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forlornmelody · 3 years

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Resurrection Day

Rating: M (just a lot of angst, really. Character death, some graphic violence, and an afterglow moment)

Fandom(s): DC Comics

Ship: Jayrose, RedArse,

Linkage: Ao3

Summary: The Outlaws have always had a funny relationship with death, but when one of their own dies, they try to rise from their mistakes.

Note: Idk if this is a fic, or more my headcanons strung together. Enjoy?

-*-*

“Do you ever regret it?”

Jason only half-hears her, his eyelids heavy, and his body so relaxed with release that he might never move again. “Mm?” he mumbles, pulling his body through quicksand so he can lay on his side and face her.

Rose’s skin still glistens in the evening light, her hair mussed, and her face flushed. Her voice still throaty from moaning and screaming that Jason’s too busy reliving those last straining moments he almost doesn’t hear her again. “Do you ever regret...coming back?”

Pushing himself onto his elbows, Jason gazes down at her with a crooked grin. “To Gotham? Only when Bruce breathes down my neck.”

Snorting, Rose stretches one arm above her head, and her chest rises towards him in a way that makes him suck in his breath. Focus. She won’t meet his eyes, and her lips keep forming words she doesn't speak. “No, I mean. Do you regret being brought back?” The warmth in Jason’s belly turns to ice.

It’s all too easy to remember that god-awful laugh, and the red haze in his vision, and the blood in his eyes. The searing pain of each blow, and the ache every time he tries to breathe. The numbness that settles in when he reaches the door and finds it locked--when he hears the egg timer on Joker’s signature bomb.

Remembering what came after is harder. Running out of air. So much water, but it’s thicker than water, and he can’t get to the surface fast enough. Screaming. So much screaming. Is he screaming? Everyone’s trying to kill him. He can’t get out. He can’t get out. He can’t.

“Jason?” Rose only says his name when she’s worried. She squeezes his shoulder, digging her nails into his skin until his vision clears. “Shit. Sorry.” Sighing in frustration, she looks away. “Didn’t mean to bring all that back.”

Leaning his forehead against hers, Jason tries to get his breathing under control like his shrink taught him, but it’s easier said than done, and he fears the moment lost by the time he does. He tries to turn it into a joke, to lighten the mood. “That’s like asking if I regret being alive.” Jason huffs a laugh, but it falls flat.

Rose bites her lip so hard Jason half-expects it to bleed. She looks up at him as if she’s confessing to murder. Sorry, Asshole, I fucked up again. Guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. “I was there, you know.”

Jason’s eyes widen. “At the Lazarus Pit?” And there he is, again. Drowning.

“Yeah.” She swallows, and the next part comes out thick. “I was the one who told Ra’s Al Ghul where to find your body. He let me watch, as a thank you.”

Nowhere in that haze of memory does Jason recall seeing Rose, and that it is a whole new betrayal. “Where?” He sucks in a breath. “When?”

“Guess you weren’t happy to see me.” She snorts. “You tried to kill me. Well. Everyone, really. But you were fixated on me.” Rose looks at him, finally. “Thaila had to pull you off me before I stopped self-healing altogether.”

“And then you...left?” He’s angry, as if he has any right to be. Jason probably would’ve done the same given the circumstances.

Rose nods. “And the All-Caste offered to take you in, fix you right up. Guess it worked.” A small smile sneaks onto her lips. But it doesn’t reach her eyes.

One of Jason’s first clear memories of that time--a lonely night in his cell in The Chamber of All. Wondering what happened to her. If she had died right along with him and hadn’t been brought back. Being so angry when he got back to Gotham and she apparently had a life of her own. His memories of her, after, are a little less clear. But the distant look in her eyes tells him all he needs to know.

----

“Dude, don’t be so hard on her.” Roy polishes off yet another hot dog, licking his fingers.

“Yeah? Why’s that?” Jason kicks his heels against the edge of the rooftop. He reaches for one of the polish sausages, but his stomach gurgles in protest. Maybe not, then.

“You’ve no idea what she went through to get you back.” He turns to look at him, with those hazel eyes lingering on Jason in a way that always leaves him feeling, well, naked. Which shouldn’t be an issue right? Roy’s seen him naked plenty of times after a mission. There’s only one shower, and that apartment has one tiny ass water heater. Showering together only makes sense? At least there’s room for the both of them, just barely. It often turns into a game of Twister mixed with hot yoga. And like, there’s never been any problem, yeah?

But sometimes the way Jason catches Roy staring at him. Makes him wonder.

If he wants to stare back.

Just every once in a while.

“Like what?” They really shouldn’t have bought the entire foodcart’s stock so the Old Man Gerasimos “Jerry” Angelos could head home early. This is way too much food, even with Roy’s bottomless stomach.

“Maybe you should ask her sometime.”

“Nah, I’m good.” Jason licks his fingers. “It’s easier to not talk about it at all.”

Roy laughs. “Ah, just like how you don’t talk about stuff with anyone else?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jason gives him a playful look, but the look on Roy’s face stops him short.

Roy doesn’t answer. He reaches over instead, wiping the mustard that got caught on the side of his mouth. His fingers are so unbelievably warm, like he’s made of fire and not skin. And Jason aches when he pulls away abruptly.

“I uh, I just remembered that my laundry’s sitting in the washer. Probably stinks already.” Roy rushes off, not even bothering to wipe his fingers on a napkin.

“It always stinks, Harper!” Jason roars after him, but his friend has already shut the door.

Roy dies two days later.

------

“Would you be angry if I--we brought Roy back?” They’re on a rooftop, They’ve been waiting here for hours for Valentino’s men to show, and still nothing. Not all the Tuesday tacos in the world can make the night any less stale. Rose is on her fifth one when she gets philosophical.

Jason snorts. “You say that like it’s possible.”

Rose doesn’t say anything, and that’s what scares him.

“It’s not,” he says, louder.

“Why not?” She wipes quac from the corner of her mouth, staring at the rooftop across the street as if Roy’s gonna pop out of the skylight any second. “We brought you back.”

She can’t be serious. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“You don’t know what it’s like, Rose.”

Rose deadpans at him, her lips tight and firm. “I don’t?”

Jason thinks back to the first time he found her. Her right arm bent backward, her left cradling a wound that had bled out next to her. How her eyes stared out at nothing. Someone had pressed the mute button on the universe, except for the thud of his own heart. He should call someone. Bruce, 911, anyone, but his hands won’t move. “Right, sorry.”

It’s a terrible idea, they both know that, but the thought keeps eating away at him. Every time Jason lets his mind wander, it wanders to Roy--his crooked smile, his careless lean--the clumsiness that shouldn’t belong to a world-class archer, but it does. The headquarters seems so empty without Roy in it--so cavernous yet so claustrophobic like it’s going to eat Jason alive.

-----

Three days later Rose is roundhouse kicking a punching bag when Jason finds her. “We can’t use the Lazarus Pit.”

Rose stumbles, missing the bag completely and tumbling to the floor. “The fuck, Jason!” For someone who sees the future, Rose certainly didn’t hear this coming.

Jason helps her up. “We can’t use the Lazarus Pit. I don’t want Roy going through what I did.” He meets her eyes. “What we did.”

Rose nods, still breathless and annoyed in a way that makes him want to smother her with kisses. “You got another idea?” Jason swallows, squeezing the hand he’s still holding. “Jason?”

“You wouldn’t happen to know your HLA markers, would you?”

“My what?”

----

Rose hates going to the doctor. It’s rarely a problem--her regeneration usually prevents her from getting sick, and her injuries hardly last long enough. But she’s been around enough mad scientists that she practically glares holes into the nurse when he brings out the needle.

“Don’t kill him and maybe I’ll give you a lollipop afterward.” Jason elbows her other arm.

“A lollipop is not what I want to be sucking right now,” Rose fires back, looking at him instead of the needle. She relaxes slightly, and Jason kisses her, brushing her hair behind her ear.

The nurse coughs. “Alright. Easy in--and done.”

Rose swallows, taking in a deep breath. “Finally.” She closes her eyes, then stands up, rushing for the door.

Jason pauses in the doorframe, looking back at the nurse. “Uh, keep us posted.”

“We’ll call.”

----

It’s a stupid idea. The morgue doesn’t even understand why Jason Todd, adopted son of Billionaire Bruce Wayne wants to keep Roy Harper’s body in their freezer, especially when Oliver Queen seems to want it cremated as soon as possible. Bribing the owner doesn’t even work--not with Queen’s fortune also in play. So, Rose concocts some dumbass story about Harper’s biological family coming in from out of town. It’s so crazy that both Queen and the mortician fall for it.

Both Jason and Rose hold their breath when his phone rings. And Rose, and her fucking precognition, hugs him tight and fucking squeals before the nurse even says it “It’s a match.”

---

“Nervous?” Jason sits next to her, squeezing her hand as the scientist hooks the catheter tube to a vein in Roy’s chest. Jason has a hard time looking at his body, so he focuses on Rose instead.

“Fucking terrified.” Rose laughs humorously.

“Trust me, if they try anything I’ll shoot them myself.”

“You know I can hear you, right?”

-----

Rose isn’t sure what’s more surprising, the gleam in Roy’s eyes like he just woke up from a nap, or the desperate kiss Jason gives him when he takes his first breath. Or maybe it’s not surprising at all. She should have known from the way Roy always seemed to be in Jason’s thoughts--he always had a convincing lie, and maybe Rose wanted to believe him. Maybe she should feel angry--betrayed, even, but all she feels is relief.

Finally, Jason remembers they’re not alone, and he breaks off from sucking Roy’s face, his face as red as Roy’s hair.

Roy, on other hand, is not surprised at all. “Missed me that much, huh?”

#melody writes #jayrose #redarse #dc comics #jason todd #rose wilson #roy harper #jayroy #lime #been kind of a rough evening so I posted this to cheer myself up #lemme know if you like it #bi!Jason

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phantaloon-books · 4 years

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(some) Riordanverse characters (bc I never read TKC) and which Hogwarts House I think they would be in

Warning: this is a long one

Nico: the dude is definitely Gryffindor without a doubt. Like Sorting isn't about some traits and some characteristics, it's about core personality. He may have gone through some of the roughest stuff when he was 10-12, and he was resentful and bitter, but he was brave and bold af throughout everything he did. From learning about his powers, to using them relentlessly despite knowing how exhausted he is afterwards, to his willingness to do whatever is necessary to do what has to be done, because it has to be done. You can't change my mind that he's Gryffindor lol.

Grover: Do I even need to explain why he's Gryffindor? He's a satyr, and even if we're shown strong satyrs, they're not really supposed to be brave fighters. Yet he is one of the strongest, bravest nature spirits we've ever encountered in the Riordanverse, and one of the bravest in general. Like he's so passionate about doing what is good, he's a hero, and the only thing he doesn't match with common Gryffindors is that he's humble and as far from arrogant as could be possible, but it doesn't take his courage away.

Hazel: She's Gryffindor, and core personality-wise, she and Nico are very much alike. They don't ever think about themselves, like Hazel really always does what has to be done, no matter the cost, I mean she literally died preventing Gaea to rise the first time, and she freed Thanatos while believing he would take her back to the Underworld. She's brave af, and she has one of the most strong willpower we've seen in the Riordanverse. She's a passionate hero, and she's the closest thing to a real knight in shining armor.

Lester: I'm gonna place him in Gryffindor because I don't think he fits in in the other houses lmao. That said, as Apollo he's very shitty, but as Lester, he's one of the most courageous people. He's grown so much, he's so willing to actually do stuff now, and sacrifice everything to do what's right, including his life, even if he doesn't know he's gonna survive. Hell, he really went most of TTT with an incredibly painful wound that nearly turned him undead, and he cared more for the future of Camp Jupiter than his own life. Additionally, he's a bit arrogant and cocky, but he truly means well, I love Lester so much.

Clarisse: Look look, all I have to say is that no one could have pulled off less than half the stuff Clarisse has done, she's so Gryffindor it hurts. She's reckless and impulsive, but she's driven by her passion to do good, even if she's the daughter of war, and was bullied by her own father. She's daring, she's bold and she is the hero. She's also arrogant and thinks she can solve everything by herself, something characteristic more of the canon Gryffindors in the books, rather than what the fans have shaped. In fact, she's very much like Gryffindors in the books, who are actually very rude to other houses and think they're the best. Still, at heart, she's in this house.

Alex: I'm in a huge dilemma about where to put them, but I reckon they'd fit pretty fine in Gryffindor. Not only are they daring and courageous, they're proud of who they are, but not in a too full of themselves kind of way, rather in a 'I am who I am, and if you can't accept me, fuck off' kind of way. They can get carried away rather easily though, and very arrogant, thinking they don't need anyone else, when they do in fact need some company. They are one of the kindest and at the same time most ambitious characters we've met, but they are brave beyond understanding in a very personal way, thus, Gryffindor.

Percy: I think it's fair to say he'd be Hufflepuff, because loyalty is literally his fucking fatal flaw, and he is the kindest sweetheart to all those who deserve it, he goes out of his way to help those who need help, whether that be mortals, halfbloods, gods, magical creatures or even his own enemies. He's too good for this world, and even if he's grown a bit bitter, he always looks to fight justly for what is right, and never loses faith in others. That, and the fact that he turned down immortality so that the olympians were more inclusive of minor gods, and their children were treated better. He's just a lovely soul, he's like 80% Hufflepuff so that's enough for me. All that and he's stubborn as hell.

Jason: Hufflepuff. Just, undoubtedly Hufflepuff. Like he seems to be this cold and self centered hero with a superiority complex (bc of all the son of Jupiter stuff) but he's the softest guy there is. Not only is he hardworking, open minded and kind, he appreciates justice but he doesn't seek for revenge or anything, he makes sure people are treated fairly and wants everyone to be accepted. Proof of that is how he continued Percy's job of including more gods, and made sure Nico felt comfortable with who he was. He truly has a heart of gold. (He deserved better btw)

Meg: God I can't decide between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor, but I think I'll go with the former. She's so strong, my baby, she's faced so much wrong, but she's still so kind and understanding of others, especially those who deserve kindness. She puts up such a hard facade, but she's so patient and warm and inclusive. She's brave and strong (as strong as the big three kids, if not stronger), but she's also so loyal to her beliefs despite how she was forced someone else's beliefs for years, so I'll keep her in Hufflepuff. Also, she's stubborn af, and she can be lazy, so that settles it.

Will: I KNOW some people will say Will could be in other houses that are not Hufflepuff, BUT I won't have it any other way. Will is literally the warmest person ever. He is kind and sympathetic and enthusiastic and patient and inclusive. Like Helga Hufflepuff would take one look at him and lose her shit screaming "mine". He's the guy who saw the son of Hades so many people were scared of and immediately grabbed his hand and transfered him some warmth and didn't let him go ahead and get himself killed. He's also the one who everyone loves and likes, so much that Clarisse gets along with him and he can calm her down. He's the ideal Hufflepuff, you can't change my mind.

Magnus: I mean, what else can you expect from the son of the god of summer? He's literally a guy who heals others with warmth. He's also the guy who spent years on the street with the most difficult situations, and accepts every single person the way they are. He's inclusive af, and tolerant of everything. He's the guy who's closest include a deaf elf, a Muslim valkyrie, and a black dwarf, and he's dating a genderfluid person. Yes he's brave, and he's kinda smart, and he's ambitious, BUT none of those qualities overpower his Hufflepuff nature.

Piper: Kinda debated whether Gryffindor or Ravenclaw fits more, but in the end I went with Ravenclaw. Even though she isn't a fighter, she's very very brave, yet her bravery isn't compared to her wits. Like others in the PJOverse, she wins her fights by outsmarting her opponents, but unlike others that's one of her strongest traits. She's witty and creative and a little on the negative side, she really struggled to work in a group rather than by herself. On another note, she's able to keep calm in crazy situations and come up with the craziest most unthinkable solutions (I'm talking borderline ridiculous) that always somehow work. She's not booksmart, but she knows so much about everything, and she's lifesmart you know?

Reyna: Why are some of these so hard? Deeply debating whether she'd be Ravenclaw or Slytherin. In the end I'd go more for Ravenclaw though. Reyna's smart as hell, she's strong and sharp, and she always sees the best way out of a situation. She's witty and observant, being able to keep her cool in battle and lead others in the best direction. She's always looking to grow, and she prefers to do things on her own, but she's a great leader. She has some Slytherin qualities, and she's not learning as learning oriented as others, but she's definitely Ravenclaw.

Sam: Let's face it, Sam has the only active neurons in all of MCGA, she's definitely Ravenclaw. I'm gonna be honest though, I've only read MCGA once, so I can't remember much of their personalities, but Sam is witty and clever, pretty much the only one who can come up with competent plans, while the others rely mostly on luck and whatever plan they can cook up in 5 seconds. She's loyal and true to who she is, and she's extremely courageous and proud of who she is, but her sharpness is what she stands out for me, which is why I put her in Ravenclaw.

Annabeth: I know the obvious option is Ravenclaw, but I genuinely think she's also Slytherin. Yes she is booksmart and wise like Ravenclaw, but her personality matches Slytherins' ambitious, cunning and resourceful nature. She's smart as fuck, but she's calculative, she always finds a way to end up winning, and while she does so by outsmarting her opponents, she wouldn't need to outsmart them if she weren't so competitive. I feel like there's this 40/60 odds on Slytherin rather than Ravenclaw, but it's that small difference that counts. Plus her leadership skills are so powerful that people don't ask, they just know she's the boss.

(Also just picture the sweet and loyal Hufflepuff boy with the strong and cunning Slytherin girl, like it should be as opposite as it is with Poseidon and Athena, but they're so cute)

Leo: Idk what you can expect that's not Slytherin. This boy is the embodiment of ambition and determination. Reminder that not all Slytherins are bad btw (I'm slytherin myself), but like he's life smart and cunning, and he can analyze situations faster than anyone else. He's charismatic and talented, and there's no one to stop him from triumphing. I don't have much to say, I just know he'd be in Slytherin.

Rachel: She's kinda a difficult one, and I struggle between Gryffindor and Slytherin, and tbh I'm still not sure. But I think I'd place her in Slytherin, because even if she's brave af (especially since she was a mortal fighting in a war out of her power), her main trait is her determination. When she's set on something, she gets it done. You can't tell her she can't do something, because she will find a way to do it. She's kind, and she's only a mortal, but she still has incredible power unlike any other. I don't think I can really name it, but I think she'd be put on Slytherin with much difficulty from the Sorting Hat.

Luke: Where else could Luke possibly go? On the meaner side Slytherins have created themselves, Luke would be part of those misled by who preceded them, by those who want to take advantage of their mistreatment (bc let's face it, Slytherins are mistreated by both students and Hogwarts staff), and turn them cold and bitter. Luke is ambitious and manipulative, being manipulated himself, and it comes easily because of his natural charisma and talent. He's very freaking determined and cunning too. He'd fit right into Slytherin, but he'd be viewed as one of the rotten lot.

Thalia: I don't have much to say about this, but Thalia is the girl whose fatal flaw is their desire for power (or smth along those lines), just like most Slytherins. She's ambitious, she's smart, she's truly talented, she stands out between the rest, and she knows it, and she actually kinda likes it.

(Also I put Annabeth, Thalia and Luke in the same house because they're all kinda similar, even if their beliefs and postures are different.

Frank: Ngl I'm having more difficulty with Frank than anyone else. I'm kinda torn between Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. I literally can't choose. He'd fit perfectly in any of them lmao, I just can't decide where he'd go. You decide this one yourself.

Please keep in mind, this is my personal opinion and my take on the characters, and not all of you will agree, and that's fine! You can let me know what you think (kindly please, don't come at me), and if you want to, send me an ask on a character you want me to do the same as these (as long as it's not TKC, I'M SORRY I haven't read those) go ahead, don't be shy!

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why-this-kolaveri-machi · 4 years

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whumptober day 1: restrained

i’m doing whumptober this year! slowly, but i’m going to try to do them all.

summary: dick wishes he were in an actual cage, or hanging from shackles in some dank basement. anything would be better than this.

warnings: some swearing, mentions of suicide. ostensibly set in comics-canon, but uh... set in a nebulous time-line that doesn’t really spoil anything other than the fact that damian is robin.

restrained

There are worse places to get stuck than the Wayne manor’s living room, Dick muses. At least he’s comfortable, people can come and visit him, and there’s limitless entertainment on the TV to distract him. He’s not in some dank basement hanging his entire weight from his arms, and he’s certainly not tied to a cold torture table or to a chair in the centre of a room that’s slowly flooding and he has to slips his knots before he drowns and is that a squid that’s trying to wrap itself around his face, what the fuck—

Okay, so Dick has had more than his share of weird and terrible experiences being tied up. Compared to them, this is a fucking holiday.

“This is getting silly, Grayson,” Damian says, leaning against the entrance to the living room, arms crossed over his chest.

“Has it only just, Dami,” Dick mutters. He’s lounging on the sofa, one arm over his eyes. He hasn’t moved from this position for at least a couple of hours. He isn’t sure if ‘moving’ is going to be on the agenda for the near future. He just can’t see the point.

“Have you tried leaving again today? Maybe the—spell,” Dick imagines Damian’s mouth twisting, the tip of his nose pointing towards the ceiling, “has worn off by now.”

Dick grunts. The truth is, he hasn’t tried in a few days at least. The first few days he couldn’t stop throwing himself against the invisible barrier between this (goddamn fucking) living room and the rest of the world, even if it meant that each time it felt like he was being cut open and electrocuted. It was only a combination of Bruce and Jason bodily holding him back and his own body giving up on him, unable to process that much pain for that long, that made him stop.

The family’s called in favours with Zatanna, Constantine, Doctor Fate, pretty much anyone who has even passing experience with magic and can figure out what’s going on and why it seemed like only Dick was trapped there. And until they can find a solution, Dick, well…

I’ve had worse, he reminds himself again.

“That’s not an answer,” Damian says.

Dick bites back on an angry retort and turns so that he’s facing the backrest of the sofa. He means well, Dick thinks, but if he has to look at Damian’s half-concerned, half-contemptuous expression again he’s going to say something he will regret. Again.

After a long moment, he hears Damian click his tongue against his teeth. “It’s a good thing you’re not in enemy territory, Grayson,” he says, before walking away, “where your utter lack of self-preservation might’ve ended up endangering someone else.”

And that’s the crux of the whole thing, isn’t it? If he’s in enemy hands he at least has a purpose, a readily identifiable objective, something to overcome. Here, he feels like a goldfish in a bowl, able to smell, hear and see freedom but never able to get there. Each little concession to his situation—from the portable toilet that Alfred’s dragged in there, to installing whatever gym equipment that can fit in the space, to the growing collection of books, blu-rays and multiple new streaming subscriptions—feels like a defeat to an invisible enemy he hasn’t even begun to fight.

(that he doesn’t know how to fight—)

He pulls his blanket over his shoulders, closes his eyes, and surprises himself by falling asleep almost immediately.

Dick’s woken by the sound of alarms. He’s up on his feet and running towards the source of the sound before he can even put together a conscious thought; it sounds like somebody’s trying to gain unauthorised access into the Batcave, which can only mean--

He stops short when it feels like he’s run into a wall of electricity. His mind tips sideways, sparks filling his vision, nerves misfiring and his body convulsing in their wake. He falls to the floor, twitching, the impact digging bruises into his skin. He curls into a ball, his muscles taut and pulling impossibly tauter, drool seeping from a mouth that he can’t seem to close and screams locked inside a chest that he can’t seem to move.

The moment stretches for an eternity until it isn’t, and he heaves a shuddering breath. His vision clears enough to see Damian--in full Robin costume--crouched in front of him, pale and frowning. Jason’s standing behind him, shirtless and panting.

“Dick,” Damian says. His voice is small, and scared.

Dick should be trying to reassure him. He should be teasing him about using Dick instead of Grayson or Richard or any number of semi-fond insults. He should be trying to figure out which is way up, honestly, given the way the room is still spinning. Instead he says, “... the intruder?”

“My fault,” Jason says. “Tripped an alarm by mistake. But, Dick, you…”

Dick starts to push himself up on shaky arms. “I’m okay,” he says, even though his voice feels like it’s scraping through the gravel in his throat. “I must’ve gotten farther than I realised.”

Jason and Damian exchange looks.

“That’s the thing, Dick,” Jason says, after a long, silent moment. “You didn’t.”

That’s when Dick notices that he’s barely two feet away from the couch.

“Oh,” he says.

Now that the circle’s started closing in around him, it doesn’t stop. Everyday, Dick discovers that the space that he can exist without pain that feels like his body is being flayed open with a machete is getting smaller and smaller. There’s a point where he can’t move from the couch, even to use the portable toilet--unless he wants to live inside it.

This is the point where he stops eating.

Family and friends come and go, reassuring, pleading, sometimes yelling at him to not give up. Dick wants to be grateful that he isn’t alone in this, but seeing the way they move in and out of the… cage that he’s in with no effort at all brings him to the verge of heart-pounding, dizzying panic. A large part of him is still unable to reconcile the wide open spaces he sees around him with his inability to… be in those spaces. An actual cage would probably be easier to deal with.

(For a fraction of a moment, Dick considers asking Bruce to build him one. He can’t imagine that desire being treated as anything other than a joke, but he is well past the point of joking now.)

“We’re close to finding the solution,” Tim tells him fiercely. “I know it. That’s why the spell’s accelerating.”

Dick’s supposed to be the hopeful one, and yet it’s always Tim who’s reaching for even the slightest sliver of light and it’s always Dick who’s too afraid to believe him. The words I’ll die before that happens come unbidden to his mouth, but he doesn’t say them; for one, they would devastate Tim, who already looks a moment away from shattering, and two, would he really die? Or would he just be in this horrific pain for all of eternity?

(would he be allowed to--)

Bruce spends an entire day sitting with him, talking about everything except Dick’s current predicament. He talks about old and new cases, about Damian’s newest addition to his bat-menagerie, about upgrading the Batmobile and the time Alfred tried to teach him to make Bechamel sauce and he ended up burning a perfectly good pan because for some reason when it came to cooking, he lost all sense of time and proportion.

Dick appreciates the effort, and tries to participate, but at this point he thinks it would be a mercy to be left alone.

Dick can’t move. Even the slightest slump in his posture means his muscles seize up in agony, forcing him to find a position that hurts the least and… stay that way. He can’t speak. He can barely breathe.

Damian’s taken to cuddling next to him, bereft of his last shred of self-consciousness. He doesn’t look at Dick, but tucks his head under Dick’s chin, arms wrapped around his chest. The steady stream of visitors has trickled down to just his family, who move around him, silent, slow and haggard. They’re close to giving up, he realises. They’re so close to letting him--letting him--

No. Now that the moment’s here, Dick finds he’s not even remotely ready. He doesn’t want to die. He doesn’t want to die!

He tries to speak, but the slightest movement of his jaw shoots white hot pain down his neck and spine, and all he can manage is a whimper.

Bruce crouches in front of him until his face is level with Dick’s. “It’s okay, Dick,” he says. “This will be over soon.”

Dick blinks, tears slipping down his face to soak into Damian’s hair.

#nightwing #dick grayson #my fic #whumptober2020 #damian wayne #bruce wayne #jason todd #tim drake #no.1

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prettyboysdontlookatexplosions · 4 years

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so i am finally forcing myself to conclude my magicians rewatch with the last two episodes of s4, out of some combination of completionism/masochism/truly could not even process where everything was leaving off plot-wise the first time through, and i KNOW that i am UNFASHIONABLY LATE to the party of being mad about the magicians s4, but this is as it has always been a blog for whatever it is i cannot stop screaming about, so, some screaming re: not necessarily objectively the worst but the things that make me, personally, most enraged about the worst hour and a half of television i have watched in my life:

-before we even get in here, there’s just so much about… the entire show and especially this season… that makes no sense if the way it ends is Quentin Dies, so above all i am mad because this show tricked me into thinking that it was complex rather than incoherent. even setting aside the queliot of it all (which LOL), why have the entire conflict about quentin going to blackspire if you’re then going to double down on his sacrificial impulse a season later? why have him say he hopes to be a dad someday - a very tender and meaningful thing to come from a character who started the series unable to imagine even wanting a future for himself, whose deepest fears as surfaced by the mind prison back in S1 involve being unable to live independently and hurting his family, which shows such an evolution in how he sees himself and what he believes himself capable of - only to kill him 5 episodes later? is it literally just to make it hurt worse?

-so much is infuriating because it is ALMOST good! there’s ALMOST a very interesting and evocative metaphor about how the magic martin chatwin used to torture plover relentlessly keeps him alive in the poison room, something that hearkens back to eliot’s observation way back that he had all that power and still couldn’t stop thinking about the room where it happened. but then it’s all thrown in with plover of all people delivering all this shit about how people can change but no one will let you which is just, why? why would you put that idea in his mouth? what are you trying to say here?

-quentin looks EXTREMELY hot in an unzipped black sadness hoodie, very tony stark in iron man 3 vibes. this is oppressive to me. quentin should not look this hot while having to engage with such nonsense!

-the fish… the fucking fish… why would you specifically write that joshfish needs eye contact from a character who can pop out her own eye… and then use that to sideline margo from saving the most important person in her life… WHY

-alice giving margo relationship advice COULD be amazing but IS stupid because it’s the second time this season that a female character is like, “maybe i AM too much of an idiot to identify my own feelings until someone else points them out to me,” also because of the fish thing

-the alice/quentin romantic reunion… i don’t know. i don’t know what to fucking do with this. i think it is the second most infuriating thing to me, after quentin’s death, because it feels so regressive for both characters? why is alice getting back with her boyfriend of 3 years ago when her arc this season seemed to be about learning to live with her past without being trapped by it? what of eating gummy bears in modesto? it could have been a very beautiful moment for BOTH these characters who are so pathologically haunted by regret to reach a level of maturity and care that allowed them to say, we both love each other deeply and want to be a part of each other’s lives, but not the way we meant that three years ago, in a new way as careful deliberate friends which we’ve never really had a chance to be. and instead it is… the least romantic romantic scene in the history of television?

-there is so much i cannot make heads or tails of in the decisions around quentin in these two episodes and this is like top of the list, honestly. how the fuck are we supposed to read quentin’s decision to get back together with alice? because the explanation that makes sense is that he is traumatized out of his mind and extremely depressed and 2 out of the 3 most important people in her life are possessed by omnipotent god creatures maybe forever and ultimately yes he DOES love alice and he DOES trust her and no part of him is capable of engaging with anything like romantic feelings right now but he’s kind of like, well, you know what, why not. why not, if i feel like complete garbage and my best friend/unresolved former life partner love interest situation are probably going to die (especially since julia going goddess was like one of the closest things they still had to hope for beating the monster, as stated by julia herself in the previous episode!), just get back with my ex i don’t hate anymore. she’s into it, she’s here, maybe that will make me feel better. and what makes me feel like i have swallowed horse tranquilizers is that THAT IS FULLY HOW JASON RALPH PLAYS THIS SCENE???? we have seen quentin in the throes of actual love and desire, with both alice and eliot! IT DOESN’T LOOK AT ALL LIKE THIS! but that interpretation only makes sense if at some point later you are going to unpack it and undo it, which you can’t do… if he’s… dead. so: ??????????

-when alice floats the possibility that quentin has maybe managed to forgive himself, which is a bonkers thing to even be in the script at this point like that is always on some level relevant for quentin but so not in the top hundred concerns relating to the actual situation at hand broadly or on the alice/quentin level, nothing about quentin’s response says the answer is yes??? he takes this heartbreaking shuddering breath and dodges the question??? again, congruent with a reading where he is getting back with his ex out of intense depressed person logic but not remotely squarable with “and then he dies emotionally resolved”??? what are you trying to communicate to us insane writers/brilliant actor jason ralph i DON’T UNDERSTAND

-everyone else TELLING quentin he still loves fillory… let my son whomst is about to die have agency to define his own fucking feelings!!!!! also, bonus bananas reason to sideline margo with babysitting fish josh: of all the characters on this dumb show i think she is like fully the only one we could argue still loves fillory!!!

-there is so much wasted potential in the monster… honestly i can’t even go there in delineating all of it. so much evocative shit is thrown out (and hale appleman gives such a weird fun sad gross strange complicated performance) and then nothing ever means anything.

-again: there’s ALMOST something great in the idea alice and quentin toss back and forth that growing up doesn’t have to mean discarding everything about who you were before. there’s ALMOST an idea there which circles all the way back to the very first episode of the show, where quentin decides that his problem is not that he is depressed and sad and scared but that he needs to grow up and grow out of the person that he is. but what is the show trying to say in having his girlfriend from 3 years ago tell him this? why, again, if their rekindled relationship is supposed to be legible as real, does he spend the entire interaction looking like he wants to, uh, die? WHY does the show have alice echo back to quentin a sentiment about himself (that it’s beautiful that he really believes in things) that was last heard FROM MARGO, RIGHT BEFORE QUENTIN BLEW UP HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH ALICE BY HOOKING UP WITH HER?

-why… would you have… your beautiful sad depresso bean… express out loud the sentence, “if this couldn’t make me happy, then what would?”... and then kill him 40 minutes later and try to swear up and down these two things are unconnected. why. why would you have this moment of the despair of confronting the fundamental randomness of the universe, of being forced to abandon the quest to find meaning outside yourself, and follow that up with, um, literally anything other than the realization that meaning comes from within, can only be determined by the self, etc. why is that not the particular strain of wisdom quentin has spent four years building towards? especially given the occasional glimpses of it he’s previously had? (sometimes it is good merely to eat bacon and touch hands; the fuckin mosaic timeline) why don’t we go from the idea of fillory saved my life to my own capacity for belief saved my life, i saved my own fucking life, that’s a goddamn power i can take with me anywhere? or like, EVEN the fact that the fillory-flower decides that loving the idea of fillory IS enough, there’s… places to go with that, with the idea that things are what we make of them, we are the ones who make things matter or not… but no. now we can drink magic kool-aid and die stupidly. that’s the payoff.

-jason ralph of course acts the absolute shit out of this scene which makes it even more insulting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how dare you use his beautiful face, the most expressive face in the history of faces, to go there!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-i cannot believe there is so much bad television still to go after this

-do they have penny23 state out loud “it should be her choice” to make it feel like it’s okay for him to then go and make that choice?

-kady stating out loud that all she wanted to be penny’s girlfriend is… one of the most hateful things i have ever seen on television

-the fact that margo is in the mood for making out while things are at a critical point in Operation Save Eliot… hateful!

-julia immediately backing down from “fuck you for ending the 5 minutes of bodily autonomy i get every season” to “let me make moon-eyes at you”... H A T E F U L

-IN GENERAL, the hideousness with which every single fucking female main is treated in these two episodes is loathsome because it has forced me to finally understand the goddamn g*me of thr*nes people… for years i watched them be like, “yes, very much rape all the time, but sansa is so hardcore!” and just shook my head pityingly… but i too was fooled. i too was fucking bamboozled into genuinely loving 4 imaginary women that the show refuses to grant bodily autonomy or basic dignity or full personhood. sorry sansa people. i judged you too harshly this whole time.

-i mostly don’t hate josh or margo/josh but josh explaining to quentin why margo is mad makes me want to commit an act of physical violence

-there is SOME OTHER UNIVERSE with SOME OTHER SEASON 4 where the finale culminating in a celebration of the power of collaborative magic is very interesting and moving and thematically relevant. i would have LOVED to watch that season.

-why do we get to see the monster appreciating the beauty of the world 30 seconds before he dies? what is the point of this, other than to taunt us about what the monster could have been?

-everyone has said this 500 times but i will say it a 501st: it is literally unbelievable that quentin betrays no reaction whatsoever to eliot being monster-free.

-why the fuck is the scene in the seam staged the way it is!!! why does quentin take 800 years to throw the fucking bottles in!!!! why does his death look like a music video from 2004.

-to identify quentin as having the most beautiful and thematically lovely discipline possible and then two episodes later turn it into a snappy one-liner to usher in the worst thing i’ve ever seen on a television program…. haaaaaaaaate

-i can’t even be coherent about this scene between quentin and pod person penny except to REITERATE that it should be ILLEGAL for someone to give a performance THIS GOOD for writing THIS BAD

-wait i do have one thing to say which is re: “then i found brakebills, and all that went away” - enraging to me personally BECAUSE: the exact moment i fell in love with this dumb show was the closing of season 1, episode 6, the secrets magic in the trials, the moment the show careened away from the narrative it had been selling apparently straightforwardly for its first half-season - that quentin was only sad and sick because he didn’t know who he was, that after all his pain came from in fact being from secretly more special than everyone else - by laying out bare what was very, very evident in quentin’s actual behavior and temperament, which was that in fact brakebills hadn’t fixed him, in fact he had come to brakebills and remained exactly who he was, “this person that i fucking hate.” that was so true, and wise, and real, and felt like something really special that i hadn’t ever seen articulated quite so clearly and poignantly. so… to directly contradict that amazing moment of self-awareness and honesty and vulnerability… HATE

-not even gonna talk about this dumb fire scene except that scoring it to a song that includes the line “slowly learning that life is okay” is very very evil

-and, once again, julia echoing quentin’s card trick from the pilot could be really beautiful… in literally any other fucking context!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-in conclusion: HATE

#the magicians #the magicians negative #? is that the fandom etiquette... it's been a while

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mobius-prime · 4 years

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237. Sonic the Hedgehog #169

Order from Chaos (Part Two): The Great Harmony

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: Jason Jensen

Sonic races ahead through the nanite city, still searching for his father and Tails. He finds his father lying on the ground some distance ahead, and Jules informs him that with Tails delivered to A.D.A.M., he's been ordered to self-destruct, but since A.D.A.M. forgot to actually give him a time limit he's set himself to fall apart in about forty years, plenty of time for Sonic to free him from A.D.A.M.'s control. With his father relatively safe for the moment, Sonic presses on to the spire, where A.D.A.M. has begun to use the power of Shadow and Tails to draw every Chaos Emerald in the universe to him. Time to sound off! The green emeralds are of course from Mobius. The cyan emeralds are from Weeet, Car-heem's home planet from StH#23. The blue emeralds are from the Xorda's home planet, and the red, as we saw during Tossed in Space, from Thoraxia. The purple ones are from Teragosa 6, that utopian planet that E.V.E. ate in StH#128, and, from the same issue, the yellow ones are from the star that E.V.E. threw herself into afterward. And finally, the gray ones are from none other than Argentum, the Bem homeworld where Tails' parents still reside! Man, awfully convenient that every single variety of Chaos Emerald in the universe happens to come from places that Sonic has either visited or had some connection with, huh? With all the emeralds collected, they swirl around A.D.A.M.'s spire in multicolored loops - but he realizes that there's one emerald that still eludes his reach.

Well, but of course! It wouldn't be a Sonic canon without the Master Emerald, right? How interesting that Finitevus has shown himself to Locke, though… Sonic finally arrives on the scene, and A.D.A.M. reveals to him that Tommy is still alive under all the nanites, and fully conscious. Ah, so an "and I must scream" kind of situation, huh? Eggman is furious now that he's no longer directly cowering under A.D.A.M.'s gaze, and disowns A.D.A.M. as his son, leading A.D.A.M. to reveal his true reason for doing all of this: because he wants his daddy to love him. That's it. Seriously. He got Eggman to kill M because he felt he might love her more than him, as well. All this comes down to daddy issues. Sonic even lampshades just how ridiculous this is, that even Shadow doesn't angst like this. Sonic tries to attack A.D.A.M., but A.D.A.M. briefly lifts the nanites away from Tommy's head, revealing Tommy inside looking very disoriented and pained. Sonic hesitates to attack him, unwilling to hurt his friend to get to A.D.A.M., which of course, gives A.D.A.M. an opening to knock him aside. Eggman actually helps Sonic back to his feet, telling him to keep A.D.A.M. busy until his Egg Fleet can get here to blast him to bits. Sonic, however, not wanting Tommy to end up hurt, decides to turn things up a notch and go for the very tempting Giant Tower of Chaos Emeralds for a power-up.

While Super Sonic and Super A.D.A.M. start battling it out in the air, Eggman releases Shadow and Tails from their pods, with them having by now been forced into their Super and Turbo forms respectively by the power of so many nearby emeralds. Turbo Tails, realizing that he hasn't yet fulfilled his prophecy after all, recognizes that this is the Great Harmony and enlists Shadow's help to open a portal to a parallel zone to send the Chaos Emeralds there to safety, away from here.

Something special indeed! It's quite creative, actually, that Ian found a way to turn such a throwaway "Chosen One" thing into an actual plot device to help him with his clean-up detail. A.D.A.M. is furious at the loss of the gems, and Sonic tries to get him to let Tommy go and give up, but A.D.A.M. refuses… until the nanites around Tommy's head melt away, with Tommy having been finally able to wrest back control for a second. Sonic is overjoyed, but Tommy tells him that he won't have control for long, and apologizes for being so much trouble, as well as thanking Sonic for his kindness. The Egg Fleet arrives, and Tommy forces A.D.A.M. to fly towards it. Sonic tries to stop him, but it's too late, and the cannons fire, vaporizing both Tommy and A.D.A.M. in an instant. Sonic loses his Super form and floats to the ground, rather morbidly holding what's left of his friend in one hand.

Awww. Apparently Ian's decision to kill off Tommy here was because he wasn't a particularly popular character, and while I'll agree that he was kind of one-dimensional and uninteresting in his first few appearances, I had grown to like him as part of the team. At least in the end, he got to be a true hero, and took A.D.A.M. with him.

…for a Friend

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Steven Butler Colors: Aimee Ray

I know it's not listed in my credits here, but Kenders actually inked and lettered for this story! I mentioned in his final issue as a writer than there was one more story he had involvement with, and this is it - as far as I've been able to find, he wasn't involved with any other stories from here on out. So I suppose, in a way, this is truly our final goodbye to Kenders!

Mighty, Ray, and Espio have all journeyed out to the former site of Charmy's home, the Golden Hive Colony, in search of any information on his family's whereabouts, with Vector providing assistance over the radio from Knothole. Mighty and Ray are mostly staying outside as lookouts, while Espio, with his superior stealth skills, sneaks into the giant structure that once housed the colony, but which has now been repurposed into one of Eggman's many bases. It's worth noting that up until now, Ray hasn't been a very well fleshed out character at all, but under Ian's writership he actually gains a pretty significant stutter. I'm not sure if the implication is meant to be that he just naturally stutters, or if his trauma led him to develop one, but either way, it's a small character detail that I appreciate. Anyway, Espio sneaks in, getting information on the location of the base's main computer from one terrified robot, and once he takes out the robots using said computer for Solitaire, Nicole helps him hack into it.

I love this. I think this is the first time the comic - or any Sonic canon, actually - has ever really gone into Eggman's reasons behind what he does. In most canons he is shown to genuinely value family to some degree, as he idolizes his grandfather and in the comics specifically likes to keep Snively close. That said, he is a sadist at heart, and someone being a blood relative is not enough for him to decide not to torture and murder them, as we saw with the disaster with the Overlanders in Robotropolis some time ago. Therefore, with most of his family gone, and Snively having some level of immunity as an underling, he finds his enjoyment in not only hurting the Mobians and other Overlanders that he's at war with, but in ensuring that even his own forces can be terrified of him. This is backed up by what Nicole finds in the computer's database.

With that, Espio sets the base to blow up and escapes before he's caught in it, much to Mighty and Ray's relief. He dodges their questions about why he destroyed it at first, until he curtly explains that since Eggman hurt his friend, he decided to hurt him back. Thus, the Golden Hive Colony is gone, but at least there's hope for some survivors to be found sometime in the future.

#nala reads archie sonic preboot #archie sonic #archie sonic preboot #sonic the hedgehog #sth 169 #writer: ian flynn #pencils: tracy yardley #pencils: steven butler #colors: jason jensen #colors: aimee r ray

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sweetwriting · 4 years

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TimKon Week 2020 - Day 1: What’s Going On?

Category: Gen or Pre-slash

Genre: Angst/Friendship

Fandoms: DC Comics, Superverse, Teamverse

Continuity: Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint & Rebirth

Summary: Iris Force didn't really have visions, she just knew things. But tonight, for the first time, she had one. And it was about somebody who shouldn't be there. The TimKon part isn’t that big even if it hints at how bit it could be. As of this story they’re still just friends so it can be seen as platonic or romantic

Word Count: 3356

AN: A part of this is a WIP I had already posted here : https://sweetwriting.tumblr.com/post/165029401671/hello-this-is-a-snippet-for-a-fic-ive-always but to which I was never able to find fitting parts. This part stayed at least as an inspiration of the Vibe I wanted to give but ended up being put to the side. However this Prompt gave me an idea so I’ll try to see where it goes and if it does’n work well…It will be considered as a bonus :D There’s also a reference to Ruelle’s song “I will Find You” as this song is kinda linked to most of the TimKon Angst and general New Rebirth Plot.

Prompt: Under Lock & Key - Future

Can be read on AO3

A breath.

Everything was dark. Were his eyes even open?

Another breath.

What was he feeling around him? It felt like a liquid. But how could he possibly breathe in a liquid?

Another one. He extended his arms. Glass. Surrounding him.

And another. Faster.

He didn’t have enough place to extend them completely.

Another breath. Panic.

Who was he? Another one.

How did he know he was a “he”.

And another.

What was going on?

And another.

Where was he?

And another.

Why.

Another.

How.

Another.

Where.

Another.

Superman.

That was his name. But it wasn’t. It was supposed to be his name. But it wasn’t. Why. Who was he?

Paul Westfield.

That was his father? No.

Alexander Luthor. Was he his father? No. Disgusting.

Who?

Why?

How?

Where?

Was Superman his father? No. Brother. Clark Kent? Same.

Names.

So many names.

Robin, Impulse, Wonder Girl, Roxy, Rex Leech, Dubbilex, Tana Moon, Sam Makoa, Guardian, Hero, Matrix, Aura, Half-Life, Sparx, Empress, Arrowette, Secret, Red Tornado, Traya, Speedy, Green Lantern, Ravager, Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Nightwing, Flash, Max Mercury, Wonder Woman, Troia, Agent A, Batman, Not Robin, Red Hood, Spoiler, Batgirl, Knockout, Lori, Simon, Ma Kent. Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Donna Troy, Diana Prince, Wally West, Dick Grayson, Jim Harper, Victor Stone, Garfield Logan, Koriand’r, Rose Wilson,,Sterling, Kyle Rainer, Mia Dearden, Victoria no Greta Hayes, Cissie King-Jones, Anita Fite, Donna Carol Force, Byron Stark, Lindsey Wah, Hero Cruz, Cassandra Sandsmark, Bart Allen.

Tim.

Tim Drake.

He remembers.

Names.

His best friends.

Bart and Tim.

This is a pod or a tube or whatever.

He’s Superboy, Kon-El, Conner Kent. The Metropolis Kid, The Boy of Steel.

And he has to find his friends. To make sure Ma is okay. He can’t abandon them again. He can’t abandon Tim again. How long was he in there?

Panic.

Everything goes completely white.

- - - - -

Shortly before Flashpoint happened.

Timberton, British Columbia, Canada.

Iris Force woke up with a gasp. It was the first time she saw what felt so far off in the future and felt so entwined with the recipient of her vision. It was that boy, Superboy who had been one of her dear D.C’s friends back when she went to that horrible party place.

She suddenly heard her door open and the voice of her granddaughter, Anastasia, come to her.

“Granny Iris, I’ve felt you panic, are you alright?”

Iris felt her dear Anastasia settle next to her and help her sit by pulling her elbow.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you up?” She answered, leaving herself time to try and sort out what could be happening.

Anastasia’s hands came to take her own in them in a reassuring gesture.

“Don’t worry, I’m honestly more concerned by the strangely strong reaction you showed to one of you visions. And especially since I’ve never known you to have prophetic dreams”.

Iris turned her head toward her granddaughter. She might not be able to see but she wasn’t going to be impolite.

“This is a problem, It didn’t seem to be a prophetic dreams yet it still was. It seemed to be happening in a far-off future but in the past at the same time. Distant and close at once. I’ve been trying to make sense of it but I can’t seem to be able to do that. And it’s something I’d rather have sorted out before I talk to Donna Carol.”

Anastasia startled and asked in a tiny voice why her sister was concerned.

“It’s about the Superboy. You remember, they were friends a few years ago. Even if they lost touch his death and resurrection had deeply affected her and I think this might too.”

- - - - - -

Prime Earth. Around the Time Red Robin’s future self came to the present.

Timberton, British Columbia, Canada.

She suddenly heard her door open and the voice of her granddaughter, Anastasia, come to her.

“Granny Iris, I’ve felt you panic, are you alright?”

Iris felt her dear Anastasia settle next to her and help her sit by pulling her elbow.

“I’m sorry, did I wake you up?” She answered, leaving herself time to try and sort out what could be happening.

Anastasia’s hands came to take her own in them in a reassuring gesture.

“Don’t worry, I’m honestly more concerned by the strangely strong reaction you showed to one of you visions. And especially since I’ve never known you to have prophetic dreams”.

Iris turned her head toward her granddaughter. She might not be able to see but she wasn’t going to be impolite.

“This is a problem, It didn’t seem to be a prophetic dreams yet it still was. It seemed to be happening in the near future but in the past at the same time. Distant and close at once. I’ve been trying to make sense of it but I can’t seem to be able to do that. And it’s something I’d rather have sorted out before I talk to Donna Carol.”

Anastasia startled and asked in a tiny voice why her sister was concerned.

“I do not know, I just know it concerns a Superboy. They were friends a few years ago. No. They were not. I know the universe had changed but I don’t exactly know how. This is one of these changes.”

She knew Anastasia was frowning. She could not blame her as it was confusing even for her. She had told her family the universe had changed but since most of those changes were unknown even to her, and since their family didn’t seem in any immediate danger, they let it be and almost never thought of it again. Except for Donna Carol. She wanted to act. To become a hero. It was obvious but she had never acted on it. Probably due to the knowledge that a past she had lived had been erased. While it fueled her desire to help as a hero more than before it also scared her. The fact that her aunt had not left the family and as such making sure Donna Carol did not have an example to follow might have also helped.

Because yes, Iris knew Donna Carol had been a hero and Allure had left. But that was only because she saw the shift between then and now within the family. She could only see the very big changes when she met people concerned by them.

Just like she knew this conversation had happened before the shift. Maybe not the exact same but her other/past self had the same vision.

What was happening?

- - - - - - -

Conner awoke to a dark room. Or was it a cave? It was too dark to tell but he could not hear the telltale sign of machinery. No sound, no light. Nothing

He wasn’t sure. What he knew was that he was in a pod, in a liquid. That he had woken up some time before and gotten most of his memory back. The pod had fallen sideways on the ground and was the glass was cracking. He tried to push against it but he couldn’t.

Why? Why couldn’t he just burst though? Why wasn’t his TTK working? Where was he? What was going on?

So he screamed.

“HELP! SOMEONE HELP! BART! TIM! CLARK! CA…”

He was interrupted by crackling. And a sudden burst of blue light.

Right in front of him was electricity in the shape of a woman. He smiled in relief. He knew her after all, she was an old friend of his.

“D.C! Boy am I glad to see you! It’s been a while!”

The girl however didn’t seem to show the same joy.

“Wow Granny said I knew a Superboy in the old world but I half believed her. But you actually look that other Superboy who disappeared, and you seem to know me.”

Now Conner was confused. What old world? Why would she need Granny Iris to tell her they were friends? Why was he still in this thing?

“Whatever! Can you help me get out? I can’t seem to be able to use any of my powers.”

D.C shrugged and agreed. She fried the commands and opened the lid of the pod before lifting him then she promptly let him fall as she covered her eyes and turned around.

Conner fell on his butt, the floor was made of wood so he didn’t hurt himself much, but apparently he hadn’t retained his invulnerability.

“Hey! Why did you drop me DC?!”

D.C. had curled up in the air, her back still to him. She answered him in a small voice.

“You’re naked”

Conner looked down. She was right. It was luck then that the floor was made of wood and not a less smooth surface. He looked around. There wasn’t anything to cover himself as he was in a bare rectangular room only filled with cables. The door DC had opened seemed to show water as he could see the ripples reflecting the moon and stars in what would be a rather bleak night otherwise.

D.C ran toward the door with her eyes closed.

“I’m gonna go try and find you something more decent. Wait here!”

And she left him there. Well he didn’t have much shame but even he knew better than to walk around naked -if only to avoid unwanted attention when he was already so confused. In the meantime he would try to see what he could still do. So he tried to get up, and promptly fell down again.

“OK so baby steps…literally.”

Two hours later and he could finally walk almost normally. However he really couldn’t use any of his powers. He also wasn’t anywhere close to knowing what was going on. That’s when he heard the telltale sound of Sparx’s powers nearby.

She came in with her eyes closed and two pieces of cloth in her arms.

“OK so pants are harder to fit especially since I don’t know your size so I found a hoodie and a skirt, hope you don’t mind”.

She threw the clothes n the room and turned around. Conner Started putting them on as he answered.

“They definitely wouldn’t be my first choice but I don’t mind. At least the skirt is nicer than the dress I had to wear last time”.

“Wait.You really wore a dress?”

“Yeah, it was to be used as a distraction. Honestly it was fun even if I had my costume underneath. All right, I’m all done.”

D.C turned toward him.

“Hey it’s actually not that bad. Though the fact that it’s night and we can’t really see the colors probably help.”

Conner rolled his eyes. Of course he looked good in it. He looked good in almost everything. Granted he wasn’t sure what he looked like right now. Sparx coughed and he brought his attention back on her.

“OK so…this isn’t the most comfortable place to talk and I’m honestly not the best person to talk world heroics with so I’m gonna bring you to my family and especially my granny Iris. Don’t worry though they all…”

“Have powers, yeah I know I already met them, you brought us there remember?”

“That’s the thing actually, I don’t. I’m only here because of granny Iris”

“Oh.”

There was a slight lull before D.C started again.

“Anyway we should go, you can fly right?”

Conner shifted slightly.

“Yeah, actually, no. I seem to have lost my powers actually”

“Well it’s okay, I’ll just have to fly you there. We might have to take a few breaks though because while I’m not slow, I’m also not strong enough to go all the way there while holding you in one go”

Conner nodded and they left. As Sparx got high up in the sky, he noticed that what they left wasn’t a room but actually one of several train cars left on the side of a river bank. It seemed to have been separated from another part which was nowhere to be found. Moss had started to grow on it so it had been there for a while. He had been there for a while.

- - - - - - - -

It took them six hours to get to the Force family and they mostly spoke about the new tv shows that D.C. had found interesting lately so they would avoid any topic too heavy (apparently he had missed out on a hilarious cop show). Also Smartphones were so much more advanced as they were the last time he saw them.

- - - - - - -

Timberton, British Columbia, Canada.

As they landed in front of a house in a clearing surrounded by woods, a young brown-haired teenager came to greet them.

“D.C ! Mom said that you would probably need to rest when arriving so you need to show Superboy the guest room.”

D.C. undid her transformation and turned into a cute girl with short brown hair and dressed in a baseball shirt and jeans.

“No way! I’m not tired and I wanna know what’s going on!”

Ana smiled at her big sister and turned toward the house.

“Granny Iris said you’d say that and is waiting for you both in the living room”.

D.C rolled her eyes and grumbled a short “then why not invite us there directly?” before going after her sister followed by a nostalgia filled hero.

Iris Force looked as dignified as ever when, putting the cup of tea she was sipping back on the teacup in her hand, she greeted her granddaughter and her friend from another life.

“Hello Superboy, it has been a while. Though I believe you did get a few name since we last saw each other.”

“Hi Mrs Force. I go by Conner as a civilian and Kon El among other heroes now. Though you already knew that. It’s nice to see you again”.

The older woman kept her eyes closed as she smiled at him. He and D.C sat down on the couch next to Granny Iris’ armchair. Both had a teacup waiting in front of them on the table, filled with warm tea.

“You’re much more subdued than I remember young man. I would like to say it is nice to see you have grown up but as I know what some of it implies I’m afraid I am just saddened for you”.

Conner flinched at the bluntness and D.C almost got up to yell at her grandmother before changing her mind as Conner nodded at Granny. The older woman started talking again.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to fill in most gaps, you know our family doesn’t really get involved in heroics so we don’t have the same kinds of information you could get from those people. All I know is that a few years ago, I woke up with the distinct feeling that things had changed. I didn’t know what but when I saw Allure and D.C. I immediately knew what had changed for them. For you….I can see what you where but I’m not sure what you are right now. Do you have any idea what happened to you?”

Conner stared at the teapot in the middle of the table for a few minutes.

“I don’t remember how I got there to be honest. The last thing I remember clearly was being with my best friends, Tim and Bart. I’m…I’m pretty sure I was with Tim for a while but I don’t know where or what happened.”

There was a pause.

“Oh my God! I don’t know where he is! I don’t have my powers I can’t make sure he’s okay! What do I do?”

“Maybe just google his name, whoever “he” is.”

Conner turned to D.C who showed him her phone already put on a google page. He tapped Tim’s name in the search bar and found pictures of the Wayne family with basic information. He frowned. Something was definitely wrong and it was not just because of Tim’s height…Wait.

“That’s not Tim!”

D.C Looked on her phone and almost screamed.

“You know the Waynes? Wait. Why do you say it’s not him?”

Kon turned the phone fully toward her.

“Look he reaches Bruce Wayne’s ear and it say he’s 5’10” and that’s just wrong. Tim’s tiny. He barely reached 5’6” and his hair here is way too short so that can’t be him.”

D.C. looked at him with an unimpressed look.

“Seriously, that’s what you’re basing this on? The Tim Drake from this world could have simply eaten better food that helped him grow up or there was a light alteration to his genes that made him taller and maybe he just got used to having short hair.”

“Well it also says he just turned 17 and I remember celebrating his 18th birthday.”

“This could simply be a timeline issue”

“He’s just weird okay! And not just him. This picture kinda creeps me out actually”.

Conner gave D.C her phone back as he started pouting. He wasn’t good with words but he knew something was wrong. It was in the attitude displayed. There had always been a level of fakeness in these kinds of pictures if only because of Brucie Wayne’s character, but the affection never felt as fake or distant as it did in this picture. DC played with her phone for a few seconds before giving it back to him.

“Maybe it was just that picture, look here are some other ones”.

So Conner tried. He looked at them all but they all gave him the same vibe. He tried to look for Bart too but nothing came up. There was only Barry Allen. He gave D.C her phone back and shook his head while trying to stifle a yawn. He would look for Cassie and the others later. He wasn’t sure he could take another disappointment right now.

It’s at this point that Granny Iris intervened.

“I think it’s time for you both to go to bed. Donna Carol you’ve flown for a while you should rest. Conner will try to get in touch with other heroes later on. I believe the Wally West you know is around somewhere. But you need to rest a little.”

Both D.C and Conner nodded and D.C lead the not-so-much Boy of Steel to the guest bedroom for the night. Before they parted ways, she informed him there should be clothes for him there and that he better explain how they knew each other after breakfast.

There was a small bathroom linked to the room and Conner used the opportunity to take himself in. He was tiny. Well not really but compared to how buff he had gotten in recent times he was closer to how he was when he was born at first. He even had his hair back. Even though he had cut it short to try and avoid looking like Superman, he had to admit that he missed having longer hair.

As he settled in his bed the only thing he could only think of one thing. He would find them no matter where they were. He was not going to lose Tim and Bart. They could probably handle themselves but he didn’t want them to have to. He didn’t want Tim to be on his own again. He just wanted to be with him right now.

- - - - - - - -

Somewhere in Metropolis

“CLARK!”

Clark Kent woke up with a start. He tried to focus on a voice he thought he heard. But when he tried to focus on it he couldn’t seem to remember what it had been.

Maybe it was just a dream. He wouldn’t have lost it if it had been real after all.

He went back to bed.

#TimKon Week #TimKon #Conner Kent #Kon El #Iris Force #Donna Carol Force / Sparx #BrOT3: TimKonBart #OTP:TimKon #BrOTP: TimKon #DC Comics #Family: The Waynes #Superboy and the Ravers #mostly...#Superboy (1994)#Rebirth is such a mess guys #I swear

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schweeeppess · 5 years

Text

Jason and Tim sat facing each other in silence. Poisonous green eyes held the gaze of sky blue ones, the weight of a thousand unsaid words like hands around their throats, making verbal communication a ridiculous notion.

The second Robin and the third were never really supposed to get along, Tim thought to himself, and at first they hadn’t. The sheer weight of the fact made their situation ironic—almost painfully so.

But neither of them said anything. What was there to say? What could be said? Tim had never prepared for something like this; someone doing what Jason just had wasn’t something Tim had even remotely fathomed...

No, that was a lie. He’d known. He’d known that there were people who would do everything Jason just had and more for him (maybe not more, but it was the thought that counted)—he just hadn’t really believed or grasped just what that meant until now.

Brothers by blood they were naught, but all the same they were brothers by law, and brothers in arms, failing the first practicability.

Silence laughed in Tim's minutely ringing ears and taunted him as it, with the weight and strength it had, suffocated him.

"We're wasting time," Jason rasped, voice nearly cracking. The dark bruises that wound around his neck might've looked painted on if Tim hadn't witnessed the hands choking him that'd been the cause of the dark purple collar.

Tim just kept staring. He knew the words he wanted to say, but in his mouth his tongue felt like it was the heaviest thing in the world, refusing to move.

Jason was unimpressed and shifted, the drag of the chains on his arms on the floor making them rattle as he did.

"Tim," he said, and his voice actually did crack then, but whether it was from the strain of talking on his throat or emotion Tim couldn't tell. "Say something."

He couldn't. He wanted to tell Jason that he was trying, but his mouth wouldn't move.

Sighing, Jason moved forward, reaching as far as the chains would let him, and he put his hand on the back of Tim's head, pulling their foreheads together.

Tim only realized he was crying when a tear dripped off his chin.

"Jason," he whispered in a trembling voice. "Jason."

"Yeah, kid," Jason croaked. "It's Jason."

Like Jason moving him had broken a spell Tim jerked forward and flung himself at Jason's chest, throwing his arms around him, and he started crying silent tears.

With a long sigh, Jason hugged him back and pressed his mouth and nose to Tim's hair.

"You shouldn't have done that," Tim finally managed to say. "You really shouldn't have done that." Wow, was he a broken record or what?

"I had to, Tim."

Tim shook his head viciously in a nonverbal response, face pressed into the crook of Jason's neck, and tightened his hands in Jason's shirt.

"I did."

"No," Tim insisted. "No, no, no you didn't."

He both felt and heard Jason's long sigh.

Jason's shirt was damp with Tim's tears, but he didn't seem to mind when they pulled apart, just gazing at Tim with sadness swimming in the acidic green of his eyes.

Tim felt weak in comparison to Jason. He felt weak, and he hated it, but he did. Tim was crying but Jason wasn’t, and Jason was going to—

Jason’s voice interrupted his self-loathing.

“I’m sorry, kid,” he whispered. “Really.”

Quiet once again descended upon them like a thick blanket, and Tim scooted closer to Jason, resting his head on his brother’s chest with Jason’s arm over his shoulders. If he closed his eyes Tim could pretend it was Bruce hugging him in the Batcave as he worked on some files, instead of Jason, who was dying; he could pretend it was just another night post-patrol.

In his ear Tim could hear Jason’s heart beating. Each time it did, Tim thought he could hear it stutter and weaken, so he forced the thought out of his head. He killed it as quick as it was, vanquishing it because Jason was dying.

The sound of the door to their little dungeon-like holdings opening had Tim opening his eyes and gazing at the door despondently.

Ra’s al Ghul stepped into the room flanked by his guard, Talia nowhere to be seen though Tim wasn’t sure he cared.

Frowning, the Demon’s Head inspected Jason, then Tim, only with his gaze.

Neither of the brothers spoke as Jason’s arm tightened around Tim.

Ra’s clicked his tongue.

“Jason,” he greeted. “Timothy.”

“Ra’s,” Jason spat back hoarsely.

Ignoring him, Ra’s spoke again.

“You know, Jason Todd, I do find it curious that you would trade your life for Timothy Drake’s. After all, he was your replacement. Not to mention you tried to kill him, if I am not mistaken?” His green eyes shone with intrigue as he tilted his head, hands neatly interlocked before him. “Why did you do it?”

The answer to his question was one Tim wanted to know too. While they had been making progress in getting along, Tim hadn’t thought they were “I’d die for you” level yet.

He’d been so wrong.

Jason took his time answering, picking his words carefully, and when he knew just what he wanted to say, he rasped, “You wouldn’t get it.”

Ra’s seemed amused.

“Try me,” he said.

Sighing, Jason answered him.

“He’s my little brother.”

His response didn’t seem to be what Ra’s al Ghul wanted to hear, and that was made clear when the Demon’s Head said, “I would hardly say you are of such importance to each other just yet. You did try to kill him, on no less than two separate occasions.”

Tim couldn’t see Jason’s face, but he could hear the sly grin in his voice.

“Told’ya you wouldn’t get it.”

Humming lowly, Ra’s waved a hand at his guard and turned to leave as he called back, “Timothy will be sent back as we agreed. You, however, Jason Todd, face a much worse future. Though I suppose you already know that.”

As Ra’s left, the two assassins he’d left behind forced Tim away from Jason, ignoring any protests as they did.

Tim shouted and struggled as best he could, but his efforts might as well haven’t existed. He was too sore and tired to put up much of a fight, but he couldn’t just leave Jason. Not after he’d called Tim his little brother. No. Dick should have been there to witness it, not Ra’s.

“No, no, no, no, no, no, stop.” Tim squirmed and bucked, trying to free himself even if he knew it was pointless, because he had to. “Let go!”

Jason was silent as he watched them take Tim, his eyes hard in acceptance but full of grief at the same time.

“I’m sorry, Baby Bird,” he said.

A nickname. A nickname. Jason had just—

“No!”

“Goodbyes are shit, kid,” Tim managed to hear. “So I’ll meet you where the stars meet the sea.”

Then he was finally yanked out of the room and the door was shut.

Tim grit his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, the roaring in his head and frantic emotions rolling in his chest making him want to scream.

So he did.

He yelled.

He yelled, because it wasn’t supposed to have gone the way it had. He yelled, because it hurt not to. He yelled, because it wasn’t—

It wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t fair, and the sheer agony and injustice of it hurt like a flaming sword to the chest, and it just wasn’t fair.

What must have been a needle was jabbed into his neck, and before Tim knew it his world had gone dark.

But even as he slept he cried.

#impulsive writing #ehsksndn #this probably sucks #but oh well #jason todd #tim drake #hhhhhhhh #my writing #my work #my fanfiction #angst #crappy writing with sep #uhhhhh what else #oh yeah #ra's al ghul

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flightfoot · 5 years

Text

A Convergence of Apollos Chapter 7 - END

God!Apollo’s POV

We arrived at the Empire State Building shortly before sunset. On the one hand, I was afraid that maybe the demigods (and satyr, and... me?) had already completed the quest, and my counterpart had fled. On the other hand, I was grateful I didn’t have to wait long for them to show up. I have a tendency to get lost in my own head when given the opportunity to think while stressed, and right then, I had nothing BUT time. Well I suppose I COULD have practiced for my concert (which at this rate I’d probably have to cancel, I didn’t think I could deal with performing at the moment) but there’s no way I could concentrate on it.

So I paced.

I was grateful that Artemis believed me enough to come at least. My tale was absurd; I KNEW that. If I’D heard another god spouting about a time-traveling mortal version of themselves, I’d assumed they’d either been tricked or was crazy.

But I COULDN’T write off what I’d seen. I’d felt a vague sense of familiarity while looking at the boy, something that said ‘Look closely and THINK.’ But another, louder part of me had screamed ‘DON’T LOOK. Don’t listen. Not if you want to maintain your worldview. If you look too closely, even you won’t be able to hide from the truth of what you’ll see.’

So I tried to avoid looking. I invented a somewhat plausible-sounding reason for why they might have appeared out of thin air. I tried to maintain my careful facade.

Then my other self smashed it to pieces.

“Do not harm her. Don’t you dare harm ANY of them. LOOK AT ME! REALLY LOOK AT ME, DON’T JUST STARE THROUGH ME LIKE WE ALWAYS DID, DON’T PRETEND PEOPLE FEEL THE WAY THAT’S CONVENIENT FOR US, FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE, TRY TO UNDERSTAND! “

I couldn’t stop myself. I did as he asked and looked closer, into his essence, into his SOUL.

What I found shocked me. But I can’t say I was truly surprised. Part of me had already known what I’d find.

It was my own essence. My own self. Only a bare sliver, but undeniably there, and undeniably ME.

I’d freaked. I couldn’t help it. And I did what I always did when in emotional turmoil. I went to my family.

I glanced over at Artemis. She stood stock-still. To someone who didn’t know her, it might have looked like she wasn’t doing anything. I knew better. That was the look of a hunter waiting for their prey.

If my other self HAD been a trick, I would’ve felt sorry for them. Most gods knew better than to get on my sister’s bad side, myself included. We might mess with each other a little, but it was very, VERY rare for us to do something that would truly, deeply upset the other person. The times that’d happened...

I shoved the thought away before it could fully manifest. I had enough going on with my current internal crisis. No sense picking at old wounds.

I heard the sound of rapid footsteps. I glanced up.

My mortal self charged towards my sister, a look of desperate NEED on his face.

How long had he - had I - gone without seeing Artemis?

Was Zeus truly that cruel, to deny me from seeing my twin?

Who was I kidding. Of course he was.

My mortal self SMASHED into Artemis, sending him sprawling to the ground. I winced. That HAD to hurt.

He scrambled back up, winded. My sister - HIS sister - helped him up.

I looked at Artemis’s face. The look of concern and shock in her eyes... clearly she’d realized that I hadn’t been tricked or mistaken. This boy was somehow, impossibly, ME.

He babbled brokenly into Artemis’s shoulder, tears running down his face and soaking Sis’s shirt. I watched silently. I was NOT about to get in the middle of this. For one thing, my other self NEEDED this. For another... well, who WOULD? Honestly if I could reasonably give them privacy I would, but we were in the middle of New York City right near the Empire State Building, and it didn’t seem like either of them were thinking about the location at the moment. I also hoped to hear more about what my future self went through. Maybe if I knew I could prevent it, or at least make it less traumatic.

Then Artemis checked him for injuries. And things got so much worse.

At some point along my journey, I’d been injured BADLY. Really, REALLY badly. And I seemed almost ASHAMED about it.

What my other self hinted he’d done - how he hinted about these other people being held captive, with his own life as the only bargaining chip he had - it chilled me to my core. Had he done what I thought he’d done? Nearly killed himself to help save a handful of demigods?

I didn’t quite know how to feel about that. I’d never had that level of resolve. I’d never been put in a situation where I’d had to choose between my own life and someone else’s.

If I was, could I make the choice my counterpart had?

Maybe... maybe if it was Artemis or Leto. But for a handful of demigods? They were disposable. I tried to help my own children at least, but even then I didn’t always realized that they’d died until years later. I’d been striving to get better on that front, but I still wouldn’t put myself in mortal danger for them.

The closest I’d come was with my favorite son, Asclepius. When Zeus struck him down, I’d been FURIOUS. But even then, I didn’t go up against Zeus directly for fear of being destroyed. I’d taken it out in the Elder Cyclopes instead. I was still punished, but it would’ve been MUCH worse if I’d outright attacked Zeus.

What had happened - what had he - what had I - been through, that had caused me to put the lives of a few demigods above my own?

Why did he care so much?

I refocused on my other self. Maybe I could glean some answers from him.

I listened to his description of what Medea was going to do to him. What she HAD done.

I nearly threw up.

I stumbled to the nearest light pole and slid down it until I was sitting on the ground.

I- I’d nearly been destroyed. COMPLETELY.

Death was one thing, but THAT? That was MUCH worse.

And Zeus! He must have seen this. We weren’t omniscient - not by a long shot - but he would be watching me already, if only to laugh at my suffering.

He didn’t do anything.

Of course he didn’t. He didn’t even want me to help Artemis when she was captured, why would he intervene on MY behalf?

Because he would be partly responsible for your destruction, I answered myself. Because this goes beyond just sitting back and not helping. He would be the reason I was vulnerable in the first place. He would be responsible for it.

Oh who was I kidding. Zeus would just shove the blame onto someone else. Or maybe he’d just argue that I deserved it and it was my own fault I wasn’t tough enough to survive.

“I- I w-was saved. I- I- regained some of my memories. But n-not all. I- I...! ”

Wait, WHAT?! I hadn’t regained all my memories afterwards? What did I forget...?

No.

PLEASE NO.

PLEASE ZEUS, PLEASE.

“I- I- I forgot you, Artemis. I forgot you existed.”

Not seeing my sister was one thing. But forgetting her entirely?

That- that went beyond anything I could’ve imagined.

I couldn’t - not without my sister - how - how had my other self even had the strength to CONTINUE? When something so fundamental to myself was ripped away?

I could survive with being mortal. I’d done it twice before.

I didn’t know if I could survive without being able to even REMEMBER the person I was closest to.

Artemis knew me best - perhaps even better than my mother. She was my rock.

To have that swept away...

“I’m- I’m so sorry Artemis. I for-forgot you. I’m a horrible-”

From my outside perspective, I knew it wasn’t his fault - MY fault - that he’d forgotten Artemis.

But I also knew that in his shoes, I’d blame myself too.

Maybe we weren’t so different after all.

Artemis wasn’t having ANY of it. “NO. Apollo, you are NOT a horrible ANYTHING, least of all for something you have no control over. YES, I’m shocked and angry, but not at you. NEVER at you. At our Father, at Caligula, at Medea, yes. BUT NOT AT YOU.”

Artemis... what had I done to deserve such a wonderful sister?

I teared up as my other self collapsed into my sister’s arms.

Artemis... she’d known just what to say. Of course. She always did.

After awhile, my other self calmed down enough to speak.

I almost wished he wouldn’t. That I’d never have to learn what had caused him such pain. But I needed to know. I needed to UNDERSTAND.

My other self finally said how, EXACTLY, he’d gotten that wound.

So this... this was why he’d changed. Why I’d changed. Jason... he’d been willing to die without a complaint, because he couldn’t stand someone else dying in his place.

No gods had come to his aid. But a demigod HAD.

Jason had been more willing to help, to put himself on the line, then any of my divine brethren.

Of course that’s what heroes do, a voice whispered in my head. Jason is hardly unique in that way. But you never cared about that before. So why are you being affected now?

Because it’s me, I answered myself. It was always someone else before. It wasn’t me, so I wrote it off. I wrote off all those demigods and I HADN’T CARED.

My other self’s tale wasn’t done.

It got worse.

Jason at least was a demigod hero. I would at least EXPECT heroic actions from him, even if I hadn’t fully appreciated such heroics in the past. And from the sound of it, he hadn’t just sacrificed himself for me. It had mostly been for Piper.

But Crest?

It took me a moment to even remember what a Pandos WAS. I wouldn’t have expected much of anything from one of them. And from the sound of it, Crest was a child.

And yet...!

He’d... this kid... he’d not only gone against the orders of one of the cruelest people I’d ever known in the hope of getting some music lessons, but had continued to help my other self beyond ANYTHING he would have asked for.

He hadn’t stopped either. He’d sacrificed himself for me. He’d had SEVERAL chances to leave me to my fate, and yet he’d chosen to save me even if it killed him. Even though it killed his dream.

He didn’t even KNOW me.

Abruptly I realized that I’d stopped thinking of this as happening to some other version of me, and had started thinking of it happening to MYSELF.

I couldn’t help it. Hearing what had gone down, I connected more closely with this other version of myself. I saw how I’d gone from being me to being him.

We weren’t any different at our core. Of course we weren’t. We were the same person until very recently. It was only his recent experiences that distinguished him from myself, and hearing what he’d been through, I at least had a shadow of his experiences.

I didn’t think I could ever become like this other version of myself entirely, never reach the sheer depth of his understanding and compassion for the mortals that I’d been neglecting for so long.

But I could try.

Maybe that would be enough?

Watching my other self collapse into my sister’s embrace for the third time, I decided that it would HAVE to be enough. I had to become someone worthy of the help my other self had been given. Someone worthy of those sacrifices.

I- I wanted to be a better person. A GOOD person. I didn’t know whether that was even possible. I’d done some horrible things in the past, and allowed others to occur in my ambivalence. But I would TRY.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My other self calmed down enough to continue speaking again after a few minutes.

He turned to me, seeming to just remember I was here. I couldn’t blame him. With all he’d been through, with all he’d lost, I’d get tunnel vision too.

He stared at me for a moment, seeming to search for words.

“Do you understand?” he asked at last, seeming to look into my soul.

“I- I think so,” I replied, my mouth suddenly feeling dry.

He seemed to consider what I said for a moment, then nodded. “There are some things you need to know. I told Percy a lot of what happened, what’s GOING to happen, so you can ask him for more information later. But there’s some things I didn’t go into. Some things I wanted to tell you in person.”

I nodded, trying to hide my anxiety.

“Our kids - ALL of them... try to be there for them more? When I went to Camp Half-blood, they- they tried to make me feel comfortable. Tried to help me feel like I belonged. Even though I barely knew them. Even though I’d only visited them in person a handful of times, spoken to them in dreams a dozen more. They still tried SO HARD to help me. They cared about me SO MUCH. They deserve better.”

Guilt twisted my stomach. I’d always felt that I should spend more time with my children. But I was afraid of what the other gods would say, ESPECIALLY Zeus. He preferred us to be hands-off if possible. I couldn’t do what he was asking...

Oh who was I kidding. It was true that Zeus didn’t like us spending too much time with our kids. He might notice if I vastly increased the amount of time I spent around them in-person, but he wouldn’t be paying as much attention to dreams, especially right now, when he had bigger things to worry about.

And I could probably sneak in a few more visits to Camp Half-blood than I did before. I’d just have to come up with some sort of excuse, like needing to talk to Chiron about something, or needing to drop off some stray demigod Artemis found who didn’t want or was unable to join the Hunt.

“I’ll try my best,” I said.

My other self sighed, “Good. Sometimes that’s the best we CAN do.”

He fell silent for a moment, his face twisting up a little. “There’s also the matter of one of my Legacies. Octavian.”

I tensed, glancing at Percy and Grover. He was talking about the Romans HERE? Now? In front of some Greeks? Sure he’d mentioned Jason before, but he hadn’t said anything to give away that he wasn’t Greek. Just MENTIONING the word ‘Legacy’ was a tip off that something was different about Octavian.

My other self noticed the look on my face and explained. “I already told Percy and Grover about the Romans. They’d need to know soon anyway, since Gaea is awakening and the Greeks and Romans will need to unite.”

I choked. Gaea was WHAT!

I opened my mouth to speak, but my other self cut me off. “I already told Percy most of what he needs to know, you can ask him for details later. I don’t know how much time I have and I don’t want to repeat myself too much.”

He took a breath and let it out. “So, Octavian. I think... he’s kind of like Commodus. I was enamored with Octavian’s promises, his vision of a future where I was head god of Rome. I fell for his flattery, ignoring any warning signs, just like I did all those years ago. Octavian, he... something’s wrong with him. I’m not sure what. Not exactly. But he REALLY hates the Greeks. I’m not sure why. You’ll have trouble forging peace between the camps if he’s in a position of power, at least as Octavian is now. Octavian... I think he’s ill somehow. After an unfortunate incident that led New Rome to believe the Greeks had attacked them - again, ask Percy - he went kind of crazy. Manic. He refused to listen to reason, and believed that anyone who questioned him would stab him in the back.”

“I don’t know whether he can be saved. I wasn’t able to save Commodus. But maybe... maybe if you catch him early, you can stop him from deteriorating too far. It’s worth a try. There’s no chance of success without TRYING.”

“Just make sure he’s not in a position of power or influence right now. He needs therapy, or medication, or SOMETHING. But if he’s able to retaliate... well, I don’t think he’d even believe ME telling him that he needs help. I can see him believing that I’m compromised or tricking him or something. And if he believes that there’s a threat, he’ll try to neutralize it. Probably fatally.”

“I don’t know whether you could get him the help he needs. Maybe there’s no saving him. Maybe there was no saving Commodus. But you HAVE to try.”

I flinched, thinking of Commodus. I HAD to kill him. The alternative was too horrible to withstand.

That didn’t make the guilt lessen.

If I could avoid having that situation again, I would.

“I’ll try. I’ll look in on Octavian, try to find some sort of help for him. I think I’ll take a closer at the Romans in general, I haven’t spent much time with them lately. I think I’ll try to get to know Jason better as well. After what you’ve told me... well, I want a chance to know my little brother for more than a few hours. I’ll visit my children as often as I can get away with, considering Zeus and the War. And I’ll try to find Crest. Teach him to play the ukulele. Even if he’s never met me in this timeline, I still feel like I owe him for what he was willing to do in yours.”

My other self smiled at me, a bit of hope entering his eyes. “Thank you.”

I felt something snap into place, threads of destiny coming undone and reweaving themselves into a new tapestry. I could tell my other self felt it too.

He blurted out, “Find Meg! She was captured by Nero, She’s in-”

The air started twisting around them. My other self cut himself off, looking back at Meg in a panic. I had a distinct feeling he didn’t know WHERE Meg was, and he didn’t have time to ask.

Meg read his look. “Albany!” she blurted out.

CRAAAACK

The air untwisted, turning shimmering shades of green, then returned to normal.

There was silence for a moment.

“What just... happened?” my sister asked.

Oh yeah. She was the only who hadn’t seen this happen before.

“That’s what happened when they arrived. Except, you know, they appeared instead of vanished. Presumably they’re back in their own timeline now.”

I turned to Percy and Grover. “We need to talk. But it can wait until tomorrow. I need to hold this concert - can’t cancel without a lot of people wondering WHY, and I don’t want to divulge what happened to everyone just yet. Not before making plans. And I’m sure you two are tired after everything that’s happened.”

Percy smiled at me slightly. “Thanks. I’ll need to tell Annabeth, she can help.”

Grover suddenly looked nervous. “Um... Lord Apollo...” He gingerly returned my lyre.

I looked it over, noticing the reason for his anxiety. A large scratch on the shell. Nothing that would impact the quality of its music, but I HAD said “not a scratch”.

That seemed like a lifetime ago.

I gave him a small smile, hoping I looked comforting. “It’s fine Grover. I should have expected it to get a little banged up, with you bringing it into combat.”

His face collapsed in relief. Percy gave me a weird look... awe? Understanding? I wasn’t sure. But he seemed happy with what I’d done.

As they walked away, I called out, ‘Oh, and Grover?”

The satyr looked back at me questioningly.

“Happy birthday.”

His face broke out in a smile. “It has been.”

I stood there for a moment, savoring this brief period of peace. Tomorrow I’d have to meet with Percy and Grover, find out what else my other self had to say about the future, what else should be changed. Tomorrow I could go looking for Meg and Crest.

But tonight, I had a concert to get to.

“You coming Artemis?” I asked my sister.

“You have room for all my Hunters?”

“I think something could be arranged.”

“I’ll see you there then.”

I vanished as the sun set on one of the most important afternoons in Greco-Roman history.

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(A/N) So that’s it for this fanfic! I’ll probably write a sequel showing what happens in this new timeline, but I don’t know when I’ll start it. I might work on something else first. Oh, and in case anyone’s wondering, Meg and Apollo reappeared back in their own timeline back in the room with the cloth. This uses a divergent timeline model of time travel, so nothing that happens in the past will impact them.

#trials of apollo #toa #fanfiction #lester papadopoulos #apollo #artemis #percy jackson #Grover underwood #meg mccaffrey #A convergence of apollos

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ty-talks-comics · 5 years

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Best of DC: Week of October 16th, 2019

Best of this Week: Metal Men #1 - Dan DiDio, Shane Davis, Michelle Delecki, Jason Wright and Travis Lanham

Will Magnus is a monster.

Now, that might come off as a little harsh for one of the most brilliant minds in the history of DC Comics, but this new series, or at least this first issue, builds off of past characterizations and reestablishes the Metal Men back into the DC Universe in a far more sinister light. Magnus used to be a bright spot, a brilliant mind that challenged the idea that machines couldn’t gain sentience. However, here, he falls more in line with his contemporaries in T.O. Morrow and Professor Ivo.

Will Magnus has always had something in the way of a susceptibility to mind control or falling prey to his own mental neuroses. At least with the Metal Men by his side, he’s either been able to mask this or overcome it by doing some good with his creations. When the Metal Men were supposedly the spirits of his dead colleagues, Magnus did what he could to fix them and make them heroes only for it to later be revealed that it was never the case and that his own mental illness convinced him to use that story to make the Metal Men seem unique.

When the New 52 reboot happened, Magnus was first seen as a depressed scientist who had seen his Metal Men project used in black ops missions and later as assassins before they destroyed themselves, later appearing in Cyborg’s DCYou series in a much happier state. Magnus is a brilliant mind, but time after time something will drop him from his course and cause him to retreat into himself over and over.

This series takes all of these past origins and brings back the Pre-New 52 Magnus, but paints him as a callous scientist that seems to have internalized all of his failures and lies and only talks about them to a Nameless bot that he’s created. The Nameless bot never talks, but looks at him disapprovingly. As it never moves, it’s hard to get a read as to whether or not Nameless is like the Metal Men or simply just something for Magnus to talk to without feeling judged.

The book mostly unfolds through this conversation with Nameless, with small cuts to Challengers Mountain for the exciting subplot. Magnus talks about how he was given various awards and accolades for The Metal Men, their sentience and just how lifelike they were. Though as we come to find out, as Magnus chucks one of his trophies into the glass case holding one of his Responsometers, it was all a lie and he wishes he never built the device. He admits that he just wanted to same notice that Ivo and Morrow received for what he calls “toy robots.”

Shane Davis draws this scene with a cold fury to it. The sterile nature of his trophy room is offset by the palpable rage of his words and his face in the last panel. Davis Used a lot of pulled in shots to focus on the trophy, the Responsometer and even Magnus’ finger pointing at his many certificates and plaques. It comes as an extreme shock the moment the trophy is crashing through the case that the Responsometer is in. It was so sudden and so violent that we can feel how angry he is, especially with how much the glass flies.

Professor Ivo, best known for creating Amazo, has often been seen as one of the Justice Leagues most brilliant and terrifying foes because of Amazo’s ability to copy those of any hero he encounters. T.O. Morrow is another brilliant scientist that created the Red Tornado, one of the Justice League’s most trusted allies. Both of these robots are treated with so much more regard and respect than the Metal Men ever have and Will Magnus knows this most of all, but can’t get over that they are noticed, but he is not. So he toils away with his Metal Men, constantly trying to find the edge and bring them real sentience, but he just can’t.

We flash back to the inciting incident of this talk when Gold finds a room containing the broken, dismantled and cast aside parts of Metal Men from the various eras of their existence. Where Gold, Tin and Mercury are enraged that Magnus thinks of these other versions as junk waiting to be recycled, Lead, Iron and Platinum are hurt and disappointed at finding all of this. They all confront him, asking why was all of this hidden away and Magnus answers by saying that he wishes he could have been honest with himself, but then he’d have to admit to being a fraud and he just can’t do that.

Gold looks a lot like Magnus, so when he screams at his creator it’s almost as if a mirror is being held up to him. Shane Davis uses this symbolism well in conjunction with the room of parts and old models showing Magnus’s failures. Platinum has always had something of an affection for Magnus so her disappointment hurts even more. Tin is always such a timid thing, so seeing him angry is a change for him and shows just how deep the betrayal goes.

He tells them that the Responsometers just allow them to act and react and that it doesn’t give them personalities or sentience of their own. They’re all either shocked or angry, accusing him of being a liar, but he explains that their personalities are based on his own traits. His dimwittedness, his anger - hell, even their metal bodies aren’t even real with the Responsometers converting a base metal to the supposed atomic structure. Magnus couldn’t afford to make them out of real gold or platinum. Before their rage can get even worse, Magnus snaps his fingers and they immediately turn off.

What’s most disgusting about this isn’t the fact that he’s built failsafes into his “crowning achievements,” but that he mentions that they discovered the room “again.” This has happened more than once and he doesn’t know how many times they’ve done this. It shows a level of darkness and sociopathy that really chills the blood. He knows what his problems are, but instead of facing the embarrassment of admitting it to himself and his larger scientific community, he chooses to hide it and reprogram the Metal Men when they become aware, but not self-aware.

When he’s made aware of living Nth Metal in Challenger’s Mountain asking for him by name, he gives a smile and says he has a team to rebuild…

I’m ultra excited for the future of this series because I’ve liked the Metal Men and their scant appearances in the DC Universe in recent years. Giving them this new and darker edge underneath the feeling of nostalgia. Given the cover of this issue, it’s likely that they’ll be going back to their 1960s-1970s looks, eschewing their more recent designs. Hopefully this has some interactions with the current Year of the Villain stuff as Will Magnus has the mind and motivation to receive something from Lex Luthor.

#dc comics #metal men #will magnus #dan didio #shane davis #robots #ai #comic review

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cloudparadox · 5 years

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Remnants || Chapter 1 - A Familiar Face

Summary: AU in which Tim can see things others can't.

As he got older, it became less and less, to the point where he thought his "ability" had disappeared completely, until one day it comes back full force and Tim is forced to come clean to his family about it, which ends up putting more strain on their already delicate relationship. And then there's Jason who'd never really been about delicate.

Words: 1686

Warnings: Angst, death, ghosts, teeny tiny bit of gore (nothing explicit), mental health issues, bad parenting

Pairing: Tim Drake x Jason Todd (eventually)

Notes: So this is my first Jaytim fanfic and also first Batman-related fanfic altogether. I'm absolutely not sure about anything here, really, but I'll try my best. This first chapter just kind of happened, but I really like it, so I thought I'd get my shit together and actually post it, rather than letting it sit forever in my drafts. I'm sorry for any spelling errors or the likes. Thank you for every like and reblog and especially comment! I appreciate it <3

Taglist: @sweeetsummerchiild (please tell me I remember correctly that you told me to tag you for this >.<)

Tim had been but a young child, a tiny little thing, with chubby cheeks that bloomed cherry-red at the smallest amount of affection and attention, when he saw the first one.

The first ghost. Spirit. A revenant. Spectre. Whatever you wanted to call them. The dictionaries had fed Tim many words for what he was seeing.

His younger self had been naive enough to tell his mother about it later on. About the woman that was never noticed by anyone, always trying to get them to see her. The woman had then realized he could see her when she caught him staring. She was nice. In fact, she was the first ghost that talked to him. She was beautiful and young. Too young to have died. Not much older than his own mother.

It was weird. Some ghosts looked utterly horrifying. Torn, bloody clothes, wounds all over their skin, or worse. One ghost, he remembered in vivid detail. He had aimlessly wandered through a creepy alleyway that Tim and his parents walked by one evening, in late December. One of his eyes was missing and he was so thin and so frail, barely older than forty, maybe.

How he died, Tim didn't want to know. Mother often told him about the bad people in this city. Father did, too. What terrible things they did and that only people who did said bad things suffer because of it. 'Bad things only happen to bad people, Timothy'

Tim didn't believe that, not even as a young child. Maybe it was his intelligence that he was so often praised for, or maybe just the fact that he just knew differently, that he'd seen things that proved that statement to be false.

But this woman looked nothing like that. Not a single injury, no blood, nothing. In fact, she looked eerily familiar, yet Tim's tired brain failed to catch up properly at the moment since he'd just woken up to see a ghost in his own room.

Her smile made Tim's insides feel all fuzzy, as did the warmth in her green eyes as she beckoned him to come closer. Not once before had a ghost followed him into his house.

"Don't be afraid." her voice made the boy jump which caused her to smother a grin. "I won't hurt you. I am just here because I'm running out of time, and I think you're the only one who can help me with this."

"B-but I-. How am I supposed to help you, ma'am?"

The way he addressed her made her laugh. It was gentle, almost sounding like the faraway Christmas bells he loved listening to in the evenings. "You can call me Mary, sweetheart."

Tim's cheeks flushed brightly at the nickname and he allowed himself to relax and ease himself back on his bed, kicking his legs a little to get rid of the remaining tenseness of his body.

The woman- Mary, continued. "I don't have much time left, sweetheart. I know I'm not supposed to be here anymore. But I need to make sure it's alright for me to leave." her smile dimmed and she gingerly sat down on his bed, how that worked Tim didn't want to try and figure out right now, and brushed some of her dark hair behind her ear in a way that poked and tugged at Tim's brain because her face seemed so familiar and-

"You're Mrs. Grayson, from the-"

"Circus. Yes. I'm surprised you remember."

"But- You- that was months ago! I- how?" his voice became smaller as he tried to take in the fact that someone he'd seen dying, seen the death of, was here, in his house, his room, sitting on his bed and asking for his help.

"It's been that long?" a frown worked its way onto her face and Tim felt bad for telling her.

"I'm sorry." Tears gathered in his eyes as he recalled that night, the one that was supposed to be happy, and it was, if only at the start. He thought of the screams, the blood, about the young Dick Grayson crying over his parent's bodies and-

"Don't cry, silly. You have nothing to be sorry for. If anything it should be me apologizing. No child should have to see that."

Dick had to, Tim thought bitterly. More proof that what father said was wrong. None of the Graysons were bad people. "But, how can I help you? I'm just a kid."

Mary sighed and it was heavy, like she was hesitant to go on. "I know. And I'm sorry that I have to burden you with this, but- I need to know what happened to my son. I need to make sure it's okay for me to leave, that he's fine and not-" the woman choked on the words and Tim's little heart hurt, his chest feeling heavy.

"You couldn't find him." It wasn't a question but she nodded anyway. "Dick was adopted by Bruce Wayne." Coincidentally they were basically neighbors. Something like that, with more distance. "I didn't meet him or anything, but he seems fine. Happy, even." Well, as happy as a boy who lost his parents could be. "I'm sorry," he said again. Why, he didn't know. There was a lot of reason to be sorry.

"Thank god. I- I thought-" she stopped, clearing her throat and wiping at a few tears that had dropped. "I know this is a lot to ask for, but can you keep an eye on him?" the request shocked Tim and it must've shown on his face. "Just make sure he's not- not in any danger at home? I doubt anything would happen to him there, but..."

"Okay. I promise," he swore, already debating how and what and where and thinking about all the ways when Mary shocked both him and herself by carefully touching his shoulder. "How are you-?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. I've never been able to touch anyone, even by accident. It was just a reflex to reach out. But I guess you're just something special, huh?" her soft smile was back and Tim's cheeks were once again crimson. It made her laugh, in a way she hadn't since that day. "Thank you, for this, Timothy."

"You can call me Tim if you want." In his head, he sent out a silent plea that she would because with his parents it was always Timothy and Timothy was everything they wanted him to be and not always what he actually was. "You don't have to thank me, though. I didn't really do anything."

"You did, sweetheart. I know my place isn't here anymore. But I could not leave without making sure Dick is safe and thanks to you, I know that now. Know where he is. So, thank you, Tim."

The emphasis on his preferred version of his name made him grin before it faltered. "You're leaving then?"

"I have to. I'll just make sure to see my son one more time, now that I know where he is. Maybe I'll finally see his father again, wherever I'm headed to after...moving on."

"Are you scared?" Dying and then having to leave for the unknown sounded terrifying to him.

"Not anymore." she got up from her seat next to him, green eyes alight with hope and love and more Tim couldn't identify. "You're a very special boy, Tim. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. I'm sure you'll do lots of good in the future with that bright mind of yours." she playfully tapped his head before gently ruffling his messy black hair. "Goodbye, Timmy."

Tim blinked and she was gone with a last smile directed at him. "Bye," he whispered after what felt like an eternity.

Tim had shared some of this occurrence with his mother after a lot of debate. He definitely regretted doing that.

Some of the dictionaries also told Tim that he might simply be insane. He knew the word well after all father used it a lot when he talked about other people, especially from work. But that would mean Tim was a bad person, and he couldn't be bad just because he saw things others didn't, right?

That's what he told himself throughout his mother's scolding, his father's lecture about not ruining the good family's name and then the regular meetings he had with a "specialist". That didn't help him at all. The man had declared him completely sane. That day, after the doctor had told him he wouldn't come back as it wasn't necessary, father had a long talk with him. Tim had managed to hide his tears well behind his bangs, only speaking up to agree with what his father said. Something along the lines of 'my son will not be one of those crazies'.

Tim wondered if his father knew about mother's own struggles. She was sad a lot. Sometimes it seemed like she wasn't there with them at all. Her body was, but her mind wasn't. Mother loved him, that he was sure of. Her hugs were always so warm. Even if they became rarer and rarer over time. Now his parents were gone more and more, leaving him alone in this big, cold house. Mrs. Mac was still there though. Sometimes. Not enough.

Still, he kept seeing the ghosts. He started calling them Fades at one point. Now he learned to ignore most of them, save for the ones that took note of him. Most didn't.

He tried to pretend he was normal. That he couldn't see these things. Sometimes it worked. Most times it didn't, not in the beginning anyway. Tim didn't want to be crazy. He didn't want to make his father mad, didn't want to disappoint him or make his mother even sadder.

He had tried explaining it, tried to find actual help, but no one listened. He was alone with his fears and nightmares, kept captive by what others didn't know, didn't see, or simply didn't want to acknowledge.

Maybe it was no fear, but madness.

And Tim learned over time, if you're crazy, you don't exist anymore.

#tim drake #jason todd #jaytim #dick grayson #damian wayne #bruce wayne #alfred pennyworth #red robin #red hood #nightwing #robin #batman #batfam #timjay #tim drake x jason todd #fanfic #original characters #fic

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the-paris-of-people · 5 years

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THE GOOD PLACE SEASON 3 SHIT POST

Alright! Well the first half (or more than half) of The Good Place, Season 3 has officially aired and let me tell you, I have OPINIONS! about what I liked, what I didn’t like, and what I’m excited for/expecting in the episodes to come. I’m going to put this under a cut because it’s hella long so get ready for it!

I’m going to start first by examining each member of Team Cockroach, character journey by character journey, and pinpointing what I liked, what I didn’t like, etc.! Also I’m going to try to refrain from screaming about Cheleanor in this post. We all know I love them a lot and there are other aspects about the show that I love and don’t post enough about!

ELEANOR

What I liked:

I absolutely adored her close relationships with Simone and Tahani this season (YAY female friendships!) and I hope their connections continue to deepen throughout the series

Her breakdown at Tahani’s engagement party was one of my favorite moments- I thought it was so realistic and human and lovely to have her relapsing and to deliver such a heartfelt apology really showed how she had grown in a different way than she did in the afterlife

What I didn’t like:

I thought the show focused too much on her character journey this season and not enough on the journeys of Jason, Tahani, and Chidi. I thought the episodes of “A Fractured Inheritance” and “The Worst Possible Use of Free Will” didn’t really add anything to her story that we didn’t know- they only confirmed what we saw previously. Like alright! We get it! She hates being vulnerable! I wish we could’ve known more about her previous relationships (romantic and otherwise) just for a more fair comparison of her relationships to Team Cockroach

To be honest... her clothes this season. I thought her style in the flashbacks was more “Arizona trashbag” and wackier and more fun. I also don’t understand why she was wearing jeans so much? Like isn’t Australia really hot?

What I wish for them in the future:

For her to finally be happy with Chidi, to navigate all the ups and downs of being in a committed relationship

Now that she and Chidi are happy also, I would love to see more of her relationships with Tahani, Jason, and Janet (and Michael too! but they did already spend time together a lot this season)

SPEARHEADING THE MOVEMENT FOR A MORE FAIR POINT SYSTEM IN THE AFTERLIFE WITH MICHAEL. LIKE YOU GO GIRL, YOU DE FACTO LEADER!

CHIDI

What I liked:

I really enjoyed seeing Chidi in a committed relationship with Simone (seeing his hand around her shoulder in “The Snowplow” made me swoon!) and I think he grew a lot from it and (like he said) developed a lot professionally and personally. It made me proud to see him step outside his realm of comfort (philosophy) and toy with neuroscience, a subject which he is totally unfamiliar with (Did I think the study was a good idea? Ummmm that’s a completely different topic!)

He loosened up and became less rigid, from not caring so much about being fired from the university to being excited about having a drink with his friends to abandoning rules, the very thing he always clings to for a structured society, and playing Jacksonville-style pool with his buddy Jason

SHIRTLESSSSSSSSS CHIDIIIIIIIIIIIII HOLY FUCK

Seeing his life in Everything is Bonzer! I really enjoyed seeing the university he worked at and spent most of his time, meeting with his colleagues and friends Simone and Henry, visiting Henry in the hospital and bringing him blueberry muffins, freaking out in the library, going to a cafe to break up with his girlfriend. None of it surprised me really but it was just nice to see his life outside of the neighborhood.

I liked seeing Tahani and Chidi bond, even for a short while, in A Fractured Inheritance because they haven’t interacted in two seasons and I love these two highly educated sophisticates!

What I didn’t like:

How he went from 0 to 100 in regards to his feelings for Eleanor? I mentioned my feelings in this post but yeah... I just don’t get how he was able to leave Simone behind so quickly when he was lingering on his feelings for her even after he learned the truth about his fate

Why the fuck did he wear so many sweater vests this season? I loved his button down shirts, short-sleeved, in the afterlife because they highlighted his chest/arms. SHED THE SWEATER VESTS 2K19!!

What I wish for them in the future:

Again, HAPPINESS WITH ELEANOR! I’M READY FOR THE GOOEYNESS!

To address the gap between the Chidi/Simone, Chidi/Eleanor relationships

I want this more for Chidi than for Eleanor, but I REALLY REALLY REALLY want Chidi to become closer with Jason and Tahani. They have such wonderful relationships and they aren’t explored enough! I’m hoping now that he and Eleanor are finally settled in, he can form deeper connections with them. I also barely know anything about his relationships with the Tahani and Jason because he barely interacted with them in the Snowplow?

TAHANI

What I liked:

I loved that she went about giving her money away because she WANTED to, rather than needed to for validation, in Jeremy Bearimy. She had genuine desire to become a good person and to hand her money over to people who needed it (like Jason).

Also, even though I am not a fan of A Fractured Inheritance, I did really like that Tahani wanted to make up with her sister out of the goodness of her heart and that she expressed sympathy for Kamilah (even though Kamilah didn’t necessarily deserve it) It really showed how loving Tahani truly is

Her reactions to Jason’s life in The Ballad of Donkey Doug... absolute golden

In general, I adored her relationships with Jason and Eleanor this season. She has such strong friendships with both of them, and I wish we saw that level of bonding in Chidi’s relationships, too!

What I didn’t like:

I hate to say it, but most of the jokes for Tahani were kind of stale for me this season (I don’t think this is due to Jameela at all, but more the writing?) Though she KILLED it as a centaur!

What the fuck was the point of Larry Hemsworth? Also, stop trying to make Jason/Tahani a thing. Also, STOP GIVING TAHANI MALE LOVE INTERESTS! SHE’S A LESBIAN. L E S B I A N!!

What I wish for them in the future:

I really want Tahani to have more screen time because IMO she doesn’t have enough and she’s such a wonderful and relatable character. I hope she finds a role for herself in the afterlife system and creates a satisfying career for herself (WHICH I WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING) Honestly, at this point in the series, I’m not really rooting for Tahani to have a love interest because I think she could have a kickass self-journey first. Go Tahani!

JASON

What I liked:

I think the writers did the best job at depicting Jason’s life on Earth, probably because his Soul Squad adventure was in his natural environment/home turf. I loved his relationships with Pillboi and Donkey Doug, watching him work so that they became better people, and more than that, I ended up adoring and rooting for Pillboi and Donkey Doug in the process. I still am! Hi guys!

SEEING DANCE DANCE RESOLUTION! I think watching Jason lead his dance crew and ponder a deeper meaning to life showed a new depth to his character and also excellently highlighted his most positive qualities. I thought the humor in his Everything is Bonzer! storyline was my favorite and perfectly in line with who he was.

His two moments interacting with Simone were frigging golden and I wish there was more of that friendship (although Simone is more like his mom... yikes LOL)

His friendship with Tahani. I mentioned it earlier but it really warmed my heart and I’m happy they are so close!

I actually loved his Earth clothes and getting a sense of his regular style, especially his jackets!

What I didn’t like:

Not much honestly. I liked Jason a lot this season!

What I wish for them in the future:

Reunited with Pillboi

A RELATIONSHIP WITH JANET PLEASE PLEASE PLEASEEEEEE

Again he’s a mixed bag, so we’ll see, but to reiterate I would love a Chidi/Jason friendship!

JANET

What I liked:

Everything about that Janet(s) episode. I mean that was more D’Arcy but still, I adore that Janet(s) got her moment to shine because I thought she was underutilized this season (and now I see why, she was working hard filming this episode!)

Her adoration of Jason GETS ME! and I hated (and loved) how she admired him from afar

God. Her friendship with Michael I liked but didn’t pay much attention to but now I care about so much it’s now one of my favorite relationships on the show and it makes me well up thinking about how much time they’ve spent together. I can’t wait them to have more adventures together! I also liked how she was more rational when Michael was going nuts with his ideas of how to keep the humans together.

Seeing her develop new abilities like lying, throwing shade, kicking ass, etc. I’m so freaking proud of how far she’s come!

Releasing her queue in front of the judge so she and Michael could escape to Earth. GO JANET!

What I didn’t like:

Again, I thought Janet was underutilized and now I see why!

Sometimes I am ??? about some of her gaps in knowledge since she is supposed to know everything (like wouldn’t she have known no one’s gotten into The Good Place in 521 years?) but eh, that’s the show’s fault, not hers

What I wish for them in the future:

LET!!! HER!!! DATE!! JASON!!!

MICHAEL

What I liked:

His love for the humans truly touches me and I was astounded by the lengths he was willing to go to protect him.

I thought he was really funny this season, especially with the Dick Tracy joke!

His way of explaining the humans’ history in the afterlife (JEREMY BEARIMYYY) with all the whiteboards

What I didn’t like:

Again, too much time bonding with Eleanor and not enough with the other humans!

Not treating Janet like an equal! GIVE HER WHAT SHE DESERVES!! ACKNOWLEDGE SHE KICKED THOSE DEMON ASSES NOT YOU!

What I wish for them in the future:

I’m so freaking excited to see him take charge of the point system! The last episode really got me pumped up for this reformed demon and I’m PSYCHED to see what’s to come!

Favorite moments of the season (Non-Cheleanor related, because I feel like that’s a given):

Pillboi and Jason’s handshake

The reveal that Donkey Doug is Jason’s dad

Eleanor’s breakdown at the engagement party

Eleanor forcing Chidi to ask Simone out

Eleanor pretending to be Simone

Simone talking to Eleanor after her breakdown

Chidi and Simone’s first meeting (I FREAKING LOVE IT! You’re so weird!)

Eleanor and Simone in the cafe

Just anything with Simone really I’m in love with her

The scene where Jason was lecturing DDR to give everything they got (Little Peanut: Now we can legally rob their houses LOL)

Eleanor-Janet pretending to be Jason-Janet

PEEPS IN THE CHILI POT

Confrontation with the judge at the end of “The Brainy Bunch”

The fight inside the bar in Canada

The snail funeral for Martin Luther Gandhi Tyler Moore

Favorite episodes of the season:

Janet(s)

The Ballad of Donkey Doug

Everything is Bonzer!

The Brainy Bunch

Jeremy Bearimy

Least favorite episodes of the season:

A Fractured Inheritance (that episode can choke)

The Snowplow

Predictions about The Good Place in the future:

Okay I feel like since no one’s gotten in in 500+ years, The Good Place must be incredibly outdated and therefore, not at all that great? Like it’s probably not up to speed technologically (in terms of the Janets, too) and everyone there is too old-fashioned/too goodie-two-shoes and it’s up to the gang to diversify and modernize it.

I think Mike Schur mentioned something about how children are more likely to go to The Good Place since they have less time to collect negative point values, so I bet the place is crawling with kids? (If I can find the interview I will reference it!)

I made a post awhile back about how William Jackson Harper in an interview said that Chidi would try to touch base/save someone from his past (Again I will reference once I dig through my posts)... my theory now that they’re back in the afterlife is that he is going to try to save his grandma! Will Eleanor meet his grandma? OMG will his grandma show Eleanor baby photos of Chidi? (This is just me launching into fanfic territory don’t mind meeeeee)

What I want to happen in general/ what I want to know more about:

What the fuck happened with Uzo? Like he was not even mentioned at all in season 3? Isn’t he Chidi’s best friend?

WILL SIMONE EVER COME BACK I FUCKING MISS HER

MINDY!! PLEASE!! COME!! BACK!!

THE DEMONS! I NEED MORE OF THE DEMONS SHAWN VICKY GLENN ETCCCCCCCC

Anyway, this has concluded my ultra long shit post after the December 6th episode. Hopefully you enjoyed reading this and please let me know if you share the same thoughts or if you disagree! Ohhhh and I would love to hear your predictions too! Thanks so much if you got this far <3

Tagging: @cheleanorwhore @dearestpartnerofgreatness @helianthus21 @montygreen @chidi-anagonye

#the good place #the good place spoilers #grace rants #the good place rants #team cockroach #eleanor shellstrop #tahani al-jamil #chidi anagonye #jason mendoza #michael #janet #YAYYYYYYY #i actually enjoyed this season more than i thought i did?#maybe the last episode just left me happy #but i am excited for what is to come!#i adore this show so much #userleila

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abidos · 6 years

Text

Hux’s competency and the future of the Order

After reading tlj-novelization, what strikes me most about Hux is the sharp contrast between how the characters around him describe him and what we actually see him do.

Yago, Peavy, Finn, Snoke,... They all describe him as hot-headed, emotional, angry, mad... But how do we actually see Hux act? - In the TFA novelization, there is a strong insistence on describing Hux as not displaying any emotions (”he wears his mask on the inside” and similar descriptions. -In the same book, during the attack on Starkiller, It says Hux is frustrated and angry and wants to scream at his officers, but refrains from doing so because he realises that it would not make them work harder. -When one of his life projects is destroyed and the ground he stands on is literally about to blow up he is described as having some difficulty keeping his composure. Can you imagine? any normal person would be panicking. He does what is expected of him, goes to Snoke, and then gets Kylo, without any signs of being particularly emotional.

This trend continues in TLJ -When Rose bites him, his initial instinct is to have her tortured for her insolence, but he immediately reassesses and sticks to his initial plan of having her executed. - When the Supremacy is destroyed and Hux sees the Supreme Leader dead there is again a complete absence of emotion, on the contrary, he evaluates the situation and reaches the conclusion that he should kill Kylo. -Half an hour after Kylo stages his coup and almost kills him, he is standing next to him, relaying his order, playing the part of the loyal subordinate. In the book, even more than in the movie, I find, there is a very clear contrast between Kylo’s emotional responses and Hux’s controlled ones.

So when do we see him display strong emotions? The main example is, of course, his speech on Starkiller base. But this is a controlled exercise in pathos. He lets his emotions run free (or freer) because he knows that is the way to appeal to his audience ( we know from “before the awakening” that Hux’s speeches are popular with the troops). The only uncontrolled outbursts are when he slams his fist on the console in response to Poe’s mocking and when he raises his voice to Kylo when he the knight questions the worth of his troopers.

What we see of Hux’s behavior does not justify how he gets described by the people around him. So what are we supposed to believe? That Jason Fry is such an incompetent writer that he intends to portray Hux as unstable, but only relies on descriptions not on actions to show his intention, going against one of the maxims of writing (show, don’t tell)? or is his intention something else?

Let’s look at the people who describe Hux as deranged. Finn has never been in Hux’s presence, all he knows about him is what he has seen during the speeches. It is not so strange, although rather naïve, that he believes that Hux acts like that all the time. But Peavy and Yago and Canary should know better, there is no reason to believe that Hux’s actions during the two movies are more controlled than he normally would be, on the contrary, given what is at stake, you’d expect him to be more so. Peavy, in particular, should be familiar with this by now. So why don’t they?

What these three men have in common is the fact that they are older than Hux, by several decades, yet they serve under him. Must be quite a blow to the ego. Here they are experienced Imperial officers, yet for some reason, Snoke and the rest of High Command promote this boy who is half their age above them. Now are these self-reflecting men, willing to consider the possibility that maybe they aren’t as good as they think they are? Well no, much easier to convince themselves that Hux is incompetent and only got there through nepotism (even though Hux’s father has been dead for years). It’s not to hard to imagine them sitting around a cantina complaining about him and making fun of his speeches. Peavy even has convinced himself that Hux takes him along because he knows he needs the captain’s expertise, even though we never actually see Peavy council Hux or Hux ask for it.

It is interesting that Kylo’s interpretation of Hux is quite different. He want’s to impress and show Hux that he is capable, he distrusts him so much that he insists on taking him with him to Crait. Keeps him around even though he loathes him.

Simply put, if Hux was the way the Imperial officers describe him, he wouldn’t be where he was now. Snoke wouldn’t keep him around, neither would Kylo. All Hux’s roles involve command and strategy, if his talents lay somewhere else (designing programs, technology) that would be where Snoke would have placed him.

So what is the point? Peavy, Yago and Canary’s assessment remind me more about old people ranting about millennials than accurate analysis. And maybe that is the point? Maybe we are supposed to see the generational rift that runs along the First Order.It’s not just Hux they criticise, Canary also calls his younger crew members unprofessional, even though the only sign we see of this is when his second questions Canary’s orders for being contrary to Hux’s. On Hux’s part, he considers the Imperials obsolete and cumbersome and expects to be rid of them before the end, just as they expect of him.

What is particularly interesting, I find, is that The First Order’s younger generation fire and devotion, which the imperials so heavily criticize, is the direct result of their abuse and manipulation. They took vulnerable children from all over the galaxy and trained them to be a ruthless killing machine, devoted to the Order. And now to their great dismay, that is exactly what they became. And like anyone who gets what they wished for, they find they don’t want it at all. But instead of trying to do something about it (get rid of Hux, change the programming, attempt to influence their younger crew) they are happy to just hang on and convince themselves that Hux will self-destruct and everything will turn out fine. Historically not a good plan.

I would love to see this come to its fruition by the younger generation of the FO killing of the older one. The victims getting their revenge on their abusers, the way Hux got his revenge on his father and Kylo on Snoke.

#armitage hux #star wars meta #the last jedi novelization #kylo ren #kylux #power couple kylo and Hux getting their revenge on their abusers #please #captain peavey #captain canary #supreme leader snoke #tlj spoilers #sw spoilers #SW Canon #the last jedi spoilers #SW meta

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dontfeedthebabytigers · 6 years

Text

Being a Superhero

Summary: Wally West watched as Dick Grayson was shot in the chest on national television. Now, he has to sit in a waiting room hoping that Dick pulls through.

ao3 link

Being a superhero fucking sucks sometimes. No one ever told Wally when he was a kid that getting powers and being able to run around the world in less than a second would land him in a hospital waiting room. No one said that all those powers didn’t count for anything when the person he cares for more than anyone was shot on national television. That was the worst part of being a superhero, being human. These two lives are sides of the same coin that were never meant to be put together. Wally knows that now more than ever. Because Nightwing can go to the Watchtower and get the most advanced healing technology available, but not Dick Grayson. No, Dick Grayson goes to Gotham General. A hospital both understaffed and overcapacity. If Nightwing had been shot the Flash would be getting instant updates, but Wally West gets to sit in the waiting room--- one he doesn’t remember running to--- without knowing if his best friend was dead or alive.

Wally can only guess what he looks like. Pale skin, bloodshot eyes, still hands--- though anyone with knowledge of his powers would know that his hands were just shaking so fast that they appeared still. He has no idea how long Dick has been in surgery, and every time he looks at his watch Wally remembers that it fazed through his hand and broke on the ground. There was a clock somewhere--- it’s a hospital, there must be one nearby--- but Wally can’t even look around to find one. Not when the television in front of him is playing the news and he is stuck watching the same footage of Dick being shot over and over again.

The reporters have about as much information as Wally. Half-an-hour ago, Richard John Grayson, son of billionaire Bruce Wayne, was shot on a televised fundraiser for the orphanages of Gotham. The shooter’s in custody and being interrogated by Commissioner Gordon. Bruce Wayne is across the Pacific for a business deal, but Wally knew that Batman’s actually off-world for a mission. Someone will need to call him.

Unable to do anything to help, Wally keeps watching the same news report and hoping for it to relay some good news. They have nothing new to report, no facts, just speculation as to why someone would want to shoot one of Gotham’s darling sons. A photo of Dick from a few years ago filled the screen, back from when his adoption was made official. He had made fun of Dick for the ridiculous pose that was supposed to look natural, and he had to avoid a punch when he asked about Dick’s modeling career. Now his heart looks at the photo and aches to see that smile one more time. Wally needs a better last image of Dick Grayson than the one he got.

He can’t have the last image in his mind of Dick be him, limp on a gurney, eyes closed, tears track on his cheeks. Wally knows that Dick had to play up how much the gunshot hurt, but getting shot was never painless. With no Batman to impress, and no one nearby to comfort him, there was no way all of those tears were just for show.

Fuck. He needs to move, do something useful. All he wants to do is to put on his Flash suit and go beat the hell out of the shooter, but there was no reason for the Flash to care about Dick Grayson. The next best thing would be to run around the entire world until he couldn’t anymore. But to be doing that would mean leaving Dick alone, and even if no one here would give him any information about him, or let him talk to Dick’s doctor, Wally wasn’t about to abandon his best friend.

Friend. Wally stopped feeling like Dick’s friend a long time ago, but not in a necessarily bad way. It was odd, but ever since he came back Wally hasn’t been able to think of Dick as a friend like he once did. The word just feels claustrophobic. They had known each other since they were children. Wally has laughed and cried with Dick; he’s yelled in his face until he runs out of air. Dick sees every possibility for Wally’s future, and Wally can do the same for Dick. He can see Nightwing running the JLA, and Dick falling in love.

Dick Grayson can make him angrier than anybody in the world. He’s too reckless, too self-sacrificing, and too oblivious for someone so smart. He praises everyone but can never let himself off the hook. He’s easy to anger and his eyes are too blue. He knows everything about Wally, the way he moves, which comedians he finds funny, and the story behind each of his scars. He’s too much, but somehow, right now, he’s not enough. No, they’re not enough.

Wally puts his head between his knees because he can’t take this anymore. The news anchors keep putting up those posed photos and gushing about the sweet child that had survived trauma, but they didn’t know Dick. They have never seen the night terrors that have made sleep allusive since before Wally had met him. While they are correct to report that he was a police officer, they don’t know that after he takes off one uniform and he trades it for another every night. Dick’s too good for this Gotham and its sister city. He’s too good for Wally, though he would never agree with that.

Out of the haze, Wally feels his phone vibrate in his back pocket and notices that it has been for a while. He slows the tremors in his hands and pulls his cracked phone out of his back pocket and saw a rush of text messages and missed call notifications.

Roy Harper 15:37: HOLY SHIT are you watching the news?

Kaldur 15:37: Wally, please call if you need someone to talk too.

Roy Harper 15:39: Are you there?!?!

Artemis Crook 15:45: are you okay?

Aunt Iris 15:47: I just heard about Dick. Do you need to talk?

Kaldur 15:50: Batman has been notified he is on his way back.

Uncle Barry 15:51: Call me back.

Roy Harper 15:53: Answer me West! He’s my friend too.

Jason Todd 15:57: I know you’re there. Wait for Alfred, he’s almost there. Tim and I will handle everything else.

It’s only been twenty minutes since Dick was shot. Wally feels like he’s been sitting here hours, but it’s only been twenty minutes.

That’s when everything gets loud. There are people screaming out hundreds of questions, and he can catch Dick’s name on dozens of reporter’s lips. He looks up and spots Alfred pushing his way past the press that swarm him and the door, and he’s on his feet again walking towards Alfred. Maybe he yells at them, but soon he has Security Officers with him to help Alfred inside and get the reporters away from the hospital doors.

“Thank you, Mr. West.” Alfred speaks with a slight tremor he has never heard from him before. “I can usually deal with those vultures, but I fear that I may be compromised.”

I want to tell him that he’s not alone. They have both seen Nightwing get downed a hundred times, but never something so public. Never when Nightwing was vulnerable as Dick Grayson has to seem. He wants to tell him, but he doesn’t get the time before a nurse arrives and escorts Alfred to a private waiting room. Wally tags along on Alfred’s assistance--- even though the hospital staff seems reluctant.

The nurse tells them that the bullet hit Dick’s heart and punctured a lung, but his heart was still beating when he arrived. He said that Dick had also lost a lot of blood, too much. Dick was in surgery, but it was too early to know anything else. They should sit tight and wait for the doctor. Wally didn’t notice when they left. All he could think about was how Dick had been shot in the heart, that beautiful heart.

Lost in his mind, he did not notice Alfred had made a phone call until a phone was put in his hand. He looks up at Alfred and sees the worry lines on his face deep, and he sees eyes full of concern. Alfred says something to him, but the words don’t click. Wally just puts the phone next to his ear because that is what you’re supposed to do.

“Wally,” It’s Barry, but that doesn’t make sense. He’s off-world with the Justice League, with Batman. Oh. “Kaldur told the League everything. Are you okay? You weren’t answering any of my calls.”

Wally takes a moment to remind himself how to speak. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. Alfred told us everything he knows about Dick’s condition, and he’s going to be just fine. People have come back from worse. Hell, Dick’s come back from worse when he was thirteen.”

Again, Wally knows this. He knows what Nightwing has been through, what Robin has been through, but this is just different. It’s undiscovered land that he’s traveling without a map or a compass.

“I can’t lose him, Uncle Barry.” Wally’s sounds weak, and he is. But Alfred puts a hand on his shoulder and he feels strong enough to continue. “I just got back. He can’t leave.”

“He won’t leave you. I promise.” He pauses for a moment. “Listen, we’re about to wrap up here and then everyone is headed straight back. The second we get back we’ll have Doctor Midnight take a look at him and make sure everything is okay. Can you stay with Alfred until then, make sure no reporters give him a hard time?”

Wally nods before remembering that Barry can’t see that. “Yeah, I’ll stay with him.”

“Okay, that’s perfect Wally,” Barry stops talking again. “I have to go, but we’ll be back before morning. Don’t lose hope, and don’t ignore your phone.”

A new voice, a deep one, comes over the receiver. “Keep him safe until I get there.”

“You know I will Bruce.”

The line goes dead and Wally hands the phone back to Alfred. Wally hears the ways Alfred’s bones creak when he sits and thinks back to a time when they were all so much younger. Back when Dick would jumble the English language for a laugh, and before their relationship had been so god damn confusing.

He wishes he could go back to that time when they sat on the rooftop of the Manor. What were they? Wally must have been seventeen, Dick nearing fifteen. Dick had been fighting with Bruce with an increasing frequency and needed a break, so they watched the stars and didn’t say a word. After about an hour, Dick had grabbed his hand. Wally looked over at him and saw something different in his eyes, a whirl-wind of emotions that swept him away. He had been so lost that he hadn’t noticed that Dick had gotten so close to him and blurt out that he was moving away for college the next year. Dick had been enraged, the gentle storm turned into a hurricane and they screamed and argued. That had been their last fight before Wally moved away with Artemis for college.

He almost forgot about that look in Dick’s eye, all the memories before the fight were blurry. Now that he was thinking of it, Wally can’t help but think of all the other times he’s seen the same look directed his way. When he rambled so fast that Dick lost track of what he was saying, or when they were hanging out playing video games. There was no real rhyme or reason to it.

Alfred’s voice jerks him from those thoughts. “Thank you for being here, Mr. West.”

“Don’t worry about it, if it were anyone else Dick would be here with you.”

“I don’t doubt that. My grandson has a large heart, though I’m sure you are more aware of that than any of us.”

“We’ve known each other a long time.”

Alfred nods, but there’s a glint in his eye like he knows a secret that’s only his. “I’m old, Mr. West, older than I ever thought I would be. Because of that I have seen a lot of friendships come and go, and you two are not friends. Not with how you look at each other when the other is looking the other way.”

Wally’s brain freezes in place. His hands stop shaking, and for the first time in his life he is still. “What are talking about?

Alfred grabs his hand; he looks at Wally with kind eyes. “I think you know.”

How can he? Alfred is making no sense. He says there is a meaning to the way Dick looks at him, and how Wally should know something about that. There wasn’t anything there. Sometimes Dick just looks at him, and Wally doesn’t see anything in that. He doesn’t think anything of it, just feels the fluttering in his stomach and uncomfortable heat in his face.

“I don’t understand.” Wally says, and his throat was tight for some reason.

Alfred pats his knee like he was a child. “You will someday, but don’t wait too long to figure it out.”

Wally doesn’t say anything, and they lapse to silence until the Doctor arrives. His report is factual and cuts straight to what they wanted to hear. Dick is alive, and he will be for a long time. The bullet had injured his heart, but they were able to fix the damage before it was too late. They put him on heavy sedation until his lung heals more and breathing became easier for him. Wally and Alfred are allowed in one at a time for five minutes each, and after that they could return the next morning for visitation hours.

Alfred went in first to check on his grandson, and when he came out there was a mixture of grief and relief that sat heavy on his features. He pulls out his phone and begins making calls, but Wally doesn’t stick around to hear them.

Dick’s room was pale and monochromatic from the little amount of sunlight remaining. The clock on the wall said it was almost eight o’clock now, Dick had been in surgery five hours as they tried to get the shrapnel out. The strain that his body has been under shows. There bags of blood and saline that connect to his arm and an oxygen mask on his face, and his skin and hair are lifeless. He looks dead, but Wally holds on to knowing that he isn’t and won’t be while Wally is still alive.

The bandages on Dick’s chest were perfectly wrapped, so Alfred must have checked to see that Dick’s wound was stitched to his standard. Other than the bandages, the sheets were also void of wrinkles. Alfred must have spent his five minutes micromanaging every aspect of Dick’s room; Dick had always told him that Alfred tended to tidy when he was worried. The only inconsistency was the chair pulled up to Dick’s side, and that chair was the one that Wally finds himself sitting in.

He can’t stop himself from grabbing Dick’s wrist and feeling his pulse and finding Dick’s steady pulse brings his own down. Wally doesn’t know why, but his free hand begins to push Dick’s hair away from his face. His hand lingers where it cradles Dick’s face; his thumb strokes the side of his face where he had seen tears hours ago. Any thought of the shooter, or the fear of losing Dick, was gone now. Dick was tangible and right there, and he would give cent he had for Dick to open his eyes and look at him like that one more time. All he wanted for Dick to laugh with him, at him. He wanted Dick to lose his temper, and he wanted Dick to watch the stars with him and lean a little too close. Wally wants him. He loves…

“I love Dick Grayson.” He whispers and can’t help feeling a little betrayed because he would have liked being part of that decision. But he doubts that people get the choice to love a man like Dick Grayson, and he thinks that maybe he is lucky enough that Dick may love him back.

“You can’t die, Dick.” He tells Dick, because he can’t die. Not now. “There’s so much about this life that I hate. I hate how all of my friends young, how I can’t see the faces of everyone I failed to save because there are just too many to remember, and how I have to lie to every person I’ve ever met. Being a superhero fucking sucks, but you make it bearable. You can’t die because I can’t do this without you, Dick. I am head-over-heels, over the moon, and every other possible cliché in love with you.”

“You mean that?”

Wally jumps when Dick’s raspy voice rises above the hiss of oxygen. His eyes open and that look, the look of total devotion, falls over him. The nurses must have not given him enough sedative--- they didn’t expect a billionaire’s son to have a tolerance.

“Hey,” Wally’s voice doesn’t break into a sob, but it’s a near thing. He must be smiling like an idiot, but he can’t bring himself to care. “Are you in any pain?”

“Did you mean that?” Dick insists. He looks so tired, but he also seems determined to stay awake. Wally loves his stubbornness.

“Yeah, I do.” Wally says, and Dick smiles with the same lovesickness that Wally new he had.

Dick tries to lift a hand to touch Wally’s face, but he isn’t strong enough. Wally catches the hand and lays it back down so Dick won’t pull out the IV’s in his arm.

“Don’t,” Wally murmurs. “You need to heal. Besides, we have all the time in the world.”

“Kiss me,” Dick speaks soft, and Wally wants to do what he asks for. But he can’t stop looking at oxygen mask. “I’ll be fine. Please, Wally.”

“You’re too reckless.”

“You love it.” Dick says with a grin, and now Wally can’t help himself.

He’s gentle, gentler than he has even been in his life when he lifts the oxygen mask and kisses Dick Grayson. It’s everything that he’s ever needs, but never knew he wanted. It’s slow and patient, too perfect. When Wally pulls away it’s too soon, but he can see that Dick is tiring and replaces the oxygen mask.

“Go to sleep, Dick. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Dick fall asleep as Wally strokes his thumb on the side of his face. Here, watching the man he loves sleeping safe under his watch, Wally feels a little lighter. Because finally he sees the bright side of being a superhero, falling in love with Dick Grayson.

#miranda writes #dick grayson #wally west #birdflash #fanfic #young justice

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nancywheelxr · 6 years

Text

long nights, daydreams, sugar and smoke rings

"The hours spent between coming back and chasing down his alternate self, it’s a blur. He’s tired and angry and hurt and worried.

Everything blurs together in one nightmarish night Tim wishes he could wipe out of his memory.

He can’t think too much on it, not without falling in a rabbit hole of paranoia and distrust and despair and-

It feels too much like looking in his eyes.

But after everything, after he repressed it all to a locked chest in the back of his mind, one thing lingers to the forefront of his thoughts.

Conner."

or, the one where instead of obsessing over the Knights Project, Tim focus on finding Conner, and maybe learns how to live one day at a time.

alternatively, Tim isn't Macbeth, Bruce needs a book on parenting, Jason is trusted with the custody of a teenager, and Kon finally sees the stars.

It’s like chasing a ghost.

But then again, in this family, this wouldn’t be the first time.

The hours spent between coming back and chasing down his alternate self, it’s a blur. He’s tired and angry and hurt and worried.

Everything blurs together in one nightmarish night Tim wishes he could wipe out of his memory.

He can’t think too much on it, not without falling in a rabbit hole of paranoia and distrust and despair and-

It feels too much like looking in his eyes.

But after everything, after he repressed it all to a locked chest in the back of his mind, one thing lingers to the forefront of his thoughts.

Conner.

He doesn’t know who Conner is or why he’s so important to that version of him.

Tim tries not to think about it, it can’t be good if it’s linked to that . And besides he has bigger things to worry about. Batwoman. The Knights. All the future he needs to avoid.

But still, in the silence when he lays down to sleep, it echoes.

Then, it all goes to hell.

That’s the thing about knowing too much. It comes with a price. It always comes with a price.

And this time all of Gotham is paying the fare.

He’s Macbeth, crumbling under a prophecy he fulfilled on his own.

His leg is broken, and he’s confined to his bed. No training, no unnecessary stress.

Bruce is worried, Tim knows. And so are Alfred and Dick and even Jason, in a way.

They all dance around him, waiting for him to snap.

Tim isn’t going to snap.

For something to snap, to break, there needs to be pressure. A balloon bursts when it’s full.

But he’s not filled with anything. Tim is hollowed out. Empty.

There’s not enough of him to snap.

Still, he waits, and when Dick asks him if he wants more pillows, Tim gives him the tantrum they’re all expecting.

That’s only fair, he supposes.

With nothing to do, Tim thinks of the name rattling around his ribcage, woven in between his bones.

Conner.

This future- no . This version of him from an alternate universe, had said tell him you’re sorry and you know how important he is to us.

Except, no, he doesn’t.

There’s only a handful of people Tim cares about on that level, even less that aren’t somehow connected to Batman or Gotham. None of them go by any version of that name.

So, with nothing else to do and everything else turning to dust and ashes, Tim decides he wants to.

Tomorrow , he’s starting tomorrow.

There’s not much information to work with, all Tim knows is a name.

Even if it makes his chest ache and long and burn for no reason at all, it’s no help. There’s thousands of guys named Conner in the world.

How is Tim supposed to find his?

He unlocks the chest at the back of his mind, and tries to remember all that the other Tim Drake told him about this.

His hands shake and cold sweat drips from his forehead, but Tim closes his eyes and clenches his fists and thinks.

“How are you doing, Tim?” Dick asks.

“I’m fine.” Tim says, and it’s only mostly a lie.

Things Tim knows:

Conner

Probably around his age

Becomes Superman in that universe

Possibly related to Superman

Things Tim doesn’t know:

His full name

Good or evil?

Where he is

Does he exist in this universe?

Why haven’t they met yet?

Is he Superman’s son?

Where is he?

Why no one knows about him?

How can he find him?

Does he want to be found?

Does it matter?

Stephanie texts him once, u ok?

yeah, don’t worry, he text backs.

His phone doesn’t chime again.

The problem is that the list of things Tim knows is way too short compared with all the things he should but doesn’t.

Without at least a last name, he’s stuck.

Where does he even begin?

He gives up on looking up Conner. Instead, he downloads all files on Superman from the batcave after Bruce leaves for patrol.

Cassandra shows up one night, and Tim isn’t sure why he’s so surprised. She comes through the window, in the hours between night and not quite morning, and she gives him a sad, tired smile before joining him on the bed.

“Does it stop?” She asks quietly, “how you make it better?”

Tim has his computer on his lap, too many tabs open, and the screen hurts his eyes and it’s hard to make out anything more than her silhouette in the dark. He’s been reading files after files after files since five days ago, and he thinks he might be making some progress. The name Cadmus is highlighted in yellow ink.

He wonders why she’s asking him, of all people, this. Tim isn’t good at coping with shit. None of this is healthy, he knows.

But maybe, she doesn’t want healthy. Maybe she wants honest.

So Tim swallows around all the words choking on his throat, and says “it doesn’t.”

He lets her curl up and cry under the artificial light. When he wakes up later, she’s gone.

Cadmus.

It all comes back to Cadmus.

Tim hobbles down to the cave again, downloads more files. This time, the name Lex Luthor flashes on the screen.

Jason comes next.

He leans against the doorway, says, “you look like shit.”

“That’s rich, coming from you.” Tim keeps typing, he’s so close to hacking on LexCorps.

“And he speaks!” Jason smirks, but there’s not enough bite in his voice, and it leaves him on edge. Jason is chaos and fire and sharp edges, if he’s walking on eggshells, then- “listen, Replacement, Dick’s worrying.”

There it is.

His blood boils.

“Then tell him I’m fine,” he says, focusing on the screen and the code he needs to write, “you can go now, you already checked to see if I’m alive.”

Jason looks conflicted. Tim guesses he’s as uncomfortable in this situation as Tim. But he doesn’t leave, instead he digs around his pocket and throws him a key.

“165, Belmont Street.” Jason sighs, rubs his face tiredly, “if it gets too much. Tell anyone and you’re a dead bird.”

Tim hides the key in his sneaker under the bed. When he looks up, Jason nods, hands stuffed in his pocket. Tim doesn’t say thank you but he knows his brother gets it, and he’s surprised by the fierceness of gratitude and fondness that washes over him.

“Take care of yourself, Timbo,” Jason leaves.

Tim lets him, wordlessly.

Bruce is standing in the doorway. Tim knows, he had heard the stairs creaking under his weight and had just enough time to close his laptop and dive under the covers.

Neither says anything, and Tim isn’t naive enough to think he’s fooling him. Bruce knows he isn’t asleep.

But he says nothing, and doesn’t come in either. It’s late, he probably just came home from patrol. Tim can imagine the wariness cloaking him better than the cowl.

A sigh. Something that might have been his name.

Tim keeps his eyes closed, keeps on pretending.

The door closes with a soft click. The stairs creak.

His leg is healed and Tim is so close to cracking his mystery, but the world around him is spinning again.

The Trial of Batwoman.

A charade. An excuse. A lie.

But then again, he’s not sure what is or isn’t true anymore. Batgirl-

No. He should trust Bruce. Batman . He wouldn’t-

Tim wants to scream and tear this room apart. Instead he clenches his hands into fists until his nails dig into his skin and blood dots the sheets.

For the first time since Clayface, Tim feels so stretched out thin he fears he might snap.

He’s so tired of having the ground shifting under his foot.

After he escaped, Tim thought things could go back to normal, pick it up where he left off. But this world he came back to, it’s so different from before, he’s not sure where is his place in all this.

He feels misplaced.

So it’s easy, so easy , to focus on his search rather than map out a way back in this reality.

Tim searches for Conner and hopes to find himself.

“You were supposed to be resting.” Bruce. Batman says. “Not on a wild goose chase.”

“I need to know-”

“When is the last time you slept?”

“That’s not important,” Tim grits his teeth, tries a different approach, “imagine what it would mean for the Knights Project-”

“ Tim.”

Batman is trying, Tim can recognize that. But it’s too little, too late.

Especially when his blood is boiling and his foundations are crumbling again because it was all built on smoke and mirrors and how could he-

Tim thinks of the key hidden in a secret pocket on his utility belt and it feels like lead and burning iron on his hip, and he wants to punch Jason and he wants to hug him thank you.

He hops on his bike and speeds away.

Jason’s safehouse turns out to be an old warehouse near the docks, but to be fair, it’s furnished and well stocked enough to last for a good few months.

Thank god for Jason’s paranoia.

Tim drops down on the beat up couch, feeling the free fall from everything he knew. It makes his skin crawl and itch and buzz.

He knows Jason is bound to show up at some point, knows this place is probably bugged and tripwired, but he can’t begin to deal with this.

For now, Tim cries.

When he wakes up later, the sky is dark and there’s a warm pizza on the coffee table and ice cream on the back of the small refrigerator. A quick search around the warehouse and Tim finds some clothes that might fit him for the most part.

It’s easy to forget, but Jason is his older brother too. Dick’s not the only one that worries, he’s just the loudest about it.

Tim gets in the shower and lets the hot water wash over him, scrubs at his skin until it’s red and raw and hurting. The mirror slowly fogs over and the water runs hot, then lukewarm, then cold before he reaches for the towel.

He’s feeling a little more human by the time he sits back in the couch, hair dripping a puddle on the floor. The pizza has gone cold, but he doesn’t bother microwaving it, eats half of it without even realizing while some mindless talk show plays on the old TV.

There’s no clock anywhere Tim can see, so he has no idea how long has passed since he first got there when Jason comes through the door in full Red Hood gear, but the ice cream is already almost gone and the talk show has been replaced by an action movie with a too low budget for the kind of stunts they’re trying to pull.

Jason nods at him before climbing the stairs, two steps at a time, and disappearing inside one of the bedrooms. When he comes back down again, the helmet and armor has been replaced by sweatpants and a Wonder Woman T-shirt, and a blanket is bundled under his arm. Jason waits for Tim to make space for him on the couch before sitting down beside him. Tim hesitates for only a second, but stretches his legs over his brother’s lap as he lays the blanket over them both.

The credits are rolling in the screen and Tim is completely wrapped up in the soft fabric of the comforter when he finally speaks up, “Bruce is an asshole.”

Silence. Then, a snort, “tell me about it, kiddo.”

Tim snickers. And surprisingly, he tells him.

After the first night, Jason comes and goes randomly. Sometimes he shows up in the middle of the afternoon, arms full of groceries, and sometimes he comes in during the night and the only sign he was ever there at all are the blood stains in the couch and the bullets in the bathroom floor. Sometimes he stays for dinner and then breakfast, and sometimes he insists on cooking lunch. But his visits are scattered over the course of weeks, and Tim is grateful for the solitude.

It gives him time to pull himself together.

And pick up his research where he left off. In the five weeks he stays holed up in the warehouse, he finally narrows it down to an address.

Maybe Bruce has a point, he’s obsessing and refusing to face reality. But things have changed since he first started. This isn’t just about finding Conner anymore. It’s about Cadmus and Lex Luthor trying to clone Superman and getting it right. It’s about a version of Bizarro that doesn’t degenerates out of confinement. It’s about LexCorp creating and manipulating a weapon in masse.

It’s about a boy grown in a lab that might never have any choice at all.

After the utter failure with the Knights, Tim has a purpose again. Something to focus on and fight for. He’s helping people and feeling more like Red Robin than in all the time he spent scrambling to avoid all those what ifs.

He buys a ticket to Metropolis.

What Tim knows:

His name is Experiment 13, and he’s the most successful attempt to clone Superman Cadmus has managed so far. His DNA is half kryptonian and half human, although the human donor has not been listed in the files and Tim can’t find a trace anywhere.

He’s 19 weeks old and is being given implanted memories while undergoing an artificial maturation process. A few more weeks and he’ll match Superman’s age.

Cadmus’s plan is to build and manipulate him into carrying on their plans and defeating any threat Superman might pose.

Tonight Tim is setting him free.

“And where exactly do you think you’re going, Babybird?” Jason’s voice comes from the kitchen, “you seriously thought you could sneak out? Really?”

Of all the days Jason might want to check up on him. It’s just Tim’s luck, really.

“Don’t call me that,” Tim frowns, “and I’m going home. Not that I’m not grateful, but I figured I couldn’t hide here forever.”

Jason comes from the kitchen, dish towel hanging on his shoulder. “Man, that’s funny, you think you can lie to me.” He shakes his head, stuffing his hands in the pocket of his hoodie, “you don’t have to tell me where you’re going, but you gotta tell somebody.”

“Since when you’re the responsible one here?” Tim glares.

“Since everyone else is busy being idiots,” Jason raises his an eyebrow, “is this about your sudden interest on Cadmus?”

“How the hell you know that?”

“Language,” he smirks, “please, this is my safehouse.”

That’s fair, Tim shrugs. This is a waste of time.

“I’m storming Cadmus in Metropolis,” Tim says, “do you want to help me blow shit up?”

In the end, Jason follows him to Metropolis with only mild complaining, but in Tim’s opinion that’s already more complaining than he’s entitled to, since he’s the one who inserted himself into this operation.

“Don’t you have teammates to bother?” Tim sighs, as he turns the security system offline, “I don’t know, really tall amazon? Looks perpetually grumpy? Or giant Superman clone? Ringing any bell? Really, they’re impossible to miss.”

“Nah,” Jason shrugs, working on disabling the cameras, “Artemis and Bizarro are having some good ol’ bonding time. She needs to chill.”

“To be fair,” Tim overrides the door locks; they’re good to go, “all of you need to chill. Come on, we’re clear.”

“Honestly, one month and you’re a little shit again,” he shakes his head, and Tim has the annoying sensation Jason is grinning under the helmet, “lead the way, Replacement.”

When they reach the actual labs, underneath all the facade Cadmus puts on for the world, Tim is horrified.

Experiment 13, and Tim forces himself not to think of him as Conner, because this is a real human being and not a ghost for him to chase, is submerged in a tank, hooked to a multitude of machines.

Jason fires another round outside. The sounds of the fight are getting louder, he doesn’t have much time, Jason can delay them for only so long.

Tim begins unplugging what he can, hoping he’s not doing more damage than good. The machines beep urgently, and the water level start to slowly come down. Tim watches as the boy in the tank takes his first breath.

It feels like he’s witnessing a miracle, something holy.

But there’s no time, as soon as he opens his eyes, Experiment 13 panics and Tim is fumbling to open the tank and outside Jason fires something that sounds suspiciously like a rocket launcher but Tim can’t deal with Jason’s bullshit right now.

The tank slides open, and the boy falls to the ground, tangled in wires and IV lines and coughing up water. He tries to tear it all out, and blood begins to stain his white suit, and Tim figures he needs to do something, but to be honest, when he had started looking for Conner, he hadn’t expected to get this far.

“Who are you?” Experiment 13 asks, voice hoarse and broken and stilted, “what- where-”

And he looks up with blue eyes confused and open and scared, and Tim aches , “I’m Red Robin, I’m here to rescue you. You-” He hesitates, unsure if that’s a promise he can keep, but decides to make anyway, “you’re going to be fine.”

Experiment 13 doesn’t look very convinced, and Tim braces himself for him to lash out, but the boy stumbles, tripping on the wires, and Jason is bursting through the doors, helmet a little cracked. “Yo, Red, we gotta go. Like, now. ”

Tim nods, rushing to help the boy stand up, feels his legs faltering, hesitant knees wobbling, and ends up throwing one arm over his shoulders and supporting most of his weight. “Hang on, we’re getting you out of here.”

“That,” Jason points to Experiment 13, as if he’s not using most of his strength to hold the door closed, “why you wanted to bust this place? Nice. ”

“Can we focus on how to get the hell out of here?”

Something pushes against the door from the outside and Jason grunts, throwing his weight to keep it closed. They need to find a way out, they should’ve known better than to let themselves be cornered like this, but Tim had been distracted by the excitement of finally, finally , getting to the end of this. And what’s the use? If they all die here because he couldn’t figure out an exit- oh man , Bruce is going to kill him if Jason dies again. Jason will probably hunt him in the afterlife and kill him again, too.

“Time’s running out, Red,” Jason grits his teeth. “Tick tock, use that big brain of yours-”

Before Tim can tell him to shut up , Experiment 13 whimpers, hands flying to his eyes, but it’s too late, he’s not fast enough, a beam of red laser shoots off, almost catches Jason’s helmet and burns a hole in the ceiling, causing half of it to collapse.

“That works too,” Jason doesn’t waste time gaping like Tim, instead he shoves both boys away, yells for them to just hurry the fuck up , and waits until they’re halfway up the next floor to fire his own grappling gun.

Dick would probably be so very proud.

As the three of them come to a stop in a rooftop in the other side of town, Tim sits down and breathes.

Tim isn’t stupid, he knows Superman and probably Batman will be here as soon as the situation in the Cadmus lab is dealt with, he’s actually surprised it’s taking them this long.

But he’s glad they have this moment to gather themselves, and when Jason says something about buying cigarettes and jumps down into the night, Tim lets him.

“I,” Experiment 13 starts, hesitating, “I don’t understand-”

He clutches his head, eyes squeezing closed as he begins to hyperventilate, so Tim rests a hand on his back, rubs circles soothingly, “it’s okay,” he repeats over and over, until the boy is breathing evenly again; then he asks, because he has to, “do you know who I am?”

“I’m,” his eyes glaze over, but he shakes his head to try and clear them, “Superman?”

Tim swallows. “Not exactly-”

“They- a clone?” He runs a hand over his hair, the tanks thick liquid sticking to his fingers along with the dust from the debris, “I heard- bits and pieces- they didn’t know I could- but I, I remember. ”

“I’m sorry,” Tim says, and he means it, “they are bad people, and they wanted to use you.”

“A weapon,” he nods, looking a little better, if still overwhelmed, “they called me their secret weapon.”

He spits the words out like poison, and Tim can understand. “You’re free now, you can choose for yourself.”

The boy looks up, and it’s almost a smile.

“What is the meaning of this?” Batman asks, “that building exploded , people could’ve been hurt, what were the two of you thinking?”

“We just want to understand,” Superman amends, but there’s a frown on his brow.

Jason shrugs, and Tim will give him this, he didn’t expected him to come back at all. “I think it’s pretty clear, old man.”

Batman twitches. Superman fights down a snicker. Tim facepalms. 13 looks confused.

“Cadmus was trying to find a way to clone Superman,” Tim steps in, “Bizarro wasn’t the last one like we thought back then. But after tonight, there’s no way they can pick up again. Not in the next decade.”

“What?” Superman starts, gaze landing on the boy standing behind Tim, “does that mean- did they succeed?”

Tim looks behind him, Experiment 13 nods. “Yes, mostly.” He steps back, nudging the boy forward gently, “this is him.”

Superman lands in front of him, eyes softening, “do you know who I am?”

“Of course I do.” Experiment 13 crosses his arms, glaring, “I’m not stupid.”

There’s a tense moment of silence, where even Jason seems uncomfortable, but then Superman laughs, rests a hand on the boy’s shoulders, “that’s fair. Sorry, do you have a name?”

The boy falters, and Tim feels his heart beating wildly on his chest, tries not to wonder , tells him instead, “it’s your choice, if you want. Whatever you decide, whoever you want to be.”

“Conner,” the boy says quietly, after a pause. Then stronger, certain, “ call me Conner .”

It’s no surprise that Conner leaves with Superman, Tim had expected, hoped , for that. But after they leave, the boy awkwardly holding on for the flight, it’s only Batman, him, and Jason standing on a rooftop, and that’s probably the most volatile combination.

“Red Robin,” Batman starts, stops himself. Starts again, “you look better.”

I was right , Tim wants to scream, you should’ve believed in me . Instead, he says, “I am better.”

“Nightwing is worried,” he continues, taking his answer as a white flag, “and so are the others.”

“You can tell them I’m fine.” Tim closes off. He wants this conversation to end, he wants Jason to shoot him now if only that would make it stop.

“What happened today,” and now Batman sounds wary, “you could’ve called, we would’ve helped.”

No, you wouldn’t. They would have dismissed him. Would tell him he needs rest in that voice that drips pity like acid on his skin.

“Yeah, well,” Jason is suddenly a part of the conversation again, resting his elbow in Tim’s head in the way he always does just to show he’s the tallest, “he did call the cavalry.”

Batman purses his lips. “Red Hood, while I appreciate you- helping your brothers, you should’ve called back up. The two of you- people could’ve been hurt.”

“Bats, and I say this with only mild intention to offend,” Jason continues, even after Tim shakes him off, “but you seriously need to chill.”

A pause, then Batman sighs, looking too tired to pick fights. “Make sure he sleeps, at least.”

And with that the Dark Knight is gone.

“Why do I feel like I just accepted to babysit his cat?” Jason frowns, “this is a trap, but I don’t know how yet.”

“Can we go home now?” Tim yawns, “and ‘sides I’m hungry.”

“Did he just trick me into getting custody of you?” Jaso stops, “wait, goddamnit, I want a lawyer!”

Later, after they ate a whole pizza and Jason stumbled upstairs to pass out on his bed, Tim lays on the beat up couch, wrapped in the softest blanket he could find. On the TV another action movie drawls on, and Tim finds himself lost again.

He spent all this time trying to find Conner, and now that he has, he doesn’t know what to do with himself.

From what his alternate self had said, they would grow to be important to each other. But when? How? Would this even happen here, in this reality?

There’s a whole new future waiting for him, all these days laid down in front of him, and Tim is excited and exhilarated and scared.

While he doesn’t want to live out what the other Tim Drake told, running away, fighting against it, has only made it true.

Alternate Tim Drake had said after Batwoman, it was all downhill. And while he was right, the Knights Project is over, he was wrong, too. Because upstairs Jason is snoring lightly, even though he’ll deny it if Tim brings it up in the morning, and Batman is an asshole and it will still take some time, but all bridges can be rebuilt.

And somewhere in Kansas, there’s a boy named Conner learning how to live.

In the morning, Tim might call Dick. Check in with Cass. And maybe even with the Demon Brat.

This is not downhill, it’s not easy, but Tim never expected it to be; this is him, taking a day at a time and embracing whatever his future might hold.

It's like chasing a ghost, but Tim finds he can live with the unknown this time.

#Tim Drake #Jason Todd #bruce wayne #batman #timkon #detective comics #robin #red robin #red hood #red hood and the outlaws #rhato #batman fic #timkon fic #kon el #conner kent #there i fixed rebirth #and the detective comics last issue ending #bring kon back you cowards #give tim his boyfriend back

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nightmareonfilmstreet · 6 years

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The Monster Behind The Mask: Remembering FRIDAY THE 13TH PART III

Friday the 13th Part III was released theatrically in the United States on Friday, August 13, 1982. 36 years ago tonight. Does that make you feel as old as Pamela Vorhees’ grey sweater? If the answer is a resounding ‘No, you fool – I was born in the 80’s, I had to wait at least a decade until I watched Jason mutilating camp counselors’, then welcome to this special look back on one of the more divisive Friday the 13th films. Grab your machetes, pull down your ice-hockey masks and don your wacky green/red 3-D spectacles, because we’re heading to Higgins Haven for some stabby-stabby fun with Jason Voorhees.

By the time Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) came around in theaters, audiences had become swamped with low-quality slasher titles. Slasher film fatigue had set in hard, and although Jason’s second outing grossed over $21.7 million in the United States on a budget of $1.25 million, fans were disappointed with a rehashing of the original story, and it failed to pull in the original’s box office success. The fact that they gave no explanation to the ridiculous ending of Part II showed that the people in charge didn’t really put much value in the continuity or story progression. One thing everyone could agree on though: Jason needed to be scarier. He needed to be a real boogeyman. And to get there, there were going to need a gimmick to get that cold hard cash-vein open again. They needed…3D.

A New Dimension In Terror

The titles jumped out at you like Superman’s cosmic intro, only….cheaper looking. Not to mention a bombastic funky 70’s inspired theme that I totally dug, man. What you have to remember is that in 1982 although 3D film-making was still in its infancy (Jaws 3D anyone?) by 2010, it had become almost commonplace for any film released to be retrofitted for a new dimension of sight and sound. Friday the 13th Part III, however, paved the way for future 3D films. You may have a strong fondness for everything three dimensional, but for all the people that love donning plastic visors on their head the other bemoan the comically irritating ploy to cough up more money at the box office. I wear glasses and absolutely hate 3D films becuase it feels like I’m wearing glasses on top of glasses…which I am!

Unless you have your own pair of flimsy pre-revolutionary 3D glasses, (which I doubt you have) you’re going to see a lot of shots of people waggling sticks at the camera, having yo-yo’s thrown at them. You’ll also be treated to an overly long lingering shot of a crazy old man sticking an eyeball uncomfortably close to the screen. Steve Miner (who also directed Part II) returned to the director’s post to helm Friday the 13th: Part III and this new dimension of terror that continues straight after the events of Part 2.

The Higgins Haven Massacre

Just like its predecessor, the film opens with an extraordinarily long recap of the previous film. We see final girl Ginny (Amy Steel) running away from ‘Baghead Jason,’ trapped in the makeshift cabin Jason has been holed up in with his mother’s severed head lovingly affixed to a small alter. Ginny tricks Jason into thinking she’s his mother, by donning her sweater and generally berating the child-like minded serial killer. Before she can use her machete on him however, Jason sees his mummified mumma’s head and avoids her killing blow. Paul (John Furey) appears and begins wrestling with Jason. While Jason is distracted, Ginny hacks him in slow-motion with his own machete. They assume he’s dead, but we see Jason slowly moving off the screen. Cue: Opening Credits.

Originally, Friday the 13th Part III was supposed to focus on lone survivor Ginny Field, (Sorry, Paul) who checks herself into a mental institution after her traumatic escapade with the pillow-wearing, dungaree killer. The film would have been similar in that vein to the popular Halloween II (1981), with Jason tracking down Ginny in the hospital, but that idea was abandoned when actress Amy Steel declined to reprise her role. Perhaps she didn’t want to be typecast as the scream queen for this particular franchise, but by 1986 she was again up on screen evading a knife-wielding killer in the slasher parody April’s Fool Day (1986). There was also speculation that producers were worried fans would reject a Friday the 13th which didn’t follow the established formula.

I would love to find a script with this narrative, because the franchise may have steered in a different direction (or it could have died a horrible death right there and then). Every good franchise needs a protagonist the audience can root for. Alien (1979) had Ripley, A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) had Nancy and Halloween (1978) had Laurie. You could argue that Friday the 13th had Tommy Jarvis, but he didn’t appear until the fourth installment. Looks like Steel missed the boat on this one if the powers that be really wanted her as the series’ Final Girl. With 12 films, a whole bunch of novels, video games, and the short-lived television series under their belt though. it looks like they went the right way.

Our new group of young victims are as follows: New Final Girl Chris (Dana Kimmell), ‘Spanish Phoebe Cates’ Vera (Catherine Parks), hot and steamy couple Debbie (Tracie Savage) and Andy (Jeffrey Rogers), hippie potheads Chili (Rachel Howard) and Chuck (David Katims), and franchise favourite, the lovable self-deprecating prankster Shelly Finkelstein (Larry Zerner).

The group arrives at Higgins Haven, a cottage (with a barn!) a mere stones-throw away from Packanack cabin, where the previous slaughter took place. The Scooby Doo/Cheech and Chong gang meet up with country farm boy Rick (Paul Kratka). It’s quickly established that he and Chris had a romantic tryst during their last summer at the lakeside cottage, and Rick instantly tries to get back to where things left off by feeling her up. Not cool, man. Not. Cool.

Chris explains that she wants to get to know him again but he responds that there are only so many ‘cold showers’ he could take. Wowzer. He essentially behaves like this for the entirety of the movie (bar one scene when Chris recounts a traumatic experience) but the weird thing is the filmmakers seem to want you to empathize with this guy – like he’s the hero of the movie. Film of the time, I guess?

After some tomfoolery from Shelley (and without the slightest irony of axe-wielding maniac foreshadowing), we’re introduced to a group of bikers that marks the first time in the franchise we’re introduced to black actors. It’s just a shame that they turn out to be scumbags. All the while, Jason’s been hiding in the barn, looking menacing from an over the shoulder perspective. He dispatches of the bikers when they arrive at the cottage to take their revenge on Shelley and the gang, following an altercation at a shop in town. Don’t assume that Jason is here to protect anyone though. He quickly sets his sights on the college co-eds and, of course, things really ramp up when he dons the now iconic ice hockey mask for the first time.

People will argue what their favourite Friday the 13th movie is until the end of days. Did you like the characterization of the teenagers in Part 2 or 4? Did you simply enjoy the hack n’ slash nature of the original? Were you excited when Jason went to Hell? Some people just want to watch cheesy 80’s effects and have some popcorn while devouring grisly death sequences with their eyes. But something doesn’t sit right with the third outing. They could have gone a much deeper, darker route with Chris‘ that might have lead Mr. Vorohees‘ down a very sketchy road. I’m obviously talking about…

The Final Girl

Late in the film, we see Chris and Rick sharing some quality catch-up time together. Up until this point Chris has been hinting that something terrible happened to her but now she’s finally ready to share her story. Even after Amy Steel declined to return, it’s safe to assume that some fragments from earlier drafts were kept to highlight Ginny’s (now Chris’s) trauma from the previous movie.

Chris explains that, while on vacation, she came home late one night which caused her to have an argument with her folks. She fled her house and ran into the woods where she fell asleep under a tree. Some time later, she was awoken by the sound of footsteps. The footsteps belong to none other than Jason and he grabs at her legs as she struggles to get away. She goes on to explain that she woke up in her own bed the following morning, without any recollection of what transpired after she was captured.

So what happened here? It’s unlikely that she would have survived an attack by Jason, so how did she escape? The series has been known for its nonsensical dream sequences and poorly crafted plot devices, but this is a pretty big moment for Jason. There are theories that she was raped by Jason and there are novels that further explain the story, but some people on the film claim this ambiguous resolution was always planned since actually outright calling it a rape would be too much for audiences to take at the time. Others say Dana Kimmell who played Chris, was a devout Mormon and forced the producer’s hand since she was uncomfortable with going so far as to call it a rape scene. However, at the start of the film, a reporter states that “Reports of cannibalism and sexual mutilations are still unconfirmed, at this hour.” It would seem that someone in the production wanted Jason to have a much darker streak than his previous appearances.

There are many articles and essays about The Final Girl in horror films, but this one scene could have changed the balance of how viewers perceived Jason Voorhees as a child-like killing machine with mommy issues, into something far more dangerous and disturbing.

Friday the 13th Part III is a divisive film. The franchise needed a shot to the arm and ultimately it would be 3D effects supervisor Martin Jay Sadoff that inadvertently created a movie monster boogeyman. As it happens, Sadoff kept a bag full of hockey gear with him and the crew wanted a mask to avoid applying prosthetic make up on actor Richard Brooker all the time. This is the first film where we see Jason for an extended period of time, as opposed to keeping him in the shadows constantly. The plot is nonsensical, sure – the characters are paper thin and forgettable, the 3D effects are mostly a gimmick – but in the cannon of the series, it catapulted Jason to an iconic status. And for that, Part 3 will forever remain ingrained in fan’s minds.

How do you rank Friday The 13th Part III. Is it one of your favourites, or do you consider it one of the weaker additions to the franchise? Let us know in the comments below, over on Twitter, or in our Horror Group on Facebook!

You can also take a look behind the scenes of Friday the 13th Part 3D with host, Paul Kratka, in this insightful fan driven documentary featuring untold stories and interviews with several franchise favorites, never-before-seen location footage and set photography, as well as a touching look back on the life of Richard Brooker.

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The post The Monster Behind The Mask: Remembering FRIDAY THE 13TH PART III appeared first on Nightmare on Film Street - Horror Movie Podcast, News and Reviews.

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