#Tim's first thought is “how can capitalism work for me?”

[deadsetobsessions]

Okay, so maybe Tim has no business being in Bludhaven. Tim maintains that since his parents fail at parenting, he can do whatever he wants.

Besides, it's for a good cause. Like, not letting Tarantula get her dirty hands on his big brother in another time line. Tarantula had popped up in the Bludhaven servers - by that, Tim means the endless amounts of threads and underground fronts for criminal activity that he stalks on a regular basis- by being seen with Nightwing. Tim had immediately booked a ride to Bludhaven and bought another burner. He'd try to take care of her himself, but if worse comes to worse, he'd call Deathstroke. He's totally aware of the weird tension Deathstroke has with Nightwing and Tim's kind of banking on that.

Dick's been back in Blud for two months now, Jason having assuaged his mother hen tendencies enough for Dick to get sick of the Manor. Tim hadn't meant to follow since he had plenty of projects to work on now that "SAVE JASON" wasn't blaring at the top of his head.

But then Tarantula appeared and Tim saw red, remembering the way Dick spoke about her and what she did to him.

He bids the driver goodbye. The driver doesn't question his being on his lonesome mainly because 1) Gothamites mind their own busines, 2) Tim gave him a $500 tip to make sure he remains a "good" Gothamite cabbie, and 3) Tim made sure he was dropped off in the swankiest, most ostentatious hotel Bludhaven had to offer.

"Rich people," the cab driver had muttered as Tim closed the door. Perfect.

Tim got his keycard, having checked in under Alvin Draper over the phone. Normally, they'd require an in person visit, but money talks. And people listened when Tim had a lot of things to say.

Tim even feels like he's trained enough to go out! Lady Shiva's training was ingrained into his memory, and Tim's built enough muscle to make use of some of it. He is still nine, after all. He's so much stealthier this time around. Plus, he's got almost his full tool set back. Sure, some of the tech is ancient, but he managed to finagle it to make grappling guns and smoke pellets more along the quality that he's used to.

Tim waits until nightfall, looping the surveillance around his window to mask his exit. Tim adjusts his domino, eyes scanning the city skyline as his handheld computer (god, he can't believe he has to invent wrist computers) tracked reports of Nightwing through Tweetings.

Ah. He's around Seventh. Tim grimaces as his untested joints adjusts to the grappling guns. His dark clothes make him hard to spot, to his advantage as he tracks down Nightwing.

Tim watches, perched on an adjacent roof as Nightwing takes down a crowd of goons with the flips Tim remembered watching from afar and up close in another timeline.

"Blockbuster'll kill everyone you love, Nightwing!"

Tim winces at the rather brutal crunch that followed, Nightwing having punched the guy and knocked him out in one move. He watches Dick sigh, tugging at his hair in stress.

Tim could... no, no. He shouldn't think of murder as a first option. Well, no, he shouldn't think of Deathstroke as a first option. But he'll need to take Blockbuster out before anything happens. And he needs to threaten the new Tarantula before anything happens. He won't allow her to even get close to Dick.

Maybe it's unfair to punish her for a crime she hasn't done, but unlike murder, rape can never be defended. Catalina Flores is a dead woman walking.

Tim stalks his big brother back home and then broke off to begin his short reign of terror over Bludhaven's underground. If he can't get Dick to take a break (and Tim's tried, a lot, over the years) then he'll make sure that the next month is as gentle as possible on his older brother.

Step 1. Murder Take care of Blockbuster

Step 2. Threaten Catalina Flores and her brother.

No. Wait. Tim has a better idea. He's got dirt on them, on top of the murder thing. He'll fabricate Catalina's tax returns, embezzle a shit ton of money from the IRS, and get her and her corrupt brother (because getting your sister out from murder charges is considered corrupt) arrested and locked away. And he'll make sure they stay locked away with some good old blackmail on Amanda Waller.

Tim grins, tranquilizing the building with an ungodly amount of knock out gas pellets, to riffle through the police precinct's files.

Step 2. Threaten Catalina Flores and her brother.

Step 2. Cripple Catalina Flores and her brother with blackmail and the IRS.

In three hours, Tim has everything he needs to begin a temporary hostile takeover. He's got the names of local mob bosses, the big players, and the names of practically every police officer that takes bribes and their... sponsors.

He'll have to cut off Blockbuster's lines of supplies first. Then, blacklist him from local suppliers, mobilize the police precinct against him (by imitating his M.O. perfectly- Tim's not a fucking amateur- and pretending to rob the precinct blind), and then break his knees.

Step 3. Profit

Tim takes out his shiny new burner phone, enjoying the loud sounds of the police squawking through his planted bugs. He lounges on the building next to it, keeping an eye out for Nightwing just in case the man decides to respond to the crisis.

[Unknown: It's RR.]

[Deathstroke: New phone?]

[RR: Who dis?]

[Deathstroke: What?]

[RR: Nevermind. I'll give you forty thousand to shoot someone's knees out.]

[Deathstroke:... That's it? Who?]

[RR: Blockbuster. Bludhaven. Extra twenty thousand if you tell him he's got the spine of a sea slug, kick him in the balls, and post it on Tweeting.]

[Deathstroke: What did he do to you? Deal.]

Tim ignored Deathstroke's question.

[RR: Half sent. Confirm?]

[Deathstroke: Confirmed. Timeline?]

[RR: Three weeks. 21 days.]

[Deathstroke: Confirmed.]

----

Tim grins ferally, all teeth as Catalina Flores looked on in horror at her computer screen.

"Get out of Bludhaven, and don't come back. If you even think of going near Nightwing, I will rip what's left of your pathetic, sniveling swine of a brother apart. You will not enjoy the consequences."

Tim clicks off, watching Catalina and her brother launch themselves into mad packing. He tapped out a short message to Amanda Waller for her and her team to intercept them at the state lines. They'll never get away from Tim's fury. Never.

[Waller: It's done.]

[Waller: I will find you.]

[RR: You can definitely try, Waller. Good doing business with you.]

Tim can see the blood vessel the woman popped after he sent that last message. He laughs.

He saves Deathstroke's video from Tweeting onto his actual, spoofed phone. He destroys the burner phone, less shiny now that he's dragged it through two and a half weeks of breaking heads and terrorizing the Bludhaven Underground. Nightwing hadn't even gotten a whiff of his activities, this Dick being far less experienced and known in this version of Blud.

One more week and Tim can continue his other projects.

----

Nightwing, going about his vigilante business: wow it sure is peaceful

Feral Tim Drake, Nightwing's scary dog privilege: try me, bitch

#tim's kind of intense #tim drake #genius tim drake #tim drake taking out catalina flores #catalina flores #tarantula #dc #batman #amanda waller #amanda waller getting blackmailed by a nine year old #deathstroke #slade wilson #nightwing #dick grayson #blockbuster #i know nothing about blockbuster as a villain #but I have beef with him on principle #and so does Tim #feral Tim drake #Tim's first thought is “how can capitalism work for me?” #and he calls deathstroke about it

[haltandcatchfiretothemax]

FEMSLASH FEBRUARY #7: In which Cameron and Donna plot revenge, once again

[CN: references to sexual assault and harassment in film; death of a minor character and sexual harasser]

[CN: references to use of CBD and THC] . . It was a Friday night, and Cameron and Donna had put on their pajamas, laid out a spread of snacks and beverages, and retreated to their media room for a screening of Promising Young Woman. They were sitting on the couch together, under a large, shared blanket.

Cameron popped a CBD gummy into her mouth and said, “I understand that this movie was triggering for some people, and that a lot of people just didn’t like the end, but, I don’t know. I get it. I feel it. I’d love to ruin a terrible, violent man’s wedding.”

“Same,” Donna said. She took a drag from her vape pen. “We also might be kind of biased though. We’ve ruined a couple men’s careers.” Then, she started to laugh hysterically. “Oh my G0d, Jacob Wheeler had to resign because you ruined that presentation!”

Cameron started to laugh with her. “I forgot about that!”

After a few minutes of watching the movie, Donna said, “Seriously, though. There are guys from when I was in school and from when I first started working who I would find and quietly destroy now if I could.”

Eyes wide, Cameron said, “Hunt Whitmarsh!”

“No,” Donna shook her head, “he didn’t sexually harass me or hurt me, he just, you know, tricked me.” She thought about it, and said, “Okay, maybe Hunt. But there are other guys higher on my list, who definitely deserve to be publicly outed and shamed for their misconduct.”

Cameron narrowed her eyes. “Two words. Harpor Capital.”

Donna sat up and whacked Cameron’s arm with her hand. “YES. Exactly!”

“I should’ve let you tell them off,” Cameron said. “I nearly slapped that guy for what he said about your lipstick.” She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, angry all over again despite how many years had passed.

“No, you were right to drag me away,” Donna conceded. “It wouldn’t have made a difference.”

“I don’t know,” Cameron said. “Embarrassing them in front of a restaurant full of venture capitalists and other tech people having meetings might have made them think twice.”

“Maybe,” Donna shrugged.

Then, Cameron said, “We should have jumped them.”

Donna cackled, “Jumped them? Yeah, I’m sure I would have been an unstoppable powerhouse in my pencil skirt and kitten heels.”

Stubbornly, Cameron insisted, “We could have taken them. One of them was shorter than you and the other one, the bigger creep, was in his forties, drunk, and nowhere close to being in fighting shape. One good ostrich kick and I could have sent him into the next week.”

The image of Cameron as an ostrich, which Donna secretly thought of as Cameron’s totem or power animal, flapping her wings and screeching and kicking, and a man flying through the fabric of time and space into the future, made Donna dissolve into a fit of uncontrollable giggles.

“You’re all loopy now, but I saw the way you went after Hunt at COMDEX,” Cameron said. “You probably could’ve done some real damage. Some kind of facial scar, or something.”

Donna kept laughing, and sank into her seat and further under their blanket. Then, she abruptly stopped, paused the movie, and grabbed Cameron’s arm. “We should look them up now. We should find Mac and Tim from Harpor Capital! And then we can figure out how to put them out of business!”

Cameron’s eye’s widened. “Oh my G0d, Donna. You are so right! We should find them right now!” She reached for Donna’s tablet, which was sitting on the coffee table, and put it in her lap. Donna handed her vape pen to Cameron, opened her browser, and searched for ‘Harpor Capital’ ‘San Francisco.’

There were no results for a Harpor Capital in San Francisco, though there were many results for various Harper Capitals in other cities. “You think maybe they’ve already closed down?” Donna asked.

“It could just be that search doesn’t even work anymore,” Cameron groaned.

Undeterred, Donna searched for ‘mac harpor’ ‘harpor capital.’ An obituary popped up.

Cameron took the tablet from a stunned Donna and said, “Holy shit.” She clicked on the link, and skimmed the obituary. “This says he died in a skiing accident.”

“It does not say that,” Donna scoffed. She snatched the tablet back, and then saw it there for herself: Mac Harpor had skied into a tree, passed out, and died of exposure. Donna stared at the article for a minutes before letting out a snort.

Cameron started to bark with laughter, and Donna joined her. After a minute, Donna insisted, “We shouldn’t laugh!” through tears.

“I’m not laughing because he’s dead even though that’s great, I’m laughing because you started to laugh!”

“Here, let’s look up the shorter creep,” Donna said, taking the tablet back again. She typed ‘Tim Henkel’ ‘Harpor’ into the search bar, hit enter, and watched the results come up. She started to laugh again as soon as she saw them.

“What?!” Cameron grabbed the tablet and looked at it, and started to laugh again, this time doubling over before she could even comment. “Conspiracy to commit wire fraud!” she finally managed to sputter. “He’s doing twenty years in the fed! I love this song!”

When they finally stopped laughing, Cameron frowned. “I guess we can’t ruin them, they beat us to it. Unless we wanna have Tim shanked, which, I’m not really willing to go there.”

“Yeah. Definitely not worth it,” Donna shook her head.

Cameron turned to look at Donna, and smiled. “You wanna watch Gone Girl next, maybe?”

“Yes! I love that idea!” Donna exclaimed. She put the tablet back on the table, reached over and hugged Cameron, and kissed her cheek before grabbing the remote, and hitting play.

#we all needed and deserved closure #which we rarely get in real life and that's why the end of promising young woman is like that #femslash february #femslash feb 2024 #fan fic #cameron howe #donna clark #donna emerson #(the now defunct) harpor capital can go chug a douche!

[kolbisneat]

MONTHLY MEDIA: February 2023

Okay I didn’t watch any movies this month BUT I’m very excited for the D&D movie and I watched plenty of youtube.

……….TELEVISION……….

Arcane (Episode 1.01 to 1.09) It took a few episodes for me to get invested (and a few mid-season eps that felt like a CW series...only young beautiful people allowed) but by the end I was into it. I know nothing about League of Legends and to the show’s credit, I couldn’t tell when there was fanservice. I’ll check out season 2 if it happens.

The Great (Episode 2.01 to 2.08) Loved the first season and currently love the second. Still a few eps left but it’s kept me guessing the entire time. Stellar characters, very funny, and the world continues to walk the edge between whimsical and dangerous.

Spy x Family (Episode 1.01 to 1.07) Super fun premise and very funny. I’ve only just started but I hope we get to see more of Yor’s world. It seems to be spy-centric and psychic-centric (which, based on the name and current plot, makes sense) but I hope it can start weaving in more of her role in the future.

Cunk on Earth (Episode 1.01 to 1.02) Sure I’ve only seen two episodes but both were very funny. Something about her timing and delivery just works every time for me.

……….YOUTUBE……….

Chronically underwhelmed? This might be why... by Daily Mindtrap A concise reflection on why we’re not having as much fun as when we were kids. Touches on a lot of thoughtful points though my hatred of subscriptions does make me a little biased. VIDEO

The Decline of Tim Burton by Broey Deschanel One thing that scares me as an artist is that I’ll get stuck in a spot and start copying and reiterating on my own work to the point that it becomes caricature. Just a random thought and totally unrelated to this video. VIDEO

How To Analyze Movies – Film Studies 101 and What Do The LOONEY TUNES Mean In 2023? by Patrick Willems Both really great in their own way. Film studies 101 is fairly universal as a lot of the topics apply to all art. And the Looney Tunes share a room in my mind palace with the Muppets: concepts I love but haven’t connected with anything of theirs in the last 15 years. VIDEO (Film 101) VIDEO (Muppets) 

……….READING……….

Your Friendly Neighbourhood Death Pedlar by Jimmy Sangster (Complete) The cover was so good and the write-up pitched it as a comedy that I took a gamble on a thrift store find. Swing and a miss. Comedy is difficult in your own time let alone 50 years after being published. Are the offensive bits a sendup of the time, or have they just aged poorly? Comedy that requires context doesn’t land for me so this whole thing fell flat. Anyway all this is to say I’m a sucker for a good book cover.

Confronting Capitalism by Vivek Chiboer (Complete) An easily digestible primer on Capitalism and it’s...faults. It really gave a lot of insight into the structural problems with politics in a capitalistic system and for that alone, I recommend. I wish the last chapter (talking about how a society moves past capitalism) was a little more robust, but hopefully I can find some other books to fill in those gaps.

Batgirl/Robin Year One by Scott Beatty, Chuck Dixon, Marcos, Martin, and Javier Pulido (Complete) Great introductions to both characters and the perfect balance of fun and dangerous. It feels like there are real stakes while not getting too dark. I’d love if a Batman movie could strive for this sorta tone, you know?

……….AUDIO……….

Paranoid by Black Sabbath (1970) One thing I appreciate about getting into Girl Talk years ago was it introduced me to bits of really great albums. And I somehow missed that Ozzy Osbourne was the lead singer. Anyway filling in a lot of blind spots here and War Pigs holds up so well. The whole album really. 

……….GAMING……….

Oz: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The group is unearthing some underground tunnels and playing the political game as well. If you want to read more of the recaps, they’re over here!

Neverland: A Fantasy Role-Playing Setting (Andrews McMeel Publishing) The Mof1 group is busy making plans and saving Pirates. They recently acquired some protective suits so they’re now exploring the iron mines and its fluctuating temperatures!

And that’s it. See you in March!

#Monthly Media #Kolbisneat #Andrew Kolb

[xisadorapurlowx]

Jai's Story: Chapter 2

The night was cold, as they travelled out of the Capital city. Jai and his friends all banded together in a car and made their way through the countryside in a grey van.

Antonio had moved out of London a few months after Eliza’s death and into a house in Dorset county, near a town called Brockenhurst. 

It was a nice change being out in the countryside, Jai thought. He had barely seen it when he was in University. Even though it was dark and he could barely see the country, it was comforting to just know that there was a forest surrounding him. 

Throughout the drive, Tim, Titan and Goldie all sat in the back. Tim performed card tricks and dished out the cards to play various games, while Lithop drove in silence, listening intently to the conversation going on in the back.

Finally, they arrived at Antonio's house and Jai clambered into the back, over the seats. 

Titan, Lithop, Goldie and Tim all began to suit up in black suits, pushing back their hair in black ski masks, brushing it out of their eyes. 

Jai popped open his laptop where he was already able to view the security cameras. He did a quick scan of the house, finding the driveway to be empty. The lights in the house were turned off. 

“It seems as though you won’t need to use the distraction, Goldie. He’s not home.” 

“Got it. So, we’ll head in now.” Goldie looked to his comrades for confirmation. 

The group collectively nodded and left the van. 

Jai kept an eye on the cameras, putting a pair of headphones over his ears. He had to be completely sure of when Antonio came back from wherever he was. If only they could have come up here earlier and placed a tracker on his car or something. He sighed, frustrated as he watched Lithop begin to fiddle with the front door’s lock and open it. 

“We’re in.” Jai heard her mutter through her mouth piece. 

The group entered the house and out of Jai’s sight. This was normal when they were on jobs like this. Jai would watch the cameras and the others would go in. It was a waste of his talents really.

He was a man with an over 200 IQ, this work was beneath him. If only they would just let him go on one mission with them, he could prove that he was more than just a security guard for them. 

“It’s so weird to go through someone else's house.” Tim commented after agreeing to split up. 

“It’s not the first time I’ve done it.” Lithop snickered. “You have to remember that this guys’ a suspect in a murder case, no need to feel guilty about it if that’s what you’re feeling.” 

“I don’t feel guilty! Anyone would feel weird going through other people's stuff, it’s how I felt when I was looking for a motherboard for Isaac’s computer and stumbled across his Shrek fanfiction. ” Tim hissed back.

“You found my fanfiction!?” Jai snapped at him, “I’m going through your search history when we get out of here.” 

“Guys, no time for bickering.” Titan told them, “We should split up, two of us should search the ground floor, the other two should take the upstairs.” 

“I can take downstairs, I could find something suspicious quicker on my own.” Lithop assured. 

“Right, then the two of you should come upstairs with me.”

The group split off and Jai continued at his very boring task.

“Nothing yet Jai?” Tim asked.

“Nope.”

“Okay, so that’s the living room.” Lithop muttered, “Nothing in here, although I find it hard to believe that anyone would keep something as valuable as evidence of a murder in plain sight.” 

“What are we even looking for anyway?” Tim asked.

“I’m not sure, anything that could incriminate him? Guns, poisons or weapons?” Goldie proposed, “Hm, this is difficult.” 

“Entering the son's room.” Tim announced. 

An idea suddenly occurred to Jai, “If we can’t find anything related to the murder investigation, the least we could do is find something else incriminating some other crimes.” Although he kept the mafia boss thing to himself, he was certain that if they can’t find evidence of murder, then they will find something related to his other crimes. 

Antonio’s list of crimes were:

Weapons Trafficking.

Drug Trafficking.

Murder in all the degrees. 

Destruction of evidence

Complicit in murder

Obstruction of justice

Money laundering

Assault

Premeditated murder

Bribery

Yeah, there’s no way he could have hidden all of that.

Jai snorted, “You have to find any evidence of sin.” He added some gravel to his voice.

He heard Goldie laugh, Titan sigh disappointed, Tim and Lithop both snicker.

“Maybe there will be evidence of gambling?” Tim added, snorting. “The worst sin of all.” 

“Isaac, Tim, I think you both need to go to a rehab facility for your chronic internet addiction. Find anything Tim?” Titan asked, changing the course of the conversation.

“Nothing much, this kid is super religious, talk about a Jesus freak. He has a cross above his bed, a portrait of the Virgin Mary above a bookshelf, a Bible on his bedside table and in his desk drawer. He has a picture of his mother and a few birthday invites as well. Definitely a Mama’s boy.” 

“Birthday invites?” Jai frowned.

“For his eighteenth, seems as though it’s going to be some kind of costume party.” There was a frown in Tim’s voice, “And there’s a picture of this brunette girl, do you think that’s his girlfriend?” 

“That’s not important right now, we’ll just make a note of it and move on.” Titan spoke. 

The group was silent for a moment, before she gasped, “Guys, I got something, in the suspects office. There’s a locked drawer in his desk.” 

“I’ll be up to open it.” Lithop said.

Lights appeared in the driveway and Jai spoke fast, “I don’t think that’s a good idea, the guys just pulled into his driveway.” 

“Shit!” Tim muttered. 

“Make your escape now, he’s still in the car!” 

Jai watched the cameras as Tim and Lithop leapt out of the windows. 

Tim landed in the garden and rolled, then dashed to a blindspot in the cameras. Lithop landed in the back garden too and joined him. They were out of sight, but Jai didn’t see Titan and Goldie.

“Guys, where are you?” Jai asked, panic rising in his voice. 

His heart thumped loudly in his chest as Titan responded, “The door’s locked from the outside! And the windows are locked shut!” 

“Hide, somewhere, anywhere!”

The car doors opened and revealed their suspect: Antonio Angelico.

He was a tall, domineering man. He wore a suit and tie, as if he was just coming back from working at an office. 

Out of another car door, stepped a younger man. His hair was cut short and he wore a trench coat with a band t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans with boots. He was pale, his eyes shadowed with dark bags under them, giving him a more gaunt appearance. 

“Leo, I want you to invite this group of people,” Antonio hands a paper to his son and then approaches the front door. 

Leo followed after his father, “Okay dad. Can I go as the Red Death?” 

“I don’t see why you have to ask me, it’s your birthday party.” Antonio responded as he opened the front door. 

The men entered the house and vanished from sight. 

“Guys, find a way out, break a window, something!” Lithop urged. 

Jai had never heard Lithop panic before, but her voice was growing more and more frightened.

Silence responded back and then there was faint mumbling.

Jai suddenly had an idea and spoke to Titan, “I understand you guys aren’t in a position to speak, but turn on your phones and call me if they’re in the room.” 

His phone rang and Jai picked it up and attached it to his laptop so it would go through the coms for the rest of the group to hear.

The conversation persisted, “Well, what is your request?” Antonio asked.

“I want you to assure me that this isn’t just a cover for your… business.” Leo replied. There was a tremor in his voice as he spoke and Jai furrowed his eyebrows. 

Something wasn’t right about this exchange.

There’s a shaky breath drawn in, “Because if so, I don’t want these men coming to my party. It’s my birthday and these things are supposed to be fun.” 

There was a gasp and then the sound of quick footsteps. 

“Leo, the whole reason for the Masquerade is so that they won’t be spotted and so that you won’t know who has come and who hasn’t. That’s the whole reason I arranged it so it was a costume party, so I could do it without being caught by the police.” Antonio gave an annoyed sigh.

“But I never wanted a large party anyway!” Leo snapped at his father, “I wanted to go out with Aunty Kaye and Charity! I only agreed to it because it was my eighteenth and I thought it could be fun, but if it’s just some cover for your work, I don’t want it at all!” 

“Do you have any idea how hard I worked so we could live here?!” Antonio shot back. 

There was an audible shriek, “G-Get away from me, dad!” 

“Do you know what I’ve had to do so that you don't get into trouble at all? So that those kids at school wouldn’t beat the hell out of you everyday? So that you can fill your ungrateful belly with good food rather than commoner trash? All this ‘illegal shit’ is what gave us this life!” 

Fast footsteps are heard again before the sound of a loud thunk against the floor. Antonio’s voice was quiet again and he asked his son, “Do you really want to end up like your mother, Leonard?” 

Jai’s eyes widened as he heard sobbing from the other end of the line, “N-No dad! Just leave me alone! I can’t breathe!” 

“Oh stop with this hyperventilating nonsense, you’re fine!” 

“I think I’m having a heart attack!” The boy screamed in panic and Jai ripped off his headphones, disgusted. 

His heart was in his throat, his hands shook, his breath  was uneven and his body threatened to go into a freak out himself.

This man wasn’t a murderer, he was a monster. 

Gritting his teeth, he took his headphones and apprehensively put them back on his head.

“We have to do something.” Tim whispered into their coms. “We have to get Titan and Goldie out of there!” 

“But there’s no way out of there without them knowing!” Jai said, “It’s not like you can cause a distraction, otherwise-”

The sound of glass shattering came from the coms.

Jai felt his heart jump in his chest as silence fell over the coms.

“D-Dad?” The boy's voice came over the radio.

“Stay here Leo. I think it came from your room.” 

A heavy foot falls came, the door opened and closed softly. 

The group were silent as Jai scanned the security cameras. 

Tim was standing at the base of the son's window, watching it as if he was going to serenade the homicidal maniac that was about to enter the room.

“W-Who are you- HEY!” 

Jai flipped back to the security cameras and watched as Titan and Goldie shot out of the second story window and out into the back garden, thick white smoke following after them.

There’s a thumping on the back of the van and the group steps inside, Lithop and Tim joined by Titan and Goldie. 

The four of them looked pale with fear and anxiety. 

“Isaac, we have to get out of here now!” Titan said. Her voice sounded exactly as he felt. 

“W-What about his son?” He asked, “We can’t leave him there!” 

“We’re going to have to.” Tim said, “We’ll go and get him.” 

“How?!” Jai panicked. 

“Don’t worry about it, let’s just go!” Tim strapped himself into the van and stared at the floor, his eyes suddenly going vacant.

Lithop climbed into the front of the van, wiping her runny nose alongside her sleeve as they set off, tears in her eyes. 

The van was silent, the playfulness in the air on the way there, completely diminished.

#Writer #writerblr #jais story #bloodstainedlilium #fiction #creative writing #my writing #writing #isadora purlow #author #author on tumblr #indie author #jai #bloodstained lilium short story #short story #short stories #am writing.

[jenakuns]

Some thoughts on Relativity

So I've been observing the company of Relativity Space for a good while now. What originally got me in I think were the plumes + some cool numbers and I've stayed in since then. Main line of interest in space for new people is SpaceX, but if you are naturally a contrarian or feel some degree of dislike towards Musk, it can push elsewhere. There's a generic mindset in the community where people have a desire to feel neurodiverse so they obsess over one particular company or vehicle in space. I've seen it with Firefly, ABL, Rocket Lab, Astra, Blue Origin, ULA and Relativity among others (personally I want to be deep on Varda, but can't believe it over the competition (Delian don't let me down)). Of course launch is the most common because of their visibility + the interesting activity being condensed over a couple minutes instead of months/years*. I wouldn't count Virgin Galactic as those tend to be more stock types with a financial attachment rather than a social one.

*Capstone I know you think you're cool doing half a million flips in space and saving it, but I mean Astra once did a powerslide so you're never gunna compare.

Anyways, yes Relativity. See this would never work in any other format. Just me ranting. I couldn't make a youtube video or any reasonable discussion on a social media platform. But for you nutters on tumblr who will never read this because it's likely adjacent to your interest areas, it's just right. Maybe livestreaming, but I'm not quick witted enough for that.

So uh how do I feel about the company. It's hard to say because I'm so close and feel so removed. Is 3d printing worth it? Shit maybe idk. The whole mass increase + the massive effort it's taken to get them working in the first place just makes it seems like it was not worth the money. ABL was founded a year after Relativity and achieved launch before Relativity at a much more efficient capital burn. As is now with >1000 employees, Relativity is burning hundreds of mil and isn't making any significant revenue right now. They will need to do another capital raise in like the next year or 2. The thing I come back to is the ability to move onto brighter pastures with the printer. Terran R is what is needed to make the company work and not burn money like it was going out of style. So anything to make the move to Terran R easier is justified.

I believed large scale work on Aeon R began in ~2020, maybe a bit into 2019. So a clean sheet 1.1 MN methane GG engine being on test stand in 3 years is pretty good, although TQ-12 context*. Prometheus began in 2015 and got an engine on stand in 2022. And that's the first engine, we'll probably see >10 Aeon R doing things by years end compared to like 2 or 3 Prometheus. That was enabled by Terran 1 heritage. Will the same principle go for the rest of Terran R. The big question is inevitably the structures because that's where Relativity is doing their new thing. So how long till we see large actual real Terran R Stargate hardware. They wanted to do like 1 engine/week by June 2023. That would be like 30 engines by years end. If they manage that, then maybe a shot. Maybe Gustavo man was on the money.

*Tianque 12 is a 660kN methane GG engine that started in August 2017 and had an engine on test stand in November 2019.

I always feel like I'm moving the goal posts. 'The current product is alright, but this next one coming soon tm will be the real deal' and it's always the next one. Which I suppose is the point of iteration right, but I can't help but feel uncomfortable. Keep in mind I don't actually make these points to people, I mostly think through these arguments with myself and see where I end up. But if you can do tank structure prints on Stargate 4 sooner rather than later, first half this year, it's good. Tim Ellis has hinted that there will be reveals after the first launch. It's always weird, cuz they want like a dozen Stargate 4.0s by years end, each of which is capable of printing 4 Terran R's in a year. But then we look at hardware produced and it's feels nowhere near that.

And then we look at Rocket Lab who have the nice good mass margins with composite and the low pressure ORSC engines which will presumably be very reusable. Granted the last time a company tried the tack of we'll run ORSC methane engine but at lower pressures so we have plenty of margin on the reusable engine it didn't work out too well for them. But talent wise the industry is in a much better spot. If Rocket Lab are producing 1/2 mass tanks relative to Relativity, while not risking the entire company because they don't have crazy cash burn because of existing revenue because good company. Wouldn't that make Neutron just better/more attractive on technical level, and production rate doesn't really matter for reusable rockets. So why Oneweb go with Terran? Bigger? If Terran R isn't on pad before Neutron then Relativity have failed. Everything is set up for this dev program. Anyone with a rocket on pad right now is happy because launch is selling like hot cakes.

How will it do in this market? Maybe it's big enough. I feel like the commercial market projections are a meme and that there's going to be a bunch of satellite company failures and scalebacks that puts the launch back in place. Is Relativity able to survive the crunch. What is the schedule? Sadly it's the most irrational hater wins normally, but that indicates bankruptcy does it not. Because Relativity will not have money for like 2027.

November 2024 is the window for the Mars mission. Can they do it? No. But I wants to believe mister. But the irrationals shall have their domain. But what if... no. :(

Give me the organic prints Relativity and show me the journey was worthwhile. A dome with poor finish and features that are only necessary cuz it's being printed is not that. I want to see bones.

I like FTL soundtrack for writing these posts. Very soothing. I need to get a more diverse set though.

#Spacobs #relativity space #terran 1

[highplains123]

Usda Rural Housing Loan Liberty Federal Credit Union

In some instances, the prices for eligible home repairs can be included in the loan, which implies no out-of-pocket costs for improvements or renovations. When you select Legacy Ag to construct, buy or refinance your rural home, you're trusting that our decades of expertise in agricultural finance shall be a good match with what you need to accomplish. We’ve supplied our services to refinance existing ranch houses and have helped clients who've bought an existing home and want refinancing. We’ve also helped families receive the capital needed for model new construction on rural acreage.Contact ustoday to start your rural home loan application. Legacy Ag Credit values the satisfaction that comes with creating a country homestead. We offer rural home loans and rural improvement home loans so you can create comfort on agricultural subdivision lots or on a tract of land within the woods.

Individuals who thought they would be unable to qualify for traditional loans are often in a position to obtain financing through USDA loans. You also comply with our Terms of Service and to our Privacy Policy relating rural area home loans to the data regarding you. This consent applies even if you're on a company, state or national Do Not Call record.

However, you still need to pay for the inspection, appraisal, and shutting costs. This kind of USDA mortgage loan is out there to low- and very-low-income debtors. Loan proceeds may be used to purchase, renovate or relocate a home, or to make site improvements together with installation of water and sewage companies. Keep studying to study extra about eligibility for a Rural Development Single-Family Home Loan and tips on how to start the appliance course of.

Tim Eagan, is a really professional and an excellent Loan officer, he explains up front what to expect, and get you the best fee attainable in the marketplace. I will suggest Grandview Lending, Inc to anyone excited about buying house. This is the second time I even rural home loans have used Kimberly Irving for the refinancing of my home and he or she has been extraordinary! She and her assistant Glenn Hubbard walked me via each step and made positive I understood every thing that was occurring. If I had any questions Kimberly and her group have been jolly on the spot. I highly advocate Kimberly Irving at Grandview Lending.

I would highly suggest Tracy and the Grandview Lending group for your home mortgage needs. Kim went above and past to get our household the best fee she could! She kept in fixed communication and made the complete process quite simple and stress free. We would use suggest to anyone to offer Grandview Lending your business.

I highly suggest Grandview Lending and they will actually make you are feeling like a valued buyer, and not only a quantity. Kimberly Irving helped make my first home shopping for experience totally enjoyable! I was offered quick turnaround time and reliable communication that made the customer support stand out from other companies i’ve tried. I highly suggest to anyone looking for broker/loan companies. Tracy Harding and the staff at Grandview can do what nobody else can do, and make you feel good about it while they do it.

I extremely suggest them and have despatched a number of friends their method. A USDA loan could additionally be less costly than an FHA loan, so it’s price contemplating a USDA loan first if you meet the eligibility requirements. USDA loans typically don’t require down funds, making them engaging to homebuyers who don’t have a lot cash saved up.

The rates of interest are nice which is able to allow you to maintain your funds low. Qualifying for a USDA Rural Development loan is similar to an FHA mortgage nevertheless there are two necessary necessities you must meet for earnings limits and rural home location. We were more than happy with Tim Egan's work on the mortgage for our new home buy. We would recommend his services to anyone in the market to buy or refinance. He spend a lot of time explaining the process and answering our questions and that led to no surprises along the means in which.

“Rural” doesn’t imply dust roads and farms that are disconnected from the remainder of the world. It means more space, extra tranquility, and extra of the things that suit your lifestyle rural home loan. We have created an easy-to-useonline application toolso you could start the method. New development loans to construct the residence you’ve been ready for.

#rural home loans

[whatsonmedia]

Wednesday Wisdom: Selected Books of the week!

Presently, Egypt is holding COP 27; this is a new problem. And Wisdom Books of the week such as wonderful biographies of Philip Norman and Tim Jackson, there are some books like Being the Change: Live Well and Start a Climate Revolution. The book serves as cautionary tales and WhatsOn presents this week's book selection. To satisfy your inner bookworm, immerse yourself in the novels on the list. By engaging yourself with the fresh books in your house this week, you can have feed your mind. “Post Growth: Life After Capitalism”, by Tim Jackson Post Growth may be our choice for the most approachable and motivational technical environmental books of 2021 for those with an interest in economics. The very famous ecological economist Professor Tim Jackson. He originally rose to prominence with his 2009 book, Prosperity Without Growth, a meticulously researched exploration of the economics and models. And that can lead us to a more affluent and sustainable future. One of the strongest cases yet that the economy is not at all distinct from the natural world but rather an integral part of it is made in Post Growth. This viewpoint makes it obvious that continuous economic expansion is impossible. “Paul McCartney-The Biography" by Philip Norman Earlier this year, Sir Paul McCartney celebrated his 80th birthday and gave an excellent performance at Glastonbury. It seemed like a good time for this lifelong Beatles fan to read once again Philip Norman's superb biography. The book takes us on a journey from a Liverpool childhood through adolescence marred by the death of his mother. But the scene for that auspicious first meeting with John Lennon and schooldays with George Harrison. The story continues as we find the Beatles (as they had now become) at the Cavern and in Hamburg at the Star Club and other venues. The years of Beatlemania, the later studio period, and the solo work and personal life of "Macca" (as he is affectionately known throughout the world) are all highlighted (including the profound influence of Linda, his wife for almost 30 years). Written in Philip Norman's usual readable style, is a book for anyone who wants to find out more about one of the musical icons of our time. (Book review by Colin McIlwaine, WhatsOn editorial staff) “Being the Change: Live Well and Start a Climate Revolution” by Peter Kalmus The first title in our list of novels about climate change. Climate scientist and suburban father Peter Kalmus set out on a journey to alter both his life and the course of the world after becoming alarmed by the severe changes taking place in the planet's ecosystem. He started by giving up the automobile and taking up cycling, growing his own food, and making other straightforward, positive adjustments. Kalmus decreased his climate footprint to a tenth of the US average while also improving his mood. People who want to take climate action but are unclear about how to get started are motivated by the 2017 documentary the Change. "The Contemporary Christian" by John Stott This book has, for many years, been an annual read for me, always as close as possible to the beginning of the Church Year in September. No one has done more to influence my theological thinking and understanding of the Bible. Than the late Rev.Dr.John Stott (former Rector of All Souls Church in Langham Place in the center of London). In this book, Stott's main concern is to show how the historic Christian faith relates to life in the modern world. And he looks at the theological, ethical and practical aspects of relating our convictions to daily life. I feel privileged to have been able to get to know John personally and for anyone who wants to know more about Biblical Christianity. In addition what it is all about, especially in the context of modern living, this book (like his many excellent Bible expositions and other works). This is clear, concise, thought-provoking and challenging. (Book review by Colin McIlwaine, WhatsOn editorial staff) Read the full article

[thevindicativevordan]

Why isn't Nightwing a bigger deal? He has all of Batman's skills and Superman's faith in humanity and is arguably the most beloved hero in the DCU, but most people seem to know him either as the leader of the N̶o̶t̶ ̶J̶L̶ Teen Ttians or just Robin.

Thank you for asking me about Nightwing, I've been wanting to write a piece about him for a while now. The short version is that everyone who claims Dick becoming Nightwing was him "moving out of Batman's shadow and becoming his own man" is completely wrong.

Dick Grayson is a fantastic character, someone who saved Bruce Wayne in-universe both by forcing Batman to grow up a bit, and the countless times he saved Batman's life as his partner whether as Robin or Nightwing. Dick saved Batman in the real world as well, hard to believe but Batman was actually in danger of being cancelled due to poor sales early on. Enter Robin, a young daredevil audience stand in the creators hoped would get kids interested in reading Batman. And it worked! Sales on Batman doubled once Robin showed up which is crazy to think about, but Dick Grayson has always been a popular character. Cartoons like Teen Titans, Batman: The Animated Series, and The Batman only helped grow his audience.

Character-wise, Dick Grayson really does fill a number of crucial roles in the DCU. For Batman, Dick is proof that Batman is a positive force. Meeting Batman helped change Dick for the better, helped him heal after his parents died. With Dick, Batman can take comfort in knowing that yes, he has made a difference in the world for at least one orphan boy, which is all he wanted when he lost his parents himself. To the wider DCU, Dick is a friendly face who convinces others that Batman is competent and not a complete asshole. He took this kid in, trained him to be one of the best heroes the DCU has seen, and did it all out of the kindness of his heart. That someone like Dick can confront the evils of Gotham and not break means there's still hope for that city. As Robin, Dick has led the Titans and is an icon in his own right as The Sidekick, the original, the one every other Robin is built around copying or contrasting. The one all other superhero sidekicks are drawing on as a basis. As Robin Dick Grayson is very much on Batman's level.

Just not as Nightwing. As Nightwing, Dick has been a second rate Daredevil which means he's a third rate Batman (fully prepared to get hate for this but I've read and enjoyed the Miller and Bendis DD runs so I feel entitled to my opinion). A typical Nightwing run tends to go like this: Moving to Bludhaven (which is Gotham... but WORSE!), Dick Grayson usually enrolls in a pointless job we don't care about in order to provide some meaningless soap opera drama that doesn't go anywhere. Patrolling the city as Nightwing, he fights a variety of bad guys who are usually rather lame and unthreatening, with his big bad being a Kingpin knockoff called Blockbuster. Villains are fought, long running plotlines are set up, then everything is abandoned because it's Batfamily event time, and Dick has to run back to Gotham in order to play sidekick again. Usually his involvement is completely superfluous and it would've been better if the writer had gotten to opt out. By the time we finally get back to Nightwing's solo plotlines, the audience has usually ceased to care and the run gets cut short.

That's how Nightwing has been since the New 52 at least. Anyone who thinks that's "becoming their own man" is out of their mind. Dick is so thoroughly in Batman's shadow that he got shot in the head and spent a longer time as "Ric" which everyone fucking hated and sold like shit, than he did as Agent Grayson which was extremely well-received. Reiterating: Ric went on longer than Grayson because of a fucking Batman plotpoint Tom King wanted where Bruce was sad and cut off from the Batfamily because of Dick getting shot. Not just calling out King either, how many times was Kyle Higgins Nightwing run derailed because of Scott Snyder's crossovers? Or how about that entire run getting dumped to the side because Johns wanted to out Dick during Forever Evil, a Justice League/Lex Luthor story? DC has repeatedly made their contempt for Nightwing clear, he's Batman's sidekick still in their eyes, and he serves whatever story role the Batman writer wants.

Hell his best stories tend to have been the ones where he's not Nightwing. He was Robin in a good chunk of the Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans run. Morrison really showcased his depth as a character when they wrote him as Batman, their time with Dick under the cowl was actually one of the first Batman runs I ever read, and no Nightwing run has ever matched it in terms of quality in my humble opinion. Scott Snyder's work with DickBats also was a high point for the character, showing Dick as competent and examining his relationship with Gotham and the Gordons. King and Seeley gave him one of the best comic runs with Grayson, a series where he wasn't even a "superhero" technically! When it comes to actual pre-New 52 Nightwing runs that are highly recommended where he *is* Nightwing, there's Chuck Dixon and uhhhhhhh... Tomasi's brief run before Dick became Batman? It's not exactly an overwhelming list.

Look there has been good work done with Nightwing, I'm not claiming there hasn't been. Tim Seeley wrote a great run with Nightwing Rebirth. Seeley fleshed out Dick's Rogues Gallery with cool new ones like Raptor, he brought back old foes like Dr. Hurt (why oh why couldn't you have brought back Flamingo too?), he gave Dick's world some character it solely needed. Bludhaven under Seeley is pretty much the only time I've really felt like it lived up to being Dick's city.

The problem with fictional cities is you have to put in the work to give them the character of real cities. You have to make the cities feel like characters in their own right. Gotham is the best example of this, it's a character all it's own, one that tells you a lot about Batman and his cast. In contrast Bludhaven is usually one of the worst. Any place that wants to claim to be worse than the city that is built over the gate to hell and gets wrecked every other month by the Arkham freaks has to really put in the work to compete. Simply put, Bludhaven typically fails utterly. There's nothing about it that makes you really buy it's worse than Gotham, I mean does anyone really think Nightwing's Rogues wouldn't get their lunches eaten by Batman's? No, no one genuinely buys that. When Bludhaven claims to be worse, it just comes across as tryhard, an attribute that does end up telling you about Nightwing in unintentional ways.

So Seeley didn't do that. Instead he created a city built for a hero like Dick Grayson. Someone who is bright and flashy, but does have an element of darkness to him. Someone who loves the spotlight, but often uses it to obscure. Seeley turned Bludhaven into Las Vegas, and that was the fucking best concept for Bludhaven I have ever seen, it makes so much sense. Las Vegas is the "Entertainment Capital of the World" and isn't that the perfect city for a hero who got their start working in the circus? Isn't the aesthetics of the gleaming casinos, the glamorous sex appeal of the performers, and the spectacle of the shows, all being used to cover up the seediness of mob bosses meeting backstage perfect for Nightwing? It's so utterly unlike New York City, yet Las Vegas is still dangerous, it's got a crime culture all it's own. Seeley used it to great effect, as did Humphries during his brief run, and I will always be pissed that DC didn't continue to use it. That should have stuck around and been the definitive look for Bludhaven.

How Seeley's take on Bludhaven was treated feels like a small scale version of how Nightwing in general gets treated. Whenever creators pitched ideas for him, if editorial thought there was potential to break big, they asked for those ideas to be repurposed for Batman instead. Anything big or good gets repurposed for Batman or tossed to the side so Nightwing can go back to his default: having irrelevant adventures in a city that is supposedly worse than Gotham but can't live up to it. Just like how Nightwing is supposedly better than Batman but never gets to show it. Goddamn it's so frustrating seeing his potential get wasted like that.

The Nightwing book should be one of DC's most ambitious books in terms of storytelling. You can go from traditional superhero stories, to romantic soap opera, to spy stories, to crime noir, to horror, to cosmic adventures, and ALL of them would fit because Nightwing is someone who has a foot in both Gotham and Metropolis. He's got friends everywhere on every team, and has been a hero longer than most Leaguers have at this point. No reason DC should still be afraid to let him loose and insisting on hewing close to what Dixon established almost over 30 years ago is only holding him back. At the very least get him some better Rogues, why the hell didn't he get to keep Professor Pyg? That's Dick's villain not Bruce's! Bullshit that they didn't let Dick keep him. Hopefully Flamingo comes back, with a slight revamp I think he'd make a great reoccurring Nightwing Rogue.

Luckily it does look somewhat like Nightwing fans have reason to be optimistic. While Taylor isn't to my taste, DC clearly views him as a "big" writer, and that they put him on Nightwing says a lot. Taylor has been selling well so far, so hopefully he gets to tell his story, hilarious that even he lampshaded having to write Dick running over to Gotham for another tie-in after Taylor's big opening arc was all about Dick committing himself and his money to Bludhaven. Scott Snyder is apparently working on a Black Label Nightwing book which will explore how he's a different detective than Bruce. The Gotham Knights video game has him as one of the main stars, and while Titans is... controversial, it's one of the most popular streaming shows and Dick is the main character. There's a lot of content coming that features him in the starring role, and that will only help his star rise further.

For the first time in, well, ever it feels like DC may be serious about elevating him. Time will tell if it pays off, but I for one choose to be optimistic that the 2020s will be a turning point for Dick Grayson where Nightwing becomes hugely popular in his own right. Not just as Batman's sidekick.

#nightwing #dick grayson #batman #gotham knights #titans #dc comics

[mischiefandspirits]

Bernard Figures It Out

Was reading through all the comments on @frostbittenbucky's post and all I could think of was that it was Bernard talking to Tim. Then I got to thinking...

"I've connected the two dots."

"You didn't connect shit."

"I've connected them."

Bernard figures out Tim's a superhero... sort of.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim fidgetted nervously as he waited on the front porch of his boyfriend’s house. Bernard had sounded so serious when he’d called during Tim’s lunch to ask him to come over after work so they could talk about something.

Which Tim had done, after spending an entire board meeting just going over the past week trying to figure out what he’d done.

The only thing he could think of was that he’d ducked out halfway through their lunch date on Wednesday to give Duke some backup, but Bernard had seemed understanding when Tim explained there was an emergency at GRC Labs. It couldn’t have been a tipping point, either, since Tim had managed to only flake on three other dates over the past few months they’d been dating. Kate had been happy to cover for him as often as she could “out of queer solidarity” when she found out Tim was dating a boy for the first time and Tim had managed to trick Bruce into covering a few actual Wayne Enterprises emergencies for him when they came up.

There had to be a reason Bernard was breaking up with him, though. Had he missed something? He definitely wasn’t forgetting an important day. He was good with days and Tam was even better, so she would have reminded him on the off chance that he had forgotten.

What was he missing?

Bernard was smiling when he opened the door, but there was a nervous energy to it that had Tim’s stomach sinking. “Hey, Tim.”

“Hey.” Tim gave his own nervous smile then slipped inside.

They went into the living room and sat down on the couch.

Tim frowned when Bernard grabbed a manila folder off the coffee table. Crud, had he screwed up enough that Bernard had had to make a list? He knew he was new to dating a guy, but he hadn’t thought he’d done that bad. He’d really been trying, especially with how his and Stephanie’s relationship had fallen apart at the end. “What -”

“Just let me speak, Tim,” Bernard said, waiting for Tim’s nod. “Okay, so you know Clark Kent, right?”

Tim blinked as Bernard opened the folder to show a picture of Clark. It looked like one of the employee pictures from the Planet’s website, with his dorky “I’m just a humble country boy” smile and the golden globe from their roof photoshopped in as the background. “Uh, yeah? I think so. He works for the Daily Planet, right? I think he’s worked at a few of Bruce’s events. Not a lot of outside reporters are willing to come to Gotham.”

“Exactly!” Bernard said, snapping his fingers and pointing at Tim.

“What?”

He pulled out the picture to show the next page was an article titled, “DAILY PLANET REPORTER… BATMAN!?”

A wave of relief washed over Tim and he placed his face in his hands. “Were you up all night on the hero conspiracy boards again?”

“No. I mean, I found this on a board and was up all night thinking about it, but I found it reasonably early.”

“One in the morning isn’t reasonable, Bernard.”

“Says the guy who’s always wide awake when I call to infodump.”

“Touché.” Tim leaned against Bernard and gave him a smile. “So tell me, why is some reporter from Metropolis from all places Batman.”

“First of all, living in Metropolis is the perfect cover. Everyone assumes Batman would live in Gotham, no one would consider he could be from anywhere else. Metropolis is outside the GMA, but close enough that the commute is still possible.”

“But it’s Metropolis.”

“And who would think Gotham’s Dark Knight lives in the sunshine capital? Plus, I hear he disappears a lot on the job. There’s gotta be a reason for it!”

Tim made a note to let Clark know he needs to cut back on the disappearing act some since people are catching on.

“And have you seen the guy? He is swol AF, babe.”

“Please don’t call me babe while you’re talking about how hot another guy is.” Especially Tim’s honorary uncle.

“You know I prefer twinks.”

“BERNARD!”

“I’m just saying,” he continued, ignoring Tim’s shout. “The guy is definitely hiding something! Besides, Kent is an investigative reporter. He’s gotta know a lot about cases and the underground and detective work.”

Not as much as he likes people to think, but more than he likes people to know Superman does, Tim mused. “But what about the other vigilantes?”

“Well, Kent has a cousin…” Bernard flipped through a folder and pulled out a picture of Kara. It looked like a screenshot of her interviewing Lena for CatCo. “She’s obviously the latest Batgirl. Look at her hair. And the first Batgirl and the current Batwoman were obviously Lois Lane, the red hair is just a wig. Did you see how she kicked butt at that last event she went to? She’s not as subtle as Kent. That means their son is the latest Robin. He’s exactly the right size.”

Oh, Damian better not hear about this, Tim cackled internally. His youngest brother hated being reminded that Jon was the same height as him despite their two years age difference. Damian definitely took after Talia when it came to body type, no matter what he said.

“And Kent also has a brother.” This time he pulled out a picture of Kon. The clone must have been caught by a reporter out shopping with Ma since he was carrying some paper bags and glaring at whoever was behind the camera. “At least, he’s supposedly Kent’s brother, but he was a teenager when he first showed up with the Kents. A lot of people think he’s actually Kent’s son, that Kent got a girl pregnant when they were teenagers and something happened to the mom so Kent had to take him in. Now the Kents are trying to hide it by saying the two are brothers.”

That was… scarily accurate actually. Especially given Luthor and Clark were close friends at the time that Kon would have theoretically been born.

“And that beef would explain why the younger Kent brother went all crime lord on Gotham for a while before reconnecting with the family.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, Kent Jr.’s got the perfect build for Red Hood.”

Tim bit back a comment on how Kon was shorter than Jason by a good foot. Timothy Drake-Wayne should not know that. Add Jason to the list of people who can’t hear this theory.

“And then there’s this girl,” Bernard picked up a picture of Lois, Jon, and Natasha Irons walking down the street together. “No one’s sure exactly who she is, but she’s been spotted with the Kents a few times. I think the cover story is that she’s Jon’s babysitter.”

“And the actual story?”

“She’s Black Bat, obviously. That’s why she wears a mask that fully covers her face. She doesn’t want to stand out as the only African American Bat.”

“Isn’t Signal also Black?”

“Yeah, but he works in the daytime so he’s already a standout.”

“And who is Signal in this? And what about Nightwing and Red Robin?”

“Well, Nightwing’s just a Blüd who came to Gotham. He doesn’t count.”

Ouch. Sorry, Dick.

“And Red Robin is obviously an older Robin, the one who was Robin when we were kids. Kent wanted to keep him on, and I don’t blame him. As for Signal, he’s got the same backstory as all the other Robins Kent picked up, he just went the Signal route because he didn’t fit the usual Robin mold.”

“Because the female Robin fit the mold,” Tim snorted. Robin Mold, as if he and his brothers were even the same ethnicity. Or even had the same hair color. Jason dyes his hair, Dick’s is brown-black, Tim’s is pure black, and Damian’s is more a dark brown and it’s only getting lighter as he gets older.

“She didn’t, that’s the point. Kent tried to give breaking the Robin mold a chance by letting his cousin have a go at it, but he realized it just didn’t work so she went back to being Spoiler and he got a new Robin.”

Not touching that with a ten-foot pole. “Right, and where does he get the usual Robins? Please tell me you’re not back on the secret government orphanages theory.”

“No, no, no. Kent travels sometimes for his job, right? And a lot of the time he’s going to places that have been hit by disasters or major crimes. So he’ll take in some of the displaced children to train as his robins.”

Tim pressed his face back into his hands.

“You see it, right?”

Honestly, Tim was just wondering how his boyfriend could be so close, and yet so far off. “How would Kent even afford taking care of a bunch of secret -- possibly illegally acquired -- children without anyone noticing?”

“Simple. Bruce Wayne is funding him.”

“Bernard, I love you, but what the heck?” Tim blushed and looked up as he realized what he’d said, but Bernard didn’t seem to notice as he steamrolled ahead.

“It’d also explain how he can afford all the gear and how he’d be able to travel to Gotham or anywhere else Batman goes without anyone noticing. He probably has a secret Batplane or something.”

“Why would Bruce do that?”

“Because Wayne cares about Gotham, everyone knows that, and this way he can make sure someone’s taking care of the city without anyone putting two and two together.”

“And two plus two is?”

Bernard gave him a hard look. “I’m not stupid, Tim. Bruce Wayne is obviously Superman. His face is right there.”

Oh, the others are going to love this! Too bad I can’t tell Damian or Jason. Jason especially would have loved this. “Right. Bruce is Superman.”

“He is. Superman is known for being nice and Bruce Wayne’s basically all that’s keeping the city running at this point. That’s nice as hell.”

Oh my god.

“And Wayne does charity for the victims of cataclysms, doesn't he? I bet he first saves people from them as Superman and then builds them new homes for free.”

Oh my god! Why am I not recording this!?

“And the Wayne’s were rich enough to hide the fact they adopted an alien baby.”

Tim raised an eyebrow. “If you’re about to tell me this is why Bruce’s parents got killed, you might want to stop while you’re ahead.”

“It’d make sense. There’re all sorts of unanswered questions about their deaths,” Bernard muttered under his breath, flipping through the folder. He pulled out another picture of Kara. This time she was in full Supergirl attire with a bus held overhead. “So if Wayne is Superman, then that’d mean your ex-girlfriend could be Supergirl. They look a lot alike and it’d explain how she got involved with you all.”

“Bernard, she has a human dad. You know, Cluemaster. The supervillain.”

“Yeah, her dad. But we don’t know anything about her mom!”

“Let me guess…”

Bernard pulled out a picture of Karen. She and Helena were suited up and talking to a group of cops, two goons held over each of Karen’s shoulders. “Her mom could be Power Girl! Some makeup and a wig and she could look just like Crystal Brown! And Damian Wayne is obviously the new Superboy! That’s why his background is such a mystery, right? He had to stay a secret until he could control his alien superpowers. That’s why he’s always so mean. It’s a cover since everyone knows Superboy is super sweet!”

Sure, when he’s not helping Damian pull pranks or using his adorable powers to put the blame on Kon and I. “No, Bernard. Damian and Steph are just very human hellspawn. And Bruce and Crystal are human too. I can’t believe you called me over here just to tell me you think Superman is both Batman’s sugar daddy and my adoptive dad.”

“Well, that’s not exactly why I called you over,” Bernard admitted, the nervous energy coming back. He grabbed Tim’s hands. “Tim -”

Tim’s stomach sank. “You are breaking up with me!”

“What? No! I don’t want to break up!”

“Why are you acting all nervous and serious then!?” Tim asked, pulling his hands away to throw them up in the air.

Bernard shook the folder. “Because I’m trying to tell you I figured out you’re Superboy!”

Tim’s brain blue-screened and his hands slowly dropped. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I know you’re Superboy. The older one, obviously. By the way, you and Damian really need to figure out separate names.”

Forget Jason and Damian, Kon can never find out about this. He’d never let me live it down. “Bernard, you called me a twink five minutes ago. Su-” Shoot, I can not risk getting Kon’s attention! “The older one might not be as big as Superman, but he’s not a twink.”

“Well, yeah, that’s the shapeshifting at work.”

“The what?”

“Obviously you Kryptonians can shapeshift. Why else would you look so much like humans?”

… Why do Kryptonians look so much like humans? Was there some - Wait, no! Break into the Fortress of Solitude for research later! Reassure your boyfriend that you’re not an alien now! “Bernard -”

“And that explains why your step-mom was so hot.”

“Gross.”

“She and your dad were actors hired by Luthor so you could have a normal life! But now Bruce has custody so he adopted you.”

“No.”

“That’s why you and your dad were so weird with each other when I met him.”

“We were weird because he’d just gotten out of a coma not long before to find that his wife was dead so he decided to actually be a dad for once in his life, but overcompensated and became a helicopter parent to a kid who was mostly on his own for his entire life!” Tim blurted out. “I am not an alien, Bernard!”

“Well, not technically since you were cloned from Superman on Earth.”

“Oh my god! You were just talking about Steph being Supergirl! Why would I date my dad’s cousin?”

Bernard blinked. “Supergirl and Superman are cousins?”

Right, Timothy Drake-Wayne wasn’t supposed to know that. “I thought they’d said something like that before, yeah. Are people seriously saying I’m Superboy on the internet?”

“NO! No, I swear I would have led with that if I thought your identity was compromised. A few people have mentioned Wayne and Damian, but not you or Steph or Jason.”

“Wh-Jason!? You think Jason was an alien too!”

“No, not exactly, but a few times when I’ve visited I swear I’ve seen a guy in the manor who looks like Jason. It’s just been out of the corner of my eye and he’s gone whenever I look so I’ve always thought it was just Dick or Bruce or some picture of Jason that my mind was playing tricks with, but it makes sense now that I know Wayne is Superman. He must have been able to heal Jason with alien tech, but couldn’t say anything because that would give away that he’s Superman.”

Damn it Jason! And damn it Bernard! I’m dating the smartest moron in the world! “Bruce did not bring Jason back with alien technology and none of us are aliens!”

“It’s okay, Tim. I won’t tell anyone.”

Tim grabbed Bernard by the jacket and pulled him into a kiss. When he started to feel lightheaded, he pulled back, “Could someone whose skin is as solid as stone kiss like that?”

Bernard blinked dazedly at him for a moment. “How do you know what Superboy’s skin feels like?”

Tim screamed internally. “He’s saved me from a kidnapping before.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I can get you the police report if you want.”

“Huh… And the others?”

“Not Supers. I can stab Damian the next time we’re at the manor if that’ll prove none of us are aliens.” He’d rather stab Jason, but that would probably only confirm to Bernard that Bruce used alien technology to bring him back.

“You probably shouldn’t stab your brother if he isn’t an alien.”

Tim rolled his eyes. “I won’t stab him anywhere deadly.”

“That’s not the point,” Bernard said slowly.

“He’ll be fine.”

“If you say so.”

“So do you believe I’m not an alien now?” Tim huffed, letting go of Bernard’s jacket.

The blond’s eyes dipped down to Tim’s lips. “If I say no, will you kiss me like that again?”

“You’re ridiculous,” Tim said, but he kissed him anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay, but I still say Clark Kent is definitely Batman.”

“Sure, Bernard.”

#Tim Drake #robin #red robin #bernard dowd #timber #fanfiction

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Canary, Part 6

First

Previous

Tim had been watching her out of the corner of his eyes for a long time. It wasn’t that he was trying to be creepy or anything, he just… didn’t know why she was there. It didn’t make sense. She was relatively low on funds according to what he and Oracle had dredged up, and even Tim in all his billionaire-ness recognized that this place was more expensive than average…

So, why had she come? It wasn’t even close to the motel she was staying at.

The vaguely paranoid -- cautious, he was cautious -- part of him worried that she had somehow known he was there, but there was no way she should have been able to know that. Hell, he hadn’t known he was going to this particular cafe until he’d gotten to work and realized that there were now cameras in the breakroom and his office to make sure he didn’t drink too much.

But, really, it seemed like she was just using the free wifi that the cafe provided to write up a resume.

He relaxed and sunk back in his chair with his laptop while he did his work.

… he didn’t get to work for long.

He picked up on the slight gravel of someone putting on a voice with ease. It was high and sweet, a voice he commonly heard from customer service workers. He chanced a look back at the barista and frowned when he saw her on her phone. Not her, then.

He looked around the tiny coffee shop and cringed a little when he realized what was going on. Shady guy approaches a woman who’s drinking coffee alone? Yeah, that’s never a good thing.

He pushed his laptop into his bag quickly, slung it over his shoulders, put the cap back on his coffee cup so the guy wouldn’t be able to tell that Tim had been there for a while, and rushed over.

He rested his hand on the man’s shoulder.

“Hey, bud, she said no.”

Tim watched both of them tense and their gazes were pulled to him in an instant.

Marinette glanced him up and down once. He watched her eyes lock onto his coffee cup for a second and he carefully turned his hand a little so she could see the name.

She smiled. “You’re late, Timmy. Don’t tell me you got caught up in another meeting?”

He shrugged innocently. “You know how it is.” Then, he split into a grin. “Maybe I should be the one that’s upset, though. Can’t believe you didn’t save me a spot.”

“I tried!” She whined. “He insisted!”

The man chuckled awkwardly. “I see. I’m sorry, I thought you were alone.”

She rolled her eyes. “I told you I wasn’t. Can you move, though?”

“Actually,” Tim said, because he didn’t want to sit in the window where Duke might happen to see him while on patrols. “There’s a free table back this way.”

Marinette tipped her head to the side a little before nodding. “Sure.”

She closed her laptop with a snap, gathered her things into her bag, and followed him back to his table.

That should have been the end of it. Unfortunately, the guy was still watching them. It looked like they weren’t going to be able to do work for a while if they wanted to keep up the pretense that they were friends.

She seemed to know it, too, because she sighed and rested her head on her hand with a small frown. “Guess we have to talk.”

He huffed. “Don’t have to sound so upset about it.”

“Alright. Fine.”

“Not sounding much more excited.”

She rolled her eyes and then brought a bright smile to her face. “Sure, Timmy, sounds great! Can’t wait to have a super fun conversation with you!”

“... nevermind. That’s weird. Why did that almost convince me? I knew it was fake.”

She let herself lean back in her chair, her face falling back to a slightly smug grin. “I’m Parisian,” she said simply.

Yeah. That made sense. Every Parisian Tim had had the (dis?)pleasure of meeting had had an almost unnerving amount of control over the way they presented their emotions.

He snickered. “Why the hell would you move here, then?”

She rolled her eyes. “Our psychopath was so boring. Like, dude, we get it, your wife died or whatever, that sounds like a you problem. Now, a guy deciding to become a jewel thief purely for the gimmick? Way more interesting.”

“Moral grayness is so twenty years ago,” Tim joked.

“Exactly! Give me dumbasses who are evil purely to be evil and good to be good!”

He grinned. “I can see why you like Harry Potter.”

She blinked.

He motioned to her cup. Scrawled across it in the barista’s messy handwriting was ‘He Who Must Not Be Named’.

She relaxed a little, grinning. “I just finished the books so I’m a bit obsessed. Also, every time I tell them that my name is Marinette they misspell it.”

“Don’t feel too bad, baristas are just like that. Heck, they’ve misspelled my name before.”

“... your name is Tim.”

“They spelled it with a y.”

“... why?”

“Yes. Exactly. A y.”

She giggled a little. “No, I mean why would they do that?”

“Oh. No clue. I hope they were just messing with me.”

~

The barista was wiping down the tables. It was nearing closing time and Marinette was feeling more and more sorry for the poor workers the longer they stayed. She knew that, when she had used to work at the bakery, she had always especially hated customers that were there around closing time.

Only two tables remained occupied.

She sighed when she glanced over and saw the guy was still there.

Oh well.

She looked over at Tim. “Care to walk me a few blocks in a random direction to see if we can get rid of him?”

“Certainly,” he said.

“‘Certainly’? I may not be super great with American customs yet but even I know that’s weird,” she teased.

He huffed a little. “Listen.”

“I’m listening.”

His nose scrunched. “No, wait, you weren’t supposed to call me out on the fact that I didn’t have an excuse.”

“Oh. Okay, we can try again.”

“Alright.” He cleared his throat. “Listen,” he said again, this time in a tone that mocked the one he’d said it in the first time.

Convenient. She was intent on mocking him, too: “I’m listening.”

“You’re the worst,” he complained.

She laughed. “I am so not. Joker exists.”

“You’re worse than him,” he said in his most serious voice.

She laughed harder. “No one is worse than him.”

He grinned. “I thought you liked people that were evil purely for being evil.”

“But he’s not,” she argued. “The man just decided one day that he liked the weird guy who dressed like a bat and figured that the best way to get that guy’s attention was to murder people.”

“Gotta admit, it works,” said Tim.

She shrugged, grinning. “Yeah, it does. Makes me wonder what would happen if the Big Bad Bat didn’t come, though.”

He tipped his head to the side slightly and then shrugged. “I don’t know, actually. He usually stops it in time.”

“I think he’d freak out.”

“Absolutely.”

She grinned and stretched lazily, head tipping back.

“He’s still following us, isn’t he?” Asked Tim.

“Yep,” she said, popping the ‘p’.

He groaned a little. “Great. Looks like we’re heading to the library.”

She raised her eyebrows. “You go to libraries? You could probably buy every ebook in existence and have a few billion left over.”

“One of my sisters works there, I can ask her to get rid of the guy,” he explained. “But I like libraries. There’s something quaint about them.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, it’s nice to see how the common folk live sometimes.”

He returned her eye roll. “Not like that. I spend a lot of time staring at screens, I have a special appreciation for regular old books.”

“That’s nice. I wish I had time to sit down with a physical copy like that.”

“You see, I have this genius strategy for making time: not taking care of myself.”

“Go on, this is intriguing.”

“Well, eating and sleeping, right? Everyone thinks they’re totally necessary things otherwise you’d die or whatever. But, listen, that’s just a hoax made up by the government to perpetuate capitalism.”

She nodded eagerly. “Totally totally totally. What’s your solution?”

“Coffee communism.”

“Yes, you should use your rich boy money to lobby Congress.”

He grinned. “I totally should. But I can’t run it by my family.”

“No way! You never know who's capitalist anymore, they could be plants placed by the sleep industry to ensure that you don’t go through with it.”

He gasped. “No! You think? My own family?!”

She nodded grimly. “It’s always the ones closest to you that betray you.”

And then he broke character, snickering behind his hand. She beamed.

They reached the library and he smiled as he held the door open for her. He asked her to wait while he talked to his sister and she waved him off casually, telling him to take his time.

She pulled out her phone and pressed her lips together thinly as she made a note to head over later that night to give the man -- Henry -- his money. She’d give him a little tip because, for a moment there, she’d almost forgotten that they were just acting. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to purposely trigger herself for the sake of believability but, hey, if she was going to try and dupe one of the smartest businessmen alive into talking to her, she needed to go all out.

Speaking of Tim, she updated the file of Tim’s favorite cafes plus the probabilities of him visiting each one. It was for his oldest brother, Richie Wayne. She didn’t know why Richie was the one to ask for it seeing as he spent most of his time in Bludhaven and therefore likely wouldn’t find much use in it, but no one ever really knew why Richie Wayne did anything. The man famously had almost as much cotton between his ears as his father.

But, Richie Wayne was also just as rich as his father, so… she’d give him his file later that night after checking her math with her favorite graphing calculator.

A redhead in a wheelchair rolled past Marinette and she absently held the door open for her, only to be surprised when she cursed out Henry.

She watched as Henry held his hands up and started backing away from the woman in the wheelchair, and then he ran down the nearest alley.

(… she’d give Henry a bigger tip. The man had just wanted a tiny side job to help pay for his wife and kids that wasn’t being a henchman, he didn’t deserve this.)

She opened the door for the woman on her way back inside and mumbled her thanks. The woman nodded once and continued on her way.

Marinette leaned back against the wall again and scrolled through Twitter as she waited for Tim to reappear. Apparently, Poison Ivy was already back in Arkham. Something about an intern at the botanical gardens watering plants wrong. Wild.

Marinette felt someone sidle up beside her and, after a quick glance confirmed that it was Tim, pocketed her phone.

He smiled at her, a tote bag over his shoulder.

“Did you go grocery shopping while I wasn’t looking, somehow?”

He hesitated before holding it out to her. “It’s the French dubs of the Harry Potter movies.”

She blinked as the bag was thrust into her hands and looked down at it. Yep, that was Harry Potter in French. She also, vaguely, noted the tiny slip of paper his phone number scrawled across it.

She slung the bag over her shoulder.

“I’m never going to return these. You’re going to rack up so much debt.”

~~~

NightwingsAss9384: does anyone know why nightwing and canary hate each other?

ScareCrane: She stabbed Batman once on accident and somehow got away with blaming it on him

Daylightwing: She refuses to let B adopt her.

RiddleMeThis: They think it’s funny when their stans fight.

SignalOfficial: They said ‘I’m the only flippy bitch allowed in New Jersey’ and have been fighting ever since

Yummmmmm: He has to or else Robin will get jealous because he’s the only stabby sibling allowed

Oracle: They’re fighting over who gets to change their name to ‘The Dodo’ first.

DeadHood: Nightwing is jealous that Canary was the first one of us to think to have a full-on bird mask.

TheBetterCanary: every time i go into the batfam tag to try and avoid them all i see is his fancams

SpoilerAlert: they’re both convinced that they’re the hottest bachelor/bachelorette in gotham

NightwingsAss9384: im beginning to think no ones going to tell me.

BlackBat: :)

~~~~~

Next

Perma taglist: @nathleigh @peachmuses

Canary taglist: @jayjayspixiepop @unoriginalmess @miraculousfanfic127 @probably-a-hologram @iloontjeboontje

#if i did a kofi would anyone donate #probably not #canary #maribat #timmari #timari #timinette #shutterbug #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #tim drake #red robin

[biromanticbooknook]

My Most Ambitious Crossover

I got bored by posting only my second gen Amazon AU, so I’ll get back to that tomorrow, but enjoy this one-shot about Chloe and Marinette creating their own trip instead of their class trip in the meantime. Can’t have you all thinking I’m a one-trick pony, can I?

“-and that’s why we think you shouldn’t go on the trip this year.” Mlle. Bustier tried to look apologetic, but it was as much her idea as the students. Between Marinette refusing to set an example and Chloe associating with her, neither of them deserved to go.

“Oh, thank goodness. I was afraid I would have to get my daddy to donate 30% of the funds like he does every year.”

“I’m just glad I don’t have to take 60% of the trip funds out of my commission profits. That will give me a much bigger budget for fabric and accessories.” Everyone blanched at the statements of the 2 girls. They were saying that they paid for 90% of the trip every year, but that couldn’t be right. They worked so hard on fundraisers every year, they must be lying about how much they contribute.

Marinette just ignored them, turning to her seatmate. “Do you think that our other friends would want to go on a trip with us? Most classes take their trips during May, so we could leave at the beginning of June and take the entire summer.”

“Nice thinking, Maribug. With fewer people, prices go down and we can afford more bang for our buck.” They walk out of the classroom, discussing who to ask and when.

The class just made a big mistake.

-----

By the time the weekend rolled around, Marinette and Chloe had their group list finalized. The people going on their trip were themselves, Luka, Kagami, Aurore, Mireille, and Marc. They got together and started brainstorming fundraisers.

Marinette started. “There are the given examples; you know, car wash, bake sale, raffle. What else?”

“We could host a show.” Luka suggested.

“Like an exhibition?” Marinette asked. “We could have you perform, Kagami do a fencing demonstration, and I could do a small fashion show, using Chloe and Marc as models. Aurore and Mireille could be our MCs.”

“To capitalize on money-making, we could sell tickets, food and drink, and merch for Luka’s solo career as well as commission spots for our resident designer.”

“That’s good.” Marinette starts scribbling in the shared notebook.

“At Le Grande Paris, we could host parties. I know days when the grand ballroom is open. We could host an auction, sell lessons and creations and stuff. We could also host a masquerade ball that we sell tickets for. We could charge for food and drink. The pools are open for private reservation quite often, we could have parties there too.” Chloe takes the notebook and starts writing down her ideas, mapping out all the resources needed while muttering.

“We could also host a carnival or a gaming tournament in the ballroom.” Kagami looked thoughtful. “I’ve never actually been to one.”

Chloe added that to the list. “Should we do anything else?”

“We could start a go-fund-me. Artists and writers do it all the time to get their creations off the ground.” Marc murmured.

“That would be great. What’s our goal for this entire endeavor?”

“Our goal, Maribug, is €45,000. That should cover travel, boarding, tours, food, and souvenirs. Whatever we don’t spend gets redistributed to the group.” Chloe supplies.

“Then that should be it. Nice job, guys!”

“My, what a whirlwind of a planning session. I hope nothing rains on our parade. I wonder weather Mlle. Bustier’s class is doing this well.” Aurore beams at them.

“Mm-hmm.” Mireille agrees with Aurore.

“Probably not. Our classmates couldn’t pour water out of a boot with instructions on the heel. They’ll just listen to Lila that the boot will empty by itself through the toe because ‘I worked on patenting this boot’, then they’ll get mad at the boot for not doing it.” Chloe chuckles dryly.

“Be nice.” Marinette reprimands half-heartedly.

-----

Chloe immediately filed the paperwork with the school board so they could go on their trip with no safety or legal concerns. She recruited Mme. Mendeleiev and M. D'Argencourt to be their chaperones, who were more than happy to go on an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles, Star City, Central City, Metropolis, Gotham, New York City, and Tokyo.

They had their first fundraiser at the end of September, a pool party at Le Grande Paris. Even Mlle. Bustier’s class attended, though they didn’t know who had set it up, only that Luka was performing. They hadn’t even started their planning  yet. The group made €3,041.

The next was a car wash in the middle of October. It was cool enough for a car wash to be pleasant while being warm enough that everyone was still out and about. They earned €2,632. Bustier's class was getting ice cream and listening to Lila brag.

They then had an All Hallow’s Eve bake sale, complete with candy decoration reminiscent of the American holiday. They earned €1,800.

During November, they held a carnival, with a full fall theme. It was wildly popular with families from all over Paris, earning them €6,483. It was around this time that Mlle. Bustier’s class held a bake sale, and earned €1,594. They celebrated.

Throughout the holiday season, they took advantage of peoples’ spirit. They held a raffle throughout the 12 Days of Christmas, while also holding a bake sale the day before winter break. Overall, they earned €10,749.

Over winter break, Chloe bought plane tickets and reserved tours and hotels, so all that was left was to get money for the tours and food. They were over halfway to their goal.

During January, they rented a theater, and held their exhibition. They had a crowd of fencing enthusiasts, rock music lovers, and fashion followers. They made €5,830.

They held a date auction and a masquerade to celebrate Valentine’s Day. It was amazing, and they earned €7,284.

They had checked their go-fund-me, and had found that €10,000 was there, putting them €2,819 over their goal. They were ecstatic!

They still held the gaming tournament at the end of April, but let it be free for everyone to enjoy as their celebration of reaching their goal.

-----

Mlle. Butsier’s class had made €7,000 over their 3 fundraisers, and they were pretty proud of themselves. No doubt they would be going somewhere much better than whatever Maribrat and Chloe have planned. Once the girls walked into the classroom, the class started to brag.

“We’ve finished fundraising!”

Marinette smiled and decided to be nice to them. “Cool. Where are you going?”

“We are going to New York City.”

Chloe was not as kind. “Oh, so are we! It was so hard to raise the €45,000 needed for our trip, but we did it. It was so euphoric to meet our goal. How much did you guys raise?”

“We made €7,000.” The smiles slowly slipped off the faces of the class. “What do you mean the €45,000 needed?”

“Well, we needed to cover food, travel, boarding, and tours, and that was just for the 7 of us. I can’t imagine what the budget would’ve been like for an entire class.” Her smile got an edge, like a lioness who knew she had cornered her prey.

Her classmates blanched. “What was our budget, Alya?” Rose looked towards their new class representative, hoping that she had an answer.

“We never had one.”

“Well, at least you filed the paperwork right?”

“What paperwork?”

Marinette responded this time. “The paperwork needed to go on a trip. You were supposed to submit it to the school board for approval of safety and legality. It was on page 17 of the packet I gave you at the beginning of the year. Didn’t you read it, Alya?”

“I-I-no. Lila said that was just extra work that you had given me to throw me off my game. She said you didn’t actually need to do all of that.”

“I didn’t know that Lila had more experience being a class representative than me and Marinette, the only 2 people who have ever been class representative here.” Chloe’s voice became as sharp and sweet as her smile. “Well, have fun with your trip. Marinette and I have to do last-minute checks on our arrangements.”

The class looked at the people that had carried them the previous years, and realized how much they relied on the girls. Lila was cursing herself for pushing away the only people who actually did anything in this class.

-----

The class ended up going to Disneyland Paris, and tried their best to look as upbeat as possible on their social medias. Meanwhile, The group was having the time of their lives.

They stayed in LA for 2 weeks, visiting movie sets and meeting actors. They spent another week just going on everything at Disneyland and California Adventure.

They then spent a week in Star City, touring Queen Industries and having a meet and greet with Oliver Queen and his ward, Roy Harper, who seemed to enjoy Aurore’s outgoing personality. They even saw the vigilantes.

They spent another 2 weeks in Central City, touring STAR Labs and watching the rogues try to fight the Flash family. It was the most meta-filled city in the world, and They toured a forensics lab with Bart Allen. Chloe seemed grimly pleased with seeing the bodies. She might’ve been projecting certain people onto them, not that she would ever admit it.

2 weeks in Metropolis was really fun. They toured the Daily Planet with Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Mireille was amazed by what you could do to report without having to be in front of a screen. They made a scavenger hunt of how many Supers they could find, and they found 2 different superboys. Lex Corp also gave them a tour, although it was more professional than the tour of the Daily Planet.

They spent 1 week in Gotham. They toured Wayne Enterprises and stayed out of the Bats’ way. Luka got the phone number of Tim Drake. Marinette enjoyed the inspiration that the gothic architecture brought her. There wasn’t much of a nightlife scene, considering only fools stay out after dark in Gotham.

Their 1 week in New York City was hectic. The Avengers were all at the tower when they were touring with Pepper Potts by Chloe’s request. Chloe might’ve been unofficially adopted by Tony Stark when she stood up to them and made them ‘cease their bullshit’. The Black Widow also took a liking to the girl. They also ran into these weird teens muttering about monsters when they were waiting for the elevator at the Empire State Building.

2 weeks in Tokyo. Their last stop. They visited the prestigious Ouran Academy, the host club getting Marc to come out of their shell by constantly helping boost his self-esteem. Chloe enjoyed talking business and finances with Kyoya Ootori. Kagami led them all in a traditional tea ceremony, before they all stormed the streets to try the unfamiliar street food.

Marinette ended up being unofficially adopted by 3 heroes, 2 rogues, and 5 billionaires. She was happy getting to spend 7 weeks on the road with only her closest friends.

The class was incredibly jealous of the trip their classmates took. They hoped next year they could go on a trip like that as well, but they had missed their shot.

#maribat #marvelous ladybug #allusion to #pjo #ohshc #marinette dupain cheng #chloe bourgeois #caline bustier #luka couffaine #kagami tsuguri #marc anciel #aurore beauréal #mireille caquet #mendeleiev #d'argencourt #lila rossi #rose lavillant #alya cesaire #oliver queen #roy harper #bart allen #clark kent #lois lane #tim drake #pepper potts #tony stark #natasha romanov #kyoya ootori #i tagged every character i referred to by name and it took me like five minutes #alternate trip

[ilovebeing-weird]

Fluffy Saturday 3

Cuddles make everything better

Thanks to @tim-drake-is-underrated who wrote and edited this with me!!! I know this is not a Saturday, but better late than never :D!!!!

Marinette was in pain and she was bleeding. Unfortunately, this was normal and she couldn't do anything other than just woman up and take it. She was on her periods. And it hurt like hell. She had cramps, bad cramps. All she wanted was to die now.

Fortunately, she had beaten Hawkmoth and was on a break right now. In Gotham. She was taking a break in Gotham?! You mean the crime capital, Gotham? Like where the most dangerous villains stay, that Gotham?!

Yes to all of the above. She was on a break in Gotham with her fiance and his family.

She was celebrating with her lovely nerdy fiance Tim and his family. They helped her a lot in discovering who Hawkmoth was. She and Tim met when he was in Paris for a business meeting with MDC, or her. Their meeting went well and soon she was collaborating with Wayne Enterprises.

"Bean? You okay?" Tim came into the room they were sharing in the Wayne Manor.

"No, I am in pain," Marinette said, making grabby hands at him.

"What’s wrong?" Tim climbed into their bed and took her in his lap.

Marinette immediately clung to him. "I am on my periods and I have really bad cramps." Marinette snuggled into Tim's chest while he rubbed her back.

"That sounds hard babe. You know what? Lie down and I'll grab you a hot water bottle. Okay?" Marinette got off his lap with a 'hm' sound and Tim kissed her forehead.

"I love you."

"Love you more Bean." Tim plugged in the heating bag and grabbed some chocolates from the cupboard. "I've heard chocolates help during these times? I don't know how, but do you want some?"

"Where did you know all of this? And yes, I would love some chocolates."

"I do have a sister and some female friends and you're not the first person I have ever dated, Bean."

"Valid." Only someone as sweet as Tim would understand that periods are painful and that the females are not being drama queens when they say that it hurts. That the women or girls are not weak when they are in pain because the cramps are so bad.

"Okay, the bottle is warm now."

"Thanks a lot, Timmy. You're really sweet." Marinette put the bottle on her stomach and Tim gave her the chocolates. She once again made grabby hands at Tim. "Cuddle me. I want cuddles."

"If it will make it better."

"Cuddles make everything better." Before Tim was even fully laid down, Marinette had snuggled into him. "Why are you so adorable Timmy?"

"You think I am adorable?"

"If I didn't think you were adorable I wouldn't have said yes to marrying you." Tim kissed the crown of Marinette's head. It was peaceful for a while before Marinette winced in pain because damn it hurt so much. She snuggled even more into Tim. "I hate it."

"I’m sure it's painful Bean, but it's gonna be okay. Do you need any meds?" Marinette just shook her head.

"Just stay here with me? Physical contact makes it better."

"I got you."

Time passed by and before long Marinette was asleep. He glanced at her and chuckled. She was adorable even when she slept. He took out his phone and began scrolling through it. There were emails about work, a lot of them. He ignored them in favour of admiring his sweet fiancée.

Some time passed and Marinette stirred. Tim looked at her, concerned. She groaned, her face scrunching up in pain. “What’s wrong, Bean?” Tim asked, rubbing her back comfortingly, silently telling her she was not alone and that he’s got her.

"It's really painful. I don't think I'll be able to fall asleep again."

"Do you wanna do something else? Like watch movies?" Tim asked, softly. He wished he could take away her pain. Sadly, he couldn't.

"Yeah, That sounds great." Marinette looked at Tim and she was glad that he was there with her. She didn't know what she'd do without him. "Thanks for always being here with me, Tim. I love you."

"I love you too. I can't wait for us to get married and start a family of our own." Marinette blushed. She had thought about that way many times, but discussing it- it felt real. She was going to be married to the love of her life.

Tim chuckled. He liked messing with her. She always got so flustered and adorable. "You're adorable when you're blushing like that." Marinette playfully shoved him away, groaning in pain from the sudden movement. Tim lost his playful-ness and grew concerned. “Bean?? Is everything okay?? I’m so sorry- did I hurt you??-”

"It's okay mon canard. You can never hurt me. It’s the stupid cramps again. I hate being a woman."

Tim immediately softened up, bringing her more close. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

"Just stay with me? that's all I need." Marinette said, looking into his eyes.

"Of course, Bean. Always. In sickness and in health." He said, tenderly kissing her forehead.

She snuggled up to him, closing her eyes in content. "You're really hot."

Tim smirked. "Thanks, for finally acknowledging the fact."

Marinette looked at him for a minute, before she turned red again "Not like that! I mean you’re warm, silly!"

Tim laughed and looked at her touching his nose to her. "You're adorable, like a chipmunk."

“Tiiiim!” Marinette whined. “How dare you tease me when I’m so miserable!” Tears started flowing out of her eyes. Damn the stupid period hormones.

Tim rushed to comfort her. "I am so sorry, Bean! I didn't mean to make you cry! I was just messing with you! I’m sorry if I said something wrong!" He took her hands off her eyes and gently wiped her tears away. "Don't cry."

She sniffled "I'm sorry, it's just these damn hormones going haywire. I don't know what to do anymore."

"Don't worry about it, I’m here for you." Marinette sniffled again and buried her face in his chest. They stayed like that for a while until Marinette was ready to get up.

"Let's go now," Marinette said, getting up. But, her legs wouldn't let her. They hurt on getting up. She was about to fall, but before she could fall Tim caught her.

"You okay?" Tim asked, concerned. She has to deal with it every month. And she had to deal with it, without him, without any help. That thought alone distressed him.

“It huurts,” She whined. Tim looked at her and decided that he couldn’t let her be in any more pain than she already is in. Without warning her he carried her bridal style. Her head snuggled into his chest.

"You comfy?" Tim asked gently. At her nod, they went out the door. He was going to spoil her till she couldn’t take it anymore. She didn’t deserve any of the pain, and he’d be damned if he didn’t try to take her pain away. Now they had one mission, don't let his brothers see them. They were annoying and wouldn't stop teasing his Bean, and she was in no condition to deal with that right now.

They stopped in the kitchen to grab some snacks, hot tea and some chocolates, in case Mari wanted any. “Anything else you want?” He asked, softly looking at the love of his life.

"Your love." Mari said, giggling a little.

"You already have all of it." Tim said back, softly kissing her forehead. If Marinette was not being carried by him she would've fallen on the floor in a puddle of goo from the look he gave her. It was so full of love and adoration, that look was reserved just for her. That thought made her even more happy.

There was a silent atmosphere, before there was a loud bang sound, that startled them. "Die demon spawn!"

"-TT- taking you in was father's biggest mistake!"

"Guys please don't fight."

"Shut up Dickhead!" "Shut up Grayson!"

Marinette involuntarily flinched from the noise, burying herself into Tim to try and block it out. Before Tim could say anything, Dick entered the kitchen. He paused, taking one look at Mari and her face, which was red and blotchy from pain and crying, he made a knowing face which immediately morphed into one of sympathy “Timmy!” He chided. “Put her down. She’s in pain!”

Tim gave Dick a deadpan look “That's why I have carried her, Dick.”

“Well you’re clearly not doing it right! She’s in pain!”

"You don't know anything, Dick. Mari, should I keep you down? Are you uncomfortable?" Mari, who had buried her face in his chest, looked at him.

"If you are tired, but I am not uncomfortable. I like it like this." Tim smirked at Dick.

"But she's crying."

"She is on her period, Dick. She has bad cramps. Now get out of here before I kill you."

“AWWW! MY LITTLE BROTHER’S ALL GROWN UP!!”

“I can’t say the same thing about you. A wife and kid and you’re still 8 years old.”

“hEY!-”

“Shhhhhh” Mari shushed. “My head hurts!”

"Sorry, Bean." Tim said, adjusting her. "Let's go because someone won't leave us alone." He said pointedly looking at Dick. Marinette waved at Dick.

"Hey Sunshine!" It was peaceful once again before an angry Damian came running.

"GRAYSON! I demand that you tell father to emancipate Todd, right this moment!"

"I am not his son anyway! And neither do I care if he throws me out or not. He has done it once, he can do it twice."

"Li'l D, Little wing, is everything okay? And please don't make so much noise."

"Nothing's okay Grayson!"

"Guys, please don't make so much noise."

"Pixie are you okay? Did Tim do anything? Do I need to skin a Red Robin?"

"What did you do to Malaki, Drake! Did you hurt her?!"

"Why does everyone assume that I hurt her? She has cramps and we’re going now. No, you guys cannot come with us." With that said, Tim made his way to the movie room with Mari still in his arms.

He carefully put Marinette down with the snacks and covered her in blankets. The evening went by with Tim catering to Mari’s every need and Mari finally falling asleep, with Tim’s arm protectively draped over her.

#timari #more timari content to digest #they are adorable #i love them #i love their relationship #maribat fluff #tooth rotting fluff #maribat #mlb × dc #maribat marinette dupain cheng #maribat tim drake #maribat dick grayson #maribat jason todd #maribat damian wayne #timinette #I am dying why are they so cute #they don't have any right to be that adorable #Timari has taken over my life now #I love it #weird writings

[weheartchrisevans]

BOSTON — So you're Tim Scott, the Republican senator from South Carolina who opposes Roe v. Wade and wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and you get a call from Chris Evans, a Hollywood star and lifelong Democrat who has been blasting President Trump for years. He wants to meet. And film it. And share it on his online platform. Can anybody say "Borat?" “I was very skeptical,” admits Scott. “You can think of the worst-case scenario.”But then Scott heard from other senators. They vouched for Evans, most famous for playing Captain America in a series of films that have grossed more than $1 billion worldwide. The actor also got on the phone with Scott’s staff to make a personal appeal.

It worked. Sometime in 2018, Scott met on camera with Evans in the nation’s capital, and their discussion, which ranged from prison reform to student loans, is one of more than 200 interviews with elected officials published on “A Starting Point,” an online platform the actor helped launch in July. Not long after, Evans appeared on Scott’s Instagram Live. They have plans to do more together.

“While he is a liberal, he was looking to have a real dialogue on important issues,” says Scott. “For me, it’s about wanting to have a conversation with an audience that may not be accustomed to hearing from conservatives and Republicans.”

Evans, actor-director Mark Kassen and entrepreneur Joe Kiani launched “A Starting Point” as a response to what they see as a deeply polarized political climate. They wanted to offer a place for information about issues without a partisan spin. To do that, they knew they needed both parties to participate.

Evans, 39, sat on the patio outside his Boston-area home on a recent afternoon talking about the platform. He wore a black T-shirt and jeans and spent some of the interview chasing around his brown rescue dog. Nearly 100 million people didn’t vote in the 2016 general election, Evans says. That’s more than 40 percent of those who were eligible.He believes the root of this disinterest is the nastiness on both sides of the aisle. Many potential voters simply turn off the news, never mind talking about actual policy.“A Starting Point” is meant to offer a digital home for people to hear from elected officials without having the conversation framed by Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow.

“The idea is . . . ‘Listen, you’re in office. I can’t deny the impact you have,’ ” says Evans. “ ‘You can vote on things that affect my life.’ Let this be a landscape of competing ideas, and I’ll sit down with you and I’ll talk with you.”

Or, as Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who has appeared on the site, puts it, “Sometimes, boring is okay. You’re being presented two sides. Everything doesn’t have to be sensational. Sometimes, it can just be good facts.” Evans wasn’t always active in politics. At Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, he focused on theater, not student government. And he moved away from home his senior year, working at a casting agency in New York as he pushed for acting gigs. His uncle, Michael E. Capuano, served as a congressman in Massachusetts for 20 years, but other than volunteering on some of his campaign, Evans wasn’t particularly political.

In recent years, he’s read political philosopher Hannah Arendt and feminist Rebecca Solnit’s “The Mother of All Questions” — ex-girlfriend Jenny Slate gave him the latter — and been increasingly upset by Trump’s policies and behavior. He’s come to believe that he can state his own views without creating a conflict with “A Starting Point.” When he and Scott spoke on Instagram, the president wasn’t mentioned. In contrast, recently Evans and other members of the Avengers cast took part in a virtual fundraiser with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Kamala D. Harris.

“I don’t want to all of a sudden become a blank slate,” says Evans. “But my biggest issue right now is just getting people to vote. If I start saying, ‘vote Biden; f Trump,’ my base will like that. But they were already voting for Biden.”

(In September, Evans accidentally posted an image of presumably his penis online and, after deleting it, tweeted: “Now the I have your attention . . . Vote Nov. 3rd!!!”)

Evans began to contemplate the idea that became “A Starting Point” in 2017. He heard something reported on the news — he can’t remember exactly what — and decided to search out information on the Internet. Instead of finding concrete answers, Evans fell down the rabbit hole of opinions and conflicting claims. He began talking about this with Kassen, a friend since he directed Evans in 2011’s “Puncture.” What if they got the information directly from elected officials and presented it without a spin? Kassen, in turn, introduced Evans to Kiani, who had made his fortune through a medical technology company he founded and, of the three, was the most politically involved.

Kiani has donated to dozens of Democratic candidates across the country and earlier this year contributed $750,000 to Unite the Country, a super PAC meant to support Joe Biden. But he appreciated the idea of focusing on something larger than a single race or party initiative. He, Kassen and Evans would fund “A Starting Point,” which has about 18 people on staff.

“There’s no longer ABC, NBC and CBS,” Kiani says. “There’s Fox News and MSNBC. What that means is that we are no longer being censored. We’re self-censoring ourselves. And people go to their own echo chamber and they don’t get any wiser. If you allow both parties to speak, for the same amount of time, without goading them to go on into hyperbole, when people look at both sides’ point of view of both topics, we think most of the time they’ll come to a reasonable conclusion.”

“What people do too often is they get in their silos and they only watch and listen and read what they agree with,” says John Kasich, the former Ohio governor and onetime Republican presidential candidate. “If you go to Chris’s website, you can’t bury yourself in your silo. You get to see the other point of view.” As much as some like to blame Trump for all the conflicts in Washington, Sen. Christopher A. Coons (D-Del.) says he’s watched the tone shifting for decades. He appreciated sitting down with Evans and making regular submissions to “Daily Points,” a place on the platform for commentary no longer than two minutes. During the Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Coons recorded a comment on Judge Amy Coney Barrett and the Affordable Care Act.“ ‘A Starting Point’ needs to be a sustained resource,” Coons says. “Chris often talks about it being ‘Schoolhouse Rock’ for adults.”

It’s not by chance that Evans has personally conducted all of the 200-plus interviews on “A Starting Point” during trips to D.C. Celebrities often try to mobilize the public, whether it’s Eva Longoria, Tracee Ellis Ross and Julia Louis-Dreyfus hosting the Democratic National Convention or Jon Voight recording video clips to praise Trump. But in this case, Evans is using his status in a different way, to entice even the most hesitant Republican to sit down for an even-toned chat. And he’s willing to pose with anyone, even if it means explaining himself on “The Daily Show” after Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas posted a selfie with Evans. (Two attempts to interview Trump brought no response.) Murkowski remembers when Evans came to Capitol Hill for the first time in 2018. She admits she didn’t actually know who he was — she hadn’t yet seen any Marvel movies. She was in the minority.“We meet interesting and important people but, man, when Captain America was in the Senate, it was all the buzz,” she says. “And people were like, ‘Did you get your picture taken?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I sat down and did the interview.’ ‘You did an interview? How did you get an interview with him?’ ”What impressed Murkowski wasn’t his star power. It was the way Evans conducted the interview.“It was relaxing,” she says. “You didn’t feel like you were in front of a reporter who was just waiting for you to say something you would get caught on later. It was a dialogue . . . and we need more dialogue and less gotcha.”

“Starting Points” offers two-minute answers by elected officials in eight topic areas, including education, the environment and the economy. This is where the interviews Evans conducted can be found. “Daily Points” has featured a steady flow of Republicans and Democrats. A third area, “Counterpoints,” hosts short debates between officials on particular subjects. Eric Swalwell, a Democrat from California, debated mail-in voting with Dusty Johnson, the Republican congressman from South Dakota.

“Most Americans can’t name more than five members of the United States House,” says Johnson. “ ‘A Starting Point’ allows thoughtful members to talk to a broader audience than we would normally have.”

The platform’s social media team pushes out potentially newsworthy clips, whether it’s Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) discussing his meeting with Barrett just before he tested positive for the coronavirus, or Angus King, the independent senator from Maine, criticizing Trump for his comments on a potential peaceful transfer of power after November’s election. Kassen notes that the King clip was viewed more than 175,000 times on “A Starting Point’s” Twitter account, compared with the 10,000 who caught in on CNN’s social media platform.

“Because it’s short-form media, we’re engineered to be social,” says Kassen. “As a result, when something catches hold, it’s passed around our audience pretty well.”

The key is to use modern tools to push out content that’s tonally different from what you might find on modern cable news. Or on social media. Which is what Evans hopes leads to more engagement. He’s particularly proud that more than 10,000 people have registered to vote through “A Starting Point” since it went online.

“If the downstream impact or the byproduct of this site is some sort of unity between the parties, great,” says Evans. “But if nobody’s still voting, it doesn’t work. We need people involved.”

#chris evans #mark kassan #joe kiani #a starting point #the washington post #news

[alexiessan]

The brother you never asked for - One Shot

AO3

@neakco​ asked: "I saw an ask for prompts so I would like to request a sibling Jasonette where Jason is in Paris trying to win a bet with Dick over who can find the best pastries, which is how he finds/meets Marinette. Everything else is open to the freedom of your imagination."

Here is Jasonette Siblings :) 

@justafanwarrior​ @animegirlweeb​

Why was Jason running in the streets of Paris at seven in the evening again?

Ah, right. To win a bet against Dick.

The two oldest adopted children of Bruce Wayne had agreed to accompany their father on a business trip to the French capital. Damian still had school to attend and Tim was to manage the company while the CEO was away.

He didn’t really need any of his children to accompany him, but who would say no to a trip to Paris?

Bruce had a lot of meetings planned for the two weeks trip, and it took only two days for the two men to get bored. Paris wasn’t new for them and they’ve already seen all the touristic spots.

And so, they were just watching some movie in Richard’s hotel room when he had a craving for pastries.

“Let’s go to Ladurée! They have awesome macarons!” the oldest exclaimed, his mouth already watering at the thought of chocolate macaron.

Jason frowned. “Eh, really? It’s overpriced and overrated there.”

“But they are the best I’ve ever had.”

“That’s because you didn’t try to find the very best. It’s France, there are bakeries in almost every street. There must be one that makes better pastries than Ladurée.”

La maison Ladurée was a famous bakery in Paris, known for its macarons. Every tourist always ended up going there at one point or another during their stay in Paris.

While their macarons were good, it was too much of a tourist spot for Jason’s taste. There probably was a bakery out there that sold better macarons than the famous Maison Ladurée.

Urgh. Even the name sounded made him want to cringe. Snobbish much, huh?

“Then, let’s find it,” said Dick with a serious voice.

Jason looked away from the TV to face his brother. “Huh?”

Richard rolled his eyes. “Get your ass up this couch and let’s go find the best bakery in Paris!”

The second oldest of the Wayne siblings raised an eyebrow. “Do you realize how many bakeries there are in just Paris? We can’t possibly try them all.”

“You’re right. That’s why,” Dick paused, showing Jason his smartphone, “I’ve researched the best bakeries of Paris. I found two lists with a top ten of the best bakeries of Paris, and they don’t have one in common with the other!” he grinned, “so, I suggest we each take a list and try them all, and come back with a box of macarons from the one we thought was best!”

Jason looked at the list. If he tried them all and figured that the best one was one of the first he tried, it would mean going back there to buy a full box of macarons. It would be annoying to go back there again, but doable.

“What does the winner win?” he finally asked.

“Eh… Bragging rights?” at Jason’s expression, he tried again. “We’ll figure it out later.”

“Right. Then, may the best man win.”

They shook hands and were off in a matter of seconds.

This is how Jason found himself in front of the last bakery of the list — the one ranked second in the list, but it was the one the farthest from their hotel, and thus, the last one he tried — hoping it was closed yet. He really hoped this one would be the best because he wouldn’t have the time to go back to one of the other bakeries before closing time.

When he opened the door, he was met with a lot of pink. It was a cute and cozy bakery, making you want to find a seat, drink hot chocolate, and read next to the window while it was raining outside.

At the desk was a teenage girl around Damian’s age — sixteen, seventeen-year-old top — who looked visibly upset over something on her phone. When she heard him enter, she put the phone away, blinked several times to get rid of the tears that had gathered in her eyes, and smiled at him.

“Welcome to Tom et Sabine boulangerie pâtisserie! How can I help you?” she greeted him in French.

Jason made his way to the counter, looking over the different pastries. He glanced at the girl, patiently waiting for his order. She had black hair and blue eyes, half French and half Asian he guessed. She had a smile on her face, and not just a customer one, giving that she was visibly upset when he arrived, but a genuine one.

It made him want to ask her if he had to go and threaten someone, but he didn’t know the girl, and she didn’t know him, and what right did he have to ask?

“I’ll have a chocolate macaron, please,” he answered in French but with a heavy American accent.

She noticed and switched in English, which he was grateful for. He could speak French, but since he didn’t have the opportunity to practice it often, he was a bit rusty in the language.

“Of course, a big one or a small one?”

“A small one, please.”

She put the small macaron on a towel with a clamp and put it on the counter. “It will be one euro, please!”

He thanked her while paying and wasted no time in eating the small treat. The teen girl laughed when she saw him eat it in one bite.

“You know what?” he began after swallowing, deciding that this was the best one he had in his search. “I’ll take a whole box of these. I’ll even take two big ones!”

“Alright! That will be nine euros and fifty cents, please!” she said with a smile before preparing his order.

“Thanks again!” he said while handing her the money. “If the other pastries are as good as the macarons, you’ll see me again.”

She laughed. “I’m not exactly impartial, but the pastries are really, really good! So I guess I’ll see you again.”

He barked a laugh. “You can bet on it then!”

“Have a good night, sir!”

“Thanks!”

When he got back to the hotel room, Dick was already there with his own box of macarons, and they didn’t waist one more second before tasting the other’s finding.

Jason won, of course, and demanded fifty bucks as his reward.

And wasn’t it good to win a bet against his brother.

Just like he said he would, Jason came back to the bakery, with Dick with him. They tried all sorts of pastries, and even some quiches for lunch and everything was delicious. Dick made sure to note the name of the bakery somewhere on his phone so they could come back the next time they would come to Paris.

The teenage girl was still there, managing the desk and talking with the two of them when they stayed a bit longer to enjoy their food.

They learned that her name was Marinette and that she was seventeen — making her Damian’s age, just as Jason thought — and that she was the daughter of the owner. Since it was summer vacations, she helped her parents since they had more clients than ever thanks to tourism.

They learned that she was a fashion designer and that she learned English because of it. Since she wanted to start her own business one day, someone recommended that she learn English if she wanted it to be international. Speaking only one language wouldn’t do well, she explained.

While she was still in school, she had a small customer base already and did everything that needed to be done for it to be legal, and thus, was a freelance in fashion design. She was still in high school, entering her last year in September. She even expressed her desire to go to University in America, in a double major — fashion and business.

They visited the bakery every day for a week, learning to know each other a bit, but never once did she tell them anything that was upsetting her.

And Jason couldn’t help but wonder what could bring such a cheerful and positive girl like Marinette so close to tears.

It was on their last week in Paris that Jason found out.

He was on his way to the bakery to get his daily dose of pastries when he saw Marinette sitting on a bench in the park near her family’s business and home.

And she was crying.

He didn’t think about it as he made his way to Marinette and sat next to her.

“So, tell me, whose butt do I need to kick?”

She almost jumped, not having noticed him.

“God,” she breathed, “you scared me, don’t do that again.”

“My bad,” he apologized. “But tell me, what’s wrong?”

She let out a joyless laugh. “It’s okay, I don’t want to burden you with my teenage drama.”

He playfully elbowed her. “Now, now. I’ve been a teen too, you know. And I know all about teenage drama. And I know that it’s not just nothing to you, right now. Maybe, later on, you’ll think so, but it matters to you now, so it’s important, you understand?” she nodded. “Just because you’re a teenager, it doesn’t mean your problems are meaningless, alright? I know adults tend to downplay teenager’s problem, but not me.” he ruffled her hair. “Now, tell everything to your big brother.”

She laughed and shoved him playfully. “You’re not my brother!”

“Well, now I am! I’m the brother you never asked for but got anyway. Deal with it.”

She laughed again, and he felt like he succeeded a little in cheering her up. “Alright, ‘big brother’, I’ll talk.”

She took a deep breath before facing him.

“It’s my boyfriend. He canceled on me. Again.” she laughed. “I know I shouldn’t be upset to be stood up, and I wasn’t the first time. Or the second. Or the third. But I’ve lost count of the times he ditched me for his friends, or for an event that just happened. And I tried to be understanding at first. It’s just… I’m doing everything to make our relationship work. I plan dates, even double dates because I know how much he loves his friends — our friends. But it feels like it’s one sided,” she paused, taking another deep breath. “But I haven’t properly talked to him in months because he keeps standing me up. I just… Does he want to break up with me? Is that what’s he’s trying to do, but is too much of a coward to do it properly? I… I guess I’m just realizing now that we haven’t be fine for months now.”

Jason sighed. “I can’t tell you what he’s thinking, and what is his reasoning behind his behavior because I don’t know him, but I’ll tell you this: it takes all the people involved in a relationship for it to work. If the other doesn’t put any work in it, it can’t work. It can be fixed, however, but you already tried, didn’t you?”

She nodded.

“Then, since you already try to fix your relationship, you have to ask yourself this question: are you happy with him?”

Tears gathered again in her eyes and she shook her head. “No… No, Jason, I’m not happy anymore.”

He opened his arms, inviting her in a hug, and she immediately threw herself in her arms.

“Then, I think you know what to do.”

They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Marinette stopped crying.

“I’m sorry, I barely know you and I just dumped all my problems on you.”

“Hey, when I said that I was now your brother, I meant it. I take my duties as a big brother very seriously.”

The fashion designer laughed. “What, you just picked people on the street and claimed they are now your sibling or something?”

“No, you’re just special.”

She laughed. “I’m nothing special, but thank you. For listening to me and offering me friendship. I really appreciate it.”

He patted her hair. “Anytime, chouquette.”

They exchanged numbers before parting ways, this time without any pastries with him.

The next morning, Jason received a text from Marinette, stating that she broke up with her boyfriend. He asked for details, and she explained that he has been oblivious to it all and didn’t understand why she was breaking up with him. She said that she gave up on explaining anything and that they were just over.

He and Dick spent the last week at the bakery, trying to cheer Marinette up, which was not as hard as he expected it to be. While Marinette was sad that her relationship was over, she was also relieved. She had been hurt too much, and it was a good thing that she wouldn’t be hurting anymore.

Their two weeks stay unfortunately came to an end, and it was time to say goodbye to Marinette.

“Say, what do you think about going to Gotham for university,” he asked her with a grin. “We could see each other much more then.”

She snorted. “Yeah, right. Going to the most dangerous city in America. No thanks, I think I’ll pass.”

He pouted. “But I would protect you.”

She laughed. “I have no doubt you would, but I think I’ll go to New York. I have an internship offer there than I can do alongside my studies,” she paused. “But hey, Gotham and New York are pretty close, no? We can still see each other.”

“One of my brothers is actually going to university in New York too next year! I’ll tell him to look after you!”

“What?! Come on Jason, I don’t need anyone looking after me!”

“Tutututu! Let your big brother handle it!”

“But you’re not my brother!”

#maribat #jasonette siblings #ooc characters i guess #ml x dc #mlb x dc #miraculous x dc

[captaincravatthecapricious]

You Don’t Understand- Prompt Fill

Jon has a rough time after being absent for 6 months.

Write as a prompt fill gotten through A03

CW fainting, victim blaming, withdrawal/starvation symptoms (from statements) (I am a bit vague about which it is more like because I couldn't choose, so a bit of both), trust issues, very brief Peter Lukas mention, brief mention of someone being touched while unconscious (nonsexual and very brief mention), and cw for some very mixed feelings about Georgie.  I understand her, and I don't hate her, but I don't really like her either so please don't get mad at me for how she is written I am trying to do her justice and I get why she does the things she does, but I don't have to like her for it.

Thanks for reading hope you enjoy! I have a few more bingo prompts to post, but only one more to write!  Feel free to stick it in my inbox and if no one does, well you will just have to put up with whatever whim strikes me this weekend when I will write it for a backlog!  Card by the wonderful @celosiaa​

It’s been six months.  How has it been six months?  

Jon isn’t sure how he is supposed to think about that time.  Is it all supposed to feel like a dream, that one moment he’s blowing up, the next he’s awake?  

It doesn’t feel like that.  

But he also wasn’t really there for six months, was he?   

He sighs deeply to himself.  It doesn’t matter.  

It doesn’t matter.  

He’s alive.  

He’s fine.  

Martin and Tim are sharing a flat, apparently.  And that’s good.  He thinks?  Maybe?  

They keep telling him there is room for him, but he isn’t sure he can believe that…. Not after everything with Tim.  He wants to believe it…  But… what if Martin doesn’t want him there.  He thought maybe they had a moment before the Unknowing, but did they?  

Jon’s not good with…. Feelings.  With people.  

Not to mention he’s been Gone.  With a capital G and a flatline of a heartrate.  

Even if he and Martin could possibly have…  Could possibly have had something.  Of some unknowable sort.  That he couldn’t have hoped to put a word to for fear that it would crumble around him.  But he’s been gone and Tim hasn’t been and they seem close now.  

And maybe Tim is trying again with him?  But how can he be sure?  When everything is confusing and out of sync with what he thought of time.  

Not to mention the deep hunger that is more than hunger.  Deeper in his gut, and harder to ignore.  Followed by a fog of confusion and the sense that his skin is too tight, that the world is the wrong temperature, and that everything is tilted ever so slightly, making it impossible to keep his balance.  

Reading statements helps, but… Basira… but Georgie.  The disappointed glares they send his way when he skulks off to read one in hopes of feeling like his limbs are his again…. That he isn’t being slowly set on fire or slowly frozen.  The world skirting by him with a vengeful glee leaving him to rot in his own misery on the shelf in the stacks he’s been calling home recently.  

Martin wasn’t there when he woke up…. Working for the ever elusive Peter Lukas.  Tim wasn’t there… Martin later telling him he’d been afraid of scaring him.  Which Jon couldn’t escape the worry that, in actuality, it was Martin worrying that Tim would scare Jon… or hurt him.  Which Jon could tell was the more valid of the worries.  Or he thinks it is?  How is he supposed to be certain.  How can he trust anyone?  How is he supposed to trust anyone when Basira gives him such calculating stares, when Melanie glares metaphorical and literal daggers at him, when Georgie has been ignoring his texts (and her harsh words upon his waking).  When Martin is working for a literal monster.  When Daisy is gone… and Jon doesn’t know how to feel.  He wants Basira to be happy, but he feels safer without her.  And he doesn’t know how to feel about anything but he is sick and hungry and cold and hollow.  

There is no one.  

Georgie doesn’t understand.   

He runs into her once, picking Melanie up for therapy.  After…. An unwise abrupt and shady surgery.  

He is in the breakroom.  Baffled that Martin is still making him tea when he hardly sees him around.  Even more baffled when Tim makes him another cup.  

What does it all mean?  

(Not to mention his confusion at the green hair… that had been a shock.

When he texted Martin about it, he said to ask Tim, and included an emoji that Jon couldn’t parse out.  Weren’t emojis supposed to be easier to read than actual faces?  It was maybe resigned?  Or maybe regretful?

Regretful of what?  Is he ashamed of something?  Is he regretful that he opened a text from Jon, that Jon turned down the request to move in?  It isn’t that Jon wanted to turn it down.  

But it sounds too good to be true?  When everyone avoids him at work… Well Tim doesn’t, but Jon is scared of being alone with Tim.  He is scared of this kindness and how long it might last.)

So he’s in the breakroom.  

Trying to steady himself the less monstrous and terrifying way.  

And Georgie is there.  

Jon shrinks back on himself.  Still hoping the mug of tea will make his hands steadier, make him less cold, less shaky, less miserable.  But he’s having difficulty holding it with one shaky hand, white knuckling his cane with the other.  Trying not to let it tremble as much as the rest of him, propping himself up when black spots start eating at his vision.  Not in the POTS sort of way… but in the same way that has been since America.  Since that first hint of fear that maybe… maybe he’s not human, that he is reliant on some horrifying eldritch god of knowledge.  

This is the price of him waking up.  

And it chews him up from the inside when, in his panic, he tries to limit his consumption hoping that it will turn him back.  Hoping that he still has a chance to win back the people he cares about, but fighting the fear that this is the only way to save them all.  

He doesn’t know what to do.  Being undead doesn’t come with a manual.  

And there is no chance that Georgie will take this any better than she did when she kept telling him to quit… to just stop.  

He’s trying!  

It’s been a few days since his last statement, and the world swims before his eyes whenever he stands.  Worse than it ever has.  He’s woken up on the floor more times in the few weeks he’s been alive again than in the long and confusing months leading up to his diagnosis.  

Which was after Georgie… which… means she hasn’t seen him like this.  Not when he was living with her because he has been managing, or so he thought, but hell maybe the Eye had a hand in that.  

And oh Shit, she is looking at him now.  

What does he do if she wants to talk?  She hasn’t responded to any of his texts, or late night calls when he’s been too afraid to call anyone else and she always felt safe.  Even when they were fighting.  But she hasn’t been there for him.  No one has, of late.  Except the people who are trying and Jon is too confused to know what to do so he does nothing and an all-consuming guilt joins in with that Hunger.  That sickness eating him from the inside with every word he doesn’t consume.  

“Hi Jon.”  

He can’t say anything.  He’s been standing too long, but seeing her there, he is frozen.  Fight or Flight breaking down to freeze.  Has he always been such a coward?  

Yes.  

Yes he has.  A miserable coward since he was a child.  Getting into trouble trying to try to prove to himself that he isn’t.  

Christ he’s dizzy.  But she’s still talking.  

“Jon, you really oughtn’t be here.  You don’t look well.  Shouldn’t you still be resting?  That long in hospital should have you in need of some physical therapy.  Are you pushing yourself too hard?”

Jon bites down on the urge to snap at her.  Or start crying.  Or simply pass out and not have to deal with this conversation at all.  “I need to be here,” he says quietly.  Afraid that expelling too much air will knock him over.  

“And why is that?  Really Jon, I swear…  Melanie says you haven’t been eating , or sleeping, but she sees  you here at all hours.  Why?  What is this all for?  It’s just a job, I don’t care if there are Monsters or whatever.  You see this?  This is why I can’t deal with you right now!  Not to mention what you did to Melanie.  What the hell, Jon?  You say you’re trying to save the world, but maybe you can’t?  Maybe you need to save yourself before you can do anything else.”

Jon just wants to get away before he goes down, and by this point he knows that is inevitable.  Maybe get to his office, and open a statement first.  Maybe that will help, or maybe it will make him feel better once he comes around.  He should put down his tea.  He doesn’t want the mug to break if he can’t make it.  He’ll set it on the table on the way out, or wait until he’s in  the bullpen and put it down and take a seat and hope that helps.  He tries to edge around her, staring at the floor.  Careful not to say anything that could compel.  Just wanting to get out.  “Have work to do… sorry.”  

“No you don’t!  Look at yourself, Jon!  Work can wait!”  

Jon just wants to leave.  He wishes it could!  He does.  He wants nothing more than to take a vacation.  To move in with Martin and Tim and have a life.  A home.  Safety.  Normalcy.  And Argument over who finished the milk and who has to do the shopping and not about how best to not die at the hands of Fear Gods, and how best to not serve them.  “Please, Georgie you don’t understand…”  

He backs away.  Fuck he’s dizzy.  

“No, Jon I don’t.  Explain.  What am I missing.  Why do you have to do this?  Why do you insist on working yourself into your grave?  It’s already basically killed you.  Maybe some of us don’t want to see you do that again?”

“I… I…  I need a Statement….”  Well so much for getting away.  He’s not even going to make it to a chair or the floor on his own.  “Hold this, I’m… I think I’m going to faint now.”  He holds his cane out to her.  

She takes it confused.  

Jon doesn’t remember hitting the floor.  

When he comes around, his head is pounding.  

Georgie is touching him.  He is on his side, and he is being yelled at.  He can’t make out the words yet… all just in a haze of pain and confusion and feeling like utter shit.  He tries to bat her hands away but he can’t and so he just lays there.  Hoping some feeling comes back to his limbs soon.  Or that Georgie will just get bored and leave him there.  

But then Martin is there.  And Tim.  

And Martin is shooing Georgie out of his personal space.  “He doesn’t like being touched while he’s out.”  

Well…  correct.  

“What the hell just happened?”  Georgie.  

“Well… it happens sometimes.  Did he say anything?”  Martin again.  

“Something about needing Statement?”

“Tim, could you grab him a Statement?”  

“Sure thing, back in a mo.”  Tim.  More earnest than Jon has heard him in a long time.  Tim helping him?  If he wasn’t already on the floor, he might have fainted again at that.  

“What, you’re just going to go along with it?  Let him work himself to death?  Look at him!  He isn’t well!  …I don’t know why I am arguing this.  He’s an adult and if he is going to do that, I don’t need to be a part of this.  It isn’t my job to baby sit him.”  Georgie shoves his cane at Martin, who doesn’t freeze.  In fact, as far as Jon can tell through half lidded eyes, Martin looks angry.  

“Look.  I know we don’t know each other well.  But do you really think so poorly of Jon… of me?  I don’t know what he’s told you… but he needs those Statements to live.  I don’t know if it’s ….a food… or… or an addiction.  But … he doesn’t do well without them.  And… And Elias was feeding them to him when he wasn’t here.  And Jon told me how you didn’t want them in the flat, but he got sick in America.  Really really sick, and … and Elias found him there and fed him another one.  He didn’t know until then.  But… you have to know we can’t quit.  And we aren’t sure if Jon can live without these.  And it is a far from ideal situation… but we are working on it.  You don’t have to like it.  Or talk to Jon, although you should.  You aren’t enabling him, he needs a support system.  And he’s just too thick to see that Tim and I are here from him, and everyone else is giving him the cold shoulder… so I don’t blame him for being too thick to notice!  Not to mention, my new position has made interacting with him during work hours… difficult, but I can’t blame him for not wanting to move in yet, although I hope he will.  And you!  The only person not in this mess who he trusts, ignores him.  Blames him!  Maybe you should try listening?  I get it… you can’t deal with him right now.  Fine.  I get it.  Do what you have to.  You don’t have to look after him at your own expense.  But don’t be cruel.  …Oh good.  Tim, thanks.  When he comes around, a Statement and some tea will set him right.”  Martin smiles at Tim (a smile that makes Jon jealous) and gives Georgie a cool look.  

“Marto, I think he’s been awake for most of that.”  Tim is crouched by him.  

“Haven’t been eavesdropping, promise.  Just… just getting my bearings.  I’m fine.  I’ll be up soon.”  Jon’s voice is rough.  Misery, unshed tears, exhaustion.  Take your pick.  

“It’s okay, buddy.  We’ll get you fixed up and then you can have a proper rest.  Offer of the flat share is still open, okay?”  Tim hovers, ready to help him sit when he’s ready.  

Jon… doesn’t know what to say.  After hearing Martin defend him… Maybe… Maybe he can start working on trusting Tim again.  Tim… is, after all, working on trusting him too.  

Georgie looks down at him.  He can’t read her expression.  She looks at him for a long moment.  

The gaze isn’t uncomfortable by itself.  But Jon feels exposed on the floor.  Small and helpless and weak as well as supernaturally hungry, that not at all helped by his “surprise nap.”  

He tries to avoid meeting her eyes.  

“I’m… sorry I didn’t listen.  I… still can’t do this with you right now.  But… I’m sorry.  I can’t be your friend now, but… let me know if you want some pictures of the Admiral ever, okay?”  And she leaves.  Off to bring Melanie to her appointment.  

Leaving Jon with Martin and Tim.   

Who bring him to his sad excuse for a bed, tuck him in with a statement and a cup of tea and tell him to call if he needs anything.  And Jon thinks, maybe he will reconsider their offer.  

#the magnus archives #tma #jonathan sims #georgie barker #tim stoker #martin blackwood #timothy stoker #cw fainting #cw victim blaming #cw statement hunger #tma fic #my words #my fic #my writing #my art

[analviel]

Tim's origin but with a little more SPICE:

It's been weeks since Tim started following Batman. When he began, it was with a determination to help right a wrong, to help his heroes in some way during this trying times.

Who'd have thought that seeing your city's hero repeatedly beat up petty criminals to pulps was a traumatizing experience for a thirteen year old. What courage he'd gained to do something, had been steadily chipped away and Tim is now in an impasse.

Taking pictures. Documenting the man's decent. And, if he was honest with himself.... well, it's looking more and more like evidence.

Evidence against Batman.

Oh my god.

Tim is both a stalker and a clean-up crew simultaneously, he feels like. But rather feeling good at being helpful to heroes, this feels more akin to helping cover up. Even though he isn't.

If anything, calling ambulances to report Batman's victims is the opposite. Tim feels acutely aware of how Batman's ledger is filling up. Records being taken and, therefore, evidence piling up.

It's all evidence, everything is, if you use it the right way. That's what Tim has learned following Batman's cases -not that it's ever under his name seeing as he is a vigilante and finding which ones have his style is detective work in itself.

This time though, it's different.

Oh god it's different, Tim feels himself panicking, wondering what was different that was making him even more vicious than he usually already is.

Not his parent's death anniversary. Or their anniversary. Not Harvey's turning either.

Way too soon to be Jason's death anniversary. Not his birthday either.

Tim wracked his mind trying to figure out what made this petty car jacker special. Different. Worse.

Tim press his back on the filthy rooftop, hands over his mouth, blinking tears from his eyes, listening to a stranger beg mercy from a.... hero? A criminal disguised as a hero? A villain disguised as a hero?

A grieving man.

Later, Tim will wonder what he could've done better; many things.

If he'd just moved immediately after Batman left, if his legs would've stopped shaking sooner, if he swallowed his bile, if he. Just. Moved.

If he hadn't waited seconds and then minutes after hearing the silence, then maybe...

The man is dead.

Or, he's dying.

Tim had called the ambulance, stumbled his way down the fire exit, and discovered the man fading.

Tim was too shocked to have the mind to exit the premises before the medics arrived.

He shouldn't have been.

He KNEW Batman was getting worse and worse. He didn't stop earlier, hadn't given up the mantle when his son died, he's not going to do it now. There was only one way to go now from there. Down.

Worse and worse until it's the worst.

They got the man back again.

Tim curls up in his seat in the ambulance. Watching.

Tim curls up in his seat in the hospital, barred from the operating room. Listening.

The man flatlined two more times -three all in all-, that's what he'd gathered from hushed whispers he can barely hear in the natural bustle of a hospital. 'Three times the charm' they say. Tim wonders in what way, in this case. Someone gives him a hot cocoa together with the blanket he'd been wrapped in by the first responders.

Someone's going to ask him questions, they say. They're just late a bit, they say.

Typical.

Tim would be gone before anyone arrives. If nothing else, his parents finding out about any of this, is enough to knock some sense into him. He doesn't know them that well, but at the very least, anyone even remotely sane would be Displeased with a capital D.

So he knows he shouldn't have, but he needed to go home. And he needed to see him before or he's not getting any sleep.

Tim sneaks into the room, sees the man attached to tubes and a heart monitor. He's alive. Barely. But he is.

Tim goes home and can't sleep.

The next day, he visits.

He doesn't even attempt the front desk and just walks in as if he'd just gone out for some air five minutes ago. He's sweating cold sweat the whole time.

He's not lying, he tells himself. He can't lie if no one's asking. It's fine. Everything's fine.

Except everything, you know.

Tim is shocked to find the man conscious. He almost runs back out but the man calls out a faint 'hey'.

He can't talk much, too damaged to do so. He doesn't ask Tim's name or what the hell he's doing there. Just asked him to pray for him.

Tim has never prayed a day in his life. He looks it up on Waynet.

Anxiously glancing at the door as he reads and recites as instructed.

Then the man talks about a sick brother. An overworked sister. If he can check up on them, please.

Tim has no idea why he'd ask a kid that, a stranger to boot, but he figures thirteen year olds from Crime Alley were just a different breed. It was nice watching and admiring from afar, but Tim can't imagine doing any of the death defying stunts Jason did on the regular.

Tim can't help repeating his name in his head though. His and his sister and brother.

He checks on them and returns to tell the man that they were alive and Tim also just signed them up for weekly groceries and medicine from his not inconsiderable allowance. No matter what walk of life you are, Tim at least knows that unsolicited help are usually unsolicited for a reason so he's not going to push. Much.

He was already there, you can't expect him not to do anything.

The man died.

They're trying to revive him again.

Tim can't bring himself to stay.

(To wait until the name Derek is written beside a time and date in one of those medical bracelets he'd never thought to ask the name of.)

But he makes a silent promise.

He's going to stop this.

Tim is going to do something.

Naturally, as any law-abiding thirteen year old, by 'doing something' his first thoughts are calling the authorities to sic them on Wayne manor with all the photos, and now evidence, he'd collected through the years.

Yeah, Tim chickened out.

Because reviewing all the photos, Batman is crying.

Crying while he beat up young men who are older brothers, but crying. Batman is broken.

In the past, if someone or something in Gotham is broken, you know Batman and Robin will be on it.

Robin has been shattered and Batman is broken. Who will be 'on it' this time? When the heroes need heroes, who will be there to catch them?

So. Yeah.

Plan B, is to give Batman time to recover. Preferably without Batman. Batman is justice and vengeance and the violence the police can't deal out. Violence for the greater good, but violence. That can easily go overboard, as he'd repeatedly witnessed.

There used to be less violence and more talking. When Batman had a Robin to be mindful of.

Tim needed Bruce to quit Batman.

Somehow without inadvertently burning down Gotham with supervillains let loose. Maybe a vacation. Tim can... convince him to go on a hiatus. There are times when the dark night go one JL missions and the Bats seems to have a system to prevent spikes in crime activities.

Mostly involving Batgirl, Robin, and -to a much lesser extent- Nightwing.

Batgirl is out of commission in what he suspects might be related to Barbara Gordon's injury, though he hasn't had time to confirm it.

Robin is... well.

Nightwing is MIA.

..... Tim will deal with it when the time comes.

The time doesn't come because... well, simply put, no one answered the door. Probably thinking it's more paparazzi -he'd seen the hordes and then regular pesters- so yeah, Tim understands. It's fine.

It's fine.

..... really, it is.

Tim does NOT visit the hospital.

He deactivates the program he'd spent the better part of the day before researching and copy pasting codes that would've sent a timer of five minutes from when activated that, if he didn't regularly enter the code, would automatically send all his pictures to every major news outlet in the entire country.

Clearly, Tim can't do this on his own. In fact, he's been getting a feeling that he shouldn't do this on his own.

Okay.

So if he was Dick Grayson, where would he retreat to grieve his little brother's sudden death.

......... how much is the bus fair again. Would a hundred be enough?

He'll bike it.

For the road trip pack, he's thinking a bag of lays. He'll stab it to get the air out and to be able to fit more in the bag.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tim close the door behind him, relaxing in the car seat with a sigh. Working in a company was exactly how he'd thought it'd be as a kid.

Something he'd rather not be doing. When was the last time he'd held a camera? Even just his phone camera? That doesn't involve recording evidence in the mask.

"Where to, Mr. Drake-Wayne?"

"Ermmgrgfdbcfb..."

"The penthouse then, after a short driveway. Red Robin or Burger King?"

"Yum."

"Yes sir."

Tim gathers just enough energy to lift his head to look at car mirror, "Thanks Derek. You're the only one who ever understands me."

"I'm sure Mr. Grayson would disagree."

"Disagree all he wants. He gave me the wrong donut once."

#dc #dc comics #batfam #batman #robin #tim drake #red robin #dick grayson #nightwing #bruce wayne #origin story