#assassin tom

[hauscrashburn]

He was sitting in the dark when she entered. Late. And alone. She flipped on the lights and leapt back, a half scream strangled when she recognized him.

“Tom?” She squinted. “Tom, is that you?”

“Yes, I know my face is different.” He leaned forward, fully in the light. “This is my true face, Hermione.”

She stared at him, dropping her bag on the floor and kicking the door shut. She glanced around frantically.

“Why are you here?”

“Because I’ve been contracted to kill Sirius Black.”

Read more here, Chapter 11 of Both a Moth and a Flame

[grzyb-grzegorz]

more or less what happened

[mochinek0]

Family Secrets

Damian couldn't believe his eyes. He had seen pieces of that costume when he lived in the League, but never did he expect to see his mother, disguised, in Paris! He carefully kept an eye on her as she walked into a bakery. He felt his own breath hitch as a young girl came and hugged her.

"Nonna!" she cried.

'Grandmother?'

"Hello, My Leetle Fairy." his mother replied, hugging her back.

"Are you having fun on your travels?" the girl questioned, "Where did you go this time?"

"Egypt." his mother declared.

The girl smiled, "Did you see the pyramids?"

His mother brought out a keychain of a pyramid and handed it to the girl.

"It's great!" the girl smiled, "I'll keep it on my desk so when I see it, I can think of you."

"I wish you could come with me." the disguised Talia declared.

"Maybe when I'm older?" the young girl answered.

Talia tapped the young girl's nose, "Possibly, but we know very well how hard you work."

"Mom!" announced a man, who seemed the size of Bane, "How are you?"

Damian watched on in shock. He was aware that his mother was much older than she appeared. Hearing someone around his father's age, refer to his mother as a maternal figure was unsettling.

"I'm fine, Tom." she answered.

"Would you like to put your bag down and rest?" he asked.

"Nonsense." his mother replied, "I may look older, but I'm fine. I wanted to see if Marinetta would like to take a ride around the city with me."

"Yes!" the girl cried.

Damian watched as they both got on a motorcycle and drove off.

It took awhile, but Damian finally spotted them near the Seine, eating ice cream. The girl was looking down at something, in her lap. His mother's eyes connected with his and he knew he had made her.

"I'll be right back." Gina spoke, kissing Marinette on the head.

Gina walked in Damian's direction.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Do you plan to kidnap her, Mother?" Damian questioned.

"Of course not!" Gina snapped.

"Who is she?" he asked.

Talia sighed, "Your niece; she's your age."

"So the man who called you mother-"Damian began.

"Your grandfather wanted me out of the way. He was looking for a male successor to take over." Talia began to explain, "He kicked me out of the League, briefly, and I had some semblance of a normal life. I fell in love with a baker. Tom is our son, before I ever met your father. Essentially, he is your older brother."

She sighed, "Everyhting was fine and I was happy, until he sent someone to exterminate us. Before I killed him, I learned my death was a test. Kill me and become successor to the League. I returned with his head and threw it at your grandfather's feet. He looked at me and said he would allow me back on one condition."

"What was it?" Damian asked.

"I had to leave my family." she admitted, "I said I understood and would be back in three months. I knew he would never stop coming after us."

"Why three months?" her son questioned, "You were already there. Did they not know of the League?"

"Tom was getting married and no, my family knew nothing about the League. I returned and told my family I would be 'traveling in my old age'. A few years after he got married, I came back to a three year old granddaughter. Your grandfather found out and forbid my return."

"Grandfather is dead." Damian spoke.-changing subject

"I've been stopping in more." she declared, "They aren't like us. They're not like your father. They know nothing about my past, aside from divorcing a man, who made me happy. I tell them I'm traveling around the word. I wear a wig and makeup. At some point, I will have to stop visiting all together since anyone else will grow old and pass on. The League........you lose sense of time when there. Two years ago, I thought she was still three. She was turning fourteen."

"What about the man?" her son asked.

Talia smiled, "Reminds me of your grandfather, actually. He's all about 'traditions', so perhaps it was for the best."

"Nonna!" Marinette cried out.

"Please, Damian, leave them alone." his mother whispered.

Damian watched as his mother walked away. He had never known her to beg for something.

"My Leetle Fairy, are you ready to go back home?" Gina asked, "Do you have new inspiration for your designs? I can't wait to see the clothes you create this time."

Damian watched as the girl put her sketchbook away.

'Clothes? Designs?'

He smiled softly. She was an artist, like him. He watched as his mother got on the motorcycle with his niece. What surprised him was seeing his niece glare at him. Damian chuckled.

'Mother may not see it, but she is a lot like them. A little fairy.'

"Damian, a Fairy is someone who helps people who are lost in the dark. It's not always in a literal sense; it can be figurative."

The young Al-Ghul turned and walked in the opposite direction.

'Fairy is a suitable name for my niece. I wonder how Mother would feel learning her true nature? A Fae who lures in her prey.'

TAG LIST: @animeweebgirl @a-star-with-a-human-name @meme991001 @vixen-uchiha @abrx2002 @alysrose-starchild @fandom-trapped-03 @dood-space @moonlightstar64 @saltymiraculer @marveldcedits20 @09shell-sea09 @icerosecrystal @animegirlweeb @insane-fangirl-of-everything @blueblossombliss @nickristus-dreamer @megawhitleycalderonpaganus @missmadwoman @meira-3919  @princessdaisysolosyourfaves @blep-23 @fangirlingfanatic @darkhinauniverse @ravenr22 @im-a-satanic-ritual @ravennm84  @bianca-hooks123 @a-slytherinish-gryffindor @starling218

[freckled-forests]

Alex Rider is a good show because the core trio is so evenly balanced Alex can DO the stuff and Kyra can THINK and HACK the stuff and Tom holds EVERY OUNCE OF COMMON SENSE

[giddyaunt425]

I love how the classic Doctors always have to have that himbo episode.

[synchrogirl12]

Ice: What sort of questions did you ask him? Mav: Polite ones Ice: Oh? I didn't know you knew what polite meant Mav: I can be polite when it pleases me Ice: When it gets you what you want, you mean

[glitter-stained]

I do think it bears repeating, fanfic writers can write whatever the fuck they want. It's not their responsibility to introduce readers to the canon because they are not writing canon they are writing fanwork!

If someone reads a fic about a coffeeshop and they assume the characters are coffeeshop part-timers, and it causes them issues in fan spaces because the characters in the source material are assassins, that is 100% on the reader for assuming that the hurt/comfort coffee-shop no cape AU was a fair representation of the source material. It's not supposed to be. Fanfic writers have no obligation to be canon-compliant.

If someone reads a fic that is not canon compliant, that is not the writer trying to convince you of their interpretation of canon. You should not assume that every fic is a character study with the same identical relationship dynamics as in canon because most fanworks are not an extension of canon nor are they obligated to be. And yes, even if the trope in question is popular fanon, even if other people will see it as gospel and not engage with source material and yk what, even if the trope itself, in the context of the actual source material, does a disservice to the character's arc. Because fanfics are not just fandom work, though it's very important that they are, they are also stories in and of themselves, works that have value proper to itself and writers do not owe you canon compliancy.

I've written a fic with many fanon elements, including pit rage, and you know what, I like this fic. I wrote it because I wanted to write about a depressive episode with psychotic characteristics and I thought Jason -and elements from fanon Jason- would be interesting to explore that idea with, and I wrote about pit rage because I wanted to write about catharsis, and the pessimism that comes with growing up in fear of the idea of the cycle of violence and how internalized psychophobia (and classism but that wasn't explicit) feeds into that fear, and how the addition of an element like the Pit, which literally makes feeling emotions dangerous, in the context of a severe depressive episode, would fuck into that interplay, and screw Jason's priorities enough to trigger the switch from passive to active suicidality. There are other examples of fanon tropes I found interesting to explore in that fic, but I'm focusing on the pit rage thing in this example because it shows up a lot in this discourse.

I have read the damn comics. I mostly see late-onset Pit Madness as patchwork to salvage late post-crisis Jason, which I'm not often interested in as I don't often acknowledge those stories (especially with all the retcons and maybe retcons established since then), and I think using it in the context of Under the Hood is a disservice to his character. But just because that trope can be a disservice to an analysis of his character in canon, doesn't mean it can't be good for in the story I am telling right now, which holds value in and of itself, because it has helped me process feelings and others have told me it has helped them and I do not owe anybody canon compliancy.

So when some little fucker commented a long ass paragraph on my fic about how it was one of the worst fics he'd ever read because everyone was OOC and condescendingly explained to me that my fic was way too nice to the batfam and none of them would do that- yk, I was angry. Because that fic was 5 chapters long and they commented on chapter 5. They had all the opportunity to stop, or at least not comment on their hate-read (which is a practice I've never understood). And most importantly, they assumed shit about my knowledge of canon based on their inability to view my work as anything but an extension of the canon they consume. They very clearly wanted something out of my jason-centric jason & batfam members fic that the tags should have told them they would not find there and instead of, I don't know, reading fucking Task Force Z, they decided that it was on me. But their inability to view my writing in its context, recognize my work for its own worth and stop assuming things about people they don't know for five fucking minutes was actually the problem. And it's, frankly, insulting as fuck.

I very rarely get hate comments, and that one was a long time ago -actually now that I think about it, it was almost an entire year ago. Readers are usually very nice to me and honestly, after how stressed I was of getting hate for the horse movie fic, I can't emphasize enough how much I love you guys and how lovely you've been.

However, I see takes on this website that shove the responsibility of "fanon" and people not engaging with the source material onto fanfic writers all the time and that annoys me so much. Canon is plural, self-contradictory, often OOC, has a multitude of problematic takes and honestly in the context of the batfam specifically, it's very depressing: I struggle to imagine them ever actually getting to the happy ending as a family together. So if Dick and Jason's relationship wrt Bruce makes me sad and I want to write or read fics in which Dick stands up to Bruce and protects his little brother, or I need the catharsis of a story about pit rage, or I'm mad at dc for glazing tim at the expense of other robins or at tim for being rude to a character i like, and i retaliate by putting tim into jason fanboy jail, that's just fine actually. That's a non-issue.

This essay has become way longer than I thought considering how simple the idea is, so here's the TLDR:

#1: Don't like, don't read.

#2: Fic writers do not owe you canon compliancy.

#3: Fic writers are not responsible for whatever fanon belief you're mad at.

#4: Stop assuming shit about fic writers based on what they write, you do not actually know these people.

#5: Fanfic is not just an extension of canon those are stories of their own merit.

#6: You have to respect fic writers even when you don't like their fic.

Or, to be even more concise:

Just don't be a dick.

[icemankazansky86]

Winter Soldier/Soviet Spy Iceman anyone?

I tried, okay?

[deviousbastard1]

POV it was a FOOOOOLS ERRANDDDD

[hypocrisyofandrewdobson]

what do you think would dobson's reaction to the attempted assaination of trump would be?

I really want to give him the benefit of the doubt and say he’d have the decency to not say something stupid, but I’ve already seen people on Twitter angry he survived so…yeah.

Crazy shit though.

[hauscrashburn]

Epilogue is up!

Remus cleared his throat and took a swallow of the coffee placed in front of them. Two pan dulces were also dropped off. One was swirled loaf with cheese dripping out of the side. The other, a large loaf with white stripes across the top of it. Hermione broke off a piece, dipped it into her coffee, and popped it into her mouth. Her shoulders were streaked with tan lines, her strappy white dress unlike something she would have worn back in London, even in the summer.

This wasn’t the child he emotionally raised.

“Is he here? If not, I can take you home, Hermione. You can be safe with us,” Remus pitched forward, his voice thick with longing. A red dot appeared on his hand, a seizing of fear. Hermione flipped her hair over her shoulder and the dot disappeared.

“I don’t want to leave him.”

“He killed your best friend’s parents. And Sirius’s brother. You liked Moody.” He didn’t mean to make it sound like an accusation. Hermione gave an oddly bird like cock of her head, a narrowing of her brown eyes. There was something predatory about the way her teeth snagged her lip.

Read more here

[venomousashes]

Random character board

[the-woman-upstairs]

Another Mission Impossible film, another Benji ship that came out of NOWHERE and hit me like a 2x4 to the face

[maverick-werewolf]

Reminder: if you like fantasy, definitely check out my books. Wulfgard: Knightfall is my current magnum opus, and Wulfgard: The Demon's Fang is a standalone novella that leads you into it. Plus, the ebook of Fang is free! I have several other books, too.

Wulfgard: The Demon's Fang on Amazon (find it at many other online retailers, too, and your country's Amazon as well!)

Wulfgard: Knightfall on Amazon (find it at many other online retailers, too, and your country's Amazon as well!)

[huurreauthor]

Strip Club? 👀

Haha, it's actually to your prompt! :D Not much to tell yet, but here's two snippets from the first meeting between Harry & Tom (+ afterwards):

Yes, he very much wanted to spend a moment of time in private with the embodiment of Merlin. Or god, since they were in the Muggle side of London. "How much?" he asked, wanting to make sure he could afford it. "For you, darling? Let's say, 300 quids," the man answered, a playful grin stretching his lips, and Harry was sure he was being fooled, but he didn't care. "Deal," he accepted and stood up. The man took his hand and led him through the room to another side, where Harry had thought only the backstage was. The door opened for him easily, and the silence was almost deafening when the door closed behind them. Harry could hear his own blood soaring in his veins, and he just hoped he wasn't being led to death. It would be a stupid reason to die, but he was a Gryffindor for a reason. The room wasn't too far, just around the corner, and when he was pushed in, Harry saw immediately that it was exactly for this, whatever this was, with the soft-looking couch against the wall and a pole in the middle of the floor. "Please, take a seat, Mr…?" "Potter," Harry filled in, realising too late that he wasn't supposed to give his real name.

And then a tiny bit from Tom's pov:

No thinking about the black hair or bright green eyes. No thinking about magic and darkness radiating from him. No thinking about the last name, which was popular enough in the Muggle world but was also the last name of one of the most prominent wizarding families with an artist son.

[super-lupus]

Bring back Christian Bale to play Thomas Wayne Flashpoint Batman I'm not fucking kidding