#Batbirdies answers

[batbirdies]

What are your top fanfic recs for 2024?

aha!! I am late answering this as usual but I went through all of my bookmarks made in 2024 to pick out my favs and I saved the links in an email draft and then when I went to make this post it was poofed gone so then I abandoned the idea but am back, recollecting links here and half rereading them as I go lol.

So these are some of my particular fav fics read and bookmarked in 2024, not necessarily that were published in 2024. (Though I think most of them were)

Also I don’t know if most of these authors have Tumblrs or what their handles are if they do, so if you recognize one and know it please tag them! Or let me know and I’ll edit in the tag.

So:

Ground Control to Jason Todd by TheThoughtsThief [22,520 words]

Jason died at fifteen years old. He recalled a light, searing and white against the expance of a black sky and the nothingness of space. He recalled a star, speaking to him with a morose calm. Then, finally, he remembered the universe giving him a second chance at life. A few years down the line, he goes chasing after myths to figure out why.

Or, a Dick and Jason space road trip au featuring Japanese death poems, Shakespearean tragedies, and Abba's greatest hits.

My first bookmark of 2024! This fic is super unique. I’m not usually big on AUs but road trips are my jam so I gave this one a shot and the ~vibes~ are impeccable. It’s soft and flowy and the recurring poetry and the relationship between Dick and Jason and the willowy liminal space experiences… so good.

Hope is the Thing with Feathers by TheSilencer [13,106 words]

"Oh." Nightwing said. "It's your first time."

"My what?" Jason said.

"It's like 'The Time Traveler's Wife.' Except I'm not your wife. Not that I'd be a bad wife, but not for you. That'd be gross - Wait, is that movie even out, yet?" Nightwing rambled, and Jason stood up on wobbly legs. "Shoot. I guess it doesn't matter. Not relevant -"

Or Jason Todd is a time traveler, and Dick Grayson is always his destination. 

A story about brothers doing their best.

Basically what it says in the description. Jason randomly moves through time throughout his life, always landing where Dick Grayson is. sometimes Jason needs Dick, and sometimes Dick needs Jason, and neither of them ever really has the full picture of what’s going on. But they do their best for each other<3 they’re brothers your honor 😭😭

Still hurts underneath my scars by valkyriered [2,928 words]

“Stop.” The man in the purple suit says, and Jason freezes.

“Stay there.” He says. “Don’t move.”

Jason tries to lurch forward, has some half-prepared snark about being told what to do, and he finds that he can’t. He can’t even move his arms. His eyes dart around the empty warehouse. Fuck. “Who are you?” Jason demands. “What is this?”

The man doesn’t even look over at him. “Stop talking.” 

I’ll warn, this fic says “no archive warnings apply” but there is heavy implication of previous sexual assault. No direct references but it’s definitely there.

The use of Killgrave in this is stellar, I still find him one of the most terrifying villains I’ve ever watched or read about in anything I’ve seen. The moment is small and doesn’t even seem that bad on the surface but the writing puts you in Jason’s head and you can feel how frightening it would be, and how scared Jason really, really is. Has made me think about using Killgrave in a fic sometimes cause it truly has some juicy potential.

There is comfort, and Selina is great in this, but it is from Jason’s POV and he is still pretty Not OkayTM when it ends, so just, you know, be careful with yourselves. It’s very well written and Jason is well taken care of by his loved ones in the end but it’s a hurty one.

Displacement by @imbecamiel [21,244 words]

“He’s dead,” Tim said, blankly.

“Look at me.” Jason ducked his head to catch Tim’s eyes. “Hey, look at me. You didn’t kill him. You just shot him. No big deal, right? You’ve injured lots of people. Just part of the job. Doesn’t matter it was with a gun this time. Doesn’t change anything. I’m the one who killed him. You’re fine.”

Loooove this fic. Tim accidentally fatally shoots someone in self defense. Jason is there, sees Tim panicking, and finishes the job himself so he can take the blame.

The relationships in this fic are so good, and the CHARACTERS are just SO GOOD. I started to say a lot more but then I just started summarizing the whole thing and spoiling it. Just know that Jason and Tim’s interactions in this are great, and Bruce and Jason have SUCH a good and satisfying end to their arch in this, which is so important to me and can be hard to find.

A Sad Song With Nothing To Say by WakingNightmares [14,805 words]

It starts with the Make A Wish foundation, and ends with a funeral.

Which, Bruce supposes, is unfortunately how things involving the Make A Wish foundation usually work. But what happens in-between catches him completely off-guard.

Ok, know first that this fic isn’t really my usual fair because it’s heavy on the hurt and light on the comfort. Be prepared if you decide to read this one.

A young gotham boy dying of cancer uses his Make A Wish Foundation wish to meet The Red Hood, more as a joke than anything, not expecting it to actually happen. The boy has no one else, he’s dying alone and in pain, and Jason can’t do anything about the pain but he can keep him from being alone. So he stays with the kid, whenever he can, and soon the other bats start helping, so he’s not by himself. But Jason grows attached, and Bruce knows, they all know that it is not going to end well. That the devastation this is going to wreak on Jason will be no small thing. But no one really has the heart to do anything but help.

Like I said this fic is damn well agonizing but it hit me in such a cathartic way. Because it’s devastating. The story is so painful, but everyone is helping. Everyone is there. There is so much love in this fic and as much comfort as can be offered even if it is not nearly enough. And when it ends—Bruce is there.

Open Line by @lurkinglurkerwholurks [2,140 words]

Dick pinched the phone between his ear and shoulder as he pulled the crate down from the top shelf. The line rang twice before connecting.

“Hey, you busy?” Dick stepped down from the stool and carried the crate to the table, popping the top and flipping it off to the side to reach inside.

“Everything okay?” Bruce asked. His voice sounded close, like he was in a small space.

Dick is dealing with some unexpected grief and Bruce is a good dad. That’s all you need sometimes, you know?

Eat Your Heart Out by Lishalalalala [35,527 words]

What people don’t expect of Bruce Wayne is his ability to love in such a detailed way. What people absolutely expect of Jason Todd is his ability to show up at the worst place, at the worst time, every damn time. But not all late-night calls from the hospital are bad, not all galas are bad, and not all of Bruce's culinary attempts are bad. Featuring food; Jason's self-esteem issues, his complicated relationship with food; and the different ways confidence can be filled. Also featuring one Bruce Wayne trying his best.

(Endeavoring to grow up shouldn’t have been this hard considering it’s the second round for him. )

A story of Bruce and Jason revolving around each other, pinging off in different directions when things don’t go well. Of love shown through food. Of Jason’s skittish and slow acceptance of that love.

Each chapter is its own scene, little time skips between, building on each other to craft a very soft picture. This fic makes me ache in such a way. It’s poetic, it manages to make sweet, nostalgic moments stab you in the heart. Very recently completed, and I still need to leave a comment on the final chapter, whoops.

Also gives a well thought out and reasonable explanation for Bruce’s poor cooking skills lol.

Thats all from 2024, but im gonna cheat and also add one from this month cause I read it yesterday and have been gushing about it since and there’s so little Steph and Bruce fic out in the world, it needs more love.

If they could only remember/which one is you and which one/the source of all fire by @luvo27 [9,086 words]

When she’s not with him on patrol, he knows she’s often patrolling on her own. When she’s not patrolling on her own, he knows she’s wandering around Gotham. She doesn’t spend a lot of time at home, not even after her father died. She seems, Bruce thinks, like she’s lonely. He clears his throat. Stephanie looks up from her phone. Bruce can read the screen upside down, she’s still looking up solar eclipses. An idea starts to form in his mind. He starts to ask, “Do you…would you—the path of totality crosses over Vermont. Or the state of New York.” “Yeah,” Stephanie turns her phone to face him. “I was looking at the maps.” “That’s a little over seven hours away by car,” Bruce says.

Or: Stephanie and Bruce take a road trip to see the solar eclipse, featuring: Stephanie Brown and her Stephanie Brown-ness, Bruce Wayne and his Bruce-ness, and grief.

Bruce’s POV throughout. Stephanie is Robin, Jason is dead, and Bruce can see so much of Jason in Stephanie that he can barely look at her. But even in his grief he can’t stop caring, can’t stop wanting to help her. Can’t stop being terrified that she will meet the same end that Jason did.

Bruce is messy and he’s not doing amazing but he’s trying very hard. Stephanie is also messy and not doing amazing, but she is trying very hard. Has a soft ending but deals pretty heavily with grief, so be aware.

Hope you enjoy these!!

[selkienight60]

SELKIE

Give me your top 10 fic recs of 2024. I must know :)

I will do my very best 😤 (All the recs I've included were published or began publishing on Ao3 in 2024).

🌸 a cuckoo in the nest by antebunny ( @antebunny )

🌸 Detachment by smilebackwards ( @smilebackwards )

🌸 Don't Go Far by Myrime ( @blancheludis )

🌸 Ground-Bird's Nest by bobbinrobbins ( @bobbinrobins )

🌸 Growing Pains by SalParadiseLost ( @salparadiselost )

🌸 Just How Long I'll Love You by SilverSkiesAtMidnight ( @sunflowersandink )

🌸 Lucky Number Three by Sohotthateveryonedied ( @sohotthateveryonedied )

🌸 Nobody by goldenraeofsun ( @goldenraeofsun )

🌸 Northern Attitude (I Was Raised on Little Light) by theskeptileptic ( @theskeptileptic )

🌸 What's in a Name? by Bog_Witch841 ( @ tag unknown )

&

Bonus 2025 Rec:

🌸 How the Apple Falls by Batbirdies ( @batbirdies )

I hope you enjoy these recs as much as I have, Stamp! Thank you for the ask, and I'm sorry it took me so long to answer it!!

I suspect some of these tags will not link back to the author's tumblr because tumblr has some arbitrary amount of tags you can include on one post, apologies to anyone looking to click through to these amazing authors.

[cairoscene]

do you have any fic recs? (anything w tim joins the batfam early or ghostbat or anything in general tbh!)

hello i absolutely do! i'm going to try to give a good scattering of different fics and hope one of these is new to you/what you're looking for.

for "tim joins the bat family early" these are some of my favorites:

5 Times Tim Spends the Night at Wayne Manor + 1 Time He Comes Home by motleyfam. this fic is inspired by Latchkey by goldkirk and birds fly in every direction by distracted_dragon, and all three are really excellent fics and great entries into this particular tag. all three of these fics are ones i turn to when i want prime hurt/comfort tim pangs with plenty of family fluff and shenanigans.

Brother Wanted by Vamillepudding. i read this one early on in fandom and i still laugh when i think about it. premise is that jason mistakenly answers tim's advert for a brother and ends up with tim paying him to be his brother. it's full of a very precocious and lonely tim trying his hardest to keep jason around, while jason is desperately trying to figure out how to get this kid adopted before he runs out of money. truly a delightful fic.

Like a Hinge, Like a Wing by Ultrageekatlarge. cw for child abuse and peril, so mind the tags but imo this is a work of art. genuinely one of the best paced and well-written fics out there. i suppose it's technically not tim joining the family early but rather an AU where jason never died, so tim never had the chance to replace him; instead he finds himself under the care of a horrible uncle after his parents die, and in desperation, he turns to the only person who can help: batman.

the Surveillance series by smilebackwards. cheating again bc technically this is just an AU where jason didn't die and tim is a civilian, so it's got the flavor of a different joining-the-family dynamic, plus added timkon delightfulness. this is my go-to for highly competent and extremely lonely tim drake content.

as for ghostbat, it's an extremely small tag, but it's got some excellent fics:

Miscommunication by OkayAristotle. pretty sure this is the first fic in the ghostbat tag, and somehow it got them prefect right from the start. the petty banter and ease with which they interact is phenomenal.

break me shake me devastate me by pendulum_north. some great angst with a small helping of comfort! as well as just a good overall look at the more tragic side to ghostbat.

i used to waste my time dreaming of being alive (now i only waste it dreaming of you) by nygmamale. bed-sharing! pining! banter! angst! there's something about how they both go out of their way to spite the other in this fic that really gets me.

The First Warm Thing by Noknowname. absolutely aching ghostbat domesticity and old men being gross and in love.

and i'll throw in a few of my other favorite random DC fics just for the heck of it:

A Meditation on Railroading by eggmacguffin. this remains one of my all-time favorite fics. tim gets stranded and chooses to freight-hop his way back to gotham, and guess who ends up on the same train? "baby wipes jason" is still spoken with reverent and hushed tones in my groupchat regularly.

Stargazer by lemonadegarden. my favorite comfort reread jason fic. jason breaks his leg and gets stuck at the manor while recuperating. honestly it's rare to find a fic that really lets jason feel as young as he is. i think he's 19 in this fic and he feels so very lost and young and hurt in a way that really heals me.

Overcoming Our Antecedents by Batbirdies. jason gets temporarily de-aged, and bruce has feelings about it. one of my cornerstone jason and bruce fics, mostly bc it contextualizes bruce and jason's relationship pre-jason's death in a way a feel many fics don't bother with. it's really really heartwarming.

The Jingle Jangle Morning by audreycritter. robin-era dick goes on a field trip and bruce has emotions. i think about this fic all the time tbh. it really sells bruce as a young, committed, and sweet father who really just wants to make sure dick is okay.

Tap Out by coyote_nebula. jason gets poisoned. oopsie. this whole series is excellent but i love this one for the way it builds up jason as a brother and a son, and the flashbacks to jason's early days after he was adopted by bruce. i truly wish there were more fics about newly adopted jason but what this fic offers scratches that itch for me.

buy back the secrets by sundiscus. in case you haven't heard this is the Timkon Fic of All Time. a 5+1 of times kon saved tim drake that has everything. identity shenanigans! tim and bruce pangs! kon and clark pangs! tim being extremely competent and extremely lonely! kon being extremely lonely and also pretty competent. this is technically a wip so i hope you'll forgive me for reccing it but it's really great and also totally worth it bc fer is absolutely 100% going to deliver and it's just. very good.

[imbecamiel]

rules: make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs

@batbirdies tagged me for this one! These are all in wildly varying states from "a few sentences of summary to remind me of the gist of the concept" to "thousands of words of notes and/or written out snippets" but they're all at some point in the simmering process, lol.

Bargaining

Kent Farm

Bet My Life

Kidnapping

Fear Toxin Three Times

Buried Prank

Graffiti

Prison Undercover

Edit: adding in links to the ones that've been answered for ease of reference :)

I have no idea who hasn't already been tagged/likes to do things like this, so if you see this and want to then mark yourself down as tagged by me?

[coyote-nebula]

20 Questions for Writers

Thanks for the tag, @cuephrase and @wildsofmarch!

Also, thank you @motleyfam for locating the lost question lol

1. how many works do you have on AO3?

29

2. what's your total AO3 word count?

182,782

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Just Batman now

4. what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Spike (3,470 words) - the kudos leader by far. I gave Tim roofie trauma, invoked by being stealth drugged at home. Kind of a spite fic categorically, but I think I'd prefer awareness as an intention over spite 😂 this author's life has been a bit weird Tim in a Bottle (38,683 words) - Tim, trapped in an industrial freezer with Jason, is attacked by memories in the text equivalent of a bottle episode. I know it combines two tricky qualities-- extensive conversation in one room and flashbacks-- but it seems to work alright anyway lol Tap Out (8,002 words) - Jason and family attend a gallery event for Damian, and Jason reflects on trusting Bruce. Now that I think about it, this is quite a lot like both Spike and Tim in a Bottle 😂 Except Tim (2,772 words) - Tim gets lost in the woods with his abandonment issues for company. Featuring both Bambi and Lady and the Tramp references Harvest (30,129 words) - Bruce and Jason harvest some corn and engage in hallmark movie emotion-having. I like the punchability to huggability ratio Bruce has is this

5. do you respond to comments?

Yep! Sometimes, lol. I'd love to answer all of them, but I don't have the spoons. I still reread and kick my feet over them though

6. what is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmmm... Pretty much all my fics have some kind of comfort ending. I'm gonna go with a friend, though he may wander far, because of the guilt and injury it ends on.

7. what's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Again, they all strive for a relatively happy ending... so I'll say sweetgum, which is pretty angst-free to begin with.

8. do you get hate on fics?

Every once in a while, but nothing memorable. Mostly they're some kind of out of nowhere complaint about deviation from canon, at which I tap the 'alternate universe' sign and delete

9. do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I don't. Not my thing!

10. do you write crossovers?

I haven't... if I did it would probably be pretty niche lol

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I know

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope. There is a pretty cool fic inspired by TiaB written in Polish, though!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not too long ago! Me and @batbirdies wrote Tip for a Successful Interview: Lie (Down) :)

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Platonic: whatever I'm currently writing, usually 😂Tim & Jason, right now Romantic: This isn't my thing as much, but I do get a lot of amusement out of an ace batcat ship concept

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

I stubbornly hold out hope for the completion of all my WIPs. That said, probably the Jason & Tim horror one lol

16. What are your writing strengths?

Weaving in flashbacks has gotten good feedback. In general, I think I'm pretty good at being concise (at least, I find editing off words a lot of fun)

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Being a little too concise or obscure, sometimes 😂 losing clarity. Overcomplicating things until I either have an unwieldy WIP on my hands or have sacrificed my motivation for solving all the mysteries before I write the fic

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I've played with it a little. I think <using brackets> so the translation is in-text works best for me

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Star Trek: The Original Series, unless you count the thinly veiled MASH fan comic I messed around with

20. Favourite fic you've written?

make me a cradle (1,811 words) - wrote this in a semi-fugue state and I'm uncommonly satisfied with it-- Alfred's voice has a neat quality, it's sufficiently punchy, and it does exactly what I wanted it to do. It even manages a comforty ending! Ironically, it's my lowest ranking fic by kudos 😂 probably owing to the sensitive subject (attempted suicide) and being marked incomplete (with another sensitive subject, grief over Jason's death, promised). (Now that I think about it, I think I might have stealth released this also lol) Seriously considering marking it complete, though, since it stands well on its own. The mentioned follow up might happen someday, but the mood to write incredibly sad fic doesn't happen very often!

I will tag @batbirdies and whoever else would like to claim I tagged them 😂

[ladytauria]

hey! 5, 11, 18, 23 from the ask game <333

mayaaa thank you <3

5) character you were most surprised to end up writing

very very surprised to have ended up writing for / enjoying writing for jason so much!! like, in hindsight it makes sense, as he’s the character i read for the most, but. yeah! did not expect that <3

11) what aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

i started posting fanfic at 12 & writing at 10, so. everything. but xD i think my ability to tell a coherent narrative has improved by leaps & bounds, even when i don’t have an idea of where i’m going when i start something. i also think i’ve gotten a better handle on description, which was an issue for me when i started, lol.

18) were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? what were they?

this is a surprisingly difficult question to answer bc i KNOW there are influences, many of them, but when i try to think of them i keep drawing blanks??? and then the ones i have thought of i keep going 👀 are you sure? is that right? did it influence you or do you just think about it all the time?

which like…

isn’t that what influencing is? but i digress, lmao.

anyway!!!

i know sarah j maas is a bit controversial BUT smth about reading her books made something click in my brain? & i feel like my writing voice actually solidified after

major envy for maggie stiefvater’s prose—reading the raven cycle made me nostalgic for a place i’d never been, which wasn’t something that had happened to me before xD anyway, genuinely love her writing

on the fanfic side

i think about “The Bird, The Fog, The Mist” by bacondoughnut constantly

“Reclaiming Innocence” by murtagh morzanson / cdelphiki is also always rotating in my head (i’ve read it 3 or 4 times) alongside the second (i think) fic in “In for a Penny”. both of them influence how i write younger jason

“The Penny Drops, The Penny Dreads” by batbirdies is the other fic i think of when i think of young jason/jason’s childhood.

the “i guess you were my first boy wonder” series by pissvinegarandacrowbar is jaydick & one of my favorite jason characterizations ever~

and then uh, i would not have fallen headfirst into jaytim / be a jaytim writer at all without “The Many Deaths of Jason Todd” by zoeleo! that catapulted me into loving jaytim <3 before that jaydick was my main ship (i still adore it~)

also every time i read your prose it inspires me to get more poetic with mine <3

23) any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

hmm 🤔 i’m not really sure any of my life experiences are particularly obscure. ah, but! when i was younger i came across this little graphic—the only 12 1/2 writing rules you’ll ever need. (i actually used it as my desktop background for ages lol). anyway, number 10— Go for walks. Dance. Pull weeds. Do the dishes. Write about it. that one really stuck with me for some reason, & led to me paying more attention to my body/feelings, especially if i was bored or uncomfortable, bc it was something i could potentially use for writing!

that sort of mental check in also has done wonders for like. keeping an eye on my mental / physical health too lol.

[ get to know the writer ask meme ]

[angstandhappiness]

BAH HAB

@cricketsintheaudience #FINALLY got this comic thanks to these posts intriguing me so much#and yeah. when I finished it I was dying inside hoping that bruce did not plan this#after the whole plot deconstructing the idea of batman using them as soldiers#I was terrified that this page just backtracked on everything and had him ‘test’ them at their own expense once again#but the way bruce was losing his gd mind throughout it proves he was equally out of the loop#and yet still CHOSE to be a shit about it and not answer jason. like yeah we were all just psychologically gutted but I’ll do you one better

@batbirdies #also my feelings#Bruce is actually such a stinker#on purpose

Given that we saw enough of Bruce’s internal monologue about all of this, I don’t think it’s possible he set this up, so him choosing to not answer Jason’s question is just BRUCE TROLLING THE HELL OUT OF ONE OF HIS AWFUL CHILDRED BECAUSE IT’S FUNNY.

[red-jaebyrd]

As You Wish

Gift for @cdelphiki and @batbirdies

Summary: Bruce quickly learned that unlike Dick, Jason did not wish to be coddled while he was sick. He was already averse to being touched, but when Jason was sick or in pain the aversion was tenfold. Jason just wanted to be alone and left in peace and quiet to recover and Bruce respected his need for space. This however didn’t stop Bruce from constantly checking in on his newest foster son.

Bruce knew something was wrong with Jason the moment he realized the boy had missed breakfast. Come to think of it, Bruce couldn’t remember seeing him at dinner the night before. Jason had only been living with Bruce for a month, but in that time, he had never skipped a meal. This was concerning as his absence from two meals was highly unusual. Considering how tiny Jason had been when he arrived at the Manor, he couldn’t afford to skip any meals.

He and Alfred with the help of Dr Thompkins had made sure to form a meal plan to slowly reintroduce foods to help reverse the years of malnutrition Jason had faced while being homeless. Changing foods around to accommodate Jason’s new tastes and texture preferences were also made. Jason was also given the option to help Alfred cook; this suggestion by Alfred was met with great success.

Bruce couldn’t think of any other reason that would cause Jason’s absence from mealtimes except for sickness. Years ago, the notion wouldn’t have even crossed his mind, but once Dick came to live at the Manor and he became Bruce’s foster son anything was possible. Dick had always lost his appetite whenever he got sick, so it fit that if Jason were ill, he too would feel too poorly to eat. Perhaps the small cold Jason had when he had moved in a month ago had returned.

He wandered the halls making his way to Jason’s room. Bruce held his hand up to knock but hesitated. Jason was a very private person and made it explicitly clear that under no circumstances was Bruce or Alfred to enter his room. Bruce respected his request and understood Jason’s need for a safe space in his new home after years of hypervigilance living on the streets. He gave Jason his word that he would never burst into Jason’s bedroom without his permission. Jason was still quite skittish about Bruce being in his bedroom, but not scared of being in a room with Bruce.

Bruce looked down at the crack at the bottom of the closed door not seeing any light coming in, which meant Jason was still asleep. Dammit. Bruce’s shoulders sagged. He really wished to not startle the boy awake, but it was 11:00am and Jason had missed dinner the night before and now breakfast.

Bruce took a deep breath, knocked on the door and waited for a response. No answer.

“Jason, are you okay?” Bruce asked through the door, his hand hovering over the doorknob. He hoped he kept the panic out of his voice. He waited, but there was no response.

Bruce knocked again and more urgently this time. Still no answer.

“Jason, I’m coming in, okay? I just want to see if you’re alright.”

Bruce opened the door slowly. Sunlight was struggling to shine through a gap in the blackout curtains. The bed clothes were mussed and in the center of the bed was a blanketed lump. Bruce could see the lump move and hear a horribly, chesty wet cough.

Oh no.

The coughing jag didn’t stop, instead it got worse as Jason tried to catch his breath.

“Jason, oh kiddo,” Bruce panicked, quickly making his way to the bed. It took everything in him to not reach out and sit the boy up. Instead, Bruce kept himself busy by rushing to the bathroom to get Jason a glass of water. He returned to Jason’s bedside with the water hoping not to startle the boy. “Jason, you need to sit up.”

Jason sat up slowly allowing the blankets to fall beside him. The change in position somewhat helped the coughs to subside. He shivered and rewrapped the blankets around himself.

“That cough doesn’t sound so good,” Bruce observed, his brows furrowed as he handed Jason the glass of water.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Jason croaked, taking the glass from Bruce and slowly sipping the water. Jason winced as he swallowed. He blinked lazily at Bruce and then his eyes widened.

“I know I said I would never come in here,” Bruce explained, taking the glass from Jason and setting it back down on the nightstand. “But you skipped dinner last night and missed breakfast this morning. I was worried about you, and rightfully so. When did your cold come back and how long have you been coughing?”

“Off and on for a week. The cough only started to sound different this morning,” Jason shrugged, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

“Jason, we talked about this,” Bruce sighed, sitting down on the armchair next to Jason’s bed. “The moment you start to feel bad or if the cold came back again you needed to tell me so we could get it checked out. Dr Thompkins said – ”

“I know,” Jason snapped, leveling Bruce with a look but the effect was broken as he started coughing again. Once the coughing jag was over, he scooted back into his bed covering himself back up with his blankets. “It’s just a cold.”

Bruce could see how much Jason was downplaying how bad he felt. The boy looked miserable and pale except for his cheeks which were slightly flushed. Every time the boy had to swallow he winced leaving his face in a permanent scowl. He kept fidgeting and shivering under his blankets trying to get comfortable. But the worst was whenever he tried to take a deep breath, he braced himself up with his arms. Bruce wondered if maybe they were dealing with something worse than ‘just a cold’, like the flu or pneumonia.

Jason’s signature bravado, the one that made Bruce laugh, introduced a swear jar, and got Bruce used to occasionally being called ‘Old Man’ was gone. Instead, in its place was a grouchy withdrawn boy who snapped at all attempts at having an adult care for him.

It took everything in Bruce to stop himself from tucking Jason into his blankets and sweeping his sweaty curls from his face. Instead, Bruce thought better to occupy himself with looking for a thermometer and medicine. He hoped this was just a cold, but the sound of the deep wet coughs, the loss of appetite, and the shivering Jason was currently doing under the covering of three blankets suggested that he was dealing with something more than ‘just a cold’.

He got up from the chair and headed straight to Jason’s en-suite bathroom. Bruce had learned years ago from the first time Dick got sick that he needed to immediately stock the bathrooms with meds in case of sickness. Jason’s medicine cabinet was stocked with all kinds of children’s meds complete with cold and cough decongestants, Tylenol and Motrin.

“Let’s take your temperature first to determine if you have a fever,” Bruce suggested, holding up the thermometer.

“I told you, I’m fine,” Jason groused, but opened his mouth anyway.

It beeped after only a minute, immediately indicating what Bruce already knew, a fever.

“Okay, you can either take Tylenol or Motrin to bring down the fever,” Bruce explained, holding up both medicine bottles to Jason. “Tylenol will bring it down, but Motrin will help with fever and pain.”

“I don’t need it, thanks,” Jason said flatly, shaking his head.

“Jason, you need to take something to bring down the fever.”

“I don’t need any drugs,” Jason wheezed, which only made him cough more.

Bruce’s shoulders tensed the more Jason coughed and wheezed. It was sounding worse than the average chest cold, not that chest colds were anything to mess with, especially where Jason was concerned. Bruce now strongly suspected Jason could have pneumonia.

“Jaylad, your fever is at 102.7. I need to give you something to bring it down,” Bruce insisted, his tone gentle, but not leaving room for negotiations. However, he knew just by the look of determination on Jason’s face that his words were falling on deaf ears.

Jason continued to shake his head but the resolute expression on his face soon gave way to tears that were now falling down his cheeks. Bruce’s eyes widened in surprise at the tears leaking down Jason’s face. This was new; he was crying. Jason never cried. At least Bruce hadn’t yet seen him cry. He could chalk up the tears to Jason feeling poorly, but something else was bothering the boy.

It was in that moment that Bruce could see that Jason wasn’t being stubborn or difficult, he looked panicked and scared. Jason’s eyes went wide at the mere mention of having to take medicine for his fever. The tears followed once he realized Bruce wasn’t relenting on the medicine. But what was he scared of exactly?

It was then that Bruce had remembered that the file he had obtained on Jason had specified that Catherine Todd, Jason’ s mother, had died of a drug overdose and Jason had been the one that had found her. Bruce was an idiot. He slumped his shoulders as he realized his mistake; he had forgotten an incredibly important detail in his new foster son’s history. Now Jason’s reaction made sense.

“Jason,” Bruce said, breaking the silence and inching closer to Jason’s bed. He sat down on the armchair placing both the Tylenol and the Motrin on the nightstand. “Are you afraid of taking medicine for your fever?”

“I’m n-not af-fraid of anything. I just don’t want meds. I don’t want them to make me s-sleepy. I don’t like that f-feeling,” Jason muttered, roughly scrubbing his tears with the back of his hand.

The boy needed information and lucky for him, Bruce was excellent at providing it, if a bit over enthusiastic at times.

“Tylenol won’t make you sleepy, kiddo; not like Benadryl,” Bruce explained, pointing at the bottle of Tylenol. He didn’t miss when Jason looked up when he said ‘Benadryl’. Somehow that made Bruce wonder if Jason had been given the allergy medication to make him sleep. “It’s not a controlled substance either. It’s in a classification called analgesics which is a pain reliever and antipyretics which means fever reducer.”

Bruce brought the medicine packaging over to Jason and went over the ingredients with him. Explaining what they did and their purpose. The tactic worked, after all knowledge is power and Jason liked learning new things, so he took the Tylenol.

“You can go, Bruce. You don’t have to stay here with me,” Jason said, leaning back against his pillows, his eyes drooping.

“I know I don’t have to stay, but do you want me to stay?” Bruce asked, snapping the cap back onto the Tylenol bottle.

“No,” Jason answered, blinking heavily, and sinking further into his blankets.

“Okay,” Bruce smiled, lightly patting Jason’s foot. “I’m going to send Alfred up with some toast and I’ll come back in an hour for a temperature check just to make sure the Tylenol is working,” Bruce said, before closing the door.

Bruce returned to Jason’s room an hour later hoping the Tylenol worked in bringing down Jason’s fever. If his fever didn’t go down, they would have to call Leslie and he knew Jason would not like that turn of events. Jason hated doctors even if the doctor was a Leslie Thompkins. Bruce took a deep breath and lightly knocked on Jason’s door. When all he got in return was a groan, Bruce took that as his cue to enter the room.

Bruce didn’t even have to ask Jason how he was doing. One look at Jason and it was clear he wasn’t doing any better. He didn’t even move from his prone position on the bed. As Bruce got closer to him, he could see the flush in Jason’s cheeks was more prominent, and his eyes were out of focus blinking slowly as he tried to wake up. Once Jason was able to focus on Bruce and the slow blinks stopped, Bruce took Jason’s temperature. His shoulders sagged as the number on the thermometer had gone up, and not down.

“Kiddo, I need to call a doctor. Your temp is now at 103.”

“But I don’t want to go to the doctors,” Jason whined, pulling the blankets over his head.

“You don’t have a choice, Jay,” Bruce answered, pulling the blankets down and placing the thermometer on the nightstand. “Your fever is too high and is not going down with Tylenol. You may need antibiotics. Don’t worry, I’m sure Dr Thompkins will come here.”

“Whatever,” Jason groaned, pulling the blankets back over his head. “It’s just a cold.”

Bruce called Leslie with the hope that she would come to the Manor so he wouldn’t have to bundle Jason up for a car ride. Bruce listed Jason’s symptoms to her over the phone and told her that he thought Jason might have pneumonia. Leslie considered it too, but without a listen to his lungs she was reluctant to diagnose over the phone.

Once Leslie came to the Manor and examined Jason, Bruce was relieved to know that he had been right about Jason’s condition – it was pneumonia, but he also felt horrible that it was pneumonia. Leslie prescribed antibiotics and Tylenol to bring down the fever. Bruce asked about a breathing treatment, but Leslie assured him that Jason didn’t need it as his symptoms were mild despite the harshness of his cough.

Bruce quickly learned that unlike Dick, Jason did not wish to be coddled while he was sick. He was already averse to being touched, but when Jason was sick or in pain the aversion was tenfold. Jason just wanted to be alone and left in peace and quiet to recover and Bruce respected his need for space. This didn’t stop Bruce from constantly checking in on him nearly every hour for the next three days.

Bruce found any and every excuse to go to Jason’s room to check in on him. Alfred was quite put out at having his job taken over by Bruce when the latter insisted on bringing all of Jason’s meals himself; as well as bringing the boy his medicine. Jason, more than once, told Bruce that he could be trusted to get his own medicine; but Bruce reminded Jason that he didn’t need to do everything on his own; that it was okay to let others care for him. Bruce knew this line of thinking would take time for Jason to get used to.

After the first three days had passed, and Jason’s temperature was back to normal, Bruce thought Jason might be growing tired of the solitude.

“Would you like to watch a movie today?” Bruce offered, leaning against the door jamb of Jason’s open bedroom door. “Any movie you want. You’ve been holed up here for three days.”

“Can – can we watch Princess Bride?” Jason asked, fidgeting with the hem of his blanket.

“Absolutely, kiddo,” Bruce smiled, hoping his enthusiasm didn’t scare Jason off.

They made it to the media room, Jason walking beside Bruce wrapping his blanket around himself like a cape. Bruce turned on the tv and put the movie into the Blu-ray player while Jason made himself comfortable in the center cushion on the couch.

“I haven’t seen this movie in years,” Bruce said, sitting down on the recliner chair next to the couch. He aimed the remote at the tv to start the movie. “I always liked the swordfights.”

“It- it was my mom’s favorite movie. She would play it for me whenever I got sick.”

Bruce paused and straightened in his seat at hearing Jason mention his mom. He turned his head quickly from the tv and faced Jason as he wanted to give the boy his full attention. It wasn’t every day that Jason opened up like this to Bruce. Jason never talked about himself, or his parents. Heck, Bruce was still unsure about the full details of Jason’s history. His file with Child Services was quite thin only showing past foster placements and notes from case workers of his history of running away. There were also police records of shoplifting. He wanted Jason to open up to him, but Bruce knew that would take time. The boy had trust issues with the many adults in his life that had disappointed him.

“Well, she had great taste in movies,” Bruce stated, tilting his head hoping Jason would continue.

“Yeah, she sure did,” Jason smiled, pulling his knees up on the sofa and wrapping his blanket around himself until only his head was showing. He rested his head on his blanketed knees and faced Bruce. “She used to say all the lines. It used to annoy the hell out of me, but now – now I miss it,” Jason cleared his throat. “I miss her.”

Jason sniffed and turned his focus away from Bruce and back toward the TV.

“When we no longer had a tv or a DVD player, she’d read the book to me. She’d –,“ Jason paused and swallowed. He turned back to Bruce giving him a watery smile. “She’d do voices for all the characters. I miss – I miss the sound of her voice,” Jason confessed, hugging his knees tighter to him. His smile faded as he lost his fight to hold back his tears. “I can’t -I can’t remember what she sounded like.”

Bruce’s heart dropped seeing Jason so honest and vulnerable sitting by himself on the huge couch trying to rein in the sobs. There was an internal struggle Bruce was fighting within himself. The father in him wanted to scoop Jason up in his lap and hold him until the boy finished crying. However, he knew the gesture was unwise and would not be well received. He still wanted to be closer to him.

“Jason, may I sit next to you on the couch?”

Jason nodded, so Bruce moved over and sat next to him. Bruce moved his arm to put around the boy, but quickly caught himself, so instead he rested it on the back of the couch. Bruce wasn’t sure his presence next to Jason was helping at all as the young teen just seemed to close in on himself. Literally using the blanket as a shield to cocoon himself away from the world.

Bruce wasn’t quite sure how to comfort a boy who preferred not to be touched. He hoped just his presence alone was helping Jason as he didn’t want to overstep and lose the growing trust he had gained from the boy in only a month.

Just when Bruce was beginning to think that moving to the couch was a bad idea, the blanketed weight of the boy Bruce loved with all his heart leaned into his side seeking comfort. Bruce’s shoulders slowly sagged in relief as all the tension he had been holding gradually dissipated. Bruce moved his arm down gently embracing Jason in a side hug.

They sat in companionable silence until Jason’s sobs turned into hiccups. Once Jason calmed down, he didn’t move from Bruce’s side.

“Thank you for sharing that with me, Jason. I know that was a very hard thing to do.”

Jason nodded, still hiding under his blanket.

“I’m always here to listen whenever you want to talk about your mom,” Bruce offered, giving Jason one more squeeze. “Or anything else that may be bothering you. Don’t hesitate, okay?”

“Okay,” Jason answered slowly uncovering himself from his blanket fortress and straightening out of Bruce’s embrace. “Can we watch the movie now?”

“Of course,” Bruce complied, getting up from the couch to grab the remote that he left on the recliner chair.

“You – you can still sit next to me. If you want to,” Jason stammered, his fingers fiddling with a loose thread on his blanket.

“Are you sure, kiddo?” Bruce asked, tilting his head in concern. He didn’t want to make Jason feel like he was obligated to invite Bruce into his space. “I don’t mind sitting on the recliner.”

“I’m sure,” Jason smiled, rewrapping himself with his blanket.

“As you wish,” Bruce answered, sitting down on the couch next to Jason. He pointed the remote toward the tv to start the movie.

“Just start the movie, Old Man,” Jason snorted.

This was how Bruce and Jason bonded, once a week in the media room rewatching old movies that had once been Catherine Todd’s favorites and were now Jason’s favorites. Sometimes Bruce would put on his favorites to share with Jason. Every now and then during the movie Jason would reveal a detail about himself to Bruce and they would chat about it until Jason was done.

[batarangsoundsdumb]

Could you please recommend a few fic in Batfam.. I loved Tim centric, Batfam centric genre where they confront their issues, also the one where Bruce is not batman but his kids are vigilantes and try to hide from him, ...Please recommend some wholesome content?

oh,,, i haven't been specifically looking for those fics, so let me offer you some of the batman/batfam stuff i've been reading the past few weeks:

Abandoned, But Not Forgotten - Cdelphiki okay, i think this is just a really nice fic about bruce rescuing tim from a kidnapping and them having a nice little chat

I Used to Be an Adventurer Like You, Then I Took an Arrow to the Knee - audreycritter can't recommend this enough! it's steph & bruce centric and theyre the fucking best, they do time travel! it's so cool, please just go read it

Have I Told You About Minnie? - Hinn_Raven okay so maybe i've been on a stephanie brown kick, but she's awesome and i love her. this is about bruce as matches malone bragging about his family to a gang of assorted criminals

For the City Sweetly Whispers - Drag0nst0rm gotham talks now and she's a bitch. no i'm serious, gotham talks. this is such a great fic and i need you all to go read it right fucking now

Running Headlong Into My Arms - gleesquid hey batarangsoundsdumb, how often have you read this fic? you ask. at least 10 times, i answer. isn't it 60.000 words long? you ask. yes it is. i answer. it's a no capes au! and bruce still gets his kids!

Live While I Breathe - Batbirdies bruce wayne get therapy challenge 2k21, but he actually does it (thanks to stephanie)

thin mints - AlmondRose i don't know what girl scout cookies are and at this point i'm too afraid to ask, but this is really cute so please read about steph selling girl scout cookies to some rich bitches (including our resident fave rich bitches)

Like a Thief in the Night - Cdelphiki jason gets real clingy and bruce gets real concerned

Minimum Height Requirement - Drag0nst0rm responsible adult! bruce wayne. im not kidding, he doesnt let his children fight crime until theyre 18, yeehaw! go read it

one shot, two shots in the night - discowing bruce writes a memoir and i cry, because it's so fucking sweet. i think ive read this at least 9 times in the past 2 years and i still enjoy it so much.

Anti-Social - Unpretty (very mobile unfriendly, so read it on desktop) it's some snapshots from tim's life through social media and it's the fucking best!

not necessarily batfam:

Things My Heart Used To Know - poisonivory I can't recommend this enough! it's jayroy, no capes, and it's based off of disney's musical anastasia. it's really well written and super interesting and i love it.

And Other Hazard of Heroism - Kieron_0Duibhir bruce has a concussion and calls his best pal, superman. it's hilarious and amazing, show stopping, spectacular, fantastic, never done before, (i'll stop listing shit and let you read it now :) )

Help - Loxare the accidental child acquisition trope, but it's just a bunch of children taking one look at known crime lord red hood and thinking 'yeah he's our big brother now'

anything and everything ever written by rotasha i trust rotasha with my life and with writing the official superbat canon i have in my head

[cdelphiki]

So you being a Jason super-ultra-mega fan, I’ve been trying to find this story forever: have you read this fan-fic series where Bruce is going to therapy and is trying to regain a relationship with his kids. In this one story, Bruce was going out if town with Dams and left Titus with Jason (as a show of trust). Jason ended up getting attacked by these guys dog and getting a really bad infection. Later he moves back in with Bruce and gets a comfort/service dog named Apples

Help!! I forgot all the important tags that would help me find it 🥲🥲🥲🥲

That’s Clearly Calm and Keeping Terrorized by my friend @batbirdies !!! The whole series is great, and includes the therapy and little father / child dates with the kids you mentioned!

I showed her the ask before I answered and she wants you to know this:

Have fun reading!!!! That’s one of my favorites.

[batbirdies]

To the anon that requested Dick and Jason fic <3 idk when or if I will get to it but hopefully there are some on this list that are new to you!

Jason & Dick Fic Rec List

Hi y’all and welcome to this week’s fanfiction recommendation list! As voted by our followers this weeks fics focus on the platonic relationship between Dick Grayson and Jason Todd. As always there will be absolutely no bat*est. I enjoyed compiling this list, and I didn’t have look far beyond my own bookmarks to find these ten stories, so I can wholeheartedly promote each of them. If you have a theme you’d like to be considered for another rec list feel free to drop it in our askbox. 

Here are this week’s recommended fanfictions!

Carry by Ptelea

4k+ | T+ | Complete | Gen | No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Dick & Jason

“Whoever said, “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother,” didn’t have to haul you around.”

To Reconcile by CasualDanger

2k+ | T+ | Complete | Gen | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Dick & Jason

““Babs slapped me at your funeral.” Jason goes to laugh, but it’s just a cough and his mouth barely even twitches up. “She hated me in that moment. I mean, really, really hated me, like I did Talia after I found out Damian had died. And I wondered,” his voice cracks, eyes glassy now, “did you hate anyone when I was gone? Because I was gone?””

I’ve Forgotten The Chemistry of Your Company by ryoku

45k+ | T+ | Complete | Gen | Graphic Depictions of Violence

Relationships: Dick & Jason

As far as Jason knew, Grayson hadn’t ventured out of Bludhaven since Bruce’s disappearing act six months ago, but if Nightwing’s mess kept getting in the Red Hood’s way, he was damn well going to deal with it himself. The trick was avoiding getting dragged into Nightwing’s gravity. Dick has always had a way of making all of Jason’s old wounds new again, and as Jason figures out, Dick is hardly in ideal form either.

Notes: This fic is set in the Arkham games continuity

Keep reading

[batbirdies]

On the WIP game - if it hasn't been asked yet, can I hear about the "Dick bad patrol" one? :D

(Warning - this one discusses suicide)

Yes of course! This is another one I really want to write eventually, but has given me SO MUCH GRIEF for some reason. Every time I’ve tried to work on it I just get stuck.

The gist is:

Dick catches a teen girl who just shot herself at the top of a building when she falls, but she’s already dead when he catches her. It screws with his head BAD and he keeps thinking of his family and how he knows Bruce has been really depressed in the past, and so has Tim, and Jason- Jason had been so unstable for a while and what if— what if they got like that again, what if he lost them like that?

This leads to a clumsy phone call with Jason that doesn’t end well, and Jason showing up to his apartment uninvited. And then a slew of other things.

Snippet below the cut!

Dick had lost people on patrol before. They all had. It was always hard, always haunting. But some were worse than others.

This… this was bad. He’d showered twice, both times still in the middle of the same panic attack. It took over an hour just to get his breathing under control and he just—couldn’t stop thinking about—about what pushes someone to that point. Of being at that point when you can’t handle things anymore, when you just want it all to be over and—

And he keeps seeing Bruce, after Jason’s death, and Tim, after Bruce’s, and Jason after coming back from his own. The risks, and the mania, not being able to stop for even a moment because if you did then everything would come crashing down on you and—he takes a deep, slow breath, tucked into the corner of his couch.

The TV is turned up, probably too loud for the time of night but sometimes it helps him stay in the moment. His hair is wet, and it drips uncomfortably down the back of his shirt when he tips his head back to take a sip of the Chamomile tea Alfred brought him last time he visited.

Dick knew Bruce had wanted to die, back then. It wasn’t hard to tell. He hadn’t been in a good place either, not a place where he could do anything to help. So it fell to Tim, this little kid who’s life Dick sometimes thought they’d ruined.

He rubbed his face, trying to blink away the thought, trying to watch the commercial for Tide pods on his TV with any kind of comprehension, heel jumping against the floor. He felt like he should go back out. Get back on patrol, go burn off the adrenaline still surging through his body but every hard won shred of experience told him it was a terrible, terrible idea to be on the streets like this.

It was why he went home right after the girl. Because he wasn’t safe to be out there. For himself, sure, but for anyone else either. He would hit too hard, hold too tight, move too fast. He’d hurt someone and definitely himself. He’d be distracted, miss something obvious, probably get shot—

He swallowed roughly, gripping the mug hard enough to feel the light burn of the heat from the ceramic. Tim had almost died.

He blinked again, clenching his teeth and abruptly leaning forward to set his tea on the coffee table.

Tim would have died. If Dick hadn’t caught him. He’d been half limp too, but much heavier than the girl. He said he knew that Dick would catch him but Dick always doubted, always worried that he was lying, agonized over trust he craved and was horrified by in equal measure.

God he needed to stop thinking about this.

Tim was fine now. And Bruce was fine now. And so was Jason, and so were all the rest of his now extended family. This was just a traumatic moment playing havoc on his brain.

They were probably just finishing up their own patrols, or just getting in, writing up case notes or wrapping bruised ribs—they were fine.

Dick had talked to Jason earlier that day about a case he was helping with in Gotham—But sometimes Jason’s moods could change so quickly. He had a lot of triggers, and some were severe. And what if there was fear gas, or Joker venom or any of the hundreds of Ivy’s toxins that could screw with your head—

Jason had told Dick once that he’d felt like a ghost that whole first year back in Gotham. Like he wasn’t really there, like he couldn’t die because he already was—

The air felt sharp in his lungs, cutting through him. He had to stop doing this. Stop spiraling.

“I am in my apartment, in Bludhaven, and tonight was awful, but i am ok.”

It always made him feel like he was losing it to talk out loud to himself, but once upon a time a therapist had told him it could help with grounding.

“Everyone else is fine, and no one is having a mental crisis but me right now. And I will not get a call that someone has killed themself in the morning—Jesus Christ.“

He bit his tongue, bending forward and tucking his head between his knees. His cell phone was sitting on the coffee table in front of him and he knew he should call someone. Getting through these things on his own was always the preference but it wasn’t like the others wouldn’t understand, they all had their things, their low moments—shit, what if—

“No, god, brain shut up.” His voice echoed weirdly under the coffee table, where his head hung between his knees. Sitting up abruptly, he grabbed his phone, nearly dropping it in his haste.

“You’ve got to get a hold of yourself. You’re going to freak someone out, Grayson.”

[selkienight60]

20 questions for writers

Thank you for the tags: @goldenraeofsun @they-reap-what-we-sow @wildsofmarch

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

64

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

431,388

3. What fandoms do you write for?

DC. But I am considering a foray.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

When It Rains

Distress Signal

Asimov's Integral

Home

Well-Versed Replacement

5. Do you respond to comments?

I do my absolute best, but spoons are sometimes in short supply.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Darling, everything I write is tagged "Angst with a Happy Ending." I really don't know what to tell you. For the sake of the question I will answer: Cape Cuddles.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Either "Thanks, Dad." Or Epicenter, maybe?

8. Do you get hate on fics?

-Sigh- Yeah.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do not.

10. Do you write crossovers?

No, I am not an enjoyer of these mostly.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Oh, yes, actually. Inasmuch as fanfic can ever be stolen. Someone copy-pasted large sections of one of my stories into their own story. Truly a strange story, but I'm not generally a subscriber to "You can have fanfic stolen" idea. I'm more a Two Cakes girl, myself.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, quite a few! Also podfics made for me too!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Several, but I never add my name to them.

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Like ever? Ough. Ummm. Impossible to know, I'm sure Destiel is up there though. And Stucky.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

I finish all my WIPs. Eventually.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I used to wonder. Now I simply accept that I will never be good enough for myself and I continue plodding along.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

No thoughts, head empty lol.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

OUGH. Published? Possibly Supernatural? Unpublished (age 11) Elektra, the movie, lmao. I gave her a dojo, which is something every girl wants and needs.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Asimov's Integral. I've thought about this question a lot, lmao.

Right, tags for: @dottie-wan-kenobi @silverandsunflowers @batbirdies @a-canceled-stamp

[squintyfist]

Starlight Comfort

A Round Robin done with @geminibabyhere @supersilversleuth @fanfictiongreenirises @batbirdies @blackroseaki38 @marzue  Words: 1,243  Characters: Stephanie Brown & Damian Wayne had to move a sentence or two around to make it flow better

Stephanie turned around in her seat with a huff, shooting a glare at the gremlin behind her.

The gremlin pushed a card into her hands and ran away, leaving her to wonder for a few moments why there was a card with "Sister 💜💚 " written on it.

This was indeed very suspicious. She debated with herself, knowing it would be a bad idea to open it. But who was she kidding, curiosity killed the cat, but the power of eggplant awesomeness would always bring it back.

A cloud of glitter enveloped her the moment she opened it, settling over Steph like a cloud and leaving her spluttering.

She had to admit she was impressed with the glitter surprise, the kid learned from the best after all.

At least it was purple, she thought, clearing it away with her hand to finally see the message inside.

The letter read: "Meet me at the fallen tree near the poolhouse in the Manor's backyard at 23:38 tonight."

Steph glanced at the clock - this left her with exactly three minutes to get there.

The glitter carnage left her covered in uncleanable purple glitter, but she ignored it to rush to the fallen tree near the poolhouse in the Manor's backyard in time.

It wasn’t like she’d never looked like a fool before and if there were shenanigans afoot, Steph wanted a part in them.

She just hoped she wouldn't be the one bamboozled tonight. She would rather be a part of the scheming than a victim of the scheme.

The unrecognizable red drops and scuff marks on the ground worried her a bit, but she pushed it aside to see…

Turned out there was a whole table set up with a telescope to see stars and sweets they both liked.

She carefully scrutinized the setup, suspicious of what the kid had planned.

She looked at the kid who gave her...puppy eyes. Puppy eyes.

Steph sighed, regretting her words even before they flew out of her mouth. "Now what do you want me to do?"

Damian gave her a judging stare, and said, "Stargaze, clearly."

Stephanie squinted back, not entirely convinced. “So, was there a purpose to the glitter bomb? Or was that just for fun?”

"Clearly, if the purpose is unclear to you, then you don't deserve the answer to your question."

Stephanie swung to settle next to Damian, deigning to ignore when he shuffled to sit closer to her (though she did smear some glitter onto his cheek).

Silence then rang between them long enough for Steph to start getting fidgety.

"Hey, you look like an eggplant now", Stephanie said, pointing towards the purple glitter smudged on his cheeks and the glint in his green eyes as she tried to kill the silence. She didn't expect to get the reply of "Very funny, Princess Aubergine."

Steph gasped, "So you were paying attention when I was ranting to you about it!"

Damian scoffed, but his cheeks went just a little pink at the call-out.

Stephanie laughed at his pink cheeks. It was lowkey cute, but also hilarious.

Damian refused to make eye contact with her, instead, staring at the stars as he grumbled, “I have memorized and cataloged all sorts of information, that story is hardly special.”

"Uh-huh, sure." She said, before deciding to let the matter drop. She wouldn't want to tease him too much and then get him in a bad mood before she figured out what, exactly, was going on tonight.

This was fun though as they took turns using the telescope. The knee-length kid looked up at her with a shine and awe in his eyes that was usually reserved for elder siblings whenever kids thought they were doing something very special.

She didn't even try to point out all the constellations she knew, the kid was like a walking encyclopedia of them all; instead, she made up stories about each one, connecting dots in the sky to make shapes that didn't exist, and watching as Damian made his not-quite-a-smile-but-not-the-usual-scowl face.

She was careful not to shift too suddenly—Damian was leaning on her shoulder to look more closely through the telescope, and she didn’t want to startle him away.

"Is—" She heard him start, but he stopped speaking just as quickly. She glanced over and saw that he seemed to be trying to find the right words.

"Is this plan for spending time and doing good things...good?" He asked, not really looking at her but also sending hopeful but hesitant glances her way.

"It is..." she paused for dramatic effect, "...adequate," she said, mocking him and pointing out the uncharacteristic nature of his question both. He scowled in response and looked away in a poor attempt to keep his relieved expression out of sight.

She weighed the pros and cons of giving him a hug, before compromising and brushing her arm against his.

He did that weird >tt< thing and looked away, hiding that not-smile of his, "I'm... glad that this outing has proven to be successful in uplifting your mood." He said, surprising her.

She blinked and a smile spread on her face and Damian looked seriously concerned at that. 

"No. That's contagious," he said.

Damian backed away in mock offense while she laughed, drawing her grin out wider till it strained the corners of her mouth.

She decided to take her chances and held her arms out, glitter still coating her as she darted after him. “Come on kiddo, you’re not afraid of little ol’ me, are you?”

"If I hadn't been raised in the League of Assassins and if I hadn't gotten used to your face, then yes, I would have been." He said, but still, he moved to let himself be hugged, surprising Stephanie once again.

When they separated, Damian said, "So my nefarious plan for getting a big sister hug and getting you to hug me worked very well" as he gave a sage nod.

He seemed to be acting...off tonight, as if he were hiding something, Steph thought, playing out everything that had happened so far back through her head. Damian stopped her halfway through with a suspiciously well-timed distraction.

“I—“, Damian paused again, still visibly struggling with saying what he wanted to say, but Steph was nothing if not patient (well, in regards to Damian).

"Yesterday, whilst in the middle of a 'mission' with Jon, I caught a glimpse of an alternate universe... one where…where you-" He didn't seem able to continue, his words halting in his throat no matter how hard he tried to force them out.

It was not difficult for Steph to fill the blank herself but she knew the kid was way affected by it and had no else to talk to. "Must have been boring to not have me around" she commented lightly and Damian nodded his head against her shoulder in response.

She knew he was lying, at least partly, just "a glimpse" wouldn't have been enough to bring him to this. She let it go though, surprised and touched at his uncharacteristically non-emotionally-constipated actions. Dick's teachings must have been wearing off on the kid, or better yet, her own.

She decided to let it go for now, what he currently seemed to need was some quiet quality time.

So that's what they had. Sitting next to each other and watching the stars twinkle in the sky above, taking comfort in each other's alive presence.

[mas-que-loucura-menina]

2, 5, 6 and 17 for the ask thing?

Hello there!

2: what fandoms were apart of that you aren't any longer?

Voltron (season 8 still hunts me)

5: (I already answered this one but I'll do it again) I love friends who were besties when kids, grew apart and then became friends again when older.

6: Do you read fanfiction? If so, do you have any favorite authors or fics?

Oookay, this will be a little embarrassing because the author actually follows me and I'm gonna sound like a cringe fangirl. Yes, I love fanfiction (gen is my vibe)! Clearly calm keeping terrorized by Batbirdies is by far my favorite fic ever, the author is so talented! I love her writing and this piece means so much to me! I never cry in emotional scenes, when Tony stark was dying the whole theater was sobbing while I was laughing. Clearly calm and yet terrorized had me crying like a baby. I'll link the fic in the end of the post.

17: I also already answered this one ^^

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Seeing Red

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/qhi1kxV

by AhsokaJackson

Red Robin understands his role in the Batfamily by now.

He stays around enough to be counted as present.

He engages enough to be counted as useful.

He avoids enough to be counted as convenient.

The rules of being a Drake-Wayne are much the same.

It's been a hard lesson, but Tim understands his relationship to the Waynes quite well.

…The only problem is that they still don't seem to understand—which is pretty frustrating, given that they're the very ones who necessitated setting up the current rules of engagement. And Bruce is really a little young to have such a spotty memory already.

Still, the teenaged CEO of Wayne Enterprises is nothing if not a dutiful son, so if Bruce keeps pressing him for answers, well…Tim juuust might have to oblige.

=======

A gift for Batbirdies & lurkinglurkerwholurks

Words: 2009, Chapters: 1/5, Language: English

Fandoms: Batman (Comics), Batman: The Animated Series, Batman and Robin (Comics), Red Robin (Comics), Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), DCU (Comics)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: Gen

Characters: Tim Drake, Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd, Koriand'r (DCU)

Relationships: Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Koriand'r, Koriand'r & Jason Todd

Additional Tags: BAMF Tim Drake, Feral Tim Drake, POV Tim Drake, Tim Drake-centric, Tim Drake & Jason Todd Friendship, Tim Drake and Jason Todd are Siblings, Tim Drake Angst, Tim Drake Deserves Happiness, Tim Drake Deserves Better, Tim Drake Gets a Hug, Tim Drake has the self preservation instincts of a wet paper bag, Tim Drake is Not Okay, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, BAMF Jason Todd, Ethnically Ambiguous Jason Todd, Jason Todd Deserves Happiness, Jason Todd is a good brother, Jason Todd Is a Pissy Mother Hen, Protective Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Bruce Wayne is a Bad Parent, He's Trying but Mediocre Here and Needs to Do Better Okay, God bless Alfred, Abandonment Issues, Anxiety, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bromance, Brotherly Love, Bruce Wayne's No-Killing Rule, C-PTSD, Caretaking, Child Abuse, Childhood Trauma, Dissociation, Emotional Abuse, Family Feels, Fix-It, Hurt & Comfort, Jack and Janet Drake's A+ Parenting, Major Character Injury, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Medical Inaccuracies, Multilingual Characters, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Protectiveness, PTSD, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Harm, Sickfic, touch starvation, Unreliable Narrator, Batcest-B-Gone, Hair Pets for Envy, The Batkids are Erudite and Don't You Forget It, Too Many Tags We Die Like Graffiti Artists, We Need Gen Fics, Yo Bruce We Need a Juice Box

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/qhi1kxV