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nabtime · 10 months

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Our Empty Graves II

Fandom: Danny Phantom / Batman: Under the Red Hood

Pairings: Danny Fenton/Jason Todd (Dead on Main)

Rating: Mature

Tags: batfamily, hazmat AU, Nobody Knows AU, Mute!Phantom, potential ghost king danny, slow burn?, DC means Disregard Canon, AU means AU nothing is exactly the same, Angst with a Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, more than canon typical violence, danny is a Halfa and also a Fetch, no beta we die like basically everyone

Summary: They say that Red Hood has a loyal mutt. The man rules his territory in Crime Alley with an iron fist and a guard dog at his side. They say that Hood calls him Fetch, sometimes Fetcher. No one's ever heard him speak. Anyone who's ever seen him says he looks like an experiment gone wrong, that Hood picked him up somewhere unspeakable. They say he'll do anything Red Hood asks of him and he'll do it well. That he's strong and fast and probably inhuman. The girls say he's sweet; quiet but charming in his own way. Rival gangs say he's vicious; that he'd sooner rip your throat out than let you go.

Jason just wants to help him.

Chapter 2: everything is blurry now (i don’t know where to go)

Chapter Summary: Danny has a very scary introduction to the Bat and a not so scary (somehow) introduction to Red Hood.

Chapter Notes: title from Trouble by Adam Jensen Links: AO3 // Chapter 1 // Chapter 3

Danny laid there, staying just long enough for his legs to heal and start walking again, before he heaved himself up from the gravestone. He mentally apologized to the soul of the guy whose grave he was disturbing before perching on top of the stone to rest again.

He could tell from the sky and the smell of the place alone that he wasn’t in Amity anymore. Wasn’t in the Ghost Zone anymore. Thankfully the place had enough ambient ectoplasm for him to absorb, else he’d have been stuck there to wallow in some random dude’s plot. Graveyards and Cemeteries tended to have a lot of ectoplasm hanging around, being a resting place for the dead, and were the most easily accessed to go to. But he could tell that this particular cemetery had more ectoplasm than it knew what to do with. The city he could see looming beyond its gates was also bursting with it, almost as much as Amity. And that place had a direct hole to the Realms forcibly torn into it.

Where the hell was he?

He had to weigh his options. Did he stay here? A stranger to the Shades that wandered these grounds? Potentially open to attack from any ghost that thought him an intruder? Or did he risk wandering the city to find out where he’d landed? If he stayed he could regain ectoplasm faster. If he left he could figure out what happened and prepare himself for the worst. Who knew how far from Illinois he’d landed. His mom could track him if he was still close enough.

The shakiness of his legs when he tried to put weight on them made the decision for him. He’d rest just a little bit longer.

He gathered his thoughts, fleeting as they were, and shook out the terror of being faced with his mom’s hatred. He needed to put the moment out of mind. Pack it in to a little tiny box in the very, very back reaches of his mind. He got away. She wouldn’t find him. He got away and, yeah, he was bleeding and hurt and so, so tired, but he was fine. Would be fine. Cemeteries were for souls to rest, and that’s what he would do. Even as he got dizzier and loopier with each ounce of blood that left his body.

He looked down and noticed the growing pool of ectoplasmic green-red blood leaking from his wounds and down into the loose dirt of the grave. Ah man, he really hoped that wouldn’t become a problem. He was in no mood to be fighting off zombie dudes resurrected from his own half-life juice. Was that even a thing that could happen? Knowing his luck it was. With how things had gone for him in the past- all of his life, the guy would wake up and immediately try to kill him and eat his brains. And be stronger than him. Like, it wouldn’t be the body of some STEM nerd that never threw a punch ever, but some jacked up professional boxer or something. Who also hated ghosts. And was immune to ecto-blasts, somehow. That’s the kind of guy he’d accidentally bring back to life, probably.

Jason P. Todd. The name seemed familiar, but he couldn’t place from where. Some celebrity? Maybe? Headstone didn’t seem all that fancy though, just neat and simple and plain. Maybe he had the same name as one? He thinks he’s heard Sam say it once or something- and he couldn’t think about that. About Sam. About how long it’d been since he’d talked to her or Tucker or even seen them. How long it’d been since he’d talked to anyone.

He wondered who this guy was. Who he used to be. The dates seemed pretty close. Pretty young. Fifteen. He was only a year older than when Danny had died. But he came back, however wrong, and this guy didn’t. This kid didn’t. He wondered, if given the choice, whether the kid would choose to come back or not. Did he have regrets? Unfinished business? Probably not considering there was absolutely no indication of a Shade around the grave. If he had regrets he would have lingered.

Well, at least that made the ectoplasm leaking into his grave less likely to resurrect him. Probably.

“Who are you?”

A gravely, deep voice spooked him into clumsily falling off the headstone in his bid to turn around towards it. And holy shit Batman, that was fucking Batman.

Gotham. Of course he’d landed in Gotham. Gotham would be the only damn place with this much ectoplasm just hanging around. And of course Batman had to just immediately find him trespassing. Honestly he would have preferred to take on the linebacker zombie.

“What are you doing on that grave?” he demanded. And there was just the smallest hint of anger, of anguish there that it made him want to bolt.

Because oh, Ancients, of course this guy had to be important. Or important to the Batman at least.

He raised his hands up in the universal sign for peace. At least he hoped it was universal because he sure as hell couldn’t just tell Batman ‘I come in peace’. No. He had to have damaged his throat so severely when he half died screaming that his ghost form either couldn’t speak at all or would destroy half the city if he tried.

He scrambled back, frantically trying to move away from the grave and Batman in the same move.

“I asked you a question,” he growled.

And fuck if the Bat didn’t sound pissed. Like Danny had offended him in the worst possible manner on purpose. What would even offend a man-bat-guy that badly? Shaking him awake from an upside down nap? Eating all the good fruit and or moths before he could have any? But, no, yeah, trespassing on the burial ground of someone that was maybe significant to him could do it. Ancients, why him.

Danny stopped for a moment to use his hands, abandoning his weird little crab walk scramble in order to try and placate the angriest furry he’d ever met. He shook his head and hovered his hands over his throat before making an x in the air. Maybe if he shook his head enough the Bat would get it.

“Why are you here?” he pressed, still heated, while moving forward with an ominous swish of his shadowy black cape. The Bat did not get it.

Okay. Okay. Plan B. He hadn’t even had a Plan A, but hell, he never worked well with plans in the first place so why should this be any different. He didn’t have enough energy to fly, but if he concentrated on using all his ectoplasm to turn invisible instead of healing… Well, he might bleed out before escaping but at least he might have a chance. Batsy sure wasn’t going to give him one.

And then he just- stopped being visible.

He still didn’t have enough juice to go intangible, unfortunately, but he’d have to just make do. At least his legs were sort of working, even if his right arm was still limp and broken and totally going to leave a trail of bright green glow-stick blood as he moved. Fucking fantastic.

He broke into a shambling run.

He heard the thick stomp of heavy boots take off behind him in pursuit. Slow, like he knew Danny couldn’t go far. Like he’s persistence hunting. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He keened, a high pitch sound that came from his core, involuntarily. Too panicked to really stop it. He made for the gates in a mad, jerking dash. The boots were getting closer and he heard the thin thwip of air that meant his unsteady gait just let him dodge a projectile. A Bat-a-rang, he thought hysterically. Batman just threw a Bat-a-rang at me. He’d always found it funny that Batman had the same naming sense as his dad of all people.

He made it to the gates, chest heaving in air he technically didn’t need. He keened again when the gates were too heavy for him to budge. They weren’t even locked! He shoved again, his strength faltering as he lost more and more blood. Batman was getting closer. This time he didn’t miss. Danny lurched against the cold metal when a sharp blade found its mark in his shoulder. The force of his stagger broke open the ornate gates and he fell over into the dirty sidewalk of the city streets.

If he could just dodge into an alley. Just gather enough ectoplasm to go intangible, even if just for a second. He might have a chance at losing the Bat long enough to heal more. All he needed was a moment.

He ran. He collapsed. He crawled.

The keening coming from his core was becoming a high-pitched background noise. Constant and shrill. It just kept going, reaching out and calling for help that wouldn’t come. No one could hear him. Anyone that could wouldn’t understand. If any of the ghosts he fought could hear his cries, they didn’t react. No one was responding. Any why would they? He was just a worthless little Fetch. One foot in the grave and the other with the living. Stranger to both sides and no place to belong in the middle. He was an abomination that should have never existed in the first place. Schrodinger's creepy, creepy little boy.

He made it an entire block, dirt and grime rubbing viciously into his open wounds- the fabric of the hazmat suit not having enough ectoplasm to stitch back together- before a heavy boot landed on his back and pushed him into the ground. He released his invisibility with a chocked whine.

“Answers,” Batman said simply, voice low but betraying no emotion. The boot pressed him down further, ribs creaking from the pressure. “Now.”

He’s running out of steam and fast. He wasn’t healing anymore, just getting worse. He had no idea what Batman might do to him if he let himself get captured. Beat the shit out of him even more? He seemed pretty angry. Leave him to die again in some back alley? But Batman’s known as the world’s greatest detective, he wouldn’t just let Danny go. No. He’d want to investigate. Want to dig as deep as he could into this new intruder to his city. He’d find out about the missing Amity Park and come to the truthful conclusion that it was Phantom’s fault. He’d find the Anti-Ecto Acts. Would he turn him over to the GIW or would he want to- look further into ecto-biology himself? From a direct specimen. Would Danny find himself on that cold, sterile metal table again?

He needed to get out of there.

He gathered his ectoplasm again, whatever he had left of it. Most of it was strewn across the streets and cemetery (and he can’t think about the trail that leaves, can’t think about how he could be found by the GIW, by his parents, by something worse). He felt the boot dig further into his back and then he rolled, going intangible under the Bat’s foot and landing in the gutter.

His ability flickered, bringing him back to solidity just long enough to get a swift kick in the ribs. He sputtered and coughed in a rasping hack that shook his entire body. He reached and reached and used as much energy as he could to go intangible just one more time, just long enough. He planned to sink further into the ground and hopefully hit a sewer system he can hide in when an ear-piercing bang rung out in the night and his powers flickered once again. If he’s not careful his core would retreat into itself to conserve energy, which would leave him human and impossibly vulnerable. He doesn’t want to ever know what the consequences of staying in Phantom form for the past few years would be for his human side. Would he just immediately die again? Fully this time?

Batman growled. “Red Hood,” he said, sounding like he was grinding his teeth. A new rogue Danny didn’t know about? Admittedly he’d stopped following the goings on in Gotham a long time ago.

“Get out,” a mechanized voice echoed into the empty street. “Or get shot.”

He could hear footsteps approaching, heavier and more about showing force than melting into shadow. The creak of leather accompanied it but Danny didn’t look to investigate. He was going to make himself small and think invisible thoughts. Maybe if he was quiet enough Batman would forget he was there.

Danny could hear the distinct sound of another Bat-a-rang sailing through the air before a second loud bang cut it off. He assumed Red Hood shot it from the sky. Because why the fuck not at this point. Yeah sure, just a new rogue popping up that can shoot accurately enough to take down a tiny Bat powered projectile, while Danny was trying his hardest not to die at the hands of the Bat himself by melting into the asphalt. Nothing new. Just a regular old Tuesday. If it even was Tuesday. He didn’t know anymore.

Batman, seeming more interested in beating up Red Hood rather than Danny, stalked toward the direction of the voice and- man, he really needed to move so he could see what was happening before whatever fight got him in the crossfire. Narrowly avoid Death By Bat just to get taken out by a flying chunk of concrete. Or bullet or whatever.

But he really didn’t want to move. He needed as much energy and ectoplasm as he could conserve and moving meant leaking more glow-stick juice. So no-go. If the concrete took him out it took him out.

All he could hear was shuffling and gun shots and other projectiles and growly Bat sounds. After a few moments of just listening he felt like he had enough energy to move. Best to get out of the line of fire. All he needed to do was crawl. And then he inched out of the gutter, making his way towards a nearby dumpster he could take cover behind.

And then another Bat-a-rang sunk into his thigh and his core screamed.

And then, so quickly he could barely comprehend what was happening, he was being picked up and thrown over a burly shoulder. All he could see was a blood-stained leather jacket and a nice ass. Okay. Okay, so Batman’s hot rogue picked him up and was running with him just lugged over his shoulder like a sack of flour. Well. Could be worse. Poor guy though, ectoplasm was a bitch of a stain to get out and Danny was losing blood all over the place.

He wasn’t really paying attention to what happened after that but he assumed they got away because in the next moment he was being tossed onto a ragged couch in some run down apartment and Batman was no where to be seen.

Red Hood, however, was now in full view.

And man, what a view. A body to do that ass justice. Maybe it was just the exhaustion and blood loss speaking but hot damn. Built like a shit-brickhouse, thicker than a bowl of oatmeal and just as tall. And the leather. Yeah sure the mask was a little creepy and the guy was covered in blood, but when was creepy ever gonna stop Danny from appreciating a fine physique. And he was just standing there like a finely-crafted statue, watching Danny blearily check him out.

Yeah, the blood loss was definitely getting to him.

“Alright,” Red Hood spoke, looming over him in all his glorious bulk, and pulled a gun from the strap on his sweet-jesusly thick thighs and pointed it at Danny’s head.

Ah, fun time was over then. No more lusting or coping with humor in order to distract himself from the reality of his situation. He was slowly dying- fully this time- on some dangerous dude’s gross couch. A mortal gun might not do much because of his ghostliness but it could still deal some damage when he didn’t have the energy to move or go intangible. This was a Gotham villain. The GIW would look tame in comparison to what a villain from Gotham could do.

“Just who the fuck are you?”

Maybe Red Hood was better at charades?

#naps fics #dp x dc #Our Empty Graves #dpxdc

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inklingofadream · 10 months

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Question about the cult au: I feel like I remember Gerry saying that if he'd found jon before Jonah, he would have tried to convince the eye that it would be better to leave Jon alone so he could "observe him in the wild" or something like that. Not sure if I'm remembering correctly, but what would have happened if Gerry had found jon first do you think?

Sorry for not answering yesterday, our internet was out! You're absolutely remembering correctly!

Very long post, but not putting in a cut because I don't feel like it

So Gerry finding Jon first is totally plausible because when Jonah has speaking engagements whoever comes with- usually Gerry and Michael- hangs around on campus chatting and trying to start developing people into prospective future members or meals. The speaking engagements are recurring, usually a couple times a year at any given institution, so they often have the opportunity to talk to people several times over the course of a year or two to convince them gradually to join

This has varying success; Actual Golden Retriever Michael Shelley is pretty good at this! Gerry doesn't believe in subtlety/doesn't like tricking people, significantly lowering their success rate via "this is actually, openly a cult. do you want to join our cult?"

So I think that's how they would run into Jon. Crucially, I don't think that this scenario is less morally suspect and invasive. It's more a difference in how much it influences Jon's life. Stalking is technically probably less bad than kidnapping, but it's not great. A fair few people from the Institute end up suddenly spending a lot of time in Oxford. Potentially, someone gets some personal details shifted around/forged and Jonah pulls some strings to get someone like Gerry and/or Michael enrolled. They do that occasionally, because a wide knowledge base keeps the Institute fairly self-sufficient and a good job on the outside brings in money. Probably Gerry, because he can like... function in human society better and has a tiny bit of existing rapport with Jon from their first encounter.

But I don't think Jonah and maybe Gertrude stop pushing for the relocate-Jon plan. I feel like as part of the "see but not understand" thing the Eye latches on when someone first has an idea, so having Jon In The Wild is more appealing the same way having him in the Institute was more appealing in the fic. It isn't choosing strategically, it's picking the first answer presented to it. If other avatars find out about Jon it's game over, he's going to the Institute.

So I think it's less he never gets kidnapped than it is just a VASTLY more disturbing and upsetting lead up. Instead of having 5 seconds of being accosted at his front door, it's months and months getting to know Gerry, and to a lesser extent Michael or one of the Stokers who sans the insta-friends chemistry with Jon, being friends with Gerry, inviting Gerry to his and Georgie's movie nights. Maybe there are even some dates, feeling out the do-we-want-to-be-just-friends vs actually we're an awesome couple. For both of them, maybe, the same one night stand and teasing flirting as with canon Sasha but with Georgie if it's Tim, or Michael or Danny doing a couple dates because Georgie's trying a bunch of things out in the wake of the breakup (Sasha can't be the partner, because her family only joined when she was 14 and non-Gerry members with experience as outsiders don't get to leave the Institute)

Gerry, for the first time in his life, has a social circle of people more or less his own age without any baggage from who his parents were. It's all very real for him, but he can't ignore or forget why he's here, how close both him and Jon are to losing that at any given moment. Maybe he even lets on a little bit of The Spookiness somehow and they have a little sharing circle about Mr. Spider and the dead body and Mary's Leitner collection. It's all very real for him, it's very precious, it's very easy to forget why he's here even with Beholding giving him butterflies every time Jon looks at him. It's an inevitable betrayal that he does not want to do but must

I think maybe, when something happens- maybe something spooky that makes it feel like being free is Not Safe for Jon, maybe someone has some loose lips and lets on to someone at the Usher Foundation or Pu Songling Reseach Centre or worse, someone not directly allied with the Institute- things go very differently.

Gerry isn't just in love-by-proxy with Jon, he knows him. He knows how terrible it is to be sucked into the Institute- he only chose to do so because he was very young and didn't have a single other option, no support system, nothing. Just Mary getting worse and worse, increasingly clear that she was working up to something dangerous and that she did not care if Gerry got hurt in the process. Gerry joined the institute after much thought and negotiation- not usually part of the proceedings but Gerry was someone they wanted more than usual, Eric leaving made them look weak and having Gerry back, even in a situation that sets him apart from everyone else in terms of privileges and allowances, alleviated that "failure". If Gerry had another option he would not have done it- thus the tattoos, ensuring that even more than the contract, Gerry is stuck with them. Jon has options, Gerry knows he has options, he has so much potential and has hopes and dreams and could live a long, happy life never setting foot in the Institute. He has everything Gerry wished he had when he had to choose between signing over his soul or letting Mary wear him down and down and down, carving away bits to test a Leitner, to gain access to things, trying out things that she doesn't want to test on herself, being a regular abusive parent in addition to the spooky stuff

And Gerry has been giving updates on Jon, talking about him and his life. Other cult members are intermittently watching from afar or constructing accidental encounters with him. Gerry knows, the cult knows, that Jon isn't close to many people, but he is close to Georgie. (Behind the scenes, much drama about Being Friends With Your Ex, debating if Georgie is something like a saint due to proximity and friendliness with Jon or the worst because she blasphemously broke up with him (it was a mutually decided breakup, but they sooo don't care.)) I think when they take Jon, they take all Jon accoutrements: if he's been there long enough that they got the planned cat, the cat comes with; Jon's books? coming with; Jon's clothes? favorite pieces come with, because Jonah has decided to be Weird about Jon's clothing and doesn't want too many Frightfully Normal clothes competing; Jon's bedding? he mentioned the Sensory Nightmare of finding replacement sheets that don't Cause Problems because of Texture to Gerry, so the bedding comes but is turned over to Jonah and Gertrude so they can determine what makes a good texture to Jon, RIP the kitty cat flannel sheets Georgie gave him as a half-joke birthday gift.

Georgie is the accessory that comes with your Jon doll. Georgie is coming to the cult. Georgie is having a Really Weird Time, because like... they don't have an endgame. People want to get close to her because of Jon- she doesn't blame Jon, but a lot of that S4 energy is coming out in reaction to other people, and probably results in one or two blowups at Jon rather than anyone else (escalating into a two-way shouting match because Jon is also having Big Emotions). Gerry's name is mud. Jonah, Regency weirdo extraordinaire, is Even Weirder about clothes for her. Jonah's kept up with The Fashion for men, because he needs to fit in on the outside. But a LOT of the time women raised in the cult spend on the outside is if someone is getting a degree to help the cult somehow, and like... you can just Do Whatever on a college campus. There was a guy at mine who wore a Union Soldier reproduction Civil War uniform all the time. It's fine if they look a bit odd, because they have the full time they're studying to figure out what professional attire etc look like.

When Jonah is weird about Jon's clothes, it's very deliberate; know the rules before you break them and such. Georgie gets fancied up for stuff like presenting them to the cult, but it's a hapless sort of weird. Her everyday cult wardrobe was picked out by a combination of Gerry and Gertrude, but Jonah's a control freak about the semi-regular Looking At Jon events. It's a mix of Back In My Day leftovers and whatever random bits of women's fashion he absorbed over the last 200 years. Like as far as underpinnings, we are absolutely not talking about anything more modern than a girdle. Creeper measurements gained while they're drugged or the Eye being able/deciding to share when Jonah wants them have not been used responsibly. Probably there is someone in London still making corsets for sale, if you look. Georgie is allowed to complain about a properly fitted corset, it's not stereotyping the past or being ignorant of how they work, it is actually a coercive and at least half-sexist situation for her. The only good news is that Jonah wants to focus on the event and Jon, so he just sics Sasha on her to play lady in waiting instead of becoming part of that process himself.

I don't think Georgie ever really forgives Gerry and co. All the S4 stuff with not acknowledging the intractability of the situation bc it's never spelled out in so many words and it's easier to be angry, it's safer to detach herself, it's frightening to think about how permanent this is, she doesn't have space to give grace to these people or read into the subtext of how little choice they have. Jon is kept separate from Georgie except for Good Behavior, he's in the thick of it and does not have a support system to be picky about. Georgie isn't operating in a place of fear, she can't, but Jon is. They end up being very careful about that conversation, because they're afraid of what'll happen to Georgie if she and Jon have a friendship breakup, they know and trust each other to be ride or die (if out of touch Georgie lets Jon be a fugitive at her place current daily presence Georgie is not going to let something she knows is not at ALL Jon's fault change that) but having an audience means walking on eggshells. So I think Jon does his best to get over the betrayal and ends up sliding back into friendliness because it's the best of a bad lot, he will actually go insane otherwise. Georgie I don't think ends up at more than a stalemate with Sasha (who she sees a lot bc of the Jon inner circle she's The Girl and, again, Jonah's an old-fashioned weirdo). Jon agitates for more freedom for Georgie, but they're still trapped.

The other bright spot is that I don't think they lose the Stokers. Escape means getting BOTH of them out. Gerry lets on how futile getting in touch with the cops is in a Super Normal Non=Suspicious Way. Even if the cops were helpful, TARDIS bigger-on-the-inside secret building addition is not the kind of place you can get a search warrant for. If Georgie gets out on her own, no one is coming back for Jon (Jon tries to convince her to do it anyway), and if Jon escapes alone... he just can't. What would they do to Georgie? He knows, experiences and is increasingly aware, that Jonah can be vicious and petty. Georgie is not valuable on her own. Maybe she'd be fine, because they need bait to get Jon back, but "alive" is an awfully low bar when Jonah could use anything in Artefact Storage on her, can whittle ties to life down to the tiniest thread if he wants. The logistics are too complicated. If Danny breaks Jon out, he insists they go for Georgie and they don't make it out. They trip something, Jonah shows up, and the Stokers are saved by a) plausible deniability, Jon is cut off from everyone because of things like this, giving him things Jonah doesn't want him to have and b) Jon just like. hanging off the Stokers. All misgivings abandoned, Stokers is my best friend now.

So all in all I don't think it's better for Jon, it's just different.

#writing #tma #cult au #ink post #ink writing #ink fic #the whole thing is high key tragedy for gerry #he's as doomed as any hamlet or othello. he doesn't want this end but he isnt built to be able to do anything else #someone else might have connections or power or anything but he doesn't. he has himself and can trust no one else with his misgivings

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televinita · 1 year

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That 90s Show - thoughts after 1 episode

But first, background re: me and That 70s Show --

I watched it when it aired, and I’m pretty sure I even started with season 1, as an actual teenager. It was one of the first and few primetime shows I latched onto before age 16, and I watched it all the way to the bitter end*. Have also rewatched it countless times in syndication and on DVD; it has infinite replay value to me and I love everyone and quote random lines to this day.

(*although honestly, I didn’t hate season 8! As much as I missed Eric, I loved Randy and thought he was a fine alternative option; my qualms were limited mainly to the Jackie/Hyde breakup and the even worse switch to Jackie/Fez)

So I went into this very scared of how this might tarnish the original. I came out...so relieved and happy!

The Actual Thoughts, In Three Acts

Part 1: Adult Formans

I DEEPLY UNDERESTIMATED THE PURE JOY I WOULD FEEL AT SEEING RED/KITTY/ERIC/DONNA/THE FORMANS’ HOUSE IN A NEW AGE

Topher Grace has not aged in the last 15 years, amazing.

ERIC/DONNA ERIC/DONNA ERIC/DONNA

(I have always shipped them at least by default, because obviously, but their married dynamic takes it to a whole new plane of joy I didn’t know existed)

Eric as a dad is the other kind of joy I didn’t know my life needed. I love the idea of her being his “little buddy” all her life. If I cared more about the daughter we would rapidly be approaching Jurassic World levels of family squee here.

who am I kidding, his final blessing and their hug (and my relief that she didn’t actually get a hole poked in her perfect face) gave me EXACTLY that.

P.S. PROFESSOR ERIC WHO GETS TO TEACH A CLASS ON HIS MOST BELOVED HEART’S JOY! and PUBLISHED AUTHOR DONNA! I love these journeys for them.

I love that Red is clearly a softie where his granddaughter is concerned (the request for a cheek kiss!!), but also still has an edge. That’s exactly what I wanted.

Kitty serving up those “the nights are the hardest...but then the day comes and that's every bit as hard as the night...and then the night comes again!...” guilt vibes. 😍 😍

and the “I wish you’d call me Mom” / “feels forced” war

and her joy in going out to shop for “all the -itos!” to feed the newest batch of stray-cat teens

basically everything this Core Four did or said was glorious

also loved Eric’s tiny meltdown as first Donna and then his own mother betray him by supporting Leia’s wish to ditch father/daughter space camp, followed by Baby(skin)’s First Foot-In-Ass Threat.

I didn’t write down most of the quotes because there were too many good ones, but I absolutely love “Leia staying here isn’t the craziest idea. Your parents can watch her.” / “Were you not here with me in the 70s??”

And also Red’s “you’re Upstairs People now.” Hehehehehe.

Part 2: Other Nostalgia-Based Feelings

I am so sad that Danny Masterson turned out gross and awful because I miss Hyde and this world feels off-kilter without him.

But I am grateful that the show is going to simply ignore him instead of stamping down some awful canon reason like "hyde can’t come to the screen right now because he’s DEAD” (or in prison)

I’ll allow Jackie/Kelso for the sheer meta-cuteness of them having eventually ended up together in real life, even though really, it would have been nice if she had ended up with someone rich and successful and not from Point Place.

I will not allow this rude, shallow, worst-of-season-1 Jackie who gets married and divorced to the same old idiot on a whim. what is this. where is the GROWTH. Did Fez use some sort of FDA-banned hair treatment on her that leached memory-destroying poison into her brain??

maybe she gets better later. I will hope.

love that I can’t be sad about Donna’s childhood home being sold because let’s face it, that is an ugly house. Looking forward to finding out where Bob went. I assume he’s a millionaire now, given his life’s impossible success trajectory to date.

(also, I really liked seeing her old room updated for the 90s!)

speaking of houses, I love SO MUCH that the set decorators knew what they were doing and kept fair bit the same while updating some key pieces like the living room sofa, i.e. how real people live. At least, that’s the fleeting impression I got; will have to study it more (or read other posts from people who have) to know for sure.

My single biggest fear starting That 90s Show was that they’d go buck-wild with swearing, but they.....held themselves to the same FCC standards as the original???? I am afraid to ask if it stays this way but I hope.

Part 3: The Kids

First impressions (while watching): oh, yeah, they’re a vapid school-of-fish nothing to me so far.

Second impressions, upon reflection: Leia has some potential to be likeable, and maybe Gwen if she softens a bit? Also, I went into this ep like “please don’t make them be into each other just to increase your diversity quota,” but then all the boys turned out unappealing of face or personality and more importantly, from the very first second Creeper Leia peeked in through Gwen’s window there was chemistry, so. Notes and expectations for season 2!!

(side note: I remind you that I am the woman who 9 times out of 10 cannot come up with a single f/f couple she actually ships; also will normally choose “best friends” over gals being more than pals 999 times out of 1000; also if there is an option for the opposite-sex offspring of two couples who are friends to be into each other that is ALWAYS where I align. Until now, apparently. That’s how strong this chemistry is.)

As for the other kids... Ozzie’s voice is currently intolerable to me and I don’t care about the rest or even know the dating couple’s names, although the non-Kelso guy is serving up some decent Original Kelso vibes that could grow on me.

tl;dr you can lead me to a show ostensibly about teenagers but you can’t make me emotionally invest

In Conclusion: I only remember the highlights, so, A+ start! Looking forward to more random what-year-even-is-it, anachronism-is-fine 90s trends/references in future episodes; I am not even going to bother worrying about how the chronology works since it was the late 70s for eight years straight last time and we can’t even all agree on whether season 8 counts. :p

#that 90s show #episode reactions #when will I see episode 2? who knows! the more I say about a show the more invested I get in it #which means that I am Very Content thinking about that small amount of content for way longer than I would be otherwise #sometimes I can live for a month or even a year on one episode. like a python.#plus I am watching this with husband. otherwise I would have just watched the whole thing in 3 days I bet

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danny-chase · 2 years

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Anyways saw jason being brought into a titans post recently because it seems fandom has this idea that Dick didn't mourn Jason/didn't care about him/whatever.

So anyways. Let's talk about post-crisis because that's the standard when ppl bring up Robin!Jason.

Fanon myth #1: When Dick mourns Jason, he's grieving someone he didn't know.

Canon: Post-crisis didn't have a ton of time to establish the new version of Jason's character, but they dedicated a whole issue to Dick reacting to Jason being Robin, had Jason show up in The New Titans, and frankly set things up so that their relationship was pretty much unchanged from pre-crisis (which was a good relationship).

The issue I just mentioned has Dick start out as annoyed in the beginning because Bruce didn't tell him there was a new Robin and Jason messed up a case he was stalking out. He's a bit harsh with Jason at first, but it's not meant to be something unforgivably mean - it's understandable. By the end of the issue they've given each other like 3 nicknames a piece (shorty, old-timer, kid, Mr. Nightwing, Mr. Robin, etc) and end by bonding over kicking the crud out of some dudes. It takes Dick all of one day to warm up to Jason lmfao, he's mildly harsh on day 1 and day 2 he gives Jason his old costume and contact information and it ends like this:

Batman (1940) #416

Now if that's the only issue you read, I too would be a bit skeptical, like "oh he showed up one time, everyone knows he had to at least pretend to try" and if you're reading through a reading list for Robin!Jason and are uninterested in Dick, you'll miss this next thing.

This is Danny Chase, a member of the Titans. He's searching for reserve members of the Titans because he's bored as he got left home alone when the Titans went to space without him.

The New Titans #52

Remember that there wasn't a ton of time for them to set up Jason's new characterization, but in universe, he still was Robin for about 3 years. In pre-crisis times, Jason did appear in the New Teen Titans, most notably helping save Dick and Raven from Brother Blood. This is something that is implied to be carried over from pre-crisis into post-crisis continuity, as Danny (who wasn't even on that mission) knows about Jason, has a nickname for Jason, and talked to him the week before he died - ergo the Titans, including Dick stayed in contact with Jason after that mission.

So yes, even in that tiny sliver of time that we got post-crisis Jason, the writers went out of their way to establish Dick and Jason's relationship. They couldn't do it more because it was literally like. A year.

Fanon myth #2: Dick didn't mourn Jason.

Canon: This likely comes from Dick being pretty much okay by the time A Lonely Place of Dying comes around. That's Bruce's arc, but that doesn't mean that Dick didn't have one - he, literally did.

In my expert opinion, he looks pretty upset about Jason dying here... and this is his initial reaction, not retconned or anything - this is a direct response to "A Death in the Family". Basically Danny goes "hey i think Jason died" and it sets off this chain of events

The New Titans #55

And that's just the initial reaction. Later in the issue, after taking time to think things through, he fires Danny from the team with part of his reasoning being:

"I've been thinking about what happened with Jason and I honestly don't know if we should be taking responsibility for someone as young as you."

From here, chronologically speaking, he visits Jason's grave and expresses guilt over giving Jason his old costume and notes that Bruce didn't even try contacting him about the funeral, which he had missed.

Next we have a not super well known Secret Origins issue where he confronts his feelings about Jason while stuck hallucinating in limbo, and this issue actually acknowledges the incident with Brother Blood and Jason helping out, which confirms it was brought along into the new continuity. Basically these panels sum up the incident.

Secret Origins Annual (1987) #3

So yeah the "recent emotional turmoil" is Jason dying and Dick's conversation with Bruce (where Bruce blames him for making him need a partner, blames him for Jason's death, punches him in the face while Dick is still injured from the space mission, and kicks him out of the house). And the "drug-induced slumber" is because Dick at some point has started taking sleeping pills, and he feels like shit at the start of the issue and takes one so he can get some rest (which then backfires). Also in this issue, he mentions that he's seeing a therapist (he hallucinates and is like hmm maybe i should call them, before being like, no it's probably fine, I'm just on edge... which rip).

In The New Titans #57, which takes place after this, we see him talking to his therapist, and going to confront Bruce, which now kicks off A Lonely Place of Dying with him in a better place now that he's had some time to talk things out with his therapist and such.

However he still doesn't like bringing up Jason

Robin (1993) #0

Here they brought him up for exposition, but let's not forget the time Dick beat the Joker to death because he brought up Jason's name. He thought Tim had been killed by the Joker too, but the clown saying Jason's name sends him over the edge.

Last Laugh #6

After this he's incredibly upset with himself and locks himself in his apartment and when Wally comes to talk to him he finds him looking at a bunch of old photographs, one of which Dick picks up at the end and stares at, which is labelled "Me and Jason". And further on the grieving ends of things, in Nightwing Secret Files #1 the first story features him hallucinating Jason who leads him through his life story (again exposition time lmfao). And in Gotham Knights #26, when Tim brings up Jason in an argument, Dick looks crushed and Tim just apologizes at that point, because he knows he crossed a line. So yeah. Dick grieved Jason.

Fandom myth #3: No one even cared Jason came back and they were incredibly mean and out of line, especially Dick who threw him in Arkham three doors down from the Joker!!!! Jason was pit mad he deserves none of this mistreatment!!!

Canon: Jason came back right before another crisis, the one Dick was supposed to die in, and actually gloated about Dick dying to Bruce's face, while trying to become a drug lord and trying to force Bruce to kill the Joker. Jason then proceeded after the crisis (which had left Dick in a three week coma - he pretty much didn't have the time/opportunity to respond to Jason being alive right away) to dress up as Nightwing and run around New York City killing criminals and through a bizarre series of events, Dick ends up saving him from being eaten by a tentacle monster and then Jason himself becomes a tentacle monster, and Brothers in Blood is an arc that exists...

Dick is conflicted about Jason coming back considering that Jason is you know, going around murdering criminals as Nightwing. He talks to a therapist but when Jason does ask for help, he does decide to go and save him. So he does well... care, it's just complicated because Jason as Red Hood isn't the Jason Dick remembers.

Jason has actually gone to prison twice. The first time Tim in his infinite wisdom decided now, right after Jason tried to start a gang war where his grand plan was "use the kiddie gangs as fodder" and uniting the gangs under the "good cops", would be the perfect time to give him a second chance.

Now the Arkham thing: when Dick became Batman, he decided to renovate Arkham and get ride of all the torture and shit that was going on, because he had spent some time there undercover and was like, getting tortured fucking sucks.

At this point, Jason, with his second chance decides he's going to use it becoming the "Batman Gotham needs" nearly kills Tim (who literally gets away by playing dead using a bullshit technique to slow his heart rate) and shoots Damian in the chest, and also attacks Dick as well (he's not messing around he literally sprays Dick with fear gas in this fight). He then becomes the Red Hood again and kidnaps Dick and Damian in a ploy to unmask them in front of the internet. The police capture Jason, and Dick pulls some strings to get Jason sent to Arkham - he has to pull strings because Jason doesn't actually belong there

Batman and Robin (2009) #23

And note: the joker just attacked everyone so like he's not in Arkham, he broke out a while ago. And also note: Jason's sane, he's passed all evaluations, he calls himself sane, he is making these decisions not out of pit madness, but because it's what he wants to do. So, why did they pull strings to put him in Arkham? Simple:

"He won't be safe in a conventional prison... there will be a list of enemies a mile long locked up in there with him. Unless he's in twenty-four-hour protective custody, all he'll be doing is fending off attacks."

- Dick Grayson, Batman and Robin (2009) #23

So yeah. He was in Arkham because Dick cared enough not to let him just die. Their relationship isn't by any means good in this period, but Dick very clearly, still cares.

Batman: Battle for the Cowl #3

I hope that clears things up. @not-your-regular-nerd, tagging you because you recently seemed to have some confusion about how Dick could grieve other people but not Jason. I'd recommend reading some of the comics I mentioned if you don't think Dick cared about Jason. Him caring about Donna dying is not mutually exclusive to caring about Jason dying.

#images in alt #dc comics #batfam #dick grayson #batfamily #batman #nightwing #jason todd #red hood #anyways i need to stop going to great lengths when I see one incorrect take on the internet it took me all morning to make this #momo don't look #robin

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snackleggg · 3 years

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Family by ectoplasm AU

When the ghosts first see this halfa child struggling with his basic powers and probably repressing the trauma of dying-but-not-quite they all instant adopt him.

Lunch Lady? She is still pissed at Sam but immediately just makes everyone meatloaf on her own because Sam is Danny's friend and she doesnt want to upset this tiny child that looks like a strong wind could knock him over (the "oh you need some meat on those bones!" Thing, she does it the moment she spots him)

Box Ghost? He builds Danny a huge fort made out of boxes and spends like 30 minutes standing at the top monologuing about their "mighty castle"

Technus? Danny is the child of inventors. He just points to a bit of basic tech, asks a general question that he is sure Danny knows the answer to and then the two proceeded to spend the next hour talking about how they could make improvements to the Thermos.

Walker? Danny is a minor so he gets off with a warning (at least that's the excuse he uses whenever he sees Danny doing something he would normally arrest someone for)

Ember? *Throws a guitar at Danny* WE PARTYING TONIGHT (she proceeds to teach him how to play the guitar and a number of other instruments when he asks)

You get the gist.

This happens with pretty much every ghost (Exceptions are Spectra, Bertrand, Aragon and Pariah Dark)

And during all of this Danny is just like pleasantly confused. Like he was expecting to have to fight ghosts (especially since he's been told since he was little that ghosts only want to cause chaos) but instead they are just all being nice and treating him like a kid his age and he gets a break from the stress of being Danny Fenton.

The parentalness is even worst when he meets his canon allies.

Frostbite does a medical check up for him every single time he visits the Far Frozen because he is a Concerned DadTM.

Pandora immediately starts teaching him self defense and how to use every kind of weapon he could lift. She also always hands him food before he leaves because "a warrior is only as good as his appetite"

Dora has adopted Danny as her new brother and whenever she visits Aragon she constantly just goes on and on about how much better of a brother Danny is. They get into sibling shenanigans throughout the kingdom

Wulf is still helped by Danny to escape Walker's prison, though that's through Danny finding a loophole in Wulf's sentence rather than a prison break and Walker just shrugs like "he got me there". Wulf is now Danny's brother and honorary bodyguard because he is a tiny precious boy who learn Esperanto just to communicate with Wulf and- *Danny has been added to the pack*

Clockwork. I don't need to say more. Clockwork wins as top guardian by default and teaches Danny how time bullshit works (cue Danny getting good grades because Clockwork teaches him time management so he can get in proper study time between all his ghostly family shenanigans)

Look I just wanted more AU's where Danny has a big fluffy ghostly family. So that's what I did

#danny phantom #danny phantom au #Family by ectoplasm AU

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gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights · 3 years

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Fanfiction Year In Review - 2020

tagged by @strangerahne! thanks!!

1) List of fics completed this year in the order they were finished:

Hoo boy! This was a good year for fic writing. There’s gonna be a lot since nearly all the ML fics I have were finished this year.

1/1: The Prescription (ML, adrinette) 1/9: How to Kiss Your Crush in Ten Minutes or Less (ML, ladrien) 1/20: From the Heart (and Sole) (ML, ladynoir) 1/23: extra life (don’t give it up for me) (ML, ladynoir) 2/3: Your Kitty (ML, marichat) 2/19: Face Punch (ML, ladrien) 2/26: Stroke of Midnight (Kingdom Hearts) 3/7: Shadows Alight (Kingdom Hearts) 3/20: Mothballs (ML, gabe reveal crack) 3/29: A Secret Worth Keeping (ML, adrinette) 4/27: if you fall (know i’ve got you) (ML, ladynoir) 5/29: when the world gets too heavy (put it on my back) (ML, ladrien) 5/31: Heartsong (Needs More Bass Drops) (ML, luxy) 6/8: Charcoal Lines (ML, marichat) 6/18: Unbreakable Chains (Kingdom Hearts) 6/18: Being Honest (ML, collab with rosekasa) 6/19: Face the Music (ML, love square) 7/9: Synthpathetic (ML, luxy) 7/17: The Wrong Balcony (ML, marichat) 7/22: Plaggatouille (ML, adrinette) 7/24: Flowers in the Dark (ML, marichat) 7/25: Necromancy (Danny Phantom) 7/27: Singing in the Shower (ML, ladrien) 8/6: Plagg, Let’s Boogie! (ML, love square) 8/12: Wolftail (ATLA, zutara) 8/19: Tastes like Dirt (ML, marichat) 8/30: Knight in Shining Peel (ML, rednana) 8/31: Ninety-Five Percent (ML, Max&Kagami) 9/6: What an Ice Surprise (ML, ladrien/Adrien&Nino&Kagami) 9/11: Nothing at All (ML, ninette) 10/5: Knotted Yarn and Broken Glass (ML, ladynoir) 10/9: Loopholes (ML, marichat) 10/12: Snexy (Snake XY) (ML, luxy) 11/3: All’s Fair (ML, marichat) 11/10: The Model in Him (ML, ladrien) 12/16: Souvenirs We Never Lose (ATLA, zutara) 12/18: Paved With Good Intentions (Undertale) 12/21: Two Xaviers and a Pigeon-ado (ML, luxy) 12/28: From the Chapel Rafters (ML, gen/marichat) 12/31: New Year, New Fashion (Undertale, papyton)

Total fics: 40

I was... not expecting to have that many fics as;dlkgsgkl. This is only the completed ones too. Honestly glad I made this list because I’ve been feeling a bit down on my writing and it’s nice to remember just how far I came this year.

2) Number of words written:

569,972. bet

3) Your most popular fic:

Going by kudos, that would be Your Kitty.

4) Your personal fav:

Oh man, that’s a tough one. I was really proud of how Souvenirs We Never Lose turned out. I guess if we’re including fics that aren’t complete though, I’d have to go with Home Base.

5) Your fav scene:

sadfklsdjlfk as if I remember half the stuff I’ve written. Uhhhh I really loved the confrontation between Luka and XY in chapter 3 of Heartsong. I really enjoyed writing that fic.

6) A fic or scene that challenged you:

Geez. Keeping up with the KHUX updates for Contingency Plan. What a nightmare. Pro tip: don’t try to make things vaguely canon compliant when canon changes every other month and it takes you 4 months to write a chapter.

7) A line of writing you’re proud of:

Plagg stuck his tongue out, trying to get a crease perfect, but the paper tore. “Or you can put those opposable thumbs of yours to use and make me a hat. I keep cataclysming the pages.” (First Dance, Second Chance ch. 2) Basically any part in this fic that has to do with Plagg and tiny paper hats. This fic has some of my favorite writing in it in general but that means it takes extra long for me to update, lol.

8) A comment that touched you:

aaaaaaa oh man!! There’s been a ton but I have to say @marinetteplztakeabreak‘s comments on Cast a Shadow are #1. She read my fic and gave giant reviews even though she’s never played KH and I will always treasure that

9) Something that inspired your writing:

Lots of the friends I made in the ML fandom have inspired me a lot, especially @chatnoirinette @botherkupo @marikittynoir and @landturtlealyce who are always great about betaing for me and/or letting me bounce ideas off of them haha. @bugaboo-n-bananoir is the inspiration behind all of the luxy fics that I wrote this year too lol

10) Your proudest accomplishment (that one scene; finally finishing that one fic; posting your first fic; etc):

Finishing Stroke of Midnight and Souvenirs We Never Lose!! Both of those have been multichapters on my list for a long time. Also just getting so many comments on my fics in general; the ML fandom is so nice about interacting with fics and I really appreciate it!!

11) Do you have any writing goals for the next year?

Finish Contingency Plan and Sweat and Ginseng. Work on Home Base more and then get back to First Dance, Second Chance hopefully. I know I can never really finish all of my multichapters at once or I’d probably die lol, so just gonna keep pluggin along. I also want to write some more Undertale but thanks to inopportune hyperfixation energy that will probably happen whether I plan it or not lol

Sorry this got so long!! Tagging @chatnoirinette @marinetteplztakeabreak and whoever else wants to do this!!

#tag game #fanfiction review 2020

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living-on-kyoshi · 4 years

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zuko x pregnant!reader headcanons!

@danny-devitowo: hello! could I possibly request zuko x a pregnant reader? Maybe just about how he takes care of the reader? ty 💛

pairings: zuko x pregnant!reader

warnings: none!

a/n: thank you so so much for this request! i got a bit carried away with this and had too many ideas so i decided to make this headcanons. i hope that’s okay, if you want me to expand on any of these LET ME KNOW HEHE! i absolutely loved this prompt and i hope you enjoy these!

okay so i’d imagine you and zuko have been together for a while; commitment is KEY for zuko

this is also a honeymoon baby HAHA

when he found out you were pregnant he definitely passed out (in pure excitement!!)

he was already very cautious and protective with you but now that you’re pregnant it’s a lot more of this

any second he gets during the day he’s making his way through the palace to find you and make sure you’re okay

he makes sure someone is always accompanying you and taking care of you when he’s unable to

and at the end of the day he’ll massage you

he’s got some nice massaging hands let me tell you this

he’ll heat his hands up a little so it’s nice and comfortably warm

zuko seems like the kind who would over worry about everything but he has a good heart

like if you showed any signs of struggle or pain he’d freak out

at night he makes sure you’re able to sleep comfortably

“do you need more pillows? or blankets? or is it too hot?” “zuko honey i’m okay don’t worry!”

he still got you more pillows and blankets just in case you need them

so it’s canon that he’s always good at getting you what you want on the regular right?

like we saw with mai how even if you just brought something you liked up in conversation he’d already order it for you

so i’d imagine no matter WHAT you’re craving, no matter how crazy it is he will get it for you

and if you’re from the earth kingdom or water tribe and you were craving food from that place he’d make sure you’d get it and that it tastes like home

HE WILL DEFINITELY READ YOU AND THE BABY CHILDREN STORIES AWH

he absolutely loves to just chill with you and the baby like he’ll sit and watch your stomach and wait for the baby to move or kick

he’ll also put his hand there and feel the baby’s movement

zuko gets shy excited; he’s excited but he’s also shy about it you know what i mean?

he gets very flushed and soft about all of it

he also (surprisingly) handles your mood swings very well i say surprisingly because i feel like he’d also just not know how to act with spontaneous emotions if that makes sense

he’s very good at remaining calm even though sometimes it's hard but he always remembers that it’s because of the pregnancy and it’s nothing personal

if you start crying about anything no matter how big or small he’s always there to hold you and comfort you; he never makes you feel invalid or crazy about your mood swings

i can imagine though when you saw how tiny the baby clothes were you started crying because you thought they were so cute

he definitely laughed because he was like oh my gosh this is so adorable i’m so in love

overall he’s incredibly caring all the time and when you’re pregnant he’s even MORE caring even though you thought he couldn’t be anymore caring

he’s very excited and grateful that he gets to start a family with you and have mini versions of each other running around the palace

thank you for reading!

#atla #avatar the last airbender #zuko #prince zuko #fire lord zuko #zuko x reader #zuko x y/n #zuko x pregnant!reader #atla fic #zuko headcanon

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darthkvznblogs · 2 years

Note

So what Ben 10 villains are guaranteed to not appear in the kryptonverse even as a cameo, Aside from Albedo mainly because he's probably dead because the Galvans are, sorry if this is spoilery I'd just like to know what not to look forward to. Again sorry if this is spoilery I'm just very curious.

I think we can indulge in some spoilers, given it’s been quite a bit since I finished Changing of the Guard!

Albedo is definitely dead, but I wouldn’t count out an appearance from some version of him popping in from the Multiverse.

The Vreedles can be fun in small doses, but I have no interest in writing them, so they’re out.

I have something for EightEight, but nothing for SevenSeven. He wouldn’t be dead, just not featured.

Dr. Psychobos would need some major reworking if I wanna use him as more than a cameo.

I might do something with the overall concept of Aggregor, but I find him kinda lame himself.

I have ideas for the Rooters, but they’d be fairly different from canon.

Zero chance I use Dagon.

Probably not using Zombozo or the other Circus villains, either. Though maybe there’s a tiny niche where he can be Freakshow’s nemesis, from Danny Phantom? That could be fun.

I do have plans for Zs’Skayr, but not as a Ghostfreak-escaped-from-the-Omnitrix villain.

Never touching Billy Billions either.

That’s just off the top of my head, but if you wanna know about any specific ones, feel free to ask!

#ask box #anon ask #kryptonverse #ben 10

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supercasey · 4 years

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Dumb thoughts on the Child Avatars AU

I dunno, just some dumb ideas I’ve had since I started talking about the AU online/brainstorming about it. (Putting it under a readmore for everyone’s sake)

The “Daisy kidnaps Jon” situation in this AU is Daisy riding her bike to Simon Fairchild’s mansion, holding a water-gun up to both Mike and Jon’s heads, and ordering them to ride with her to the grocery store to buy soda and hang out at a nearby playground for the day. Cue Elias flipping tf out when Jon isn’t at Simon’s place when he goes to pick him up later, Simon being half asleep because he was napping while the kids hung out, and Mike getting soaked by Daisy before he agrees to go with her, and since this happens in, like, late fall or early winter, he gets pneumonia afterwards and can’t hang out for awhile, leading to the kids jokingly saying he’s dead. Btw the only reason the trio was found is because Basira was invited after they made it to the park, and she convinced Daisy to let the boys go home. Daisy literally only kidnapped them because she wanted to play with someone.

Also the Buried!Daisy arc is Daisy getting eaten by a Buried controlled sandbox and Jon jumping in after her. The rest of the kids, who thankfully witnessed this, spent the next three hours digging for them, with Breekon & Hope eventually joining in to help since they were in the area. Daisy and Jon form a trauma bond afterwards and are now best friends.

Jon keeps getting marked by shit and it’s stressing Elias out because hE’S NOT READY FOR THE WATCHER’S CROWN YET!!! He needs more time to prepare, but his son is literally getting marked faster than fucking Sonic.

Speaking of Sonic, seeing as the “Console Wars” (Sega vs Nintendo) are happening during this time period, the kids take the rivalry Very Seriously. The biggest arguments are had between Sasha, Daisy, Julia, and Mike, who are all on Team Sega, and Jon, Martin, Tim, and Danny, who are all on Team Nintendo.

Sasha, close to tears she’s so angry: “Sega DO what NintenDON’T, Tim!!!”

When Martin was born, he only had one thick clump of curly hair that was white, but as he’s grown older and entered the Lonely multiple times, more of his hair has begun to turn white. As of the time of the AU “starting” (so when he’s 8 years old), he looks like he has white highlights in his hair.

Trevor isn’t a fully-fledged Hunt avatar yet, but the girls more or less are, so if you’ve ever watched Wolf Children, that’s pretty much the situation Trevor is currently trapped in. His daughters keeping changing into wolf pups and running wild as he frantically tries to hide their powers from anyone who isn’t Gerry.

(All of the kids secretly know already, even Basira.)

Basira is pretty much the only “normal” kid of the avatar children, save MAYBE for Tim, but he’s been deeply marked by the circus and has a few tiny powers (think S3 Jon as he was figuring out some of his powers, but wasn’t a full-on Archivist just yet).

The season 1 gang (including Danny) are the closest group of friends in the AU, save for Daisy and Basira’s friendship, and they hang out a lot at each other’s homes on the weekends.

Adelard usually brings Jane with him for his “trips” away from the institute, so it’s not unusual for her to be gone for long periods of time. But she always sends postcards and gifts to the institute for everyone!

Helen is three years old, so theoretically she should be able to talk, but she rarely does so, preferring to communicate via giggles and laughter. Only Jon, the Stoker brothers, and Michael can understand her, and they take turns translating for everyone else.

Whenever she’s brought to the institute, Helen takes to toddling around after Jon and Martin, giggling up a storm the whole time. Jon finds it a bit annoying while Martin is endlessly amused by her antics.

A list of the guardian’s/adult’s ages before I fucking forget (as of when the AU “starts” in 1994): Gertrude Robinson - 62, Elias Bouchard “Jonah Magnus” - 51 (200+), Peter Lukas - 55, Simon Fairchild - 83 (300+), Gerard “Gerry” Keay - 30, Michael Shelley - 32, Alfred Grifter - Unknown, Adelard Dekker - 48, Nikola Orsinov - 30ish (100+), Annabelle Cane - 34 (Unknown), Trevor Herbert - 47, Agnes Montague - 25ish (60+), Jude Perry - 35, Jared Hopworth - 29, The Admiral - 10.

The “good” parents all keep trying to set up some kind of PTA meeting so they can actually talk about how to raise these supernatural kids properly, but it keeps going horribly wrong; last time they tried, Alfred Grifter and his band showed up and nearly made Simon go deaf, so no one wants to initiate the next attempt at a meeting.

Tbh, at this point the Fear rituals are more successful than Elias’s shitty attempts at forming a PTA.

At some point in the AU Gerry, Michael, and Trevor all pitch in to buy a decently big house together, which leads to some serious Shenanigans now that Melanie is around Michael and Trevor’s kids/wards... let’s just say there’s gonna be a lot of knife related accidents.

Gerry taught Melanie how to fight when he took her in and it is the single worst decision he’s ever made in his short, goth life, even if he’ll never admit it. Melanie can now beat the shit out of everyone but Julia and Daisy, and it’s pure chaos every time. Tim puts up a decent fight, but he’s been spoiled on easy wins over his brother all his life. Jon tries and fails to so much as push her. Martin runs away crying before Melanie even throws the first punch. Needless to say, the other kids are very cautious about playing with Melanie now.

None of the kids have an education of any kind except for Mike. I’m serious; the only kid who’s decently educated is being raised by Foxy Grandpa Off His Shits McGee! Julia and Daisy have had some public education but not much, Elias refuses to do anything but home-school Jon yet he sucks shit at math, Tim and Danny don’t even know what a school fucking looks like, Melanie and Jane were too young to go to school when they became avatars, Martin has only recently been allowed near other kids so fuck public school (Peter can do math but Nothing Else), Annabelle fucking forgot to give Sasha any kind of an education outside of Web stuff, and Helen is still a very small child. None of these kids have gone to school for more than a few years at most and dear g-d is that gonna suck for them later down the line.

As a result of this, Basira has taught the other kids a few things when she’s come over and insisted on playing “school” with everyone, but she’s still just a kid and can’t always get them to pay attention during her lessons.

Because of this Rosie, Gerry, Michael, and Gertrude have all started making an effort to more or less home-school all of the kids, which has gone... well enough, I suppose. However, things have recently taken a weird turn since Jon keeps giving everyone the answers to assignments/tests via telepathy.

Jon: Whoa, you can make tea all by yourself, Martin!? Martin: Yeah, I’ve been doing it by myself since I was a toddler. I can also do laundry, mop floors, vacuum, and cook a few things, too! Tim: Wow, that’s really cool, Martin! I wish I could do stuff like that. Gertrude, off to the side: *Gives Peter a horrified look* I’m sorry, but did Martin just say he’s been making tea on his own since he was a toddler? Peter: ╮(╯ _╰ )╭ Unfortunately, I’m severely depressed.

Yeeeeeeeah, Martin’s in a similar childhood situation to his canon one, but at least there are people actually willing to help him out of it in this universe. Also, Peter will clean himself up at some point here, he’s just still dealing with more or less disowning himself from his family and learning hoe to not be so lonely.

Speaking Of Which, the Lukas family are pretty big antagonists in this AU, primarily through Peter’s mother (I’ll come up with a name for her later if I can’t find it on the wiki), who is trying to kidnap Martin and more or less feed him to the Lonely so Peter will get over his “childish feelings” and return to being her favorite child.

And yes, she DOES accidentally kidnap Jon instead at some point... this kid can literally not avoid getting kidnapped.

I like to think Mike and Julia are really good friends in this AU, being the closest in age and all. They hang out a lot since their dads are both so chill and won’t get upset about it, the two of them mostly just playing video games, watching movies, and biking around their respective neighborhoods together.

(Also they may or may not be responsible for a statement that involves a woman seeing a “flying wolf” passing over London... they’ve yet to confess to it, but Elias is dead certain they’re behind the incident.)

The worms incident is 100% Jane’s secret worm collection getting fucking loose... she was keeping them in the walls “for safe keeping” and No One Fucking Knew, not even Elias, until Jon saw a spider, punched the wall, and Revealed them.

Jon and Tim got their scars because Jane lost control of the worms and they burrowed into the kids. Cue a very panicked 999 call from someone in the institute and Child Services almost getting involved, but Elias managed to cover it up.

Afterwards, Jon is incredibly self-conscious about his worm scars, but Martin tells him “now we both have freckles!” and it honestly makes him feel a little better about the whole thing.

Also Adelard makes an effort to track down a child psychologist/counselor with institute ties so he can get Jane some therapy/help controlling her powers. He loves her to the moon and back, and he’s terrified of her getting traumatized by what she accidentally did.

During the incident, a Notthem gets loose from Artifact Storage and attacks Sasha, but seeing as Sasha is of the Web and the Notthem is connected to a Web artifact, it only manages to really hurt her, but thankfully not kill her. She ends up hospitalized for a few weeks, but comes out fine later on. The table mysteriously disappears afterwards, and no one knows if it was Gertrude or Annabelle’s doing, but either way, the kids never have to deal with a Notthem again.

At some point I wanna get into Jon’s paranoia in season 2 for this AU, but I’m considering changing it from being because of the Jane Prentiss issue to be because of Mr. Spider almost killing him. I dunno how exactly it’ll play out, but I think it has a lot of potential!

Okay, before I end this post full of weird rambling ideas for the AU, I wanna make a list of the powers that the kids have at the time of the story “starting”/the ones they develop down the line because Jonny Sims himself said that all avatars have different powers, and I really wanna infodump on my thoughts for the kids!

Current powers of Jonathan Sims-Bouchard: Can simply know things whenever he wants to (so long as the Eye lets him, but the Eye sometimes keeps him from knowing anything he isn’t mature enough to handle), can compel people to tell him things (the other kids are better at resisting it, and so are other people touched by the Eye), can survive on very little food if he’s fed mostly statements/other people’s trauma, can non-consensually feel the pain and emotions of the people around him, has some weak telepathy powers, and he can subconsciously summon tape recorders.

Future powers of Jonathan Sims-Bouchard: Increased healing abilities, can know most anything if he tries, ability to resist other Eye avatars’ compulsions, can survive purely off of statements/other people’s trauma, can choose whether or not to feel the pain and emotions of the people around him, has much stronger telepathy powers than before, can force himself into people’s minds and read their thoughts, and he can summon tape recorders at will (though some still show up without his knowledge sometimes).

Current powers of Martin Blackwood-Lukas: Can disappear into the Fog for several hours at a time (he cannot be seen by anyone but other Lonely avatars while in the fog), can summon clouds of fog that he can momentarily hide things in (including people), can “banish” most anyone into the fog, and has “Sea Captain Eyes” (he knows where the Tundra is at all times, and can lead someone to it without a map or compass).

Future powers of Martin Blackwood-Lukas: Can change his hair color at will (only to red, white, and a mix of the two colors), can see much better in the Fog and can find anyone he’s pushed into it, can more or less teleport using the Fog, and he has what’s more or less a pocket dimension of fog for storage/hiding his friends from danger (think the inside of Gems in Steven Universe).

Current powers of Tim Stoker-Orsinov: Can make small bipedal toys “come to life” for a few minutes at a time (they can’t talk or communicate; only move around and perform small tasks/dances), can tell when a Notthem is masquerading as someone else, is supernaturally talented at gymnastics, and can dance alongside the creatures of the Stranger without being fully corrupted by them.

Future powers of Tim Stoker-Orsinov: Better control over the powers he already has as well as a high tolerance for the Spiral.

Current powers of Danny Stoker-Orsinov: Can order around creatures of the Stranger against their will, can tell when a Notthem is masquerading as someone else, can dance alongside the creatures of the Stranger without being fully corrupted by them, is supernaturally talented at gymnastics, and can change his voice to anything he likes (not always intentionally, though).

Future powers of Danny Stoker-Orsinov: Can more or less “teleport” to other circus locations by walking into theaters, can now change his voice to whatever he likes with his knowledge and consent, can take over as the Stranger’s ringmaster if necessary, can trigger a mesmerizing dance whenever he’d like, and has a high tolerance for the Spiral.

Current powers of Sasha James-Cane: Can communicate with spiders and have them send messages to other Web avatars, can read minds if she tries really hard, can “trap“ other entities in large webs that she can summon (takes a lot of energy), and she has Spider-Man-like abilities (can walk on walls and ceilings, can carry much more than her weight should allow, etc).

Future powers of Sasha James-Cane: Can now read minds without too much effort, can navigate almost any area that’s being controlled/influenced by the Web, can create webs without nearly as much effort as before, can transform her body to have more arms, legs, and eyes, and she now has venomous fangs (which can thankfully be controlled and/or hidden).

Current powers of Alice “Daisy” Tonner: Can turn into a wolf at will/when she’s especially emotional, can smell blood from several miles away, and has supernatural senses/physical abilities.

Future powers of Alice “Daisy” Tonner: Can now track most any monster she’s hunting once she gets at least one good look at them, can communicate with other Hunters via howling, and can navigate the Buried if needed (though this is very triggering for her and will cause her to pass out afterwards).

Current powers of Julia Montauk: Can turn into a wolf at will/when she’s especially emotional, can smell blood from several miles away, has supernatural senses/physical abilities, can track most any monster if she knows their name, can communicate with other Hunters via howling, and she can shift into a bipedal werewolf when she feels like she’s in danger.

Future powers of Julia Montauk: All of her previous powers have drastically improved, plus she has better control of them now.

Current powers of Basira Hussain: She has common fucking sense, something almost none of the other children have.

Future powers of Basira Hussain: She common sense AND she has a werewolf GF now. :) ((No dating for the babies, not until they’re at least teenagers))

Current powers of Melanie King-Grifter: Can listen to Grifter’s Bone without being damaged in any way, the music of Grifter’s Bone makes her powers exemplified for a period of time after she listens to it, the smell of blood triggers her to become violent, she can summon sharp weapons (knives, swords, etc) from thin air, and she can see a red aura around other people who have been marked by the Slaughter.

Future powers of Melanie King-Grifter: She has much better control of her abilities now, she can perform Grifter’s Bone songs for people and keep them from dying/going feral, and she can now also summon other weapons from thin air (guns, baseball bats, etc).

Current powers of Oliver Banks: Can see people’s deaths a week in advance via his dreams, he sees dark tentacles around people who are going to die soon, can see but not talk to ghosts, and he can smell death on anyone who’s undead/controlling other people’s bodies.

Future powers of Oliver Banks: Can raise the dead and control them to do his bidding (takes a lot of energy), can speak cat (not End related; Admiral related), and he can cause people to die within the week if he touches them in his dreams.

Current powers of Georgie Barker: Can see a “death countdown” over people who are going to die within the next thirty days, doesn’t feel any fear whatsoever, can see but not talk to ghosts, and she sees a dark sludge staining the clothes of people who have been marked by the End.

Future powers of Georgie Barker: Can bring people back to life for a minute or so by touching them (think Pushing Daisies type powers), can speak cat (not End related; Admiral is best cat dad), and she can communicate with ghosts much better now.

Current powers of Jane Prentiss-Dekker: Can summon bugs of most kinds from her mouth and under her fingernails, can communicate with bugs, and can fight off most diseases without any trouble.

Future powers of Jane Prentiss-Dekker: Can now completely control bugs via a hive mind effect, can summon bugs from anywhere on her body, has much stronger healing abilities than Jon, and she can see invisible bugs crawling on the skin of those who the Corruption wants her to get rid of (it’s hard for her not to give in to it’s desires).

Current powers of Mike Crew-Fairchild: Can levitate/fly at will, can summon clouds of any kind (rain, thunder, snow, etc) in any conditions, has much higher resistance to the weather/temperature, and he can “banish” people into the Vast at will.

Future powers of Mike Crew-Fairchild: Same as before, but with slightly better control than he had as a teenager.

Current powers for Helen Richardson-Shelley: Can change the world around her to be more like the Spiral (adding more doors, changing the colors of things, causing hallucinations, etc), can change any door into a doorway into the Spiral, and she can amplify her voice (very hard to control as a baby).

Future powers for Helen Richardson-Shelley: Can now summon doors that lead to the Spiral from thin air, has much better control over her powers and abilities than before, can morph her body to be longer and sharper at will, and she can “banish” people into the endless hallways of the Spiral.

((Holy shit, that took awhile))

Anyways, here’s a playlist I made for the AU, feel free to scream at me for my very weird taste in music: Pinky Swear That You Won’t Go Changing

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nabtime · 10 months

Text

Our Empty Graves IX

Fandom: Danny Phantom / Batman: Under the Red Hood

Pairings: Danny Fenton/Jason Todd (Dead on Main)

Rating: Mature

Jason just wants to help him.

Chapter 9: and I cant fix what was done to you (but ill shield you from the rain)

Chapter Summary: A few moments of calm before the storm. A little help goes a long way.

Chapter Notes: title from Small Hands by Radical Face Links: AO3 // Chapter 1 // Chapter 8 // Chapter 10 // Spotify

Nadi had never seen hair like Fetcher had. It wasn’t- hair- not properly. It was soft like fog, wispy like a cloud. And it moved like it was underwater, flowing and floating and altogether, frankly, a bitch to cut. But it needed to be trimmed, because it looked like someone had taken a torch to some parts of the poor kid’s skull. Chunks were burned off. She also wasn’t about to give up after all the trouble she’d been through to get little cujo to agree to this.

She’d walked ten blocks round trip to her apartment and back, Charlie huffing and puffing from just a simple folding chair and bag the entire time. Packed a sheet and all her usual hair-cutting tools. She knew her way around some scissors- a lot of the girls came to her for trims instead of paying for a full stylist. She used to be a barber, way back in what she liked to think of as her past life.

That time felt so long ago. Before she was Nadi, before she walked the streets of Park Row. She used to live in the nicer parts of Gotham, sitting pretty with a stable job, stable apartment, stable family. Then she transitioned and everything went to shit. Fired, evicted, disowned. The whole nine yards or whatever. No big deal, though. She liked where she was at in life now, despite it all. And most of the time she was genuinely happier here, working the corner as the woman she was always meant to be instead of suffering as the man society wanted her to be.

She’d found her people here, in Park Row. Crime Alley. The other cast-offs and has-beens. The others that didn’t belong. And this poor baby boy was yet another reject. A poor soul left for dead in the slums. He was such a sweetheart, and she wasn’t about to let him fend for himself so completely. Not if she could help it. And she could, if only a little bit. She would cut his hair, she would feed him, she would offer a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen. She wouldn’t let anyone else feel like she once had. Alone and abandoned. All it ever took was a small kindness, a tiny gesture of good-faith. She could do that. She’d move heaven and hell if it meant the sweet boy that had saved her, had saved many others in the Alley, wouldn’t be so skittish. So alone. Sure he was vicious, but only when he needed to be. Only to protect others. Boy didn’t have a mean bone in his body. She wasn’t completely sure he had bones in his body but that wasn’t important.

What mattered was getting his hair fixed.

She couldn’t do much for him. Couldn’t even begin to fix all that was wrong with him, all the wrong that was done to him. She could kill Hood for scaring her baby off. She didn’t know what he did but she was going to kick his ass for it. Crime Lord or no, he deserved it. She’d already kicked him where it hurt when she’d gone after him about Fetcher being missing in the first place, but he could do with a few more.

The boy was purring under her hands as she carded her fingers through his hair. Purring. That was goddamn adorable. How dare Red Hood do anything to upset him when the boy could purr.

She snipped away, gently brushing as she went. Thankfully, even with the singed edges, his hair still had a bit of length so even after she was done it would still hover around his shoulders. Literally hover. He looked good, fluffy like that, and she didn’t want to cut it any shorter than she had to. He’d already flinched once at the scissors coming close to his little pointed ears, she wouldn’t have that again.

“Almost done, mi vida,” she murmured, trimming the last strand and dropping it to let it float. “You doing okay?”

The purr rumbled like he was humming in agreement. Fuck that was cute.

She ran her hands through his hair a few more times, shaking out loose strands and fixing any tangles. Just enjoying the cool feeling- like mist and fog with only the slightest solidity- whirl around under her touch. Enjoying the purr it kicked up when she did it.

“All done, baby,” she said, reluctantly pulling her hands away and tugging off the sheet she’d wrapped him in, shaking it out to let the cuttings fall to the ground. They were, strangely, black. The moment she cut it away, his hair would turn black and solid like normal hair. She didn’t ask. It was none of her business.

She circled him and smiled. He looked a little goofy, still touch-drunk with his eye-lids drooping, all slumped into the chair like he was melting. His hair didn’t look half bad now, wavy and curling around his face, kissing his neck and cheeks as it swayed in an invisible wind. She’d done a pretty damn good job, all things considered. She wanted to coo at the sight of him, but she held it in. She didn’t want to spook him. They’d been doing so well so far.

She didn’t want to go. Didn’t want to leave him here. But she knew he wasn’t going to come, no matter how many times she asked.

“Do you wanna have a look?” she asked, moving to pull the hand-held mirror from the bag she’d made Charlie lug with them.

Fetcher’s gaze sharpened and he tensed in the chair, looking ready to flee. His purring had ceased. He shook his head fervently and she wanted to despair. What in the world had happened to him? What horrors had descended on her sweet, sweet boy?

“Okay,” she placated. “That’s okay.” She waited until he’d relaxed again, though not as much as he had been before. “You’ll just have to trust me when I tell you that you’re a very handsome young man.”

He rolled his eyes and she grinned.

“It’s true! You’re a pretty boy, and my handiwork only made you prettier.”

He stuck his tongue out and folded his arms.

She laughed. She wanted to stay. She wanted him to come with her. But it wouldn’t happen. Not yet, at least. Not until she could kick Hood’s ass and get him to fix whatever he’d broken here. She rummaged in the bag and brought out the thick blanket she’d packed and the bimbunuelos and gansito snacks she’d grabbed from the gas station for him.

She sighed and made sure she had Fetcher’s attention. “Alright, baby. I know I can’t convince you to come with me,” she said slowly. “I’m still sure I could smuggle you in and Hood wouldn’t say a word if he knew what was good for him,” she murmured vindictively, “but I can’t force you.”

He simply watched her as she handed the blanket and the treats over. “But, please,” she begged,” take care of yourself out here, mi vida.”

He gathered everything up in his arms and gave her a serious nod. She smiled at his solemn look, wishing with all her heart he’d learn to smile more instead.

“I’m going to head back to work now,” she said, backing up to give Fetcher some space. “But I’m going to visit again.”

She gave him a stern look this time. “So you better take care of yourself, baby. I’ll be disappointed if you don’t.”

He pouted, petulant, and huffed before giving her another quick nod and floating himself back up into the bough of the hickory he’d claimed for himself.

It was a small kindness, giving him that haircut, but she knew it meant more than that for the both of them. It was about acceptance. Accepting him as he was. About permission. Permission to seek comfort from her. Permission to see and be seen. She hoped he understood that.

Now, she had a Crime Lord’s ass to kick.

═════ ◈ ═════

Alfred Pennyworth had served the Wayne family for many years now. Seen and done more things serving Bruce than he ever had in service to the Crown. One would think being a butler would be less exciting than a top ranking M15 agent, but one was not often employed and trusted by The Batman as a butler.

Seeing Bruce grow and raising him were some of the most rewarding moments of his life. Seeing him grieve and break after every death that piled upon his shoulders were the most heartbreaking moments of his life. Seeing him obsess over the possibility that one of his wards, one of his ‘fallen soldiers’, had made their way back to the grave, was nothing less than harrowing.

Once again, Alfred was witness to Bruce passively trying to kill himself- ignoring anything and everything but the case he was working on. The facts in front of him. Solving it all like a puzzle that had pieces one could fit together in the first place. Getting frustrated when it didn’t all fall into place. Bruce rarely acknowledged that sometimes cases didn’t have all the pieces, couldn’t be solved by fact alone, because to do so would admit defeat in his eyes. He needed logic and sense and many times life was far too messy for that. People were unpredictable and murders and villainy more so. But his boy had never been comfortable with things he couldn’t predict.

Like Jason Todd rising from the grave.

Alfred knew in his bones that Jason had returned, changed and broken, but returned all the same. He wasn’t about to say so to Bruce, the man would never understand the certainty he felt without the facts to confirm. But he knew . And it broke him just as well. He was over the moon to have one of his wards back in the living realm with them, for him to be alive again. But to see him torn and angry like he was… To see him so full of pain and hatred… Alfred couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t stand to know that he’d had a hand in the boy’s death. Had a hand in the neglect he’d suffered upon his initial return. It might not have been directly, but guilt never cared degrees of cause, especially when one cared . And Alfred Pennyworth cared more than anything.

He was nothing more than a sentimental old fool.

But he would help where he could. He would stand vigil with Bruce, care for the man wherever he would allow. He would keep in contact with Richard and Timothy, check in on them as often as possible ( he would not lose another ). He would place another cup of coffee by the Batcomputer and lie in wait. Nothing would move Bruce from the screens, not even much needed sleep, so he would do what he could and bring him finger-foods- easy to eat while typing away and staring, staring staring.

He would receive cheeky letters from anonymous ( Jason ) persons and deal with his badly behaved Bat as best he could. Scolding the man for being unnecessarily cruel and letting his anger cloud his judgment. (And he would hope it would be enough for Jason, that his scolding would get through Bruce’s thick skull so that he might not make an ass of himself even more. That the crimes Bruce had committed against Jason would lessen rather than stack. That there might one day be a chance at reconcile. That Jason might one day come home .)

But for now he would do what he could. He would wait and he would serve, doing all the little and big things to help. He would keep the manor running even if no one but himself had set foot in it for some time. He would clean and sweep and cook and weed and dust and wash and do everything he possibly could to make the manor clean and welcoming and warm. All in the hopes that someday, someday , the family that had been so painstakingly built and torn apart here, might return. Rebuild.

That all his wayward children might call the manor home once more.

═════ ◈ ═════

Tim had come back to a mess. Alfred had warned him, greatly under-sold the mess- sure, but had still warned him. Bruce hadn’t said anything at all about what had recently been happening in Gotham, only that he needed help with multiple cases.

Bruce needing help with multiple cases was always a bad sign. But Tim had never imagined something like this.

His predecessor potentially coming back from the grave. And murdering people. And Bruce absolutely losing his mind about it.

It wasn’t all that hard, in Tim’s experience, to make Bruce lose his mind. He wasn’t a particularly mentally stable man in the first place. It’d been the whole reason he’d insisted so much about becoming Robin in the first place. Batman needed a Robin. A balance. Otherwise Bruce could so easily lose himself to his grief and get swallowed up in the darkness. He’d seen it first hand after Jason’s death. How he hit harder, cut deeper, and had less mercy for his rogues all around. An inexcusable use of excessive force- all in grief and anger and guilt.

Bruce liked to pretend that he had no emotions. The he had the control to shut them on and off at will. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. The man was made of nothing but emotions. Anger and grief and fear and, astoundingly, compassion . Yes, he was logical and could be cold, and he didn’t talk about his emotions very well. But Tim knew they were there, brewing under the surface.

Bruce could talk about detachment all he wanted. Talk about shutting everything off in order to make a deduction. But that wasn’t what made Batman a brilliant detective. It was his stubborn nature, his drive. His empathy. It’s what made him a hero .

And Tim admired that.

But it also meant cleaning up his messes sometimes, and Tim admired that much less.

He’d barely been given a ‘how are you, chum,’ before Bruce was racing off to find Ra’s and question him about Jason. Leaving Tim to investigate a possible new meta hiding out in Crime Alley. Working with Red Hood. Working with Jason. To puzzle out motive and power set. To find a way to neutralize him should he be a threat ( and Tim didn’t think about how callous that was, how cruel that would seem ).

And thus, Tim did what he did best. Chug a lethal amount of espresso and hack into every governmental database conceivable. He’d find something. He always did.

Except, hours later. He’d found nothing . Not a damn thing. No one outside of Gotham had any record of a glowing hazmat-clad meta that had green blood . He’d scoured any and all social media accounts across the world and no one had ever posted about it. No weird deep-web forum dedicated to sightings of the guy. No newspaper articles complaining about his presence. No tourist commenting about seeing him. Nothing. Usually with a meta like him, someone so conspicuous , there was something. A short video. A dedicated cult. A local news segment.

Anything about the guy was all from Gotham. All recent and none of it helpful. It didn’t explain where he’d come from . What he was capable of . Didn’t explain why he went by the name Fetcher of all things. Was he an alien instead of a meta? Had he been looking in all the wrong places this entire time, because they’d just assumed he was a meta when he wasn’t? Meta, alien, science experiment gone wrong. All questions and no answers.

Tim wanted to rip his hair out.

Bruce had said that it was definitely a hazmat suit, even if it was glowing and slightly customized. Customized to what conditions, though, was the question. Any lens footage had been corrupted so Tim could only rely on B’s overly detailed report for a description. A level B suit. So working with something that was a severe inhalation risk but less of a risk for skin contact. But the SCBA was described as something Tim had never encountered before. A lightweight tank connected to a full face mask and tinted eye-shield. Working with a substance that glowed ? Something that caused the glow that Fetcher let off? But the only things he could think of were either occult or radioactive, and if it was radioactive then he’d be wearing a level A suit. And the green blood. Bruce had described it as similar to Lazarus Water.

Tim shuddered.

What the fuck kind of lab accident might make you bleed death juice?

And then, miraculously, he found a lead. A pair of scientists that worked in hazmat suits that matched the description. He’d need confirmation from Bruce that they looked the same, but the tint to the eye-shield or goggles, despite not working with radioactive material was a big enough clue. The substance they did claim to work with didn’t make much more sense, though. Ectoplasm. From ghosts.

There was no way.

He refused to go down that rabbit hole without confirmation from Bruce. It didn’t matter how morbidly curious he was. He’d fall down that trail later if he wanted. For now he’d need sleep. He couldn’t go any further in his research and the lead he’d found was already slim at best. He felt like a failure, like he needed to keep going. But Alfred was already breathing down his neck about resting and there wasn’t much more he could do anyway.

He saved what he’d found on the Doctors Fenton and trudged up the stairs to his room in the manor.

He couldn’t do much, but he’d help where he was capable. Not with the main case. Bruce wouldn’t let him touch it. But he could look into the secondary one as much as possible on his own, he’d ask about the similarity in the suits and then keep digging himself. He didn’t want B to fall into the same spiral that he had before, to get lost in grief with no one to help. He would be the Robin to his Batman. His support. His balance.

What little help he could give, he would.

═════ ◈ ═════

Bruce would go to the ends of the earth if it meant righting his past wrongs. If it meant undoing the one mistake that weighed on him the most. If it meant bringing back his second ward, his second Robin. If it meant never having to go through the pain of having that little soul slip right through his fingers.

Nothing would ever change that though. Even if Jason was really back from the dead, it would not change the fact that he had died. That Bruce had lost him. Failed him. It wouldn’t change the pain that both of them had felt. The pain of dying. The pain of coming back. The pain of losing someone he never should have lost.

He’d made a promise . And he’d broken it. He was much more careful with those now. Much more careful with everything .

Except Ra’s’ skull.

He had the man pinned to the floor, unmerciful as he questioned the master assassin about Jason. About the sudden appearance of Red Hood. About Ra’s’ possible involvement in his resurrection and why he hadn’t done it sooner or told Bruce about it happening.

“You don’t have all the facts, detective,” Ra’s said, voice strained from the force of Bruce’s weight pushing him into the tile of his fortress.

“Then enlighten me,” he spat, knowing full well he was starting to let his temper get the best of him. He was better than this, but when it came to Jason- everything felt like it was too much. Like his anger and grief could boil over in an instant.

“The Waters cannot bring a person back from the dead!”

“That’s not a fact,” Bruce argued, trying valiantly to tamp down the fury that threatened to overcome him. “That’s a theory.”

“A well founded one,” Ra’s grumbled, indignant. Then quieter, “We tried to bring him back. Initially. Nothing was said about it because it didn’t work.”

Bruce lifted from Ra’s back and stepped away to give the man room to stand, watching intently for any sudden movements the entire time.

“Elaborate.”

“The boy died,” Ra’s began, brushing dust off his robes as he stood, “partially at my fault. I should never have worked with that mad clown in the first place, and the little Robin paid the price for it.”

Bruce stood in wait. He knew all this. Ra’s working with the Joker is what allowed the villain to capture Jason. It was a solid rule in the underworld of Gotham to never work with the Joker. He could not be accounted for, could not be controlled. Ra’s found that out the hard way.

“So, in order to rectify the mistake, Talia stole the body and replaced it with a convincing replica.”

Bruce closed his eyes and held everything in. He would not break here. Not in front of Ra’s. He’d been so overcome with grief when he’d dug Jason’s small little body out of the wreckage, that once he’d finally let it go- he hadn’t had the strength to look at it again afterwards.

“We dipped his body in the Pit,” he continued flippantly, “and nothing happened. We kept the body monitored for a time and then switched it out again after a continued absence of life.”

“So you wouldn’t know about a possible connection between the deceased Jason Todd and The Red Hood,” he stated.

Everything was slipping from his fingers. All his leads were turning to dead ends that didn’t make sense . He knew that The Red Hood was Jason. That was his Robin , returned from the grave. He could feel it, and there were so many clues that led to that conclusion. But they didn’t add up. Nothing was adding up. He felt like he was going insane, trying to shove together pieces that didn’t fit to complete a puzzle he already knew the answers to. He wanted to believe, more than anything, that Jason was alive, but he couldn’t trust that he was (because the disappointment would hurt him more than anything else if he wasn’t) because he didn’t have confirmation .

“Now, I didn’t say that,” Ra’s said, back turned to face the window and the red of the sun rising over the horizon.

“Explain,” Bruce gritted out for what felt like the thousandth time. Always asking for an explanation and never quite getting what he needed.

Ra’s sighed. “Jason Todd was found wandering the streets of Gotham,” he turned to give Bruce an inscrutable look, dark eyes heavy. “He was more akin to a walking corpse than a person. Running on instinct alone. We did not alert you to his resurrection because he was still not himself.”

“You don’t know how he came back,” he said more than asked. This was the more important question. How Jason could walk among the living so long after his death when Bruce would have done damn near anything to bring him back if he could.

“No,” Ra’s answered simply. “But a second dip in the Pit waters after he shambled in with Talia brought his mind back. Which was rather more of a miracle than his initial awakening.”

“Could the first dip have brought him back, but delayed?” None of this made any damn sense. This is why he hated working with magic and mystical things. They never made any sense.

The other man stared, hard and unforgiving. Irritated. “I have worked with the Lazarus Pits for a very long time. And yet I am still no closer to answers for questions such as yours. Your guess is as good as mine.”

“You can’t confirm, definitively, the reason Jason Todd came back to life.”

“No,” Ra’s said with a sneer, body tensing to strike. Bruce had overstayed his welcome then. “That’s for you to puzzle out, Detective.”

Bruce turned and left. There was nothing else he could gain from interrogating Ra’s and inciting the man’s temper. Bruce’s own was on a hair-trigger as it was. He would begin his long journey back to Gotham, only partial answers acquired and more questions whirling in his head.

There was little he could do now. He needed to get back to his city, regardless of what was happening with Jason. Regardless of if he’d come back as the Red Hood or not.

There was little he could do to make up for all the ways he’d failed his second Robin, all the things he hadn’t done in time, hadn’t done when it was needed. But he’d do every small thing he could, now . As Batman, all he’d ever been able to do was small things. One criminal apprehended here, one rogue put back in Arkham or Blackgate there. But the city was still torn apart, citizens still ended up dead. Like putting a band-aid on a gaping chest wound.

He’d never fix everything, but he’d do damage control.

═════ ◈ ═════

Jason wasn’t much of a fan of waiting. Not when he was so much closer to executing the best part of his plan. He knew where the Joker would be soon. He had everything he needed ready. He would capture the crazy clown, beat him near to death with a crowbar to see how he liked it, and then set him like the spring in a trap. Bruce would be back from whatever jaunt he’d fled the city on and he’d be able to goad the big bastard into a chase.

Then he’d snare him and finally get the answers he’d so desperately been wanting.

Why hadn’t Bruce killed the Joker already? And what would it take for him to do it?

What would finally make the Big Man snap?

But first he had to catch the clown. He didn’t know what Harley was up to or what the party she’d mentioned was all about- and maybe he was being hasty in planning to just barge in guns blazing without gathering more information. But he was already antsy. He wanted this done already. He wanted to make Bruce choose . Either Bruce would finally kill the Joker or Jason would die by the man’s hand. Again. He would make Bruce suffer the choice, make him realize the severity of his decision to keep the mass murderer alive. Jason hadn’t been the only one killed by the clown, not by a long shot, and people would only keep dying if he was still free.

The Joker would find his end, one way or another. Jason would make sure of that- even if it had to be from beyond the grave again.

If Bruce chose to kill him instead of the deranged clown- Jason didn’t really know what he would do, but at least he’d have his answer. That Bruce had cared for whatever asinine definition of justice he had more than he ever had Jason. That Bruce cared more for his own personal morals than actually doing something to save the people of the city he’d sworn to protect.

He didn’t have confidence in which answer Bruce would choose.

Waiting also had the downside of giving him time to think . Something he currently didn’t want to do. Not when it made him reflect on his own mistakes. Made him reflect on the ways he’d hurt Fetcher so badly.

He regretted his actions in the dojo that day. But he knew he couldn’t take them back, couldn’t take back the tears he’d caused the other to shed. He was supposed to be better than that. To not let his paranoia get the best of him and allow him to hurt the ones he cared for, they way Bruce often did. It hadn’t taken very long for Jason to go back through everything that had happened with Fetcher and realize that he had severely jumped the gun.

He’d come to trust the kid way too fast, sure, but that wasn’t the other’s fault. He’d been desperate for an ally and he’d seen just a bit too much of himself in the poor soul he’d saved. He’d wanted to protect Fetcher from a fate like his, but all he’d ended up doing was hurt him.

But his eyes- the green- the sharpness there-

Jason paused where he stood in his kitchen, hands gripping the cast iron skillet just a bit too tight. He could hear the metal creak under his grip, likely to snap if he didn’t relent. The kid’s eyes had reminded him too much of the Pit- of when he’d died and come back. Of the torture of resurfacing to a new world he didn’t understand.

If Fetcher had been working for Ra’s he’d been doing a poor job of it. It took Jason far too long to realize that. No movement from Talia or Nanda Parbat. No whisper of activity from Ra’s. Nothing at all to indicate that Fetcher was one of their agents. Whatever mess the kid had gotten himself mixed up in, it wasn’t necessarily connected to the League. And Jason had yelled at him. Called him a monster. And all he’d done- was cry.

Jason was the monster here, not Fetch.

He was likely better off sulking in the graveyard Jason had found him in anyway. It would have only been a matter of time before Jason turned on him. Or did something else to get him hurt, get him killed. Like father, like son.

When Nadi had come to yell at him about Fetcher’s disappearance, it had been something of a relief. Even if she had kicked him in the balls, it was still good to see that someone cared about the kid. Someone good . Someone that could help him where Jason couldn’t. And when she’d come back a second time to demand that Fetcher be allowed back into Crime Alley, he’d reluctantly agreed. He couldn’t face the other after everything he’d said and done, but he wouldn’t banish him for Jason’s mistakes.

He hasn’t seen the other since then. But he knows that he’s in the area. Seen the faint glow of the other brighten a dark alleyway, trailing after Nadi like he used to trail after Red Hood.

Jason shakes off his thoughts and goes back to cooking. Only to realize that he’d made two servings.

Silently, guiltily, he packs it away. He’ll hand it out to the first person he sees once he leaves for patrol (no use in good food going to waste- even if his first instinct is to trash it). The sight of it made him sick.

He’d have to live with what he’d done and that was that. There was little he could do to fix things. Little he could do to help. But he’d keep his distance and let Nadi take care of Fetch where he’d failed so spectacularly. He didn’t want to face the other again, and it made him a coward- but he didn’t want to risk hurting the other more than he deserved. He’d already done enough damage.

( You’re too angry, Jason. You take it out on the wrong people. It makes you reckless. You’re going to get an innocent person killed one day because you couldn’t control your temper. This is not why I let you become my second Robin. You’re benched . Indefinitely. )

Jason was far from perfect and he knew that. But he’d take his imperfection and still try where he could. He’d fix the city, little by little. Build it up where Bruce couldn’t and clean it out where Batman wouldn’t.

Even if he died again proving his point to Bruce, even that little bit, would help in its own way. Make Bruce see where he’d gone wrong or else prove where Batman was failing. If the bastard was too stubborn to see that Jason was right about this, then Gotham had long been doomed anyway. His second death wouldn’t change that.

All he had to do now, was wait.

#naps fics #dp x dc #Our Empty Graves #dpxdc

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five-wow · 4 years

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Sometimes I think about how Steve wasn't planning on leaving the Navy when he did. Transiting out of the military is difficult enough when planned & when unplanned it's even worse. Does Steve ever regret how this one hasty grief fueled decision upended his whole life overnight? If he hadn't met Danny how he did would he ever have given the governor's offer a 2nd thought? In the early seasons his struggles w/ to adapt get treated by the others as him being a super SEAL/crazy

That’s definitely an interesting thing to think about!

Honestly, I don’t think he regrets it. He probably claims he has regrets about leaving the Navy behind in arguments with Danny, but they also keep saying they hate each other and we all know how much truth there is to that. And right from the start Steve is very vocal about how Five-0 is a family, an ohana, and he seems really happy with the little group of people he collected around him and the way he still gets to help people. He definitely is a bit of a fish out of water in the first season(s), but to me it never particularly looked like he was bothered by that. It seemed like it was more like, Danny yelling at him for using a grenade pin to stir his coffee because who DOES that, you WEIRDO, and steve going [shrug] this is just how cool guys do it, Danny, get over it.

(And to be fair, with the way Five-0′s immunity works, Steve did kind of go from fighting oh-so-totally-justified wars on foreign soil to employing pretty much the same tactics to fight wars against all the Very Bad People Who Are Definitely Really Like That Because CBS Said So in his own country. He still got to throw grenades and shoot way too many people. I imagine the whiplash of the change to civilian life would be much, much bigger for most actual humans coming out of the military.)

He probably does feel some sense of nostalgia for his former life. It would seem odd if he didn’t, but oof, in all honesty? I will readily admit I’m biased because I Do Not Like the military in general and the American military and the mainstream American glorification of it very much in particular, but I kind of feel like meeting Danny, calling the Governor and radically changing career paths overnight pretty literally saved Steve’s life. I mean, he probably would’ve gotten shot and possibly killed during his first ever suspect chase on Oahu if Danny hadn’t been there as angry backup, so there’s that!

But I’d guess there’s also a big chance that if he hadn’t gotten an accidental ohana and a new job out of his dad’s murder case, he would have returned to active duty after that brief return to what used to be his home. And then what? He either would have gotten killed in action at some point or he would have continued on until his body literally couldn’t anymore (even as a cop and with Danny doing The Very Most to get him to see a sliver of sense, Steve had clear issues just taking a tiny step back from the way he used to do things when he was thirty and in peak phsyical condition) and then, I guess, he probably would have settled down somewhere, maybe teaching or with a desk job or retired, and I honestly wonder if he’d still be dating Cath. Maybe? Maybe they would have gotten married at some point while they were both still on active duty and only saw each other a few weeks out of every year max? And then they’d probably end up living together full time suddenly, and that kind of change in the status quo would be hard on any relationship but they’d never have spent that kind of time together and I like Cath, and I think she and Steve could have worked at some point, but I’d be surprised if their relationship made it in this timeline. So then we have Steve, living somewhere that isn’t necessarily Hawaii, with no Cath because that got complicated and no Danny because he never met him and no ohana because he never spent any extended period of time in one place as an adult, and all he has is maybe Mary, if they reconnected at all in this world (though I would hope they did), and his Navy buddies, who all have their own lives and probably aren’t going to be randomly moving in with him to sleep on his couch for a few months because they’re worried about his mental health. I mean, Freddie is still dead because that happened pre-canon and maybe Steve still found a new best friend at some point even if he never met Danny, but there’s no guarantee they would’ve even ended up living in the same part of the country in retirement.

There are probably happier ways to frame this, but to me, a Steve who didn’t decide to start a taskforce on a whim to show up the mouthy blond haole detective in his dad’s garage? A Steve who stayed in the Navy instead? Any way I turn it, that sounds like a much lonelier and ultimately less fulfilled Steve to me. (And also a Steve who is probably EVEN MORE messed up mentally because he never got the time or support network to allow him to start healing.)

#anon #ask #this message sounds a little like it was cut off so i hope that wasn't the case!#*#fjdkfd reading back over the ask i'm not even sure i addressed its main points but i'm going to stop word vomiting now #me: oh! interesting! i have some thoughts on this and can definitely answer it in one paragraph max #me thirty minutes later: [accidentally wrote a full buzzfeed article nobody asked for]

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wheres-the-pool-ladder · 4 years

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The Sycorax Killed and Saved the Time Lords, and Also Killed Clara

The title is mostly a joke, but hear me out.

Warning: Major Spoilers for a number of series finales.

Literally every New Who Master episode wouldn’t have happened if Ten hadn’t lost his hand in the sword fight against the Sycorax. Hell, a lot of New Who would be changed. There are several points in the timeline where the Doctor might have just straight up died.

Because Jack found the Doctor’s severed hand, and used it to track him. Jack finally catching up to the Doctor caused the Tardis to fly all the way to the end of the universe just to shake him off. This wouldn’t have happened had there been no hand to find. Which means they never would have come across Professor Yana, who wouldn’t have opened the chameleon arch and become the Master and then steal the Doctor’s Tardis. So the entirety of the three-part series 3 finally wouldn’t have happened, since the Master’s still stuck as a human at the end of the universe. (As an aside, The Lazarus Experiment wouldn’t have happened either, since Tish only got the job working for Lazarus because of Saxon. So she wouldn’t have ended up on the news, thus never prompting Francine to call Martha about it.)

Martha likely continued traveling with the Doctor, since she had left to be there with her family after the trauma they endured during the Year That Never Was. They may or may not run into Donna, since without the metacrisis, Dalek Caan doesn’t need to manipulate events surrounding her. Let’s say they do. Turn Left doesn’t happen since events aren’t converging on Donna. But all of reality’s at stake, so Rose would have to find another way of warning the Doctor.

Now, the show could’ve likely ended at series 4, since the metacrisis wouldn’t have happened without the hand, so the whole of reality could’ve ended up destroyed. But let’s assume they find a way to save reality since A) Dalek Caan had set the whole thing up to betray the Daleks anyway, and B) without the hand Ten would’ve regenerated into Eleven, who had managed to save the Earth from the Atraxi in 20 minutes without his sonic or Tardis while dealing with post-regenerative trauma, so he’d probably figure out how to stop Davros. Since there’s no TenToo, the Doctor probably wouldn’t leave Rose at Bad Wolf Bay, so she may end up traveling with him again. This may prompt Martha to leave since she might feel like the third wheel now that the man she fancies has reunited with the woman he loves. Donna would likely stay, since she doesn’t need to have her memory erased.

So we move onto The End of Time, which wouldn’t have happened. Plain and simple. The Master’s still stuck at the end of the universe, so the whole reviving him wouldn’t have happened. The Doctor doesn’t need to stall for time after The Waters of Mars (which probably wouldn’t have ended the way it did, as he’s likely still traveling with Donna and Rose), so he never marries Elizabeth I, so the very end of the Shakespeare Code doesn’t happen either. Liz One still remains the Virgin Queen, and the Doctor doesn’t regenerate, but they’re already Eleven, so...

Since the Tardis doesn’t get completely obliterated by the Doctor regenerating, he doesn’t crash into Amelia Pond’s garden and then end up returning 12 years later due to the Tardis repairing. Maybe different circumstances cause Amy and Rory to become companions, maybe not. If not, then River wouldn’t exist, so Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead never occurs.

Gonna skip series 6 for a minute and move onto Clara. Since the Master’s still stuck at the end of the universe, Missy isn’t able to give Clara the Doctor’s number. So Clara never travels with the Doctor and jumps into his time stream, becoming Oswin and Victorian Clara, so the Doctor never tries to find her in the first place. She also never ends up dying in the Trap Street. So the Sycorax started the chain of events that led to Clara’s death. The Doctor may have ended up dying in the Dalek Asylum if he hadn’t met Oswin. If he survives, the lack of Amy and Rory means he doesn’t end up in the Victorian period to mourn them, so he doesn’t meet the Great Intelligence. This would also end up changing Classic Who a tiny bit, since Eleven accidentally gave the GI the idea that the London Underground is a “key strategic weakness”, which they use in The Web of Fear. So The Bells of Saint John doesn’t happen either. Neither the GI nor the Doctor have any reason to be there. The Name of the Doctor doesn’t happen either, since the GI doesn’t try to enter the Doctor’s time stream, which means Clara would have no reason to enter it. Paradoxes are confusing.

Even if the Doctor had met the GI in Victorian London, this might mean the GI succeeds at rewriting the Doctor’s timeline. Let’s say he and whoever his companion is manages to find a way and move on.

If TNotD doesn’t happen, or they stop the GI, The Day of the Doctor might still happen. If it doesn’t, then the Time Lords are dead, so we can thank the Sycorax for the Time Lords being alive for a while. It would happen without Ten though, since in canon Ten is somewhere between The Water’s of Mars and The End of Time, so Journey’s End has already happened, and he’s regenerated in this universe. So we have 33% less bickering. Current Companion may still inspire the Doctor to try to save Gallifrey. If that does happen, then the Time Lords would still try to come through the cracks in time, prompting the Silence to try to kill the Doctor, and trying to blow up the Tardis would cause those very cracks in time. Paradoxes are still confusing. They probably wouldn’t be able to kill him at Lake Silencio, since River might not exist if the Doctor hasn’t met Amy. If he has, then that likely goes the same way as canon. If he hasn’t, maybe they would have succeeded in blowing up the Tardis, since the Doctor only noticed the cracks because he met Amy. So the Silence cause the universe to never exist, while simultaneous causing another paradox by preventing the very events that led to them blowing up the Tardis.

If they don’t succeed in erasing the universe, the Doctor would likely stay on Trenzalore longer than he had in canon, since he doesn’t need (or rather, doesn’t think he needs) more regenerations yet. He still thinks he’s got one left. He may end up regenerating into Twelve while on Trenzalore, which may end up triggering the whole gifting-the-Doctor-more-regenerations thing at some point down the line. So then we end up with Thirteen.

Post-Trenzalore, the Doctor doesn’t meet Missy. The Master’s still stuck at the end of the universe, and even if they weren’t, the Doctor doesn’t know Clara, so Danny’s death (if it even happens) doesn’t cause them to search for the afterlife.

Assuming DotD happens, since the Master’s still stuck at the end of the universe, Simm!Master wouldn’t have been able to leave Gallifrey, and never got stuck on the Monasian ship where he encountered the Doctor and Missy. So he never regenerates into Missy, and the Doctor never goes to the Mondasian ship to test Missy’s ability to be good. The Doctor Falls never happens, and Bill never gets turned into a Cyberman. This also means she never gets turned into a Pilot by Heather, so she never gets to go on adventures with her space girlfriend. The Doctor might have never even met Bill, since they’re not guarding the vault at St. Luke’s University. The Doctor doesn’t regenerate, but she’s already Thirteen, so...

Since they don’t regenerate, the Doctor doesn’t fall out of the Tardis and meet the Fam. Series 11 doesn’t happen.

Since the Master was never on the Mondasian ship, they never regenerate into the Dhawan!Master. So they never go back to Gallifrey and hack into the Matrix, learning about the Timeless Child. The Master doesn’t kill the Time Lords. So the Sycorax started the chain of events that led to the Time Lord’s death. The Doctor may or may not find out later, depending on whether the Time Lords keep “granting” them more regenerations just to keep the secret.

TL;DR: The Sycorax are responsible for every bad thing that’s happened to the Doctor from series 3 onward, paradoxes are super confusing, and the Doctor needs to up their sword fighting skills.

To quote Mabel Pines: “Time travel, man! Why you gotta be so complicated?”

#doctor who #the doctor #the master #Jack Harkness #clara oswald #the christmas invasion #long post #at first i had only realized that the time lords and clara would be alive and the master would be stuck at the end of the universe #as well as the metacrisis never happening #but as i kept writing i kept noticing more and more things that would change #i don't think rtd realize how big an impact this one decision would have #not even really the decision to chop off the doctor's hand #but the decision to use the hand in later episodes #cause the episode utopia is where this snowball really starts rolling

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