#Gotham War is so ass like we know this is all gonna wrap up in some pointless shit where nothing is really Bruce's fault cause Zur Rn Arrh

[thottybrucewayne]

Mind you, all this shit is happening to Jason in his early twenties. His ass need to be in the club!

[ragingbookdragon]

Forging Paths PT. 1

Batsis Story!

A/N: OMG who wants to cringe with me as I repost my very first series?!?!?! This is a series that I actually don't hate. Enjoy! -Thorne <3

It had been a few good years since she’d stepped foot in her home city, but nothing had changed except for the weather. It was Mid-December with a temperature of -5 degrees and snow covered the city as far as she could see; she was glad she’d decided to wear her insulated combat gear. Crouching down on the gargoyle in front of her, she rested her elbows on her knees, interlocking her fingers in front of her mouth, as cautious eyes watched the nightlife in front of her. It didn’t matter how many times she left or came back, she still hated Gotham City with a bright burning passion, and nothing would ever change it. Sitting quietly for a few more moments, she tipped her head to the side when she heard his boot hit the ledge. “I figured I’d find you up here.” A smooth voice spoke out and she twisted her head and glanced over her shoulder, a shit-eating grin playing at her lips.

“Jay-Bird. It took you long enough, baby brother.” He took his helmet off and stood beside her, staring down at the city. The two of them had been through hell and high water together, and the moments when they lapsed into silence spoke all that needed to. He was quiet for a moment before speaking. 

“I assume since you’re in Gotham, you got my message?” She rolled her eyes and quipped back.

“Nah, just missed Gotham and the Big-Bat.” Rolling her head backwards to look up at him she raised an eyebrow. “So how is Daddy Dearest? He know I’m in ‘his city’ yet?” Jason snorted and responded.

“He’s still a major rager pain in the ass. And to answer your other question, probably.” She smirked at his answer, then remembering why she was called, her face dropped into a blank.

“So why am I here Jason? It’s not for a family reunion, I know that much.” He inhaled deeply, nodding his head.

“Yeah, I know, and I wouldn’t have asked you if it wasn’t important. But right now, Gotham’s gangs and the League are on a spiral towards full scale war, and we don’t have the capacity to deal with it. Bruce was even considering calling in the JL, but I asked him to let me try something.” Her face morphed into a mixture of anger and disgust as she spit out,

“So, you brought me here to play peacemaker with the League and gangs, all the while working with Bruce? Hell. No.” She rose to her feet and turned towards the ladder on the building. Gloved fingers wrapped around her wrist in a firm yet loose grip and she looked down at the fingers then up at Jason; steel blue eyes bore into teal orbs and she warned, “Jason. Let me go. Now.” Jason raised his head, imposing his height more than what it already was, and shook it.

“No (Y/N). Not until you agree to help me. We need your help. I need your help. This is bigger than your bitch fit with Bruce. And as much as I love you, I need you to put it away and work with him so we can end this before innocent people get hurt or killed.” Inhaling sharply through her nose (Y/N) once again looked at the open city. The fingers tightened ever-so-slightly and her eyes met his again. “Please (Y/N). If not for Gotham, then do it for me.” She sighed heavily, eyes rolling as she groaned out.

“Alright. Alright! I’ll help. Just stop making puppy eyes at me.” Jason’s fingers loosened and he let go of her wrist.

“Grand. Meet us at the house and we’ll talk more.”

He turned to leave, but (Y/N) reached out and, where his armor met his throat, she gripped. Pulling him down till they were nose to nose, she pulled the darkest glare she could manage and spoke heavily. “But if he says one word to me about my morality or my code, after the mission is complete, I will bust your ass like a bitch. You hear me, little brother?” His eyes widened a fraction and he nodded rapidly.

“Yeah. Totally. I got it.” (Y/N) released him and began walking back towards the ladder.

“See you at home Jay-Bird.” He called out to her just as you reached the ladder.

“Do you still hate Gotham City that much (Y/N)?” She turned around and leveled him with a smile.

“Only as much as I hate Bruce, Jason.” Next thing Jason knew, she was gone. He glanced back towards the city and ran his hands over his face, preparing for the shit storms about to take place in the Wayne household.

He reached for his cellphone, unlocked it and scrolled through his contacts. Hitting call, he waited, the person picking up after two rings. “Yello?”

“She’s back.” The person on the phone exhaled in surprise.

“You’re joking? You got (Y/N) back in Gotham City? How? How did you manage that Jay?” Jason rolled his eyes, biting back a smart-ass comment. He and (Y/N) had been best friends since he showed up at the manor; if anyone know how to work his older sister over, it was him. Instead he just answered with,

“I’ve got skills Grayson. Skills you obviously ain’t got. Be there when she gets there. We gotta keep the storm from breaking too early.” Dick made a sound of confirmation and responded.

“Will do. See you later Little-Wing.”

“Uh huh. Whatever.” Hanging up, Jason looked towards the city once more. Sirens could be heard as well as the usual thugs on the street corner. Turning to the ladder that his older sister used he started at it. “This is gonna be a long fucking week.” He muttered as he slid down.

[dayas]

1,3,20 and 25 for the writing ask, I wanna know it all!

First off, I wanna say thank you for giving me this ask because now I have something to think about instead of just being in a sad cloud ❤️ it’s nice to have a little break 💞

1. Tell us about your current project(s)  – what’s it about, how’s progress, what do you love most about it.

Not to expose myself but I have like 5 WIPS 😂

War Of Hearts (jiara reincarnation au), a not so secret combination Dimya fic (flower shop + mob au), an angsty gotham/the batman (fc wise djdjsjsn) BatCat one shot (selina meeting bruce after he left in a slightly unexpected way), and I’m trying to draft/spin ideas for a POTC Klonnie au (calypso and davy jones’ story). With WOH, I’m filling in the second chapter which is taking FOREVER (sorry y’all), but I’m actually super excited for it to drop! With the work entirely, I definitely love all the little hints and breadcrumbs. It’s gonna start coming together more in the second chapter and I’m super pumped to see what y’all think! I’m on Chapter 1 of the Dimya Fic and searching for my inspiration but I know how it’s gonna go and that makes me happy. I love the combo aspect of the fic and how it’s a mashup, plus there’s some not so subtle underlying themes that I think are cool to explore! With BatCat, I wrote some yesterday! It’s a songfic and I love that about it, but also just the angst and flashbacks included, I think it’ll be really cool! And for the Klonnie fic, I haven’t even started 😭 Someone was basically like ‘write this!’ so I was like ‘okay!’ but I don’t know them that well yet writing wise so I need to explore 😂 tbh it’s just a concept that I really, really love and I have some ideas for the melody that goes along with it. Unsure if it’ll be a multi chap or a realllyyy long one shot once it drops but I’m thrilled either way! The technical “fifth” wip is for everybody who asked me when Kie would find out JJ is Sarah’s bf’s friend so watch out for that 👀 y’all ask, I answer 😂

3. What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

GOD! THIS! Okay okay okay I’ve ALWAYS wanted to write a Jiara break up scene but there’s SO MUCH WORK THAT GOES INTO THAT LIKE THE SET UP AND THEN BUILDING INTO AN EXPLOSION SO here’s a no context, cliche, dramatic af breakup scene for jiara thank you for giving me the freedom to write this 😂

“We need to talk.”

That alone stops what she’s doing. JJ and Kiara don’t usually ‘talk’. They can have serious conversations, but they tend to reserve getting deep for when they’re either really really high, or the issue around them has to be resolved. They’re not in high school anymore, but old habits die hard. Still, she shakes off the pause, drying another dish as she says,

“About?”

“... stuff.”

“Stuff. Real eloquent there, JJ.”

His eyes are practically heating the soapy water up themselves. The kitchen at the Chateau isn’t exactly prime real estate as far as cleanliness goes, but since they’re around here more often than not, Kie decided to make an effort to spruce it up a little bit and dragged JJ into it.

Something’s wrong. He’s fiddling with his rings underneath the water at a faster pace than normal, leaning heavily against the lip of the sink.

“Dude, are you okay?”

Her voice is soft as she dries her hands off, coming up to him and slipping her arms around his chest, cheek pressed into his back. He tenses underneath her, shrugging her off and backing away.

“JJ,” Kiara’s voice is concerned now, “What’s going on?”

“Weneedtobreakup.”

His sentence is a blur that knocks into her, rattling around her brain as it spins like a top. As all tops do, the spinning eventually stops, leaving her with the capacity to space out the miniature word flood that left his mouth a few seconds ago.

We need to break up.

“What?” Kie says, panic creeping into her system, “Why?” She begins to think of what could have gone wrong, what could have prompted this.

“It’s not you, it’s — ”

“If you try to feed me one of your bullshit lines that worked on the ghosts of hookups past, don’t.”

He has the decency to shut up then and there, turning instead to lean back against the cabinets, hands gripping the edge of another counter.

“Is this about what my cousin said?”

A few weeks ago, they’d been invited to a formal family gathering on her mother’s side. Some crazy expensive week in Hawaii. Well, Kiara had been invited, and she brought JJ for two reasons. One, he’s her best friend which legally obligated him to help her out in a spot. Two, they were getting pretty serious (or so she thought), and she couldn’t hide in the OBX forever, so why not kill two birds with one stone? At an extremely over the top event, one of Kie’s drunk cousins approached JJ and started spewing some nonsense. Kiara intervened, of course, but later, she remembers, another one approached. Completely sober. She hadn’t been paying attention to that conversation, occasionally glancing over to make sure JJ wasn’t floundering. He’d been restless the entire night and a few days afterwards. But when they’d come back home, all was well. Or, again, so she’d thought.

She should’ve just chucked the damn stone at herself.

He grimaces, and it’s to her horror that she realizes it’s true.

“What the fuck did she say?”

Her voice is low and dangerous, a tiny sliver of a hint as to what’s hiding behind her eyes.

“Doesn’t matter,” JJ shrugs, eyes everywhere but her.

“Of course it fucking matters, JJ! What did she say?”

“Nothing!”

“That’s a lie.”

“I already told you it doesn’t matter.”

“If it doesn’t matter then just tell me!”

“Fine!”

They are two powder kegs on the verge of an explosion. Kiara lit the spark, jumping the gun to shouting. He followed, and and now they’re at a precipice.

“You really wanna know what she said? Fine. She said that I’ll never be good enough for you, and you know what? She’s right.”

They tilt on the edge, still caught in the middle, unsure of where to fall.

“No. She’s not.” How can he even say that, let alone believe it? Kie isn’t always a fan of the cheesy, but it’s a cold hard fact that the man standing before her is one of the best things in her life.

“She is, Kie. You know she is. You’re not a Kook, but your family... they can give you so much more than I can. Opportunities and shit, the chance to get out of here. What do I have going for me?”

“Everything! You know I don’t want any of that bullshit or the baggage that comes with it — I want you.”

“I’m not gonna be enough. One day you’re gonna look up and realize that you want out of this place. Or I’m gonna look up and realize I turned into my dad.”

A bitter laugh leaves him, slicing them both to ribbons in the process.

“You’re not him, J. You’re not your dad and you never will be your dad.”

“You don’t know that! I don’t know that!”

They step closer at the same time, spark relit on the fuse to destroy them.

“JJ — ”

“No, Kiara. We can’t keep doing this. I’m stuck, and I’m not dragging you down with me.”

“You’re not dragging me down if I want to be here!”

Four more feet and they are two steps away from each other. They’re both tired, oh so tired, yet neither one is willing to give up the fight for their cause. The frustration builds, coiling tightly around them as JJ steps forward and shouts,

“I’m gonna ruin your life!”

“Then ruin it!”

Kie’s scream is passionate, every emotion inside of her escaping in those three words as she steps up to meet him.

“Ruin my life, JJ Maybank. Because I’d rather be in ashes with you than anywhere with anyone else.”

He takes one look at her and the pause between them could stop a train. Then, his head ducks down and his lips crash against hers. She reciprocates, sinking both hands into his hair. He picks her up and she wraps her arms around his waist as he sets her against the counter. Dishes crash onto the floor but neither of them are even remotely half assed to care. His lips attach to her neck and she exhales sharply.

“Stay,” Kiara whispers. And she wishes he did. If she would have been controlling their story, they would have taken this to Big John’s room and the breakup talks would cease. But she put everything in his hands, as he’s making the decision here. So when she tells him to ruin her life, she watches him grapple with himself. For a second, she sees his head tilt ever so slightly forward. He reels himself back in a second later, and the fire in his eyes burns out.

“I’m sorry,” JJ whispers, shaking his head and backing away from her.

“JJ,” Kiara calls after him, “JJ!” She’s immobilized, feet stuck to the floor.

This isn’t happening. This is not happening.

Something inside her breaks and she runs, tearing through the house. He’s already on his bike as she gets to the front porch, and curse him, he looks back. He puts the helmet in his hands on (she bought him that for his birthday — “You’re not getting fucked up on my watch. Put the damn helmet on.”) and drives away.

Kiara doesn’t know what happens next. When her faculties return her knees are scraped up, blood trickling down. She’s still on the porch and her face is wet, cheeks marred by liquid pooling in her eyes. Someone is crying, loudly, like their heart was ripped from their chest. No, she thinks, like someone else’s heart was ripped from their chest, someone the person crying loved. Because if her own heart was ripped out, she would not be able to feel. What Kiara wouldn’t give to not feel a goddamn thing right now.

She calls Sarah. Her friend comes and picks her up, and they go to her place. Kie can’t bear to be in the Chateau or her own room. Sarah’s is devoid of memories, for the most part. She explains what happened through her tears as her friend holds her, gently carding her fingers through her hair comfortingly. They light up, and then get a little tipsy and Kiara doesn’t know if it’s better or for worse. But it’s something. She’s reminded of after the Phantom went down, that night on the beach when she discovered the freedom to be. In this moment, Kiara’s free to be something. Anything. Whatever she wants. But the one thing she wants removed himself from her life, so she settles for being a mess instead. Sarah settles in with her when they’re all worn out, falling asleep quickly. Kiara’s vaguely aware that the person next to her is not who she wants it to be, that this is wrong in the sense that someone else should be here. She’s too cold, unraveled.

“Stay,” she whispers, but this time to herself. If she can stay for tonight, she can stay for tomorrow, and the day after that until she eventually finds her way back to who she is without him in her life. She’s not the same Kiara as she was this morning. She’ll be a different Kiara when she wakes up tomorrow. The Kiara she is wraps her arms around herself to keep whatever’s left from pouring out. She will do what he refused to. When the morning comes, she will face the world. While the moon is out, she is free to dream.

She dreams one last dream of him.

20. Tell us the meta about your writing that you really want to ramble to people about (symbolism you’ve included, character or relationship development that you love, hidden references, callbacks or clues for future scenes?)

Okay LOOK 😂 there’s so much I wanna say on this but it would be so spoiler-y BUT for War Of Hearts, do some scanning! There’s a lot to unpack there, some obvious, some not! It becomes more evident in the chapters to come. I wish I could say more and I totally would if all of it was published 😭😭😭 OOO but I do enjoy referencing my works in other works (literally did that in the mini scene above lmao) so there’s a good chance that I riff off of previous concepts or something else across the stories/one shots that I write! There’s so many references I throw in too. For example, the ‘I hope you care to be recalled to life’ part in It Wasn’t Special Til I Met you is from A Tale Of Two Cities. I definitely love exploring concepts in my work, which I guess is why it kind of reads as flowery when I dig into it 😂

25. What part of writing is the most fun?

To me, I really love when I’m able to come up with good dialogue or a good scene and I’m like ‘OOO YES THIS IS IT!” It’s super fun to explore the underlying themes and symbolism in pieces; I totally love and live for weaving stuff together like Blues Clues 😂 I also adore dropping references to various works or songs because people will catch them and be like ‘wait is that xyz?’ and I’m like ‘yeah! yes it is! you get it!’ And that’s just a wonderful feeling 😊🥰

That’s all for me! Thanks for asking!

[is-it-art-tho]

This is Chapter 4!

Chapter 1  Chapter 2.  Chapter 3.  Chapter 5

Summary: The BatFam goes to a party and Dick learns that even the suburbs of Gotham aren't without their monsters. Especially on Halloween.

“You’re loving this, aren’t you?” Dick asked, studying himself in the full-length mirror hanging on his closet door.

“I really am,” Barbara giggled. She’d been cracking up for nearly five minutes straight, tears streaming down her flushed cheeks as her abdomen ached. “Hold your phone up higher. And do another spin.”

“Babs,” he whined, lifting his phone to give her a better view.

“Please?” She let her voice got all plaintive and cute the way she knew would turn Dick into putty in her hands. It was a power she had discovered long ago, and one she wielded with reckless abandon.

Dick obeyed, the silky cape drifting around him as he came to a stop. He was in a replica of her old Batgirl uniform. Some knock-off Tim had scored in an online bidding war.

“You look great,” she said. The suit she used to wear hadn’t been quite so delicate. The overall gist was more or less accurate, but hers had been designed with combat in mind, everything layered and dense. The cape had been heavier, the boots not quite so rubbery and squeaky, and the colors much more muted – it would be hard to sneak up on anyone with bright neon yellows and purples announcing your presence from a mile away.

Even so, looking at the suit now, she could almost feel the wind rushing past her face; could feel her stomach flip in the sweeping arc from one building to the next.

For a long time, she hadn’t been able to remember those days without a bitter knot twisting in her gut. She was glad now to be able to look back fondly.

“You know, I really do,” Dick agreed, twisting to show off his butt in the thin spandex. “But I’ve seen better.” He flashed a rakish grin, and she laughed.

“You sure you can’t make an appearance tonight?” he asked.

“Nah. I’m still troubleshooting some bugs from the last system update. Probably take a while.”

Dick sighed. “Won’t be as fun without you there.”

“You bet your ass.”

He barked a laugh as he walked away from the mirror and set his phone down. Now the entire screen was black as she listened to him talk and move around his room.

“Just so you know,” he said, opening and closing drawers. “There’s probably gonna be like a ton of girls there. Can’t make any promises if I meet a nice lady Nightwing.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she grinned. “See you later, Batboy.”

She ended the call before he could protest the name and smiled to herself, letting the warmth of the conversation linger in the air a moment longer before turning her attention to her computer.

____________

The party was in one of the wealthy suburbs just outside of the city and the houses were pretty big. Not Wayne Manor big, but large enough to comfortably host well over a hundred people. It was one of those sprawling parties that took up every inch of the house and the back yard and managed to also bleed out into the street.

In every direction people were gyrating and laughing. There was no way most of them even knew whose house this was, but no one seemed too concerned about that. The host certainly wasn’t. Dick had seen him drunkenly carving a pumpkin by the pool and had quietly switched the steak knife out with a butter knife before the guy’s headless horseman costume became a lot more convincing.

Now Dick was standing on the deck, watching the fire pit where Steph, Tim, and Damian were among the crowd roasting marshmallows. Cass was leaning against Steph’s shoulder, her arms wrapped around her knees. Dick couldn’t see her expression through the papier mache Red Hood mask, but he could tell by her languid body language that she was having a good time.

Seeing them in each other’s uniforms was disorienting, like looking at a green sky or eating hot ice cream. Not necessarily bad, just off. But the anxiety he’d felt about the risk to their identities had died when he’d picked them up from the manor and saw them up close.

They looked more like pajamas than anything else, and they definitely wouldn’t draw any more attention than a bedsheet ghost or a grim reaper. Plus, their open enthusiasm for the whole thing made them all seem that much younger and unassuming. Just a bunch of young people excited about Halloween. It was honestly pretty fun to watch, especially coming from kids who were so often called upon to leave their more childish impulses at the door.

He put his phone to his ear. “Babs?”

“Batboy!” There was a smile in her voice. “Sounds like you’re having fun.”

She must have been talking about the music. It was coming from every direction. His bones rattled with each chord and was once again reminded of how freaking old he was getting. When had that happened?

“It’s a riot,” he said, dodging a fairy as she stumbled toward him with a plate piled high with nachos. Both she and the nachos went over the railing and the sound of the impact below hit him with a pang of guilt for not just stopping her. When he peeked down, she was laughing from the center of a bush. Four other fairies leaned over the side to laugh and throw pretzels at her.

“Uneventful?”

“So far.” He squinted for a second at Damian who was now standing, showing a Power Ranger a batarang. He nearly bolted across the yard until he noted the way it caught the light of the fire. Dick was fairly certain it was either plastic or cardboard. Not real. At least, he hoped not.

Cass and Stephanie had gotten up and slipped past him through the French doors and into the kitchen. Tim was still sitting by the fire, clumsily navigating a conversation with a witch who was openly flirting with him. He tossed a pleading look to Dick, who just smiled and waved, savoring every second of it.

“I think Tim has a new girlfriend,” he added.

“Fun. How’s Steph handling it?”

He glanced back into the house. She and Cass were rifling through a massive trash bag of candy that had been left on a counter, picking out all the king-sized bars and grinning ravenously. The many pockets in Cass’s brown leather jacket – Dick wasn’t sure if Jason had loaned it or if she’d commandeered it – were already full to bursting.

“Inconsolable.”

“Poor girl.” Babs sounded distracted, keys clacking as she muttered to herself.

“What’re you up to?”

“I keep getting the same system error, but I can’t figure out if it’s an issue with the hardware or software. I’ve run like ten diagnostic protocols already and I’ve been staring at the same wall of code for like five hours. I’m probably gonna end up just rebooting the whole thing. Comms’ll be down for a couple hours. Or days the way this is going.”

One finger jammed into his free ear, Dick wandered down the steps and around toward the front of the house in search of a respite from the chaos. He motioned to Damian, signaling that he was on a call, and Damian, in his oversized Batman cowl, nodded.

It wasn’t until Dick was a few houses away that the music and chatter became more of a muted throb than an overwhelming assault.

“What’s B up to?” he asked in a lull, his pace slowing.

“Alfred got him to hang around the manor and help give out candy for a while. I think he guilted him with the turmeric incident.”

Dick laughed then he went quiet for a moment, considering, before asking, “And Jason?”

“Nothing. Is it just me or does something seem off with him? I mean, I know he’s not the most communicative guy in the world but, I don’t know.”

Dick sighed. “It’s compli–” He fell silent. At the end of the block there was a guy in a wolf mask standing under a streetlight just… staring at him.

Dick glanced over his shoulder then back at the man.

“Dick?” Barbara asked.

He didn’t respond. A sense of foreboding had washed over him; a crackling thrum in the air that set all of the hairs on his body on end.

Instinctively, he found himself taking stock of his surroundings. He already knew exactly how many steps it would take to close the distance between them, how long it would take for him to get back to the party if he needed to.

He knew how he could use the string lights on the porch closest to him as a weapon or a restraint. How he could tear his Velcro cape from his own shoulders and get it around the man’s face and throat or disarm him since it looked like he was holding something – a pipe? There was a garden gnome in the yard beside him with a hat that looked sharp enough to do some damage if it came to that.

The man was big. Probably had a foot and eighty pounds on Dick.

Dick pushed his cowl back from his face.

The man turned and lumbered away.

Dick exhaled.

“Dick.” Barbara’s voice had slipped past playful curiosity. She sounded about two seconds away from alerting the cavalry.

“I’m here.”

“Geez. What just happened?”

Dick watched the disappear around the corner. “I don’t know. There was just some guy. He was staring at me, I think.”

“Friend of yours?”

“Not likely.”

“Maybe he just really likes Batgirl,” she teased.

Dick let out a breathy laugh, but the man had set him on edge and now he needed to run it off.

“Think I’m gonna call it on this party,” he said. “I need to unwind.”

“Most people do that sort of thing at parties.”

“And since when have I ever been like ‘most people?’”

Babs laughed and Dick felt his chest warm.

“You going home or going out?” she asked.

“I think we both know the answer to that,” he said, grinning as he turned back toward the party.

“Where would this city be with you, Batboy?” she sighed airily.

Dick chuckled despite himself. “Talk to you in a few,” he said, then hung up and opened a group message with Steph, Cass, Damian, and Tim.

Leaving early. Be back in a few hours to pick you up.

Tim’s message came a few seconds later. Don’t worry about it. We’ll just hot wire a car here.

You can’t just steal a car. Dick.

It’s not theft if we return the vehicle. Damian.

Everybody is wasted anyway, Stephanie said. We’d be doing this city a favor.

Cass just sent a car emoji, a beer, and an emoji of a girl making an X with her arms.

Exactly, Steph responded.

Dick pursed his lips and decided to roll the dice on whether or not they were joking. If they weren’t, he hoped they’d at least return the car before it was missed.

He was standing by his own car now, staring at the screen as he mind went to other things. Babs had sounded stressed, so already he was set on stopping by her place. Maybe he could bring her some of the candy he'd managed to snag throughout the night. He could swing by the Manor for his Nightwing suit and then hit Barbara’s place before going on patrol.

Just the thought made him smile, but there was something else still nagging at him. He needed to find Jason. He still had no idea what he wanted to say, but he couldn’t leave things the way they were.

As he sorted out his plans for the evening, his screen went black. And only then, in the dark reflection of the glass, did he see the wolf mask peering over his shoulder.

And in a flash Dick was turning, ducking, his fist clenched.

And then he was falling, and the left side of his head was an explosion of white, searing pain, and suddenly he was staring at boots, one half of his face hot and wet and throbbing, the other cold against the sidewalk.

He heard himself dragging in short, ragged breaths, his teeth gritted as he ordered his body to move. But his limbs remained where they were, heavy and obstinate. His neck ached as he tilted his face up to look his attacker in the eye, his cheek scraping against the sidewalk.

Squinting into the light of the streetlamp, Dick’s eyes focused just in time to watch the man bring the pipe down again, fast and hard.

And Dick heard the sickening wet crack of bone yielding to metal.

And then nothing.

[unknownunseenunheard]

3, 23, 21 for the fic asks

Sure, and thanks!

3. Favorite line/Scene that you wrote this year

This one is a mash up cause I have too choices for it

A) From the Heart II: Destiny’s Fall,

Faris vs Ardyn

"The first mistake yee made was coming after Noctis. The second yee made was assuming I would let you anywhere near him. The third was not running when yee had the chance." Faris proclaimed, the whip in her hands warping back to the initial dagger she'd faced him with. "My name is Faris Scherwiz, Warrior of Light and Guardian of the Fire, and you SHALL NOT PASS!" Faris bellowed, eyes wide, brandishing the blade held in hand as bright orange red flames exploded around her figure, melting had the stone beneath their feet.

Ardyn laughed.

"Guardian of Fire, little girl? I took the God of Fire and broke him to my will! Bent him until he was nothing but a mockery of himself!" Ardyn let his armiger flare around him, weapons spinning. "You are nothing but an ant beneath my feet, 'Pirate King' Faris!" Ardyn mocked.

Faris grinned, lowering her arm.

"King? Oh, no, Ardyn. I am no King." Faris told him. The dagger disappeared in a flurry of light, replaced with a bow and arrow, of all things. "I identity as a Disney Princess."

What?

Lifting her free hand, Faris stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled.

It was at that moment that animals appeared out of literally nowhere and began to besiege Ardyn.

Disney Princess indeed.

Ardyn snared as he was racked by a wild boar that came out of literally nowhere. Beating it aside, Ardyn tried to impale the thing but it vanished before he could. Instead, a skunk, of all things, flipped before his face, letting loose a noxious fume right in his face.

Spluttering, Ardyn backed away, eyes burning. He'd regenerate quickly, but that smell wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

A squirrel landed on his face, scarring at it, tiny claws digging into his flesh.

Enough.

Ardyn pulsed.

The animals scurrying around him were blasted away, weapons swirling around Ardyn before blasting forth, impaling them all.

It was at this moment that an arrow bursting in flames smashed into his shoulder. Ardyn was nearly knocked over from the blow, spinning in fury to blast more weapons in the direction of his assailant.

The so called Disney Princess was dancing about the rooftops, using the rubble as cover as coming out on long enough to fire another burning arrow at him.

Ardyn phased out of the way for the next few, ready to phase towards her when a goddamn unicorn, of all things, appeared.

Holy light burst through the area. Hissing, Ardyn took a step back, hand raised to shield his eyes from the glow. Surprisingly, he felt not an ounce of pain.

When the light dissipated, he could see why.

The animals he'd cut down were rising again, their wounds healed.

Oh hell no. He wasn't getting another skunk blast in the face.

B) TimKon Week Day II: Secret Relationship

Horrifying tf out of Jason

Tim's back hit the wall as Conner came at him with a growl, hands trailing along his skin, tkk ripping off layers of clothes. Lips latched onto Tim's neck, sucking hungrily. Groaning, Tim titled his head to give the clone better access before spreading his thighs to better accommodate Kon in between them.

Fuck. Fuck, it had been so long. It had been so long, and neither of them wanted to wait. Tim wasn't even sure why they were still hiding this from everyone else, but it did add a kick to the relationship.

The secret looks, the secret glances. Slipping away from everyone else. The risky sex where someone might walk in on them.

Like right here. Right in the manor, right under Batman's nose. It gave Tim a thrill to know they were doing this here, in the house of the world's so called greatest detective while the man himself was completely unaware.

Conner's hand came up to palm Tim through his pants and Tim let out an embarrassingly high pitched moan. It really had been too long since they'd done this. So, after the last mission, Tim had coyly asked Conner to fly him home.

They hadn't made it halfway to Gotham before their makeout session had gone from sweet and innocent to 'I'm trying to devour your soul through your lips', and Tim was enjoying it far too much. Absolutely nothing could ruin this mome-

"Holy mother of God, what in the fuck are you two shits doing in my room! MY EYES!"

Conner sprang away from Tim like an elastic waistband, wide eyed and surprised. Startled, Tim looked up.

There, crouched up against the headboard sat Jason, arms wrapped around his knees, face buried in his palms as he vehemently shook.

"Oh god. Oh god, I am never gonna get that image out of my head! Whyyy! What did I ever do to deserve this? Wait, don't answer that, I did try and kill Tim a few times… BUT STILL! You desecrate my brother before me, and while I'm glad little Timmy won't be a virgin for much longer because it means he'll finally get that perpetual stick out of his ass, I DID NOT NEED TO SEE IT!"

Oh gods. Oh gods, Conner had went through the wrong bloody window. Mortified, Tim's face went beat red. Then, the second half of Jason's words registered.

"You think this is the first time we've done this?" Conner, the dumbass, had to open his mouth.

Jason let out a high pitched squeal and renewed his shaking.

"Nope, nope. I'm not hearing this, I'm not here, this is a nightmare. A really vivid, really twisted nightmare," Jason chanted the words like a prayer. Then, pausing, Jason looked up. "Wait, the clone has dicked you down before and you're still an insufferable prick half the time?"

"I am not an 'insufferable prick'!" Tim denied, offended. "And, how do you know I'm not the one who tops?"

In response, Jason took one look at Tim, took another long look at Conner, then looked back at Tim with a single raised eyebrow.

"I will not stand for these accusations and this blasphemy!" Tim cried.

Conner blinked.

"But Tim, you like-"

Tim interrupted Conner by placing a hand over the clone's mouth. "Shh!"

Jason groaned again, burying his face back between his knees.

"This is punishment. I know it is!" Jason exclaimed. Then, looking up again, Jason glared straight at Conner. "You are using protection, right?"

Conner spluttered.

"Of course we are!" Conner said, offended.

Tim nodded his assessment, pulling out a Pokémon card from his pocket. "We've been completely safe." Tim informed his brother with a straight face.

Hey, if the secret was gonna come out of the damn bag, Tim was going to make the fucking most of it, thank you very much.

Jason stared at him for several seconds before, yet again, burying his face into his thighs and screaming incoherently.

23. Fics you wanted to write but didn’t

I wanna write a Star Wars Legends/Star Wars Sequel trilogy mash up

And a TimKonBart series

Hm

21. Most memorable comment/review?

Anything by ChaosSonic2018. Mostly cause they leave long detailed comments everywhere, although I just double checked and they have apparently deleted their account? This a tragedy-

Send me a fanfiction ask?

[kdenbibi]

Endless Chapter 5

Damian Wayne x Reader (x various)

Summary:Some questions are answered, some questions arise.

Warnings: Slight language, war flashbacks to Discowing

Authors Note: Yeet, hope ya like it

Tag List: @mirajanestrauss1999

I walked into the small coffee shop, shaking the snow from my beanie as I trudged towards the very back, my long winter jacket fluttered from the speed I was walking, I silently thanked the Lord they had the heater blasting in here.I peeled off the coat, tossing it in the empty booth in the back I'd been instructed to snag.  I tried my best not to let my nerves show, although to be fair I was meeting a complete stranger all by my lonesome, unfortunately Jon got an urgent call and had to bail, he seemed pretty hesitant to leave but after some reassurance that I'd be okay he dipped. Seconds felt like hours as I waited for the guy to show, my fingers drummed down on the worn down surface to the beat of the Christmas song softly drifting throughout the shop. The cheery atmosphere did nothing to quell the anxiety in my stomach, if the smell of cinnamon in the air and overall warmth the cafe provided couldn't help, then yeah I was definitely nervous. I tugged off my knit beanie, and attempted to smooth out the serious case of hat hair I had going on, thankfully, I braided my hair earlier so the loose curls sticking out looked on purpose, my fingers, now bored with the drumming, toyed with the ends of braid as a means of distraction. I felt my eye wander from the homely decorations hung up and around the walls, to watching the world go by through the window. I took in the sight, the snow had finally started to come down in Gotham so people were bundled up almost comically, and despite it being  below 40° outside, they went about their lives as usual, whenever new folks paid our city a visit, they were always perplexed at Gothamites abilities to ignore the freezing temperatures. I have to admit as sweet as the snow falling was to watch, hands down my favorite thing about this time of year was the city's tradition to string up what looked to be a million Christmas lights above and through downtown, making the usual dim, dark, nights much brighter. I was so in my thoughts I jumped at the sudden body very casually-and very loudly I might add- sliding into the booth across from me, I ended up slamming my knees into the table so hard the salt and pepper shakers knocked over. I whispered a curse under my breath as I rubbed at my newly bruised knee, and before I could roast the unwanted stranger, my head snapped up to see a familiar grin. "Yikes- that sounded like it hurt, you okay kid?" "Besides needing new kneecaps? Yeah just peachy - thanks for asking strange grown man." Said random man gave a warm laugh at my response, I took in his appearance, trying to gage if he was a threat or not, I could tell even sitting down the guy had a few good inches on me, he was wrapped in a brown bomber jacket, underneath was a crisp white shirt just asking to be stained by the grease that came with living here. He simply smiled while I analysed him, familiarity pinged in my head once I laid eyes on him grin. I scanned over his facial features, trying my damnedest to figure out where the hell I knew him from, his eyes were almost the same shade of electrifying  blue as Jon's, his hair fell in tufts of black waves, the few scattered snowflakes atop the waves made the black stand out even more.

All I got from my mini evaluation was this guy was hot, but I wasn't about to lower my defenses because of it.

He broke the silence before I could, suddenly looking confused as he glanced around the building. "Hey I thought you were gonna bring a friend? Or are they just hiding out in a vent waiting to ambush me if things go bad?" He joked, and just like that I remembered why I was even here. "Holy shit you're Ni- you're here." He nodded, the goofy grin ever present.My voice cracked mid sentence, I managed to stop myself from basically screaming 'Well butter my biscuits it's Nightwing! In the flesh!' and cleared my throat trying not to show the heat of embarrassment steadily creeping up my neck. "He uh- had to cancel actually, but don't worry I have a plan in case you turn out to be a weirdo." He laughed again, not taking any offense to my sort of threat. "Smart girl." He leaned back against the booth, thumbing through the menu like we were just two buddies catching up over coffee."I wonder if they serve any food, I'm starving.” He waved over the waitress grabbing himself a coffee, "Want something?" I responded still staring at the man confusion plastered across my face."Coco please." After a few moments of silence he spoke, clearly amused.

"You okay over there?"

"What no, wait I mean yeah why- why wouldn't I be." I internally cringed at my answer, he gave me a look which said he didn't but it, but the conversation dropped there.He filled the time spent waiting for our orders with casual stories about his day job as a police officer and how crazy it could be."Moral of the story, don't try to drive after your eyes have been dilated." I nodded, still, if not more nervous than I was earlier, a part of me felt like I should have been taking notes, he sighed into his palm, a smaller smile on his lips. "What is it? Do I have something on my face?" He picked up the dingy napkin dispenser, attempting to look at himself in the just barely reflective surface. I couldn't help the snort from escaping my mouth. "Nah I'm just trying to wrap my head around," I gestured to him with a wave of my hand. "- all this." He put down the dispenser with a smile. "It's pretty weird huh?" "Just a little." I laughed out pinching my fingers together. "I mean you're so - normal." Just then the waitress brought us our orders,He laughed into the coffee mug, taking a long sip before responding. "Well what did you think we did all day, work on our outfits and plan witty comebacks?" I paused before nodding. He sighed, rubbing his temple, "I can't speak for everyone but I happen to be a very normal guy- mostly." "Well 'normal guy' I gotta get your name cuz’ I'm running out of things to call you." He stuck out his hand,"Richard Grayson at your service, but my friends call me Dick." I took his outstretched palm with a firm shake. "Those don't sound like very good friends,” I joked “ I'm (Y/n) (L/n)." After half my drink was gone and the atmosphere was much lighter than earlier, a question popped up in my mind. "Let me ask you a question Dick." "Shoot." "Why'd you come here- you know, out of your whole 'sparkly' get up." He squinted at me, wiping his face before pointing a finger at my face. "First of all it is not 'sparkly', and let me tell you I know sparkly, one version of the costume had a very, very deep v-neck, I'm talking uncomfortable to look at deep, trust me this is an upgrade." I laughed, nearly chocking on my drink as I pictured him in the world's deepest v-neck, I wiped at my mouth with the back of my sleeve, the nerves finally leaving once I realized he was really just a normal dude.

Well a normal dude who kicks ass in tights at night but that's besides the point.

"Okay well that still doesn't tell me why you showed up all not-clad-in-skin-tight-kevlar. Aren't secret identities kind a big deal for y'all spandex junkies?" "Well yeah, but like I said before, you're a good kid, so I'm not all that worried." He leaned forward, a hopeful smile on his face. "Besides, there's gotta be trust between the people you work with- if you'd like to join us spandex junkies that is." I smiled at the man, a new wave of warmth spread through me as he spoke, I mentally paused, searching for any kind of hesitancy from my gut but all I got was a 50/50 ratio of nerves and excitement. "I'm listening, although I can't promise I'll squeeze myself into anything uncomfortable, even if it looks good." "Duly noted." He laughed. We spent the next hour shooting questions back and forth, most of his were unsurprisingly about what I could and could not do.

Mine were mostly about the tights.

By now the sun had set but there were still plenty of people walking about, apparently the threat of crime wasn't about to deter their Christmas shopping. "So what made you change your mind? About calling me that is?" He asked pulling me from my thoughts. I pulled on the sleeves of my shirt out of habit. "Something happened at the bank the other day-" "Wait, that mysterious hero was you?" "Yes and no," I gave a dry laugh "-anyway something..uh new happened with my powers and I figured if anyone could help me it be a dude who spends all his time around other people like me, can't exactly learn about this in chemistry class ya know?" He nodded with a warm smile, before his face shifted into something more of determination, "Look, I'll be honest here, personally I can't relate to the whole 'ooky spooky abilities' deal but I know a few people who do, and we'd all be willing to help." I gave him a soft smile, a warm feeling of appreciation swelled in my chest. "Thank you- I mean it really, I have no idea where it comes from- or what the full extent of it is." I huffed leaning back into the seat. "It sure be nice not to worry about it any more." "Again, like I said, it's kind of our job to help and protect. So it's not a problem kiddo." 

This felt like a moment from those sappy films where the older sibling figure ruffles the younger ones hair affectionately, but it wasn't.

Because if he tried it, I'd stab his hand with my fork out of reflex.

"So what's the plan here, am I gonna meet up with you in your secret lair and practice?" He chuckled out a no before continuing. "Not exactly, I'll have to finalize things with the big guy and when everything's ready we'll come to you." "Big guy?" He looked at me questioningly, a small smirk curling on his lips, waiting for me to come to my own conclusion. "Oh shit you mean Batman oh. OH." He shushed me with a laugh looking around at the other patrons before turning back to me. "Don't worry he's not at scary as everyone thinks." "Are you shitting me? Hell no." I shook my head with an uneasy laugh."He's on the Babadooks level- He's on that Freddy .vs. Jason level of scary." He barked out a laugh before pulling out the money to cover our bills. "Trust me kid, you'll do fine." "What if he doesn't like me? What if I don't make the cut and he throws me out a six story window?"

"That's oddly specific and-" he looked around for the sake of dramatics and whispered. "You didn't hear this from me, but if it'll make you feel better, you won't be dealing with him much." "Wait- who will I be dealing with then?" He winced out a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck."See now I really can't tell you that."I pouted at the older man,"Dude! You said it yourself, there should be trust between people working together, don't contradict yourself Richard." I spoke with grin. "Damnit you got me there." He snapped his fingers together before leaning in "Okay but I'm only telling you because I think you deserve a warning." My brows shot up in concern at that. "Why would I need a warning exactly?" "Well, you remember that kid I had to stop from turning you to mincemeat?" "Yeah sure, I remember the goblin." He said nothing else, calmly sipping his mug, eyes cast away from me, making me realize exactly who he meant. "Shit."

Damian POV

I easily dodged Jon's incoming fist, his stance was wrong and his punches were sloppy, he was distracted by something. I used this to land a firm kick to the back of his exposed knee, bringing him down with a wince worthy thud.My heel pressed into the center of his back as I leaned down to the struggling teenager, the pressure increased on his back the lower I went. After realizing he wasn't getting up any time soon he tapped on the mat twice, signaling his defeat. "You're terrible at this you know." I offered him a hand after he managed to roll onto his back, he scoffed at me but took my offer, pulling himself into a standing position."Well yeah, thats the whole point of you training me." He rolled his shoulders before setting his feet in the proper position. He motioned at me to come at him, I simply walked towards the nearest bench and took a seat. "Aw come on Damian! You told me to come home and train but you won't even-" "You are distracted, in a real fight that would kill you." I spoke before taking a short sip from my water bottle. "Sort yourself out Jonathan." I watched the boy from the corner of my eye, his face was furrowed in frustration, I could tell he was losing his cool, it brought a smirk to my face. "I'm not distracted-" "You and I both know I'm not wrong, so talk, spew your problems like some prepubescent child, if it'll get your mind in the game."He sighed plopping down to sit on the slightly worn down mat, "I'm just a little worried about (y/n)-" "Why is there an update?" I spoke up interrupting him. He shook his head no. "Besides what happened at the bank? Nothing, I would have told you." He spoke that last line with a hint of bitterness, when I first told him to get intel on the girl, he was completely against the idea. My mind flashed to that first initial morning where they walked off together, a plan had came to my head to get the information I needed without doing much of anything. As the week progressed, I'd ask the Kryptonian if anything interesting happened with her, hoping she'd share with the boy, but unfortunately for me, he began to catch on. "Damian, can I ask you something?" "You just did but fine, go ahead." We sat at our usual lunch table, the everyday chaos of high school chatter blended our conversation into the background. "Why are you so curious about (y/n)?" I looked up from my book to meet his suspicious gaze."Is it wrong to be curious, Kent?" His leaned into his hand, the puzzlement in his eyes never faltering."No there's nothing wrong with that! its just, you don't really take interest in, well anything." I stared at him unimpressed. "No offense! I meant normal teenage stuff, like I only ever see you talk to a few people here, and whenever we talk it's about her." I won't lie, his intellect surprised me, but I didn't let it show. "She's seems like a nice person is all." I watched as his suspicion fell and the smile on his face grow into something mischievous. "So would you say she'd make a good friend?" My face scrunched in confusion."What?- sure yes if it'll shut you up." And with that he suddenly rose before making his way across the cafeteria, to my dismay he came back with the girl in question. (Y/n) looked between us, clearly just as confused as I was."Are you gonna tell me what was so urgent or keep me standing here like boo boo the fool?" "Damian wanted to know if you would sit with us for lunch!" Our eyes met, her's skeptical, mines more surprised than angry that the little shit had it in him to do this. I realized she was waiting for my confirmation, obviously not buying what Jon said. "If you want." I spoke after clearing my throat. An uneasy smile made it's way on her face before she sat down across from me, Jon took the seat next to her."Uh thanks? I mean this is uhm, nice of you and all but why?" Jon spoke for me. "Well we were just talking about how Damian here doesn't have many friends-" I kicked his shin hard under the table, but it only hurt my foot, I held back a wince and the urge to rub my now pulsing appendage. 'Boy of steel, right, I forgot.' Jon looked to me with a smirk before continuing."-and I was telling him all about how you're so nice and cool and yeah, here we are." She looked at me with a smirk stretched across her full lips, a perfectly arched brow rose in question, "That's surprising, who wouldn't wanna be friends with someone as charming and kindhearted as pretty boy over here?" The sarcasm was practically dripping from her voice.Jon, either too oblivious to notice or too excited to care, ignored this. "Great to hear! Well how was everyone's day?" Neither of us answered too busy in a stare off, I tried to analyze her, and she stared right back, refusing to step down from this unspoken glare contest. Jon interrupted us with a cough. "Well my day was great thanks for asking." She turned away to look at the taller boy, her expression much more friendly than the look she gave me. "Sorry, his whole 'children of the corn' thing going on is pretty distracting." she pointed her thumb back motioning to me, "-what'd you do today anyway?" He went on to list all the miniscule things he achieved before lunch. I half listened to their conversation, mostly focused on the novel I had, occasionally chiming in whenever I felt it necessary. Just like that the lunch period was over, and it was time to head back to reality.(Y/n) looked to me before she left, a half smile on her face, I was surprised it was directed at me and not the younger boy by my side. "You're not so bad Wayne, when you aren't talking that is." I smirked at the girl, slapping my novel shut with one hand."I'll admit, the brief moments your mouth was shut were rather nice." She laughed off my insult with a wave of her hand, before returning to her group to finish their day.

When the school day crawled to an end, and I was driving Jon and myself back to the manor, it occurred to me the boy in my passenger seat wasn't one to be easily fooled, it also occurred he may already know of her abilities and is acting stupid to throw off my questioning. I decided to sidestep all the bullshit of my original plan and straight out ask him. "Let's not beat around the bush Jonathan, has (y/n) told you anything strange about herself?" He snapped his head up, away from his phone to stare at me. "Pardon me?" I rolled my eyes at his act. "You know? Her powers, what has she told you of them?" "She has powers?" He practically screamed, I resisted the urge to slam the car into the traffic surrounding me and took a deep breath. "I'd appreciate it if you refrained from screaming like a banshee in my car." I spoke with a roll of my eyes, god the more time I spent with this kid the more I saw the inside of my head."You can drop the act, I know of her powers already." "I didn't!" He yelled, deflating in his seat."You're kidding me right?" He didn't answer."I'll take that as a no then, TT." He groaned tossing his hands up in the air, clearly distraught. The rest of the car ride was silent, him no doubt letting the information sink in. It wasn't until days later did we speak again, after he returned home rather late, looking like he'd been kicked down a flight of stairs. I sipped at the tea steaming in my cup as he sat down at the table, rubbing at his neck, exhaustion clear in his body language. "What's up with you?" His tired eyes lifted to meet mine. He hesitated before speaking, having some sort of internal debate on whether or not to tell me. "Something happened today, something with (y/n)." He gave me a very rough explanation, not wanting to delve into the details too much, before trying to head up to bed, I grabbed his arm stopping him in his tracks. "You saw what happened today, it could get worse if she doesn't get help, but she won't listen to me, so you have to do it." "What- me? I don't even know what you're saying." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at the kid before speaking again. "You're her friend, it should be easy to get some information about the extent of her abilities and bring it back to me." He scoffed at me, "I wouldn't deceive her like that- I wouldn't deceive anyone like that!" "You wouldn't be deceiving anyone, you'd simply be using your friendship to gain information for the greater good." I responded with a shrug."It would feel wrong, I don't wanna use her." "No one said you'd use her, you can still keep up that happy go lucky friendship shit once you tell me what I need." "That's not how friendships work." He chewed on the nail of his thumb, deep in thought. I continued, placing a hand on his shoulder. "As a hero, it's your responsibility to protect the public from any threats, or any potential threats." I used my Robin voice, the tone I used to talk to civilians, commanding but nonthreatening, trying to get it through his thick head."She's not a threat." He looked conflicted as he spoke. "Any unregistered meta is a threat, hell me and you both are threats. Power in the wrong hands is never a good thing." "Well it's not in the wrong hands, she saved those people today!-" "Prove it to me, show me she's not a threat and I'll drop it." We stared at one another in silence before he nodded, a fire in his eyes.

"Deal."

I was brought back to the present when he moved to stand, stretching out his body."I think I'm good now, you ready for round two?" I placed the water bottle down before rising, I walked until I was an arms reach away from him, "Let's see if Kryptonian's are all their hyped up to be."

After a good two hours of sparring (aka me tossing him on his ass in many different ways) and getting an idea of what he could do and handle, we called it a day. We made our way up from the cave, into the empty kitchen, he grabbed two water bottles from the fridge, tossing one to me before sitting down at the table.I nodded as thanks and pressed the cold bottle against my warm skin, sure the kid couldn't fight for shit but he was resilient as hell. I leaned against the counter, the cold of the marble bringing some relief to my overheated body. "What had you so worked up earlier anyway?" I asked breaking the silence that had fallen over us as we tried to catch our breaths. He finished patting his face with a towel before speaking."Oh it's nothing serious, I was supposed to go with her to meet someone but she texted me everything's going smoothly." "Why would she need you there?"

Thankfully he learned early on not to take my bluntness to heart, so he replied with a smile.

"I mean who wants to meet some hardcore vigilante all by themselves?" My head snapped up so fast it startled the younger boy. "She's doing what?" He grimaced at me, a nervous smile on his lips. "Meeting up with a vigilante to discuss her powers?" He spoke as more of a question than an actual answer.I felt the urge to slam my hand to my forehead, or alternatively his head into the cabinet. "It just occurred to you to share this with me now?" 

My voice was rising, I couldn't believe the amount of stupidity bottled up into one human. "Hey in my defense I thought you knew! I mean it is Nightwing, you guys are cool right? You have nothing to worry about!." His eyes shifted from me to the doorway, as he inched towards it, his voice had gone up a few good octaves in fear. He held up his hands like he expected me to throw something his way, a good chunk of me thought that wouldn't be a bad idea. I paused, racking my brain for answers to all the questions I had, why would Dick go see her? Why didn't I know about it? Why was I not strangling Jon right now? So many questions with no answers. I looked up to ask him for any other withheld information only to see his body quickly disappearing down the hallway.

"I'm sorry I'm running but you're way too freaky to be around when you're mad!" He yelled over his shoulder, it echoed throughout the hallway. I had now two options, call Dick, demand an explanation and hope he'll give it to me, or take my anger out on my housemate and then call dick.

Option two sounded much more fun, and besides, a quick throw off the balcony would test his flight skills.

[wbwest]

New Post has been published on WilliamBruceWest.com

New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/08/25/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-82517/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 8/25/17

  In movie news, there was quite the controversial casting this week, as the color lines blurred for some comic book adaptations. First up, it was announced that English actor Ed Skrein would be portraying Japanese character Ben Daimio in the upcoming Hellboy reboot. Now, according to what I’ve read, Daimio’s Japanese heritage heavily influences the character, so this whitewashing of the character doesn’t seem to be in the best interest of the character. I mean, after the problems with whitewashing in Doctor Strange, Ghost in the Shell, Aloha, The Great Wall, and Ni’ihau, you’d think Hollywood would avoid shit like this. Yes, movies are made to make money, but it’s not like Skrein is a bankable star worth slotting into the role, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Usually this is done for the film’s STARS. Damon, Johansson, Stone. This is a secondary character, so it really wouldn’t have hurt them to seek out an Asian actor. Normally I’m just like “Well, Hollywood’s gonna Hollywood”, but this decision just doesn’t make a ton of sense.

Next up, 24: Legacy’s Anna Diop has been cast as Starfire in Warner Bros’ Titans series, slated to air on DC’s upcoming digital service. Some folks are saying they should’ve cast a Latina, but she’s gonna either be painted or CGied in orange, so it’s not like it’s gonna matter at the end of the day. Personally, if they wanted authenticity, I think they should’ve cast an actual orange alien princess. Right now there are just too many unknowns for me to get excited about this. I mean, DC announced the digital service without a lot of information. What’s gonna be on it? What will it cost? How much of the DC library will be available to be housed on it? As for Titans, this is the show TNT passed on. Ya know, the home of such illustrious shows as The Librarians and The Last Ship. I mean, they’re basically just about a notch up from what we got in the 90s from Universal’s Action Pack lineup. If Titans couldn’t fit anywhere on that schedule, then it probably just isn’t “ready for primetime” yet.

Speaking of aimless Warner Bros decisions, they announced 2 different Joker movies this week. First up is an origin tale, directed by Todd Phillips of Old School fame, and produced by Martin Scorsese. Hmm, one of those things is not like the other. I mean, why would Scorsese touch something helmed by the dude who gave us Road Trip? And who even WANTS a Joker origin story? First of all, it’s reportedly not even going to be part of the DCEU, so why confuse the audience with a story that won’t even really “count” in the grand scheme of things? Nobody needs a standalone origin of a take on a character they’ll likely never see again. This is just as foolish as Sony’s Don’t-Look-For-Spider-Man-To-Appear Venom movie. Next, the guys behind This Is Us (SO hot right now!) and Crazy, Stupid, Love are working on a Bonnie & Clyde-style Joker and Harley film, with Jared Leto and Margot Robbie reprising their roles from Suicide Squad. Since this would sort of negate the empowerment that Harley gained by the end of Squad, it’s believed that this actually means that the planned Gotham City Sirens film, also slated to star Robbie, is now dead. Honestly, I could do without either of these movies. I found Leto’s take on Joker to be…interesting, but Less is More with that character. Plus, I don’t really think the DCEU would be strengthened by this sort of movie. It’s not the world-building they need to be doing right now, as they haven’t even figured out the core of their star characters like Batman and Superman yet.

In TV news, Christopher Sebela’s comic Heartthrob has been optioned as a TV series by Felix Culpa – a production company launched by actress/Elvis’s granddaughter Riley Keough. Now, comics are optioned every day, and the final product never comes to fruition, but I hope this series sees the light of day. I’m actually a big fan of the comic, which is published by Oni Press. Set in the late 70s, it focuses on Callie, who’s received a heart transplant while the process is still in its infancy. Given a new lease on life, but still told she’s basically living on borrowed time, she decides to change her life when she meets Mercer, a charming guy with a shady side. She immediately falls for him, and he teaches her how to be bad, like rob banks and commit other crimes. She gets off on the rush. Pretty soon, however, she realizes that Mercer isn’t real. No, he’s actually the ghost of the guy whose heart is now in Callie. So, it’s a Bonnie & Clyde story where Clyde’s calling the shots from the afterlife. The book is published in “seasons”, so the first 5-issue miniseries wrapped up back in early 2016, while season 2 is hitting stores now. If you’re looking for a new comic not from the Big Two, I highly recommend it.

In music news, Taylor Swift did a whole social blitz to announce that her next album would be called Reputation, and would be released Nov 10th. On top of that, the first single was released last night, with rumors that the video will premiere at Sunday’s MTV Video Music Awards. Ya know, the same awards hosted my Taylor’s enemy Katy Perry. Yeah, that should be pretty interesting to watch. Anyway, the new song is called “Look What You Made Me Do”, and I’m not too impressed. It lacks a real hook, while the chorus itself is basically spoken. I feel like it has all the ingredients for a great song, but it’s not living up to its full potential. If this is an indicator of what to expect on Reputation, though, I’ll admit I’m curious. It can’t be worse than Perry’s Witness.

Speaking of Katy Perry, we got the premiere of her video for “Swish Swish”, which was reportedly her diss track against Taylor Swift. After a lot of backtracking and sucking up, though, it seems Katy wants to put that feud behind her. That’s why this horrible video does everything it can to take the bite out of a song that was never really that biting to begin with. I mean, just look at it – Molly Shannon? Terry Crews? Even Nicki Minaj was clearly CGied in, as I’m sure she didn’t wanna be anywhere near this shitshow. The sad thing about the Perry/Swift feud is that Katy bailed on it the minute she realized the Swifties were a more powerful lobby than she had thought. Nobody was feeling her SNL performances, and Witness didn’t exactly fly off the shelves. She realized that she can’t really survive by making enemies, so suddenly she became conciliatory to save her ass. Plus, it’s kinda lame that this blood feud started just because Taylor stole a few of Katy’s dancers for her tour. Anyway, you’ll never get those 6 minutes back. You’re welcome.

I had the pleasure of joining my buddy Zac for his new podcast, The Zac Shipley Show. He’s treating these first few episodes as pilots for ideas he’s wanted to try, so our ep was called Streaming Pile, where we talked about the worst things we could find on streaming services. I talked about a Star Trek: Voyager episode where formerly perky pixie Kes returns all middle-aged and bitter. You should check it out, and give a listen to his other episodes while you’re there!

Song of the Week

I’ve been a big Maren Morris fan since she released “My Church”, and I was really into her next single, “80s Mercedes”. With this song she continues not to disappoint, as I love the groove on this thing. Listen to the bassline. It’s not a dance song, yet you can do a MEAN two-step to it. Hell, I think you could even do a casual version of The Hustle to it. This will definitely go to #1 given time.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

NBC’s planned reboot of Xena: Warrior Princess – which would’ve featured a full-on lesbian relationship between her and Gabrielle – is officially dead, as they said “it didn’t warrant a reboot”. Man, if only other studios would realize this about some of their projects…

Director James Gunn mentioned in a Q & A session that the 3rd Guardians of the Galaxy film would set up the next 10-20 years of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Yup, you’re just now realizing your own mortality. I’ll give you a minute to deal with that.

Speaking of Gunn, he’s attached to write the pilot for (and possibly direct) a reboot of 70s series Starsky & Hutch. This adaptation is supposed to be similar in tone to CBS’s upcoming S.W.A.T. and not comedic in tone like the 2004 Ben Stiller & Owen Wilson movie.

Surprising every critic in Hollywood, Netflix has renewed the maligned comedy Friends From College for a second season.

Known for controversial publicity stunts, Alamo Drafthouse is reportedly organizing a Clowns Only screening of the new adaptation of Stephen King’s It.

We got a new poster for Thor: Ragnarok. So many colors!

Michael K. Williams has reportedly been cut from the Star Wars Han Solo film, as Ron Howard’s reshoot schedule conflicted with another role that Williams had accepted.

There are, like, 8 different Knight Rider reboot treatments floating around Hollywood, but the latest rumor is that one of those productions is looking at John Cena as Michael Knight, with Kevin Hart as the voice of K.I.T.T. Of course, it would be a comedic adaptation, a la the popular Jump Street franchise.

Super Troopers 2, the sequel to one of the most overrated films I’ve ever seen, will hit theaters April 20th, 2018.

Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson will star in Nasty Women, which is a female-led reboot of the Michael Caine/Steve Martin classic Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Independence Day: Resurgence‘s Jessie T Usher will star in Son of Shaft, with Samuel L. Jackson potentially reprising his role as John Shaft (from the 2000 reboot film), the nephew of the original John Shaft, played by Richard Roundtree, who is also in talks to join the movie. Man, that gave me a headache.

Always on the cutting edge, here’s Sesame Street’s parody of 2017’s song of the summer, “Despacito”

According to the creators, the Netflix series Stranger Things will most likely end after its fourth season

The actress formerly known as “Andrea Zuckerman”, Gabrielle Carteris, has been re-elected to a 2-year term as the President of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)

Ryan Gosling will host the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, with musical guest Jay-Z, on Sept 30th.

Jamie Bell is developing a Jumper TV series, based on the 2008 film about teleporters

Suicide Squad 2 is reportedly being fast tracked, but I hope they fast track it right into the garbage. I mean, I enjoyed the first one, but I don’t need a sequel.

I like Nick Kroll, even though I never saw even a second of Kroll Show. Anyway, he’s got a new animated series about puberty called Big Mouth coming to Netflix and after watching this teaser I am ON BOARD!

We’re a month away from the premiere of Star Trek: Discovery, and it was revealed that it will be rated TV-MA, for Mature Audiences. Now, it doesn’t mean there’ll be tits and phasers, but it does mean they can tell more complex stories. That said, I still feel like they don’t truly understand the source material.

After a scathing essay from his ex-wife went public, accusing him of adultery and other generally shitty behavior to women, Joss Whedon went underground and the fan site, Whedonesque, shut down after 15 years.

We got a new teaser for Netflix’s The Punisher. With the rate I’m getting through these Marvel shows, I’ll probably get to it just before Evie goes off to Hogwarts.

There was a national solar eclipse this week, which was the first occurrence since 1918. I’m sure you might’ve heard something about it. It was kind of a big deal. Folks were pimping out special cardboard glasses on Craigslist for insane amounts of money, and the American President made news by looking directly into it. It seems that it had a strange effect on different folks. For example, Netflix viewership went down 10% as people went outside to view the phenomenon. Not everyone understood what was going on, bless their hearts. At work, a frantic parent called in and said “Y’all watching the news? You hear about this eclipse? Is it serious?!” Apparently she thought it posed some sort of danger to her kids and the school. No, ma’am. It’s just a beautiful sky ballet. Anyway, the eclipse was EVERYWHERE. I didn’t get to see totality, but it was still nice to stand outside for a bit on a nice day. What am I saying? I hate the outdoors! Well, it was nice to not have to work for a few minutes. You couldn’t escape the Eclipse Fever at the start of the week, so that’s why the Solar Eclipse of 2017 had the West Week Ever.

[tangyliterotica-blog]

Harley Quinn story excerpt?

This is an excerpt from a Harley Quinn story I was toying around with. The concept is that she becomes infatuated with one of Joker’s expendable henchmen–one she names Long Jon–and eventually seduces him, much to Jon’s conflicted apprehension. The following scene would take place right after “consummation”: ********** “You got it all over my welcome mat, ya silly goose!” Harley chortled, patting the curled tuft of pubes framing her throttled, drippy gash. “You’re a terrible shot!” she continued to guffaw as her fingers danced in the pool of his warm goo that had collected around her muff. “I’m sorry, Miss Harley,” he said, scrambling for a rag or something to clean the mess. He looked adorably helpless, shuffling around with his pants around his ankles.

“DON’T CALL ME ‘MISS HARLEY’!” she barked. “I’m not some uptight school administrator with a ruler up her ass.” Suddenly, an epiphany broadsided her skull and her brow arched, intrigued. “Unless, you want to roleplay a little? I could be the authoritarian headmistress of a Catholic school and you can be my frightened ward. You in your little schoolboy shorts… oh, it would be sooo cute! I could beat you with a ruler and you could cower into a trembling mess in a broom closet. The thought of it is making my kitty drool! What d’ya say, Jonny boy?!” Jonny threw up his hands, resigned to his fate. “Miss Qui–” Her eyes shot daggers into him. He firmed up, smoothly dodging the verbal land mine. “Harley… I’m in a ‘damned if I do and damned if I don’t’ kinda moment here. You got me over a barrel.” Momentarily lost, Harley pondered for a second, deep in thought until finally coming to a revelation. “Are you sayin’ you want me to fuck you in the ass?” She was torn between confusion and hope. Jonny’s eyes bulged as he leapt forward with flat palms. “Nooo! No, I really don’t want that, with all due respect… Harley.” She frowned, slumping forward with disappointment before snapping back into enthusiastic excitement. “So then you wanna bend me over a barrel and fuck me in the ass?!” He was at a loss, dancing on the rim of a volcano on the verge of eruption. He shrugged, throwing up his hands once more. Doomed. “You’re the boss, boss. But If this is some kinda joke, and Mister J is gonna pop out of the shadows, gun in hand, then I’m ready to die.” Harley’s nose wrinkled. “Die?” she chuckled. “Die? What good would that massive balloon animal in your pants be worth to me if you were dead? You’re like a Christmas present that keeps on fucking me, regardless of the holiday! You’re like a nice cozy pair of jammy jams that make me cream my girl undies.” Jonny’s mind was scrambled, torn between emotions. Most of all he was confused and she could tell. She sighed. “Okay, let me try again with the analogy circus. Something easier to understand. Okay, my girl parts are like a beach during war-time: your little soldier boys–” she remarked, pointing at his crotch. “–are washing ashore on my beachhead by the millions, most of them dead. There’s a lot of moisture involved, a smattering of blood here and there; moans and groans galore, the occasional calls for 'Mommy!’. You know, the fun stuff!” He didn’t get it but couldn’t let her on. He nodded, feigning the brilliance of her analogy. “Ohhh, I get it now. Nice imagery there, Missus Q.” She flipped a switch, fuming again. “Don’t… call me… Missus Q.” she hissed through grinding teeth. He cowered back. “So then, what do I call ya? What’s a safe name?” Harley one-eighty‘d, a mischievous grin crawling onto her face as she sauntered up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, her face mere inches from his. “I want you ta call me ‘Kitty’. From now on you’re callin’ me ‘Kitty’, like, you know, my–” her eyes darted to the nest between her legs. Jonny nodded, feigning accordance but still gripped with fear, his face a mask of bewildered dread. “Okay. I guess–I guess I can call you that,” he stammered. “Because you’re gonna be fillin’ Kitty’s dish with warm milk whenever she’s hungry. You’re the Milkman now.“ Her smile suddenly warped–as did the rest of her–into a ball of quivering, controlled rage. “But if I ever see you crotch to crotch with Gotham’s other ‘kitty cat’, then I’m gonna disembowel you, organize your parts in alphabetical order and send them to random people I pick out of the phone book, understand?” He dutifully shook his head, believing her every word. She beamed once more, ever the fevered schizo. “Good! Now, what are your hands doing? They’re just hanging out there in the cold like a couple of hobos! They need to go home.” “Home?” he wondered aloud. “Home,” she offered like some guiding sage. The goon’s ability to follow was still amiss. She rolled her eyes before leaning in to his ear, whispering, “My ass.” The notion crawled into his mind and sat there. His hands apprehensively crept up behind her thighs as Harley looked over her shoulder, practically guiding them with her mind. “That’s it…” His muscled, glove-wrapped hands finally found their home on her rear end’s voluptuous, fleshy globes. However, his grip was weak; his paws clutched their prey in what was little more than a non-committal gesture rather than a fierce, spirited clench. She had to bear down on him, eye to eye. “They’re not delicate. I’m not a museum. Think of me more like a buffet. Get in there and take what’s yours.” With full permission, Jonny let his hands began to fondle her cheeks with the experienced fervor of a professional. Harley‘s eyes ballooned, unexpectedly taken by the strength of his curling digits. “Ooooohhh! You’re like a baker kneadin’ cookie dough right before he puts it in the oven! See, then you put your tray in my oven, we turn the dial up to maximum heat and bake the livin’ shit out of some cookies!” She threw herself on the befuddled goon and the duo collapsed on the dingy table behind him. ********** End scene **********

So, what do you guys think? Should I continue it? This would be sponsored by my erotic story Patreon.

I only spent maybe an hour or two screwing around with this so it’s in no way a finished product, just a proof of concept. Let me know!