#and like! i know i say often that jason is still barely an adult and mostly a child when he makes his grand debut as the red hood

[cursedkeyboard]

Babies shouldn't grow up ☆ Jason Todd & GN!Reader (PT.6 FINAL)

What does Jason do after he secures his spot as your number one person and you slowly but surely grow up into an independent teen..? Wait, stop, you're not supposed to do that. You're his baby. [PART ONE ♤ PART TWO ♤ PART THREE ♤ PART FOUR ♤ PART FIVE ♤ PART SIX]

Pairings: Platonic Jason Todd & Child GN!Reader / Batfamily & Child GN!Reader

Okay, let's be honest here, Jason would hate how fast time flies

As busy as he'd be splitting his life between vigilante work and fatherhood, taking down crazy new villains, attending to your school events, catching up with his friends, going on family vacations, Jason would 100% still notice how fast you were growing

By the way he'd have to often buy you new clothes because of your growth spurt

And how the current mark on the wall where he measured your height was inches apart from the first one he made

You were spending more time with your friends, the things you were getting interested in made no sense to him, and you wouldn't go to him to take care of your hair as much as you used to

It fucking terrified Jason

He hated it, so much

While he was proud and absolutely thrilled that you were independent, confident, and a hell of a charmer, he also wanted his baby back

The little brat who barely came up to his elbows

The one who'd cling to his legs whenever he told you to clean your room and would get dragged around

Hell, he really missed how you'd fit so easily in his arms as he carried you around

You still fit, he was a big guy after all, but for you it'd be a bit embarrassing for your dad to carry you around like that

Teenagers and embarrassment, am I right?

Now in his late twenties and over all that anger inside him, Jason would probably whine about it to his family

"I mean, how can someone grow so fast? It makes no fucking sense!"

"Jason, it's been five years, kids grow."

"Thanks Captain Obvious, but mine shouldn't!"

"What? You wanted the kid to be eleven forever?"

"..."

"Jay..."

"Shut the fuck up."

Somehow, being so lonely and melancholic over watching you sprout and bloom, Jason would even end up bonding a little with Bruce

Think about it, at this point Bruce would already be in his sixties or something, so Cass would've taken over the mantle by then

I'd imagine he'd still work as intelligence for the League but with Cass as the Hero of Gotham and Tim as the CEO of Wayne Industries, the old bat would have a lot of time in his hands

Which he'd spend around his family and grandkid

And when Bruce noticed Jason's pouty and broody demeanor when you were texting a friend, he couldn't help but laugh

"Now you know how I feel."

"It's different. It's going too fast."

"Son, I watched all of you leave the manor in less than fifteen years, it's always too fast."

Begrudgingly, Jason listened to Bruce's advice, that same old anxiety rising up in his chest, leaving him vulnerable and restless

"The best thing you can do is talk to your kid. I learned it the hard way with all of you and I know things would've been different if I had reached out sooner."

Jason couldn't deny that, even if the look in his old man's face did make his chest hurt a little

It's not like he hadn't thought about it, to be honest, you two always had a very open and communicative relationship

That was the exact reason why you two trusted each other implicitly and barely ever had any fights

But he was scared, downright terrified that you would confirm his fears

Just imagining you saying "I'm fifteen, dad, of course I'm not gonna hang out as much with you anymore." already broke his heart

So after whining a little to anyone near him and almost getting stabbed by Damian for "being such a clueless moron", Jason decided to put his big, grown ass adult pants and talk to you

It would be during a late afternoon, when the sun is setting and you had decided to make dinner tonight while Jason set the table

He'd run his hand through his hair once, then twice, maybe even thrice, and ask without looking at you

"Are you embarrassed of me?"

You'd almost burn yourself by whipping your head so hard Jason thought you'd snap your neck

"What?"

Ok, so they were doing this

Cool. Cool cool cool.

It was now or never

"You've been spending a lot of time away, always on your phone, we– uh, we haven't matched or hung out in a while either so– I get it, kid, I know you wouldn't want to–"

"Wait, stop, are you serious?"

Uh, oh, you were using the same tone as Damian

Like you thought he was the dumbest being to walk on earth

Damn that little demon for corrupting you

"I was just wondering, okay? I understand if–"

"No– dad, what? I thought you were busy!"

"What?"

Let's rewind a bit

You'd always been pretty attached to Jason, always glued to his hip, mimicking his mannerisms and speech

Steph even called you "mini Red Hood" when you started to unconsciously copy the way your old man dressed and his slangs

It was terribly cute for everyone

And you were proud of it! You were!

Jason was your hero, your favorite person, your dad

You wanted to be like him and you weren't ashamed of it, not even when Damian tried making fun of you

Because he was a dirty Batman wannabe and nobody liked those

He was your best friend and confidant, the one adult you'd trust fully without questions, always by his side and supporting him through everything

Except for that one time playing monopoly but that was Cass's influence

You owned Red Hood merch, you liked spending weekends and holidays with him, you matched your tastes and likes to everything Jason liked because it was Jason and you wanted to be closer to him

Birthdays could end up being just the two of you and you'd still be thrilled to have your dad around (even if the other bats would never allow such sad little party)

You had around nine years of experience with shitty adults, so excuse you for being overjoyed that your real dad was someone worth loving fully and irrevocably

But everything changed when you turned fourteen and the kids in your class started acting... weird

"Urgh, my mom is so embarrassing."

"My dad keeps calling me little princess even though I told him to stop!"

"Why are parents so cringe."

Apparently, disliking your parents made you cool in middle school

But that's not what changed things

It was when your friends laughed at you for talking so much about Jason, asking you if your old man even had time to do other things when you kept clinging to him

Which... you had never thought about

In all honesty, being around your dad was so natural at that point, always in his field of vision, relating random things to him, texting one word messages just to check in, that you hadn't realized you've might have been hogging his attention too much

Some unease and insecurities wormed their way inside your vulnerable teen heart and you convinced yourself you had been taking too much of your father's time

You couldn't even remember the last time he hung out with his best friend

What if he became sick of you?

What if he was already annoyed?

That terrified you, it truly did

Long story short, you forced yourself to change a little, keeping a bit more distance, not being as needy or clingy

You even started doing your hair by yourself, which sucked so much ass

You never realized how much thought and care your dad put in taking care of you

It made you miss him even more, but you wanted to be a good kid and let your dad have some freedom

He was still in his 20s after all!

And with him a bit more involved with his vigilante side of life, going to the manor more often, and the rise in criminal activity, you had assumed he was busy being an adult

Which, eurgh, you missed him so bad

But you were being a good child!

So much for that

By the time you finished explaining your side of things, after the two of you stared at each other for long moments, Jason was left with his head in his hands

He made a noise akin to a deflating balloon, his shoulders slumping

Good god, the two of you were embarrassing

He loved you

So fucking much

Jason thought his heart would explode

He could've been a little upset that you didn't just... talk to him but then again, he also didn't talk to you

Like father, like kid

"You're so stupid!"

Your laughter warmed his heart as he grabbed you by the shoulders and wrapped you in a bear hug, squeezing you tightly

Yep, you still fit perfectly in his arms

"Says the one who listened to the words of fourteen year olds!"

"I was also fourteen!"

Even though you two bickered and grumbled, his sigh of relief in your hair was very telling

And so was the way you clung to him tightly

God, he had missed his kiddo so much

"Never do that to me again, okay? Babies shouldn't grow so fast."

"I'm fifteen, dad."

"And you're also cute and short, so you're still my baby."

"Everyone is short when you're six foot."

"Thank the pit for that."

"I don't think I will, actually."

That night, after the two of you ate your somewhat burnt dinner, Jason carried you to the couch despite your whining and cuddled you as you picked your movie of choice

You did grow, currently in that awkward teen phase with growing pains and longer limbs, but the way you tucked your head beneath his chin was still the same

The way you looked at him, eyes filled with happiness and adoration, was still the same

Your laugh and sharp words, how you still reacted the same way to certain scenes, your mannerisms, attitude, innocence

Sure, you were growing wonderfully

And you definitely mirrored him a lot more than you knew

But Jason had been a fool for thinking you were changing

You were still his baby, the mean kid with a soft heart, rough past, and dirty mouth he grew to love so much he didn't know what to do with himself

And to know that distance between you two had been manipulated and not purposeful ripped his anxiety right out of his chest

You wanted to be by his side just as much

You loved him just as much

And he couldn't ask for more

"You will let me do your hair tomorrow though, you fucking suck at it."

"Suck a bag of dicks, dad."

"Love you too, brat."

The end.

#jason todd #red hood #platonic #jason todd x gn!reader #platonic jason todd x reader #platonic red hood x reader #red hood x you #gender neutral reader #jason todd x gender neutral reader #batfamily x reader #red hood x gn!reader #red hood x gender neutral reader #jason todd x y/n #batfamily x gender neutral reader #platonic batfamily x reader #batfamily #dick grayson #bruce wayne #batman #damian wayne #jason todd x you #dad jason todd

[tiffanybluesclues]

HELLO! I'm making an obnoxiously long meta about the inconsistencies of Dick's and Bruce's relationship. I'm ALMOST finishes but I need an instance of adult-ish Dick Grayson saying that he didn't want Bruce to be his father pre-flashpoint

Also if you have instances of the writer hammering they're brothers pre-flashpoint that'd be cool as hell too, but I already got at least one instance of it (when dick goes to college)

Thank you in advance!!!! I'm still on the Kory-Bruce meta lmao I'm so annoyed he barely mentions her lmaooo

Somewhere in the decades and decades of pre-Flashpoint DC Comics, there may be an instance where Dick Grayson (as an adult or at least as a teenager) said he didn't want Bruce to be his father, but I've never seen it and I'm kind of glad I haven't because tbh based on what I *have* seen it would be Dick lying to himself.

I'm guessing the page that inspired your quest is this court scene from "Batman: Year 3" (1989)?

– Batman #439, 09/1989.

Maybe it was a modernized explanation for why Bruce took Dick in as a ward instead of adopting him – as opposed to the version in Batman #213 (08/1969), with the court saying Bruce couldn't adopt because he was a bachelor.

Something that speaks volumes to me is that in the same story as the above court scene, in the preceding issue actually, Dick thinks to himself that Bruce was like father to him. There is no internal conflict in this statement, no thought about how he at some point didn't want this. "He was like a FATHER to me and I LOVED him." He follows that up with a sad reminder of the distance between him and post-Crisis Bruce: "...and though he could NEVER bring himself to say it, I know he loved me too."

– Batman #438, 08/1989 or 09/1989.

You're familiar with the college-send-off, so please keep it in mind when you read this scene with [regard to] Bruce and pre-Crisis Jason.

– pages from Batman #376, 10/1984.

Alfred's response makes sense, it's a good explanation. It's also a complete rewrite of history, so these two are lying to themselves – or, more likely, the writers are trying to emphasize the current day stakes and emotions at the expense of the past. With the above panels in mind, let's look again at how Bruce actually reacted when Dick left home...

– pages from Batman #217, 12/1969.

Oh suuuuure, he definitely didn't mope around feeling lonely and depressed at all – and closing up Wayne Manor and moving out was a ~totally~ chill and non-dramatic reaction to Dick leaving for college... lol, okay, Bruce. I guess 159 issues and almost 15 years can make memories faulty.

The following are two pages I saved because of their references to the history that Bruce and Dick share. I want to highlight the page on the left though, because on a single page this comic manages to pay respect to the long history between Dick and Bruce while also disrespecting Dick's role as a surrogate son in Bruce's life.

– pages from Detective Comics #533, 12/1983; The New Titans #61, 12/1989.

That final yellow panel is so rude to me lol, like how dare you say "for the first time" as if like-a-son-to-him Dick Grayson didn't happen.

Comics from the 60s and 70s were probably the peak time for the idea that Bruce and Dick were like brothers. As far as I can tell though, writers didn't really have other characters describe them as brothers. I've seen mentor & apprentice, friends, partners, guardian & ward, knight & squire, and (primarily when there are no other children in the mix) of course Dick is also described as Bruce's heir pretty often.

I feel like, compared to Batman comics, the 1980s Teen Titans comics were more willing to say Bruce and Dick had a father and son relationship. Donna even contrasts her sisterly relationship with Diana to the parent and child relationship of Bruce and Dick during "Who Is Donna Troy?"

– The New Teen Titans #38, 01/1984 (Donna); The New Titans #61, 12/1989 (Alfred); The Brave and the Bold #197 04/1983 (Golden Age/Earth Two Bruce Wayne).

At least they let Earth Two Bruce remain true to Golden Age vibes.

My headcanon is always that he is the Bruce who every Dick Grayson grew up with, regardless of era, regardless of rewrites. Here are some panels that kind of support that – a significant factor in how Dick views Bruce is that he had a "softer" version of him than the man we see now.

– Batman: Gotham Knights #26, 04/2002 (Barbara); Nightwing #134, 09/2007 (Dick in flashback); Batman #437, 08/1989 or 09/1989 (Dick again).

A repeated theme from Dick is that he is insecure about his place in Bruce's life, and in some instances Bruce even made it clear that Dick's role was as a soldier, or at best a partner, and that being part of his family was conditional.

– left: pages from Robin: Year One - Part 2, Part 3, Part 3, Part 4, 01/2001.

right: panels from Robin: Year One - Part 4, 01/2001; Batman: Gotham Knights #43 09/2003; Action Comics #613, 08/1988; same; Nightwing #134, 09/2007; Nightwing Secret Files #1, 10/1999; same.

With that underlying insecurity, and the deep love and loyalty that Dick has for Bruce, I think that by the time he came of age it's likely that Dick actively wanted Bruce to be his father.

The first 20 or so issues of Gotham Knights offered some great material about their familial relationship (leading up to the adoption storyline). In issue #14 Dick writes a letter that he still never send. I swear half the delay in my response was probably me deciding which panels to include from this because it is a gold mine for the kind of meta you're writing.

– panels from Batman: Gotham Knights #14, 04/2001.

& with that I've hit the image limit, but I'll reblog with some panels on the point about how Bruce and Dick were often described as friends (something I saw possibly just as often as ward and heir).

#dick grayson #bruce wayne #batman and robin #dc meta #tiff.txt #long post

[ms-nesbit]

Jason Todd imagine

Rating: 17+ (language, adult themes, implied sexual content)

Summary: you, with the help of Jason, escaped prison, and ran off to live with the ex-Robin while he pursued his dream of becoming a baker.

Warnings: implied sexual content, prison themes, implied abuse, reader and jason are trauma-bonding

Note: i had a dream about this days ago, and now i cant sleep. Idk what it is about these vivid dreams, but i will admit, having jason reach out his hand and tell me to trust him? Wow.

As always, please reblog this post to share, and don’t repost it. Thank you!

“It’ll be okay, yeah?” Jason asked, head bowing and smile cocky.

Yeah, you said, grinning back.

The bakery was warm, inviting, as was the tall, muscular man behind the counter, restocking the countertop case with a delightful array of cupcakes. His red apron - which fought to stretch barely past his knees - hugged his figure well, and although he often caught your eyes too attached to him, it was the most positive attention he’d had in…ever.

The prison stairway was quiet underneath the sound of footsteps approaching, and your heart beat faster, only to be relieved, as Jason quickly greeted you in a forced whisper. “Hey,” he started, crouching down on a stair above your seated place, “do you… do you think we could make it out?”

You blinked at him, baffled by his idea. Jason was always one for grand everything, but escaping prison? It seemed too far-fetched, especially with you in tow. “Okay, I get what you’re thinking here.” Jason defended, hands raised, “I…I’m getting out in a couple days. I dunno what is out there, but I want it to be with you.”

Jason’s confession still sat with you, words a catalyst to your heart’s rising like treated dough. It hadn’t mattered that you were far different than before your incarceration, nor that you were necessarily the hottest - he loved you. He felt the spark ignite between you two the moment he bumped into you in the yard of the prison, and you spat on him with great hostility; you felt the spark months later, when he walked in on you crying silently on the staircase - the very same one he’d ultimately confess his feelings for you - and comforted you.

“Whoa.” the words came from overhead, and you glanced to find a worried Jason, at the top of the staircase, beige prison uniform sleeves rolled up. “You uh, you ‘kay there?” You turned away and huffed. “Okay, bitch still bites, I guess.” he commented, baiting you successfully, as you tossed him a deadly glare through tear-stricken eyes. 

“Fuck you.” you spat, voice unstable.

He sighed, skipping down the stairs bountifully until he was next to you, taking a seat on the other end of the stair. He folded one leg, but rested his other on the stair below him, his spine relaxing against the stairwell handle. “Take it out on me,” he waved his hands dramatically, before quietly adding, “like everyone else.”

The words hurt you more than his insults, and you felt compelled to reply earnestly, swallowing your distaste for his arrogance. “Sorry, I uhm, I-I just don’t know what got in me.” you admitted, face heating up from Jason’s hazel eyes falling on you. “Been going through a rough patch lately.” Jason nodded in response, fixing his posture so both feet were planted on the stair below him, leaning forward away from the railing to shift his weight to his elbows, which were placed on his thighs. You noticed the tattoos on his biceps as they revealed themselves when Jason moved. “Why have you been so forgiving to me?”

Jason laughs to himself. “Wouldn’t say forgiving as much as tolerant.” he corrected. “But I could ask the same about you, seeing as you don’t engage much with other inmates here, but completely acknowledge my existence, even from miles away.”

It was true. The staircase fell silent after his observation, and you processed the times you’d seen him: as much as you detested him, you didn’t.

It made sense.

“Hey, Babe, can you try this for me? I made it this morning since Sven was having me be senior baker for a week.” Jason erupted from behind the counter, shoving a black, red, and yellow cupcake in your face the moment you walked through the bakery entrance. You took the cupcake from his hand and investigated it, noting the careful piping of buttercream, and the yellow paper liner. Taking a small bite from the cupcake, Jason stared at you, on his toes. “Vanilla…” you smacked your lips, unable to identify the mystery flavor, “...with a ganache filling, and… what is that? Is it almond?”

The prison guards entered the staircase through a lower-level door below you and Todd, searching for him. You held his hand, afraid to let go, and he placed it over yours in reassurance. “I think I love you.” your voice was shaky, scared, as it was years since you trusted someone this much.

Jason felt the tremor in your voice, one that was so different than your rendezvous with him in the library, and he squeezed your knuckle. “You know that I do.” he said confidently. It was true: Jason loved you from the moment he stepped off from the prison bus, cuffed and lined with other transfers from federal; you sat on the grass, chewing on your lip, as you sped through the remaining chapter of a book you borrowed from the prison library. Whether it was the way you reacted in real-time to the events unfolding in the chapter, or maybe the way that you threatened a guard that kicked the book from your hands, Jason doesn’t know. To him, it was irrelevant, as long as he had you.

The guards cornered Jason, ordering him to stand and follow them to his exit back to the real world. Back to reality. Away from you.

And as the guards attempted to usher Jason to the door, he kissed your hand, giving you a mischievous wink before a fight broke out on the upper floor, causing the guards to leave Jason unattended, and with door cracked.

“Now’s our chance.” Jason smiled widely, extending his hand to you. “Please, y/n. Come with me. I can’t do this without you.”

You rose to your feet, immediately taking his hand into yours. “What the hell, Jason? Are you stupid? I’ll get ten years added, and you’ll get your sentence extended, too.”

He took both of your hands and held them in his, his big hazel eyes gleaming in admiration and hope. “Do you trust me?” 

“Pistachio, actually.” he grinned at you. “Is it a good combo?”

You appreciated how much he confided in you, even after all this time.

“Yes.”

Jason pulled you into his arms, rushing you and him out through the prison exit, and into the real world, your fingers intertwined in his. He looked back at you with heavy implication, a wedding proposal on the brim of his iris, as you two fled the prison property, and into your fantasy world.

“Good.” he locked his jaw and scanned your body, giving you a suggestive look before locking the bakery door behind you, and leading you to the main floor of the bakery, pulling you into a passionate kiss. His lips were soft and plump, and he touched you with delicacy, swirling aromas of vanilla and brown sugar winding into your nose. It was familiar - his touch, embrace, possessive eyes - but it was welcomed, always.

And as you two lived a life in secrecy, privacy, united in a love neither of you thought of, the daffodils on the bakery garden swayed, and the sunflowers rose tall - taller than Jason, and the chrysanthemums, sneaking past their counterparts, smiled at you two.

#jason todd #red hood #mine #robin #my post #batfamily #dcu #jason todd x reader #prisoner!jason todd #inmate!jason todd #baker!jason todd #baker!jason todd #soft!jason todd #red hood x reader #jason toddheadcanons #jason todd imagine

[nightmare-grass]

My Adventures With Superman: Where do we go from here?

- This show takes on the Superman origin story but focuses on his beginning as a young adult superhero, which is different from nearly every other depiction. He seems just out of college, like he’s 20 or 21. This would mean everyone else in the DC universe is younger too.

- People often compare Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent on equal grounds, like they’re supposed to be the same age, so maybe they’re going to be? I don’t know if this show is ever gonna branch out and show other superheroes, other places besides Smallville and Metropolis, but it’s a fun thought exercise.

- So maybe Bruce Wayne is also just starting his Batman journey. He might be in Gotham in a self-made suit, like in Matt Reeves’ The Batman, or he might be training all over the world still. We know Bruce is a genius, so he can learn any subject he wants in a shorter time than normal, so he might’ve skipped college to travel the world right after high school, training with the best fighters and the League of Assassins and studying college-level texts on the side because he’s just extra like that. 18 at the beginning of his training, and there’s varying accounts of how long his training took. Some say 7 years, some say 12 years, and that makes sense.

- If we want reporter Clark Kent interacting with billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne at all, we can’t have them be the same age. So! I propose a future season where we finally get more superheroes interacting with Superman so he can feel less alone in the world. For that, Bruce Wayne would just be returned home after a 7 year absence learning abroad. He’d be about 4 years older than Clark, but he’d be perturbed by their lack of height difference. Bruce wants to start his crusade against the criminal underbelly of his hometown, Gotham City, but to have the perfect cover story he needs to play up the rich fail son front of Bruce Wayne, and he’s not pleased about this perceptive reporter from Metropolis who’s built like a brick shithouse. See, Bruce isn’t dumb, and he keeps up on the news, especially about global security threats. Bruce knows about Superman, and he has his theories, but he develops a new theory once he meets Clark.

- Wonder Woman is immortal but people don’t necessarily know that. Wonder Woman is an urban legend Clark learned about in history class when talking about World War 1, World War 2, all the biggest global conflicts in human history. A goddess who comes out of nowhere, saves the day, and disappears for decades at a time. Diana Prince, however, is a mild mannered museum associate. As an immortal warrior born of clay, she always looks like a woman in her upper 20’s and speaks like a woman who is centuries wise. She keeps to herself mostly, but she keeps close tabs on global security threats, like Bruce does. She knew as soon as Superman came on the scene that she didn’t need to get involved as much anymore. She barely held herself back on Zero Day because the US government was all over that, and it would’ve been too high profile if she’d been involved. It didn’t even last long enough for her to fly over to help.

- In the comics, Bruce Wayne adopts the newly orphaned Dick Grayson when he’s 27. That means if I start Bruce Wayne at 18, give him 7 years of training, making him 25, and make him 3 years older than Clark at the beginning of the story, meaning Clark is 22 when Bruce is 25, then he gets to be Batman for 2 years before running into Dick Grayson, 10 year old, and adopting him. Then, he gives Dick a few months of training before letting him become Robin, so we have 27 year old Bruce, 10 year old Dick, and 24 year old Clark.

- The comics also say Bruce was 34 when he adopts a 12 year old Jason Todd. That means Dick was Robin for 7 years before he and Bruce had a falling out and Dick went solo, becoming Nightwing. Dick and Jason should have a 5 year age difference, if Dick was 17 when Jason was 12. Then, there’s a bit of time fuckery when it comes to Jason because he dies and gets resurrected as Red Hood. Jason dies at 15, and gets resurrected in the Lazarus Pit 3 years after his death, making him effectively 18 when he comes back. Bruce would be 39 at the time of Jason’s death, and 42 at the time of Jason’s resurrection.

- Superman would be 31 when Dick becomes Nightwing and Jason becomes Robin, then 36 when Jason dies, then 39 when Jason comes back as Red Hood. I think that fits rather well.

- Tim Drake came along only a short while after Jason’s death, like a month or so, so Bruce is 39 when a 14 year old Tim Drake becomes the third Robin. Clark would be 36 at this point still. And then Tim becomes Red Robin at age 17, following in the footsteps of his hero Nightwing who also went solo at 17. Tim spends 3 years being Robin, meaning he spends the time Jason is dead being the third Robin.

- Comics place Bruce meeting his son Damian at age 43, meaning it’s a year after Jason comes back and suddenly he’s got a new son he never knew about. Talia left Damian with Bruce when Damian was 10, following the grand Robin-adopting tradition. This means Damian was conceived when Bruce was 33, right before he met and adopted Jason Todd. Superman becomes 40 at the point where Damian is adopted as the new Robin.

- With this timeline, it’s difficult finding spaces for Barbara, Stephanie, Cassandra, Duke, and all the other important Bat Family members, but it’s not impossible.

#I call Nightwing Tim’s hero because he was a fan of the Flying Graysons and that’s how he discovered Robin’s secret identity and Batman’s #maws #my adventures with Superman #dcau #dc #Superman #Batman #bat family #Wonder Woman #dc superheroes

[arobinwithoutbatman]

Light blue heart

Relationship Questions! I'll answer these as if they're adults and have reunited

who curses more? Internally? Tim. In his head, he swears like a sailor. The only reason he doesn't out loud is because it's still funny to wind Jason up with his terrible kids friendly swearing and has actaully only gotten funnier now that Tim is in his 20s

who is more patient? I'd say they're about equal in patience. Between their work as vigilantes and now CEOs and also just how long they've had to wait to reunite not knowing if the other was still going to be romantically available? And then waiting even longer just to avoid causing a too big media storm that would take attention away from the very causes they support and fund? Yeah, they're both incredibly patient. Though saying that, despite having improved, Tim is still not great in the kitchen so Dio has a smidgen more patience on that alone XD

who does the driving? If it's just for personal stuff? It's both of them again. Yes even for dates because the paparrazzi won't leave them alone so they try to arrive separately and discreetly.

who is louder? who is quieter? Tim. Dio has to watch himself because of the Isu powers related to his voice and it's very easy to slip into that range if he's not careful. Tim has no such limits being completely and utterly human.

who is more physically affectionate? Dio but only because Tim will forget that he does in fact require physical touch regularly and will not realise when he's starting to get touch starved again. Dio is also more likely to initiate for the same reason.

who is more likely to tease the other? They're pretty equal here too. They each give as good as they get and know each other's boundaries and how that changes when they're out as vigilantes. Their tactics just vary slightly.

who is better with time management? I want to say Dio? But only just? Tim still has a problem with zoning in and hyperfocusing to the point of completely losing track of time and his physical needs.

who wins the arm wrestling matches? Depends on the day honestly.

who controls the music in the car ride? If they're riding together? It's whoever wins rock paper scissors. It's the fairest method they've come up with.

who covers dinner when they order in? They take it in turns

who is more outgoing? who is more shy? Ooooo that's a tough one. Cause neither of them are exactly shy but they are both fairly introverted so don't enjoy going out of their way to spend time with strangers.

who has the more outlandish fashion sense? Neither of them. If they ever wear something outlandish, it's because Lio has called in a favour or he's doing some background matchmaking

who starts the tickle fights? who ends them? Dio typically starts them, usually to snap Tim out of his latest bout of hyperfocus. As for ending? It varies and depends on both of their moods and the current context.

who has the darker/more "edgy" sense of humor? I mean, they both have an inclination towards gallows humour these days...

who is more competitive when it comes to games? Oh Tim. 100% Tim. He's a bastard to play games with because he'll find loopholes in the rules or just strategise. Monopoly is banned. Civilization has to be carefully monitored purely because that game can take hours even when playing by yourself against AI. He's a nightmare.

who has the bigger appetite? the bigger sweet tooth? Bigger appetite? Tim. Because he still is shit at recognising his hunger signals so when food is put in front of him, he inhales it because he probably accidentally skipped a meal again. Bigger sweet tooth? Dio because he actually likes sweet things while Tim can barely taste them unless the flavour is super strong and Tim prefers bitter and spicy flavours anyway.

who is more likely to get in a confrontation in public? Ooooo another tough one. Tim has developed a reputation for stepping in when he sees something happening, often to comfort parents or assist with someone struggling but makes a point of ignoring the person who started things so he can instead make their life hell from a distance and without it being connected to him. Dio also doesn't strike me as the type to handle things loudly in public. With both of them being public figures, that's something that the media can very easily twist and things could easily get out of hand from there.

who hosts the parties/hangouts? who organizes them? As CEOs, they've hosted fundraisers and gatherings but the actual organising is typically left to their very qualified and very well paid staff. Just personal hangouts though? They handle that themselves since it's usually a very quick "Hey you free today? Wanna hang out in pajamas and do absolutely nothing and maybe make out a lil bit?" text.

who is better at cooking? do they ever cook for each other? Dio is the better cook. Tim has practiced and he's better than he was in his teens but he is still miles away from Dio's skill. But yes they do cook for each other when they get the chance.

who is more likely to engage in dangerous and/or illegal behavior? ...Dio used to kill people for the Templars and Court of Owls and Tim has been a vigilante since he was 13. They've both bene breaking the law for at least half their lives.

who is more likely to notice when something is wrong with the other? Dio. He's quicker to notice smaller cues. Tim will notice that something is off and a pattern has changed but, unless his anxiety and/or paranoia are running particularly high that day, he doesn't immediately jump to "something's wrong."

who does the talking in public settings (i.e. to the waiter at a restaurant)? They take turns.

who is more likely to extend a helping hand & provide emotional support? Pretty equal here too honestly

who is the bigger prankster? do they get the last laugh or do they suffer for it? They're as bad as each other. Tim will do the more complex pranks like hacking into Dio's phone and messing with his playlist while he's working out.

#goldentemplariumcrow #ooc #Tweet Tweet! #Headcanons #r: cute coffee guy

[roobylavender]

those posts that talk about how dick did x or y to help rehabilitate Jason are so funny to me bc like only bat canon dick would do that. as in the dick who was brought closer to emulating bruce to the point he has no identity anymore. I don’t think he would entertain Jason for a second once he knew what he was doing. He would sympathize with the Jason who died but he would refuse to treat the Jason who came back as a child given his kill count.

Why would you leave that in the tags! Your brain is fascinating! Please tell me more!

mostly it is a consequence of developing a bad rep among a certain batch of dick fans on my old account bc if i were to say that a lot of the toxic behaviors bruce has come to express in the past twenty years or so (aside from the physical abuse obv that should never be attributed to either of them in any situation) were actually more emblematic of dick originally then i would probably be mauled by the equivalent of internet bears. but unfortunately this is my truth

this is something i said on twt the other day but the reason to me that dick falls out with people like bruce or kory or donna is bc he puts them up on a pedestal. his attachment to them is a segue to reverence and admiration that is sort of the equivalent to him standing inside a glass house that can be shattered at literally any moment bc his expectations for the people in his life are honestly a bit ludicrous given the work they do and the environment they operate within. not to say that he's wrong when he gets angry with people like he has reasons to be skeptical of bruce's wish-washy morality at times or of kory's inclination to jump the gun or of donna's inability to prioritize efficiently. but the way he reacts is still volatile and caustic and esp after observing the way he reacted to kory's arranged marriage debacle i think it's absolutely a consequence of people failing to live up to the expectations that he has of them. he's so set in his morality and the way he defines his work bc of how it's literally all he has that it bleeds into every interaction and relationship. if he doesn't have the heroes in his life then he has nothing. if he can't rely on anyone that he expects to rely on then he has nothing. it's why i think he's so entrenched in the idea of teamwork and partnership. reciprocated trust and faith mean something to him and are as good as bonds born in blood and if you test those bonds or the rites behind them then it's like, you're testing your faith in him and everything he believes you're supposed to stand for together. and he takes that very personally

with jason what is interesting to me is that like. obv dick did not know him very well. i know the last laugh or whatever retconned it to where they used to go on vacations together but i personally ignore that bc i think it's a narrative cop out and i'm not particularly bothered by the fact that dick and jason weren't close. dick had no obligation to sub-parent someone who was ultimately bruce's responsibility, esp since dick was long gone from the coop before jason ever entered it. but in spite of that lack of physical connection there was nonetheless a symbolic one bc they were two people wearing the same colors, pursuing the same ideal, operating under the same rites of passage. which i think is what makes dick's reaction to jason's death make so much sense and his reaction to jason's resurrection and subsequent mission make so little sense. ofc dick would feel a deep kinship with the robin who died considering he was once in that position himself. ofc he would be baffled and angered by how bruce subsequently receded into himself and refused to open up to anyone and began making a martyr out of jason rather than trying harder to remember him as the son whom he adored and loved. it's about the principle bc for dick the principle is what defines the love. love is a contract and a promise and a partnership and there are things entailed by that that dick explicitly sees bruce fail to deliver on. so ofc he's angry on jason's behalf for however little he knew him

but that's not to say that the symbolic love dick has for jason remains unchanged when jason comes back. the principle of it remains and is subject to test. the shared sense of identity and ideals remains. but for however much dick would sympathize with the deceased jason for not being honored properly as bruce's son and partner i can't imagine him extending that same sympathy to the jason who goes on a self-righteous killing spree in the name of justice. it's a direct violation of the principle that he likely believed jason upheld when he was once living. it goes against everything dick would have stood for when he was fighting bruce on jason's behalf. obv jason was a child and dick would defend him to bruce bc of that too, but once again, ultimately, dick is someone utterly entrenched in heroism and using it to define his relationships and his life to the point that he cannot withstand the expectations of that heroism being broken. so i don't think dick would look at jason as the red hood and be the one to extend a helping hand. i don't think he would try to say that with his help jason can start over and be rehabilitated and blah blah blah. that is 100% bruce's line of thinking and has been since his character started actually being defined in the 70s. dick would be the guy looking at jason with utter disappointment and regret and bitterness bc he spent years defending jason in every which way only for jason to come back and spit on every symbolic thing that might have connected them to each other in another life. he would be the guy tasking himself with bringing jason down (non-lethally obv, bc he's still even more of a control freak about that than bruce is) while bruce was probably having breakdowns somewhere in the cave bc comparatively his way of coping with things devastating to him is to shut down, while dick's way of coping is to take charge and act

#and like! i know i say often that jason is still barely an adult and mostly a child when he makes his grand debut as the red hood #but that's speaking objectively #dick is highly subjective (an amusing irony). look at the standards that /he/ had for himself at eighteen #he's not going to let age or trauma be used as an excuse for what jason is doing. that's something bruce would do #people ask why bruce falls in love with questionable women or keeps giving certain villains a chance and it's like. he's an idealist #i don't think dick is a cynic in comparison. but he's not as deluded. he'll judge you for making bad choices #bc it's what he's used to doing with himself in order to temper himself as a hero and as a leader #outbox

[cipheress-to-k-pop]

Dick Grayson when his Future child comes to the Present

Jason Todd Ver. | Tim Drake Ver. | Damian Wayne Ver. | Bruce Wayne Ver.

Conner Kent Ver. | Wally West Ver.| Artemis Crock Ver. | Roy Harper Ver.

Anonymous said: You know the child from the future thing you did with the MC could you do that with a batboy of your choice where by the end of it they find out she's already pregnant,please?

A/N: I’m sorry it took so long, my life has been kind of a shit show as of late. I hope you like it though

Oh, you know our boy Dick Grayson would be over the moon when his little baby son came to the past

It was when all the boys were training in the Bat-Cave

There was a flash of light by the costume display and the bat-boys rushed up there only to see a small baby looking around curiously

The second the baby saw Nightwing, his face lit up and he crawled over to him

They all were pretty dumbfounded and just stared at the little baby boy staring up at them with big blue eyes

He patted Dick’s leg and then held his arms up

When no one made any move, his little face puckered up before he started crying

“Dadaaaaaa!!!”

Which freaked everybody out even more

So, Dick picked him up and he was immediately soothed but his face was still wet so he began wiping off his cheeks

And he then gets a better look at him

“Black hair and blue eyes...Dammit Bruce did you have another child again?!”

So, they do a DNA check on him and the results come closest to Dick

And this cues the panic

“I knew those one-night stands would come to bite me in the ass!”

“Excuse me we’ve been together for 4 years and this kid is barely one!”

And everyone turns around and you’re standing there with your hands on your hips looking pissed

Cue a lot of nervous explaining

With you glaring at him and feet tapping on the ground

And he wanted to have a private conversation with you like a mature adult

But every time he tried to put down the baby, he would begin crying

Finally, even though the kid was crying, he managed to put him down

And the sweet baby boy immediately crawled over to you

All while crying his eyes out and grabbed your legs

“Mamaaaa!”

Now that caught your attention

And so did Batman’s

So, Bruce immediately takes a sample of your DNA and does a test

“Bruce I’m pretty sure I haven’t given birth.”

“Then why is the test positive?”

“I don’t know! Maybe the kid is from the future!”

“Hm, you might be right.”

“I was joking....”

That’s Bruce’s explanation and you trust Dick when he says he never cheated on you

So, you begin to believe that this might be your son

And when you do

Oh boy

It’s the best feeling in the world

Dick is over the moon because he’s always wanted a child and a family

You’re ecstatic too because you see the way he reacts to a baby

Sometimes you would get scared that he wouldn’t want a child because of his busy life

But seeing the way he interacts with the baby makes you extremely happy

You wanted to figure out his name because his brothers had no idea what to call him

And while you and Dick were fine with calling him ‘baby’ ‘my boy’ ‘my son’

Damian had other ideas

So, you set him down on the floor one day and then everyone sat around him and started calling names

“Dylan!”

“James!”

“Alfred!”

“JASON JUNIOR!”

And everyone just turns to Jason with an eyebrow raised, you swear that even the baby is judging him

Then you think a little and very carefully and turn to the baby who is still watching Jason

“John?”

And he turns to you and smiles before babbling and crawling into your arms

When you look at Dick, his eyes are a little teary when he looks at his baby

“Hi, John.”

Now this baby is just as energetic and lively as Dick

Always smiling, always happy

And un-surprisingly, he loves all of his uncles

The boys stick around more often because even though they don’t admit it, they love little John

And John always knows when to go to his uncles

He reads with Jason, well actually Jason reads a sentence to him and then John tries to ‘read’ to him but just ends up babbling nonsense and drooling while Jason nods

He sits on Tim’s lap when he’s working and he falls asleep quickly in his arms, then Tim takes a break from the computer to put him in his crib

John plays with Alfred the Cat and Titus while Damian trains, but it involves Alfred just rubbing up against him and Titus making sure he doesn’t fall over

Damian spends a lot of time with John too, he teaches him how to train and things like that

“Now you hold this sword like this and work quick on your feet.”

“Dami, John can barely even sit up, how do you expect him to hold a sword.”

“I could.”

“Well that just makes you special.”

He still talks to him about combat and things like that even though he can’t understand but you let him because you like to see them bond

He calls everybody he knows ‘baba’ though, because he can’t remember names

John loves spending time with Alfred

Like loves it

And Alfred adores him as well

He feels so happy that Dick finally got the family that he had been longing for his entire life with the woman he loves

Something that Dick didn’t expect was Bruce

Neither was Bruce expecting John to be so loving towards him

He always sits in his lap and plays with him

Something that John does that everyone thinks is adorable is that he gives everybody his things

Which is kind of weird because no one really wants a pacifier or mushed bananas or anything like that

But John will still give everybody his things

He also has the habit to chew on people’s fingers because he’s teething and if you try and take them away then he begins to cry

You always hold John because you like the feeling of him in your arms

Maybe that’s why he gets the habit of being held

He likes sleeping in the same bed as the both of you as well

He’s just the sweetest little boy and sometimes you just have this weird motherly love

And you just explode and kiss him all over his cute little face and arms while he giggles and gives you slobbery kisses back

And Dick just watches with a smile because this is everything he’s ever asked for

Eventually though, you do find a way to get him back to his time where future you and Dick are waiting for their son

You don’t want to give him up but Dick remains strong and tells you to look on the bright side

You two send him off with a smile and he does the same

After that the house feels empty

Even though he was a small baby, he was so full of life and he made the house seem full

And you know Dick misses him as well

So, when you find out, you can’t even stop yourself from rushing over to his work and jumping into his arms

“What? What’s wrong?”

“I’m pregnant!”

The smile that he gave you was so bright and you returned one that was equally happy

He hugged you tightly and spun you around

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I was talking to John but okay.”

#dick grasyon #dick grayson x reader #dick grayson x you #dick grayson #dick grayson oneshot #dick grayson headcanon #young justice #young justice imagine #young justice headcanons #young justice oneshot #young justice x reader #teen titans robin x reader #titans #titans x reader #dc one shot #dc x y/n #dc x reader #dc universe #titans dick grayson #batboys

[cupofangst]

Ok so here’s this little fic idea that’s been swimming around in my head the last few days now. Whether or not it becomes a fanfic remains to be seen, and I don’t know that people would even want to read it, but i’m just putting it out there to get it off my chest because it’s bugging me lol

So this idea does focus a lot on Dar’s character, but Jason and Salim are also heavily involved. In this particular story, Dar survives, buuut everyone else besides the main five are dead. And this is toootally not payback for all the ‘everyone lives’ fics where Dar is left out. Nooo, not at all. What are you talking about? *whistles innocently*

So an idea struck me that as Salim and Dar are leaving after the big showdown during the eclipse, the two sort of have a heart to heart. The subject of Dar’s wife comes up again and he reveals to Salim that she is 2 months pregnant. Imagine Salim’s shock, as he hadn’t even known until just a few hours ago that his captain was even married. This sort of prompts Salim to chew him out, as he can’t believe this man would be running off to keep fighting a war that was already done when his wife was sitting at home with a child on the way.

Dar confides in Salim that he feels like he’s not cut out to be a father, that he’s already too old. And to make matters worse, his wife tragically dies shortly after giving birth due to complications, so now he’s left alone to raise this child, unable to properly grieve for his wife because now he has this tiny little being who depends on him twenty-four-seven and he just doesn’t know what the fuck he’s doing. He inevitably reaches out to Salim, desperate for help. By this point, Jason has come to live with Salim, so when both men show up at his home, Dar doesn’t know whether to be shocked or surprised that this foul-mouthed jarhead is now shacking up with his former lieutenant. And under normal circumstances, he would have promptly slammed the door in Jason’s face and told him to go fuck himself, but he’s tired, depressed and can’t summon the strength to give a fuck right now. He’s certainly not happy about him being there. Oh, no. These two butt heads quite often, with Salim having to always be the adult in the room during their squabbles.

So Jason and Salim take it upon themselves to help Dar raise this child, as he is suffering greatly with depression and can barely take care of himself at this point. They both end up growing quite attached to her, Jason especially. Dar sees this and starts wondering if it’s in his daughter’s best interest to just give custody to Salim and to let him and Jason raise her, since they’re pretty much doing that already.

Things get so bad for Dar that it gets to the point where he doesn’t have the money to care for himself and his daughter. He can’t get a job and his savings are dwindling fast. On the verge of having to live in his car, Salim insists that he come to live with him and Jason.

Does Dar develop feelings for Salim? Yes. Does it worsen his depression because Salim is clearly head over heels in love with Jason? Also yes. And while there’s still that distrust and hatred simmering for the American under the surface, it becomes a lot harder as time goes on for Dar to keep hating him. A foundation of respect was laid down when Dar saw Jason go back into that hell to save his lieutenant. And this allows them to both warm up to each other and grow closer as time goes on...even if they still may bicker like children from time to time.

But yeah...that’s the jist of it. Haven’t started actually writing it and i don’t know if I will. It’s just one of those ideas that hits me hard...though it may not go anywhere. I get a lot of those ideas sometimes.

Working title: Three Idiots and a Baby (lol)

Bonus:

Dar: *holding his daughter* Say ‘baba’! Ba-ba! You can do it!

Baby: Fff...Fff...

Dar: No, baba! Say ‘baba’!”

Baby: Ffu...Fuck.

Dar: *slowly turns to glare at Jason*

Jason: Wweelllp, guess I better be hittin’ the ol’ dusty trail!

#house of ashes #jalim #dar basri #jason kolchek #salim othman

[approaching-catharsis]

so I was rewatching The Baseball Game and need to yell into the void so here's some of the things from the proshot I noticed for the first time:

Okay so this might be common knowledge in the fandom by now but I never noticed this before: When Mendel gets up to yell at Jason to "remember Sandy Koufax", Charlotte, Marvin, and Cordelia are talking in the background. I can barely hear them but I'm fairly sure at one point Charlotte asks "is he always like this" to which Marvin says yes adsfhlsf and tHEN! Marvin says something like "alright bucko Mendel, sit down". now technically I understand that it's most likely that he said 'Mendel' but at first I could've sworn he said either "bucko" or "buckle" and now cannot get that out of my head.

also did the lesbians ever meet Whizzer before the game. because Charlotte seems to recognise him once he takes his sunglasses off? so like. did they meet before but not often enough to immediately recognise him? did Marvin keep a picture and show them? did Marvin gush about his hair to them so often that they realised who it belonged to the moment they saw it???

also heh love that Whizzer fumbled a teeny bit when pocketing the sunglasses. he's wasn't cool enough.😔

also my heart,,, his face during the bit where Mendel compares looking at him to eating trayf. and when the Charlotte and Cordelia are yelling about the game it looks like he was working himself up to justify himself to Trina and Mendel and,,, 🥺🥺 YOU DID HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE THERE WHIZZER 😭 YOU LOVE JASON AND JASON ASKED YOU TO COME SINCE HE ASKED YOU TO COME YOU CAME and then. AND THEN. Trina's expression when he says he loves Jason. when she realises he is serious? that look of understanding as she processes that fact after he says "that's what [he's] doing here" 🥺 like, all the time that Marvin was forcing them to play along and be his 'tight knit family' - did she ever realise then that Whizzer grew to actually love Jason? Or did she know that but assume whatever love they had then was based on the convenience of living under the same roof and hence would've died out once they stopped seeing each other all the time. was it only when Whizzer said he was there for Jason that she realised that Whizzer still loved Jason even after two years? aaaaaaaah

but of course I also love how quickly that expression of Trina's turns to a grimace once Marvin gets Whizzer to sit with them asdjakj

and Mendel looking so fucking unimpressed when Whizzer started teaching Jason how to bat fjkadv

Mendel comforting Trina after being forced to move, sharing a look with Trina before yelling at Jason to run, and just always having an arm around her tho. just, awww.

OKAY AND she looks so upset when Marvin asks Whizzer out and MENDEL COMFORTS HERRRRR day at falsettoland foreshadowing whoop whoop (is that how foreshadowing works? i do not know. or is that just how consistent characterisation and plot works dgksf)

(also Cordelia ships Whizzer/Marvin SO HARD jkdksgkf)

listen,,,, i am a sucker for Christian's soft "oh-oh" when Jason hit the ball

okay but why do ALL THREE adult couples grab each other's arms when they stand up asfjdl

and finally, I remain convinced that Anthony's knee hitting the ground was the cue for all the adults to yell at Jason to run because like, they were so perfectly synchronised what the fuck

#falsettos #i watched the baseball game #and had Emotions #did i ever study any of the Actually Sad songs like this and have such feelsy moments during them? #absolutely not #no i just stared at floofy hair bouncing during those apparently #placeholder tag for falsettos

[stxleslyds]

Robin Jason, a friend and ally of the Titans.

PART 1.

Last Friday I was feeling extra rage-y after the news about the Titans mini with the Titans show line-up of heroes. I still think that a) Jason shouldn’t be considered a Titan or be in the team as Red Hood and b) that him going back to wearing a bat symbol on his chest is just bad but as @randomlut said there is a possibility of that book not being set in DC’s current universe and if that’s the case then okay, I will not complain about it anymore.

But this post isn’t about that Titans book it’s about Jason’s Robin’s appearances in volume two of the New Teen Titans!

Now, this won’t be an in-depth review of those issues from a story point of view, it will be a post in which I talk about Jason’s characterization and interactions with the Titans. Maybe I will even dive a little bit into why I think that the interactions that Jason and Roy have in those issues makes the relationship that they had in New52 very out of place.

Let’s begin!

·         NTT (1984) #19

Jason as Robin appears here only in the last page of the issue. After the current team of the Titans appears to be falling apart Donna calls Jason and others to help in a mission, this team that she puts together resembles the “original” line-up with Robin, Speedy, (Kid) Flash, Aqualad and Hawk.

·         NTT (1884) #20-21

Jason appears in the Titans tower along the OG Titans, when Donna finally tells them what the mission is all about (stopping Cheshire from interrupting a meeting) she asks if they are in on the job, Jason is not only excited about being there but about Batman actually letting him come all the way to the tower. A little bit of what Jason thinks or saw in Bruce is shown when Wally says that he “didn’t think the Batman could be thrilled by anything. He is always so grim.”

Basically, what Jason says is that the Bat isn’t that bad if you get to know him and that he cares about Jason’s education outside of vigilantism. Also, Jason seems to be grateful and very receptive of the things that Bruce taught him, he regards him as a very good mentor.

After everyone decides to help, they get on their jet. Here we have a very important interaction between Jason and Donna, she is telling him how she is feeling about the attitude of the rest of the team and about how she is a little bit lost now that she is in charge of the Titans and then she asks what Robin thinks about the whole thing, Jason is obviously thrilled once more, someone as experienced as Donna is asking him for his opinion? It blows his mind away! Batman never does that, he is always following his lead and never has a say on what they do so, to him, helping the Titans is only getting better and maybe he will ask the Bat to let him join them permanently.

Because they were talking Donna wasn’t paying much attention while flying and after they barely avoid crashing the jet, she apologizes to everyone and once more looks for reassurance with Jason, this time Jason is caught off guard but after Hawk teases him about his hesitation he tells her that “everything’s okay”.

When they arrive to Switzerland (where the meeting will be held) we have Jason’s first interaction with Roy Harper and him also slowly transforming into a burrito, that boy was cold and pissed off about it!

It’s really funny to me that Roy talking about Oliver’s pervy arrows is his very first interaction with Jason, who would have thought that a mad man would later make them besties?

They all go inside a building to get warm and for a while Jason is just chilling while the other Titans are all having an existential crisis, because here is the thing, Jason is a kid, he was presumably 14 here while all the other are in their twenties. Donna is having trouble with her new position as leader of the Titans, Wally is trying to live up to Barry, Garth is grieving his love, Roy is still very uncomfortable about being on a mission that involves Cheshire and Hank is just crazy. The others are trying to complete a mission while their real-life problems loom over them and Jason is just on an adventure with cool people.

Its not much later than Cheshire attacks the Titans, she first takes on Wally because he is her biggest threat and then detonates a bomb, now here I will give a little bit of context, Cheshire does not want to kill the Titans as of now, she just wants to incapacitate them because them being there is making her own mission more complicated, all I will say is that she doesn’t truly have villainous intentions and that she has a very weak spot for Roy.

Anyway, the bomb incapacitates Garth and Roy and Cheshire also managed to shoot Wally so only Donna, Hank and Jason are left standing to capture Cheshire, but here is the thing, Hank doesn’t want to capture her, he wants to kill her.

Jason has interacted very few times with Hank so far and it has always been Hank teasing him but now as Jason is going to fight Cheshire Hank interrupts him telling him that he will do “what has to be done”. Cheshire of course wont fall easily and I think that at this very moment she is thinking that killing Hank wouldn’t be a bad idea because he is going to mess her plans up! But not to worry as she is raising her gun Jason comes in to save his ass!

Jason is not a match for Cheshire and after that she quickly subdues him. But what’s important here is two things, first Jason doesn’t want or consider the idea of killing Jade, he just wants to capture her and bring her to justice, secondly, he doesn’t even want her to kill Hank, who has been violent towards every Titan and rude to Jason every single time that he has interacted with him. What I am trying to say is that this IS Robin Jason, he doesn’t think or act the same as Red Hood will in the future, he has his opinions on what punishments killers should get but he is not there to kill anyone himself.

There is this whole page where Donna beats Hank against a tree so he stops killing, because that’s not what the Titans do, she explains that if they do that then the public (that is already quite afraid of them) will just fear them more and they don’t need that, plus she believes that he is acting that way out of grief after losing his brother, as she is saying all of this though she is putting quite a lot of pressure on his chest and that might have ended up in her actually killing Hank if Jason hasn’t been there to stop her.

Donna is obviously not having a good time and after this she says that she “has had it” and that from now on Robin should “take command” because “its his group anyway”. Oh man…its clear to the reader that Donna is not having a good time being team leader but she also misses a certain person a lot. She is obviously not seeing Jason there, she is seeing Dick, the person that she is used to take orders from but he is not there.

Jason is aware of this, he might be a kid and might not have as many problems as the other Titans as of now but he is not a fool and he doesn’t want people to see someone else when they look at him, so he confronts Donna about what she just said/did.

Jason is just great in this scene; he just doesn’t want people that he admires to treat him as if he were someone that he isn’t. Just because Dick isn’t there doesn’t mean that he (because he is Robin) can replace him, they are not the same person and they do not have the same experience. He calls out Donna on her behaviour towards him and Donna being an adult takes responsibly for her actions and understands that ultimately, she was hurting Jason’s feelings. We have a kinda wholesome moment when they hug but because this is written by Marv Wolfman and he just can’t help himself, he proceeds to write Jason as a horny teenager. What a way to ruin the moment Marv…

Back to Cheshire, she is about to kick Wally’s face in when she decides to first tell him what he has to tell the others when they wake up, which is “Cheshire remembers”.

Wally tells the Titans Cheshire’s message but none of them truly understands what it means, Hank says that he doesn’t even understand why they are alive. Donna comes to the conclusion that Cheshire might want something from them and this is where Jason gives his thoughts, he says “Doesn’t matter what she wants. We take care of her. She’s a killer.”, its clear once more than although Jason (as Robin) wouldn’t kill anyone he does feel a certain type of way about criminals and wants them to be locked up.

After yet another verbal fight between Hank and Donna the Titans take a cable car to their next location, Jason is shown as exited about the view and the whole experience once more. When they arrive, they find Faraday (the guy that called Donna for help in #19) and he explains a bit more the situation but Jason once more is having trouble staying warm so he goes to the cable car tunnel nearby, but he doesn’t go alone, Roy goes with him because his “costume wasn’t made for this kind of weather either”, in this second interaction between these two we get to see Jason’s detective skills shine.

Jason has been watching Roy and he found his reaction to Cheshire’s message quite sus. Not only is he showing his detective skills here but he also said in a previous panel this: “The Batman keeps telling me to watch people’s eyes. And every so often I notice you become awfully agitated…like something was going on you didn’t want to be part of”.  Zdarsky, hey pal, I am talking to you, look at this dude! He read Roy like an open book, this is Robin Jason, he likes being Robin and he is brilliant at it, he is methodical because he learnt from paying attention and working with Batman, so, you sir are wrong, not only did UtRH disprove your dumb narrative but so does this interaction (along all his appearances in this book).

Roy is impressed by the kid, and yeah, he calls him kid because he is a kid…Roy is visibly older than Jason as he should, do you see it Lobdell? Yeah, there is no dubious age gap between those two as you made it seem. Roy is impressed because between both of them he is the one that is most experienced, not the other way around. How did Lobdell manage to make up a whole as run where not only were Roy and Jason close in age and besties but also Jason was better at vigilantism than Roy and Roy was the one being impressed. It’s wild, wild and bad.

Back to the issue, Jason taken out of the fight quite fast once more by Cheshire and she proceeds to talk to Roy, that’s where we find out that they were lovers and that she feels weak when she is around him because he makes her feel feelings but that’s not all, she tells Roy that he is “the man that fathered my child” …Oh and now she does want to kill him. That’s where #20 ends, so let’s see what happens with Jason in #21.

In the beginning of #21 Jason is conscious once more and when he hears Cheshire’s threat, he attacks her so she can’t shoot Roy, he also says this “Sorry ‘cat’ that’s a definite no-no. Don’t you know mommy’s and daddies should never fight” I, I don’t know why he had to say it like that…the 80s were weird. While Jason is being himself Roy is thinking “Don’t be cocky kid, Jade hasn’t got a sense of humour…” but because he wants to talk to Jade, he tells Jason to go, that he will handle Cheshire and he leaves.

Roy and Jade talk, Donna and Hawk are fighting bad guys and each other and at some point, Jason joins Garth and helps him take down a couple of guys, he also tries to make conversation with him but Garth is still not talking to anybody.

Cheshire tells Roy that he will never hear about their child again and that he needs to let her do her thing and stay out of it because he doesn’t understand what’s going on, Roy doesn’t do what she asks and she “poisons” him. Donna saves a guy that Hank was trying to kill. After Cheshire leaves Roy comes to the conclusion that she wasn’t there to kill the people from the meeting or that she poisoned him, but because they were there and everything went to shit now the people that were getting together are blaming the Titans for the interruption. The whole thing is a mess and the news channel are not nice about the Titans as a whole, but I am not interested in exploring that here. All you need to know is that the people that made Cheshire do what she did to the Titans were the Brother Blood people.

It’s on the jet that we see Jason again, he and the others are going back to the tower. Because the news are painting the Titans as bad when they are arriving to the tower Jason sees a lot of people protesting about them and he feels bad. This was his first job with the Titans and he is a kid, imagine how sad it would make you if you wanted to help and after getting the job done people were mad at you. But even though he is sad about that he takes time to ask Roy if he is okay after he sees him almost running away from the tower, he doesn’t get a response but he isn’t mad about it.

Jason’s stay with the Titans comes to and end and he says that he loved hanging out with them and is grateful for having been invited, he is so sweet!

·         NTT (1884) #24

Here, for some reason, we see Jason saying goodbye to the Titans again and unlike at the end of #21 Roy is there to see him leave.

I am not going to lie though; I liked this goodbye better it feels like it’s more complete than the other one. Here he says that Batman wants him back in Gotham but that if the Titans ever need him again all they need to do is call. He also mentions Nightwing which is funny because he will be called by Donna again in #26 to help the Titans get Dick back from Brother Bloods Church.

I am going to cut this part here because issues 26 to 31 have a lot of Jason content that I want to explore and I can’t put any more pictures here, also this post is already long as it is now!

I just love Jason’s little moments in these issues, him confronting Donna and reading Roy like and open book in #20 are my absolute favourite, I just think this is a nice way to kinda show how wrong some current characterizations of Robin Jason are and what better way to do that than reading and looking into some good stories.

Oh! Before I forget, in #21 Roy leaves the Titans’ tower to go see Jade and he actually gets to meet his daughter Lian for the first time, so yeah, that was a wholesome moment!

#jason todd #robin jason todd #batman and robin #titans #new teen titans #donna troy #roy harper #cheshire #garth of shayeris #wally west #red hood #urban legends red hood

[presidentstalkeyes]

Stalkeyes’ Esoteric Gravity Falls Headcanons

I know this seems like an odd post for Xmas times, but this is something I’ve wanted to write for a while. I noticed a lot of my headcanons are kinda at-odds with what is often assumed in other people’s writing - sometimes by design, other times not - so I’mma just list a bunch. (And some of these might not be that uncommon, but we shall see) :V

Dipper & Pacifica break off their relationship in their teens after realizing it lacks the same spark it used to, and their ambitions are too different. Dip & Paz are amicable exes. She moves on to Wendy later.

Soos & Melody don’t get married until years after the show.

Mabel is aroace. She never gets married or has kids. Her love-crazy phase in the show was mostly brought on by her outside perception of romance, as seen in age-inappropriate romance novels and 80s animated high school flicks.

As an adult, Mabel is taller than basically everyone except Wendy, and is also built like a brick house (and quite chubby, to boot). Dipper is certainly no stringbean, either. ‘Skinny’ and ‘slender’ do not exist in the Pines family.

Dip & Mabs’ Pines parent is their mother, not their father.

On that note, their parents are just as weird as the rest of the Pineses, they just tend not to show it in public. Their kids and their college friends are the only ones who know the true extent of their weird side. They’re a bit more open about it after the show, though.

Dipper used up all his puberty on his voice, which means it barely changes when he gets older. I mean, it is pretty close to Jason Ritter’s natural voice, I would say.

Wendy is trans. When she was barely old enough to talk, she told her parents ‘I wanna be a girl!’ and then her mom was like ‘okay then!’ and from that day forward she was a girl. She dreaded going out to the logging camp because it was in a less-tolerant part of the state.

As an adult, Dipper introduces himself as ‘Mason’ when meeting new people; only after they’ve known him for a while do they earn the privilege to call him ‘Dipper’. Or ‘Diprivileges’ as Mabel calls them.

Both Filbrick Pines and Preston Northwest aren’t as tough as they like to appear. Filbrick was easily annoyed by basically anything, in direct opposition to his stoic image, yet was intimidated by his wife’s family. Caryn and Shermie both made it their mission to stop him from getting himself beat up or killed later in life by saying/doing something stupid. As for Preston, his wealth and influence were on the decline years before Weirdmageddon thanks to a string of bad investments, and he avoids his fellow rich people because they make fun of him. He regularly has breakdowns about how ‘destitute’ the Northwests are now because they can only afford one luxury yacht, and were recently disqualified from being part of 1%. Still in the 2%, though.

#gravity falls #gravity falls fanfiction #headcanons #unusual headcanons #esoteric headcanons #me being a filthy hipster #Don't get me wrong; I understand the appeal behind Dipcifica #I used to ship it myself to boot #But I kinda got bored of it? #That's just how I feel :V #Also; the twins deserve to grow up happy without pressure to 'settle down' and start families #I don't have any esoteric Stan & Ford headcanons because honestly everyone else has come up with better ideas than me for them :V #Future Falls #Dipper Pines #Mabel Pines #Dipper & Mabel's Parents #Pacifica Northwest #Wendy Corduroy #Filbrick Pines #Preston Northwest #Trans Wendy #Aroace Mabel #Soos Ramirez #Melody Ramírez-Camassia Quamash #Melody (gravity falls) #Wendifica

[themaribatpit]

Jasonette July Day 19: Mistakes

Written by: The Maribat Pit  Prompt: Mistakes Rating: T 

Soulmate AU - red string of fate around the ankles, references to other versions of the myth

A/N: This might become a mult-chap, we’re not entirely sure.  Comment on this post if you want to see this story continue.  There will be some Adrien/Chat Noir salt.

Marinette often heard stories about the ‘red string of fate’, the idea that there was a soulmate out there who was chosen just for her.  No one believed her when she told them she could see a red thread looped around her ankle. No one really explained what it meant, they would just tell her that she would grow out of that silly superstition.  She would look down at the floor, towards her ankle, where she could clearly see the red string tied around it.  Maybe they couldn’t see it, but she could, clear as day. When she became Ladybug and fought alongside Chat Noir, he would go on and on about how they were soulmates and destined for each other.  When she became Master Fu’s pupil, she asked him if he knew anything about it. “What brought this on?” he asked curiously. “I see this red string around my ankle, I’ve known about it ever since I was little. Everyone says it’s just a legend or a silly superstition.” she explained. “Around the ankle is a new one, but it’s also the oldest version of the legend,” Master Fu explained, “most prefer the version where it’s around the little finger, or a woman’s little finger and a man’s thumb.” “What does it mean?” she asked, “no one will tell me.” “It means the string will lead you to the person you are destined to be with,” he explained, “it may stretch and tangle, but it will never break.” For many years, she brushed aside other boys and their advances, much to the chagrin of anyone who knew the real reason why.    Whenever Chat Noir rambled on about them being soulmates, she knew it wasn’t true. It was infuriating, really, as she would look down at the red string leading away from him.  She would tell him that she was in love with someone else, because someone else was out there waiting for her.   Not that he would listen to her, but still she always kept him at arm’s length.  Some might say that her standards were too high, never mind that some boys just could not take “no” for an answer.   She thought about using Kaalki to find her soulmate, opening a portal directly to them.  The only problem was she only knew which direction the string was pointing, and not having a clear idea of where she was going could lead to complications. Marinette kept her head held high through Lila and Chloe bullying her, and the teachers doing very little to stop them.  She didn’t hate Adrien as much as she did on that first day of school, but he had done very little to stop his childhood friend from bullying people.  Marinette had been humiliated, insulted, and almost kicked out of school on multiple occasions.   Chat Noir, on the other hand, was only in love with the idea of her.   He had absolutely no clue who she was under the mask, and vice versa.  There were times when Marinette felt like she couldn’t step one toe out of line without someone breathing down her neck about being the bigger person.  She felt like she was the only one bearing the heavy burden of carrying the Ladybug mantle.  She took being a heroine seriously, but she knew that she couldn’t do everything perfectly.  Sometimes Chat Noir was more of a hindrance than a help, and this continued for many years. When days felt tough for Marinette, she only needed to look down at the string around her ankle and remind herself of what it meant.  It meant that someone out there was waiting for her, destined to love her with all their heart and she would love them in turn.  So Marinette kept her head down by day, and as Ladybug she would fight to bring an end to Hawk Moth’s reign of terror. Whoever her soulmate was, they would know the truth about her, they would love and accept her.  Sometimes she would wonder if Master Fu had chosen wrong when he decided that she should be the next Guardian of the Miraculous.  The red string on the other hand would stretch or tangle, but never break.  She could be certain that her soulmate was one choice that couldn’t be a mistake. Most of Jason’s earliest living memories were spent in hiding.  He would hide under the table with the family dog in his arms, while the adults around him argued.  When he got older, he would scurry back to the crevices in Gotham’s streets, hiding from whoever he just stole from.   All the time he’d worry they could see the glowing red thread wrapped around his ankle.  He could never understand what it meant, he assumed everyone had one at the time.   When his questions were met with mockery or indifference, he stopped sharing his curiosity about it.  It would always be glowing in the corner of his eye, like a bright light on a summer’s day.   One day he wandered into a bakery inside Gotham’s Chinatown.  He was waiting for the shopkeeper to look away so that he could grab a pastry without them noticing.  Their topic of conversation turned to a ‘red string of fate’ and Jason was intrigued.  Supposedly, the thread around his ankle bound him to someone. That someone was the person he was destined to be with forever, his soulmate.  He left the shop empty handed, hoping to try his luck finding food elsewhere.  If his soulmate was out there, whoever they were, they were going to be sorely disappointed.  He remembered thinking, whoever decided to pair him up with someone had made a terrible mistake.   If his soulmate could see him now, they would probably think so too. When he encountered Batman that fateful night in Crime Alley, his whole world had drastically changed from that night forth.  As Bruce Wayne took him under his wing and as he took on the Robin mantle, a secret part of him had hoped that he was becoming someone his soulmate could be proud of.  Still he kept it to himself, Alfred would occasionally find him staring off into space whenever he was alone.  If Jason asked Bruce about it, he would probably tell him that he needed to focus on other things. The glowing red string was the last thing he would see at night before letting sleep take him, this time, he wasn’t afraid. When she was 15, Marinette woke up one morning to find the string no longer glowed bright red.  Instead it was grey and limp, and she was desperate to know what this meant.  At the first opportunity, she ran to Master Fu, he was the only one she could confide in about this.  He lowered his head, almost unwilling to tell Marinette what it meant for fear of how she would react.  He told her solemnly, it meant that her soulmate had died… Elsewhere, a bomb was counting down the seconds until it could go off.  Jason had been battered, bruised and broken, but as long as his heart was still beating he still had a chance. Ten… He pushed against the locked door.  That damned clown had locked him in, probably for the sheer delight of it. Nine… He had only just noticed the bomb, he had to find a way out of the building and fast.  Bruce, Alfred, Barbara, Dick and...he looked down at his ankle, his soulmate...they were all waiting for him.  Eight… This was all a mistake, he had been led into a trap.  He hoped that Batman would arrive just in time to save him.  He would probably slap him upside the head after he had recovered, and lecture him about being far too reckless, but at least he’d be alive. Seven… Strength was leaving his body, most of which was probably beaten out of him moments earlier.  The fighting spirit that always burned like a raging inferno inside of him was dimming.   Six… In those last few seconds, all he had left in him was a silent apology.   Wherever his soulmate was, he wished them nothing but happiness.  He was sorry that he couldn’t meet them for the first time.  He wanted to tell them that the mere idea of them gave him hope.  Hope that quite literally hung by a very thin thread, but it was what kept him going all these years.  It kept him going through living on the street, through pushing himself to meet Bruce’s expectations, even through the ordeal he had just endured.  All he needed to do was look down and remind himself that whoever chose him to be someone’s soulmate hadn’t made a mistake.  The reason he wouldn’t get to meet them was because of his mistake. Five...four...three..two...one. Marinette didn’t know how to mourn someone she had never seen, met, or even spoken to.  All she knew was that for the next three years, the string around her ankle was limp and grey.  The legend said that it would tangle, it would stretch, but it would never break.  Sometimes she would lay awake at night and wonder what could have possibly happened to her soulmate.  Had they even noticed the red string around their ankle? Did they even care about what it meant?  How did they die? Was it an accident or did someone kill them? These were questions that kept Marinette up at night as she gazed up at her bedroom ceiling.  She didn’t notice that the string was slowly starting to regain it’s glow, though it remained very dim.  She barely paid any attention to it anymore, and thought the faint red glow was just a trick of the eye.  It was a cruel reminder of what that thread meant and what she looked forward to. By the time she was 18, Marinette decided she needed to get out of Paris.  She wanted to be a designer, but she also thought a change of scenery would be good for her.  She kept the Miracle Box with her when she moved to Gotham City,  to keep the rest of the Miraculous from falling into the wrong hands.  Around this time, the thread around her ankle began to glow bright red, just as it had done a few years ago.  She was honestly curious to follow the thread and see where it led, but Plagg and Tikki were unsure about it.  They could sense that something was amiss with the thread reignighting, and they had a bad feeling that the forces of creation and destruction were involved. That’s how Marinette found herself pacing around her dorm room, trying to think of an explanation.  “How can you tell?” she asked them, “Maybe whoever did this chose someone else to be my soulmate? Someone who wasn’t dead.” “That’s not really how this works, Marinette.” Tikki told her. “Well, not according to Master Fu anyway,” said Plagg, “if the string is turning red again, that means whoever it is was brought back to life.” “But that’s impossible...is it?” Marinette looked at them,  not that long ago she had fought a man who wanted to use them to bring his comatose wife back.  Was it really so impossible? “Long ago, we were forced to grant such a wish.” Plagg confessed. “Plagg!” Tikki hissed, “you’re not suggesting that maybe…” “I am,” Plagg told her, “and she needs to know if she’s going to go herring off looking for someone who might be dead.”  Plagg turned his attention back to Marinette, “long ago, someone did acquire the Miraculous and they did use it to grant one wish…to make them young and strong forever.” “How did they do it?” Marinette asked, a little afraid of their answer. “We created what humans call ‘The Lazarus Pits’.  Anyone who bathed in its waters would be healed, rejuvenated, even snatched from the jaws of death.” he explained “Tikki’s healing magic is infused in the waters, that’s the healing part.” Marinette looked over at Tikki, “So what’s the catch? It can’t be that easy, can it?” “Well, the more they bathe in them, the more it destroys their mind,” she explains before giving Plagg a pointed look.  “It heals them on the outside, while their mind is slowly destroyed.” Marinette is slightly horrified by the thought.   “Can it bring someone back to life?” She asked, they exchanged worried glances. “Yes, but...Marinette, the person they were could have easily eroded away.” Tikki explained, but Marinette was growing tired of imagining and daydreaming.  She had to see for herself the person that her soulmate had become, so that’s how Ladybug set off to see where the red string led.

#jasonettejuly2021 #jasonette #adrien salt #maribat #maribat adrien salt #ml x dc

[soulmate-game]

Finally another oneshot, after forever and a day. I’m weak for soulmate AUs. I think most of you know that already.

SO WHY NOT ANOTHER?! WOO!

This one is based on a prompt given to me a hella long time ago, idk who sent it to me. Tell me who you are so I can credit you! I wrote down the prompt for me to remember, it’s something like; “You can write letters to your soulmate, and they travel through time either to a moment your soulmate needs the letter most or to a random point in time to them.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Dear Myself.

I’m doing this for school. We have to write letters to our future self. I am nine years old right now, the year is 2009. I hope you found a cool job! I don’t know what to do yet. I like drawing though! Science is icky, so I hope you’re not a scientist. But if you are, and if it makes us happy, then I guess it’s okay. Be the best scientist you can! If you are all moved out, did you ever get a pet hamster? Hamsters are so cute!

Oh, but most important. Yesterday, I was bullied by my Arch Enemy. You know who. Yeah. Anyway, she said some mean things and it just reminded me that sometimes life hurts, and people can hurt you real bad. But life is still pretty. A family of robins made a nest on my terrace outside my room, and I saw them after I was done crying. They are so cute, and made me happy again. So, always look for your family of robins to keep you happy, I guess. Life isn’t bad, even if some things and people are. I hope you remember that. Keep believing in yourself, and in others!

Marinette Dupain-Cheng (from the past).

Do not open this letter before 2020! Pretty please!

Shaking hands held the letter. It was written two years ago, but he only could have gotten it now. It just appeared on his desk out of nowhere. At first, he thought it was some sick joke. He had just moved to Gotham again, and none of his—

None of them knew he was back. But he recognized this handwriting. He had gotten exactly one letter from them before, written by an older version of this woman and received by him when he was ten. Not long after being taken in by Bruce Wayne. The letter back then had been short, precise. Comforting.

Hello there.

I am writing this in the year 2018. You see, I found out quite a while ago that my soulmate bond is unique. It sends letters to you that I write, from all across time. I can get your letters, too, so don’t hesitate to write to me if you need to vent. My letters might not always reach you in time to feel like a normal response, but I’ll keep writing if you do. I know your life isn’t easy, if the letters I’ve already gotten mean anything. But keep fighting. I know what it’s like to be the underdog. But I’m rooting for you.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, New Adult.

Jason’s hands crumpled the two pieces of paper in them, the older of the two already close to crumbling away. They had buried him with it, resurrected him with it. It had seen hell and back just like him, but he still kept it. Even with blurring ink and ripped edges and blood stains. The writing and names matched, even if his newer letter was written in the clumsy scrawl of a child. The nuances in the handwriting were still the same.

She would still be writing to him. This new letter he got was clearly the first, before she knew about her soulmate or how her letters would disappear after she wrote them just like his did. But 2009? It just sank into him, that she was younger than he was. By seven years.

But her words still kept him afloat better than any lecture from that asshole Bruce.

He couldn’t see her yet. Not any time soon, really. He was already eighteen, dead and resurrected, and she was barely eleven. He could wait.

She didn’t need somebody as screwed and dark as him right now, anyway. A murderer, a budding crime boss. If she needed someone killed for her, or someone to save her, he’d be there. Otherwise?

Jason took out the receipt from his last visit to a gas station for cigarettes, grabbed a sharpie from his desk, and began to write.

Yo, Mari.

I’m writing this in 2011. I got your first letter. Thanks. It reminded me of some good times. I’m sorry I didn’t write anything for five years. Stuff happened. I won’t write often. Not until I’m in a better place. But if you need it, you can vent to me too. Also, don’t look at the back of this receipt. This was the only paper I could find.

Jason T., Your Soulmate.

—*—*—*—*—*

Marinette, nine years old, stared down at the receipt that had taken the place of her letter to herself. She recognized that it was written in English, but she couldn’t read it yet. But that was okay, her Papan and Maman could read English!

She ran down, holding it in her hands tightly. She didn’t want the mystery letter to disappear! She handed it to her parents, who were in the middle of making croissants and stared at her for a moment. And then they broke into a flurry of movement.

“Why do you have a receipt for cigarettes, Marinette?!” Sabine yelled, confused more than angry. How would her daughter get a receipt written in English? And after giving her parents a confused head tilt, Marinette explained.

“It just appeared, like, poof!” She moved her hands to illustrate her point. “I was writing my letter to my future self for school, which is gone now oh no! Mlle. is going to be so mad!”

“Mari, focus,” Tom prodded gently, laying a hand on her shoulder. “You were writing your letter, and then what?”

Marinette took a deep breath. “Well, I finished it and put it in a little envelope. But as soon as I put it down and was all done, it shimmered red and faded away! This showed up in the same place my letter had been, like they were traded!”

Tom and Sabine shared a glance, and her mom held out her hand. “Can I read it, Marinette? I promise I won’t take it away. Your father and I just want to see what it says. We’ll read it to you.”

Marinette nodded eagerly, and after making sure their dough was put away the family of bakers moved to their living room and the little girl sat on her father’s lap as her mother held the note for them to see and read it aloud.

The parents shared another glance.

“Wow!” Marinette exclaimed happily, bouncing in place. “He sounds so cool! He is my soulmate? Really? I wonder what he looks like!” Her eyes took on a dreamy quality as she began to daydream. “I bet he’s super handsome! And nice and strong and—“

“Mari,” Tom said gently, tugging one pigtail playfully to get his daughter’s attention. She turned her large blue eyes to him, rapt with attentiveness. “I know this is exciting, but you know that not all soulmates are romantic, right?”

Marinette instantly calmed down, eyebrows pinching together. “But— but Nino said that soulmates are people you will marry in the future. Your perfect person. Like you and Maman,” she argued, incredibly confused. Her Maman chuckled, handing Marinette her receipt-letter back.

“Yes, but sometimes a person doesn’t need romance the most. Sometimes, what a person needs most is a friend or another family member. So sometimes, a soulmate is a big sister or brother instead, or another Maman or Papan. And we think that your soulmate might be the big brother kind,” she explained patiently. Marinette’s confusion instantly changed to excitement again, eyes sparkling with starry amazement.

“Really? How can you tell?”

“Well,” Tom took over, tapping the receipt with one finger. This receipt is from America. Over there, you have to be eighteen to buy cigarettes. Which means that, two years from now, your soulmate is already eighteen.”

“Or he better be, anyway,” Sabine growled, eyes narrowed dangerously.

“But even if he isn’t,” Tom nervously glanced over at his wife and back to his daughter. “The way he writes is too grown up for someone close to your age. He is probably several years older than you—“

“At least seven, if he knows what’s good for him,” Sabine interrupted again. Tom just chuckled and shook his head.

“But still. Are you okay with him not being a romantic soulmate, Nettie?”

Marinette jumped off of her dad’s lap, hugging her note to her chest with one of the biggest smiles either of her parents had ever seen on her face.

“Are you kidding? I’ve always wanted a big brother! I bet he’s so cool, and rides a motorcycle and beats up bad guys! And when we meet, we’ll go out for ice cream and he’ll ruffle my hair, and let me ride on his shoulders, and it’ll be so awesome!”

Sabine finally lost her threatening aura, laughing along with her daughter. “Well, I don’t know about the whole beating up bad guys thing. But it sounds like he might need some cheering up, so you should write him letters pretty often. You never know when he might need one the most.”

Marinette nodded seriously, eyes shining with determination now. “That’s right! I have to be the best soulmate-sister ever! I’ll start writing him another letter right now!” She instantly turned to run back up to her room, but her dad’s voice followed her:

“Marinette! You haven’t eaten dinner yet!”

—*—*—*—*—*

The next day, Jason came back to his base to see another letter. It was on special scrapbook paper, a pretty white with a heart-and-stars border. He found himself snorting despite himself, shaking his head and picking up the girly letter.

Hello, Jason!

I just got your letter! It’s still 2009, and my parents were worried about the cigarats. I wanted to learn English first, but Maman and Papan reminded me that you have to be able to read French if you were able to read my past letters (I wonder what I wrote you! My future self must be real smart). Maman says you better be 18, or else she’ll kick your butt. She didn’t say that exactly, but I could tell.

Jason snickered at that. She must have a pretty fun family.

Maman and Papan also said that you’re probably a Big Brother soulmate. That’s super cool! I’ve always wanted an older brother, but it’s just me. I get lonely sometimes. And Maman thinks I have a big imagination, so help me prove her wrong! I bet her that you’re suuuuuuper cool, and have a motorcycle and beat up criminals! She doesn’t think my soulmate would be a hero, but I think you are. I don’t even know you yet, but I just feel it. And even if you don’t beat up bad guys, that’s fine. You’ll still protect me like a big brother should, right? And we’ll go and eat ice cream and talk about the stuff we like when we finally meet. And I’ll protect you too. I know little sisters aren’t supposed to, but I will totally protect you anyway. If you’re sad, I’ll make you macaroons and read you a bedtime story. That always makes me happy.

Please write back soon!

Marinette Dupain-Cheng (from the past still!)

Jason couldn’t help it, and maybe the Lazarus magic had a bit of sway on him still, but he laughed raucously. A deep, belly-shaking bellow. His soulmate sure was a character! And scarily intuitive. How did she guess such accurate things about him? It was hilarious.

But he wouldn’t write back today. Not yet. He held no illusions; he wasn’t brother material. Not now, and probably not for a while if ever. Which reminded him, he had a replacement to kill.

—*—*—*—*—*

The Replacement lived, but at least Batman had gotten the message. Meanwhile, letters from Little Mari, as he had started calling her in his head, had started piling up. He read every single one, but didn’t respond to any. It was all the usual stuff. Talking about her day, asking stuff about him, spouting advice that seemed way too insightful for a nine-year-old.

He kept every single one. Soon, 2009 letters turned into 2010 letters. She switched from writing almost every day to once a week.

By then, Jason had reconciled with Bruce for the most part. After a few attempts on his life, but that wasn’t important. It was then, as he sat down in the living room watching Tim, Dick, Bruce, and the newest hellion Damian, all talking with and teasing one another that he finally got the urge to write again. So he asked for paper, and Alfred brought him a notepad and a plain ballpoint pen. And, for the first time in over a year, he started writing.

Dick and Bruce noticed first, stopping their banter to stare. Dick smiled softly, his shoulders relaxing as he let himself slump over the sofa’s arm a bit. Tim furrowed his eyebrows, and Damian frowned.

“What are you doing, Todd?” The young hellion asked, but Jason barely heard him.

“Nonya business, squirt,” he replied absently. Bruce chuckled fondly, beckoning to his two youngest sons. They both came a bit closer, and Bruce smiled at them conspiratorially. He leaned forward and whispered:

“Jason’s soulbond allows any letters that he writes to travel through time to his Bonded, and vice versa. Back before… everything, he used to write a letter to her almost every day.”

“It’s really sweet. We lined up the dates, and we think that she’s around your age Damian,” Dick added in equally softly. “Probably a familial bond. It’s good that he’s writing to her again.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Marinette was twelve the next time she got a letter from Jason. But, unlike the last one, this one came from the past. And it was written in French.

Hi, Marinette!

I guess I’m your soulmate. I got your letter from 2018. It’s 2005 when I’m writing this. I’m twelve years old right now, but that shouldn’t matter. It was a little surprising when I got a letter written in French out of nowhere! Luckily, I speak a lot of languages. I love learning languages, and reading is probably my favorite thing to do. Don’t tell anyone though! I have my bad-boy image to keep up. I think our soulbond is really cool actually, and maybe we can teach each other stuff if we do this right. I know the whole time-traveling-letters thing makes it hard to reply to each other like normal. From now on, I’ll write you these letters in English and translate them in French on the back. That way, you can read it whenever you want and also learn English if you don’t already know it when you get this letter.

Oh, and I think I’m older than you? In real time, I mean. If you’re a “new adult” in 2018, then you’re probably a few years younger than me. I was born in 1993. You can do the math, since I don’t know when you were born. Anyway! I’ll keep writing you as often as I can and hope that you get these letters when you need them most.

Jason T., Excited Tween.

Marinette laughed, running down to show her mom. She was only writing Jason once a month now, but in the midst of this first letter she had received in three years, her determination was relit. It was just the letters being dumb when they flew through time! No way he was done writing to her. Right?

“Maman! Maman, he really was eighteen when he wrote that first letter! You don’t have to kill him!”

—*—*—*—*—*

Marinette stared at the pile of letters on her desk, sighing. She ran a hand through her hair. She hadn’t been able to bring herself to read them yet, but she knew they were each dated from 2005. Apparently they had both decided to write daily when they had first discovered their Bond.

“Marinette,” the familiar voice of Tikki spoke you, the little Kwami floating over to land on her holder’s shoulder. “You should read them. Your bond wouldn’t give you letters you don’t need.”

Marinette took a deep breath, rubbing her already sore and red eyes. “I know. But what if—“

Tikki grabbed the letter at the bottom of the pile, flying over and handing it to the pigtailed girl. She smiled gently. “Read it. No what-ifs. Just read for now, Marinette.”

The newest Ladybug sighed, but acquiesced. She sat down at her desk, and began to read. Only two months as Ladybug, and already the pressure was becoming too much.

Two hours later, she had caught up and her mood was considerably better. Jason’s life was definitely no cake walk, but his humor bled through the more concerning details and helped bring light to Marinette’s day. Slowly, one by one, she folded the letters and put them in her special locked box inside her “diary”. She tried to keep a real diary once, but quickly stopped when she realized that even “dear diary” counted as a letter and sent itself to Jason.

She pulled out one of her special pieces of stationary paper and her favorite pink gel pen. For a while she stared at the paper, out of practice after a few months of not writing to him, but eventually she was able to begin again.

Hey Jason.

It’s 2013. I’m 13. I’m pretty sure you got the point by now, it’s not hard to figure out what year I was born. I haven’t responded to any of your letters in a while, but I guess that doesn’t matter. It’s not like I know if you’re gonna get this right away anyway.

So. Uh. Things have changed. I’m only thirteen, but I feel so old you know? On the bright side, your letters really did help me learn English. I mean, you probably guessed that since I’m writing this whole thing in English.

I guess I should explain. A little. A lot has happened. I suddenly have so many responsibilities, and it’s really hard to keep up with it all. So much has changed in just a few months, I feel like I’m going crazy. I’m keeping secrets from Maman and Papan now, which hurts the most. I can’t tell them, I can’t even tell you, but I’m not used to this. I don’t like lying. I don’t even know why any of this happened in the first place, I want answers and I’m getting radio silence. It sucks. But your letters from 2005 really helped, so thanks. I just got them this past year, which is really weird because I remember that our letters time travel and I feel crazy again. But this is real. Our Bond is real, and maybe writing you will help me remember that. Help me focus a bit.

Anyway, that’s all I can think of right now. I’ll try to write you again sometime this week if I have time. We’ll see.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Unsure Teenager.

—*—*—*—*—*

As soon as Jason finished his letter, pretending he couldn’t feel Bruce, Dick, Tim, and Damian all spying on him from their own spots around the living room, the papers he wrote on shimmered red and vanished. In their place, a piece of tea-colored scrapbook paper with a decorative robin-and-egg border (he would never know how she could be so obliviously on point with the designs she chose), popped into existence. He blinked, snatching it up and looking it over. His eyes widened.

“It’s only from next year,” he said aloud, for the benefit of the nosy assholes sharing the room with him. “That’s the closest any of our letters have been to one another,” and then Jason’s eyes promptly went serious as she actually read what the paper said.

“Jay?” Dick asked after the man had been silent too long. Jason grunted, his eyes briefly shimmering green before he shook it away. He took a few deep breaths, and finally responded by standing up and handing the paper over to them.

“Something happens next year that fucks with her. All of the letters I’ve gotten from her, besides that first one back when I was still Robin, were from before this. 2009 to 2010. I even got a few from last year, not that long ago. She’s always upbeat and happy and never said anything about any concerning things besides some schoolyard bullying. This isn’t at all like her. The tone is off.”

“Well, it’s not like you’ve actually met her yet Jason,” Tim tried to console him, rereading the paper to make sure he didn’t miss anything. “This could be something mundane. A new school, or an issue with friends or something.”

Jason grit his teeth. “It isn’t. I don’t know how I know, but my gut is telling me it’s more than that. B, I want us to keep an eye on Paris. Something big happens next year, I know it.”

Bruce sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Funnily enough, I agree with you. Alfred, can you get up a monitoring system? we’ll keep it automatic until next year actually hits, and then I want someone personally checking up on Paris news at least once a month. Just in case.”

—*—*—*—*—*

It was a year into HawkMoth. Marinette hadn’t written a single letter to Jason, but she kept getting the ones he wrote in 2005. When those ran out, she only had two from 2006 before they suddenly leapt to 2012. She guessed that that was because of the five year gap he had mentioned in his first letter, the infamous cigarette receipt.

She sat in her chair, reading the only two 2012 letters so far, the second of which had conveniently landed on her desk that morning. The first had arrived months ago, but she gave it a reread anyway.

yo, Mari.

I’m sorry I haven't written anything else after that horrible receipt, I was getting my life sorted out. things are better now. I have three annoying brothers, by the way. I told you about Dick, I think, in my early letters. Now I have two younger brothers too, Tim and Damian. Damian is a little shit, but oddly enough I think you’d like him. Oh yeah, I’m writing this in 2012 by the way. And yes, this small notepad paper was all I had. Don’t judge me. I guess I’ll answer some questions, to make up for my lack of letters lately. More up to date than what I told you back when I was a naive little kid anyway.

Yes, I have a motorcycle. It is my baby, and I have no idea how nine-year-old you was able to guess stuff about me so accurately. I am most definitely a bad boy, and I have five different leather jackets that I love to death. I’m trying to quit smoking. It’s bad for your lungs kid, don’t follow my example there. Also, I am so fucking proud of your taste in music. I know I had no sway in it, but the fact that Jagged Stone is your favorite musician instills so much older brother pride in me you don’t even know. My dad (You remember how I said I’m adopted, right? yeah that asshole. Don’t tell him I actually love him, but he’s still an asshole), he grew up with Jagged actually. He still refers to him as Jared, it’s surreal. I will definitely let you ride on my shoulders, even if you’re an adult when we meet. I give no shits. And ice cream is mandatory. Officially. I’m making it mandatory right now.

I hope you’re doing okay when this gets to you, Mari. And keep designing, the sketches you sent me were awesome! That’s some real talent. Don’t let it go to waste if it’s something you love.

Alright, the Doofuses are still staring at me so I better go before one of them snoops and sees the sappy stuff I wrote about them. You are sworn to secrecy about it too, Cupcake. No blabbing.

Jason Todd, Finally Kinda Okay.

Marinette chuckled at that, then put it aside to read the new one from that morning. It was shorter.

Marinette!

I just read your letter from 2013, holy shit let this reach you not long after that. You remember that 2012 letter where I was sappy about my family and shit? I hope you got that one first or else this is gonna be confusing. Anyway, this was written that same day. Are You Okay? If shit gets too bad, for whatever reason, you can always contact me. I know this damn letter thing won’t let me give you a specific way to contact me, not for lack of trying damn it, but I’ll say this: Bruce Wayne isn’t hard to get a hold of. Find a way to contact him if you need my help, and I will be close behind. He knows how to contact me. No matter what, Cupcake. I don’t care if you think you’re being stupid or dramatic or whatever lies run through your head. Contact him if you need it, and I will come to help you. I promise. Being thirteen sucks, trust me I know, so let me help you.

Jason Todd, Worried As Hell.

Marinette huffed, shaking her head. She wanted to take him up on that offer, but she couldn’t. She had just met the Guardian not too long ago, and he had made it clear that she couldn’t tell anybody about being Ladybug. Not even Jason. She needed to deal with this alone.

Scenes of bloated bodies filled her mind, all the people who had died just the previous day because of Siren. She had had to swim through so many corpses. So many dead, of all ages.

She rushed out onto her balcony, taking in deep breaths of fresh air and letting the sun’s rays warm her up and slowly bring her out of the haze of burning memory. She was fourteen already. She could handle this. Her childhood had died the moment she had been given the Earrings, ripped away from her too early. Her old self had died. Now she was Ladybug, she was Marinette Dupain-Cheng and she was responsible for the fate of even more than just Paris. She couldn’t let herself fall. Not now, not ever.

The loud roaring of a motorcycle made her jump, and she ran to her railing just in time to see a gorgeous black and red bike come to a tire-screeching halt on the street right under her. The biker, she could tell he was large and covered head to toe in corded muscle even from her spot high above his head, slowly took off his helmet. Black hair with stark white bangs came into view, and startlingly deep blue eyes met hers. Marinette’s breath hitched; it was him. She could tell, his mere eye contact made her feel safe and warm and like… like home had found her. He gave her a roguish grin.

“Come on, Cupcake! I believe I promised you a shoulder ride and ice cream. And you gotta keep me from beating a certain old man into a bloody pulp!”

He knew. Marinette smiled widely, a laugh tearing itself from her throat. Hysteric, overjoyed, free. He knew, and it was okay. She didn’t even have to tell him. She took a few steps back, and then vaulted straight over her railing.

“Catch!”

Jason threw his helmet to the side, running forward just in time for her to land safely in his arms. He glared down at her, but his eyes held no heat. “That was incredibly reckless. I shouldn't be proud, but I am. Don’t do that ever again.”

Marinette giggled. “No promises.”

Jason set her down, picking up his helmet before opening the storage on his bike and tossing her a smaller, pink one. “Sorry it took so long. I wanted to come last year, as soon as I figured out what had made you send that concerning letter, but I was told that I would be an instant Akuma. But after what happened yesterday…” Jason shook his head solemnly. “I knew you’d need a break. Come on, Gotham actually has some amazing ice cream.”

“How are we gonna get to Gotham right away? how did you..?”

Marinette paused, Jason keeping his motorcycle’s storage open just long enough for her to see his Red Hood helmet.

“We got portals for that,” he responded nonchalantly, nobody was nearby to overhear anyway. Marinette looked up when he closed the storage compartment, putting her helmet on.

“Well. Then I’m glad you actually took my rant on the Gotham vigilantes to heart and used my designs, because your old mask was disgustingly ugly.”

Jason rolled his eyes, and waited until she was behind him on the bike before revving it and replying;

“Trust me, I know your feelings on it. Demon Spawn and Replacement teamed up to steal that letter and made copies. Now one is pinned to the fridge and I spent another several hours cleaning up the ones they posted over every inch of my apartment walls.”

“... I approve.”

#ml x dc #maribat #marinette #jasonette #platonic jasonette #mlb x dc #marinette dupain cheng #soulmate au #oneshot #Maribat 2020

[pjo-whore]

Percy Jackson At Hogwarts

Chapter 1: Wizards Are What Now?

Look, Percy never wanted to be half-blood.

Being a half-blood – the child of a mortal human and a god – was dangerous. It was scary. Most of the time, on top of having neglectful parents and a dysfunctional and incestuous family that wanted you dead for petty reasons, it got you killed in other painful, nasty ways.

There wasn’t a day that went by where Percy didn’t feel envious of the kids who didn’t have to deal with the mythological world.

Percy Jackson was seventeen years old. Until a month ago, he was fighting a war against a Greek primoradial, the Earth Mother incarnate, Gaea – also known as his great grandmother. Before that, he fought in a war against his grandfather, Kronos, Greek Titan of Time, who wanted to overthrow the Olympian gods and take over the world and the Empire State Building. Somewhere in between he also found time to spend a month in literal Greek hell, Tartarus, who also happened to be his great grandfather, and who also tried to murder him on sight.

Was Percy a troubled kid?

Yeah. You could say that.

And right now, he was still trying to clean up the mess from the Second Giant War.

Now that there wasn’t a war looming overhead, the gods’ recent exploits were coming to light, and new demigods were popping up everywhere, everyday. The number of demigods skyrocketed now that they were actively searching and not waiting for them to stumble into Camp on their own.

But that also meant there were new kids to train, more demigods for the gods to claim, and less time to recoup from the recent war.

Less than a month had passed since Gaea’s defeat.

The days were filled with helping each other get back on their feet, rebuilding the camps, and trying to keep the fragile peace in order.

There was still a lot to sort out, and the gods weren’t as hands-on as most would like. There was conflict building up. News spread about how the gods helped the seven demigods of the prophecy fight the giants, because a giant couldn’t be killed by a mortal alone, and this made many jealous and angry. The gods could pop in for a single battle when it was their own ass on the line, but not when a group of their own literal kids needed to rebuild their home that was dedicated to the gods?

Besides Chiron and Dionysus, the only god to physically stay at Camp Half-Blood following the battle against Gaea due to his punishment from Zeus, there were no other adults. The oldest demigods were barely twenty. Despite age, most, if not all, the demigods looked to the prophecy demigods for guidance and leadership.

Annabeth, Jason, Percy, Piper, and Nico.

The brunt of the responsibility fell on the daughter of Athena, and the son of Poseidon. They led their Camp through the Second Titan War, and now they were survivors of another war.

Things weren’t easy for a long time.

The Camp was completely ravaged.

During Gaea’s seize of the Greek demigod Camp, the cabins were burned by the monsters and toppled by Gaea’s massive earthquakes. Not even the Big House – the staple of Camp Half-Blood, the oldest building on the lot – survived the attack.

Camp Jupiter didn’t fare any better, but their buildings had been more structurally sound, thicker and built of material that didn’t burn and crumble. Enough buildings were still standing well enough to inhabit.

Everything had to be rebuilt for Camp Half-Blood.

Nobody could be sent home – to their mortal homes, with mortal parents, and a mortal life, mortal being the slang for “normal” among the mythological world – despite the new lack of residency at Camp Half-Blood. Kids needed to heal. There were nightmares and PTSD. Trauma and concussions. People to be counted, bodies missing, some so mauled they were impossible to identify. Several bodies were unearthed from the ground, sucked in by Gaea’s attack and suffocated beneath the dirt.

Shrouds were made for those who could be identified, the unknown buried in unmarked graves to be remembered. Those who were missing were given honorary shrouds, unknowing if they were in one of the unmarked graves. The Romans were unable to do their traditional funeral rituals, transporting the bodies all the way to Camp Jupiter, and were burned in shrouds alongside the Greeks.

Mortal parents simply couldn’t help.

They couldn’t fathom their children being in a war.

There were fears that demigods would be taken away from Camp Half-Blood by their mortal parents, horrified at what their kids were put through. Chiron especially worried about demigods who would be kept from Camp by parents, forcing them to live alone without any mythological world support, to defend against monsters on their own, without any magic or special weapons.

So, among the remaining able-bodied demigods, Greeks alongside Romans worked together to erect the new Big House. Tents from the Romans’ siege on Camp Half-Blood were gifted to the Greeks to provide residency until the new cabins were built, while the Romans started to march back home.

During all the chaos, Percy didn’t have any time to sit down and process all that happened.

The whole Camp looked up to him as a leader, but Percy didn’t feel very strong or wise.

He only felt bitter.

There were some who walked by and whispered “lucky” and “prophecy.”

Some who stopped talking as soon as he walked into the room.

Those who acted like he wasn’t even human, just some untouchable hero; but they ostracized him.

Percy was aware that he was one of the so-called “lucky” campers; lucky being compared, because at least he walked away with all his limbs intact.

It didn’t feel like he was lucky.

He wasn’t unscathed. He bore many scars, visible and not. His time in Tartarus was an impossible nightmare on bad nights, and a shadow on good days.

Percy was learning that he had triggers.

He was learning Annabeth did, too.

Neither liked using elevators.

Annabeth’s expression went tight when Percy used his powers around her. She turned away, sometimes completely leaving the area.

She got antsy in the dark, a childhood fear resurfaced.

There were other little things; at night when she had nightmares she would toss and turn in bed, sweating through her clothes and sheets, despite the breeze being cold. Sometimes Annabeth would completely avoid Percy, acting snappish, always coming back and apologizing in the end, and they would hold each other like they were hanging over the chasm again.

Annabeth refused to talk about what she saw in her nightmares, and Percy never pushed. He was one of the only people who could understand what she was going through.

Sometimes all they could do was sit and try to drown out the memories of The Pit.

Percy’s triggers were different.

He developed a deep-seated hatred for empousai. The moment he saw one, his body started to shake with adrenaline and nerves, fire flashing before his eyes.

Percy could no longer look at the stars without feeling a deep loss, tears pricking at his eyes.

He prayed to his father, Poseidon, more often, as if trying to re-establish his connection to the sea, to re-establish his connection to the Overworld, as if that could cleanse him of what happened in The Pit. As if he could wash away the touch of The Pit.

Percy’s nightmares were always blurry and violent. He wouldn’t snap awake like others. He didn’t startle or jerk upright. He didn’t make a single noise. He would wake silently, and lay there in bed, eyes open and unseeing, that shattered glass feeling he always dreaded at the bottom of his stomach. After he could never go back to sleep, and he would get up and sit on the tile in his cabin for hours and look in the mirror and wait for the image to change. He would wait for it to reflect what he feared, though it never did.

*

“Okay, so, how big is the situation? Is it like, ‘Aphrodite lost her hairbrush again’ big? Or is it ‘Gaea has risen again’ big?”

Annabeth frowned. “I don’t know. All Chiron said was that a god needed our help – and I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the sound of that.” She chewed her bottom lip in thought as they headed toward the Big House. They had been asked to attend a private meeting with Chiron, outside of the camp counselor meeting. “He sounded serious, too. Whichever god it is must be an asshole to seek help so soon after the war.”

She wasn’t wrong, Percy thought.

Jason was appointed Pontifex Maximus in Camp Jupiter, and as such he was responsible of advising the praetors, ruling over the Camp Jupiter counsel, and overseeing the work and prayers to the minor gods. His promise to Kymopoleia to bring worship and awareness for all minor gods became his fulltime job, and it was ruled that most gods must go through Jason to request help from either demigod camp.

A god asking for help directly after a full-scale war? Using Chiron as their connection? It was a hit below the belt, and it made Percy frustrated.

A few demigods raised their heads in greeting as Percy and Annabeth passed by the arts and crafts center. Conner and Travis Stoll, who were trying to build bombs with bits and pieces from the forge, took one look at Percy, then at Annabeth, and wiggled their brows suggestively. Percy unsubtly stuck them the bird, and they started to laugh their assess off.

The Big House was smaller now, after being rebuilt.

What could be scavenged from the attic was saved, but most of it was lost. Magical artifacts and ancient texts were burned and crushed. Now the Big House served mostly as the infirmary, aside from the drop-by medicinal tent near the Apollo cabin, where more medical supplies were. The Apollo and Hephaestus cabins had been the first to be rebuilt because they gave needed services.

Aside from the infirmary, the Big House had a commons area for meetings, and housed a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom.

Checking in the commons area, Chiron was in his wheelchair. Nico was sitting at the beloved ping pong table, which had somehow survived the siege on Camp, and Thalia was sitting backwards on a chair by the new counselor table, which no one ever used.

Percy sat next to Nico and twirled the ping pong paddle between his hands, Annabeth taking her usual seat during counsel meetings.

Chiron looked tense.

“Now, I know that only a month has passed since the end of the Second Giant War, but –”

The air practically sparked with the collective tension that built.

“– a new quest has been issued.”

Annabeth leaned forward in her seat, interested. “Chiron, you can’t have an official quest without a prophecy. And the last time I checked; the Oracle of Delphi wasn’t working right now.”

“Well, it’s a good thing this isn’t a quest from the Greek pantheon, then.”

Percy cocked a brow and shared a look with Annabeth.

“The Roman pantheon doesn’t have an oracle, and their last augur exploded himself, so –”

“It’s a friend of Lady Hecate, the Triple Goddess.”

Dead silence.

“The Triple Goddess?” Percy parroted. “I don’t follow.”

“The Triple Goddess is of the Old Religion, once practiced in Europe hundreds of years ago by the druids and magic users in general. It belonged to Albion, a land of five kingdoms, before it split into the United Kingdom and Ireland.”

“What does that have to do with us?” Nico said.

“All those years ago, in the middle ages, after the golden age of the Greek pantheon, the Old Religion became very popular in Albion. Magic was something that anyone could practice even if they weren’t born with the innate talent, with the proper training. Through the ages, though, the religion declined, and the New Religion rose and became the staple. While the Old Religion relied on the magic of the land, sea, and sky; the New Religion relied on your inner magical core, and so not everyone could do this new magic.”

Chiron shifted in his wheelchair and pulled out a small stack of photos, but when he tossed them onto the ping pong table, the demigods saw that they held moving pictures.

In one photo, it showed a person standing over a boiling cauldron, on the wooden table beside them, old parchment with a quill that moved by itself, writing on the paper. The picture moved slightly, the character stirring the cauldron. Then the animated picture reset and repeated.

In another photo, two persons stood facing each other, holding purposefully shaped wooden sticks, pointing them at each other. Bright lights exploded from the tips of the sticks, and their robes and hair swayed with strong winds.

In the last photo, a person was wearing a uniform of sorts, with a helmet and pads on their knees and elbows. They held an old broomstick between their knees, and metal hinges held on the back close to the bristles, like a hitch for the feet. In the picture, the person grabbed onto the end of the broomstick and shot into the air, like magic. It gave image to the stereotype of witches flying on brooms in the night.

“The Old Religion died out because the land lost its magic. Only select spots held magical creatures and natural magic. Magic was only preserved through the New Religion, and those who practiced the New Religion became witches and wizards. The lot of them went into hiding and created their own society – the wizarding world.”

“In today’s day and age, magic is passed down through genetics. And sometimes, those with magic cores can be born to those with no magic at all. The population of magic users stays stable, and there is balance in the world of magic …” Chiron winced. “Mostly.”

“But these people have lost contact with the Triple Goddess. They no longer worship or prayer to her. They rely solely on their own magic, not what comes naturally from the land, like in the Old Religion. And recently, war has passed for them. The Second Wizarding War ended four months ago. And this has severely depleted their resources and magic. There is a school for the magic users, used as the stronghold during the war, and now the wizarding world’s hero is returning to finish his studies.”

“His moniker is ‘The Boy Who Lived,’ and he’s called Harry Potter. But he was only a child – is only a child. He and his peers are children who have been used to fight a war that they shouldn’t have had to fight.” Chiron looked very grim.

Percy bitterly sank back in his seat.

“We were kids, too.”

Chiron sighed. “This war has thrown the balance of magic out of whack. The natural magic has been depleted for too long, and there are those who are actively tipping the balance to sabotage the magic for their own gain. It’s suspected that the dark forces from the war – Death Eaters – are still operating in the shadows. It is because of this that the Triple Goddess has called upon you as heroes to help restore the wizarding world and save magic.”

“You would only be obligated to attend the school of Hogwarts until you uncovered the source of oppression over magic, so the Death Eaters can be caught and restrained. If you choose to accept, of course.”

Percy eyed him sharply. “You say that as if we have a choice.”

Chiron pursed his lips. “Despite what you think, yes, you do.”

“But this is from a whole other pantheon,” Nico said. “A group of magical people who don’t even believe in the goddess who brought about their magic. Why do we have to fix this?”

More silence.

Chiron looked down on them unapologetically.

Percy shifted uncomfortably, looking over at Annabeth. Chiron seriously expected them to just up and leave Camp for this quest. Barely a month had passed since their own war, and they were getting by as they were. Percy didn’t believe Camp Half-Blood could afford to lose any support or cabin counselors, even for a short period of time.

“So, let me get this straight,” Percy said. “Basically – if I just ignore the little prologue, you gave there – you want us to go to this magical school, on orders of a goddess that’s almost faded, stalk a kid, and watch out for people who like to try to rob the world of magic – magic, which they use themselves.”

Chiron looked pained. “No, I don’t believe they’re purposefully robbing the world of magic.”

“Oh, well that clears everything up.” Percy threw his hands in the air.

“Regardless, you understand what’s being asked. This is a quest, technically coming from Hecate, as a favour for the Triple Goddess. It’s valid as a hero’s quest. It was decided it would be best that you go undercover as transfer students and secretly watch over Harry Potter, the target for most Death Eaters. Your goal is to prevent trouble before it gets serious, though I doubt that will be hard, as trouble always manages to find you –”

“Wait, hold on,” Percy said, still hung-up on the quest. “How are we supposed to fit in at a school for the magically gifted? None of us are wizards.”

“Oh, that is something that can easily be fixed,” Chiron said, dismissing the problem.

“Excuse me?!” Thalia said.

“Hecate considered this quest from the Triple Goddess for a long time before coming to me.”

Percy rolled his eyes. Out of everyone in the room, he had the least faith in the gods. They never gave him anything to have faith in.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at the camp director. “And how exactly does Hecate plan on ‘fixing’ the problem? I don’t see any obvious solutions. We’re demigods, not wizards.”

Chiron shifted awkwardly. “She has not shared that with me. I have only gotten the request that you undertake this quest for the Old Religion, and that she will visit to prepare you.”

Percy felt like grinding his teeth. “Oh, so she just expected us to accept the quest. She never considered us refusing? Why can’t the wizards fix their own problem?” Chiron said nothing. “Camp is still in shambles – we don’t even have all the cabins rebuilt yet! We can’t leave, not now. There’s still too much work to do here, and too many new demigods to watch over and protect. And have you even considered that maybe we don’t want to go on this quest? That maybe we want a break? My entire childhood was prophecy after prophecy, quest after quest, serving the gods. We’re under no obligation to do this. You can tell Hecate that she can stick her magic wands up –”

He didn’t get the chance to finish because Annabeth had already taken a ping pong paddle and smashed a ping pong ball in his direction, the mutual action used to keep order in camp counselor meetings.

“BALL!” Annabeth yelled, slamming her paddle across the table.

Percy scowled and took his seat again.

“Now, Percy,” she said sweetly, leaning over the table. “Where did you say Hecate could put those wands?”

“Nowhere,” he muttered.

Annabeth acquiesced and put the paddle down.

“Where is this school anyway?” Nico asked. He frowned. “And Hogwarts? What kind of name is that?”

“It resides in Scotland, its exact location unknown and hidden by powerful magic. Outside of the school, which is an ancient and famous monument for the wizarding world, there are other magical establishments. One place you will be required to visit is Diagon Alley, a wizarding market. That’s where you’ll collect your resources for going undercover at school.”

“Again, you’re saying all this like we’ve agreed to go,” Percy mumbled.

He was ignored. Thalia raised her hand, her features etched with confusion. “Okay, I hate to be the one to say it – but how are we supposed to blend in with wizards and witches? We can’t use magic, and we know nothing about their world.”

Chiron admitted he didn’t know how Hecate would find ways around the problems. “She has informed me that, only once the quest is accepted, will she come and discuss the details. In fact, she should be arriving any moment –”

What happened next could not have been anymore dramatic.

There was a blinding flash of light – the glow filling the entire room – and it forced the demigods to cover their eyes lest they go blind from laying eyes upon a god’s true form.

All eyes landed on the goddess, technically titaness.

Hecate appeared as a tall, thin woman. Her dark brown hair was tied up in a kekryphalos, the shining coil twisting and adorned with intricate gems and metals. Loose strands of hair framed her sickly pale face, which held sharp chartreuse yellow eyes. She wore a dark chiton robe that draped over her thin figure, and it seemed to ripple like a heat hallucination, like ink spilling off to the ground.

At her feet, she was accompanied by a black Labrador retriever and a polecat.

The demigods all stood as one and politely bowed, as was common for all gods. Percy glared up through his bow as he followed reluctantly.

“Rise, my young heroes.” The goddess’ voice was smooth and rich. She sounded monotone. “You have done more than enough to prove your worth to me, and for that, I know that I can trust you. I have called you four here on special request from the Triple Goddess, who has observed your acts of heroics. She believes you can save the wizarding world, her beloved kin, and magics.”

“You will use the ways of the Old Religion to learn magics and go undercover. As demigods, you already have magical cores. They just need to be trained; refined.”

Percy scowled.

“And will the oh-so-gracious Triple Goddess be visiting us herself?”

Annabeth shot him a scathing look.

“Percy!” She hissed.

Hecate eyed Percy again, as if reappraising him. “No,” she said, after a tense silence. “You will be sent to get your wands from one who still practices the Old Religion and can pair you with an appropriate wand. Your cover stories are fabricated and with the wandmaker. The Triple Goddess does not appear without dire need.”

“Her entire world being in trouble seems pretty dire to me,” Percy muttered under his breath.

Annabeth elbowed him harshly.

Hecate narrowed her eyes.

“This,” she said, pulling a laminated piece of paper out of thin air, “is called a portkey. It is an enchanted item; when touched by the intended people, or random persons, it can magically teleport you to a predetermined location.”

She held it out to demigods.

On it, in fancy letters, it read: Littletree Farms, Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts.

“Touch this, all at once, and you will have accepted the quest.”

Chiron gave them an encouraging nod. The demigods all shared exchanged looks.

“Our responsibilities …” Thalia started, subconsciously reaching up to grab at her lieutenant circlet, from the Hunters of Artemis.

“Will be forgiven for the time while on quest,” Hecate assured. “The Triple Goddess does not ask favours lightly. This has the potential to spill into the real world; to affect our pantheon. The Old Religion is younger than the Greek pantheon, but its reach goes far and wide. The Triple Goddess is powerful; no harm will befall your precious little Camp while you are away.”

Nico hesitated, but was the first to reach for the paper. “If this is really that important … why ask for us specifically? A larger group, organized and planned, could do better.”

“The Triple Goddess has observed you, and believes you are the right heroes to help save magic.”

“But right now? This instant? Can’t we have time?”

“You will come back to your little Camp before you leave for Europe.”

Annabeth pursed her lips, then also reached for it. “Okay.”

Percy looked at her, askance. “Okay? Just like that?”

Annabeth shrugged. “A quest is a quest, and someone needs help. We are in peace right now and have no threats. I don’t see why not.”

“Fine,” Percy said, tone short. He looked over at the laminated paper. “So, this will take us where? What’s in Boston that could be so magical?”

“A wand wood farm,” Hecate said, smiling thinly. “And your quest starts now.”

Percy’s eyes snapped to the paper, where Hecate had pushed it into their collective hands unwillingly. Then the world began to spin, and there was a sharp tug in his gut, yanking him out of time and space.

*

#pjo #hp #percy jackson #harry potter #pjo x hp #crossover #percy #annabeth #nico #thalia #part 1 #magic percy

[elareine]

If you're still taking prompts maybe some JayDick but Catlad or Hemlock Jason? Robin or Nightwing is up to you. I just think it would be sweet. Merry Christmas btw

Thank you, and merry belated Christmas to you, too!

“Hey, mom. Hello, dad.” 

Every year Dick makes this pilgrimage. As he always does, Bruce has offered to come with him; the idea feels wrong, though, so Dick is here alone. 

Well. Not quite alone, he hopes. 

“I didn’t bring you any flowers this time,” he continues, “I’m sorry. There was an incident with the car, and, yeah. You should’ve seen how Bruce swore. Really, sometimes I think he forgets that I’m there…” 

He keeps talking like that—funny things, sad things, important things, all of them wrapped in codewords just in case someone is listening. And at the crunch of gravel behind him, he becomes aware that someone is. 

Turning around, Dick sees a boy standing there. He’s probably two or three years younger than Dick, and he’s holding flowers. 

“Hello,” Dick says, giving the word a questioning note. 

“Hi.” The kid nods towards the gravestone. “I’m sorry about your parents.” 

“Were you there?” Dick asks, a little exhausted. Sometimes it feels like his parents’ death belongs to everyone who watched, even everyone who had ever seen them perform, instead of the people who loved them. 

But the boy shakes his head. “Nah. But I’ve seen you return to them, so they must’ve been good parents, right? Most people, they stop coming after a few years.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, they were.” Dicks still confused, though, and it comes through in his voice. 

The boy rubs the back of his neck, looking faintly embarrassed. “… they’re for you. I noticed you, uh, didn’t have any this time.” 

He holds the flowers out for Dick. With their stems uneven and the leaves slightly dirty, they’re clearly wildflowers, a rarity in Gotham. Dick has no idea where the kid even found them. 

He smiles at the younger boy and takes them. “Thank you. What’s your name?” 

But the kid shakes his head and runs away. Dick looks after him, frowning. He wonders, just a little bit, what a child of that age was doing here. Then he shrugs it off—kids like hanging around graveyards. 

The flowers look beautiful on the grave, like they belong there. 

—

Dick doesn’t think about it again until the boy turns up again the year after. 

His name is Jason. 

They become friends or something like it. They meet in the park by the graveyard, and Jason doesn’t talk about his family, and Dick doesn’t talk about being Robin, but it feels like they know each other, nonetheless. 

And then, one year, Jason doesn’t come. 

Dick waits for him. He waits, and he talks to his parents, and he runs out of stories and sunlight before he stops waiting and goes searching. 

Too few people know Jason even exists—existed. Dick wonders how that’s possible—how a boy so obviously bright can just vanish with barely a trace. 

Finally, when he goes through police reports, he gets an inkling of what happened: An accident involving chemicals, two streets away from the graveyard. A tanker that flipped over and exploded, burning so hot they never identified all of the victims. There are no reports of a child being hit, but… it’s the best explanation he has. 

Dick makes sure to pay the transport company’s offices a visit, and then another one to the chemical plant where they’d decided that the cost of safety was higher than the value of human life. And he builds a grave. Just a small memorial on the plot next to his parents’, the one he had originally reserved for himself. 

They share their anniversaries, after all. 

—

Every year, Dick brings flowers. No carefully crafted bouquets anymore; no, he keeps his eyes open for beauty by the wayside: the daffodil growing between curbs, the snowdrops on the lawn, the dandelions and daisies between the weeds. 

He’s kinda surprised Poison Ivy hasn’t reprimanded him for his newfound habit yet. Sure, she seems busy with her new sidekick, and picking a few flowers is nothing next to large-scale environmental destruction, but she’s always liked picking on him for the smallest things as Robin before. Why would she stop now that he’s Nightwing? 

“Maybe she understands grief,” he tells Jason’s gave. “It’s… looking for the flowers has opened my eyes, in a way. Thank you.” He swallows. “I still wish you hadn’t, though.” 

—

Three years after Jason’s death, a stranger is standing by his grave. 

No, not a stranger, Dick realizes when he steps closer and sees green skin. Hemlock—a menace to Bruce, a wildcard as far as Dick is concerned. Unlike his mentor, the guy seems to be just as concerned with human life as plant rights. They’ve been on the same side in fights just as often as on different ones. 

“Uh. Hi,” is all Dick can think to say. After all, they’re not supposed to know each other in his Civilian identity. 

Hemlock jumps. “You—“ he says, but he’s already turning away, and then he’s gone, running toward the exit. Dick stares after him. What on Earth brought that on? How strange. 

When he turns back, he sees that his parents’ grave is covered in tiny, white flowers. 

—

Today marks fifteen years since his parents fell to their deaths. Dick is an adult now, with his own life, his own family. And still, he tells them: “I miss you.” He doesn’t think that will ever stop, even if it’s an adult’s grief now, mourning the chance to ever get to know his parents as people, to have them in his life as the solid wall of support he’s always known them at, but in the background. 

With Jason, it’s a bit different. The wound still feels so fresh, and Dick can feel the tears well up in his eyes when he tells the second grave: “Miss you, especially.”

For some reason, mourning Jason has just been so—so—difficult. That’s it. As if he’s not really gone. 

“Don’t think I’ll ever stop blaming myself for that,” he adds softly.

“You don’t need to,” someone says. 

Dick startles. What the fuck? 

Hemlock steps out of the shadows behind the graves. This time, though, he’s not wearing a mask. This time, Dick can see his face, and—

“…Jason?” 

“Yeah.” The younger boy—man—gives a little wave. “Surprise, I guess.” 

“But—“Dick realizes with terrible clarity what must’ve happened. The accident, the chemicals—and Jason clutching the flowers. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. 

Jason’s jaw shifts forward mulishly, and oh, that’s a much more familiar expression. “I’m telling you so you can stop with that shit. I’m a freak; that’s all there is to it. It’s fine.” 

You’re not a freak, is Dick’s first instinct, but he has been around metas enough by now to know that that won’t help. Besides, Jason is still talking. 

“I’m sorry, I never wanted to pull you into this world. You can do better than this. I just wanted to let you know that you can—you can stop with all this and go on with your life as normal.” 

…Dick can’t help it; he has to laugh. It’s more relief than amusement, but this is also pretty funny.

“Jason. We literally took down a drug ring together last week,” he chuckles. “I’m not—I’m not exactly normal, either.” 

Understanding dawns on Jason’s face. “Nightwing?” After a moment, he shakes his head. “You’re still human, though. Not… this.” He stretches out his vines behind if as if wanting to prove his point. “That shit is ugly.”

There is no hesitation. Dick reaches out his hand, smiling encouragingly when Jason hesitates. “Your vines are a part of you, Jason,” he says, and oh, how good it feels to say that name again and not be addressing a grave. “How could I ever think they’re ugly?” 

Slowly, carefully, a vine reaches back, curling around his hand when Dick doesn’t flinch. 

Between them, a beautiful flower grows.

(I’m taking prompts until the end of the year.)

#elareine writes #jason todd #dick grayson #jaydick #scheduled post

[animebookworm16]

Who Are You? - Angst

For @j3ssisam3ss

This is my angst piece for @maribat-angst-fluff-april, prompt 25 Childhood Friends

It was the middle of winter in Gotham when she showed up. A tiny girl everyone guessed to be about three. She never spoke or made a sound, but she often smiled, even on the coldest nights. The little girl would just curl up to whoever had taken her that day and smile. At first the other homeless believed she'd never make it to spring. But the little girl was full of surprises. Not only did she survive the worst of the winter, she thrived once spring arrived.

Everyone knew she had a name, no one knew what it was, but they knew she had one. They also knew she was old enough to know it. Surprisingly, no one ever tried to give her a new name. Sure she got nicknames. More nicknames than a toddler could ever hope to keep track of, but somehow she did.

The little girl grew. As all children must. And the older children and adults always made sure to enunciate whenever she was in the area, hoping to teach her how to speak. They all banded together, like they always do for the especially young kids, and kept her away from the worst of the drugs, gangs, rogues, and the overall darkest parts of Gotham.  She grew, and most people started calling her Pixie. Their little fairy caused laughter and mischief wherever she went. Even still she rarely spoke, her words as few and far between as they were, were always impactful to whoever she spoke to.

When Jason Todd started living on the street, everything changed. Pixie stuck to his side like glue. She laughed, she started talking, Pixie acted like the entire five years she had been living around Gotham she had been solely waiting for Jason to show up. The ones who raised her would have felt jilted if it hadn't been for how happy the little girl looked. Two years passed and the two ten-year-olds rarely left each other's sides.

Then Jason stole the hubcaps off the Batmobile and Pixie was finally picked up by CPS.

Pixie had to be strapped down by CPS so that she wouldn't hurt anyone. Luckily for her, a young French couple had been passing by when they saw what they were doing, and demanded to adopt the young girl. CPS didn't want to deal with the girl for much longer and agreed. When Tom and Sabine found out she didn't have a name, they quickly named her Marinette Dupain-Cheng and decided her birthday would be the same day they adopted her. 

The newly named Marinette was quickly taken out of Gotham and out of the country as the couple returned to Paris.

She never knew that Jason had been adopted by Bruce Wayne.

Jason was picked up by Batman and quickly adopted by Bruce Wayne. Before long he had taken up the mantle of Robin and was fighting crime.  He looked everywhere for his friend but no matter who or where he asked, no one had any idea. As the months passed, Jason lost hope for ever finding Pixie again.

He would never know that she had been picked up by CPS and adopted by a Parisian couple and taken back to Paris.

In Paris, Marinette always appeared happy, and her new parents were always busy but tried to make time for her. Marinette had taken to wandering Paris. She wanted to be familiar with her new city, even if Tom and Sabine didn't always agree with her new habit.

When she started school, Marinette stayed quiet. Friendly, but quiet. This made her a prime target for the mayor's spoiled daughter Chloe. Marinette allowed it to happen and did nothing to change the status quo. three years passed in this way until suddenly Marinette was seated next to an extremely outspoken girl named Alya, who would absolutely not stand for the status quo, so Marinette filled that space, doing what she'd always done since she'd come to Paris molded herself into what everyone around her wanted. The same day she met her new deskmate, and self-proclaimed bestie, Marinette also became one of the two heroes of Paris, fighting an emotional terrorist who thrived on negative emotions (and just being from Gotham made her a prime target). Marinette became Dame Nuit, with her partner Mister Bug.

She listened to everything Plagg told her, especially the warnings and consequences of using the Black Cat Miraculous.

For the next four years, Marinette would fill every mold she was placed in. The hero, the Guardian, the class president, the perfect baker's daughter, everything. 

Then the consequences started showing up. Marinette knew she had to wrap up Hawk Moth and Mayura quickly. She started pushing it so much that Mister Bug called her out one night and in a single moment of weakness she told him what was happening. What her Miraculous was doing to her.

Mister Bug immediately wanted her to stop and let him give the Miraculous to someone else, but Dame Nuit shut it down saying that even if she stopped now, the damage was done and nothing would change that. In fact, using the Miraculous, while it had started the process, was actually slowing it down. Mister Bug cried when she told him that.

Together they redoubled their efforts to bring Hawk Moth and Mayura down. Of course, Mister Bug insisted on bringing in more permanent heroes, under the guise of keeping one of the two things Hawk Moth was after out of the fight. Dame Nuit then argued that it should be the Ladybug because it's the one that can fix everything which just left them going in circles. But even still she conceded to his request for more backup.

Within six months, Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancoeur had been stripped of their Miraculous and Paris was free to feel their emotions once more. All the Miraculous were returned and Marinette and Adrien revealed their identities to each other.

Adrien stuck to Marinette's side and became an unofficial brother. He helped her as the build-up of chaos in her soul took a physical manifestation, and began to destroy her 

A year after Hawk Moth's defeat Marinette's entire class was granted a trip to Gotham City.

Marinette would have laughed at the irony if she didn't know it would probably be the last place she saw. It was strangely comforting to know that the city that held her most precious memories would also be the place that would hold her last.

In Gotham, Jason grew into a young man. He discovered the woman he thought was his mother wasn't. He tracked down his real mother, then got beaten half to death by the Joker only to be blown up by one of Joker's bombs.

Jason died.

Then Jason was revived by the Lazarus Pits and trained by the League of Shadows. He grew to hate Batman and wanted nothing more than to see the end of the Joker. 

Years later, Jason would return to Gotham only to find he had been replaced and that the Joker was still running free, and alive. Jason tried to kill the new Robin, a kid named Tim Drake, Batman, and the Joker. He managed to end none of them.

Bruce convinced Jason to stick around and one thing led to another and Redhood became part of the Batfamily patrol rotation. He doesn't stay in the manor but he does drop in at least once a month for family dinners at Alfred's request. On the weekends, Jason would take Tim out and teach him how to spot a sniper, an assassin, what different guns look like when someone is trying to hide them, and most importantly, how to defuse a bomb. It becomes a bonding time for the two, but Jason still calls Tim 'Replacement' but now as a term of endearment.

He never forgets Pixie and she is one of the few things that kept him sane during the worst of the Pit Madness.

Then Damian shows up and Jason has no idea how to deal with the tiny Demon Spawn. It's rough going for a while but they all found their ways of bonding and before long they are one large dysfunctional family. 

When Jason turned eighteen, he, Dick, Tim, and Damian welcomed a French class to Wayne Industries for a week-long tour. And that is where he thought he saw someone he would never see again.

Without his permission, Jason called out to her, "Pixie?" It was barely a whisper, but she heard it.

Her head whipped around and she stared at him, "Jason?"

He wanted to say it was a happy reunion. And it kind of was. They hugged. Her class and his brothers stared. Then the tears started. Pixie was smiling but tears were streaming down her face.

One of the other students came over and asked her in French if she was okay. Pixie shook her head and the blond boy asked if there was somewhere she could rest. Jason offered to show them a room. The three of them sat in a quiet room as Pixie cried. She kept leaning into Jason and he wasn't about to stop her. After who knows how long, Pixie dried her eyes and haltingly told Jason what was going on. She told him, how she'd been adopted and went by Marinette now. How she was dying and no one besides Adrien, the blond, knew. How she probably wouldn't make it out of Gotham.

Jason's first reaction was to want to hurt something. His second was to hold Pixie as close as he could and never let her go. Jason cried. 

For the rest of the week everywhere that Pixie went, Jason was close behind. The other Waynes noticed and on the fourth day of their stay, invited Pixie and Adrien to join them for dinner.

There, a not-so-subtle interrogation went down, asking Pixie how she knew Jason. At which point, even Pixie's failing health allowed her to spill so many childhood stories about Jason that even they couldn't resist her knowledge. In return, Jason told Adrien stories he had collected about her as a toddler and little kid. It was the brightest smile Adrien had ever seen on Marinette, and the first real smile Pixie had given Jason all week. He could almost pretend that she wasn't dying.

After dinner Pixie said, "Jason, did I ever tell you about the dream I've had ever since I was a little girl?"

"What dream Pix?"

"I've always wanted to stand at the very top of the Wayne Industries building at dawn, and feel the wind at the top of the world."

"Really?"

Pixie smiled a soft sad smile, "Yeah. Do you think we could do that tomorrow?"

Jason suddenly realized what Pixie was talking about, and had to fight a lump in his throat to answer, "Yeah. Pix. Yeah, we can do that."

Adrien and Pixie stayed the night that night. That morning at about three, Jason woke them up and took them to the top of Wayne Industries. Pixie stood as high up as she possibly could. Adrien and Jason watched her with tears in their eyes. Before long, they were joined by Batman, Nightwing, Red Robin, and Robin, who all wanted to make sure she wouldn't fall. Jason didn't have the heart to tell them they couldn't stop what was about to happen.

As dawn started to creep up on them, Adrien broke down sobbing, begging Marinette to fight a little longer. When the light hit her head, Marinette closed her eyes and smiled. They all saw her start to fade.

Her hands went first. Like dust. As the light increased so did her fading. Before she faded completely, Pixie walked towards them a peaceful smile on her face. Jason was crying now too. His Pixie looked like a ghost.

And as she faded completely, everyone on that roof heard her say, "My name is Jeanette. It's so nice to meet you!"

#Maribat #Maribat Fluff and Angst April #Platonic jasonette #Angst