#what can we expect in the second half of the show???? 👀

[britcision]

OKAY FRIENDOS

This chapter fucking fought me, not least because I wasn’t actually sure what exactly Danny wanted out of meeting Waylon… and then I realised that was because Danny wasn’t sure either

I did consider just letting this one run long and posting in two parts when all was said and done, but this was where I’d have had to break the chapter in two for Tumblr anyway, and it’s actually a really good place to end… so one more chapter for Waylon!

And then tumblr mobile decided not to let me fucking paste the chapter in, and I am fucking DYING with the laggy piece of shit that is the mobile website. I crave death. Let me join the boys.

First Chapter and AO3:

Previous Chapter:

——————

A Good Excuse To Be A Bad Influence 

Jason wasn’t exactly expecting to roll up to Danny’s dorm to thumping stripper music, and yet as he turned off the bike… that was definitely what was happening. 

Flicking the visor up, he soon caught sight of the cause, a visibly frazzled Danny hurrying over. His pocket seemed to be having an independent party that Danny himself was not invited to. 

“I have sinned against the almighty Tucker and am being punished for my crimes with an endless loop,” he explained flatly without being asked. 

Jason snorted, reaching back to unhook the new helmet from the back of the bike and hand it out. 

“Oh? And what did you do to upset his highness?” He teased, a smile tugging across his lips in spite of himself. 

In spite of the certain knowledge that Tim would absolutely be latching onto this form of punishment the second he found out. 

He’d not really felt like smiling since he got in last night, yet the second he saw Danny his anger eased. 

Didn’t hurt that the pit was practically vibrating in smug satisfaction, clearly appeased that he also wouldn’t let them be kept apart. But there was still an open happiness all Jason’s own in watching his new friend suffer. 

Danny sighed, pulling out a heavily wrapped sock-sausage that eventually contained his phone, and scrolled to show Jason some messages. 

Jason scanned through them quickly, because the music was fucking loud entirely unmuffled, then passed the phone back to be reburied. 

“You knew what you were doing,” he told Danny entirely unsympathetically, and Danny snickered. 

“Sometimes he needs to be told when he’s being a dramatic bitch. So were you there for the whole,” he waved a hand vaguely, the other stuffing his phone back into his pocket. 

Which meant Jason had to think about the cave again. And the phone call he’d gotten an hour after ignoring Bruce’s summons. 

:::

Jason was actually on his way to bed on time for once in his life, the early end to patrol and lack of crime lord duties giving him a chance to get a full five hours sleep. 

He should have known he wouldn’t get lucky two nights in a row; Constantine wasn’t around to distract Bruce anymore. 

He’d contemplated not answering. Contemplated trying not to shoot Bruce in half an hour if the fucker showed up at his window. 

The pit growled. 

It was the worst thing he’d ever heard. The worst thing he’d ever felt. And he did feel it, vibrating in his very bones. 

It sent shivers creeping up and down his spine, muscles tensing as if to run away from something inside him. 

He answered the call, hoping it wouldn’t show in his voice. 

“What.” Flat, unfriendly. Not encouraging conversation. 

“You didn’t come to the cave.” B’s voice was equally flat, but in his case it sounded like a condemnation. An accusation. 

Jason gritted his teeth. 

“I have shit to do in the morning. Make it quick,” he snapped, giving his bed a glare it definitely didn’t deserve. 

His pillows had never done anything to hurt him. 

There was a momentary pause before B audibly decided not to push it. 

Good. 

Jason was in a mood to bite. 

“We have intel on the Infinite Realms. I’ve sent the report. You need to stay away from Danny Fenton, for your health,” B said, still cold, still clinical. 

Like he didn’t care. Like what Jason wanted didn’t matter. 

Jason’s grip tightened and the phone case cracked. 

“Yeah, no. Fuck off.” He spat the words, adding “get new phone” to his list of chores for the morning. 

He’d been doing so well with this one. Of course B had to ruin it. 

At least the old man didn’t seem surprised by his reaction. 

“Jason. It… he. His abilities may affect your condition,” he said slowly, sounding tired. Old. 

The pit snarled, sensing weakness, and Jason kinda wished he was still lost in its rage. Back when he was, it was easy just to hate those moments. 

B showing signs of humanity fucking hurt. 

“He is. He’s making it better,” he shot back, brooking no argument. 

“We don’t know that, Jason. Please, just… just for a few days. Until we can talk to the League, understand what he’s doing to you.” 

Was. 

Was that Bruce begging? 

It froze something small and soft in Jason’s chest, stuck him in place. And did nothing to stop the flood of icy rage from filling him up. 

Filling his chest, crushing his lungs, making it hard to breathe. Because of course, anyone and everyone else’s judgement was worth more to the man than Jason’s. 

Begging Jason to listen to him, when he would never, ever, fucking ever listen to Jason. When it didn’t fucking matter if Jason begged. 

“And why the fuck would the League know better than a doctor from the Realms?” He finally snapped, ignoring the way his throat tightened. 

There was a long silence. 

“A doctor?” Bruce asked softly, his voice still so flat and emotionless that only his kids could have read the confusion. Jason rolled his eyes. 

“Danny brought me to a doctor. I’m gonna be fine,” he ground out reluctantly, part of him resenting Bruce’s constant insistence on knowing everything. 

But… well. If it got the guy off his fucking back. 

There was a long silence, one that Jason was fully aware B was likely spending working this new information into his latest paranoid fantasy. 

Jason seriously considered just hanging up and going to bed. He was about to do it when Bruce spoke again. 

“Would this doctor be willing to speak to the League?” And there it was again, Batman voice, clinical and distant and always, always fucking suspicious. 

Jason rolled his eyes harder. With emphasis. Willing to be interrogated by first the Justice League and then separately also goddamn Batman. 

Actually, now that he thought about it, he was pretty sure B wouldn’t get anywhere with Frostbite. Frostbite took his work seriously and was, yeah, king of a full realm of yetis. 

None of Bruce’s pointed silences, menacing looming, or vague growls would bug the guy who got Danny through Fucked Up Ghost Puberty. 

(And would probably be helping Jason through his own Fucked Up Ghost Puberty… joy of joys.) 

It might actually be fun to see him try. If just being here wouldn’t put Frostbite in danger, because hell fucking no that wasn’t happening. The guy may not be his king but Jason would still die first.

But of course, in all his paranoid bullshit about the Realms influencing Gotham, B had somehow conveniently missed what America was doing to the Realms. 

Like Jason hadn’t even done the full write up. 

“Not while the fucking League are required to hand him right to the US government for torture and experimentation. Which, by the way, did you read my report on the Anti Ecto Acts?” Jason asked sarcastically, doing his very worst fake concern. 

And again he was met with silence. Fuck, maybe Bruce hadn’t read it. Jason had dropped it in the day before all this gala bullshit had started, and it had been a busy two days since. 

Maybe B deadass hadn’t put the pieces together.  Might as well hammer it home for him. 

“You know, the one that says you, me, Cass, and Damian are all non-sentient because we’ve been exposed to the pits?” Jason added, eyes narrowing. 

Which wasn’t technically true, since it was the resulting liminality and ability to process ectoplasm that made them count, but Bruce didn’t need to know that yet. 

Finally he spoke again, voice gruff and clipped. 

“I’m looking into it. But for now, Jason, please-” he said again, the cover of Batman beginning to slip. 

But Jason was done. No fucking chance Bruce was giving him orders when he hadn’t even bothered asking for Jason’s opinion. 

He wanted to spout off about dangers of the Infinite Realms after talking to some wet paper bag of a man who hawked his soul like it was a pokemon card. Hard pass. 

And even after hearing that Jason knew what was going on a damn sight better than Bruce did, he still wanted to push him around? 

Fuck that. 

“Sorry B, legally non-sentient, guess I can’t be blamed for my actions,” he drawled, then turned his phone off and dropped into bed. 

He had a lot of shit to do before picking Danny up in the morning. 

:::

Jason shook his head, partially to clear it but also in answer to Danny’s question. 

“Hell no. Tim told me he was being a paranoid old fuck again so I went to bed,” he growled, a little surprised by the sudden rush of anger the memory brought. 

It must have been strong enough that Danny noticed it, because he could feel Danny’s worry too. 

He sucked in a sharp breath, pushing the anger back down. He still hadn’t turned his phone back on. 

Actually it might still be beside the bed in his apartment. It didn’t really matter. 

Danny took the new helmet from him, leaning up against Jason’s side in a soft wave of comfort-sorry-amused. 

Amused? 

Before he could ask, Danny had turned the helmet over to look at the visor. 

“So I’m guessing, from what we talked about in the car, what Tucker told me, and what you’re not telling me, that Bruce thinks you should be far, far away from me?” He asked innocently. 

The pit fucking growled again, raising the hair all along Jason’s neck, and Danny trilled soothingly to it. 

Even knowing what to expect, the sudden and complete lack of rage still made Jason shiver. 

“Thanks,” he said before Danny could apologise. 

For managing Jason’s unstable emotions for him when Jason couldn’t. Although… 

If they actually were the pit’s all along, that’d explain why it had been so hard to push through. It was weird that the idea was actually starting to feel comforting. 

Danny gave him a slightly relieved grin, nudging back. 

“Yeah, well, not like you recently bound your entire soul and afterlife into keeping me safe. Not like either of us know what the fuck that’s gonna mean,” he said, all flippant and glib, and… 

Yeah, he’d almost have a point, except Jason had put himself on the chopping block to keep others safe since he was thirteen years old. 

He shook his head, chuckling softly. 

“Oh, I didn’t get on with the old man long, long before you came into the picture,” he assured Danny with a dry smile, rolling his eyes. 

Danny snickered, spinning the helmet and looking “innocently” up to the sky. Whatever the fuck came out of his mouth next, Jason was ready for it to be a doozy. 

“Yeah, well… if I’m the bad influence boyfriend your dad wants you to stay away from…” and that sentence alone almost made Jason choke, without even the kicker, “can I drive your motorcycle?” 

At least it stopped Jason from coughing. He shot Danny a sudden suspicious glare. 

“Do you even know how to drive a motorcycle?” He asked with a full awareness of what the answer would be. 

Danny shrugged, giving Jason his best “innocent” smile. 

“Definitely motorcycle adjacent?” He offered sweetly. Jason shook his head firmly. 

“Nope.” 

“Oh come on!” Danny pouted, tossing both hands into the air, his new helmet held tight despite the dramatic gesture. 

Jason shook his head again, in case Danny had missed the point. 

“Nnnnnnnope,” he drew the word out, popping the p, and Danny rolled his eyes at him. 

“It’s not like a crash would kill either of us anyway,” he huffed, and while he may have that kind of confidence in his ghost powers, Jason’s core hadn’t formed yet. 

He wasn’t about to fucking risk it. 

“That doesn’t mean it’ll be a fun experience. They’re called “donor-cycles” for a reason,” he told Danny archly, definitely not moving from astride his girl while this was “up for debate”. 

Glanced back to find Danny staring at him, clearly holding back a snicker. 

“That sounds waaay more like something the Disapproving Dad Who Doesn’t Like His Son’s Hot New Motorcycle Boyfriend would say,” he pointed out, rising on tiptoe to rest his chin on Jason’s shoulder. 

Jason licked him. Mostly on the cheek. 

It was a stupid impulse, the kind he usually didn’t even get with anyone but Dick, and he might have regretted it immediately if it hadn’t fucking worked. 

Danny jumped back, cheeks flushing, and while Jason was pretty sure his own had pinked up, well, behind him Danny couldn’t see that. 

But he pulled on his helmet just to be doubly sure. 

“Yeah, well, protecting your ass includes not letting you kill us both in a fiery wreck. Or maim us,” he added before Danny could voice the protest Jason could clearly taste. 

Silence from behind him, and then Danny sighed and pulled his helmet on, climbing aboard behind Jason again. Who decided to throw him a bone. 

“I’ll teach you how to drive it first,” he promised, and Danny cheered loudly, thrusting both fists into the air as they pulled out. 

Neither really noticed that Danny’s background music had changed to Radar Love. 

** 

When they’d finally dragged themselves to bed, Tim had offered to let Tucker use one of the manor’s nearly infinite guest rooms. 

They’d picked one out and everything, changed into pyjamas (Tucker borrowed an old pair of Dick’s), and sat on the bed in Tim’s old room talking about technology until they both fell asleep. 

Probably around 8am. 

Tucker hadn’t had a proper slumber party since leaving Amity Park, but he was kinda getting used to waking up tucked next to a still-sleeping Wayne adoptee when his phone buzzed around 10am. 

Foul treachery from Danny. As usual. 

Tucker barely woke up, hand crawling from the pile to rest against the PDA, and that was all he needed. His awareness slipped from the device to his phone, always linked. 

From his phone to Danny’s. Into Danny’s music app, where he picked a suitable vengeance even as he slipped back into sleep. 

Watched Danny through the phone as if it were a dream, easily filtering out the sounds of his own music as Danny flailed around, trying to turn the music off, trying to turn the music down, failing on all counts, and flailing his way out of the dorm. 

Down to meet Jason, his phone now buried in six layers of socks that did nothing to stop the music from being heard, or Tucker from watching. 

Tucker cranked the volume a little more anyway. The thought had to count for something. 

If Danny wanted to call him petty, well, Tucker Foley could redefine “petty” all on his own. 

Providing his friends with a semi-mocking soundtrack really was the least of his abilities; he was literally doing it in his sleep. 

**

Honestly, driving in Gotham wasn’t even all that exciting from Danny’s perspective. After being tossed around the GAV despite the seatbelts, a couple of cranky fellow drivers just didn’t register. 

If they hadn’t been going through the city, maybe going highway speeds it might have been different, but he’d kind of worked out how loud he had to be to be heard. 

By Jason snickering when he screamed at pedestrians. 

If they didn’t want to be screamed at they shouldn’t be trying to loom menacingly. 

Of course, that just meant now was the perfect time for him to use his new power for evil. Danny flipped his visor up, straining as high as he could to yell to Jason. 

“SO, THAT CONSTANTINE GUY?”

There was a sudden click in his ear and he jumped as Jason’s voice came through, quiet and definitely amused. 

“There’s a radio in your helmet, Danny.” 

Oh. 

News to fucking him, he was pretty sure that wasn’t standard in motorcycle helmets, but not from any lived experience. Johnny 13’s dead experiences were a little out of date. 

Poking around the sides of his helmet, Danny soon found a button. 

“Sweet. Looks like you finally forgot to mention something,” he teased, and heard Jason snort loud and clear. 

Didn’t have to hold the button to talk then. Good times. He’d get Tucker to take a look on the way home after he ecto infused it. For now he flipped the visor back down. 

“Looks like,” Jason agreed dryly, swerving them around a cluster of traffic. 

He wasn’t exactly sticking to the letter of the law, they were definitely half again over the speed limit, but they hadn’t gone on a sidewalk so it was nothing to a Fenton. There was even an empty slot in the lane he merged into. 

“So what about Constantine,” he prompted, and while it broke Danny out of his musings, it also reminded him of the exact thing he’d planned to do to make the trip more interesting. 

“Oh, I own his soul. Like, a dozen times over,” Danny chirped perkily, grip tightening just before Jason had to slam on the breaks to keep from hitting the car beside them. 

They sped off again before the sudden swerve caused comment, and passed a block or two in silence. Then Jason sighed. 

“Of fucking course you do that for everything and not just Mariokart.” He mostly sounded resigned, so Danny allowed himself a snicker. 

“What, it’s not like we’re gonna die. You’re even still on the road,” he dismissed easily, waving a hand to show just how unconcerned he was. 

Did not expect Jason to huff, reach back and grab his hand, and pull it back around himself. 

“I’m reconsidering teaching you to drive,” he told Danny flatly, and Danny pouted but took the hint and held on. 

“Oh come on, you can’t say that, you haven’t even seen me try!” Danny protested. 

Jason made an unimpressed noise. 

“Your town’s weather includes reports of if your parents will be on the road.” 

Which, by the way, was totally unfair of him, since he’d never have known that if Danny hadn’t told him. Or Tucker hadn’t told Tim. 

Same difference. 

“My parents, not me,” Danny argued anyway, shrugging, “and it wasn’t their driving that killed me.” 

This time he was close enough, snugged tight to Jason’s back, that he felt the guy’s whole body shiver with a loud and rumbling growl. The same growl he’d heard and soothed earlier. 

Something had really riled up Jason’s pit ghost. 

Danny hummed another quick soothing trill, stroking his aura gently across Jason and his extra passenger. 

Sort of trying to do it unobtrusively; he would actually really prefer that they didn’t fully crash. It kinda worked, in that Jason managed to unlock suddenly solid muscles enough for them to make the next turn. 

“Sorry,” Danny said quickly, kind of to both of them, “guess Pitty doesn’t like the death jokes today.” 

They passed another few buildings in silence, and Danny had definitely noticed by now that they weren’t heading for the manor. Didn’t matter so long as Jason knew where they were going. 

Danny waited him out, long enough that he almost wanted to make another joke and lighten the mood. Again though, Jason broke it first. 

“Pitty.” He did not sound impressed. But he didn’t feel mad. More what the fuck just came outta your mouth. 

Danny gave him a quick squeeze, and almost felt the pit purr. 

It was kinda getting stronger the longer they hung out. Technically that probably meant that both cores were making progress. 

“Well, technically you probably get to name it, but until you come up with something I’m calling it Pitty,” Danny explained, and rather felt that Jason should be grateful. 

Unlike the rest of his family, Jason had seen the full list of how Jack Fenton named things. Danny preferred to think he took after his aunt. 

He coulda called it the Fenton Pit Friend or something. Really, it wasn’t hard to think of anything worse. 

From his aura, Jason now seemed to be intentionally ignoring him. 

Stewing in indignation-disbelief-confused-confused-confused. Well, that was his call. 

Anyway. 

“Back to Constantine though, I wasn’t kidding. I do actually own his soul,” Danny said casually, since they’d gotten distracted from his previous attempt to make the drive more interesting. 

For a moment he wasn’t sure if Jason would rise to the bait this time either, and then another sigh came over the radio. 

“Y’know, somehow, that’s the least surprising thing you’ve said. Man sells his soul so much everyone seems to have a chunk,” Jason grumbled, and Danny snickered. 

“Oh, pretty much. He’s the Caterpie of human souls. He never made a deal with me directly though,” he added quickly, without being fully sure why. 

He was pretty sure Jason wouldn’t jump straight to “Danny is a soul trader”, but honestly he’d gotten used to getting ahead of wilder trains of thought. 

“Oh? How’d you get twelve then?” Jason shot back, clearly warming back up to things. 

Mission accomplished. Danny grinned. 

“Well, previous Ghost King was in nappy time for a couple thousand years, but he had this whole thing about collecting souls to add to his army of thralls, so basically anyone could sign their soul over for a chunk of power. Real charmer,” Danny snorted, rolling his eyes. 

It was so far from the worst thing Pariah Dark had ever done, but so far it was definitely the longest lingering annoyance. 

“I got the impression,” Jason agreed in pretty much the same tone, prompting Danny to continue. 

Which. Yeah. Was more fun than thinking about the mountain of thrall contracts still awaiting their owner’s deaths, which the Observants were still fussing over. 

Nobody wanted more thralls, souls wiped clean of everything that made them, well, souls. Just unliving batteries. Even ghosts found them creepy. 

On the other hand, there was nothing the Observants loved more than rules. And the rules said a signed contract had to be honoured. 

Really they shoulda expected Danny to ask who the fuck signed for Pariah, since he was (again) in nappy time prison. He hoped nobody else died while they sorted that out. 

“Danny?” 

Ah. Yup, he did it again. Danny shook his head and sighed, kinda missing the wind in his hair. It kept him more present than the enclosed space of the helmet. 

“Sorry. So, John Constantine, clever bitch, wrote himself a contract that signed his soul over to the Ghost King, not Pariah Dark. Got through whatever screening was in place no problem, and now he’s my problem.” 

A problem that Clockwork had presented Danny with on his fucking birthday no less. 

That had been part one of the soul screening process; who was stuck with Pariah by name, and ho boy that was a depressingly long list… and still growing, though it had slowed recently. 

News of Pariah losing his crown was slow to spread, and frankly Danny himself could be doing more to help that, except. Well. 

Not taking the damn crown himself until he had to. Not wanting to give the creeps of the world anything to call him. 

There were a lot of good reasons, okay? And Clockwork had specially singled out Constantine’s contract and delivered it to Danny himself as a birthday present. 

“Well, that explains one,” Jason agreed with a snicker, pulling to a stop in front of the police station, “but what about the other eleven times?” 

Danny snorted a laugh, sliding off the bike and stretching. As much fun as hugging Jason at high speeds was, he didn’t like being still for too long. 

“Tax season,” he explained cheerfully, pulling off the helmet and looking around, “I guess we’re meeting Harley here?” 

Snickering to himself, Jason pulled off his own helmet and tucked it into the storage on the back of his bike. Danny passed it over, noting that Jason had also had to get a second little pod for the other helmet. 

He wasn’t gonna ask. Maybe they were in storage? 

“Yeah, we’re meeting Harley here. Better not to swing by the manor for a while,” Jason added, his expression souring. 

Which did make Danny feel a little bad actually. He didn’t want to cause trouble for Jason with his family… 

But before he could say anything Jason ruffled his hair roughly, shaking his head. 

“It’s not your fault, Danny. This kinda shit happens every other week, Bruce gets on his bullshit and I steer clear. He’ll calm the fuck down eventually and remember to mind his own business,” he explained dryly, nodding towards the doors. 

Danny hesitated before moving to follow. It felt true, he could feel Jason’s sincere-exhausted-familiar-still over it clear as day, it just. 

“I’m still sorry I wound him up though,” Danny finally decided, heading after Jason up and in. Jason who rolled his eyes and held the door open. 

“Danny. He winds himself up. You could be a literal angel and he would not fucking care. You couldn’t unwind him even if you miraculously found the key. We’ve all tried,” Jason said with a sigh, though at least the anger seemed to have burned off into just… 

Tired. 

Jason just felt tired. 

Probably cuz he was off fucking around with Cass last night, but Danny wasn’t about to call him out on it. 

Not when they’d just walked into the police station (ew) and the wild sight of Harley Quinn, hair in pigtails and dressed in her signature red and black, sat on the duty officer’s desk with a bat. Filing her nails. 

Total silence filled the room, broken only by the swing of the doors opening as Danny and Jason stepped through. 

The whole room was watching her in a kind of terrified awe, like she was a particularly dangerous bomb waiting to go off. Danny’d swear they weren’t even breathing. 

She looked up as the door opened, grinning broadly at the sight of them and waving in a large, exuberant gesture. 

“Oh, there’s my boys! Hey boys!” She called in obvious delight, and half the room flinched. 

Didn’t seem to matter that she hadn’t even been in Gotham for ages, let alone being her former roguish self. She had the kind of presence that left a lasting impression. 

No wonder Danny liked her. She coulda fit right in with his ghost friends. 

Maybe she’d come join them for fight club. 

** 

Pulling himself slowly from sleep just a little past noon, Bruce had to admit he was feeling better. The headache had dulled to a low throb but he felt clearer. 

More aware of himself, and after a glass of water, more like he could take on the day. 

It was far from his first concussion and he was well used to navigating the symptoms over the next few days. So long as he didn’t get any serious memory loss he wasn’t going to worry about it. 

He had far more serious things to worry about, but even they seemed more manageable after almost nine hours of sleep. 

Honestly… he wasn’t surprised that Jason hadn’t come to the cave. Hadn’t agreed to stay away from Danny when asked.  

It had felt like a reasonable request at the time, like the bare minimum of common sense. But they didn’t have that kind of relationship anymore. 

Jason didn’t trust him. Didn’t trust Bruce’s judgement, in how to deal with criminals or anything else. 

Jason hadn’t been the boy who’d looked to Bruce with such trust, such wonder and awe, even before he’d died. 

Sometimes Bruce wondered where he’d gone wrong. 

But there was no use dwelling on the past. Bruce would like to re earn Jason’s trust some day, but he wouldn’t ignore their present relationship. 

Jason wouldn’t trust that Danny was a danger to him without proof, so Bruce would find that proof, if it existed. Hopefully before Jason’s condition became proof itself. 

The first and most obvious step would be to consult the Justice League Dark at today’s meeting, and then make arrangements for this doctor from the Infinite Realms. 

He’d have to look into those laws Jason mentioned ahead of the meeting. Perhaps bring them up to Constantine, see how it might affect matters with the Infinite Realms. 

A bitter part of him mused that he wouldn’t be surprised if the magician was completely unaware of most international laws, let alone the ones of the various lands he travelled, but still. 

The man had been so adamant that the Infinite Realms were completely beyond their ability to handle. That they should cut and run at any cost. 

Bruce could hardly imagine he’d be pleased that the US had apparently declared its inhabitants the targets of its newest genocide. 

Of course, changing the laws and having them struck down would take time, but Bruce still hoped that the act of beginning might be enough. 

Enough for him to visit Jason’s doctor in the Realms or some other neutral ground, since the doctor couldn’t come here. 

Jason had said that he would be fine, not that he was already fine. Bruce wouldn’t have believed him if he had, not really; Jason hadn’t been fine since he’d been dunked in those damn pits. 

Their poison had stuck with him far longer than anyone Bruce had ever heard of. 

Hells, Bruce had had his own dunking. He could just barely remember the rage that had forced itself down his throat, into his lungs as he was brutally thrust back into the land of the living. 

He had controlled it, had mastered it quickly, and now it was nothing more than a faint scrap of memory. Even that was still enough to grant his deepest sympathy to Jason’s struggles. 

If the rage had never left him… 

But no, he decided, going through his morning routine like he was still the young playboy Brucie who never showed his face before 3pm. 

There was no point in indulging those thoughts either. He had mastered the pit’s fury, and it released him. For whatever reason, Jason hadn’t. 

And now they all had to deal with the consequences. 

Still, Bruce let himself hope for the future instead. 

If his children were right, if Jason was right… if Danny or this mysterious doctor from the Infinite Realms could help him with the pit rage… 

He might one day see that little boy again. The boy who looked at Bruce like he’d hung the stars, who could fly because Robin made him magic. 

There was nothing in this world or any other that Bruce wouldn’t give to see Jason whole again. To see him happy. 

The United States government were going to learn (again) what it meant to come between the Batman and the safety of his sons. 

The Justice League’s meeting would be in another four hours. He had plenty of time to do some research and amend their presentation. 

So long as Jason was right. 

And speaking of Jason… there was just one other thing he’d like to do this morning. Heaving a sigh while he had the privacy of his room, Bruce pulled up his phone again. 

He didn’t quite indulge himself as far as making a face as he punched in Constantine’s number, because concussed or not he was an adult. And he was going to need the man’s help. 

Surely Jason wouldn’t object to a single check in with a trusted practitioner? 

As the phone rang, Bruce once again cursed the circumstances that kept Zatanna off world. He was about 75% sure that Jason actually liked her. 

But maybe the extent to which Constantine annoyed Bruce would also cheer him up. 

The call went through, and Bruce snapped his wandering attention back. Maybe he’d take the rest of the day off after the meeting. Heal up a little more. 

Alfred would be proud. 

“Constantine. A moment of your time before the meeting?” It even sounded like a question, not a command. Sleep really had done him a world of good. 

**

Part of Jason wished he could say he was surprised that Harley had taken GCPD HQ hostage just by showing up, but he honestly wasn’t. 

Part of him wished he didn’t think that was exactly her intention, but… he didn’t particularly like lying to himself. Harley was fun. 

And got results, even if she also tended not to end lives. He could respect that. 

And promised not to rat him out to Danny, even if she made no promises about Waylon, who definitely also knew both his identities. 

That… Jason wasn’t really surprised by that either. They’d never talked about it, but Waylon had definitely known he was the second Robin for some time. 

A few of the rogues did, or at least assumed as much from the way the Batman would either obsessively chase or obsessively avoid him in mask. 

Jason personally preferred and egged on the side that thought Red Hood was Batman’s evil twin brother. Or clone. Mostly because Bruce hated them. 

Knowing civilian identities was a step beyond that Bruce would certainly never admit that more than one or two knew, but Jason had (slightly) less issues. 

It was kinda an open secret among the rogues who’d been around since the glory days; Bruce Wayne is Batman. As Danny so rightly said of Dick, the butts matched. 

(Jason was considering adding more padding to the body armour in his pants, if only to change the silhouette, because that was a fucked yet accurate identifier apparently.) 

Most of the rogues didn’t fucking care, Joker and Two Face especially, but it was something that no one talked about. 

And that they all specifically agreed to keep from Riddler for as long as possible. 

(It was his punishment for being obnoxious at trivia nights in Arkham; no one bothered to suggest banning him or asking him to behave.) 

For rogues like the Gotham City Sirens? Hadn’t been a secret since Bruce took off the mask for Selina. 

Killer Croc probably wasn’t technically one of the sirens yet (and wouldn’t that be fun?) but he hung out with Harley, and despite his size he wasn’t stupid. 

The only thing Jason was a little worried about was Waylon mentioning his current alter ego in front of Danny, but honestly the fact that they were at a police station would probably keep his lips closed. 

All vigilantes were illegal. 

Red Hood was illegal and a serial killer. 

And probably couldn’t get the silent and terrified reverence Harley currently held over the station even if he walked in with a rocket launcher. 

She beamed at them, hopping down off the desk with her bat over her shoulder. A little closer, Jason noted that this bat was also bedazzled, but in a different pattern from the one she’d had last night. 

Or the same bat, redone, but he wasn’t putting money on it. 

She hopped down off her desk and skipped across the room towards them, and Jason wished for half a second that he could command half as much menace doing something so… well, innocent. 

But no, he just put heads in a bag, that wasn’t scary apparently. Fucking Gotham. 

He obediently bent down for Harley to kiss his cheek, not wanting to be yanked around in the cop shop (even as a civilian), and still managed to be surprised when Danny also accepted a cheek kiss and then returned it. 

Harley squealed in delight and ruffled his hair, then pinched both Danny’s cheeks. 

“Awww, ain’t you all cute and cosmopolitan! So, shall we go see my big green bestie!” She declared happily, releasing Danny and turning back to lead the way out of the room. 

Didn’t go for the keys. Didn’t address the question to anyone who should have been leading them down. Just got going, the way Harley always did. 

No one moved to stop them. 

** 

Surprising precisely no one, Harley absolutely knew the way down to the cells at the GCPD. Not from a lotta personal experience, o’ course. 

Nah, Harley usually went from crime scene to Arkham back in the day, but she’d known people and busted people out of holding before. 

It had taken a couple real big favours to get Waylon kept here instead of shipped back to Arkham, but that was what favours were for. No one liked having a Harley-debt over their heads. 

And Brucie’s word was gonna get Waylon released on her recognizance, once she scooped some shivering copper out from under their desk. 

He’d have to actually behave this time though. No big bat-centric events, nothin’ above ground. 

Honestly… she might ask him ta head home. Being in Gotham wasn’t good for either of them. Too many old patterns and bad habits, and Waylon had been doin’ a real good job keeping his nose clean. 

If he wanted ta head back to Coney, they could get ‘im a ride. And if he didn’t, well, she’d have someone to watch the new show with.

Her two baby birds were following her like good little ducklings too, absolutely adorable. Although… she paused for a second, cocking her head. 

“Is there a reason we’ve got theme music?” She asked with a delighted giggle as the song clicked. 

It was a little muffled, but Styx’s Renegade? Ballsy choice for a trip to the cop shop. 

The question seemed to surprise both boys though, and then Danny sighed, reaching back to pat a weirdly bulging pocket. 

“Yeah, I upset my techno-god bestie this morning. Apparently my punishment is a soundtrack of my life,” he said dryly. 

Jason paused, a slight frown on his face as he listened too. 

“Wait, it changed? I thought you were on a loop?” He asked, and that was an interesting development. 

Danny just shrugged. 

“Yeah, he’s probably keeping an eye on us and changing it up when he thinks it’s funny. I think I know this song,” he added with a slight frown, brows furrowing as he listened. 

Jason listened a moment longer, then snickered and shook his head. 

“Tuck’s got good taste in music,” he said simply, and yeah, Harley remembered Tucker from dinner. Another lil cutie, all tucked up with Timmy in their own little world half the time. 

Damn good at Mariokart and Spiderheck too. 

Danny snorted and flipped Jason off. 

“Suck up.” 

And immediately the music changed, flipping straight to Pink’s Slut Like You, suddenly louder… although that mighta also been the song. 

Danny groaned as his pocket loudly declared that he was not a slut, and Jason laughed at him entirely unapologetically. 

“And that’s why I’m not the one with the soundtrack,” he declared smugly and Danny sighed, raising both hands in unequivocal surrender. 

“Yes, yes, I’m a bad and naughty boy and I’m getting my just punishment. Can we just get going?” He asked almost rhetorically. 

The music changed again, sultry twanging of a guitar before Lil Nas X began to sing Montero. It took Harley a moment longer to place it than the boys, both of whom now looked confused. 

“I can’t tell if he’s encouraging you or not,” Jason said finally, and Danny sighed. 

“Well I’ve pole danced into Hell before, so I’m taking it as a compliment either way,” he decided with a shrug, trying to shove what looked like an overstuffed sock deeper into his pocket. “I swear the volume shouldn’t get this loud.” 

“Joys of a touchy tech friend,” Harley opined with a snicker, glancing around to see if there were cameras Tucker could be watching from. She blew both she found a kiss, then spun to continue their quest. 

And realized that neither of the boys had followed her, both now watching her warily. 

“What?” She asked, frowning and turning to see if she’d stepped in something. Nope, just clean floors. 

“Danny’s sin was calling Tucker overdramatic,” Jason explained, and oh. Yeah, that explained the looks. 

Harley waved a hand cheerfully, deliberately brushing it off. 

“An’ now he’s givin’ ya life a soundtrack, so I dunno that he disagrees,” she said lightly, skipping back towards the stairs, “c’mon!” 

And when no new burst of music began to switch out Lil Nas, the boys got to following again, Danny grumbling about unfairness. 

Harley liked Danny. He had a refreshing lack of fucks to give, a good sense of humour, and he doted on Jason, who fucking deserved it. 

They’d be so good together, and Harley was gonna have the time of her life watchin’ them work that out. 

Which, now that she thought of it… 

“Hey, by th’ way, ya said ya didn’t wanna meet at the manor?” She prodded, turning to walk backwards down the steps to the cells, frowning at Jason, “what’d Brucie do now?” 

And watched the ease in Jason’s face freeze, muscles tightening, and Harley sighed. Yeah, a trip back to the manor was definitely in order. 

“Just his usual bullshit,” Jason grumbled, running a hand through his already wild helmet hair. Danny snickered beside him and gave her a broad grin. 

“Jason’s officially banned from hanging out with me,” he explained far too smugly, since there wasn’t a chance Jason would have listened to any Bruce-ban. 

But, he was beside the tall and handsome stud he had a crush on, so Harley wasn’t gonna argue. She grinned back at him, just as her foot nearly slipped on a step. 

Before the fall could fully start, she pushed off harder with the other foot, dodging both startled hands grabbing for her, and turned the fall into a backflip down the rest of the stairs. 

Taking gymnastics as a kid really should be a prerequisite for villainy. Especially with the Robins flipping around all over the place. 

She landed almost perfectly, stepping onto her back foot and then raising both arms and giving the boys a little bow. Then she sighed, resting her bat over her shoulder and mock pouting, tapping the side of her jaw. 

“I guess I’m just gonna have ta go back and give ‘im a lil percussive maintenance… bet he hasn’t been restin’ right since he got that concussion either. Maybe I’ll call Selina ta keep ‘im in bed for a week,” she mused. Jason mock puked. 

“I thought you wanted him to rest,” Danny snickered, earning himself a glare from his one true love. A consequence that did not phase him in the least. 

Harley laughed and waved a hand lightly, skipping ahead to get the door into the hall that held the actual cells while they descended the rest of the stairs. 

“Oh, she’s a big girl, Selina can do the work,” she teased, laughing louder when Jason groaned like his soul was being sucked out. 

There was a cop still sat behind the desk just inside the door, an older man whose stocky frame had started softening with age. 

He didn’t quite jump out of his seat as she entered, but dark eyes widened and ruddy skin paled when he saw her. Which, yeah, she had that effect on people. 

“Why are you here?” He demanded, voice only shaking a little. 

Harley gave him a sceptical once over. 

Not someone she’d run into personally, though probably on the force when she’d been active. Off the streets now, probably not far from retirement and trying to make it all the way there. 

Not a lotta Gotham cops did these days, in spite of the rampant corruption. Being in the Penguin’s pocket did sweet fuck all to protect ya when Scarecrow was having a hissy fit. 

This old bugger had probably joined back in the bad ol’ days when they could just ignore mob crimes, hassle the homeless, and look the other way if a situation got violent. 

These days between Gordon, the bats, and the increasingly dramatic rogues (among which she still counted herself even if Batsy didn’t, she had a reputation to uphold)? 

Lookin’ the other way wasn’t the protection it used ta be, and bein’ conveniently “late” to a crime scene didn’t help much either. 

This guy? Probably folded like cheap laundry at the first sign of trouble, but he’d stayed in place. That’d make her job easier anyway. 

Smiling sweetly at him, Harley strolled forwards and propped her bat on the floor, both hands on the handle as she leaned forward over it. 

“Pickin’ up a friend,” she told him sweetly, nodding to the line of cells down the hall, “Uber for Mr Waylon Jones?” 

The guy (Officer Perkins, said the name tag, but he’d not really proved himself memorable yet) swallowed visibly, hands shaking but still visible above the desk. 

Not going for a weapon. Not surprising. 

No one who’d seen a gun pulled on Harley before tended to try it themselves. Just like the Robins, she was a tough target. You had to be real sure. 

“Do you have the appropriate paperwork?” He rasped, a Gothamite accent still prominent despite the quiver. 

Harley raised an eyebrow, letting her smile go deadly sweet. 

“Would ya stop me if I didn’t?” She cooed, rocking forwards on her toes and grinning when his chair slammed back almost two feet. 

The shaking had progressed to a full body shiver, sweat dripping down a blotchy brow as he slammed a ring of keys on the edge of the desk, as close as he was willing to get. 

Harley scooped them up and straightened, tipping him a wink as she sauntered past. 

“Thanks bud! But yeah, I do actually have the paperwork, Judge Thompson’s gonna fax it all along this afternoon,” she told him brightly, twirling the ring of keys around one finger as she skipped back towards the cells. 

The judge’d fax it after she had another lil chat with Brucie. They’d cut things short last night, apparently too short for even their actual chat to finish sinking in. 

Gotta fix that. 

And remember to mention Waylon. 

And maybe see if he had any info on her own little issue. Though she might hit Barbara up for that first, bring some treats down library way. 

It was gonna be a busy day for ol’ Harley, but at least she got to spend time with the kids first. 

“Was that really necessary?” Jason asked with a raised eyebrow, following her down the hall with barely a glance at their shaking audience. 

“Necessary?” Harley asked sweetly, glancing into the first couple cells and skipping on. “No. Fun, yes!” 

“See this is why I like her,” Danny decided with a sage nod, and Harley shot him a wink, “she knows how to have a good time.” 

“I know how to have a good time,” Jason said immediately, and holy shit that was just sooooooo cute she nearly dropped the keys to go pinch his little cheeks again. 

Just all pouty and defensive and they weren’t even talkin’ about him! It was too much, Harley couldn’t stand it! 

“Yeah, and I like you too,” Danny replied in what he probably thought was a cool way, but no, that was just fucking adorable too. 

Too. 

Cute. 

Harley was gonna die. 

And maybe get herself a cool glowy transformation sequence apparently, which would be kinda cool. She’d always kinda wanted a magical girl moment. 

She could be their fairy-ghost-mother! 

And, to be fair ta Waylon, she had definitely gotten side tracked again. Almost forgot who she was here for. 

But really, it did not mean he had to make a grab for her when she almost walked right past his cell! She coulda done him an injury! 

He released her arm before the bat came down though, chuckling in that growly way of his and raising both hands. 

“Hey. Didn’t want you goin’ right past,” he said innocently, and Harley sighed fondly and reached her bat through the bars to bonk him gently on the head. 

“Hush you, I’m not that distractible,” she scolded him, completely ignoring any disbelieving noises from her two little love birds, “an’ anyway, you gotta be nice to me. I’m bustin’ yer ass out.” 

She jangled the keys at Waylon instead, then began swiping through them for the right one. 

The big guy obediently stepped back to let her look, his attention shifting past her to Danny and Jason. 

“An’ you brought company,” he growled, a wry grin on his face. She had to wonder if he’d noticed how dang adorable they were already at the gala. 

She’d missed soooo much! But he’d catch her up, because that’s what besties did. And cuz she’d kick all the kittens out of his room if he didn’t. 

Jason shrugged, coming up behind her to lean on the bars. 

“I had a passing interest in why you wanted to use me as bait for Two Face. We’re not exactly close,” he explained, the edited down version for their legal listeners in. 

“Ya got balls for a rich kid,” Waylon chuckled just as Harley found the key. One quick victory fist pump and she got to work on the lock. 

Really, there was a reason modern stations had one key ta open all the cells. Or electric locks. What if there was a fire? 

But then, it was Gotham. They’d happily let all their perps burn. An’ probably keep usin’ it as an excuse why they all needed a fat budget increase. 

“Victory! An’ he’s my adorable lil nephew, Croccy, so you’re gonna play nice,” she warned Waylon sternly, swinging the door open and wagging a finger at him sternly. 

Again, for the benefit of their audience, but also because she enjoyed putting on a little panto. A bit o’ show. 

(She’d have to remember to tell him Danny wasn’t in on the whole Hood secret though. She’d slip it in somewhere.) 

Waylon grunted in amusement and stepped through the door, stretching to his full height and breadth in the hallway. And stopping. 

“Who’s playin’ music?” He asked, head cocked as he tried to trace the muffled sound. 

Honestly, Harley’d kinda forgot it was playing until he said it. 

Danny sighed again, at his most put upon, and raised a hand. 

“I have offended the technogod and am being punished by soundtrack,” he explained in a tone so dry it desiccated. And didn’t exactly help. 

Harley patted the now-more-confused Croc on the elbow. 

“He’s upset one of his lil nerd friends by callin’ him dramatic, so his friend hacked ‘is phone to make it play music,” she explained much more helpfully for sure. 

Again, Jason and Danny took slight steps away from her. 

Again, nothing continued to happen. 

Harley’s smile grew more smug. 

“An’ apparently said friend still can’t get inta mine,” she declared brightly, shooting another glance up at the security camera and tapping her pocket. 

Waylon grunted again, clearly not needing to ask further because her explanation was perfect, and gave Danny a nod of recognition. 

“An’ is that why you’re here? Mood music?” He asked, heading off down the hall back towards the doors. Which, yeah, they had places to be. 

Danny brightened right away, grinning up at Waylon and moving to let the big guy pass. 

“Unless you want a rematch? I haven’t been tossed around like that in a while and I could use the exercise,” he snarked, and yeah, this was why Harley liked him. 

Waylon clearly did too, snickering and clapping a massive hand on Danny’s head on his way by. 

“Mouth like that’s gonna get yer killed one day, kid,” he grumbled, ignoring the still cowering cop as they made for the stairs. 

And Danny, bless him, angel of timing, just laughed and followed along, shooting Jason a wicked grin. 

“Oh, it’s way too late for that,” he said light as air, making Jason let out a snort of laughter. 

Waylon glanced down to Harley again, fully aware he’d missed something. She gave him another pat on the elbow. 

“Jason an’ Danny met at Dead Kids Anonymous. Kid’s got himself a ghost transformation an’ everything,” she explained simply, which didn’t have to be completely true to get the point across. 

It made Waylon snicker again, even as Danny cackled along behind them. 

“Now THAT is what we’re telling everyone else. We might as well have,” he rasped between laughter. 

His pocket music seemed to have changed to Thriller. Appropriate. 

Jason rolled his eyes, but he was still grinning. 

Harley didn’t think she’d seen him smile this much the entire time he was alive again. It was nice; most of the times she’d seen him as Robin they’d been fightin’, but he’d always been havin’ so much fun. 

At least he looked like he had. Poor kid deserved to smile a whole lot more too. 

Waylon was taking the news of Danny’s lack of mortality pretty well, giving the kid a thoughtful look. They’d made their way mostly out of the station now, their little bubble of terrified silence moving with them. 

That’d get old one day, but until then Harley was gonna take advantage. 

“Maybe we’ll have another tussle then,” he agreed with a low chuckle, holding the door for the others to leave through. Real southern gent. “Good t’know I won’t break ya.” 

Danny bounced through the door as chipper as Harley herself, giving him a beaming smile. 

“Hell yeah, we’ll find somewhere nice and out of the way. Oh, we had some questions too though,” he added almost as an afterthought, giving Jason a sheepish look that again: too cute. 

Maybe that was how he’d really died. Too cute to live. Though she’d let him make that joke himself. 

Jason didn’t seem bothered, though he did look a little more tense. Not sure where they’d be taking this, more’n likely. 

“Once we get somewhere private,” Waylon agreed, glancing between Jason and Harley himself. 

That probably meant it was on her to pick a destination then. Well, Harley had a place in mind that (while not technically private) wouldn’t involve onlookers. 

“Yeah, I know a spot! I’ll send ya the address, Jayjay, an’ we’ll meet ya there. Don’t think we’ll get four on that bike,” she teased, pulling out her phone. 

She knew the perfect spot, and it’d give her a chance to loop Waylon in. All good news. 

Jason held up a hand quickly.

“Not got mine on me. Text Danny,” he called, and Harley waved her phone over her head in acknowledgement. It might give Tucker a way to jump into her phone, she wouldn’t know.

Tech wasn’t her shtick. Just a good thing they’d all exchanged numbers the night before.

** 

It was a weird feeling to have his body shaken while his consciousness was so far from it. 

Feeling his face pull into a frown not quite mirroring what he felt it should be. Tucker could never have explained precisely what part of him entered his devices; just that it was him. 

Quintessential, pure essence of Too Fine. Everything he was without the meat he was born in. 

But then he did have to slot back into that meat, and trying to do that without matching positions always left him feeling weirdly off kilter the next day. Like he’d put on a shirt but the shoulders were skewed too short. 

So despite not being conscious of a face on his extended form, Tucker tried to form it into a frown anyway, sliding back under his own skin like a teen sneaking back through a window after curfew. 

Hadn’t those been heady days? 

Eyes slowly opening, it took Tucker a moment to remember how to focus them. That they weren’t cameras. But then Tim Drake-Wayne came into focus, and the frown changed to a grin even before he fully “woke up”. 

“Morning,” he mumbled, rolling and stretching, getting used to the feeling of a body again. It was a little weirder each time, which he might have worried about if he didn’t see himself as an extension of his PDA anyway. 

“You were singing in your sleep,” Tim told him without preamble, returning the smile. 

Tucker hesitated for a moment, suddenly embarrassed. If… well. If he’d been singing along, that… 

Look he’d picked songs that’d embarrass Danny, he wasn’t gonna give a fuck about it. The only actual question was, did he tell Tim? 

Who else would ever understand better just what it meant to interact with tech the way he could? Could get excited with him about how cool it was? 

He wasn’t fucking gushing to Technus. No way. Tuck was easily the one winning that ongoing hackathon, but it was the principle of the thing. 

To the zone with it. Tim knew about Amity Park, he knew about the ghosts and the liminal tech. And while they hadn’t exactly discussed liminal people, it’d come up. 

Tim could have a sneak preview. As a treat. 

Decision made, Tucker gave the younger man another broad smile because yeah, bragging about your super powers to a very cool and impressive person? That felt good. 

Tim might be a vigilante too, but Tucker was pretty sure Jason was the only souped up Robin. Most of the bats were famously power free. 

“Oh, yeah. I was bullying Danny,” he explained with a light chuckle, glancing up to find his beloved PDA, Ida. She was half under a blanket now, so he tugged her back out. 

Tim chuckled softly, leaning back and stretching himself. 

“Good dream?” He asked and Tucker snickered, stroking gently across the screen. 

“Danny wishes it was a dream.” Tucker paused, frowning a little at the confusion on Tim’s face. “So you remember we kinda talked about the whole liminal thing?” 

That seemed to jog Tim’s memory, confusion fading into an analytical frown that Tucker was already becoming familiar with. That good ol’ geek face. 

“The humans with budding ghost powers,” he agreed, and Tucker had to wonder if maybe he just hadn’t put the right pieces together yet. 

He hadn’t exactly said that most of Amity Park were liminal, but it was a little hard to remember he had to. Like, they lived on a portal to Hell. 

Maybe he shoulda. 

Well, at least it was a cool way to introduce it to him. 

Tucker pulled Ida into his lap, flipped her over, and tapped the plain plastic backing to demonstrate. 

“Mine’s a low level technopathy at the moment,” he explained as the PDA hummed and then began playing… well, still Montero, so he flicked it again and changed it immediately to Country Roads. 

Tim was watching him with a kind of hungry fascination, and Tucker turned the music off with a thought, then passed her to Tim so he could check for secret touchpads. 

“It’s not something I can do with anything,” he explained with a modest shrug, grinning with pride as Tim immediately got to scanning the casing. 

All simple plastic, not even biometrics; what would be the point? Even touching the PDA was pretty much a formality at this point. She was a part of him. 

“Technopathy? So you can control it with your mind? Why not with anything?” Tim asked eagerly, hands stroking over the plastic, eyes darting between it and Tucker. 

Like he wasn’t sure which was more interesting, Tuck or tech, and Tucker absolutely took that as a compliment. 

“It has to be a device I’ve really gotten into. Like, down to the source code, or something I’ve cracked before a couple times, and then I can just feel how all of it works.”

Tucker wiggled his fingers demonstratively and the PDA beeped to life under Tim’s hands, making the other man gasp. And yeah, totally envy in those cute blue eyes he turned all balefully on Tucker. 

“How many of the functions can you use? Anything the PDA can do, or…” Tim trailed off, clearly thinking of everything he’d already seen the PDA do. 

The real question would have been what couldn’t Ida do. And honestly? Yeah, Tucker remembered the trial phase. 

He gave another shrug. 

“Technically? Yeah, anything she can do, but I still prefer hacking the old fashioned way. Most of the network stuff too, cuz I’m only really “in” the PDA. Or Danny or Sam’s phones.” 

Tucker hesitated, wondering how best to really explain the difference. Danny had never been any good at it, Tucker’d had no idea what he was talking about from the video game thing right up until he’d been sucked in himself. 

Which… was probably gonna be a next-hangout adventure for Tim and the bats. And Oracle, if he could swing it. 

For now he gave up, giving Tim a hopeless grin. 

“Honestly it’s something you’ve really gotta feel for yourself. Danny’s great at the transition from real world to code, but he always just punches things, y’know? Turns out knowing how code is actually supposed to work doesn’t translate well to being part of it,” he added with a sigh. 

Because frankly? It was bullshit unfair. Tucker could code an entire other galaxy around Danny with his eyes closed, but put them in the same metaphysical layer as a firewall and Danny could just. 

Punch it. 

Which, theme for the week, was also not how firewalls fucking worked. At some point Tuck figured he’d either gain a new level of understanding through liminality, or give up and ask Technus a couple questions. 

Technus was currently Tucker’s subject instead of Danny’s anyway. They’d made a bet. 

Which meant Technus shoulda told him about their shenanigans in time, which was probably what Tucker would hold over his head for the whole firewall thing. 

It was so nice when things just worked themselves out. 

Tim looked a little disappointed, but mostly still intrigued. Tucker could see his fingers just itching for his own tablet to take notes. 

“Do you think that’ll change?” He asked, blurting it out like he couldn’t hold back now that Tucker stopped talking, “I mean, if you become more liminal? Or just practice your abilities more?” 

And see, this was what Tucker loved about Tim Drake-Wayne. They were on the same wavelength. He grinned back. 

“Probably. But I mean, it’s kinda cheating too. For now I kinda like that I have to do things the way I always used to first, before any ghostly powers kick in. It’s more me, y’know?” And like hell he’d let anyone think his code skills were just some meta ability. 

He’d worked damn hard for those skills, and he was damn good. One of the best, and he was also good enough to know he still wasn’t actually top of the charts. 

That was the Oracle, although knowing they still hadn’t cracked his servers felt really good. 

Tim was all but vibrating, clearly full of questions, but they were both interrupted by a loud growl from Tucker’s stomach. Immediately echoed by Tim’s, so at least he wasn’t alone. 

The two shared sheepish grins, and then Tucker stretched. 

“So, breakfast and then Twenty Questions?” He offered cheerfully, and Tim nodded at once, thrusting the PDA back and rolling off the frankly massive bed. 

“We can start while we eat, everyone else has probably gone out by now,” he said over one shoulder, stripping out of his clothes from the previous night and hurrying for his closet. 

Ah hell, Tucker had only brought the one change of clothes… which Alfred had laundered yesterday after the snowball fight. Which would mean they were. 

In a place. 

Probably in the manor. 

Maybe in the room they’d talked about setting up? 

He looked to Tim, and only then noticed that his tech idol was shucking off his boxers in exchange for new ones, entirely unselfconscious. 

Tucker frowned back down at his current borrowed shirt instead, waiting til he at least heard both feet on the floor before looking over again. Tim might not care, but in case he did, Tucker could be a gentleman. 

And then he could ask the important question. 

“Speaking of Alfred… my clothes?” He asked hopefully, and yeah, the way Tim’s mouth dropped open and his brain visibly blue screened? 

Just like Danny. They were gonna get along great. 

** 

Of all the top secret, private places in Gotham to go and have a villainous chat… Danny never would have expected a milkshake bar. But like he’d said last night, that was kinda what made it perfect. 

Who’d expect to find Harley Quinn and Killer Croc, properly Waylon, sat in a pastel pink corner booth in the back of the bar? 

Honestly, none of the staff seemed surprised. But they might not have been to see all the bats walk in; it was Gotham. Rogues happened. If no one pulled a weapon, don’t be the reason that changes. 

It made him feel right at home, really. Just like Amity Park. 

And they made a damn good milkshake. Danny took another deep slurp of his, cookie butter and cheesecake was definitely a combo he’d been sleeping on. 

If pressed, he couldn’t really explain what he’d wanted out of this meeting. 

Something in what Harley had said last night had struck home in a way he hadn’t expected, but with Waylon in front of him now… well, for one thing he seemed a lot more like just some guy who happened to be green. 

And who was just adorably happy with his cotton candy milkshake, complete with little umbrella. 

At the gala, he’d been big and menacing and monstrous, all things Danny was very used to and meant “friend” more often than they meant anything else. He’d still take a rematch, but he just… 

Well, that was just it, wasn’t it? 

Waylon really wasn’t all that monstrous, if you looked the faintest scratch past sharpened teeth and scales. He was polite to the servers, a happy straight-man to Harley’s jokes, and he could have teased Jason more for Danny’s tastes but it was definitely effective. 

Jason was much more at ease here with two rogues than he’d been any time his adoptive dad was around. That… well, Danny knew full well he didn’t know much about Jason’s life. 

It felt like he’d learned a whole lot more just today already, though again, it’d be hard to explain exactly what. 

The conversation had been light, easy, and full of banter so far, and Danny really wasn’t sure how to segue from that to “so you were called a monster all your life”. 

Because while for the most part Danny now only had to deal with the GIW calling him a monster (and they’d been quiet for years now, still rebuilding after the whole “bomb the ghost zone” bs)… the things his parents had called him still hurt. 

The things people thought he was, ghosts and living alike, he just… he didn’t know what to do with it. These days he could mostly ignore it, and unlike Waylon he could even pass for living. 

(Never for a ghost though. He’d never be able to stop any ghost from seeing him and knowing immediately, instinctively, that he was other.) 

In some ways it felt like meeting Vlad all over again, but without the crushing disappointment. Well, what it might have been to learn there was another halfa if he hadn’t preceded it by being a massive creep. 

It was… complicated. And all tangled up in his feelings around Jason, because Jason actually was like him and really did get it, or would soon. 

And Jason clearly liked Waylon, for all he grimaced and bitched about the deadpan teasing. Waylon had a lot of interesting stories about Jason’s cape days, most of which Jason hurried to try to interrupt. 

Harley had more, and they’d sat at opposite ends of the table before the boys had arrived, almost certainly so Jason couldn’t shush them both at once. 

If he clapped a hand over Harley’s mouth, Waylon would either take up the tale or start one of his own, and vice versa. There was just no way Jason could win. 

It reminded Danny of his own rogues, though maybe more Fright Knight than Ember or Johnny. The ones he got along with, but more respectfully than just his friends. 

Kinda like watching Harley with the rest of the bat-brood. 

Danny was very nobly doing his best not to enjoy it too much; within a week or two it’d be his turn roughhousing with his rogues, and he was hoping Jason would return the favour. 

There was no way he could get any kind of ghost fight club going without his usual players, and those were the ones with all the most embarrassing stories of his early days. 

Johnny and Kitty especially had blackmail material for days, so as much as Danny was loving the lil baby Robin stories (carefully never actually mentioning the name, since no one was masked)… no, his feeling was kinda more impending doom. It’d be his turn soon. 

And Ancients help them if Harley and Waylon met Johnny and Kitty… nope, not thinking about that. Suppressing a shudder, Danny deliberately tuned back in to Waylon’s story about the time he’d kidnapped Bruce Wayne. 

At least Jason was having fun with this one. 

Of course, it couldn’t have the obvious ending; whether or not Waylon had known at the time that he had Batman, you couldn’t mention the punch line out in public. It’d be rude. 

He left the story at the Robin beat down instead, declaring that the big Bat himself hadn’t even bothered to show up. Didn’t quite go full stage wink, but it was pretty much the next best thing. 

Danny laughed along with the table and Jason shook his head, settling back into his seat with a low huff. 

“Fun as this is, we did have some questions,” he said, voice just a little lower than before. 

Danny was a little surprised he’d bring it up in such a public space. Right up until Harley glanced around, nodded, and settled back into her seat. 

“Clear too. Any o’ the gawkers ‘ve been seen out,” she agreed with a slight nod. 

Danny startled, looking around himself. The milkshake bar was… about half as full as it had been when they arrived. His confusion must have been obvious, because Waylon snickered. 

“It ain’t the Iceberg Lounge, kid, but this is one of Dr Freeze’s more self sustaining operations. Can’t all be heisting diamonds,” he added with a slight shrug. 

Not noticeably less confused, Danny turned to Jason instead. Jason chuckled softly, shaking his head and giving Danny a grin that was almost proud. 

“Shit, you’ve lived in Gotham a year and it’s a fucking miracle how little you know. Iceberg Lounge is the Penguin’s upscale club. This place is run by the guy we talked about last night, freeze rays and diamond heists,” he explained quickly. 

Harley snickered, draping her arms over the back of their booth. 

“An’ if some o’ his ol’ Arkham buddies come in ta chat, his people know ta clear out anyone tryin’ to listen in too hard,” she added, nodding to one of the servers. 

Well. 

That tracked. 

Danny had also definitely thoroughly demolished his “keeping away from rogues” spree, which kinda sucked. But then, since he’d basically gone from one extreme to the other? 

Maybe that’d be fun to tell his classmates about too. It definitely tracked more with Danny’s understanding of his own luck. A whole year, no trouble? More like no chance. 

Also meant this had to be a safe place to talk, apparently. What was it about rogues that made them so eager to get on with each other but nobody else? 

Well, Danny got on with most of his now. But still. 

Jason leaned forward, arms folded on the table. 

“So what’s going on with Two Face, Waylon?” He asked quietly, still apparently aware of eavesdroppers. 

Waylon glanced around the bar, then shrugged, settling back against the booth. 

“Hard to say, with ‘im. Coulda been a coin flip, coulda been somethin’ else, but he wasn’t just gunnin’ for the gala. Somethin’ about you specifically put a bug in his ass, kid,” he added with a frown, nodding towards Jason. 

Something in Danny tensed, not liking the idea of anyone targeting Jason. Of course, it must have happened before… when he was Robin. 

And he’d died. 

Danny hadn’t even noticed he was clenching his fists until Jason nudged his foot under the table. 

Safe-worry-you okay? Jason’s aura was getting clearer, and Danny did his best to smile back. Sometimes his Obsession still snuck up on him. 

Forcing himself to relax, he grabbed his milkshake instead. It felt warm, which was odd until he realised his hands were icy cold. 

Not quite literally, but closer than he’d come in a while. 

Neither of the rogues seemed to have notice, Harley playing with her milkshake while she frowned at Waylon. 

“An’ you decided the best thing ta do was hit the gala first?” She asked dryly, her tone neatly conveying just what she thought of that idea. 

Waylon shrugged. 

“Not like I coulda swung an invite to get in nicely. Sounded like he had somethin’ real nasty planned, kid,” he added, shaking his head and leaning back in his seat. 

Jason frowned, giving Danny another soft kick on the ankle as he leaned forward. Unnecessarily, for sure, Danny totally had his shit under control now. 

“But no one said anything about why? I don’t think I’ve even met him,” Jason asked and yeah, that probably meant as Jason. Maybe even post Robin. 

Waylon shrugged again. 

“It’s fuckin’ Two Face. Maybe he ran outta matching targets and figured two lives had ta count?” He offered, though it looked like it was still bugging him too. 

Harley huffed and shook her head, blonde ponytails bouncing. 

“I’ll keep an ear out too.  There’s a couple people who’ll prefer talkin’ ta me over you, sugar,” she teased Waylon as he grunted, a tinkling laugh falling from her lips. 

Waylon snorted, but a reluctant smile curled his lips. 

“More likely to spill to ya,” he agreed in a low grumble, poking his straw around a mostly empty milkshake. 

Harley nodded brightly, clapping her hands. 

“Exactly! ‘Specially if they don’t want any of their own special lil secrets told,” she agreed with a truly wicked smile. Then she paused, a slight frown curling her brow. 

It was still a little weird to be able to see the moments where her brain revved up. Danny had to assume it was having been raised by Jazz; it was clearly easy for people to get lost in the bubbly exterior. 

Fingers drumming on the table now, something had clearly jogged her memory. 

“Might be somethin’ ta do with Black Mask too,” she said more quietly, gaze unusually serious as she caught Jason’s eyes, “he’s been quieter ‘n I like lately. Keepin’ ‘imself out of trouble.” 

Danny might just ask if Jason could get him a rolodex of the Gotham villains to match the server Danny had provided for the Zone. 

It did not help that they all had their own wild code names. He was used to dealing with people who had a lot of personality, sure, and theatrics. But ghosts usually just had the one name. 

Except apparently for Frighty, or Halloween as Danny would have to start calling him now. It’d take some getting used to. 

Jason noticed his desperately pleading puppy eyes and sighed. 

“Look, I’ll give you the rundown on everyone tonight. Black Mask is a whole ass problem. Crime boss for the False Face Society, really likes skinning peoples’ faces. Red Hood kicked him out of Crime Alley a couple years ago, he firmed his grip on the rest of Gotham, and him being quiet is never fucking good.” 

And as if that didn’t sound bad enough… 

“An’ he really doesn’t like Jason,” Waylon growled, shoulders tightening and straining his shirt. 

Something in Danny tensed again, and he forced himself to take a long, deep breath. Closed his eyes and took another. 

This was why he’d avoided the whole subject. Until now. 

He could taste Jason’s concern like a tang in the air as he spoke up. 

“There’s fuck all he can do while I’m in the Alley though. Unless something’s really changed he can’t challenge Red Hood,” he explained quietly, leaning in until their shoulders brushed. 

Harley heaved a dramatic sigh, raising a hand and waving to one of the servers. 

“Yeah, yeah, you jus’ take care of yaself, kid. Roman’s a pain in the ass an’ if ya let him kill ya again he’ll be intolerable,” she grumbled, the tone at odds with the cheery smile she gave the first server to glance over. “Another round!” 

“Anything different?” The server, a young man with shaggy blond hair asked. 

Danny considered it, since the menu was both extensive and interesting, but really? It’d complicate things, and he didn’t want to think about something else. 

Just the idea of some asshole gangster trying to kill Jason was bad enough. But he sucked in another deep breath and reminded himself that this was pretty much all speculative. 

Black Mask was quiet, not actively threatening, and Gotham had an army of vigilantes to keep an eye on him even before Harley and Waylon got involved. An army of vigilantes who all seemed to like Jason. 

Jason wasn’t worried. Danny wasn’t gonna go all protective mama bear on the guy just because rogues existed. 

The one thing he’d always promised himself was that even with a Protection Obsession, he was never gonna be as bad as Jazz at her clingiest. 

He loved his sister, she meant well, but he’d hated her constant fussing. Danny had actually died sure, but he’d come right back and she hadn’t noticed for months. 

Jason didn’t have a scratch on him. Or any reason to put up with a clingy almost-stranger, Danny reminded himself as he accepted his new milkshake, hiding a smile behind the glass. 

Hell, if Jason being Fright Knight meant he’d sense if Danny was in danger, maybe that could work both ways. That’d be worth asking Frostbite about, and they had to see him for Jason’s core checkup soon. 

Having survived one Clockwork encounter without a lecture, Danny wasn’t pushing his luck. 

And if it turned out that it wouldn’t be that easy… well, there were other ways Danny could know if Jason was hurt, and unless they had a way to change dimensions? No Gotham rogue could take Jason anywhere that Danny couldn’t find him. 

The feel of another halfa was still faint for now, barely noticeable unless Jason was in the same room, but it was already stronger. 

Or Danny was more used to looking for him. More used to the feel of his energy, the boiling rage of the pit tangled up in everything else that was Jason. 

Kinda a lot still angry, but tempered. Mixed in with that wonderful sense of humour, dry sarcasm and death jokes, and determination. 

Danny was pretty sure he could find Jason pretty much anywhere on Earth right now if he had to. And it would only get easier. 

With the question of Harvey Dent settled as much as it would be (and if a flip of a coin was all he needed, maybe as much as it could be), the conversation turned lighter. 

Harley and Waylon stayed off the topic of rogues, probably to minimise the need to keep filling Danny in. They also mostly avoided embarrassing baby Jason stories though. 

No, instead they filled Danny and Jason in on what they’d been up to down on Coney Island. 

Danny had never expected to enjoy another circus story again, let alone an actual freakshow, but somehow? Hearing Harley tell it, he almost wanted to drop by. 

Not see the damn show. Nope. Hard pass. 

But hanging out with the performers, Harley’s tenants? That sounded like fun. They were just ordinary people, if a bit to the left. 

Roller derby sounded great, even if Danny wouldn’t play it with humans. In the Ghost Zone though? They could probably make a rink. And baseball bats. 

Waylon’s stories were way more domestic too; there was just something about a 7’ crocodile man telling you about his efforts to finally hold the skittish little grey kitten upstairs. 

It was just… well. Like hanging out with Kitty and Johnny, or Wulf. Maybe the only people who could understand what it was like to be a vigilante were the rogues who fit the other half of the mold. 

They all lived lives skewed away from the normal, didn’t fit in. The more they talked and shared stories, the more Danny settled. Relaxed. 

Which was when the last piece finally fell into place. He knew what he wanted to ask Waylon now. 

** 

Still on edge from the night before, Constantine wasn’t exactly thrilled to bits to be hearing from the Big Bat again so soon. 

Honestly, why couldn’t he have a nice, normal emergency? Just the world ending, some arch demon jumping for the throne of Hell, a wayward amateur magician or cursed artefact? 

Why did it always have to be Amity fuckin’ Park? 

Still, after they’d given the whole League the rundown, John was planning on washing his hands of the whole affair. They’d be up to date, they’d have his recommendation (leave well enough alone), and whatever they did after that? 

That could be Zatanna’s problem. Or Shazam’s. Which didn’t really matter. 

So of course there was just one more thing that Batman wanted from him first. 

“A health check on yer revenant?” He asked skeptically, arms folded as he scowled at an annoyingly refreshed and rejuvenated looking Batman. 

Who just nodded patiently like he hadn’t said anything crazy. 

“Nothing strenuous. Just a check in, and then we move on to the meeting,” he agreed blandly, watching John from behind the cut outs. 

Constantine pinched the bridge of his nose and drew in a heavy breath. Let it out. Decided not to think about all of the things that could go wrong tangling with a fuckin’ revenant. 

Bats was still here, hale and healthy, so the kid was clearly used to extreme provocation. How bad could John’s company be? 

Way, way worse the little honest part of him supplied, but… 

Well. The worst of it all was, no matter how damn annoying the man was, how fucking insistent on poking into shit that’d get ‘em all killed? 

Constantine liked him. 

Just a bit. The tiniest, littlest bit, that he firmly ground under his heel at every opportunity, and especially when that poking was getting close to end-of-the-world levels. 

It was the only reason the League had his number at all, because John Constantine sure as shit was not a hero. He liked the world not ending, yeah, but he coulda had Zatanna call him for those. 

He just. Had maybe the very smallest soft spot for how earnest the Big Three all were, deep down. Wonder Woman especially, there was a lady who’d been in the game longer than John himself, and yet it never fuckin’ touched her. 

They still looked at the world, at an old shit like John Constantine, and saw something worth saving. 

So even when he was tired, stressed, and wondering just how deep he should dare to probe to check the Bat’s explorations in Amity Park hadn’t garnered the wrong kind of attentions… 

He huffed another reluctant sigh. It did not help knowing that even if he refused, the Bat would just argue him down until John gave in, or the meeting started. 

It was three hours before the meeting was due to start. 

Constantine would rather jump straight through the damn Fenton portal. 

“Fine,” he growled, hands stuffed deep into the pockets of his trench coat. If the revenant got cranky, he could always hide behind the big Bat. 

The bastard didn’t even bother thanking him, just nodded like he’d expected John to agree all along, and made for the exit. 

Were they fuckin’ going out in full costume? In the middle of the day? 

Well heavens forbid Bruce Goddamn Wayne do anything subtly. 

** 

Tim’s afternoon was going great. Thanks to Tucker, he’d had a full and hearty brunch, which made Alfred happy. 

Tim wasn’t much of a gourmet himself, probably as a result of having to survive on what he could find in the house between his parents’ visits. So long as it went down his throat and kept him alive, he was happy. 

He knew Alfred’s cooking was great, it always tasted fantastic, he just… didn’t get excited about food. 

Tucker though? Tucker gushed enthusiastically over every bite, moaning loudly as he dug into pancakes, sausages, bacon, and even black pudding. 

He enjoyed his food almost as much as Wally, and Tim found himself savouring his own a little more as he watched. Usually he’d swallow half of it whole, just to get back to work. 

But he didn’t have a new case today. Sure, there was still work to do on Amity Park (and rewriting all of the Justice League reporting protocols, ugh). 

But he had Tucker here to help, and really, today could be about getting to know the guy. He’d more than learned his lesson from the last few days. 

It turned out that food tasted a whole lot better if he actually stopped to chew it. 

They’d talked while they ate too, Tucker often with his mouth full like he just couldn’t stop and wait to swallow. 

It was kinda adorable. 

Tim had shared some stories about the missions he’d been on with Young Justice, Tucker had told him more about Technus. There may have been a secret side trip to Amity Park in the works so Tim could meet him. 

And introduce Cassie to Pandora. 

There may also have been a secret side trip to the Ghost Zone being planned too. That one was gonna have to be extra-double-top-secret though, since Constantine put a bug in B’s ass about the Infinite Realms. 

But honestly, how bad could it be if three completely untrained teenagers could just hop in and out on a whim? 

Sure, there were risks. Some of the bigger, scarier ghosts that Tucker told him about. And just the air of the realms itself, which wasn’t great for humans in the long term. 

That, Tim was a little less sure about. Tucker could say it’d never done him any harm all he liked, but he was kinda half dead now. Dead enough for super powers. 

Not that Tim wanted super powers. It’s not like he’d ever needed them to keep up with his super friends. He didn’t need them, not even to interface his brain with his computer… 

Nope. 

But that was also how they got around to how Tucker would be getting home, because Tim finally twigged. 

“Wait… when you say Danny flew you here, you didn’t actually mean what you said about the plane, did you?” He asked cautiously when they’d migrated back to the bat cave (with a plate of cookies and juice. Alfred was totally taking advantage of a chance to feed Tim). 

Tucker grinned sheepishly and shrugged. 

“Well, I didn’t know Danny was gonna just go off like that right away. But yeah, he just came and grabbed me and we flew through the Ghost Zone.” 

He seemed to think Tim might be upset with him, but honestly? This was great news. They might be able to wrangle a little extra time. 

“So… needing to go home today was because of Danny?” He asked hopefully. 

Tucker caught on at once, like the genius he was, tracking Tim’s grin and beginning to smile in return. 

“Well, technically I do also have classes on Monday, but so long as I’m back tonight I can fake it if you have another way to get me home, like… say, a bat plane?” He asked innocently, head cocked to one side. 

Tim snatched up his phone, sending a quick text. Of course, there was always the chance Connor wouldn’t answer. Or that he’d be busy. Or that he’d have school. 

As if he wouldn’t have dropped pretty much anything when Tim called him. God Tim loved his boyfriend. 

“I was actually thinking of something a little more discrete than the bat plane… especially since you have some experience being carried.” 

————————

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Next chapter:

[vioartemis]

My favorite

(Emma Myers x fem! reader)

Summary: Having a crush on one of the cast members and playing the love interest of another can be difficult sometimes, especially when your crush misunderstand the situation... Warnings: slight Jenna x reader (characters), angst (a little) a/n: the massive italic part is the scene, and the non italic lines there are what is happening around the scene, at the same time (that might not be very clear, I'm sorry if you're lost during that part) || special thanks to @alphaniner1415 for the plot idea 👀 (English isn't my first language, I'm sorry if there are mistakes or if something doesn't make sense TvT)

"Cut! That was great, but I'm sure we can do better. Y/n, try to look more in love, give her heart eyes, smile like an idiot, all these things. Jenna, try to soften a little in the second part of the scene, we need to see a little bit of emotions"

You were playing Wednesday's love interest, and not only were you supposed to confess in this scene, but you were also supposed to kiss.

You were quite nervous about that last part, as it was your first time playing a love interest.

"Hey, relax" Jenna said softly, taking your hands in hers "You're doing amazing so far"

She was the first cast member you got close to, and maybe your best friend on set. It was rare seeing one with the other, you spent a lot of time together.

Everyone agreed on the fact that you two had chemistry. Both on screen, your characters being in love, and off screen, always joking, laughing, taking selfies, or doing shit together in between takes.

The rest of the cast found you cute together, and half of them thought you were together - the other half thinking you would make a very cute couple.

Except from one person. She didn't like it. But who was she to say anything? After all, you owed her nothing. The thing is, she was in love with you. And seeing you so close to Jenna made her jealous.

She was jealous of your chemistry off screen. Of your private jokes, your hugs, the little smiles you had for each other.

You were not like that with her. Of course she loved spending time with you. But she wanted to see that side of you too.

She started avoiding you lately. You couldn't help but notice. You had, however, no idea why she was so distant.

She simply thought you were in love with Jenna, and tried to burry her own feelings. She thought that not seeing you too much was the best thing to do.

But she started regretting it.

She missed your smile, your voice, your laugh, you.

“Thanks for helping me deal with my stress…”

You had told Jenna you were nervous about the scene and she tried her best to reassure you.

“Don’t thank me, it’s what friends do” she smiled, squeezing your hands softly

You smiled back, before having to let go of her hands to shoot the scene. It was the fourth time already, and yet you never made it to the kiss part.

Heart eyes, idiot smile. Right.

You tried to fill your brain with only your lines and the image of your crush. As expected, you couldn’t help but smile like a complete idiot.

You were ready for the scene, and so was Jenna. At the signal, you started the scene.

“What is it you wanted to tell me, C/n?”

You gulped, fidgeting with your fingers.

“Well I uh… I- I have very strong feelings for you…”

“Are you trying to say that your murderous side is showing up and that you’d envy to stick a knife into my chest?”

“Wha- no I- it’s not what I mean”

“Oh… what’s your point then?”

“Wednesday I-” you looked at your feet, before meeting her cold gaze again “I think I’m in love with you…”

Even if she knew it was only for the show, Emma couldn't help but be hurt by your words. You were a really good actress, she knew it, but a part of herself was thinking you meant it.

You could see her features soften almost imperceptibly, and hoped you were giving a good performance too.

She stayed silent, as planned, and after little while you clenched your teeth.

“I’m sorry that was stupid, forget it” you finally said

You turned on your heels, acting like you were about to leave, when Jenna said her line.

“That is indeed stupid. I am no friend material, let alone more than friend material.”

You turned to face her, tears in your eyes. She took a step closer to you.

“But I might have developed a certain attraction toward you.”

Once again, Emma feared it could be true. She felt bad thinking that. What kind of friend would pray for her friend's heart to be broken?

This time, you were the one to get closer, shyly.

"Does that mean... you have romantic feelings for me?"

"Yes. I also have a question for you, C/n"

"What is it?"

"Why do you love me? You are well aware that I could slit your throat in your sleep if I ever had the desire to do so."

You took a moment to think, before the dumb smile came back to your face.

Oh how she wanted to be the one you looked at like that. The idiot-in-love smile was so pretty on you. It would be even prettier if it was for her.

"Have you ever seen hell in someone's eyes and loved it anyway?”

"Don't you fear that this hell might turn against you?" she asked after a pause, as if she was processing your words

"Wednesday, dying of your hands would be the best way to die"

She took a step closer, again, leaving only a few inches between you. She was the same height as you with her platforms.

She raised a hand and grabbed your tie, pulling you even closer.

She felt her heart drop at the sight. It wasn't in the script. She never had anything against improvisations, but this one... she hated it.

"What if I wanted to-"

"I'd let you do it. Whatever it would be. Ask, I'll obey. I'd do anything for you" you cut her off

She looked into your e/c eyes for a second, before her lips curled up into a slight smirk.

"Very well, Cara Mia. You're mine then."

With that, she pulled you in, pressing her lips on yours softly, still tugging on your tie to keep you close as you kissed back with red cheeks.

She tried her best to put herself together, swallowing back her tears. She knew it wasn't for real. But it still hurt. She took a deep breath, and put Enid's cheerful smile on her face.

The door of the dorm burst open, forcing you appart.

"Wens, you'll never guess what Yoko just told me!" she paused "I didn't mean to interrupt... anyways I'm so happy for you guys! I'm gonna go so you can continue... what you were doing"

She would be happy for you if you were happy with Jenna, or whoever you might love. Hurt, terribly, but she was ready to sacrifice her own happiness as long as she could see a smile on your beautiful face.

Emma winked at you before exiting the dorm and closing the door.

"Andd cut! That was really good, the looks, the little improvisation... good job girls"

"Does that means we don't have to do the scene again? Too bad, that means I'm not getting another kiss" Jenna playfully said to you

"What a shame" you played along knowing she was joking

What you didn't see was Emma leaving the set, almost running away. Her fear just got confirmed. She saw it coming, but it still hurt more than she thought it would.

After a moment, you looked around you, trying to find her.

"Where's Emma?"

"I didn't see her after the scene... maybe she's with Georgie?"

"I'm gonna check"

Jenna nodded and you tried to find Georgie.

"Hey Y/n! The scene was woah, I got chills. You really do have chemistry"

"Thanks" you smiled "Have you seen Emma?"

"I think I saw her leave quickly five minutes ago. Now that I think of it, she didn't seem alright"

"Shit..." you whispered "I'll check on her"

You left the set in a rush, worried. Maybe it had something to do with why she was avoiding you lately. You hoped it was nothing too bad.

You went to her trailer, not knowing where else she could have gone. You knocked on her door softly. No one answered, but you heard noises coming from inside so you got in anyway.

"Emma...?"

Her back was facing you. You placed a hand on her back when you got close enough.

"Is everything okay...?" you asked, sitting next to her

Now you could see her red eyes. She cried, there was no doubt.

"Y-yes, I just had a bad day... a bad week actually..."

"You want to talk about it?" you put a hand over hers "I'm here for you if you need"

"You don't have to do that"

"What kind of friend would I be if I wasn't here when you need help?" you had a little smile

Calling yourself her friend hurt, but what else could you say? What kind of person would I be? That was weird.

You couldn't just come like hey, by the way, I'm in love with you since I first met you! but carry on tell me your problems!

That was not the moment for that.

"...I told you, it's okay... I just need to be alone right now..."

"Are you sure...?"

"Yeah. You should go back, Jenna's going to wonder where you are"

You froze. Was that the problem? You and Jenna?

"Wait- is that what's bothering you? Me and Jenna?"

"No, I- I don't care" she stopped, realizing what she said could be misinterpreted "What I mean is I'm happy for you guys, you're cute together"

Every word felt like a stab in the heart to her.

"Oh, okay... but, just to make it clear, we are totally not a thing. Jenna and I. We're just friends"

She couldn't help but feel relieved at your words, a small light of hope appearing in her blue eyes that you couldn't not notice.

"Were you... jealous?" you asked with a little smile

"Wha- of course not...!"

You knew she was lying. She looked way to happy that Jenna and you weren't a thing.

"I totally believe you"

"... Okay, maybe I was a little jealous... but how could I not be? You spend all your time with her. It's been ages since we had a moment together..."

You cupped her cheeks gently, making her look at you.

"Can I tell you something?"

"Hm?" she blushed slightly in anticipation, starting to think that maybe, maybe you liked her back

"You'll always be my favorite"

"W-what kind of favorite...?"

She didn't really know if she wanted you to say it or not. She didn't even notice your dumb smile or the look in your eyes.

"This kind of favorite"

You pressed a tender kiss on her lips. You pulled away quickly, way too quickly to her taste.

"I- I didn't really get it... can you do it again?"

You obeyed with great pleasure, kissing her again. You didn't pull away this time, not right away, letting her kiss you back, hands on your waist.

Her soft lips were moving against yours in a soft, gentle, loving kiss. You felt her tongue brush your lips, asking for your permission. You parted your lips slightly, cheeks reddening as she slipped her tongue in your mouth, deepening the kiss.

When the lack of air forced you appart, your lips were as red as your cheeks. You were breathless, both of you. She really was a good kisser.

You tried to catch your breath, her forehead resting against yours.

After a minute, she wrapped her arms around you, pulling you into a tight hug, nose pressed against your neck. You held her close, her perfume invading your senses.

The idiot-in-love smile on your lips was for her, and now she knew it. She couldn't describe how happy she was, in your arms, knowing that her feeling are reciprocated.

You, on the other hand, were far away from here, no other thought on your mind than her. Her eyes, her lips, her arms around your waist.

"By the way, I'm still pissed she got to kiss you before me"

[piracytheorist]

Episode 28 extras!

I don't know if it's because I'm a parched bitch that will take literally anything the anime team will give me and I'll also thank them, but I'm actually glad they decided to expand the episode with fillers from random parts of the manga. That way they can use more of Endo's stuff that they cannot make an entire episode out of, and at the same time put enough space between anime and manga so that Endo won't be pressured and also the anime won't veer into different canon.

Like, I felt that Yuri's part got adequate screen time and focus. The choices they seemed to have were 1) Push it into a half-episode and add another chapter for the second half, 2) Make it into a full episode dedicated just on that, and 3) Go freely, see how much screen time it takes up, then use fillers for the rest of the episode. And I like that they took the third option, thus giving the appropriate time for Yuri's part without rushing it nor stretching it too much. It was, after all, an episode that required some long moments of silence, so it makes sense why it needed almost sixteen minutes instead of ten like most other chapters get.

Anyway! Bondman is over Princess Honey, it seems.

He once again shoots his enemies with suction cup darts. Guess real bullets are too much... but blood is not, lol

I mean they do show him getting whipped on another episode, so

Also, poor trigger discipline! Get yo finger off!

Then Spy Wars decides to get actually dark. A little.

I was so convinced by my crack theory that the show is royal propaganda for Ostania, that this shook me completely off, lol.

I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF THIS ANYMORE. The fictional kid's cartoon in my fake family anime makes no sense and I am devastated

The second to last thing I expected from Spy Wars was to give Bondman a harem. The last thing I expected was for those women to get revenge on him for exactly that.

And then once again I am Loid, Loid is me

What is this generation rotting their brains with

I also didn't expect them to animate the bonus parts from the manga! I liked that they added a layer of art strokes over it. Dunno why, but it's a funny little addition to end the episode.

Anya: *is a child* Twilight: I dO nOT UnDeRsTAnD!!11!!

Here Loid is wearing a shirt while in the manga he's shirtless, and being the whump fan I am, my very first thought was "Now I can still headcanon he has scars there and is cautious about showing them 👀👀"

Also! Anya's alarm clock says it's twenty-five to nine, and Loid says she has ten minutes before her bus gets there.

So the bus arrives at a quarter to nine, takes her to school, and classes start around nine. I thought they'd start at eight, lol, but now it makes sense why sometimes it's sunset when Anya gets back from school.

And another VERY FUNNY detail is that the alarm is ringing, and when Loid shakes Anya he's also shaking the clock. If you notice you can hear the alarm bell ring a little differently as he does because the movement impacts the way the little hammer hits the bells. It rings again normally when he stops moving. I legitimately cannot believe they went that far in the sound effects department, we stan 🤣

[elvenbeard]

WIP Wednesday

Thank you so much @z-lagorio for the tag :D I'm still half-busy renovating stuffs at my new place (although this past week I've been mostly just enjoying the results of the work I put in so far xD but gaming corner is up next and I hope I can share some wips of that :3)

ANYWHO

I have been able to continue with my post-sun-ending fic a bit these last few days, I hope I can share the final version of Chapter 11 soon!

Here's a little teaser from Kerry's pov:

He arrived in front of the MSM recording studio in Charter Hill much faster than anticipated… so much so that his impromptu plan to get Lee to talk was still somewhat fuzzy around the edges. He was in the mood to storm in, guns blazing, but there was no guarantee Lee was even there. Maybe he should’ve checked that before coming here. Kerry cursed between his teeth, slightly clammy hands gripping the steering wheel tightly as he parked straight across from the building’s main entrance. Reluctantly he decided to simply call his manager, something he usually never did. It rang a handful of times, longer than he would’ve expected. “Kerry?” asked the shaky voice on the other end of the line in disbelief. “Certainly not Lizzy Wizzy,” Kerry replied deadpan, “Where are ya?” His heart was beating in his throat. “I’m at the studio! I’ve been waiting to hear from you, been worried that –…” “I’m outside the front door,” Kerry interrupted him, “Come down, let’s talk.” He tried not to let his nerves show, and he was thankful for his AudioVox evening out the slight tremor in his words. “Uh… why don’t you come upstairs to my office?” Lee evaded, “Vicki just dropped by with two new demos you can listen to, I think – …” “No,” Kerry said sternly, but he was grasping at straws for a reason as to why they had to meet outside that wouldn’t leave Lee even more suspicious. “Bring the demos with ya, we’ll listen to ‘em on the road,” was the best thing he could bullshit this quickly, “Been too stagnant lately, gotta move around a bit, get the creative juices flowing.” Empty phrases he’d flung around a million times before, but they usually worked with types like Lee. “Oh… okay?” Lee said, then there was silence for a couple of seconds, “Okay, I’ll be right there but… I need to be back at the studio at the latest in an hour, got an important appointment.” Kerry didn’t reply and simply hung up. No promises.

Lee appeared at the building’s main entrance around ten endless minutes later. Kerry’s right leg bounced in a shaky rhythm, the gun in his jacket’s pocket, heavy as a brick, bruising his thigh. Lee jogged across the street, black and blue designer coat fluttering around him. He tried to put on a smile when he approached the passenger side of the car, but it was slanted and forced. Kerry opened the door for him. “Get in,” he ordered, demanded almost, and Lee slightly flinched, fumbling in his pockets and pulling out a handful of shard cases. “Got everything with me, I thought maybe we could start with the song demos? But just in case I also brought the interview questions I mentioned, and some other things you can decide on for the upcoming promo events.” “Wow, great. Now get in,” Kerry repeated himself with zero enthusiasm and finally Lee slipped into the seat. The same seat V had fucked Kerry in so gloriously yesterday… and now Lee desecrated the space with his presence. Kerry closed the door again and sped off before Lee could say another word, headed towards the highway that would lead them out of the city.

(Things happened and are about to happen 👀 been really excited for this chapter but even more so the stuff it will lead to!)

I'm tagging everyone who has something they're working on to share - this is your call to do it and tag me :D Also tagging @pinkyjulien, @chevvy-yates, @humberg, @imaginarycyberpunk2023, @swearingcactus @civilization-illstayrighthere @peaches-n-screem cause I'd love to see/read what you're working on (if you work on anything you wanna share, without pressure ofc!), be it art, writing, vp, mods, anything! :D

[beyondtheglowingstars]

hullo!! may I request mario trying to seduce the reader (they are already dating)

possibly nsfw? 👀

You definitely can request it!

This isn't full on intercourse but I certainly included some nsfw for ya ;) Oh this was such a joy to work on, hope you like it!

For A Special Someone

Pairing: Mario x GN reader Word count: 1.2k WARNING(S): NSFW MINORS DNI! | Established relationship, Mario's kind of slutty and rubbing between the both of you. General info: It was your anniversary with your wonderful boyfriend; you knew he had so many things prepared for a special day like this, but there was one surprise in particular that you had not expected.

You readjusted your position on the sofa as you waited for Mario to come back, scrolling through your phone for a source of entertainment as an inkling of impatience ran through you; he told you to wait for him while he took a shower, before you both left to celebrate your anniversary. Not that you couldn’t wait for a little bit, but the excitement was practically radiating off of you and it made it more difficult to sit still knowing that there were many things awaiting you. At long last, you heard the shower be turned off and the bathroom door open shortly after.

What you were not expecting was for Mario walk out with just a towel, and a short one at that, wrapped around waist while his face was dusted with pink. It succeeded in covering his loins, but it failed to cover everything else that a towel was meant to obscure from view, and it made your cheeks become warm.

He shot you a smile and a slight wave as he walked towards the stairs with a particular sway to his hips, you awkwardly waved back, failing to restrict your eyes to focus on a part of him that wasn’t his lower body. He noticed your pupils fixate for a couple seconds exactly where he wanted them to, his soft-looking smile from moments prior being swapped by a knowing smirk as he changed direction and advanced towards you.

The plumber “fixed” his towel as he walked closer; in reality, he just moved the cloth higher up his body and now it provided you with a better view of what was down there. He made a somewhat of a show of sitting down next to you, by making sure to push out his ass more than necessary and lowering himself to the cushion slower than he usually did. Then, when his butt made contact with the sofa is when you noticed the towel had become even more ineffective, especially when his dick had become half-hard and you could clearly notice half of the head popping out with a tiny bubble of pre on it.

“I was going to get ready but you seem like-a something’s bothering you. Do you need help?” He leaned closer to you with smugness over his features, softly holding your face by your chin.

You were taken aback by how direct he was being this time, but not like it was an issue. Even if he was the one that got the original idea, you knew he was the one feeling the most hot and bothered, and you weren’t gonna ignore that.

“You look like you’re the one that needs help.” You place a hand on the back of his head and begin running your fingers through his damp hair.

Your index finger lightly pressed against where you believed the very base of his cock was located. Making him jolt from the unexpected contact and pure red blossom on his cheeks and part of his ears. His penis had become harder, what lay beneath was the tiniest bit more visible, but still that pesky piece of cloth didn’t let you get a clear look from the angle you had, and it annoyed you slightly. Mario rested his chin on his fingers, a pondering look on his face.

“Hmmm, what if we helped each other?” his voice dropped an octave near the end.

His smirk portrayed lust and excitement, he scooted closer and turned his body to face yours. One of his hands slowly reached to cup your cheek, he initiates a sloppy kiss with you, and your tongues fought back and forth in a game you both had yet to master. Your impatient hands ran over his sides at their own pace; enjoying as much as they could, squeezing and kneading at the softer flesh on his hips, prompting him to sigh into your mouth. Eventually, your lungs required air so your mouths broke contact.

Behind the painfully obvious desire on his eyes, you could still spot a large amount of adoration, his beautiful blue irises would have stars on them if it were humanly possible. The hidden feelings tugged at your heart and you felt butterflies flutter in your stomach. He planted a peck on your cheek with a hum of joy, placing a hand on your shoulder to keep you in place as he retreated several centimeters to stand on the floor in front of you. This new position gave him some height advantage for once, needing to tilt your head up to look at his face.

Mario looked back with a mischievous smirk reinstated on his lips. He undid the flimsy tie on the pesky towel, it fell forward from Mario’s hips, partially getting caught on his erection. He slowly pushed it down and off of his length with his index finger, licking his lips as he noticed you paying close attention; the annoying article fell off and it made his dick bounce back up to its previous height.

“Happy anniversary, amore mio!” His hands clasped behind his back to give you a clear view of his body, he swayed his hips to make his cock subtly swing from side to side.

And in that moment is when it dawned on you how painfully restricted you felt with your clothes still on. Not wasting another moment, you begin to get rid of your layers with urgency; Mario mentally cheered himself for riling you up this much as he lazily stroked himself. After taking care of your garments, you confidently get up from your place and put a hand to the back of your boyfriend’s head, tilting it towards you to reunite your mouths in a desperate kiss. You grasp his dick and he removes his hand from it to let you do your job.

His back bent back slightly to let you have more leverage over him, arms supporting his weight on the coffee table behind him. He sighed into your mouth as you jerked him off, his dick grew in your hand until it reached full mast and you let go, your pelvis tilted so your privates could come in contact with his. He let out a breathy moan after separating from the kiss, starting to rub against you. You shake your head in disapproval and place a finger on the tip of his cock, firmly pressing down on it to give him the hint to stop. Mario ceased his movements quickly enough, but his eyebrows curved with concern and some frustrated confusion.

Your finger circled the pink head of his dick a couple times and then slowly traced over the short length of his slit, making him audibly inhale from his nose and his previous feelings of worry vanished. Your mouth moved to the side of his head to whisper in his ear.

“Let’s take this to your bedroom.” You place a quick peck on his lips and then step a short distance away from him, holding out your hand for him to take.

His features take on a barely noticeable puzzled look, it took him a few seconds to clear his brain from lust as best as he could to process your words. He then enthusiastically nodded once it all clicked in his brain and squeezed the hand you offered to him with a grin, almost bouncing in place from excitement.

A/N: I really made him slutty, didn't I? Not ashamed about it lol, I like how this turned out.

[trsf-theblog]

Anna Milton

I'm watching the Anna episode, and I've got so many thoughts for this one. My first watch through, I struggled to like Anna after she remembered she was an angel. In part because she becomes a lot more stoic - she became who she used to be, and the human version of her seemed to just be...gone. I think Anna would have been way more interesting as a mix of human with a lifetime of angelic memory. And she gets a little more like that while she's talking to Dean on that car trunk in the Yard. But there's still too little of that human she used to be left in her personality for me. It made that whole sex scene between her and Dean feel...empty? Anna had so little personality once she became an angel, and approached Dean with the same lack of personality, so it didn't feel...erm...passionate. Let's call it that. As someone who identifies as ACE and also thinks there is way too much sex-for-sex's-sake in our media/entertainment, it bothered me on my first watch through. It bothered me less with time, but it always seemed out of place. (OMG, also, can we PLEASE talk about how she puts her hand over Cas's handprint? Like?!!? SHE WOULD KNOW WHAT THAT WAS. That made the whole thing seem very...hmm...like a pointed message to her former suboridnate 🤣) ((As does the kiss she gives Dean, which the show very purposefully cut to Cas's reaction for. Like. You don't cut to another guy's face mid-kiss for no reason.)) (((Personally, I think it was a way to start showing Castiel's...weakness for humanity. Not necessarily romantically, but for sure in curiosity. It fits too when later everyone shuts their eyes when Anna gets her grace back expect Cas. He's staring at her with such open curiosity and awe. I'm pretty sure it took way fewer episodes for me to fall in love with Cas, but this one cemented it))) Anyhoo, back to Anna! I struggled with her more and more every episode she was in because she just went more and more stoic-angel. And what a bummer! She had soooo much potential to be a cool, involved character. I never understood why they didn't use her more. Second thought - Part of me wants to have gone further into why Anna chose to fell, especially with the possible rising tension in the upper ranks of Heaven with the Apocalypse coming. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to lay groundwork for Heaven being the bad guy. Anna either found out more than she wanted to know or just got a sense Heaven wasn't what it was supposed to be. They show could have sprinkled a bit of that in and made Anna more of a key player in being on the humans' side when the time came. Third part! Oh My God. Why was Dean sooo damn interested in her after he found out she was an angel. He was a bit flirty when she was human, but guys, it like...tripples once she reveals she's an angel. He does the whole half-smirk, green-doe-eyed smile around her allllll the time. Guys. Dean is so hot for angels, and the second one came along with them female looks, he was ON THAT 👀 Aaaaaangel kiiiiiiiiiiink. That's our boy!

Lastly, can we talk about Alistair knowing how to exorcise Cas? I don't fully know why that hit me in the good-storytelling bits, but oh boy did it. And I love that Dean saves him from it. You could argue it's kinda just nature for Dean in a fight, but that was Alistair he was taking on. The whole point of that battle was to let the angels and demons fight each other (and get out of the way), and he couldn't let Alistair "kill" Cas. I love how early on that friendship was being written. They could have had it be Sam or Dean or Anna who got Alistair off Cas, but nope! They picked Dean 😁 Anyhoo, that's my ramble for tonight! I'm supposed to be writing (I haven't written anything in two weeks 😭) but since I'm stuck on the damn Morton House (seriously - have I ever told you guys I don't like writing Sam when he's away from Dean? THEY are supposed to be the co-dependent ones, dammit 🙄) I thought hey, I'll post here! At least I'm keeping those writing/Supernatural/fangirl vibes flowing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ So! Help me get some planning gears in motion. What do you all want to see out of Anna in TRSF? I have one idea at the moment, but I don't know if I'll go that way, as it conveniently takes Anna out of the story. And I juuust ranted about how much I did not like the show for doing that🤦‍♀️ She'd get to live happily as a human at least! But the more I think about it, the more I know she has potential as a character. I also know that the Muse and I have a habit of shying away from the women on the show Dean gets busy with. A small part of me thinks "NO, he's for Cas, back off ladies!", but that's me fangirling and I know that. A bigger part of me doesn't want to write him getting intimate with other characters (although for some reason, Cassie and Lisa don't trigger this at all - just Bela and Anna). The largest part yet is actually just angry and holding a grudge against the show writers for the amount of queer-baiting we got followed by under-developed and sometimes forced-on-us relationships, particularly with Dean.

Hmm, that's probably why Cassie and Lisa don't trigger this issue. Those relationships well developed and had purpose/fullfillment in them. Plus, the characters were well written and had depth! But Anna's relationship with Dean felt especially forced. And so my default planning definitely went towards avoiding her. Heeey, look at me writing out my thought process until I reached an understanding! Now I know why I want to avoid Anna, which means it's time to get the Muse working on the exact opposite 🤣 And that ramble got away from me. Go back to telling me what you all want to see from an Anna story arc in TRSF! Please and Thank you in Advance for all ideas and inspiration! 😁

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

Soo about the translation for Se Telefonando you mentioned in your author's note... is it too much to ask? 👀 (and am I setting myself up for more heartbreak by sending you this?)

kdskdhk ok I'll be honest. I was waiting for someone to ask because I've actually written a full-blown literary analysis for Se Telefonando and I have to share it here. My friend, I hope you don't mind if I use your ask to share my essay :')

Let's do this: I'll write my own translation down here, and I'll add my many, many notes (both on the translation itself, and on how it relates to the fic) under a cut. You can decide for yourself if it's heartbreaking or not :)

Ready?

Here's my translation:

The wonder of the night, opened wide over the sea,

Caught us unawares while we were still strangers, you and I

Then, in the dark, your hands suddenly on mine:

It’s grown too quickly, this, our own little love

If I could tell you goodbye just by calling, I’d call you

If I was certain you wouldn’t suffer seeing me again, I’d see you again

If I could tell you to stop while looking you in the eyes, I’d look at you

But I can’t explain to you that our newborn love is already over (x2)

Notes under the cut:

Alright, just a bit of context first. Se Telefonando was written in 1966 by De Chiara and Costanzo, two notable Italian pop music and TV personalities, and arranged by the world-famous composer Ennio Morricone. It was written specifically to be sung by Mina, a legend of Italian pop music with a unique voice (who, in fact, gives a wonderful interpretation of the song!). So: big names for the lyrics, big name for the melody, big name for the singer. And it shows!

Let's take it from the top.

Lo stupore della notte spalancata sul mar

The word stupore evokes in Italian the same feeling that wonder evokes in English: something that can be child-like, a special kind of surprise that leaves you speechless. This feeling is caused by the coming of the night, spalancata [= opened wide] over the sea: the word spalancata is used when doors are opened completely and (often) suddenly. So, all in all: the night opens without warning, like a portal to another world, over the sea, and surprises the two lovers (we'll meet them in the next verse, don't worry). Quite the start, huh?

Ci sorprese che eravamo sconosciuti, io e te

The verb ci sorprese (whose subject is the aforementioned night) could be literally translated as surprised us; I preferred a caught us unawares to convey, once again, the feeling of unexpectedness and wonder that overcomes the pair. The romance the singer shares with her lover happened quickly and unexpectedly; so much so that they were still sconosciuti, strangers, when they fell in love. I love the juxtaposition in the second half of the verse, here: the singer says they were surprised by their feelings when they were still strangers, but then immediately adds io e te, that is you and I, which communicates a strong familiarity to me -- yes, we were strangers, but we were also you and I. So familiar and intimate I don't even have to use any other words: we're the only people in our whole world.

A short note on the fic: the idea of the Girls being surprised by their bond is actually canon (Dorothy says it out loud in the finale: the Girls' friendship is a gift she never expected at that point in her life). I liked the parallel with this verse -- the Girls learned to know each other (ie became you and I rather than strangers) through the lens of their quick and deep friendship, and I've always loved that. (In the particular universe of the fic they didn't properly analyze what their actual feelings were, but we'll get to that in a moment.)

Poi, nel buio, le tue mani d'improvviso sulle mie

I love the intimacy in this verse. The theme of surprise is still there (d'improvviso = suddenly), but the real gem is the figure of the lover's hands on the singer's to indicate physical intimacy. Using the hands as a shortcut to suggest a physical relation (as part of their love) makes it delicate and romantic, while still clearly conveying the intimacy of the act. It doesn't even say they hold hands, or intertwine fingers: a very simple your hands on mine is all that's necessary.

Note also that this happens nel buio [= in the dark]: here's the full uncovering of the metaphor that carried us through the first two verses, ie the night (or, more in general, the darkness) as a placeholder for the feelings that caught the pair by surprise.

È cresciuto troppo in fretta questo nostro amor

There's the first crack in the picture. We've lived in dream land until here: the coming of the night, the softness, the intimacy, the sweet (almost lullaby-like) music... but here comes the reckoning: the love between our two characters è cresciuto troppo in fretta, has grown too quickly. Before we move on to examine the consequences of this hurry in the chorus, there's one small moment of tenderness left: questo nostro amore, literally this, our love. The literal translation doesn't convey just how soft and intimate the phrasing sounds in Italian: it's a love that's specifically ours, to be cherished, to be protected, to be nurtured (to be grown -- albeit too quickly). Hence the inclusion of own and little in my translation -- it felt like the right way to evoke similar feelings in English.

Se telefonando io potessi dirti addio, ti chiamerei Se io rivedendoti fossi certa che non soffri, ti rivedrei Se guardandoti negli occhi sapessi dirti basta, ti guarderei

Ah, the chorus! Finally. The first line here is the title of the fic, and what inspired it in the first place: the idea of someone not being able to call because they can't bear actually saying goodbye to their lover was just too delicious not to explore -- and since the theme was phone calls, it made sense to only tell the story through said phone calls (and it made for a fun challenge, too!).

The repeated if/then structure in this chorus is amazing. The stakes are increased after every line: the first verb, se telefonando, is almost impersonal (it means if just by calling generally, not if by calling you specifically), and yet it's already juxtaposed with potessi dirti addio, ie I could tell you goodbye (and addio is a proper, forever goodbye, not just a see you later!). Then we have rivedendoti [= seeing you again] in the second verse, and guardandoti negli occhi [= looking you in the eyes]; progressively more and more intimate actions. This is the desperate plea of a woman who knows she has to part from her lover (although we don't know why; the reasons are never explained) and begs him to see on his own that their relationship is over, because she doesn't have the strength to tell him personally. She longs to see him (as testified by the growing intimacy in the actions she describes) but at the same time she can't even call him on the phone, because she knows she'll capitulate if she does; she knows she has to tell him, but she also knows she's not able to bear it.

Note that this is also underlined by the music: the theme becomes much more dramatic than it was during the first stanza, the three verses are sung in crescendo (Mina was a powerhouse of a singer!), and the melody is transposed higher and higher at each verse. One really gets the sense of urgency and helplessness in the singer's plea: she needs to say all these things, she must say goodbye to her lover and their encompassing, surprising love, but she can't.

You can see why I was so inspired to use this for the Girls, can't you? :)

Ma non so spiegarti che il nostro amore appena nato è già finito

And finally -- the last line, and the moment of peak tension. The chorus has upped the ante with every line, bringing us closer and closer to the precipice, and now we're on the cusp: the music resolves, and we fall down. The song until this point was still suspended, in a way; we could feel the desperation in the singer's voice, we knew what was hiding behind all those hypotheticals, but it's only now that the truth is out in the open: I can't explain to you that our newborn love is already over. Game, set, match.

First of all: non so spiegarti literally means I don't know how to explain to you -- but that sounds almost whiny in English (to me, at least). What the lyrics are trying to convey here is a feeling of helplessness: the singer has no words to explain to her lover that their story is over (hence why she can't even call him on the phone).

And then the kicker: our newborn love is already over. The image of a newborn love fits the motif of child-like wonder and love growing we already encountered in the stanza: it's a sort of juxtaposition between the innocence of feeling (love, in this specific case, that makes one feel open and light again) and the cruelty of real life (that forces the lovers apart). This same juxtaposition is found in the music as well: I've already mentioned that the melody is almost lullaby-like in the stanza, it becomes much more dramatic in the chorus, and the song ends with a trailing tail of la-la-la that would not be too out of place in a children's playground (which, to me, only serves to further drive home the divide).

The idea of a newborn love is not exactly what I was going for in the fic, but it's still closely aligned: I figure in this universe the Girls were just about to have their oh moment when Dorothy got her chance to run away and left them all heartbroken. Sophia even comments on it in her voicemail message: she thought they were days away from it. You know that common sapphic experience of being very, very close to one of your friends, and then she starts dating someone else, and you feel heartbroken even though you two were never really in a relationship (and maybe you never even realize you had feelings for her until a decade later)? That's the vibe I was going for: being almost there but never saying anything explicit, so that when it all crumbles down, it falls spectacularly. Not a newborn love, but an almost-born love, in a way. An almost-born love that is over before it had a chance to begin.

And that's it, I think! My lit teacher would be proud of me. It's been a while since I had the chance to analyze anything in *this* much depth and I had a wonderful time. Hope you enjoyed reading this far -- and I'm always open to questions, if you have any!

[burritoreviewsstuff]

Okay I finally finished Good Omens 2 (S2) and here is what I think of it

So Let’s Talk about Good Omens 2

First off, I have to give a round of applause to you Tumblr. There’s no doubt in my mind S2 was inspired by this site’s carnal desire for angst and that our local cryptid, Neil took that into consideration when writing S2. So for all of the people broken and depressed over the ending, the only people you have to blame is yourselves.

Neil served what the fans wanted, what this site wanted. What you wanted.

Am I upset with how it played out? No…but the journey to the big reveal at the end had its highs and lows. The main thing that I didn’t like is that they saved all the answers for the final episode, and I do mean ALL the answers to the questions that came up in episode one. Although, the plot twists were good.

Anything unexpected that came out of the plot was just…good. I’m not going to list them all here to prevent spoilers, but the unexpected was never a letdown. Any unexpected joke made me laugh my ass off.

Like, who the hell was gonna expect Jon Hamm to just wiggle his butt like a lost puppy at the camera? The answer is no one.

I just noticed the gigantic fucking clue to the plot twist was that when Jim first met Crowley he was wearing that blanket like he did in the statue.

And it wasn’t until the end with Nina and Maggie that they were supposed to be a parallel to Az and Crowley that we will ‘wait and see’ what happens and that ‘no one should play a hand on how they live their lives’. The same could be said for what happened to Job. His entire life was ruined over a bet between God and Satan.

The low points of the series I definitely thought were the excessive human cast who kind of…were there? We really didn’t need to spend as much time on them as we did. Disclaimer: no I’m not saying this as an anti-LGBTQA+ statement, I’m saying this as a perspective from the plot. And that ‘seamstress’ joke was just…it wasn’t funny.

Overall, episodes 2-5.5 felt like filler and only episodes 1, the second half of 5, and 6 felt like it was building structure to the plot. Everything else in between was mostly filler. Nothing wrong with it, but when a lot of nothing goes on that doesn’t really add up to some threads being tied together is quite bland and boring when a manhunt for the Archangel Gabriel is how you begin the premise for the season. The Nazi Zombies? Never come up again and are still alive roaming the Earth for all we know.

But hey, any moment where Jon Hamm was doing absolutely nothing and being funny was an absolute delight.

I AM DISAPPOINTED BECAUSE I WAS NOT QUENCHED IN THE GABRIEL STRIPPING SCENE YOU MAKE ME ANGRY NEIL! (I’m kidding although…if there’s an deleted scene…can you like…share? 👀👀👀 Once the strike’s over of course) Let’s be real if they showed Jon Hamm stripping the show would turn into ‘Good Gabriels’.

I busted out laughing because I AM ASSUMING IT WAS A COINCIDENCE THAT HE ALSO HAD THE KEN FUR COAT YOU KNOW THE ONE

Like no one is talking about this and it makes me sad

I also want to figure out what the significance of Muriel having The Crow Road by Iain Banks at the end of the series and what it is supposed to represent.

I hope Shax gets some more development.

And Aziraphale and Crowley? I’m already calling it now because my deductions are never wrong, but by the end of it all they will ineffably out on Alpha Centauri enjoying each other’s company. Alpha Centauri has been referenced too many times to not be a staple plot point.

The ending didn’t really feel like an end. It was more of an intermission or Third Act Breakup.

So when Good Omens 3 comes up with the Rapture and Second Coming I really hope they just call this man up to play Jesus.

It would be hilarious that we expect Jesus to be this humbled carpenter who is all wise from Nazareth but after years upon years he just became some chill broski from Florida.

Overall, it was an enjoyable fun time. Upon giving out my thoughts, it’s ineffable that this is Part 1 of 2 seasons (at least). More than likely S3 was in the works, but the strike happened and put everything on hold. For now.

[fluffykitteninabox]

The MHA anime is animated weirdly:

ok i just watched the new episode and i have come to a realisation

most of the "ugly" shots of characters are from the front, but the characters look perfectly fine from the side

no no don't leave, hear me out...

ugly

pretty

ugly

pretty

except these 2 shots that are the exact same angle so i don't know wtf happened here:

ugly

pretty

rambling under the cut

WARNING: SPOILERS, NITPICKING & EXCESSIVE USE OF ITALICS

Now this is very interesting to me because most artists (me included) struggle drawing characters from the side and find the front view easier.

And the specific angle that Tenko is shown from here is (for me at least) one of the hardest in general, because you have to show the way the body turns without making it look weird.

In the baby Tenko screenshot the way his shoulders are positioned and how his neck is turned is unclear and a bit confusing. Or at least I can't see it.

In the adult Tomura screenshot these parts are a lot clearer.

It's not just his face that looks weird, it's the entire thing. The face problem mostly has to do with the hair. They made it less... fluffy!

If you look at the original panel too his ear is supposed to be visible and his mouth is supposed to be bigger

but in the very next shot he looks amazing:

look at the details, you can even see how his little teeth are crooked!

Bones really half asses specific parts of episodes and puts extra effort in others..

and that's usually normal for an anime,

but there's no real logic to what scenes get the premium treatment and which don't.

Or, to be more accurate, which characters get the premium treatment and which ones don't.

Take for example this scene from the beginning of the episode:

So I'm ok with how they handled this scene for the most part. Zooming in on his lips with no sound.

cool cool cool..

You can literally read them btw, even though my gif is kind of bad. But it looks like he introduced himself using his first name first and then his last name. (waiting for someone good at analysing shit like this to find what the order is implying 👀)

Hawks' reaction was a bit disappointing however. I was expecting the eye widening to be more dramatic and..

you know... faster

Usually when you're shocked at something your eyes widen at a pace that's definitely faster than this.

I won't pretend I'm an animation expert but i think this has to do with the amount of frames they used.

I usually make gifs from screenshots instead of screen recording, because most screen recorders make my phone really slow. So I have to repeatedly start and pause the video to do that.

Obviously the amount of screenshots i manage to take depends on how fast my fingers are each time, so i might not get every single frame.

But even then the difference in number here seems odd

I managed to get 12 screenshots of Dabi moving his lips, and 17 of Hawks' reaction. And I also miss clicked once and lost about a second of Hawks so there would have been more.

The number might not sound like much, but it's weird when you look at it. Go look at the actual episode if you need to, it's more noticeable there.

Why do we need so many frames for Hawks to react to this??

This sounds like extreme nitpicking but I genuinely think it would have looked better with less frames. Yeah it's cool that it looks smooth but smooth is not always what you want.

He's shocked, this is supposed to look abrupt. It's especially odd when you look at how detailed his face is in that shot.

Why would they choose this part to get the smooth premium animation when that actively hindered the scene

and didn't choose something like... I don't know.. Dabi silently name dropping himself while we see an extreme close up of his lips???

YES I'M FUCKING BIASED BUT I AM OBJECTIVELY CORRECT IN THIS!!

Wouldn't it have been cooler if they had made him enunciate his name and we got to see that in hyper detail?

Because that's the actual important part of this scene. We should be focusing on Dabi, not Hawks' reaction to Dabi.

This is kind of similar to the issues in the Shirakumo reveal scene in season 5. We should have been focusing more on Shirakumo/Kurogiri but because Bones were cowards and didn't animate the Vigilantes flashback chapters, we had to focus on Aizawa instead because that's who the viewers were more emotionally attached to so we needed him as an audience stand in to tell us what we should feel!

I swear if they decide to focus on Endeavor's stupid as fuck reaction during Dabi's reveal instead of him I will lose my shit!!

Also I just realised why the close up shot of Dabi's mouth looks wrong. Scroll back up and look at the gif..

His teeth are too straight!

Apparently someone forgot that humans also have canines!! I mean sure, some people's are less prominent, but his teeth look like they've been drawn with a ruler!

Tumblr posting my drafts again so everything under this point is me editing the post really hastily:

not much else to say

just kind of a conclusion thing i guess

basically i think bones is focusing on the wrong parts of some scenes or focusing on the wrong scenes during an episode in general.

Like Dabi's anger at the beginning of the episode and the dream sequence in Tomura's mind should have been the focal points. That's where the premium animation treatment should have gone.

I appreciate the extra dramatic animation when Tomura wakes up, but that wasn't as important as the entirety of the dream.

Everything looked so static. Yes they had some debris floating around, but if you pay attention to the floating parts of buildings where the characters were standing, all the debris around that wasn't moving at all. It was like it was still attached to the building with invisible strings when it should have probably been moving away.

This is the same issue I had with Twice's clones in the previous episode. He's supposed to be replicating them while Hawks is getting rid of them, but all we see is a static image of a bunch of clones.

Anyway that's enough ranting I think

congratulations if you've read this far, and thank you for tolerating my annoying rambling..

[kgkgwrites]

Arcane Episode 1 Analysis(Part 2/2)🍺🕴️👊👀

Hi everyone, welcome to the 2nd and final analysis for Arcane, Season 1 Episode 1!!! Do note that the following is my own personal readings of what certain scenes of the show may mean and if you have any differing opinions that’s totally fine!:) Do feel free to message me privately as well if you would like to discuss certain points! That said, hope everyone has fun analysing with me and HAPPY READING!!!:)))

Once again spoiler alert for those who haven't watched the show yet!!!

__

  Welcome back everyone! Similar to the first half of the episode, the second half introduces the audience to the characters that the story revolves around (If you’re interested, be sure to check out my analysis of the first half on my account!). However, in the second half, the story takes a slightly darker edge, *foreshadowing potential conflicts following the introduction of Silco, the series’ main “antagonist” and *foil to Vander who we were introduced to earlier in the episode.

*Foil: Literary device used to reveal characteristics or traits of one character through comparison with another.

*Foreshadowing: Literary device that gives hints to what is coming later in the story which can help to develop or subvert audience expectations

  Firstly, I believe that there is not really an antagonist or truly evil character in the show (which is why the earlier “antagonist” was in quotes). All the characters all have their own motives and goals which they attempt to achieve by the only ways they know how. Jinx lives her life haunted by the traumatic experiences of her past, attempting to find a shred or even a semblance of family in this dystopian setting of the Undercity. Silco attempts to wrestle back any bit of respect he can for the Undercity through violence, which he deems necessary to exact change (a common belief of the people of the Undercity at this point in the story), even managing to achieve his goals to an extent, forcing Piltover to make a deal with them to give the Undercity more control towards the end of the show. Even the corrupt governors in Piltover who may appear evil are simply doing everything in their own self-interest and though they are morally flawed, I do not believe they are evil. (After all, we see reports of these corrupt governments on the news relatively often and even though we may think that what they are doing is wrong and immoral, we don’t brand them immediately as despicable and irredeemable monsters right?). Ultimately, this show is a sort of reflection of society, with people having both light and dark sides, introducing real world ideas like war and violence and this is what makes the characters we are introduced to so complex and loveable because for the audience we immediately think, would we do the same in their shoes?

  Back to the analysis now:). In the second half of the episode, we are introduced to what can only be described as the “heart” of the Undercity, the bar known as the “Last Drop” run by Vander, the adoptive father of Vi and Powder whom we were introduced to last episode. This location becomes a representation of the Undercity as a whole and repeatedly appears throughout important points in the story. As we see Vi and crew walk up to the Last Drop here, it appears to be brightly lit, glowing with warmth and teeming with life, with a low rumble of voices that, in a city where people seem to intentionally keep their voices down to avoid unwanted attention and conflict, is particularly inviting. All these qualities set the Last Drop apart from the rest of the buildings in the Undercity. 

  However, when Vi returns back from prison later on in the story, the Last Drop feels vastly different. The warm and assuring glow of the Last Drop is gone, replaced with a cold exterior. The comforting yellow glow of the signage, replaced with a nauseating neon green. Even Caitlyn who was new to the Undercity at the time managed to pick up that the Last Drop stood apart from the other squalid buildings in the area, but for WILDLY different reasons than what we mentioned previously, claiming that it looked like it had “bodies buried in the basement”. The macabre image that she painted with those words stands in stark contrast against the warmth and security that the Last Drop used to provide to Vi and her crew while it was under Vander’s ownership, leaving her visibly affected by the change and unable to even LOOK at it anymore.

  This is all due to the different ideals and values that the leaders of the Undercity at the time brought. While Vander represents a sense of family and unity, standing up for everyone else and always thinking of the needs of others before himself, Silco when he took over instead had an extremely objective and materialistic view on things. Instead of valuing the abstract ideas of personal bonds and connections, he instead chased economic and material profits, turning the Undercity into an “enterprise” as he described to Finn, one of the chem-barons incharge of the Undercity. Silco did this by spreading the physical representations of his control, Shimmer, all around Zaun to use as a threat/ card to play against Piltover despite the physical and mental harm it can cause over the residents of the Undercity. The word “enterprise” also brings to mind the running of a business and company, reducing and almost erasing what Zaun originally stood for and found strength in. Loyalty. Family. Unity.

  In addition, we are introduced to the eye *motif as we see Silco set up the outline of an eye around the Last Drop signage at the top of the bar. The “eye” is meant to represent the foresight that Silco brings to the table with his ideas and goals to take back power from Piltover.( I will be referencing this multiple times throughout the series so do keep a lookout for this image!)

*motif: A recurring element or idea that has a symbolic significance and helps to develop a theme in a literary work.

  In the scene following the introduction of the Last Drop, a frail and scrawny looking man is seen making a deal with a pair of thugs and was just about to be bullied into accepting a bad offer after being threatened by violence when Vander steps in to stand up for him. When asked to go away, Vander warns them to not “mess with the guy that pours the drinks”, gesturing to the rest of the bar which is dead silent, a stark contrast from a second ago, all of them backing Vander immediately. 

  Though a short sequence, it convincingly puts across the strength of the bonds between the people of the Undercity, standing up for one another in a heartbeat. The nonchalant and seemingly simple way Vander phrases the threat to the thugs, “mess with”, is contrasted immediately by the hostile reaction from the bar. Despite not knowing the specifics of the incident that occurred, they immediately put their faith in Vander whereby Vander in turn trusts them immediately to have his back. In addition, I mentioned in my earlier analysis that Arcane plays with elevation and angles to put across certain points. As the camera pans around to the rest of the bar after Vander’s threat, everyone is on the same eye level as the camera and can all be seen in a panoramic shot of the bar, representing the equality and respect that each and every one of them is held at by their fellow men and illustrates how they are all on the "same level"(literally). However, in a later scene with Silco, he is shown to be positioned instead ABOVE and separate from the citizens of the Undercity surrounding him, all of them groveling disgracefully at his feet in the darkest and lowest point of the Undercity.

  The irony of this scene is in the fact that despite the grandeur goals that Silco claims he is chasing for the good of people in the Undercity, struggling to gain the respect they supposedly deserve from Piltover, under his management the people lost their strength and power that they had all along, reduced to starving beggars who relies on Shimmer for gratification and are (LITERALLY) at the lowest point of the Undercity at this point in the story. This calls attention to the theme of appearance vs reality whereby even though it seems that they are making progress, becoming wealthier through the sale and transportation of the harmful substance Shimmer, they actually lost something even more valuable in the process, forgetting what it means to be from the Undercity.

  Later on in the story, Silco realizes this, re-embracing the ideas that the Undercity stood for in the past after a series of events. Being betrayed by the chem-barons attempting to overthrow him, the threat of Sevika turning on him, and almost losing Jinx. He recalls that it is “loyalty” that bore the Undercity through its tumultuous past.

  After these events, Silco seems visibly shaken and his character seems to have a major change of heart, making the same decisions Vander had while in the same position, choosing family over power/ control. This clearly highlights the theme of action vs stagnation as despite Silco’s dreams for the future and the actions he took to try and obtain his nation of Zaun, he ultimately ends up back where the story started 8 episodes ago. (Small teaser about what we’ll be talking about in future episodes)

  The episode ends with Vi comforting Powder about their failed heist by bringing her to a spot with a clear view of the Undercity, describing to her stories of her previous escapades with Claggor and Mylo. She tells Powder about them running through gutters, painting signs, and getting bullied. She describes what happened with such tenderness and nostalgia that even we can see that her feelings are genuine. Through this, we also see the Undercity as these characters do, as somewhere that they can be themselves and enjoy the ups and downs that life brings them, having memories that can survive the test of time. This is juxtaposed against the initial impression we had of the Undercity as a dark and sketchy place.

  This is a reminder to both the audience AND Powder that no matter what troubles befall our characters at this point in time, the Undercity and the family that it stands for will always support them as the stories that Vi tells Powder seems intrinsically linked to the physical places in the Undercity like the “gutter(s)” and “sign(s)”, highlighting the strength of the Undercity once again. This wholesome and heartwarming scene is broken up by Powder’s confession of her still being in possession of the Hextech jewels that she stole from Piltover.

  This revelation and the timing that it is revealed to us, breaking up the flow of the scene, hints at some potential conflict that may happen that will literally break apart the peace and comfort that our characters are currently taking for granted, stemming from these jewels, all of this culminating in a later episode that will be analyzed in one of my future posts.

–

That's the end for my analysis of Episode 1 of the Arcane series!🎉😁 Phew this was a long one but hope you all still enjoyed reading and do feel free to request for analysis of any of your other favorite shows!! Hope to see you again in my next post!

[mademoiselle-red]

TC reread chapter 3, some thoughts

(Be warned: if you like Andrew, it’s best to just ignore this post and keep scrolling. I’m not a fan of this character and I don’t hold back on my opinions here)

Both Laurie and Ralph started their careers at the bottom of the army & merchant navy hierarchies despite having an “educated” accent. Another similarity and shared experience!

When Laurie asks to see his x-rays, the charge-nurse replied “I know what you are, reading your notes and getting half-baked ideas. Shakespeare says a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” This reminds me of Ralph’s story about Alec admonishing him for reading medical anatomy books. No wonder Laurie’s like: there’s nothing wrong with that 😤😤😤

“No one discussed what he had really felt; they took it out on other things.” Yep. True for like everyone in this entire book 😂

Poor Laurie, fighting the drugs because he nearly outed himself on that ship when he was drugged out of his mind, called Ralph a “dearie” and turned him down with a flirty smile 😏 (I wonder if he ever decides to call Ralph “dearie” again, perhaps while they are on holiday, lying on the deck of a little sailboat? “Yes dearie, I’m ready this time” 🤗)

Also, Laurie remembers finding Ralph’s concern for him on the ship “very flattering” and “reflected that he [Laurie] was filthy and unshaved”, and thus proposes “some other time” 😏👀 Like, Ralph is hovering over him, desperately hoping he might still make it out alive, and Laurie is lying there, casually revealing that he’s been considering the bearded man in front of his as a potential lover and decided that he can’t do it now because he hasn’t shaved yet and his leg is a mess 😅 (but also, an early hint that Laurie will be hesitant to date Ralph because he is afraid of being not good enough for Ralph 😭😭😭)

Love the water = queerness metaphor in this book. Laurie the champion swimmer, not wanting to swim because it is not allowed 😭

And after the surgery, Laurie is doped out of his mind, all inhibitions removed. The first we see this happen, he thinks about sex with the bearded captain (Ralph), the second time we hear about this, he recites queer poetry and invites a nurse to bed, and now he is rambling to Nurse Adrian about how “there was a man at school” with whom things would have been different from his failed relationship with Charles. Laurie’s horny-ness for Ralph is so sweet 🥹. And then telling her “it was all wrong the way they treated him” 😭😭😭

“Exit a quiet tidy patient […] enter, somewhere else, a young man with a lame leg and an unanswered question. Vital statistics have this new character something like fifty years’ expectation of life.” I like to imagine that with the stability of Ralph’s love, care, and companionship, Laurie will live to a ripe old age 💪

Laurie makes up a whole life story for Nurse Adrian, “bumpy tennis court […] a wire-haired terrier you couldn’t show” all based on her “schoolroom smile”. I write her as a repressed lesbian in one of my WIPs 😅😅😅

I love how Laurie gives Sandy a flirty smile out of pure boredom. He obviously delights in the expressing his queerness and in casually flirting with another man (as long as there are no social consequences for him)! Hilarious how he convinces himself later that he can live a chaste life. If Laurie had become a sailor like Ralph, he would absolutely go cruising in bars in foreign ports and pick up men with that dazzling smile of his. (Omg perhaps in an AU where it is Laurie who has an affair with Hazel and gets expelled….)

Also Laurie, just because you are masc4masc does not mean you can look down upon femme folks 😤😤😤

Poor Laurie crying under the covers after hearing Major Ferguson’s discussion with the visiting surgeon and understanding that he’ll be disabled forever: “Then he slipped down in bed […] soon he was able to blot his eyes on the sheet and come to the surface again” 😢

“You know, my father wasn’t faithful to my mother.” Thinking about Laurie’s abandonment trauma, and his tendency to abandon ppl before they can abandon him: Andrew prolly seemed like a “safe” choice because he seems to have no romantic prospects (he doesn’t even seem to have any close friends except Laurie). Meanwhile Ralph is popular in the queer community, he seems to have lots of romantic prospects, so Laurie felt like Ralph didn’t really need him for emotional & romantic fulfillment (until he read the suicide letter). After all, like Madge, he “was one of those that know what a man needs.”

Ugggghhhhh the book is so boring without Ralph 😩😩😩…..two more chapters to go….😫😫😫

“It was Nurse Adrian […] he felt at once that it was she all the time whom he had really wanted […] she had none of that awful knowingness; one could take one’s time with her, hesitate, and she would only be grateful.” She is innocent of queerness, has nice hands, fair hair, and BLUE eyes, and Laurie helps her with the washing up in the kitchen in the evening 👀. It’s a little sad how Laurie just replaces her with Andrew and abandons their budding friendship once he has found an equally innocent and Ralph-looking male version of her.

Also, I think the 1953 version of this chapter makes it more clear that Laurie feels very terrible and guilty about having killed people in the war. That is why he thinks it’ll be “embarrassing” to meet the C.O.s, whose hands are “clean” of blood. It is a crude metaphor, but both Laurie and Ralph have participated in both queerness and the killing, while Andrew has declared himself morally above acting upon queerness and killing Nazis. Although he “dirtied” his hands for a good cause, Laurie is feeling very down-beaten and guilty after Dunkirk, so it’s quite understandable that Andrew’s “clean” moral position seems quite aspirational and superior.

But I don’t find Andrew any more virtuous than the other characters in the novel. His moral “cleanliness” from standing above the violence is basically non-interference, doing nothing as people suffer. This doesn’t make him more virtuous or morally superior to those who were willing to get their hands dirty to take a stand against fascism. I think choosing pacifism when your country is under attack is really just choosing to escape into an illusion: the pacifist’s hands are clean indeed, but his boots are drenched in the blood of those who died because of his inaction.

Laurie and Andrew’s interactions are such fertile ground for finding Ralph/Laurie clues 🔎, like Andrew wearing a grey flannel shirt on the day Laurie first sees him. Ralph was also wearing grey flannel when they kissed in the study, on the last day Laurie saw him. And we later learn from the old photograph of Ralph that it was love at first with Andrew because Laurie recognized 19 year old Ralph in his appearance.

“The brush with Willis had fortified Laurie’s self-confidence.” Andrew’s social vulnerability and inexperience gives Laurie ample opportunity to provide protection and guidance. Like Ralph, he needs to be needed. He especially needs this ego-boost after losing both the war and his leg.

I know I’ve said this many times in the past, but I find it so telling that Laurie is jealous of the much older Dave for being Andrew’s mentor & father-figure, rather than any of the young Quakers, who’d make more reasonable romantic prospects for Andrew. He doesn’t want to be Andrew’s partner or equal, he wants to replace Dave as Andrew’s pederastic mentor.

In the 1953 edition I’m reading, Andrew whistles the Enchanter’s Theme from Swan Lake after Laurie mentions Tchaikovsky. The enchanter makes the protagonist mistake the black swan, the impersonator, for the white swan, his true love. Similarly here, Laurie does not realize that his sense of deja vu & love at first sight is because Andrew resembles Ralph, his true love.

The meeting with Andrew reminded me of that Twitter meme about how there are two kinds of ppl you’ll meet: those who are kind to you and those who are nice to you. Nice people are polite and considerate about all the little things, but unwilling to make any kind of personal sacrifice to help you when push comes to shove. Kind people may be a little blunt and severe when you first meet them, but genuinely care about your wellbeing and are willing to go through a lot of trouble to help you.

Laurie and Andrew are nice to each other, while Laurie and Ralph are kind to each other. Laurie will do anything for Ralph, once he knows what Ralph needs from him, but cannot ultimately bring himself to disavow his emotional truth & love for Ralph to let Andrew have his cake and eat it too. Ralph, however, is willing to sacrifice his dignity and happiness to give Laurie what he wants, while Andrew is unwilling to compromise his pride and moral dogmatism to understand and fulfill Laurie’s emotional needs.

Also, I will go into it in more detail once I get to chapter 15, but Andrew’s final letter to Laurie is rather rude and presumptuous. He thinks he can ask Laurie to disavow his love for Ralph and his own emotional truth, without offering Laurie anything in return, not even a continuation of their chaste friendship. Fuck off!

(This reminds me: I should write a fic where an older Laurie digs out Andrew’s letter from a box of his old things, reads it, and is like: “oh dear! I’m so glad he broke up with me. Saved me from so much future heartache. And now I have Ralph 🥰”)

[deluweil]

9-1-1 6x01 review - don’t read if you haven’t watched.

Okay, so it took me quite a while to walk through everything I wanted to say about last night’s episode, and tbh I’m not even halfway there lol so there will be mini metas to come after this long ass one.

I will start with Maddie and Chimney, and finish with Buddie. 

Maddie and Chimeny: 

I have to say that them making steps to getting back together is absolutely amazing, I was so happy the writers didn’t make us wait for half a season before making this right. 

And baby Jee!! My first reaction to seeing her for the first time this season was to coo very loudly, (I had to go back to hear what was said lol) She is so sweet! And so smart, her connecting Maddie to the suitcases and leaving at the end of the episode had me in tears. She is way to young to have to deal with abandonment issues. 

I do not for one second blame Maddie, but even unintentionally Maddie’s constant fugitive state created fissures first in Buck - then in both Chimney and Jee-Yan.

We can see Maddie arrive at that conclusion when she guides a kid who couldn’t find his brother in their own house, and while talking to the kid she - 1. understood why Chimney felt compelled to leave that morning and 2. help the kid find his baby brother, she is a big sister herself, by knowing her dynamics with Buck, she helped him find his own younger brother. (deeper siblings review is in the making)

Those realizations from the call helped her to reassure Chimney that she’s here to stay. And she want them to be a family. 

Now Chimney lol when he’s with Maddie, I love him! He’s turning into this big lump of softie, we know he loves her, we know he would have stayed with her that morning if he knew she was there to stay.

He says: “I had a one night stand with my ex, I don’t know what the rules are.” 

That statement alone meant that Chimney felt that last night’s was not something he could trust, he didn’t think Maddie would want to stay, he was terrified and, in Bobby’s words - Fled his own apartment lol

Bobby and Eddie, being the amusing voices of reason: 

“You didn’t skip the morning after conversation, you just delayed it.” Bobby did indeed have a point.

Eddie, knowing from his experience with Shannon and her showing up at the station in Merry-ExMas, elaborates - “You added a whole new complicated layer.” He looks a complicated mess of amused, supportive and in roast mode all at the same time, I love S6 Eddie more than ever. (more gushing later.)

I am happy to have Madney with baby Jee back together under the same roof and heading forward together, I wonder if we’re heading for a Madney wedding this season 👀🙏

***

Bathena getting ready for the cruise cracked me up! Bobby with the shirts and the ship’s itinerary and travel schedule (Buck and his clipboard anyone?😂) and Athena being exasperated and really all she wants to do is go away and have fun with her husband, rest and enjoy themselves.

I loved May roasting Bobby about the Hawaiian shirts lol was very reminiscent of Christopher roasting Buck in the beginning of the episode. (more on that later)

One awesome thing that I’ve got to point out - Athena and Hen lunch date, that is something we haven’t seen in a long time, I’ve missed those two together!!

That brings me to the whole interim captain thing, I want to know which writer I’m going to slap for giving us cringingly awkward Buck in this episode?? One scene maybe two along with the talk Buck had with the Diaz boys was acceptable funny even. But to revert him all the way back to the first seasons, was uncalled for and made me look away for most of the awkward Buck scenes. 

Hen, bless her, was the only one who saw fit to put Buck out of his misery, (tbh I thought for sure she’ll kill Buck for touching her ambulance lol) and went to Bobby to tell him to out his big boy pants and choose an interim captain so Buck can stop bending over backwards trying to prove himself.

Which btw was something I expected Bobby, at this point of the show, to know what is going on, instead all we get is “Ah so that’s what he’s been doing.” 

I mean, duh! If I could see it, so should his captain 🤦‍♂️

Now I’ll pause to say, and it may anger some people, that I don’t think Buck is ready to be captain.  I’ve been watching several firefighters shows and to this day I cannot grasp the rules of the LAFD, I mean I figured Chimney with the most seniority, probably already a lieutenant is indeed the most logical next in line - seeing from 2x17 and 2x18 that captaincy is not his forte I figured the next one will be Hen or bringing someone from outside of the same rank as Bobby to cover as captain. 

They did that in Chicago Fire, same as Station 19. I don’t know what is going on in LAFD or 118 but I’m guessing the firehouse has more than one captain or more than four people.

I don’t get why Lucy would have been Bobby’s next choice, that was the writers’ lazy way of introducing Buck’s new conflict/crisis, and tbh at this point I’m kinda over Buck’s crisis being sprouted up by women, give me something more believable, something I can relate to, some form of mature writing for god’s sake. Lucy is injured at home, let her be injured at home lol

In fact Bobby did think about asking Hen and Buck agrees with all of us that Hen will make a great captain. Hen is the best choice for captain - we see it all the time, the way she reins in everyone, being a sounding board and the voice of reason when needed, She always knew how to navigate Buck and was so sweet to Ravi when he suffered under Buck’s mentoring lol.

So I’ll repeat -HEN IS THE BEST CHOICE FOR CAPTAIN!!!

This brings me to Buck and Eddie, I mean that first call, I wondered at first why Bobby sent Chimney with Eddie, but Buck headed straight over to help Eddie while Chimney helped the first pilot down the aerial, and they ended up doing the risky part of the rescue together. It was beautiful! I missed them working together.

Even though very professional, we can see that Buck is worried for Eddie, as he headed up the aerial quickly, the way he says his name, the way he looks up as he helps the co-pilot down. - Always looking out.

I have to say that even though that situation was extremely dangerous Eddie walked in and got through it with ease and grace, that jump out of that blimp was beautiful!  🤩

I actually expected the blimp emergency to be bigger, something dramatic, but I found I love it just as it is! It was refreshing, not to start a season with some kind of natural disaster or another. - It hit just right in my opinion.

The scene of the video call with Lucy showed that one, the team is fond of her and second, Bobby seems to trust her very quickly, I don’t really get it, I mean she’s been with them for 6-8 months now? She may be badass but she’s worse than Buck as far as self preservation goes. So I was just as surprised as Buck at the fact that Bobby considered her as interim captain, why would the team follow her after such a short time? But Buck’s face told a whole story which Eddie picked up immediately, his face a concentrated mix of worry and trying to discern how to neutralize the situation. Chimney good naturedly tried to lighten the mood, both Hen and Eddie joining in a roasting Chimney on the way it was nice to see things pretty much go back to normal. The next scene will live rent free in my head for a looong time,  I mean Buck doesn’t have a couch, the only place to sit is on the dining table, and still Eddie and Christopher are looking right at home, and comfortable just to be in Buck’s loft, with Buck. - They are not guests in Buck’s loft either, and it makes me wonder how many hours, days weeks, did the Diaz boys spend with Buck in his loft while Eddie was in therapy, as Buck was helping both him and Christopher through their crisis. I also love love love how Eddie is getting straight to the heart of the problem, seeing right through Buck’s roundabout speech about better more qualified people to fill in for Bobby. And neither Eddie nor Christopher allow him to wallow, nor encourage whatever funk he may harboring over this one thing. For me there were two things in play here, 1- Chimney said it quite adequately - “It’s always nice being asked.” 2- Buck is a little unsure of himself, he feels like the work is the one thing he does best and if that’s not what Bobby thinks then what does it say about him.

So many little nounces here, in this talk between Eddie and Buck, it’s all hinges on many domestic features too, it’s like they’re talking about one thing when in fact it feels like they are having a different discussion entirely. “He has so many other excellent options right under his nose..” “What like you?” “it’s like he’s choosing not to see them and everything they have to offer” “What are you offering?”   You’d think Buck would list what he has to offer in terms of captaincy but Buck gives a different answer, in fact verifying of that other underlined conversation i indicated before - “Right now, Bobby’s famous lasagna.” The Diaz boys admire the lasagna - “I looks good” - “It smells good” 

- taking a pause here to share a little tidbit, I have a close friend who is bi - She loves to tell me how good I look even when I feel like the ugliest thing in the world and shallow as it may sound for me it is one of the best things you can say to me if you want to get me to smile. And she once told me when we talked that for her the highest form of complement is when people tell her she smells good. So Buck got here two of the ultimate complements (obviously there are more) it looks good and it smells good, still didn’t feel like we were talking about the lasagna lol. 

“I just want to know what these other candidates have that I don’t.”

And here comes Christopher’s famous - “Buck, you don’t even have a couch.” - Took me a while to stop laughing, Christopher roasting Buck is one of my favorite things to watch, it’s sweet and shows affection and familiarity. (like I said before, it sounds a lot like May with Bobby.) 

Buck, bless him, asks Christopher what does that has to do with the couch and Christopher answers that it’s weird. I love that kid so much!!

And Buck answers seriously, even though Chris is a kid, and in my family we usually brush our problems off with a joke - so I really admire Buck’s being honest and giving Christopher an honest answer. “My last couches came with gfs.”

Eddie shoots back “You mean your last two gfs came with couches.” - then turns serious, telling Buck that Taylor has been gone for four months, and he should have been able to get a new couch by now. And here again, it feels like we’re talking about something else entirely when Buck looks Eddie straight in the eye and answers “Maybe I don’t want to pick the wrong couch again.”

And here Eddie wraps it all up neatly - going back to that first topic - “Maybe that’s how Bobby feels about interim captain.”

The underline conversation here sounded to me a lot like, Buck not wanting to choose the wrong partner again, after everything they’ve been through together it feels like he knows who’s the right one but has yet to make a conscious decision to act on it. And same with Eddie - Eddie knowing why Bobby is hesitant about the wrong interim captain is stemming from his own unwillingness to choose the wrong person again and he’s waiting until he’s sure. - until they’re both sure.

In my opinion both Buck and Eddie know exactly where they are, it’s in every look, every smile, every word, every act. They are just threading carefully for now. So really, my guess? Oliver’s slip of the tongue (”season sex”), may not have been a slip of the tongue - or maybe just a Freudian slip who knows? lol.

The ring call should have held more significance, considering they originally thought it was a shooting, but we get Eddie being a hot paramedic and exasperated husband so I’m semi- happy with it.  The win-a-car call was sooo funny!! Eddie looked so hot, and so amused, he knew exactly how things are gonna go the moment the owner of the dealership told Bobby that rules are rules Lmao.  Buck was so enthusiastic it was so sweet, and Eddie looked so loving and amused as Buck walked past the owner with an almost inappropriate wide grin and a saw in his hands LMAO.

There was definitely silent Buddie conversation here too, that look exchange was everything. I am betting that at least 70% of that call was mostly Oliver and Ryan having fun. That last conversation with Bobby and Buck (Which had my faith restored in our good captain as far as Buck was concerned.) was so good. I missed their little moments. But here we in fact see that Buck’s issue wasn’t just about not being chosen for captain, he knows and agrees that Hen is the best choice. And we see that when Buck, sweet, innocent (sometimes) Buck, asks in the cutest funniest way ever “Is this because I don’t have a couch?” - This is a callback to his conversation with Eddie and Christopher, obviously their words are those that carry weight. Bobby’s response is a simple curious “Why don’t you have a couch?”

Buck’s answer is similar to what he tells Eddie, but it’s more revealing “I guess I’ve been having trouble picking one out, I think I’m afraid of making a mistake again.” - I mean it’s a couch, but Buck isn’t talking about the couch, he’s been through a string of unfortunate relationships and he’s been hurt, and he doesn’t want to be hurt again. Also, I always believed that if Eddie hadn’t been with ana at the time, Buck would never have started a relationship with Taylor, she was a comfort in a sea of hurt in the wake of Eddie’s injury. Eddie’s, now, ex-gf insured Buck search for comfort elsewhere. Going back to the conversation with Bobby - Bobby’s response is as usual a wise one “...You take an inventory of your life, admit your shortcomings, in hopes that one day you can look at the world straight in the eye and be alone at perfect peace and ease.” - The world here somehow signifies, for me, Eddie and Christopher for Buck, because really they are the only two people I see Buck being at peace and ease with. - Also the amount of time Buck and Eddie stared at each other straight in the eyes, I mean... all that left is the admitting part. 👀

Buck asks, but you can see the humor in his eyes, because he know the answer to be no, “You don’t think I’m at ease?” - Meaning he knows he’s not at peace. Bobby’s response made me want to hug him, really - “I think the important thing is that you answer that question for yourself, so when you are, you’ll know. And then you’ll be ready.”  - Bobby knows, anyone? 👀👀

The sequence scenes of Eddie and Christopher continuing to play Boggle (thank you @talespinner230) at home (playing “old school” like Buck suggested in Futue Tense👀😁💖) is now one of my top 5 Diaz family moments. 

And Buck, now alone in his loft, taking that single chair from the side and planting it in front of the tv. For me, it’s telling, this is buck choosing his own chair, for him, in the spot where he wants it to be. - He’s making the conscious choice to focus on himself, building his life for himself. For the first time ever he gets to dictate what he wants to do and where his life would go instead of his action being dictated by outsiders. (parents, sibling, gfs.) - He’s taking control of his life and I love it, I can’t wait to see where this is going. To sum it up, if we don’t get buddie canon this season, then I’m going to riot because really there were so many insinuations just in one episode, it isn’t funny anymore.👀🙈

If you managed this far, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, it felt like the longest review ever. - I will probably make an all about Buddie post soon with pics and gifs, but first I had to get all my thoughts out of my system. Happy new season my loves! I’ve missed you!!💖💖💖

[brighteststar707]

Hey stranger 😘 Hmmm...could I get accidental kisses with Unknown? 👀 Bonus points if you can come up with something unrelated to the "Assistant" route 😉💋

Hey hey <3 I hope you’re doing well! Here it is: a non-assistant MC and accidental Unknown kisses. I hope you enjoy!!

Unknown - Accidental kisses

You have paced the apartment back and forth countless times in the past week. You have searched every corner, counted every tile, all but turned the place upside down in your boredom. You have done everything they asked you to. You remained inside, answered emails, and waited. For what, you’re not sure.

Then came that fateful call. We are so sorry. You have been living with a bomb. Any wrong move will get you killed. We are going to save you. We are so sorry.

It all made you feel oddly hollow.

Your phone had finally stopped ringing. Maybe everyone realized just how futile it was to call at a time like this. Though, you’re not sure what was better, the incessant ringing or the silence that filled the room in its absence. You thought you could hear a ticking noise, somewhere in the apartment. Or maybe it was just in your head. You tried searching for it, but your head started to hurt, so you returned to pacing.

All there’s left to do is pace and wait. Wait and pace.

You’re on your third lap of the room, counting your steps between each wall. Suddenly, the window to your left smashes open littering the floor with glass. A figure swings through, feet first. His face is half-hidden by a mask, and all you can see are icy mint eyes and a mop of white-pink hair. You jump back, but you don’t scream. In fact, you don’t feel scared of this stranger at all. A small, desperate, part of you wonders if this is what you have been waiting for.

He doesn’t have to introduce himself for you to know that he’s the person who led you here just a few days ago. Unknown. Something lurches in your chest. Is it recognition?

“So much for a quiet entrance...Hey, stay where you are, I don’t want you to cut your feet on the glass.”

You can’t move an inch, even if you wanted to. You stand frozen in place, waiting, watching. His movements are fluid, mesmerizingly smooth. His boots crunch on the glass as he crosses the apartment over to you.

“It feels strange to see you like this. You know who I am, don’t you?”

His voice is sharp like the glass shards, thin and hoarse.

It takes you a second to find your voice, but you reply, “You’re the hacker.”

“You’re smart. Good, you’ll be able to keep up with what I’m about to explain then.” 

The compliment makes your heart flutter. The smallest spark of hope starts to build in you. Maybe he can make this nightmare make sense.

He continues, “I’m here to bring you to our paradise. A place where everyone is happy. You must have noticed by now, but the RFA is only filled with false hope and lies.”

“Paradise?” You almost cringe at how eager you sound. You want him to tell you more, to keep talking so you don’t have to be left behind with the silence again.

He laughs a raspy laugh, like his throat is sore. “I saw your messages. I was watching you. You don’t belong here, do you? You belong with us.”

“And I can just… come with you?”

He scoffs “It’s what I chose you for.”

He chose you. The little spark of hope grows into a fiery flame, burning you up from the inside.

You know that whoever is on their way isn’t going to make it on time. It’s starting to matter less and less, though. You want to follow Unknown to wherever he goes next. You want to go to Paradise. Just one thing first...

“... I want to see your face first, before we go.”

Oh. He clearly wasn’t expecting this. He huffs. “You know we’re on a time limit. The bomb could go off at any second. There will be plenty of time for show and tell later.”

“I will come with you right after without any fuss…. Please?”

He roughly tugs down his mask and lets it bunch around his neck, revealing the bottom half of his face.

“Here. Is that what you wanted to see?”

Yes. Yes, it is. His face is pale and his features sharp. His lips are pursed, impatient as you take him in. Any remaining doubt fully leaves your mind. You are his. He chose you. He is going to save you from this terrible place, where people let you live with bombs and interrogate you like you’re a criminal.

“Yes. I’m ready to go now.”

“Then stay still or I’ll have to knock you out.”

You haven’t moved since he entered the apartment, but you tense up. He steps closer and picks you up. It looks like you’re going back out of the window. Seven’s warnings ring through your mind, an unwelcome memory. Don’t step through the door. It will trigger the security system.

The proximity to him, the feeling of being in his arms makes your breath catch in your throat. He walks back over the glass, back towards the window. Just before he gets to the windowsill, he leans his head seemingly towards you.

You’re still not sure what you were thinking. Maybe you weren’t. You were too wrapped up in his promises, in the idea of safety. Too wrapped up in him.

You angle your head to align with his and kiss him. It’s fast, not much more than a peck, your soft lips against his chapped ones. He makes a choked noise and jerks back in surprise, almost dropping you. His eyes widen, and he tightens his hold on you as he tries to regain his composure.

“Heh… well, you will have to pay for that when we get to paradise. Don’t do that again unless you want your little hero to find you plastered on the street, got it?”

[juniperkinglet]

aftg fantasy AUs? 👀

HI I'M LOVE YOU

I'm gonna try my best not to spoil too much of the stories here cuz I'd like folks to experience them by actually reading them,, But I'm also an aspiring anthropologist/fantasy writer so I have GOT to infodump about my worldbuilding.

Under a readmore cuz I wrote a fair amount

So first there's the andreil fae au: Andrew is a rich famous horror novelist, which happened accidentally when his therapist encouraged his violent fiction writing as a healthy outlet, and then an agent found him and convinced him to sign on, and then whoops this is his life now. He used a six-figure advance to spontaneously purchase an old farmhouse in the countryside, only to discover the hard way that the previous owner had dealings with all the nearby fae.

The hard way being by what he first assumes is a just homeless dude suddenly showing up on Andrew's property and promptly shunting him into the dangerous complex world of Seelie Court politics! (this dude is Neil, ofc)

Andrew did not ask for any of this, but he sees an opportunity in Neil, so he makes a deal with him -- ill advised when you don't know what the hell you're doing, but Andrew's like fuck it I have nothing to lose and no idea what I'm doing with my life, may as well fuck around with a fairy ig. Andrew gets schooled in the complicated Fae Rules so he can use them to help protect Neil from the trouble he got himself into, and along the way he accidentally builds a calm cozy domestic life in an idyllic little farm with this immortal being whom the most powerful immortal beings want to brutally murder :)

AND THEN we have the dark fantasy au I am ESPECIALLY excited about....... It's,, Kevin/Riko hear me out okay:

So, Kengo used to be a mortal man, but he was a powerful sorcerer and ended up ascending to godhood. He designated his mortal brother Tetsuji as king of their city-state, which Tetsuji then expanded into a prosperous empire by putting together a troop of sorcerous warriors to conquer nearby cities and tribes (these warriors are the Ravens, they use magic swords).

Riko is a demigod, son of Kengo and a mortal woman. Because of this, he has the crazy strong magic and crazy intense mood swings of a divine being, but he isn't allowed to enter the divine realm and rule alongside the full-fledged gods. He was given to Tetsuji and raised as prince, but his goal is to prove himself as a warrior so he can ascend to godhood alongside his father and half-brother.

Kevin is the bastard son of a well-respected priestess who refused to reveal his father. When she dies, Kevin is given as a royal companion to Riko -- basically a court-ordered friend/servant combo for royal children. Kevin has the healing magic of his mother, but also manifests strong offensive capabilities as he grows, which leads to him training to be a warrior alongside Riko. They grow up and Riko names Kevin as his second-in-command, and everyone can tell there's something More going on between them.

Kevin and Riko are each other's everything. Utterly codependent and obsessed, even as Riko's temper gets the better of him. Kevin understands! It's not Riko's fault he's like this! Riko's plan is to ascend to godhood and then name Kevin as next king of the Empire, keeping him as a lover even after Kevin takes a queen, and Kevin spends most of his life thinking that's exactly what he wants for them too...

But the stress and pressure are digging into them both as King Tetsuji grows frustrated over the warriors' lack of progress overtaking a nomadic tribe who refuse to assimilate under the Empire (these are the Foxes). Riko's powers as a demigod turn out to maybe not be as infinite as once expected. Plot Shit happens with Andrew and Neil that I won't spoil, and absolutely everything goes to shit. Kevin, for the first time, doubts Riko's master plan. Doubts Riko himself. And allllll hell breaks loose.

The setting is somewhat based on various ancient Mesopotamian cultures, Mostly the Babylonian and Neo-Assyrian ones, cuz Mesopotamia is a longstanding hyperfixation of mine. Nature was particularly cruel to them, shifting between violent floods and droughts, so naturally many viewed the gods as unforgiving, unpredictable, and difficult to please. I'm mashing together some historical accounts with some aftg characters and some magic ideas my brain offers me to create an unnecessarily complicated fanfiction that's surely gonna be novel length :) I'm having SO much fun you have no idea