#him and todd lived happily ever after i promise

[notafraidtodissapear]

"if anyone could have saved me, it would have been you" is literally todd and neil. no one can tell me otherwise.

[small-sinclair]

Dada

Bo Sinclair x mother fem!reader

@zaras-really-dreamless... you wanted some "Take me Instead" content, yeah? Well, it's not the next two parts, but I hope it quiches a thirst :3 . A dabble based off my Bo x preg!reader au. I promise I'll make a master list for this au and give it a name I swear--

"Can you say 'Bo'?" You asked in your mother voice, a smile on your face. "Come on, Jazzy, say 'Bo'!"

"Shouldn't encorage to hav' 'er say my name, darlin'," Bo said glancing over his shoulder. "Have 'er say 'mama' or somethin' like that." He started working on the car you and Todd came. "When did ya last get 'is thin' an oil change?"

You shrugged as you bounced Jasmine on your hip, smiling at her happily. "Todd always took care of that." You heard an audible sigh and the hood slamming. "Is it that bad, Bo?"

"Well, ain't gonna lie, darlin', but your car," he thumbed behind him and threw his rag, "is done. Never drive ‘at heep o’ shit again."

You lifted a brow before looking at Jasmine. "Well... that sucks, huh, Jazzy? There goes out escape plan," you joked. "Trapped here forever."

Bo shook his head and rolled his eyes. "I'll have Lester bring the trailer down an' scrap it. Make more money than fixin' it." He placed a hand on his hip and fixed his hat. "Sorry, Mama, but it ain't drivin' no more." His eyes flickered down at Jasmine and watched her bright eyes looking back at him. "She seems lost."

"Jasmine’s just looking around, Bo," you answered, smiling. "She was always a wanderer just like my mother." You gave her an Eskimo kiss and smiled at her giggle. To Bo, it melted his heart. "She's just trying to figure the world out."

He takes a deep breath in and motioned you to follow him out. "Le'me close up an' we c'n get home-"

"Hello?" Your head snapped to the front door and saw young man walk in with two of his friends. "Anyone here?"

Bo gave you a look then led the way to the front of the shop. He puts on a fake smile and says, "Yeah, jus' caught me." He sounded cheerful when he said, "Was gonna close up soon."

"Would it trouble you to replace our spark plugs?" The man asked. "Me and my buddies have the slightest on what to do an--" his face was caught off when his green eyes landed on you. He straightens up and nods his head. "Ma'am," he said.

"Gentlemen," you replied. You stood between him and Bo before turning to look at Bo, saying, "I'll head up to the house and start dinner."

"I won't be long, sugar," Bo said, leaning down to kiss your head. "Promise."

They boys by the door parted and let you pass throw.

******************

Jasmine played on the floor with little horse stuffies while you cooked dinner. Bo dropped hints of cooking pot roast and green beans with potatoes. Besides, he’s been working hard in the shop the past couple of nights along with making sure you and Jasmine are fitting in well.

Ever since you started living freely with the Sinclair Brothers, you were left with the house keeping and cooking job. Thought it's not the best picture of how you wanted to spend your life, but you had the freedom to move around within the house and around the dead town. Though you were watched with careful eyes, the fear you had with them would fade over time. Yes, the murdering and blood shed scares you, but tried their best to keep that away from you and from Jasmine.

Living with the brothers felt like you were living in a strange home. Lester brought you along to the store for baby shopping, and he always stopped after the trip to get your drink order at Starbucks. Vincent was a natural at rocking Jasmine to sleep when you were busy, and he enjoyed feeding her when you were tired or needed to rest. Bo found himself looking over you and her as time went on, and you would wake up to him some times at night with him looking into the crib, his hand holding Jasmine's fingers. When you saw the high chairs and baby photos, you learned why they made sure to keep Jasmine happy, to keep her away from them, to keep loving on her until their hearts give out.

If you were honest with yourself, you wanted to burn Bo’s high chair.

When you asked Lester why it’s there, he shakes his head. “Bo doesn’t know how to heal,” he answered as he nodded to his brother working in the shop. “This is the only way he can.”

Even if he doesn't show it, you knew Bo was in love with Jasmine. Besides seeing him with her at night, you would catch some glances of him holding her on his hip while he shows her the inside of a car, telling her all about the engine of a '68 Dodge. He would call her little star, sunshine, lady bug, sweetheart-- you kept seeing the shine in his eyes when he was around her. Of course, things weren't always calm and sunshine, but he never yelled at her like Todd did. Never once has he called her dumb or stupid.

Maybe you agreeing to stay in this town was good for the three of you.

Humming to the radio by the stove, you started cooking the potatoes when he came home. You glanced over your shoulder to greet him but your face fell once you saw him limping in with his hand holding his thigh.

“What happened?” You asked as you met him in the hall, taking a towel and the first-aid. After being here for two months, you learned that it's best to keep the first-aid within reach.

“Got stabbed,” Bo hissed, breathing through his teeth. “One of ‘em got brave and headed towards the house, too.” He then looks at Jasmine, who still played with her toys. “He was gunnin’ fer ‘at lil’ one.”

“How do you know?”

He bit the corner of his lips. “Just knew. Didn’t lik’ the way he was lookin’ at ya an’ ‘er.” His drawl was heavier than normal. “Should’ve said nothin’, girl, an’ snuck out in the tunnels.”

“I’m sorry.”

Bo grumbles to himself as he lets you tend to his leg. His eyes linger from you towards Jasmine. For a moment, the anger burning in his irises dimmed when Jasmine showed off her stuffed pink horse to him before playing again. Once her gaze was gone, his anger sparked again.

"Never do 'at again, woman," he warned, as he leaned back in the chair. "Men are dangerous 'round children."

"Are you dangerous?" He didn't mean to ask him, but as soon as those words left, he glared at you. "Sorry."

"I'll let it pass just once," he murmurs, "but don' say 'at shit again."

Bo leans back and closes his eyes, taping his fingers on the arm rest. As he felt the pain start to fade, his eyes linger over Jasmine as she plays with her horse. His relaxed his shoulders against the wood and watched her little horse wiggle in the air as of it was flying, grinning slightly at her movements.

"Dinner's almost ready," you say as you came back with water and two pain killers. "Just cooking the potatoes now."

"Yeah?" He asked, lifting a brow. He takes the pills and gulps down the water. "That's awful kind 'o ya."

As you two started talking about dinner, Jasmine sat and watched the both of you with curious eyes. She uses the couch to help her stand, dropping her horse, and pulled herself up. Once she was standing up, she takes shaky steps forward, her mind competly forgettign the horse under her feet. Tripping, she falls down, looks around, and opens her mouth, crying loudly.

Bo jolted as he heard her started to cry. He watched you scoop up your child and kisses her head as you tried to calm her. Her little hands reached out towards Bo, bright eyes burning through tears as she cried out, "Dada!"

It's like time froze and the world stopped spinning. Bo's eyes grew wide as he looked at you and back at Jasmine. "What... what did she just--"

"Dada!” Her little hands reached for him, tearfully crying out, “Bo!”

Just like that, Bo's heart shattered in two million pieces. Her little hands reached for him still as she wiggling in your grasp. With his hands still bloodied, Bo opened his arms and nodded at you, reassuring that it's okay for you to leave him, but you can't... not while he's covered in someone else's blood.

Though the pain was still there, Bo moved quickly from the den to the kitchen. He scrubbed and washed up as best as he could, took off his work uniform shirt and tossed it aside, and dried off as well as he could. He heard the basement door opening and Vincent entering from downstairs.

Before Bo could fill him in, Jasmine cried out, "Bo! Dada!"

Vincent felt his stomach drop as he looked at you and Jasmine. His lone eye looks back at Bo and pointed, eye wide in shock, signing, 'Did she just say your name? Or am I really dehydrated?'

"Ya heard right," Bo breathed. He limps away from Vincent and headed back into the living room. He held out his hands, motioning that he was reader, and you gave her to Bo.

This was his first time holding her since the day he got you away from Todd. Truly holding her close, not like when he has her on his hip while working on a car.

As soon as you place her in his arms, something clicked in his brain. The way she looked at her with tearful eyes and her hands reached for him to hug, Bo’s world rocked. He heldJasmine so close and protectively as he rocked back and forth, hushing her gently. Feeling her again in his arms felt almost right, but he’s not her dad. He’ll be a good enough father, he knows, but…

“You’re okay, star shine,” he whispered as he felt her calming. “Ya just bummed yer knee. Nothin’ to cry about.” He walked away from you as he paced in the other room with the pool table. He nodded at you to take care of the food while he takes care of Jasmine. “Yer okay. You’ll be alright.”

“Dada,” she whines as her little hands gripped his shirt. “Bo.”

How fast can a heart shatter and build up again? Is there a study out there that could answer Bo’s question?

He rested her head against his heart as he took shaky breaths. He’s not ready. He’ll never be ready. “Shh, star shine,” he whispers. “Rest ‘at lil’ head. I’m here. Bo’ll always be here.”

From the kitchen, Vincent started the potatoes and had you watch from the doorway. Were you in love with him, or did you just see him as a father figure? As much as you tried an answer, you couldn’t make since of it yet. Todd was her dad, but any boy can be a dad. Bo was a man; he was a better father than Todd. You just can’t tell him yet.

So, you watched as Bo swayed back and forth with Jasmine in his arms, murmuring a song only for her to hear. Slowly, he leaned against the pool table. His eyes was filled with so much warmth and carefulness when he looked down at Jasmine. You had to admit he knew what he was doing, and Jasmine fell asleep right away in his arms. He leaned down and rested his forehead against hers. The walls that he built and the lies he believed fell so fast to let her in.

Dada. Bo.

He squeezed his eyes shut as a sigh escaped. He’ll kill a thousand men just to keep Jasmine safe, to keep you happy and well, to keep what lever type of… family? Relationship? What is the best word to say? But he looked down at Jasmine as if she was his own, and a grin formed. Bo will fight off every and any monster that dare comes near his home.

***********

Later that night, you woke to the sound of your bedroom door opening and feet shuffling across the floor. Turning, you found Bo in sleeping pants, shirtless, and holding Jasmine in his arms. Her head rested against his shoulder as he swayed slightly back and forth with his eyes closed. You heard him hum a lullaby low and soft just for her. When his eyes parted, he made eyes contact with you, smiled, and laid her back down ever so slowly and gently.

Bo turned his heels and tucked you back in. “Rest, Mama,” he whispers, pressing a kiss on your temple. “It’ll be a long day tomorrow.” Then Bo turned and left the room, closing the door silently.

What a beautiful mess that’s unraveling right in front of you.

[thebisexualdogdad]

Jason todd x non-binary reader, Jason figuring out his sexuality and trying to understand that no one in the group is going to judge him for liking the reader. Angst ended with some soft comforting 🙏🙏🙏

Jason Todd x GN!reader

Part of Jason always knew he wasn't straight.

He found people of all genders attractive but growing up a street kid meant he was surrounded by generally shitty people so he never explored his sexuality and only ever dated women out of fear of being judged or worse.

When he joined the Titans he secretly hooked up with a couple of guys confirming to himself that he was indeed bisexual.

Then he met you and he fell hard.

The entire team was super supportive and accepting of you being non binary but when Jason realized he had feelings for you he was too afraid to ever act on them.

One night the two of you were drinking and in a tipsy haze Jason kissed you but he freaked out realizing what he had done and ran off proceeding to avoid you for days.

"Okay Jason what the actual hell," you say dragging him into an empty room at Titans tower not able to take it anymore after having to save his ass from a bunch of super powered goons working for Bane.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replies, wiping away blood on his face.

"You kiss me and then don't talk to me for a week? Worst of all you almost got yourself killed tonight because you went on patrol without me!" You shout.

"I told you from the beginning I work better alone," he huffs.

"How many times do I have to tell you Jason that you're not alone anymore, we are a team," you say smacking his shoulder which makes him wince.

"And what if the team doesn't like who I really am?" Jason questions.

"Tell me who you are Jason," you state.

Jason just stares at you for a moment before speaking, "I… I'm bisexual."

That was the first time Jason ever said those words out loud and it's like a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

"Jay, I promise you no one here would ever judge you for that," you assure him, "do you not remember when Hank literally beat a guy up for purposely misgendering me?"

"When I was younger I had to listen to so many people say so much homophobic bullshit I guess it just stuck with me," he confesses.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that and that you felt like you had to hide this part of yourself for so long," you say, taking his hand to comfort him.

"There's something else," Jason says shyly.

"What's that?"

"I like you Y/N."

"I like you too," you chuckle, "a lot actually."

"Can I… kiss you again?" He asks nervously, biting his bottom lip.

"Only if you don't run away this time," you smile.

"I won't," he says, cupping your cheeks with his hands and eagerly kissing you, letting out all of the feelings he had pent up and pushed away for the last year.

A few days later you and Jason walk into the tower living room hand in hand and the rest of the team happily look at you two.

"I have something to announce," Jason says confidently, "I'm bisexual and Y/N and I are dating."

"Well finally," Dick chuckles.

Jason is confused as to why it appears no one is surprised by this news.

"Come on Jason, even Connor figured out you were crushing on Y/N months ago," Gar laughs.

"We are so happy that you finally felt comfortable coming out to us," Kory smiles at him, "and you two make a very cute couple."

You squeeze Jason's hand and smile at him, all of his fears fading away.

Never did Jason think he would feel this safe and accepted or this loved.

[xthescarletbitch]

For the fic title game

"You know I'm gonna find a way" with Kara

And

"Take my hand" with Luther

thank you for sending this in!! <3 both very good choices.

for kara, i think of her path where she makes it to canada with alice and luther without sacrificing anyone because markus got the public opinion up high enough for the border guard to let her through without any trouble.

now, i’d set this fic somewhere before that. where, exactly? not sure. i could place it anywhere from her and alice’s first night on the streets to before jericho (could even do it during jericho).

for the sake of answering this ask, and keeping it reader-insert friendly, i’ll choose the moment where she has just escaped todd’s with alice, and she’s looking for a place to stay. i’ve always had a little fic idea where the reader is similar to rose and just takes in androids to help. however, there is more to the character—they were alice’s old babysitter, more specifically the one who’d watch alice every time kara wasn’t there, whether that was due to her fetting repairs or even before she was in the picture.

alice would bring you up to kara, who would be hesitant at first because she really does not want todd to find her. after exhausting her options by trying other spots, though, she chooses to follow through with finding you because she just wants alice to sleep in a nice, warm bed.

upon finding your place, kara is relieved when she sees androids through the window. she is happy seeing that it’s a safe space. you let them in, of course, and you’ll talk a bit about everything. you try your best to accommodate them both and have them feel welcome in your home, providing them with dry clothes and whatever else they need.

later that night, when kara is tucking alice in bed, she’d assure alice, “you know i’m gonna find a way,” referring to getting them to safety because she knows that they can’t stay at your place forever. alice nods, trusting kara, and then wishes you both good night.

kara exits the room, and you both get to talking. because i’m all about friends-to-lovers, this would be the start of pining between the two of you. this certainly won’t be the last night that you’ll see kara. you’ll be with her on every step of the journey, physically and spiritually. i’d find a way to place you at the scene throughout her story. a speedy romance, david cage style (like carla/lucas and madison/ethan). 🫶

next, luther!! i typically wouldn’t write for him, but, if anything, i’d do so in a platonic way. for his, i’d probably do the post-revolution trope where the three of them (him, kara, and alice) are in canada together. after crossing the border, kara is frozen, unable to believe she’s actually made it. so many thoughts circulate in her head as she looks around.

luther snaps her out of it, offering his hand to her. he promises her and alice that he won’t stop protecting them; he is there until the very end. for the sake of the fic, luther would know just where to go and lead the girls. he may have some prior connections in canada from androids he’s met with in the past, so he opts to take kara and alice with him.

they’d find temporary shelter for the night before consulting with luther’s friends. eventually, they’d get set up with more permanent housing and jobs to provide for themselves. they’d live a regular life together, platonically or romantically, and just enjoy their days in canada. alice would (maybe) attend school like a normal kid, kara would probably have a job at some bakery (i can’t explain this), and luther would probably work in something to do with business/accounting/technology (i also cannot explain this).

oh! and if i combined the two to be in the same timeline, maybe the reader has crossed the border before them, and kara is reunited with them after she does so, too. i’d just let kara and reader explore their romantic relationship as they live their lives without worry. i’d give my babies a happily ever after because that’s what they deserve. 😤

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

frame story

by beemotionpicture

Once upon a time, a prince brings a pauper to a ball. The clock strikes midnight, and neither lives happily ever after.

Jason recognizes a man at a gala and knows: this is the moment it all falls apart.

Bruce is there to pick up the pieces.

Words: 1184, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage

Categories: Gen

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd

Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne

Additional Tags: Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Pedophilia, none of these are graphic but they're important themes so please heed the tags!, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, the comfort comes later but it does i promise, Protective Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, bruce will give him one though. plenty of hugging, Bruce Wayne Needs a Hug, he deserves one too, Alfred will get a bigger role in the next chapter but i won't tag him yet, Character Study, Relationship Study, Father-Son Relationship, Family, POV Bruce Wayne, no beta we die like jason todd

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/46101043

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (291): Sun 1st January 2022

Spent the day exercising, reading The Red Scream and watching zombie movies. I was determined to kick the new year off by doing 1000 stomach crunches and weight lifts. I finished surprisingly early after by doing 250 every hour rather than the 100 per hour I originally set out to do. I made a promise to myself when I left the Edinburgh Fringe festival last year that by the time the 2023 festival came around I would be in decent shape and I intend to do so. I’ve been chubby for too long and I much prefer the way I look when I’m nice and skinny so this extra 2 stones of fat has got to go by the summer.

I could have chosen any film for my first viewing of 2023 but for some reason I stuck on Braindead the most blood soaked movie ever made. After the first few minutes I was quite put off by how cheap the film looks but as the film goes on you realize that realize that it’s not trying to hook an audience through beautiful cinematography but rather the exact opposite. This movie features the most blood splatter and grousing deaths possible in the history of the cinema. It’s as if director Peter Jackson asked everyone in the country for suggestions on how to kill zombies and he used all of them that were sent in. By the way yea that’s Peter Jackson who went in to make the Lord of the Rings movies, widely regarded as some of the best and highly stylized films ever made. To go from this splatter fest that looks like it was filmed on a home movie camera to a black Buster fantasy film is quite remarkable. My favourite scene in the film is when a priest sees a hoard of zombies approaching his church and starts Kung Fu fighting them and quips “I KICK ARSE FOR THE LORD!”. I also watched the final film in the Evil Dead franchise: Army of Darkness. The original Evil Dead movie might be the most terrified I’ve been watching a movie. I think that director Sam Raimi realized it would have been silly to try and make sequels that were scarier than the original and so he decided to take them in a completely different, comedic / fantasy direction. The gamble really paid off because now fans of the three genres have a reason to watch all of the movies and fans of all three will happily watch every instalment. I think this must be the thinking of Todd Phillips who is making his Joker sequel a musical since he’s presumably come to the conclusion that he can’t make another psychological character study film that will be as effective as the original Joker.

Dad and I went to see Jenny at the home but she wasn’t as fluid as she was last time and didn’t really know we were there. She had an accident while we were sat with her so Dad asked one of the nurses if she could come in and change Jenny. While we waited outside Dad said to me “Can you imagine having to clean up shit for a living?” and I said “No, especially not my own” which got a chuckle from him.

Not the most effective way to spend he first day of a new year but at least I didn’t spend the whole fucking day on YouTube right?

[redhoodieone]

Fucking Perfect

A/N: Hey, y’all!!! Here’s another fic that was actually a request from @jasontoddslut. I hope you all enjoy!

WARNINGS: Language, violence, and smut!

It wasn’t that late. With a DVD and a large free pepperoni pizza in hand (the pizza was actually a “thank you” from a local pizza owner after Jason saved his life), Jason couldn’t help but keep smiling underneath his red helmet as he drove to his and Danielle’s home. They were supposed to have a night in; no distractions, no interruptions, and no patrolling, for him at least.

But Bruce had called him for help last minute around 9:00 because Joker decided to break out of Arkham Asylum with every other inmate, from Harley Quinn to Scarecrow. To say the mission was bizarre as hell wouldn’t be exaggerating. Jason and Dick laughed their asses off the entire night because it was like a high school reunion for all of Gotham’s villains. Even Bruce couldn’t help but grin a little when he saw the Riddler and Penguin link arms and skip down the street behind Bane, Two Face, Mr. Freeze, and Killer Croc.

It was one hilarious but memorable sight.

But now all Jason could think about was getting back home to Danielle as he speeds down the streets on his bike from Arkham while holding the box of pizza and DVD. Just thinking about a hot shower, cuddling with Danielle on the couch under a fluffy blanket, and just falling asleep in the comfort of their home makes him consider giving up the vigilante life sometimes.

He wondered what his life would be like not being everyone’s hero.

No more subtle or dangerous injuries. Staying in bed the entire night. Having the ability to go here and there and do everything normal like others. Maybe even settling down somewhere in the countryside, where he can finally retain his own property, perhaps build himself his own auto salvage business where he’ll specialize in fixing and rebuilding expensive, fast cars and bikes.

Having something to call his own has always been a secret dream of his. Only Y/N knows all that.

Jason could just see it now: waking up early to see the beautiful sunrise from the safety on the ground, arm wrapped protectively around his wife, who would be pregnant with their child...

He initially tenses up at that particular thought. Jason has never even spoken about his desire to have kids. Hell, he has always boasted about hating kids; often complaining about them being bratty, loud, and just being unbearable little shits.

Jason even pretends to despise Dick and Barbara’s five-year-old son, Tommy, just because he enjoys pissing them off. But in all honesty, Jason loves his nephew and knows damn well that if anything were to happen to Tommy...Jason would fucking kill them in a heartbeat.

Fuck, even Barbara gets on Jason’s ass about when he’s finally going to settle down and have kids of his own. She and Dick make the normal, perfect life look easy. They were brave and strong enough to walk away from the vigilante life, only promising Bruce that they’ll help him every now and then and only for big emergencies.

Jason couldn’t believe it at first. Dick and Barbara just happily moved to a safe, typical suburban but luxurious home far away from Gotham. They made it look so effortless and picture-perfect.

With Dick and Barbara gone, all Jason has is Tim and Damian around. Which isn’t much considering they have their own lives.

And Jason used to have Y/N, his best friend.

Before Jason’s thoughts could consume him more, he pulls up to the private parking garage at his penthouse. After he parks his bike, he climbs off and removes his red helmet; quickly inhaling air after sweating so much. Holding the helmet underneath his left arm, he carries the pizza and DVD and heads to the elevator.

He sighs heavily; his back hurts like fuck after being thrown around a lot from Killer Croc. He wonders if it would be completely sexist or just entirely fucked up if he asks Danielle for a backrub.

We’ve been together for two years. She knows my line of work, and if she really loves me, she’ll give me an all-body massage...and besides...this is the first time I’m asking for one anyways, he thinks to himself.

The elevator dings and opens for him; revealing the private floor that is his, courtesy of Bruce. If it weren’t for Bruce, Jason wouldn’t have the luxury of such a private and quiet place to call home. Bruce owns the entire building, mostly business associates and employees live and stay here anyways.

Jason walks to the door and opens it; is actually quite stunned that it’s unlocked. Mostly because he’s OCD about that, even if this floor and this entire building is private, Jason still likes to take precaution.

The guy fucking grew up on the streets and has seen and done bad things. Really bad. But he’s not like that anymore. Oh, no he’s not. Now, Jason lives by his new principles, but that doesn’t mean he’s not a badass anymore or is violent by nature. He is still Jason Todd.

Stepping inside his penthouse, Jason kicks the front door shut with his heavy boot and sets the pizza and DVD on the entryway table. He puts his helmet back on and quickly pulls a gun from his thigh holster. Jason takes this seriously, just as with any mission or recon.

He quietly goes down the hallway, immediately notices their bedroom door is cracked open and a light is on. He raises his gun and says...

Fuck it. I’m going in with my gun. Hope this all ends well with no blood.

Jason kicks open the bedroom door and has the most fucked up, perfect view of his girlfriend, Danielle, in bed with another man; a man who is on top of her, fucking her underneath the covers, IN THEIR BED!!!!!

Danielle gasps in surprise. “Jason! What-what are you doing home so early?!” she panics. She sits up and pushes the man off of her. Her tits are on display, after the blanket falls from her chest.

The male brunette is shocked at seeing Jason. The naked man uses the sheet to hide his lower body. Jason thinks this guy is a fucking tool. He’s shaking badly, and he’s sputtering like an idiot.

“Oh, oh God! This is Jason? You’re with fucking Red Hood? Oh, my God...OH, MY GOD! This guy is gonna kill me, Dani! He-he has a fucking gun in his hand! I’m gonna fucking die!” the man cries out.

“SHUT YOUR GODDAMN FUCKING MOUTH, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” Jason yells from underneath his helmet. The voice changer that’s built into his helmet makes him sound more dark...even demonic. But Jason could care less about anything and everything right now. All he can think about is beating the shit out of this guy. “WHO THE FUCK IS THIS?!”

Danielle runs a hand through her messy long red hair, and sniffles. She’s actually...crying?

“This is Paul-”

“Don’t fucking tell him my name! Jesus Christ! Are you trying to get me killed?!”

Jason aims his gun and shoots near Paul’s head. The loud, piercing sound fills the room. The bullet hits the wall, but nonetheless scares the shit out of Paul.

Paul covers his eyes and cries. “Of fuck...please don’t kill me. Oh God, please don’t...”

Jason removes his helmet in anger and throws it down. His green eyes are already red-rimmed. He won’t admit he’s crying...God no...his allergies must be acting up.

“So, what the fuck, Dani? You’re seriously sleeping with someone else?” Jason asks, rhetorically of course. “In our house...underneath our covers...in our bed?!”

“Jason, please. I-I didn’t want you to find out this way,” Dani says.

“But you wanted me to find out?” Jason snaps, suddenly moves closer to the bed. Paul moves backwards away from him. “You wanted me to find out, but just not this way? JESUS CHRIST, DANI! What the fuck were you thinking?! Why the hell would you do this to me, after everything we’ve fucking been through!”

“Because you weren’t here! You weren’t here tonight!” Dani yells.

“What the hell does that mean? You decided to cheat on me because I WASN’T HERE TONIGHT?!”

Paul slowly stands up with the sheet. “Maybe I should leave...” he mumbles.

“How about I show you the way out, BUDDY?!” Jason spits out. He grabs Paul’s throat and drags him across the bedroom.

“DON’T HURT HIM! PLEASE DON’T HURT HIM, JASON!” Dani cries out.

Jason was seeing red. He couldn’t see or think straight at all. With a huff, Jason slams Paul down to the floor and drops down to beat the fucking shit out of Paul. His fist keeps coming down hard and fast, and he definitely ignores Paul crying, pleading for him to stop. Jason even ignores the sight of a lot of blood and bones cracking underneath his punches.

“STOP IT! JASON, STOP HURTING HIM, PLEASE!” Dani screams in horror, pulling Jason back by grabbing his leather jacket.

When Jason finally stops, he realizes Paul’s face is almost disfigured because of the blood and swelling, but he doesn’t care. At all.

Jason shoves Dani away from him and glares down at Paul. “Here’s what’s going to happen, Paul. You’re not going to open your fucking mouth. You’re not going to tell anyone about my home. You’re not going to tell anyone about me. Your injuries? You’re going to tell everyone you got your pansy, white ass jumped in an alley and that you obviously lost the fight. And you’re going to walk out of here naked. You’re not going to look at Dani, not talk to her, not even think about her, you’re just going leave. NOW.”

“B-but what about my-my clothes?” Paul stutters.

Jason quickly collects all of Paul’s clothes and opens his bedroom window. He pulls out his lighter and lights the clothes on fire. Jason drops them over the railing. “You don’t need them. After fucking my girlfriend in my home and in my bed, you bet your homewrecking sweet ass that you’ll be walking home in nothing but shame and remorse. Now, get the fuck out of my house before I break your legs next.”

“Yes sir. I’m sorry, sir. No one will ever know about this,” Paul rambles on as he struggles to stand up. Once he does, he quickly leaves the bedroom but not before mumbling. “Why couldn’t she date Green Lantern or-or Batman. Wait! Not Batman! Anyone but Batman and Red Hood!”

As the front door slams shut, Jason turns to face his naked girlfriend, Dani. He feels his chest tighten, causing a pain he hasn’t felt since he was a kid and lost his mother and home. He wants to cry in front of her, maybe even scream at her, but all the anger he felt before is gone now. Jason’s only left with a sense of sadness and he doesn’t even know what to do about it.

The silence is killing them. He’s no fool. He can see she’s trying to hold herself together but is failing immensely because she’s looking up at him with those sad, puppy dog eyes.

But a thought quickly crosses his mind: only Y/N’s puppy dog eyes make him give into her. Every time. Y/N’s Y/C/E eyes weakens him, and he always wants to please her when she looks at him.

But Dani’s eyes don’t. There’s no sense of comfort and warmth in them like Y/N’s.

“I’m...I’m so sorry, Jay,” Dani begins.

“Don’t call me that. You don’t get to call me that anymore,” Jason interrupts angrily. He doesn’t even know why she’s apologizing. He knows he can’t forgive her. He won’t forgive her.

Dani scoffs. “You can’t seriously be pissed off at me. You’ve fucking cheated before. You’ve slept around like Bruce does. You can’t fucking hold this against me! I gave you a chance!”

“You’re forgetting that I used to do that!” Jason yells. He runs a hand through his messy dark hair and growls under his breath. He needs someone to calm him down. He needs someone to tell him everything’s going to be all right. He needs the comfort and warmth only one person has: Y/N. Jason realizes he needs her now more than ever, and that scares him a bit. “I haven’t done any of that shit since we’ve been together. The second I realized that I was in love with you, I changed. I changed because I wanted to be with you! And you bringing up my past to try to justify your actions is fucking wrong, Dani.”

“Cry me a fucking river, Jason,” Dani spits out.

“Nope. Not this time. Get the fuck out of my house.”

Dani doesn’t put up a fight. She gets dressed, packs a bag of her things, and tells Jason she’ll be back for the rest later. She does glance at him one last time before she walks out though.

“The thing is...I needed my boyfriend, not a hero.”

The door slams shut, leaving Jason frozen in place. The silence is deadly; he can feel his thoughts racing and screaming loud in his head.

He needs Y/N.

Jason needs his best friend.

Tears force themselves out his eyes as he calls Y/N.

“Hello?”

Jason pauses, and he wonders if he’s making a mistake. Maybe she won’t come. He hasn’t been a particularly good friend to her lately. “Y/N, I need you. I...need you, please...”

“I’m on my way.”

Jason knew he was in deep shit after he finished off a new bottle of whiskey before Y/N came over. He couldn’t help himself. After he hanged up with her, he ripped off his costume and stripped down to nothing but his white Calvin Klein boxer briefs. He felt like he couldn’t breathe, even after lowering the thermostat to 62 degrees.

Perhaps the end of his real first serious relationship was suffocating him mentally and physically. He’s never lived with a girlfriend before either.

He was about to open a new bottle of whiskey just as the front door opens and closes.

“Jason?” Y/N calls out.

Jason whips around fast and grins. He’s buzzed, but not quite drunk yet. “Y/N!”

Y/N is stunned to see Jason in nothing but his underwear as he runs to her and embraces her hard. She stumbles back a bit, but he captures her easily to steady her and holds her tightly to his chest.

“You’re soaked...and cold,”

“It’s raining outside like it always does,” Y/N giggles and gently pushes Jason back a bit. “Let me take off my coat and get warmed up.”

Jason allows her, watches intently when Y/N takes off her raincoat. She’s wearing her black and red plaid pajama pants and a Metallica t-shirt he’s positive she stole from him. She kicks off her booties and displays her light blue fuzzy socks he adores.

Jason knew Y/N had to have been in bed when he called, but she came anyway. She always comes to him because she’s always there for him.

She’s always been here for me, hasn’t she? Why haven’t I seen it before? He thinks to himself.

Y/N smiles softly and reaches a hand out to Jason. He takes it, almost hypnotized by how he does anything she wants. She leads them to the couch, but not before she sees the pizza box and DVD on the entryway table. She raises an eyebrow at him.

“That...was my failed attempt at romance tonight,” Jason admits sheepishly.

Y/N shakes her head, but still smiles. “It doesn’t have to go to waste. We can eat the pizza and watch the movie, right? I mean...only if you want to, of course,” she says.

“Only with you, sweetheart.”

Y/N releases his hand and quickly grabs the pizza and movie. She meets him in the living room where Jason’s already sitting down. She smiles and puts the DVD on. But before she sits beside him, she heads over to the kitchen. She returns with two cans of soda and napkins.

Jason looks down when her soft, small hand reaches out to him...only to take away the unopened bottle of whiskey. “No more tonight...please.”

He can’t help but nod his head. She’s right, he’s had enough to drink. He can’t numb his feelings and thoughts anymore. That’s why when Jason starts crying, he doesn’t feel embarrassment or anything. Y/N’s seen him at his best and worst; and she’s still here no matter what.

The movie is playing, but they’re not watching it. Jason can’t even hear it. When he looks up to see why, he can only see Y/N looking at him.

She doesn’t ask why he’s crying. Jason knows Y/N’s caring nature is all about comfort and understanding. That’s why he doesn’t move or say anything when she scoots closer to hug him. The second she wraps her arms around his neck, he cries freely. He embraces her; allows her scent of cinnamon and sandalwood calm him down.

Jesus Christ...has she always smelled so good? Fuck...this perfume is making me hard right now. Jason shamelessly thinks to himself.

“It’s okay, Jay. What you’re feeling right now, it’s not forever. You won’t feel like this again anytime soon. I promise,” Y/N whispers. She runs her hand through his hair. “I’ll always be here for you. Always and forever.”

Jason opens his eyes and pulls back to see Y/N. Clarity finally hits him. His heart beats faster when he looks down to her soft lips and back up to those puppy dog eyes, that he loves so much. She looks back at him with the same intensity, he wonders if she recognizes what he’s just realized.

“You’ve always been mine, haven’t you?” Jason whispers.

Y/N smiles as she runs both her hands up and down Jason’s chest. “It took you long enough to see it,” she answers.

“I’m a fucking idiot,” he says, nodding his head in agreement.

“No, no you just made a mistake and now you’re going to give me what we both deserve,” Y/N says softly.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Jason finally kisses Y/N. He wanted to slam his lips against hers, but he knew she deserved better than that. He takes his time and allows their mouths to move together, so they can really feel each other. But the second Y/N opens her mouth for more, Jason can’t say no and deny her that.

He tastes her as thoroughly as he can, but he wants more. He pulls away and asks her with his eyes. When she nods her head, he gently pushes her back onto the couch and climbs on top of her so their pelvis’ touch appropriately.

“I would take you to my bed, but I have to burn it because it’s seriously fucked up, doll,” Jason says in between his kisses. “Another man’s cum is stained all over my blankets...in case that’s not clear enough, Dani cheated on me.”

Y/N caresses Jason’s cheek and gently smiles at him. He was expecting her to cuss about Dani or get uncomfortable about talking about what happened, but Y/N did neither of those things. Her eyes said it all.

“It’s okay,” Y/N whispers. She leans up a bit to kiss him. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Jason closes his eyes and sighs. Y/N was here, and she’s not going anywhere. And that’s all his heart needs to move forward.

When he opens his eyes, Y/N sits up a bit to take off her t-shirt. She’s braless. Jason’s sharp intake of breath is evident when he can’t take his emerald, green eyes off her perfect tits. Jason helps her remove her pajama pants, along with her panties and socks.

His cock is painfully hard in his underwear. Seeing Y/N’s naked body underneath his is giving him all sorts of naughty ideas, but he knows what he really needs right now.

Y/N knows, too. She bites her bottom lip and pushes down Jason’s underwear, revealing his hard cock. She briefly takes in how thick his dick is and how delicious the precum is smeared across the head.

“I promise I’ll take my time learning what you taste like and what makes you cum. I just...I just need to feel...” Jason struggles out, but when Y/N touches his chest, he inhales deeply. “I need to feel warm. I need to feel...you.”

Y/N nods and looks deep into Jason’s eyes. “Feel me, Jay. I want you to feel all of me.”

Jason bravely pushes his cock inside Y/N’s pussy. He closes his eyes and breathes hard. She was everything he was hoping for. He loved the way her walls were tight, warm, and wet. He lowers his forehead to hers and he bathes in the way she moans. Jason pulls back a bit to look down at her; he smiles at the way she bites her bottom lip and throws her head back.

“Fuck...Jay move, please,” Y/N moans.

He’s more than thrilled to do her request, especially when she moans out his nickname only she can call him.

Jason moves his hips. His cock shifts in and out of her steadily before he thrusts deeper. Y/N wraps her arms around him and meets his thrusts so his cock can hit her g-spot. Jason was proud at that moment for having a cock shaped well enough to hit Y/N’s g-spot; he desperately wants to make her cum so hard.

“Oh, fuck...you feel so good, princess. Do you like taking my cock like this?” Jason moans out.

Y/N moans and wraps her legs around Jason’s waist. “Y-yes! Your cock is so big. Please go harder. I-I want to cum!” Y/N cries out.

“Fuck yeah, I’ll fuck you harder! I want you to cum with me! I want to feel you cum on this big cock!” he’s panting, he’s giving her everything she wants.

Jason fucks her harder, slams his hips against Y/N’s body. He’s already on the verge of cumming, but he can’t help it. Y/N’s moans are affecting him. Her tight heat is hitting him harder than ever. He knows this’ll be over any second, but he promised her he’ll take his time when they do it again...maybe for round two tonight.

He lowers a hand to rub her engorged clit as he thrusts faster. He’s so close. He’s so close to a hot release and he wants her to cum with him.

“Cum with me, princess. I want to feel you cum so hard,” Jason pants out, his thrusts are crazy and uneven.

Y/N raises her hips so Jason thrusts five times to make her orgasm. She cries out his name. She cums hard and all over his cock. Her walls tighten around him, and she’s sure her body goes into shock. When Y/N looks up with lustful, hazy eyes, she sees Jason’s face contorted in amazement at her.

More than satisfied, Y/N pinches her own nipples and bites her bottom lip. She wants Jason to cum now.

“Cum in me, Jay. Fill me up with your hot, delicious cum. Mmm...I can’t wait to taste it. I want to suck your big, hard cock next,” Y/N says seductively.

Jason’s face adorably scrunches up as his release hits him. He thrusts a few more times, cumming hard like she did, spurting every drop of his cum inside her. His moans drive her wild. He breathes heavily and continues to ride out his orgasm until he has nothing left to spill inside.

He pulls out and drops beside her, but quickly holds her so she doesn’t fall off the couch.

Because just imagine getting a concussion after having an orgasm.

Y/N hums in the afterglow of sex with Jason. She rests her head on his chest as he rubs her back. He kisses her forehead softly. He feels more than okay now but knows there will be plenty to talk about after the sexy haze fades.

Thoughts of living in the countryside flash into his mind. Watching that sunrise, with Y/N’s in his arms, and she’s carrying their child in her womb.

That perfect life appears real now. His dream doesn’t seem impossible to achieve. With Y/N there, everything seems possible.

“Are you okay now?” Y/N asks softly.

Jason grins and looks down at her. He doesn’t quite know what to say but figures he should try.

“With you in my arms, I’m fucking perfect, princess.”

[the-clueless-kitten]

So, if Canada doesn’t have android laws and neither supports the use nor presence of androids in its territory, then how, exactly, are deviants suppose to survive there? 👀

The androids in the game may be people, but they’re not exactly composed of the same materials as humans. They require different needs to be met so they can function properly. Without a steady/legal supply of Thirium, parts, and maybe even access to system/patch updates, they’re not gonna have a great or easy time over there.

It’s not that I don’t support Kara’s hopes and dreams of a peaceful life but if countries on both sides of the border are willing to shoot androids on sight, maybe they’d be better off in the country where they can actually manage to pilfer the supplies they need to survive.

I think it could actually turn into a nice little dilemma for Kara’s group. Zlatko gives androids false hope of freedom in a country that’s just close enough to touch, and promises to help them get there. But at Rose’s house, she could lay down the reality of the situation that it’s really not that easy. They would still have to live in hiding, and in fact, they wouldn’t even be able to scavenge for resources properly because there aren’t any to be had there. Kara’s family would have to depend solely on the supply runs of their human allies to survive day to day. Yes, they’re less likely to be spotted there because the humans aren’t too familiar with their faces and there may be more people willing to look the other way even then, but that’s about the only advantage.

This is where Jericho’s importance can really shine. Sure, they were pretty much dying, too, before Markus came along, but now that he’s around and pushing for reforms/revolution, the US now has a group which can support people like them. Jericho has supplies, numbers, and a rallying cause. In this universe where Canada is not an idyllic solution with a bow on top, Jericho is a reason to hope for a future where they aren’t constantly fighting to survive. Here, Markus really is the hope for their people.

So, Kara, Alice, and Luthor need to make a choice. Do they join their people’s cause, or do they lay low in a less hostile environment and wait for the situation to be resolved? It isn’t an easy choice with a child to think of, but … I also think that this could be where Alice being an android can come into play.

Because I want Alice’s identity to mean something. She’s designed as a little girl, but I imagine that her processing capabilities are on par with any other CyberLife product. She’s very aware of her own decisions, as well as what’s going on around her. Alice, I like to imagine, is more child-shaped than childlike.

So, they’re on Jericho. Rose has given them the details and dropped them off, and they need to decide if they’re going to ask for passports or stay to help/fight. Luthor wants to leave; Kara is conflicted. But Alice has reliably played the moral figure in Kara’s route and I think it’d be interesting if she argues to stay.

It isn’t a popular opinion. The three of them get into an argument and Kara gets angry, the kind of angry that comes from fear. Maybe they’re discussing this in an isolated part of the ship; maybe the other androids are just studiously ignoring them at this point. Either way, Alice wants to join Jericho, and Kara tells her, “You’re just a little girl!”

But she shouts, “Stop treating me like I’m human!”

And Alice is angry. She’s angry at Todd for terrorizing her over the memory of a little girl who probably doesn’t even remember him. She’s angry she had to run away from home. She’s angry that Kara has forced her to keep up the facade to the point of possibly endangering them. She’s angry at Zlatko, who hurt so many androids who came to him for help and instead locked and tortured them in his house.

Alice is done with pretending, done with hiding, and done with running away from people who want nothing more than to hurt her. Alice wants to fight back.

From there, the player has to decide if they’ll convince Luthor to stay in Jericho or convince Alice to come with them. Kara can also decide to strike off on her own if she fails to convince Alice (either through choosing all of the wrong dialogue options or just having a low relationship with her — also, Luthor will always stay with Alice even if you don’t). Maybe Kara can also have the option to walk away from both of them altogether when she realizes(?) Alice is an android.

—

Anyway, that was just some of my thoughts of what could have gone over. Mostly because I don’t believe in the happily-ever-after-land of Canada that the game presents — especially considering they can get shot at the border check instead of simply being turned away. Everything else kind of spiraled from there. 👀

[redhoodssweetheart]

Star-Crossed Lovers Part Three

Pairing: Jason Todd x Fem!Reader

Requested: Yes @onfir3​ and @sarcasmismyfirstlove

Word Count: 2.5K

Warnings: Swearing, angst, Reader has an assumed name in this (she is not named, but she goes by Sophia Turner since she is in hiding)

Description:  Secrets are unveiled and Y/N is smacked in the face with a truth she hadn’t expected to find out.

A/N:  Okay first off, I have no idea how long this story is going to be.  It could have one more part, two more parts or more.  I am legit addicted to this story now.  Also the ending may have a sad and a happy version.  One for people who want a happily ever after and those who want to read a sad ending.  Or maybe you’ll want to read both who knows.  But I hope you enjoy this installment of Star-Crossed Lovers.  The song that the singers are singing is Ain’t About You by Wonho featuring Kiiara

Her keys jingled as she fished them out of her pocket.  Clark’s plants were not on the verge of death and she had considered her mission a success.  As she stepped inside the apartment she flipped on the lights and nearly jumped out of her skin when she noticed the dark figure in the corner of her living room.  

“Holy shit,” she gripped her hand to her chest.  Her heart was pounding, but it was starting to calm down now that she realized it was Batman in her apartment and not Sionis.

“Y/N,” he said in his gruff way.  “I have news.”

“Please tell me that Sionis is officially dead,” she didn’t want to hear anything else, but she had a feeling that that wasn’t why he was here.

The way his jaw locked only confirmed her suspicions.  “He’s still alive,” Batman confirmed.  “And he’s using someone at LexCorp to up his drugs.  The effects give the user temporary powers like Superman and Superboy’s.  It’s not on the street yet, but soon.  And Sionis knows you’re not dead.  As far as I’m aware he doesn’t know you're here.”  He reached into one of his compartments and pulled out an envelope.  “I’ve secured you a ticket to a fundraiser tomorrow night that Wayne Enterprises and LexCorp are throwing.  It’s a masquerade ball, I need you to tell me if you see anyone familiar there.  Anyone that was working with or for Sionis.  We need to know who’s supplying him.”

She took the invitation, “Fine.  Where will I meet you?”

“I’ll find you,” then he was disappearing out the window and into the night.

The dress she had picked out was red, with a thigh high slit and a mask to match.  The dress was silk, the light reflecting off it.  She felt sexy and yeah she chose red for one reason and one reason only.

God, she had to get over him.

Her eyes scanned the crowd, but no one stuck out besides the Waynes, Lex, and a few other high society members.  She didn’t like how this mission was going so far.  And when she scanned the crowd again she noticed one of the Wayne boys staring her way.  She quickly ducked into a crowd and hoped not to draw any more attention.  She wasn’t the only one wearing red so she wouldn’t stand out like a sore thumb.

“Does it sound cliché to say / That I just need some space babe / It’s not you, it’s me really, uh,” the male singer began to sing into his mic.  “I’m the one that changed umm / You’re so hard to resist / A love that hurt like this / I wish it wasn’t hell / To love you more than you love yourself.”

“I don’t believe I know your name,” a husky male voice said beside Y/N and when she looked up she saw that it was the Wayne boy that had been staring at her.  

“And who says I’m going to give it to you?”  She fired back, a smirk beginning to form.

He matched her smirk, “You’re a beautiful woman, it’s a ball, I thought I’d ask you to dance with me, but I’d like to know your name first.”

She considered him for a moment and then said, “I’ll give you the dance, but you haven’t earned my name yet, stranger.”

“I see I caught your eye, again / Your pretty little lies / Wish I could stroke your big ego / But sorry not tonight, or ever / You’re so hard to resist / A love that hurt like this / I wish it wasn’t hell / To love you more than you love yourself,” the female singer sang in response to her male counterpart as the Wayne boy led her onto the dance floor.

He swept Y/N into his arms and began to twirl her around with expert ease.  Money could buy a lot of things and dance lessons was probably one of those things.  She wondered if it had been his choice or if Bruce Wayne had made it mandatory.  “So what’re you doing at the ball?  I normally know the people that frequent these,” he said as he dipped her, their faces inches from one another.

She cocked her head to the side as he slowly brought her back to an upright position, “Because you’re a Wayne?”  

He chuckled, “Maybe.”

“I work for the Daily Planet, I’m working on a story,” she said.  A half-truth, but not a complete lie.

Those blue eyes of his were starting to look familiar like she had seen them before. She wondered if he was the man she had bumped into on the street the other day, but she wasn’t about to ask him that.  And right now those very eyes were bright with mischief.  “Oh?  Looking for any sordid secrets of the lifestyle of the rich and famous because I could provide.  I know dirt on everyone here.”

“No sordid secrets for me tonight,” she said, she didn’t want to know what those sordid secrets would cost her if he were to tell her what he knew.  “I’m just covering the event.”  She had learned from articles that the Waynes and Luthor were trying to raise money for people displaced by superhero activity.  Homes that had been destroyed or other places like schools and work.

“How you stay out til 4 am / How you can’t tell me where you’ve been / Go and get that shit out your head / This ain’t about youuuuu / This ain’t about youuuuu / This ain’t about / Hate to tell you but / Hate to tell you but / This ain’t about you / This ain’t about you,” the singers sang, the song coming to a close.

The stranger still held her in his arms after the song had ended, “Have I earned the right to know your name or am I going to have to make one up for you?”

“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours?”  She fired back.

“Deal.”

“Sophia Turner,” the lie slipped off her tongue, but it felt odd to tell him this name.  She had no idea why, she didn’t even know him other than the fact that he was a Wayne.  “But most call me Sophie.”

“Jason Todd,” he supplied in return.

“Oh so I was dancing with the resident bad boy of the Waynes,” she hummed.  “Let me guess you flash those pretty blue eyes at whoever you want and you can get out of any situation?”

“Not quite, but you think they’re pretty?”  His grin was turning cocky and you pushed away from him.

“Down boy,” she said.  “I’m… well I’m….”  She sighed, “It’s complicated.”

He started walking beside her as she turned to flee from the event, “I’m a great listener, you could tell me all your boy problems.”

“No tonight lover boy, I need to go anyway,” she had gotten all the information she could for Batman.  She hadn’t seen anyone there that could be working with or for Sionis, the whole night had been a bust.  Fun, but a bust.

“I’ll find you, Cinderella,” he called out to her as she made her way through the crowd not once glancing back at him.

The night after coming home Y/N grabbed some ice cream out of the fridge and waited for Batman.  When he showed up she told him that she didn’t know anyone there; he thanked her and promised to keep her updated with anything about Sionis.  But for now, she should stay where she was and lie low because Metropolis was the safest place for her. Before she could thank him he was gone.

Now it was Monday and she was at work.  Lois greeted her and was smiling broadly, “Someone got a gift.”

Y/N’s attention turned to her desk where a bouquet of red roses sat.  She blinked a couple of times because she didn’t believe that anyone would leave her flowers.  “Who sent them?”  She asked to no one in particular as she made her way to her desk, Lois still beside her.  She picked the card and saw that there was a handwritten note.

Cinderella,

I think it’s rude that you didn’t leave a shoe for me to return to you.  I’d like to see you again.  Meet me tonight at the top of the Daily Planet, seven o’clock?

Jason Todd

“Sophie!  Did you run out on Jason Todd last night?” Lois gasped.  Since the moment the two of them had met Lois had been trying to set her up.  In her own words, she was trying to ‘help you get over the man who you clearly hurt you’.

Y/N rolled her eyes, “I didn’t run out on him like Cinderella, he knows my name and where I work.  I just needed to get home.”

“Are you going to meet him tonight?”  She asked, a smile on her face that suggested she wanted you to meet with him.

She gave her friend a look, “I don’t know, Lois.  I’m busy and I have other things that I need to do.”  Getting involved with a Wayne was dangerous.  They were always in the spotlight and Jason especially since he was the most mysterious of the bunch.  He attracted a camera like honey drew flies.

“Just go, see what he wants, have a little fun.  Lord knows you could use it,” Lois squeezed Y/N’s shoulder and headed for her own desk.

Y/N looked at those red roses again and let out a sigh.  One visit with Jason wouldn’t hurt.

Metropolis was nice, but Jason preferred the grittiness of Gotham.  There was something real about it, it wasn’t hiding that there was bad stuff going on.  Metropolis on the other hand was sleek and new.  Superman gave them hope and offered a shiny new take that life could be good.  He always felt like he stuck out in Metropolis, even when he was in the Robin or Red Hood uniforms.  You could tell that he didn’t belong.

The door to the roof opened and he heard her heels against the concrete.  “Flowers?  Really?”

He turned and grinned at her, getting an unencumbered view of her face for the first time in months.  She was still as beautiful as the first day he had met her.

“Well I thought about sending a candy gram, but I didn’t think that would be appreciated,” he quipped. 

She chuckled and came to stand beside him, her gaze fixed on the city beyond.  “It’s almost too perfect,” she murmured, mirroring Jason’s earlier thoughts.  “Unlike Gotham--”  She clamped her mouth shut.

“Oh, you know Gotham?”  His gaze was still locked on her face, trying to recommit everything to memory.  She had changed a little bit about herself when she went into hiding, but it was still her.  Still his Y/N.

“Yeah,” she said quietly.  “I grew up there.  Moved away a while ago.  Needed a change of pace.”  Lie. Lie. Lie.  She hadn’t wanted to leave Gotham.  She wanted nothing more than to stay, but circumstances and fate had other ideas.

Jason finally mirrored her position, “I get that.  I moved away for a bit myself.”

“Didn’t you fake your death?”  The question slipped out before she could stop it.  “Sorry, that’s a little too personal.  It’s the journalist in me, feel free to ignore it.”  She wanted to smack herself, but he huffed a laugh and she finally looked at him.  There was something so familiar about him, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

“It’s all right,” he said softly to let her know he wasn’t upset by her question.  “And the answer is it’s complicated.  Very, very complicated.”

“I know all about complicated,” she told him.  “At this point, I think it’s my middle name.”

“Sophia Complicated Turner, huh?”  He held out his hand to her, “I’m Jason Peter Todd.”

That made her laugh, “Are you always this corny?”

“There’s more to me than the bad boy the papers like to see, Sophia.”  He hated using that name.  He wanted to call her Y/N, he wanted to tell her everything, but he held his tongue.  

She bumped him with her shoulder, “I can tell.”

Warmth spread through him and he went to respond when a breeze blew by and she shivered.  “Here,” he draped his jacket over her shoulders.  “Why aren’t you wearing a better jacket?”  He asked like a mother hen.  “You live here and even I knew to come prepared.”

Y/N stood there frozen for a moment before gently wrapping the leather jacket closer around her and breathing in the scent of him.  Cigarettes and a familiar aftershave, a combination she had come to know as home.  Though she had tried to get him to quit smoking.  Jason’s jacket smelled like Red and she stiffened even more when the thought crossed her mind.  Red had died once too.  Red would have made similar jokes.  She looked closely at Jason, really taking him in, and there on his lip was a little scar in the same place that Red had a scar.  Then the mole on his neck, and another scar she had kissed over a hundred times.  

Y/N backed away, her breath coming out in shallow pants.  Her mind was running a mile a minute, it couldn’t be.  “I need to go,” she finally managed to say.

“Sophia?”  He asked in concern and God she couldn’t get it out of her head how he was Red.  Jason was the Red Hood.

“Goodnight,” she dashed for the door, his jacket still wrapped around her.

Once she had made it to her apartment, Batman was there.  Still in the city chasing down leads, and probably coming to ask for another favor.  The ball.  Bruce Wayne being in the city.  Everything was clicking in place.  “Call Red here,” she said before he could speak.  “I want to see him.”

“Red isn’t here, Y/N,” Batman said calmly.

“Oh isn’t he?”  She spat.  “I’m pretty sure I just left him on the roof of the Daily Planet.”  She tossed the jacket at him.  “Bruce.”

There was a moment of hesitation, but Batman - or Bruce - pulled the cowl down and revealed his true identity to her.  “How did you figure it out?”

“I’m an investigative journalist, Bruce.  Give me some credit,” she scoffed.  “If anyone looked hard enough I’m sure they could figure it out.”  She sat down on her couch and buried her face in her hands.  “Fuck, I’m so tired.”

Bruce wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do, but he summoned Jason, not telling him that Y/N knew the truth.  He would wait for that bomb to be dropped by the woman herself.  “I’m sorry if we’re causing you this stress, Y/N.”

She waved a dismissive hand, “Please, I’ve been stressed since the moment Sionis ruined my life.  I knew that that plan of ours was a fifty-fifty shot at freedom.  I’ll be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life if I’m lucky.”

A moment later Red Hood entered through your window and you just looked at him.  And for a moment your times together flashed before your eyes.  “Y/N,” he said, his voice in that robotic monotone.  

“Jason,” she responded.  “Why don’t you sit down?  We’ve got a lot to discuss you and I.”

[a-wayne-at-heart-too]

Ask: The 27th of April, the Last (and Long) Part

Bonus Ask:

[Stately Wayne Manor]

Jason: *helping Alfred clear out the dinner table* You think we should’ve asked Harley to stay for dinner? 

Alfred: If you wished to see Master Bruce’s hair turn to grey as you ate dessert, I don’t see why not.

Jason: *burps loudly and fans his breath away* Whoops. Sorry, Alf. Just my way of complimenting your cooking.

Alfred: *carrying the dishes to the kitchen* Then perhaps you should come here more often, Master Jason.

Jason: *following Alfred* I'd rather not cause any trouble.

Alfred: *stops in his tracks and turns to face Jason with a stern expression* And you don't think it troubles me that you feel unwelcome here?

Jason: *takes the dishes from Alfred’s hands, sets them on the kitchen island, and pulls him in for a hug* Alf, hey... I didn’t mean it like that. I know you guys care about me, it’s just...

Alfred: *sobbing into Jason's shirt* We've already lost you once... Once is enough, Jason...

Jason: *tightens the hug and gently plants a kiss on top of Alfred’s head* I know, I know... I'm back, Alf. I'm back.

>>> *** <<<

Dick and Barbara: *sitting on the carpeted floor in the study, enjoying the heat from the fireplace in front of them, going through a stack of photo albums*

Dick: *smiling fondly* Wow, these are old-old.... I should probably scan them before they crumble to pieces.

Dick: *stops at a page and points at a picture of Bruce and Jason on a boat, smiling, and holding up a tuna* Check this out, Babs... Aw, I love this one. I had a few days off from work, decided to spend it here. Somehow Jason convinced Bruce to take break from himself and go fishing.  

Dick: *talking animatedly* So, there we are on Bruce’s huge fishing boat, the Bat-2-Sea -- And Jason’s starting to get seasick because he’s been hanging out by the edge, waiting for a bite for hours -- The persistence on that kid! --  And he finally gets one! A big one, Babs -- *spreads his arms* -- and it was pulling down hard like you wouldn’t believe, but Jason just wouldn’t let go! -- So Bruce drops the glass of wine he’s holding and runs to grab him --

Barbara: What were you doing?

Dick: Who do you think took the picture? As I was saying -- Bruce, he -- he -- *starts to laugh so hard that he tears up* trips over Jason’s line somehow and falls into the ocean! *slapping-the-floor laughing* The World’s Greatest Detective, in his Batwaders, drenched like a wet bird... *sighs happily* You should’ve seen his face!

Barbara: *turns the page* Oh, I can see it now. Still stone-faced, but wet.

Barbara: *stops at a page and giggles* Aw... Will you look at that?

Dick: *looks at the photo Babs is pointing at and chuckles softly* That’s adorable. 

Barbara: Those scaly leotards fit him better than they ever did you, Boy Wonder.

Dick: *smirks* Whatever. But I have to admit, he did look great. He looked really... happy. I wish... I wish I saw more of him in action, you know? *voice breaking* I could’ve maybe trained him the way I did Tim and Damian --

Barbara: *rubs his back comfortingly* Dick...

Jason: *walks into the study* Dickie, I took some of your --

Dick: *clears his throat and wipes his eyes haphazardly* Hey, Little Wing!

Jason: Wait, are those our old family photos?

Barbara: *pats the empty spot beside her* C'mere.

Jason: *sits down and rubs his hands together* Where’s the one where Bruce goes kersplat in the ocean?

Jason: *flips through the pages and grimaces at his photos as Robin* You're not gonna use these to blackmail me, are you?

>>> *** <<<

Duke: *watches as his RPG character explodes for the fifth time in a row and shakes his head* You beat me again! You're so good at this game, man.

Jason: *snorts and puts his controller down* Dude, you weren't even trying. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were letting me win.

Duke: What? Naaaah... That's... Come on, why would I do that?

Jason: *gets up and shrugs, grinning knowingly* I dunno... 'Cause you like seeing me alive?

Duke: Yeah. It’s pretty awesome, actually.

Jason: *offers to bump fists* I gotta pack up. Good game, though. See you around, bro.

Duke: *exploding-fist-bumps with Jason* You too, bro.

Jason: *pats Ace the Bathound’s head as he exits the game room*

>>> *** <<<

Steph: *examining Jason’s face* You look really pale.

Cass: *pointing at various spots on his face* And you have a lot of... scars.

Jason: *sitting on a stool in front of Cass’s vanity dresser, staring at himself in the mirror and absentmindedly running a finger over the shirt-covered scar on his chest* Yeah? That bad, huh?

Steph: *grins* Nothing a little makeup can’t fix.

Jason: *rubbing his chin* You think so? I mean, I just came here to borrow a few weapons from Cass, but if you think I need a makeover...

Steph and Cass: *look at each other and squeal in delight*

>>> *** <<<

Tim: And this *holding up a minuscule gadget between his fingers for Jason to see* generates a force field over your entire body. The more the impact, the greater the energy generated. Schway, huh?

Jason: *nodding his head appreciatively as he takes the gadget and sticks it on the lapel of his leather jacket* Schway.

Tim: *proudly shows Jason a Bat-shaped breastplate * Now, this -- You're gonna love this -- It can turn you invisible to the naked eye for roughly 34.5 seconds, giving you time to do all kinds of offensive or defensive stuff. They won’t know what hit them, Jay. You’re basically gonna be invincible and Joker... Joker, he’s... he’s not... not gonna... *drops the breastplate unceremoniously* 

Jason: *places a hand on Tim’s shoulder* Thank you, Timbo. Really. But I'll be fine out there. You don't have to worry about me.

Tim: Yeah? Can you promise me that? Because I don’t think I can live through another one of Bruce's meltdowns.

Jason: *chuckles softly* Aren't they the best?

>>> *** <<<

Jason: *staring at an empty grave layered with concrete in the backyard*

Jason: *rolls his eyes* I know you're there.

Bruce: *comes out of the shadows and stands next to Jason*

Jason: Why'd you keep it?

Bruce: Because I'm a sentimental old fool.

Jason: This is just... creepy. Even for you.

Bruce and Jason: *stare at the empty grave in silence*

Jason: I've forgiven you.

Bruce: *glances at Jason, who could’ve sworn his adoptive father’s eyes were bloodshot* 

Jason: You know that, don’t you? I mean, I know we’re always going to disagree about Jok-- about him, and a few other things, but... You’ll always be family, Bruce. My family. 

Bruce: *looks at Jason, smiling wearily*

Jason: *grinning back at Bruce*

Bruce: *puts an arm around Jason’s shoulder* Thank you... Son.

Jason: *pulls Bruce in for a tight hug*

Bruce and Jason: ... 

Jason: Hey, remember that time you went kersplat in the ocean?

>>> *** <<<

Damian: *knocks softly on Jason's bedroom door* Todd.

Jason: *stuffing a duffel bag with clothes, homemade snacks, and weapons* Hey, kid, come in. I’m just getting my stuff ready --

Damian: These came from Mother. *drops a pile of books on Jason’s old desk*

Jason: *picking one after the other up excitedly* Tolstoy, Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Shakespeare, Marx... No way... 

Damian: They’ve been with me for a while. But since you rarely come over, they’ve been collecting dust and taking up valuable space in my room. -Tt-

Jason: *wiping the dust off with his shirt and hugging each one* She kept them... These were my friends back when I was in the League... 

Damian: I didn’t realize we had more in common than just being my Father’s sons.

Jason: Wow. I have no idea how I’m supposed to bring all of these home. I mean, I got here on roller blades, for Bat’s sake -- 

Damian: *thrusts a piece of paper into Jason’s chest* This is for you.

Jason: *gingerly uncrumples it, revealing a painting of him and Damian*

Jason: *reading the writing in calligraphy underneath* “The Second Chance Robins”... *looks at Damian, feeling the tears well up in his eyes* You made this?

Damian: *looking down at his feet* When it’s my day... M-my d-day... Will you come over, too?

Jason: *gets down on bended knee to be at eye level with his little brother* Hey, buddy, look at me. Damian, look at me. Of course. Listen, we’ll do whatever you want. We’ll, um... We’ll take bad guys down together! Pull pranks on Tim! You name it, I got you.

Damian: Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Todd.

Jason: I promise that I’ll do my best, okay?

Damian: You could stay the night, you know. You’re home anyway.

Jason: *ruffles Damian’s hair and grins* I'd like that. As long as you hang out here with me. And I promise I won't tell anybody because it'll ruin our reputation.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~

If truth be told, @wingedskyes​ , Jason makes himself available on his Death Day. Because even if neither he nor his family and friends mention it, he knows that they need him just as much as he needs them.

Thank you for this Ask. It was both fun and just a tad bit heartbreaking to write. 

And thank you, @warrior-of-the-blue-moon​ , for the nice addition. 

See: Part 1, Part 2

[mirrerover]

Big Plans

“You know shit’s never gonna fucking change, right?” Jason makes to grab for his Zippo. Remembering Dick will happily remove his nuts from his waxed sack for even contemplating smoking inside Dick’s apartment, he stops. His fingers twitch with irritation, nothing like a little nicotine deprivation to start the day. “Gotham’s a gothic nightmare where corruption runs thicker than blood and Blüdhaven’s worse, somehow. Like looking in a funhouse mirror. Uglier. More warped.”

“I really do enjoy our little morning pep talks,” Dick replies, closing the last two buttons on his dress shirt before tucking the fabric into the waistline of his pants. In general, Jason would say he prefers the Kevlar-enhanced, ass-hugging suit Dick prowls the night in—but there’s something to be said for a crisp, white button-down with the sleeves rolled up, forearm veins on display. He doesn’t know how the Blüdhaven criminals are faring but, personally, he wouldn’t mind letting Detective Richard Grayson slap some cuffs on him. Let Dick work him over hard in a surveilled box until Jason cracks, raw and bloody under the harsh fluorescent lights. 

“These fucking places,” Jason grumbles, tired and cranky from watching Dick getting ready to leave, all that warm, gold skin about to slip right out the door. “It’s not something anyone can fix. Nothing short of dropping a bomb on the damn place and razing it to the ground.” 

Dick sighs, running a hand through his hair. It’s getting longer, strands brushing the bone of his jaw. He’s no stranger to this; Jason and the trash he talks. Words pouring out of him sharp as knives, the blades full of blood. Just endlessly spewing shit.

“No point to it all, huh?” Dick leans a hip against the dresser, arms folded, eyebrow raised. There’s an ease to him that’s inherent; the way he owns his body, his space, every room he’s in. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’re trying to lure me back to bed.”

 Jason thinks it over. Admits, “not originally,” and lets his legs fall apart slowly. Nude body lounging against cheap, synthetic pillows, he’s got Dick’s low-rent sheets strategically draped across his crotch, all tasteful and shit. Just like the Renaissance paintings cluttering the hallways of the Wayne Manor. None of the shameless, naked peacocking Dick gets up to after sex. No, Jason’s classy. Artful. The signature Jason Todd brand. “But are you feelin’ down to fuck?” he asks. 

Dick throws his head back and laughs. Really fucking laughs. Eyes scrunched up and shoulders shaking, all charisma and beauty and warmth. Laughing like that, it’s suddenly easy to see how a group of metahumans chose Dick as their leader despite his lack of superpowers or how the Blüdhaven Police Corps would accept him as their own despite him being the ward of Gotham’s favourite billionaire asshole. There’s something about Dick like there’s something about Bruce. Something captivating and inescapable that would make you launch a thousand ships for them. Burn down entire worlds for them. Jason’s not sure Dick’s aware of that. And in a way, Jason thinks he understands the Joker better than Bruce ever could. 

Dick’s laughter fades too slowly, and Jason would be annoyed but there’s a tightness to Dick’s pants that wasn’t there two minutes ago, and Dick’s always laughing. Joyful and happy. Like those are easy feelings to conjure and easy feelings to have. As if getting out of bed isn’t like crawling out of a dark pit every morning and as if life isn't like taking a suckerpunch to the gut, over and over.

“Wish I could,” Dicks says, and Jason swears he sounds like he means it. “But I got big plans today. Gotta save a city.”

“‘Save a city.’ Jesus Christ. More like go get shanked in the gut.”

Dick shrugs and slips on a watch. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

The other bats all have their day jobs. The Police Detective, the Socialite, the rising Tech Wunderkind, and Jason’s personal favourite: the Student. Jason derives no small amount of pleasure from knowing that Bruce and the Demon Spawn get to suffer through the worst of it. Like an ill-fitted suit, Jason hopes it pulls and itches every time they’ve got to slip their disguises on. It shows how removed they are from the rot and the grit and the filth of what is Gotham. The gore at the core of it all. 

That’s where Jason lives, at its epicentre. 

He’d fallen into it naturally, being a crime lord. It had been a logical first step when he’d come home, head full of green fumes and rage. He’s proud to say, he puts the organized in organized crime. Outshines even the worst of them in calculated vicious violence. The crime part of the job, Jason can admit he’s gotten more discerning about. There’s no peddling drugs to kids or bleeding junkies dry, no people traded like cattle, and he doesn’t like selling guns to the lowlifes clogging Gotham’s streets. So, he’s become a parasite instead. Infiltrates a crime organisation and eats it from the inside out till it finally collapses. Scraps the dead beast for parts and money.

It’s not something Jason talks about with this version of Dick. His shady deals, his underground moonlighting. Never with a cop like the one making his way to the bed right now, uniform tight over thick thighs and a sway in his hips that’s nothing less than sexual warfare. 

“Try smoking in my bed again, Todd,” Dick warns, looming over him. He stops whatever threat he was going to utter, disrupted by Jason grousing at him to fucking let that go already. Perfectly pleasant, Dick does exactly that. Just stares at Jason with a face far too naked and utterly too fond. Something’s creeping under Jason’s skin at the sight of it—an itch he doesn’t know how to scratch, unable to decide whether he wants to kiss the prick or break his perfect face instead.

A little lower, there’s a bruise peeking out of Dick’s collar that looks like a handprint. Jason had put that there last night. Violently. Not even the fun kind of violent but the messy kind. The kind where something hunts Jason through nightmares and his body acts before his sleeping brain has had the chance to catch up—that kind of violence. Maybe a better person would wallow in the guilt and remove themselves from the situation. Not Dick and Jason. They just get better at hiding the batarangs and guns. The 200 pounds of well-trained muscle and murderous reflexes are a little harder to counteract but Dick’s no babe in the woods. Besides, Jason’s not exactly the first lethal bitch between Dick’s bedsheets.

Dick smiles. A teasing thing full of soft edges. “Mornings are hard. Aren’t they, Sugarplum?”

“Fuck you to hell.” Jason groans with feeling, hating the hard lumps of Dick’s mattress when he sinks back into them. “Just get lost already, Birdbrain. There’s no fucking point to you with your clothes on.”

“Nice to know I’m not completely useless.”

Jason wants to fight that far too favourable self-assessment. Would fight it, were he not half a pack of Lucky Strikes and three cups of coffee short of mustering the energy. Which is also the only reason he’s letting Dick press an off-centre kiss to his forehead. A shitty place for a shitty kiss from a shitty person, if you ask Jason. Very much Dick Grayson’s style.

“Try and behave, Little Wing.” Dick’s already moving away from the bed and shrugging on a jacket. “I really like this place. Got three South facing windows and none of the neighbours run a meth lab.”

“Prime Blüdhaven real estate,” Jason mutters darkly.

“Glad we’re on the same page.” Dick takes one last look at himself at the mirror, shoots Jason a tacky wink because his existence is a curse, and promises under his breath something that sounds suspiciously like I’ll be back or I’ll miss you. Another twenty seconds later and Jason hears the front door lock click back into place.

His day is wide open now. 

There are things to do but there are always things to do. At any time, Jason’s got about forty things in various stages of motion. Always working on something. Someone. Bigger games than the one he’s running on Dick right now, lighting one up in his bed.

Blowing smoke up into the air, Jason decides that today he’s going to crack the safe Dick keeps behind the panel in his closet. Perfectly harmless, really. Just him fishing through some of Dick’s case files—maybe even solving a few, if he’s feeling charitable. And for tonight, there’s that Malaysian place three blocks over that does a better Rendang than anything he’s found in Gotham. Dick never shuts up about it. Like he’s never going to shut up about the cigarette smell seeping into the wallpaper.

Jason smirks. Solid options. He still has last night’s terrors painted on the back of his eyelids and the feeling of Dick’s neck under his hand but they’re slowly fading. And Dick’s got him covered, said he’d take care of the big plans, so Jason doesn’t have to. And next time, when Jason’s Dick and Dick’s Jason, he’ll have Dick covered too. Jason will tackle the big plans while Dick raids Jason’s fridge and leaves wet towels all over his apartment. Jason knows it’ll happen. It has happened. Just not today.

Maybe tomorrow.

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

@wethatake thanks for being the beta and basically a co-writer. You suck but I love you. <3 Here’s to hoping that your sad little sack of a co-worker doesn’t kill you. XD

[sparkleofpizza]

The archer - Tim Drake x reader 2/?

The archer - Tim Drake x reader 2/?

Requested: no

Warnings: bit of angst 

Taglist: @isthataladybag

Summary: Y/n Queen will be living in the Wayne Manor for a while, and Dick Grayson decided to be the Cupid between her and his little brother Tim Drake.

Word count: 2.671

Part 1 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6  - Part 7

After the sleeping incident, Tim couldn't look at you without blushing madly. You only smiled sweetly at him, not really trying anything to make him more flustered. You figured if he had the same interest in you as you had in him, eventually he would come to you and you both could find out what to do about that. 

Obviously, you had to talk to someone about that, and that lead to a big wave of teasing coming from Connor Hawke, your best friend . You wished you could talk about that to your sister Emiko, but unfortunately that wasn't possible at the moment. You were still adjusting to the fact that you had a sister, and right at the moment where you wished to speak to her about something important to you, you simply couldn't reach out to her. 

You were sitting at the Batcomputer watching Jason do some workout routine. You had went down there once you found out they had a treadmill, and decided to take on the opportunity to run a bit. Just to get the blood pumping.

"So, when was the last time you practiced something?" Jason asked, pulling you out of your thoughts 

You looked up at him, watching as he had finished up his routine. You smirked, pulling your hair up in a ponytail, walking towards him. 

"Before I got here." You replied 

"Oh, you must be rusty then. It's been a couple of weeks." He laughed "Are you sure you're up for sparing?"

"Are you sure you're up for sparing?"

He laughed at you, motioning with his hand "Bring it up."

You lunged at him, deflecting some of his punches and trowing some of your own. You caught on his hand as he want to punch you in the face, twisting his arm around to his back. He let go, making you stumble a little before you got back on your feet, elbowing him on the ribs, and successfully kicking him on the knees making him loose his balance as you went around his back and got him on the ground with a painful thud. 

You smirked down at him, offering a hand.

"Looks like you're the one who is a little rusty." You teased him 

"I was going easy on you." He grumbled under his breath

"How did you do that?" Damian questioned, standing beside you, looking at his brother on the floor and then back at you, narrowed eyes 

This was one of the first times that he was talking to you without that air of disgust he always have. You smiled, pushing some hair strands from your face. 

"My brother taught me that." 

"Yeah, but Todd is more than twice your size." He remarked, not truly believing in what he had witnessed before his eyes "Fight me!"

"Ok." You nodded, getting in fight stance once more 

Jason chuckled lowly, getting out of your way and joining Dick and Tim who had stopped to watch you and Damian fight. The two later, who had not seen you and Jason fight, were looking concerned about your well being. Damian knew how to be ruthless during fighting, he had been trained by the League of Assassins after all. 

The little boy lunged at you with all his force, only growing frustrated as you dodged all of his advances and managed to punch him in the ribs. It was easy to understand a bit of his moves, he was raised at the League of Assassins, you had your fair share of encounters with them to now that, and also had spent five months being trained by them after some ridiculous stunt that Malcom Merlyn had pulled.

He screamed in frustration when you held both of his arms on his back, him on his knees. 

"I demand you tell me how you know all of this."

Damian would never admit it, but you were too good of a fighter and he didn't want to give you the credit for it. He was supposed to know all the cool and different tricks he learned at the league. 

His brothers were staring at you in a awe as Jason only laughed at scene in front of him. Tim thought his heart was going to come out of his mouth, it was beating just way too fast. If he didn't think you were way too incredible for him before, now he was a 100% sure of it. 

"Your mother taught me that." Was all you said, before pulling the boy up and leaving to grab a bottle of water 

At that all four of them had their mouthes hung open. Talia had taught you that? How was it possible that you, of all people, had been trained by that woman? That only made them realize they didn't know much about you as you seem to know a lot about them. That certainly wasn't good, they were supposed to be a family of detectives, how couldn't they know who was the girl that was staying at their house? 

"You mean you were trained by the demon's mother?" Jason exclaimed "Roy never told me that."

"That's because we do not talk about that. She tried to kill me once or twice, and I also spent some time at the League." You explained, turning to look at them as you leaned against a table "That's not big deal, really."

"Uh, yes it is!" Tim exclaimed, waving his hands around "You turned on the tables of her wanting to kill to being trained by her. If this isn't amazing, I don't really know what it is."

You smiled at him, it felt good to be complimented by him. Thank God you checks were already red from the physical effort or else everyone would have seen you blush. 

"Well, when your brother is the Green Arrow, his girlfriend is the Black Canary and you're surrounded by bad guys trying to kill you and your family, you kind of have to find a way to defend yourself."

Tim's eyes went wide. Was he crushing Oliver Queen's little sister? Oh, this was much worse than he had previously thought. He thought you were Roy's sister, which was already bad enough, but being Oliver's sister? He's going to end up with way to many arrows' wounds if they ever find out about him having feelings for you. 

He failed to notice as everyone left the room, leaving the two of you alone. They had all been rushed out by Dick who wanted to make sure you guys would end up together by the time you left. He wouldn't let it go until you were a couple.

"So..." You broke the silence, taking a few steps towards him "We haven't really talked much since that day I helped you out with that case. How is it going?"

His eyes went wide, he didn't think you'd notice he had been kind of avoiding you lately. 

"It's good to go. We're going to bust them tomorrow, that's when the sale is going to take place." 

You nodded, standing right in front of him. You were only a few inches from him, if he lifted his hand he could brush it against your skin - he really wanted to do that. He wanted to feel your warmth and your body close to his just like that day when you slept in each others embrace. 

"Maybe I could join you guys on the field." You said, looking up at him thought your eyelashes "I have some experience on that area already."

"Yeah?" He breathlessly asked, leaning down a bit, just to take a better look at you "But that's too dangerous, you could get hurt."

"So could you." Your chests were almost touching "I guess we would have to have each others backs, then."

"I suppose we would." He pushed some loose hair away from your face, keeping his hands there "But still, I can't picture someone so wonderful as you at a weapon sale."

"I could say the same for you." You pressed your hands on his chest, patting it slightly, feeling some of its muscles "Normally big bad mobster buyers have a girl in his arms."

"And you would be my girl?"He questioned, his hand on your face going down to your jaw as his other hand pulled at your waist, pressing your bodies together 

"Oh, yes. You can bet I'll be your girl." You replied, gripping his biceps 

He leaned down more, your lips was just about to brush, you could feel your heart beating faster and faster. Then there was footsteps approaching making you pull apart. 

"Father is asking for you, Drake. You have a meeting at Wayne Enterprises." Damian announced, eyeing you two very suspiciously, considering how red your faces were

"Yeah, I am coming." Tim rubbed the back of his neck

He looked at you sheepishly before leaving with his little brother, leaving you alone at the batcave, frustrated.

So much for a kiss.

Later that week, they were all getting ready for the weapon sale. You were sitting on a chair, looking rather disappointed when Bruce had told you he had promised your brother to keep your safe, and letting you go to a mission full of weapon wasn't really keeping you safe. You tried to argument that you knew how to take care of yourself, but Dick had told you it was hard to change Bruce's mind once it was already set up.

All there was left for you to do was sit with Alfred and watch the cameras. Hoping that everything would turn out to be ok, you didn't want any of them to get hurt, being in there would make you feel a bit more calmer. At least you would be able to intervene if it was necessary, you could help out. 

"They're going to be ok, miss y/n. That includes master Tim."

You looked at Alfred with pure shock. Sure it wasn't that visible that you had a crush on Tim. 

"I saw the both of you asleep at his bed a couple of days ago." He explained "I am glad he found a girl like you."

You smiled happily at him. Getting Alfred's approval was important to you, even if you still didn't know what was going on between the two of you after having almost shared a kiss yesterday and saying stuff about you being his girl. But, you were always inching towards each other, and right now all you wanted to do was be by his side on the field. 

You heard them talking over the coms, wishing they'd all be alright by the end of this. God, if they showed up with any bullet wounds, you'd be pissed. 

"We're about to get in." Bruce said over the coms "Red Hood was already able to get the information we needed to get all these men in jail."

"I'm cutting the power right now." Alfred informed, clicking some things on the bat computer and shutting down all energy from the building

Right now all you could hear was grunting and gunshots as the fight started. You bit your lip nervously, you were already used to this kind of stuff, you watched your brother do it every time and most times you stayed behind because being a vigilante isn't one of your top priorities, but you have no idea how the batfamily works. You've never actually seen them in action before, so obviously you were a nervous wreck waiting for them to get back.

"Perhaps I should prepare you a cup of camomile tea while you monitor them to me." Alfred offered, already standing up and not waiting for your reply

Honestly, this man is way too good to everyone in this house. 

Your eyes stayed glued on the screens, looking trough all of the surveillance cameras to make sure there was nothing out of the ordinary happening there. But that's when an alert popped up on the screen and a lot made sense to you in that moment, this wasn't just any kind of weapon sale. 

"Uh guys, you need to get out of there." You said, typing away on the keyboard trying to get more information - grateful for whatever tech info Felicity ever taught you "There's a bomb in the building!"

"What? Can you find where's located?" Tim breathlessly asked 

"It's under it, but I can't disarm it from here! Someone must do it remotely. I'm sending you the infos."

Why would someone plant a bomb at a weapon sale? That didn't make any sense. 

"Here's your tea, miss... What just happened?" Alfred rushed to your side upon looking at the bomb's instructions 

"There is a bomb in the building!"

"I'm already on it!" Damian exclaimed 

You took a big gulp of the tea, wishing that the camomile would instantly calm you down. That was too much for your nerves, Damian was just a kid, what if it exploded on him? This mission was testing your anxiety levels a lot more than you expected it to. 

A painfully half an hour later, you heard all of their bikes and the batmobile pulling up at the cave. You and Alfred had already prepared all of the necessary stuff in case they were hurt, which of course they were.

All five of them came limping towards the medical bay where Alfred ushered them to start patching them up. You looked up from the medical gloves you were placing on your hands to see Tim stand beside you, a hand on his shoulder and a small smile on his lips.

"It was nice working with you over the coms. You did a good job."

"Thank you, I normally help Felicity the best I can when I'm not out on the field." You smiled back at him, pulling his hand away from his shoulder to take a better look at the injury "Sit down, please, you're too tall for me and this is gonna hurt."

He chuckled at your choice of words, but then proceeded to whimper in pain as he sat down on the medical bed behind him. You shook your head, helping him pull out the top half of his suit to have better access at the wound. You inspected it closely, standing between his legs, before pulling the bullet out of his shoulder, it didn't go too deep, so it was easier to get it out. 

You cleaned all of the blood with alcohol to make sure it wouldn't infect and then proceeded to stitch him up. 

"You're full of surprises, little Queen." Tim broke the silence, looking at your adorably concentrated face "A very skilled fighter, good at patching people up, good with techs. Is there anything else you'd like to share?"

You bit your lower lip, placing some gauze over the stitches and rubbing it slightly. You looked up at him, a smirk adorning your face.

"And what's the fun in that? I think you're gonna have to find out all of my secrets, Mr. Drake."

He chuckled, placing a hand at your hips to keep you from moving "Oh, you can bet I'm gonna find it all out."

He leaned in a bit, but you placed a finger on his lips. He frowned, pouting slightly against your index finger.

"We can finish flirting later, pretty bird. Right now you need to rest and I have to help Alfred patch up the rest of your brothers."

"But I may need assistance while resting."

Your finger traced the outline of his lips, eyes never failing to leave his as you slowly took a step away from him.

"If you go up to your room right now, take a shower and actually lay in bed to rest, after I'm done here, I'll visit you to make sure you have the assistance you need."

Tim nodded eagerly, standing up too fast and wincing from pain one more time. 

"I can do that." He smiled, kissing your check 

[hottestthingalive]

Ooo prompts? #14 of grumpy affectionate? DLAMP?? Maybe???

Anon, you are speaking my language!! 

14. “Ew. Get away from me. No– not you. You stay.” 

-

Patton and Roman are kissing again. 

They like doing that, Logan thinks, more than he or Virgil or Janus. He supposes it is because they are the romantic sides, and express their love like that, through soft touches and physical affection and, well, kisses. 

“Ew, affection,” Virgil grumbles, but there is something soft in his eyes, and it isn’t like he can say a word anyways, his head on Janus’ lap as their boyfriend runs his fingers through Anxiety’s curls, the book he had been reading to Logan open on his lap. “Disgusting.” 

“Keep reading,” Logan says impatiently, turning from where he is seated on the floor to poke at Virgil’s cheek. His hand is batted away, Janus letting out a snort of laughter above them, and Logan pouts, something he does hardly ever. Well, except when someone steals his Crofters, or when his onesie is in the wash, or when his boyfriend stops reading to him in the middle of the best part, Virgil-

“You know you love us, Sweety Todd,” Roman retorts, winking, and Logan is pretty all three of the sides not currently curled together in the armchair roll their eyes. 

“I think he’s just jealous, Roro,” Patton chirps, extricating himself from said armchair with some difficulty. He manages it, though, and approaches the couch, dimples deep as he grins down at Virgil. “Do you want kisses, too, sweetheart?”

“Ew,” Virgil says again, sticking out his tongue. “Get away from me.”

Janus moves as if he is planning on “getting away”, as Virgil so puts it, as well, and Virgil makes an angry noise. “No— not you. You stay.”

“Should I stay, as well, or should I go find a boyfriend that will actually read to me?” Logan mutters grumpily, crossing his arms over his chest, mostly in jest. Mostly.

Virgil picks up the book again in response, resuming from where he’d left off, and one of Janus’ other hands finds itself a place in Logan’s hair, too. He raises an eyebrow at the snake-like side, who just laughs. 

“You all don’t have such nice hair,” Janus coos, blowing Logan a kiss with yet another one of his arms. “Let me have my fun, love.” 

Logan rolls his eyes again, but finds himself leaning into the touch anyways, gaze on where Patton and Roman have moved themselves to squeeze into the remaining room on the couch. There’s not a lot left, but they make it work, Roman’s legs tangling with Virgil’s and Patton sitting atop the cushions, where Virgil usually perches. 

Patton and Roman like their displays of physical affection, he thinks, closing his eyes with a sigh. Janus loves his words, his vows and promises and sweet nothings, and Virgil seems shellshocked every time they give or do something for him he perceives as ‘thoughtful’, be it a specially curated playlist or memorization of anxiety techniques or his room filled with bouquets of lavender. 

As for Logan, however, he thinks this is where he finds his love. Surrounded by his famILY, (as the others insist on calling it, miscapitalization and all), their voices filling the quiet around him, knowing, without having to see or even hear them, that they are there.

There for him, he thinks, nearly giddy. 

“And the hero stood up, and she looked across the battlefield to see the woman waiting, she who had always waited,” Virgil reads. “And for the first time, (but not the last, never the last, not for a very long time) she said ‘I’m sorry,’ and she said ‘I love you.’ And so they waited no longer, the woman in the woods and the woman in the water, and as she rushed to meet the only person she had ever loved, she wondered briefly if this was their happy ending.”

“Was it?” asks Roman, who has never been able to wait, and who Logan loves not despite but for his impatience. 

“It was a happy ending, their first, but not the last. One of many tiny endings and beginnings, pockets of joy that would fill their days. And so they lived happily ever after, a life filled with adventures and indescribable joy, and as they had wished, they were together through it all. The end,” Virgil finishes, and Logan smiles as the cacophony of noise erupts around him, Patton and Janus and Roman and Virgil all discussing the story, their quiet night briefly interrupted, but no less wonderful for it. 

Together through it all, Logic thinks, and finally opens his eyes once more, turning slightly so he can see these men he loves. I’d like that. 

He’s pretty sure Patton knows what he’s thinking, from the way he smiles, but that’s okay. It’s nothing new, this love Logan feels for them, and he finds he rather likes that they know. 

“I love you,” he says anyways, because Logic is all about finding the truth, about eradicating uncertainty, and there is no room for question about that. “Always.”

“We love you too, darling,” Janus says softly, and Roman reaches out to entwine his fingers with Logan’s own, Patton blowing him a kiss and Virgil waves his hand with a smile to summon yet another book, one Logan recognizes as his Complete Collection of Sherlock Holmes. 

Together through it all. And they will be, these sides of Thomas Sanders, for their happy ending, the one with no visible end in sight? 

Well, that would have to be each other.

- 

Hope you enjoy, anon!!! <3

The grumpy-affectionate prompt list!

[nuptia]

SUBJECT  LINE  ONE   :       on  the  importance  of  talia  hopton  and  her  involvement  in  wren  jones’  life       [       featuring  an  exploration  of  young  female  friendships,     growing  up  with  distinct  feelings  of  inadequacy,     and  the  burden  of  trying  to  save  a  girl  not  meant  to  be  saved       ---       as  loving  expressed  via  a  headcanon  dump       ].

ACT  ONE   :       your  lives  begin  in  parallel. 

she is the fourth child of d - lister superheroes (heroes are tiered based on their powers + given a commission that roughly amounts to your tier added to how many people you’ve saved that year --- d is the second lowest rank). her parents swam at the higher end of working class, with each child an attempt to make something SPECTACULAR. talia is the only one of her siblings to have powers, which is why it comes as such a disappointment that her powers are so weak.

PERSONALITY:

while wren is a blast of quick humour and soft smiles, talia is quiet. her classmates would describe her as mousy, if they were to describe her at all. she blended happily into the background, all tender and raw at being seen, while wren drew her out and showed her off. she didn’t do so well in school, mostly because her father’s strict training meant she couldn’t devote herself to much else; however, she did like art class, especially when they were given cameras and allowed to take photos over the weekend. her bedroom was decorated with pictures of anything and everything. 

POWER ANALYSIS: 

talia can use her telekensis to draw objects towards her, as long as said objects are no more than feet away, and weigh no more than ten pounds. very handy for pulling the remote towards her, much less handy for stopping villains. 

THEORETICALLY, she knows she can draw together dust particles from the surrounding air and use it to slowly damange someone’s lungs, but she’s never tried this --- she did used to make small balls of swimming dust to amuse wren, though. 

TRAINING:

utterly sure that his daughter’s powers would manifest into something stronger, her father made her keep up a pretty strict training regime from the ages four to sixteen. she is phsyically very fit and able from this, but her powers have not grown any stronger. 

she resents her father deeply for this, every inch of her life under demanding control from him; her sleep schedule was tightly monitered, her meals were kept in constant check, and her free time was limited to an hour each day (which she often used to sneak out and chill with wren).

ANXIETIES: 

and so god loved all his children equally, but my father is no god --- he is a man split with dreams bigger than me, unable to see that i’m but a child. 

HARM:

at sixteen, talia goes through a bit of a breakdown. she’s at a party with wren, her first high school party, and she’s downing shots like she won’t ever have this chance again --- she might not, after all. wren drives her home to their dingy little place, and talia stumbles inside to find her father waiting for her. 

the two argue loudly, brutally, with talia bursting into tears; her little sister, mallory hopton, wanders downstairs in the midst of this. brimming with anger, talia goes to attack her father, and mallory wanders into the crossfire. the fourteen year old is pushed about ten feet back at an intense force, causing her to hit her head and pass out for a few seconds.

there’s no lasting damage to mallory --- and later, mall will crawl into talia’s bed and holding her close, murmuring that it’s okay, it didn’t really hurt, it’s alright.

talia’s father doesn’t wake her the next morning for training.

ACT  TWO   :       wren  jones.

it’s easy to pretend their meeting was inveitable. they were both the useless children of great heroes, they were both searching for someone to look out for them, they were both desperate to be seen; the truth, however, is that they liked each other for far less interesting reasons --- wren was the first person to smile at talia when she entered the CHILDREN OF SUPES weekend group and the two fell together quickly after that. that’s all it was, really: one smile. 

any time the other is free, they’re together. wren and talia are joined at the hip, calling each other every night, talia’s one hour of free time devoted to her best friend. it’s a cliche sort of friendship: they wear friendship braclets that they promise they’ll never take off, they tell each other every secret, they share a diary between them.

A CONVERSATION, LATE NIGHT LIPS PRESSED INTO THE PHONE’S RECEIVER: 

wren [whispering loudly]: i met a boy. talia [a pause is felt, long and drawn out, as sticky as the soft bubblegum still staining her tongue]: oh? wren [quick to notice, embarrassed at her revelation]: you’ll like him. i swear you will. he’s so (...) he’s so nice. ---- and talia already knows she’ll hate him, because that sigh-touched voice was once meant just for her.

DO YOU LOVE WREN JONES?

the answer is simple: yes. but i’ve never been in love with wren --- it wasn’t ever like that (we did kiss once at new years, both nervous that no one else would want us --- i think we were always nervous about that). i wasn’t jealous because some great love of mine was being stolen away; it’s just that....wren was the first thing that was ever truly mine. and i was hers. and then, suddenly, very suddenly, it’s like we barely knew each other. how do you even prepare for that? HOW DO YOU EVEN PREPARE FOR ---

ENTER: ELIJAH.

elijah is everything that talia isn’t. he has an easy charm about him, he blends in well with everyone he meets, and he’s powerful. it radiates from him, this disgusting potential, and soon enough wren’s friendship necklace is replaced by one that elijah bought for her. 

it doesn’t hurt. or, talia never says that it hurts, which is basically the same thing. right? wren still loves her, she just --- doesn’t spend as much time with her, or pick up her calls. one night, wren leaves without even saying anything to talia, whisked right out of their small town. 

talia gets accepted into community college on a photography course. there’s pictures of wren in a scrapbook below her bed, but she doesn’t look at it anymore. 

LOVERS:

she has an easier time in college than she does high school. she falls in with a group of friends, big enough that she doesn’t feel destroyed if one or two of them leave her.

TODD MARWICK, DANIEL URIS, AND MARIA CALLAGHAN.

the last one is the only person who works out because, in her second year, she has a big fat ‘oh god i’m a lesbian aren’t i’ ephinany at a bathroom in a frat house after kissing maria. 

A PHONECALL:

wren [her voice is shaky, weak, the same broken tone it had the night she left]: can you -- can you hear me? it’s (...) wren, do you remember me? i never knew if he...he said that he made the people forget me, and that’s why....i wouldn’t call unless --- please. i can’t do this anymore, talia, please, please, if there’s any part of you that still knows who i am --- please.

WORKING IT OUT:

at 3am, you receive a strange voicemail from wren. it’s the first time she’s contacted you in three years. at 4am, you’re in the car with maria and you’re driving over the elijah’s huge fuck-off apartment building. 

maria waits outside in the car, but talia goes into the building -- bullshitting her way through the guards, kicking open elijah’s door with impressive force (all that training paid off, huh?). talia grabs an unresisting wren, tugging her free from the house. elijah tries to intercept with a quick word, but talia pushes a knife to his neck: try it. fucking try it. 

the two leave -- and, for a time, wren’s free (perhaps it’s important to note that talia still wears the necklace that wren bought for her, perhaps it’s important to note that wren cries softly into talia’s arms all night, perhaps it’s important to note that maria makes them both warm tea and strokes wren’s back --- this is love in its purest form).

the apartment is cramped, but they make it work. maria studies to be an engineer, talia finishes up her photography degree, and wren starts waitressing. 

ACT  THREE   :       the  aftermath  of  loving  a  lit  flame.

DOWNFALL:

maria and talia have a mutual, amicable break-up. maria moves away to california and talia throws herself into her work.

at twenty five, maria is arrested for a crime she absolutely did not commit, but the police and jury were apparently convinced she’d done it. maria is sentenced and wren is (...) all alone. 

as of right now, talia is still in prison. 

[joealwyndaily]

Man About Town interview with Joe Alwyn

Fresh off the back of a star turn in Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet, we catch up with British superstar Joe Alwyn about getting into an evil mindset, playing the long-game in his career, and his upcoming role in Steven Knight’s A Christmas Carol.

words by Francesco Loy Bell

It’s an unnerving experience, having to ask an actor to fill you in on the ending of the film you’re supposed to be interviewing them about, but it’s a testament to Joe Alwyn’s charm and down-to-earth manner that he duly obliges, happily relaying the final ten minutes of Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet with an infectious enthusiasm only someone with genuine passion for a project could muster. I had been most of the way through Lemmons’ bold new offering, centred around American historical icon and slave-turned-abolitionist Harriet Tubman, when the fire alarm sounded, resulting in a hoard of shell-shocked journalists being quickly ushered out of the building, only to be told that we would not be able to watch the last 25 minutes of the film. Fast-forward 24 hours, and I can’t help but pause to reflect on the surreality of sitting across from the films horrifying antagonist as he casually explains his fate to me over coffee. More on that later, however. 

Despite being the only actor in his immediate family, it’s fair to say Alwyn inherited some of the requisite DNA to pursue a career in film, his father, a documentary-maker and his mother, a therapist. Alwyn sees both as formative, instilling him with the “curiosity for looking into people’s lives, observing, and listening to stories” that had possessed him from an early age. “I always liked going to the cinema,” he explains, “sitting in big dark rooms, watching stories. It was kind of a way to disappear.” Though he cannot pinpoint the exact ‘light bulb’ moment in which he decided to become a professional actor, he does attribute seeing Ben Whishaw as Hamlet at the Old Vic when he was 12 or 13 as foundational, and “one of those moments that stick with you, where I thought: ‘I would really like to do that’.” That feeling soon blossomed, Alwyn taking numerous shows to the Edinburgh Fringe while at school and university, shows he can now jokingly admit “should not have been seen by anyone!”

Drama school naturally beckoned, the then-graduate enrolling himself into The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, an experience he looks back on fondly, his eyes lighting up as he recalls some of the more eccentric aspects of his time there. “A lot of rolling around on the floor, a lot of tight black clothing. And lots of trees, I was a brilliant tree,” he laughs, before informing me, in sudden deadpan: “you’re also looking at a llama.”

Alwyn probably wouldn’t have expected such a swift re-entry into the dynamic absurdity of drama school so soon after leaving, but then he probably wouldn’t have expected to be working with director Yorgos Lanthimos only a couple of years later either. Having shot his first job — Ang Lee’s reverse-engineered war film Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk — just after he graduated in 2015, Alwyn was sent the script of a then still in development The Favourite soon afterwards. “It felt like a special script. I mean, at that point, I hadn’t read that many scripts. I still was” — he catches himself, as his eyes widen in momentary wonder — “well, I still am new to this. But yeah, it was just... such a good script. I knew of Yorgos; I knew of his films. And those two things kind of narrowed together: this twisted take on a genre that can be quite conventional and stuffy, and his very unique, singular mind. It was exciting.”

A skype session with Lanthimos soon followed (“we talked about everything probably apart from The Favourite” Alwyn laughs), and the rest is history, the actor landing the role of Samuel Masham, a young baron in the court of Olivia Colman’s Queen Ann. Though his turn in the film is punctuated by exaggerated physicality — the court dancing scene with Rachel Weisz a particularly memorable example — Alwyn tells me that it was only when he got on set that Lanthimos’ true, bonkers vision began to come to life. 

“I didn’t know that it was going to become one of those moments,” he says of the dance scene and others like it. “Because in the script it just said ‘they dance’, or, ‘he chases her’.” He can’t help but smile when speaking about Lanthimos: “He is hilarious. And confusing. He doesn’t really say anything to you about conventional direction; there was no discussion of period, or etiquette, or character, or history — which I think we’d expected to a degree, just because of the nature of the film. We had two weeks of ridiculous exercises and rehearsals, where I’d be playing Olivia’s part, and Olivia would be playing Nick [Hoult]’s part, and you’d sing the lines, and you’re chasing each other, and... you don’t know what you’re doing, or why you’re doing it. And Yorgos doesn’t say anything. And then he’d get on set, and just kind of say ‘Mmm... louder, faster, quieter’.”

The profound respect Alwyn holds for Lanthimos is tangible — he responds “Yorgos again” in a flash when I ask him who he’d love to work with — and he largely credits the director’s vision for the success the film has since garnered. “He made it weird and wacky and bawdy and irreverent, and it’s just not what you’re used to seeing,” he gushes. One particular on-set tale gives some insight into the energetic nature of Lanthimos’ sets, Alwyn recollecting a close-shave experience during a flirtatious forest scene with Emma Stone which resulted in the actress being taken to hospital. “The woods scene; the rugby tackling scene. We — or I — got maybe a little too carried away in the rugby aspect of it, and Emma took a fall... which was completely my fault. She knocked herself on the root of a tree and hurt her head; the paramedics came, she had to go to hospital, and we had to stop filming for the day.” The sheer panic still momentary lingers on Alwyn’s face as he recounts the story: “She’d just won an Oscar [...] I was cowering in the corner thinking I’d just killed Emma Stone.”

Alwyn’s latest project, Harriet, is a stark departure from The Favourite, the actor trading in Masham’s comic fluidity for the chilling rigidity of Gideon Brodess, the vengeful and sickeningly violent son of Harriet’s owner. As aforementioned, it is difficult to reconcile the man sitting opposite me sipping his coffee with the evil he portrays on screen, and I’m curious as to Alwyn’s process for getting into such a poisonous mindset. “It’s tricky, because what he stands for is abhorrent, and obviously unrelatable,” he explains. “What him and his family did, and the idea of slavery, is repulsive. But I suppose with those kinds of characters you try to find some kind of humanity within them — which suits the time they were living in — to hold onto. And in Gideon’s case, it’s probably some kind of deep, repressed, buried feelings of love. Maybe love for Harriet? I don’t think he necessarily has a language for it, or even understands what it is. But he’s deeply tangled and confused inside. And you try and connect with those sides of him. But, in terms of who they are and what they stand for... it’s hard to find a way in. It’s near impossible.”

Alwyn gives a brutal performance in the film, deftly showcasing Gideon’s skin-crawling internal struggle between racist disgust, and Lima Syndrome-style  lust of Harriet, and his antagonistic villainy is the perfect foil to fellow Brit Cynthia Erivo’s stunning performance as the eponymous emancipator, Alwyn extolling her “formidable” work ethic and on-screen generosity as hugely motivational in his preparation. The story of Harriet Tubman, though well known, is perhaps not as staple a piece of knowledge in the American psyche as her actions demand, and Alwyn hopes that the film will help to give her the wider historical credit she deserves, both in the States and beyond. “Growing up in the UK,” he explains, “I didn’t know who she was, really. I’d seen her name; I’d seen the older iconic images of her. But I didn’t know her story. You hope that films like this will make it more accessible, and bring people in to learn about her and the story of what she did, what she achieved.”

As the politics of division take hold around the world, there has been an intensified focus on the debate surrounding story-telling, and the potential impact or consequence a story can have in the current climate; Todd Phillips’ Joker, for example, has faced significant criticism for potentially giving encouragement to white terrorism and racism. In this vein, the telling of stories like Tubman’s seems more necessary than ever, and this is not lost on Alwyn. “If you go on Twitter and read down on the news, there’s endless stories of division and racism, bigotry, families being torn apart at the borders. Without putting too much on it, if there was someone who represents a fight in the face of that, Harriet Tubman seems to shine pretty strong. And you’d hope that someone like her would become a part of a global curriculum at school.” Alwyn is hopeful that giving figures like Tubman their due historical credit — at least in terms of film — will universalise her all-too-recent struggle, and help unite people in the face of societal partition.

Alwyn’s next project will see him return to London, albeit a dark, Dickensian version of the city, as he takes on the role of Bob Cratchit — Ebenezer Scrooge’s much-abused clerk — in Steven Knight’s upcoming rendition of A Christmas Carol. Though he cannot give too much away, he promises the miniseries will be much darker and truer to Dickens’ sordid portrayal of London than previous versions. “It’s very much more in that kind of gritty, darker, slightly twisted world,” he explains. “It’s not as sanitised, perhaps, as most other versions are [...] it really goes into Scrooge’s own pain and why he is the way he is in quite an unpleasant way. And definitely in a way that hasn’t been seen before.”

Alwyn speaks with a soft, magnetic enthusiasm that almost makes me forget that this is indeed an interview, and I am disappointed to look down at my dictaphone and discover that our allotted time slot is drawing to a close. Characteristically, however, he laughs off any time constraint, and I am afforded some final questions. At 28 years old, the actor is arguably slightly older than some of the other industry ‘up-and-comers’ one might bracket him alongside, and I ask whether he thinks the hyper-visibility of fame elicited by social media is in part to blame for an increasing tendency to link the validity of success with being in your early 20s. Alwyn, despite having an instagram page and being in a relationship with one of the biggest musicians in the world, is notably more private than many others in his position, and he quotes a piece of advice given to him by Ang Lee on set of Billy Lynn in his response.

“It’s not a sprint,” he decides, after some deliberation. “Everyone has different ways of going. I’m still at an early stage in my career. I left Central in 2015, the first film I was in came out at the end of 2016. It doesn’t feel too long ago. I don’t think there is any right way to do it, but [...] I do think it’s an interesting point about social media and the idea of instant visibility, an instant attainment... it’s a dangerous thing to play into. And something that would be dangerous to get hooked on because I don’t think it’s real. You know, social media is [a facade]. And if you buy into that being a reality — or that’s what you go after — it’s not healthy.”

I am struck by how refreshing Alwyn’s attitude to fame is, though by the end of our conversation, I am hardly surprised. This is someone for whom the work is clearly a far superior motivational factor than fame or recognition, and this passion for his craft is evident in every project he touches. Ang Lee was right, it is a marathon rather than a sprint, but Joe Alwyn certainly seems ahead of the curve as he enters what promises to be a vastly exciting new chapter in his career. I, for one, can’t wait to see what he does next.

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

frame story

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/YdkFL81

by beemotionpicture

Once upon a time, a prince brings a pauper to a ball. The clock strikes midnight, and neither lives happily ever after.

Jason recognizes a man at a gala and knows: this is the moment it all falls apart.

Bruce is there to pick up the pieces.

Words: 1184, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage

Categories: Gen

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd

Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne

Additional Tags: Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Pedophilia, none of these are graphic but they're important themes so please heed the tags!, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, the comfort comes later but it does i promise, Protective Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, bruce will give him one though. plenty of hugging, Bruce Wayne Needs a Hug, he deserves one too, Alfred will get a bigger role in the next chapter but i won't tag him yet, Character Study, Relationship Study, Father-Son Relationship, Family, POV Bruce Wayne, no beta we die like jason todd

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/YdkFL81