#i hope you fly save this year. love Wally west

[river-bottom-nightmare]

i love thinking about how wally’s definition of a hero changed and evolved over time.

every kid thinks their parents are heroes, at least at first. for a couple, that hero-worship lasts well into adulthood. for others, it fizzles away in mutual laughs when they sit behind a wheel for the first time and shush their parents’ backseat driving, or when they take successfully take control of the kitchen for a night. and for some, it slips away much earlier. because rudy talked loudly at dinner about the trust his boss was placing in him at work, smiling smugly at wally as though telling him to take notes. but wally noticed him yelling at his mother when coming home from work, his steps stumbling, his posture menacing over the smaller but no less angry form. and wally had to bite back protests when rudy sneered about aunt iris, spitting the fact that she was adopted in her face, nevermind that she seemed to care for the west family more than anyone else in it. (saying this aloud would only end with a backhand to the face or a belt to the back, though, so wally kept quiet.) and, anyway, when wally grew up and helped the green lanterns slam the doors of a prison cell shut on his fathers face, wearing a manhunter uniform and looking for all the world like the traitor to humanity he was, wally was grateful his hero worship had drizzled down the drain early.

aunt iris was brilliant, aunt iris was kind, aunt iris was beautiful, but aunt iris was human. she stuck bandaids over wally’s scraped knees with gentle fingers and danced in the kitchen of a little apartment while she made wally’s favourite version of mac and cheese. she was real and present and there, but she wasn’t really a hero. because the world seemed to have a new definition of “hero”. there was a man with a cape and a symbol of hope flying unattainably high over metropolis, there were arrows sticking out of steel walls in star city, there were hushed whispers of a leather-clad demon and a beam of brutal light fluttering around him in gotham. but central city? wally’s home? had someone who could run faster than the speed of sound with lightning crackling in his wake, had someone who exuded sheer power, had someone who laughed in two-second television appearances, had someone who made jokes with kids he was saving to calm them down, had someone who cared about the city so goddamn much. he was everything wally had ever seen in a hero, and when aunt iris and her new boyfriend barry (wally kind of liked the guy so far) took him to the flash museum, wally stood in the center of it. he made a slow turn, taking in everything he could see and hear and feel. “s” could mean hope and a bat could mean vengeance, but that red and yellow bolt of lightning meant power to wally, benevolent and uplifting power that made the lives of everyone it touched brighter. 

it took a christmas when wally was in 5th grade for him to realize that the flash was a hero of the people. central city loved him, and the flash loved them right back. but when wally was zapped with lighting, feeling unimaginable pain coursing through every single nerve in his body, barely even registering the chemicals that had gotten into his mouth, it was his uncle barry’s face looking down at him. it was uncle barry that never let go of his hand in the hospital, it was uncle barry that held him up every step of the way when his new powers (his new powers!) left him a stumbling, newborn foal. it was uncle barry that explained every single part of what happened to him, then at wally’s shy insistence, happily showed him around his lab. it was uncle barry that scoffed at his homework and wrote up some much more engaging problems for wally to do for fun. and it was uncle barry that presented him with his very own suit for christmas during that memorable 5th grade, and lifted him up easy as breathing when wally barreled into him for a hug. the flash was the hero of the people, but barry was wally’s hero.

of course, with his new name and new identity and new powers, he was exposed to a network of more super-people. superman was kind, if a bit bumbling. wonder woman’s biceps were bigger than wally’s entire head, but her laugh was as kind as aunt iris’ when wally told her that, and her grip was strong yet gentle when she scooped wally up and let him ride on her shoulders. uncle barry, no, the flash pouted theatrically when wally told him green lantern was funnier than him, but he cheered up when wally gave him a hug. batman was...well, first of all, real. wally honestly hadn’t believed he existed, and stepping cautiously into the batcave for the first time, wally couldn’t reconcile the near-invisible black mass moving silently around an outrageously high-tech cave with a human being. the reason for batman’s invitation became clear soon, though, because if the darkness was real, that meant the light had to be, too. robin was everything wally had ever imagined and more. he one-upped wally’s jokes with puns of his own and broke a man’s nose with a backflip and balanced on top of a telephone wire like he was walking on concrete and ordered curly fries exactly the way wally liked them. wally couldn’t do anything but marvel. 

over the years, he realized a couple things about his best friend. first, dick grayson, from the very beginning, had cast aside the notion of being “batman’s sidekick.” robin wasn’t a continuation of batman. robin was different, in everything from costume to demeanor to fighting style. dick wasn’t following batman’s legacy, he was creating his own. second, no matter how many times dick’s world burned down, he would always rebuild it. nightwing was a fitting name, a sort of poetic justice to it that wally himself never would have considered had dick not pointed it out. when robin was taken away from him, and the two of them lay huddled together, seething and devastated on clark kent’s couch, he built himself up again as nightwing. when jason todd was murdered, the robin suit cast aside as if caught up in a curse, dick wept at his mistakes, then did everything possible to correct them, gently but insistently shaping tim drake into a damn near perfect vigilante, an artist turning soft clay into an unbreakable vase. when dick’s memory was ripped away from him, with time he clawed his way back; when his father was killed, he built up batman again and honoured him the only way he knew how; when the feeling of touch and sensation and love that he used to adore was brutalized into the opposite by a spider, he broke apart in the presence of the titans, placing his trust in their capable hands, then with their help, stood taller than he ever had before. the amount of strength that took was awe-inspiring to wally. finally, third, dick never lost his light. the warmth that draws everyone to him, the kindness that healed their wounds, the mischievousness that broke their chains of despair and buoyed them upward in laughter. he never once lost it. he didn’t let many people see his breakdowns or his temper, but no matter the witness, he chose light over succumbing to the damning, over and over and over again.

a hero is someone you idolize, someone you aspire to be. wally had been trying to embody what dick stood for almost the entire time he knew him. from the way dick hugged him, the way the titans supported him unconditionally, the way the justice league respected him, the way central city loved the flash fiercely, and he loved them right back, wally liked to think he’d been successful.

that post about central city having a flash museum was the inspo for this. it did,,,,,get away from me a little at the end, and i got swept up in birdflash feels, but oh well. you get what i mean.

tag list: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @anothertimdrakestan @subtleappreciation @screennamealreadyused @pricetagofficial @catxsnow @bonkybearjpeg @bikoncon @maplumebleue-blog-blog @sundownridge

#scribbles from the swamp #wally west #kid flash #the flash #rudy west #barry allen #iris west #dick grayson #nightwing #birdflash #wally west headcanon #kid flash headcanon #the flash headcanon #rudy west headcanon #barry allen headcanon #iris west headcanon #dick grayson headcanon #nightwing headcanon #birdflash headcanon #flash fam #dc #flash fam headcanon #dc headcanon #wally west fic #kid flash fic #the flash fic #rudy west fic #barry allen fic #iris west fic #dick grayson fic

[backtothestart02]

Camera Shy - 1/? | westallen fanfiction {moved from Patreon}

A/N: I really love this premise. I hope you’ll like it too! :)

*Many thanks to @valeriemperez for beta’ing.

...

Synopsis: AU - Iris is a model with a history of no good photographer exes. So when Barry Allen, her new photographer, wants to take her out, she immediately refuses - save some life-or-death situation. 

...

Chapter 1 -

The slow hum from the alarm clock suddenly became a full siren, jerking Iris West out of her deep sleep. She jumped up, sending her arm flying towards the sound, effectively throwing her phone, glasses, and jewelry from the day to the ground. She grumbled into the palm covering her face and pulled back the covers, shivering for just a moment before trying three times to get all the items back on the bedside table. When the task was successfully completed, she pushed her hair out of her face and headed for the bathroom, her over-sized t-shirt just barely skimming the top of her thighs.

The sight that greeted her in the mirror wasn’t particularly pleasant, but she knew after smiles, make-up, and fashionable clothes were applied, she’d be looking at a whole different woman.

“Smile, Iris. Today you’ll be posing for a photoshoot in STYLE magazine. After their scandal last month, they’ve hired a new photographer that is squeaky clean and with entirely honorable intentions,” she quoted the e-mail her best friend had shot her at two in the morning.

She’d wanted to call the landline that Wally insisted on having for God knows what reason. But that would startle Linda and wake up their two-month old son, so she resisted. Not everyone needed to suffer because she was about to.

Did she already dislike the new photographer she’d be working with? Yeah.

Did she have good cause? Yeah.

Of course, she hadn’t met him, but every photographer she’d worked with was the same.

Scumbags. Pigs. Lecherous, arrogant, and sometimes… Abusive.

She pushed that last adjective to the back of her mind. There was no point remembering that experience after she’d finally gone through enough therapy to get past it. Besides, that was over three years ago. Not every photographer was abusive, she’d allow that. Every single one of them was worthy of disliking, though. She’d take that to the bank.

The only possible difference was that a newbie might take the assignment seriously for once and act like a professional. She’d appreciate that, even if he was still the scum of the earth in his free time.

Showered, make-up applied, and a fashionable get-up on her curvy figure, Iris headed for the door just as a knock sounded on the other side of it. One peek through the peephole told her everything she needed to know. And despite her previous irritation, she smiled at the sight of Linda Park-West waiting for her in the hall.

“Hello, best friend,” Linda sang, extending her hand with the hot beverage Iris loved and shaking a small paper bag that undoubtedly contained a blueberry and lemon poppyseed muffin. “You’re welcome,” she said after Iris had locked up and they were walking with arms looped down the street.

“You’re forgiven,” Iris said.

“What I’d do wrong this time?” Linda asked innocently as a grin spread across her face.

Iris shot her a glare, and Linda burst out laughing.

“Relax. This one’s different, I promise. He’s a real good guy. Momma’s boy, good grades, total geek.”

“I’ve dated creepy geeks before, Lin.”

“I’m not saying you need to date him. Just give him the benefit of the doubt as a co-worker.”

“If he’s professional, I’m professional. You know that.”

“Uh-huh.”

Iris ignored the sarcasm, and they continued walking in silence. By the time they reached the tall glass doors of Central City Studios, breakfast had been consumed, lipstick had been reapplied, and smiles were back in place.

“Good morning, Ms. West, Mrs. West,” the older receptionist said at the desk. Both girls smiled and murmured a good morning in return. “Oh, Ms. West!” She rose from her seat to call after her. Iris and Linda both spun around, pointing to each other in mock confusion, since they’d told the older woman multiple times how she could call them by their first names. “Iris,” she caved, and Linda waved goodbye to her friend as Iris returned to the front desk.

“Yes, Frances?”

The woman bristled slightly.

“Mr. Stueck wants to see you in his office as soon as possible.”

Iris stilled. “Do you know what it’s about?” she asked softly, telling herself not to jump to conclusions. Maybe she was getting a raise!

Talk about conclusions.

“I don’t know,” Frances said, pulling Iris from her thoughts. “But he wasn’t angry, so keep that in mind, dear.”

Frances pushed her glasses further up her nose and went back to her work at the computer. The phone rang and she had to pick it up before Iris could say another word.

Iris pouted but did as she was told, wiping the expression off her face before she reached her boss’s office at the end of the hall. She heard laughter from inside, which was a rarity. Mr. Stueck wasn’t always serious, and he certainly wasn’t usually mean, but laidback wasn’t usually something that was part of his daily work demeanor.

The door swung open just as she was reaching out to knock on the wooden slate. She found herself standing face-to-face with an attractive, tall, young man. He might have been younger than her but was definitely not older, and he looked as stunned as she felt. It was an awkward moment of subtly gathering air before her boss interrupted them.

“Iris! Good, right on time.”

All smiles – which was even weirder – Mr. Stueck gripped the younger man and Iris’ arms and looked at them both, drawing nervous smiles to both their faces as they snuck glances at each other from the older man’s antics.

“Iris, I’d like you to meet Barry Allen. He’ll be your photographer for the STYLE shoot this week and next.”

Her heart stopped and her face fell. Those were two pieces of news she did not want to have heard.

“Two weeks?”

“Mhmm.” He nodded enthusiastically. “They were so impressed with your work in our last two shoots, they’ve decided they want you as their star model for all the clothing pieces, possibly jewelry as well.”

“I…see.”

She tried to be happy. She really did.

But being stuck with a photographer one-on-one every day for the possibly next two weeks?

“This could be your big break, Iris. And what’s good for you is good for us. I’m so proud of you.”

She forced a smile. “…Thanks.”

Mr. Stuek sighed contently, not catching her inner battle in the slightest.

But Barry did. She could feel him watching her, and disapprovingly watching her boss in return.

“Maybe you want until the end of the day to decide,” he suggested gently, making her meet his eyes.

“The end of the day!” Mr. Stuek laughed. “She doesn’t need time to-”

“Mr. Stuek, isn’t it part of your company policy to not force assignments on your employees if they feel uncomfortable doing them?”

He shifted slightly. “Well, yes, of course! But Iris can’t possibly feel-”

“So, to be sure, you’d want her to think on it all day and come to you with an answer before the end of her shift.”

His jaw dropped.

“Maybe just until lunch?” Iris offered up. “I can call you from STYLE Studios, since I’ll be shooting there today, at any rate.”

“B-B-But they can’t make you their star model today and then bring in someone else for the remainder of the line!”

Iris waited, unused to her boss’s intensity, but certain it would pass soon.

“Fine,” he said with a giant sigh. “Check in with Helen and Rachel, then head over to STYLE Studios with Barry here.”

She froze. “O-Oh, I don’t need to- I mean, I can-”

“Not one more word out of you, Ms. West,” he said, and she knew he meant business. He was a first name kind of guy, except in the rare circumstance that he was about to lose his temper – for real.

“Go. Both of you,” he said, and no more than a moment later they’d both been shoved out of his office into the hall and the door had slammed closed behind him.

Barry managed a slight chuckle after a moment and turned towards Iris, expecting a laugh from her as well. What he got was an unexpectedly cold glare.

“You didn’t need to do that,” she said, then walked with purpose in the direction of – presumably – Helen and Rachel.

He wondered if it would be very difficult to get her to go into the same car with him.

“I’m driving,” she said, snatching the keys out of his hand when they reached his car in the parking structure. His shock almost left him standing sans-car and sans-Iris in the cool parking area alone.

She sped out of the spot and out of the structure, down the road to STYLE Studios and Barry could only think one thing to himself.

 What a woman.

...

*Also posted on AO3 and FFnet.

#westallen #fanfiction #westallen fanfiction #backtothestart02 fanfiction #camera shy #chapter 1 #moved from patreon

[secondgenerationnerd]

The Day It Happened

I regret nothing! Enjoy!

It’s early afternoon when they get the call. Irey knows from the way Damian tenses that it’s time for Impulse and Robin. A studio apartment required a bit of special maneuvering when it came to hiding their uniforms, but they’re nothing if not resourceful. Her uniform’s familiar feel makes suiting up easier, even if the middle is a bit tighter than normal. She can’t help but steal a look at her boyfriend as he pulls on his tunic. The scars crisscrossing along his spine always send a painful ache into her heart. But now’s not the time for that.

         She ties one of her boots, going to that special part of her brain before a mission. They’ve done this hundreds of times before. But Damian’s never knelt in front of her, tying her other boot for her. His incredible memory allows him to tie her laces the exact way she does. She frowns at the tight lines around his mouth. He’s too young to have such deep lines.

         Her ungloved hands are so, so soft as she cups his cheeks, making him look at her. His stubble scratches her, which makes her smile a bit. “You need to shave after the fight.”

         “You didn’t complain about it last night.” Damian’s tease eases her worry a bit.

         “Well, Mr. Wayne, I was preoccupied with more important things.” She presses a loving kiss to his mouth. The familiar taste of tea and honey calms her more than anything else ever could. Damian pulls away from her first.

         “I love you, nuri.”

         “I love you too, Dames.”

         “If we make it through this—”

         “When.” She corrects.

         “When we make it through this, I want to talk to about our future. About moving forward…together.”

         Irey won’t deny the flutter of hope that her heart gives. She kisses him again, “I’d like that. Now, let’s go save the world.”

--

         Once the battle’s in full swing, there’s no way to tell who’s winning. Nightstar and Green Lantern fly through the air, providing support to their friends on the ground. Nightstar’s bright purple starbolts vaporize the monsters easily. Green Lantern uses her ring to keep them in a contained area. Little Red Hood’s perched on a building, firing arrow after trick arrow into the insanity, letting her team know where the worse parts are. Superboy slams his fist into a monster’s leathery chest while a mutated Abuse chucks another through a wall. Velocity’s a blur, running through the crowd and disabling them however he can. Impulse and Robin have separated from the group, trying to find Heretic. Robin pulls her back as a monster crashes into the wall beside them. He takes it out with one swift strike of his katana.

         “Fifty meters forward then hang a left.” Robin tells her. She nods, already moving forward. He catches her arm and pulls her to his chest. Impulse’s quick to return his burning kiss. Call it adrenaline or fear, but she just knows something’s going wrong.  Her boyfriend pulls back, eyes hidden behind that domino mask, “I love you, Irey.”

         “I love you, too, Damian.” She kisses him again before they move forward. Impulse goes ahead of him to scout. He’s just entering the room as she hits the wall across the room.  She crumples to the ground.

         “IMPULSE!” He checks her. She’s breathing and her pulse strong.

“Thought she could stop me. Tell me, brother, what do you see in the little whore?” Robin grits his teeth at the clone’s insult. After making sure she’s ok, he straightens up.

“It’s more of what she brings out in me.” He charges Heretic. They exchange quick blows. The Teen Wonder matches the speed of the strikes, but barely the fercocity of them.

“Tell me. What does it feel like to lose so much potential for such a pathetic reason?”

“Fuck you!” Robin snarls. Something goes wrong. As he brings his katana down, Heretic’s sword drives through his chest. Breath catches in his throat as he blinks. Shit. Shit. Shit.

         “Pathetic.” The clone tosses Robin to the side. Doesn’t even bother to see where he lands, Heretic presses a button on his uniform. “Fall back. Our work here is done.”

         The heroes outside have no idea why the creatures pull back. Only that they do. They regroup on the ground, covered in blood, guts, sweat, and grime.

         “Everyone ok?” Little Red Hood asks, holding her wrist.

         “As good as we can be.” Nightstar grunts, holding her bloody side. Nasty throw into a wall, but it shouldn’t scare. “Where’s Impulse and Robin?”

         “I saw them go in there early.” Abuse points to the building. “I think Rob said something about Heretic?”

         Velcoty presses on his earpiece, “Impulse? This is Velocity and the team. What’s your 20?”

         Silence.

         “Impulse? Do you copy?” Still no response from his sister. “Impulse? Sissy?”

         “Something’s wrong.” Milagro’s words send fresh fear into their hearts.

         The team gets to the top of the building as soon as they can. Maybe their leaders will be fine. Heretic got scared and ran off. That has to be what happened, right?

         Right?

         “IREY!” Jai runs to his sister’s unconscious form. Long red hair falls from her ponytail, painful bruises forming along her jaw. Mar’i kneels down and fells for Irey’s pulse. “Mar’i, tell me—”

         “She’s alive. Strong pulse and her breathing seems ok. Where’s Damian?”

         Jai stays with his sister as the group moves a bit farther into the building. They barely go fifty feet when Mar’i screams. Damian’s body stares at them. Jade green eyes glossed over, tanned skin unnaturally pale. They don’t bother to check for a pulse. The gaping hole in his chest answers that question for them. Jon’s barely able to catch Mar’i as she collapses, still screaming, barely able to see through his blurry eyes. Colin falls to his knees, staring at his friend with tears streaming down his face. Milagro doubles over, vomiting.

         “Omega?” Oracle’s voice in their ear coms doesn’t soothe them like they normally do. “Omega, do you copy?”

         “Little Red Hood here, Oracle.” Lian answers.

         “Is everyone ok? Some of your trackers are off-line.”

         Lian looks at the body before her. Her voice cracks, “No. No we’re not. We need a medic for Impulse…and a body bag.”

         “Little Red, Who’s down?” The 19-year-old struggles to find her voice. “Lian?”

         “Robin. We need the bag for Robin.”

--

         None of the young heroes can find it in themselves to leave. The League’s there in less than 20 minutes. It’s a painful sight. Nightstar cries into Nightwing’s chest as Robin’s carried away. Abuse and Superboy watch their best friend leave, silent tears cutting paths through the dirt on their faces. Green Lantern and Little Red Hood barely keep themselves together as they fill in their superiors. Velocity and Flash go with Impulse to the hospital.

         Linda Park-West meets her son and husband at the hospital. The doctors, having worked with the hero community before, get Irey to a private room before removing her uniform. The bruises from earlier are already fading from her body as they work.

         “When do you think she’ll wake up?” Linda asks her husband, holding her daughter’s hand,

         “I’m not sure, babe. I’m not sure.” Wally looks at his son, who’s refused to leave Irey’s side. “Buddy. You need to go get checked out.”

         “I’m fine, Dad.” Jai’s body is tight as he stares at his sister.

         “Jai—”

         “Mom, please.” Jai’s voice breaks. Wally puts a hand on his son’s shoulder but doesn’t say anything. Linda reaches over, caressing Jai’s cheek. They know him well enough to leave it alone.

         “Love you, sweet boy.”

         “Love you too, Mom.” The family doesn’t talk for a while, letting the steady beeping of Irey’s heart monitor fill the room. Irey’s breathing doesn’t change. Jai and Wally wonder how she’s going to feel when she wakes up.

         “Dr. and Mrs. West?” A young woman comes into the room. “I’m Dr. Sarah White. I’ll be your daughter’s physician.”

         “Nice to meet you. This our son, Jai.” His parents shake hands with the doctor. Jai nods at the doctors, still not moving his body. “Is Irey ok?”

         “So far, all the tests are showing that she’s ok. We’re going to monitor her over night to make sure she and the baby—”

         “The what?” Linda interrupts.

         “The baby. Didn’t you know she’s pregnant?”          “No. She didn’t mention it to us.” Wally looks at Jai.

         “Dad, do you think Irey would have gone into the field if she knew?” Jai looks down. Irey had been eating a bit more, but that didn’t mean anything. They’ve always eaten what they want, when they want, and as much as they want. Overactive metabolism for the win. There weren’t any other signs. This can’t be happening.

         “Is there anyway to tell how far along she is? I mean. She’s a speedster, is there a chance—”

         “We can do a full work up on her. Nothing invasive or unnecessary.” 

After discussing all possible options, his parents make him go back to the tower after Dr. White’s visit. He doesn’t want to leave his sister, but it’s not up for discussion based on his mother’s tone.

         The tower’s silent when he gets back. Not surprising. Mar’i’s probably with her family at the Manor. Jon’s open door shows empty drawers and an unmade bed. Angry music blasts from Colin’s room. He finds a note with Milagro’s neat handwriting on it, telling them she’s going to Oa for a few days. He locks the doors before heading to Star City. Lian’s at home, thankfully, sitting on their bed, face buried in her hands.

         “Hey, baby.” Jai sits next to her and stares at the wall in front of him. Lian lifts her head, staring at the wall with him. They don’t talk for a few minutes, neither really sure what to say.

         “The whole team’s out of the field until further notice.” Lian says dryly.

         “Sounds about right. I’m guessing we all have to meet with Dinah before we’re cleared?” He asks.

         “Yep. How’s Irey?”

         “Still unconscious…She’s pregnant.”

         “W-What?” Lian looks at him. He nods, tears finally filling his eyes.

         “Yeah. She’s pregnant. And Damian’s dead.” That breaks them. They hold each other as they cry. Even though the tears will do nothing to stop the pain.

#irey park west #damian wayne #damian's death #tw blood #tw descriptions of death #impulse #robin #superstar #superboy #jonathan samuel kent #jon kent #mar’i grayson #nightstar #milagro reyes #green lantern #colin wilkes #colin x milagro #speeddemon #speeding arrow #jai park west #jai west #lian harper #lian nguyen harper #little red hood

[jq37]

thoughts on this week's ep?

**spoilers for broadway brawl**

***Before we start, I remembered as I was typing this one of the important notes I lost from last week’s recap: Interesting that Christmas seemingly went off without a hitch. I expected Santa to come back into play somehow (like, someone would check on him to make sure Christmas was still on or he’d call them in to help or something) but he hasn’t, at least not yet.***

My guys, my guys, my guys. Was that something or was that something?

I think I am on record as saying that combat is my least favorite part of ttrpgs generally speaking because I’m here for the RP but when a combat episode shines it really freaking shines (see eg: that first combat ep of Bloodkeep where everyone went full Galaxy Brain except for Matt who couldn’t hit a single thing) and this is such a good example. This is easily a top five ep of the season for me, maybe top three so let’s get into it and break down why it was so awesome.

We start right where we left off with Titania and members of her court having come into the theater to beat the tar out of Misty mid-show.

Quick note: At the end of last ep, it was set up so that Misty was thrust on stage right after hearing the mirror was on stage which would place this fight right at the top of Act 2 but at the start of this ep, Brennan seems to indicate that it’s taking place during what would be the closing number. Which would make more sense but imagine you go see a play, the first act is super dope, and then the second act is an insane, minute long fight that’s pretty unconnected to the plot and then a buff, naked, beautiful man tells you the show is over and you should leave. Wild. Anyway.

Pixies with tommy guns in inherently funny.

So one of the things that makes this fight really great is the way it directly ties into the story in a way besides “These bad guys are in our way.” Misty is using this show as a part of her reincarnation spell so if the show is messed up, it fails and she’s on her last life. Brennan has a cool mechanic of making her roll death saves every round at a difficulty lower than her modifier (which is s/t crazy like 11) but that gets harder with damage done to her and performance checks failed by other players who decide to jump on stage. It’s a great way to make the battle feel like it has more personal stakes and it’s my fave original Brennan mechanic since the Family in Flames Sophie’s Choice situation.

(I love that the death save counter is changed for theater comedy/tragedy masks for this. Nice touch.)

Em, Esther, and Wally are also at the fight which is clutch.

Also, Sondheim is specifically here which is an insane detail to add just because.

WILD that no one knows what’s going on with the ritual initially because, as Lou almost does, getting all the civilians out is the smart move and it would COMPLETELY ruin Misty’s plans instantly.

Lou having Kingston take the stairs bc’s he’s 50+ years old and has no time for that nonsense has equal but opposite energy to him doing extra rolls for Fabian to do unnecessary parkour before a simple attack because Fabian’s Like That.

Murph fireblasts the hell out of Titania’s foot soldiers right off the bat from outside of counterspell range which is very cool.

“Give me a performance check for the cockroach.”

“You’re upstaging me bitch?”

Another great thing about this fight is that because of it’s theatrical nature, everyone’s RPing it more than a usual battle ep (or more intensely maybe is what I mean).

Titania hypnotizes Don Confetti and his goons into fighting for her.

“She doesn’t know she’s in a play but she does sing most of her dialogue which is helpful for you.” Titania is just Like That.

Pete drops an erupting earth and drops a sick 37 damage on those same minions Kug got.

I didn’t notice before but yeah, Ally does roll die like a f-ing beyblade champion.

Emily hearing Murph’s low key, offhand comments and cracking up is great.

“Get Sondheim!” (Emily and then Ally: WHAT?!)

Actual living dude Stephen Sondheim being involved in this fight is just so ridiculous and fun and crazy.

We go around to Misty’s turn and she has to beat a 28 (upped from 10) and she fails which feels worse than a normal failed death save somehow.

Lou, in a very good RP move, tells Pete to tell Misty to end the show so she can tell them not to so the group has a valid reason to not evacuate which is a thing they (or at least him and Ricky) would obviously want to do.

Sophie, the madwoman, jumps out of the balcony, grabs a costume, then runs on stage. Emily’s glee at being told that her grabbing the costume will give her advantage is great. She’s always trying to figure out how to make the most of her moves. She is the living embodiment of the concept of method to madness (which is from Hamlet since we’re talking Shakespeare today). 

Ox is constantly dying (Brennan!) but also it’s like, why was he even there before the fight started? I’ve never seen a non-service dog in a theater.

Ricky: Is this part of it?

Oh, forgot to mention that everything that happens on stage is kinda shielded by the Umbral Arcana so everyone watching thinks it’s part of the show, which is a cool plot detail.

Ricky gets fULLY NAKED (Emily, with perfect comic timing: Now do I roll with disadvantage?) and leaps into the fray. He casts Protection from Evil and Good on her which (1) He does by Magic Mike body-rolling on her while he’s naked and considering how much shorter she is that her raises some interesting questions about positioning and (2) is the most clutch use of this spell I’ve seen in a while. It’s a spell I always wanna take as a Paladin because it makes sense character-wise, but I’ve never been able to actually use it because we’re never fighting fiends, fae, or celestial.

Brennan’s dime change change reversal of the critic’s comments on Ricky’s body rolls when Zac re-rolls his 11 makes me glad I never had to face him in a debate team setting.

Ally: What’s Esther’s deal ;)/Brennan: *Esther’s Weapon Stats*

“Your only secret you’ve ever had in your life is that you have a crush on her.”

Wally has a beautiful singing voice and a working knowledge of Midsummer's which is wild.

Lou’s periodic, “My man”’s when Ally/Pete does something cool. He’s very dialed into being Kingston.

Ricky’s aura keeps everyone near him from being charmed and Misty saves everyone else w/ a nat 20 counterspell. Few things in D&D are more satisfying than a well executed counterspell.

Titania trying to get Pete to be her consort or something when he just over the super posh Priya is very funny.

“I mean between me and Sondheim, get Sondheim!”

“DO WE HAVE HOMEWORK TONIGHT?” (“We did have homework.”)

Anyway, Misty has one success now!

Misty tries to use puppet to get Titania to drop her crown and it doesn’t work. Brennan says the crown is Crown of Stars which I looked up and it’s actually a spell, not a physical crown, but I’m assuming he used the mechanical effects of the spell on a physical item.

Brennan doing all these musical/singing bits when he absolutely doesn’t have to. I love it.

I love Ricky and Sophie being the two martial fighting heavy hitters of the group. Like, the two fighters, having the spellcasters’ backs.

I hope the one kung fu fan in the back of the theater never sees another Broadway show again because he’s gonna be so disappointed. 

“I’m just so inspired by that beautiful penis.”

Murph, out of character, verbally acknowledging how insane what they’re doing is. I love when someone pauses in a game of D&D to just recite what’s currently happening out of context so everyone can appreciate how crazy it is. D&D. Gotta love it..

Emily and Siobhan have a quick conversation in the background about whether Sondheim did Les Mis or not (not, that’s Claude-Michel Schönberg) while Brennan and Murph are Ring nonsense.

I also was mildly suspicious of Alyssa so I’m glad Kingston checked her out.

The entire roast of Brennan when he’s selecting D6s is an instantly iconic D20 moment. I can’t do it justice. You kinda just have to see it.

“Someone call Wizards of the Coast!”

Em, Wally, and Alyssa go out when Titania puts out a huge spell that blinds Kug.

“Yummy, yummy, tastes like ass.”

On Misty’s next turn, she rolls a fail which makes it 2 failures to 1 success. Brennan mentions that a nat 1 counts as 2 failures and a nat 20 counts as 2 successes. I’m sure that won’t be relevant later because you can’t foreshadow things when dice rolls are completely random.

Misty fails on puppet again again and Titania goes full Wicked Witch of the West on her and starts Jonesing for those shoessss.

Emily’s Emily(tm) move of the session is doing a flying leap at Titania, hitting her with a stunning strike and having Brennan retract the Box off Doom he was pulling out because she can’t save when she’s stunned. She just plummets out of the sky.

Don Confetti respecting the sacrament of marriage as he goes full Opera ghost and tries to garrote Sophie.

Ricky (still naked) grabs the crown from Titania, tosses it to Misty, and, with some improv and a good charisma roll, makes the show suddenly make sense to the very confused but entertained audience.

I’m so glad that Murph decided to turn into a bear and that they made the Winter’s tale ref. I should have had faith in Brennan and Siobhan, the theater nerds. Exit pursued by a bear y’all.

Lou and Emily bonding over being proud of their die for rolling well when they lend it out for a big roll.

Really wish Pete had wild magic surged in this fight. Just to add that extra bit of chaos. 

With a very good turn (no damage taken, no performances failed) Misty only has to avoid snake eyes to get through this turn. She leapfrogs over that low bar and rolls a nat 20, instantly fulfilling her win condition. At this point, the play is superfluous and Titania is still down.

“Brennan lost and now he knows reddit is gonna eat his ass.”

OK, remember how I said earlier that Misty seems like the kind of character you nudge a little temptation at just to spice things up? Yeah, her killing Titania and getting the crown of the Seelie Fae makes me a liiiitle apprehensive, but we’ll see how that turns out.

“I killed my queen! This is America we don’t have royalty here.”

“Bear, I don’t know who you are, but take me on your back, let me ride on stage.” —creator of West Side Story, Stephen Sondheim

Misty charms the critic at the show to make sure they get a good review which is such a fae thing to do.

Kingston’s clearly not loving attacking Don and Co. post “real fight” what with his whole Do No Harm thing (well, that’s Dr’s but same principle applies I assume) is a good character detail. For that matter, so is Ricky just taking Titania’s crown and not beheading her which he super could have done while she was down but it would have been very incongruous with everything else about him.

Brian “This isn’t Loony Tunes” Murphy throws Sondheim as a projectile weapon at a pixie who snaps the pixie’s neck and then does a monologue at the audience.

I love it when someone rolls low on an insight check and Brennan gives them useless info and then they repeat it in their character’s voice.

4 mins from the end of the ep, Siobhan realizes there are two Perrys in this story for the first time and has a bigger reaction to that than almost everything else in this ep except her nat 20.

Ricky looks for costume faun legs to cover his fully out dick instead of costume pants or even his own pants.

Misty starts glowing with reincarnation energy and she runs into her dressing room for privacy. Also, she still super hasn’t told anyone what’s going on. (ALSO, assuming she’s gonna make the world think she died, it’s gonna be wild for the company of the show to have their leading lady put on the performance of her life and then die on opening night).

“Who am I to refuse a crown when it’s placed so deftly upon my head?”

You know that behind the scenes thing where Brennan is like, “Yeah, I knew Siobhan was gonna steal that book,”? I got some of those vibes during the crown scene.

The implications of what Misty did are gonna be left until next ep but Brennan says something about her creating her own court and it looks like she’s recruiting followers in the promo. IDK how I feel about that (these stories tend to have great power--especially tied to powerful magical items--as a corrupting force) but I am very excited to see how it goes down! See you then!

#the unsleeping city #dimension 20 #asks #galfast

[ty-talks-comics]

Best of DC: Week of August 14th, 2019

Best of DC: Week of August 14th, 2019

Best of this Week: Justice League Odyssey #12 - Dan Abnett, Will Conrad, Rain Beredo and Andworld Design

Darkseid is.

The former ruler of Apokalips’ plans have finally come to fruition after the small team of heroes brings together the final few relics to complete Sepulkore, the planet that will release a wave of cosmic energy all over the Ghost Sector and make it immune to the destruction of the Multiverse. Narrated by Darkseid, this issue expands on how far back he’s had these ideas and plans in place, even anticipating the betrayal from Cyborg, Starfire and Azrael from the beginning. He hasn’t been lying to them at all, but rather, omitting a few things so that his plans would proceed as they naturally would.

In the last issue we see Darkseid take control of Cyborg, turning him into a dangerous, Motherbox like being with all of the knowledge of the universe and more at his disposal. Darkseid orders Cyborg to keep Azrael and Jessica Cruz distracted while he fights an enraged Starfire. He sees the spark in her eyes and flings her into the core of Sepulkore, where she was destined to be the flame that lit the fire pits of this new hell. As Sepulkore awakens, Darkseid becomes even more powerful. Azrael is left with no other choice than to call his warriors into the fight as well.Unfortunately for him, as soon as the Azraelites enter Darkseid’s presence, they are turned into a new fodder-force: Para-Angels. Azrael succumbs to Darkseid’s control soon after as well. 

With all of the pieces falling into place, Darkseid smiles. His new Apokalips is lit and it connects with all of the other remaining relics in the Ghost Sector, becoming a reality unto itself. Darkseid monologues to himself that he has always known that the Source Wall would fall and the Multiverse would be destroyed eventually. Since his early years, Darkseid has been lying in wait, creating myths of heroes that would be Gods and those Gods would serve him. The Eternal One - Darkseid.

His new acolytes look upon him, chanting “Darkseid is,” as he returns to his full power. Jessica Cruz stands tall against him, however. I want to take a moment to say how much I love her journey as a character. She started out as this young girl that could barely leave her apartment and she could barely control her fears which allowed Power Ring from Earth 3 take control of her. Since then she has fought to get past her fears, anxieties and PTSD to become one of the most courageous Lanterns in all of the Green Lantern Corps. 

With only about two percent power left in her ring, she tells Darkseid that she will not let him win. His plans will fail if she has anything to do about it and Darkseid is mildly impressed. Darkseid could crush her, without question. She’s barely a fly on his rader, but he’s super into her tenacity. He offers her a place at the table, he cold become as powerful as Cyborg, Starfire or Azrael, a New God of Indomitable Will as Darkseid puts it.

Jessica says “Screw You,” and plants Darkseid with a mean right cross, firmly planting her in the same club as Guy Gardner and Hal Jordan, the “Are You Absolutely Insane? You Really Thought It Was A Good Idea to Punch HIM?” Club

Summarily, he swats her away, crushes her ring hand and Omega Beams her to hell.

*HEAVY SPOILERS ARE HEAVY*

Summarily, he slaps her, crushes her ring hand and Omega Beams her to hell.

*HEAVY SPOILER HOURS ARE OVER*

Will Conrad does the art for this issue and every single page is a wonder to look at. Darkseid is made to look unreasonably imposing as his power increases over time. Cyborg with his advanced mech body looks like a thing of terror as he has a faceguard only over his mouth and his human eye is a milky white. I also appreciate how his metal parts are shaded to give them a sheen. Sepulkore itself is drawn with an immense sense of scale and the architecture of it complex and effective, looking like a huge dodecahedron. Darkseid himself even has a new design that mimics some of his Superman: TAS look with tights added.

Justice League Odyssey might be one of the best ongoing Justice League stories right now because of how different it is to the rest of them. With a team almost as strange as the mid-2000s R.E.B.E.L.S. team and it being centered around an even stranger area of space, everything is so cool. Though there have been a few artists, each have taken different approaches to make all of the different locations and character designs cool.

What should really be applauded is the work when it comes to Beredo’s colors. For the most part, this book is awash in an oppressive red hue as Darkseid become stronger as the book goes on. This color blends well with Starfire’s fiery starbolts and Azrael’s flaming sword. It also worked best with Jessics Cruz being the only contrasting color in the bunch as her green made her the hopeful hero. Beredo makes everything feel dire as hell and it really sells the mood of the book.

I can’t wait for the next issue of the series because Darkseid has effectively won. He has a new Apokalips that he can rule from away from the dangers of the Multiverse and Perpetua. With his new New Gods, the Dark Sector will be another oppressive entity that Darkseid can hatch his schemes from with he regained power. The best question of all, however… who will stop him?

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

Barry Allen is back and better than before.

Runner Up: The Flash #76 - Joshua Williamson, Rafael Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Tomeu Morey and Steve Wands

After re-living one of his first adventures as The Flash, Barry sees just how out of touch with things that he has been lately. He realizes that he hasn’t taken the time to slow down since Wally returned and he’s just been throwing himself into adventure after adventure without any regard for his friends and family and it has caused their lives to suffer because of it.

Iris has practically left him. Wallace West distanced himself from Barry as much as possible, even going so far as to briefly join a team with Deathstroke. Avery, the Flash of China, isn’t even that close to Barry, but he also left her and Wallace in the middle of an argument just before he went off on his Force Quest. In an effort to put a stop to the Rogues that have now branched out of Central City, he’s been going through the escapees left and right.

We begin with Kid Flash and Avery fighting with Girder and Tarpit in the middle of Central City. The two young Speedsters are quick, but not all is right as they have a hard time putting any serious damage on either. Just as Tarpit is about to burn them alive, Barry zips in and saves the teens.

Rafa Sandoval is absolutely one of my favorites of DC’s current crop of artists and my favorite Flash artist. His slick lines and shading combined with Morey’s coloring and Tarragona’s inks makes everything look smooth. Costumes look good, bright and vibrant. Flash’s deep red stands out and compliments Wally’s yellow and surprisingly Avery’s dark pink and purples. Shadows are appropriately dark and every blast of lightning and every blur is stunning to see.

Barry gives his young proteges some advice in dealing with Tarpit and Girder, allowing the young speedsters to defeat the villains. After the win, Wallace is less than enthused to see Barry again and begins to walk away before Barry asks them both to run with him, to see how he's trying to make up for his mistakes.

Begrudgingly they agree and we get another amazing shot of Barry running while flanked by Avery and Wallace. I really loved this because it reminded me of the old Flash Family days and because Barry is really trying his best.

He shows them the rebuilt Flash Museum and they're amazed that he managed to rebuild it all by himself. Barry reveals that there's something more and they use their vibration abilities to enter their new headquarters, which I don't have a pun for yet. They're greeted by Commander Cold(?) And Steadfast, the new avatar of the Still Force, and Barry explains what's been going on with their powers.

Wallace had been noticing small things, but he thought it was all in his head. Apparently with the release of all of these new forces, the Speed Force is collapsing under the weight of these new forces that aren't supposed to exist alongside it. This is further backed up as The Black Flash returns for a cliffhanger ending.

As all of this is going on, in another city altogether, Heatwave is causing havoc, seemingly with his own heat powers having returned. The cops show up to confront him, but are suddenly incapacitated by blasts of ice. Captain Cold, Leonard Snart, has begun to gather his Rogues. With updated Cold Gear, to mirror his own New 52 ice powers, he hands Heatwave a Heat Gun and he two OG Rogues reunite to gather the rest of the troops and finally take down The Flash.

With this first part being so affectionately referred to as "The Death of the Speed Force part 1" I can't imagine that any of this will end well. The Speed Force has been in existence for the better part of almost 30+ years now and there's a good chance that we've seen all that we possibly can from it. It's been used to trap people, reset universes and even bring back past Speedsters for big events.

With the Speed Force dying, now's a great opportunity for new stories to be told with the Flashes exploring new ways for their powers to work if the Speed Force does indeed get destroyed in the future. But what will this mean for other speedsters still trapped like Jai and Iris West II, and Jay Garrick? Will they be immediately freed or will Doomsday Clock somehow tie into things? Only time will tell! High recommend!

#comics #dc comics #justice league odyssey #darkseid #jessica cruz #starfire #cyborg #azrael #dan abnett #will conrad #year of the villain #dark gifts #the flash #barry allen #kid flash #wallace west #flash of china #avery #black flash #captain cold #leonard snart #heatwave #joshua williamson #rafa sandoval

[bluboothalassophile]

Matter of Time...

@awesomechick083, I know you have a massive soft spot for the Percy Jackson AU, so I do hope you continue to enjoy! =)

~~~*~*~*~~~

Truths of this life were simple for Victor:

He was a son of Hephaestus and he loved building and inventing things.

He loved the only Daughter of Hades like she was his little sister; they had come to the camp together when she was like five and he was ten, and there was nothing he wouldn’t do for his baby sis. Even allowing her to sleep in the Hephaestus Cabin for the longest time, because the Hermes Cabin scared her; and until a few years ago, she didn’t have a Cabin.

The idiot son of Poseidon was to be tolerated, but free target practice too when Vic felt the guy was getting a little to lovey-dovey on his baby sis.

He was currently a counselor at Camp Half-Blood, because he still needed to come home for the summer breaks from college; and to make sure his baby sis didn’t need help disposing of any of the idiot Bat’s bodies when they annoyed her.

It was a rare sunny day; rather nice, and he sat in the field near the brook with Rae, as he sharpened his weapons, and she read another book. It was rather peaceful today, and he was liking it, because Boston was always so busy, and getting to hang out with Raven was nice and simple.

There was a rustling in the grass behind him which had him sighing.

“Rae,” he started.

“I hear him.”

“You do not!” the son of Poseidon shouted.

“I do now! For the love of Zeus Jason! Do you EVER stop!” Raven shouted twisting around, he saw the giant water bubble in the air.

“Put it back dude or I skin you alive,” Victor warned.

“You guys are no fun, no fun at all,” Jason huffed flicking his water bubble over the Aphrodite Cabin where Dick and his brothers were sitting.

“Good aim,” Raven remarked.

“I’ve seen better,” Vic said.

“Seriously, what did I ever do to you!?” Jason sputtered.

“You’re friendly with my baby sis and have a massive crush on her; you’re lucky I haven’t kicked your ass to Juptier at this point, or Uranus,” he stated.

“I do not have a crush on Raven,” Jason sputtered.

“I agree, it’d be too weird if he did,” Raven pulled a face the idea. Victor rolled his eyes; he might be a son of Hephaestus, but he wasn’t a blind idiot when it came to love; and Jason and Raven since they’d been twelve were inseparable, it was natural progression at this point.

Also, Raven totally made goo-goo eyes at Jason when Jason’s back was turned, and Jason looked at Raven like she was the universe when Raven wasn’t looking. Victor only tolerated it because his sister’s questionable tastes in me had had her crushing severely on Wally West for a long time; Thank The Gods It was Jason and Not Wally she loved.

“Hey, I got a weird warning,” Raven said.

“From who?” Jason asked.

“From Persephone, a few days ago actually, I meant to bring it up sooner, but…” she held up the book.

“Was it a warning of destruction and doom and our deaths; exclusively; cause those are always fun,” Jason groaned.

“No, it was about Zeus’ sons,” Raven said.

“Zeus doesn’t have any sons,” Victor stated.

“I know, that’s why I thought it was weird.”

“Great, well I’m not tolerating any other Big Three kids, so they can go get eaten by monsters,” Jason shrugged.

“Jason, I have a really sharp, big sword in hand, and if you do not stop hitting on my sister I will cleave you in half,” Victor warned.

“I’m not hitting on her,” Jason snapped.

“Oh, we should go see if we have a quest!” Raven decided.

“Why?”

“Death, doom and destruction, woe us!” Raven mocked hopping off her rock, leaving him her book as she shoved Jason forward.

“What are you doing!?” Jason squawked.

“Saving your worthless ass from my brother before I have to befriend someone else with morbid humor,” Raven huffed shoving Jason towards the camp.

Victor smirked; any day now they’d actually figure it out and when they did he wanted to take a picture and laugh.

~~~*~*~*~~~

“Focus Kara!” her brother shouted below her.

“I AM!” she snarled back.

He said nothing as he watched her with his brothers, focusing on the power of air control and air currents. They were the proud children of Jupiter, and he felt the wind ruffle his hair as he watched them.

His name was Christopher, he was the eldest of his siblings. They all had the same mother, which was rare from one god, but Jupiter was so enamored with Lois, how could he not. And until Jon’s birth, they were protected, then Juno had found out and killed their mother, so here they were at Camp Jupiter.

Chris was the eldest, next were the girls; Karen and Kara, twins, then there was Conner, and finally Jon; the baby of their family.

“Alright, that’s enough,” he sighed, motioning for his younger siblings to come to the cliff’s edge. They were only practicing flying lately because of Jon, however he knew Kara and Karen were hating being dragged off to do this when it was Jon’s fault.

“That’s really hard!” Jon gasped.

“It will get easier as you get older,” Chris promised as he ruffled his brother’s hair.

“And when you get older the monsters fear you more than they want to eat you,” Conner stated.

“Seriously, is that all you care about? Quests and monsters? Karen and I have our SATs to study!” Kara grouched.

“Yeah, because the prophecy says we will come across the shadows and sea and we need them to defeat the earth,” Chris said as Jon hugged his hip.

“Honestly, you’d believe anything from Zatanna’s lips, the daughter of Trivia is always who you swoon for,” Karen stated.

“You got me, Zatanna’s hot, however, her prophecies have never been wrong,” he pointed out. “I battled and defeated a Titan, saved our people,” he pointed out.

“And there are no children of Neptune ever, and Pluto has never strayed from his wife,” Conner chuckled. “However, Jon, we are the five of Jupiter, and it is the greatest of honors.”

#bluboothalassophile #fanfic #one shot #Percy Jackson AU #jason todd #raven #victor stone #christopher kent #kara zor-el #kara danvers #conner kent #jon kent

[newagesispage]

                                                                AUGUST    2021

THE RIB  PAGE

Fran Drescher is running for National SAG-AFTRA President with Anthony Rapp as secretary treasurer for Unite for Strength!!! Matthew Modine is running under Membership first with Joely Fisher for Secretary Treasurer. Running in local elections are, among others, Yvette Nicole Brown, Shari Belafonte, Rosie O’Donnell, Jeff Garlin, Ezra Knight, Dule Hill, Camryn Manheim, Sara Rue, Mindy Cohn and Ever Carradine. Sept. 2 is the day!** Frances Fisher filed a suit against SAG-AFTRA over the health care plan but a judge rejected it.

*****

Sha’Carri Richardson’s problem is all our problem. No more drug testing for Mary Jane in this country!

*****

Chuck Schumer finally unveiled the Cannabis administration opportunity act to end Federal prohibition of marijuana.

*****

Dolly Parton used the $10 mil + in royalties from the Whitney Houston version of her song to invest in a black neighborhood in Nashville.

*****

Bob Balaban and Henry Winkler play brothers in The French Dispatch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can’t wait for October 22!!!!!!!!!!!!** The next Wes Anderson film will star Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Adrien Brody and Tom Hanks. No other details are out there yet.

*****

Trees save lives in heat waves.

*****

TBS will bring us n updated Stupid Pet Tricks with Sarah Silverman.

*****

So much organized religion is based on forgeries, fakes and plundering. Virtually none of it is based on any sort of truth, spiritual or even historical. Just lies to fulfill an agenda and control the masses. And so far it has worked. –Larry Charles

*****

Scarlett Johansen has sued Disney cuz her contract guaranteed a theatrical release only.

*****

An expert on the circus industry recently reached out to me and urged me to not compare Trump and his comeback tour to clowns and the circus, as that is an insult to clowns. –Jim Acosta

*****

Eric Adams has won the Dem primary for Mayor in NY.

*****

Have you seen High on the Hog?? It’s awesome!!

*****

Jeff Flake will be ambassador to Turkey.

*****

Cornell West resigned from Harvard with a scathing letter accusing the school of “intellectual and spirited bankruptcy of deep depths.”

*****

Biden gave a hell of a speech in Philly. He needed to go on more about the filibuster but he was passionate about the For the People act and the John Lewis voting rights advancement act.  He roared, “Peddlers of lies are threatening the very foundation of our country.”

*****

Will Celebrity Dating Game continue? I am sure they think romance expert, Michael Bolton is a cute and quirky thing to do but not so much. If it stays, I hope they change the music, at least those final notes. And why are half of the questions, “Who am I?” The show could be cute but they need a little work!!

*****

Jeff Bezos donated $200 mil to the Smithsonian air and space museum.**Feminists everywhere winced when Gayle King was interviewing the Bezos space team.  Bezos commented about the 18 year old going with them into space and that he was just worried about the prom at 18. Gayle said “And I was just hoping for a date to the prom.”** But we have to love Wally Funk, the oldest woman to go into space.**Bezos thanked the Amazon employees and customers for paying for his trip. Yikes!**  Saw a great sign: Pay fair taxes, end hunger, help people, end poverty, save Earth or fly to space.

*****

Antonio Banderas and Harrison Ford will star in Indiana Jones 5.

*****

Zsa Zsa Gabor’s ashes were laid to rest 5 years after her death.

*****

The Britney conservatorship mess is still going thru the courts, and now topless?

*****

Pope Francis underwent colon surgery which caused him to comment on the need for good health care for all.

*****

Questlove brings us Summer of Soul!!!

*****

Reports show that about 150 people were killed by guns in more than 400 shootings during the 4th.

*****

Has anybody ever built a show around the Tex Watson tapes?? The LAPD apparently liked to deny them but there was a book.

*****

Henry Hall is out with his debut album, Neato, along with a tour.

*****

Do all male law enforcement officers have to be bald now?

*****

Idaho has begun an eradication campaign that could slash the number of gray wolves living in the state by 90%.

*****

Hooray for the monthly child tax credit!!

*****

Release Me 2 from Barbra Streisand is due out August 6.

*****

The look into the Jan. 6 insurrection has begun. Kinzinger and Cheney are in. **Tucker Carlson attacked Harry Dunn, a Capitol officer on air. The man protected Carlson’s son, a House staffer.** On Jan. 5, the Steve Bannon podcast went like this: All Hell is going to break loose tomorrow. Just understand this. It’s gonna be moving. It’s gonna be quick.** Why is mainstream media putting nearly all eggs in the Covid and Olympic baskets and only a few on the insurrection hearing?

*****

Why do so many that call America , “great” seem to hate it?? How can one love this country and not want majority rule, not want democracy??

*****

The Emmy noms are out: Lovecraft Country was nominated even though it has been cancelled.  Also hooray for Pose, The Flight attendant and for Conan!! Lead actor is a tough category with Matthew Rhys, Billy Porter and Rege-Jean Page. Aidy Bryant and Jean Smart got lead and supporting noms. I have to route for Ewan McGregor and Anya Taylor-Joy. I am excited for Paul Reiser, Bowen Yang, Evan Peters, Carl Weathers, Renee Elise Golsberry, Dave Chappelle, Helena Bonham Carter and Daniel Levy. There is love for Yvette Nicole Brown, Issa Rae and Maya Rudolph. The Masked Singer got a few noms. The doc category included Tina, Allen V. Farrow and The Bee Gees. Friends: The reunion got 4.

*****

“Voting is not supposed to be easy. That’s what our men died for.”- Jack Finger

*****

Giant Pandas are no longer endangered.

*****

Zalia Avante- Garde is the 93rd Scripps National Spelling Bee Champ.** I’m more impressed by the girl who won the Spelling Bee than the billionaire who went to space. –Mike Jollett.

*****

Why do they have to run erectile dysfunction ads during true crime rape episodes? ** And why do people still say things like, “this just don’t happen here” or “dumped like a piece of trash? “ There have to be other things to say.

*****

Tom Barrack, chairman of the inaugural committee for Trump was arrested for foreign lobbying shenanigans. America first, right?** Wilbur Ross lied to congress about the census and the Trump administration declined to prosecute.** Stephen Calk, bank exec was found guilty of trying to get a WH position by giving Manafort millions in loans.

*****

Jake Ellzey won the Texas special election run off for congress, beating out Trump’s girl Susan Wright.

*****

Every city should have a Peacemobile!!!!!

*****

The Chinese government has been called out for malicious cyber -attacks.  Four officials have been indicted in California.

*****

Miracle Workers’ Simon Rich was there when FB was invented and was so creeped out by people using it to stalk women.

*****

There was a story in Rolling Stone about how Eric Clapton threatened to cancel shows if the venue required proof of vaccines. Valerie Bertinelli tweeted: Once a dick, always a dick.

*****

Every Fox news host is vaccinated. –Mikel Jollett

*****

Toyota has dropped out of Olympic ads.  Contenders are starting to drop out due to positive Covid tests.

*****

Actor Isaiah Stokes has been indicted for murder.

*****

Lionsgate has bought the rights to Clerks 3.

*****

Ready or not, here come the Olympics.- Harry Shearer

*****

The Cleveland Indians will now be the Cleveland Guardians.

*****

A bust of KKK leader Nathan Bedford Forrest was taken out of the Tennessee capitol.

*****

American Housewife was sold into syndication.

*****

The poorest zip codes include Erie, Pennsylvania, Decatur and the south end of Peoria, il, Canton, Oh, Waterbury, Ct., Bonsecour, Al. and Elpaso, Tx.

*****

Issa Rae married Louis Diame.

*****

The court of appeals disqualified Judge John W. Ouderkirk from the Jolie- Pitt divorce because of a business relationship with Pitt’s attorney.

*****

Joe Manchin owns a coal company.

*****

The Hollywood walk of fame has welcomed Jimmy Smits, Kathie Lee Gifford and 90 year old Marla Gibbs. Terry Crews is next!

*****

Generation after generation of women love the bad boy.  Do they never learn? I will never understand, please explain.

*****

Pelosi rejected 2 of the noms to serve on the special committee looking into Jan. 6. Kevin McCarthy withdrew his 5 noms.

*****

The gun that killed Billy the Kid is for sale.

*****

I think you should leave with Tim Robinson on Netflix is hilarious if U get thru the gross. U can’t miss the episode with Clifton Davis and Fred Willard!!

*****

Joaquin Phoenix is trying to get some bears from a traveling show moved to an accredited sanctuary. The Bearadise Ranch in Florida has been cited for, “violating state wildlife laws.”

*****

Go employees Go!! Frito Lay is on strike, Coal miners are on strike and Ride Share drivers are on strike. A good portion of this country should be on strike. The top of the corporate ladder needs to learn! Let those that treat us fair rise to the top.

*****

Who owns Brett Kavanaugh?

*****

A Bishop seeking to deny Biden communion was caught on Grindr.

*****

Gabriel Jagger married Anouk Winzenried.** I don’t know why the Rolling Stones bass player doesn’t just change his name to “not pictured.” –Michael Mckean

*****

Frank Fritz will not be back on American Pickers.

*****

For the first time, astronomers have seen behind a black hole. Einstein predicted the gravitational pull of black holes is so enormous that they warp the very fabric of space. He was right. Scientists have now spotted light which was being emitted by the far side of the black hole.

*****

Look for Heels on Starz.

*****

What is this new screen for Amazon? It sucks.

*****

Biden has signed an executive order to protect infrastructure from cyber- attacks.

*****

Arthur was canceled.

*****

The Kennedy Center has revealed the latest honorees. The 44th class is Justin Diaz, Berry Gordy, Lorne Michaels, Bette Midler and Joni Mitchell and will be held on Dec. 5.

*****

Get well Bob Odenkirk!!!! The fabulous Odenkirk collapsed on the set of Better call Saul from a minor heart attack.

*****

Days alert: We have lost Days of Our Lives first director, Joseph Behar.  He will be missed.** Marla Ginns is joining the cast as Paulina’s Mother. ** Is EJ throwing Sami out? Will AJ McLean join the cast? **Rex is back.**Peacock is bringing us a limited series, Days of our Lives: Beyond Salem that will send many couples on romantic vacations and lead to intrigue. Lisa Rinna will star.** Arianna Zucker (Nicole) is set to marry Shawn Christian (former Daniel).  He popped the question on Father’s Day.

*****

R.I.P. President Jovenel Moise, Philece Sampler, Robert Downey Sr., Richard Donner, flood victims of Belgium and Germany,  Robby Steinhardt, Covid victims, Joseph Behar, Robert Moses, Jackie Mason, Dusty Hill, joey Jordison, Priscilla McMillan, Ron Popeil, Carl Levin, Saginaw Grant and Charles Robinson.

[3collecurei]

So I’m finally all caught up with The Flash and

Not long after I finished season 1, I made the mistake of going onto the general Internet/Rotten Tomatoes/Hollywood esque review sites to look for praise of the show, and jfc! Everybody Hates Iris!

Seriously though, the litany of “she’s flat, boring and pointless” “I hope they kill her off” “she can’t possibly remain the love interest, they have to replace her” and that being a staple of so many reviews that gave every other character and everything else about the show flying colors and worship. I couldn’t believe me and these people were watching the same show?Because bish where is Iris pointless???

Barry Allen says it himself: there is no The Flash without Iris West. Whether or not you wanna believe that as a viewer, canonically your main character never wavers on that front, canonically he 100% believes he would not be who he is without her, and thus acts as such. Not only that, but even as a plot point, even platonically, Iris being so close to Barry *is* the show. In Flashpoint, he trades off living his whole life with Iris for having his mother come back to life, and while of course it’s fucked that he can’t have both, it was very obvious that changing this core tenant of his life made everything different. And worse. *That’s* how important she is to him.

The Iris-haters also frequently said that she’s pointless because she’s “the damsel in distress” stock character and nothing else, but I beg to differ. Not only does she have her own story lines going with her relationships with Wally, her mother and her father, but there’s also her journalism career advancement; and of course, by not being a superhero she’s going to get in harms way a lot more than the rest of the team. She and Joe pretty equally end up needing saving from their meta family member, so you could argue he’s a “damsel” too (plus she doesn’t even have his years of cop training but constantly weilds a gun and tries to fight back anyway). Iris vehemently doesn’t like being seen as weak and like Barry, barrels into shit swinging all the time. Homegirl shot and killed Savitar herself! Even in season 1, she straight up punched the iron man in the face lol

Another  scene that really stood out to me as proof of her strength is that one where she went to meet the arms dealer from her journalist assignment by herself, got in his face too and was like “shoot me, any time could be my time to die.” On that note I thought Candice displayed Iris’s emotion and confliction about knowing she was going to die so well, I really felt her pain and the couple’s pain, there were so many great moments where you saw her bolstering up and accepting it even as she was terrified, because she needed to be the strong one for she and Barry. He was losing it over losing her.

Anyway for these and many other reasons, #TeamIris forever bitch. Since Barry is the show, and he loves her so much, Iris kind of also is the show. Like how do you even watch this if you don’t think that lol

I can’t wait to see her come into her own even more in Season 4 and get married to her man and be happy and amazing and thriving, as the well-rounded, funny and intelligent female lead she is (:

#the flash #iris west #westallen

[paladin-of-nerd-fandom65]

My Personal DC Cinematic Universe (Part 2)

Phase 1 Finale:

The Titans: Plot and structure here will be similar to Marvel’s Avengers (2012); the villains of the previous movie, Blackfire, has discovered Planet Earth as a potential base of operation for her plans of claiming the ruler of Tamaran. Starfire, upon landing on this planet with her friend Rachel Roth, runs into CIA Agent Amanda Waller in whom experiencing both the Battle for Gotham (Dark Knight Rises) and Metropolis invasion (Man of Steel) instantly takes belief for Starfire’s warnings of an upcoming attack by Blackfire and the dark demonic force she had found on this planet courtesy of Tamaranean legend. Thus, Waller assembles the metahumans currently in active duty from the three escapees from STAR Labs (Cyborg, Beast Boy and Terra) and this one vigilante from Bludhaven (Robin) to unite with Starfire in a counter strike against her treacherous sister. 

--This movie will see direction under the guise of film makers Mathew Vaughn (Director of Kick-Ass and the Kingsman series) and Patty Jenkins (Wonder Woman) with a screenplay written by veteran Titan writer Amy Wolfram accompanied with screenwriter Robert Rovner (CW’s Supergirl) and Jessica Queller (CW’s Supergirl).

--Production design will be handled majorly by Alex McDowell (Man of Steel, Krypton and Zack Snyder’s Watchmen) while costume desgin will be a dual collaboration of DC animated veteran Glen Murakami and CW’s Colleen Atwood. NO COLOR FILTERS ALLOWED

--Soundtrack will be composed courtesy of Natalie Holt (Paddington, The Honourable Woman, and The Impossible) with some musical cues adapted from both Shirely Walker’s DCAU soundtracks and Han Zimmer’s Man of Steel soundtrack 

--Final Note: While the character of Clark Kent/Superman will not be discussed amongst the characters or even feature a single appearance throughout the duration of the film...at the ending of the credits, as the newly christened Titans Towers begins construction, we can see Starfire gazing into the city their Tower looks over on top of the structure....a red cape appears from behind her, mildly startling Starfire but she relaxes almost immediately once she sees the figure in front of her, holding his hand in a gesture of goodwill 

“You’ve done good Princess. Maybe more than I ever did.” a smiling Superman says before we cut to black, officially ending the first phase of the DC Capes and Masks Universe. 

Phase 2:

Wonder Woman: Pretty much the exact same team and plot as done with the one released by director Patty Jenkins this year. Only changes I would do include letting the character of Steve Trevor live and setting the conflict in the Modern Day Middle East (either Israel or ISIS occupied territory). Otherwise, leave this movie as it was. 

Man of Tomorrow: Clark Kent, now moving into the city of Metropolis as it reconstructs itself from the invasion of Dru-Zod and taking a position as a writer for the Daily Planet, must look upon the consequences of his great power for not only the citizens of this city but also to the world at large and come to terms with the fact not every bad thing can be resolved by his hand all at once. This inner struggle of wanting to do good all the time comes to a head with local Genius Billionaire Alexander Luthor, whom takes an interest on this Superman character as a potential ally and even friend for his vision to run the city of Metropolis as he sees fit. However,Clark’s newfound purpose in life as human sized beacon of hope dictates a counter to Luthor ever growing sense of cynical domination over his fellow man. But since Luthor rests at the top of the social totem pole without one crime that can take him down, can Superman turly deal with a practical living Ubermensch like Luthor? 

--Directing duties will now shift over to Allison Adler (Supergirl) accompanied by comic writers Geoff Johns and James Robinson 

--Screenplay duties are now given to Stephen McFreely (Captain America 3: Civil War) with advice from comic writers James Robinson, Kurt Busiek and Peter Tomasi.

--While Production design will carry over from Man of Steel, minor changes including an allusion to a more classic coloring scheme for Superman’s costume will be applied and Color filters will be removed

(Final movie for now because i need to save my battery, sorry fellas) 

Young Justice: In the United Kingdom, inspired by success of Gotham’s honored Batman, Metropolis’ current champion in the Superman and most importantly the bravery and valiance of the Titans during their climatic battle against the demon forces of Blackfire, Parliament has decided to form a superhuman team of their own. Parliament member Janet Drake offers the collection of youthful meta humans recently discovered on the borders of English territory to the MI6, all eager to try being ‘superheroes’ themselves. Members of this ‘Young Justice’ Program include Jamie Reyes (possessor of an alien device in the shape of an insect that straps unto his back), Megan Morse (a young girl actually being the first recorded life-sign from the Planet Mars, though that’s up for debate..), Artemis Crock (Vietnamese born teen woman with amazing archery skills), Bartholomew Allen (distant nephew to American scientist Barry Allen, possesing super speed, though rumors fly of his cousin Wally West having same said speed), and finally the son of Janet Drake, Timonthy whom had grown a love for the heroes of America, in particular the vigilantes Batman and Robin and trained to peak minor condition as a dedication to his mother’s new found team. Their first mission: Apprehend the heads of the Turkmen (as in the authoritarian government of Turkmenistan) backed HIVE (Hierarchy of Vengeance and Eliminations) before their own metahuman teams cause destrcution on a possible global scale. The HIVE’s secret weapon however might be a daunting challenge though...since they have acquired DNA from a certain alien protector from the AMerican city of Metropolis to create a ‘Superman’ of their own...enter PROJECT KON... 

--Director will be Mathew Vangh and screewriting will be under the control of Greg  Weisman with advice from comic writers Geoff Johns and Peter David. 

--once again Alex McDowell and Colleen Atwood will handle production and costume design respectively 

--Soundtrack provdided this time by composer Lolita Ritmanis (Young Justice the animated series) 

Please like and for the love of God REBLOG if you have ideas to share about this proposal of mine, I highly appreciate it 

@fireflyxrebel @nightglider124 @lightdusk @robxstar

#dc cinematic universe #my posts #young justice #koriand’r #komand'r #dick grayson #victor stone #garfield logan #rachel roth #tara markov #clark kent #diana prince #amanda waller

[herstarburststories]

You found her, now go and get her ✘ Barry Allen and Grant Gustin Imagine ✘

✘ A/N: I’M FINALLY POSTING MY FIRST REQUEST, YAY! I’m sorry it took so long, anon. School kills. I hope you like it! As well you, guys!

I’ll tag WestAllen bc this one got Westallen, but it’s not a Westallen imagine.

Thanks @lyss-91 for beta ♡

✘ (Y/F/N) = Your fake name. (Y/L/F/N) = Your last fake name.

✘ Request: This might get complicated but can you do a Barry/grant imagine where Barry is trying to move on from iris (maybe they broke up or something) and he is either shown through Gideon or travels to our world where he sees the reader (singer actress) and grant have been together for awhile and are very happy so he tries to find the reader on his earth with the teams help

Things had been strained between Barry and Iris since the end of their engagement. They didn’t talk, they couldn’t stay in a room alone, and when their eyes met, before so demonstrative of love and admiration for each other, would just look away, making both people uncomfortable and any other human or metahuman around being able to feel the heavy breeze from the pressure in the air.

They loved each other, of course, they had loved each other since forever. And when they finally got together, Barry thought that maybe this time he had really won, maybe he'd gotten his happy ending, his peace.

Holy shit, how wrong he was.

Iris missed him more than anything, and so did he.

But it was clear that the Scarlet Speedster couldn’t say or show it more when Cisco entered excited on the cortex, saying that the future had changed. Iris would live. Savitar wouldn’t kill her.

''Actually, I saw her in the headlines. 'Iris West, the youngest Central City’s journalist to win a pultizer award, public an article about metahuman medicine, with help from her old  friend, Caitlin Snow.'’ Cisco spoke in a forced tone of journalist's newspaper's 7, smile never leaving the his face. "Guys, Iris is alive and Caitlin won’t turn into Killer Frost!"

‘’But what changed?’’ Julian asked, but no one could care about what event made the tragedy go away, the focus was clear: the worst thing won’t happen anymore.

‘’We won Savitar, I knew it! I knew it!’’ H.R said exltedly.

Joe hugged his daughter with tears in his eyes as Cisco hugged Caitlin and HR ran out screaming something about coffee and cake to celebrate the occasion.

As much as Barry's heart was relieved - Iris, the woman he loved, would live and have the success in journalism that she deserved! -  A persistent doubt struck the back of his head. Asking Iris to marry had not changed the future. Had breaking up with her done it?

Barry smiled at Iris as their gazes met, the first real smile from the end, she took a step toward him, and he could not help but try to reach her as well, but Caitlin hugged her just in time, happiness and relief filling the room.

Looking at the people that Barry Allen most loved in the world in such happiness, he couldn’t help but leave when no one was noticing and go to Gideon. Barry had to see if a certain event had reappeared.

His heart pounded, hoping he would continue with Iris, the girl he always wanted...

But he was not.

Flash missing vanishes in crise.

By Iris West.

No hyphen, no Allen.

Iris was alive, but she would only be like this if he didn’t have her.

A solitary tear fell down the cheek of Central City’s hero.

It was surprising how he could save everyone but himself.

But it was okay, if his happy ending was Iris at least alive, Barry accepted that.

He loved her too much to be selfish.

(…)

It was 1 year and 6 months since Barry discovered he could not stay with Iris anymore. He was doing okay as much as possible. The thought that she would be alive made him try to move on, for Barry knew that if he didn’t, the West girl would die.

So the speedster was trying. The best he could, at least.

''This time, I'm 100% sure that the particle accelerator will not get you to another earth.'' Cisco said while putting the device in Barry's suit.

"100%?" Barry raised an eyebrow, doubting his friend's statement.

"Okay, maybe more to 89%," Cisco said as he moved to the computer. ''Or 67%...''

''Oh, great! ''

"Earth two?" Julian asked Caitlin, trying to find himself in the conversation.

"No, it's down to earth 4. It's where Supergirl came from." Caitlin explained.

"Who?" Julian asked confused as Caitlin began to gesture and explain about Team Flash's interdimensional travels and friends.

''Okay, get ready.'' Barry prepared to run, happy to do something that would always distract him from the world around him. ''1... 2... 3... Go! '' The Flash ran, leaving papers flying through the cortex, Caitlin rolled sighed and went to pick them up while Julian approached Cisco to see Barry's speed on the computer, until it simply disappeared.

''What was it?''

(…)

The Scarlet Speedster could feel in his breath that that oxygen was not that of his earth. He sighed and looked around, looking for some information on where he was or how to get help to get home.

As much as ''home'' was now all his relative happy, uncomfortable moments between him and Iris, the sure certainty that he would not have a happy ending and...

Barry shook his head from side to side, trying to hide his thoughts like someone throwing dirt under the rug. Time to gather information, find help, and go back to his earth.

The hero looked around again, he was on a street, one that seemed to belong only to the richest of any place. Hearing a loud noise as loud as hysterical screams, Barry glanced back, managing to see himself waving to a group of screaming people. Was that version of him famous?

He sped in the big place, looking twice, was a recording studio. The Flash sped through the room, studying everything until it found a trailer that contained clothes in his size.

Barry changed his clothes and grabbed a backpack, putting his uniform inside, starting to look around the trailer at human speed.

''Cool.'' A smile appeared on his face to see a photo of him with two more dogs, he always wanted dogs. Barry finally found a computer and searched for the name on the door of the trailer.

Grant Gustin.

Thomas Grant Gustin, better known as Grant Gustin, is an American actor, singer and dancer. Best known for playing the role of ''Barry Allen'' in The Flash series from CW show.

Okay, what should he be most shocked about? The fact that he is representing himself  or that he can dance?

Anyway, Barry continued his research. Grant Gustin seemed like a completely normal guy, in fact, all of the team seemed to be normal. No metahuman activity here.

Indicated for the best chemistry award on TV: Grant Gustin and (Y/F/N) (Y/L/F/N)

This was a new one, he didn’t know anyone by that name. Barry clicked on the link of the story, basically they and 4 other couples competed for this award. The Forensic Scientist kept looking at the photo of himself smiling and hugging a girl, whom he couldn’t see, although he could not help but feel curious and even neediss to meet her.

Barry coughed, moving away from the computer. He had not felt anything like this since Iris.

Search: (Y/F/N) (Y/L/F/N)

Allen sighed and clicked on the first link to youtube that appeared, ''(Y/F/N)'' was talking and suddenly began to sing. He giggled, her voice was wonderful.

The next video was one of an interview with her, Barry clicked on the link and folded his arms, waiting for what could come.

Fully open mouth in ‘’O’’ was a euphemism for Barry's expression. His chest was full of excitement, confusion... Hope?

His version of this earth was with this girl for years, and he seemed quite happy with her.

This was not Barry's life, he knew that. But something inside his veins was begging for him, go get this girl.

For the first time after Iris, Barry Allen could feel something.

Just then, Cisco appeared, smiling relieved to see his friend well.

'’How about a vibe home, bro?'

(…)

"They were together for like three years and they looked really happy. I have to find this girl. I just have to. ''

''You're like one of those in love Disney guys, are you going to start singing for no reason like them?'' Cisco joked.

''And she was a singer actress!'' Barry remembered.

"As lovely as it is, you know this was not your earth, right?" Caitlin said, wanting to make sure his friend’s head was in order.

As Barry opened his mouth to speak, the rest of the team entered the room. His heart ached a little to see Iris, she's still Iris after all. The difference is that, this time, he accepted his new idea of destiny, Barry Allen was happy. He would have Iris at his side as his best friend, fully alive and amazing at job and someone to love, that was more than enough. It took some months to accept that he wasn’t going to be with Iris and a couple weeks before he came back from the other earth to accept that he could be happy with another person. But he did it.

Barry Allen accepted it and would hold onto this future.

"What were you talking about?" Wally asked with Big Belly Burger's mouthful, Iris rolled her eyes at his brother's attitude.

''About the girl that B.A is looking for! She and his look-alike, can you believe it? Look-alikes! - were together and kaboom! He wants to meet her here!'' H.R said excitedly, not noticing what he was really talking about and in front of who.

"Dude, seriously?" Cisco chided him, H.R looked around, his mouth popping open and his expression showing surprise at what he had done.

Before H.R could stutter some apoloze, the reaction in the cortex was completely the opposite of what was expected. Iris smiled at Barry, a genuine smile.

''Well, I'm happy for you, Bear.''

(…)

"What do we have?!" Barry asked as he stepped into the cortex, already in his The Flash outfit. Cisco and Caitlin had called him to STAR Labs saying they had found something that needed to be resolved urgently, but the whole Team was there, which was weird for a wednesday morning.

"What do you have to get, bro." Cisco said smiling, eating another of his candys.

''What?''

"We found her." Caitlin smiled sweetly. Barry looked around the room, his eyes wide and his crescent-shaped mouth resting like a smile. ''Her name on this earth is (Y/N) and... ''

"And we'd say more information about how much work to find her we got, but I guess all you want now is to run for her." Cisco interrupted and laughed at his friend's expression, noting how excited he was but happy for him as well as his entire team was.

"Go get your girl, Flash." Iris said, smiling in encouragement, he stared at her and nodded, running out as he received the information from her location by the microphone in his suit.

And then, the world seemed finally to stop when Barry laid his eyes on (Y/N). Nothing was fast or slow, everything was in harmony for the first time in centuries. Barry could swear on his knees that there were no wars or problems in the world, because... How could something bad happen in the world when her smile existed?

#barry allen #barry allen imagine #bartholomew henry allen #barry allen imagines #imagine barry allen #barry allen x you #barry allen x iris west #barry allen x reader #imagine flash #the flash imagine #the flash imagines #the flash #imagine the flash #the flash x reader #westallen #grant gustin #grant gustin imagine #imagine grant gustin #grant gustin x reader #grant gustin x you #grant gustin imagines #imagine #anon request

[river-bottom-nightmare]

do you have more robin dick headcanons? :)

i do in fact have many many robin!dick headcanons. hope you enjoy babe!

dick oftentimes recreated fight scenes from movies he watched with bruce. then he got disappointed at how easy they were and took it as a personal challenge to make them have more pizzazz. this tradition continued with the titans.

dick made it a personal goal to make it through patrol as much as possible without using his grappling hook once. if there was a situation that absolutely required it, then he wouldn’t hesitate, but usually he flipped from buildings and swung from ladders and even tightrope-walked on power lines. 

dick jumped from hobby to hobby to hobby when he was in middle school to at least the first two years of high school. he kinda settled into his likes and interests after that, always willing to try new things but still less all-consuming about learning everything he could. but when he was robin, he had a new super niche interest every other month. he’d go from collecting and pressing flowers to detail blacksmithing to finding out every culinary use for liquid nitrogen. bruce tried so hard to keep track of them, but unfortunately, didn’t come close to succeeding.

pretty early on, dick figured out he really didn’t want anything to do with the kids at the private school bruce sent him to. (he’d been the only child in a circus growing up, then came to live with solely bruce and alfred. while he was good at socializing with “normal people”, he didn’t really enjoy it.) so he gained this reputation in school of an enigma who’ll be surface level friendly with everyone but never actually be good friends with anyone. combined with all the random weird shit he could do, he basically became the school cryptid.

for the first few years of robin, dick refused to go to any circus. it took a while for him to understand that going to a circus and enjoying himself wasn’t an insult to his parents’ deaths, it was a celebration of their lives (a lesson some people haven’t learned yet brucei’mlookingatyou.) but he missed the circ, he missed it like an ache. so the compromise? bruce took dick to the zoo a lot. dick was consistently a visitor so often that the zookeepers and staff grew to recognize him. years and years later, when he started taking damian to the zoo, the staff members laughed to themselves about how dick’s keeping the tradition going.

one cannot become best friends with one wallace rudolph west without becoming a little bit of a foodie. combined with the team eager to introduce donna and garth to the best food earth had to offer, dick kind of became a mini food critic. 

the amount of satisfaction dick got from showing up competitive gymnasts who were older and “more experienced” than him was incredible. (and i mean absolutely no offense, just basing this off my personal experience: the brief time i was a competitive gymnast, everyone was hypercompetitive and combative.) anyway, dick reached olypmic-level gymanst around the early middle of his robin years, so he made it a little game to go gymnastics tutors and coaches and then just astound them with what he could do. sometimes, they had something genuine to teach him, and dick loved those people. but to the ones who blustered and tried to prove they were still better than an 11 year old after seeing dick do “just a simple, super easy, off the top of my head!!” beam routine were dick’s favourite, because he shut them up quick.

the athletic-based performers back in the circus all did morning stretches together. for dick, that was an routine built into him. so, once he felt comfortable enough around bruce, he asked to do it with him. so mornings in wayne manor found dick and bruce side-by-side doing stretches as bruce revaluated his opinion of how flexible he was and dick reveled in bossing around batman.

contrary to popular belief, dick didn’t have many posters. dick actually had no posters, save for the flying graysons one he tacked above his bed in every house or apartment he ever lived in. but aside from that, his personal affects came from little mementos and keepsakes. little elephant figurines from the asian mart bruce took him to, a box filled with entrance tickets from every time he and wally went to an amusement park (surrounded by the prizes they won at said amusement park), cool rocks displayed randomly around his room that he found gardening with alfred.

when dick was younger, he loved dancing. nowadays, he finds very little time to just dance for fun, usually doing it undercover at a club or ballroom dancing at a gala. but as robin? dick danced all the time. he’d put on music in the morning, jumping up and down in front of the bathroom mirror while brushing. he’d climb on top of the formal dining table, barefoot as always, and shake his hips to a song he had playing on a portable speaker. he spun in circles around the cave, he did flips with so much flair to them that you just couldn’t call it simple acrobatics during patrol. he had dance parties with the titans and linked arms with bruce as he dragged him up to twirl to a disney song.

this isn’t really a writing thing? but i’ll tag my tag list people anyway: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @anothertimdrakestan @subtleappreciation @screennamealreadyused @catxsnow @pricetagofficial @bonkybearjpeg @bikoncon @maplumebleue-blog-blob @sundownridge @thatsthewhump

#scribbles from the swamp #dick grayson #robin #robin!dick #dc #dick grayson headcanon #dick grayson headcanons #robin headcanon #robin headcanons #robin!dick headcanon #robin!dick headcanons #dc headcanon #dc headcanons

[backtothestart02]

Mixed Drink - 10/? | westallen fanfiction

A/N: The next few chaps WA will be physically apart, but there will be snippets here and there of them, so I hope you still enjoy!

Commissioned by @andromidagalaxie :) Thank you, love!

*Many thanks to @valeriemperez for beta’ing.

...

Chapter 10 -

Barry opened his eyes, blinked a few times, and tried to remember where he was at and what day it was; what time would be even better.

One, he was in a room with several other agents, as he observed by forcing himself to look around the room. Two, it was Monday night. Three… He lifted his arm to see the time, then realized his watch was the old-fashioned kind where you had to wind it if you wanted to change it by hours or minutes. He’d neglected to do either when he’d arrived earlier that day, unable to sleep because his mind was still buzzing with Iris.

“Do you have to go?” she’d asked, nuzzling close to him on the private plane landing as the wind whipped her hair around her shoulders.

“I want to say no,” he returned, warming her back with his hands.

“But you can’t.” She sighed and pulled back, tears shining in her eyes and the smallest of happy smiles on her face so he wouldn’t stay for her. “I understand.”

“One month, and it’ll be like I never left,” he told her.

She swallowed and nodded. “One month.”

Thinking back to that memory almost 24 hours prior, Barry wished he could force time to move fast enough for a month to fly by. But of course, maybe that wasn’t the best idea either, seeing as he had no idea how he was going to land an assignment back in Central City or even in the U.S. in exactly a month.

He sighed openly, but it was drowned out by other agents chatting with each other, and so his plight was unseen to every person but one – his godsend: Felicity Smoak.

“Hey, handsome.” She nudged him after rolling her chair over.

He turned his head and gave her one of the ‘handsome smiles’ she used to fawn over when he’d first joined the agency.

“How did yesterday with Iris go?” she asked, propping her chin in her hand.

He shrugged.

“Oh, come on. I threatened all manner of nasty things and reminded that asshole of a boss how irreplaceable you are to the team and how you never ask for anything, and-”

“Okay, okay.” He allowed himself a laugh. He figured he did owe her something. “It was good, Felicity.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Good?”

“Yeah. Good, really good, great. Perfect. A dream.”

He’s planning on shrugging off the last words as sarcasm, but they across too sincere as they rolled off his tongue.

“A dream, huh?” she teased, leaning closer. She wiggled her eyebrows when he turned to look at her.

“Okay, stop. Stop.”

But now he was laughing, and she was grinning like the wise woman that she was, so he couldn’t bring himself to berate her more than that.

Even if he had wanted to though, a resounding whoosh silenced everyone in the room. In walked Kevin, his supervisor James, and a few bodyguards. Their presence made it almost seem like the room had gone dark and there was a spotlight on them where they stood on the slightly raised platform, microphones bundled together by their faces.

But of course, that wasn’t the case. The lights had not changed, and there was no spotlight. There were no microphones, and the floor they stood on was so slightly lifted that one wouldn’t even know it was unless they were walking on it themselves and felt the small ramp beneath their feet.

“Good evening,” James – Mr. Olsen – announced. “I hope you’ve enjoyed your free day on one of London’s least rainy days this year.” He smiled broadly, trying to evoke laughter maybe but only a few smiles and quiet chuckles emerged from the agents.

Aside from Kevin searching the room for Barry and once he found him, glaring, Barry found himself unmoved by the process. He was annoyed by his boss once again, but damn him if he’d give the pleasure of showing him.

“I must congratulate all of you on our latest mission,” Mr. Olsen continued. “I know it was somewhat out of your comfort zones to be pulled from all over the world to conduct this mission, but given how satisfactory an ending it was, I do not regret that choice. I also assure you that there are more than enough assignments to dole out in the coming weeks and even months to make up for one week in Missouri.”

He turned to face the man standing slightly behind him.

“Mr. Draeger will tell you more about the future developments of your assignments.”

Barry sat up slowly as the start of a cold sweat formed on the back of his neck.

“Thank you, James.” Kevin smiled politely then directed his gaze to the people laid out before him.

“As Mr. Olsen said, your assignments have multiplied in number over the last week. In the past we’ve separated agents in order to get more done faster. After the success of Monday night, however, we – well, I – feel it would be better to form more teams, just with less agents on them. Therefore, unless given special permission, all assignments going forward will be done in teams of three to five individuals. When you receive your assignment, you will also receive who you will be working with and will be given an additional day to get to know each other and who will be operating what part of the mission if you deem it necessary.”

Horrified, Barry nearly lifted out of his seat.

“And for those of you,” Kevin’s gaze landed right on Barry, “Who feel you have a right to continue things as they have always been, this new order be damned, well… We can meet privately and discuss it, but I don’t believe you will like the outcome.”

Barry leaned back in his seat, his toes digging into the bottom of his shoes as his hands clenched around the arms of his chair. He stared at Kevin long and hard until the man looked away and started addressing questions before leaving with Mr. Olsen and his bodyguards.

Felicity placed her hand over one of his and curled her fingers into his palm.

“It’s okay,” she whispered, trying to calm him. “You’re with me. I told him that’s how it’s going to be, and he agreed. There might be more people, but it’s always going to be you and me, okay?”

Barry nodded once, unable to form words.

Felicity was the only one he trusted in this god-forsaken agency.

He’d always gone it alone.

…

Iris sat, nibbling her bottom lip, as her hands wrapped tightly around the coffee mug she held in her hand. A barista came by to ask if she wanted a refill, and she shook her head, smiling politely just as she had ten minutes ago.

She couldn’t believe she was doing this. She hadn’t worked at CC Jitters since she’d been working her way through college. Was she really going to come back to it after she’d come so far as a reporter? Just to make ends meet?

Just, Iris?

She winced at her inner voice and reminded herself of Patty and what the poor girl was willing to do so that Iris could fight for the job of her dreams. She couldn’t let her work herself to death. Police work was no easy thing, and Patty wasn’t exactly at the top of the food chain anyway. She could be denied, for all she knew.

No, she needed to do this. She knew how to work at a coffee shop, and she was good at it. She would keep looking for other jobs on the side, but she had to be able to bring in money until that happened. Mrs. Kepper was a friendly employer, and she loved Iris. This was a solid in.

If Iris wanted it.

“Iris? Iris West?”

Iris looked up and saw a familiar face. The corners of her lips tipped up in a smile.

“Stacy?”

Stacy Conwell. Part of the popular crowd with Iris in high school, she hadn’t felt the need to work because her father was so wealthy that she wanted for nothing. That was until he informed her that he wasn’t planning on paying for her college tuition, and if she hadn’t saved any of the money he doled out for her regularly before then, she would have to work to make her way through school.

Stacy had been scandalized, but Iris had easily gotten her a job at Jitters. They’d had fun together throughout college and lost touch after that when Stacy went to follow her dream as a Broadway star in New York City six months after graduation.

Obviously, something had gone wrong because in her hands was clutched a filled-out employee application that nearly mirrored Iris’ sitting on her table.

After an affectionate hug, Stacy sat down at the booth across from her and smiled wryly.

“Who thought we’d be back here after all this time?”

Iris shook her head. “Not me.”

“We won’t be here forever,” Stacy quoted. “When we leave, we’ll never come back!”

“Unless we want coffee!” Iris faked a giggle and suppressed the tears forming in her eyes.

“Everyone has a breakdown, I suppose,” Stacy offered.

“Before the age of thirty, though?”

Stacy winced.

“Please tell me you’ve been more successful than I have,” Iris pleaded.

“Only if being told I can’t sing and need acting classes five times in the last year count as success.”

“Oh, honey.” Iris placed her hand over Stacy’s.

“I suppose there’s also the five boyfriends I went through in the last two years before that…”

“Please tell me you dumped them.”

Stacy sighed and looked out the window.

“If only I’d had the honor.”

Iris blew out a puff of air.

“Completely blindsided you?”

“Every. Time.” She shook her head. “But enough about me. How’s your mom?”

Iris leaned back in her seat. “Not speaking to me.”

Stacy’s eyes widened. “Still?”

Iris nodded.

“And your dad?”

“He wants to be on my side, but let’s be real, he’s always been afraid to defy my mother. She’s his ‘angel’ and the ‘mother of his children’.”

Stacy shook her head in disbelief.

“Should I even ask about Wally?”

Iris shrugged and leaned into her hand propped up on the table.

“Wally doesn’t want to get caught in the middle. He’s on my side, but he’s always been a mama’s boy and doesn’t want to stop now.”

“Damn.”

“So!” She straightened and collected her application papers together, summoning courage where there was none, especially given the most recent topic. “Shall we submit these things or what?”

Stacy smiled slowly, amused but also feeling quite the same.

“Let’s do it.”

The barista at the counter – an girl named Jade with long honey tresses – informed Stacy and Iris that Mrs. Kepper wasn’t in today and was in fact taking the rest of the week off.

Iris pouted, but Stacy kept the momentum going by telling Jade thanks and that they’d stop in early next week in case their applications got lost in a stack of papers on their former boss’s desk. Jade smiled timidly before addressing a new customer in line.

“Well, that sucks.”

“You were expecting her to be in?”

Iris nodded. “She always used to be in on Mondays.”

“Yeah…but it’s been years, Iris. Literal years.”

She sighed. “Yeah, I know.”

Stacy looped her arm through hers.

“Why don’t you let me buy you a beer? We can play some pool or darts, flirt with a cute guy or two-” Her eyes widened when she saw Iris’ flustered reaction – how she rubbed her lips together and tucked a few locks behind her ear. “Unless you have a guy you’re not telling me about.”

“What?” she squeaked. “No-”

“Uh-uh-uh, I know that squeak! You have a boyfriend!”

Now she was really flustered. “It’s recent, okay? Like, only in the last week. And long distance to beat.”

Stacy sighed contently. “You have a boyfriend. Thank God. It’s about time you moved on from that asshole.”

Iris gave her a look.

“Who we are not talking about, because we have better news!” She pulled her along down the street to a bar. “Tell me about your boyfriend.”

Just as Iris opened her mouth to speak, her phone rang an unfamiliar jingle.

“Oh my God, is that him?” Stacy urged. She tried to look to see what the number was, but Iris pulled it away. “Is he calling from a burner phone?”

Iris frowned. “It’s not him.”

“Answer the damn thing, Iris. You’re paying if I’m right.”

Iris rolled her eyes. “It’s not him, but fine. With the little money I have to my name, I will buy us both drinks if it’s him.”

Stacy smiled gleefully as Iris turned away from her and walked a few feet before taking the call.

“Hello?”

“What are you wearing?” a male voice asked huskily through the phone.

She gulped, heat filling her face as her panties grew damp.

“Barry?”

She could hear him shuffling around, grunting and huffing as if he was trying to get into position.

“I’m touching myself, Iris.”

She braced her hand on the brick wall beside her, her legs suddenly like jelly.

“It’s been a rough day, and I need you. Please just…”

Stacy came into view. “Is it him?” she asked, though from the look on Iris’ face it was obvious it was.

Iris handed some money over and tried to regain her bearings.

“I’ll meet you at Hal’s…in let’s say half an hour? Will your phone sex be done by then?”

Iris waved her off, but Stacy just chuckled and walked off, probably intending to stick to that non-deal they’d just made.

“Iris?” she heard in her ear, slightly less husky since she hadn’t spoken in a while.

“I’m here, Barry.” She bit her bottom lip as she snuck into the back alley between buildings a block away. It looked relatively clean and no one was in sight. “I’m in public.”

She could practically feel his grin through the phone as he purred.

“Tell me what you’re wearing.”

...

*Also posted on AO3 and FFnet.

#westallen #fanfiction #backtothestart02 fanfiction #westallen fanfiction #mixed drink #chapter 10 #commissioned by andromidagalaxie

[jade4813]

What Yet May Be

Author’s note: I was going to try to post this for an appropriate day of Iris West Week, but I didn’t get it done for the first day I meant to post it and I’m not sure I’ll be able to post it for the final open day. So I guess it’ll just be posted as a sort of unofficial entry!

Title: What Yet May Be

Rating: PG

Synopsis: Iris unexpectedly finds herself in the future, seven years after her death at the hands of Savitar, and finds out what happens to the people she loves in her absence.

Iris was lost in her thoughts as she stepped out of the car, but when she approached the lab, she heard the low murmur of voices and pushed her musings aside. Straightening, she pushed her shoulders back and forced a smile. “Hey, Barry,” she greeted her fiancé warmly, moving towards him to give him a kiss. “I thought I might find you here. Are you–,” before she could finish the thought, she saw a bright flash out of the corner of her eye. She felt her body fly backwards, as though blasted by an invisible force. Then there was a bright flash of light, and everything went dark.

She didn’t know how much time passed before she moaned, her eyes fluttering. Her head was throbbing, and her arm felt like lead as she lifted her hand to her forehead. It took a moment to get the strength to open her eyes and a bit longer until the throbbing in her head receded.

She sat up and cast a quick glance around the room to check on everyone else, but she was immediately taken aback by what she saw. Only one overhead light remained on, but in the dim light it provided, she didn’t see her friends anywhere. The room itself was in shambles, and though she initially assumed its state was due to an explosion, when she got to her feet and looked closer, she saw no signs of fire damage. Instead, it looked run down and abandoned; a thick layer of dust was over everything but one computer.

She put that mystery aside as she focused on finding the others. “Barry? Dad?” she called as she spun around in a circle. They were nowhere to be found. They’d been there a couple minutes ago; where could they have gone?

She called out her friends’ names one more time, her voice echoing in the empty room. “Cisco? Is anyone here?” No response. Iris leaned against the nearby desk and tried to get her bearings, to make sense of what had happened.

Could she have lost consciousness in the explosion? It was certainly possible, but she couldn’t believe that Barry or her dad would have left her like that, unconscious on the floor. Could she be having some sort of concussion-induced hallucinations? She didn’t think that sort of thing was normal, but she was hardly the leading expert on head injuries. She knew enough to know she couldn’t dare fall asleep if she did have a concussion, but that was it – and she was hardly likely to drift off to sleep any time soon.

A little at a loss what to do next, Iris eyed the one running computer. She should be able to use it to send a distress signal to Barry and the rest of the team, letting them know where she was. She approached the keyboard and hit a button to bring the system out of power saving mode, but she got an error message when she entered her password. With a slight frown, she tried again, but she got the same error message. Shaking her head softly, she tried one more time to no avail.

Iris muttered a curse. Had Cisco changed the passwords again? Sadly, he wasn’t around to ask. She gave one of the other computers a considering look. Maybe she’d get lucky and he hadn’t had a chance to update all of them yet. She tried to power one on, but when nothing happened, she crawled under the desk to verify it was plugged in, which required sorting through a giant tangle of cords first.

She was yanking on one cord to see where it led when she heard a very familiar voice. “Whoever you are, you’ve made a big mistake, coming here.”

“Barry!” she gasped, scrambling out from under the desk so fast, he almost smacked her head on the edge as she jumped to her feet. Luckily, she dodged at the last second; she didn’t need an extensive experience with concussions to know that getting another head injury when she was already (possibly) suffering from one would be a bad idea.

Her relief and elation evaporated immediately once she caught sight of him, however. This wasn’t Barry. It couldn’t be. Oh, he looked like her fiancé, in large part. He had the same body type. The same brown hair and freckles. The same curve to his lips as the man she loved to kiss. But even with Barry’s super speed, his hair didn’t grow to almost shoulder length in a matter of minutes, and there was a bleakness in his eyes that her Barry had never had, even in his darkest moments.

“Iris.” Her name carried from his lips on a whisper, but she only vaguely noticed the shock and pain in his eyes as she wracked her brain for an explanation. Either she was having some really serious hallucinations, or…or this was another shape shifter, trying to take over her fiancé’s identity. How he could have gotten so much about Barry so perfectly and yet so completely missed the mark was a mystery, but she could puzzle over that oversight later. “Oh my god, Iris, is it really you?”

He took a step towards her, and Iris scrambled back, bending quickly to pick up a rusty metal rod on the floor, leftover from who knew what. Lifting it over her head, she cried, “Stop right there! What have you done to Barry?”

The stranger stopped in his tracks, but he didn’t tear his eyes from her face. “Iris…it’s me. It’s Barry.”

She shook her head violently, wincing a moment later when the pounding in her head intensified. “No, you’re not. I was with him just a few minutes ago, so don’t think for a second that you can trick me! Tell me where he is! Right now!”

Even as she threatened him, her eyes darted to the door and she started to formulate a plan. She didn’t know anything about this stranger, whether he had any abilities other than shape shifting. Though if she had a concussion, it probably didn’t matter that much; she shouldn’t be taking him on alone when she was hardly in the best condition to do so. But if she could make it to the door, she might be able to lead him into the pipeline. Then, with any luck, she could trick him into one of the cells and lock him in until she tracked down her friends and they could get to the bottom of whatever was going on here together.

She heard a slight movement and jerked her arm, ready to act in her own defense, but when she looked at the stranger again, she saw he hadn’t moved towards her. He’d sunk to his knees, his hands open, palms up, on his legs. He still stared at her, and his eyes were wet with unshed tears. The sorrow in them hurt her heart to see, and for a second, she knew doubt. A suspicion crept into her mind, but she ruthlessly pushed it aside, not wanting to believe it was true.

“Stay – stay back,” she warned again, though her voice wavered just a little. She skirted the desk, keeping her eyes locked on his as she edged her way towards the door. When she thought it was safe, she turned and was about to run when she heard him say something behind her. The first words were too soft for her to hear, and Iris paused, uncertain, throwing another glance at him over her shoulder. His voice was low and hoarse, his head bowed, but if she listened closely, she could barely make out his words, sung in a hoarse undertone.

“Can't change what the future may hold. But, I want you in it –” At this, his voice cracked and he took a shuddering breath before he could continue, the next words coming out in a pained and broken whisper. “Every hour. Every minute.”

She knew that song. It was the song Barry had written for her. The song he had sung to her the night he’d proposed. It was a song for only the two of them, and a shape shifter that didn’t know enough about the man she loved to get his haircut right couldn’t possibly know it.

“Oh, god,” she moaned as the truth finally sunk in. Her entire body went numb from the shock, and it was on wooden legs that she stumbled towards him. She paused before him and reached forward with trembling fingers, resting them lightly on the top of his head. “Barry, what happened?” She suspected she knew what he was about to say, but she still hoped she was wrong.

He stiffened, leaning into her touch for a moment before tilting his head back to look up at her. His cheeks were wet with tears. “You died, Iris. Seven years ago. You died.” With a tiny gasping sob, he wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned into her. His entire body shook as he pressed his face against her stomach and held her tight.

“Barry, I don’t understand. Where is everyone?” she asked a little while later. The two of them were standing side by side at the desk, and while he seemed desperate to keep her close, he was still too different from her Barry for her to be comfortable in his arms.

He looked around with a slight frown then offered a slight shrug. “They’re gone, Iris,” he said. He kept saying her name, actually, as though he was trying to get used to the feel of it on his tongue once more. 

Her eyes narrowed, she prompted, “What do you mean, gone?”

He wouldn’t quite meet her eyes as he explained in a stilted voice, “After you – after that night, we tried to carry on for a while, but it wasn’t any use. Your dad…it can’t be a surprise to know that he never could get over what happened to you. He tried. I think he wanted to still do what he could to help, but being here…it just reminded him of you, I guess. He just stopped coming one day. Wally didn’t take it much better. He started getting more and more reckless until one day, he – he almost died. We were able to get to him in time, but…things were never going to be what they were.”

“And Cisco? Caitlin?” she pressed.

Barry tilted his head and looked at her in mild surprise, as though shocked she didn’t know. “Caitlin? She turned into Killer Frost years ago. Cisco tried to get her back, to help her, and she almost killed him. He’d been trying so hard to keep us all together until that point, but I think that was the final straw for him. I guess that’s when he realized it was over. He went away for a while, I think to Earth 23. He’s back now, but…” He let his voice trail off, finishing his explanation another small shrug.

Iris tore her gaze away from him and started to pace back and forth. It was too much; this wasn’t what she wanted to happen after her death. This couldn’t be the future for the people she loved! “And you?” she asked weakly, not sure she wanted an answer.

Watching him out of the corner of her eye, she saw his grimace. “I died when you did.”

This stopped her in her tracks and she whirled. Stepping towards him, she framed his face in her hands and stared into his eyes. Her voice was warm but firm when she said, “Don’t say that. You know it doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to give up; even if I’m gone, you know I’ll never really leave you. This isn’t who you’re supposed to be.”

She felt the slight shake of his head, saw the pain in his eyes as he murmured, “No. I was supposed to be the man who spent the rest of his life with you.”

Iris’s hands fell to her sides. Though her heart was aching, she was resolute. “This can’t be how things end. You need to send me back. I need to fix it.”

Barry looked at her, his eyes wide. After a moment, he shook his head firmly. “No.”

“No?” she repeated in disbelief. “Don’t be ridiculous, I have to –”

“No!” he reiterated, his voice rising. “No, I won’t send you back! I’m not going to send you back to die!”

Iris swallowed heavily. “That isn’t your call to make,” she reminded him in a low voice.

Barry straightened, his face flushing. “Isn’t it?”

“Don’t you understand?” she tried one more time. “I have to fix this! This can’t be the way things end!”

“You’re the one who doesn’t understand! You are going to die if I send you back there! Do you want to see what Savitar is going to do to you? I can show you –” He hit a button on a band around his wrist, and a hologram filled the room.

Iris gasped when she saw an image of herself at the top of the stairs, Savitar right behind her. “Barry, stop,” she breathed, trying not to watch but unable to tear her eyes away.

The hologram of the man she loved was begging Savitar to let her go, but the man in front of her. “Not if you need to see this to take this seriously, Iris,” he said in a hard voice. “You have to understand –”

She heard her hologram tell Barry she loved him, heard Barry plead with her not to say that, and she finally got the strength to wrench her gaze away. “I said stop it!” she yelled, giving him a hard shove. The hologram flickered and died, and she would have been relieved if she weren’t so angry.

“Take this seriously?” she repeated, her voice tight, her whole body shaking. “Take this seriously? You honestly think I’m not taking this seriously?” With each sentence, her voice rose with anger. “I am taking this seriously! Are you kidding me? Do you honestly think that a day hasn’t passed since you told me I was going to die that I haven’t thought about the future? About what it means? About the fact that I can calculate the rest of my life in days? In hours?” She was yelling now, her hands forming fists at her side, as all the thoughts and fears she’d tried so hard to hide poured out. “I know what’s going to happen to me! I think about it all the time, and it isn’t fair! It isn’t fair!”

Iris’s voice broke, and she had to bow her head and take a few deep breaths to get control of herself before she could continue. When she did, her anger had drained away, leaving behind only sorrow for the life she would never have. She couldn’t look at her companion as she continued. “I’m not – I’m not ready to die, Barry. There’s still too much I want to do. I want to see my dad happy in love. I want to be there when Wally graduates from college. When he gets married one day. When he realizes he’s already the hero he’s tried so hard to be all along. I want to write articles that make a difference, that matter. I want to travel, to see the world. I want to win a Pulitzer.”

She took a shaky breath, pressing a hand against her heart as though to stop it from breaking. “I want to marry the man I love. I want children. I want to watch them grow up. I want to watch them discover who they want to be.” Her voice fell to a low murmur, her eyes closed tight as she pictured those children she would never be able to have. “I want to look back at our time together one day and count those moments in decades, not days and months and years. I want to grow old with you.”

In an agonized whisper, she finished, “I want to know what it feels like to grow old.”

She felt a tear trail down her cheek as she looked up at the man who was once the man she loved, and she saw the same pain echoed in his eyes. “I know I’m going to die. Believe me, I understand what going back means. But I have to do it.”

“Stay with me,” he pleaded in a broken whisper. “You don’t have to go back. Stay with me.”

“I can’t,” she protested on a low moan. When he started to protest, she grabbed his hands and held them tight, trying to provide some comfort, even as she sought some for herself. “Staying here won’t stop Savitar.”

“It doesn’t matter. You’ll be safe,” he retorted, his jaw setting in a firm line.

She shook her head. “And what will he do when he can find me? Go after you? My dad? Wally? How could I live with myself if I traded my brother’s life for my own?” When he didn’t respond, she gave his hands a quick squeeze. “You know I have to go back, and I can’t do it without your help.”

He sighed, his gaze falling to the ground. “You don’t always have to be strong for everyone else,” he said, but his voice lacked the angry bite from earlier.

Iris nodded as she tried to find a way to explain. “Yes, I do. I grieve every day for the life I wish I could have. But in a few weeks, my grief will”–she paused and had to take a steadying breath before she could finish the sentence–“will die with me. The people I love are going to be the ones who will have to keep carrying it.

“If I can’t change my future, then the least I can do is try to make it easier for the people I leave behind.”

He attempted a wry smile, but the expression looked like it hadn’t crossed his face in a long time. “Iris, I’m the first person to believe you can do anything you put your mind to, but making it easier for us to let you go? I’m sorry, but not even you can do that.”

She winced, her gaze falling to their hands. “I have to try.” Maybe she wouldn’t live long enough to change the world like she wanted, but if she could find a way to prevent this future, to stop the people she loved from losing hope, to help Barry remember to be the hero she knew him to be…maybe that would be enough.

He looked like he wanted to argue, but after a moment, he sighed and nodded his head. “Wait, before you go…take this.” He pulled the band off his wrist and held it out to her. Remembering the truth it held, she flinched and drew away. “It will help you stop Savitar.”

She didn’t take it. She didn’t want to see her death. “Who is he?”

“If I told you, you wouldn’t believe me. Everything you need to know is on here. Give it to Cisco; he’ll figure it out.”

Swallowing heavily, she took it and wrapped it around her wrist with trembling fingers. “How many times have you watched it?” she asked softly as she fastened it. She didn’t need to elaborate.

He didn’t answer at first, but when he did, his voice was soft. “I watch it every day.”

“Oh, Barry,” she breathed, cupping his face in her hands and drawing him down to press a kiss on his forehead. “Whatever happens next, I don’t want you to remember me like that. Remember this moment, as I am now. I will never leave you, and I will never stop loving you. Remember that.”

Barry wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her into his arms. “Hold on tight,” he told her; then he started to run. The world faded away as he ran into the speed force. She saw images flash by, of things that were and could be.

When they faded and Barry came to a halt, she saw they were in the middle of S.T.A.R. Labs, but they weren’t alone. Cisco’s jaw was agape as he stared, and Barry looked like he’d been about to race forward to save her from this new threat, but the fact that it wore his own face had momentarily taken him by surprise. Her dad had his hand on the gun in his holster, but he looked uncertain about whether he should pull it.

“Well,” Cisco said after a long pause. “That’s unexpected.”

The Barry from the future set her on her feet and took a step back, staring gravely at his younger self as he did so. Then he looked back at Iris one last time and cupped her cheek in his palm. “I could never forget you,” he vowed in a soft murmur. “Not one single moment.” With one more glance at his younger self, he stepped back into the speedforce and was gone.

#my fanfiction #what yet may be #westallen #iris west #barry allen