. It takes him four tries before Hunk takes pity on him, turning off the car before getting out of his own seat and walking to the other side to open Lance’s door for him. He sighs slightly to himself — he’d been planning on dropping Lance off at work and then jetting, but he should’ve known that wasn’t happening.

“C’mon, out you get,” he says, opening the door. He has to stop Lance from faceplanting on the pavement when he trips over nothing.

“Yeesh,” comes a voice from behind them, “what alien came down in the night and sucked out his brains? Or whatever’s left of them, anyways.”

Pidge stands by the rear door of the cafe holding three bags of coffee beans in her arms, glasses gleaming in the moonlight and smirk making her look impish. Her poofy dandelion hair is more of a mess than usual, as if a brush was a distant thought.

“He’s on low power mode,” Hunk explains. He slips an arm around Lance’s shoulders, patting him delicately and perhaps a bit patronizingly on the cheek. Lance responds only by groaning again and flopping his head back to rest on Hunk. “Lance is very big on beauty sleep, you see. So this is kind of a nightmare for him.”

Pidge’s smirk only gets wider. “I do see.”

Somehow, she makes a simple phrase of acknowledgment sound like she has just formed several evil plans in her head and is about to commence Lance’s downfall. She makes no attempt to hide this, which speaks to her power.

“Pidge? Everything okay out there?” calls a voice from inside the cafe.

“All good, Shiro! Just harassing Lance!”

“Oh, okay then.”

This makes Lance pull away from Hunk in pure indignation, jaw dropped and eyes furrowed on betrayal.

Hunk bursts out laughing.

“I think you’re good now, dude,” he says, patting Lance’s back one last time before waving goodbye and heading back to his car. Lance watches him go, then stomps into the cafe, putting his apron on as aggressively as he can possibly manage and scowling at a gleeful Pidge.

“Hello, Zombie Lance,” greets an amused Shiro. He looks impossibly normal for a man who has to be awake and working at Three In The Goddamn Morning. “Thanks for coming in, kiddo. I appreciate it.”

Lance shoots him a tired thumbs up and then heads to the kitchen.

“Never in my life have I seen him like this,” Pidge remarks. She is practically bouncing off the walls.

Shiro raises an eyebrow at her. “He’s the only one here who can bake. You’re not allowed to make him quit.”

“Can I make him consider it?”

“No.”

Pidge pouts. “Aw, Shiro, come on! You’re not here on the afternoon shifts! He and Allura gang up on me, Shiro. I am a victim. They do that weirdo thing where they communicate with eyebrow wiggles and Looks Of Judgement and then suddenly they know every embarrassing thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Shiro snorts, but shakes his head again. “Still no, Pidge. You’re all an asset to this team. Besides, Lance is the only one who doesn’t hate interacting with customers during rush. Do you want to start doing that? Because that’s what you’ll be doing if you annoy him into quitting.”

“Fine,” Pidge grouches. “I’ll only torment him a little. Until he gets his voice back. Fair’s fair.”

She sprints off before Shiro can stop her.

Chuckling to himself, Shiro continues unpacking the supply shipment, stacking sacks of flour in the store room and bringing boxes of teabags up front. They’ll probably be fine. They’ve worked here for years and managed to not kill each other. Sure, Shiro has never had three of his early-morning bakers and stockers quit at the same time, nor has he ever had to panic-text his best employees to get them to work outside their usual shift in the dead of night, but he’ll…manage. Hopefully.

“I’m here! I’m here! I’m not late, I’m —” Allura stumbles into the storeroom, frantically trying to tie her thick, kinky hair out of her face and shove it into her visor. She gives up very quickly, tossing the visor on a random surface and smiling sheepishly at her boss. “I’m a little late. But in my defense, Uncle Coran is trying to build a flux capacitor again so all the clocks were behind.”

“Grab a sack of flour, you walking mess,” Shiro says fondly. Smiling back at him, Allura does, picking up three sacks with complete ease and stacking them neatly.

“What do we have to do to open?” she asks. “I’ve done it a couple times, I think, but never this early, and —”

She’s interrupted by screeching, followed by cackling, and then the sound of several things clanging together as they fall to the floor.

She purses her lips, clearly fighting back a giggle. “Pidge and Lance in the kitchen?”

Shiro sighs. “Unfortunately.”

They follow the sounds of destruction, pulling the two fools away from each other, Allura dragging Pidge to go help her with the unloading and Shiro staying to help Lance. Between the four of them they manage to get the cafe stocked and prepped for the day, supplies out where they belong and enough goodies baked for the morning rush.

“Thanks again,” Shiro tells them, when six rolls around and they get ready to open.

Lance grins at him, having woken up fully sometimes around four. “All good! Opening shift is kinda nice, actually. You get to see the sunrise.”

Shiro smiles back, somewhat nervously. “It’s great that you feel that way, buddy.”

“Oh no,” Pidge says, sensing his tone.

Shiro pushes on. “—because Stephanie, Tyler, and Lou all quit. So. I am completely out of an opening shift.”

All three of them blink.

“Have you been opening on your own every morning?” Allura asks, concerned.

“No, this just happened,” Shiro assures. “That’s why I called you guys in. I know it’s frustrating, but I was hoping you guys would be willing to take this shift for a while, at least until I can get new hires. You guys like working together, so I pulled all three of you, but you don’t all have to say yes. I can definitely ask the late afternoon or evening shifts.”

“I never said anything about liking to work with the gremlin,” Lance grumbles, but he’s resting his elbow on Pidge’s head and his tone is nothing but fond.

“Yeah, and who says I want to work with two beanstalks?” Pidge complains. “If you move these two knuckleheads to this shift then maybe I can go back to my regular shift and work with appropriately sized people!”

“Oh, darling, I don’t believe any of our coworkers are preschoolers.” Allura bends down to Pidge’s height, face exaggeratedly sympathetic. “Child labour is illegal, you see.”

Pidge scowls as Allura and Lance burst into cackles, high-fiving each other. “You see?” she demands, gesturing between them and Shiro. “They gang up on me! Workplace harassment! I can’t believe you’re making me take the morning shift with these two doodooheads!”

“This is the best gift you could have possibly given me, Shiro,” Lance says, wiping a fake tear from his eye. “I’m eternally grateful for this opportunity.”

Allura sniggers. “As am I.”

“Alright, alright,” Shiro says, rolling his eyes. He shrugs on his jacket, tossing the keys to Allura — the most trustworthy of the bunch (Pidge will most definitely make copies for nefarious purposes and the one and only time Lance was trusted with the keys, they ended up accidentally baked into a banana loaf). “I’m gonna sort some things out and see what I can do to get some newbies hired. No killing each other while I’m out, and no making each other quit either. Play nice, children.”

The three of them call out some derivative of “will do, father!” and wave him goodbye, watching him unchain his bike from the side of the building and pedal off.

The second he’s out of eyesight, Lance turns towards the other two, hand flying to his nose. “Dibs on first pick of breakfast! And on not unlocking the doors!”

“Hey! No way!”

“You only get to dibs one, you cheater!”

———

Usually, Lance works from ten to five, so he gets the second wave of breakfast rush and both waves of lunch rush. Early dinner rush too, but only if he’s working on weekends.

Early morning rush, though, is a whole different ballpark. There are way more people, somehow, and a lot of them are ruder. Possibly the lack of coffee, but still. Pidge intentionally makes decaf after notices several people be much meaner than Lance than usual.

Not that she thinks Lance notices she does this. But she’s not very subtle, and every time she does it makes Lance smile.

“Whew,” Allura huffs, slumping over the counter. “That was rough.”

“Was it ever,” Lance grumbles. The cafe has been quiet for five whole minutes, signalling an end to the dreaded mass of customers who’ve yet to caffeinate themselves.

Pidge is very scowly. “That one guy was such a prick. He was so mean to Lance for no reason, and then he called you hotcheeks, Allura! Ugh. He’s going to be so miserable when he gets caffeine withdrawals. I hope they’re particularly bad for him.”

“Careful there, Pidgey,” Allura says, sharing a grin with Lance. “It almost sounds like you care about us.”

“That has nothing — I do not! I’m just —” She flounders, ears going red. There’s no bleeding heart like Pidge, but God forbid she ever admit it. “I’m going on break! Fuck you guys!”

She stomps off to the back, throwing her apron at Lance’s head as she turns the corner. Allura and Lance look at each other, and last approximately four seconds before cracking up.

“Payback,” Lance says between giggles. “She was a total shit this morning. I considered throwing eggs at her.”

“You didn’t consider shit. You did throw an egg at her.”

“Yeah, but she dodged, so it doesn’t count.”

Allura rolls her eyes. “If I put you in a chokehold but you don’t die, it still —”

She cuts herself off at the sound of the windchimes hanging from the door, looking over to see a guy walk in, their age, wearing a cropped leather jacket, fingerless gloves, big emo boots, and —

“Is that a mullet?” Lance mutters, aghast. “In this day and age? Unironically?”

Allura bites her lip, hurriedly turning towards the espresso machine. “I’ll get started on a coffee as black as his soul,” she teases under her breath.

Lance has the bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing, and even then he can’t stop his smile. He turns to the guy. “Welcome to Starbrews. What can I get for you?” he asks, voice shaking with mirth. He glances at the man’s gloves, and then back at his face. “A pink drink?”

Is he being a little mean? Yeah, probably. Can he kiss any tip goodbye? Most definitely.

Oh, well.

The man scoffs. “Is that your idea of being funny?”

Lance shrugs, very much amused even if the beloved customer isn’t. “What’re you gonna get, then?”

The man hesitates for a beat, still glaring at Lance, then mutters, “A pink drink.”

Lance does his absolute best to keep his smirk at a reasonable level. He sees Allura’s shoulders shaking out of the corner of his eye.

“What size?” he asks pleasantly, tapping the register.

“A medium,” the man says, with no small amount of attitude.

Without waiting for the man to finish, Lance shakes his head.

Oh, he is delighting in this.

“Sorry,” he hums. “I don’t know what that is.”

The man looks a hair’s breadth away from reaching over to strangle Lance, which is excellent. Instead he places his hands on the counter very gently, in a way that tells you he is physically holding himself back from slamming them, and leans in close. He hums, mocking the way Lance did earlier, condescending smirk on his face. “It’s, like, in between a small and a lar—”

“Shh,” Lance interrupts, matching the man’s position, leaning so close he can see the freckles that dot his nose, and the faint scar on his cheek. “We go by tall, grande, and venti here? Most people know that.”

Most people don’t know that, actually. This is a privately owned cafe. This isn’t a Starbucks. Shiro just has an all-encompassing loathing for Starbucks and anything associated with it, and expresses this loathing with as much copyright as he can get away with, which is a lot. (Aside from the sizing, they even have two menus, labelled ‘Our Menu’ and ‘The Starbucks Menu’. How Shiro has not yet received a cease and desist, Lance does not know, but the pettiness as a whole brings him great joy.)

But for whatever reason, Lance appears to be set on being as annoying as possible to this random man today. Perhaps it’s because he is personally offended by the mullet. Perhaps it’s because Lance is neurotic and the man is objectively very attractive. No one will ever know exactly how Lance’s mind works, least of all himself.

The man’s eyebrows narrow, and something shifts in his expression. He smirks widely, tilting his head at Lance and putting his hand to his heart in a false show of genuineness.

“Aw,” he coos, as patronizing as Lance was seconds ago. “Do I look like most people, sweetheart?”

The mocking pet name only emboldens Lance further. He straightens, punching in the order — not that he needs to, there’s no way Allura isn’t paying full and complete attention, but still — and grinning.

“Absolutely not,” he chirps, as preppily as he can.

The man huffs, straightening up as well. “Hm. That was a little condescending, don’t you think?”

“Was it?” Lance drawls.

“Yeah,” the man says flatly.

“Interesting,” Lance dismisses. “Can I get a name for the order? Or does Billy Ray Cyrus work for you?”

Allura can’t tamp down her laugh at that one, clamping her hand over her mouth as soon as the sound escapes and hurriedly reaching for the coconut milk.

“Keith is fine,” Keith grouches.

“Sure thing,” Lance assures, writing Billy Ray Cyrus on the cup, and then a heart just to be annoying. He slides the cup over to Allura, who fills it up and walks it over to the counter.

“Pink drink for Billy Ray Cyrus?” she calls, because she may pretend to be more mature than Lance but deep down she is just as much of a shit disturber.

Keith scowls. “Not my name.” He takes the offered drink and then — to Lance and Allura’s great surprise — drops some money into the tip jar, before leaving the cafe in a huff.

“You are going to get your dumb ass fired,” Allura says once he’s gone.

“Nah,” Lance dismisses, grinning cheekily at her. “Shiro likes me too much. Plus, how would he ever find out?”

Allura grabs a rag and stars wiping the machines down, shaking her head. “You’d be surprised.”

“Oh, come on. What’s Mr. Emo gonna do? Tell Shiro? It’s not like they know each other. That would be romcom levels of ridiculous plot hangering. Not happening.”

“Whatever you say, Lance. When this comes back to bite you in the ass, I am going to point and laugh.”

———

scene from this video

[goldandbluesmiles]

Def wanna write this!

A certain Batman fic I desperately want written is so heartbreaking I don’t even know if I should tell y’all…

I’m going to anyway but still

Some anti-hero needs to kill Bruce in order to save the world in X days

Bruce, obviously, is all “ya sure”

His only condition? He gets a week or so to say goodbye to his children

Bruce isn’t Batman at all for this - wanting the birds to remember him as Bruce

Bruce takes Dick out to the first diner they ate at together when Dick was like 8. Bruce, before taking him back home to Wally, goes on this teary rant about how much he loves him/how proud he is.

Dick gets “wtf, are you ok??”

Bruce tells him he just had a bad dream (bc it’s the only excuse he could think of) and invites him over to the manor over the weekend for a family movie

He does this with all his children - something different for each

All of them are a bit off footed by it, but don’t ask too many questions bc Bruce is just Weird sometimes

(Bruce wanted his kid’s last memory with him a happy one)

With the movie started, all of Bruce’s kids in one spot, genuinely happy, Bruce settles a bit - ready

He dies during the night - the anti-hero was nice about it

The birds find out what happened - of course they do - and the gut twisting cries that leave their mouths cause anyone with super hearing to pause, listen, and panic once they recognize who was crying

[goldandbluesmiles]

Oh yeah no that didn’t break my heart at all *she said through the cracking of her heart*

Hey Pen, I hear you have thoughts on the scene where Andreas burns Saul’s house down, would you like to talk about them?

Well you see it’s like this. Andreas knew he was coming to the house and Sky’s bedroom was there. He was braced for everything, or so he thought. He was braced for his casual erasure or a massive mural that just reads “Andreas get fucked”. He was not ready for what he actually found. That Saul had not erased Andreas from their son’s life but actually kept him alive in their home. Saul who had fueled this small child’s love for a father he would never meet.  To the point where in that room you can see there were three people in that house, Saul, Sky and the absent Andreas who was never actually gone. You can feel his presence in their lives, the way they might set the table for him as if he would arrive late after a day at work, or the bedtime stories Sky was told about this great hero who most importantly was his dad. He saw all these things and it was the worst thing Saul could have ever done to him.

Andreas had long ago made his peace that he and Saul had ended badly enough that Saul would take Sky and erase Andreas’s part in Sky’s life. He would create a home for their son where his skills at ‘home economics’ would be put to their best use. Then at some point in Sky’s teens Saul would sit him down and tell him about the father who died at Aster Dell after drawing on his friend first and forcing him to kill Andreas in self defense. Saul is not the only one carrying around the guilt from that moment. He goes and raises Beatrix, safe in the knowledge that Sky is loved by Saul and raised to be a good person even if it’s not the kind of person Andreas would have raised.

And then he walks into the house where there is only proof that he’s never been erased, that there has been a space for him in their lives this whole time. If only he’d come home and brought Beatrix with him they could have been a happy family for the last 16 years. He looks at that room and feels loss and grief and in it’s care and love he finds only accusatory fingers from a house that should have been home to all of them. And he can’t take it. He burns the house to the ground to drown out the accusations which he knows aren’t really coming from the house but from inside his own mind.

You could have had everything. You could have had it all. You and your two children and the best friend you named as co-parent. We could have had it all. They’ve been waiting for you to come home this whole time. 

[goldandbluesmiles]