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river-bottom-nightmare · 3 years

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Nightwing #81 Review

i swear i actually thought no one was interested so i didn’t write one but a grand total of two (2) people said they wanted to read it, so here it is. honestly, my opinion’s been going a bit downhill, but the art is really cool and there are some decent parts so. holding out i guess? i really hope taylor has an end goal or at least a cohesive plan, otherwise i don’t see this series going anywhere i’ll particularly enjoy

the cover is very straightforward in its imagery, this villain has nightwing in the palm of his hand, easily manipulated, easily controlled no matter the action dick thinks he’ll take.

what i find interesting is the colour: both previously and heavily in this issue, the colourist has chosen to make pink this villain’s main colour, with different shades of pink as accents. so why the red in the cover? possibly to just make it more eye-grabbing, though one could argue that pink is even more eye-catching than red. maybe to convey a sense of dread or fear that pink won’t fully get across. either way, it’s definitely a decision i’m curious about.

so melinda zucco is in a high enough political position within bludhaven that she is next in line to become the mayor after the previous mayor died and dick just,,,,didn’t have any idea she existed? dick didn’t know anything about her? forget dick’s own brilliant detective skills, forget his doggedness at anything zucco related, you’re telling me bruce never found her and told dick about her? maybe he wouldn’t have now, but back when dick was a young kid, he definitely would have at least made dick aware of her existence, to let dick know and ask if he wanted to interfere with her life or anything.

i have a thought about zucco’s facial expressions. she is very much stone-cold poker face throughout the entire issue. the only time i see her pull a different expression is near the end when dick corners her against a wall with an arm around her throat.

this is most certainly intentional, what with the varied and intense expressions we see on other characters, dick most prominently. i’m wondering what exactly is the creative team’s reasoning behind this. in these panels, zucco is meeting with the most dangerous, powerful, near-bloodthirsty man in all of bludhaven and becoming the mayor of the city respectfully. in both of these panels, there is barely a hint of emotion in her face: no fear, no determination, no satisfaction. it’s just odd, considering the circumstances she’s in, regardless of any training recieved.

just spitballing here but. like. from what i’ve read so far, dick doesn’t really seem like bludhaven’s guardian angel. more like when peter parker first put on spandex and blindly stepped out into new york.

dick, how exactly can you underestimate someone from one move. so he caught your escrima. anyone with enhanced reflexes can do that. you still don’t know how he can actually fight, and this is shown in the next set of panels.

i just don’t like the wording here. dick’s “underestimated” him, but beats him up easy in the next page. in addition, i don’t know much about combat, but i would assume it would take more than one move to determine exactly what an opponent’s skill level is, made even more complex when you add physical enhancements and metahumans and aliens into the mixture.

idk my first thought when i saw that he caught the stick was “ah ok he’s enhanced” because obviously he couldn’t have reacted fast enough if he wasn’t (as there are few people trained enough to catch it on human reflexes alone.) then the wording in the next panel, i’ve underestimated him, made me think “oh no ok so he’s not enhanced, he’s just a really good fighter and can give dick a run for his money in a fight.” then, it turns out my first assumption was proven correct in the next panel. it just comes across as misleading to me.

(also sidenote but his curls are cute.)

have i praised the art enough in this series? no, i have not.

i adore the way this is laid out and illustrated. without even having to read the text, the action sequence is visually engaging and intense, and easily followable from one panel to the next. dick’s physical expertise comes through quite efficiently, and i love the special attention shown to draw our attention to dick’s escrima in the bottom right corner.

also that move in the middle row leftmost panel that’s the mcu black widow move to get up off the ground it was the first thing i noticed and it made me laugh; thought it was worth noting

i’m really loving dick’s escrima sticks in this run. they’re just so multipurpose, it’s hilarious and exhilarating. kinda reminds me of bruce’s belt, the way the button in the middle does eevveeerrryyytthhiinngg.

got a problem? don’t worry! dick’s installed a feature into his escrima that can fix that! (i like thinking dick helped make them it makes me happy and makes my engineer!dick side satisfied)

yawn. your big heart is your one true weakness yadda yadda the fact that you care will be used against you blah blah we get it. jesus can the villains please find a different weakness to exploit, this is getting old.

i need dick’s capacity to empathize and care and love to stop being a weakness that villains sneer about. bonus points if dick saves everyone anyway, either because of or despite his great big heart and the villain is surprised by the goodness of mankind or some shit like that.

i need it to be a strength, right from the get-go. the fact that he cares so incredibly much should be an asset that dick has and will use. he’s a very complex character with years of background, it can’t possibly be that hard to find another weakness of his.

ooooh this is cool, gosh i absolutely love this.

because what exactly is the reader doing? we are seeing the fear in dick’s face, just as this villain intended. even better, we’re seeing the reflection of it from the villain’s glossy mask, telling us exactly what we’re seeing and exactly what he likes so much about it.

dick’s standing up straight, shoulders drawn back, looking up at this villain’s face with determination and resolve, but his suit is tattered. one eye looks to be swollen. his hair is falling limply around his eyes, as opposed to the curls from earlier. his escrima aren’t even part of the main focus, instead blending into the side of the mask in the outer corners of the mask’s eyes, which tells you exactly how big of a threat they are to this villain.

poor bitewing’s quite alarmed.

also on second thought why would you bring your puppy out like this, when you know you’re gonna end up fighting someone in the suit. a) how many grey three-legged adorable little puppies live in the bludhaven area dick? and how easy will it be to connect the doggo running around with nightwing with the doggo that dick grayson owns? and 2) is this puppers trained? does she have fighting experience? how exactly can you ensure she will survive this highly stressful situation?

dick take better care of your dog

you know what? i was with tim on this one. why exactly is dick so optimistic and trusting about the people of bludhaven? bludhaven, which has been described as gotham’s smaller, smellier, more corrupt sister city once or twice. it’s not just the corrupt people in power, the entire system needs to change and people need to have faith and hope in order for them to come together, espcially if they’ve been living in conditions like how bludhaven has been described. from how clueless dick is about his own goddamn city, i can tell he hasn’t been here long.

it was a nice moment of hope, i’ll admit. but it was a tad unrealistic for me.

also it was in a weird place in the comic. this sort of confrontation and big get-together of the people to rejuvenate hope in each other feels like it should come near the end of a run, if not the end of an issue. certainly not in the first third of an issue. the pacing’s a bit off to me.

loyal little puppy patiently waiting for her human to wake up. i love her so much.

no it’s not. it’s bitewing.

living for this t-shirt honestly. do comics of dc characters exist in the dc universe? they must if the mug and the shirt are any indication

(now i’m imagining the first batman movie that came out in the dc universe and bruce just. being so offended at who they chose to play him.)

well, yes. but when a group of people are put through hellish conditions over and over again, they soon become desensitized to the pain and terror of their everyday lives in order to both stay sane and keep their life relatively stable, and part of that becomes ignoring or blocking out anything that isn’t directly important to you or your loved ones. having a bleeding heart will most likely get you killed in a city like bludhaven if you don’t have the same skills that vigilantes have.

and of course, people are more than capable of coming together and rallying under their city’s vigilante after seeing the good they’ve done and how they’ve helped the people, but that sort of trust takes time and effort to build. dick also had the whole ric arc and was gone for a while, which has been referenced several times in this particular issue in fact. that’s not going to make bludhaven’s citizens any more likely to trust him.

maybe i’m being a bit harsh but this comic is comic off as a bit too idealistic for the amount of change nightwing can do in a city given the present and past circumstances as well as nightwing’s own abilities. even dick grayson can’t pull off everything.

ok seriously this needs to stop this needs to stop.

right now, dick reminds me of oliver queen in the few episodes of the cw’s arrow i watched. he does the punchy-kicky-fighty and occasionally has smart insights due to the skills he gained from his past that he certainly definitely totally has but only ever exhibits once, while his team does all of the background research and information gathering and actual work.

this is dick’s city. if he has the same intelligence, worth ethic, and stubbornness in this run that he’s been shown to possess all his life, then he knows this city inside out. he’ll have meticulous notes organized in a ridiculously efficient system, he’ll have scouted out zucco long before this started, he’ll have known when anything big happened in the bludhaven political landscape in an instant.

i’m really not liking exactly how much dick’s relying on babs and tim in this series. sure, he loves them and cares for them and likes working cases with them. but he always pulls his own weight, has always been a mentor figure to tim instead of what’s weirdly becoming the other way around, and takes point on the cases in his own damn city.

what kind of weak-ass oracle is this?? redacted fbi files are child’s play. babs used to hack into the fbi for fun. this one particular picture is so out of character i want to laugh.

reading this series has unfortunately made me confront that, despite the tiny fluid acrobat dick that lives in my head 24/7, canon dick is impossibly 5′10 and muscular at that.

mmm. titties.

tim said hydrate or die-drate bitch

love how dick’s doing all this intense brooding and stuff meanwhile bitewing is curled up in a soft comfy post having the time of her life.

you don’t understand i would legitimately kill myself for her.

also the lighting in this one scene is cool. the blue tones come off so well.

they’re just. so multipurpose!! they can become a bo staff. they can cut glass. they can become a grapple hook/line. they can electrify someone. they’re a funky colour. i’m becoming really attached to these things. absolute solid choice in weaponry.

if you’re gonna write up every rookie mistake dick has made during this series to head trauma, then dick shouldn’t be out and about at all, much less in costume.

see this? this is just straight up wrong. dick most definitely should have spotted her, and would have immediately moved to take her down.

scratch that, dick would have done a full check of the building, because he knows not to break into places uninformed, especially if the owner of the apartment was raised by the maroni family. someone as highly trained, experienced, and competent as dick wouldn’t have done this.

and if you chalk it up to head injury, (which is probably true), than his ~love interest~ and his little brother should have done a much better job making sure he stays in his house.

zucco looks so awkward it’s fucking hilarious

are those shadows that mimic a domino mask, to both reflect and hide the fact that his mask is missing? are those bruises around his eyes, to show how, despite what good he’s doing, being nightwing is hurting dick right now?

(isn’t his domino mask supposed to have an electrifying feature that keeps people from removing them?)

it’s a little odd how the three known villains of this series are all coloured in warm shades, more specifically pink. meanwhile, in earlier issues, dick’s fondest memories were in pink, memories of him and alfred in particular. why has the colour pink changed from signifying something benevolent to something malicious? idk i hope this gets explained later.

this i did like. either it’s just a display of brute force in anger, or dick slipped the ties and pulled them off once untied. both ways, it’s an unintentional display of power, and i think that’s kinda cool.

again. dick is,,,tall? sort of? weirdddd

i’m so glad most readers are unified in the notion that this was the absolute dumbest fucking thing.

i’m hoping this gets disproved or something soon. and i hope dick doesn’t fall for it, because he definitely knows better than to take something as important as this at face value.

what exactly is taylor trying to accomplish here? why is he trying to go back on what we all knew was a happy, loving childhood and throw strife and disharmony and (what i’m assuming will be) infidelity? this will not end well at all.

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,,,,,this review got way longer than expected lol. and i realize most of it just became me ranting. i guess i didn’t realize how ticked off i was originally. fingers crossed it gets better.

tag list: @woahjaybird @birdy-bat-writes @anothertimdrakestan @subtleappreciation @screennamealreadyused @bikoncon @pricetagofficial @catxsnow @thatsthewhump @xatanna-troy @red-hood-redemption @capricorn-stark @batshit-birds @comics-observer

#nightwing 81 #nightwing #dick grayson #dc #nightwing 81 meta #nightwing meta #dick grayson meta #dc meta #river thinks too hard

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awhitehead17 · 4 years

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Memory Matters

Tim & Ra’s, Tim & Dick & Jason, Amnesia, Amnesiac Tim, Angst, confusion, Suspicions, Small bit of manipulation.

Summary: When Tim wakes up with no memory of his life, he has no idea on what to do or think until a man greets him and offers some guidance. From that very first meeting Tim knew something was off about him and he comes to learn that everything is not what it seems.

A/N: This is done for 'amnesia' on my Batfam bingo card and also developed from an ask I got a few weeks ago. This is part 1 of 2.

Enjoy! :D

Waking up was strange.

He tried processing some of his thoughts as he takes in the unfamiliar ceiling above him and finds that nothing comes to mind. There were no thoughts but only the ones he’s thinking now. What was going on? What happened?

Initial panic starts spiralling inside of him once he realises that he can’t remember what happened. The panic gets worse when he realises he couldn’t remember anything. What was going on? Where was he? What happened?

He could feel his heart pounding inside of his chest and his breathing becoming quicker with each passing second. Why was it hard to breathe? What was going on? He couldn’t he breathe, why can’t he breathe?

In the back of his mind some thoughts filter through, ones that didn’t feel like his own. Control your breathing, in through the nose and out through the mouth. You need to calm down. Those thoughts seemed to be controlled and not panicked. They didn’t help much though because he kept panicking. He was now beginning to become light-headed, his heart was pounding and his chest felt tight. Why couldn’t he remember anything? What was going on?

In through the nose and out through the mouth.

That thought came in his mind again and not knowing what else to do he listened to it. Breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth like it instructed. After a while he becomes thankful that he listened to the odd thought in his mind because soon enough he could breathe again, the tightness in his chest eases and his heart also slows down as his head clears.

Once he seemed to be in control, he pushes himself up into a sitting position and surveys his surroundings. He was currently on a plush bed with a thin blanket over him. In front of him was a wide rectangular room. A desk and chair were pushed against the adjacent wall where a small window was above it, a door was on the opposite side and on the wall opposite to the bed there was another door.

There wasn’t much else to take in, the walls were a cream yellow, the furniture was brown, and the bedding was a deep red colour. While sat on the bed he felt out of place, he was somewhere he couldn’t remember and surrounded by things he didn’t know. It felt wrong. He felt wrong and he couldn’t describe why. Though it wasn’t hard to guess that his memory problem was having an impact on his feelings.

He needs to find out more. He needs answers.

Staying on the bed wasn’t getting him anywhere so he decides to get up. Once on his feet he finds that he’s dressed in simple clothes, a plain red shirt and loose black pants with nothing on his feet. He moves gingerly about the room, peering at the furniture trying to pick up on anything that would tell him more. There were no pictures hung up in the room and there seemed to be nothing personal lying about which could give him some clues.

However, just as he was about to enter the door opposite the bed, the door to his right opens. It reveals a man in a long green and gold robe who strides into the room like he owns it. As the unknown man walks in he feels all of his hair stand on end and not knowing what else to do he quickly creates distance between them by standing on the opposite side of the bed.

A tense atmosphere develops within the room as they stare at one another, both silently observing the other. He can’t help but notice that no good feelings come from seeing this man. He felt like he knew him but again, it didn’t feel right, it felt wrong like something was off. He simply couldn’t remember what or why to justify those feelings.

“Nice to see you finally awake. How do you feel?” The man asks.

He swallows, “Where am I?”

The stranger doesn’t seem surprised by the question or his bluntness. “I understand that you may be confused, please allow me to explain.” He starts to slowly pace the room, sending glances at him with every few steps. “You were involved in an accident. There were… bad people after you, ones that wanted to hurt you. They nearly did but luckily I was nearby and got you away, unfortunately not without damage. From the accident you lost your memories. You’re here because it’s safe and because I want to help you.”

He blinks at the man as he explains. He’s lost his memories. Something bad happened and now he can’t remember anything because of it. What was so bad to cause something like that to happen? Who was after him and why? He had so many questions he wanted to ask but he found he couldn’t voice any of them. The man opposite him seems to understand his silence.

“It’s going to take time to recover. It’s undetermined if you’ll ever get your memories back, but know this: you are safe here. No one can hurt you anymore, I promise.”

He doesn’t know why, but those words send chills down his spine.

Somehow he finds his voice. “What’s my name?” He asks in the end. While he certainly wants to know the major stuff he also needs to know the little stuff, all the little details he no longer knows but feels like he really should. He can work his way up to the big stuff.

The man’s gaze pierces him, “Your name is Timothy Drake and I am Ra’s al Ghul.” He pauses and heads back towards the door he originally walked through. “Now come with me. We can talk and start getting you up to speed with things you would like to know.”

He hesitates, going with this man doesn’t sit right with him but what other choice does he have? He can’t remember anything and if this man can tell him the answers he needs, then why not?

In the end he cautiously walks towards him, his bare feet stepping on the thin carpet on the floor until he reaches the door, then together they exit the room and head down a corridor he unsurprisingly doesn’t know.

Time seems to blend together after waking up with no memories for the first time. Tim plods through each day, trying to keep himself busy but most of all trying to learn who he was. Despite his amnesia he still remembers a lot of things, he still has those basic functions where he can read, write and name things. The only thing he seems to be missing is information about himself, his family, friends, basically his life.

It frustrates him that he can’t remember them, he really wants to but his mind is blank every time he tries to think about them. Ra’s doesn’t help in that regards either. The man doesn’t offer information to Tim about his personal life before the accident. He does, however, help Tim everywhere else he can. Ra’s teaches Tim about the world which he had forgotten, teaches him some history, how to cook, what types of nature there was, he even teaches him some self-defence and how to fight.

Even though the man comes across as friendly and helps him, Tim still gets an uneasy feeling every time he’s near Ra’s. Even though it’s been weeks since he first woke up, the feeling hasn’t gone away. It also doesn’t help that there’s a voice in the back of his mind telling him he should be getting out of there, that he should get as far away from Ra’s as far as possible.

Tim’s never listened to that voice because where would he go? He’s living in a place that’s in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nothing but vast emptiness. If he did leave he would be on his own with no hopes of having shelter, food, transport or anything! Also, if he did leave how would he start finding his family? How would he know where to go? He’s sure there was a way somehow but until he works out the solution, he’s stuck where he was for now.

It’s now, weeks after Tim first woke up, that something major happens. He and Ra’s were in what resembles a living room playing a game of chess when the window suddenly explodes into thousands of tiny pieces.

Tim startles so badly he actually falls off the sofa. There in front of him were two men, one was dressed like a bat who had a cowl over his head and the other wore black and blue spandex with a mask over half of his face. Next to him Ra’s stands up straight, whips out a sword from somewhere and stands defensively against the two attackers.

“Enough is enough Ra’s, let him go!” The black and blue man snarls. He bares his teeth and gets into a defensive position opposite them.

Ra’s looks over his shoulder and down at Tim, “Timothy, remember when you first woke and I told you that bad people wanted to hurt you?”

All Tim could do was nod in answer. His voice was caught in his throat as he stares at the two men in front of them. There was an unfamiliar tugging happening inside of him, there was something about them but Tim couldn’t put his finger on what it was. They seemed familiar but he doesn’t know how.

Ra’s authoritative voice breaks his thoughts, “It was these exact people who wanted you harm you. Go to your room and do not come out until I come and get you. Understand?”

Tim numbly nods again, still staring at the other two men with wide eyes. Before he could react further the black and blue man was shouting and rushing towards them, Ra’s meets him halfway and in a blink they were engaged in a fight. The man dressed like a bat soon joins them fighting.

Not knowing what else to do Tim flees and heads towards his bedroom, doing exactly what Ra’s told him to do. As he runs through the corridors the tugging feeling doesn’t go away, it only seems to intensify.

He knows those people, somehow he knows them, but Ra’s said they wanted to hurt him. Did he know them because they had been after him before he had amnesia? In the back of his mind something was screaming at him, telling hm to go back and fight, this is a chance to get free and to get away from Ra’s.

He ignores it and runs into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him as he passes through it. After shutting it, Tim slumps against the door with a heavy sigh. Who were those people and why did they seem familiar? That tugging feeling was still inside of him and it’s like an itch he can’t scratch, they mean something to him but what?

Tim doesn’t get to dwell on his thoughts for very long because suddenly there was a bang on the other side of the door. Tim yelps in surprise and darts away from the door just in time as it gets flung open. A different guy from the other two men enters his room. This man was dressed in a leather jacket, body armour, gun holsters, the guns he happened to be carrying and a red helmet. The third stranger looks around the room as if searching for something and pauses when he finds Tim standing a couple feet away staring at him.

Tim has no idea what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t the way the guy relaxes and puts his guns away. “Thank god. Right, we don’t have much time but the planes out back so let’s go.”

Before he could react, the helmet guy was turning around and exiting the room. Tim doesn’t follow as he’s completely frozen in place. A few moments later he reappears at the doorway, like he realised that Tim wasn’t following him.

“What the fuck Tim? Come on, let’s go, now’s not really the time to get lazy.”

Tim blinks at the man in bewilderment. He knows Tim’s name and just like with the other two, that tugging feeling inside of him was there. He knows this guy too but once again he can’t place who he was or why he felt familiar. Then again he may know his name because he was after him for bad reasons.

Tim’s lack of response seems to agitate the man because suddenly he was storming towards Tim and grabbing his wrist. “Alright replacement, let’s go. Enough of this shit.”

By the time Tim gets over himself he was being dragged down the hallway. After a few stumbling steps, Tim starts to fight back. “Hey! Let me go asshole!” He starts hitting the man’s wrist to try and loosen his grip, he kicks out towards his legs in hopes of gaining some advantage. The guy was huge in comparison to him, so Tim would have to get sneaky in order to break free.

“Ow hey! What the fuck? Tim!”

Tim twists out of the grip and uses some of the moves Ra’s had taught him to get away. Once free of the man’s grip he jumps backwards and creates some space between them. “Leave me alone, I have no idea who you are but I’m not going anywhere with you!”

The man falters at his words, “What? What the hell do you mean Tim?”

Tim goes to respond but doesn’t get the chance to. The man before him was speaking up again, muttering “oh shit” before turning around and running down the corridor.

“Timothy, are you alright.”

Tim looks over his shoulder to find Ra’s walking towards him with a concerned look on his face.

“I’m fine. I didn’t get hurt.”

His wrist was a little red from being grabbed but apart from that he was fine physically. Mentally, however, was another story.

Ra’s refuses to give the answers he want. It’s been a couple days since the attack and Ra’s wouldn’t tell him anything. It was grating on Tim’s nerves. Not only was Ra’s suddenly being very secretive but the tugging feeling inside of him has not disappeared since those masked men attacked. Tim can’t explain how or why, but he knows those men somehow.

It doesn’t help that Ra’s is being secretive about the whole thing. He wouldn’t tell Tim anything about them or even why they attacked other than ‘they wanted to take you and harm you’. Ra’s had been secretive prior to the attack anyway, there were things he refused to tell Tim about regarding his memories (particularly anything personal such as family and friends) but now the man just seems on edge all the time and would not communicate with Tim like he had been before.

Tim had been wary of Ra’s before the attack, but now he was just downright suspicious of the man. Something was going on and it was something to do with those masked people Ra’s refused to tell him anything about.

Another few days had gone by by the time Ra’s finally approaches him. He was sat in his bedroom, minding his own business by thinking about the life he couldn’t remember, when the man walks in. Whilst he doesn’t say anything against the actions, Tim hates it when Ra’s walks in without an invitation, it makes him feel like he’s trapped in the one place he feels the most secure.

“Timothy,” Ra’s greets him.

Tim sits up straighter on his bed but doesn’t move to get up. “Ra’s. What can I do for you?”

“There are matters I need to attend to, which means I will be leaving for a few days.” The man informs him. “I have security surrounding the area just in case another attack occurs while I am away to help you feel safe, however once I return we will be leaving and staying at another residence. Please be prepared to leave as soon as I return.”

Before Tim could say anything the man leaves the room. Tim blinks at the now empty space feeling annoyed, so what, he doesn’t get a say in the matter? He’s just expected to drop everything and go with Ra’s? Of course he doesn’t have a lot to begin with but that wasn’t the point.

The way he treats Tim seems to be more like a prisoner or a slave that’s supposed to be nothing but obedient. He doesn’t know how long this behaviour had been going on for before he recognised it but it certainly adds to the list of reasons why he’s more suspicious of Ra’s than before.

Ra’s leaves that night and for the first time Tim finds that he’s on his own. Well he wasn’t technically on his own, there were others about but Tim wouldn’t interact with them so he may as well be on his own anyway. Instead of going to bed like he normally would Tim decides to explore.

With Ra’s away it means he has more leeway to explore the place he’s been living in since he woke up with amnesia. There were rooms which Ra’s wouldn’t allow him in, at first Tim had respected that, understood that it wasn’t his place but now he doesn’t give a fuck. These locked rooms just mean more secrets and Tim wants to know them.

He goes to one of the rooms and picks the lock with some tweezers he had found, this was something he didn’t even realise he could do but yet it felt so natural to do it. Tim walks into the room and closes the door behind him.

He surveys the room in curiosity, finding that there were multiple safes scattered around the room attached to the walls all at different heights, there was a large set of draws pushed into one corner of the room and finally in the centre of the room was a long metal table. Tim has no idea what this room could be used for. It was clean and not dusty but there wasn’t anything that stood out to him.

He goes over to the draws and experimentally tugs one and blinks in surprise when it opens up. Tim couldn’t help but snort, even without his memories he knows that this is just poor security. Whoever made this, probably Ra’s, didn’t think very hard about how to keep unwanted hands from wondering where they shouldn’t be. Either that, or he was too confident in his ability to stop something from entering.

The first draw has nothing in it. The second has several metal pieces in it, they were what Tim would call ninja stars but these were in the shape of a bat. He picks one up gently and weighs it in his hand, as he does a strange feeling washes over him. The metal pieces felt familiar, like he knows what they are and where they came from, though once again he just can’t remember the details. He puts it back and moves on.

The third draw has more of a variety of items which all seems to be communication gear. There were a few different earpieces, a walkie-talkie and a headset of sorts. What catches Tim’s eye was the little black box that was sat there. There were a couple different buttons on the side, it has a screen on the front which was dark but apart from it didn’t seem anything special. Tim pockets it, deciding that he can play with it later on.

Having had enough of the room, Tim closes the draw and exits the room, making sure to shut the door behind him. He can come back another time to try and work out a way into the safes around the room. He locks the door and moves onto the next room he’s not allowed in.

After searching through three rooms he’s not allowed in, Tim calls it a night. Even though Ra’s is gone and will be for a couple of days, Tim doesn’t want to push his luck. He can explore the rest tomorrow after some sleep.

Once he’s locked the third door he heads back to his bedroom. When he gets there he flops down onto the bed prepared to fall asleep in that position. Tim doesn’t though, because a couple seconds later he remembers the device he had pocketed from the first room.

He brings it back out and studies it. The device wasn’t much bigger than his palm, there were no obvious marks on it to say what it was nor where there any labels saying what the buttons were. Tim fiddles with it, clicks a couple buttons and tries to turn it on.

Tim spends five minutes trying to get it to work. When it doesn’t do anything he huffs in frustration, “Well this is just stupid. Unless it’s out of charge or something.”

Unknowing to him at the time, his voice is the thing that turns it on. Tim almost drops the device when the screen suddenly lights up, seconds later there was a symbol appearing on the screen in the shape of a bat. Tim frowns, what was it with all the bat shaped stuff? Was all this from that man dressed as a bat who attacked him days ago? Why did Ra’s have his stuff?

Tim fiddles with the device further but doesn’t get anywhere with it. All that happens was the bat symbol stays on the screen. In the end he gives up and decides to actually go to bed, deciding he can work out what it is in the morning.

When Tim wakes up the next morning the first thing he does is check the device. He’s a little disappointed to find that the same bat symbol as before was still on the screen. He puts it down and starts making a mental plan of what he’s going to do for that day as he gets ready.

His mental plan soon goes out the window 10 minutes later as he’s having breakfast. He was in the middle of eating his toast when he could hear commotion going on around the house. In an instant Tim’s alert. Could it be those masked men from the other day again? Could it be someone else? Hopefully the security Ra’s had set up do their job and stops them from getting to him.

Just in case, Tim grabs the nearest thing to him that he could use as a weapon which happened to be a butter knife. Not the most dangerous thing in the world but for now it’ll do.

Tim stays standing in the kitchen trying his hardest to listen to what was going on outside. There were shouts and what seemed to be gunfire but then it all suddenly stops and everything goes silent. Tim wasn’t sure what he was expecting but the front door opening and a familiar voice shouting in was not something he thought about.

“Tim? Tim you in here?” It shouts. As Tim hears the door close he moves from his spot and tucks himself behind the kitchen door in attempts to hide himself. Despite the voice seeming familiar he had no idea who it was.

“Timmy, come on buddy, we’re here.” Another voice speaks out. It was another voice that seemed so familiar yet Tim still couldn’t work out who it belonged to.

“Right, I’ll check the top floor and you scout down here. Yell if you find him, who knows what else has happened to him.”

Tim stops breathing as he hears footsteps heading towards the kitchen. He listens as the person moves about the living room before entering the kitchen to where Tim was hiding. He tightens his grip on the knife getting ready to attack when the person finally comes to view.

It was the black and blue man from the other day. It was the same attackers after all. The figure sweeps the room but as he turns around to leave his eyes catch Tim half hidden by the door. He freezes in place and holds his hands up, “Tim, I know your probably confused kiddo, but I promise I won’t hurt you.”

Tim swallows thickly. There were a mixture of things screaming at him right now, telling him to trust this figure in front of him, that he knows this person, how his words were the truth.

Not moving from his spot Tim glares at him, “What do you want? Who are you?”

“You sent an alert to us last night. Do you remember that? We were nearby ready to come and get you out of here. We’re sorry we didn’t the other day but Ra’s isn’t here right now meaning this is a perfect opportunity for us to go.”

Tim thinks about this, how did he send an alert? The only thing that would have…. his eyes go wide at the realisation. That device with the bat on it was some sort of signal.

He thinks over everything that’s recently happened. How secretive Ra’s has been since these people attacked the first time, how he wouldn’t tell Tim anything about his personal life or who his family were, how the device and bat shaped things were locked up.

“We know each other don’t we?” Tim asks tentatively. When the man smiles and nods Tim carries on. “You’re not going to hurt me then?”

The guy shakes his head, “Absolutely not. Tim… we’re family okay. I’m your brother and so is the other one who’s here with me. We’ve come to take you home.”

Despite Tim not knowing him, even he could pick out the hope in this man’s voice. This was his brother, he does have a family.

But what if he’s lying? He could just be saying that to get Tim to go with him.

“Tim, I know it’s hard to believe but please trust me here. Not only that, but back home we may have a way for you to get your memories back.”

Now that has certainly got Tim’s attention. If there was one thing Ra’s has not offered or even spoken about was getting Tim’s memories back. He just pushed the subject to the side, stating that it’ll only be a matter of time on whether he gets them back or not.

“If I go with you, what’s going to happen?” Tim questions him. There was no way he was going to go with them without not knowing what was going on. Even if the man tells him a load of bullshit, at least it’ll be something.

“We’ll take you home, get you looked at and try to get your memories back. From there I can’t say, it depends on the outcome of whether you get your memories back or not. But the most important thing is that you’ll be home.”

“And I’ll be away from Ra’s?”

“100% away from him.”

Tim swallows thickly and makes a decision. He loosens his grip on the knife and steps out from his hiding place. “Fine.”

If something goes wrong, which is highly likely, Tim will try and get out as soon as he can.

Things become a blur of events from there. They meet with another man, the one with the red helmet who was carrying a bag over his shoulder. The two masks have a quick quiet word while Tim gathers up some of his belongings. Afterwards they leave the house and drive a good 20 minutes away until they come across the plane.

Not having seen anything like this before (from what he can remember), Tim stares at everything. It felt so familiar yet so foreign. In the end he straps into one of the chairs and tries to ignore the looks the two men keep sending his way. Tim still didn’t know whether he could trust them or not, but all he could do now was wait as there was no turning back once they lift off into the air.

When they arrive at their destination Tim is hurried out of the plane and into some sort of cave. There were many floors to the place all with different equipment on them. Workout stuff, computers and monitors, vehicles, costumes, lots of different items… and was that a giant penny?

Tim gapes at everything, hating that again it all feels familiar but yet he doesn’t remember any of it.

“Well?”

The voice snaps Tim out of his staring. He looks ahead to find two men coming towards the trio. The black and blue man instantly steps forwards and addresses them, “We’ve got him and just as predicted Ra’s wasn’t there. The only problem is that he’s still amnesic. He didn’t recognise me and I had to convince him to come.”

The two new men look at him and Tim stares back, fighting the urge to shrink under their gazes. They were both large men who easily tower over him. One had black hair, was wearing a white button up and slacks, the other was green and wearing a blue cape. In the back of his mind Tim knew who these people were but unsurprisingly couldn’t place their names.

The black-haired man addresses him. “Tim, thank you for coming. I understand that it must be confusing but hopefully we can sort everything out.” He raises a hand to his friend, “This is J’onn. He may be able to help you recover your memories if you let him.”

Tim looks him over sceptically. He has a feeling there’s more to it and how he’s not going to like it, however if he wants his memories then he needs to do whatever it takes to get them back.

“How?” Tim questions. He still wants to know the details of course.

“I will have to enter your mind, young one. I can hopefully work out what has been the cause of your amnesia, whether it was a natural cause or forced. To do that, I need permission from you to enter your mind.”

Tim glances at everyone else to see them staring at him. He looks back at J’onn. “If you find the cause would you be able to fix it?”

He gives Tim an earnest look, “I will not lie to you but I cannot promise anything. If I can, I will do my best to fix the problem, however there is a possibility I will not be able to. I cannot say until I have look.”

Tim swallows. He doesn’t like the idea of someone poking around his mind, except he wants his memories back. He needs them back and if this is an opportunity to do so then he has to take it.

“Okay. I give you permission, do whatever you need to if it means getting my memory back.”

After that they make Tim lie down on a bed they have in a medical bay, J’onn stands at one end near his head while the others gather at his feet. Tim blinks up at the ceiling which was soon replaced with J’onn’s face. “I need you to relax and let me in. I will not do anything other than search through your mind for the cause of your memory loss.”

Tim nods his understanding, he takes a breath and lets it out, forcing himself to relax as J’onn places his hands by the sides of his head. Once he touches Tim’s head, Tim’s world goes dark.

#Tim Drake #Ras Al Ghul #dick grayson #Jason Todd #bruce wayne #j'onn j'onzz #amnesia #Amnesiac Tim #confusion #angst #small bit of manipulation #fanfiction #part one of two #batfam bingo 2019

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x-reader-theater · 6 years

Text

I Hate You!

Relationship: Peter Parker X Male!Reader

Summary: Growing up with Peter Parker you had slowly but surely fallen in love! But what happens when a certain superhero comes and tries to ruin it for you?

Warnings: Cursing, homophobic slurs and parents

Word Count: 2,195

A/N: I finally wrote another one! I’m so sorry it took so long, but I just got the chance to write, and a new idea came to me! This is a Male reader insert story, so read if you want to! I really want new requests, so please send them in! They give me life! I hope you can understand why I haven’t been posting recently! School is a bitch! If I missed a warning, please tell me! Please like, reblog, and send in your requests! I love you all! <3

“I hate you,” you say, a smile on your face, a laugh bubbling from your tiny lips. You were on the playground, Peter chasing you around, trying to kiss you, when you dove into a bush. “You’re stupid and I hate you!” You were sitting side by side in the bush, your tiny, child body just small enough where Peter could also fit in the hollowed out bush.

“You don’t hate me!” he says and you pout, crossing your arms and shaking your head.

“Yes I do! You were trying to kiss me! I don’t like that stuff!” You say and Peter crawls over, wrapping his tiny arms around you. They were so small they couldn’t even fit around your shoulders.

He buries his head in your shoulder and lets out a muffled, “I’m sorry. Flash told me to do it.” He looks up, his eyes watering, and says, “I’m not actually stupid, am I?”

You smile and shake your head.

“Good because I don’t like being called names. It makes me sad,” He says and you smile, hugging him.

“I will never call you a mean name again.”

“I hate you!” You scream into the echoing hallway, your declaration of hate making it’s way down the school, and people’s heads were popping out of the doorways. “Get away!” You scream, shielding Peter from the boy in front of you. “You can’t call him that! I won’t let you!”

“Call him what? Fag? Cause that’s what he is! He clearly likes you as well, Fag!” Flash grins and you walk right up to him, pointing a finger in his face.

“You can’t call him names!” You scream, and Peter runs up behind you, grabbing your hand clenched at your side, and he tries to pull you back.

“I can call him whatever I want if it’s true!” He yells and you feel the tears well up in your eyes.

“It’s not true!” You scream, lunging at Flash, but arms wrap around your waist, and you kick and scream, bawling your eyes out, but it’s no use. You look up through tear filled eyes and see Mrs. Holt, who was holding you back, and you start crying again. Peter reaches up and grabs your hand.

You get taken to the office, and sent home with a warning about fighting in the school, and that night, you look up what the word Fag means, and cry yourself to sleep, not because they were mean, but because it was true.

“I hate you! No!” You throw your head back, laughing a full bellied laugh at a joke one of your best friends, Ned Leeds, says.

“But you are such a nerd!” Peter jokes and you laugh, shaking your head.

“If I’m such a nerd I’m taking you both down with me!” You laugh and begin to get up.

Peter’s eyes widen and he all but tackles you back into your seat. “No! Fine! I’m a nerd! And so are you! And so is Ned! We’re all nerds!” He whisper yells and you smiles.

“Good,” you smirk and take a bite of your lunch. Today’s special, Mystery Meat. It tasted awful.

“Well, now that we’ve got that out of the way, I was wondering if you would want to come over to my house. I just got a three thousand piece X-Wing that I want to build!” Ned says and your eyes light up.

“I would love to!” You say and look over at Peter, whose smile is so big, it reaches his eyes.

“Peter?” Ned asks and the boy nods excitedly. You stare at him, shock and awe on your face as you realise something.

You love Peter Parker.

“I HATE YOU!” you scream into your small apartment, before slamming your front door, and run to the stairs that lead up to the roof. You can feel the tears begin to form in your eyes, but you blink them away, not letting them fall until your sneakered foot hits the smooth pavement of the roof. As the tears fall you run to your corner, the one by the fire escape, and sink to the ground, your back against the half wall that surrounded the secluded, but not really, roof. You fold your arms and cry into your elbows, your shoulders shaking intensely, your hoodie soaked through with tears.

You hear something, and look, up, your eyes puffy and red, your tear stained cheeks pushed up by your shocked face, because standing there, in all his spandexed glory, was Spider Man himself. “Hello? Are you okay?” You just sit there shocked. “I’m sorry, I heard crying and I wanted to see if anything was wrong. Obviously something is…” He walks over and holds outs a hand, and you take it, awed at the strength with which he could lift you up.

You run your fingers through your hair and smile gratefully, saying, “Thanks.”

Spidey looks at you shocked for a moment but shakes it off and nods. “Now, what seems to be the matter?”

You bite your lip and look down at the roof. “Um, personal shit, I don’t really wanna talk about it…” You whisper and he just nods.

“Okay. I have nothing to do right now, so I can sit here with you and we just talk or watch the clouds. I just have to go if there’s something happening…” Spider-Man says and you swear it’s almost sheepishly, but you smile and wipe the tears that were no longer falling, but were still there, and you nod.

“Yea. I’d like that.” You talk for hours, and when it finally gets dark, you tell him why you were crying. You told your mom you were gay, and Spider-Man hugs you, and you freeze for a moment, before returning it. When he pulls away, he smiles and tells you he has to patrol again, but he’ll be back sometime. As he leaves you blush and sigh, hugging yourself and smiling, you realize something.

You had a crush on Spider-Man, while also being in love with Peter Parker. You were screwed.

The next time you see Spider-Man, it was right after you said goodbye to Peter. He had come over to study and help you with some Physics project you had to get done by Friday, and seeing as it was Wednesday, you could use all the help you could get.

Sitting on your fire escape, a comic book in hand, you smile and look up at the clouds, thinking about Peter. You loved him. Always did, even before it became harder and harder to see him because of the stupid Stark internship. You didn’t think he even got payed for it, and he still did it every day. To you, it was kind of a waste of time. But you were still in love with the lovable dork, even if he was in love with another girl. He came out as Bi to you when you came out as Gay to him, and you became even closer that day, falling more in love with him than you already were.

You laugh and go back to reading your book, finally getting to the good part, when you hear a voice right next to your ear.

“Whatcha’ readin’?” You scream and jump, throwing your book at the voice, even though it would do much damage. It was a paperback. Suddenly there’s a noise, and your book and thrust back in your face, and you look up to see Spider-Man crouched on the railing to your fire escape, a sheepish look on his masked face. “Sorry…” He says and you smile, laughing, taking your book back. “The webs will dissolve in an hour.”

“It’s okay,” you say, setting it on the desk under your window, on your closed laptop. It wasn’t a great laptop, but you could at least play a few games on it. “I’ve read it so many times I could recite it by heart…” You blush, looking down at the grated floor underneath you, playing with a loose string on the pillow you were using as a cushion.

“What’s it about?” Spider-Man asks, moving to sit down across from you.

You shrug and hug your knees, face still blushed from the scare. “It’s. Um… It-it’s about this superhero who falls in love with this regular guy…” You trail off, cheeks flushing even brighter.

“Oh? Sounds good. Cool representation,” Spider-Man says and you nod, smiling.

“Yea. The regular guy is trans and gay, and the superhero is bisexual. And they’re both dudes.” He nods and you smile.

You sit there for a second, just enjoying the company without speaking, just sitting in company, and you let our mind wander. What was it about Spider-Man that you liked? You had no idea anything about him. You didn’t know his favourite colour, food, or even what borough he lived in. You didn’t even know his name. On the other hand you had Peter, who you knew everything about. You knew his favourite food, Thai, his favourite colour, it was a tie between blue and red, and what borough he lived in, Queens. You knew everything about Peter, including everyone he’s ever liked, like right now, he like one of the most beautiful and popular girls in school. So you could either fall in love with someone you didn’t even know, or stay in love with a man you could never have.

“I… Uh…” Spider-Man mumbles out, breaking the silence and shattering your train of thought. “I need your help…” You nod, telling him to continue. “I, um, like this guy, and I’m not sure if he likes me back…” You sigh and Spider-Man looks away as you shrink into the railing. “What do I do?”

“Well…” You say, gathering your thoughts before giving him your advice. “I think you should just tell him. What the worst that could happen? He rejects you and you stay friends? That wouldn’t be so bad, would it?” Spider-Man shrugs and you see it mask lift slightly in a smile. You fall back into silence, going back to your thoughts of Peter and Spider-Man.

You look up and see Spider-Man, and there’s something different. His mask is rolled up, revealing his smiling mouth. He reaches up and places a gloved hand on your cheek and you lean into it, smiling, and he leans in. You panic for a moment, eyes wide as his are closed, and by the time his lips are on yours, you had closed your eyes, and let your heart go wild. You knew you would need to think about your feelings for this man who you had no idea who he was, and for Peter, but in this moment, this amazingly sweet moment, you didn’t have to feel anything at all. Right now, nothing else in the world mattered, and it was amazing.

When Spider-Man pulls away, your eyes are still closed, and you feel a gust of wind, open your eyes, and he’s gone with the wind, and your thoughts of bliss leave with him, as everything comes crashing down, burying your mind in thoughts of love and heartbreak.

“I HATE YOU!” You hear a girl yell. Looking over you see a girl, tears in her eyes as she screams at Flash, who was just scoffing at her. She storms off and you turn back to little group of friends.

Ned was googling at one of the pretty girls and every time you tried to catch Peter’s eye, he was always looking around at everything but you. It pissed you off. “Isn’t she lovely?” Ned asks and Peter snaps his head away from you, to Ned.

“Hm? I didn’t notice…” He trails off and you roll your eyes. Of course he did. He was practically in love with every pretty girl he ever laid eyes on.

As school came to a close you corner Peter and have him walk you home. As you get to your apartment, you drag him up to the roof and spin to face him, an angry look on your face.

You cross your arms and say, “You’ve been ignoring me all day. What’s up with you? This isn’t like you!”

“And how do you know what I’m like?! And what’s it even to you?” He shouts back and you can feel the tears falling.

“Because I’m your best friend!” You scream and sigh. “And-” You pause, waiting to see if you can even say it out loud for the first time ever. “And- AND I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU!”

Your shoulders rise and fall, your breath heavy from screaming and Peter drops his bag. He runs over to you, and barles you down, flipping you mid air so you land on him, and he kisses you like there’s no tomorrow.

For hours you lay like that looking up at the starless New York sky.

And when Peter gets up, and takes the Spider-Man mask out of his bag you just have to think, this is the best day of your life.

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #peter parker x you #peter parker x male!reader #tom holland #tom holland imagine #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland x male!reader #smh #sm:h #spiderman homecoming #spiderman imagines #spiderman #ned leeds #my work #My writing

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listentotheshityousay · 7 years

Note

protector is literally killing me. it's BEAUTIFUL. people have spent thousands of years trying to put words to the feeling of being in love and you write that Ache so. fucking. beautifully. /I/ hurt just reading it. thank you so much. that being said, (bc ur taste has won me over forever, BLESS), could you rec some of ur favorite bmc fics? (ik u answered an ask with some awhile back- I was wondering if you had any more?) TYSM in advance and i love you+your work to PIECES 💖💖💖💖

this ask delights me endlessly. thank you so much, anon!! I’ve been sulking over my ch6 draft today so this really helps my anxiety shut up 💕

okay so for anybody who didn’t see it before, here is a post from a while ago where I listed some of my favorite bmc fics. since then, I’ve been able to add several more fics to my catalogue of faves, so here’s some more fics I didn’t get to rec last time! all of them are boyfs except for one pinkberry fic!

Engagement Sequence by Kalopsia / @danisnotofire

“You shot my fucking client,” Michael growls. The phone, on speaker a few inches away, practically rattles with Michael’s vaguely concealed anger.

“No,” Jeremy says, his voice calm as he carefully folds his one good suit and places it into his bag. He has no idea who he’s talking about, but it doesn’t matter. “I shot my fucking mark.”

There’s silence on the other end, and for a moment Jeremy thinks he’s hung up. But then he speaks again. “I’m going to shoot you.”

“Find me first,” Jeremy challenges, because this is who the Squip has made him, this is who he is, and clicks the red button to end the call.

Jeremy and Michael are both assassins. They’re not looking, but they find each other anyway.

look, this fic murdered me in a back alley and then dissolved my body in acid and I would 10/10 rec the entire experience. please, for the love of everything, just read this fic.

ways to cope by KatMelody / @theyugiohtrashcan

“How long?” Michael asks, voice painfully soft.“Um… I… it was just an acci—”“Jeremiah. Please don’t lie to me. How long?“

the one in which jeremy heere is so, so bad at keeping secrets.

check the warnings on this one before reading, because it deals with self-harm. but I really loved how the topic was dealt with, and if you’re okay with that kind of subject matter, it’s definitely worth a read.

a crimson headache, aching blush by pondify / @playground-ghost

He supposes that it began, as it always does, with Michael.

this is a very short take on the boyfs as friends with benefits, and the pining in it is exquisite. do you like angst and hotness packed into 865 words?? here is your treat for the day.

I could lay right here and burn in you all day by cataclysma / @lifehateslemons

"You better fucking look at me.”Jeremy’s response is instant. His eyes snap open, immediately going to meet Michael’s intense gaze. Michael’s eyes are narrowed, dark behind the shields of his glasses. Fuck, he looks really hot like this.

in which jeremy is a kinky fuck and michael’s kink IS jeremy

hello do you like porn featuring 1. submissive jeremy 2. dom michael bossing jeremy around who then 3. immediately turns into a gentle soft boyfriend as soon as jeremy’s gotten what he needs??? here, have some scorching deliciousness.

Work in Progress by Nymm_at_Night / @nymm-kirimoto

Drarrymotter1015 and MoonGoon forge a friendship through fanfiction. On the other side of the screen, Michael and Jeremy try and figure out what’s left of theirs. Otherwise known the Fanfiction Writer! Au nobody asked for, but I wrote anyways.

okay look, you want to laugh your ass off over the boyfs unknowingly writing porn together over the internet?? because this fic’s got A+ banter, genuinely interesting story progression, and painful emotions all rolled up in the guise of the most meta-feeling fic of the year.

a little unsteady by starlithorizons / @starlithorizons

Michael’s hidden domain has always been the rollerskating rink - a home away from home. Jeremy isn’t so suited for the environment.Maybe he can fix that.

oh my god just READ THIS, I love this fic so much. I’d give it both my kidneys if I could. some really excellent jeremy-michael friendship with a bunch of good pining packed in, as well as some of the best comedy I’ve seen this month.

when i’m close to you (we blend into my favourite colour) by sulfuric / @playertwojer

statistically, most people don’t take more than five seconds to say something to their soulmate after realizing the universe has paired them together. brooke and chloe take approximately six years, but better late than never, right?

this is a pinkberry fic (with a hint of boyfs) that really hits it out of the park with the soulmate trope. poignant, sweet, and full of growing pains. it’s top quality pinkberry material that spans over their entire friendship.

*also there are exactly four WIPs in the fandom that I actually read and I’d die for all of them (I’d highly rec EVERYTHING from the following writers)

no such mirrors by Kalopsia / @danisnotofire

Jeremy didn’t know of any other superhero that had to commute.

Sometimes he was alone when he got the text, and it was easy to slide open the window and sling on over to whatever disaster was striking the City That Could Never Catch a Break. Other times it was during things like his parent’s divorce hearings, in Hackensack, and he’d have to spend his bar mitzvah money on a cab ride to the bridge and change into his spandex in the bathroom of a Dunkin’ Donuts. Even at home, he’d have to spend fifteen minutes slinging webs across highways and toll booths and the George Washington Bridge before he even saw what he was up against.

At least Christine could fly.

(or, the AU nobody asked for in which Jeremy is Spiderman and the rest of the crew has superpowers, except Michael, who has No Idea About Anything except for the fact he’s Spiderman’s #1 fan)

am I repeating an author in this list?? of course I am. surely you’ve heard of this spiderman au fic. no? then you better read it. it doesn’t pull any punches, seriously, and I’ve never been happier to be beaten up by a fic.

Brightly Wound by left_uncovered / @left-uncovered

Michael has loved Jeremy for years. It just takes him a while to figure it out.

Or: the five times Michael pined obliviously for Jeremy, and the one time he realized it.

this is like, peak Pain material, which this author excels at, so I encourage you to read it, because it’ll teach you to enjoy the suffering. funnily enough, I’m pretty sure I followed this writer for their stellar porn, but I always rec the pain. just read all of it.

Like Mother, Like Son by hurricanesunny / @hurricanesunny

Jeremy gets a text from his mom after a year of no contact.

okay this fic is like, the best post-canon fic you’re gonna find in this fandom. I’m not kidding. it’s gut-wrenching and handles so much of the consequences of the musical’s events with such care, and god, it’s an exercise in riding an emotional turbo rollercoaster. if a fic could save a life, it’d be this one.

is this a forest? ‘cuz there sure is a lot of pine by reptilianraven / @actualbird

“How do you say ‘I love you’?”

“Oh, wow, holy shit,” Michael coughs. Is his face warm? It better fucking not be. Pull yourself together, Mell. Breathe. “Where’d this sudden romantic side of you come from?”

Jeremy, uncharacteristically calm, shrugs. “I figure it could be a nice icebreaker for Christine, or something? I don’t know. It’s stupid, you don’t have to tea—”

“Mahal kita,” Michael says. The things he does for this boy. This boy. “I love you in Tagalog is mahal kita.”

The misadventures of Michael Mell, pining best friend extraordinaire.

everybody who knows me will know that I stan bird so hard and would happily elope with any/all of their writing, so of fucking course I’m reccing this one. honestly, if you’re a bmc fan, this is the must-read fic, and honestly I doubt I need to rec this because everybody knows it already, but I couldn’t skip the opportunity to remind everybody that my bird bias is strong as ever, so.

okay, that’s it for now. happy reading!!

#be more chill #bmc #fic rec #long text post #also hey anon once again thank you so much #this ask cheered me up so much #anonymous #ask and you shall receive

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