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#Life was.... /Interesting/ to me while I was away from tumblr to say the least
donutz · 7 months
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Dogday x gn reader angst
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Request from Tumblr—! Here you go Dawko-fanpage☆
—☆You are a human in this
Searching around, you always find something interesting.
Like the dead bodies of toys, or blood splatters, a pool? That's something you didn't expect in this place.
One thing you figured out yourself about this place is that it's huge. It's like the square miles of this place is more than Mount Everest!
And even in this hell hole, you still made some friends. Some as in Poppy, Kissy Missy, and a smaller version of Dogday. It jumped on you when you weren't aware, but it didn't try to eat or kill you. It rubbed its head against yours, maybe these tiny critters can actually be cute.
Other than the fact they eat humans and toys.
And have jumped a singular man as a group.
.
.
.
Let's just hope this small Dogday stays innocent.
You were in a somewhat safe spot. These colorful and soft walls kind of distract you from the real world.
You wanted to rest, just for a while.
But something's telling you to go ahead. And the fact there's a murderous purple cat on the loose, hunting you down.
To have you not thinking about it, you pet the small puppy.
Cutely, it stuck its tongue out and started wagging its tail. Even the slightest bit of happiness can comfort you here.
You closed your eyes, resting, thinking about what to do next. When a small head lightly bumped against your stomach, bringing you back to the real world.
“Why'da bump me hm?” The tiny jumped off your lap and went somewhere.
“Oh, wait I don't wanna lose you!” You whisper yelled. You kept your eyes on it, following where it’s going.
You stumble upon an eerie hallway, being suspicious, you scruffed the small Dogday just in case. It tried to get out of your grasp, squirming, “I know you want to just go everywhere, but c’mon at least have some security for yourself.” You said to the tiny critter.
“You! You’re Poppy’s angel!” The rough voice scared you, making you flinch. When you saw the source of the voice, your eyes went wide.
“Come to save us.” The small one stopped squirming and was also looking at the much bigger Dogday. Maybe that’s why it was running over here, to tell you about the suffering life form you never knew about.
“Nothing left to save, not here.” He looked up at you, noticing you had the smaller critters, aka the ones who were eating him bit by little bit.
“...”
He shook his head and resumed his talking, “You’re in Catnap’s home, angel.” But he saw that you were distracted. With talking to the smaller version of him.
“Eat those belts and I’ll give you scratches for the longest time.” You whispered. The smaller Dogday understood and jumped onto Dogday’s arms, he flinched, scared he’ll get hurt again.
“Uhh, continue with what you’re saying, the smaller you is gonna eat away at the belts, don’t worry he’s tamed.”
“... If you say so Angel, You’re in their home. A million pairs of—” Dogday’s left arm was released.
‘Wow he sure is efficient..’ Dogday thought.
“eyes are on you now… Watching, waiting, hungr—” You caught Dogday before he could fully fall on the ground.
“See? Tamed!” You said with a smile as the small Dogday crawled up your arm. “Now, let’s go before all of us get eaten!”
Tiny Dogday crawled into your pocket as the bigger Dogday shifted to your back.
Even with the bigger Dogday being huge, you still managed through. I guess you being here gives you big muscles.
You finally made it outside. And could rest while at it.
“Bigger Dogday, I’m gonna patch you up. I don’t know how to reattach your legs back, but I’ll try to not have your organs nearly fall out.” You stated, assuring that Dogday won’t be in as much pain he’s currently in.
“You don’t need to angel—”
“But I’m gonnaaaa. So stop being so selfless.” You could hear small giggles coming from your pocket.
“What, you think this is funny to you? Huh ya little vermin?” The tiny was still giggling, even louder than before.
You let out a sigh and continued on, Dogday smiled(an actual one) a little from his smaller version.
You found medical supplies and went to work on patching up Dogday, trying to be as careful as you can. He’s been through enough before you even got here.
The tinier Dogday watched your process, jumping from your pocket and rubbing its head against Dogday’s much larger hand. He flinched a bit, but pet his smaller version.
After 15-30 minutes, you were done. “Alright, I’m done!”
“Angel, this is amazing I—!”
You heard the familiar sound of metal scratching against a floor. Oh come on, you can’t get a little bit of rest?! It was the Prototype, you thought he only comes near you if you killed somebody! And Dogday nor his smaller version is dead.
So, why is he here?
Well, you either defend yourself with your life, or sacrifice it or something. Though the hand most likely knew some moves, you still need to defend the two puppies that are behind you.
You’ve done the impossible so you can do this right?
Wrong! (^▽^)
The Prototype’s sharp and metallic fingers were plunged into your heart.
“ANGEL NO!” (I don’t know how to make this seem serious, I’m just here💀)
His hands were removed from your heart, though he didn’t take your body to build himself(that’s what I headcanon) maybe you weren’t worthy enough.
Prototype was looking for Dogday, but fortunately, he was nowhere to be seen, neither was his smaller version.
He needed to search, to find him, but— he doesn’t feel like it right now. So he left. Leaving you to die, maybe.
Who knows?
You can always do the impossible.
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ms-demeanor · 1 year
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i really liked OJST in the mid-2010s but i didn’t stop reading cause of the cuck comic - wasn’t there also a comic erika moen wrote about (functionally) harassing lesbians with her now-husband?
In the mid 2010s closet-keys criticized one of Erika Moen's early diary comics and described Erika Moen as "Reassuring a cishet partner that it’s totally okay to use hate speech towards wlw at Pride" and condoning the harassment and fetishization of lesbians because of a 2007 comic that she had made as part of a webcomic she had written about gender and her interactions with her queerness.
The hate speech in question is the partner asking "are you sure you want to hold my hand with all these dykes around?" while they are pretty clearly at a Dyke Day event during pride, and the reassurance that 'it's totally okay to use hate speech toward wlw' is Erika responding "sweetie, I'm proud to be with you."
The comic is still up with a disclaimer that it was written at a different time, and I know that's probably not going to fly with a lot of people but if you were a bi woman in the early to mid 2000s it was pretty common to use statements like "lol yeah i'm into women my boyfriend is fine with it as long as I take pictures" to diffuse the biphobia from straight people AND to say shit like "I'm not a party bi, I actually love pussy, thanks" to diffuse the biphobia from queer people. (if you were a bi guy in the early to mid 2000s i'm sorry and I'm sorry now because we got LUG but that mostly went away and you *still* have to deal with the "gay in waiting" bullshit).
That comic ends with Erika and her partner looking at a woman and saying "I'd totally do her" while the woman thinks "pigs" and if you think that means that they literally sat on the street and vocally commented about lesbians passing by them or that they condone harassing lesbians (in, I cannot stress this enough, a diary comic written by someone in their early twenties who is realizing they are occasionally interested in some men some of the time after identifying as a lesbian their whole life), then I'm gonna go ahead and recommend signing up for some variety or other of literary analysis class. Do we think that Erika is seriously implying that she is going to make her boyfriend gay if she fucks him in this comic from a year later?
If this comic bothers you and you see it as a straight-passing couple giving the go-ahead to harass lesbians, you do you, I'm not saying you have to read the comic or enjoy Erika Moen.
I am saying it's a bit of a stretch, though, and certainly the least charitable explanation possible, and that we should probably give people some space to say awkward things about their sexuality and to make missteps when discussing it in their early twenties and not call them lesbophobic fifteen years after the fact for a college comic.
Moen also gets called transphobic because she has described trans men as adorable/cute in a way that could be read as patronizing in one comic and because she made a comic about wearing a packer for fun and for sexual gratification with her cis male partner as a cis woman.
Appropriately, all of these things feel very "late twenty teens tumblr callout post."
If it bugs you, you don't have to read the comics but I've talked about Moen before and I've gotten the anons in my inbox calling me lesbophobic for recommending her comic when in 2007 she made a comic about catcalling lesbians and condoning street harassment.
Which is frustrating because Erika Moen writes a comic about sex toys that has incredible body and gender diversity and is interested in making sure that people of all sexualities are having safe, enjoyable sex and talking openly about it. This is Rebecca Sugar condones war crimes level discourse over a creator who makes a genuinely good comic and gets dismissed as cringe by people who hate open discussions of sex and gets dismissed as a bigot (in ways that I think are incredibly unfair given the vast majority of her work) among people who *claim* to love open discussions of sex but who *actually* love witch hunts.
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emmie-writes-stuff · 5 months
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So the new chapter is out and GOOD GOD do I have some thoughts and a lot of them don’t make a whole lot of sense but I can’t not talk about this chapter
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Firstly, Kaiser looks adorable (never thought I’d say that about him outside of my head but here I am)
Secondly, holy hell my heart hurts
He didn’t deserve this, no child deserves this
The fact that he had to “go to work” and just steal
HE HAS NO SHOES his little feet have got to hurt, or they’ve completely calloused up from not wearing shoes, but even then (speaking from experience) it still hurts to walk on hot ground and rocks and other stuff on the street
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Yknow, I understood him hating milk before (because milk is disgusting) but now I get it even more
What a stupid reason to get upset, imma kick this waste of space excuse for a father in the fucking face AND balls because ITS FUCKING MILK
Eat some damn fiber or somethin if you got constipation issues
Who let this absolute scum of the earth reproduce???
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HES LITERALTL TWELVE YEARS OLD
All the other shit went down before he was even double digits
But dangerous situations create smart kids, and Kaiser was very smart to start saving his own money
I used to have my own stash in case I ever had to run away (long story, we’re not getting into my family issues in this post, but yeah)
At least he has shoes now, protect those feet plz, they’re what keep you upright and moving
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Soooooooo are we gonna acknowledge that he treats the soccer ball the same way he’s currently treating Ness orrrrrrrr
But like, it’s nice that he has an outlet to channel his anger into that isn’t a person (at least for now smh)
It’s really interesting seeing how each of the characters came to play soccer
(Side note: but he throws the ball at a picture of a woman, could he maybe be imagining this woman as his mother?)
His mother also deserves a kick to the face if I have anything to say bout it
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I have no words for this
Just, can I steal him? Please? I’ll give him a good life
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Fuck the snitches, how dare they
Also, you can clearly see his ribs defined, and that hurts me
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I love that he was willing to let go of everything
He was ready to start fresh with getting money, was cooperating with the police, until the soccer ball was threatened
Because that is his most valuable possession
The money doesn’t matter, but the ball is a symbol to him of something that won’t leave him or hurt him
It’s a very small sense of independence and stability in this very unstable and controlling environment
The ball is heavily implied to be the first thing he ever bought for himself, it’s what defined a key part in his life
Taking that away is like taking away his soul, his outlet, and comfort, and Kaiser just couldn’t stand for it
There’s so many more things I’m thinkin and I have way too many incoherent thoughts for tumblr, but these are the ones I was able to clear up and make sense of
This chapter hit very deep and while my past doesn’t involve much physical abuse and struggles to this level, it was hard not to empathize and relate my own experiences with abuse with the ones in this chapter
I don’t wanna get into shit, it’s not somethin I exactly wanna put out in the public, but there’s so much here that I could understand and relate to and it just made everything so much more difficult to read (in a good way I guess)
Just, GOD, why did I have to become a fan before this chapter came out???
Okay, that’s my ramble for this, bye before I start going on even more tangents
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I want you to know I respect your opinion and at the end of the day you can do whatever you want on your own page, which I love all the art you do. Your White Diamond AU is so remarkable I've added it to my own headcanon idea of Steven meeting his alternate selves.
With that said, why are you responding to posts or asks that talk about blatant shattering of other gems? Real SU fans don't immediately go "death to the enemy." Real SU fans understand that SU is about love, acceptance, second chances, and pacifism. I'll admit, there have been more idiots in the fandom since the show's end, but in my humble opinion, it's best to not give any of them attention, even if they are annoying.
Sorry if I sound rude, I just didn't get responding to that one ANONYMOUS comment.
It's not rude at all! And it's a great question! One I understand the reasoning of.
But I have my own reasoning for doing the things I do.
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Mainly, I think that while ignoring SOME behaviors is definitely good.... talking about OTHER behaviors actively is the fastest and healthiest way to immunize the greater community against them.
Let me explain.
I've been in this fandom a long time now, and I agree with you - there's a solid possibility, a real chance that whoever sent that message is just a passing non-fan who decided to be weirdly edgy in my inbox. No big deal. It happens.
But in my experience, the SU fandom is.... wide and varied. There are people of all ages, and many opinions. It would be easier, of course, if the only 'true fans' were those who perfectly understood the show's themes. But to me, that veers dangerously close to a No True Scotsman type of thinking. The reality is that many different people watch SU. And while many of them do inherently agree with the message and understand the nuance, many more just watch the show because... they like the surface level graphics and cool fights and interesting worldbuilding. In fact, many of the show's fans are edgy teens (sorry edgy teens) who are in a life-stage where violence and being strong and cool and decisive in a morally black and white manner is the only way they can possibly imagine solving any problem. And... that's kinda the opposite of what SU teaches! But that's also the point. SU teaches those things on purpose.
And yeah, I can absolutely just ignore this part of the population. But ignoring a behavior does not actually make it go away 100% of the time. If a child in a supermarket comes up to you and starts smacking you with a wooden spoon from Aisle 4, then... sure... you can ignore them and see if their parent comes to get them, or they go away, especially if it's a very small child and they're not hurting you a lot.
But that's not the only option. You can ALSO opt to teach them - and any other spoon-wielding children watching - what COULD happen if they are crude or cruel to a stranger in public. Namely, you can snap 'stop it' and at the very least glare at that child. This is a lesson that will arguably teach them more about the interaction than a complete lack of reaction would.
Now, I'm not saying people who send me asks are all children and I'm doling out some moral lessons here. This is just a metaphor.
I'm simply a person in a social space (tumblr) who is driving my own blog. And while I DO ignore a very large part of cruel/rude asks I get (trust me, I do ignore many!) I sometimes also just post a reply to show what ELSE could happen if you say a borderline silly and arguably tonally inappropriate ask to a person. You could get replied to! In a sarcastic or snappy manner!
And maybe - just maybe - the other people reading my blog can learn something from the experience, and think 'ah, so doing it like THAT will maybe make people kinda annoyed, now I know and will not do that'.
I cannot deny that overall I agree with you, though. I don't think that these types of messages deserve attention on the regular. But I'd hope that my replies to these things are not really... regular. I ignore probably... 80% of these sort of things? I guess maybe it just feels like a lot less, since, well. The public ones are 100% of the ones you get to see!
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zeroducks-2 · 1 year
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This is quite random sorry but has Dick ever acknowledge (or as close to it) that a lot of things that Bruce did to him are abusive? (this is for a fic I’m trying to write)
Yes and no!
Dick knows Bruce is an assholes and WILL yell at him to stop being an asshole, or at least he used to. Dick would call him out on his BS and wouldn't let him get away with a lot of things, but this was once upon a time, before they rebooted everything and erased decades of character development. The closest he gets to that post reboot is after Forever Evil - everyone thinks Dick is dead, and Bruce wants people to keep thinking that, hence he forces Dick to join Spiral and become Agent 37.
Dick is, as you can imagine, not thrilled. He yells and fights and Bruce beats the everloving shit out of him in a very upsetting sequence, where Dick is half naked and Bruce is wearing most of his gear while he keeps hitting him to the point of leaving him bleeding on the floor of the Batcave.
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Dick begs and tries to appeal to everything he can including the "things can never be the same between us after this", to which Bruce essentially replies that it's a sacrifice he's willing to make. Ha. I say that this is especially upsetting because Dick went through a horribly traumatic experience during the events of Forever Evil, in which among other things he was tortured by Thomas Wayne Jr AKA Owlman, who wanted to turn Dick into his own sidekick after losing his Talon. The way Bruce beats and humiliates Dick is drawn in a way which creates a clear parallel between Thomas and Bruce's actions towards Dick, in a way that suggests they're "not that different after all", but this narratively goes nowhere and I don't get why they fuck they even came up with that. But anyway.
All of this gets forgotten soon enough. Despite his own warnings Dick forgives Bruce after a very short time, pines for home and tries to communicate with Bruce in any way he can because he "misses his dad", which to be honest made my guts churn and my bile rise after Bruce nearly beat him comatose. Essentially the story forgets Bruce did all of that and so does Dick, but for the brief time Dick was allowed to be aware of it and angry about it, he was indeed aware that he was being abused even if he never used the word abuse.
This is the case for lots of stories in which similar instances happen, as I mentioned before especially pre-reboot. Dick does call Bruce out on his bullshit - especially if Bruce is being an abusive asshole to someone else, since Dick is way more prone to defend other people than he is to defend himself, like here
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or here
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But despite being obviously aware that there are issues in the way Bruce does things, to put it mildly, he never uses the word "abuse" (which is sort of a prohibited word for DC standards, kind of like "rape". They're way more likely to say non consensual than rape because it's a less upsetting word apparently).
There is an instance of this post reboot, and it's during a conversation Dick has with Tim. I believe it happens in the Pride comics of 2022, but I don't have the panels on hand at the moment. Basically Tim asks for advice on how to please Bruce, being the man demanding and prone to bad moods, and Dick flat out replies "I spent a very big part of my life trying to please him, and I left when I realized it was impossible" which to me is so interesting since it's the textbook reaction of a former Golden Child who fell from grace and became a Scapegoat (please note that tumblr's definition of Golden Child is completely arbitrary; golden child doesn't mean "good kid", it means a child who the parent holds to the highest standards, on which there are the biggest expectations and the strongest pressure regarding everything the child does. Sometimes a parent lives vicariously through them and perceives them as an extension of themselves, but not necessarily. If you watched Encanto, Isabella is the Golden Child of the family).
Something similar happens during Nightwing's run from the 90s.
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Dick lives in Bludhaven and at this point he's gone essentially no-contact with Bruce. Tim, being the new Golden Child, is trying to reel Dick back into the toxic dynamic because he genuinely thinks it's going to be good for both Dick and Bruce.
I'm pointing this out not to fault Tim in any way, he's just a kid what does he know, but to show you that indeed yes, Dick is aware that he's been abused otherwise he wouldn't have left, he wouldn't be on a no talking basis with his parental figure, and he wouldn't reply to Tim that he spent so much time of his life deluding himself into thinking that Batman actually needed him. Of course this also goes nowhere and their relationship isn't allowed to grow or heal (things are just conveniently forgotten after a while), but as I mentioned, Dick knows what's up.
That being said, I believe it's also worth noting that many many times Bruce abuses the fuck out of Dick and Dick doesn't really acknowledge it, just takes it. Sometimes he doesn't have the spoons to fight back, sometimes he thinks he deserves it, sometimes he just doesn't know how to react because Bruce strikes like an unprovoked viper (this happens especially when Dick was still a kid but already a Titan). A very good example of this is what happens after Jason's death.
Bruce doesn't tell Dick that Jason died. When Alfred offers to let him know, Bruce says "I will handle it", and he doesn't. Then there's Jason's funeral and Bruce doesn't tell Dick about it, again Alfred offers to inform him, Bruce says he will handle it. He doesn't.
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Eventually Dick finds out for collateral reasons and has an emotional breakdown in front of the other Titans, which are powerless to help him. For reference, this is how he reacts when he has definitive proof that the boy is undoubtedly gone, if there was any doubt that Dick did care about Jason.
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So Dick goes to the grave with Kory but then decided to confront Bruce alone, and Bruce, in the abusive feat of the century, blames Dick for not having showed up to Jason's funeral, despite having refused to 1: tell him about Jason's death AT ALL, and 2: refused TWICE when Alfred very gently suggested to inform Dick.
Dick of course argues that he didn't know anything, and so Bruce reacts by gaslighting him, telling him they he never cared about Jason and in fact he was angry that Bruce adopted Jason and not him. Which is not true, Dick just wanted to know WHY Bruce adopted Jason and hot him. Oh and also punches him in the face when Dick tries to argue that Jason was an untrained kid. Please note that when all of this happens, Dick is hurt and can barely stand on his feet, having one of his legs in a cast.
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Cherry on top, Bruce explicitly saying that he never should have had a partner and never will again, essentially "our partnership up to this point meant nothing".
In this instance Dick is too neck-deep in his own self guilt to see that he's been through a sequence of extremely abusive behavior, and never really faults Bruce for that, using the easy-coming rationalization that Bruce was in pain, suffering for Jason's death, couldn't see reason etc etc (quick PSA: someone suffering isn't entitled to abuse and gaslight anyone. And even if we really want to enable Bruce cut Bruce some slack because he was grieving, it doesn't make his behavior any less abusive. Regardless of the reasons why, the way he acts here is very damaging towards Dick who in turn did nothing to deserve it, and is grieving Jason too).
See, the problem with Dick and Bruce is the sysyphean nature of comicbooks. Dick is doomed to be the original Golden Child who falls from grace, becomes the Scapegoat, but ultimately can never be completely free of the clutches of the relationship he has and had with Bruce, for better or worse. And since he can't ever truly get out and can't ever completely be independent, the abuse end up getting downplayed. If Dick never truly gets away from Bruce it's because it's not that bad, isn't it? Nay, it's because Dick cant. He is quite literally not allowed to, same as Bruce is not allowed to truly grow from his mistakes and learn to treat his former partner, sort-of-child and dear friend with the respect and love he actually feels for him, because despite all of this and because this is fiction, Bruce does love Dick more than it can be put into words and would set the world on fire for him. But, alas, he also is doomed to keep treating Dick like shit and never really learn from his mistakes.
So again, the answer to your question is yes and no. Dick is aware of how much of a difficult person Bruce is. He's aware of the domineering aspects of his personality. But he will ultimately brush it off in the name of the good that there is and there was between them, and he will keep answering Batman's call every time, because he's not allowed to ever truly grow apart from him. It doesn't matter how much he gets angry and how much Bruce hurts him, they're indissolubly tied in this dynamic and unless there is a huge shift in the way DC execs handle things, I don't see how this dynamic can change in the foreseeable future. Sadly enough, because I'd really like to see something new.
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halfdeadfullgay · 6 months
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404 - Title Not Found (part/chapter 3)
Part 1 - Tumblr Part 2 - Tumblr
Ao3
Summary: Jason was expecting the gala to be boring like always but is pleasantly surprised when it isn’t.
Danny meant it as a joke but Fenton luck always strikes. At least he gets an excuse to talk to the cute guy he gave quarters to.
AN: As always this is crack, this is a whole crack fic; and I play fast and loose with DC&DP cannon. Ignore any out of character writing(mainly Vlad and Bruce).
Kinda/slow Vlad redemption, kinda like a shitty uncle that you get along with sometimes.
Danny and Jason don’t know each other’s names for a bit so they refer to each other as:
Danny - Quarter Guy
Jason - Laundry Guy
Enjoy the crack! :)
Jason immediately knew that the other wasn’t from Gotham. No one just offered anything without an immediate confirmation that they would get something in return. At least that’s how it was in Crime Alley. He and the other held small talk while they were doing their laundry.
“You just offer quarters to people?” He said sarcastically only to have an actual answer in return. “Only the cute people.” The other said with a somewhat joking tone.
“Uh huh. What’s ya name? I didn’t catch it.” Jason wouldn’t directly admit but this guy had peaked his interest even more.
“Well, I didn’t throw.” The guy answered with a smile that felt sarcastic with just a bit of wanting chaos.
The topic changed to other things. He learned that quarter guy had moved to Crime Alley awhile back, he didn’t give a clear reason why; “Just thought it’d be a good change of pace.”
He also learned that Quarter Guy was going to some kind of event with his godfather; saying that even though he agreed to go, he could still complain. And god did he complain but nothing sounded too bad. “He’s just a fruitloop, I wouldn’t doubt him trying to use me to get secrets from the other people.”
Jason didn’t share any too personal information; besides it just out of sceret identity and such but it would also feel weird to. Jason did complain about how he was more or less forced into agreeing to go to the Wayne gala, only not sharing that it was a gala or that it was a Wayne event.
“Maybe we end up at the same event.” Quater guy, who still didn’t tell Jason his name, joked. His laundry had been done before his own. Quarter guy left with a smile that only made him want to figure out why he felt familiarly even more. Jason was more curious about this guy than before but decided to hold off on figuring out more about it.
It was just meant as a joke. Danny really did mean as a joke but just his fucking luck(or honestly he was expecting CW to be the cause in some way), he was now looking at the guy he gave quarters to a day or two pior. He was standing next to the snack table, avoiding Vlad so he didn’t have to worry about talking to other rich people he didn’t trust. The snacks didn’t look good in any sense of the word, why did he expect rich people to know what good snacks look and taste like.
He was thinking about texting Sam to complain, knowing that she would say I told you so but that when he noticed the guy from his apartment building was there. It took a second to recgionze him since he seemed more put together and dressed nicer, but it was him. Danny wouldn’t have questioned it too much if the guy wasn’t standing next to Bruce Wayne but he was. Danny didn’t need to know any more rich people but life(or probably CW) had other plans.
He noticed that the guy hadn’t seemed to see him yet. Danny moved away from the snack table, going opposite from Wayne and the laundry guy; mainly focusing on staying hidden but a voice called him. “Danỉ͔͖̜͌ẹ̿͋̒̕l̙͖̑̾ͣ!” It wasn’t loud, at least it wasn’t to humans. It had just enough of a hint of ghost speak to have Danny turn to look. Of course when he had his back turned, Vlad had to go and speak to Bruce Wayne. “Come over, I’ve hardly seen you since we’ve arrived.”
Danny held back a sigh and eye roll as he went over to Vlad and Wayne; which also meant laundry guy. He had felt Wayne’s eyes on him as he went over, laundry guy hadn’t seemed to notice or frankly care enough to look. He looked at Bruce. He knew of “Brucie” Wayne and had wondered if it was just a persona like when Vlad used to pretend to be niceish to his dad. He side eyed laundry guy, who didn’t look at him at all.
“You didn’t tell me you had a so-“ Bruce started with a hint of curiosity. Danny was quick to cut him off. “He didn’t because I’m not.” That’s what finally got laundry guy’s attention, he looked at Danny for a second and Danny already knew that he recognized him. “Daniel, that was rude.” Vlad looked at him before going back to Bruce. “I apologize for him but he is right. He’s my godson.” Vlad said, leaving it to Danny to introduce himself.
“Yes, I do apologize for cutting you off like that.” Danny started. He used the tone he would use with some of the ghost nobles. It was a bit forced but relatively kind. He’d hate to admit and never would out loud but he learned it from Vlad. “It’s alright, I understand how words hold meaning.” He noticed how it sounded more real than “Brucie” usually did.
He just nodded before continuing, “Okay. I’ll introduce myself before Vlad tries to.” Danny made his tone sound just a bit joking. He felt laundry guy’s full attention on him. He smiled, a little fake and a little smug. “I’m Danny Fenton and as Vlad said, I am his godson.”
There was some “good to meet you”s exchanged. Danny picked up on the fact that Bruce nudged Laundry Guy to introduce himself.
Jason didn’t like Vlad Masters at all. He was creepy, all around weird and untrustworthy. He had only seen him a few times before, spoke to him barely unless with Bruce but something was off now. There was a strange feeling of paranoia around Vlad that he couldn’t place. Even with all his training from the Bat.
He had been staying relatively close to Bruce, not wanting to deal with questions or the other people which Bruce seemed to respect. He had noticed that Bruce had been trying to be better or very least trying to understand his perspective. It was something, it was better than nothing.
Jason had held back a groan as soon as he saw Vlad approach him and (mainly) Bruce. He tuned out most of everything, just looking at the other people around them. It was like every other time Bruce was stopped by another billionaire. Just stand there, vaguely pay attention and look at the crowd of other people. That’s how it was going until he heard Vlad call out to someone else.
“Danỉ͔͖̜͌ẹ̿͋̒̕l̙͖̑̾ͣ!“ He heard Vald call out to someone else. it sounded off, not by a lot but still. He didn’t show a reaction outside of paying more attention. He noticed Bruce didn’t show any slight reaction which was expected. Jason still didn’t care enough to fully look up at whoever Vlad had called over until Bruce had started talking and was immediately cut off.
Jason had recognized the voice right off the bat. He looked up and saw Quarter Guy or as he introduced himself, Danny. It was obvious that the other recognized him as well but spoke as if he didn’t. He thought of when he talked to him while doing laundry and how he joked about them going to the same event. He heard formalities go around when felt Bruce nudge him. A signal to introduce himself.
He faced Danny, taking note of how he acted like they hadn’t met and he decided to go along with it. “Jason. Nice meeting ya.” He said with a similar smile that Bruice Wayne was known for but each bat kid had their own distinct version of it. “Nice to meet you as well.” Danny said with his own smile, he noticed that it was a mix between genuine and fake.
Jason noticed how different the other acted compared to when they talked a few days prior. He took note of how he was not as talkative or sarcastic and just had a small sense of fakeness about him. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for people to have a more or less fake personas at galas but he found it interesting how the other did a complete 180.
“So Danny, this your first gala?” Jason asked. A bit genuinely curious and also since he knew Bruce would ask him at some point. Danny looked at Vlad for a split second before answering. It seemed like silent communication. “No and yes. I’ve been to a few before but this is the first one I’ve been to in Gotham.” He had kept the smile as he explained. “Vlad has dragged me to some all over. Although I mainly attend the few that are held in my hometown.”
Yeah, he was definitely lying about something. It was easy to guess especially when Danny looked at Vlad before he had answered. He didn’t outwardly question it or look at Bruce to see if he noticed it too, of course he had; world’s greatest detective or whatever.
“Well we’re glad that you decided to attend tonight.” Bruce spoke, or well Brucie did. Some of the others had personas similar to the Brucie one but Jason didn’t. He didn’t feel like he needed one especially after coming back. “How about Jason and you go off and do your own thing while I speak business with Vlad?”
Jason looked at Bruce for a second, they both knew something was sketchy with Vlad and instead of including him in getting more info on him, Bruce was pushing him off to Danny. Not that he was complaining but still. He looked at Danny for his response.
Danny looked at Vlad, a bit surprised that Vlad wasn’t one to suggest that although he would’ve been suggesting it as a way to get information against competition. Vlad just gave a nod to him, Danny held back a sign knowing that Vlad would still use it as an opportunity for that. “Sure, why not? Still getting used to the city and all.”
And with that, he was led away by Jason. He could already hear Vlad scheming. At least he would be the only ghost he’d have to deal with. Hopefully, he didn’t want to jinx himself. He just let Jason drag him away from Bruce and Vald, not really caring where they went.
They finally stopped in a more quiet corner of the gala room. It was less bright with less people which Danny was grateful for. He had attended more ghost galas than human ones. So the loudness that came with human ones was still newish to him.
“So, I guess we really did end up at the same event.” Jason said with a smug grin. Hopefully just making it known that he said it as a joke would make it seem as a crazy coincidence and not too weird.
Danny gave him a sheepish smile, “I swear I meant it as a joke.”
124 notes · View notes
brucewaynehater101 · 4 months
Note
Inspired by the Secret Robin AU by dragonpyre on Tumblr and the genderqueerness Tim has going on with the Jane Doe AU, I've got a Mahou Shoujo Jihen AU for ye! (mangaka, Zero Akabane)
Snippets are occasionally non-chronological/flashback and unreliable narration ahoy lmao
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Okay so the Graysons', unbeknownst to them, have bloodline of ★magic★
A magic newly-orphaned Grayson has to learn all on his own, for the ward hardly entrusts his legal guardian so new to his life
And he wants something all to himself, something nobody can take away or order him about
Waltz's World he calls it, warping the lines between boy and girl, barriers receding
Aka Grayson can don a Magical Girl form that essentially trans his gender while she's formed, at least at the start
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Obligatory "Anon is cis and playing with gender through Batkids like dolls, her highest apologies for any fuck ups" Disclaimer
And also tw for small moments of misgendering by characters who have yet to be informed on batkids genders & pronouns
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
When Robin hits the streets, all Batman knows is that she is a child, one he brings under his mentorship and despite all his efforts, is impossible to find the civilian identity of
When she confesses to how new her magic is to her, that she's self taught in it all, he and his colleague find dead end after dead end to see if anybody else knows about her type of magic
If there exists others like her they're niche and hidden
Thus trial and error and the scientific method is their only way to help Robin come into her own
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Robin is tactical; hammered in by Batman, by Bruce, his guardian and her mentor
If Zucco dies, and it's so obviously linked to her, it could implicate Robin or both of her identities
She has to be smart about this
Murder had no place in Batman's care for her. Dick has to be careful about his search history on computers and what people catch him reading
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Bruce Wayne worries endlessly over Robin, now a teenage girl
Others too; nobody knows her identity
Dick is a blend of interested and not in the vigilante, opinions ever shifting. They both chalk it up to not knowing the young girl at all
Still, he dreams of a time he does have Robin under his complete care, newly adopted like Grayson, safe from crime fighting
When the news comes out that the killer of Dick's parents are dead, a weight is off his boy's shoulders.
"I have to say thank you to whoever did it." "It looks like it might've been an accident more than anything according to the cops."
Robin has been tense for a time, and still is
"Something happened in my civilian life, nothing major but I'm just waiting for the effects to pass by."
His poor girl . . . "I'm here for you Robin, no matter what happens."
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
The air and earth makes way for Robin's acrobatics, lights turns to her direction, and she's too nimble to be human
Too high, too far, too quick, too lasting are her movements
A cameraboy will never confess that whereas Dick shined with his quadruple somersault, Robin revealed it childsplay
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Jason is adopted right after trying to rob Bruce Wayne's car
In time Dick and he get along like a house on fire—
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
It's Jason who discovers Robin sneaking into the Manor, into his brother's room on the day he snuck into his closet for a prank of all things
It's Jason who sees Dick take Robin's place and screams
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
—And then it's like they've reached an understanding friendships with nobody else will ever challenge
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Little Wing hits the streets, partner of Robin
And he's as human as Bruce
"Listen, listen, he's just like me! Powers or not he's going to fight for Gotham, best we can do is prepare the bird!"
So Batman trains the vigilante Jason's age just as he did for Robin. He doesn't try to find his identity
The young duo only trusts each other with the truth
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Robin set ship for that off-world mission on the promise that Batman would protect Little Wing with his life
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
"I'm gonna be visiting some friends dad, and I'm gonna be off grid during our stay so . . ."
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
there's A Death in the Family alright
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Bruce's eyes tore into Robin's, her face vomit and tear and snot stained
"Why did you never tell me who he was?"
Dick could only mouth "B— hiccup B—" He retched again
He looked away from the girl
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
"I have a boy your exact age Robin, I think you could be twins, identical ones even, without sharing any blood."
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Grayson is the saving grace that keeps Batman from losing himself to grief
Bruce sits on his couch, looks down at the despondent boy's head in his lap. eyes hollowed out. hears neither of his boys laughter
He sees Robin's grief polluted face on his boy, and remembers not just what, but who he's fighting for
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
"I never want to see you on the field again Robin. Not after how you've broken my trust"
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Batman does everything to find who Jason trusted more than his own father, who could have trusted his boy just as much, who was the Robin that dragged his youngest into the night
Not once does he think to ask his eldest what he knew
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Precious Robin photos are locked away where only he and Jason know
Because Robin is magic
Robin is useless
She has no place upon Little Jason's altars
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Cross-reference reliable articles and testimonies, and even a boy will learn that Batman is just barely putting in the work to not transform his justice into a suicide mission
Cross-references testimonies, and even a boy will learn that Nightwing puts nothing into holding back against Joker or Harley anymore. Dead or alive, she wants them gone
Even a boy will learn that Nightwing hardly patrols anymore
Everybody knows Batman and Nightwing ties back to Little Wing
Nobody knows where Batgirl went
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Not bullets nor fallen buildings, but grief losing three all in a fell swoop grounds Robin
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Distinguishing themselves from the rest of Gotham's upper class, the Drakes adorn their manor with artifacts of all over
Tim has too much time on his hands to not poke and prod at them all
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Once upon a time Timothy Drake threw away a wish to be treasured more than artifacts, to be loved and adored far beyond relics resilience, to last even longer than objects to get it all
Still he wishes for Little Wing and Robin back, for Bat Girl's return and the quartet of heroes he stalked night after night as they once were
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
She It puts its hands off of the mirror and peeled off its mask
The Drake couple's son sat there again
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
It's not a monkey's paw — it's close enough
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Tim's plan was to blackmail Batman, pick out its name, and leash the Dark Knight until he was mentally fit again
What it didn't plan for was for Nightwing to apparently know about its magic and track it down
It didn't think it would take this long to pick a name either. Heck it thought Nightwing and Batman cut contact
"Last time I trusted you with a child he died B!"
"I know better now, and unlike you I have the resources to train him to his fullest potential. Little Wing is proof!"
"How fucking dare you?!"
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Nightwing looks down at Timothy Drake, tears in her eyes
Dick Grayson-Wayne tastes salt on his tongue
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Between the fact Batkid would be forced to reveal his identity to Batman and statistics showing his increasing violence, how quick he was to put his hand on Robin's throat, versus to Nightwing, the first Robin, his answers is always the same
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Everybody agrees that the Second Robin looks delicate and precious. The birdie shouldn't be giving up their childhood for Gotham
That is all
Anybody can tell you what good the bird does, leashing the Bat, breaking Nightwing out of her grief, giving whatever the little child can for civilians in need, sinners or not
People can hardly agree on how Robin looks; she looks like my dead daughter, no he's a clone of my son! You idiots they look like those sweet kids I always babysit
All they agree on is that Robin looks as if they must be protected and treasured by their loved ones, not fighting crime
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Where Nightwing can hardly be touched, Robin recovers too quickly, even by its predecessor's standards
All but rarely, bullets, crushing weights, and strikes may all well be nonexistent the way Robin hardly scratches
Unless one has a meta's intense strength, they will find more progress attacking it's mind or delaying its goals
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Nightwing blows a fuse Robin hadn't even known existed when she catches wind of all the work its putting into bringing Batman back to the ideal hero he used to be
She doesn't let it overhear the fight this time
From then on she is always with Robin when it patrols
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Tim huffed as Dick clung to him and Bruce got to arranging himself as his guardian for whenever his parents were out Gotham
Apparently his magic was a filthy traitor! and made a link with Nightwing so that if he was ever in major danger, the heroine who pick up on it
Not only that, but it's been working as a tracker for Nightwing this entire time, the first time around wasn't just an ordinary magic thing like they thought
And they both found while Robin was calming down Batman
But why was Batman insisting on becoming his not-parent if he didn't have a link with him? Nor know about his double life?
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Batman and Nightwing are certain they know what Robin looks like. A perfect blend between Batgirl, the first Robin, and Little Wing, their greatest failures all in one
It's when they disagree on the more precise details of Robin's costume and it's features do they realize it wasn't civilians and rogues being tricked by the darkness 
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
It looked into the mirror in its room in the Wayne Manor
Scrutinizing it's reflection, it looked the same as always, a perfect blend between Batgirl, the first Robin, Little Wing, and Nightwing
Androgynous if leaning on the feminine side 
That ideal the Batclan perfectly displayed at its brightest, a living, breathing altar of their glory
It's teammates agreed with it, until last night it seemed
It didn't understand
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Jason Robin comes back magic
Talia's son and daughter tells her otherwise
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
"Great work Robin," Oracle praised, tucking in some of its loose locks as it turned from its computer to her
The younger hero beamed
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Well then, if neither of them can be Robin yet . . . 
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
It's funny how Nightwing learns she isn't the only one with Waltz in her bloodline. At least, she thinks they both got it from genetics. It was alway an assumption on her part
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Spoiler becomes the reason criminals and rogues alike flail about uselessly, making long reaching swings whenever. Nobody spots him until it's too late, if at all
Invisibility his beloved 💜💟💜
Even better are the freebies that come before he fights anybody. Little spoilers that make taking his dad's and other villains men down less of a trial
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Red Hood's violence is distinctive even in Gotham
Yet blowing an entire warehouse to cripple the Joker for good seemed extreme
Then again, it was Joker, extreme measures called
When word spreads of a Little Robin Hood under her care? It explains enough for those without intention to stick their dick in crazy
And thank the Waltz, because the two will never confess it, but it was a trauma-triggered accident
All because the dollar store clown was pissy over names
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
"Dad—!" Bruce's hand ruffled his hair again as the other arm wrapped itself around Tim
Yeah Tim wasn't ever coming out about being Robin if Batman fussed over the two identities this much already. It was a wonder Dick somehow outdid him. He giggled
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
'Big W for Gotham queers' a merry goon tweets on duty, not that she'll confess it over her dead body
'What happened?' another twitter user comments
'Red Hood uses she/they, said so themself'
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Bruce couldn't have been faster in adopting Stephanie after Spoiler spilled Cluemaster's identity
"Holy, your dad is suffocating. I'm not complaining but how do you get anything done when he's bear hugging you?"
Tim sipped his coffee, "That's sort of our fault for dangling two too many kids he can't adopt and treasure in front of him for years on end. Follow me." She quirked an eyebrow
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Every blow Red Hood lays screams how that bomb did
Their strikes keep her targets down, and the impacts of her attacks have a larger area of effect than they should
There is no keeping them down
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
"Our dad is Batman?" Stephanie ran around the room
"Not just that, you're brothers—" It watched its sister turn to it and she squinted.
"Are queers," it choked on its coffee with her comment
"Me too Robin!" Spoiler said, running up to it to bearhug it in his own way
"Let me go!"
"Nope! You look way too adorable like this!"
"You guys are the worst!"
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Little Robin Hood is the most elusive of them all, no doubt hiding herself from his mother when out at night
The greatest of Batman's heirs he strives to be; She doesn't rest until she is the pinnacle of Human, the pinnacle of a Waltz
he doesn't rest until he's picked up his predecessors own unique magics set as a prodigy would, even as the learning curve fights against her mastery of it
She won't rest even after becoming better than his siblings
He must surpass them so much they could never hope to outdo their superior sibling
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
"Yo," Stephanie said, as if it wouldn't make Tim shriek and leap from his couch
"How did you get here?" He made sure this safehouse was the most secure and secretive of them all, how?
"Stalker tracker." She grinned
Her too?! Tim sat back on his couch and screamed into his pillows. His sister laughed
"Want a spoiler on my dad's next puzzle?"
"Give it," wait shit the magic word, "please Steph."
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Cassandra fisted and unfisted her(?) hand
It was more of a man's now. Except she didn't feel like a man, she felt like— scratch that, she didn't feel like a girl either in this form
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Robin gasped as its legs carried more broken bones and injuries than it ever had on its body all at once before
This time the wounds weren't sliding off like water but clinging onto it
"Hood—" a blow to its stomach
"Replacement," the woman hissed at it, then screamed
Robin shifted to its side, resisting the urge to cry out in pain, Nightwing now sat on Red Hood, laying blow after blow on the intruder
And she was yelling herself hoarse
Its sister unlatched and threw the helmet—okay bomb, wow its ears were ringing—off
And then Nightwing was on top of a man
"Little Wing!" its sister shrieks, arms wrapped around the stranger. "Why— why— how?"
"Baby on board! Baby on board! Ack!" Spoiler screamed holding up who might be Little Robin Hood trying and failing to escape his hold. both of them were covered in blood and blows
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Nightwing sat them all down, "Here's what's happening, we're going to keep this to ourselves. I've lost all trust in Bruce with any of your well beings."
"We're going to make it look like Red Hood fought Robin and then fought me as I bought time for my mentee's escape. When Spoiler comes into the scene fighting Little Robin, Red Hood is going to retreat for his sake.
"Robin, you're going to scrub and altar the data in the towers to make this believable; Spoiler, you'll alter or remove any evidence showcasing otherwise; and you two."
Red Hood's grip tightened on her knees.
Nightwing passed a piece of paper, "You're staying in contact with us, I refuse to lose my family again."
A weary smile, "And we'd love to get to know our new sibling."
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
A ballerina becomes Gotham's latest sensation
It's a wonder he— "Gender neutral, they/them" They didn't get hired to perform at Brucie's galas sooner
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Robin blocked Little Robin Hood's katana with its staff. the latter swung at its legs. it latched its hands onto her arm in retaliation and knocked his blade from his hands
Pinned to the ground, the boy could only try and reach for her fallen weapon as the staff was planted right next to her head—
"That's enough training for the day," Red Hood cut them off, "and your final scores are . . . "
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
"Big bro, big bro, big bro!" Stephanie dragged a girl right to Dick
"Guess what," her grin couldn't get any wider
"You kidnapped a staff member?" her grin got wider
"I kidnapped a sibling" she pointed at the girl, or rather, the ballerina their father hired for the gala
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
He took his face mask off at the worst time
"Jaylad," Bruce's grip all but clawed at Jason's arms
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
When Jason declared they wouldn't reunite with his father, period, Damian was incensed
Now he may just give anything to go back before they did. But since he can't do that, the next best thing is uppercutting Todd for getting them adopted
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
"No more heroism Jaylad—no more Robin—no Little Wing," Bruce said between sobs
Oh he's not a hero anymore alright
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
When Batman found Robin sore all over, more wounded than he'd ever seen, his heart fell
Robin admitting it already healed from most of its injuries by the time he found it flew him into a rage
He threw himself into detaining Red Hood, trying to sieze Little Robin Hood from him, and upping security so his kids, civilian or vigilante, wouldn't suffer like this again 
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Assassin, Talia, the League had trained a boy, a child to be an assassin. They did the same with Jason
Bruce refuses to let his children—vigilante or civilian—suffer again
Thankfully, with how the chaos of legally reviving Jason, and adopting three children in one fell swoop has cooled down, it seems maintaining a healthy relationship with his civillian family is all it will take to keep them from the streets
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Duke stumbled to his feet, and rushed to a window
They blinked and rubbed her eyes several times over, but its reflection never agreed with what they looked like
Actually, looking down at her hands, it felt and looked more like she was constantly shapeshifting; even his clothes, or hero costume, as was the theme but it never felt uncomfortable keep changing form
This was their meta power? He almost wanted to call out how lame it was but she had to maintain a secret identity somehow
Hold on, she—?
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Don't get Duke wrong, he was endlessly grateful for Bruce
But if Bruce was as good and smothering of a parent like his siblings said, We Are Robin would be down a leader
Everybody had noticed just how much Batman was gunning for Red Hood. Nobody knew why; was it a consequence of her killing his nemesis Joker? Because they stole the name of Little Wing's killer?
Whatever it was, the streets felt less safe when people could gamble on the Bat's activity in accordance to Hood's and be less fearful of the hero, and somebody had to do something about it
Even if it was an army of powerless youth, led by a meta
Duke prayed to every confirmed deity that Bruce never caught him sneaking out
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Dick stood in front of Duke. Duke who was in their Robin costume, oh shit, this was the worst time to not have enough light to flashbang somebody, he noted down to always a source of light or some absorbed for now on
Her brother clasped his hands and smiled, "well then Robin"
Duke's breath hitched—this was the end of everything it worked for
Nightwing, the original Robin took Dick's place, "welcome to the family" 
WHAT THE FUCK?!
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
We Are Robin's leader becomes Signal
⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅ ✩⏝̅⏝̅⏝̅
Damn did I run out of steam at the end
"But nonnie, why is Waltz's world accessible through so many different means?" Idk XDDDDD
Everything I touch becomes a fic I have an actual problem lmao
Extra Notes and Clarifications, apologies for the mess, I'm jumping from section to section as I write and copy and paste
Batman and Bruce have a clearer line dividing the two than canon since only Barbara and Alfred (and others I may not know/forgot from canon) are in his inner circle and aware of his double life—to his knowledge
Speaking of Barbara and Alfred, I haven't done them any justice, nor given them much attention
How the batkids having Waltz's World affects them by consequence alongside other AU elements, I did not account for, well I did so for Barbara but hardly at all
I just implied that Oracle and Waltz!Tim have a relationship, and it goes without saying Barbara and Alfred has different relationships with the Wayne kids than Oracle and Agent A do the Batkids
Back to Bruce---
Knowing multiple kids, most of them feminine in gender identity and/or appearance, fighting crime with only him as a well-off adult figure in their lives makes him concerned
Partly because he doesn't know how they are doing out of costume or what trauma they've covered up with the faster magical healing of their bodies
And also partly sexism since he'll have biases subconsciously at the very least
Honestly an entire fic made of this AU could have a focus/subplot tackling sexism, queerphobia, and other biases, how they intersect, + exploring internalized biases on the Batsiblings part
Bruce wants to have his mentees safe under his roof, siblings with his own kids, and full-time civilians for their own wellbeing
This pushed him to adopt Dick and everyone else unlike/quicker than canon from a subconscious want to make that dream a reality even back when it was just the first Robin around
Bruce abusing his vigilante kids as he does in canon, plus more if you want him to abuse them more than canon, is arguably even more fucked than in canon
Because I imagine compared to canon, here he would be investing even more into his relationships for his kids on the civilian and vigilante side due to guilt from hiding half himself
He expresses his love for them both even more, which will fuck with said kids coming to terms with their abuse. It's even more of an uphill battle
"Wow, look at that plothole-topia!" I say sipping my abuelita knowing damn well who architected it (me)
I never established how Dick learned Bruce = Batman or if he knew at all RIP
Hey maybe Dick and Jason never learns that Batman = Bruce until Tim comes and spills the tea. That could be fun
At first I was gonna have everyone's Waltz form be the "opposite" gender to theirs but then I got to Tim, thought about how I set him up to wanna be loved just like the Drake's did things over their son
I thought about how back when he was just taking photos, he had an idealized picture (pun intended) of the Bats, an idealized image. a concept; a thing
And how that could lead to his own Waltz form being one that used it/its like people do for things
So then I got experimental with it
Methinks Tim would be agender &/or gendervoid in Waltz
Dick eventually settles on the fact he's genderfluid, and later on occasionally using she/her as Grayson and he/him as Robin/Nightwing
Lets say it's cuz he always wanted to be like both is parents that his Waltz makes him so
He views the change in gender identity and pronouns as him tossing a coin; whenever he flips the coin to the Nightwing side, she sees herself female, when flipped to Dick's side, he's male
Rarely the coin tossing itself without his input and lands on the thin side; that's when Dick identifies as the gender she does in her other identity
Jason accepts that he falls under solidly cis since even they/them is dysphoric for him; he once experimented with they/she cuz he wanted to be like his older brother-sister
Then the lazarus pit happen, she winds up using they/she in Waltz form and he/him as Jason
Views himself as a cis as Jason; a demigirl as Red Hood. Maybe she's still figuring things out? idk
Since he had the Waltz World magic just like their sister who was Nightwing now, she could be Robin now!
Then she learned about Damian and Tim calling dibs before her and that made them and Dami fight
Damian and Jason call truce on the grounds of Tim being a common enemy and obstacle in being Robin, so Damian goes to Gotham with Jason
Damian was dunked in the same pit as Jason here, hence why he also got a Waltz form
for plot convenience, they are the exception and not the rule when it comes to lazarus waters and Waltz's World
He wanted to inherit the Robin or Little Wing mantle as Bruce's heir, and fantasized about donning both, thus his Waltz form is bigender, she/he, boy and girl; maybe Damian decides he's also she/he and boy and girl as a civilian as well
Damian's Waltz form is the perfect balance between first Robin's and Little Wing's fem and masc gender presentations, so when you know what to look for it's obvious she's bigender, boy and girl
I made Steph and Cass have Waltz in their bloodlines just as Richard does because I couldn't come up with creative ways for them to join Waltz's World like the boys, lo siento :(
But you can do fun stuff with three non-blood related people sharing the same magic in their genetic history
For Steph I decided to make her intergender, mostly female as Steph, mostly male as Spoiler, but uses he/him as Steph and She/her as spoiler more often than Dick
Steph views her gender as a seesaw; being Steph the saw in pointed towards she/her, and being Spoiler points it in he/him, but sometimes the saw does the exact opposite and sometimes the saw tips a bit less than his form's typical gender so she feels a bit more like a boy or a girl when in civillian or Waltz
She thinks she will reach a point where the saw begins to perfectly balance itself or get close enough that she feels more like using they/them instead but she doesn't know if her guess is accurate yet
Cassandra I think would flip flop trying to figure out if they're Gendernuetral or Genderless in Waltz form, maybe eventually deciding that using Orphan and other (nick)names is preferable to pronouns and discards pronouns
An idea I had for Damian, where he used the pronouns and gender identities of all the other batkids, got given to Duke instead
Since Duke is basically the motherfucking moon with how he absorbs light and We Are Robin is all about taking on Robin's name and duties, I tweaked his own Meta abilities to copy and paste their all the batkids Waltz schtick and genders since that's bascially his desire at the moment
Also his meta power converted itself into Waltz Magic 100%, no refunds, so that's gonna be a fun surprise when he claims to just be a Meta copying their magic and he's proven wrong, he's magic too
But an AU of this AU where his meta abilities truly are just duplicating the magic would be fun to check-out
Oh yeah, idk shit about the time periods the batkids grew up in or what it'd be like be growing up coming to terms with being queer even in modern day so I'm useless on that part
But let's just say that;
Dick grew up traveling plenty and was introduced to queer identity at a young age, so while awakening his power freak her out a bit, she takes it in stride
Jason has a more rigid understanding due to a lack of education on the streets, but after learning about Robin, Dick teaches him what he knows about queerness
Tim grew up as a rich kid taught cisnormativity by both his parents and others he grew up around
As a result he expects himself to be a man through and through. It's a bit of a learning curve on his part
+ in Waltz form it thinks its a she because it looks feminine, only to unconsciously correct itself while freaking out after transforming for the first time
For all Tim knows, his stalking did not lead him to learn about Robin's magic including ✨gender✨
So when the artifact grants his wishes, concious and subconcious?
Tim is confused about the Waltz stuff, hence why it defaults to its/it and doesn't try to force itself to use she/her pronouns, cuz its still figuring stuff out and more focussed on the Bats than gender identity
Then comes in Dick to teach Tim about queerness as he once did for Jason
I dunno jack shit about the cultures Damian grew up in under the league so I dunno how Damian would take the whole Waltz thing at first
I think Jason would fill in some gaps in the case Damian has more to learn about bening genderqueer; maybe the League and Dami even teach Jason their own understandings of gender
No clue how Steph or Cassandra or Duke would take the Waltz thing before joining the bat siblings
I should get into clarifying the magic
Dick's magic is all about acrobatics and enhancing her body in ways that ascends her ability to preform them
Tim's is all about being wanted; being the perfect image of what kind of person those seeing it want to protect and treasure above all else. It's outfit and features craft an illusion different to everybody else's eyes
Tim's Waltz form is to itself, an idealized all-in-one combo of the vigilantes it worshipped and followed on the streets
Continuing the "Treasure me" theme, Tim also makes Links with other Waltz's World people it trusts that alert them when it's in serious danger and allows them to track it down whenever
Plus it works when in its Waltz and civillian identities 24/7
and he can't control them, much to his annoyance, a wee bit of karma for his own stalking tendencies
Additionally Tim's wanted to last the elements and foes like ancient artifacts did, so it becomes a tank in the face of hurt
Stephanie can turn invisible whenever he wants alongside what he has in hand and whoever he touches; plus he get one trailormade spoiler per enemies to give him an advantage
Maybe in time the number of spoilers he can get per enemy increases, and
Jason is also a tank that can't be kept down and every assault they lay have way more power to them than other humans could hope to do
Damian has the power to copy the magic of other Waltz users, the problem lies in that it get exponentially harder the better he gets at their magic
Because again, she's trying to take in magic not not made for her, and as the family grows, he's run himself thin trying to master multiple magics fighting against it all at once
That could be an interesting conflict
Once he does master a copied magic, he's good to go, it comes to him as easily as if it were his own magic
On top of that is the much more natural body enchanting magic that make her a perfect assassin
Cassandra's magic lets them learn at a rapid pace. She had to as an assassin. Through it, they learn how to speak, cultural norms and other nessecery life skills
It also enhancing their ballerina skillset, launching their fame
Outside of Duke duplicating all his siblings gender identities, her magic is just like their canon meta abilities; it's just Waltz magic instead of meta abilities
Oh yeah, Duke also shapeshifts endlessly in Waltz form without pause, to look like one batsibling to the next, the most consistent part of her form is their Signal costume which still alters in appearance all the time
Other stuff I didn't adress oh frick
How does those a part of Waltz's World keeping it a secret too themselves affect the batkids relationship with everyody else?
How does the Waltz World stuff affect everybodies relationships period?
What affect does knowing Jason was an is formerly Little Wing have on Bruce, Alfred and Barbara throughout the storyline? On their relationship with eachother
Since Batman and Oracle are two of the few wholly human heroes in this AU unlike canon, Little Wing's death probably cause a huge reaction in the super community cuz one of the very rare human heroes fucking died
On top of that, back when it was only Robin and no one else, Batman and co. tried to find others with the same magic as the sidekick, only to come out emptyhanded; Is anything ever done with any knowledge acquired during the failed investigation?
Because Robin likely told Batman what little he knew about Waltz's World at the time, alongside other investigators when they tried to learn more or find other like Robin. That data is saved somewhere
After Jason's death, Nightwing distanced himself from Batman and went back to self-teaching, so Batman would no longer have Dick as a resource to learn about Waltz's World; he, Barbara and Alfred would have to piece together clues by themselves
And I think they'd have to learn all on their own Nightwing's inner circle so-to-speak are also part of Waltz's World
Batman is pulling his hair out because where are these Waltz users coming from all of the sudden? Where were they when he was looking for them?
Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if that became the name of the squad since as far as they know, only they have this very magic; Waltz's World
How does Waltz magic interest with sciences or other magics or divinity, etc etc?
oh yeah another thing, Waltz's World in Mahou Shoujo Jihen canonically ceases the aging process, but let's tweak it and say that Waltz's World pauses a person's age at the moment their body reaches their physical peak, meaning the batkids will eventually discover themselves unaging, unlike their father and countless other people dear to them
Forgive me if I'm wrong I've got a poor memory
Also I dunno much about the actual Waltz dance, but a quick google search (ruh, roh, that cooked engine) says it used to have strict roles for men and woman
That's what Waltz's World is named after in the manga, it grants men a woman's body and vice versa, the two genders needed for the dance
But in modern day, where societal constructs of gender are being demolished and rebuilt in front of countless eyes (not to say that it never was before modern times, its just way more accessible to witness with the internet) the way people view and preform the Waltz would and has changed as well
This is all to say I thought I threw the Waltz symbolism from the manga into the bin when I decided "lets experiment with MORE genders!" only to realize it never went anywhere at all
By the Waltz, now my brain is cooked
My final idea unless I realize I wanna send another ask with ideas I only came up with after pressing [Ask] is that the Waltz dance itself could be used in a fic of this AU as a motif; so imagine a hypothetical fic with me---
Every batkid and batkid duo and three-or-more batkids all preform the Waltz multiple times throughout the fic
As their own understanding of their gender identities grow and change, the way they preform the Waltz drifts away more and more from how couples did the Waltz long ago, and they add their own personal flairs to the Waltz dances. the way they preform the Waltz becomes more and more their way instead of the tradtional way
It reaches a point where once they can confidentally answer "Who am I?" the can dance their Waltzes to the fullest of their ability and euphoria as a metaphor for the very gender euphoria they feel all together at the moment; maybe they even swap between civillian and magical forms during their dance
Hell maybe the non-existant fic ends with a scene of the batkids preforming that very Waltz preformance I described
I think I'm out of ideas at last
Go crazy, go stupid with this AU people, play with it however you wanna
I can't even begin to describe how ecstatic I was reading this. A gender queer batfam fic rules, but to add on it/its pronouns? Fuck. Gods, I'm so happy with that.
Alright! So, I have no idea about the Waltz World source material, but I'm chill with that. I like the concept as it's described.
Because gender is a social construct, it is completely okay to have different gender identities/pronouns depending on the social environment (or, like this AU, the vigilante and civilian personas having various gender preferences).
So, let's create a list to make the pronouns clear:
Dick: he/him (sometimes her), Nightwing: she/her (sometimes he)
Jason: he/him, Red Hood: she/they
Tim: he/him, Robin: it/its
Steph: she/her (sometimes he), Spoiler: he/him (sometimes her)
Damian: she/him, Robin Hood: he/her
Cass: no pronouns
Duke: all pronouns (does this include neopronouns?), Signal: all pronouns
Bruce: he/him, Batman: he/him
Barbara: she/they, Oracle: she/they
Alfred: he/him
I like the idea of no pronouns for Cass since Cass was taught language later in life and thus doesn't associate Cass or Orphan with pronouns. I also gave Barbara she/they pronouns because being gender queer is not exclusive to Waltz World. That magic affects one's gender expression (and also affects how the individual may perceive their gender identity in different forms).
Alfred is definitely in the background, ironing out a plethora of pride flags based on whatever he figures out about others' current thoughts on their LGBT labels (he's discrete to those who haven't come out or told others yet). He also makes rainbow cookies, multicolored drinks, and displays photos around the house with subtle pride flags incorpated in their colors (like those sunset LGBT photos). The pride flag photos are as many as Alfred can find, regardless if any of the flags relate to one of the family members. It's the dealer's choice on whether Bruce knows the specifics or if he knows, from Alfred's actions, that at least one of his kids is queer.
Might I add that I love that you addressed that Bruce probably has some subconscious sexism that affects him attitude.
As far as queerphobia and all the discussions they can have about that, there is so much to interact with there. For instance, their socioeconomic background would affect their queerness (as far as how they are treated within the community, by those outside it, by those within the various minority or majority group they belong to, what it's like for those with more or less money, etc). They could also discuss their specific issues regarding their particular gender identity (Tim with the it/its pronouns, Cass with none, Duke with all of them, Damian with using both she and he, Jason with considering himself cisgender outside of Waltz, etc).
Because I want to have more representation where queerness is normalized, imma hc that Gotham (besides Bristol) is accepting. There's various levels of understanding/knowledge into distinct labels, colors, history, etc., but it's normal to use whatever pronouns (or lackof) that people say to use. There's no reaction at all to people's various gender expressions, partners, etc. It's normal to just be chill with it in Gotham, but it's debatable whether the person quite knows all the details (like that interview: "How many genders are there?" "I don't know. I just got here").
Outside of Gotham and online, there's the horrid shit. There's also other pockets of full acceptance around the world like Gotham. Metropolis is one of them (which is another reason why Gotham and Metropolis have such a rivalry).
The JL typically doesn't care about gender standards. A lot of them are not from Earth, so those societies (or other ones they have been exposed to) might not follow a binary gender structure. Those from Atlantis are around sea creatures that can switch their gender. Wonder Woman and those of her similar background grew up around the same myths that talk about gods and people switching into all kinds of stuff (animals, different genders, trees, etc). There may be a few that aren't aware initially of the many possibilities, but they either become accepting or get kicked out (fuck queerphobia).
There may be some subconscious shit in these more safe spaces, but overall people don't give a fuck what you identify as or who you get with (or if you don't get with anyone).
At the same time, I'd love for Batman to have to give an HR-similar presentation on queerness to the entire JL. Maybe they have one every year (including ones for different minorities [which incorporates metas and various alien species]) to discuss how to help folks of different background and how to be respectful of their culture/identity/behaviors/etc.
Anyways! Love the AU
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Aita for secretly following my then best friend home?
(tw alcohol abuse, probably suicidal tendencies)
I know this sounds really awful right away but bear with me. Also this is probably going to get long, sorry in advance
tl;dr I followed a guy i was friends with and had a crush on home after an argument, even after he asked me not to come to his house, bc i was worried he might hurt himself.
Last summer I (20f) moved to the US for college. I didn’t know anyone outside of college and overall I was mostly on my own which was getting a bit lonely tbh. So I was very glad when I met this guy (21m) at a party of one of my acquaintances. We got along right away and he ended up giving me his number. After that we continued talking regularly and also meeting up every now and then and overall it was a lot of fun.
At some point I started developing feelings for him but prepared myself to just wait it out and not tell him bc I knew that he liked having a very active sex life and felt like he probably wouldn’t be interested in something serious at that time.
After a few months however, he began to behave in some ways that made me pretty worried honestly. I had known that he liked to go out and party but I hadn’t known to what extent. Apparently he would get totally blackout drunk at least once a week, sometimes more than that and then he would text me or call me in the middle of the night but often I genuinely couldn’t understand what he was saying. Sometimes he would just call me like that at any time of day, crying, saying that I was his only real friend, the only person he felt safe talking to and so on. On the one hand I knew that that wasn’t healthy behaviour at all but on the other hand my crush on him kept getting worse bc who doesn’t like to feel needed.
On other occasions, he would just randomly do reckless and stupid things like one time we went to a museum and he started arguing with the guard over not being able to take any pictures and we almost got kicked out. Afterwards he laughed it off but honestly it made me feel pretty uneasy. (I didn’t tell any of my other friends about that btw, they only knew that I was seeing this guy but wasn’t dating him.)
He has told me some things about his childhood which I don’t want to share here bc he did tell me that confidentially and although this is anonymous I still don’t feel comfortable telling random people on tumblr about it. But it is severe enough for me to believe that his upbringing and the things he lived through definitely contributed to the issues that he has now. I can say that he didn’t have a great time at home bc he is bi and while homosexuality isn’t illegal in his country, it isn’t really accepted either. Also it’s generally expected that children, especially boys, dedicate their entire life to having a successful and lucrative career and then start a family and he wasn’t really in the right place to do either of that (and he didn’t want to).
He also has been facing a lot of problems and racism here bc he is a poc immigrant from a country that isn’t in good standing with the US. So while I don’t pretend I know what he’s feeling, I imagine that all of these things would affect him quite a lot.
Now I actually get to the incident that is the reason for me to send this (it rly did get long TT but I want to make everything as clear as possible).
A few weeks ago we were just hanging out, it was all pretty chill and we just sat down to eat and talk etc. It had been quite a difficult week for me, also college wise, and I felt like I really had to talk to him about him calling me at night and while I’m in class and all that. So I said as nicely as I could smth like “I don’t want to seem overbearing but have you ever thought about maybe seeing a therapist bc I don’t think what you do is healthy in the long run and I’m not a professional who can properly help you.” He immediately got really snappy and defensive, saying that he “couldn’t fucking afford a therapist and even if I could, all they do is squeeze the money out of you and they don’t give a fuck about your feelings.” I was pretty shocked tbh and responded by saying “well if you really think this badly about therapists you should clearly see one” which was probably too harsh of me but I just couldn’t help myself at that moment. He then said “oh yeah?? I’d rather die than tell any of my shit to a total stranger. But you’ve probably already told yours bc you’re all so fucking dependant on them anyway.” and then he stormed off. (Just to be clear, I don’t have a therapist bc I don’t have any issues that require one.)
I was really scared at that point bc I thought that he might do something to himself (he had said stuff like “I wish I just wasn’t here sometimes” before) so I started following him which I now think was extremely weird and creepy of me but I just didn’t think it through in that situation. He walked for about 10 minutes to a house which I assumed was where he lived (I had never been at his place before bc he always said he lived in a bad neighborhood and didn’t want me to come there) and I stood outside for like another 10 minutes thinking abt what to do bc I realized that this had been totally stupid, also it started to get dark and it really was a bad neighborhood. I ended i up calling him and telling him where I was and he let me in. He was pretty angry but mostly at the fact that I had put myself in such a dangerous situation and he let me spend the night at his place.
We actually got together not long after that and as of now, we’re dating. I know it’s not an ideal situation and probably not the most healthy one but I have been able to keep him from drinking himself into oblivion all the time bc we spend most evenings together now so I think that’s a good thing. I don’t know where things will go from here and I don’t have the illusion that i can “fix him” or anything but so far it’s been pretty good and I really do love him a lot so I just hope it will all turn out for the best. I just still feel guilty for lowkey (or actually highkey) stalking him when he explicitly asked me not to come to his house but it was out of genuine worry for him so idk if it makes me an asshole, I guess I’ll let tumblr decide that for me.
🌃🎀🍨 for finding later
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Amorist - Pantalone
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Summary: Lone adores your talent so much he tries to replicate it.
Warnings: Subby!Pantalone, Toys, Drunk!Pantalone, Fan!Pantalone, Writer!Reader, Dom!Reader, Sensitive Pantalone, Crying!Pantalone, Fem!Reader
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I always felt eyes on me, more specifically but I was never sure who it was. All I knew was that these eyes showed up while I was typing away in the coffee shop. I tended to go for writing inspiration and some writing snacks. And yet everytime without fail I’d always feel these eyes. Sometimes when I left my laptop on the table to go to the bathroom I would find a comment on grammar or a sticky note telling me how to enhance a scene or that the mystery person was excited to see what was next.
In fact I once wrote on a sticky note for this mystery person my name and tumblr profile in case they wanted to read other things from me and when I got back from the bathroom it was gone and still grammar was fixed and tips were written down. I was happy to be seen as a good author in person rather than just the internet.
In fact I enjoyed the advice and tips that I’d make it a habit to go into the bathroom for at least 15 minutes to allow the reader to repair what I wrote along with reading it. When I finished my first book there was a sticky note and a company card.  
‘If you're interested in publishing I have a friend who’s willing to help. Just call the number, also. . .Will you be writing a second book? I need to know if Addison marries Evan or Thomas!’ 
Thanks to the amazing advice the reader was giving I didn’t debate long on the decision to call after I did some research. When I got home I called the number on the card and within seconds a throat was cleared. 
“Hello this is Pantalone Harbinger. How may I assist you?” his voice was toned and mellow and soft. 
“I was given your card, I heard you could help me with publishing a book.” A little ‘oh’ passed through the phone along with a ‘I didn’t she’d call already.’ though I’m sure he didn’t notice it. 
He cleared his throat once more before speaking, “That’s right, I own a publishing house. One of my employees said he found a real talent for writing.” The way he said employees was odd but i didn’t question it much. 
“Yes, well. The advice given to me was rather helpful. So I figured I continue to listen to it and give you a call.” I explained. 
“I see, so your interested in publishing, well, if I can help I certainly will, however I must see the work you produce, I know it is rather brash but if you could email me the transcript I review it and email or call you at a later date.” I bit my lip at this, though the offer was good it was too good and well what if he simply used my story as his? 
“I’ll need to sign a contract.” I say
“For?” He asked
“A Non-disclosure agreement,” he hummed, “I need to be assured you nor your company would steal my work and claim it as your own.” The man hummed once more before hastily agreeing. 
“When would you like to sign the NDA? I have some free time in the afternoon tomorrow.” I paused. 
“T-tomorrow?” The man giggled
“Yes, in all honesty my employee is rather pervasive and managed to give an excellent summary of the story that compelled me to fashion up an NDA in hopes you’d call.” I hummed. 
“W-well, I am also free in the afternoon, is there anywhere you’d like to meet?” I ask
“Perhaps my office, I like to keep work and personal life separate, the address is on the card. I'll tell my aid you’ll stop by.” I hummed and he bidded me a goodnight before hanging up. Without many hold ups I sprinted out of my morning class and hurried to the office on the card and with anxiety coursing through my veins I went into the publishing house and then the elevator which took me to the ‘big boss’s office’. When I got there I saw a man without a suit jacket working and I approached him. 
“Do you have an appointment?” He asked. 
“Y-yes? I believe so, Mr. Harbinger told me to meet him here in the afternoon.” The man looked up and seemed to recognize me before hurrying to stand and leading me to the office door which showed a man with black hair and violet eyes, he had glasses in a completely black tux he too had lost the jacket and tie, in fact some buttons on his shirt were undone. 
“Sir, your afternoon appointment is here.” He looked up and smiled before ushering me inside. Once I was seated the aid I can only assume closed the door and left us be. 
“It’s a pleasure, ms. . .” I coughed.
“Y/n, please just address me as Y/n.” I say
“Then please call me Lone, so you wished to have me sign an NDA yes?” I nodded, and he pulled it out and handed it to me. I read it through before signing it first then he followed suit. When he looked at the NDA he blushed a bit, like a fan would before their idol. In fact it was rather endearing. 
“Apologies. If you wouldn’t mind, I'd like to discuss a contract.” He said. 
“S-shouldn’t you read my transcript first?” I asked
“W-well yes, however I meant a potential contract.” I nodded, “So this is how this will go, I’ll need you to send you transcript over to have me review it and when I finish reviewing it I will email or call you to give you my decision on signing a full contract, when this happens I would like to discuss other details of the novel. Does this make sense?” I nodded and he smiled before getting up. I followed him before holding out my hand he took it and with a gleeful smile shook it, “It was a pleasure to meet you Y/n.” I nodded 
“Likewise Lone.”  Over the next week I was riddled with anxiety and when I got that call I was exceedingly nervous but I took it and heard his voice. 
“Are you free to discuss signing a contract with Northland publishing house?” 
“W-when?” I ask
“As early as possible, tonight if we could,” 
“I-I’m free after 10 PM, will that work?” I ask
“Yes, any place you’d wish to meet at?” I bit my lip.
“Umm, Not really.” I say. 
“I’ll set up a reservation at Yue Pavillon, will that be alright.” I chuckled, accepting. The phone hung up and I groaned, I really didn’t have that kind of money. I chose to worry later, but later came much sooner and headed to the meeting place where I saw Lone and he hurried to me saying I was his guest and led me to the table. For the most part Lone was extremely kind, and spoke of my way of writing and my plotline saying it was something he never even saw coming, he also was curious which boy Addison would choose. Eventually after dinner and some glasses of wine he was happily talking to me almost as if I were a friend.
“I-I apologize if I am too involved in the story. In fact when I started I knew I was trapped. I’m so excited to be signing with such talent. In fact I don’t think anything I’ve ever read has brought out as much reaction as yours had. I felt like I was in a trance.” He complimented which caused him to drunkenly ask something, “Speaking of which are those rather, erotic scenes. Were those translated from videos or personal experiences?”
“Personal, I didn’t know how either person felt or how it’d feel and thus I wished to have a genuine telling of the scene.” He giggled. 
“I thought so, it sounded too good for it having a video reference.” He chuckled, “You know, I’m not supposed to ask this but would you be willing to use a night with me as reference material?” Lone asked, his eyes were hazy and the blush he had gained made him adorable.
“I believe it is inappropriate to do such things to someone who would be considered my boss.” I say, within an instant his expression dropped and was all pouty. He bit his lip before lighting up. 
“I won’t be your boss until after you sign the contract, unless you dislike working for people you sleep with.” He sighed, “Oh! I could always assign a different editor, that way your work wouldn’t be funneled to me at all, that would make it so I wasn’t your boss!” He smiled like a child, “We could do that, right?”
I chuckled and reached over to take his drink, “So the editorial manager was going to edit my transcripts? I didn’t think I would have such an honor.” I say. 
“Are you kidding! H-how could I not read that masterpiece! I had to wait for months just to gain the confidence to approach you with stupid post-it notes. I honestly can’t believe such a talented person wasn’t earning money from their work. In all honesty I read your transcript within a day. I wanted to call you the moment after but I chose to read some of your posted work. The way you write is eye-catching and the plotlines, you took hated tropes and made them likable. Then there were those scenes, they were in so much detail and described them so much I couldn’t help trying to replicate them myself, I-I was in a trance with everything I read.” Lone praised, only making me blush in return. He was my mystery reader. 
“You were my mystery reader?” I ask
“I-I. . .I don’t think I should’ve told you that.” He giggled, “It was a funny chance. I was meeting someone in the coffee shop for publishing reasons and when they were describing their drag of a novel I caught a glimpse of yours and began reading it from afar. I was in awe of your talent. Of course that meet-up ended as I wasn’t interested. But after that I made it a goal to stop by that coffee shop to see if you were there. After a few days I learned your schedule.” Lone said, he tried reaching for his drink which I held away from him. 
“I can’t believe you managed to keep your composure when I was sitting in your office a week ago.” I smirked, he whined and I felt his legs become restless. 
“I r-really wasn’t, I made so many slip-ups. Such as the contract and then when you shook my hand, it felt like my body was on fire.” I smiled.
“If I knew you were such a big fan I would’ve given you an autograph.” I say, he whined and covered his mouth. I sighed and stood up, “you offered yourself as reference material, that offer is still open?” I ask
“Y-yes, i-it’ll always be open.” He said, stunned. 
“Then, shouldn’t we head to a hotel? Or would you rather do this in your own bed so you could relive the memories?” I went close to his ear, taking his hand in mine. 
“M-mine, my bed. . .please.” I smiled and helped him up. Lone called someone and a black car appeared and we got in and Lone told them to take him home, thank god I use the subways. When I got to his apartment building he opened the door and let me in. I waited for him to open his door while making sure my hands were on his hips and I was kissing his neck. 
“F-fuck. . .That- T-there!” Lone managed to open the door and I didn’t let him go in, simply allowing him to hold the door open as I continued my kisses. 
“Y/n~ T-The door is opened, we can go in.” I hummed at his words, “p-please? M-my neighbors might see us.” he whined, I sighed and went inside and closed the door before pressing him against the wall. I continued to hold his hips against mine, as my kisses littered his neck. 
“Are you sure you want this? We can still stop.” I say, he turned to face me with an alluring look as he wrapped his arms around my neck. 
“I want this, use me, please?” I smiled and slammed my lips on his as he grinded on my thigh thinking I didn’t realize. I pulled away from him and saw his darling little expression, his lips were pink and plump as he panted. 
“Well, we we going to fuck here or your bed?” I ask, he gulped and hurriedly lead me to his bedroom where I noticed many toys scattered around, there were dildos that were suctioned onto the wood floor, then there were cuffs, blindfolds, gags on the bed, but what caught my attention the most was the magic wand and a chastity cage. He is either really kinky or bought this to replicate my scenes. I watched as he knocked down many of the toys to the floor but I smirked at his eagerness. 
“You really did try to replicate my scenes.” I said picking up a gag, Lone quickly grabbed it hiding behind his back embarrassed. 
“I-I’m not a liar.” He said. 
“I can tell, there's dried cum staining your floor. In fact I find it rather endearing.” I say. He whined and grabbed the belt loops on my jeans pulling me close. 
“Play with me?” He whimpered, I chuckled and pet his head before latch our lips together making him humm happily only to feel something wet against my face, I pulled away to see Lone crying, shit did I tease him to much?
“D-damn it.” He sniffled. 
“Hey, are you alright?” I asked, going on my knees.
“Yeah, yeah.” He mumbled, “T-this happens a-all the time.” I tilted my head. 
“I-I’m not sad s-so please keep going.” I nodded and wiped his tears before pinning him to the bed, He continued to cry but he kept insisting he was alright and he wanted to keep going so I took the bindings I can only assume were on the bed to keep his hands away. Thankfully he had taken his jacket off in the car because it was hot and so he was left in his suit pants and a black button-up. I ripped his shirt open and got rid of his shoes, socks and pants with ease leaving him in his underwear which only had him crying more. I smiled and leaned into him whispering small praises while rubbing my thumb against his thigh. 
“I got you darling, it’s alright your safe.” Lone sniffled,
“I-I told you I’m not sad.” He protested.
“I know, but I want to stare into your pretty eyes.” I say, I soothed him a little longer and his tears became simple sniffles. When that happened I pulled off his boxers freeing his cock which was happily standing proud. I planted a kiss on his tip which had him bite his lip and throw his head back, poor boy is so sensitive. 
“Are you ready Sweetie?” I look up. 
“Mmhmm.” I dove onto his cock having him moaning. I swirled my tongue around the tip allowing him to feel the pleasure his sensitive cock was going through. He began moving his legs, they even started to shake. He was oh so needy, eventually when I went to pull off Lone pushed me back onto his cock by using his legs to hold me in place. I smirked and used my tongue against his slit, having him scream. 
“Y-Y/n! W-wait! I’ll. . .I’ll!” Lone’s legs moved and right before he reached his high I pulled away having a ruined orgasm that had his hips bucking, “Y/n! I-I want more, more, more, please, give me more!” He begged. I hovered over him, wiping some tears away kissing him softly as he whined. 
“It’s alright, I don’t plan on stopping, there’s no need to beg.” He sniffled, “Would you like another?” I asked, he nodded and I wrapped my hand around his cock and began pumping him slowly. I made sure to go slow so the overstimulation could work him back up, Lone was crying again and his legs were shaking. He was moaning loudly despite my actions. I kept kissing him to occupy his mouth when I realized the reason why he had so many gags, it’s because he was loud as shit. I stopped my hand and moved away Lone already looked so fucked out. 
“Would you like a gag Lone?” I ask, he shook his head trying to get me back to ruining him, “Do you mind if I use some toys?” Another shake, so I got up and found a strap that just happened to be strapped onto a large teddy bear, then there was the magic wand and nipple clamps, when I went back to Lone he was squirming. I plugged in the wand and made sure to kiss Lone while I placed a clamp on each nipple which made his whine. When I managed to calm him down from the clamps I turned on the wand placing it on his nipples. 
“F-fuck~ I-I wanna cum!” I wrapped my hand around his cock once more and Lone was whining as his tongue hung between his lips, his eyes rolled back and Lone somehow managed to take his restraints into his hands pulling on them. I smiled, I was working my magic on my soon-to-be-boss, and he was crying so helplessly, but he continued to beg for more as I was already allowing him an orgasm. 
“I-I’m coming! Y/n! I’m cumming!” I kissed Lone’s eyes, having him cum, his cum reached his chest and I turned off the wand and let go of his cock peppering kisses over his face. 
“You're doing so good Lone, You’re being such a good boy.” He was so dazed, but as he was being praised he came back and smiled like a goof, “Would you like one more orgasm?” I ask
“Pwease~~” I smiled and kissed his lips.
“Good boy,” I undressed myself leaving my body in my underwear as I strapped the strap-on to my hips, and moved to lift Lone’s hips just slightly to see a plug in his ass. I smirked and kissed him, “You really planned to have me in your bed tonight huh? You prepped and everything.” He giggled, and I pulled the plug out and replaced the plug with the strap. Lone's tears came out like a waterfall when his toy was replaced. 
“It’s alright darling boy, I got you, breathe, I promise you’ll be alright.” He was smiling as he continued to try and free himself, “Would you like to hold onto me?” I ask
“Pwease, pwease!” I kissed him softly and freed him by rubbing and kissing his now red wrists. When I began moving Lone pulled me into a kiss as tears fell I made sure this final orgasm was slow and passionate to welcome Lone back from his taxing headspace. It didn’t take long for him to cum as he came twice before. When he finished I pulled off of him and out of him, he was so sleepy after his orgasms that I took off his shirt throwing it on the floor. I then went around to gather all the used toys going to find the bathroom. When I did I began cleaning the toys in the bathroom and placed a towel on the counter to allow them to dry. I then brought a wet rag to the room cleaning all of the obvious stains and cleaning Lone himself before gathering the clothes and going to find the washing machine and putting them to wash. I returned back and took out some pj’s and dressed Lone and took a shirt to sleep in. When I finally sorted everything out I moved Lone under the covers and got under them having Lone snuggle up to my body.
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armands-cuck-chair · 25 days
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"'Exceptional negro.' 'Thank you, sir.' It was the call and response of my entire life. I had let them talk to me like that so long I stopped hearing it. 'Yes sir', 'of course, sir', 'subject, verb, agreement, sir', smile, nod, 'yes, sir.' They all came from the same organ inside me, an organ unknown to science at the time, because what scientist would look for an organ found only in black men who use their weakness to rise? But I wasn't a man anymore. I was something else. I had powers now, and decades of rage to process, and it was both random and unfortunate the man picked that night to dabble in fuckery."
One of my favorite Louis quotes of all time. And it makes me so happy when I'm watching black reactors watch this scene because it's obviously so cathartic for them. I like watching black reaction content for this show in particular, because it helps me as a white person appreciate the show on a whole other level that I would be incapable of on my own. It was actually a black acter that made me interested in watching the show in the first place!
I had seen gifs on tumblr and I wanted to get a feel for the show before I bought it. I was a fan of the 1994 movie and had read some of the book, but it did always bother me that Louis in both of those versions of the story was a slave owner. And especially in the movie, which adds that whole gross slave master/enslaved black woman romance racist trope that always made me uncomfortable, even before I could articulate why. (At least the slaves get freed and then they burn down the plantation? Seriously, don't get me started on that aspect of the 1994 movie.) I was really intrigued by the fact that the show chose to make Louis a black creole man, instead of a white creole man, and also the switching of the time period. But because some aspects of the source material were...not great, I was worried that that change might not have been handled the best. Vampire media oftentimes don't treat their black characters very well. So when I decided to watch reaction content of it to get a feel for the show, I wanted to hear a black perspective on it.
So I watched ShalayaHomebody TV's reaction first (also her Sandman reactions are so good, she is so funny, you should absolutely subscribe), and I was pleasantly surprised because, you know, the bar is in Hell. I immediately bought the first season and I have been obsessed with the show and have had The Vampire Chronicles brainrot ever since.
A while ago, I watched Syntell's reactions with Mikel Claire on his channel and I was sort of blown away by him saying this about the scene when Sam takes Louis's tickets to the Theatre des Vampires show in the fake fangs and white vampire makeup: "I wonder if that's like blackface to them?" Like, as a white person, my mind just straight up didn't go there, but as soon as he said it I totally got it. It made me think of how Josephine Baker had performed in blackface as a black woman, because she could get more money performing to white audiences and that's the only way white audiences at the time would watch anything having to do with black people. It made me look at the whole Theatre des Vampires differently.
After Claudia proclaimed that the trial was a stoning, Alex of Jessa and Alex Watch said: "No, it's a lynching!" And...yeah! It basically was.
I could keep giving examples, but I'm stoned and rambling and this post is already going to be incredibly long as it is. I just have a lot to say!
The show might not handle every single thing exactly right 100% of the time in regards to race, nothing does, but I really appreciate the show taking pains to accurately cover the typical attitudes regarding race in the time periods it's set in, including the present. That's not to say that any scrutiny or criticism isn't warranted, there will always be blind spots. And like I said, the bar is in Hell, but I think it's really cool and good that they took the time to sit back and say, "okay, how does changing this character's race change their history and how they navigate the world?" Especially when there are white supremacists in the US government who think teaching about the history and the structural nature of racism not be taught because it will "make white kids grow up hating themselves". 🙄
I don't know, man. I just saw people criticizing some of the Devil's Minion fandom for their treatment of Louis when I was browsing the tag and like...I don't want to contribute to making black fans of the show feel shut out and like they don't have a space in the fandom. It's like that meme: "I got so caught up in the euphoria of shipping Devil's Minion that for a moment I forgot racism exists."
I don't say it enough, but I love this incarnation of Louis and Claudia. I love that there are so many black fans who feel seen and represented. I love that the show isn't just a sea of 99% white characters like the books are, but keeping everything that makes the books compelling and great and then elevating it by making it more inclusive.
Don't sideline the black fans in the IWTV community. Watch black reacters. Engage with them. Listen to them. You might not agree with every take they have, but I promise you that it will make you enjoy the show from a whole new perspective.
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raayllum · 3 months
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Something I’ve been noticing a lot in my current rewatch is how Rayla and Soren are foils…Soren being the failed crownguard (“failed” in large part bc of his father’s choices) who ends up on a quest to kill his little king… Rayla trying to make up for her parents’ failures as dragonguards and going every extra mile to protect Zym but taking Ezran under her protection as well (sometimes FROM Soren)…, Soren runs Viren through for trying to kill Ez but he’s just an illusion, the real Viren is trying to kill Zym, and Rayla is prepared to die to stop that…then Rayla goes but Soren stays, and when she comes back he’s taken up her role as the moral center of the show, arguing points that she used to make
I tried to see if you’d written anything about these two being foils specifically but tumblr search is… you know lol. I would love it if you could point me to a relevant meta if there is one! If there isn’t, I hope my thoughts were interesting lol they make me emotional
Y'know funnily enough I don't think there ever was a dedicated Soren&Rayla from almost anyone (of course I could've missed it, but at least not from me) precisely cause from what I remember of early post-s3 arc 1 days, their foil relationship was just... a general fandom consensus of everyone going "Oh yeah that checks out" and kinda left at that.
After all, Soren is the princes' sworn protector who tries to kill them, makes his way back onto the right side, and then 'kills' Viren (his father) in order to protect them... whereas Rayla is their sworn killer who defects from her father in order to protect those same princes, and then she actually kills Viren (if Aaravos and Claudia hadn't intervened) in the same episode. More than that, they both leave behind their previous "hey kill these kids" roles in favour of being a Protector of their respective princes (Soren with Ezran, Rayla with Zym) respectively likewise in 3x09.
You're absolutely right that Soren and Rayla both rely a lot on their physical fighting skills, and this parallel in regards to failure always stands out to me in S3:
Soren: As crownguard, it was my job to make sure that nothing happened to him. No matter what. So when the Moonshadow elves came I did everything I could to protect him. But it wasn't enough. I just... don't want to fail you, too. Rayla: It's me, and it's all my fault. I failed them. I let them all down. They're right to reject me. I'm not good enough, and I never will be.
as does this one for Runaan-Viren, because Runaan may have brought his teenage daughter on an assassination mission, but she's never seemingly scared of him the way Soren is of Viren
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even if both fathers take issues with 'fear born' weakness at least in theory
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And of course there's some other parallels scattered throughout, which makes sense: 1x01-1x03 is basically Rayla speedrunning Soren's S1-S3 arc of perpetuating the cycle of violence to actively trying to stop it by joining forces with your previous 'enemy'.
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I think in a lot of ways Soren was exactly the sort of human Rayla had prepared her whole life to kill -- he's proud, he lies, he's not a 'good' person (at first) -- but of course, now they're good friends and it's very sweet to see. Arc 2 has less direct foils, but it's still there, y'know? Just more quietly in the background.
For example, enough has changed since 2x07 that now in 4x05 their roles have virtually switched, since Soren is the one campaigning to save the dragon while Rayla, although not the aggressor, is saying to walk away. I expect S6 Rayla to take some of Soren's 'protector' quality on further in regards to "doing everything you can" when Callum gets possessed. Possible 5x08 parallels also stand out to me with the concepts of identities (names), ownership vs agency, and compassion against the enemy currently wailing on you through future possessed!Callum and Elmer parallels.
The two are also in for a real pickle since they're the most "these people are the bad guys, we're the good guys" in the show... and it's like sir your sister is evil and ma'am your boyfriend is going through a corruption arc, you're in for some rude awakenings. That said they do have their unbreakable bonds of love with Claudia and Callum respectively, so who knows. It'll all work out. (Eventually.)
On that note we can also see some parallels between 2x02 and 3x03 perhaps... Rayla accuses Soren of trying to kill Ezran but explains it poorly, so Callum gives her as much as he can but doesn't side with her in the moment (which to be fair it is Quite a leap so like Callum you're so valid) VS Soren poorly explaining Viren asking him to kill the princes and Claudia not siding with him. The difference is that in the face of more evidence in favour of Claudia + Soren, Callum still sides with Rayla, and in the face of more evidence against Viren ("You'll understand when you see the first to change" -> "Claudia, you're changing too"), Claudia still sides with Viren, but I digress.
I'd also argue that Ezran is the moral centre of the show (at least to me) simply because he's the only one in the main cast who hasn't entered the 1) you did terrible things in the name of love/protective relay and 2) he's pretty measured and compassionate 99% of the time (but I do love the 1% when he's not let me tell you).
I talked about it in this meta (which is 2+ years old jc) about how like a good moral line event horizon measuring stick is "how does this character treat Ezran" and if they're treating him poorly they're not doing the right thing, and if they're treating him well then they Are, but it doesn't go into S4 or S5 so like. Mileage may vary
Last but not least: I do have a Sorayla tag for headcanons edits brotp content in general so if you want more of them, that's what I'd recommend, with fics such as "flower crowns" (oneshot) and "if heaven and hell decide" (completed multichap, 60k) for their dynamic
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TOP 3 - My favest scenes of my least favest season
Ironically, this is not my favest episode BUT...
3 - The one above, and not the Sydcarmy part, where for a moment he was back! But precisely what comes after. THE DISCONNECTION that starts at 0:13, right after she accepts his invitation. He was gone. Just like that. And she just gave up. That instant alone made me re-watch this scene about 50 times in a week. Carmy is mesmerizing and scary. I love him. (Fuck you, Storer! But I forgive you).
Then he went back to his polka dots sauce, that we all know is code for Sydney. Cool, that was just interesting but IDGAF about that.
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But then, what he did with that dish is what got me:
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He didn't want it. Which symbolically means that he didn't choose Syd.
Of course, this didn't end there because this was Carmy we were talking about, right? So what I then noticed and LOVED was that he didn't choose the alternative EITHER:
And then, after days of despair, because I knew he hadn't chosen Syd, even though I understand why he did it and I also think he needs some ALONE time, meaning: No C, no S, and just a good team of therapists, psychiatrists and maybe even yoga instructors and personal trainers, I figured this out:
2 - Being stuck in Claire's mud and being stuck in the freezer, are the same thing and he not only wasn't stuck but also he got out of there willingly after NOT CHOOSING C once again and then went into Syd's territory, the BOH. Syd represents what he went back to when got out of the freezer, Syd is the kitchen and C is the freezer. So he actually did choose her. Not consciously, of course. What he did choose consciously was NO MORE C, after remembering her saying ILY. But the one who would be his was the woman on the other side of the door he had recently invited to a dinner party. All of this happened at a very subconscious level, clearly. Carmy was not in the best place to make any solid conscious decision as I have been saying since June 27. He was operating at a very basic level of not the best self-awareness. He was blocked. He hit a wall the entire season.
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Either way, that scene stayed with me for days, once I cracked that code a few days ago after exchanging some ideas with someone here on Tumblr, can't recall whom. Loved it. It was somewhat of a relief.
1 - And now MY VERY FAVEST (the subs are a bit off tho)
Here's what I could decode from the lyrics, as I cried at a coffee shop while listening to the song in an infinite loop.
After watching it over and over for days and crying to the song every time, all I get from it is that they are apart yet soooo close. It's perfection in blue and here's why:
Syd contemplates her life away from him by the water, and how she might lose herself if she makes the “wrong” choice, and Carmy thinks about the one time in his life when he was truly happy in Copenhagen when he found himself for the first time. Each one going through their own personal journey, separately to eventually be reunited at some point along the way ❤️
I know they will. They have to.
Storer, you are fucking killing me!
Remember to follow my tag #Gingerpovs 💋
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valve3nthusiast · 9 months
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Octomer Ratchet is so good. I can imagine any chromatophores he might have going wild while pursuing Drift, if he has any natural camouflage abilities.
Perhaps he plays a game with Drift, hiding among coral and rock formations in order to "sneak up" on him, his usual brights reds and whites distorting to match their environment-- Maybe arousal causes some colour changing as well?
IDK I just really like the idea of Ratchet changing colour (or at least hues) like a mood ring lmao maybe it even frustrates him a bit, like oh no my fucking chromatophores are going to give away this huge crush I have -- he might try to hide in corals or swirl up a bunch of sand with his tentacles initially
If Drift is a land dweller, then maybe they figure out Ratchet is interested in him by studying how Ratch's colours change, and what patterns/colours only appear when Drift is around...
...and maybe Ratchet's attempts at hiding/playing hide and seek (lol) are mistaken for aggression at first, because they don't know why he's doing it
and then they guess it's some kind of broody behaviour, like maybe he's trying to defend a nest or egg clutch that he doesn't really have?? Because Ratchet's grumpy but not usually aggressive and it's weird behaviour from him as far as they're aware. So then he gets a little pity from the facility staff but it's hilarious because he does want to Do It but all the guessing isn't quite right. Like yes it's about Doin It and Eventual Eggs but not in the way they think. Communication Issues lol
"stop giving me extra companion fish out of pity and just give me Drift, do you not see my cream and burgundy-red colouring, is this somehow not clear enough? Oh god here he comes, sand sand sand I need more sand why is this coral so small" no it is not clear to them, Ratchet. lmaooo
Anyway this is earthstellar but Tumblr will only let me send asks from my main blog and not my TF blog lol so ayyy just wanted to say, loving this mer AU situation 🐙💖
This is such a good concept,,, besotted Ratchet accidentally telling on himself with his own colors is genius. Also blushy Ratchet is adorable <3
Hmm a really clear concept just came to me... Security guard Drift at the marine research facility, Ratchet is the only mer there who constantly avoids him, so he just disappointedly assumes he gives Ratchet bad vibes
One night when he's on a skeleton shift, he passes by Ratchet's tank and suddenly notices that something is fucked up with the filtration pumps (or whatever I don't know how aquariums work)
He immediately makes an emergency call to the aquarium techs who are at home. They tell him to get Ratchet moved till someone arrives to fix it. So he's hesitantly going up to the tank like, "hey buddy I know you dont like me, but I gotta pull you out of here for a bit, it's not safe" Ratchet quickly pulls himself right into Drifts arms... and now he's carrying a big squirming octomer. Drift's pretty surprised, but he brushes it off as Ratchet wanting out of his tank
When Drift finally gets to the temporary tank he expects Ratchet to jump from his arms and signal for him to basically fuck off... instead, he goes to put Ratchet down, only to get pulled into the tank with him. Now he's sitting in chest high water, pinned by a heavy wiggling octomer in his lap
For Ratchet, life is good 😎👍
Drift, meanwhile, is mentally repeating "don't get hard" like a mantra, while a purring Ratchet's tentacles caress every inch of his plating. Since it was the middle of the night, they have to wait a good bit for someone who can fix the pumps to get there and make Ratchet's tank safe again...
Maybe, as the hours go on, Ratchet gets a bit friskier... or maybe he just leaves it at intimate exploration, because he's too busy watching Drift whimper and twitch underneath his tentacles <3
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bodycountgame · 1 year
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Hello! I was a big fan of the series a while a go and it is lovely to see that you are back. I'm terribly sorry that other anons put you through a lot with the voting aspect of the game. Absolutely no one deserves death threats for a story that they are bringing to us for free. However, I am not going to lie, I always feel a bit worried when a fandom majority vote is what has long lasting effects on character life/death. It was ok when it was everyone voting with an equal effect. Now there will be a wealth gap to vote. Only people that pay can contribute. And at least where I'm from wealth looks a certain kind of way.
Since you have characters that are in a minority it feels... Bad. Maybe I'm projecting how racist and transphobic my home country is on the vote for this game. I also don't want you to feel like this is an attack on you because that is not my intent at all! I love the diversity in the love interests and it was what brought me to the game initially. I am worried that if you do a majority vote on Patreon that characters that aren't white/cis will face a harsher vote. Trans lives are in danger and I was not surprised when a nonbinary character died first. I was part of the fandom and people treated them very grossly (it actually made me step away for a bit as well). There were many options but the vocally out and proud person got the boot first. What I'm saying is I trust you more than your Patreon supporters. If the people can't all vote as one, due to the actions of some terrible people, then maybe we shouldn't vote at all
anon, i totally understand your concerns because i absolutely shared them. to be completely honest with you, i had totally misjudged which characters i thought were popular or not and watching the three non binary cast members struggle through that first vote felt Bad. my personal disappointment about ellis being the character to receive the least votes in the vote contributed in no small part to the twist in chapter 3 and their revised arc (which was Not planned when i set out writing body count hahaha). howeverrrrrr, i did learn a lot from the process.
my main motivator behind making the vote patreon exclusive was that the voters would be genuinely invested in the game and that the polling would be much harder to game or manipulate. selfishly, i also think it will reduce a certain amount of the absolute barrage of wild anons from the first time around haha!
in addition to that, though, i think its important that i reaffirm what i have said from the start: i am acutely aware that in interactive fiction in general and particularly on tumblr there is a strong preference for white male characters, and i am not here to write some kind of gross POC/women/nb slasher. as much as i want the audience to have a say in the direction the story takes, i ultimately have final say on what happens in the story that i am writing.
the main way that i intend to have oversight of the voting process is by who appears on the polls in the first place; the first poll was the last time the whole cast will be available for a vote at the same time. since ellis, one of three NB cast members, was the first character to die, i've said that neither of the other NB cast members will appear on future polls. if it's women and POC suffering in the next vote, then i'll be applying similar logic. if that means we get towards the end and we need a white boy only poll then so be it!
that said, if people cannot behave then i will simply take away their toys. although i consider the voting mechanic to be one of the things that makes body count unique and fun, i'm absolutely not above doing away with it if there are Shenanigans that spoil it, ya know?
anyway, i hope that assuages some of your concerns! sorry for another giant wall of text wow i simply cannot answer a question concisely atm
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youre-a-total--poser · 10 months
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Hey i was wondering if you write about mental illness? If so could you write a fic where Nat(mother figure) starts to notice that the teen reader isn’t eating as much and is losing weight. So she she confronts the reader and reader denies it and as weeks go by nat is trying to make reader eat but reader says their is nothing wrong with her. Also reader goes to school and peter also starts to notice so he tells nat cuz she is like the readers mom so then nat has enough and tells the team and they have an intervention and help the reader. I was thinking that the reader would be like an orphan and joined the avengers at 12 cuz they were a widow that nat recused so nat is like a mother figure and you can decide if peter and her are love interests. I totally understand if you dont want to write this it would just really help me a lot. Thanks!!!
Let Us Help You (Request)
Warnings: Eating Disorders and all the things relating to that Age: 15 Word Count: 2,050 Requests: Open Summary: Read the request and it will explain everything Requested by: Annonomys on Tumblr. I hope everything is okay my messages are always open if you or anyone else wants to talk. Date: 19/11/2023 A/N: I'm back at least I think I'm back I haven't really decided yet. I had a lot of stuff to deal with from starting college and life that I wanted to deal with first.
Sorry if this is terrible it's the first time that I've written anything in months so just bear with me while I get back into it.
I've opened the requests again so if anyone sent in a request from before can you send it in again
Masterlist
---⧗---
From the age of two, you were taken away from your parents and were trained in the Red Room. Up until the age of 14 killing, pain, fighting and hunger were all that you knew that was until Natasha Romanoff and Yelena Belova destroyed the Red Room and rescued you and the other girls who were there.
Since you were the youngest Natasha didn't know what do to with you so she ended up taking you back to the Avengers compound with her.
An agreement was made and they allowed you to stay with them. Everyone was nice to you and they tried their hardest to get you to open up to them but nothing really worked the only person who actually succeeded was Natasha.
She understood exactly what you went through since she went through the exact same thing. She helped you through the nightmares and the panic attacks.
After many months Natasha discovered that your parents perished in a terrible fire and you were an orphan now.
You were sad when you heard the news but not enough for it to have a major impact on your life since you couldn't even remember them besides it's not like you were alone you had Natasha and all the other Avengers taking care of you.
---⧗---
It was nearly 3 years since you were rescued from the Red Room and you still weren't used to your newfound freedom. You were living in a space place, had access to unlimited food, were allowed to go outside whenever you wanted and you even attended school.
Because you were allowed to eat whatever and whenever you wanted you gained quite a bit of weight. You planned to gain weight but not as much as what you were now and it wasn't until that when you, Steve and Sam went on a run and you couldn't even keep up with Sam anymore you knew that it was time for a change.
You didn't tell Natasha or anyone else about your new weight loss journey because you knew that they would tell you that you didn't need to lose any weight.
You started looking online for the most effective diets for teens but they all looked like they would be too much work so you decided that not eating and training all the time would be the quickest way to lose weight.
---⧗---
The first 2 days of your new weight loss journey went by fine. You pretended to be late for school so no one would question why you were only eating half a slice of toast. You didn't eat lunch at school then Natasha asked what you wanted for dinner you told her that you ate on your way home from school
It was going on 7 pm you made your way down to the gym and told Natasha that you were bored as an excuse to join in with hers and Steve's training session.
You originally thought that the weekends would be much harder to skip meals but after you forced yourself to eat two slices of toast so no one would question anything you told Natasha that you were going to Peter's so you both could work on homework together.
You were at Peters's for hours and when his aunt asked if you wanted to stay for dinner you told her that Natasha was taking you out for dinner later and when you got home you told Natasha that you had dinner at Peter's
---⧗---
A few months have passed and things obviously have been terrible maybe not all terrible but the majority of it has been.
---⧗---
It has finally become noticeable that you have lost so much weight and girls at school have been giving you compliments about how good you look. Those compliments instantly cancel out all the bad stuff that has been happening. Lying to your friends and family about what you're eating, all the headaches and dizzy spells, collapsing when you went on a run with Steve and the most embarrassing one of all when you passed out in gym class.
You only made it halfway through the school day before you had to go to the nurse since you had a bad headache and you were feeling so dizzy.
The school nurse phoned home and Natasha came and picked you up
You were told that Natasha was here and you made your way outside and over to her car. She didn't look happy maybe because it's been nearly every day for weeks that someone has had to come pick you up halfway through the school day.
She's been so distracted with work lately that she hasn't actually noticed that you haven't been eating and you've lost so much weight no one at home has really noticed and if they have they haven't said anything.
Before you could even get fully in the car she started interrogating you.
"What going on?" She asked.
"Nothing." You responded while putting on your seatbelt.
"Well, it must be something otherwise you wouldn't be asking to come home early every day. Just because I've been busy with work doesn't mean that I don't know what you've been doing"
"It's nothing." you sighed.
Natasha shook her head and then turned off the engine. "we're not moving till you tell me what's going on with you."
You covered your face with your hands. "honestly it's nothing please just take me home I'm tired and everything hurts."
She was going to say something but stopped herself then turned back on the engine and drove you home.
As soon as you got home you went right to your room got changed and went to sleep.
---⧗---
While Natasha was waiting for you to wake up from your nap she was sitting in the common room with her laptop on her lap working on mission reports.
A figure appeared next to her and she thought it was you at first but when she looked up it was Peter.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Ms Romanoff," Peter said nervously.
"It's okay Peter," Natasha said closing her laptop. "Is everything okay?"
"Yes, I just came here to check on Y/N. My Aunt made her some soup since she's been skipping lunch every day at school and she's probably not eaten anything today."
"She's been skipping lunch?" Natasha asked standing up.
"Yeah, and I don't think that it's just lunch whenever she's over at my house she always makes excuses about how she can't stay for dinner."
It broke Natasha's heart when she heard that the young girl who she saw as her daughter was doing this to herself. Natasha wished that she could take these last few months back and notice what was going on and help you.
"Thanks, Peter, I'll go check on her," Natasha replied then headed to your room.
She quietly sneaked into your room but you were still asleep. She saw your phone lying on your bedside table and started looking through it something that she had never done before and thought that she would never do but it was the only way that she could get answers.
As she looked through your phone there was so many app that was meant for dieting and calorie counting, lots of YouTube videos about dieting and countless Google searches about it too.
Natasha started tearing up she knew that she had to do whatever she could to help you before it became too late and she really hoped that it wasn't already too late.
---⧗---
When you woke up it was nearly 6 pm. You went downstairs to get some water and noticed that everyone was in the common room like they were having some sort of meeting.
"What's going on?" You asked walking closer to everyone.
"Come sit down," Natasha said patting the empty spot beside her.
You sat down beside Natasha and instantly felt everyone's eyes on you.
Natasha gently took your hands in her and held them tightly. "We just want you to know that we're not mad or disappointed we just want to help you," Natasha said softly
You looked around at everyone's concerned faces. "Okay," you replied, still unsure of what exactly was going on.
"Sweetie I know that we I mean that I've been busy lately and I haven't been around much to notice what you're going through," Natasha said
"What are you talking about Nat? I'm fine, I don't have any problems," you say quickly, hoping to brush off her worries and hide away from the situation.
"Sweetie, I know it's hard, but you don't have to lie to us. We know that you're skipping meals. There's no denying that something is going on, and we only want to help you get better."
"I'm not lying, Nat! I'm just busy with school and essays and don't have time to eat like I used to. I don't have any problems, I don't need your help, leave me alone!" You shouted while standing up.
Natasha stands up and takes hold of your hands, them very tightly. "We know you've been struggling, and we're here to support you through this. You don't have to keep pretending or hiding from us, we just want to help."
Tears started forming in your eyes "I want to stop but I can't those girls at school think being thin is cool. They started becoming my friends when I started losing weight. I don't want to lose them as friends."
"Y/N you shouldn't be friends with people who made you do things like that to yourself you deserve better friends," Wanda says.
"just stop you all don't understand what it's like to be a teenage girl in high school." You shouted
You went to walk away but wanda grabbed your arm "Y/N, we may not have the same exact experiences as you, but that doesn't mean we can't help you. We've been through a lot and know how hard it is to deal with challenges and trauma, and we want to be there for you and help you through this. You don't have to go through this alone, and we're all here to support you."
You tried to hold the tears back, you tried to stay strong so that they would forget all of this and you could go back and hide in your room but you just couldn't any longer the feeling was building up inside of you desperate to get out and it all came out at once.
"It's all just too much! I can't handle this anymore, I'm so tired of fighting. I'm so tired of being in pain and feeling like I'm never enough. I don't know how to stop, I just want the pain to go away."
Natasha wrapped her arms around you and held you tightly. "It's going to be okay. We're going to get you the help that you need and everything is going to be okay I promise." She said softly
---⧗--- Nearly a year had passed and things are better than they've ever been. You have been going to therapy and support groups and though at first, you thought that they would do nothing to help you they ended up making such a huge difference in your life. They would give out special rewards for weight gain and they would bring in people who were going through what you were going through and they would talk about their experience and what helped them be the person they were today.
With every single person that came into talk, you felt so inspired by them and you knew that change can become possible and it did.
You were also invited to be a speaker and you hoped to also inspire other kids.
You were also moved into a different school which made you much happier. You made so many new friends who cared about you and not about your number on the scale or your dress size.
The only thing that you missed about your old school was being there with Peter. Even though you still saw him every day after school it was still strange not to see him in the classroom but it didn't matter your friendship was as strong as ever and that was all that mattered.
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halfdeadfullgay · 7 months
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404 - Title Not Found (Pt 3) WIP
Part 2 - Tumblr
Ao3
Summary: Jason learns just a bit more about the guy who feels familiar while doing laundry.
Danny sees Laundry Guy at the gala and wants to avoid him because it’s not everyday people from Crime Alley go to Wayne galas but amazing Fenton luck strikes.
AN PLEASE READ FIRST: As always this is crack, this is a whole crack fic; and I play fast and loose with DC&DP cannon. Ignore any out of character writing(mainly Vald and Bruce). Also this is a WIP, this is strictly a work in progress and not the final product. I just wanted to post something while working on this fic and other stuff and this won the vote.
Final things before the actual fic:
Kinda/slow Vald redemption aka still an asshole but one you can deal with
Danny - Quarter Guy
Jason - Laundry Guy
———————
Jason immediately knew that the other wasn’t from Gotham. No one just offered anything without an immediate confirmation that they would get something in return. At least that’s how it was in Crime Alley. He and the other held small talk while they were doing their laundry.
“You just offer quarters to people?” He said sarcastically only to have an actual answer in return. “Only the cute people.” The other said with a somewhat joking tone and wink.
“Uh huh. What’s ya name? I didn’t catch it.” Jason wouldn’t directly admit but this guy had peaked his interest even more.
“Well, I didn’t throw it.” The guy answered with a smile that felt sarcastic with just a bit of wanting chaos.
The topic changed to other things. He learned that Quarter Guy had moved to Crime Alley awhile back, he didn’t give a clear reason why; “Just thought it’d be a good change of pace.”
He also learned that Quarter Guy was going to some kind of event with his godfather; saying that even though he agreed to go, he could still complain. And god did he complain but nothing sounded too bad. “He’s just a fruitloop, I wouldn’t doubt him trying to use me to get secrets from the other people.”
Jason didn’t share any too personal information; besides it just being out of sceret identity and such but it would also feel weird to. Jason did complain about how he was more or less forced into agreeing to go to the Wayne gala, only not sharing that it was a gala or that it was a Wayne event.
“Maybe we end up at the same event.” Quarter Guy, who still didn’t tell Jason his name, joked. His laundry had been done before his own. Quarter Guy left with a smile that only made him want to figure out why he felt familiarly even more. Jason was more curious about this guy than before but decided to hold off on figuring out more about it.
It was just meant as a joke. Danny really did mean as a joke but just his fucking luck(or honestly he was expecting CW to be the cause in some way), he was now looking at the guy he gave quarters to a day or two pior. He was standing next to the snack table, avoiding Vald so he didn’t have to worry about talking to other rich people he didn’t trust. The snacks didn’t look good in any sense of the word, why did he expect rich people to know what good snacks look and taste like.
He was thinking about texting Sam to complain, knowing that she would say I told you so but he noticed the guy from his apartment building was there. It took a second to recgionze him since he seemed more put together and dressed nicer, but it was him. Danny wouldn’t have questioned it too much if the guy wasn’t standing next to Bruce Wayne but he was. Danny didn’t need to know any more rich people in his life but life(or probably CW) had other plans.
He noticed that the guy hadn’t seemed to see him yet. Danny moved away from the snack table, going opposite from Wayne and the Laundry Guy; mainly focusing on staying hidden but a voice called him. “Daniel!” It wasn’t loud, at least it wasn’t to humans. It had just enough of a hint of ghost speak to have Danny turn to look. Of course when he had his back turned, Vald had to go and speak to Bruce Wayne. The amazing Fenton luck stuck again.“Come over, I’ve hardly seen you since we’ve arrived.”
Danny held back a sigh and eye roll as he went over to Vald and Wayne; which also meant Laundry Guy. He had felt Wayne’s eyes on him as he went over, Laundry Guy hadn’t seemed to notice or frankly care enough to look. He looked at Bruce. He knew of “Brucie” Wayne and had wondered if it was just a persona like when Vald used to pretend to be niceish to his dad. He side eyed Laundry Guy, who didn’t look at him at all.
“You didn’t tell me you had a so-“ Bruce started with a hint of curiosity. Danny was quick to cut him off. “He didn’t because I’m not.” That’s what finally got Laundry Guy’s attention, he looked at Danny for a second and Danny already knew that he recognized him. “Daniel, that was rude.” Vald looked at him before going back to Bruce. “I apologize for him but he is right. He’s my godson.” Vald said, leaving it to Danny to introduce himself.
“Yes, I do apologize for cutting you off like that.” Danny started. He used the tone he would use with some of the ghost nobles. It was a bit forced but relatively kind. He’d hate to admit and never would out loud but he learned it from Vald. “It’s alright, I understand how words hold meaning.” He noticed how it sounded more real(?) than “Brucie” usually did.
He just nodded before continuing, “Okay. I’ll introduce myself before Vald tries to.” Danny made his tone sound just a bit joking. He felt Laundry Guy’s full attention on him. He smiled, a little fake and a little smug. “I’m Danny Fenton and as Vald said, I am his godson.”
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