#AND I SHOW LOVE BY MAKING PEOPLE INTERACT WITH STEPHANIE BROWN

[secretlystephaniebrown]

pondering names for a potential Macushla/Misericordia redux:

#Steph Speaks #writing stuff #don't @ me I know I should be writing other things #SOMETIMES RESEARCH HAS CONSEQUENCES OKAY #AND THE CONSEQUENCE IS FALLING IN LOVE WITH TALIA AL GHUL ALL OVER AGAIN #AND I SHOW LOVE BY MAKING PEOPLE INTERACT WITH STEPHANIE BROWN #polls

[dailycass-cain]

My Top 10 Favorite Cass Stories

Just last year ago I gave a list of my ten favorite Cass stories on Twitter (and here’s the 2020 edition. The funny thing is, not even a year later I look upon the last list (along with the bad) and my thoughts on some of these stories have changed. 

Not to mention, we’re only two months into 2023 and we’ve already got a Cass story that already makes this list for me. 

So I figure it’s 2023 and I haven’t posted my favorite Cass stories here. Let’s change that. So here are my Top Ten Favorite Cassandra Cain stories. You may not agree with them. Maybe you will? Just that these are my opinion. 

The thing about me and lists. They always mostly change. You compare my lists from years past. They may not completely match up (or in some places they will). Change always occur. 

That said. Let’s start with my honorable mentions. 

Honorable Mention #1: Detective Comics #790

-  It's just a dark uneasy tale due to Pete Woods' art and Andersen Gabrych's story. Bruce is a little more unnerved than usual (Jason's anniversary) and Cass is brought in personally to steer him back.

Why? Because of all the people of the Bat-Family, she understands him best. The dynamic between Bruce/Cass here. Teacher/heir is just so all over this story. You can tell Bruce really wants Cass to truly be his heir.

If there are any issues I have with this being better is well it’s the prelude to “War Games” and I’m not really fond of the negative talk Bruce has with Cass regarding Stephanie Brown.

Ironically, for a while the last good main Batman book story Cass had for awhile until...

Honorable Mention #2: Detective Comics #950, 955

- Until this one. Though I’ll be honest “Night of the Monster Men” is a FUN story too that has Cass, but Cass really isn’t central to the plot in that.  These issues were the first “main book” story that focused on Cass since-- 2004. 

What truly keeps this book low for me being an honorable mention are the same flaws that pop up in my “worst list” of Cass stories. If you take these two issues alone? The story is absolute gold. 

The full arc? (#950-956) are the reasons it got knocked down. Still, Marcio Takara and James Tynion IV together make the most of this story even with the hurdles higher ups (and Tynion’s own juggling the massive cast this run had) stall it.

I still think the arc would be more favorable if it ended with Bruce/Kate taking Cass to see Christine and well just a happy ending. Not to mention we get mostly zero fallout from what occurs here (the subplot of Ra’s here is tossed out due to Tynion having to leave the comic so he could go onto Justice League Dark).

What still hits hard about these two issues IS Takara’s art.  As those who are currently reading the Poison Ivy series, Takara can do some banger spreads. We have a few here with an "Old Boy" homage Takara throws in with Cass for good measure. 

Takara’s art and just the emotion he brings is why this story is STILL lingers.

Honorable Mention #3: Superboy #85

- Yes, the villain for this comic is all too forgettable. That’s really why it’ll alway be here. But why it remains always is the banter. Between the team-up of  Cass/Kon (also the opening/closing Tim/Kon segments) that truly shines here. Much like Batman, you throw Cass with a character outside her zone, MOMENTS HAPPEN.

Boy we get some hilarious moments that are truly chuckle worthy. There’s just something natural seeing the heroes here interact with one another. Something that feels kind of missing mostly in DC Comics nowadays (save in the Flash recently with its “Dark Crisis tie-in”. What we had there was absolute GOLD). 

I love me Batman having Batdad shenanigans over Tim/Cass and the rebellious Conner clashing with him. I know some might not like Cass/Kon, but the dynamic between the two in this issue is GOOD.  The dynamic is SOOO good between the two. It's truly a pity Cass wasn't allowed to show up outside her book in Kon's again. Because this issue still hits home for a lot of folks to this day (as we see TONS of fanart of them. Also for canon covers still acknowledge this issue, along with the “eh” one over in Batgirl Vol. 1).

But for me, it's just the emotion both light and dark that writer Joe Kelly just handles well here. Why I keep coming back to this darn issue. The character dynamics are just soooo good.

Honorable Mention #4 Batgirl Vol. 1 #50 "Tough Love"

-  It's Cass vs. Batman. The fight by Rich Leonardi is an epic one with Bruce/Cass going all Anakin/Obi-Wan by just changing the fighting venue every page. Looking for that opening.

You have some nice gremlin moment from Tim to get a cure to them both (given they're "fighting" due to a drug thrown at them by Dr. Death). If anything there's to knock on this is Nightwing being tossed around like a ragdoll by the two of them.

But really it's the ending of the fight that still resonates hard. Bruce being his most batdad again, but also just wanting to know where Cass's loyalties lie. Her answer is a good moment 

So wait this is an honorable mention now?! Yeah it kind of is. See, the one problem with writer Dylan Horrocks is that usually bits of his run ages like milk. Not very good. I get that he tried new things with the character, and went in different direction than the past writers. But.. his stuff ages the worst. 

Also listening to Batgirl to Oracle’s podcast when she reviewed the issue. She brings up some the things we often overlook for the amazing art and the stuff above. 

Basically, the whole subtextual issue between Bruce/Cass that’s at the core of the story. Horrocks’ coda for his series up to this point was Cass growing older and trying to answer if she’s attracted to men (or now realizing how certain males view her via her body reading abilities). Dealing with the complications of guys being into her (Black Wind, Superboy), Bruce being EXTREMELY overbearing (hence the fight), and you get stuff like this:

It’s stuff that Freud and any fan in the present going 😬😬😬😬

Yeah, this is the stuff that doesn’t age well at all. Why suddenly it’s been knocked down this low. 

So with these four out of the way. ONTO THE LIST...

10.) Batgirl Vol. 1 #2

-  To those critics against Cass who say she never loses. This issue is the textbook answer. She loses and hard, but learns an emotional lesson about why words mean so much. Why writing and art are so powerful in a tale with no real title (literally the credits are at the very bottom of the last page).

This story is a gut punch (the first of many) Kelley Puckett would deliver on the book. Though he did slide in a better one later on this list still, this would be stable for his and Damion Scott's run.

Besides the pathos Puckett brings, Scott equally just wraps an emotional ringer. Cass barely says anything in the issue but conveys SOOO much emotion in her eyes thru the mask (probably the biggest answer many on the “pro-black lenses can give over the white ones she currently has”).

Just the one-shot character of John Robinson just sticks with you even after it. Just a good man, being thrown the curveball that Gotham City gives. The impact of his story just still resonates with me.

9.) Batgirls #14 “The Rest is Silence...”

- Yup. It’s a 2023 entry. I told you something made me start to question things and this story (while not concluded) I’m putting here on the list just for the sheer performance artist Jonathan Case pulls with this issue.

We’ve all wanted a unique Cass story (and boy howdy did we get some bangers in 2021 more on those later) and this is the first Batgirls story that feels true to the character of Cass. Anyone who is a harsh critic of this book has nothing to complain about. The narration (that’s not Cass/Steph/Babs) that can dull the comic’s better moments. It’s not found here. An older teen Cass is drawn here (not a preteen one that many have hated). Plus the dialogue by the writers Becky Cloonan and Michael Conrad. That’s not here, but they do cheat (but it’s a cheat I’m going to allow). 

Again, this is Jonathan Case’s world and we’re living in the gorgeous art he’s doing here. There are SEVERAL pages that are just awing to read and look at. Just so much 

If there’s any negative well... this is new. So I figure this is the best place to put this issue. Will it remain (as there are two more issues of this arc in Batgirls)? Who knows. But right at THIS MOMENT and this issue alone. It earns a spot on my list.

8.) Batgirl Vol.1 #60-62 aka "The Hood" arc

-  What I love about this story are two reasons. #1 Cass by herself while trying to navigate the city of Bludhaven by establishing herself (with no Bruce or Babs). #2 Cass fighting unique foes with unique skill sets i.e. the Brotherhood of Evil.

From them just handing Cass her butt, to her rising back up and kicking them. It's a nice little "underdog" story showing just how far Cass has come as a fighter along with showcasing her "Batman' side. By doing her homework, prep timing, and wrecking the Brotherhood.

This is probably my favorite complete arc by Gabrych. He's got both Pop Mhan and Ale Garza backing him on the story and they all deliver high here.

Add the nice intro of Brenda and the gut punch of seeing Stephanie again (even if she died at the time period). This arc just has so many GOOD things that were promising. Pity, the later half Gabrych gave us wasn't classic as this was.

7.) DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration #1  "Sounds"

-  Oh yes! We got a 2021 story here.  Introduce Cass to new audiences? Showcase why fans enjoy her. Yes, it tempts me to put a certain arc of WFA up here. Here is one thing this has over that, Marcus To drawing Cass as Batgirl.

I always wanted it. To made the Black Bat costume better and gave us Ninja Gaiden Cass. But we all wanted him to draw THE costume.

I mean it's just everything. Add the small bits of actions we're given, bits of her origin, and the entire plot of Cass trying to find her "voice". Writer Mariko Tamaki just packs SOOO much in here and begins the call for many to have her write Cass more. This is the story where that all began. Tamaki just GETS Cass as a character. 

Everything is just top-notch in this story. You can tell the entire creative team It's a nice reintroduction for new readers for Cass. Along with giving older fans well something we'd never thought to see again. 🥺

The story just feels unreal to see happen. After ALL DC did in the past with the character. This story hits, but not as harder as my #1.

6.) Batgirl Vol. 1 #7-9

- Now I'll admit looking over this list. I was like, "Wait why didn't I include #9 with this arc?" So it's time to correct that mistake!

There's no real "name" for this arc but it is just three stories that have the debut of a certain someone to the series.  Cass's opposite. Her reflection. Lady Shiva.

Everything between these two is laid perfectly in "conflict"  and for what is to come by Puckett and Scott. The 😮when Shiva shows up in the first panel and Cass is like, "I've got to fight that."  he expressions. An appetizer for what is to come with these two.

Add the bookend pieces of #7 (of Batman/Shiva against Cass), along with just SOOOO much good lines by the two uttered in these issues. I mean there are some good quotes here. So many good scenes.

But again, this is a teaser for what's to come. What an amazing setup these three issues are.

5.)  Batgirl Vol. 1 #19 "Nobody Dies Tonight!"

-  Remember what I said earlier of Puckett/Scott delivering banger single issues? Here's another! On the anniversary of something near to Cass's mind, she tries to make sure for one night, nobody dies tonight!

Seeing the morality of the lesson played out here is more gut-wrenching than #2 given Cass is the focus here.  She's doing her thing while the whole piece is her seeing someone being put to death tonight, and well her proclamation is tested hard.

Along with her mantra on everyone can change. You have all that, and the shadow of what is looming more and moreover her. The story is so good, to this day I ain't even gonna post it. This is one story you gotta track down and see for yourself.

Even if it is one more piece to a larger puzzle Puckett/Scott put to lead into #25.

4.) Batgirl Vol. 1 #21 (Last Laugh Tie-In)

-  This is still my most favorite issue not shared by many of the Puckett/Scott run. It just goes to show you just how good this run is. There are SOOOOOOOOO many issues that can show up on a list for fav Cass stories.  This is just mine.

Reasons why I enjoy this issue in particular among others is #1 the way it starts off with Cass's training montage which has Scott just go to town so much. You can tell Scott probably watched A TON of Bruce Lee movies as the homage is strong in the opening pages.

#2 Cass/Steph get a really important moment that furthers their friendship. I mean sure this isn't the issue they become really good friends, but this is the issue where the foundation keeps getting added (#20 started that).

Besides the moment at the end, there's the other moments of Steph's quirky persona that just win you over with the character.

#3 the fight between Shadow Thief/Cass. When you see Cass smiling in her mask if I were a villain, "running would be a very good idea." The moment is so shōnen and Scott just goes balls to the wall here with how he draws Cass dominating Thief.

This leads into #4 the outcome (but ties into #2). Like literally the fight switches in a heartbeat from 😁 to 😨in a single panel. Just seeing the look of broken horror in Cass's face realizing she might have taken another life makes my eyes water.

And here comes Steph to save the day. Dang, does she do some good friend stuff here. Just saving Shadow Thief and being there for Cass before the later scurries off.

3.) Batman: Urban Legends #7 "The Hunter... or the Hunted"

-  A unique tale starring Cass by Guillaume Singelin takes Tec #955's concept of a long action sequence but goes harder. No dialogue or text. Just action. All action.

It's a real pity this story came way after the "Future State" event, as the story does a way better job showcasing how worse Gotham has become. There's a clear homage to so much in the story.

Singelin's art is something I haven't seen since Batgirl Vol. 1. Just the crispiness and layout of the fight sequences. The fact that this showcases why Cass is just a character quite unique. You can throw a writer/artist with a unique style. Just watch them go to town.

It's one of the things I always wished we could've seen with again Cass in Vol. 1. The closest we got was with Damion Scott in Solo #10, but it's just so wondrous to see Cass in a tale that feels like something that NEEDS to be animated again.

Every time I read this story there's just so much to just look at even if the story moves at a rapid pace from the action. It's just perfectly choreographed with Cass coming up on top.

2.)  Batgirl Vol. 1  #25 "I Am Become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds"

- The crescendo of the Puckett/Scott run delivers so very much in this issue. From the literally EPIC  brawl, Cass/Shiva have in this issue. To the little moments with Cass/Babs and Cass/jumper. This is the creative team as the seeds planted bear glorious fruit.

There's just so much about this issue that can be dissected and taken apart. Everyone is an all-star this issue as Scott is at the literal height of his art giving us (for me) the greatest comic book fight EVER.

From the set-up of the final round to the way, this is Puckett/Scott's opus. A slobber knocker. You feel the other's blow when it connects. Often imitated. NOTHING can ever top the OG brawl Cass/Shiva had in this issue. Nothing but one thing...

1.) Shadow of the Batgirl

-  It's still the champ of my heart! Writer Sarah Kuhn takes all of what has happened with the character. Seen what worked and what didn't. Adds her own spin on what quite possibly is the best Cass story of them all.

From the very cover alone, before I opened the book this story hits a raw nerve for me. It opens an emotional flood gate.

Kuhn just crams so much of Cass stuff into this graphic novel it just is utterly amazing at how much she puts in here. She delivers so much that literally and hits so many things... dammit thinking about the graphic novel suddenly my eyes are watering... AGAIN.. wrassin frassin.

Adding to that is Nicole Goux's art which like Scott is so darn expressive and perfect for Cass. You don't need words when Goux perfectly captures what is going on in Cass and what Cass see's of the world around her.

I feel like a broken record on how much this story smacked me in the head. I was going to like it, but love it this much? Was like, "How?" But the emotion the creative team pours into this character you truly get how much they love Cass.

And this is the best intro story to get others interested in the character.  Like literally, there are so many dang moments in this comic that are just SOOOOOOO good. And dangit thinking of these moments... freaking heck. Like literally..

.. when the comic hit me across the head with just so much emotion and I've read it numerous times over already. The fact that it is still doing this to me. Yeah, it had to be my #1.

So there's my list. Yes, I know I left out some choices that are like, "WHY?" But this is my personal list. The thing about it is-- IT ALWAYS CHANGES! So do you agree or disagree? What���s your favorite Cass stories? I’d love to hear them! 

#cassandra cain #dc comics #top lists

[soleminisanction]

Something I realized recently when I started deep diving into supergirl is that she has barely any connection to Stephanie brown. Like I knew there wouldn’t be that much interaction or development because of how the timelines fit together but there really is nothing there. Their entire friendship is basically built on a couple of batgirl issues and the plans for a new young justice that never actually happened. There’s not even a meta connection between them. Honestly if people had to ship Kara with another blue-eyed blonde girl Cassie is already a much better fit (or give Kara her history back and let her kiss babs, the batgirl she actually has romantic tension with)

I've never even heard about the "new YJ" thing, though there were three other female characters -- Stargirl, Miss Martian, and Bombshell -- who randomly showed up in the second-to-last issue of Steph's Batgirl run completely out of nowhere because apparently Brian Miller had wanted to make them part of Steph's retinue but never got the chance so he shoved them in at the last minute. So if he was going to pitch that as a new YJ, thank god it didn't happen.

Kara also comes out of fucking nowhere in Batgirl 2019 but apparently they met in a...World's Finest mini-series, I think? Apparently the same one where Tim met up with Nightwing!Chris Kent? That's what at least one article says anyway, I haven't been able to find that book so I don't know for sure. But yeah, other than that, Brian Miller et al just went, "Hey, people loved Batgirl and Supergirl together in the animated series, so let's make Kara Steph's new bestie!" and then she just started turning up and doing the stock 'cool Bat and puppy dog Super' routine. It was really forced.

As for Kara and Babs... the awkward thing is, they didn't actually didn't have much of a relationship in the comics either. The timelines didn't match up. Babs was a relative late-comer, compared to Kara -- she's a Bronze Age creation that came about because of the success of her character on the Adam West show, only got introduced in the 70s, whereas Kara was early Silver Age if iirc. They only interacted about a half-dozen times before Kara was taken out of continuity by Crisis on Infinite Earths and, not long after that, The Killing Joke happened.

The Batgirl/Supergirl relationship was mostly popularized by the cartoons; it only got introduced to the comics very recently in the Batgirl of Burnside era. Whereas yeah, Kara actually has a well-established friendship with Cassie -- she's an honorary Amazon, she's been a Titan, hell, she's had more adventures with Tim than with Steph.

But yeah, it can be kinda tricky when pop culture origins get mixed together like that. And that's without factoring in the weirdness that is Supergirl's comics history post-Crisis, they went to some odd places with her.

#kara zor-el #supergirl #batgirl #stephanie brown #barbara gordon #batgirls #batgirl 2009 critical #dc comics asks #dc comics #kinda rambling sorry

[anthyies]

8 plz explain the disc horse to me

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

i feel like i could write an essay about this. you're so lucky you left twitter btw you don't even know the amount of times ive been like look at this stupid opinion. so.

a) i literally don't think tim and jason have any sort of relationship at all like literally. their interactions should be a) titans tower attack, but like for hilarity points. not angst points. its objectively funny that jason made an adult sized robin costume and then put on clothes over that to attack tim n its objectively funny that tim's reaction to getting beat up was like yeah im still better than you <3. b) that one time tim kicked him in the balls. and thats it. thats all. like can we please talk about tim's relationships w his other siblings . please . i'm dying

b) i mean you know and i know that fandom hates women and people of color so i'm just going to leave it at this. and science experiment: go into the cassandra cain/stephanie brown tag and see how much stuff in there is literally not related to them at all. also the background lesbianification of them like they're crazy they do not get enough credit for the. hallucinating her bringing you back from the dead twice after she died. and nobody talks about their ISSUES and PROBLEMS something about me is i love when women have issues like yeah they're sweet and they're going to kiss but also. sometimes they can poke each other's sore spots and its INTERESTING!!!! they are not simple soft and sweet background women they should be the STARS of the SHOW. literally first base martyrdom second base raising each other from the dead third base eye contact.

c) my life is soooo hard i'll text you and explain the gay people properly i prommy but you know the special kind of hell where you like the most popular gay people but like, they're popular in the wrong way nobody GETS them. this is compounded by bat favoritism... enough about tim's issues i'm going to pretend he doesn't have any if that's what it takes to talk about KON'S issues.

d) people take damian cutting tim's line too far like its ok guys. it was resolved in the comic book. like it's fine he's literally itty bitty preteen raised to murder its fine. and rr hit list arc is like uncomfortably mean and hostile to damian in narration so tbh people should be trying to make up for that not make more tim angst

e) MY.. OPINIONS ABOUT TIM'S PARENTS.. ARE VERY IN DEPTH. and i've talked about them in tags before. but i think everyone needs to learn some NUANCE!!

sorry this is FIVE fandom opinions. everyone is so wrong. it's a terrible massive game of telephone

#asks #HIIIIIII . THIS COULD TOTALLY BE A FIVE PARAGRAPH CLASSIC ESSAY AND EVERYTHING. EVERYONE IS SO WRONG....................... #omg heres a secret little f) I know white people will hc tim as wasian bc theyre annoying and think hes smart so he has to be asian but whe #IIII headcanon him as such its bc IM insane and projecting. And i'm right. so. #LONG POST #SORRY.

[sing-me-under]

I find the basic fandom tropes for the BatKids to be so boring. I think it’s just me, but they’re like… really stale. Like old bread. Not even the good kind of old bread that you can make croutons with.

My takes under the cut:

Trope: Jason was abused by his dad and neglected by his mother then was homeless on the streets for a period of time.

I like his original (post-crisis) background where his mom had cancer and took drugs to deal with the pain and where his dad tried so hard to provide for him and Catherine, resorting to illegal means, then getting sent to jail then killed very shortly after being released before he could return home. That’s an interesting and complex relationship with his parents. Jason loved his parents. He had no frame of reference for parents who don’t love their children because otherwise he wouldn’t have trusted Sheila Haywood so easily.

Furthermore, I imagine he grew up in a very tight-knit and supportive community. In his introduction (post-crisis), he stashes the Batmobile tires in his apartment. It’s clearly his based on the personalization. I imagine that after his mom died (in the hospital), social services never came for him, effectively being abandoned by the system, but his neighbors provided what little support they could offer simply by not chasing him away and looking over him staying in the single room flat. He had one neighbor who even held onto his legal records for years after, waiting to give it to the rightful owner. Jason fended for himself by fencing off tires and probably other things, but he has a faith in people that only started to wane after becoming Robin.

Trope: Tim was criminally neglected by his parents and they emotionally abused him.

Rich people do have a tendency to just throw their children into the most convenient boarding school and rarely interact with their children. Oftentimes, they have kids out of social obligation. But Tim’s parents did love him. They were distant and often focused on their own work and hobbies, but they proved they cared about him enough. Jack had his flaws but he did genuinely care about Tim’s wellbeing. Also, I can never get over the issue of Tim meeting his mom again just talking to her and Janet listening supportively. I like the idea that they used to take Tim with them everywhere when he was younger and only put him in boarding school at a later age in order to socialize. They trusted that the school was taking care of him (even if Tim did escape quite frequently to be Robin). It’s such a damn shame that Janet died so early into Tim’s tenure as Robin. I wish I could have gotten a better characterization of her in like No Man’s Land or something. Or just Tim being a proper corporate heir to Drake Industries for longer instead of being mildly upper middle class with a comatose-then-emotionally distant father before becoming the Wayne heir.

I feel like Jack Drake is like the epitome of the “father is for emotional distance” meme. He’s well-meaning, but he’s still a man of the patriarchy.

Trope: Stephanie is from a family reminiscent to Jason’s.

I have no idea where the fuck this characterization came from. Like. Have they never even READ Steph’s wiki? Did they just go “Jason but female and waffles and purple”??? Arthur Brown was a host to a game show that was popular enough to feature celebrities and the rich and famous. His whole villain origin is that he hates the stupidity of the rich, and he ended up blowing up on TV. The scandal got him unemployed and he resorted to theft to make ends meet after. Later on, he became a strategic criminal adviser or something. Cluemaster eventually got caught and put into the Suicice Squad, eventually dying. Meanwhile, Crystal Brown is an overworked nurse who takes extra shifts to make ends meet. She’s basically a single mom at this point. I think she gets addicted to something in order to get by and goes into rehab at some point after Steph’s death. Steph loves her mom and has very complicated feelings about her dad. When she was pregnant, she feared that Cluemaster would harm her baby in order to get to her.

Anyway, the whole point of this is that my perception of Steph is that she was raised solidly middle class. She’s from the Bowery, not Crime Alley. Her parents used to send her to gymnastics classes, and she was very good. They took her out after Arthur was unemployed.

#personal #dc

[xrawanger007]

I posted 1,496 times in 2022

That's 987 more posts than 2021!

22 posts created (1%)

1,474 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@incoherentbabblings

@thatblondeperson

@sohotthateveryonedied

@juune-moon

@griffle-musings

I tagged 709 of my posts in 2022

#zutara - 302 posts

#zuko - 156 posts

#timsteph - 134 posts

#katara - 132 posts

#sakura haruno - 82 posts

#tim drake - 62 posts

#stephanie brown - 47 posts

#ino yamanaka - 44 posts

#sakuino - 41 posts

#star wars - 22 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#plus if tim did join dick the rest of the 6 issues of the series would be useless because tim and dick would just run through everyone else

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Y’know it’s weird how DC writers only have two ways of writing Tim and Stephanie’s interactions:

1. They are dating or flirting and romantic, and are completely in love with one another.

Or

2. They currently aren’t talking and avoid one another. (Which is just....super frustrating.)

It’s annoying as it does give off the message that if they aren’t dating they don’t matter to one another, which isn’t true because arguably they are the most important people to each other, like Tim was, at one point, the most important person in her life or the only good thing in it, same for Tim, Stephanie was the one person he could really talk to, after she knew who he was, and was usually the person he would talk to and ground himself. 

This is because Bruce is...Bruce, Dick was often busy although he did always make time for Tim, Cass again is Cass she is unfamiliar with ‘normal’ issues as it is, Babs didn’t actually know his identity, Kon and Bart didn’t exactly know what a ‘normal’ family looked like, and Cassie did know these kind of things, but I guess they never really showed that with their friendship I guess?

I just wish DC would give us a healthy Tim and Steph friendship if they aren’t dating, which is right now, but I guess that’s too hard to do for some reason, and while I do ship them (they are my OTP or Endgame or whatever you want to say) I think it would be interesting to have them be friends and talking civilly because it is usually they aren’t on good terms if they aren’t dating (Red Robin for example). 

Did not expect this rant to turn into this....oh well.

32 notes - Posted January 20, 2022

#4

Headcanon:

Bruce totally gets Tim a ‘World’s Greatest Detective’ mug for his 18th birthday and Tim just smiles and hugs him.

34 notes - Posted January 26, 2022

#3

Stephanie: *Shouting* Hey Tim!!

Tim: *Shouting Back* What?

Stephanie: ...

Stephanie: You’re a nerd!!! *Starts laughing*

Tim: *Offended and exasperated* Hey! You made out with this nerd five minutes ago!!!

36 notes - Posted January 1, 2022

#2

I love a Tim Drake who can actually sing, he had vocal lessons when he was younger because his mum could sing and he wanted to carry a tune.

Like, the Batfamily all come upon this separately and are kinda like: “Tim can sing? And sing well?”

But, like Stephanie is either the first or last to find out and if she is last she kind of blanks and breathes slowly and gets to her feet and is like: 

“TIIIIIIIM, I HOPE YOU’RE READY TO SERENAIDE ME!” while charging up to his room to get her own personal concert for this gross negligence.

46 notes - Posted May 19, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Flight attendant: Before landing, make sure all small objects are safe and secure.

Stephanie: *Turns to face Tim* 

Tim: Don't. 

Stephanie: 

Stephanie: You feeling safe and secure?

Tim: *Throws bag at Stephanie*

76 notes - Posted January 23, 2022

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[creativeashproductions]

When Fate Intervenes // Luke Patterson

IN WHICH: Fate intervenes with a trio of musicians on the night that was supposed to be legendary. Fate puts the reader with a special ability that may or may not be able to save them. Fate puts a clairvoyant, an accidentally upsized pizza and thirteen year old oddly obsessed with a rock band.

Warnings: Swearing, food poison, death, and fluff

Words: 2.8k

A/N: Time to get rid of some fic ideas from my TOO LONG of a list. It’s Julie fault, she keeps encouraging each fic idea I tell her.

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Masterlist

The Orpheum, 1995

The line up comprised of countless girls wearing homemade band shirts for the new band performing. Your little sister, at thirteen years old, had pleaded for weeks if not three months to go watch it. It was odd since she was more in the pop scene than the rock music. Your parents would never let her go to the rock show at night, so it was you or no show. It took a promise of doing your chores for an entire month and her dessert for two months. That was why you stood beside Harper among the fangirls while you clicked through the camera you’d saved up for years.

“I’m so excited.” Harper buzzed dancing on your feet as the time on her watch dwindled down more and more.

Your eyes flitted from the screen to the ball of energy you called your little sister, “I can tell. Which one do you have a crush on?”

“Reggie. He’s the bassist and so fucking-sorry freaking cool.” Harper gushed, “A good portion of the fans are obsessed with the lead singer Luke. Bobby is the rhythm guitarist, and he’s a ladies man, but he’s sweet about it.”

“And you’d know that how?” You questioned letting go of the camera around your neck. Your e/c eyes meeting her matching pair of irises; well yours were a bit more vibrant.

“I just know.” Harper retorted before beaming as she roughly poked the pin she’d made herself, “This represents all of them. Red for Reggie’s plaid shirt he always has, orange for Bobby’s love of oranges, yellow for Luke’s energy and pink for Alex because he loves the colour!”

The pin had their band design with Sunset Curve on it with the words outlined with a sunset made up of red, orange, yellow and pink just as Harper had pointed out. By far, it was her best work, but that was expected from an art student at Los Feliz High School. An art school for artists and performers. You attended for photography and creative writing just as Harper attended for art.

“That might be your best work Harps.” You complimented your little sister who shivered in the cool night breeze. You didn’t even think about tugging off your warm jacket to place on her shoulders.

You’d rather be cold than your little sister no matter how much you fought with each other, the Y/L/N siblings had each other’s backs no matter what.

“Thanks.” Harper murmured, leaning closer, “So do I meet Reggie?”

Your eyes widened slightly at her subtle goading to a part of your life was cinematic. It was a piece of you that very few people knew about, only your parents and Harper. Like most of the women in your paternal lineage, you carried the ability to foresee events in the future. A clairvoyant.

“Harper!” You scolded the young teenager who blatantly was just over-excited to see the band she’d been talking about constantly.

Harper’s cheeks turned a cherry blossom pink under the crappy lighting from the marquee sign. Even in the light, you noticed the changes in her face as she matured into a young woman, her cheeks while still full didn’t have that baby cheek look now. You saw a stubborn zit that you could see under the makeup that didn’t entirely match her skin tone. It caused an ache in your heart to know that soon she’d have the experience of heartbreak.

“Sorry!”

“You told me these guys are my age. Need I remind you that you are thirteen? If anyone older than thirteen makes an advance I’ll put my softball skills to the test.” You sternly informed the shorter girl with the pout that screamed rebellion, “Just be a kid Harps.”

“Like you said Y/N, I’m thirteen. I’m not a kid anymore.” Harper dropped the attitude to adopt a more mature soft tone. You could see the tinge of sadness in her eyes at losing the part of life where it was easy.

“I know. I can wish you’ll stay that annoying little kindergartener that stole my clothing.” You chuckled, “You’ll always be the Stephanie to my DJ.”

The two Y/L/N siblings momentarily glanced around before hugging as quickly as possible, they still had reputations to uphold. Had you been actually paying attention, you and Harper would have noticed the commotion from the people behind you.

As you and Harper had the sweet moment, the very band performing had raced out the alley into the street. What brought you back to the surroundings was the pizza boy delivering the pizza box to you. 

“Wait, we ordered a small!” You exclaimed finding the boy holding an extra-large pizza. You only received a shrug in response with the right change given back. 

Two things happened with this food mistake, you didn’t have to pay more than what you actually ordered, and you still got the larger pizza. However, the Orpheum didn’t allow outside food, meaning you’d have to force-feed yourself all the pizza or trash more than half. 

“We could shar-” Harper was cut off as a blinding white light became your focal point. Harper knew what was happening by the specific groan coming from your lips.

A nauseating scent of cheap meat, gas and chemicals flooded your sense of smell in the dingy alleyway. It was nighttime with a few people in the general vicinity with a dilapidated table and mismatched chairs on the walls’ edge. A poorly made sign with Sam & Ella’s and going by the vendor selling the hot dogs the name fit. Sam & Ella sounded like salmonella.

From a distance, you couldn’t quite hear the conversation between three male teens, but you had a bad feeling. They all migrated to a ratty couch that had been better days, a rat wouldn’t even crawl on it you swore.

The first boy had slicked back hair with rosy cheeks you dubbed innocent and cute that juxtapositioned his rocker attire. He had polished black leather shoes, pleather if his choice of food was an indication, a leather jacket and a red plaid shirt around his waist. His attention focused on the two guys beside him. In the middle, the boy had the blue hood of his sweater pulled over his messy brown hair as if hiding. Nothing stood out about him, and it seemed like that was intentional. On the other side, the last one was the tallest with his blonde hair hidden by the backwards black hat. A distressed dark grey jean jacket open to proudly display his pink hoodie. Each one wearing black pants and adorning rings.

“This is awesome, you guys. We’re playing the Orpheum!” The middle boy joyfully spoke head in the clouds instead of the questionable surroundings. He arguably had the loveliest smile you had ever seen, and his friends had nice smiles at that as well.

Yet even if this hadn’t taken place, however, it still felt like you were intruding on something incredibly private, “Why am I being shown this?”

Your question went unsurprisingly unanswered.

“I can’t even count how many bands have played here! And then ended up being huge!” He happily sunk into the back of the couch, thinking of all the bands he had CDs to in his room, “We’re gonna be legends!”

“Oh.” You breathed as you caught a whiff from the boys that quickly gave you the understanding of why you saw this. You could only smell what you had dubbed as death, the scent unchanging from the first time you’d encountered it.

The death stench accompanied a clairvoyant vision if the object of your vision was sick or about to die. The first time you encountered, it was a vision of two cars colliding, the sound of shattering glass and crunching metal, the scent of burning flesh overpowering the milder stench. The next morning school was cancelled after a teacher died in a car accident on the way to work.

“Eat up, boys. ’Cause after tonight, everything changes.” The only vocal one continued with his two friends silently listening. The trio toasted their food together.

“No!” You exclaimed as each boy took a bite. You held your breath, hoping that the inevitable in the vision wouldn’t occur.

Unfortunately, it was right away the warning appeared. The blonde one the most affected, “That’s a new flavour.”

“Chill, man. Street dogs haven’t killed us yet.” The leather jacket guy proudly spoke, the least one concerned. 

Even the guy in the middle was concerned but ultimately continued eating.

“Stop it!” You shouted, but it was no use. As with every vision, you had the potential to stop it from coming true, but while in the vision, you couldn’t interact with the people or surrounding. No matter how much you wanted to slam the food out of their hands.

But one thing sends shivers down your spine. The one in the middle made direct eye contact with you. Something that had never happened before nor to any previous clairvoyants. He kept eye contact as he slowly grew sicker and sicker.

The three boys had no chance as the ambulance rushed to the alleyway to save them. The paramedics weren’t as quick as the vendors who’d already packed and fled to protect their own hides.

You watched as the paramedics did everything in their power to save the young teenagers with everything possible. Just like Luke sang in their last song, the boys felt the darker version of an electric hammer to the heart. The clocks freezing in place as they each took their last breathe in the oddest of deaths. You saw the blonde guy die painfully first before followed by the formerly hooded one, the terrified cries of the last one haunting your phantom ears.

How did three healthy teenagers die on the same night of the exact nature within minutes of each other without one surviving? Maybe it had something to do with the hot dogs chilling in the liquid that was a cesspool of bacteria compounded with tained condiments from battery acid.

You roughly came out of the vision shaking and pale-faced frantically scanning the surroundings. Harper had a grip on the extra large pizza box while the other tightly held yours to ground you in the present.

“Are you okay?” Harper softly questioned with the panic hidden inside her body. Harper knew that this vision had been one of the bad ones. The haunted look in your eyes hinting towards death in the near future.

“We need to go.” You frantically replied, grabbing the pizza that would hopefully have a hand in saving three hopeful teens.

Your gym teacher would be proud of the distance diminished and speed you kept towards the area that would further shatter you. Foreseeing death and sometimes unable to stop it always had a nasty impact on you. 

“Where are we going?” Harper yelled, “We’ll miss the doors opening!”

“We’ll miss them if we don’t hurry up!” You shouted back at the disgruntled little sister but at the moment that didn’t matter. 

What mattered was three hungry teenagers about to gorge themselves on death dogs if you didn’t make it in time. It appeared for the first time you’d actually manage to stop the deaths, unlike the previous three times. 

“-tonight. Everything changes.” The chill-inducing rasp helped navigate you to the disgusting couch. Your cold hand slammed the hotdog from the blonde’s hand, the shocked reaction halting the other two.

“Don’t...eat...it.” You heaved bending over at the waist to catch your breath. Wheezing sounded from your little sister as the running and seeing her favourite band up close settled.

“Excuse me! I paid for that hotdog!”

“You’d be buying yourself death literally. Your dreams of playing the Orpheum would be extinct.” You sighed, chugging the water from the pocket of Harper’s backpack for a few seconds before the owner took it back.

“Okay, look I don’t know how you found us but-”

“You don’t have to believe me ’cause I sure as hell wouldn’t have but don’t jeopardize your dreams. Look my little sister wanted to see your show so I brought her and we ordered a pizza. They fucked up the order by giving us an extra-large pizza. We’ll barely eat a quarter of it, and the venue is strict on the rules.” You rambled using tour hands to elaborate the story before Harper roughly elbowed your ribs, “Ow!”

“Oops.” Harper faked a sugar-sweet smile for your benefit as the interaction with the three musicians slowly dove into embarrassment.

“-sorry. You’d be doing us a favour by not wasting our money and food. What do you say?” You hesitantly asked the trio who didn’t speak vocally; their eyes meeting in a silent conversation.

Reggie sighed as he begrudgingly dropped his hotdog in the bin near the couch, “Pizza outranks street dogs even if the dogs are heaven and to die for.”

“Literally.” You grumbled forcefully pushing the obscenely large pizza box into the middle one’s stomach, “I’m Y/N, this is my little sister Harper.”

“Hi.” Harper shyly waved with cheeks turning a dust pink concealed by the dark of the alleyway. The boys’ lips all quirked at the sudden contrast from the confident sister slamming her elbow in you to the bashful teen.

“I’m Luke. This is Reggie and Alex.” The hooded one, Luke, introduced his bandmates as best he could with his hands occupied by the pizza box.

Without the threat of death by the hot dog, you actually took the time to look at Luke with appraising eyes. His eyes were like oceans of blues, greens and even a brown that both exhilarated you; the desire of studying them not surprising. His smile outshone the sun on the hottest day in August.

“Nice to meet you.” You informed the trio with a beaming smile that matched your starstruck little sister. The interaction gave you the opportunity for immense and untiring future teasing on the teen that daydreamed of the bassist. 

You had to admit the trio were incredibly attractive.

“Come back to the dressing room. We can eat there out of the cold.” Alex courteously invited the two formerly strangers. His blues sharing his pure intentions to repay you for saving their lives and offering pizza. 

“Of course.” Harper nodded her head with her eyes barely meeting the ones of the boys. The shell was broken when Reggie piped up.

“That’s a really cool pin! Where’d you find it?”

Gated Community, Los Angeles, 2002

An off-tune humming filled the modestly sized home in the suburbs of Los Angeles, California with the sound of water splashing. Doing the dishes was a mindless chore that typically didn’t bother you, but the pain in your lower back protested. You’d have used the dishwasher, but the thing was perpetually breaking down. Didn’t seen essential to replace when washing dishes by hand was just as productive.

Or it was when you didn’t have the extra weight in your midsection, a symbol of your love with your husband. In fact, you would have avoided doing dishes if you hadn’t just used the last clean plate and glass at breakfast plus Luke hadn’t been home in the previous week.

Sunset Curve had gone on a press tour for the upcoming album and tour planned for next year.

“Oof.” You moaned as the little rascal once more hit your bladder, “Are you breaking electric guitars in there?”

“Not a soccer player?”

“With you as their father? Not likely.” You snorted as the sudden appearance of Luke became clear. You hadn’t been expecting him, “I missed you. We missed you.”

As had it since you first told him Luke’s warm hand came to rest on the front of your swollen belly. In a short month, you’d be cradling the newest member of the Patterson family with Luke singing the lullaby he solely made for baby P.

“Still haven’t given in?” The lead guitarist teased you with a beaming smile splitting his face, “Go sit down. I’ll finish the dishes.”

You didn’t need to be asked twice. 

“I’m not abusing my clairvoyance to foresee our child’s gender, name and appearance.” You pointed one finger in his direction, “I refused Bobby’s pleading to see which models he would bed. The only time I did something like that was to reassure Alex that he would fall in love with a lovely guy.”

Luke’s heart burst with sheer adoration at how easily you had sunk into the friendship with the band after that one night. A night that had given birth to a friendship that slowly evolved into a romance and marriage. To this day, the group got together as much as possible.

“I love you.” Luke chuckled, “Even-”

“-if I came into your life like a completely crazy person?”

“We’re all a little crazy.”

Your house surely would be when a little tornado with Luke’s energy took over the home you’d made with Luke. The very home you would have more children and grow old together until soon you held your grandkids on your laps.

Tag List (PLEASE SEND AN INBOX TO BE ADDED! I CANNOT GUARANTEE YOU WILL BE ON THE LIST VIA POST COMMENTS!)

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#luke patterson imagines #luke patterson x reader #julie and the phantoms imagines #luke patterson x y/n #julie and the phantoms #luke patterson #charlie gillespie imagines #sunset curve #jatp luke #jatp fanfic #luke jatp #caitsy and ash productions

[goldandbluesmiles]

In Shades

Summary: Damian paints his family.

Ao3:

Part of batfam flufftober2020

Damian had an art assignment. Paint a portrait of one person in your life and use only one colour and explain why you chose that one colour.

It was an interesting assignment and Damian could not choose just one person to paint. So, he painted everyone in his immediate family. He figured he could hand in the best one.

He asked Alfred to sit down first.

For Alfred, he chose the colour grey. Dull and able to blend in, a symbol of dignity and sophistication as much as it was a symbol of loss.

Alfred had taken care of them through their losses and their fears, through their triumphs and their victories. He had stood by them as they had fought each other and had stood by them as they had held each other. Always there always reliable.

Yes, grey it was for Alfred.

"I am honoured, Master Damian," said Alfred once he showed it to him. It was the only thing he said but it still made Damian feel warm.

The second person he sat down with was his father.

For his father, he chose the colour black. It seemed a bit cliche but it fit the man. Black stood for strength and mystery, for formality and elegance, but at the same time stood for aggression and authority, for death and darkness.

This one might not end up with the rest of his assignment for it would be hard to explain to a civilian how all these characteristics could fit the airhead billionaire Brucie Wayne. But Damian could not bring himself to draw his father in false colours. He would just have to hide this one away.

Once he was done with the portrait, he looked at the harsh lines and smiled. Yes, black definitely worked.

His father must have agreed with his observations because one look at the piece and he had laughed.

"Well, you certainly got me, Kiddo. But maybe not take this to school. Though, I would like to hang it in my study instead. Would that be alright with you?"

"Yes, Father," Damian had agreed.

Father had them given him a long and tight hug, softly whispering how proud he was.

It almost made Damian cry. Almost.

Dick sat down for next, a wide smile on his face.

Damian chose to paint his brother in bright greens. Green was the colour of growth, harmony and renewal. His brother had moved non from tragedy after tragedy and always found a way to make his world right again, not only for himself but for others too. The freshness of the colour captured the man's smile in full and made him seem wiser than his years, which in Damian's opinion was exactly what his brother was.

Damian knew this one would be his favourite.

When he showed Dick, he was gushed at his talent but had been confused about the colour choice. Unlike most of their other family, Dick had never had an interest in the visual arts, opting to express himself physically as Cassandra did.

Once he explained, Dick had gotten tears in his eyes. Damian had almost become alarmed but his brother had swooped him up in a hug and held him close, much as his father had.

"Thank you, Damian,"

"You're welcome, Richard," said Damian, though he did not know what the thank you was for.

Cassandra did not sit but chose to stand instead. Damian was quite alright with that.

He painted his sister in shades of purple. Purple was the colour of royals, elegance of a certain kind, and ambition. Violet was the colour of magic and dreams.

Cassandra smiled all the way through painting, holding her pose together. This painting took the longest as Damian knew that it would e important to paint her whole body instead of just painting her face.

Once he was done, Cassandra hugged him before she even saw the painting and then hugged him again after she was it.

"Good," she whispered, "You got me,"

"I'm glad you think so," he whispered back

After Cassandra came Jason. And the only reason he had agreed was that he was stuck on bed rest.

Damian drew him in shades of red, head bent over a book. Red was the colour of anger, danger and sacrifice. It was also the colour of love and passion, the colour of a fire that burned bright and a heart that beat for others. Jason was all that and more. He rose from the ashes like a phoenix and had devoted his life to his family and city. Sacrifice after sacrifice, all in the name of love for people he thought didn't even love him. He was wrong about that of course.

"The angry brother in red, huh?" said Jason once he saw it, voice showing just a fraction of the bitterness he was feeling.

Damina instantly refuted, "No, the passionate brother, and the loving one,"

Jason looked at him in surprise.

Damian continued, "You are too sacrificing for your own good, you are passionate about what you do and you love so much that overflows out in bursts,"

For a few moments, Jason watched him with his mouth open, and then ever so slowly, a smile spread across his face.

"You know," he murmured, "I think red could be your colour too,"

"Really?"

"Really,"

Tim was surprised at being asked, and really that made Damian feel just a little guilty. He was almost an adult now and quite ashamed about how he had acted all those years ago.

For Timothy, Damian chose blues. Blue represented the open sky and ocean, depth and stability. It stood for loyalty, faith, truth and confidence.

Over the years, Damian had watched his brother grow into his abilities and become sure of himself. He was a leader, a detective and a man loyal to his cause and family. Damian was proud to have him in his life, to call him family. Even if he never admitted it out loud.

He explained the meaning of the picture in a few words, the whole interaction being awkward in a nice way, both of them feeling a bit shy about it.

"Thanks, Dames," said Tim

Damian just shrugged in response.

It was enough.

Duke was the last sibling he asked to sit down.

He chose to present Duke in pink. Pink was intuitive, pink was tender, pink was kind. It was a positive colour that inspired warmth and appreciation. All of the things he felt for the second oldest in the family. Duke had a soft way about him that drew people out of their shell. He was a leader but not an authoritative one like Father or even Timothy. Instead, his leadership consisted of inspiring and lifting others.

"Pink? Isn't that a girl's colour,"

"While you are right that pink represents feminity in today's society, it is a more recent development, I chose to focus on other meanings of the colour,"

"Yeah? And those are?" Duke asked disbelievingly, but not unkindly

Once Damian was done explaining, Duke grinned and held out a fist for him to bump. Damian complied.

"Thanks, man," said Duke, bounding out of the room as if someone had filled him with unlimited energy.

Damian watched him go with a shake of his head.

Damian contemplated whether or not he should do anyone else, and in the end, asked Stephanie to sit for him too.

He painted Stephanie orange. The colour represented friendliness and enthusiasm, competitiveness and risk. It stood for raw instinct and free spirit, lead to the person feeling warm and at home. The colour of the autumn.

Stephanie was a friendly spirit and was somehow always present. She pushed forward when knocked down and fought to make her home. Her success came from her enthusiasm and competitiveness and her willingness to risk it all.

Stephanie gave him a grin and a big kiss on the cheek when he explained the colour.

"Ew, Brown! Stop!"

"Uhuh," she cried, "Yuu love meee! Now I knooow!"

"Oh god, you are such a child,"

The last person that sat for him was Barbara Gordon.

Damian chose to paint her in browns. Brown was the colour of reliability and support, of protection and security. It stood for everything genuine, honest and sincere. It was what came to mind when he thought of Barbara. The way she was always there, a voice in everyone's ear. The way she always spoke the truth, light and clear. She was a friend, she was dependable, someone that could be trusted and relied on unconditionally.

Oddly enough, like Alfred and Father, Barbara did not need an explanation for the colour. She merely smiled and nodded.

"You have a great eye," she told him, "I really love this. Thank you, Damian,"

"No, thank you, Barbara,"

xxx

After a long night of patrol, Damian was ready to fall into bed. However, before he could do that, he realized there was an envelope sitting on his pillow. He took it out and smiled.

There was a picture of him petting his animals, most likely taken by Timothy, and it was tinted yellow. Beneath it, were words written out in yellow glitter pen.

Sunshine. Happiness. Fun. Hope. Mind. Perception. Optimism. Creativity. Freshness. positivity.

Underneath was a paragraph written in his father's neat cursive writing, though he could tell the input had probably come from a few different sources.

'Yellow represents the heat of the sun and the loveliness of a smile, it evoked hope for the future and is linked with the optimistic. Yellow showed creativity, freshness and positivity. Damian, you are almost an adult now and have grown into someone who had learned to channel your creative side, look towards the future and smile, even if it is internally. You have a beautiful mind and your artistic perception of the world takes our breath away. Always stay you, Damian,. You are bright and wonderful,'

Wiping the happy tears that were making their way down his cheeks, Damian quickly took out his phone. He pulled up the group chat and wrote a short message, knowing it would get the sentiment across.

'Thank you. I will do my best,'

#flufftober2020 #fluff #batfamily #BatFam #batman #robin #batman fic #bruce wayne #Damian Wayne #dick grayson #Jason Todd #Tim Drake #cassandra cain #cass wayne #duke thomas

[peppersonironi]

12, 21, 19

(Is this late? Oops. Sorry!)

12: Favourite character to write about this year

Stephanie Brown, easy. She's my spirit animal, so I might be doing a touch of projecting, but I honestly don't care. She's just pure chaos in the best way. Some of my favourite lines that I've written are for her. Such as:

"What's up bitches? I brought donuts!"

"My waffles await!"

"FEAR ME!"

"Welcome to Steph’s Glitter Bomb Palace, Where Snitches get Stitches™! So don’t tell Bruce or I’ll sic Jason on you."

She's also the character I've gotten the most comments on. People really seen to enjoy how I write her!

A close second would be Duke Thomas. Bliss, a fic I wrote for the 2020 Duke Week, was one of my favourites! Or maybe Damian? His dialogue just comes easy to me.

21: Most memorable comment/review

the batfamily exist:

everyone: is,,is that allowed?

On Code Orange (Batfam/Young Justice Crossover)

*Or*

I have wanted to read a DCU/MCU crossover for a VERY long time. This story is such a delight. Your characterisation (and for me an introduction to The Signal) was fascinating in the extreme. I loved the game playing and the fact that I could watch (open-mouthed) as Bruce Wayne enjoyed childlike fun with his children and Alfred(!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) was the cherry on top of the icing on top of the cake. I look forward to your updates in a way that you wouldn't believe.

On Batfam/Avengers Crossover

19: Any new fics to start next year

Oh boy. So many. You know what? Here's a list. It'll be good to get these ideas out. Plus, you guys can tell me what you'd rather see first!

Gen/just Batfam

Crack fic based off this piece of dialogue (came from a convo between my sister and I): Tim reached forward and poked Duke's face. "You're right!" He exclaimed. "You really *do* squish like a block of wood!" Duke Centric.

Based on THIS Incorrect Quotes. Talia moves into the Manor because she's sick of Ra's. Featuring a bunch of good mom!Talia.

Based off THIS Incorrect Quotes. Jason runs for President as Red Hood. I have so many ideas! This'll be really fun.

Loosely based on THIS post. It explores Jason and Cassandra's relationship, and how it evolves.

Duke Thomas Big Bang Fic (can't say much, but it'll be great!)

Platonic (need to be certain you understand that. There were some misconceptions w/ my Discord server) Slow Burn between Tim and Damian. At the beginning the absolutely despise each other. But over time they realise their own insecurities, and how they don't actually hate the other. And by the end they fully admit and embrace their being brothers.

Reverse Robins with Damian as the oldest (I made THIS post talking about it a while back. But I've highly revised it.)

Reverse Robins with Duke as the oldest (I wrote THIS fic, but I think I want to change this into a series!)

Cassandra as Batman. Stephanie as Catwoman. Carrie Kelley as Robin.

5 Times Bette Kane was the mastermind behind the batkids' pranks without Bruce's knowledge, and 1 Time her brilliance was brought to light.

5 Times Duke thought that he couldn't possibly get any more siblings and 1 Time he met the cousins (AKA: Duke meets the extended family)

Birdflash

Birdflash in the JL/JLU universe (based off that one hexagon by @novaviis ! Super fun!). The league is inviting potential members to the Watchtower one day. Except Wally wasn't there during the choosing of said members. So he's completely shocked when his husband Nightwing shows up. They have to act like they don't know each other, which basically involves Dick flirting his butt off with Wally, Wally trying desperately to remain professional, Bruce digging in the corner, the rest of the League in varying degrees of disapproval and confusion (at least a couple have seen Wally's wedding ring. So that adds a while 'nother layer).

Young Justice soulmate au. Dick, and eventually everyone else, knows that Wally is his soulmate. Wally is oblivious. Lots of pining and angst in this one. Slow burn to an extent (depends on how long I make it). But definitely a happy fluffy ending in sight!

Batfam Meets Young Justice

THIS fic.

Duke gets yeeted into the YJ universe, and promptly passes out. He wakes up in the Watchtower, and breaks out of the confinement the Team has set up for him. Pulls shenanigans (some unwittingly) and used his powers. The Team and JL are confused, and panicking. Because this guy keeps muttering things about the Batfam. And he has a bat on his chest.

The Team break into some ancient temple after getting info on a new Supervillian plot. They find purple clothed woman draped across a throne. She talks, and they panic, as she knows all their secret identities. The only one who isn't, is Tim. He looks bored. Alternatively: Steph needs Tim's credit card to take his sister out on a date, and absolutely refuses to text.

While the Team is on a mission to stop Lady Shiva, a dimensional portal opens up and spits out a strange Robin (Damian) and what seemed to be a female Batman (Cass as Black Bat). This new dynamic due promptly defeats Lady Shiva and all the goons. The Team is freaked out, and 'apprehends' the dimensional anomalies, bringing them back to the Watchtower. Where the due promptly break and and start chaos. Featuring "Toxic" by Britney Spears. I will not explain why.

The Watchtower gets a sudden emergency message from the Batcave. They accept, to find a stranger calling himself Signal panicking about Robin being missing. They all look at Tim, who ignores them, and says that he doesn't know where Robin is. Some naming shenanigans occur.

(Not sure if this fits here, oh well) Set in Season One, Bruce is tired of Clark's attitude towards Superboy, and adopts the clone himself. Not sure how far this'll go, but at least goes through Dick's time as Robin. (Based on THIS Tumblr post)

(Also iffy on placement) a continuation of one (not sure which? Probably Damian as older) Reverse Robins fics. It's a retelling of Season One of YJ, with Dick as Robin. Nightwing (Damian) feels protective of his brother, and so takes on the role Black Canary had in the show, training the Team. But as time goes on, he ends up being more of a big brother to the group. Cameos from the rest of the Batfam as well! And an Identity Reveal (including finding out Dick and Dami are brothers) at the end!

Batfam Meets the Justice League

Cass takes over being Batman for a bit, because Bruce was an idiot and broke his leg. This happens to line up with when the Justice League reach out to the Dark Knight, in order to extend an invitation to the league. They eventually meet Bruce as Batman, and are confused as to why he is so tall. And male.

Joyfire

Lian accidentally reveals her three parents' relationship by calling Bruce 'grandpa' over dinner.

Museum Heist

THIS fic

Operation: Seduce Nightwing. Based on a post for an ATLA ot3, Wally and Artemis realise silumaneously “Hey, we kinda have the hots for Dick” and decide together to see if he likes them back. Which involves a heck ton of over the top flirting, and shenanigans. The Team is sighing on the sidelines at their idiocy. Dick is internally combusting and thinking “Do they like me back? I’’m not sure.” 

5 times Dick and Wally fought over being the middle spoon, and one time Artemis had had enough.

Set in Season 3 (but ignores some canon), Bart is kidnapped by some mad scientist obsessed with the Speed Force. The Team mobilizes, and gets Bart back from the evil base. But when they get there, they find Wally West freed from the Speed Force. He and Artemis reunite, and everyone is happy. They prepare to leave. Then the Pick-up Squad arrive in the bioship, and Dick gets out. Everyone is expecting Dick to give Wally a hug, because hey, he's his best friend! What they weren't expecting was him to run forward and pull the speedster into a passionate kiss. They go back to the Watchtower, and some more stuff happens.

Soulmate AU where the first thing your soulmate says to you after they fall in love with you is tattooed on your body.

Post Season Two Get Together. Starts with Artemis living with Dick as opposed to Will. Might be Slow Burn? (They come pretty close to kissing) Eventually Wally comes back. Arty and Wally are back together. They both live in the same house as Dick, for convenience. Then some more Slow Burn happens. Maybe some Birdflash moments. Arty tells Wally she kinda had a thing for Dick. Wally admits the same. Maybe a touch more Slow Burn. They Eventually get together.

Batlantern

AU where Bruce met Hal back when he first came back to Gotham. Fic goes through how their relationship evolves over the years (up until current time, when Damian is 13). I'm considering a relationship reveal with the Justice League.

Hal's interactions with Bruce's kids.

Green Lantern Corp acting protective of Hal when Bruce comes to Oa. This was an ask that I got, and I'm holding off on writing it till I get as much into on the GL's as possible, as all I know if their characterization comes from that animated series, and Guy Gardener's (Hilarious!) parts on Young Justice.

Marvel

Like 3 different versions of the Peter Parker Field Trip to Stark Tower Trope.

2-part Crossover with the Batfam (they exist in the same universe), where the Avengers go to a Wayne Gala, and interact with the family. The second chapter involves them heading out the next night to try and contact Batman.

THIS fic.

#Pepper answers #Ask #batfam #dc #fanfiction #birdflash #joyfire #museum heist #batlantern #stephcass #young justice #young justice cartoon #marvel #the avengers #duke thomas #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #bette kane #damian wayne #tim drake #kate kane #jason todd #dick grayson #bruce wayne #wally west #artemis crock #roy harper #koriand'r #lian harper #hal jordon

[autisticcassandracain]

oh wait no i have one more oops, top 5 dc relationships? doesnt have to be romantic! NOW ill stop lmao

ONCE AGAIN sorry for the late reply!! And I don't get why ppl feel weird sending ppl lots of asks, I enjoy feeling like ppl care about what I have to say and hearing what other people think as well lmao

also this is not a super strict top 5 since which ones I like best change rapidly, I just love exploring character relationships

Koriand'r and Donna Troy: while I DO ship Donnakory, I honestly could not care less whether their relationship is romantic or platonic or somewhere outside of it entirely, I just ADORE their dynamic. It's a real shame their interactions decreased over time, because I think what they had in the beginning of NTT was something fantastic. I tend to prefer friendships without a lot of drama that are very sincere, and they're just so mutually supportive, I just!!! Adore it!!! Read NTT (volume 1/1980) #16 and tell me that they're not fucking great.

Joey Wilson and Kole Weathers: UNDERRATED!! Kole in general is underrated imo, and like, I get why, she was invented to be killed off in Crisis on Infinite Earths and it shows, but I just think she's Neat and should receive more attention. Joey and Kole's relationship is absolutely fantastic, especially considering in how little time it was developed. Joey handles Kole's initial propositions towards sex really maturely, calmly turning her down, and Kole likewise reacts well to his rejection. They end up having a very close platonic relationship with lots of platonic intimacy, which I ADORE, and the way their relationship plays into Kole's character, exploring how her time on Olympus has affected her worldview, is very interesting! Just a fantastic relationship all around.

Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown: once again, I do ship Stephcass, but I also really don't care whether this relationship is platonic/romantic/something else/whatever, I just adore their dynamic! The scene of them bonding over their abusive shithead dads is amazing, their back-and-forths are always enjoyable, the fact that Cass spent like, all of the Wargame issues that took place in her solo (idk about the others I haven't read Wargame in full) searching for Steph even as Gotham went to hell, the fact that Steph's ghost guided Cass back to life TWICE, the way Steph looks up to Cass and the way Cass teaches her....... BRILLIANT, SHOWSTOPPING, SPECTACULAR.

Cassandra Cain and Duke Thomas: Once again, I adore friendships that are based on sincere emotion, honest communication, and mutual support, and these two are SO good on that front baby!! Their dynamic was definitely one of the highlights of the most recent Batman & The Outsiders, and I really hope we get to see more of it because it's just SO good!! Just two found family siblings being friends!!!

tie between Cassandra Cain and Bruce Wayne/Cassandra Cain and Lady Shiva: there is SO MUCH competition for this spot and yes I do realize that 3 out of five of these have been Cass relationships but listen.... she has really good ones. The relationship between Bruce and Cass is very complex because they're so similar; their first meeting is hilarious because it's basically them doing the spiderman pointing meme, and while Bruce is pretty punchable in Batgirl (2000), I think it's for a good reason. Bruce projects like hell onto Cass, specifically all the parts that led him to vigilantism, which leads to an unhealthy view of her that Barbara is there to challenge him on. Meanwhile, Cass hero-worships Batman to a similarly almost unhealthy degree, which is fascinating as well. Cass and Shiva's relationship is similar in many ways, with Shiva and Cass having a lot of similarities, but the difference is that Shiva and Cass are obviously also very different in key ways that make their relationship incredibly tense. I think both of these relationships are beautifully complex and I enjoy thinking about them.

#my posts #asks #long post

[phantomchick]

List of wips - aka struggles

Call Me A Jason Todd fic I started two years ago and still go back to poke at longingly, will the second and final chapter ever be posted? Who can know for sure.

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I tell myself that I don't need Anyone (But the truth is no one needs Me) Another Jason Todd fic I haven't completed, posted two years ago for whumptober, it was the only day of whumptober I participated in, intended to be full of Captain Atom and Jason Todd interacting during the fall out of Bludhaven getting chemo'd but he doesn't show up in the first chapter and have you ever tried to read Infinite Crisis? It's a fucking mess. With this wip I have a close to justifiable excuse in that I refuse to write without knowing the canon, and reading through all the canon that's relevant is A Task.

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The Monster in The Man A Merlin fic floating around my drafts, currently at a good bit over 5k wherein Merlin gets POSSESSED by an old enchantment gone mad. Written because a Merlin fic I read ended on a horror style cliffhanger and I couldn't handle it so I charged my way through the first 2k of a sequel and I've been adding to it ever since. Angst with a hopefully happy ending, if I ever frikking finish it.

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The Dragon Lord In the aftermath of his father's death after Merlin inherits his father's dragon lord abilities he notices some minor changes to his interactions with his friends, the thing is that Merlin is a dragon lord and unusually what he hoards is people, things might just turn out the better for it.

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Maelstrom A Naruto time travel fix it fic that wouldn't leave me alone until I got the first chapter out, ironically it has left me entirely alone since I finished the first chapter and I have no idea if inspiration for it will ever return or when that will be.

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You Don't Know Anything Long long ago in a land of asks and a time of legend @paradise-runway sent me a fic request for "one where the other Bat boys find out the circumstances of Jason's death and resurrection and their reaction?" it has been lingering in my drafts haunting me ever since, someday, someday I shall fulfill what has been promised.

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Of Curses and Covenants A longfic exploring the magical underbelly of Gotham's history, focuses on the intertwined relationship of the Wayne Family and the Zatara Family brought about by how often Waynes through the generations have ended up being cursed. I have an index of all the curses ready, the problem with this one is the plot and the story.

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Vicki Finds a Bat (temporary title) Vicki Vale stumbles upon a still alive young adult Jason Todd at a wafflehouse on the way back from snooping into Cobblepot's latest criminal schemes. Convincing the young man to go back home to his loving father might prove more of a challenge than she thinks however. (will have a happy ending if I ever fucking finish it, for now it looms in my drafts like an unhappy gargoyle)

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Hug Deficit A fic about Jason being touch starved and his family fixing it, hurt/comfort all the way, post resurrection.

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Stephanie Brown and The Mansion of Man Pain Robin Era Steph, she and Alfred have pumpkin spice lattes together, it's their thing because I say it is. Includes, Alfred raised 5 boys counting Bruce, he's not sure how to handle a little girl and Bruce trying to dad plus Steph trying her best. Would be a lot easier to write if I was any good at comedy.

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Another Time, Another Place Some twenty years or so after their death, Martha and Thomas Wayne appear in the middle of Wayne Manor's ground floor parlour room, the major problem with this? Not only are Bruce and Dick away, Alfred's on holiday in England! Which is why Jason as the eldest has been unwillingly nominated by his younger siblings to deal with the situation at hand. Martha and Thomas in this are heavily inspired by @unpretty's amazing portrayals in her fics with them.

- Queen Blackfire and the Lazarus Lord An au with Soulmate identifying marks: Jason Todd was having an okay time as de-facto leader of The Outlaws, a band of misfits and rebels with hearts of gold (or at least silver) saving the world the best they could and filling in the gaps the more straightforward heroes tended to miss while they were at it. Then he found out he was soulmates with the Alien Warrior Queen bent on declaring war on planet Earth if the Justice League didn't find her soulmate for her. Things with his friend, team mate and potential future sister in law Kori just got super awkward and the only good thing he can find about this situation is how angry (and protective? But maybe he's just imagining that) Bruce seems over the whole thing.

Side note: Kommand'r freaked out during the years Jason was 'dead' and accidentally brought peace to a huge chunk of space and intergalactic society via building up her empire after throwing herself into work to escape the grief.

- To Grasp The Hand of a Fox Naruto and Kurama travel back in time to save the world but unfortunately they land in the same moment that Kurama's just been put under a genjutsu by Madara Uchiha, Naruto has to make his way to Konoha and wake Kurama up before the villagers seal him away inside Mito. Can he save his friend in time to save them all?

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Those Winter Sundays Mcu fic. Snapshots of Tony working hard for the avengers and no one noticing. Civil War Team Iron Man.

- Salvation Rides a Solar Wind Iron Man fic in a Science fiction / Western style fic where Tony's presence is described through the eyes of the aliens he helps. Au where the war with Thanos goes very differently. The type of fic that needs like 5 multi chapter fics in a single series to truly shine, hence why I will likely never finish it.

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And We Break Away Again Jason goes back to Talia after Damian is brought back from the dead by Bruce. It's not that he begrudges his little brother his resurrection, the opposite, but he can't ignore what Bruce did to him by taking him to the magdala valley and he can't ignore what Bruce doing for Damian what he didn't do for him, (do for Dick, do for any of them besides the blood related one) means. So he decides to go back to the only person who ever seemed to understand why he wanted to avenge himself in the first place, the only person who seemed to agree that he had a right to be angry that he'd died at all, the only person he can trust to hold him together while he feels like he's falling apart that won't judge him against the heroic mold while they're at it. Not sure if this will be a oneshot or a series but we're going good Talia with this one regardless, DC's been ruining her lately but through fanfic all things are possible so fuck them.

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Fan The Flames In the aftermath of a magical fire taking hold of the Daily Planet in Metropolis, Superman is missing, can Batman and the rest of the Justice League find their friend as well as the identity of the evil arsonist before Lex Luther does it first?

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In a Whisper (In a Wish) Ichigo Kurosaki protects people, it's not just who he is, it's what he is, down to the core of his very soul. The only problem is, that a few weeks ago he sacrificed half his soul to protect the world. It aches inside where he knows something important used to be. When everyone he cares for is avoiding him and he's starting to feel more like a shadow than a person, that aches at him too and he can't help but wish, quietly, privately, painfully, to himself if no one else that things were different, that he wasn't so broken or so alone. But if wishes were fishes they'd fill a whole sea (just be careful not to whisper them within the hearing range of the Hōgyoku).

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An Honest Conversation (Is A Bitter Thing To Crave) Jason kidnaps Bruce but things don't go as Bruce expects. First of all the reason Jason was able to kidnap him was because Stephanie of all people was his insider, why would she support someone Batman knows she's only met once. And second of all the reason he's been abducted - So that Jason can drug them both with the same substance. And when Bruce asks what he's doing this for Jason only responds, "We don't trust each other enough to have a truthful conversation otherwise" and refuses to say anything more while they wait for it to kick in. What will be revealed by this forced honest encounter on both sides? -

carrying the world on thin shoulders Midoriya Izuku deserves better from literally all the adults in his life so this is part whump part hurt comfort part fix it fic that sprawls out from time to time but it's pretty bad tbh, at some point I'll probably make it neater and give it something resembling a coherent plot. Hopefully. -

Trust Issues HP fic. Harry gets dosed with a potion that's supposed to reinforce your strongest survival instinct, the person who drugged him might've intended to be helpful but said potion happened to be at extra strength and he was given what would be a normal fix for the regular version but for this one is twice the recommended amount. Great.. The biggest problem about all this - beyond his internationally wanted godfather Sirius endangering himself by hiding out in a cave near Hogsmeade against all rational advice, his best friend Ron hating him, everyone in school besides his other best friend Hermione also hating him or avoiding him and the entire Goblet of Fire problem - is that he can't bring himself to trust anyone enough to tell them what's wrong.

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Truth is Treason in the Empire of Lies A post marvel avengers story, thor pov probably, made because I like to dive into a pool of thor & loki sibling feels sometimes: Starts off as Thor regales his new human shield brothers with the story of his banishment and return to Asgard ending with Loki falling into the Void and the Avengers have some questions, questions Thor had not thought of, remarks on things that Thor doesn’t know how to explain away.  After he goes to Loki’s cell and asks him some things he becomes more and more angry despite having no one he can punch > Gets drunk and criticises Sif and The Warriors Three after they try to calm him down > mention of Loki still being underage by Aesir standards during Thor 1 seeing as Thor was being crowned due to being of age in the movie > heavy inspiration drawn from queen regnant by peaceheather. “For while the Treason I detest, the Traitor I love still.” Currently just an outline.

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Separation Split personality disorder Red Hood and Jason Todd, alternatively, Red Hood is a demon/parasite latched on to Jay. A lot of work necessary considering right now it’s currently just an idea inspired by a cool tumblr fanart.

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A Trinity of Head Wounds The dcu trinity in the aftermath of a fight against some alien invaders (or something along those lines), whump, hurt/comfort, starts with them arguing, ends with them bleeding on each other in a friendship way, whole thing should take place in a single room on the watchtower and be a oneshot so it's gotta be a short and sweet one-two gut punch with the feelings which is difficuuult.

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A Stark in The Stars an mcu fic, a really over complicated mcu fic, mostly because of Steve Roger's timeline fuckery, Tony's alive but he's not supposed to be, but so are a lot of people who were dead but aren't now you might say what with the snap and the blip. The thing is that Steve's timeline fuckery is making it so that everyone keeps getting confused between the two different timelines of events, obviously more confused the more that their characters were connected to the films/the events that were altered, the punchline of this particular fic though is that Tony's still alive and he's unaware of the timeline of events where he died. And as he's currently in space he's also unaware that everyone on Earth thinks he's dead (because why wouldn't they? he died in endgame after all). That makes this fic super tough to write because like ultimate unreliable narrator right here and not sure how to tie in the whole 'oh wait actually everyone on Earth thinks I'm dead because of the canon timelines' thing in or at what point of the story to do that at. The fuckery of it all gives me a headache. Plot is hard. Also all of that's basically background to the actual focus of most of the fic thus far which is Tony travelling around space in an Iron Man suit up until the point where it won't be background.

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Magic Chained Merlin au. When you put magic restraining cuffs on Magic himself you don't just bind him you bind all magic the world over. It is therefore, infinitely lucky that Uther Pendragon never became aware of this fact.

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A Child in The Cold bnha Midoriya deserves better also Recovery Girl and Aizawa have shit to answer for as far as I'm concerned.

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#i have #so many #wiiiiiiiips #there's probably more hidden in various word docs but #blah #personal

[naerysthelonesome]

Time spent together

Part 6:

The narrator returns

Apollo and Lit are very, very close to Artemis’ place now. Apollo looks splotchy and nervous. I don’t like it. Clashes too much with his outfit. Lit, on the other hand looks cool and calm. That’s weird. Probably a façade.

Apollo finally makes a turn, and pulls into a driveway in this really nice neighborhood. I’d consider living here, if I could… live, you know? He parks the car and just sits there, like an idiot. I’m sure Lit notices because he punches Apollo lightly in the arm, and steps out. Apollo follows soon after, and Lit moves to the backseat to get his bag, but the former flaps at his arms in impatience. Boi does he not look the epitome of grace today.

Lit shoots him a look, and shoulders his bag anyway.

They both make their way to the front door of the pretty, baby blue house. It looks quaint, and cozy, and not really someplace I’d imagine Apollo’s cool sister Artemis living, but maybe she’s into the whole cottagecore thing. I wouldn’t know. I’m supposed to keep focused on Apollo and Lit.

Speaking of, Apollo is trying to look collected and nonchalant as he knocks on the door, but it’s (incredibly) clear that he isn’t. Lit inches just a little bit closer, trying to offer his support, but of course Apollo doesn’t notice. At least not at first. Then Lit’s hand brushes against his own, and, I kid you not, his eyes spark. His breath hitches in his chest, and he goes completely still. Simp.

The door bangs open to reveal a silver woman. No seriously, she’s silvery all over. Her hair and eyebrows have been dyed a most mesmerizing silvery-white, her skin glows in places (silver highlighter methinks), and all the delicate silver jewelry over the lacy, dark green tank top and gray shorts makes her look ethereal and fairylike. DAMN she is really taking the Artemis thing seriously.

“Big brother!”

“We’re twins, and you’re unoriginal”, Apollo says resignedly. Like he’s had this exact conversation before. He probably has. Artemis simply smiles.

“Aw don’t be like that!”

She turns toward Lit, who’s been standing there awkwardly, and offers him her hand. Palm facing down, snowy white fingers curled, like she expects him to kiss it.

Lit looks like he’s visibly restraining himself from turning to Apollo in bewilderment.

“Aren’t you going to take my hand?” Artemis asks, with a fake pout.

Lit reaches out and takes it, completely unsure of what to do next. He just holds it like it’s an unwanted bug someone’s placed in his hand.

“Must all your dates be so rude, Apollo?” Artemis questions, with a huff.

“Must you always act like a twat that doesn’t know what century it is, Artemis?” he replies, turning to Lit. “She’s just playing with you”.

Artemis laughs, and walks away. It’s a normal laugh, no tinkling wind chimes, or tumbling rivers. I don’t even know if that’s humanly possible. Stephanie must have been on something.

“Something tells me it’s best if I play along”, Lit says, following Apollo through the door.

“Definitely. Oh, and leave your shoes here.”

Two of the girls Artemis lives with are insanely pretty. (But then, all humans look insanely pretty to me… oh to have a physical form). And they look like polar opposites. The bigger one is wearing a flowy summer dress that perfectly complements her wheatish skin, her pink and brown hair in a neatly curled high pony, winged eyeliner on point. The other one has her orange-red hair hanging about her face, some of it still fixed in the messiest messy bun I’ve ever seen. She stays seated on the sofa, in her dull grey sweats, and simply turns to wave at the boys when they walk in, eyes still on the tv.

“Hi! I’m Arson”, says they pink-haired one, “And that’s Claire. She’s normally the active one, but it’s shark week so she’ll just lie there like that all day, useless”. She (they?) swiftly catches they pillow that’s been chucked at them, and grins. “Oh and Thalia’ll be out in a sec”.

“Your name’s Arson?” Lit asks, politely trying not to sound shocked or confused.

“Heh yeah. Of all the non-binary names someone like me could have picked, right?” They say, with a short laugh. “It was a close call between this, and Twig.”

“Her pronouns are she and they, btw”, Apollo says walking up from where he’d been talking to his sister, to envelop Arson in a hug, “Hey Ari!”

“Ah jeez. The hugging still isn’t over?” A raven haired girl says, walking into the now slightly crowded living room. “Well I’m Thalia. Do no touch me”. That last part was spit at Apollo. Her tone is menacing, but her little smirk shows otherwise.

“Hey Thalia”, Apollo says, reaching over to pat the red-head, Claire, on the shoulder, and ruffle her already ruffled hair. Please somebody comb it already!

“This is Lit, Apollo’s newest fling”, Artemis says, gesturing to the boy who looks like he can’t decide whether he wants to live here, or run away. He gives the room a shy smile. (Aww)

“Great! Now that we all know each other,” Get out of Pridelands? Sorry sorry. Just couldn’t miss out the opportunity to quote Lion King: Simba’s Pride. Artemis simply continues on with something about lunch and rotisserie chicken.

It’s been quite an uneventful couple hours, but oh, how could that possibly last? In a room full of people, half with names with mythological roots, and the one named after a crime? There’s bound to be some drama. No, calm down, there isn’t going to be a fire. Unless it’s Lit’s heart flaming for Apollo, or vice versa. ANYWAY I’m going way off script.

“So Lit, how’d you guys meet?” Claire asks around a mouthful of veggies, feet nestled comfortably on Arson’s lap. I’m starting to think they might be more than friends, but what do I know?

“Oh we had to do a project together. Obviously, we’d seen each other around before then, but yeah… that’s the first time we really interacted”, Lit answered, awkwardly trailing off at end, as if he thought he’d said to much. Seriously Lit? That was barely anything.

“And how long ago was that?” Arson asked.

“Uh-”

“About a month ago”, Apollo supplied, lacing his fingers through Lit’s, their hands clearly visible from the sofa they were seated on.

Lit’s adam’s apple bobbed, and he shifted slightly in his seat, but managed to keep calm, even lifting their conjoined hands into his lap.

“Huh. How long have you guys been together, then?” Thalia asked, staring to look interested.

“A couple weeks.” Apollo’s voice was calm, at startling odds with the red of his face.

“Oh?” Artemis said finally, her eyes moving from their linked hands, to Apollo’s face. “You move awfully fast brother.”

“Well, we both wanted it”, Lit tried to cut in. The sudden tension between the twins is so thick, even oblivious Lit notices.

Artemis ignores him and continues, “Don’t you remember what happened last time you moved this quickly?”

“Artemis, please”, Apollo says, starting to sound irritated, “You wanted me to stop fucking around, and I did. You seem to have a problem with everything I do.”

“Oh is that why you’re dating him? Because of me?” Oh shit… we’re getting awfully close to the truth now, huh?

“No. No, of course not”, Apollo lies quietly. Lit manages to discreetly untangle their fingers and pull away, looking a little hurt. “I like Lit”. So not all lies then? If only Lit knew that, then he’d stop looking like a kicked puppy.

“Just make sure he isn’t another Daphne”, Artemis says, a challenging look in her eyes.

“That was a mistake and you know it! When are you going to stop bringing it up?” Apollo spits angrily, before he gets up and walks out the front door.

Lit sits there in shock for a second, before deciding that an angry Apollo was easier to deal with that a room full of upset and curious people, and follows behind him. Damnit! I wanted to stay behind and listen to the gossip. Would you mind terribly if I did that?

Yea, I suppose you would.

Lit is leaning against the wall of the house, hands in his pockets, while Apollo leans over the porch railing, and stares at his car.

“So who’s Daphne?”

Apollo sighs in defeat, before saying, “My ex. One of my only two exes”. Then he turns around before almost hastily adding, “Exes being people I’ve actually dated, that is. Not just people I’ve slept with”.

“Of course. Of course you still care about your reputation as a fuckboy”, Lit says, sounding disappointed more than anything else. Look, I’m a sucker for drama, but what the hell is this?! I don’t like this.

“What? No”. Apollo sounds... scared? “No I’m just trying to be as clear as possible.”

Lit doesn’t say anything.

“Besides, why are you even mad? It’s not like we’re actually dating”.

“No.” Lit whispers, “We’re not”.

“Hey”, Apollo pleads, “I can’t handle you being mad at me too, Lit. I’m sorry you got dragged into this shit”.

Lit waves the apology away. “Why is Artemis so mad about Daphne?” If I were even a little less intuitive, I would’ve missed the hopeful tone of that question.

“Oh. Um- Daphne was one of Artemis’ best friends. That’s how we got close in the first place. Sometime last year, we started seeing each other, and eventually became official. We’d moved really quickly, and honestly didn’t have much in common except Artemis” And divinely good looks, if Apollo’s many flings are anything to go by. “But everything went great, nonetheless. Better than great, even. I started to think I loved her. Until it didn’t. Around the three month mark, things started to go sour. We’d disagree about pretty much everything, and we’d fight and argue all the time. Then it started to get monotonous and boring and we were just going through the motions. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I broke up with her, and…” That’s the one place he hesitates. “Left. I just left for college, and Artemis had to deal with Daphne, who apparently took it hard. I didn’t speak to her at all until just a few months ago.

We’re okay now, by the way. She says that I’m a better friend that boyfriend, and I can’t say I disagree. Lucky for you that we’re just faking it, right?” I notice the slight hitch in his voice, but Lit apparently doesn’t. He lets out a dry chuckle. “Artemis, on the other hand, is still obviously pissed. I don’t blame her. She said that Daphne only dated me at all because I seduced her. At first, I thought that was ridiculous, but if all the hoes on campus are anything to go by, it seems that was entirely possible”, he finishes bitterly. Well... that was quite a speech.

“I don’t know whether to be impressed or exasperated by your unwavering level of self-confidence”, Lit says tiredly, after a brief pause. “Well that wasn’t as bad as I expected”.

“Yea, Artemis has been known to overreact”.

“I think her reaction was warranted”. Lit himself looks surprised at having defended Artemis.

“Maybe it was”, Apollo amends, eager to get back on Lit’s good side, I suppose. “You’re not still mad, are you?”

“I’m not mad at you, no” comes the curt reply, suggesting that he is still mad at something. This whole situation, probably. This trip was supposed to be romantic for God’s sake!

“Good, because we have a little party to attend this evening”.

#don't really know where i was going with this one tbh #litpollo #litpollo fanfiction #lityerses #apollo #toa apollo #trials of apollo #modern day au #riordanverse #angst #eh kinda

[thatblondeperson]

worrying about whether a character is LGBT after years of thinking they were “straight” is so stupid lmfao. this is literally the comic book industry where there is a retcon & reboot every 5 minute where characters origins, personalities & even powers constantly change, I don’t understand why some people are using dudebro logic to moan about Tim possibly being gay/bi. Also for some people to imply this is unfair to Stephanie is insane because it shows that you think her character revolves around men & relationships with them (tho I agree we should’ve seen at least a on panel break up where they left it on good terms).

Idk where on the internet you're seeing this, I'm going to assume reddit and Twitter which I refuse to touch while this is going down, but I'm gonna just lay down a few things for the record again in case this ask is about me, which if it is, you're wholly mistaken on my attitude over the current events taking place.

I'm definitely not worried that he's LGBT+, I've pretty openly said here that I'm excited for this next chapter of his comic book career. I will say that in comics he has exclusively dated and been attracted to women, but that's just a fact of what's on paper. In no way does that mean he is straight, I've personally headcanoned him as bi for years because I have always entertained the idea of him dating men. No one I've spoken with is "worried" about him being LGBT+. My only worry, and I've stated this exactly as I'm about to here, is a purely selfish worry that I won't be able to post any new WIPs post Tim coming out as gay rather than bi. And I have stated that my worry there is not important in the greater picture of canon LGBT+ representation in comics. I haven't personally seen anyone worried that Tim won't be straight anymore, and if there are people that are worried about that, they aren't people that I care to interact with.

And idk where you're seeing that particular take on Steph. That's definitely missing the entire point of the argument about the unfairness to Stephanie. Everyone I've spoken with is annoyed at precisely the fact that her entire existence revolves around men. We are concerned that because she's no longer with Tim, she just won't be written at all because DC doesn't care about her as a standalone character. No one I've seen thinks it's unfair that she doesn't get to smooch Tim anymore, we are sad that she's written off off panel, and we are worried that she'll fade out of existence as if she's unimportant now that she doesn't exist as a passing plot point in Tim's life. Fuck, I stated a few times that I want Steph to have her own stories and her own life. I won't lie and say that don't adore her comics with Tim, and I would absolutely take more of those in a heartbeat, and I will write them as the most codependent couple there is because I fucking love something them together as a happy lovey dovey singular unit, but I want her to have her own comic run too. I want her to have stories outside of Tim. I love Stephanie Brown as her own character and sadly, I've hardly gotten to see her as such since I joined this fandom. Again, I I this isn't about me, because I cannot fathom how anyone could read all my posts and assume that by my saying Stephanie deserves better, that I'm implying that she's only best served as a side plot to male characters.

I really really hope this isn't about me because I am doing my best to make sure this blog remains a positive space regarding the characters I love, no matter how the comics turn out. I love Tim and Steph. I love them together and I love them separately. And for anyone who does actually share the "worries" than anon listed, I agree with anon's views that those are ridiculous concerns to have. Tim is a fictional character. Gay, straight, bi...he's not fucking real. Comics change, stories change, representation is good, stop fucking whining.

#personal #ask tbp

[our-happygirl500-fan]

Okay okay okay okay, I know I’m asking a lot of stuff and probs annoying you. I’m currently reading about the character but what about her and Tim?? Like can I get a run down of everything about them. The good and bad?? Everytime I see things on here it’s either making Tim to be so bad (Anti-Tim ig) or Steph to be so bad and I’m sure they’re both at fault, yea?

No I’m happy to help.

Both Tim and Steph have made mistakes but not in an awful way and more in a ‘these are literal children dealing with serious situations while also trying to be in a relationship with one another’. 

The Steph being bad stuff entirely comes from the fact that she’s a female love interest to a boy who’s one half of a popular mlm ship, she’s made mistakes here and there but they’re human instances where she’s trying to do her best, fandoms often tend to erase or demonise female characters in any any fandom if they are involved in a ship. It’s a sexist habit that comes from reducing a female to only her romantic relationship and ignoring all her other connections and reeks of misogyny. There’s also some slut shaming as Steph was a teen pregnancy & a victim of sexual assault multiple times.

The anti Tim stuff is a bit more complicated, partly it’s a response to sexism where so many fans are sick of the misogyny directed at Steph that they go full throttle the other way or it comes from fans genuinely uncomfortable with Tim’s actions as this is comics and comics are usually written by sexist men which means Tim sometimes takes actions or says something that is not so great.

The important thing to remember about Tim and Steph is that they are each others best friends and they have been through so much together to the point where even if they were not dating they would still be one of the most important relationships the other had.

There is some worry that Tim and Steph feeds into each others complexes 

Tim and Steph both experienced neglect growing up in different ways which makes their attitude to love very different.

Tim's parents were never around most of the time which makes him sort of desperate for love, for validation and most of the time he seems to be of the sort that love is something he can earn if he just does the right thing or achieves the right goal which reflects on how he probably thought if he got good grades or made his parents proud they'd notice him more they'd spend time with him more.

Steph's childhood of neglect I guess you could say came from the sickness of her parents Arthur Brown was abusive to both his wife and daughter and Crystal's drug addiction making her barely able to raise Steph half the time. More often than not it was Steph taking care of the house hold and her mother than any adult looking out for Steph.

With the neglect Steph went through she knew that there was nothing /she/ herself could do to change it, she couldn't magically make her mother quit taking drugs or stop her father from committing crimes by winning an award or behaving well, heck most of her childhood was just trying to keep her and her mum alive so in contrast with Tim who is desperate to receive love Steph is desperate to give love. Because if she's giving love to this person that means they care about her too right? 

This comes across in how easy Steph is willing to poor love into people who are even remotely nice to her like the second Barbara or Bruce stop treating her like shit she's immediately like 'I would die for you'. The second her mother is sober enough to notice her Steph is there being like 'mom I love you I would protect you with my life'. Cass is slightly nice to her? She is now Steph's best friend.

Tim is desperate to receive unconditional affection while Steph is desperate to give unconditional affection which would explain why they are drawn to one another but enough about the meta and onto their actual history.

Steph became a vigilante originally to stop her fathers crimes, the entire point of Spoiler was an abuse victim taking agency back from her abuser and due to Tim being Robin and also investigating the same crimes the two would run into each other multiple times, there was an attraction between the two however neither truly pursued anything due to the fact that Tim was dating another girl and Steph was ‘seeing’ a guy (though the relationship was implied to be unhealthy as he was significantly older, Steph only being around 14 at the time, and showed little in Steph’s actual well being).

However despite the two already being in relationships the two developed keen banter together and quickly began to enjoy the others presence what arguably set then on the path towards a relationship however is when Tim very nearly died and Steph managed to save him at the last second, Tim was so relieved that he kissed Steph sparking a romantic interest from Steph and Tim beginning to realise he had feelings for her.

Steph would then continue fighting crime outside of her fathers crimes as Steph realised that as Spoiler she could help other abuse victims such as herself. Steph’s entire life can be described as falling through the cracks in the system no one caring about the abuse and unsafe situations that she grew up with and Steph’s early journey as Spoiler is her realising that even though no one had cared when she was abused and hurt she could be the person who would care for other people so no one would suffer the way she did. Steph aiming to fight crime meant that she and Tim ran into each other even more working multiple cases together until it eventually culminated into Tim admitting that he had feelings for Steph but due to his loyalty to Batman he could never tell her his secret identity however Steph told him that that was enough for her, the two ended their previous relationships and started dating.

This is actually where a lot of criticism over the relationship is from due to the obvious power imbalance Tim knows every detail of Steph’s life while controlling all information Steph has on him and only lets her interact with Robin. Tim has also been shown to be rather possessive of Steph controlling her interactions with other members of the superhero community and expressing alarm in her spending time with other heroes who are not him.

There is also the fact that for a large part every man Stephanie has ever interacted with have been abusive in some way, her home life was incredibly dangerous due to her mother and fathers friends all being criminals or victims and Steph had to deal with at least two instances of child predators growing up so to many readers it becomes increasingly obvious that Tim might very well be the first man Steph ever interacted with who treated her with human decency and that is why she fell in love with him.

After the relationship started Steph found out that she had become pregnant from her previous relationship and the reader discovers that Steph’s previous boyfriend on top of being awful to her was also using her for sex. Steph tells Tim about the pregnancy fully expecting him to break up with her however Tim states that he is going to be there to support Steph. The two grow even closer as Tim becomes someone for Steph to lean on wearing disguises to take Steph to birthing classes and helps Steph through the process of putting the baby up for adoption. Tim is even there when the child is born.

The incident made Tim and Steph even closer and afterwards the two continue dating and remain close, Steph quickly becomes what could be considered Tim’s safe place as he is able to leave any problems as Tim Drake or Robin away and simply enjoy being with her and during times where Tim is unable to visit Steph he is shown to be tense and disgruntled without the positive emotional outlet however after nearly over a year and a half of dating Steph begins to realise that the dynamic of the relationship is uneven as Tim has complete control and knowledge over her own life while she knows nothing about Tim’s life out of the mask. Steph begins to worry about merely being used and starts openly wishing that Tim would let her be more involved with his life outside of Robin.

Tim meanwhile is beginning his rebellious phase against Batman and Bruce takes actions to try and nip it in the bud as Dick’s rebellious phase ended with Dick leaving Batman for the Titans and Jason’s rebellious phase ended with Jason dead. Bruce attempts to control Tim by using Steph revealing Tim’s secret identity to Tim. After that point Bruce would continually manipulate Steph in a gambit to manipulate Tim and Tim expresses frustration at Bruce using Steph to get to him.

Bruce and Steph’s relationship is incredibly complicated in its own right as Steph has a childhood admiration of Batman as he was the only one who seemed to be able to stop her fathers abuse by putting him in prison. This childhood admiration causes Steph to follow and respect Bruce no matter how many times his actions hurt her. Bruce on the other hand has a lot of issues regarding Steph as Steph reminds him a lot of Jason and Bruce puts a lot of his unresolved issues regarding his dead son on her which as you might assume does not end well for Steph at all.

Outside of Bruce’s meddling however Steph and Tim grow increasingly close no longer having to worry about secret identities the two go on regular dates and are there for each other in every aspect of their lives. However Tim’s father finds out about Robin and forces him to quit and Steph who had been dating Tim ‘batman needs a Robin’ Drake for years was firmly of the belief that ‘Gotham needs a Robin’ at which point Steph herself becomes the fourth Robin though it is heavily implied that once again Bruce is manipulating Steph in order to manipulate Tim into coming back.

Then DC enters its dark ages where they kill off characters left and right and Steph is tortured, raped and killed in a Gotham wide gang war primarily for Bruce angst so that Bruce can go ‘oh god it’s Jason all over again I knew she was girl Jason I knew it’ mean while Tim has what can probably be best described as a mental break down over Steph’s death and the subsequent death of his father and multiple friends. This causes Tim to become cold, cynical and increasingly dark and pessimistic (he has depression).

However Steph comes back to Gotham two years later alive again and it is revealed that Leslie Thompkin’s essentially kidnapped Steph to Africa for two years and faked Steph’s death in order to try and save Steph from being a soldier in Batman’s crusade. Steph was Leslie’s ward for two years but realised that she could literally not stop fighting crime as in Africa Steph literally started dressing up as an African legend and started fighting crime there, eventually convincing Leslie that they needed to go back to Gotham the two returned and Tim was over the moon to see Steph alive kissing her on sight, however Tim realises that he essentially had a break down over Steph death for nothing and expresses resentment over Steph letting him believe that she was dead for two years. Steph who had spent the past to years recovering physically and mentally from the trauma of being tortured for days prior to Leslie faking Steph’s death and Steph essentially not having had a choice in Leslie’s plan to fake her death is just like ‘I don’t know what to tell you buddy’ 

Steph is still Tim’s emotional home, immediately relying on her for emotional support once again and the two are shown to still love each other however the two had changed a great deal over the time they were apart. Steph having had an adult finally care about her well being for the first time in her life grew much more positive into someone who believed in the inherent good in people and in hope while Tim had grown harsh and dark and cynical. The two even joke about how Steph has become an optimist while Tim had become a pessimist. Steph is like a beam of light for Tim who had become increasingly dark and Tim finds himself being both wary of it and drawn to it.

Then Bruce gets back to his old tricks of using Steph to manipulate Tim and gives Steph instructions to challenge Tim in order to improve Tim’s skills as a crime fighter. Steph on Bruce’s orders employs and assassin to fight Tim however the assassin goes to far and Steph is injured trying to protect Tim. Tim realising that Bruce is once again manipulating Steph to get to him as well as having an inherent fear of Steph dying again demands that Steph should not be a vigilante any longer never mind that Steph literally can not stop fighting crime which causes a rift between the two.

The superhero community then believe that Batman is dead and Tim leaves Gotham to prove that Bruce is alive while Tim is gone from Gotham Cass makes Steph the new Batgirl and Steph becomes incredibly close to Barbara and Damian and as Batgirl makes several friends within the masked community no longer having her interactions be controlled by Tim or Bruce. Steph starts coming into her own and building up her self confidence, when Tim returns he is once again upset that Steph is still fighting crime his fear of Steph dying still going strong and acts condescending towards Steph’s attempts to help him however Steph proves herself in sheer level of skill and prowess and Tim accepts her as a vigilante and the new Batgirl accepting that Steph will not die again. Tim then attempts to rekindle their romantic relationship however Steph realises that she had been too dependent on Tim’s love and wishes to improve herself as a person before she even thinks of entering a relationship again. The two remain close friends however Tim expresses attraction towards Steph multiple times (Tim is the horniest little fuck during this time in their lives and Steph is literally out their trying to live her life and better herself as a person and get a university degree it’s hilarious)

If Convergence is to believe the two would always eventually get back together in one way or another the two issues being about their romantic interest in each other and getting back together.

After the reboot happens when they meet again Tim immediately expresses romantic interest in Steph while Steph herself is wary of Tim as in this universe both her mother and her father are criminals who have tried to kill her and Steph has effectively been homeless living in public libraries or where ever she can. It is unknown when but Tim offers Steph a place to live at his apartment and a some point the two eventually enter a romantic relationship.

A lot of fans have criticised this as Steph is entirely financially dependent on Tim for food and shelter and once again Tim holds more power than Steph in the relationship. Also in the rebooted universe Tim is Steph’s only support system as her parents tried to kill her, her father murdered any civilians she was close to in order to hurt her and any connections Steph had before the reboot have had vast amounts of their history erased.

Steph has also been shown to be responsible for a lot of Tim’s mental health as she has to stop him from crossing lines or going off the deep end multiple times it is described as Tim having a tendency of walking a dark path when he is alone. 

Steph and Tim are both presented as each others support systems in current comics and when Tim wanted to leave Gotham in order to research the multiverse Steph went with him as the two rely on each other.

I don’t believe there is a good guy or bad guy in their relationship both Tim and Steph want what’s best for each other but sometimes these views don’t line up which causes conflict but at the end of the day they are two people that care about each other a great deal and whether they are in a relationship or not they will always be one of the most important people in each others lives.

The relationship is criticised by the fandom as fans either fetishise mlm relationships and are angry at Steph ‘getting in the way’ an unfortunate trend in all fandoms and on the other side many are tired of female characters being reduced to their romantic relationships.

TimSteph is a cute ship with a deep connection and a lot of history proving that they care about each other a great deal but sexism and misogyny are things that exist especially in fandom spaces and that creates a nightmare.

#asks #DC comics #stephanie brown #tim drake #dc #timsteph #boy these two have been through a lot #but yeah the ships fine people just hate woman and fetishise gay relationships

[fridayfirefly]

Lost and Found [Part Three]

Masterlist | Ao3

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but I wanted to make sure this chapter was perfect, and now I’m super proud to show you all

The evening after Damian made his leap of faith and lost the pen was one of the rare nights where his entire 'family' managed to make it to the dinner table. Grayson and Barbara (Damian used her first name only because she threatened to ram him with her wheelchair if he kept calling her 'Gordon') drove in from their shared apartment in Blüdhaven. They were Soulmates, currently dating and soon to be engaged, if the ring box in Grayson's sock drawer (which Damian found when he broke into their apartment last month) meant anything. Todd came in that morning unannounced, claiming to be "in the mood for Alfred's cooking" (Damian suspected that Todd simply doesn't like eating alone, but said nothing). Drake was free for dinner because he didn't have any evening classes at Gotham University. Stephanie Brown arrived the day prior because Drake asked for her assistance on a case he was working on. Of all the heroes who fought crime in Gotham, Damian was least knowledgeable about Stephanie Brown. In all the time Damian had lived with Father, he had only spoken to Brown a few times and had only patrolled with Spoiler once. However, it seemed that Damian would be patrolling with Spoiler a lot more in the coming weeks. Earlier that day, Brown had offered to remain in Gotham and take Grayson's place on patrols. That way, Grayson could stay in Blüdhaven, instead of driving to Gotham on his nights off at the Blüdhaven police force to patrol.

Selena Kyle showed up for dinner as well, though she made no references to their conversation the night before. Father and Alfred were also at the dinner table, but Damian already knew that they would be there. Damian had lived with Father for almost three months, and he had seen the way that the Manor worked. People came and went; it seemed that the only people who stayed the same were Father and Alfred.

Once dinner started, conversations drifted around Damian. He struggled to find the right words to explain that he made contact with his Soulmate. He felt the need to say it, if only for the purpose of stopping Grayson's constant nagging.

“So when’s Connor coming to visit?" asked Barbara.

Damian turned his attention to Drake, interested in any news about Drake's Soulmate. Damian had yet to meet Connor Kent, but he was certainly interested in meeting one of his brother's Soulmates.

"He's coming over a week from Saturday and then staying for a week until the new semester at Metropolis University starts. Connor's bringing Clark, Lois, and Jon along with him. Jon's still on summer vacation, so Clark and Lois plan on leaving him here with Connor for the week so that he isn't home alone all day while they're at work."

"Jon is Damian's age, right?" Barbara asked.

"Yeah, Jon's turning thirteen next month," Drake answered.

Damian wondered what Jonathan Kent would be like. Hopefully not as immature and imbecilic as his classmates at Gotham Academy.

As the conversation hit a lull, Grayson piped up, "Damian, what's new with you? Are you still ignoring all your problems?" Grayson's tone was far too innocent for the taunt veiled underneath the niceties. Damian shot Grayson a glare, which was matched by Grayson's own stubborn look. Logically, Damian knew his teasing was fueled by well-intentioned concern, but Damian still found it annoying.

"Don't call her a problem," Damian growled. No one at the table looked concerned by their interaction, so Damian assumed that Babs and Stephanie had both been informed of what had happened two weeks ago. "The answer is no, anyways. I'm not ignoring her. I lost something for her last night."

All other conversations halted when Damian revealed his secret. "Good for you, Demon Spawn," Todd said, speech muffled by the mouthful of food he was trying to talk around.

"That's great news!" Grayson's face was lit up. "We should celebrate. I haven't had an opportunity to throw a party at the Manor in ages."

Damian sighed. Any attempts to halt Grayson's party planning would surely fail. There was no stopping Grayson’s unnerving desire to celebrate every little thing.

"Babs and I can set it up. We can do it next Saturday, while the Kents are here. After all, it's been months since the last time the Banquet Hall was used."

Father rolled his eyes at Grayson’s antics, the slight upturn of his lips proved that he was in support of Grayson's idea. It had been less than one minute since told his tell his family that he had lost the pen for his Soulmate to find, and he was already regretting it.

——————————————————————

It had taken Damian six hours and eighteen jewelry stores throughout Gotham to find the perfect gift to give to his Soulmate. It was a bracelet, made of silver and designed to look like feathers wrapping around the wrist. But it still wasn't perfect, which was why Damian was knocking on Drake's bedroom door.

Drake opened his door, looking much better rested than he had at dinner two days prior. The dark circles under his eyes had faded, and Damian could see only one coffee cup on his desk, instead of his usual three to seven. "Do you need anything?"

Damian nodded. "There is something I need assistance with. Given that it is within your area of expertise, I came to you for help."

Drake looked shocked at Damian's request, but also interested. "Come on in."

Damian walked into Drake's room and shut the door behind him. "I understand that you are knowledgeable about nanotechnology." Damian set the bracelet down on Drake's desk. "Would you be able to monitor heart rate and blood pressure through this, without the modifications being obvious to its wearer?"

Drake picked the bracelet up and examined its size and weight. "It'll take me a few days, but I think it can be done..." Drake trailed off, grabbing a spare piece of paper off his desk and jotting notes down. "It's for your Soulmate, right?"

"Yes."

"Cool," said Drake, "Is there anything else you want to be added to it?"

Damian paused for a moment, considering his words. "Could you add a tracker? One that activates only if the heart rate and blood pressure monitors detect that she's in potentially life-threatening conditions?"

Drake nodded. "I can definitely do that. If I connect everything to an app on your phone, then those kinds of settings can be done through the app rather than through the bracelet itself. But you know, I won't judge you if you want the tracker to be available to you now."

Damian shook his head. "I don't want to invade her boundaries. I just want to keep her safe and out of harm's way."

"That's genuinely really cool of you, Damian," Drake said. "I think Connor's going to like you."

"Tt. Everybody likes me."

Drake laughed. "Sure, Demon Spawn."

Damian turned away from his brother, leaving the room before Tim could catch the small smile on his face.

——————————————————————

"No more complaining, Dami. I didn't get to throw you a Welcome to the Manor party or a belated Birthday party, so you're going to suck it up and enjoy this one," Grayson instructed. He and Barbara had already bought refreshments, created a playlist titled "Can Damian Even Dance?", and decorated the Banquet Hall. Though in Damian's opinion, a blind cat would have been better at decorating than Grayson. Instead of buying normal party decorations, He and Barbara had gone to thrift stores, buying up used gender reveal party decorations. They then wrote the word Soulmate overtop of 'boy' or 'girl' so that each banner proclaimed "It's a Soulmate."

"I'm not complaining. I just think that your decorations look terrible."

"Don't call them terrible, they're made with love." Grayson could barely keep a straight face while saying it.

Damian rolled his eyes and walked out of the Banquet Hall, heading towards the foyer. He knew that Grayson was the type to go all-out when it came to showing his emotions (i.e. throwing a party to show that he's proud of Damian and supports him) but Damian wasn't really the type to enjoy a party, especially when he's the guest of honor.

"The Kents are here," Tim called out as he opened up the front door.

Damian watched as Tim greeted the Kent family. Damian had already met Clark Kent, though strictly through his superhero identity and was familiar with both Connor and Jon's time spent as Superboy. And Lois Lane-Kent, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of an award-winning novel (which Damian has read), was just as well-known in America as Superman.

“Clark, I know you've already met Damian, but the rest of you should come and meet him. After all, Dick is throwing the party in his honor.”

Damian walked into the foyer to meet Tim’s Soulmate’s family. “Hello,” Damian dipped his head in greeting.

“It’s nice to meet you, Damian,” Lois politely greeted him.

"I've read your book," Damian blurted out. "I found your commentary on the negative ramifications of superheroes on our society to be enlightening."

Lois smiled brightly, "I'm glad you enjoyed it. I've always been interested in how Superheroes influence modern society, and I think it's important for people to understand that Superheroes aren't always a good thing to have. Because Superheroes exist, citizens allow themselves to become complacent, pushing the burden of stopping crime onto Superheroes, instead of trying to prevent people from becoming criminals in the first place. It's definitely a multifaceted phenomenon, and one that our society needs to be aware of."

"It's a very complex issue," Damian agreed. "I hope we can talk about this further at a later date."

Lois nodded. "Definitely." She glanced towards her husband. "Clark and I should go find Bruce and catch up with him." The pair left the foyer, walking in the direction of Father's office. Damian, Tim, Connor, and Jonathan walked in the opposite direction, towards the Banquet Hall.

"So you're Damian," said Connor. "Tim's told me a lot about you."

"Tt. Knowing Drake, it's likely all lies and slander. Drake's jealousy often gets the best of him."

"Jealous of what? The fact that you're so effortlessly annoying?"

"You're obviously envious of my innate ability to do everything better than you."

Connor, Tim's Soulmate, let out a laugh. "Tim didn't tell me that you're funny."

"He's not funny, Connor. He's annoying. Now come on, you have to see the decorations Dick and Babs put up. They're awful."

"How do you mess up party decorations?" Jonathan Kent asked.

Tim made a face. "Dick likes to challenge himself by putting up the worst possible decorations. Last year he and Babs convinced Alfred to have us all make the Christmas tree decorations ourselves. I still don't think I've gotten all the glitter out of my hair."

“At least these decorations are harmless,” Damian cut in. “Imagine what would have happened had Father not vetoed Grayson's Fourth of July cookout earlier this summer.”

Connor laughed. “That definitely wasn’t Dick’s best idea. I doubt that fireworks and the Wayne family mix well.”

When they got to the door to the Banquet Hall, Grayson's music already playing, Tim turned to Damian. "By the way, Damian, I finished the modifications that you asked for. It's in my room on my desk when you want to go get it."

"Sure. Tell Grayson I'll be a few minutes."

Tim and Connor walked into the room, but Jonathan stayed behind. "Is it for your Soulmate - what Tim was fixing for you?"

Damian's eyes narrowed. "Maybe."

Jonathan's face brightened. "Cool. Are you planning on losing it tonight?"

“I take it Tim told you and his Soulmate about my Soulmate," Damian commented, ignoring Jonathan's question.

"Tim didn't tell me, Tim told Connor. He wanted Connor's advice on how to apologize to you, for what he said about your Soulmate. I couldn't help but overhear; superhuman hearing doesn't exactly have an off switch. Besides, I was mostly just interested in the fact that your Soulmate is French. My Soulmate's French too."

Damian didn't know how to respond to that. Jonathan Kent was like a breath of fresh air.  He was entirely unconcerned about Damian's wealth and status. He understood the sort of responsibility that being a superhero entailed but didn't get weighed down by it. He had just met Damian but already trusted him enough to reveal information about his Soulmate. Jonathan Kent, who seemed so easy to read at first glance, was secretly a conundrum.

The modifications on the bracelet were almost completely imperceptible to Damian's trained eye. Besides a small change in weight, it appeared unchanged. "I like the feathers," said Jonathan, "Definitely more subtle than anything I could come up with. But what was Tim doing with it?”

“Modifying it,” Damian said curtly. “It now measures heart rate and blood pressure.”

Jonathan nodded, “That’s a smart idea. I might have to ask Tim to make me one."

As they left Tim's room, Jonathan continued to fill the silence. "I don't know how you managed to not lose something for so long. I lose stuff all the time. My Soulmate will probably end up figuring out I'm Superboy because I accidentally misplaced my uniform."

"Your Soulmate doesn't yet know that you're Superboy?"

Jonathan shook his head. "We haven't met in person yet, plus the language barrier makes communication through the Soulbond difficult if we aren't both using translators. My Soulmate only speaks a little bit of English, and I'm even worse at French. But I'm getting better. I take classes now."

"I'm fluent in French," Damian added. "If you ever need something translated, I'm sure I could take the time to help you out." Jonathan Kent was one of the few genuinely good people Damian had met. Damian wanted to get to know him better.

"Thanks, Damian."

As Damian passed his bedroom doorway, he noticed something new sitting on his bed. A black book. He changed course, heading straight towards his new Soulmate object. It was a sketchbook. Damian quickly flipped through the crisp, new pages. His Soulmate must be a designer - the first three pages contained clothing designs. The first page was a dress, pink and white striped with a bow around the waist. The second page was a jacket, olive green with gold-colored buttons. The third page was a plain white t-shirt, simple at first glance, but the detailed notes beside the design indicated that she meant to cover the shoulders and shirt sleeves in a detailed embroidery.

"Wow," said Jonathan. "Did you know that your Soulmate was so talented?"

"No," Damian breathed out, taking in every little detail. He had never been so fascinated by fashion designing. Everything about the sketchbook showed talent, dedication, and skill. He could hardly tear his eyes away from the sketches - they were so detailed, with little notes in the margin indicating everything from what store to go to to buy the fabric, to the exact shade she wanted, to whether or not it needed hand stitched. All three pages were dated August 20th - she had planned out all three pieces of clothing that very day. Damian couldn't quite believe that his Soulmate was so perfect.

But pushing towards the front of his mind was the knowledge that he would have to return the book. It was obviously important to her, something she would never want to lose. Damian pulled his phone out and took three pictures, one of each of the sketches, to make sure he didn't forget a single detail. Then he grabbed a sticky note off of his desk and wrote, "I figured you might want this back - D.W."

Damian could feel Jonathan watching him. "I'm glad you're a good person, Damian."

"Thanks," Damian said dryly, but the compliment still stuck with him. He had never cared about being a good person until he lived with his Father. He didn't think he would be good at it, but maybe he was wrong.

Then, it was just a matter of losing the sketchbook so that she could get it back. Damian, not wanting the book to get damaged in any way, decided to just toss it into one of the open doorways on the way back to the Banquet Hall. It worked to lose the book only because the Banquet Hall was in one of the sections of the Manor that was rarely ever used, except during social gatherings. The twisting hallways and odd door placements were designed to keep snooping Gala guests from getting into the main part of the Manor without physically locking doors. According to Grayson, they also made for very intense games of Hide and Seek, which Damian had yet to play (Grayson had promised him a game, though, and had yet to break a promise).

"So what is your Soulmate like, Jonathan?" Damian asked him once they found their way back into the Banquet Hall.

"You know, you can call me Jon." Jon's facial expression switched to something that could only be described as dreamy. "My Soulmate... he's wonderful. He loves music, it's his biggest passion. He sends me music recommendations all the time, usually weekly playlists, unless he's bored or wants me to listen to something special. His favorite color is green and he has a pet turtle named Oliver. He has three best friends beside me, and he says he can't wait to meet me in person, but we're waiting until we're at least fifteen."

The night passed quickly in Jon's company. It was a new experience for Damian, having someone his own age to talk to. Conversation flowed easily from Soulmates to Superheroes to school. It was the first time Damian genuinely felt like he had made a friend.

Once midnight came around the party ended. Lois and Clark left to drive back to Metropolis, and Grayson and Barbara left for Blüdhaven.  Tim took Connor up to his room, and Brown and Todd both left for their own (rarely used) bedrooms. Damian knew that Jon was staying in the guest bedroom three doors down from his own, so he offered to take him there.

The sticky note on his floor was the first thing Damian noticed, once he was finally alone. Written in the same handwriting as the designs from before was the sentence, "Thanks, it's a birthday present from my parents - M.D.C."

Damian knew it was time to give his Soulmate the bracelet. Wrapping it alongside the box of replacement pens he had gotten her, Damian made sure to write in his best handwriting, "Happy Birthday M. From your Soulmate, D.W."

Taglist: @fanboy7794 @mikantsume @hetalia-lover-is-here @howtoshuckatlife @you-will-never-know-how-i-think @redscarlet95  @derpingrainbow @friedchickening @constancetruggle @melicmusicmagic  @beautym3 @kunstner1 @shizukiryuu @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @crazylittlemunchkin @black-streak @darkshadowguardian @mystery-5-5 @trubel43 @fandomfan315 @vincentvangoose

#lost and found #marinette #damian wayne #marinette x damian #maribat #maridami #daminette #my work

[thattimdrakeguy]

Tim Drake in Wonder Comics Young Justice so far

#TimDrakeIsTheBestRobin is something I been seeing Brian Michael Bendis tweet out a lot, but I just started to think about Tim, what all he’s actually done in Young Justice so far as we’re about 7 issues in, and well, he’s done nothing of note.

While the issues so far has shown Tim to be the most in-character he’s been since the New 52 (and even a little bit before), he’s done freaking nothing and half of the year is almost over. The only thing of note he’s going to do this year so far is change his identity, and that’s not only disrespectful to the fact they marketed Tim to fans on something else, but it’s also awful story telling.

The other members in their spotlight issues got to do stuff that actually added to the plot while showing off their personalities, like Cassie had her issue with Zeus that showed how she liked to earn her spot while also being spunky. Conner had stuff set up with S.T.A.R Labs that showed off his rebellious side, and Amethyst had her whole world showed off for the first arc, but Tim got nothing in his.

Tim in his own spotlight didn’t do anything that showed off his personalty. He didn’t even have a plot set up. Stephanie even had a plot set up. Tim’s plot was how he remembered his past timeline (thanks to Zatanna), and going to Metropolis to see where Conner was. So basically, now that he found Conner, there we go. That’s it. His big set-up in issue 5 is done before we even got to see it. 

Tim didn’t have any personalty in his issue, or actually do anything in it besides get his memories back thanks to someone else, and all it showed is that he loves his girlfriend and Conner, nothing about his own personality.

From the sounds of it though, Tim’s going to be pretty important for some of the next arcs, but at the same time, he’s getting a new costume and identity, which isn’t a good sign. Especially since the costume’s color scheme stands for boring.

One of the things about the build up to Young Justice was how it seemed to be getting rid of everything people didn’t like about their treatment and getting the characters set back on track. They gave them costumes that fit their personalities, Patrick Gleason almost always (literally only 2 panels I can remember not liking) was able to draw them perfectly as well as get the tone perfectly, and they were the most in-character they been in years for the issues so far.

Now they’re already changing stuff before the years over. 

Tim has had no build up to having a need for a new identity. 

There was people that wasn’t happy with Tim being Robin again though, they preferred him being Red Robin, but in Heroes of Crisis (which I would recommend avoiding since it’s crap, and certainly Tim’s singular panel) it said he was still Red Robin even though he had his Wonder Comics costume on. Which means he was literally Red Robin still, he just went by Robin with Young Justice.

I really liked that since that meant if you wanted him to be Red Robin still, he was, and if you were happy he was Robin again, he was. That’s a fan pleasing decision that I approved.

So why would Tim want to change his name AND costume now? Especially considering he just got this new Robin costume that fits his personality to a T, and still has his own name to use when having two Robins would be confusing.

Why would there be no build up in the story to this apparent identity change unless him being back on track was just a marketing stunt for more people to buy the issues?

What would be the real life reason for it be, besides they just freaking wanted to?

Are you telling me in the middle of going dimension to dimension that Tim’s gonna think it’s a good time to change his identity?

Did Didio ask for this?

Was it Bendis?

Why?

In what world is this considered good story telling?

Doing stuff at random to change stuff that made people happy isn’t good story telling.

I’m aware some people wanted him to remain Red Robin, but as seen in Heroes in Crisis, he still is, he just likes to go by Robin when he’s with Young Justice. So that problems already been figured out. He’s Red Robin if you want him to be, and that’s actually canon, he’s just also Robin if you want him to be.

If they’re so willing to out of no were change the basic identity of Tim Drake in the middle of an arc, when they just got his character back on track after almost a decade. Why should I trust they care about Tim to do him justice? 

They might like him, but does that doesn’t mean they care about Tim’s character enough to do what fits. At this rate it’s gonna be just another DC comic that relies on sudden shocks and changes in desperate attempts at headlines or to please their selfish desires of doing what ever they wanted because that’s all they thought about.

They could even finally allow him to interact with the plot more than once in a substantial way, but when they treat him like he doesn’t matter that much why should I feel like they’re really gonna care about him?

The act of suddenly changing a character randomly is something people do when they do not care about a character.

In fact it’s even something some people do when they dislike or hate a character.

If Jason Todd suddenly became “Finch” with no build up in the story or a quality reason, while he was on another planet, just after they brought back his friends, while getting his story back on track right prior, and in the new story he didn’t even get to choose his own name, it wouldn’t be considered a good story would it? It would feel like they had no idea what they were doing, or they at least didn’t give a crap about him or fan loyalty.

To be honest though, I’m not that upset Tim hasn’t done much as far as the plot so far. It’s very understandable to me. The other characters deserve the page space more than he does. Tim (even if he wasn’t in-character) got to have plenty of page time in other comics compared to them. So that’s not a problem of mine, it’s just a bad sign when adding it up with other stuff.

You don’t get rid of the stuff they used to market the series this soon and have it be a good sign of stuff. That’s something people do as a publicity stunt. Something cheap and scummy.

You don’t have the character do essentially nothing of note by himself in his own spotlight issue that’s supposed to be focused on him and have that be a good sign.

The other character’s spotlight issues told you a lot about them.

What’d Tim’s spotlight issue tell you about him? He loves his girlfriend, he ran away from home with her, and he loves Conner. That’s not much of a personalty showcase like the other ones so far. That’s practically nothing.

Right now he is the most useless and boring part of the team.

So much so that his apparently new costume is brown and gray. Colors that stand for boring and dull, especially or at least together.

It’s starting to feel like a gag at Tim fans expense, because of all those antis that call Tim the boring one.

I’m aware it’s so soon in this comic’s run that it seems hasty to judge, but the signs aren’t lining up well for him. Already doing nothing even in his own spotlight, having his identity changed like it doesn’t matter, not adding a thing to the ongoing plot besides some lines, aren’t, good, signs.

If Tim gets to stay Robin/Red Robin and keep his current costume after all of this, I’m not gonna be upset I made this post complaining about what did not end up happening, because I’d be too focused on being happy that it turned out they did care about the character more than headlines and what practically only they wanted.

Like, Tim hasn’t even been out of character during any of this. The most out of character he’s been is kissing Stephanie so intensely, the rest he’s been fine.

It’s just a lack of care for him.

Even if they’d just left him with the identity he currently has with Robin/Red Robin, while he does nothing important, that’d be a lot more calming, because that at least means they won’t be messing with what got some fans excited. He’d at least be left alone to not be ruined with rushed not-thought-out decisions like they’re building up.

I remember Bendis saying Conner’s gonna be changing his identity too in some upcoming issue, or at least implied it by saying Conner’s gonna talk about Superboy with Jon (what ever that means).

If he messes with his costume too to go back to the T-shirt and jeans, then I’m gonna be even more upset because I know dang well that costume made a heckuva lot of Conner fans happy, to have that taken away from them so soon would be unfair too, and I’m pretty sure he was intended to wear his T-shirt and jeans look this whole time given that they refer to him wearing a shirt when he’s been wearing freaking tights in the actual comic, which been adding up to my fear of that.

Then there’s Bart and Teen Lantern who have been treated even with less respect. While Bart saved the day, he still hasn’t gotten a spotlight issue showing anything important about him, and Teen Lantern has done even less than Tim as far as the plots concerned (although she will be getting a spotlight issue here shortly).

But I understand that, there’s only so much page space, like I said, I’m not even upset Tim hasn’t contributed much to the plot, it’s understandable. It’s just, why couldn’t he have done anything interesting during his own flashback? Why are they messing with him so soon at such a random time when they were making so many fans happy? Why change what’s making a lot of fans feel safe and secure with this comic?

Why can’t Tim Drake be treated with respect?

#Tim Drake #Robin #Red Robin #Young Justice #Young Just Us #Wonder Comics #Brian Michael Bendis #DC Comics