#bruce has so many angsty feeling about this

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

It had only been a few hours since the glowing entity had sunk into Nightwings shadow while he was on patrol. So far, his symptoms were mild but concerning.

Batman had wrapped his eldest son in a big blanket as he shivered violently. Taking the thermometer out of his mouth, it showed he wasn't running a fever, but his temperature wasn't running any lower than normal either.

Which was odd since Dicks lips were blue.

"Do we have results on the blood samples?"

-Not much.- Red Robin answered through the coms, -this stuff is kinda like Lazarus water but only vaguely. If Ras is involved he's changed up the formula a lot-

Bruce looked down at his son, usually this would be the point where he would make a quip or joke of some sort, but there was nothing. Only his face contorting as his emotions swang to one extreme to the next, his eyes periodically flashing Lazarus green...

Aka Danny is badly injured and in his panic he sees Nightwing and thinks, "Safety" and that the hero wouldn't mind, so he burrows his way into Nightwings shadow to basically go into hibernation to fix himself.

Who could have possibly guessed that a super powerful entity forcibly entering someone's subconscious and staying there would have massive mental and physical consequences? Not Danny, apparently.

[gilverrwrites]

Dickies Mom has got it goin’ on

Had to get this convoluted, angsty but fun idea out of my head. One day I might expand it into a better-written, fleshed-out fic, but for now please enjoy my yappy ramblings.

Wally West/BatMom!Reader

CWs: Wally being a not so great friend.

So like, imagine you're roughly late 20s/early 30s and happily married to the love of your life Bruce Wayne, there's an age gap sure, but ultimately that's not important. What matters is that you've made a life with him and his children. You're especially close with Dick, his eldest (late teens/early 20s) as you've known him since he was a teenybopper.

All is well, until one day in true comic book fashion; you die. You sacrifice yourself for a greater cause. It's all very tragic.

A decade later, it turns out fate isn't done with you. You've no idea how or why, but you wake in a coffin one day and have to claw yourself out of it. Cold, alone, and afraid, you make your way back to Wayne Manor. There you're greeted by your husband Bruce, but not really. This Bruce is greying. There are fine lines on his face you've never seen before and a ring on his finger that does not match yours.

You're not mad, it's been 10 years, and he was supposed to move on! But it doesn't feel like 10 years to you, it feels like only yesterday everything was perfect. It's devastating.

Queue Dick finding out. He just so happened to be hanging with his best pal Wally at the time, they both drop everything to rush over in a flash.

Your first night back on earth is messy. It's emotional, and stressful, a hell of a roller coaster. Ultimately, you spend most of it with Dick and Jay who surprise is also back from the dead. Dick is really your emotional soundboard, while Jay offers more practical advice about navigating a world that has gone on without you. He recommends you just take some time off, heal your wounds, catch-up with friends and family. You should learn from his mistakes.

Wally helps too. Primarily in a comedian relief way but also just as a sunny friendly face. His freckles and kind green eyes go a long way in making you feel at ease amongst a sea of familiar strangers.

He's adamant you've met before but you insist you'd never forget eyes that green and it stops his heart. You mean nothing by it, but it means a lot to him.

After you’ve parted ways, Dick makes a point of telling Wally not to flirt with you if he ever meets you again.

“Flirting? I wasn't flirting.”

“I was there.”

“But, come on man she's hot!”

“She’s my mom.”

“But she's our age now.”

“Wally, she's my mom!”

Eventually, after a lot of teasing, Wally surrenders but he deliberately makes no promises. He can't, not when he's been replaying the same 5-second interaction you'd had at Dicks 18th Birthday party many moons ago in his head over and over. He’ll try for his best friend, but it seems to him like this was meant to be.

Bruce may not be in love with you anymore, but he still loves you. So he helps how he can, offers you food and shelter, medical attention, a job, whatever you need to get yourself back on your feet.

You decide to take Jasons advice. Bruce still has a lot of your things; your clothes and your car. You ‘borrow’ gas money from your widowed husband and hit the road to seek out lost friends and family. Sad, but eager to get away from the city that no longer feels like home. You leave your rings with Alfred, a sign to Bruce that you expect nothing from him, that you'll leave him and his new wife be even though it breaks your heart.

The first stop is Dick, obviously, since you have to travel through Blüd. After joining him for a routine patrol, you spend the night on his couch, eating Thai food and talking about his life since you… passed. Nightwing as just finding his footing back then, but now he's a force to rival Batman.

You're two states over when you get a call from a number you don't recognise. Most of the people you know have changed their numbers since you last spoke, so don't hesitate to answer. You're surprised however by whose on the other end.

“Wally West? How did you get this number?”

“From Dick.”

He's not lying, he's just omitting the fact that Dick doesn't know Wally got your number from his phone bill. If he didn't want that info getting out he should probably put his bills somewhere other than a lockbox in a safe and quit being only person in the entire world to still actively use a landline.

His not-a-lie works however, the implication of Dick's approval helps you to let down those mother-appropriate conversation walls.

“Heard you're travelling cross country, any chance you plan on stopping in Keystone?”

“Why? Whats in Keystone?”

“Um, the Patriots?”

“Baseball?”

“And hotdogs! Al who serves em does not skimp on all the toppings, you've gotta try em.”

“You want me to detour in Keystone for baseball and hotdogs?”

“Well, there is something else.”

“And whats that?”

“Guess.”

“Unmmm… You?”

“Ding ding ding. She's smart and beautiful, a woman after my own heart.”

He's cute. So cute. He's no Bruce, but Bruce never made you laugh like this.

“Wally, this is a bad ideas. I was married until like a week ago.”

“And? I'm not askin’ you to walk down the aisle again, just one game and like 20 hotdogs. For me. You don't have to eat that many unless you want too.”

[remotepixel]

Hi, it is a bit angsty, but imagine yandere platonic avengers with an outcast/wanderer teen mutant reader (maybe some elemental powers like fire) who is cynical because her parents kicked her out because they discovered her powers and thought of her as a freak? Can you please write how would they react to her and what kind of thing would they do to make her trust them? Thanks a lot.

Hiii! Thank you for requesting and sorry this took me so long <3

TW: yandere themes

-Assuming the reader didn’t want to become a hero in fear of being outcasted even further, it’d probably be someone like Clint who met you first - someone who isn’t immediately spotted by the public.

-As a father (or, to be fair, just a normal empathetic person), seeing an obviously homeless/mistreated kid would be setting off a series of alarm bells and a want to help. Since he’s trained for stealth, I think he’d be able to recognize the distrust in your overall posture and gaze, so he wouldn’t push too much. He’d probably hand over some money, a simple suggestion to stay safe, and head on his way.

-Obviously, his concern starts to grow into obsession (you’ll start seeing him more, he asks a few more questions than last time), but he wouldn’t mention it to the avengers unless he felt there was a higher need to: like seeing you start a fire with just your hands.

-As you can probably guess, they’re not a big fan of hearing some kid could just burn down the entire street if they wanted to, but, since, at the end of the day, you’re just a kid using your powers to survive, they wouldn’t be trying to hunt you down or anything of the sort. In a mixture of sympathy or some member’s wariness, they would be joining Clint in his (now daily) check up on you.

-Natasha is an expert in reading body language and changing hers to get what she wants, so she could smell your distrust from a mile away. She’ll keep up a emotionless façade despite your best efforts to make her leave.

-It’d probably annoy you more at first, the fact she’s so calm when you’re having the worst time of your life, but she’s careful to not cross any boundaries she knows she won’t come back from and you start to feel bad later on, thinking of your emotional outbursts against her stoicism.

-When you’re starting to trust her more, she opens to you in return. She don’t ask about your home life or what happened, she mostly listens or sits in the quiet with you, with the hopes of becoming a safe place against everything (or anyone) else.

-Bruce would be another more comforting figure out of them all. He knows how it feels to be judged for something - destructive - out of your control, and it would offer a comfort to know you’re not alone.

-I don’t see him visiting as often as some of the others (he’s too nervous to do so - just in case he messes anything up), but normally brings something when he does; something small like a trinket or a book. He doesn’t want to come off as pitying, and he assumes you won’t be accepting of any ‘extravagant’ gifts, so he hopes you would at least accept those - a way of showing he cares and something to do for you.

-He wouldn’t push his luck, similar to Nat and Clint, but he would suggest moving into the tower or similar thanks to him being science bros with the pushiest member of the team: Tony.

-Tony would be the worst person in this scenario. Sure, he knows his way around the social scene, but normally that’s with fellow arrogant businessmen, not angsty teens.

-Despite understanding your distrust, he doesn’t have the subtle cues mastered like Nat. His first line to you is probably a question/joke about your powers, which definitely doesn’t help when that’s the reason you’re cynical in the first place. He’ll attempt to be casual, then just blurt out how the tower has extra rooms - an not-very-subtle offer you have declined too many times in the past week.

-What he makes up with badly-formed conversations, he tries to make up with gifts: blankets, shoes, way too much cash he just shoves into your hand before leaving. He doesn’t view you as a charity case, but he hopes his attentiveness to your needs/wants solidifies the fact that he’s trying to help.

-Steve’s a 50/50 I think. He’s an easy person to trust, but once his obsessive thoughts start taking over, he gives off heavy ‘i’m going to gaslight every interaction into something positive and you’re never getting rid of me’.

-Like, even if you don’t trust him (yet), he’ll be sitting next to you with a smile on his face thinking about how well this is going. It clear he’s trying though. He’s persistent in his efforts - making sure to visit everyday at a set time - with either food or maybe his drawing kit if you’re interested in that.

-He’d probably pull out the ‘:(’ face if he deems you haven’t opened up enough to him, and basically try and guilt-trip you into doing so (because he’s the epitome of goodness, right? Shouldn’t you trust him at least?)

-Thor probably doesn’t realise you don’t trust him. As long as you stick around, cowering in the corner or not, he’ll happily talk about his newest adventures or how much you would like Asgard (never mind the fact you won’t even think of the idea of following him somewhere and he’s already trying to bring you back to his home realm).

-He’d be similar to Tony in terms of being overly-interested in your powers, but his is out of such pure enthusiasm that’s it hard to completely brush him off. He doesn’t even flinch if you decide to show how dangerous your powers can be on a stray piece of trash, he’s just happy to see you using them.

-When you eventually open up about your parents, the avengers aren’t happy obviously. They knew you probably weren’t living in the streets for fun, but to hear that the people you were supposed to trust most were the reason?

-Don’t be surprised if you hear your parents have suddenly gotten fired from their jobs and moved across the state (or, at least, that’s what people think since they’ve also cut off any contacts they had).

-However, in a twisted way, there is a sense of satisfaction that your parents were fully out of the picture, no ways of them ever being able to regain your trust. It leaves an open spot for the avengers to swoop in; pick up the broken pieces and claim the number one spot in your heart.

-You can happily stay in the tower with them, far above the streets you once lived in, knowing that they’ll never let you leave go back.

[dg-outlaw]

Batman #148 Thoughts... or Why Jason Todd is Awesome and Batman Doesn't Deserve Him.

So... I know a lot of the discussion about this issue has been about what happens to Jason, and IYKYK. What I want to discuss are parts of the rest of the issue and why I think Jason is one of the best characters (and more than how many perceive him). *spoilers ahead*

I know many outsiders and even those in fandom look at Jason Todd or the Red Hood and think of him as the hot, angsty edge lord who isn't afraid to break Batman's one rule. He's cool and badass so you want to be like him or he's the romantic fantasy bad boy with a soft side. These things are fine, but this is often where people stop with Jason or if they dislike him the above descriptions are why.

Some people want him to be an antagonist again because villains are cool and this is where we get things like 'The Boys' because it's edgy, subversive, or some intelligent deconstruction of superheroes. Colorful and honorable superheroes like Superman or Spider-Man are boring, just a fantasy, or for kids who don't understand the real world. Again, fine if that's your take, but I don't believe that one "graduates" from one to the other.

Beyond the Fast and Furious style cool factor of fast cars, guns, and explosions that often get associated with Jason, there's more to him than that and it's why he's still one of my favorites. Hell, this is the same character that writers thought would be a priest in the Flashpoint universe, a universe that had gone to hell in a handbasket but in all that chaos and darkness he became a PRIEST.

(The World of Flashpoint: Issue #2)

Say what you will about organized religion, Christianity, or the Catholic church (because there are definitely issues there), but I think two of Jason's core traits that I admire are his faith and hope. Traits that often get Jason hurt by the people closest to him, but that often see him through the darkest times.

The cheapness of using Jason's "death" aside, these traits are seen again in Batman #148. Not only is Jason willing to put his faith in Bruce again (after everything "not" Bruce did to him in Gotham War), but he's the first down into the cave.

This isn't blind faith, but a willingness to try. A hope that maybe this time he won't be hurt, even if time and time again history has proven otherwise. Note: This can be a slippery and dangerous slope and not one without consequences as many people fall into the trap of going back into or staying in toxic relationships that only bring them pain. (And I never said his greatest strengths can't also be his greatest weaknesses).

We also see some emotional maturity and growth in this issue and I love that for Jason. Has he been going to therapy? Maybe, but my money is that he's probably been reading lots of self-help books or something.

Does Bruce deserve this level of forgiveness and compassion from Jason? No, but Jason gives it to him anyway. I also feel like this is a soft challenge from Jason. "I'm not here to save you from yourself or to ask you to save me. We do this together or not at all."

And if you're thinking, "Oh no, Jason has gone soft. Not my Jason Todd!" He's still a cheeky bastard in battle, even when he's on the ropes.

Now, for Jason's "death", one could say that it was a cheap ploy by the writer or DC to get people talking or to have a random "Jason dies" scene (though he's revived in the same issue so I feel the emotional stakes/hype are less compared to leaving it open-ended until the next issue).

One could also look at it in a cynical light given it's Jason that Bruce brings down into the cave during the flashback reveal with the secret Lazarus Kool-Aid. Did Bruce plan that knowing Jason would volunteer in some sort of reverse psychology manipulation? Was it just a random plot explanation to justify having the "Jason dies" scene? Who knows? Though I think Dick or Tim would've volunteered as well. But my focus is on the conversation.

This is another example of Jason's hope and faith, and his faith in Bruce. Bruce's plan isn't tested, though one could assume that he's done the math so to speak, but it's still Jason literally putting his life in Bruce's hands. It's also fairly clever because if Failsafe is some echo of Batman, then something in his programming probably knows about the emotional pain of Jason's initial death. So not only is "killing" going to make him glitch out, but killing Jason is probably the ultimate Failsafe glitch.

Deep down I think Jason knows how much he means to Bruce, even if Bruce is terrible at showing it sometimes. He's willing to take the risk and die, not for Bruce, but for the greater good of saving the day.

Let's also not forget that in the span of a short amount of (in-universe) time, Jason has saved the entire East Coast (end of Gotham War), Gotham City (end of The Joker: The Man Who Stopped Laughing), and is now ready to die again to stop Failsafe--all while his brain is still probably a little messed up from Gotham War.

Let this young man take a damn vacation!

Was this issue perfect? No. And I agree with others about it not being cool that Steph, Cass, and Duke got sidelined as the clean-up crew, but I do think it showed a lot of Jason's deeper character (flawed or not) and how he's more than just the edgy, sarcastic bad boy. That part of him is just the hard candy shell he's had to create to protect the gooey center that is his hope, faith, and love. After all, Damian has previously (and rightly) called him out as the "emotional one".

P.S. I know my previous post picked on Jason's Red Hood outfit at the end and I still stand by the fact that it wasn't my favorite, but seeing that it's Jorge Jimenez's art, I can forgive it. I love most of Jorge's art and would kill (not literally) to be as talented as him, but that outfit design is still a no for me. Sorry, Jorge. :(

[romanarose]

Not a Goodbye...

But a shift.

I will not mince words, things are shit right now in the Pedro Pascal fandom.

For me though, nothings been the same since April. My notes DROPPED and never recovered. I'v been blocked by pages I never interacted with and people who used to be mutuals want nothing to do with me.

Things Ive been informed I've been blocked for is darking dark, using adult shoes in a header that everyone said were kids feet (they weren't), being Jewish so I must support genocide (im not im a hopeful convert and I've been very vocal about the genocide), supporting a terrorist organization and being anti semetic (I'm not, again, hopeful convert and I'm very vocal about anti semitism), fetishizing gay men as a "girl" (I am not a girl) etc.

It's just not fun anymore.

The Pedro fandom has given me a LOT. I've met many, many wonderful friends here who are just great people and friendships I hope last. Even ones that dont i value forever.

But i think my time here isn't what it once was. I feel safer and happier in the oscar issac side, or blogging about bruce springsteen, or star wars. I've decided to reshift my focus back to OScar Isaac/Triple frontier writing.

What will change?

Not a lot to start. In fact you might see even more P boy content at first! I have a few things I wanna finish writing. I need to finish blessed by the fruit, and a few WIPS i have, including super angsty Joel's

ROF will continue but Im gonna keep writing laregly TF fanfiction so that wouldn't change

You'll still see Frankie around as i love TF but it maybe more FishBen. Sorry to everyone who says I fetishize gay men ig

I might write more on characters around p boys. Tommy Miller, Steve murphy

And if I have an idea I love, if I wanna write it, I'll write it!

Currently I have 2 joel one shot wips i wanna get out

I deleted the tumblr app, I need to decompress. Im still here with my laptop when im at home, but less access. Just for a day or a few, nothing big.

I wanna work on my original works, including Mariposa and my TWW rewrite, stolen lullaby! I'll be posting less between that, the Zine, and this semester ill be in school full time and working full time plus part time.

follow @romana-updates to keep updated.

I love each and every person I've made friends with or interact with around this side of tumblr! If you dont wanna follow me due to lack of joel coming up, thats okay! I hope you had fun while you were here!

[bloodyshadow1]

i really love Batfamily stuff, it's so much more interesting than Mary Sue Batman, but I feel like people don't get how the batfam actually interacts with other heroes. Specifically Clark and Diana.

I see so many posts about how the Justice league knows nothing about the batkids and I'm sorry, to me that's the most boring way to do things and completely against characterization and history if it's just the whole league. If you think Clark and Diana don't love those kids as family it's not really my cup of tea (to a lesser extent Barry and J'onn).

I get that there are a lot of batkids and a lot of different comics with different minds behind them so I can only reference what I know and from what I've experienced. Still, I read comics for a while and I feel like my personal headcanons are:

Nightwing should absolutely adore his aunt and uncle, he's nightwing because of a conversation he had with Superman. He was the first Robin and adored in the superhero community. He led the titans, was best friends with Donna.

Red Hood, I think Jason might be a bit more chilly towards Clark, Like everything, after he came back things went to shit, especially after he found out Clark stopped Bruce from killing the Joker to avenge him. but has a lot of fond memories towards Clark when he was Robin. He still has a real love for Aunt Diana, probably avoids her though because she is a reminder of the good times he had as Robin.

Red Robin, things are complicated with him as he was on the Outsiders with Connor and Cassie, and later on the Titans with them. When they were the outsiders, the Justice League probably felt more like the man trying to control them. Later on during the titans, things get angsty so I think that might color Tim's perception of them and favor the way his friends describe them more than what he's seen of them. I think he has good memories, but not nearly as much as Jason or Dick

I don't think I've read any comics about Spoiler, Black Bat, or Signal's interactions with them so I would leave that to those who know more. That being said, I think their interactions would be fun, I think Cass would respect Diana as probably the world's best warrior and I think Duke would really look up to Clark, partially because he's superman, but also he's fun and light, not to mention they both have light powers even if they manifest differently. I don't really know much about Stephanie and her interactions with other heroes tbh

Damian, I think is interesting because I think he actually respects Clark more as a journalist and as Jon's father than he does as Superman. At least at first. Superman has all these powers but doesn't really do a lot of what he sees as big changes so I think at first he considers his powers a waste on small potatoes stuff. He does come to respect him though. Diana, I think Damian adores pretty quickly even if he says otherwise, I think they bond over their love of animals. I also think that Damian respects that Diana will kill if necessary, he was trained by the league of assassins, I understand that as a member of the batfamily he doesn't kill, but I don't think it's right for him to be as antikilling as the rest. I think out of respect for Dick and his father he doesn't kill but he understands that some people need killing.

I'm not trying to yuck anyone's um, your headcanons are your own, but I see so many posts that just don't get how fun interactions with characters are with their canon personalities.

[heavenlyhischier]

idiots in love - dick grayson

summary: two people who are madly in love with each other but they're both idiots.

word count: 5.8k (lmao sorry)

warnings: lil angsty, cursing, steamy lil makeout sesh, unedited, cursing??

notes: hi hello hi! here is something that has been sitting, more like marinating, in the drafts for a hot minute. btw its not explicitly titans!verse dick, but he's hot so sue me

Saying that befriending Jason Todd changed your life would be a complete understatement. You had gone from being invisible and living under the radar in Gotham to earning an unwanted spotlight from being seen alongside Bruce Wayne’s son nearly every day. To make that matter worse, Jason had once conned you into attending a gala that Bruce was holding because “it is the only way he could manage to survive another one of these things”. That drew a lot of rumors and suspicions from the media in Gotham as they speculated the true nature of your relationship with Jason. That was also the start of a complex and hidden relationship with his older brother.

Dick Grayson remembered the first time that he saw you like it was happening right in front of him all over again. You were standing next to Jason in a floor length black dress that shimmered blue when the light hit it just the right way. You were, albeit unknowingly, wearing his colors next to his brother and it instantly attracted him to you. He could tell you felt out of place by the way your body was turned towards Jason and your eyes kept darting around you. Trying to get you away from Jason was a much harder task than he had anticipated, but what ensued once he had made it all worth it.

Meeting Dick was something Jason had tried to keep you from for as long as he could. He knew that Dick had a less than honorable reputation when it came to women, and you getting tangled in that web was the last thing he wanted for you. Despite his efforts, your attraction to the detective was stronger than he would have guessed and you managed to fall into the hole anyway. Jason, the ever so protective friend he was, tried to keep out of it, but his brother made that increasingly harder the more often you showed up at his apartment defeated and confused.

You had initially tried to keep your relationship with Dick a secret. You really did. But being friends with someone like Jason made that impossible. He was able to find out anything and everything he wanted. When he tried, and miserably failed, to subtly ask you if you were seeing someone he knew, you came clean about everything. You told him about how the night you met Dick, he had taken you back to his apartment and you two talked for hours and hours. Jason had been slightly thrown off that he didn’t try to sleep with you, but you assured him that that didn’t happen until nearly two weeks after you had met.

You also divulged the true nature of your feelings for Dick that night, and Jason had suggested that you tell him or it was going to ultimately cause you pain and heartache. “I tried to bring it up once,” You had said, “But he kind of shut it down pretty quick. Said that we’re just friends who hook up sometimes. He just- he acts like it’s more than that when we’re in bed and it’s so confusing, but I don't want to give it up. If that’s all I can have of him, I’ll deal.”

That was nearly four months ago, and nothing had changed. Dick would call you at random times day or night and you would go running every single time. It was pathetic how desperate you were to have a piece of him, but you were too scared to ask for more. He was too closed off with his feelings to ever let you get even an inkling of how he felt about you outside of physical attraction. Jason had been right about this bringing you nothing but despair. Nonetheless, you stayed at his mercy.

Your body was hot and sticky with sweat as you lay on Dick’s chest, fingers tracing along the scars that littered his skin. You often asked how he managed to obtain so many, but he, much like Jason, said the same thing every time. “Job’s just dangerous”. You’re not quite sure how being a detective and security guard would get one in situations to earn such wounds, though you never pressed too hard. His arm was tight around you, making sure that you stayed tucked into his side as his fingers delicately grazed your waist, leaving a trail of goosebumps behind in their wake. Moments like these you both despised and cherished. They made your heart swell with hope and want, but they also made your stomach turn with uncertainty.

“You going to the gala tomorrow,” Dick’s asked, his grip slightly tightening.

You peered up at him through your eyelashes, “Yeah. Jay always makes me go with him since he ‘can’t handle it alone’. Are you, or do you have to work?”

Dick’s not sure why hearing that you would be attending the event with his brother hit him the way it did. It made his throat close up and his chest burn with jealousy. You had always attended Bruce’s events with Jason, and he knew that. He knows that it was purely platonic, but a part of himself couldn’t help but think there was something else there. He knows his brother is an attractive guy, and God you are the most beautiful woman to walk the earth. It only made sense for you two to be attracted to each other, and that’s what he has been running with.

“Yeah, I’m bringing a girl from work actually,” His voice was flat as he loosened his grip on you so that he was barely touching you now. It was a total lie, but he couldn’t stop himself from saying it. 

It was as if Dick punched a hole into your chest and ripped your heart out with his own two hands. Your movements froze as you blinked back the tears that instantly pricked your eyes, not wanting to give away the effect his words had on you. He was always good at reminding you that you were a disposable secret to him, but it hurt all the same every time.

Composing yourself, you flattened your hand on his chest and used it to push yourself up into a sitting position. You avoided looking at Dick as you slipped out of his bed and began putting your clothes back on. He watched you, trying to piece together what was going through your brain. He shamelessly wanted to believe it to be jealousy; that you detested the idea of another woman on Dick’s arm, but he knew better than that. He assumed you were in a hurry to get to Jason’s apartment, which is where he knew you went every time after you left his place. He had followed you one night to make sure you stayed safe, but he wasn’t prepared for his own heart to be put into danger.

That was the night he realized just how deep his feelings for you were, and it scared him to no end. He thought he was doing good at guarding his heart, but then he met you. You had effortlessly and entirely captured him. Dick craved everything about you. He craved your touch. Your smile. Your laughter. You. He would do whatever it took to have a part of you no matter how much it hurt him to know your heart would never belong to him. 

“I can’t wait to meet her,” You spoke through the awkward tension in the air, “I should probably go home to sleep before tomorrow. Don’t want to look like a walking zombie, you know.”

Your idiotic attempt at a joke hung in the air as you slipped your socks on, and you mentally slapped yourself for saying that. Wanting to get away from the now uncomfortable situation, you rushed out of his apartment without another word to the man who held your heart in his hands. Typically, you would walk to Jason’s and mope about your unfortunate situation, but you opted to go to your own apartment instead. You made sure to let Jason know of your plans so that he didn’t quite literally break into your house to make sure that you were alive. His “u ok?” text went ignored as you fell into your bed and begged your thoughts to quiet themselves so you could sleep in peace.

You woke the next morning with a new sense of determination, and a little bit of retaliation on your mind. You quickly sent Cass and Steph a text asking them to come do some last minute shopping with you, which they were more than happy to agree to. They both met you outside of your apartment an hour later, questions tumbling out of their mouth as soon as they saw you. You brushed off their interrogations with a laugh and started towards the nicer part of Gotham.

“I thought you already had a dress,” Cass pointed as you walked into one of your favorite dress shops in the fashion district.

“I do, but I always wear some variation of black and blue and I wanted to switch it up,” You shrugged as you filtered through some of the dresses on the rack.

Truthfully, you knew that the colors you always wore matched the colors that Dick wore as well. It was something that he mentioned drove him crazy whenever he managed to pull you away to have his way with you. You started wearing those colors for him specifically, but something inside you switched this morning. Today, you were going to wear something else and prayed to anyone that would listen that it would get underneath his skin. You knew it was childish, but if he was going to bring someone else, you didn’t care.

The two of them shared a knowing look with each other before diving in to help you search. They were aware of your situation with Dick and how you felt about him, but unlike you, they could see the way he felt about you. They knew that if you showed up wearing something other than the colors he wore to protect the city, he was going to be absolutely furious. However, they secretly hoped it got under his skin enough to ignite the fire he needed to tell you how he truly felt.

You had gathered a decent amount of options, so you decided to move over to the dressing room area and try what you had on. You had tried on a variation of styles and colors; none of which you liked. The girls of course gave their honest opinions, and you got rid of the ones they made faces at almost immediately. Your last pick was a long-sleeved red dress with a slit on the right side and a plunged neckline. Looking at yourself in the mirror, you couldn’t help but notice the way the color looked slightly off, but it still made you look damn hot.

You opened the curtain and slowly stepped out, catching the girl's attention. “Now that’s sure going to piss Dick off,” Cass laughed, and you couldn’t help but feel like you were missing something.

“You look absolutely breathtaking, but she’s right. If your goal is to make him mad, that dress will sure make that happen,” Steph agreed as she nudged Cass to calm down, “Is that what you want?”

“Honestly, I don’t really know. At first, yes, but now I just- I’m not sure. I don’t think he’ll even notice,” You sighed, casting your eyes to the ground as you lightly pinched at the satin.

“Oh he’ll notice alright. He might beat the shit out of Jay, too.”

Your eyes darted back towards them, wide and alert. The last thing you wanted to cause any sort of fight between your best friend and man you were in love with. “Why would he do that over a dress,” You rushed out, hands nervously gripping the fabric.

“It’s not the dr- He won’t, hon. It was just a joke,” Cass recovered as she glared at Steph, “I’m sure he won’t do that. You’re just going to look really good and he’ll probably be a little jealous is all.”

You ignored Steph’s quiet snort and went back to change, making the decision to go ahead and get the dress. It was as if it was tailored specifically for your body, and not getting it would almost be criminal. You knew you were going to have to dip into your savings a little to afford the dress, but the way it looked on you was worth it. Once you had changed and went to go pay, but there was a woman standing outside the dressing room with a dress bag.

“We paid for it,” Steph peeked her head around the woman, a smile beaming on her face, “And no you can not pay us back!”

After a failed attempt at trying to get the girls to at least take some of your money, they took you back to the manor to get ready with them. Cassandra called Bruce who had Alfred ready one of the larger rooms for the three of you to get ready in. Steph put on some music as you took turns showering in the biggest shower you had seen in your entire life. You had stayed in there a little longer than you intended, getting lost in your thoughts about Dick Grayson.

You could tell that the girls were itching to ask you about why your sudden change in outfit happened, but were keeping quiet in case it was too sensitive of a topic. It was clear to them that you were trying to get back at Dick, but they couldn’t figure out why. They were both capable of asking the right questions in order to gain the information they wanted; it was a practice they put into use nearly every day. However, they felt guilty using that skill on you.

The closer the time for the event to start came, the harder it became to breathe. Knowing that Dick was bringing someone else made your entire body ache as you wondered why you weren’t good enough. He had told you before that he never liked to bring dates because people would speculate, and he only wanted them to speculate if it were true. Now, he would mingle and flirt all he wanted, but he had never kept it to one person the entire night. This girl had to be someone special if he was okay with rumors flying around.

Nearly an hour later, the sound of someone knocking broke through the intense concentration you had from doing your makeup. Steph, who was already done getting ready, pulled the door open and Jason came barreling in. He was dressed in an all black suit, but the tie he was sporting was the same color as the dress you had bought today. You internally smacked yourself for not remembering that red was Jason’s color, and that’s why the girls said what they did about Dick.

“What do you want,” Steph huffed, quickly closing the door in case anyone passed by.

“I’m bored,” Jason groaned as he fell backwards onto the untouched bed.

“So go bother someone else,” Cass spoke over her shoulder, giving Jason an annoyed glare. If you hadn’t known anny better, you would have thought she was being serious.

“Y/N’s in here and she’s my friend so why don't you go bother someone else. Anyways, we need to be down there in like twenty minutes so you two better hurry.”

“I just need to get my dress on and I’m done,” You called out as you let the setting spray settle on your face.

You heard Steph whisper something to Jason, but you were too far away for it to be understood. You went back into the bathroom where your dress was hanging on the back of the door, leaving their whispers behind.  Nerves spread through every inch of your body as you slipped the dress on,  the urge to throw up growing with each second. A large part of you wanted to back out and just not go, but you knew that Jason would physically drag you if he had to.

Closing your eyes and taking a deep breath, you pulled the bathroom door open and walked back out into the room. Initially, Jason cast you a passing glance, but he nearly broke his neck swiveling back to you, sitting up so quickly the momentum almost threw him off the bed. The girls had the biggest smiles on their faces and you couldn’t help but blush at the attention.

“You’re right. He might kill me,” Jason laughed as he stood and strided over to you, “You look beautiful, but if you’re trying to get under Dick’s skin. I think you’re going to accomplish that.”

“Yeah, I didn’t realize we’d be matching. I wanted to make him mad, but I don’t want to make him think this is happening,” You gestured between you and Jason as you grimaced. The thought of ever being involved with Jason like that made you uncomfortable.

“You wish it was, sweetheart,” Jason rolled his eyes, “Why do you wanna make him mad anyways?”

“Uh, he uh- Fuck,” You groaned, throwing your head back in frustration as you let the truth out, “He told me he was bringing someone else and I know it shouldn’t be a big deal but it’s just- you know why it bothers me..”

The girls looked both confused and shocked, but Jason. Jason was absolutely fuming. He already hated the way his brother treated you, but knowing that he would do something that childish made his blood boil. He knew that Dick never brought a woman to any events because he hated the rumors that accompanied that, and if Dick was willing to put up with that just to spite you? That was enough to make him see red.

“Jason,” Steph tried, sensing that he was about to boil over.

You watched as the two girls shared a look with each other as Jason tightly clenched his fists. You felt guilty for making Jason so angry, but you knew it wasn’t you that made him mad. It was his brother and his idiotic behavior, but a part of you wished that you had just kept that to yourself. You knew that he hated the way Dick was treating you and this only added fuel to that already blazing fire.

“I’m fine,” He let out through strangled breaths, “I’m good. Let’s just go downstairs.”

Dick had been downstairs for the last thirty minutes, his heart beating harder and faster the longer he waited for your arrival. Bruce could tell that he wasn’t all the way there, but chose to not ask his son what was on his mind. In fact, he already knew the answer to his own question. Dick paced the floor, eyes glancing to the door every few seconds in case you chose to make your entrance then.

He was nervous to see you after what he had said to you last night. He had no intentions of making that lie a truth, but he still felt the guilt eating away at him ever since you had left. You hadn’t texted him when you got home, and you also hadn’t texted him all day. That was how he knew that he had struck a nerve, but he was still naive as to why. He had convinced himself that there was no way you felt the same way, so why were you suddenly so distant?

You had attempted to soothe Jason’s anger by telling him it wasn’t a big deal and that you didn’t care if Dick brought someone else, but he saw right through your lies. He curtly brushed your comments off as his eyes stayed set on the path in front of him; one thing staying at the forefront of his mind.

Your heart was bound to beat out of your chest the closer you got to the party, you’re sure of that. The combination of having to see Dick and Jason’s anger towards him was not helping ease any of your already bubbling anxiety. You wrung your fingers together as you tried to calm yourself down, but it wasn’t doing much. You wanted nothing more than to turn around and leave and pretend like nothing ever happened.

Steph and Cass kept glancing at you, passing you sympathetic gazes as they walked ahead. They could practically feel the nerves radiating off of you mixed with the pure rage off of Jason. It put them on high alert, and they knew they were going to have to keep a close eye on their brothers in order to maintain some sort of peace. A silent agreement was made to keep the two of them apart until Jason got his emotions in check.

“Jason,” You tried again as you entered the party, hand instinctively gripping Jason’s bicep “Please don’t do anything stupid. It’s fine.”

Several eyes watched as you descended the stairs on Jason’s arm and you knew whispers were being thrown around thanks to the accidental matching outfits. You had, of course, been seen with Jason countless times before, but now the public had all the proof that they needed to confirm the relationship they had created in their heads.

“I never do anything stupid, sweetheart. Everything I do is calculated and on purpose,” He teased, his anger fading for a fleeting moment.

Dick found you as soon as you stepped foot into the room, but he immediately wished that he hadn’t. Your dress was a deep red color that not only matched Jason’s tie, but the helmet that adorned his head as he prowled the streets of Gotham. Dick could feel any hope that he had shatter with each step that you took, and he hated himself for it. It was his own fault.

“Dick,” Bruce’s gruff voice pulled his gaze away from you, “If there’s going to be a problem-”

“There won’t be,” He interrupted before turning on his heels and heading straight for the bar.

Cass made a beeline straight for Dick while Steph stayed relatively close to the two of you. Jason had taken a glass of champagne from the first waitress that passed by, not even letting the poor woman get four steps away before he needed another one. Your hand stayed glued to his bicep as an attempt for comfort while also keeping him near you. Just when you thought you had grown accustomed to the scrutinizing stares of Gotham’s most elite, it was ten times worse now.

“Good evening Mister Todd,” A man you recognized from The Gotham Globe approached, his annoyingly bright smile plastered on, “I see we have made the relationship official?”

“Piss off,” Jason grumbled, dragging you away from the obnoxious reporter.

Stares lingered longer than usual and whispers were present anywhere the two of you went. You tried to tune everything out, but the ache in your heart remained. You had only seen the back of Dick as he spoke with a woman; you assumed she was his date. You barely managed to fight back tears, but the thought of Jason seeing them made it a little easier to control. Despite your current suffering, you didn’t wish him any harm.

Dick didn’t mean to find you every chance that he could. He really didn’t, but it was like his own subconscious was trying to torment him. Forcing him to watch you throw your head back with laughter as you clung to his younger brother. It lit the sort of rage within him that was different from the one he got when he was dealing with the scum of Gotham. This rage was based out of fear. He needed to get out of there, at least for a moment.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom, Jay,” You had leaned up to whisper in his ear, “I might be a while, though. I just need to breathe for a little bit.”

You slipped your arm out of his own before making way towards the stairs. You had spent enough time at these events to know where and how to escape unnoticed. You were essentially being guided by pure muscle memory as you snuck into one of the rooms that was in an area off limits to guests. Your eyes were squeezed shut as you turned and leaned your head against the dark wooden door, letting out a deep sigh.

“Are you okay,” A voice you would recognize anywhere cut through the silence. You let out a startled yelp, opening your eyes to see Dick sitting on his old bed. You had, unintentionally, guided yourself to the one room you were trying to stay away from.

His eyes dragged over your body for the thousandth time tonight, but now he was able to really admire you. You looked breathtaking. Though to him, you always did. To him, you were the most beautiful woman to exist in any world, but he couldn’t help but feel annoyed. He had come here to escape the aching in his chest for a moment, but it seemed the universe wanted him to suffer.

“I’m sorry,” You finally managed to speak, albeit quietly, “I didn’t mean to come in here.”

“It’s fine. I was just leaving,” He avoided eye contact with you as he stood.

“No, don’t,” You rushed out, taking a few steps towards him, “This is your room. I’ll leave.”

The sound of your heels clicking against the hardwood floors made Dick look up and meet your gaze. Dick had spent countless hours observing you and getting to know each and every part of your body that he could tell you were nervous. He could sense the apprehension from the way you struggled to maintain eye contact to the way your fingers pinched at the fabric of your dress. He wanted nothing more than to kiss away any anxiety you had, but he knew he couldn't do that. Not anymore.

Dick’s hair was untamed in a way that looked as if he had been pulling at it, something you knew he does when he’s frustrated. His cheeks were tinged red and eyes slightly bloodshot and tired. Every nerve in your body was screaming at you to reach out to him. To let him know that you were there, but you couldn’t let him back in again. You had endured enough pain from him.

“You look beautiful,” He quietly spoke, gaze unwavering.

Your breath caught in your throat as your eyes darted across the room, “Thank you. It was a last minute change and I accidentally ended up matching with Jason, which is only fueling those stupid rumors. I should have just worn the dress I originally bought, but I-”

“Y/N,” Dick cut off your rambling, knowing you would keep going until you couldn’t breathe, “You mean that you and Jason aren’t…”

Your gaze snapped to his own at the implication, and you could see the desperation and defeat swimming in his eyes. “No, Dick. No,” You squeezed your eyes shut as you shook your head, “Nothing has changed on that front, and it never will. But even if it did, why do you care? You brought a date.”

Your voice was thick with emotion as you mentioned his alleged date, and you couldn’t stop your eyes from brimming with tears. You hated that the simple thought of him with someone else made you break, but there was no stopping that now. He took a few steps towards you and took your face in his hands as you attempted to blink back tears.

“I lied,” He whispered, thumbs wiping away at the tears that managed to break free, “I never had a date. I only said I did because I was hurt and confused. I was hurt because I’ve convinced myself that Jason is the one that you want. That he’s the guy you want to be with; not me. I know that you spend a lot of time with him so I just thought...”

Your breath caught in your throat as his words settled; your skin burning in the places his fingers pressed against. You wanted to cling onto the hope that he meant that the same way that you wanted him to, but you’re scared. You’re scared to let yourself believe the one thing he had convinced you wasn’t true. Your eyes were a tell all for Dick, and he hated the painful look in them now. He could tell you were holding back, and he knew he was the cause of that.

“I don’t want to be with Jason,” You began, voice wavering, “I spend a lot of time with him because he’s my friend and he’s there for me. He listens to me and he comforts me because I’m an idiot in love with someone who doesn’t love me back.”

Every nerve in Dicks body was telling him to let you go. He would never forgive himself if someone were to find out who he was and used you to hurt him. Jason would never forgive him. Bruce taught him that keeping someone you love far away is what will keep them the safest, but what good has that done him? He’s a gloomy man who hides his feelings with a veil of indifference. A veil any person could see through if they looked hard enough.

His silence was unnerving, so you were quick to add, “Dick, it’s okay that you don't feel the same. I’ve known that for a long time.”

“I do,” He hurried as his fingers pressed slightly harder, “I love you, and that scares me in more ways than you could ever know. I thought I knew what it was like to be in love, but then I met you and I realized that nothing has ever compared to the way I feel about you. I look at you and see the rest of my life in front of my eyes. I can’t let that go.”

The tears you were desperately trying to keep at bay flowed down your cheeks as he confessed. You had been waiting to hear him say he loved you for so long that even now, it doesn’t feel real. If it weren’t for the pressure on your cheeks from his fingers, you would have convinced yourself that you were hallucinating. That he wasn’t truly there and the few glasses of champagne you had got to your head.

You lunged forward, quickly capturing his lips with your own. He let out a low groan as he dropped his hands to your waist, pulling you into his grasp. You knotted your fists in his undoubtedly expensive button up as the two of you kissed each other like your lives depend on it. Obviously, you’ve done this particular dance with Dick before, but this was different. This was the kind of kiss that splits the sky in two and opens it up to the heavens.

You can taste the alcohol on his lips as he gently turns and guides you backwards until the backs of your thighs come in contact with the obnoxiously large desk. One of his hands moves to fumble around with the various objects scattered across the desk. His struggles cause you to lightly break away and let out an airy giggle as he works to clear the top.

“I haven’t touched this thing in years I don’t know why there’s so much shit on it,” He mumbled against your lips, “Oh fuck it.”

He shoved everything onto the ground and hoisted you up onto the now empty desk, and you couldn’t help but throw your head back in laughter at how cliché that was. “Calm down, hotshot. You’re going to attract an audience with that noise.”

He gripped your chin, forcing you to meet his dark, lustful gaze, “Let them watch then.”

The pool between your legs grew, aching for any sort of friction to ease the desire that had blossomed inside of you. You were desperate for a release, so you pulled him in by the back of his neck and met his lips in a blinding kiss. Dick gripped the underside of your thigh, pulling you flush against his body. Your fingers pulled and tugged at his hair and suddenly he's kissing you harder with a fervent desire that left you utterly breathless.

“Dick,” You pulled away, “If you don’t stop kissing me like that, you’re going to have to fuck me.”

Dick was slightly stunned at your bluntness, but it just made him even more attracted to you; something he did not think was possible. “Not that I don’t want to, but I don’t want you to think that was all I wanted from you,” He whispered, his eyes dancing all across your face as if he was memorizing every inch of it, “Trust me, I really really want to. I also want to do things right with you and I know I’ve been fucking it up for the last few months.”

“Who knew you were such a softie,” You teased, “But now is not the ti-”

You were cut off by Jason’s voice bouncing off the hallway walls as he called your name. You instantly shoved yourself off of the desk and began to straighten your dress. Dick let you push him away from you, his heart constricting as he let himself go back to what he thought previously. You looked behind you and you could tell that he was upset.

“Hey,” You started, cupping his cheek in your hand, “Don’t do that. It isn’t like that at all, okay? I just know that he is extremely pissed off at you right now and I want to do a little damage control first. I promise you I will come over later and we can do whatever you want.”

“Can you stay with me tonight,” He pleaded, taking your other hand in his own, “Stay with me as my girlfriend.”

He felt cheesy saying that, but he didn’t care. Not when it came to you, and especially not when he got to see the most beautiful smile that came after it. You heard Jason’s footsteps getting closer, so you have Dick one last kiss before quickly leaving his room. 

“Y/N,” Jason called out, “Were you in Dick’s room?”

“Can we go talk somewhere? I need to tell you something and I don’t think doing it in public is wise.”

let me know what you guys think! if you want, you can also send in some requests ;)

[aangelinakii]

WHAT MUSIC THEY WOULD LISTEN TO.

characters written about in this piece : bruce wayne, dick grayson, jason todd, tim drake, damian wayne, barbara gordon, duke thomas, stephanie brown, cassandra cain

not proofread !

note : if you actually went and read through all of this i will actually smooch you

BRUCE WAYNE

bruce isn't an average music enjoyer, so he doesn't really have many preferences to what he listens to. all i know is that he doesn't like music that is too upbeat, like many pop songs.

perhaps in his angsty emo the batman 2022 phase, he would listen to metal, heavy guitars and drums, similar to jason. but as he develops as a philanthropist and vigilante, he would sway towards classical music without words. it helps him concentrate in many situations, and different artists or albums can convey so many different emotions in their music.

this music often plays within his office at wayne enterprises, the batcave whilst he's researching on the computer, or even just throughout the manor whilst he's doing bruce wayne shit.

songs i think he would like :

jazz suite no. 2: vi. waltz 2, dmitri shostakovich

12 études op.25: no. 11 in a minor "winter wind", frédéric chopin

vi. lacrimosa dies illa, slovak philharmonic

tango - bof "kuduz", goran bregović

le cygne (arr. for harp and cello), camille saint-saëns

le nozze di figaro k.492: overture, wolfgang amadeus mozart

DICK GRAYSON

i can see dick as someone who incorporates music a lot into his every day life; playing something on his alexa as he cooks dinner, listening to something in airpods as he walks around gotham during the day, hums or whistles a tune as he surveys the streets of blüdhaven at night. i don't think he would have taken up learning any instruments, but he's a very musical person, knows how to hold a rhythm as well.

he's into more modern music, very much frank ocean. he likes chill music with a good beat and maybe some good vocals. as long as the song overall sounds good, he doesn't really pay attention to lyrics. if a song he likes has weird lyrics, he'll only notice it one random day as he's singing along, and begin to overthink them in the shower and wonder why they were written in the first place.

songs i think he would like :

swim good, frank ocean

she, tyler the creator & frank ocean

novacane, frank ocean

dance now, joey valence & brae

wet dreamz, j cole

mysëlf, yeat

JASON TODD

i actually have a jason playlist here !

i think jason enjoys darker sounding music, but it can go one of two ways; either loud guitar, or absolutely gut wrenching vocals. i'm talking lyrics mixed with the perfect pleading voice to make you feel just numb inside.

jason has experienced a lot of loss and trauma in his life, so sometimes he may feel numb and just need to amp it up with a loud deftones song, or he is feeling too much, and needs a mellow, yet depressing mitski song to bring him back down. granted, neither are the happiest options, but it's what works for him.

songs i think he would like :

xerces, deftones

danger, south arcade

i don't smoke, mitski

come home to god, amaarae

smoke sprite, so!yoon!

dagger, slowdive

TIM DRAKE

LMAO i think this guy would be such a closeted theatre kid. he's watched all the heathers slime videos and watched hamilton and newsies on disney plus. he loves it, it just evokes an entirely different feeling. he would never tell anybody about this side though, which is why these playlists are kept privateee on his spotify.

so when he's with other people he shows that he listens to more mainstream artists, but likes an experimental sound, so maybe some tyler here and some carti there, but they aren't his go-to artists.

songs i think he would like :

boyfriend, tyler the creator

flex, playboi carti

non-stop, broadway cast of hamilton

once upon a december, broadway cast of anastasia

meet the plastics, broadway cast of mean girls

miso, edv & bigbabygucci

DAMIAN WAYNE

this little shit only exclusively listens to either classical music (aww look at him taking after his own papa) or the heaviest, scariest rock metal you've ever heard. bonus points if it's metal with classical undertones !!! he loves that shit, not that he would show it.

when he does his homework or falls asleep, he listens to heavyyy heavy metal. when he's eating a sandwich in the kitchen, or training in the batcave he'll be listening to classical music. see? it's not exactly linear.

songs i think he would like :

carnival of the animals: aquarium, camille saint-saëns

romeo and juliet op.64 - act 1: balcony scene - romeo's variation - love dance, sergei prokofiev

the isle of the dead op.29, sergei rachmaninoff

immortal rites, morbid angel

them bones, alice in chains

BARBARA GORDON

barbara is a woman on the quieter side, despite herself. i feel towards others she is more outgoing and reliable, but when she's with herself, she likes to wind down and just sit with her thoughts. she likes jazz, slow and soft, and the type of music you would find in music from the 50s and 60s. there's something wistful about it that she just loves.

this type of music can help her concentrate. she listens to music whilst reading, or whilst sitting behind the computer as oracle during less high-tension moments.

songs i think she would like :

the shadows of paris, elsie bianchi trio

piano and strings, henry mancini

a night to remember, beabadoobee & laufey

la javanaise, serge gainsbourg

jane b, jane birkin

my favourite game, the cardigans

DUKE THOMAS

we can all agree that duke is one of the more positive members in the family, trying his best to keep his optimistic outlook despite the rest of the world, and the rest of gotham especially. he likes songs with meaning, although hidden behind a happy instrumental and youthful vocals, but he also enjoys just plain old happy-go-lucky sounding songs.

i also think he's a very musical person, always got headphones on. he probably gets that one notification at least once a week telling him his volume is too high in his ears.

he loves to dance, so songs that he can get lost in and have a little jam sesh in his bedroom are a must!!!

songs i think he would like :

useless, omar apollo

the magic number, de la soul

batshit, dominic fike

breadwinner, floyd fuji & topaz jones

the violence, childish gambino

smokin out the window, silk sonic

STEPHANIE BROWN

as for stephanie, this girl listens to EVERYTHING. she listens to kpop, shoegaze, indie, rnb, 2010s pop, jazz likeeeee she will literally listen to anything. she doesn't have playlists she just fr adds every song she likes to "liked songs" and listens to it on shuffle, and whatever comes up she listens to without an issue. almost never skips songs because she's so open to anything and everything.

like one minute she could be listening to her fav red velvet album, and then the next min she's on the verge of tears listening to phillipa soo sing burn on the hamilton soundtrack.

songs i think she would like :

so good, red velvet

cola head, willow kayne

if you want to, beabadoobee

call me maybe, carly rae jepsen

xxl, young posse

unchained memory, cafuné

CASSANDRA CAIN

following her quieter nature, i can't see cass listening to anything too upbeat or loud. she'll like a softer instrumental but with an emotional vocal line, almost as if getting to express the things she may not be fully able to towards her family and friends.

may enjoy a good old shoegaze or indie song here and there, especially if she's feeling more emotional, as she feels the sound of the song encapsulates her emotions.

songs i think she would like :

only, lee hi

chocolate and mint, duster

slow burn, infinity song

gaia, lexie liu

emo song, beabadoobee

chaos angel, maya hawke

[incorrectbatfam]

Do you have any angsty headcannons of Damian Wayne

Sometimes I wonder if he has any insecurities about being the youngest and the fact that he's fifth (sixth? seventh?) in a long line of batkids who have already done pretty much anything he can think of. Blowing up the League of Assassins? Tim did that. Starting a superhero team? Sure, Damian's done that, but it's kinda derivative of his siblings'. Dying? That's literally Jason's whole schtick. With older siblings, he's gonna invariably end up with some hand-me-downs and it's a lot harder to carve his own unique identity.

He's over the whole "blood son" thing, but he can't help but feel a little jealous when Bruce talks so fondly about the others' Robin days, meanwhile Damian is still referred to as "having potential" and needing to work on this or that. It's like when your siblings have a bunch of trophies and you know you're just as capable, but you haven't been given the chance.

As Robin, everything he did was measured up against his siblings. Dick stuck the landing better. Tim was more careful with evidence. Steph decoded the riddle faster. Jason could take on twice as many goons. Though Damian tries to do things his own way, Robin never feels like something that's fully his.

Even though the Waynes can buy ten of everything, he still ends up with some of his siblings' stuff—Dick's sweatshirt, Jason's books, Tim's old camera. Damian can try and pretend they belong to him, but then he comes across a scribble in the margins or an old picture of Young Justice and it's a reminder that he's still tethered to the people who came before him.

And maybe that's why he still picks fights and gives people a hard time. At his age, he'll do anything it takes to stand out so someone notices him, and being difficult accomplishes that. As an immediate result, he gains individuality by being known as the Demon Brat. And because he gets that instant gratification, he keeps doing it over and over.

It's no secret that he and Tim aren't always on good terms. I think part of it has to do with Tim being the next closest predecessor and Damian has an easier time picking him apart compared to facing off against Dick or Jason. Because of that, though, I think Tim would be the first to pick up on why Damian is this way.

Do they communicate about it? Mmm not yet. This is the most emotionally stunted family we're talking about, so instead of indulging Damian's behavior, Tim flat-out ignores it and it's one of those instances where ignoring works because Damian stops, at least with him.

But then he moves on to Steph, but her tolerance is way lower than Tim's and she lets Damian know that. She straight-up tells him, "Hey, quit being obnoxious. It works now because people are going easy on you, but one day someone's gonna screw you up and you won't have a Batman to run to."

He doesn't really believe her because 1) he was never one to care what strangers think about him and 2) getting the job done was more important than being liked to him.

Cut to school being back in session. Damian mainly keeps to himself—partly to lay low, partly because he never got along with other kids before and didn't see the point in trying again. His grades are stellar and for the first month or so, teachers praise him all around for being a model student.

But that eventually slows down as his straight-A's and thesis-sounding papers become routine—it's his norm, and teachers stop pointing it out as something remarkable.

And just like before: when being Robin stops working, be the Demon Brat.

He keeps his grades up, but the teachers start sending emails home about things like chewing gum and using his phone in class. Every time, Bruce just reminds him to behave.

One time Bruce offhandedly mentions how Jason was a well-behaved student and Damian can't help but think, "That's the point. I'm not Jason."

The emails pile up, now with new problems like extended bathroom breaks, breaking the dress code, and even one incident where he forged himself a note to get out of class early.

But the thing that lands him in detention is a snide comment to the wrong kid that spirals into a schoolyard brawl. And even though Damian pulls his punches, it still ends in bruises and a bloody nose, and it takes two teachers and the football coach to break it up.

And just his luck, Dick's in Bludhaven, Alfred has a doctor's appointment, Tim and Bruce are at a business meeting, and Jason wants to stay out of this, so guess who's there to pick him up at the end of the afternoon.

Steph doesn't beat around the bush. Her first response is, "What did I tell you?" And it pisses him off because she's right.

That evening, they go on a long drive where she eventually gets an explanation out of him. And she gets him, 100%. She tells him how she had big shoes to fill as Batgirl and how she always compared herself to Cass and Babs.

Then she says: "Robin isn't a personality you grow into or break out of. It's just a costume. Who you are underneath is who Robin becomes."

For good measure though, she goes to Bruce later like, "Hey, do you need a laxative? 'Cause you're so emotionally constipated that you forgot your son is his own person, not a work in progress or extension of someone else." Then she swipes his credit card and takes Damian to the arcade to make him feel better since he still has a week's worth of detention plus Alfred giving him double the chores.

After that, people will still occasionally slip up, but when Dick ruffles his hair and says they'll ace a mission "the Damian way," it's reason enough to believe that things are looking up.

[arlana-likes-to-write]

hello I loved your avengers letters so I’ve got an angsty request

avengers x dead!reader where it’s the morning after a mission where fem!reader died back at the compound and it’s just all of the avengers grieving maybe Yelena x reader too? But I’m fine with whatever

See You Again

Warning: mention of death, mention of injury, lots of grief, angst, thoughts of suicide, lots of guilt, drinking, self-sacrifice, character death, questionable happy ending?

Note: Thank you for the request. I wrote this faster than I thought I was going to but I loved the idea. Hope you enjoyed it.

Relationships: Avengers x reader (platonic), Yelena x reader

'An easy mission.’

‘A quick in and out.’

‘The base has been abandoned for months, years maybe.’ That was said during the debriefing about this mission. So Yelena believed it because they were the Avengers and their intel was never wrong. But they were wrong. The HYDRA base was active and the small team that consisted of you, Bruce, Vision, and Steve were overpowered. You were injured and Bruce provided medical assistance that kept you alive until they got back to the compound. But it was too late, your body was weak and you lost too much blood. The medical team did all they could but it wasn’t enough.

So Yelena sat by your side, staring at your still form, and watched the gauze that covered your chest turn red from your blood. The heart monitors stopped beating long ago and the blonde heard footsteps walk in. It was her sister. “Lena,” Natasha whispered, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. “We should go so they can clean her up.”

“She’s just sleeping,” Yelena told herself. It was a horrible lie but maybe just maybe if she kept repeating it she’d believe it and it would be true. “Right, dorogoy (sweetheart)?” She whispered and stood up to cup your cheeks in her hands. Your skin was so cold. “She’s going to wake up,” your face began to blur as tears formed in her eyes. “Natasha, why isn’t she waking up?” It didn’t take much for Natasha to pull Yelena off your still form and into her arms, trying to shield her from the pain. Yelena sobbed into her sister’s shirt and let out a heartbreaking cry.

*

Wanda flinched when the sound of Yelena’s cries echoed inside her head. “What is it darling?” Vision asked, placing a hand on top of hers that was holding a mug. Another cry and Wanda dropped the mug in Vision’s hands.

“It’s nothing,” but she looked up into his eyes and saw sadness, it was rare that the android exhibited such raw emotion. “It’s Yelena,” she whispered but it was loud enough for the other Avengers to hear it. Steve got up suddenly and headed towards the gym. “She’s not doing well,” None of them were. The news of your death rocked the compound. You were a bright light that everyone gravitated towards. There wasn’t a time when your smile or laugh wouldn’t make them feel better. With you gone, the compound was mission some warmth. Maria sighed, grabbing a few bottles of liquor from the bar.

“Is Natasha with her?” Wanda nodded. The agent poured herself a drink. “Anyone wants some?” Tony and Rhodey raised their hands. “We’ll have to have a press conference tomorrow to announce it,” Maria said, bringing the full glasses to them. “The public loved her.”

“Shouldn’t we give it some time so we can grieve her?” Wanda asked. “It hasn’t even been 24 hours.” Maria closed her eyes and Wanda watched her clench her jaw.

“I’m not asking you all to be there, I’ll do it but I rather the news breaks with us instead of someone else.” Tony scuffed. “Do you have a problem, Stark?”

“You’re making her death sound artificial like you’re using her to gain public attention,” the billionaire said.

“So are you saying you rather have HYDRA or one of the many politicians that want to dismantle the Avengers to talk about her death?” Maria asked. “So they can list every crime she’s committed and make her look like the villain.” Wanda sighed, pressing her fingers to her temples as the two went back and forth, bringing Sam and Rhodey into the argument. This was not helping. This was not what you would want.

“Enough!” Wanda yelled, her eyes glowed red. “We are all grieving and upset but she wouldn’t want us to be at each other’s throats. So everyone go calm down.” The other Avengers left and it was just her and Vision. She pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Are you alright?” Vision asked. “I know you were close with her.” Wanda saw you as a younger sister even though you were the same age. Through all the darkness the world subjected you to, you remained a bright star. You found joy in the simplest things - a thunderstorm, finding a penny on the ground, and even when Tony and Steve bickered with one another. You helped her overcome her grief.

“Just sad,” she desperately wanted to curl into a ball and cry but she was holding it together. “How are you? It must have been hard to be there.” He frowned.

“I don’t know how to feel,” he admitted. “But I wish I could have done more to save her. Part of me wishes it was me and not her.” Wanda sighed, placing her hand on top of his.

“It wasn’t your fault,” she squeezed his hand. “You did everything you could.” He nodded.

“Does it ever go away? This feeling?” Wanda gave him a gentle smile.

“Grief,” she said. “It comes and goes in waves. Some days are better than others.”

“I’ve never experienced loss because I’ve never had a loved one to lose,” he explained. “But what is grief if not love preserving?”

*

“You can’t keep doing this to yourself, man,” Sam said to the super soldier. He gave Steve time when he left the common floor and headed off towards the gym but he was gone for far too long, the pile of sandbags against the wall was a clear sign of the man’s growing guilt.

“She was just a kid,” Steve grunted and another sandbag flew off the hook.

“She knew the risk.”

“So that makes it okay?” Steve questioned, turning to face him. Sam was the fire in his eyes and he held up his hands.

“Of course it doesn’t,” he said. “But we all know the risk when we go out there and she knew it better than anyone.” The team saved you from HYDRA, similar to the Maximoff twins they experimented on you to give you powers and use them to further their agenda. They gave you the ability to manipulate Earth, you were given the nickname the Avatar. But even with all the power you were granted, you were gone. “Talk to me man,” the blonde sighed and fell to the floor.

“I don’t understand how this happened,” he whispered. “Our intel is always good. How did we miss this?” Sam sighed and sat down next to him.

“Sometimes we get it wrong. We aren’t perfect and she knew that.”

“She trusted me to bring her home.”

“And she is home,” Sam whispered, placing a hand on Steve’s shoulder. “You brought her back to her family where she was loved and safe,” Sam was trying so hard to mask how much this was affecting him. Part of him was thankful he wasn’t assigned to this mission because Helen hadn’t cleared him. Seeing you would have broken him. But what if he was there? Could he have helped save you? “We can’t save everyone even when they are on our side.” Steve bit onto his hand to keep the sound of his tears at bay but his body shook.

“She was just a kid,” Steve repeated. Sam closed his eyes, feeling the burn of tears as the normal put-together captain was crumbling.

“Yeah,” he said. “She was but she was so loved.”

*

“Hey Big Green,” Tony said walking into the lab. Bruce was sitting on the small couch, still wearing the clothes from the mission. It was odd seeing the couch so empty. The billionaire would walk into his lap late at night, ready to spend the night alone but you would be there. A book in one hand and twirling some rocks in the air in the other. Sometimes Bruce would be sitting with you, your legs over his lap. You told him you found the lab calming. He almost laughed at you, no one found this place calming.

Tony frowned when Bruce didn’t respond, to loss in his thoughts as he stared at his hands. They were still tainted red with your blood. “Come on,” Tony said, sitting down next to him. “Let’s go get you cleaned up.”

“There was so much blood,” he mumbled. Tony wasn’t sure if Bruce registered that he was there. “I tried to save her but she lost too much blood. I-” he finally looked at Tony, his eyes glossy with tears. “I’m so sorry but I tried to save her. You believe me, right?” His confession broke the walls Tony was desperately trying to hold up. The billionaire put his hand behind Bruce’s neck and squeezed it.

“I believe you,” Tony whispered. “I do.” It wasn’t enough to pull the doctor out of whatever thoughts his mind was creating. He kept mumbling, words Tony couldn’t understand and his breathing became erratic. “Bruce, I need you to breathe for me.” The last thing they needed was for him to Hulk out but he wasn’t listening. So he pulled his friend against his chest. “Copy me, okay? I need you to think of nothing except slowing down your breathing.”

It wasn’t the first time he’s had to help someone off the edge of a panic attack. You were prone to them and he got them as well. God, how the hell was the team going to recover from this? Every bruise and injury he endured never hurt this much. “Sorry,” Bruce finally said. He sounded more like himself. He used his forearm to wipe his forehead. “That was-”

“It’s okay,” Tony said. “These things happen. Today has been a lot.” The doctor nodded and the lab was quiet. Tony hated it when it was quiet, it made him uneasy. So you always found a way to fill it. Sighing, Bruce stood up and made his way to the sink to wash his hands. Tony followed him. “You know it’s not your fault. None of us blame you,” the water turned a slight pink. “You did exactly what you were supposed to do and kept her alive until you got back here.” Bruce sighed, drying off his hands.

“All I do is destroy and hurt,” he said, throwing the paper towel away. “What is the point of me being on the team if I can’t do one positive thing?”

“Bruce-”

“Just drop it, Tony. There are projects we should be focusing on,” he watched his friend walk over the to workbench. The billionaire sighed, glancing at the empty couch. He wished you were here. You were so much better at comforting others than him but you were gone.

*

“How much have you had of that?” Rhodey asked as he opened the door to the porch Maria was sitting on. An empty bottle of whiskey next to the intel they received about this mission.

“It was half empty when I started it,” she said going over the files again. What the hell did she miss? It was her job to make sure they had all the information the team needed to ensure a safe return.

“Hill,” Rhodey said, sitting in the empty chair next to her. “This wasn’t your fault. These things happen.” Maria shook her head.

“Not to me it doesn’t,” she said. “The team counts on me to keep all of you safe and I fucked up. I messed up and because of that we have to plan a funeral,” Maria clenched her jaw, forcing the tears away. She had no time to cry, to mourn, to feel anything when the people that were responsible for your death were still out there.

Maria found you so annoying when you first joined the team. It was like you didn’t come with an off switch. You had so much energy but soon Maria grew to enjoy it. She had to thank you for getting her and Natasha together. “It’s not all of you,” Rhodey said. She forgot he was there, she was so lost in her thoughts. “We all looked at the same information and saw nothing,” he was right but Maria couldn’t listen to reason. With a sigh, he stood up. “Come get me if you need anything.” It wasn’t long till Maria heard a new set of footsteps come up behind her and the arms of her girlfriend wrapped around her neck.

“Hi baby,” Maria whispered, putting her hand on Natasha’s arm. “Where’s Yelena?” The redhead sighed, placing her head in the crock of Maria’s neck.

“In her room,” she learned early on when the Black Widow’s emotions were out of control her Russian accent came out. It laced every word. “Need you.”

“You have me,” she carefully pushed her chair back to make room for Natasha. Without hesitation, the redhead climbed onto her lap and curled into her lap like a cat. She now noticed that she was wearing your long sleeve. She felt tears falling onto her shirt but she didn’t draw attention to it. Gently, she rubbed circles on her back. “I got you, sweetheart, I got you.” Maria squeezed her tight, fearing she could disappear right in front of her.

“It hurts,” Natasha mumbled. “So much.”

“I know it does. Just let it out. Don’t hold it in.” The Black Widow let out a heartbreaking sob that caused Maria to close her eyes and tears began to fall.

*

Yelena changed into one of your sweatshirts and sprayed some of your body spray onto it. It tricked her mind into thinking that you were still here, that your arms were wrapped around her. Your relationship with her was very one-sided, you were persistent in being her friend and breaking down every wall she learned to keep up. But there was a presence about you that was bright and healing. She was too weak to fight it so she let you in and you changed her life. The Red Room engraved in her head that she was incapable of love, that it was a weakness, for children. But you changed her view on it. Now she was lost.

She curled underneath the blanket in her room. She spent the majority of her time in yours, it was warmer. The walls were decorated with posters and artwork. Your bed was covered with stuffed animals. So Yelena was in her room so she wasn’t surrounded by you. Opening her laptop, she wanted to watch a movie as that was all the energy she had.

Before she pressed play an email popped up on her screen. Any other email she would have pushed it to the side or deleted it but the email was from you with a video attachment. It had to be a joke, right? Someone hacked into her email to send her this. But the press conference was tomorrow and no one on the team would do this. “Friday, what is this?” She asked the AI.

“In case of her passing, Miss. Y/n created something for you and the team. She instructed me to send it to you,” the AI explained. “I am sorry for your loss, Miss. Belova.” Of course, you would think this far in advance and make sure everyone was okay.

“Uh, can you have everyone meet me at the TV?” She asked the AI as she got out of bed. She made her way to the common area, unplugged the XBOX’s HDMI, and connected it to her laptop.

“What’s going on, Lena?” Natasha asked. Yelena looked at her sister, who was wearing one of your long sleeves. It belonged to the redhead but you claimed it as yours. Her eyes were bloodshot and she was leaning against Maria when they took their spot on the couch. The rest of the team trickled in. In Yelena’s professional opinion, they all looked like shit. She was wondering if any of them had smiled since the news broke you weren’t going to make it.

“Friday sent me something and I thought we could watch it,” it was rare that her voice was so soft. “Please,” she added on quickly. Wanda smiled.

“Yeah, of course we can,” Yelena thanked the Sokovian and made the video full screen. She grabbed the remote and sat next to her sister. Letting out a shaky breath, she pressed play.

The video began to count down similar to the way old Hollywood movies did. The screen was static and when it stopped, soft music began to play and the videos you took of them were edited together. It was one of the things Yelena found so annoying when she first met you, you recorded everything. At every press event, party, and downtime, your phone was out. In due time, Yelena learned to love it like she loved you. She never told you. You told her all the time, and the words easily fell from your lips. Every time, Yelena went to say it back, she froze. You assured her that you knew and would hold her tight. But she wanted you to hear it, now it was too late.

The video you created got the others to laugh and smile as you highlighted your favorite moments. You humanized them- showed them in a way the press never would or the public didn’t believe they could be. They were silly, goofy, and imperfect humans who made mistakes but you found a way to make them laugh. It was becoming too much for Yelena. Your voice, your laugh, your smile - it tugged at her heart. She almost turned it off but the video faded to black and then cut to you sitting on your bed. Legs crossed and a stuffed animal in your lap, it was one Thor got for you at a carnival. Yelena wasn’t sure how they were going to tell the God. But you smiled and moved the little bear’s paw to wave at the camera.

“I love you guys,” you said. “Thank you for an incredible life. We’ll see each other soon but not too soon.” You blew the camera a kiss and the video ended. Yelena wasn’t sure when she started crying but Natasha pulled her into a hug.

“I miss her so much,” the blonde whispered. How was she going to be okay when it hadn’t been a full day?

“I know you do,” Natasha said, kissing the top of her head. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.”

*

Vormir 2023

Yelena listened to her sister and Clint bicker behind her as she stared down the cliff. The soul stone was down there and if they wanted to bring everyone back they couldn’t leave without it. For 5 years, that was all she and Natasha wanted, to rewrite the past. All it would take was a soul for a soul. “You seem lost in thought,” the guardian appeared next to her. “Perhaps, I can provide some guidance.”

“Where will it take you?” She asked not looking away from the ground below. “Will he be stuck here or will we move on?”

“Who did you lose?” He asked instead. Yelena looked at the man, his head was tilted as he waited for her answer.

“Someone I never stopped loving and I’m ready to see again,” the man smiled with a nod.

“Then I think you know your answer,” she nodded and glanced at her sister but she hesitated. Was she ready to say goodbye? Yelena hated the Red Room for many reasons - they robbed her of her childhood, turned her into a weapon, and took every choice away from her but she got a sister. A sister that loved and protected her but she had a wife that would be waiting for her when their plan worked. And Clint, a brother she never expected to have. He had a family, 3 kids, a beautiful house, and a wife. What did Yelena have that was holding her to this world when the possibility of seeing you again outweighed everything? She let out a shaky breath and let out a whistle. Both of them stopped and looked at her.

“Don’t,” Natasha warned running after her but Yelena fell backward. What she wasn’t expecting was something to be attached to her that stopped her fall. The sudden stop made her stomach flip as she dangled on the side of the cliff. “Where the hell are you going?” She looked up at her sister.

“I’m ready,” she admitted. “You have Maria, Clint has Laura and the kids, and I want to see her again.” The sudden realization washed over Natasha, her eyes widened slightly. For 7 years, your name was rarely spoken as it hurt too much to remember you.

“Please don’t,” the redhead pleaded. “I can’t lose you too.” But Yelena saw the grip her sister had on the wire, she was slipping.

“It’s okay,” Yelena smiled, reaching into her pocket for a knife. “It’s okay. Let me go. I love you,” she looked at Clint. “Take care of her for me.” She cut the line and began to fall.

Death was something Yelena thought about a lot. She thought death was the only way she was going to escape the Red Room. Then she joined SHIELD, became an Avenger, and met the love of her life. But death took you from her. So if she needed to welcome death to see you again then so be it.

*

She wasn’t on Vormir anymore that much she knew. Instead, she stood in a space she dared to never go in for 7 years. Your room. Maria, Natasha, and Wanda took care of packing everything up and donated most of it. However, Yelena stood in your living space the same way you left it. The same decorations, the same throw blankets, and even your sneakers were by the door. What was going on? “What are you doing here?” Yelena spun around to the sound of your voice. You were dressed as you rolled out of bed, hair messy and your sleep shirt falling off one of your shoulders. But Yelena still found you breathtaking. “I thought I told all of you I didn’t want to see you for a long time.”

“I did wait. It’s been 7 years, I couldn’t wait anymore,” there were so many times Yelena had to fight the dark thoughts that invaded her mind. She knew that’s not what you would have wanted. You smirked, leaning against the fridge.

“Is that so?” You teased, holding out your hand. Yelena didn’t hesitate to grab onto it and you pulled her close. Oh, how she missed the feeling of your hand in hers. You were so close. Yelena cupped your cheeks, moving her thumb against your skin.

“I missed you so much, dorogoy (sweetheart),” she whispered.

“I missed you,” you grabbed onto her hands. “Kiss me, please.” Who was Yelena to deny you such a request? Yelena kissed you softly, savoring the way her lips felt against yours. A sigh left your mouth and you melted into her. It was all it took for the dame to break. The kiss tasted of you and salt from her tears.

“I love you,” she said against your lips. “I love you so much and I’m sorry I never said it.” You smiled, whipping away her tears.

“You didn’t have to say it, baby, I always knew,” you kissed her forehead, nose, and lips one more time. “Loving you has been the greatest gift I’ve ever received. I treasured it every single day,” Yelena kissed you again. “I’ll make breakfast and you can watch them.”

“Them?” Yelena questioned. You untangled yourself from Yelena and grabbed the remote that rested on your counter. You turned on the TV. The blonde’s jaw dropped as she watched the team gather in Tony’s lab as Bruce persuaded the team to let him be the one to bring everyone back. “Is this real?” You hummed, starting to make French toast.

“I’ve been watching you guys all this time. You did good, Lena. I think your ledger is clear.”

“Do you think so?” She asked. You nodded.

“I do. Now go watch over them and I’ll bring over the food when it’s done.” Yelena followed your instructions without any hesitation. She sat on the couch with her legs crossed, and eyes glued to the TV. She was mostly watching her sister, her green eyes were bloodshot. She hoped she understood why it had to be her. You placed two plates on the coffee table and grabbed Yelena’s hand.

“So,” the Black Widow took a bite. It was good, just how she remembered when you would make them on a Saturday morning. “How does this all work?” She waved the fork around the room. You shrugged.

“Not sure. I haven’t thought about it that hard,” you took a bite of the food. “I’ve just been going with the flow.”

“For 7 years?” Yelena questioned. You didn’t answer and she had to squeeze your hand to pull you out of wherever you went.

“It hasn’t felt like that long,” you said. “Like I know time has been passing because of what I was seeing,” you pointed at the TV. “But I never aged and everything I needed just appeared.”

“Did it hurt? Were you scared?” You sighed, dropping her hand to grab a blanket. It was the same blanket Wanda gifted to you. She saw her using it on movie nights.

“I don’t remember much of that day. But I wasn’t scared, I think I was ready. My soul knew it was my time,” you covered yourself and her with the blanket. “What about you? Were you scared?”

“A little,” she admitted. “I was worried I wouldn’t see you.” You smiled and leaned into her side.

“Well, you’re here now and you aren’t allowed to go anywhere.” Yelena chuckled, kissing your head and putting her arm around you.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I’m not going anywhere.”

[lemony-and-zesty]

Angsty question, but how does every react to the scars? And does he ever tell them how he got some of them?

Ohhh man that’s a rough one,,

Here’s what I’m thinking!

The whole Floyd situation goes by a little too quickly for anyone to really,, acknowledge John’s scars. Like, I know for a fact that they all clock them, when they see him. But,, I think they’re a little to distracted with trying to find each other and save Floyd to say anything.

So, I’m thinkin that not long after they save Floyd and he recovers, they all confront JD about it.

Just very much a, “We’re just worried about you John, you’ve.. changed so much. And we wanna help you!”

“What? And you guys haven’t changed? It’s been twenty years! We’ve all changed!”

“That’s not what I meant and you know that!”

Que a big fight where John Dory gets extremely overwhelmed and finally can’t hold it in anymore and bursts out with, “I’ve killed people, ok? Is that what you wanna hear?? That’s what I’ve been doing!”

Dead silence.

“Is that.. how you got those then?”

…

“Not.. all of them.”

And at their silent prompting, he starts explaining his scars. Which leads to him explaining the entire situation. And his brothers are devastated.

They nearly take off to the city to try and kill the boss once JD gets to the scar on his neck.

Once the truth is out, the four become very protective over John Dory - much to his chagrin.

Can you imagine your whole deal being that you’re the oldest and you protect your youngest siblings but you never let anyone help you, and suddenly your baby brothers are jumping to your defense at any potential inconvenience - no matter how small?

————

Branch doesn’t fully forgive him - hell, she still doesn’t fully forgive any of them for leaving her behind - but she feels like she understands John Dory a bit more now.

————

Bruce is horrified that his only older brother - his best friend growing up - had gone through all this. He’s aware that of the five of them, he’s likely the one who had it the easiest, and he can’t help but feel guilty about it sometimes.

Can’t help but feel guilty for giving John the cold shoulder when they first reunited.

————

Clay has so many mixed feelings about it. Seeing his oldest brother so,,, broken, for lack of a better word,, crushed him.

For so many years, John Dory’s been this untouchable, cocky asshole in his mind. To find out that he’s not so unbreakable,, really throws everything Clay thought he knew out the window.

He doesn’t fully forgive John Dory, but he’s not so mad at him anymore.

————

Floyd is ruined by the news. Especially when he finds out about the neck scar.

He can’t help but blame himself, cause if JD hadn’t let him go then that boss never would have… God he could have died and Floyd might have never known.

“Is.. is that why you’ve been avoiding me?”

Floyd cries. He cries about it a lot. He encourages John to cry as well - to varying levels of success.

He tries to make up for it, much to John’s confusion. It’s a very one-sided blaming haha,,

————

But yea, that’s the main thoughts I have for it!! Thank you for the ask 🥹

[celaenaeiln]

something i’d love to see more of is angsty rebellious teenage dick grayson. i don’t know why i enjoy the trope but the image of dick “golden boy” grayson getting plastered with roy as he slowly sinks into depression before somewhat getting his shit together is an interesting picture

also he just seems like the guy to get impulsive piercings. dunno why

oooh yeah that fantasy's a guilty a pleasure of mine.

I am 1000000000% an enforcer of Dick was not an angry robin. And he wasn't because the comics show just how happy his demeanor was and how fun he is. But angsty teen Dick? 16/17 year old Dick?

I LOVE IT.

Again throwing a little bit of canon in

"When we started this you were open and encouraging. You were my father...but these last few years...all you've been doing is trying to control me even more."

This is so loaded.

The anger Dick feels when Bruce is trying control him, trying to lock him in a cage in the batcave because of worry, has so much ao3 potential.

Like angsty teen dick is so complicated to think about because Bruce acts a bit like an alcoholic father and Dick's compartmentalization issues come from his parents' death. So what would this result in?

I have no fcking clue.

Because Dick would totally get wasted with Roy, hazy blue eyes staring emptily into space, watching with a flushed cheeks as his short black hair fans out on the back of a beaten blue couch at Roy's place, just breaking down quietly as Roy rants and screams about life's injustices in the background, slinging an arm around Dick and jostling him.

Or maybe he and Roy would also go bar hopping, both of them sloppy drunk, laughing and crying at the same time while they max out their daddies' credit cards and then crash somewhere in someone's pool. Maybe they end up inadvertently on Katy Perry's Friday Night music video.

Or maybe Dick would be a hurricane of disaster, lashing out with knives of sharpened words stabbing the deepest, sorest spots of pain in people, his anger alighting a fire in all. He would be magnificent, ferocious, and catastrophic.

He could be any of these three and all three at once.

He would feel the need to act out if Bruce was becoming more controlling.

BUT AT THE SAME TIME, Dick raised Bruce and that perpetually sense of responsibility he's instilled into himself from a young age as well as his self-sufficiency is never erased so one night he would be blacked out from the excessive alcohol but next morning 6'o clock his body's walking up and he's going through his morning routine like a machine and out the door to work. He just keeps going like this day and day until he collapses and the titans intervene or Bruce drags him back to the manor, screaming in love and fear and Dick screams back and the cycle begins.

Nightwing (1996) Issue #135

Like canonically Dick ran away from home at 16, got a job, got caught up in a major anarchist group, and did a whole freaking investigation while Bruce sulked in the cave because Dick ran away.

There's so much angsty dick potential that could go in so many ways because he's such a complex character that all of them apply.

LOL!!! I totally think he would get impulsive piercings too. Maybe when he's drunk and pissed and then the next day he would wake up be like wtf. He'd sit in turmoil and a little regret for a while and then be like whatever because these piercing are freaking cool.

Bonus: no one (except the og titans and Alfred bc Dick never keeps anything from Alfred and the titans are family) ever find out about the piercings and it's kept a tightly guarded secret until a decade later when he does something in the batcave and one of the batkids notice and they're like, "DICK YOU HAVE A PIERCING?!" The rest of them just about break their neck whipping their head around to look at him. Dick just shrugs nonchalantly because time has tempered him and goes, "oh yeah. I guess. I forgot." Bruce passes out and wakes up on the floor to Dick hovering worriedly over him while the rest of the family watches in amusement at his predicament and also half brokenly because their golden boy big brother has piercings. Plural.

Bruce gasped out a pained breath, "Piercings?"

Dick stared at him silently, gemstone eyes holding his gaze as the quiet of the cave melted the seconds into hours. His eyes slowly slid from Bruce's to where the rest of the family was standing, watching them with bated breath for his answer, before they met Bruce's hopeful ones again.

"No." Bruce, with all the strength left in his body after recovering, raised a questioning eyebrow as Dick continued, "I don't have any piercings and never did."

"Hmn." But he swore he could've seen-

The kids erupted in protests.

"Dick, come on!" Jason hollered, pushing forward. "We clearly saw it there-"

"Where?" Dick asked, spreading his arms wide and invitingly, offering them to see for themselves.

The piercing they had all gotten the barest glimpse of was gone from where they had seen it on Dick.

"But you said you! You said, 'yeah. I guess so. I forgot.'" Stephanie put her hands on her hips, "Admit it Boy Piercing!"

"Boy Piercing?!"

"Fess up, pretty boy!"

"Steph," Dick visibly bit his lip to keep from laughing, "I was joking. You guys should've see your reactions - they were so funny!! Dick has a piercing. OMG. You people were hilarious."

Damian clicked his tongue. "Enough Richard! Did you implement metal into you skin like a heathen? Richard, how could you?! Who dare touch-"

"No Dami!" Dick quickly interfered to prevent a possible murder on his behalf, "I was just kidding, okay? Besides, did you guys even really see it? Like full on?"

Harper crossed her arms. "Close enough."

Dick quirked his eyebrow at that. "But you didn't actually see it right? You thought you saw something shining and turned to look. C'mon you guys know what it is - peripheral vision hallucinations. Things you see in your peripheral vision that aren't real because you are tired," He pinned a look at each other, emphasizing the words, "and stressed."

Dick pressed his lips together and folded his arms. "Time for bed. Now. I know you all haven't been sleeping for the past few days so you all are going to bed. At the manor." Dick finished, shooting Jason a look when he tried secretly shuffling toward his bike.

The rest of them were unmoved for a moment but quickly caved under Dick's patented "I'm mom-ing you."™ stare as Jason liked to call it.

They trudged upstairs while Bruce and Dick watched in companionable silence.

Bruce turned to look at Dick as the sounds of their bickering and footsteps faded away.

"How did you do it?"

Dick hummed distractedly and tilted his head to look down at Bruce still sitting on the floor. "Do what?"

Bruce growled, impatience, annoyance, and apprehension swimming in his voice, "Don't lie. To me. How did you hide it? Now. And for so long?"

Bruce watched tensed as the tip of Dick's tongue ran over the ridges of his top row of teeth, the first sign of anger he had seen from him in weeks. The pink flesh of his tongue barely avoiding cutting itself on the slightly too sharp canines that Dick loved to call his vampire teeth since he was little. He had even threw a veteran-dentist-scaring-tantrum in the dentist's office when the man suggested shaving them down once.

Bruce watched warily as Dick crouched down, balancing on his balls of his feet like a cat on a fence, and forcefully tamped down the sudden urge to pull out a hidden batarang when the boy grinned, eyes lighting with the wild fire of joy and madness from his robin days that still had Bruce on edge for decades.

"How did you it?" He asked again, not sure if he really wanted to know anymore but the principle remained. There was no way Dick's activities could be hidden for so long. He didn't invest in his detective following skills for something like this to escape his observation. But at the same time Dick had evaded his tracking skills when he was seventeen and ran away from him. But something so obvious as a piercing would never escape his notice. But a whole 17 year old boy also shouldn't have escaped his notice. However, Bruce had improved. He had gotten better at his job and his skills. Right? Right, of course, he was the best in the world. Dick definitely did have a piercing. But...on the off chance...what if he really had just seen a flash of light? Sweat on a body? The edge of a birdarang? Peripheral vision hallucinations? "Do you?"

"Do I what?"

You already know what I'm asking. Bruce thought, frustrated with Dick for lying. Frustrated with himself for not knowing if Dick was lying.

"Do you have piercings?" Bruce ground out.

Dick laughed, his voice echoing like choir bells in the spacious cave and bouncing off the stalactites to create a ringing, haunting melody as he leaned in closer to Bruce.

"C'mon, B! You know every showman's got his own tricks," Dick grinned brightly.

And you're the whole damn circus. Bruce hissed viciously in his mind.

Dick's eyes twinkled back at him.

[dairy-farmer]

A little angsty this one ;) but the suffering is oh so good.

Dick had been hiding his attraction for Tim for years before Dick forcibly took Robin away from from him. Dick regrets it desperately more and more over time. It’s not just that Tim is Bruce’s greatest successor or he was right and brought Bruce home. It’s that Jason didn’t hesitate to pull Tim under his protective wing when he was forced out of the mansion. Jason believed him, became Tim’s partner, his equal in all ways. Jason had never hidden his feelings for Tim, but now Tim was looking back. Dick tried to apologise but their relationship was never the same, Tim wouldn’t lean into his lingering hugs or kiss his cheek anymore. It finally broke Dick when they got engaged, and everyone congratulated them! Even BRUCE was happy for them! All these years Dick had been holding himself back because he was sure their relationship had to be secret and Jason hadn’t even considered hiding how much he loved him. Wanted Tim as his husband and everyone to know it. Dick never recovered.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!👀👀👀👀!!!!

dick views his attraction and his inability to ignore the...the feelings that swarm him about tim. there are so many reasons dick shouldn't and couldn't allow himself to feel things for tim.

tim is young, just a child. and dick is so...so sick for lusting after a child.

tim is his brother, a person who puts so much trust and faith into him. who feels safe and secure with him and how would tim react...how would he feel knowing dick sometimes lies awake at night thinking about how his soft body feels like in his hands.

dick can't like tim. not in that way. because tim is young, because tim is his brother, because bruce would be furious if he ever knew, because dick's friends and all the people who respected him would be disgusted if they knew.

dick knows he desires tim, wants him. he knows that tim has him on a pedestal and if dick...if dick just hinted at the desire tim would likely fall into his arms without hesitation but...but dick can't stomach the thought of all the loss he'd face if he chose tim. if he chose happiness.

people would look at him different. they'd treat him differently once knowing about his shameful attraction for his little brother. not just people he knew would know it. strangers as well. dick wouldn't put it beneath vicki vale to write a long article about the "incest at wayne manor!"

as much as dick may like tim...

as much as he may like tim's sweet smiles and voice, the way his hands feel when they stroke dick's head and comfort him.

dick can't risk it.

he just can't. so he keeps quiet. for years. and when things get difficult rather than support or back tim up...he doesn't. because of that lingering fear that someone might see something more to dick's affections if they noticed how he always sided with tim or always put him first.

and it comes back to bite him because it drives tim right to jason.

jason who dick was so convinced was faking the whole 'redemption arc' thing he had going. who dick was so convinced had suckered tim into believing him and gotten sympathy from him for it.

tim never told him directly that he and jason had started seeing each other. he'd needed to hear it secondhand.

tim's body never quite eased around him like it did before. dick tried to hard to get tim to understand and when that didn't work, to apologize.

but even then it didn't happen. tim didn't sweetly giggle at his jokes, look at him like he hung the stars, cling to every bit of his undivided attenion. he didn't sweetly lift his cheek for dick to kiss or nuzzle dick's chest when he'd pull him in for a hug.

he pulled away from dick. stood stiffly in his arms. looked...looked uncomfortable when dick would sweetly kiss him and show him affection.

but then he'd melt in jason's arms. turn into a giggling schoolgirl with a crush when jason would rub prickly unshaved bear against his sweet cheeks.

the day tim and jason announce their engagement is the worst day of dick's life. it's made worse by all the calls of congratulations. the smile on bruce's face, the air of satisfaction around alfred. the way that all capes are acting like this is a good thing, a sweet thing.

as if dick hadn't loved tim from the start. for longer than jason had.

but jason is someone without shame and had never bothered hiding his interest, his attraction. even when he'd tried to kill tim he couldn't help but have been drawn to him.

it's not fair. it's not fair that dick needs to suffer when he'd done everything right. when he'd kept all the love in his heart hidden.

it's not fair.

it's just not fair.

[heavysighing-dreamyeyes]

Ooooommmmgggg i love golden chain! Its so good, Jason keeps getting more and more toxic towards us, suffocating us but he doesn’t care because we have him and what else could we need? I just know he was seething at seeing replacement Robin there, trying to take you away from HIM and i KNOW seeing Batman trying to save you didn’t help anything.

Batman sending Robin there means that he either knew where we were and was jut waiting for a time to strike or Jason had slipped up somewhere, doesn’t matter now bc now he’s kept you away from Batman again and AAAAAAAAA the small parallels between how Joker treated Jason to how Jason keeps us. Snatched up under Batman’s nose, kept secluded in a place no one would expect, Jason giving you that necklace and being gentle but firm that you keep it on, like how he can’t escape his own brand you can’t escape Jasons love obsession, and even eventually chaining us to a chair after escaping Batman? Love it, he’s awful he’s never letting us go, Joker won’t leave him even if he’s dead and by god Jason will make sure it’s the same way with us

He also definitely didn’t let our friends Krystal, Destini, and Robbi live, trying to warn us like that? They’re dead im so sorry my lovelies hes crazy

Also BEAAAANNN please tell me he’s ok the poor little baby kitty don’t let harm befall him he’s innocent, i love your writing, if u continue this (and don’t feel pressured to!) i just wish for bean to be ok our little meow

Ah, nonnie!! I literally read this so many times!! I'm so glad you liked it! Omg, I'm actually smiling so wide! Thank you for taking the time to send this! 🥰🥰

Between you and me, I do plan on continuing the series, I don't have too much written down for it right now, but I'm planning on calling it A Glass City.

I'm so thrilled people picked up on the parallels between how Jason's treating you and how he was treated! It's angsty, and I actually made myself unwell over it.

I'm more or less following the games timeline, and right now, Batman has no idea who the Arkham Knight is. What Batman does know is that the Arkham Knight kidnapped Jason's best friend.

Batman thinks it's a way to get under his skin and show his failure over not saving his last Robin. He has no idea that you being taken has nothing to do with him and everything to do with you.

Robin being the one to save you was pure coincidence. (On Batman's part, intentional on mine) Bruce, again, has no idea that you're important to the Knight. He had no idea that AK was going to drop everything to get to you, because he assumed you were just a tiny part of the game.

Robin was the convenient one to send, and it definitely made Jason more volatile than he would have been if Nightwing went instead. (He probably wouldn't have jumped off a building with you)

Some light spoilers under the cut about Bean and your three friends:

Bean is okay and will return in chapter four!

Krystal, Destini, and Robbi are alive, I SWEAR, but he definitely scared them. Jason knows you like them, and it would only be a problem if he killed them.

Honestly, they've been really nice to you, and he knows they make you happy. If anything, he wants them to keep doing their job after this all blows over. (If he gets his way and wins)

[casscainmainly]

Just asking for fun cuz I think you being really interesting points abt so many of the bats to the table: who do you think should be Batman if 1) Bruce Died, 2) Bruce voluntarily steps down (old age / debilitating injury) or any other scenarios you would like to explore.

It's an age old question, it's fun to see who thinks what and what thoughts they bring to the table :)

Such a great question!! Though honestly I'm not sure I have any original or good thoughts haha. For me the Batman successor should be one of two people: Cassandra Cain (I am a Cass blog) or Dick Grayson.

For Cass the reason is obvious. So many people have written about how Batman is the culmination of her arc about agency and controlling her destiny - for a girl who was raised to be nothing, to be a tool for other people, becoming the centre of the narrative is an incredibly poignant and wonderful conclusion. She wants to be Batman, she has the ability to be Batman, she believes in Batman; she is as clear a successor as you could get.

Dick is more debatable. His feelings on being Batman have always been tangled up in his frustrations with Bruce, in a way Cass (who is more able, albeit imperfectly, to separate the man from the symbol) doesn't deal with. So I think there's some panels of him saying he doesn't want to be Batman, doesn't like doing it, etc.

However, in my mind he does like being Batman, he just doesn't like being Bruce's version of Batman. He comes to this conclusion in Gates of Gotham, and the back parts of Batman and Robin (2009) is basically him having fun once Bruce is alive. It was Bruce's death that made things difficult, not the mantle itself. Where Cass can be Batman now, Dick can elevate the mantle; and it's no secret that Bruce himself views Dick as his clear successor.

I honestly think both should wield the mantle. I love the idea of Cass being Gotham's Batman while Dick is the Justice League/wider world's Batman. This plays to their strengths, and solidifies their arcs: Cass finds a permanent home and a place she loves that loves her back, and Dick gets to travel again, using his leadership and interpersonal skills to save people.

In the case of Bruce's retirement, this would be the perfect set-up. For his death, though, I think it would be complicated by both Dick and Cass' grief. Look at the Batman Reborn era: the Dick and Cass parallels were actually insane. They were both told not to wield the Bat mantle - Dick by Bruce's message, and Cass by Bruce asking her to give Batgirl to Steph. This hurt them immensely, but they tried to follow Bruce's orders. The only difference was that Tim (and Jason) forced Dick's hand into disobeying Bruce, while Cass was already gone.

In an ideal world, Tim should've been asking them both to take up the mantle. His meeting with Cass in HK should've kickstarted her journey home, and she would've arrived back for angsty talks with Dick about who the Bat symbol belongs to or something. This basically happens in Gates of Gotham: Cass' conversation with Dick in the car is about not letting Gotham (and, I would argue, Bruce) dictate who they can or cannot be. They both want the mantle, and this was an acknowledgment that they both deserved it, too.

So, long story short, Cass and Dick are my picks for Batman successor. Them simultaneously being Batman would be so fun too, given their complicated relationship. They would be keeping score of who's the better Bat, and Cass would probably lob Dick out a window again, but they'd also have a shared understanding and deep compassion for each other's circumstances and desires. Curious to hear other people's thoughts!

(Also Duke Thomas should be their Robin but that's a post for another day).

[frownyalfred]

Hello! Hope you had an awesome break!! <3

What do you think about Bruce visiting Harvey in arkham? Both as Batman and Bruce. Canonically they played chess together at least once.

On that note: Does Harvey know? Does Two Face? (At least in your fics. God knows canon changes all the time.)

I really love the idea of a tragic Bruce/Harvey friendship because the idea of having so much history with someone who now has a dual personality is so interesting to me, especially as a writer.

There's so many angsty possibilities. Bruce has history with Harvey but when he shows up to Arkham, he's met with Two Face who he's not supposed to know. Batman had history with Two Face, but when he visits him in Arkham, it's Harvey, his childhood friend again.

I have this scene in my head sometimes of Bruce telling Harvey something and Two Face not remembering it. But Harvey does. And sometimes that confusion blurs between the two minds, and Harvey sees Bruce-and-Batman and Bruce-not-Batman and a thousand overlapping identities and it nearly drives him insane all over again, because it can't be possible.

It must be so strange to look at your friend and see an enemy looking back. Conversely, it must be equally strange to see your friend and not know why you feel like you hate them, but that you do. That this is their fault somehow, even though your friend Bruce has never stepped foot in Arkham before...