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#this mightve gotten too angsty
speakofthedebbie · 2 months
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you (read: i) asked so you shall recieve: radioapple fic recs august 2024 update!!
the following are the ones from the last post w/some minor changes (think: misspellings and even more osas praising) (sorry for the re-tags!!):
Bedtime Rituals to Try out Before the Next Angelic War by @miribalis
just yes. thousand times yes. so basically my boy luci has some sleep troubles and that somehow leads to a qpr with al look its been a while ok just read it
Managerial Liberties by the same fella
these two tags explain it pretty well
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something that sticks out to me about this is that charlie is actually (reasonably) cold to adam and like. im actually surprised with how little ive seen that. i mean i dont think id be exactly buddy-buddy with my besties killer either. only 4 chaps as of writing but already looking to be a radioapple classic. has the same vibe as bedtime rituals, but it is NOT a sequel
devils don't fly (don't expect me not to fall) by @corgiss
also just yes. basically a really not cool joke evolves into a blossoming romance because why wouldnt it. (man if i had a nickel for every radioapple fic that had a masquerade that was sabotaged by the vees- *gets shot bc i cant mention osas yet*)
i’ll hold you close (i’ll stay the course) by the same fella
the entire time i was just going "yas king! put that egotistical flatscreen in his place!!". basically luci reminds the overlords who he is and vox shows he can be more of a threat than he lets on.
ykw fuck it just the entire series (i didnt mention i would give anything to not give a shit (but i do) and my perfect rock bottom (my beautiful trauma) because the first one sounded a lil too angsty and ive gotten enough of that from other sources [pointedly glares at Quietly, It Slips Through Your Fingers, Love {also coming up later!}] and the second is (mostly) smut
Of Saints and Sinners by the forever amazing @morningstarwrites!! (if you see this i have a serious question: is this your first time ever writing a fic? because how do you get so much right the first time- [not even beginners luck could explain this level of skill])
if youre even half the radioapple fanatic i am and havent read this, literally what are you doing?? i could sing its praises until my death bed but ill hold off so i can explain whats happening. basically after burning down a meeting room several times, luci and al make a deal ("not a deal!", luci laments to the void): they will attempt to be civil and maybe even friendly, with some daily compliments sprinkled along the way, and by the end luci will owe al a favour. whats the favour? read it yourself dammit! seriously, 10/10, i foam at the mouth every friday
Quietly, It Slips Through Your Fingers, Love by Starlit_Rainfall (no tumblr in sight, so AO3) (i. urgfgh. what happened. i was just smiling over the fluff while crossing to go to school. where did it go. where did it gooooo)
if thats anything to go by, the last few chapters have been rough. the fluff feels so far away that i cant even explain what happens. luci was waxing poetic about swimming in maple syrup for al, i remember that much. lilith is particularly an asshole even tho we havent seen her yet (or maybe we have. idr, mightve chatted with al) also emily is there (fallen) and has a lil smth to do with als and liliths deal. if you read it, warning for the gut punch of angst that starts chap 32 "She/Her" (though the chapter before that, "Should Alastor Know By Now?" ends pretty rough too)
Freely We Serve by @romanaxe
i dont remember how i managed to stumble upon this but im having a great time. basically alastor is a new sinner fresh in hell (but time doesnt matter and the whole cast is still here) and thinks "what better way to gain power than be the personal assistant of the heartbroken king of hell!" features a 6-7 (rosies words) year old charlie and a morally dubious lilith (also i loved eepy al X3)
A Family Forged in Hellfire by Green_Ghostwriter (once again, no Tumblr, so AO3)
this ones a bit newer (10 chaps), is so far mostly exposition and the slowburn pot hasnt even been put on the stove, but as just a hazbin fic in general i see the potential. basically its a 1920s(30s?) au where heaven decides little charlie doesnt deserve to be raised in hell and is sent to earth with a "foster" family where her actions in life will determine witch realm she will return to after death. her "parents", al and mimzy, are given false memories so they can claim the girl as their own and gee i wasnt kidding when i said it was a lot of exposition. erm honestly explaining anymore would tech be spoiling so go read it!!
The Red Thread That Binds Us by @scun-gilli
{{future me prefacing this by saying i have no idea where i was going with yesterdays thought process, all you need to know from it was im on chapter 27. also scungilli your comment is making me very worried 😟 well theres no mcd tag so im sure itll fine, right? RIGHT, SCUNGILLI??}}
basically its a king x kings guard au where al and luci grow up together and only grow closer after a. certain life event for al (its fine guys trust :)) [she said, like a liar]) then al is sent off for royal guard training school (ik its not called that i forgor 😭) but dw he comes back. just watch out for graphic depictions of injuries (i think thats this fic) angst and a sneaky eve bc radioapple fics are allergic to happiness (or maybe im not looking hard enough lol) (also im really tempted to make the friendship bracelets they had 👀)
somewhere down the line by kj_crwm (AO3 link)
this one starts off as human!alastor/lucifer but by the middle(?) its just regular radioapple. basically al is encountered by luci while finishing off a job who agrees to keep quiet. luci just keeps on showing up, reveals hes the devil to which al us just like "lol ok" and eventually they get in a relationship (ooh lala 👀) but they break up after saying some hurtful things to each other (oh nono 👀) with luci promising al they will never cross paths again. if you watched the show then well. you know that doesnt happen 😂 most human!al radioapple have al summon him (no hate to them) so this was an interesting change of pace
new recs below!! ↓↓
Alastor and Lucifer do whatever the Hell this is (series) by Vagabond_Sloth (personally asked, no Tumblr, but they might make one 👀)
i know this is radioapple fic rec post but... *cough* Husk and Angel do a Romance for some soft huskerdust *cough* anyway- basically, a perplexing flower arrangement leads to a blossoming something between the resident radio demon and king of hell. seriously, its some good shit, and the author is really nice!
A Compliment A Day by @decembercamiecherries
spinning this around in my head at all times
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basically, a classic "charlie makes al and luci compliment each other as a bonding excessive" but it does not disappoint (check out her other three radioapple fics too)
a lovely night (lalaland is that you??) and pancakes, small talk by @mirotic_chess (X Twitter account)
in a lovely night they do a lil dancey dancey and in pancakes, small talk luci makes some pancakes!!
Sin and Sentiment and Time On My Hands by demon_fawn (supposed Tumblr leads to a dead end)
oh my god future debs here and i am so fucking tired of doing these descriptions but. um. the plot for sin and sentiment def seems very interesting and time on my hands is an incomplete (but good!) attempt at radioapple week. hmm not sure if they still post bc the most recent update was july 12th
honestly just every radioapple fic by @otoshigo (i think ive read all but Forbidden Fruit of the Poisonous Tree)
if you look underneath the little island that is radioapple, on god otoshigo is one of the creators holding it up. all 19 (yes, 19. we eatin good tonight [excluding forbidden fruit]) of their radioapple fics are fantastic, buuut if i had to recommend anything specific: A Guide to the Care and Maintenance of the King of Hell (fuck count furfur!) and The Devil's Trip to the Big Apple
not to continue the trend, but basically anything by @thief-of-eggs (even the singular huskerdust) but personal recommendations: Trust and Hair Pets and Let Me Be Your Shelter (sickfics 🔛🔝)
idk if youll catch me doing the descriptions for these anymore shit was exhausting
tagging time!!!! (i want to end it all)
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urmomsstuntdouble · 3 years
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some skater au yao + hk ramblings bc @mysticalmusicwhispers wanted to know more about them in the au
- he's 56 years old and has owned his casino for 30 years. He first got into the business of casino ownership because he thought it'd be a good source of passive income, but he didn't realize how much a job owning a casino would actually be and took over as the head executive manager person after about a year of struggling to manage another job plus the casino. He actually likes it more than he thought he would, because while it's a super stressful job and requires him to coordinate a lot of moving parts basically all the time, it does allow him to be in complete control of something, which he likes.
-yao is 56 because i think 5 and 6 look good next to each other
-hong kong is a skateboarder and local insufferable goose, and has a weird not quite father-daughter relationship with yao. she was born in hong kong and adopted by arthur, who’s doing the single dad thing. they lived in london until she was seven, and moved around a bit before settling in las vegas when leona was ten. she has come to realize that this was kind of stupid, but she can’t really do anything about it now. 
-yao and arthur aren’t really friends, but they do know each other from youth and sometimes hang out still
-that’s not actually how yao and leona met though. she and some friends (the gen z squad, which includes taiwan, seychelles, iceland, and macau) were being rascally middle schoolers and trying to see if they could trick anyone into letting them into a club. this was entirely based on macau having been asked one time by one of those people who stands on the street corner registering people to vote if he’d been registered yet. he had not, seeing as he was probably like 12 at the time, but it gave them the foolish confidence they needed to try to sneak into an adult establishment
-yao happened to be there that day when the kids were trying to get in, and he was like okay kids, what are you trying to do rn and they were like wym we’re clearly adults and he was like i know for a fact that you’re not, please leave or i’ll call the cops and that scared them right off
-they were also introduced later by arthur, and leona did get into a bit of trouble for trying to sneak into the casino. it was a whole thing
-leona is one of the youngest skaters in the au. she and seychelles are the only minors that hang about the skate park, and the adults there aren’t fully aware of their ages, so it’s assumed that they’re of a similar age range to everybody else. most of the other skaters are within like. 25-35 age range, and most of them assume that sey and hk are college kids or something, and they don’t correct that misunderstanding. they do tag along on some adult expeditions at times, although that’s mostly just going out into the desert to smoke. occasional gambling though
-leona and yao have run into each other a fair few times since they first met. she likes to hang out in the strip because it makes her feel like she’s an adult and independent, but she can’t hang out by the super famous casinos or hotels, because it’s easier to get into more trouble there, so she mostly hangs out in the moderately-well-to-do area, which is where yao’s casino is located. they also see each other decently often as a result of yao’s not quite friendship with arthur, as they do like to hang out from time to time but are both shut ins. yao owning the casino is actually a great way for them to hang out, because it’s sort of like his second home and it feels casual to him while also being the sort of place where you can go to casually get shitfaced, which is right up arthur’s alley. 
-due to yao and arthur’s whatever they have going on, leona has been able to talk to him a few times. she mostly thinks he’s just another old fart who talks too much about the economy (cursed idea but imagine if yao was one of those bitcoin people) but also has a casino, so that’s mildly cool. she does find herself slightly interested in the fact that he is chinese, because she feels a bit disconnected from that part of herself as a result of having been raised and grown up in the west. 
-leona’s casino hanging-out-at really gets started when she’s about 14. she gets upset because she’s been outed at school (she’s bi). though it’s not really a big deal if arthur finds out, seeing as he’s also bi, it felt like a really big deal for her and something she wasn’t ready for. she decides to run away, but doesn’t really know where to go, cause she doesn’t want to see anyone from school and doesn’t know where any of the adult skaters live, so she winds up at the casino. yao is ready to tell her to fuck off until he sees that she’s upset and his passive aggression towards her gets more passive and less aggressive
-he winds up taking her out to eat, and he tries to get her to talk about what happened but she refuses to engage. yao tries to give her a bunch of life advice instead, and she also refuses to engage (but still pays attention because he has a way of talking that makes him seem like everything he’s saying is some sort of law of the universe). 
-there  exists a bit of a rift between arthur and leona, because he’s really not that great of a dad. he has some other kids, but she’s the only one currently living with him. some are in college, some are adults who’ve moved away, but they rarely ever come home for the holidays or anything like that, and most of them have a strained relationship with him. leona is no exception, and she’s sort of like. god i can’t wait to move out. it makes her feel like she has a bit more say in her own life to hang out at the casino, which yao starts letting her do after he gets more analytical of her relationship with arthur. he feels like she needs a space to be herself, and also that he can provide that for her.
-speaking of, yao really likes to analyze people. that’s not specific to this au, i just think that he can sometimes get really analytical and treat other people like they’re characters in a book? like they’re a puzzle for him to figure out, and he sort of treats leona like that. she isn’t pleased with this at all, but that’s the price of being a minor who wants to hang out in casinos, so. 
-yao is pretty passive regarding leona and arthur’s relationship. he has put himself in the position that if they’re mad at each other, he might have to hear about it from both of them. or, worst case scenario- mediate. and he doesn’t really want to do that (he doesn’t really want to be invested in any of this, but damn it hong kong, you were so entertaining to examine) so he just sort of stands on the sidelines sipping a smoothie while they argue. 
-yao does however come to consider himself a better father figure towards hong kong than arthur. he never tells anyone about this, but he feels like, with all his unsolicited life advice, that he’s doing a good job. leona doesn’t really care, and thinks she could do without it, but he will not stop, so. he also helped her study for the sat, which was nice. 
-the idea of fatherhood is a bit tricky with these three though, because leona doesn’t really feel like she has a dad. she knows she has her biological father, and she has her adopted father, but she doesn’t know who her biological father is and we all know that arthur is bad at being a dad. she doesn’t know if she even wants a dad anymore tbh. one time she gets in an argument with yao and she tells him he’s not her real dad, and he just says, totally calm. you don’t have a dad. and that’s pretty shattering to her 
-even so, leona comes to abuse her casino-going privileges. yao doesn’t like this At All, and has threatened to call the police on her multiple times, but leona also threatens to tell arthur what he’s letting her do, so they keep it to this mutual agreement to not do anything about it. because of that, she sometimes brings in more kids, specifically the gen z squad and the ily trio. this makes her quite popular at school, which gets to her head sometimes
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ggukmiin · 5 years
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✍🏻 Anon: I actually did...send...many asks...lost to tumblr abyss...wanted to say my fav flowers too....feel like when jungkook barged in during jin’s(?) vlive saying he was furiously sending messages...can’t deal with this app...my kinky prompt...*dramatic exit scene* *scene2* actually i like your writing style a lot! i have adhd n it’s hard to focus on long descriptive paragraphs/narrations but your writing has a smooth natural flow, easy to follow just like a storyteller! -✍🏻 (gave up on the ask box it’s clearly ignoring me)
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OKAY I KID U NOT IDK WHEN U SENT THIS BUT I THINK I MIGHTVE JUST GOTTEN THIS THIS WEEKEND BC MY ASK BOX WAS EMPTY ALL WEEK. WHAT. THE. HECK. !!?????!?!?
you omg,,,, u sent in an ask abt flowers!?!? GOSH THAT WAS A MONTH AGO and it didn’t work??? and k-k-kin..ky p-rOMPT. lord jesus i think we all our curious abt THIS now 👀👀👀!! WHY does tumblr hate us communicating so muchhhhh!! ughhhhhdjjdjdj.
and about my writing style.. 😳 THANK YOU SO MUCH!! gosh, my writing style is very... idk it... i write like how i would speak. that kind of thing. my writing doesn’t have a lot of imagery and beautiful descriptor words and much emotion in it because wits quite, laid back and sarcastic i think dkdndkjd. this is why i can only write things that fit my writing style bc if i tried smth angsty or dramatic it would just be a mess 😳. i’m SO GLAD that you like it tho. that’s seriously so so encouraging to hear!! thank you so much for your support bub 💜💜. and btw speaking of writing I rly miss yours too!! your writing is sooo good and everytime i see a little snippet or headcanon or story from u in my inbox i SQUEAL bc i know i’m abt to get some good good food!! NOT TO PRESSURE U TO SEND ANYTHING OFC!! i just wanted to let u know that i miss your writing and that i rly rly rly love it as well!! thank you for sending me things :) it always makes me rly happy !! i hope you’re doing well bb 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜!!
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I am not my insecurities reflection- a truthful based oneshot
IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE PLEASE READ
Ok, this will be a long author’s note but please bare with me as this is very important for you to understand this oneshot. For some context here because I havent posted alot about her yet, this is a oneshot about my Dc oc Gracie Lucio, set kinda in the same universe(i guess) of the teen titans judas contract movie( with Damian as robin) and its a oneshot written partly out of a vent of my own body image issues and partly out of an expression of how I’ve learned to look past said issues slowly.
But this gets very angsty until the end
Now to give a bit more context for the piece itself. The oc herself, Gracie Lucio( because I havent posted any art of her yet) for the reader’s understanding, she is not human, she is a werewolf(it feeds into her story so dont get me started on it alot of research went into this aspect of her character and it plays into her body issues)and body wise looks similar to Dick in the first season of Young Justice. Shes a naturally thin figured , broader shouldered girl who could( if she really wanted to) pass as a feminine boy with short jaw/ barely chin length hair( think of a thick messy longish pixie cut of dark hair). So shes naturally lean and lanky and a little underdeveloped for a 13 year old girl and as a heroine she has toned muscles from years of hero work. Most wouldnt see her having too many insecurities about her body image and appearance, but in truth shes riddled with them. She ages a bit differently than humans, it takes her body longer to develop and even then in some areas it develops differently all together. She struggles to gain any extra weight or build up natural feminine curves, something she wants. She WANTS to look like other girls her age, with more developed and heavier bodies, with curves and more weight and an actual figure. But with a supernaturally high metabolism added on top of a already genetic based thin figure and a intense and sometimes rigorous training and workout routine plus her work as a heroine gives no leeway to gain really any extra weight, its always worked off one way or another. And this causes...comments to be made about why she looks that way by civilians. and though she never shows it publicly  she takes many of these, usually not flattering and sometimes cruel and rude, comments to heart(much like I used to unfortunately) and it worsens her negative feelings. This is a small story of her seeing those problems and issues and trying to face and overcome them. This is more centered around Gracie and Dick and Jason and their platonic and sibling like relationship as they help her through her darker times( again, this is partly me expressing my own personal struggles with body image (which arent the exact same as the character but the language and the comments are very similar)and partly how those two helped inspire me to have more confidence in my body no matter what I look like) and also a deeper peek into her complex relationship with Damian(but thats not the biggest focus) Sorry this was so long I mightve info-dumped a little but its important to understand the story. I hope you guys enjoy?
This is also told in Gracie’s point of view
This will cover some pretty deep kinda issues like body image problems and over eating and weight loss/gain and mentions of eating disorders without really discussing them and bullying so if that upsets you in any way now is the best time to scroll past for your own sake, I dont want you to upset yourself over my crappy emotional writing
I do not look that bad.
That’s what I have to force my mind to accept as I look into the mirror, meeting my own aqua green eyes hesitantly.
I always hated looking in the mirror lately, especially after training or after bathing, like now as I stood in the middle of my room in a slightly loose training type sports bra and spandex shorts. I don’t even want to glance down at my body, out of fear for seeing the same thing I always do.
‘She so skinny...is she eating right’
‘She needs to eat more and gain some weight’
‘what a twig for a superhero’
‘how have bad guys not snapped her in half? Jesus Christ I could probably break her with a sneeze!’
‘What a bad influence shes setting for young girls with such an thin figure!’
‘I think He needs to eat more Christ that poor boy must be starving! Why isn’t Nightwing feeding him more’
The flashes of comments flooded my mind the moment my eyes flickered down to the rest of me. To my thin, unfeminine figure. My underdeveloped and flat birdcage of a chest. To my lanky, toned, too flat stomach. The pinched waist figure. The flat empty expanse I called hips that blended too well into my too dainty looking bony legs. I looked too fucking skinny. And maybe they were right...as a hero I was a role model to those younger than me, and I promoted a Bad Body Image for girls to idolize with my lanky boy figure.
And it was a horrible body type I had no goddamn control over.
My species was not an easy one to live as, especially not intermingled with humans. The team knew, the team understood, but the rest of the world didn’t. As a lupinotuum pectinem, or lycanthrope which in easy translation is simply “Werewolf”, my whole body inner workings were different. Most of my kind were naturally lean and thin, like tall healthily thin model athlete body types and in general the females, even alpha females, were practically born twig like almost. And on top of that our bodies developed....differently. I was not raised by a pack or by my own kind after age 8, so even I didn’t know the full extent but females bodies took longer to grow and it made it very hard for them to gain weight because of the unnaturally high metabolism. Add being a superhero who once trained under a certain league member to the mix and you go from being the “healthy and admirable” type of skinny to the “unhealthy and concerning”type of skinny.
I hated it, and I hated my body. I hated pictures of me from the neck down, because they all looked the same no matter who they were with. And I saw the comments everyone made. Whether its a surprise photo Garfield took dragging me into the picture to commemorate something or another or me taking pictures around Gotham or Blüdhaven with Dick on the social media Gar helped me set up, or even the rare photos I’d get to take with Jason or Damian or Tim and get to post. Every time the flood of comments were the same. The same things I now repeated over and over as I looked over my body angrily.
OMG look at that poor girl is she ok??? She looks like she needs to be hospitalized!
Christ almighty BB isn’t it too early to be posing with skeletons?? LOL
Dude not funny that girl must be anorexic or something.
Such a cute sibling couple but sweetie you need a fast food break to add some fat to those bones!
Fuck kid go eat something instead of taking pictures
Awwww you two look real happy! I hope you’re on the way to lunch or something!
Holy shit your guy’s size difference is so vast its almost worrying
how are you even alive with that little weight
Go eat some junk food or something before you pass out
OMG look at her shes so small and stick like! Her clothes look like they’re hanging off a scarecrow!
That girl cannot be healthy tell me someone is making her eat more
Every time its always the same damn thing....
I couldn’t do it anymore. I turned away from the mirror nearly in disgust and went back to changing into more casual clothes, bitterly noting how my clothes did in fact seem to hang awkwardly on my body as if I was too thin for them to fit correctly. Like they always did lately.
Ew look at her she looks so gross all stick-like like that!
What a fucking twig of a girl! Are those her ribs poking through her shirt??
Bitch go eat a fucking hamburger you need some damn food in you.
God that weight cant be healthy you need a doctor!!
     “Kid? Yo kid you in there?” My head jerked up from the comments flooded screen of my phone to meet Jason’s eyes, catching the quirk of his eyebrow as he sat across the diner table from me. We were at a diner he favored whenever he came into town to visit, a little family owned treasure with delicious and greasy food and the sweetest staff on earth. We frequented the spot during his visits, our own personal little thing since we’d gotten closer. I plastered on a smile and ignored the slight narrow of those blue eyes, the small furrow of his brow got as I snapped off my phone and set it aside.
      “Sorry Jay, BB tagged me in something dorky and I got distracted. So what were you saying?”
He didn’t believe me, and I didn’t blame him. I wasn’t the most convincing at that moment but I kept that damn plastic smile on my face and snagged some of his curly fries right in his face, making him crack a smile and smack my hand away from his tray.
      “ Hands off my food, eat your own wolfie.” I rolled my eyes at the stupid nickname I’d been branded and let the plastic smile slowly be replaced by a more genuine one as we began chatting again, grabbing my over sized cheeseburger and finishing every last bite and moving onto the large fries and two milkshakes, hopelessly praying that maybe this time the calories would stick and trying to push away the comments to the back of my mind. I was with Jason and we were having a damn good time, and I wasn’t going to let those comments ruin his visit...not again.
You should be ashamed. All you’re doing is promoting bad eating habits looking like that.
You’re such a bad influence for young girls who idolize you with such a horribly unreachable appearance.
Shes too bony to ever be considered pretty
Does she have a eating disorder or something?
I stiffened instantly startled by a hand on my shoulder, turning off my phone  instinctively and making the endless comments disappear into darkness before whoever could see them over my shoulder. The hand was big, calloused, and gentle and I felt myself relax as I looked up behind me with a smile.
         “ Hey Dick, did you need something?” He smiled down at me with that big bright smile that made all the dark thoughts and feelings melt away and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze, blue eyes meeting aqua green.
          “ Well I was wondering if you’re doin’ anything right now or if you’d want to go catch dinner with Kori, Dami, and I. I noticed that you’d skipped your usual early dinner....” I wasn’t surprised he noticed, he normally did...
Once again that smile plastered itself on my face as I told him I’d love to, and to just let me go get changed into something better. I saw his hesitation at the fake smile, practically smelled it on him and prayed he wouldn’t bring it up right now, god please don’t ask now or I might just break...
Maybe god is listening because he didn’t mention it and just told me to meet them by the front doors of the tower in ten.
How are you not dead yet?
Jesus Christ stop promoting your eating disorder like its a good thing!
She looks so sickly is she ok? :(
Yeah shes sick, sick in the damn head for posting such disgusting pro-Ana pictures
How can you post pictures with a clear conscience looking like that?
Some “superhero”
I was wrong, no god was listening to me.
Dinner was rough to get through, even if it didn’t start that way.
For once I didn’t have to worry or dread possibly checking my phone for anything, I turned it off by the time we got to the restaurant. I even got a small compliment from Damian on our way in, though it was more a snark at me not tripping up the stairs. But it was Damian so I snapped right back with a smile, knowing he didn’t really mean it. Sitting beside Dick and across from Damian, I nudged his foot with mine in a silent gesture to cheer up even a little. He huffed through his nose but I saw his body relax and it made me relax. Those moments before the food came, our chatter and soft laughter as we looked over the menu, and the soothing knowledge knowing that Dick pulled me and Damian along to this dinner so we would go out on a date ourselves, ever the best brother and wingman. The mood was light and pleasant and I could see even the ever sharp and moody Dami lighten up a little by the time we ordered. Maybe the mood shifted into something different as we waited for our food and I was sipping on my tall glass of iced cola, when Damian’s fingers casually brushed over the top of my unused hand that laid peacefully on the table. The gesture was subtle and light, quick enough to miss if your senses weren’t sharp. I didn’t acknowledge it and neither did he, a silent understanding that words would just ruin whatever this was. I accepted that happily, as he was much more engaged in the conversations and even smiling a little more during them as he debated with Kori on leading strategies. Things were pleasant, comforting at that table in those few seconds before the decline, Dick smiling and chuckling at his lover and little brother, Said lover and brother having a more upbeat discussion about different leadership styles and their effects, and lightly debating which work better for what. And Damian’s hand next to mine, ever so lightly brushing against it in his wordless way to say I was still there and at even the smallest twitch I’d have his attention again. Dick ruffled my hair and asked how my online courses were coming along, since I didn’t attend schools publicly and I was more than happy to babble about my classes, and my current work in them. It was nice and I was happy, all the horrible feelings from before draining away as I tuned everything else but these three out of my enhanced hearing. Why had I even felt so shitty when I had great people like them in my life?
Then I heard it as that damned supernatural hearing tuned back in to the rest of the world.
The words and whispers and mutters and the blatant gossip and bad mouthing.
“Look at that younger girl sitting at that table dear...shes so thin I think she should be in a hospital not a restaurant.”
“Ewww mom look that girl looks like a skeleton!”
“ Honey shush….”
“Is….is that girl ok?”
“Dude of course she isn’t just look at her shes unhealthy as fuck. Probably has some kind of eating disorder too or something.”
It all flooded over me and all of my happy mood washed away under the wave. I couldn’t tell if the others could hear them so I grit my teeth tried to tune it all back out, trying so hard to focus more on Kori’s explanation of her points. My hands began to curl up subconsciously, making Damian’s attention snap to me. Fuckin I….no, I cant tell him...I shouldn’t. I forced my hand to uncurl and that stupid smile sprawled across my lips as if someone had put tape over them. I saw his eyes narrow and near begged mentally for him to not say anything or for Dick to distract him...anything.
“Ahem….your meal.”
I have never more thankful to a waitress before in my life...until I saw the look she gave me as she placed my admittedly large order of food in front of me, something that was normally a platter for two people’s worth of beef and sides. I caught the judgmental and suspicious look she had glancing between me and my food and I felt shame burn all over, starting to hang my head to avoid that damn look.
“ If this is all our food then your job is done. Don’t you have OTHER tables to be serving?” Damian’s curt and sharp tone cut through the air and briefly through my shame. This waitress knew nothing about me and i certainly owned no one any explanations about my eating habits, so why was she hanging around giving me looks about my food…?
“ Damian don’t be so rude!” Dick cleared his throat and I felt his strong arm wrap protectively around my shoulder as he leaned close to the edge of the table while Kori’andr apologized for Damian’s attitude vaguely. But I could hear it, there wasn’t much life to her apology. It sounded like a politely required apology, almost...defensive?
“ I am so sorry about my little brother Miss. He’s also sorry. But do you need anything else since we seem to be all set here but you’re still hanging around when you must be very busy…?” Dick’s words were sweet and cheerful, but there was an edge to his tone that gave a clear warning. His arm around me tightened a little protectively as he gave one of his signature charming smiles that could light up half the damn city as he then inquired if there was some sort of problem. The waitress stammered that there wasn’t any problem and that it was fine and for us to enjoy our meal before scampering away to continue her work. I felt other patrons eyes most DEFINITELY on us now and I couldn’t help shrinking into the taller man’s side to hide.
“ I’m sorry this keeps happening…” I murmured to him as our respective dates started eating and slowly reviving their conversation, moving on to mission recounts and training while Damian shot a dark look at the other patrons that made them look away. Dick gave my shoulder a squeeze and i moved closer for that familiar warmth and comfort...my chest felt heavy and my appetite had died and I wanted to curl up in my room and die of the shame. But I couldn’t, he wouldn’t have let me. So instead I instinctively sought out the safety Dick’s presence brought me, like a protective older sibling whose arms I could be enveloped in and forget about the harsh world outside them.
He knew without words, catching my body language before anyone else at the table. He knew me best.
“ Do you want to leave? We can get to go boxes and enjoy this meal all the same back at the tower, or even mine and Kori’s apartment. Is that what you’d rather do?” It was tempting, oh god it was so tempting to just say yes and let him lead me away while I re-gathered myself, same way he did when we were both 13 and living under the same roof...before…
I shook my head and forced those thoughts to the very back of my mind. I was in a dark enough place of mind already without that.
“ N-no...you guys set this up...i...i don’t want one nosy waitress to ruin our whole meal. Lets just eat ok D?” He smiled at the nickname and ruffled my hair with a nod, both him and Kori making sure I knew if things got too uncomfortable we could leave and the heaviness eased a little at their consideration. I started picking at my food and slowly regaining my appetite, once again nudging Damian with my foot to start up conversations. I ignored the words for the majority of the dinner, we even began to enjoy ourselves again. The last straw was probably as we were paying and putting leftovers in to go bins. I was admittedly nibbling on food out of my bin, despite starting to feel full.
“ I swear you are a bottomless pit sometimes Gracia.” I rolled my eyes at Damian’s remark and gave him a small smirk as I licked my fingers clean.
“ This bottomless pit can still kick your ass in training wonder boy~” He grunted and I saw the challenge glow in his eyes as he smirked back, an excitement for tomorrow’s combat training flaring up between us.
“ You really shouldn’t mix up your delusional dreams with reality alpha PUP.” I said something snarky back and we began to bicker halfheartedly over who was winning. I finally snapped shut my leftover box and stood with Damian as we stared each other down confidently, Dick chuckling at our competitiveness.
“ Tomorrow morning’s combat training will certainly be interesting with these two all riled up already.” The words didn’t fully process as I cracked my knuckles and squared up to the admittedly….taller boy.
“ Last I checked Damian I was ahead 11-10. And tomorrow, I just cant wait to make it 12.” He gave a hard laugh to my face and faced up to me with a smirk as our other two companions stood and shooed us more in front of the table so they could leave their seats. He opened his mouth to say something likely scalding and snarky back at me when the worst comment pierced between us both like a goddamn bullet.
“ Damn, I never knew such a sickly, too skinny bitch like her could eat like such a fat fucking pig.”
I think I stopped breathing as my body flinched at the following laughter. The man was clearly on the tipsy side and sitting at a larger table with a group of laughing friends, though the one who said it was standing next to the table with a drink that reeked of the cheapest alcohol this restaurant probably sold, and he didn’t stop there. Oh god of course he didn’t stop there. He kept laughing and loudly making obvious comments at me and openly mocking me and how much I ate to his table, either fully aware of what he was doing and that we could clearly see and hear him or too drunk to really care as more insults and name calling that I had heard and seen and read plenty of times before fell from his mouth. My heart was pounding in my ears as the next few moments happened slowly.
I thought I had seen anger plenty of times before, the worse being the one and only time someone made a malicious joke about my appearance to my face when I was walking beside Jason and it took all my supernatural strength to drag him off and away the guy before he murdered him in broad daylight and to keep him walking to wherever we had been heading.
I had seen pissed, but I had never seen downright hellish fury until that moment when I looked at Damian and Dick.
I had seen Damian mad, and angry, and pissed, a few times in our first meetings at me personally. I had seen Dick mad, angry, and pissed off a a fair chunk of times, even if they had never been directly at me. I had never seen this expression on either of them in those times. And in those few moments that passed almost in slow motion and Damian began to lurch forward with murderous intent the thought finally hit me. ‘ Was this...the first time these two had really heard the comments about me? Oh god…’ I felt like I was moving in honey as Damian stalked past me and I tried to reach out to him slowly, a gleam to his eyes that made my blood go cold.
If someone was to ask me in the future what I believed Death looked like, I would say with completely conviction that death would have the exact eyes Damian had in that moment: lethal, merciless, and furious. And he would have Dick’s cold expression, a look I never wanted to see on the normal cheerful man’s face ever again.
Time snapped back to a normal speed like a whip and my hand grasped nothing but air as Damian stormed over to the man.
“D...da--”
“What did you just say you disgusting drunk.” I might’ve shivered at his tone and I felt Kori’s hands on my shoulders tugging me back protectively as she looked down at me worried.
“ Gracie...don’t listen to him, there’s no reason to cry.” Cry? What was she talking ab--
That’s when I felt it, something warm and wet sliding down my cheeks and dripping off my chin. I...I was crying. My walls and my limit of bottling things in for one day was crumbling away as I watched Damian go to confront the man, my voice disappearing under the surge of hurt and anxiety. I couldn’t even say his damn name. I felt frozen and helpless as Dick stalked after Damian, fists clenched.
I had to do something say something anything to stop them before things went badly I had to I had--
“Eh?What the fuck did you say to me brat?”
“ You heard me you worthless piece of filth. Apologize to her, now.”
I needed to do something anything as I felt myself crumbling. Why wasn’t Dick stopping him why
“ And what if I don’t pipsqueak? You gonna hit me? Now scram. Maybe take your little bitch to a hospital for treatment instead of parading her around a restaurant with normal people!”
“ He might not do anything, But I will. Now take it back before things get messy.”I think my body began trembling as I watched panic swelling. I just wanted to leave and go home. I didn’t want to see this unfold, I just wanted to be home at the tower curled under my covers to simulate the warmth of another person holding me. I wanted to be anywhere, anywhere else then stuck in this nightmare.
So I moved without thinking and lunged, aiming for the back of Dick’s jacket to grab and ready to swallow any shards of pride and beg to leave. Instead I collided with Damian’s back and rolled with it, hugging him tightly from behind and tugging back with a whimper.
“ P-please you two...l...lets just leave...please lets just go home please…” Kori grabbed Dick’s arm firmly and tugged him back.
“ Dick...shes in the midst of an anxiety attack, let it go and lets leave. We need to get her out of here.” He took a difficult deep breath but nodded glaring down the man harshly enough that he flinched and scurried to the bar with his tail between his legs mumbling insults. One of his friends started to stand and began nervously apologizing, though one vicious look from the boy I was holding shut him up fast. It took me and Kori working together to drag the two out of the restaurant and the ride home was tense and silent. I couldn’t look at any of them, instead opting to stare at my feet wiping my eyes.
“ Does that happen often. People talking about you like that.” His cold tone made me flinch a little. At this point I was so upset and anxious and emotionally drained on the inside that I thought Damian was mad at me of all people for what happened. Those dark thoughts began to slowly bubble up to the surface and my insecurities screamed that he blamed me for what happened in the restaurant. I remained silent, too upset to answer. I heard his growl of annoyance and I began to hunch up, ready for a verbal fight.
“ Damian drop it for now. Shes in no right place of mind to talk about it.” Dick warned from the driver seat with a low voice that reminded me he was also upset and angry. When we got back   to the tower I didn’t wait for anyone to say anything, I just bolted for my room as fast as I could, at a inhuman, unnatural speed that they couldn’t keep pace with.
I stayed locked in my room for three days, not willing to face any of them the next morning during training. Everything was heavy and hurt and it was hard trying to rebuild those shattered walls of protection, that image of unbothered confidence. I stayed in bed locked away from the world and curled up under the weak protection of my sheets mostly unresponsive to those outside it.
The first to come knocking and checking on me was Kori, asking if I was ok and if I needed to talk. She left after a little while of trying for a response unsuccessfully though, saying she’d come back to check on me later. It was maybe an hour later that Garfield came knocking, asking why I’d missed breakfast AND training. His voice was concerned as he asked if everything was ok and if I was even in there. The concern poked painfully into my silence, tempting me to speak and make myself vulnerable.
Vulnerability killed. I knew that first hand. So I forced myself to stay quiet until his knocks and footsteps faded away.
The rest of the day passed in a bit of a self deprecating blur, only marked by Kori’s two other attempts at my door. The last one I barely noticed as exhaustion kicked back in and I drifted off into an unsteady sleep
The next day after I woke up things still went by in a near timeless blur. I could hear my phone buzzing and vibrating and rattling for my attention but I left it there on the nightstand unnoticed and curled further under the sheets, lost in a slate tinted world of dark thoughts and darker temptations. But that day was harder to drift away through.
The first to stop by was Jamie, knocking a few times and calling out to me with concern and worry clear in his voice as he asked if I was ok. He asked if I’d eaten at all since yesterday, since he hadn’t seen me leave my room. The thought of eating made my stomach stir and my body curl around it ashamed. He knocked a few more times after that, his voice growing a bit more worried at the lack of answer. After awhile I heard him walk away and I barely lifted my head as I hugged my too skinny too unhealthy body close, feeling those blaring imperfections and flinching at myself.
It was no wonder everyone said those things...if so many people said them so often then they must be true.
The next to come by was Raven. She only knocked twice and gave a small sigh.
“ Gracie...I know you’re in there. If you need someone to talk to...my room is in the next hall over, and I will be here to listen. I wont force you to come out...just please remember you aren’t alone here. You have the team behind you.” I bit my lip hard enough to make it bleed to keep my ensuing whimper silent. The words, soothing and reassuring in context, stabbed into my heart and my resolve. I WANTED to depend on them, to throw open the door and break down under the assurance I could and would not be treated differently after, and be assured and comforted and remind of the positives. I wanted it so badly I was scared of it. Or maybe...I was scared of it NOT happening as those damn fears and insecurities and dark thoughts sowed heavy doubt through me. She lingered a little longer than Jaime, eventually her footsteps disappearing. I remember meekly poking my head from the sheets to stare absently out the half covered windows lost in thought, time slipping by me once more to the point I almost didn’t register Garfield and Kori both stopping by my door again at least twice more worried.
When Dick stopped by as the sun was setting was when the harder pain set in.
I heard the knocks and ignored it in favor of the changing color sky the sunset offered, my room washed in a dim orange and amber gleam. Then I heard his voice, soft and sick with worry from the outside and my heart thudded so hard it hurt. Hard.
“ Gracie...C’mon Gracie-girl please open the door. We’re all worried about you...I’m really worried about you. You haven’t eaten for a day and a half...Please let me in...” I almost broke completely at the pain in that familiar voice, the voice I never wanted to be the cause of being in pain or anguish again.
Well looks like I did a GREAT job of preventing that didn’t I?
He knocked again, asking and pleading and trying to reason, anything to get that door to open. My eyes burned with hot fresh tears and I curled up into a tight ball whimpering softly and breaking my vow of silence.
“....D-dick...p-please...j-just leave me a-alone…I-i just need some t-time alone…”
My voice came out pathetically weak and shaking with tears, which I know he heard. There was a silence for a few moments, perhaps shock that I actually answered this time. I felt warmth sliding down my cheeks as he sighed and reluctantly muttered that he’d come check back on me tomorrow and that there was leftover dinner ready for me to heat up on the kitchen counter before he slowly walked away. His fading footsteps echoing in my ears. Was my heart breaking on every step away? I couldn’t tell. That feeling slipped into the dark thoughts that followed the setting sun. Dark thoughts that also reminded me of the one person who HADN’T come to check on me, and the resulting pain of his absence.
The third day had been mostly quiet. It was almost a painful relief, quiet meant no additional pain of--
“ Gracia.”
That one word coming from Damian’s mouth sent so many things through me and sent any resolve I had spiraling away. His tone was a forced kind of neutral, he sounded as if he was trying to stay calm but it wasn’t exactly working. There was something to his voice I had no energy to figure out. He didn’t knock and there was silence for a few moments but I felt his presence remain.
“ You haven’t eaten since the restaurant.” No questions with him, he didn’t need to ask, always calm and analyzing.
“ ...You cant just stay in there forever Gracia.” A stern lilt to his voice, weakly enforced by the faint sound of his hand on the door. I could only whimper and curl up more. There was another stretch of silence before he sighed and his footsteps continued down the hall.
He was the only one to come check on me, a blessing and a damnation.
The day and night went by so listlessly I didn’t remember falling asleep, only waking up to banging knocks on my door. The volume grated on my sensitive hearing and made me flinch. Who would even be knocking like that…?
“ Oi. Kid. I know you’re still in there. Open the door.” Jason’s hard and no shit taking voice shot through me. Why...Why was Jason in the tower? Why was he in the city?
The knocking continued relentlessly, unlike the others. It even got louder and angrier.
“ Kid I said open this goddamn door.” There was no request or plea in his voice. It was a command, a harsh, cold command. I tried covering my ears with my hands and curling into a tight ball as the knocking continued. He wasn’t about to give up to a little girl.
I knew this too well.
“ Graciea Rosica Lucio I swear to god if you don’t open this goddamn door in the next couple second I will break it down. Now get off your fucking ass and answer me.” I don’t know what it was, but hearing his threat sent my body into mechanical motion, trudging over to the door and reluctantly unlocking it and letting it slide open with a low hiss, the banging finally ceasing. I couldn’t look him in the face, empty and ashamed it took threats to get me to open the door. So I stared dully at his boots and took in his scent as he grabbed the front of my shirt and dragged me back inside. I stumbled clumsily along with as he sat me on my bed and stood in front of me. I kept my gaze down towards his knees, the smell of nicotine wisping off his body in a way that told me he very recently had been smoking, no less than an hour ago most likely. Smoke and city is what filled my room. There was only a beat of silence before he spoke.
“ Look at me.” I lifted my head and stared at his chest and his crossed arms, unwilling to look him in the eyes. I couldn’t bare to see what kind of disappointed look he likely had on his face. Perhaps I didn’t want to see my reflection in his eyes, see the sickly, disgusting and bony figured girl with greasy hair and dark circles under dulled eyes and sallow cheeks. I heard the slight growl that rumbled from the back of his throat in warning and I briefly wondered if I would be forced to look him in the eyes. His arms uncrossed and I prepared myself for anything.
Anything except for two big plastic grocery bags filled with fast food bags and orders was dropped onto my lap, the contents still hot. I blinked slowly once, twice, and finally got enough courage in my confusion to look up at his face. When I did I was a little startled.
“ Eat. And you aren’t moving until those bags are polished off understand me?”
He looked visibly angry, eyes narrowed and mouth locked in a fearsome scowl with eyebrows furrowed. But his eyes were soft and worried and it took me a minute to realize worry was what was making his scowl so harsh. He crossed his arms across that broad chest again and I realized he was in his work gear, all the way down to the guns strapped to his thighs. All he lacked at the moment was his helmet and domino mask, his dark hair messier than usual and the white streak falling between his eyes. We had a staring contest and in those pupils I saw myself, I saw the shell I had become and it made me sick, breaking me briefly from the depressive haze.
How the hell had I let myself fall this far, this deep?
We didn’t speak until he grunted, eyes narrowing more in a way even those concerned blues didn’t weaken the glare as he spoke gruffly.
“ You better start eating before I start just shoving it down your damn throat.” I knew he would too. He wasn’t fucking around, I didn’t doubt he’d follow through with any threats made. Slowly I looked down at the pile of food and reached for the first bag, pulling it open and blinking fast as fresh tears stung my eyes.
It was from our favorite diner, and it was my usuals two cheeseburgers and large lightly salted fries with a second order of fat steak fries and fried pork strips. He’d even gotten all the little sides I enjoyed with it and I looked back up at him with a pained look. Maybe that look made him relax because his expression softened slightly, his voice quieting to something gentler.
“ C’mon now...I brought you all your favorites, now start eating...it’s been three days and your body cant handle that. We can talk after.” My shoulders slumped as all the tension stored in my body dissipated a little as he continued to speak, like a tightly pulled strong finally cut loose.
“ Kid I’m not mad at you. No one is. So just eat the food and then we’ll figure shit out, just like we do on any other visit.” I think the tears started falling because his face got blurry and there was warmth in my face. If I did start crying he didn’t say anything, just nodded at the bag. I gulped and slowly but surely pulled out one of the burgers and slowly took a bite, struggling a little to swallow it with a throat that was closing up from emotions. Once I did though my hunger kicked me hard and I began devouring the food, one bag after another.
It took me about a half hour to finish both plastic bags but I did, followed by slamming through at least two water bottles and one thick milkshake that almost made a mess. Jason simply watched over me as I ate from his spot in front of me. The silence was almost soothing, not painful as it had been before. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand as I looked back up at him and we made eye contact.
“ So are you going to tell me what happened? Really happened?” I broke his gaze to stare towards the floor as the acidic shame began to creep back over me. He sighed.
“ C’mon kid just let it out already. Who am I to judge? So why don’t you trust me like you USED to and tell me?” Those words shot through my heart and head.
I...I wasn’t trusting him...trusting anyone...I…i...
It was like Jason opened a flood gate.
It all came spilling out with a new surge of tears and mid sentence cracking sobs, my body physically heaving from the intensity as it all came out. All the months of insecurities and pain and doubts and fears and comments and negativity and hate and bullying came rushing out like a tidal wave and Jason took to all, listening to everything without a single word as I let everything out and let myself break down completely, wails and sobs replacing words eventually. I felt him shift and kneel in front of me, felt big strong sturdy hands grip my shoulders to steady me and keep me anchored as I buried my face into my hands and gasped out cries and pained wailing yowls that filled the room and spilled out of it. I vaguely remember the sounds of multiple hurried footsteps coming towards the door but I didn’t care. All I felt was Jason’s hands on my shoulders and his steady, continuous heartbeat in my ears as well as he strong breathing. One set of footsteps dared to enter the room and hurry over, only stopped by Jason’s calm voice.
“ Let her get it out, its the only thing that’ll help.” The footsteps stopped and eventually the wails faded into blubbering whimpers and whines and hiccups, constantly sniffling. I lifted my head to look at him through blurred eyes and got one brief sight of Dick standing behind Jason that sent me into a whole new wave of sobs.
God I’ve been nothing but selfish and now I’d fucking hurt Dick again even when I swore I’d never do that again and i--
I let out a high pitched whine that turned into pathetic blubbered and wailed apologies. Over and over like a broken record I couldn’t stop apologizing to them for everything even parts that weren’t my fault  in any way I still apologized for it I just couldn’t stop. Jason’s grip on me tightened only slightly before slipping away and for a single moment I was terrified I’d annoyed him with all the apologies and was about to add that to my list of them when two strong arms wrapped around me and and Dick’s scent surrounded me.
“ Shh shh shh shhh….shhh Gracie its ok now shh shh its ok I got you its not your fault…” I sniffled and wailed out more sobs and begs for forgiveness as I clung to him like he was a life preserver. And at that moment he was. He hugged me tighter and practically cradled me into his chest stroking my hair as he murmured reassurances, assuring me I was well forgiven and it wasn’t my fault. Everyone got insecurities especially when facing so much negativity. How I was so strong for fighting it for so long regardless. But it was ok to not always be strong and be able to handle it. That he was there and it was ok now. It took awhile but eventually all my noise quieted down to sniffles and hiccups and the occasional whimper as my trembling and heaving finally eased away into a limp tiredness. I felt exhausted but in a way different than the past couple days. I felt lighter and the more Dick spoke gently the lighter and more relaxed I felt,all the pain easing as he banished every dark thought one by one.
“ You ARE a hero Gracie.”
“ you aren’t a skeleton or a scarecrow or a twig.”
“ You are not too bony.”
“ You’re beautiful.”
“ You aren’t sick and you don’t need any doctors.”
“ You’re ok. The way your body works and retains weight naturally is not your fault.”
“ You’re only thirteen you’re still growing kiddo.”
“ I was scrawny and thin until I was at least sixteen Gracie its not that uncommon.”
“ You do NOT have to hold yourself to stupid human beauty standards.”
“ You’re beautiful to us, that’s all that matters.”
“ You’re ok, you have us.”
Each and every statement cleared my mind and I slumped against him with tears still falling down my cheeks. His hand carefully cupped the back of my neck in a soothing gesture to ease the wolf side of me, adding a very small amount of pressure to ensure the sense of security and safety the movement brought. I whispered out a hoarse thank you, my throat sore and raw but already beginning to heal. He smiled into my hair and I let my eyes slip shut in contentment. I felt...stabilized, as if the whole world had been constantly tilted dangerously under my feet for months and now it had finally been returned to normal, balancing me once again.
I felt a second, no technically third, hand tangle itself into my thick and greasy hair and ruffle it affectionately, fingers tangling themselves in the dark chestnut locks.
“ We’re always here for you kid. Whether you like it or not. You can be honest and confide in your inner circle Gracie. We aren’t going to look at you any differently...so next time don’t keep your mouth shut.” My nerves settled and I leaned into his hand with a loud hiccup, making him snort. I looked up and saw both older men smiling down at me, both with their own kind of soft expressions. I rubbed my eyes and wiped my nose and smiled back shakily, feeling like everything was going to be ok for the first time in a long while.
I learned a few things a few hours later, after I’d fallen asleep in Dicks arms and woke up on the couch out in the Tower’s game room with Garfield and Jaime looking after me. My head was resting on Garfield’s leg and he had his elbow rested on my upper arm comfortably as he and Jaime played some kind of two player video game, keeping their voices lower than usual to be considerate of me sleeping. Opening my eyes was difficult as they felt dry and crusted and stung from crying so much. But my throat was no longer sore. When they saw I was awake they paused the game and and told me they were happy I was up, as I had been out cold for at least a solid couple hours. That was when I learned the first thing : Dick and Kori had informed the team of the incident at the restaurant after the first day I stayed locked up in my room, and Garfield had let it slip in his rage that he thought I had finally stopped getting those comments, and confessed that I’d been getting bullied and harassed about my appearance online for months. What I found out was all those months what I failed to notice was Garfield fighting back on my behalf every chance he got. He defended me, constantly called people out for harassment and even worked on getting some of the worst and most aggressive ones banned. For months he’d been do it as relentlessly as he could, filling his own social medias with both our pictures and his constant defense and positivity towards me to fight it back. It got lost in my own comment section so I stupidly didn’t realize. It warmed my heart knowing he’d kept my back even when I never noticed or mentioned it, though he waved it off and just gave me his big old smile telling me it wasn’t that big a deal,
“ After all, you’d do the same for me in a heartbeat!” And he wasn’t wrong. But I still hugged him tight in thanks anyway, an embrace he happily returned as he warned me next time I lied about being harassed there’d be hell to pay.
I assured him there wasn’t going to be a next time anymore and for the first time in months finally wholeheartedly meant it.
The second thing I learned was Jaime told me during those first two days I was locking myself away Damian had gone back to the restaurant and used Bruce’s name to hunt that guy that had been harassing me down and gotten a few hefty harassment charges and minor endangerment charges slapped onto the guy, throwing in a sob story of how I was now in emergency care in the hospital because of him. I knew he didn’t throw his last name around often, didn’t exactly like having to do so to be taken seriously. The fact he did for me…
I had a lot more feelings for Damian after that knowledge.
The third thing I learned was that the only reason Dick and Kori hadn’t come by to check on me yesterday was was because they spent the entire time hunting for Jason to get his help with getting me out, and when they DID find him he stormed for the tower and made it there before they did somehow, he was that angry.
As they were telling me this and retelling a very tense video call between Nightwing and Batman during the second day Damian came in in his full Robin attire, regarding us stoically. When I saw him I stood and the room quieted as I approached him, the both of us observing each other. When we stood a foot apart I stared into his masked eyes quietly and he looked into my tired eyes. I saw his mouth start to open to speak and my body lurched forward without me, hugging onto him tightly.
“Thank you...you didn’t have to do that for me thank you thank you thank you…” He was quiet and I was about to let go and move away when I felt his arm come around me and grip the back of my shirt, returning the embrace. Neither of us was at a point that we were really physically affectionate by any means but my heart swelled when he hugged me back, leaning his head against my own and allowing me to bask in the warmth of his arms and his scent. When I felt him roll his shoulders I took that as my cue and slowly pulled away, gently pressing a kiss to his cheek as I did before retreating back to give him his space.
I think I saw his cheek flare pink but I’ll never say for sure because that would mean admitting just how red my own cheeks were.
I’d love to say that after that everything ended happily and perfectly and things went great forever and ever. But I cant, life doesn’t work like that.
But things did get better.
I was under heavy supervision several weeks, with almost stricter watches on my food intake to make sure I didn’t try to over eat or try to force weight gain. Bruce had me stay with him and Damian for a few weeks as well to make sure I didn’t slip back into that dark place. It was a bit smothering at times...but in all honesty I welcomed the smothering because I knew it meant how much they all cared. And staying with Bruce again...it brought up my mood believe it or not. Being in the manor brought back happier memories of my childhood and seeing the man I considered a fatherly figure more often perked me up. Plus I got to see Tim a lot more than usual in those few weeks, a perk and joy all in itself as he kept me company when he wasn’t too busy with his work. Tim was also the one who disabled all comments on my social medias one calm rainy evening in the lounge. I was grateful and he patted my head after as he read his case files. I think I might’ve fallen asleep against him, I cant say I fully remember. With each passing week I felt better and better. It took a long time for my self esteem and confidence to rebuild itself, but it got some jump starts. Perhaps the best part was two months later after a sparring session with Kori. She was giving me tips on striking with a staff when Dick and the big bad bat Brucie himself walked in.
“ Batman? Has something happened?” He shook his head and put his hand on my shoulder.
“ I’m going to borrow Gracie for a few minutes.” Dick gently took her hand and smiled as he whispered something to her as he led me out of the training room and placed a long bottle of what looked like red chewy vitamins into my hand. When I looked up at him confused he gave me some of the best news of my life.
“ These are specially created vitamins designed to accommodate your body’s inhuman metabolism. Tim helped me create them. They're designed to help regulate fats and carb distribution in your body and allow your body to hold onto and gain more weight without immediately burning it off. Take one every week and in a few months you should be up at least one weight class if not more as long as you keep to your regular healthy eating habits, just like you wanted. By Tim’s calculations within the year you should gain enough weight to have a thicker figure, though you may always retain this thinner “ballet-ques” figure...you will more closely resemble the figure of girls your age.” I stared up at him then at the vitamins and sniffled, fighting off tears of joy. All those weeks with Tim and his seemingly just curious questions about my species and their anatomy...the “ case files”...I owed Tim a lot for this.
“ It was Dick’s idea, after all that happened two months ago.” The softer tone brought a smile to my face and I nodded, barely restraining the urge to hug Bruce while he was in the cowl.
“ T-thank you...thank you this means more to me than you know…” He nodded and turned to leave but I caught the ghost of a smile on his face as he walked away.
And once he had I ran back into the training room and tackled Dick to the ground with a ecstatic howl, shifting mid leap into wolf form and licking his face in gratitude, making him laugh as he lazily tried to push away my affection.
I started taking them that day, and it took a few months for a noticeable difference to take place, but it did. My clothes and uniform stopped hanging off me like a walking scarecrow and I started developing the beginning of a feminine figure. I stopped trying to stuff my face too much at every meal and with every week after my self esteem raised back up a little higher. Maybe people saw it in the big, wide crooked smiles in pictures of me now, no matter who they were with. Or maybe the team saw it in the fact I stopped trying to hide my body in layers of clothes, walking around in my favorite tank top after missions instead of over sized sweatshirts and shirts, or the fact I didn't mind sudden pictures taken of me. Regardless it showed and in time I was more than happy to show off that confidence. Throughout it all Jason made near constant visits between jobs to make sure I didn’t have too major of setbacks and Dick stayed by my side as often as he could, supporting me and being a physical reminder almost that I was never alone.
And I didn't feel alone.
And one day as I was getting ready for an outing I paused in front of the mirror and looked at myself, looked at my slightly more filled out tank top and the small curve of slightly more defined hips and an actually fairly filled out stomach, a fuller figure to match my broader than normal shoulders. I slowly looked into my own eyes and after a moment I began to smile.
Somehow….I didn't hate looking into the mirror as much as I used to.
“ I do not look that bad. I look fine.”
“ Gracie c’mon you coming? C’mon the others are gonna leave without us!”
I smiled at my reflection wider before running off out of the room after Jaime’s voice.
“ Im coming!!”
I dont look that bad.
And now I could finally start to see that.
The end.
OOOOOOOH ITS FINALLY DONE ITS FINALLY DONE! 
Ive been working on this for three months now and it was really difficult to finish. Originally it wasnt supposed to be so angsty but...it turned out really angsty at the end.
@phantommoonpeople
@kid-crashed
@call-me-n0ni-chan
Tagging those I know will want to read this
I hope you all like it!!
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cielospeaks · 6 years
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imean i feeeeel like all my self insert ship based scenarios are wildly specific depending on the character? but i wonder if theres some overlaps?
obviously a lil basing it off appearance i guess? theres three i like that all are suit wearing glove wearing pretty boys but their personalities are like so wildly different? then theres moz i guess his musik is a suit????? idk
i guess in general i usually see it not being a really hateful/spiteful relationship. constantly roasting someone would be so tiring and make me so anxious i dont think id enjoy it very much. thats not to say theres no tsun tsun and slow burn bc that i can definitely see, esp on my part lol. and also on the opposite end its not mushy gooshy lovey dovey all the time. its not i think ever that sorta “everyone loves me im so perfect” sorta thing, where either of us think of everything revolving around us and continuously boosting our own egoes. i mean tbh moz is an egotist but hes also super sweet and caring towards others which ppl tend to forget bc he acts self centered and childish? but its moz what do u expect lol. anyways what i mean to say is its not gonna be all cutesy and self obsessed, even moz whos definitely the most egotistical of the bunch isnt the type thatd wait on my every move trying to please me, hed do what he likes and try to make me happy w it without compromising himself. and the others too. none of us are and should be “serving” the others, its not a sort of instantly falling in love and devoting ourself to that person sorta thing. i mean tbh hans might try that and im like “sweaty no ur important too”
nooooow that thats out of the way the more positive things? i think all of us in different aspects and to different degrees have stuff were struggling w emotionally, some the same as me and some different, and it makes me happy to think of myself helping them. after all they help me w my struggles and id like to return the favor. so like i guess i like em a lil angsty? but like at the same time i dont think its a necessity. like moz for instance, tons of the fanbase turned on him in s2 when he was more cheery and happy go lucky, but idk it never felt like he changed that much? or at least not unexpectedly? hes mozart hes gonna make fart jokes whaddya expect. like angst and problems is definitely something that draws me to these guys but i dont want them to be consumed by them. i want them to get better from them and live their lives happily.
i guess physically theres not much besides the aformentioned suits and gloves thing lol. and moz is proof its not a requirement for me to thirst after u. you can dress like a fashion disaster gremlin and ill still want ur cutie bootie. i mightve said i dont like to have my faves doting on me mindlessly but i like to think theyd all at least be a lil supportive about my hair. like its silly but ive gotten attacked and shamed by so many different ppl bc of it that im not rlly insecure? but i do definitely kinda crave being said nice things to about it i guess?
idk on a tangent bc i feel like indulging moz for sure knocks off any doubts and loves playing w it. he does that silly thing where he sticks my hair on his mouth like a mustache and were both cracking up. sacchan is more elegant about it, but he looks serious and is like “who do i need to kill” and im like “sacchan no!” we definitely wear matching half ponytails tho its cute af. and sometimes we mess w each others’ bangs. like when theres a leaf in our hair and stuff. schuu is super sweet and is shook af that anyone would be that mean. like boi ppl are way worse to u all the time ur too nice. but yea hed probably be too self conscious to do too much w my hair but maybe if i play w his hair enough he gets a bit more confident. idk if its cold ill put it around him like a scarf lol. hans at first is like “um... its nice” in regards when i ask him what he thinks of it? but eventually if i reveal my past w it and stuff he feels genuinely kinda bad, and this time his compliments dont seem as forced to him.
also for the sake of it past trauma if any of them found out about how i bleed a lot on my back. i feel like most all of them would be shocked at first tbh? but then try and help somehow. hans and schuu would be more sublte and shy about it, schuu just being really gentle whenever he has a hand on my shoulder and offering to carry backpacks n stuff, and hans would always be sure to give super genuine compliments when i wear anything showing my shoulders. the other two would be more forward, both moz and sacchan just like kissing the spots gently and massaging my shoulders. im like blushing like crazy at first but its so relaxing and it feels nice and i probably eventually start crying. at least w sacchan i want to do the same thing to him w his old scars so we can share in this sorta situation.
so yea fancy ish boys (or gremlin disasters) who have some angst but whatever extent or however often doesnt affect or change how much i love em. i think all of them are all in the side of “a genuinely nice person but bc of the writing/fanbase/actual hecked up rumors n shit irl they are disliked/the antagonist/’just a villain u cant like them!!1!!!11!!!’“ which rlly stinks but it doesnt change my feelings. and tbh i think theyre all kind people despite that theyre not perfect saint angles all the time. moz can be insensitive even if he doesnt mean it, and selfish, and not care about others (but at the same time he cares so hecking strongly for others, even strangers and animals hes just met, and he throws himself wholeheartedly into helping them, and hes emphatic as heck, even to ppl he dislikes), sacchan has done some hecked up stuff, especially in the fiction side of history (but his story is literally this fake fictional persona thats like a murder obsessed grim reaper being forced into the consciousness of an innocent person who was actually a kind and generous person and a good friend, and in like the shitty afterlife bc of this hes had to think of that person as dying when he did first, even tho hes been shown to still care deeply about others even as the grim reaper persona, like staying behind in lb1 rather than go w the protag, in order to bring music to an entire world of people that were going to die and be deleted from history and the multiverse itself basically), hans is literally the “villain u cant like him”, tries to decapitate the “protagonist” and according to the perspective of the protagonist and the spinoff works is incapable of love and outright lied to and manipulated her (despite the fact he never directly lied and instead said vague statements that she interpreted as him wanting to smash bc she cared only about smashing him and not his actual personality or life or anything, despite the fact the “protagonist” was responsible for possible murder and definitely sabotage of an entire like prolly at least 1000 people, and left them to die in a complete and unexpected climate change that could have easily led to more death and hindrance if he wasnt there to do something, despite the fact he gives a damn about the people and animals of this goshforsaken city when literally no one else does, especially not the main characters we’re supposed to root for), and schuu is hated for his rap outfit and for being clingy and getting in the way of ships (which can u blame the man for wanting a lil bit of companionship its basically a frankenstinian story of the creator abandoning the creation but the icing on the cake is said creator abandoned him while leaving w two of his peers, and even the others that were created w him all ignore him 90 percent of the time and treat him like shit 99 percent of the time, and whats more is hes got not just that rejection but the memory of being rejected in a past life 200 yrs ago by his teacher he admired in regards to his predecessor he admired, and yet he still manages to be so hecking positive about everything, seeing good in even super mundane things like the sounds of pot stickers frying, he praises people genuinely about even those mundane things, hes super down to befriend like anyone even tho hes super awkward at it, absolutely loves and throws himself into wholeheartedly new music genres and fashion and tries his damndest even if he sucks at it, he even finally gets the courage up to tell his now rival that he admires the painful reasons hes been agonizing on this for so long, and hes super willing to help others even at the expense of himself)
sooooo tldr i like these disliked/antagonistic boys bc i feel like treating em like how theyre treated by the fandom mostly is super unfair.
i feel like theyre all the sorts id love to open up about myself with, in return if theyre comfortable w it id like to hear about them too. theyre the sorts id wanna plan outings to do shit they like, or show them shit i like.
like can u imagine if sacchan was hyped as heck to go to a tour of a sweets factory? or even just the cafe of it? hes so surprised hearing about all these different desserts and we get a big sample platter or something and he just looks so wide eyed and happy trying each of them. maybe marie and/or bunyan and/or ibaraki go along to help w the sweets. and theres a piano there and i ask someone in the staff if sacchan can play it, and maybe he does and its a total hit. everyones listening so happily and enthusiastically. or going w schuu to a big concert festival in the summer? ive only been to bluegrass ones but hed probably love going to a rap or reggae one and id love to go to it w him. i bet itd be crowded and filled w music everywhere, and itd be so much fun exploring it w him. wed probably end up jamming somewhere. schuu is smiling and looks so intently at every performance and its just such a beautiful look i love my bestie. hans and i go to a museum and its super quiet and stuff, im not completely sure if hes enjoying it and am so nervous but then he asks what im listening to and we do the cliche earbud sharing shit. when we get to the swords and armor section both of our faces light up and we both rush forward, breaking out of the earbuds and both get super embarassed by it. scooter from the corner guard post: just kiss already! or like modern au and hans has a fencing match or something i go to it and cheer him on so much! he shows me the moves afterwards. and then he wants to go to one of my concerts or something. its cute af. or like not modern au and i go to his fancy prince meetings n stuff, and if any of his family talk shit i show up and intervene in a subtle way. we go on a day off to explore the town, and theres a concert and im hyped as heck so hans just smiles and says we can go to it. its cute af too i hope hed enjoy it too. and gosh moz where to even begin w fartman bestboy. we go on all the best dates even something as mundane as going and doing errands on a weekend afternoon is a date bc moz has no impulse control and an hr in we’re at a fancy cafe bc moz was chatting w one of the waitresses and somehow got us reservations. even tho hes flirty af hes really cheery and is like “this is my cute gf!” to everyone about me and im just like blushing like crazy. we eventually finish the errands, idk maybe he keeps getting distracted and im like “moz if you can make it through all the errands today on your own ill give you a kiss” and like its not even a first kiss weve kissed before right but hes still so hyped for it, his eyes get all alert and his face gets serious and we finish all the chores quickly, then its early evening and were in a quiet park gazebo or something and he leans in w a flirty look under those long eyelashes like “did i do good? can i have that reward now?” im blushing like crazy but i give him a kiss, hes earned it, hes rlly gentle and sweet, cupping my face w his hands as mine run to his back and its a really sweet kiss? idk ive never really kissed much if at all so i dont rlly know how it works lol
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