#I know people who are sick and tired of people wanting Wally to come back | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

eyrieofsynapses · 3 years

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Alright, YJ peeps, listen up, because I’m sick and tired of seeing constant criticism lobbed at YJ for making Wally slower than his comic canon version, Barry and Bart. There’s a very good reason to do this—and it’s completely in Wally’s favor.

Let me preface this by saying that I sincerely love Wally’s comics. I am one hundred percent on board that Wally deserves to be recognized for the badass he is. His 90s comics established the most important elements of the Flash today. We wouldn’t have the Speedforce if it weren’t for him! It’s been defining the Flash for decades! He gets the short stick over and over. It only rubs salt in the wound that people believe Barry’s faster when it’s been stated repeatedly that Wally’s the fastest person in the DC universe. (There are few faster ways to piss me off than to say Barry’s a better Flash than Wally.)

But. But. YJ was incredibly clever when they made him slower. Why? Wally has to be more creative than Barry because he’s slower, showing his intelligence and building him up to be a better Flash. Don’t believe me? Take a close look at Bloodlines.

Barry and Impulse figure out how to foil Neutron’s first blast of energy on their own. But it’s Wally who figures out that Neutron’s about to release an even more deadly wave with the help of his goggles, which Barry immediately borrows. Wally hand-made his goggles to compensate for his lack of speed. He wouldn’t have had them if he were as fast as the other two. Nobody would’ve realized how much danger they were in, and everyone would have died.

While comic!Wally is definitely smart, he’s so powerful that as the Flash, he can often solve problems just with sheer power. He doesn’t have to be super clever about it most of the time. In YJ, this is true of both Barry and Bart. They can be clever, but they’re heavily reliant on their powers. YJ!Wally has to compensate for lack of power with intelligence. He diversifies his skillset, using a mixture of science, strategy, and superpowers to solve problems instead of relying on sheer force.

Wally isn’t just slower; he also can’t control his momentum. Barry and Bart can dissipate kinetic energy at will, while he has to find ways to get rid of it. But he turns it to his advantage.

Pay attention to how he fights. You’ll notice he often cannonballs into people and uses acrobatics instead of flat-out running. He can’t bombard someone with a rain of blows the same way, so he dodges and avoids close combat.

There’s a lot more to that, but in a nutshell: Wally’s fighting style is significantly more complex than Barry’s. I’m not saying Barry never uses those skills, but I can’t remember any time we saw him do it. Wally learned to do that on his own, and he figured out how to incorporate other people’s fighting styles into his repertoire. Remember the acrobatics? Who wants to bet he picked that up from Dick?

Which brings me to my next point: Wally works better with the Team not just because he grew up with them, but because he has to cooperate with others to make the best of his skills. Wally can’t just blaze through things. He has to conserve his energy and make the best of his speed. In the Team, they have to piece together where he’ll be the most effective. It forces him to stop and consider what he’s doing and how it’ll impact the overall picture, taming his impulsive behavior.

Think about his attitude in the pilot. He races on ahead, alerting the enemy to their presence and nearly getting himself killed. Over the course of the season, he learns stealth and patience, which we see repeatedly demonstrated in the last few episodes.

Back to Bloodlines for a moment. When Wally, Barry, and Bart initially show up to the disaster scene, Barry runs headlong into the danger. Bart follows him. Wally, however, stops to talk to the police captain and gather information about the situation. Barry and Bart join them afterward. They proceed to speed-talk at each other, coming up with a plan… and then instead of explaining it to Wally, they just tell him to follow their lead.

Barry and Bart were impulsive while he stopped to think. Wally was a better team player: the other two didn’t include him in their planning, thus missing crucial details and potentially putting him in danger.

Their plan works in the short-term. But when they think they’ve solved it, Wally takes a second look, analyzing the situation and double-checking that they’re finished. If they stopped ahead of time and took a moment to consider what was happening, they might’ve noticed the energy problem sooner and come up with a better solution.

Worst of all, Barry rushes in again to pull Neutron out the second time. He only survives because of Bart. Yes, it’s because they’re short on time, but again: this might’ve been prevented sooner if they thought things through.

What does it say that Wally patiently paid attention to detail and was more thoughtful than his experienced mentor?

Yes, some of this is stuff he might have learned with advanced speed. But would he really have to be so thoughtful about how he uses his abilities? Not likely.

Nor would he have incorporated science and gear into his skillset. Among other things, he knows how to make an EMP and recognizes where to apply it in Homefront. Dick’s their tech whiz, but Wally comes up with technological and scientific solutions that he can’t.

But Wally doesn’t only use science and technology in ways his uncle and cousin can’t or won’t. He thinks differently about problems.

In Bloodlines, Barry and Bart assume the coast is clear after they take down Neutron the first time. They only consider things within the vast range of their powers, assuming that covers everything. Wally thinks about what they can’t see. He’s more limited, so he’s learned to take every piece of a situation into account.

Basically: Wally is much more flexible than his faster counterparts. He adapts far better to adverse situations because he’s forced to make small-scale accommodations on a daily basis. Because of that, he’s able to come up with better solutions, work better in a team, and solve problems without his powers.

And may I remind all of you: YJ Wally GAVE HIMSELF HIS POWERS, but his comic version got them without effort! The Speedforce bestowed them on him without his involvement!

People, YJ!Wally is a goddamn genius prodigy. We forget it sometimes because of his early-on immaturity and his jokes, but seriously, Wally’s far and away one of the smartest people in the YJ universe. YJ Wally is a distinctively unique Flash character because of his wit and intelligence!

But guess what? Guess what the real cherry on top is? If they bring Wally back in the fourth season at a full speed, he’ll be the fastest and the wisest Flash. He’ll know how to apply his new powers in ways that the others would never think of. Because he’s spent so much time applying science to his abilities, he’ll know how to use his new powers in sync with it, whereas Bart and Barry won’t think on those levels.

Best of all, Wally’s the best team player. He’ll be incredible with both the original Team and anyone else he has to work with.

Think about it. A full-speed Flash with Wally’s technological brilliance, intelligence, observance, and teamwork skills? He’ll be unstoppable.

So please shut up about how YJ did Wally dirty. It’s a thousand times more interesting to watch him work out how to solve a problem rather than just solve it in a snap with his powers. If anything, YJ improved his character and made him better.

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Justice League: In Blackest Night Review: A Case Study in Why John Stewart is Awesome

Hello my Green Lantern Corps and happy black history month! And happy 40th Anniversary Year to John Stewart. And let’s get this out of the way now not the one replaced by trevor noah who handed Tucker Carlson his ass on television and got his show canceled, please do it again John i’d be greatful, and has a weird obession with how Pizza should be. No i’m of course talking about the Green Lantern, the third from earth and the second to headline the book itself, John Stewart. But to me.. he was my first Green Lantern and one that gave me a deep and abiding love of the Corps since all thanks to this very episode. It’s thanks to John I’m the green lantern loving nerd I am today and without him I probably wouldn’t of found Guy, Jessica, Simon, Alan, and Kyle not to mention got into the varoius other corps. It’s thanks to this episode I wanted to seek out these wonderful characters eventaully and in part why I got into JLI, one of my faviorite teams, among many ohter great things and books.

So quite obviously both this episode, which I haven’t seen in probably a decade, and John have a great place in my heart. And thus it warms said heart to FINALLY see John getting the recogntion he deserves: he’s going to be one of the starring roles in the upcoming HBO Max series, he was on Scott Snyder’s justice league, and he’s now going to be headlniing the main Green Lantern book going forward under writer Geoffry Throne, who like me was VERY sick of the Hal Jordan show the Green Lantern franchise could become at times, and also like me gave out about it a LOT. The fact DC hired him despite a very public and easily accesable record of him slagging of their use of Hal instead of him ESPECAILLY in the new 52 reboot aka why Cyborg is in the Justice League movie as Geoff kinda shoved hal in there despite John being a more sensible pick and doing so not only shoving the Martain Manhunter, who this show also gave me a deep lasting love for, out of the team but forcing Cyborg onto the team despite fitting with the titans better and, AGAIN there being a black green lantern and given the New 52 kept the history of there being multiple lanterns, no reason Hal could’ve been SECOND instead other than DanDiDio’s bitchy habit of EVERYTHING WAS BETTER ON MY EARTH that poisoined the company for a good decade before recently.

And yes I felt the need to rant about that, yes Green Lantern the animated series is still good mind you, I just got tired of bland white guy over “Really awesome, really layred especailly thanks to this series black guy”, “stubborn asshole white guy whose hilarious and has a heart underneath the layers of douchebag”, “creative and imaginative white guy who has as personality and really uses the ring in fun ways”, and more recently “A muslim superhero struggling with his past who’se also really energetic and fun and has an intresting family life” and “Latnix superheroine who struggles with anxiety and actually struggles with constructs and once she gets past that has very unique ones”. In other words, yeah I’m bitter because everyone else was more intresting than Hal, and it’s only in recent years with Jessica gaining promience and John regaining it that DC’s finally broke out of that and is actually using the intresting ones, and again without John I wouldn’t be a fan, so they had no real excuse to barely use him outside of the comics if at at all after a while.

So yeah as you can tell by that rant and by how specific it got for each lantern, this is one of my faviorite franchises, as said this episode is responsible and so for Black History Month I felt i’d be a huge mistake on my part if I DIDN’T cover my boy John and this episode and see how it held up. The fact it’s his 40th anniversary wasn’t something I was aware of, but now I am, expect more Johncentric episodes from Justice League sprinkled throughout the year to celebrate one of my first and possibly best GL.

Naturally before we get to the episode we have to get to the series itself. The series was launched as Batman Beyond was winding down. Bruce Timm wanted to keep the crew together, something I could empathize with since Owen Dennis and JG Quintel have ran into that same problem lately, with most of their crews drifting off during the gaps in production and Owen desperate to get the show renewed before he lost everybody. A good crew isn’t had to find in animation but KEEPING them for multiple shows or seasons can be. And there was one project the fans wanted more than anything: The Justice League. After all BOTH Batman and Superman had had tons of guest stars, especailly the latter, with Batman having Zantana show up and Superman having the Flash (Wally West), Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) and Aquaman all show up. There were seeds there.. but Timm was relcutant as he had trouble ballancing 2 or 3 heroes in a fight scene, wanting to keep them al lin focus so fans didn’t wonder where they were and they didnt’ have to cut back and forth, the idea of juggling 7 was daunting. So as Beyond was finishing production a few things happened: The first is that they did the episode The Call, focusing on a future version of the League, and while only a two parter, it showed Timm his crew might be able to juggle a team of heroes after all, and second was the pitches Timm made BEFORE justice league. Since Kids WB had been hteir partner for a while now they tried pitching both a batman anime, he did not provide many details, and in his own words a “Kidified” justice league, basically the justice leagued mashed with the titans including a female version of cyborg. It was the latter pitch, which was rejected by Kids WB, that finally convinced Timm they could do this, but if they did it couldn’t be half assed or having compromises. it had to be what it SHOULD be. So they went to somewhere new, if in the same family and asked cartoon network, who said...

And here we are. They took their time to work out the characters, apparently taking a lot of delbiration, mostly on which GL to go with, and if they were going to do a hawk wether to go for hawkman or hawkgirl. In the end the roster was the iconic big 7 one, in large part thanks to Grant Morrison taking that concept and reviving it in his run on the team, but shaking it up slightly: Barry was naturally replaced with Wally West flash as he was THE flash in the comics, gave a slightly younger member for the others to play off of, and was more popular.. something Dan DiDio plugged his ears and went LALALALALALAL about for a decade before FINALLY leaving the company so he could stop screwing with a character he hated for reasons that can be summed up as ‘MY FLASH IS BETTER. YOU’LL LIKE MY FLASH.. YOU’LL SEE I JUST HAVE TO MAKE THE OTHER ONE A MASS MURDERER.. THAT’LL SHOW YOU FOR NOT LIKING WHAT I LIKE”... I still have maybe a smidge of lingering issues over how wally was treated the last few years after his return. I do not apologize for htem or for doing a little dance when I found out Didio was gone.

Point is it wasn’t the only subsitution as Hal Jordan was replaced by John, obviously and rather than use Aquaman, they went with Hawkgirl, though Arthur still got an episode focusing on him fairly early into the series which has the iconic moment of him cutting his hand off to save his son. I dare you to find something more badass. Bruce both liked her deisgn better and felt it helped with the gender ballance.

So with all that set and with some growing pains to get through they had their show so join me under the cut to see how it turned out. Spoilers: It good.

We open INNNNNN SPACCCEEEEEEE, as a coaltion of neat looking aliens wants justice and has gone to a space court lead by three weird alien faces, likely inspiried by the kryptoian tribunal in the donnerverse superman movies, with their prosecutor sending a group of mysterious robots known as the Manhunters to go fetch the accused for a trial: John Stewart. Given he’s voiced by Kurtwood “Red Forman” Smith, i’m very surpised he didn’t order them to also put their foots up his ass. Maybe he’s saving it for the trial.

After the titles we cut to John himself whose in shades and trenchant for reasons.. I mean it looks neat, but he’s in his old neighborhood not hunting down his exes killer or trying to hide the fact he’s a ninja turtle. Why is he all disguised. I mean sure WE know people are coming from him and given what he thinks he did he knows.. but he has no intention of running from what he did. It’s just a weird stylistic choice. That said we do get a cool sequence when while casually walking he notices a robbery, and stops it simply by first stopping the wheel then levitating the car.. and while he does get a little showy shaking the guy upside down to return the money.. it’s all very controlled. It shows off how John works. While we’ve seen him at work as Green Lantern before this this small sequence says volumes about john in the span of a few minutes, showing that shilw he HAS immense power, he only uses the amount he needs, knows when to hold back, and only shows off a tiny bit, and even then he’s likely still keeping the theif absolutely safe. It also provides excellent foreshadowing for later as to why the League takes his side even when he refuses to defend himself, as it shows that John really is a professional true and true.

He runs by a basketball court and fails to make a basket when throwing a ball back to a kid before meeting his old gym teacher, who turns out to be the kids uncle or something like that, and invites John to join them as they go to the barber shop. The kid wants John’s haircut, his granpa says the usual and i’m wondering why as John’s haircut isn’t that radical: it’s a miltiary style cut, belying the fact that for this series, while it dosen’t come up in the plot here, John was a former marine instead of an architect. Honestly.. this wasn’t a bad change, giving us the deciated and measured john we know, to the point the comics gladly retconned it in. Not that it’s really a huge deal given it meelrly adds shades to the guy and dosen’t prevent him from being an architect. It just adds lairs by giving a reaosn he’s so focused and driven. He had it drilled into him and carried it with him.

Meanwhile on the watchtower The Flash clumisly tries to get to know Hawkgirl better and maunver into asking her out, though it’s clear sh’es not intrested. Still even if he can’t help flirting, and it sometimes gets creepily obnoxious, it’s still better than I expected remembering this running subplot, as he DOES try to get to know her and what she does in her off time, even if it’s to set up asking her out, and is trying to ask her out instead of just hitting on her or doing anything far more creeptacular. It’s still not great mind you and hasn’t aged well at all.. but for the time it’s not TERRIBLE and again it goes away pretty quickly in favor of the much more intresting John and Shierya relationship.

Flash accidently shoots himself in the foot.. conversationally though given how Wally is at this point in the series I wouldn’t be suprised, by asking the Martian Manhunter, who gives Hakwgirl an easy exit if he’s ever felt alone.. you know the guy whose entire race including his wife and child died horribly. He quickly apologizes though and John understands he just stuck his foot in his mouth at lighting speed. And it’s not the MOST insensitive he’s been about Jonn’s dead wife.

But things are soon interupted as Jonn notes “We have an incursion!”

But the Avengers are dealing with all of that so they can instead focus on the Manhunters shooting toward earth. I really like this as the primary reason Batman set up this station was to monitor for alien threats, it just because the Leagues base because superman had the idea to stay as a team and it was a good un, and given earth JUST had an invasion, as this likely isn’t too long after that given it’s only the second set of episodes, it’s understandable they’d be on high alert.

So our heroes move to intercept. As the first episode after the pilot this one also sets up a recurring part of the show and a necessary one: only a handful of Leaguers would feature in each two-parter, as the episodes for the first two seasons were essentially one hourlong story split into two episodes. The only exceptions were the three part premire, the three part finales for each season, and the sole solo episode comfort and joy which is fucking awesome and my faviorite christmas episode period. But even with the extended run time the crew simply felt i’td be unwiedly to juggle 7 characters eveyr episode, feeling it’d eventually get to original series star trek leevels of having one just manning a console or something. So rather than try and cram them all into every episode, they choose who they needed and gave valid excuses for the rest when necessary. In this case Batman and Wonder Woman have solo missions their busy with , as does Superman whose adressing an earthquake. Our heroes try talking to the Manhunters.. who refuse to talk to them and then also say their coming for John, and aren’t explaning why. So naturally a brawl breaks out as the League SHOCKINGLY dosen’t want their friend who as far as they know has done nothing wrong taken by a brutish paramilitary force who won’t actual talk to the citzens their policing or try and be coporative. More on this in a second. The fight itself is pretty awesome as our heroes fight as evenly as they can.. but it’s clear their outgunned outplanned outnumbered and outmanned, as while their you know the justice league and do their best and Jonn is in Superman’s weight class the battle makes it VERY clear their barely holding in there and that the blast from the manhunters rods are just too potent for them to stand up against.

But help and hope arrives and things get a bit less lopsided when Superman shows up! Unfortunately it’s season 1 superman, and something a lot of fans noticed but I as a kid didn’t and the crew themslves did not until it was too late to course correct for the season, was that Superman came off as a bit of a wimp in this series. See they had the good intention of having him struck down to show a threat’s serious, something TV Tropes calls the “The Worf effect” after the fact that Worf on Star Trek TNG would get knocked on his ass a lot for the same reason, but it has the side effect of making a character look like their made of paper mache if done too often. To the crew’s credit they realized this and not only made sure this didn’t happen as much in season 2, but dedicated the first episode of Season 2, twilight, to showing Superman as a badass by having him try and cave Darkseid’s skull in. Granted they overcompensated in places in that episode, but that’s a story for another day. Point is he had a habit of getting knocked around and it varied between really effective and overselling it. Here it works as the manhunters had already knocked Jonn around a bit, knocking him into some poor kid’s apartment whose really wondering what the fuck just happened too much to enjoy meeting the martian manhunter, so him not being too on top of them simply sells this threat is equal, and possibly past the League.

Meanwhile John is talking to his former teacher who says the kid reminds him of John... it’s not only a nice bit of depth to show the restrained John used to be a bit of a hellraiser before the Marines.. but also shows John’s guilt as he hopes not.. but before he can unload, he notices the fight and suits up to his old mentors shock and the kids joy, I mean I would too if a guy suddenly because a green lantern in front of me, and dashes off.. to surrender and break up the fight, handing over his ring and going with them and telling the League not to interfere. Their response can be summed up thusly.

To John, he’s peacefully surrendering for a crime he comitted to a bruitsh and unfair police force but one who is duly deputized and as an officer himself, for the unaware the Green Lanterns are space cops and given the reason rightfuly reconing on the police I will certainly be discussing this as we go, is trying to coparate and prevent any collateral. While LIKELY Bruce pays for any that happens, as beneath his batdick demanour at times he’s a very good man and if he has the pockets for a space station, space craft, commuincators and all the good stuff a superhero team has on hand, he probably has a dedicated fund set up to paying for collateral since insurance might not cover it, and not only that would likely give any impacted extra to do any upgrades they coudln’t before because he’s a philanorphist .. one who dresses up like a bat to punch people in the face, but that itself is still philathophy in a way.

But to the League? Their friend was taken by a bunch of shady paramilitary robots who didn’t bother talking to them, is trying to keep them out of it and for all they know only surrendered to prevent a fight, and even if he had valid reasons, as his friends-ish and teammates, they have a right to answers. So while John sits in his cell completlating his apparent crimes.. the JL have taken off in the Javelin, the spaceship I mentioned batman funding. And of course Batman has both spaceship money and had a design for one so ready it likely took a month at most for him to get it up and running, if not less, and only didn’t have one in the batcave because he hadn’t neededed it yet and likely didn’t want to embezle more money than he has to from his company. Jonn uses the stars John saw, say that three times fast I dare you, to find a location and our heroes head there. Our heroes arrive.. and are attacked by the local security despite Superman geninely trying to hail them, the Javelin not firing back and our heros only going out to intercpet personally so they don’t die, and even then making careful certainty not to attack. So we get another thrilling battle, with our three flying heroes all pitching in, and the flash realizing he dosen’t know how to fly the thing and me cursing out bruce in my head for you know, not either forcing flash to learn the stuff, or having the forsight to put a manual on board for any members who forgot something, aka so when Wally inteivibly goofs off and eats candy instead of reading it the first time, he can speed read it and at least retain it long enough to land the thing in a crisis. If it were anyone else i’d be understanding but this is the guy who again, either had spaceship plans lying around or could get one together in the span of a month or so and while not thinking of the ship in terms of a team, still also paid for and likely created the commuincators they used, so he’d know his team well enough to know he needs this.

My nitpicking aside, our heroes land, make quick work of the locals, and then crash in on John’s trial after he’s escorted in, passing his fellow lanterns who rightfully treat him with disdain.. but for the wrong reasons as we’ll see. John gives groaning “oh no” , like he’s embarassed. When REALLY..

Seriously John, again you were as far as they knew kidnapped, and the way the manhunters acted, they had no reason to think they were legitamate, and you didn’t take five minutes to tell them, “They have every reason to be takning me” or “I blew up a planet I deserve this” . They still would’ve came mind you, they just might of realized this wasn’t a traditional rescue mission and actually tried to use some subtly. You also COULD have told the manhunters they might show up so the security wouldn’t attack them. They probably woudln’t o LISTEND or attacked themselves, so i’ts a damned if you do damned if you don’t situation, but you still did absolutely nothing. It’s the one mistep with John here and even then it has the justification of his self loathing at the moment being so high, he assumed they’d rightfully write him off without question.. not to mention given the team is mostly white guys, two aliens and a princess who woudln’t know better, he probably assumed like most white dumbasses they’d assume the police were correct and not give him the benifit of a doubt. To their credit, especially since you know one of them’s superman and the other one’s a professional dumbass, they didn’t think that for a second. Some would not be such a good person.

But Prosecutor Forman and the big giant heads aren’t much better than the manhunters, so Prosecutor Forman sends some orange guys to put foots up their asses.. and since unlike the manhunters their just... some ambigiously gendered aliens with no powers, they go down quick and before the manhunters enter, superman RIGHTFULLY calls them out, as he points out they just wanted to know what the hell was going on, didn’t throw the first punch, and have been under attack since, and the heads admit this IS a public trial, and they kinda overreacted so as long as the superfriends don’t do any other antics and watch like anyone else, their good. Superman has his team play it safe for now as they really don’t know what’s going on and given they could only stalemate the manhunters on even footing, they know they can’t take them on their home turf.

The trial is soon underway, and Prosecutor Forman calls the witnsees.. Kanjar Ro, also voiced by Smith. This is neat little bit as Ro was one of the first foes the League fought in the comics, a space pirate, and while he originally was just going to be some random asshole, someone brought up the idea of him being Ro and the crew really loved it. It’s a nice nod to the comics and honestly if you have a vast superhero universe with decades of continuity to draw from for your show, why NOT make the secondary villian of the episode be someone from the comics.

Ro is, like the comics, a pirate and seemingly came forward because what John did was so bad even he can’t stomach it and has to say something. So we FINALLY find out what John did.. well okay the audience as a whole does I remember this from being a kid. He and Ro had a routine cop and robber interaction, Ro was smuggling shit, and John was doing his job as GL of Sector 2814 and stopping him and cut out his engine.. but seemingly said engine drifted off, and destroyed a planet as result via chain reaction, and thus the debris right outside the planet John’s being tried on are apparently thsoe of the planet he accidently killed. The court takes a break and while the League, understandably, assume that the obviously shady man was lying John ends part one by confirming that no he did it. And this is why I put a pin in things... because the episode being about a space cop being arrested by worse space cops and dealing with his friends in the badge turning on him while some of his other friends try to prove he’s innocent, and the man in question being an african american... tackles some very loaded issues that, givent he writer and most of the staff, Dwayne McDuffie accepted, were very much white, i’m thinking they just kind of fell backward into and it only came out as good as it did either do to McDuffie or just blind luck that it didn’t turn out entirely awful in hindsight.

And if anyone is complaning: “Wait you dont’ need to get political leave politics out of this”.. please leave my fucking blog. For one, the recknoing with the police was long overdue, I feel ashamed for not having it sink in how fundementally broken the police were and not realizing it for my whole fucking life, I knew some cops were bad but I hadn’t realized the institution was inherently racist and bad and feel so much deep and lasting shame for that, and for another again it’s a story that at it’s core is a black police officer being arrested for doing something wrong, taking full responsiblity for his actions like a police officer SHOULD, and having friends of his try and prove he didn’t really do it, while his fellow officers, rather than find the act itself abohhrent, come out as either being loyal to john no matter what (kilowog) because fellow officer, or assholes who ONLY are upset because it makes them look bad, and are ONLY distancing themselves because of that, and not because you know JOHN MAY OF CAUSED A GENOCIDE BY INCOMPETNECE. So yeah, i’m not ignoring the real world implications, I couldn’t and wouldn’t if I wanted to, and i feel if done right ANY medium, animation, comics, what have you, for kids or not, can tackle such issues and should be able to.

So i’m not ignoring the elephant in the room, and as we get into part 2 we get the good and bad of this in full: Superman feels something’s off about this whole thing, a hunch admitely but given an engine falling in a crater seems a bit too convinent, he has a right to investigate and takes MM to do so, while he leaves Flash and Hakwgirl to stall. Both take diffrent approaches: Flash signs on as GL’s lawyer.. and it’s an awesome scene as we find out, in your standard evil lawyer joke, that the tribunal of faces solved this by simply having the lawyer share the punishment.. but it also shows Flash’s loyalty and faith that his friend did not do this and something worse is at work, as he still agrees after learning he’ll probably die if his other friends don’t fix this.

And now we have full context i can get into where this episode really does the issue justice for the most part: John is presented as the model of both what the GL Corps and what police should be: He’s professional, uses minimal force despite having a weapon that can do anything, and when he THINKS he did something horrible, he dosen’t run from his crime: the most he does is go back home to see it once last time, simply waiting for someone to come and get him for what it did wether it be his own brothers in arms or as we saw the manhunters and he doesn’t defend himself because he dosen’t feel he should as he screwed up, got an entire planet killed, and rightly thinks he should pay for it. He’s likely, as a black man in the early 2000′s, been falsely accused, pulueld over and fucked over by police and seen people in his community he knewe and care about die because of shit like this so when given the chance to take responsibility, even from a clearly broken system, he does. Because in the same situation a lot of officers back at home would not and would walk away clean and that’s not who John Stewart is, how he was raised, or what he or the corps stands for.

But the episode gets to have it’s cake and eat it too, as the League does belivie John didn’t do this on purpose.. and the blind faith they especially superman did come off as wince inducing.. until I realized it’s not because of some “brotherhood of the badge” bullshit.. but because it’s Superman. He belivies in the good of most people. In this very series despite Lex Luthor having tried to kill him dozens of times at this point, he STILL shows the guy empathy when he finds out Lex is dying of cancer. Lex spits at the notion of course and dosen’t take it seroiusly.. but Superman is just that good a person, so if he has a hunch somethings’ wrong.. it probably is. And even if he and Jonn found nothing... it’s the right thing to do. A crime should ALWAYS be properly investigated to make sure someone dosen’t hang for something they did not do. This is what I meant by have it’s cake and eat it too: the episode tackles police brutality.. but the accused is also the victim, and it thus tackles the unfairness in the us courts, how black people are often assumed guilty when that’s horribly racist and biased as fuck and how Police are assumed correct. Our heroes are assuming john is right based on optisim but are not wrong for wanting him to at LEAST get a fair trial and full investigation that clearly was not done. It also covers, again probably intetioanlly, how some are often not able to get proper representatin, with this court outright getting rid of it, which is wrong and bad, and the flash being the best John can do and not very good at it, mostly stalling for time. It shows the system’s brokena nd soemtimes you have to directly fight iht and can’t just take it , and even if your convinced your guilty and want to rightfuly take the blame for something your sure you did... you still deserve a fair trial and a compitent one.

It’s not all good: as said the gl’s are portrayed as bad for not wanting anything to do with john, and in order to make them unsympathetic they care more about their rep than the fact a friend may of comited genocide and kilowog showing up and providing character witness is seen as a good thing, even if he provides no actual character evidence other than “Johnny’s a good guy” and that’s not ideal. It’s not perfect and again it was writtne by an old white guy so of course it isn’t but the fact it gets so much right the more you dig in despitei t’s awwkardness and being written and aired 20 years ago... that is nothing to sneeze at.

We have more to dig into here too with the manhunters but first moreof the plot: While the other stuff mentioned happens, Superman and Jonn investigate as said.. and we find out WHY superman was supscious: while it was part hunch.. he did in fact have valid reason to suspect something was off, and as we saw actually heard the case against his friend first, and only went against it because the evidence was off.. in that the MOON of the planet is still there and should’ve flown off. He and Jonn soon find a MASSIVE device that John identifies as a bigger version of a toy he had as a kid, something that created images... and again shows whya PROPER investigation was needed. Had the court actually looked into it instead of presuming John guilty, they would’ve found this thing too. Naturally though Kanjar Ro has followed them and wants to kill them.. but with her subplot wrapped up Hawkgirl went to seei f they needed backup, stealing one of the guard ships which given they attacked people on ap lanet iwth a PUBLIC TRIAL going on without haling them yeah don’t blame her, and kicks his ass. Our heroes find out the truth as I mentioned earlier: Ro was paid to lie and be in on things for an assload of money.. byt he Manhutners.. who at the moment are plotting to strike while Oa, the home of the green lanterns is weak, as the Guardians who created them and monitor them mostly left to go to the trial.

As we catch up with them, THe guardians speak on each lantern being trusted with the ring and given little oversight.. because they pick wisely. The prosecutor just wants John to hang, calls for a sentence, which is death and John and Flash nearly die, in case you thought I was pulling those parallels out of my ass. But Superman rushes in, and in a small, subtle gag he and Jonn do so thorugh a small pain of glass put over where they enterted last time, fight off security and save them, and before prosecutor foot in the ass can harumph about it more.. Superman claims jonn’s innocent..a nd has Shiera smash the generator, showing he indeed is, getting John aquitted. John also attacks Ro, who they brought along as a witness, rightfully so, but the League get him to stop as they don’t have time for that: the Guardians are strangely leaving after that, the manhunters are clearly doing something given their asbent, so John retakes his ring, restored to who he was now knowing he truly WAS innocent and was simply set up.. and he wants to find out why.

We soon get the why as the Guardians explain the manhunters after the League won’t let them just.. brush by after they aburbtly tried to leave. They AREN’T behind the current attack.. but did create them, feeling robots would be better policeman. They were wrong, with the manhunters lacking empathy, being far too military in their job, and generally not being up for it so they simply gave them smaller jobs as bounty hunters, court balifs that sort of thing ans assumed they were fine because they didn’t say anything. As John puts it perfectly “Not outloud. “ And this itself is the other thing that makes the episode work as an allegory, if a very unteitonal one: The Manhunters are the police as they are now, violent brutes with way too much power, no restraint in using it and no ounce of mercy or sympathy for those they protect. And the Guardians rightfully removed this system, and replaced it with the corps. And while the Corps STILL have a lot of leway and power, being free to investigate on their own provided OA dosen’t call them to do someting specific, and given a ring that can do anything within corps guidelines, which basically means “don’t kill” and “don’t be a dick with it”, the guardians still watch them, do not interfere in trials and choose very wisely. not only that ther’es only one officer per sector, each sector being galaxies wide.. but that’s because that’s only what’s NEEDED. One Lantern with the power to take on entire fleets if needed, which is a fair amount of power given the scope of the job, and come in as requested by the people themselves, honestly isn’t a bad system. Granted the corps is wonky from time to time in the comics as are the guaridans depending on the writer, but at it’s core the corps really sounds like a more responsible versoin of the police: given just the gear necessary, the men necessary, and only called in when truly needed or if they spot a crime in process. THat’s what the people protecting us should be like and that’s why this episode still works.

Obviously though I was aware of none of this as a kid, and the real reason I loved this episode is this climax. The League arrives on Oa just in time to provide backup. Presumibly the guardians there and incoming with the league simply dont have the power to spare to call for reinforcments. Which is weird but fair enough drama wise and our heroes storm the planet , with the corpsmen from before all showing up to pitch in. But John gets there too late as the head manhunter drains the central power battery, the source of the lantern’s powers, and declares I AM THE POWER, refusing to accept he’s out of date.

And this, folks is the moment that made me love the lanterns for life. John is outgunned, the wise old wrinkled blue men who gave him his powers drained of there, starring down a massive monster planning to subjigate the universe... and he does not blink. See lanterns are picked for their willpower, their abliity to stare down things like this, and fight anyway, their very rings controlled by this, by their own force of personhood. It’s another reason besides logistics why theires only one per sector: it’s that hard to find one. Earth is so remarkable because , even if it’s simply so we could have more stars in the books over time in real world, we produced not ONE person capable of this.. but 7.. Alan Scott whose not in the corps but whose powers stll work on will and could probably use a regular corps ring very much included. John was chosen because he simply won’t give up. He gave up before.. but it was the right thing to do and ultimately biding his timea nd accepting his trial.. gave his friends time to aquit him and prove he was framed.

But now is not the time to back down.. now’s the time to stand.. so how does John win? By USING his will, by using the reason he was chosen coupled with ihs own personal dedication and concentration, he grabs his ring as it floats toward the guy, takes it back.. and starts reciting the lantern oath. And since the Manhunter is indeed “The power”.. it means he too can be controlled like any lantern energy. and thus with every bit of willpower he has, struggling all the while but not moving a damn inch, John recites his oath and shoves the monster that framed him, and the power he stole, back into the battery, all while saying an oath so badass it has been etched into my head since thanks to this episode. Say it with me now..

In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night No Evil Shall Escape My Sight Let Those Who Worship Evil’s Might BEWARE MY POWER, GREEN LANTERN’S LIGHT!

And the credit goes to phil lamarr, who delivers the oath with all the gravitas and awesomeness it’s first delivery in this continuty it deserves. It was this that made me a lifelong fan: one man with the power of anytihng using PURE MENTAL STRENGTH AND DETERMiINATION TO SHOVE AN EVIL ENERGY BEING IN A GIANT LANTERN WHILE RECITING A BADASS AND AWE INSPIRING OATH. And if that dosen’t sell you on the Green Lantern’s being awesome I can’t help you and don’t know why your here.

So wrapup time: The Guardians genuinely thank john, saying they choose well, and John brushes off his fellows corpspersons as they should’ve belivied him and thanks the League for having faith in him even when he didn’t. And while the former part has some.. bad implications we’ve gotten into already, I also can’t entirely blame him given they did it not because he might’ve killed someone but again, because

Precisley. So our heroes prepare to head home, cue the credits.

Final Thoughts:

So how does this episode hold up 20 years later? As should be obvious, damn well. It’s a good introduction for the corps, if showing them to be kinda assholes in places, and a good spotlight episdoe for John showing who he is what he stands for and again how TRULY MONUMENTALLY BADASS the man is. And lest you think the comics versoin is any LESS badass, he once got into a sniper duel in with Bedovian, a member of the Sinestro Corps and a crab person.. who was as I forgot till looking it up, THREE SECTORS, which i’ll remind you can comprise entire galaxies, away, with a ring made sniper rifle. In one shot no less. Point is even with some.. wonkier aspects, and ones that aren’t intetnional, it still works and is a shockingly relevant episode 19 years later and the fight scenes, as are standard for the series, are overwhelmingly awesome. Check this one out, and the series as a whole. With its great animation, character work and general badassery this one’s worth a few watches. And obviously given my love of this seires, and it’s 20th anniversay next year, and my love of John, check back here for more John-centric episodes throughout the year as we celebrate the guy. And I will also celebrate the green lantern NAMED guy eventually too, and jessica.. and all of them ebcause I love them all. Yes.. even Hal. As for which John episode i’m doing next? Easy, one that intorduces me to a character I love who dosen’t get used near enough, Metamorphisis. The when I can’t say QUITE yet as my March schedule is full and most of my ongoing projects are on the backburner so I can tackle two arcs of ducktales, which coincidentally happened to be in time for the finale. That wasn’t planned AT ALL mind you, it just ended up working out really well that way. For now though tommorow I begin my coverage of the final 4 episodes of ducktales with “Beaks in the Shell” and later this week finish up black history month with blacksad, continue my Lena retrospective with a money shark and some pr work, cover the second season of close enough, celebrate Tex Avery’s birthday and also celebrate the new Tom and Jerry movie.. with the OLD tom and jerry movie. Until then, see you next rainbow.

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peppersonironi · 3 years

Note

12, 21, 19

(Is this late? Oops. Sorry!)

12: Favourite character to write about this year

Stephanie Brown, easy. She's my spirit animal, so I might be doing a touch of projecting, but I honestly don't care. She's just pure chaos in the best way. Some of my favourite lines that I've written are for her. Such as:

"What's up bitches? I brought donuts!"

"My waffles await!"

"FEAR ME!"

"Welcome to Steph’s Glitter Bomb Palace, Where Snitches get Stitches™! So don’t tell Bruce or I’ll sic Jason on you."

She's also the character I've gotten the most comments on. People really seen to enjoy how I write her!

A close second would be Duke Thomas. Bliss, a fic I wrote for the 2020 Duke Week, was one of my favourites! Or maybe Damian? His dialogue just comes easy to me.

21: Most memorable comment/review

the batfamily exist:

everyone: is,,is that allowed?

On Code Orange (Batfam/Young Justice Crossover)

*Or*

I have wanted to read a DCU/MCU crossover for a VERY long time. This story is such a delight. Your characterisation (and for me an introduction to The Signal) was fascinating in the extreme. I loved the game playing and the fact that I could watch (open-mouthed) as Bruce Wayne enjoyed childlike fun with his children and Alfred(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) was the cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake. I look forward to your updates in a way that you wouldn't believe.

On Batfam/Avengers Crossover

19: Any new fics to start next year

Oh boy. So many. You know what? Here's a list. It'll be good to get these ideas out. Plus, you guys can tell me what you'd rather see first!

Gen/just Batfam

Crack fic based off this piece of dialogue (came from a convo between my sister and I): Tim reached forward and poked Duke's face. "You're right!" He exclaimed. "You really *do* squish like a block of wood!" Duke Centric.

Based on THIS Incorrect Quotes. Talia moves into the Manor because she's sick of Ra's. Featuring a bunch of good mom!Talia.

Based off THIS Incorrect Quotes. Jason runs for President as Red Hood. I have so many ideas! This'll be really fun.

Loosely based on THIS post. It explores Jason and Cassandra's relationship, and how it evolves.

Duke Thomas Big Bang Fic (can't say much, but it'll be great!)

Platonic (need to be certain you understand that. There were some misconceptions w/ my Discord server) Slow Burn between Tim and Damian. At the beginning the absolutely despise each other. But over time they realise their own insecurities, and how they don't actually hate the other. And by the end they fully admit and embrace their being brothers.

Reverse Robins with Damian as the oldest (I made THIS post talking about it a while back. But I've highly revised it.)

Reverse Robins with Duke as the oldest (I wrote THIS fic, but I think I want to change this into a series!)

Cassandra as Batman. Stephanie as Catwoman. Carrie Kelley as Robin.

5 Times Bette Kane was the mastermind behind the batkids' pranks without Bruce's knowledge, and 1 Time her brilliance was brought to light.

5 Times Duke thought that he couldn't possibly get any more siblings and 1 Time he met the cousins (AKA: Duke meets the extended family)

Birdflash

Birdflash in the JL/JLU universe (based off that one hexagon by @novaviis ! Super fun!). The league is inviting potential members to the Watchtower one day. Except Wally wasn't there during the choosing of said members. So he's completely shocked when his husband Nightwing shows up. They have to act like they don't know each other, which basically involves Dick flirting his butt off with Wally, Wally trying desperately to remain professional, Bruce digging in the corner, the rest of the League in varying degrees of disapproval and confusion (at least a couple have seen Wally's wedding ring. So that adds a while 'nother layer).

Young Justice soulmate au. Dick, and eventually everyone else, knows that Wally is his soulmate. Wally is oblivious. Lots of pining and angst in this one. Slow burn to an extent (depends on how long I make it). But definitely a happy fluffy ending in sight!

Batfam Meets Young Justice

THIS fic.

Duke gets yeeted into the YJ universe, and promptly passes out. He wakes up in the Watchtower, and breaks out of the confinement the Team has set up for him. Pulls shenanigans (some unwittingly) and used his powers. The Team and JL are confused, and panicking. Because this guy keeps muttering things about the Batfam. And he has a bat on his chest.

The Team break into some ancient temple after getting info on a new Supervillian plot. They find purple clothed woman draped across a throne. She talks, and they panic, as she knows all their secret identities. The only one who isn't, is Tim. He looks bored. Alternatively: Steph needs Tim's credit card to take his sister out on a date, and absolutely refuses to text.

While the Team is on a mission to stop Lady Shiva, a dimensional portal opens up and spits out a strange Robin (Damian) and what seemed to be a female Batman (Cass as Black Bat). This new dynamic due promptly defeats Lady Shiva and all the goons. The Team is freaked out, and 'apprehends' the dimensional anomalies, bringing them back to the Watchtower. Where the due promptly break and and start chaos. Featuring "Toxic" by Britney Spears. I will not explain why.

The Watchtower gets a sudden emergency message from the Batcave. They accept, to find a stranger calling himself Signal panicking about Robin being missing. They all look at Tim, who ignores them, and says that he doesn't know where Robin is. Some naming shenanigans occur.

(Not sure if this fits here, oh well) Set in Season One, Bruce is tired of Clark's attitude towards Superboy, and adopts the clone himself. Not sure how far this'll go, but at least goes through Dick's time as Robin. (Based on THIS Tumblr post)

(Also iffy on placement) a continuation of one (not sure which? Probably Damian as older) Reverse Robins fics. It's a retelling of Season One of YJ, with Dick as Robin. Nightwing (Damian) feels protective of his brother, and so takes on the role Black Canary had in the show, training the Team. But as time goes on, he ends up being more of a big brother to the group. Cameos from the rest of the Batfam as well! And an Identity Reveal (including finding out Dick and Dami are brothers) at the end!

Batfam Meets the Justice League

Cass takes over being Batman for a bit, because Bruce was an idiot and broke his leg. This happens to line up with when the Justice League reach out to the Dark Knight, in order to extend an invitation to the league. They eventually meet Bruce as Batman, and are confused as to why he is so tall. And male.

Joyfire

Lian accidentally reveals her three parents' relationship by calling Bruce 'grandpa' over dinner.

Museum Heist

THIS fic

Operation: Seduce Nightwing. Based on a post for an ATLA ot3, Wally and Artemis realise silumaneously “Hey, we kinda have the hots for Dick” and decide together to see if he likes them back. Which involves a heck ton of over the top flirting, and shenanigans. The Team is sighing on the sidelines at their idiocy. Dick is internally combusting and thinking “Do they like me back? I’’m not sure.”

5 times Dick and Wally fought over being the middle spoon, and one time Artemis had had enough.

Set in Season 3 (but ignores some canon), Bart is kidnapped by some mad scientist obsessed with the Speed Force. The Team mobilizes, and gets Bart back from the evil base. But when they get there, they find Wally West freed from the Speed Force. He and Artemis reunite, and everyone is happy. They prepare to leave. Then the Pick-up Squad arrive in the bioship, and Dick gets out. Everyone is expecting Dick to give Wally a hug, because hey, he's his best friend! What they weren't expecting was him to run forward and pull the speedster into a passionate kiss. They go back to the Watchtower, and some more stuff happens.

Soulmate AU where the first thing your soulmate says to you after they fall in love with you is tattooed on your body.

Post Season Two Get Together. Starts with Artemis living with Dick as opposed to Will. Might be Slow Burn? (They come pretty close to kissing) Eventually Wally comes back. Arty and Wally are back together. They both live in the same house as Dick, for convenience. Then some more Slow Burn happens. Maybe some Birdflash moments. Arty tells Wally she kinda had a thing for Dick. Wally admits the same. Maybe a touch more Slow Burn. They Eventually get together.

Batlantern

AU where Bruce met Hal back when he first came back to Gotham. Fic goes through how their relationship evolves over the years (up until current time, when Damian is 13). I'm considering a relationship reveal with the Justice League.

Hal's interactions with Bruce's kids.

Green Lantern Corp acting protective of Hal when Bruce comes to Oa. This was an ask that I got, and I'm holding off on writing it till I get as much into on the GL's as possible, as all I know if their characterization comes from that animated series, and Guy Gardener's (Hilarious!) parts on Young Justice.

Marvel

Like 3 different versions of the Peter Parker Field Trip to Stark Tower Trope.

2-part Crossover with the Batfam (they exist in the same universe), where the Avengers go to a Wayne Gala, and interact with the family. The second chapter involves them heading out the next night to try and contact Batman.

THIS fic.

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iris-westallen1 · 3 years

Text

The Happiest Day Of Our Life

‘’Well today was the worst day ever’’ iris said as she dove right on the couch. Barry just sat there staring at his beautiful wife so mesmerized he didn’t even realize she was talking to him but he couldn’t help it he was married to the most gorgeous woman on the planet he still doesn’t know how he got this lucky to have her in his life… ‘’ BARRY!!’’ he was immediately withdrawn from his thought blushing and rubbing his neck a habit he had formed since he was little. ‘’ are you even listening to me’’ iris said with a slightly annoyed face mixed with concern.

‘’ sorry honey but it’s your fault I wasn’t paying attention’’ Barry cheekily replied.

‘Look at him looking so smug with that cocky smile ugh I could just slap him and fuck him at the same time, gosh why is he so hot making my ovaries explode’’ iris thought to herself.

‘’ you know honey cocky is not a good look on you’’ said a smiling iris

‘’oh, you love it and me’’

‘’ well, I supposed that is true’’ iris slaps his knee as she get’s up from where she was laying on the couch to come snuggle into Barry’s side ‘’ hmmm I missed you today’’ iris said as she coos into Barry

‘’ babe I am sorry your day didn’t go as you wanted it to.’’ Barry strokes her arm and side ‘’ do you want to tell me what was going on’’

‘’ I know it might sound petty or whatever but its team citizen if I can even call it that Kamilla’s gone and Allegra she’s never there she’s always at star labs and I get that she ha powers and whatever but I would like her to take her job more seriously and not for her personal gain, I feel bad for what happened to her cousin I seriously geniounly do but the only time you hear her talk about the citizen is if she needs something from us and its making me seriously regret promoting her.’’ Iris took a deep breath she knows how this might sound and it might just be her hormones but she is seriously tired of Allegra’s behavior.

Barry saw how distressed his wife was about this so he decided not to say anything until she has gotten it all out her chest.

After taking a deep breath iris continued ‘’ so today I was in the office getting ready to go investigate karma, Kramer whatever the fuck her name is and I find myself missing and employee so I called her just to learn she is hanging around frost and Caitlin for what reason I do not know I’m her mentor not them I’m not paying her to hang out with them and I was just like you know what its fine so I just left her and went about my way to go investigate Kramer in doing that surprise surprise my dad is investigating her with Cecil when I was the one who brought this case to him and he brushed me off like it was nothing. And that’s another thing I am so fed up with my dad.’’ At this point iris is bawling her eyes and all Barry wants to do it take that pain away from her.

‘’ my dad hasn’t been acting like my dad for a while now and it took me getting stuck in a mirror to realize it. You know he never once asked me how I was doing when I came out of the mirror, he just brushed it aside like I wasn’t gone for 3 months he could at least show some emotions.’’ Her voice was cracking at this point ‘’ h- ho- how I- is it * sniff sniff* that his more of a father to you than he is to meeeeeeee’’ her chest and shoulder moving frantically.

Barry finally goes in soothing her ‘’ I am so so sorry you feel this way, how long have you been holding this in and I didn’t even notice, I am so sorry baby, just let it all out’’ Barry said as he rubs his hands in soothing circles on her back ‘’ just let it out I’m here’’

When she is calm enough she continues ‘’ I just feel so neglected as a daughter by him and Cecil Cecil doesn’t even try to bond with me, she’s been with my dad for so long and I don’t even know anything about her and when we do talk she always uses her powers to invade my privacy and when she does that she can’t even be subtle about it she always has to my extra and do to much’’ by this time iris is finished crying now what she feels is rage towards these people. ‘’ she is literally everywhere when there was still a team citizen was still a thing she became our ‘lawyer’ and no one even asked her to no offence to her but she suck as a lawyer’’ Barry starts laughing and nodding his head because it the truth. ‘’ I’m serious hahaha but it’s funny though but seriously I don’t even know why we hired her as your lawyer for your trial she couldn’t even win it she had to use ralph pretend to be devoe for her to win and I thought she was the best Caitlin and frost are dumb to hire her as a lawyer she couldn’t even win their case and if she cant win any of our case what is her use at star labs her powers are useless there no offense she could be home with Jenna and speaking of Jenna it sucks that we never see her they never talk about her unless its to say they are talking to their babysitter so instead of her to go take care of her child she’d over here acting like a child and sticking her nose in everyone’s business. I am so sick of her.’’ Barry just sat there looking at iris and after hearing all she said he can’t help but see the truth in what she’s saying, how could he have been so blind to this. As he continues to rub her back iris gathers even more courage to finally let this all off her chest ‘’ after cisco left the one person at star labs besides you I could stand was gone he was my sunshine twin he would always try to cheer me up when we lost Nora and even when I lost you to the speed force he was always there for me and I miss him and I miss Kamilla because she understood me we where becoming close friends before we got stuck in the mirror together and now we have an unbreakable bond because of that experience and now she’s gone too not only did I lose my best worker but I lost my best friend too. All of a sudden Iris seemed to get angrier Barry didn’t know why but his about to.

‘’ Caitlin and frost’’ she said their names with as much annoyance as she could muster up ‘’ they are the biggest entitled people I have ever met before frost was a thing it was the way Caitlin always looked at me like I was beneath her or something like she couldn’t get rid of me fast enough then frost came and bitch tried to kill me because she wanted dick and some other issues I had never did anything to her never spoke to her but all of a sudden she wants to kill me why I have no idea and what pisses me of is the way we just forgive her just because she did the right thing in the end and blasted Savitar she came to h.r funeral and she left to go find herself or whatever you went into the speed force and she abandoned me, Wally, cisco, and dad to fend of the bad guys on our own. Then Caitlin came up in her in her high horse to bring you out of the speed force like she’s been here all along, then she lost frost with the whole devoe thing Caitlin literally put your life and gypsy’s life in danger all because she wanted frost back and despite my better judgment I went up to her during the baby shower we threw for Cecile to offer up my help to find the bitch frost for her and she was just snarky with me saying no she will find her I just gave up on that hoe what still confusing is how she can perform all this surgery’s she’s doing since she hasn’t done them since med school like isn’t she a bio scientist or whatever like how did she become team doctor she literally has no experience in that field all she does is just stitch you up with pretty much all of us can do now and she acts like she has the most important job there dragging Allegra and Cecile along with her.’’ Iris shakes her head ‘’ you know what’s do funny’’ iris asked Barry ‘’ what’’ Barry genuinely curious ‘’ that whole frost trial and how Caitlin was like we have to get her out she’s my sister, since when though, anyways they arrested frost for a crime that she actually committed its not like she didn’t commit them she literally tried to kill me and she wanted her to go Scot free when you went to prison for a crime you actually didn’t commit it just pissed me of and instead of dumb bitch to just take the cure she volunteered her self for life in prison thinking she was doing sum, I might not like Kramer but what she did to frost was not a bad thing she all she did was try to make frost take responsibility for her actions. But she never does like always she literally gets out of prison after like two days.’’

‘’ and another thing that pisses me off is the way they treat Chester that boy is so sweet and deserves to be treated with kindness so that why it irritates and makes me so angry to hear that Caitlin was yelling at him for getting hit even sue warned Allegra not to pursue after her cousin but she did anyways and brought her to star labs without our permission knowing she’s a dangerous criminal when her and Allegra get into it she blast Chester who was just there to bring them snacks and somehow Caitlin made it Chester’s fault? Like how does that even make sense. I am just sick and tired of all of this. I am supposed to be happy right now basking in love with my husband trying to conceive our daughter and we can’t even have the privacy of knowing if were pregnant or not because of Cecile invading your thoughts once again the negative result you got was meant to be shared with me not her and I know this is wrong but I am glad that the test came negative because it would be so unfair of her to know that I am pregnant before I know all because she’s nosy.’’ Iris finally finished her rant with a deep breath, she looks up at Barry and all she finds in his eyes are adoration, understanding, anger, disappointment, and love.

‘’what?’’ iris asked

‘’ you are the strongest person that I know’’ Barry whispers to her ‘’I don’t know how you let this in for this long because one thing I know for sure is that I certainly would have burst long ago.’’

‘’ I am so sorry that you’ve had to keep this all in for this long’’ Barry said caressing her cheeks ‘’ and I’m sorry If you felt like you couldn’t tell me, thank you for bringing it to my attention and after listening to you things need to change for one our personal life needs to stop being discussed at star labs where everyone can hear and the second is that Caitlin needs to not be our doctor and she is certainly not going to be delivering our baby and most importantly we need to set boundaries for Cecile’’

‘’ thank you, babe, for listening to me and letting me get this rant of my chest, I feel so much lighter.’’

‘’ its my job iris there is no need to thank me I will always be on your side ALWAYS.’’

#westallen #fanfic #fanfiction #iris west #barry x iris #barry allen #marriage #rant #popular

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creepyalienghost · 3 years

Text

Doctors assistant 3

Sammy puts his pen down on the desk next to his sheet music. He had decided he was finish working on it tonight. Besides it was going on 3am and he needed to get some sleep for the early morning in a few hours. He was the only person there left at the studio as he usually is most nights. Even Wally goes home earlier then him, way earlier. Sammy however loves to stay here late and get work done. It was the best time to do so. It was quite and there was no one to distract him plus he was a night owl.

He Gathered his belongings and made his way out. As he Exited the studio he opened his book to the page he last stopped at and began ready about the legends and folklore. He doesn’t know why but this topic speaks to him. It calls out to him. Sammy thinks he use to be into this stuff when he was younger before going to a family that drilled things like the importance of money is and Business things, in his head. He hated that at the time. All that math and business learning he was made to do by his Foster dad did lead him to get a great job here so he was ok with it now. But he started reading folklore about three months ago when he and Joey went to the library.

The stories he read of people’s encounters with ghost, monsters and legends fascinated Sammy for some odd reason. He liked the stories about monsters the best, liked reading what they saw, heard and especially what they felt In that moment of terror.

He was invested in the book as he walked down sidewalks and into alleyways until he heard a strange noise from behind him,turning around quickly. He felt uneasy then as he looked left to right in the darkness to find no signs of life. No robbers, No homeless people, not even animals. He remembered then his friend and coworker, Jack, had always told him that walking at this hour could lead to trouble for him. He always worried for his friend especially knowing the dangers things he and Joey do together. He hated now that Jack could be right and for never listen to him.

“Hello?” Sammy called out, closing his book and holding it with one arm. He waited for a minute to see if someone would call back to him, but no one answered.

Before he took a step to move, he felt a sharp pain in his neck! He dropped his book and spawn around, gripping the spot on his neck. What he saw made no sense. Maybe it was because he’s vision was fucked up now or maybe because he felt tired but he saw three shadow like figures. “W...it-...pa” He had tried to speak but couldn’t form the words correctly.

“Shhh there’s no need to be afraid, my child” came a calming voice that he couldn’t pin point. “Your in good hands” after that all vision and feeling left his body.

——-

Sammy woke up In a dimly lit room with a foggy head. He knew this wasn’t his bed but he had no idea who’s it was and how he got there or even where there was. He sat up, shook his head to clear it then glanced around his surroundings. The room was small but pretty cozy for an abandoned building. There was a few candles on the small table nearby that was keeping the room from total darkness. Next to them laid his book neatly placed and a desk placed along the opposite wall with a chair for it. Papers and folders were scattered on it.

Sammy moved closer to the desk and felt something heavy around his ankle. Looking down, he noticed though the small bit of light he was given, a thick metal chained was attached around his ankle with not much more room to walk, Although he could walk around in this room. He was trapped though with no way of getting out or knowing if help was on the way.

He stayed quiet for he didn’t want his capturer to know that he was awake now. He needed to figure out what to do and where he was first before anything. He slowly stood up from his bed so the chains made little to no noise and slowly he took small steps to the desk. He picked up the first page his eyes landed and scan though it then he did the same though more. It was a bunch of Science and Medical junk, Stuff on diseases and sickness.

“I found the cure.” A soft gentle voice spoke from the doorway. It did make Sammy jump but didn’t place fear in him.

He looked over a the strange figure and knew he should be terrified, he did look like death, but he wasn’t. He felt Comfort from it. He felt like he knew it but couldn’t remember where. “We meet before, having we?” Sammy ask.

The being nodded his beak. “We had.” He reached in his cloak pocket, pulling out a key and gave it to Sammy. “Come. We have much to discuss.”

The being stood at the doorway, waiting for Sammy as he unlocked the chains around his ankle. “Why the chains anyways?” Sammy ask

“So you wouldn’t run in the darkness and get hurt again.” The being answered. Sammy searched his memories and only kinda remember falling thought something when he was a child. Could this being really had been there?

Sammy followed him out the small room and down an dark hallway. It was clear with the children drawings and crosses hung up on the wall that this was place use to be a church. He wondered how it became abandoned and for how long ago.

The two arrived in an kitchen area. There was a few tables that were surprisingly cleaned from dust and a couple usable chairs which the being offered one. “Please sit.”

Sammy took a sit next to the being and listened as it began speaking.

—-

Within the hours of their Conversation Sammy understands the missing pieces from back then. He now remembers the year of being with the doctor and their work they were trying to accomplish, The doctor gave him files of his research has prof. Sammy read them then it dawned on him. The doctor had drugged him and brought him hear. But how had found him? And was there another reason for those chains? “Doctor...” He looked up at the being. “I have it, don’t I?”

The being looked down in sadness then nodded after a moment. “But I can cure you, my child.” The doctor replied. “You won’t be a failed experiment ether! But for you...I’m giving you the choice. If you wanna be cured or not. Take your time. It’s a big choice.” With that the doctor left the table to give Sammy time.

Sammy sat there and read the files again then reread them a third time. He had to be sure before doing this. It was risky. It was dangerous but he didn’t want to die from the pestilence. After another reread he made his choice. He was going to be cured.

Sammy got up from the table and headed back down the hallway looking for the doctor. “I made my choice. Cure me.” He said when he found him.

The doctor stood up and placed his notebook down on the desk. “Follow me, please

Sammy followed him to the well lit operation room which was in the back of the church. The doctor guided him to the soft hospital bed and helped him on it. “Now my dear” the doctor said grabbing an surgical mask. “Lay down and relax. Once you wake you will be cured.” He slipped on the mask over Sammy’s mouth and turned it on.

Sammy laid there and looked up at the old church ceiling. He couldn’t believe after all this time the doctor found the cure. He wondered when and who it was on but that was questions for another time. Now he just needed to relax and he was begging to. He was begging to fell the drowsiness from the medicine. His eyes began to drip, getting heavier and heavier with each minute. It wasn’t ten minutes when Sammy was fully deeply asleep. The doctor got his tools, cleaned them and started his work.

———

When Sammy woke up he was weak for a few days but the doctor took care of him. He also had to regrow his hair which took months. Within years for being cured Sammy noticed that he stopped aging and only then he released what the pestilence was. It was death.

He was immoral now.

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lostonehero · 3 years

Text

Wally paced back and forth in front of the Question's room in the watchtower. He knew what he saw was true and bats was right there and couldn't see it, he will not let this go till he has answers he isn't the crazy one here. The ground really had cracks and it smelt of ash.

Wally wasn't paying attetion when he walked headfirst into the said man he was waiting for.

"Pray tell why you are in front of my room Flash?" Question seemed more out of it then normal and if Wally could see his face he would probably see a tired man.

Wally fidgeted in his spot, and quickly blurted out almost too fast. "I saw something in the woods in Central city and bats thinks I'm crazy and thinks I should let it go but I knew it was there and it smelt of ash. I need you to help me but you have to be in civilian clothes and I know nobody knows your identity and not even bats does but I need your help so I'll keep it a secret I just need a answer is it linked to illegal dumping some cult parademons underground I just need to know its behind a church and a school."

The Question stops it is impossible to read that blank face of his. He spoke in a tired voice. "I'll be in the park tomorrow find me."

......

Victor immeditally regretted the words that came out of his mouth as he sunk down on the untouched bed in his room. The door was firmly shut but he never risked taking off his mask in the watchtower. Why did he even say yes? Was it the sleep deprivation, or the concert he did in conjunction of a research mission that linked spontaneous combustion to a new soda brand. He didn't dwell on the answer because he knew it was Wally's smile after he said yes that did him in.

Just because he had a crush on the other hero didn't make him soft no matter what his uncle said. He was a half demon something that shouldn't exist (he was actually 3/4th demon but don't dwell on that) granted he was forced to watched the tapes of his mother being violated and then given birth to him.

That church orphanage was horrid. He shook his head of the thoughts. Demons shouldn't exist on the human plane because of the war and blah blah his uncle Micheal and aunt Gabriel regret there part. Why was he lingering on this he didn't care much about where he came from. He only used his powers as a disguise when he played on stage. What can he say people like the horns bone wings and tail for a punk rocker.

Oh fuck he thought to himself. Wally would recognize him just for that. Maybe not he only plays in his home city and nothing ever really leaves hub city. So he would be fine.

.......

Wally paced in the park he wasn't confident at all that the Question would even show up. He was embarrassed for even asking. Why woukd he even say yes to his request? The only guys who were close to him was Arrow, Black canery, huntress, and supergirl. He wasn't one.

A man behind Wally tapped him on the shoulder, the piercing blue eyes with the heavy bags under his eyes stood out, more so it was his favorite singer and he nearly passed out.

"Wally, you've got me out here." He yawns "so where is this area you want me to investigate?"

Wally was floored, this man was the Question, he was stunning and his poor bi heart couldn't take it. "R-right uh do you need a coffee first there is a nice Cafe down the street." Wally internally screams this was The Question of all people why did he just ask him to get coffee together.

The Question stretches and shrugs. "It may surprise you but I only drink tea. However fine, and by the way call me Victor in public alright."

Wally's mouth went dry as he nodded. "Yeah ok"

......

Victor was kind of floored, why did Wally even ask him to get coffee? He wasn't attractive he didn't think, but Wally's face was red when he smiled at him. Wally was probably getting a cold. He took a sip of his tea. "So tell me more of this incident."

Wally looks up startled and chokes on his coffee. "Oh me, oh right the incident, why I called you here, that incident." He trailed off.

Victor looked up with a raised brow. "Yeah the whole cracks in the ground, smell of ash, that thing."

Wally's face was red in embarrassment, he kind of forgot about that and switched to making googly eyes at Victor. "Yeah uh the ground shook slightly and I smelt ash in the air Bats thought the shaking was odd but he chalked it up to the rouges here "

"I see so maybe its someone underground creating something sinister." The gears were turning in his head he didn't notice Wally stare at him with desire in his eyes.

"Uh yeah sure."

"We should go now." Victor gets up this was a quiet to-city it wasn't what he was used to. It felt peaceful and he felt like a stranger trespassing.

Wally nods.

.......

Victor scowls he hated churches, not because they hurt him, more so they made him physically ill reminding him of his youth. Being behind it was more of a relief in a symbolic sense.

"So this is where it happened." Wally frowns seeing no evidence. Victor is going to think he is crazy.

Victor smelled ash in the air. The area itself wasn't out of place it was peaceful, and nothing was out of place. But that ash in the air made him feel at ease for some reason.

"Something is off about this place, it still smells of ash "

"Well yeah that smell hasn't left, so you believe me that something is off."

Victor nods "I'll be back here, however I expect you to come with me. I'm not familiar with this city."

Wally nods eagerly "of course maybe coffee again, oh wait tea?"

"Sure Wally." Victor walks away he needed to get back to his apartment.

"Wait let me take you back." He freezes for a moment. "I mean it takes awhile to get back to hub city from here like 12 hours let me shorten that." His face was red again.

Victor looks confused "It's fine Wally you look like this area is getting you sick your face is all red like your hair, it makes your green eyes stand out."

Wally's face goes a few darker shades of red as he picks up Victor who gives a startled shout. He was lighter then he thought also very muscular. "No no I insist."

.....

It was a shorter run then what Wally wanted. Victor yelled at him to stop when they arrived in hub city.

Victor brushed off the nonexistent dust on his outfit and shivered at the cooler weather of the northern city. "Thank you for the life my apartment is right over there. I'll uh see you later."

"Wait." Wally shouted. "We should exchange number just in case."

Victor frowns why did Wally need his number he could just use the watchtower communication. Maybe he needed to be more private and he understood that, and truly respected that. "Of course keeping this private." He takes out a pen and writes his number on Wally's arm. "Call me later we can go over our notes."

Wally nearly passed out there. Victor had such pretty handwriting when he wasn't writing on his conspiracy board. He was a bi mess with a super crush on the Question out of everyone he could of been crushing on. He watched Victor dissapear into the crowd. Wally's heart fluttered as he ran back home to tell Diana about his new crush.

#quickquestion #victor sage #vic sage #wally west #justice league #the question #the flash

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fishfingersandjellybabies · 4 years

Text

Boy I’m Telling You - fic

Characters: Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake Summary: The Titans, the Teen Titans, the Outlaws and Young Justice. After the team-up of the century, Damian finds himself standing alone. A/N: Based on/Inspired by ‘Not Losing You’ by Maddie Poppe. This strikes me as a very Damian and probably Dick song, and I didn’t do it any justice in my rusty, suddenly infrequent writing. Dick absolutely lives up to what he told Jason and makes it a thing. He also threatens Jason and Tim with pain of death if they’re ever the ones to tell Damian it wasn’t. Their friends are a little offended that they all immediately abandoned them without a reason for Damian, but the other Batboys are perfectly fine with that, Dick, of course, especially. Artemis and Bizzarro are the only ones who don’t hate/probably actually like Damian, just haven’t hung out with him much, so. This is really poorly/not really at all edited so. Sorry I’m garbage :/

It was quite the team up, to say the least.

Titans, Teen Titans, Outlaws. Even Drake’s ridiculously named Young Justice joined in the fray.

The battle was hard. Long. Painful. But it was over now. They’d won. The bad guy was taken down. There were no casualties. The day was saved, and they were heroes to the people once more.

And now that the war was won, the teams were slowly ungrouping. The Outlaws here, the Titans here, their teen counterparts over there, and the like.

And Damian…stood off to the side. Alone.

His team didn’t like him much, he knew that. They worked with him when they needed to, like today, but otherwise kept their distance. So he tried to respect that. Tried to give them the space they wanted.

Tried to pretend it didn’t hurt as much as it did.

He heard Grayson laugh across the space, and glanced at him. He was in the center of the Titans, somehow giving each of his friends his full attention at once. Donna was smiling, Wally was cackling, smacking Dick on the shoulder.

He glanced over towards Drake’s team, Young Justice. It was Drake spreading the physical affection here, an arm around Conner Kent’s shoulders, high-fiving the others, one by one under the shouts of one of them for pizza.

Jason’s celebration was more muted. An arm punch from the Amazonian one, Artemis. The Superman clone rubbed at his hair, and laughed as Jason frowned at him. Roy even popped over from the Titans clique, wrapping Jason in a hug that Jason grumbled at, and kissed his cheek. Kory waved across the way, remaining at Dick’s side.

One last look to his own team. They all had their backs turned to him, talking to each other. Smiling and whispering, paying him no mind.

So…that was it. The battle was over.

Guess he could just…go home, then.

He did one last look toward everyone, made sure he didn’t notice any injuries someone was trying to hide, or troubles lingering around them. Then nodded and turned away, wondering where he left his bike.

He had only taken a few steps when: “Damian?”

He glanced over his shoulder, and found Dick, suddenly extracted from his Titans, jogging almost desperately towards him. He paused, turned.

“Everything okay?” He asked as Dick approached.

“Yeah, of course…where are you going?”

“Home.” Damian almost smirked. “Where else would I be going?”

“With us to get the obligatory and celebratory ‘we-saved-the-day’ Korean BBQ?” Dick pointed his thumb over his shoulder.

“I was unaware I was invited.” Damian murmured. He glanced over Dick’s shoulder towards the Titans. They were all still grouped together, laughing and chatting. “…I don’t think your friends would appreciate my tagging along.”

“My friends?” Dick tilted his head. He hesitated, then followed Damian’s line of sight. “Oh! Well, they…weren’t really invited. I didn’t mean them.” Dick laughed, and turned further. “I meant, them.”

Damian glanced around his brother to find both Jason and Tim separating from their teams to move towards them.

“With all the craziness around Bruce’s death, I never really got to show you this tradition.” Dick smiled softly. “No matter how big the team-up, if we’re all involved, we go out for a family meal after.”

Damian watched as his brothers got closer, but his gut churned uncomfortably.

“…That’s a tradition you have with them. Don’t feel like you need to include me too.” He frowned, looked over at his own team. “Out of pity.”

“…Damian.” Dick huffed in an exasperated laugh. Tim reached them then, and cocked his head to the side in curiosity. “How many times have I explained to you that nothing I do with you is out of pity?”

“Look, I know you’re not an idiot.” Damian felt himself beginning to ramble a little, embarrassment and defensiveness growing as Jason now silently joined them. “I know you saw the divide between my team and I concluding this battle. I know you think I look like…like the lonely kid on a playground or something, but it’s fine. I…I’m tired anyway. And there’s reports to be made on this. So.” He sniffed, avoided Jason’s understanding gaze, and Tim’s sympathetic one. “So go have fun. Bring me a box of BBQ later if you think of it.”

Dick threw his head back and gave a long, suffering sigh that turned into another airy, this-can’t-be-real laugh.

“…Damian.” He repeated, bringing his head back up. He leaned forward and put both his hands on Damian’s shoulders, forcing Damian to look up at him. “I don’t care about your team. Frankly, it’s their loss, in my opinion.” Dick grinned, gave Damian a little shake. “And like I said, a family meal. You are family. Period. And honestly, if you’re not coming, then I don’t even want to go.”

“I’m going whether any of you three are there or not.” Jason quipped. “’Cause I’m fucking hungry.”

Tim slapped his arm.

“But you’re right…I did see how you and your team are. And I know what you think all of our friends think of you. And if you ever want to work on that one day, you let me know. But you know what?” Dick asked. Damian just stared. “I don’t give a shit what any one of them think.”

Damian continued to watch.

“Not even Donna.” Dick claimed. “And she would kill me if she heard me say that.”

That earned a smirk. Dick grinned back, and ruffled his hair.

“Now come on, kid. Because I’m with Jason – I’m starving.” Dick nodded. But before he could scoop Damian up and throw him over his shoulder to forcibly bring him along for some brotherly bonding, Tim stepped up first wrapping an arm around Damian’s shoulder and leading him towards the nearby street.

And when he looked back, Dick thought he’d be looking at him, a knowing look at what he was planning to do. But instead, Tim was looking at Damian’s team, with quick glances at his own.

Because of course, they were all watching. The Titans, the Teens, the Outlaws, the Young Justice. The Bats love to make an exit, after all. And the feeling about Damian was mutual amongst most of them.

And by the pure cold fury in Tim’s eyes, it looked like he might be even more sick of it than Dick was.

After all, Dick wasn’t lying. It was absolutely, 100-percent their loss, that they didn’t love this boy as much as he did.

Jason suddenly jabbed him in the side in the elbow. “Don’t pick a fight over the kid. Not today. He’s embarrassed enough by you as it is.” He stepped after the younger two. “And I’m still hungry.”

“Right, right.” Dick snorted. “I’ll do it next time, when you aren’t hungry.”

“Preferably when I’m not here at all.” Jason hummed. “Though…I wouldn’t be opposed to babysitting the kiddos while you go fight for Damian’s honor.”

Dick smiled, clapping a hand on Jason’s shoulder. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Jason watched after their younger counterparts. “…He’s going to find out you lied, you know. Eventually.”

“What about the celebratory Korean BBQ family dinner? Probably.” Dick asked, as they followed after Damian and Tim. “Unless we make this a real thing.”

“As long as you’re paying, I’ll keep showing, I guess.” Jason decided. But it was said gently, like that wasn’t the case. Like he might actually enjoy this small chance at family time. “You’re lucky Tim and I caught your hand signal, and are good at playing along.”

“Even if you hadn’t, I’d have made another cover story.” Dick smiled. “Though I still don’t get why it’s so hard to believe that I really do love hanging out with Damian.”

“Not for me. You two are the same brand of gleefully violent when you want to be. I know that.” Jason nodded. “You really going to fight your friends for him though? Or Tim’s? Fuck, or mine?”

“Jay, I’d fight the whole world for that kid.” Dick grinned. He bounced his shoulder against Jason’s. “And I know you would too.”

Jason didn’t answer, and that was answer enough for Dick.

When they reached the street, they found Tim and Damian waiting for them at the crosswalk. Immediately, Dick wrapped an arm around Damian’s shoulder, stealing him from Tim’s side. When Damian shifted away slightly, Dick squeezed his shoulder, and hugged him tighter, silently declaring he wasn’t letting Damian stray.

Not for anything.

Or –

He glanced back at the teams and friends they all left behind, without a word, or a reason.

- for anyone.

#Damian Wayne #dick grayson #Jason Todd #Tim Drake

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youllallriseintheink · 4 years

Text

A New Beginning

This is a shipping one-off I did for creepyalienghost. After this, I’m doing a request for loverofallarts12, and then I’m moving on to my BATDR story. The pairing of this story is Sammy x Nathan.

---

“What do you mean, you said ‘no’?!” Sammy all but yelled at Henry, drawing the attention of the others in the breakroom.

Henry, who was used to Sammy’s lack of volume control, just sighed. It had been a difficult choice, and he really didn’t want to be badgered about it. “I didn’t think I could. I mean, moving halfway across the country and leaving behind everyone I know is just... a lot. And what if I do make the sacrifice, and Mr. Arch turns out to be just as bad, or worse? I’ll admit it- I’m a coward. I prefer the devil I know.”

Wally, who had been sitting with them, served Sammy a harsh look. “aren’t you the one always sayin’ that this studio is fine, and anyone who says otherwise should just get out of the kitchen or somethin’?”

Sammy prickled. “Well- yes! But think of it this way- if another kitchen- one which had reasonable fire safety- opened up, then wouldn’t you choose to cook in it? There’s shutting up and accepting hardship, and then there’s failing to avoid it. Henry, is Mr. Arch still in town?”

“Yes.”

“And you have his number, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, would you mind encouraging him to come back to the studio one last time, to see our award-winning music department?”

“Oh, Joey actually gave him a tour of the whole place. You were in your office. Joey knocked on your door when he was about to show him the music department, but you snapped at him that you were busy, so he left you be.”

Sammy turned pink. “Oh. Well, would you put in a word for me anyhow, Henry? Sorry for reacting badly, there. I think your dedication is admirable, honestly. But I feel like I deserve better than this studio.”

“I’ll call him. Not sure he’ll listen, though.”

“Thank you. I owe you, Henry.”

That night, Henry called him with the news that Nathan had agreed to come back to see their music department in action. The next day, Sammy put on the best clothes he could without seeming overdressed for a day at work. He moved up a scheduled recording session for one of the better songs he had on queue to eleven in the morning, and asked Wally to give the music department a thorough cleaning beforehand (Though Sammy poked his nose in himself to make sure it was to his standards).

Soon, the band was in full swing, with Sammy conducting it all. Even though it was a rather small music department, playing a cartoon song that certainly wasn’t to Sammy’s tastes, Sammy couldn’t help but get lost in his work. Conducting took concentration, and it was rather enjoyable. His focus on the flow of the music drowned out the sound of a door opening. Once the song had been recorded and the noise dulled down, Sammy heard a slow clap, and turned to face it.

The man standing at the doorway to the music department was portly, very expensively and stylishly dressed, and had his red hair elegantly slicked back. Sammy had never seen Mr. Arch before, but he was fairly certain that it was him.

Mr. Arch beckoned Sammy over, and he came. “So, an acquaintance told me that you were the true talent of this music department, and that you might be looking for a new place to work,” Nathan said.

“Well, I’m doing quite well here, but I’m always open to new opportunities,” Sammy replied. No need to look desperate.

Mr. Arch smiled at Sammy, and Sammy got the sense that Nathan didn’t believe him for a second. “Alright. Well, why don’t you meet me at seven tonight at Languid Lounge for a drink. Then we can discuss opportunities.”

“Sounds wonderful.”

Sammy wasn’t sure what, but something about the man made his heart flutter. Made him have to stop and stare, if he could get away with it.

A while after, Sammy wandered into the break room, a dreamy look on his face. “It went well, I take it?” Henry said, a teasing smile on his face.

“Naturally.”

Wally whispered something into Henry’s ear. Whatever it was, it made him laugh. Sammy decided to let it go. Which was stupid. After all, this was only a business meeting- Mr. Arch had said it was about opportunity, after all. “Did he give you his first name, Henry? Mr. Arch, I mean?”

“Yes. Nathan.”

“Nathan Arch.” He said, as though he was savouring the sound of it. “Alright.”

The date itself went very well. It started out all business- Nathan asking Sammy about his credentials. Sammy was rather embarrassed to say that he didn’t have any- no awards that Joey hadn’t snatched from him or even a finished music degree, since he’d been convinced to drop out to join the studio. Sammy could see Nathan’s face drop, and he was sure it was over for him.

“Well, that’s disappointing,” Nathan said. “But, what I’m suggesting is you moving to California and taking a job in an established studio with established standards. You’d be an idiot to come into that position just to get fired from it- and you will if you can’t take the heat. So, I’ll give you a chance anyhow. What do you say, Sammy? Think you can take it?”

Sammy locked eyes with him. “Yes, sir. I can take the heat.”

“Good. Now tell me, what instruments do you play?”

“Many. Banjo, piano, guitar, trumpet, clarinet-”

“Clarinet. That will do. I have a vacancy for a clarinet player. And I’ll keep in mind that you have experience in management, next time a music director position opens up. Assuming you do well, that it.”

“Thank you. If I can ask, why are you doing this? Coming to Joey Drew Studios to look for talent, I mean.”

Nathan sighed. “Between you and me, Sammy? I knew Joey as a child. He was always the type to take advantage of people and take credit for everything. It still didn’t get him all that far- but he wanted to fool me into thinking otherwise. And now that we’re adults, he keeps sending me these letters, full of blatant lies about how well he’s doing, and begging me to come visit his “studio.” And, well, I already had a business meeting in New York, so I thought, why not? And when I got there, it was so clearly a poorly managed wreck of a place filled with all these tired, angry people, and I wanted to show him just how dependent he is on the people around him. So, I decided to hire his best talent.”

Sammy was delighted. Finally, someone who understood his struggles with Joey. And who realized how important he was to the studio. And to think, he was not only getting away from Joey but actively taking revenge on him. “You have no idea what a dream this is for me.”

“You don’t like Joey either, do you?”

“No.”

“Want to spend the night hearing stories about the two of us growing up? He humiliates himself in most of them.”

Sammy chuckled. “Sounds like a plan.”

And so they did. And afterwards they talked about art, which turned into talking about their life stories. They got along very well. Sammy took keen interest in Nathan’s upper-crust lifestyle. “Well, you’re very well-spoken, considering your background,” Nathan said to Sammy.

“Hey, now. I was middle-class, not dirt poor.”

“Right. Well, tonight was fun. More fun than I expected. Want to come back to my hotel room with me? And, maybe since you’re quitting Joey Drew Studios anyhow, you’d like to call in sick and join me to see the sights of the city tomorrow?”

“I’d love to,” Sammy said. And that’s what they did.

Within a few weeks, Sammy was on a plane to California. He and Nathan had continued to correspond over letters. Nathan had admitted to Sammy that he had only really wanted a one-night stand out of him at the time, but since they had spent so long apart, Nathan had grown eager to see him again. Nathan had not asked if Sammy felt the same- it seemed safe for him to assume. Sammy replied that he, too, was anxious to see him again.

Who knew? This could be the start of something beautiful.

#Bendy and the Ink Machine #nathan arch #sammy lawrence #nathan x sammy #my fanfiction

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jasontoddiefor · 5 years

Text

Title: Sea shells and all the things he left behind

Summary: Dick Grayson didn’t go to the beach. He didn’t watch any ocean documentaries, he didn’t talk about his childhood and he most certainly did not work with the mers at Blüdhaven’s Ocean Life Rehabilitation center. And then they brought in a kid clinging to an injured mer and Dick was 9 years old again and drowning.

AN: @thursday-batfam-prompts Prompt 7: Mermaid/Siren. Inspired by Gifts From the Sea.” Please go read that story!!

Dick already knew it was going to be a bad day when he got up. His back hurt and his throat itched and he had the taste of seawater on his tongue, though maybe that was just residue from his tears. Dick couldn’t recall what he had dreamed, but when he closed his eyes, orange flashed in front of his vision.

It was better if he didn’t remember.

Dick contemplated staying home sick, playing catch up with another happy kids’ show he had missed out on when he noticed his phone vibrating. It was nothing new for Dick to wake up to a hundred messages or more - the benefits of being friends with a lot of people who kept odd hours.

To his surprise though, it wasn’t the Titanic Idiots group chat blowing up his phone, just Wally. He was getting a new message every second - either Wally was taking his break way too early or they had an emergency at work.

Dick’s shift didn’t even start until twelve and it was what - nine in the morning?

Instead of bothering with reading through all of the messages, he just called Wally. The phone rang only once and his friend already answered.

“Dick! Holy fuck, you need to get your ass here like immediately we’re way too understaffed and nobody knows what we’re supposed to be doing Roy already called up OLRC main office this is why you don’t let a bunch of volunteers and marine life bachelors work on their own without any superior supervision of you know the people who have actually been trained to deal with-”

“Wally. Breathe. Calm down. What’s going on?”

Dick could hear Wally take a few deep breaths before he continued speaking, only a bit slower than before. At least Dick could make out where a sentence started and where it ended.

“We’ve got an emergency. A kid showed up with an unidentified and severely injured mer today. We think it’s a mermaid, but it doesn’t have a tag from what we can tell, and it’s super hostile, well as hostile as mermaids get given they’re the shiest mers, so we can’t get near it. The kid won’t speak either and separating the two already probably broke Donna’s arm. We need some more manpower here.”

Dick couldn’t wait to eat breakfast. Nutella, marmalade, honey - whatever would get rid off the salty taste on his tongue.

“Wally, I don’t work with the mers, you know that.”

“Yes, Dick, and I’m sorry, but you’re the only guy we’ve got.”

Somehow Wally managed to ooze his frustration and worry over the phone. “Please, Dick. You can look after the kid in the meanwhile and I can help check on the mer, but we need someone here.”

Dick’s premonition proved to be true. He should have just stayed in bed. He marched into the direction of his wardrobe, checking if he still had any clean clothes left.

“Give me thirty minutes to get dressed and grab breakfast and I’ll be there.”

“Thank you so, so much. I owe you.”

Wally’s evident relief made Dick smile. The redhead was Dick’s oldest friend. He had helped Dick find his place in a world he hardly understood, willingly shared a dorm with the resident weird kid and had managed to get Dick this summer job in-between college classes, if anything, Dick owed him.

“No prob, Wally,” Dick replied and ended the call.

He quickly grabbed an old pair of jeans and a shirt he was pretty sure was one of Roy’s hand-me-downs. Their small kitchen was always stuffed full due to Wally’s metabolic disorder, so it didn’t take much time to find something sugary and eatable that would still fill him up and prepare him for the stress that was to come.

Twenty minutes later, he was standing in front of Blüdhaven’s Ocean Life Rehabilitation Center. Dick didn’t even study marine biology. He was taking theatre classes, set on his goal to be as far away from the ocean as he could possibly be.

Yeah, that had turned out exactly like planned.

Not trusting himself to not stall any longer, Dick stepped into the strangely deserted building and headed straight to the part where they kept the mers. Before he could even reach the actual aquarium though, Wally already caught him.

His friend looked way too tired for someone who started his shift two hours ago. He stood right next to a couple boxes, his right hand holding an energy drink while his left was occupied with a donut.

“Dick!” Wally exclaimed and quickly swallowed the food in his mouth. “You’re here!”

Dick just rolled his eyes and focused on everything but his stomachs doing flips. “You did ask me to come. So where’s the kid?”

“In the office right here,” Wally said and pointed at the closed door behind him. “The kid’s not speaking at all. We’ve tried every language we’ve got between all of us, even some clumsy ASL, but the kid won’t react. Wouldn’t even look us in the eyes. And since he still has a knife, we don’t want to surprise him. CPS has already been notified, but they’re overrun as always and won’t come until the afternoon, but maybe you can get him to talk? You’re great with kids.”

That was an exaggeration. Dick was good with kids because he could keep them entertained and tell them the stories that captivated them. Generally speaking, that included kids up to age twelve. Everyone above that? Nope, not Dick’s age group.

Dick sighed. “I mean, I can try. Just don’t expect much, alright?”

Wally smiled, exhausted, but as bright as always. “I’m not expecting a miracle, Boy Wonder. Let me just finish and I’ll introduce you. If he doesn’t start screaming on sight seeing the terrible bags under your eyes-”

“And whose fault are they?”

“- then I’ll leave you two and look after the mer.”

Wally inhaled the remains of his snack and wiped his mouth clean on his jacket. Then he slowly opened the door.

The office had been pretty much emptied. Dick recalled that this was Dinah’s office/private break room, but she was on vacation until the end of the month. All of her belongings must be in the boxes.

When Dick and Wally entered the room and the kid looked up, measuring him. The boy had dark hair and his skin was quite pale by comparison. His blue eyes were sharp, evaluating. He definitely wasn’t keeping silent because of shock then.

The boy was dressed almost normally, aside from the old blood sticking to his hoodie. He wore jeans that had obviously been wet in the past hours. No wonder if he had shown up with a mer - Dick should have asked Wally how that had gone down.

“Hey, kiddo,” Wally said. “This is my friend Dick. He’ll stay here with you now if that’s alright?”

The kid didn’t react. He kept staring at Dick and playing around with his knife and the cord of his necklace. Dick studied it and almost took a step back when he realized what he was looking at.

Shark teeth, dark black scales, corals, fish bones, and two shells.

The necklace was identical to the one Dick had stuffed in the darkest corner of his dresser, except Dick’s had seven shells more, one for each year he had survived. Dick had almost thrown it out in anger multiple times, but in the end, he’d always kept it and felt guilty for even thinking of destroying it.

Suddenly, the puzzle pieces slotted together smoothly.

Dick had grown up multilingual until his parents had died. And then, after, he’d spoken only some English. His primary language had been his adopted father’s language made up of clicks and snarls.

“Who are you?” Dick asked, his throat almost hurting from the sounds, and finally, the boy paid attention.

His expression was a stunned one, like Dick’s question had torn down a wall so high you couldn’t even imagine anything lingering behind it.

While Wally looked at Dick like he was crazy, the kid already had tears forming in his eyes.

“You speak!” The kid still had a strong English accent, he couldn’t have been learning to speak for long.

“I was taught, like you,” Dick replied. “What are you doing here.”

“You speak,” the kid only repeated, hope almost choking him. “You’re human and you speak! You’re eldest-who-can-fly-on-land.”

Now it was Dick’s turn to be stunned while the kid started crying for real.

“You’ve got to help us. He’d got hurt badly after missed-love-bright-as-the-sun died and then venom-in-his-blood came and he said not to come but I didn’t know who else to turn to-”

“He-” Dick’s eyes went wide and he jumped up. “Come with me, now.”

“Dick, what the hell is going on?” Wally shouted as Dick turned into the other direction and leaped into a sprint.

He and the kid quickly followed him, but all Dick could think of that they were going to be too late, that he wasn’t going to make it-

“Dick, what are you doing!?”

“Siren!” Dick shouted back. “The mer is a siren, not a mermaid!”

Behind him, Dick could hear Wally starting to curse. None of the people on shift were actually experienced in handling anything above a selkie. And if the kid was as close to Bruce at the necklace suggested, then he wouldn’t just stop at a broken arm, no matter how injured he was.

Dick pretty much kicked the door to the aquarium open, and not a minute too late. Roy had just fallen into the water and a massive dark body was pulling at his clothes while the others desperately tried to reach for him.

Why had nobody broken the cabinet with the tranquilizers?

Dick didn’t hesitate, he didn’t even bother to kick off his shoes or get rid off his jacket, he just jumped right into the water, followed by the hysteric sounds of his friends.

“Where is my son!?”

The water engulfed him and Dick is seventeen and leaving the next, fifteen and on the surface for the first time in years, thirteen and complaining he’s slower than Kori and Babs, eleven and falling asleep on scales, nine years old and drowning alongside his parents, except he got saved by-

“Bruce!”

The siren suddenly let go of Roy, who struggled to get back to the surface and just stared at Dick like he couldn’t quite believe he was there.

“Dick,” Bruce said. “My eldest-who-can-fly.”

The name Bruce had given him when he’d taken Dick into his family had changed. Somehow that was still what caught him off-guard the most.

Dick had left screaming, spitting poison, but he was the-eldest now, not the-reject-who-left though that opened a whole other can of worms.

Bruce looked less like the predator he had just moments before. His eyes were still dark and cat-like, and his massive black tail with razor-sharp fins lingered in the deep of the pool. He had more scars than years ago, never mind the many festering lacerations they needed to take care off as soon as possible.

But Bruce’s expression was made up of terrified hopefulness. Dick was glad he didn’t have a mirror. He didn’t want to know what face he was making, but going by the sound of roaring waves in his ears, he was close to heartbreak as well.

“Hi, Dad.”

The words were much too weak for what he wanted to say but-

They’d have to be enough for now.

#dc #dc comics #batman #bruce wayne #dick grayson #tim drake #wally west #fanfic #I'll just pepper in the fact that Jason is dead

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bendywackyadventures · 4 years

Text

Warm and Cozy Chap. 6

So usually, short stories like these usually take me a few days to work on, but this story was not one of those short stories. I had a bad weak last week, which prevented me from writing.

For starters, my great-aunt passed away at 99 years old and my aunt and uncle who took such good care of her came by the house twice in a row for dinner and planing how the funeral will be held due to Covid-19.

2nd, originally I planned on writing a story where Charlie celebrated his father’s birthday, but it left me with writers block as I did write a Sammy birthday story (I think) in the past and I just didn’t like the outcome. When that happens I have to erase the story and move on to something else.

And finally, which is something positive I’ve been focusing on a lot of ACNH and got into Nookazon, a Animal Crossing Amazon site that I’ve been using.

So yeah busy week. Hopefully things calm down this week and next week. I hope you like the story.

@queenofcats17

Today was supposed to be a good day, but the radio brought up a major emergency. A major storm was coming that was cause flooding and some damage. To make sure his workers were safe, and alive Joey didn’t allow no one to go home till the storm lights up. No one didn’t like it, but once they heard the last clap of thunder and the power went out it was best if everyone stayed at the studio for the night.

Joey and Henry grabbed sleeping bags, as some of the workers called their families of what’s going on and they’ll be home in the morning. While, everyone was comfortable the only one who looked nervous was Charlie.

Dot turned to Charlie and walked over to the child. “Hey Charlie, what’s wrong?” She asked.

“I’m scared.” Charlie whispered.

“Don’t worry Charlie. Its just a storm it will pass.” Dot reassured.

“That’s not it.” Charlie said a bit louder. Dot almost took a step back. “Its my cat, Shadow and her kittens. Their all alone at the house without me!” They cried. “I-I’m scared something will happen to them. I need them here so their safe!”

Dot shushed the child and hugged Charlie tight. “Its alright. Charlie. I’ll help you get home and bring your cats here.” She reassured. Charlie smiled and hugged Dot tight back. Charlie quickly went to grab their frog rain coat as Dot went over to Wally and Buddy. “I need your guy’s help.” Wally and Buddy looked at each other and back at Dot. She went close to them and whispered about Charlie’s problem.

Once she told the boys about the plan they quickly got their coats ready to help their little friend. Dot smiled and went to get her coat as well. Once the four were ready they sneaked out of the studio and ran out the door.

Outside the sky was dark with clouds and thunder and lightning were lighting up the sky. They didn’t have much time the four had to hurry to the Lawrence’s find Shadow and her kittens before it started raining.

It was already 5 minutes and Susie and Sammy realized Charlie was missing. They looked around the studio for their child, but saw no signs of them anywhere. Susie was ready to cry wondering where Charlie had gone.

“Relax Susie. They’ll be fine. Charlie should be around here somewhere.” Sammy reassured. Susie sniffled and hugged Sammy tight hoping he was right. “Come on let’s keep looking.” Susie nodded and looked around the studio once more.

As they searched two of the band members walked on over to Sammy. “Did you two find Charlie yet?” Sammy asked.

“Well yes, but no.” One band member revealed.

Sammy raised an eyebrow wondering what they mean. “What do you mean, yes but no?” He asked.

The other band member chuckled nervously knowing Sammy wasn’t going to like what he was going to hear about Charlie. “Well they were here, but they left the studio with Wally, Buddy and Dot.” He revealed.

Sammy’s eyes widen as he felt his blood boil. His child was out there in the storm with the three workers he despised, not in a fiery passion, but despised. “They what!” Sammy yelled. Sammy’s yell was heard far away Susie ran by to ask why Sammy was yelling.

Sammy told Susie everything, and while she was concerned about Charlie being out there in the storm, she was glad they were not alone. “At least their okay.” Susie sighed.

“What?” Sammy asked surprised over Susie’s answer. Susie turned to face her husband. “Its better their with a group then alone out there in the storm. I know they’ll be fine.” Sammy sighed seeing there was no reason to argue with his wife. Susie was right Charlie was safe being in a group rather going out in the rain by themselves, it was just the people they were with concerned him.

Though if Sammy was here, he would be glad to see Charlie made it home safely as they grabbed the cats and scooped them into their arms. “Okay let’s go!” Charlie shouted. The group left the house and locked the door back up again and were dashing back to the studio. It just started to rain buckets and the wind blew the hoods off making them wet from the rain.

Shadow and her kittens cried, but Charlie held them closer to make sure they didn’t get wet. The four stopped when they saw the road they just took turned into one giant puddle. “Don’t worry I know a shortcut from here. It will take longer, but we’ll make it back.” Buddy revealed. Buddy took the lead and the group followed him to get back to the studio.

Just as they made it halfway, Charlie stopped and held on to the wall to catch their breath. Their legs were shaking and was ready to pass out. Dot forgot that Charlie’s legs weren’t the best and all this running made Charlie reach their limit. The three knew they couldn’t just stop here they needed to hurry, but thankfully Wally had an idea.

“Dot, Buddy you hold Shadow and her kits. I’ll give Charlie a piggyback ride back.” Wally announced.

“What! Wally you know I’m allergic to cats!” Buddy yelled.

“Buddy listen Charlie and their cats are at stake, including us we need all the strength and help we could get.” Wally said putting his hands on Buddy’s shoulders. Dot looked at Buddy and nodded, they had no other options.

Dot and Buddy took hold of the cats, even though the later started to sniffle. Wally let Charlie grab hold of his back and gave him a piggy back ride back to the studio. As they ran Buddy started sneezing due to him holding Shadow, but kept his focus on bringing Charlie back to the studio.

The shortcut brought them back and they quickly dashed inside. The workers turned to see Dot, Buddy, Wally and Charlie wet, tired, and for Buddy sick. Sammy and Susie ran up in front and Wally handed the tired child back to Susie.

“Are they alright?” Susie asked as she carried her child in her arms.

Wally sighed. “Their legs started to go out, so I had to carry them the rest of the way here.” He explained.

Charlie looked up at their parents. “Please don’t be mad, I was trying to rescue Shadow and her babies.” They explained. “I didn’t want to leave them behind until morning. I had to rescue them.” They explained.

Sammy and Susie’s eyes widen as they looked at each other. During all this preparation to settle down at the studio they forgot about Charlie’s cats. “Oh sweetie. Were so sorry we forgot.” Susie apologized.

Charlie gave a small smile. “Its alright mom. I should be sorry that I left in such a hurry.”

Sammy gave a smile and ruffled Charlie’s hair. “Its alright at least you were safe and didn’t go alone.” He mentioned. Charlie smiled and rested in their mother’s arms. Sammy walked over to the three workers who kept Charlie safe and gave them a smile. “Thank you for keeping Charlie safe.”

Wally smiled. “Anytime Sammy!” He beamed.

#Warm and Cozy #charlie lawrence #sammy lawrence #susie campbell #dot dctl #Buddy Lewek #wally franks

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the-blueish-trashcan · 4 years

Text

He’s in Charge; Chapter Ten

Pairing: Henry/Bertrum

Warnings: Mentions of murder

A/N: Hey folks! Sorry for the late update! I worked late last night and honestly forgot about updating, so that’s on me! In this chapter, Henry learns a little bit more about what’s really been going on in the studio, and begins to put the pieces together. He ends up confiding in Bertrum, who does his best to understand what his partner is going through.

Chapter word count: 2,993

{First part} {Previous part} {Next part}

Chapter Ten; Suspicion

Shuffling into the break room the next day, the first thing Henry noticed was Susie Campbell, who looked to be settled in for her lunch break as well. She turned and waved as he came in.

“Hey, Henry! How are you?” She asked cheerily. Settled across from her was an anxious-looking young lady with auburn hair nursing a steaming cup of coffee. Compared to Susie, she looked like she hadn’t slept in days.

“I’m alright, I suppose.” Henry gave a generic answer as he went for the coffee maker. “What about yourself?

“I’m pretty good! I was talking to Joey the other night, it sounds like he’s got a couple plans in the works. He didn’t really tell me what it is, but he sounded pretty excited to have my help.” She responded.

Henry shook his head. “I don’t trust anything Joey has planned for this place, have you seen how many people he’s gotten rid of lately?”

At that moment, the woman sitting across from her speaks up. “He even fired Louis the other day. We barely even make a living wage, both of us work more than one job to make ends meet.”

“You’re kidding.” Henry turns to her, coffee pot and mug in hand.

“I wish, I can’t afford to work here alone. Writing scripts was hard enough between the two of us, I can’t take it.” She replied, shrugging.

“Sure, things might be getting a little empty around here…” Susie started, “But Joey says if everything works out, we’ll be bringing in enough to get everybody a raise, not just the actors.”

“Whoa, wait a second. You’re getting a raise and half the departments in here are getting dismantled? That’s it. I’m out, I can’t take this anymore. The twenty-four hour diner down the street would treat me better than this, and that says a lot.” The writer finishes her coffee in a long sip, standing up and heading for the door. She doesn’t bother to push in her chair. “Hate to leave the rest of the studio hanging, but I can’t do it anymore! Nice knowing you, Susie!”

Stunned by the encounter, Henry turned to Susie, who only shrugged. Unsure what else to say, Henry simply went back to his desk.

*****

Just as Henry arrived at the studio the morning after, he was practically stopped at the door by a tired, worried-looking Jack Fain. He looked disappointed at the sight of the animator, but only slightly. “Morning, Henry.” He lifted a hand in greeting.

“Morning. Is something wrong?” Henry tilted his head to the side.

“Just…” Jack shook his head, taking his hat off to run a hand through his hair. “Norman didn’t show up this morning. Harrison had to break down the door to the band room ‘cause Norm and Wally were the only ones with keys. It’s not like him to skip out on work, I’ve seen him come in with a scarf around his face just ‘cause he was sick…”

Henry’s eyebrows came together as he reviewed the events of the previous night, fear suddenly gripping him. “Do you think Joey fired him…? I just saw him last night when I was leaving.”

“I don’t know about firing, but I’ve got a pretty good idea of who does. I’m gonna go talk to Cohen about it. You were the last one to see him, you should come with me.” Jack started down the hall, gesturing for Henry to follow.

“Where does he even work? I’ve never seen his office.”

Jack shrugged. “He’s down in the basement, not far from when your man was working on that theme park. It’s pretty out of the way, everybody misses it.”

Henry nodded, falling quiet as he continued to follow the lyricist.

*****

As promised, Grant’s office- which proved to be more of a converted broom closet than a room- was far down in the studio, but much closer to the lift than Bertrum’s work area had been. The door itself was closed, the beaten-up wood bearing two paper signs with shaky writing scrawled across them. One read, “All pay inquiries MUST be made through Joey Drew”, the second reading, “Two week’s notice MUST be given to Joey Drew before quitting”.

Henry frowned at the signs as Jack knocked on the door, calling out, “It’s just me, you there, Cohen?”

“Jack? Y-yeah, come on in.” The trembling voice of Grant Cohen answered.

As the door swung open, a wave of cold air hit Henry full on, and he immediately pinned the cause as the open hole in the wall and exposed pipe in the back corner. Grant’s tiny desk next to the door was littered with papers, some of which spilled onto the floor as well. His trash can was overflowing with them, though those were mostly crumpled. At one side of his desk, a lamp flickered, shining mostly on a bulky camera and the photos that had to have come from it. From the door, Henry couldn’t see what the pictures were of, but he didn’t care to find out.

“Hey, who’s been fired lately? And who quit?” Jack leaned on the frame, watching as the accountant shuffled his papers.

“Uhm…” He moved one under his lamp, squinting at it as his hands caused it to shake. “Yes, uhm… Well, technically there were… Three people fired total, and six that allegedly quit in the last…” He flipped a few pages. “Two weeks, about? I-I mean, there’s more before that, but…”

Henry leaned into the room a little more, over Jack’s head. “‘Allegedly’?”

Grant blinked up at him, pushing glasses up on his nose that weren’t there. “Well- Joey said to- to take them off the payroll… But I never filled out a termination form for any of them, so I’d just have to assume they quit suddenly.”

Jack looked up at Henry, then back to Grant. “Is one of those six Norman Polk?”

Grant skimmed over his papers again. “Yes… Joey told me to take him off after hours last night.”

“That’s not right. He wouldn’t just… up and leave without telling us, he’d… He’d at least make sure someone could do his job before, right?” Jack asked the room.

“I don’t know about that… Joey’s been dropping his pay pretty steadily over the last couple weeks.” Grant shrugged, arms folding on his desk.

“Something… really isn’t right here. When I saw Norman the other night, it was right after he was in Joey’s office yelling at him. He didn’t sound like he was about to quit on everybody, he was going to…” Henry trailed off, watching Grant’s eyes widen.

There was a moment of tense silence before Grant spoke again. “W-well he- maybe he- maybe he got fed up and left, I-I’m sorry, I’m not sure what to tell you.” His voice shook as badly as his hands.

“For God’s sake… Thanks, Cohen, I need to go talk to Sammy about this right now, this is out of control.” Jack suddenly turned and stepped past Henry, taking off down the hall at a brisk pace. Henry, not wanting to move that fast, just waved and closed the door on his way out.

He was halfway to the lift when he felt someone grab onto his sleeve from behind, tugging on it slightly. When he turned and looked down, a still wide-eyed Grant stood before him. He wrung his hands in front of him for a moment, trying to find his voice. “Henry, you- I need to ask you something about- about Joey…” He almost mumbled.

Henry tilted his head, only briefly glancing back down the hall. “What about him…?”

“I know you deal with him a lot personally, I do too… Listen, I heard from Wally before Joey- before he was fired that… something weird happened with him last week, and I really shouldn’t be talking about it to you or anyone really, but he told me you saw it happen. What was it you saw with Joey, exactly?” Grant’s words were frantic, nervous.

His eyebrows came together in confusion, taking a moment to think. “Do you mean when he was coughing up sludge…?”

“Yes, exactly! You’ve seen it too! So maybe you’ll believe me! Look, Henry, Henry, he’s doing things here, it’ll take so much time to explain and I swear I will explain it somehow, but you need to know right now that he’s up to something other-wordly, and it’s very dangerous. You’re already seeing the consequences of that all over the place here, I needed to know that I wasn’t the only one that noticed it, none of it can end well, that’s so, so obvious already.” The smaller man babbled.

“Whoa, Grant, slow down…” Henry put a hand out, setting it on the man’s arm.

“No, no, no you don’t understand, I swear, he’s trying to summon something, or… I don’t know what he’s really doing! But it’s bad, it’s really bad. I know too much, alright? I know too much about him and what he’s up to with some of the people here, and I doubt Wally or Norman or those people in the band-” He suddenly pressed his lips together, his eyes falling on the ground.

“What are you talking about?” Henry asked quietly, hardly making any sense of the accountant’s rant at all.

“It’s not safe to talk here, not about this. Someone’s going to hear, and tell him, just like Wally-” Grant stopped himself again. “I’ll explain it all. I will, and it’ll be set right someday.”

Henry didn’t get a chance to try and get him to explain one more time, the accountant took off back down the hall before he could be stopped.

Henry was suddenly left alone in an eerily empty, dim hallway, wracking his brain over the accountant’s words and what was really going on in the building.

*****

Friday night, on his way home from the studio after a mostly uneventful day, Henry found himself still contemplating Grant’s ramble from the morning. Between the way he spoke about some of the former employees and the sudden disappearance of Norman, Henry was more than suspicious about what was happening. Nearly at his apartment, he turned the car around, mental destination set for Bertrum’s house.

When he pulled up to the building, the gate automatically opened for him like usual. No sooner had he stepped out of the car than Ferris came barreling towards him from the yard, causing him to hold both his hands out, repeating “no!” to the dog. Ferris stopped short at his hands, licking both of them. Somewhat relieved, he reached out to pat him on the head a few times.

“Henry!” Bertrum called from across the yard, jogging to catch up with his dog. He had a chewed-up baseball in one hand and looked like he’d been home for a while. He wore a plain black t-shirt and dark-colored jeans, something Henry hadn’t expected to ever see him in.

“Hi… I’m sorry I didn’t call, I was on my way home and just sort of… decided to drop by.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Bertrum squinted at him ever so slightly. “Did something happen? You know I’ll come back there if I have to.”

“I’m not really sure. Can we go inside? I’ll tell you about what I think.” He asked almost hesitantly.

“Of course. The downstairs is being cleaned at the moment, we can sit in the living room upstairs.” Bertrum offered.

“That’s fine.” Henry nodded, heading for the door with Ferris close on his heels. On the way up one set of stairs, Henry caught sight of Bertrum holding Ferris’s collar, trying to direct him upstairs as well.

After a moment’s struggle, the dog had the idea, rushing up and past Henry, disappearing into one of the other rooms. Bertrum caught up to him then, a hand coming to rest on the small of his back. “Now did something happen?”

“Something’s seriously wrong there. More so than normal, there’s something happening behind the scenes that just doesn’t add up.” Henry blurted, letting Bertrum guide him into the living room. He shuffled over to the couch, removing his shoes and setting them to the side. He sat down in a way that he was able to face the other side of the couch, legs folded.

“How do you mean?” The designer questioned, kicking his shoes off and sitting next to Henry.

“Alright… Now… You didn’t know a lot of people there. You met Wally, right? He was the janitor.” He started.

“I did. He was… something.” Bertrum confirmed.

“Okay, well… Rumor has it Joey fired him. Rumor has it Joey also fired part of the band and the other part quit suddenly. Then suddenly someone absolutely essential to our whole operation disappears. At first, I thought it was just to cut costs.” Henry pauses, waiting for Bertrum to nod, signalling him to continue. “Well, me and someone from the music department went to talk to Joey’s accountant today. That man’s scared, Bertrum. He’s scared of Joey in the same way I am and he claimed to know too much about Joey and what he’s doing.”

“Do you think Drew’s been threatening him the same way as you?”

Henry nodded slightly. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all. He’s smaller than I am, and Joey’s clearly been controlling aspects of his job, too. But that’s not everything. He said that three people out of nine who disappeared suddenly had been fired, the others he just assumed quit.” Bertrum nodded for him to continue again, his eyebrows pulled together in consideration. “He assumed. He never actually talked to those people, he wasn’t told to do any paperwork for them when they left or anything.”

“Is it random? These people suddenly disappearing, are they random?” Bertrum asked, fingers tapping his knee.

“Sort of? I’m not sure who all was fired and who quit, I didn’t ask, but… Our janitor supposedly was fired, our projectionist quit… We only had one person in those positions, and a lot of the orchestra suddenly stopped working.”

“And… this accountant… He’s trustworthy?”

“More than Joey, he just seemed really frantic, it didn’t really make any sense but the more I think about everything he said to me, the more it feels like he knew more than he was letting on…” He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“Drew has been… continually more aggressive and controlling, yes?”

“Yeah, you saw how he’s started to treat me, and with the whole thing with the-” Henry freezes, a look of realization taking over his face. “Wally knew about Joey’s new hobby. He knew because of me. And Grant said Joey was doing something demonic and then Norman saw it and- Oh, God…” Henry suddenly stood up, eyes wide, a hand gripping his hair. “They knew! Wally has friends in the band and then they disappeared, what if he told them about-”

“Henry, darling, slow down.” More concerned before, Bertrum reached out towards Henry with both arms.

Henry gave him his hands and slowly sat back down. “Bertrum, I saw Joey coughing up black sludge. It was dripping from his eyes, too, and his eyes turned color, and you don’t have to believe me, but I was not the only one that saw it. Joey didn’t want me to see it though, it’s- it’s something he’s obviously trying to cover up. I told Wally about it and he disappeared and Norman saw it and now he’s gone, too…”

“Do… do you think he killed them, Henry? You think he’d go so far as to kill someone?” He ran his thumbs over Henry’s knuckles, looking him in the eyes.

“I don’t know! He might have, he…” The images of Joey’s office flicker through his mind. The pictures, the lists he hadn’t paid attention to, the way they looked to have been thrown together. “He has hit lists.” The last part came out as a shocked whisper.

“Hit lists? Henry, I don’t want to sound like I’m doubting you. I don’t mean to, I’m trying to understand this, but do you think perhaps you’re the one that’s paranoid? That studio has been seriously struggling for quite some time.”

“All I know is that my friends are disappearing and no one knows why, because some of them haven’t been fired like Joey says.” Henry shook his head.

“The man is in a wheelchair, dear. I don’t think he’d be able to do much harm from there unless he ran someone over repeated. You sound like you just need a break from that place.” Bertrum reaches over to gently hold one of his cheeks, tilting his head.

“I’ve seen him stand. When he was first starting to cough up sludge, he stood up and made a grab for me, that’s when he started coughing. Who’s to say he hasn’t been walking, too?”

Bertrum made a noise like he was thinking for a moment. “I suppose I have a couple favors I can call in regarding… investigation… Would you feel better if I got in touch with someone that could look into Drew?”

Henry’s gaze shifted to the side and towards the floor, considering the question. “I don’t know, I couldn’t ask that of you. Not right now…” He sighs. “I don’t know how much longer I can take it, working there. With everyone disappearing and Joey…”

Carefully wrapping his arms around him, Bertrum started to pull Henry close, eventually leaving the man practically in his lap. “I agree that you need time to sort things out in your mind. If you’d like to stay the night, you’re always welcome to.”

“Thanks…” Henry adjusted himself to be more comfortable, laying against the other man. “I think I’m going to, I don’t want to intrude or anything, though…”

“Don’t worry about that right now. Everything will be alright.” Bertrum reassured.

Henry nodded in response. “If you say so…”

#long post #fanfic #fanfiction #writing #writers on tumblr #batim #batim fanfic #batim au #bendy and the ink machine #bendy and the ink machine au #bendy and the ink machine fanfic #henry x bertrum #Henry Stein #bertrum piedmont #susie campbell #jack fain #grant cohen #batim oc

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novaviis · 5 years

Text

sick!dick au. part nine.

read from the beginning here.

Dick opens his eyes. Wally doesn’t actually realize that he’s holding his breath, shot up from his chair and leaning over the bed, until his husband’s gaze meets his. He doesn’t breathe again until he sees the recognition, the life there. A smile twitches at Dick’s lips. Wally completely deflates, lungs just shy of burning, as he breathes easily for the first time all day.

An hour later, a mass text goes out to their friends and family. It’s a picture of Dick, in his bed, with a pair of sunglasses fit over his head, at a bit of an awkward angle because of the bandages. He’s holding up a peace sign and grinning tiredly at the camera. Wally’s arm is just barely visible in the corner of the shot, holding up the phone.

The caption reads: I lived, bitch.

In their defense, they planned that out before Dick went under.

And, well, recovery is recovery. Dick spends most of that day in and out of sleep, and they just take things easy. It’s way too familiar at this point, the family being in a hospital room, surrounding Dick in a bed, hooked up to wires. They’ve spent far too long in this exact setting, they’re too comfortable with the sounds of the machines and the scent of disinfectant. Still, in a way, this feels different. So long as all goes well, this will hopefully be the end of an era. A really shit era, but nonetheless they can all feel a chapter coming to a close. As much as the family still argues, still disagrees, still grates at each other… this ordeal has brought them all closer.

The snow is soft and piling high, the afternoon fades on into evening, at by nightfall that Wayne clan’s gone home. Dick and Wally lay comfortably in the hospital bed and watch videos on Wally’s laptop until, halfway into a Bob Ross painting video, Dick falls asleep for the night. Wally spends another hour just staring between him and the window, just allowing himself to breathe well into the night, before he finally succumbs as well.

The Doctors plan to keep Dick there for about three days before he can be released. Each day he’s a little more himself, a little more awake and aware. Wally helps him walk around the room a bit each day to help keep up his strength, and actually makes notes on how the Nurses take care of the bandages and incisions, and what to do through recovery. Dick laughs a bit at one point, reassuring Wally that they’ll be given a whole lesson and pamphlet about all that, but Wally insists that he get as much info and experience as he can. It would have been dorky had it not been so adorable.

For his part, Dick tries to be a model patient, but… well, he’s impatient, that’s the problem. He can’t even sit up too fast (something he learned the hard way when he got excited to see Barbara and he got so dizzy his vision blacked out. He had to listen to Wally lecture him on and off for the rest of the afternoon). He’s just so tired of people walking on eggshells around him, treating him like he’s made out of glass. Now that the finish line is in view, that this is all almost over, Dick just wants to get there already. Can’t always get what he wants though.

On the third day, the day he’s supposed to be able to go home, Dick gets hit with a migraine so severe he’s almost desperate for them to just knock him out. The Doctors are trying to adjust his medication accordingly, whispering in the corners of the room about the possibility of tests and scans to make sure nothing’s amiss, the possibility for going under again, while Dick vomits onto his gown because he can’t get to the bucket fast enough. And he’s on the verge of sobbing through gritted teeth, can hardly breathe through it. The world is tilting upside down and his bone marrow has been replaced with molten lead and his skin is peeling back piece by piece and soon there will be nothing left of him because it was supposed to be over.

Through it all, Wally is a steady presence, understanding of Dick’s frustration. His touch is grounding, light enough not to overwhelm Dick, and just about the only comfort he has. Even Wally has to bite his tongue to keep from snapping at the Nurses who keep trying to get Dick to open his eyes when they’ve got the fluorescent lights on overhead, trying to ask him questions when he can barely breathe let alone speak. It’s rough. But it doesn’t last forever. They switch out his medication, the sudden change in chemistry has Dick sleeping for the rest of the day, and it passes. They keep him for another two nights.

Finally, five days after the surgery, Dick is released. Their friends had planned a small Post-Surgery Party at the Manor for when he got back, but Wally calls ahead and tells them that Dick is just too tired. So, when they get back, Wally helps Dick up to bed, and there’s a cheap box cake waiting for Dick in the fridge with Donna’s elegant hand writing reading “You’re Our Hero” in blue frosting, and poorly drawn smiley face courtesy of Garth.

And thankfully, after that, it’s mostly uphill. There are good days, and bad days, but that’s nothing they haven’t handled before – and they’re all seizure free. Even the migraines start to subside as Dick continues to recover. Every day, he’s more like himself. Still sleeps a lot, but that’s to be expected. He’s on the mend.

Two weeks after the surgery, Dick and Wally move back into their own apartment (which they return to find perfectly dusted and cleaned, courtesy of Alfred).

Six weeks after the surgery, Dick returns to desk work at the Precinct.

Four months after the surgery, Dick returns to active duty, so long as he’s accompanied by another officer.

Six months after the surgery, Dick gets his license back.

There’s a moment, about seven months in, that Wally walks in on Dick in the bathroom just after he’s gotten out of the shower. He’s throwing a bit of product in his hair, towel wrapped around his waist and – well, it just sort of hits him. Dick had lost a lot of weight during this ordeal, and though he’d never been stick-thin there had been a noticeable difference during the worst of it. Now, Dick’s filled out again, started on light work outs to get back in shape, and his hair’s grown back nearly to what it’d been before. You can’t even tell he’d had brain surgery months ago. The scars are covered by his hair, and he looks healthy again… and now Wally doesn’t have to think twice before jumping his husband’s bones in the bathroom.

Slowly, Dick introduces the idea of returning to Hero duty. It’s a touchy subject, one that they argue about a lot, but in the end, Wally gets onboard. The idea is terrifying, but he knows how important it is to Dick. Gradually they get Dick back in fighting condition, taking things slow when they need to. The first time Dick goes back to training on the high bars and acrobatic equipment, Wally is tense enough to break his jaw just from clenching it so hard. He’s ready to take off at the speed of light the second he sees Dick falter – and Dick does. It’s one little slip of his hand, and he nearly falls, but just as Wally speeds out to him, Dick manages to catch himself and finish the move safely. He lands in front of Wally with the biggest grin he’s worn in months. Maybe even the biggest since their Wedding Day.

Nightwing returns. The first night Dick goes out on patrol again, Wally is suited up next to him. It’s not just a precaution, Wally isn’t there to babysit Dick. It’s more than that. They’re partners. They always have been.

They’re standing on a rooftop, the city lights of Bludhaven glowing below. Wally puts his hand on Dick’s shoulder with a gentle squeeze. “I know you’re ready,” he says after a long period of comfortable silence. “But I just… I need you to know.” Wally looks Dick in the eyes, a smile on his lips. “I’m always gonna be here to catch you.”

And that means more to Dick than he could possibly put into words. In so many ways.

It’s not just in the literal sense, when he says he wouldn’t have made it through this without Wally. Not just in the fact that he chased live-saving answers from across the world, just to get him a cure. Not just in the fact that he kept him alive the day he stopped breathing on their bedroom floor. Not even in the fact that Wally has been there to physically catch Dick every time he’s fallen. Wally has been there for him through the emotional highs and lows, every time he’s been too sick to get out of bed, every time he’s been frustrated and angry with the cards he’d been dealt in life, and he has never once complained. Dick knew without a doubt that he would do the same for Wally in a heartbeat if he needed to, but to be actually faced with this kind of selfless love on a daily basis is overwhelming. His friends, his family, he never would have survived this if it hadn’t been for all of them. Dick has a safety net. Wally will always be there to catch him.

#birdflash #dickwally #sick!dick au #sick!dick

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queenofcats17 · 5 years

Text

The Ink Demonth 19

Today is Sick and since I’ve done a lot of angst, I’m gonna do something cute

-----------------------------------------------

A bad case of the flu had been sweeping through the studio, which meant a lot of the studio members were out of commission. Sammy, Grant, Shawn, and Allison were all out sick, and Susie was gone to take care of Sammy. And to keep him from coming to work. Apparently, he didn’t trust the band members. This also meant that a few of the more hardcore workaholics were trying to come back to the studio while sick. Those few hardcore workaholics were solely Henry and Bertram. Especially Henry. The healthy studio members were conferring about how to best get them to go home.

“It’s not good for them to be here,” Joey said, his fingers steepled in front of him. “They’re just making their sickness worse. Not to mention they could make other people sick.”

“But how’re we gonna get them out?” Wally asked. “They’re gonna put up a fight, right?”

“Piedmont’ll be hard to get out.” Tom drummed his fingers on the table. “Getting him out physically is out of the question. He’s a big guy.”

“I’m just gonna pick him up and carry him out,” Lacie said. Everyone gathered around the break room table turned to look at her. She was leaning nonchalantly against the wall.

“Well, if anyone could do it, it’d be you.” Norman stifled a snicker behind his hand. Lacie just rolled her eyes. Norman or Tom could probably have done it too, but Lacie was the only one Bertram would tolerate literally picking him up.

“That just leaves Henry.” Joey frowned. “He might be a bit difficult. Normally I’d call Linda, but she’s out of town at a teacher’s conference.”

“There are cots in the infirmary. We could make him sleep there until we can get him home.” Jack suggested. Joey turned slowly to look at Jack. For a moment, Jack was worried he’d said the wrong thing. Then he noticed the way Joey’s eyes were sparkling.

“Jack, you are a genius.” He whispered, grabbing Jack by the shoulders. “We just need to lure him down there!”

This task fell to Wally because no one else wanted to do it. And Wally was already immune to the flu.

“Uh? Mr. Stein? You okay?” Wally asked, tentatively approaching Henry. The animator was slumped over his desk, going through the motions of drawing Bendy on a blank piece of paper. The cap was still on his pen.

“Mr. Stein?” Wally gently tapped his shoulder.

“‘M fine,” Henry mumbled, then sniffled loudly.

“The cap’s still on your pen.”

“Issit?” Henry sat up, gazing blearily at his pen. “Aw, man. Shoulda seen that.” Wally stifled a snicker.

“So, uh, Mr. Drew wanted to see you in the infirmary.” He said. He kept breaking off to snicker as he watched his boss turn clumsily around. He shouldn’t laugh. Henry was very sick. It was just so funny, though. Henry was pretty hilarious when he was extremely tired, drunk, or sick.

“In the infirmary?” Henry squinted at him, swaying side to side. “Why there?”

“He rolled his ankle.”

By all accounts, Henry should not have believed Wally. The janitor kept pausing to snicker, wouldn’t make eye contact. It was obvious that he was up to something. But Henry got up, starting toward the infirmary. Wally was momentarily stunned that his ruse had worked before quickly shaking it off and following his loopy boss.

“Joey!” Henry yelled as he stumbled down the stairs. “Whaddaya want?” Almost as soon as he entered the infirmary, he was ambushed by a team of interns in hospital masks.

“What the-? Wus goin’ on?!” He protested.

“This is for your own good, Henry,” Joey said solemnly as the interns wrapped his friend in a large comforter and rolled him onto the cot.

“I gotta work!” Henry whined, kicking his legs ineffectually.

“You need rest, Henry. You’re sick.” Joey insisted. “I’ll drive you home at the end of the day. But for the time being, you’re going to stay here and rest.”

Henry spent the rest of the day alternating between sleeping and groaning about how he needed to work. When Joey came to pick him up, he was asleep. Bertram had been removed from the premises that morning by Lacie, who had slung him over her shoulder and carried him out, just as she’d said she would.

“You ready to go home?” Joey asked, gently prodding Henry with his cane.

“Mm?” Henry opened his eyes, then glared weakly at Joey.

“You betrayed me.” He mumbled.

“You’re sick. You needed rest. Linda would have done the same.” Joey smiled and folded his arms. Linda would be home tomorrow, thankfully, and she would no doubt be much better at wrangling a sick Henry than Joey was.

“You’re the worst.” Henry pouted.

“I know, I know. Come on.” Joey managed to get him up, helping him out to his car and driving him home. Henry fell asleep again on the drive over, still partially wrapped in the comforter. Once at Henry’s house, Joey got his friend into bed.

“There we go.” He said as he tucked Henry in. He couldn't help but chuckle as he watched Henry wriggle around, trying to get comfortable. Henry was certainly in for a talking-to from Linda when she got home. Once he was satisfied Henry would sleep well, he took the guest bed. It had been a long day.

#bendy and the ink machine #the ink demonth #fanfiction #henry stein #wally franks #joey drew #lacie benton #thomas connor #norman polk #jack fain #sickness tw

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cakeandpi · 5 years

Text

(some other unfinished, unpolished stuff, featuring artemis and kaldur and candles, but not the romantic kind)

---

The day after she joins the team, a storm surges across Happy Harbor and takes out the power the Cave. Kaldur mutters something about circuit breakers and leaves the group, while Robin hunts down flashlights. M’gann immediately claps her hands and gets far too excited about telling ghost stories. Wally tries to say something about not needing to be scared while he’s around - Artemis elbows him and he doubles over dramatically. “Oh no, M’gann, I think I need medical help.” He gasps, and Artemis rolls her eyes.

Kaldur returns - the circuit breakers have been tripped, but flipping them hasn’t fixed anything. “Weird that the generators didn’t kick in.” Robin muses, flicking on a flashlight and setting it on the floor, pointing it at the ceiling so they could all see.

Artemis folds her arms. “I am not going into some dark basement, I know how these sorts of stories end.”

“What stories?” M’gann asks, eyes wide. Artemis turns to Conner for help, who just shrugs. She doesn’t know what she really expected, in retrospect.

“Just bad horror stories, mostly.” Artemis says at last. She blinks as Kaldur sets something down beside the flashlight.

“A candle? Can’t you see in the dark what with being part fish?” Wally asks. Then yelps as Artemis elbows him again, less gently than before.

She scowls at Wally. “Don’t be rude.”

“Yes, I thought it would be nice.” Kaldur answers Wally’s question with more patience than Artemis feels it deserves. “Though I suppose the flashlights are more practical.”

“Well, I like the idea! Can we light it?” M’gann asks. “I’ve only ever seen this on TV.”

Robin returns - Artemis squints at him; how had she not noticed him leaving? - with matches and lights it. Taking the flashlight, he points it at his face and says, “Sure thing Miss M. And now, why don’t we tell stories? It is a dark and stormy night, after all.”

---

Years later, Artemis “dies” and Tigress takes her place. She kisses Wally goodbye, lingering because while she’s made the decision to back Kaldur up, she also doesn’t want to go. “I’ll be fine.” She whispers between kisses. “Try not to worry too much.” She doesn’t tell him to not worry at all because she knows that’s a useless request.

“I love you,” He tells her. Then, “You should go,” and she knows how hard it must have been for him to say that, because she knows how hard it is for her to actually go.

She shoulders her bag and follows Kaldur out of the building, pulling her new mask down over her face. The Manta flyer waits out in the bay, and it doesn’t smell like blood but the metallic scent of it fills her nose anyway.

---

The training session ends early, when her sparring partner gets violently sick. Tigress escorts them to the infirmary, listening to their assurances of being all right, they just ate something bad. She hums in non-commital agreement and doesn’t say a thing about how she’s all but carrying them down the hall.

After dropping them off, she returns to the quarters she and Kaldur share. It’s not until after she closes the door that the scene before her actually registers and she freezes. Kaldur, too, freezes, eyes wide and something like apprehension in his face. It takes her longer than she likes to think about to find something to say. “Doesn’t that hurt?” She asks, finally, gesturing weakly at him.

“Only a little.” He admits. The candle in his hand isn’t lit, but it obviously had been, given the wax dripping from it onto his arm. Artemis makes herself stop staring and goes to stow her gear, as if she had simply caught Kaldur reading or something equally innocuous. A door closes hastily; when she looks, Kaldur’s absent and she can hear water running in the tiny bathroom adjoining their quarters.

Leaning her forehead against the wall, she closes her eyes and inhales deeply. Whatever that was, it isn’t any of her business. Not as long as their mission isn’t jeopardized.

---

She’s not really sure how long it is after Wally’s ceasing. She knows it’s some amount of time, because it’s someone different spending time with her each day. M’gann brings her a ridiculous amount of food, and at any other time Artemis might have joked about stress baking. But for now all she can do is smile wearily at her.

Dinah makes her go to her house to eat dinner with her and Ollie and that is the weirdest, most awkward dinner Artemis has had in a long, long time, and she doesn’t want to repeat that experience.

Dick visits, and that one ends in a shouting match because things weren’t supposed to turn out like this. Maybe one day she’ll apologize for some of the things she said. Maybe not. Roy brings her beer and they get drunk and belligerent and shout at the world inside her tiny new apartment (because she can’t stay in the one she and Wally had shared, she just can’t). She vaguely remembers her neighbors banging on her door and something about noise complaints.

Even Kaldur takes a turn in babysitting her. Given that he’s somehow talked her into going outside, on a walk, like some sort of normal person who didn’t have their boyfriend just zap out of existence, she’s glad that’s after she’s mostly recovered from her hangover.

And that if she has to have company she’s glad that it’s Kaldur, because she’s tired of being angry and tired of being sad and tired of having to put up a front. Kaldur might have opinions if she acts weird, but he’d at least keep it to himself unless she hurt herself or him.

Speaking of -

“Can I ask you something that really isn't any of my business?” She blurts out.

She can almost feel his hesitation. “I cannot promise an answer,” he warns.

“It's about your candle. Thing.” She says before she can think better of what she’s asking. “Why do that?”

He's quiet for so long that she thinks he's not going to answer. The ground crunches under their feet, dry brittle grass and gravel and dirt. “Stress relief.” He says at last.

“Huh.” She rolls that over in her mind. She doesn't get it. “Think most people's go to for stress relief is sex.”

Kaldur snorts. “Have to like that for that to be an option.”

She starts and stares at him, flabbergasted. “And you don't?” She asks, as if there was any other way to interpret his statement.

He glances at her, then away, as if he's uncomfortable, and it belatedly dawns on her that she’s asking about Kaldur’s sex life, heaven help her. “It's not… quite that. But it's …” He shrugs, as if that should explain it. And it should, she’s just got a bad case of foot-in-mouth, one that she can’t excuse with grief or her hangover. “It's just not my first choice of activity.”

“So you do candle stuff instead?” She can't see getting the same rush or release of endorphins from that. “Er. Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry that much.”

Kaldur snorts, and he bumps his shoulder against hers. “It is fine, don’t worry. Just not used to talking about that stuff with anyone.”

She smiles wanly and bumps his shoulder back. “You could always tell me to fuck off, or whatever, you know. Don’t have to put up with my rude ass.”

He laughs, full bodied and head thrown back. She doesn’t stare, eyes wide with surprise, because she made Kaldur laugh like that? Wow. “Artemis, you’ve met our teammates. You’re a saint in comparison.” Her lips twitch, and she snorts and soon joins Kaldur in his laughter. It doesn’t turn to tears until later, when she’s back in her new place and alone and she has time to think about how Wally won’t ever get to hear Kaldur laugh like that.

---

It’s months later and she rejoins the team, this time in orange rather than green. She’d have come back sooner - immediately, even - but Raquel and Zatanna had sat her down and looked at her. “We aren’t going to make you talk about it, if you don’t want,” Zatanna had said.

“But you’ve been on that mission for months now, and you intend to just throw yourself right back into the fray? Do you even know how you want Tigress to operate as a hero yet?” Raquel asked, arms folded and face stern.

Artemis had wanted to argue. Had argued, even. Told them that she’d figure it out along the way, because how else did people do these things? And she might have won that argument, if it had been just one of them. But the pair of them, working in tandem against her? She found herself somehow agreeing to ease her way back to being a full-time member of the team.

From the anxious, worried looks the newer, younger members had given her the first time she ran a mission post-Wally? She still wasn’t sure if it had been a good idea.

Slowly, she found her footing again. More quickly with the older team members who knew her, not just knew of her. It helped that her old teammates treated her as they always had, letting the newer heroes pick up on their cues.

---

The mission didn't go well. The team is back all in one piece and uninjured but definitely a bit rattled. As they debrief Black Canary on the mission, Artemis keeps a watch on Kaldur from the corner of her eye. He's tense, even here at the Watchtower where it's safe, his muscles taut and his movements jerkier than normal.

When the team is dismissed, most of them disperse, going home or going out as the case may be. Home sounds good, as does a hot shower and sleeping for hours, but Kaldur worries her.

So she stays and follows him down through the hallways to his quarters. “Did you have need of something?” He asks, pausing outside his door.

“No. You're going to do that thing, right? From the undercover mission?” She jams her hands into her pockets. She shouldn’t be asking this, but she also doesn’t want to just leave knowing he’s about to go hurt himself, in private, without anyone knowing. “May I watch?”

He turns to look at her then, and she tries not to squirm under his scrutiny. His frown is intense, and it’s all she can do to not take a step back. “And if I say no?”

There’s an almost apprehensive note to his question, and Artemis realizes with a start that he’s worried about what she might do in response. “Then you say no and I go home. I'll worry, but that's my problem.” She shrugs, trying to fake an uncaring calm she doesn’t really feel. “I do complicated trick shots to de-stress, sometimes. Don't always want to be watched, cause then someone might think it’s how I usually do things. But sometimes it's fun to show off too, you know?”

His mouth quirks as if she's said something funny. “What, not sex?”

Oh. Their previous conversation about this. Her face flushes hot. “Well. That too, but it's more complicated now.”

He examines her for another moment, though what he’s looking for she can’t say. “Okay, but you're just watching. All right?” He holds open the door for her.

“All right.”

It's a lot more mundane than her imagination had built it up to be. “Actual burns are not the point,” he tells her. “It's about the sensation, not to cause harm.”

“Oh.” She knows she's a bit of an unwanted outsider here, so she does her best to make her presence unobtrusive, leaning against the far wall from where Kaldur is setting up. “But you said it does hurt some?”

“Only briefly, and only a little.” He reappears from the bathroom, dressed in sweatpants and a plain t-shirt, candle and a box of matches in hand. “And far less than blocking one of Superboy’s punches during a sparring match.” He sets it down and lights it, flicking the match out then dropping it in a nearby glass of water.

“Took so long to get him to understand what pulling a punch meant.”

“And now he’s taken charge of training our newer members.”

Artemis smiles fondly. “Remember when he was so angry about everything? But now, you actually have to genuinely work at it to get him genuinely riled up.”

“He really has come a long way. All of us have.”

“Yeah.” She ducks her head so he doesn’t see her smile waver. She doesn’t need to bring the mood down by tacking on ‘all of us that survived’. The light flickers - or rather, stops flickering - and she looks back up. He’s holding it over his outstretched arm and the wax drips out and down and onto him. Artemis swallows, watching as he slowly, bit by bit, builds up more and more wax on his arm. After a few minutes, he sets the candle down and relights it.

“The first time I did this,” he says, making her jump at the sudden break in silence, “the first time, I was thinking to test my heat tolerance.”

“Turning up the thermostat would’ve been easier.”

He graces her with a small smile. “Ah, but this was before the team formed - I lived solely in Atlantis back then. And, well. I suppose I could found a hydrothermal vent and tested my limits there. Shayeris uses some for power, but those are guarded. And beyond that, heat feels different here on the surface. More sharp.”

“Yeah?” A twinge of guilt pricks at her. “Bialya must’ve been rough.” Sure, she had only just been part of the team for a month back then, and they had all lost a full half year of their memories; she literally didn't know that she knew he existed until M'gann put the team’s memories back together. And she hadn’t realized at the time just how vulnerable Kaldur was to heat. Had believed far more in that confident, invincible aura he projected, for all that she would poke at it to, ostensibly, remind him that he was human.

“At the time, it was. Dry heats like that are … unpleasant. Though I’d call that undercover mission rougher.”

“Not the same, and you know it.” He simply hums a non-response. “So are you, like, still testing your heat tolerance or something?”

“No.” She supposes the candle’s built up enough wax to his liking because he snuffs it out once again. “No, I discovered that I… like this. I’m not sure if I can articulate why.”

This time, instead of just drops it’s one long, thin stream. He trails it down his arm and over his hand, letting it pool in his palm and drip over the webbing between his fingers. With a start, she realizes she’s moved across the room to within arm’s reach of him and she has to stop herself from touching the wax decorating his skin.

“Artemis?”

She swallows. “Um. Can I see? What it feels like?”

He pauses, then gestures for her to hold out her arm. “It cooler, the higher up it is.” He murmurs. “Your arm okay?” She nods, trying not to tense up, watching as he tilts the candle slowly to let a tiny bit drop on her skin. It flares, hot but not burning, and by the time she’s breathed in and out again it’s barely an afterthought of warmth, the wax already hardening on her arm.

“That… was not what I was expecting.” And to be honest, she hadn’t really thought about what she was expecting. Something with more bite to the heat? More pain? She steps back, picking at her arm - it peels and flakes off under her nails. “You only ever do your arms like that?”

He’s looking at her oddly. “That’s right.” He says finally.

---

“So.” Artemis scrubs her hands against her jeans nervously. They’re sitting at her dining table, and it feels smaller than it usually does with a visitor. Her entire apartment feels smaller. Not that it shouldn’t feel smaller, because this one is just meant for one person, as opposed to the one she had shared with Wally. But with Kaldur sitting across from her, hands cupped around a glass of ice water, she can feel the difference in space more acutely than usual.

She’s stalling, and that won’t help the weird nervousness prowling under her skin. “How would this work? Do we make a standing appointment or just kind of wing it or…?”

Kaldur makes a face. “I don’t know.” He admits, clearly not wanting to admit that. “I do not think, given our lives, that a regularly scheduled session would work out. For that matter, it is not something I actually do terribly often, so it may be best to play it by ear.”

She nods. “Okay, that sounds like a plan.” She exhales heavily.

---

They sit cross legged across from each other on her kitchen floor, a cheap folded up tarp beneath them, and a towel across his legs to keep his clothes safe. “Tell me if I’m not doing this right, okay?” She says, twisting a candle between her fingers. The flame on the wick flickers.

“You have to actually do something to have a chance of being wrong.” Kaldur smiles at her, amused.

She snorts. “I just don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t. I trust you.” He sounds so certain and confident of that. She swallows, something warm settling in her chest. “Artemis, you can hit a spot on the wall from fifty feet away regularly with barely a glance. This is simply a much easier variation on that kind of precision and control.”

“A big variation.” She mutters, but picks up the candle and blows it out. “Okay, which arm?”

“Left.” He holds it out for her obligingly.

She breathes like she does for her archery, letting the wax drop between heartbeats. Her eyes flick to his face every few moments, watching for the smallest signs of discomfort. There’s none - he’s not relaxed, per se, but neither is he tense. His gaze is fixed on his arm and what she’s doing to it. “Don’t keep it all in one spot.” He tells her after a moment.

“Oh, oh sorry.” She looks back down and aims higher up his arm.

#cake and writing tag #young justice #yj #artemis crock #artemis #aqualad #kaldur #kaldur'ahm #searrow but brotp #if i ever finish this i'll make it a proper fic on ao3 #but in the meantime let me let you guys suffer with me

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