#also to me the same goes for drake but in reverse

[fearsomefive]

Seeing the Drakepad kiss scene for the first time is a canon event for everyone who watches DWD I think

[thegeekproblem]

Reverse Robins Plot Bunny

okay, so i've been thinking about how a reverse robins plot would work while mostly leaving intact their origin stories and core personalities and also bruce's own plots and i have a lot of thoughts that i need to share asap cause i'm pretty sure this will never see the light of day (feels like a pretty big fic) but if someone wants to pick it up please go ahead just pretty please tag me or dm me or something so i can go and read asap

SO! we have 5 robins that in reverse order would be: damian, stephanie, tim, jason and dick (you can add or take batfam members as you please).

Damian Al Ghul-Wayne

so damian starts with his same origin: bio son of bruce and talia, after dropping out of med school bruce goes on his world tour and ends up in the league of shadows, he meets talia and falls in love and they have a relationship, ra's wants bruce to be his heir so he approves and talia finds out that she's pregnant with damian, but hey, ra's wants him for his own purposes and talia doesn't want that for damian (good mom talia for the win) so she tells bruce and ra's she lost the baby. bruce full of heartbreak doesn't align with ra's beliefs so he leaves to return to gotham. years later talia brings damian to bruce and damian creates robin. as his only son at the beginning, damian probably feels even more entitled to bruce's legacy and he's a bit of an asshole but gets better. even then, bruce's ideology and damian's upbringing clash a lot (he's still the son of talia and he grew up in a cult) up until the point damian leaves behind the mantle of robin and creates a new name for himself (black bat suits him i think) and his own group like jl (which are the titans).

Stephanie Brown

now, stephanie would be introduced slightly before than tim. we get the whole spoiler first and that's how bruce meets her, he gives her the mantle of robin for a while after damian becomes black bat which pisses him off (there's probs less friction that what dick/jason's dynamic had in the og canon over robin but oh boi their relationship ain't good for a while). it's not a long run as robin because stephanie gets in trouble with black mask, which ends bad but not dead bad, and bruce, scared out of his mind, uses that as an excuse to push her away and fires her.

bruce would then have tim as a robin and stephanie would create batgirl.

batgirl gives stephanie more freedom than working with batman ever would, she's really headstrong and being able to improvise is her main forte so i think she would create a new mantle as a way to recover after what happened with black mask. later she'll be the one to give it to barbara and would return to spoiler also as a way to join tim (now red robin) in his search for bruce after he "dies".

Tim Drake

tim's obsessed with batman and robin right? he goes out and takes pictures of them every night and he probably figured out their identities through matching every single one of bruce's injuries with batman's absences or through figuring out stephanie's identity. when damian becomes black bat and soon after stephanie!robin is fired he probably does some calculations and realizes that batman solves more crimes with a robin than without one and he tries to convince stephanie to return but stephanie is recovering from black mask (and creating batgirl in the background) and also mad at bruce for firing her so she rejects it and tim's like well, guess it's gotta be me and goes to bruce. bruce doesn't want to because of what happened with black mask but tim's really insistent and bruce gives him the mantle of robin. stephanie doesn't like it much but accepts it, tim's intelligent and rich and that makes stephanie feel inferior, but later on tim and stephanie's relationship becomes something that pushes both of them to be better. tim's parents die and bruce adopts him which makes his relationship with damian turn bad, and damian grows to despise tim, in his head stephanie wasn't adopted (she still has her mum) so she never registered as a threat for the cowl but now tim's adopted and bruce considers him a son but then bruce fucking dies! or at least it's what they all think but tim's convinced he isn't (he isn't) so he leaves gotham and the mantle of robin behind and becomes red robin (i do actually like the red robin title a lot) to search for a way to get bruce back and is joined by spoiler in his search.

at this point damian takes up the cowl and becomes batman.

Jason Todd.

now, damian is batman, he doesn't like the idea of having a robin, tim and stephanie are world trotting, and that leaves only him and alfred in that mansion. is lonely and he regrets a lot of his past attitudes with tim and all of the fights with bruce, so he's a really cryptid version of batman, all alone and sticking to the shadows because he's a ninja. one day he's patrolling crime alley when surprise! a wild jason tries to steal the tires of the batmobile and well, damian hasn't seen that kind of spunk in a while and he laughs. damian likes jason a lot and offers him a place in the manor, offers to train him, makes him robin, his robin, not bruce's but one of his own choosing. so damian really likes jason and they work together well and jason loves damian, he's his family, his brother.

and then bruce returns, stephanie and tim being the ones that brought him back.

now bruce and jason take a while to adjust and it's more common to now see black bat and robin together but still, bruce is a good father right? tim's not that good with jason but tries, and stephanie loves jason because they both have similar backgrounds. by this point bruce has more experience as a father figure and jason gets adopted and truly comes to see bruce as his dad and starts calling him that but still the whole thing with the joker happens and jason fucking dies. this hits bruce HARD. way harder than in canon because by that point his family is so big and has manage to grow, there's damian and tim, and stephanie even if she's not adopted and he has good relationships with everyone but then jason dies and bruce loses damian too because in his grief damian blames bruce, blames himself, kills the joker and goes back to the league of shadows and talia. tim and stephanie are dealing with their own grief, alfred too, and this leaves bruce completely alone.

a grieving bruce finds dick and, seeing a reflection of his suffering, makes him robin

while dick was becoming robin we know what happens, jason digs himself out of his grave, spends a year in a coma, another catatonic in gotham's streets. nobody finds him, bruce probably saw him once or twice and thought it was a hallucination, stephanie and tim don't patrol crime alley, and damian returns to gotham before talia finds him. when talia finds him and hides him from ra's. she first wants to bring him back to health before returning him to damian because jason meant so much to him, enough to disobey bruce's only rule, but ra's finds out about jason and that he came back to life, they try to figure out how and ra's is the one with the idea to push him into the lazarus pit. now jason is trapped with the league, talia tells him how damian avenged him, how he still mourns him, there's no true resentment with bruce about the robin mantle being passed, and damian was the one that made him robin, not bruce. so he's trapped with the league but talia wants to return him to damian so she plans and in the meanwhile she sends jason on his world training tour promising him that he will return to gotham one day. talia helps him escape and jason returns to gotham under the mantle of red hood.

Dick Grayson

bruce is devastated. he doesn't know how to be batman anymore and he's completely alone, left by his family that's dealing with their own grief. that's when he sees a boy that reminds him so much of himself. a young dick grayson that just lost his parents and is angry at the world. but he's also a really happy and hopeful child and bruce wants to help him, he needs to help him because he can't fail another child again. so, dick becomes robin. tim takes as his responsibility to train dick because he never trained with jason and he cannot fail another brother.

stephanie in the background trains barbara and makes her batgirl.

dick grows as robin, alfred, stephanie and tim telling him stories of jason, of how good of a robin was and dick becomes enamoured by the image of robin!jason. bruce is wrapped in his grief and dick is doing his best and sometimes it's not enough and it's been almost two years then damian comes back. he and bruce make peace with each other but in their relationship there's a jason shaped hole that'll never heal. dick and damian get to know each other and damian tells him even more stories of jason, stories that make him look more human, more like a kid that made a few mistakes, instead of the perfect picture the others paint.

and then, the red hood appears.

bruce and dick try to investigate but the red hood is good. not only did he take over the organized crime of gotham, he cleared crime alley of any other gang and made it his territory. damian starts to act weird all of the sudden after chasing red hood once and returning empty handed. damian and red hood meet, damian discovers he's jason, jason feels like he has no home to return because he's too different now, obviously damian doesn't tell anybody yet but bruce suspects. bruce and jason confront each other and good dad!bruce begs him to come home. after that, it's an adjustment, jason wants to stay legally dead and keep his apartment in crime alley but would still visit the manor and dick with his hero crush on him would look for him all the time

A/N: this is more of a gen fic idea, but i'm a shipper at heart so maybe i woud add some jaydick romance when they're trying to convince jason to return to the family. but yeah, after this i have nothing concrete, i guess it ends here when they finally get to be a big family again. bruce probs has a lot of ptsd after jason's dead and maybe decides to retire at 50 and officially give the mantle to damian. dick becomes nightwing after robin and later barbara becomes oracle and creates the birds of prey. but yeah, my only problem with all of these ideas is that it looks like a really fucking long fic. hell, i would probably make different fics for each robin and make it a series so i can correctly develop each and everyone of their personalities and stories and give them time to grow, each work would probs be from bruce's and the current robin pov's. but also, you can totally see that jason's my favourite and i haven't developed that well some of the other robins, so i would probs write his part first and never come back to the rest. i just needed to share my ideas and if someone wants to pick them up please feel free to do it. i'll probably start to share more plot bunnies of the fics that i'll probably never get around to write.

[ladytauria]

10, 11, 16, 32??? 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖

thank u leo!!! 💞

10. Ctrl+f "blinks" on your WIP & copy paste the first sentence/paragraph that comes up

i searched both the WIPs i’ve been working on the last couple of days—one i’ve had for over a year and the other i’ve had for??? two days??? which has just rapidly unfolded in front of me—and! surprisingly blinks only showed up once?

anyway, this is from the second fic, which features jaytim + student/teacher roleplay:

Mr. Drake’s hand wraps loosely around his wrist; his hand cool. “Good job,” he praises, softly, and Jason blinks rapidly again, the praise making him feel pleasantly warm and tingly. He tugs Jason forward, guiding Jason over his lap, until his hips and belly are firmly settled over Mr. Drake’s thighs.

11. Link your three favorite fics right now

just 3???? sigh… okay, i’ll try 😂

in no particular order!!

I Know What My Brother Is – @bi-bats -> Reverse Robins. DamiTim. This fic… Damian’s POV is gorgeous. The prose is so poetic, there are so many gut punching lines! Also everything abt the AU and the way the relationships are effected by it is just… yes. So much yes.

Mother Knows Best – @kieran-granola -> JayTim. I have read this… so many times. Little afraid to look in my history just to see how many xD Kink exploration is so much fun to read. Also, love when a fic awakens something in me 😂

and then… okay, i was talking about this one earlier and i adore it so, so:

American Beauty (American Psycho) – TimmyJaybjrd -> JayTim. Toxic relationship. Love, love, love it. It’s not the usual fic I seek out but I read it anyway, and omg. It’s so good. Controlling, dominant Tim and needy, eager to please Jason just hits the spot for me! Damian was also really good in this~

16. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

i don’t have an official count but more than 30! again it’s tempting to share more than asked but 😂

hmm

okay, let’s go with an urban fantasy one!! this one features dragon!tim/selkie!jason!

Dragons are possessive of their hordes. Tim isn’t as bad as some (who don’t even allow people to look, let alone touch), the instincts are still there. So, when they start dating, Jason decides to hide his coat.

It’s just a precaution, really. He doesn’t think Tim would trap him like that. Not really. But if Tim has decided Jason is his, what if he decides Jason’s coat is his too? After all, then Jason could never leave—and he definitely wouldn’t disobey or ignore when Tim tells him to do things, either. So. It’s just—better this way. Safer.

Tim notices when Jason switches from using his disguised coat to a real leather jacket, but he doesn’t say anything. Selkies are shy, and just as protective of their coats as dragons are of their horde.

However, as time passes, the coat stays hidden—except when Jason gives in to the call of the sea. He’s always let the ache grow as long as he can, though, before finally giving in. Months will pass, sometimes, before he finally goes. With his coat now separated from him constantly, though, the ache grows faster, until he’s going around once a month.

Tim is worried, but he has no idea how to bring it up without scaring Jason. He’s also maybe a little hurt, by this point, since Jason still doesn’t trust him—but, at the same time, access to a selkie’s coat gives you a lot more power over them than access to a dragon’s horde does!

This is where my brain likes to skim over the details, but there’s some angst, some hurt/comfort, maybe a minor disaster (perhaps someone finding the coat? 🤔), but one way or another, Jason & Tim end up having to actually have a conversation. I’m not exactly sure how that goes, either, only that my brain is pretty fixated on Jason’s coat ending up in the heart of Tim’s hoard for safe-keeping, and both of them getting the warm & fuzzies over it!

32. Name three of your favorite fanfic writers.

@kieran-granola ; @waffleinator-inator ; @bi-bats

dearly love all of their fics 🥰

[ get to know the fic writer! ]

[casketears]

edits that i would have made to riverdale if they'd known to hire me

more explicit hiram/archie/veronica. now i know what you must be thinking: how the fuck could it get more explicit than what was already shown, especially since archie is the flavor of oblivious gay that would mean he'd likely shirk any form of homosexual contact with a confused smile and an aha, whoa, did you– did i– no, im straight. yeah. but all the same i'd have liked some more sensual solo scenes with him and hiram. his deteriorated half disinterest in his relationship with veronica in favor of his growing obsession with her dad is good but not perfect. i want them to get touchier and weirder about it. and i want veronica to also get in on it

cheryl as an insane quasi incestuous straight woman. i have never seen a less convincing dyke than as portrayed by madelaine petsch, and i have never seen her have more chemistry with anyone than when she was either a) obsessing over jason, b) using archie as a romantic projection of jason or c) straight up romancing archie in season 7. it's actually absurd. also cheryl is fucking crazy in a commandeering action seeking sort of manner and archie is the ultimate orders boy so you can imagine what a red-haired power couple the two of them could have been. archie go die in my mines yes honey <3

if cheryl had to be a lesbian then at least let her be involved with donna sweett from season 3. no meaningful thoughts here i just think they could have enjoyed each other's weird mind games, writing/painting foils, and overall gothic aesthetics. and i bet donna wouldn't have been so lame about the whole taxidermied twin in the basement thing

more explicit hiram/reggie/veronica. here i do actually mean explicit. i want that boy passed between the two of them like a rebound blunt. i want him spitroasted by the narrative.

speaking of which reggie and archie should have at least made out in season 7 and it's actually preposterous they didn't. i never knew a gay man (the show creator) within a cast of gay characters could queerbait like that.

in the jughead paradox i would have loved to see a taste of the flavor of insanity that would have befallen jason if the roles were reversed and cheryl had been the one to die way back in episode 1. i think about this roleswap a normal amount

more ethel. thank fucking god season 7 gave her justice by letting her escape the narrative but i still wanted to know more about this dnd-obsessive horror artist weird girl (+ betty's arguable half sister)

i would have had reggie actually be groomed by that driving instructor (miss bella) in season 7 rather than have it be a red herring. more horrible parallels to archie etc. also i want him and veronica to stay in that awful toxic rebound-adjacent business partnership forever but that's just me

more on the season 7 mini jughead squad (dilton doiley, ben button, ethel muggs). they hinted at it and never delivered and it makes me lose my mind to think about

REMOVE THE PALLADIUM PLOTLINE. I HAVE NEVER CARED LESS ABOUT ANYTHING IN MY LIFE THAN THAT ROCK.

more detective drake from season 5. she showed up told betty to leave her man and experiment with women and left without even kissing her. also her name sounds like dyke. i miss her so much and also every day.

musical episode ideas: dear evan hansen (smth related to covering a murder and jughead is evan and archie is jared and a gun is in my mouth), bare: a pop opera (featuring gay kevin), in trousers or hadestown (they could never pull either off but i'd love to see them try).

actually fuck it also more on eric jackson from season 5. preferably dating archie but i'm not picky.

ARCHIE SHOULD HAVE ABSOLUTELY STAYED IN RIVERDALE IN THE EPILOGUE? WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE LEFT HE LIVES AND BREATHES AND BLEEDS RIVERDALE HE WOULD HAVE ABSOLUTELY NEVER LEFT BY CHOICE OR FREE WILL HE HAS A WIFE AND TWO BEAUTIFUL CHILDREN AND IS BURIED OUTSIDE OF POP'S.

kevin worse quality life. yes i just don't think he goes through enough. i think he should have been in an unhealthy sexual relationship with the devil after he turned him into a cop (percival pickens) (i know percival is technically not the devil but he's english anyway)

cheryl should have had a cannibalism moment that post on tumblr was right

i don't think i emphasized enough earlier how badly i want explicit hiram/reggie/veronica. specifically of a flavor where both the former and the latter are using him to fill an archie shaped hole in their heart while also as a weird incest divorce cope to get back at their respective daughter/father. if you think i had established my point well enough just remember it again with me because it could have been beautiful. i'd have dragged this out for half a season at minimum

more on peaches the background character peaches (she is very attractive).

a proper time loop episode

was about to say 'canonically bisexual betty' (<- has been a vocal supporter since day 1 when she kissed veronica) but then remembered this is actually true now and now i'm so happy i forgot most of the other qualms i was going to add on this list

non-sike deaf jughead

non-sike dead jughead

a jughead that kills himself and makes it everyone else's problem

[frankieunscripted]

Process by Sampha (2017)

Welcome to the first (actual) "Music Monday" post on this blog. Today I want to talk to you about Sampha's debut album Process because his voice is probably the most angelic I've ever heard - and I decided that YOU need that in YOUR lives. Since many of you who stumbled upon this blog are familiar with a few things in hiphop, you might recognize his voice from different rappers' songs like Kendrick Lamar's Father Time (I could cry everytime someone puts this on) and the later released I'm Better (which was scrapped off of the album, but is SUCH a bop), Drake's The Motion and 4422 (which of course are only worthy to listen to because of Sampha, because Drake does jack-shit on these tracks - what else is new?) or Kanye West's Saint Pablo. Sampha was also featured (for three whole lines, I'm so mad) on Travis Scott's MY EYES and did not get mentioned in the song's title (same goes for Kanye and Drake) which frankly PISSES ME OFF, because his voice has such a big recognition value, of course I can tell it's Sampha. Just tell me from the start! Speaking of features though, for those of you who are more into Dance/Electronic rather than RnB/Soul, you should listen to SBTRKT (who kinda introduced me to Sampha), as Sampha features on a shit ton of SBTRKT's songs.

Anyway, about the album itself:

Plastic 100°C has to be my favorite off the album - it's such an atmospheric, dreamy intro for this beautiful project-, right along with Reverse Faults, Blood On Me, Under and Kora Sings. His songs are so ethereal and still feel real (wow, that didn't explain anything, did it?). Reverse Faults is literally on my list on full on academic lyrical dissection as if analyzing a poem because of the metaphors used in it:

Mandem's just said "took the shape of a letta an' slipped myself undaneath yo doo"!

(so to any of you poetry-cuties who might not be into this type of music: read the lyrics as is if you want some nice, sleek poetry, thanks)

The most well known song off the album would have to be (No One Knows Me) Like the Piano - a great song to demonstrate his talent on the keys as well as on the vocals, and it's a great example that shows off how personal Sampha's lyrics can be. But as with many artists/albums the most popular songs aren't always "the best" (what even makes a song "the best" of the album and isn't that totally subjective?)

What Shouldn't I Be? closes the album off just as well as Plastic 100°C opened this ethereal portal into a world full of sun rays shining through thick, white-ish grey, but incredibly fluffy clouds, making little rainbows reflect in soapy bubbles of dreams and melodies. It's so soft and delicate, almost as if the song itself is putting you to rest, stroking over your head and assuring you it's still going to be there when you wake up tomorrow. And as your eyes fall shut slowly, Sampha's soft vocals and the warm melody fade out.

With a runtime of about 40 minutes, I'd consider it a light meal - it's more than just a 20 minute snack, but it's not as tough as a full on 1,5 hours dinner. I use the album to ground myself and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a comfort album of mine. I honestly wish Spotify had an option to check how many times exactly you've listened to an album/song over the years, because there've been nights with this album on repeat for hours and I'm still not tired of it.

This is the album I tell people to listen to when they realize they like Sampha's voice in the rap features he's appeared in and don't know where to start. This is the Sampha album I will always come back to. This is the Sampha album I love with all my heart - the album I still have to buy a vinyl of and someday tell my grandkids about when they ask me about good, calming, soft music to reflect to.

[sing-me-under]

YOUR ART IS SO PRETTY! :) also as a fellow dsmp/batfam lover I was wondering who would be who if you made an au of the other? (From batfam to dsmp or dsmp to batfam, you can choose!) me personally Tommy gives a bit of Damian,,

Hello hello! Thank you very much ✨✨✨ I’m glad you like my art!

About the DSMP x Batfam AU…. I really had to think this one through. I love both of them, but they have such different character dynamics and ideologies. Even the very worlds they are set in are like complete opposites. However, I have also read like so many (so many) superhero AU fics for the DSMP (before the fandom tag got overwhelmingly oversaturated), so I have some thoughts on…

DSMP Characters as The Batfam

You’re right. c!Tommy does feel like he’d be a good match for Damian. Loves animals? Feral? Stabby? Genuinely good? Artistically-inclined? The youngest? If we’re going by characters traits, Tommy would absolutely be Damian… But if I did that, I’d spend way too much time comparing characters who can’t be compared… So my list is going to be based on vibes. Same vibes are also why I’m choosing to make L’Manberg the main members. I’m completely disregarding age, motivations, personality, etc. This is all (mostly) vibes. There is some justification for them.

I wasn’t able to think of a match for everyone, but I got a decent chunk.

Wilbur as Batman

Fundy as Nightwing

Quackity as Oracle

Tommy as Red Hood

Tubbo as Red Robin

Jack as Spoiler

Niki as Batwoman

Ranboo as Black Bat

Slime as Batgirl 2 (also Cass but specifically Batgirl-era)

Eret as Talia

Philza as Ghostmaker

Kristen as Martha and Thomas

Technoblade as Azrael

Karl and Sapnap as Harley and Ivy (who’s who? Idk)

Dream as the entire Rogue Gallery — every single rogue just compressed into one blob of a man

I felt compelled to draw Tommy as a Robin and Red Hood.

Notes under the cut. They’re explanations for what little of my thought process can be converted into comprehensible words. It’s long. I ramble A LOT. Read at your own peril.

I’m pretty sure the obvious explanations are Wilbur, Tubbo, Techno, Karl&Sapnap, and Dream.

c!Wilbur is so much like Bruce Wayne — it’s kind of not funny. There’s the obvious “led children to fight a war” thing, the “compulsively acquiring children because they won’t leave him alone” thing, the “becomes evil immediately after crossing the no kill thing” thing, and the “sad little meow meow wet rag of a man but still extremely charismatic” thing…

c!Tubbo and Tim Drake are the closest 1:1 of this entire list.

Okay, okay. c!Techno as Jean-Paul. The vibes are wrong if we’re talking about canon Azrael, but I’m specifically thinking of fanfiction/“goes to family dinners WFA-style” Azrael.

c!Karl and c!Sapnap have such “married anti-villains befriending the heroes” vibes. I love them so much in superpower AUs even when they’re not with c!Quackity. As I’m writing this, I’m remembering that Schlatt and Quackity are also very often written in a Joker x Harley Quinn situation, but we’re talking about Batfam!

Dream is like the caricature of a Gotham Rogue(TM). He’s got the sympathetic motivation sticky noted onto a decades’ worth of terrorism with only the vaguest hope of redemption that he’ll probably never actually get because he’s too popular as a villain. I could make a point for any character interpretation (both fanpn and canon) of c!Dream as Ivy, Penguin, Riddler, Scarecrow, Black Mask, Joker, etc. (also, not a Rogue, but Ra’s too)

The thing about the DSMP is that it almost feels like a reversal of DC. It’s like a mirror, the same solution from a reversed conclusion. That also means DSMP characters appear un-traumatized and naive then get completely fucked over by the sheer horror that is the SMP, meanwhile DC characters appear fresh from traumatized and find themselves in a position to believe in goodness. The late-stage DSMP was filled with isolation while DC heroes always end up in found families.

It’s why I couldn’t think of a proper match for Damian.

What I loved about late-stage c!Tommy is that he keeps (disguises) that hope and love for people despite everything. Meanwhile, Damian’s character development is learning all that from the ground up. The vibes are similar but not the same. Honestly, for a hot second, I considered Purpled as Damian but alas, not enough Purpled content. If I were to project my own timeline of events upon the DSMP, Purpled would make a great Damian-esque match.

But that does not change the fact that Tommy as Red Hood has the best vibes.

No one else is quite as “doomed by the narrative and irreversibly changed yet somehow still painfully compassionate” in the same way Tommy and Jason are (also the “rejecting their father/brother but still loving them unconditionally). Their vibes are truly something.

I’m also very stern in my belief that c!Tommy should never kill because it would negatively impact his character development, but he very very easily could have gone the Red Hood route. By technicality, it’s more like Tommy as Robin 2, but I so dearly love the potential of villain! and anti-villain!Tommy. It’s such an underutilized concept. (Also I wrote a protege AU like way back and it makes me think of Red Hood now lol)

But originally, I flip-flopped between Fundy as Red Hood and Tommy as Nightwing, but I dunno. The logic was there but the vibes weren’t.

If we were considering a timeline of events, Tommy would make a great Robin 1 with Fundy as Robin 2 . Dick Grayson was the OG child hero, much like Tommy. He was angry and craved justice but he was also full of Light. Meanwhile, c!Fundy grew up in Tommy’s shadow.

However, Fundy also has that “if I can’t make them smile, I’ll make them cry” thing that Villain Dick Graysons also tend to have. Dick is always like four steps away from flipping a switch and becoming a supervillain. He tries so fucking hard to do good, but if he ever determines that “being good” isn’t enough to “do good,” he takes over the world. But Dick would also like step away from toxic energy by holing himself up in his apartment filled with depression, which is exactly what Fundy did.

Fundy and Dick are more “blood-soaked wet cats with strained smiles and bowling alley carpet polos” and Tommy and Jason are more “dramatic Greek tragedies.”

The Batgirls and adjacent female Bat vigilantes came to me immediately, but it’s not as long as the above.

Quackity as Barbara Gordon. He followed Wilbur filled with Hope and Justice. Quackity makes an excellent Batgirl 1. His Las Nevadas arc would then be Oracle but Lawful Evil and also completely isolated from any friends, family, or rational support. Quackity isn’t inherently bad. He still has good intentions, and he’s still good at heart, irregardless of how he portrays himself. He’s the classic femme fatale, including the whole sexist Hollywood “he needs a strong male love interest to take care of him” thing because he is absolutely spiraling on his own. Anyway, I am a fiancés shipper, so this would lead to a Birds of Prey-esque team up of LN and Kinoko.

Jack Manifold has Stephanie Brown’s “glitter bomb in the face” and “functions entirely on spite but also is just really tired of being hurt” energy. Jack isn’t quite Stephanie, but his dynamic with Tubbo made me consider him as Spoiler. Also consider: Jack and The Nuke being Steph’s Robin 4 arc.

Slime is so much like Batgirl-era Cassandra. There’s a lot of “innocent vs naive, manipulated by those with intentions, both evil and morally just” going on. Batgirl!Slime and RH!Tommy would have such a dynamic. I think about Fort Big a lot.

It is literally a crime that c!Jack Manifold and c!Slime never interacted in the DSMP.

Ranboo as Black Bat. I don’t know how to explain it, but Tim Drake and Cassandra have such a great dynamic (albeit one that I’m only familiar with in fanfics). I was originally going to say Ranboo as Orphan, but I don’t think he’s quite there. Maybe GhostBoo as Orphan.

Speaking of ghosts, GhostBur as Carrie Kelley’s Robin. He’s in the wrong places at the wrong times and (unknowingly) shoves himself in situations, and he’s got that unfair “why” going on during Doomsday. Unfortunately, GhostBur suffers from memory loss and is often willfully ignorant. I think in an AU space where’s he’s an actual character and not the echo of an idea, he’d make a great elseworld-type Robin.

c!Niki is a WLW revolutionary war veteran with a very close relationship with Wilbur. There’s more, but again, Vibes.

Now here’s where my hot takes truly lie: Philza as Ghostmaker and Eret as Talia.

We all like Dadza but c!Phil? Absolutely not a Dad. If you actually look at c!Phil without the rose-tinted lens of his content creator’s dad energy, c!Phil and Ghostmaker aere weirdly similar? I really don’t know how to explain it exactly, but I think that Phil would have brought Wilbur up as like this weird amalgamation of BTK-era Bruce, Phantom One, and Clownhunter, leading to Wilbur eventually being… not abandoned because Phil wanted Wilbur to have more independence… but struggling to make it on his own. Eventually, Wilbur would follow his parents’ (Mumza would be Martha AND Thomas) footsteps and become something that’s essentially the same but different. Like how Ghostmaker is basically Tynion’s Batman OC but somehow more edgy except Wilbur is in the opposite direction. Like how Martha and Thomas saved people through philanthropy and surgery and Bruce wanted to save people in his own way too. Phil and Kristen influenced Wilbur towards fighting crime… Also I could totally see c!Phil becoming a crime fighter as a fun and challenging art form rather than any genuine interest in being a good person. c!Phil’s got that immortal dilemma where he’s basically a sociopath running purely on an ingrained and steadily eroding moral code.

Now… Eret as Talia. Where do I begin? I love Talia. She’s such a badass but also she’s a kind person who believes in Bruce’s cause but she’s also extremely loyal to her father’s cause but she loves her family so much but she’s also a assassin princess but the world is against her and everything she is will only continue going downhill until she either becomes straight up evil or stands her ground. I love the characterization of Talia who chose to side with “the greater good” against the person she loves and more has to live with the burden of this decision for the rest of her life and continue to do what needs to be done even, for better or worse… Did I say Talia? I meant Eret. Wait, no, it’s both. That applies to both. Talia’s choice is betraying Bruce to aid her in running a global assassin cult and killing people. Eret’s choice is betraying his revolution to run a monarchy and enforcing taxes. Yes, the vibes are the same.

This has been my TED talk. Thank you for reading this far.

[namelessayakashi]

Merlin/Arthur Fic Rec List

This is going to be a long post, so the recs start blow the cut!

I wanted to make a fic rec list!! So, here I am. Should be doing my uni homework that's due tonight but I am a terrible procrastinator.

I will probably make another one later on when I have more time that is more organized, but this one is in no particular order.

Last Updated 23 Sept. 2021

Also, quickly, a big thank you to @kickassfu for the making gif above for this post, ilysm Maf!!

Onto the fics!

Unsaid Love by AeonTheDimensionalGirl

Rating: Teen & Up

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Type: Return Fic; Angst with a Happy Ending

Wordcount: 4,022

Quick Summary: Songfic for the song Unsaid Emily from Julie & the Phantoms. Follows Merlin through the years as every century on Arthur's birthday more and more of a song is revealed to him when he goes to sleep. [Regency setting fic]

-- I am still not over this fic of @aeonthedimensionalgirl's, this fic is literally incredible. It is so good. I recommend reading it with Unsaid Emily playing on repeat in the background.

The Wisdom Of The Ages by tehfanglyfish

Rating: Teen & Up

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Type: Fluff; Getting Together

Wordcount: 4,200

Quick Summary: "Saving Arthur while disguised as Dragoon the Great was all well and good until the king decided the old sorcerer deserved a reward. On the run from Arthur, Merlin finds sanctuary in an elderly women's social club. What was supposed to be a one-time visit becomes a regular part of Merlin's week, as he returns each Friday to discuss recipes, commiserate about aches and pains, and lament the state of his love life." - Summary directly from AO3

-- Such a good fic, honestly, like. Merlin befriends Camelot's elderly ladies. Need I say more? It's great.

Forgetful Days by OnceFutureEmrys

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: None Apply

Type: Fluff; Modern AU

Wordcount: 620

Quick Summary: "Arthur is very forgetful. Luckily, Merlin is there to help." - Summary directly from AO3

-- Seriously, @oncefutureemrys this fic is so cute and it's just great, def recommend it

Home in Your Arms by OnceFutureEmrys

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: None Apply

Type: Pining; Fluff; Modern AU

Wordcount: 1,574

Quick Summary: "Arthur is missing Merlin when when he hears someone knocking on the door..." - Summary directly from AO3

-- Yes, another one from OFE, because I love her and her fics. This fic is so sweet, it is a modern University AU!

Ink On A Page by Hisa_Ai

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: None Apply

Type: Pining; Fluff

Wordcount: 2,170

Quick Summary: Merlin writes his feelings on parchment, because if they are on paper, they are just words on a page, and not really his and didn't hold any meaning. One day Arthur notices him writing on one of these pieces of parchment.

-- Literally so beautiful. I loved this fic so much, and I recommend it so much. It is a canon era confessions fic, and it's just so good.

Fool Me Once by CaffeinatedFlumadiddle

Rating: Teen & Up

Archive Warning: Author Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Type: Humor; Magic Revealed; Dark Humor

Wordcount: 18, 728

Quick Summary: "Uther finds out about Merlin’s magic, but can’t seem to kill him. Merlin is just trying to protect Arthur. They become a begrudgingly effective duo. Arthur doesn't understand why they think he isn't noticing this." - Summary directly from AO3

-- I mean, can I just recommend this entire series? Seriously, the series this fic is in is just--excellent. I love this fic. It has Immortal Merlin and Uther Knowing about his magic. Seriously, though, just this series is amazing ahah Exceptionally Exceptional, Calling the Middleman, Returning the Favor, In Which Arthur Lets a Sorcerer Live and Regrets It, just to name a few, are incredible and I definitely recommend reading them.

for my beating heart is far too small for the entirety of my love for you by kickassfu

Rating: Teen & Up

Archive Warning: None Apply

Type: Fluff; Established Relationship

Wordcount: 1,566

Quick Summary: Arthur is trying to learn a little magic to surprise Merlin at his coronation after their wedding.

-- So, I actually gave @kickassfu the prompt for this one. And oh my gods. How they did it? So soft, sweet. It is so good, and I 100% recommend you check it out!

That’s my Man by AeonTheDimensionalGirl

Rating: Teen & Up

Archive Warning: None Apply

Type: Emotional Hurt/Comfort; Magic Revealed; Arranged Marriage; Angst with a Happy Ending

Wordcount: 2,287

Quick Summary: "By ancient, prophesied law, Arthur Pendragon must wed Emrys.

Problem is no one knows who they are." - Summary directly from AO3

-- I told you Aeon would be on here again! Love this fic so much. Love magic reveals, love arranged marriages. Seriously, this is great.

the house is flooded (as is his heart) by powered_by_notes

Rating: Teen & Up

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Type: Domestic Fluff; Return Fic

Wordcount: 2,281

Quick Summary: Arthur leaves to do some work in town, and Merlin runs into a bit of trouble with the cottage and their chickens while he's gone.

-- They have chickens. Enough said. No but really, this is so good, they live in a cottage and they have chickens and I definitely recommend this fic.

Emrys the Really, Truly Terrible by lindenwaverly

Rating: Teens & Up

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Type: Magic Reveal, Emrys Reveal

Wordcount: 15,241

Quick Summary: Arthur has repealed the ban on magic, but Merlin still hasn't come clean about his identity. The issue comes in where, Arthur wants Emrys to be his Court Sorcerer

-- literally. cackled. this is so great, i loved this one. i read it in the morning and do not regret it one bit. some of the dialogue just killed me. it's a great fic, and you should definitely read it.

Arthur Pendragon's Business Judgment Rule by oddishly

Rating: Teen & Up

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Type: Woke Up Married

Wordcount: 27,459

Quick Summary: "Arthur and Merlin wake up married. Camelot is in the middle of treaty negotiations with a visiting king. It's okay, Arthur has a plan." - Summary directly from AO3

Lord Drake's Bequest by Pennyplainknits

Rating: Mature

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Type: Modern Era, Fake Relationship

Wordcount: 9,966

Quick Summary: " "To my great-nephew Arthur I bequeath Tintagel Distribution, wholly and without reserve, save for one condition. You must marry, and stay married, for a period of no less than six months. You're a wonderful businessman Arthur, but a full life needs love and companionship, not just a string of affairs. Settle down young Arthur, and your life will be the richer for it." " - Summary directly from AO3

of all things magic, a cerulean haze by powered_by_notes

Rating: Teen & Up

Archive Warning: None Apply

Type: Magic Reveal

Wc: 7,092

Summary: "When Arthur goes missing, Merlin goes off on his own searching for him. He knows to look for things that the others simply do not and has things at his disposal that the others, again, simply do not.

. . .Magical things, of course.

In all his power, worry, anger, and relentless searching, he has no idea the missing king is being shown all the things that Merlin is doing with that power.

. . .Magical things, of course." - Summary directly from AO3

-- Loved this sm. Gods, I was supposed to read this ages ago, but only FINALLY just found the time to last night and it was so great. Arthur is kidnapped while out doing smth for Merlin and it's just really good.

On the Run by Sorceressofdragons

Rating: E

Archive Warnings: None Apply

Type: Modern AU

Wordcount: 18,155

Summary: After an unsuccessful attempt on their lives, new neighbours Arthur and Merlin decide to take off into the woods. Their destination is Morgana’s country estate, but these two city boys don’t know anything about survival—so if the foxes don’t get them, the lack of Monster Munch might. Featuring sex mishaps, weird food, walking in circles, and some obligatory cuddling. Oh, and Merlin is hung. - Summary directly from AO3

-- fucking KILLED me. This was just -- it was great. Literally, from the start I SWORE i knew the who and why only to discover I was totally off with the *why* and it was fantastic.

Hear Your Heart Sing (Love, Love, Love) by schweet_heart

Rating: Mature

Archive Warnings: None Apply

Type: Soulmate Au, Modern Au

Wordcount: 15,834

Summary: Merlin used to like the idea of finding The One – until he fell in love with Arthur Pendragon. Now he has a boss he can't date (but can't stop thinking about), a soulmate he can't find (who has terrible taste in music), and a best friend who can't believe he still hasn't got his act together (even though it's seriously not his fault).Sometimes, life is unfairly complicated, even without your soulmate singing painfully catchy tunes in the back of your head. - Summary directly from AO3

-- This one was just great. The soulmates, the songs, the misunderstandings--it was great. I loved this one.

Note to Idiot by tinylilremus

Rating: Teen & Up

Archive Warnings: None Apply

Type: Harry Potter AU, Modern AU

Wordcount: 9,762

Summary: Arthur and Merlin are members of the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad who work different shifts and share the same office. Arthur, who works the day shift, can't stand the rain. Merlin, who works the night shift, can't concentrate without it.

When they both get tired of changing the weather in the magical window in their underground office, is there a more British way to settle their differences than with a few passive-aggressive memos? - Summary directly from AO3

-- HP AU! A Ministry AU at that! I literally. I loved this so much. Merlin & Arthur are both in the AMRS, different shifts, and it's just hnsdsjdkh it's so good. Really, it's great. And we get to see them on the job a bit!!! Which is fun. This one is def a great one to read, esp if you like HP AUs

as stated previously, this list is being frequently updated with more fics!!!

[sincerelyella]

She Ain’t Me Part 2

Book: The Royal Romance (AU)

Pairing: Liam x MC (Ella); mentions of maybe Liam x Olivia; maybe Drake x MC (MAYBE)

Song Inspiration: She Ain’t Me by Sophia Scott

Summary: TRR during the homecoming ball, Olivia and Ella still get close on the engagement tour but Liv loves Liam, and she’s told him several times. What happens when his guard is down? 

Catch up here if you missed part 1

A/N: Part 2 because I got a lot of requests for it, hopefully I didn’t mess it up too much LOL

Thank you @alyssalauren​ @burnsoslow​ @ofpixelsandscribbles​ for prereading and your suggestions and edits to this mess, I love you guyssss!

Warnings: TW: angst; adult language; TW: gun violence; some kinda love triangle (square?) thing I guess

Words: 2635

Olivia sucked in a breath. “Then be with me.”

Liam opened his eyes and turned to his oldest friend. “Liv …”

“What?” Her heart was beating a thousand miles a minute as she arched her brow.

“Liv, y-you know I don’t-”

Her hand shot out so fast and smacked him in the back of the head; Liam didn’t even flinch. “Stop being a dumbass.”

“Olivia!” Liam’s hand went to the back of his head and rubbed the sting away. “What the fuck?”

Liv blurted out what she really wanted, more than anything in this entire world. But it was stupid and fleeting. She knows Liam loves Ella Brooks.

The more Olivia thought about it, the more she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that this man was meant to be with the woman of his dreams. Not me. “Drake worked his ass off to protect her,” Olivia said in a calm voice, even though everything inside her wasn’t calm. It was stormy, dark, and bleeding, but she pushed on. “He found Tariq that night trying to put his hands on Ella,” she watched Liam’s jaw clench. “He was the one that fought him and told him to leave.” Liam’s nostrils flared, his eyes clouded in anger. “And he didn’t tell you how he felt because you had enough shit going on being engaged to that two-bit blonde devil, Liam. Should he have told you? Yes,” Liv nodded and turned to stare at the setting sun, orange and yellow hues now a sliver in the now almost dark sky. “But when would have been an ... appropriate time to tell your best friend that you’re in love with the same woman?” Olivia slid her eyes back to Liam’s and held his gaze. “Do you think it’s easy for us?”

Regret flashed in Liam’s sky blue eyes as he stared into emerald ones. He slipped his hands inside his pockets and let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “I …” his voice hitched and he swallowed quickly. “I’m sorry, Olivia,” Liam shook his head and turned to look at the doors to the ballroom. He could see Ella trying to peek through the windows to get a glimpse of him. “I may have … overreacted.”

“Understatement of the year,” Liv arched her brow at him with her signature smirk.

“Thank you.”

Olivia tilted her head slightly. “For?”

“Knocking some sense into me … quite literally,” he chuckled and then winced as he put his hand where she smacked him.

“Anytime,” she smiled, although it didn’t reach her eyes.

An awkward silence settled between them for a moment before Liam cleared his throat. “Did you mean what you said? Or was that something you did to get my attention?”

Olivia walked towards the balcony and leaned her elbows onto it. “Maybe a little of both.”

“I’m sor-”

“Liam,” she turned around quickly to face him. “Don’t.”

He opened his mouth to respond and Olivia held up a hand. “I don’t want or need your apologies, Liam. We’ve been friends since we were children and you were always straightforward about your … lack of romantic feelings.” She picked an imaginary piece of lint on her fire-red sequined gown. “You were honest from the beginning. I don’t need you to feel sorry for me, I’m a big girl.”

Liam knew when it was pointless to argue so he just smiled. “Would you mind bringing Drake out here please?”

She nodded and hastily made her way inside the ballroom. Ella, Drake, and Maxwell immediately ran towards the fiery redhead.

“Liv!” “Is everything okay now?” “Where is he?”

“Drake,” she gestured towards the balcony doors. “You’re up.”

Ella’s bottom lip quivered and she bit down on it to keep from crying. No one noticed but Olivia.

“Maxwell, please grab Ella something to drink. A fruity one” - Olivia waved her hand in the air - “with some glitter or some shit.”

Max grinned and ran towards the bar, Drake ran a shaky hand through his already tousled brown hair and turned to make his way outside. When they were alone, Olivia grabbed Ella’s elbow and gently pulled her to the corner of the ballroom.

Ella began to babble. “Liv, I need to go, I have to check on-”

“You’ll stay put, Ella, this is a conversation for those two and those two alone.”

The queen-to-be nodded in agreement but said nothing.

“I, uh …” Olivia pulled her lips between her teeth as she glanced down at the floor then back up at her friend. “Ella, I need to apologize to you.”

Ella’s eyes widened in surprise.

Liv waved her hand up in a circle. “Spare me the looks, please.” Ella and Olivia had grown close over the engagement tour, much to Liv’s dismay. She used to look at Ella as an American dolt that had no clue about Cordonian traditions, who stole her childhood love out from under her. But over months of being on the tour, they had to work together to figure out the plot against them and … Ella didn’t take any of her shit, and she respected that. “I want to apologize because-”

“You’re in love with Liam?” Ella smirked.

“In short, yes,” she nodded.

“You’ve known him almost his entire life, Liv,” her brows rounded as she took in her friend. “I don’t blame you for loving him.”

It was Olivia’s turn to look surprised.

“He’s the kindest person” - Ella let out a sigh - “anyone has probably ever met and he loves hard. Plus, he’s really easy on the eyes so I don’t blame you at all.”

Liv chuckled. “I’m working on it, it’s just really difficult to … see you two together.”

“I understand,” Ella pulled the Scarlet Duchess into her arms for a hug despite her protests. “Shut up, Liv, friends hug.”

Olivia squeezed Ella into a hug and then pulled away with a sigh. “I think maybe … after the wedding … I just take a small break.”

“I understand,” she let out her own sigh and swallowed the lump that was in her throat. “How pissed …” Ella looked up at the ceiling and waved her hand over her eyes to keep the tears from falling. “Was he really mad about-”

“He was pissed, yes,” Liv knew what she was asking. “Did you kiss him?” Her arms were folded across her chest.

“Who? Drake? No! Of course not!”

“Did you sleep with him?”

“Olivia!”

“Did you give him any reason to pursue you, Ella?”

“No,” Ella shook her head vehemently. “I told him that I love Liam. I only see Drake as a friend; I love him like a brother.”

“Then this isn’t on you and you let those two hash it out between them.”

**

On the balcony

Drake opened the door and shut it quietly. He had no idea what to expect from this conversation with Liam. This was about his fiancé for crying out loud. He was in love with Liam’s fiancé and if the roles were reversed, he’d be fucking pissed off too.

“Drake.”

He looked up to see Liam standing against the balcony, hands in his pockets, legs crossed at the ankles.

“Hey, Li.”

Liam pushed himself off of the cool cement and made his way towards him. “Tell me when this all started.”

His voice was calm as he spoke and it threw Drake off. He was expecting a coldness, anger, anything but this. But he went along with it and cleared his throat before speaking, choosing his words wisely. “Well, uh … I’d probably say the very beginning, on the plane back home from New York; there was a moment in Lythikos” - Drake shook his head - “But I didn’t realize anything until Applewood.”

Liam clenched his jaw and his hands fisted in his pockets. “What happened?” He croaked out and then he cleared his own throat. “What went on in Lythikos? Did you … did you two-” He couldn’t even say it out loud as he let out a breath, his chest burning. He and Ella were together intimately for the first time that night in Lythikos during the social season and if something happened with her and Drake as well …

“No!” Drake blurted out, his head shaking so fast that he got dizzy. “We’ve never … never, ever, Liam.”

Relief flooded Liam’s handsome face.

“You … you really thought I’d do that to you? That she would do that to you?” Drake stuck his thumb out and gestured towards the ballroom at Ella.

“No,” Liam answered honestly. “But my mind was going a thousand miles-a-minute and for a little bit I had no clue what to think.”

Drake's eyebrows rounded. “Nothing happened with us … romantically. On our way back from New York, I was telling her she didn’t belong, that people would be shitty to her. She put me in my place. Ever since then, she’s made me eat my words. In Lythikos,” Drake rubbed a hand over his face, feeling the roughness of his stubble from the day. “Olivia was giving me shit about Savannah leaving …”

Liam gave his friend a concerned look, knowing.

“Ella jumped in and told her to shut the fuck up before she stabs her with the fork she’s currently eating with” - despite his dissipating anger, Liam started to chuckle, interrupting the story. Drake looked up, surprised, then started to laugh with him - “El goes right back to … eating her fruit tart … looking at Olivia … with that fucking smirk.” The two continued to laugh, Liam knowing exactly the smirk Drake was talking about and also knowing the Scarlet Duchess and how she probably had no comeback.

When the two had calmed down, Liam wiping some moisture from his eyes from cracking up, Drake continued with his recount of the day in Lythikos. “Something inside me just … I don’t know how to say it,” he frantically thought of the words to describe what he was feeling. “No one besides you and Savannah had ever stood up for me before and it made me feel …”

“Like she cared about you,” Liam finished for him.

Drake nodded. “Then we watched the meteor shower together outside and I told her about Sav.”

Liam chewed on the inside of his cheek. “And Applewood?”

“After seeing the fear in her eyes that night, Tariq’s fucking hands on her, I just … felt this rage” - both men sucked in an angered breath - “A rage I’d never felt before over a woman and I realized then that I’d do anything and everything to protect her. To make sure no harm came to her, and …”

“You realized you were in love with her,” Liam said quietly, finally understanding.

Drake stared at Liam’s shoes for a moment then looked up to meet his best friend’s gaze. “Yes.”

“I …” Liam paused for a moment, making sure these were the words he wanted to say. “I understand why you fell for her.”

Drake looked at him, surprised.

“She’s fierce, intelligent, loving, beautiful” - Liam’s eyes slid towards the balcony doors and saw his fiancé sneaking glances at him from inside - “and loyal. I want to apologize and to thank you.”

Drake’s face went from surprise and contorted to confusion. “I’m sorry, you what?”

Liam nodded. “I overreacted and quickly jumped to conclusions without giving it careful thought. I just ... wish you would have told me when you realized you loved her, Drake, it took me by surprise, that’s all. And thank you for always being there to protect her,” Liam sucked in a breath. “I wasn’t there,” he whispered. “I wasn’t there in Applewood and what if …”

“Don’t you dare blame yourself, Liam!” Drake’s voice was raised. “We can’t think like that, if nobody was there to step in …” he closed his eyes to contain his temper. “We can’t go there. One of us was, and that’s all that matters.”

Liam nodded.

“And you’re right, I should have told you the minute I realized my feelings,” he agreed as he ran a hand through his dark hair. “I’m so sorry for that. I told her about my feelings in Applewood when she helped me with my bruises. She told me that she’s here for you and that she’s in love with you” - Drake closed his eyes briefly then opened them to look at his brother - “and that I should tell you how I felt.”

Neither man said anything for a moment, the only sounds that filled the night air were crickets, the leaves rustling in the wind, and an owl in the distance.

“You’re a lucky man, Liam,” Drake whispered.

“I know.” The young king took a shaky breath in and let it out slowly. He knew he was, and he knew how difficult it must be for his best friend to watch the woman he was in love with being engaged to someone else.

“Are we going to be okay?”

Liam looked over at his best friend of a decade, his brother, and smiled. “Yes, but” - his smile faded - “I don’t want this to be difficult for you. You have to watch Ella and me-”

“I’m fine, Li.”

“Don’t do that,” Liam said sternly. “I know it would kill me inside if the roles were reversed.”

“Of course it’s painful but it’s you and Brooks,” Drake said as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his finger and thumb before looking back at Liam. “Who else is going to watch your backs? Bastien? Beaumont?!” He flung his arm back towards the ballroom in disgust.

Liam chuckled. “Just know that I would understand if you needed … time.”

“I appreciate that, but I don’t want or need time. My place is here, watching over you two. Making sure Beaumont doesn’t accidentally light the palace on fire or some shit.”

The two men hugged and pulled away, patting each other’s shoulders.

“I wanted to speak with Ella-”

“Yeah,” Drake sighed. “She’s been trying to be sneaky, walking past the door almost the whole time we’ve been out here.”

Liam chuckled. “Alright my friend, let’s head back in.”

The two slipped back into the ballroom and the lights went out.

“What in the-” Drake growled.

Gunshots sounded in the air. “Everyone shut the fuck up and get on the ground!”

“Ella!” Liam’s voice boomed over the screams. “ELLA!”

“We’ll find her, Li,” Drake’s eyes had adjusted to the darkness but could only make out shadows of people running frantically in every direction.

The lights turned back on and both men turned to see Ella with one of the assassins, his arm around her waist, Glock pressed to her temple. “Ahh, King Liam. Perfect setting don’t you think? I can kill your bride” - he ran the side of his gun against Ella’s face and she struggled to get away - “Or I can kill you.” Another assassin appeared from behind the first one with his assault rifle pointed at Liam.

“Let her go and take me instead,” he commanded.

“Liam!” Ella choked out, her cheeks streaked with tears, her eyes pleading. “Don’t!”

“Where are you going, sweetie?” Assassin number one cooed as she struggled against his grasp. He raised his firearm and hit her over the head with it.

“Ella!” Drake and Liam yelled out as she lay limp in the man’s arms.

“Take her!” He hissed at assassin number two. Ella was removed from the ballroom as Liam and Drake watched helplessly. “Stay!” The man commanded as he pointed his gun at the two of them. “You’ll hear my demands in a few hours.”

The assassin leader turned and left with a loud cackle. The other assassins with their rifles pointed at Drake and Liam backed out of the room one by one until the deafening silence was almost too much to bear.

[river-bottom-nightmare]

Hey do you have any fic recommendations? like...mostly featuring Tim drake or Jason Todd (my faves) You have really good taste, and no I’m not picky about what kind of fic. (Although I do have a liking for reverse!Robins) so any will do.

oh but of course babe!

i don’t have as many tim or jason recs as i do dick, but i do have a good few. starting off with the reverse robins ones that i’ve read and adore:

the prophetic spring: a sort of dark and very unique take on reverse robins tim that i love to pieces

Placeholder: another tim-centric reverse robins fic about how much tim changes, written absolutely beautifully

For The Taking: part of the same series as placeholder, jason finding his way in this universe and finding out that robin is something you have to take

now some general favourite tim fics i have:

Raisin Delight: an absolutely fucking gorgeous casefic that deals with tim and bruce’s relationship. has a bittersweet but perfect ending

Message Man: this is going under tim fics bc it’s tim’s pov, but it’s equally tim and jason centric. the two of them are assassins for hire, working together

Home is Where the Heart Is: tim’s always been lonely during the holidays, but that may not be the case this year

Glorified Babisitter: in which tim joins the batfam, but as a Certified Civilian and psychologist in training

Surveillance: a civilian tim au where he joins the batfam by basically acting as an anonymous hacker and helper

Pounding the Pavement: core-four centric fic where tim moves away from gotham 

Catfishing: a civilian au where tim accidentally catfishes kon. hilarity and also feels

if you get lost (you can always be found): my absolute favourite tim fic of all time, a slightly canon divergent au of tim being trans

and the jason fics:

Ninja Kick the Damn Rabbit: mad hatter is a fucked up guy, and jason only gets hurt even worse in this, but maybe he’ll end up becoming a little closer to his family by the time it’s all over

Two Dead Birds: jason goes back to when he first became red hood and came to gotham, and majorly fucks up the timeline but in a way that we all love

ghost story: after jason dies in ethiopia, he comes back as a ghost haunting his family

Brother of Mine: au where jason was the first robin, and dick is his younger brother

miss me?: jason comes back to the batfam in a more peaceful yet much more heartbreaking way

robin’s roast: au where, instead of coming back to gotham and becoming a crime lord, jason opens up a coffee shop

Of Milkshakes and Marathons: tim is Struggling, jason ends up being a good big brother and helps 

[gone-series-orchid]

i’ve been thinking about something like a ‘reverse’ au, but rather than something like sam goes to coates instead of caine or something, it’s more like their roles or arcs are switched? so it ends up being that the perdido beach kids are the ‘bad side’ and the coates kids are the ‘good side’. it’s obviously hard to work out because most of the characters fall into some grey morality but it’s still an idea. it would also mean some characters’ personalities are changed as well.

that sounds so interesting, anon! it sounds to me like your au would traffic in lots of class tropes—instead of the coates kids being troubled rich snobs and the townies being essentially your normal, relatable public high school kids, the coates kids would probably be the spoiled-but-sweet neglected children of perdido beach’s rich couples and the townies would be “from the wrong side of the tracks”—public school-educated (meaning, of course, not educated at all) latchkey kids who roam around and stir up trouble while their white-collar parents work menial jobs all day. they’d be jaded and toughened-up due to childhoods spent in underfunded schools, brought up on cable tv and kraft mac ‘n’ cheese (the horror!), dissatisfied with their lives but lacking the imagination needed to think of anything different.

here’s how i think the kids might be changed by this switch:

caine - a kid who’s considered a bit of an arrogant snob even by his peers. still ambitious but more in a “i have to lead these kids because they’re too dumb to lead themselves” kind of way. his backstory of neglect is probably milked for all the sympathy it’s worth to explain his more unsavory traits

diana - is still a bully with a promiscuous reputation, but her backstory of assault and mistreatment is emphasized right away to explain her antisocial behavior. sort of like a “you love to hate her” character, like regina george of mean girls or something; she’s mean, but in kind of a cool way. probably has genuine love of caine right off the bat but doesn’t want to get with him because of her own insecurity/feeling that she’s “damaged goods” (☹️) because of her promiscuity or the abuse she suffered. painted in a “wounded bird w/ hard exterior and soft center” way, maybe similar to lana after her experience with the gaiaphage. her family’s wealth means she gets the best clothes and is thus sort of revered at coates for her fashion sense and intimidating aura.

drake - the wild card extremist and devil on caine’s shoulder. probably the darkest of the already morally gray coates trio but not a bad guy deep down, he’s just more willing to go to some dark places morality-wise and play devil’s advocate. still devilishly handsome as in canon. probably has mommy issues and problems with intimacy because of them. has a “woman-hater” reputation and spouts some Obnoxious but Endearing Misogyny™ (🙄) throughout the series.

sam - tries to stick to the sidelines to avoid sticking out as in canon, but in this au it’s because sticking out almost inevitably means getting bullied by rougher and tougher kids. tries to rule perdido beach despite being wildly unsuited for it because he has a persecution complex with regard to the coates kids, believing them to be elitist slobs just because they’re wealthy. insecure because of his mother’s position as the coates school nurse and his family’s own lack of financial security. when pushed into a position of power, he tries to compensate wildly for it by acting like living in town means he knows best for all the kids, as he knows what it’s like to struggle compared to the coates kids who were born with silver spoons in their mouths. the coates kids don’t like him because of his richist views and the perdido beach kids only tolerate him because of his power and—grudgingly—because of his school bus sam reputation, as well as because he’s a townie.

astrid - desperate to gain a real education among like-minded intellectuals, she’s just biding her time before she can graduate high school and leave. her high iq and devout christianity make her an outsider to the usual riff-raff of the town, making her a marked threat to caine’s plans. more calculating from the start, astrid has plans to rule perdido beach through uniting sam’s scrappy group of kids (quinn, edilio, other kids who aren’t super good in a fight) with the larger community of thugs and bullies ruled by orc. finds the coates kids to be snide and classist, though secretly she longs for the same educational opportunities they received. deeply protective of little pete as in canon, feeling that he’d have better support in an environment more conducive to helping kids with special needs instead of in the town’s lackluster special education classes. tutored orc with the motive of trying to prove to herself that she could get the town’s biggest thug to change his ways through educating him in algebra, with mixed results. orc still appreciates her efforts though because of course he does. she’s probably a bit more high-minded and openly judgmental than in canon due to her insecurity over her less intellectual peers, disliking diana immediately for her “slutty” ways and conflating the way she dresses with a wasted education. cold and practical without any of the relatability or “people skills” needed to connect with either the coates kids or the townies, hence why she uses sam and orc, playing on their feelings for her to manipulate them more easily (adding on a layer of hypocrisy for calling diana a tease/flirt).

i can’t think of anything else right now, but i really like this au, anon!! idk if these suggestions are what you were thinking, but maybe they’ll lend you some inspiration?

thank you for the ask! feel free to send more!

[edyacouky]

Not My Pack

Can be read on AO3

Sumary : Reverse Robin / Omegaverse

Batman and Tim are gone to a mission in space.<br />

Alfred take his first vacation since forever.<br />

So Damian is let alone with the last pup, Jason Todd, that his father adopt a few month ago.<br />

Not a big deal, right?<br />

Well until the pup start his heat ...“Are you sure everything will be alright?”

Note : 

Damian Wayne Al Ghul  Alpha 20 years old

Tim Drake: Unpresented 14 years old

Jason Todd: Omega (presented in this fic) 12 years old

Cassandra Cain: 9 years old not in this fic

Dick Grayson: 6 years old not in this fic

***

Damian sights and rolls his eyes. His father can really be exasperating, especially since he decides to add some pups to their pack.

“Tt- It’s not the first time who leave Gotham to me for one of your Justice League mission.

-This time Alfred won’t be with you either.”

Bruce could only blame himself, he is the one that force his father figure to go on vacation somewhere without cellphone so he can really relax. But he didn’t have expected having a mission on space with the Justice League.

“Maybe I should cancel his trip. He will understand …

-Father, don’t you trust me?”

Now Damian start to be really upset. With the years, they had many problem of communication and trust. Now, they both know that they love each other deeply and would do anything for the other, but they still have difficulty to talk to each other.

“This isn’t the problem. Bruce says wanting to avoid a confrontation. I am not comfortable to let you without back up.

-I will have back up. Damian roll his eyes. Colin leaves in Gotham, in case you forget, and Jon will stay in Metropolis like Iris will be in Central City. And …”

Damian looks at where Jason watches Tim prepare his bag.

“Tt- with your obsession to add unnecessary pups to the pack, we will even have a Cambion each. Oh yeah that’s true my name isn’t good enough for Drake and he change it. By what already?

-By RedBird. And we already talk about that, no pup has to be necessary.”

Bruce sights. True is Bruce is the one who convince Tim to change the name.

He never liked that Damian chosen this name and now that he got by Batson, Bruce just want this name fallen in oblivion.

RedBird is the name Tim chose and Bruce is happy with that.

But Damian never accept that. And he is particularly spiteful with Tim, refusing to accept him as part of his pack.

“Is leaving you Jason going to be a problem for you?”

Jason arrived in the Manor only a few months ago and if the little pup doesn’t seem to have found his place yet in their pack, Damian doesn’t show him the same animosity that he shows to Tim.

“Tt- as long as he doesn’t stole the silverware, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

Bruce sights and want to add something but Superman call him to know when they will arrive. He calls Tim so they leave by the ZetaTub.

“I know the “Cambion remark” was to be mean, but just in case: Jason isn’t authorized to go on the field.

Tt- I know.

-Take care of yourself, sons. Tim and I should be back soon.

-See ya.” Jason says

***

True to be told, Damian as less aversion for Jason that he has for Tim.

Todd didn’t found his father’s secret identity, didn’t come to his house after Damian’s departure because Batman “need” a sidekick.

Todd was unlucky enough to be an orphan from the Narrow and bold enough to steal Batman’s tire the day of his parents death.

Damian can respect that.

Plus, Jason mostly like to be alone, or doesn’t mind spend hours in the same room of someone without talking. Damian appreciate this quality.

“You don’t need a babysitter, do you?

-I am twelve.

-Good. You just need my permission for leaving the Manor, otherwise do whatever a kid like to do.”

Jason raises an eyebrow watching Damian who goes to the Batcomputer.

“That’s it? Aren’t you afraid that I could steal the silverware?

-I already hide it.

-Seriously?”

Damian doesn’t answer, he simply start to caress Alfred the Cat who has taken place in his leg.

Jason doesn’t insist and decide to go to his room.

***

The following days were good. Damian was doing a good job at being Batman in Gotham, he didn’t even need back up. Jason was mostly in school or in his room. They spend time together only to eat.

At first, Damian join Jason because he was sure the pup was like his father and Drake, unable to cook and survive without Alfred.

But when he enters in the kitchen, Jason was already cooking something that smell marvelous.

“Not sure I am supposed let you behind the stove. Damian says

-Like you will cook?

-I am not incompetent like my Father. Mother teach me everything I need to survive, included cooking.

-Well, my mother wasn’t in good state to teach me anything but I am sure I am better than you.

-Tt – What about we check your little hypothesis?”

And just like that, they take the habit to cook together.

Unfortunately, it is not a family habit to have so many good days without any problem coming.

When Damian goes to the kitchen, he is surprised to not see Jason already there. He waits some minutes trying to decide if he should start without him, but it doesn’t seems right for him.

He suddenly realize that he doesn’t hear about Jason for hours now.

He is not worried about his father new pup, absolutely not. After all, he accepted coming in the Manor only to replace his father as Batman. Not to form a bond about this pup that won’t be part of his pack.

He is just curious that’s all.

And if it happen that today, Todd doesn’t want to cook with him, then it would be fine. There is no need to be disappointed about this prospect at all.

He doesn’t find the pup at the library so he goes to his room.

Weirdly, Todd isn’t in there either but Damian hears the shower running.

“Todd, will you eat tonight?” Damian asks knocking at the door

No answer.

Damian knock again calling after the pup, but just the sound of the water answer him.

“Todd, I’m coming in.”

As soon as Damian opens the door he has to pinch his nose.

“That’s stink!

-Fuck you. ‘m still smell better than you.”

Suddenly, Damian recognizes the smell. An omega in heat.

Except Colin’s, Damian never liked the strong smell of an omega in heat or an alpha in rut. Not even his own smell.

Jason is sitting on the shower, cold water that keep fall on him.

“How long are you in there? Damian asks stopping the water

-No! I am too hot! Jason moans

-Tt. How long are you in there?”

Damian take a towel and put it around Jason so he can make him leave the bathroom. Jason is right, he is really warm. Nothing unusual for an omega in heat, but always unpleasant sensation.

“I don’t know. It was still dark outside.

-Tt! It’s noon already! Why didn’t you come find me?”

Jason shrugs.

“Didn’t think you would have help.”

Damian frowns.

He knows that he isn’t a member of a pack of Jason, but he though that the pup knew that he could found him if he was in trouble.

“You’re a pup, of course I would have help you.”

Once Jason was dry, Damian put him so random PJ and put him in the bed.

“Stay in bed, you should be better here. I bring food and water. I don’t want to move, understand?”

Jason keep moaning and rolling in the bed, scratching his clothes. Damian rolls his eyes and leaves him.

***

Damn, this day gets wrong with every minutes.

When Jason hears Damian’s voice, he was relieved. He wants someone to help him, telling him that everything will be fine. But no one in his life was like that to him.

Even his mother … She tried but despite how much she loved Jason, she was part of the reason Jason needed help.

It’s been a few month since he was living in the Manor. The pack is really weird.

Damian, Tim, Alfred and himself are part of Bruce’s pack.

But Damian never try to bond with them, so he isn’t really part of Tim and Jason’s pack.

And Tim and Jason don’t see each other much. Tim come to the Manor only for patrol and Jason can’t participate for now. So they don’t consider each other as part of the same pack.

Alfred tries to change Tim and Jason relationship but there isn’t much that could be do with Damian.

“What a mess.” Jason thinks

Never less, Jason though that when he will finally have his heat, it would be safe and not so lonely.

Jason couldn’t help himself but cries.

He wants the pain to stop. He wishes his mother was alive and hugs him. He wishes Bruce was there, calling him champ. He wishes to have more comfortable PJ and more blanket.

He would have prefer not have an alpha that isn’t pack near him. Logically, Jason knows that Damian is an asshole but he can be nice like when they cook together. But he can’t help but fear of being abused.

Damn, would he feels this miserable every time he will have his heat? That sucks.

“Are you crying? He hears Damian but refuse to react. Tt- there is medicament with your food. Take it.”

Jason shake his head and cowers.

“Tt! Don’t act like a child.”

Damian forces him to sit down and give him some soup and medicament.

“Take it. It would be better after.”

Finally, Jason decide takes a sip, hoping that Damian will leave him after. But the demon forces him to drink all the soup.

“More. Your stomach is empty. You will feel better.”

Damian keeps telling him that but honestly, Jason is just feeling worse.

He can’t wait for his heat to pass.

***

Damian paces in the corridor.

The pup not only stink because of his heat but also because of distress.

Damian doesn’t understand what else he could do. The pup is safely in his den, with food and an alpha to protect him. What else could he want?

Of course he tries to contact Bruce or Alfred but neither answer. And Damian doesn’t consider the situation as an emergency.

True is he is too proud to admit he is overtake by the situation.

Seriously why did that happen now?

Did Jason too young for that? Damian doesn’t think that Drake as presented yet. Himself didn’t present until he was thirteen.

How could he fail? He helps Colin frequently, so he knows what an omega need.

Colin always seems happy in his bed after some food and medicament.

Another sobs is heard from Jason’s room.

Damian sighs.

He needs backup. Quickly.

***

“Hey Dami.

-Hey Beloved.

-Still no improvement? Colin asks him after they kiss

-It gets worse. Damian admits. I appreciate that you comes.

-That’s ok. But he may not want someone that is not part of his pack to come near him.

-Well one of us, will have to come in his room, no matter what.”

Colin shrug an eyebrown.

“Didn’t you guys get close this day?

-Still not pack.”

Colin didn’t try to debate with Damian. His lover could be as stubborn as possessive sometimes.

They were arrived to the corridor, when Colin had to take a break before he was going to throw up.

“You didn’t lie, it stinks. He must have been in distress for hours now.

-He says it was dark when he wake up.

-Damn Dami, you should have call me sooner.

-Tt …”

When they arrives in front of the door, Colin knocks and just stick his head in the room.

“Hey pup, can I come in?

-Who are you?

-I am Dami’s friend, he though I could help you.”

Jason took a moment to smell the air.

“Omega?

-Yes, I am.

-And a rapist?

-Of course he is not! Damian takes offense. Why should I bring some degenerate here?

-Why should I know that? You are not pack, right?” Jason yells

Damian looks really hurt and guilty by the accusation, Colin gently caress his cheeks.

He isn’t really good to show it to people but Damian really care, so much that he may hurts him sometimes.

“I am not here to have sex with you, neither is Damian.”

Jason simply looks at him, judges him.

“Can I come in?”

Finally Jason shrugs.

“Why not?” He whispers

Colin enters and carefully sit down next to Jason. Tenderly, he caress Jason’s hair. He moans so pitifully with just this little touch and love himself against Colin so quickly.

“What? Aren’t Dami’s hugs good enough?

-Damian doesn’t hug.” Jason scoff

Damian doesn’t hear clearly what the two omega say, but by the glare Colin sent him, he knows he is in trouble.

“Are you in pain?

-Not really, don’t feel the cramps since Damian gives me medicament.

-But you don’t feel good?

-Feel like shit.” Jason admit now putting his arm around Colin

Damn, Colin thinks this pup is so cute. He can understand why Bruce decide to adopt him.

After being sure that nothing was physically wrong with the pup. Colin look around the room and see many weird things.

“Don’t you have more blanket? Maybe some more soft.

-Probably. Bruce’s mother was an omega, they must have thousand blankets here.

-True. And are you the one who took away the curtain of your canopy bed?”

Jason shakes his head.

“There weren’t when I took this room.

-May be nice if I put some. Would you like it?”

Jason hums.

“Can I change PJ too?

-Of course sweetie, why couldn’t you?

-Don’t know. Jason shrugs. Damian gives it to me.

-I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you change.”

Jason nods, happy with this information.

“Ok, kiddo. I am going to bring all of that now.”

Colin tries to stand up but Jason yells and tightens his embraces.

“No, please no.

-Hey, everything will be alright. I have only for a minute or two. Just the time for you to change, ok?”

Jason starts crying again but let Colin go.

“I know that heat suck, but that would be ok now.”

Jason snorts. Damian keeps telling him that before and he was wrong.

He really hope that Colin is right because if his heat are all like that, without possibility of getting better, then he really want to found a permanent way to stop them.

Recalcitrant, Jason leaves the bed to change while Colin goes talk to Damian.

“So?

-So it was bad, Damian.”

Shit Damian and not Dami.

“You didn’t even hug the pup. Seriously, take a book or pick a movie and simply hug him.

-What? This is things I do only with you!

-There nothing sexual in that. And heat is not share only with mate, you know?

-I only do it with you.”

Colin frowns then realizes.

“Wait, you really never share a heat with anyone than me?

-Both of my parent are alpha, and it is not costume in the League. Damian blushes. Expect with the one.”

It’s Colin’s turn to blush.

“Is that for that you were so shy the first you share my heat? Even if it was platonic? Dami, you were only fourteen …

-And I already know then that you were my mate, Beloved.”

Colin could not help himself but to kiss him. His mate always find way to make in fall in love all over again, even if it wasn’t on purpose.

“Look, I understand now that it may be uncomfortable for you, but I truly think that you should give this pup some hugs …

-Beloved …

-You see how he reacts with me, and he doesn’t even know me. He is badly touch starved. And you get to know each other this last days, to appreciate each other, right?

-Tt …

-Look, if you really can’t I will, but for the long term, it would be better if it’s you.”

Damian looks at the pale figure of Jason, he stills seem miserable and shaking. Damian want to help him, he truly do.

“You will come back?

-Oh I just have to go buy some cigarette.

-You don’t smoke. Damian frowns

-No … I mean … That’s a joke.

-Are you sure? It’s not funny.

-Go help your pack’s pup, asshole.” Colin laugh pushing Damian in the room while he goes take what Jason need

Damian doesn’t have the time to tell “Not my pack” before Colin was gone.

Jason is back sulking in his bed and seems disappointed that Colin is not there anymore.

“Tt. Do you mind if I sit down with you?”

Jason shrugs.

“Tt.”

Damian sit down at the edge of the bed. The smell is still too strong and it still feel wrong to share the pup’s heat.

At least Jason stop crying and seems to find his discomfort funny and he is in the expecting of what Damian will do.

When his father will be back home, Damian will kill him for putting him in this position.

“There, there.” Damian says taping the pup’s head

And to his horror, Jason dare laugh at him.

“You’re really bad at that.

-Tt … Colin should be back soon.”

Jason see the alpha differently now. He truly though that he has abandon him, but he is here and with back up, for Jason.

Suddenly, this dark brooding distant alpha looks like a clumsy caring bear.

“Can I hug you?

-If it can truly help you.”

Damian sit a little closer to Jason and the pup throw himself into his arm, purring like a crazy once he was well installed.

Damn, Colin was right, the pup is touch starved. How could Damian miss that? He put one of his hands on the back of the pup and the other on his head playing with his hair. Damian wasn’t sure it was a good idea to repeat same gesture he do with Colin but Jason now is smiling.

The day may not be too bad finally.

***

When Colin return with blankets and curtains, he is relieved to see Jason and Damian much more relaxed.

He gives Jason the blankets and quickly he fix his nest so he can feel more comfortable in it while Damian and he put the curtains.

Once that Jason was sleeping between Colin and Damian, Damian could really consider that they success taking care of the pup.

And finally, sharing the heat of a member of “not his pack” that isn’t his lover is not so bad after all.

[mental-dilemma]

A Quick Meeting Part 4?

Damian’s an exchange student in Paris taking it easy until an Akuma attacks and he gets to meet ladybug. -----------------------------------------

Ok before everyone starts pancking: I am Emu-Lumberjack I just decided to create a Sideblog for all my writing so that way those who follow me exclusively for that don’t have to deal with the chaos that is my main blog

also I’m sorry it’s taken so long to post this but just between school and work and school and just general exhaustion it’s been hard for me to write.

and as always all credit to the Au goes to @ozmav 

pt.1 

pt. 2

pt. 3

“I don’t suppose I could bribe you to drop the matter.” Damian said sitting down in Tim’s office. He and Ladybug were situated next to each other while Tim was on the other side of the desk.

“Nope.” He turned to Ladybug, “I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself, making sure Damian didn’t disappear and all that. Anyway I’m Tim Drake, Co-Ceo of Wayne enterprises and Damians older brother.”  

Ladybug turned to Damian and quietly said, “So does everyone in your family constantly talk like they’re trying to impress a victorian lord?” Damian snorted. Tim, unable to hear what she just said, looked to the two agape.

“At least I have a reason.” Damian responded, this time loudly enough for his elder brother to hear. “Anyway Tim is in CEO mode right now, which is pretty rare. Usually he’s a bumbling zombie dependent on coffee to function. In fact I remember one time when Dick took the last cup he----”

“I’d suggest stopping right there or I’ll tell her about the batcow incident.” Tim interrupted.

 “Did you just say batcow? Because I understand each of those words separately.” Ladybug said, and even though her mask still concealed half her face Damian could tell she was really confused.

“Don’t ask. Just don’t.” Damian said quietly.

“Anyway. I never caught your name and considering the fact that your in a mask I assume you’re a hero. Which is surprising because none of us knew Paris had heroes.” Tim cut the two of them off before more could be said.

“Yes that’s becoming a common theme I’m finding,” Marinette began. “My name is Ladybug in the mask. I have a partner, Chat Noir, but he’s currently indisposed, something about paint in his hair.” Damian stifled a laugh as Marinette continued, “We have been operating out of Paris for the last few years, early on we tried contacting the Justice league but Green Lantern told us not to prank call him.”

“Oh did he now.” Tim said, leaning his head forward.

“Yes he did. Thankfully my power allows me to reverse all damage done during a fight. Including any lives lost or monuments destroyed.”

“That sounds like a very useful power. I'm sure that the heroes of Gotham would love to work with you.” There was a twinkle in his eye that Damian knew meant Tim was concocting some scheme. He was about to jump in, but Marinette got there first.

“Yes I’m sure you would but the issue is we currently have our hands full here although from what Damian told me you guys sound much more fun to work with. At least the villains have better costumes.”

Tim noting her wording turned to Damian, “Did you tell her the family secret? You know what Alfred will do if he finds out.”

Damian smirked “I’m not an idiot Drake this was all her. She could rival you for deductive reasoning.” Marinette just sat there looking innocent.

“Well that explains why the two of you were sneaking around together, Ladybug should I assume Damian knows your identity as well?”

“Yep.”

“Well this is going to be a nightmare. But this just means  I can formally invite you to Gotham at least. Ha just leave it to the Ice Prince to leak the identity on his first civilian trip abroad.” Tim leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

“Actually it was you guys who tipped me off.”

Tim suddenly opened his eyes and looked her straight in the eyes. “Come again.”

“Well it was the fact that no one had spied Robin around Batman while Damian was in France. Then the fact that you were patrolling rather than him tipped me off that Robin might be on a vacation..” Tim just face palmed.

“Of course that would happen, how did we not see it coming.” He muttered to himself. “Wait, that begs another question: how did you two meet.”

Damian blushed and before Ladybug could respond he said “not important, there was an akuma. Now do you need anything else.”

“Actually yeah. Ladybug you mentioned the video you sent to Green Lantern, well Batman found it and wanted us to investigate. He didn’t know Green Lantern had seen it or otherwise he’d be on his way back to Ooa healing from a scolding from Alfred. Dick and Jason wanted to come but Bruce needed someone he could send discreetly and who better than the Co-CEO of Wayne industries who could just be checking up on the Paris branch.” Ladybug was impressed by the scheming having Dick Greyson or Jason Todd come in would stir up villain or media activity but Tim the third son wouldn’t.

“Well if you want we can meet up with my partner later and you can formulate a list of questions. Plus it seems you and Damian have some catching up to do.”

“There was a reason I came to Paris Ladybug. Being forced to talk to Tim was not one of them.” Damian made to leave only for a yoyo to catch his leg. Ladybug smirked at him. “Maybe a five minute chat couldn’t hurt anyone. Family reunion and all that.”

“Great then as long as everyones in agreement I can set up a time with chat later this evening for all of us to talk things through and get a strategy in place.”

“Are you sure about this having the league involved is going to cause a lot of chaos and even more dangerous villains could target Paris.”

“Tim I have dealt with so much crap the last couple of years that at this point I will take Darkseid over Lila…… Oh crap. We forgot about Lila.” Marinette looked at Damian who was coming to the same realization she was. He called out Lila in the bakery, and outed himself as a Wayne.

“Do I want to know?” Tim said rubbing his temples. He did not miss highschool.

“Lets just say school tomorrow’s going to be interesting, and I think we’re going to have to put the meeting on hold till after it. Ladybug and I are going to need to deal with school tomorrow, and caffeine isn’t gonna cut it.” Damian said.

“Then again if we aren’t lucid tomorrow might not be so bad….” Marinette began

“Do not even finish that, you even more than me need sleep. Between fashion, school and heroing you function off an hour.”

“You.. have a point. I’ll brief Chat on the situation on my way home. In the meantime I’ll leave you too to the brotherly bonding I’m sure you need.” she pulled her yoyo from her pocket, “See you tomorrow Damian, and whatever plan you hatch up make sure nit doesn’t include killing anyone.”

“Goodnight Ma--- Ladybug. And no promises.” The boy caught himself before revealing Ladybug's identity. She gave him the look of ‘don’t fuck up my secret identity bird boy’ before jumping out the window to run from rooftop to rooftop.

“So. how long have you had a crush on her.” Tim pulled Damians attention, and Damian was sudden;y very glad he had said nothing about not killing his brother.

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

“Do you think they’ll actually help this time?” Chat’s voice rang over the phone, Marinette had stopped behind one of the chimneys to talk to him in private.

“I don’t know, at least now they are actually considering it rather than just brushing us off as children.” Marinette was tired but they needed to have this chat now, there wouldn’t be any chance to in class tomorrow.

“Yeah, just don’t get your hopes up. They left us to fend for ourselves for 3 years and are only doing this now because of Damian if you didn’t know him then none of this would’ve happened.  

“Ok but why does that matter that it’s Damian? They could’ve been doing it because of Jon too.”

“Oh please, you're more dense than our class sometimes. Jon would’ve noted it then forgotten to tell someone, but Damian told Batman right away. Why do you think he did that?”

“Chat I am too tired for this.” Marinette could feel Adrien facepalming through the phone.

“Oh I am not spelling this out for you, this time you get to figure it out yourself.”

“Fine. but next time you need help on your calc homework don’t come running to me.” Marinette hung up on him and made her way home. The parisian streets were nice and quiet for her, no akuma meant maybe another hour of sleep.

Once she was out of the suit she let Tikki rest and got right to work on the new piece she was making for Jagged, he wanted to somehow have the score of his newest piece sewn onto the pants for his next concert, and she had to brainstorm.

Twenty minutes went by.

Then an hour.

Then two.

Finally she put up her pencil and put on her pajamas, as she was falling asleep Adriens words kept replaying in her head, and the meaning slammed into her like a truck. Pulling out her phone she sent one message.

Oh fuck off

tag list: @clumsy-owl-4178 @pawsitivelymiraculous @yuulxd @smolplantmum @inarachi02 @notmycupoftea26 @laurcad123 @unknownvsworld @jeminiikrystal @megawhitleycalderonpaganus

[dyketectivecomics]

*cracks Knuckles* so lets talk JASON in my Reversed Robins AU :)

so like I talked with Tim, Duke was Off to College, and since Tim is only a year behind him in age, guess who's ALSO looking at colleges a year later! :) go on guess :)

One good thing for Bruce in this AU at least, tho, is that Tim plans to stay in Gotham. Ostensibly bc he's being Prepped for taking over Drake Industries from his parents. (but rlly its bc how else can he keep being vigilante lmao)

Enter Jason (14), who's the only kid in crime alley gutsy enough to steal the tires off the Batmobile! And you might be wondering, "But Randy? Why didn't he do it when he was 12 like in the original timeline?" its bc it DIDNT END UP WORKING OUT THAT WAY OK? (everyone else had to be put in this before him, and you cant have truly REVERSED robins AND have a jason so young ok, somethings gotta give, and I'm letting it be this age group!)

Anyways, the Tale goes Much the same way. Bruce is So Impressed by the boy & (near immediately) adopts him.

Now, here's what I really love abt this and esp about this AU now.... Bc Jason and Cass are Right Around the Same Age, and remember :) Cass is Used to being the Babey Bat :)

So lets talk that for a minute here: if you like the Idea of Mainverse Cass being Slightly Older than Jason, then in this she's Slightly Younger. So obvs Dynamic with that can be Cass being Bitter™ abt Still Being Considered the Baby and doing Everything she can to One-Up Jason at every turn. Then on the other, if you like Cass being Slightly Younger, then here she's Older and No Longer Bruce's Youngest™ and how DARE THIS USURPER TAKE HER PLACE.

what im getting at is i want them at each others THROATS. theyre the MURDER TWINS bc they're always on the verge of (almost but never actually) killing each other lmao

Not exactly part of Jason's Origin, but Let's Talk Mantle and (Almost Death) for a second here too!

So here's what I'm thinking, if Tim takes on either Rook or Redbird, then we can have Jason taking the Other mantle to Also honor the fallen birds. (It works out nicely for ME bc then i dont have to THINK abt new names lmao) If Tim takes another mantle tho, then that can Leave Jason to take up Lark, or vice versa. Tim is Lark, so Jason just Makes a Mantle for himself (or they can BOTH get new mantles I GUESS. again. its all rlly open, room for anything.)

So, in favor of Keeping Some Things with Canon, we're gonna keep the whole 'Jason learns Catherine Todd Maybe Wasnt His Mom & takes off at 15 to Find His Real Mom' thing.... But here's the Key :) Here's the Thing Friends :)

This time he's got CASS backing him up! (also bc she's getting Curious bc she knows for sure that Cain's her father. but that Other question hasn't been answered so lets TWO BATS, ONE STONE THIS) ((Also bc i really want them Confronting Shiva and being like "hi! we think you might be our mom!" and her being like "shit DID i have two kids??? i cant remember" lmaooooooo))

Anyways, Yeah, for the past year Jason and Cass may have been at each other's throats, but when PUSH comes to SHOVE, when its all on the LINE, they're THERE FOR EACH OTHER. Cass aint gonna lose another brother!!! Jason ain't gonna let Cass put herself in danger!! NO MORE DEAD BIRDS. NOBODY DIES TONIGHT.

sorry, i got rlly emotional there for a SEC. and now for COMPLETELY unrelated reasons i gotta go DRY MY EYES.

[popculturebuffet]

Darkwing Duck: Just Us Justice Ducks

This is it. 7 reviews, 10 episodes, 2 teams,  7 brave heroes, 13 villians but only 5 of which are relevant here. All leading to this. One big final review of one of the most loved, most important and most awesome Darkwing Duck episodes, the ONLY two parter outside of the pilot in the show’s long history. If your just joining us, as hinted at in the opening sentence i’ve been doing reviews of every episode of darkwing duck featuring the first apperances of the Justice Ducks and Fearsome Five. The only exception was Megavolt, but I ended up doing Negaduck instead, so I could cover both Megs and the original version of Negsy in one fell swoop (A great idea and comission from longtime supporter of the blog WeirdKev27). All so I could give this the build up  it deserved and get the background I didn’t have years ago when I wanted to watch this, wanted to see all of the first apperances first.. then just didn’t get around to it, not even finding out the episode order is an utter nightmare.  While i’ve given out about this before, allow me to do so again: Due to prioritzing what got done first over proper order, ALL of the justice ducks first appearances eps were aired after this and while Morgana at least got an episode before this, it was her second appearance. Same with LIquidator and Quackerjack though like Morgana, Quackerjack still got an episode or two before this one. So yeah as a result to most kids it was a bunch of heroes just introduced, up against two new villians and 3 old faviorites. You kinda see the problem. It’s why I watched it in chronlogical order: to have this be a gathering of established heroes against darking’s worst foes... and the debut of the worst of THE worst, the true Negaduck at long last. So with the proper build this deserves and not much else to say, let’s look at this two parter and see if all my effort was worth it and if the hype is real. Let’s, get, dangerous under the cut

We open in St. Canard in Darkwing Duck’s secret HQ over the bridge, where he’s getting ready to go out with Morgana and does... things to his hair. 

Excellently terrible hair do.. seriously I love a good pompadour as much as the next person, probably unheathily more than the next person, but this isa bit much and adding a curl to it is just.. 

I mean Superman’s hair looked better at this point, and for those wondering “Wait superman usually has a pretty good look”.. welll. 

Yeah.. post-ressurection.. he had a mullet. Look there are only 4 people in the world who can pull of a mullet: Brock Sampson, Patrick Swayze (God Rest his soul), Hank Venture and Daniel Cooksy as a teenager. And he ALSO put a curl in it and it still looked okay because that’s one of this things along with being selfless, and idiots calling him bland for you know, being a kind hearted symbol of humanity at it’s best. But man the mullet was just not for you bud. 

Morgana naturally tries to change it while Gosalyn watches and...

Yeah as you can probably guess a LOT has happened.. and all off screen. Morgana is not only fully on the side of good apparently, but she and Darkwing have gone from simply flirting with one another to dating AND Gosalyn has met her and they fought the astro mummies together.. no wait that was the Caballleros yesterday.. but still eveyrthing else is PRETTY important stuff and even with the messed up episode order the kind of thing you’d ASSUME an episode would be made about. I mean this is her meeting darkwing’s kid for fuck’s sake. That’s a big step in any relationship let alone one just starting out. And trust me, I didn’t miss anything: every other morgana ep seems to have them already in a steady relaionship. I DO think it’s stuff like this why some fans aren’t crazy about this relationship. Me I think he’s honestly too good for her. 

But before they can go out for whatever vauge date they were going to have the power goes out and DW notices it’s megavolt and prepares to go after him only for Morgana to question him about their date. 

Morgana.. sweetie.. the entire city is blacked out. Nowhere will be open.  But Gosalyn offers an alternative, Morgana go along with him and while both are reluctant they go with it. So Darkwing confronts Megavolt... and soon finds a bunch of chattering teeth. Yup, it’s Quackerjack as the two have teamed up, and together easily defeat Darkwing, putting him in an electric chair. The two also really get along which makes sense: Both have similar personalities, being kinda nuts indivdiuals with a singular obession , which compliment each other as toys often need electric power after all. THey strap darkwing into an electric chair, that got dark fast and he begs morgana to save him.. only for her to accidently turn him into jello. I mean.. they say pudding but.. their diffrent things. Just because world famous sexual predator Bill Cosby promoted BOTH for the jell-o brand doesn’t mean Jello is magically pudding. If he could magically make one thing 

Point is Darkwing is jello, the villians mock him then set up some kind of device and head off.. while also mentioning a mysterious boss. I wonder who it could be. 

Nah.. too obvious. Darkwing is humilated and of course blames. morgana.. for saving his life.. as while the jello humilated him he’s also you know not dead. 

Anyways Darkwing storms off while Morgana worries he likes her. Morg.. the guy got pissy because you saved his life the wrong way with some bad aim. And before that clearly just wanted you there as a trophy to impress you instead of because he valued you in any way but your looks, because let’s face it he’s shown no intrest so far in any way that isn’t superficial and neither have you in him. You both need to actually try to deepen this or end it.  Anyways enough me ranting at 90′s cartoon characters, it’s time for our next Justice Duck to enter the episode as Stegmutt is selling hot dogs now, but no one stops because they just.. run in terror. Poor guy, good thing he’s too oblivoius to notice. Maybe Dr. Fossil had a point.  Back to the plot and it turns out the next phase in the Fearsome Five’s plan is to take out the police... okay so wait are they the bad guys or not? Questions for later. Point is we get a nice mismatch as Bushroot’s timidity contrasts perfectly with Liquidator’s showman ship and he drowns them out. Darkwing prepares to attack, but gets interrupted by Stegmutt, refuses his help.. and we get the best and most iconic gag of the episodes: Darkwing makes a joke about playing pretend.. and senseing Stegmutt is a dummy have him pretend to “put out the darkwing”.. which equates to pulling a Droopy while saying “put out the darkwing”. So the two villians finsih their job and high five and this is one of the most charming parts of this 2 parter: the camradere between the five minus negaduck. The other four just.. easily bond and enjoy each ohters company, only fighting ONCE, and then being on the same page after that. 

It’s also what makes them so deadly: the go too for ANY superhero team in any medium is to simply get the vilians to fight each other as most vilian teams are built on REALLY shaky ground, a mixture of egos and ambitions that unlike with most superhero teams, can’t really be overcome with the greater good.. because their only in it for what they want. The thing that keeps any of these groups together longterm.. is camradere. I’ts why the Flash’s Rogue’s gallery is easily one of the most dangerous; while there are outliers like the reverse flash, most of them are part of the rouges, and ascribe to their rules and morals.. and thus the camradre and support that comes with it. One guy with a cold gun or a super flamethrower or a weather wand or mirror powers.. is pretty damn tough. All four and more together, willing to bail one another out, having their own tailor and weapons hookups. The four remind me of that: a bunch of guys who have the common goal of beating darkwing but likely just.. hang out when not trying to do crimes. Well except negaduck, hence the four thing. By not being able to just easily turn them on one another, it means you HAVE to take them all at once. Even if you got rid of negaduck as both the comics and the 2017 reboot have shown.. you still have 4 immensley powerful, quackerjack included, supervillians who easily can work together instead of a bunch of angry assholes who tend to work better one at a time and just with a united goal. Point is Darkwing Duck is Darkwing Fucked.  Darkwing once again refuses help and yells at Stegmutt, because he’s been evne douchier than usual, and then makes the mistake of yelling at Neptunia, who promptly has her octopus friend throw him into the distance because .. well he deserves it. So while Darkwing patches up that wound to his pride and his spleen, we finally meet our vilians new boss: NEGADUCK. And... they do not explain why a guy who looks exactly like drake is here, if he has any relation to the other negaduck he was inspired by, or why any of them would trust him. This would bother me more.. if A) it wasn’t too much of a stretch for darkwing to have foes we hadn’t seen given the whole casefiles thing and B).. well okay this isn’t really a logical opinon but since when have that stopped me. 

There’s a damn good reason that Negsy has one of the biggest episode counts of Darkwings villians. The guy is just.. the perfect foil to Darkwing, the Joker to his batman, the reverse flash to his flash, the green goblin to his spider-man, the sabertooth to his wolverine. He’s Drake’s equal and opposite number. While Drake can’t take two steps as Darkwing without wanting some attention, Negsy is happy to avoid having any until the moment strikes. While Drake wants attention as much as he wants to do the right thing, Negsy just simply loves doing what he’s doing. To quote the Spies are Forever song “Somebody’s Gotta Do it” “Can’t you see.. how much I enjoy this, i’d never avoid this, cause buddy i’m a diffrent breed. This is my calling, and though it’s appaling, I love making people bleed.” 

He just LOVES being evil. He’s as comically devoted to being a bad guy as Darkwing is to being a good one. He loves the idea of being able to shoot a bunny, he revels in his villiany and he loves every second. But as I said unlike darkwing he dosen’t let his flaws get in the way of his villiany as much. He still does on occasion, he’s still a version of Darkwing after all, but he has his eyes far more on the prize and is far less prone to distraction. He dosen’t care about toy deals or infamy.. he just wants to watch the world burn and laugh manically over the flames. While his obessions CAN be used against him.. as this episode shows it only lasts for a bout a second and he’s usually ready for it. He’s a Drake with no morals, no connections and few drawbacks. And he’s also every bit as clever, with him winning for most of the two parter. And not because the plot needs him too.. he’s simply THAT good at planning, with his plan here being geninely clever. I’m REALLLY hoping for Frank to lead the reboot because combining ALL of this with his reboot backstory will be divine if he gets to. Negaduck was very much worth the hype. 

So his next plan, itself clever.. is to dress up as Darkwing and inflitrate SHUSH, taking out the next possibly thing that could stop them. And he does so easily, even while Darkwing is there and to show off just how friggin awesome he is predicts what Drake will say. The only thing that trips him up is drake hilarious pointing out a cute bunny, because he and the other Negsy apparently share the same burning hatred, causing him to get out his shotgun. And can I just say how wonderful it is he can use a shotgun?  That’d never pass nowadays, which isn’t the worst thing but i do question why VILLIANS can’t be shown being reckless with fire arms. Their the bad guys, kids aren’t going to see it as a good thing. And they still equate laser guns with guns. They aren’t going to trivilaize gun violence because of Darkwing Duck or Looney Tunes. 

Even being found out Negaduck still acomplishes his goal and floods thing. So now both the cops and shush are down, and things aren’t looking great. Darkwing’s still determined he can do this himself and beat them.. but it’s transparent that not only he CAN’T and won’t admit he’s outnumbered but freely admits he just wants the biggest win of his career by taking them all out 4 to 1. Probablem is.. he’s not spider-man and this isn’t the sinister six. As I said he’s not fighting a villian group whose egos clash so badly , at least whent hey first formed, they have to take turns or in later iterations have some member blackmailed in> Their working in concert. He needs help but as we’ve seen multiple times now Darkwing just can’t accept it. He has to be in the limelight and while he does have to relearn the lesson .. it works better here as personality flaws aren’t the kind of thing that fixes itself overnight. Sometimes never. It feels less like it does sometimes in cartoons, where the character just.. never fucking learns, and more like Darkwing has learned it.. he’s just so very human and thus can’t resist sliding black. Less peter griffin more bojack horseman is what i’m saying. I mean there are still bits of just poor writing, but for the most part his ego is like most of his enimies: he just can’t get it to stay beat. 

So it won’t suprise you that when the national guard and gizmoduck are called he’s not happy. You may recall when I reviewed “Tiff of the Titans” I REALLY hated this verison of Gizmoduck. He was concited as Darkwing but treated like he wasn’t, treating the daring duck of mystery like a criminal for stupid reasons and was generally pretty useless and obnoxious. The fact that hamilton camps gizmoduck voice sounds not like a 20-30 something like Fenton is but like Grandpa Simpson mixed with a dash of dudley doo right dosen’t help. 

It’s not lost on me that Dan Castellaneta’s character is NOT the one that sounds like Abe Simpson either. But while that problem is still around... the rest of them.. aren’t. Gizmoduck’s character development actually stuck from last time, so rather than be a dick to darkwing he’s warm, friendly and happy to accept his help when Darkwing shows up, thinking his old “Buddy” is just volunteering to help instead of screaming at him for doing his job. Not only that but while he still has elements of a standard superman type “Cape” hero parody... their more toned down and actually funny with him giving giant speeches, and that being useda gainst him and being over the top.. but still being the noble, big hearted hero you’d expect from the roll, just wanting to do good not for the Glory he gets anyway, but because people need him. In short.. he’s 100% better thsi go round. Well okay 80.. he still sounds like this. 

Gos also brings Morgana along, because apparently she forgot the entire episode where her father was so obssed with being noticed he tried to upstage his 10-12 year old daughter... and you know the hundred other times Drake put his ego over his job. 

So he naturally wants to shoo her while Gizmo. .warmly welcomes the help because he recognizes that people are counting on them not counting on him.  Just then the villians make their move and activate the electro slave device from earlier which.. does nothing like that’d sound like and just creates a giant electrical wall, cutting off ST. Canard and bringing the plan full circle: The villains have now cut off the town and taken out almost anything that could oppose them. And despite you know everything Darking only gets more pissy when Stegmutt and Neptunia show up., Stegmutt because he still wants to return Darkwing’s change as Darkwing bought a hot dog from him and Stegmutt’s also a really sweet guy and Neptuina because well... .the ocean’s her thing and a bunch of bad guys just put a giant line through it she’s now on the other side of. Gizmo suggests the obvious: It’s a day unlike any other when a threat no one duck, or fish or dino duck, can face alone. It’s time to assemble! And Gos is more than excited about the idea, suggesting the name Justice Ducks which.. is honestly fairly weak in my opinon. Not BAD but very clearly just “Justice League” with Ducks in it. Given how good the series is at names, you think they’d of taken more than five minutes on this one. Maybe it was disney mandate I dunno.  But the concept itself.. is brilliant and I wish it came back in other epiosdes; Taking a bunch of other heroic characters in a setting and making them into a team is always a great idea, it’s why the tmnt unvierses have been using the mutanimals more and more lately, and they do ballance each other out nicely. You have a nice contrast of powers: while multiple have super strength, stegmutt is your bruiser, Gizmo is the tech guy, darkwing’s the strategy, morgana handles magic and Neptuina can swim in anything and is super strong and agile outside and inside water, so as long as she can keep hydrated, she’s useful> Which by the way has ALWAYS been the case for aquaman.. except the superfriends version. 

He really does suck and ruined it for the rest of them till Jason Mamoa and his mighty abs, coupled with Geoff Johns run on the charcter that served as the foundation for that movie, finally rescued the character from a fucking decades old cartoon’s smear campagin.  They have the makings of a great team.. it’s just Darkwing dosen’t want a team and screams at everyone to get out and that he dosen’t need them.. I mean he does try to be softer on Morgana but.. he’s still a dick and she really should dump him. Seriously, their attraction is superficial, at this point at least we’ll see in Feburary if it gets any bettter, he dosen’t respect her as a person, and now he’s having to restrain himself at yelling at her.. for HELPING HIM. When he clearly needs it. Holy shit... I was not prepared for that amount of douche. And this would sink the two parter.. were this not clever setup for one hell of a downfall and not a key part of his character. Like has been said: Ego is a massive part of him, and as Tad Stones has put it his real arch enemy. It’s been the basis for several episodes and as we saw in the pilot was his motivation for getting into crimefighting in the first place. He means well and clearly has a heart.. but this is just as much about thwarting evil as it is the attention. And here it’s used perfectly as in the reverse of the gizmoduck episode, where he wanted attention but for fully understandable reasons and judged Gizmo more on stealing his thunder, which while petty i’ll admit is a bit fair given Gizmo did NOTHING in St. Canard but got the key of the city while Darwing had saved it multiple times at this point. 

Here he’s being petty and selfish.. and he has no good reason. It’s just his own ego wanting the credit for everything when it’s not what he or the city needs. Honestly this feels like an ahead of it’s time parody of how Batman would be written when written poorly sometimes in the years after this episode:  a massive dick who thinks he knows better than everybody else and everything else should be entrusted to him because he’s the goddamn batman, the kind who throws people out as potential parts of his family for petty shit and acts like a controlling ass and okay maybe this is spiralling a bit. But the refusal to see any other way is right? Yeah that defintelyf its darkwing like a glove and eveyrone leaves either bummed or pissed at him. And the most pissed? Launchpad who while agreeing to it, his face and tone clearly mean he’s disapointed in his buddy for acting like this when now is REALLY not the time. 

And I wish.. we got more on this because Launchpad disappears till the ending scene after this. No really. Despite being Darkwing’s best friend and sidekick and despite warranting a spot on the justice ducks and despite having every reason to pitch in. he just vanishes. I mean Ducktales may of gone overboard in not having him around since Let’s Get Dangerous, but at least that’s a valid reason: he has another family, he’s really busy and Scrooge has another talented pilot to do the job for him. Granted he’s clearly still doing it offscreen at times but he was both a major part of an hourlong and will be part of any possible spinoff. And hell even back in season 1 when the character ballance was at it’s worst... Donald and Beakly at least HAD reasons for not being in a whole lot of episodes: Donald HATED his uncle, HATED adventure, and HATED the fact his kids were following in their mothers footsteps as he only saw death at the end of it. While they SHOULD have found ways to include him more and his exclusion was pretty bad... he at least had a reason. Here launchpad just has to go now his home planet needs him. And he’s not the only one Gosalyn gets more, she’s worried about darkwing, we’ll get to why in a second and wants to go but Gizmoduck refuses.. and then ALSO vanishes. Which makes even less sense as when has Gosalyn EVER listned to an authority figure? Especially when her dad might be dead? It’s just grossly out of character for her to agree to sit things out and not just tag along with steggmutt anyway once gizmo can’t stop her. I do get this is about the justice ducks but there’s no reason to neglect the other main characters. At least have Negsy capture them too or something. Cripes. 

So yeah the “thinking he’s dead part”. Darkwing sets out to find the five’s lair and misses the big honking flag Negaduck set up, but finds a crumb, puts two and two together and finds them.. as Negaduck planned. Down to the crumb thing as, in my faviorite line of the episode, he planned on Darkwing missing the flag and focusing on the flimisiit clue instead. Naturally they kick his ass, EASILY, and throw him out a window to his death and in classic bond villian fashion don’t check for proof of death. Krakoa would be ashamed. So part one ends with darkwing duck getting thrown to his possible death...

Only for part 2 to pick up with him landing in a trash truck before exiting. And this.. is what makes the ego parts tolerable.. Darkwing.. earnestly reflects, depressed he let his own ego get in the way of things and shoo off his only hope, and thus let the villians take over the city, with Bushroot’s plants harassing people, quackerjacks teeth running the police, and Megavolt having taken the power company and using it to shake down locals and Liquidator flooding part of the city for a plan we’ll get to in a moment. He’s at his lowest point and tht’s while it work: his hubris DOSEN’T get unpunished, he’s fully sorry for it and while he dosen’t out and out apologize to them, he’s not only genuinely contrite but does work well with them and evenly when he finally does get back to them.. but we’ve got a bit to go before that.  So with Darkwing missing Gizmo takes over as big good and not bein ga prick eagerly takes the others help Neptuina nopes out of helping, which fits her personality, so with only three left because he dosen’t consider children useful  which shame on you. I mean i’ts responsible from a real world standpoint but not from a cartoon show standpoint. But anyways they split up gang: Gizmo will go take the power plant back, Morgana will try and use her spells to find the lair and Stegmutt will find darkwing. I do like despite how they neglect Gosalyn that her friendship with Stegmutt was remembered and used as a plot point here. 

So we then get to a rather repttitive part of the two parter. It’s not lacking in good gags or character moments but it’s basically the same scene repeated 4 times just with a diffrent scenario and gag for each of the justice ducks and the fearsome five member they encounter. They do their respective schicks the hero is defeated.. this is 5 or so minutes of a 20+ minute episode. Not TERRIBLE stuff, iv’e seen worse repttition, but not terribly intresting compared to the rest of the four parter.  So, Neptuina encounters Liquidator, whose scheme is selling rafts to people to not drown in exhange for a millioin dollars.. or whatever they have he’s not picky, and they fight but Liqui ultimately wins, Gizmoduck, in the best of the four sequences, swoops in to stop Megavolt and not only lands on his foot.. but spends so long speechifiing Mega gets him from behind, phrasing. Stegmutt hilariously tries disgusing himself with Groucho glasses and is bested by Quackerjack, and Morgana finds the lair but gets taken out by bushroot, though her pet spider archie escapes to go warn the others. 

So after all that Archie makes it back to darkwing’s hq.. only for launchpad to squish him. “ew a bug!”.. just a great quick laugh. Thankfuly he’s more resilent than the average spider and is fine once Gosalyn scrapes him off and they now know the five are in trouble. Also I was wrong Launchpad does return.. for this one scene. And neither get into action once Darkwing returns and after an overly long bit of him deflecting blame to the point I was screaming. 

That being said it is nice when once Darkwing is aware of the situation he gloats a little.. but still goes to save them without any hint of caring about doing it all himself. He learned his lesson.  So at the Lair of the five, Negsy shows what a sadsitc bastard he is, another great side of him.. from a writing standpoint at least. It shows that like darkwing despite a comedic exterior.. he’s VERY dangerous. And he’s set up speciic tourtures for each of the five he has: He’s hooked up Gizmoducks armor to a device that lets him control it’s power flow, so right now it’s entirely drained.. but he can overload it and electrocute him to death when he flips THE SWITCH. Neptuina is stuck under a heat lamp and will fry when he hits THE SWITCH. Stegmutt is stuck in a weightless enviorment that will also loose air when he hits THE SWITCH and morgana is in a chair that will crush her tod eath when he hits.. THE SWITCH... he really loves THE SWITCH and props to him. A lesser villian would’ve had all the traps have a diffrent trigger which while making it harder on any rescuers is just a time waster asking for the heroes he hasn’t gotten to yet to break free. And while it is based in his sadism he still fully intends to watch the deaths personally. Seriously he’s got all his bases covered.. and would’ve won.. if it wasn’t for the rest of the five.  The rest of the five are fighting over territoiry: Buddies they may be but they all want the pie. Negaduck, in his most badass scene shuts them up by pulling out his signture chainsaw for hte first time and scaring the crap out of htem, then using it to carve up the model of the city: They each get a quarter.. and he gets all the loot. Which they dont’ like but agree to to not die today. Though really... what’s the value of that? They have a full city held hostage, control over a quarter each, and no real way to SPEND the loot without letting someone else, say scrooge mcduck, in to stop them. Just give him the money and let him sit on it Smaug style. You get a quarter of a new york sized city to yourself to live out your dreams. I’d love that... maybe nto become a supervillian for that but still, point is you have carte blanche jsut take the W.  Darkwing meanwhile uses Nega’s scheme against him and plans to be delivering skulls, after flowers only piss nega off, and then knocks the guy out.. though his attempt at playing Nega fails as the Four have wisely decided that since they outnumber him and a four way split of the loot is better than none of it, to kill him. Nega.. is not pleased and just wants them to attack him, and they do, and it seems darkwing’s going to have a front row seat for THE SWITCH. But Darkwing recovers, and we get a great tug of war between him and negsy as the switch is turnd on and off on and off till Darkwing finally wins, and then frees Morgana and apologizes and has her free Gizmo, and so on and so on. So our team is reunited, Darkwing’s finally ready to lead and thus we get our battle cries “Justice Ducks, ASSEMBLE!” “Fearsome Five, GET OVER HERE!” And the two face off

And the battle.. is fantastic. Easily the series best so far as everyone gets a moment to shine. Neptuina takes out both Liquidator and Megavolt, this time beating liquidator by creating a whirlpool inside him and turning him into a watery tornado and crashing him into megavolt before he can get stegmutt. Gizmoduck beats Quackerjack handily by using a drill on the teeth, great gag then giving Jacky some ansteic.. a boxing glove to the face. And Stegmutt takes on bushroot and when unsure of what to do.. we get a truly wonderous callback as Stegmutt.. honestly dosen’t know what to do.. so Darkwing gets some payback and tells him to “put out the bushroot, put out the bushroot” you can guess what happens next

Or if you want the more recent versoin

Point is three down two to go, and we get a call back to the pudding thing with Morgana trying to hit liquidator.. before Darkwing in a show of how much of a team player he is now, offers his help, simply having Morg teleport some instant pudding mix over the guy... I mean at least it’s brown this time even if i’ts still  in a jello mold. And to finish it off he and gizmo awesomely use a mixer on both sides. So our heroes have triumphed.. almost. Negs has the controls for the barrier and runs out planning to destroy st canard if they refuse.. then being Negaduck decides fuck it i’ll do it anyway... but Darkwing stops him and we get a slapstick beatdown as DW uses an anvil a pie and other classics and utterly curbstomps his nemissi in an wesome scne. The day is saved, the generator shut down and the city freed.  So we wrap up with the Justice Ducks celebrating.. with Gos and Launchpad. I have an inlking how that conversation went. 

Darkwing relcutnatnly is forced to eat his own words and admit he both enjoys the team and needed their help, before heading off on that Date with Morgana.. though Gizmoduck tries to make it a group thing. Dude no one likes a third wheel.. not even when i’ts ninja brian. So Darkwing uses the iris out to escape, but Stegmutt does try and give that quarter back first, with Darkwing, in a genuinely sweet moment, telling him to keep it and then going off, having earned his happy ending and grown as a person.  Final Thoughts: This episode was WORTH the build up I gave it. It turns out I really didnt’ need most of the intro epsidoes, as while it enhances the villians the heroes are all given decent enough introductions apart from morgana so tht even without the context of how darkwing knows these people it still works. It’s a thrilling, tightly paced for the most part, hilarious and wonderful two parter that ties a huge chunk of the show together into one hour long masterpice. I had my issues of course and i’ve stated them: Gosalyn and Launchpad doing nothing, the pacing towards the middle of part 2.. but otherwise.. it’s perfect. It’ has a great character arc for darkwing on top of everything, once again having his ego bite him in the ass but in a unique enough way it dosen’t feel like a retread of the pilot, and having him genuinely feel bad about it and grow. a bit smug when he learns he has to rescue them sure but he’s never smug to the heroes themselves. And ironically.. he gets his big moment. While he dosen’t beat the five himself he still infliatrated their hq, beat up their leader, saved his friends and then beat negaduck all by himself AGAIN. It may of not been the big moment he wanted.. but it’s the one he needed.  As for the road to the justice ducks itself.. it was a fun ride. Only one honestly two bad episodes; Tiff otf the Titans and Paint Misbehavin and even those had their moments, paticuarlly Misbehavin’s art sequences. The rest of the episodes ranged from alright to standout and overall it was a hell of a time.. so i’m going to rank all the ones i covered leading up to this review. Just Us Justice Ducks (Both Parts) Negaduck Beauty and the Beat Dry Hard Jurassic Jumble Ghoul of My Dreams Something Fishy Fungus Amongus Whiffle While You Work Paint Misbehavin Tiff of the Titans And i’m proud to say this is the first ongoing project on the blog, the first story arc or what have you, i’ve completed. While I DID do a four parter of catch as cash can, this is the first one i’ve done over several months that i’ve completed and i’m proud of it. Does this mean i’m done with Darkwing?

Next week we’ll be wrapping up some more unfinished buisness with another Darkwing Double Feature, this time covering the short career of Quiverwing Quack and in Feburary, and the reason I spent so much time catching up, we’ll be seeing both Morgana and Negaduck again just in time for Valentine’s day. After that?

We’ll just have to see won’t we? So until there’s another rainbow, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. 

[thecanadianowl]

Batman: Death in the Family Review (SPOILERS)

 This is going to be long.

I originally had no interest in watching this mainly because it's based off a story where its only significance is Jason's death. The thing that won me over was the "choose your adventure" type which is an interesting style to do for this particular event. The three main selections are Jason cheats death, Robin dies and Batman saves Robin. Of those 3, only 1 of them was the most interesting. But before I do that, let me go over why the other 2 were disappointing.

 Robin dies choice is basically a rehash of the Under the Red Hood animated movie only its shortened and narrated by Bruce as he is speaking to Clark Kent at a diner. All it is a repeat of shit we knew. Bruce blames himself for the path he set Jason on and Clark giving a hopeful message of finding Jason. All this choice does is add an extended ending.

Robin cheats death one puts Jason having gone through surgery, having his skin grafted and stitched up from the explosion. The trauma and pain has Jason resent Bruce for the life he been put into and basically becomes Hush. He goes after criminals (btw decapitating Nygma, waay too much) which gets the attention of of Talia Al Ghul where she proposes an alliance with Jason while also taking in baby Damian under his tutelage. The problem isnt the story itself bit that it had so much potential. Seriously it could have been Batman:Hush as well as seeing where this conflict between Bruce and Jason will end now that Talia and Damian are in the equation. Btw Talia fans, this is probably the only ending with the character you are gonna like.

Batman saves Robin okay this is the one with multiple choices involved and goes down interesting paths for some of them. So Batman saves Robin but in doing so, he dies and Robin lives, and Nightwing becomes Batman (cool I guess, too bad they never gave him any dialogue). The first choice given is whether Jason chases/arrests the Joker or Kills him.

Kill Joker option where Jason is at a Diner and talks with this stranger who is revealed to be Joker who is now given up being the Joker because “his” Batman is gone. He recites the ‘2 inmates escape an asylum’ joke that he said in the Killing Joke allowing for Jason to put it together and kill him right there in front of 2 cops who are also in the diner.Immediately after you are given the choice to turn yourself in or run. The run option is the one that matters because Jason becomes Red Robin and begins his killing spree. Which Btw is just recycled footage they used in the Robin cheats death option just with the Red Robin edited over Hush. Really? Was budget that low? But what makes this ending good is that RR is later pinned down by Two Face and given the clean/scratched coin option, Jason is saved by Tim Drake (with a taser) and is reminded of Batman’s code and its importance not only to himself but to the people of Gotham. In doing so Jason stops killing and takes Tim in as a sidekick: BatKid. Seriously, that is the name you chose? Why not have Jason be Nightwing (which he was for short while, albeit to ruin Dick’s reputation) and Tim be Robin? Batkid :Great name for a kid’s Make-A -Wish dream, not so great if you want to use it in more serious context . This is one of the better endings as Jason becomes a better person in the end and the type of hero Bruce would have wanted but at the same time shows that Jason’s past habits were hard to get rid of especially with his father gone.

Arrest Joker has Jason become Redhood to lure Joker out in public. When he does that and unveils his true identity to him, the Joker brags about how he created him and how his rage has lead him down a murderous path, reinforcing the jokers belief of "one bad day". The next decision to be made is whether Jason should kill Joker or not. This decision ultimately has no impact as both decision lead to the same concluding decision set. I chose to kill him because let's be honestly this the path set by Jason really compliments the 2 choice options you have to make in the final one. Where Jason is confronted by Talia with a resurrected Batman who only says “Zur-en-arrh” trying to get Jason to join them but later results in a fight.

Okay there is a lot to unpack here. First: Did Grant Morrison write this? I’m asking because of how he has written Talia during his run on Batman (and how it upsets a lot of fans). You would think Talia knowing first hand what the effects of the Lazarus pit are, would she actually risk it turning the man she loves into a husk of his former self? Yes she would want Bruce to join her on their crusade against the corruption of the modern world but not if it meant Bruce wasn’t in a rational state of mind. Secondly, of all the possible Batman personas/iterations why this one?

I know they give some sort of reason near the end, but it just seemed so out of nowhere. Maybe I am looking too much into this, but if they were going to go this route, I feel like it would have been cooler to see Bruce in the Knightfall suit or have him wear a similar Batsuit that Damian wore in Batman 666.

And thirdly, you would think a fight between Jason and Bruce (where the roles are reversed, sorta) would be the most epic shit ever, but it doesn’t even last a minute it ends with either Bruce getting stabbed or knocked out (depending on which you choose). Before I go with why I think letting Bruce live is the better ending, I would like to say that when Jason kills him, Bruce sets off a bomb killing all three of them and the final shot  of Jason’s corpse is very reminiscence of that comic cover of Jason caught in the explosion. I thought it was cool.

Now the reason why, I liked the save ending (and find it to be the definitive ending for this movie)   is that Jason gives up being Redhood and works with Babs, Dick and Alfred in helping Bruce gain back his sanity.  This  ending encompasses all that was needed for Jason’s arc from becoming Redhood, to killing Joker, to his realization how wrong his methods were to being part of the Batfamily again and finally to save his father. It encompasses the idea that being Batman is more than just pain and suffering, its about hope and being able to become a better person, that your pain/anger doesn’t define who you are/can be.

Overall, I feel that this movie is a disappointing as both a prequel/sequel to Under the Red Hood. Unless you are a huge fan of Jason Todd, wait for a sale or when they release this in a collection with their other movies. The letdown for me is that certain choices have better writing than others and supporting characters aren’t used to their full potential. That being said, the idea of having different choices and giving the audience the chance to explore each of them. I hope they do this with other pivotal moments in DC’s history.

Also do the writers hate Black Mask? I get he isn’t the most popular Bat-villain but damn Sionis gets the short end of the stick in every timeline especially in the first ending of Robin Cheating death, it was so ridiculous that it is borderline hilarious

[xmalereader]

Jason Todd X Male Reader

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@theplacewhererobindied

Request: Male!reader/Jason Todd? They met during one patrol where R saves Jay (being just like Jay)&they become friends immediately. Then R stays at Jay's place a lot, wears Jay's clothes to batfamdinners (Batfam notices this), they go out for food and when they come across the Batfam whenever they're patrolling together, Jay&R are always teasing the other, get into each personal space. One day Dick asks how long they've been together & they realise they're in love and they kiss in the rain *-*

Warnings: Kissing, fluff, flirting

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Jason and Y/n have been close friends for as long as they can remember, the two knew each other even before Bruce Wayne adopted Jason into the family. He was there when he received the knews about Jasons death and the news to when he came back to life and was reversing the rules that Batman had set. It took Jason a couple of months to recover and to start following the regular rules that were set down in the batfamily. Y/n always stayed by Jason’s side, that he actually had the guts to dress up as one of the bat members and patrol with Jason. He was always afraid of losing him.

They would follow each other around every time they patrolled together and would sometimes crack up jokes or even tease one another. Things were going well until Jason started to invite him over at his place, they would stay up all night either talking or watching a movie, sometimes they would cuddle in bed but that didn’t seem to give off any weird vibes between the two. They were so close that Jason would offer his clothes to y/n and he would walk around the manor wearing Jason’s oversized clothes as he either goes to the bathroom or to just walk around the gardens outside.

Dick was the first one to notice this, he noticed how close both y/n and Jason were when they would hang out together or just talk to each other. He was able to sense the teasing tone in there voices every time they spoke, sometimes y/n would tease Jason so hard that he would put him into a flustered state that shocked Dick the most since Jason was always a closed up guy and only spoke rudely to others but when it came to Y/n he spoke about him like he was his boyfriend. Soon, another question popped up in his mind, Are they dating??

Dick didn’t know what to think, it’s not like he was against people who liked the same sex it was just that it was a bit unbelieveable for him to think that Jason was actually dating someone that opened him up. Usually him and Damian would try to open him up but it always ended in a fight between Jason and Damian since they were always arguing with each other.

Tim on the other hand wasn’t as useful, he was always locked up drowning himself in coffee and focusing on his cases...felt like he didn’t even live with them.

As the months go by, both Jason’s and y/n’s relationship has grown stronger. One night they were out on patrol and keeping an eye out for anything dangerous. Y/n was sitting on the edge of the roof as he kicked his legs and hums to himself,

“Where is my little robin?” Y/n sang out softly as he continues to hum and stare out into the distance.

“Little robin? You and Damian dating or something?” He is startled by Jasons voice. He leans back to tilt his head backwards to see Jason standing behind him. “Nope, Damian is too sassy for me and I was talking about you. We always patrol together and yet somehow you ended up coming late, again.” He reminds his red hood as he stands up and giggled.

Y/n jumps down to Jason’s side, smiling as he wraps his arm around Jason’s arm and smirks at him. “Your never late, so tell me. Why were you late?” He asks and pulls his arms away and placed them on his hips. Jason could only laugh and shake his head. “I was just in the bat cave doing some research that Tim asked me to do.” He answers back. “Hm, that’s odd. Tim doesn’t usually ask for help.” Said y/n as he placed a finger under his chin and shrugs. “Well at least you were being a good brother and helping him out.”

The younger male turns around to proceed there patrol. He sits again and lets his legs swing back and forth and hums his little song again.

Jason could only stare at the back of Y/n’s head, he was slowly frowning from under his mask as he continued to watch the other sing to himself. Jason and Y/n have been friend for as long as he can remember and he really cared about him but lately his feelings for y/n have been changing. Yeah, he liked him as a friend but there were times when he would just want to grab his face and kiss him so hard that he wouldn’t even forget who kissed him but he was afraid.

Jason wasn’t afraid of anything but losing y/n was one of his biggest fears. He always doubted himself on confessing so he kept those feelings bottled up and far away.

Shaking his head he walks over to sit next to y/n, smiling a little as he glanced at him. He turns back to look at the city and just sits there and waits for anything to happen.

The two remained silent for part of the night, no crimes have happened so far and Jason was grateful. He didn’t feel like dealing with anyone right now since he was too busy staring at y/n. Before they could call it a night it started to rain, y/n raised a brow and held his hand out to feel the drops land on his hand. “It’s probably going to rain harder soon so we should head back and report to Batman.” He says. Glancing over to Jason only to see him staring at him. “What?” He says.

Jason slowly approaches y/n, he lifts his hands up to remove his mask. Y/n steps back a little in confusion. “Jason what-?” He opens his mouth but is cut off by Jason handing him his helmet. Y/n takes it and looks down at it, tilting his head. “What is this for exactly?” He questions. Tilting his head back up to see Jason staring down at him with a nervous look. “I just want you to hold it for a while and maybe use it to hit me.”

“Hit you? Jason, why would I hit you with this?”

“Because who knows if what I’m about to do is acceptable to you.”

“Jason-“

Jason placed a hand against y/n’s cheek and pulls him into a kiss. The kiss was moist since it was pouring down rain but it was nice and warm. Jason’s lips were soft and warm. Y/n lets out a small moan as he lets the helmet slip from his hands, hearing it land on the pavement he wraps his arms around Jason’s neck and deepens the kiss.

The two remained in the rain kissing for a good several minutes, this was how there first kiss was. Standing on top of a rooftop late at night and kissing in the rain.

That was four years ago.

Now that they have been dating for four years they have also been staying over at each other’s place. They continued to patrol together until y/n was the first one to retire from being a vigilant. He has recently gotten a job at an art studio and had become a teacher, he tried to balance work and hero nights a few times bit it always ended up with him waking up late and grading assignement were always late too. He even got to a point where he had to drink coffee every morning and he didn’t want to end up like Tim.

He remembers approaching Bruce and telling him that he was retiring, he gave his reasons and apologized. Feeling a bit guilty for leaving the team but Bruce was able to understand and still welcomed him into the family. He even invited him to have dinner with them tonight at the manor. Y/n couldn’t refuse the offer.

So, here he was sitting across from Jason as he eats dinner with the rest of the family.

“Can’t believe your leaving me, I thought we were friends!” Tim says out dramatically as he stabs into his spaghetti and whimpers. Y/n only laughs and shakes his head. “I’m not leaving you guys, I just cant focus with both work and patrol. But, I’ll still be around to visit. We all know that Jason cant live without me.” He teased as he sends the skunk head a wink.

Jason hides his blushing face and clears his throat, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” He mumbled back and shoves food into his mouth to keep himself from talking.

Dick raised a brow and clears his throat. “Hey y/n, got any hot dates recently? I’ve got a friend who’s needing a date for Saturday.” He offers, he noticed the small glare on Jason’s face.

Y/n swallows his food and shakes his head. “I’ve already have someone.”

“You’ve got a girlfriend?” Damian asks this time as he smirks at him.

Y/n chuckled, “boyfriend,” he corrects. “Thanks for the offer Dick but I don’t think my boyfriend would approve of that.” He turns to face Jason. “Ain’t that right skunk head?”

Everyone’s heads turn to Jason.

“That’s right, so Dick stop hooking him up with dates when he already has a boyfriend.”

Dick only stares with a smirk. “I knew it! I knew you two were dating!”

“Wait there dating?” Tim.

“Who would want to date him?” Damian.

“Wait, Jason can date?” Bruce.

Y/n’s stared at them in shock, “you guys didn’t know that we were dating? I thought it was obvious...” he says shyly and stared down at his plate of food and pushed a meatball around.

“I knew!” Said dick.

“How long have you guys been dating?” Damian asks this Time as he eats some spaghetti.

“....four years..”

Bruce chokes on his water and coughs violently as Damian gags on his food and spits it out. While Dick’s mouth was wide open in shock and Tim was slowly processing everything.

“Four years?!” Damian shouts out as he stands up from his seat.

“What? You jealous, demon spawn?” Jason grins at his little brother as he twirled his fork around on his fingers.

“You wish.” Damian hissed out and glared.

“It’s not a big deal...?” Y/n shrugs as Damian slams his hands on the table.

“It’s a huge deal! Jason can’t be dating the most intelligent and attractive person in this family!”

“Ohhh, coming out moment.” Says Tim with an evil grin.

Damian blushed, “I’m not gay, drake!” He shouts back as the two began to argue and toss garlic bread at each other. As Bruce sits in his seat, sighing at the two youngest kids he has. “I don’t mind that Jason is dating y/n, just a little surprised but as long as they both treat each other well than I am fine with that.”

Y/n, Jason, and Dick were to only ones who heard Bruce since both Damian and Tim were still fighting.

Y/n smiles at Bruce and nods his head in agreement. “We treat each other well.”

Once all of that was settled both Damian and Tim were have a war with the bread sticks. “Kids these days.” Says Dick. “tell me about it.” Y/n says as he watched the rivalry against the siblings.

‘What-?! Jason put that bread stick down!!”