#they're just concerned for their son

[darthfrodophantom]

Secret Identities Take Work (and I’m Tired)

Summary: Danny misses curfew (again) and gets lectured by his parents (again) and needs to come up with lies and excuses to feed his parents (again). But his motivation to keep up the same routine night after night wanes, and Danny begins to wonder if a secret identity really is worth all the work.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/40383243

The young ghost hero shot through the sky with breakneck speed, weaving through the streets with long-practiced ease. He found the familiar alley close to his house and touched down roughly. He looked towards the town’s clocktower and he groaned. Five after ten…which meant five minutes after curfew. He immediately lost all sense of urgency as he rested against the brick wall. Five minutes versus ten minutes didn’t make much of a difference to his parents – late was late after all – which meant he no longer had a reason to rush through the door on the off-chance he would make it home in time.

Well, since he had the time now, he decided to give himself a once over to ensure he looked presentable for the lecture that was no doubt about to come. The cut on his torso was thankfully starting to clot, but the deep gash on his arm still bled freely. He double-checked that the coast was clear before he transformed back into the form of a normal, inconspicuous teenager. Well, not so inconspicuous now, as the blood from both injuries seeped into his white shirt. So much for hoping the loose-fitting tee would hide the incriminating evidence.

He sighed as he wracked his brain for a solution when suddenly one struck him like lightning. He snapped his fingers before he turned invisible and raced into his house. He phased through the door and ran up to his bedroom, and on his way up he definitely noticed his parents on the couch staring fixedly at the door. Oh yeah, he was in for a lecture when he walked in that door…

He dashed into his bedroom and quickly and quietly wrapped his arm up in a makeshift bandage before throwing on a dark zip-up hoodie from a concert he and Sam went to last year. It wasn’t perfect, and more observant parents would question him wearing a hoodie on a warm spring night, but it would last long enough to withstand the lecture.

Well, time to face the music and just get this over with. With a labored sigh he flew back down to the alley and slowly walked to the front door. Man, he was so sick of this whole song-and-dance: fight ghosts all night, land in the alley, make sure he was presentable, give half-baked excuses to his parents about missing curfew, listen to the ensuing lecture, go to bed, and then repeat it all over again the next night. It was exhausting and occupied more of his time than he could spare.

He turned the doorknob and walked inside. He had enough sense to wear a sheepish look on his face as he regarded his parents who stood from their previous positions on the couch.

“Daniel Fenton, do you know what time it is?” his mother asked harshly.

“…Not before ten?” he answered with a wince.

“No. It’s not,” Maddie said shortly. “Do you have any answer for why you were so late?”

Danny could hear the same weariness in her voice that he himself felt, and while some nights he felt like bantering and going toe-to-toe with them…tonight he just wanted it over with. “None that you’ll like, so why don’t you just lecture me, punish me, and let me go to bed?” Danny suggested tiredly, hoping it would just end the argument right there. Unfortunately it seemed to just incite his mother further.

“So you’re not even going to try anymore?” she asked dangerously as she placed her hands on her hips. He could see his father shaking his head beside her. “Danny what’s going on with you? Why can’t you just tell us the truth? It’s a lie every other night and now you’re not even going to try to explain?”

Danny sighed heavily. “Well how about this, I’ll try another lie again tomorrow, but I’m just really tired today and I just want to go to bed,” he pleaded.

“No, Danny, that’s not what we’re asking for you you know it. If you’re really that tired of feeding us lies and excuses then just tell us the truth and we wouldn’t have to do this anymore!” she practically begged. “You think you’re the only one that’s tired? We’re tired of this too! We don’t like having to do this either. We’d much rather spend our nights asking you about your life or girlfriends or things that normal parents are supposed to be talking about, but instead we have to go through this every night!”

“Actually I’m pretty sure it’s a rite of passage for teenagers to break curfew, so this kinda is what normal parents are supposed to do,” Danny tried to leverage, but it only made his mother’s jaw clench even harder. Well that wasn’t the desired effect. He closed his eyes to rally his strength for a moment before looking at his parents with weary eyes. “Look, if I could tell you, don’t you think I would? I know that would make all this stop, but I just can’t.”

Maddie threw her hands up in the air paced around the room, breathing deep to try to calm herself down as Jack leveled a surprisingly serious gaze at his son. “Why not Danny? If you’re getting into trouble or there’s gangs or drugs or a girlfriend or boyfriend or anything like that we can help you,” he tried to emphasize. “We won’t even get that mad at you; we just want to know so we can stop worrying!”

“Can’t you just take my word for it that I’m not in trouble? I’ve told you time and time again that I’m not doing drugs and I’m not in a gang or doing anything dangerous, so you don’t need to worry!” Granted he was doing something dangerous, but it wasn’t the kind of dangerous stuff they no doubt had in mind. “I mean look at me, I’m healthy, so I can’t be getting into anything bad, right?”

Maddie stopped pacing to glare at her son. “Yes Danny, let’s look at you,” his mother mentioned slowly, and Danny winced as he realized he’d walked into a trap. “Your grades are slipping, you’re never home, and you shirk all your chores. You can’t seem to tell the truth about anything anymore and seem capable of lying to us without feeling guilty, which means you obviously don’t have any respect for us.”

Danny tried to interrupt after that, but his mother continued to plow through his growing list of faults. “You don’t seem to care about anything anymore other than whatever you rush off to do at night. You’re twitchy and jumpy and always seem to be on alert. And what’s worse is on top of all that you don’t even talk to us anymore! We come in the room and you rush right out! These lectures are the most time we get to spend talking to you all day, and they mainly consist of us yelling at you!

“So yes, let’s take a look at you Danny,” she challenged. “Let’s take a good long look and then tell me again that there’s nothing wrong, because you are not the same Danny you were before the accident.”

Danny remained silent, not really knowing how to refute her, or even if he should, because she was absolutely right about all of it. He wasn’t the same as he was before the accident, and he never would be either, not that his parents would understand the reasons why. Was there any point in giving them false hope that he could go back to that innocent and naive Danny that they hoped to see when they looked at him? He wasn’t even sure he could pretend to be that Danny anymore, after everything he’d seen and done.

“Well?” Maddie pushed, her voice sharp and impatient, like a predator about ready to pounce on its prey. “Do you have anything to say?”

Instead of being intimidated like he used to be when he was a child, he summed up all the defiance he could muster tonight to look his mom squarely in the eyes. “You’re right; I’m not the same Danny I was before the accident. It made me realize things about my life, and no, I’m not going to share what those are. Now, can I go to bed?”

Maddie looked taken aback by Danny’s brazen attitude. Sure his responses differed from night to night, but tonight there was just something different in his attitude. He’d been stubbornly defiant before, but tonight…it was almost like his defiance stemmed from some sort of apathetic break inside himself. He didn’t care to argue anymore…and so he wasn’t going to argue, and that was final.

Maddie spent so much time puzzling her son’s attitude that Danny just took her silence as permission and thudded up the stairs, leaving his still silent parents behind. As soon as he made it upstairs, he slammed the door and leaned against the back of it, breathing out a sigh he didn’t know he had been holding. He didn’t know where that came from…but he knew he’d be paying for it later. He was absolutely grounded and would probably get his game stations taken away, probably until he talked to them, but that was standard punishment anymore and he was used to it. But most importantly, it was over with for now, and that’s what mattered.

He threw himself on the bed in exhaustion. He felt terrible after what happened downstairs. He knew the lectures and the arguments came from a place of caring and love. They were concerned about him and were trying to help him, but they just couldn’t. After all, they would never understand…and there was no way he could make them.

He saw their relationship slipping, just like his mom saw it. He’d seen her flipping through albums of his childhood or caressing pictures of his youth, wondering and lamenting why their relationship wasn’t the same as it had been when those pictures were taken. They didn’t go on day trips anymore – how was he supposed to explain leaving for a ghost attack and coming back injured? They didn’t talk anymore – he couldn’t tell her half of what was going on in his life to begin with, and everything that came out of his mouth was a lie. They weren’t physically affectionate anymore – what if she pressed on an injury and he couldn’t explain why he had it?

Their interactions were limited to lies and excuses on his end, and discipline and rants on theirs.

It would be so much easier if only they knew—

He sat up in his bed. His lips parted and his tense eyebrows relaxed in sudden realization. If only they knew. Gone would be the lies, gone would be excuses, and gone would be this constant fear of exposure. Gone would be this act and gone would be this need to hide his double life.

He realized suddenly he was walking down the stairs. That was weird – he didn’t even remember standing up, let alone leaving his room. And yet his feet continued to carry him forward, as if they had come to some kind of conclusion while his tired brain tried desperately to catch up.

But if his parents knew, then gone would be all of his problems and the added stress they caused. But weren’t there reasons why he put all those stresses on himself in the first place? Weren’t there reasons why he kept up the lies for so long and stuck to his guns so strongly and never told them? Ah right, the fear. The fear that revealing himself as a half-ghost and as Phantom would fracture the household. The fear of being experimented on by his own parents in the name of science.

But deep down, he knew they wouldn’t knowingly experiment on him. Somehow he always knew that. They loved him, and they would be able to see past Phantom and see Danny instead. He stood a much better chance of being experimented on by keeping his secret and being caught by his parents than by letting them know. The more realistic fear was that being a ghost would fracture his relationship with his parents and make things awkward between them...except that was already the path they were heading down anyways. He could already feel them growing further and further apart and everyone in the house could feel it. Either path could potentially fracture their relationship. Granted telling them would be a quicker path to that inevitable end but…he just found that he was too tired to care anymore.

He was in the kitchen. When did he even reach the bottom of the stairs? Where were his feet taking him?

He was tired. He was tired of all of it. Whatever reasons he had to keep this secret, and he knew they were good because he wouldn’t have done it otherwise…right now they just didn’t seem to matter anymore. A wash of apathy came over him, brought on by the overwhelming desire to just end this charade, for better or for worse. He just wanted to make tonight the last night of their song and dance routine. Maybe he’d care afterwards, and he could panic to his friends and sister and worry about cleaning up this mess, but right now…he just couldn’t bring himself to care.

He was too exhausted and too wearied by this false double-life, and he didn’t want to deal with it anymore.

He was in the basement and his feet finally stopped walking. His parents were right in front of him, fussing over some invention. He didn’t even remember consciously making the decision to come down here.

“Mom, Dad,” he announced solemnly, and his parents startled because they hadn’t heard him approach. “You wanted the truth?” Was he really doing this? He didn’t remember coming to an actual consensus on whether he was telling them or not, but apparently his body or his heart or whatever was controlling his actions had come to some kind of decision and led him down here.

They turned to look at him, the basement silent as if it knew what was happening. Even the constant hum of the Ghost Portal seemed to deaden. He waited for their eye contact, to make sure they were actually looking. Before he could talk himself out of it, he triggered his transformation, and the deafening whoosh of the rings of light echoed through the basement, followed by his determined exhale and his parents’ shocked gasps.

“We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

[aphverse-confessions]

The fandom loves to take Levin and Malachi from Aph and give them to other characters (usually Garroth and Laurance) in their rewrites, and it makes me uncomfortable.

It reminds me of early Owl House discourse where people were convinced Camila was an abusive mom and wanted Eda to adopt Luz. That was tied up in a lot of white favoritism, and I feel similar vibes with Aph. Can we just let one of the only canon poc characters keep her children please?

Like I get it, it’s clear from the original series that the kids are close with Garroth and Laurance, but that doesn’t mean they need to actually literally adopt them, because reminder they already have two moms! That’s regardless of if you ship Zoeymau or not, because it’s clear in the original series that they see both Aph and Zoey as parental figures. Focusing on their lack of father figures honesty feels sexist to me. Aph and Zoey are doing fine raising Levin and Malachi during season 1, they don’t need any help.

[dailycupofcreativitea]

Felt like doodling and listening to music, and it ended up like this (unintentionally) ��� I don’t feel like cleaning it up, so enjoy it as is~

[glitterdragonthegreatprotector]

I keep playing with my lucifer in Diablo in my brain, and I made this low quality meme about how I think it go

@jackpot-library thought you'd appreciate the meme of the boi

[bigskydreaming]

That last reblog has me now contemplating.

What if to mess with his shiny new little brother, but like....gently....when they first started hanging out Dick told Jason a couple of slight falsehoods as umm. A training exercise. That’s it. It was about helping Jason get up to speed with his information gathering skills and also his bullshit detection. So in the interest of being helpful and A Good Big Brother, Obviously....Dick sowed a few.....less-than-entirely-factual details about the more fantastical elements of their lives. The stuff that isn’t common or public knowledge to most of the DC Earth. And then he just.....waited to see how long it took Jason to realize Dick had fed him a handful of straight up lies when briefing him about All Things Superhero.

Look, it was for Science. That’s Dick’s story and he’s sticking to it.

Thus, for the first couple months of their new sibling relationship, Dick had Jason convinced that Atlanteans were actually aliens who landed here thousands of years ago, speedsters can run so fast they can travel back in time, and Superman once accidentally let out a burp so forceful it created a shockwave that shattered every glass in a quarter mile radius so whenever he starts to look....gassy....your best course of action is to hit the deck. Don’t even hesitate for a second, just dive to the ground and grab some floor until he’s got it back under control. And oh yeah, Diana has her Lasso of Truth, but Donna’s version of truth-related powers is that she can sense when people are up to no good....only, the way this manifests for her is she suddenly registers a distinct bad smell in her vicinity, alerting her that bullshit is afoot.

“You’re kidding,” Jason said flatly. “You expect me to believe that Donna can literally smell bullshit?”

Dick just raised an eyebrow. “Like that’s somehow less plausible than Gar being able to change into any kind of animal but only in shades of green? And oh yeah, speaking of green, Green Lanterns can do just about anything with their rings....except protect themselves from yellow paint? I don’t make the rules, Jace. The truth is sometimes superpowers aren’t super-glamorous and not everything related to magic or gods or other planets is as....sophisticated...as we presume. I mean, its not like these things exist just to match up to our expectations for them. Why should alien civilizations or the rules of magic be influenced by whether or not our society would find something weird or ridiculous?”

Jason chewed his lower lip contemplatively. He lacked an official bullshit detecting power himself, but he did have good instincts. Unfortunately for him, his shiny new big brother gave good Lying-to-your-face Face.

“Plus, if you really think about it, it does make a kind of sense,” Dick continued to explain helpfully. But only according to certain specific interpretations of ‘helpfully’ that actually mean ‘like a liar.’ “Our brains are constantly translating all kinds of input and stimuli into shapes or patterns we can actually process in a way that means something to us. So we can make use of that information. This is just the same thing. Donna’s power takes however many variables are involved in registering something as false or something she needs to be wary of...and just condenses it into a simple ‘red alert’ indicator that takes all that abstract, ephemeral data and makes it something actionable. Something she can actually do something with. Her power - or how her brain perceives it - just didn’t actually consult her or give her a choice of notification settings, because why would it?”

“I guess that makes sense,” Jason begrudgingly agreed, with a frown that suggested this particular ‘truth’ Offended his sensibilities.

“I mean, you can ask Donna to explain it herself if you want,” Dick said with a shrug. “Just a heads-up though....she’s not really a fan of how that power works either. Its not exactly a superpower anyone wants to be known for, and she’s heard allllll the jokes about it by now. Roy, Wally and I were perhaps....not the most sensitive when we were younger and she was honing that particular skillset? Though in our defense, I maintain that most of our jokes were hilarious. But anyway, just saying. If you wanna bring it up with her directly, go right ahead! Its definitely one of her favorite topics and Amazons are for sure known for how well they handle being self-conscious.”

And that’s the story of the three months Jason spent convinced that Atlanteans were from another planet, confusing the hell out of Garth with his occasional references to ‘your homeworld’ and his numerous questions about all the Atlantean Green Lanterns that he for some reason seemed convinced the Green Lantern Corps must obviously have a long history of.

And its also why Jason spent those same three months getting wide-eyed and nervous any time he noticed Donna’s nose so much as twitch when he was around. Which it did a lot more often than usual, thanks to how often Dick got horseradish to go with whatever he was having for lunch, knowing full well that Donna can not stand the smell of horseradish. (Dick’s actually not a fan either, and he hates how it tastes, but he’s not afraid to Suffer for the sake of Shenanigans. Its a fundamental part of the Robin experience and persona, after all.)

But it was the Donna thing that gave Dick away, ultimately. No matter how hard he tried to keep a lid on how entertaining he now found the sight of Donna’s occasional nose twitch...even a Batkid poker face can’t keep an empath and telepath from finding this a mystery worth untangling after the tenth time it happens.

(Not that Lilith or Raven are gonna apologize for prying any time soon. They had an obligation as his friends and teammates to investigate when he’s acting bizarre, y’see. What if its because he was brainwashed again? “We’re intrusive because we love,” Lilith insists with zero shame. Raven clarifies: “I was intrusive because she was already doing it so there seemed no point not to.” Lilith points out that this could also be construed as a sign of strong leadership potential. Dick glowers. Lilith waves a hand dismissively. “We can circle back to that later. That’s fine.”)

Anyway, the truth came out at last, Jason cites this as the Moral Justification for every single time and way he was a pain in the ass to Dick in the years to come, and Donna - who was Not Amused - gave a pointed sniff and called bullshit when Dick tried to claim this was an important Bonding Opportunity for he and Jason, wherein they became brothers ‘for real’ instead of just via Bruce. “There are intricate sibling rituals to be observed,” Dick insisted. “I did my research! We had so much time to make up for, I had to speedrun through my shenanigans to get us all caught up! Would I have done all this if I didn’t care?”

Every Titan in the room, familiar with the lengths he’d gone to when messing with Rogues and randos as Robin and thus distinctly unimpressed: Yes. Absolutely. One hundred percent.

Dick foraged on heroically. “Regardless! That’s not the case here, as all of this was clearly done in the name of brotherhood and bonding! We’ll laugh about this someday, you’ll see!”

Ten years later, after Jason’s returned as the Red Hood and reintegrated with the Batfamily to varying degrees, enough so that he accompanies Dick and the rest of the OG Titans on a mission where they’re ambushed, captured and trapped in a supervillain dungeon they’re now trying to escape...

Dick: Definitely kicking myself for not seeing that ambush coming. Where’s a bullshit-sniffing power when you really need it, huh?

Jason: Still not laughing yet.

Dick: Oh come on!

As far as the rest goes, Jason does get a kick out of the speedsters discovering that actually, they can run fast enough to travel through time. He’s like, despite your best efforts you accidentally got one right. And Dick’s all ‘was it an accident or did I actually know or have strong suspicions all along’....but Jason shuts that down. “Nope. Not giving you this one. Try it with someone else.”

However, that still left one last card in play, long after everyone - even Dick and Jason themselves - had all but forgotten about it.

See, every Batkid knows that the best lies contain elements of truth. And that’s why Dick only peppered in his fake trivia very, very sparingly amidst a massive info-dump of actually accurate and useful info he gave Jason about all that stuff, way back when.

So despite the handful of things Dick had told him that Jason eventually discovered to be untrue...the vast majority of it did check out.

Which means even once he did catch on to Dick’s game....that didn’t change his acceptance of the stuff that had turned out to be true or verified by others. But in the end, there was only one little fib that slipped under the radar. Because the scenario it was based on just never happened to come up until long after Jason had returned....and thus Jason never had reason to put much thought into actually questioning whether or not it was true. Not until long after he’d stopped scrutinizing stuff Dick had told him, in search of possible ‘traps.’

And THAT is the story of how Jason - on one of the rare occasions that he joined the Titans and Justice League for an all-hands-on-deck kinda teamup - just happened to be in the right wrong place at the right wrong time to notice Superman suddenly start to look queasy after trying some alien cuisine....

And without a second thought, Jason just instinctively dove for the floor. With this followed by Clark letting out an extremely normal-sounding burp and a sheepish apology.

Everyone else, staring at the infamous Red Hood ducking for cover because Clark had a moment of indigestion: umm. wut

Dick, staring wide-eyed at his brother and trying not to laugh: Oh shit. I totally forgot all about that.

Jason, almost conversationally, while climbing to his feet and stalking ominously towards his big bro: Hey can you believe that after all the shit we’ve been through and all the times we’ve fought over like...actual life and death stuff, THIS is the thing I’m actually gonna kill you for?

Dick, backing away, hands raised placatingly: Hey, c’mon now, Jace, we called a truce about all this ages ago, remember? It was a much younger, dumber me who did all that in the first place, y’know? You’re better than this!

Jason: I’m really not.

Dick: Well then can I just take this opportunity to mention again how sorry I am for any creative embellishments I might have once come up with, in the mistaken belief that I was honoring important traditions of brotherhood, and....

Jason: Hey, where’s Donna? Can anyone see if her nose is twitching?

Donna and the rest of the Titans, blatantly amused and offering no explanation to the very confused Justice League: Oh, bullshit absolutely detected. In the interests of Truth and Justice, you should totally proceed.

Dick, jabbing his finger at his teammates before dashing for the door: Betrayal! J’accuse!

Donna, shrugging: Sorry, Rob. Justice demands impartiality. Our hands are tied.

Jason, running out the door and down the hallway in pursuit of his fleeing brother: Yeah you better run! I’ve waited ten fucking years to get back at you for this shit. Where you going anyway, bro? I thought you wanted to laugh about this someday!

Dick (offscreen): I regret nothing! It was all worth it! You should have seen your face!

Jason (offscreen): You couldn’t even see my face, idiot! I’m wearing my fucking helmet!

Dick (offscreen): Semantics! If something’s funny enough, you can sense what someone’s face probably looks like! If you know, you know!

Jason (offscreen): Oh yeah, go ahead and make up some more shit, Grayson, that’s definitely the right way to go here!

Batman, looking to the Titans and waving his hand at...whatever all that is offscreen: Explain.

Roy: Hey don’t look at us. You’re the one who made them brothers. This is on you.

Batman: What does that even mean.

Lilith: If you know, you know. Dick’s right about that much at least.

The Titans all nod like an actual, self-evident truth was just expressed. Bruce pinches the bridge of his nose, and starts muttering under his breath.

“You need to encourage Dick to seek out and make like-minded friends, Alfred said. It’ll be good for him, he said. Its what he needs and definitely not the point everything starts to go downhill.”

Lilith picks it up loud and clear, because of course she does, and incidentally, the smug, obnoxious know-it-all teenage psychic who started hanging out with Dick when they were teenagers has absolutely nothing to do with Bruce’s profound dislike of telepaths, nooooo, that would be ridiculous and irrational, to bear a grudge against everyone with a particular skillset because one of your son’s childhood friends was a royal pain in the -

Lilith: Oh, that’s adorable. He thinks we’re the reason Dick’s so profoundly weird and inexplicable.

The Titans, in unison: LOL.

Roy: The self-deluding, it is strong in that family.

Bruce is suddenly extra glad he’s wearing a cowl that hides what is definitely not a pout but might be mistaken for one by the uninformed thus its better to just dodge that issue entirely. He crosses his arms and stares down the collection of his eldest son’s friends, whom he has been unfairly plagued by since most of them were pre-pubescent little demons. Literally no one has suffered like he has.

“I don’t like you,” he informs them officiously. Not sulkily. Officiously.

Several of them snort. There’s a couple giggles. An eye roll from Roy. An aborted response hastily turns into Wally coughing into his hand. Blatant dismissal from Victor, his attention clearly on whatever he’s browsing online. Three varying shades of raised eyebrows: unflappable bemusement from the sorceress, patronizing amusement from the psychic, naked incredulity from Donna. Garth gazing off into an empty corner which he has on very good authority is basically the Atlantean version of the middle finger.

“Yeah, no shit,” Roy drawls, apparently on behalf of the whole group.

Ugh, they’re just. The worst. Why couldn’t Clark have had a kid Dick’s age so he never had to go looking elsewhere for socialization? That’s it. Clearly this was all Clark’s fault. He can’t believe he never realized that before.

Dammit Clark.

[soft-serve-soymilk]

Also speaking of my son Dism scrolling through windows help forums is so fun because yay :) that's my son :)

[magnusmodig]

spirit: stallion of the cimarron / @milehighmechanic / no longer accepting !

╰┈➤ “I wasn’t sure what happened back there, but I wasn’t about to stop and ask.“

𝐓𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐒𝐎 𝐀𝐍𝐃 a tilt of head. eyes flit from head to toe of his ally , and then askance towards the vision who floated warily , curiously , around the tower's penthouse. truly a curious being , he was. miraculous , and so very , very different. odd. though then , everything about the artificial intelligence's existence could be described as 'odd'.

thor hummed a low note beneath his breath. ❝  i am not so certain i would have give you the time to string any more words at any rate, ❞ he admitted. he shifted his weight from foot to foot. it was no secret that thor had grown rather CROSS with stark as of late. there was no fate worse than vexing the storm god's tumultuous temper , and leave it to whom thor would wager was earth's greatest enigma to manage it after so many earth years. sidling gaze to meet tony stark's , thor studied him in silence for a good , long moment.

stark was clever and driven. brash and bold. in so many ways , thor found him ADMIRABLE. but he could not bring himself to agree with stark's rationale - his SUIT OF ARMOR AROUND THE WORLD. perhaps he never would. after all , he was as "human" as the vision who ghosted the bar stools , watching flickering city lights and airplane trails from beyond the glass panels.

. . . and still thor could not bring himself to hold fast to such grudges either. the ropes thor held taut to raise the barrier between them HIGH burned red welts into the skin. stark meant well. that , at least , thor could ( begrudgingly ) admit. and what were humans not but emotional creatures ? ( and what was thor , if not still mortal in heart yet ? )

still , thor was careful . prodding . testing .

❝  . . . but the notion of it , i should admit , is admirable. ❞

[kaylor]

this whole greenwood situation is fucking ridiculous like everyone involved is doing everything they can to avoid explicitly admitting he did it while making statements that implicitly make it very clear that he actually did do it like can we all just be for fucking real right now

[nerdpoe]

The first time Danny sees Dick Grayson he calls him Tata.

Danny, in his Ghost Zone travels, befriended the Flying Graysons. John and Mary like him so much, that it started as a joke, sort of.

"Ahhhhh, the son we never had! Welcome!"

"My little Robin's long lost little brother, come, come!"

And it morphed into him jokingly calling them Tata and Daj. Then it wasn't really a joke anymore.

Then the Observants inform him that as far as Ghost Law is concerned, they're his Ghost Guardians.

This means that Danny has two sets of parents; Jack and Maddie on the human side of things, and John and Mary on the ghost side of thing.

So when he sees Dick Grayson, who looks a lot like John, it just slips out.

This leads to a very awkward stare off in the middle of a coffee shop.

Danny has no idea how to explain himself.

[spicebiter]

Questionable movie plots really have you googling infant mortality rates from accidental drowning

[kiirschtein-archive]

⋆ 「 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐠𝐮𝐦𝐢’𝐬 (𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞) 𝐦𝐨𝐦. 」 ⋆

feat. — toji fushiguro x f!reader, kid!megumi

word count. — 1.4k

content. — sfw, non-sorcerer au, established relationship (marriage), mostly just fluffy domestic stuff, reader is addressed as ‘mom/mama/mommy,’ toji’s kind of a bad parent but he’s working on it, brief mention of toji smoking (cigarettes), overprotective!toji, very minor suggestive themes (from toji 🙄 he’s a walking cw/tw)

notes. — idk. this has been incessantly on my brain pretty much from the moment i  woke up today, even to the point where i was writing half of this at  the laundromat lmao. mother’s day yesterday had me feeling some type of way, so here have some fun headcanons from a strange eldest daughter!!!! (i might end up doing a set of these for gojo x reader too 🤔)

⋆ 「 — he’s not your biological son, but you’ve been around since you started seeing toji when megumi was still a baby. but now, a few years later, you might as well be his real mother. you certainly act like it and feel like it, so toji gladly initiates the conversation about official adoption. it just makes sense. you eventually explain the situation to megumi as best as you can simply so that he doesn't grow up thinking he was lied to or anything of the sort, but as far as he's concerned, you're his mom whether it's by blood or not.

⋆ 「 — and oh, megumi’s a mama’s boy. i imagine he’s just a little bit of a healthier kid vs. canon given the better family situation, but he’s still always a bit of a grumpy baby, appreciating his autonomy and trying to be as self-sufficient and mature as he can be. but he’ll most certainly run to you when he needs help, is truly hurt, or just needing a bit of comfort. you’ve always treated him so softly and kindly with understanding, so he honestly feels more comfortable coming to you most of the time instead of his dad.

⋆ 「 — he likes the way you organize the bookshelf in his room or fold and sort his clothes in special little ways. he gets upset any time toji tries to put a book back in the wrong place or can’t figure out where his damn socks are. gumi will scowl and say, “that’s not where it goes.” or go deadpan and be like, “mom always keeps the socks in the bottom drawer.” disappointed that his father can’t even remember. toji just grumbles and says, “your mama’s gonna ruin you.”

⋆ 「 — has called you 'mom' basically since he was old enough, but don't let him fool you. megumi will drop the big boy act and come out with 'mama' or 'mommy' when something's wrong or he's really excited. he'll come to you with quiet tears and sniffles, a little ashamed that he's crying, but present to you a scraped elbow, "mama... it hurts." you clean up the scrape and explain to him the little medical details in a somewhat understandable way to help him focus on something besides the pain, and you tell him that it'll be okay, and that it's alright to cry. or on the flip-side, you and toji take him to the zoo, little gumi on his dad's shoulders, and he gasps and points excitedly, "look, mommy! look at the big elephant!" and it feels incredible to see him be so spirited.

⋆ 「 — along the lines of the art from this post and the thought i had about it earlier, just imagine that you're at some event (maybe like a birthday party or something), and toji's been hauling megumi around. they're both so over it at this point and are like 'please get me out of this' so as soon as toji walks past the obnoxious inflatable bouncy house, he smirks and just YEETS that kid inside without a second thought. after regaining his breath, megumi just looks at his father with the most EVIL little scowl as other kids bounce around him with smiles. by the look on that child's face you could've swore that his father had just done him the ultimate betrayal.

so gumi slides out and hurriedly makes his way over to where you're sitting off to the side, quietly climbing into your lap for a little bit of solace. he wiggles in close to your chest and you tuck him under your chin with a ‘come here, sweetpea,’ rocking slowly and humming something soft because he always seems to like it when you do.

toji comes over and you look at him through narrowed eyes. "kids are supposed to like shit like that," he says.

"you know he likes when things are more quiet," you respond, and toji rolls his eyes at how you seemingly spoil your son.

"just thought it might be good for him to try and get along with the other brats." toji tries to cover up the fact that he tossed his kid for the sheer personal enjoyment of it.

you huff in disbelief. "oh, like you get along so well with everyone?"

he scoffs and moves in behind you, leaning down to place a kiss on your neck. "i get along with you," he says almost suggestively.

you just keep stroking megumi's hair and give the top of his head a gentle kiss. "yeah, well not today," you say, shooting a smug, resolute smile towards your husband, ultimately taking his son's side.

⋆ 「 — outside of his alone time, megumi would honestly much rather be with you instead of other children. toji thinks it's probably unhealthy and you're inclined to agree, but you also don't want to force megumi into situations that will just make him miserable. so, when appropriate, you don't mind at all pacing around with him in your arms or have him walk next to you (maybe holding your hand if he’s not in a ‘big boy’ mood), teaching him about the things you see in the woods, the park, or even the museum. when toji's not away working, he'll join too because it admittedly makes his heart feel soft to watch you two together. it always has, because you've been doing this with megumi since he was a baby. it never gets old. if it wasn't already so difficult trying to figure out how to do things right by his son, he'd want you to give him even more babies.

⋆ 「 — megumi likes doing things with his dad sometimes too, though. toji tries his best to do it right and watch both his mouth and his temper. you like seeing them getting along, even if it's just quietly watching tv or a movie (probably a cartoon where toji gets kind of into and will ask the occasional question like "why does that one stupid chick keep doing that?" and megumi just shrugs like, "i dunno. she is pretty dumb.") or playing ball outside because gumi's starting to show some athleticism. but you have to remind toji that he can't always be so rough or competitive with games because megumi is literally a child.

⋆ 「 — toji can also be way too overprotective of you two at times. you'll be out and about and he'll just be wearing such an intimidating expression as he walks behind you both, on the lookout for anyone who might want to cause trouble or take the wrong sort of glance at his wife. he'll even snap at people for walking too close or like cutting in line or something petty, and you have to tell him stop acting like an attack dog and looking like the grim reaper because dear god you're literally just having lunch at the park. even at his age, megumi's just eating his ice cream and looking at his dad with his little baby deadpan expression and thinking "this man really needs to take a chill pill." other times he can be more relaxed, however, obviously confident in his ability to protect you. it depends on his mood. but that still doesn’t stop him from being embarrassing and going off on people in public if something happens.

⋆ 「 — you also know all of gumi’s favorite meals and snacks. it’s yet another one of those things where, if his dad does it wrong, megumi expresses a disappointment beyond his years. toji will be making and packing his son’s school lunch just as instructed by the notes you gave him, but it’s by no means as neat and meticulous as when you do it. toji’s got a cigarette hanging out of his mouth with furrowed, concentrating brows, his free hand shakily reaching for a cup of fresh coffee, and megumi’s standing there with his little backpack, criticizing his father the entire time. “mom doesn’t do it like that,” he says.

“well mom ain’t here right now. and it doesn’t matter how the sandwich is cut, is still tastes the damn same.”

gumi doesn’t even physically react, still wearing the same neutral expression, just waiting for his dad to hurry up. “mom says you shouldn’t smoke. and she also says not to use bad words.”

toji scoffs and then smirks. “well mommy uses all sorts of bad words you don’t even know about when her and daddy have play time.”

megumi’s already almost late for school and can barely feel his feet from how tight his dad tied his shoelaces. he also asks you later about “play time,” and you want to absolutely murder your husband over it.

[willowser]

katsuki is sitting on the couch in the living room, holding his new little baby in his arms, and you notice that he's just been staring at him for the longest time. adjusts his little hat so his head doesn't get cold, pulls his small hands away from his face so he doesn't scratch himself.

and they're both quiet for a while, aside from the occasional squirmy baby noise, but katsuki eventually speaks up to ask—

"why's he lookin' at me like that?"

not only is the question itself funny, but the way it's voiced — tone deep and gruff, almost affronted — pulls a true laugh from you, has you shaking your head as you come around the couch to stand beside him.

and sure enough — your new little bean is frowning. even his little hairless browline is furrowed, hard.

you laugh again, sharp enough that your son wiggles in katsuki's arms. "because you're looking at him like that."

katsuki tch's, before turning to give you his son's exact same expression. "no 'm not. this is just my face."

"well, maybe that's just his face."

his frown deepens, hilariously enough. "ain't his face with you." and then he looks back down at him, like he's checking to see if he's still being glared at. he is. "looks like he's pissed."

"maybe he is."

you don't bother to correct him, to inform that your son does, in fact, give you a stink face every now and again — just like his father — and instead you watch katsuki lean down close to him, until their noses are nearly touching. watch the way little fingers squeeze around katsuki's thumb.

"the hell do you have to be pissed about, huh?" katsuki asks, voice quiet and low and small, enough for the boy in his arms. "far as i'm concerned, you're livin' the life."

you only laugh, smile while running a hand through katsuki's hair.

you'd say you are, too.

[glow-in-the-dark-death]

Family Wrath

( Implied SA, not actually SA, POV outsider misunderstandings )

Okay I want all the misunderstandings!

Misunderstandings galore my beloved!

Anyway!

For this intrusive thought that decided to hit me as I was minding my own business-

Danny is the baby that Stephanie gave into adoption when she was young.

Obvi trans Danny,

So after Stephanie realizes just who Danny is she investigates (You can't escape the Bat paranoia training)

But here are the misunderstandings: Ellie and Dante (de-aged)

" Oh my God guys I'm a grandmother! "

But wait there's more!

Danny is how old?! With kids, that are very much not newborns?

" So who's the dad? "

" Oh some fruit-loop named Vlad, he was obsessed with my mom when they went to college together but she wasn't interested at all & now he's obsessed with me. He really wanted the 'perfect' son but I told him to fuck off not that he cared about what I wanted. So yeah, sorry for rambling-are you okay you look a little pale, is the heat bothering you? "

Danny forgets that peoples first thoughts aren't " Oh yea clone! " Or timeline shenanigans

So what these concerned people heard was " Yea this adult man wanted my mom and when he saw that that wasn't an option he targeted me as a child "

Dante & Ellie are just enjoying the show intentionally creating more misunderstandings and havoc, they hope someone will finally go beat Vlad since they're now too small to beat him.

~

Dante: " Momma practically died when I was born. "

Ellie: "Yea I almost killed him too! "

They're technically not lying just using what actually happened in a different context

~

Alfred after hearing what's going on grabbing his shotgun: " I still have good aim."

~

Jason/Stephanie: " A little murder is fine, as a treat "

~

Just more and more misunderstandings happening around Danny with him being none the wiser.

~

Feel free to add to my nonsense, I love it, it's fun to read what people come up with

~

Just an (Intrusive) Idea

[meara-eldestofthemall]

Gee, thanks DC! You Just Turned Bruce Into An Irredeemable Ass.

So, at the end of Gotham War Bruce has officially lost everything. Alfred is still dead, Selina is "presumed dead" and Bruce is both financially and morally broke. Why, you may ask, is Bruce so much worse off this time? Let me count the ways.

He preformed a psychic lobotomy on Jason

The "it's for your own good" excuse only makes the mental rape undertaken by Jason's own father that much more heinous.

Just when you think Bruce can't sink any lower he does. When Dick recognizes that Bruce has lost it, he attempts to use a failsafe disconnect that Bruce himself built into the system. How does Nightwing get thanked for that? Well that brings us to number two on the list.

Batman attacks up his eldest son for doing what he's supposed to do when Batman has gone rouge.

Bruce beats him up because nothing proves you are in control of your sanity like hitting your children. While Dick is holding back, Bruce does no such thing. He hits Nightwing hard enough to send him flying. It could have gotten even worse if Tim hadn't shown up.

Tim arrives and attempts to talk some sense into Batman.

Tim tries to talk Bruce down. It doesn't go well. When Robin is trying to help, as he always does, Batman uses the attempt to reason with him to put the smack down on his son. Bruce could have killed Tim but apparently feels no remorse or guilt.

If there was any teeny tiny little doubt that Bruce will not win the Father of The Year award in 2023 it died a horrible screaming death when Batman abandons his children to potential arrest. Yes, he left a batarang for Dick and Tim but any glimer of possible hope associated with that action was instantly extinguished by Damian's reaction to Batman's callous betrayal.

Bruce abandons Damian.

Look at Dami; he's devastated. Since he came into Bruce's life, Damian has struggled with feelings that he can never earn his father's love and respect. Well, that negative self-image was reinforced in way that may never be repairable. Bruce just utterly destroyed a 13 year old child because of his inability to feel any kind of empathy.

And how does this all end? The best part is that Bruce takes all of his parental responsibilities and dumps them onto Dick.

Thank you Chip Zdarsky and Trini Howard. You've taken Batman from being an edgy anti-hero and made him into a callous monster. Part of me hopes that Bruce never comes back because he doesn't deserve his family.

The only positive aspect in this convoluted mess is that Damian and Tim will be far better off with Dick than with Bruce. Yes, Tim is mostly independent but he still needs guidance (particularly since Tim's first instinct is to try and save Bruce). Damian is essentially Dick's son emotionally anyway so this might help to sustain the positive character growth we've seen in him as of late.

The point of this rant is to wonder what on earth DC thinks they're doing. This story arc has been pure character destruction as far as Bruce is concerned. It's bad storytelling too; rushed, frenetic and massively disappointing.

Hasn't the popularity of Good Dad Bruce in Wayne Family Adventures proved that fans are tired of Bruce being a dark depressed and brooding edge lord? We all accept that Batman is a character with deeeeep issues who is in desperate need of therapy. I, however, draw the line at Bruce being an abusive a**hole.

In years to come when fans wonder when Batman jumped the shark, this is the plot line they'll point to.

[pseudowho]

Still got it

Artwork by Mmiyoart (2021)

The kids are teenagers, so you and Kento are just their boring parents...right?

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Imagine you and Nanami Kento as parents, but older now, in your forties, and the kids are teenagers at Jujutsu High (much to Kento's displeasure and concern).

The two of you always kept your work life separate to home; the kids knew what the two of you do of course, they all know Curses and Cursed techniques, your two daughters and a son being in possession of these talents themselves.

But you and Kento never come home in mission-wear. You're always patched up by Shoko, one of your oldest and dearest friends, before you walk through the door. Kento never winces as he cooks dinner in a fresh shirt, but behind your bedroom door at night, you gently push his shirt off his shoulders and bathe his wounds, gently kissing his bruises, his head resting back between your breasts as your arms curl round him from behind. You never discuss your kills in front of the kids, the evenings instead, full of talk of exams, arguments with best friends, chastising for using phones at dinner time.

You and Kento make sure you barely overlap at Jujutsu High, teaching students in the other years instead. Your daughters and your son know, in a vague way, that you're both respected First and Second Grade sorcerers in your own right, but to them you're just mum and dad.

Until, one day, that changes. Your three kids, all promising Second Grade sorcerers, and committed to the cause, get into trouble. The Curse they're sent to eliminate is so much stronger than they imagined. Your eldest daughter fights on bravely as your son carries their sister, wounded, to safety. All three are filled with terror as the Curse begins to overwhelm them, their short lives with you and Kento, their adoring parents, flashing in front of their eyes, wondering how the two of you would ever recover from their deaths.

Then, in a flash of black and red, Nanami Kento steps into the fight. A colossal wave of Cursed energy rolls over the children, stunned, breathless, eyes wide as their father, who does maths homework with them, who kisses them all goodnight at bedtime, who bakes at the weekends, instead now ruthlessly, effortlessly wipes the floor with the Curse that nearly killed his babies.

Kento is a demon in battle, tie ripped off, blunt blade whirling, his battle-hardened body just as imposing and lithe as it was in the years before the kids were born. The hands that held theirs when they were tiny, that threw them around ever-so-gently during play-fights, now wielded as weapons with murderous intent.

Even more alarmed are the children, when you appear beside Kento, and as the Curse staggers on its last legs, they hear you shout to Kento- "Throw me!" and, with not an ounce of hesitation, Kento tosses you like a rugby ball, for you to land the killing blow on the Curse.

You are smooth, meticulous, concentrated while making light work of a messy job. The children hear their father hum in approval of you as you take the Curse to task for its crimes against your babies.

Not even sparing the withering corpse a glance, you and Kento rush to your children. You hold your son and eldest daughter's faces, eyes full of tears as you check them all over for damage, their hearts swelling when you praise them for taking care of each other, for doing such a fantastic job holding out until you both arrived.

Kento drops to his knees beside his wounded youngest daughter, gripping her close to him, no less mighty and powerful after years of marriage and raising children. Nanami Kento manages the first and only reverse-cursed technique heal of his whole life, and repairs his daughter's wounds. He holds her to him and weeps quietly as she reassures him, wholly her mother's daughter. Kento grips his son gently around the back of the neck, pulling him down for a tight hug, his son almost breaking at Kento's familiar rumble praising him for prioritising his sister's safety, telling his son he's so proud of the man he's becoming.

Days later, and with the children now recovered, rumours of Nanami-sensei and Nanami-sensei's scathing criticism of and attack on the higher-ups is the talk of the Jujutsu High students. The children are silent throughout, still stunned by the overwhelming skill of their parents.

One of the other students jokingly raises the incident to your kids one day; "Oh man. I wouldn't like to have your parents mad at me. I'd never get over disappointing them."

"Are they...that much of a big deal?" your son asks his friend weakly. His friend raises his eyebrows, amazed, laughing.

"You mean the one and only legends, the Nanami-sensei's? Who the hell did you guys think raised you?"

You and Kento walk down the steps towards them, hands brushing together but not holding, keen to maintain professionalism at school. The children watch as your eyes meet his, love passing between you both, and wonder how they had thought of you as their boring mum and dad for all these years.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

[incorrectbatfam]

Jason is a hopeless romantic 100%

it just doesnt show

But everyone goes to him whn its time to plan dates

Dick: Hey, can I ask you something?

Jason, reading: No.

Dick: You see, Wally and I have our weekly date night coming up, but we've been to pretty much every place there is. You got any ideas for how to shake things up?

Jason: *scribbles coordinates and tosses him the Bat-plane keys*

[later]

Wally: Wow, I've never been to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Dick: I'm glad you like it.

Dick: *texts Jason a thumbs up*

Jason: *read at 8:55 PM*

———————

Tim: Jason, glad you're here! I totally forgot it's me and Bernard's six-month anniversary. Help me out, man.

Jason, clipping his toenails: Fine. You better write this down 'cause I'm only saying it once.

Tim: *nods*

Jason: Go to Home Depot. You're gonna need some rope, a tarp, hammer and nails, a hatchet, matches, and fuel. After that...

Tim: *furiously takes notes*

[later]

Bernard: A camping trip was a great idea. It's nice to get away from it all. And I can't believe you set this all up yourself.

Tim, chuckling nervously: What's a boyfriend for if not to build a tent and chop down a tree?

———————

Duke: So the school dance is coming up.

Jason, working: Theme?

Duke: Under the sea.

Jason: Ugh, how cliché. Anyway, Armand's Tailoring has a blue suit that'll match whatever your girlfriend's wearing. Tell him I sent you. After that, call Patricia's Bistro and make a reservation with the code word "surreptitious." Alfred can take you in the limo if you give him a 24-hour heads-up to clean it. Once you're there, remind the DJ he owes me a favor to get your song requests bumped up. And remember, a slow dance is basically moving your feet in a square but otherwise go with the flow.

Duke: Sweet, thanks!

———————

Cass: Steph is sad.

Jason, cooking: *sighs*

Jason: *takes out a tub of ice cream*

Jason: *scoops a hole in the middle*

Jason: *fills it with candy*

Jason: Here.

Cass: Thanks!

———————

*phone rings*

Jason, waking up from a nap: What?

Kory: Sorry if I woke you. Barbara's coming over for breakfast in half an hour but I burned it with my powers. It was supposed to be eggs benedict.

Jason: Order takeout and put it on fancy plates.

Kory: You're a lifesaver—

Jason: *already hung up and went back to sleep*

———————

Kate: It's Renee's birthday tomorrow. I have a gift, but I'm not sure if it's good enough.

Jason, polishing his gun: If it's from you, it will be.

———————

Bruce: *walks in*

Bruce: Hey, son. Selina's not talking to me after our argument. How do I tell her how much she means to me?

Jason, reciting Shakespeare: I know no ways to mince it in love, but directly to say, "I love you."

Bruce: You're right. I'm just gonna tell it to her straight. Thank you.

Bruce: *leaves*

Jason: *takes off his headphones and turns around*

Jason: Did someone say something?

———————

Damian: Todd, what is love supposed to feel like?

Jason: Why do you want to know?

Damian: None of your concern. Now tell me.

Jason: *shoots a training dummy*

Jason: It's when they're lodged in your head like a bullet. Except without the excruciating pain and messy red stuff.

Damian, nodding: Tell me more.

———————

Roy: *takes down a villain*

Jason, sitting on a roof: *wolf whistles*

Roy: The hell?

Jason: I know hot when I see it.

Roy: What are you doing here?

Jason: I brought Arrowdogs.

Roy: You hate Arrowdogs.

Jason: But you don't.

Roy: Aw, how sweet—EYES UP HERE, TODD!