#bruce is trying to raise his 6 ½ kids even if one of them doesn't actually exist

[webshood]

i feel a little unhinged today so i wanna share a little something with y'all :)))

imagine this scenario, so Batman and the JL accidentally going to another earth, it looks exactly like their earth, but there's small details that change everything about this world

one of them is that there's no Batman, the Martha and Thomas Wayne never died in this earth and thus Bruce never became Batman

this earth's Bruce is cheerful, genuinely happy, he's in a relationship with Clark after they meet at a Wayne gala, they had good chemistry and when Clark asked this Bruce out he accepted it, he's now the Justice League's doctor

Batman has not revealed his identity to his league yet, but he has a crush on Clark to some degree and seeing how happy his counterpart is with their own Supes, leaves a sour taste on his mouth

Batman is not good with romantic relationships, but his heart still aches and he's kinda pissy about the whole situation, trying to go back home as soon as possible, the other JL members with him are a little weirded out about his insistence in coming back as soon as possible and they even send Diana to calm him down

Bruce from this earth notices their tension and decides to host a dinner so they can relax a little bit before going home, because when Batman is antsy everyone else becomes a little antsy too and when this affects his own Supes he sees the need to do something

everyone is eating and chatting away, when Bruce mentions he's turning 35 soon and Batman freezes, he's noticed that Bruce didn't mention Dick or Jason in any point of their conversation (Dick should he turning eighteen and Jason been recently adopted)

so he jumps from his seat and literally steals someone's cellphone and start to look for his children, Dick's parents died, but his boy is nowhere to be found, when he looks for Jason there's only one mention of his baby and it's alongside the news of Willis Todd imprisonment

when he starts to pack up the invisible jet for a trip to Hong Kong so he can kidnap his little girl, Bruce asks him to wait and keep calm, tries to reason with him, about how "You don't even know this children here, this is not your earth"

that's when the illusion falls

no matter how good of a life this bruce has, no matter who he's dating, no matter that he doesn't have the childhood trauma witnessing the death of his parents caused, because even if he's not from this earth, they're still his children. this Bruce might be happy, but Batman wouldn't ever be happy without his children, there's no romantic love that can compare to being utterly bullied by his kids everyday

when the league travels back to their earth, Bruce might be able to try and ask Superman out for a date, but he has to absolutely smother his kids in long and tight bear hugs first, because he can't even imagine life without them

bonus: Batman tracks down every single one of his kids (minus Damian because this earth's Bruce never meet Talia) on that earth and contacts his significant others/exes that are safe enough to raise a kid, but nuts enough to 100% believe that he's from another earth, each of them has their own little kid now

[allthegothihopgirls]

"justice league doesn't know batman has kids" and by some freak incident, they end up meeting them all at once, after never having one single sneaking suspicion of batman being a family guy.

you've got every batkid + justice league member in the same room, and bruce tries for a total of 6 seconds to diffuse the situation before giving up.

there's bats left right and centre making completely false claims about how their family came to be, just to stir shit. also purposely trying to ruin batman's 'stoic and mean' reputation as best as they can.

jason and steph are telling everyone that they're all bio kids, and bruce does try and correct that one (some of those kids don't even belong to him in a non-bio way!!) but not before tim pipes up and goes 'well actually it depends what you count as biological, he grew me in a lab'.

dick's taking full advantage of the JL's perception of batman being oh so impressionable in the moment, and is telling stories of his childhood + batman raising his younger siblings, making him out to be the softest guy to ever exist (completely on purpose). cass is nodding along next to him, and making sure whenever she adds a comment that she uses the word 'dad' instead of batman just for the extra domestic flare.

babs and jason are explaining how they all consider themselves bats, in a way that would make anyone believe that they're in a cult. bruce is standing amidst it all, an immovable object, with dick's arm on his shoulder, and damian huddled into his side (ALL for dramatic flare. they need the JL to know that he's. just a guy with kids).

[bruciemilf]

omg i love protective batkids do you have anything else for it?

I gotta say; I absolutely adore protective baby Jason Todd. Like literal, actual, 4 year old Jason Todd who's the adorable version of a leech making Bruce's suitors' life hard as hell

But it's so hard to stay mad at the kid; And his brother. And their fairly scary but kind little sister, Cass. Tim is the baby to fear, thought. Those panda onesies are hilariously misleading.

Dick tries (lies) to keep them in line when Bruce has a date, but so far? Mysteriously hasn't worked.

Jason will cling to Bruce's leg, and his damned toddler limbs aren't strong enough to drag him back to the blanket fort he slithered away from, -- but their connection is magnetic;

Jason knows when his Papi isn't there, even half asleep and dozy on warm milk and cocoa biscuits. It's a sudden, quick thing, but it hurts. He's not above crying. " No!"

" Jay, It'll be for a few hours, you'll see me in the morning, --"

" NO!"

"Jason! We don't yell in front of guests!"

Clark Kent is too mousey and too nervous and too much of a teddy bear for all his height. He's never seen someone taller than Bruce! The taller people are, the stronger they are.

This reporter may look nice, but Jason's not buying it. Not even when Clark chuckles and tries to shake his hand and Jason just shrieks, hard, and loud, and faceplants the floor.

"Is he done? I'm trying to watch Scooby-Doo."

Bruce is rubbing his temples like never before, of that, Jason has no doubt, " Not helping, Dickie. And I thought I told you to hold him back because Clark was coming."

Dick is by far the worse one between them; At least when Jason's being bad, he doesn't lie about it, "Did I? Must've forgot. Guess you have to cancel?"

Cass, 6, yawns and wants to be picked up as well, but Jason suspects it's because he wants to get closer to biting range in case this Clark guy gets any fun ideas. It wouldn't be the first time.

Before Bruce can hopefully agree, Clark Kent The Glasses Guy opens his big mouth, and says he'd be more than happy to have a stay in date, " It'd be very cozy. I'm very good at late night snacks."

Papi loves midnight snacks; This guy is a cheater.

Jason raises like he's never been down at all, and clings to Bruce, and makes grabby hands, which Bruce gives him with a sigh, and Dick calls him a spoiled brat, which makes Jason tear up,

" M'not a brat,"

Its not Bruce that comforts him first, but Clark's mellow voice, " Hey. Of course you're not. You love your daddy a whole lot, don't you?"

Jason nods. Of Course. Who wouldn't love Bruce?

" I get it; You just want him to be safe. You held your own pretty hard in there," Clark grins like he approves, and Bruce, teary because Jason was teary, scoffs, wiping his eyes on Jason's fluffy hair,

" Don't encourage him or you'll never have a second date out of here."

" I can't make my pancakes anywhere else, so that works for me. Now. You want ice-cream on there?"

Dick and Jason agree that while Clark Kent is on thin ice, his pancakes sure as hell aren't.

[space-dreams-world]

Inspired by this:

Except there's a twist: Danny adopts Dick, Jason, and maybe Tim.

Danny moved to Gotham (not bad end, but Vlad gets killed, trying to help Danny escape Amity Park, after de aging Dan and Ellie. Fentons, in their confusion and anger, make it even more unsafe for Danny to live there. Fortunately, Vlad made Danny his heir awhile ago, and in leaving, Amity closed their portal and Vlads. Vlad is a full ghost now. So now Danny is a runaway pregnant genderfluid teen that moves to Gotham, whether it be before the wayne murders or after. Jordan isn't born until a year into living in Gotham.)

He sets up a bakery/cafe near crime alley with his apartment on top of it and lab in the basement. He also owns a warehouse that he uses as a storage and training zone. He never makes homeless people pay, and if you can, it's a dollar. Even ghosts show up. He gets to know batman starting out and even maybe starts to court him as bats. They don't officially date until after catwoman reject his proposal, and Damian is permanently with Bruce.

Danny, while not at the circus prior to Graysons' murder, sees an escaped juvie grayson and is able to calm him down, even gets him to speak with his parents again and Danny with the help of Gotham threatens/scares Zucco into fearing for his life. He doesn't bring him back to Juvie but manages to save Dick's things and important paperwork. They declare him missing despite being needed in witness protection. Bruce wants to care for Dick but he doesn't have the same connection to Dick and sees Danny as his own Alfred, when B parents died. Danny raises Dick with a little help from Bruce.

Cannon events also happen, so Two-face and Joker get ahold of Dick for being near Batman and get beaten and shot. Danny brings Dick to the Far frozen and they heal him and he ensures to Two face/Joker that he will feel the same pain as what he has dealt to Dick and almost kills Joker but gets left with a warning.

Court of Owls actually loses Talons to Danny and are his and his kids' bodyguards now while trying to learn how heal them. Unfortunately, Bruce pulls back from the relationship with Danny, and this hurts them both.

Then,when Jason is on the streets, he sticks to near Danny's place and eventually gets adopted, too. Eleanor is born after. Jason loves his new family and is surprised that Bruce is back to dating Danny again. (Which hurts Dick because Bruce only came back for Jason)

In this scenario, Shelia reaches out to Jason for bribery reasons, and when Joker shows up, Danny is having none of it. He kills Mr. J crushes his soul and brings Jason to the Yeti, where he flatlines and gets to become a halfa instantly. This time, Danny is the one that pulls from Bruce as he never found out where Danny took Dick and now Jason to heal. So in the 6 months Jason was in the Zone practicing, Bruce took the worst of it and thought he was dead, but in reality Jason in the zone training with his powers and Dick helps out with his enhanced liminality. What seems like a death to Bruce is a coma or a loss of mobility for Jason. Bruce just assumes he's dead.

Dick grows up to be either a gymnast instructor or a social worker. Jason would be studying for literature or social or justice reform. Dan is a mechanic or security guard. He works part-time at the cafe and helps with branding and making the sweets. Jason, Jordan, and Ellie also help in the shop. Stephanie is a part timer.

Tim, during one of his photoscapedes, gets caught, and Danny and/or the kids save him and bring him to Danny. Tim, while dealing with years of parental neglect, stays with them, or Danny notifies Bruce of this. Either Tim stays with Danny, and despite Drakes having more money and power, Danny's otherness freaks them out and they decide fuck this or similar to cannon, Bruce adopts Tim.

Bruce, by the end of this, officially only has one or three kids: Damian, Cass, and/or Tim.

[I don't know if I want the boys into vigilante. It seems hypocritical for Danny to say no to vigilantism,but in another reality to this one, Danny says yes to the boys being vigilantes]

Hilariously, Danny and his kids show up to a Gala as Masters Heirs.

Jazz moves to Gotham after College to either be a doctor or work in Arkham.

Sam, while trying to leave her parents grasp, goes to Gotham for personal reasons and her parents threaten to cut her off from her inheritance unless she shows up at important events or Galas to support the Manson name.

Tucker is a tech fan and also moves to Gotham, but it is a bit of a recluse, but he takes an interest in teaching Babs, Dick and Tim in Hacking. He is an IT guy for Wayne Industries and an app creator.

[tinkerbelle05]

Batfam as catshifters pt 2

Part 1 (But you don't have to read if you don't want. Anyway I have more brainrot of this au so here ya go

Jason would be the type to hiss at people but also crave love and attention, especially from Bruce. He could argue all he wants but it’s clear as a day when he purposefully shifts and cuddles up to Bruce when he’s feeling neglected.

Every single one of the kids has napped on Bruce’s lap when he was in an important league meeting (once the secret was out ofc) and they made it into a game to see how many times they can get him to crack that stony expression. 

Cass is leading the scoreboard with a whooping 30 times while Tim is dead last with a mere 8. Tim insists that he doesn't care but they all see the droopy cat ears.

Stephanie is absolutely in love with that red light, she’ll spend hours trying to catch the red light on the wall. If the walls have any scratches, you didn’t see them and moved on.

Alfred had absolutely raised hell because of it so everyone that was in cat form was forced into the cat room. 

In the room that’s for their cat forms where there are many toys and obstacles for them at their leisure. Every 6 months Bruce takes it down and gets a new and harder one (bc they keep complaining about how “easy” it was and that they needed an “actual challenge”, the old ones he donates)

Everyone always uses Bruce’s bed for cat naps and cuddles because it has so much space and everything’s just soft. Plus, there is a warm human they can cuddle up next to, who wouldn’t want that?!

Damian loved being in cat form to hang out with Alfred, the cat. Animals were his best friends so it was great to understand them on a deeper level. He loves sitting on Batcow and just existing with her.

Dick loves to be spoiled by Bruce so that he could maintain his self-proclaimed position as Bruce’s favorite. Belly rubs, scratches behind the ears, the whole nine.

Tim often “runs away” from home when his family is being too much of a family. He doesn’t hate it but he isn’t used to attentive families. 

When that first happened during his Robin era, Bruce went on a whole manhunt for this kid, his mind kept wandering to broken bones and smoke. 

Once Tim was found, he was hiding on a rooftop (these bats and their rooftop, I swear) he was given a stern talking too and a heart-to-heart. Afterward, he was allowed to go on breaks, but give head-ups and check in every so often.

There are protocols if they happen to shift during patrol or a fight. First, a smoke bomb goes off and covers the entire area in a thick layer of smoke. Every team is notified and those who are closest come to get the person out of there and then they deal with whatever was going on prior.

The cat shifter then goes to one of the many designated rooftops to be collected or they just go home by themselves. Even with this detailed plan, there have been many, many close calls.

Like that one time Condiment King almost got Duke in his cat form if Cass hadn’t come in the literal nick of time or when Damian got transformed while fighting Killer Croc.

The kids like to follow Alfred around while in cat form so that he can “accidentally” drop whatever dinner their eating for that night, and “Oh now, it’s on the floor, we eat can’t this piece of fish for dinner but-” and it’s already being eaten by Dick. Jason was hot on his trail too but Dick’s agility had given him an edge. This leads to Alfred “dropping” another piece on the ground for Jason to eat.

Bruce comes in with a raised eyebrow but no one offers an explanation for his unanswered question and he doesn’t mention it.

[ohraicodoll]

would you do a headcannon on ways joel and ellie try to ease red into civilization?

So the thing is, Joel and Ellie aren't perhaps the best at this kind of thing. Ellie grew up in a FEDRA school her whole life where she had to be defensive and is already abrasive towards others and Joel isn't exactly the most sociable person, used to the harsh QZ. But they try if only because they see her struggling and the risk that she won't be able to stay in Jackson. They're not good sometimes and even actively make it worse by being so protective of her, but they care and try because of it. Some small things about those early months:

Joel has to restrict the number of sharp objects Red has on her person when she leaves the house. He won't take away all her weapons cause he knows she'll only be more nervous, but he also doesn't want her getting in trouble and having to explain why she has 6 knives on her

They both know that the house is the safe zone. Doors are locked, no one has another key to enter unannounced, windows sealed. They let her hide weapons in odd spots just in case and don't complain about it.

They also both know that sometimes, she needs to leave Jackson. That out there is home to her too. They try not to make "taking Red on a walk" jokes, but the reality is that she's more herself outside the walls. Going from being in possible danger 24/7 to not at all is hard for her to cope with. Like an addict, she has to be weened off the danger.

Anytime they have town assemblies or where she may have to be in a large group, they all go together and stay near the exits. Ellie tries to stay on her right and Joel on her left, but somehow the teenager always gets put in the middle as if Red is still protecting her. They keep a hand on her at all times to remind her that they're there with her.

After the first month when they learned she wasn't adjusting very well on her own and was getting into it with other people, Joel goes with her when they need to trade or get supplies if only so the townspeople don't give her shit. Her hackles raise easily when they stare, making it harder for her to get words out, so he acts as an enforcer and support to make sure they don't say shit to her.

Ellie yells at people often when she catches them giving her looks. Even the kids. It probably doesn't help the situation, but it makes Red feel better (and also kinda worse).

Joel treats it very much as if she's a feral cat he's trying to introduce to everyone. Slowly and little by little. When they have family dinner for the first time, they do it at Joel's house so she feels safer and tells them not to make eye contact or stare too long. They don't say anything when she eats fast, puts her plate in the sink, and goes upstairs without saying anything. It takes 3 dinners before she tries to have a conversation with Tommy and they ignore the subtle thumbs up Ellie gives her.

They make progress when Tommy brings up Joel's music tastes and she even debates with him the stylings of Johnny Cash and Bruce Springsteen.

The quickest way to break through with her is music.

They make more progress when they notice she's most at ease in the stables, at the kennels, where there's more animals than people and her shoulders relax a bit. Sometimes they find her helping brush the horses, Jeffrey (the head stable keeper) never saying anything to her and letting her be.

Ellie uses this opportunity to ask for a dog. They both say no.

Joel notices how much being out of the house is exhausting for her. She slinks into bed, quiet and a bit withdrawn, and when she curls into herself he pulls her body against his and runs his hand over her skin until she relaxes into him. He doesn't mention when she clings to him, only holds her back.

They all know that pointing these small things out will spook her and she needs time. Years alone with only herself does something to a person. Under the teeth and hard stares, she's shy and uncertain and drowning in all the new.

Lists help. Keeping her focused helps. They test this out by giving her a written list of supplies to get for the house. It's easier for her when she can just shove the paper at people rather than having to speak and they simply give her the things. Easy. Not much interaction needed.

They keep her busy by giving her things to do each day. The first floor room needs to get cleaned out, Ellie wants all the former girl's stuff packed away, the separate garage out back is filled with rusted junk. Keeping her busy means she's not panicking.

Because she can't have her knife out constantly to flip between her fingers, Ellie gives her rubber bands to wear on her wrist to fidget with instead. Her fingers pull at the elastic when she's anxious, twisting it in circles around her wrist over and over again. It helps.

It takes 10 dinners before they have it at Tommy's place. She's stiff in her chair, avoids eye contact, but at least replies to questions and Joel keeps his hand on her thigh the whole time. Maria shows her their records and record player and that loosens her up.

They always tell her where they're going if they leave on their own.

She's more relaxed when they're around to act as a buffer. Except when the women obviously set their eyes on Joel or approach him to talk, acting like she isn't there. Or when some of the younger kids snicker and talk about Ellie.

Joel has to sit her down and tell her she can't fight the kids after she stares them down one day aggressively, teeth practically bared. He thought he'd have to deal with other parents when it came to Ellie, not her, but life is full of surprises.

For all the stresses, he still thinks its worth it when he catches them both asleep on the couch together, Ellie tucked into her and Red finally relaxed without a single frown on her face.

[dairy-farmer]

i just want dilf!tim to somehow end up in the batfam by some weird alternate universe travel thing and completely dote on tim.

Like he sees his cute, tiny, younger self and goes 'yup, he's mine, my child now,' and tim is so confused as to why this version of himself isnt evil??? and why is he acting like my father- oh hey this isnt that bad,,,-

dilf!tim was raised pretty decently in his universe so hes all buff, has faded scars on his arms and he has that eren yeager hair (the one with the bun sjdhshsjso) and has that markiplier-esque voice. he's still red robin in his universe albeit he's older than bruce (yeah this is some weird family tree im too tired to explain-)

so the batfam is mostly suspicious and in shock that, well, WOW TIM ACTUALLY REACHED 6'???- AND HOLY FUCK HE'S BUFF-

and dilf!tim is like 6'6 and looking down on them (except for bruce, he can only b taller than bruce when hes a child sadly) and thinks 'woaah... you guys have severe daddy issues..' and then walks pats their head and walks over to tim and scoops him up, while the others are just standing there, mouth agape, and kind of,,,,wants to be pat again?-

its the daddy issues man.

dilf!tim definitely has favorites (and its cass, tim, and duke) the others literally cant fight for his favorite spot even if they try, dilf!tim already loves tim that he'd shatter the world for him <33

(was this self-indulgent???probably is-)

i have always been a big fan of milf tim but dilf tim 👀👀👀👀👀. the clear daddy issues all the robins have (both through a combination of their own fathers as well as bruce would be such a good set up).

tim knowing what he missed from all his father figures and making sure to give that to the kids in his care and that instantly makes him a favorite for 'father of the year' in the household. like they should be suspicious of this older, buffer tim from another universe but....he pats their heads and praises them and he speaks to them with this soft deep voice, he doesn't get mad at them even when they don't react well to something, he's so patient and pays so much attention to them. like all of them have missed this reassuring figure in their life, a dad that they knew would protect and rely on them and dilf tim was someone who filled this empty yearning inside them. and bruce would be upset, would be jealous even but sometimes dilf tim is nice to him, when he isn't scolding bruce on his, admittedly, iffy parenting and fathering.

dilf tim being the dad everyone needed and especially to tim who is so small and lost and lacking in the love dilf tim knows he needs.

[wenellyb]

look, do not take this personally but i hope that you are aware that the new captain america movie is going towards an antisemitic and zionist path.

because, first of all, the title is insane. "new world order" really? you search up that title and the first thing that shows up is that weird, disgusting antisemitic conspiracy theory. and to make it even worse, the actor that plays the villain is jewish (which, fine, was casted years and years ago) and then, to make it even so much fucking worse, they cast a zionist actress to play an israeli hero who is known for, well, being a zionist and antisemitic — and she did things like, y'know, murdering arab and palestinian children, etcetera. which brings the question: what do they want to do with this movie? win a bingo for disrespecting all minorities?

ah, by the way, the zionist character's name is sabra, and no, not the company: the massacre.

so that is what i don't get here, you guys are what, pointing fingers at each other because there is 'drama' in the sambucky community? i mean, people are joking, the divorce talk is a joke, and their anger and disappointment is valid as fuck. i promise you, whoever came up with the mcu thunderbolts has never touched a comic in their lives. they have what, five supersoldiers in a team of seven? shut up. and bucky teaming up with walker? after walker killed a kid with captain america's shield? after walker tried to kill sam in the same way right after? what the hell. and now, people are going to ship bucky and yelena because they have no ability to make a single critical opinion and we will all have to watch the unfortunate future of the mcu building a nonsense relationship, like bruce and natasha's, because why the fuck not right? not to mention how people are going to start shipping bucky and walker, because well, white men together bantering (because that's what marvel will probably do, as already shown in episode 6 of tfatws) is one of the greatest internet's fuel to make up one of the most bizarre pairs known to mankind.

however, this isn't about shipping, or who shines and who doesn't. marvel's cinematic universe is awful, they can't get a single thing right, they want money and when people ignore all of this, they will get exactly what they want. people are now trying to overlook zionism and antisemitism just because it's sam's movie, because it is a marvel movie.

if all of that didn't already make the point clear, there is also the 'favorite character finally being the protagonist so i want to support them, even if the movie is *insert multiple social crimes here*' issue, so i'll say this: sam wilson does not deserve this fucking movie, he does not deserve the character assassination that he is already going through like all of the other characters who were put on the mcu, or any of this other shit pilled up on his back. it's a set up. and if they don't acknowledge or fix this (they won't), cap4 will be another north american military propaganda movie with antisemitism and zionism as a "bonus". they should just name the movie captain apartheid already, because that is not captain america. sam shouldn't be the face to carry this disgusting project forward like it will not feed zionists exactly what they want.

this is vile.

Hi Anon!!!

First of all, I can't take it personally, this isn't my movie or my project, so no worries.

There's a lot to unpack here so I'll start with the most important.

It's not my place to make any comments because I don't know enough about the history or the context movie title, but I am willing to listen.

And one thing I want to say is that the movie is still almost 2 years away and the filming hasn't even started yet. There's still time to change the title, the character names or change characters altogether. It would take time but it can be done and it would raise awareness because most probably most people aren't aware of this. I know I wasn't.

What I don't understand is that there was a post going around explaining why the new title was problematic that got thousands of notes. But then there was another post with a petition asking for the title to be changed and it barely got a hundred notes. And I think that if there is stuff that is problematic about the movie this would be the perfect time to try and have it changed since nothing is set in stone yet.

I feel like at this stage, that's what can be done.

I'm not trying to overlook anything but this is how I see things. If there are actions to be taken, let's take them, twitter campaigns, petition, there are a lot of place to start. As I said it's not my place to start anything or talk about any of this but I'll share what needs to be shared. And you're right, the MCU won't make any changes, unless the audience asks for it.

But you can't really say that the fandom is trying to overlook things because Sam is the main protagonist when we don't even know what are the other options.

And this isn't rhetorical question, but a sincere one. What can I do Anon? What's the action plan? I won't force anyone to watch the movie but in my opinion there's still time for them to change stuff if there's enough pushback from our side. If enough people are involved.

About the Sambucky part, I feel we're mixing different things.

The anger/disappointement with Bucky being part of the Thunderbolts, is valid.

But people being upset about the Sambucky ship when we have no information about it expect that both characters will be in separate movies is hard to understand for me.

And the shipping part, there's nothing we can do about it unfortunately, since people are already shipping Bucky with Zemo a guy who tortures him...I wouldn't be surprised by a Walker ship.

[bougenvilleeaa]

Brother Moments in Nightwing Annual 2021

pt. 1

(spoiler alert, duh.)

1. Standards and Comparison.

Though it's quite sad that Batman compares his sons (when it comes to being Robin, at least), I guess it's just different when you're not just a normal kid but also a vigilante.

If you don't meet certain standards, someone will most likely get heavily injured or even die. You just can't afford to not be good enough.

In this scenario, Dick is the standard, so it can't be helped when the bar has been set and Jason is simply.. not there yet.

That aside, I'm glad Jason is portrayed to be more open about his emotions and experiences here. Most of the time, Jason Todd is portrayed as the killy-staby Robin with no other emotion other than rage, so I'm happy to see him being properly portrayed as a child with feelings of unfairness.

And Dick being the understanding brother he is, freaking apologises in Batman's stead. I love the way Tom Taylor writes Dick Grayson, and this is no exception. Please continue to write Good Brother!Dick Grayson.

2. Alfred covers for them.

As always, Alfred being the MVP of this family. Alfred has always been one to encourage the members of this family to bond with one another, even if it seemed like they wouldn't get along (Jason and Tim, Bruce and Damian, etc.).

I like that they show a cheekier side to Alfred in this issue, handing over the keys to the Batmobile and asking for milk on the way back. Alfred is funnier than he lets on.

It really shows that he's not just a butler to this family. He's a key member that raised and took care of every single member, up 'til his final breath (we miss you, Alfred). It's why Dick named his foundation after him.

3. Robin lessons.

We don't get Dick and Jason pair-ups very often, and when we do, it's hardly ever Nightwing!Dick and Robin!Jason.

It's so lovely to see Dick teaching and guiding Jason how to be Robin, especially in ways that Bruce can't teach him. It's best to learn from your predecessor, so teaching Jason how to be Robin isn't something that can be taught by Bruce.

Despite Dick feeling replaced by Jason and Jason feeling like he's being unfairly compared to Dick, they don't hold any animosity for each other and truly accept each other as brothers. Dick is willing to teach Jason what he knows, and Jason is willing to be taught by Dick. They're such wholesome brothers under all that trauma.

4. Dick holding back Jason.

This parallels are heartbreaking, yet wholesome at the same time.

No matter how angry Jason gets, Dick will always do what he can in his power to stop and calm him down.

And no matter how old Jason is, Dick will always be there for him. He'll always be his big brother.

The fact that Jason only stops when Dick calls him Robin instead of Red Hood. I can only imagine that Jason had a moment of realisation when Dick called him by his old codename.

I suppose he's reminded of the time when he went too far as Robin, and Nightwing stopped him. Now, he's no longer Robin, but Nightwing is still there to stop him. I guess some things just don't change.

5. Secrets and confidentiality.

Dick has always tried his best to be a good brother. He never had any siblings growing up, so I imagine it's hard to learn how to be a brother when you're practically already an adult.

Dick tries to be everything Jason needs: a brother, a friend, a mentor. He doesn't push or force Jason to do anything he isn't comfortable with, and he's patient with every mistake Jason makes.

Jason's trying his best, too. Opening up about his trauma at such a young age is no easy feat, but he trusts Dick enough to tell him when he asks about it. At least telling him enough for Dick to understand him better.

Alfred has such a proud look on his face, to see Dick comforting and teaching Jason like a good brother would. It must've made Alfred happy to know that these boys, despite everything they've been through, are his sons.

6. Trust between brothers.

Dick doesn't even question it. He trusts Jason that much, even after all that's happened over the years.

They've fought, argued, had disagreements, but at the end of the day, they're brothers and they trust each other.

Jason seems slightly taken aback when Dick chose to believe him without question. I guess some part of him still doubts his worth as a vigilante (and maybe as a brother too).

It must be comforting to know that his brother, the one he's looked up to since he were young, still trusts in him despite all the mistakes he's made in the past.

7. Dick thinks he's funny.

No comments on this one, Dick just thinks he's funny (which he is, btw).

(7 is a pretty awkward number to cut off the post but tumblr only allows 10 images per post so i guess this is where part 1 stops. stick around for pt.2 )

part 2 ->

[wh0re4-fictionalcharacters]

Pool day and tattoos

Feel free too imagine whatever outfit/tattoo you want it’s just for reference if you can think of anything :))

All the avengers

You were like an adopted daughter to all the avengers. They had found you in a HYDRA base when you were 6 and had taken you in and raised you.

You were now 18 it had been your birthday a month ago and everyone was having a pool day today.

————————————————————————

You went up to your room and picked out a bikini Nat had got you for your birthday even though Steve and Tony had said you couldn't wear it because it was to 'revealing'.

Your outfit

You tied your hair into a pony tail and smiled.

You had a nice tan because it was near the end of the summer and the colour of your bikini made it look darker. You were also smiling because you were in love with the tattoo you had gotten the day after your birthday.

Your tattoo

None of the avengers knew about it yet but they were about to find out.

Before leaving your room you grabbed a purple shirt and threw it on holding it shut so no one could see it yet.

You then went bouncing down the stairs almost bumping into Bucky who was passing by.

"Wow careful there doll what you up to?" He laughed but then eyed you suspiciously.

You were desperate to tell someone so you though he would be one of the best to tell first.

"I have a secret" you whispered.

"Ok?"

You then opened your shirt and moved it out the way so he could see.

He gasped then started laughing "Steve is going to fucking kill you"

You slapped his arm "hey he might not be that bad I mean I'm eighteen now"

"Yeh sure" he said while walking away still laughing.

You huffed you knew Steve in particular would be mad but he'd find out at some point. You then closed your shirt again and walked outside were everyone else was in the pool.

"There you are we were starting to think you'd got lost" Wanda said.

"Nope" you laughed nervously "right here"

"You coming in or you just going to watch us" Tony asked. He then turned back to the others and continued his conversation.

You quickly grabbed a couple of shots of the table and took them to ease your nerves a little.

"Yeh about that I have something to tell you guys but you have to promise not to be mad" out the corner of your eye you could see Bucky smirking at you sipping his beer.

Everyone turned to you.

"What is it?" Sam asked.

You cleared your throat slightly "promise not to be mad"

"What is it y/n" Steve asked already slightly irritated because he knew it wouldn't be good.

You the opened your shirt revealing the tattoo.

Sam, Peter, pietro and Bucky burst out laughing, Nat and Wanda gasped slightly Thor just looked confused and Bruce looked concerned. Where as Tony and Steve sat in shock for a couple of second.

"What the hell is that" Tony said in a quiet angry voice.

"It's uh a tattoo" you whispered and looked at the ground.

"What's a tattoo?" Thor asked still confused however nobody answered him.

"Are you kidding?" Steve asked in the same voice as Tony.

"No it- it's real" you avoided there eyes knowing they were mad.

Everyone went quiet the boys in the corner trying not to laugh were as everyone else was concerned for your safety.

Then the shouting came from Steve and Tony.

"YOU GOT A TATTOO?!" Steve yelled

"THAT IS SO IRRESPONSIBLE!" Tony yelled

"THATS THERE FOREVER NOW!"

"IT DOESN'T JUST WASH OFF!"

"THIS BETTER BE JOKE!"

"I SWEAR TO GOD Y/N!"

You just kept looking at the ground. "It's not a joke" you mumbled.

"We are very disappointed in you y/n" they both said at the same time.

"Sorry" you whispered.

"I think it looks sick" Nat piped up smirking this earned glared from both the boys. You giggled a little bit then stoped when both men went back to glaring at you.

Thoughts???

[please-someone-give-me-love]

Batman and Robin (2011) or aka, one of the best batdad version of Bruce Wayne. Part 1:

I just read this version and I completely fell in love of the comic.

#0

So let's begin with the introduction of Damian Wayne, the son of Batman and Talia Al ghul.

Damian is a complicated but sweet kid, he was raised by assasins and he spent his entire life fighting against his mother to meet his father.

It's important to understand this for his actions throught the series and development.

Damian loves his father more than anything, he adore his figure and idealizate this last one for years.

A lot of the things that he did was mostly because he wanted his father to be proud of him, but his main conflict is that he is still so used to the League and their costumes.

But Damian would never betrayed his father.

I want to enfatize Damian and Talia's relationship, I think Talia is portrayed as someone who loves Damian but that also hurts him, in a similar way that Bruce does too.

(Also, they gave us this picture of baby Damian that melts my heart)

#1 to #4

Bruce and Damian's conflict.

At the beginning we could see an introduction their relationship and their differences.

Bruce loves Damian but he couldn't understand him, so instead of being communicative, he tried to change Damian without actually trying to listen to him, that's one of their problem.

For other part, Damian is confused, he is confused about life, he is confused because his father is not accepting him like his mother said that he would, his idealization is fallin off and that makes him feel insecure and exposed.

His father didn't trust him, he didn't respect him in the same way that Damian respect him and that hurts him.

Damian wants to make his father proud, but he doesn't know how and Bruce even with his good intentions, he is still having big problems to remind to Damian that he actually loves him and cares for him.

So the secrets have consequences, not telling to Damian about Morgan just make the situation more tense, because Damian was worried about his father but also he feels that this last one didn't trust him enough to tell him important things, so he goes by himself on patrol and things went down.

I think it's important to know that this is just the main conflict to them, but that they are going to change and develop more throught the story.

The empathy as a side topic.

Also, I want to say that I liked the way how they portrayed Damian's autocontrol but also lack of empathy.

He still a child that was raised by assasins and that couldn't change in a few minutes, so instead of changing Damian in a fast way, they showed you his different sides of his person.

Sometimes he could be cold and direct, almost cruel when it's about his feelings, because for him, death is something so common in his life that he didn't realize the importance of this last one.

He didn't feel any connection to his grandparents when Bruce took him to his parents memorial, for him it was just another death and he acts and say things in consequences of that feeling.

I don't think he was trying to be rude but it was actually just his view of the death in general.

Then we have again a more classic side to show his lack empathy, animals.

Damian actually loves animals, but he also had to learn how to appreciate their life and I think it's a great way to exposed his conflicted feelings toward his autocontrol and killing.

#5 to #6

So after Damian leaves with Morgan, Bruce realize his mistakes.

I love everytime that Batman got an instrospectation about him and Damian, I think it shows one of his human side, the side where he did love his son and cares about him.

There's a panel where he found out about Damian's drawings that a lot of people use to portrayed him as a bad father and yes, definetly Bruce is not a really good dad, but I think they are using a wrong story to talk about his bad parenting.

Bruce threw Damian's drawings into the fire and it wasn't a good thing to do, he could do better, but he wasn't angry at Damian for drawing those things(their enemies dying or getting killed),but he was upset with himself for not realizing how much his son was trying to control himself at the point that one of his mechanism was drawing.

I think that it was in this point were Bruce realize that he maybe never actually tried to understand his son, that he always tried to make him change since the beginning but never being understandable about his situation.

So he went out looking for him, as a father who cares and loves his son.

So thank you for reading my ted talk.

I want to talk about the next issues like the seven and eight but in my opinion and because tumblr limitation of images, I think it's better if I just analyze in a different post.

I've never been so supporting to Bruce openly, it was always a lot of "buts" or "what if", but I think it's important appreciate everytime that he was actually a good dad? Maybe not perfect, but someone who loves and cares for their children and it's a human.

Because Bruce does mistakes, as the same with Damian, but that's what makes them human for me and I appreciate a good development of that, maybe they would say or do wrong things, but then they would progress and fix their relationship.

Bruce and Damian's relationship is complicated, but after that, they are still a father and a son and I am glad that there's a serie so good that develops that bond.

For other part, the art is beautiful, maybe some little and tiny mistakes like Damian's baby face lol, but in general, it's visually stunning.

[hintofelation99]

Jason Chaperons Damian's Field Trip

Damian and Jason in the Batcave trying to murder each other

Jason: I'm going to kill you demon brat!

Damian: Ha! I'd like to see you try Todd!

Fighting continues for the next two days

Bruce: That's it! Jason, Damian, no more fighting. You two are going to bond even if it kills you!

Jason: Again?

Bruce: Not the time Jason!

Damian, rolling his eyes: And how exactly do you expect me to bond with this barbarian?

Bruce: A trip to the art museum.

Damian and Jason look confused.

Bruce: Damian's class is going to the Gotham art museum next Friday. I was going to chaperon, but since you both decided to try and stab each other in public I have some PR matters to attend to. So, Jason will chaperon.

Damian: That is absolutely ridiculous father. Is it not enough that I am already forced to see subpar art with snot nosed brats? Now I have to take the zombie?!

Jason: Watch it brat!

Damian: Tt

Jason and Damian glare at each other.

Bruce: No, your brother is taking you to see world renowned art with your peers.

Jason: C'mon Bruce, world renowned? It's the Gotham art museum.

Bruce, glaring: Fine. Country renowned.

Jason raises his eyebrows.

Bruce: Don't push it. I'll call the school and let them know that you're taking my place.

--> The Next Friday <--

Jason: Damian! Get your ass down here!

Damian: I am right beside you Todd.

Jason: Where's your tie? And your blazer? Where's your backpack?

Damian: Calm down Todd. I have never been late for school and I do not plan to deviate from that today.

Jason: Whatever. Just be ready in the next five minutes, I want to get coffee first and we are not going to be late.

Damian: Pennyworth has already brewed a pot of that infernal drink.

Jason: And Tim has already called dibs on the entire pot. That kid is scrawny, but when it comes to coffee he's vicious.

Damian: Tt.

-------

Damian: STOP THE CAR RIGHT NOW TODD!

Tires screech as Jason whips into a parallel parking spot in front of the school. Damian's entire class watches this happen. They look terrified.

Damian, jumping out of the car, cursing in Arabic: Are you trying to murder me?!

Jason, casually getting out of the car with a Frappuccino, shrugs: I told you we wouldn't be late.

Damian: WE ARE THIRTY MINUTES LATE!!

Jason, shrugs: Oops.

-------

Teacher: Ok class! This is Jason Todd, he is Damian's older brother and he will be helping out on the field trip today. I expect you all to be on your best behavior today! Now Mr. Todd, would you like to tell us a little about yourself?

Jason, feet on a desk not paying attention, glaring at Damian.

Teacher: Mr. Todd?

Jason chokes on Frappuccino, stands up.

Jason: Uh, yeah, sure. Um, my name is Jason Todd, feel free to just call me Jason. Uh, what else?

Teacher: Maybe give us a fun fact about yourself?

Jason: Sure, sure. Uh I recently spent some time down under.

Teacher: Oh, in Australia?

Jason: Yeah, let's go with that.

Damian facepalms

-------

On the bus, kids screaming and throwing things at each other. Damian and Jason sit at the front near Damian's teacher. Jason has his eyes closed and looks tense.

Teacher: Uh, Mr. Todd? Jason? Are you alright?

Jason: Just peachy.

Damian: Pull it together Todd. You are embarrassing me.

Jason: Listen demon spawn, I'm trying to keep it together and not maim a rich brat. So why don't you shut up.

Damian: Tt. Everyone knows you are too cowardly to maim a child. However, I do admit that the loud and confined environment could cause stress... Here. Take these.

Damian hands Jason headphones. Jason looks confused.

Damian: Grayson claims that music can have a calming affect.

Jason: ...Thanks brat.

-------

Teacher: Ok class we are here! Remember to stick with your groups. Group one is with me. Group two is with Mrs. Smith. And group three is with Jason.

Kids break into groups, each group has seven kids.

Jason: Group three over here!

Damian rolls his eyes as the other six kids approach.

Jason: Be nice. Ok kiddos, we're starting at the uh American Rural Avant Garde exhibit. What the fuck is that crap?

Teacher: Oh my! Um, Mr. Todd. We do not encourage such strong language.

Jason: Wha- oh! You mean crap, so teach' that's my bad.

Teacher: Uh, no I uh-

Jason: Anyway c'mon demons let's go look at shitty art.

Teacher, chanting under their breath: The Wayne's donate a lot of money. The Wayne's donate a lot of money.

-------

In the cubism section.

Kid 1: Mr. Todd! When's lunch?

Jason: Call me Jason kid, and it's only ten? Lunch isn't until one.

Kid 2: But I'm hungry!

Kid 3: And this is boring!

Jason: It's not that bad, look at this thing! It's- oh shit is that a Picasso?

Kid 4: Uh, yeah?

Jason: Fuck that asshole, let's go get ice cream.

Damian: Todd! That is not in the schedule, we can not skip a section just because you dislike the artist!

Jason: See, that's were you're wrong baby bird. I'm in charge and I say that Picasso is an asshole and we're skipping his shit.

Damian: We are already in trouble with father, if we exhibit bad behavior he might force us to spend more time together.

Jason: Look kid, Bruce sent me here because he wants us to bond. The greatest form of bonding is breaking rules and skipping school. So, really, by skipping we're actually doing what he wants.

Damian: Tt. I suppose that sounds accurate.

-------

Jason: Time for lunch kiddos.

Kid 2: But we just finished our ice cream break?

Jason: No, we just finished the seeing the museums second floor. Right?

Kid 6: No we-

Jason: No no, we finished the second floor. The whole ice cream thing, that's our little secret. Right?

Kids: Ohhhhh

Jason: Now you're getting it!

-------

Damian glares at his lunch

Jason: What's wrong kiddo?

Damian: Tt. It appears that I might have, accidentally, taken Drake's lunch instead of my own.

Jason: And? What's the problem?

Damian: Drake, packed that abomination that he calls a sandwich.

Jason: Oh, god. He packed a peanut butter pepperoni sandwich again?

Damian, looking at the lunch with complete disgust: Yes.

Jason: Here, take my PB&J.

Damian: ...

Jason: Timbits taste in sandwich's is a crime against humanity. But I'm not vegan, so if worst comes to worst I'll eat it.

Damian: ...Thank you Todd. I- I did not think you cared about my dietary choices.

Jason: Just because we fight sometimes doesn't mean I won't have your back kid. Yeah, I guess being vegan is a choice, but it's a choice that I'll always support.

Damian quickly hugs Jason before taking his sandwich and pretending nothing happened.

Damian: I appreciate the support. Thank you, brother.

Jason: No problem baby bird.

-------

Jason: So, we have an hour before we have to get back on the bus. And, uh- oh shit! Ok, so apparently we had an assignment. Uh, the instructions say to draw your favorite work and write why you like it. What the fuck kind of bullshit assignment is that?

Jason: Uh, ok we're doing a speed draw. Everyone just pull up your favorite work on the museum website and try your best.

--> 40 Minutes Later <--

Jason: Ok, hand me your sheets and let's head to the bus.

Damian, hands his assignment in.

Jason: Whoa, huh.

Damian, looking nervous: What Todd?

Jason: Nothing, just this is a really good drawing kid.

Damian blushes: Of course it is.

Jason smiles and ruffles Damian's hair: Good job brat.

Damian smiles and heads to the bus

------

Both in the car, about to drive back to the manor.

Jason: You know, I actually sorta had fun today.

Damian: Your presence was... enjoyable.

Jason: We're never telling that to Bruce, right?

Damian: Obviously, if father thinks that his plan worked he will be completely insufferable.

Jason: Agreed. Y'know, sometimes field trips go long.

Damian: Oh?

Jason: Yeah, I mean, it wouldn't be too weird if we were an hour or so late getting home.

Damian: If we were to be late getting home, how would we spend that time?

Jason: There's a cool arcade that should be open right now.

Damian: I do not believe that I have ever been to an arcade.

Jason: Well, that needs to be fixed right now. You down baby bird?

Damian: I- uh I am down, is that the correct usage of the term?

Jason: Hell yeah.

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

Based on this headcanon.

[secretsandwriting]

Hey can u do a Damian x reader like ok bare with me so maybe that they are family friends and Damian was like friends with her when they were young but now that they're like 17-18 ish he's rude towards the reader and doesn't talk to her much and so she's also like that with him and then idk you can end it however you want I trust you 😊

Oh hey look, another part of a longer fic I'll probably never write. Also, I know the names probably cheesy as fuck but I suck at naming groups.

Word Count - 1,168

Beta Read - Nope

You had met Damian when you were 5, Damian was part of the League of Assassins while you were part of a different organization known as Death’s Silence. Because both groups were assassins and better than your average groups they decided to make peace and work together.

So, as the heir of Death’s silence, you were to learn with the heir of the League of Assassins. That's how you met Damian, by training together. Being the only children out of the hundreds gathered, you two grew close. You trained together and made games out of it, it was allowed for the sole reason it was still training and you two were getting along. So stamina tests became games of tag, stealth training was a game of hide and seek tag, strategy training became games of chess, and so forth.

They didn’t have any trouble getting the two of you to train anymore. Both of you were just happy to have a friend and that you could have fun without worrying about getting in trouble. But all good things come to an end.

When you were back at your home base, waiting to go back to the one shared by the two, an incident happened. One of your parents' trusted friends set them up so that they died on a mission hoping they would be able to take over Death’s Silence. However they were killed before they could try. It was decided by the elders that they would temporarily disband until you were old enough to lead them, until then. You would go into foster care and establish yourself into society so that no one would suspect anything from you.

You never got to say goodbye to Damian, you never got to tell him what happened or explain why the letters suddenly stopped. Due to this, as well as losing your family and everything you knew. You didn’t adjust well. Acting out sent you from home to home. No one wanted to keep a troublemaker even if they were only 6.

Home from home, that was what happened for 6 years. The first 2 years you fought without actually fighting. Setting fires, hitting kids in school, and refusing to listen to the adults. But then your behavior changed overnight.

You stopped fighting. Instead you just stayed quiet, never speaking, and hiding all your emotions. It was like you had just given up. When people looked in your eyes, they looked like they belonged to an adult who had hit rock bottom, not an 8 year old little girl.

When you were 12, you were adopted by a couple who you had never met. Because you had never met beforehand, they were required to do monthly meetings with your social worker until it was clear you were safe and happy. 2 months in and they stopped the meetings because to the surprise of everyone, you blossomed.

You could train again. After all, if you wanted to help them keep the city safe you couldn’t be rusty. In your free time, you were allowed to experiment with different hobbies until you found ones you liked. They let you talk about home and your parents, while they didn’t agree with half the ideals and you weren’t allowed to kill most of the people (at least yet, murder wasn’t completely off the table) you could still use the techniques you had been taught. It was better than any home you could have hoped for.

When you got your phone, you looked for Damian on different social media but you couldn’t find him. So you asked for help from your family and they found him. He was going by his fathers last name, Wayne.

Hoping to talk with your friend again you sent him a message, he read it and then you found yourself blocked from all his accounts. When you went to Gotham for your adopted fathers business with Bruce Wayne, Damian and his adopted brothers were there. He spoke to you when he had to but after when you tried to talk with him after he turned and walked away. His family did the same. They didn’t agree to the deal.

It hurt, the one friend you had. The one who made the hell you were raised in tolerable seemed to hate you and he wouldn’t tell you why or let you explain. It was like he just wanted you to disappear from his life, this time forever.

So you gave up. You stopped trying to contact him and when you saw him you only spoke when necessary. Trying to move on, you made more friends around you but you weren’t ever as close with them as you were with Damian.

Five years. For five years you acted like you were never close with Damian. It started affecting you mentally and it kept getting worse. In order to help, your dad took you to a therapist. Every week you would go and everything would come out, she helped you learn how to cope with it until you were able to move one. She said you were grieving one of the last meaningful relationships from your childhood before the foster system and that it was normal and it was good. It was healthy.

So you kept pretending you were fine around him until you couldn’t. It was a fancy Gala held by one of your father’s business partners. Apparently he was also partnered with Bruce Wayne. Due to everything going on it wasn’t too long in before you were starting to feel overwhelmed. You were surrounded by a ton of people, some of them crowding around you wanting to talk to the heir of the company. Excusing yourself before you started panicking, you went to a side room to take a breather and try to relax enough you could go back out there without crying.

But the entire Wayne group was in there, freezing in the doorway you were about to leave but Damian looked up and decided to say something to you for the first time since you had found him again.

“What do you want?” That was the breaking point, bursting into tears you just turned and left. It was too much. Finding an empty hall you ended up sitting on the floor, head on your knees while you sobbed. One of the other ladies there found you. She helped you up and took you to your parents, suggesting they leave early. That’s exactly what they did. However the news got a hold of it and the next day headlines read,

Gala left Y/n L/n crying

You ignored it. It wasn’t the worst thing they had written about you. So you went about as if they had never written it and it went away. Within a month everyone had forgotten about it and you decided you were going to work through your grief as fast as possible. You were tired of feeling this way. Especially because of a boy.

[tabloidtoc]

OK, March 8

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Bruce Springsteen

Page 1: Big Pic -- as part of Coach's latest campaign Jennifer Lopez posed with a supersized pink version of their new Pillow Tabby purse

Page 2: Contents

Page 3: Contents

Page 4: Chris Harrison gone for good? The Bachelor host's future with the show remains uncertain after his controversial interview with Rachel Lindsay

Page 6: Since the start of his career Justin Timberlake has endured his fair share of scandals but after welcoming his second son with wife Jessica Biel over the summer and celebrating his 40th birthday, he is confessing that he feels immense guilt about the past and he won't be making the same mistakes in the future -- Justin's done some soul-searching and accepts that he's wronged a lot of people over the years with his own terrible mistakes and he says he's still a work in progress, but step one has been to stand up and admit he's hurt too many women -- in addition to a boozy night out with his Palmer costar Alisha Wainwright in 2019 and his part in the now-infamous Nipplegate incident with Janet Jackson at the 2004 Super Bowl, Justin recently came under fire again due to the documentary Framing Britney Spears which showed him exploiting his breakup from Britney Spears to help his solo career -- Justin's learned from his mistakes and has a lot more sensitivity about the impact of his actions on other people and that's the big difference between the Justin of today and his old, immature self and that self-awareness was evident in an emotional statement that he posted apologizing to both Britney and Janet for the errors in his ways -- his words drew praise from his wife Jessica who says he's come a long way as a husband, a father and more importantly, a human being

Page 7: Wendy Williams is on the prowl for a new man and he's got to be husband material and she is ready for a serious commitment -- Wendy's been staying up until all hours of the night checking out guys online and on exclusive dating apps and she wants someone age-appropriate, fun, kind, independent and of course has no history of cheating -- she's feeling very optimistic and even buying new perfume and clothes and jewelry for all the dates she hopes to have once lockdown lifts

* Texas native Matthew McConaughey is seriously considering throwing his hat in the ring to become the state's next governor -- he's been putting out feelers to see if he's got sufficient support and if enough donors are willing to write checks, he'd mount an aggressive run in 2022 -- he's already gotten the thumbs-up from his wife Camila Alves and their three kids -- at this point, he needs to see an actual path to winning because he's not interested in just making a protest statement; don't be fooled by his aw-shucks attitude, Matthew means business

* Now that Keeping Up With the Kardashians is coming to an end, the hunt is on for a new family to replace the clan and one reality pro is poised to nab the prize: Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Lisa Rinna -- there's already been talk about Lisa picking up the torch and her family is camera ready, consisting of husband Harry Hamlin, and their daughters Delilah Hamlin who's dating Love Island's Eyal Booker and Amelia Hamlin who's dating Scott Disick

Page 8: Things keep going from bad to worse for Armie Hammer -- he was forced to drop out of his upcoming movie Shotgun Wedding with Jennifer Lopez after direct messages he allegedly sent to women in which he described himself as a cannibal and detailed disturbing sexual fantasies were leaked online -- Armie was also fired by his talent agency WME and now the disgraced star may get cut from his new film Next Goal Wins which has already been shot -- he's radioactive and everybody knows it and his completed but unreleased work is getting a second look as studios want to do damage control, and that includes another of his finished projects Death on the Nile where his part could end up on the cutting room floor -- he's a pariah now and it's hard to see how he's ever going to come back from this

* Jennifer Aniston has always had a spiritual side but these days she is taking things to a whole new plane -- Jen has surrounded herself with psychics and has been doing Goddess Circles with the same group of close friends for 30 years, but now she's taking courses to learn to heal herself and be her own guru -- BFF Courteney Cox has been a big influence and Jen's learned a lot from Courteney, who's had a long-term interest in mediums, astrologists and horoscopes, and she's trying to fuse it all together into her own brand of spirituality -- Jen's had a lot of time alone, which has only deepened her questions about the universe and how she can make the most of her life and she's determined to find the answers

* Princess Eugenie is over the moon after welcoming her first child, a baby boy with businessman husband Jack Brooksbank but now the new mom is torn about taking time out from her royal responsibilities -- Eugenie would love to take a long break from everything and focus solely on raising her son however she knows deep down how much she's needed, especially since Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are showing no signs of coming back -- as she weighs her options, Eugenie is looking to her multi-tasking cousin-in-law Duchess Kate for some inspiration because she's impressed by how Kate is able to juggle her official duties while raising three young kids

Page 10: Red Hot on the Red Carpet -- stars captivate in enchanting puff-sleeve numbers -- Bel Powley, Aubrey Plaza, Lupita Nyong'o

Page 11: Kaitlyn Dever, Lucy Boynton, Margaret Qualley

Page 12: Who Wore It Better? Hilary Swank vs. Madeline Brewer, Bella Hadid vs. Devon Windsor, Alison Brie vs. Dua Lipa

Page 14: News in Photos -- Tayshia Adams and her fiance Zac Clark felt on top of the world when the visited the Empire State Building together

Page 15: Chrissy Teigen and John Legend were inseparable while out and about in Beverly Hills, Bill Murray and NFL player Larry Fitzgerald Jr. were among the many stars to shoot their shot during a charity golf tournament in Pebble Beach, Rita Ora performing on an episode of the U.K. show Dancing on Ice in Hertfordshire

Page 16: At the Australian Open Serena Williams came out on top during the fourth round, Bachelorette alum Jordan Kimball and fiancee Christina Creedon couldn't wait until they got home to enjoy Candy Pop popcorn's new Peanut M&M's flavor from Sam's Club in Houston, Heidi Montag spent the day hitting the slopes at Lake Tahoe

Page 17: Hailey Bieber starring in Beyonce's new Ivy Park x Adidas collection

Page 18: Brody Jenner had a blast snow tubing while shooting the second season of The Hills: New Beginnings in Lake Tahoe, Avril Lavigne stepped out with her new boyfriend Mod Sun for a romantic dinner in West Hollywood

Page 20: Justin Bieber looked like he'd just hopped out of bed in a sweater and checkered fleece pants in L.A., Robin Thicke in front of a piano in L.A.

Page 21: Steve Martin doubled up on face coverings on the set of his new project Only Murders in the Building in NYC, Michelle Obama on her new show Waffles + Michi, Cardi B spoiled herself with high-end goods during a day of shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills

Page 22: Brooke Burke romancing with boyfriend Scott Rigsby on Valentine's Day, Lucy Hale accessorized her look with her newest rescue pup Ethel in L.A., Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon masked up for a snowy outing in NYC

Page 24: For Galentine's Day Vanessa Lachey snacked on macarons and sipped on wine in L.A.

Page 25: Bella Hadid alongside models Mayowa Nicholas and Heejung Park in Michael Kors' new campaign for the Spring 2021 collection, Hugh Grant stepped out for some fresh hair in London, Sofia Vergara kept it casual during a visit to a pal's house in Beverly Hills

Page 26: Inside My Home -- Katherine Heigl and Josh Kelley's Rocky Mountain retreat

Page 28: Marriage isn't easy especially during a global health crisis but for Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard divorce is not an option -- Kristen said she and Dax at the start of the pandemic were at a point in their marriage where they definitely needed a little therapy brush-up and every couple of years they're being very antagonistic towards each other and they don't want that so they go back to therapy and figure out how they can serve their team goal better and it's been incredibly helpful and even in the toughest times they always have each other's back and they're committed to being each other's biggest support systems -- while their relationship may never be perfect, they're happy and love each other and that's what matters most

Page 29: Now that Tom Brady has won his seventh Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he has set his sights on the next prize: baby No. 3 with wife Gisele Bundchen -- they've been telling friends they hope to make an announcement by summer at the latest and Tom and Gisele have been super loved-up since leaving Boston and moving to Florida after the QB signed on with the Bucs and the change of scenery has worked wonders on their love life and put them in baby-making mode -- the duo, who recently bought a $17 million spread on Miami's exclusive Indian Creek Island, plan to build a luxury mansion there complete with a nursery and they hope to be all settled in when the new arrival comes -- they've never felt healthier or been happier

* Aaron Rodgers looked positively giddy when he revealed he had a fiancee, Shailene Woodley at the NFL Honors, but the QB is dreading the next step: bringing her home to meet his parents because it's no secret that Aaron's been estranged from them for years and the last thing he wants is for Shailene to get caught up in the drama -- Shailene wants Aaron to clear the air with his folks, but he's not ready to do that and he doesn't want to bring Shailene into a toxic environment

* It's only been two years since Miranda Lambert married Brendan McLoughlin but she's already itching for some alone time -- she's headed to Texas in April for her first concert in over a year and she's told Brendan he shouldn't come because it will be all work and no play but she really wants to get away from him for a while and after the pair's recent road trip together, Miranda is desperate for some space -- sometimes Miranda feels like she's living with a baby because Brendan whines and complains about life on her farm

Page 30: Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker's romance is heating up fast, so much so that she's practically handed over the keys to her Calabasas estate and she loves having Travis sleep over and sometimes he'll stay the whole weekend -- he gets along famously with her children and Travis has been a friend of the family for years, so the kids have pretty much known him their whole lives and they'll do fun stuff together like hiking or playing video games and Travis loves making breakfast and showing off his pancake-flipping skills --Travis is spending so much time at Kourt's place that he's moved a bunch of his stuff in to make it easier for his kids Landon and Alabama with ex Shanna Moakler to visit him there -- everyone's convinced they'll be living together full-time before you know it

* Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were met with a flurry of well-wishes after they revealed they're expecting baby No. 2 -- the couple decided to wait until Meghan was safely into her second trimester to share the news and they only told a handful of family members before the public and they wanted to cherish this secret for as long as they could -- Harry and Meghan have been nesting at their Montecito mansion and have been busy prepping the nursery and making sure it's eco-friendly with energy-efficient lighting and they're keeping it as plastic-free as possible

* Love Bites -- Clare Crawley and Dale Moss reunited, Kit Harington and Rose Leslie welcomed a baby boy, Paris Hilton and Carter Reum engaged

Page 32: Cover Story -- Bruce Springsteen's private world -- he's an open book in his songs, but here's Bruce's untold story of his struggles with depression and regret -- he still has dark thoughts from time to time but therapy and medication have helped a great deal

Page 36: Stars' Cheating Confessions -- sometimes all you can do is beg for forgiveness; these celebs have all had to plead their case -- Donny and Debbie Osmond, Jude Law and Sienna Miller, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith

Page 37: David Letterman and Regina Lasko, Dean McDermott and Tori Spelling, Kevin Hart and Eniko Parrish

Page 40: Interview -- Elizabeth Olsen -- the Avengers star dishes about getting witchy again for Marvel's mind-bending WandaVision

Page 42: Golden Girls -- how these Golden Globes nominees get their award-worthy figures -- Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Lily Collins

Page 43: Kaley Cuoco, Michelle Pfeiffer, Amanda Seyfried

Page 44: Aadila Dosani's vegan recipe for Chickpea and Potato Soup

Page 46: Style Week -- Ashley Graham is the new global brand ambassador for self-tanning label St. Tropez

Page 48: What's Hot Right Now -- create a naturally gorgeous, flushed look with fashion designer Jason Wu's namesake makeup collection

Page 49: Haute hippie retro jeans -- take a trip back to the '70s with Revice Denim's ultra-cool capsule, Los Angeles Lovers -- Delilah Belle Hamlin

Page 50: Flower Power -- floral prints are spring's hottest trend -- rock the pretty blooms for a fresh, boho-chic look -- Kaia Gerber

Page 52: DIY Blowout -- these foolproof finds deliver impeccable hair right at home -- Drew Barrymore

Page 54: Entertainment

Page 55: Q&A with Mary Fitzgerald of Selling Sunset

Page 58: Buzz -- after months of playing it coy, these celebs confirmed their relationships on Valentine's Day -- Scott Disick and Amelia Hamlin

Page 59: Vanessa Hudgens and Cole Tucker, Sharna Burgess and Brian Austin Green, Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker, Kendall Jenner and Devin Booker

Page 60: Sound Bites -- Halsey on not conforming to conventional beauty standards, Anderson Cooper on coparenting with his ex, Ashley Graham on the importance of self-care, Kate Winslet on feeling like a fish out of water in Hollywood

Page 61: Tom Holland on the plot of the next Spider-Man flick, Mila Kunis joking about keeping her family entertained during quarantine, Drew Barrymore when asked if she's ever been skinny-dipping, Madelaine Petsch on playing a teen in Clare at 16

Page 62: Horoscope -- Pisces Lupita Nyong'o turned 38 on March 1

Page 64: By the Numbers -- Riz Ahmed

[spacesuitsforemergency]

The Rise Of Iron Maiden

Chapter 6: Whatever It Takes

Word Count: 3.1k

Originally Requested by: @amateurwriterbigdreamer

Previous Chapter: The Return Of Iron Maiden

Next Chapter: The Time Heist

A/N: this chapter was so fun to write, hope you enjoy! This is probably my favorite chapter so far

“Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating.” Dr. Banner pushes a plate forward. “Try some of that. Have some eggs.”

“I am so confused.” Scott stared in awe.

“Yeah...” you blink.

“These are confusing times.” Banner says seriously.

“Right. No, no, that's not what I meant.” Scott shook his head.

“What exactly is going on here?” Tye gestured to Banner...or...Hulk...Dr. Hulk...

“No, I get it. I'm kidding! I know. It's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now.” Bruce says happily. You stare at his current form, somehow part Banner and part Hulk.

“Yeah! Wh...How? Why?” Scott stuttered.

“Five years ago, we got our asses beaten. Except it was worse for me. Because I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost. Then, we all lost.” Bruce explained.

“No one blamed you, Bruce.” Natasha reassured him.

“I did. For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me. Best of both worlds...” he motioned to himself.

“What is this Hannah Montana bullshit...?” You whisper to Tye as three children walk up behind Bruce...or Hulk.

“Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?” The girl asks shyly.

“Yes?” Banner turned to face them.

“Can we get a photo?”

“100%, little person. Come on, step up.” He took off his glasses and held his phone out to Scott. “You mind?”

Scott nods and takes the picture, leaning over to give the phone back. “Don't you wanna grab one with me? I'm Ant-Man.” He offered. “They're Hulk fans, they don't know Ant-Man. Nobody does.”

“Wait, no, no, he feels bad. No, he wants you to...he wants to...” he turns to the kids, the boy shakes his head. “You want to take a picture with him, right?”

“Stranger Danger.” The other boy adds.

“He's even saying no he doesn't. I get it. I don't want it either.” Scott tried to shrug it off.

You and Tye cringed in second hand embarrassment as the scene unfolded in front of you, Natasha rolling her eyes and continuing to eat her breakfast.

“Anyways...” Tye muttered when the kids finally walk away.

“About what we were saying...” Steve added.

“Right. The whole time travel do-over? Guys, it's outside my area of expertise.” He shook his head as he turned back to face you guys.

“Well, you pulled this off. I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible time, too.” Natasha smiled.

•

“Okay, here we go. Time travel test number one. Scott, fire up the uhhh... the van thing.”

You stand with Banner and perfect the controls, Tye, Steve and Nat standing aside to let you two work.

“Breakers are set, emergency generators are on standby.” You alert him.

“Good. 'Cause if we blow the grid, I don't wanna lose Tiny here in the 1950's.” Banner snickered. Everyone looks at him with concern.

“Excuse me?” Scott asked, panicked.

“He’s kidding!” Tye said, only half sure.

“You can’t say things like that.” Natasha laughs nervously.

“Yeah uh...just a bad joke. Scientist humor.” You reassure Scott, and he seems satisfied with your answer.

“You were kidding, right?” Natasha whispered to you two.

“I have no idea. We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is.” You shrug.

“We're good! Get your helmet on, Scott. I'm gonna send you back a week, let you walk around for an hour, then bring you back in 10 seconds. Makes sense?” Bruce sends a thumbs up to Scott.

“Perfectly not confusing.” Scott nodded sarcastically.

“Good luck, Scott. You’ve got this.” Steve called over to him.

“You're right. I do, Captain America.” Scott smiles proudly. Bruce presses a button, and Scott is sucked into the Quantum Realm. “On the count of three. 3...2...1!”

The Ant Man suit comes back, but inside of it is a teenager.

“Uh, guys? This...this doesn't feel right.” What you presumed was teenage Scott Lang, said worriedly.

“What is this?” Steve asked.

“Oh hell no.” Tye shook his head.

“What’s going on?” You ask Bruce as he fiddles with the controls.

“That...who is that?” Natasha asked.

“Hold on.” Bruce said, panicking.

“Is that Scott?” Natasha asked, lookingback and forth between the teenager and the scientists.

“Yes, it’s Scott!” Teenage Scott shouted.

He’s sucked in again, and when he reappears there’s an old man.

“Ow! My back!” Old Man Scott Lang groaned.

“What is this?” Steve repeated.

“Can I get a little space here?” Bruce shooed at them.

“Yeah yeah. Can you bring him back?” Steve persisted.

“I’m working on it!” Bruce nudged you aside, now taking full control of the panel. You step down, standing between Steve and Tye.

“For the love of the lord...” Tye pinched the bridge of his nose. “Obviously we’re working with a couple of geniuses.”

“Hey, this isn’t me.” You raise your hands in surrender, as another form of Scott appears.

“It’s a baby.” Steve blinked.

“It’s Scott!”

“As a baby!”

“He’ll grow.”

“Bring Scott back!”

“When I say kill the power, kill the power.” Bruce motioned for you to go to the generator.

“Oh god. Oh my god.” You mutter nervously, walking to the generator.

“And...kill it!”

You pull the lever, and everything shuts down. You sigh in relief when you finally see the normal Scott Lang.

“Oh thank god.” Natasha took a breath.

“Somebody peed my pants.” Scott blinked. “But I don't know if it was "baby" me or "old" me...Or just "me" me.”

“Time travel!” Bruce cheered. You and Steve don’t say anything, Tye and Natasha give him an identical look of displeasure. “What? I see this as an absolute win!”

•

“Hey there, Iron Maiden.”

You turn to see your dad standing in the doorway of your old room, where you were currently searching for said Iron Maiden suit. You swear you left it in your closet before you left.

“What are you doing here?” You glare at your father.

“Thought you might want this.” Tony hands you a briefcase. You take it and slowly open it, seeing a polished up version of your suit.

“You...?”

“I’ve been doing some thinking and...you’re right.” Your dad admits. “This chance...it’s worth it.”

“So you’re going to help?” You ask hopefully.

“You seem desperate for it. Let me guess: he turned into a baby.”

“Yeah how did you...?”

“That's the EPR Paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody should've cautioned you against it.”

“You did.” You chuckle lightly.

“Oh, I did?” He winked playfully at you. “Thank God I'm here. Regardless, I fixed it. A fully functioning Time-Space GPS. I just want peace. Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it.”

“Like father like daughter.” You chuckle.

“We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities: Bring back what we lost? I hope, yes. Keep what I got? I have to, at all costs. And... maybe not die trying will be nice.” He negotiates.

“...sounds like a deal.” You agree. He reaches out to shake your hand, you grab it and pull him into a hug. He hugs for a moment before straightening up.

“Oh, and don’t parade that around. Pretend like you had it the whole time, I don’t have one for the whole team. We are getting the whole team, right?” He raised an eyebrow.

“You bet your ass we are.”

•

“Kind of a step down from a from a golden palace for an Avenger highness and whatnot.” Rocket mutters as the truck arrives at New Asgard, which was in a small fishing town in Norway. You hop out, following them along the docks.

“Hey, have a little compassion, pal. First they've lost Asgard, then half the people. They're probably just happy to have a home.” Bruce tells him.

You were on your way to try to convince Thor to rejoin the team, so that you would have a better shot at succeeding. Tye was with Natasha to go get Clint, Rhodey was back preparing with Nebula, Tony, Natasha, Scott, and Steve.

A girl called Valkyrie points you in the direction of Thors residence, and you follow the raccoon and the Hulk into a house.

“What the...Woo! Something died in here.” Rocket grimaced at the smell, and you scrunched your nose up in disgust.

“Hello? Thor?” Bruce calls through the house.

“Are you here about the cable?” Thor calls from somewhere. Your jaw drops when you see him. He’s definitely...put on a few pounds.

“The Cinemax ran out about two weeks ago, and the sports were all kind of fuzzy.” Thor rambled on as he grabbed a beer.

“Thor?” You ask, and he turns to look at you.

“Boys! Y/N!” He cheered happily. “Oh my God! Its so to see you!” He then pulled Rocket into a hug. “Come here, you little rascal!”

“No, I'm good. I'm good. That's not necessary.” Rocket pried himself away from Thor, dodging and standing on the other side of you.

“Hulk, you know my friends, Miek, Korg, right?” He gestured to a rock guy and some alien, playing...ew, Fortnite. Thank god Tye and Jaime weren’t here to witness this (they would probably physically fight them).

“Beer's on the bucket. Feel free to log on to the Wi-Fi. No password, obviously.” Korg then goes back to his game. “Thor, he's back. The kid on the TV that called me a dickhead again.”

“NoobMaster.” Thor growled, as of spewing the name of his greatest enemy and grabbing the headset. “Noobmaster? Yeah, it's Thor again. You know, the God of Thunder? Listen, buddy. If you don't log off this game immediately, I am gonna fly over to your house, come down to that basement you're hiding in, rip off your arms AND SHOVE THEM UP YOUR BUTT!!! Oh, that's right. Yes, go cry to your father, you little weasel!”

“What is going on?” You whisper to the guys.

“We’re witnessing the human embodiment of the word ‘loser’.” Rocket muttered, Bruce lightly nudging him. “What?”

“Buddy, you alright?” Bruce ignores the non raccoon.

“Yes, I'm fine! Why, don't I look all right?” Thor asked.

“You look like melted ice cream.” Rocket crossed his arms.

“So, what’s up?” Thor chuckled.

“We need your help. There might be a chance we could fix everything.” You explain.

“What, like the cable? Cause that's been driving me bananas for weeks.”

“Like Thanos.” Bruce says softly.

Thor’s smile slowly fades, and he grabs Bruce’s shoulder. You watch as Thor goes through about a million emotions as Bruce reasons with him, explaining in proper detail why he should come.

“There’s beer on the ship.” Rocket finally adds, and that perks Thor’s attention.

“...what kind?”

•

“Drifting left. On the side there, Lebowski.” Tony says to Thor as he passes him, going up to Rocket, where Tye’s assisting him with building the glass platform. “Ratchet, how's it going?”

“It's Rocket. Take it easy. You're only a genius on Earth, pal.” Rocket points a wrench at him, before turning to Tye. “Alright kid, where’s that drill?”

Tony continued to strut down the hallway, finding you in a side room with Natasha, Rhodey, Scott, Bruce and Steve.

“Time travel suit? Not bad.” Rhodey admires your work.

“Scott, I made it close to your Ant Man suit so you don’t get confused.” You say slowly, as if he were a child.

“Yeah, Thanks.” Scott scoffed, before shrieking. “Hey, hey, hey! Easy, easy!”

“I’m being very careful!” Bruce insisted.

“No, you’re being very Hulky.” Scott sighs. “These are Pym Particles, alright? And ever since Hank Pym got snapped out of existence, this is it. This is what we have. We're not making any more.”

“Scott, calm down.” Rhodey said.

“You’ve got to chillax, man.” You nod.

“Sorry. We've got enough for one round trip each. That's it. No do-overs. Plus two test runs.” He waves around, and accidentally pressed a button. “One test run.”

You walk with him to the test chamber helping him prepare with Rocket, the others watching from a control panel.

“All right. I’m not ready for this.” Scott said shakily from his nerves.

“I’m game. I’ll do it.” Clint piped up. You and Rocket groan, since you just finished setting everything up for Scott.

You help Clint with the suit, telling him the controls while Rocket adjusts everything. Then, you step back to the control panel with the others.

“Clint, now you're gonna feel a little discombobulated from the chronoshift. Don't worry about it.” Bruce instructed.

“Wai-Wait a second, let me ask you something. If we can do this, you know, go back in time, why don't we just find baby Thanos, you know, and...” Rhodey made a hand gesture, suggesting that you strangle baby Thanos with a rope.

“Ooh, I like that plan.” Tye grinned, Rhodey also smiling and patting him on the shoulder proudly.

“First of all, that’s horrible...” Bruce said, disgusted at their joy from the idea of killing a child. “...And secondly, time doesn't work that way. Changing the past doesn't change the future.”

“Look, we go back, we get the stones before Thanos gets them... Thanos doesn't have the stones. Problem solved.” Scott shrugged.

“Exactly!” Tye nodded.

“Bingo.” Clint piped up.

“That’s not how it works.” Nebula rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“Well, that’s what I heard.” Clint shrugged.

“What? By who? Who told you that?” Bruce asked.

“Terminator, TimeCop, Time After Time-“ Rhodey began to list.

“Star Trek, Donnie Darko, Men in Black III.” You added.

“Quantum Leap and Meet the Robinsons.” Scott said.

“A Wrinkle in Time, Somewhere in Time-“ Rhodey nodded.

“Hot Tub Time Machine. Butterfly Effect. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Basically, any movie that deals with time travel.” Tye said, as if everyone was stupid for not knowing.

“Die Hard? No that’s not one...” Scott mumbled.

“This is known.” You say.

“I don't know why everyone believes that, but that isn't true. Think about it: If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future. And your former present becomes the past. Which can't now be changed by your new future...” Bruce explained to everyone.

“Exactly.” Nebula nodded.

“So...Back To The Future's a bunch of bullshit?” Scott asked, horrified.

“So my childhoods been ruined.” Tye mumbled, to which you and Rhodey nodded in agreement.

“Alright, Clint. We're going in 3... 2... 1!” Bruce presses the button. You all watch in anticipation, then Bruce hits the button again.

Clint appears again, breathing heavily. Natasha rushes over to him, the rest of you circling him.

“Hey, hey. Look at me. You okay?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah, it worked. It worked.” Clint held up a baseball glove.

•

“You ready for this?” You ask Tye, playing with your food, too nervous to eat.

“No.” He laughed bitterly.

“At least we don’t have to help them track down the Stones.” You sigh. The Avengers were all racking their brains, trying to track them all down. Since you and Tye knew nothing about the Stones, you were excused from the meeting.

“Yeah. God forbid we use a couple brain cells.” He chuckled.

“What if we screw it up?” You ask after a few moments of silence.

“That’s what I’m worried about. We only have one shot to bring everyone back.” He sighed.

“Hopefully the one we’re assigned won’t be hard to get.” You kick your feet up and drape your legs across his lap.

“Please, as if anything with this job is easy.” Tye scoffed, shoving your legs off of him.

“I’m just happy to see everybody again. Did you notice Clint’s fresh cut?” You grinned.

“And the tattoos.” Tye nodded. “And Thor kinda...bulked up.”

“He plays Fortnite now.” You nod.

“Excuse me?” Tye raised an eyebrow, before pretending to gag.

“It’s...disturbing.” You giggle.

“Guys!” Scott ran into the room, a panicked look on his face. You and Tye stand, waiting for him to continue. “We got it.”

You both rush out to the room they’d been planning in, seeing the plans on the holographic screen. After they thoroughly explain the plan, everyone headed to bed for a good nights rest. Tye stays behind, eyes scanning the screens.

Jaime is counting on him, his best friend is counting on him to bring him back to life. You’re counting on him to bring back Eduardo and Peter. Scott and Clint’s counting on him to bring their families back. Steve is counting on him to bring Bucky back. Everyone’s counting on him to bring everyone back, and it terrifies him.

“What are you doing, kid?”

He looks over to see Natasha in the doorway, a concerned look on her face.

“Just...triple checking.” He mumbled, trying to slow his breathing and calm his nerves.

“Hey, it’ll be okay.” Natasha walked over to comfort her son. “You’ll be with Y/N, you know how she is. Nothing ever goes wrong with her around.”

“It went wrong on Titan.” He muttered, then shook his head. “It’s just...Jaime, he’s like my brother. I need to bring him back.”

“We will bring him back. We’re going to bring everyone back.” She reassured him.

“Thanks...mom.”

•

“All right. We have a plan. Six Stones, three teams. One shot.” Steve says as everyone suits up. “Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends...We lost family...We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. But it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win. Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes.” You all repeat, forming a circle and putting your fists in the middle. You look at everyone, each person has determination in their eyes.

“He's pretty good at that.” Rocket looked up at you.

“Right?” Scott said excitedly.

“All right. You heard the man. Stroke those keys, jolly green.” Tony told Bruce, who would be staying behind to make sure everything went smoothly on this end.

“Tractors engaged.” Bruce nodded.

“You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?” Rocket asks about his shrunken ship in Clint’s hand.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. I'll do my best.” Clint nodded along.

“As promises go, that was pretty lame.” Rocket mumbled.

“See you in a minute.” Natasha smiles brightly at Clint and Tye.

“Good luck, mom.” Tye nodded.

And with that, you enter the Quantum Realm.

[viperbranium]

Granted, I've only seen Endgame twice and I'm still trying to work out the whole time travel thing, but didn't Bruce/Ancient One/Steve point out that the alternate timelines would be cut off and disappear the moment the stones in question were put back? So wouldn't it have to be the same timeline? Or if it wasn't, it would soon cease to exist? Or if he waited to put them back, it would be chaos (which doesn't seem like Steve). IDK. Thoughts? Stuff I've missed?

Anonymous said:then could you explain why steve comes back as old man steve? that’s the part that most confuses me about the ending.

Anonymous said:To get back Steve just needed the Pym particles, so he must have gotten those particles by the time he was and waited for the exact moment to get back to the main timeline. It may be that he counted on Pyn and Tony’s help from his timeline to come back.

Okay so fun headcanons aside, I’m gonna try to explain it the way I understand it’s meant to go:

There’s two important bits to remember.

1. Bruce’s conversation with the Ancient:

When Bruce and the Ancient one are talking about the stones, they’re specifically careful with wording – “reality” and “timeline" are used differently.

They say the six stones existing at the same time, no matter where they are in the universe, creates the flow of time (the “reality” we know). Taking one stone means they don’t all six exist at the same point in time, and it makes reality branch out. Likewise, returning that stone to that exact point in time, means that in that reality the stone chronologically never left, so it returns reality back to normal.

2. Bruce explaining time travels:

When Bruce is talking to Scott and Rhodey (I believe? I’ve only seen it once), he explains that each individual experiences time linearly.

You can travel to a different point in the flow of time, but your experiences remain the same – so, if you go back in time, the “present” that you just left is now in your personal past, like, for you specifically, even if it’s something that technically hasn’t happened from where you’re now standing in the flow of time. 

This is important, because otherwise everything they do in the movie when they travel back in time would have effects on their current selves: Steve would’ve remembered about the Strike team being HYDRA, Bruce would have a new set of memories of him talking to the Ancient, Nebula would’ve remember she knew about the Avengers’ plan and told Thanos, and then would’ve died when she shot her past self. 

These are only a couple examples, but if the specifics of time travelling get too confusing, we can still definitely use this as proof that what they do in the past doesn’t affect their current selves, just has effects WITHIN that other past timeline.

Now, what does this all mean?

In simple terms, it means “realities” and “timelines” are two different things. 

Going back and changing past events, so long as the 6 stones continue to always exist at once in each point in time, doesn’t create a different reality, but it CAN result in variations of our reality, aka, in timelines that went slightly differently than the one we lived.

Also, Loki taking the tesseract doesn’t make a new reality happen, because the requirement isn’t that the stones are always in the same place, just that they ALL EXIST AT EACH POINT IN TIME.

When Bruce takes the time stone to the future, the Ancient worries because that means that at the point in the flow of time that she’s at, there’ll be only 5 stones (less, if Steve and Tony take others), which is what’ll cause a split.

Loki doesn’t remove the tesseract from that point in time though, just travels with that stone through space, but all 6 stones continue existing together in each point in time, so reality still stays the same.

And what about Steve’s ending, then?

Steve presumably restores all the stones to where they should be, ensuring that at all points in time there’s always 6 stones in existence, and thus reality is restored.

Then, he simply stays in the 50s (possibly? we don’t know exactly when he finds Peggy, but whatever), living an alternate timeline (not reality) that we KNOW doesn’t affect his past or the main timeline’s Bucky’s or Peggy’s past - the Peggy we knew still got married and had kids, the Bucky we knew still became the Winter Soldier because there’s nothing Steve can do to change that. And whatever Steve decides to do in this new timeline, is 100% left open (but personally, I’m gonna run wild with the headcanon that of course he rescues Bucky and even himself from the ice and helps raise Tony and prevent other stuff from happening!).

Then why does he show up at the end, old, and not on Bruce’s machine?

The way I took it, the machine is something Tony built to ‘map’ the quantum realm and know at which point in time and space they need to travel. When the Thanos from the past travels to our present, he needs Nebula to activate that tunnel because he’s travelling to an undetermined point in the future, he needs to know where he’s going.

However, while Steve and Tony are in New York, we see them travelling back to the 70s just with the particles and without any issues, possibly because they knew exactly when and where they needed to go. 

Steve simply misses his mark because he wants to, and when he’s finished living that new life and grown old, he uses the particles (that we know he had access to, and he might’ve even had gotten Hank Pym’s help) to return to a point in space and time that he knows.

ps: also to complicate things more, technically once the stones are returned to their place, in our present there’s currently no 6 stones existing at once, because Thanos destroyed them, so all these rules only really affect this movie, and we don’t know the potential effect this might have on our current reality or what it might mean for time-travelling from this point onwards, since from the moment Steve leaves with the stones, there’s no longer a ‘flow of time’ in our reality because there’s no stones… ISN’T TIME TRAVEL FUN :DDDDDD