#like she loved it. clearly. and she was GOOD at it too. steph is constantly perceived as a screw up and has pretty low opinion of herself

[welcometogrouchland]

I support the "Batman was unfairly biased to Stephanie for XYZ reasons" crowd so strongly bc DC claims that Bruce is a master planner who is able to understand anyone's psychology but he didn't realize that literally every single one of Steph's problems as a teenager would've been solved by her joining a shitty punk band. If he couldn't figure that much out then he didn't understand her for a minute

[victimsofyaoipoll]

Round 2

Propaganda Under Cut

Iris West

Treated terribly by fandom because of racism and misogyny

Iris is one of the oldest Flash characters (well, oldest by measure of the Silver Age Flash) and despite the show's problems she was adapted pretty well. Her being pushed aside 100% has to do with her being Black in the adaptation. The most popular ship on Ao3 for that show is her white husband x a white passing supervillain clearly intended to be read as actually white who has been in LITERALLY ~SIX EPISODES. He DIED IN 2016. THEY ARE STILL DOING THIS

Gets mom friended like you wouldn't BELIEVE. People hate her because she was childhood best friends with The Flash and has chemistry with him :( like it's her fault she's sweet and smart and not the male blue coded villain to the red hero. I am so tired

Stephanie Brown

Literally my best friend ever!!! Every time she shows up in a comic I point at her and smile!!! She’s the vigilante known as spoiler & batgirl & was a robin before getting fridged because of editorial mandate and misogyny she deserves so much better @_@. The m/m that some people hate her for is timkon; like they ARE very gay but people are genuinely insane about hating her instead of also realizing that she too is gay (insane amount of subtext w her bff cass). Basically she was Tim’s girlfriend for a long time on and off. People will literally call her abusive for no reason they’ll be like oh but she didn’t apologize for starting a gang war accidentally and faced no consequences for it :/ as if she wasn’t literally KILLED OFF BRUTALLY. And although hate is rarer for her nowadays from what I’ve seen she’s also a victim of Background Lesbian Syndrome. And also a victim of Woman Not Allowed To Have Ocmplex Feelings in the source material itself (tim is canonically bi now yay but like steph wasn’t allowed to have any complicated feelings at all at her on again off again ex breaking up with her for good???). Anyways she’s the light of my life.

she’s the light of my life my baby girl my everything. she canonically dated tim drake, but people love to ship tim with his male friend kon or his male brothers (🤢🤮) and so they constantly sideline her, making her the quirky wingwoman or sometimes even villainizing her by trying to claim she was abusive to tim. i don’t know why so many people hate her my girl will literally just be standing there and people will hate on her.

Stephanie was first introduced in the 1994 Robin series as a side love interest for Robin, but when she turned out to be really popular she became the main love interest. Because of this, she was fully fleshed out as a vigilante calling herself Spoiler to try and take down her villainous father, the Cluemaster. She later grew a lot closer to other cast members, such as Batgirl and Oracle, to get herself a firmly established place among the bats. Then, she dies in a gang war after taking up the Robin mantle. Eventually, in 2009, she was brought back from the dead and took on the Batgirl mantle. Her and Robin get back together sometime around ~2010 and they are solidly together until 2021. Then, Robin breaks up with her off panel for zero reason in canon, only to date some really boring guy named Bernard. By fanon, she's often demonized and turned into an abuser to make either this ship, or a lot of other mlm ships happen. Either that or things are mysteriously set in the time she's dead despite characters who were not yet introduced until she returned appearing. strange.

[zealsoughtsequesterustanxiedemon]

Finished my rewatch of No Game No Life and first watch of the movie and wow. Series is like 6/10 (I enjoy it but there's a flavor of things that I dislike), but the movie was like maybe a 9/10 for me.

Going to start with dislikes of the series. Most of my dislike is just like, the main characters are TOO good for my taste, they are determined to win to a childish extent and the story just lets them and explains it afterwards while making them look cool. Can make the whole story feel like an unearned victory lap. Just not the type of story I like.

They're too mean to Steph. I like Steph, she's a good girl. They should stop being repeatedly surprised when she's insightful. The only reason they don't respect her is she has bad intuition with games. You could argue that it's a key point to showing that they're assholes but also :c Stop being so mean to her and do more with her.

Third is stop being so irresponsible. Your bets have no weight if you just bet your life and everything you own all the time and suffer no drawbacks; it just makes you look irresponsible over and over. This one kinda ties into the first because, like, the first basically justifies how they can bet everything: the story is already set on making them never lose or suffer any drawbacks so they can just bet everything all the time. This one also becomes an issue for me when they try comforting and war beast child they beat at a game for part of her nation. This child character is having a panic attack because she is suddenly feeling the weight of all the lives of her own nation she just ruined by being negligent during the game and their first response is like ,"Don't worry about it, you were just having fun :)". It's making light of such a like, real emotion that it kinda annoyed me.

That's it for bad stuff. In general, I still overall like the series because it's fun :D. I really like the games! I am big enthusiast of card games, board games, and video games (was president of my college's card & board games club). This anime makes pretty excellent use of all three, AND it's consistently good at making both interesting games and coming up with interesting plays for our star players to make in them. That Shiritori game was so cool. I take issue with how they're able to make those plays constantly and make it look easy, but the plays themselves are plenty enjoyable.

It has a very fun, flawed world. I like how the rules for this world were clearly made to stop people from suffering, but they clearly failed. It's really fucked up that you can become the ruler for your whole race just by like, winning some games. It's fucked up that you can bet not only your lives, but also your entire races lives. This is not a just world even when physical violence is impossible. It reveals the other types of violence there can be.

The characters are fun. The main two are quirky assholes, Steph is a sweetheart, Jibril is horny, etc. I don't always like how the main two are assholes, but they're still overall enjoyable and the rest of the cast is all lovely. I like how committed they are at being the pinnacles of a siscon and brocon without really feeling romantic.

I also like the concept of people with less ability being able to overcome others with superior ability. Games are very much a thing where strategy is key. Yes, it is not fair that all the other peoples of the world have magic and one people does not. Yes, that means in a theoretical sense, a non-magical person could win more games if they had magic. However, strategy and game intuition is definitely that can be developed from your perspective in a way where having a super power to rely on can be a detriment. This unfortunately a little undercut by our two main heroes being god gamers, and no other humans really showing off this strength from adversity but the idea is still theoretically brought up!

Anyways, onto the movie!

First off, wow this movie is a fucking weird choice. It completely skips away from the main story to instead do a lore movie using the faces of the main cast with just the small justification that it's the god of the current isekai world telling it (Tet is such a cutie, I'd fuck him). It's this very serious movie about war, love, and faith that ends in a bittersweet way with our heroes saving the world from constant war but at the cost of their lives and all the ties they had to cut to survive to get there. There are drawbacks to this. The movie has a tough time at the start; really feels like it's having to double-time plot and world building since it's an almost fresh slate of story and characters. It is such a tone shift from the core series, but I think that actually works a lot in it's favor.

For one, it makes the fun, flawed world of the tv series feel so much real. Like even if the game world is still problematic and hierarchical, it's so bright and shiny compared to the previous one. It makes me go "Oh of course the rules of the game world would think banning physical violence would solve things, the previous world was entirely defined by a constant war." This is such an upgrade that I can forgive the flaws that are more obvious now that there's been time outside of constant war.

This movie has an odd religious presence I did not expect. I guess I should have expected it seeing as this world building is based around gods AND even has an in-universe god telling it. Reminds me, I might be too Monogatari poisoned, but part of me also wonders how much to trust Tet as a narrator. He tells us not to trust all the details at the end, but it was something I was thinking about throughout and that kinda made me wanna trust him more. Whether or not we should believe anything he says, the themes and the subtext feel like they apply v nicely, so I'm willing to say those are valid either way. Anyways, with the ending of the story, the MC gets the holy grail all the violent gods were constant warring over, but he can't grasp it, despairs, and, in desperation, prays for the first time. He begs for the god he's always been paranoid of being beside him to make meaning of his awful life and that exact god shows up. Perfect timing of faith gratification.

It's interesting in a couple ways. For one, it has some fun subtext of people being the ones who create gods. Like before this, Tet was invisible, a non-presence in the story except for Riku's conceptualization of him. Tet only appears when Riku prays for him, which gives an idea of cause and affect. I don't think it's a farfetched read to think Tet was brought into existence by Riku unknowingly using the holy grail thing. Lord, again it's fuckin cheeky that Tet is the one telling this story. Like, literally ending the story with "The hero was at his lowest point and wished for his ideal god, and I showed up and saved the day :D". Second, since there are in fact other gods in the story (not on screen but still), this kind of sends of a message saying to choose your god(s). Reject the gods that oppress you. Only accept the god that loves you, will respect for you, will put in the work for you, and will give your life meaning. In that way, it's kind of sweet. I'm not a huge fan of organized religion, most queers aren't, but that doesn't mean I'm not spiritual. I find this kind of one-on-one relationship with a god interesting.

Before I forget, I also really liked Riku and Schwi. It was like seeing versions of Sora and Shiro, but better. Versions of them where their flaws have actual weight. Where they don't win at no cost. Where they clash, have real conflict with each other, and grow from it. The contrast felt jarring in the perfect way. This movie was a genuinely sweet and tragic love story. It was short, but very impactful. I didn't end up crying, but I felt tears welling up at a few points. It doesn't get rid of my issues with the tv series, but it alleviates them. It's the exact thing you want when you step away from the main story: a breath of fresh air without baggage. Oh, I can't forget to bring something up. Remember how I said Shiro and Sora doesn't feel like incest earlier. Tet is kind of implying (even through his "can't trust what I say") that Sora and Shiro are the reincarnations of Riku and Schwi. With it being such a deep and compelling romance, this really feels like the hardest I've seen a work go for incest subtextually. Like holy fuck, they soulmated so hard that they came back as inseparable step-siblings. Their romance is just so unquestionable. Riku's sister immediately assumes they're in love and ready to fuck. He asks Schwi to marry him and as a robot she asserts that she doesn't understand because marriage is for mating which is impossible between them, and he asserts that that doesn't matter. Until tragedy starts hitting, they're always by each other's side. And it's so funny because those vibes were not there before because of the mood of the tv series, but because the movie goes so hard and literally gives them Sora's and Shiro's faces + voices + implied reincarnation, it feels like the movie is begging me to want the main story siblings to shack up. Amazing.

Lastly, because this is getting kinda long, although this feels like a completely different story, I really like how it connects to the main one. Like, this world feels perfect for Sora and Shiro because Tet designed it for them. Even though they still feel a little too good, their ease in this world feels slightly justified because someone designed it to be easy to specifically them.

I hope all that explains why the movie is such a jump in score for me. It doesn't solve the issues of it's predecessor, but it avoids them itself and is able to alleviate them slightly in the small ways they connect. It's very satisfying.

[aalghul]

Honestly, sorry just need to say it but, one thing that irks the heck out of me about the "UWU, soft boi, insecure, Tim!" Fanon is that there's several kids it applies too much more than it ever did Tim.

Off the cuff:

Jason's first response to meeting Dick after a full year at the manor is fear that Dick will replace him, showing a deep insecurity about his place in the family despite a full year as a full on adopted child of Bruce. Plus, part of the reason Alfred wanted him to be benched as Robin is that he'd found Jason crying in his room multiple times!

Then there's Steph, whose early sense of self worth was really, really not great and led her to putting up with extremely messy power dynamics and crummy treatment just for scraps of approval or affection. And also she died smiling, after multiple dies of violation and torture, just because Bruce said she was Robin!

Then there's Cass, who is very confident in her skills, but also initially had no work life balance and sort of had to be roped and cajoled into anything outside of crime fighting and she takes any perceived rejection from Bruce incredibly hard. Oh and also her massive death wish!

So true!!! And what’s interesting is that these three are also hit hardest by the “stop trying to make them the victims of every situation” gang (who make Tim the blameless victim of everything, but don’t get me started on that). Everyone is allergic to admitting that

A) Jason and Steph were never the “bad, reckless, stupid robins that only feel arrogance and anger” and are in fact the two Robins most insecure about their performance as Robin. And the ones constantly reminded that they were failures compared to the others (excluding Duke cuz when is Duke included in Robin conversations. Sigh. Off topic). These two canonically have the insecurities and “be a good Robin above all else, and maybe my life will have been worth something” drive that people write Tim with.

B) Cass is not a fighting robot that you can bust out to make a “she’s Bruce’s favourite” joke, use as a mind reader for some impromptu therapy, or some personal bodyguard (usually for Tim). Cass doesn’t just magically understand Bruce, and she’s shown fo be very hurt by his inability to communicate his actual feelings. And his inability to healthily have feelings in general actually. Cass is not perfect and that’s exactly why she’s not a boring, side character (like some people so clearly want her to be). I never hear any discussion of Cass’s very canon death wish but there’s dozens of posts at any time about why Tim was suicidal and him saying he knew Dick would save him is bs (not arguing or agreeing, just saying).

I’m not one to get on people for ignoring canon characterization when it sucks (and most of Tim’s does suck ass) but this specific type usually happens at the expense of other characters for Tim. So there’s that. I’m also not saying Tim didn’t have moments that match this characterization, but if we’re strictly discussing it what a majority of canon is, then it’s not even an option to have him near these three. “Don’t compare characters like this” etc etc but one of these characters is a rich, white boy while one is a former homeless kid (with a history of being hated by fans for not fitting their idea of billionaire heroes), a lower class girl (with a history of being treated as a love interest for the rich, white boy, on top of the classism) and an East Asian girl not to mention that she was raised to be mute and people are still weird about it (I really don’t have to explain this one.) So, I think it won’t hurt one of the most well treated characters in the fandom to have me do this.

[imonthinice]

The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 2/?

Word Count: 2k

Author’s Note: Y/N - your name, A/N - any name (your best friend’s name)

Warnings: Swearing, no beta bitch we die like Jason Todd

Welcome Back! I have, once again, written more of Jason Todd because he’s a fucking teddy bear and I love him.

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12) (Part 13) (Part 14) (Part 15) (Part 16) (Part 17) (Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20)

Y/N and Jason both returned from that date feeling all giddy about each other, but trying their dammed-est to not let their hopes get too high about the other. However, that was extremely, extremely hard for Jason to do with family like Dick in his life. It’s like coming home to a hopeless romantic of a shipper as a nosey bitch. Lovingly, of course. No one’s like Dick.

“So, Y/N?” Dick asked Jason immediately as he entered the Manor.

“Yeah, what about her?”

“So, many questions: Was that a date? If no, will there be a date? Is there going to be a second date? Do you like her? Do you think we’ll like her? Does she know you’re Bruce Wayne’s son?” Dick rambled at his little brother.

“Okay hold on god damn, yes it was a date, yes there will be a second, yeah I think she’s cool and I like her, slow your roll Circus Boy, I don’t know when she’ll meet you lot, I don’t think she knows who I am, she’s from Metropolis, so I don’t think she knows the Waynes well.” Jason answered Dick with confidence.

“So you like her!” Steph mocked as she entered the hallway, probably heard her brothers talking about Y/N, so she wanted in on it. Somehow she had evaded Jason’s gaze though, so she startled him immensely.

“Jeez, how many of you will scare me today? And yeah, dumbass, I like her. But I’m doing this magical thing called ‘Not getting my god damn hopes up about her since it’s only the first date’ you hopeless romantic fucks.” Jason barked at them.

“Yeah, but you love us.” Dick said.

“That might be true, but your meddling is only going to cause chaos, Dick and Steph.”

“What about my meddling, Jay?” Bruce asked. Once again, he had heard the talking about Jason’s new crush and decided he’d parent the boy on his girl. Jason jumped out of his skin, because, he had once again, not seen Bruce enter the hallway despite his best efforts to not get startled again.

“You, are going to give me a heart attack.”

“Looks like this girl let your guard down.”

“Can we just go on patrol and stop badgering me?” Jason muttered under his breath.

“Nope!” Barbara exclaimed. Clearly, there’s a pattern with Waynes escaping Jason’s attempts to not get startled today, “We’re still going to badger you, Jay,” Barbara finished.

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

When Y/N made her way back to A/N, she couldn’t help but turn her radio as loud as she could and try to take the longer journey back home. Pieces of quiet and tranquility always surprised and drew her in. Like a good book on a Sunday morning before the rest of the bustling city of Gotham or Metropolis awoke itself. If New York never sleeps, she thought, then what the hell do Gotham and Metropolis call themselves. She laughed.

There were a few good things about Gotham, like the people you’d meet on the street at 4am were some of the weirdest but kindest people you’d ever know. It’s like the city radiated off of the energy of the people in it, and in spite of the villains constantly hitting the city with their worst, somehow everyone never let it get to them. It was admirable. Metropolis was the same in that avenue, but it didn’t feel like the cold Gotham streets.

Y/N thought Jason was one of the kinder people she had met in her travels and classes. And she never thought that she’d meet someone she liked this much in her criminal psychology class of all places, but hey, the universe had different pen strokes for her.

She went and parked her car in the driveway of the rental house she and A/N shared. Only the two of them shared it, but if either of them lost their jobs, they’d be looking for another roommate immediately. Pulling out her bag which was full of notes written by Jason, the original notes written by her, and binders upon binders of criminal cases she was looking into at the time, she would get out of her car and begin walking to her door.

Of course, like most people, she would kick off her heels the minute she walked through the doors of the house, to which, A/N paused her music and went to go question Y/N about Jason.

“So, you know how this works, babes, lay it on me, how’s hottie? Is he kind?” A/N pondered.

“He’s so kind, he paid the printing fees for my notes and rewrote all of them, I guess it’s a system for us now. I write the notes in class while he tries to take it all in, we meet up, and he rewrites them all and pays the printing fee.”

“He paid the fee?! At that college?” A/N said, completely shocked.

“Is that shocking?”

“Well, the printing fees are so fucking expensive, hun. Mans must have daddy’s money to do that.”

“Really? Well regardless money doesn’t matter, he’s kind and I can make a name for myself if I graduate at the top of my class.” She said, fully believing this. Smart woman. She knew she could do it.

“I believe in you, do you have homework tonight? I can make dinner for you so you can study.” A/N offered.

“Nah, I’m just going to go file my notes and shower, I’ll come join you and help after.”

“Well, don’t drown.” A/N joked.

“Do you know how much effort that would take?” She laughed as she walked towards her room, once she got there she pulled out her papers and began the slow filing process of them into her desk.

About 2 minutes into this, she got a text:

Hey stranger.

If someone had a heart monitor hooked up to her, they could have bet their last penny on her heart skipping a beat. 

Hey Jason. She sent back.

I had a fun time today with you, do you want to do the same thing tomorrow, I could use your fast writing skills to get by in classes. And I just like talking to you. What do you say?

She thought. Maybe something legit is here, hopefully I’m not just used for notes. She worried about that, since she was just a tad insecure about him. He was pretty. She knew she was a looker, sure. But he was something more.

I would love to go on another budget date with you.

Budget? Actually yeah, I guess it is budget lol. Maybe next time I’ll actually take you out to lunch like I said I would.

I, honestly, completely forgot you said you’d take me to lunch, I was just having fun as we were talking.

Me too. You’re a hoot.

A hoot? That’s a book nerd statement if I’ve ever heard one. She joked. She didn’t actually know if he was a book nerd at this time, but they had been joking the entire time when she was filing her notes. She was no where near done filing her notes, Jason was a distraction from that, it wasn’t that important, she would end up finishing it later. She just liked some semblance of organization so she didn’t have to put it off.

I’ll have you know I’ve probably read more books than you.

Well book nerds are cute.

Eventually the messages from Jason and Y/N started slowing, Y/N assumed he was tired or working so she took her chance to file her notes and start running her shower.

Sorry Y/N, this has been fun but I’m going to get really sparse with replies, I got work to do.

That’s fine! Where do you work, by the way?

And she got into the shower. Halfway through her shower her phone pinged, she assumed Jason was texting back, so when she finished her shower, before she even got her towel on, she decided to answer him:

I work at Wayne Enterprises with my dad. It’s quite fun.  He had said.

Oh! I’ve heard the owner of Wayne Enterprises is a lovely man, have you met him? She asked him back.

And within an instant, he answered.

He’s my dad, so yeah.

You’re the Jason Todd? Heir to the Wayne Manor and Wayne Enterprises? She started thinking back on what A/N had said. Yep, she thought, Daddy’s money indeed. She started to slip into her pajamas, which were literally a mess and not put together, because this is the real world, not every girl has matching sets, when he answered:

I hope that doesn’t change much, Y/N.

Explains the camera I saw but didn’t mention, and that’s about it.

You saw the cameras? Damn it. I tried to shield you, they may have pictured us together, sorry.

Worth it for a lovely date. I’ve seen worse, my mum works with Clark Kent, who I guess you probably know since he’s Bruce’s best friend, and the paparazzi loves to take Clark’s picture.

Oh yeah, Uncle Clark. Yeah, the pap love him. You get used to it. I guess you somewhat know my family lol.

Nah, that’s about all I know. Wasn’t really interested in drama about you lot because it’s just not my business. Probably not a shared ideal with the general public.

She finished getting dressed and went to go cook with A/N, and share the news.

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

“Girl! You were right about daddy’s money oh my god,” Y/N said when she entered the kitchen.

“Go on,” A/N urged.

“You know Jason Todd? Guess what. That’s hottie from Crim Psych 101.”

“Are you serious? That’s insane. You’re probably plastered across the internet right now for that date,” A/N laughed, “are you scared to date a famous man?” She asked.

“No, he’s really sweet and if this gets serious, I can just block out the flashes.”

The two of them laughed and started cooking. A/N was Latina, so, of course, she was in charge to cook most nights. But Y/N made killer desserts and pizza. Tonight was fajitas, so Y/N kind of sat bat and let A/N do her thing. Trying to know more so one day A/N wouldn’t have to do all the work, Y/N went onto the internet and the first thing she saw?

Globally Revered Son of a Millionaire, Jason Todd, out on a DATE with a Mystery Girl?

Like clockwork, Jason answered:

I guess I have a lot to teach you, and I hope you haven’t been on the internet recently.

I have. Globally Revered Son of a Millionaire. She texted back.

Fuck those damn tabloids. He said, she couldn’t help but agree, the paparazzi seem like they’re very invested in stories that aren’t theirs to tell.

Can’t agree with you more. We should put on a show for them tomorrow, actually give them something to write about.

I like your thinking.

You’ve opened up a lot today.

Is it your turn now?

What do you want to know? You asked him before turning to A/N.

“Tabloids talk too much,” you sneered at her.

“Cat should get their tongue and choke on it,” she finished, “did you at least look cute in their pics?” she asked.

“Somehow. Wasn’t even posing,” Y/N finished.

“Well, food’s done, are you still hungry?”

“Always.”

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

Jason turned to his brother, Dick, Nightwing, and said, 

“She knows now.”

“That you’re rich?” he asked.

“Yeah, I guess I have to be more wary of her now,” he sighed, “I hope she’s not in it for the Wayne fortune.”

“Doubt she is if she agreed the tabloids can suck it, Red Hood.”

“I pray you’re right.”

He then drew his guns and fired at the ground underneath their laest venture into crime-fighting. This was gonna be one hell of a ride Y/N embarked on, not even knowing what she was getting into.

[verymuchimmortalcat]

Maribat March Day 18: Protect

ao3

part 1, part 3

@maribatmarch-2k21 

Ages of the Batfam approximately in the fic:

Dick-25

Jason-19

Cass-19

Marinette-18

Steph-18

Tim-17

Damian-11

Babs is around Dick's age and Alfred's immortal.

Also since this pre hawkmoth's defeat Adrien is currently Mr. Bug and fighting Akumas with the help of the rest of the team.

Dick and Damian had been injured on patrol. Unsurprising really. They were still getting used to being partners. So, Lady Noire was covering both hers and the dynamic duo's patrol routes.

Marinette had joined them on Patrol as Lady Noire the day after her return to Gotham. Alfred had refused to let her join them the first day. He had said that it had been way too much for her to handle and that she should go to bed. Alfred was right. But Marinette didn't see the need to admit it. She and Dick had drawn up the patrol route the next day. They were a lot more extensive than the ones they had followed the last time she had been in Gotham. But it was a crime ridden city with around half its protectors left.

She also happened to be one of the only members of the family who had managed to keep in contact with everyone. She and Babs had spoken and Marinette now had Oracle to back her up and by extension Batgirl. She and Steph had spent some time together but given that Steph was handling both college and vigilantism, they didn’t see each other all that often.

She called Cass regularly and might or might not have bullied Jason into accepting her calls.

Surprisingly, it had been Tim who had called her. He had needed to go to Paris on his search and Marinette had set down rules on other heroes entering Paris. Family or not they were supposed to let her know, and knowing better than to anger Marinette, Tim had called. He probably wouldn't have if he knew she was in Gotham, the idiot would have just tried to get away with it. She had been angry either way. He hadn't even bothered to talk to her before leaving Gotham. But Tim had retorted, "it's not like anyone believed me."

"I do. I saw your research there's a large possibility you're right. "

Tim had nearly cried then, telling her everything. She had immediately forced him to promise that he'd check in once a week at the least.

As she leaped across roof tops, she heard a little kid say, “look Mommy, it’s Catwoman.” You cannot throttle kids, she reminded herself. It wasn’t even the first time she had been mistaken for Catwoman. The first time it happened, Marinette had turned blank and Barbara had laughed, while Dick could be seen visibly holding in his laughter. Batman doesn’t laugh after all. Selina herself had teased Marinette about it endlessly.

Patrol had been quiet so far, which might have been a good thing if Marinette wasn’t sure it would take a turn for the worse. And wasn’t she right.

Alfred had just called telling her that Damian wasn’t at the pent house and the Robin suit was missing. His tracker led to one of the warehouses by the docks. Marinette cursed. On a normal day Robin could take down a decent number of goons and come out unscathed. Injured? Marinette didn’t want to find out.

She headed to the docks as fast as she could. It was honestly fairly obvious where they were, almost as if they were trying to bring attention to themselves. It was probably a trap for Batman. Taking Robin as bait almost as if it had never been done before. Except it had been done several times before. One would think they’d at least get a little more original.

Looking around, there were about fifteen goons. Damian must have been more out of it than he let on. God only knows why the kid would sneak out in such a state. Marinette had an inkling that it had to with Talia and his upbringing. What Marinette would give to have a conversation with Talia right now.

Sneaking in carefully, Marinette starts to formulate a plan. Taking them all down was not an option, some of them might try to harm Damian. She didn’t need him to over exert himself. They could take the Batmobile back, she’d already asked Alfred to bring it to their location, but he clearly had been downplaying his injuries and Marinette didn’t want to test his limits.

He could untie himself. He was definitely capable of doing so. Marinette couldn’t see if he had done so or not from where she was standing but she doubted that he hadn’t. He was also taunting them and sneering at them constantly. Marinette had no idea if he had a plan or not. However, before Marinette could do anything, one of the goons spotted her. Damian who had seen her at the exact same second, freed his hands and took down the man nearest to him. Before he could fight more, Marinette used her staff to vault over to Damian and grabbed him. She dragged him behind her to where Alfred had promised the Batmobile would be waiting, ignoring his protests of how he could take them on his own and that he had a plan.

Once they were seated in the Batmobile and headed back to the penthouse, Marinette spoke up, “why did you sneak out?”

“Tt, I’m capable of taking care of myself.”

“All of us are, but Bats protect our own.”

They made the rest of the journey in complete silence. Both Dick and Alfred were waiting at the cave. Once Dick had finished fretting over Damian, he benched him for the next week and sent him to bed. Marinette had begin to walk out so she could finish her Patrol when Alfred called, “Miss Marinette, I believe it’s time we all returned upstairs.”

Dick laughed and Marinette sighed and detransformed. Once they had returned upstairs, Marinette pulled her brother aside.

“What’s up?”

“Why did Damian think he had to sneak out when he was injured?”

Dick sighed, “I don’t know Nette, or rather I have no confirmation of my suspicions. But he seems to have an in built need to prove himself, thinks we’ll send him back and that failure is unacceptable.”

“I would love to have a very strongly worded conversation with Talia.”

“I would too, Alfred probably already has a speech drafted.”

Marinette chuckled, “that definitely seems like him.”

“Going to bed? Or are you gonna stay up working on your commissions?”

“I’ll check up on Damian and then go to bed.”

“Night Nette.”

“Night.”

Marinette made her way to Damian’s room. He was still awake when she went there, sitting on his bed and glaring at the wall. He was pointedly ignoring her presence. Marinette cleared her throat, all she got in return was a “tt.” Taking that as an invitation, Marinette sat down next him.

“I know Talia didn’t tell you about me, and with all the teachings of the League you think that our Family follows a hierarchy of the same sort.”

He didn’t respond but she knew he was listening.

“You’re part of this family too, ok? You don’t have to fight for a position here.”

Damian turned to look at her, clearly vulnerable. Marinette had just smiled him and wished him good night. She had meant what she said earlier today. Bats protect their own and Marinette would protect her little brother.

[whereflowersbloom]

Alfred’s farewell

The sky had begun gloomy since even before the sun had the chance to rise. Mist was overshadowing the city of Gotham, and drops of dew are still littering every surface. The birds were unusually quiet, nestling safely under the warmth of their nest. A large group of grey clouds lingering above the place, promising unpleasant weather to deal with later on. Lighting crackled in the grey sky and snatched away any hope of a golden day. Only songs of sadness spread around, feeling the sorrow taking place. Even the world is holding its breath and everything is still, the earth seemed to be mourning as well the unexpected loss. The atmosphere was exceptionally dark and lifeless, each face filled with silent and bitter grief and regret. Tears do not fall, there’s a blackhole forming in place of his heart. This date…this date would be burned into his soul for the rest of his existence, it would be a permanent reminder to himself of how foolish he was, how everything…could change in matter of seconds. Seconds only a few more seconds would have made the difference. The tree that was once full of life, the one Alfred looked after kindly, because he planted it himself after coming to work for Thomas and Martha Wayne, was now barren as the weather grew colder and the icy wind blew the leaves away.

There’s people gathering, familiar faces and unknown ones. The solemn mode had settled between them, and soon the ceremony comes to an end. It’s time to say farewell.

Will I always, from now on, be this cold? Was Pennyworth really gone? He didn’t dare to pronounce his name. He discerned the sounds of footsteps slowly fading away and all that was heard afterwards was the thud of knees hitting the ground. Grayson. Even Dick was so lost and crushed, the man who always looked so high-spirited and brave, so even-tempered and filled with honor, seemed so weak now.

“Alfred, I am so sorry…” Richard whispered with a low-pitched and desperate sob as he caressed the stone with his trembling hand. His face, marred for life, had an even more painful expression plastered on his face as tears started to fall slowly onto the dirt. But it’s not your fault. Damian wanted to let him know. He wasn’t there to stop it. Unlike you his mind whispered.

Jason Todd remained silent. Todd had always been quick to emotion in general, to tears when someone else was sad, to contagious laughter when their siblings were smiling, quick-tempered, choleric when provoked. Surprisingly an empathetic sensitive soul, spent many years alone, hungry for tenderness and familial ties. And yet he was wearing an expressionless mask, but his body betrayed his affliction, shaking so badly that Tim had to grasp tightly at his arms to prevent him from going down. Drake. Tim was clearly having so much invisible burden on his shoulders. His curved jaw clenching tight, and his dark blue eyes cast downwards and unblinking. He didn’t have his daily cup of black coffee. No, he didn’t have a single drop of his precious caffeine today. He kept his head low the entire ceremony, maybe he didn’t have the heart to look up at the crying mess everyone was. Perhaps he thought somebody had to tough it out, specially considering Father’s absence.

Stephanie standing close to him, blonde curls dancing with the autumn wind, biting her lips the entire time. Stephanie who tried to be strong and now, after holding in for too long, the tears break out like a leaking dam. She was devastated and weeped openly, clinging to Tim’s coat as if her life depended on it, as if she were drowning, the sight made the hole in Damian’s chest squeeze around his heart. Guilt. Distress.

Cassandra was hardly moving from her spot. She had a deep crease on her brow, and face as hard as rock. She hugged herself in the arms, shielding her frame from the icy wind, when Duke swiftly placed his Armani cashmere coat on her shoulders, her hands were going cold, and the moment Duke noticed the way she shivers with small movements. He considerately held them between his, providing temporary warmth, trying to find some kind of comfort in each other, but Cassandra avoided making eye contact with anyone, her mind was really blank as a void. Possibly still attempting to process the reality. Duke Thomas, the only one that hasn’t lost his mind amid this consequent emotional instability, drops of tears still hanging from the corner of his eyes, while the rests were slowly drying on his cheeks. Damian wasn’t exactly close to Duke but he wondered how he managed to carry on. Where did he find the strength to persist? Damian walked closer to the tombstone, feeling resignation seep into his bones.

Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, beloved father, grandfather, mentor, friend, heroic veteran, a talented cook, a man of family, with a great big heart. Alfred Pennyworth had been a man with many facets. He brought balance to this dysfunctional family, he was the peace and voice of reason. Alfred who made Dick stay in bed when he was badly injured and encouraged him to eat proper meals, lectured Jason for his vulgar language, introduced Jason into the culinary arts, trusting him with the top secret Pennyworth recipes, who secretly switched Tim’s coffee for decaffeinated when he had too much, who prepared Stephanie waffles after a night out patrolling, didn’t say a word of the nights she sneaked out with Kara, who enjoyed the company of Cassandra lurking around the manor, when she’s having a bad day he used to watch the stars with her, listening to Cass make up stories about each star, Alfred who never had to fix anything Duke broke because Thomas instantly apologized and offered to fix it himself, Alfred that found intriguing sudden Duke’s interest in gardening. Alfred... who who spend each and every Damian’s birthdays with him ‘every birthday is special and must be celebrated Master Damian’, gifted him a cat because it made him think of him, offered him a cup of hot chocolate or tea sleepless nights. Alfred, who told him he was proud of him. Alfred, who raised him and loved him wholeheartedly until his last breath.

Damian ran his hand down a large polished stone, ‘Wayne’ carved into it expertly. He sighed wearily and stood beside a gravestone, right next to the family stone, he absentmindedly ran his fingertips along the engraved letters.

‘Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth’

August 16, 1943

-

October 10, 2019

‘The light of our household is gone. Leaving only haunting echoes lingering in this home. A place is vacant in our hearts, which will never be filled.’

It was indeed fitting. Their light was Alfred and he was gone for good. For good the words echoed in his head like an incessant prayer. He felt a pang of pain surge through him as he recalled his last moments with the man who raised him. It felt as if his life was torn apart just yesterday.

‘I miss him already.’ Cassandra gestured in sign language, a single tear rolling down her cheeks. Damian didn’t know if she was saying it to him or his siblings, maybe she just wished to get the weight off her chest, when he didn’t think it could, his heart broke even more.

“Fuck.” Jason swore with pained voice, his turquoise eyes blurring with angry tears that he wiped away roughly. Not particularly at his siblings but himself. For not being able to protect the man who offered a ray of kindness to him, who nurtured his severely malnourished body to health. He didn’t blame Bruce or the others. He was supposed to be better, strong enough to defend his father. Dick was a fucking mess in the dirt,embracing the tombstone with all his strength, like it would somehow bring the dead man back to life. Steph wouldn’t stop crying. Tim was silently punishing himself in his own way, and Cass had been in a mental limbo until a a minute ago. Bruce wouldn’t leave his room for Pete’s sake. He isolated himself from everything and everyone, he simply existed in his bedroom. Not surprised. He should be here, saying goodbye to Alfred, who dedicate his entire life to help him, instead of retreating to a dark room and lying in bed, brooding over his problems. Damian. Damian was so young, he looked like hell, devastated as everyone else. Jason could detect the shadow of regret in his green eyes. He’s seen it before because he experienced it and he saw it every day in Bruce’s eyes. But at least Damian was here, dealing with the crude reality and his anguish.

It felt unreal, like this was only a horrible slow-motion nightmare and they would wake up any minute, a sharp knife that bore a hole through their hearts yet they kept on standing still.

Perhaps it was time to fulfill Alfred’s wishes. He wanted Bruce to set his thirst for justice aside and find happiness, maybe a companion, spend quality time with the children, who clearly weren’t children anymore. The youngest being Damian, who just turned fifteen a couple of months ago. He wanted Richard to start a family of his own with Barbara. He wanted Jason to come back home and stop fighting with a Bruce. He wanted a Tim to seek professional help, see a counselor, quit drinking that damned coffee in excess. Stephanie to stop denying her feelings for Tim and give their relationship a chance. Cassandra constantly suppressing her emotions, fearing to get attached, she was human not a machine trained to commit murder when ordered. Duke should leave behind any doubts to forge his own path and accept he was loved by their family. Damian who Alfred loved like his own grandchild, no matter what he did or what type of person he decided to become, Alfred would always be proud of Damian. ‘In the end, you makes you. No one else, Master Damian.’

“How are you holding up, shortstack?” Jason asked him unexpectedly, snapping out of it, he didn’t know how long his mind had been replaying fond memories with Alfred, he felt the weight of Jason’s hand falling on his shoulder, wearing a genuinely concerned expression.

A cold wind passed by, gracing the leaves and making some brief sounds. The wind leaving with a trail in the form of chilly, close to freezing air. Damian weighted the question in his head. There was only ever-growing emptiness in his chest. After a long moment he spoke.

“I will live.” Damian answered softly, eyes completely fixed on the stone. “I’ll miss him, too...brother.” The young Robin unreservedly confessed, Jason looked slightly taken aback at the words Damian muttered. Damian’s emotions were expressed with snarky comments, throwing daggers and knives, making deadly threats and intimidating stares. He had an aggressive and confrontational demeanor. Damian has never called Jason brother, but it made his lips curl into a small smile. Yes, he was his brother.

Damian was vaguely aware of Jason’s body heat now at his side, followed by Richard who was helped by Tim to stand up, his chest sore from sobbing, black suit covered in dirt but he didn’t seem to care. Meaningless material assets, nothing compared to the irreparable loss they suffered hours ago. Steph took a couple of steps closer to them, her eyes, twins pools of sadness, red and swollen, soon the Wayne siblings gathered around their youngest brother. Embracing tightly the teenager into a group hug.

They shared the same deep numbing pain, but it's more agonizing for Damian because he had been there when it happened, they all knew Damian was suffering so much. The feeling ate him inside, consuming and breaking every part of him miserably. But he isn’t alone anymore, he has his family with him. Damian’s tears are hot and travel down his tanned cheeks, he didn’t want to cry but he couldn’t hold it in any longer, the heartache, the loss, agony, guilt, everything was hitting him all at once. It hurt so much knowing full well that Alfred won't wake up ever again from this neverending deep sleep, buried under the ground lonely and cold and breathless. His grandfather.

It'll be just the the eight of them and it is frightening to accept the truth, that Alfred wouldn’t be around anymore to look after them like he did after all these years. Ever since he first set foot in the Wayne manor. He would me missed every single day. Rchard’s heart broke at the sight of Damian in such crumbling state, his characteristic composure fallen and so alien after living together so many years. Damian was broken too. Dick did the only thing he could think of, patted him affectionately on the back, rubbing it soothingly, mumbling quietly “We are here, Dami.” Letting him know they were all there for him in every possible way. They would try to carry our Alfred’s last wish, for them to get along, integrate, be an harmonious family. Be true siblings. Always Alfred’s children. Together they sang farewell to Alfred with broken chords.

I am not sure if I want to edit this later but here s the progress. I might add Bruce’s part later or tomorrow. My tribute to Alfred 💜❤️❤️❤️

@sofiii @chromium7sky @deep-in-mind67

[thatblondeperson]

So I learnt from that Tim Drake Guy's tumblr that Steph is a bully and abusive with Tim is that true. I ask since I know you seem to agree with a lot of the thoughts expressed on that blog. Can you help me find some examples of Tim/Steph comics. I was going to get YJ but the same tumblr blog says it's bad

So I want to preface with some very solid advice I've learned from being in fandom. It's really hard to learn anything from any blog because so much of it is opinion based, that the line between headcanon and canon gets far too muddied too often, and there's also always going to be biases that come from very personal spaces. It's important to take everything that every blog says ESPECIALLY in the DC fandom, with a very large grain of salt because half the fandom really doesn't actually seem to source their information with anything other than out of context panels, shitposts, or their own perfect ideals of what they want to gleam from the pages of each comic. It's all interpretive, and I'm sure that sounds a little bit petty, but I'm adding myself in here too because I have my own opinions separate from others, despite my firm ideology in staying as close to canon as I possibly can.

As far as that blog, I actually strayed away from them because I no longer agreed with a lot of what was being said. It got to the point where it was getting very unnecessarily negative all the time, and I want no part in this ship war that drives practically every bit of drama in the Tim fandom. I think that there is a lot of merit to some of the opinions on that blog, and they're clearly an expert on Tim in many ways. I knew them personally, so I can attest to that. But I think they also read only what they WANT to read on every page, and I think that makes for a lot of gaps where misinformation can leak in. That got filled with a lot of straight up wrong assessments of Stephanie Brown, and unfortunately that blog was already prime traffic for antis to spew unnecessary hate, so once the blog itself got on board, I tapped out.

No, Stephanie is not an abuser or a bully. I think tumblr throws around the word abuse far too casually. At most, Steph teases Tim, but never to a malicious or purposefully hurtful extent. She pokes at him, just like you would with a best friend. He barely even protests. A simple "Steph..." every now and again, but he even teases her back often and jokes with her. She's not an abuser, in fact, she herself is a victim of severe abuse in her childhood. Her flirting at the beginning of her and Tim's relationship is a bit intense, but she's 15, and doesn't know how to catch his attention. Her boyfriend was clearly way older than her and did not treat her well, her father abused her mother, and she was sexually harassed by her father's friends. She's never seen a healthy relationship to know how to act. Once they get together, she mellows out and is actually very compassionate and kind with Tim, and especially supportive.

A lot of haters throw around all this terrible stuff she did.

They say she stole Robin from Tim. He stepped away from the mantle, and she thought she caught him cheating, and Bruce opened up the opportunity for her.

They highlight a time when she almost blew Tim up. Bruce told her to do something drastic to force Tim to be a better Robin. Should she have thought it through? Yes. But she was young, and still desperate to prove herself.

Steph is a loose canon throughout a lot of her appearances. She doesn't always think before she acts, and that is one of her major flaws. She gets into trouble often, and that causes a lot of tension between her and Tim, often from him becoming overprotective of her.

Steph starts out fairly cynical in the beginning and softens up over time. After the explosion stunt with Tim, she does get her act together and she goes through a fantastic character arc where she really improves upon herself. She becomes a beacon of hope, but she really already was one. She's always been a source of light for Tim. She's a constant tether for him throughout their relationship, and she constantly bringing him back to reality. I think their dynamic is really great, and it does hurt me a lot how often she gets dragged through the mud now. It's tumblr, what can you do?

It's also interesting to me how often Steph is called out for being the unhealthy one, and they never talk about how Tim was the shitty boyfriend way more often:

Kept his identity from her but didn't respect keeping hers private

Kissed her when he was dating someone else at the time (he's actually kinda known for subtle two-timing, but this is hardly brought up by fans)

Essentially stalked her for a while

Often told her she needed to stop being Spoiler (overprotective nature yes...but still)

Interesting how the relationship is only toxic because of Steph. Hell she even gets shit for getting upset that Greta straight up tried to kill her in Young Justice, because they think it was selfish of her that she was desperate to learn Robin's identity. Yeah sorry...murder vs wanting to know your crushes name? Which is worse?

I'm also not going to sit here and demand that everyone love Steph. It's ok that people don't like her, I could give 2 shits, but if they're gonna spew hate, I'd prefer it be rooted in truth. Some of what I see written about her is just so so wrong...there's a trend in anti culture to even write her as Tim's rapist which YIKES. That's so beyond a healthy amount of dislike for a character.

Anyway, comic recs!!!

Detective Comics 647-648. (First appearance of Steph/Spoiler with classic "love at first brick" moment.)

Robin 57-65 (First date issue which is the cutest thing ever. Robin does a little flip at the end because he's so happy. And the chronology of Steph being pregnant which Tim was supportive of the whole time. Super sweet)

Robin 100-104 (Steph gets sick and Tim brings her soup. Lots of cute domestic moments, and you get more into Steph's past)

Robin 111 (more about Steph's past with Tim being super supportive, also the infamous piano issue which is a personal favorite of mine)

Robin 116 (very cute moments after Tim forgets his bday and everyone, Steph included, surprises him)

Robin 119 (supportive bf Tim, strikes again)

Robin 120 (Steph being an amazing supportive gf)

Batgirl 8 (Steph's run, where she and Tim collide again for the first time in a long time. Awkwardness and tension ensues, Tim tries to make a move)

Red Robin 10 (more crossover, very fun. More awkwardness and tension)

Convergence Batgirl (Not the best run, but a nice bit of closure for the pre flashpoint universe. Very sweet and wholesome.)

There's way more that I could list but I'm awful with issue numbers tbh. I know the stories, but I don't have the catalogue memorized. Better people than me have probably made a masterlist of TimSteph comics lol

I don't think you should let any blog turn you away from any particular series. I think if you wanna try out the new YJ, go for it!! I'm very cynical to anything published post 2011, but YJ is the only thing I've consistently read that's NEW, in years. I find it fun. Is it the best? No, not by miles, and it gets stuck with a lot of nonsensical filler often. But it's still a very cute and fun run.

I hope this ask gave you a lot of good info! I also recommend the very long post that should be just below this that goes into a lot of fandom misconceptions about Stephanie brown with more picture examples to highlight everything. Thanks for the ask, anon! I hope you have a lovely time reading these comics and hopefully many more!!

🖤💜❤😊😊😊❤💜🖤

[duketectivecomics]

Hey I was wondering if you know the official order of bruce gaining all the kids including harper, Barbara, and stephanie? I know its Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian but where does the other 3 and duke and cass fall in? Tia!!

So I’m gonna assume that you mean the order in which they get adopted, since finding First Appearances is one of the easier things to google for any character. (Getting First Appearance issues afterall is part of the reason some comics retain their value, so it’s usually well documented when a character first shows up. Side note: DCUguide is an excellent resource if you’re looking to comb through appearances for characters, although I’d also recommend asking for reading lists from other fans, since usually those have been curated down to essential storylines only)

I tried to provide actual issue #s where I could, but a lot of the time in comics, it’s usually something that’s dropped or hinted around or casually mentioned rather than outright boldly stated.

Also some of these characters span DECADES and their histories change depending on continuity. So I tried to account for that where I could.

But also canon is fake and everyone in fandom cherry-picks anyways so yknow. Keep THAT in mind too.

Before we dive into this, I wanna have a quick convo on what Legal Guardianship vs Adoption is.

While guardianship includes some of the same responsibilities as adoption, it also comes with a few key differences, such as allowing any living parents (also possibly any living relatives) to contest the guardianship. Adoption would make the child fully and solely the potential parent’s responsibility, and would nullify any legal ‘say’ that the biological parents may have. Also of note, is that  guardianship does not allow the child in question a claim to inheritance unless the guardian specifically wills it to them, as there is again, a bit more of distance that is placed between the child and guardian, as more of a mentorship is expected to take hold. One way to look at it is that adoption is permanent (& usually a longer drawn out process bc of that), while guardianship can be more legally flexible.

With that out of the way, let’s start~

Dick: pre-flashpoint/52, it’s stated often that Dick was actually Bruce’s ward, that Bruce has legal guardianship over Dick. I know this is a nitpick and doesn’t matter bc it’s usually retconned/ignored in favor of Dick being adopted. But I think it’s a fascinating point of potential contention nonetheless. especially given the historical reason, that it was absolutely unheard of at the time for a single man to adopt a child, but no one would bat at eye if he was taking Dick in out of a sense of altruism & duty. Contract this with decades later, when he DOES appear to adopt Jason outright, which puts some friction in place between Dick & Bruce. and well, you’ve got a whole story & conflict to explore right there.

Barbara: Usually dons the Batgirl cowl after Dick becomes Robin (the only exception to that was The Batman (2004) cartoon and it was absolutely galaxy brain of them honestly) She has her own Dad though (idk if y’all know him? Jim Gordon? Yknow? The Commissioner?) so she doesn’t get adopted. She’s considered a core batfam member mostly in the sense that she’s been there so long and esp as she makes herself absolutely essential when she becomes Oracle. She has never, and will likely never be adopted by Bruce (bc again. W h e n is that gonna come up? When Jim dies? L m f a o)

Jason: pre-crisis it’s assumed from the go I guess? I could only find slight confirmation and ended up finding more info that there was a custody battle and that Bruce would won Jason back officially in Detective Comics #548. post-crisis, Jason’s history is redone, though & I remember his adoption being touched on, but could not for the life of me find a particular issue. N52/Rebirth it’s simply assumed from the go as far as I’m aware.

Tim: Batman #654. This was after his father died, though he’d been Robin at this point for at least a decade. For n52/Rebirth as far as I can tell he’s also been outright adopted by Bruce (though I think he’s parents were still alive but in Witness Protection? Idk. I haven’t read at all for Tim’s history there so take that with a heavy grain of salt)

Steph: another one who is not adopted (Crystal Brown is very much alive and taking care of Steph (barring the time Leslie Thompkins squirreled her away after faking Stephs death BUT)) She does show up pretty soon on Tim’s tail when he starts as Robin. Again, she’s considered a staple of the family because of how long she’s been involved with them. I like to think of her like Kimmy in Full House. She’s a Good Friend who’s Constantly Showing Up and is one of the family through mutual agreement on everyone’s part.

Cass: Batgirl (2008) #6, though like Tim, Cass had been Batgirl for nearly a decade at that point in continuity. She’s shown and stated many times that she considers Bruce a father/father figure and likewise that Babs, who had been mentoring her, was the closest she has to a mother. In n52/Rebirth, I have yet to see or hear about official adoption for her, but again. We usually ignore canon on that part anyways. I mean they made her into Orphan so uhhhh. Not super great yknow?

Damian: since he is biologically Bruce’s, it’s never really addressed as far as I’m aware (I have yet to read Damian’s appearances Altho he’s next on my Robin list). I personally think it’d be interesting to explore the fact that he was likely born outside of the country and what that means for Bruce gaining legal custody & whether or not Talia would contest that? I’m sure there’s probably SOME thinkpieces about it out there, but I’ll search for them on my own time eventually

And now we’re getting to *drum roll* Harper and Duke!

Harper: her appearances are mostly kept to the n52 runs, though with Tynion returning to Detective, it’s likely she’s coming back into Rebirth soon. She’s a unique case where, due to her abusive home life, she emancipated herself and took her brother, Cullen, with her. Neither she nor her brother were adopted by Bruce, and as far as I’m aware/understand, they’re fine with it that way. I know Stephanie was living with them at some point (it’s dropped in Batman & Robin: Eternal at least?), so I certainly think it would have been nice if DC also brought them into the fold like Steph. Just a couple of kids who are Really Good Friends with the family and continue to insert themselves in batfam business lmao

Duke: I actually addressed this fairly recently here! Duke’s guardianship (bc like Dick, Duke is not outright adopted by Bruce, likely to afford Duke’s parents the opportunity to regain custody should they recover from Joker’s toxin) its a little more up in the air at this point in Batman & The Outsiders. Since Bruce is very clearly taking both him and Cass away on globetrotting adventures. It would make things EASIER ofc if he is under Bruce’s guardianship. But given that it’s not really addressed, it’s led most of fandom to simply assume it instead. And really? Considering that DC themselves probably doesn’t realize that they’ve written themselves into this corner, it probably won’t be fully addressed or recognized anyways.

So to answer your first question actually: Babs, Steph, and Harper? Not adopted, likely never will be, but they ARE interspersed fairly regularly in the line-up. Everyone else? Varying degrees of being under Bruce’s guardianship if not outright adopted.

We’re all happy that they’re here, though!!! And we love and appreciate them ALL.

[sellyoursoulforagoodfic]

You Deserve a Love...Chapter 11

Tag: @slowlydrowningme @hhhellish

Link to Inspo Post: Post

Summary: Jason has a chat about the way the family has been smothering you and Damian.

Word Count: 702

Y/N and Damian were going to be gone for four more days, and Jason wasn’t sure he could fend off the family for that long. Dick and Liv had been dropping by his apartment at random times, clearly hoping to catch him off guard. Steph and Cass kept showing up at stores he frequented, namely that bookstore down the block from Wayne Tower. Last and arguably worst were Tim and Babs that kept finding and breaking into his safe houses. At this point, Jason only left your new apartment for patrols; which, like hell was he going to leave the innocents of Crime Alley vulnerable because of Bat Family Nonsense ™. And it went without saying that he’d changed phones to a back-up after day three.

Of course, literally everyone knew that he’d never give up patrols, so that’s exactly where Dick finally caught up to him. “I’m not telling you where they are, and I’m not apologize for covering for them,” Jason was saying as soon as that blue stripe flashed into the very edge of his vision.

“I just wanna talk, Jaybird,” Dick placated. “Just a couple of questions, and we’ll back off until they get home. Everyone’s already agreed, even Bruce.”

“Not good enough. You guys need to let them do this their own way.”

“That’s why they didn’t say anything, isn’t it? Because we didn’t let up on the teasing and stuff?”

“Gee, Mister Detective, what made you think that?”

“Jason.”

“Fine,” he huffed. “Ask.”

“Did they move? Tim said her apartment’s up for rent, and that Titus isn’t at the manor.”

“Yes. Next question.”

“That where you’ve been staying?”

“Yes.” It would be pointless to lie otherwise. “I’m pet-sitting and making sure the place is up to snuff.”

There was a pause; Jason could see the frown that tugged at his brother’s lips. “Were we really that bad?”

“They know you love them, if that’s what you mean. And they love you guys too, but you know how they are. Demon Spawn plays things like this close to the vest because of the League, and Y/N is a quiet person. She’s a librarian for crying out loud. They like their privacy, and as soon as you lot found out, they had none. There’s a good reason they stayed quiet for so long.” Jason sighed. “You guys made her cry, Dickie.”

The eldest Wayne child looked horrified, white lenses blew wide and his jaw slackened. “What?”

“She’ll kill me for saying this, but one night we were hanging out while Damian was out with B. We talked about things, and she opened up to me because I didn’t push. Spent the next hour in my lap sobbing until little D got there. She doesn’t like to be the center of attention, and both of them feel like the lot of you don’t take their relationship seriously.”

“But--”

“Tell me you wouldn’t be annoyed if people made fun of you because of your relationship with Liv. Better yet, if they questioned your feelings constantly because you’re always flirting. Because that’s basically how it is for him. You guys keep acting like his love for her isn’t real because you haven’t seen him like this before.”

“I didn’t realize . . .”

“That’s why I’m telling you. They’re not mad, just overwhelmed, and they wanted to do this their way.” Jason pulled out his phone and dragged up a post you’d made a few hours prior. It showed you being held up by Damian with your legs around his waist, mid-kiss and on a beach. “Look at this and tell me you’ve ever seen them that happy when you guys were around.”

“I . . .”

“Yeah, I didn’t think so,” he slipped his phone back into his pocket.

All the spirit seemed to have leeched out of Nightwing, causing his shoulders to sag pathetically, “Do you think they can forgive us?”

“They can’t forgive you if they weren’t mad in the first place, but now that they’re married I don’t think you guys could question their feelings even if you wanted to.”

While Dick was indignantly squawking, “Wait they really got married?!” Jason took the opportunity to zip away with a sarcastic salute.

[secretlystephaniebrown]

Batman: War Games - Worst Comic Event Ever? Probably!

I had so many fucking thoughts about this trash fire of an event comic, guys.

War Games might genuinely be one of the worst things that have ever happened to comics. It's riddled with horrific art, bad writing, bad treatment of beloved characters. The few attempts at brevity, goodness, or even relief are frequently undercut by homophobia, rape jokes, transphobia, and sexism.

As a fan of multiple of the storylines which were interrupted to produce this all-time low in comic event storytelling, and a fan of characters who were fridged, character assassinated, or otherwise shoved aside in favor of a narrative where Batman shoves aside his family and is more convinced than ever that he is right and blameless in the events that happen... it was awful.

Detective Comics #796 might just be one of the only worthy reads in the entire book: Stephanie Brown comes to blows with Zsasz in her time as Robin, and the art is good, Bruce expresses concern and care for her, and in that issue, we can almost see what could have been a better story, where the two of them learned and grew together.

(More below the cut)

A highlight that I did not expect, however, was the Batman 12 Cent Adventure by Devin Grayson, which was probably one of the most empathetic perspectives into Steph’s mind at the time, and clearly showing how she had been set up to fail. Through this book, we see the set up for the War Game, in a much more detailed way than we saw pretty much anywhere else throughout the book, and we also got a brief history of the Bat Family told two ways—the way that Steph knows it, and the way that we, the reader, know it actually happened, because Steph doesn’t know most of the family’s secret identities, and is in the dark about some of the fundamentals.

What can I even say about Steph’s treatment in this comic that hasn’t already been said, that isn’t part of the narrative of War Games? Maybe I could mention the horrifically porn traced torture drawings. The way that the torture is clearly stylized as sexual assault. The way that Steph is insulted, belittled, and poorly treated, even beyond the torture and fridging. The way that this was supposed to be how her story ended. As a fan of Steph, it was horrible to read. I cannot emphasize enough how new fans seeking Steph content, should avoid this series. Reading Detective Comics 796 and her issues as Robin in Robin and Batgirl… and just… never pick up War Games properly. Don’t be like me.

The Robin issues by Willingham were… fine, if frequently sexist, and continuing the comics tradition of treating male sexual assault as harmless or a joke (Tim is forcibly kissed by a fellow student, and is cheered on for it, despite having made clear to Darla that he is already in a relationship. Later, he ends up taking her on a pseudo-date for hot cocoa. There were a few nice moments squeezed in; Tim at one point says that Stephanie and Bruce had a good relationship and brought a levity to the role that was good for Bruce… right before claiming that her making Bruce joke wasn’t that big of a deal because the joke was “rudimentary.”

Catwoman was decent enough; I’m a fan of Brubaker in general, and the bits where Selina got to bond with Steph, do her own thing, and protect the East End were lovely… but so many of the infamous torture panels occur in this book that it’s hard for me to say that these issues were worth reading.

Orpheus and Onyx though… hoo boy. Onyx had some fun moments throughout the series, being battle buddies with Cass, chatting casually with Deadshot, and things like that. But in the end, the overwhelming awfulness of Batman coercing a black vigilante into becoming a gang leader, and then the vigilante being murdered, and his face literally worn as a mask, was bad. Bruce getting Orpheus to become the leader of the Hill Gang also undercuts his own argument that he had never intended to implement the War Game to give himself control over all of Gotham’s organized Crime… because he had put Orpheus where he was specifically to control one gang already. Orpheus was done so dirty, and he and Onyx deserve to get to come back and be treated better.

Batgirl had some nice individual moments when the story focused on Steph and Cass’s relationship: Cass desperately searching for her best friend and the last time the two of them met was absolutely heartbreaking, but the rest of it was generally just more of the same, constant fighting, and it’s her sections that get to feature the transphobic joke, on top of the sexism that permeates this entire event. Cass doesn’t get too much to do in this story, which is a real pity, since I think her book was one of the strongest from this era.

Nightwing was infuriating for the simple fact of when in the Nightwing the story takes place: barely after Nightwing’s assault at the hands of Tarantula. Tarantula is given a heroic story here, protecting young children who had been recruited into gangs, and even being appointed one of Batman’s top lieutenants in the crisis. She’s referred to as Dick’s stalker, but this is treated as a joke, and she touches him and flirts with him constantly, and the only negative consequences are that Oracle becomes jealous and insults both her and Dick.

Oracle is treated generally pretty poorly in this story, snapping at everyone, insulting Cass and Dick, and while some of it could be understandable given the situation, it’s kind of annoying that so many of her early appearances in the series are playing her up as a jerk. But in the end, Babs comes through in what would be, in any other story, a brilliant ending concept, but instead ends up being undercut by the rest of the story. Trapped in the Clocktower by the Black Mask, with Batman coming to her rescue, Batman is so furious about the War that he no longer cares if he lives or dies, and is even willing to kill the Mask. To pull him out of it, Babs activates the Clocktower’s self-destruct sequences, forcing Batman to chose between vengeance and his purpose as a hero, saving her life rather than killing the Black Mask. What undercuts it, though, is that Bruce’s rage is made out to be not about the destruction that the Mask has caused, or even about Stephanie Brown, who was tortured and is dying in the hospital, but instead, about the failure of his plan. So… nearly good, I suppose.

And Leslie. Leslie is right up there with Steph and Orpheus in terms of horrible treatment. DC has never been good at understanding pacifism. Leslie yells at Cass for saving her life, constantly claims that superheroes do more harm than good, and denies Steph life-saving treatment. The character ends the series exiled to Africa, with Bruce telling her never to come back, a character who was functionally his foster-mother, and one of the most important older women in the Batman books.

War Games is emblematic of some of the worst Batman writing: the character is pig headed, cruel, and even abusive, but we are told by the narrative that he's smarter than everyone, so they should just deal with it. Repeatedly characters try to call him out on his behavior, but he tells them to stop whining and deal with it, and even when his actions backfire, it’s portrayed as a tragic inevitability that he is not held accountable for.

And the ending goes out of the way to explain that it's not his fault that beloved character Stephanie Brown died, not really, it was because mean old pacifist Leslie Thompkins was overtaken by the "Batman is blameless" virus and decided to deny a girl medical treatment. Batman declares that what happened was a war crime, and there must be war trials, but in the end, he fails to take any responsibility for his own actions, and inflicts massive amounts of trauma on the entire city.

In short? Don’t read War Games!

[odd-birds-and-booksellers]

Pls do a fic using prompts 78 & 59 from prompt list one! Maybe possibly a jolex AU where Jo never dated Peckwell

Oh, my, my when I look into your eyes, it's a sight I can't describe

“I really want to kiss you right now. I know I shouldn’t, and somehow that makes me want it more.”  “We always share blankets on the couch, I’m sure sharing the bed for the night is fine too.”

Alex couldn’t work out if it was the run-up to Christmas that was making people more stupid or the if the freezing winds had really just knocked the common sense out of everyone because he’d been on call since yesterday evening and he was just now able to find five minutes for a break, what didn’t make it better was as his break began so did everyone's day, so he was stuck waiting for his coffee, watching as the interns scurried in oblivious to his night's hard work. 

“Why do you look like that?” Alex mutters as he watches Jo waddle up to him, she was wrapped up in what could only be described as 100 layers of clothing, with a woolly hat pulled down low, so low that it was dangerously close to blinding her. She looked like she was wandering around in an inflatable fat suit with the amount of layers she had on. 

She mumbles something incoherent before pulling the scarf she'd wrapped around her face down, so he could see her flushed cheeks. “Look like what? Beautiful? Stunning? Hot?” Jo shrugs, rustling as she moves, she reaches out taking his coffee cup from his hands and taking a sip for herself, a small smirk playing on her lips as she watches Alex gape at the audacity. 

Frowning Alex snatches back the cup as he heads back towards the hospital, rolling his eyes as he hears Jo begin to shuffle along behind him. “Like an Eskimo at a jumble sale.” He clarifies as she starts to unravel herself beside him. Jesus, how many layers did she have on?

“The heaters broke at my apartment.” She mumbles softly, nodding her thanks as he holds not one but two doors open for her, dramatically letting her pass as if she was taking up all the room. 

“So buy a new one,” Alex suggests like it was the most obvious solution, watching as she once again reached out for his cup. 

“I'm an intern do you think I have the money just lying around?” Jo narrows her eyes, taking another sip from his coffee, humming constantly as the hot liquid warms her.

“You would’ve had $1000 if you hadn’t bought that couch.” 

“Stop complaining about the couch, you said you liked it.”

“I do.” 

“Then be grateful you jerk.” Jo smacks the side of his arm as the elevator door dings open before them. God, you’d think she’d killed his puppy not bought him an insanely nice couch the way he goes on.

“Hey you can stay at mine by the way…” Alex mumbles leaning forward to press the button for the peds floor and the surgical floor for Jo. “Just so you don’t freeze to death.” He clarifies, watching as she perks up a bit from his offer, he’d let anyone stay, really it had nothing to do with everyone teasing him about being in love with her and them maybe being right about it. 

Jo grins, handing him back his coffee she wrestles out of her puffer jacket. “Aww you're worried about me, you’re so sweet” She laughs, winking at him over her shoulder as the doors slip open. 

“Shut up I just don’t wanna hear you’re whiny ass complaining all day.” Alex shakes his head, fighting the smirk that wanted to appear on his face as he watches Jo skip off.

---

He’s handsome...she’ll give him that but he’s also mean and grumpy and funny...really funny and he’s understanding and...shit she was doing it again. She’d promised, she’d downright swore she wasn’t gonna be one of those girls that fawned over their bosses and here she was.

“For the last time, we are just friends…” Jo hisses as she breaks her trance, just registering Stephanie's teasing as Leah and Shane flopped down beside her on the table. 

The group exchange a few glances, Stephanie nodding her head back to where the attendings were sitting, indicating it was Karev that was today's topic of conversation. “So you keep saying but I'm not sure who you are trying to convince here me or you…” Steph says pointedly as she munched away on her crisps. 

“You, I’m trying to convince you…”

“Ooooh, Karev I love you….oooo Karev.” Steph teases, kicking her leg on the table as she writhes around dramatically. 

Jo groans, leaning her head down on the table as a round of laughter erupts from her so-called friends. “Oooh marry me, Dr Karev.” Shrieks Heather as she wraps her arms around herself pretending to kiss the air as she does.

“Will you shut up?” Jo shrieks as they gain the attention of a few other tables, throwing a couple of fries in Heather's direction Jo narrows her eyes on friends. “I don’t like him like that and if he hears you’ll he’ll freak.”

“You definitely do like him like that, why else would you have spent that last thirty minutes staring at him from across the room.” Steph laughs, as she nods her head towards where Alex was sitting with Grey and Torres again.  

“We’re just friends...don’t look at me like that..” Jo growls sinking down in her chair, playing with the food on her plate, doing all she could to not glance up at Alex’s direction.  “Urgh, I’m in trouble...so much trouble…”

“Because you’re in love with a man whore…” Leah snides as she crunches noisily on her carrot sticks.

Jo sighs, watching as Alex throws his head back laughing at something Grey had said. Did he have to look so damn handsome all the time? “No, because I don’t want...I’m not looking for anything…”

“Serious?” Shane supplies flashing her a knowing look as he points between Leah and Heather. “I don’t think that’s something you have to worry about with Karev. Ask any of the girls in our year.” 

Jo winces uncomfortably, she knows wanting Alex is a risk but it’s not like she has a choice, she can’t help the way she feels and she didn’t need any of them to remind her of Alex’s sexscepades. She knew all too well what he’s been up too but honestly, she couldn’t help feeling the way she did. They didn’t get it, Alex wasn’t his reputation, honestly when it was just the two of them together drinking beer and making stupid jokes it was hard to think he was the same guy with the reputation of being an evil whatever that he did. “You know he’s not as bad as you think…”

“Who’s not?” Looking up suddenly Jo was surprised to see Chest Peckwell standing there. She'd met him a few times briefly, once on her O.B rotation and a few times at the coffee cart, it had never been anything more than a few friendly hello’s but he definitely had half her intern class drooling at the sight of him, and even Jo had to admit he was good looking, but her brain was too fogged up with the idea of Alex to even look at another human. 

“Erm, no one...just some patient we have,” Jo mutters awkwardly glancing quickly at Steph and Leah who was practical drooling on the table as they watched him. “Can we help you with anything?” 

Peckwell smirked, rubbing his hands together he leans over Jo, his aftershave overwhelming her senses as he looked down at her. “I was thinking, me...you...bar tonight?”

Jo cringes shrinking away from him, there's confident and then there's just cockiness. “Aha..thats nice...I think...but I have plans.”

Leah almost chokes on her drink as she leans forward pushing Jo out of Peckwells view. “If she won’t I will.” She practically purred, flicking her high ponytail around as she spoke.

“Of course you will.” Steph rolls her eyes, while the rest of the group tried to stifle their laughter, watching as Peckwells face fell before turning his attention back to Jo.

“No problem...think about it, I'm sure you'll come to the right decision.” He winks, patting Shane’s back abruptly as he backs away from the table, a clear smirk across his face not showing the faintest hint of rejection. 

“Urgh, that guy gives me the creeps.” Shudders Jo as she watches him retreat, rolling her eyes as she watches Leah, Heather and even Stephanie tilt their heads to the side unison to get a good look at the guy's backside.

“He’s hot though.” Stephanie quips, stealing a few fries off Jo’s plate, as Jo turns her eyes back to Alex, surprised to find they were already on her, he doesn't even look away when their eyes meet, instead, he just continues to gaze at her his forehead creased like he's trying to work something out, whatever was on his mind his intense gaze was making the heat rise in Jo’s cheeks.

“Who are your plans with?” 

An elbow to the ribs knocks Jo’s gaze as she glowers at Stephanie.“Huh?”

“Your plans...you said you had plans or were you just lying to chest Peckwell,” Stephanie exclaims, shaking her head at Jo, clearly, Leah wasn’t the only one surprised by Jo’s rejection of one of the hottest bachelors Grey Solan had to offer. 

“No I wasn’t lying I have plans...with Alex.”

Leah scoffs loudly, gaining the attention of the entire table. “Really? I thought he was going out with Hailey tonight.” 

“What?”

“I’m pretty sure she mentioned it.” Heather nodded, looking slightly unforgettable as she watched Jo’s face fall, twisting in her seat she nods to where Hailey is sitting with Tina, they seem to be excitedly talking about something but that didn’t mean Alex...they are pretty much always that bubbly. 

“Mentioned it, she spent half of Shepherd’s surgery up in the gallery talking about it.” Shrieks Shane, oblivious to the nervous glance the girls seemed to be giving each other as Jo leapt up from the table following Alex out of the cafeteria in a flash. 

---

Jo catches sight of Alex heading towards the elevator, seemingly lost in his own world as he stares down at his phone, narrowly avoiding the various patients and staff that litter the hallway. “You’re going on a date?” Jo calls, half jogging to catch up to him. 

“Mhmm” he nods, barely giving her a second look as she falls into step beside him.   

Jo frowns, he’s a busy guy she knows but he seemed to have done a 180 from this morning, usually when they spoke he’d give her his attention, at least greet her with a little more than muffle the sound. “Tonight?...With Hailey?” 

“What is this?” Alex groans, finally looking up as he shoves his phone in his pocket. The frown etched in his forehead let Jo know he wasn’t in the finest of moods. “Who wants to be a millionaire?”

“No..I” Jo stutters, watching as Alex narrows her eyes on her before seemingly giving up waiting for her response and brushing past her. “I was just asking...I thought you said you were done sleeping around with interns.” Jo blurts out chasing after him as she went, trying to keep her voice low enough that their conversation wouldn't become hospital gossip. 

“I am that why this is a date and not a meeting in the supply closet.”  He snaps, his nostril flaring. He seemed almost angry and Jo couldn’t work out why it wasn’t the typical response of someone who had a hot date. 

“Well we had plans tonight but I guess I’ll let it slide.” 

“Yeah, I'm sure you will,” Alex growls as he presses the elevator button, spinning around to face towards the doors, never turning back to look at Jo. 

Blinking a few times Jo tries to understand his sudden change in demeanour. “What's that meant to mean?” She demands, grabbing hold of his arm to turn him back towards her. 

“Aren't you going out with the flamingo from OB tonight?” Alex grumbles shrugging Jo grips off as the doors ding open.

“Who Jason?” 

“Whatever his name is I don't care and I don't care about your date-” 

“-I’m not-” 

Alex raises his voice as he steps onto the lift, punching at the buttons, making Jo jump back as he cuts her off abruptly.  “So don't start giving me crap on making plans and get out of my business.” The doors slip shut, efficiently ending their conversation leaving a dumbfounded Jo standing in the hallway, at least a dozen eyes on her as she tries to understand what the hell had just happened. 

---

“What are you doing here?” A crease forms in between Alex's eyebrows as he takes in the sight of Jo leaning her head against the bannister, her eyes shut as she sits on the staircase. Beside her are the various discarded layers of clothing she’d worn into work today, he hadn't expected to see her, not since he’d stormed away from her this afternoon, he was tired and angry, and none of it was really her fault, well not deliberately. He’d regretted the minute he watched her face as the doors had rolled shut between them, he'd wanted to find her and apologize but by the time he’d got out of surgery, she was long gone. 

“You said I could stay here, remember?...my heaters broke and trust me if I didn’t wanna freeze to death I'd be anywhere else.” Jo sighs, rubbing her arms as she sits up, she looks tired as her eyes scan over him, he was dressed in jeans in a t-shirt for anyone else she’d assumed that his outfit wasn't exactly date attire but for Alex Karev, it was probably fancy. 

“Shit yeah...sorry.” Alex nods, he’d forgotten he’d offered to let Jo stay, and he’d been so angry earlier he’d completely dismissed her. “What are you doing on the stairs?”

“Well I was gonna crash on your couch but Yang and Grey have passed out on it,” Jo mutters nodding her head towards the living room, turning around Alex saw that Yang and Grey were indeed passed out across the sofa each with an empty tequila bottle in hand, Grey snoring away noisily.

“Yeah, they’re not moving anytime soon.” He laughs, shaking his head, he turns back to Jo giving her lopsided grin, hating the way she only manages to muster a half-smile in response as he moves to sit beside her on the stairs.  

“How was your date?” She whispers, looking down at her shoes as she speaks. 

“It was okay…”

“Just okay?”

“It was good...why do you care? Are you jealous Josephine?” He nudges her shoulder slightly, a sly smile playing on his face as he watches her eyes widen, leaning as far away as she can get. “Pfft, me jealous? No, we’re just friends.” 

Alex rolls his eyes nodding, that's them friends...but you really shouldn't think about your friends the way his mind thinks about Jo, there’s nothing friendly about it. “Yeah, practically siblings...that's what you said right? I’m like your brother.”

“I what...I no..”

“Come on…” Alex stands, he holds his hand out for her, his face softening as he looks down at her. He doesn't need her to say it again.

Jo frowns, letting her hand slip into his easily as she follows him up the stairs “Where are we?... I’m not sleeping in Yang’s bed, I've heard what she does in there.” She exclaims shuddering at the thought of Yangs noisy sex life with the chief, ignoring the way her hand seemed to fit into Alex’s so seamlessly. 

“Shut up you idiot you can sleep in mine,” Alex growls as they reach the land letting Jo pass him as his hand slips out of hers and instead finds its way to the small of her back as he leads her down the hallway to his room. “What doesn’t get all excited we’re just friends after all.” He teases, rolling his eyes as Jo raises her eyebrows at him suggestively. 

“Just checking this won’t this be weird.” Jo shrugs, a cold feeling spreading across her when Alex releases her, heading to his bathroom, leaving Jo standing awkwardly in the doorway, eyeing the messy unmade bed before her. She’d thought about being in his bed before and it wasn’t to lay above the sheets while his grumpy ass snored beside her. 

“Only if you make it weird...we always share blankets on the couch, I’m sure sharing the bed for the night is fine too,” Alex grumbles appearing back in the room gesturing to the bed in front of them while brushing his teeth, mumbling something that was either stop looking at me like that or just not English.  

“Right...yeah it’s fine. You wash the sheets, right? I’m not gonna be sleeping on anything nasty?” Jo jokes, pulling a side of the comforter up gingerly, she was only half-joking as she checked the bed for used condoms, laughing as Alex threw his t-shirt at her, catching her off guard as she entered the room in just his boxers. Well damn...now she really is in trouble. 

“I told you I’m not sleeping around anymore.” He mutters, pulling back the covers on his side, slipping into the bed, giving her confused look as he still hovers near the end of the bed.

“Oh yeah, is that why you didn’t bring Hailey back?” Jo queries, she doesn’t wanna know about the date with Hailey and she does, if she's gonna lay next to the guy all night, she had to know where she stands.

“Why are you so hung up on this Hailey thing?” 

“I’m not, I don’t care who you date…”

“Sure thing princess…” Alex grunts, ignoring the way Jos face drops at the use of her old nickname, sighing Alex sits up, patting the space beside him. “If you must know I got called into an emergency surgery so I had to reschedule.” 

“Oh…”  He hadn’t been on a date. 

"I don't wanna date Hailey...she thinks unicorns are real or some shit."

Jo nods, taking in what he was saying. Deciding to push her luck Jo shrugs out of her jeans, it’s not like she hadn’t frequently walked around Alex’s house in her underwear before it was definitely the first time he’d invited her up to his room though. Wriggling her top over her head she smirks as she hears Alex’s breath hitch. Gotcha. 

“You don’t have a clue do you?” 

“About what?” Jo mumbles as she picks up his discarded T-shirt from the floor, throwing it on as she makes her way round to the unoccupied side of the bed, ignoring the complete shock on Alex’s face as she slips in beside him like it was the most normal thing in the world like she always slept here. 

“You don’t have the slightest idea the torture you put me though, do you?.” Alex groans, as Jo lays her cold feet against his shins. His hand holding the comforter tightly, restraining the urge to reach out for her. 

“Me...what did I do-” Suddenly Jo feels his arms around her waist pulling her in he rolls over her. His arms resting either side of her head, holding him up as he hovers above her, his eyes trailing over her body beneath him. 

“You drive me mad...constantly...you make it so hard to just be near you.” He whispers, his breath dancing across Jo’s face as he’s eyes flit between her lips and back to her eyes. Jo was frozen, her eyes glued to his, the words she so desperately wanted to say stuck in her throat.  “I really want to kiss you right now. I know I shouldn’t, and somehow that makes me want it more.” He groans, his lips brushing against her as he spoke. 

Jo gulps, she wants to shrink away from Alex’s intense gaze, but at the same time, she wants to reach out and pull him closer to her. “Why shouldn’t you?” She manages to squeak, her hands slowly reaching up to rest against his biceps. 

“Because I’m bad for you...I screw up everything good in my life and I don’t wanna do that to you but I want you...I really want you.” Alex groans, she can feel one hand tracing her neck softly, brushing away the loose hair that fans her face, his lips are so close to hers, she can almost taste them and its pure torture.

“But we shouldn't, right? I mean you’ve slept with every girl in my class, you’ll probably break my heart and move on by next week.” Jo mutters, she’s testing him, she’s praying he’ll say this isn’t the one-time thing it feels like.

“I told you I'm not sleeping around anymore.”

“You asked Hailey out.”

“No, she asked me...I only said yes because I was in a delivery earlier in which Meyers bragged about asking you out.” Alex admits, sinking a little lower pressing himself against Jo. 

“I told him no…”

“Why?”

“This is a bad idea.” Jo whispers, unable to tear her eyes away from him as their intense gaze continues. She can feel her own thumping fast in her chest and it’s all becoming a little overwhelming, it’s like he can see right through her like there's a second conversation going on in their glances that are saying far more than either of them could express. 

“Mhmm probably...why did you say no Jo?”

Sighing, she feels him rest his forehead against hers, squeezing her eyes shut, knowing it will be easier to whisper the truth without him looking at her. “Because I want you, I want you more than I ever wanted anyone or anything ever before.”

Jo admits, opening her eyes, braced for his rejection as she watches a wide grin spread across Alex's face, settling her nerves as he swoops down, their lips meeting passionately. Instantly wrapping arms around his neck pulling him impossibly closer. 

“Even though I’m like your brother.” Alex jokes, mumbling against her lips as he rolls her over, so she straddles him, their lips only separating momentarily. 

“Alex…” Jo shrieks as his words click, smacking against his chest ignoring the way his chuckle vibrates against her neck as he turns his attention there, making sure to leave a mark for everyone to see tomorrow. “Way to ruin the mood.” 

“Sorry...let me fix that.” He whispers softly, making Jo squeal as his hands slip under his T-shirt trailing their way up her waist, setting ablaze to her silky smooth skin, making Jo moan as she dips her head back to down, catching his lips with hers.

---

Leya ya welcome...I tried. I hate writing fluff...it is so hard and it does not come very naturally to me but I still try. I will admit this is not my finest work but it is hard to come up with fluffy ideas. 

Seeing Blind -  Niall Horan

 Oh, my, my, you just took me by surprise and I can't believe my eyes. Oh, I must be seein' blind, oh, no I, you're too good to be all mine, now I'm lookin' in your eyes.

[queerbutstillhere]

If you‘re still taking writing requests, maybe something with the batfam having to take care of Dick?

Hiya! Sorry it took so long to get to this! But here we are, enjoy!

Breaking his arm wasn't exactly how Dick had intended to spend this month.

He'd been laid off of work because of his arm, he couldn't go out as Nightwing because of his arm, he could barely cook because of his arm.

He was just stuck at home, mostly by himself. The Titans all tried to stop by every once in a while, and they'd all be trading off running patrols for him, but even the occasional weekend with one of his friends or even his boyfriend wasnt quite enough to stave off the intense depression that accompanied his time off. He'd read so many books and binged so many tv shows. And now he just wasn't interested in anything.

Running and working out was awkward with a broken arm, so he could barely stay active. He couldn't sleep well because he was a stomach sleeper. He couldn't crochet or knit or any of the various busy work hobbies he'd picked up because they all required both hands.

After a while, he just got bored and drove back home, leaving a note for anyone who came to his apartment (inside the apartment, because we all know Dick's friends just let themselves in anyway), sent the Titans a text and then headed for Gotham.

When he got there it was around 1am, and the entire family was down in the cave or gone. He just dropped his overnight bag in his bedroom, then went down to the cave.

Alfred was thoroughly shocked to see him. 

"Master Richard!" Alfred exclaimed, looking up from where he was fixing a hole in a uniform.

"Hi, Alfie."

Jason teased him for being lonely.

He ended up being sat down in the lounge area while Alfred quickly made some tea, then came and scolded him for how loose he was wearing his sling.

Damian was the first one to arrive back home, Jon on his heels like a loyal puppy, and he too immediately started scolding Dick, mostly for not resting. 

Tim made some comment about keeping his mind active.

And Bruce, who arrived last, at nearly 3am, just gave Dick a confused look before disappearing into the locker room, and when he came back, wearing sweats and a hoodie, he held a hand out to his eldest.

"Come on, let's go get food."

Dick grabbed his father's hand with his good one and let himself be pulled up. They walked to the elevator in silence. And then road up it in silence.

"Blüdhaven was too quite."

"I know."

"I didn't want to intrude but I was just bored."

"You're not intruding."

"And I'm sorry to come unannounced but-"

"Dick." Bruce turned to his son as the elevator stopped. "This is your home, you're always welcome here."

Dick grinned just a bit, his slight anxiety eased. He followed Bruce through to the kitchen, where he could hear the others already chattering.

"Where's Cass?"

"Off with the other girls," Bruce explained, stepping into the kitchen. "So it's a boys- er . . . It's just us this weekend."

Dick smiled lightly at Bruce's quick correction but didn't comment, especially as Damian was already harassing him about eating.

"When was the last time you ate, Grayson?" Damian asked in that sassy, authorative voice of his. He was helping Jason prepare something.

"Uh, earlier? Like, six pm."

Damian nodded thoughtfully. "Good good."

"Where'd the kid go?"

"Jon is asleep," Damian answered as if it was an obvious fact, then turned to dump some veggies into a huge pan.

"Are you guys making stir-fry?"

Dick went to grab a glass, but found Tim holding a cup up in front of him. He took it with a quiet thanks and went to get water from the fridge.

"That is the plan."

"Does Alfie know you're up to this?"

"Tt, of course, Grayson."

Dick hung out with his siblings and father while waiting for their food to be done, and once it was, they all migrated to the dining room, sitting around the table and chatting. Dick got mocked because he couldn't use chopsticks, and in turn he mocked the others for anything and everything he could think of. But they were all laughing and grinning and it was so worth it.

He ending up spending the whole weekend, and the next week as well, even though during the afternoons he was still pretty bored, with everyone gone for work or school. He often sat around in whatever room Alfred was in, trailing after him like a lost puppy, like he used to do during summers when he was a kid. Sometimes they just sat around and had tea together and chatted and it was amazing.

Dick could tell everyone was watching him, a little cautiously. Everyone was preventing him from doing anything that could put stress on his arm, constantly offering to get him things, or jumping up to grab something before he could. In a way it was driving him insane, but at the same time, in a selfish way, it was nice to have them solely focused on him. Or at least, solely focused on him when they were out of costume or not fighting with each other.

"Richard, you need to elevate your arm."

Dick looked over at Damian, who had just walked in, a sketchbook and a pack of pencils clutched against his chest.

"Right. I was just." Dick motioned towards the book he had been reading.

Damian frowned, and marched over. He set his sketchbook on the coffee table and stacked up some pillows next to Dicks arm. 

"There."

Then he scooped up his sketchbook and plopped down in an armchair on the other side of the room.

"When did you get back from school?" Dick asked, noting Damian was still in his school uniform.

"Twenty minutes ago."

The kid selected a pencil and started drawing on the page, not bothering to look up at Dick.

"Whatcha gonna draw?"

"I don't know yet.”

Dick decided to leave Damian alone, clearly he wasn't in a talking mood, so he just returned to reading, glad Bruce had a much larger library then he did.

An hour later, Tim walked in and plopped down next to Dick, a bag of chips in one hand and a laptop in the other. 

Another hour later and Bruce appeared, Cassandra with him, the two signing and laughing with each other.

Slowly the living room filled up with members of their crazy family. Jason and Duke, Babs and Steph, Kate, Harper, Carrie, Cullen, and Dick had no idea why they were all here, even as they all gathered in the dining room for dinner.

Finally he leaned over to Babs. "So, mind telling me what's going on here?"

She looked up at him with a grin.

"One of your gingers gave us a call and told us you had been lonely. So when we all found out you were here, we figured we'd drop by."

Dick snorted, adjust his sling. "Wally."

Babs winked at him. "On the nose."

Dick just shook his head, turning to look around the table, voices echoing off the dining room walls and causing a chaotic mess of sound. And he grinned. He grinned because he loved his family, his large, wonderful, crazy family, and he wouldn't trade them for anything.

[redandfranticfeelings]

for ship opinions: staged dorks

man okay i have gone on A Lot about this ship bc i put a lot of heart into christine and jeremy as characters and i am very defensive of their dynamic, at least in the 3.0 incarnation.

bc like okay i can def see people brushing it off as a one-sided love story esp in 1.0, and maybe see christine as a manic pixie dream girl and/or something for jeremy to attain and save, and some lines i feel could be better regarding that idea. but i think that when you look deeper into the script, jeremy is good for christine.

because jeremy, despite all his issues overcoming it, owns and admits to his insecurity and depression in a way christine doesn’t, because she tends to deflect or downplay her issues, instead trying to reach out to others through theater, and it comes across like she thinks admitting that she “wants things to be easy” makes her selfish. him matter-of-factly telling her that’s normal in VIMH is really important for her to hear. i wish more people acknowledged her insecurities (because we clearly see she’s socially awkward and even bullied like jeremy is) and how jeremy helps her, just as much as she helps him shamelessly embrace his weirdness. jeremy admits to his depression while repressing his weirdness, while christine admits to her weirdness while repressing her depression, which is a good parallel. (michael also has a very similar arc but i think it’s more obvious with him; christine gets brushed off more often).

christine is very empathetic and compassionate, even before she gets to know jeremy she’s constantly worried when he seems nervous, and is the only person to help him in the mall after he freaks out. i think this might, admittedly, cause some complication, because she also tends to feel so hard for others that it depresses her and she blames herself, like after the fire with rich and jake. however, jeremy also obviously cares about her, and wants her to express herself rather than bottle up her feelings, so i don’t think he’d let her drive herself nuts over him. and he’d probably do the same to her, lol. it’d just be a cycle of “no please don’t worry about me, you’re the one who’s struggling!” and they have to both deal with their empathy issues and just boost each other up :)

also i like to think jeremy genuinely cares about her art, i mean if you watch ILPR (particularly the wrol/steph ones) he is just enthralled with her, and obviously he does listen to her in 3.0 with their clever “bowling alley performance art” change, and that’s why he knows her well enough to identify when the squip sets her off, and her autonomy is so important to him (because it’s important to her, as she ranted at him for assuming she would ever want a squip, because jeremy’s arc involves realizing not everyone with insecurities wants to change what makes them unique) that he risks himself to save her, which is a point everyone makes but it’s important.

i also like to think jeremy is genuinely interested in theater (which is canon to the book) because his interest in the play comes before christine even shows up, so i like to think they both can indulge in acting together, and jeremy genuinely likes learning about new things, and christine is a good teacher, i think it’s just therapeutic for them both as jeremy embraces this outlet and christine gets to infodump :)

which leads me to my point that they’re both Very Autistic Coded (and ADHD coded- hell in christine’s case it’s outright canon) and they both really get each other on that front... both know how it feels to get super into something and want to share but nobody ever seems to listen, and how social interactions are practically a chore, but they can just be themselves around each other. and while michael is great i think he struggles to be patient with jeremy (which is something that can be worked out between them; i'm not putting down that ship and i love it too) while i think christine is more capable of understanding how it feels to put on a face for other people, though she does it in a slightly different way.

in conclusion..........🎳

[sapphiresea]

Earp-A-Palooza 2019

Okay, so by request, a few of you asked if I could share my experiences again. Below the cut, I’ll go through my weekend at Earp-A-Palooza, but right now I just want to start by saying this was one of the most special experiences of my entire life. I am so unbelievably glad I was able to go and that it worked out. Honestly, it was a true blessing. Also, I don’t get to mention this in here, but the whole weekend, Dom and Kat were calling me by name and I was almost never wearing the badge that actually said my name on it, so they clearly just remembered that I’m Steph. Considering I know I haven’t told Kat my name since at least Expo in June, if even then, that was pretty rad. I think I reminded Dom at EH Con, but she remembered it now, so I’m definitely not complaining! That was a really neat feeling, just to know that I’m known by them. Is that totally dorky? Maybe. But how many people can say that about their faves? And how many faves even bother to remember people’s names the way this cast does with us Earpers? I’m about to say it a dozen times at least, but these people are really special.

My Friday started off in a rush, leaving my apartment at only 5 AM to drop off my apartment keys for my best friend before catching my flight to St. Louis. Customs took a long time to get through, and I felt anxious to get moving. I was tired as hell, only having slept for 45 minutes, but so ready for the con adrenaline to kick in. I had this really strange feeling in my gut. I kept looking around, and it felt like I was crazy. But something was just nagging at me and it was really weird. Except then, at about 7 AM, I turned around in my seat by the gate, and Kat Barrell was walking in.

So there’s that!

Someone tagged her in a reply to a tweet I made and I swear I saw her look around really quickly out of the corner of her eye. I was kind of blocked from her view by a few people, and also it was, again, 7 AM. She also doesn’t know my username since I don’t interact with her online much even though we’ve met in person several times, so she didn’t really know who she was looking for if she did, in fact, see it.

I figured I’d go say hello, but then leave her alone. I also didn’t want to bother her, so I waited until they made the first boarding call. She wasn’t in zone 1, but she put her phone down and wasn’t too busy, so I casually walked over and said, “I don’t want to interrupt, but I just thought I’d come say ‘hi.’” She looked up and recognition clicked and she grinned and greeted me. I kind of hung back in case she wasn’t up to talk but she initiated a conversation and I wasn’t about to turn her down. She asked if I was going to St. Louis for Palooza. I said, “Yeah, it would be kind of weird if I was just here and not going.” She laughed and said, “Maybe you’re going to Indianapolis” (these were the only two gates in our area for a very long stretch). I conceded and said I was going to the con and she asked if a lot of my friends were going. I told her just about all my friends were going and that made her pretty happy to hear. We chatted awhile, not really about anything serious but it was still a good conversation. This was the one time I didn’t mind that boarding was taking ages (seriously, like fifteen minutes). Our plane was also a walk out on the tarmac and so we boarded together in the same zone and before she took her seat, she smiled and said, “See you there!”

I never sleep on planes, but literally everyone on the flight (all twelve of them – we were on the tiniest plane) had crashed. I was way too excited about the weekend, so I mostly just listened to music and played games on my phone.

When we landed, Kat was further up so she was off the plane before me, but she had to stay to get her skycheck luggage. I wasn’t going to be a creep and linger since the bag I had to pick up was over on the baggage carousel across the airport. She waved as I walked by and I said “see you later!” I went to get my things and meet my friend.

I hung out with a few people for awhile before the con and made some really fun new friends who were rooming with a couple of people I knew. I had so many laughs just on the way over to the con hotel that it was really a magical start to the morning. I had been sick earlier in the week and concerned that I would have to sleep a lot in my down time but I felt really great, and I was happy to check in and go right to registration and start meeting up with everyone.

I had told myself to be calm about photos and autos this con and had so many plans to only do 4 photos the whole weekend that literally dissipated as soon as I got there. I bought a Dom and a Kat solo for the very first day and you’ll soon see that over the course of 3 days, 4 photos easily transformed into 11 plus selfies. Oops? Sorry not sorry.

My first photo was with Dom. As I hadn’t planned anything for these extra photos, I basically just winged it with whatever I thought would be cute. She was so energetic when I walked in. She grinned so brightly when she saw me and said it was nice to see me again and complimented my hair. I have always curled my hair for them, but I was lazy getting up at 3:20 AM so I had just straightened it but she really liked it, so maybe I don’t hate my hair straight anymore. I asked if we could sit and lay our heads on each other’s shoulders. Which, of course, meant softly headbutting each other because I didn’t specify and she checked with me what I wanted. I said, “Okay, just put your head on my shoulder?” and we got a super adorable photo. As I was getting up to leave, she started asking how I was and making small conversation and I was so sure I was going to be kicked out, so I made it really quick, but it was a really great interaction.

Kat’s solo photo came next. As I walked in, she was like, “Hey! You made it!” It kind of made me laugh because yeah, I flew in with you boo. But she followed it up with, “I was looking for you! I was going to offer you a ride, but I didn’t find you.” Wow. Okay. So that happened. I’m still kind of bummed I didn’t see her to get that ride – because how cool would that be!? – but also I would’ve had to linger like a weirdo and it would’ve been very awkward for me to wait for her to get her bags and not just look creepy, so it’s not surprising we had lost each other. I thanked her for the thought though, and I’m still really stoked that she was going to do that at all. Really, this cast is the absolute sweetest and so thoughtful. I know a lot of actors and few of them would want to share a ride with a fan, let alone be the ones to offer. I get it, but there’s something very special about Kat and the rest of the Earp cast, you know?

I also had a real time trying to explain to her the photo of her and Dom I wanted to recreate. She had no idea what I meant when I said she was the small spoon in prom pose and she didn’t know what face to make even though I said for her to just smile. She held my hands really tightly though, and the photo turned out amazing. I have no complaints.

Following that, I went for autographs. I had a giveaway and my friend who couldn’t make it to Palooza had asked me to get her Dom and Kat’s autos, so I moved right to that line. I ended up getting in Kat’s line first, and it moved very slowly. She was chatting with everyone, which was actually quite nice. I love when they’re given time to actually have conversations with us. I don’t actually remember the order of what we discussed, to be honest. When I got up, she asked if I had slept on the plane because she had conked out the moment the engine turned on. I shook my head and said I could never sleep on planes. She asked if I was super tired or if the con adrenaline had kicked in. I told her it kicked in some time at the airport and thankfully I wasn’t that tired.

I showed her that I got my tattoo, which she had written for me at EH Con. Since I had decided to wear a t-shirt tucked into my jeans, I had to show it to her on my phone or else I would’ve had to do a weird flash move. She loved it though. I said I knew it was a little ironic to get “everything is temporary” as a tattoo but that it’s something I tell myself constantly. She nodded and said, “The good and the bad, too!” And I just said, “Exactly. It’s a great reminder.” And she loved that I had done matching ones with one of my best friends on my birthday when I got it. She asked if it really hurt and I said it was my most painful and that I kind of wished the words were shorter because I was like, “Please be done soon!” Ribs hurt way more than any of my others. I don’t know how people do intricate designs there. Y’all are superheroes. I said I was also the dummy who got two in one go and she asked about my other one. I told her I got Dom’s butterfly and ended up explaining the significance, which meant she asked me all about the butterfly project, which was a little uncomfortable. I definitely didn’t mean to be like Tragic Backstory Unlocked™ but I was pretty clear that it was a sign of recovery and that I was six years clean. I can’t remember her exact response but it was along the lines of being proud of me. I thanked her and quickly changed topics as she moved to the second signature.

I told her I had gone to see the movie she had recommended on Instagram and she asked which one. I said, “Last Call,” and she asked what I thought. I told her I liked the story but that I was really amazed by how they had pulled off shooting it, which she agreed with emphatically. I said I was about 20 minutes in before I realized there hadn’t been a cut and that this whole movie was one take, but that listening to the cast and crew describe the process after was really phenomenal. She was so excited I had gone and she thought it was pretty amazing. I also slipped and said I had ducked out of CarmillaCon for a few hours to go and she asked how that was as we were taking our selfie. I replied that it was really great and she said she thought it would be and it sounded really cool.

As I was leaving, she hugged me and said it was great seeing me at the airport and again that she was glad I made it this weekend. So….if I’m having heart palpitations, it’s because Kat Barrell is the biggest sweetheart in the entire world.

I tried to get into Dom’s line and was extremely bummed to find out I couldn’t. Her line was swarmed by people with fast passes and VIPs so it was barely moving, and they cut it well before her time was up. I was super disappointed, but also I’m glad that they’ve been doing that. Dom is often signing very late overtime because she’s too nice to leave and she loves us all too much for that. It’s really good to see cons taking care of her and the rest of the cast, even if I don’t get to see them when I want.

I got into Emily’s line instead. It was pretty busy and I was only getting a selfie, so it was a quick interaction but she was her usual friendly self and gave me a hug and told me it was nice to see me again. She also really loved my t-shirt – which Dom had also commented on at our photo op – because it was a winking Calamity Jane and on the top it said “loves pussy…” and on the bottom, below the cat, says “cats.” They both thought it was hilarious. The design was mine, and the cat was drawn by my lovely friend Catie. You can find it on Redbubble here, if you like it.

That was all I had for the day, so I went out to hang with some Earpers. I chatted with a bunch of them for awhile and went out for dinner before going to the block party. Well, sort of. My roommate and I didn’t want to spend the money for tickets, so we hung out outside with some of our friends who were going in and out and danced around until we went back to our room. And I just want to say here that I met so many new Earpers and got closer with others I haven’t seen much at previous cons. I love this community with my whole entire heart. My favorite people are in this fandom and I wish I could go back and just hug everyone a thousand times.

I was very tired by the time we got back, but my roommate, Autumn, and I still spent awhile dancing around our room and watching the Carmilla movie before bed. It was like 3 AM when we finally went to sleep, which maybe wasn’t the best move since we had to be up at 7 AM the next morning, but it was fun!

I knew the day was busy so I only stuck around for half of the cast panel, and I’ll have to watch the other half on YouTube. I got to see Tim surprise all of us by showing up, though. How cool was that!? Admittedly, some of us thought he might, but that didn’t detract from the moment we heard his voice at all. There were so many screams, and I was stoked. He’s the one cast member I’ve yet to meet and I couldn’t believe I was lucky enough to witness that and to get to see him. He’s such a sweetheart!

I had photo ops first thing but I rearranged to get Melanie’s solo on Sunday so I would have a better chance of getting into the autograph line for Dom. I had a Wayhaught photo that I had planned for ages. I was wearing a blazer and presenting a poster of a study I had generated through R to provide evidence of Wayhaught being the best couple on television. Dom and Kat were both like, “Oh my gosh, what is this!?” when I walked in with it. I introduced Autumn as my research assistant and explained the photo, but they were both trying to read the poster. Autumn pointed out that I had really run this through statistical software and done all the programming for it and I said yeah, it was all mathematically accurate and that even though the data was generated, it’s what I felt was the truth. They loved it, even though Dom added, “I don’t understand a word of this, but it’s so cool!” They were both like, “Wait, so what do you want us to do in this?” because they were too distracted to listen to my instructions and I told them again. It was exactly what I wanted from that photo, to be honest. I love it. 

I really wanted to get Dom’s autos on Saturday since I knew I would have to leave before her session on Sunday. I attempted to get into her line for the early signing but photo ops had run late and the line was huge. Everyone attending Palooza lined up for everything way before they needed to, and that meant it was really hard to get in for much if you had photos. Literally as I got to the front, they cut Dom’s line, so I went for Kat again. I wanted both of them to sign the poster and had forgot it in my room the day before.

Kat tried to read the whole poster again when I brought it up and asked me about it. I explained that I had done it as practice R coding for grad school since I have to do simulations for my thesis. She thought it was really cool. We also talked about my shirt from the day before because she had signed “Nicole loves pussy…cats” on her banner and I commented on that. She said she loved the cat and asked if I had drawn it. I said I did a mock up and sent it to my friend who could actually draw. But she gave me the biggest hug as I left and I don’t even remember if she said anything after that, to be honest, besides goodbye. I was floating a bit.

Unfortunately, in order to get Dom’s autograph, I had to sell my meet and greet with Varun. I was super bummed, but I’m Dom and Kat trash. They’re the reason I go to these cons. And I really needed to get her to sign not only the poster but the autographs for others. I ended up lining up right after I left Kat, even though it was three hours early. Even then, I was not the front of the line, so that tells you how lines were at this con. (It was really chill in every other aspect, though.) I had two photo ops between then and the auto time, so I ended up having a chain of people saving my space in line and like…thank goodness for them, really. I am so grateful. I think I thanked them like three hundred times because it worked.

But first, my photos. I had a solo with Kat next. I shared it with my friend Vanessa, who was dressed as season 3 Nicole. I was wearing another shirt I designed to copy Nicole’s unicorn tee and had specially made, so I was in a very light ‘casual Nicole’ cosplay. We decided to fight over Kat and she was adorable. We also ended up in behind the scenes videos on Instagram and twitter, so that was cool. (There’s also a BTS shot of her signing my poster!)

Next up was another solo with Dom, and for that I just asked for her to be forehead-to-forehead with me. It’s so cute I don’t think I’ll ever have another profile photo (just jokes – I have a special Christmas one with her and you know I’m too trash not to cycle through photo ops on a loop with her and Kat until I see them again). But I do really love it. As I left, she said, “Thanks Steph!” and I skipped out.

I was stoked to be able to get into Dom’s autograph line at last and it felt like I was able to breathe because I really, really wanted to see her. Honestly that had been my main draw to come, and I know I’ve been very fortunate to meet her previously, but I didn’t want to let anyone down by not getting her auto and I didn’t want to miss actually getting to speak with her!

When I got up to her, she was a bit busy but that was fine because I still had to fish out everything I needed her to sign. Unlike other cons where autos have been capped at 2, I was able to get all three things I needed! Bless. She apologized for the distraction and I said it was no problem at all.

I talked with her about my tattoo of her butterfly first. Normally I like to ask if it’s okay to get someone’s writing before I jump in and do it, but I hadn’t been able to ask her first. I told her I got it and she thought it was wonderful and asked to see it, so I turned around and lifted my hair and she moved my collar to see it and said it was beautiful. I explained to her why it was so important to me and she also asked about the project and said that was really beautiful and she loved it. She was so sweet and wonderful, really.

Again, though, I didn’t want to linger on that topic. I like to make it clear that it’s healing and recovery, not current struggling. So I told her about how my school doesn’t allow plastic bottles and really promotes reusable bottles and how I loved that they did that. Of course, she dug that initiative.

She got to the poster finally to sign it and I just blushed and said it was the dorkiest thing I had ever done. She said that was awesome and that it was good to be dorky. I said I just wanted to make studying more fun and that was the result. She signed, “Nerdy is beautiful,” on the poster. We took our selfie and I asked if I could give her a hug, to which she replied, “Of course!” I thanked her and she said, “Goodbye angel!” as I left. My friend Autumn was there the whole time and she calls me angel, so she was teasing about how that’s her nickname.

Following that, I attended the Men of Purgatory panel and just relaxed a bit with my friends. After the con ended for the day, we went to meet another friend while she was getting dinner….and she had been seated right next to Dom, Varun, Justin, and Tim. So wow. We didn’t bother them, of course, but as they were leaving, Dom saw us and waved and said “hi” and told us to have a great night. They were on their way to the concert, I guess! We waited for our friends to finish eating and then went to the lip sync battle, which was really fun. Kevin was in a wedding dress, Bonnie performed to Melissa Etheridge, and Allison did a baller dance to Chicago. I couldn’t help but dance along. I was kind of losing my voice, though, so I didn’t want to stay for karaoke and neither did my friends, so we called it early.

Sunday was busy but much less hectic overall. It started with the Wayhaught panel, which was so cute. You can all thank Nessa for Kat wearing that Stetson, by the way. She’s the same one who gave it to her at EH Con for the Newlywed panel. Anyway my gay really shone and I had so much fun. I can’t wait for that to be released for everyone (and for me to re-watch!). 

Next, I had photos with Tim. Having never met him, I asked for a simple hug. He was so soft spoken and sweet. We didn’t talk much, since it was just a photo, but he’s a very kind man and I was thrilled to meet him! Now I’ve met the whole of the main cast and most of the big guests. And they’ve all been wonderful!

Next was Wayhaught. My friend Catie and I did a joint photo following up on one we had gotten at Expo where Kat kissed my cheek and Dom kissed hers. We switched this time. She asked me if I thought we’d look less like useless gays and I just said, “No.” Spoiler? We didn’t. Dom really did kiss my cheek and that’s never going to get old.

I stayed behind because I had a second Wayhaught duo just by myself but Dom knew that and Kat didn’t, so she started dancing around away from us and Dom was like, “Uh, Kat?” And she turned back and I grinned and said, “I have another one,” and she laughed and apologized but I told her I didn’t mind. I just asked them to do princess face because, like so many others, I hadn’t thought ahead. Oops? I ain’t mad about the result, though!

Two of my friends saved us places in line for the Ladies of Purgatory panel, so I went to that next and loved it. I’m not writing much about panels only because they’ll all be online. But oof. Good content. A lot of tears, though. 

I left a couple of minutes early to get into line for photos with Mel and Kat. Their photos overlapped, so I asked where to go. They said, “Get in line 12 for Kat first.” Except when they brought up line 12, we were taken to Mel. So I got Mel’s photo instead. It was simple, but at previous cons I’ve never had a solo op with her and at EH Con, she commented along the lines of feeling neglected because I was always doing ops where I was swooning over Dom or Kat. I love Melanie so much, and I went up and just said, “I feel like I never get to tell you how much I love you, so I was wondering if we could just hold each other for a minute.” She was so soft and just said, “Aw, of course! You’re so sweet! Come here!”

I ran out to get my photo with Kat and asked her if we could hold hands. She took both my hands and I rested my head on her shoulder. She held my hand even as the op ended and gave it a few squeezes and said again how glad she was to see me and said, “Goodbye darling!” as I left. I’m soft. Every time I see this photo, my heart skips another beat because I think about how incredible it was to see Kat in particular this weekend. She really does have my whole heart. What an amazing woman.

My last photo op was an impulse buy (like as if most of this weekend wasn’t impulse purchases?). Autumn, Sakari and I did an Earp sisters duo with Mel and Dom and asked them to feign fighting. Dom initially went into a stance with her fists up and then Mel did…whatever you call this and Dom reached for her leg. I’m totally laughing in this because I’m not an actor and I was like, “What the heck, Melanie?”

Autumn and I had to rush out from the con then, sadly, because the latest flights we could get out of St. Louis were at 5:45 PM and we needed to get to the airport. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to most of my friends, which sucks, but it was better to miss a few hours at the end than to miss the whole con.

Honestly, I know I say this every time, but the warmth in my heart after every Earper convention is unmatched. The cast, the beautiful friends both old and new… I can’t say how much it means to me. I don’t have post-con depression, I just straight up miss my people. And I am, more than anything, so grateful to have been blessed with these experiences over the past year. I am so fortunate and so grateful for all of it. Especially to Dom and Kat for their genuine, soft, and kind words, putting me at ease and making me feel so special and seen, and to all my friends who are now some of the most important people in my life for being my backbone and making me feel more confident and accepted… I can never thank you all enough. Con season is almost over so I won’t get to do this again until next year – although I’ll definitely be visiting my friends in the interim – but gosh, I cannot wait. These memories will carry me through not just until then, but for the rest of my life.

[violetsmoak]

Philtatos [12/?]

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20101543/chapters/47690671

Blanket Disclaimer

Summary: During a patrol where Red Hood and Red Robin cross paths, Jason is infected with the blood of the Eros, the ancient God of Love, who informs them that they must track down his missing bow and arrows, or Jason will go slowly mad with an obsessive desire–for Tim. Though overwhelmed by the sudden attention being paid to him, Tim sets to work trying to solve the case, before Jason succumbs to madness. In the meantime, Jason discovers that there’s more than godlike powers at work here, as well as a legacy that reaches back through the sands of time.

Rating: PG-13 (rating may change later)

Beta Reader: None at the moment.

JayTimBingo Prompts This Chapter: #undying love #reincarnation #secrets #oracle #betrayal #prophecy

First Chapter

________________________________________________________________

Tim might be on the verge of panicking.

“It’s handled, I promise,” he insists again, stomach tightening in dismay at how much Cassie isn’t buying it. “We’ve got a system.”

“A system,” she repeats in clear disbelief.

“Yes, a system. And yes, it has a few kinks—but it’s working! According to Eros, most people that have been infected with his blood completely lose it in days, but it’s been two weeks and Jason’s still himself.”

“And you actually trust Eros isn’t just saying things you want to hear?”

“Not even a little,” Tim acknowledges. “But considering what I’ve seen when Jason lapses into his episodes, he could be doing a lot worse right now.” He remembers the older man’s condition in the containment unit before Tim figured out how to help him. “A lot worse.”

“That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.”

“Besides, Batman will flip if you guys descend on the city while he’s trying to deal with everything.”

“Do I look like I care?”

“Seriously, you know how possessive he gets of Gotham, but it’s turned up to 11 whenever the Family’s involved.” Especially when that family’s Jason; their issues aside, if Jason’s in trouble, Bruce will drop everything for him. “I think piling anything else on him right now would make his brain explode.”

Cassie snorts. “Might we worth it then.”

“Cassie….I promise. We’re okay,” Tim insists. “I’m okay. And Jason’s so freaked out about this, he’s been cooperating more with us now than he has since he came back from the dead. He was the one who reached out for help from B, even. None of us could ever have seen that coming.”

Whether she’s surprised or not by Tim’s words, she continues to look doubtful.

“So where is he now?” she asks instead. “I don’t see him with you.”

Tim shifts in discomfort, glad she can’t see his body language below his head and shoulders. “I did tell you things weren’t as bad as they could be. It’s not like he has to be constantly glued to my side.”

Doesn’t mean he does well when he’s far away, though.

“I’m probably in more danger from Dick right now, and we’ve got him on lock-down. Hopefully not for long, if I can get Eros to help. Or if Jason can help.”

Wonder Girl continues to look like she’s waiting for a more convincing argument on Tim’s end, but he knows she trusts him. After doubting him when he believed Bruce was still alive and lost in time, she’s become the first one to believe even his most farfetched ideas and theories.

“Alright,” she says at last. “I’ll back off. For now. But I fully expect you to check in with me on the regular.” She jabs a finger in his direction. “If you go radio-silent on me again, we’re showing up there whether your or Batman like it or not.”

“Got it.”

“I mean it, Tim. I expect you to text me every hour or two to check in. And gods all help you if you’re downplaying any of this.”

“Acknowledged.”

She gives him one last worried look and then says, “Okay then. Take care. And I’ll talk to you in a few hours.”

“Yeah.”

“Good luck.”

The call ends and Tim lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. That was a close one.

“Does it ever bother you, how good you are at lying?” Steph’s voice asks from behind him and he winces.

Not out of the woods yet, I guess.

“Lies are a necessary evil in our line of work,” Tim dismisses, turning around to face her. She’s clearly returned to see if Bruce left him in pieces, which is both appreciated and slightly annoying. “You of all people know that.”

She snorts, acknowledging the dig, but doesn’t comment on it. Instead, she stays her course. “I’m not talking about our line of work; I’m talking about with your friends.”

“If it will protect—"

“They’re offering to help, Tim. I don’t know if we’re exactly in a position to be looking down on that.”

“We’re not at that point yet,” Tim insists.

“Oh, really? Sure you’re not avoiding accepting help because you don’t want any other people knowing about your feelings for Jason?”

His cheeks burn. He should have known she wasn’t going to just leave it. “That’s not it.”

“Really? Because honestly, if you’re ashamed of this—of him—that’s a pretty good indicator that this thing with him isn’t a good idea.”

“You think I don’t know it’s not a good idea?!” Tim snaps, his forced calm abandoning him all at once. “Like I don’t remember every reason why it can’t work? Or everything Jason’s done?”

What he could still do. Because if—when we fix him, it’s not like he’s going to stick around. Even if he’s not sick of looking at me after being forced to want me, he’s not about to settle down in Gotham and follow Bruce’s rules.

He clenches his fists, takes a breath and talks himself back down.

“I’m aware of all of this. I just don’t find it a good use of my time to fixate on something that’s not going to change.”

Steph is wary. “Sounds like you’re the one under some kind of spell.”

“Yeah, well, if I am, then it started years before we met Eros,” he mutters, earning a confused look from Steph.

“What do you mean? Like when he first came back?” She appears thoughtful and then shocked. “No way. You mean when you were following him and B around as a kid? There’s no way—!”

“It was different back then,” Tim defends, feeling something inside him loosen a little. He’s been holding this one secret back for so long, and with everything going on, something’s got to give. “It wasn’t what it is now. I was drawn to him. More than Dick. There was something about Jason that…” He shakes his head. “I don’t know. I felt a connection with him. I really can’t explain it. It should have gone away when he died.”

He remembers that dark time, and how it felt like a part of his insides had rotted away upon hearing the news of Jason’s death. How he hadn’t even been allowed to grieve openly about it because he technically hadn’t known the older boy.

Hell, it should have gone away when he came back.

Even now he can still feel the impact of fists beating him down, of wire cutting into his throat and the searing slice of metal ripping into his chest.

“But it didn’t. It just…got buried in everything else that was going on. And then…”

“Be my Robin.”

“Hey there, Replacement.”

“I wasn’t always the nicest guy in the world to you.”

“Timbers!”

“Sorry you got dragged into this.”

“Aw, babybird…”

“You did good.”

“And then it all came back,” Tim concludes, defeated.

Steph is still looking at him, mouth parted in surprise that flounders for a response to that. He decides not to give her the opening for it this time.

“Forget it. As I said, it doesn’t matter. The point I’m trying to make is I know it can’t go anywhere, and that I don’t expect it to. And the fewer people who know about it, the fewer people I have to put up with pitying me when everything goes back to normal.”

“And by normal, you mean back to you bottling it up and hurting yourself,” Steph reminds him with a scowl.

“I don’t know where you’ve been the past few years but that sort of comes with the territory.”

“Tim—”

“I have to update Bruce on what Cassie told me about Eros’ arrows.”

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, awesome subject change. Real subtle.”

“We don’t have time for subtle,” he shrugs and heads for the study. She follows him, and he can practically hear her grinding her teeth at him.

Guess I should just be glad that Cass isn’t here too, or that would have gone very different…

He knows Steph still isn’t satisfied with his answers, but he doesn’t care. At least bringing up the mission, he might be able to buy himself an hour or so before she starts again.

Taking the stairs down to the cave, he coaches himself to pretend like this is a normal case and that nothing of note happened down here. That Dick isn’t locked up on the lower levels, and that Jason didn’t kiss Tim and then run away.

He’s gratified to find Barbara is already there when he gets downstairs, just pulling herself into the wheelchair friendly area they designed for the conference table.  

“Tim,” she greets right away, a wan smile on her face. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m not the one in trouble,” he dismisses. “Jason is.”

“It’s why I’m here, kiddo. I think what he had me working on is related to everything that’s happening right now.”

“Explain,” Bruce commands.

“Shouldn’t we wait to get Jason back first?” Tim asks.

“I would, but I get the sense this is time-sensitive,” Barbara replies, jaw set as she brings out a thick metal disk that Tim recognizes as a microprojector. “Jason contacted me wanting to see what I could dig up on Carrie Cutter’s recent movements. It led us to her involvement in the murder of a girl we believe to be the actual Oracle of Delphi.”

“That’s not possible,” Damian says. “The last Oracle of Delphi disappeared before the fall of Rome.”

“More likely, moved underground,” Bruce muses.

“Exactly,” Barbara agrees. “I searched the web and official data servers and couldn’t find any information about the information besides what was in the newspapers. No surveillance, no video, audio—nothing. So I sent Duke to investigate the site.” She taps the device on the table and a holographic image appears, projecting a likeness of Signal in front of them at one-eighth the size. “He just arrived there.”

“What took so long?” Damian huffs.

“Unlike you rich kids, Greek wasn’t one of my high school electives,” Duke's voice deadpans across the comm line. “And real-time language translation software doesn’t exactly pick up the regional dialects very well.”

“Have you had time to go over the scene?” Tim asks.

“Not yet. Better to have you guys standing by instead of having to tell it all again later.”

“Even if this oracle said anything, Signal’s abilities don’t allow him to hear sounds,” Bruce points out.

“Witnessing everything firsthand will still give us a better idea of what’s going on,” Barbara answers.

“Might give you a better idea,” Duke replies. “It’s just going to give me nightmares.”

“What do you see?” Bruce asks.

There’s a sigh. “It’s not pretty…”

Right now, Tim is glad Jason isn’t around. Child deaths hit him hard.

“There’s a family sitting down for a meal,” Duke relates. “Mother, grandmother maybe—and the kid, it looks like. And she’s not just blind like Oracle’s reports said—she doesn’t have eyes at all.”

Steph swears.

“She hears something. Looks up. Mom’s heading for the door, and—and that’s Cutter. Exactly like the picture in her dossier. She’s just walking in and she—okay, that’s weird.”

“What?”

“She didn’t just burst in here with knives drawn. And she’s…kneeling?”

“That’s weird, right?” Steph asks.

“Oracles were intermediaries for the gods,” Barbara says. “It’s probably a formality. Like not turning your back on a king or something.”

“Cutter’s asking her something. Can’t really get the right angle to see what it is though. Now the girl’s talking.” A long pause. “She seems to have a lot to say. And Cutter’s hanging on to every word.” He glances at something invisible to the rest of them. “Mom and Grandma there seem more worried about all this than she is. If this kid’s a seer, you’d think she’d know what’s about to happen and try to—oh.”

He looks away then, the image of him balling his hands into fists.

There’s no need to ask why.

“It was quick,” he says after a moment, his voice heavy with anger and something else. “For her, at least. Not so much for the others. And she’s leaving now—that’s.”

He shakes his head, coming back to the present.

“Is there any indication of what the girl said to cause Cutter or whatever god is possessing her to lash out?” Bruce wants to know.

“Not really. I mean, I’ll try watching it again but—wait.” His image goes utterly still for a few seconds and then startles. “Okay, you guys are not going to believe this.”

“Stop drawing things out and get to the point!” Damian commands.

“Robin,” Bruce reprimands, earning a scowl but compliance. “What is it, Signal?”

“She’s talking in English.”

That makes them all look at each other.

“Are you sure?” Tim asks, at the same time Steph wants to know, “How can you be sure?”

“I know I haven’t got as much lip-reading practice as you guys, but I’ve gotten good enough to recognize someone speaking English,” Duke deadpans. “And everything this girl said, she said it in English.”

“That’s not possible,” Barbara says, frowning. “No one in the area speaks English. I checked.”

“Maybe she’s been getting private lesso—whoa.” He straightens up then, posture more alert. “Missed that before. She’s not looking at Cutter while she’s talking like I thought she was.”

“That matters?”

“Little bit, I think. Since she’s looking at me.” 

Tim’s mouth parts a bit. “What?”

“She knew you were going to be there,” Barbara realizes.

“Tell us what she’s saying,” Bruce orders.

“Give me a sec. It’s not like an instant replay button, you know.”

Everyone waits with bated breath as Duke tenses again and focusses. Then he speaks, careful and halting.

“' The…unseen…darkness…cannot keep…it’s captive…for mortal masks…the divine that seeks—'” Duke stops and shakes his head. “It’s too fast after that. Going to take some time to get the whole thing.”

Barbara breathes out something that could be a curse. “It’s a prophecy. An actual prophecy from the Oracle of Delphi.”

“Duke, make sure you record every single word exactly as it’s said,” Bruce orders. “With ancient prophecies, the smallest inaccuracy can change the entire meaning.”

“You suddenly believe in prophecies, B?” Duke asks.

“No. I believe in having the most complete picture possible. And rushing you will compromise that. Take the time you need to transcribe what she said and upload it to the system.” Bruce straightens up. “We’ll figure out the meaning behind it once we have the whole thing.”

“Whatever you say, boss. Shouldn’t take more than a few viewings for me.”

His image sputters and then vanishes.

“I know you’re good and all, Bruce, but ancient prophecies were created to be beyond what humans could understand,” Barbara points out. “And even if you figure out everything, there’s still all the double and hidden meanings.”

“We have access to Eros, though,” Damian points out. “Have him decipher it.”

Bruce shakes his head. “We can’t trust that he won’t twist the meaning for his own gain.”

“Or we can just ask Jason,” Tim points out.

“What?”

“Well, apparently part of being infected by the blood of a god means being able to read the languages and word of the gods. So somehow, his brain is operating on the same plane or wiring that Olympian gods do,” Tim explains. “Stands to reason he might be able to shed light on things that way.” There’s an air of hesitation in the air, and he continues, “Besides, we have to find him anyway. Other than the fact he might be hurt right now, Cassie said there’s a possibility he could help cure Dick.”

“How?” Damian demands immediately.

“Convoluted Olympian reasons,” Tim says, not wanting to get into it. “The point is, we need to find Jason before we do anything else.”

He meets and holds Bruce’s gaze, almost challenging him to find something more important. There’s a beat where the older man considers him with the full Batman calculation, and then he nods.

“Then we’re going to need the most up to date information on his usual bolt holes. You have the most up-to-date list.”

Tim is hesitant.

There are several safe houses he knows of that he’s sure no one else in the Family is aware of, not even Barbara. He’s kept to himself what he knew because Jason values his privacy. He won’t be happy if Tim rats him out.

But then again.

It’s been almost two hours since Jason left, and the last time he was away from me for so long things didn’t go well. He could be sitting in a corner with slit wrists for all we know.

His stomach twists painfully at the mental image, and that’s what decides him.

“Okay,” he says, and slides over the computer to type the addresses and coordinates of the mental list he’s been keeping.

Twelve locations pop up on the giant map of Gotham. Bruce’s eyebrows draw together as they rove over three that he clearly didn’t know about. If anyone thinks it’s odd that Tim has such detailed knowledge of Jason’s comings and goings, no one mentions it. Instead, Bruce’s shoulders set and he turns to the others.

“We’ll cover the ground faster if we split up,” he declares. “Alfred will stay here in case he comes back to the manor on his own. Stephanie, cover these three—” He gestures to the blinking dots across the East End, “—Damian, the ones off the Financial District. I’ll take the docks and Tricorner—”

“What about me?” Tim interrupts.

“You’re still benched.”

“I know that. But shouldn’t I still come alone to calm him down?”

“No. You need to remain in one place so it’s easier to bring him to you if required.”

Tim wants to argue, but he knows Bruce has a point. Whether Jason elects to return to the manor on his own or the others find him, they need to know where to bring him.

“It’s just as well,” Barbara says. “We need to speak to Eros. We can go to Tim’s place and wait there.”

“He’s unlikely to be honest,” Bruce says.

“Maybe, but even lies can give us an idea of the truth. You see it a lot in historiography. Lots of sources are biased, the trick is to get as many as possible to form the most accurate picture possible.”

Tim pounces on the opportunity to do something.

“We can get Eros to tell us what all this means, and then we ask Jason when we find him. He’ll be able to fill in anything that might have gotten ‘lost’ in Eros’ version.”

“Assuming he’s even lucid anymore,” Steph asks. “How do we know he hasn’t devolved into a gibbering idiot already?”

“He hasn’t,” Tim says immediately.

“And you know this how?”

He recalls the mysterious blades Jason was so evasive about. “I just do.”

Stephanie’s eyes narrow, and he knows she’s likely trying to decide how much of his confidence is justified and how much is due to his feelings.

As if I’d be that unprofessional, he thinks in annoyance as he goes to copy the recording of Duke’s findings.

“Let’s go,” Bruce says and turns toward the stairs. Then he pauses. “And Tim?”

“Yeah?”

“Civvies only. I haven’t changed my mind about that.”

Tim rolls his eyes but decides to allow it—for now. “Okay, Bruce.”

“Come on, kiddo, let’s go,” Barbara says, wheeling toward the elevator. “Time to interrogate a god.”

He makes a face. “Are you sure you want to subject yourself to that? He’s kind of a jerk.”

“I spent the last ten years dealing with immature man-children. This will be a breeze.”

⁂

“Now that we’ve got the broad terms of the agreement sorted out, there is one tiny, slight hiccup,” Eros says.

“Only the one?” Jason retorts, unimpressed, rubbing at the site of the wound which started all of this.

“Only one that matters,” the Olympian says. “See, I did have a vial of Stygian Sleep on me—always do, since you never know when you need to make a quick escape from a family dinner.”

“Right…”

“But like I said, I wasn’t expecting you two to burst into my digs—just like I wasn’t expecting bird boy to lock me in this glorified hamster cage. So that vial is still hidden in one of the pieces on display at my warehouse.”

Jason groans. “Which was repossessed by the cops right after we busted it up.”

“Probably.”

“So now a deadly Olympian poison is in evidence lock-up at GCPD headquarters?”

“Possibly? Though they won’t even know what it is or where it is. It’s hidden in something that looks like a stone slab, so I doubt they’ll be cracking it open looking for drugs or anything.”

“It still leaves me with the problem of gettin' in there and grabbin' it, doesn’t it?” Jason snarls.

He paces a bit back and forth, trying to think up the best way to get inside without attracting attention. He’s got his own base of operations under the building, but he’s not keen on potentially burning that location just for the sake of finding Eros’ lost property.

Assuming it’s even there in the first place. Maybe it’s still back at the docks; they might not have confiscated everything yet. Unlikely, but possible. I’ll have to go there first. Possibly run into whatever scavengers or light security force is hanging about.

Not something he wants to do when he’s this compromised.

“Look at that, I can practically see the cogs spinning behind that sexy brow,” Eros says. “Hopefully whatever you come up with is more successful than your last plan.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, in your dramatic entrance, you seem to have forgotten to let me know how the ritual went. Since you’re here and my arrows aren’t, obviously you failed.”

“And got shot for my trouble,” Jason grumbles. “Speakin' of, any idea why your all-powerful arrows wouldn’t work on me, but they did on my br—on Nightwing?”

“The golden arrows can’t invalidate a match that they’re responsible for creating,” Eros says. “To do that, you’d have to be hit first with a leaden arrow to invalidate the feelings.”

“But we weren’t hit with any arrows this lifetime. Think we would have noticed by now.”

“Not in this life. Keep up, precious. You were joined together with Patroklus since the first time you were alive. Normally, that kind of bond vanishes with death—the whole Lethe deal, right?”

“…Normally.”

“But you died loving each other. Your last thoughts in both your lives have always been on each other. That’s powerful magic, older than me even. It seems to have given you a measure of protection your Nightwing doesn’t have, by confusing the diviners into thinking you’re still matched.”

“So I’m what, immune?” That could be a good thing.

“Maybe? I wouldn’t put money on it. You probably just got lucky. If you get hit by the lead one next time, it could sever even that. So, try not to get shot again, m’kay?”

“Great advice,” Jason seethes.

Though if he didn’t have any kind of connection to Tim, it would be that much simpler to foil the machinations of this entitled godling and whatever entity is working with Carrie Cutter.

The instant the thought enters his mind, he wants to throw up. The idea of hating Tim now—even though he can remember what that felt like—sends a visceral terror slamming into him with the same force of the Joker’s crowbar.

So much for having any kind of advantage in this whole situation.

Damn it, what am I even supposed to do about Tim?

His personal feelings (and the supernatural infection) aside, the best thing would be to avoid him. He’s not quite sure how he’ll be able to interact with or even just be around the younger man now that he knows the truth. Especially since with every passing minute he’s remembering more bits and pieces of lives long forgotten—he recalls the promises they made each other, can remember the feel of Tim’s skin beneath his fingers and the taste of his lips—

Stop it.

No, he can’t tell him.

Tim, like both of his past lives, will put what he thinks are Jason’s needs in front of his own. Worse, it will all be him humoring him, which puts a sour taste in Jason’s mouth. The idea of devaluing the bond between them that has spanned time and space and civilizations is almost as painful as the knowledge that bond is about to be severed—and by him, no less.

There’s a distant sound of a motor, the hum of the secret garage door of the Nest opening, and Jason tenses.

Shit. Tim.

He needs to get out of here before he’s noticed.

Except, he can’t seem to make his limbs move.

If he were completely himself, he could be out of here in an instant without even evidence that he was here. But—

But Tim is close. He’s nearby and—

And Jason knows that he’s not going to get anything done unless he gets a fix, something to hold him over while he figures out the next step in his plans.

Shit, now I’m comparing him to drugs. What the hell.

Somehow, the decision to not leave before Tim allows him some measure of movement.

Jason shoves the gold coin into his pocket—he can figure out what to do with it later—and forces himself to act. He has to delete whatever surveillance footage is on the Nest from the last hour before Tim arrives.

He can’t have him knowing what’s going on. Not unless Jason can think of a better explanation than, ‘hey, by the way, reincarnation is real, and we used to be in love with each other and I’m pretty much looking at a suicide mission in my near future.’

That definitely won’t go over well.

He looks up as a car pulls in, tires barely squealing to a stop before Tim is out the door.

“Jason!”

He’s in civvies now, less covered in grime and bruises than before, and instead of a mask, he’s wearing dark shades to hide his eyes.

Jason swallows the growing lump in his throat and fights down the temptation to hurry forward and wrap his arms around the smaller man. Seeing Tim now—now that he’s remembering—Jason is reliving moments long forgotten, soft laughter in his ear and fingers running through his hair and warmth and safety and—

He inhales sharply, shaking away the images.

That’s over, he tells himself as Tim comes to a stop a few paces in front of him.

“You’re here?” His surprised expression blossoms with what Jason can only describe as relief, even though he can’t understand the reason behind it. He doesn’t remember their pasts, he has no reason to care about Jason beyond the parameters of this mission.

“Yeah,” he replies cautiously, folding his arms and taking a half-step backward.

He needs to keep his distance, no matter how much his fingers are twitching to thumb Tim’s lower lip, how much he wants to wrap him in his arms, bury his face in the crook of his neck and—

“I needed a face-to-face with the source of all our problems,” he says, voice hoarse as he nods toward Eros.

“He was very rude,” the Olympian agrees. “Told me he’d kill me and everything. Isn’t that right, Jason?”

Tim barely spares a glance at Eros, face still pulled into a concerned frown as he steps forward. “I was worried. Driving in your condition, you could have gotten into another accident.”

“Someone gave me a lift.”

“Oh. Okay. That’s…” Tim trails off, perhaps seeming a little lost before his features arrange themselves into careful blankness. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

He reaches out to put his hand on Jason’s shoulder, and Jason pulls back.

“Not a good idea.”

“I’m just trying to help.”

“I don’t need your help.”

“Really? Have you looked in the mirror? Your pale and sweating, your eyes are bloodshot and your knees look like they’re about to give out under you.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not.”

“Well, neither are you,” he shoots back. “Why are you even here? You shouldn’t be anywhere near me after I…”

He trails off, remembering suddenly that they’re not alone.

“You just shouldn’t be here,” he finishes, a little lamely.

Eros is watching all of this with a smarmy grin on his face, and when Jason hears a noise behind him, he turns in time to see Babs just lowering herself out of the passenger seat of the car into her wheelchair. She’s also wearing dark tinted glasses to hide her identity, and he sort of wishes he had thought to do the same before staggering in here to confront the Olympian.

Tim continues to frown at Jason like he’s trying to figure out a puzzle, and then his expression softens a bit.

“Let’s talk, okay?” he offers. “Just talk. Like adults, okay?”

“Oh, this should be good,” Eros says, and the asshole actually rubs his hands together.

This time, Tim shoots him a glare. “Not here.”

“Take your time,” Barbara says, wheeling closer to the containment unit and glaring up at Eros. “Tweety Bird and I need to have a little chat anyway. There are a few things that probably make more sense from the original source.”

From the way she’s looking at the Olympian, if it were anyone else, Jason would feel sorry for him; considering what he’s holding over Jason’s head, he kind of hopes Barbara has him crying before the end of the night.

Before he can get too detailed with his inner imaginings of how to make the god of love miserable, the hair on the back of his neck and arms raises and Tim walks passed him—worryingly close to him—and heads for the entrance to his apartment. “Coming?”

And he really, really shouldn’t.

But the hunger that isn’t hunger is stronger, starving just to be in the same general radius as the younger man.

How am I supposed to sneak off to find Eros’ supply of Stygian Sleep if I can’t even think around this?

He tells himself it’s purely tactical, that he’s just getting his fix of being around Tim, enough to make getting out of here and getting what he needs to complete his deal with Eros.

“Fine,” he replies, voice strained.

He follows Tim out of the Nest, keeping a carefully calculated distance between them as long as he can. Once inside the apartment, Tim heads for the kitchen and opens the fridge.

“You hungry?” he asks, as casually as if Jason just happened by for a visit—except it’s not casual, because it’s never happened. “After everything that’s happened tonight, you need to keep your energy up.” He pauses and then looks apologetic. “I mean the fight with Carrie and your magic swords, not the, uh, other—”

“I’m sorry,” Jason blurts out. “About what happened.”

“Jason—”

“I wasn’t thinkin'—shit, obviously I wasn’t thinkin'—but I figured I had a handle on the impulses.”

“It’s not—”

“You shouldn’t even want to be around me right now.”

“Jason, it’s okay,” Tim insists, slamming the fridge door and raising his voice. “I just didn’t think you were at the point where you…I didn’t think you wanted—”

“Well, neither did I!”

Jason’s still not sure if it was the infection that prompted him to make a move on Tim, or the latent memories trying to get out. If anything, the kiss is what woke him up, so maybe it was the latter.

In which case, it’s even more important to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“We’re not doing this…this anymore,” he decides gesturing between them. “You’ve already let me push the boundaries on this one way too far, and you shouldn’t be expected to let someone full-on grope you—"

“You didn’t grope me.”

“Whatever I did, it wasn’t okay because you don’t want me to—"

“I want you to,” Tim says, so quickly that he blushes, looking like he surprised himself.

Jason freezes, wondering if he’s hearing things. He takes an extra few seconds to review that. “What.”

“Not like that,” Tim rushes to explain, words tripping over each other; he glances away. “I mean—it’s just…it’s not as big an issue as you’re making it. Don't look at me like that, it's not a big deal. In the grand scheme of stuff you’ve done to me, kissing me doesn’t even register at the top of the Horrible Things That Could Happen List.”

“Stop tryin' to make me feel better. You suck at it.”

“I’m not just trying to make you feel better. It really could be worse.” His words continue to rush into each other, betraying his obvious discomfort. “And I know you won’t read into it beyond this being me helping you, and we’re all aware of your views on consent, so I know you didn’t mean anything by it. And it’s not like if I had to make out with Ra’s al-Ghul, right?”

Jason growls, remembering Eros’ threat. “Thanks for that scarring imagery, and the comparison with the creepiest creeper we know. That makes me feel so much more on board with this.”

“The point is if it’s something that helps you, if this grounds you…if you want to…whatever it is, I’m okay with it.”

And doesn’t that just tear into Jason?

“There’s two people involved in this, Tim!” he snaps. “And I’m not okay with it just because it’s supposed to help me. If you even knew…”

Knew what I want to do with you. To you. What we’ve already done, and you don’t even remember—!

“Look, we just can’t, okay?”

Tim lets out a frustrated puff of air. His cheeks puff in a way that has Jason swallowing hard, contemplating how suspicious it would seem if he took off back to the cave.

“Okay, let’s try a compromise here,” Tim says after a minute. “What if we made a list?”

Jason blinks and can’t help glancing back. “What?”

“Of things that we can both agree beforehand are…acceptable. If I’m telling you beforehand exactly what is and isn’t okay, then maybe you won’t feel so much like you’re taking advantage if you need to—if you need to do something to anchor yourself.”

“Tim…”

“No, listen—you were right before. Me just giving a blanket statement that everything’s okay, it isn’t me being honest with you. This way, we can both have boundaries.” Jason is already gearing up to protest until Tim adds, “It might not be a long-term solution, but it’s something, right? And anything not on the list, you can just ask or try to remember if you have the sudden compulsion to do something. And if I’m not comfortable with it we can—I don’t know, try to redirect somehow.”

“You mean if I suddenly get the urge to stick my tongue down your throat?” Jason deadpans. “Give you a warnin' so you can knock me out?”

Tim’s cheeks flare pink. “Um…not…exactly. But yeah. That’s sort of the idea.”

“Except I couldn’t stop myself before,” he points out. “What makes you think I’ll be able to now?”

Tim thinks about it, bites his lip—oh, don’t do that, please don’t do that—and then shrugs. “I trust you.”

So not a good answer, kid.

As if he can sense the direction of his thoughts, Tim narrows his eyes and juts his chin out. "I do."

“This is such a bad idea,” Jason croaks.

“Got any better ones? Whether we manage to cure you or not, we’re on limited time here. We’ve all been trained to withstand torture for days. I know you can do this.”

Just what every guy wants to hear—that the person they’re hitting on is comparing it to torture.

And that’s what it would be, too, for Jason at least.

But he’s still thinking about it—gods above, he’s thinking about it.

Because this is Patroklus and Hephaestion all over; this is Tim. Always has a plan, always has a scenario and an answer to everything. He means it as an olive branch, but Jason can’t help seeing it as a lifeline.

I should just tell him. If I tell him, we can figure this out together.

But he can’t.

Because he remembers.

Letting Patroklus plan, giving him the reigns of control, allowing him to know the full story, that’s only ever gotten him killed. In both their previous lives he planned everything in their lives around Achilleus or Alexandros’ legacy—around his glory and survival.

At least keeping Tim in the dark will keep his mind on the case—on stopping Carrie and her unnamed god friend from unleashing whatever trouble they’re seeking on Gotham. The city needs Tim’s brains focused on that, not on Jason’s past lives’ feelings.

As it is, in the long run, it won’t matter. There might be a cure for Jason’s condition, but Eros all but told him he’s not going to be the one benefitting from it. Even if they find the diviners beforehand, Eros has made it clear what will happen.

What’s the point of bringing it all up when there’s no getting out of it?

Jason’s pretty much signed a new death warrant for himself and he won’t just be going to the green paradise of his memories when this is over. And he won’t be seeing Tim or any version of him ever again.

He studies Tim now, watching him shift uncomfortably as he waits for Jason’s response to his plan. A plan that is hopeful and sweet in the face of a life they both know is anything but. Ignorant of the entire situation, Tim is still trying to give Jason as long as he can as himself.

Which, if I’m going to be spending an eternity alone in some fresh patch of hell…why can’t I have a few days?

Being with Tim as long as possible, even if Tim doesn’t remember the truth of it all…maybe that would be okay.

He feels his misgivings ebb away—gods, I’m weak—and allows himself to relax.

“So,” he begins, tentative, “what would be a definite ‘no’ for you?”

Tim’s eyes widen incrementally, surprise flashing across his features, but he is quick to hide it. He obviously wasn’t expecting Jason to give in.

Tilting his head to one side in thought, he is silent a further few seconds, and then says, “Don’t slap my ass.”

It’s so unexpected that Jason can’t help the startled laugh. “Really?”

“I mean, I might forgive that sort of thing in private, but in front of other people definitely not. I always found it kind of tacky.” Tim pulls out one of the stools along the kitchen island and sits down in a careful attempt to be casual.

“I’m insulted you think that I’d slap someone’s ass in any situation.”

“I’ve seen you slap Roy Harper’s ass.”

“Bullshit.”

“You know how much surveillance footage we have archived of you and the Outlaws?”

“Fine. Stalker.” But the word is more affectionate than anything else. “But to be fair, it’s Roy. He does it too. It’s a…a brother’s thing.”

Mostly. Except not really. And I really hope that all that surveillance footage doesn’t extend to the interior of Kori’s ship…

“Really.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And how many times have you and Dick played ‘slap-the-ass’?” The minute the words are out, Tim turns red and makes a face like he’s just had the oxygen sucked out of his lungs; Jason himself is having a bit of trouble breathing. “I did not mean it like that,."

His face falls into his hands.

“Gods, I hope not. Way to add to the list of shit I need therapy to deal with.” Noting the younger man’s utter mortification, Jason decides it’s high time they moved this discussion along. “Okay. Fine. So, what else? No mackin' on you, obviously.”

“I told it’s fine.”

“I can tell by your tone it’s not.”

He gets a frustrated look for that, and then Tim rolls his eyes and huffs. “I’d prefer if you have to, not to do it around anyone in the Family. We’ve got enough issues to deal with beyond the commentary and worried staring. But more than that, I’m not a huge fan of PDA. It’s uncomfortable.”

Jason thinks about it and nods.

“I guess I can understand that,” he muses. “You get followed around by the paparazzi all the time. Sucks havin' people’s attention on you all the time.”

“It’s not just that. When I was a kid, my parents…well, they just were never the overly affectionate type. I’m not saying I was deprived,” he is quick to add when Jason’s brows begin to draw together, “I was just used to a more reserved kind of affection. Because in public, it all became an act. The spotlight was on us to look overly warm and loving and…it was basically the Drake version of Brucie.”

Jason gags.

“Ever since then, I try to avoid having people look at me like I’m their entertainment unless I’ve planned it out that way.”

There’s a wary, almost vulnerable edge to Tim’s words that make Jason think that this is the first time he’s ever told anyone this rather personal bit of information. He’s simultaneously grateful to have Tim’s trust, while at the same time wondering if this is just him exposing himself to make Jason feel better about his own vulnerabilities.

“What else?” he asks, hesitant but at the same time desperate for him to keep talking. To keep opening up to him.

Tim thinks again. “Uh…don’t touch my neck.”

“Huh?”

“Like, don’t rest your arms along the back of my neck, or hold it with your palm. Shoulders are okay, but my neck, that’s…I don’t like it.”

And that’s…oddly specific. Before he can fully form a question about why that is, he’s hit by another flash of memory. This one, however, isn’t of warmth or safety, but of Jason himself holding Tim up high, wire wrapped around his throat and choking the life out of him.

His heart thuds in dismay and realization.

“I’m sorry.”

“Jason—”

“What I did to you wasn’t right.”

“We’ve been over this already—”

“We’ll never be completely over it,” Jason cuts him off. “It’s always going to be there, in the background of everythin'.” He clenches his fists. “I was puttin' my anger on the wrong person, and you got hurt because of it.”

“You weren’t in your right mind back then.”

“And how many creeps have we locked away for crimes they committed when they weren’t ‘in their right mind’?” Jason counters.

“The difference is that before this situation—before what was done to you—you were a good person. You protected people—you protected kids like me. And you're still a good person where it counts.”

Jason recalls three blood-soaked lifetimes that disprove everything Tim just said. “I was never a good person.”

“Agree to disagree.”

“No, there’s no disagreein', there’s just fact. I’ve been damaged since before I was stupid enough to get caught by the Bat.” Jason takes a step back. “We need to forget about this. After everythin' I did to you, this is a bad idea—”

“Jason, for god’s sake would you—” Tim stops talking all of a sudden, touches the comm in his ear. Then he scowls. “On our way.”

“What’s going on?”

“Babs needs us back,” Tim replies in a flat, irritated tone. Clearly he's not happy to have been interrupted. “Duke’s sending along what he found in Delphi. That’s actually another reason we wanted to find you.” He levels a sharp look at Jason. “I think it’s important we continue this conversation, but not now.”

“Small miracles,” Jason mutters under his breath.

“Probably not. Based on what Duke and Babs have said, apparently there’s a prophecy involved in all this.”

“Of fuckin' course there is,” Jason groans. "Does it say I got a starrin' role in it?"

I swear, if this involved me being a Chosen anything again, I’m out. I’ve done enough of that for three lifetimes…

"I guess we're about to find out." 

Tim stands up and heads for the door to his base, and then pauses to look back at Jason. He raises an eyebrow, somehow challenging and questioning at the same time, and then holds his hand out. 

Jason stares at it for a moment, almost the same way he would assess an enemy for hidden weapons, but it's just Tim's hand and he hasn't touched him in hours...

Every argument against it has already crumbled before he's reached out to lace his fingers through Tim's.

"You fight dirty," he accuses, weary.

"You like it."

That's entirely the problem, babybird.

 ⁂⁂⁂

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I want to know what you think of my story! Leave kudos, a comment or if writing comments isn’t something you’re comfortable with, as many of these (or other emojis) as you want and let me know how you feel!

❤️️ = I love this story! 😳 = this was hot! 💐 = thank you for sharing this 🍵 = tea spilled 🍬 = so sweet and fluffy! 🚔 = you’re under arrest! the writing’s too good! 😲 = I NEED THE NEXT CHAPTER 😢 = you got me right in the feels 🤯mind blown 🤬god damn cliffhanger 😫 whyyyyyyy?!?!? 

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