#and cass is smack dab in the middle

[rubydubydoo122]

What would be things the batkids would have grievances with Alfred over? It's always about Bruce but the world doesn't revolve around him only, so let's look at another guardian/grandfatherly figure.

I feel like they all would be upset with Alfred for letting Bruce get away with most of the shit he does to them. Like how Alfred's supposed to be the one holding Bruce accountable, but he doesn't. And here's the list from least angry at Alfred to most angry at Alfred

Damian. I don't think Damian realizes how much of Bruce's behavior stems from Alfred being a pushover, and he worships both of them too much to actually see it.

Dick. In those early days, Alfred was the one there for him in a house that was too big, too still, and too empty. He probably started getting angry at Alfred during his early 20s, but then it was just Dick, Damian, and Alfred, and Dick kind of became Bruce, so he had times where he resented him, but he "grew out" of it

Jason. And I think he's only the tiniest bit behind Dick because he's almost pretty much in the same boat. Alfred was the only person there in a house that was too big, and when everything was too much, and compared to this Billionaire, Alfred seemed human to Jason. He probably took comfort in Alfred before he took comfort in Bruce. And then Alfred was the one who suggested Jason should quit Robin. And, maybe for a hot second there, (and I mean, a singular passing thought then never again) he blamed Alfred for his death, but Jason also has a plethora of parental issues, so he wouldn't blame Alfred. And this is assuming Jason is completely unaware of the way Alfred low key Shat on Jason's grave so that Bruce would feel less guilty, or whatever.

Then there's Cass. She's just way too good at reading people to not see the way Alfred's pushover tendencies are effecting the 'family' negatively. She wants to yell at Alfred to "Put his foot down." But she knows he won't, so she doesn't. And In a sense, she might just be the same as Alfred.

Then there's a gap, and Duke. He didn't really know Alfred for that long, if you really think about it. Maybe a year, tops? And the reason he's smack dab in the middle is because sometimes, Bruce will do something and Duke will be like "That... is kinda messed up. Who raised you?" and then he'll take it back bc he'll realize he's speaking ill of the dead.

Tim. I hate woobifying him, but Idk, Alfred was the one who gave Tim Robin. Alfred was the one who gave Damian Robin, and I feel like, Tim, Looking back would think "What the actual fuck. What I was doing as a teenager should've been Alfred's job as Bruce's Guardian" Maybe not currently, but after some time. Maybe when he's in his 20s or has his own kids or something.

Stephanie Brown. She's the Family Friend. She has a slightly outside perspective to all of this, and she's great at puzzles. She Died for Bruce's cause and that didn't stop ANYTHING. She's constantly listening to when any of the batclan members are ranting about Bruce, and his poor coping skills and realizes that it's all just a fucking cycle and it started from Alfred. Alfred was confused on the line of professional and parent and Parented Bruce by being a Butler. Which wasn't what Bruce needed at an 8/9/10 year old who just lost his parents. And that's why Bruce doesn't know how to Parent any of his children without making them some form of a hero. Because Bruce grew up with a boundary of professionalism separating him from any real parenting, and he needs that boundary while parenting his kids. Obviously Bruce has his moments, but those are probably from when he had REAL parents.

Steph tried explaining it to Duke once, and he understood PERFECTLY, but then Duke said not to repeat this to anyone else because they worship the ground Alfred walks on.

#batman #batfam #dc comics #dick grayson #jason todd #damian wayne #duke thomas #bruce wayne #tim drake #stephanie brown #cassandra cain

[pluckyredhead]

Character Profile: Connor Hawke (Green Arrow II)

It's time to meet another member of the Lost Titans! The most beautiful boy in the world: Connor Hawke!

Connor is the oldest biological child of Oliver Queen and the second Green Arrow. He was introduced in 1994, possibly the best year for blorbos of all time, although readers didn't know that he was Ollie's son right away.

(His mother, we would eventually learn, is Sandra "Moonday" Hawke, who had a brief, no strings relationship with Ollie during their hippie days. Moonday has a Black father and a Korean mother, and is charmingly flaky with a shitty abusive new husband, the arms dealer Milo Armitage, who Connor butted heads with repeatedly in his solo series.)

At the time, Ollie was smack dab in the middle of a nervous breakdown, as well as injured (Connor helped patch him up, hence the line about seeing him naked). He'd taken refuge in a Buddhist ashram where he'd once found peace.

At the time, Connor was about 18 and had been at the ashram for five years. He was a big Green Arrow fanboy and the two quickly bonded. He was also an aspiring archer, although his archery was just okay, while his hand-to-hand combat was superb. (In the 90s, Connor was ranked as the fifth best martial artist in the DCU, which means he's better than Nightwing. (The top four are probably Lady Shiva, Richard Dragon, Bronze Tiger, and Batman. Cass Cain didn't exist yet.))

When assassins came to the ashram to kill Ollie, Ollie and his ex-CIA frenemy Eddie Fyers fled. Connor insisted on coming with them. Eddie guessed the truth about Connor, but Ollie was still in the dark until Hal Jordan, in the middle of his own Parallax-induced breakdown, showed up out of nowhere and asked Ollie to introduce him to his son.

Ollie...didn't handle the news well.

Ollie's nervous breakdown only escalated from here on out, and he eventually wound up dying in a helicopter explosion (though he did go out a hero, saving all of Metropolis). Connor decided that though Oliver Queen had disappointed him, the world could still use a Green Arrow - and maybe if he walked in his father's shoes for a bit, he could try to understand him a little bit better.

Connor spent about five years as the only Green Arrow, traveling the world with Eddie as a curmudgeonly mentor figure. He quickly made a few superhero friends, most notably Tim Drake and of course the new Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner:

Kyle 100% STOLE THIS MOVE FROM ROY and that will always be funny to me.

Connor was briefly on the JLA before deciding (much like his father had before him) that he felt more effective and comfortable on the ground, helping individuals rather than fighting cosmic horrors. Eventually, the GA book was canceled and Connor decided to return to the ashram, trying to find what he was searching for by looking within, rather than by cosplaying as his dad.

In 2001, Ollie returned. Connor basically magically sensed that his father was back and in danger, and raced off to help him fight demons. Ollie, for his part, gave up his chance at staying at peace in Heaven in order to save Connor's life. Once the demons were defeated, Ollie seriously committed himself to getting to know his son and making up for lost time. They moved into a house together in Star City, along with Mia Dearden, a teenage former sex worker Ollie had taken under his wing. Connor and Mia quickly became very close.

There were a couple of major Connor-related developments early on in this run: first, Connor was shot in the head by the supervillain Onomatopoeia, though he survived thanks to quick emergency services and a blood transfusion from Ollie. And second, it was revealed that Ollie had always known about Connor, had been there for his birth, and just lied to everyone when he said he didn't have a kid. I hate this retcon, which to me makes Ollie's behavior irredeemably horrible - not just to Connor, but to Dinah and Roy, too. Brad Meltzer isn't the greatest writer when it comes to paying attention to past continuity, characterization, or, uh, logic. But my rant about how Archer's Quest sucks is a separate post. Anyway just know I will never acknowledge this retcon in a fic. I spit on it. Ptoo.

During this time, and really ever since his origin, there was speculation about Connor's sexuality. Connor is a very reserved, introverted character and was canonically a virgin when he was introduced (and still is, unless you count "sex" with a ghost where he didn't even get his pants off), and this of course stood in marked contrast to Ollie and Roy, both loud extroverted horn dogs. The fact that women were constantly throwing themselves at a blatantly uninterested Connor didn't help:

Ollie, Roy, and Kyle all flat-out asked Connor if was gay, which at the time he always denied, but he also explained to Roy that he was looking for The One, which I just love, because so was Roy, just in a different way! Everyone always says that Connor is so different from Ollie and Roy, and they're not wrong, but that's something they absolutely have in common: they are all hopeless romantics.

Connor's life was pretty good immediately after Ollie's return (getting shot in the head notwithstanding), but no writer really seemed to know what to do with him. There was an attempt to give him a spotlight again in the Connor Hawke: Dragon's Blood miniseries, which is...fine, I guess? Connor is forced to kill a supervillain who is trying to turn into a dragon and destroy the world. Also he makes out with Shado, the woman who raped Ollie in the early 90s, which is...certainly a thing that happened. (Connor wasn't going to be gay on Chuck Dixon's watch, nosirree!) (And actually I think the whole Shado issue is extremely complicated but there's no denying that the Shado/Connor kiss was really, really off. But my Shado rant is yet another post!) There's some interesting character stuff there but overall the miniseries has been mostly forgotten.

In the second half of the 2000s, things got shitty for Connor, just like they did for basically every character. First, he was shot with a bullet laced with a toxin that left him in a coma:

God Cliff Chiang draws him so beautifully.

Anyway, Connor was just sort of...left in the coma for a while. Eventually he was kidnapped and Ollie had to rescue him. There's a long stretch where Connor's body is just sort of used as a prop without any actual personhood involved, which is...really, really not a great way to use a BIPOC character? Oof.

When Connor finally woke up from the coma, he a) had amnesia, b) had a healing factor because of spliced in DNA from Plastic Man???, c) none of his old personality or character traits anymore (he had no archery prowess, was no longer a vegetarian, etc.). He then wandered off to find himself. Again: I love that Ollie came back, but aggressively sidelining Connor in Ollie's stories and/or only allowing him to be a victim for Ollie to save or a wise prop to serve Ollie and Mia's stories, then writing him off by putting him in a coma, then literally having him leave the book, was NOT GREAT.

Connor returned for Blackest Night and its aftermath, when he was like "Hey Dad, I have my memory back for no reason now, and also? I hate you."

Then the New 52 happened and Connor stopped existing. But don't worry! The ensuing years brought us not one but three riffs on the character who were all entirely white! (The New 52 Earth-Two version of Connor who looks like Roy, the Injustice "Connor Queen" who is the biological son of Ollie and Dinah, and Oliver's kid on Arrow and yes I know Connor Hawke is a separate character on that show but it was still a very bad look.)

Connor finally returned to us in 2021 as one of Damian's competitors during the assassin tournament on Lazarus Island. The two quickly bonded, and Damian was one of the first people Connor came out to as asexual (FINALLY):

Currently, Connor is appearing in Green Arrow as his family tries to find a way to be together and locate all of their missing members. It hasn't really been explained where he was or how he ended up in the clutches of the League of Shadows on Lazarus Island, and might never be explained. He also hasn't reunited with Ollie yet, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing it (and someday Kyle maybe please?).

In conclusion: I love Connor very, very much, he deserves better than what he got for the past 15 years or so, and I'm very happy he's back in comics and allowed to actually be queer, connected to his Korean heritage, making friends outside of Ollie's sphere, etc. Mazel tov, baby.

#connor hawke #green arrow #character profiles #meta #the lost titans

[fluffypandabun]

Braiding Giggles

AN: Ahhhh my first fic!! Ofc it had to be ROTTMNT, Ive have rottmnt brainrot for so long, especially about my boy Casey. I hope you guys enjoy!

Words:  2893

Summary:  After spending most of his life in the apocalypse with little access to baths, Casey's hair needs a lot of work. Luckily the hamato clan is more than eager to help their newest addition, along the way they discover something new about the future teen.

Casey let out a pained noise as the brush caught on a tangle in his hair, followed by a few more as he struggled to yank the brush out none to gently from his long tangled locks of jet black hair. 

Growing up in the apocalypse did not leave a lot of room for things such proper hair care, or even really bathing in general. And the last few days he had spent in his own timeline had been some of the most hectic days of his life, not to mention that he was tasked with saving this timeline's world as soon as he had arrived smack dab in the middle of it. So showering hasn't really been something that had crossed his mind at the time. 

But after the dust had settled, and the hamato clan had been given time to rest and properly treat their wounds, physically and maybe just a little emotionally, April had taken one good look at his greasy slicked back hair and had demanded he’d shower. 

And who was he to deny Commander O'neil when she gave him a direct order.

So now he found himself standing in front of a slightly cracked mirror, wearing a shirt and shorts that were both way too big on his skinny, and probably malnourished body. His hair, that he was used to being slicked back with either grease, sweat or sometimes blood, was now poofed out and looking soft and fluffy, falling just above his shoulders in wavy layers. 

And there was also now a hairbrush stuck in it. 

He let out a groan from the back of his throat, giving the brush one last good tug, which had him wincing and feeling sympathy for his already sore scalp, he let his arms drop to his side in defeat. 

He turned, leaving the lairs' makeshift washroom to return to the living room where the turtles and April sat, Splinter off somewhere in his room,napping. He stood in the doorway, not quite sure how to let himself be known when Raph suddenly turned to face his direction. 

He smiled and started to say something when he suddenly noticed the brush firmly tangled in the boys locks and he stopped, his expression shifted from confused, to amused, before stopping on fond. 

“Aw buddy.” He chuckled, “Having trouble with your hair?” 

His acknowledgement of the teen gained the attention of everyone, save for maybe Donnie who was hunched over his phone doing who knows what, he received the same fondly amused looks from April and Mikey, though Leo let out a loud snort, causing April to elbow him in the side and send him a glare. 

Casey felt his cheeks tint slightly pink and he shuffled on his feet, rubbing his hand up and down his arm. “I uh….” he stuttered, before clearing his throat. 

“I…can one of you maybe…help me with my hair…please..?” 

Raph smiled. “Of course we can buddy.” He said, at the same time Leo's face lit up and he immediately began to make grabby hands towards the human. 

“Oh oh!! Let me do your hair!” The mutant said excitedly, eyes alight in a way they hadn't been in awhile since the attack on new york.  

Casey blinked a few times in surprise. “I….” 

Ralph Rolled his eyes. “Ignore him Cass, Leos always had this weird obsession with hair.” 

“Yeah probably because he's bald.” Mikey added on giggling, which earned him a playful push from said turtle. 

“Excuse you, it's not an obsession it's an appreciation, plus April never lets me mess with her hair so i neeever get to show off my amazing hair skills!” The red eared slider huffed, crossing his arms across his chest as if this was the biggest offense he’d ever experienced in his life. But quickly his expression morphed back into a bright eyed grin as he reached out towards case again. 

“Come onnnn Cass my man, i’ll fix your hair up real nice, trust me!”

“Trusting you sounds like a horrible idea, Nardo.” Donnie said, finally choosing to join in on the conversation. Leo sent his twin a glare. 

“Don't listen to him Casey, I'm like, one of the most trustworthy people ever.” 

“I won't even waste my breath on giving all the reasons on why you are wrong on that one.”

Casey stood there in the doorway, watching the two turtles bicker back and forth, lips twitching. Growing up back….in his own timeline, he had the distant memory of his Sensei running his fingers through his hair, twisting it into little braids, or helping Casey pull it back into a ponytail to keep it out of his face during training. 

Master Leonardo had always enjoyed doing Casey's hair, so he guessed it shouldnt surprised him that this Leo would want to do it as well. 

Thinking about his sensei made his eyes burn, so he was quick to blink the wetness out of them. Clearing his throat as he spoke up. 

“Um…” He muttered, stopping the two turtles bickering. “I wouldn't mind if you did my hair.”

Leo turned to him and blinked, before he did his signature grin. “Awesome!” 

The turtle teen plopped himself down crossed legged on the couch, patting the spot in front of him eagerly. Casey smiled as he made his way over, sitting down in front of the turtle, albeit a bit awkwardly. He allowed himself to press his back against the couch and he only jumped a little when two three fingered hands came into his vision.  

“Alright.” Leo said, cracking his knuckles.” First we need to deal with this rat's nest and then we can really doll you up huh?” 

Casey gave a slight nod, tensing up when he felt Leo grab onto the brush still firmly stuck in his hair. 

“Be gentle Leo.” Came Raphs warning tone from Casey's right where he couldn't see him from his position on the floor. From above him Leo scoffed. 

“Relax big brother.” He hummed, though his tone had taken a more gentle tone. “I'll be careful.” 

And to his credit he was, or as gentle as he could be when brushing hair that was as tangled as Caseys. After a lot of yanking, cursing, and threats to simply cut it out, the brush had finally been removed from Casey's hair. Leo brandished it like it was a powerful weapon as he attacked Casey's raven locks. It still hurt, but it went a lot better then it would have if Casey had done it alone. 

Everytime the teen hissed in pain or let out a flinch, Leo would pause and apologize, before continuing even more carefully then before. After a bit his hair started to untangle, becoming softer and more fluffy the more Leo brushed. Pretty soon Casey was sure there weren't any tangles left in his hair, and that Leo was brushing it just for the sake of brushing it. 

Not that Casey was complaining, it felt….nice….really nice. And after going so long without any sort of close physical touch like this, no offense to his family from his  timeline, they did their best while raising him in the apocalypse, it's safe to say he pretty much melted. 

He barely registered the others talking above him, or the sound of a movie being put on. He simply allowed himself to tilt his head back and relax, at some point he was pretty sure that Leo had switched out the hairbrush for the sake of running his own fingers through the boy's locks.

He could feel himself almost falling asleep when suddenly one of Leo's fingers brushed gently against the shell of his ear. The sudden tingle of electricity was so unsuspected and unfamiliar that Casey found himself jumping and flinching forward away from whatever had caused that feeling. Looking back he found all the turtles and april, even Donnie, looking at him in bemused concern. 

Especially Leo, who had frozen with his hands mid air. 

Raph spoke up first. “Casey? You alright?”

“I didn't hurt you did I?” Leo asked, and though his voice was calm there was a hint of anxiousness behind it. Quickly Casey shook his head. 

“No! No no your fine, I'm fine, I just…” He bit his lip, hoping the others didn't notice the pink begging to form on his cheeks.

“It was….one of those like, feeling like your falling things, you know, like when you're about to fall asleep. Yeah..” 

Everyone seemed to relax a little bit, Mikey adding in a “I hate those” as they all turned back to watch the movie still playing on screen, Leo gave him a look. 

“Are you sure…?” 

Casey gave him a smile. “Yeah Leo its all good.” He turned back around and pressed his head into the turtle's hands. “You…you can keep going.”

The teen looked at him and then smirked, though there was a fondness to it, he said nothing as he continued with his mission of giving Casey head scratches. 

After a moment Casey found himself relaxing again, his eyes starting to droop as he felt himself begin to drift off….

Leo's fingers brushed against  both of his ears this time. 

This time, Casey let out a very loud and more importantly, very embarrassing squeak. Once again silence filled the room and all eyes were on him. 

“Okay.” April spoke up after a moment of silence. “Something is going on, what is up with you future boy?” 

“N-Nothing!” Casey spluttered, holding up his hands. “It's nothing really I promise-”

“Casey.” 

He froze, feeling a chill up his spine, because he did not like the sound of Leo's  voice. Carefully he turned around and oh he did not like the look of Leo's face either. 

The shit eating grin on the turtle's face said it all, that and the mischievous glint in his eyes. 

Casey swallowed, already able to feel his face getting warm “W..What..?”

The slider's grin grew even wider. “Caseyyyyyy!” 

“Whahat?” Casey grinned nervously, already frantically looking around for an exit of some sort. 

Confused, Raph glanced between the two of them. “I'm sorry, but am I missing something?” 

“Yeah.” Mikey spoke up, now fully facing him. “Why is Leo giving you the look?” 

Casey swallowed, showing off the gap in his teeth as he grinned nervously. “The uh..the look?”

Mikey nodded. “Yeah the look he gives someone usually before he…” the younger turtle trailed off as a look of realization passed over his face, immediately following it was an almost equally mischievous look making its way on the turtle's freckled face. 

“Ohhhh I see.” He giggled, making Casey flush even more.

Even more confused Raph groaned. “Okay can someone please tell me what i'm missing?” 

Leo grinned at him. “How bout I just show you instead~?” 

Caseys eyes went wide. “Wait-!” he squeaked, trying to scramble forward and out of the turtle's reach. But the ninja was too fast for him, grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him back against the couch. Whatever protests or pleas he might have had died on his lips and were instantly replaced by a stream of squeaky giggles as Leo gently hooked his fingers under the teens chin keeping him in place as he traces the outer shell of his ear. 

“Casey here's just ticklish, see?” Leo hummed, speaking over the humans giggling. He seemed to have no problem keeping him in place even as he kicked and squirmed frantically trying to grasp at the turtle's wrist. 

Raph blinked a few times before it clicked. “Ohhhhhh.” he grinned. 

“Yeah that makes sense.” 

Somewhere to his far right April cooed softly. “Awwww look at the future boy all giggly, he's so sweet.” 

“Humans can have ticklish ears!?” Mikey gasped, eyes alight, he quickly made to reach for April. “Are yours ticklish too April?” 

The human was quick to gently smack his hand away. “Nuh-uh, not happening.” 

Sitting on the ground Casey was in stitches, frantically jerking his body back as forth to try and dislodge Leos fingers, seeing as that wasn't working in the slightest he settled on scrunching up his shoulders to his ears in a desperate attempt to shield himself from leos attack. 

“Awww Cass look what you did, Now my fingers are stuck.” The turtle shrugged, a grin still plastered on his face. “Guess ill just have to keep tickling you here.” 

Casey, much to his horror, squealed, which earned him fond looks from both Raph and April, even Donnie sent him a look that could be called fond, at least by his standards. 

Mikey giggled alongside him. “Awww Cass! You're so giggly!”

Leo chuckled. “Yeah, how come you aren't like this all the time? Instead of being all sullen and sad lookin, you're worse than Donnie.”

“I'm choosing to ignore that comment.” 

Casey squeezed his eyes shut and frantically shook his head, laughing harder when Leo moved to gently tracing along his jawline. Tracing a small scar that seemed to be a lot more sensitive than the rest of the surrounding area.  

It had been….a very long time since Casey had laughed like this, since Casey had..felt like this. Felt safe enough to let himself go and relax, to show such vulnerability to a group of people. The last people he’d let see him like this….

Casey chose to pretend the tears welling up in his eyes were just from how hard he was laughing. He simply tilted his head back and grasped onto Leo's wrists, body shaking with laughter as he cracked an eye open to look up at Leo. 

The slider was looking down at him with such fondness it nearly took Casey's breath away, he looked at him the same way he looked at Mikey whenever the younger turtle would manage to draw a straight line without his damaged hands shaking and messing him up. 

Casey felt his already pink cheeks turning an even darker shade as red as he was quick to look away from the turtle's gaze, ignoring the own warmth he felt in his chest. 

Raph, his savior, finally spoke up. Sounding just as fond as Leo had looked.

“Arlight Leo, don't overwhelm him, you know he probably isn't used to this sort of thing.”

Leo scoffed. “Overwhelm him? Pshh the kid loves it, don't you?” The turtle dug his fingers gently into the underside of Casey's chin causing him to snort. 

“Leo.” Raph said, using his ‘big brother voice’, Leo sighed.dramtically. 

“Alright alright, fine I’ll give the kid a break.” Finally, after a few more pokes, the turtle's fingers slowed to a stop as he released his hold on the teen. Though he kept both his hands resting gently on the boy's shoulder. 

Casey gasped softly for air, leaning his head back against Leo's legs as he hiccuped. Rubbing his face with his hands, he groaned. 

Amused, Mikey patted him on the head, “Aww, don't be embarrassed Cass, everyones a little ticklish. Plus you have a really cute laugh!”

Casey let out another much more exaggerated groan, Raph chuckled. 

“I don't think you're helping him much here Mikey.” The larger turtle said, patting the box turtle on the head, before he turned to look at Casey. 

“He's right though, no need to be embarrassed.” 

“Yeah.” April snorted. “You might as well get used to it, especially now that you're a part of this family.” 

“Unfortunately..” Donnie deadpanned under his breath, earning him a playful prod in the side from April. 

“Awww come on D, you know you love it. “

“A hisssss!!” 

Casey allowed himself to peek out from his fingers, face still pink, he allowed a slight smile to make its way onto his face. 

“I suppose so…” He muttered, Leo sent him a grin, clasping his hands together. 

“Right! So that adorable discovery aside-”

“Its not adorable-”

“Hush. Anyways, Now we can work on actually styling your hair for real, all that squirming you did messed up all my work, but since I'm so kind and caring I'm willing to start back from scratch. “ 

Casey saw the turtle reach from him out of the corner of the eye and he gave a little flinch, Leo froze for a second before he grinned. 

“Don't worry Cass, I promise I won't tickle you again….for now..” 

Casey narrowed his eyes at the slider, especially for that last part, before he sighed. He let himself relax, leaning against Leo's legs once again. 

True to his word, Leo stuck to his promise. He ran his fingers through the teens fluffy hair and began the process of separating it to turn it into a braid. The motions brought a sort of bittersweet nostalgia to Casey's mind as he smiled softly, once again relaxing into the gentle touch. 

He listened, half asleep, as the others spoke above him. Leo and Donnie bickering while Mikey hushed them because he was trying to watch the movie, with April threatening to put them all in the get along shirt, whatever that was. 

Casey felt himself begin to slip off to sleep for real this time, a small smile on his lips. April's earlier words echoing in his head as he finally drifted off. 

“Now that you're a part of this family.” 

Yeah, he could get used to this.

#rottmnt tickle #rottmnt tickle fic #tickle fic #pandabuns fic #ticklish! Casey #Ler! Leo #this was sm fun 2 write u have no idea #wow im a bit rusty #i still hope u guys enjoy!!

[friendlyneighborhoodcapricorn]

No but how funny would it be if the batkids sucked in gym class? Because these are all incredibly athletic people, but being athletic doesn’t necessarily mean you’re good at every single sport, right? Or that you can’t have shit luck

Like, just imagine 12-year-old Dick coming home with a black eye and Bruce immediately goes “who did this” and Dick just sheepishly answers “we were playing soccer in gym”

Next up is Jason, who shows up with a scowl and a perfectly round bruise on his stomach, and the only explanation he gives is “I hate tennis”

Enter Tim, who is sent home with a concussion after taking a basketball to the head and passing out for ten seconds

At this point, Bruce is starting to notice a pattern.

The next time he sees Steph, she has a cut on her head and a vaguely pink stripe in her hair because she ran into a pole while doing laps

Cass sprains her wrist playing volleyball

Finally, Damian comes home with a bruise smack-dab in the middle of his forehead because he ran into the parallel bars

Bruce is just holding his breath whenever any of them try to play any sports

#these are all things that happened to me in gym class #except it wasn’t a basketball and they didn’t send me home #batman #batfam #bruce wayne #dick grayson #jason todd #tim drake #steph brown #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #damian wayne #batman headcanon #batfam headcanons

[wrencatte]

a longer than normal snippet of bad news this place is magic af chapter 3 because it's 422 in the am and i should really go to bed but im not. (wc: approx 1,151). This is a ROUGH draft

Gotham isn’t alive.

Gotham isn’t not alive.

(It’s complicated.)

But when you have as much as ambient magic that Gotham does – festering, pooling. Nowhere to go. No one use it. It languishes, steeping into the foundations, seeking physical objects to siphon a droplet from a deep, abyssal ocean –

When you have as much ambient magic that Gotham does –

The line between alive and not alive gets a little blurred.

—

Tim lets them laugh, lets Steph’s boundless capacity for banter ease some of them tension. He glances over at Cass and sees it in her expression that she noticed it too – Jason’s shaking hands, the pinch of pain around his eyes, the sheen in them that he keeps blinking away.

It could be blamed on his injuries. Most of it can probably be blamed on his injuries. But he folds his arms over his chest, pressing close in a way that has to hurt the claw marks there, and his nails dig into his sleeves, the fabric of his sweatshirt being the only thing keeping him from drawing blood.

He closes his eyes, exhausted, and cuts in. “It’s still hurting you – the cloaking spell.”

Not a question. A statement of fact.

The banter cuts off, the light teasing dies down. Jason doesn’t look at him, nails burrowing, teeth flashing to bite his lip. His fangs – because that’s what they are no matter how often Bruce calls them elongated canines; he just doesn’t want to admit that Jason has fangs. Some things are too weird for Batman. – split his lip, blood beading up.

“No,” he says.

Steph frowns. “Jason…”

He frowns back, something gleaming beyond the tears in his eyes – and Tim thinks of sunlight through sweet tea and vintage whiskey. “We don’t have time to worry about it,” he snaps with only a quarter of his usual heat. If Tim’s already exhausted, he can’t imagine how Jason feels.

“There’s always time,” Duke says then glances at the ceiling when all Jason does is sneer in response. “Fine – if you wanna be a stubborn asshole about it we’ll let you. For now.” There’s a glow in his eyes to match Jason’s – but golden where Jason’s is copper. The hair on the back of Tim’s neck stands on end and he remembers – he never really forgot – that Duke’s meta-abilities are weird and odd and more and now he’s starting to get an idea of why. “What’s the plan?”

Jason slumps like his strings have been cut. Cass swings her arms over his shoulders, slouching in a way that’s uncharacteristic of her but makes Jason reach up and hold on to keep her from sliding to the ground.

And subsequently makes him stop pressing on his injuries.

“The plan is to figure out where his final circle is going to be and stop him,” Jason says slowly. He presses his lips together. Tim hands him a napkin that he takes without looking, dabbing at the blood almost absently. His eyes flicker across the map, following Duke’s lines from point a to b all the way to m – thirteen points. Twelve like a clock and then one directly in the middle. “That’s smack dab in the middle of the reservoir.”

“The labyrinth,” Tim says. Jason nods. “Great. Just what we needed.”

“I’m sorry, the what?” Duke asks, brows furrowed. The gold in his eyes has faded even if Jason still shimmers copper. “We have a labyrinth?”

“We don’t,” Steph says and she looks absolutely disgusted by the direction this is going. “The Court of Owls, on the other hand, did. Do we really have to?”

Duke pinches the bridge of his nose. “The Court of Owls?” Everyone stares at him. “Hey, don’t look at me like that,” he snaps. “Some of us are new to this whole vigilante business. I’m still in Jason’s era of casefiles!”

Jason groans. “Great,” he mutters.

Tim gives him a sympathetic look that’s ignored. He’s seen the reports from Jason’s time as Robin and they’re not pretty – Rogues like Kite Man and Condiment King weren’t a common place then. It was usually the Families and the darker crimes that really makes Tim wonder who thought it was a good idea to let a teenager on the streets like that. Though, he’s sure Jason had seen worse before he was Robin.

Already files on the Court of Owls are popping up on screen, courtesy of Barbara. Duke leans in, scanning the words, lips moving, his eyes getting wider and wider the further he gets, jaw dropping.

“What?” he whispers. “No, seriously. What?” He gestures frantically at the screen. “Dick? Your, your parents?” he asks Tim.

Tim shrugs. “They were in over their heads,” he says casually. And it is pretty casual. The Court never wanted Tim. They were more pissed that Janet and Jake managed to snub them so well. Tim’s had two years to come to terms with the mess his parents left him with. “It’s actually one of the reasons they traveled so much. The Court did not like them ducking out like they did. Technically they were never official members anyway, too New Money to get more than a foot in the door.”

Babs pulls the files down. “I can send the rest to your tablet,” she tells him. “Let’s focus. Jason, why is he doing this?”

Jason drags a fingertip over the desk surface. Tim watches the motion – it’s not random. It’s…It means something. He traces it out over and over again. Steph ducks down, frowning, waving her hand in front of Jason’s face – he flinches, hand going flat on the desk.

“Magic,” Jason says.

“We’ve established that,” Tim replies.

He shakes his head, drags a hand down his face, winces when he pulls at the marks on his face. “No. Listen. Magic is pretty much everywhere. There’s, like, maybe two places on this planet where magic is null and only the Sorcerer Supreme knows where they are.”

“And that’s?”

“Currently it’s Zatanna Zatara,” Jason says with a smirk. Steph claps her hands, eyes sparkling. “Yeah, thought you might like that. She’s been Sorcerer Supreme for about…five years now? After Kent stopped being Doctor Fate and Khalid picked up the mantle. Gotham is not null.”

Duke quirks an eyebrow. “But no one here uses magic.”

Jason nods. “And that’s the problem. Magicians don’t come to Gotham – not because Batman asked nicely or anything, but it’s disgusting here.” He swallows thickly, looking like he might be sick. Tim hands him another orange juice and he takes it even though he rolls his eyes. “Magic has to be used. It’s gotta flow. It doesn’t even have to be a person – or the equivalent of one. Those magical objects we’ve dealt with over the years? That’s Gotham’s magic trying to find some outlet before it explodes like a powder keg. That’s the only reason we’re not suffering a weird magical plague.”

#jason todd #hurt jason todd #my writing #i have...been sitting here this whole time thinking i didn't have polls and I do??? #since when???

[the-star-knight]

Tales Of A Star

Tales Of A Star

Summary: A retelling of the show through Star’s eyes

Star is young teenager, daughter to one of the Queen's handmaiden and the royal stable keeper, when the long lost princess has soon to be held coronation, she comes across a magical stone. Unknowingly of how this is her destiny, she soon finds out that this gem turns her world on its head, giving her a sword, armor, and a duty she must carry: protecting the Kingdom of Corona.

Chapter 12 - Beyond Corona Walls (Part 1)

Word Count: 2,291

◀ Previous Chapter || Next Chapter ▶︎

It's been almost a week since we departed from Corona. The past week has been quite exhausting, to say the least. All thanks to Rapunzel, we were sidetracked a couple of times. I couldn’t blame her for it, she was having the time of her life. I would join too if I were in the mood. For the last couple of days, I've been trying to adjust to life on the road. 

It's honestly a big shake-up from life in Corona.

“Next stop: Vardaros!” Hookfoot yelled.

“City of fun and games!” Lance also sprung up from the trapdoor on top of the roof of the caravan.

“I am so glad we brought those two along,” Cass said sarcastically. She was the driver of the caravan, sitting in the front alongside me while holding the reins.

“Ah, come on, Cass! Vardaros is an amazing city! You’re gonna have fun. Which I’m guessing is a new thing for you!” Eugene joked.

I snorted. It was kind of funny. 

“Come on Pascal! It’s our first big city outside of Corona. You heard him, Cass, this is gonna be fun!” Rapunzel beamed. “Vardaros, here we come!” 

Continue reading on AO3 or continue under the cut ⬇︎

“Not that you shouldn't trust the endorsement of three lifetime criminals, Raps, but maybe you should trust me too,” Cassandra said. “I’m just making sure we don’t lose sight of what we’re doing out here.” 

“I know. Believe me, Cass,” Rapunzel pulled out a torn piece of a scroll.  “I feel like whatever is waiting for us at the end of this road, is only part of why we’re out here.”

She rolled up the torn scroll and put it safely in her bag. 

I always wondered what the drawings on the scroll meant. There was the drawing of the sunflower that had healing powers and a drawing of the sun, but it also seemed there was something else. Perhaps we will find those missing pieces on this journey. 

I began to second-guess my choice of leaving Corona. The thought enters my head every so often. Now, I’m officially a knight of Corona. I have a duty to protect the kingdom, and what’s the first thing I do as a knight? Leave, of course. Now I realize how bad my decision looks. Maybe, I should’ve stayed in Corona…

Rapunzel sensed something wasn’t right with me.

“Are you still not gonna wear your new uniform?” Rapunzel asked abruptly, breaking my train of thought.

I shook my head, “No, I just figured I wouldn’t want to draw any attention.”

“Attention?” she blinked.

“Well, yeah, I don’t want to wear something that yells Corona.”

“Pfft! The uniform doesn’t say that!”

I pulled it out from the bag next to me. I unfolded the uniform in front of her and right smack dab in the middle of it had the Corona crest embroidered on it with silver threads on the backside. “Really?”

“Okay, okay, okay, maybe I went a little crazy with the embroidery,” Rapunzel scratched her head, “but I can fix it!”

Rapunzel got up and took the uniform into the caravan.

“That’s not the real reason why you don’t want to wear it, is it?” Cass asked.

I sighed, she was right, “Yeah…”

“Why wouldn’t you want to wear it? That was a gift from the royal family and for you being knighted. Corona hasn’t had a knight in centuries, you know?”

“And I appreciate it, I really do! It’s just that…” 

“Just what?”

I sighed, “It...it doesn’t feel right …Ever since the day I was knighted at the Star Knight, I’ve felt like I didn’t deserve it…”

“Didn’t deserve it? Ha,” Cassandra chuckled. “You defeated Varian.” 

“But, that’s the thing, I didn’t defeat Varian, Rapunzel did…” I inhaled sharply, “He was right, I’m not a hero. I couldn’t even protect myself…I let my friends get hurt because of me...all because I was too weak.”

“Hey,” Cass elbowed me gently, “If anyone deserves to be called a hero, it’s you. What you did out there was brave of you.”

“Thanks,” I said with an emptiness in my voice. As much as Cass and other people around me say it, I don’t believe it.

We eventually stopped so the horses could rest up. 

I stepped out and stretched my body. Sitting in a caravan for hours felt like an eternity. 

As I stretched my legs, I thought I heard something. I looked up and just saw Cass with Fidella the horse. Okay, maybe it was nothing, I thought to myself.

Then I heard it again. This time Cassandra heard it too. We looked at each other basically telling each other we needed to find where that noise was coming from. 

We looked around the area. Cass looked at the caravan and went to the small wooden door that led to the supply compartment. She clicked her tongue and gestured to the door. We got closer and Cass put her finger over her lips, indicating to stay silent.

With one swift movement, she yanked the door open and something fell out.

We yelled and everyone came out wondering what happened, but upon looking at what fell out the fear quickly disappeared and was replaced with a uniform feeling of irritation.

Inside the caravan compartment was Shorty. From what we managed to extract from his story, he must’ve climbed in there when no one was looking because of all the food that was stored there, which he ate all of. So we now don’t have any supplies left.

Eugene suggested he should go into town to get more supplies, but then Rapunzel wanted to volunteer too. I think something was in the air because they were bickering, I guess, about who should head into town, it seemed like they might’ve been talking about something else…

Cass eventually has enough. She put her foot down. “Guys, I can’t take it anymore! Enough! No one is going for a walk! Let’s just take the caravan to town! Together!” 

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

We weren’t too far from the city. When we got out, however, it was different from what Lance and Eugene had told us.

“Vardaros, here we co–oh uh!” Lance said excitedly until he saw the city. “Eww.”

It was comparable to a barren wasteland. The once vivid city had been reduced to only a mere shadow of what it was. Broken down buildings, hardly any people there. Heck, I think I saw a tumbleweed pass by.

“Wow, guys you were right!” Cassandra said ironically. “This is great! What do you wanna do first? Get matching face tattoos? Or see if we can get a deal on a rusty hatchet? Oh, I know! Let’s see who can catch the plague first!”

“I don’t understand. What happened?” Eugene scratched his head.

“Come on guys. Maybe it’s not exactly how you remembered it. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a fun-loving city!” Rapunzel was optimistic as always. She approached a teen girl with dark braided hair. “Hello, there. We are new in town. My name’s—”

“Get lost,” she responded abrasively. 

Okay, wow, rude. 

“Maybe you should hold off on the introductions. Something tells me if word got out that actual royalty was in town we could be in trouble.” Cass warns her. 

Eugene butted in. “You know I hate saying this but she’s right. Let’s keep a lower profile, princess. We’ll get the supplies, you guys get the caravan back up to camp. The last thing you need is for someone to recognize you.”

Rapunzel looked like she wanted to argue back but didn’t. She went back to the caravan.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎

I decided to stay with the princess and Cassandra back at the campsite. I wasn’t really interested in staying back in Vardaros, from the looks of it, it didn’t have much to offer. 

Rapunzel sat at the edge of the caravan painting in her journal. Cass leaned on the caravan as she sharpened her sword with a rock that she found on the way here. I tried to make myself look busy but I just swung my legs in the air, sitting at the other edge of the caravan. 

I fibbed. I wasn’t sure what I was gonna do. I could write a letter to my family, but it’s only been a week and nothing big has happened. If the rest of the trip was going to be like this then I guess my letters wouldn’t be too fun to read about.

Reading! Of course! Ugh, how could I forget that I brought books with me on this journey—

“He asked you to marry him again, huh?” Cassandra’s voice interrupted my train of thought. 

Rapunzel, startled, closed her journal.

“Wait, what do you mean ‘marry you’ again? ” I squeaked out. “When was the first time?”

“Remember the coronation ceremony?” 

“Oh, yeah! I almost forgot! My mom told me about that.” 

Cass turns her attention back to Rapunzel and scoffs. “Come on! I know you guys well enough by now!”

“I-I guess he maybe asked me…” Rapunzel’s voice sounded unsure, which didn’t happen often. Usually, she was very sure of herself. 

“Well, what did you maybe say?”

“I didn’t say anything. And I’m not sure why,” Rapunzel sighed.

We heard someone clear their throat before cutting in saying, “Oh, I can tell you why.”

That voice didn’t sound like anyone we knew. We looked behind the caravan and a woman was leaning back against the caravan, eating an apple. She was quite tall. She had white hair. Half of her face was painted red. Her clothes were interesting…they sort of resembled the clothes of the women of Ingvarr. I wonder if she is from Ingvarr, she seems like one of the warrior ladies from Ingvarr. 

”You got bigger things lying ahead of you,” she said as she took a bite from her apple. “Greetings.”

“I’m sorry. Who are you exactly?” Rapunzel asked.

“Oh, right, sorry! Princess Rapunzel, my name is Adira.”

“And what do you want, Adira?” Cass abrasively. She became more protective of Rapunzel.

“A word with Rapunzel alone. If you don't mind.”

Adira approaches Rapunzel, however, Cass immediately stops her by putting her hand on her shoulder. “Not gonna happen.”

“Just a second, Cass,” Rapunzel says. “Let’s hear her out.”

“Okay, I gotta be honest. I know we just met but, uh, I’m not a big fan of people touching me,” Adira looked down at Cassandra’s hand on her shoulder. 

“And I’m not a fan of people who lurk in the shadows,” Cass replied.

I sensed that this was escalating too quickly.

“Okay, last chance to do this the nice way,” Adira grabs Cassandra’s arm by her wrist.

“And where’s the fun in that?” Cass smiled. 

“Cass, no! Wait.” Rapunzel yelled, trying to stop them from going further, but it was too late. Adira grabs her arm and spins Cass around and launches her several feet from her. 

“Hey, I don’t know who you are,” Rapunzel yelled. “But you do not get to do that to my best friend!” Then, she charged toward her with a pan. 

“Alright then.”

It didn't take too long for her to disable Rapunzel. She ended up wrapped up in her hair.

Then, there was me. 

I hate how I sensed it was my turn to fight. I felt my heart race at the thought of fighting Adira. She is probably triple my size. 

My necklace sensed how nervous I was and glowed. In a millisecond, I was in my full armor and sword in hand.

“Hm, that’s strange. Never seen that before,” she said in response to my transformation, which is pretty nonchalant compared to the other reactions in my experience. 

I gripped the sword’s end, er…whatever it is called, tighter. I got into a stance (not even sure if it is correct).  There, I realized that the last time I transformed into my armor was back in, well, Old Corona. 

“Oh, please, I’m not going to fight a child,” Adira said.

“What! I’m not a child!” I protested. “I’m going to be sixteen!” I gripped my sword with both hands and pointed toward her.

“She can’t even hold a sword properly!” Adira criticized my swordsmanship. 

I lunged and, of course, she dodged it.

All three of us were trying to get a hit off her but no one was even close to even scratching her. Three people!

“You guys aren’t even trying,” Adira said. Rapunzel threw her pan at Adira but she caught it in mid-air. “Oh, wait, you are,” she said unamusingly. 

“That’s it!”  Cassandra jumps up and slashes toward Adira, but, what seemed on instinct, she turns, avoiding her sword. Her hands clasped behind her back. With her leg and her hands still clasped, she managed to knock Cassandra’s sword from her hands and knock Cass off her feet. 

She smiled at her and gave Cass her hand. 

“Enough!” Rapunzel wraps her hair around Adira’s hand.

“Yeah, see. I thought we covered this.” Adira grabs her sword from her back.  “I don’t like being touched!”

She lashed down her sword at Rapunzel’s hair, but it only tugged from the force. The hair was uncut. 

“It didn’t cut?” Adira was shocked. 

“It didn’t break?” Rapunzel was equally surprised at Adira’s sword. “It must be made of—”

 “Princess! Cass!” We heard a panicked voice from a distance. 

It was Hookfoot, coming out of breath. 

“Are you ok?” Rapunzel asked. 

“I see you have your hands full.” Adira let go of her hair. “I’ll seek you later.” With that, she left. 

Rapunzel turns her attention back to Hookfoot.  

“I fought as hard as I could and barely got out alive,” he said out of breath. 

“Wait, wait, fight? Fought who?” Rapunzel began to worry. “Where’s Eugene?”

“I’m so sorry…they took him.”

#tangled the series #tangled fanfiction #tangled the series fanfiction #fanfic #tales of a star #My writing #MY OCs #tangled the series au

[zorilleerrant]

Alfred moved to Gotham as an adult. Ivy moved to Gotham as an adult. Ryan moved to Gotham as an adult. Cass moved to Gotham as an older teen. Cameron moved to Gotham as an older teen. Dinah regularly visits and stays in Gotham for fun. Jon-el gets excited to hang out in Gotham instead of Metropolis. Dick moved to Bludhaven. Damian thinks of Gotham as his own despite being able to go virtually anywhere in the world unsupervised. Xanthe could be in ghost land with their family without traveling to Gotham at all. Maps is obsessively invested in Gotham to the point where following in Map's footsteps seems like a very real possibility.

Harley Quinn moved to Gotham voluntarily to study the inmates at Arkham. Like. Specifically. She moved to Gotham intentionally to put herself right smack dab in the middle of the crazy.

#look i said something

[sohotthateveryonedied]

these panels are the reason for why “cassandra cain is an angel who can do no wrong” and “cassandra cain is a feral bastard” are two equally correct takes

#look at this feral angel bastard #i love her #like there's a spectrum with the batkids that goes from angel to bastard #and cass is smack dab in the middle #maybe more on the bastard side #and jason is refined bastard while cass is feral bastard #idk what the other batkids would be but these are the facts ok #cass is a wonderful bastard princess <3 #cassandra cain #batgirl #orphan #batman #batfamily #batfam #dc comics #batkids #robin #bruce wayne #soho speaks #soho reads comics

[theladyofdeath]

Holiday prompt: “who would’ve thought we’d be stuck in a ditch in the middle of nowhere on Christmas Eve” for nessian

Merry Christmas!

Written alongside @snelbz

“Who would’ve thought we’d be stuck in a ditch in the middle of nowhere on Christmas Eve.”

Cassian closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It wasn’t the first retort Nesta had made, and it surely wouldn’t be the last. 

“We’re not in a ditch,” Cassian clarified, rubbing his temples. “We’re by a ditch, it’s not the same thing.” 

“Either way, we’re not where we’re supposed to be,” Nesta muttered, looking out the window. 

Cassian looked at her for a moment before shaking his head, purely frustrated, and getting out of the car. “Where are you-.”

Cassian shut the door before Nesta could finish her sentence. 

He loved his fiancée.

He really did.

But, damn, she was a frustrating, hard-headed, pain in the ass.

He wasn’t happy about their current situation, either. He wanted to be at Rhysand and Feyre’s, not stuck on the side of the road with the hood of his truck lodged in a snowbank. 

As he assessed their current situation, he only grew more hopeless. There was no way they were getting out of there, not on their own. Cassian had already tried getting out the old fashioned way, only to be met with his tires spinning endlessly atop the snow.

He’d called the towing company already, only to be told they’d be waiting for at least an hour.

It wasn’t his fault, not really. It’s not like black ice was easy to spot, especially at night. 

If only Christmas didn’t take place smack dab in the middle of winter. 

Cassian was sure to stand outside for an extra few minutes and make his point. He was annoyed, he was tired, he was pissed that he was giving Nesta a shitty Christmas. 

He looked back at the hood of his car, which was nose-first in the snowbank. With a sigh, Cassian rubbed his hands together and breathed hot air onto his palms before starting to dig the hood of his truck out of the snow.

The passenger door of his truck soon opened and closed, but Cassian didn’t look up until Nesta was right across the hood from him.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” she asked, exasperated, her mitten-ed hands thrown up in the air.

“Getting us out of the snow,” Cassian replied, as if it were obvious.

“You’re going to get frostbite!” she said, angrily, and when he didn’t respond, she shoved a heap of snow across the hood to get his attention. 

Cassian’s eyes snapped to hers.

“Get in the car, Cass,” she said, words clipped.

“No,” he replied, stubbornly, continuing to dig his truck out of the snow with his bare hands. 

Nesta scoffed before climbing back into the truck and slamming the door shut behind her. 

Cassian worked with his hand-shovels for a few more seconds before lifting his numb hands up, groaning in frustration, and getting back behind the wheel. Once the door was closed behind him, he was placing his hands in front of the warm air vents.

“Did you make your point?”

Cassian glanced over at Nesta before looking back out the windshield ahead of him. “Yes.”

They were both stubborn as hell. But what was he supposed to do? Sit there and feel like shit for ruining the one holiday Nesta loved?

He was about to say something - he wasn’t sure yet, if it was going to be an apology or another snappy retort - but headlights pulling up behind his truck distracted him.

“The wrecker shouldn’t be here for another hour,” he muttered, getting out of the truck and squinting to see who had climbed out of the vehicle behind them, their headlights still blinding.

“You okay?”

At the sound of his brother’s voice, Cassian breathed a sigh of relief. Nonetheless, he asked, “What the hell are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be home with your pregnant wife?”

Rhys snorted. “My pregnant wife told me to get my ass in gear and come pick the two of you up. I wasn’t going to argue with her.”

Cassian chuckled and said, “Nesta texted her, didn’t she?”

“Of course,” Rhysand said, crossing his arms across his chest. “She knew your stubborn ass wouldn’t.” 

Cassian grimaced, but looked at Nesta, nonetheless. Nesta, who was getting their presents from the backseat, met his eyes and gave him the gentlest of smiles. With that, she was off, trudging through the snow with an armful of gifts toward Rhysand’s car.

“I had it under control,” Cassian said, at last.

“Unless you’re a tow truck, no you did not,” Rhysand said, going back toward his car, gesturing to Cassian to follow. “A truck will come by in the morning, by the way. Tow it back to your house.”

Cassian grumbled his thanks, grabbed his wallet, and followed his brother to his car, where his fiancée was waiting. 

Fifteen minutes later, they were pulling into Rhysand’s driveway, a pregnant Feyre greeting them at the door. Elain instantly had drinks in each of their hands, and it was then that Cassian met Nesta beneath the mistletoe.

“I had it under control,” Cassian mumbled.

Nesta just shook her head, and smiled fondly. “It’s Christmas, Cass. I may be a stubborn woman, but I at least can set it aside for the sake of the holiday. As should you.” 

“And how do I do that?” Cassian asked, suddenly amused, wrapping his arm around her slender waist. 

Nesta looked up into his eyes and brushed his hair aside. “Let’s just start with a kiss.”

Cassian didn’t argue.

He pulled Nesta in closer and kissed her softly, slowly, his glass full of hard cider hanging loosely from his fingers. It was then that the night turned around, that their shitty Christmas adventure turned from utter hell to all it was meant to be.

#nessian #christmas fics #nesta #cassian #sjm #fanfic #fanfiction #oneshot #drabble #shara

[nightwingmyboi]

Dick Grayson Comic Recs

I’ve been getting an increase in requests for comic recs, so I finally caved and decided to list a bunch of comics and series I recommend about Dick Grayson and put it all in one convenient place. I also wrote out a little description/review, to try to give people an idea if the comic sounded appealing and they wanted to check it out. Some of these are just single comics, others are some series to check out, pretty much in chronological order. 

Robin: 

Robin (1993) Annual #4: One of my preferred Robin origin stories. Fairly solid characterization, and a more reasonable timeline for events than other tellings. Provides an inside look at Dick’s thoughts during this time. 

Batman: Dark Victory #9-13: All of Dark Victory is excellent, these are the issues that Dick appears in. It could be considered another Robin origin story, though it is not solely focused on Dick. Everyone is characterized very well, especially Dick. The plot is very engaging, involving Two Face and a crime family, along with tracking down Zucco. As the name implies, it is a bit grimmer than your usual retelling. 

Batman Chronicles: The Gauntlet: Dick has been training to be Robin, and he thinks he’s finally ready, but he has to pass Batman’s final test--to keep away from him for a whole night. Of course, the test goes off track, and Dick soon finds himself the target of a ruthless mob boss, his deadly gang of thugs, and the GCPD. Batman chases after Robin, trying to save him before it is too late. 

Robin: Year One: This is a four issue run that gives you a snapshot of the time where Robin is just introduced in the crime fighting scene. It features villains like the Mad Hatter and Two Face. The art style is really fun and dynamic, and we get to see Bruce and Dick start to figure each other out. Lots of Alfred as well! 

Scarecrow: Year One: Another fun look at Dick and Bruce’s relationship, a little further along the road. Dick is very small and cute, and has also basically become Bruce’s therapist lmao! Not a great Scarecrow origin story though.

Legends of the DC Universe #6: The first time Superman and Robin meet. An absolutely delightful team up, I still have cavities from reading it because it is just so sweet. This one is so good, read it. 

Teen Titans: Year One: A short little origin story for the fab five (ie Wonder Girl, Speedy, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Robin). A cute introduction to the original titans. 

The New Teen Titans (1980) and (1984): Forming the Teen Titans was a really important part of Dick’s development as a superhero, and some of his best stuff is when he is in a team setting. This run has the team you’d be more familiar with if you watched the animated Teen Titans show: it has Raven, Starfire, etc. Dick decides that he is going to leave Robin behind in issue #39. 

Nightwing: 

The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract: This is the infamous run where Terra betrays the Titans. Dick dons the name Nightwing for the first time in this run (discowing style), and goes off with Joey Wilson to save the rest of the Titans from Slade and Brother Blood. 

Batman #416: Dick meets Jason for the first time, and eventually the two bond over beating up some baddies. 

The New Titans (1988) #55: You can read this series too for some Titans action, but even if you don’t you should skip over and read issue #55. It shows how Dick reacted to Jason’s death, and how Bruce and Dick had a huge falling out. It’s heartbreaking to read honestly. 

Nightwing (1996): If you want to read Nightwing, it’d be best to look at his solo run also. It starts with him moving to Bludhaven, and continues from there. If you’re looking for Batfam cameos, I specifically remember issues #6 and #25 for its really cute brotherly Tim and Dick moments. Issues #13 - #15 have Dick and Batman working together. #105 and #106 have Jason (as Robin) working with Dick. There are a lot of solid Barbara moments throughout with her as Oracle. #138 is when he meets Damian for the first time. There’s a lot here, so I would just pick and choose the arcs that interest you, and go from there. 

Action Comics #771: Another comic where Nightwing and Superman team up. Sue me, I love their dynamic! 

Gotham Knights #17: Dick finally gets adopted in this one. 

Batman (1940) #615: This one is smack dab in the middle of the Hush arc, an arc that focuses on Batman’s relationship with Catwoman and a mysterious new villain named Hush. I like this arc of comics (they recently made it into a movie!) so if you want to read the whole thing it starts at #608. This is just one that features Nightwing a lot. I include it because I really enjoy the dynamic Dick and Bruce have. It’s good stuff. 

Titans/Young Justice Graduation Day #1-3: It’s fun to see Tim and Dick’s generations interact and deal with growing up as superheroes, and there is a lot of drama. Pretty important crap goes down in these comics: several people die, including Donna, and as a result Dick disbands the Titans. If you want to read Outsiders, you should really read this one first. 

Outsiders Vol 3 (2003): Dick is mourning Donna’s death and self-destructing, so Roy forms a team called the Outsiders--a team that is meant to be just business rather than a family. Dick is more stern and his temper is shorter than usual, but I think it is all pretty in character for him, especially since he is grieving. Highlights include Roy and Dick’s lovely relationship.

Teen Titans (2003) #6: Ok, I almost didn’t put this one on here because it is very self-indulgent, but I couldn’t resist. This series has the Teen Titans starting back up again without Nightwing, but in this issue he makes a little cameo. If you’ve seen those panels around where Nightwing lectures the Justice League? This is where it happens. He’s just really cool here. 

Batman: 

Batman #687-688: This follows the Batfam’s initial reaction to Bruce’s death, and how Dick begins to approach being Batman himself. It is technically an epilogue to Battle for the Cowl, but that doesn’t have to be read for these comics to be understood. 

Batman and Robin (2009): This is the series where we see Dick and Damian transform into people forced together who can barely tolerate one another, to some of the closest partners in the Batfam. They develop their relationship very nicely, and we get to see how Dick approaches a lot of the emotional and physical challenges that come with being Batman. Some of the arcs are good, some of them very much miss for me. 

Batman: Black Mirror: This is a collection of Detective Comics #871-881. I’d say these are  my favorite Dick!Batman stories ever. All the cases are very good (really chilling), and the characterizations are top notch stuff. Lots of Gordon, Barbara, and some Tim also. I won’t spoil who it is, but the big villain they have for this book is one of the best I’ve seen for Dick, an almost perfect foil in my opinion.

Batman: Gates of Gotham: A good story, it’s interesting to see how Dick interacts with his siblings as Batman. I think this may be one of the first times Cass and Damian meet, though I’m not positive about that. 

Just as a heads up, I’ve left out some significant events and this isn’t an exhaustive list on everything there is to know about the character. These are just some comics I enjoy. I hope they help you get a start on who Dick Grayson is, and how he figures into the Batfam and the larger superhero community.

#dick grayson #dick!robin #Dick!Batman #nightwing #DC comics #comics #comic recs #my comic recs #batman #long post

[we-want-mini-mini]

I have this short one shot in mind. It’s essentially abt the entire Batfam gathering up together (and its also the anniversary of Jason’s death but that’s kinda jus a background detail).

Anyways, everyone gathers round the dinning table, eating, laughing, etc etc. And when I mean everyone, I fucking mean all the Batkids, which include but are not limited to:

Dick

Jason

Tim

Damian

Stephanie

Cassandra

Duke

Barbara

Anyways, Alfred and Bruce are obvi there as well, eating, and talking and stuff.

Suddenly, some fucking kid bursts through the fucking window, does a mid-air flip, and lands smack dab in the middle of the dining table, on their hands, which is conveniently holding onto this package.

All hell breaks loose, as various Bats (and birds!) start throwing various items. Then this kid sends out this weird ass pulse, that makes everything freeze in place. Only this kid and move.

The kid slowly floats up, cross legged in the air, moving a batarang, and throwing knife away from their face. They announce, “Hello, the Wayne Family and Friends! Who are also... Gasp, the infamous Bat and Bird themed Vigilantes of Gotham?! Now, to quote John Mulany, “we don’t have time to unpack all of that” which is fine! ...Why are none of you responded—oh sorry! I froze you all in place, my bad.”

The kid snaps their fingers, allowing the Batfam & Co. talk but their still frozen in place. Immediately Damian starts antagonizing the Kid. The Kid responses by literally zipping close Damians mouth like a Looney Toon cartoon.

The Kid sighs but continues on, “C’mon now! Don’t shoot the messenger as they say, whoever they is that is. Anyways, I have a package for one: Jason Peter Todd!”

“Who the hell sent you?” Jason askes.

The Kid shrugs, “No clue, they sent it in anonymously. Though, from what I know, there is a card inside the package so that might offer you some clues.”

“And what exactly are you?” Bruce inquires.

The Kid’s lips stretch out as wide as they can go, their pearly white, jagged teeth on display. Their eyes glow slightly red, as their neck cranes forward at a tilt. Their neck seems to extend a lot further, and their face tilts at an inhuman angle. They open their mouth, with rows of teeth on display for everyone too see.

“Why don’t you find out?” Their once chriper, goofy, kid like voice contorts into a deep, distorted version. Everyone freezes, at the Kid simply stares back at Bruce before their fave goes back to “normal” as they laugh their collective ass off.

“Ahaha... You know, that trick never does fail to make me laugh and all of you freeze in fear—then again, your already frozen but still!”

The Kid continues, their face still stretched out in a smile. A smile a little to sharp and inhuman for them. “But, you should know that’s quite a rude thing to ask! Didn’t your parents teach you any manners?! Then again, they are dead.”

A beat of silence.

“What? Too morbid? Seriously, what a tough crowd! But hey, everyone has their sore spots, so I can’t blame ya. Anyways, I’m guessing all of you have questions. So, fire away!”

They snapped their fingers, making the literally zipper on Damians face disappear.

“Who are you?” Damian seethes.

“I’m Ty Kidd! But call me Kid. Oh and, my pronouns are she/they, thank you very much. I am also a delivery person for—” Kid pulls out a business card, which start to multiple and appear infront of everyone. “—the Multiversal Express Delivery Service, or MEDS for short!”

“And what exactly is MEDS?” Dick asks.

“It’s literally in the name.” Kid deadpans, before another inhuman like smile spreads across their face. “I travel from parallel world to parallel world! Fun fact: there’s a world where you guys are just fictional characters who’ve existed since the 1930s! Isn’t that cool?! One of the many reasons I love my job.”

“Yeah, yeah, fun stuff, but who sent you?”

Kid shrugs, “I dunno. Sender was anonymous. But no worries! At MEDS we ensure that none of our packages include any sort of life threatening object, material, and etc! So, no need to worry about releasing a plague that would decimate this world in a blink of an eye or a nuclear bomb that would wipe this continent out of the map! But, if you do want to send world ending plagues or bombs, you must submit a form and blah blah blah HR bullshit.”

“And... how do know right trust you?” Tim spoke up.

Kid’s face once again spilts in half into a smile, their jagged teeth slightly teasing her lips. Her eyes turned into black silts. “You don’t.” Their voice reasonated throughout everyone’s ears, deep and contorted to the octave.

She pulled back, face once again going “normal”. “But! You can trust MEDS! Trust me when I say, nothing like a bomb, plague or that sort of item is inside this package. Anyways, I’m on a schedule, so—“

They snapped their fingers, a small device and pen appearing infront of Jason. “—please sign, and I’ll be on my merry way. Don’t worry about the window, I’ll fix it!”

Jason was momentarily stunned wondering what the fuck is happening? Why is their probably a fucking eldritch-demon-person in front of me? What is my life?

Before Jason could even tell what was happening, he picked up the floating pen and signed his name on the little device thingy. When his name was signed, the pen and device poofed! away in a plume is smoke.

The Kid, still smiling that inhuman and unsettling smile, snapped their fingers, fixing the broken window, and putting away all the various knifes and objects that were still floating in the air.

“Thank you for your service! If you ever want to send anything to a parallel universe, just give us a call and we will send it! No matter how desolate the Earth, no matter how frankly strange item, we shall send it! Anyways, happy Death day Jason Todd. Kid Out!” They said with a salute, before disappearing in a plume of smoke.

All hell breaks loose and after some arguing and lowkey existential breakdowns everyone converges to the Cave.

Bruce being paranoia incarnate, makes the package go through numerous tests. All being negative. They can’t even identify what it is.

After some more arguing, Jason slips by everyone, and tears open the box. Everyone tries to stop him, but it’s already to late, he opened it.

Now, no one can see what’s inside since Jason is blocking them with his gigantic ass figure. Bruce is the first one to realize that Jason freezes up, and goes to him, worried that something happened.

“Jason, whats wro—“ Then Bruce sees what’s in the box and pales. Everyone sees how Bruce freezes, just looking at the box.

Soon, one by one, it revealed: its Jokers decapated head.

Or alternatively, Jason is the last one to see what’s inside (Damian or someone else being the first). Up to you.

Anyways, there’s this card. Jason picks it up, and it reads:

As the Persians say: an eye for an eye. But the world doesn’t go blind. Happy Dead Clown Day, Jason.

—[Insert an intial or some shit]

Cue some time later, and, yes, it’s confirmed, this is Jokers head. You see, Jokers been awfully quiet for two years, as he went missing after an explosion rocked Arkham Asylum. This, is proof that Joker is finally dead.

News breaks that Joker is dead, and it follows Jason reaction to his death.

In my opinion he’d be lowkey angry that it wasn’t him who killed the damn Clown. But, holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. He’s... He’s dead. He’s finally fucking dead.

Cue some more time later, after everything has cooled down. Jason is in Robinson Park, sitting at a bench, when another kid (who kinda looks like Kid but Jason is too busy inner monologuing to care).

The kid speaks up, “You know, before I use to hate the phrase, ‘an eye for an eye’ ‘cause, the world would go blind.”

Jason freezes, and the kid continues. “But, now I get it. An eye for an eye, but the world never goes blind. Simple as that, since, sure, your blind in one eye, but justice was finally served, right Jason?”

The kid turns to him, and smiles. Not a too large, too sharp, too inhuman smile, but a sincere, warm one. “Y-Yeah.” Jason finally manages to choke out.

“It’s a nice day out, you know. It’s real nice. I know, that, at least you get to see more of these nice days.”

“You day that as if you can’t see days like these anymore.” He blurts out.

The kid sighs, with a bitter smile on their face. “Yeah, I can’t see or experience days like these anymore. I haven’t been able too for three years. But hey, an eye for an eye, but the world never goes blind.” As the kid speaks, their voice fades away. In a blink of an eye, the kid disappears, leaving behind daffodil and a note.

The note is an invitation for a funeral.

Jason goes to the Manor, specifically the cave, and conveniently everyone is there. Damian, Stephanie and Cass are sparring. Dick is using the aerial equipment. Bruce and Tim are working on some cases with Barbara helping. Alfred is done, handing out snacks.

Jason immediately shoves the card to Tim, who’s confused and then sees how utterly shaken up and pale he looks.

“Tell me what happened to this kid.”

Everyone immediately turns to Tim, as he types in their name, date and etc.

What they find out, is that, this kid, who died three years ago, died in the last ever attack wide scale attack the Joker committed. They were the only casualty in said attack (surprisingly).

And they were only 13. Like Jason. And the date of the attack... is the same day Jason died all those years ago in Ethiopia.

“I saw them.”

“...what?” Dick said, in an incredulous voice.

“I saw them. At Robinson Park. They even said that exact same phrase in that fucking card: an eye for an eye—“

“—and the world never goes blind.” Everyone says the last part in unison.

Then the Bats get news that rest of Jokers body was sent to the GCPD, addressed to—

-END-

Basically, that’s how the one shot goes. If anyone wants to use the idea:

Jason gets a package while he’s at the Manor. They test said package and nothing comes up. Some start arguing and someone opens the package (which is more dramatic, Jason seeing it first or last?). They see: Jokers decapiated head. Chaos ensues and a metric shit load of testing later, it’s confirmed: thats Jokers head. And Jokers been missing for [insert amount of time]. The Batfam then deal with the fallout of Joker being (finally) dead.

If anyone writes this, please tag me! I want too see ANGST, and FLUFF, and GOOD DAD BRUCE, and, DRAMA, and ALL THE BAT KIDS.

(I can’t delete the fucking pic below me and I refuse to rewrite this entire post. Lowkey it’s kinda ironic too lmao).

#batman and robin #batgirl #cassandra cain #duke thomas #barbara gordon #stephenie brown #tim drake #damian wayne #bruce wayne #dick grayson #good dad bruce wayne #fic ideas #fanfic prompt #angst #fluff #batkids #nightwing #red hood #dead joker #FUCK JOKER #red robin #robin #spoiler #black bat #tw gore #non binary #eldritch horror #batfam #horror

[celestialflamesme]

| KARMA AND CRAZY MIDGETS | A Venai One-shot Modern AU | Fairy Tail Next Generation |

Ships: Raidyn Dreyar x Venetia Redfox

Dedicated to @primaverafrog @luna-chan00 @biorckstudios18 @animaration-fts @cxndy-stxrs (Lol, I can't believe that no-paragraph breaks worked😂 I fooled Tumblr, y'all!😎😆)

You'd think having a town overtaken by the mafia would make people more apprehensive, if anything. But if Magnolians were anything, they were huge (and he simply could not stress this enough) idiots.

Raidyn prided himself in not partaking in anything Fairy-esque which was more than what he could say about some of his colleagues (Yes, they named themselves Fairy 'Tail' of all things! How no one in this town even got the spelling right was beyond him....)

"Did you hear about Fullbuster and that Fernandez chick? They're together now!" Some red head he'd forgotten the name of (What! It was too late to ask her now!) stage-whispered.

"Who? Storm?"

The entire cafe burst into laughter. "Like Storm would even look at a girl that's not Nashi."

Point proven. They!! were!! on!! first!! name!! basis!! (He bet no one in this room even knew his last name, let alone first. Not that it mattered. He liked slinking in the shadows, although it was practically impossible with his snow-white hair)

Geez, did these people have no lives? They were talking about delinquents for Pete's sake! And ones that sure loved messing up the town in their infamous brawls. But did the people care? Nooooo.

Ugh, one more year and he'd be out of this whacked up place. Wiping a tabletop, he forced a smile on his face and pretended to be interested in the topic.

"Cass, I'll have a black and a burger with fries," a voice interrupted. A voice he was very familiar with.

Did he happen to mention that the most annoying one of them all had made this her hangout spot?

At 5'1, you'd think Venetia Redfox would be the least intimidating person ever. But with crimson red eyes and a Devil-may-care attitude that made up for it, no one dared mess with her. She also caused 75% of the fights in town and had a smirk straight out of a Wattpad Bad-boy fanfic.

Boy, did he hate her.

"You're gonna chip it off with that grip, Blondie."

Oh my god, she did not just-

Raidyn shot her a glare and strode to the back of the register, faintly registering a chuckle (Who the hell did she think she was?) before picking up another order.

Little Miss Redfox however sat at a corner table and continued doing whatever the hell she usually did every Tuesday and Friday for 3 hours in a row (he should know, he was there glaring at her at closing time).

But the kicker this time was, at that moment, her phone rang. You have never really seen your world end right before your eyes if you haven't seen a 5 foot psychotic looking delinquent decked in leather that drove in a motorcycle there by the way (How does one willingly ride on a metallic death-trap like that?!) mumble the words 'Cha cha real smooth' and pick up a call with the most deadpan look ever.

Raidyn almost cried. Almost.

"Are you kidding me? Do it yourself! I swear to God, you always do this shit, Dragneel!" She got up from her seat and walked out, just like she looooved doing smack dab in the middle of her classes back at Magnolia High.

Good riddance.

........

He jinxed it. Karma was such a bitch.

Though no sort of karmic revenge could explain the shit he had to go through that week.

First off, he had 4 assignments due in by the end of the week. And turns out that was the exact week his dear red-head colleague decided would the perfect time for a vacation (It's the middle of September, where in hell's name was she planning to go to?)

Guess who had double shifts now?

This clown.

Ugh. Talk about chivalry and all that loyalty shit.

And yes, of course his car had to break down, and the local bus had to change it's schedule, which left him with his last resort: walking 4 and a quarter miles to school (Oh, he found that out the hard way all right) to college. Nashi and the Fullbuster kid (He sure loved walking around shirtless a little too much) decided to brawl (again) and bam, his locker got caught in the crossfire.

In fact things were so overly shitty that he became skeptical come Thursday when the day seemed relatively normal.

"You've been scowling all week, Dreyar. Anything the matter?"

Raidyn snapped out of his reverie and groaned. "Dad, why not just call me by my name like any normal person would?"

"Because that doesn't build-"

"CHARACTER!! WE GET IT!" His mom, Mirajane mimicked with a scowl. "Well, we're just going to get two Happy meals and then we're off, honey!"

He faintly registered Hunter snickering in the background (How immature. Raidyn wasn't one to get embarrassed by his parents. Plus, none of it would ever compare to the Disco Fiasco of 2001. How else do you think he got his car? Sweet, sweet guilt-tripping....)

The day buzzed past but his suspicions only intensified tenfold. (Call him a pessimist, he didn't care) And like a bull in a China shop, a tiny midget Redfox (the one and only) strut in.

Now, he was behind the counter at that moment handling the red-head (he really ought to learn her name someday) so he didn't notice 5 feet of brute strength that climbed up behind him and dragged him (poor, unsuspecting him) into the supply closet.

Oh no, he was not kidding. The supply closet. Of all the places the perpetrator could've-

The lights flickered on and he screeched (What? Any human would!) at the red irises staring determinedly into his own non-red eyes. (Seriously, were those even real?) Raidyn wasn't scared of no judgement, what did scare him (maybe not that much, now that he knew who those belonged to) was Satan's minion and her RED AS FUCK EYES! LIKE SERIOUSLY-

Clearing his throat and trying to salvage some faux dignity after that dramatic display, he grunted, "Touch me one more time and you're-"

"Yeah, yeah I get it, big guy. Look, I need a favour."

Venetia Redfox crossed her arms and stood threateningly in front of the entrance.

Who was she kidding? "Nope," he muttered and swerved right around her and made his way to the counter. (Pipsqueak. She really should've seen that coming.)

And right as he turned right towards the display case, he found her leaning against it with her shoulder, looking bored. "Yes. And now."

How the- PPHIGXUTDUTZUT- HOW DID SHE JUST-

"Parkour." She deadpanned.

Raidyn gave Venetia a long, long look and sighed, striding towards her. Her smirk widened in anticipation as-

He picked her up like a sack of potatoes and tossed her over his shoulder.

"WHAT THE- THIS IS HARASSMENT!!"

"Technically, you cornered me first," he stated matter-of-factly and dropped her on her feet (she looked like a hissy kitten, hmm.) Then proceeding to close the doors at her, he picked up a poster of her (he kept posters of all of them for a day like this. Ah, foreboding luck. He could feel it.) and pinned it onto the front door.

BANNED: VENETIA REDFOX

(Was he even allowed to do that, you might ask, but bah, who cares? Rabid girls are a nationwide threat.)

.................

As he wrapped up and prepared to leave, Raidyn had a niggling feeling he forgot something very, very crucial. Uh-

A body collided onto his own and climbed (I kid you not) him (THE FUCK KIND OF ANIMALS DID MAGNOLIA OWN?) before a tiny, rough hand muffled him. Oh no.

"Yoph kiphing mmph!" Raidyn groaned.

"I need you to teach me how to solve a Rubix Cube."

What. Excuse Raidyn for not knowing, but was Rubix cube some mafia codeword for mafia stuff? Stealing a car, fighting goons, skipping classes or drug dealing? Raidyn Dreyar had a long jail-free life ahead of him, mind you.

BUT SERIOUSLY, SOLVE A RUBIX CUBE?! HOW FRICKING RANDOM WAS THAT?! WHO EVEN TOLD HER HE KNEW HOW TO SOLVE ONE? WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THIS GODFORSAKEN TOWN?!!!

(Some might say he really had to stop reading those novels his mom bought. Some might be right. Whatever.)

Back to the topic on hand, he mumbled inaudibly. Her cropped hair tickled the sides of his face as she squinted at him, "What?"

Was she kidding right now? He pointed at her hand covering his mouth and her eyes widened as she let out a nervous laugh. (Geez, talk about stupid.)

He took in a deep breath and shook her off him. She stood there patiently (As patiently as a Redfox could, anyway.) as he straightened his shirt.

"First things first, NO!" And he stalked away.

He registered a groan from behind him and quickened his pace. However, the midget in question managed to propel herself at break-neck speeds and no joke, TACKLED him.

"PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE-"

"GET OFF ME, YOU PSYCHOTIC-"

Karma was such a bitch.

Macao, the guard standing by the parking lot, huffed, "They don't pay me enough for this."

...............

The only reason he was doing this was because she offered to fix up his car. (How did she even know it wasn't starting?) Also because it had been a while since he brushed up on his Rubix skills. Also because he wanted to get rid of the midget before she followed him home. (He figured his mom and dad would ENJOY her presence and replace him with her. He had crazy parents.)

Everyday she'd make sure to meet him (mostly by cornering him in the hallways) and in exchange for these classes, she'd work on his car at the weekend.

The first time she came over to his house (to work on his car, but he didn't know that) was rather embarrassing because he kinda sorta thought she was a burglar and locked his garage, yelling at the top of his lungs. His dad, Laxus came out with a taser (Dad sure loved his tasers.) Of course, when he finally opened the garage doors, he was met with an unimpressed look from the Redfox in question. (God, he was such a drama queen.)

The midget had a lot of trouble twisting her hands at the beginning of her sessions and he loved teasing her about her 'butter fingers' every time she accidentally flung the cube across the room or out the window in one rare occasion.

You know, she was kind of fun to have around.

"And that's the algorithm! You're all done!" He cheered, glad to have this behind him.

"Geez, you don't have to sound that excited to get rid of me." Venetia teased.

"What? No....." He feigned innocence.

"D'aww, admit it, you enjoyed my company."

"Please, more like I was scared for my life." He mumbled. She snorted.

"Catch you later, alligator."

Did she just- "NO WAY, JOŚE!" (That was lame even for him. Gosh dang it, she was laughing at him....)

Fricking Redfox.

......................

That weekend, Raidyn thought he deserved a good ol' evening out with his friends/colleagues (technically it was the manager that suggested it and he tagged along for the heck of it. He wasn't much of a social person, per se.)

He guessed Karma was still on a streak when Venetia Redfox entered the very same place they'd chosen for karaoke night and sat herself on one of the tables in front of them. And proceeded to order nothing.

The raven-head didn't even have her notebook (that always made her look disarmingly tiny) or her phone. Oh well, she must've been waiting for someone.

As the hours passed, he found himself exceedingly irritated for no reason.

"Who in their right mind would stand up The Venetia Redfox?" His colleagues whispered (rather loudly, according to him) and she just tapped her fingers away, oblivious to it all.

Fine, whatever.

"Sup." He towered over her and greeted, moving to take a seat next to her.

She blinked at him.

Okay, you couldn't exactly judge him. She was a regular and tipped good and people were being annoying about her and oh, her tapping was distracting and he had a massive headache coming. That's all. Simple as that.

"Don't you have better shit to do?" Red irises stared at him impassively.

"What are you doing here by yourself?" He asked coolly.

"Well, Nashi was supposed to-"

"I'M HERE! I'M HERE! I'M-" Both tilted their heads just in time to see Nashi ram into the glass doors. The now groaning pinkette was sprawled on her butt in front of the entrance. "Fricking doors."

"That's her." Venetia deadpanned. Raidyn shook his head sympathetically.

"Heyo Ven! Heh, kinda lost track of time beating Frostbite at Mario Kart," her doe eyes scanned him. "Raidyn! I didn't know you guys were friends!" She grinned.

Raidyn gave her a two-finger salute in greeting.

Nashi's eyes suddenly widened in realisation. "YOU'RE TEACHING HER THE RUBIX?!"

"Uh..."

"Yup." Venetia smirked. "He's a great teach. His parents have taken me in as their own."

"WAIT! WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?! HOW WAS I NOT AWARE OF THIS?!"

"Just like that, Blondie. What can I say? It's the charm," She grinned at his bewildered face.

"You guys are all ready for the challenge then?" Nashi wiggled, now nervous, "Ven, I didn't mean to drag you into this, but Clint was-"

"It's cool, dumbass." Venetia shrugged. "Ain't your fault that they're dipshits."

At his confused look, Nashi clarified, "People like picking on us just because we're Fairies and held to the same standards as our parents. This frat dude decided he had to prove he was smarter than the Fairies and decided to pick a Rubix cube challenge of all things." She rolled her eyes. "Bet he taught he was real original thinking that one up."

"Bet he did." Storm scoffed. (Wait, what?)

"WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?"

"From- the front door?" Storm scratched his head in genuine confusion. (As if Raidyn was the weird one that sneaked up behind people like a stalker!)

Nashi facepalmed. "Why the heck are you here, Frostbite?"

"Just like that."

"Gosh, you're so annoying."

"Wanna say that to my face, Flamebrains?!" Storm yelled. (Oh, not again....)

"Guys, please don't...." Raidyn said, but both didn't seem to be paying attention to him.

"I SAID YOU'RE ANNOYING! FIGHT ME!" She threw a punch at him and before he knew it both were throwing napkin holders and vases at each other.

Venetia seemed to be enjoying the show, and pulled him to the back of the room, "This might take a while," she stated. "Wanna grab a milkshake?"

Well, he was kind of craving one. "Why not?"

..................

Today was the day of Venetia's challenge and Raidyn found himself nervous.

"You sure they won't wreck the place?" He grumbled for the umpteenth time.

Venetia groaned. "Do you have no faith in my abilities, Dreyar?"

"Nope. None whatsoever."

She raised an eyebrow, "Shame on you, then. I wouldn't let a good friend lose his job on my behalf. Dally ho, now!" She cheered.

He blinked at her, giving her a small reluctant smile. "Kick ass, Ven."

She tilted her head toward him and gave him a grin that knocked the breath out of him. "Thanks, Raidyn."

Shit. When did- when did she get so pretty?

"Look who we have here. You sure you're in the right place, Redfox?" A voice condescended. The owner of the voice was a grimy looking kid that looked like one of those middle-school spelling-bee losers that bragged about it whenever they met someone new.

"Clint." Venetia deadpanned.

Raidyn broke out into a fit of laughter, making 'Clint' (What kind of sad name was that?) glare at him. (Oh please, Little Clint was totally quaking in his boots! Why'd he even bother coming?)

"Let's begin then! Pick a shuffler." Clint drawled.

Venetia picked Nashi while Clint, after a moment of deliberation, picked one of his gang-mates (What did they call it? The Math club?)

"You may begin."

Both Nashi and the grimy dude shuffled for the better of 15 seconds. Clint just scoffed and clicked like a pretentious know-it-all, making comments like, "You're making it easier by shuffling harder, you know. Make it tougher for me, Nashi dear."

Raidyn had to give it to the pinkette, he would've smacked the teen by now.

"Okay," the referee, Storm cheered, (even though he looked like he was ready to kill Clint) "Timer starts, NOW!"

Both twisted and turned the cube furiously, Venetia sticking her tongue out in concentration while the teen twisted his arms like a man possessed.

"I'M DONE!" Venetia dropped the cube with a thud onto the table. "How's that for a Redfox?"

"E-excuse me? That's insane! It's only been," Clint checked the timer like the sore loser he was, "31 seconds!"

"Too bad," she smirked. (Well shit, that was hot...)

"I demand a rematch!"

Nashi moved to protest, but Venetia silenced her with a hand, "Whatever you say, kid..."

"This time, we swap cubes!" He whined like the little weasel he was.

3 minutes later, the rematch began and Venetia plopped her cube on the table with a glare.

"You think you're smart giving me a faulty cube, don't you?"

"And I'm done!" The weasel had the nerve to say. "I don't know what you're talking about Venetia, I used the same cube and it worked just fine. Maybe it was a stroke of luck on your part the first tim-"

He couldn't finish his tirade because Raidyn took that opportunity to check the cube (He didn't have to though, he believed Venetia enough to know she wouldn't make up excuses.) and yeeted it at his face like he'd been itching to do from the moment he saw the turd.

"YOU IDIOT! I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS-"

"GET HIM!"

"OH NO, YOU DON'T!" Nashi growled, "I'M ALL FIRED UP NOW!"

Oh dear.

Okay, maybe the fight wouldn't get too big, these were scrawny kids after a-

Yeah, Nashi Dragneel just flipped a table on them.

There goes his job.

"GO, NASHI!" His manager cheered. (Okay, thank God this town was crazy.) "Raidyn! You can take the day off, kid. Have fun!"

Storm chose that moment to enter after his momentary toilet-break. "I WAS GONE FOR 3 MINUTES, WOMAN! WHAT THE HELL?!"

"JOIN US, STRIPPER!"

"WHAT DID YOU CALL ME?!"

"YOU HEARD ME!"

Venetia, unbothered by the chaos behind her, pulled him by the arm, her eyebrows furrowed at him, "Well, I tried. But hey, looks like you still have your job. That's a win, right?" She scratched her neck, laughing.

He sighed, putting caution to the wind. This was Ven after all. "Ice-cream date? My treat for today's win."

A smile erupted on her face, "Only if we take my bike there."

.............

Bonus (That no one asked for):

"Okay, so you have to grip it right. Not too tight. Just enough to nudge it in the right direction." Venetia explained, from where she was seated in front of him on the death tra- bike.

Raidyn nervously laughed, "I've got this in the bag, I don't know what you're worried about." The tilt in his voice gave away his panic, however. She raised an eyebrow.

"Humor me then."

Okay.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

GO!!

"DON'T CLOSE YOUR EYES, YOU IDIOT!!" Venetia screeched. She reached over and took over the handlebars just in time as they nearly crashed into a tree Raidyn was headed for.

He got off the bike and tripped, falling face-first on the ground. Fricking Jelly-legs. "I am never riding that death trap again." Raidyn groaned.

"What the heck?!" Venetia questioned, bewildered. "How'd you even get your driver's ed with such sucky basics?"

"IT'S A DEATH TRAP, THAT'S WHY!!"

"OF COURSE IT'S A DEATH TRAP IF YOU'RE NOT LOOKING WHERE YOU'RE GOING!!!!"

"Fight me Ven, I'm never getting on that thing again!"

"Too bad, I have to drop you back home too." The sneaky devil dared smirk at his plight.

Fricking Karma.

He wouldn't have it any other way, though.

.............

#raidyn dreyar #venetia redfox #shutora redfox #venai #gale #miraxus #fairy tail #ft next generation #venetia x raidyn #nashi dragneel x storm fullbuster #nashi dragneel #storm fullbuster #modern au #rubix cube #bad boy remake

[thexwanderingxsouls]

@bl3edingxg3ntly asked:  "I thought I might find you here" Caliux - Cassidy

Cassidy stretched like a contented cat who’d found the perfect shaft of sunlight to bask in, practically purring as the warm salt air filled her lungs. God, she’d needed a vacation. And thank whatever higher power might be listening that her last assignment before her scheduled vacation time off had landed her smack dab in the middle of beach town that sat a bit off the beaten path. Once she’d seen the charm of the small town speckled with mom and pop businesses, crystal blue gulf waters, and a general lack of tourist crowds how could she turn down the opportunity to take a little time for herself? Her gaze scanned the beach, entranced by the gently rolling waves for a few moments before she moved on to study a couple of rather lovely sights strolling past her on the sand. A few extracurricular activities in addition to her rest and relaxation wouldn’t go amiss, she thought to herself with a mischievous hum. 

For the time being, though, she wanted to enjoy the sun and peace a little more. Rolling over on the chair, she stretched out on her stomach and let her eyes close. The sun and sounds of the sea had lulled her into that wonderfully dreamy place between sleep and awake when a voice broke through. “Hm?” Something about the voice seemed familiar but she couldn’t quite place it - She’d talked to so many people in the town for her latest story that she couldn’t pin the voice to one particular person. Propping up on her elbows, Cass turned to look up at the speaker. 

“You did, did you? Am I that easy to read?” A Cheshire Cat smirk claimed her lips and she sat up more fully. “Sorry, but do I know you?” She sure as hell wanted to if she didn’t already, she mused silently as her eyes took him in with obvious appreciation glowing behind her gaze. Maybe she’d crossed paths with him the night before when she’d checked out the local bar...and might have had one too many tropical cocktails in her system.

[slapshot-to-the-heart]

Flatbush & Atlantic: part iii

Part iii is here! Read it, reblog it, text your friends about it, talk to ME about it, everything. 

part i part ii

part iii

November 13

From: Mat 

The tickets should be at will call! Let me know if you have any trouble, we’re headed out for warmups in a few 

Cass shoved her phone back into the back pocket of her pants, turning to Samaira. “He put them at will call, which is,” she scanned the front of Barclay’s, “right there.” Samaira followed her to the counter. “Hi,” she said as the ticketing agent called for the next in line, sliding her license under the glass. “There should be two for Cassidy Shaw.” The agent nodded, reaching over to leaf through a filing box and pulling out the envelope. “Enjoy the game!”

Samaira looked over as Cass handed her her ticket, eyeing the long line to get through the metal detectors. “What kind of seats did he get you?” 

Cass shrugged. “I’m not sure. He said they were good ones? Somewhere lower bowl, mid-ice I think.” Just got them, be in in a few! See you soon, she sent back to Mat. 

She tugged on the collar of her Rangers jersey, ignoring the occasional dirty look thrown her way. It was only one borough over, so she was far from the only fan in blue and red, and she couldn’t deny that there was a part of her that was looking forward to seeing Mat’s reaction when he saw her in their rival’s colors. It was too early into her and Mat’s relationship for her to be wearing his jersey to games; she wouldn’t want to curse anything prematurely, but jerseys could run upwards of two hundred dollars, and she didn’t exactly have that kind of money to go spending on just anybody. Not that Mat was “just anybody,” but Cass was someone who thrived on stability and she wanted to be sure. 

The usher at the doors scanned their tickets, and it was only then that Cass bothered to look down at hers to see where they were headed. She was familiar enough with the layout, it wasn’t her first Rangers-Islanders game and had been to a Lorde concert her first year in law school. Walking down the stairs, they kept going, and kept going, and kept going. Until they were right at the glass behind the home bench. Samaira whistled. “Boy came through.”

Cass nodded, smiling apologetically as the pair squeezed past the others in their row. “I’m not sure how he got them, these ones are usually sold out months in advance. Or some rich guy has them for season tickets.” 

Samaira raised an eyebrow. “As much as you hate to admit it, he’s kinda a big deal around here, Cass,” she said, leaning over to her. “I don’t think it’s that hard for him to get seats on a week’s notice.” Not only was Samaira one of her best friends at school and the only one who had the night free, but she was also a born-and-raised New Yorker — and a huge Islanders fan. Mat told her that he’d set aside two tickets, and it didn’t take Samaira more than a minute to respond in all caps when Cass asked if she’d be interested. The guys were nearly done with warmups, and it only took a minute or so for Mat to notice her, raising his eyebrows and looking pointedly at her jersey. 

“Sorry,” Cass mouthed, shrugging her shoulders. Smiling, he shook his head, skating back to the blue line to take another shot. Cass excused herself to go to the bathroom after warmups had finished, her phone lighting up with yet another text right as she finished drying her hands. Traitor. She laughed. You knew what you were getting yourself into, Barzal 🤷🏽‍♀️

She got back to her seat just as the players were skating back out, handing Samaira one of the two beers she had picked up on the way. “Don’t spill,” she said ruefully. “These were like ten bucks each.”

After lineups and the national anthem, they sat back down, and the puck dropped. 

---

Much to her chagrin, the Islanders had won 3-2, but Mat had netted two points, one of which was an absolute beauty over Lundqvist’s left shoulder. So she really couldn’t be that mad. As much as Cass would have loved to stay and congratulate Mat on the win, it was ten o’clock and she really needed to head home if she wanted to get back anytime before midnight. Walking back to the train, she figured Mat would be done with postgame interviews and risked a call. He picked up on the first ring. 

“What’s up?”

Cass smiled. “Hey, Mat. I’m sorry I couldn’t stay and see you after,”

“Don’t worry about it, babe, I know you’ve got a long ride home.” The pet name slipped easily from his lips, and Cass felt her heart skip a beat. “It means a lot that you wanted to come.”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I? You had a great game, that goal was incredible. I’m fine with you winning against my team if you’ll do it like that every time.”

“I’ll convert you if it’s the last thing I ever do.” He deadpanned. They talked for as long as they could, until Cass had to swipe her metrocard and was about to lose reception. “Talk to you later?” Mat asked hopefully.

Cass giggled. “If I’m not passed out, sure. Promise me you’ll get some sleep too?”

“Promise.”

Samaira lived on the same line as her, getting off with a hug and a promise to meet up for lunch on Monday. Cass had taken the route at night a hundred times, but it was just as much second nature for her to keep a hand on her pepper spray as it was to keep refreshing her Instagram feed. 

As soon as she made her way up the stairs into the cool Bronx air and back to the land of cell reception, a text from her dad popped up. It had entirely escaped her mind that sitting right behind the bench meant that she and Samaira would have had plenty of airtime on the networks broadcasting the game, or that there was a 100% chance her dad was watching. He had taken a picture of the TV when she just so happened to be smack-dab in the middle of the screen, grimacing at what she guessed must have been another Islanders goal. And how did you get those tickets? Were they from the internship?

Cass let herself into the apartment, waving goodnight to Ryanne, who was watching Netflix in the living room, and tried to formulate an answer. No, not from work. They were a gift.

From?

The person I’m seeing. Cass hadn’t told her family about Mat yet. It’s not that she thought they would disapprove, but she wanted to make sure that it was real, really real, before she let her family in on it. 

She could imagine her dad scratching his head. What kind of law student would have that kind of money? For that matter, what kind of person? Are you and Samaira together? Cass let out a laugh. Her parents knew Samaira and loved her to pieces, and she doubted they would have had any issue if she was dating her. But she wasn’t. 

“Rip the bandaid off,” Cass whispered to herself as she shucked her coat off, leaving her in the jersey and leggings. Hahaha no, not her. They were from Mat. She added as an afterthought, Barzal. 

You’re dating Mat Barzal?

I am. 

Huh. 

Guess the cat’s out of the bag?

Nov. 17 (tues)

Cass’s seminar leader for Native Law, Professor Davidson, had just emailed the class, cancelling that afternoon’s meeting. My daughter came down with the flu, she had said. It wasn’t the cancellation that bothered her; obviously, if you have a sick kid, take care of your sick kid. It was the fact that now she had four hours to kill and no idea how to spend them. If she went home, that was an hour’s trip either way, so what was the point? And as much as she genuinely did love the library (and she really loved libraries), she knew those chairs and knew that her ass would start hurting somewhere midway through hour 3. As if on cue, Mat called. He had left for a West Coast roadie a few days earlier, and wouldn’t be back for almost a week. 

“Hey!” She said brightly. “Congrats on the win last night, I would have called but I definitely fell asleep somewhere during the second intermission.” The Islanders had beaten the Ducks 4-2 the night before, but the time difference meant that it finished well past midnight, and Cass had been up early. 

She heard him laugh on the other end. “Nah, no problem. I’m glad you caught it though. How has your day been?” One of the things Cass had grown to appreciate the most about Mat, even in their short time together, was how deliberate he was. He didn’t just ask her how she was or how her day was going because that was the standard “boyfriend” question of the day, he asked because he genuinely wanted to know. Because he cared. 

So she was honest with him. “So-so. Yoga was great, they had my favorite instructor which was pretty nice. Good meeting after. Got a croissant. But then one of my classes got cancelled, so I’ve got to either find some coffee shop to work at or park myself at the library, neither of which is sounding too appealing at the moment.”

“Why don’t you just crash at my place?” Mat asked, like it was the most obvious question in the world. “It’s closer, I’ve got coffee and stuff if you want.”

Cass was taken aback for a moment. It wasn’t like the thought hadn’t crossed her mind, momentarily, but she didn’t think that they were there yet. She had been to his apartment before, once, under very different circumstances. Mat had tried, valiantly, to cook pasta and roasted veggies for dinner. Tried being the key word. The vegetables had all been burnt to a crisp, and he had thought the pasta was supposed to be cooked for 18 minutes, not 8, causing it to more closely resemble pudding than pasta. They ended up ordering Italian from the place down the street. But having a stay-in date at someone’s apartment and letting them crash there alone were two very different things, and Cass was touched not only by the offer, but by the fact that he trusted her enough to extend it. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, of course, Cass. I want you to be comfortable. My spare key’s left with the front office, I’ll call them and let them know you’ll be picking it up. Shouldn’t be a problem. You remember how to get up there, yeah?”

“Mhm. Thanks, Mat, for real. You totally didn’t have to do this.” 

“But I wanted to. Listen, morning skate’s about to start so I’ve got to go, but text me if you have an issue getting up. Or, like, if you forget where the bathroom is or something,” Mat added as an afterthought. 

Cass laughed. “I think I can manage to find it, but thank you for the offer? Talk to you later.”

“Later.”

Half an hour later, Cass was curled up on his living room couch, a pot of coffee brewing in the kitchen and her books sprawled haphazardly on the coffee table. She spotted one of his hoodies slung over the armchair on the other side of the room. I don’t think he’ll mind if I steal it. 

---

Nov 23 (mon)

The team had gotten back from the roadie around noon, and Mat had insisted on taking Cass out for dinner after she got off from work. “It’s been almost a week since I’ve seen you,” he had bemoaned on the phone earlier. Shaking her head and laughing internally at how needy her boyfriend was, she agreed to meet him at a Mexican restaurant a few blocks away. 

She arrived just a few minutes before him, kissing him as they sat down. Grabbing a basket of chips, she headed over to the salsa bar. “How good are you with spice?” She asked Mat.

“I can hold my own, as long as it’s not like a Carolina Reaper or something crazy like that,” he answered, cracking a smile. 

She laughed in response, setting the cups down on the table. Her enchiladas and his pozole came later, and Cass blushed at the knowing glance their waitress gave her as she slid the dishes onto the table. “How does it stack up?” Mat asked after she had taken a few bites. 

Cass nodded happily. “It’s good. Really good. Obviously, I’d be disowned if I didn’t say that my grandma’s is better, but this is a close second.” Mat sipped his horchata. Cass had balked when he said he’d never tried the drink before, and his glass was now near-empty. 

“Yeah, glad to hear it. This is super good too,” he said, eating another spoonful. She could tell something else was on his mind. 

“What is it, chou?” Cass asked.

Mat bit his lip. “You’re still good to come to the game against the Canes tomorrow, yeah?” She nodded. “How would you feel about sitting up in the box?” Her brow furrowed. The box? Sensing her confusion, Mat continued. “Up with the other girls.” Cass knew that there was a box for the WAGs, obviously, but it hadn’t quite hit her that she was one now. She had met Paige, Beau’s girlfriend of six months, a few weeks prior, but that had really been more of an accident than anything. They had been walking around the Central Park Zoo one weekend, one of their first official dates, and happened to run into the other couple somewhere around the lemurs. It being lunch and the boys being boys, the group stopped for some sandwiches. Cass and Paige got to talking, chirping the boys for their sub-par “disguises” — “Since when has sunglasses and a baseball cap fooled anyone?” Paige had asked. Cass had laughed, they had exchanged numbers, and been talking ever since. 

So, there was going to be at least one person she knew there. Why not, then? “Yeah, sure, sounds fun!” Cass said, nodding and tapping her fingers on the table, trying to get her nerves out. 

Mat ran a hand through his hair, smiling nervously as if he hadn’t been too sure of what her answer would be. “Good,” he said, leaning down to pick up a bag. “Would have made this pretty awkward if you said no.” He handed it to her; she hefted it, trying to tell what was inside. 

“Ooooh,” she said, “I didn’t know we were at the ‘presents’ stage of our relationship yet.” Mat blushed. 

“Didn’t really cost me anything,” he mumbled. 

“It’s got some weight to it. Soft. I’m going to go with...a mink stole.”

Mat looked baffled. “I’m not even going to pretend to know what that is.”

Cass laughed, untying the piece of ribbon that held the handles together. She pulled out a navy and orange jersey. “It’s one of the ones from my rookie season, figured I couldn’t have you going up there wearing another Rangers jersey. Didn’t want to throw you out to the wolves.” It was only then that she shook it out and turned it over. Barzal - 13. 

Cass beamed, leaning over the table and kissing him on the cheek. “I love it, chou.”

---

Nov. 24 (tues)

Cass glanced at her watch. 6:38. The train was running on schedule, so she still had a little bit of time before she was supposed to meet Paige up in the box. She had offered to wait for her outside of the arena and walk her up, but she had driven Tito earlier and Cass didn’t want her to be stuck outside waiting for her. The car was packed with orange, blue, and white-clad fans, so nobody paid her any mind as she pulled out Mat’s jersey from her bag, switching out from the fleece she had been in all day. Are you sure it won’t be weird if I wear a jersey? Don’t most of the others show up to these things in dresses and shit? Cass had frantically texted Paige late last night. 

Don’t worry! She had responded. Some do, yeah, but it’s def not uncommon to be in a jersey. I’ll be wearing Beau’s :)

It didn’t take long to get through security, showing her pass to the employee at the elevator and shooting Mat a good luck text, she let Paige know she was on her way up. Mat had given her the box number, so she made her way up to the suite, nervously smiling at the usher. “Hi,” she said.

The usher gave her a quick once-over and a curt smile. “Hi. Name?” 

“Cassidy Cabrera Shaw, um, Mat Barzal should have added me.” She scanned the clipboard, making a tiny checkmark next to her name.

“Enjoy the game.” Cass tentatively made her way in, searching for Paige but still a little thrown off. It hadn’t escaped Cass the way the usher had looked at her, like there was something just a little off about her, like she didn’t quite belong.

It was a good thing that she didn’t have enough time to get too into her head, because Paige came barreling at her, wrapping her in a massive bear hug. “You came!!” She said, squeezing Cass’s hand once she finally released her.

Cass laughed. “Did you think I’d skip out on you?”

Paige shook her head. “No, I knew you’d come through.” She pointed to the hooks on the wall, where a mixed bunch of purses, scarves, and coats were hanging. “You can leave your bag there, let me get you a drink and introduce you to the other girls.” Cass followed Paige into the main room, where a dozen or so women milled about, sitting on couches and keeping an eye on the warmups below. Paige nodded at the bar. “What are you feeling? White? Red? Sparkling? I can make a mojito if you want. It won't be good, but if you’re desperate,” she shrugged her shoulders. 

Cass threw her head back, laughing. “If they’re picking up the tab?” She replied, tilting her head towards the ice, “Give me the best champagne you’ve got.”

Paige grabbed a flute. “Yes, ma’am.”Pouring the champagne, she handed it to Cass, leading her over to where a group was hanging by the window. “Hey guys!” She said brightly, one hand touching the back of Cass’s shoulder reassuringly. “Girls, this is Cass. Cass, this is Lauren, Kerry, and Karley,” she said, pointing to each woman in turn. Lauren pulled her into a tight hug. 

“Lauren Rodych Eberle,” she said, “Paige told us you’d be coming along. It’s great to have you.” The other girls introduced themselves, leading her over to a corner of the room. “These are the comfiest couches,” Kerry noted. “You always want to grab them as soon as you get up, they’re a hot commodity.”

Cass laughed. “Good to know.”

“So you’re Mat’s girl, yeah?” Kerry asked. 

“Yep,” Cass replied, trying and failing to roll up the sleeves on Mat’s — her? — jersey. 

She smiled. “I’m happy. He’s a great guy, don’t get me wrong, but could use a girl to balance him out. Bit of a himbo, but,” she lowered her voice conspiratorially, “almost every hockey guy is.” 

Cass nearly snorted out her champagne. “Fair statement.”

Kerry took a sip of her own wine. “So, Paige said you’re in law school, yeah?” Cass nodded. “What’s that like?” If Mat could talk about hockey for hours on end and still not get through half of what he wanted to say, that was Cass with the law. It was refreshing to talk with a person who wouldn’t constantly try to interject with their own theory of jurisprudence or Constitutional interpretation, just someone who was genuinely interested in what she had to say. 

---

The team had managed to extend their win streak to 3, a wraparound from Nelson that just squeaked past Reimer clinching the 2-1 win in the third minute of overtime. Everyone let out a collective cheer, some gathering their things and others hanging back to mingle. Cass meandered back over towards where Paige was waiting by the door; they didn’t have to rush since the guys probably hadn’t even finished showering yet, but the plan was to meet them down by the locker room. 

“How’d you like it?” Paige enquired.

“It was really nice,” Cass answered genuinely. “I love going to these things with friends, but it’s nice to be around people who know the game and know the guys.”

“That’s the whole point,” Paige said easily. “We’re all in the same boat, even if some peoples’ home or work lives look different, nobody quite ‘gets’ this whole thing like each other.” Paige led her down elevators and corridors until they were nearly at the home team locker room. “Oh!” She exclaimed, causing Cass’s to snap around and look at her, startled. “No, nothing bad,” she added hastily. “Usually once or twice a roadie, the wives of a veteran or captain will host a family watch party. A lot of the partners and kids will come over, it’s really cute. Obviously don’t blow off work or something to come, but I’ll let you know.”

Cass smiled. “That would be nice.” The locker room door opened, players starting to filter out. 

Anthony came out before Mat, giving Paige a kiss on the top of her head and smiling at Cass. “Mat should be out in a minute,” he added. She thanked him, congratulating him on his first-period goal. 

True to Tito’s word, Mat appeared soon after, embracing Cass. “What’s that dumb look on your face?” She asked, seeing Mat’s satisfied grin. 

“You’re wearing my jersey.”

“Well, yeah,” Cass said slowly. “You gave it to me.”

Saying their goodbyes to Tito and Paige, Mat tangled his hand with hers. “Nothing. You look good in it.”

---

Nov. 25 (wed)

The coffee tasted bitter in her mouth, but the much-needed caffeine jolt it gave her was enough for Cass to choke it down, shoving her cup  — the white-and-blue one Mat had given her  — into its spot on the center console of her white Escape. Cheryl had been with her since just before her freshman year of high school, the culmination of summer jobs, graduation gifts, and a used car lot. It wasn’t practical nor economical for her to drive most places in New York, so she usually sat in the parking lot of their apartment building unless one of the girls needed to run out at night or Cass was driving back home, as was the current case. It was the day before Thanksgiving, and she had a two hour drive (if she was lucky) and hours of cooking ahead of her before the clock ever struck Thursday. 

Digging into the CD holder, she handed over the toll to the attendant at the station, giving as grateful a smile as she could muster when the toll arm lifted. Mat was going to call after practice, promising to keep her company on the drive up. He had been a little pouty about her leaving for the better part of a week so soon after he had gotten home, but one reminder from her about how long his roadies could run had shut him up quickly. 

Cass loved family, so Thanksgiving had always been one of her favorite holidays. Their house was hosting this year, and if Cass had any money to bet, she’d guess that as she drove, her mom was frantically running around the house, pulling out napkins and silverware and trying to figure out how to fit fifteen people in a two-thousand square foot house. While her mom’s side rarely made the trip up from Texas and Hermosillo, her dad was from a big New England Irish Catholic family that never let a single holiday pass by without celebration. Her dad’s parents meant Grandma Maggie and Grandpa Joe, which meant an inevitable barrage of questions as soon as anyone let slip that she wasn’t single anymore. Cass loved her grandma to pieces; really, she did. But she was going to want to know his name, where he worked, where he went to school, and his mother’s damn maiden name before she would give it a rest. 

Her phone was hooked up to the car, so Mat’s call came straight through, interrupting her preferred driving music, a mid-2000s playlist starring copious amounts of early Lady Gaga. “How’s the drive going?” He asked.

“Uh, pretty good,” Cass replied, changing lanes to pass the sluggish Honda ahead of her. “Just crossed into Connecticut, I’m thinking it’ll be another hour or so? How was practice?”

Cass heard the door to his apartment close behind him. “Good, Coach had us run a lot of passing drills, so it’ll hopefully pay off next game.”

“Friday, right?” She asked. “Against the Caps?”

“Yeah, should be a good game. They’re doing really well this season, hopefully the boys come through, extend the streak a little bit.”

Cass smiled. “You’ll be great. I’m sorry I won’t be there to see you, but —”

She could imagine him shaking his head on the other end of the line. “Babe, you don’t need to apologize. Thanksgiving’s a big thing here, and I know it’s been awhile since you’ve really spent much time with your family.”

“Yeah,” Cass said, chewing her lip, “that’s true. Pretty much my dad’s whole side is going to be there though, so I’m prepared to spend a solid hour fielding questions about you and my whole ‘new relationship’ I’ve got going on. I think they’ll be disappointed you’re not there.”

Mat chuckled. “It’s fine, Cass,” he said, reassuring her. “Just promise them you’ll bring me next year.” Cass couldn’t stop a big, dumb grin from spreading on her face. Next year. 

“I promise.”

#hockey imagine #nhl imagine #mat barzal imagine #mat barzal #hockey writing #nhl writing #hockey imagines #hockey smut #nhl imagines #nhl smut #islanders #new york islanders #islanders imagines #islanders writing

[bigskydreaming]

russianspacegeckosexparty replied to your post:

You know what I’ve never seen but now that I’ve...

Dick, who invited over Kory and Jericho and a dozen others: “Umm, Jay, you can’t just INVITE people over without heads up, that’s so rude, we all live here”

asfhklafhlkfa

Duke quickly trying to debrief Izzy and his other friends on How To Survive A Day At Wayne Manor:

Duke: Okay see the first thing you gotta understand is that Jon is Damian’s best friend and Jon’s older brother Connor is Tim’s best friend, and Jon adores Connor but Damian will at best admit to tolerating Tim and even then only under pain of torture.....so you’re gonna see Jon trying to run after Tim and Connor to hang out with them, and what you’re gonna want to do is immediately run in the opposite direction before Damian can shriek BETRAYAL and like, call down a darkness upon this house that will last a thousand years.

Izzy and other friends: uh.....

Duke: And then if at any point you hear an explosion, and then you hear a dozen people yell “DAMMIT JASON,” this will then be followed by Jason yelling back “why does everyone always assume I was the cause of that just because I have a best friend that causes explosions and also I collect incendiary devices the way Dick collects Popples?” Do not be fooled. Jason is always the cause of the explosions.

Izzy and other friends: uh.....

Duke: And if you’re in the same room as Dick’s friends Kory or Donna, and out of the corner of your eye you think you see someone lurking in the shadows, don’t be scared we’re being invaded by supervillains or whatever. That’s probably just Cass, lurking, so she doesn’t accidentally trip and embarrass herself in front of Donna and Kory, whom she has epic crushes to end all crushes upon, but also, absolutely do not call attention to her either. Because Cass is the walking incarnation of “looks like a cinnamon roll but is actually a sinnamon roll” and she’s actually got a pretty fair amount of ego and does not like making a fool of herself, and also she can kill you with her pinkie. Like, she won’t. But she can. And keeping that in mind whenever you see her doing something embarrassing is just good sense, you know?

Izzy and other friends: uh....

Duke: And if Dick and Jason end up getting into it at some point, which they will, because they’re Dick and Jason and wires got crossed in their brain at some point in the misty mists of yore long before the rest of us ever came along and resulted in them being convinced that this is how brothers express love for each other, and is idk, normal, like.....they will call upon all surrounding witnesses to pick sides. Because its reeeeheeeheeally important to them that They Are Right and People Know It. Should this happen, run, do not walk, run for the nearest exit, and do not look back. We’re talking Orpheus and Eurydice here, stare of a Gorgon, pillars of salt....Something Biblical. If you slow for even a second, you’ll be lost as you’re dragged kicking and screaming into their argument, no matter how mind-numbingly pointless it is....and you will be expected to have their back on that particular argument for the rest of eternity. Which is a long fucking time for an extremely stupid and pointless argument to recur right smack dab in the middle of each and every life or death situation, just so one of them can say “told you so” to the other, even when the thing they told the other so was just like...the capital of New York is Albany, or other equally ridiculous things that nobody but them cares about even a little.

Izzy and other friends: *blink*

Duke, looking at them expectantly: Okay, I think that covers it. You should all be good to come in now, so c’mon. What do you guys wanna do? Video games?

Izzy: .....what if we all just went back to my place and hung out there tho.

Duke: Why? What’s wrong with here? Guys, I live in a freaking mansion now, this place is awesome. I don’t get it.

[disregardcanon]

since rapunzel has basically the same age difference with cass that she does with VARIAN it’s like. anakin skywalker smack dab in the middle of padme and ahsoka’s ages. 

#tangled the series #this might not mean anything to anyone but me but it sure. ooof