#the jay and robin are in love today au

[jaythestargirl]

Call it my memior

Hi, uh, I'm Jay. Jayda Marie Thompson if you're nosy. I've been told I have to give a little introduction to myself, and my life and shit, so, this is me attempting to do that.

Oh, and I always sucked at public speaking through school. I may be academically inclined, but my oral presentation skills need a little tweaking...

My oral stimulation skills though, well, I'm ya girl.

Anyway, moving on, let me give you a few facts about my life; Below the cut is What I Look Like, Who I am As A Person, What I'm Into, My friends, my Family, and All the AU's I'm Centered In.

My Look and My Energy:

Obviously you can gather what I look like, and what my energy is like from the pictures above, but here's some more details about little old me, buckle in!

Hair: warm brown / curly (about 3a or 3b) / bangs / usually long to mid back

Eyes: Blue with a slight green hue (a bit like the ocean bcs symbolism)

Height: 5"7 / 5"8 but I often wear shoes that make me taller

Build: Muscular but not insanely - I'm an athlete and enjoy physical exercise and keeping in shape for sport, but I'm not controlled by fitness or working out - I lose some muscle and gain some fat when I stop playing sports but I loves my beautiful (sexy) body either way

Gender: she/her but other than that don't even ask, i don't wanna think about it

Birthday: December 3rd (the year changes depending on the AU) - A Sagittarius if you fuck with that sorta thing.

Culture: Middle class Australian if you can even call that culture. A bit of a bogan if you know what that is, none of my friends do :(

General Aesthetics: Grungy kinda girl / dark colour pallet / smokey foreshadow / dark red lipstick / DIY clothes, outfits, decor / red wine and cigarettes kinda girl / tattoos but half of them are stick & pokes or from sketchy sources / chipped nail polish / perfumes that smell like soil after rain, cinamon, pomegranate, musk, sandalwood, orange, and tobacco / redbull and cherry coke kinda girl / leaves my makeup on for the next day / band posters & shirtless rockstars on my wall / martinis olives and pickles with some crumbly and blue cheese encapsulates my energy well

My soul is the colour of red wine and ripe cherries and blackberries and the night sky and the dark side of the moon and black coffee and hibiscus berry teas and moss and skinned knees and candle light and gun powder and rotting flower petals and sapphires and rubies and blossoming bruises

My Values and Personality:

I prefer the summer / a part of my soul dies in the winter

I'm queer though I don't care about putting a specific label on it (though, when I'm written into the 80's I call myself bisexual because I learnt those terms from Bowie and ran with it because that's all we really knew in small towns)

I'm working through some stuff, no matter the AU, mainly my anger issues and tenancy to jump straight to violence to diffuse a situation, which obviously only makes it worse. I don't really know why I'm like this, my psych Cindy doesn't know either, but she's helping me through it all.

I don't fuck with cheaters. For a girl of my... looseness, lots of guys in relationships tend to think I'm a floozy that will sleep with anyone. But I sometimes have some standards! I don't sleep with committed men or women. You cheat, I'm dobbing your sorry ass in.

I love lily's. All types of lilys.

I've always done well in school, things like reading and writing have always been easy, and I fly through school with good grades. It's the one thing my mother is proud of me for! I don't do as well in maths and science, but my brother helps me out when I need, and I understand enough to pass well enough.

Any guy that tries to claim that men are "naturally better / stronger / more athletic / more intelligent" than woman is getting decked. Cindy doesn't mind that one so much, anger issues are a work in progress but sometimes some idiots just need to be punched in the face.

I hate the concept of judging people by their looks. It's so stupid and outdated, people are complex! However, I definitly do judge people by their looks... I keep an open mind though! And I keep my judgments to myself. And usually it's just me spotting an alternative person out in the wild and assuming they're really cool.

I'm competative as fuck.

I don't condone bullying for the most part. I'm blunt, and judgmental, based on others actions. If someone wants to act like an idiot I'll tell them that, I'll call them stupid and run them into the ground, I don't care. But bullying someone because they're a little different? A little slower than you are? A little smaller, or nerdier, or expressive of their interests? That shit won't slide with me. Lots of kids in my brothers year level are scared of me now, I don't fuck with bullying like that.

I embrace difference, I think it's really cool. Whenever any of my friends open up about a niche interest, I'm all over it. I love when people are expressive and wacky and weird. David Bowie speaks to me for a reason.

I'm an outgoing kinda gal, love a good party and will take any excuse to hit the dance floor. I like talking to strangers, even though they piss me off and often disappoint me. I like to lie to strangers too, mess with them a little bit, my mother calls me a terror but my brother and my friends think it's funny.

My Interests and Hobbies:

I love, love, love music. It's my life. You'll never catch me not jamming out to a song in one way or another. My favorite artist is David Bowie, but I'm more often listening to Nu or Punk or other heavier genres, I've got a pretty eclectic music taste though. Here's a link to my liked songs playlist

Leading on from music, I play guitar and I've drabbled in percussion. I liked using the schools music facilities to fuck around with a few different instruments, but those are the two I'm best at. I started learning acoustic as a kid, on my old little guitar covered in flower stickers that I named Marsha (Brady Bunch - she was my first crush but I didn't know it at the time). Mum liked when I played that, then I started to learn a few rock songs, then I found an electric, I've been disappointing her ever since.

I play footy - well, at least I did back home in Australia - I've always loved the sport, my parents are avid watchers and always attended the home games. I was captain of the footy team too (until the girls team got cut in the 80's due to a lack of girls signing up and also sexism), ruthless on the feild and determined to win. I've had several injuries over the years.

I like to write sometimes, as a bit of an outlet. I didn't really explore this until I started seeing Cindy. I told her that I liked to write stories and things when I was little, when I was first learning to write and read, and she suggested I try that again. I write all sorts of stuff now, nothing good, really, but it helps distract my mind when I need it, or an outlet for all my emotions.

I doubt it really counts as a hobby, but Cindy tells me everything I get enjoyment or contempt from counts, so I like to go out under the sun for a while and smoke. Sometimes I watch the birds, sometimes I make shapes in the clouds, sometimes I count the stars, sometimes I people watch, but I enjoy that moment of serenity.

I love going to see live music, bands and stuff. Feeling the bass vibrations in my soul and thrashing around the pit, it's amazing. I fucking love a mosh-pit, and I love when I get a bruise or cut or something to commemorate the moment.

Another thing I love to do, hobby or not, is sit down with my Aunt or my friends, have a cherry coke or a glass of wine, and talk absolute shit about whatever we can think of. It's a great way for my brain to unwind after a stressful couple of days, and I love a good bit of gossip. Who doesn't?

I'm not really interested in cars by any means, but I am interested in my Baby. Saved up all the money I had and bought a second hand Dodge Challenger in honour of my dad (usually only in the 80's centric AUs unless I'm rich in modern AUs), she's not red with racing stripes like my dad dreamed of, and she's definitely not pink and sparkly like my six year old dreams, but she's Black Ghost, I named her Elvira, 'cause she's the Mistress of the Dark (or for fun, we call her the Slutmobile, because she's an easy drive and always ready to take me on one hell of a ride).

I love soaps and horrible daytime tv dramas, sue me. I love mindless, shitty television, and I love a good drama. Dynasty is my favorite show at the moment (80's), and I love House MD too (modern AU).

I also love shitty coming of age romance movies. I'm a total sucker for a cringy plotline that's super obvious. When I was a kid, I'd watch those types of movies and things with mum, ones with sappy romances and happy endings, and big fairytale ballgowns, and I dreamed of one day getting my happy ending. I still - even though it's mortifying - dream of putting on a pretty dress and feeling like a princess for the night as some handsome person sweeps me off my feet.

My Friends and Relationships:

Eddie Munson: I was created origionally as a replacement for a y/n x Eddie Munson fic (crazy, I know), but my Creator wanted to give me too much of a personality so they ended up naming me and bringing me to life instead. That's pretty cool, I guess. So, in most AU's Eddie and I end up together. Which is pretty cool, he's a really sweet boyfriend, and after all the mistreatment I've suffered from men over the years, it's nice to be pampered like a fucking princess. And yes, he makes all of my dreams come true. And yeah, obviously he brings out the sap in me, leave me the fuck alone, I'm happy. He makes me really happy. Sometimes, when I'm living in an AU where I'm paired up with someone else, Eddie and I are always friends. Our personalities mash together way too well for us not to get along. He's really sweet, and funny, and gives me discounts on weed, so what's not to like? Also, I'm a sucker for dorks. Pretty much everyone I love and value in my life is a dork in one way or another. Eddie's probably the biggest though, and I love that about him. I love everything about him, especially the strange and off-putting.

Robin Buckley: Robin Buckley, the woman that you are! Robin is my best fucking friend. She's probably the realest friend I've ever had too. She's so sweet and fucking adorable, I mentioned before about loving dorks. What's not to love about lil'ol' Buckles? Our introductions to one another are always awkward, because she's awkward and a clutz, and I don't know how to act around nice girls that I'd really like to be friends with, genuinely. But it always works out in the end. I'm drawn to her oddness, and she is fascinated by how extroverted and crude I am. We also connect over being what feels like the only two queer people -- at least women -- in Hawkins, and we both pretend that we don't develop mini crushes on each other at one point. In some AUs, my Creator likes to have us end up together, which I love, because I love Robin, and I love women, and I love eating pussy- Honestly, Creator, you gotta hook us up more, she's great! I probably end up with her the most, second to Eddie, of course. But my Creator does really value our friendship more, and as much as they love a good sapphic relationship, I'm the typa girl who really fucking needs a good female friend, and Robin is a perfect friend for me too. When in school, Robin convinced me to join her soccer team, and we were in music class, drama class, and science together. We both loved getting to nerd out in those classes together.

Steve Harrington: Steve Harrington, the man that you are! He's my best friend too, Robin introduced us and the three of us quickly became inseparable. I don't ever think I could get on the freaky level of friendship that Robin and Steve have, but honestly, I can respect that, I love when the three of us hang out and they're off in their own little world and I get to watch them be weirdos together, it genuinely makes me so fucking happy. In some AU's, Steve and I hooked up in the start of our friendship. It was most of them, and Steve would often catch feelings for me but then my Creator kept hurting their own feelings doing that because they also love Steve, so that kinda stopped. Though, our sex went crazy. Sometimes we end up together too, in a few little AU's spinning around my Creators head, but we're better off as friends. He teaches me a lot of things, he helps me realise that if he wanted too, he would. Because Steve does. He never fails. Every date he goes on, they get flowers, they get picked up and dropped home, and they only fuck on the first date if she makes a move to, and he's such a gentleman it really made me reconsider life... and my sexuality. It's so great, getting to know him, simply because he's nothing like you'd expect, a key example of why one should never judge a book by it's cover. He is also the best person to go to for a glass of red and a gossip session, he gets all the juicy stuff. We really help each other feel a little more deserving of the love we each receive. And when working together, We're the worlds best wingmen for Robin, and her biggest supporters. Steve's the first man I've actually felt fully comfortable around, other than my daddy and my brother and my Uncle Rich (but even getting comfortable with him took a while), and he's one of the few who genuinely treat me with respect and the love I apparently deserve. Steve said that is terribly sad and then hugged me a bunch, which made me cry so hard I failed at pretending I didn't care.

Max Mayfeild: In AU's where I lose my brother (most of them), I often connect with Max. We bond over the loss of our brothers, and find comfort and solace in one another. She's a few years younger than me, but I like hanging out with her anyway. We listen to cool music, and chat, and she teaches me how to skateboard, and I teach her some guitar. She tells me all about her long distance friend El, and her sometimes boyfriend Lucas, and all her little friends that I learn are Steve and Eddie's little sheep. And I tell her little anecdotes about my own love life throughout the years, but I tread lightly so as to not influence her to fall down the same tragic path I took. I give her her first cigarette, Steve gets mad at me for it, she hates it anyway, and I was twelve the first time I had one! (Looking back though, I realise this was wrong and will try to refrain from being a bad influence, mostly). We sort of become sibling figures to one another. It's nice to get to look out and help another kid, to have a little sister, I guess. And it's nice to be needed like a big sister again, she's like a little bit of glue in my fractured heart.

Wayne Munson: In AUs when Eddie and I end up together, Wayne is a massive part of our story, because he's a massive part of Eddie's. And whatever is important to the ones I love, is important to me. I was weary, at first, because he's a quiet, gruff old man, and he's Christian which has often been an issue in my past, and born in the South which I have learned often means conservative to some degree. But, alas, my judgements of his cover were wrong again! He's one of the kindest, most gentle people I've ever met. The pair of us became peas in a pod quite quickly, even though we're very different, but Eddie is the one thing that really brings us together. We connect over music, and how annoying and silly Eddie is and how much we love him, and shitty Soap TV we both pretend we don't watch, and sharing stories of our late family members. His door is always open for me, and though he's never said it, Eddie tells me he loves when I park up on the sofa next to his arm chair, because he likes chatting with me and my lively spirit reminds him of his sister. I like that I bring him that bit of comfort, he sorta becomes like a father figure to me too, is always ready to help when I get myself into trouble. Even in AU's where Eddie and I go through a rough patch, or break up, he reaches out and makes sure I'm doing okay. I check on him too. We somehow, much to Eddie's delight, become very important to each other.

My Family:

Mum; Sharron Thompson: I have a pretty strained relationship with mum. We used to be close, when I was little, a total girly girl. But things started to change as I grew up, as I got curious and a little gritty. She can't stand who I've turned into, not prim and proper and sweet, but rough around the edges and temperamental with a penchant for breaking the rules. Especially her rules. It's hard. She's Catholic, though, not strictly. Those views and values are important to her though, which I get, really, I do, having a faith is really important to a lot of people. It's just when you start treating your own kid like shit because of those "preachings in the Bible" that I begin to have an issue with it. And sure, I get that finding out your fifteen year old daughter is having sex would be a rude shock, and I guess I probably shouldn't have been doing that, but the extent of her purity culture was the real deal breaker. She made me wear a ring for it and everything, I never did, unless I went to church with her. No sex until marriage is crazy, look at the state of the world! It's depressing out here, let people be horny. And it's really rich coming from her, even though she preaches purity culture like a prayer, because I did the maths mum! I know you're a hypocrite, it takes nine months to grow a baby, I was born seven months after you married dad! But it's more the whole... everything else that my real issue aligns with. Because she calls me filthy, and a disappointment, lazy, and a slut, and tells me I should be ashamed of myself, every time I pick up my guitar, or play heavier music, or put on my footy uniform, or tackle my brother on the couch, or burp when I'm in private, or pick a pair of shorts over a dress, or let my hair sit curly rather than straighten and bleach it like hers. I just want my mummy to love me again, like when I was a little girl. I miss being a little girl, and I miss being enough for her. It feels like I'll never be good enough.

Dad; Darren Thompson: I'm closest with my dad, he's my best friend and biggest supporter. He likes to call me bug, a shortened from caterpillar, because he always tells me that one day I'm going to blossom into a beautiful butterfly and spread my wings. He got me into footy, and good music like Cream and Deep Purple and Zeppelin, and Dodge Challangers. His absolute dream car was a red Dodge, with double white racing stripes down the middle. We used to go around to scrap yards and visit sellers, and whenever he found a Dodge he'd lift me up to sit on the bonnet so i could pretend to drive it, I always felt so cool. I used to dream that one day he'd get the car he wanted, and I'd get a pink glittery one to match him, and then we could race our cars all the time. I was sure I'd win, because I had sparkle power in my pocket, and he was a great dad and always let me win the races we'd have to get inside the door after school, or on the race to see who could hug mummy the fastest. He's my biggest supporter, even if he doesn't really understand everything I do, or say, or want. He just wants me to be happy and alive at the end of the day. One time, after I broke down to him about mum, he promised that my wings would come in soon, whether I wanted to be a pretty butterfly, or a moth, or an eagle, or an aroplane, one day I'd soar.

Brother; Thomas Thompson: My little brother is pretty cool, don't tell him I said that though. He's a little shit, that's for sure. Most annoying fucking kid on the planet and his burps stink like month old sewerage, but he's chill. He's really fucking smart, a little maths and science wizz, his friend group started their own after school club where they just solve equations the whole time, it's fucking weird but I've gotta respect it. He's got a great music taste though, but only because he stole it from me. He also loves Dungeons and Dragons, and he and his little nerd friends used to play every weekend. They used to try and rope me into playing when they were a lot younger, and when I was still cool and awesome in all of their little eyes, but now I'm lame and annoying so they don't. I also think one of his friends totally has a crush on me, because he's got dyslexia and one time I helped him write and run a campaign because he always struggled too, and from then on he was always stuck to my side and asking after me. Tommy fucking hated this. It was hilarious. He's a total dork, and he stinks, and likes to come into my room and turn all the lights on, move stuff around, and then leave with the door wide open just to be a little shit. I wanna punch that kid sometimes, but I'd kill someone for him, give him my kidney too. I'll never share my fucking lamingtons with him though. He's two years younger than me, and it really shows. Little shit gets youngest sibling privileges. He got everything two years earlier than I did, and I used to beat him up for it out of jealousy when we were kids. One time he retaliated by wiping his boogers all over my favorite Barbie doll. I had a meltdown that lasted three hours, gave my parents a migraine, and used said doll to hit Tommy so hard that he had a bruise in the shape of her face on his cheek. I love him and all of his weird little inventions.

Unfortunately, thanks to my stupid fucking Creator, my family above often dies when I'm sixteen, how great! They call it "character development" and an "interesting plot-line", but I just call it trauma, you fucking cunt.

Sometimes though, they don't all die! Sometimes my mother gets to live, and then not only do I struggle with survivors guilt a lot of the time, I also struggle through the guilt of wishing it were her that died rather than my dad or brother. Cindy helps, but it's hard.

Sometimes they don't die though, sometimes they all live but there's a strain in our relationship, which is why I end up moving overseas. Because I grew up with them in South Australia, but after their deaths / the rift in the family, I move to Hawkins and stay with my Aunt and Uncle for a while.

Uncle; Richard Thompson: Rich (or Dick, as Lisa and I so lovingly like to call him) is my dads brother, and the apple didn't fall very far from the tree with them. Rich is a bit bigger and burlier than my dad, but they have identical, horrible, horrible mustaches. Lisa said she only hasn't divorced him because he looks a bit like Tom Selleck, and she likes him a lot, which I think is funny because it fuels Rich's ego a fuck-tonne. He's sweet, and he takes his role of looking after me very seriously. Honestly, he's more strict than my real dad, but it's nice, how much he cares. He always wanted a daughter, but the pair couldn't have their own kids, so he never got to be a dad, until I came around. I know I mean a lot to him, I remind him of his brother too. He reminds me of my dad. He moved to America to see his dad after finishing high school, since my grandparents on my dads' side divorced a few years prior, and gramps headed back over to the US with the rest of his family. Dad stayed home, because he'd gotten an apprenticeship and couldn't give that up, it wasn't long after that he met mum anyway. I don't know much about Rich's youth, and because of this fact I have good reason to suspect he was a little bit of a delinquent. I know that he and Lisa met in a police station, and even with a black eye he was a gentleman-ish to her. He won her over eventually though, it's his proudest accomplishment, he says. Lisa came from a conservative family too, so in order to marry Rich, she had to leave her family behind, they wouldn't support the pair of them. It was real love though. Rich say's it was because of his muscles.

Aunt; Lisa McLoone-Thompson: Lisa is way cooler than anyone would be lead to believe. She's a dedicated woman, with a huge fucking heart. She's loyal to her church, and believes in God, but she's the realest fucking Christian Jay's ever met. She runs food drives for the poor and homeless out of the church, hosts fundraisers to raise money for the hospital, the schools, the foster system in Hawkins. When she was younger, without her parents knowledge, she attended protests, and would regularly go debate the mayor about what he could do better, and would hang around the police station to help any women that would come in to report abuse, to support and believe them, especially if the police did not. She's a pillar in the community. And she gets the most random gossip, it's great, I love her so much. I hope to one day be half as cool as she is in the future. Family has always come first in her life, so leaving her own family for Richard was the hardest decision she's ever had to make. But it was the choice she had to make, at the end of it all. Her family didn't support her forward views, didn't support the idea of a woman having her own bank account, or to have a purpose other than being pretty and becoming a mother, and they didn't believe her when she told them she was raped. Richard did. Richard was there that night it happened, when she went to the police station to report it and was ignored, he didn't know why she was there, but he put a smile on her face and listened when she told him to go away. And eventually, he won her over, after finding her around town, teaching himself all about her interests, and feminism, just so he could talk to her. When she opened up about the abuse she'd suffered, he held her, believed her, supported her. He always supported her, she loves him so much. She's a big inspiration to me, and I love getting to live with her. It sometimes feels shitty though, to be around Lisa and feel comfortable being myself, when I was walking on eggshells around my own mother. She's the mother I've always wanted. I love being her daughter.

AUs I'm Imagined Into:

So, most of these AU's have not been written into stories yet, because my Creator is a sloth with severe procrastination issues and who cannot finish a WIP to save their life. But, I will be posting about them all on this blog, giving tastes into whats' being whirled up in their mind and what's already been bought to life. None of it's published yet, i don't think.

They're all organised by Hashtags that you can see listed, as well as descriptions for what they all are about, below:

#The Freak Universe - #Superache Universe - #TFU / SU Alternate Ending - #Just Like Honey - #Living With Sammy - #Eddie Falls For A Streamer - #Royal Fantasy AU - #Transfem AU - #My Dream Pollycule - #The Jay and Robin Are In Love Today AU

#The Freak Universe This is the OG fic, this is my birth and my beginning. It was originally a fic named FREAK, a y/n insert until I got a personality and was imagined up. It's unfinished but so far like 60 something chapters long, if I'm remembering correctly, but I don't think my Creator will ever finish it. It's mostly cannon compliant. And was posted on Wattpad until it got taken down for "violating community guidelines" 'cause Eddie and I fuck nasty in it. There are a collection of fics that pair with this one, this is obviously the main storyline for Eddie and I, but then theres a second part after Eddie and I break up post UD (because we develop addictions to deal with the trauma and become super toxic), where we meet at the Hawkins High 10 year reunion, where I'm married to an abusive but rich asshole and have a few kids, but I'm still in love with Eddie after nine years no contact, and it's about me breaking free from my abuser and making it back home to Hawkins and finding myself again, and helping my kids through their trauma from it, and ending up with Eddie again. And then theres a third part, very unwritten, just living in my Creators head, where my kids are all grown in their last years of highschool and heading off to college, and its more about their lives and their dramas and their traumas, which is pretty cool cause I love my kids. I also have a kid with Eddie, which is awesome because we used to dream about having a kid together.

#Superache Universe Superache is a re-writing of FREAK, however, it is significantly fucking better, actually makes sense, and gives me way more of a real personality this time, which is awesome. It too follows the cannon timeline, and sticks pretty close to the story-line, only diverging slightly to fit me into it. It ends the same way as the FREAK chronicles do, with a break up, then part two about breaking out of my abusive marriage, and part three about my kids as they're grown up. Unfortunately, Steve and i hook up in the begining and then he catches feelings for me, whilst I'm into Eddie, so I have to break his poor little heart. Sometimes, I want to punch my Creator. He does not deserve this. Robins adorable though.

#TFU / SU Alternate Ending This tag is used when I'm talking about an alternate story-line or ending for either The FREAK Universe or the Superache Universe. For example, my Creator kinda wrote one where instead of us struggling through the trauma post UD, Eddie gets sent away to witness protection and we don't see eachother for years, until we do. That, and there are a few other alternative endings bubbling up in my Creators mind.

#Just Like Honey This fic, this baby, is crazy. It's an AU where all of Vecnas victims die, but there is no UD, they're in fact stone cold murders. And I've got this horrible feeling, like all the victims are dying because of me, that we're all connected. And I can't shake the feeling of a figure outside my window. Things finally settle, and I score myself an adorable boyfriend (Eddie), all until Chrissy Cunningham (the first female victim) winds up dead in Eddie's trailer and he becomes the main suspect in the case. I fight tooth and nail to clear my boyfriends name, and I get myself into plenty of trouble along the way. It's also loosely inspired by the Jesus And The Mary Chain album Psychocandy, the chapters are all named after JAMC songs.

#Living With Sammy Modern AU, Eddie and I meet in a bar after one of his gigs, and he absolutely charms my pants off, so we start going out. It's easy breasy, until I get ghosted for like, two weeks out of the blue, and then go knocking on his door to give him a piece of my mind, only to find a little boy crying on Eddie's sofa. Eddie's dropkick dad had another kid, with another woman, before they both wound up in jail, and little Samuel has no living relatives willing to take him in, other than Eddie. He's only twenty three and still living with his uncle Wayne, but he gives everything he's got to help raise Sammy, he wants to give him the life Eddie never got to have as a kid. Of course, I instantly forgive Eddie, because over those two weeks he went through legal hell to start fostering his little brother, and we decide to keep trying in our relationship. And Sammy scores his own little sweet spot in my heart, and I love getting to help Eddie raise him. Also I'm a retired child model for some reason in this. I think this originally started off as two separate AU's but then my Creator mashed them together during a dream. I had a sketchy grandpa who was a photographer, who got me into child modelling, which exploited and fucked me up. So my dad made me quit as a kid, I couldn't remember why, so after he died I let my grandpa fly me out to America to start working again, only to remember how badly I was exploited and it's happening again, so I quit, move in with my Aunt and Uncle because I don't want to go back to my mother who kept trying to push me back into it, and then that's when I find Eddie. I get back into the modeling game, but under my own rules. Sammy and Eddie are my biggest supporters.

#Royal Fantasy AU I'm a princess in a fantastical land, my mother is Queen, my father (the late King) and my little brother passed when I was sixteen, and whilst she has the kingdom fooled, I know my mother was responsible for their deaths. Sir Steven, a loveable knight, is my personal guard and has served by my side since we were thirteen, he's my most trusted confidant. Robin is my maid / attendant, and she's been in the role for even longer, she's my best friend. No matter how hard she tries to marry me off, I've no intention of giving my power hungry mother the chance to ship me off overseas and keep her reign forever. So, begrudgingly, Steve and I decide to marry as a cover, to keep me in the kingdom. As the troops begin to return from a war that has been fighting since the Kings death, a victory on our part, a revolution begins to rise. Only a handful of my fathers soldiers return, and only one from my own guard, the eleven of them treated like scum by the Queen, only giving the correct aid and food to her own soldiers, they've no loyalty to her and put their trust and faith in me. The single soldier remaining from my personal guard, whom I have not seen for six years, is Edwin, an honorable knight who's faith and loyalty to me won us the war. And in turn, he wins my heart as well. It is with him that I uncover the prophecy given to me when I was a small girl, and the revolution within the kingdom begins, calling for the death of the false Queen, and the rise of my reign, that I uncover the truth of what happened to my father and my brother. And I also have a really cool pet dragon named Stargazer.

#Eddie Falls For A Streamer In this modern AU, I'm a streamer... A streamer with an army of incels and freaks that pay me money to tell them they're stupid and gross, and show my cleavage when I'm gaming. They're nothing but my pay pigs, and they know that, and they love that. I bought a house and my dream car with their loser money, and they all know they'd never have a chance with me. And then I meet Eddie, and he's great, and I want to have him so badly, but theres the tricky thing of telling him I'm basically an OnlyFans creator except I don't get naked 99% of the time. But, hey, a job's a job, and Eddie respects that. I wan't full transparency with him, so I make an account for him to access all my streams and content, and I tell all my pay pigs that I'm seeing a guy that's a million times better than them, and he... likes it? Eddie is totally into it. And I love a guy who wants to beg for it.

#Transfem AU I'm transfem in this one! Yay! And finally, my family doesn't die. My mum, however, is super transphobic and does not accept me in the slightest, Tommy loves me blindly so he doesn't mind, and Dad... he doesn't get it at all really, but he tries, and he respects me and loves me anyway, so it's nice. However, I can't handle being around my mother like this, so I head overseas to my Aunt and Uncle for a while, because dad told them over the phone about me, and they keep checking to see if I'm okay, and if mums changed her ways yet. When I get there, I get to be Jay, not the guy I was before. I get started on estrogen straight away, and my Aunt and Uncle love and accept me for it too. It's nice getting to be myself in a place where no one knows who I was. I get my E shots from the local drug dealer, I tell him some lie about being sick and denied proper treatment in the hospital, and he shrugs it off and doesn't ask anyway. We begin to chat on our monthly meet ups, he asks me one time about the patches on my bag, and every time we meet for a deal, we talk for hours. We start becoming friends out side of our deals as well, and I like him, a lot, but I'm too scared to act on it because I don't want him to know the truth about me. I'm too scared to tell him. And then one day whilst snooping through his room for a lighter, I find vials of testosterone. He blurts out some obvious lie about being a steroid pumped gym junky, because I've got more muscles than he does, and he begins to freak out. But it's obvious then, why we've taken such a liking to each other, why we get each other better than anyone else gets us, we're one in the same. And it's nice to finally meet someone like me. And it's perfect, he's perfect, and I get to have him, no doubts about it.

#My Dream Pollycule This is supposed to be a bit of a cute fluffy romance thing, purely self indulgent of my Creator, but I don't care it's fucking awesome. I get to have so many hot people into me. Steve is my wonderful fiance, Steve and Robin are queerplatonic partners, Robin is my girlfriend, Robin has a girlfriend Chrissy, I also have a casual thing going on with Nancy, both me and Steve at the same time with her, but her partner is Jon, and Jons boyfriend is Argyle, but Argyle and Nancy are queerplatonic too. And then I meet Eddie, and he's so freakin cute, and so we hook up but he kinda gets attached, and I start to like him, but he's never been in a relationship before so I don't want to throw him into the deep end by asking him to be my boyfriend when I have several other partners as well as a fiance. But after having him around a few times, and telling Steve to be nice to him, I notice that Eddie's kinda got the hots for my boyfriend too, so I suggest we all have a little fun together , and then Eddie gets attached to Steve too. And then I bet you can't guess what happens next?!

#The Jay and Robin Are In Love Today AU A universe in which Robin and I are into eachother, any universe about us at all. Robin deserves some more recognition, and I also agree with my Creator that I deserve to kiss her more. Lots of lame queer pining between us in this one. It's mostly just blog posts that make this AU up. It follows a loose story like (regarding the beginning of us moving past best friends to lovers) and then it's just posts about our relationship in this AU

[apopcornkernel]

batman: track and field au

author's note: i just miss track and field varsity even though i wasnt even that good... and ive been thinking about batman track and field au for FOREVER. so today i wrote a bit 📝

things u need to know: bruce is not batman. he's a coach at a school where the rest of the justice league teaches. yes, they're still the justice league. and yes, his robins still end up as vigilantes. jason is 15 in this; the joker hasn't gotten to him yet. also i added some characters ahead of the timeline bc i love them :/

Jason stumbles over from the finish line, grinning and sweat-drenched. And then his face screws up in sudden distress, and he promptly wobbles and collapses onto the hot stadium mat.

A half-formed sound of alarm—

Bruce leaps over the bleacher railing and sprints.

A poor, well-meaning race official gets there first, but Bruce shoulders him roughly aside and crouches by Jason. Jason has turned on his side, holding his right knee tight to his chest and making little pained gasps.

It tears at his heart. “Jason,” Bruce says.

Jason’s eyes are screwed shut, and he says nothing, but one of his hands reach blindly in Bruce’s direction and Bruce grasps it tightly.

“You were terrific, chum.” He squeezes, and feels the tremor that goes through his son. “Stretch your leg out for me.”

Jason shakes his head. “Hurts—”

“I know. I know. Please, Jay.”

It’s slow, and excruciating, but between the two of them they manage to get Jason sitting up, his leg extended straight against the ground. One hand of Bruce’s presses down firmly on the knee, and the other pushes his foot to flex, the metal spikes of Jason’s shoes digging hard into the callused flesh of Bruce’s palm. Jason leans back on his hands, spread flat against the ground, head tilted up to open, cloudless sky, exhaling drawn-out, shaky breaths.

The speakers blare out the next events—second call for Male C’s 400-meter hurdles, and third call for Female B’s high jump. The left side of the crowd begins clapping on beat for their star javelin thrower as she rocks back on her feet, once, twice, and begins bounding forward. Bruce makes a displeased noise. He hopes his throwers remember to pay attention.

A mosquito buzzes by Bruce’s ear and he shakes his head sharply to drive it away. The sweat has been beading at his hairline all throughout, and now it rolls torturously slow down his face. As his hands are otherwise occupied, he makes no move to wipe it, and does his best to ignore the unpleasant sensation.

At last, Jason’s breathing evens out. He tugs his leg gingerly away from Bruce’s hold, cheeks flushed with exertion and, doubtless, embarrassment. “Thanks.”

Bruce sits back on his haunches and wipes the sweat off his face. “Ready to stand?”

Jason raises a hand, wincing as he tests the muscles of his leg. “One sec.”

Bruce nods shortly. Jason safe, his attention wanders over to the bleachers. Tim, thank God, is dragging Damian away from the high railing. Dick and Cass are eating lunch with much avidity—Dick’s best event, high jump, had just ended before Jason’s, and Cass seems to have just returned from shot put. Duke and Stephanie are nowhere in sight, and for a moment Bruce is alarmed, but then he spots them at the stage and relaxes. Duke must have won his high jump—he stands on the highest podium, and even from here Bruce can tell he’s grinning—and Stephanie is clicking away on the school camera next to the official photographer.

As he watches Stephanie turn the camera backward and attempt to take a selfie with Duke, there’s a tap on his thigh. Bruce extends his hand without looking and grasps the hand that interlocks with his, pulling Jason up with ease.

Bruce glances at Jason, and notes how he squints against the glaring afternoon. “Remember to reapply your sunscreen when you get back.”

Jason rolls his eyes. “Not everyone is ghost-white like you.”

“You do not have to be ghost-white to get skin cancer.”

Jason grumbles, but when Bruce raises an imperious eyebrow at him, he raises his hands in surrender. “Fine. Whatever you say, boss.”

“Good. And, Jay...” Bruce reaches out, tentative, and puts a hand on his shoulder. “I meant it. You did terrific.”

Jason beams, bright enough to outshine the day, and something in Bruce’s chest uncurls into warmth.

[pegunicent]

Things Fandoms do to you

So @misstrips and I have a nice little DC/Pokemon AU thing going with a splash of Vagrant Story and today as I was suffering the heat and welding together an after burner for a smaller sized crematory I had the thought of Jason, Roy and Sydney from that cross over ending up in Genshin Land.

You see the thing is Roy grew up in the Titans. The original Titans you know, with Dicky boy. And Short Pants was a feral monster with a smile that made you forget about the blood on his knuckles and the steel in his pixie toed boots. Roy was putting his arrows through people's joints before he could *roll* a joint, and he was there for all the stupid shit a bunch of teenagers with little parental oversight and way too much hero worship for their 'mentors' got into from orgies to war crimes to alien war crime orgies. He was there right at the start when they had to actually *vote* for the worst mentor in the League, before it became Ollie's official unofficial title for all time.

And he was there when Jason became Robin and the feral Dicky grew up and mellowed out and turned all that anger into a more positive 'I'm gonna big brother so hard Bruce chews his face off' direction, because what the Bats have is complicated and messy and a bit incestious at times but Bruce *started out* trying to be Dicky's big brother. Not his father. And then he *adopted* Jason. And none of the assholes ever sat down and actually talked about any of it.

But Jason was a good kid up until the whole thing in Africa. And now he's a feral monster of a vigilante and a half decent guy the rest of the time. Still an overly dramatic theater kid like, living undeadish proof that you can beat a kid to death with a crowbar and a bomb but you can't make him give up the *drama*.

Roy is an old hand with feral Gothamites though. He's got this. Between him and Lian they've got their gun loving muscle man on something of an even keel.

But then there's Sydney.

See Dick and Jay, they're feral. Domesticated species that went off the rails and have to be treated with care and respect until they remember that warm homes and hot baths and regular meals are all good things they can have. Sydney is wild. Sydney was never domesticated. Sydney has to be shown, and convinced, and reassured over and over that living inside walls is safe, that food he didn't gather himself isn't poison, that clothes are actually a requirement for dealing with humans. That humans are worth dealing with. Sydney will probably never *be* domesticated, but in a pinch and with some hard bribery he can fake it long enough for a pokemon tournament, or a trip through town, or even one time a visit to Lian's daycare.

And humans are just smart enough to look at Roy's wicked grin and Jason's bulging muscles and decide this is trouble they don't want to bother with most days, but Sydney tends to evade direct notice. He looks like a kid. He sounds like a kid. If you don't stare into pokemon crimson eyes and realize there's something completely inhuman staring back, you might be forgiven for accepting the evidence that Sydney is a kid.

Which is why when the three of them stumble out of the sudden wormhole in the woods, onto a perfectly picturesque dirt roadway leading to a city straight out of one of Lian's story books, Jason curses and Roy sighs. Because Roy was a Titan and this isn't his first alternate dimension, and Jason's been worse places. They aren't that troubled.

Until the guy with the huge sword and his friend in the eye patch give them the usual once over, stop at Sydney staring at a glowing little roadside statue, and all the alarm bells start ringing. Because they look at Sydney the way people who haven't seen the kid 'squish' Cypher agents, but have heard the horror stories and maybe helped clean up the residues do.

And *that* makes Roy want more explosive arrows.

[thruheavenandhighwater]

Pairing: Eddie Munson/ Female Soulmate

Requested By: NA (inspired by a post I saw months ago but can't find now. If it's your post or you have the link to it, please let me know so that I can give proper credit for the idea)

Word Count: 3,751

Summary: Soulmate AU. Every person is born with a tattoo of the sounds they'll hear when they meet their soulmate.

Stranger Things Masterlist Eddie Munson Masterlist

~~~~~

Birds. 

Fuckin birds. That's all she had to go on. She'd hear birds of all things. What a lousy tattoo. It did make her feel slightly better, though, knowing her soulmate would have the same thing to work with. The same thing being, essentially, nothing. 

She heard birds every single day. How on earth was she supposed to know which birds were the right ones? Which birds would be the ones who's songs told her that's him. That's your soulmate. 

The people in her life told her that it would be easy. They all said she'd "just know." But nobody could tell her how. Nobody could tell her what happened when the right birds were singing at the right time. It frustrated her beyond reason whenever she'd let herself think about it. So, she did everything she could not to think about it. 

She kept herself busy with work as much as they'd let her. Picking up shifts, covering when the other waitresses had to leave, even working holidays to avoid the questions from her family. But when work wasn't an option, she could always turn to art. Drawing, specifically. 

The pages of her sketchbooks were full of random drawings from her day to day. She drew anything and everything that caught her attention. Flowers, shop windows, dogs in the park, strangers in line at the coffee shop. It didn't matter to her what it was, if it caught her eye at a moment that she was able to draw it, it was added to her collection. 

She enjoyed finding beauty in the mundane. Her tattoo had taught her to appreciate the smallest moments in life. She knew that she'd hear birds at the moment she met her soulmate. When she was a teenager she began to listen to the birds more closely. She learned to identify their different songs. Crows, robins, blue jays, cardinals. But her favorite song was that of the love bird. It was cliche, and she knew that. But she loved it nonetheless. Her father had joked that if she got good enough at knowing different bird calls, maybe her tattoo would suddenly change. "Tomorrow you'll wake up and it'll say 'warbler.'" he laughed over dinner. 

She'd spent time admiring her parents' tattoos when she was younger. She loved the simplicity of them. "Ocean" in the plain black ink of their wrists. It was funny, they'd say. Neither of them ever liked the beach. Her mother hated that the sand stuck to everything. Her father was prone to sunburn. But when both of their families had dragged them along on a beach vacation some 25 years ago, they found each other. 

It had become more or less a weekly ritual for her to set up at a local cafe on Monday mornings. She'd order her regular, a dirty chai latte and whichever pastry looked extra delicious that day. The baristas on shift would ask about her week, and tell her about theirs before she'd go out front to her favorite patio table. It sat in the corner of the patio, right beside the black metal fence around the perimeter. It was far enough from the door that she could draw and sketch uninterrupted, and gave a perfect view of the street and the neighborhood. 

This particular Monday morning had gotten off to a rocky start. She'd woken up later than she'd wanted. She didn't have a specific schedule per se, but she liked to be at the cafe early. Then the clouds overhead started to turn an angry, dark shade of grey as she walked down the street. She tucked her sketchbook tighter to her chest, hoping the clouds would be merciful today and not rain on her. 

A breath of relief fell from her mouth, cheeks puffing dramatically as she shut the cafe door behind her. "Looks nasty out there," she told the barista, Amber, with a smile. 

"Uh oh," She answered, her eyes going to the window. "Are you still gonna sit outside?" 

She was at the counter now, her wallet out and ready to pay. She looked outside at the dark sky. It hadn't rained yet. 

"Think I'll take my chances," she answered with a smile. And so she did. She collected her breakfast from Amber and made her way to her favorite table. Amber offered to bring out an umbrella if the skies began to look worse. 

Once she was sat at her table, she suddenly didn't notice the storm clouds above her. All of her focus, all of her energy, was on her sketchbook. She'd look up briefly now and then to find new inspiration. But as soon as something worthy caught her eye, her nose was buried once again in the off white pages. 

Hours had passed before she realized. Mondays were often like that. After ordering another drink, she flipped to a new page in her sketchbook. Her pages were often filled with small, unrelated and unconnected pieces. Flowers from the market right next to a mailbox she saw on her walk. A kitten that had been for sale at a garage sale the previous weekend, its ear nearly touching an old mechanics sign that hung on an abandoned building down the street from her house. She liked the randomness of it all, but she loved starting a new page even more. The crisp, untouched paper was full of nothing but potential. It was exhilarating. 

She noticed that the clouds began to shift only when the sunlight began to fall across the page of her book. The paper that had been a dull, almost sad shade of white suddenly illuminated in warm gold. She glanced up from the paper, taking a quick look at the sky above her. It seemed as though mother nature would be on her side. You could never be sure about weather in Indiana in March, but the tides seemed to be turning. And she couldn't be more glad. 

She picked up her bag from where it sat beside her feet. She just knew there had to be a pair of sunglasses in there somewhere. When her desperate attempts to locate the cheap plastic sunglasses failed, she groaned loudly to herself. She looked up, turning to her left, then to her right. 

When her head snapped a bit too quickly to the right, she suddenly didn't care about sunglasses. She didn't care that the bright afternoon sun had been hurting her eyes just ten seconds ago. The moment she saw him, she didn't care about anything. 

~~~~~

Blood will follow blood.

It was without a doubt the most metal soulmate tattoo he'd ever seen. Every other person Eddie was close to had boring tattoos. Traffic or bells. But his? He took pride in his. 

He'd tried more than a handful of times to write songs with those words. Heavy guitars, deep vocals. He had a fantasy, a dream that one day he'd write the perfect song. He'd play it at a show and that was when he'd meet her. His soulmate. He'd be sweaty from performing, she'd be beautiful and in awe of his musical genius. But so far, any time he tried to write that perfect song, the words fell flat. They weren't his to write, he supposed. 

He spent countless hours wondering what the words on his wrist meant. His first thought, obviously, was that they had to be song lyrics. But  he'd listened to countless records in his time, and he couldn't find them anywhere. His next bet was that it could be Dungeons and Dragons related. The game could get violent at times. It wasn't uncommon for him, or any other Dungeon Master he knew, to be gratuitous in their descriptions during a campaing. 

That took up most of his time, if he were honest. Being a Dungeon Master served as a perfect distraction during his last few years of high school. When everyone else around him was hooking up, biding their time until their actual soulmate arrived, he was nose deep in dungeon manuals and campaign writing. It didn't feel right to him to entertain anyone who wasn't his soulmate, so he didn't. 

The only thing that came close in terms of time spent as a distraction was baking. Eddie Munson made the best brownies in Hawkins. Anyone who had ever tried his baked goods would tell you, that boy had a gift. It had started after he moved in with his uncle. He'd found an old box of cake mix in the back of a cabinet and begged his uncle to make it for him. When uncle Wayne said no, not because he didn't want to, but because he was pretty sure it was expired, 12 year old rebel Eddie did not take his advice. The cake was awful. Absolutely disgusting. So, during his next grocery trip uncle Wayne bought two more boxes of cake mix. He taught Eddie what little he knew about doctoring up a boxed mix to make it even more delicious, and the rest was history. 

Eddie did what he could to get his hands on as many cookbooks as he could. He'd borrow from neighbors, the public library, he even got sweet old Mrs. Conley's from two doors down to give him her secret family cookie recipe. The secret, it turned out, was browned butter. Once he started, he really couldn't stop.

He'd spend hours in the tiny kitchen of his uncle's house mixing and measuring and baking. Once he'd gotten down the basics, cookies, cakes, brownies, even cinnamon rolls that would knock your tits clean off, he started to experiment. Poor, sweet uncle Wayne was more often than not the test subject for his creations. They weren't all great at first, but Wayne loved his nephew. He loved his curiosity. He loved that the little boy who'd been dropped on his step with two changes of clothes and nobody in the world was finally starting to shine. So he'd eat every single terrible thing Eddie ever baked with a smile. Well, he'd try to at least. He did eventually have to tell him that quadrupling the amount of cocoa powder in a brownie recipe was maybe not his best idea to date. 

But now, at 20 years old he considered himself something of a professional in the kitchen. He'd come home to the small house he still shared with his uncle and immediately start. If there was already a pan of brownies, or half a batch of snickerdoodles left from a few days before he'd take them to Max and Susan across the road. Max seemed to appreciate them. And he'd start again. He'd bake something delicious for dessert and make whatever he could find for dinner. Neither he or his uncle were necessarily great cooks but Eddie could make a mean pot of hamburger helper. 

Some nights, Wayne would wake up early and the men would have dinner together. They'd take streaming plates of whatever Eddie made into the living room, plates set on their laps while they watched reruns of Bonanza or Gilligan's Island. But more often, Eddie would cook and eat alone in his bedroom while he did homework or messed around with whatever song he was working on that week. Either way, he'd always pack up the leftovers and dessert into the old blue playmate that served as Wayne's lunchbox for work. 

Everything Eddie did had a soundtrack. Driving, baking, planning campaigns, even just sitting at home. He always had music playing. He loved anything he could get his hands on, but his favorite was metal. Any genre of metal. Black metal, thrash metal, speed metal, stoner metal. He loved it all. And even if a band wasn't his favorite, he appreciated them. He was a music fan above all else. 

This particular weekend had been an exciting one for him. He'd managed to take out the entire party at the previous week's Hellfire campaign on Friday. Then yesterday, Sunday, he finally perfected his recipe for chocolate cupcakes. He was feeling on top of the world, always one to appreciate the little things in life. He packed up half a dozen of his cupcakes into a Tupperware container and set off towards downtown.

He parked outside of the RadioShack downtown. Today was finally the day that one of Eddie's favorite bands would be releasing their new album. Master of Puppets. Even if he didn't already love Metallica, he'd have been hooked by the album name. He was surprised that a big chain like RadioShack carried this kind of music, really. But he supposed that in capitalist America, a dollar was a dollar. And Metallica definitely made the stores that carried their music money. 

"Bob around?" He asked a bored looking middle aged man behind the counter as he walked into the store. The man barely acknowledged Eddie as he pointed his thumb towards the back of the store. Eddie nodded as he walked away, heading towards the bright red and white sign that read "Customer Service" at the back of the store. 

Bob Newby was, among other things, the general manager of the store. Eddie liked him the first day he came in after the store had opened. Most people looked at Eddie and saw trouble. Leather and tattoos would have that effect in a town like Hawkins. But not Bob. Bob greeted Eddie with a real Newby smile and a firm handshake. He learned Eddie's name and interests quickly, always paying attention when they spoke instead of waiting for him to do something terrible like most people in town seemed to do. 

"Mornin', Ed." Bob greeted as he got closer to the counter. 

"You got it?" Eddie asked. He came to a stop on the opposite side of the counter from Bob, the chain on his jeans hitting the front of it loudly as his fingers landed on the edge of the counter. 

"Yes," Bob chuckled, reaching behind him. "I have it." 

He handed the shrink wrapped cassette to Eddie. He thanked Bob with a giddy smile before turning back towards the bored man holding down the checkout counter. He admired the artwork of the cassette. The silver Metallica logo over rows and rows of white crosses. He flipped it over in his hands, excited eyes quickly scanning the tracklist on the back. He could hardly wait to get it into the tape deck in his van. 

Once he was comfortably in his van with the newest addition to his music collection playing on the radio, he set his sights on the Henderson house. Dustin Henderson had been a freshman Hellfire recruit when he met Eddie, and he'd never admit it to the others, but his favorite. He took a liking to the round faced kid immediately. He was already smarter than Eddie at barely 14 and had the quickest wit of anyone in Hawkins. 

Eddie passed a small cafe on his way. It was a warm, simple place owned by the parents of a kid Eddie had gone to high school with. Their pastries were nothing compared to Eddie's, but they made a great cup of coffee. He decided to stop in quickly and grab something to go. 

He removed the cassette from the tape deck, quickly placing it into his walkman. He decided to start side two of the cassette, placing it into the walkman upside down. He placed his headphones over his ears and pressed play as he swung open the door of his van. 

He wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings as he walked up the sidewalk towards the cafe. His eyes focused on his shoes as he dug his hands deep into the pockets of his faded blue jeans, suddenly cognizant of the rips and frays across his knees as a chilled March breeze blew. 

The warmth inside the cafe was welcome as the door closed behind him. There was a bit of a line, which was to be expected at this time of morning. He took his place in line behind an older man and turned up the volume in his headphones. The line moved slowly as the tape played in his ears. It was good. Like, really fucking good. He always loved Metallica but this album was new levels. 

The fourth song started as the older man in front of him placed his order. He stopped the tape as he walked up to the counter, pulling his wallet from his back pocket. 

"Large black house blend," he ordered with a smile. "Please." He added quickly. The woman behind the counter told him his total with a grin. He paid, dropping his change into the tip jar beside the register while she poured his coffee. She placed a plastic lid on the cup and handed it to him over the counter. He placed his headphones back over his ears before taking the cup. 

He pressed play on his walkman as he walked through the cafe, through the front door and back into the chilly air outside. He walked down the sidewalk, past a few patio tables that were set up outside. Just as he was passing through the black metal fence that surrounded the tables when he heard it. 

Go against the grain until the end Blood will follow blood Dying time is here Damage incorporated

He stopped in his tracks. He swore he lost all feeling in his hands as he heard the words. He turned around, hair flying around his head as his eyes scanned his surroundings. 

As soon as his eyes met hers he suddenly didn't hear the guitars in his ears. The drums faded into background noise. The only thing he could see, the only person that existed in this moment was her. And she was beautiful beyond words. 

~~~~~

She stood from her seat, tugging down the hem of her shirt while she smiled at him. His own beaming grin was, for lack of a better word, breathtaking. A rosy blush bloomed across dimpled cheeks, his brown eyes like honey beneath the sun of early spring. Another chilly breeze blew around the two of them, kicking up fallen leaves into something of a miniature tornado between their feet. 

"Hi," he finally said, placing his headphones around his neck and taking a step closer to her. "I'm Eddie." 

She introduced herself, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear as she did. Fuck, he thought to himself. Even her name is beautiful. She offered him a seat at her table. He happily accepted, taking clumsy steps towards the chair she had vaguely gestured to. 

"What are you listening to?" She asked as he set his walkman and headphones onto the table. 

"The new Metallica."

She was surprised, though she supposed that she shouldn't be. The hair alone should have given her some inclination that he'd be into that type of music. Paired with the rings, chains, and leather jacket he kind of seemed like a stereotype of a metalhead. 

Before she could stop herself she was reaching her hand towards his. She felt electricity under her fingertips as she delicately lifted his hand, turning his palm up. 

Blood will follow blood.

"Goodness," she giggled as she read the black ink on his wrist. Her fingers rested softly against his palm. His smile curled higher on his cheeks as he gripped her hand in his own, turning it so that he could see her wrist. 

Birds. 

He took a moment to listen as he looked at the simple word that decorated her perfect skin. Sure enough, he heard birds above him. He'd never noticed. He never paid much attention at all to the sounds of birds. But now, more than anything, he was thankful for their songs. 

"It's a finch," she told him. 

Her voice pulled him from his own thoughts. His eyes met hers and he was suddenly glad to be sitting. The way her eyes seemed to melt everything in him must have been what people meant when they told him he'd "just know." 

"A finch, huh?" He asked. "He's quite the musician." 

"She, actually." 

"You, uh, know a lot about bird calls?" 

She shrugged. "Got really into birds when I was in school. Thought maybe it would help, I guess." She glanced down to where their hands were still resting on the table. "This didn't really give me a lot to go on." 

"I know the feeling," he laughed. "This song just came out today. Spent twenty years trying to figure out what the hell mine even meant." He noticed her empty coffee cup and the muffin that you'd picked at sitting next to it. "Their muffins suck." 

"Not always!" She defended her choice with a playful smile. "This particular one is disappointing, though, I'll admit." 

He stood quickly, his chair fumbling across the pavement. He pulled his hand away from hers as he stepped away. "I'll be right back," he assured her. His pace was quick, very nearly a jog as he walked to the passenger seat of his van in the parking lot around the building. 

When he returned he carried with him a plastic bowl with a red lid. He set the bowl on the table between them as he took his seat. 

"Gotta try these," he told her as he removed the lid. Inside were the frosted chocolate cupcakes that he'd intended to take to Dustin. He selected one, gently lifting it between his thumb and pointer finger. "Promise this is better than that nasty muffin." 

She accepted the cupcake with a smile. When she peeled down the paper liner she could instantly tell that it was going to be delicious. Perfectly moist, soft where her fingers gripped the sides. Eddie licked residual frosting from his thumb as she took a bite. 

"Oh, Christ," she all but moaned over the mouthful of cake. "You're right. So much better."

Eddie smiled, proud of himself. "Told ya," he giggled as she took a second bite. "Just made them yesterday. Finally got the recipe just right." 

"You made these?" She asked, her eyes widening. 

"With love," he winked. 

"Oh, god I'm so glad you're my soulmate." 

He blushed again at her confession. Obviously, they both knew that the other was their soulmates. Tattoos don't lie. But hearing the word fall from her lips, the way her voice wrapped around the two syllables was musical. He wanted to hear her call him her soulmate a million more times. 

~~~~~

Feedback is always appreciated! Requests are open! Have a great weekend! 🥰 If you'd like to be tagged in my Stranger Things fics, please let me know. I also have individual tag lists for Steve, Eddie, Robin, Nancy, and Steddie.

Tag List: @redwineanddnicotine @renaissan-vvitchh

Eddie Tag List: @littlemiss-yeehaw @protecteddiemunson4vr @tayhar8111

[swinging-stars-from-satellites]

double-asking for the roadtrip au because *heart eyes emoji*

the roadtrip fic has hardly and solid plot or a working title yet but heck it's fun akskdjfhskfns

"Where's Jason?" Asks Duke, flat-out on a plush hotel bed that feels like a freaking cloud. Tim stretched out along one side of it, and if it doesn't say something about how big these beds are that the two of them, him and gangly Tim Drake, are both sprawled comfortably in the same one, Duke doesn't know what to say about that.

Tim doesn't look up from his laptop. "Probably pissing off Cass," he replies.

Duke raises an eyebrow, which Tim doesn't see, because he's staring at the computer screen. "On purpose?"

Tim shrugs. "Probably not, but also? Possibly. I don't think the whole thing with Steph is on purpose, though." Duke watches upside-down as a corner of Tim's mouth quirks up.

"Alright, I'll bite. How does Steph play into this?" 'Cause it's not like Duke hasn't noticed the rivalry between Cassie and Jason, they're not that subtle about it. He just hasn't asked. Not his monkeys, not his circus, right? He should use that one around Dick, see what the former circus kid thinks of that very appropriate saying.

Tim sighs. "I mean- you might get caught in the middle of it too. Cass is frustrated enough to stop pulling punches, at this point."

How Tim knows that, without a single word from the Batgirl in question for the duration of today's drive, Duke definitely won't question. If Tim is some kind of potential mind-reading meta, he's not going to be the one to out him.

Tim finally closes the laptop, looks at Duke. "Cass... does not," he emphasizes not, "Like Jay. I won't call it hate, because hate would have to have love to reflect from, but... it's close. It's the killing."

"I figured."

Tim nods. "And Jason hates being hated. They really don't get along in the best of circumstances, and, like... Cass can't turn off her abilities, you know?" He frowns. "Being stuck in an enclosed space with the entire family and all our emotional crap? Sucks for her and I don't think she expected it."

Duke remembers the excited, emoji-filled messages he'd gotten from Cassie about this trip the past few weeks. He doesn't think she expected it, either. "And Steph?"

Tim looks him directly in the eyes, which is freaking unnerving because Tim has those icy blue eyes like Bruce that look like he's staring directly into you sometimes, when he's not looking at you from behind messy-long hair. "Come on," he says, almost abruptly, then relaxes back against the cushiony headboard of the massive bed.

He sighs, loud and grating in the quiet of the room. There's a gorgeous view out the window, but the quiet, free of road noise and navigational conversational chatter, might be the best part. Duke stares out the window, overlooking a shockingly blue lake, watches a floating dock bob in the wind instead of watching the thinly veiled emotions crossing Tim's face. Tim is like a steel trap a lot of the time, expressionless as Red Robin but when he's himself, really, he doesn't hide so much. Duke doubts he really wants him to see all that, though, if he could even parse it all out.

Finally, after long enough that it almost makes Duke jump, Tim speaks again. "Steph has been spending a lot of time with Jason lately." Something about his tone, or maybe the words themselves, sounds weirdly deliberate. It takes Duke a minute to figure out why.

He pushes himself up on an elbow to stare at Tim, not upside-down. "They've got something going on," he fills in, and, yeah, that checks out.

Tim snorts. "Heck if I know. I don't think they're, like... dating? But there's... definitely something there."

"Mutual crush," Duke fills in again, because that definitely fits with what he's seen.

"Something like that," Tim says. "If my ex girlfriend, who's currently one of my best friends in general, and my brother have a thing for each other... who gets the shovel talk?"

Duke, to his credit, doesn't burst out laughing like he wants to do. "Hell if I know," he replies, then laughs because he just repeated what Tim had said a second ago. "So Jason is pissing Cassie off by hanging around with Steph?"

"Yep," Tim replies, popping the P. "I wonder if B is aware of this whole thing," he mutters.

Duke grins. "Tell him. Then he can handle the shovel talk."

Tim looks at him, startled and considering at the same time, then grins back.

[seelie-regent]

Remus gets everyone a pet as a thank you

Part 6 of my Intrulogical Library au

Let me know if you want to be tagged.

Remus finds out that the others got him accepted so he congers pets for them as a thank you.

Logan was waiting for Remus after his appointment. The others were waiting around the corner. Remus walked out looking like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He threw himself into Logan’s arms and thanked him for convincing him to go to therapy. Logan laughed at this and hugged Remus back. Mortuus had walked off to go see Virgil and Janus.

“I take  it the session went well?” Logan said.

“I went wonderfully and you were right by the way,” Remus said.

“About?” 

“Me not being able to work everything out on my own.”

“Ahh. Do you feel comfortable talking to me about what you two disused?”

“Not yet. Eventually I’m sure I will but not today.”

“I understand. So something happened while you were talking to Emile.”

“What happened? Is everyone okay?”

“What happened is good Remus.”

“Really? Then spill.”

“Thomas accepted you.”

Remus froze.

“Please don’t be joking.”

“I am not. Patton decided to talk to Thomas about accepting you. That’s why he needed to talk to all of us. We all went and talked to Thomas about everything and you have been accepted.”

“Oh my god! Thank you!”

The next moment Remus tackled Logan to the ground and was crying.

“I didn’t think this would ever happen. Thank you so much. All of you.”

“Wah? How?” Roman said as everyone came around the corner.

“If I had known how much it would mean to you we would have talked to Thomas sooner,” Patton said.

“Welcome to the light sides Re,” Janus said.

“We aren’t really light or dark anymore are we,” Logan said.

“No, we're just sides,” Remus saids with a grin.

“We did it. We all got accepted,” Virgil said.

Esatic laughter came from all three ex-dark sides. Janus and Virgil pulled Remus into a group hug as they jumped up and down chanting ‘We did it! We did it! We did it!’ shocking the ex-light sides. Just how much did being accepted mean to them. 

“I’ve gotta go make you guys gifts. I’ll be back by dinner,” Remus yelled and ran off.

Remus threw open his door holding it open for Mortuus who had gone running after her owner. Remus pet the marsupial and set to work after all they deserved the best for giving him the best gift possible. He created the carriers first. After all he couldn’t have the animals running around now could he.

Since Virgil already had a spider, Parva which was Latin for small, Remus made a snow white ferret with red eyes he named Nix which was Latin for snow. After all what better pet for the not so secretly mischievous sides. Next was Janus’ who would be getting a speckled king snake named Sibium which is Latin for hissing. Next up was two parakeets for Roman one purple and one green. The colors chosen to represent who Roman cared for most or at least in the green ones case he hoped he cared for the most. The purple one was named Apollo and the green one Avis which is the word bird in Latin. Next was a crow for Logan named Corvus because what is better than a raven named raven. Last was a small hedgehog named Acuta which just so happened to be sharp in Latin.

Worn out from creating the animals Remus passed out on his bed after eating a slice of lemon bread he now kept in his room and drinking a small glass of lemon juice. He woke up ten minutes before dinner and gathered up the carriers. The others were in the living room waiting for Patton to finish dinner. All heads turned to Remus as he walked in.

“Can you all come here for a minute?” Remus asked.

Everyone gathered around Remus and jumped when Avis let out a loud chirp.

“Remus what did you make us?” Janus asked.

“Pets,” Remus chirped.

“Are you serious?” Janus said.

“Yep. Now first up Patton,” Remus said opening the carrier and holding out Acute, “A hedgehog because you won’t be allergic. As long as she doesn’t get mad she makes for an awesome cuddle buddy. I named her Acute.”

“Thank you Remus. I love her,” Patton said, taking her.

“Next we have Apollo and Avis for Roman. I’m not taking them out because parakeets are hard to catch,” Remus said holding out the carrier.

“Oh my god I’m teaching them disney songs,” Roman said, taking the birds.

“Next we have Virgil the Virgil with Nix the ferret,” Remus said holding out the white ferret.

“Oh my god Remus thank you,” Virgil said as Nix draped herself over his shoulders.

“Now we have Logan with Corvus the Raven,” Remus said, letting the bird out.

He landed on Logan’s shoulder, “Thank you Remus.”

“Lastly we have JanJan. I made you a speckled king snake named Sibium,” Remus said, taking the snake out and allowing it to wrap around his neck, “None will attack each other either.

“Remus,” Patton said, petting Acuta, “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing compared to what you did for me Patty-cakes,” Remus said with a grin.

“This is quite thought full Remus,” Logan said.

“Do you like her?” Remus asked nodding towards the raven.

“She will make a wonderful companion. Thank you Remus,” Logan said.

“And you Jay? What do you think of Sibium?” Remus asked.

“I don’t love him,” Janus said.

“I’m glad,” Remus said.

“I love Nix Re,” Virgil said.

“I’m glad and Ro?” Remus asked.

“They are beautiful,” Roman said.

“I’m so glad you like them,” Remus said with joy written across his face.

“How about we watch a couple episodes of Young Justice and play with our new pets?” Logan suggested.

“Please?” Remus cried.

“Why not,” Virgil said, grabbing the remote and moving to the couch .

“Fun fact: our digestive tract is nine foot long and connected from our mouth to our annus which we actually developed from,” Remus chirped out of nowhere.

“Why do you know that?” Virgil asked.

“Fucked if I know but I think it’s cool,” Remus said flopping down next to him and Mortuus curled up in his lap.

“Care to elaborate on the last bit?” Logan asked.

“Sure красавчик (pretty boy, Russian). So when an embryo cell starts developing your ass forms first. When an embryo develops deuterostomes a mouth called blastopore and that ultimately becomes your ass,” Remus explained.

“I’m going to ask again why the ever loving fuck do you know this?” Virgil asked.

“I don’t know it was in a textbook a read awhile back,” Remus said.

“How about we just watch Young Justice?” Patton asked.

“Of course Padre,” Roman said, taking the remote from Virgil and pushing play on the first episode.

A few minutes in Remus muttered along with Robin, “You're overwhelmed. Freeze was underwhelmed. Why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?”

Logan smiled fondly at the DC nerd.

“I forgot dinner!” Patton cried and leapt up to go turn off the stove.

Everyone laughed and Janus went to help Patton plate the, thankfully, unburned food and bring it to everyone in the living room. It was the perfect end to a wonderful day.

[dyketectivecomics]

I started typing this out last night & work was slow today, so here's some backstory/building blocks for the Batcavers AU (long post is Long so under a cut it goes!):

Bruce's adventures in solo spelunking & cave cartography started about when he's 15/16 & goes back down the well on a whim. Martha gets worried when he starts spending too much time alone down there tho & makes Bruce promise to never go without a friend

his usual go-tos are Harvey & Tommy, but a couple times when Zatanna was in town, she joined him. we love childhood friendssss

(now insert some benign reasons for idk other heroes/rogues to join him somehow fdjksla idk man. these are early years stuff)

i know i said it earlier, but all the rooms/Major formations follow a shakespeare theme. all of bruce's friends call him a Nerd for it fjdakls;

Bruce becomes a professional spelunker & speleologist and develops out the cave for the public to enjoy & continually explores and maps out the system. he's a big advocate for Bats too

and that's how the Media dubs him..... "The Bat Man" fkjdsalf; ROLL CREDITS

So the Tour Guide Kids:

So Dick & Babs were some of the first kids hired who have stayed the longest, obvsly. (dick's nickname is still robin bc circus origin is the same lmao. Babs gets the 'Batgirl' nickname for a few years when she gets chased by a couple of them lmao)

Dick fell in love with the cave when Haly’s visited gotham and his parents took him on one of the tours. When Dick starts college in Gotham, he works at the cave part-time mostly in the ‘off’ season (but a little over one summer too when he doesn’t tour with halys bc of some summer courses he’s signed up for).

Babs has been working at the cave for a few years ahead of him. At this point in time, Dicks been promoted to a supervisor/senior guide position & Babs works mostly in admin and overseeing communication (& eventually earns the New nickname of 'Oracle' bc somehow she's always able to predict exactly what ppl are radio-ing her about lmao)

They’re constantly flirting and it’s an open secret that they’ve dated off and on at this point. Y’all this kinda shit happened SO much at my cave, the drama was RIDIC Aksjaksj

Tim and Steph start around the same time & stick around a little longer than most guides. Tim makes a niche for himself working retail and eventually moves over to the main ticket sales/admin office. He and babs absolutely Crush things when they're working overlapping days. Steph's somehow wormed her way to being under Dicks wing rn being trained as another Head Guide.

tim's nickname is 'red robin' is bc he suggested they all have dinner together after work & they somehow had the Worst Dining Experience Ever™. Steph gets her 'Spoiler' nickname bc she constantly brings up new TV show episodes and just launches right into her Thoughts™ without asking and well fjdk Spoils Things

Harper and Duke start around the same time too, they're both newer to the whole operation & are still learning the Ropes. (yall got some of my initial thoughts on duke, so i'll just touch that Harper gets the Bluebird nickname bc Dick or Steph gives it to her lmao)

You're probably wondering 'wait, where's the Other Kids?' well BUCKLE UP BUCKO, bc its SELF-INDULGENCE TIME

Damian is the easiest to explain, in this the al Ghuls run another rival company, Bruce and Talia met in college and have an off/on relationship (divorced once MAYHAPS 👀) either way, Damian’s the result of that, Talia and Bruce share custody.

Okay, realistically, Everyone’s backstories can stay p much the same or be finagled to work out realistically enough to skirt by. Cass’ backstory needs to be straight up thrown in the garbage in this bc the League doesn’t exist akjsk SO here’s what I’m proposing instead:

We’re gonna shoe-horn the Jason & Cass twin theory and also have Bruce adopt them both bc REASONS. (Those reasons are, they were trying to steal Bruce’s tires and they were doing a REALLY good job of it w/ Cass distracting ppl and Jason doing his nascar tryout lmao, but Bruce caught on bc This Is Gotham and was basically like ‘you little shits (laughing the entire time)’ and the rest is History

ANYWAYS all of that to say that all three of them grow up basically having the run of the the cave and doin what they want aksj, Damian’s a little young yet in this to be giving tours/working, but all 3 have varying levels of interest in the cave

Jason loves being a guide, but is a little abrasive when ppl ask REALLY dumb questions. He WILL sass them if it’s something just objectively dumb. (Someone asked me when we moved closer to the highway. Like SIR) Cass likes giving the off-trail tours more than doing the big guided groups & likes helping with training new guides, so she’s more hands-on in those situations. Damian rlly rlly wants to help map out areas with smaller openings to see if he can find More Cave but it gives Bruce a heart attack having him down there and disregarding all safety precautions so he’s constantly being benched from that

Oh ye, so for nicknames, Jay gets Red Hood bc he’s always wearing a red beanie even when it’s the middle of summer. Cass gets the Batgirl one passed down to her bc she’s a pro at catching stray bats/somehow corralling ‘em to leave the main rooms. Dami is the baby bat/robin bc he’s always following either Bruce or Dick around when he’s on the property.

Let the Not-So-Shitty Summer Job AU begin hahaha

[bisexualsforprompto]

A Cat and Bug Game Pt. Two

Well dang! I was actually able to release a chapter today! (Fingers crossed that I can finish a Titans AU chapter). Just before rehearsal, yes! Anyway! Please enjoy part two!!!

Alfred pulled up to Wayne manor. Marinette stood in astonishment at the gigantic mansion. “This-this is your home?” She asked, “wow it’s so lovely! I’ll have to come out here soon so I can sketch! The whole exterior is so inspiring!” Her eyes lit up and Damian’s heart fluttered, of course Adrien had to butt in. “It’s ok, I guess. It’ll have to do for the time we’re here...” Dick had to hold Damian back so he didn’t attack the model, Adrien was oblivious to Damian’s obvious hatred of him so he kept nonchalantly walking towards the doors of the manor. “How much will Paris miss this kid if he happened to be in a freak ‘accident’” Jason seethed. Dick shook his head at his brother, “You know we don’t kill, Jason...” at that moment Adrien took Marinette’s arm and pulled her while talking her ear off about his house. “As much as we might want to” Dick said amending his previous statement.

Marinette slowly broke away from Adrien as they walked inside the manor. She walked back to the Wayne’s and her eyes fell on the handsome Wayne son again. “I’m so sorry, I just realized I never got your names!” She smiled apologetically. “I’m Damian!” Damian said eagerly bringing a smile to his face for the first time his brothers had seen, much to surprise of the Waynes. She smiled at him and he smiled wider, that is until Tim spoke. “Tim Drake! I’m a huge fan of your designs although it looks like demon spawn is a bigger fan of you.” Jason smirked at his brother and reminded himself to give him a high five as soon as he could. “Names Jason Todd, otherwise known as the best and most charming Wayne.” Dick rolled his eyes as Marinette laughed. “Dick Gayson sweetie, I’m so excited you’re staying with us. I’m definitely going to pick your brain about Jagged Stone.” Marinette smiled, “I’m looking forward to it!” “Marinette!” Adrien yelled. “Excuse me,” she said apologetically. Damian looked at her, “You don’t have to do everything he asks you know.” Marinette nodded, “Yes I know, but his family has done so much for me. He is normally much nicer, I’m sure he’s just stressed.” Damian didn’t buy her fake smile, but before he could protest she was gone. “The Minute that boy does anything out of line he is dead.”

Dinner was quiet aside from the boys occasionally asking Marinette questions about her life. Adrien mostly answered for her and shot them down. Damian was extremely frustrated at the model but when dinner was over he was a little sad that Marinette would be going back to her room. “I can show you to your rooms if you’d like.” He said. Adrien shook his head, “It’s no trouble, I’m sure we’ll find our room.” Damian raised an eyebrow, “Our?” “Well, this manor is so small, we wouldn’t want to inconvenience you by using up your rooms, we don’t mind staying together, right Marinette?” Adrien looked at his prey with a menacingly sweet grin. “Um actually-“ “there’s enough room for both of you to have your own room.” Bruce stepped in. “Marinette will be in the bottom floor and you, Mr. Agreste will be on the top. It’s no inconvenience I assure you.” He gave a stoic Batman stare and the boy backed down a little. “Of course Mr. Wayne.” Damian almost cheered, he saw Marinette giving his father a thankful look. “I’ll show Mister Agreste to his room, Damian would you be so kind as to show Miss Marinette to hers?” Alfred said, the all-knowing butler knew exactly what to say. Damian nodded and saw the blondie’s annoyed and very jealous expression. Walking over to Marinette he headed in the opposite direction of Alfred. He led her to a spacious room and watched as her eyes widened adorably. “Damian?” She asked. “Y-yes?” Damian stuttered, geez what is wrong with me?! “Are you sure this is my room? I don’t need anything this big.” Damian almost sighed, so sweet...He cleared his throat, “Don’t worry Miss Marinette, you’re a guest and you deserve to be treated with the upmost respect, and if you need me ever I promise I’ll be happy to help you.” Marinette felt a blush creep onto her cheeks, “Thank you Damian, oh! And my friends call me Mari.” Damian found himself turning tomato red, “A beautiful name for a beautiful lady.” He shut her door gently and they left each other as blushing messes. When Damian rejoined the rest of his family his dreamy expression did not go unnoticed. “Demon Spawn has a girlfriend! Mark the calendar!” Jason exclaimed. “She’s not my girlfriend Todd.” He said, his face resting back into its normal unfeeling expression. “Not yet.” Dick said wiggling his eyebrows. “Don’t you start Grayson!” Damian snapped. “Now boys stop teasing Damian about his ‘friend’” Bruce said teasingly. Damian angrily stomped to the batcave. He couldn’t believe his family! He also wanted to research the Agreste kid, if he could nail him for jay-walking it would be enough.

The other members of the family joined him, “Damian, it’s time for patrol suit up.” That he did with a grumble about how he was in the middle of something and Nightwing, Robin, Red Hood and Batman were ready to go. Red Robin stayed behind in case a hero might need to have a talk with the Agreste boy. Tim didn’t know however that it would be Marinette that he would be talking to late at night...

Marinette Dupain-Cheng felt something weird when she passed by Alfred, but good weird. When she asked Tikki what it was Tikki told her that Ladybugs could Sense past miraculous holders and that she thought Alfred was one of Duusu’s birds. She asked Tikki if she could trust him to which the little kwami said yes. Marinette wandered out of her room to the kitchen where she found Alfred. “Excuse me Alfred?” She said to the butler. “Yes, Ms. Marinette do you need something?” Marinette shook her head, “No, but I was wondering... does the name Duusu mean anything to you?” Alfred lit up, “I haven’t heard that name in years, wait how do you know Duusu?” Tikki flew out of Marinette’s purse, “Wow! It’s a pleasure to meet one of Duusu’s birds.” Alfred smiled and then realized, “Are you Ladybug Miss Marinette?!” Marinette nodded her head shyly. “Well, it seems we have much to talk about...”

It was mostly a quiet night so Tim found himself quite bored waiting in the cave and sipping his coffee, that is until a small girl in pigtails tapped him on the shoulder. “Gah!” He screamed as he found himself face to face with Marinette, “Oh it’s just you...WAIT! How did you get down here, what are you DOING here?!” “I invited her Master Drake.” Alfred said emerging from the shadows, “She sensed me from something in my past a while ago, she can be trusted, after all you’ll find Miss Marinette is a hero herself.” Tim scoffed a little, “No offense Alfred but she doesn’t really look like she could be a vigilante.” Tim took a sip of his coffee, “Did I say she was a vigilante master Tim?” Alfred nodded at Marinette and she yelled, “Tikki, spots on!” Tim spit out his coffee as he saw a transformed Marinette, she had spots and what looked like... a yo-yo? “Hello Tim! My name is Ladybug, the hero of Paris!”

~~~~

Dick, Damian, Bruce and Jason returned from a boring patrol to see a young girl in a mask and a spandex suit chatting eagerly with Alfred and Tim. Dick rubbed his eyes in shock, “What the fu-“

~~~~

Tag List (Whhhhat?!) please let me know if I missed you or if you’d like to be tagged!

@mochinek0

@violatiger8

@beaversuenightly

@zerotosiki

@captainmac6

[misterewrites]

Threads of Fate, Jason Todd x reader: Challenge

Hiya everyone! E here and basically I am going to keep this short because I’ve been having on and off internet connection for the last 3 weeks. It’s not too bad but it does randomly cut out so I’m kinda speeding through this.

Umm my good friend @hains-mae whom I’ve accidentally gotten addicted to DC movies *Gotham by gaslight cough cough* Has been on a bit of a batman bender and challenge me to write something for her and since I owe her birthday gifts, why not? Specifically Someone x reader drabbles which I’ve always wanted to do anyway so here we are! She chose Jason Todd. 

This a soulmate au kinda. The reader (that’s you!) and Jason are of the same age though he is currently the Red Hood.

I hope you all have an amazing week. I will be trying to write my original story and post it sometime this week but we’ll see what happens. Stay safe, take care of yourself, for the love of all that is holy stay inside! wear masks! PLEASE!

E out, byeeeeeee!

He was coming tonight.

Probably only a few minutes away knowing him.

I could feel it in my bones, the anticipation gnawing at me uneasily, preventing any chance of getting a good night’s rest.

Okay, so I’m lying. This is Gotham after all. Nobody ever got a good night’s sleep in Gotham. Insomnia was par for the course for 90 percent of us.

I sigh heavily as the torrent downpour of the rain crashes against my windows relentlessly.

Threads of fate.

My superpower though it’s not as cool as than it sounds or useful. My mom coined the phase when I was a little kid and I kinda just went along it. Seems to much of a bother to change it now and frankly it’s not impressive when you got an alien lifeform flying around at the speed of sound living the next town over.

Still she swore I was special. I thought she was crazy but she’s mom.

What are you going to do but love her anyway?

There’s a soft groan as my dusty apartment settles against the harsh night air.

He’s here and he knows that I know despite his best attempts to remain stealthy. I mean to be fair he can’t hide from my eyes no matter how much he tries.

I take a sip of my tea and let the warmth fill my body, relaxing for the moment.

A thrum of thunder booms in my ears and a crack of lightning streaks across the sky, utterly blinding.

When my eyes readjust, there he is standing tall and menacingly like the drama queen he is.

Red Hood.

Yeah, that Red Hood in my apartment.

So many questions I bet. Same to be honest.

It started about a year ago when there was a nasty mugging near my apartment complex. I had been working at the time luckily but the news still caused more than a few of us to start carrying our keys between our knuckles and try to avoid eye contact with everyone.  

He says he was cleaning up the streets. I know he was looking out for us, no matter how much he tries to deny it.

Jury’s still out with public opinion on Red Hood. Half the town wants him arrested and the other approves of his violent methods.

Everyone knew he was the second Robin, the wayward child of Batman at odds with his mentor.

I knew him as Jay.

I don’t think he meant to tell me. I don’t think he meant to stay long.

But he did and I let him in, out of morbid curiosity and no regard for my safety.

It was awkward at first, as typical of a normal citizen and a masked crime fighter in a room together but I guess he was lonely.

I mean I was lonely too so I can’t really blame him.

It was small things at first: Would you like some coffee? Local troublemakers, any dealers pushing on the street and where? Did you want to take off your jacket, it’s hot in here. Who was out of Arkham?

Our little back and forths.

Then it got a bit more personal: How was work? Did you kill anyone today? Anyone bother you on the street?

And before I knew it, he was checking up on me. Regularly. Once a month meetings became every other day.

Hence the whole standing in my apartment dramatically. He was probably waiting for the lightning.

I lazily gesture to the mug next to me, his favorite drink all nice and toasty for him.

He takes a seat, tension from his shoulders easing out of his body.

He doesn’t take off the mask of course. I think he regretted it after the first time.

But there was no taking back what I saw: A handsome face with a streak of white in his messy black hair and piercing blue eyes, lost and seeking.

The face of Jason Todd.

I cough loudly trying to get that image out of my head.

Didn’t work.

“So” I began, fiddling with my mug nervously “You okay? You were a little louder than usual. Practically shouting in my ear with that landing.”

He gives a playful chuckle filtered through the mask “You should’ve been asleep like you promised.”

I wave him off with a hand “I said I’d try, not do. Besides, if I was, I’d never see you”

“I was personally trained by Batman himself. You wouldn’t be able to see me if you tried.”

“Yet” I flush, taking a sip of my coffee for the dramatic tension “I see you all the same.”

He laughed even louder.

“I guess I like bugging you” he admitted “Need to practice my barbs.”

“Your barbs as sharp as a butter knife.” I shot back playfully.

“At least I can cook without burning down the place.” 

I say nothing, ears bright pink as I drink deeply from my mug. I can practically hear his grin through that mask.

Jason Todd.

I didn’t grow up in Gotham but the first thing you learn is to keep track of the Wayne’s.

Bruce Wayne was the only real light in this godforsaken shithole. He likes to get drunk and was an idiot and never meet a healthy coping mechanism in his whole life but he’s our drunken idiotic mess and his biggest scandal was usually him accidentally setting a fire in his kitchen.

Of course Jason Todd was Bruce’s ward and he’s also Red Hood which means that’s as far as I’m willing to deduce.

Sometimes, it’s better to play dumb. Safer too.

We were the same age, Jason and I, yet he had gone through so much in such a short time.

I think that’s why he’s here. I think that’s why he’s lonely.

He was stubborn. He stuck to his guns and beliefs even when they cost him the only family’s he’s ever known.

He still loved them and I think they love him but that belief parts them.

I can’t exactly blame him for having a different set of standards: He grew up on the streets. He knew crime firsthand. Of course he knows how terrible it is.

“….Thank you….”

I snap out of my stupor.

“Wha?” I reply smartly.

He doesn’t move but I can feel his nervousness, his anxiety.

“Thank you” he whispers softly “For….this.”

“Thank you too.” I answer gently “This….this is nice.”

“Just a little”

I narrow my eyes” You’re smirking, aren’t you?”

The smooth features of his mask might be indifferent but the light heaving of shoulders? HE’S LAUGHING AT ME!

“You are such a jerk!” I playfully smack his arm.

He burst out with unrestrained laugh.

“That’s it” I cry, rising to my feet “I’mma kick your ass.”

His head tilts quizzically “Can you even lift anything?”

My hand reaches for a pillow  “No mercy!”

“Oh no, I’m shaking in my boots.”

“You will be” I mutter darkly, lunging at him without warning.

Threads of Fate. The chord that ties two people together in destiny.

I see them everywhere. Ever since I was little. Red lines pulling at each other, scattered in all directions across endless miles. Soulmates searching for each other, hoping to close the distance one day.

And as my hand grips the pillow tightly, the bright red thread wrapped around my wrist since birth stretches only a few feet, its end wound tightly around his wrist as I chase him through my home.

My soulmate, my destiny who I am currently trying to murder with a pillow.

Life has a sense of humor. I’m still trying to figure out if I like it or not.

[m00nslippers]

Some Jason Todd/Red Hood-centric Fanfic Recs.

Figured I’d throw up some fanfic recs up in here. I read fanfic like it’s crack so I’ve got a few in my pocket here. Probably a lot of people have had these on lists before but what can I say, quality is quality.

Let’s do this in parts. I’ll do Gen Fics here and shipping ones in another post.

Part 1: Gen fics/Low Romance fics. (If there’s a pairing it’s subtle and not explicit at all).

Jason Todd: The Not-So-Outlaw by GoAwayOlivia: One of the best Jason-centric fics ever in my opinion. Is mostly a New 52 version of Jason in which he and the OG Outlaws save the world and in doing so Jason accidentally has his lifetime of traumatic memories shared with Superman and ends up getting a pardon for all his crimes as Red Hood and is convinced to go back to Gotham and take his life back. Queue inevitable meddling from Tim.

Batman: Arkham Compendium by LananiA3O: The definitive Jason Arkham Knight-verse series. There’s a fic for the before, the after, it’s comprehensive and oh so amazing, chronicling Jason’s time as Robin, his captivity with the Joker, his preparations for invading Gotham, his return to the family and his recovery from trauma. The way it handle’s Jason’s relationship with Dick, Tim and Barbara and his mental health and recovery is especially amazing. It’s basically worth watching an Arkham Knight let’s play just to read this fic.

All the Roofs of Uncertainty by Kieron_ODuibhir: Another great Jason reconciliation fic based on the Pre-Crisis Jason. In this one, Dick is critically injured during a world-wide invasion, and the one who finds him happens to be Red Hood. While getting him help from the JLU’s field hospital, he ends up interacting with the batfam and a bit of soul-searching ensues.

Cigarette Smoke and Snark by ScaryScarecrows: Set in the Arkham verse but also fuses a lot of comics Jason. His personality is especially closer to Rebirth Jason. Just a series of one shots, and a few connected arcs, most of them with dark humor and a bit of angst. The real gold in this fic that makes it different and a must read though is the Militia fics, which detail Jason interacting with his Militia in heartfelt and hilarious situations.

Misadventures of the Baby BatBros by PrettyMissKitty: An AU fic where Jason and Dick befriended Tim as a kid before Jason died. This one is ongoing, but it has amazing versions of both Tim and Jason. What I especially love about this fic is that it really takes the time and effort to point out and highlight Jason’s strengths and what made him a great Robin, and also has the most adorable version of baby Tim ever. Jason calls him a ‘a goddamn baby seal’ like come on. There’s also some fics that pick up after Jason comes back including a reconciliation fic and a very interesting body-swapping fic. Has hints of JayTim but it’s very light and wholesome.

show me yesterday, for i can’t find today by redtruthed: Robin Jay and Red Hood Jay time travel and switch places when Jason comes up against screw-up villain the Time-Twizler. Angst, post-reconciliation and a bit of timeline-fixing ensues as the Batfam is confronted with the younger Jason, and the younger Batman helps reaffirm that older Jason is still loved. Really great depiction of past Batman and both Jasons in particular, it’s got the feels.

Jason Todd - Collector of Strays  by whatomen: Also ongoing, this one is a mix of New 52, Rebirth and some hints of Arkham Knight Jason. Basically details Jason coming back to Gotham (pre any reconciliation, the bats still see him as an enemy and he still hates them) and then systematically failing to mind his own business, working his way up from adopting a dog, to a cat, to some kids and then it all starts to crumble around him as Oliver Queen and the bats start to get involved. What makes this fic special, to me, is actually his close relationship with New 52-version Roy and the perfect Oliver Queen, not to mention showing off how put together Jason can actually be while barely holding himself together.

Dark Angels and Demon Brats by RandomReader13: An ongoing AU wherein Jason is still with the League of Assassins and he develops a close relationship to Damian and his cousin Mara as a teacher/bodyguard/champion/brother. What’s particularly great about it is the way it depicts Jason with Damian, Mara and Talia in a way that feels really heartfelt as well as interesting and makes a point of using Arab words and phrases between them all.

Nests and Cages by LanternWisp, A freaking amazing AU that is heavily pre-crisis Jason, that features his fall as Red Hood, his private and public reconciliation with Bruce and the batfam, insight that he is actually Shiva and a certain martial artists’s son and Cass’s half brother, and his reintroduction to Gotham as Red Bat. Aside from the freaking awesome revelation of his parentage in this story, what make sit amazing is the way Jason reconciles with and accepts both Bruce and Talia as his soul-parents, you might say, as well as makes peace with his biological heritage. Not to mention it gives Jason a slick new power and has a hilarious interlude from the perspective of a Gothamite who is so done with the Wayne lovechild cover-up drama.

Piece By Broken Piece by M00n_Slippers: Shameless plug for my own ongoing fic, which is mostly Rebirth-based with references to New 52 and pre-crisis events. It features Dick inviting Jason to the Run-Offs ex-villain support group, and pretty much focuses on Jason’s traumas and psychology. What I think sets this fic apart is the relationship between Dick and Jason and the misconceptions both of them have about each other.

[jaythestargirl]

so basically in my moment of distress i drove out to the quarry for a cigarette and she found me out there (because she knows me oh my god) and told me she got my letter and was really awkward but robins always awkward so i couldn't tell if it was good awkward or bad awkward

anyway obviously it was good awkward and she sat down next to me by the water and told me she feels the same, and that my letter meant the world to her, and that she thought it was beautiful, and that i'm beautiful. god, she's so perfect, i'm going insane right now

i kissed her, and it was perfect. she was so nervous because she's never kissed anyone before, and i'm so happy i get to be her first kiss and her first girlfriend and her first everything. she's my first girlfriend too. im hoping she's my last and only. i've been dreaming up our future

she kisses so sweetly, and she tastes like cherry cola lip balm, because she went and bought cherry cola lip balm specifically so i'd like the taste when i kissed her (steve told me that, because he drove her out to find me). i didn't think she could get any more adorable but i was wrong apparently.

we sat out by the quarry for a while, and she leant her head on my shoulder whilst we talked. it was nice to hold her like that, and to kiss the top of her head, an smell her lovely hair. we stayed there until we got hungry, and then we went to the diner for some food and found some where to park whilst we sat in the backseat of my car and ate and talked and laughed and kissed again.

her kisses are so nice, she's so gentle. i've never been kissed like that. i've never been kissed like i was worth it.

i think i love her.

i dropped her home after that, and i wanted to kiss her on her doorstep, but she has nosy neighbors and nosy parents, so we just hugged goodbye instead. she smells so nice.

we're going on a date tomorrow night, we're gonna get dinner, and go for a drive, and I just can't wait to kiss her again. to hold her cold, bony hands and make them warm with my own.

i want to kiss every single one of her pretty freckles. i want her to feel just how much she means to me.

[alteredphoenix]

One Night on the Wild Hunt (WIP)(Tales of Berseria Modern AU one-shot)(Velvet/Eleanor)

A/N: I don’t do romance often. In fact, I’m quite awkward around it, although people that know me are well aware of my stance on dabbling with it (because it’s the highest selling genre in literature, I find it much too easy where it concerns making a quick buck; I would much rather prefer a challenge).

I don’t really ship, either; I’m very particular with what I choose, and I don’t like all the dramatic naval combat that is packaged with it.

But when I find something I do ship, I latch onto it. I dabble with it. I wonder “How may I contribute to this fandom with my own special brand?”

So I surprise myself that the only actual pairing I’m into in any fandom is Velvet/Eleanor (I find it hard taking Magilou seriously, Eizen’s just there, Laphicet is still an absolute NO BUENO regardless of what the /ss/ posters on /v/ swear, and Rokurou has the personality of a cardboard box plus reminds me way too much of my father to want to ship him with anyone a.k.a. he’s loonier than me!).

There are three other one-shots that take place in this modern AU (that is inspired and based on Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas aesthetics), usually for me to mess with if I want practice treading through unfamiliar waters. While I’m inclined to make remarks about Rumiko Takahashi setting the precedent for slow-burn romances, I’m often tempted with the idea to see how long I can stretch these bad boys out before I - or someone else, or perhaps everyone - has enough and wants such consummation to be over and done with.

But I digress, even if the dog in these stories (who is indeed an Undertale OC and cameos from my Heroes of the Storm anthology, “First Impressions”, but none of that really plays into these fics) thinks otherwise.

(I’ve had this sitting in my USB since August and haven’t felt compelled to touch it again until I saw that Talonted from AO3 name-dropped me as an inspiration for their Veleanor fic “Viennese Waltz”. I don’t know if you have a Tumblr or lurk it, hon, but if you should see this, this preview’s for you, as a token of my gratitude.)

-

A jingle of wind chimes rings sweet in the air, clear and loud.

Doodle barks, and there’s a clatter of nails on the cement (nails that are too long, Velvet thinks, and remembers that she keeps telling herself—as well as forgetting--she’s going to trim them so he can stop sliding across the kitchen floor) as he gets up on his paws and all but pushes his nose, ever cold and ever wet, against her bare leg.

DON’T LOOK NOW, HERE COMES TROUBLE.

Velvet turns away from the motorcycle and looks.

“Woof!” says Doodle.

Velvet doesn’t see him, tongue lolling and tail wagging.

She doesn’t even hear him, nor feel the shock of him slamming his nose into her a second time.

(She will think, later on, that she will have to go see the doctor when her next paycheck comes in. Shortness of breath and heart palpitations can be a sign of something much more serious if left unchecked and untreated. Such nasty, dreadful, obnoxious things; they make it so hard to focus that everything just

falls

away.)

Whoa, Velvet thinks; and if anyone were to ask her, as she stands still and time passes all around her, what words she would like to have on her tombstone, that alone would be the one. Of course, that requires talking, and at this moment her brain had suddenly forgotten how to string more than two syllables together.

So it compels her to do the next best thing to keep her alive: breathe.

And so she does, eyes tunneling in on Eleanor as she closes and locks the door behind her. She’s dressed for work, in a pair of (FORM-FITTING, her mind reels) slacks and a white button-down blouse with the collar popped and the sleeves rolled up to just below the elbows. There’s a cute little leather purse hanging off one arm and a dark blue cardigan over the other that pulls away from the doorknob, keys in hand on a metal ring – and it’s the big kind of ring, the one prison guards like to carry and hook onto their belts that hold their handcuffs, blackjack, and gun all over the front; but the belt she wears is thin, and black, and it’s a miracle that shirt is stuffed any further south than it already is. It makes it look her chest is about to--

Velvet breathes.

She jolts, suddenly, when Doodle makes those heavy panting noises that means he’s spazzing out on all fours and bashes that hammer-head skull of his against her one more time.

That blows all the fog away, and suddenly Velvet feels small. There’s grass, and there are trees, flowers of all different colors in the bushes and in the boxes underneath the window sills. There are little white butterflies fluttering through the air, even a dragonfly. Distantly, on the other side of the block, someone’s blasting hip-hop. Somewhere, on the other side of the world, the moon sits in a dark sky crowned by stars.

Eleanor’s hair is down, tapering off just beneath her shoulder blades. Long and flowing and bright red; au naturale, not the fake shit people like to put on their scalps with chemicals that are harmful for your roots and the environment. This is something you’d see from a late-night anime with the main female character...except every one of those redheaded MCs were fake and much too extra (whatever the flying hell that meant; teenage, internet lingo evolves worse than a Pokemon), and--

And: When did she grow it out?

My goodness. It looks so soft.

“Woof!” Doodle says. Standing a few feet away from her, not quite crossing the strip of lawn that divides their little abodes but far away enough on the driveway for him to outrun her if she gives chase, he looks back at her. Smiling.

TODAY IS SUNDAY. YOU ARE OFF. SHE IS NOT.

SAY SOMETHING.

IT’S NOW OR NEVER.

(Now see, a lot of things can be interpreted from that single statement.

But there’s no time to waste on weighing moral conundrums of the sexual variety, and in spite of all the goodwill and religious upbringing she’s had in her life, Eleanor, like all normal, rationally minded humans trying to survive, loves seeing her well-earned gald go into her well-earned bank accounts.)

YOU CAN DO IT.

Velvet does. “Good morning. Little early to be painting the town red, don’t you think?”

(For one very brief, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, out of the corner of her eye, a shadow flits over Doodle’s face. Just a bird, a voice in Velvet’s head whispers. Robins and cardinals and blue jays going around to feed their chicks and do whatever the hell they feel like.

She doesn’t recall hearing any birds chirping and tweeting and doing birdly things. At least, so far as she could tell. Strange; her memory’s usually pretty good at remembering.)

[fishfingersandjellybabies]

A Miracle In The Family - brood au

Characters: Clark Kent, Jason Todd, Lois Lane, Diana Prince, Dick Grayson, various others Pairing: implied/past superbat Summary: Jason ran off after his birth mother, and was now in the hands of the Joker. Clark just hoped against hope he’d get to his boy in time. A/N: Obviously this AU’s take on Jason’s (not) death. He’s 14/15 here (and Dick is around 18, here’s the breakdown of years apart the kids are if you forgot like I did). I don’t remember all of the canon Jason dying storyline, so forgive how it’s probably all wrong regarding Jason’s ma. I tried to follow the kind of outline of this I made in the last chapter of ‘Whole’ but suck at everything so didn’t really. Sorry ending is bad and vague. Jason attempts to be Robin a little after this but I don’t think he sticks to it much/for long, and this is probably a bit of a lead-in into how Conner and Tim get into heroing. 

Other Brood AU things.

~~

Clark could kick himself. Wanted to, honestly. Wanted to straight up die, was the real truth.

Because he didn’t notice. Somehow, he didn’t fucking notice.

Didn’t notice the extra research Jason was doing. Didn’t think about how Jason was talking about his birth mother an awful lot all of the sudden.

Didn’t notice the Robin suit was missing until now. Didn’t notice that Jason wasn’t home in his room, that none of his siblings had any idea he was gone or where he was going. Until it might just be too fucking late.

“Just…” He breathed into the phone. “I…I don’t know. Get to the house. Stay at the house.” A tremor, in his own voice. “Don’t let Cass or any of the boys leave your sight, okay?”

“Okay.” Dick practically whispered. Clark could hear the car roaring down the road in the background. “I won’t, Dad. I’ll keep them safe. Just keep me in the loop, alright?”

“I’ll try.” He paused, as he began to follow a river, knew the river was the trail to Gotham. “But even if I don’t, no hero stuff, okay? No waltzing in to save the day. You get to Smallville and you stay in Smallville, got it?”

Dick hesitated, and Clark could almost hear him biting his lip.

“Okay?” Clark repeated. “Promise me, Dick.”

“Yeah, but Jason-”

“Promise me.” Clark nearly begged.

Dick sighed. “Call if you need help. Me, Diana, anyone. Jay’s already run off on his own – apparently. Last thing we need is you doing it, too.”

“I will.” Clark swore himself. “I’ve already given Lois a call too, and she’ll be there when she can be. Though the Daily will probably want to cover this as breaking news so…I’m not sure how soon that’ll be.”

“No problem.” Dick mumbled. “I’m almost there.”

“Good. I’m sorry I took you from work.” Another pause, and Clark could feel Dick’s own fear, even through the phone. He wondered if Dick could feel his too. “…I’ll bring him home, Dick. I swear on my life.”

“Okay.” Dick murmured childishly. “I’m about to the farm, and I think I can see Conner and Cassie outside, so I’m gonna go.”

“Okay.” Clark nodded to himself. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Dad.” Dick returned, a little too seriously for Clark’s liking. Though, right now, nothing was going to Clark’s liking.

Dick hung up without another word, and Clark absently shoved the phone back in his belt, returning all focus to the city appearing over the horizon ahead, and the boy within its walls that he would do anything not to lose.

“Hang on for me, Jay.” He prayed, pushing with all his strength to fly as fast as he could. Mostly to himself, to whatever god that was listening. But also into the communicator in his ear, that connected only to Robin. He couldn’t tell if Jason’s was on, if he had it, or if it had been destroyed. But he could have sworn he heard a ragged breath or two. “Please just hang on.”

The city was already abuzz with what little information anyone had. Televisions and electronic billboards were all broadcasting the grainy video and blurry stills that the Joker had released. Repeating the god-awful news.

The Joker had Robin. The Joker had already beaten Robin into the ground. Would continue to do so until he was bored, or until the little bird died, he’d declared with that hideous laugh. And no one would stop him, even if they wanted to. Because no one could.

People looked up at him as he flew overhead, but for once, he had to ignore them. Had to keep his focus, no playing up to the crowds today. Not when his boy needed him.

Not when his son might die.

He could see them talking, though. Whispering. They all put two and two together, knew Superman was here to try and save Robin.

He could see them all pitying him, too. Because none of them believed he would make it.

Poor Superman, they sighed to each other. Just wasting his breath. Try as he might, no one gets saved in Gotham. That’s just the facts.

He didn’t blame them for thinking so. Gotham was cruel. Heartbreakingly cruel. They were just realists.

But he couldn’t let that stop him. Never had before, and absolutely refused for this to be the first time.

So he took a deep breath. Deep and shuddering. He wanted to cry, but knew he couldn’t. Not until he found his boy.

He exhaled, and kept that focus, waded through the heartbeats he could hear, looking for that one. That one of seven he knew better than anyone else on this ridiculous human planet.

It took him too long. Longer than it ever had before. But eventually he found it. Slow and weak, but around the west side harbor. Sweet, stubborn Jason.

He blinked and he was there, the heartbeat growing louder in his ear every second. But not faster. Oh, no. The louder it got, the slower it seemed to become, and dread filled Clark’s soul.

And suddenly, there was a beep nearby. Somewhere in the warehouse complex.

Beep. Second. Beep. Second. Beep. Second.

Laughter. Terrible, screeching laughter. Not from the same place, but somewhere close.

And below it all: tears. Quiet, pained sobs. A quiet gasp of “Mom…”

Beep. Second. Beep. Second. Beep. Second.

He could hear it in his ear too. Tinny and soft through that communicator he hadn’t been sure was still on.

Clark’s whole world stopped.

A bomb. There was a bomb.

The warehouse doors didn’t stand a chance. He burst through them like they weren’t even there, not caring where the shrapnel landed. A woman shrieked, and for once in his life, Clark couldn’t care less.

Because…there!

There, across the room. Jason was sprawled on the ground in a pool of blood. He was barely conscious, but was trying to stand, trying to get onto his hands and knees, looking at a point across the room. But his obviously mangled hand kept slipping in the blood, and bouncing off the crowbar that had been dropped next to him.

The bomb was between him and Clark, and it read two seconds.

Clark didn’t think. Didn’t even breathe. Took off across the giant room as fast as he could, afraid that it still might not be fast enough. And even as he moved, he saw Jason’s mouth move. Bloody and bruised, he watched Jason as he continued to stare across the floor, and once again said, “Mom…!”

Oh yes, the woman. Jason’s mother. His real mother, the one who abandoned him too many years before.

The clock struck one second, and he still didn’t care about her. Only cared about the boy he still felt too far away from.

But he was Superman. He was supposed to save everyone. Even the bad guys.

And how would Jason react, if he left his mother behind?

But there was no time to think about it, so he ran on autopilot. He grabbed Robin, curled him up into his arm, and then he turned, jumped and grabbed the woman. She was tied to a post, and Clark didn’t bother attempting to be gentle as he ripped her out of the rope.

He was a foot away from the warehouse threshold when the bomb went off.

He threw the woman out of the building and to the side as the heat hit his back. Curled his whole body around Jason as they were knocked to the ground, covered him as the fires cried and raged around them.

“Mom.” Jason wheezed, even as he curled his bloody fingers into Clark’s uniform. “M-Mom…!”

Clark glanced up. Could see the woman hobbling to her feet a safe distance away, looking into the flames for them.

Or…or was she looking for a way to escape?

“She’s okay, Jay.” Clark whispered anyway, ducking his head back down, refusing to let even Jason’s hair be exposed to more pain and injury. “I got her out, too.”

“C-Clark.” Jason coughed, and even in the shadow, Clark could see tears cascading down Jason’s battered face. “D-D-Dad…”

“I’ve got you, baby.” Clark murmured himself, holding Jason as close as he could. And even as he said it, even as he kissed Jason’s temple, relief washed through his body.

Because he did. He got to him.

Just in the goddamn nick of time.

The initial explosion finally settled, and Clark felt that it was safe enough to move. Carefully, he stretched Jason across his arms, tried not to cringe at the pitiful wails of pain Jason gasped with every movement.

When Jason was finally settled against his chest, Clark stood and looked around.

Jason’s mother was gone, and not a single trace of her was left.

“Sorry.” Jason sobbed weakly. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Clark suddenly wondered who the apology was for. Himself, or the mother who had apparently just abandoned him again.

He remained on scene just long enough for Commissioner Jim Gordon and his police department to arrive. Not on purpose, but it took him that long to get a safe enough distance away from the wreckage, and to think of a plan. Head to the nearest hospital? The Fortress?

But after speaking briefly with Gordon, and informing him that he was taking Robin, he decided neither of them were good enough, and headed towards the closest transporter to the Watchtower.

Jason came in and out of consciousness the whole journey, but the blood never seemed to stop flowing. He was whiter than a sheet by the time he got him to the ICU, and Clark was terrified that he’d lose him before they could get a transfusion started.

So he didn’t let go of his hand. So small and cold, Clark clung to it as his fellow Leaguers rushed around him, setting up tubes and machines and needles. Jason whimpered and whined, but he couldn’t do much else. He didn’t have the energy or the strength.

And even as his friends got him situated, and on the path to stability, Clark couldn’t help but fear the worst. What if they lost him? What would any of them do if they lost him?

What would his kids do? God, what would he do?

He didn’t think he could take it. Jeez, look at how he dealt with losing Bruce, and that was just a disappearance, an assumed death. Here, he’d watch, first hand, Jason wither away.

It’d destroy him. Him and Lois and his entire family.

He stayed, even after his friends did everything they could. Even after they got the transfusions going, the monitors beeping and the injuries wrapped or otherwise taken care of. Sat there, holding his boy’s hand, wallowing in the possibilities of the next twenty-four hours.

So he didn’t hear the rap on the door, or the throat clearing. Didn’t react until he felt a hand on his shoulder and jerked up to find Diana staring sadly down at him.

“I called home for you.” She whispered. “Talked to Lois and Dick. Told them what’s happening.”

“Thank…” Clark coughed, his throat unknowingly dry and scratchy. “Thank you, Diana.”

She nodded. “Dick is beside himself, and wants to come up here right away. Lois was able to convince him to stay home with his remaining siblings until morning.” Diana frowned. “The children are all beside themselves.”

“No doubt.” Clark sighed, risking releasing Jason’s hand to run it down his face. He blinked in confusion though, as he felt the early signs of stubble on his chin. “Wha…?”

“You need a break.” Diana suggested gently. “I will sit with him while you go rest.”

“No, I need to be here. I need to stay with him.” Clark shook his head. He glanced out the nearby window, though, and frowned. The stars were in a different place than he thought they should have been. “…How long have we been here?”

“It has been about ten hours since you brought him up here.”

“Feels like it’s been twenty minutes…”

“Because you are exhausted.” Diana tugged softly on his arm. “You need your rest.”

“But…”

“I will come get you the moment he wakes, should he at all.” Diana promised. “Jason will never be alone. I swear that to you, Clark. Not even for a second.”

And he wanted to shake his head. He needed to stay. He couldn’t leave his son, not after almost losing him. Not after not even realizing he’d gone.

But he knew if he didn’t, Diana would force him. Lock him into their makeshift prison, use Kryptonite on him.

And…maybe she was right.

“Just next door.” Clark mumbled, reluctantly standing. He stood for a second, before leaning down and kissing Jason’s forehead. The boy didn’t move. He breathed via machine for now, and it didn’t take an inhale for him for another second. “And if anything…”

“I will get you.” Diana nodded, all but pushing him from the room. “Rest well, my friend, and know that we will do everything we can for him.”

Clark nodded wearily, shuffling to the next door. When he got into the room he stood there, staring down at the white, clean sheets. He hadn’t taken off his bloody uniform yet, and was too tired to do so now.

“…I’m sorry, Bruce.” He found himself whispering into the silence. The silence didn’t answer. He sighed, swallowed the lump in his throat, and laid down on the cot.

~~

He awoke to another hand on his shoulder, and opened his eyes to find Dick staring down at him.

“Hey, Dad.” Dick whispered. He didn’t look much better than Clark felt, skin gray and dark circles under his eyes. He looked like he hadn’t slept. And Clark had to be honest with himself – his eldest probably didn’t.

“Dick…”

“You doing okay?” Dick asked as Clark sat up, stumbled to his feet.

“Fine. Tired, but…fine enough.” Clark mumbled as gathered Dick into his arms. Held him for just a moment. Relished in the feeling of Dick hugging him just as tightly. “Have you seen…”

“Yeah.” Dick croaked into Clark’s chest. “Lois is in there with Tim and Conner right now. Barry and Arthur are distracting Damian and Jon for the time being. Diana is helping Cassie process it all.” Dick sighed, leaned his weight against him. “I just…needed a break.”

“I know the feeling.” Clark mumbled into his eldest’s hair. Absently rubbed at his back. “I’m just…god, I’m just glad I made it in time.”

“Me too.” Dick agreed, leaning back. Clark couldn’t help but hold Dick’s cheek. He just looked so tired. So much older than his years. “…He looks terrible, Clark.”

“I know, son.” Clark nodded, that lump in his throat from before he slept still there. “I’m glad you didn’t see what I did when I found him.”

Silence.

“…Has anyone said anything?” Clark asked, gently turning Dick towards the door and leading him out. He heard Jon’s laughter before he saw them. Found his mouth twitching into a small smile as he watched Barry run around (at a human speed) with Jon on his back. Damian was sitting on a sofa nearby with Arthur, critically examining his trident. “Found anything out?”

Dick kept his frown, glancing towards the door of Jason’s room.

“Typical Joker things.” Dick mumbled. “…The mom was in on it.”

Clark froze. “What.”

“Jason’s mom.” Dick repeated, sounding just as bitter as Clark felt. “She was working with that bastard. Knew what the Joker had planned, more or less, and lured Jason there anyway. J’onn said her being tied to a pole was probably the Joker betraying her. Can’t say I’m surprised.”

Clark turned away, looked in through the window of Jason’s door. He still wasn’t conscious. Lois was holding his hand. Tim was holding the other one. Conner was at the window, staring angrily out into space.

“…I regret saving her.” Clark whispered furiously. “I’ve…I’ve never regretted saving anyone, not even Lex. But.” His fist tightened. “I will regret saving her until the day I die.”

Dick didn’t say anything to that. He didn’t act proud. But he sure didn’t act disappointed either.

“…He must have known.” Clark murmured thoughtfully, glancing at Dick when he heard Damian call his name. Watched Dick give him a tight smile and short wave. “Jason, when I found him. He…he had to have known.” Quieter, sadder. “…And he was still trying to save her, when I got there.”

Suddenly, Clark realized what Jason’s initial apologies were for.

Dick bit his lip. Closed his eyes and looked away. “…What are we going to do, Dad?”

“No, no. There is no ‘we’, Dick.” Clark pushed, turning towards Dick completely. “Nothing here is your responsibility.”

“He’s my brother.” Dick pushed back. “We share a room. I should have noticed something was up. I should have stopped him before any of this happened.”

“No, you shouldn’t have.” Clark shook his head. “Eight people live in that house total, and not a single one noticed. I didn’t notice. If this is anyone’s fault, Dick, it’s mine. Not yours. Never yours.”

Dick sniffed, wiped at his eyes.

“Besides, you did what you were supposed to, honey.” Clark put a hand on his shoulder. “You came when I called, and you took care of the rest of the kids.”

Dick turned back to look into Jason’s hospital room himself. He didn’t gasp, or break down, the tears just silently started pouring down his face. Clark did the only thing he could. Just pulled Dick back into his arms, and held him as tight as he could as he sobbed into his neck.

“What if he doesn’t make it?” Dick wailed. “God, Clark. Dad, what if we lose him?”

“Don’t think like that, sweetheart.” Clark whispered, holding the back of his head. “Please, don’t. Just have faith in your brother, okay? Jason’s a tough kid. If anyone can make it through this, it’s our Jay.”

Dick gave a little hiccup, and tried to nod. Clark just held him. He glanced over once, saw both Diana and Arthur watching them sadly.

But with Arthur distracted, Damian made his escape. Hopped from the couch they were on and came running at them. Didn’t say anything when he reached them, just latched on to Dick’s waist.

After a moment, Clark released his eldest, turning to his second youngest. “Hey, baby. Can you do me a favor?”

Damian didn’t let go of Dick, but glanced up curiously.

“Take Dickie over to Uncle Arthur, okay?” He asked. “And how about you tell him what Uncle Arthur taught you about Atlantis and the trident.”

Damian nodded, and shifted only to take Dick’s hand and drag him away. They didn’t make it to Arthur, before Cassandra appeared too, giving Dick just as big a hug as Damian and Clark had.

Clark smiled, just a little. His kids were so smart.

He waited long enough to watch Diana lead them all back to Arthur, and all of them pile onto the sofa, before turning and entering Jason’s room.

Lois looked up at the sound of the door. Tim glanced at him for just a second. Conner didn’t move from the window.

Silently, he walked around the bed, pecking Conner’s temple before wrapping a loose arm around Tim’s shoulders, rubbing at his arm.

Jason was unchanged. Still pale, covered in wires, but worst of all, unconscious.

“How soon until he can come home?” Tim asked quietly. It was naïve, but so innocent it broke Clark’s heart.

“I don’t know, Tim.” Clark whispered. “I just don’t know.”

“Boys, can you go make sure Jon and Damian aren’t driving the League out of their minds?” Lois asked politely, standing from her chair. Tim nodded almost gratefully, like he was looking for a reason to escape the room. Clark didn’t blame him. Jason was a soul-crushing sight.

He shrugged off Clark’s hand, then turned and tugged Conner’s elbow until the other moved. They disappeared silently.

Lois waited until the door was closed before looking back at Clark. She studied him for a moment, then tilted her head.

“How you doing, Smallville?”

“I feel like he looks, if that makes sense.” Clark murmured. “I just…I want to fix it. I want to fix everything. I’m Superman, I’m supposed to. But…I don’t know how.”

“Clark, you’re not a doctor. You know you can’t.” Lois offered. “The best you can do is be there for him, like you always have been. Be there for him and the other kids.”

“How am I supposed to be there for all of them if I’m barely dealing with it myself?” Clark whispered sadly, running a hand through his hair. He didn’t realize how greasy it was until now. “God, Dick just broke down in my arms because he thinks Jason’s gonna die. I can already tell Conner’s going to bottle this all up until he explodes. Tim looks like he’s aged one hundred years since yesterday, and I don’t even want to know how this will affect Cass and the babies.”

“I’ll help you where I can.” Lois smiled. “And while you’re there for the kids, I’ll be there for you. So will the whole Justice League and your parents and your friends at the Daily.”

“I appreciate that, Lois. Thank you.” Clark sighed, hooked his fingers around Jason’s. They were still so cold. “…God, Bruce would hate me for this.”

Lois’s comforting demeanor dropped immediately. “Clark…”

“And I wouldn’t blame him.” Clark woed. “Christ, he left his kids with me because he thought I could protect them, and here I almost got one killed.”

“At least you were there. At least you got to him in time.” Lois countered. “And like you said, he left them. He’s not the one here at his son’s bedside. You are.”

“He’s dead, Lois.” Clark reminded. “He’d absolutely be here if he wasn’t. Hell, Jason wouldn’t have ever gotten the opportunity to run off if Bruce was still able to raise him.”

“My point is, don’t do this to yourself, Clark. The what-ifs and thinking about Bruce isn’t going to help.” Lois tried. “You don’t need it, and neither does Jason.”

Clark sighed, and glanced out the door. Zatanna was there now, distracting Conner, Cass and Damian with magic tricks. Diana’s protégé Donna had appeared now too, and was sitting where Arthur had been, Dick leaned exhaustedly against her neck as she hugged him, smiling at Jon on his lap. Tim sat next to Dick, half leaning against his brother while teasing to tickle Jon at the same time.

Then he looked back down at Jason. Comatose and half-dead. A shell of himself.

“What do we do now, Lo?” Clark whispered.

Lois sat back down, retook Jason’s fingers for her own. “Now we wait.”

~~

Clark sighed as he sat down, inhaling the steam from his fresh mug of coffee. Smiled softly at Dick in the chair next to him, long asleep from before he even arrived. But the love for his brother was still palpable in the air, even if you didn’t notice the almost-actually-beard stubble on his face.

He’d been against the idea at first. Dick, trying to start out on his own as a young adult, taking a leave of absence from his job to stay at the Watchtower with Jason 24/7. That wasn’t Dick’s job, that was Clark’s.

But now he appreciated it. Appreciated the little shop in Smallville who employed his eldest for now. When he gave them the vague story, they’d immediately said to take as much time as he needed. Even mailed treats to the house, and started a tip-jar fundraiser for Jason’s (non-existent) medical expenses.

People were still good, despite where he was right now, and that was always a nice thought to remember.

He blew on the steam from his coffee and looked at Jason as he sat down. It’d been about two weeks now, since he’d found his boy in the nick of time and brought him to the Watchtower to heal. Two weeks since he’d fallen into a coma. Two weeks of waiting.

It all hurt a little less now. Mostly because nothing had changed. Sure, in the days after, Clark found the Joker and threw him in prison. But much like always with Bruce too, the bastard escaped and went underground. And Clark had bigger things to worry about right now than uselessly chasing him around a city that wasn’t his.

But after that, it was this. It was Dick sitting up here alone most of the time, give or take what ever League members were on the Watchtower, then Clark joining him whenever he could leave the office, or write his articles remotely. With Lois offering to stay with the others in Smallville, he slept here, with Dick at Jason’s side, then returned to the office the next morning.

The children came to visit often, even when they weren’t supposed to, but Dick being up here so much was bad enough. He wasn’t going to let the younger ones waste away up here too, even though they all desperately wished to.

Otherwise, this was it. A fresh cup of something hot, a book or documentary to watch, machines beeping, and this boring, ugly, gray room.

Every. Single. Day.

So today wouldn’t be any different. Today, he shouldn’t expect anything to be any different.

Except, apparently, it was.

He was sitting there reading, had already tuned out all sounds. Tuned his powers to listen only to the sounds of heartbeats. Of the slow, steadying breathing of Dick and Jason. Calming, for the most part.

So he missed the quiet groan. Missed the little word, almost, just assumed it was Dick talking in his sleep.

But he sure didn’t miss that second time.

“…Dad…?”

He was on his feet so fast, the chair he shoved backwards was embedded into the wall behind it, the mug sitting on the arm shattered amongst the wires lining the floor.

Jason’s eyes were barely open, and even struggling that as Clark gently put a hand on his face. It took him a good five seconds to find the strength to raise his eyes and meet Clark’s already tearful gaze.

“Whu happened…?” Jason slurred. “W’ere are we?”

“In the Watchtower.” Clark whispered, running his other hand over Jason’s greasy, shaggy hair. “Safe.”

Jason didn’t seem to actually understand anything he’d said. Just blinked slowly. A little too slowly, and Clark almost thought he was going back to sleep.

But then his gaze jerked back up, hazy and not completely there. “Joker?”

“He did this, yes.”

Jason’s eyes twitched around the room, even as he leaned into Clark’s hand still on his face. “…Mom?”

“Alive. I don’t know where.” Clark shook his head. Leaned his foot out and began softly, but urgently, tapping his foot against Dick’s shin. “She…ran off, when I got you both out.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Dick stirred, then. Grumbled a little, but sat up rubbing his eyes. It took him a second, about ten, to realize what was going on.

“Oh my god.” He was on his feet as fast as Clark had been, and practically pushed the elder out of the way to get to Jason himself, curling him protectively into his arms. “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.”

Jason’s fingers twitched in an attempt to hug Dick back, but it was all still too new, and he was still too weak.

“Dick.” Clark murmured. “Careful.”

“Yeah.” And Dick was already crying. Already practically sobbing into Jason’s hair. “Yeah, I know.”

Clark gave them that moment. Let Dick smother for a minute or two more, then carefully pulled him back by his shoulder.

“You gonna make it?” Clark joked. Dick just laughed and wiped his eyes. “Go grab whoever’s on the station for me, please? Then call Lois if you could. Let her know what’s going on.”

Dick nodded, then gave Jason one last look, as if he’d be gone by the time Dick returned, then dashed out into the hall.

Clark watched after him for a moment, as he bound happily around the Watchtower, until he once again heard the tiny, weak voice.

“…Dad?”

Clark looked back, kept his own warm, relieved smile as he stepped back up to the side of the bed. Jason’s eyes were a little clearer now. A little sadder.

“Dad, I’m so sorry.”

Clark just nodded silently as he perched on the side of the bed and wrapped one arm carefully around Jason’s shoulders. Jason collapsed against his side just as J’onn appeared in the doorway and made a beeline for the medical equipment.

Clark didn’t respond to Jason. Just gently rubbed at his shoulder and gratefully kissed his head. Held him while J’onn began his examination.

~~

It was over another month before Jason was released to even go recuperate at the farm. And even when he was, he was sent home with a laundry list of medications, physical therapy routines, and a calendar of when Justice Leaguers would be visiting for follow-ups.

But when he was released, the whole family went up to gather him. Tim, Conner and Cassie carried all his clothes and personal items, with Damian carrying a loose thing or two. Dick handled the medications. Even Lois went, and she volunteered to take all the paperwork, and threatened hell on everyone if even a single word on any of these charts was wrong.

Jon clung to Jason’s side from the moment they arrived at the Watchtower, and refused to leave it. Would whine and cry if anyone tried to pull his hand from Jason’s, and even trigged his previously-unused heat vision. So, they left him there, and he acted as Jason’s personal escort from satellite to horse stable.

They used the transporter, with Lois going before Jason to catch him on the other side, and Clark coming after. And even when they landed, Jon gleefully continued his duty, and was the one gently leading Jason across the dirt, back towards their home.

At one point, about halfway, Jason stopped, already exhausted. Jon waited patiently, staring off into the distance, waving at some birds flying overhead. Clark silently came up on Jason’s free side.

They’d already talked about it. Of course they had. What Jason had done, what he was looking for, what Clark came upon with only seconds left. They’d talked about it, and re-talked about it. They’d shouted and cried and apologized a thousand times over, and then some.

But still.

“Your family’s right here.” Clark reminded, putting a hand on Jason’s shoulder. “I know it’s a different story when it comes to biological parents and all that, but…don’t think you have to go looking for someone to love you. Not when you have all these people here who already do.”

Jason nodded, leaning into Clark’s side. “I know.” He smiled, then gave a little laugh. “Well, I know that now, anyway.”

A moment to just stare at their house, like they were a couple of old men.

“I love you, Dad.” Jason whispered. “Thanks for not giving up on me.”

Jason stepped forward again, and Jon jumped right to his side, already asking him if he was alright, that he could take another break if he wanted, that he’d bring him a burger from downtown if he wanted it, or his favorite cow from the pasture, who missed him a lot.

Clark smiled, watching the two go into the house. Then let out a long exhale and looked into the sky. Thought of Bruce, for just a moment. Thought longer about how truly lucky he was right now, in this moment.

“Never, Jay.” He promised. “Absolutely never.”

[agentfrostbite]

I Read Too Much BatCat Today And Am A Writer, So Here We Go

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS MY OWN DC TIMELINE UNIVERSE THING BECAUSE DC IS mostly MADE UP OF COWARDS WHO DON’T WANT TO WRITE THE BATFAM THAT WE ALL WANT TO SEE. This is your only warning.

I cannot tell you my love for the whole ‘Bruce adopts everything’ meme/joke/thingy. And I’d bet that Selina teases him mercilessly about it.

But I’d ALSO bet that she does it, too, just somewhat unknowingly. Harley’s down on her luck after finally ditching the Joker? “Here, come stay at my place. No rent required, try not to leave your laundry on the floor, and we’re trading off on the dishes.” Ivy got her most recent greenhouse hideout smashed by Bats? “Apartment 404, that one complex on the corner with the busted streetlamp that Robin Number 1 fell off of once. The key’s under the mat, Harley may hit you with her mallet when you come in the door.” Hood had another knock-down drag-out fight with Batman (because I love this man, and yes, they will reconcile, but healing is slow)? “Shocker; curfew’s at 3, don’t wake me up if you come in afterward, clean the blood out of the carpets once you can actually do it - no, Jay, I don’t mean the morning after; nobody who comes in here is gonna ask questions - and no weapons in the bathroom or fridge.”

But if Bruce even TRIES to bring it up, she fixes him with the BatGlare™ (which he finds amusing). Like, she can tease him about his literal army of actual children, but if she thinks he’s even attempting to bring up the Apartment Gang (the name’s changed at least three times by now, and will change several more after, if a singular name is ever actually chosen), she’ll do one of those Extra™ Backflip Off A Roof flip-kicks and refuse to talk to him for a week.

(The strange bit is that he can tease her about mom-ing the heck out of HIS kids, and she’s totally fine with that. ‘Maybe it’s got to do with her commitment issues?‘ he thinks aloud as Dick swings by - on a grapple line that he is definitely NOT supposed to use in the house, aside from emergencies - laughing at Bruce for his lack of ability to acknowledge his own romantic commitment issues.)

Fast forward to after the BatCat wedding (which, in my AU timeline, DID happen because I’m NOT A COWARD), and now Bruce’s army of kids becomes her army of step-kids (including Jay, after red-and-black-checkered 'persons unknown' got annoyed enough about the whole refusal to actually talk things out and strapped Hoodie and Bats to a chair until they had their heart-to-heart), and the teasing doesn’t stop. Except now they can both tease each other.

“Darling, go tell your kids to keep the volume down; I’m planning how to break into the Smithsonian next week.” “Well, honey, they’re your kids, too.” “Yes, but I didn’t adopt them.”

(They go back and forth all the time. Tim’s got a running tally of the ‘fights’ he knows about, and so far, Bruce has won 58% of them, probably cause he had to live with Jay and Damian and the man could argue that the sky is green and aliens don’t exist.)

But at the same time, Selina notices - begrudgingly, slowly, with far more resistance than anyone sensible ought to put up - that she’s starting to lean a little further into the ‘adopt everything’ territory. It doesn't start as “Hey, that kid needs a home; let’s turn them into a crime fighter!” It’s more a “If you talk to my stepkids that way again, I’ll sic Harley Quinn on you, and she’s been really bored this week, which I know because I have a friend who knows somebody who knows her and not because I’m secretly Catwoman and took the girl into my apartment for four years.”

Then, of course, she finds out that Captain Marvel is actually a 12 YEAR OLD BOY, WTF BRUCE, YOU’RE LETTING A KID DO WHAT NOW?!?” and she stays up for a whole hour that night, tossing and turning and thinking up ways to discreetly adopt the kid before attempting to ignore that she’s slowly turning into her husband (on this matter and this matter alone).

It only gets worse as time goes on, and before she knows it, she goes from “I’m not like you, B, I don’t adopt every sad stray I see” to “This kid has no home, no family, and I’m not gonna let them do the superhero/vigilante/low-tier villain thing all by themselves.”

Bruce just about dies laughing every time she tries to make the argument of why they should take this one in (as if they don’t already have a horde, even if most of them, at this point, already have other homes/apartments and are slowly building families of their own.

(She does finally get Colin adopted, even thought it’s almost completely behind everyone’s backs, and Damian definitely did not have tears in his eyes, and he most definitely did NOT forget himself for a moment and hug Kyle, insinuate that he did one more time, and he’ll shove a Batarang down your throat.)

TL;DR, Selina turns into just as big a ‘adopt everything’-er as Bruce does, albeit with more kicking, screaming, and denial.

[aliypop]

Justice High

Word Count:1,279

Character Count:6,906

A/N: So I was inspired to write a Superhero High school au due to DC superhero girls. So I thought what would that look like with my character Yonah?

"Look, I'm glad you've saved everyone and all that, but it's time someone told you, to take care of you," Hal said patting Barry on the shoulder. "I'm fine." He replied only with a sigh from his lips. " Do you think coach Garrick is gonna be hard on us today?" the young speedster asked walking down the hall of Justice Highschool where tomorrow's hero's start today."You see Allen I'm not a speedster so... I wouldn' know" Hal laughed "But I heard there's a new girl." he winked nudging him. "Aren't you dating Carol though?" Barry added before walking by one of the most popular groups of the school The Robins, the robins were all rumored to be Batman's sidekick, and some even believed that they were his children, but the one thing that no one knew were their secret identities. "What's your  damage, Robin." "Sorry, Robin." Yeah, they were the talk of the school except for one. WHAM!  the sound of books crashed as well as a person or maybe three "Hey are you okay." the heroin asked pushing her mask back up as the only thing in her sight was a red hoodie "Yeah I'm fine." Barry smiled "Let me help you up maybe?" "Pink Fury!" one of the Robins called out "we're gonna be late to class!" "I gotta go see you around?" she waved as he only sat there realizing he would be late which wasn't new to him by any means.

"Alright as you all know Track season is coming and we can't lose to Excelsior High again," Jay said with a loving sigh "So I'm putting my trust in you guys that we won't have another fumble, Mercury..." he glared at him for a second before another set of footsteps walked towards him . "Sorry, I'm late." the voice said smiling as she looked around seeing the guy she had almost nearly run over. " Class this our new student Pink Fury," Jay said with a smile, "Flash can tell you the ropes of everything," he said pointing her in his direction. "So you think you got what it takes to join speedster 101," Max questioned chuckling a bit at the masked student. "It's more than just running not even Jesse made it." he snickered"and the name Pink Fury definitely won't last long." "I'll try to keep up then." she smiled taking her mask off" And, the name's Yonah by the way," she smirked pushing her hair back into a ponytail. "Well let's see what you got," Jay said as he held out his timer. A flash of pink ran around the track before the timer even set off to stop "How long was that coach?"  she asked as a chuckle was heard. "100 laps in one second." he laughed "That's around Johnny Quick's speed... and he was like a speed god..." he sighed. "How did you do that?" Barry asked blushing hard "That was amazing you're faster than me!" he laughed.  "Well  I try, but you're the amazing one," she added. "You get to go and save everyone me... well." she sighed " It's complicated, but hey what's your next class?" "Unabridged History of Heroes. And you?" he asked. "I have intergalactic space studies, but my other class is combat 101." she laughed holding his hand "If none of that works just call me and we can totally hang out?" "Yeah.. perfectly fine maybe you'd like to go out with me!" he blurted out before realizing what he said "Unless you don't want to -," he said as she kissed him on the cheek." I would love to" she laughed as the bell rang. After school was always when the fun things happened at Justice High well when the villains weren't running amuck about on campus that was. "HEY GIVE THAT BACK !" someone shouted as a cloud of red and blue smoke was seen, and a sound of a crackling whip was heard. "Make me!" The New Jersey sounding accent said back before bumping into someone else. "Return It Harleen..." Yonah looked at her seeing she was holding a  lasso in her hand. "But it's mine now!" she pouted stomping her foot as the lasso was no longer in her hands and now of the hands of the heroin "If you excuse me I will be taking this back to its rightful owner!"Yonah smiled as she handed Donna Troy back her lasso with a wink. She wished she could say that everyone chanted and clapped and cheered but no mostly everyone just wanted to leave the campus and go home.   "What you did back there was brave," a familiar voice said to her patting her on the back. "Ms. Prince!" Yonah said kneeling "You're awesomeness it was nothing." she laughed trying to remain calm as she was in front of her favorite hero of all time. "Not many would do that," she added as the young girl blushed. "we're hero's it's what we do!" she cheered. "Hey, Fury!" Max shouted from across the parking lot waving her over to what they called it Speedster row speeding over she stood next to Barry who was working on his English work from Ms. Lane and standing next to Jesse Quick who was also working on homework. "Hey Max how's it going..." she laughed looking at the speedster who seemed nervous about something or more so someone. "How would you ask out someone." He asked as Yonah looked over to Barry. "Well for starters I would be myself and say something like.." she paused for a second "I like your Flash Gordon T-Shirt the colors compliment your eye's Barry " she smiled as she kept going "Maybe you and I could watch that new James Bond movie say tonight at 7?" "Yeah... I would love that." Barry smiled looking up from his writing as he held her hand "It's a date right?" He questioned causing her to giggle as she took him by the hand "Only if you want it to be." she laughed a bit harder as he smiled back at her.

"And that's when I found out I had powers!" Yonah laughed sitting with Barry on the couch in the movie room as Alfred bought in more popcorn. "You ran into the Christmas tree!" he laughed alongside her. "Yeah my dad was pissed, but it was funny." she sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder. "So are you worried about that track meet coming up?" He added as she let in a deep breath "Terrified actually, but I heard Jesse is also running too so not that scared." she huffed eating one of his gummy worms as he pulled her close "Max can be terrifying ..." Barry added "But he means well... most times." he laughed before hearing footsteps walk by. "You kids okay?" The most familiar low voice said as Barry turned around to look at the shadow. "We're fine dad, just be careful out there," she said smiling at Barry who was shocked. "Batman is your dad..." He gasped "Which means that Bruce-" "Yes, they're the same person." she leaned in kissing him sweetly before hearing someone clearing their throat. "That's too close to my daughter Mr. Allen.." Bruce grumbled as Yonah growled, "Dad you're ruining my date night..." she looked at him embarrassed as he had vanished "Happens every time." she mumbled her head in the palm of her hand.  A trail of robins leading behind in the mansion as Yonah rolled her eyes " I would have us finish this movie upstairs but.." she laughed "This is fine." Barry added, "You have the coolest family ever!"

[coolgirl]

Fic recs masterpost

ok so i used to have a lot of fics masterposts on my old blog and people keep asking for recs + i wont be able to upddate them or anything anymore so i decided to just move them all to this blog

under the cut: AUS / arkham knight / jaykyle / jayroy / robin!jason / gen / angst fics 

*: last added (april 4) //   for some reason the links arent working so go to jasontodd.tumblr.com/ficrecs for the links, sorry!

AUS

The Virtue of Revenge | young justice au with jason as red x making his own team with roy, starfire, raven, and others. i love it, even if it has shaky moments and stuff pls give it a chance.

crystal silence creeping down | young justice/lost days au

Flicker from View | another young justice au

Live to Rise | yes. you guessed it. young justice au.

Collide &  Convergence | au where post crisis jason goes to the young justice universe

The Changeling Sequence | series where jason meets damian before he went to gotham. The last part is a wip that i doubt will ever get updated again, so uh be careful. read only the first or second part and forget about the third.

The Drag of Fate | au where jason is lady shiva’s son as well. Part of a series, which i also highly recommend but idk if they would be au as well

heavy on the heart | another jason and cass are bio siblings. A+.

Didymous | cass and jason are twins.

repairing the world | i dont know how to explain this series.. its an au and really really good. Jason doesn’t appear in all the pieces.

just go  | jayroy, wings au

In the Shadows (of Who We Used to Be) | jayroy, black widow & hawkeye au

The Family (or how Jason Todd was adopted by the Avengers) | marvel crossover

bad boys bad boys (whatcha gonna dooo) ♫ | jason is damian’s batman. iconic fic imo.

Rise (And Try Not to Fall) | star wars au

A Bird in Morning | bruce finds jason when he’s at the hospital after crawling out of his grave

Moment Between | ghost jason & ghost martha and thomas wayne

We’re not in Crime Alley Anymore | au where jason was younger when bruce took him (and he didnt become robin)

Perhaps The World Ends Here | marvel crossover, future jaykyle

Batten Down the Hatches | a few different aus here. young justice + helena wayne

My Brother's Keeper | jason & damian knew each other from before + damian arrives to gotham just for jason

When the Moon Found the Sun | main story is clark/bruce but it’s preetty cute. soulmates au.

Between the Light and the Dark* | damian & jason uuhm i cant remember what this one was about per se bc im reading like 5487 similar fics but yeah

Two Dead Birds  | time travel stuff

Red Blood, Blue Blood | jason (and the rest of the batkids) are bruce’s biological kids, yeah i wasnt a big fan of the premise at first either but its gud

Rebirth | talia & jason, mind the warnings

you belong among the wildflowers | kate n renee adopt jason instead of bruce

We're the warriors of tomorrow |  Cass, Jason and Damian meet while with the League of Shadows

Can You Hear Me?  | ghost jason

to death's other kingdom I will not go  | bruce makes it on time au

The Ties That Bind  |  The pit restores Jason's body but not his mind, Ra's makes him one of his assassins and Talia adopts him as her own.

death’s outlet song of life* | the gordons find jason before the events of lost days

reflections on shattered mirrors.* | talia & jason stuff

Come Alive* | young justice s3 based

A Path Upon The Ground* | au from lost days, eddie and jason meet again

ARKHAM VERSE

If He Had Come & the sequel  Desiderium | au where bruce rescued jason before he could become the arkham knight.

the roads we know

this gun needs no bullets

JASON & BRUCE CENTRIC (not romantic)

Quack | this one is so crackish but so so cute i love it, robin jason

If He Had Come & sequel Desiderium  | arkham knight verse and its so good and has a lot of bruce & jason feels

Neverland /  Keep Lying To Me | deaged/ little jason from another universe.. sad and cute

Icarus and Bubble Gum | fluff, robin jason

Knock On Death’s Door | bit of both but not so so so angst, red hood jason

dead and dying things | au

In Memoriam | angst, trying to fix their relationship, red hood jason

If the Fates Allow | angst, red hood jason

The D-Word | fluff kind of.. red hood jason

This Place We Built With Grace and Guilt | angst angst angst, red hood jason

I Love You | robin jason, fluff

Wayward Birds | fluff and angst, robin jason

yesterday’s gone, yeah it went away (i’ve been lost but i’m here today) | another trying to fix their relationship fic, its cute and sad

We’re not in Crime Alley Anymore | au where jason was younger when bruce took him (and he didnt become robin)

Little Absences | sad, robin & red hood

Schrödinger's Honest Man | sad, drugs tw, absolute fave

White Christmas | bruce & robin!jason

Frozen History | de-age

Stargazer | jason n bruce patching their relationship.. its iconic

Unconventional Family Reunions | bvs setting

Prompt: Trapped | mind the warnings

Safe In My Arms 

The Failures of Reverse Engineering  | ghhm not really bruce & jason maybe?

to death's other kingdom I will not go | bruce saves jason au

points of impact  | glass case get fucked

is it my fault? (we've been missing each other)*

waiting for you. *

The Little Things*

World's Finest* | my uwus my uwus have fallen everywhere

JAYKYLE (all iconic)

In Which Kyle Confesses The Same Thing Six Times

milk and honey

Batman vs Space Bureaucracy

deadlock

attention to detail

tempest in a teapot

violet tendencies

no love, no glory (no hero in his skies)

keep the door open for me

waffles and war 

The Art of Subtlety (jason lives au)

Perhaps The World Ends Here | marvel crossover, future jaykyle

Riding in Batcars with Boys

boy, you fill my lungs with sweetness

no chance, no way, i won't say it (no, no)  

a change in the atmosphere

invitation to commitment

Overexposed 

i deserve that, don't i, some sort of blazing love that i can live with 

i won't say 

The water is always warmest at dawn

JAYROY (all iconic too)

sleepless 

Countdown

just go (wings au)

Unspoken

(for thy love is) better than wine (E)

Rooftops

Dick Wolf is a Really Funny Name

A headache isn’t always a bad thing

sad eyes, bad guys, mouth full of white lies [high school au]

kairosclerosis 

The Night They Met 

march down an empty street (like a ship into the storm) *

Archange de la mort (rallume ton flambeau) * | hic warning lol

this time, the loser wins | steph & jason centric though

So Baby Come Light Me Up *

Little Talks *

All the light is never ending, much like you and I; *

Don't let me go, for I feel I may fall * | soulmates au

Something Reckless * 

OTHERS

how to make a home. * | some eddie/jason if you squint, rose/eddie/jason team up

This Car Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us* | could be read as jayconnor :3

Robin/young!Jason

The Art of Subtlety | jason lives au, jaykyle

Little Absences | sad, robin & red hood

I Love You | robin jason, fluff

Wayward Birds | fluff and angst, robin jason

Icarus and Bubble Gum | fluff, robin jason

Quack | this one is so crackish but so so cute i love it, robin jason

we were not tragedies | jason & babs, read warnings

Heavy Home | gen, alfred & jason

Good News (No One Mourns the Wicked) | Jason & steph & damian. harold they’re dead (kinda robin!jason??)

Love Yourself (So No One Has To) | good amazing au with some selina & jason (not really.. robin but it starts as robin!jason i guess?)

Moment Between | ghost jason & ghost martha and thomas wayne

We’re not in Crime Alley Anymore | au where jason was younger when bruce took him (and he didnt become robin)

Tired &  Laundry | kinda au, read tw!

Smoke | jason & jim gordon

White Christmas | bruce & robin!jason

is it my fault? (we've been missing each other)* | mix of present and past jason

Sidekick* 

waiting for you.* | technically baby jason

The Little Things*

World's Finest* | oh this one.. my uwus

GEN

hold on to what  we are, hold on to your heart | gen, Barbara & Jason friendship. Some dinahbabs & jayroy

gotta give the boy points | gen, absolute fave

Strangers in Nothing but Name | marvel crossover, side steve/bucky

If He Had Come |  Desiderium | Arkham Verse, gen

I can’t  think up a good  name for this | young justice verse, gen apart from canon relationships

A Better Thesis | gen, p short but i loved it

The  F-Word | gen, batboys being batboys

until i’m in my grave | gen, wip 

Robins United | gen, batkids bonding, except for cass, thats my only complaint

Free of Dogma | gen, canon divergence, marvel crossover w Jason & Bucky

bad boys bad boys (whatcha gonna dooo) ♫ | au where damian is jasons robin and not dick’s, obviously damian & jason brotp. 

Heavy Home | gen, alfred & jason

In the  Shadow of Two Gunmen | gen, Marvel crossover

Flicker from View | side Barbara/Dick, young justice verse

I Love You | gen, Bruce & Jason

how to  hide a stray resurrected superhero from your parents/parental figure | au, jason & tim friendship kinda

One For The Road | Jason/Roy/Koriand’r but its SO cute

Baby,  It’s Cold Outside | gen, Dick & Jason

The  (Family) Doctor’s  Appointment | gen, batboys bonding

The Family (or how Jason Todd was adopted by the Avengers) | marvel crossover, gen

Reason | wip, gen, canon divergence

Soliloquy | gen, tim & Jason brotp,  and really cute batfam moments

Red As The Shadow Of Death | gen, young justice/under the red hood verse

Give Yourself a Chance | gen, duke & Jason & leslie brotpish

homecoming | outlaws brotp fic, could be considered shippy if you want to

And I Said What About Breakfast at Tiffany’s | jason & steph

Of Bats and the Forsaken | jason & all the batkids, side steph/cass and jay/roy if you squint

this is a long drive (for three robins who don’t agree on much) | no capes au, steph & jason & damian, background tim/tam

The Dying of the Light | marvel crossover, bucky & jason, canon divergence

Cat | selina &  jason, catlad au

Killing for Love | cass & jason, au  where jason was lady shivas son  

Keep Lying To Me | de-aged au, just heartbreaking imo, cursed fic

The Social Habits of Robin | gen, batboys. Where_is_cass.jpg tho

Steph and Jay’s Excellent Adventures | series, Steph & Jason

Neverland | jason & batkids, young!jay travels to the future. sad asad sad

on a thin chain of moments and something like faith | gen, jason & cass & steph mostly. really good

Good News (No One Mourns the Wicked) | Jason & steph & damian. harold they’re dead

In a Parallel Life | batboys focused, it has amazing dialogue, dynamics, and characterization. It’s only missing Cass and the rest of the girls.

repairing the world | series, not everything is about the batfam.

Born to Run (Born to Rise) | Jason & Talia having a mother/son relationship reblog if you agree

Live to Rise | it updated again p recently so yay! young justice verse

To Save a Dying City  | jason + other people

Let’s Have Some Fun This Beat Is Sick | mostly damian centric

Movie Night: The Mummy  | read trigger warnings, batboys

The Trading Chain  | not jason centric, but it has cass being older than jason and calling him “little brother” so noice

we sure know how to run free  | jason & cass

Yesterday’s Voices | bruce loses his memory au

Nests and Cages series | read trigger warnings

Roots | barbara centric, really good plot and characterization

Love Yourself (So No One Has To) | good amazing au with selina & jason

Retrograde Motion | de aged jason au

Provenance | mostly roy centric, bruce fucks oliver’s life for what he did to roy. iconic

Schrödinger's Honest Man | sad, drugs tw, absolute fave 

Batten Down the Hatches | a few different aus here. young justice + helena wayne

My Brother's Keeper | jason & damian knew each other from before + damian arrives to gotham just for jason

White Christmas | bruce & robin!jason

until i'm in my grave v2 | this one is already mentioned in this post BUUUT the writer started rewriting it so!

Frozen History | de-age

Stargazer | jason n bruce patching their relationship.. its iconic

show me yesterday, for i can’t find today | time travel au

Warm Enough | alfred & jay fluff

Parallels | mia & jason team up

Legacy | reverse robins, not jason centric but hes there alright.. i think.. i cant remember :D

What are the words I'm forbidden to say?* | damian & jay fluff

Cracked Foundation| jason n damian

Cat's Cradle  | more jason n damian

spaces in between  | damian & jason again

When the lights go out  | damian & jason, theres a pattern here

in my head, i do everything right | some jason & steph

is it my fault? (we've been missing each other)* | past & future jason

life, if well lived* | jason travels back in time and meets martha & thomas wayne

In Charge * | babie jason

Pyrrhic victory* | jason & damian stuff

Twists and Turns* | more jason & damian bonding

Of Brothers and Batcows* | guess what.. yes! more jason & damian

This Car Ain't Big Enough For The Both Of Us* | jason & connor.. say no more!

First Gear* | back to jason & damian please read this.. damian tries to teach jason to drive

changing, falling, fading (please watch over me)* | jason bonds with damian & steph

ANGST

Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death [read the trigger warnings!!]

in the repairing the world series there are a lot of fics dealing with jason, tho Warm Enough ugh not all are centered around him. I would say read  Escalation | Coup de Grâce |  Interlude for the rh!jason arc, and  Tired &  Laundry for robin!jason. [also read trigger warnings]

Countdown | jason/roy]

those six days [trigger warnings again!!!]

Call | angst

the tune without the words  | kind of character study from jim gordon’s pov

Unspoken | jason/roy, really angsty if you remember how red hood arsenal ended

If He Had Come & Desiderium | arkham knight verse, read trigger warnings!

Reason | on hiatus :/

hold on to what we are, hold on to your heart   | this is my favorite ever.. read trigger warnings

Heavy Home | alfred & jason

until i’m in my grave [trigger warnings!]

Keeping Broken Pieces Together

Monsters | marvel crossover

gotta give the boy points | this one please!!!! another fav. read trigger warnings

The weight of it [trigger warnings!]

Live to Rise | young justice verse

Neverland | THIS ONE IS PURE ANGST!!! please its so sad..

Keep Lying To Me | this one has some angsty scenes too im sad emoji

hangman is coming down from the gallows  | some angst

Movie Night: The Mummy  | read trigger warnings, batboys

Love Yourself (So No One Has To)

All in the Blood [read trigger warnings]

Little Absences

Stargazer | jason n bruce patching their relationship.. its iconic

Rebirth * | mind the warnings and its really. sad.

The Failures of Reverse Engineering *

Eternal Soliloquy * | sad sad

throw me a lifeline (I might even catch it) *

changing, falling, fading (please watch over me) * | jason & steph & dami angst