#and the last panel is just tim's worried face

[suhmayzooka]

helena bertinelli (huntress) in shadow of the bat #53

[celaenaeiln]

I remember seeing a panel of Bruce and Barbara(?) talking how Dick's feelings for Starfire(?) Is just a phase and Babs(?), and thought about if Bruce had ever pushed/or try to direct Dick to date a girl he (Bruce) liked/preffered Dick to date? I mean I don't think Bruce will forcibly do so, but he clearly has preferences (cough titans is Nono to him cough).

Batman: Gotham Knights Issue #43

This one!

Even though he said this to Barbara, Bruce has drawn a line in overtly interfering with Dick's love life. Actually he makes it very clear that he's not going to interfere with Dick's love life after bringing up the topic.

Nightwing (1999) Issue #14

Which is....what just happened? Was he saying he disapproves? Clearly not because he says he believes in Dick and that sounds genuine. But then does that mean he approves? Then why didn't he give a clear answer, actually why did he even bring it up because Dick wasn't even talking about that in the first place.

He's openly supportive of Tim's choices so why doesn't he just say what he thinks about Dick? I guess it doesn't help that Dick reacts like a cat in hot water when it comes to Bruce's involvement in his life so this is probably that Bruce doesn't know what to say. I don't know if he doesn't want Dick to date anyone, which tracks from his thoughts on Dick's relationships with people in general, or if he has a particular inclination toward someone but he's afraid of saying it because he doesn't want it to blow up in his face.

Obviously the Titans are a no way. Like the Titans aren't even on the table for Bruce when it comes to acceptable Dick Grayson dating choices. They're probably in the neighbor's trash can lol.

He's against civilians in general, even for himself, so that wouldn't fly with him. Anyone from the league or heroes are just as bad as the Titans for Bruce because he's terrified of Dick leaving him and has canonical attachment issues to him. So it would have to be someone in Gotham or in direct attachment to the batfamily so he can gatekeep Dick Grayson.

That only leaves two available choices - Barbara and Helena - that Bruce would ever be okay with Dick dating. You know how sometimes people compromise or say things like "I love you and would do anything for you but in the end it's up to you and I respect that", yeah...Bruce just leaves off the last part indefinitely.

Although this comic issue is older, it shows that he's not particularly keen on Barbara either,

Detective Comics (1937) Issue #369

But that was then when it was just Dick, Barbara, and Bruce. Now there are more players in the game than just Barbara so compared to how much Dick would pull away if he dated or married one of them, Barbara looks like a shining star of a choice because all of Bruce's actions are inherently selfish although he tries his best not to be.

I think the issue with Bruce and Dick's dating life is the problem he has with Dick's life in general. He clearly wants to interfere, but he's worried about the backlash he's going to get.

Nightwing (2016) Issue #38

Because Dick loves to help others but he hates receiving help much to the despair of literally the entire rest of the hero community. But he's particularily sensitive about Bruce's involvement in his life because he only became Nightwing to prove to Bruce he can take care of himself. Since then, Bruce's relationship in term of helping Dick or giving him his opinions has been a series of "Can I-should I-" thoughts.

So although he'll never tell Dick his opinions because he's scared of the backlash, but he definitely has opinions.

[chamiryokuroi]

I re-read the entirety of Tim Drake: Robin now that we know Bernard is fully aware that Tim is Robin and oh my god.

Spoilers under the cut (Part 2)

Part 1 HERE

Bernard in that last panel like: Tim please I am trying to compliment you can you just take it?

Ok but Bernard using the fact that Tim doesn’t know to share with him his worries is such a good move! He is so smart I love him!!

Meanwhile Tim is so fucking stupid oh my god. Bernard gives Robin a letter meant for Tim and he doesn’t even stop to think for a second that it makes no sense, it would be easier to leave it in the boat, he’s so in love he’s fucking blind 😭

“There’s my boy wonder!” We knew, it was staring at us in the face, and yet we doubted it, fools all of us.

The way Stalker is in bold, he just knows, god I love Bernard.

This entire page is Bernard just going “Tim I swear to whatever is out there if you don’t get me out of here ASAP I am coming back like Laura to haunt you”

Bernard “This bitch thinks I’m stupid” Dowd: I am in love with a dense idiot 🤦🏼

[cinammonelles]

Thoughts about Nea, past!Allen and the next chapter

long post, spoilers under the cut

Okay so I've always wondered why Nea gave up on Allen as his ally so quickly. Allen was one of his closest allies besides Cross and Tim till the time of his death right? He even gave up his body so Nea could execute his masterplan.

Yes, Allen did lose all his memories(or did he?) and somehow ended up in the Black Order. But we know Nea can show him his memories so he should also technically be able to show him past!Allen memories that were locked away? Or atleast memories of himself with past!Allen?

Allen would definitely be torn and overwhelmed and confused after but everyone who has known the "other side of the war" has taken Nea's side so far. And Allen even went so far as to become Nea's vessel in the past. He would definitely take his old friend's side again right? Or even seek out some sort of a middle ground?

Why didn't he do that then? Nea watched all of his memories since Cross started tailing him and Mana. Wouldn't it be easier to have Allen half-cooperate during the little time he has left, instead of having him actively work against him?

There's so much emotion in this one panel here. Confusion, worry, pain, anger, desolation, and maybe even a hint of guilt?

Its like... he just didn't wanna disturb the little equilibrium Allen had managed to create in his life? The little community he had found in the Black Order?

I mean if we think abt it Nea never really wanted to parasitize Allen in the first place(or atleast that's what I think the evidence so far implies). It was just the only option available to them back then. They needed Nea's powers to thwart the Earl & the Noahs' plans. And if Nea died then the Earl would just absorb(?) him and there would be no stopping him after that.

And I think giving up on Allen as an ally was Nea's way of being kind to him. Of returning the favour. Being his ally isn't an easy or pleasant job from what we've seen so far. And Allen would've disappeared anyway from the moment past!Allen transferred Nea's memories to himself. After seeing his attachment to the Order and the friends he made there, maybe he just wanted Allen to disappear with pleasant memories he made at the Order rather than the gruesome memories of being Nea's ally.

This panel in particular is so sad. He was able to give up on Allen as an ally so easily because he still had Tim. Tim was his last remaining ally and then he wasn't. And its particularly cruel how Hoshino pulled this off. He says that he doesn't need anyone else as long as he has Tim and just a few chapters later Apocryphos kills him. Nea must be used to losing allies by now but Tim really was the last real friend he had left(hoshino you cruel cruel woman)

Also the way Link's just bomb dropped the news abt tim?

Imagine hearing your last friend/ally died from some rando and then not even getting the time to process it because your arch enemy's ressurection shows up and somehow has your face? And then you get yeeted back into brain breakroom just as you were about to start beefing with him and the next time you wake up you're in your childhood home which you have mixed, complicated feelings for.

And that's not even getting into the whole 'tim chose allen over nea' thing.

Also if Allen goes back to the mansion and finds Bookman, he's guaranteed to find out atleast part of his past if not the whole. And he would definitely demand to know more from Nea. Will he accept Allen as his ally again now that Tim is gone? Will he accept Link as well? Will he try to kill Johnny again? Will he even be stable enough to consider future plans? Will we ever see Lavi again? We find out next month :D

Or we don't

(I also have a theory abt the Bookmen having the ability to transfer memories but that one's for another time)

Thanks for reading!!!

[9w1ft]

Sharing my random thoughts since you asked for asks! You don’t have to respond. But I was noticing those articles of Karlie finally commenting on Taylor again came right around the time Biden was being pressured to drop out of the election and the Democratic Party seemed to be scrambling a bit. I feel like the friendship groundwork is being laid to be ready in case Trump is actually re-elected and KK is thrown back into the fire by association. His win in 2016 changed so much for them. Thoughts?

i did ask for asks! 😆

in a way i think what you are suggesting is a little bit paradoxical because if they were operating under the same manual and all things being equal, then the threat of a trump win would have had them laying the groundwork to distance themselves again, not the opposite.

that being said, times are sort of different. and priorities are different, in a way. i could write so so much and if people have other points to bring up please do, but ill just write a little.

one thought i had was that last time around they did not know what a trump presidency would mean, only what we could predict, and now they have something to look at as an example. also, jared had played a notable public role in trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, so the win had immediate optic implications as well as logistic implications to anticipate. this time around, jared isn’t on the trail, and is reported to not want a role in a possible second term. i think ivanka did show up at the rnc last month though and brought jared with her.

to circle back to my second point, i just hope that people consider that a lot of this sort of maneuvering or salvaging or pivoting that they might have done following the 2016 election results might not even really apply this time because they are in a different stage of life. biden’s win in 2020 is an example of this. trump being out and a democrat being in marked the end of a lot of worries and barriers that we assume they put up. but with the pandemic and time spent out of public, i get the sense there was a lot of introspection and reevaluating that went on and we can see that one or two little things entered their lives. now, the stakes are a bit different regardless of who is in office.

taylor’s fame is different in scale now too. i don’t think i have to delineate that for anyone here. but i want to say that it feels like it’s nearly reaching “too big to fail” levels

also, one other point i feel compelled to bring up is that while karlie has gone on to maintain haters, all of all this for the past 8 years has by and large not stopped her ability to succeed with her business and creative endeavors. i recognize not everyone’s gonna agree with me on this because it’s a sort of core talking point that is ingrained in a lot of kaylor thinking, but i do recommend people take a step back to look at this from a birds eye view. even just since 2019. karlie has continued to be the face of a perfume in carolina herrera and even repped the brand at the met gala, she became the face of a cosmetics company in estée lauder and still does campaigns for them, she did a line of sportswear in adidas and has continued being the face of products in the health and fitness sector, has continued to expand her forays into the tech sector, has done stuff for many LVMH luxury brands, looking camp right in the eye has become a meme with longevity that she herself has embraced, re-signed with swarovski and repped them at the met gala, has expanded kode with klossy and created many opportunities for her scholars via her connections with all of these brands that she works with, including people like tim cook, and shes got connections to people like bob iger, she helped arrange a tech panel for the white house, she continues walking the runway when she wants at the biggest events where otherwise she gets invites to, like paris fashion week, she continues doing couture fashion spreads, she now owns two magazines, had a street named after her, like, i could go on and on and maybe someone out there is hemming and hawing about project runway but i sometimes feel like people try to equate what people on the internet feel to what the business world feels about karlie and to push that her bearding ruined her image and prospects.. when in fact she’s continued to do so many thing that surely wouldn’t have happened if this association (and for the “see how you didn’t say kushner!” crowd ill say it, her kushner association) was seen as an actual problem to her clients, that actually have working relationships with her and know her. please understand that im not making this a conversation about values. im looking at the actual business reality and any affects there have been, which i would contend there have been less than people often imagine.

all of this to say, i am very much not convinced that the prospects of a second trump term are a driving factor in their decision making this time. i think it’s more about them deciding if it would be valuable to them personally, a net positive in their own lives, to be seen again. and i happen to think a little bit of this is on us to help provide for them. as a proof of concept. a window for them, in a way, in what could be best expected, if any good should be expected all. but that’s a tangent for another time, methinks.

[silverwhittlingknife]

Dick resurrecting Bruce via Lazarus Pit and his reasons for doing so left a bad taste in my mouth. Especially when Dick tried to talk Tim out of it. I don't like it. I wish Tim found out about it and... Had a serious discussion with him? Hit him? Left? I dunno.

Oh man, it's hard for me to talk about this one without the Doylist approach. I'm gonna come back to these panels, but I just want to leave them here as a contrast between how Dick is written in his solo vs. how he's written in Batman and Robin:

Dick: Tim... I ... where does it stop, right? What about your mom, then? My mom and dad? Bruce's...? (Nightwing 139)

Dick: This isn't just "loved ones," Alfie. It's Bruce Wayne, the Batman. He saved our lives, he saved the city and the world how many times? (Batman and Robin 9)

I have SUCH complicated feelings about the Morrison Batman and Robin run? I like a lot of the Dick-Damian-Alfred dynamics, and I love the idea of villain!Jason as a major antagonist for DickBats, and I love what I think is the concept of the Lazarus Pit arc, which is that Dick's slowly crumbling under the pressure of being Batman and Jason's taunting is the last straw that finally pushes him to make a terrible mistake.

But I don't like the execution of the Lazarus Pit arc, and the disregard for big chunks of post-Crisis continuity and characterization is sooo frustrating. ("I don't like to plan"/pro-Lazarus-Pit!Dick, cartoonishly-evil!Talia, redhead!Jason, etc.)

And yet. AND YET. So many of the concepts are so good! The execution is so messy, but the concepts are so good! I want to tear it all up and then put it lovingly back together but different sdfdsfs

I had a lot of thoughts, so below the cut:

Why characterizations in B&R are a huge departure from previous continuity (Doylist version)

Why the Lazarus Pit arc COULD BE SO GOOD though (and how we can make it work with Watsonian reasoning)

Finally getting back to your question - how would Tim react? (tl;dr probably with concern and worry?)

Characterization Changes

Just to give you a bit of an idea of how abrupt a departure B&R is from Dick's solo, here are some panels showing some major changes.

1) Dick on Lazarus Pits: Pro or Against?

Here's Dick arguing against using the Lazarus Pit and telling Tim it won't bring back the soul in Nightwing 139:

Here's Dick doubling down on the evilness of the Lazarus Pit when Ra's taunts him with it post-Bruce's death in Nightwing 152:

But here's Dick arguing that the Lazarus Pit will be fine and that he doesn't believe in "prophecies of doom" in Batman and Robin 7 (and indeed, also in B&R, he'll kill and resurrect Kate with zero consequences - convenient!):

2) Talia: protective or cruel?

Here's Talia worrying about Damian's safety and teaming up with the Batfamily to try to save him from Ra's in Resurrection:

But here's Talia smirking after telling Damian they're enemies now and she's going to replace him with a clone in Batman and Robin 12:

3) Dick and planning

Here's Dick-the-planner in Nightwing 142:

Tim: That's a lotta ordnance. Dick: Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

But here's Dick the impulsive leap-before-you-look guy in Batman and Robin 9:

Dick: ... Okay, I'm sorry - I don't like to plan, I work without a net... I'm not Bruce.

4) Resurrection: the right choice or the wrong choice (part 2)

Here's Dick telling Tim he made the right choice (not trying to resurrect anyone) in Nightwing 139:

But here's Dick insisting that resurrecting Bruce would've been the right choice in Batman and Robin 9:

This is one of those "clearly some people were writing angry letters to the editor" moments sdfdsfds, because it's awkwardly attempting to address Dick's abrupt about-face but the writer still hasn't read the issues in question because

a) Alfred has no way of knowing Dick's previous stance and it's incredibly weird that he would, b) "cautioned against" the Pit is a lot milder than "had a fist-fight with Tim about it," c) Dick's argument has shifted from "the Pit is an eldritch evil that's untrustworthy and probably soulless" to "look, resurrection is a special thing, and not all loved ones are important enough for resurrection," which, uh, okayyyy, and d) Dick is still full-naming "Tim Drake" as if he's a business associate and they had an argument about how to properly file paperwork and now it looks like Tim Drake was right after all, as opposed to Dick's little brother that he had a huge fight with and who subsequently ran away from home insisting that their dad was alive and that he was gonna prove it and now it turns out their dad is alive

Why This Arc Could Be Great Though

Listen, Dick-driven-to-the-Lazarus-Pits is a great concept. I love narrative foils. I love Dick ending up in the exact same place that Tim was in Resurrection, and even though he knows better. I love Dick being that desperate. Here's the setup:

Damian's back gets broken, Alfred takes him to get emergency treatment from Talia but it's not clear if he'll recover,

villain!Jason taunts Dick about not caring about Bruce,

Dick's been slowly crumbling under the pressure of being Batman and between the guilt of Damian being injured and the blow of Jason's accusations (not to mention having to fight villain!Jason and get him arrested), this is the last straw,

he decides to resurrect Bruce even though he knows perfectly well this is a terrible idea because he was the one who talked Tim out of it

he heads off to do this incredibly stupid thing and nobody stops him because normally on the rare occasions Dick's out-of-control Tim shows up and stops him (Hugo Strange, the Joker) but Tim isn't here and actually the strain of that ongoing estrangement is probably also contributing to Dick's isolation and terrible decision-making

the attempted resurrection goes horribly and Dick has to fight a grotesque parody of his tragically-dead father

I love this idea!! I love it when characters make stupid emotional decisions with terrible consequences!! I love the ways Dick and Tim's arcs intersect and parallel each other!!

And I think this could absolutely be in-character for Dick. He knows it's wrong and a bad idea, but he's desperate and pushed to his limits and grasping at straws? Yeah. I can see it.

BUT yeah, not in love with the execution. My conclusion is that more people should write about this arc in fanfic. <3

How Would Tim React?

I think it depends on where you put Tim in the story?

Options that come to mind:

Tim finds out mid-adventure: Tim's semi-teaming-up with Ra's and underground in a League base - and suddenly he stumbles on Dick sneaking in with (apparently) Bruce's dead body! In this case, I think Tim's first reaction is defensiveness about his own behavior and assuming he's being spied on, and it only slowly dawns on him that Dick's up to something. I'd really want to somehow maneuver a physical fight where Tim tries to stop him, so you get a direct reversal of Resurrection, but mmmm I'm a little stuck on how to get there since Tim's working theory is that the body isn't Bruce's body, so I don't see why he'd be opposed to Dick dumping it in? But anyway, they should have a physical fight and a direct parallel where Tim realizes he needs to back off and let Dick decide, and then they hug ;_; I feel like to make this one work you need Tim really invested in stopping Dick, so uhhhhh maybe for some reason Tim's "rescue Bruce from time" plan requires the body of the clone? So Dick CAN'T put it in the Lazarus Pit, or Bruce will be LOST FOREVER?

Tim gets told about it after the fact: So uhhh for example, Ra's finds out about Dick's botched resurrection attempt and tells Tim about it in an attempt to paint Dick as a hypocrite/ entice Tim into using the Lazarus Pit. I feel like Tim would just straight-up not believe him? But let's say that Tim finds out for sure - either Dick admits it to him, or he sees some League recording, or whatever. I'm not really sure how Tim would react? Worried, probably, because it's out-of-character, and I feel like Tim might wonder if it's really him or if he's under magical influence or something? And uhhhh then ideally Tim realizes that no, it was because he was having a really hard time ;_; and then Tim is worried about him and comforting and/or apologetic and probably Dick is probably also apologetic and then they hug <3.

Alternate third terrible possibility: it is Bruce's body, he was dead and Tim was just in denial, Dick resurrects him but there are some kind of eldritch evil consequences, and then Dick has to call Tim back and they have to fight undead!Bruce together. I like this one >:D

[dramatic-squirrel]

Daminette December Day 26- Still here

@maribat-calendar-events

Beep, beep, beep, bee-. Her hand slammed down on the alarm clock, silencing the irritating sound. Her eyes squinted open, the rare sunlight blinding her vision as she struggled to get up properly. She woke up alone, Tikki sleeping in the other room, and forced herself to get up and get dressed.

It was an average day for her, so as she stood in front of her closet, she chose a casual outfit. A dark green, knee-length, paneled skirt, with flowers she embroidered herself, on top she wore a light pink long sleeved sweater. The last thing she put on was a gold locket. It was comfy, and warm, and best of all, simple. She looked at herself in the mirror, her tired face stared back, she forced a smile on her face. It was a little too stiff, so she tried again and this time, it appeared more natural. 

Next was breakfast. Marinette wasn’t really hungry, but knew that she had to eat otherwise Tikki and everyone else would yell at her and start acting concerned, which was the last thing she wanted. Starting the coffee pot, she looked around the kitchen and settled on a croissant, it was nowhere near as good as her Papa’s but it would at least fill her stomach. As she ate, she walked over to where Tikki was sleeping and woke the kwami up. 

Almost instantly the small god was energetic. “Good morning Marinette!” 

“Morning Tikki,” she took another bite of the croissant then made her way back to the coffee pot to fix herself a cup, Tikki following behind.

“You really should drink less coffee Marinette. Alfred says that it’s bad for your health.”

“Alfred should try stopping Tim before worrying about me Tikki.”

“He’s just looking out for you.”

“I know, but it’s a bit unnecessary, Tikki.” She gestured to herself. “Look at me, I’m fine. Anyways, we should get going before we miss our train.” Grabbing her purse in one hand and holding a travel mug filled with coffee in the other, she didn’t wait for Tikki to respond and left.  

Outside the streets were crowded as usual, and being used to this city life, Marinette expertly weaved through the crowds, never spilling a drop of coffee. Taking the underground staircase, she made it just in time for the subway, the doors closing behind her. The uneventful ride took her to downtown Gotham where she got off, and made her way to a building. More specifically, the building that housed her studio on its 4th floor.

Setting her items down at her work station, she greeted each of her employees as they came in and then got to work. Yesterday she received a commission from one of Gotham’s elites for a suit, uninspiring work, so she started off by choosing the fabric and cutting out the pattern. Setting it aside, she moved on to her next task, finishing the design for Penny’s suit. This required more creativity on her part, as the Penny Rolling-Stone, wouldn’t dare wear anything boring and plain, but that’s what made the project fun.

After several hours of working, Marinette finally took a lunch break at the insistence of Tikki who kept poking her in the leg until she complied. “Happy now Tikki?” She took a bite of her sandwich.

“I’d be happy if you were feeling ok. I’m not Nooroo but I’ve spent enough time with you to know when you're faking Marinette.” She couldn’t meet Tikki’s gaze and just continued to eat her sandwich in silence. “How about you take a walk and get away from work for a bit. The sunshine will help you feel better.”

She shook her head. “I’d rather work. It gets my mind off of things Tikki.” A slam echoed through the studio as the doors opened forcefully. Stephanie strolled in looking like a woman on a mission, until she caught sight of Marinette.

Marching, Stephanie made her way over and sat down, studying her. “You’ve been avoiding us.”

“Whaaat. Noooo. I haven’t been avoiding anyone. I’ve just been busy.”

“Mari, the only people worse at lying are Adrien and the Kents, who you’ve also been avoiding. We know why, the anniversary is coming up but it’s been a year Marinette, and you need to face reality. We can help you, if anyone knows loss, it’s the Waynes.”

She slammed her hands down on the table, “I’m fine. I have faced reality, and excuse me for not giving up!” Stephanie’s eyes widened at the outburst, no one ever expected it when Marinette lashed out. Grabbing her purse and her sketchbook, Marinette called out the rest of her designers and staff. “I’m going to work from home the rest of the day, call me if something urgent comes up,” and without waiting for a response, left Stephanie where she sat.

As they walked home, Tikki looked at Marinette. The need to help filled every millimeter of her small body, but even as a god there was little she could do to help. When they arrived back at the apartment, Tikki opened her mouth to speak but Marinette beat her to it.

“I don’t want to talk about it. We’ve talked about it countless times and each time, it’s never helped. I just want to be left alone for now Tikki.” She pleaded and Tikki couldn’t bear to force the issue. Silently, she nodded her head and drifted away to where Marinette had accidentally left her cellphone that morning. She couldn’t help Marinette on her own but maybe Plagg would have some ideas.

Marinette on the other hand went to her room. Sitting on her bed, she held onto the locket around her neck. Her vision began to blur and as she kissed the locket, the hot trail of tears warmed her face. “I won’t give up Damian. I’m still here. I’m still waiting for you. I know nothing is impossible.” she whispered into the empty room as if he could hear her. “The heroes always win.”

She laid down, curled up in a fetal position as the barrage of memories assaulted her again. His beat up body, the lack of response, a portal opening before she could reach him, and then he was gone. Everyone assumed he was dead, but nothing was certain, she wouldn’t believe otherwise. “I’m still here, Damian. I’m still here.” She fell asleep with puffy eyes, still dressed in her street clothes.

[belugasnailsart]

Jon would like The Stanley Parable I think.

Bonus:

[ID 1: Sasha James from the Magnus archives, holding a wrapped present and saying “Happy Birthday Jon!” /end ID]

[ID 2: Jonathan Sims, sitting at a desk, looks up and says “Oh. Uh. Thank you.” After a pause, he says “Just, on that pile with- yep, there, thanks.” /end ID]

[ID 3: The word ‘Later’ is in a box in the top left corner. Jonathan Sims’ arm is shown placing a DVD into his computer. Next to him is a book titled ‘The Stanley Parable Install Guide”, and a striped tie. /end ID]

[ID 4: Jonathan Sims, sitting cross legged on the floor, hunched over his computer. The background is dark, and there is light streaming from his screen. /end ID]

[ID 5: Jonathan Sims, still hunched over. He has not moved since the last panel, although his hair is more messy. The background is now light. /end ID]

[ID 6: A closeup of Jonathan Sims’ face, showing only his glasses and nose. His computer screen is reflected in his glasses, and displays “THE END IS NEVER THE END IS NEVER” /end ID]

[ID 7: The words ‘In the Archives’ are in a box in the top left corner. The archival assistants, Martin Blackwood, Sasha James and Timothy Stoker, stand around, facing each other. They stand awkwardly, with an ellipsis above them, showing that they are not speaking. /end ID]

[ID 8: The assistants are in the same positions as before, and Martin asks “Where’s Jon?” Tim remarks “He’s usually here before all of us.” /end ID]

[ID 9: Text reading:

This was the only day Jon ever skipped work.

THE END

is never the end is never the end is never the end is never the

/end ID]

[ID 10: A headshot of Martin looking worried and thinking “I hope he doesn’t have a ‘stomach bug’”. Also in the thought bubble, below this, is a small drawing of Jane Prentiss, with worms throughout her body. She is saying “Join me Jon” /end ID]

[yjwhatif]

YJ: TARGETS ISSUE #3… (spoilers below!)

I just read the latest issue of Targets and all I can say is…

MY BOY IS BACK AND HE SPEAKS!!! 🎉

I’m so happy right now! I love Eduardo! He’s so awesome and cool and just… perfect… I missed him so much! We need more Eduardo! GIVE ME MORE EDUARDO!

Okay I’ll stop talking about Ed… for now…

This was another great issue… or at least the main story was great - I haven’t actually read the flashback part yet because I don’t have access to that bit yet… so for that I cannot comment but I’m sure that will also be just as great when I eventually read it! Anyway… I have thoughts and I’m just gonna bullet point them…

First things first - I love Cassie as a leader, of course we haven’t seen her do too much as of yet, but I just love how she talks to people… She never disregards gars comments or his desire to be involved with the mission - even though he could be perceived as being too emotionally compromised by the situation - and she doesn’t present any hostility towards brion - even though he’s an ex teammate who betrayed them by going rogue. She shows control and objectivity but also reasonability… with brion, she’s able to put aside any personal animosity she may feel towards him because of the past and talks to him without showing any judgment or criticism. As a leader you have to have a level of objectivity to ensure information doesn’t get clouded or swayed by personal assumptions, but still remain aware of who it is your speaking to to avoid being misled by any false charm they may put on… I’ve no idea if this is making any sense but basically I think Cassie is showing herself to be a really great leader - she also looks amazing with that new suit!

So it only just clicked in my head why cissie shows so much care towards Ollie whilst he’s in the hospital and that’s because he’s her mentor and she would care about him… honestly, I keep forgetting cissie is apart of the arrowfam - I think it’s because she was introduced and grouped with the batfam throughout S3 - so I keep thinking she’s a batkid when she’s not, she’s an arrowkid… if I say it enough time it will eventually stick in my head. Anyway, the panel of her being by Ollies side, holding his hand in the hospital is such a great shot. There’s so much concern on her face which tells us, without having seen really any interaction between the two before, that they have a clear bond - it matters to her that he’s not okay - they’re more than just allies on the same team, she’s emotionally invested in his well-being. It says a lot without needing any major explanations and I like that - I like seeing people care for people in these shows - especially in these smaller moments and seeing who specifically worry’s about who… it’s also why I’m so fascinated by the potential Roy and Perdita pairing - because for whatever reason, in the previous issues roy shows more concern for perdita than we’ve ever seen him show anyone before — and I want to know more!

Tim speaks!! I know he technically had a line in the last issue but he was deprived for so long in the show that this is always something worth celebrating! I love getting to see him lead again and he has a pretty cool squad - I’m excited to see more!

Have I mentioned that I love Ed? Well… it’s always worth saying again… Ed’s back and I love it!!! He’s so fun here and either Bart’s ways of always dropping some sort of witty comment when fighting a baddie has rubbed off on him, or the two are just perfect for each other because I love how quippy he is as he keeps blocking Henchy (quippy might not be the right word but you know what I mean)… and now I think about it, he did have moments in S2 where had drop some kind of snarky comments as he teleports around the opposition - it’s great seeing how he’s grown into the character he’s become - and he is simply a joy to watch/read on the page.

“I could be a doctor… of something.” Love this line and interaction between Dick and Steph - I’m here for batfam content!

Ok I am seriously concerned about the fact that another Taos teen has turned up as an infinitor in markovia — where is my Ed content regarding this fact?! I’m really hoping it’s coming because you cannot tell me he did as much as he did in S3 and then not have him involved in whatever the heck is going on with these teens! Why did they leave Taos?! I’m sure it is coming - I just hope it’s soon - because I wanna see it… and I kinda really wanna see Ed vs brion… it’d be great!

So here’s a random question I have - does Everyman uses he/him pronouns? I looked on the wiki and it does say male for the gender - but I can’t recall whether anyone has ever actually used gendered pronouns when referring to them - it’s always been Everyman - which I think is interesting. The only reason I’m wondering this is because as a shapeshifter who does comfortably go between the genders, could it be that Everyman is non binary or gender fluid or agendered? Maybe Everyman is just simply Everyman, like forager is forager… I don’t know 🤷‍♀️ I just thought I’d ask the question… of course, there’s also the chance that I’ve just missed them use specific pronouns - I haven’t actually gone back and checked… so if that is the case then feel free to point that out to me.

Henchy's name is Joe Henchy… I don’t know why that makes me laugh - it just does! 😆 Guess I always thought Henchy was a nickname and not his actual name… but now I think about it, it makes way more sense that vertigo would refer to him by his surname and not a nickname… gotta be keeping this relationship professional.

Orphan immediately beheading the robot after Dicks specific instructions not to kill anyone that’s potentially inside is hilarious… of course she explains that she knew no one was inside but it’s still funny. Dicks reaction is great… also it has s1 vibe of M’gann seemingly murdering the dude who was in the mr twister robot - which is cool!

I like how they illustrate the sign language and that Dicks like - yea, I can read ASL Spoiler! I really wanna see more Dick and Steph interactions - they seem fun together - I’m imagining brother/sister energy.

Batfam owning the Bat-brats insult is just perfect - that is definitely the name of their family group chat.

Gotta love Orphans the robot slayer!

RIGHT, can someone please tell me when we’ve seen Lex’s spider bots before - other than in Elder Wisdom, which is the first time I ever remember seeing them - because they keep being brought up like they’re some reoccurring thing but I don’t remember them ever being established - and it’s bugging me that I apparently don’t remember! EDIT: thank you @inquisitivewordsmith for answering this - the spider bots were in the video game… which I never played - so that explains why I didn’t remember… I really appreciate the help! 🙏

Sings 🎶it’s been Luthor all along🎶 to the tune of ‘it was Agatha all along’.

This really was a brilliant issue - I love getting to see the different teams work on their own area of the investigation but all for the same mission - it’s what I like best about this shows universe - there’s scope but also connection. You have teams in three different locations around the world all working together to solve the mystery at hand - they have their own skills and techniques but they’re all unified by the same goal - get justice for perdita… this is shaping up to be another great story in the canon of young justice!

Ok, I know I have more to say about this but my brains stopped working and I wanna get this posted - so I’m calling quits for now… thanks for reading!

LB

[snailsdraw]

[Start ID:

Continuation of the post-Season 5 fan comic of The Magnus Archives, pages 12 to 16, featuring Jon, Martin, Sasha, and Tim.

Jon is a short, skinny Indian man with a bearded face, long dark, but greying hair, and scars littered across his body. He wears spectacles, a sweater, long pants and boots. He also has a black ace ring on his right middle finger. Martin is a taller, fat white man with an unshaven face, light-coloured mullet hair, and sparse pock-mark scars on his face and arms. He also has spectacles, is wearing a jacket pulled over a t-shirt, long pants, and sneakers. Sasha is a tall, slim black woman who has round spectacles. She is wearing a baggy shirt tucked into drawstring shorts, high sneakers and a swimming cap. Tim is a shorter, stocky South-East Asian (singaporean chinese) man with a goatee, a dark-haired mullet, and scars littered across his body. He has a slit in his left eyebrow, and he is wearing a collared shirt with swiss cheese plant patterns cuffed at the elbows and cuffed long pants.

First Image: We see a kayak paddle plunged into water along the side of what looks like a quickly soaking mattress lined skimpily on the bottom with bubble-wrap. A voice comes from off-screen, "Tim? A little help would be appreciated?". In the next panel, the scene is zoomed out to reveal Sasha and Tim afloat on the mattress in the lake. The mattress is, as we can now confirm, lined along the bottom with bubble-wrap, but they're falling off and floating away. In other words, the mattress is losing buoyancy, Sasha is kneeling, holding onto the kayak paddle, and casting a worried glance over her shoulder at a laid-back Tim, lying across the width of the mattress with arms folded behind his head. There is a carefree grin on his face. "Naahhh...", he says, "I've looong accepted our watery fate.". In the last panel, we see Sasha from Tim's point-of-view. He has stuck his barefoot in the air, comparing it to Sasha's covered feet. "After all, "A vessel doomed, will soak the shoon.".". Sasha looks down behind her, frowning, at her soon doomed-to-be-wet footwear AND at Tim's odd phrase.

Second Image: The panel continues to be from Tim's perspective looking at Sasha, but now Sasha's expression has gone from upset to teasing. "Hey, you're just making stuff up now.". The next panel has us now looking at the both of them from the front, Sasha cut off at the shoulders and Tim, who has since shot up into a semi-sitting position, in full-view. Tim has an open palm to his chest, eyes wide in mock offense as he gasps dramatically. "Sasha. James. Did you just accuse me of dishonesty?? Your bestest buddy pal, Tim??". Sasha's eyes are closed in satisfaction at this reaction. The last panel views both of them from the left side. Tim still has his left hand flat to his chest, chin tilted up and eyes closed in a defiant look. "James, for false allegations against one Timothy Stoker, I sentence you to going down with this boat.". Sasha mimics him, nose in the air, as she retorts playfully, "Objection, your honour! The defendant has said nothing but the truth.", to which Tim replies, "Overruled."

Third Image: The angle has shifted, and we now see Tim settling back down on his elbow onto the mattress from under Sasha's lifted elbow as she brings the paddle back into the water. Sasha is cut off from the shoulders up. "Why DID you bring your shoes onboard? YOU planned this," Tim asks, an eyebrow raised in enquiry. "We'd have to walk back barefoot! Some people would rather not have muddy feet in shoes, y'know?" Sasha replies. Tim turns away, looking forward with a grin, but one more of defeat. "Liar," he utters under his breath. Sasha pauses her rowing, seeming to have spot something ahead of them. The last panel is at Sasha's eye level, cutting them off at chest level. Her left hand has come to shield over her eyes as she squints at what she spots ahead. "Tim, do you see that canoe?". At that, Tim's head pops up from his place behind her, alert and looking.

Fourth Image: We see the expanse before Tim and Sasha, the mountains, the trees and the lake. And on the lake is a small canoe in the distance, gradually approaching. "Hey, Sash?", Tim asks. The dialogue flows into the next panel, featuring them both from the chest and up. "Which one...out of the two of us had that "Greek phase" again?". Sasha doesn't respond immediately, still studying the canoe off-screen. The next panel focuses on Sasha, her thumb pressed to her lower-lip in scrutiny of the approaching canoe. When Tim asks, "...y' got any obolus on you?", she replies in response to his earlier question, "Yeahh, YOUR phase, most likely.". Obolus was a form of Ancient Greek currency, and Tim is referencing the Greek ferryman of the dead, Charon, when he was looking at the canoe. In the last panel, we see the approaching canoe a little closer, the silhouettes of Martin, who is rowing the canoe, and Jon more apparent atop it. "Something's...familiar about those silhouettes...", notes Sasha. "Is that-"

Fifth Image: "MARTIN??", she exclaims, leaned far forward in her side profile. Next to her panel is Martin's half of the panel, a diagonal space separating the two panels. Martin looks confused. "Wait, is that Tim?". The next three panels are in one continuous line, featuring Jon seen from behind Martin's back. He's not paying attention at first, thoughts lingering elsewhere and eyes directed at the floor, but then he registers what Martin has just said. "Wh- Tim? Tim Stoker?" he asks, suddenly attentive and incredulous. "Yeah, over there," Martin responds, pointing to the small figures on the still far away adrift mattress in this new panel, at the shorter one on the left with his arm stretched in front of the other figure in particular.

End ID.]

Links to page 1 to 4 here (tw blood and knife), and pages 5 to 11 here.

[Sasha and Tim have joined the party.]

[gothamnews]

This turned into me talking about Tim becoming Robin, and how wild of a ride it was.

I’ve started reading the old Batman comics, and dude they are WILD-

Now side not, I gotta skip around because it’s a long af comic, so I’ll get to the older stuff as time goes on.

At this moment I mainly wanted to read Tim becoming Robin.

So I started in Issue (Chapter?) 436, it pretty much has the first time bb Tim is shown  (I had just finished “Death in the Family” when I went over and read this)

There he is, he’s like 3.

Then we dont see him for a while, and we watch Batman just LET Zucco die in front of Dick, and Dick is like “WTF!?” Because B just kind of let him die, like, showing he isn’t himself rn, and showing he isn’t in a good mindset after Jason.

Then a bit later we see someone try to kill Dick with a Tire Iron, and B is like “NO NOT AGAIN-” and Dick is okay, because he kicks the dude, and gets away getting the upper hand. 

Then in Issue (Chapter?) 440, we get a first person pov of Tim trying to find Nightwing, and it’s great, we even get to see Kory.

Tim finds Dick and Dick is like “Wtf do I do with this?” and brings him to Alfred like “What do I do!?” and Alfred is like “Idk” and while this is happening, Tim is like over there, first thing he did was play the piano-

and he is very adamant about Dick being Robin, it NEVER crosses his mind he would be Robin, but Dick puts the idea there, and after Dick runs off to save Batman, Tim is left with Alfred worrying, and Tim is like “HECK NO I CAN’T-” and so he puts on Jason’s old suite, and runs off to help.

This image is so cured, that’s Tim, He needs his pants-

He has zero fighting ability rn, never punched a man in his life, and he squares up against two-face-

Also

I can’t get over Dicks face in this. (This is Tim trying to convince Batman that he needs a Robin, and Bruce has never seen this child a day in his life, doesn’t even know his name-) An then-

He pulls a big brain move, when Two-Face was beating the crap out of him, he just slips a tracker onto him. Look how smug he is ohmigosh.

Anyways they stop two-face, and Tim is like, “Aight if you dont want me here, I’ll leave, it’s fine, it was so awesome being Robin for the day, I’m good, if you want me gone, bye” and Bruce is like “Well... If you train.....” “Yes, yes, always yes, lets goooo” 

And so Bruce and Alfred start training Tim.

And he kind of just chills for a bit, they are very sus about his parents, and stuff, but yeah, he does help out in one more case, and like-

He calls himself “Little Bat” I Cant.

Then we get one of my favorite things now, but Tim is getting close to being ready to be Robin, and in Issue (Chapter?) 456, (or was this 455?) 20 issues after introducing Tim, Batman is like “You can’t go crime fighting tonight in that suite!” and he runs off to fight Scarecrow. And Tim is like “Okay”

Doesn’t put the suite on.

Instead, as Vicki and Batman are both been hit the the fear toxin and are in the middle of panicing, and Batman is in a sticky situation-

BOOM-

He shows up wearing this- gg Tim gg, big brain, out smarted batman- (Side note, when he left to do this, Alfred is like “Where are you going?” and Tim is like “Gonna go lose the ability to be Robin” because he thought Bruce would never let him join because of this, he thought all the work he has put in will be for nothing, but he knows he’s gotta save Bruce.”

He does immediately get fear toxined, and like-

“I dont care if I’m afraid- I can still fight!” then Immediately beats Scarecrow with a pole, knocks him into the chemicals next to him and send Scarecrow into his own fear induced panic, as he saves Batman and Vicki. 

Then at the end of it all Bruce is like “Thanks for saving me...” and Tim officially becomes Robin in the last panel. 

And now he has pants.  Wild.

[strangenessbooks]

The Bat-Man Recap #13

Hello Robins, and by Robins, I decided not to say something else in my opening despite it being the thing that comes to my head when doing an intro of any kind. Anyway, today I will be talking about Batman #1. I've decided to do these recaps by the story, as Batman #1 has four unique stories as well as a reprinting of Batman's origins. I've already talked about that in another recap [see The Bat-Man Recap #7, Part 1]. The only difference is a drawing of Batman instead of the opening to that issue's story. So we'll be starting with the story that introduces the Joker.

I guess they decided that a Circus motif was the way to go for this thing. The story starts with some random old people who have nothing to do with the story in any way and then the Joker hijacks a radio.

He announces his plan, causing panic to the man he named, who you will be shocked to know does he indeed die.

So this is the first time Joker kills and the gin has been there since the start. Also leaving Joker cards at crime scenes. Apparently, the Joker is full of Hate, which is not the vibe he gives now. More wacky murderous energy and being in lust obessed with Batman.

So Batman decides to just let this go, until "the time is ripe" whatever that means. I think parenting has tired Batman out.

The Joker uses Gas in this one to knock the police out but it only paralyses them temporality while he uses a blown dart that has "venom" in it to kill another person and steal a ruby. The Blown dart is in a gun, so not quite a blown dart.

Batman decides to go after the Joker, not because he's killed again. No, because another criminal plans to kill the Joker for stealing the jewels they were planning on stealing. Something is sus here, Bruce.

This is the first time that Batman saves a villain, instead of just watching or actively causing their death. He saves him twice. The Joker kills four people in his first appearance (which makes him a serial killer) and he almosts kills Batman two times. Batman was setting up for a change, but this is the same character who kicked a man off a roof last year for stealing some stones that society has decided have worth.

Here is Judge Drake, I bet his first name is Jason. He's been threaten so is under police protection.

And like that Drake is dead. Speaking of Robins, Dick is in a tree spying on this house from a distance and follows a disguised Joker like Batman told him (how Batman knew that Robin should follow anyone leaving the house is up to him and God).

The first of the many beatings Robins will face from the Joker. Don't worry, this Robin will have his revenge on the Joker later. But how will he survive to have that revenge? Don't worry, Batman has a gadget to find The Boy Wonder.

There was lot of panels I could have shared (I saved 41 images) but I think this was the most important. Sure, I could have shared the panels that give evidence to Batman having powers or the many terms card base jokes. Anyway, they fight and lose, so the Joker knocks them out before setting his own house on fire and leaving to them to die. However, Batman is immune to gas somehow and wakes up in time to save Robin and track the Joker down once again.

Robin misses out on his second confirmed kill thanks to Batman. This does feel like the first time Batman has actually stopped one of his villains from dying. He's either caused their deaths or just watched as they do it.

So that was the first time we met the Joker, who is clearly being set up to be a recurring character. The fact he doesn't die is the big indication here and his plan to escape.

We know that he's Batman's most recognizable foe. He's also the one that most standouts at this point and he doesn't look like a generic bad guy (which is usually a xenophobia caricature). Costume heroes have been a thing but the villains not so much. I've tried googling but can't find information on the first one.

The Joker more has of a uniform than a costume. That's what he wears all the time. Masked villains have existed, but not as a statement card. This is something that I might end up researching more. I mean who is the first Riddler like character. I kinda want to know now. There have been folk heroes that are disguised but known by that disguise for decades e.g. Robin Hood. If anyone knows, please tell me.

Now that they knew Batman was gonna last for a bit, it makes sense to have an actual recurring villain. The No Killing Rule isn't into effect yet, but this is definitely a different morality to this Batman. This comic has been going for a year, and Bruce Wayne isn't his own character yet. Batman could literally be any pulp hero at this point. Now that he's getting full books to himself, I wonder if he will become his own character instead of a costume for a quick action story.

The Joker is similar to his current form. The purple suit and the green hair, while using toxic chemicals to make his victims smile. Only a tiny bit of laughing. This does remind me of the The Dark Knight film, but that just might be the knight Amour and cop costume. The announcing his crimes, is more the Riddler thing now but a modern Joker doing the same would not be out of character.

Join us next time where Batman will be showing how down for killing he really is still.

[echoalyssa]

Phantom | Dick Grayson

Authors Note: There’s some light language in this, but thats about all!

“Phantom to Nightwing, entering dead zone now. Start the clock and come in if I’m late. I love you.”

You now had an hour inside the base, unable to contact anyone. You were collecting intel and because you were the stealthiest and smallest, (Damian was too young for this particular mission) Bruce had sent you in.

Your boyfriend, Dick Grayson had wanted to come with you but Bruce had rejected the idea because two people was more risky than one.

Dick had been livid, it was more risky for your life for you to go alone. He was your partner even though you were all a team. Ever since childhood, the two of you fought together and somewhat seemed to share the same mind.

You push a vine our of your dace. Your black masks shows the digital map of the quietest places to step. Your hood is pulled up to disguise your features and skin tone that obviously didn't fit in with the darkness of the air around you.

You had left your mottled cloak behind, opting to only have to worry about your body and where you place it. 

Joker was extremely active underground lately, he’d evolved and Bruce had only your mission as a lead. 

Your mask displays your one hour timer on the left hand side of your vision. Fifty minutes to get into the compound and back to safety.

The compound comes into view, a flat stone building that just didn’t fit in with the forest that surrounded it. You creep forward, staying in the shadows and hugging the walls of the building until you reach the only vent.

The stone was practically flat but years of training allowed you to look your gloved fingers into a crevice and wedge a booted foot into the building.

You begin climbing, scaling upwards twenty feet. The screws of the vent are all different and you have to pull away from the wall, your body straining so you can unscrew the bottom two.

You’re small enough that you can pry the vent open enough that you can squeeze yourself in. Forty minutes your clock reads. You were going too slow. You crawl forward on your elbows, you trek forward, you should have asked for two hours. Shit.

You hit the record button on your wrist panel and pull the microphone out.

It’s a tiny one but the quality is amazing. You’re peering through a small vent above a research lab now and you thread the microphone and it’s wire through the vent. The audio feeds into your ear piece and also saves to the hard drive in your panel.

You’re holding your breath, only breathing when you have to to minimize any chance of getting caught.

“We need to move in now! He’s only getting more recruits and it’s only a matter of time before they find us again.” Says a voice.

“If they haven’t already! I say we try the new weapon on some unsuspecting crowd of bystanders now. Then they’ll be too busy trying to save those silly citizens to deal with us.”

“Yes but is it ready..?”

“It needs to be tested again and we need to find a more powerful energy source eventually.”

And then the joker walks into view of the vent. He’s holding a blueprint and he spreads it on one of the tables. It’s the paint schematic for the weapon because of course, the joker being the joker meant that everything needed to be green, purple, and white.

You raise a hand to your mask and tap twice. It takes a screenshot of your view of the blueprint and sends it to the bat hard drive.

“Did you have any luck with batons inner circle? Would anyone snitch?”

“A couple...” the speaker listens. It’s valuable intel and now Bruce would be able to feed false information to the rats.

You begin to tap their names away into the panel and then attempt to wirelessly hack into the mainframes. The firewall were strong and plentiful but eventually they all fall victim to you. Sixteen minutes your timer reads. Shit. The data downloading from their computers and into your drive is only halfway done.

It won’t be very detailed. Just minuscule bits of information because you couldn't connect physically to the computers. It’s a line of script here and there that didn't make much sense to you because you weren't super tech-y. Though every line counted and that you knew. Several addresses also pop up.

Finally, after what feels like an eternity, your panel signals that the download is complete. Seven minutes reads the timer. Double shit.

You scramble backwards knowing that you’ve done all that you can. Somehow managing to turn yourself around in the small space. You’re almost at the vent when you foot clangs against the side of the vent.

You freeze, no alarms go off, but then again why would they? The timer is still ticking and you continue on, sliding out of the vent. You fumble with the screws, attempting to get them back in in case your cover hadn't already been blown. You then plant your feet, push off and flip down to the ground. You land nimbly in a rolling crouch and then pop to your feet and take off, sprinting for the tree line.

They come from the shadows. Dozens of them. All focused in on you.

You suck in a breath and draw your longswords.

“Bring it on Goonies!” You call and they surge forward all at once. Some with guns, electric batons, and swords.

You stalk forward, meeting them in the middle. You begin slashing immediately at arms, legs, torsos, anywhere that wasn’t too lethal. You weren't a killer.

Except there were just so many, the sword in your left hand falls from your grip and you pull out a disc, throwing it into the incomers. It explodes, blinding some and wounding others. 

You yank s taser out from your belt and stab it into an attackers neck while blocking an attack with your sword. And then it happens. A baton smacks into the back of your head and you stumble forward, dizzy. A blade slashes your thigh, splitting skin and muscle. A cry comes fro, your lips and you lash out desperately with your one remaining longsword. You're able to down the foe who had slashed you.

Two more take his place and then a dagger rips through your abdomen from behind. You scream, falling to your knees. Just as it gets put through your thigh, followed by your shoulder. You land in the grass face first and the world goes dark, sound fading out.

‘Dick.’ Is your last thought.

~~~

Dick is staring at the timer that is displayed by his make. 00:00:05. 00:00:04. 00:00:03. 00:00:02. 00:00:01. And the dreaded number... 00:00:00. It blares red and he stares at the forest, fists clenched. Where was she?

Tim steps forward and places a hand on his shoulder. “Give her five minutes okay? She’s smart. You know how these missions sometimes go overtime. She’s got this.”

“We never should have sent her in alone. It was too risky. Damn it!”

His fist rockets into a tree. He considers going after Bruce, giving him a piece of his mind. Then decides that it isn’t worth it and begins to prepare to go in after his love.

He makes sure to grab the miniature cauterizer and some other emergency medical supplies, stuffing them into the pouches on his belt.

“Wait, Nightwing, we’ll go together. We need a plan!” Damian calls.

His heart is pounding out of his chest and he can’t breathe. ‘What if he was too late? What if she was already gone?’

He doesn’t want to wait for a plan, time was ticking. He pushes past his adoptive brother.

“Dick wait!” Jason calls trying to grab his arm. But he keeps going, breaking for the trees to find her.

Jason and Tim look at each other, then they both look at Damian. “Stay here.” They say simultaneously/

“No way!” He yells back at his brothers.

The three of them take them off after Nightwing. And Bruce, having watched all his children run into danger, follows them in.

Nightwing is pushing through vines and branches, not caring if he makes noise or not. He knows the rest of his family will follow him, but quietly.

His mail enhances his vision in the darkness. He draws a thumb over his own panel and it activates the heat censor on his mask. Dick Grayson pushes forward quickly, scanning frantically for her heat signature.

And then he sees it. She’s always run cold. Her fingers and limbs always frozen. A small prone figure, running colder than the other surrounding bodies. He kicks up his pace, heading for her because he just knows.

“Phantom!” he yells, followed by, “Robin! I think I found her!”

He skids to a halt and falls to his knees, he can see the stab wounds. The way her blood has soared into the ground beneath her. 

Nightwing rolls her over, jamming his fingers under her neck to find a pulse. It’s there. But weak.

He rips the cauterizer out of his belt and drapes her body over him just as Jason appears. 

“Is she..?”

“Alive.” He grunts, “Not for much longer I need to..”

Jason helps him rip the uniform away enough so Dick has enough room to maneuver.

“Hold her down!”

Jason does as he’s told and Dick places the cauterizer to her skin.

“Only do what you have to, we need to get out of here. And soon.”

He pushes the two flaps of skin together and places the sparking tool to it. The heat melds the skin together. She’d need to be pumped full of antibiotics in case any of the blades were dirty and risked infection.

She only stirs slightly, too disoriented from her loss of blood. He talks to her the whole time he works on her.

He only does her abdomen, knowing that it’s her most serious injury. It might not even hold from the jolting and jostling that would occur in the journey back. Dick stabs a painkiller into her thigh, just in case she were to awaken.

He motions to Tim and Damian, who had been standing guard, to take up the rear. Grayson then scoops up his girlfriend, cradling her to his chest.

“Jason. Take point. Let’s get her home.”

~~~

He sits by her bedside. His hands are covered in her dry blood, along with his suit. He hadn’t bothered to change.

Y/N had needed a blood transfusion and he had offered immediately, hence why there was a needle in his arm funneling blood into girlfriend. Alfred had stitched do her wounds and hooked her up to an IV for hydration and anti-infection purposes.

She’d been changed out of her uniform after she was stable for cleanliness reasons and was now wearing one of his black shirts.

He’s holding her hand, his thumb tracing over the pulse point of her wrist occasionally.

It would be a long road to recovery for her though they all knew that she would bounce back and attempt to get back in to the field as soon as she could walk.

It’s days later when she finally wakes, her eyelids fluttering.

“Dick.” She whispers.

He’s right there, just like he had been, he’d only left briefly to shower but he ate and slept at her side. Jason had covered both of your patrols, with Bruce helping out.

“I’m okay. You’re okay, babygirl.” He places a hand on her face and she leans her head into his touch.

[iphoenixrising]

DickTimWeek2021 Day 2

** Day 2: Time Loop | Jealousy | Stray AU

Welp. Time to break some hearts.

They’re laughing like assholes as they climb through Timmy’s penthouse windows. 

“Did you see that thug punch himself in the face?”

“That’s the right way to get out of an ass beating by the Batman.”

Tim, still in Red Robin, doesn’t even bother, just lets his knees buckle so he can slide down to the floor and laugh until tears are rolling down the dominio still plastered on his face.

He’s riding the concussion train with 

(J)

Josephine and she’s not as bad as some of them are. 

Dick at least tosses the gloves and gauntlets before hauling Timmy’s bruised ass up off the floor, throwing the arm around his shoulders.

“C’mon, you butt. Really Timmy, just laying here in your suit? Alfred would be appalled.”

“S’why I don’t go to the Manor much anymore.”

“Ooh, I’m telling. You’re going to be in so much trouble,” as he gets Tim down the hallway to the bathroom.

“Y-You can’t! You’re the oldest! Dami’s supposed to be the tattle-tale!”

“Nu-uh. As the oldest, I can do whatever the hell I want.”

And does he tell on Timmy? You bet your ass he does.

It’s nice when Alfred can look at someone else in the family with extreme disappointment.

Tim comes by the Manor the day Alfred video chats him, shuffles down to the Cave behind the butler and absolutely sticks his tongue out at Dick’s smarmy grin.

**

His apartment is a literal mess and Dick can’t be bothered to do much more than flop on the overstuffed couch with a groan. 

Still in his uni from the day shift, he’s too bruised and battered and tired to even think of suiting up for the night. He’s been running himself ragged for two months, the day and night shifts blending together along with the usual bullshit of daily human life, and he desperately needs a night of terrible television, junk food, and snuggles.

Like he’d been reading the room, Timmy walks out of his bathroom, towel around his shoulder and hair just this side of damp.

“Hey, you made it home in one piece.” Tim’s long fingers in his hair literally pulls a noise out of Dick he can’t ever remember making.

“Yeah, I drove down because you looked like death warmed over when we talked last weekend. Luckily for you I went grocery shopping, did a few loads of your laundry, and cleaned up a little so you don’t have to worry about housework.”

“I love you. Have I told you that recently? Like, so, so much–” is muffled by the couch cushions, but he thinks Tim can probably still make it all out.

“Mmhm, I know,” and the gentle scratching against his scalp doesn’t stop, and Dick goes a little boneless with it. “I even brought my Roku so we can binge watch terrible television while you eat something more substantial than cereal. Alfred is going to be so proud of you.”

A pat to his head and Timmy is off, slinging his towel on the rack, turning on the shower again to make sure it’s nice and hot for all those bruises and contusions.

He’s no-nonsense about picking up his previous mentor and best friend, literally stripping him down and manhandling him in the shower after a low whistle at the span of blue/black across Dick’s chest and ribs, the scrapes across his back and shoulders. 

The first aid kit tackle box makes an appearance because Tim plans for literally everything ever, and Dick finds himself sitting on his sink wearily while his injuries are meticulously treated.

He knows he eats something super tasty with meat and vegetables, his belly full, before Tim pulls him down on the couch and lets Dick lay against his chest, between his legs to sleepily float while watching God-awful B-movies.

It’s the most relaxing weekend he’s had in a while.

**

Dami sneers at Tim, arms crossed over his chest, the expression on his face begging Tim to try to deny it.

The third Robin however, is looking over at Dick with horror that the big secret is finally out in the open.

“Th-that isn’t– it’s not–” Tim fumbles desperately, “he’s been my big brother forever, that’s it!”

“Tt. Grayson may be painfully oblivious, Drake, but the rest of us are detectives. Even Todd knows of your feelings and he rarely even comes to the Manor!”

Tim’s soul literally leaves his body.

Dick blinks, completely taken back, mouth open without anything coming out.

Damian raises his eyes skyward and prays for patients dealing with these two. “What I am saying,” he tries, he really is trying here, “is that you two must cease and desist this pointless–” vague hand wave– “pining for one another. It is getting to the point of absurdity. I demand you two either discuss your need for one another or take this ridiculous mooning elsewhere. The rooftops of Gotham is no place for this,” another hand wave, “utter nonsense.”

Tim’s mouth goes dry, subtly backing away to be closer to the Ducati’s waiting for tonight’s ride. He’s pretty sure he has enough energy left in his shaky knees to hop on one and be the fuck out of the Cave before his face literally bursts into flames.

But, well. Dick was Batman.

His strategic retreat is stomped into the ground by acrobatic leaps and a very well done joint lock to keep him from immediately taking off.

Dami scoffs at them on his way up the winding staircase. He stops Pennyworth on the way and turns the butler to return back into the Manor proper, citing those two needed time to figure themselves out.

**

After several weeks under deep cover, Nightwing wearily hacks into Titan’s Tower and makes his way through the maze of hallways until he hits a hidden panel. 

Tim is sleeping on his desk, only one empty coffee mug at his workstation. Even dead in his boots, Nightwing can take a second just to look, just to sigh, just to enjoy how much every inch of this boy is his.

He journeys down the hall, flips the bed covers up, carries his sleeping partner in and tucks the blankets around him, a quickly there kiss to the top of messy, too-long hair. A shower in Tim’s perch literally makes everything in life a little less awful and exhausting, not enough for him to do much more than crawl in bed against Tim’s warm body and snuggle up close.

He gets breakfast in bed and blue-violet eyes looking at him with fondness rather than awe, gets coffee flavored kisses and a slow-paced back rub that continues down to his thighs and calves and feet. Later, he gets a date night in a nice restaurant and a sweet San Fran club scene for dessert. He gets to let loose and hold Tim’s body against him, to play them both until the gazes are intense and the low key UST between them makes other people on the dance floor give them space.

**

Witty banter is a primary weapon against megalomaniacal bad guys of any flavor. For some former Robins, it’s an art form.

Over the years, they’ve cultivated their dip and distraction to bounce off one another like a well-oiled vigilante machine. 

It should have been a standard take-down because it’s not one of their more dangerous, deadly villains. It’s not one of the Rogue Gallery baddies. It’s not one of the mobster families, not one of the super powered groups come to call. It’s not someone with hordes of thugs and deadly science waiting to take them down.

It’s a simple B&E, just Nightwing talking it up to draw gunfire while Red Robin is creeping up from behind to get the last laugh.

It’s one of a thousand times they’ve done this. 

It’s a guaranteed win.

It’s the last hour of patrol before they get to go back to Red’s penthouse and snuggle together, eat and show, probably have some fantastic sex before passing out.

The .45 shell, however, cuts through the suit, between armored plates. 

Going after the running baddies is automatic, taking them down, zip ties, and viola. They’re ready for GCPD to pick-up, all kinds of gift-wrapped.

When N finally realizes Red isn’t with him, isn’t answering comms, isn’t waiting for him on the roof, he goes back inside. He hits up B for a ride in the big car in case he missed –

– anything.

The pool of blood around Red Robin is more than he can afford to lose, and Nightwing has been in the vigilante life for over twenty years, has been official with Red Robin for a little over two, has personal experience on how his Baby Bird can take a mostly-fatal beating and still keep moving. He’s seen Tim come close with the Clench, with horrifying injuries, with any of the many bad guys they fight holding him hostage.

Nightwing has seen him perform literal miracles.

And tells him so the entire time he’s got Red Robin up in his arms, carrying him through Gotham’s skyline to the waiting car, falling in with Red on his lap when the familiar hatch slides back, the tourniquet already applied before he even shot a grapple. The struggling pulse is enough of a concern to get it together.

And even if they all gather to strip off the suit, and now it’s on to get vitals back to an acceptable range. Even if the Bats cry overhead, even if the equipment is top notch in the Cave, even if Dick is still talking the whole time, and Alfred is keeping a cool head and Bruce is gripping a hand and Damian is standing at the ready to hand implements and Cass is biting her thumbnail while she hovers and Steph is moving from empty space to empty space around the gurney –

The consistent beep of the flatline cuts through it all.

**

The Titans make it for the service. 

Each of them make a point to hug Dick for as long as possible, holding on tightly.

Bruce is silent and stoic, a little boy again when he has to watch someone else he loves being lowered into the cold, unforgiving ground. Another Robin taking a piece of his heart to the afterlife. 

Steph is red-eyed, a ghost moving around to individual circles, listening to stories she might not have known. 

Cass grips the coffin with bruised knuckles, her whole body wound tight as a string ready to snap. She doesn’t move the entire service, is already convinced leaving him to his own devices caused this whole thing. She doesn’t blame the thugs or Dick or Bruce. She blames the boy that never understood how much it all means.

Duke Thomas is back in Gotham, taking leave from the Outsiders to be here for the family that took him in after the Joker drove his parents insane. He hovers in the doorway to welcome mourners, direct them toward the book to sign-in, talks about Tim Drake with regular humans and other metas in disguise, accepts condolences with his throat tight and his eyes watery. He makes sure Dick has a bottle of water after the first hour, pats Damian’s shoulder, grips Bruce’s arm, weaves an arm around Cassandra’s back to give her a squeeze, obediently looks at the old pictures of Tim on Steph’s photo roll when she’s overcome and has to see that smile again.

In the back, Jason Todd wears dark shades and a clean black suit. Roy Harper is beside him, a hand on the broad back to keep him grounded, to keep the Pit rage at bay. If anyone knows how far Tim and Jason had come over the years, it’s the former Red Arrow. If anyone knows how much agony Jason is in at this moment, at another fallen brother, another Robin gone, if anyone had held the Red Hood while he screamed and cried and broke the utter fuck down, it’s Roy Harper.

Damian Wayne hovers right by Grayson’s side, silently supporting his first Batman, his first brother. Whenever Dick’s eyes start going hazy, glazing over, Damian gently grips a wrist to bring him back, allows fingers to lace through his own and tolerates the tight squeeze that obviously assists in grounding the oldest Robin. 

(Later when the night is crowding grief-stricken Wayne Manor, Damian will be the one to open Grayson’s bedroom door, lift the covers to crawl in behind him, to wind both arms tightly. He will be the one to take the onslaught of grief, to be soaked in tears and snot, to listen to the broken, hoarse voice, to make soothing hums that ultimately mean nothing.)

Alfred Pennyworth quietly talks with the funeral director about the arrangements. Of course Master Timothy would want to be laid to rest with his parents, and the family appreciates all the support and ease of process as the deceased was an important part of the Wayne family. 

When he gets a phone call, he firmly verifies the name on the tombstone is Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne Grayson.

**

Exactly four days after the service, the Flash is staring at him helplessly, gripping Nightwing’s arm tight, “please, please, Dick, don’t do this. You can’t think this is the answer!”

He can barely hear Wally with the absolute destruction going on around them, the machine they’d inadvertently stumbled upon (which is a lie, Nightwing had been looking for it and the Flash basically caught him red handed). 

“You know you aren’t going to be able to stop me.” Standing between the glowing portal and Wally, debris from overhead crashing down on them at intervals, Nightwing is at his peak stubborn, “no matter how fast you are.”

“You don’t understand what’s going to happen,” Wally yells desperately as the vacuum starts pulling at Nightwing’s other arm, pulling him into–

–the Speed Force.

“You don’t have the lightning, Dick, you won’t be able to get yourself out, and I won’t have any way of tracking you!”

The small smirk as the machine’s panel starts going haywire, lights blinking and readings off the charts, makes Wally’s heart clench hard in his chest, makes him try to dig in his heels, makes his stomach tremble.

“You have no idea how many times I’ve already done this, Wally. And I’ll do it as many times as it takes until I change everything.”

The pellet Nightwing palmed before the Flash grabbed his hand goes off the same time the machine hits the highest ratings and a low boom is followed up with an intense swirling suction, pulling the heroes closer to the portal’s surface.

The light grenade goes off without a hitch and the Flash has no choice but to let Nightwing go.

**

They’re laughing like assholes as they climb through Timmy’s penthouse windows. 

[disappointingyet]

Bergman Island

Director Mia Hansen-Løve Stars Vicky Krieps, Tim Roth, Mia Wasikowska France/Belgium/Germany/Sweden/Mexico/Brazil/UK 2021 Language English, Swedish 1hr 52mins Colour 

The ABBA/Ingmar connection

From the title on down, I find it easy to imagine an alternate version of Bergman Island as a horror flick. Like Midsommar, it includes well-educated yet clueless outsiders arriving in remote Sweden for a celebration. We’re cued up by a reference to Ingmar Bergman’s Cries And Whispers as ‘a horror movie without the catharsis’. There’s a highbrow version of a classic ominous moment when our protagonists are told the cottage they are renting has the bed from Scenes From A Marriage and many of the visitors who have shared it have ended up divorced. Most of all, it’s easy to imagine the stony-faced locals finally giving way to their rage at the cinephile and pseudo-cinephile tourists cluttering up their once-peaceful home and hunting the bastards down one by one…

But that’s not what this film is. It’s something far more terrifying to many: a French art-house production. The Frenchness may not be obvious: it takes place entirely in Sweden. The dialogue is mostly in English. The cast is led by a woman whose Luxembourg birthplace presumably destines her to play non-specific Northern Europeans, a south London geezer and an Aussie.

And you could easily be misled by director’s unmistakably Nordic name. But Mia Hansen-Løve is Paris born and bred. Her last-but-one film – L’Avenir (Things To Come) – was an undiluted example of Gallic chin-stroking cinema, including a sub-plot about the plight of philosophy publishing.It unsurprisingly stars Isabelle Huppert. You get the feeling that nobody ever says to Hansen-Løve ‘Aren’t you worried your characters represent a tiny intellectual elite?’

There’s no deviation from that instinct in Bergman Island. Heading to Fårö – home for many years to the critically adored director Ingmar Bergman – we have Chris (Vicky Krieps) and Tony (Tim Roth), a couple who are both film-makers (but not in collaboration, it seems). They have left their daughter with grandma so they can get some writing done in a Bergman-connected cottage and its neighbouring windmill.  Tony is also doing Q&As and panels at a film festival.

Despite the lovely setting, though, there are, of course, soon problems – neither feels the other is being supportive enough. Tony is annoyed that Chris isn’t sticking around to listen to him wibble about his films to adoring fans. Chris wants Tony’s advice on the ending for her script, something he stubbornly refuses to provide in anything other than in the most broad, rather tutor-like terms.

Speaking of Chris’ plot… just past halfway, we slip for a long stretch into the story she is telling. This also takes place on Fårö, where a pair of on-again, off-again lovers (Mia Wasikowska, Anders Danielsen Lie) are guests at a wedding. There’s a subtle but clear shift in style for the movie within a movie: everything feels more intense, heightened while still ‘naturalistic’. They’re at a wedding, after all, which tends to bring emotions to the surface. Plus, there’s dancing. 

In particular, probably the most-talked-about scene in the film is the one in which wedding guests whirl around to The Winner Takes It All, ABBA’s break-up epic, a song that long before this movie was being grouped together with Bergman as Swedish miserablism at its most potent.

I’m assuming beyond the tourism, the film-making itself is nodding at Bergman but I don’t feel in a position to point out any particulars. I think I’ve seen a half-dozen of his films (mostly ones from the 1950s), which amounts to a fair chunk of my time but the tiniest slither of his immense output. 

So instead I was thinking about Richard Linklater’s Before trilogy, both during the main section and the film-within-the-film. I think Chris even talks about her story as the final part of trilogy for which the first two segments don’t exist. The wedding story has some of the feel of Before Sunrise laced with the accumulated life experience and pain of the later two movies, some of the conversations Chris and Tony with the cinema types made me think of the villa section of Before Midnight and Chris' day out around Fårö again evoked …Sunrise. But maybe that’s just me. 

Other notes: it’s nice to hear Tim Roth’s native London tones for once. Hansen-Løve, if you don’t know, was for many years in a relationship with fellow director Olivier Assayas, so you could understand if some audience members treat this as autobiographical. As well as ABBA and I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance), there’s a couple of appearances for the music of croaky American singer-songwriter Lee Hazlewood, who lived in Sweden for a while in the 1970s. 

It also had me wondering a bit about where Bergman sits in the canon at the moment. My feeling when I first started reading about this stuff in the 1980s was that Bergman was the godhead of serious cinema, but by the time I was actually getting paid to write about movies in the 1990s, we were all a bit more pro-fun and so he’d been downgraded. In the 1972 Sight & Sound poll of the greatest films ever, he had two entries in the top 10 (Persona and Wild Strawberries). Both had slipped out of the top 10 by 1982 and haven’t reached those heights again. Still, in 2012 there were four of his films in the 100 (Persona at 17, Wild Strawberries at 63, Fanny And Alexander at 84 and The Seventh Seal at 93) – putting him a tie for the most movies with Hitchcock and Godard, although only 12th on accumulated votes. But now we’ve got this film about Bergman fandom, plus in short order official and unofficial American reworkings of Scenes From A Marriage, so maybe he’s back?

I’ve seen a couple of people complain that they lost interest during the movie-within-the-movie – I felt the opposite, that’s when it really clicked for me. On its own rather indulgent terms, Bergman Island is rather good. 

[wordsintimeandspace]

All That Haunts Us (6/14)

Jon and Tim have seen their fair share of strange things while working in Research at the Magnus Institute. They still didn’t quite expect to rescue Martin, who has been missing for a year, from a supernatural encounter during one of their investigations. Together, the three of them hunt for answers and try to find a way forward, but they all have things that haunt them.

Meanwhile, Elias sees the perfect opportunity to set his plan into motion…

Jon/Martin/Tim, rated T, ~2500 words for this chapter. Read on tumblr or AO3!

Tim blinks, trying hard to focus on the text in front of him even as the words swim in front of his eyes. After he reads the same paragraph for the third time without really taking any of it in, he finally gives up. With a groan, he sits back in the chair, rubs his eyes and stares at the ceiling instead.

It’s a familiar ceiling - the boring white panels of the library of the Magnus Institute. He’s spent a lot of time staring at it since he started working here.

Tim sighs and looks back at the stacks of books lining the desk in front of him. Researching the fog has been slow in the last few days. It’s been hard to squeeze in the time next to their regular work, and all mentions they found so far in the literature have been frustratingly vague. It doesn’t help that now, with both Jon and Sasha out for an assignment, it feels too much like his early days at the Institute, when he used to spend so many hours alone in here. Not speaking to anyone, barely eating and sleeping. Too occupied with going through book after book, hunting down even the most obscure references to the Circus. He wasn’t in a good place back then, and in the end, he never found the answers he was looking for. Being alone now, on yet another desperate quest to find the truth, makes him restless and irritated and ready to crawl out of his skin.

Tim lets out a groan, burying his face in his hands. Christ, he thought he found his footing again after the initial shock of Jon and Martin escaping the fog, but now he can’t even spend one afternoon on his own without feeling like he might lose it. With more force than strictly necessary, he slams the book shut. The quiet of the library suddenly feels suffocating. He needs to get out of here.

He quickly checks out two of the books to take home with him and returns the others to the shelves. It’s still a bit early, but with the Institute allowing them flexible schedules no one stops Tim as he packs up and heads out.

As he walks to the tube station, Tim fishes his phone out of the pocket. He texts Jon that he’s already on the way home, and does the same with Martin.

His phone buzzes just before he goes down the stairs to the station. Tim stops, apologizing when the person behind him gives him an annoyed look, and darts to the side of the entrance to check his messages.

 Martin: Okay. Please don’t worry, but I’m not home right now

His stomach drops as he reads the message, dread spreading in his veins cold as ice. The ‘please don’t worry’ barely registers as Tim lets out a curse and immediately dials Martin’s number. Thankfully, he picks up on the second ring.

“Martin,” Tim says with a sigh of relief. “Where are you?”

“I said you don’t have to worry,” Martin says, a bit defensive.

“I- I’m sorry.” Tim takes a deep breath, willing his racing heart to slow down now that he can hear Martin’s voice. “It’s just… I panicked for a moment. You haven’t been out on your own so far, have you?

Martin lets out a sigh at the other end of the line. “No, I haven’t. And I… I probably should have told you. I’m sorry. But I’m fine, really.”

“Are you sure about that?” Tim asks gently. There’s no way to miss the sorrow in Martin’s voice.

Martin hesitates for a long moment. “I’m at the graveyard,” he finally says. “Visiting my mum.”

Tim bites back a curse, squeezing his eyes shut. “Want any company?” he offers.

“Yeah,” Martin says, sounding relieved. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Martin gives him the directions and they end the call as Tim finally descends down into the tube station. It takes him a while to get to the cemetery in the outskirts of London, and when he finally walks through the main gates he’s out of breath from rushing the rest of the way. The noise of the city slowly falls away as Tim moves deeper into the cemetery, along the tree-lined path and past the chapel. Finally he finds Martin, between rows and rows of gravestones and plaques, sitting down in the grass and staring into the distance.

Tim lets out a breath of relief. Slowly he approaches the grave, marked by a simple plaque set into the lawn. Margaret Blackwood, the inscription says. Date of death just a few months before Martin suddenly disappeared.

“Hey,” Tim says quietly as he sinks down into the grass next to Martin. “I brought flowers.”

Martin finally stirs, looking down at the bouquet of white lilies that Tim lays down in front of the plague. Tim takes a moment to have a closer look at him. To say that Martin looks okay would be a blatant lie. His eyes are red and puffy, his cheeks pale, his brow furrowed. Still, it is a relief to see him like this. It looks like grief - painful and terrible, of course, but plain and entirely human at the same time. There’s nothing supernatural about it, no sign of the fog and the coldness that came with it.

As he’s staring down at the flowers, Martin’s face twists, a strange mix of anger and resignation flashing over it. “She’d probably hate them,” Martin finally says, something bitter in his voice.

Tim blinks, a bit baffled. “The flowers?”

“Yeah.” Martin shrugs. “Or maybe she just hated it when I brought her flowers. I don’t know.”

He sounds so lost, so defeated, that it makes Tim’s chest ache in sympathy. “I- I’m sorry, Martin,” he says, hesitantly reaching out to rest a hand on Martin’s arm.

Martin finally looks at him, a bit sadly even as he attempts a smile. “What are you sorry for?”

“The flowers. Your mum’s death. All of it, really. Can’t have been easy to lose her.”

Martin shrugs. “No, I guess not.”

“... you guess?”

“I mean, of course it wasn’t, but… I don’t know.” Martin sighs, running a hand down his face. “Sometimes I feel like it was easier than it should have been.”

“What do you mean?” Tim asks hesitantly, frowning at him.

“She’s been sick for so long. Since I was a kid, really. And she hated being in a home these last few years. She never let me forget it. As if it was all my fault.” Martin’s voice cracks, but still he continues. “When they called me to tell me she died, I was… relieved. For just a moment.”

“Martin…”

“I know, I know, that’s an awful thing to say. But it’s true.”

Martin sniffs and wipes at his eyes. Tim lets out a long breath, searching for the right words. “It’s not awful,” he finally says. “Grief, losing people, all that is complicated. Especially if you didn’t have the best relationship to begin with. There’s no right or wrong way to feel about that.”

“I just-” Martin stops himself, taking a deep breath. He doesn’t look at Tim, glaring down at the flowers instead. He plucks one of them from the bouquet, twirling the stem between his fingers. “I don’t think she ever liked me?” he continues, his voice cracking. “I mean, I spent so long taking care of her, but I could never make her happy. She never even wanted me to visit in the end. And in that moment, I just thought… she was probably right to feel that way about me. That I’m just a horrible person, and she could always see that.”

“Don’t say that,” Tim protests, anger burning in his stomach.

“But she must’ve had a point, right?” Martin lets out a bitter laugh, crushing the flower in his hands. “I disappeared, and no one cared. I was all alone. Maybe that was just what I deserved.”

“Hey- Martin, no. Look at me.”

Tim shifts closer, and when Martin hesitantly turns to him he reaches out and gently cups Martin’s face in his hands. Martin leans into Tim’s touch, eyes shining with unshed tears.

“You’re not a bad person,” Tim starts slowly, carefully choosing his words. “I don’t care what your mother might have to say about that, you’re not. It wasn’t your fault that you were on your own, and you certainly didn’t deserve it.”

Martin just shakes his head. “You can’t know that,” he protests, his voice wavering. “You don’t know me. Not really.”

“Maybe not. But I know that you make tea for everyone in the morning, although you don’t have to get up as early as Jon and I do. I know you rescue spiders instead of killing them and that you let Jon win at Mario Kart when he’s starting to get grumpy. You even complimented my disastrous attempt at making chocolate soufflé the other day.”

A hint of a smile appears on Martin’s lips. “It tasted fine,” he huffs.

“It was awful,” Tim laughs. “My point is that I know you well enough to see that you’re kind and that you care. That’s all I need to know to say these things. Look, I get that things are still difficult for you, and these words can sound like nothing but empty platitudes, but it gets better. You won’t always feel like this. I promise.”

Martin sniffs and Tim brushes a thumb over his cheeks, catching a tear. “You think so?” Martin says quietly.

“Yeah. Trust me, I’m saying this from experience.”

“Really?”

Tim lets out a long breath, hesitating for a moment. He still doesn’t like to talk about all this, but it’s not fair that Martin is the only one baring his soul. He deserves some of that in return, deserves some sign of trust and vulnerability. “A couple of years ago… something happened,” Tim starts slowly. “And everything kind of fell apart after that. The relationship with my parents. Friendships. I shut everyone out until there was no one left.”

Martin looks up at him, eyes widening. “Tim...”

“No, no, let me explain first. I’ve got a point, I promise. I’m not just making this about me.” Tim lets out a brittle laugh and wipes his eyes. “My point is, sometimes things happen in life and after that you’re on your own. That doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. And it doesn’t mean that you deserve to be alone, or that it will always be like this. Things change. They did for me. And they can for you. Jon and I are there to help you along the way, if you want us to be. Just… don’t shut us out.”

Martin sniffles, a few more tears running down his cheeks. “Okay,” he whimpers, and doesn’t resist when Tim finally pulls him into his arms. “Thank you, Tim.”

Tim smiles down to where Martin rests his head against Tim’s chest. He tightens his arms around his shoulders, and can’t resist to press a quick kiss into Martin’s brown curls before resting his chin on top of his head.

“Course, no problem. And really, I get it when you need some time alone occasionally, and you don’t have to tell us everywhere you go, but…”

“Yeah. Don’t shut you out.” Martin closes his eyes, a small smile on his lips. “I’ll try.”

For a long moment they just sit there while the sun slowly sets around them. When Martin finally speaks again, he sounds a little better, his voice a little steadier. “What changed?” he asks. “For you, I mean.”

Tim lets out a small laugh. “Honestly? I met Jon. I- I was in a bad place when I started at the Institute. Spend most of my time hiding away in the library. And one day, Jon just walks up to me, although I never bothered to speak to him before. Leaves a mug of tea on my desk and a book that I’d been after for weeks. And then, well. We started talking. Became friends. And things became easier with everyone else as well.”

“Huh.” Martin looks up at him without moving out of Tim’s embrace. “So, I guess Jon pulled both of us out of a pretty bad place?”

“You could say that.” Tim grins. “Although I’m not sure if Jon realizes that’s what happened in my case.”

“Maybe you should tell him sometime.”

“Yeah. Maybe. I don’t think I-”

Tim’s phone rings, disturbing the silence around them. Reluctantly, Martin pulls out of the embrace and Tim gets his phone out of his pocket. He smiles as he reads Jon’s name on the display. “Speak of the devil,” he says to Martin and answers the call, putting him on speaker. “Hey.”

The second he hears Jon’s voice, Tim’s blood runs cold.

“Tim,” Jon gasps, breathless and panicked. “Where are you? Where’s Martin?”

“Martin’s with me,” he says quickly, brows drawing together into a frown. “We’re out. What’s going on?”

“I’m here,” Martin adds, frowning down at the phone. “Jon, are you okay?”

Jon lets out a strangled sound somewhere between a laugh and a cry. Tim tries hard to stop his hands from shaking as he waits for Jon’s response. “No, I-  I mean, yes,” Jon finally says. “I suppose.”

“Jon?” Tim asks sharply. “What happened?”

“I- I found him,” Jon says, his voice trembling. “The man who did this to Martin. His name is Peter Lukas.”

Tim freezes. His ears ring, and just like that Tim feels like he’s falling, like the ground just gave way beneath him to nothing but an endless chasm. He looks at Martin, sees the colour drain from his face and his eyes widen in shock. “Shit. Are you- is he after you? Where are you?”

“No, it’s… it’s fine. I’m fine. He’s gone.” Jon lets out a long breath. “I just came home and thought you would be here and, well…”

“And we weren’t there,” Tim says grimly, silently cursing himself. “Jon, I’m sorry. We’re on our way back, okay?”

“Yes. Okay. I’ll- I’ll see you soon.”

Jon hangs up, and for a few long seconds Tim can only stare at the phone in his hands, swallowed by despair.

He meant what he’d said to Martin, that things get better with time. But sometimes it’s so easy to forget how fragile it is. How quickly it can crumble and slip through his hands like sand until there’s nothing left. Jon going off to investigate Martin’s flat all on his own was the first painful reminder of it. This is the second one, and for a moment the pain is so sharp it feels like he can hardly breathe.

“Hey,” Martin says, pulling him out of his spiralling thoughts. Martin tries to give him a smile and takes his hand, squeezing it gently. “He said he’s fine. And we’ll see him soon.”

Tim lets out a shuddering breath and nods. “Yeah,” he finally says, his voice hoarse. He tightens his hand around Martin’s and lets himself be pulled to his feet. “Yeah. Let’s go.”